mikethemadbiologist

I'm holding off on a couple of genomics posts, and instead wearing my Mike the Mad Post-Keynesian hat, since global financial system might get...shaky. During the ongoing pandimensional clusterfuck that is the debt ceiling negotiations, one thing that is used to bolster the prophecies of budgetary…

Links for you. Science: Is Something Fishy Going On? Citations Suggest Correction Comes Slowly, If It Comes At All Tweeting Science How the Valley was won: The birth of technology in Silicon Valley Ants clean up the remains of Brood XIX Other: What Happens in Vegas Mock my pants, not my sister…

A while ago, I discussed how the battle over credit and debit fees is really a battle over how much money should cost and whom you're paying that cost to: corporations or government. Well, the corporate takeover of the monetary base continues unabated, this time affecting Social Security. You…

Links for you. Science: News Corp and the Hacked Climategate Emails: Time for an Independent Investigation Harnessing solar power, on a small scale The end of evolutionary psychology Is It Cold in Here? Other: Should fiscal policy always be counter-cyclical? Are You Smarter Than a 12th Grader? 40…

While one should never underestimate the rampant stupidity and batshitloonitarianism of the psychiatric wing of the Republican Party (which seems to be its dominant wing), I think Bill Mitchell's take on the whole fiasco is dead on target: With regard to the debt ceiling it is clear that there will…

Mike Konczal is disappointed in the behavior of one of the members of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission ('FCIC'), Peter Wallison, movement conservative and member of the rightwing faith tank, the American Enterprise Institute. Like many conservatives, Wallison blames the housing crisis on…

Hotter than hell. It's 99F (~38C) as I write this. Somehow, I think I'm skipping the outdoor BBQ today we're having at work... Anyway, links for you. Science: Mythbusting 101: Organic Farming > Conventional Agriculture Ancient 'Frankenstein' Insect Discovered Campylobacter jejuni - hugely…

As with history in general, I suppose the victors write--or rewrite--economic history too. One of the arguments for balancing budgets that's floating around is that Clinton got us a surplus, times were good, and therefore, we should do it again. Of course, things were better for some people,…

Links for you. Science: Poor memory? Blame evolution, not Google The Jellyfish that Conquered Land -- and Australia The (Nonsensical) Politics of Fisheries Funding Darwin's Great Blunder--and Why It Was Good for the World Why Does Writing Make Us Smarter? Other: Beckhams a 'bad example' for…

Or more accurately, it's the revolt of the liberals. Personally, it's none of my business whom Republicans nominate for president, but, to me, Romney seems to be a strong electoral candidate (albeit one disliked by the Tea Party/theopolitical base). Why? Liberals. Hunh? Let me explain. I've been…

Links for you. Science: The narrow mind of Greenpeace Tom Coburn wrong on behavioral research After 8 Decades, Tiny Toad Resurfaces in Asia Food Companies Act to Protect Consumers From E. Coli Illness Other: On Early Retirement (must read) Other People's Money A Response to Corey Robin on The…

While I've disagreed strongly with Megan McArdle, she recently wrote one of the more humane pieces I've read in the mainstream media about unemployment and underemployment (italics mine): I was unemployed for basically two years between the time I graduated from business school in 2001, and the…

Links for you. Science: What Not to Say to a Pop-Science Author The New York Times' Defense of Antidepressants How to Sell Your Fellow Students for $100 Dr. Isis Issues Some Ad Hominems For Those Who Hang Their Hats on Rats (or Mice) Other: Greed, Excess and America's Gaping Class Divide The…

Keep in mind, this probably means there is a murderous terrorist running loose out there: Now, however, Justice Department lawyers have acknowledged in court papers that the sealed area in Ivins' lab -- the so-called hot suite -- didn't contain the equipment needed to turn liquid anthrax into the…

In the midst of all the chatter about Google+, many people seem to have ignored what this is really about: monetizing the cloud. What Google wants to do is make easy for you to store all of your documents and files on their servers, for which they will charge a small fee and/or use your…

Links for you. Science: How Well Do Miss USA Contestants Represent Their States? Hacking the genome with a MAGE and a CAGE The Bugs That Changed Human History Trouble in the Fourth Domain? Other: A Feminist Economist Speaks Out: Deficits are a Grrrl's Best Friend What Makes You Think Obama is…

By way of Dr. Isis, we come across this post by Catherine Rampell about the rise of grade inflation in colleges: Dr. Isis observes: It's interesting that the real change in grading appears to have occurred in the period between 1962 and 1974, probably coinciding with the increase in conscription…

Links for you. Science: File Under WTF: Did the CIA Fake a Vaccination Campaign? (the blowback from this is reprehensible even by CIA standards) No Eureka Moments in Long U.S. Campaign to Crack Cellulosic Code Petty controversy: Tea Partiers vs. endangered manatees How To Drink Gatorade Why the…

The NY Times has a story about the rise in the use of 'bath salts' as recreational drugs. Bath salts have caused some users to have hideous psychological effects, including long-term paranoia, as well as dangerous reactions (spikes in body temperature and kidney failure). What are bath salts?…

Because these are the idiots you've allied yourselves with: ...many of these voucher advocates claim they simply want to expand school choice and improve the quality of education for all. Yet one group that has been influential in the school voucher push -- the Independence Hall Tea Party, which…

Links for you. Science: Super Awesome influenza antibodies: Slightly more helpful than Super Awesome HIV antibodies Bacteria resists the aroma of caffeine A Partial Cure for the "Is Consistent With" Syndrome (a good reason to understand mechanism) CIA's despicable Pakistan vaccination ploy (can't…

As a fellow card-carrying member of the Ancient, Holy and High Hermeneutic Order of the Shrill, I mean that as a compliment: There aren't many positive aspects to the looming possibility of a U.S. debt default. But there has been, I have to admit, an element of comic relief -- of the black-humor…

Links for you. Science: The Asian needle ant, an accidentally imported termite killer A Journal Is Not a Data Dump How Seawater Can Power the World Tiny snails survive digestion by birds (I wonder what this does to your microbiome...) Other: Ann Coulter Confuses Liberal and…

One of the most frustrating things about Obama's playing the role of The Great Conciliator is his belief that we should 'look forward, not back', that there should be no accountability for those who have failed or committed fraud. Leaving aside notions of justice (which these days is best for one'…

We should be worrying about the employment deficit. Instead, we are worried about the budget deficit. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Nate Silver has a very good post detailing how the Republicans in Congress have positioned themselves to the right of....everybody. But what struck me is that…

Beautiful weather here. If you're stuck inside, here are some links. Science: Casey's Case: What Psychology Says About Anthony's Acquittal. Sunday AI: Leaping Cockroaches The Clap Came Back: Multi-Drug Resistant Gonorrhea The Path Of Increased Resistance Other: Rep. Ryan Tastes The Grapes Of…

It's as if Republican House Whip Eric Cantor wants to be a cartoon villain: ...as the Daily Beast's Howard Kurtz reports, one group that Cantor is apparently fine with making pay more is American college students. Cantor, at the White House for budget negotiations, apparently proposed that…

There are two very interesting posts about scientific publishing that raise some very good points. The first post by petermr makes a critical point about the publication process--academia has ceded promotion and tenure decisions to professional editorial boards, not experts and colleagues (italics…

Links for you. Science: Great Moments in Deceptive Graphs Life and death of GFAJ-1 A second case of meat farming The Unexamined Society (broken clocks and all that...) Other: Ah Well. Never Bet Against Applebee's Salad Bars Suddenly tone matters (personally, I'm willing to admit that the approach…

The Atlantic is being paid some unknown amount of money by McKinsey and Co. (the same people who brought you some very nice healthcare propaganda) to discuss this: The Atlantic and McKinsey & Company brought together some of the top minds in business, government, and the world of ideas, each to…