mikethemadbiologist

Rogue Columnist describes how newspaper consolidation--a result of increasing laxity of anti-trust decisions--has damaged newspapers: -The creation of monopoly markets and, through consolidation, cartels of newspaper ownership. Economic history shows us that monopolies and cartels always commit…

A year ago to the day, skippy and Jon Swift led an uprising of little blogs. As skippy notes: the inestimable mr. swift has a handful of other links to other blogs also commemorating this auspicious occasion. so, this weekend, take a moment to click thru to a smaller blog, and read a new…

One should be more informed, not less after watching a presidential debate. Jamison Foser, in an otherwise excellent post about the recent Democratic debate, makes one small error when he accuses CNN's Wolf Blitzer of being imprecise, when, in fact, Blitzer is just wrong: Blitzer said, "I just…

Seven years into the reign of Little Lord Pontchartrain, some Democrats still don't get that the Republicans and movement conservatives do not reconsider and rethink, they regroup and rearm. driftglass tries to help Democratic Kansas Governor Sebelius understand this (bold original): And then…

From commenter mcc over at Pandagon: "Post-racial" just means "after we all agreed not to talk about race anymore". "Post-feminist" means something similar. Indeed.

Because they don't understand stuff. To wit, Mike Allen in The Politico: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which governs surveillance of telephone calls and e-mail traffic of suspected terrorists, expires on Friday. After that, any monitoring that's currently authorized could continue,…

...and conservatives still don't like him. Boo fucking hoo. Here's how Straight-Talking, honest McCain is sliming the Mittster: "I'm calling with an urgent Mitt Romney [unintelligible]" "We care deeply about traditional values and protecting families. And we need someone who will not waver in the…

...the morons at Bucky's Family Restaurant do. From some actual NY Times reporting: "I wish there was somebody worth voting for," said Buford Moss, a retired Union Carbide worker sitting at the back table of Bucky's Family Restaurant here, with a group of regulars, in a county seat that -- as the…

Conservative blogger Ben Domenech, in a stereotypical display of rightwing 'humor'*, writes an imaginary speech for Fred Thompson's withdrawal announcement (italics mine): I have never seen such a bunch of pansies strutting about pretending to be leaders. Rudy Giuliani? Slick cheater. Mike Huckabee…

Damn. I guess I won't be voting for him on Tuesday. Well, Obama is my favorite now...

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is doing just fine. From The Boston Courant (Jan. 26, 2008): Tom Brady, the New England Patriots star quarterback, is a winner on and off the field. Brady has sold his 314 Commonwealth Avenue condominium for $5.3 million, as reported last week by Banker…

I know I've been attacking John Aravosis for his disdain of helping the poor. But he is right that the twenty percent of unelected Democratic convention delegates known as superdelegates is an undemocratic idea. Unfortunately, his arithmetic is a little off: As you know, the Democratic nomination…

Because why offend one group of people, when you can offend two at the same time? From Chet Scoville: It appears that "Canadian" is a new racial epithet in America; it's now a code word for black. Don't believe me? Take a look: Last August, a blogger in Cincinnati going by the name CincyBlurg…

If you're like most sentient humans, you don't care whom the NY Times editorial board decided to endorse for president. But the 'logic' behind the endorsement of Clinton is revealing. The Mandarin Class still doesn't get it. About Clinton's foreign policy experience, the Times editors write: It…

Say hello to the Office on National Drug Control Policy and to faith-based drug overdose prevention. One public health intervention that saves lives is the distribution of Narcan nasal sprays to drug users: The nasal spray is a drug called naloxone, or Narcan. It blocks the brain receptors that…

When I read Olivia Judson's post about hopeful monsters, I didn't think she used the term correctly (here are some good explanations why), but I was surprised by Jerry Coyne's response. First, the personal attack on Judson is unwarranted: when we reach the point where the serious challenge to…

By way of Martini Revolution, I came across this Scott Horton post about Bush's favorite painting, "A Charge to Keep." We definitely need better art history education in the U.S., if for no other reason than to prevent people from embarrassing themselves. Horton: Bush was so taken by it ["A…

By way of Amanda, I came across this bit of political 'humor' from a Long Island weekly. I'm not reprinting it, because I don't put racist sewage on this site ("someday I hope people will call me Doctor YoMama" in reference to Obama is just a taste). I've lived in several parts of the country, and…

So I wrote Senator Kennedy (and Senator Kerry) an email about the upcoming FISA/retroactive immunity legislation. Here's his response: Dear [Mad Biologist]: Thank you for your recent letter on the President's warrantless wiretapping program and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Protecting…

It's interesting how we're trained to tolerate or engage in a lot of behaviors that, rationally, don't make much sense. Workers who realize that, in today's job market, loyalty to a company doesn't make much sense, are accused of disloyalty by their employers, even though those same employers will…

I don't want "hope", I want good policies, politics, and results. Obama demonstrates exactly how not to argue against Republican militarism. From Ezra Klein: I'm sympathetic to what I think Obama was trying to say, but the point is better put more simply -- to have the best shot at winning…

ScienceBlogling Tara has a great four part series examining the question of did Yersinia pestis cause the Black Death. Tara speak, you listen!

Some people erroneously, since the U.S. water supply system is actually cleaner than most bottled waters, buy bottled water to avoid contaminated water. Unfortunately, there's no way to buy bottled air. And in Beijing, air pollution is a real threat. Last time there was a major smog outbreak in…

A couple of weeks back I posted about the Office of Human Research Protections' shutting down a highly effective infection control program. In the NY Times, Jane Brody discusses the program further. Here's the list of the five things the hospitals used to combat hospital-acquired infections: When…

If you think that preventing Bush from granting retroactivity immunity for the telcos is a good thing, you might expect Democratic presidential candidates to demonstrate leadership by filibustering the bill. Or maybe not: Bush is about to get his number one priority through Congress, a move that…

Unlike most internet quizes, here's one that seems designed not to be ridiculous. http://pewresearch.org/newsiq/ The quiz, put together by the Pew Research Institute tests your basic knowledge of recent news. I aced it, but I'm wonky like dat. So how did you do?

I'm posting about this because I want Orac's head to explode. Apparently, the first episode of the ABC legal drama, "Eli Stone", involves the protagonist taking up the mercury militia, anti-vax cause: While police and legal dramas often use ripped-from-the-headlines topics as the basis of episodes…

If creationists are going to be stupid, couldn't they at least be creative about it? Once again, they misunderstand the potential and limits of experimentation. By way of ScienceBlogling Greg Laden comes this summary by Texan Citizens for Science of the new creationistChristian perspective of…

Yesterday, I posted about how feral pigs might be responsible for the spinach-associated E. coli O157:H7 outbreak. A while back, I described the epidemic spread of a new strain of MRSA throughout pigs in Europe. What was puzzling to me was why this MRSA strain, found at forty to sixty-fold…

According to Richard Stengel, the managing editor of Time magazine, Time will run with a story claiming that twenty percent of Iraq War veterans have suffered brain trauma--that's 250,000 people: When we got into the Iraq war we didn't know how long it would last. When we got into the Iraq war we…