tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10944560.post116443803994999574..comments2024-01-01T08:18:36.278-05:00Comments on Real Physics: The Small, Small World of the New York TimesLawrence Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01242322119143922513noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10944560.post-29685072209316347972007-03-30T09:14:00.000-04:002007-03-30T09:14:00.000-04:00Looks like the PC mob has prevailed:Controversial ...Looks like the PC mob has prevailed:<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070330/pl_nm/official_dc_1" REL="nofollow">Controversial birth control official steps down</A><BR/><BR/><I>Assistant Secretary for Health Dr. John Agwunobi released a brief statement on Thursday saying that Keroack, who was appointed last November to oversee a $280 million program that provides birth control to poor women, had resigned.<BR/><BR/>"Yesterday, Dr. Eric Keroack alerted us to an action taken against him by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Office of Medicaid," Agwunobi said in a statement released late on Thursday. "As a result of this action, I accepted his resignation as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Population Affairs."</I><BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070330/pl_nm/official_dc_1" REL="nofollow">more...</A>Lawrence Gagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01242322119143922513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10944560.post-1165176648299132042006-12-03T15:10:00.000-05:002006-12-03T15:10:00.000-05:00Thanks for your comments (and compliments).I don't...Thanks for your comments (and compliments).<BR/><BR/>I don't know who says there's a connection between abortion and <I>oxytocin</I>. The abortion-breast cancer link is via estradiol, estrogen, and related hormones. Oxytocin release is through sexual stimulation, as well as in nursing and labor. There are many papers about the ABC link on the web, particularly through the hyperlink in the post. As far as the connection between abortion and psychology, I recommend the <A HREF="http://www.silentnomoreawareness.org/" REL="nofollow">Silent No More</A> homepage.<BR/><BR/>I don't think you're position against bringing a moral stance to the position is self-consistent.<BR/>It is impossible to avoid bringing a moral framework to bear on policy, even policies regarding scientific topics. To refuse to choose is itself a choice. To eschew moral positions is itself a "moral" position (i.e., an ideological committment). Dr. Turner and the other critics have been gracious enough to provide a clear example of how such "moral objectivity" keeps people from objectivity. <BR/><BR/>LGLawrence Gagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01242322119143922513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10944560.post-1165098373370929882006-12-02T17:26:00.000-05:002006-12-02T17:26:00.000-05:00Thank you for the invitation to read your well wri...Thank you for the invitation to read your well written post.<BR/><BR/>I read the linked articles on you offered and have read some others over the last couple of years regarding oxytocin and its possible effects on the nature of bonding in humans. I have however to read anything which is definitive regarding the supposition that abortion alters brain activity in such a way that oxytocin production or its uptake by receptors is directly linked to bonding failures or more specifically as a cause of breast cancer. <BR/><BR/>My issue with the appointment of Eric Keroack is that it was done not so much on the basis of what speculative scientific knowledge he may possess, but rather politiccally motivated because of his evangelical <I>moral</I> stance, which makes him likely to be less than even handed about the policy suggestions he might offer, based on that speculative science.<BR/><BR/>By the by, I often agree with positions taken by the Times, but not always.<BR/><BR/>I plan to link to this post as a matter of balance. Again thanks for the invitation.culhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17190274079474366621noreply@blogger.com