tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32352632011-04-21T12:34:23.792-07:00Turned up to eleven: Fair and BalancedRandom thoughts, sometimes deep, mostly not, about politics, war, science, religion, life in general
by Paul OrwinPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comBlogger3411100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1146715845578021692006-05-03T20:58:00.000-07:002006-05-04T00:18:17.633-07:00Microbiology and Pop CultureI was all set to let this Animalcules go by (again) without writing anything, when I caught the last 10 minutes of House. For those who haven't seen the show, It is about a jerk of a doctor who just happens to be a world class diagnostician (he seems to have an emphasis on infectious disease, but maybe that's just my bias!). Anyway, the episode was a two-parter, endingPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1144279618602866702006-04-05T16:23:00.000-07:002006-04-05T21:38:29.283-07:00Known UnknownsOur beloved Secretary of Defense, the wise and all knowing Don Rumsfeld, once famously discussed "known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns" with respect to the know well known phantom WMD in Iraq. His comments were widely mocked at the time, but this is in fact an interesting area of thought, at least for us scientist types. Not so much with respect to phantom WMD or Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1143091133281800602006-03-22T21:08:00.000-08:002006-03-22T21:31:34.406-08:00Challenges in MicrobiologyHere's a little thought experiment for you. You've set yourself up a nice little system for examining the genome of an environmental isolate for genes involved in some important phenotype. Now, there are lots of ways to do such a thing, but lets keep it simple. You use a mutagenic technique (and there are many) to introduce random changes in the genome. You then use yourPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1141794820913945332006-03-07T21:08:00.000-08:002006-03-08T20:57:30.843-08:00Connecting environmental microbiology to the "important stuff"I was perusing the wonderful blogs hosted by Seed Magazine (all of 'em are great, but Frinktank is clearly a rising star!) when I saw a new microbiology paper(subscription req'd) noted by Afarensis. The paper is about MRSA (Methicillin Resistant S. aureus) being shown to persist inside amoeba. I argued, hopefully justifiably, that you Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1140656785270863352006-02-22T17:03:00.000-08:002006-02-22T19:48:44.990-08:00Biofilms, Quorum Quenching, and Antibiotic ResistanceIt's been a rough couple of weeks (in a good way), but here's another installment of our saga. As we learned last week bacteria often form Biofilms, aggregates on surfaces that can cause lots of trouble. I didn't get too much into the details of how these aggregations form, but I a couple of points; 1) Biofilms play major roles in lots of Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1139372939925957252006-02-07T20:21:00.000-08:002006-02-07T23:52:07.173-08:00Quorum Sensing, Biofilms, Bacteria as multi-cellular aggregatesWhen you were taught microbiology (as every last one of you should have been), you were probably shown a microbial cell structure like this one from a standard textbook. The parts are all there; DNA, membrane, cell wall, flagella, ribosomes, etc. If your micro class was pretty good, you learned about what all the parts do, then you Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1139371969701603342006-02-07T20:07:00.000-08:002006-02-07T20:19:00.026-08:00New Blog Post? Is he back?New and improved blogger. Will it get me to post? Well, not exactly, but since Tara Smith (of the U. of Iowa and Aetiology) has started a new blog carnival, (tentatively called Animalcules, but maybe to be renamed) I've decided to participate. I don't promise anything more than to try to do it more than once every other week (er....), but here we go!Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1082919068754388242004-04-25T11:51:00.000-07:002004-04-25T12:27:13.653-07:00Archaea and disease
Archaea (or archaebacteria) are a large and difficult to study group of microorganisms that are similar in appearance to bacteria, but biochemically very different. Based on the pioneering work of Carl Woese of the Univ. of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, a method for studying the phylogenetic distribution of bacterial, eukaryotic, and archaeal species was determined. The methodPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1082918871956920872004-04-25T11:47:00.000-07:002004-04-25T11:50:53.966-07:00Thanks for the nod, P.Z.!
Thanks to Paul Myers from U. of Minnesota, Morris, for the nod to my renewed sporadic blogging. As a former denizen of the great state of Minnesota (grad school, UM-TC), it is nice to hear a strong voice for science and reason from that region. If you aren't reading Pharyngula and Panda's thumb on a regular basis, you are truly missing out.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1082604417178157022004-04-21T20:26:00.000-07:002004-04-21T20:29:55.640-07:00sporadic posting
I may post once in a great while, but I am frankly not really available to do this much right now. First off, there are so many good science blogs out there, I spend too much time reading them (along with the lefty political stuff, of course), and then I get behind in my work. It is a cruel choice to have to make, between reading all this fine material and writing some (Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1082604196399226672004-04-21T20:23:00.000-07:002004-04-21T20:26:14.903-07:00A vaccine-disease theory put to rest
I have been interested in the "vaccine as cause of disease" notion for some time, the most immediately relevant ones being thimerosal/autism and MMR/autism. Without getting to deep into those ones, I will say that there is valid cause for concern about the level of thimerosal that was in childhood vaccines (it was removed in 1997, IIRC), but the jury is stillPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1064988290350566222003-09-30T23:04:00.000-07:002003-09-30T23:14:05.370-07:00Out of Dormancy, to torture the hapless Luskin
In response to Krugman's column (the latest? I don't know) Luskin tries to pick a nit-
THE MOST UN-FACT-CHECKED COLUMN IN HISTORY Referring to the Marshall Plan that helped rebuild post-war Europe, Paul Krugman says in his New York Times column today that
"...Truman led this country in what Churchill called the 'most unsordid act in history'Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1061569283850583122003-08-22T09:21:00.000-07:002003-08-22T09:21:23.986-07:00Flood the Zone
It's fun and easy. I did it. Follow the link...
Not Geniuses: "Flood the Zone" Friday is HerePaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1060966162011052672003-08-15T09:49:00.000-07:002003-08-15T09:53:41.973-07:00One more fair and balanced energy issue
It seems that the running meme in the business community (and the Bush admin.) is that no one has a financial incentive to maintain the power grid, so we need gov't cheese to help out these poor, financially incapable energy companies. Some may be quick to point to this as a "tragedy of the commons" scenario. I find that insane. It is not very smart Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1060963976735956682003-08-15T09:12:00.000-07:002003-08-15T09:17:17.080-07:00Some Fair and Balanced Questions
Fair and Balanced Question #1-Why does Texas have its own, independent energy grid?
Fair and Balanced Question #2-Why don't we know what caused yesterday's outage? Don't people work at these plants?
Fair and Balanced Question #3-Doesn't it seem like there is a better solution to grid overload than shutting down every plant in the network?
I report, you decide. (Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1060926343797293732003-08-14T22:45:00.000-07:002003-08-14T22:50:09.800-07:00What can I say? I saw a band wagon, I jumped on it-Go Al! Stick it to the Man! (Yada, Yada, Yada)Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1060883982926093812003-08-14T10:59:00.000-07:002003-08-14T11:25:38.893-07:00An opening for Creationism?
Yesterday, I noticed this story from Kevin Drum about some changes in the wording of the chapter review topics in a (High School?) Biology textbook which, by some lights, open the door to discussion of religious Origins of Life ideas. Here is the relevant "review topic"
20. Finding and Communicating Information. Use the media center or Internet resources to study Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1060724493159310052003-08-12T14:41:00.000-07:002003-08-12T14:41:33.073-07:00Update to the Climate Change post- In the comments, "Charles Dodgson" points out my inability to understand common notation. Here is a link to the original source of the Climate Change stories (Charlie's Diary)Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1060713033496197022003-08-12T11:30:00.000-07:002003-08-12T12:04:59.380-07:00 Global Climate Change Redux
Interesting pointers from Charles Dodgson to some stories about the very odd weather conditions in several parts of the world right now, including ridiculous heat in Europe, and very cold water off the Eastern Seaboard. He also includes a link to an article at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute about the role of ocean currents in abrupt climate change.
Now, I am Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1060712699412454812003-08-12T11:24:00.000-07:002003-08-12T11:24:59.386-07:00Learn your history!
Reading these letters to the editor wrt Condi Rice's comparison of Iraq to post-WWII German occupation, I couldn't help notice the distinct lack of historical knowledge in the second (the first is a fine, first person account of the occupation of Germany)[Iraq Is Not Post-WWII Germany]. Now, the second letter, in full (it is too short to excerpt).
No! Postwar Iraq is not Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1060274595818256272003-08-07T09:43:00.000-07:002003-08-07T09:43:15.816-07:00Happy Birthday to Me
They say its your birthday, well its my birthday too, yeah!
The big 3-0, I made it...Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1060217970431248142003-08-06T17:59:00.000-07:002003-08-06T17:59:30.423-07:00Recall follies to include Kindergarten Cop
According to several reliable sources relayed by the anonymousMan Without Qualities, Ahhnold is running for Governor of CA, which means Dick Riordan isn't. Should be very interesting...Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1060217127711739642003-08-06T17:45:00.000-07:002003-08-06T17:45:27.716-07:00Here is a very nice (long) post by Dwight Meredith about campaign promises, and about the stark way in which Dubya has broken his promise to be "a uniter, not a divider". As written at Seeing The Forest many times, watch what they do, not what they say...Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1060215175869279322003-08-06T17:12:00.000-07:002003-08-06T17:35:52.440-07:00The Grad School Blues
A post by Derek Lowe and a follow-up by Chad Orzel about "Stockholm Syndrome", or "Why I won't do the experiment that will get me my Ph.D." struck a cord with me, not surprisingly. As both of them noted, Grad School can become a very comfortable place to be. Sure, the money is bad, but hey, if they aren't paying much, you don't have to work hard, right? Additionally, as Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1059775650102660992003-08-01T15:07:00.000-07:002003-08-01T15:07:30.166-07:00An Evolution Argument
Back to the science type content, at least temporarily. I have repeatedly outlined arguments for Evolution v. Creationism here, but there is one strong argument that I have overlooked, or rather, not espoused. It is not an argument against Creationism per se, but it is a core argument of microbiology, and also of ecology, that is best explained by the Theory of Natural Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1059675015275101632003-07-31T11:10:00.000-07:002003-07-31T11:10:15.360-07:00 Drugs, Sex, Rock and Roll (well, maybe just drugs)
I really don't understand the Big Pharma argument against "drug reimportation" from Canada. Of course, I understand why they are fighting it, but I really don't understand the method they are using. The big public argument is a basic scare tactic "Drugs from Canada aren't approved by FDA, you might die from contaminated meds" or some such. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1059585412356088932003-07-30T10:16:00.000-07:002003-07-30T10:17:47.380-07:00 Rage, Rage, Rage
I thought that my anger at the Bushistas would probably subside, as things calm in Iraq, and we get back to the business at hand of reviving the stalling economy and fighting Al Qaeda. Never in a million years did I suspect that they would pull a ridiculous stunt like this one. Apparently, they quietly pulled air marshals off cross continent and intercontinental flights (you Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1059500809389886902003-07-29T10:46:00.000-07:002003-07-29T15:52:46.723-07:00Politics, Politics, Politics
"When you die at the palace, you really die at the palace" Mel Brooks
I have been reading Kevin Phillips fascinating Wealth and Democracy, which is an important lesson in the role of government in creating wealth, and the cycles of private v. public interest in American and world politics. The analogies between post-Civil War America, present day America, 18-19th Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1059174044947554172003-07-25T16:00:00.000-07:002003-07-25T16:00:44.820-07:00Democrats for Camejo??
Well, the recall is a go, and so far the two declared candidates are Peter Camejo (Green) and Darrell Issa (R). It is expected that Dick Riordan (RINO) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (actor, RINO) may also step in, as well as some other GOPers. Here is my suggestion- No established Dem should get into this, but instead the DNC should start a campaign against the Recall, Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1059072912998297882003-07-24T11:55:00.000-07:002003-07-24T11:55:12.953-07:00It's not the crime, it's the cover-up
Everyone has heard this before, and it is a mantra that held true in Watergate, Iran-Contra, and the Clinton scandals. In all three cases, the actual event itself was not what brought down powerful people, but rather the cover-up lies, misdirections, and attempts to intimidate. It's happening again. It seems to me that the Amb. Wilson/Valerie Plame story Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1059071862051107942003-07-24T11:37:00.000-07:002003-07-24T11:37:42.060-07:00Freedom, Horrible Freedom
I have officially ended my employment at Caltech, and am now joining the ranks of the unemployed (only till Sept, though, so don't cry for me, Argentina!) I will spend my time playing with my kids, fuming about the reckless, feckless incompetents currently running this country (into the ground), and perhaps blogging. I don't think I will be posting more excerpts from Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1055992538841970232003-06-18T20:15:00.000-07:002003-06-18T20:15:38.950-07:00Global Climate Change
David Appell's Quark Soup is a blog you should read every day, if you are interested in scientific topics of significance to the rest of the world. His style of description is lucid and entertaining, and he knows his stuff, about nearly everything, as far as I can tell. Anyway, an entry on Global Climate Change and Plants caught my eye, and I got into a very interesting Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1055990391262195582003-06-18T19:39:00.000-07:002003-06-18T19:39:51.323-07:00Damn you, Murtaugh!
Murtaugh beat me to the punch on this NPR All Things Considered segment (click through to Charles' page, then follow the link) on intellectual activity vs. old age dementia and Alzheimer's. The NPR research staff should have to go up to the board and write "correlation does not mean causation" at least 1000 times. Popular science writing is replete with examples of this, andPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-1055990163862716642003-06-18T19:36:00.000-07:002003-06-18T19:36:03.880-07:00Book blogging interruptus
As many of you have noticed, I haven't posted in a while. The real world has been calling, and reading the blogs has frankly appealed more than writing has. I think I will abandon the idea of posting my putative book for a while. I am still going to write it (although I haven't written much yet-my postdoc ends Aug 1, and my new job starts in Sept, so I will be a Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-947547062003-05-22T14:10:00.000-07:002003-05-22T14:34:53.000-07:00What does it mean to be alive?
So, here are some thoughts that I find interesting, but I am not sure they fit in with my book. Oh, well, here goes...How do we decide what is alive and what isn't? Of course, at the margins, it is very easy. I am alive, a rock is not. A tree is alive, a glass of water is not. But it can't be that we just look at things, and on a case by case basis, call themPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-944601652003-05-16T10:30:00.000-07:002003-05-16T10:39:30.000-07:00Introduction (fragment)
Our world is populated, as has been oft repeated, by creatures great and small, in diverse forms well beyond reckoning. J.B.S. Haldane famously quipped, when arguing over Evolution, that the Creator "must have an inordinate fondness for beetles." (ref) However, it is truly clear that even that fondness is dwarfed by the Creator's clear bias toward unicellular life. We Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-944008492003-05-15T10:35:00.000-07:002003-05-15T10:35:28.616-07:00 My book
Well, I haven't written any more, but I will be working on it, and may post some later...Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-944008082003-05-15T10:34:00.000-07:002003-05-15T10:34:42.843-07:00 attacking Bush from the "right"
While I like Oliver Willis's point here, I think he falls into a word trap that pisses me off no end. What is so conservative about a strong response to terrorism? Is there anything illiberal about protecting the citizen's of this country? No, no, a thousand times no! Now, it is the Republican strategy to claim that they are the experts on national defense andPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-944005142003-05-15T10:29:00.000-07:002003-05-15T10:29:01.760-07:00Homophones
Not to be confused with the much more politically charged topic that comes up if you change one letter (left as an exercise to the reader)! I was watching the Daily Show last night (aside: why is this the best news source on television?), and they used the word "balm", and I thought of the almost homophone "bomb". It depends on your dialect I suppose, but I suspect most people Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-939988472003-05-08T09:40:00.000-07:002003-05-08T09:41:59.000-07:00The first draft outline
Since after a couple of days, I am still interested in doing this, here is a tentative outline of my book
Tentative book title:
Humanity's Invisible Partners: the microbes that bewitch, bedevil, and benefit us
Outline:
Introduction: We often only pay attention to microbes when they cause us harm (HIV, SARS, Cholera, Malaria, TB, …), and aside from a few well known Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-938857342003-05-06T14:20:00.000-07:002003-05-06T14:20:47.186-07:00An audacious (and perhaps unlikely) plan
Well, I find myself increasingly uninterested in day to day commentary, so in the spirit of bloggers elsewhere, I've decided to try writing a book! Yeah, I know, that doesn't make much sense, but what the hell, right?
So, here is my goal; I want to write a popular science book about the huge and largely unappreciated role of microbes in our daily lives.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-933440902003-04-27T08:13:00.000-07:002003-04-27T13:24:00.000-07:00Morbidity and Mortality, and Counting the Dead (warning-may contain science-like substance)
So, I embarrassed myself yesterday in Matt Yglesia's comment section, ripping on some guy for saying there were 3.1 million HIV deaths per year, when I KNEW that couldn't be the case. Well, after going to the WHO site and poking around, I found out I was wrong. The reason? The last time I looked at Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-930750402003-04-22T15:58:00.000-07:002003-04-22T15:59:15.000-07:00The Great LA Fast Food Debate
Over at Kevin Drum's new digs there is a debate raging over the L.A. fast food burger scene, sparked by Kevin's dumbfoundedness over In-N-Out mania. As a denizen of the Southland, and a former denizen of the Minnesota frozen tundra, I can honestly say that it is a great tragedy that the high quality of LA fast food is not present in other places. Maybe it is the Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-928744582003-04-18T22:08:00.000-07:002003-04-18T22:08:15.920-07:00SARS Update
I am sure most people have already heard, but a mystery that was bugging me has been solved, in a way. The mystery was, "If there are 150+ people i with SARS in the US, why haven't there been any fatalities?" I had all sorts of great theories about latent bacterial and viral infections in different populations, chronic parasitic infections in poorer nations, like those of Southeast Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-928737792003-04-18T21:50:00.000-07:002003-04-18T21:50:52.606-07:00Rod Paige and "Christian" values
Now, most people who have read this page for a while (both of you) will know that I am an athiest (well, concievably an agnostic), and will also know that I am pretty adamant about it. So, you might expect that I would be pretty upset about the constant church-state separation line trampling coming from the Bush Administration, the latest example being Rod Paige Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-918271982003-04-01T22:46:00.000-08:002003-04-01T22:48:34.000-08:00 Random Thoughts
I haven't been able to blog in great depth lately (you get what you pay for!), but here are a few thoughts that I find interesting...
Most people have seen reports of Iraqi expats returning to fight, and many have suggested that this is proof that Iraqi nationalism runs deep, and that even though they hate or fear Saddam, they prefer him to us. Now, as one who was seriously Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-911333902003-03-21T09:18:00.000-08:002003-03-21T09:18:16.716-08:00Krugmania
One thing I have noticed, when Krugman is on, his critics are very, very quiet. This seems to be the right's (loosely) modus operandi; trumpet the other sides mistakes, never acknowledge when they might have a point. (in case that wasn't obvious).
On another note, check out Charles Murtaugh for some good insight into the problem of infectious disease in China. Also, check out Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-911330912003-03-21T09:12:00.000-08:002003-03-21T09:12:48.326-08:00Math question
I know, that is what everyone wants to see when they tune into a blog, but here it is anyway. What is the first date on which all 8 digits will differ? (note, I have limited you to the 9000 years between 999 and 9999, but I think you can handle it. I am also giving you a hint of sorts.
As an aside, when you get an answer, how did you come to it? Could you think of an "algorithm",Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-910321852003-03-19T19:07:00.000-08:002003-03-19T19:07:18.093-08:00It begins
The war on Iraq has begun. May it be short, and as painless as possible. I didn't agree with the policy, but now I fervently hope that the Bush Admin. hawks are right, and I am wrong.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-910210692003-03-19T15:27:00.000-08:002003-03-19T15:27:07.450-08:00An Attempt to Restrict Tendentious Speech
I propose a moratorium on the tendentious use of the adjective, tendentious. Not only does it make you sound like a tendentious person who lost their tendentious thesaurus, but you tendentiously tend to be tendentiously tendentious. Enough already! We get it; you are really, really smart, and far too cool to call someone else a jerk, because you know aPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-910009942003-03-19T09:23:00.000-08:002003-03-19T14:49:48.000-08:00Update on Killer Pneumonia
It is a virus, it turns out, so I was right in my first instinct, and shouldn't have changed my mind. Oh well, I am very glad that the good doctors in Hong Kong have figured this out. They determined that it is a novel pathogen of the family paramyxoviridae or paramyxoviruses. These are a family of RNA viruses (that is, their genome is made up of RNA). ParamyxovirusPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-909057802003-03-17T21:47:00.000-08:002003-03-17T21:55:22.000-08:00Killer Pneumonia
Well, this has certainly been a big story, and there is justifiable concern in the health professional and CDC circles (follow that link to find out the latest info on the hunt for the etiological agent, err, I mean the bug that causes this disease). Since I am not a senior epidemiologist or "Hot Zone" type virus hunter, I feel comfortable engaging in some wild speculation.
It'sPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-906694022003-03-13T13:41:00.000-08:002003-03-19T14:50:32.000-08:00to do list
Things to discuss- war and disease
epidemiology breast cancer and abortion (see Charles Murtaugh about this)
bioterrorism
Vax-gen
I can't guarantee that I will get to all of it, and more important stuff to blog might get in the way, but if those topics interest you, stay tuned...Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-906692442003-03-13T13:38:00.000-08:002003-03-13T13:38:11.060-08:00Econ as Psych Redux
Some faithful readers (yes, you!) will recall that I made the statement that Economics is Psychology Writ Large, for which Ross Nordeen took me to task (just a general link, I don't have the patience for all that archives crap!). In any event, I think we agreed more or less to disagree, and I think it is fair to say that my statement was predicated on the oversimplification (Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-901411192003-03-04T15:49:00.000-08:002003-03-04T16:13:12.000-08:00My first real post will be about the Op-Ed column in the LA Times today about Science muzzling itself (login: laexaminer password:laexaminer). It may surprise some readers to learn that I don't entirely disagree with this articles viewpoint. I do think it would be problematic if the government told scientific journals what to publish (that seems to me a pretty slippery slope!), but I think Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-901408142003-03-04T15:43:00.000-08:002003-03-04T15:43:24.860-08:00It's been a while, so I don't expect anyone to be reading this anytime soon, but I am back (ish). I got a faculty job at CSU San Bernardino, where I will be teaching Microbiology and setting up a modest research lab. It is a situation that suits my personality and interests, so I am very happy. In the meantime, I will be trying to post at least 2 or 3 times a week over the next few months.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-822734942002-09-29T09:10:00.000-07:002002-09-30T07:22:15.000-07:00Remembrances (warning: may bore you to tears)
The comment about immunological differences reminds me of my graduate work, so if you will indulge me, here is a brief detour into that very, very boring (to most) realm. My graduate research was into the function of a set of exotoxins (that is, poisonous chemicals) produced by Staphylococcus aureus. In particular, the laboratory I worked in studiedPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-822726342002-09-29T08:43:00.000-07:002002-09-29T08:47:13.000-07:00 Chimps and Humans, pt II
"Robert Musil" has responded, and then responded again, to my original post. He has proposed some interesting notions, but ones that I think can be largely resolved by recourse to the fundamentals of molecular biology. Now, it seems to me that he is not well versed in the inner workings of molecular biology, which allows him to formulate some very interesting notions Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-821599002002-09-26T13:03:00.000-07:002002-09-26T13:51:16.000-07:00Chimps and Humans
"Robert Musil" asks the burning question on everyone's mind;
Where prior studies suggest that 98.5% of the human genetic code can also be found in the chimp, a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says the true overlap may be only 95%.
(snip)
My confusion arises because I have never been able to determine from the popular media coverage (such Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-821090362002-09-25T12:55:00.000-07:002002-09-25T13:02:08.000-07:00War and Gore (Al, not the other kind)
So, Al Gore gives a speech, and as Bob Somerby notes, all the cool kids want to know is, "Did he do this to gain a political advantage?" Aside from the insipid "mind reading" of the various pundits (Noonan and Kelly in particular), there has been a great deal of blogorrhea about whether or not he "lied", as many are so fond of saying (I am sure you can see Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-818814402002-09-20T11:18:00.000-07:002002-09-20T11:19:48.000-07:00 Asthma, Clean kids, and you
What follows is a comment I tried to leave at Gene Expression with respect to this very short post by Razib.
I developed asthma after I came to the United States. This article rehashes the idea that excessive hygiene is causing the increase in asthma rates. I'm not too convinced though, seems like it's more correlation than causation.
(here is the link to the articlePaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-818810312002-09-20T11:08:00.000-07:002002-09-20T11:08:20.530-07:00I was wrong
Impossible, you say? Well, thankfully, the previous post turned out to be mere paranoia, rather than dreadful insight!
In other news, I am quite pleased about the recent arrests in the war on terror. The med students in Florida thing was a bad scene, and hopefully, it will get sorted out without too much harm done (they should be let back into the med school program they were Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-812095782002-09-05T16:19:00.000-07:002002-09-05T16:19:28.556-07:00Distant Early Warning??
Many will recall that in the days prior to 9/11, there was an assassination attempt (successful) on the leader of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. In retrospect, it seems to have been an effort to destroy a potential adversary to OBL, and hinder an attempt by the US to retaliate against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Obviously, it failed, but I find it hard not to noticePaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-812025962002-09-05T13:15:00.000-07:002002-09-05T13:15:29.226-07:00 A more succint, eloquent statement of my rant
Not by me, of course! Check out Matthew Yglesias on the state of the war on terror. This, IMO, should be how the Dems approach this subject.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-811404282002-09-04T07:32:00.000-07:002002-09-04T07:32:00.063-07:00Back to science stuff
Now that I got that out of my system, I want to comment (gently!) on Charlie Murtaugh's bloggage about "Homeland Insecurity". I read an excerpt of that article, and agree with his assessment of Scheier's analysis, but I wanted to comment on the immune system analogy. Charlie says "I'm sure there's an evolutionary expert out there who will shoot me down, but I strongly Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-811187142002-09-03T18:53:00.000-07:002002-09-03T18:54:04.000-07:00War, what is it good for? (good question!)
I am going to rant and vent a bit now, so those of you who come here for reasoned, well informed, calm opinions can go elsewhere for a while. I am pissed off, and I am going to use my platform to reach my dozen of readers and let them know about it!
What the f*ck is going on.
It is now almost a year since 9/11, and what have we done? The time of Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-805734302002-08-22T09:22:00.000-07:002002-08-22T09:23:09.000-07:00Ev. Psych., Animal Behavior, and a dose of Rationality
No big comments here, but an interesting review of biologist Marlene Zuk's new book, Sexual Selection: What We Can and Can't Learn about Sex from Animals. The book review (pointed out in brief by Chad Orzel), is titled "Sometimes a snake orgy is just a snake orgy", which gives you some idea of its rather whimsical nature. The book sounds Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-802813912002-08-15T09:38:00.000-07:002002-08-15T09:38:06.210-07:00Best Burgers Ever (from a fast food joint, that is)
Well, it appears that the New York Times has finally discovered In-n-Out Burger. For those readers outside CA, AZ, and NV, all I can say is, you are missing out! Read the article to find out what you are missing! (Jealous?)Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-802803102002-08-15T09:08:00.000-07:002002-08-15T09:09:30.000-07:00WTF???
For those who missed Jonathan Turley's Op-Ed in the L.A. Times ( I won't link it, because I really hate their new registration policy, but here is a link to Tom Tomorrow's Blog in which he discusses the issue), it appears to be the case that our government has completely gone off the deep end. Camps? CAMPS??? (for those who haven't read it, Ashcroft has proposed setting up detainment Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-802798132002-08-15T08:55:00.000-07:002002-08-15T08:56:24.000-07:00...that shape is my shade, there where I used to stand
Dr. Murtaugh gets into some pretty heavy thinking over at his sight, and, since I love the song he starts with, I needed an excuse to get in on the action. His article, to summarize, discusses some cosmological notions of the origins of the Universe, and the "unlikelihood" of Earth (and therefore, of us). These types of arguments always Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-802537362002-08-14T17:52:00.000-07:002002-08-14T17:53:55.000-07:00Coolest.Story.Ever.
Making the blind see with cool electrodes and digital cameras. Pretty amazing stuff!
(via the great and powerful Instantman)Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-802449792002-08-14T13:31:00.000-07:002002-08-14T13:31:31.766-07:00I just received the link to this site (from my mother, of all people!). I know everyone has seen enough 9/11 pictures for a lifetime, but these are, like the others you have no doubt seen, pretty amazing.
Seeing the Horror, pt. II
I am not sure what to say about this, so I will just say, these are worth looking at.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-801926772002-08-13T10:29:00.000-07:002002-08-13T10:29:05.110-07:00Jay Manifold e-mailed me to ask my thoughts on the topic of Post-Transcriptional Gene Silencing. I was e-mailing him back, when I realized that this was a cheap way to get a blog entry for the day, so here it is...
PTSG is not a particularly new idea (in molecular biology terms). The notion of PTGS (also called anti-sense RNA) treatment has been kicking around for at least five or six years. IPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-801009462002-08-11T08:46:00.000-07:002002-08-11T08:46:27.103-07:00Department of Conservative Media Bias: Entry #6,874
From "Reliable Sources" transcript 8/10/02
KURTZ: Let's get a reality check from Byron York
For those who don't know, Byron York is a columnist for that bastion of non-partisan reporting, National Review.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-799834742002-08-08T07:59:00.000-07:002002-08-08T07:59:33.906-07:00Just to keep you coming back for more, next week I will discuss GMO food, and bacteria (via Charlie Murtaugh) and life on Mars (via Jeff Goldstein). Have a good weekend, y'all!Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-799834182002-08-08T07:57:00.000-07:002002-08-08T07:57:56.733-07:0020% less free ice cream this week
In homage to the great Ted Barlow, I will not be blogging that much this week. A quick thought, and recommendation. Everyone, and I mean everyone, is talking about invading Iraq this week. For some good discussions, check out Jim Henley, and for a wrap-up of the debate, go read Electrolite. I don't have much grand strategery to add to all of this, but just a Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-798926512002-08-06T07:58:00.000-07:002002-08-06T08:16:18.000-07:00Information and Oscillation; A meandering
I have been thinking a lot about information, both in the course of my work, and in thinking about things like politics, the stock market, etc. This came into my mind last week, when I was listening to an old CD of mine, and I got to wondering about where some movie and TV samples interwoven with the lyrics came from. Of course, using Google, it took mePaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-798918182002-08-06T07:34:00.000-07:002002-08-06T08:35:58.000-07:00I have been silent for a week or so, but I think I should say a few words about Brian Linse's new addendum to his blog, The Lefty Directory. First, thanks for including me on that list! I don't write about politics that much, but I do consider myself a "lefty", whatever that means. I think people get way too bogged down in what their label should be (I'm looking at you, Layne), but it is fair Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-796321892002-07-31T00:33:00.000-07:002002-07-31T00:33:24.120-07:00On another note, "Godless" and Murtaugh are at it again. I am going to try really hard to stay out of it this time (at least for tonight). I also have some thoughts on toxicity/carcinogenicity testing (Murtaugh), but that can wait till tomorrow, too. Good night, all!Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-796320442002-07-31T00:26:00.000-07:002002-07-31T00:31:40.000-07:00Future directions in the fight against a global hegemon
Of course, the hegemon I refer to is none other than the "urkingdom" eubacteria, who, especially when paired with the other unicellular branch of the tree of life, the archaea, completely dominate the world's ecosystems, by any measure you wish to use. As lowly humans struggling against the mighty unicellular menace, I want to return to the Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-793967892002-07-25T09:06:00.000-07:002002-07-25T09:07:15.000-07:00When bacteria attack (each other)
Charles Murtaugh is riffing on antibiotic resistance, and explaining very well how it is a strong reminder of the power of natural selection. Since this is the field I work in, and I spent some time studying antibiotic resistance in particular, I feel it is my right, nay, my responsibility, to add my 2 cents.
My friends and loyal readers, you have been misled byPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-793073622002-07-23T09:32:00.000-07:002002-07-23T09:32:03.470-07:00Sometimes I wonder if people simply have their heads completely up their asses, or just poke them up their occasionally. In the case of Tim Blair, however, the case has been well resolved. An example is this load of tripe about how the press coverage of Larry Klayman's group Judicial Watch has changed now that he is suing Dick Cheney, from "conservative watchdog" to "non-partisan watchdog", or Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-793066262002-07-23T09:12:00.000-07:002002-07-23T09:12:12.553-07:00Finally, Doug Turnbull has a terrific, accessible discussion of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, and how the recent experiment published in Phys. Rev. Letters is not a repudiation of that Law, but an illustration of its basis in Statistical Mechanics. For the scientifically literate and/or interested, but not physicists, it is great reading.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-793065262002-07-23T09:09:00.000-07:002002-07-23T09:09:54.396-07:00A bit of posting on the non-science side. I am a firm supporter of Israel, but I have to ask myself, what were they thinking? Would killing a Hamas leader really accomplish that much? Is it worth killing children in the process? Even assuming that the Israelis who did this didn't know that they would be killing others in the process, it seems to me that it is immoral to take the risk of Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-793045482002-07-23T08:19:00.000-07:002002-07-23T09:03:09.000-07:00One more time through the thicket
This will be my last post on the subject of mathematics, modeling (not the fun kind, either!), and biology, for a while. I had a thought last night on the subject, that was just too interesting (to me!) to let go of. Here's the thought; Wolfram is right!. Well, maybe not about the whole thing (I haven't read the book, so I really don't know), but there is a Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-791783072002-07-19T21:54:00.000-07:002002-07-19T21:56:32.000-07:00"Godless Capitalist", in the comments below, casts aspersions on my mathematical capabilities, suggesting that my skepticism about genetic engineering of complex traits is rooted in (to paraphrase) "being a mathematically illiterate molecular biologist"; ok, he didn't quite, but close enough. He suggests that the future of biological modeling is analogous to current electrical circuit theory. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-791056562002-07-18T07:26:00.000-07:002002-07-18T07:26:12.183-07:00Note to those whose names may appear in "quotation marks"; it has been fixed, but blogger has not yet changed it (surprise, surprise). I hope most of you are able to get through this time of trauma!Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-790785502002-07-17T13:55:00.000-07:002002-07-17T13:55:42.803-07:00Oops, I forgot Charles Kuffner (and maybe some others)! Updates may appear sporadically, consider yourselves warned...Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-790784282002-07-17T13:52:00.000-07:002002-07-17T13:52:28.550-07:00I have updated the links, adding the esteemed Jane Galt, Charles Murtaugh, Derek Lowe, and James Rummel, as well as the "Gene Expression" consortium. Enjoy! I will be back with some more crazy thought experiments and such later today (hopefully).Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-789949832002-07-15T17:03:00.000-07:002002-07-15T17:09:53.000-07:00Genetics, Mathematical Limits to Understanding, and Engineering the Future (II)
I want to continue down this path just a bit further, to hopefully guide my readers a bit more into how a "working scientist" looks at the world. As I noted in the comments section of the post below, my description of the Three Body Problem may have been a bit glib, but the point boils down to this; a model is Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-787796552002-07-10T08:44:00.000-07:002002-07-10T08:55:36.000-07:00Genetics, Mathematical Limits to Understanding, and Engineering the Future (I)
To start a serious thread from yesterday's entry, I want to get into some of the nitty-gritty of what it takes to build serious models of genetic systems, and how this might "scale up" into the type of re-engineering that "Godless Captalist" has suggested is right around the corner. In this, however, I need to be Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-787332622002-07-09T08:19:00.000-07:002002-07-09T08:39:28.000-07:00On to more scientific matters. Gene Expression is the blog written by a consortium of science bloggers including my (and Charles Murtaugh's nemesis, "Godless Capitalist". In a recent post, GC cast aspersions on our arguments about racial differences, genetics, etc (this is old hat to the readers of this site, I expect). Nevertheless, I think that he mischaracterized both our arguments, and thePaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-787329602002-07-09T08:11:00.000-07:002002-07-09T08:12:19.000-07:00I had some zingers in here for Dubya on the corporate malfeasance issue, but I lost them to my own ineptitude. I had a slogan for his new campaign against corporate "evildoers", which I thought was pretty clever.
"Crooks; it takes one to know one"
Unfortunately for me, Karl Rove wasn't available when I called, but in the meantime, Dubya came up with an even better slogan for his newfound desire Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-783352322002-06-28T18:31:00.000-07:002002-06-28T18:31:23.966-07:00Pledge of Allegiance
I tried, really I did, but I just can't help it. Every bloviating blowhard on the planet is commenting on this, so what's one more tiny little voice?
First off, to the people threatening this man and his daughter (!!), you deserve a special place in Hell (of course, I don't believe in it, but you do) for that kind of behavior. What is he doing wrong besides exercising his Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-782709822002-06-27T08:13:00.000-07:002002-06-27T11:15:33.000-07:00A quick detour into meta-blogging
I don't usually go for the meta-stuff, because it usually gets so convoluted so fast as to lose all relevance, but I was struck by a couple of issues floating around blogdom (the "right" and "left" hemispheres, you might say). First, the notion of an "echo chamber". I don't doubt that such a thing, in a sense, exists. One thing every blog reader should keep inPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-779225112002-06-18T22:30:00.000-07:002002-06-18T22:32:16.000-07:00Anthrax suspect known?
I don't know much about this newspaper, but if this story has any merit at all, it should give pause to all the Bush worshippers out there (please, no dirty jokes!);
AMERICAN investigators know the identity of the killer who paralysed the US by sending anthrax in the post but will not arrest the culprit, according to leading US scientists.
For several months the Federal Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-776994452002-06-13T08:21:00.000-07:002002-06-17T22:07:56.000-07:00Genomics and Health Insurance
I wanted to get back to science on this one, in particular the intersection of scientific and medical advancement in genomics with our current and potential future medical insurance system. At the outset, let me say this; I don't particularly want nationalized health care(single payer), although I am not completely opposed to the idea. HMO's, which were instituted Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-776977602002-06-13T07:31:00.000-07:002002-06-13T07:31:49.820-07:00Lileks has an interesting "Bleat" about the connection between an Islamic investment fund, a relief organization for Palestinians (no identified link to militancy or terror), and a coffee company near and dear to my heart, Caribou Coffee. I worked there for about a year when I was a grad student at the U. of Minnesota, so I have some personal experience with the company. I also first became Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-776252302002-06-11T14:20:00.000-07:002002-06-11T14:20:27.523-07:00One more thing about the "dirty bomber", before I get back to the boring science crap. I hope this Hispanic ex-con marks the absolute last word we ever hear about how hard it is to infiltrate Al Qaeda. Here we have a lifetime petty criminal, Hispanic, converting to Islam in prison, and then joining the merry gang of murderous thugs to blow stuff up. As if that wasn't enough, we also have a 17 Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3235263.post-776143622002-06-11T09:32:00.000-07:002002-06-11T09:32:33.383-07:00I am glad to see this article that says the "dirty bomber" (I like that) won't be tried by a military tribunal. Perhaps civil liberties still have a place in our society. I would like to note an aspect of this. I heard very little in the blogosphere about this question (well, to be fair, I heard lots in the left/liberal blogosphere, much less in the right/libertarian blogosphere), but I did Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154164899766463079noreply@blogger.com