Links for you. Science:
NIH salary cap falls by $20,000
Totally Resistant TB: Earliest Cases in Italy
Monkey Long Believed Extinct Found In Indonesia
New Hepatitis C treatment, yet again, maybe!
Other:
On US Education: It’s the Socioeconomic Segregation, Stupid (must-read)
They want to take the last truly socialized good in America away from you which is your libraries (excellent read)
The Operators: Six Questions for Michael Hastings
Romney’s Foundation Donated To Anti-Gay Marriage Group
Why the light bulb obsession? (my takes on this here and here; I’m going with paranoia)
Jon Stewart’s Epic Takedown of Newt Gingrich’s Hypocrisy (funny video)
Retail industry sells New York workers short with discrimination, low wages and schedule abuses
Did the Feds Just Kill the Cloud Storage Model?
Is this really fun for all the family? The giraffe hunters who pay £10,000 to shoot the gentle giants with guns and bows for sport (these fuckers should be locked in rooms with very hungry and angry grizzlies; utterly barbarous)
Forecast The Facts Exposes America’s Climate-Denier TV Weathermen (personally, NECN’s weather forecasts are for shit; better off with NOAA/Weather Channel)
Why I Punched a Stranger (in the comments, people really don’t like Allston)
Racial Attitudes Remain a Powerful Predictor of Obama Vote Preference
mikethemadbiologist
I find it interesting that you happily condemn people with interests different then your own. The hunting industry in Africa stands as one of the best hopes for the future of african wildlife by paying for the staff necessary to protect animal populations from poaching and teaching locals the value of wildlife. The success of tourist hunting programs in South africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania show how paid hunting can not only support conservation but aid in population and animal management. For the record, when I was working in Namibia (the Grootfontein area) giraffe were severely overpopulated and we chose to cull the herd rather then let them overgraze. I have a deep love and respect for African wildlife, and I’d rather see an animal die humanely and be used to the benefit of locals and other wildlife then starve to death slowly.
I have no problem with culls to preserve wildlife and habitats, but I find anyone who gets a thrill out of killing an animal to be utterly savage. That’s not a ‘different interest’ but unnecessarily violence. I will judge those (and find them wanting) that consider this to be entertainment as opposed to something that must reluctantly be done.
This. Exactly this.
I’m far from opposed to killing – I do terminal animal experiments, I eat burgers, and I feed several dozen rats a year to my reptiles. Hell, even my damn *plants* eat animals.
But there’s a world of difference between killing on some sort of utilitarian basis (even if the utility is just a cheeseburger) and taking actual *enjoyment* in it.