No Longer Proud

WTF Maine?!?!

Do you not remember this?
Have you not heard about hospitals refusing to allow same sex partners or their children to visit patients as they are dying?

Well good for you Maine.
You have protected the institution of marriage!

Remind me from what?
Is your divorce rate magically going down now to pre-May 2009 levels?
Less domestic abuse occurring?
Adultery, which never occurred before last May will now stop?

Or maybe your just keeping the good word of your god?
Banning marriage is one thing, but it shouldn't stop the divine retribution you might be concerned about.
So I expect the death penalty is back on the table?
Off to ban lobster fishing next I expect?

Any rationale reason why equality is a bad thing? I know many people (men) have the "eww" factor when they think of gay men kissing, so what many people (men) have an "eww" factor when they think of menstruation. Maybe reproductively mature women should lose their rights too.

Until I get a rationale reason to explain these results, Ill go on the assumption that Maine is populated with a majority of ignorant bigots. And despite the fact that I have a few dear friends and relatives in Maine, Im still sending a big FUCK YOU back home.

Amateur bioterrorism, now available at McDonald's

The Department of Homeland Security defines bioterrorism as "A biological terrorist attack would be the deliberate release of anthrax, smallpox, ebola, a plague, or another highly fatal organism in a large, unsuspecting civilian environment that would be conducive to the rapid spread of the organism."

Then I am made aware of this Craigslist posting:

11/1: Chicken Pox Party (Spokane)
Date: 2009-08-29, 12:29AM PDT
Reply to: event-gvduk-1348079907@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

I am trying to put together a chicken pox party and am looking for someone to donate their chickenpox to the event.
I was thinking of having it at McDonald or some place with toys to play on.
if you know anyone who would like to contribute or would like more information on a time and place let me know.

Location: Spokane
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
PostingID: 1348079907


I realize that there are many people that do not understand infectious diseases, public health, or science but this goes beyond the pale. I can even understand why parents may not worry so much about chicken pox. Many parents remember having chicken pox as a kid or knowing people that had it and it not being a big deal. Of course that overlooks the entire world of shingle's, but nevertheless I can understand it.

However, how whacked do you have to be to plan to have an infectious disease party in a public place!?!? I realize these parents care about their kids. Of course the parents that beat their kids out behind the tool shed also care for their kids. But in so many ways these parents are wrong, factually wrong. What is the risk associated with the chicken pox vaccine (and there is one)? What is the risk associated with chicken pox, including relapses later in life as well as costs to society by infecting others? I expect these parents have an idea about the former question (even if its overblown with fake autism linkage) and have no idea about the latter question except anecdotes and personal beliefs. (By beliefs I do not mean religion, but the belief that chicken pox is perfectly fine based on insight.)

Regardless, this parent and others like this one, is going beyond the pale. Its not sufficient to have an infectious disease party. Nope, you need to make sure its done in a public place where other kids, parents, teens, adults who think you are batshit crazy have no protective recourse. A fucking McDonalds?!?! Lets spread the virus all over the toys?!?! What the hell is wrong with you?

Couple of things to consider batshit crazy parent. What if there are other kids there who are in some way immunocompromised. You know maybe recovering from leukemia or other disease? I know, its not your kid. What about adults that never had chicken pox as a child and catching it could be fatal? I know, they're not your friends. What about the elderly? I know, not your parents.

Here's a thought, what if there is a small outbreak of chicken pox that is tracked to a specific McDonald's? Think that will help with business? I know, that's not your problem. That's what I despise about these people, they want all the freedom in the world but aren't actually willing to be a part of the society that helps maintain all those freedoms.

I realize terrorism requires some political or social coercion, but damnit how are these people not bioterrorists?

H/T Aetiology

Proud to be a Mainer

This is a bit dated, being from last Spring, but nonetheless it makes me proud to be from the state of Maine.



Reminds me of my greatgrandfather who lived in Guilford and also fought in WWII.

H/T Colloquoy via Greg Laden

Why we need healthcare reform

Not much brings out the hate like the healthcare debate in the US. The first thing we need to establish is whether we actually need healthcare reform or everything is hunky dory. As a first step I recommend the following.

An Archival repost

Francis Collins has just taken over as the head of the NIH. There has been much (rightfully so) discussion of his evangelical christian thoughts in regards to science and what has come from his work. However, as weak as Collins' philosophical arguments are here, I want to touch an a horrifying trend I see coming down from on high (in other words from the director of NIH).

As recently noted at WEIT there seems to be the idea that "Big Science" is better than figuring shit-out-science. One of Collins big credentials was administering the NHGRI, which is a plus, no doubt. But science is more than generating data, even copious amounts of data sufficient to choke a rodent. As I noted in the WEIT comments, any primate (or well trained mammal) can generate copious data points. It is true scientists that figure out what these data points mean, if they mean anything. Thus, I leave you with a repost, while I get back to my day job of trying (desperately) to keep people gainfully employed.

How related are you to a......?

You must check this out! Have fun with comparing your favorite Latin named organisms.

Time Tree

Plus, you can learn some cool things....


Like, Baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and the oral thrush culprit (Candida albicans) diverged ~ 500 MYa
or that Baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and people (Homo sapiens) diverged ~1300 MYa
or that Baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and another yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe) (pombe is Swahili for beer :)) diverged ~900 MYa

So there's almost as much diversity between beer brewing organisms as there is between these organisms and people.

Mmmmm, beer

Rules of the game-Argumentation

Why do I like to argue? Ostensibly its because I like to win, but in reality I am interested in the truth or at least the closest approximation to "truth" we can get. If indeed the goal is to reveal truth, then there are rules we need to follow. (Actually this is in-and-of itself a supposition that could be argued. However, I am going to assume that if there are no rules, then truth cannot rationally be identified. This is like the underlying argument of a creationist, if god can just bring everything into being using no rational or understandable rules, then evolution must do the same thing: Thus, we hear the "never seen a dog evolve into a cat" and the "the odds of randomly getting a specific 100 amino acid protein is too great" arguments. These arguments are based on creationist understanding of how god did it, which was ruleless.)

As a primer to understanding argumentation, and to allow me to expand my own education into logic and philosophy I refer you to Dr. Wilkins excellent site Evolving Thoughts and his recent post on "A Code of Conduct for Effective Rational Discussion," and the references therein.