Friday, September 30, 2005

Hughes delivers gift to Bin Laden

kos took apart Karen Hughes on her propaganda trip to the Middle East, but there was one thing she said that he didn't address, but indicates a certain amount of ignorance or hypocrisy on the part of this administration:
Hughes's simple, sincere and unadorned language reveals the administration's inner mind. Her ideas on terrorism and its solution are straightforward. "Terrorists," she said, "their policies force young people, other people's daughters and sons, to strap on bombs and blow themselves up." That is: somehow, magically, these evil-doers coerce the young to commit suicide. If only they would understand us, the tensions would dissolve.

This could apply equally to our commander-in-chief, on whose orders tens of thousands of our young men and women are in Iraq, raping and killing (not all obviously, but enough) the Iraqi people in order to "save" them. The only difference is for terrorists, it's voluntary. She obviously doesn't know the definition of the word "force."

Bill O'Reilly - the good catholic

Bill O'Reilly's catholic roots are showing. That connection was made on the Stephanie Miller show this morning, and in light of the stories about pedophilia cover-up by the Church, it's an obvious connection that I'm ashamed I had not noticed. O'Reilly's zealousness in defending the Abu Ghraib atrocities is very much the same as the Catholic cardinals playing hide-the-pedophile, going to extreme measures to keep quiet the on-going atrocities being committed by priests. And there's Bill, decrying the efforts of those (his favorite whipping horse the ACLU) to have the rape and AG torture pictures released, rather than demonstrating any concern over the meaning and significance of those pictures.

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Looking forward to this

Underworld: Evolution
Release Date: January 20th, 2006 (wide)

Good takedown of libertarianism

Retardo at elementropy has a good rant on libertarians, and I really couldn't agree more.
My Hate Is Pure
Sweet Jesus, I hate libertarians. They brag on their principles (when they mean, actually, their dogma), but at root they are the worst kind of misanthropes.

They are social darwinists of the worst sort. In capitalism, hucksterism is the basis by which the survival of the fittest is decided, so libertarians then term that culturally-determined criterion "nature", then feel a special glee in pointing out that the poor are "nature's" refuse.

Inferior is sorted from superior, poor from rich; and anything which would counter this "natural" process is anti-darwinist (and therefore anti-science). Hence liberals and socialists seek to meddle with "nature's" processes, which is a moral crime of great magnitude.(emphasis mine)

High Priestess of this belief was the novelist Ayn Rand. Philosophically (no, Rand doesn't qualify), some put the blame on Nietzsche but actually the person most responsible for codifying social darwinism as a philosophy was Herbert Spencer. Charles Darwin himself is utterly blameless for those who've bastardised his theories. And for what it's worth, I think it's very appropriate that Anton LaVey chose Rand to plagiarise for his Satanic Bible.

Politically, social darwinism was for a good period the reigning ideology of the Anglosphere; it was called laissez-faire. Modern libertarians, the only current political party shameless enough to openly advocate hard social darwinism, are descended (in America) from the Republican Party pre-Theodore Roosevelt and from (in Britain) the Liberal Party of the Victorian Era. Of course, history and reform killed these entities stone dead; the antidotes coming in the form of Progressivism in America and the Labour Party in Britain. Thus by definition, libertarians are atavistic and reactionary: they seek to restore something history (or, if I were trying to be cute, nature) thought deserving of extinction.

But libertarianism does have utility; it is a vessel for sociopathy and perverse ego-reinforcement. There is no more ridiculous phrase to a libertarian than "the brotherhood of men". Humans are individuals (hence Rand's fiction's emphases) born to do battle with other humans, via capitalism, to see who'll prevail. Great psychological dividends come with financial success; rich people are just better than poor. And the very poor? Well, self-evidently, they don't deserve to breathe. What a waste of resources! "Nature" should take its course.

...

Government, politics, and economic infrastructure are all artifical constructs. The libertarian argument against "meddling" in these is basically, "don't interfere with our meddling." Hypocrits.

I like good rants

And this is one of the best (from DailyKos)...

Bush Supporters of the Far Right: Cries from the Lake of Fire

I'd excerpt something, but it must be read beginning to end, or the effect is lost.

Submit, prison bitches

With the joy of Tom Delay's indictment comes the necessity of determining his prison nickname. Fortunately, there's a website that does the work for us.

Tom (Thomas) Delay: Moustache Girl
Bill (William) Frist: Hung Muther
Karl Rove: Dirt Devil
Jack Abramoff: Fudge Sucker
George Bush: Fudge Packer
Dick (Richard) Cheney: Turd Burglar

Oh, how we can dream...

Personal answers to alternative energy

Man's static jacket sparks alert
An Australian man built up so much static electricity in his clothes as he walked that he burned carpets, melted plastic and sparked a mass evacuation.

Frank Clewer, of the western Victorian city of Warrnambool, was wearing a synthetic nylon jacket and a woollen shirt when he went for a job interview.

As he walked into the building, the carpet ignited from the 40,000 volts of static electricity that had built up.

"It sounded almost like a firecracker or something like that," he said.

"Within about five minutes, the carpet started to erupt," he told Australian radio.

Considerable current

Perplexed firemen evacuated the building and cut its electricity supply, thinking the burns could have been caused by a power surge.

"There were several scorch marks in the carpet, and we could hear a cracking noise - a bit like a whip - both inside and outside the building," said fire official Henry Barton.

Mr Clewer said that after leaving the building, he scorched a piece of plastic in his car.

His clothes were measured by firemen as carrying an electrical charge of 40,000 volts, the Reuters news agency quoted Mr Barton as saying.

The fire official added that the charge was close to being high enough to cause the items to spontaneously combust.

"I've been firefighting for over 35 years and I've never come across anything like this," he said.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Wondering why Earle didn't nail Hutchison's ass to the wall?

So was I, and google proved barely cooperative. But here's what I found:
The Case Against Kay
Last year, a grand jury was told tales about Texas' junior senator. Here's what they heard.
By Miriam Rozen

Published: Thursday, June 23, 1994

...

Then, on June 9, 1993, that suddenly changed. Four days after Hutchison's victory in the U.S. Senate runoff, McGehee, racked by guilt, went to the D.A.'s office with his stunning revelation: the newly elected U.S. senator had ordered the destruction of embarrassing state records. Burkett would later produce evidence of this: his tape, which he carted into a Travis County grand-jury room in a pizza box.

The two men told their story behind closed doors to the grand jury that would later indict Hutchison. But they never had a chance to unburden themselves in open court, before a trial jury in Fort Worth.

This February, during pretrial procedural wrangling, Judge John Onion announced that he would make no decision before testimony began on the admissibility of evidence --including material from the "pizza-box tapes" -- that Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle considered critical. If the trial began and Onion refused to let the jury see the physical evidence, Earle believed, it could torpedo his entire case. The D.A. made a fateful decision: he declined to move forward with the senator's prosecution. He later explained that he hoped to do so later, presumably before a more receptive judge.

Judge Onion, though, wouldn't give him that chance. Onion instead swore in a jury, then immediately ordered the panel to acquit the first U.S. senator from Texas ever to come under criminal indictment. The abrupt court-ordered acquittal left the voluminous evidence of exactly what it was that Hutchison did -- evidence that fills four walls of shelving in a locked, windowless room in the Travis County D.A.'s office -- largely hidden from public view.

...

Seems she had a little help...

Air pollution worse than thought

SCIENCE NEWS
September 21, 2005

Research Indicates Health Effects of Air Pollution Are Underestimated

Air pollution may be a bigger health threat than previously believed, a 20-year study of residents of Los Angeles indicates. Researchers report that the contribution of particulate matter to chronic health problems may be as much as two to three times greater than current estimates.

Michael Jerrett of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles and his colleagues analyzed two decades of data collected from nearly 23,000 residents of 260 Los Angeles neighborhoods. They found that as the number of fine particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter increased, so, too, did the risk of dying: each jump of 10 micrograms per cubic meter corresponded to a 11 to 17 percent increase in the risk of dying from any cause. "By looking at the effects of pollution within communities, not only did we observe pollution's influence on overall mortality, but we saw specific links between particulate matter and death from ischemic heart disease, such as heart attack, as well as lung cancers," Jerrett says. The team's findings are published in the November issue of the journal Epidemiology.

In the same issue, a second group of researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California reports that living close to the freeway raises a child's risk of developing asthma. Tracking the respiratory health of 208 children in 10 cities, the scientists determined that those youngsters who lived closer to highways were more likely to develop asthma. Remarks lead study author W. James Gauderman of Keck: "Considering the enormous costs associated with childhood asthma, today's public policy toward regulating pollutants may merit some reevaluation." --Sarah Graham

Pirated from MaxSpeak

Bush jokes

Donald Rumsfeld was giving President Bush his daily briefing. He concluded by saying: "Yesterday, 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed."

"OH NO!" Bush exclaimed. "That's terrible!"

His staff was stunned at this display of emotion, nervously watching as the President sat, head in hands.

Finally, Bush looked up and asked, "Okay, so how many is a brazillion?"

*******

The President was asked about his position on Roe versus Wade.

He replied, "I don't care how they get out of New Orleans."

**********

The irony of Hindrocket

Seems Time's favorite blog is not so much for, um, intelligence. To wit:
"It’s hard to say what a marginally-informed citizen would make of the Katrina hearing, but my own impression was that the only person in the room who had any idea what he was talking about was Michael Brown."

Funny, but that's EXACTLY what a marginally-informed citizen would make of it. Hindrocket, I commend you for your powers of observation.

I did not know this

Berkeley lefty snubbed by House Republicans
They kill plan to name post office after longtime Councilwoman Maudelle Shirek

...

(Rep. Barbara) Lee (D-Oakland), in a statement after the vote, blasted (Rep. Steve) King (R-Iowa), saying his "campaign of innuendo and unsubstantiated 'concern' is better suited to the era of Joe McCarthy and J. Edgar Hoover than today's House of Representatives."

To which King responded: "I think that if Barbara Lee would read the history of Joe McCarthy, she would realize that he was a hero for America."

...


While King is not old enough to have truly experienced McCarthy's crusade (he was born May 28, 1949, and interestingly enough, was old enough to have gone to Vietnam but didn't), he graduated high school and attended college (though does not appear to have received a degree) where he should have at least studied the HUAC hearings.

Congratulations Mr King, you are a horse's ass.

Ahhhh...

DeLay indicted, steps down

By Laylan Copelin

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

A Travis County grand jury today indicted U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on one count of criminal conspiracy, prompting the Sugar Land Republican to give up his leadership post in Congress.

"I have notified (House Speaker Dennis Hastert) that I will temporarily step aside from my position as majority leader pursuant to rules of the House Republican Conference and the actions of the Travis County district attorney today," DeLay said in a statement.

The charge, a state jail felony punishable by up to two years incarceration, stems from his role with his political committee, Texans for a Republican Majority, a now-defunct organization that already had been indicted on charges of illegally using corporate money during the 2002 legislative elections.

...

Katrina and evacuations

Hurricane Katrina timeline

Much has been made about how Louisiana state and local officals (Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin) essentially didn't act as the storm of the century was bearing down on New Orleans. One check of the facts, however, demonstrates that this simply wasn't the case. At the times they acted, Katrina was barely a Category 3 storm, not atypical for hurricanes that have struck the Gulf Coast region (from 2004: Charley was Cat3, Frances Cat2, Ivan Cat3, Jeanne Cat3).

When Governor Blanco declared a state of emergency (Friday, August 26), Katrina was a Category 2 hurricane.

When Mayor Nagin declared a voluntary evacuation (Saturday, August 27), Katrina was a Category 3 hurricane.

When Katrina quickly strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane (Sunday, August 28), Mayor Nagin ordered a mandatory evacuation (within 3 hours of the upgrade to Cat5).

Hurricane Katrina made landfall near Buras, Louisiana, as a Category 4 storm (145 mph winds).

Think Progress beat me to this

I heard Drownie's lies testimony yesterday regarding Katrina, and was amazed that he had the audacity to perjure himself as he did. Apparently he thinks that because only Republicans are chairing these "hearings" he can lie lie lie.

BREAKING: Brown Falsely Smears Blanco Under Oath

Today, while testifying under oath, Mike Brown claimed that Louisiana Gov. Blanco’s August 27th request to the President for a federal emergency declaration excluded Orleans, Jefferson and Plaquerines parishes.

...

In fact, Blanco requested the President to declare a disaster in “all the southeastern parishes,” which includes Orleans, Jefferson and Plaquemines. See the request for yourself HERE.


I have some of the links in a previous post, but go there for the links.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Yeah!

Having pretty much grown up with Sagan and Cosmos, I can't wait to see how they incorporate new information.
Carl Sagan's 'Cosmos' Returns to Television
Tariq Malik
Staff Writer
SPACE.com Tue Sep 27,11:00 AM ET

The noted late astronomer Carl Sagan once said that we are, all of us, made of star-stuff.

But instead of just telling us that our atoms in our bodies were created in the furnace of long-dead stars, Sagan worked to show us - in simple terms - using what is likely one of the most easily accessible mediums of all time, television.

In the 13-part series Cosmos that first aired on the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) in 1980, Sagan dutifully explained the history of our planet, the origin of life, the life cycle of stars and a host of other topics that cemented his name in the scientific lexicon.

Sagan himself died in 1996, but Cosmos survived and now - 25 years later - returns to television care of The Science Channel and Cosmos Studios. Digitally remastered and enhanced with fresh computer graphics unheard of at the time of its recording, Cosmos premieres once more tonight at 9 p.m. EDT (check local listings).

...

Parts 1 and 2 of Cosmos premieres tonight on The Science Channel at 9 p.m. EDT (Check local listings).

From the department of "No Shit Sherlock"

Where has this moron been the past five years?
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, drawing on new research he has personally supervised, said American consumers have become enormously dependent on borrowing against their homes to fuel their spending, and that a rise in mortgage rates could trigger a spending pullback.

The chest wax scene in The 40 Year Old Virgin

probably not too far off...

Chestfro Agonistes

Read it, and prepare to laugh.

Monday, September 26, 2005

Well, if anybody should know what went wrong...

From CBS News Rita Blog
Sept. 26, 2005
6:44 p.m.
(CBS) — CBS News correspondent Gloria Borger reports that Michael Brown, who recently resigned as the head of the FEMA, has been rehired by the agency as a consultant to evaluate it's response following Hurricane Katrina.

You know, I don't even know where to begin with this one, so I'll let it stand on its own...

Latest (sort of) on XF-2 from Gillian Anderson

Li'l Message from Gillian
Posted at 11:08 AM (PDT) on Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Regarding the XF2 movie mention in the Sunday Times interview, Gillian would like you all to keep in mind that it was not a direct quote and that Chris Carter is not in charge of the contracts. In any event, filming wouldn't start until at least after the end of summer 2006.

Also, it was the journalist, not Gillian, who used the adjective "irritating" in regards to questions from fans.

One more thing: She wants you to know that Bleak House is scheduled to premiere in the USA on January 15, 2006.

David Brooks - horse's ass

Something I've known for a long time, but every time I see him or read him, it's simply reconfirmed. This time he was subbing for Tim Russert on Meet the Press. At least it seemed that way. During the panel discussion (along with Maureen Dowd and Tom Friedman...hmmm, where was Joe Conason or David Corn?), I saw him more than Dowd, Friedman, and Russert COMBINED. One thing I'm wondering - has Brooks EVER talked with a true liberal/progressive/Democrat? He talks like he understands exactly what is going through our heads, but his words indicate he doesn't have a fucking clue what we are thinking. In fact, he's not even close, and a monkey throwing darts at a list of stuff could come closer to our ideas and philosophies. So he's dumber than a monkey, and a horse's ass - interesting twofer that one.

Pre$$titutes

Just paid my first visit to the Pre$$itutes blog. It won't be my last. And it shouldn't be yours...

Creationism vs. Evolution

The problem with the argument for teaching Intelligent Design (aka ID, the glib, younger sibling of developmentally delayed Creationism) is that it seems reasonable. The reasons why it is not reasonable are often not readily apparent to the lay person, who can be led to believe that the complex design of living things does, indeed, suggest the existence of an intelligent designer, or God. However, as Dawkins & Coyne explain, such a belief is just not science. One may be free to posit a supernatural creator with any features one may wish yos God to possess. But that is religion and belongs in churches, not in the science curriculum of our schools.

If this distinction is not readily apparent to you, you are not alone. The majority of Americans have been bamboozled by ID obfuscation of the meaning of science. Once again, Dawkins (this time with Coyne) articulates the difference between the well-established scientific theory of evolution and the nonsensical claim—that it has reasonably valid scientific status—made by ID.

(For another illustration of what could pass for science—if we accept the standards proposed by ID—take a look at the religious movement based on the "scientific" notion that the universe and the life it contains were the work of Spaghetti & Pulsar Activating Meatballs, otherwise known as SPAM. You also might want to take a look at Jon Stewart, Ed Helms, and Lewis Black from the Daily Show, in pieces excerpted from a series they called "Evolution Schmevolution." And then there's Supernatural Design: The Movie.)

The creationists’ fondness for “gaps” in the fossil record is a metaphor for their love of gaps in knowledge generally. Gaps, by default, are filled by God. You don’t know how the nerve impulse works? Good! You don’t understand how memories are laid down in the brain? Excellent! Is photosynthesis a bafflingly complex process? Wonderful! Please don’t go to work on the problem, just give up, and appeal to God. Dear scientist, don’t work on your mysteries. Bring us your mysteries for we can use them. Don’t squander precious ignorance by researching it away. Ignorance is God’s gift to Kansas. (Richard Dawkins, Creationism: God's Gift to the Ignorant, May 2005)

One side can be wrong

Accepting 'intelligent design' in science classrooms would have disastrous consequences, warn Richard Dawkins and Jerry Coyne

Richard Dawkins and Jerry CoyneThursday September 1, 2005

Guardian

It sounds so reasonable, doesn't it? Such a modest proposal. Why not teach "both sides" and let the children decide for themselves? As President Bush said, "You're asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, the answer is yes." At first hearing, everything about the phrase "both sides" warms the hearts of educators like ourselves.

One of us spent years as an Oxford tutor and it was his habit to choose controversial topics for the students' weekly essays. They were required to go to the library, read about both sides of an argument, give a fair account of both, and then come to a balanced judgment in their essay. The call for balance, by the way, was always tempered by the maxim, "When two opposite points of view are expressed with equal intensity, the truth does not necessarily lie exactly half way between. It is possible for one side simply to be wrong."

As teachers, both of us have found that asking our students to analyse controversies is of enormous value to their education. What is wrong, then, with teaching both sides of the alleged controversy between evolution and creationism or "intelligent design" (ID)? And, by the way, don't be fooled by the disingenuous euphemism. There is nothing new about ID. It is simply creationism camouflaged with a new name to slip (with some success, thanks to loads of tax-free money and slick public-relations professionals) under the radar of the US Constitution's mandate for separation between church and state.

Why, then, would two lifelong educators and passionate advocates of the "both sides" style of teaching join with essentially all biologists in making an exception of the alleged controversy between creation and evolution? What is wrong with the apparently sweet reasonableness of "it is only fair to teach both sides"? The answer is simple. This is not a scientific controversy at all. And it is a time-wasting distraction because evolutionary science, perhaps more than any other major science, is bountifully endowed with genuine controversy.

Among the controversies that students of evolution commonly face, these are genuinely challenging and of great educational value: neutralism versus selectionism in molecular evolution; adaptationism; group selection; punctuated equilibrium; cladism; "evo-devo"; the "Cambrian Explosion"; mass extinctions; interspecies competition; sympatric speciation; sexual selection; the evolution of sex itself; evolutionary psychology; Darwinian medicine and so on. [Note: These legitimate evolutionary controversies are described in more detail at the end of this essay. See "Arguments worth having."] The point is that all these controversies, and many more, provide fodder for fascinating and lively argument, not just in essays but for student discussions late at night.

Intelligent design is not an argument of the same character as these controversies. It is not a scientific argument at all, but a religious one. It might be worth discussing in a class on the history of ideas, in a philosophy class on popular logical fallacies, or in a comparative religion class on origin myths from around the world. But it no more belongs in a biology class than alchemy belongs in a chemistry class, phlogiston in a physics class or the stork theory in a sex education class. In those cases, the demand for equal time for "both theories" would be ludicrous. Similarly, in a class on 20th-century European history, who would demand equal time for the theory that the Holocaust never happened?

So, why are we so sure that intelligent design is not a real scientific theory, worthy of "both sides" treatment? Isn't that just our personal opinion? It is an opinion shared by the vast majority of professional biologists, but of course science does not proceed by majority vote among scientists. Why isn't creationism (or its incarnation as intelligent design) just another scientific controversy, as worthy of scientific debate as the dozen essay topics we listed above? Here's why.

If ID really were a scientific theory, positive evidence for it, gathered through research, would fill peer-reviewed scientific journals. This doesn't happen. It isn't that editors refuse to publish ID research. There simply isn't any ID research to publish. Its advocates bypass normal scientific due process by appealing directly to the non-scientific public and - with great shrewdness - to the government officials they elect.

The argument the ID advocates put, such as it is, is always of the same character. Never do they offer positive evidence in favour of intelligent design. All we ever get is a list of alleged deficiencies in evolution. We are told of "gaps" in the fossil record. Or organs are stated, by fiat and without supporting evidence, to be "irreducibly complex": too complex to have evolved by natural selection.

In all cases there is a hidden (actually they scarcely even bother to hide it) "default" assumption that if Theory A has some difficulty in explaining Phenomenon X, we must automatically prefer Theory B without even asking whether Theory B (creationism in this case) is any better at explaining it. Note how unbalanced this is, and how it gives the lie to the apparent reasonableness of "let's teach both sides". One side is required to produce evidence, every step of the way. The other side is never required to produce one iota of evidence, but is deemed to have won automatically, the moment the first side encounters a difficulty - the sort of difficulty that all sciences encounter every day, and go to work to solve, with relish.

What, after all, is a gap in the fossil record? It is simply the absence of a fossil which would otherwise have documented a particular evolutionary transition. The gap means that we lack a complete cinematic record of every step in the evolutionary process. But how incredibly presumptuous to demand a complete record, given that only a minuscule proportion of deaths result in a fossil anyway.

The equivalent evidential demand of creationism would be a complete cinematic record of God's behaviour on the day that he went to work on, say, the mammalian ear bones or the bacterial flagellum - the small, hair-like organ that propels mobile bacteria. Not even the most ardent advocate of intelligent design claims that any such divine videotape will ever become available.

Biologists, on the other hand, can confidently claim the equivalent "cinematic" sequence of fossils for a very large number of evolutionary transitions. Not all, but very many, including our own descent from the bipedal ape Australopithecus. And - far more telling - not a single authentic fossil has ever been found in the "wrong" place in the evolutionary sequence. Such an anachronistic fossil, if one were ever unearthed, would blow evolution out of the water.

As the great biologist J B S Haldane growled, when asked what might disprove evolution: "Fossil rabbits in the pre-Cambrian." Evolution, like all good theories, makes itself vulnerable to disproof. Needless to say, it has always come through with flying colours.

Similarly, the claim that something - say the bacterial flagellum - is too complex to have evolved by natural selection is alleged, by a lamentably common but false syllogism, to support the "rival" intelligent design theory by default. This kind of default reasoning leaves completely open the possibility that, if the bacterial flagellum is too complex to have evolved, it might also be too complex to have been created. And indeed, a moment's thought shows that any God capable of creating a bacterial flagellum (to say nothing of a universe) would have to be a far more complex, and therefore statistically improbable, entity than the bacterial flagellum (or universe) itself - even more in need of an explanation than the object he is alleged to have created.

If complex organisms demand an explanation, so does a complex designer. And it's no solution to raise the theologian's plea that God (or the Intelligent Designer) is simply immune to the normal demands of scientific explanation. To do so would be to shoot yourself in the foot. You cannot have it both ways. Either ID belongs in the science classroom, in which case it must submit to the discipline required of a scientific hypothesis. Or it does not, in which case get it out of the science classroom and send it back into the church, where it belongs.
In fact, the bacterial flagellum is certainly not too complex to have evolved, nor is any other living structure that has ever been carefully studied. Biologists have located plausible series of intermediates, using ingredients to be found elsewhere in living systems. But even if some particular case were found for which biologists could offer no ready explanation, the important point is that the "default" logic of the creationists remains thoroughly rotten.

There is no evidence in favour of intelligent design: only alleged gaps in the completeness of the evolutionary account, coupled with the "default" fallacy we have identified. And, while it is inevitably true that there are incompletenesses in evolutionary science, the positive evidence for the fact of evolution is truly massive, made up of hundreds of thousands of mutually corroborating observations. These come from areas such as geology, paleontology, comparative anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, ethology, biogeography, embryology and - increasingly nowadays - molecular genetics.

The weight of the evidence has become so heavy that opposition to the fact of evolution is laughable to all who are acquainted with even a fraction of the published data. Evolution is a fact: as much a fact as plate tectonics or the heliocentric solar system.

Why, finally, does it matter whether these issues are discussed in science classes? There is a case for saying that it doesn't - that biologists shouldn't get so hot under the collar. Perhaps we should just accept the popular demand that we teach ID as well as evolution in science classes. It would, after all, take only about 10 minutes to exhaust the case for ID, then we could get back to teaching real science and genuine controversy.

Tempting as this is, a serious worry remains. The seductive "let's teach the controversy" language still conveys the false, and highly pernicious, idea that there really are two sides. This would distract students from the genuinely important and interesting controversies that enliven evolutionary discourse. Worse, it would hand creationism the only victory it realistically aspires to. Without needing to make a single good point in any argument, it would have won the right for a form of supernaturalism to be recognised as an authentic part of science. And that would be the end of science education in America.

Arguments worth having ...

The "Cambrian Explosion"

Although the fossil record shows that the first multicellular animals lived about 640m years ago, the diversity of species was low until about 530m years ago. At that time there was a sudden explosion of many diverse marine species, including the first appearance of molluscs, arthropods, echinoderms and vertebrates. "Sudden" here is used in the geological sense; the "explosion" occurred over a period of 10m to 30m years, which is, after all, comparable to the time taken to evolve most of the great radiations of mammals. This rapid diversification raises fascinating questions; explanations include the evolution of organisms with hard parts (which aid fossilisation), the evolutionary "discovery" of eyes, and the development of new genes that allowed parts of organisms to evolve independently.

The evolutionary basis of human behaviour

The field of evolutionary psychology (once called "sociobiology") maintains that many universal traits of human behaviour (especially sexual behaviour), as well as differences between individuals and between ethnic groups, have a genetic basis. These traits and differences are said to have evolved in our ancestors via natural selection. There is much controversy about these claims, largely because it is hard to reconstruct the evolutionary forces that acted on our ancestors, and it is unethical to do genetic experiments on modern humans.

Sexual versus natural selection

Although evolutionists agree that adaptations invariably result from natural selection, there are many traits, such as the elaborate plumage of male birds and size differences between the sexes in many species, that are better explained by "sexual selection": selection based on members of one sex (usually females) preferring to mate with members of the other sex that show certain desirable traits. Evolutionists debate how many features of animals have resulted from sexual as opposed to natural selection; some, like Darwin himself, feel that many physical features differentiating human "races" resulted from sexual selection.

The target of natural selection

Evolutionists agree that natural selection usually acts on genes in organisms - individuals carrying genes that give them a reproductive or survival advantage over others will leave more descendants, gradually changing the genetic composition of a species. This is called "individual selection". But some evolutionists have proposed that selection can act at higher levels as well: on populations (group selection), or even on species themselves (species selection). The relative importance of individual versus these higher order forms of selection is a topic of lively debate.

Natural selection versus genetic drift

Natural selection is a process that leads to the replacement of one gene by another in a predictable way. But there is also a "random" evolutionary process called genetic drift, which is the genetic equivalent of coin-tossing. Genetic drift leads to unpredictable changes in the frequencies of genes that don't make much difference to the adaptation of their carriers, and can cause evolution by changing the genetic composition of populations. Many features of DNA are said to have evolved by genetic drift. Evolutionary geneticists disagree about the importance of selection versus drift in explaining features of organisms and their DNA. All evolutionists agree that genetic drift can't explain adaptive evolution. But not all evolution is adaptive.

Richard Dawkins is Charles Simonyi professor of the public understanding of science at Oxford University

Jerry Coyne is a professor in the department of ecology and evolution at the University of Chicago

Sentinel Dumbass LTTE

The Orlando Sentinel has a bad habit of publishing letters from possibly the most ignorant amongst us. I, however, can't seem to get their attention, despite all the letters I've sent them. Anyway, being as how it's impossible to talk with these people directly, I will take advantage of this albeit limited platform to call them what they are - dumbasses. So here's the inaugural winner from today (9/26/05):

Most responsive

The preparations that went on in Texas for Rita prove that the United States is still the most responsive country in the world for disaster relief, hardly a Third World response, as I have heard in the media about the Hurricane Katrina response.

The problem in New Orleans was Third World leadership at the local and state levels. Let's put the blame where it lies.

As a citizen of Florida, we did not see the mayhem after four major storms last year as we saw in New Orleans. We have a governor and local leadership who know what they are doing, thank the Lord.

Jan Metz

Orlando

This person hasn't yet made the following connection from last year:
Florida Governor: George Bush's brother Jeb!
2004: Election year
Florida: Swing state

Hmmm, I wonder why Florida got the red carpet treatment, while Louisiana gets shit on. Congratulations Jan, you are a dumbass.

Sunday, September 25, 2005

Florida 49, Kentucky 28

Though the game was not as close as the score would seem. All the same, the second half was both dissapointing and troubling. First string sat out most of the second half, and that's when things went downhill. Now, understandably, second string isn't the same caliber, and so won't perform as well. But the entire second half (even when first stringers were put back in), there was no focus on offense, no focus on defense. Everybody seemed to be trying to play out the clock; unfortunately, that's when teams lose. And Kentucky made the most of playing the clock.

Not only did Florida not score in the second half (almost Spurrier-esque), Kentucky put up 14 fourth quarter points with Chris Pulley - a backup QB. And while 537 total yards sounds like a lot, 437 of that came in the first half. A hundred yards of offense in the entire second half! And it showed in the time of possession: 13:32 (vs 21:12 in the first half). While it was good work for the second string, it revealed some major problems with quality of depth. Things better tighten up because next week is not in the friendly confines of the Swamp - it's on the road to 'Bama.

And once again, where were the special teams. A blocked punt led to Kentucky's first score less than two minutes into the game. Big runbacks by Kentucky, and pretty much none by Florida. No serious touchbacks (the front corner of the endzone doesn't really count), and short punts are not a good showing. And Kentucky recovered on onside kick. You'd think special teams would be special, and require the least amount of change with a new head coach. Apparently not.

I'll leave it with this from Coach Meyer:
"I was absolutely disgusted," Meyer said of having to reinsert his starters. "You shouldn't have to do that at Florida."

"I think our fears were exposed, that being that this team has very little depth."

Friday, September 23, 2005

Both sides of the argument

Just heard a caller on Randi Rhodes talk about switching between her and Sean Insanity, so he could get "both sides." Normally, I would say it's good to hear all sides before making a decision. But here there is a fundamental problem that too many people fail to recognize - both sides aren't necessarily using facts or telling the truth. In the case of Sean, Bill, and the rest, they clearly and demonstrably lie, yet people are still willing to go to them for the story. Sometimes I wonder what exactly it is going to take to get people to wake up and demand the truth. If that were to happen, a lot on the right (and some on the left) will crawl back into their holes where they belong.

Friday Wine Blogging

Well, we don't have a digital camera, so not many cat pictures I can post. But I can post about wine...


Jacob's Creek 2002 Reserve Shiraz
This was a wonderful little shiraz, with the taste of blackberries and a hint of spices. I found it best slightly lower than room temperature, and give it time to breathe. To me it was better the next day. For about $9 (Costco), it's tough to beat.

Dumbasses

It looks as though the Rita evacuation is a total clusterf*%k, no thanks to, well, pretty much everybody involved. There's so much in this Houston Chronicle article:
For motorists, all roads lead to frustration
By MATT STILES and R.G. RATCLIFFE
Sept. 23, 2005, 6:42AM
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Thousands of furious evacuees sweltering for hours on traffic-choked freeways Thursday put a stain on what had been a generally successful response by state and local governments faced with back-to-back weather emergencies in Texas.

"This was not in the plan," County Judge Robert Eckels said, turning away from the lectern after a news briefing dominated by questions about the gridlock that resulted from the evacuation ahead of Hurricane Rita.

For the most part, the officials didn't offer much analysis of what might have gone wrong. They focused instead on the scramble to keep thousands of motorists from what Mayor Bill White called a potential "death trap" should the storm strike while they were stranded on the road.

But Brazoria County Judge John Willy criticized other local officials for calling for voluntary evacuation when Brazoria was under a mandatory evacuation order. That, he said, put a lot of cars on the dedicated evacuation routes and prevented people from the south from getting out.

Gov. Rick Perry said state and local officials are trying to move more than 1.5 million people out of the storm's path, and said that despite the traffic snags, he was certain that anyone who wants to evacuate will be out of the Gulf Coast area before tropical storm winds begin to kick up at midmorning today.

"If you're in the storm's path, you need to git gone. You need to be on the road, moving out of the storm's path," he said. "Those few hardheaded ones out there who are going to ride this thing out, don't expect there to be a lot of support in those areas."

"This evacuation is historic in its proportion," Perry said.

Massive undertaking
The observation by Perry and others — that problems were inevitable in any endeavor to move more than a million people over a few routes under an emergency time frame — didn't stop criticism about how officials planned for, and implemented, the exodus.

...

Jack Colley, coordinator of the state emergency operations center, said the state evacuation plan included getting fuel to stranded motorists, but that the number of people coming out of Houston was a surprise.

"The number of people, the amount of cars, the amount of compliance with this (evacuation order), there's some things you can predict and some things you can't, that are unpredictable," Colley said.
"We are compensating. They may run out of gas, but we're going to get them gas."

Colley said it is too early to tell if mistakes were made in the planning and execution of the evacuation.

"The key is to follow the plan that we have, and I think the plan fits the storm," Colley said. "Right now the goal is not to leave anyone behind."

...

First of all, there was no reason to call for everybody to leave. Some people along the coast were at risk, but not ALL of them. I understand that with the recent experience with Katrina, people are highly sensitive to Rita, but everybody seems to forget that a major reason for New Orleans' destruction was flooding from broken levees. Houston is not the same as New Orleans. (I've been to both - Houston's a toilet compared to beautiful NO).

Second, Houston has 2 million people. Say half evacuate (from officials' statements, this could have been expected). Say they double up in vehicles, so roughly 500k vehicles are trying to leave. Highways have limited capacities - here's some simple math: 2200 vehicles per hour per lane (vphpl), 3 lanes out from Houston (no contraflow), 500k vehicles. Basic math: 500000/(3*2200) = 76 hours, or just over 3 DAYS. That's gridlock conditions for 3 days, assuming no incidents (such as the the tragic bus explosion), that shut down traffic lanes. Fortunately, that bus incident occurred near Dallas. Closer to Houston and traffic would be much, much worse.

Finally, where are the National Guard? They should be in place helping to direct traffic. There simply aren't enough Texas State Troopers to manage this volume of vehicles trying to leave Houston (not to mention Galveston and Port Arthur).

As for the contraflowing of the freeway, that is a difficult undertaking under the best of conditions, with adequate pre-planning and resources. There are many issues - where to place personnel, how to manage freeway ramps, do you maintain return lanes for emergency services, what about potential for head-on collisions. These are just a few of the issues. Do I fault Texas officials for not doing it in this instance? No, unless they already had the plans prepared. If they did, then they are clearly at fault. If they didn't, then they should have, since contraflow has the potential (not in all cases) of improving evacuation clearance times.

Thursday, September 22, 2005

New Hurricane model

It will be interesting to see how the new model compares with what actually happens with Rita.

NCAR Advanced Research WRF Model Predictions for Hurricane Rita

New Computer Model Predicts Rita's Path and Intensity

As Hurricane Rita takes aim on Texas, a new computer model is being tested to see if it can more accurately forecast the storm's movement and intensity.

Like the other half-dozen or so different computer models used by the
National Hurricane Center, the new one relies on data from various sources. But the new model uses more data and therefore achieves higher resolution, scientists said Wednesday.

...

BTW - looks like Dallas (where I used to live) is in for a helluva storm...

Bush and FEMA, not Blanco, at fault

In FEMA's own words:
Emergency Aid Authorized For Hurricane Katrina Emergency Response In Louisiana
Release Date: August 27, 2005
Release Number: HQ-05-169

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response, today announced that Federal resources are being allocated to support emergency protective response efforts response efforts in the parishes located in the path of Hurricane Katrina.

Brown said President Bush authorized the aid under an emergency disaster declaration issued following a review of FEMA's analysis of the state's request for federal assistance. FEMA will mobilize equipment and resources necessary to protect public health and safety by assisting law enforcement with evacuations, establishing shelters, supporting emergency medical needs, meeting immediate lifesaving and life-sustaining human needs and protecting property, in addition to other emergency protective measures.

The parishes of Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena, St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana, and Winn were designated eligible for assistance. In addition, federal funds will be available for public safety debris removal and emergency protective measures at 75 percent of approved costs.

Brown named William Lokey of FEMA to coordinate the federal relief effort. FEMA prepares the nation for all hazards and manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, trains first responders, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.

So, as of August 27 (the storm made landfall the 29th), Bush and were aware of Blanco's declaration of a state of emergency (actually declared on the 26th). Anybody who says otherwise needs to do a little fucking research.

See what happens when you're connected to Bush

Of course, Laird Basehoar is demonstrably full of shit (see Katrina)...
FEMA Sets Up Office in Texas As Rita Nears

By APRIL CASTRO, Associated Press Writer Thu Sep 22,12:32 PM ET

AUSTIN, Texas - Hundreds of federal officials are on the ground in Texas, where truckloads of water, food, ice and medical supplies are set to head for the coast once Hurricane Rita makes landfall.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has set up a field office in Austin, where its mobilizing to prepare for the Category 5 storm and readying to respond to the anticipated Saturday landfall on the Gulf Coast.

"I don't think we're doing anything differently than we would for a (Category 5 storm) anywhere else," said Laird Basehoar, spokeswoman for the Texas FEMA office.

The FEMA field office was set up two weeks ago to aid in Texas' response in sheltering Hurricane Katrina evacuees, but now is doubling as a base for Rita preparations.

...

seeing as how I can find no record of FEMA opening an office in Louisiana, much less Mississippi or Alabama, prior to landfall.

Germany is nice this time of year

Think you can do better on the budget?

Hell, anybody with a fifth-grade math education should be able to - here you go:

National Budget Simulation

Oh if only this were true

O'Reilly: Tom DeLay "doesn't have any power anymore"

On his nationally syndicated radio show, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly said that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) "doesn't have any power anymore." Attacking Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean, O'Reilly said that Dean has "no GOP equivalent." He then continued, "I guess Tom DeLay might be the closest, but he doesn't have any power anymore."

...

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

What do these people have in common?

David Safavian
Brent Wilkes
Robert Kjellander
Sam Wyly
Charles Wyly
Tom Noe
Jack Abramoff
Ralph Reed

First, they're all Bush Pioneers. But it gets better. Seems they're all either under investigation, indictment, or arrest. But the best part, and it shows the hypocrisy of Republicans, conservatives, and right-wingers - chances are you will never hear this fact from Rush, Sean, Britt, Bill, or anybody else from talk radio or Faux News.

Saffir-Simpson scale

Uh oh!

Having been dealing in emergency management and hurricane issues for the last few years, I take this very seriously. If this plays out, and if it strengthens (which I expect due to the high Gulf temperatures), we could be looking at another Katrina, though the landfall locations won't have the flooding to deal with. However, this is yet another indication that global climate change is upon us.

Who are these 40%?

And also, who are these 32%? They need to open their fucking eyes and read something and stop watching Faux News.

Bush approval rating at 40 percent
Majority disapprove of the handling of Katrina, Iraq

Monday, September 19, 2005; Posted: 8:23 p.m. EDT (00:23 GMT)

In a televised address Thursday, President Bush pledged to rebuild the hurricane-damaged Gulf Coast.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush's vow to rebuild the Gulf Coast did little to help his standing with the public, only 40 percent of whom now approve of his performance in office, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday.

Just 41 percent of the 818 adults polled between Friday and Monday said they approved of Bush's handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, while 57 percent disapproved.

And support for his management of the war in Iraq has dropped to 32 percent, with 67 percent telling pollsters they disapproved of how Bush is prosecuting the conflict.

...

What's wrong with this picture


It pretty much stands on its own. And the thing is, if Energy, Transportation (mostly transit), Science and Space, and Natural Resources and Evironment were doubled ($77.7B) at the expense of the Defense expenditure (18%), we would probably realize greater national security than the amount currently being spent. Take this in light of the following:
U.S. Military Budget is the World's Largest, and Still Growing
where we spend more on defense than the next 16 countries combined, and the problem becomes even more visible. Throw in the $9.6B for ballistic missle defense, and now we're talking real money.
And the tragic part of this is that despite the amount of money being spent, we are no safer than we were pre-9/11. And this amount doesn't include funding for DHS ($32.4B) or $6.85B for nuclear weapons activities.

Meet Prophet...Bobby?

Touched by His Noodly Appendage
An interview with the Prophet Bobby Henderson, the voice of Flying Spaghetti Monsterism.
by Jessica Thierman on September 18 at 05:39 PM

It’s not every day you get to speak to a prophet. Most of them are too dead—or at least too busy—to chat about their respective religions with a reporter from an online magazine. But Bobby Henderson, a 24-year-old out-of-work physics major, is not your typical prophet, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to spread the Word at a time when his faith is under attack.

Recently, a ploy to take the public’s attention away from the truth and focus it on a mythical theoretical debate has been cleverly crafted and successfully implemented by the United States government. The so-called debate about how we came to be, whether through Darwin’s theory of evolution or via Intelligent Design, is merely an elaborate guise to stifle the growing voices and eminent truths behind the real reason we exist: the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Henderson knows—he was touched by FSM's Noodly Appendage and anointed to spread the good word.

...

Monday, September 19, 2005

I'm not big on awards shows, but

Congratulations!
For keeping me sane the past five years

Captain Kirk

Still looking good

AntonioMonk

One of these stories is fake

see if you can tell which one (and no fair looking at the links):

Halliburton Gets Contract To Pry Gold Fillings From New Orleans Corpses' Teeth

September 14, 2005

HOUSTON—On Tuesday, Halliburton received a $110 million no-bid government contract to pry the gold fillings from the mouths of deceased disaster victims in the New Orleans-Gulf Coast area. "We are proud to serve the government in this time of crisis by recovering valuable resources from the wreckage of this deadly storm," said David J. Lesar, Halliburton's president. "The gold we recover from the human rubble of Katrina can be used to make fighter-jet electronics, supercomputer chips, inflation-proof A-grade investments, and luxury yachting watches."

and

Looking for a Corpse to Make a Case
Senators look for a wealthy casualty of Katrina as evidence against the estate tax

Posted Saturday, Sep. 17, 2005

Federal troops aren't the only ones looking for bodies on the Gulf Coast. On Sept. 9, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions called his old law professor Harold Apolinsky, co-author of Sessions' legislation repealing the federal estate tax, which was encountering sudden resistance on the Hill. Sessions had an idea to revitalize their cause, which he left on Apolinsky's voice mail: "[Arizona Sen.] Jon Kyl and I were talking about the estate tax. If we knew anybody that owned a business that lost life in the storm, that would be something we could push back with."

If legislative ambulance chasing looks like a desperate measure, for the backers of repealing the estate tax, these are desperate times. Just three weeks ago, their long-sought goal of repeal seemed within reach, but Katrina dashed their hopes when Republican leaders put off an expected vote. After hearing from Sessions, Apolinsky, an estate tax lawyer who says his firm includes three multi-billionaires among its clients, mobilized the American Family Business Institute, a Washington-based group devoted to estate tax repeal. They reached out to members along the Gulf Coast to hunt for the dead.

...

Time needs to revoke their "Blog of the Year" award

An earlier post addressed the wankers at Powerline. Well, here's another that leaves me speechless.

Why in 1845 did Congress select the first Tuesday in November as Election Day?

From the FEC website:

"...For much of our history, America was a predominantly agrarian society. Law makers therefore took into account that November was perhaps the most convenient month for farmers and rural workers to be able to travel to the polls. The fall harvest was over, (remember that spring was planting time and summer was taken up with working the fields and tending the crops) but in the majority of the nation the weather was still mild enough to permit travel over unimproved roads.

Why Tuesday? Since most residents of rural America had to travel a significant distance to the county seat in order to vote, Monday was not considered reasonable since many people would need to begin travel on Sunday. This would, of course, have conflicted with Church services and Sunday worship.

Why the first Tuesday after the first Monday? Lawmakers wanted to prevent election day from falling on the first of November for two reasons. First, November 1st is All Saints Day, a Holy Day of Obligation for Roman Catholics. Second, most merchants were in the habit of doing their books from the preceding month on the 1st. Apparently, Congress was worried that the economic success or failure of the previous month might prove an undue influence on the vote!"

Can Democrats please stop it!

Donna Brazille's sycophantic praising of Commander Codpiece's staged bullshit Katrina speech from New Orleans was bad enough, but then you have the last elected president of the United States going on "This Week" and saying crap like this:

(BILL) CLINTON: Because the Republicans knew I wouldn't appoint somebody they wanted on the Court, and they knew that I'd appointed judges that were not extreme left-wingers, that were more or less mainstream judges and were unquestionably qualified.

Now, Judge Roberts is unquestionably qualified by intellect and character and background and by experience, but the next two appointments to the Supreme Court, his and the replacement for Justice O'Connor, can change the balance on a lot of important things. So I think that's —

Excuse me, but if any other professional (doctor, lawyer, engineer) applied for the highest position in their industry, and had the limited experience that Roberts has, they'd be laughed out of the interview. Remember, Chief Justice is the pinnacle for judges, and here's a man with barely two years as a judge. So next time a Democrat says something as stupid as what Clinton said, they should be slapped, and slapped hard.

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Florida 16, Tennessee 7

Huge! That's my first reaction. And my second is "disappointing." While the defense put on an awesome display (if they'd been like that last year, well, Zook would still be around...guess it's better they waited). Still waiting for that vaunted spread offense to show something.

Urban Meyer sums it up clearly: "We are not a great football team," said the man with the 19-game winning streak. "This was a good win by an excellent defense, adequate special teams and an inadequate offense."

And BTW, though Gator fans have already figured it out, can everybody else start ignoring Terry Bowden now?

As much as Urban Meyer likes to run the football, that plays right to the strength of Tennessee. The key for Florida will be to unleash the SEC's top passing attack against the one weakness of the Tennessee defense, its secondary.

It's very important for Florida to mix in enough of the running game to keep Tennessee's great defensive front off balance, but the main objective has to be to get the ball downfield to Chad Jackson and one of the country's best group of receivers.

As great as quarterback Chris Leak is, he's not going to beat Tennessee with his running ability. But if he can just threaten enough with his legs, his arm clearly is strong enough to cause some problems.

For Tennessee, the key is to establish Gerald Riggs Jr. and the ground attack. If the Vols can get their running game going, the play-action passing attack is sure to follow.

Man for man, Tennessee will have the most talent on the field. But as matchups go, if the Gators can get it down to their passing attack against the Volunteer secondary, the game will go in Florida's favor.

But turnovers will be the deciding factor – as they are in most big games – and Tennessee will have fewer turnovers and a couple more points.

Pick: Volunteers

Oops.

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Uh oh, someone didn't get the memo

Seems the Republicans are having trouble with math (of course we knew they could never add, but now they can't even count). They also seem to be discovering the problem with cutting taxes too much - the economy sucks and there are no funds in case of emergency.

The fears about the costs of the storm are building on widespread dissatisfaction among conservatives about spending in recent years by the Republican-controlled Congress. That unrest was already high after Congressional approval of a transportation measure that critics denounced as bloated with marginal home-state projects.

That sore spot was rubbed raw earlier this week when Representative Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, suggested that the Republican Congress had already trimmed much of the fat from the federal budget, making it difficult to find ways to offset hurricane spending.

Mr. Coburn called such a claim ludicrous and other Republicans took exception as well.

"There has never been a time where there is more total spending and more wasteful spending in Washington than we have today," said Pat Toomey, a former Republican congressman from Pennsylvania and the head of the conservative Club for Growth. "There is ample opportunity to find the offsets we need so that this does not have to be a fiscal disaster as well as a natural disaster."

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Who's the real genius behind Bush's speeches?

Nope. It's Harlan McCraney.
(Quicktime, about 2 minutes long)

How would the GOP treat candidate Jesus?

Well, we know that the GOP talks tough when it comes to "family values" and morals, but their actions show otherwise. So what would their ad (30 seconds) against the candidate Jesus look like? Maybe like this:

George W Bush and Jesus

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!

From the Washington Times, if you must
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday that Republicans have done so well in cutting spending that he declared an "ongoing victory," and said there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budget. Mr. DeLay was defending Republicans' choice to borrow money and add to this year's expected $331 billion deficit to pay for Hurricane Katrina relief. Some Republicans have said Congress should make cuts in other areas, but Mr. DeLay said that doesn't seem possible. "My answer to those that want to offset the spending is sure, bring me the offsets, I'll be glad to do it. But nobody has been able to come up with any yet," the Texas Republican told reporters at his weekly briefing. Asked if that meant the government was running at peak efficiency, Mr. DeLay said, "Yes, after 11 years of Republican majority we've pared it down pretty good."

Hahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!

Al Gore - 270, George Bush - uh, um, er, 0?

Giving Commander Codpiece the (extreme) benefit of the doubt, or not allowing negative numbers, Gore clearly whipped him this go-round. Of course we're waiting for the Brooks Brothers rioters to appear to claim that his vote save total wasn't as high, and prevent a recount.

Gore airlifts victims from New Orleans
Former vice president chartered two private aircraft

Saturday, September 10, 2005; Posted: 7:22 a.m. EDT (11:22 GMT)

Former Vice President Al Gore, center, assists with a charter flight of Katrina survivors, Saturday September 3.

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (AP) -- Al Gore helped airlift some 270 Katrina evacuees on two private charters from New Orleans, acting at the urging of a doctor who saved the life of the former vice president's son.

[snip]

He also recruited two doctors, Spickard and Gore's cousin, retired Col. Dar LaFon, a specialist in internal medicine who once ran the military hospital in Baghdad.

Most critically, Gore worked to cut through government red tape, personally calling Gov. Phil Bredesen to get Tennessee's support and U.S. Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta to secure landing rights in New Orleans.

About 140 people, many of them sick, landed in Knoxville on September 3. The second flight, with 130 evacuees, landed the next day in Chattanooga.


While leaders lead, George Bush flounders (and people die).

Sean Penn - 40, Right wing pundits - 0

Virtually all pundits on the right have been having fun scoffing at Sean Penn's rescue efforts in New Orleans. The problem is, he actually managed to save people, and all they've done is blame the victims for not leaving.

Salvaging Sean Penn's Boat
Sean Penn is a big target. But to dozens stranded in flooded New Orleans, he was said to be an even bigger help.

"I witnessed him rescuing up to 40 people," presidential historian and author Douglas Brinkley told the New York Daily News. "He was up to his waist in toxic muck...I'm not going to comment on Sean's trips to Iraq or Iran, but in this case, he was an American hero."

[snip]

Brinkley, a professor at New Orleans' own Tulane University who accompanied Penn on his voyage through the under-water city, was among the first to denounce the report. "There was never a leak," he said in the Daily News. On Larry King Live, Penn concurred: "The boat never sank."

According to Brinkley, the boat did take on water--because it was "overloaded" with storm survivors. According to Penn, his "entourage" consisted of "a couple of friends." (The actor's camp denied the existence of the "personal photographer.")

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Hurricane Charley Timeline

With all the talk of the lack of action by both federal and state agencies for Hurricane Katrina, I thought it might be educational to look at how things were handled in a swing state where the president's brother is governor, in an election year. That would be Hurricane Charley. Let's have a look, shall we?

Wednesday, Aug 11, 2004
Apart form the state of emergency, (Jeb) Bush said more areas may need to be evacuated and he activated the Florida National Guard.

GOVERNOR BUSH SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER RELATING TO TROPICAL STORMS BONNIE AND CHARLEY
In anticipation of either or both tropical storms strengthening into Category 1 hurricanes, Governor Bush signs Executive Order 04-182 relating to tropical storms Bonnie and Charley.

State Emergency Operations Center at Level 2 (partial) activation

Executive Order 04-182
WHEREAS, on August 10, 2004, the National Hurricane Center advised that Tropical Storm Bonnie may strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane with sustained surface winds exceeding 65 knots; and

WHEREAS, on August 10, 2004, the National Hurricane Center advised that Tropical Storm Charley may strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane with sustained surface winds exceeding 70 knots; and

WHEREAS, at present Tropical Storm Charley likewise threatens a number of communities in the southern and southwestern portions of the State of Florida with extreme weather conditions which also pose an immediate danger to the lives and property of persons in those communities; and

(more WHEREAS clauses)

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JEB BUSH, as Governor of Florida, by virtue of the authority vested in me ... do hereby promulgate the following Executive Order,to take immediate effect:

Section 1. Because of the foregoing conditions, I hereby find that Tropical Storm Bonnie and Tropical Storm Charley threaten the State of Florida with a major disaster. I therefore declare that a state of emergency exists in the State of Florida, and that the evacuation of multiple counties in the State may be necessary ...

Section 2. I hereby designate the Director of the Division of Emergency Management as the State Coordinating Officer ... I hereby delegate to the SCO the following powers, which he shall exercise as needed to meet this emergency:
(A., B.)
C. The authority to invoke and administer the Emergency Management Assistance Compact and other Compacts and Agreements existing between the State of Florida and other States, and the further authority to coordinate the allocation of resources from such other States that are made available to the State of Florida under such Compacts and Agreements so as best to meet this emergency;
D. The authority to seek direct assistance from any and all agencies of the United States Government as may be needed to meet the emergency;

Section 3. I hereby order the Adjutant General to activate the Florida National Guard for the duration of this emergency, and I hereby place the National Guard under the authority of the State Coordinating Officer for the duration of this emergency.


Sarasota County Government
With the approach of Hurricane Charley and the possibility it will head toward the Sarasota County area, county and city officials are taking preliminary actions and urging residents to implement their emergency plans. Plans should include stocking adequate food, water and batteries, as normal services may not be available.

TROPICAL STORM BONNIE STRENGTHENING IN THE CENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO, HURRICANE CHARLEY MOVING RAPIDLY INTO THE WESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA
The State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) remains at a Level 2, or partial, activation.
Hurricane Charley is also strengthening as it bypasses Jamaica to the south. At 8 PM, Charley’s eye was located near latitude 17.2 North and 78.2 West longitude, or about 140 miles to the west-southwest of Kingston, Jamaica.

Thursday, Aug 12, 2004
Patience And Vigilance As We Await Hurricane Charley
Forewarned about the storm's imminent arrival, the Pinellas County Commission rightly ordered the evacuation of some 380,000 residents from low- lying and coastal areas beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Charley Cleanup 'Organized Chaos'
When Charley hit, all of Florida was under a statewide hurricane warning. But evacuations are county decisions.

By late Thursday evening, part but not all of Charlotte County was under a mandatory evacuation order.

Friday, Aug 13, 2004
The state says about 1,000 Florida National Guard members have already reported to duty and another 1,000 are being called up.

Friday, Aug. 13 3:45pm
Hurricane Charley makes landfall just north of Captiva Island (Cayo Costa). Expecting a hit farther north, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties had ordered evacuations.

Hillsborough County opens 39 more shelters, adding to three special-needs shelters opened the day before.

Charley crosses Florida, exiting near Daytona Beach.
President Orders Disaster Aid For Florida Storm Victims
Release Date: August 13, 2004
Release Number: HQ-04-115

WASHINGTON – The head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced today that President Bush has ordered the release of federal disaster funds and emergency resources for Florida to aid people battered by Tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricane Charley.

Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response, said the President took the action under a major disaster declaration issued this afternoon immediately after receiving FEMA's analysis of the state's expedited request for federal assistance. The declaration covers damage to private property from the storms beginning on August 11. (snip)

FEMA-1539-DR
Federal Register Notice
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Florida; Major Disaster and Related Determinations

AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate, Department of Homeland Security.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This is a notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the State of Florida (FEMA-1539-DR), dated August 13, 2004, and related determinations.

EFFECTIVE DATE: August 13, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Magda Ruiz, Recovery Division, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Washington,
DC 20472, (202) 646-2705.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given that, in a letter dated August 13, 2004, the President declared a major disaster under the authority of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 5121-5206 (the Stafford Act), as follows: (snip)

Saturday, Aug 14, 2004 2:15am
STATE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER ENCOURAGES CITIZENS TO REMAIN INDOORS
Aired August 14, 2004 - 10:58 ET
CNN LIVE EVENT/SPECIAL
Hurricane Charley: Carolinas Await Charley
MICHAEL D. BROWN, UNDER SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Thank you, governor. First on behalf of the entire country, on behalf of President Bush, I want to offer our condolences, our sympathy, and some encouragement to everyone in Florida who suffered from both Tropical Storm Bonnie and from Hurricane Charley. I promise you that everything, all the available resources of the federal government are going to be available to help in any way we can.

You know, in the Department of Homeland Security, we have the Coast Guard, we have all these new assets, they're going to help us move things in as quickly as possible. I talked to Secretary Ridge today I talked to the president last night, they have assured me that whatever resources I need will be available to FEMA to make sure we respond probably. I want to caution everyone in the media, though. People are suffering right now. I ask you to respect their privacy, I ask you to be careful with them. They are fragile. I want to send a message out to all those people right now that are suffering, too. I see this kind of thing all the time in my travels around the country. And right now, people are devastated, they're discouraged, they're frustrated. I have gone back to communities where they've felt the same way. And I want to tell you, the sun will shine again and will come back. You will come back stronger and better. I have seen that happen. So be patient. Work hard.

Saturday, Aug 14, 3:00pm
BOB CARPENTER, CHARLOTTE CO., FLORIDA SHERIFF'S DEPT.: Well right now, the people are pouring in, hundreds of them, in fact, 1,500 National Guardsmen of been come -- are in here now into position, they're kind of walking around through the streets to provide the stability that we need here.

And the governor, Jeb Bush was in this afternoon, he said he's got a -- 5,000 others on standby, if and when we need them. Now, the other agencies are coming all over the state of Florida.

Sunday, August 15, 2004 3:40am
HURRICANE CHARLEY BRIEFING SHEET
As of 7:05 am, August 15, 2004
Number of shelters open
25
Number of people in shelters
5,078

Sunday, Aug. 15, 2004 10:46am
President Tours Hurricane Damage

In Punta Gorda, relief trucks arrive with ice, prepackaged meals and portable toilets. Nearly 1 million people are without power.

Tuesday, Aug 17, 2004 4:00pm
DISASTER RECOVERY CENTERS IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
The State Emergency Operations Center and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) encourage residents living in affected counties to register with FEMA for disaster relief...

Wednesday, Aug 18, 2004
Aid flows faster after Charley than Andrew
Authorities began handing out food, water and ice throughout Charlotte County within 48 hours of Hurricane Charley's destructive romp up Charlotte Harbor, beating by days the state's response to Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

(...)

By morning, less than two full days after Charley blew though, Charlotte County joined with state and federal officials to open seven aid stations where those affected by Charley can get food, water and ice.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency had an established command post in Charlotte County on Sunday morning, and it brought dozens of trucks filled with cots, blankets and portable toilets.

The National Guard, which is providing security at Charlotte County's seven aid stations, among other places, deployed more than 4,000 troops over the weekend.

Thursday, Aug 19, 2004
DCA ANNOUNCES $4.5 MILLION AVAILABLE TO COMMUNITIES IMPACTED BY HURRICANE CHARLEY
The Department of Communities Affairs (DCA) announced today the release of $4.5 million dollars in Small Cities Community Development Block Grant funds to assist communities throughout Florida impacted by Hurricane Charley.

FEDERAL AND STATE OFFICIALS ANNOUNCE $5 MILLION IN ADDITIONAL HOUSING ASSISTANCE FOR HURRICANE CHARLEY VICTIMS
Department of Elder Affairs Secretary Terry White, Josefina Carbonell, Assistant Secretary for Aging with the Department of Health and Human Services, and Orlando Cabrera, Executive Director of the Florida Housing and Finance Corporation, announced $5 million in emergency aid to citizens impacted by Hurricane Charley.

STATE, USDA REPLACE $24 MILLION IN FOOD STAMPS FOR VICTIMS OF CHARLEY
The State of Florida and the U.S. Department of Agriculture replaced $24 million in benefits for food stamp recipients in areas impacted by Hurricane Charley.

The move, coordinated by the Department of Children & Families, helps food stamp households whose food supplies may have been destroyed by the storm or lost due to power outages.

Friday, Aug. 20, 2004
About 77,000 families are registered for federal disaster relief.

September 4, 2004
President Bush Declares Major Disaster For Second Florida Hurricane Strike
Release Date: September 4, 2004
Release Number: HQ-04-152a

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced today that President Bush has ordered the federal government to provide all necessary resources and assets for Florida to aid people victimized by the second hurricane to strike the state in less than a month.

Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response, said the President took the action under a major disaster declaration issued for Florida in response to Hurricane Frances that began affecting the state’s eastern coastline on September 3. The declaration follows the major disaster declared for the state on August 13 due to Hurricane Charley.


To summarize:
August 11: Jeb declares that a state of emergency exists in the State of Florida
Charley is well off the coast of Florida, near the island of Jamaica

August 12: Gulf coast counties under mandatory evacuation orders

August 13: National Guard are already reporting, and more are being called up
Charley makes landfall at 3:45pm
President orders disaster aid for Florida storm victims

August 14: FEMA already offering/providing assistance.
More National Guard arriving, and more available.

August 15: FEMA command post established in affected areas.
President tours affected areas.
Food, water, and ice arriving in affected areas.

August 17: Residents living in affected counties encourage to register with FEMA.

August 19: State and federal funds made available for affected residents. (this is where the current FEMA South Florida money scandal originated)

August 20: 77,000 families registered for federal disaster relief.

Having an emergency in a swing state during in an election year where your brother is governor? Priceless.

Monday, September 12, 2005

Katrina evacuation

I've been seeing a lot lately in the news and in the blogs about the "blame game" and who was responsible. Having worked in the engineering private sector interfacing with emergency management, and having spent the past few years working on my PhD in engineering studying hurricane evacuation, I can say that there is plenty of blame to go around. As in civil lawsuits, the question is how much is apportioned to whom.

Every jurisdiction at risk of a hurricane develops emergency procedures to deal with the possible consequences based on the predicted storm severity and expected impacts (eg storm surge). Resource allocation, placement of equipment and other supplies, and responsiblity of each involved agency is laid out in these plans. These plans are typically layered to account for increasing threat. Cat 1 storms don't require nearly the preparation or relocation as Cat 5 storms - obviously. And no city wants to evacuate if avoidable; this is costly both economically and in terms of risk to citizen and personnel.

Once the threat becomes established (based on NHC weather forecasts), these procedures are implemented, and as the threat increases, the additional pre-determined measures (layers) are taken. Emergency procedures don't kick in until certain criteria are met, simply out of practicality. Jurisdictions can't just willy-nilly declare emergencies and begin evacuations at any time, since nature can't be accurately predicted beyond short-term times (Hurricane Charley is a good example). Based on available timelines for Hurricane Katrina (ignoring the GOP-produced bullshit timeline), Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin appear to have done what they were supposed to do, when they were supposed to do it.

Once an emergency is declared, various administrative and jurisdictional procedures kick in. Blanco clearly did this on the Friday prior to landfall, and once the feds acknowledged her request (Saturday morning), they became obligated to aid in any number of specific ways. Mayor Nagin also took the steps assigned to him to move as many people to shelters as possible. The fact that the evacuation reached an unprecedented 80% is an indication of his efforts and his success (when 60% was expected).

Destination is a sticking point in many discussions - why the Superdome? Why the Convention Center? Where was the food and water. When evacuation procedures are developed, emergency evacuation shelters are identified. However, provisions are not normally made for providing food and water - this is the responsiblity of the evacuees (and Nagin pointedly recommended 2-3 days of food and water). Clearly the Superdome and Convention Center, along with a number of public schools or other sturdy public facilities, were identified as shelters, and performed admirably for the duration expected - around 2-3 days.

In addition, jurisdictions work with the resources available to them. This includes money and personnel. If the money is not available, things just don't get done, regardless of their necessity or potential for death or destruction. This is the free market at work. And evacuations are expensive. For example, much has been made of the school buses not used to evacuate. It wouldn't have mattered if Nagin had a million buses available to him - if he doesn't have the drivers, the buses are useless. Perhaps if the National Guard had been dispatched in a timely matter (and this is a sticking point between the Feds and the State), the buses could have been utilized. Given that Lousiana was short-handed on experienced NG troops due to their presence in Iraq, the federal government bears much responsibility.

An important point, however, is destination. Where would have the buses taken the evacuees? Most likely the Superdome, since any trip beyond New Orleans would have been effectively one way (remember, the freeways were contra-flow, meaning all lanes were outbound - therefore no return traffic). Beyond this, there would have had to have been agreements made or destinations established for these evacuees. Within Louisiana this likely would not have been a problem, though no unaffected jurisdiction would have been happy with so many evacuees descending upon their city. Anything beyond the state limits would probably have required agreements between Louisiana and the receiving state, along with the funds necessary to support the temporary relocation (be it shelters, hotels, whatever). Once again, money and free market raise their ugly heads.

The problems encountered during Katrina underline the importance of a strong federal government, and a competent agency missioned to handle such situations. State and local governments simply lack the resources (both money and personnel) necessary to handle natural disasters of this magnitude. FEMA was retooled after Hurricane Andrew to be the focal point of response.

Without an investigation, absolute allocation of blame can probably never be made. However, with a minimal amount of information some educated guesses can be made. And in the case of Hurricane Katrina, FEMA clearly dropped the ball, leaving the city of New Orleans and the state of Lousisiana to essentially fend for themselves.

Wine blogging


2002 Firesteed Pinot Noir
From their website:
2002 PINOT NOIR

Firesteed WinesThe 2002 harvest was a pleasure. After the warm, dry summer charged decisively into October, we enjoyed a therapeutically calm crush - which is a rarity in Oregon.

Our 2002 Pinot Noir echoes the style of previous vintages, by virtue of the gentle techniques we continue to employ in the cellar. The grapes sourced from throughout Oregon were fermented in stainless steel tanks with Prisse de Mousse yeast, pressed during the last days of fermentation, and racked as soon as the wine finished melolactic fermentation. Just a touch of oak was used during aging to round out the flavors and enhance complexity.

The resulting wine's vibrant raspberry and ripe plum aromas compliment the developed notes of earth, toast and wild mushrooms. Juicy, with soft, delicate tannins. Finished with hints of vanilla and spice.

For the money (we picked it up for ~$9), this was a pleasant Oregon pinot noir. Serve slightly chilled (just below room temperature), and in my opinion it was better the next day. Give it time to breath...

King George

This is a few days old, but that makes it no less important. Seems the Fourth Circuit Court has determined that the president in essence has the powers of a king. In a decision clearly against the Constitution:
A three-judge federal appeals court panel ruled unanimously on Friday that President Bush had the authority to detain as an enemy combatant an American citizen who fought United States forces on foreign soil.

The panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, based in Richmond, Va., threw out a ruling by a trial judge in South Carolina that Mr. Bush had overstepped his bounds by detaining Jose Padilla, a Chicago native, for three years.

...

"The exceedingly important question before us is whether the president of the United States possesses the authority to detain militarily a citizen of this country who is closely associated with Al Qaeda, an entity with which the United States is at war," Judge Luttig wrote. "We conclude that the president does possess such authority," citing the Congressional authorization.

DavidNYC at Dailykos covers this, but to me (a PhD in Engineering with an interest in history and an ability to read) this violates many of the Constitution's Amendments, particularly the 5th:
Amendment 5 - Trial and Punishment, Compensation for Takings

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

We are now living in a monarchy (at best) or a dictatorship (most likely), and the judiciary is complicit. Heil Bush!