Lindsay Beyerstein

Another Bird Flu Warning? The Washington Post reports that a mystery illness has killed nine farmers and sickened others in Sichuan, China. These deaths may be linked to the deadly strain of influenza that has killed nearly 60 people in Southeast Asia. Disturbingly, the Chinese authorities may not be cooperating fully with global public health […]

Boom Town…* The reality-based community is expanding rapidly: Poll: Many Fear Iraq Hurting Terror Fight WASHINGTON — A growing number of Americans fear the war in Iraq is undermining the fight against terrorism and raising the risk of terrorist attacks in this country, a poll found. Almost half, 47 percent, say the war in Iraq […]

Genealogy… The History Channel is doing a series on human evolution. I wish I could find a picture of the ads they’ve been running on buses in my neighborhood. The art is a parody of a famous detail from the Sistine Chapel ceiling ? in the ad the hand of God has been replaced by […]

Thank You For Riding the MTA, Your Submission is Appreciated… The AP reports that New York subway riders “submitted calmly” to the first day of random bag and briefcase searches. So, the plan is working. People are acquiescing and feeling good about it: And Amy Wilson, 28, said the officers’ work “makes me feel safer. […]

Democratic Senators Skip Hughes’ Confirmation Hearing… Not a single Democratic Senator showed up for Karen Hughes’ confirmation hearing. According to the Wall Street Journal, Senate Dems had “plans” to grill Karen Hughes on her potential role in the Rove/Libby/Plame scandal. But somehow those plans never materialized. Hughes has been called by Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald […]

Paul Krassner on Scientology… I don’t know how much of Paul Krassner’s latest NY Press article is true, but I can attest that it’s 100% funny. In 1971, I announced in an ad the features that would be included in the 13th-anniversary issue of The Realist. Among them, “The Rise of Sirhan Sirhan in the […]

Friday gerbil-blogging… Mass gerbil rescue: Group takes 550 gerbils from small house. [AP] No, it isn’t true what they say about gerbils.

Hysterical Infringements…. The New York Times reports that New York City police officers will begin random searches of passengers’ bags. Random searches are totally unacceptable. If these searches are truly random, they are unlikely to detect suicide bombers, let alone deter them. How many million riders are there on the MTA on any given day? […]

Thursday Science and Policy Roundup…. Revere of Effect Measure promotes naturalized epistemology ? specifically, a special supplement to the American Journal of Public Health about scientific evidence and public policy: This is the first full scale attempt by scientists and science scholars to come to terms with the new rules on scientific evidence spawned by […]

RIP, John H. Ostrom…. John H. Ostrom, the Yale Paleontologist who advanced the theory that birds descended from dinosaurs died yesterday at the age of 77. Ostrom also discovered Deinonychus antirrhopus, a “spectacular, but fairly small dinosaur” whose name means counterbalancing fearsome claw.