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
April 20, 2009
I was just asked by a roving reporter, "What brings you to Boston today to watch the marathon?" (which doesn't really make sense if you think about it--the question answers itself). My response:
My home. Which is right around the corner.
And then he ended the interview. Jerk.
April 19, 2009
Tomorrow's the Boston Marathon, so here are some links to exercise your brain. Science first:
Child Obesity Is Linked to Chemicals in Plastics
Social media threats hyped by science reporting, not science
Blood Falls - bacteria thrive for millions of years beneath a rusty Antarctic glacier
UC…
April 19, 2009
ScienceBloglings Greg Laden and John Wilkins have discussed whether or not CIA employees complicit in torture should be exempt from prosecution. The debate has revolved around the 'following orders' issue. But this misses a key point:
CIA personnel are not military personnel.
There is a specific…
April 18, 2009
(from here)
...they would support statehood for the District of Columbia, right? From Jameson Foser:
Every major news organization in the country covered Wednesday's tea parties. And, in doing so, they all ignored the fact that residents of Washington, D.C., are subject to the very conditions…
April 18, 2009
We hear a lot about 'too big to fail' and how future regulation should be designed, at least in the financial sector, to prevent growth to that size. Apparently, Treasury Secretary Geithner hasn't heard about this:
Even worse is Geithner's notion of designating certain banks as too big to fail and…
April 17, 2009
A recent article in MMWR Weekly with the unassuming title of "Preliminary FoodNet Data on the Incidence of Infection with Pathogens Transmitted Commonly Through Food --- 10 States, 2008" is incredibly disturbing.
The incidence of reported (more about that in a bit) Salmonella was 16.20 cases per…
April 16, 2009
The Ethicurean has a superb interview with author Maryn McKenna about MRSA and agriculture. In the interview, the following question about MRSA transmission was asked:
But isn't the industry saying that there's no definitive evidence linking MRSA in pigs to MRSA in humans?
It depends on your…
April 15, 2009
I'm back from vacation, so normalcy (and the occasional response) will resume tomorrow. Thankfully, I just missed the Great Teabagging by a few hours....
(I swear, movement conservatives are very porny)
April 15, 2009
Or maybe not. By way of ScienceBlogling Ed Yong, I came across tweenbots, which are little robots that can only travel in one direction, and...well, just watch the video:
So I wanted to see what else tweenbot inventor Kacie Kinzer came up with. While I like the Morgen, it is the Whisper Jar that…
April 14, 2009
While I'm away on vacation, here's a blast from the past:
Once again, the science framing wars have flared up. While I'm not allergic to the concept of framing as some are, one of the major reasons why I'm not a big fan of dwelling on the topic is that obsessing over language reminds me of the…
April 13, 2009
From The NY Times' Frank Rich comes this amazing tidbit about Obama economic advisor Larry Summers:
I was less shocked by the White House's disclosure of Summers's recent paydays than by a bit of reporting that appeared deep down in the Times follow-up article on that initial news. The reporter…
April 13, 2009
So I recently joined Twitter. So here's some random thoughts about it:
De facto blog aggregator. It's actually a good substitute for an RSS feed, and because it's very low cost for someone to recommend a post (i.e., they don't have to blog about it), it's a really good way to be exposed to posts…
April 12, 2009
I've been meaning to get to this topic after it came up in Obama's 'online' press conference. For me, the argument in favor of legalization is that it would weaken organized crime and that legalization of other popular activities has done so in the past (more on that in a moment). Of course, for…
April 12, 2009
Economist Dean Baker makes an excellent point about the supposed complexity of the housing crisis:
There are some very basic points here that everyone should understand. The details of any form of regulation will be "complicated." For example, the actual fire safety rules for schools are…
April 11, 2009
Matt Taibbi says everything I've been thinking regarding Wall Street compensation (but better):
Here's the real problem with people like Jake DeSantis. Throughout this whole period, they never were able to connect the dots -- to grasp the fact that when they skimmed a million here or a million…
April 10, 2009
A recent post about the idiocy in Fairfax County regarding a student who was expelled for two weeks because she took birth control pills during school received some great comments. But as you might expect, with enough comments, one of the 'contraception is abortion' morons showed up (can't you…
April 9, 2009
There's been a lot of discussion over Obama economic advisor Larry Summers' economic ties to Wall Street (7.2 million such ties in 2008 alone). What I don't get is why Obama sees the need to keep him around.
Yes, Summers is an asshole. He was an asshole at Harvard, and I don't see why he would…
April 8, 2009
And Easter too. While the blog, like the Mighty River Jordan, will keep rolling on, I'm actually on vacation, so if I don't show up in the comments or respond to email, don't take it personally. I'll still find it amazing that it took Blogger so long to create an auto-publish function...
April 8, 2009
I haven't ranted about the non-existent Social Security crisis for a while. Thankfully, Bob Somerby does some very good myth-busting of the 'worthlessness' of Social Security IOUs--that is, the Social Security Trust Fund:
It's true, of course, that the SS surpluses of the past twenty years (the so…
April 7, 2009
Atrios is right: Fairfax County, VA's policy about taking a birth control pill is school is nuts:
When a Fairfax County mother got an urgent call from school last month reporting that her teenage daughter was caught popping a pill at lunchtime, she did not panic. "It was probably her birth-control…
April 7, 2009
It's called 'feed-in tariffs.' From The Washington Monthly:
Why is the renewable energy market in Gainesville booming while it's collapsing elsewhere in the country? The answer boils down to policy. In early February, the city became the first in the nation to adopt a "feed-in tariff"--a clunky…
April 6, 2009
There's increasing trouble brewing for Obama economic advisor Larry Summers. In 2008, while everyone knew he would play a big role in either Clinton's or Obama's administration, he pulled down $5.2 million from a hedge fund--for working one day a week. But you see, we have it all wrong (italics…
April 6, 2009
I recently wrote about the introduction in the House of the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA). This is a really critical piece of legislation that could put a dent in the evolution of resistance. Now, there's more good news.
Senator Kennedy, along with Republican…
April 5, 2009
Here are some links for you. Science-related stuff:
Sustainable Science Journalism Toward a Sustainable World
Our Cousins Are Sick
Should You Worry About Data Rot?
Barry the giant sea worm discovered by aquarium staff after mysterious attacks on coral reef
Enter Adam, the Robot Scientist
Believing…
April 5, 2009
A couple of nights ago, I bought some toothpaste. At the risk of veering off into "in my day, we used sandpaper. And we liked it!" territory, there's a ridiculous variety of toothpaste.
If you just consider Crest, there's Cavity Prevention, Multicare Whitening, Multicare Whitening, and Half-Caff…
April 4, 2009
...I'm sure this will work out just fine:
The Obama administration is engineering its new bailout initiatives in a way that it believes will allow firms benefiting from the programs to avoid restrictions imposed by Congress, including limits on lavish executive pay, according to government…
April 4, 2009
Jonathan Chait, in discussing the institutional problems that Obama faces in getting his agenda passed, describes Blue Dog Democratic Senator Ben Nelson's opposition to direct federal financing of student loans:
Recent years have shown beyond a doubt that the direct lending program works better.…
April 3, 2009
This will keep you busy this weekend. Science first:
Ten Five reasons clumsy excuses to exclude viruses from the tree of life
Vaccine Denial = Scientific Illiteracy
Hyping Health Risks
When the outbreaks begin, they'll start in California
Anti-Vaccination Stupidity, Expertise, and Feeling "…
April 2, 2009
ScienceBlogling Jessica Palmer notes that editors are an overlooked, but critical component of science reporting (italics original):
...the recent debate about scientists vs. science journalists as communicators obscures the fact that many mistakes don't originate with either the scientist or the…
April 2, 2009
Isn't that like "Pedophiles for Childrens' Welfare?" From The Nation, your healthcare has a new special friend:
....Rick Scott is the man who best embodies the spirit of the current conservative opposition. The name may not exactly be a household word, or it may ring a faint bell, but Politico…