Links for you. Science:
Lessons from the History of Insulin
The Needlessly Inscrutable Geography of Scientific Funding
Delusions of Danger: Why the food movement’s demonization of genetically modified crops isn’t just scientifically baseless—it’s politically stupid.
Did Global Warming Cause Hurricane Sandy?
Sequencing companies show off for genetics meeting
Other:
Romney Party Not Worth the Cost
Harry Reid: Filibuster Reform Will Be Pursued In The Next Congress
The Real Real America
Nate Silver, the audacity of maths and the innumeracy of political commentary
The Great Religious Realignment
Conservatism is Dead…Because It Lives
Obama’s Victory, Never Much in Doubt, Based on Populist Appeal to Swing Voters
Wall Street’s Bad Investment Decision (if you strike a king, you must kill him)
Labor Agency: Upper Crust Pizzeria Owes Workers $850,000
Why Mitt Romney Lost: A Simple, Overriding Theory
Akin And Mourdock Were Not “Outliers”
Obama Got Aggressive on Reproductive Rights, and Won
Is Nate Silver’s popularity good or bad for quantitative political science?
When quants tell stories
mikethemadbiologist
“Delusions of Danger: Why the food movement’s demonization of genetically modified crops isn’t just scientifically baseless—it’s politically stupid.”
I was shaking my head as I read this one, but when I got to the quote below, I realized this fellow was nobody whose words I’m going to trust.
“A similar dynamic has played out for years in campaigns against nuclear power and more recently, hydraulic fracking. At the root of these hyperactive fears is a deep distrust of industry.”
Anybody who doesn’t understand nuclear power has been an economic basket case is nuts – and that’s ignoring the potential future Fukushimas. And the risks of loose nukes from the reclaimed wastes. And the problem of the disposal of those wastes remains totally unresolved. Regarding fracking, it’s my considered opinion that the practice has the potential to destroy the underground water supplies in the US for thousands of years to come. A very nice side effect of the “quick bucks” from the energy sales is the prospect of forcing citizens to buy their expensively treated household water for the rest of eternity in terms of human lifespans.
Looking through some more of Mr. Kloor’s “stuff”, he’s a big fan of putting the Bt gene into cotton and corn. Despite looking for quite a while, I never found anything written by him about growing insect resistance to this gene.
So a mental note to self: authorship by Keith Kloor means I crank my BS detector into overdrive.