mikethemadbiologist

Whenever some right-wing associated nut shoots someone, we always hear it described as the actions of a 'lone wolf.' Well, if that's the case then them wolves have formed themselves a pack: -- July 2008: A gunman named Jim David Adkisson, agitated at how "liberals" are "destroying America," walks…

It's snowing. Big whoop. Links for you. Science: Meet Dicty the amoeba - the world's smallest farmer On sharing genes with friends The rise of genetic architecture Are synthetic associations a man-made phenomenon? Other: Americans Are Far Less Conservative Than the Right Wing Claims: New…

Note: I wrote this before stumbling across this post which provides pretty good evidence that President Obama's recent sale of his house was also signed by a robosigner. Brazen doesn't even begin to describe the situation.... It's beyond trite to state that the foreclosure crisis has had a huge…

Daniel Lende has been doing a fabulous job of discussing the difference between mental illness and the propensity to be violent. Lende writes (italics mine): It would be easy to conclude that politics have nothing to do with what he did. This view is wrong. What Jared Loughner did was inherently…

We have ice, ice, baby. Also, some links. Science: The Antibiotics Crisis Time for Astrology to Sign Out (for the Huffington Post, astrology seems to be a woo too far) Superbugs, Agricultural Antibiotics, and Farm-Worker Infections: A New Study Connects the Dots Sit. Stay. Parse. Good Girl! Other…

By way of Thers at Whiskey Fire, we read that the evangelical movement has recognized that sometimes homeschooling doesn't quite get the job done: Suppose you have home-schooled your advanced blastocyst in the best evangelical wingnut way, to the age of 18. And suppose you recognize that no matter…

That's not very civil of me, but it is honest. Having said that, behavior is obviously based in biology, and it does stand to reason that some behaviors will have been influenced by natural selection. Admittedly, I'm biased against evolutionary psychology: I think, in general, the claims made…

Rain, rain, go away, come back....NEVER. Oh well. Links for you. Science: The Ivory Ceiling of Service Work Martin Luther King, Jr., on science and religion Bull sharks spotted swimming down the main street in Goodna - 30km from the coast The Assyrians and Jews: 3,000 years of common history…

From, Robert Bentley, the Republican governor of Alabama: "I was elected as a Republican candidate. But once I became governor ... I became the governor of all the people. I intend to live up to that. I am color blind," Bentley said in a short speech given about an hour after he took the oath of…

I've written many times that everything you need to know about movement conservatism can be understood by observing creationists (not surprising, since the theopolitical right is a major element of the conservative movement). I'm glad to see NY Times columnist and economist Paul Krugman has…

A Tuesday that feels like a Monday. Ugh. Links for you. Science: Opening science Homeopathy: Cure or Con? Local Health Department Costs Associated with Response to a School-Based Pertussis Outbreak --- Omaha, Nebraska, September--November 2008 New User-friendly Resource Connects Human Genes To…

Not me. I said a good blogger. I've been remiss in many things blog-related, but an important thing I've been meaning to do is drumming up some support for Lance Mannion. He's a superb writer, and brings a much-needed human perspective to blogging, which is, for the most part, technonerd-driven…

Matthew Herper rounds up some of the discussion about the decreasing cost of genomics. But one thing that hasn't been discussed much at all is the cost of all of the other things needed to make sense of genomes, like metadata. I briefly touched on this issue previously: A related issue is…

Links for you. Science: Antibiotics do indeed relieve kids' ear infections Farm worker infections with MRSA -- the first numbers Genetic Soldiers? Advisory Group Urges Pentagon To Map Genes Of All Personnel (interesting, although eugenics claim seems overblown) We're not ready for do it yourself…

Reading the prepared text of Obama's speech at the Tucson Memorial Thursday night, there was one part I really liked: And if, as has been discussed in recent days, their deaths help usher in more civility in our public discourse, let's remember that it is not because a simple lack of civility…

As the ongoing assault against public sector employees continues, it's worth remembering why Martin Luther King was in Memphis when he was assassinated: he was supporting striking sanitation workers. Due to conservative revisionism, we seem to have forgotten the radicalism of King, that he…

Happy Sunday. Links for you. Science: Private ICU rooms in hospitals aren't just a luxury -- they could be a lifesaver National Zoo's Anteater Pup Thrives after Rocky Start Do private ICU rooms really reduce HAIs? Does the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" exist? Next generation sequencing…

By way of Tim Smith, we come across this description of living in Boston by novelist Dennis Lehane: ...More than one friend had suggested we move to the suburbs -- homes were cheaper, schools were safer, property taxes and car insurance premiums were lower. [We] grew up together in the city, though…

I found this comment to a Bob Herbert column by a teacher who works at a school attended mostly by poor whites. I'm excerpting it in full as comments have a tendency to disappear into the ether, but also because I don't think many people have (fortunately) any idea what poverty really means for…

It's cold. Very cold. Warm up with some links. Science: The House Anti-Science Committee? My, Oh My, Oh MiSeq!! Genomes too cheap to meter (not sure I agree, but worth reading) Other: Where Is the Love Quote of the Day: Jenny McCarthy Helps Kill Children Gabrielle Giffords' Arizona shooting…

From the Great State of Arizona (not to pick on the sane people trapped there): Then there was Sylvia Allen, a real estate broker from the town of Snowflake, who, in 2008, was appointed by the local Republican Party to finish the term of a respected conservative who had died in office. Allen, who…

There have been a lot of proposals floating around about protecting congressmen. One suggestion is to use local police as security: According to a federal official who is preparing the advice, the Capitol Police will recommend that when members hold well-publicized outside events with uncontrolled…

It's Friday. Here are some links. Science: Why you CAN have your $1000 genome - so long as you learn what to do with it A Physicist Solves the City Algorithms Take Control of Wall Street (Got Transaction Tax?) How does bleach work? Other: "Don't politicize this tragedy!" Let's Get This Straight…

...getting an abortion. Because that seems to be the message from the presidents of the third-year class of the UC Davis veterinary school--with the apparent approval of the Chair of the Department of Medicine & Epidemiology. By way of ScienceBlogling Dr. Isis, the enlightened solons: Dear…

Thank goodness it's...Thursday. Crap. Some links to get you through. Science: Oldest Homo sapiens fossil? Journalistic vaporware A Fistful of Teeth - Do the Qesem Cave Fossils Really Change Our Understanding of Human Evolution? How many species of elephant? (with bonus rants) Other: How a…

If you haven't heard by now, Sarah Palin compared criticism of her to "blood libel", the disgusting medieval falsehood that Jews used Christian blood in religious rituals. While some have chalked this up to paranoia, I don't think that's correct (besides, Palin's paranoia stems from the bursting…

Microbiologist Julian Davies once said that the world is bathed in a dilute solution of tetracycline (an antibiotic). Between human use and production in the environment by naturally-occurring bacteria, there's a lot of tetracycline out there. In spite of all of this tetracycline, most soil…

It's snowing! Nuthin' to do but read some links. Science: Does Studying Economics Inhibit Cooperation? Next Generation Sequencing adds thousands of new genes African Wild Dogs and the Allee Effect Other: The Economics of Economists' Ethics: If they read their own research, economists might…

Obama has finally gotten around to choosing a replacement for Larry Summers, and named Gene Sperling director of the National Economic Council (why he didn't prioritize this with nearly 10% U3 unemployment is puzzling). This has been controversial since Gene Sperling, like many of Obama's closest…

I would ask if movement conservatives have any decency or shame, but that has an obvious question. By way of Jamison Foer, we find that Erick Erickson, CNN contributor and rightwing conservative, has definitely discovered what ails this nation: Through it all though, well meaning people on both…