New Face on Mars images

The Mars Express orbiter has taken some new images of the so-called "Face on Mars" which were released to the public yesterday. Not surprisingly, they don't provide any support for the claim that this feature of Mars is an artifact.

(Hat tip to Dave Palmer on the SKEPTIC mailing list for the link.)

Mandating lower fuel prices is neither environmentally nor economically sound

Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano has a petition on her website to send to President Bush to ask him to ask Congress to take legislative action to mandate lower gasoline prices. This makes no sense. The best way to reduce dependence on gasoline and oil is for the prices to go up, not down. We're taxing imports of Brazilian ethanol from sugar in order to promote corn-based products raised in the U.S., at the behest of companies like corporate welfare pig Archer Daniels Midland--how about stopping that? The Economist has frequently argued (most recently in its issue this month on climate change) that the U.S. should follow Europe's lead by increasing taxes on gasoline as well as providing incentives to shift to alternative energy.

Ellen Simon, a Democratic Party candidate from Sedona running against corrupt politician Rick Renzi in Arizona's District 1, has "protecting the environment" on her list of issues, but she's also pushing Napolitano's "lower gas prices" petition. Why, Ellen? (BTW, thanks for the link to my Renzi/Hayworth post.)

Elif Shafak acquitted of "denigrating Turkish national identity"

University of Arizona professor Elif Shafak, who was tried in Turkey for "denigrating Turkish national identity" in her novel The Bastard of Istanbul, was acquitted. The EU has "welcomed" the verdict while expressing the opinion that Turkey should scrap these "insult" laws. I agree--and the EU member countries which have similar laws should do the same.

Hat tip to stranger fruit.

Cory Maye off death row

Judge Michael Eubanks has ruled that Cory Maye's defense attorney was incompetent at sentencing, which means he'll get a new sentencing trial. He ruled that she was competent for the trial. There are a number of other defense motions which have not yet been ruled on.

Radley Balko reports that he feels like he's been watching a movie attending the hearings--no doubt this story will become a book or a movie.

Also check out Balko's update on the informant whose testimony caused Maye's duplex to be raided by police in the first place.

One-handed Rubik's cube solver

This guy solves a 3x3x3 Rubik's cube with one hand in just over 20 seconds. I think my best time back when I still knew all the moves (and I had somebody show me some good moves for solving the third layer) was about 45 seconds with both hands...

New A. afarensis child skeleton found

Nature reports on a remarkably complete 3.3 million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis skeleton that has been found in Ethiopia. The skeleton, of a 3-year-old female, is being called Lucy's little sister, and will shed more light on A. afarensis anatomy.

More detail and photos at Pharyngula.

ONDCP places anti-drug PSAs on YouTube

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy has placed anti-drug PSAs on YouTube. You know, those same ads that have been shown to increase drug use? Perhaps they hope that the video replies which YouTube users generate in response will similarly have an effect opposite to their intent?

(Via CNN.)

Len Munsil Facts website

A Len Munsil-critical website has appeared. It states that it is "paid for by the Arizona Conservative Trust" and has received funding from the Arizona Values Coalition.

They've gone back to some of Munsil's State Press editorials to find Munsil railing against student protests against apartheid in South Africa, calling it a "madness ... afflicting college students around the nation."

So far, they are missing Munsil's position opposing the decriminalization of cohabitation and oral sex in Arizona.

UPDATE: Munsil has complained about the "Arizona Conservative Trust" to the Clean Elections Commission, and his campaign is questioning who the donors are supporting it. An Arizona Republic article quotes Republican sleazebag and Munsil campaign consultant Nathan Sproul saying, "Who are the donors who are funding this thing? ... They are engaging in a pretty offensive money-laundering operation."

Sproul, former head of the Arizona Republican Party and the Arizona Christian Coalition, runs Sproul & Associates, which engaged in voter registration scams in multiple states prior to the 2004 election. Sproul set up groups that would represent themselves as nonpartisan "get out the vote" organizations in order to get Republicans registered to vote and discard or deter Democratic voter registrations. In addition to supporting Munsil, he also has worked on campaigns for U.S. Rep. Trent Franks, a former Arizona legislator who was a single-issue (anti-abortion) candidate. Sproul has received significant funding from the Republican National Committee to engage in dirty tricks.

I agree with the Munsil campaign's statement that the name "Arizona Conservative Trust" is misleading and deceptive, especially if (as seems likely) there are Democratic Party members behind the effort. I also condemn the prerecord telemarketing pseudo-surveys that have been done ("push polls") regarding Munsil--it's a sleazy tactic.

Chris Hallquist on the Lowder-Fernandes debate

Chris Hallquist has written a nice summary and evaluation of the theism-naturalism debate between Jeff Lowder of the Internet Infidels and Phil Fernandes, which is now available on Google Video. He agrees with the consensus that it's a very strong win for Lowder, while also offering some specific criticisms.

Efficient creationist quote-mining

The Discovery Institute has quote-mined an article co-authored by the National Center for Science Education's Nick Matzke 16 days before it was officially published in print (it had early publication online). Nick Matzke explains how the quote, pulled from its context, was used to misrepresent the state of the debate about evolution of the flagellum.