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Science giveth and science taketh away

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The ethical controversy surrounding embryonic stem cells engendered by the scientific use of stem cells may now be at an end. Dr. Maureen Condic and Dr. Markus Grompe write in the Wall Street Journal (11/23/07): Two major scientific papers published this week in Science and Cell magazines unveil a proven way to generate patient-matche, human pluripotent stem cells without human cloning, and with the use of human embryos or human or animal eggs. Exciting stuff. And, one hopes, a way past what many considered a slippery slope of giving ethical “easements” on the basis pure hope (and as we are not sure of the potential yet, perhaps even hype). Science has provided a resolution to the ethical and political debate, […]

Panderbears are so cute and cuddly

/0 Comments/in , , /by Liam Day

What does it say about the Democratic party that its entirely uncritical relationship with the teachers’ union has become the baseline against which to measure other panders. This from the Talk of the Town section in the most recent New Yorker, in which George Packer analyzes the Republican presidential candidates, who he claims try to outdo one another, burnishing tough foreign policy stances while “. . . pandering to the war lobby as if they were Democrats addressing the teachers’ union.” And this is The New Yorker, mind you, not the National Review.

Life support for the Globe?

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Been traveling so catching up on some items. In case you missed it, the Globe‘s circulation is down 6.66% (to 361,000) and the Herald‘s 8.7% (to 186,000). I loved the November 6 Globe’s headline: “Newspaper circulation still on decline.” All true, though the numbers for the Globe and the Herald were decidedly steeper than for all newspapers except for the Dallas Morning News and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. While it might be interesting to understand why the circulations of Boston papers are headed in the opposite direction from that of the Philadelphia Inquirer (up 2.3% to 338,000), the broader, more important question is why the decline in newspaper readership is steeper in Boston than elsewhere? Other cities and regions have Metro […]

Another first from the paper of record

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I’m confident that no previous New York Times’ article has ever mentioned this level of alcohol consumption.  From the NYT’s helpful guide to carving a Thanksgiving turkey: “One year the turkey took a long time to cook and I went to carve it after about 13 beers,” said Maurice Landry, who lives near Lake Charles, La. “The way I remember it, I bore down to take off the leg and the whole thing went shooting off the platter and knocked over the centerpiece.” Happy Thanksgiving!

A Small Step for Transparency

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Buried in the outside sections of Governor’s latest supplemental budget is a provision to move the Mass Turnpike’s accounting system into the main state accounting system (that’s NewMMARS for you budgeting enthusiasts). This change will now make the MTA’s accounts (and spending down to a very detailed level) transparent to state budget officials. I’m not sure whether to be happy about the progress or sad that such a basic thing counts as progress.