With friends like these…

I’ve written a couple of posts decrying the tactics of Elizabeth Dole — who uses the act of talking to atheists as a smear — and favoring her opponent, Kay Hagan. It seems Ms. Hagan doesn’t like us very much, though.

Democratic Senate candidate Kay Hagan angrily demanded Wednesday that incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Dole take down a new ad that questions the challenger’s ties to an atheist political group, calling the spot a slanderous and pathetic attempt to maintain political power.

Hagan’s attorneys sent a cease-and-desist order to Dole’s campaign, saying the “libelous” ad should come down within 24 hours. The order promised legal action if the ad stays on the air.

So…being called an atheist is “slanderous” and “libelous”, huh? Oh, well, then. Never mind, North Carolina, it doesn’t matter who you vote for in that election, you’re getting a loser. I suppose you should still vote for Hagan, but only for her party and not because she’s on our side.

The election is all but over now

Big news: the editors of Seed have officially endorsed Barack Obama for President. OK, not surprising, I suppose…any organization that relies on or promotes scientific thinking has absolutely no choice in this election, so Obama is going to get the nod.

I do like one specific statement in the endorsement:

Science is a way of governing, not just something to be governed. Science offers a methodology and philosophy rooted in evidence, kept in check by persistent inquiry, and bounded by the constraints of a self-critical and rigorous method. Science is a lens through which we can and should visualize and solve complex problems, organize government and multilateral bodies, establish international alliances, inspire national pride, restore positive feelings about America around the globe, embolden democracy, and ultimately, lead the world. More than anything, what this lens offers the next administration is a limitless capacity to handle all that comes its way, no matter how complex or unanticipated.

If you have an alternative way of governing, please do tell us about it in the comments.

The Twitter Threat!!!

I’m afraid I just can’t take this seriously. Army intelligence analysts are concerned that terrorists might tweet each other. Or text each other. Or put Islamic wallpapers on their cell phones. Oooh.

Yes, they could. So? We’re living in a world where communications technologies are advancing rapidly and where people can talk to each other constantly over long distances. This is a neutral technology; bad guys can use it, and so can good guys, and so can boring ordinary people who just want to chat about the weather.

Latest threat: Air. Terrorists could use this medium to respire and fuel oxidative phosphorylation, providing extra physical energy to allow them to carry out strenuous evil activities. Plus, it keeps them alive. American anti-terrorist organizations must be made aware of the nefarious purposes to which oxygen can be applied.

Don’t vote for Tingelstad

Do I detect a note of anxiety in my Minnesota readers? Lately I’ve been getting lots of email from concerned locals who are worried about Tim Tingelstad, a candidate for the Minnesota Supreme Court, who is a religious wackaloon.

“Everyone has an opinion or belief as to where absolute truth is and where it comes from, and that’s what I’m telling people where I believe my rock solid foundation is,” Tingelstad says. “I believe that absolute truth exists and that it comes from God.”

And that’s one of his milder statements. I’ve mentioned this guy before, but you all know how it is — judicial elections usually fly under the radar, and most people go into the voting booth with no clue about who these guys are, and they vote for the wrong reasons. In Minnesota, there is a bit of a tendency for candidates with good Scandinavian names to have an edge (Tingelstad doesn’t have an advantage here; his opponent is named Anderson), and there might be a little bit of an anti-incumbent bias this year (Tingelstad is a challenger), so no one knows how it could swing this time around.

It’s simple, though. Don’t vote for crazy Tingelstad; do vote for Anderson.

Unless you really want a deranged theocratic god-babbler on the supreme court, of course.

Summary of the Comer case

Steven Schafersman of Texas Citizens for Science has put up an investigative report on the swift-boating of Christine Comer, the former Texas Education Agency employee who was forced to resign after she recommended a lecture by Barbara Forrest. The creationists have been trying to claim that Comer had a long history of insubordination and misconduct, and that that is why she was fired — none of which is true. Instead, there’s a pattern emerging that when the faction of creationist dentist Don McLeroy took over, there were changes in the administration that look more like harassment to drive out employees who didn’t follow the creationist agenda.

Texans have a tough fight to make down there — keep plugging away!

You all missed a very nice Cafe Scientifique

You never come when I invite you, anyway, but it was still very enlightening. We branched out a bit from nothing but science this time, and Michael Eble, an artist, talked about his connection to Louisiana and recent work on the disappearance of wetlands, in an exhibit titled Endangered Lands. We got to hear* about erosion and the natural and man-made forces that are destroying the Louisiana coastline at a prodigious rate, with Michael’s efforts to capture it in a series of abstract paintings.

*We also got to hear one extraordinarily rude couple’s conversation about their finances — they sat themselves down in the middle of the coffeeshop and ignored our speaker and talked at a volume rivaling his about their distracting pedestrian affairs. It was a remarkable lack of courtesy, and it’s unfortunate that people that obnoxious are always completely oblivious, and don’t feel a scrap of shame.

These guys really hate science

McCain once again whined about studying bear DNA, and it’s clear that the decrepit old man doesn’t have a clue about the value of biological research. But the other interesting revelation is that while denouncing earmarks for studying bear DNA, overhead projectors, or fruit fly research, the complaint is not about earmarks, but about funding science.

How can we tell? It turns out that Sarah Palin was happy to lobby for earmarks to study recreational halibut fishing, the mating habits of crabs, and harbor seal DNA. Those all sound like legitimate science projects to me, but I doubt that Palin recognized that — all she cares about is diverting money to her bailiwick. This is a different kind of abuse of science, where it’s seen only as a tool for local profit … and you just know that she would not support even local science that interfered with her plans.

Toronto!

I’m going to be in Toronto this weekend, and everyone wants a piece of me. I’ll tell you right now that I’m letting Larry Moran referee some of my time. I’m getting into Toronto in the early afternoon, checking into my hotel, and going off with Larry and a few other people for dinner before my talk. And then there’s a catered reception at 6, the talk, and then free time afterwards — go ahead, drag me off somewhere nearby and force me to drink that dangerous Canadian beer.

On Saturday afternoon, I’ll be at the University of Guelph for an informal discussion, so you can ask me questions there. Once again, afterwards I believe is fairly wide open, although I do want to spend some time with the Gregory lab…but I’m sure we can arrange something for the evening.

By the way, Skatje will be with me, and will be there at Guelph for the Q&A. I think the students at those universities might have plans for her, but you can also meet up with the godless daughter at these events.

Hey, Bellingham, you still have time!

Gordy Slack is going to be doing a reading from his book on the Dover trial today, at 4:00, on the Western Washington University campus.

If you want more drama, there will also be a panel discussion tomorrow, Wednesday, at 6pm. Slack, will be there, as will Josh Rosenau of the NCSE and TfK, and for hilarious comedy relief…Casey Luskin, mindless attack mouse of the Discovery Institute. Don’t miss it for the laughs.

I just got word that you get a third shot at Slack. He’s speaking in 234 Biology at 4pm on 29 October on “Do Neo-Creationists get anything right?” I’m guessing the answer will be “no”, I hope.