13 Apr 2005
Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld are now species of slime-mold beetles

How appropriate ...

U.S. President George Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld may not all get a library, airport or highway named after them. But each has a slime-mold beetle named in his honor. Two former Cornell University entomologists who recently had the job of naming 65 new species of slime-mold beetles named three species that are new to science in the genus Agathidium for members of the U.S. administration. They are A. bushi Miller and Wheeler, A. cheneyi Miller and Wheeler and A. rumsfeldi Miller and Wheeler.

(link) [Science Blog]

00:00 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link

Fifteen NYSE Traders Indicted

This is rot at the very heart of the system. If it's not excised immediately, and if controls are not put into place to prevent it's recurrence, the integrity of the whole market could be in jeopardy, and with it our entire economy.

washingtonpost.com - Fifteen current and former traders at the New York Stock Exchange were criminally charged yesterday with cheating investors out of the best prices for their stock trades in what could be unparalleled abuse of their position at the world's largest and most prestigious stock market.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

An Odd Hero

When I first read the title of this post: Christian Right Gets Randy, over at Notes on Religion, I couldn't figure out what he was talking about ... then I read the article, dropped the 'y' in the title and was amused and astounded.

The poor author of Atlas Shrugged must be spinning in her grave at the thought of this ... but I must say I concur wholeheartedly with the wingnut's suggested reading list for teens. It was this list (with the exception of the books on Alger Hiss and Joe McCarthy) that finally broke my last bonds to Christianity, by showing up the religion of Christ for what it really was: blind subservience to a slave god, the ultimate collectivist nightmare.

And it's a short step from atheist to Asatrurar. If enough Christian teens follow this nutcase's suggestions, perhaps we should prepare for an influx of newly freed slaves ...

00:00 /Asatru | 4 comments | permanent link

Being too clean could be hazardous to your health

Once again the science community misses the mark - chloroform is the least of the problems with antibacterial soaps and cleansers. The real problem lies in speeding the evolution of newer, more virulent strains of bacteria (particularly staph types), resulting in more human infections.

Researchers have discovered that the use of antimicrobial soaps and other products may unnecessarily be directly exposing consumers to significant quantities of chloroform. Researcher Peter Vikesland has shown in his research that when the chemical triclosan, present in many antimicrobial soaps, reacts with chlorine in tap water, chloroform is produced. Chloroform is classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a probable human carcinogen.

(link) [Science Blog]

00:00 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link

The Hard Stuff Now Includes Wine

Hmmm ... this little gem of an article raises a couple of interesting points. First, the strange (but) true properties of numbers expressed as percentages:

Twenty-five years later, the 12 percent California wine seems as quaint as the gas-saving hatchback. Today, it's the rare bottle from California, red or white, that doesn't reach 14 percent alcohol. Many now hit 15, even 16 percent, a difference that may seem insignificant until you realize that a 15 percent bottle contains 25 percent more alcohol than one labeled 12 percent.

Which is completely accurate: a 1 liter bottle of wine at 12% alcohol by volume will contain 120 milliliters of alcohol , while one at 15% will contain 150 milliliters, or 30 milliliters more. And 30 is one quarter of 120...

Of course, this number could also be expressed as it is on the label: 15% versus 12%, or 3% stronger. But expressing it as "containing 25% more alcohol" makes it sound dramatically higher. This is a common technique used mostly by statisticians with an axe to grind. Betcha the author of this article longs for the days of 12% pinot noir.

The second interesting thing is the apparent return of a truly ancient practice:

Mr. Mondavi does not favor the higher-alcohol wines.
"To me a wine is a beverage to be enjoyed with a meal," he said. "These wines remind me of what my grandfather used to do with a big, heavy wine. He would add water, then drink it with his meal."

This is an ancient tradition: the Greeks nearly always mixed water into their wine, using a large vessel designed explicitly for the purpose called a krater. It'll be interesting to see if, with the return of very high alcohol wines, it makes a comeback on the American table.

Among California producers and those who follow wine closely, high-alcohol wines have provoked sharp debate.

(link) [NYT > Home Page]

00:00 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link