Disturbing story on immigration.

Feministing:

This is going to ruin your afternoon. Just a warning. Isaac R. Baichu, 46, began calling a 22 year-old Colombian woman after receiving her cell phone number at a green card interview last year.

He hinted, she said, at his power to derail her life and deport her relatives, alluding to a brush she had with the law before her marriage. He summoned her to a private meeting. And at noon on Dec. 21, in a parked car on Queens Boulevard, he named his price — not realizing that she was recording everything on the cellphone in her purse.

“I want sex,” he said on the recording. “One or two times. That’s all. You get your green card. You won’t have to see me anymore.”

Before she left his car, he demanded oral sex to “know that you’re serious.” In other words, he raped her. (Though strangely, the NY Times article doesn't it call it rape. It just notes that "he got his way.") The rest of the story is just as horrible (trigger warning like a mofo), but I'm glad that it's at least getting some press.

Preying on undocumented immigrant women isn't exactly a new thing, and it's pretty amazing that this young woman came forward. Most women won't report sexual assaults by immigration officials for fear of retaliation or deportation.

For more information on immigrant women's issues, check out the National Network to End Violence Against Immigrant Women and Legal Momentum's Immigrant Women Program.

A reminder for Easter

PZ Myers:

This is what health departments are reduced to in the face of lunacy. Health officials in the Philippines have issued a warning to people taking part in Easter crucifixion rituals.

...

People are flagellating themselves and nailing themselves to sticks in a public spectacle of stupidity, and health officials are warning them to get a tetanus shot? How about "Stop doing that," instead, or alternatively, "Please use rusty nails and whips clotted with rotting gore so that you'll die sooner and we won't have to worry about you idiots anymore"?

Yeah, so if you plan on bludgeoning yourself or ramming nails through yourself, please do it hygienically.

David, Dick and John

Crooks and Liars:

Just four days ago, Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said that “no one” in the U.S. and Iraqi governments “feels that there has been sufficient progress by any means in the area of national reconciliation,” or in the provision of basic public services.

As it turns out, “no one” doesn’t include John McCain, who feels there’s been plenty of progress…

“Anybody who believes the surge has not succeeded, militarily, politically and in most other ways, frankly, does not know the facts on the ground.”

… nor does it include Dick Cheney, who apparently sees political progress Petraeus doesn’t.

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday declared the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq a “successful endeavor,” pointing to security and political progress on a visit ahead of the fifth anniversary of the war.

A new schism between Petraeus and Republican leaders? Well, probably not. It’s far more likely that McCain and Cheney have their political talking points to read, and don’t much care whether they contradict Petraeus’ comments or not.

Another passing

Sad to here earlier, Arthur C. Clarke has passed.

PZ Myers:

He had a good long run, and although I think his later books were awful and the flaws of his earlier ones were colored over by my own youth, there's no denying he was an influential science fiction writer. Arthur C. Clarke died today in Sri Lanka.

Phil Plaitt:

I am incredibly saddened to hear that Arthur C. Clarke has died. He had been ill for sometime, and finally succumbed earlier today.

It is no exaggeration at all to say we owe the world to Clarke. He is most famous for having written the book and movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, of course. But he also was the first person to conceive of a geostationary orbit; one in which a satellite orbits the Earth once every 24 hours, giving it a view that always shows the same face of the Earth. This is (mostly) where we put weather and communication satellites today.

His science fiction and fact books inspired a generation of rocket scientists, engineers, astronomers, and more. His fiction in the 1950s is a blueprint for how to explore space, and had the US government listened I might have been writing these words from my cabin on a lunar base.

I personally had some tangential contact with him. We sent him a copy of my first book to get a blurb from him; he sent one back too late to use on the book, but I have the letter still and I treasure it. I also met a good friend of ACC’s, Fred Durant, at James Randi’s first Amazing Meeting. We chatted for a while, and he asked me if I had ever read Clarke’s The Coming of the Space Age. I said sure, back in high school. He asked if I’d like a copy, and I again said sure! He then got a little wistful, and said that he bought the last remaining first edition hardcovers years back, and Clarke was ticked because he had wanted them. Then Fred smiled, and said Clarke was even more ticked when Fred made him sign all the copies.

It took a moment for me to realize that Fred was offering to send me a signed, first-edition hardcover of Clarke’s book. I couldn’t believe it.

That book sits on my shelf, not one meter to my left. It’s one of my most prized possessions.
Clarke inspired me when I was in high school. His stories of lunar colonization were (and still are) wonderful reading, cleverly plotted and well-written. I’m very sad he’s gone, but I am so very very happy he was alive. His name will be remembered as long as we ply the lanes of space.

If it were me...

I love all the "If it were me" going on now.

Last week, if it were me, and my husband the governor cheated...

Now, if it were me, and my reverend spoke like Obama's...


How nice. Everyone loves to put themselves in others shoes to make pronouncements about other's lives.

On the first, I liked hearing from the former wife of the former governor of New Jersey. You know the one who's husband came out and admitted to an affair with an advisor and left office.

Now that is someone who can speak on being cheated on by a public figure. And discussed it on NPR last week, talking about her feelings and thinking at the time, and the impact of her choices on her children.

Yet many were eager to shout passed people like this women, and declare what was and wasn't right. I see Dr. Phil has a show this week where he and his wife tell it like it is. YEESCH! When Dr. Phil is on to the story, you know it has been tread to death.


The same with Obama, dealing with a long time family friend and mentor. So many are eager to declare what they would do that type of person in their lives if...well what exactly, the caricature of the YouTube clips? He is clearly a flawed guy, but we all have people in our lives with stupid opinions and ideas.

Especially, as skeptics, we will be talking to someone and suddenly they will talk of reflexology or 9/11 conspiracies, or fung shue. If it is a stranger or coworker, we just don't hang with them, if it is pernicious.

But a family member or a close family friend?

If it were me...

Obama's Speech

Well, I thought it was good, but I wasn't worried that Obama a whack job or adherent of the sound bytes of Wright. Maybe I'm too slow and dim.

The Speech - TPM:

We have a full transcript of Obama's big race speech for you after the jump. He's set to deliver it in Philadelphia within moments.

Reading it, you can't escape the fact that in various ways it represents a massive break with conventional political precedent.

In the speech Obama goes big big big, quite consciously presenting his personal story -- and candidacy -- as both symbol and realization of American history...

...

Hey, remember McCain.

AMERICAblog:

...

Big week for John McCain. He's on a taxpayer funded photo op excursion around the world. Pretty bold for a guy who beats up on wasteful spending to use government money to finance what is basically a campaign trip. Then, he's got the fundraiser in London, hosted by a British Lord. Imagine the outrage if a Democrat sent out a fundraising invite with the words "by kind permission of Lord Rothschild OM GBE."

But, most important of all, McCain is going to release is February FEC report. We'll see if McCain is breaking the campaign finance laws. If he breaks the spending cap, he's broken the law.

Actually, it's a big week showing what a hypocrite McCain is. The traditional media is too obsessed with Obama's pastor to pay attention to McCain's hypocrisy and criminality. But, the political reporters know McCain. He lets the ride on the bus with him. Maybe McCain will start giving them all pet nicknames like Bush did. The reporters love stuff like that. It shows how cool they are...so much cooler than the rest of us.

...

Working hard to be more wronger

PZ Myers noted an interesting connection.

Sally Kern, who declared gays the greatest threat to America, is also the person who is pushing Religious Antidiscrimination in Oklahoma.

Who's surprised?

...

Here's something even worse than the self-destruction of her own family: Kerns is the sponsor of Oklahoma House Bill 2211, the "Religious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination Act". You can tell from the title what it is: a bill that would privilege religious opinions over scientific information in public school classrooms. The story is all over the Oklahomans for Excellence in Science Education page, as you might guess. The bad news is that the HB 2211 has passed in the House and is on its way to the Oklahoma senate, where we'd better hope it gets shot down.

...

Hillary's strategy?

AMERICAblog:

Markos has an important post, The Clinton civil war, that sums up how a lot of Democrats are feeling these days. Bottom line is that by any marker, Hillary cannot win the nomination. But, she's pursuing a slash and burn campaign anyway.

The traditional media is playing up the Obama-Clinton battle. And, the Clinton campaign is playing along with them. Reporters and pundits know the reality - Hillary can't win - but it's good for ratings to keep this battle going. In terms of what is really happening, the media pack is behind the curve on the Democratic race.

Sure, Clinton will win Pennsylvania -- she should win it by 15 or 20 points. So what? Clinton supporter Governor Rendell said either Clinton or Obama will win his state in November. And even with a huge Pennsylvania victory, Hillary will still lose to Obama in the overall delegate count, and THAT is the standard for victory. Pennsylvania is now irrelevant because Hillary lost this race many states, and many weeks, ago.

Hillary won't win the nomination without some machination - Markos calls it a coup, and he's right - that will result in a Democratic Party civil war. And, that seems fine by her as Markos explains.

...

This is what has worried me. She has no real chance now to win, really win. She could cripple Obama at the five yard line/short of home plate/just outside the goal posts, but to what end. What is left then? What does the party have?

I worry that she doesn't think that far ahead, just to the falling ticker tape and the applause.

There is a wrong way and a right way

In dealing with bigotry in the workplace, there is a wrong way and a right way. PZ Myers looks at a situation at Ohio state where it looks like people reacted and acted the wrong way.

A far right wing wanker is suing Ohio State University for discrimination. I hate to say it, but if this account is at all accurate, he might have a case.

...

But being a homophobe isn't a crime, and suggesting a rotten book (a suggestion that I'm sure was shot down without hesitation by the other members of the committee) isn't sufficient grounds for a lawsuit. Unless there's an awful lot more to Savage's actions than are revealed in this story, it sounds like people did try to drive him out of his job.

...

So no sympathy for the ugly little hater from me, but I have to concede that at least one of the actions against him also crossed the line.

This guy wants to push a hate filled book on kids to spite a faculty he sees as full of liberals. Fine. Block him. Perhaps make the argument he was disruptive on the committe, so next year he isn't on it. But you don't push them from their jobs. That is against the law.

Obama and Rezko

AMERICAblog:

As Joe noted last night, the Chicago Tribune editorial board has exonerated Obama 100% regarding his involvement in the so-called Rezko scandal. This is no small feat, as the Trib has a conservative editorial board, and the Trib is the paper that broke the Rezko story in the first place. Who'd have ever imagined that sitting down and candidly telling the truth could get you out of a pickle? There is now nothing more of substance that the Republicans (or Hillary) can throw at Obama. We may have our first Teflon Democrat in a very long time. And that's a quality the Clintons will never be able to claim.

Io and Jupiter

Phil Plaitt wants to teach you something about Jupiter and Io.

Jupiter’s magnetic field is enormous, which is fitting for the King of the Planets. It is far stronger and larger than Earth’s, and, not surprisingly, far more complex. Still, some parts of it are just like home: Jupiter has aurorae.

This has been known for years; the interaction of Jupiter’s magnetic field with its atmosphere creates the northern and southern lights in much the same way that it happens on Earth. But Jupiter has something we don’t: a volcanically active moon.

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Paul "No Second Takes" Bremer

Crooks and Liars:

Former head of the Iraqi Provisional Government and Neo-Con Apologist L. Paul Bremer comes on Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer on the fifth anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq to admit, that yes, mistakes were made (and gosh, he had made recommendations that were ignored over assumptions that turned out to be false)…blah blah blah, but even still, he doesn’t think they would have done anything differently in retrospect.

...

Wow. A very tragic price to pay considering we went in for NO REASON, Bremer. And this tired meme that all these other countries agreed with our intelligence continues to be put out without any challenge. OUR OWN weapons inspectors questioned it. The UN questioned it. France and Russia questioned it.

...

Maybe he needs to review Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone, for a refresher on how wrong he lead things.

On a light note

CNN has Kyra Philips doing a light story today from Iraq.

Due to the lack of doctors in Iraq...oh, isn't that cute? ...people are turning to traditional cures...

Again, a light story, so the story surrounds the wonder of 1000 year old herbal cures and the eagerness of locals to get and use them, and declare them successful. The guy doing this even denounced chemicals for herbs...Apparently, doctors around Baghdad are starting to send more and more patients to this guy, cause his cures are so great.

Now, I notice she doesn't actually talk to local doctors about this, but this, first, a happy stories ( too few doctors, forced to return and starting to embrace ancient remedies and blow off medicine - it reminds me of the light stories of the early days where poor struggling American towns where sacrificing to send school goods to Iraq - Why wasn't the US, or another, government on this as opposed to people who could ill afford to give so much?), and second, she jokes with the newsreader at the end and the newsreader suggests they expand the herbalist into the US and franchise him....yeah...we need more of that here. Also she compares this guys business and franchising it to...Red Bull. Now, I do not drink that, but, as I understand, it is a very caffeinated carbonated beverage...and this guy is selling claimed cures for stones, diabetes, etc. And ironic, since CNN ran a story that called into question the impact of energy drinks on the body.

Maybe they are making light of the story and the herbs popularity in Baghdad. But then they are also laughing at the lack of medical aid in country. They are laughing at peoples desperation and ignorance. They are chuckling as people abandon science and medicine. And they laugh as they give this crap a seal of approval.

Yeah, keep chuckling guys.

Another blogswarm

Well, it is time again, almost, for another blogswarm...against THEOCRACY!!!

Yay!

Wait, this is serious.

But we all still have a week, it starts the 21st, to plan what we want to say.

So get thinking, and get blogging.

Boo aethist!...I mean atheist...I'm samrt...

From RichardDawkins.net, a couple of ridiculous and unfounded arguments against atheism.

Read and shake your heads.

• The atheist delusion
• I don't believe in atheists

Edit:

PZ Myers has some thoughts on this writing.

The critics of atheism seem, without exception, to be lacking in imagination. Over and over again, what we hear from them is desperate attempts to pigeonhole atheism as just another religion; they squat uncomprehendingly in their hovels built of faith and peer quizzically at the godless, seeking correspondence with their familiar theological nonsense, and crow in triumph when they find something that they can sort of line up with their experiences. "They want more people to think rationally — why, that's evangelism!" Never mind that you could, with the same legitimacy, argue that when one person mentions to another that it is raining, they are attempting to evangelize their precipitational worldview. "They are so damned sure that they are right — they're fundamentalists!" Jebus, but I'm tired of that "fundamentalism" claim: it's the surest sign that you're dealing with a clueless, dissembling, frightened apologist for religion when they start flinging the "fundie" accusation at atheists. And yes, it is exactly like accusing the fellow who walks through the door in a wet raincoat, to the sound of raindrops pattering on the roof and the occasional distant boom of thunder, of being a fundamentalist rainist because he can show you the deluge.

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Religious Freedom

Neurologica:

HB2211 is a proposed bill that has recently passed the Oklahoma House Education Committee. The bill is called the “Religious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination Act” (you can access the full text here). The proponents of this bill claim that it’s purpose is to protect students from religious discrimination, but the bill is actually a Trojan horse - a stealth bill that has a different purpose - as a backdoor method for getting creationism into the public schools.

...

Like Academic Freedom, the conservative move on Religious Freedom hides an agenda to subvert education and knowledge.

What is it with these conservatives and ignorance?

If You Open Your Mind Too Much Your Brain Will Fall Out

Tim Michin, So Live, a comedian and musician, explains the dangers of being too open minded.

That funny thing memory.

Neurologica:

Scientists and skeptics are keenly aware of the nature and limitations of human memory (or at least they should be). While so-called “believers”, and the public at large, generally put unjustified faith in the accuracy of memories, especially their own. This often constitutes the gulf that separates believers and skeptics on many issues.

Many people remember being abducted by aliens or seeing ghosts. Advocates of dubious medical treatments often site stories of people who were apparently cured by the treatments. The stories often seem very compelling, the facts all line up, the conclusion seems obvious. Yet skeptics will easily shake their head and say, “I just don’t believe it.” This frustrates the believers no end. How can the skeptics dismiss what so many people have experienced, they wonder.

The reason is simple - human memory is incredibly unreliable, and most people grossly underestimate the extent to which their own memories can be altered and fabricated.

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McCain thinking = Republican thinking

TPM:

Just in case you'd forgotten about John McCain, you should know that he's out there campaigning, and he's actually saying stuff like this...

Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Friday he fears that al Qaeda or another extremist group might attempt spectacular attacks in Iraq to try to tilt the U.S. election against him.

McCain, at a town hall meeting in this Philadelphia suburb, was asked if he had concerns that anti-American militants in Iraq might ratchet up their activities in Iraq to try to increase casualties in September or October and tip the November election against him.

"Yes, I worry about it," McCain said.

You know, I keep hearing from Republican pundits and operatives that the specter of terrorism inevitably bolsters the electoral prospects of Republicans. But here McCain says that Al Qaeda would amp up their attacks in Iraq to hurt him.

Hard to keep track of this stuff sometimes.

It's also worth noting that McCain's basically saying here that he "worries" that Al Qaeda will attack in order to help a Democrat become the next president.

Nice to see Rove is already at work. As this is pretty much the line of thinking in the last election.

Better for McCain, it is an out. If the Surge does give long term improvement, he was right and glorious. If it fails, it was because the "terrorist" want Democrats in the White House. So he is right and glorious.

Heads I win, tail you lose.