I learn more history from Pawn Stars than any of the History Channel’s other shows.
Also, I refuse to call it “History”. It’s the History Channel.
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: Pawn Stars, Thought of the day | 1 Comment »
Defunding health care for women
Posted on April 30, 2011 by Michael
I find myself more and more torn. On the one hand, it’s so hard to say Republicans are motivated by a hatred of women. There are legitimate arguments to be made in some of their actions. But on the other hand, the majority of their actions are asinine and condescending, backed by no grain of rationality or intelligence:
Last week, Indiana lawmakers voted to approve a measure that would defund the state chapter of Planned Parenthood by $2 million, the amount the group gets each year in federal dollars. The bill would also ban abortions following the 20th week of pregnancy unless a woman’s life is in jeopardy. The measure would also require abortion providers to tell women seeking abortions that life begins at conception, that the procedure is linked to infertility, and that fetuses can feel pain at 20 weeks or earlier…
The bill’s author, state Rep. Eric Turner (R), defended its passage, telling The Indianapolis Star Thursday that it means “pregnant ladies will have a better-informed decision to make.” Representative Turner also said, “The net result will be less abortions in Indiana, and I’m pleased about that.”
First, I’ve never had a problem with recognizing that Republicans are by-and-large anti-science. That’s a given, and this requirement to force doctors to make up stuff to tell pregnant women only confirms it. Second, women are NOT children and they are NOT making these decisions lightly, you condescending piece of shit, Eric Turner. Unfortunately, this douche isn’t alone in not getting that. Pick any random inbred state that’s been attempting to destroy individual autonomy and the idea that sexual maturity is a good thing: invariably there will be some ass who pretends that his motivation is to make sure women really know what’s going on. “Make them look at an ultrasound! Clearly women have no fucking clue what’s going on inside their bodies!”
No, you anti-abortionists, get it through your thick fucking skulls: People aren’t rejecting your shit arguments out of ignorance or a desire to murder babies. We aren’t rejecting it because we’re in the dark about all the emotionally manipulative (and emotionally false) images. We’re rejecting your horseshit because human beings – real live persons – are not defined by merely being cells. We’re rejecting it because consciousness matters, and making up that fetuses can feel and understand anything, including pain, is fundamentally dishonest. We’re rejecting it because it devalues human life to lie and claim a ball of developing cells is on the same playing field as someone who is 2 or 122 or anything between. Get better arguments.
The only glimmer of hope I can see in all this is that the Republicans, despite being the cause of much of our economic woes, were only elected to deal with the economy. Now that they’re showing their true colors, hopefully their human-hurting agendas will be rejected next time around.
Update: Oh, and a helpful reminder:
Filed under: News, Politics and Social | Tagged: Abortion, Condescension, Eric Turner, Republicans | 2 Comments »
Gov. Perry says President Obama is ignoring Texas
Posted on April 29, 2011 by Michael
“You have to ask, ‘Why are you taking care of Alabama and other states?’ I know our letter didn’t get lost in the mail,” Perry, a Republican and frequent critic of the federal government, said after addressing a Texas emergency management conference.
President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency for Alabama, where storms — including a tornado that ravaged Tuscaloosa on Wednesday — killed nearly 200 people this week.
Texas actually does get significant federal help in its fire fighting efforts, but I digress. The more interesting question here is, why is Perry only criticizing Obama for ignoring Texas? Shouldn’t he be criticizing God for not doing anything?
Filed under: News | Tagged: God, Perry, President Obama, Texas, Wildfires | 1 Comment »
Six little planets, all in a row
Posted on April 29, 2011 by Michael
For the last two months, almost all the planets have been hiding behind the sun, but this week they all emerge and are arrayed in a grand line above the rising sun. Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter are visible, and you can add Uranus and Neptune to your count if you have binoculars or a small telescope.
This sky map of the six planets shows how they should appear at dawn to observers with clear weather and an unobstructed view.
Counting this morning, the moon will also be lined up for four mornings (sorry my fellow EST people for the post-dawn post).
Filed under: Astronomy/Cosmology/Physics | Tagged: Aligned planets | Leave a comment »
S. aureus found in meat and poultry
Posted on April 28, 2011 by Michael
Staphylococcus aureus has been found in U.S. meat and poultry at alarming rates:
Nearly half of the meat and poultry samples — 47 percent — were contaminated with S. aureus, and more than half of those bacteria — 52 percent — were resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics, according to the study published today in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
This is the first national assessment of antibiotic resistant S. aureus in the U.S. food supply. And, DNA testing suggests that the food animals themselves were the major source of contamination.
I’m mostly posting this because I’ve recently been working with various bacteria, including S. aureus. One of the biggest problems with them – indeed, with any major and most minor bacteria species – is that they evolve quickly in response to the antibiotics we use against them. This research specifically looked at resistance, and the numbers are surprising. Compounding the issue, there are really only six or so major companies that work to develop antibiotics in the U.S. today. Though our government is a big corporate welfare bitch, our direct government investment in this sort of research is non-existent. That really makes no sense. It is government funding that has long been a huge driving force behind the science of the 20th century, and this is especially true where both lives and profits are at risk – private businesses will always opt to risk the former, not the latter. Given how quickly bacteria evolve to get around antibiotics – resistance has been detected in the very same year the antibiotics have been developed in some cases – it would be good science and our health if we started investing more. A lot more.
That said, there are preventative measures that need to be addressed. First – and we need government again – limit what farmers can give livestock. Of course resistance will evolve if we keep giving cows and chickens antibiotics at such high rate. Second – yep, government again – tighten food-handling protocols in meat markets, including supermarkets. Given the $8 an hour supermarkets pay their employees, I doubt people in that field will give two shits, but every little bit helps (especially before the food gets to that point). And finally – we might not need government to do all of this one – educate the general public, i.e., cook your food at recommended temperatures, wipe down counters, and other basic things civilized people ought to be doing without being told.
Filed under: Evolution, News | Tagged: Bacteria, Meat, Poultry, Staphylococcus aureus | 16 Comments »
S. aureus found in meat and poultry
Posted on April 28, 2011 by Michael
Staphylococcus aureus has been found in U.S. meat and poultry at alarming rates:
Nearly half of the meat and poultry samples — 47 percent — were contaminated with S. aureus, and more than half of those bacteria — 52 percent — were resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics, according to the study published today in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
This is the first national assessment of antibiotic resistant S. aureus in the U.S. food supply. And, DNA testing suggests that the food animals themselves were the major source of contamination.
I’m mostly posting this because I’ve recently been working with various bacteria, including S. aureus. One of the biggest problems with them – indeed, with any major and most minor bacteria species – is that they evolve quickly in response to the antibiotics we use against them. This research specifically looked at resistance, and the numbers are surprising. Compounding the issue, there are really only six or so major companies that work to develop antibiotics in the U.S. today. Though our government is a big corporate welfare bitch, our direct government investment in this sort of research is non-existent. That really makes no sense. It is government funding that has long been a huge driving force behind the science of the 20th century, and this is especially true where both lives and profits are at risk – private businesses will always opt to risk the former, not the latter. Given how quickly bacteria evolve to get around antibiotics – resistance has been detected in the very same year the antibiotics have been developed in some cases – it would be good science and our health if we started investing more. A lot more.
That said, there are preventative measures that need to be addressed. First – and we need government again – limit what farmers can give livestock. Of course resistance will evolve if we keep giving cows and chickens antibiotics at such high rate. Second – yep, government again – tighten food-handling protocols in meat markets, including supermarkets. Given the $8 an hour supermarkets pay their employees, I doubt people in that field will give two shits, but every little bit helps (especially before the food gets to that point). And finally – we might not need government to do all of this one – educate the general public, i.e., cook your food at recommended temperatures, wipe down counters, and other basic things civilized people ought to be doing without being told.
Filed under: Evolution, News | Tagged: Bacteria, Meat, Poultry, Staphylococcus aureus | 16 Comments »
Thought of the day
Posted on April 28, 2011 by Michael
The biggest issues for the Tea Party:
- Breaking up unions (without helping any budgets)
- Restricting abortions
- Expanding gun ‘rights’
- Questioning the President’s place of birth
- Defunding public radio
- Restricting civil rights for gays
- Replacing Jewish lawmakers with “true Christian” leaders
- Pretending the U.S. is a Christian nation
- Pretending the U.S. was even founded on Christian ‘principles’
- Abusing the already weak concept of libertarianism
Oh, and most don’t want to see cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. So remind me again why so much of the nation believes this movement has anything to do with spending and taxes?
Filed under: Misc | Tagged: Teabaggers, Thought of the day | 3 Comments »
Alabama is generally a racist state
Posted on April 28, 2011 by Michael
In 2000, 41% of Alabama voters said they wanted to keep federally nullified language in their constitution saying blacks and whites could not marry. In 2004, a narrow majority defeated an amendment that would have 1) eliminated references to Jim Crow laws and poll taxes, and 2) declared that there is a constitutional right to education. Now the Alabama legislature is attempting to once again remove that racist language:
The proposed amendment would eliminate language that calls for separate schools for black and white students and poll taxes, the latter generally viewed as instituted to keep black residents from voting.
“Even though federal laws nullify these old wordings, it remains a black eye on the state,” said Cam Ward, another Republican senator.
Some lawmakers have tried for years to rewrite the entire state constitution, which they criticize as outdated and cumbersome.
This is will be an interesting test. In 2000 there was the excuse of taxation issues that came along with declaring public education a right. It isn’t surprising that the deep south has questionable commitments to education, but that won’t be a factor when this issue likely appears on ballots in 2012. Alabama voters are going to have to give a plain up or down vote without making excuses for their deeply embedded racism.
While I suspect a number of voters there did legitimately glom onto the public education issue in 2000, I more strongly suspect that a majority of those voters really just don’t like black people. My guess is that we see another round of absurdly, blatantly, baldly racist people filling up the ballot boxes just like in 2000 – especially if the Tea Party manages to churn up a big turn-out.
Filed under: News | Tagged: Alabama, Jim Crow, Racism | 1 Comment »
For the Sake of Science 
