Politics

He was a tempting target: "With my data, nothing fit anymore --not the tick, not the microorganism, not the serology," Ed Masters said. "One person told me, ‘Masters, they were having a big old fine party, and you're the turd in the punchbowl. You spoiled it.'" And so he had.

  Read More

How does a guy like John Edwards develop so much intellectual sophistication without even enough emotional/sexual sophistication to detect the obvious manipulations of a Rielle Hunter? Read More

“I was living in two worlds,” Masters said. “I would go to conferences and present to academic experts, and they would say, “Hmmm, that’s Lyme disease. Then I would go back home to Missouri and the people from the CDC would tell me I was misdiagnosing all these patients. Diagnosis of Lyme disease based on the rash was controversial only in Missouri, and nowhere else in the world.” Read More

It was July 2003 that I set out on a journey to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to visit Edwin J Masters, the doctor involved in hand-to-hand combat with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over the existence of Lyme disease in the Southern United States. Working with a few intrepid colleagues, Dr. Masters managed to generate powerful evidence for Southern Lyme, though his evidence was continually undermined. For two days straight I sat with Dr. Masters in his oversized basement, reviewing document after document showing how data had been massaged to undermine patients and cast doubt on their disease. Ed Masters' story sheds light not only on Lyme disease but also the dangers we all face when medicine is politicized and studies designed to undermine patient care. Read More

Senator John Enseign and Governor Mark Sanford have joined the ranks of sexually straying political husbands...a pretty crowded category. Both men have been caught with their pants down, even as they have pontificated about sexual morality to the rest of us. Read More

Eye candy is, by definition, good-looking people: Sweet to stare at, they tempt us with their addictive visuals. But the term has another meaning, especially when we remember that our brain's primary fuel is sugar. Eye candy is also a special kind of mutual gaze -- one that is dense with energy, sends our pleasure chemicals surging, and looks absolutely delicious. And it's good for you. Read More

The psychological concept that became the core of the politics of Gandhi and King was empathy, love in simpler language.  A simple idea, endorsed by all, engaged by few. Read More

Writes my pal Gene Weingarten in The Washington Post "Because women are attending grad schools in record numbers, and because male CEOs have screwed things up so publicly, Gina thinks women are soon going to dominate American business -- and feminize it." Read More

In the weeks since I posted on the topic, much of the furor has died down regarding the previous comments made by Sonia Sotomayor concerning the role of gender and racial identity in legal judgment. In fact, just days later, Newt Gingrich (sort of) retracted his previous statement that Sotomayor was a racist. I can only assume that Gingrich's regular subscription to my blog played some role in his (sort of) reversal. But the even more interesting race/gender-related question inspired by Sotomayor's nomination is how her addition to the Court might impact the tendencies of the 9-justice entity. Research in a wide range of fields provides compelling evidence that the demographic composition of a group can affect the way it goes about making decisions... Read More