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
February 10, 2009
Bedbugs and insecticide resistance
For shame, Forbes magazine
AGBT Day 1: Illumina Shines
Other:
What Is The Appeal Of Conservatism?
Stimulate the Arts and Keep America Strong
Bridges and Books: Bring Back the Federal Writers Project
Senate "Moderates" Cut 1 1/4 Million Jobs from Stimulus Bill
How…
February 10, 2009
Describing a recent economics hire by the Council for Foreign Relations, Paul Krugman wonders if the CFR will hire a creationist to run their science policy group (I actually think they'll hire an anti-vaccinationist as a public health person, or a global warming denier before they get to a…
February 9, 2009
These Twitter feeds, captured by Atrios and written by 'moderate' Democrat Claire McCaskill, make it so perfectly clear that many elected officials have no idea how things are funded:
"Proud we cut over 100 billion out of recov bill.Many Ds don't like it, but needed to be done.The silly stuff Rs…
February 9, 2009
...so why did the Blue Dog Democrats and conservative Republicans cut it? According to the latest about the Recovery and Reinvestment Act (funny how everyone's forgetting about the reinvestment part), the Blue Dogs and 'moderate' Republicans cut in half the proposed funds to supplement state…
February 8, 2009
No more football! (unless you consider the Pro Bowl to be football). But I got links! Science first:
Scienists and Engineers for America: Senate-passed stimulus package by the numbers
Cuttlefish tailor their defences to different predators
Game on: sequencing companies draw battle-lines for 2009…
February 8, 2009
Before I get to the ongoing calamity, the economic impact of a nation-wide viral epidemic in horses in 1872 is worth considering (italics mine):
During the late 19th century, the American economy relied on horses the way it depends on gas today. Horses unloaded cargo from ports, transported goods…
February 7, 2009
More like this please:
And part deux:
Much better. He is kinda new to the job, after all...
February 6, 2009
Here are some good links. Science firstest:
Titanoboa - thirteen metres, one tonne, largest snake ever.
Did Triceratops fight with their faces?
Is Obesity Contagious?
Other:
Galbraith: Fiscal Balance and Credibility
Buy America or Bye America
Refuted economic doctrines #4: individual retirement…
February 6, 2009
Via Greg Sargent, we learn that Blue Dog Democrat Senator Ben Nelson is still a repulsive person.
Total Reductions: $80 billion
Eliminations:
Head Start, Education for the Disadvantaged, School improvement, Child Nutrition, Firefighters, Transportation Security Administration, Coast Guard, Prisons…
February 6, 2009
'Blue dog' conservative Democratic Senator Nelson's list of proposed cuts from the National Recovery and Reinvestment Act was leaked to Huffington Post (the documents are available at TPM). I've never understood the Blue Dogs. While conservatives are full blown batshit loony (Tax cuts today!…
February 5, 2009
You know things are going wrong when a Congresswoman urges her constituents (and others) to squat in their homes, even when the bank can foreclose on them:
It's safe to say that the current system isn't working. Some borrowers were stupid, and others just greedy, but these loans should have never…
February 4, 2009
In the midst of the Conservative War on Contraception, there's a broader assault by conservatives on public health initiatives. At Salon, Alex Koppelman does a good job rebutting the conservative opposition to vaccination, infection control, and figuring out if someone has AIDS (further fisking is…
February 3, 2009
Some links for ya:
Single gene allows glowing bacteria to switch from fish to squid
Discount DNA
Stimulus Spending and NSF Funding
Other:
WINDY: Women's groups lost the BC battle, won the stimulus war
Media Matters: Fetishizing off-center centrism
Guantanamo Bay Watch, the Final Season
In Defense…
February 3, 2009
I think the creationist controversy sheds a lot of light on the conservative movement as a whole. So, in the comments of this post by Brad DeLong that wondered how in the hell anyone still seriously argues on behalf of the Treasury View in economics, I remarked that it reminded me of creationists…
February 2, 2009
By now, you might have heard about the growing outrage that bankers at banks receiving bailout money are drawing bonuses. It's reached the point where Sen. Claire McCaskill has proposed capping bankers' income at a salary equivalent to that of the president of the U.S. I didn't really have much…
February 1, 2009
Here are some links for you. Science/health first:
In Texas and Louisiana, Dinosaurs Steer Science Education
The Rightful Place Project Revisited...
Vaccines and Autism: A Tale of Shifting Hypotheses
The giant green fragrant parrot
Why Contraception Saves Money and Prevents Abortion
Other:
June 22…
February 1, 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_UwGgLdmdI&eurl=http://www.salon.com/op…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8KwUSQL9zc&eurl=http://www.salon.com/op…
No doubt, I'll be accused of being an anti-Semitic Jew or something, but the two videos of a 60 Minutes segment (posted below) are worth watching…
January 31, 2009
A while ago, I mentioned that I like the idea of keeping Sheila Bair on because she didn't panic like a ninny, unlike most of the other Bushies--who panicked like ninnies about everything. Gary Kamiya says it better:
The miasma of repressed fear that has hung over America for so long will not…
January 31, 2009
My apologies to the Great Bard. Today is Blogroll Amnesty Day, this year co-hosted by skippy and Jon Swift. According to skippy, we're supposed to link to five smaller blogs. Below the fold, my five choices, and my mauling of Shakespeare in honor of Blogroll Amnesty Day:
Rev. BigDumbChimp…
January 30, 2009
Some links for you. Science:
Don't Risk Going Unvaccinated
Cell on "a unit of scientific advance"
MRSA ST398 in US swine
Creationism: The Very Bad Idea That Just Won't Die
Other:
Busting Balls: 20 ways to improve sports
President Obama and technology
Dodd and Larson Get an Earful on Healthcare
MA…
January 30, 2009
...such as a respect for the truth. So says Dennis Overbye:
Worse, not only does it [science] not provide any values of its own, say its detractors, it also undermines the ones we already have, devaluing anything it can't measure, reducing sunsets to wavelengths and romance to jiggly hormones. It…
January 29, 2009
At the behest of Our Benevolent Seed Overlords, I recently discussed elitism and how to restore science to its rightful place. I think, though, porn is probably not the best way to do so (italics mine):
...the [NSF] employees in question weren't just logging onto their Facebook accounts or buying…
January 29, 2009
Congress, under pressure from Republicans*, cuts $200 million to refurbish the National Mall:
On Tuesday evening the House Rules Committee stripped two provisions from the stimulus package: the family planning money that President Obama personally lobbied Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., to remove…
January 29, 2009
One of the rhetorical strategies that has been employed against science deniers has been the claim that a 'broad scientific consensus exists' to support a certain position (e.g., global warming, evolution). A problem with this strategy is shown by the blog belonging to this commenter (I don't give…
January 28, 2009
It looks like nationalization of failing banks is off the table. What bothers me are two of the reasons given by Treasury Secretary Geithner. Reason #1:
Explicit nationalization of financial companies has little support among key Obama officials, sources said. Treasury Secretary Timothy F.…
January 28, 2009
Seriously. The political tactics are virtually identical. From The Krugman (italics mine):
As the debate over President Obama's economic stimulus plan gets under way, one thing is certain: many of the plan's opponents aren't arguing in good faith. Conservatives really, really don't want to see a…
January 27, 2009
Here are some links. Science-related stuff:
Lottery Probabilities and Clueless Reporters
Obama, Wyeth and Pfizer's Disease - Updated
Bat sickness spreads: Pennsylvania animals found with white nose syndrome
Study Pinpoints Main Source of Asia's Brown Cloud
Tree Deaths Have Doubled Across the…
January 27, 2009
If you're an evolutionary biologist, try to find the time to do this:
The National Center for Science Education has joined with the Coalition
on Public Understanding of Science to help put together content for
their Year of Science website http://www.yearofscience2009.org/home/.
One part of the…
January 27, 2009
Our Benevolent Seed Overlords ask "What is science's rightful place?" which refers to a line from Obama's inaugural address where he vowed to "restore science to its rightful place."
Since ScienceBlogling Jake discussed the importance of basing policy on evidence--as well as correctly recognizing…
January 26, 2009
And you thought the War on Science was over. Bush appointee Kathie Olsen, who was the deputy director of NSF, and who couldn't give a straight answer to Senator John McCain when asked about human influences on global warming, might have been "burrowed" into the NSF:
How was Olsen permitted to slip…