The news is dreadful: According to the Census, since 2006 we have been living in a republic where, for the first time in the history of the republic, Americans drink more bottled water than we drank beer. Why is this important? It’s important because beer is a socially oriented beverage, and . . . . Continue Reading »
At least, that what atheist philosopher Daniel Dennett thinks . He argues that “we’re robots made of robots made of robots made of robots.” In other words, the brain is made up of millions upon millions of neurons, and each of those neurons is made up of eukaryotic cells, and each . . . . Continue Reading »
This was gratuitously harmful politically to the president, and it reflects a thoughtlessness, I think, that belies his image as a sensitive egalitarian. President Obama has compared his poor bowling skills to the Special Olympics. From the story: Towards the end of his approximately 40-minute . . . . Continue Reading »
I have a piece in today’s Sacramento Bee rounding out my critique of the Obama ESCR policy and his rescission of the Bush executive order requiring the Feds to fund alternative sources. The new policy no longer provides funding of pluripotent stem cells that have the potential to bridge the . . . . Continue Reading »
How can anyone trust anything written today about science? In an earlier SHS post, I touched on how a pair of new studies—we were told by the Washington Post—demonstrated that routine prostate screening for cancer isn’t worth doing. The point of that post was not so much to focus . . . . Continue Reading »
An ideological preoccupation with stem cells blocked President Bush from giving his full attention to an intelligence briefing warning of an attack by Bin Laden. This—more or less—is what Frank Rich, the New York Times op-ed columnist, suggests in “The Culture Warriors Get Laid . . . . Continue Reading »
I never cease to be amazed at the sense of superiority that drips from the pores of some people who work in the sciences. I find this quite irritating, which was brought to a head for me this morning when I read a story about prostate cancer screening.For years, we have been told repeatedly and . . . . Continue Reading »
The NHS disarray continues. In the scheme of things—with people in the UK unable to get good pain control and hospitals having receptionists examine patients—this is small. But it is symbolic of what happens in socialized systems. From the story:The Health Service has paid out more than . . . . Continue Reading »
I have a piece in today’s Sacramento Bee rounding out my critique of the Obama ESCR policy and his rescission of the Bush executive order requiring the Feds to fund alternative sources for funding of pluripotent stem cells. Some of this will be familiar to SHSers, but I think the points I make . . . . Continue Reading »
Lower living standards aren’t all bad. This MSNBC report on pawnshops contains some pretty good news. For one thing, with suddenly-less-prosperous people willing to sacrifice their luxury goods for some cash, thrifty people can now expect fancier items when they make their weekly trek to the . . . . Continue Reading »
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