Monthly Archives: December 2012

Note to Krugman: The Role of the Public Intellectual Is to Speak Truth to Power, Not to Apologize For Power’s Misuse

Posted on December 18, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

Like many who actually don’t think devil-take-the-hindmost is good public policy, I’m incredibly disappointed in this post by NY Times columnist and economist Paul Krugman. This is not hard. This is not “agonizing.” Quite simply, it is indecent. It should … Continue reading →

Posted in Democrats, Progressives, Social Security | 4 Comments

Make Gun Ammunition Legal, Safe, and Rare

Posted on December 18, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

After one of our many gun massacres, I wrote: Someday, I will live in a country where birth control pills can be bought freely over the counter, and you will have to speak to a medical professional to buy ammunition … Continue reading →

Posted in Public Health | 10 Comments

Links 12/17/12

Posted on December 17, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: U.K. Unveils Plan to Sequence Whole Genomes of 100,000 Patients αEP: The fundamental failure of the evolutionary psychology premise (my discussion of neutral theory is here) Rebuilding the National Weather Service Coming out of the scientific … Continue reading →

Posted in Lotsa Links | 2 Comments

Mini, the Original Originator

Posted on December 17, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

Observed at the corner of Claredon and Boylston Streets, Back Bay, Boston: BEEP! BEEP!

Posted in Automobiles, Boston | 2 Comments

High-Stakes Testing and the Squeezing of Science Teaching

Posted on December 17, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

Because time is not fungible. One of the hidden casualties of the high-stakes testing regime forced on schools such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), Race to the Top, and Put Your Right Foot in, Put Your Right Foot Out, … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | 2 Comments

Links 12/16/12

Posted on December 16, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: What Neil deGrasse Tyson would do if he were NASA director Syphilis Is Soaring In SoHo, Murray Hill, And UWS Elsevier editorial system hacked, reviews faked, 11 retractions follow The High Return on Investment for Publicly … Continue reading →

Posted in Lotsa Links | 2 Comments

Sunday Sermon: Gun Violence and the Dissolution of the Commonwealth

Posted on December 16, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

Charles Pierce puts the horrible kindergarten massacre in perspective: When we go on forever on the blog here about the value of a political commonwealth, and how it is a product of the ongoing creative process of self-government, this kind … Continue reading →

Posted in Basic Human Decency | 1 Comment

Rightwingers Now Demand The Arming of ‘Union Thugs’

Posted on December 16, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

Someone needs to tell the right that if they’re going to live in their own fantasy world, they might want to make it internally consistent. Because Eugene Volokh’s ‘thought experiment’* about what would have happened if teachers had been armed … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservatives, Education, Fucking Morons, Public Health | 3 Comments

Links 12/15/12

Posted on December 15, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

Links for you. Science: Let’s Gang Up on Killer Bugs Don’t Have the Wool Pulled Over Your Eyes NIH Considers Anonymity for Grant Applicants The Nature of the Knight Bus How A Superbug Traveled The World Other: Obama drops the … Continue reading →

Posted in Lotsa Links | 1 Comment

This Cupboard Is Not Bare

Posted on December 15, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

The one at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, that is: This is some of the silverware accumulated (or extracted) by the Hanover dynasty during the 18th century.

Posted in Boston, Museums etc. | 1 Comment