Some of the things that bacteria eat are … odd. There are bacteria that eat oil, for instance. But we might be more worried about some other bacteria – bacteria that actually eat antibiotics.
The researchers, led by George M. Church, a geneticist at Harvard Medical School, found hundreds of bacteria that can subsist on antibiotics as their sole source of carbon.
Fortunately, none of these antibiotic-eating bacteria cause disease in humans.
Yet.
A common right-wing talking point is that Democrats in particular are hostile towards religion. Via PZ Myers, here’s an article that shows us exactly how hostile one particular Democrat is towards religion.
Rep. Monique Davis (D-Chicago) interrupted atheist activist Rob Sherman during his testimony Wednesday afternoon before the House State Government Administration Committee in Springfield and told him, “What you have to spew and spread is extremely dangerous . . . it’s dangerous for our children to even know that your philosophy exists!
“This is the Land of Lincoln where people believe in God,” Davis said. “Get out of that seat . . . You have no right to be here! We believe in something. You believe in destroying! You believe in destroying what this state was built upon.”
Looks like, yes indeed, this particular Democrat is extremely hostile towards Mr. Sherman’s religious beliefs – specifically his lack of a belief in her God. So hostile, in fact, that she feels it necessary to tell him that he has no right to speak.
I was not aware that First Amendment rights were contingent on having the proper skin color, the proper sexual orientation, or the proper religion. Representative Davis should be ashamed of her conduct – which sounds more like what you’d hear coming from a shock jock on right-wing talk radio than from the holder of an elected office.
Perhaps Barack Obama could privately talk some sense into her. It’s his state, after all, and as far as I know he respects the rights of both believers and nonbelievers.