Monthly Archives: July 2012

But Class Size Doesn’t Matter?

Posted on July 18, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

I’ve never understood the arguments claiming that class size doesn’t matter. While it might not affect many students, those students who are on the edge will suffer when class size explodes (boldface mine): When Shania started third grade at P.S. … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | 3 Comments

An Obsolete Job Versus an Outsourced One

Posted on July 18, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

By way of Charles Pierce, we find this doozy of a quote from Joe Klein (boldface mine): The current controversy over whether Romney was or was not running Bain capital during the years 1999-2002 is a relatively minor nail-the functional … Continue reading →

Posted in Basic Human Decency, Bidness, Economics, Fucking Royals | 7 Comments

Links 7/17/12

Posted on July 17, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: How Placebo’s Evil Twin Makes You Sicker Arctic Biologist Shares Astonishing Sea Creatures With the World Life in the Fast Lane: HIV and Meth (also affects gonorrhea rates) Are Warnings About the Side Effects of Drugs … Continue reading →

Posted in Lotsa Links | Comments Off on Links 7/17/12

Re-Fighting the 80s Culture Wars, With a Twist

Posted on July 17, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

Reading articles like this long NY Times piece or Robert Putnam’s recent emphasis on the economic and social costs of single motherhood, it strikes me just how similar, yet different these arguments are to those we suffered through during the … Continue reading →

Posted in Feminism, Racism | Comments Off on Re-Fighting the 80s Culture Wars, With a Twist

How Does a a Very Small Tax on a Very Fortunate Few Become So Important?

Posted on July 17, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

Once the campaign silly season hits full throttle, we’ll hear much more about taxes (AAIIIEE!!!), especially how ‘socialist’ Obama’s plan is. What’s ludicrous, as I’ve explained before, is that the only increases (which are technically the ending of the ‘temporary’ … Continue reading →

Posted in Fucking Morons, Taxes | 4 Comments

Links 7/16/12

Posted on July 16, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: College Students Design Stethoscope That Can Diagnose Pneumonia American Gut: The Human Microbiome Project is over. Now it’s time for the rest of us (there will be a ton of confounding factors, but it’s worth a … Continue reading →

Posted in Lotsa Links | Comments Off on Links 7/16/12

The Old Days Were Better–At Least When It Came to NIH Funding

Posted on July 16, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

So says DrugMonkey: The bottom line here is that looking at the actual numbers can be handy when playing the latest round of “We had it tougher than you did” at the w(h)ine and cheese hour after departmental seminar. Success … Continue reading →

Posted in Funding, NIH | Comments Off on The Old Days Were Better–At Least When It Came to NIH Funding

On Boston’s Fishweirs and the Demise of Coral Reefs

Posted on July 16, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

Andrew Revkin, in response to a NY Times op-ed claiming that the coral reefs are doomed, finds some other marine ecologists who disagree. Frank Bruno states: It is scary, but is it true? I don’t think so. I have been … Continue reading →

Posted in Boston, Ecology, Environment, Fish, Food, Lobstah! | 2 Comments

Links 7/15/12

Posted on July 15, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: How Your Chicken Dinner Is Creating a Drug-Resistant Superbug Investigation: Drug Resistance, Chicken And 8 Million UTIs FERN/ABC Report Reveals Link Between Bladder Infections and Overuse of Antibiotics in Chicken An Invasive Plant Is Killing Wombats … Continue reading →

Posted in Lotsa Links | 1 Comment

Dog Days of Summer

Posted on July 15, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

It was a hot day on Exeter Street:

Posted in Boston, Dogs | Comments Off on Dog Days of Summer