I have two new goals for the Give Up blog.

If you remember, the first goal of this blog was to try to explain some of the inevitablity of progressive politics, as people who experienced conservative policy will ultimately be unhappy with it. I think the most recent election was a good example of this.

There are two goals I'm thinking we should be talking about now, besides our usual policy of talking about science and interesting things to the reality-based community.

The first, is that we really have to emphasize that Iraq is a civil war as Colin Powell now agrees. This is not just an issue of semantics. The acknowledgement of civil war is the first step in helping our leadership realize we have no business being in Iraq. It is part of the reason that Bush is unwilling to admit this is a civil war. The remaining justifications for Iraq fall away, and no one in their right mind thinks it's a good idea to put our soldiers in between warring religious factions involved in a thousand year old fight over who should be the rightful successor to the prophet Mohammed.

The second, is to emphasize the importance of not letting Republicans off the hook for the disaster they've created. To start with, can anyone name a single policy of this administration that's been anything resembling a resounding success? Can anyone honestly say, such as with Lyndon Johnson, that if it hadn't been for disastrous foreign war this president would have been anything but a embarrassing domestic failure as well? What can the Republican congress and president point to and be proud of?

Also note the recent posthumous ass-kissing of Milton Friedman in every major newspaper as an example of why this fight is important. Somehow, whether it's just because no one can criticize a dead guy, or because it's important to try to establish a false legacy shortly after an individual's death, it's somehow become a fact of life that Milton Friedman was right about everything. Somehow, Clinton's entire administration, a rejection of the majority of Friedman's ideas with the exception of Federal Reserve monetary policy, has been ignored, and a man who believed that the great depression was caused by the Fed and not the total absence of regulation of the markets and banking, that there should be no public schools, no FDA, no licensing of doctors and lawyers, is being applauded by even liberal papers as something of a visionary. You ask me, even a broken clock is right twice a day, that's how I explain that guy's legacy, not some great genius of economics (a oxymoron if there ever was one, just look at Posner).

This is why it's my dream that when this presidency is in its last day, and president Bush is driving down Pennsylvania avenue for the last time, or whatever way he's going to flee DC, the roads will be lined with people united with a single message. I realize that sounds impossible, because the free Mumia jackasses, and anarchist jackasses, and puppet-wielding jackasses will all be there, but hey, a scientist can dream right?

Wouldn't it be a beautiful sight? 500k+ people lining the streets of D.C. with a sign that said one thing? An immediate attack on the legacy of a president who has nearly destroyed this country with his incompetence is critical, because you know how once a presidency is over, the fight to define the legacy will immediately be engaged by conservatives who will try to whitewash this disaster, just like they whitewashed Reagan's.

Wouldn't it be amazing, if just for one day, all liberals could get together united behind a single message? And, that message would be Worst President Ever.

Let's get this legacy defined from the outset.

**Update** I'm trying to lead a little discussion about this over on Kos. It seems pretty well received.

The good news is that stem cell legislation may soon pass congress with a veto-proof majority. But since this is Give Up Blog, I would point out that in blue states like California the science is already on.

This post by Amanda at Pandagon provides a great Give Up point of view that will persist long after the political aspects of the blue/red divide become moot. That is, red states will continue to suck, and lose the wealthy and interesting young people to enclaves of blue around the country because, guess what, young liberal educated types (even ones that vote Republican) don't want to live in oppressed, woman-hating, gay-fearing backwaters with no restaurants, no culture and nothing but Walmart and billboards.

But back to the pro-life crap, can we put this movement to bed yet? They can't win in South Dakota for Jebus' sake, and does they even really want to succeed? Just look at this BBC article on the health disaster that is illegal abortions resulting from bans, or the unbelievable crap that goes on in central/south American countries like Nicaragua as a result of these total abortion bans. They won't even operate on ectopic pregnancies! This is totally freaking crazy.

We're now in Iraq longer than we were in WWII, and pretty much every story coming out of Iraq is bad news and Bush still won't admit this is a civil war.

As bad as that is, check out this exchange between Bush and Webb about Webb's son serving in Iraq.

At a private reception held at the White House with newly elected lawmakers shortly after the election, Bush asked Webb how his son, a Marine lance corporal serving in Iraq, was doing.

Webb responded that he really wanted to see his son brought back home, said a person who heard about the exchange from Webb.

"I didn't ask you that, I asked how he’s doing," Bush retorted, according to the source.

Webb confessed that he was so angered by this that he was tempted to slug the commander-in-chief, reported the source, but of course didn't. It's safe to say, however, that Bush and Webb won’t be taking any overseas trips together anytime soon.

What a complete and total asshole.

Anyway, I'm back and blogging. Sorry I needed a blogging vacation as work is piling up. I might have some neat videos soon of some of my science. We'll see if it's something I want to publish or not.

Get your Black Friday violence on at The Consumerist.

Anyone interested in actually venturing out late after Turkey Day next year to watch one of these scenes? Are there outlets anywhere near Cville? Ha!

Due to work, holidays, travel, family, etc., we'll probably be on hiatus until Monday.

I will be in town all weekend for those who want to look me up, and I'll be at Star Hill tonight for the free show, everyone should come along. Friday night I'll probably do a post-turkey day pub crawl with my brother starting at the Bar.

Happy Turkey Day!

How did this happen?

xkcd rocks

Here's a good idea, dress like Mormons and evangelize atheism. Fast forward through the annoying intro guy, trust me it's worth it.

Via Pharyngula

"Atheism, not religion, is the real force behind the mass murders of history"

Here's a gem:

The problem with this critique is that it exaggerates the crimes attributed to religion, while ignoring the greater crimes of secular fanaticism. The best example of religious persecution in America is the Salem witch trials. How many people were killed in those trials? Thousands? Hundreds? Actually, fewer than 25. Yet the event still haunts the liberal imagination.

That's the best example they can think of American religious oppression? Hmmm, what about the justification of slavery based on the bible? What about Manifest Destiny? What about the KKK? I mean Salem? Give me a break. That's old news.

Then there's his conclusions:

The crimes of atheism have generally been perpetrated through a hubristic ideology that sees man, not God, as the creator of values. Using the latest techniques of science and technology, man seeks to displace God and create a secular utopia here on earth. Of course if some people - the Jews, the landowners, the unfit, or the handicapped - have to be eliminated in order to achieve this utopia, this is a price the atheist tyrants and their apologists have shown themselves quite willing to pay. Thus they confirm the truth of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's dictum, "If God is not, everything is permitted."

This farker has the best reply:

Marcus Aurelius [TotalFark]

"I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord.." - Adolf Hitler

Yeah, nice try bud.

Shelley at Retrospectacle has linked to an this article in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence (news article) about how pit bull owners are more likely to have criminal records.

The abstract itself is kind of amazing:

This study examined the association between ownership of high-risk ("vicious") dogs and the presence of deviant behaviors in the owners as indicated by court convictions. We also explored whether two characteristics of dog ownership (abiding licensing laws and choice of breed) could be useful areas of inquiry when assessing risk status in settings where children are present. Our matched sample consisted of 355 owners of either licensed or cited dogs that represented high or low-risk breeds. Categories of criminal convictions examined were aggressive crimes, drugs, alcohol, domestic violence, crimes involving children, firearm convictions, and major and minor traffic citations. Owners of cited high-risk ("vicious") dogs had significantly more criminal convictions than owners of licensed low-risk dogs. Findings suggest that the ownership of a high-risk ("vicious") dog can be a significant marker for general deviance and should be an element considered when assessing risk for child endangerment.

This is a pretty remarkable statement. The authors are actually suggesting one of the indicators for social workers checking up on kids is whether or not the parent or guardian owns one of these dogs. And the thing is, their data supports it.



Here in their third figure you see clear, statistically significant correlations between ownership of problem breeds, such as pitbulls and rottweilers, and criminal behavior, and often violent behavior

It's been a hypothesis of mine for a while that pitbulls aren't the worst dogs, but they attract the worst owners. Based on observations in my own experience, like our neighbors who had a dozen pitbulls staked in the yard and left them out all day because he was clearly running a mill for fighting, to a friends' neighbor who was evicted and abandoned his pit in the backyard until they call the SPCA. These experiences, and others, have led me to the conclusion that there are two reasons that assholes like these dogs. The first is the "dog as extension of penis" set, who are macho assholes who want a tough dog to match their tough persona and tough tattoo of barbed wire around their arm. The second is the blatantly criminal/can't own/carry a handgun types who own the dog essentially as a weapon they can use to intimidate people with legally in public. These guys aren't interested in a pet, they're interested in a status symbol, and the animals suffer, as well as the occasional kid who gets mauled and his face chewed off.

I particularly liked this comment from Shelley's blog:

Seeing the owners of the dogs go in and out of that clinic over the years, it got to where I could predict the kind of dog it was just by watching the owners get out of the car. You would think logically that it would be old feeble people that would have the powerful dog for protection. But no, walking in with the pit bull, it was so often the young, macho, knuckle draggers whose biggest accomplishment in life was being able to say "My dog can kill your dog".

The third subset of pit owners, who are the majority by far, are the non-assholes who like their dog, will feed it and take care of it, etc. and aren't the problem. However, their dogs will be painted with the same brush as the dogs being improperly raised by the knuckle-dragging thug types.

So here's the question for the anti-breed-specific legislation people who are trying to prevent their pits from being taken away because of abuse by the morons who also like these breed. What can we do to make it so that the knuckle-dragging, macho, immature, moronoic, and criminal types can't own these dogs, but the caring, pitbull-loving types can still raise and socialize these dogs properly? Is there room for compromise? Maybe passing a law that will bar people with felony or serious misdemeanors from owning problem breeds?

How'd he do that? That reminds me, I've got to get new cabinets. Via Crooks and Liars.

Reading Kos today I see a reference to this story about Bush's trip to several Asian nations.

In it is a quote which demonstrates again that Bush is, at best, a D minus history student.

The president said there was much to be learned from the divisive Vietnam War - the longest conflict in U.S. history - as his administration contemplates new strategies for the increasingly difficult war in Iraq, now in its fourth year. But his critics see parallels with Vietnam - a determined insurgency and a death toll that has drained public support - that spell danger for dragging out U.S. involvement in Iraq.

"It's just going to take a long period of time for the ideology that is hopeful - and that is an ideology of freedom - to overcome an ideology of hate," Bush said after having lunch at his lakeside hotel with Australian Prime Minister John Howard, one of America's strongest allies in Iraq, Vietnam and other conflicts.

"We'll succeed," Bush added, "unless we quit."

This is the lesson from Vietnam? And I guess the lesson from the Revolutionary war is that Americans don't like tea, and the lesson from the civil war is that people who wear blue and people who wear gray don't get along.

Sometimes I just can't believe he has enough brain power to walk and breathe at the same time.

It's just pathetic, check this TPM Muckraker article on the GAO investigation into abstinence education programs funded by the Dept of Health and Human Services.

In a new report on publicly-funded abstinence programs, a government watchdog charged that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) allows programs to distribute inaccurate sex information to kids, and suggested the agency clean up its act.

But in its defense, HHS argued that it doesn't know how to tell whether something is "scientifically accurate."

According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), HHS last year spent $153 million on abstinence education programs -- including my favorite, "A.C. Green's Game Plan Abstinence Program," developed by the famously abstinent onetime NBA superstar (ironic nickname: "Ironman").

Set aside the issue of whether they do any good. GAO tried to see if they did any harm, and concluded they did: Some of the abstinence programs are telling kids stuff that just isn't true. The GAO cites one program which told kids that HIV can pass through latex condoms, because latex is porous. (That's false.)

The GAO gave the reasonable-sounding recommendation to HHS that it ensure that all information given to kids through these programs should be scientifically accurate.

If only the world were so simple! In response, the Department of Health and Human Services -- which has on staff more than a few scientists and other educated types -- said the GAO's suggestion was useless. "GAO never defines the term 'scientific accuracy' in its report," HHS complained. "As such, it is difficult to precisely determine the criteria employed by GAO in making the recommendations as to scientific accuracy."

Here's a hint. Total bald-faced lies are not scientifically accurate.

Dumbasses.

**Update** For even more abstinence-based baloney, check out PZ's post on the latest abstinence-based loony to be appointed by Bush to oversee Title X funding (also here and here).

Here's a piece of this Keroack guy's illogic:

Emotional pain causes our bodies to produce an elevated level of endorphins which in turn lowers the level of oxytocin. Therefore, relationship failure leads to pain which leads to elevated endorphins which leads to lower oxytocin the result of which is a lower ability to bond. Many in this increased state of emotional pain and lower oxytocin seek sex as a substitute for love which inevitably leads to another failed relationship, and so, the cycle continues.

Not only is this just silly, and unproven, but it's actually contradictory to existing science. One, you're not going to run out of oxytocin from sex unless someone cuts off your freaking pituitary gland after they have their way with you. Two, where is the paper showing "relationship failure" leads to elevated endorphins, or that endorphins have a negative relationship with oxytocin and emotional bonding? If anything the exact opposite is true, sex is well known to increase endorphin levels and oxytocin release. It also suggests married couples who have a lot of sex will start hating each other rather than the other way around.

This is what sucks about denialists, all the work you have to go into disproving BS that they can just make up on the spot. This guy is pulling stuff out of his ass that isn't even superficially believable.

Hoyer is the House Majority Leader.

Democrats picked Rep. Steny Hoyer to be House majority leader on Thursday, spurning Rep. Nancy Pelosi's handpicked choice moments after unanimously backing her election as speaker when Congress convenes in January.

A Marylander and 25-year veteran of Congress, Hoyer defeated Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania in a vote of 149-86.

This is good news because, sorry, Murtha is crooked. Especially in regards to this episode.

Yeah, he might be cleaner now (although his lobbying reform votes suggest otherwise) but not clean enough for leadership. And based on his earmarking record I'd really rather have almost anyone else.

These speak for themselves.

A new think tank is being created based on rationality and science. I love this idea, because all the think tanks in DC say their ideas are based on rationality, but it's always just ideology.

LiebesBush is getting his wish, that is, everyone in the Senate is prepared to give him mouth-to-ass resuscitation if he'll just stay in the party. Traitor.

Before going into a student-exchange program make sure they don't place you with Baptists. This poor kid, what a nightmare.

America is no longer the land of the free, South Africa is. Not that many of us have any delusions about our country's fall from greatness under the influence of Republicans, but it's a little sad when a country goes from apartheid to more free than the United States in about 20 years.

Fellow med students, do not join AMSA, they are promoting altie BS. Orac writes at Respectful Insolence, a blog I can recommend to those interested in medicine and confronting alternative medicine's unproven claims, especially on Fridays with his Friday Dose of Woo. This news about AMSA is disturbing but not surprising, it reminds me of why I won't join the AMA which has become a pathetic anti-consumer tort reform-based lobbying group rather than a altie medicine muckraker and physician advocacy organization.

His mockery of Patch Adams makes me happy as well. I can't quite figure out what it is I dislike so much about Patch Adams (who used to come yearly to my undergrad campus to talk to the premeds). His laughter-induced-healing crap stinks of altie woo as well. Especially since I found him to be about as funny as foot fungus. Then there is this crazy and almost Scientology-based view of mental health:

Adams caught the attention of Scott Rodgers, M.D., assistant dean of Students, when he labeled depression as a "selfish act" and spoke against the use of psychotropic medications as treatment.

"To me depression is a symptom of a disease called loneliness," Adams said. "You cannot be depressed and hold someone you love in your mind at the same time - it is impossible."

Rodgers, a psychiatrist who has seen many patients with mental illness, labeled the speaker's advice as 'malpractice.'

"I was shocked and dismayed to hear a famous and influential physician speak in this way about mental illness," Rodgers said.

"While I am the first to admit that we all need love in our lives, I can tell you that I have seen many patients with plenty of love and support who nevertheless succumb to such illnesses as depression. For these patients, and for others without love and support, medications may represent a lifesaving alternative and should not be avoided."

What a creep. Anyway, we salute Respectful Insolence, a great science blog.

Webb was a bit of an unknown quantity going into this election. Most of us here in Virginia were saying to ourselves that we'd vote anyone with a D next to their name into office to dislodge Macaca. But still, we wondered, is Webb going to be another Virgil Goode? That is run as a Democrat, then switch parties to reflect his true ideology? He did work under Reagan after all, and apparently had nasty stuff to say about the Clintons in his time. But then I read this

The most important--and unfortunately the least debated--issue in politics today is our society's steady drift toward a class-based system, the likes of which we have not seen since the 19th century. America's top tier has grown infinitely richer and more removed over the past 25 years. It is not unfair to say that they are literally living in a different country. Few among them send their children to public schools; fewer still send their loved ones to fight our wars. They own most of our stocks, making the stock market an unreliable indicator of the economic health of working people. The top 1% now takes in an astounding 16% of national income, up from 8% in 1980. The tax codes protect them, just as they protect corporate America, through a vast system of loopholes.

Incestuous corporate boards regularly approve compensation packages for chief executives and others that are out of logic's range. As this newspaper has reported, the average CEO of a sizeable corporation makes more than $10 million a year, while the minimum wage for workers amounts to about $10,000 a year, and has not been raised in nearly a decade. When I graduated from college in the 1960s, the average CEO made 20 times what the average worker made. Today, that CEO makes 400 times as much.

...

The politics of the Karl Rove era were designed to distract and divide the very people who would ordinarily be rebelling against the deterioration of their way of life. Working Americans have been repeatedly seduced at the polls by emotional issues such as the predictable mantra of "God, guns, gays, abortion and the flag" while their way of life shifted ineluctably beneath their feet. But this election cycle showed an electorate that intends to hold government leaders accountable for allowing every American a fair opportunity to succeed.

With this new Congress, and heading into an important presidential election in 2008, American workers have a chance to be heard in ways that have eluded them for more than a decade. Nothing is more important for the health of our society than to grant them the validity of their concerns. And our government leaders have no greater duty than to confront the growing unfairness in this age of globalization.

Holy crap. I now love this guy.

It's not a good thing. And one of the things we've been critical of are movements that don't rein in their more radical allies, because everybody should be responsible for their own extremists. The right wing has gay bar/abortion bombers, the Libertarians have Tim McVeigh, and the left wing has ALF, ELF, and PETA, etc.

Part of the reason that we wrote the Hitler or Coulter quiz is to point out the dehumanizing rhetoric used by the right wing against liberals. They literally make it sound like we're some evil conspirators who are trying to destroy the country. In the last election, we even got the moniker "Demoncrat."

Now given the type of rhetoric that makes liberals sound like they are pure evil, should we be surprised when the white powder terrorist turns out to be a Freeper?

How did I know that this was coming?

We may lose our majority again for two years in the Senate as a result. He's a backstabber, always has been, always will be.

The Guardian reports:

Just off the interstate, a couple of junctions down from Cincinnati's international airport, over the state line in rural Kentucky, the finishing touches are being put to an impressive-looking building. When it is finished and open to the public next summer, it may, quite possibly, be one of the weirdest museums in the world.

The Creation Museum - motto: "Prepare to Believe!" - will be the first institution in the world whose contents, with the exception of a few turtles swimming in an artificial pond, are entirely fake. It is dedicated to the proposition that the account of the creation of the world in the Book of Genesis is completely correct, and its mission is to convince visitors through a mixture of animatronic models, tableaux and a strangely Disneyfied version of the Bible story.

I love how the Guardian isn't afraid to mock stupidity. Our press never would write something like this:

Theological scholars may have noticed that there are, in fact, no dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible - and here lies the Creationists' first problem. Since there are undoubtedly dinosaur bones and since, according to the Creationists, the world is only 6,000 years old - a calculation devised by the 17th-century Bishop Ussher, counting back through the Bible to the Creation, a formula more or less accepted by the museum - dinosaurs must be shoehorned in somewhere, along with the Babylonians, Egyptians and the other ancient civilisations. As for the Grand Canyon - no problem: that was, of course, created in a few months by Noah's Flood.

But what, I ask wonderingly, about those fossilised remains of early man-like creatures? Marsh knows all about that: "There are no such things. Humans are basically as you see them today. Those skeletons they've found, what's the word? ... they could have been deformed, diseased or something. I've seen people like that running round the streets of New York."

I can just see the sarcasm dripping from the words. I also love how he pulls some real gems out of these guys like:

Reassuringly, on the wall outside his office, are three framed photographs of the former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh - "cricket's never really caught on over here" - and inside, on his bookshelves, is a wooden model of a platypus. On top of the shelves is an array of fluffy poodle toys, as well as cuddly dinosaurs. "Poodles are degenerate mutants of dogs. I say that in my lectures and people present them to me as gifts."

I wonder if this will turn out as well as Ken Hovind's Dinosaur Land. I kind of want to go and stand out there all day with a sign like this guy's.

John Wilkins at Evolving Thoughts has published his crackpot index.

Here's a sample:

24. 30 points for suggesting that a famous figure secretly disbelieved in a theory which he or she publicly supported (e.g., that Darwin recanted on his deathbed).

25. 30 points for suggesting that some major scientist, in his later years, was groping his way towards the ideas you now advocate.

26. 30 points for claiming that your theories were developed by a pre-industrial culture (without good evidence).

27. 40 points for comparing those who argue against your ideas to Nazis, eugenicists, stormtroopers, or brownshirts.

28. 40 points for claiming that the "scientific establishment" is engaged in a "conspiracy" to prevent your work from gaining its well-deserved fame, or suchlike.

29. 40 points for comparing yourself to Galileo, suggesting that a modern-day Inquisition is hard at work on your case, and so on.

30. 40 points for claiming that when your theory is finally appreciated, present-day science will be seen for the sham it truly is. (30 more points for fantasizing about show trials in which scientists who mocked your theories will be forced to recant, especially after their death, or for announcing the "death of Darwinism".)

31. 50 points for claiming you have a revolutionary theory but giving no concrete testable predictions, formal models, or exact hypotheses.

Now, I realize that I'm biased towards my own Denialism definition of using arguments of conspiracy, selectivity, fake experts, impossible expectations, and logical fallacy (usually argument from analogy/red herrings/ad hominem), but I really think lists like this, while funny, aren't that helpful.

The point of my coming up with the denialism criteria is that it's just 5 things, much easier to remember and use each time. It's like prosecuting fraud. The legal system doesn't come up with a new law to deal with every possible permutation that fraudsters might develop to take money away from people. Instead you have simple general rules that help identify dishonesty in business practices, like if you lie to sell something to someone, that's fraud. Denialism and fraud are very similar in this respect. There are infinite permutations of just being full of shit, but there are about 5 commonalities that will help you identify 95% of the BS arguments.

NYT has a good article on ChoicePoint and the reforms they've made since they got scammed by some Nigerians. My favorite part? When Chris channels Rummy for his quote:

It also took a state law. The data thieves who conned their way into ChoicePoint's system downloaded information about at least 166,000 individuals. In years past, the company would alert law enforcement officials when it suffered a data breach, according to Mr. Lee, and leave it at that. But under a California disclosure law passed in 2003, the company was required to notify every Californian whose personal details might have fallen into criminal hands.

"No one knows for sure, and no one can say, how many breaches occurred before California," Mr. Hoofnagle said. "This is an 'known unknown,' as Donald Rumsfeld would say."

Long after Rummy is gone we'll still treasure his unique lexicon.

And because I laughed my ass off at it this weekend, enjoy the 20 funniest pictures, from Fark. I kind of like Invisible Sandwich the best, and I don't even like cats that much.

Would it have been better to not have a lead in the Senate if we could have finally eliminated LiebesBush from the party? Here's LiebesBush at Meet The Press over the weekend.

LIEBERMAN: The fact is that this was not a major realignment election in my opinion. This was the voters in Connecticut and elsewhere saying we are disappointed with the the Republicans. We want to give the Democrats a chance. But I believe that the American people are considering both major political parties to be in a kind of probation because their understandably angry that Washington is dominated too much by partisan political games and not enough by problem solving and patriotism.

Ok. This was "not a major realignment"? Both parties are in a "kind of probation"? Washington politicians haven't been demonstrating enough "problem solving and patriotism"?

I can not believe this guy. He's a mole for the Republicans. Here he is, ostensibly a Democrat, and it's one week after an election that will put him in charge of some committee, return his old party to power, and he doesn't think that's a realignment? Further, he doesn't think that all the flag-waving and patriotic grandstanding has been adequate? What does that mean? He's already bad-mouthing his own party when he should be on his knees asking forgiveness for planting his head squarely up Bush's ass for the last 3 years. Here's Georgia10's take over at Kos:

Lieberman was elected with a new party label, but he's still the same ol' Joe: the quintessential politician who is poorly mimicking the maverick "independent" by trashing friend and foe alike.

Call me an "Independent Democrat", he says. It's a label which gives squirmy Joe the perfect cover, permitting him to simultaneously lift his finger to wind while using his other hand to stab the Democratic Party in the back. That party, though, contrary to Lieberman's suggestion, without question bleeds red, white, and blue.

LiebesBush is an underminer. I realize we're holding onto a pretty tenuous lead in the Senate, but I wonder if having LiebesBush in the party is worth it. If we gain some more seats in the next cycle they should kick him out of the caucus and take away his seniority. He needs to be relegated to the trash-heap of the Senate, because he's just bad for the Democratic party.

I've got La Boheme in town this weekend. Anyone want to join us for a drink Friday night will know where to find us.

Also, The Nice Jenkins Saturday night at the Ballroom is in our future. You can buy their CD online at RecordTheory which I have to say has an awesome business model, because they will sell you the album as an Mp3 (no DRM or anything) or as Mp3+CD. You can listen to some of the Jenkins stuff at the linked Myspace account.

I got to ride in their bus to see Borat.



Also, tonight is Pretty Girls Make Graves which I think will be a good show, and opening for them is She Wants Revenge, of which I've heard mixed reviews from people (literally super-positive, or super-negative).

Robert Samuelson the WP's "special" economist op-ed writer gives us a wonderful denialist piece of tripe this morning. He's decided to tackle global warming and the Stern report. Here are his arguments.

First: With today's technologies, we don't know how to cut greenhouse gases in politically and economically acceptable ways. The world's 1,700 or so coal-fired power plants -- big emitters of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas -- are a cheap source of electricity. The wholesale cost is 4 to 5 cents a kilowatt hour, says the World Resources Institute. By contrast, solar power costs five to six times that. Although wind is roughly competitive, it can be used only in selective spots and supplies less than 1 percent of global electricity. Nuclear energy is cost-competitive but is stymied by other concerns (safety, proliferation hazards, spent fuel).

This is the usual denialist BS. This is a total red herring and has nothing to do with anything. Right now we use coal power, and other sources are expensive. So what? In what world do we live in that economists are now denying the existence of innovation? Or in which investment in certain technologies leads to reduction of cost? This is a total selective reading of the data. Many clean technologies are expensive because they have a limited distribution, and there hasn't been a large investment in making the technologies cheaper and more universal. It doesn't mean we can't make them cheap and universal just because they're more expensive now, and the coal figures don't take into account the costs of coal-emissions - like fish laden with mercury, and ever-rising greenhouse gas problem, soot, acid rain, etc.

Second: In rich democracies, policies that might curb greenhouse gases require politicians and the public to act in exceptionally "enlightened" (read: "unrealistic") ways. They have to accept "pain" now for benefits that won't materialize for decades, probably after they're dead. For example, we could adopt a steep gasoline tax and much tougher fuel economy standards for vehicles. In time, that might limit emissions (personally, I favor this on national security grounds). Absent some crisis, politicians usually won't impose -- and the public won't accept -- burdens without corresponding benefits.

Is he saying we're incapable of responding as a people to anything more than our immediate interests? What is social security then? Samuelson makes it sound like the public is completely incapable of acting in a way that will preserve the world for future generations. Maybe it's just his economist mind, but yes, some people irrationally would like their offspring to live after they die. Crazy no? This is just the typical unscientific crap you get from economists with a political motive. People won't act against their economic interests? Explain why poor people have voted Republican for the last 5 elections asshole.

Third: Even if rich countries cut emissions, it won't make much difference unless poor countries do likewise -- and so far, they've refused because that might jeopardize their economic growth and poverty-reduction efforts. Poorer countries are the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions, because rapid economic growth requires energy, and present forms of energy produce gases. In 2003 China's carbon dioxide emissions were 78 percent of the U.S. level. Developing countries, in total, accounted for 37 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in 2003. By 2050 their share could be 55 percent, projects the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Ah, unless everybody acts responsibly no one can act responsibly. This also is a BS argument, as countries become more economically developed they demonstrate an increased interest in preserving the environment. This is a lesson China is learning right now for instance.

Finally, he ends with a denialist classic:

The other great distortion in Stern's report involves global warming's effects. No one knows what these might be, because we don't know how much warming might occur, when, where or how easily people might adapt. Stern's horrific specter distills many of the most terrifying guesses, including some imagined for the 22nd century, and implies that they're imminent. The idea is to scare people while reassuring them that policies to avert calamity, if started now, would be fairly easy and inexpensive.

We don't know what the effects are and who knows, we might adapt to them! What bullshit. We know what enough of the effects are to be highly worried, and we have very good models that have tracked climate excellently for a couple of decades now so we know where and when this stuff will happen. This is pure denialism. We have plenty of reason to be concerned, and just because people in rich countries may be able to adapt (although this is questionable), the areas of the world most affected are likely to be poor and struggling to get by already.

This entire essay is unworthy of the post.

He just opened a can of worms by linking this new homeschooling article in NewScientist.

TO THE unsuspecting visitor, Patrick Henry College looks like a typical American liberal-arts college tucked away amidst the rolling green farmlands of Virginia. Its curriculum is far from typical, however, and anything but liberal. Witness this lecture on faith and reason in an idyllic red-brick college building reminiscent of colonial America. As the speaker takes to the podium, several students silence their cellphones. One puts down his copy of The Wall Street Journal and takes out his Bible. They bow their heads and pray to Jesus, then stand up and sing a hymn, belting out "Holy, holy, holy" with gusto. Eventually, the speaker addresses the crowd.

"Christians increasingly have an advantage in the educational enterprise," he says. "This is evident in the success of Christian home-schooled children, as compared to their government-schooled friends who have spent their time constructing their own truths." The students, all evangelical Christians, applaud loudly. Most of them were schooled at home before arriving at Patrick Henry - a college created especially for them.

These students are part of a large, well-organised movement that is empowering parents to teach their children creationist biology and other unorthodox versions of science at home, all centred on the idea that God created Earth in six days about 6000 years ago. Patrick Henry, near the town of Purcellville, about 60 kilometres north-west of Washington DC, is gearing up to groom home-schooled students for political office and typifies a movement that seems set to expand, opening up a new front in the battle between creationists and Darwinian evolutionists. New Scientist investigated how home-schooling, with its considerable legal support, is quietly transforming the landscape of science education in the US, subverting and possibly threatening the public school system that has fought hard against imposing a Christian viewpoint on science teaching.

...

The phrasing is reminiscent of the Center for Science and Culture, originally named the Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture, which has been the main promoter of intelligent design in the US and is part of the conservative think tank Discovery Institute, based in Seattle, Washington. The institute claims that it "seeks nothing less than the overthrow of materialism and its cultural legacies". In a 1999 conference entitled "140th Anniversary of Darwin's Origin of Species - Evolution or Creation", the institute's co-founder Philip Johnson reportedly announced, "Home-school moms are allies."

However, not all home-school parents have a religious agenda. "There are probably some wonderful home-school parents, some of whom may be evolutionary biologists themselves. But I have a feeling after talking to a lot of home-schoolers that this is the minority," says Alters. Indeed, evangelical Christians do dominate the home-school movement. "It's disconcerting, to say the least," he says.

The home-school movement is often described as a grassroots effort, scattered among a dispersed group of quiet, rural families. The reality is that the movement is well organised from the top down, led by groups with strong political ties. Taken together, organisations like the Discovery Institute, Exodus Mandate, HSLDA and Patrick Henry College are working to sculpt a new generation of students armed with the skills and the motivation to fight for their religious beliefs and their version of science.

"Home-schoolers are going to be leaders in their field," says Wile. "They are going to change science and how science is done."

Not likely. Science is based on what works, not what you want to be true. But the article does again raise the question whether or not parents who purposefully brainwashing their children not to believe in science are guilty of child abuse.

Sic'em Nance.

The frat boys from the Borat movie are suing because they feel they were taken advantage of while drunk.

Now they know how the college ladies feel.

Here's more hope for the Give Up future.

Party boss Ken Mehlman is planning to step down at the end of the year. Maybe because Bill Maher outed him (sorry Ted).

But here's the new evidence of continuing retardation from the Bush administration.

First, in the lame duck session, they're trying to get wiretapping in and Bolton confirmed before they lose power. What about losing an election haven't these people figured out? And so much for bipartisanship with Pelosi, they're going to try to fuck us until the last possible minute.

Now, they're planning to bring Michael Steele in to replace Mehlman as RNC chair. Besides coming from an incompetent administration in Maryland that accomplished nothing in 4 years, they guy is crooked! How about that election day trick he and Ehrlichman pulled where they got homeless guys from Philly to distribute misleading flyers suggesting that Steele was a Democrat? How about the fact that it wasn't the first time they had done this? How about the fact that, despite being black, the issues trumped race in this election?

No one is impressed by Republican window dressing, they aren't fooling anyone with this crap, and hiring this incompetent crooked jackass is just digging their grave a little deeper.

**Shudders**

So. Many. Things. Wrong. With. This. Fathers simply shouldn't be this concerned with the state of their daughters' vaginas. And notice, the same emphasis would never be put on boys keeping "pure."


Via Pandagon.

It's official, the Democrats own both houses of Congress.

I'm confused though, in his speech Allen says:

"The people of Virginia have spoken and I respect their decision. The Bible teaches us there is a time and place for everything, and today I called and congratulated Jim Webb."

Where in the Bible does it say there is a time and place for everything? Shit, Ecclesiastes chapter 3. I'm an idiot.

Anyway, fatheaded to the last, Allen is finished in politics. I won't miss him.

This is straight out of Jennifer Government.

Following all of the bad press she got in the movie Jesus Camp, the reverend Becky Fischer has decided to close down the camp, at least for a few years.

One less Christian madrassa in the world. Woohoo!

The Onion news-in-brief headline "Rumsfeld: 'My Half-Assed Job Here Is Done'"

WASHINGTON, DC—After nearly six years of much-publicized service as Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld announced his resignation Wednesday afternoon, saying that he had "proudly accomplished everything [he'd] set out to bungle." "Years ago, I decided to bog this great nation down in an extended, grueling foreign occupation, and I'm happy to say that's exactly what I've done," said Rumsfeld in a farewell address at the White House, during which he urged Americans to continue waging the ill-conceived, mismanaged, and evidently unwelcome fight for democracy in the Middle East. "Each of my actions—from undersupplying troops with body armor to focusing on capturing Saddam Hussein while Osama bin Laden remained free—has led America inexorably toward our current state of extreme crisis. Well, anyway, goodbye!" President Bush expressed confidence that Robert Gates, his new nominee for Secretary of Defense, will be able to "fuck everything up the rest of the way."

Ha!

Science magazine is reporting that this Democratic win could prove beneficial to science. Not only did Missouri prove science is an issue by passing its stem cell bill, but intelligent design suffered major setbacks as well.

Intelligent design (ID) received a drubbing yesterday, with pro-evolution candidates taking control of the Kansas State Board of Education and strengthening their representation on the Ohio State Board of Education. Many scientists also cheered the defeat of Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), one of the most politically influential supporters of the ID movement.

In Ohio, incumbent board member Deborah Owens Fink lost decisively to Tom Sawyer, a former teacher and U.S. representative. Owens Fink had repeatedly attempted to dilute evolution in Ohio's science standards. Sawyer, who contested the seat at the urging of Ohio scientists, will help swell the ranks of moderates on the 19-member board. The scientists' group, Help Ohio Public Education, is also celebrating the victory of three other "pro-science" candidates including incumbent G. R. "Sam" Schloemer, who had described his candidacy as a referendum on ID. Schloemer won by a 2-to-1 margin over John Hritz, an ID supporter. The only pro-ID candidate elected Tuesday was Susan Haverkos.

In Kansas, supporters of evolution were already assured a majority on the 10-member state board after a primary election earlier this year. But that 6-4 edge was all they could manage yesterday, as two conservative incumbents retained their seats. "That shows the state is still very split on intelligent design. We have to continue educating the public about the issue," says Sally Cauble, a moderate Republican from southwest Kansas who will make her debut on the board next month.

Although the ID debate was not an issue in most congressional races, voters may have punished Santorum because the once-vocal ID supporter tried to distance himself from the movement after a federal judge struck down an attempt last year by the Dover, Pennsylvania, school board to insert ID into the curriculum. That "flip-flop" probably cost him both moderate as well as conservative votes, says Brown University biologist Kenneth Miller. Santorum's defeat will further reduce the influence of ID proponents on the national level, predicts Eugenie Scott of the National Center for Science Education in Oakland, California.

Hooray for science! The news just keeps getting better. Hopefully we'll start seeing better NIH paylines within a year, not to mention a federal stem cell bill, a complete absence of pro-ID school boards and increased spending in alternative energy.

Chris Mooney also has a good take on what this will mean for science you should check it out.

It turns out, it wasn't just federal elections that got a wave of voter discontent, it appears state legislatures showed major Democratic gains as well.

Democratic gains in Congress and among the nation’s governors were matched on Tuesday by a huge surge closer to the grass roots — in the state legislatures, where more than 275 seats and nine legislative chambers from Iowa to Oregon switched overnight from Republican to Democratic hands.

It's not just the war, it's a generalized dissatisfaction of voters with Republicans on all levels of government. These people are incompetent, and people don't like the way they run things. It's official, the American people have finally realized they don't like the taste of the shit sandwich Republicans have been feeding us for the last decade.

Oh, and more proof, Webb wins in Virginia. No one thinks Allen has a chance and now it's just a matter of time before he concedes to Webb.

The Associated Press contacted election officials in all 134 localities where voting occurred, obtaining updated numbers Wednesday. About half the localities said they had completed their postelection canvassing and nearly all had counted outstanding absentees. Most were expected to be finished by Friday.

The new AP count showed Webb with 1,172,538 votes and Allen with 1,165,302, a difference of 7,236. Virginia has had two statewide vote recounts in modern history, but both resulted in vote changes of no more than a few hundred votes.

An adviser to Allen, speaking on condition of anonymity because his boss had not formally decided to end the campaign, said the senator wanted to wait until most of canvassing was completed before announcing his decision, possibly as early as Thursday evening.

The adviser said that Allen was disinclined to request a recount if the final vote spread was similar to that of election night.

Huzzah!

I find it gratifying, that long after this Webb/Allen election, we're probably going to be putting Republicans in jail for dirty tricks as the FBI is investigating voter suppression tactics used by the NRCC.

I therefore say "haw haw" in my best Nelson Munce voice.

It just gets better and better.

Tester is projected to win Montana.

And now Rumsfeld to resign and be replaced by Robert Gates.

I've never heard of Gates, other than he's a former Daddy Bush appointee. Is he a neocon? Better not be.

We, the women of Give Up blog, would like to mention some victories of last night that make us particularly happy. First, we'd like to join the Rev. in celebrating South Dakota's rejection of the abortion ban. Wooohoooo!!! Gains that also merit mention include California's rejection of Prop. 85 , and Oregon's Measure 43 - both parental notification, anti-abortion measures. And, of course, we are excited about Nancy Pelosi - the first woman to be Speaker of the House, and, subsequently, in line to take over if, say, Bush and Cheney were to be struck by lightening.

Also, the scientist ladies can be proud of Missouri, as it decides to protect stem cell research to the best of its ability.

And, with the news about Rummy, it's starting to feel like a good day...

Bye, bye Rummy. There are unknown knowns, and known unknowns, and then there are has-beens. Somebody pinch me!

Well, it seems that Give Ups predictions have more or less come true. Conservative and Republican management of government is fundamentally unwelcome. When people experience it, they ultimately reject it.

And it's not just the war, look at the SD abortion ban being overturned, or incumbents like "man on dog" Santorum and George Allen getting tossed out. It's a beautiful thing when people wake up and start tasting the shit sandwich they've been dutifully chewing on for the last decade or so.

Anyway, we will continue to mock Republicans and their failed policies as long as they have any power whatsoever, and I'm sure the Dems will need to be kicked into action. Just because they have a majority doesn't mean they've grown a pair. That and we have LiebesBush to contend with. If Montana and Virginia hold onto their Democrat leads it will all be in the hands of the party traitor.

So, as promised I want to tell everyone about My Dream.

I have a dream, that one day in the future, all Dems, Libs, Progressives, and people who generally think that Bush is an incompetent retard will unite.

I have a dream that when they come together, there will be no "free Mumia" posters, there will be no "Bush = Hitler" posters, there will be no retarded anarchists wearing all black, and there will be no neo-hippies, trying to be ineffectual like the boomer hippies were before them.

I have a dream that instead of making a protest about having a party and acting like children, people will act like grownups, dress like grownups, and behave like grownups.

I have a dream that all those who hate Bush will unite with one message on one day.

That day will be January 20th, 2009. The message?

WORST PRESIDENT EVER.

It appears we had quite a sweep last night.

The senate is split 50:50, with the detestable Allen currently behind Webb by about seven thousand votes. So, I'm going to go ahead and say it. Adios Macaca!

Some other highlights:

1. The senate is split 50:50. It appears we picked up Virginia, Missouri, and Montana which were the close senate races as well as Ohio, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. We held onto Maryland against Steele. If Virginia and Montana hold onto the current results we will have a 1-seat advantage if LiebesBush caucuses with the Dems.
   
2. We have another 6 years of LiebesBush who won by 10% over Lamont.
   
3. The South Dakota Abortion Ban appears to have been overturned by the voter referendum. It just goes to show, even in the deep red states nobody wants an abortion ban.
   
4. The House appears to be Democrat 231 to Republican 204 which represents a 28-seat pickup. A few heartbreaking losses are Tammy Duckworth losing to Roskam in IL, Chris Shays holding onto his seat in CT, Mean Jean Schmidt keeping her seat in Ohio, and the retarded unconstitutional anti-gay amendment winning here in Virginia. But don't worry, that amendment is so unconstitutional that the first federal court to see it will smack it down.
   
5. We picked up 6 governorships to bring us to 28 Dem governors and 22 Republican.
   
6. Oh, and William Jefferson held onto his LA seat so we will lose one seat once that crook goes to jail.

Overall a good night.

Chris gives us the low down on why these robocalls are going to result in some serious trouble for some "overzealous staffer."

Second, (this is the important part) there are specific identification requirements independent of McCain-Feingold. This is the hook that could be used to pursue the people who hired the telemarketers, and the telemarketers themselves.

(b) All artificial or prerecorded telephone messages shall:
(1) At the beginning of the message, state clearly the identity of the business, individual, or other entity that is responsible for
initiating the call…and
(2) During or after the message, state clearly the telephone number (other than that of the autodialer or prerecorded message player that placed the call) of such business, other entity, or individual. The telephone number provided may not be a 900 number or any other number for which charges exceed local or long distance transmission charges. [...]

I hope they get their asses kicked for this sleazy anti-democratic crap.

So do it.

This morning we've got lots of voter suppression reports here in Virginia with voters being told they'll get arrested if they try to vote.

Must be that overzealous staffer again. I hope it doesn't help the bastards, and if we're lucky, we'll win and make sure they go to jail for it.

In the meantime, let's get this done. We'll be at the bar tonight after 7, watching the results roll in.

Haggard fesses up to a "lifelong sexual problem." Namely, he likes cock. And you know what, that's ok.

At least he admits that he's been gay his whole life and doesn't act like it was some choice he made because the mean gays with their homosexual agenda recruited him as a teen. What a load of crap that is, here's a perfect example of why homosexuality isn't a choice. You have a guy, dead set against everything gay, preaching against it in public, but still is forced to satisfy his homosexual needs privately. How could one still say that homosexuality is a choice after Ted Haggard?

Oh, big deal. They're going to hang Saddam. Like we didn't know the outcome of that trial. Hell, even if they didn't convict him does anyone believe we would have let him go? Ultimately, it was all just a show trial, which makes me less surprised they release the sentence two days before our election (after waiting a month). It might blow up in their faces, literally, if people decide to riot or the Sunnis use it as a rallying point.

It's all just so stupid. All this money, all these people dead, and we're supposed to feel good about the foregone conclusion of this stupid trial?

And that on top of reports that even with 400,000 troops this war might have been just as bad. That's what pisses me off about these new "we were for the war but Bush bungled it" neocons. They act like it was just Bush's mistakes that screwed this up, but even if we hadn't made every mistake imaginable, it was still a bad idea. We had no good reason to go there, and let's not repeat such a mistake again. If this report shows that even 400k troops might not have been enough to secure the country, then how can they continue to say that it was just the incompetence of the Bush administration that makes this war a mistake?

In reality this war reflects the incompetence of all neocons who thought that war is easy, imperialism is a good idea, and knocking off petty dictators is worth sacrificing our troops, thousands of innocent lives, and our country's solvency. Not just those who mismanaged it, but all the idiots who thought invading other countries without a good reason and not enough troops would somehow make us more popular.

But now, according to multiple reports on how the GOP is using robocalls to drive people crazy. It's like they're children, they can't win on issues so now they're just crank calling people in the hopes of getting them mad at Democrats. If they end up getting wins because of this tactic I hope they all get fined back to the stone age for violating do-not-call rules.

Assholes.

It was everything they promised and more. Last night we all piled into the short bus and went to see the funniest movie of our adult lives.

Here are the first 4 minutes (don't worry, it doesn't give anything away).



Sascha Baron Cohen is a genius. If he doesn't win an academy award for this, it will be a crime.

Of Republican control of Congress.

Well, actually a little bit more since it will be a couple months before everyone gets sworn in I guess.

Dammit.

What do you think the Republicans are going to do with their lame duck session? You think they'll try stealing the Democratic plans so the Dems can't take credit for reform? Maybe they'll pass a minimum wage hike.

Alternatively, they might go the other way with lame-duck crazy laws meant to energize their base for the next time. Like pass laws the Democrats will have to spend the next two years correcting with great political costs. They'll come up with bills like, HR1294 - the "Puppies and School-prayer Bill, or HR1596 - the "Miniature American Flag and Partial Birth Abortion ban".

Cynical predictions anyone?

Now I've been telling people over the last few days that I get the feeling that polling is actually underestimating Democrat numbers.

When a pollster calls you in your house and asks you who you're going to vote for, it's easy to say Republican, and hang up. But when it comes to election day, I'm kind of doubting the Republicans are going to be highly motivated to take time out of there day to make sure this dimwits stay in office, or say, vote for LiebesBush who've they've probably hated for 18 years.

Looks like I might be right.

I wouldn't mind seeing an even bigger sweep, I've got to say. I'm thinking Dean has done a good job, and here's what he has to say:


If we sweep everything, then the question becomes, after we take back the governorships, house and senate, what should we do with Give Up Blog? The prophecy of Give Up has come true almost exactly - that the incompetence of the Republicans would be their downfall, not some ingenious Democratic plan or strategy. Now we're facing a complete return to power of the liberal/progressive party in this country simply because conservative policy doesn't work.

This is where my next dream comes in.

He must be fired or resign.

I'm not confident the Bush wouldn't just replace him with an even bigger neocon dimwit. After all, he only seems to know about 5 people. Maybe he'd try getting Harriet Miers confirmed for the position.

Looks like Haggard probably is gay and visited this prostitute.

A sudden about-face in the scandal facing New Life Church's pastor.

After Pastor Ted Haggard went public Wednesday night denying allegations of a homosexual affair, senior church officials told KKTV 11News Thursday evening, Pastor Ted Haggard has admitted to some of the claims made by a former male escort. The church's Acting Senior Pastor, Ross Parsley, tells KKTV 11 News that Pastor Haggard has admitted to some of the indiscretions claimed by Mike Jones, but not all of them.

Ahhh, schadenfreude. When will we learn to just automatically assume that the people that have the biggest problems with homosexuality are always the biggest closet cases? And it sounds like the drug thing may be true too. From 9news and via boingboing.

The voice mails for from a man who calls himself "Art."

It should be noted Haggard's middle name is Arthur.

The first voice message, left on August 4 at 2:18 p.m., says:

"Hi Mike, this is Art. Hey, I was just calling to see if we could get any more. Either $100 or $200 supply. And I could pick it up really anytime I could get it tomorrow or we could wait till next week sometime and so I also wanted to get your address. I could send you some money for inventory but that's probably not working, so if you have it then go ahead and get what you can and I may buzz up there later today, but I doubt your schedule would allow that unless you have some in the house. Okay, I'll check in with you later. Thanks a lot, bye."

The second voice message, left on August 4 at 5:10 p.m., says:

"Hi Mike, this is Art, I am here in Denver and sorry that I missed you. But as I said, if you want to go ahead and get the stuff, then that would be great. And I'll get it sometime next week or the week after or whenever. I will call though you early next week to see what's most convenient for you. Okay? Thanks a lot, bye."

Jones claims Art is referring to methamphetamine in the messages.

9NEWS had a nationally known voice recognition expert, Richard Sanders, listen to the voice mails to determine if it is Haggard. Sanders has previously worked on such high profile cases as the Oklahoma City bombing trial, the Columbine High School shootings, the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation, and the Kobe Bryant case.

"This certainly sounds like the same person," said Sanders, after listening to the voice mails.

In his final report, Sanders found that of 12 single words that were the same on both recordings, nine of those words were perfect matches. He also found that the entire phrase, "I don't know," was also a precise match.

Now a lot of people, including PZ are saying that this isn't truly awesome, because it's reinforcing this idea that there is something wrong with gay sex, and that it won't have an effect on vile idiocy and bile that is preached by these guys all the time.

While this is true, the anti-schadenfreude crowd must realize that when a bigoted hypocrite is exposed as that which he has railed against, it actually is a pretty powerful lesson in reaction formation. That is, the people who get really upset about gays are the ones that are the closet cases. Normal heterosexual people who are comfortable in their sexuality could care less what other people do in their bedrooms. It's the ones that aren't quite sure of themselves, or who know that their lives might just be a lie that get really upset about the private consensual relationships of others.

People should watch this documentary Hacking Democracy on HBO.

It was interesting, I learned several things:

1) Diebold is completely crooked.
2) 2004's elections had some major problems, which the documentarians demonstrated directly, including what appeared to be really obvious fraud in the voting machines.
3) States like Maryland and California are kicking some ass in going after this fraud, with California decertifying Diebold machines and suggesting the AG go after the companies criminally.
4) I really have no faith in the machines. Can I get a paper ballot in Virginia?

Let's talk about science.

Jeff gives us word of this Wired article describing races around the country in which scientific issues may play a major role.

Also, some may be interested in joining Scientists and Engineers for America, a group formed in September to lobby for good scientific policy.

Science has several articles of interest this week. First, on our recent topic of Pentecostals and speaking in tongues, some scientists at U. Penn have put some Pentecostals in MRIs to see what parts of the brain are activated when people get the spirit in them. Turns out, it's not an activation of the brain so much as a inactivation of the frontal cortex.

In each case, the scientists gave the subjects an intravenous injection of a radioactive tracer that provided, in effect, a freeze-frame of which brain areas were most active during the behavior, as indicated by increased blood flow. This was captured by then scanning the women's brains in a single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) machine.

Glossolalia produced a significantly different pattern of brain activity than singing, the team reports in the November issue of Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging. Perhaps the most important difference was a decrease in frontal lobe function, Newberg says. "The part of the brain that normally makes them feel in control has been essentially shut down." Another notable change was increased activity in the parietal region--the part of the brain that "takes sensory information and tries to create a sense of self and how you relate to the rest of the world," Newberg says. The findings make sense, says Newberg, because speaking in tongues involves relinquishing control while gaining a "very intense experience of how the self relates to God." Interestingly, he notes, the glossolalia responses were the opposite of those seen in subjects in a meditative state. When people meditate on a particular sacred object, Newberg has found that their frontal lobe activity increases, while their parietal activity goes down. This conforms with the notion that in meditation one has a controlled focus while losing a sense of self.

Science also reports that marine biodiversity is suffering, and they predict a collapse of the worlds fisheries by 2048 if measures aren't taken to correct these trends.

Our data highlight the societal consequences of an ongoing erosion of diversity that appears to be accelerating on a global scale (Fig. 3A). This trend is of serious concern because it projects the global collapse of all taxa currently fished by the mid–21st century (based on the extrapolation of regression in Fig. 3A to 100% in the year 2048). Our findings further suggest that the elimination of locally adapted populations and species not only impairs the ability of marine ecosystems to feed a growing human population but also sabotages their stability and recovery potential in a rapidly changing marine environment.

The data are pretty scary, lots of lines that are showing exponential decreases in populations.

This week has also been interesting in terms of science about extending life. First it was extending life by not eating. Then it was by consuming the equivalent of 100 bottles of wine in resveratrol to extend life. Now, Science reports we can extend life by lowering core body temp.

So that's it people, the secret to longevity. Not eating, drinking enough booze to kill you, and being cold all the time. Life would certainly seem longer.

In JCI, they are discussing the future of drug innovation. Basically they're saying what Marcia Angell's been saying for years, drug companies don't innovate. And to instill innovation in pharmacology research more should be invested in universities and nonprofit scientific institutions. Lot's of other things are interesting in the article, including the idea that the reason that 90% of drugs fail to get through testing to the market isn't because the drugs fail for technical reasons, but the drug companies fail to figure out a way to market and profit from the drugs. Ah, the free market, is there anything it can do?

Finally, one of these articles I see all the time in Science about new fuel cell technologies. In this case, a self-sustaining catalytic reaction was created that was able to convert fuels such as soy, sugar water, and biofuel into hydrogen without generating carbon waste. Pretty cool, but I see about one of these a week, and wonder if there is enough interest in fast-tracking some of this technology to make a serious difference in how we utilize energy in this country. But that's why we want to elect Democrats.

Remember this guy from Jesus Camp?



He's the president of the National Association of Evangelicals and the movie introduced him as a guy that meets with Bush every week. It also turns out, he might be visiting the gay prostitutes.

This will be fun to watch.

I loved this New Rule by Bill Maher from last Friday. I meant to post it earlier, sorry.

And finally, new rule: America must stop bragging that it is the greatest country on earth and start acting like it.

Now I know this is uncomfortable for the faith over facts crowd, but the greatness of a country can, to a large degree, be measured. Here's some numbers: infant mortality rate, America ranks 48 in the world; overall health, 72nd; freedom of the press, 44; literacy 55th. Do you realize there are 12-year-olds in this country that can't spell the name of the teacher they're having sex with?

Now America, I will admit, has done many things - making the new world democratic comes to mind, the Marshall plan, curing polio, beating Hitler, the deep-fried Twinkie. But what have we done for us lately? We're not the freest country - that would be Holland - where you can smoke hash in church and Janet Jackson's nipple is on the flag.

And sadly, we're no longer a country that can get things done either, not big things, like building a tunnel under Boston or running a war with competence. We had six years to fix the voting machines - couldn't get that done. The FBI is just now getting email. Prop 87 out here in California is about lessening our dependence on oil by using alternative fuels, and Bill Clinton comes out at the end of the ad and says, "If Brazil can do it America can too."

Excuse me, since when did America have to buck itself up by saying we can catch up to Brazil? We invented the airplane and the lightbulb, they invented bikini wax and now they're ahead?

In most of the industrialized world nearly everyone has healthcare, and hardly anyone doubts evolution. And yes, having to live amid so many superstitious dimwits is also something that affects quality-of-life. It's why America isn't going to be the country that gets the inevitable patents in stem cell cures, because Jesus thinks it's too close to cloning.

And did I mention we owe China a trillion dollars? We owe everybody money. America is a debtor nation to Mexico. We're not on a bridge to the 21st century, we're on a bus to Atlantic City with a roll of quarters.

And this is why it bugs me that so many people talk like it's 1955 and we're still number one in everything - we're not. And I take no glee in saying this because I love my country and I wish we were. But if you're number 55 in this category and number 92 in that one, you look a little silly waving the big foam number one finger.

As long as we believe being the greatest country in the world is a birthright, we'll keep coasting on the achievements of earlier generations and keep losing the moral high ground. Because we may not be the biggest or the healthiest or the best educated, but we always did have one thing no other place did. We knew soccer was bullshit. [Sorry Casmall]

And we always had a little thing called the Bill of Rights. A great nation doesn't torture people or make them disappear without a trial. Bush keeps saying the terrorists for our freedom, and he's working pretty hard to make sure pretty soon, that won't be a problem.

Damn right brother Bill, preach it!

Anne Coulter may be a criminal.

American consumers are retarded.

Cultural relativism is bullshit. Female genital mutilation is not just awful because it is a violent stupid act designed to deprive women of sex and control their fertility, but also because it reflects this idea of ownership of children as chattel, and that you are free to do things that are harmful to them just because you're their parents.

Detention camps are being built by Halliburton in the US and if you don't think that Bush will detain and torture US citizens as enemy combatants, then may I introduce you to Jose Padilla?

And finally, that drug AAP suggested to extend all our lives (and Leon Kass objects to because death is good or something), may be resveratrol. (Nature AOP link)

Fat mice!

This week's issue of the Lancet has a series of articles on sexuality and reproductive health. (LiveScience article here)

Here is the summary of Sexual behaviour in context: a global perspective

Research aimed at investigating sexual behaviour and assessing interventions to improve sexual health has increased in recent decades. The resulting data, despite regional differences in quantity and quality, provide a historically unique opportunity to describe patterns of sexual behaviour and their implications for attempts to protect sexual health at the beginning of the 21st century. In this paper we present original analyses of sexual behaviour data from 59 countries for which they were available. The data show substantial diversity in sexual behaviour by region and sex. No universal trend towards earlier sexual intercourse has occurred, but the shift towards later marriage in most countries has led to an increase in premarital sex, the prevalence of which is generally higher in developed countries than in developing countries, and is higher in men than in women. Monogamy is the dominant pattern everywhere, but having had two or more sexual partners in the past year is more common in men than in women, and reported rates are higher in industrialised than in non-industrialised countries. Condom use has increased in prevalence almost everywhere, but rates remain low in many developing countries.

Some of the particulars get quite interesting, especially with the importance of promoting condom use to prevent STDs, as the study shows areas in which STDs are more prevalent aren't associated with greater promiscuity, but less condom use. It also shows that this whole "abstinence until marriage" crap is pointless in countries in which there is gender inequality as the authors found:

Marriage does not reliably safeguard sexual-health status. Married women find negotiation of safer sex and use of condoms for family planning more difficult than do single women. Very early sexual experience within marriage can be coercive and traumatic.

Oh yeah and:

School-based sex education improves awareness of risk and knowledge of risk reduction strategies, increases self-effectiveness and intention to practice safer sex, and delays rather than hastens the onset of sexual activity.

This is really a must-read, and it just pisses me off that much more that we know how to decrease STD transmission and teen pregnancy, but insist on using abstinence education which simply is ineffective, and, especially in poorer countries or countries with greater gender inequality, it is just irresponsible.

William Styron has died.

Now the Republicans are blaming the troops, or the generals anyway:



I cannot comprehend why they think it's a good strategy to stick by Rumsfeld and Cheney. Just look at the title of this article in the NYT "Bush Works to Solidify Base With a Defense of Rumsfeld". Who is this base that likes Cheney and Rumsfeld? Cheney has an approval rating of 18%, Rumsfeld is about as popular as foot fungus. If they really wanted to boost their poll numbers by a few dozen points they'd fire Rumsfeld and put Cheney back in his undisclosed location for a few months.

Pollster.com has made it super-easy to embed polls into blogs. There's a few I might keep updated in the coming week, just because it feels good to see Webb giving Allen a run for his money.



Ford, who is not my favorite Democrat but does sound like a progressive when it comes to healthcare and taxes, is also giving Corker a good run.



McCaskill is also looking better in Missouri. The senate is looking like more of a possibility.


On the bad news side, Republican LiebesBush looks like he's going to win against Lamont. Although I feel this polling has to be pretty soft. I can't imagine all those GOP voters getting mobilized to vote for a guy that they've opposed for the last 3 elections, especially not in the current anti-incumbent environment.



Lamont, to his credit, is going down fighting, and with ads like this and the potential for these polls to be very very far off in terms of gauging GOP motivation, he might win after all.



Besides, LiebesBush would probably just join the Republicans if he won again. Whether or not he calls himself a Democrat, his record has been one of undermining his party for the detriment of the country.

So check out pollster.com. Their maps are pretty neat and are showing some hopeful signs. Overall, it looks like we're going to have 29 Democratic governors, with one independent and 20 Republicans. The Senate is looking like it will be at least 49 Democrats, 48 Republicans and 3 are tossups. The house is looking like 221 Democrat, 188 Republican with 26 in tossup. Even if every tossup goes Republican, it would still be a narrow lead in the house.

The blogger/marine/activist who got tackled by Allen's people is a local 1L student.

We should invite him out for a beer. Mike, come have a beer with us! Bring Nariman with you.

You would think the state of Virginia, home to two of America's biggest military installations (Norfolk Naval Station/Oceana Naval Air Station/Fort Story Amphibious Base and the Pentagon) would you know, love the troops. Virginia is full of troops! Seriously, you can't go six feet in Virginia without tripping on a servicemember.

But if you think John Kerry was bad, well let me tell you, he can't even come close to Virginia for hating on troops.

First, one of Virginia's current Senators, rather than merely insulting troops, actively has his staffers beat up veterans. [Rev Dr ed. Here's the YouTube]



On top of that, the Servicemen's Legal Defense Network reports that the state is considering legislation to invalidate all the powers of attorney, living wills, medical directives, and other formal agreements between unmarried, deployed members of the military and their SOs. Wow! That is some serious nonsupport of the troops!

We're a week from the elections, and the Republican noise machine has broken out the megaphones: John Kerry insulted the troops! Shout it from the rafters, scream it in the streets -- a failed presidential candidate has said something that can be interpreted as insulting the troops!

This is the closest I've come to exploding with rage in a very long time. Let's say the Bushies are right. John Kerry insulted troops. Let's go one further. John Kerry really hates troops. He barely gets through Memorial Day and Veterans Day -- he shuts himself up and stews, nursing a single-malt whiskey, while cursing the armed forces under his breath. He often throws things at VFW parades.

So what's the worse insult: what John Kerry said, or what this Administration has done?

What's more likely to damage morale and hurt the actual living, breathing troops? A Senator with big wavy hair saying something to a crowd of high schoolers, or let's say, being sent to the middle of a desert to get randomly killed for three years by a government that considers you so completely valueless that its "strategy" is a soundbite -- stay the course -- that now even it can't agree on?

What's the worse insult? A veteran suggesting that perhaps you would have to be kind of on the dumb side, at this point, to sign up for a commission as Cannon Fodder, First Class?

Or a draft-dodging commander-in-chief who cares so little about military families that he stops the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been on an extended nine-month deployment during which all the men and women on board have been separated from their families, and makes it circle San Diego harbor like a wounded penguin for a few hours so he can gussy himself up in flight gear and get himself a little photo-op?

What's the worse insult? A few words tossed carelessly into the air, or a few thousand bodies sent home in hidden coffins, because the Administration would rather that Americans shop terrorism away than think about the wanton destruction going on in their name?

What's the worse insult? Telling someone "you, too, could possibly be stupid," or an Administration so convinced that it is god's gift to warfare that it fails to listen to its generals about troop levels, allows command discipline to break down, and is so desperate for more cannon fodder that its recruiters are getting autistic kids to sign up?

John Kerry's words cannot hurt you or me, and they cannot hurt our troops. But sticks and stones will break our bones: so will RPGs and roadside bombs and failure of the chain of command and incompetence. And the blame for those things lies squarely with this Administration.

Okay, I've blogged repeatedly about my favorite show, Wife Swap. And tonight was the fifth show where homenoschooling was present. Oh yes, the kid is at home, spending the day learning crafts from her witch mother in Georgia. Yes, she's making brooms for her mother to fly. Ha!

Kid: Eight times three...nineteen.

Tutor hired to fix the situation: My main concern...is the math.