Lucy Tartan’s latest Reading Log is giving me ideas for my bedside book pile.
Antivax: new evidence shows (again) no link to autism
from Bad Astronomy by Phil Plait
Best explanation for the non-existence of global warming ever
from Pharyngula
Plenty of blogs are pointing out what the world owes to the community organisers that the Republicans are sneering at (the GOP wants to downplay Obama’s experience as a community organiser in Chicago).
Pam’s House Blend, BitchPhd (and again), Feministing, Making Light all have responses, but John Scalzi has found the pithiest comeback is already making the rounds of the web:
“Jesus was a community organizer. Pontius Pilate was a governor.”
And of course, the rest of the current news cycle’s Obligatory McCain/Palin links:
Boynton shares the plea of Alaskan wolves.
*Spoilers Alert*(Battlestar Galactica Season 3 onwards): John McCain is a Cylon
An Open Letter to Gov. Palin on Women’s Rights
from RHRealityCheck.org blogs by Lynn Paltrow
Over at Obsidian Wings, Hilzoy factchecks Palin’s speech while Publius points out that one fiery speech is just one fiery speech.
PZ chides those of his readers who fell straight into casual sexism when discussing Palin: This is how we will lose.
Teresa at Making Light reminds us all to concentrate more on McCain: Pay attention to the little man behind the curtain
H/T to invisible friends on mailing lists for Cylon McCain
Oh, thank you for the link. I definitely recommend Births Deaths Marriages. Georgia Blain is Anne Deveson’s daughter.
Joe Klein has a good bit on the community organiser smear too, including reaction from the org that Obama worked for.
[link]
Haha. My husband came up with the Jesus thing at dinner tonight, and we were making up a fake TV ad . . . “Jesus Chist was a community organizer. But according to the McCain campaign, that means he wouldn’t have had any ‘actual responsibility.’ Do you want a president who hates Jesus?”
I don’t think Obama could get away with using the Jesus thing in seriousness. While entirely true, it does feel a bit over the top. But I do think they should exploit these comments regardless, especially in Ohio and Pennsylvania, bringing up the PTA, church organizing, and most importantly . . . labor unions.
Cara, agreed that the Jesus comeback would be most inadvisable for any official campaigner to use. But seeing as how the GOP bloggers are all busy using the whole “Messiah” thing against Obama supporters, it has an extra layer of ironic twist as well, and is extra fun for that reason.
I’m a bit startled by that link on autism and vaccinating. While I appreciate that it’s not written by the authors here, the comments on that blog are really vicious and I find it incongruent that this blog which adheres to such an admirable ethical code around all forms of discrimination apparently offers credibility to such abuse. Can we perhaps have information presented on this topic without also reading abuse? Thank you.
Janet, this is so very much not the blog for molly-coddling of anti-vaccination stances. It’s an anti-scientific and dangerous worldview, and I make no apologies for linking to sites that discuss it as such.
There was nothing abusive in Phil’s post, and to describe being called out for ignorance as “discrimination” is drawing a very long bow indeed. Some of the comments were OTT and arguably abusive, but one should always view the post and the comments separately to an extent when reading blogs: some blog authors believe in a very laissez-faire approach to comments, and if that’s their choice, so be it – it’s their blog, and their blog does not have the capacity to damage mine. The situation is very different when it comes to the non-vaccinated, herd immunity and possible infection of me and mine.
I’m not asking for mollycoddling, I was asking that you take a little responsibility for promoting hate when you all clearly work against it in other ways. I can write about science, evidence and all that without linking to those who endorse abuse. It really detracts from the information.
We’re going to have to agree to disagree on this, Janet. There are so many quacks and cranks scaremongering and profiteering amongst the understandably upset and anxious parents of autistic children that those cranks and quacks cannot be insulted enough, in my opinion. Shame on them all – they are vampires who persuade good, caring parents to neglect proper health care for their own children and in turn endanger the health of others.
That most of the parents who most strongly buy into this claptrap are well-educated means that they have no valid excuse for this wilful anti-scientific ignorance, and the more of the well-educated that do so the more persuasive such views become to less educated people as well. This is dangerous stuff, and I don’t see it as hateful to describe it as exactly that.