Why liberals should be condescending

Why liberals should be condescending: "A Sunday Washington Post editorial asks why liberals are so damn condescending. Seriously:

Why are liberals so condescending?

By Gerard Alexander

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Every political community includes some members who insist that their side has all the answers and that their adversaries are idiots. But American liberals, to a degree far surpassing conservatives, appear committed to the proposition that their views are correct, self-evident, and based on fact and reason, while conservative positions are not just wrong but illegitimate, ideological and unworthy of serious consideration.

Yet more persecuted conservative syndrome, not to mention more misuse of the word 'ideological.'

But really, why shouldn't liberals should be condescending, and committed to the proposition that their views are based in fact and reason? The people most committed to basing their views on facts and reason, and whose efforts have achieved a standard of living that finally broke humanity out of millennia with an average life expectancy of 30 and the constant threat of starvation, are liberals. In this case, I am referring to scientists:

Less than 10% of scientists consider themselves Republicans or conservatives. Why shouldn't liberals consider their positions to be based on fact and reason, and see conservative views as largely illegitimate?

And the public largely praises the efforts of scientists, too. Only 6% of Americans think science has had a negative effect on society.

Science is both the most popular, and the least conservative, institution in America. What the public doesn't know is that a very small percentage of scientists consider themselves to be conservatives. But, it is something that should be pointed out whenever conservatives whine about how condescending and "fact-based" liberal positions are. Without liberals, and their emphasis on science, reason and facts, conservatives couldn't even use things like the internet, or even television, to continue their whining. They would still be stuck in the frakking middle ages, which is maybe what they wanted all along.

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Study finds a link between plastics chemical BPA and childhood asthma

Study finds a link between plastics chemical BPA and childhood asthma: "

Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, are reporting the findings of experiments with mice that indicate exposure to bisphenol-A, or BPA, during pregnancy may increase the chances of asthma in the child.

The chemical, used in plastic bottles, linings of cans and other products, has been linked to reproductive problems and increased risk of cancer, among other maladies.

Researchers fed BPA to pregnant mice a week before they gave birth, in quantities that would produce a proportion equivalent to that which has been found in women. They then introduced a common allergy-provoking substance and measured the response in pup mice.

"All four of our indicators of asthma response showed up in the BPA group, much more so than in the pups of the non-exposed mice," said co-author Randall Goldblum.

Findings of the study will be published in the February edition of Environmental Health Perspectives.

Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration changed its position on the chemical, saying it deserves wider study.

Following an increasing number of governmental bans on the chemical, the six top makers of baby bottles have moved to BPA-free containers.

-- Geoff Mohan

Photo: Bisphenol-A, or BPA, has been used in baby bottles for years, raising concerns after the chemical was linked to reproductive issues and increased chances of cancer and diabetes. Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

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Los Angeles might expand use of Zipcars

Los Angeles might expand use of Zipcars: "The pilot car-sharing program, primarily in use at UCLA and USC, is deemed enough of a success that the city wants to take it farther.





On the traffic-clogged streets surrounding UCLA, Nina Viakhireva, a car-less art student from San Francisco, had learned to navigate the bus routes or rely on friends for rides. Her parents did not buy her a car, afraid Los Angeles traffic would be too dangerous and time-consuming.

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Internet browsing: Searching for happiness?

Internet browsing: Searching for happiness?: "

People who are addictive Internet searchers should probably browse for a phone number to the nearest therapist. Though almost everyone uses the Internet to conduct business, connect with people, pay bills or find information, the people who spend hours each day aimlessly surfing the net are more likely to be depressed, according to a new study.

Psychologists at the University of Leeds in Britain evaluated the Internet use and depression levels of 1,319 people ages 16 to 51. Of this group, 18 people (1.2%) were classified as Internet-addicted. When these 18 people were compared with 18 similar people who were not Internet-addicted, the researchers saw striking differences in depression. The 18 non-addicted people were not depressed while the 18 Internet-addicted people were classified, as a group, as moderately to severely depressed.

The addicted people tended to use the Internet more for sexual gratification, gaming and chat rooms, compared with the non-addicts. The authors of the paper, published in the journal Psychopathology, concluded that these people are replacing real-life socializing with Internet surfing.

They say, however, that it's not clear which comes first: the Internet addiction followed by depression or depression followed by Internet addiction. Regardless of the answer to that question, depression and heavy Internet use appear to be a bad mix.

Here's a link to The Center for Internet Addiction.

-- Shari Roan

Photo credit: Greg Baker / Associated Press

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L.A. activists float idea of ‘freeway’ system for bikes

L.A. activists float idea of ‘freeway’ system for bikes: "

While Los Angeles city officials and hired consultants tinker with the draft of a mammoth bike plan, vocal critics in the cycling community complain it does not include enough new bike lanes and presents a mishmash of paths and routes that are unintelligible to the average cyclist.

But instead of merely nay-saying, one group of cycling advocates and bloggers known as the L.A. Bike Working Group is developing an alternative bike plan. They are starting with a network of long-distance bike routes they are comparing to a freeway system for cyclists.

Conceptual maps of the proposed Backbone Bikeway Network envision a network of long-distance routes designed to provide cyclists safe passage between different neighborhoods along heavily-traveled corridors, including Wilshire, Venice, Whittier and Sepulveda boulevards.

"The city really is more palatable when you have a straight shot through it, with less lights and less stop signs," said Mihai Peteu, 28, who helped design the map after holding public meetings with cyclists throughout the city. "I think cyclists deserve to have something similar to the freeway system."

It's just an idea, Peteu said. But given a little funding to paint bike lanes, improve the pavement and create shared bike-car lanes called sharrows, such a system could give cyclists a speedier way around town.

-- Tony Barboza

Graphic courtesy of L.A. Bike Working Group

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Civil rights groups file lawsuit against Costa Mesa ordinance barring day laborers from soliciting employment

Civil rights groups file lawsuit against Costa Mesa ordinance barring day laborers from soliciting employment: "Several civil rights groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the city of Costa Mesa for its anti-solicitation ordinance, which bars day laborers from seeking work on the streets.

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network are challenging the constitutionality of the ordinance on behalf of two groups whose members have been restricted from seeking work, according to a joint statement from the organizations.

The ordinance prohibits people from standing on a sidewalk or other public area and soliciting employment, business or contributions in a way that attracts the attention of moving vehicles, according to the statement. Those in violation are subject to a $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail.

“Not only does it discriminate against day laborers but it prohibits protected speech,” said Belinda Escobosa Helzer, staff attorney for the ACLU. “It’s so sweeping that it bans school children from holding car wash signs on the street or could prevent struggling businesses from using sign spinners.”

Federal courts around the country have stricken down anti-solicitation ordinances, according to the statement.

“Day laborers have contributed to the Costa Mesa economy for decades,” said Pablo Alvarado, director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. “Particularly during these tough times, the hard work they provide the community should be rewarded and not the target of destructive law enforcement practices.”

-- Raja Abdulrahim"

Lancet Renounces Study Linking Autism And Vaccines

Lancet Renounces Study Linking Autism And Vaccines: "

By Scott Hensley

It took 12 years, but the medical journal the Lancet has retracted once and for all a controversial paper that drew a link between vaccines and autism and helped fuel a backlash against immunization of children.

A 1998 Lancet paper reported on a dozen kids who developed various behavioral and intestinal problems. Eight of them had been vaccinated with a combination shot against measles, mumps and rubella.

Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the lead investigator, brought international attention to the paper by saying he thought the MMR vaccinations were to blame. The assertions chipped away at confidence in vaccination.

It later emerged that Wakefield had been taking money from a lawyer suing vaccine makers. The results of his study couldn't be replicated. Most of Wakefield's co-authors later retracted the paper's interpretation of the data. The Lancet backed away from the paper in 2004, but defended its publication on the grounds it helped 'raise new ideas.'

In the retraction today, the Lancet editors wrote that it became clear parts of the paper are 'incorrect.'

What was the last straw for the Lancet? An investigation by the U.K.'s General Medical Council, which regulates doctors, found that Wakefield had acted dishonestly and irresponsibly.

We talked with Dr. Richard Horton, editor in chief of the Lancet, who defended the journal's handling of the paper and the vaccine controversy. 'We've always said there was no link,' he said. 'The original paper doesn't prove a link.'

He acknowledged that Wakefield had conducted 'pretty much a one-man campaign' against vaccination and that subsequent investigations had shown he had a 'very, very significant motivation to prove the link' between autism and MMR.

So what is Lancet doing to prevent this from happening again? Horton said a paper like this one would be put in 'a high-risk category' and receive much closer scrutiny before publication because of the potential to cause 'public health harm.'

A decade ago, Horton said, Lancet didn't necessarily consider the effect wider media pickup of a paper published in a medical journal could have. Now, he said, the idea that a study like Wakefield's can be confined to debate solely in the scientific arena is 'not sustainable.'

Update: What was missing from the Lancet retraction? Matthew Herper at Forbes writes it should have been comprehensible to laypeople and clearer in describing the problems with the paper. He offers a rewrite.

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Nike Makes Environmental Strides and Abandons Carbon Offsets

Nike Makes Environmental Strides and Abandons Carbon Offsets: "Nike's corporate responsibility report cites broad environmental gains -- and indicates that the company is curtailing its use of carbon offsets as a way of reducing its footprint."

Abstinence Message Gets Through To Teens

Abstinence Message Gets Through To Teens: "

By Scott Hensley

More talk can lead to less teenage sex.

A study that tested abstinence-focused sex ed against classes that featured other messages, including safer sex and better health, found that the advice to forgo sex stuck best.

About one-third of the sixth- and seventh-graders who took eight-hour abstinence classes had sex within two years compared with about half of the students in the other classes.

The results from the carefully designed study suggest that teaching the merits of abstinence as a way to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases can work. 'I think we've written off abstinence-only education without looking closely at the nature of the evidence,' John B. Jemmott III, a professor of communications at the University of Pennsylvania who led the study, told the Washington Post. 'Our study shows this could be one approach that could be used.'

The results appears in the current issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

The researchers say their findings shouldn't be generalized to every kind of class that encourages adolescents to delay having sex. The abstinence classes tested weren't 'moralistic and did not criticize the use of condoms,' wrote the researchers, who said the classes wouldn't meet the strict criteria for federal funding of abstinence programs. The study was paid for by the federal National Institute of Mental Health.

An accompanying editorial cautioned that public policy shouldn't be based on a single study. Still, the results, which the editorialists acknowledged might 'be surprising to some,' should become part of the base of scientific knowledge that informs government action.

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Study Finds a Tree Growth Spurt

Study Finds a Tree Growth Spurt: "Forests in the eastern U.S. appear to be growing faster in response to rising levels of carbon dioxide.


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Who’ll Stop the Rain?

Who’ll Stop the Rain?: "

Maybe the City of Los Angeles. I complained a couple of weeks ago that during the (rare) times when the Southland gets a downpour, all the water get sent out to sea ASAP, even though cistern technology exists that could conserve water, reduce pollution, and reduce the costs of purchasing it from elsewhere.

Well, as it turns out, Paula Daniels at the Los Angeles Board of Public Works (a former environmental fellow at UCLA) has been working on the problem for a while, and has developed a partial solution:

A proposed law would require new homes, larger developments and some redevelopments in Los Angeles to capture and reuse runoff generated in rainstorms.

The ordinance approved in January by the Department of Public Works would require such projects to capture, reuse or infiltrate 100% of runoff generated in a 3/4 -inch rainstorm or to pay a storm water pollution mitigation fee that would help fund off-site, low-impact public developments.

With all the complaints that government gets from all quarters, it’s good to see that someone is trying to think through things proactively.

In typical fashion, the BIA is opposing some aspects of the regulation, and has gotten the city to lower the fees, but it is heartening to see that it has avoided its usual attitude, which can best be described as, well, antediluvian. It’s not accident that its more pragmatic position comes from the local chapter, as opposed to the state association, which often seems to be a chapter of the Tea Party set.

Let’s assume that the ordinance passes. The question then becomes how to retrofit existing buildings, a far more challenging and complex measure. And we will have lots of battles, perhaps through litigation, about what constitutes “new construction” requiring the technology, and what is simply maintenance — an issue that has repeatedly occurred in the “New Source Review” provisions of the Clean Air Act. When Dick Cheney was Vice President, he tried to redefine “maintenance” as basically the construction of new plants to allow them to avoid Clean Air Act requirements. Even conservative federal appellate courts didn’t allow this one.

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Super Strong Metal Foam Discovered

Super Strong Metal Foam Discovered: "MikeChino writes to tell us that a North Carolina State University researcher has discovered what appears to be the strongest metal foam yet, capable of compressing up to 80% of it's original size under load and still retain the original shape. The hope is that this amazing material could be used in cars, body armor, or even buildings to absorb the shock from earthquakes. "Metal foam is exactly what you might think – a cellular structure made from metal with tiny pockets of space inside. What makes Rabiei’s metal foam better than others is that she’s been able to make the tiny pockets of space more uniform. And that apparently is what gives it the strength as well as elasticity it needs in order to compress as much as it does without deformation. Many tests are being performed in the laboratory to determine its strength, but so far Rabiei says that the spongy material has 'a much higher strength-to-density ratio than any metal foam that has ever been reported.' Calculations also predict that in car accidents, when two pieces of her composite metal foam are inserted 'behind the bumper of a car traveling at 28 mph, the impact would feel the same to passengers as an impact traveling at only 5 mph.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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