mikethemadbiologist

Soon it will be the War on Christmas season wherein a bunch of assholes shriek hither and yon complaining that someone somewhere tried to remove a Christmas tree, and that said removal will lead to the Destruction of Judeo-Christian Civilization As We Know It. As far as I'm concerned, it's the last…

...Janet Napolitano seems like a good choice for Attorney General: Janet Napolitano has tackled massive business fraud cases as Arizona AG, including the Arizona Baptist Foundation case, at the time one of the largest mass fraud cases in US history, which she personally shepherded through initial…

Thankfully, this seems to be the only case of anti-Obama terrorism--and make no mistake, that's what cross-burning is, an attempt to intimidate and terrorize people. I'm not sure it took though: NEWARK, N.J. - A family who had supported Barack Obama's presidential campaign emerged from their home…

I agree with ScienceBloglings Orac and Mike Dunford: Robert Kennedy Jr. shouldn't be in an Obama cabinet. As far I'm concerned, Kennedy's bullshit about thimerisol is every bit as ridiculous as creationism, except that it's far more murderous. While I don't think that would be an issue that he…

One thing about the de facto nationalization of companies is that the government--that is, we--ends up being responsible for some of the really ugly things companies do. Now we might become the proud owner of tax shelters: The troubles of the American International Group are causing headaches for…

You just can't make this stuff up. From Fox News reporter Carl Cameron (italics mine): I wish I could have told you more at the time but all of it was put off the record until after the election. There was great concern in the McCain campaign that Sarah Palin lack the degree of knowledgeability…

Every time there's an article about species barcoding--using a short DNA sequence to identify species--there always seems to be people who get all het up: Barcoding, which is something I have criticised and discussed before here, and here, treats species as things that have some invariant property…

Any time Democrats do well, there are claims that We Are Now All Centrists (although this never seems to happen when Republicans win...), and that partisanship is undesirable. With that in mind, it's worth remembering just how poisoned our national discourse has been by extremist Republicans (who…

Tonight is a triumph for the Coalition of the Sane. While legitimized insanity has been happening since the Reagan era (Got James Watt?), the last eight years have been dreadful for those not suffering from massive psychological delusions. Our political discourse (such as it is) has moved well…

Over at DrugMonkey, ScienceBlogling PhysioProf comments on the lower funding rates for R03 (Small Grants) and R21 (Exploratory/Developmental Research Grants) NIH grants: What the fuck is the deal with using the traditional study section peer review mechanism for piddly ass little chunks of change…

V is for voting Sadly, what I wrote two years ago is still germane. Vote Democratic, so it won't be two years from now: Time to go vote. We need sane people governing the country, and you sure as hell can't find them in the Republican party. As Andrew Sullivan put it, "This isn't an election,…

...or one more reason why decent people should vote Democratic. Republican Senator Arlen Spector of Pennsylvania bluntly spells out the only way McCain wins his state: There are a "couple of hidden factors" in this election, said Specter. "The first is that people answer pollsters one way, but in…

I finally figured out what the underlying philosophy for the banking bailout is (other than TEH STOOPID): it's supply-side/trickle down economics. First, the latest insult by way of Chris in Paris (italics mine): http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/29/AR20081… U.S. banks…

The Republican Party really is dipping into the dregs, as this Pitch story describes. One wonderful vignette is the phone canvasser who yells at people who aren't voting for Republicans. I phone canvass, and, erm, you don't yell at people. But onto the Jewish outreach program: Nuclear holocaust…

If you're trying to convince black voters to vote Republican, this probably isn't the best way to do it: Interesting anecdote and probably a testament to ground organization. I have no idea what this means. Friday night (which happens to be the start of our Sabbath) my wife answered the phone to…

I think this quote by Nell Minow sums up what most people feel about bonuses for employees at bailout-receiving investment banks: "I'm just flabbergasted that the financial community has failed to show any sense of leadership on this issue and doesn't seem to understand how angry people are at…

...Republican political rally? Call me confused (italics mine): "When I started talking to them, it kind of became clear that they were kind of just telling people to leave that they thought maybe would be disruptive, but based on what? Based on how they looked," Elborno said. "It was pretty much…

...the Mad Biologist needs more expensive prime rib. One of the initiatives on the Massachusetts ballot is Proposition 1, which calls for the abolition of the MA income tax. You might be surprised to read that the Mad Biologist is urging you to vote for Proposition 1. In MA, the income tax…

While I often disagree with Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE), he usually doesn't practice sleazeball politics. He's also disgusted by the Cult of Stupidity that has enveloped the Republican Party: For Hagel, almost as disturbing as Palin's lack of experience is her willingness--in disparaging remarks…

ScienceBlogling Revere links to a news article about high levels of VRE, vancomycin resistant enterococci in beach sand. While Revere and the article both describe how this indicates that VRE are established in the community, I think a far more chilling problem isn't mentioned at all: VMRSA. What…

By way of Skepchick comes this excellent video which bluntly shows just how bigoted and hateful claims opposing gay marriage are: I suppose this puts me in league with known domestic homosexualists....

Note to election officials--a good way to restore faith in the validity of election results is to have the demonstration machine function properly: How hard is this? Bank machines don't screw up this badly. I think any company that makes a machine that fails repeatedly should be heavily fined…

...I would be feeling like an idiot right about now. A while ago, I endorsed Sonia Chang-Diaz over Dianne Wilkerson for MA State Senate because I thought Wilkerson had some ethics problems. I didn't know the half of it (italics mine): State Senator Dianne Wilkerson was arrested this morning after…

One of the things that has puzzled me about natural history/science museums are the mineralogy exhibits. They really don't seem to be about anything other than "OOH! SHINY PEBBLE!" Mind you, they often have some very cool and shiny pebbles, but contrast them to paleontology exhibits. Sure,…

First, thanks to everyone who commented. I think DrugMonkey hit the nail on the head: Nevertheless, MtM seems to be calling for a greater proportion of grants to be funded through the Request for Applications mechanism. The key parts of the RFA which distinguish it from the Program Announcement is…

I came across this Science letter to the editor about a "gradual peer review process" by the associate editor for Plant Signalling and Behavior, Communicative and Integrative Biology; it's pretty interesting: ...Many scientists--particularly those who are well established and thus in demand--are…

From the Oxdown Gazette comes this interview transcript with Sarah Palin: Brian Williams: Back to the notion of terrorists and terrorism, this word has come up in relation to Mr. Ayers -- hanging out with terrorist - domestic terrorists. It is said that it gives it a vaguely post uh 9-11 hint,…

...it's applied research. As far as I can tell, the McCain campaign is referring to a study of olive fruit flies which are an agricultural pest. From the congressman who wrote the earmark: "The Olive Fruit Fly has infested thousands of California olive groves and is the single largest threat to…

Consider the following: 23% approve of George Bush as president. 28% do not know that the earth travels around the sun. Discuss.

Brad DeLong puts it very eloquently: I would advise every reporter covering the McCain campaign that their only road to having a career in journalism in the future is to write something that gets them thrown off the plane. Given the outright, serial lying the McCain campaign has engaged in, I think…