UPDATE: As expected, the interview was excellent! Great job to the P&S crew and especially to Phil Plait! I’ll pop a link to the podcast as soon as I can for the folks who, like me, have WMMR blocked at work.
I made a comment on Facebook (join us) last night that I couldn’t think of anything to write, but since Palin had an interview last night, all I had to do was wait for material.
In an interview with BBC, Sarah Palin discusses a potential 2012 run for President:
I’m like, OK, God, if there is an open door for me somewhere, this is what I always pray, I’m like, don’t let me miss the open door. Show me where the open door is.
I’m like, “This can’t possibly be a direct quote!” but BBC is all, “Yeah, it is”, so I was like “Oh. My. God.”
This woman is comedy gold. Keep her on TV, media. For me? Please?
Well, I’ve said since beginning my support of Obama that I would call him on any failures of his administration once I’ve voted him in. I did not expect that chance to possibly come so soon.
Anyone who follows science, medicine, or skeptical blogs has heard the name of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has made for himself quite the reputation of an anti-vaccine and conspiracy kook. Since he put his name in the byline on an article for Rolling Stone magazine where he weaves a dark tale of a covert meeting between world government officials, scientists, and pharma heads who discuss the link between autism and a “host of other neurological disorders” and an ingredient used in some vaccines as a preservative. Instead of discussing the veracity of the information, this evil enclave conspires to hide it from the public! Ridiculous, I know, but Mr. Kennedy apparently believes this hokey story, even though studies of the link between vaccines and autism have proven time and again that there is no link. Mr. Kennedy was widely ridiculed by the scientific and medical community for this little flight of fancy.
Mr. Kennedy then misrepresented CDC documents to make it sound like they were discouraging the removal of Thimerosal from vaccines despite the mountain of evidence linking it to autism (that doesn’t exist, btw).
A couple of years ago, he put his name to a book entitled Crimes Against Nature, in whose pages we learn, among many similar revelations, that air pollution is a cause of Down’s Syndrome and that “automakers already have the technology” to make SUVs and minivans get the mileage of passenger cars, but don’t do so because, well, because they’re mean. (source)
Now, I can explain to you that Down’s Syndrome is genetic in nature but I don’t have to, because from my comments, I know the majority of my readers have brains in their heads. Someone may want to explain this wild and completely false claim about environmental affects on neurology to Robert Kennedy Jr. though!
Now, please note, this is a huge maybe. It is likely that the President-elect will take a closer look at this kook and laugh him right out of the public spotlight. I truly hope so. As a candidate that decried the current administration’s war on science, this would be an inauspicious beginning!
Update: Whenever there’s a news item related to medicine and science, you know Science-based Medicine will say it best!
While I still am filled with pride at the performance of yesterday’s voters, and elated at the result, there was at least one dark defeat for those that value equal rights for all Americans. California, as you know, recently had a court ruling that it was against the law to disallow same-sex marriages. Proposition 8 was the successful attempt by anti-Americans to rob same-sex couples of their right to marry under the protection of the law.
As a straight, married man in Delaware, this can’t affect me personally. I won’t ever be prevented by this proposition from marrying, so my feelings on this are scholarly, empathic, and patriotic. Patriotic because you can’t support lesser rights for a minority group and call yourself an American. The Constitution protects people, not “institutions”.
This did, however, affect real Americans whose only agenda, no matter what the TV or your church, or your Grand Wizard tells you, is to live their life in happiness with someone that they love, and her grief is palpable. The second half of the post deals with the monstrous Proposition 8.
And so my state has told me that I am now — officially, legally — a second-class citizen.
My state wrote discrimination into its Constitution.
I’m so sorry, Greta Christina. For you, for Ingrid, for all of California.
There’s two things sweeter than those words: President Obama and tits.
After the second time I had decided to go to bed last night, yet stayed up later anyways, the amazing feeling that I had just witnessed history swept me. I had often wondered what I would be able to tell my grandchildren about the times that I lived in. My parents had Vietnam and the Hippy revolution, my grandparents had the Great Depression and World Wars. Our generation had just one thing up until last night: 9/11.
Until last night, we didn’t have a good historical event to balance out the tragedy of the terror attacks of 2001. But last night, and amazing thing happened. Not only did the citizens of the U.S. stand overwhelmingly against the horrors of the current administration, we elected the first African-American president. Think about that. We witnessed a first. A good first, a great first! That was an historical event, and we watched it happen!
Discussions of history aside, and the more critical importance of this election is that the U.S. voted for a huge swing in how this country is going to be run. The Democrats have the majority, and the onus is on them to heal the divide and get the country functioning again. If any one of them think this change is going to be easy on any of them, they are sorely mistaken. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done, and they’re going to have to get it done right or rish losing it all again in 4 years. If they fail, I’ll be one of the ones voting them out. There is no room for excuses, complaints, or whining. They’ve promised change for my vote, and I’m going to hold them to their end of the bargain.
I won’t congratulate any of the winners of last night’s elections. I can’t do that, because they didn’t win an easy time. The next years will be marked by hard work and struggle, and I don’t envy the winners their time ahead. I will congratulate the citizens of the U.S. for taking a bold stand for a new direction, and for making that dream realized. We knew things had to change, we had one way to do it, and we rallied and made it happen. For the first time in almost a decade, I feel hope after an election. It’s a nice feeling to have!
So, congratualtions, fellow Americans! I am confident and I hope for the future.
Well, somewhere in the midst of all the Halloween frivolity, I seem to remember some kind of election coming up tomorrow. I have a little something to say about that.
House District 21, this is for you! I got the chance to usurp some of Mike’s valuable foot time while he was visiting houses in my neighborhood. I saw Mike driving around for the better part of three days, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he met a good deal of us face-to-face.
When Mike dropped by, it seems that he thought he was going to do a quick lit drop to an uninterested Democrat, as I had my Markell sign on the lawn. However, Mike got me instead, and graciously elected (pun!) to talk a couple of issues with me. The decider for me, other than the fact that he was meeting people face-to-face and I hadn’t even seen a Creedon volunteer in the area, was his views on open government. Mike was well informed on the issue and seemed passionate in his support of bringing the GA under FOIA as a public body. When I mentioned John Kowalko’s constant fight in this regard, he mentioned his high esteem for John based on John’s good ethics and boundless energy in keeping the GA clean. He also mentioned the complete travesty that is the “desk drawer veto”.
Mike gave me the impression that he would be a tireless ally to John and Karen Peterson in getting the Assembly opened up to public scrutiny. In Delaware, I don’t know if we have a more important issue. For that, Mike gets my vote, and he should get yours, too.
Now, some may wonder why I chose this topic with which to break my month-long silence on politics. It’s because no one else is talking about it. We’ve seen a bit about the 21st on DE Lib and kavips, but just as a glossing-over, taking the Democrat’s win as a foregone conclusion, which I found odd, since we’ve had a Republican representing us for years, Pam Meiers, and if she wasn’t moving to a new location, this year would have seen her re-election.
Well, it’s over. The ghosts and goblins have had their day, the costumes have migrated to the dress-up crate, and we have packing the decorations away to look forward to. There’s a small amount of melancholy that I feel every time Halloween passes by, especially when I miss fun stuff like the Newark Halloween parade, which is always a blast. However, we have two more fun holidays coming up with their own sets of events, decorations, and mirth!
Well, it’s finally here, my favorite of all holidays! Have fun, keep it safe, and check back later for trick-or-treating pics. Also, check out this link to DE Lib where Jason is a giant pussy
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