jlynch | July 24, 2006This is .... strange. Apparently there are individuals out there that deny the germ theory of disease. Tara encountered this in one of her comment threads:
[F]orget the germ theory nonsense and become a real scientist. ... Evidence is all around and you have as much evidence as I do. The sole difference between you and me is that you are still blindfolded by a century of dogmatic thinking and are not able to see the evidence.
You can do what you want with your special laboratory mice, but whan it comes to it nobody has ever proven that germs cause disease and a century of war on microbes has…
jlynch | July 23, 2006It seems the administration's plans to bring democracy to Afghanistan have been successful. The Times of London notes that the "Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which was set up by the Taliban to enforce bans on women doing anything from working to wearing nail varnish or laughing out loud, is to be re-created by the government in Kabul." Good job all round guys, and I mean guys.
jlynch | July 22, 2006Or why Presidential appearances are like Dembski's blog echo chamber. Must be something to do with "Christian" conservatism, I guess. See here.
jlynch | July 22, 2006Here are some things that caught my eye this past week or so, but I was unable to post on. Feel free to discuss in the comments as you see fit.
Will future doctors be forced to teach abstinence?
Stunning macro photos of bugs (hat tip to Jason @ xenogere!)
Hippo eats dwarf
Feral children
DarwinCatholic
Rob Skipper on Fisher v Wright
Microsoft used pirated software?
Santorum exposed
jlynch | July 21, 2006Jason does a nice take-down of Dembski's latest attempt to present ID-friendly research. Interestingly, a commenter ("stevie steve") got banned from Dembski's blog for asking a very simple and pertinent question: "Did any ID theorists predict this discovery?" A case of the Emperor's New Clothes, it seems to me.
jlynch | July 21, 2006
"[M]ost scientists unfortunately, those that certainly are advocating for this [embryonic stem cell research], and many others feel very little moral compulsion. It's a utilitarian, materialistic view of doing whatever they can do to pursue their desired goals."
Most scientists apparently feel very little moral compulsion says the junior senator from Pennsylvania. This coming from a Republican ... albeit one with wonderful dress-sense and a 36% approval rating which is lowest in the Senate.
jlynch | July 21, 2006At 4pm today (i.e. 30 minutes ago), Sky Harbor Airport here in Phoenix was reporting a temperature of 117 degrees - a new daily record. It's a mite warm here and thunderstorms are expected this evening.
We're actually in the throes of our "monsoon" season - thirty to forty days in July and August where, if we're lucky, we get a total rainfall of an inch and a half. Since I came here in 1994, it's only exceeded two inches on five years and never since 1999. But there's no global warming, I tell ya, none!
jlynch | July 21, 2006After last week's rundown of my blog-sib's Friday Features, I felt I'd better get and line and find something to do every Friday. Jason at Xenogene made me aware of Unconscious Mutterings, so I decided that was as good as anything. Deal is this: UM publishes ten words on Sunday and bloggers respond with the first though that comes into their mind. This week's words are:
Video ::
Fantasy ::
Homework ::
Crush ::
Late ::
Husband ::
Soccer ::
Wine ::
Before ::
Romantic ::
Give it a try (and feel free to post your answers/analysis in comments). My results are below the fold.…
jlynch | July 20, 2006Yesterday, I mentioned the UCS survey of FDA scientists. Today, the results have been released to the public.
Some findings:
Almost one in five (18 percent) responded, "I have been asked, for non-scientific reasons, to inappropriately exclude or alter technical information or my conclusions in an FDA scientific document."
More than three in five (61 percent) respondents know of cases where "Department of Health and Human Services or FDA political appointees have inappropriately injected themselves into FDA determinations or actions."
Three in five (60 percent) also knew of cases "where…
jlynch | July 19, 2006The House voted 235-193 to override Bush's veto of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, 51 votes short of the required number. Here, for the record, is how Arizona's representatives voted on this issue:
Senate:
For: McCain (R)
Against: Kyl (R)
House:
For: Flake (R), Grijalva (D), Kolbe (R), Pastor (D),
Against: Franks (R), Hayworth (R), Renzi (R), Shadegg (R)
No surprises - Kyl, Hayworth, Renzi and Shadegg are in tight races for their seats come November and Franks ran on an anti-abortion platform last time around.
jlynch | July 19, 2006With all the attention being paid to the stem cell issue, it's worth remembering that the House yesterday also voted on H J RES 88 "Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage."
Some soundbites from the floor are worth repeating:
Rep. John Carter (R-TX): "The reality is, marriage has always been a union between a man and a woman. Now in China, they might say a civil union. In Rome they might say a church union. But it's always been a union between a man and a woman. In my faith, I believe it's part of God's plan for the future of mankind."
Rep. Mike…
jlynch | July 19, 2006Scott Rosenberg:
Here is why Bush's position is a joke: Thousands and thousands of embryos are destroyed every year in fertility clinics. They are created in petri dishes as part of fertility treatments like IVF; then they are discarded. If Bush and his administration truly believe that destroying an embryo is a kind of murder, they shouldn't be wasting their time arguing about research funding: They should immediately shut down every fertility clinic in the country, arrest the doctors and staff who operate them, and charge all the wannabe parents who have been wantonly slaughtering legions…
jlynch | July 19, 2006No surprises. Pandering to a clear minority and in an attempt to save the wreck that is his Presidency, Bush vetos HR 810. Five and a half years of dumb bills and excessive spending and he chooses this time to actually veto. Equally, why, oh why, do we have to put up with the crap that he spouts in defense of his actions. Why can't he just say he's doing it because either God or Rove told him.
Each of these children was still adopted while still an embryo and has been blessed with a chance to grow, to grow up in a loving family. These boys and girls are not spare parts.
Of course they are not…
jlynch | July 19, 2006I'm actually finding it remarkably easy to answer this question.
I'd have to go for the period after 1660, in London, and thus during the time of the Scientific Revolution. Sure, you had to be a gentleman of privilege, but the Royal Society of London had begun to consolidate informal attitudes that had developed in Gresham College. Inquiry was everywhere. Experiments - often gruesome and on the experimenter - were run. (This gruesomeness - particularly in basic medical research - would continue well into the Georgian period - witness the life of the father of modern surgery, John Hunter).…
jlynch | July 19, 2006The Union of Concerned Scientists will today release a survey of nearly one thousand Food and Drug Administration scientists that demonstrates widespread and dangerous political and commercial interference at the agency. FDA scientists report being asked to alter their findings for non-scientific reasons, experiencing inappropriate commercial influences on their work, and being afraid to publicly express concerns about public health for fear of retaliation. The report will be released at noon EST.
Same-old same-old from a Republican administration that has done more to politicize science than…
jlynch | July 18, 2006Spector hands Santorum his ass.
And here, by the way, is that five day embryo that Santorum is talking about:
It's the orange thing. Impressive, eh?
jlynch | July 18, 2006Press release follows:
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world's largest general scientific organization, tonight urged U.S. President George W. Bush to uphold the U.S. Senate's approval of H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act.
"We in the scientific community are hopeful that you will review this measure with an open mind and open heart and then sign it into law," AAAS leadership wrote in the letter to President Bush.
The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, which would expand federal support for embryonic stem cell research, passed in the U.S.…