I appreciate the service of our men and women in uniform, but how does this man's service excuse his crimes? Why is his care of wounded soldiers and civilians relevant when he smuggles cigarettes into prison? If I was a civilian firefighter or paramedic, nurse or doctor, shouldn't I get similar consideration?

A video released last week by Keep America Safe, a group led by Elizabeth Cheney, takes aim at lawyers who have represented Guantánamo detainees and are now working in the Justice Department. It asks, “Who are these government officials? . . . Whose values do they share?”

Not enough has been made of the expletive-laced response from Mr Bunning in response to the plea to extend unemployment benefits. Given the economic evidence that unemployment benefits help the economy - by improving consumer spending - the GOP continues to fight them. Is this because they don't want the economy to improve, since it would help Obama and the Democrats?

These are worrying developments for the future of science education in our schools, and therefore for the future of science in this country. Politics and religious beliefs are being used to control education. Parents and politicians don't like what the facts say, and so they don't want their children exposed to the scientific basis for these findings.

Why is it acceptable to mislead the public? When politicians are afraid to approach the truth - to admit the real reasons behind their opposition to legislation - we end up with unbridgeable divisions and sectarianism. How can you counter someone's arguments when they don't present the ones that are driving their actions? The GOP doesn't want health insurance reform because it is pro-consumer. They can't say that, so they trot out other reasons.

There is an interesting and critical opinion piece today in the NY Times, inspired by the movie 'The Hurt Locker'. I've heard other comments on the hurt locker too - particularly that some service members feel it portrays them as unprofessional cowboys when they feel they are anything but.

The NY Times had an opinion piece on the NYPD's policy of 'stop, question, frisk'. This policy is clearly being applied racially: African-Americans constitute 25% of the city's inhabitants but made up 52% of the stops. Whites, despite making up 44% of the city's population, represented just 10% of the stops. In over 88% of the stops, the person stopped was doing nothing wrong.

Someone's got a billboard up with a picture of George W Bush, next to the text "Miss me yet"?

Great billboard - and I think a worthy reminder to all those disappointed with President Obama!  Never forget how bad it was under Bush!  Miss him?  Hell no - I just lament the fact that we've forgotten what a disaster those eight years were.

The NY Times had a great article on the Origin of HeLa cells, a commonly used cell line that anyone who has spent time in a lab recognizes. Sadly, the tremendous value of this resource came at a price of patient rights and consent. It was a different era for consents and patients rights, but as scientists we should still take notice.

A flawed study linking autism and vaccines has finally be retracted, although not before it was used by the anti-vaccine lobby to justify endangering millions of children by frightening their parents into opting out the vaccine. Predictably, autism rates did not decline but cases of preventable childhood diseases increased...