Free beer!

Just got this from local science writer Tim Palucka, who co-organizes the monthly "Café Scientifique Pittsburgh" meetings at the Penn Brewery... their motto is "eat, drink, talk science." Good times!

Dear Friends of Café Scientifique Pittsburgh:

With the holidays upon us, some of us will be struggling to get through the season without gaining weight—I know it’s always a challenge for me. But it turns out that human fat might be a great source of stem cells, with possible applications in nerve and spinal cord repair, bone regeneration in children, and maybe even cures for neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease.

Please join us on Monday, December 5^th at 7:00 p.m. at the Penn Brewery as Dr. Kacey Marra speaks to us on the topic of “Liposuction: A New Source of Stem Cells.” Dr. Marra is Director of the Plastic Surgery Research Laboratory and an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Surgery and Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh. Come and learn what her research is revealing about the prospects of healing cells coming from human fat tissue. It’s sure to be an interesting talk and discussion!

In keeping with the holiday spirit, we’ll be giving away some books based on topics we have covered recently at Café Sci, as well as some six packs of Penn Brewery’s fantastic Christmas beer, St. Nicholas Bock. We hope you can make it to the festivities and go home a winner. It is our way of saying thank you for making our monthly meetings such a success.

Happy holidays from Tim Palucka and Leah Kauffman, organizers of Café Scientifique Pittsburgh.

www.cafescipgh.org

Promocionarme

Chavez and Fox: "Who's the puppy?"

I translated a story from an Ecuadorian newspaper with the original title of "Chavez's puppies" on WatchingAmerica.com. Yes, the phrase "verbal diarrhea" does appear several times throughout the piece (did you know in Spanish they have a single word for it -- "verborrhea"? How efficient!), but... there it is.

He's a lawyer, not a doctor: The next Michael Brown

Stewart Simonson, Health and Human Services' assistant secretary for public health emergency preparedness -- that is, the man responsible for coordinating the federal response to a flu pandemic or bioterror attack -- is "a well-connected, ideological, ambitious Republican with zero public health management or medical expertise, whose previous job was as a corporate lawyer for Amtrak," the Nation reported today (via AlterNet):

When Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff for Secretary of State Colin Powell, recently speculated, "If something comes along that is truly serious…like a major pandemic, you are going to see the ineptitude of this government in a way that will take you back to the Declaration of Independence," many of those professionally concerned with such scenarios couldn't help thinking of Simonson.

They recalled his own unsettling words at a recent Homeland Security subcommittee hearing on government response to a chemical or biological attack: "We're learning as we go."

"Great. What we need in the middle of a crisis is somebody learning on the job at that high level of government," says Jerry Hauer, Simonson's immediate predecessor at the Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness (OPHEP) and a veteran public health expert who served as Rudy Giuliani's director of emergency management from 1996 to 2000.

"If I was in charge, he wouldn't be in that position," says Dr. Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University. "We don't have the best and brightest in the key positions, and this leaves us in a very, very precarious situation."

Hope he's a fast learner...

Is Pittsburgh ready to face the facts?

It's no surprise that there is a great divide between how the world actually works and how policymakers think it works. Here's Jane Lubchenco, a marine ecologist at Oregon State University, who just completed a term as president of the International Council for Science, writing on "Science's communication gap" in today's International Herald Tribune:

The world desperately needs to know what scientists are learning from their research endeavors. We can't stop hurricanes or tsunamis or other extremes of nature. But if we weave into the policy-making process the right mix of knowledge - integrating disciplines like environmental sciences, engineering, and health and social sciences - we can help save lives and reduce damage to property.

And, why not start in Pittsburgh? We may not have hurricanes or tsunamis, but we certainly have our problems. I have been thinking that Bob O'Connor, in addition to so actively soliciting people to serve on existing city commissions and boards, should create a "Commission on Evidence-Based Policies" with economists, education researchers, energy analysts, sustainability experts, et cetera, to act as advisors.

What do you think? More importantly, what would Bob think? Maybe if I corner him at this event, I can find out...

happy birthday to...

kurt vonnegut! he is 83 today. and, of course, still around and writing for in these times, in addition to serving as honorary president of the american humanist association. (the last person to serve in that position before him was someone named isaac asimov...)

Zogby to include Pennacchio in poll

Big news from Dave to the "Pennachio for Pennsylvania" Yahoo group --

I was just notified by Liz from Chuck's campaign that Zogby has agreed
to include Chuck Pennacchio in their next poll on the 2006 Senate
race. This is great news! Chuck has never been included in a real
poll before! Not only should this poll generate some well-deserved
media attention for Chuck, it will save the campaign over $20,000 that
it would take to fund a poll in PA. If Chuck can show a lead over
Santorum (and I'm sure he can, considering Santorum's low approval
rating) then other polls should start including him as well.

After all, Casey's lead over Santorum probably tells a lot more about
Santorum than it does Casey. How many people are actually excited
about the prospect of a Senator Casey?! Even many of his supporters
admit he's dull and has no message; They're just obsessed with poll
numbers and campaign dollars. Well, things are about to change!

For more on Pennacchio's Senate campaign: http://www.chuck2006.com