New Testament: The Wine Cooler

Endorsed by Jesus.

ACLU files lawsuit against warrantless wiretapping

The ACLU has filed a lawsuit against the NSA asking for an injunction against warrantless interception of communications to international destinations. The plaintiffs include James Bamford (author of The Puzzle Palace, Body of Secrets, and A Pretext for War), Christopher Hitchens, Greenpeace, Larry Diamond of the Hoover Institution, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and others.

Animal Planet Heroes Phoenix

Tonight is the premiere of Animal Planet Heroes Phoenix, a fifteen-episode series which filmed animal-related emergencies last year which were handled by the Arizona Humane Society's Emergency Animal Medical Technicians (EAMTs), a program launched in September 2002.

The show airs at 8 p.m. MST in the Phoenix market on the Animal Planet channel.

UPDATE: Kat and I attended the Arizona Humane Society's premiere event last night at Harkins Cine Capri. Many of the production crew (from Anglia Television), all of the EAMTs, and many AHS staff and volunteers were present, and available to chat after the show.

The show (an episode titled "Trapped Underground") was alternately heartwarming and saddening. A 14-year-old Spaniel was trapped 20 feet underground in a sinkhole in the owner's yard, a kitten was trapped in the piping of an apartment sprinkler system, a dog and her puppies were stung repeatedly by bees, and a large number of Brussels griffons were being kept in horrific conditions by a hoarder.

The upcoming schedule is a new episode each night this week: "Wandering Beagle" tonight (Jan. 17), "The Dog House" (Jan. 18), "Promise to Mother" (Jan. 19), and "Desert Rescue" (Jan. 20). Information on air dates and times may be found at Animal Planet's site.

ID advocates temporarily back Saddam Hussein's astrologer

William Dembski stopped blogging at "Uncommon Descent," but then turned the keys over to Dave Scot and a few others. A recent post there, quickly deleted, gave a quote from Dr. Raj Baldev criticizing evolution. It was no doubt deleted once the poster became aware that Baldev is an Indian astrologer and swami who endorses palmistry, numerology, and "occult reading," and who gave private consultations to Saddam Hussein when he was in power.

Ed Brayton commented on this posting before it disappeared, and now "crandaddy" at Uncommon Descent has the nerve to criticize Ed for being "bigoted" in pointing this out.

As a commenter on Ed's blog has pointed out, Michael Behe did say in the Dover case that astrology would count as science under the definition of science that admits intelligent design.

The Secular Outpost opens for business

A new group blog, The Secular Outpost, is now open for business with a post from Jeff Lowder on J.P. Moreland's claim that Christians are less biased than naturalists.

Wind-powered walking machines

The Animaris Rhinoceros Transport is a type of animal with a steel skeleton and a polyester skin. It looks as if there is a thick layer of sand coating the animal. It weighes 2. tons, but can be set into motion by one person. It stands 4.70 meters tall. Because of its height it catches enough wind to start moving. MPEG video here. (From Jamie Zawinski's blog.)

ASU "Secular Devils" events for 2006

The "Secular Freethought Society" at Arizona State University (also known as the "Secular Devils") has an event calendar for 2006 on the web. Gerda de Klerk, the group's president, sent me an email inviting me to attend any of them, and asking me to pass it on to anyone else interested. The Eugenie Scott talk I've already mentioned is on the list, along with some Darwin Week events for February 13-17, a film screening of "Bob Smith USA" followed by "Normal Bob Smith and his Unholy Army of Catholic School Girls invade downtown Tempe" on March 3, a talk by John Lynch of the stranger fruit blog on the development of creationism into the intelligent design movement on March 28, among others.

Fictional autobiographies: Frey joins Warnke, "Stratford," Esses, etc.

As many people now know, James Frey's bestseller and Oprah Book Club selection A Million Little Pieces has been exposed by The Smoking Gun as a collection of fabrications--yet Oprah continues to support the book.

There's a whole genre (at least one) of phony autobiography, and those who get suckered into believing them often continue to support them even in the face of overwhelming evidence against them. Mike Warnke's book, The Satan Seller, tells of how he was inducted into a coven of Satan-worshippers and became a leader in the group, leading a debauched life before finding God and becoming a Christian standup comedian. The Christian magazine Cornerstone did a comprehensive investigation into his past, and found that none of it was true. Similarly, Cornerstone exposed "Lauren Stratford"'s claim of being raised by Satan-worshippers, forced to participate in sex orgies, and to sacrifice her own child to be the fabrications of a mentally disturbed woman who was raised in a Christian home. Michael Esses told a story of being a God-hating rabbi converted to Christianity in his 1973 book, Michael, Michael, Why Do You Hate Me? John Todd claimed to be a member of the Illuminati. "Dr. Alberto Rivera" claimed to be a Jesuit priest trained to destroy Protestant churches in a story published as a comic book by Jack Chick. Cathy O'Brien claimed in Trance-Formation of America to have been subjected to CIA mind control and made into a sex slave for presidents and celebrities.

The male versions emphasize that the individual involved was a tough guy, a bad guy, and a leader involved in these nefarious deeds; the female versions, by contrast, portray themselves as victims under the control of evil conspirators. In both cases there seems to be an element of pride in the vivid descriptions of the actions confessed--the motivations behind these are no doubt similar to the motivations of false or embellished confessions in rehab and twelve-step programs.

It's worth noting that the same people are behind a number of the Christian fakes--David Balsiger ghost-authored Warnke's book and was director of marketing for the publisher of Esses' book (and has a longstanding reputation for dishonesty), Jack Chick promoted John Todd and "Alberto."

In Frey's case, publisher Nan Talese admits having long-standing arguments with her husband, Gay Talese, about whether "nonfiction" can include fabrications--her husband defending truth in nonfiction while she defends falsehood presented as fact.

Frey, for his part, has admitted that he has taken some liberties, but asserts in the face of overwhelming evidence from The Smoking Gun exposure that his account is still basically accurate.

Why are so many people willing to support and endorse this kind of dishonesty? Some, like Nan Talese, are doing so explicitly--a position that forgives minor distortions, even when they accumulate into major ones. It allows for "bullshitting" and for "noble lies" of the sort the neo-conservatives defend.

I find it fascinating that some of the biggest defenders of this kind of falsehood are people who claim to be absolutists about morality--the only thing that can be said in their defense is that some of them truly believe it and think the exposures can be refuted. Over time, the position can become untenable for most, and the followers of people like Warnke fall away in quiet embarrassment.

Sam Alito's queer mannerisms

I make no claim to have accurate gaydar, but did anybody see the video of Sam Alito walking down the street in D.C. (shown as the "moment of zen" on the Daily Show, Thursday, January 12) and not think he appeared to be a gay man (of the closeted, married variety)?

Apparently he does have a gay-friendly past. Of course, he defended privacy rights back then, too.

Unfortunately, closeted gay conservatives of the Roy Cohn and Terry Dolan variety are not generally good for the country...

Casey Luskin's lack of integrity

Casey Luskin offered a commentary (on the Discovery Institute's "Evolution News & Views" blog) on Kenneth Miller's testimony in the Dover case in which he expounded on chromosomal fusion and evidence for common ancestry between apes and humans. Mike Dunford and P. Z. Myers responded, pointing out numerous errors and misunderstandings in Luskin's argument. Luskin's commentary has been enshrined as a paper at the IDEA Center website called "And the Miller Told His Tale."

If Luskin or the Discovery Institute were serious about "teaching the controversy," they'd at least acknowledge the existence of these responses. But even the trackbacks for the blog entry remains empty...