Bwahahaha!

The BIAW are so screwed now!

Elected judges must disqualify themselves from cases involving people who spent exceptionally large sums to put them on the bench, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday in a 5-to-4 decision.

The BIAW have been messing with state politics for a long time, getting judges who are in their pockets stealthily elected to our highest courts. Now it looks like those judges will have to recuse themselves from ruling on BIAW cases. Whaaaa!

Just tell conservatives to go take a shower

A report on studies linking the "ick factor" to conservatism:

People who squirm at the sight of bugs or are grossed out by blood and guts are more likely to be politically conservative, new studies find.

In particular, the squeamish are more apt to have conservative attitudes about gays and lesbians.

Lots of other research has tied politics to biology and behavior. Some quick background:

* A study last year found that when people feel physically clean, they are less judgmental.
* Another study found that political conservatives tend to be tidy, with organized offices, but liberals favor colorful, more stylish but cluttered spaces.
* Political views are driven by religion, culture and even biology, other research has shown.
* A large, global study in 2007 concluded that political preference is 50 percent genetic.

So, next time some conservative tells me they don't like gays, or abortions, I'm going to tell them they'll feel better about them if they can only get clean enough.

deep thought

Dino Rossi is a sore looser WATB. That is all.

imagine that

I actually agree with an NYT editorial:

None of the investigators’ major assertions, however, have been tested in cross-examination or evaluated by outside specialists. It is imperative that federal officials make public all of their data so independent experts can judge whether the mailed anthrax was indeed identical to Dr. Ivins’s supply and only that supply.

It is also critical for officials to explain more fully how they eliminated the many other people with access to the material. (emphasis added)

and

Because Dr. Ivins killed himself before he could be indicted, there will be no opportunity for an adversarial testing of the F.B.I.’s conclusions. The bureau, unfortunately, has a history of building circumstantial cases that seem compelling at first but ultimately fall apart.

Hatfill had odious associations with white supremacists, and this was leaked out to cast aspersions on him when he was the main 'person of interest' in the case. So excuse me if I'm a little skeptical when many of the the first things to come out about Ivins are of a similar nature.

waiting

Researcher Meryl Nass quotes CBS:

It is unclear how the FBI eliminated as suspects others in the lab who had access to the anthrax. It's not clear what, if any, evidence bolsters the theory that the attacks may have been a twisted effort to test a cure for the toxin. Investigators also can't place Ivins in Princeton, New Jersey, when the letters were mailed from a mailbox there.

If I have time, I'll wander over to the document dump at the DOJ and see if it looks convincing. I have an open mind on this, but after Hatfill I think we should all consider the evidence carefully.

OK, that was fun

Last night at Drinking Liberally, Goldy asked if I wanted to participate in the podcast that they do, talking about current events. I can't help it, my curiosity gets the better of me every time, so I said 'OK, I guess so.'

You can find the resulting podcast here.

I don't sound totally idiotic, but you can tell I'm not used to talking for broadcast...too many longish pauses while I try to think of something coherent to say! But I have to admit, that was sort of fun. Though I'm glad McKenna was there too.

more better Democrats!

You know what to do!

translator

So, I understand that on Monday, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday, Mitt Romney was running around in a parade, pressing flesh and kissing babies, as politicians do.

Mitt Romney was greeted warmly by a largely African-American crowd at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Parade in Jacksonville. He shook hands with several dozen parade-goers and even hugged a few of them.
...
“Who let the dogs out?” he called out, as he stood there beaming in his shirt and tie. “Who! Who!”

I understand that he also referred to a little kid's necklace as "bling bling."

From the script of the 1980 movie Airplane, I declare that what Mitt needs is a "jive translator":

Jivemn2 : Mnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Attndnt : Can I get you something?
Jivemn2 : S'mo fo butter layin' to the bone. Jackin' me up.
Tightly.
Attndnt : I'm sorry I don't understand.
Jivemn1 : Cutty say he cant hang.
Woman4 : Oh stewardess, I speak jive.
Attndnt : Ohhhh, good.
Woman4 : He said that he's in great pain and he wants to know if you can help him.
Attndnt : Would you tell him to just relax and I'll be back as soon as I can with some medicine.
Woman : Jus' hang loose blooood. She goonna catch up on the rebound a de medcide.
Jivemn2 : What it is big mamma, my mamma didn't raise no dummy, I dug her rap.
Woman4 : Cut me som' slac' jak! Chump don wan no help, chump don git no help. Jive ass dude don got no brains anyhow.

In this case, I think the "jive ass dude don got no brains" would be Willard.

indeedy

Dr. Watson finds himself in deep doo-doo with other scientists:

There is wide agreement among researchers on intelligence that genetic inheritance influences mental acuity, but there is also wide agreement that life experiences, even in the womb, exert a powerful influence on brain structure. Further, there is wide disagreement about what intelligence consists of and how — or even if — it can be measured in the abstract.

For example, in “The Mismeasure of Man,” Stephen Jay Gould, the evolutionary biologist, dismissed “the I.Q. industry” as little more than an effort by men of European descent to maintain their prominence in the world.

Nevertheless, Dr. Watson, 79, is hardly the first eminent researcher to assert that inherited characteristics like skin color are correlated to intelligence and that people of African descent fall short. For example, William B. Shockley, a Nobel laureate for his work with transistors, in later life developed ideas of eugenics based on the supposed intellectual inferiority of blacks.

His ideas were greeted with scorn, and Dr. Watson is encountering a similar reaction. According to the BBC, the Science Museum of London canceled a speech Dr. Watson was to have given there today, saying that much as it supports robust discussion of controversial ideas, Dr. Watson’s assertions on race and intelligence are “beyond the point of acceptable debate.”

Henry Kelly, president of the Federation of American Scientists, a private group that works to bring science to policy making, said it was “tragic that one of the icons of modern science has cast such dishonor on the profession.” (emphasis added)

Dr. Kelly, I could not agree more.

well of course I am!

My Liberal Identity:

You are a Reality-Based Intellectualist, also known as the liberal elite. You are a proud member of what’s known as the reality-based community, where science, reason, and non-Jesus-based thought reign supreme.

Take the quiz at www.FightConservatives.com

Mike Reynolds

Mike Reynolds, who was a founder of the World Parrot Trust, has died in Cornwall, England, at the age of 76.

Fortunately, he lived to see the enactment of a ban of importation of wild parrots and other birds into the EU, something we have had here in the US since the Wild Bird Conservation Act of 1996. Rest well, Mr. Reynolds.

dead to me

Comic Bill Maher, CBS News political analyst Jeff Greenfield and former Carter administration official Hamilton Jordan all appeared on “Imus in the Morning” today.

Anyone who continues to defend and enable this particular asshat should not expect me to buy their books or watch their shows. Remember the comments that got Howard Cosell fired? Ah, the good old days!

the last honest republicans

Yes, there are still a few:

CHIP SOMODEVILLA / GETTY IMAGES

Fired attorneys, left to right, Carol Lam, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California; David Iglesias, former U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico, Daniel Bogden, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada; Paul Carlton, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, H.E. "Bud" Cummins, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Arkansas, and John McKay, former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, are all sworn in before testifying to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill last week.

McKay doesn't know if Republican unhappiness over his handling of the 2004 election cost him his job as U.S. Attorney for Western Washington, but the new revelations contained in a Washington Post story are sure to reignite questions about McKay's dismissal and whether it was connected to Washington state's hotly contested governor's race.

Um, ya think?

Oh, I still remember when Bush the Younger was sworn in. Shortly afterwards, we all got an email memo stating that the highest ethical standards were going to be expected of all federal employees, and that we should take our positions of public trust seriously, etc. At the time, knowing something of Bush's history, I just snorted at this and thought it was pretty amusing of him to presume to lecture me on ethics. Now, I no longer think it's amusing. I think it's obscene.

Update: Did you ever believe it was possible to have an Attorney General so stinking rotten that John Ashcroft would look good in comparison?

dumber than dirt

Honestly, I'd really like to know who votes for these people:

“Indisputable evidence — long hidden but now available to everyone — demonstrates conclusively that so-called ‘secular evolution science’ is the Big-Bang 15-billion-year alternate ‘creation scenario’ of the Pharisee Religion,” reads the letter that went out under Bridges' name. “This scenario is derived concept-for-concept from Rabbinic writings in the mystic ‘holy book’ Kabbala dating back at least two millennia.”

Count 'em! Three!Three!Three slanders in one! (They got in slams against Jews, science and secularism all at the same time!) That has to take the prize for the new millennium for the greatest amount of ignorance in one short paragraph (though I'm sure this will be surpassed, unfortunately).

That anyone, in the 21st Century, who espouses views such as this (quite modern for, say the 14th Century), gets elected to any position of decision-making in this country is disheartening, to say the least. As the old saying goes, 'I wouldn't elect him as dog-catcher!'

Ford redux

Poputonian has a post up over on Hullabaloo (Rolling over in my grave) that pretty much sums up my memory of that time. I was about 10 when Nixon resigned from office, and then was pardoned by Ford shortly afterwards. I remember thinking, "WTF?!" because I had assumed (like most Americans at that time, I now know) that Nixon would be expected to have his day in court and pay the penalty if found guilty by a jury of his fellow Americans. On the day of Ford's pardon, we the people found out that Justice isn't as blind as we'd been lead to believe watching all those 60s TV shows. For some many of us, the aftertaste of unfairness has been lingering all these years. I suppose this was just an early example of 'IOKIYAR' (It's OK if you're a Republican!'). Clinton got more articles of impeachment voted against him than Nixon did. Talk about lowering the bar...now while everyone is waxing nostalgic over Gerald Ford, we currently have someone in the oval office who makes Nixon look like an amateur...