Trusting the Research

I quote a lot of scientific research, a LOT.  So, I wanted to acknowledge a problem that was brought to my attention by a fellow TEDster about fraud in science research.  The website that was originally brought to my attention was this one:

http://retractionwatch.wordpress.com/2013/01/03/owner-of-science-fraud-site-suspended-for-legal-threats-identifies-himself-talks-about-next-steps/

But Forbes.com picked the story up also and supported it with an article from "Nature". It is obviously a huge problem. 

"Fraud, plagiarism, cherry-picked results, poor or non-existent controls, confirmation bias, opaque, missing, or unavailable data, and stonewalling when questioned have gone from being rare to being everyday occurrences. Just look at the soaring retraction level across multiple scientific publications and the increasingly vocal hand wringing of science vigilantes. Hardly a prestigious university or large pharmaceutical company is immune, with the likes of Harvard, Cal Tech, Johns Hopkins, Ohio State, University of Kentucky, and the University of Maryland recently fingered byRetraction Watch."
http://www.forbes.com/sites/billfrezza/2013/01/09/a-barrage-of-legal-threats-shuts-down-whistleblower-site-science-fraud/

"A surge in withdrawn papers is highlighting weaknesses in the system for handling them."
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/111005/full/478026a.html 

A third related story puts an interesting twist on it. 
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/the-curious-wavefunction/2013/01/22/study-indicates-that-scientific-fraud-may-have-a-male-bias/
"The data seem suggest a certain laxity in behavior that might accompany tenure and a stable academic job. At the same time the findings may again illuminate the intense pressure and battles for funding that often tempt academic scientists to stray from the righteous path. Ultimately, studies like this may put the spotlight more on the dysfunctional aspects of our current academic research system rather than simply on gender bias."

This was what I found note worthy:
"What was also interesting was that the misconduct depended on the rank of the researcher; it seems that 88% of faculty members committing fraud were men, compared to 69% of postdocs and 58% of students."

Poetry

I have poems that I have written scatter all about.
This seems like a good place to deposit them when I run across them.

 1)

butter on my roll, before you go

 

 lying on clean sheets 

I wrestling with fat pillows

That will not hold me back

The water's drip & drip, wet outside the window

 drips that count a time

the wind blows in the ruffled curtains

   in and out

 

I am lying to a woman

and she wants to wrestle on clean sheets

with big pllows. and have curtains like these.

Curtains that fly

   in and out..to the breeze of the moon.

 I am lying with the woman

    and she is wrestling with choices 

    she has clean sheets and the freshest breezes

    that blow in off the ocean 

tonight, take off your shoe and dance

pick out a song we all know, sing along

 

 she orders chocolates and green tea

 the birds will sing if we are quiet.

    and the branches will sway  

smoke spins around in my head

Turn the stars on. the sky is charcole.

Drink more wine. I will draw you

2012 

2)

Do not count the time 

The time does not matter

It is always now

The stars are always in the sky

Even in the day.

The sound of the ocean is still 

In every shell upon the beach

The reflection is of the world

Held on every drop on rain

Things are lovelier this way

Wait for the flowers to come again

They have not gone so far 

Winter is a tired army

Let it March away

Play your drum as you will

And do not count the time.