SENATOR Al Franken!

This is the day the Canvassing Board will announce their decision in the Minnesota senate race, and since he is ahead by 225 votes, that means Al Franken will be declared the victor.

Expect 5-alarm histrionics from the right wing, howls of outrage on talk radio, and the wing nut blogs to go ballistic. Also expect the Coleman campaign to charge the state supreme court and demand to be handed the office. It will be very entertaining. The freakout is only warming up.

Holidays: officially over

I have just returned from my last long drive of the season, finally and regretfully shuttling the last beloved member of the Myers clan off to the distant Minneapolis transportation hub. Now, at last, I can relax, shed of my patriarchal obligations (speaking of which, the hair is getting a bit long and wild, and the beard is looking a bit ferocious…I may have to do something to tame them). I’ve also feeling the fatigue of waging the war on Christmas — my trigger finger is all calloused, and the recoil bruises on my shoulder would make you weep to see them — so it’s nice to have a little armistice until they start up again, six months from now. I’ve even got a little time to catch up with the neglected blog!

Here are a few quick tidbits.

  • The quixotic Michael Newdow is suing to have godly invocations dropped altogether from the presidential swearing-in ceremony, and our very own Minnesota Atheists have joined in. I don’t think they stand a prayer. It’s still a good thing to keep speaking out about it, so I support them wholeheartedly.

  • You need a poll to crash. How about one from Lynchburg, VA, home of Liberty University, where they are asking, Atheist group files suit to keep religion out of inauguration. Okay? So far, 17% say OK, 83% say not OK. That might change soon.

  • A bus matron who was supposed to be assisting a young man with cerebral palsy, Ed Wynn Rivera, abandoned him on the bus, still strapped to his seat, while it was parked in the depot…for seventeen hours. She had a good excuse, though.

    Hockaday admitted to knowing that Rivera was still on the bus when it was locked up on one of the coldest nights of the year. Her rationale for leaving? She apparently didn’t want to be late for church.

  • Good news from Texas! The final draft of the state science standards is done, and by all accounts, it is good.

    But with the “weaknesses” requirement removed and a new definition for science, the new plan makes it clear that supernatural explanations like creationism and intelligent design have no place in public classrooms, said Dan Quinn with the Texas Freedom Network, an Austin-based nonprofit group that opposes religious influence on public education.

    Good work, Texas scientists and educators!

I hope you all enjoyed your godless holiday. It was much more pleasant than the religious one.

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Clear Vision For A Pure America

They have a vision. They have a dream. They know what shape they want America to take. And they have formed an “organization inspired by the principles of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and the Evangelical and Christian Reconstruction movements”. And completely oblivious to the irony, with no hint that they understand the associations it will inspire, they have named this organization…the PALIBAN.

2012 is going to be so much fun.

And by “fun”, I mean “loaded with despair and exasperation and disappointment in my fellow citizens.”

(Read their blog and you might suspect a Poe, though. It’s just a little too all that.)

When they criminalize chemistry, all chemists are criminals

Another casualty in the War on Drugs: an enthusiastic science student, of the sort that would normally go on to be a scientist, is arrested for having a chemistry lab.

A Canadian college student majoring in chemistry built himself a home lab – and discovered that trying to do science in your own home quickly leads to accusations of drug-making and terrorism.

Lewis Casey, an 18-year-old in Saskatchewan, had built a small chemistry lab in his family’s garage near the university where he studies. Then two weeks ago, police arrived at his home with a search warrant and based on a quick survey of his lab determined that it was a meth lab. They pulled Casey out of the shower to interrogate him, and then arrested him.

A few days later, police admitted that Casey’s chemistry lab wasn’t a meth lab – but they kept him in jail, claiming that he had some of the materials necessary to produce explosives. Friends and neighbors wrote dozens of letters to the court, testifying that Casey was innocent and merely a student who is really enthusiastic about chemistry.

Errm, having the “materials necessary to produce explosives” is an awfully low bar to set. If we’re going to go that route, let’s round up and arrest all the farmers — they’ve got fuel oil and fertilizer in bulk, and are a far more serious danger.

Don’t criminalize reagents. Monitor them, sure, but instead target the products of criminal chemistry. Anything else is going to have lots of false positives and is going to damage science education.

Prospects for science policy

We’re learning more about what Obama is actually going to do in office, and while there are some negatives, right now the positives outweigh them.

Let’s get the bad decisions out of the way first.

Rick Warren, professional homophobe, bigot, and smirking airhead, will be prominently promoted in the invocation at the inauguration. This is a symbolic slap to the face of rationalists and GLBT citizens of our country, and is not a good sign.

The man who will be the Interior Secretary, a position which should be concerned about conservation of the country’s natural resources and which has been typically filled with vultures and exploiters from industry by Republican presidents, is going to be more of the same: Ken Salazar, who will almost certainly promote mining and ranching interests.

Both of those are real disgraces, and it’s not as if Obama was boxed in or lacking alternatives. They’re also incomprehensible. Warren is a sneaky little creep who already got more respect than he deserves by hosting one of the presidential debates, and he’s also a guy who is anti-Democratic policies — you know he did not vote for Obama. So why throw him another bone? Salazar just sounds like a lazy choice, somebody who was picked to appease industry…but he’s not a steward of the environment.

The bads are awful, but I’ve got to say that his good decisions are very, very good.

The director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy will be John Holdren of Harvard University, a professor of environmental policy who takes a hard line on global climate change — he was an advisor to Al Gore on the movie, An Inconvenient Truth.

Jane Lubchenko is a professor of marine biology at Oregon State University. She’ll be in charge of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, another key appointment in climate change policy.

Co-chairs of the Council of Advisers on Science and Technology will be Harold Varmus, who won a Nobel for his work on viral oncogenes, and Eric Lander, a very big name in genomics research.

Another Nobel laureate, Steven Chu, will be the Secretary of Energy. Chu has also been outspoken about climate change and is a strong promoter of alternative energy sources.

If these good people are actually listened to by the president, expect to see major improvements in energy policy and biology research, and some serious attention paid to carbon. This is, overall, a net plus for science and a real strike against anti-science in the White House, a huge change from the last 8 years. Salazar is troubling, some people are concerned that NASA will suffer, and sucking up to the odious Rick Warren still makes me wonder what atavistic social policies might be nestled in Obama’s mind, but there is some hope on the horizon, at least. Now if only he could do even better.

In case you were wondering…

No, the Minnesota recount is not over yet, and we still don’t know whether Franken or Coleman will be our senator. At last word, Coleman held a 192 vote lead, but thousands of ballots are awaiting a verdict on eligibility from the state Supreme Court. It’s the most mind-numbingly tedious process ever, so far.

However, scrutiny of the ballots has revealed one vote for the Flying Spaghetti Monster for Soil and Water Conservation Supervisor, and another for Franken and Lizard People for US Senator. The latter was rejected as an overvote, but the former did also have a vote that counted for Al Franken.

If you want a deeper discussion of the recount progress, go to Greg Laden. I’ve got the news off until my grading is done.

Shoes for Christmas

Lots of people complained that throwing shoes at the president was an act of violence, and therefore beyond the pale of what should be allowed. I think they’re wrong, that it’s a harmless expression of naked contempt, and that there ought to be more contempt expressed towards this president, but let’s compromise. No throwing shoes. How about politely handing them to him?

The Rude Pundit had a brilliant and obvious idea.

This morning, the Rude Pundit decided to honor the efforts of Muntader al-Zaidi, the Iraqi shoe-tosser, by taking out a raggedy old pair of sneakers, putting them in a Priority Mail shipping box, helpfully provided by the United States Post Office, and shipping them to President George W. Bush at the White House. He included a note that read, “This is a farewell kiss from the American people, you dog.”

Since throwing objects at the president is generally considered a crime, the Rude Pundit figures sending shoes to Bush is a small, good thing, a gesture of contempt that has context. Sweet Christ, at this point, there should be giant sacks of shoes heading to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC, 20500, like letters to Santa.

None of you can have any objections in principle to that, I should hope. Let us all make our own small protest and send George W Bush a little Christmas present, a polite version of an upraised middle finger, and box up some old shoes and send him a deluge of metaphorical and symbolic disgust.

It would also be nice if the shoes were at least serviceable, so maybe the White House could follow up with one last decent act by donating them to the needy.


Alternative suggestion! I really like the idea mentioned in the comments. Since the shoes won’t actually be seen Bush and will probably be thrown out, cut out the middleman and do this:

  • Donate a pair of shoes to the local charity of your choice.

  • Send Bush a postcard, stating, “A pair of shoes has been donated to the needy in your name. This is a farewell kiss from the American people, you dog.”

Simple, cheap, and it gets the message across just as well, while also doing something good.

Maybe they’re protecting us from the threat of the Grinch

In these times of economic crisis, war, and uncertainty, it is reassurring to know that our diligent representatives are hard at work in congress to make the country a better place.

Behold, House Resolution 847.

H. Res. 847
In the House of Representatives, U. S.,
December 11, 2007.
Whereas Christmas, a holiday of great significance to Americans and many other cultures and nationalities, is celebrated annually by Christians throughout the United States and the world;
Whereas there are approximately 225,000,000 Christians in the United States, making Christianity the religion of over three-fourths of the American population;
Whereas there are approximately 2,000,000,000 Christians throughout the world, making Christianity the largest religion in the world and the religion of about one-third of the world population;
Whereas Christians and Christianity have contributed greatly to the development of western civilization;
Whereas the United States, being founded as a constitutional republic in the traditions of western civilization, finds much in its history that points observers back to its Judeo-Christian roots;
Whereas on December 25 of each calendar year, American Christians observe Christmas, the holiday celebrating the birth of their savior, Jesus Christ;
Whereas for Christians, Christmas is celebrated as a recognition of God’s redemption, mercy, and Grace; and
Whereas many Christians and non-Christians throughout the United States and the rest of the world, celebrate Christmas as a time to serve others: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives–
(1) recognizes the Christian faith as one of the great religions of the world;
(2) expresses continued support for Christians in the United States and worldwide;
(3) acknowledges the international religious and historical importance of Christmas and the Christian faith;
(4) acknowledges and supports the role played by Christians and Christianity in the founding of the United States and in the formation of the western civilization;
(5) rejects bigotry and persecution directed against Christians, both in the United States and worldwide; and
(6) expresses its deepest respect to American Christians and Christians throughout the world.

If you want to know who to credit for this lovely bit of significant legislation, here is the sponsor and co-sponsors.

Sponsor:
Rep. Steve King [R-IA]
Cosponsors [as of 2008-11-07]
Rep. Jeff Miller [R-FL]
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers [R-WA]
Rep. Paul Broun [R-GA]
Rep. Lamar Smith [R-TX]
Rep. Ray LaHood [R-IL]
Rep. Walter Jones [R-NC]
Rep. James Forbes [R-VA]
Rep. John Doolittle [R-CA]
Rep. John Gingrey [R-GA]
Rep. Randy Neugebauer [R-TX]
Rep. Geoff Davis [R-KY]
Rep. Clifford Stearns [R-FL]
Rep. Darrell Issa [R-CA]
Rep. Walter Herger [R-CA]
Rep. Henry Brown [R-SC]
Rep. Nicholas Lampson [D-TX]
Rep. John Boozman [R-AR]
Rep. Michael Burgess [R-TX]
Rep. Rob Bishop [R-UT]
Rep. Ted Poe [R-TX]
Rep. Addison Wilson [R-SC]
Rep. Todd Tiahrt [R-KS]
Rep. Sue Myrick [R-NC]
Rep. Dan Burton [R-IN]
Rep. David Weldon [R-FL]
Rep. Jim Jordan [R-OH]
Rep. Thelma Drake [R-VA]
Rep. John Kuhl [R-NY]
Rep. John Kline [R-MN]
Rep. Jeffrey Fortenberry [R-NE]
Rep. Samuel Johnson [R-TX]
Rep. John Carter [R-TX]
Rep. David Davis [R-TN]
Rep. Virginia Brown-Waite [R-FL]
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave [R-CO]
Rep. Robin Hayes [R-NC]
Rep. Tom Feeney [R-FL]
Rep. Michele Bachmann [R-MN]
Rep. Michael Conaway [R-TX]
Rep. Lee Terry [R-NE]
Rep. Joseph Pitts [R-PA]
Rep. Jeb Hensarling [R-TX]
Rep. John Shadegg [R-AZ]
Rep. Virginia Foxx [R-NC]
Rep. Bill Sali [R-ID]
Rep. Patrick Mchenry [R-NC]
Rep. Mike McIntyre [D-NC]
Rep. Todd Akin [R-MO]
Rep. Daniel Lungren [R-CA]
Rep. Jack Kingston [R-GA]
Rep. Donald Young [R-AK]
Rep. Timothy Walberg [R-MI]
Rep. Richard Baker [R-LA]
Rep. James Barrett [R-SC]
Rep. Louis Gohmert [R-TX]
Rep. Kevin Brady [R-TX]
Rep. Michael McCaul [R-TX]
Rep. Trent Franks [R-AZ]
Rep. Todd Platts [R-PA]
Rep. Doug Lamborn [R-CO]

Democrats must hate Christmas and Christians — there’s only two on that list.