Politics
jrosenhouse | July 19, 2006As incredible as it seems, there are still those among us who think it clever and above it all to say that in America there is only the Republicrat Party. If you're one of those people who persist in saying that there is no difference between the parties, I would urge you to read this article from today's Washington Post:
Yesterday's House debate on same-sex marriage was pure dead horse: The Senate last month rejected -- emphatically -- a constitutional amendment that would allow Congress to ban same-sex marriage, so there was zero chance the amendment could be approved this year. But…
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…
jrosenhouse | July 19, 2006Almost as if to confirm what I wrote in yesterday's post, President Bush vetoed the stem-cell bill. The New York Times has the basic facts.
I won't rehash here the utter vacuity of the arguments made by the anti-stem cell crowd. I would like to point out, however, that after the Presidetn made his appalling statement announcing the veto, the cable news channels couldn't wait to fall into line behind the President.
MSNBC had on, unopposed, Dr. Bernardine Healy to tell everyone that adult stem cells are the way to go.
Fox News had Fred Barnes on, unopposed, to support the President's veto.…
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…
clock | July 19, 2006Carnival of the Liberals #17 is up on Brainshrub and I really like the ontogeny theme...
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…
pharyngula | July 19, 2006DarkSyde is on the stem cell story, and he uses Neurotopia's summary of the biology.
I just don't understand the other side's argument. Adult stem cells are not a substitute for embryonic stem cells, at least not yet. The anti-stem cell research crowd wants to claim that we don't need ES cells, that AS cells will do everything we need, but they don't think it through. If we want to make AS cells that are functionally equivalent to ES cells, we need to understand ES cells—but they want to deny us the ability to look at ES cells. Furthermore, if we could convert an AS cell line to totipotency…
drorzel | July 19, 2006Scientific Curmudgeon John Horgan reads calls for more nuclear power and offers a slightly different objection to nuclear power than most people:
Five years ago, I might have considered climbing aboard this bandwagon, even though Indian Point has an imperfect safety record, but not any more. In fact, I want to whack the neo-nukers and the Times Magazine for irresponsibly downplaying the immense security risks posed by nuclear power.
On September 11, 2001, one of the hijacked jets flew down the Hudson River right past Garrison. A woman I know was gardening that morning outside her house on…
terrasig | July 19, 2006While we're on the topic of death and acknowledging that 70-ish is a life well-lived, I'd note that experimental pharmacologist and legendary gonzo journalist, Dr Hunter S Thompson, would have been 69 yesterday.
His widow, Anita, keeps a blog at their fortified Owl Farm estate and posted this loving tribute to The Good Doctor yesterday.
Although we were live-blogging from Aspen last week, we're certainly not the kind of folks to go poking around in Mrs Thompson's business up Woody Creek Road - plus, I really do fear the remaining explosives, especially with a 4-year-old running wild and…
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…
clock | July 19, 2006The second part of the interview with Dr. Mark Lindeman is up on Neural Gourmet: Of public opinion, exit polls and fraud (or the lack thereof) (Part 2):
Some people have referred to the "uncanny accuracy" of the exit polls. I think it's a very bad sign when the adjective "uncanny" drifts into nominally scientific discourse. That doesn't mean that we scrap the data; it means that we try to interpret it judiciously. It's a pretty banal point, but some folks can't seem to get past it.
clock | July 19, 2006Shakespeare's Sister has another article up on AlterNet: Bush gropes German Chancellor Angela Merkel
Bush channeled the Creepy Guy at Work who gives a female coworker an unwanted massage, much to his repulsed target's chagrin.
-------------snip-----------
This is the ultimate in rude and presumptuous behavior. I've worked with men who feel compelled to touch me in exactly this way, with one even responding to my terse request to back off with a more determined shoulder rub and the comment, "But you're so tense." To which I replied, "That's because you won't get your fucking hands off of me."…
pharyngula | July 19, 2006Despite Brownback's snowflake stunt and Santorum's insistence that zygotes are persons, the House stem cell bill, HR810, has passed, as have the two inconsequential smokescreen bills that Santorum tossed up. It's going to be interesting to hear Bush's stammered excuses when he vetos it; I'd figure he'd be reluctant to do the veto because it would mean taking undeniable responsibility for an action, something he doesn't like to do, but then I realized he has another out. He's going to blame God for telling him to kill the bill.
I predict that he will make some pious excuse like that when he…
hrynyshyn | July 19, 2006For anyone needing a good primer on the stem cell situation when it comes to the state of the science, Rick Weiss has a good recap in today's Washington Post.
The core issue:
Religious conservatives, in particular, believe that even human embryos in the earliest stages of life are beings with moral standing.
Proponents of the research, in contrast, allow that human embryos deserve respect but have argued that it is wrong to grant them the same moral standing as a fetus, which has reached a more complex stage of development, or a newborn. In general, proponents have argued for the right to do…
oracknows | July 19, 2006Here we are, five and a half years into George W. Bush's Presidency, and he's not yet vetoed a bill. Not even a single bill. All sorts of bad legislation have been passed, from the bankruptcy reform legislation that makes it harder for people to start again after declaring bankruptcy, to budgets containing huge increases in spending, to a really offensive campaign finance reform package that restricts political speech.
All passed with nary a peep from the President.
So what gets Bush's dander up enough to finally pull out his veto pen and use his power to veto a bill he doesn't like?…
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.…
jlynch | July 18, 2006Brownback's antics aside, HR 810 passed today 63-37, not enough to overide any veto Bush wants to throw in the way. It's wonderful how someone who shows all signs of having slept his way through science classes gets to override the general public, the scientific community and the Senate on this issue, all for a few votes come November.
goodmath | July 18, 2006You might remember my post last week about [conservatives who can't subtract][subtract]: in particular, about how a conservative blogger who goes by "Captain Ed" attacked John Edwards for saying there are 37 million people in poverty in the US. It turned out that good ol' Ed wasn't capable of doing simple subtraction.
You might also remember a post about [lying with statistics][liar], discussing an article by Tim Worstall, who quoted a newspaper piece about abortion rates, and tried to misuse the statistics to argue something about sexual education in the UK.
Well, Tim (the target of the…
oracknows | July 18, 2006Egads, I almost forgot to mention it, but the latest RINO Sightings was posted. Oh, well, better late than never.