tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953644170899103489.post6544278237614628309..comments2023-12-28T17:14:24.356-08:00Comments on Monkey Trials: PALIN VS. FRUIT FLY RESEARCHScott Hatfield . . . .http://www.blogger.com/profile/00363885800131794994noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953644170899103489.post-20157323376228998392008-11-01T09:33:00.000-07:002008-11-01T09:33:00.000-07:00Sorry to go so long... but the research to which P...<I>Sorry to go so long... but the research to which Palin referred is in Paris FRANCE; why should we send taxpayer $$$ for that?</I><BR/><BR/>Jerry Coyne, who knows quite a bit more about biology than yours truly, explains:<BR/><BR/><I>The research Palin attacked was a perfectly valid project designed to protect American growers from the olive fruit fly, a destructive pest.</I><BR/><BR/>You can Scott Hatfield . . . .https://www.blogger.com/profile/00363885800131794994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953644170899103489.post-7530869682380306822008-10-31T06:47:00.000-07:002008-10-31T06:47:00.000-07:00Stan: I'll see if I can find the article you refe...Stan: I'll see if I can find the article you refer to on the MIT science tracker. <BR/><BR/>As far as single-issue politics go, you misread me. My issue is not whether or not Gov. Palin is a biologist, or whether or not she shares my views on evolution or genetics, but whether her candidacy is good or bad for science education in general. <BR/><BR/>I believe scientific literacy is absolutely Scott Hatfield . . . .https://www.blogger.com/profile/00363885800131794994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953644170899103489.post-76819703764875758102008-10-30T14:58:00.000-07:002008-10-30T14:58:00.000-07:00Sorry to go so long... but the research to which P...Sorry to go so long... but the research to which Palin referred is in Paris FRANCE; why should we send taxpayer $$$ for that?Stanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14860850768269357636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953644170899103489.post-14703902664372048192008-10-30T14:53:00.000-07:002008-10-30T14:53:00.000-07:00Well, Scott,If you had limited your points to the ...Well, Scott,<BR/>If you had limited your points to the demonstrated utility of fruit fly research, that would be one thing. But you slammed her for her religious affiliation (AOG); you inferred xenophobia, homosexual hatred, and excessive patriotism. A good third of the post concerns her (private) reproductive decision. <BR/><BR/>I'll grant you that her fruit fly statement was not too bright.Stanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14860850768269357636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953644170899103489.post-77130151504677166162008-10-29T15:50:00.000-07:002008-10-29T15:50:00.000-07:00OK, Stan, on the first point I don't see anything ...OK, Stan, on the first point I don't see anything about fruit flies of any genus at the link you provided, so I don't know what in fact the link demonstrates, sorry.<BR/><BR/>Secondly, (presuming the link has to do with genus <I>Bactrocera</I>)I fail to see what difference the genera makes. Fruit fly genetics as a research program is <B>not</B> confined to <I>Drosophila</I>, and there are good Scott Hatfield . . . .https://www.blogger.com/profile/00363885800131794994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953644170899103489.post-48749207959893832342008-10-28T13:36:00.000-07:002008-10-28T13:36:00.000-07:00So Scott got kinda rambly... ... even a reasonably...<B>So Scott got kinda rambly...</B><BR/><I> ... even a reasonably educated layperson with a college degree should probably have had enough science that they know that fruit flies are the most important model organism in the history of biology, associated with several Nobel Prizes for fundamental breakthroughs in genetics, some of which...</I><BR/><BR/>Okay, that's about enough of that. Have I CarlaCarlaCarlaCarlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13102993757093515208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953644170899103489.post-17791499562668758562008-10-28T13:01:00.000-07:002008-10-28T13:01:00.000-07:00Whoa there Scott...Palin did not attack Drosophila...Whoa there Scott...<BR/>Palin did not attack Drosophila research; the Paris research was on Bactrocera. <I>(http://ksjtracker.mit.edu/)</I><BR/>Getting your news from PZ is hazardous... as is your completely unwarranted interpretation of every word with your own dark bent.<BR/><BR/>And as for your denial of a eugenic theme, I think your use of bold and exclamation points tends to belie that claimStanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14860850768269357636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953644170899103489.post-89477439557413119402008-10-26T22:08:00.000-07:002008-10-26T22:08:00.000-07:00Wendee and others, thanks for your comments. I pr...Wendee and others, thanks for your comments. I probably should make sure my views on this point are clarified, before I am mistakenly identified with eugenics.<BR/><BR/>First of all, I've known many families affected by Down's Syndrome and I know that many DS kids can have happy, rewarding lives filled with meaning for themselves and others. I would not suggest otherwise. Indeed, in my Scott Hatfield . . . .https://www.blogger.com/profile/00363885800131794994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953644170899103489.post-458672973614149112008-10-26T18:31:00.000-07:002008-10-26T18:31:00.000-07:00You're right on with most of this Scott (agreed wh...You're right on with most of this Scott (agreed wholeheartedly on the vote for Palin being a vote against science, and science ed) but the only thing that some may take exception to - including myself - is the implication that people with Down's syndrome are somehow "less desirable" or "less than" or unwanted. I'm sure you didn't mean that, and though I don't personally have any Downs syndrome Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17222740854325977352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953644170899103489.post-17430953255697008872008-10-26T17:54:00.000-07:002008-10-26T17:54:00.000-07:00But what about the decision to even pursue a pregn...<I> But what about the decision to even pursue a pregnancy at this stage? Geneticists have determined that, at age 35, that the odds of a fetus with Down's Syndrome is a high risk....and the odds for a 44-year-old mother is more than eight times greater than that! Presumably, as a governor, the Palin family got those statistics, yet they decided to roll the dice, anyway. Perhaps, after the Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953644170899103489.post-30575864646998803382008-10-26T17:09:00.000-07:002008-10-26T17:09:00.000-07:00No offense taken. I admit that I'm making a bit o...No offense taken. I admit that I'm making a bit of a leap, and I agree that not all conservatives are homophobes (Andrew Sullivan comes to mind). But the thing is, Palin has pretty much revealed her hand to me by two things:<BR/><BR/>1) The way she emphasized the word 'fruit' in the soundbite...listen to it!<BR/><BR/>2) The fact that she went on the record in a Christian television network Scott Hatfield . . . .https://www.blogger.com/profile/00363885800131794994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953644170899103489.post-2778006046497080172008-10-26T10:50:00.000-07:002008-10-26T10:50:00.000-07:00Okay, I had to jump in on this one. I try to stay...Okay, I had to jump in on this one. I try to stay out of the political debates. First off, although I'm a political conservative, I'm not fully behind my party's candidates. That being said, can we *really* logically extrapolate that she was using the word "fruit" as code for an anti-gay agenda? I think that is grossly unfair. I don't think of code for gay when I hear the word fruit and Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953644170899103489.post-47548540901885741302008-10-26T06:50:00.000-07:002008-10-26T06:50:00.000-07:00I'm sorry, Scott, but unless you share the Moose-k...I'm sorry, Scott, but unless you share the Moose-killer's views you're not pro-American. This means, according to Michelle Bachmann, you should be investigated for un-American activities. (Hmmm, where have I heard that before?) And unless Clovis has been designated as part of Real America then you're almost as bad as the French. This means you might know something about that furrin' stuff butAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953644170899103489.post-52356637522181409042008-10-26T00:20:00.000-07:002008-10-26T00:20:00.000-07:00Scott, Scott, Scott. You keep forgetting that thi...Scott, Scott, Scott. You keep forgetting that this woman does not read anything that is remotely scientific or intellectually stimulating. She couldn’t even name a newspaper or magazine when Katie Curic asked her what she read. Why on God’s green earth would you think that she would know about fruit flies? She will do anything that will portray her as a “Good American” to the Christian Right.Kimmershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16891198172592787656noreply@blogger.com