She's In The Race

Clinton launches 2008 White House bid

Clinton, who was re-elected to a second term last November, said she will spend the next two years "doing everything in my power to limit the damage George W. Bush can do. But only a new president will be able to undo Bush's mistakes and restore our hope and optimism."

In a defiant statement — and a nod to questions about her electability — Clinton said: "I have never been afraid to stand up for what I believe in or to face down the Republican machine. After nearly $70 million spent against my campaigns in New York and two landslide wins, I can say I know how Washington Republicans think, how they operate, and how to beat them."

Electronic "Voting"

Wrong Winner Chosen Twice by Same Voting Machine

Early voting by mail required voters to mark their choices on optical scan paper ballots then mail the ballots to the elections board where they were totaled using optical scan readers. Mail in early voting undervotes were at 2.6%. In person early voters came to central locations and voted on iVotronic touch screens like those used in the general election. Undervotes by that method ran 17.6%. There is no reason for a difference of 15 points other than the one provided by Coffey in the Jennings case: voting machine malfunction by the iVotronics. As a result, 14,000 Sarasota County voters lost their constitutional rights. The election should be voided and a new one held.

Forgetting Lawyer's Most Fundamental Role

Can he be brought up on an ethics violation for conduct detrimental to the administration of justice? Oh, it looks like he's not a lawyer, so, no.

US defense official shocked by law firms defending Guantanamo detainees

Sigh.

Fafblog's swansong entry is so apropos: Now They Hate Us With Our Freedom!

Fear and Tactics

The Ideological Animal

Twenty years later, they decided to compare the subjects' childhood personalities with their political preferences as adults. They found arresting patterns. As kids, liberals had developed close relationships with peers and were rated by their teachers as self-reliant, energetic, impulsive, and resilient. People who were conservative at age 23 had been described by their teachers as easily victimized, easily offended, indecisive, fearful, rigid, inhibited, and vulnerable at age 3. The reason for the difference, the Blocks hypothesized, was that insecure kids most needed the reassurance of tradition and authority, and they found it in conservative politics.

So, I think this is pretty clear why the politics and tactics of fear work so well on conservatives. They're already afraid.

I know how difficult it is to deal with change. No one likes change. Change is scary. Do you think I like change? Of course not. I'm a primate like everyone. So what makes me different from a conservative? I think it may be this: I believe in my ability to survive change. I'm a primate with a superiority complex.

And I have no reason to trust a man who lies to take care of me. You know who I'm talking about.

Great Discussion

On authoritarianism and Jose Padilla here.

One-Liner for Law

Kim at Cinnamon Swirl challenged a few of us recently to come up with a one-sentence summary of our fields. What would we write down for posterity?

Well, I've been thinking about it since (actually, I've been thinking about what I came up with since before she suggested this), but my problem was coming up with something that wasn't too pithy. It's great to say "law isn't justice" or "laws are made by people", but is that meaningful for a post-apocalyptic society that's lost all knowledge of the legal field? Best to unpack it a little more.

Here's what I arrived at:

Laws are made by imperfect people in the pursuit of justice and harmonious relationships amongst themselves; laws are not justice, but the tools by which we try to achieve such.

Or, maybe "laws are imperfect, one-size-fits-all tools used to create resolutions to unique disputes between individuals; leave wiggle room when making a law, you'll need it to find justice."

Story of our generation

Japanese Mark Coming-of-Age Day

Japan is facing a labour shortage and a pensions shortfall. This is the year that millions of the country's baby boomers start to retire.

Many of them who have had jobs for life will be looking forward to a relatively comfortable retirement.

The generation who have just entered adulthood will probably find life is much harder.

We'll Just See About That

You've Got Mail. Bush Wants to Read It.

'Assassination' schedule announced for Congress: Radio-show host says leaders won't be allowed to 'betray' nation.

A radio talk-show entertainer whose earlier statements that he "may" have to assassinate members of Congress if the wrong people were elected Nov. 7 now has set a timetable for those killings.

In a statement on his website, Hal Turner noted that a newspaper has reported that a bill granting amnesty to illegal aliens is expected to be enacted in January, when the Democratic Party takes control of the U.S. Senate and House.

"ANY MEMBER OF CONGRESS WHO INTRODUCES, CO-SPONSORS OR VOTES IN FAVOR OF ANY SUCH AMNESTY WILL BE DECLARED A DOMESTIC ENEMY AND WILL BE CONSIDERED A LEGITIMATE TARGET FOR ASSASSINATION," Turner posted on his website.

"This seems to be 'it' folks. I'm going to do what I have to do to protect my nation from its government. I know where all of my New Jersey Congressmen and Senators live. Do you know where yours live? If not, you better find out before January so you can scope out their neighborhoods and prepare yourselves," he [Turner] said.

I see no patriots here.

Documenting Our Atrocities

FBI details its agents' documentation of possible mistreatment at Guantanamo Bay prison

U.S. Faces Major Hurdles in Prosecuting Padilla. Because we drove him into catatonia, basically. That's not cruel and unusual punishment, violating the Eighth Amendment? Yeah, it is. And then there's the 14th Amendment, that whole "due process of law" business.

The government adamantly denies mistreating Padilla, though it does not dispute the particulars cited in Padilla's legal papers. Rather, the government says its treatment of Padilla was humane and notes that it provided medical treatment when necessary. The government agreed to the additional psychiatric evaluation that has now been ordered by the judge.

Indeed, there are even some within the government who think it might be best if Padilla were declared incompetent and sent to a psychiatric prison facility. As one high-ranking official put it, "the objective of the government always has been to incapacitate this person."

Well, we incapacitated him. All he did, it appears, is convert to Islam about 10 years ago. So, dandy.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, Internet.

Cloned meat

FDA Calls Cloned Meat, Milk Safe

Scientists make clones by removing the DNA from an egg cell and replacing it with DNA from the cell of an adult. The cloning process appears to reset the adult's genetic code so that it can execute the developmental program of an embryo, but that transformation may not be perfect in all cases. Some scientists believe the embryonic clone may use, or "express," its genes in ways that could affect the clone's health when it grows up.

Suspicious creature that I am, my first thought upon reading this was: "which scientists?"

Scientists representing the other side get mentioned by name. Why not these "some" scientists?

Saddam Hussein Executed

Hussein Executed

Now what?

Carl Sagan Blog-a-thon

What did Carl Sagan do for me?

He taught me that it was OK to ask "why", forever. He served as a role model in that regard.

He also served as a role model of scientist as communicator.

Because of Carl Sagan, when we got an Encyclopedia Britannica (we may have been poor, back then, in the pre-Internet days, but we with the Britannica were wealthy beyond dreams) I browsed it. And romped through it. And chewed my way across it.

I learned about special relativity long before taking a physics class. What cool stuff! Such knowledge! All in one place! I reveled in it. REVELED IN IT.

Because of Carl Sagan, I knew science was cool, education was cool, learning was cool, long before anyone came along to try and peer-pressure me out of it. (Whether because I was a girl or because of some mistaken belief that ignorance = hip.) The peer pressure didn't take.

I learned about history, geology, DNA, evolution, Galileo, gravity, Voyager, and the birth and death of the universe from Carl Sagan. He opened up all of human knowledge to me, and did it with passion and articulate grace.

As if I were a little duckling, he imprinted me to science. Thank you, Dr. Sagan.

Honestly, I Could Just Close Up Shop, Right Here

"When Kepler found his long-cherished belief did not agree with the most precise observation, he accepted the uncomfortable fact. He preferred the hard truth to his dearest illusions, that is the heart of science."

Carl Sagan, Cosmos.

The beating heart of science, what makes us move mountains and extend horizons, is this simple, terrible preference: rather to be pierced by truth, than a whole fool.

Thank you, ciroccoj, for letting me know about tomorrow's Sagan blog-a-thon. I will be there.

"Carl was a candle in the dark," said Yervant Terzian, the David Duncan Professor in the Physical Sciences and former astronomy department chair, after Sagan's death. "He was, quite simply, the best science educator in the world this century. He touched hundreds of millions of people and inspired young generations to pursue the sciences."

Did he ever.

Winter in Europe cancelled?

Concern over Europe 'snow crisis'.

That's global warming for you. And people who think the environment and the economy have nothing to do with each other? You're wrong: "Already banks are refusing to offer loans to resorts under 1,500 metres as they fear for their future snow cover."