Here are some links for you. Science comes first:
- ScienceBlogling Chris continues his series on statistics: Samples, Sampling Distributions, and t Distributions, Confidence Intervals, and a Quick Example.
- The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) has a bunch of video presentations about “Evolutionary Biology and Human Health.”
- ScienceBlogling Jeremy gives us two more reasons why spiders aren’t insects.
- Guess what? The Lyme disease vaccine doesn’t
turn girls into slutsalter behavior.
Other stuff:
- Here’s what I want to hear ‘people of faith’ say.
- While we’re on the subject, Amanda and Shakes criticize one of the stupidest reasons to be religious: without religion, we will be immoral.
- Flight delays have nothing to do with the weather, and everything to do with too many planes.
- Mark Kleiman describes his experience with healthcare rationing in the U.S.
- Shorter Barbara Ehrenreich: healthcare is a business in the U.S., not a social good. That’s the problem.
- Our Iraqi occupation sounds like the Israeli one.
- Dan Froomkin writes about the first blogger: I.F. Stone.
- Ezra Klein notes the futility of abandoning non-violent criminals to the criminal justice system.
mikethemadbiologist
I was very intrigued about your “here’s what I want to hear people of faith say” link, but it seems to link to the CFAH release about vaccines …
“Our Iraqi occupation sounds like the Israeli one.”
Well, Mr. Mike, the consummate Israel basher, just can’t resist taking a shot at Israel. The fact is that there is no comparison between the US involvement in Iraq and the Israeli involvement in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
1. The State of Israel is involved in these territories as a result of a war of aggression launched by Egypt, Syria, and Jordon in 1967. Had that aggression not occurred, Egypt would still be administering the Gaza Strip (and their response to terrorism launched therefrom would not be as mild as Israels’ has been), and Jordon would still be in control of the West Bank which it had annexed in 1949. Nobody would even be discussing the concept of an independent Palestinian state.
2. Israels’ level of violence against terrorists in the occupied territories is positively benign compared to the violence committed by the late and unlamented Hafaz Assad against the Syrian city of Hama in 1982 or the current activities of the Arab population in Darfur against the native black population. Attached is a commentary on this latter issue by Alan Dershowitz, who will, or course, be denounced as a Zionist imperialist warmonger by the Israel bashers.
http://blogcentral.jpost.com/index.php?cat_id=7&blog_id=59&blog_post_id=1315
SLC,
“Our Iraqi occupation sounds like the Israeli one.”
I actually cribbed that line from a friend who is a retired Israeli army officer. I guess he’s a “consumate Israel basher” too. SLC, that’s as ridiculous a charge as the Republicans who claim that opposition to their policies is ‘un-American.’ To hold positions adopted by Israeli parties, which are populated with active and reservist soldiers, is hardly ‘anti-Israel.’ It, however, is anti-Likud which is not the same thing.
Regarding point #1, the issue is what one does once there is an occupation. Were the settlements necessary or just? I don’t think so.
Regarding point #2, I hold the Jewish people to higher standards than the al-Assad family. In fact, I hold most people to higher standards than the al-Assad family.
“To hold positions adopted by Israeli parties, which are populated with active and reservist soldiers, is hardly ‘anti-Israel.”
Unfortunately, a number of former Israeli high ranking military officers have the mistaken notion that appeasement will bring the Palestinians around. Just to prove this point, I am linking to a thread over at 3Quarks daily which shows the futility of this approach. This will demonstrate that the settlements had nothing to do with the breakdown of the Camp David and Taba talks in 2000. They broke down over the demand of the Palestinian side that the State of Israel agree to allow the Palestinians in refugee camps to relocate in Israel, which is tantamount to a demand that the Government of Israel go out of business. I have news for Mr. Mike, it ain’t going to happen.
http://3quarksdaily.blogs.com/3quarksdaily/2007/07/my-fathers-fami.html#comments