Eisen Nails Down Why Collins Was Wrong on Ebola Assertion

Endorse. Go read:

But what really bothers me the most about this is that, rather than trying to exploit the current hysteria about Ebola by offering a quid-pro-quo “Give me more money and I’ll deliver and Ebola vaccine”, Collins should be out there pointing out that the reason we’re even in a position to develop an Ebola vaccine is because of our long-standing investment in basic research, and that the real threat we face is not Ebola, but the fact that, by having slashed the NIH budget and made it increasingly difficult to have a stable career in science, we’re making it less and less likely that we’ll be equipped to handle all of the future challenges to public health that we’re going to be face in the future.

Why bother fighting with a chap who calls most scientists “riff raff”?

Well, for some perspective I offer three older posts that addressed a different issue but tend to apply.

Weekend Diversion

Once a person has convinced him or herself that s/he is correct, or has a pretty good take on the world, the notion that s/he is a sap, fool, tool of advertising, subject to the laws of behavioral conditioning, biased, mistaken, illogical and the like is outside of the Overton window. Consequently, anything that suggests to them that they are mistaken, etc, must be flawed, illogical, unfair, below-the-belt, not-cricket, uninformed and/or meaniepants.

How to Argue Part II: On name-calling and ad hominem attacks

This is when it is occasionally necessary to call someone a nasty name and attack their person, as opposed to their argument.
Okay, okay, calm down knickers-knotters and sphincter-ratcheters. We are not talking about the tactics of a specific venue and whether it is in fact better to call someone an asshat straight out (dorm room bullshit session, pub, etc) or elocute around it semi-politely in such a way as they know exactly what you mean. I still maintain that tactically the best approach is to address the act, rather than the person but I allow for exceptions. Nevertheless you need to make some things explicitly clear.
You do not agree that the two of you are on the same side, that you are working for the same goods and that this person is one of the good guys. Rather, you believe that this person is on the bad side and in your estimation closer to the people you both agree are on the bad side, than s/he is to the people you both agree are on the good side of an argument.

How to Argue Part III: Sometimes, it’s just time for a good fight

So why get in these fights? Is it a moral flaw? Some might see it that way. A bullying personality? Perhaps, although I’ll return to this in a minute. A variance in entertainment preference (sure) similar to those who enjoy boxing, hockey or dogfights (ummm….)? Blowing off steam? Cry in the wilderness? Staking a claim? Street theater?

Happy reading. Make sure to check out the comments from my always perspicacious readers.

Should we continue long-funded NIH grant programs under younger PIs?

In the course of discussing the infamous graph showing the longitudinal increase in the median age of first-R01 award, and the other infamous slide deck showing the aging of the distribution of all NIH-funded PIs there is something that eventually comes up.

@drugmonkeyblog you're approaching 60, and NIH says "automatic 7 yr renewal, but it tapers, and it's your last grant." Would u take it?

— Michael Hendricks (@MHendr1cks) October 12, 2014

To wit, how do we ease the older investigators out of the system, at least to the extent of cutting down how many grants they submit and are awarded?