It all depends on what your definition of "Persuasion Partners" is, I guess

From the annals of Republican Family Values™ ...

One of the Koch-whores in Wisconsin, state Sen. Randy Hopper (R-Obvs.), has been busted as having been thrown out of his house by his wife, due to his habit of shacking up with a 25-year-old named Valerie Cass. Cass "was previously a state senate staffer who worked on the Senate Economic Development Committee alongside Mr. Hopper," and she now works for a right-wing lobbying outfit. Surprisingly, her page has been scrubbed from their site. However, screen grabs do exist!

In possibly related news, Hopper's maid has signed the petition seeking to recall him, and reports are that his wife will, too. (She may already have, but the site that broke this story is down at the moment, due to traffic load.)

Thump and Whip has some pictures of the dramatis personae.

(h/t: Ken Layne | x-posted)

From the Annals of "We'd Rather Be Frist Than Correct!"

Way to go, ReadWriteWeb:

We believe that Google will preview a major new social service called Google Circles at South by Southwest Interactive today. Update: Google has now officially denied that Circles will launch here, but not that it exists. See final update below, as of afternoon Texas time Google does now deny that Circles exists.

Your New GOP: It's all about jobs, jobs, jobs!

Lauri Lebo, Religion Dispatches (via):

Record Number of Stealth Creationism Bills Introduced in 2011

The National Center for Science Education has tracked a record-setting number of nine anti-evolution bills introduced in state legislatures since Jan. 1.

The latest is Texas’ HB 2454, which would prohibit an institution of higher learning from "discrimination related to research related into intelligent design."

[...]

As always, since intelligent design was ruled unconstitutional in Kitzmiller v. Dover, the introduced bills rely on such creationist code words as "teaching the controversy," "academic freedom," or "critical analysis." [...]

(x-posted)

You Can't Explain That!

From yesterday's massive protest in Madison, Wisconsin:

(From gallery here, via.)

(?)

Another day, another Internet Explorer flaw

Don McArthur has the details.

If you absolutely must use IE, at least apply the temporary fix.

Car pwnership

Let's get scared:

Researchers at UCSD have modified an MP3 file so that when it is played on a car's stereo system it modifies the stereo's firmware and opens up a security back door into the car's operating system. Using it, they were then able to control the door locks, the car ignition, and change the speedometer reading.

They hypothesize that black-hats could create such modified files and spread them around on the torrent networks. And given that some cars now are networked and contain GPS systems, they say that cars which become compromised could be programmed to announce their location so that thieves could locate and steal them.

Swiped from Chocolate Pickle on Metafilter.

Apparently, no one bothered to tell Little Miss Attila about the PJM gravy train ...

... and how it ground to a halt two years ago, due to the utter lack of traffic.

But seriously ... begging for hits from RaciSt McCain?

It doesn't get any more pathetic than that.

(Yes, I know that I say that about every other week, concerning Greater Wingnuttia. But for some reason, I remain optimistic that this time, this time, we have truly reached bottom.)

Never mind the debunking, PZ!

You and your skeptical attitude go too far sometimes!

According to Dr. Karen Weatherby, a gerontologist and author of the study, gawking at women's breasts is a healthy practice, almost at par with an intense exercise regime, that prolongs the lifespan of a man by five years.

She added, "Just 10 minutes of staring at the charms of a well-endowed female, is roughly equivalent to a 30-minute aerobics work-out."

[Added] PZ's commenters are even more anti-Science.

Move over, "murder of crows"

I have a new favorite collective noun: wunch.

As in, a wunch of bankers.

Thanks so much, Charles Strossel. And yes, I'm proud to help boost the page ranking of that wanker.

How to talk to Republicans. On one issue, anyway.

Here's something that may alleviate the doom and gloom of the last post somewhat:

Wording change softens global warming skeptics

Are you convinced climate change is real? What about global warming?

Yes, that second question is redundant. But new research finds the two labels, which are widely used interchangeably, evoke remarkably different responses among self-described Republicans.

Writing in the journal Public Opinion Quarterly, a research team led by University of Michigan psychologist Jonathon Schuldt reports Republicans are far more skeptical of "global warming" than of "climate change." In an experiment conducted as part of a large survey, the researchers found 44 percent of Republicans endorsed the notion that "global warming" is real, but 60.2 percent said the same of "climate change."

In contrast, 86 to 87 percent of Democrats endorsed the reality of a changing climate, no matter which descriptive phrase was used. This means the partisan divide over the issue is either overwhelmingly enormous or potentially bridgeable, depending upon the terminology one uses.

The rest.

I came across this after looking at another post by David Roberts over on Grist. I was led to that by his appearance on Science Saturday, a diavlog with Andrew Revkin of Dot Earth fame. It's worth watching if you're interested in a discussion of strategies and tactics to get our country moving on dealing with this problem.

I gotcher American Exceptionalism right here

Over on Monkey Cage, there's a short series posts on attitudes about AGW and evolution, separated by political self-identification.

The gist: the more education self-identified liberals have, the more likely they are to accept the scientific consensus on AGW. The more education self-identified conservatives have, the more likely they are to deny it.

The US is unique in this regard among all countries surveyed.

On evolution: more education among libs = much more likely to believe the theory of evolution. Among cons, not so much.

(h/t: DougJ | x-posted)

Line of the Day: 2011-03-11

Sorry to give away one of your punchlines in your latest "Dispatches From The Culture Wars," Roy, but it's just too good:

My guess is, other members of the council walked in on Prentice dancing around the TV to "Sweet Transvestite" and singing into a hairbrush, and he had to come up with something.

I wonder who would be sadder about this comparison

(embiggen)

Wingnuts would like to remind you that Michael Moore is fat

I would like to remind you that spring is almost here …

... which means now is a good time to start sharpening your pitchforks.

__________

You may ask, are the Koch brothers among those 400?

Well, yes. But they only take up two slots.

In the top ten.

(h/t: Twin, via PM)

We're melting. Faster than we thought.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but you should know this. There's a sobering post up on Climate Progress summarizing a new study led by JPL which has been peer-reviewed and published. It has concluded:

The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are losing mass at an accelerating pace, according to a new NASA-funded satellite study. The findings of the study — the longest to date of changes in polar ice sheet mass — suggest these ice sheets are overtaking ice loss from Earth’s mountain glaciers and ice caps to become the dominant contributor to global sea level rise, much sooner than model forecasts have predicted.

As I said elsewhere, that last phrase is key: "... much sooner than model forecasts have predicted."

Those who like to call themselves skeptics about AGW, who like to rail about the uncertainty of the predictive computer models, ought to take this moment to realize that the uncertainty -- which I will of course acknowledge -- works both ways.

We do know this, now, purely from data and observations: There is now increased confidence that sea levels will rise by a foot by 2050. (This is a larger, faster increase than the IPCC reports have suggested.) And that's assuming that things hold constant, which they are not guaranteed to do. It's conceivable that the glacial melting could lead to an increasing release of heretofore trapped ground ice and water. It is reasonable to believe, therefore, that if we continue down the path we're currently on that sea levels could rise by six feet by the year 2100. Picture yourself on your favorite beach and imagine what that would look like. The entire ocean, six feet higher.

The Republicans in Congress will say that the science "remains unsettled," of course. Because DDT.

(h/t: cragger)

Rule 36, Proposed

36. If it exists, LOLcats of it exist.

I just had occasion, in an entirely other channel, to want to make a joke involving my first crush, and look what the image-Google found for me!

(title: cf.)

[Added] Do not miss M. Bouffant's "related" link in the Comments.

Sa®ah Palin is hypotheticalin', for attention

It seems that He®self has gotten all pissy, again, that people aren't talking about her, due to the excitement over the Newt "leaked" some speculation, which Ben Smith has obediently typed up, about how He® P®residential campaign would be conducted. Hypothetically. If she deigns to run.

I am reminded of nothing so much as this:

"Koch Brothers Exposed"

Robert Greenwald emails to say Brave New Films has a new project underway and he'd like your help:

(alt. video link)

T-shirts with a logo by Shepard Fairey are available for a donation.

---

P.S. Ed is right, of course, but only to some degree. There is a time when having a concrete image -- a face of the opposition -- is useful. Not all citizens are as well-informed as those of us who obsess over politics would like, and given that reality, it is important to come up with ways to pique their interest. These approaches work, like it or not. With the stakes as high as they are, the smart activist uses what works. We can all sing kumbaya and have Very Serious Thoughtful Discussions when we get things back in balance.

Besides, the Koch brothers spend huge amounts of money funding the denialism of anthropogenic global warming. WHICH DOESN'T EXIST BECAUSE AL GORE HAS A BIG HOUSE AND FLIES IN AIRPLANES!!!1!

See what I'm saying?

Fabulous name!

Hard to believe it, but I think it's real: Blake Lively.

An oddly compelling read on someone whose name I just learned five minutes ago, whose picture was in a NYT sidebar link because she is now "the new face of the French fashion house’s Mademoiselle handbag ad campaign."

There's also some nice enough pictures to look at, I suppose …

Wearing a white Chanel minidress that contained — at least, to a degree — her famously curvaceous torso while still showing off her long, perpetually tanned legs …

…if that's what you're into. I don't judge.

Let us hope that she waits a few years before snuggling up to Donald Rumsfeld.

Update: "any month now" is the new "any day now" for Newt

Griftin' the night awa-aay:

In a conference call Wednesday with former staffers and supporters former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said "we are leaning toward a yes" on a presidential run, CNN has learned.

Leaning heavily.

He revealed he hopes to announce a presidential bid in late May …

"Leaning toward." "He hopes."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You win this one, TC!

But wait, it gets better:

He revealed he hopes to announce a presidential bid in late May at noon …

So, we don't know a date, but we have picked out a time!

He revealed he hopes to announce a presidential bid in late May at noon in front of Philadelphia's Independence Hall.

And a location!

But wait, there's more!

He asked the group for help building a national audience for that event on the internet and through local media.

In response to a question, Gingrich told the group "corporate PACs can give $5,000 and obviously we'd be thrilled to have as many of them sign up as early as possible."

Yes, you idiots. Keep giving him your money. Really. I mean, this is the guy who now says he had affairs because he loved America so much! What's not to trust?

(h/t: Taegan Goddard via @allisonkilkenny | x-posted)

Remember when she was just a nice wholesome lingerie model?

Urk:

(click to enlarge)

That creature Tyra Banks has her arm around up there apparently now spends a lot of time on the Facebook, where he posts things like this …

I will be in Yorba Linda tonight at the Nixon Library with Hugh Hewitt. I'm still so grateful that Richard Nixon persuaded me to join him in the executive branch more than forty years ago.

… and excitedly links to things like this:

(click to enlarge)

So he's not just keeping his collection of torture porn to himself anymore. Now he's redistributing it. As long as it's not Americans doing it. Because that would be wrong, amirite?

[Added] Never forget:

(pic. source)

Right-wing Howler Monkeys Claim Two More Scalps

Remember that explosion of fauxtrage from yesterday, in which some guy ventured an opinion in what he believed to be a private conversation, one which was basically true if a bit too sweeping?

So far, as a result, NPR's CEO has been forced to resign (via), and that guy who was already planning to leave NPR for a new job has apparently been asked to fall on his sword by his no-longer employer-to-be.

No wonder we're all terrified of the liberal media!

Hurrah! Our democracy republic is saved!

In news of GOP priorities:

Legislature passes bill to teach U.S. is republic

A bill that would ensure Utah students learn the U.S. is a compound constitutional republic — not a democracy — has passed both Houses of the Legislature and is now headed to the governor for his signature.

HB220 would require schools to teach students that the U.S. is a compound constitutional republic and about other forms of government such as pure democracy, monarchy and oligarchy along with political philosophies and economic systems such as socialism, individualism and free-market capitalism. The Senate passed the bill with no dissenting votes Monday.

And on Tuesday, the House agreed to wording changes made in the Senate.

Eh, no big deal, right? Legislatures pass dumb symbolic things all the time, right? Yada, yada, we recognize thus and such, let's move on to real business …

The bill passed after weeks of debate over the differences between democracies and republics and whether socialism is a form of government or a philosophy.

Opponents of the bill argued that the concepts within it are already being taught and that the Legislature shouldn’t get involved in curriculum matters.

But on Monday, Senate floor sponsor Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Eagle Mountain, said in some states children are being indoctrinated in socialism via some curriculum.

“This is happening at least in some places in our country, so I believe this is all the more important in this state, so that we can protect our children from such curriculum,” Madsen said.

Sometimes there are no words.

(h/t: Jack Stuef | x-posted)

STFUpChuck

Oh, hey, look. That sad little old man with the bad dye job is yelling into his typewriter about the liberals brainwashing your children in their liberal public schools. Again.

Stuef is correct to mock Chuck Norris's "real news headlines" claim.

I Googled the first: it led to FreeRepublic, which led to Townhall. I Googled the second. It led to WorldNetDaily. I Googled the third. Okay, looks like this one wasn't just a wingnut wankfest, not that this headline seems particularly controversial. (Kids ask for information! And free stuff! The horror!) I Googled the fourth. WorldNetDaily again. The fifth: FoxNews. The sixth: ditto. The seventh? Looks maybe okay -- Yahoo -- but clicking the link shows it's from the "Yahoo contributor network," which may earn bonus points for truth in advertising, one concedes. In this case, the networker is someone named Sheryl Young. You make the call.

The eighth. Back to WorldNetDaily. Ditto the ninth. Ditto the tenth. Ditto the eleventh, if you click through -- just an aggregator. Or aggravator. Hard to say. We'll give him an okay on the twelfth -- though using a "Some say" story from the MSM is not what one would ordinarily call conclusive of anything, if one viewed the claimant as reasonably in possession of mental faculties.

In conclusion: Fact: Chuck Norris bats 2 for 12, if we score generously. Mendoza could kick his ass.

Fact: Chuck Norris is too much of a wussy to provide his own links.

Also.

(h/t: pic. source)

Five people, probably before you knew them

Click 'em to big 'em.

1. Hint: in the next frame, he kicks the crutches out.

(early 1970s)

2. Hint: You may have seen this one last month, in a collage of sorts.

(early 1970s)

3. Hint: There's a good chance that briefcase in fact does contain the plans for global domination.

(1968)

4. Hint: No, not homeless. Yes, he just bought that.

(1974)

5. Hint: in the uncropped version, he is standing next to an older version of the above. (I am happy to report he is looking away from him.)

(about 1991)

---

Answers/sources: Picture 1 | Picture 2 | Picture 3 | Pictures 4 and 5

Blame StrangeAppar8us of Rumproast for the first one, and consequently, for reminding me of these others that I'd bookmarked, for your "pleasure."

She's got the Governor Rick Scott Blues

We already had one of the nation’s lowest corporate tax rates down here, and Scott is cutting it to zero. Our schools were already bad; they will get worse now. Scott also plans to eliminate environmental protections and growth management offices, so the paving of the Everglades can proceed apace.

We Floridians will be paying for the electoral toddler tantrum that is the tea party for generations to come. If there’s any justice, when some of the “patriots” who made it happen reach their golden years, they’ll find themselves at the mercy of a poorly educated, low-paid senior aide worker who is illiterate enough to mistake BENGAY® for butt ointment.
    -- Betty Cracker

Intriguing title

Huh:

David Jenkins is Vice President for Government and Political Affairs for Republicans for Environmental Protection.

Assuming he's not just too shy to call himself the president, that suggests there's at least two of them. Who knew?

But certainly, he'll tell you, there aren't any in Congress.

(h/t: Instaputz)

Teabaggers are furious!!!1! (i.e., the truth hurts)

What is it this time?

Apparently some guy told it like it is:

SCHILLER: The current Republican Party, particularly the Tea Party, is fanatically involved in people's personal lives and very fundamental Christian -- and I wouldn't even call it Christian. It's this weird evangelical kind of move... it's been hijacked by this group that...

"MUSLIM": The radical, racist, Islamophobic, Tea Party people?

SCHILLER: It's not just Islamophobic, but really xenophobic. Basically, they believe in white, middle America, gun-toting -- it's pretty scary. They're seriously racist, racist people.

("MUSLIM" here is some "citizen journalist" posing as a Muslim, as part of the latest and greatest Breitbart-wannabe video "sting.")

And just look at Memeorandum: practically every wingnut you've ever heard of is yelling about this.

(h/t: TBogg | x-posted)

"NH GOP Seeks To Disenfranchise Students"

As in, take away their votes. Because, Republican House Speaker Bill O'Brien says, "the kids [are] coming out of the schools and basically doing what I did when I was a kid, which is [vote liberal]."

As Brian Beutler notes:

The push is a part of a trend in states, particularly where Republicans made major gains in the 2010 election. Many of those states are advancing voter ID laws, nominally meant to crack down on the unsubstantial problem of voter fraud, but which in practice are meant to disenfranchise young and poor liberal voters.

Even Wisconsin, under intense national scrutiny as protesters march to protect collective bargaining rights for public sector workers, the legislature passed a Voter ID bill "requiring certain identification in order to vote at a polling place or obtain an absentee ballot."

Some of these bills as written are of questionable constitutionality. But that's beside the point when the point is to sow confusion and uncertainty on election day.

(h/t: @EricKleefeld, via RT | x-posted)

Koch-owned Congressman stays bought

Steve Benen:

CONGRESS' ANTI-CONSUMER-SAFETY CONTINGENT.... On her show last night, Rachel Maddow had a segment on the political efforts of the right-wing Koch brothers, and there was one data point that I hadn't heard about before.

First , a little background. In 2007, following a series of scandalous incidents, federal officials created on online consumer-product-safety database, allowing Americans to go online and access free information about the safety records of household products. It passed the House unanimously, sailed through the Senate, and was signed into law by George W. Bush.

Who could possibly oppose this? Why would even the most unhinged Republican reject giving Americans free access to such materials? Or as Rachel asked, "Dear Lord, who is going to object to consumer product safety information being put online?"

The answer, it turns out, is Rep. Mike Pompeo (R) of Kansas, who ran a surprisingly racist campaign, and won last year thanks to generous support from his largest campaign contributors, the Koch brothers and their political action committee. Pompeo also happens to represent the district where Koch Industries is located.

As it turns out, the Kochs don't care for the consumer product safety database, so their congressman pushed a measure to delay and weaken it. As the Kansas City Star explained, Pompeo wanted to push off implementation "to give Congress a chance to make changes that both he and the business community would prefer."

The point of the database couldn't be any more of a no-brainer. The Consumer Safety Product Commission has valuable information, but faces challenges in reaching the public. For very little money, the government has created an online resource that will help families make more informed choices, and create a new incentive for manufacturers to put safe products on the market.

As Michael Lipsky explained today, "One would think it hard to find a politician who opposes reducing preventable dangers to children. [Pompeo] has stepped up to this challenge."

Pompeo's proposal, an amendment to the House spending-cut bill, was approved with 227 Republican votes, but it's not expected to be part of the compromise with the Senate. Still, the fact that he tried, and that the GOP backed his measure, should tell voters a great deal about the party's priorities.

(pic. source | x-posted)