Politics
pharyngula | June 24, 2008It was pretty much a given anyway, but now that James Dobson has given his screeching purple anti-endorsement, I cannot fail to punch that chad for Obama.
Another interesting bit in that article: Dobson also will not vote for McCain. It would be wonderful if the fundagelical right would simply recuse themselves from all elections henceforth in that way.
oracknows | June 24, 2008Remember the case of Clifford Shoemaker, lawyer for the antivaccinationist mercury militia who tried to subpoena Kathleen Seidel under incredibly dubious legal reasoning in order to harass and intimidate her? Remember how the subpoena was quashed?
One word: Sanctioned!
Woo-hoo!
Quoth Judge James R. Muirhead:
Clifford J. Shoemaker's action is an abuse of legal process, a waste of judicial resources and an unnecessary waste of the time and expense to the purported deponent.
The Clerk of Court is directed to forward a certified copy of this order, the motion to quash, the show cause order, and…
grrlscientist | June 24, 2008According to information leaked this week from the White House, planning is underway to design the George W. Bush Presidential Library, despite the fact that Bush has reportedly never read a book in his entire life. This library will include the following:
The Weapons of Mass Destruction Room, which no one has yet been able to find.
The Hurricane Katrina Room, which is still under construction.
The Alberto Gonzales Room, where you won't be able to remember anything.
The Texas Air National Guard Room, where you don't even have to show up.
The Walter Reed Hospital Room, where they…
grrlscientist | June 24, 2008tags: The Cost of War, documentary, streaming video
In just one tiny little second, America spends enough money to support me for six months in a lifestyle that is beyond what I have now, by killing innocent people in Iraq. Worse, this country spends more money in one minute than I've earned in my entire lifetime, so we can kill innocent Iraqis! DISGUSTING! PATHETIC! [1:30]
More suggestions as to what george bush and his buddies can do with that money they are wasting on slaughtering innocents.
gregladen | June 23, 2008 Triatoma infestans, Chagas vector This is the conclusion of a report to be published in the June 2008 PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases journal. The report, by Peter Hotez of George Washington University and the Sabin Vaccine Institute, is a clear indictment of economic disparity in the United States. The bottom line: Many poor Americans are, effectively, living in a poorly managed third world country.
Poor people in the United States are subject to a mostly ignored burden of diseases "caused by a group of chronic and debilitating parasitic, bacterial, and congenital infections known…
jrosenhouse | June 23, 2008George Carlin was absolutely the very best stand-up comedian in the history of the business. Only Robin Williams in his prime was even in the same league. I have quite a few of his albums, and I find I can still listen to them with pleasure even though I have most of the routines memorized. The cadence of his voice and the strength of his writing make them enjoyable even long after their impact as humor has worn off. You will learn more about good teaching from observing his technique than you ever will in a teaching seminar or education course. The New York Times has a good article…
grrlscientist | June 23, 2008tags: seven forbidden words, George Carlin, humor, comedy, streaming video
When I woke up this morning I heard George Carlin talk about the seven forbidden words -- another examination of language that eventually led to the involvement of the Supreme Court. This video is not safe for your easily offended boss (but don't worry about the kids -- they already talk like this) [10:38]
grrlscientist | June 23, 2008tags: language as bullshit, George Carlin, humor, comedy, streaming video
When I woke up this morning, I heard George Carlin talk about language on NPR. What's wrong with using simple, direct and honest language? He wonders. "It's getting so bad that any day now I expect to hear a rape victim described as an 'unwilling sperm recipient'!" [6:55]
grrlscientist | June 23, 2008tags: pro-life is anti-woman, George Carlin, humor, comedy, streaming video
George Carlin talks about the so-called pro-life people, who use their hypocritical position to legalize and institutionalize their hatred for women. He asks, Why, when it's us, it's an abortion, but when it's a chicken, it's an omelet? [9:50]
jlynch | June 20, 2008I'm disappointed to note that both Harry Mitchell and Gabby Giffords joined the other 103 Democrats who voted for the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. (Ed Pastor and Raúl Grijalva voted against.) The 105 Dems have covered themselves in shame, granting immunity to telecom companies, while basically telling the American public that their privacy is not important and that the Fourth Amendment is just something written on a "goddamned piece of paper". Every single one of them should be called to the mat by their constituents.
I'm also disappointed at Obama's statement on the vote.
clock | June 20, 2008From ProPublica: Coming Sunday: A 60 Minutes and ProPublica Investigation:
'60 Minutes' and ProPublica Investigation Finds the Government's $100 Million a Year Broadcasts to the Arab World are Woefully Mismanaged and Poorly Supervised Despite Complaints From Congress. In Their First Joint Investigation, They Uncover Internal Documents from Diplomats Complaining about the Poor Quality of Al Hurra's Broadcast and Its Lack of Transparency and Professionalism.
denialism | June 20, 2008Reading Ed Brayton's discussion of the contrasting behaviors of our two presidential candidates with regards to law and Supreme Court decisions, I couldn't resist comment.
One of the few advantages of medschool is that it keeps me from reading the news while I'm studying for exams, most recently my internal medicine shelf exam yesterday. Thus I'm protected from a state of constant fury from the idiocy of our dear leaders. This being a post-study day I unfortunately ended up reading this statement from John McCain from George Will's article that giving Gitmo prisoners habeus rights was "…
clock | June 20, 2008You can get all the relevant information and link here:
ACTION ALERT: Ask your Congressman about science today!:
The November election will be a critical moment for U.S. science. It's important that voters know where their candidates stand on issues such as climate change, the environment, and soaring energy prices.
With one voice, SEA and 15 prominent scientific and engineering societies are asking all Congressional candidates 7 questions on the science and technology policies that affect all of our lives. These questions were created collaboratively, with input from SEA members. (Thanks…
jstemwedel | June 19, 2008Randy Shilts, And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic. St. Martin's Press, 1987.
There are a few books on my shelf that I can read any given number of times without being bored or impatient. One of these is And the Band Played On, a painstaking work of journalism that never feels laborious in the reading -- despite being in excess of 600 pages.
Randy Shilts, who was a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle reporting on AIDS in the early 1980s, assembled an intricate chronological telling of the early unfolding of the AIDS epidemic, from the first glimmerings of…
gregladen | June 19, 2008The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States by B. F. Morris was published in 1865. Recently, the Right Wing of the United States discovered this book, and wishes to present it as evidence that the United States is officially Christian.
Whatever.
I'm sure they are wrong, but the United States definitely is, and the Right Wing is in particular, driven by mercenary tendencies. So Human Events (which I monitor) is now hawking a commercial reprint of this early book. Here are some of the things the Right Wing is saying about this book:
.... page after page…
jlynch | June 19, 2008From the Wall Street Journal:
If the bans were lifted tomorrow, it would be at least seven years -- and likely as long as a decade -- before the first oil began to flow off the coasts of Florida, California and the eastern seaboard.
"Is it going to happen overnight? No," said Dan Naatz, vice president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America. "Is it going to solve all of our nation's energy problems? No."
oracknows | June 19, 2008I'm a cancer surgeon, and if there's one thing that drives me straight to the liquor cabinet it has to be quack cancer "cures." Very early in the history of this blog, I discussed one of the biggest quacks of all time, a woman who thinks that all cancer is caused by a liver fluke (but only if the patient has propyl alcohol in his body, which, according to her, allows the fluke to become established) and that she can cure all cancer with a combination of herbs and the use of a device that she calls a "Zapper" (which looks suspiciously like a Scientology E-meter). I'm referring, of course, to…
gregladen | June 19, 2008Do you have any idea of what is going on in Zimbabwe? And has been for quite some time? I've not chosen to make any effort to note the African news that I semi-regularly follow, but I think it is time for that to change. Expect a bit more. I don't know how much insightful commentary I can add, but I can at least point to goings on of interest.
In ZImbabwe, we have a situation of a long term leader who won't seem to go away even though many people seem to want him to. There was an election recently, and that may have been co-opted by the ruling party. And this, today:
The bodies of four…
pharyngula | June 18, 2008Barbara Forrest is sending this message out everywhere — they need concerted public action to forestall a dreadful legislative disaster that is looming large in the state of Louisiana. You can help!
We in the LA Coalition for Science have reached the point at which the only possible measure we have left is to raise an outcry from around the country that Gov. Jindal has to hear. What is happening in Louisiana has national implications, much to the delight of the Discovery Institute, which is blogging the daylights out of the Louisiana situation.
SB 733, the LA Science Education Act, has passed…