If you want to get an idea of how crazy the Wall Street Journal editorial board is, read Friday's oped by their senior economist, Stephen Moore. The title itself says a lot: 'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years." Some years ago when I worked at the libertarian Cato Institute, we used to label any new hire who had not yet read "Atlas Shrugged" a "virgin." Being conversant in Ayn Rand's classic novel about the economic carnage caused by big government run amok was practically a job requirement. If only "Atlas" were required reading for every member of Congress and political…

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Not infrequently, science butts heads with culture as the data scientists collect about issues of the day may conflict with cultural perceptions and deeply-held beliefs. Attitudes and perceptions about homosexuality are, not surprisingly, a source of denialism as certain overvalued ideas about sexuality are being challenged with our deeper understanding of human sexual desire. For one, homosexuality is not a choice, despite all attempts to reprogram or suppress homosexual desires, the desires do not go away. One might even hypothesize the attempts to repress or disparage such a…

Welcome to the new year, and now that I'm back from a little family vacation I'd like to applaud PAL for the excellent job he did summarizing our thesis, and the job he's done in general in the last year. I'm busy doing my last 3rd year clerkship in neurology (even though I'm graduating in 2009 - it's complicated) and it's wonderful to have him at our side fighting the good fight. Objects of interest in the last couple of weeks include (former?) framing ally Chris Mooney breaking with Matt Nisbett on the necessary language for addressing denialism. In his article defending the Obama…

I couldn't be more thrilled to see that Rebecca Skloot has joined scienceblogs. I remember reading her article on HeLa cells and thinking it was the best science writing I'd ever read. So, sorry for the late announcement and welcome to Rebecca!

Please check out this week's skeptics' circle at Happy Jihad's House of Pancakes. Of note, I liked Dr Austs' post on the human toll of HIV/AIDS denialism, it is stirring. I also found the Skeptic's field guide particularly interesting. I would have two suggestions. One would be to prioritize by frequency of use or rhetorical appeal rather than alphabetical, and second would be to include a section on conspiracy (like the ones the Lay Scientist and Dubito Ergo Sum describe in this issue ), which I believe is the hallmark of all denialist arguments. If you need a non-parsimonious conspiracy…

Aside from taking 4th year medical school classes it's also the time of year that medical students who plan to graduate in 2009 (like me) are applying to residency programs across the country. This is an interesting process and one that many people outside of medicine are unfamiliar with, and quite surprised by. For one, did you know that we don't have final say on where we train in residency but that the decision is made by a computer? It's true. The process is called "the Match" and it's a time of great excitement and anxiety for 4th year medical students. For one, there are far more…

Jeanne Whalen of the Journal reports that European officials are taking a step towards allowing drug marketing: The European Commission proposed legislation Wednesday that would let drug companies give consumers "objective and nonpromotional" information about their medicines in print and online. Currently, drug companies can't provide any information to European consumers, except on leaflets found inside drug packaging. The legislative proposals must be approved by the European Parliament and Council of Ministers before becoming law, a process that could take years. Meanwhile, in the US, it…

It seems Obama didn't get Nisbet's memo. Just watching on CNN, future president Obama says: The time for delay is over, the time for denial is over. We all believe what the scientists have been telling us for years now, that this is a matter of urgency and national security and it has to be dealt with in a serious way. That is what I intend my administration to do. I think what is exciting about this conversation is that it is not only a problem but an opportunity. I can not be happier that we have a president who is willing to stand up and call global warming denialism what it is.

If you're looking for some fun, family fighting, the place to go is Chuck E. Cheese's. Who knew? The Journal reports: In Brookfield, Wis., no restaurant has triggered more calls to the police department since last year than Chuck E. Cheese's. Officers have been called to break up 12 fights, some of them physical, at the child-oriented pizza parlor since January 2007. The biggest melee broke out in April, when an uninvited adult disrupted a child's birthday party. Seven officers arrived and found as many as 40 people knocking over chairs and yelling in front of the restaurant's music stage,…

I was reading two articles on disparate subjects and found them oddly linked in my mind. The first former terrorist Bill Ayers' explanation of why he didn't respond when Obama was smeared by association and the second P. Michael Conn and James V. Parker writing for the WaPo about the escalation in recent years of animal rights terrorism. What struck me about both these articles is the interesting divide between how terrorists justify their behaviors and diminish their objectives of striking fear into their opponents, and the reality of what the subjects of such acts perceive. Conn and…

I was tickled today to see a full-page ad running in the Times (Page A13) asking readers to reject the "Mob Veto." What mob veto? The gay mob veto! The gays are engaging in "violence and intimidation" against the Mormons because of their support for Proposition 8 (California's gay marriage ban.) I never thought I'd live to see a gay mob. Yes, there are many public events in San Francisco with many gay people, but they're never violent, even when wearing scary biker gear. Maybe I take this more seriously if the authors of this advertisement (the Catholic League and other usual suspects)…

Well, Nisbet has replied to Mike, Orac and me (not to mention PAL). However his reply leaves something wanting, like, intellectual honesty. Nowhere in any of these reasoned replies is there "name-calling". What we are arguing is for the preservation of accurate labeling of arguments that fail to meet standards of honesty. There are arguments that are crap, and arguments that are useful and indicate the author is interested in exchange of ideas, fostering discussion, the truth etc. We believe it is useful not to just label these arguments but to teach people how to distinguish between…

Ever since we began writing here about denialism we've emphasized a few critical points about dealing with anti-science. For one, denialists aren't interested in legitimate debate - they are not honest brokers and the tactics they use exist to artificially extend discussion of settled scientific issues. Second, one of the most time-honored traditions of cranks is claiming persecution in response to rejection of their nonsense. Take for a recent example Coby's exposure of the "environmentalists want to jail global warming denialists" myth. You don't need to do anything to make a crank cry…

One of the great things about science is that it is open, international, and celebrates the free exchange of ideas. However, during the last 8 years we've seen some odd things at the National Institutes of Health - the premier governmental scientific institution in the world. The paranoia of the current administration has filtered down and contaminated day to day operations of what is essentially an academic health sciences campus. For example, for some bizarre reason they decided to erect a 10 foot high iron fence around the entire campus: And at the entrances every car is searched, every…

Earlier today, we learned that when faced with a regulatory deadline to test your products for lead, a good course of action is to lobby to delay or reverse the requirement. This afternoon, we learn the best course of action when your highly-profitable drug is about to lose patent protection. We're all familiar with the tactic of simply making little changes to a drug and declaring the new version marginally better. Jonathan Rockoff explains that the minor improvement strategy can be combined with pricing tactic to steer consumers and insurers away from generics: Twice this year, Cephalon…

So you operate a toy company and along the way, you probably offshored your production to China to save money. And now that Americans have awakened to the obvious problems with your business plan, you want to still sell your toys to the public without testing them for lead. Your options: 1) sell your inventory before February 10, 2009, when the new lead regulations come into effect; 2) do nothing and just risk it; and/or 3) lobby to make the standards non-retroactive. Dear readers, would you be surprised if our friends who cut corners by offshoring to China would choose option 3? Melanie…

I never thought I'd see this. But here it is in all its glory. When I used to live in Georgia and drive past huge billboards that read "I heard that! -- God," or "You're Welcome --God," I imagined the day when atheist billboards would appear. I always wanted to buy a billboard that simply read, "God is Dead." in part, to see whether Clear Channel would put it up, and in part, to hear the standard rejoinder said in Georgia--"Nietzsche is dead!" How profound! Today's Journal covers atheists' efforts in reaching out, and concludes with this astute observation: Still, leading activists say…

On Nov. 16th at 9:50 Pacific, the answer remains no, but this site will help us keep track of this important issue after Jan. 20.

Sciblings are discussing the ethics of anonymity all over Scienceblogs. I want to pose a different question: practically speaking, is anonymity even possible? Consider: 1) There is no standard definition for what is anonymous or anonymized. For instance, AOL released a putatively anonymous database of search queries a few years ago, but it was soon discovered that individuals could be identified in it. Google "anonymizes" some user records but the method they use is pretty pathetic. 2) The field of reidentification is growing in sophistication. Professor Latanya Sweeney at Carnegie…