Politics
ddobbs | September 30, 2009
But every version of reform fails to deal with the root cause the uninsurance problem: millions of employers in our "employer-based" system do not provide their workers with health insurance. Why isn't there more discussion about the free rider distortions in that state of affairs?
Instead putting the mandate on employer free riders, the bills now before Congress put it on people with minimal penalties for employers who refuse to provide coverage.
Then, on the subsidy side, the bills offer help only to the poorer of the poor (working, but not on Medicaid). They do nothing for two-earner…
ddobbs | September 30, 2009
Every other industrialized country has a national health care system that makes keeping track of these elementary facts possible. The US doesn't. We have a lot of electronic medical records, all right, but they are mostly devoted to billing and insurance. And there are a lot of different proprietary software systems that can't be easily adapted, altered or modified and can't talk to each other. One of Obama's initiatives to control costs is Electronic Medical Records (EMR), but the economic benefits he touts are almost certainly being oversold. It won't save us that much money.
But what a…
grrlscientist | September 29, 2009tags: Blasphemy Day International, religion, politics, free speech, human rights, streaming video
Blasphemy Day International is a campaign seeking to establish September 30th as a day to promote free speech and stand up in a show of solidarity for the freedom to challenge, criticize, and satirize religion without fear of violence or reprisal: murder, litigation and other forms of intimidation. It is the obligation of the world's nations to safeguard dissent and the dissenters, not to side with the brutal interests of those who demand "respect" for their beliefs (i.e., immunity to being…
choofnagle | September 29, 2009I'm delighted to announce the results of our first national telephonic survey of US internet-using adults on consumer privacy! The Times has coverage and the full report (Americans Reject Tailored Advertising and Three Activities that Enable It is available here. Here's a summary:
This nationally representative telephone (wireline and cell phone) survey explores Americans' opinions about behavioral targeting by marketers, a controversial issue currently before government policymakers. Behavioral targeting involves two types of activities: following users' actions and then tailoring…
drorzel | September 29, 2009I've grown thoroughly disgusted with most of the science-vs-religion stuff in blogdom, mostly because my views on the matter are kind of moderate, and don't fit well with the rather extreme positions taken by most of the bloggers and commenters who focus on this issue. This dooms me to either being ignored, or called names as some sort of collaborator, and I have better ways to spend my time, so I've pretty much given up on being an active part of those... discussions.
I do occasionally feel guilty, though, as if I'm letting down my side (well, my part of the squishy middle) by not speaking…
jstemwedel | September 28, 2009At the end of last week, I made a quick trip to UCLA to visit with some researchers who, despite having been targets of violence and intimidation, are looking for ways to engage with the public about research with animals. I was really struck by their seriousness about engaging folks on "the other side", rather than just hunkering down to their research and hoping to be left alone.
The big thing we talked about was the need to shift the terms of engagement.
The mode people seem most used to -- and the one that seems to make the least difference -- is the debate. In a debate, the point is…
drorzel | September 28, 2009This book is, in some ways, a complement to Unscientific America. Subtitled "Talking Substance in an Age of Style," this is a book talking about what scientists need to do to improve the communication of science to the general public. This is not likely to make as big a splash in blogdom as Unscientific America, though, both because Randy has generally been less aggressive in arguing with people on blogs, and also because while he says disparaging things about science blogs, he doesn't name names, so nobody is likely to get their feelings hurt.
Olson is a scientist-turned filmmaker, who…
gregladen | September 27, 2009You think this was bad? It gets worse.
Do not play the movie (below the fold) without your finger/mouse on the volume button of your computer.
Above: footage from ongoing protests at the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh. Police and US military have blocked off a security zone in the city, expelling all homeless people from the area, and with the exception of Burmese Monks, anarchists, anti-capitalists and others downtown is reported to be largely empty. Confrontations between police and protestors have already occurred. Tear gas (possibly OC gas) and LRAD sonic weapons have been used against…
pharyngula | September 26, 2009Pedophiles are wretched people who abuse the helpless, and they get no sympathy from me. However, they are still people — sick people, damaged people, often abused people, sometimes psychopathic people. They have to be treated with due process and concern — we want to end the behavior, not the individual. So now Poland has passed a law requiring mandatory chemical castration for pedophiles. That's a frightening prospect, not just because it's a punishment that can and will be abused — who judged Alan Turing but the state? — and the attitudes behind it are even worse.
Prime Minister Donald…
oracknows | September 26, 2009Sadly, this is not too far from how religious disputes seem to be settled. The only difference is that there's less violence here than there is in real life:
Hmmm. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing if religious conflicts could be resolved by an Ultimate Praying Challenger, rather than the usual way. As the reporter said, "Who's closer to God now, bitch?"
Hat tip to Stupid Evil Bastard.
choofnagle | September 25, 2009Here's a fun article by the Chronicle's Mark Morford on how to talk with complete idiots. You ignore them, in Denialism blog fashion.
Morford points to this youtube video, which is divine:
gregladen | September 24, 2009Democrat Paul Kirk has been named by Governor Deval Patrick as an interim replacement to fill Ted Kennedy's senate seat. Kirk will serve until the end of the present term and will not run for re-election.
emjohnson | September 24, 2009Seed magazine has just posted my review of Frans de Waal's The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society. I wanted to use this opportunity to thank Nikki, Evan, Bora and everyone else that helped in developing this piece. For posts on related topics please see Misunderstanding Dawkins, The Sacrifice of Admetus, Bonobos "Red in Tooth and Claw", The Evolution of Morality and Laboratory Evidence for the Breakdown of the Selfish Gene.
In a fitting metaphor, the most recent experiment with social darwinism resulted in mass extinction. Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling claimed he was…
grrlscientist | September 23, 2009tags: little boy, burglar, offbeat, humor, funny, satire, streaming video
This video is an interview with a little boy who uses his father's gun to shoot a burglar, and then, when the wounded burglar is screaming in pain, he proceeds to shoot off other appendages, too. It's all in a night's work.
Little Boy Heroically Shoots, Mutilates Burglar
sa smith | September 23, 2009'Value Voters' are so weird.
I mean, I like weird kids! After Lady Gagas performance at the VMAs, I liked her.
But Value Voter weird... thats a whole nother level of weird that I cant deal deal with.
For example, when Tom Coburn was running for his senate seat in 2004, he made one of the weirdest 'value voter' statements I have ever heard a politician make:
... lesbianism is so rampant in some of the schools in southeast Oklahoma that they'll only let one girl go to the bathroom. Now think about it. Think about that issue. How is it that that's happened to us?
Ah yes, southeast Oklahoma,…
grrlscientist | September 23, 2009tags: healthcare, medical insurance, politics, satire, Will Ferrell, streaming video
It's a rotten job, but someone has got to do it: in this video ad, Will Ferrell stands up for the real victims in this health care debate: health insurance providers themselves!
Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell
revere | September 23, 2009People complain that ministers in the cabinet Iran's recently selected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government will say things so outlandish no one else would even think of saying them, but Declan Butler over at the Nature blog, The Great Beyond, begs to differ. Take Iran's Science Minister, Kamran Daneshjou. Daneshjou's credentials had been questioned in an LA Times report in August, but Butler has found that a paper co-authored by Daneshjou contains genuine peer-reviewed science. The only fly in the ointment is that it doesn't seem to be Daneshjou's science:
Large chunks of text, figures…
grrlscientist | September 22, 2009tags: bat, congress, offbeat, humor, funny, satire, streaming video
In this breaking news video, we see that Congress is deadlocked on the best way to get a bat out of their committee chamber.
emjohnson | September 22, 2009Fair and balanced ain't what it used to. The Huffington Post has published video of FOXNews producer Heidi Noonan encouraging protesters at the 9/12 event to be loud and boisterous while Griff Jenkins "reported" on their outrage. Noonan is seen motioning to the crowd periodically while speaking to an unknown individual on her cell phone. At one point she attempts to hide from the camera that has her in the shot.
Here is the video released at HuffPo:
Now here is the "objective" reporting that viewers at home saw (via Media Matters):
Notice how Jenkins and Beck both claim that this…
ddobbs | September 22, 2009
Eric Michael Johnson contemplates the hearts, minds, teeth, and claws of bonobos and other primates.
Tara Smith explains why she'll be getting her kids their (seasonal) flu vaccines. Revere does likewise
Daniel Menaker, former honcho at Random House, defends the midlist. (Where was he when my book was getting so much push?)
Just in case you missed it, lack of insurance is killing 45,000 people a year (Times) in the U.S. This doesn't include preventable deaths among the underinsured (like yours truly, who is sitting on some surgery that he'd rather put behind him). You can download the…