Mad rantings about politics, evolution, and microbiology. Comment policy: say what you want, but back it up with an email address. I don't like anonymous trolls.
mikethemadbiologist
Posts by this author
October 23, 2009
At the risk of channeling my inner Bob Somerby, it seems that, in this fairly comprehensive NY Times article about the rising costs of college, there isn't any discussion about why these costs are spiraling. If it's a fixed cost, such as guaranteed faculty salary increases (snort), then that…
October 22, 2009
Blogger Maha is one of my favorite political bloggers. She brings a unique perspective to politics, and her background is really interesting. Recently, like a lot of people, her income has been hit (although it seems to have bounced back a bit). Nonetheless, her co-op association is jerking her…
October 22, 2009
This is why private insurance companies should die--or, at the very least, no American should be forced to give these parasites his or her money:
Christina Turner feared that she might have been sexually assaulted after two men slipped her a knockout drug. She thought she was taking proper…
October 21, 2009
...if by stimulate, you mean wind up in banks that aren't lending any money. From the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
In May 2008, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) started mailing Economic Stimulus Payments (also called tax rebates) to an estimated 130 million income tax filers. In order to examine…
October 20, 2009
While I'm hoping to find the time to write about Norman Podhoretz's question "Why Are Jews Liberals?" I don't think, unlike Podhoretz, that the fundamental reason is repulsion towards the Christian theopolitical right. But this statement by two South Carolina County Republican Party chairmen…
October 20, 2009
Last week, I was invited to give a talk at Stony Brook University's Ecology and Evolution department about genomics (very long time readers will know that I spent four years at Stony Brook as a post-doc and research professor). The talk was well received (thank you for asking) in part, I think,…
October 19, 2009
Merry Monday. Links for you. Science:
Bill Maher Is Still Wrong About Swine Flu Vaccine
Lost Greek city that may have inspired Atlantis myth gives up secrets
Nothing to Fear but the Flu Itself
Green spaces 'improve health'
Other:
American Jews Rethink Israel
Kilcullen's Long War
Claims of…
October 19, 2009
Bill Maher notwithstanding, a recent Pew survey shows that Democrats are far more willing to get a swine flu vaccination than either independents or Republicans:
For every four Democrats willing to get the vaccine, only three Republicans and independents are willing to do so. While I'm tempted to…
October 18, 2009
I'm enjoying the Nor'easter, so here are some fun links for you. Science:
Error-riddled 'Superfreakonomics': New book pushes global cooling myths, sheer illogic, and "patent nonsense" -- and the primary climatologist it relies on, Ken Caldeira, says "it is an inaccurate portrayal of me" and "…
October 18, 2009
...drug stores, hardware stores, and supermarkets.. By way of ScienceBlogling Dr. Isis, we learn of The Great Brooklyn Tampon Shortage:
You see, in Brooklyn, we have to deal with the problem of tampon scarcity. How, you may be wondering, can a product be scarce when it is a necessity of…
October 17, 2009
One problem stemming from the collapse of housing prices is that many households, even if they can still make their overpriced mortgages, are going to be paying far more for their houses than they should. That means less money for other things, from the frivolous to the important. So I've always…
October 16, 2009
Happy Friday. Some links for a cold, rainy weekend. Science:
The QuikSCAT satellite is in trouble
Why Have Americans Become More Obese?
Offensive Play: How different are dogfighting and football?
Row at US journal widens
National Academy as National Enquirer? PNAS Publishes Theory That…
October 15, 2009
One of the interesting things that's come out of Krugman's critique of macroeconomics is that it's led to a lot of economists (and others) discussing how science should work and what science is. I found Robert Waldmann's take on the role of mathematics in science and economics:
I'd say that…
How Is the Proposed Oklahoma Law to Publicly Post Details of Abortions Online Not a HIPAA Violation?
October 14, 2009
Because nothing says freedom like government shaming regarding a private healthcare decision:
Move over, Hester Prynne:
On Nov. 1, a law in Oklahoma will go into effect that will collect personal details about every single abortion performed in the state and post them on a public website.…
October 13, 2009
Regular readers will know that I'm not an intertubez triumphalist. But I read that the Harvard Book Store has bought itself a fancy gizmo to print any book in about four minutes:
Battered booksellers, especially independent ones, have so far withstood the punishing shock-and-awe offensive of…
October 12, 2009
Merry Monday. Some links for you. Science:
Scientists call for changes to personal genomics based on comparison of test results
Geographic Variation in Public Health Spending: Correlates and Consequences
Pandemic Tests a Patchwork Health System
Why the epidemiology of swine flu matters
Playing…
October 11, 2009
A while ago, I discussed how 'fiscal conservatism'--that is, radical deficit reductionism--is an extremist ideology, not a moderate one, and that radical deficit reductionism has real-world consequences for people's lives. Steve Rhodes generalizes the problem by describing the discussion we are…
October 10, 2009
Walking is a form of mass transit. Use it wisely. I read that the phenomenon of visitors to cities who don't realize that walking is a legitimate form of mass transit is not unique to Boston:
Now, I realize that most suburbs and exurbs are allergic to building sidewalks, and so the use of sidewalks…
October 9, 2009
I've said it before, but I'll say it again: everything you need to know about movement conservatives, you can learn by watching creationists (and admittedly, there's substantial overlap between the two groups). Think about creationists, and then consider this column by Neal Gabler:
In their…
October 8, 2009
Merry Thursday! Here are some links for you. Science:
How to decide when to close a school because of swine flu
Protection Or Peril? Gun Possession Of Questionable Value In An Assault, Study Finds
E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection
Aquacalypse Now
Do Moderates Have a Responsibility to Be…
October 8, 2009
In the midst of all of the discussion about improving healthcare, one issue that has been neglected is the role of poverty in poor healthcare outcomes. One group that is hit particularly hard is the homeless. The Toronto Invasive Bacterial Diseases Network reports that the homeless are thirty…
October 7, 2009
Matt Yglesias writes the following about strict regulation of private health insurers versus a public option (italics mine):
Another thing is that I've been pondering this and I actually think it's wrong, on "a wonk level," to conceive of effective regulation of private insurance as a second-best…
October 6, 2009
The wackaloons over at Conservapedia have a new project: releasing a new version of the Bible. No, really:
Liberal bias has become the single biggest distortion in modern Bible translations. There are three sources of errors in conveying biblical meaning:
lack of precision in the original…
October 6, 2009
Last week, I was visiting family in the D.C. area, and I was reminded how much the population density has increased in the surrounding suburbs compared to when I was growing up. If nothing else, the traffic is becoming worse and worse (it's even become more congested over the last few years--an…
October 5, 2009
I realize that much of the political establishment, particular on the right, has adopted the Peter Pan philosophy of public policy: anything's possible, if you wish hard enough. Consequently, too many Americans think that our infrastructure is not only fine, but the best in the world. This, I…
October 5, 2009
The Washington Post editors have been gloriously harrumphing about increased need for objectivity. Ken Houghton at The Angry Bear notes:
But when your Ombudsman claims that your readers "typically demand coverage that is unfailingly neutral," and cites as an example of "crossing the line" one of…
October 5, 2009
By way of Digby, we learn that the anti-abortion movement has decided on a new tactic--declaring that a fertilized egg is a person:
It is one of the enduring questions of religion and science, and lately of American politics: When does a fertilized egg become a person?
Abortion foes, tired of a…
October 4, 2009
Merry Sunday. Here are some links for you. Science:
Health care workers and mandatory flu vaccines
Richard Dawkins, accommodationist?
Survey Finds Just 40% of Adults "Absolutely Certain" They Will Get H1N1 Vaccine
Other:
Fed Chest-Thumping for Beginners
Madonna, Motherhood, and Choices
Guest Post…
October 4, 2009
It is still astonishing the extent to which radical deficit reductionism still rules our political discourse, even as there are six people looking for work for every job opening. Robert Reich describes how you fix this:
So why is unemployment and underemployment so high, and why is it likely to…
October 3, 2009
...as any other vaccine. One of the things that was frustrating about the recent report of some (a few) nurses who were concerned about the safety of the swine flu vaccine was the utter ignorance by medical professionals of how the vaccine is made: the swine flu vaccine is no different in terms…