Maggie's Farm

Re Fast Science: John Ioannidis knows his statistics, and it is on that basis he has argued (elsewhere) that the results of many clinical trials are either wrong or misinterpreted or inconclusive. But the author of the linked article, Marya Zilberberg, is simply an idiot.

In her article she writes that "science is a slow process," in other words, the truth is not something you can rush. Sometimes it takes a lot of hard work to end up with a solid answer. Quick results, she seems to be saying, deserve appropriate skepticism. But then, openly contradicting herself, she abruptly goes into an all too common liberal rant that attacks global warming skeptics, accusing them of being anti-science global-warming "deniers":

"We hear a lot about how people are turning away from science. The state of Tennessee is about to descend back into the dark ages when superstitions instead of scientific theories dominated the classroom. A strong and largely anti-scientific lobby wants to bury any mention of human-driven climate change; fortunately, it looks like they are not succeeding."

Dark ages, indeed! Perhaps it would have been more consistent with the main thesis of her article had she described AGW and the Climategate scandal as the perfect examples of bad "Fast Science." But no, instead she gives us a polemic that targets the skeptics who are, after all, only asking for scientific proof of AGW claims---and would welcome much more extensive research and the kind of "Slow Science" the author herself claims to support.

Re: Cory Booker

"In a news conference from Chicago at the end of the NATO summit, President Obama said Monday that using Bain Capital to question Mitt Romney’s economic credentials is not only fair game, but part of his core argument against his Republican foe in the coming general election campaign."

This from a guy whose failed economic policies have put (and kept) millions of Americans out of work in the slowest economic recovery since the Great Depression. I'm at a loss to see the dazzling intellect of the so-called Smartest Guy in the Room. This is a losing campaign argument for Obama because each time he mentions Bain, Team Romney is going to highlight the pathetic unemployment figures under Obama since 2008. It's plain to me that what Obama will need to win re-election is more cowbell. Nothing less will do. More cowbell.