mikethemadbiologist

Balducci's grocery needs to upgrade their Jewish outreach program: (from Eater by way of Bean) Oy.

OK, so my mind isn't as great as Stephen J. Gould's was, but when The Bell Curve was first published, I remember looking at the data appendices, and thinking, "These data are crap." A few years later, I found an essay by Gould in The Bell Curve Wars that made the same point, albeit more eloquently…

In light of recent creationist idiocy in Texas, the evolution 'controversy' will be in the news. Those of us who support science will need some talking points made for TV debate, not the classroom. Here are my suggestions: ID should always be referred to as intelligent design creationism. Not…

I received the most bizarre spam email. It claims to be from the company that makes Guinness: Guinness Online Lottery. Diageo Ireland P.O. Box 1759, Killorglin, Co. Kerry Ireland www.guinness.com THE GUINNESS COMPANY OFFICIAL PRIZE NOTIFICATION We are pleased to inform you of the result of the…

It's damn cold outside, so here are some links for you. Science first: ScienceBlogling Razib discusses the genetics and social construction of race. On the technology front, Europe has a better information technology infrastructure than the U.S. ScienceBlogling Darren tells us about soft-shell…

Michael Kinsley sums up the ethical inconsistency of the Blastocyst Liberationists: Third, although the political dilemma that stem cells pose for politicians is real enough, the moral dilemma is not and never was. The embryos used in stem-cell research come from fertility clinics, which otherwise…

No, I'm not talking about voting them out of office (fat chance of that happening in some places). By now, you've probably heard about the firing of the Texas Education Agency's director of science curriculum. There's not much to add to what others have already said about how stupid this is, so,…

Until Katrina hit, it had become increasingly fashionable to talk about the U.S. as a 'post-racist' society (and that fashion continues, albeit in abated form). Unfortunately, forced marches of desperate black people have a way of putting the kabosh on that. By way of digby, comes this…

:By way of moonbat, I came across this diagram that explains intelligent design creationism perfectly: Nuff said.

Or is it Lazarai? Either way, The New Yorker has an interesting article about recreating extinct viruses. To be precise, the article deals with recreating retroviruses. Before you get all het up about the Evul Scientists creating a new AIDS or some hooey, most mammalian genomes (and other…

Things are kind of hectic, but I stumbled across this interesting post by Chris Colvin, an NBC news writer, about blogging: Now to the news media.. the Mainstream Media.. as it has become known, and an object lesson in how the blogosphere is changing the way the MSM operates. (And I say this at…

Over at AmericaBlog, Chris compares U.S. and French Ph.D. programs: The French Grandes Ãcoles are the best schools in the world, but for higher degrees (Masters, PhD) nothing comes close to the US, possibly the UK. One reason is that the US and UK generally provide much more competition from around…

I've considering canceling my New York Times subscription. Here are the pros and cons. The reasons to keep my subscription: The NY Times has a really good science section (John Tierney excepted). It's worth supporting that. Much of there 'straight' reporting is quite good--or at least it's…

A new divorce policy in Japan highlights the different outcomes when women are not dependent on men but interdependent with men. It's scaring the hell out of Japanese men: A change in Japanese law this year allows a wife who is filing for divorce to claim as much as half her husband's company…

I've written about creationist and convicted felon Kent Hovind's idiocy. But I had forgotten another aspect of Hovind--his ties to white supremacist groups. From the archives: By way of Orcinus, comes a whole lot of information about creationist Kent Hovind. First, a description of his ally,…

A while back, I wrote about the full out assault by demonic flocks of turkeys on the good city of Boston. Now, I have personally witnessed the horror up close. Last weekend, I was in Kendall Square, Boston, about a block away from the Kendall Square T station around noon. And what did I see, but…

Tom Engelhardt asks the question I've wondered about Atlanta's drought: what happens if there literally is no more water? Unfortunately, there don't appear to be any answers. The politics of a 'dry' Atlanta, or more accurately, a failed response to a 'dry' Atlanta, could really crack up the…

...or run an empire. Paul Waldman, in a fit of coastal pique, critiqued the myth of the informed Iowa voter as a reason to switch the primary calendar. But what's really bothered me about the Iowa primary is the entire caucus process. While I'm not a believer in the idea that a different…

I thought today would be a good to thank of you who were able to donate to my Donors Choose challenge. There weren't so many of you, but those who donated really anted up and kicked in. Thank you (and you can still give if you haven't already).

I think there's a related disorder to Compulsive Centrist Disorder: Magnanimous Pundit Syndrome. It seems to have hit Kevin Drum pretty hard (italics mine): I'm on record (several hundred times, probably) saying that Social Security is basically fine and that the best thing we can do is just…

Help me, or I will slay you with cuteness The Tasmanian Devil, already teetering on extinction, is being hit hard by a transmissible cancer. I had heard about this in dogs, but not Tasmanian Devils. You can donate here to help protect this unique species.

While the most recent misrepresentation of antibiotic resistance at Answers in Genesis by Georgia Purdom is not of the two usual varieties (either resistance evolves through gene transfer, and therefore mutation does not cause antibiotic resistance, or resistance arises through mutations only, and…

...Jay-Z has ditched the dollar in favor of the euro: Pay attention as you watch the catchy new music video from the mega-star rapster Jay-Z, "Blue Magic", and see if you can't spot the product placement. It is not a fancy car that he is endorsing - although both his rides, a Rolls- Royce and soft-…

Atrios wonders about William Saletan's and Andrew Sullivan's recurrent idiocy about IQ: The thing about the perpetual attempts to claim that TEH SCIENCE proves that black people really are stupid is that there are two simple fallacies that they are based on. The first one is that the "intelligence…

I often always have many unpublished posts in my cue, so I was going to let my response to Katha Pollitt's Nation column about the sexism behind a lot of the Senator Clinton bashing slide by, but then I read Amanda's post about Pollitt's column. Onto what Pollitt wrote (italics mine): The more…

Here are some links for you. Science first: In the War on Science, Republican Bobby Jindal devalues my college education, President Bush vetoes NIH funding, the Smithsonian censors an exhibit, and the Discovery Institute lies about education. Two biotech CEOs aren't happy with NIH funding either.…

More from the dog bites man files: political interference in a Smithsonian exhibit--about climate change. Having viewed the exhibit, I'm not entirely sure what to make of this Washington Post story (italics mine): Some government scientists have complained that officials at the Smithsonian's…

How can a CNN debate be considered news when questions supposedly asked by the audience are actually scripted? Isn't that lying as opposed to news? CNN, at a recent Democratic debate, according to one questioner, screened and scripted every 'audience' question (italics mine): Maria Luisa, the…

NARAL just doesn't get it: when NARAL supports Republicans or Democrats who, by undermining Democratic initiatives, weaken the Democratic Party, NARAL is strengthening those who oppose legal and safe abortion. It's as if the NARAL leadership is afflicted with a severe case of Compulsive Centrist…

As a result of the veto by Bush of the the fiscal year 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill, if the veto is not overriden by Congress, the NIH will receive a de facto 3.7% funding cut: The bill, H.R.3043, also sought to bolster the budgets of the departments of…