mikethemadbiologist

When I discovered that Shakes, filling in over at Crooks and Liars, had linked to my post about Senator Obama and Social Security, I thought might get hordes of angry Obamaites*. Instead, what some of the comments repeated two common mistakes about Social Security (although thankfully other…

ScienceBlogling Razib comments on Republican rising star Bobby Jindal's "very weak understanding of evolution, or, a purposeful misrepresentation" (bold Razib's): ...the whole article [by Jindal] is an illustration of the reality that extremely intelligent people can also be very ignorant. I have…

First of all, thank you to everyone who commented on my post about COBRA. One of the odd things about the situation was that I was screwed by the calendar: had I switched jobs during a calendar month, I wouldn't have to have picked up my own health insurance. This doesn't alleviate other…

One of the most successful anti-poverty programs ever created in the U.S. is the Social Security program. Despite that, conservatives and Republicans, primarily for ideological reasons, have attempted to dismantle the program--if not in one fell swoop, then incrementally. One of the tactics that…

Here are some links for you. Science goes first: Piggies and MRSA: the Mad Biologist, Revere, and Tara. Alex Koppelman also chimes in. Do we always need to rebut creationists? Chloramphenicol, an antibacterial, seems to protect endangered frogs from a fungal epidemic. One of nature's most…

The WarDefense Department claims that 'only' 30,000 U.S. servicemen have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. But that number is a gross underestimate: On Veterans Day, politicians will praise the 30,000 troops "officially wounded" in action in Iraq and Afghanistan as if this "statistic" were…

If you're in Boston, the Boston Public Library at Copley Square is having a free exhibition of The New Yorker cartoonist William "King of Cartoons" Steig's work. It's worth seeing.

Rightwing nut David Horowitz just finished celebrating Islamofascist Awareness Week. One of the goals of Horowitz's exercise is to intimidate faculty and students into political correctness*. A while back, while reading Hanna Rosen's God's Harvard, this description of how one faculty member at…

...and you still get hosed by the U.S. healthcare system. I recently switched jobs (this is a good thing), and the joys of our wonderful healthcare system become so apparent. Basically, I have to pay far more than I otherwise would to not allow a gap in my coverage (i.e., fork over the bucks to…

It's not like there's a quality control problem with Chinese manufacturing or anything: Australian officials ordered a popular Chinese-made children's toy pulled from the shelves after scientists found it contained a chemical that converts into a powerful "date rape" drug when ingested. Three…

The Charge of the Light MRSA Brigade A few months ago, I discussed an article that demonstrated that pigs had ridiculously high frequencies of MRSA. ScienceBlogling Revere discusses another paper about pigs and MRSA. Like the previous study (published by some of the same authors), several of the…

Before I get to an excellent NY Times article by David Leonhardt about taxes, I want to say why taxes shouldmust matter to scientists. Even so often, I get a link or a comment which decries my posts about politics*. But the lay of the political landscape is vital for scientists--and not just for…

In commenting on a post by SA Smith that rebuts (quite well) Behe's latest ID creationist idiocy, tristero writes (bold original; italics mine): But reading Smith's post on HIV evolution, I have to confess I can't for the life of me understand it. Ms Smith, I promise I'll spend some more time on it…

If don't already know, the world's frog (and other amphibian) populations are facing a massive decline. One cause is an infection by chytridiomycosis, a fungal disease. Scientists in New Zealand have announced that treatment with chloramphenicol, an antibacterial agent can cure chytridiomycosis:…

Merry Daylight Saving Time! Here are some links for you. Sciency stuff: On the frontlines of the Republican War on Modeling. Here's something about that AEI silliness about Jews and IQ. Speaking of politics, humans, and genetics, Patricia Williams talks to a Columbia biology professor about…

Instead of focusing on partial drowning interrogation during the hearings for the attorney general, John Dean tells us what Congress should be doing. From Talking Points Memo: Nixon's Attorney General had been removed (and was later prosecuted for lying to Congress) - a situation not unlike…

A while ago, I stumbled across this amazing article about a car mechanic, who never even graduated high school, and who has developed a diesel engine that is cleaner (biodiesel based), more fuel efficient, and more powerful than the standard engine produced by car companies (italics mine): This is…

In a NY Times article about Bernard Kerik, I came across this passage (italics mine): Mr. Giuliani said he planned to appoint Mr. Kerik as first deputy correction commissioner. Mr. Kerik, who wrote of this in his autobiography, "The Lost Son," was taken aback; he was a year removed from being a…

I am in utter awe of the brilliant reframing of 'waterboarding' by the Kenosha Kid: Waterboarding = Partial Drowning Interrogation Fucking brilliant.

I've been reading about the AEI seminar about IQ in Ashkenazic (of European ancestry) Jews with some interest (ScienceBlogling Razib raises a really good point that I hadn't thought of too). A few years ago, I was asked to review a paper that dealt with this issue. Let me state that I think IQ as…

Tim Watkin thinks so (italics mine): In the half-century following the second world war US universities were magnets for students and academics from around the world. Crucially, many foreign graduate students studying the physical sciences, biological sciences, IT and engineering stayed after…

Not only does Conservapedia, which is like Wikipedia but stupid, spew idiocy about evolution, have some true hackery about evolution, but this part, pulled from the main page, says it all: (here's a full-sized image complete with cheesy soundtrack) Masterpiece? Are conservatives trying to destroy…

Well, I don't know if it's the best, but it's pretty damn cool. This evening if you're in Boston, you should swing by 261 Marlborough Street (Back Bay). They always put on a good display, and this year looks to be no different.

I have a week off, so I've been going to the gym in the morning later than usual. I'm still recovering from the near-lobotomization of morning radio, so I wasn't prepared for a report on the "superbug" on Fox's The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet--think of it as a cheap knockoff of Regis and…

Either one shouldn't take polls or 24 percent of the American public seriously. Of course, these are not mutually exclusive options. Kevin Drum summarizes the incongruence: So 29% think government should be responsible for providing healthcare, but 53% approve of extending Medicare to cover…

I've criticized Senator Obama before for his inaccurate views of the Social Security program. Paul Krugman has a very nice takedown--on the TV, no less: What is Obama thinking? Is he trying to position himself as a liberal...Republican? Help Public School Kids by Funding my Challenge at…

Onward Glorious Conservatives! Don't retreat from the librul modelers!!! By now, you might have heard about the Bush Administration's massive 'editing' of the CDC testimony about the health consequences of global warming. Over at Science Progress, there is a copy of the unedited, original CDC…

Here are some weekend links for you. Science first: Nose picking and staph infections. Really. Antibiotic resistance is a breakdown of infection control. Neanderthals had red hair? Not what you might expect... Bora discusses what I've always suspected: daylight saving time screws up a lot of…

A while ago, I wrote about the MBTA's test program of playing crappy commercial radio over the PA system at Boston subway stops. Because what Boston really needs is government-sponsored noise pollution. After many complaints, the MBTA has decided to shelve the program, for now anyway: ...…

...doesn't invalidate the person making the prediction. Nouriel Roubini, who correctly predicted that the housing market would crater in 2007 has decided to make his critics eat crow (yes, there's some dense economics here, but wait until the end--there's a point to this madness): Indeed a year…