"Big Dog" the robotic pack mule

Boston Dynamics is building this four-legged robot for the U.S. military (DARPA):

A nimble, four-legged robot is so surefooted it can recover its balance even after being given a hefty kick. The machine, which moves like a cross between a goat and a pantomime horse, is being developed as a robotic pack mule for the US military.

In this amusing or perhaps creepy video (28MB Windows media file), the robot walks over different types of terrain--including mud, rocky ground, and snow--and is given a few kicks to show how it stabilizes itself. Unlike the photo at left, in the video it looks like a pantomime horse with both people facing each other--sort of the opposite of a pushmipullyu.

(Via jwz's blog.)

Scientology sampler

That's a picture of me on September 9, 1995 in front of the Church of Scientology in Mesa, Arizona, picketing about the "Cancel poodle" (better known as the "Cancel Bunny"). This was about two years into Scientology's war on the Internet, which, despite a few Pyrrhic victories in court, was characterized by huge losses on the part of Scientology in the court of public opinion.

Shortly after this, Jeff Jacobsen and I published an article on the subject in Skeptic magazine, titled "Scientology v. the Internet," for which I received the Skeptics Society's Martin Gardner award for "Best Skeptical Critic" in 1996. This article was one of the few published that went into detail about the Tom Klemesrud/"Miss Blood" affair and its relation to why Scientology was so insistent to compromise the anonymity of a user of Julf Helsingius' Penet anonymizing remailer service in Finland. Some of these facts which are still not widely known, as seen by the Wikipedia entry on Penet. Scientology's search for the user seemed to have stopped at Caltech, but they did find that the account holder was a Caltech alumnus who had been working for Scientology, and had accurately leaked Scientology internal documents in his own attempt to support Scientology's position on the Klemesrud case.

This article was responded to in the pages of Skeptic by Leisa Goodman, which the Skeptics Society decided was a good place to stop the discussion. My response to Goodman, available only on my website, updates the story to early 1996. This article is much less known than the original. Skeptic also published a letter from Linda Woolard.

In May 1995, I put up a web page about Scientology's private investigators. Initially this was to document photos of private investigators which Scientology had hired and sent from Los Angeles to Phoenix to take photographs of those of us who were picketing the Mesa Church of Scientology. It later was expanded to document some of the activities of former LAPD officer Eugene Ingram, who was a very active and sleazy PI for Scientology at the time. He was kicked off the force after allegations of his involvement with drug dealers and a prostitution ring, and was compensated very well by Scientology to intimidate critics. Jeff Jacobsen dug up some outstanding warrants for his arrest in Florida and Oklahoma (for impersonating a police officer and carrying a concealed weapon, respectively) which led to his Arizona PI license not being renewed. He doesn't seem to have been active in recent years. I then added some photos of some California PIs who were hired to follow a German TV producer who was doing a program critical of Scientology.

In 1999, I received two Digital Millenium Copyright Act notices from Scientology--one was regarding a customer of Frontier GlobalCenter, the company I worked for at the time, and the other was regarding my own website. The first was a website run by "xenubat" (Susan Mullaney) which contained some great audio file samples of L. Ron Hubbard speeches, saying absurd things. Under the DMCA we disabled public access to those files, but she filed a counter-notice, and we re-enabled access. I don't believe Scientology ever sued her, but I don't think the files are still online. This event led to a story about DMCA abuse in Salon in July 1999. My own DMCA notice was regarding the fact that I had configured my home web server to proxy an image of Scientology head David Miscavige from their website, as a proof of concept to demonstrate that their attempts to prevent people from inline links to that image were ineffective. I submitted my own counter-notice, but because I didn't really want to be sued, I modified my web server configuration so that the link pointed to part of the text of Scientology's OT III (Operating Thetan III) document in Hubbard's own handwriting (hosted on Carnegie Mellon computer science professor Dave Touretzky's web page).

In those days I gave quite a few public talks about Scientology, including one for the Phoenix Skeptics which the local Church of Scientology kindly provided an OT VIII to give a mild rebuttal. (I don't remember his last name, but his first name was also Jim and he was a Scientology "public" member, meaning one who has paid his way through the courses without actually working for a Scientology organization. He seemed like a nice guy, he remained calm and non-confrontational.)

I never really received any noticeable harassment from Scientology, unlike other locals such as Jeff Jacobsen and Bruce Pettycrew. Jeff was harassed and picketed at his work place claiming he was a pornographer, Gene Ingram showed up at his house and his sister's house, PIs went through his garbage, he was deposed by Kendrick Moxon in one of the Scientology lawsuits, and was loudly threatened at that deposition that he would also be sued (which I was privileged to witness). Bruce had a temporary restraining order filed against him by Scientology Office of Special Affairs (OSA) Director Leslie Francis Duhrman, who falsely claimed that he was shouting and "disrupting church services." The judge was fooled by her testimony into thinking that Scientology actually has Sunday services, but the TRO on Bruce's picketing was lifted except for a restriction on making noise. Bruce also ended up having flyers attacking him distributed in his neighborhood by Scientology.

For my part, I was invited to lunch in March 1996 with OSA Director Ginny Leason (Scientology paid), where I was asked what could be done to stop my criticism and picketing. My response was that they could stop attacking and lying about Internet critics. Ginny Leason, who seemed like a nice woman caught up in a bad organization, ended up being replaced as OSA Director shortly thereafter by Leslie Duhrman, who was a nasty piece of work.

Here's a photo of her on February 28, 1998, pointing and shouting at me that I can't stop in the driveway (I didn't), right after taking my picture.

Another Scientology-related piece I wrote was a very brief web page pointing out the presence of a Scientologist on Libertarian candidate for president Harry Browne's finance committee, as well as L. Ron Hubbard-inspired nonsense being touted in Liberty magazine by another Browne election campaigner and prominent libertarian, investment newsletter publisher Douglas Casey (apparently a Scientologist himself).

The only continuing interest from Scientology that I've seen in me is that they still visit my website periodically from Scientology-owned IP blocks (most recently from 205.227.165.11 on January 1, 2006). On May 14, 2005, they hit my page after doing a search on "The Onion Scientology"--no doubt they were looking for this story on "Scientology Losing Ground to New Fictionology."

I was never a member of Scientology, but I've had an interest in the subject since reading Eugene Methvin's October 1981 Reader's Digest article, and after taking their test in Los Angeles and reading Norman Spinrad's "The Mind Game" in 1992. During my editorship of the Arizona Skeptic (July 1991-March 1993) I published several articles by Jeff Jacobsen on Scientology. I took notice when the alt.religion.scientology newsgroup was first created in 1991 (and was a home for the "Free Zone"), and then started reading and participating regularly in 1994 when Dennis Erlich started posting there and Scientology decided to respond by trying to remove the entire newsgroup.

For more information on Scientology, a great place to start is Operation Clambake. I've got a fairly extensive list of Scientology-related links on my Skeptical Information site, and the alt.religion.scientology newsgroup is still quite active.

Got questions or comments about Scientology? Ask here, and I'll answer or point you in the right direction...

Answers in Genesis schism: U.S. group goes solo

Answers in Genesis had been an international organization, with the U.S. branch under Ken Ham based in Kentucky, and an Australian branch under Carl Wieland in Queensland (which was formerly known as the Creation Science Foundation). Now the Australian group (along with ministries in Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa) has changed its name to Creation Ministries International, explaining in a recent brochure that the U.S. group did not want to be "subject to an international representative system of checks/balances/peer review involving all the other offices bearing the same 'brand name'."

This explains why an article critical of bad creationist arguments (and specifically Kent Hovind) disappeared from the Answers in Genesis site, but is found on the new Creation Ministries International site. (UPDATE (March 6, 2006): This statement was not quite accurate, but the linked-to page gets it right. The article listing arguments not to use is still present on the Answers in Genesis site, but it no longer links to the separate "maintaining creationist integrity" page and response to Kent Hovind which is present on the Creation Ministries International site.)

Wieland's group has made a point of publishing material critical of bad creationist arguments, on its website and in its technical journal. Ken Ham, on the other hand, has made a point of publishing and presenting bad creationist arguments.

The U.S. group, known for spending millions on a creationist museum, has interesting Form 990s filed with the IRS. Some highlights from 2003 and 2004:

Revenue: $9,016,228 (2003), $10,423,222 (2004).
Expenses: $6,894,456 (2003), $8,320,926 (2004).
Assets: $10,778,086 (2003), $17,368,759 (2004).
Liabilities: $1,693,035 (2003), $6,086,610 (2004).

Officer/Director compensation: $313,960 (2003), $926,837 (2004).
Other salaries/wages: $2,938,288 (2003), $2,852,351 (2004).
Pension plan contributions: $87,819 (2003), $0 (2004).
Other employee benefits: $317,802 (2003), $399,482 (2004).
Payroll taxes: $223,636 (2003), $307,267 (2004).

Employees with salaries over $50,000:
Kevin Markesbery, Construction Manager, $87,000 plus $8,778 to benefit plans/deferred income and $1,375 expense account (2003). $88,678 plus $6,850 to benefit plans, $4,076 expense account (2004).
John Pence, Dir. of Planned Giving/Legal Counsel, $87,539 plus $7,728 to benefit plans/deferred income (2003). (Became a director in 2004, see below).
Patrick Marsh, Director, $73,713 plus $5,202 to benefit plans (2004).
James Hatton, Controller, $70,763 plus $8,609 to benefit plans/deferred income.
Kathy Ellis, Dir. Administration, $68,519 plus $7,078 to benefit plans/deferred income.
Mark Looy, VP Ministry Relations, $68,417 plus $8,460 to benefit plans/deferred income and $2,232 expense account. (Became a director in 2004, see below.)
Tony Ramsek, Systems Mgr., $62,720 plus $6,821 to benefit plans (2004).
Dan Zordel, Director, $57,724 plus $6,816 to benefit plans and $839 expense account (2004).
Charles Tilton, Director, $56,828 plus $3,109 to benefit plans and $112 expense account (2004).

Directors:
Carl Wieland, Board Member, $0 (2003).
Ken Ham, President, $125,739 salary, $11,033 benefits, $44,478 expenses (2003). $121,764 salary, $6,887 benefits, $63,808 expenses (2004).
Bill Wise, CFO, $121,418 salary, $8,845 benefits, $2,535 expenses (2003).
John Pence, General Counsel, $93,115 salary, $3,148 benefits (2004).
Kathy Ellis, Vice President, $86,068 salary, $5,261 benefits (2004).
Mark Looy, Vice President, $85,615 salary, $6,820 benefits, $3,518 expenses (2004).
James Hatton, CFO, $81,000 salary, $6,831 benefits (2004).
Mike Zovath, VP, $74,798 salary, $8,707 benefits, $2,267 expenses (2003). $90,201 salary, $6,830 benefits, $1,115 expenses (2004).
Brandon Vallorani, $74,432 salary, $8,313 benefits, $1,368 expenses (2003). COO, $90,344 salary, $6,223 benefits, $2,316 expenses (2004).
Don Landis, Chairman, $0 (2003). $0 (2004).
Dan Chin, Board Member, $0 (2003). $0 (2004).
Mark Jackson, Board Member, $0 (2003). $0 (2004).
Carl Kerby, Board Member, $6,538 salary (20hrs/week), $1,650 benefits, $22,462 expenses (2003). Vice President, $65,112 salary, $4,225 benefits, $27,240 expenses (2004).
Dan Manthei, Board Member, $0 (2003). $0 (2004).
Peter Strong, Board Member, $0 (2003).
Greg Peacock, Board Member, $0 (2003). $0 (2004).
Paul Salmon, Board Member, $0 (2003).
David Denner, Board Member, $0 (2004).
Dale Mason, Vice President, $115,621 salary, $4,828 benefits (2004).
John Thallon, Board Member, $0 (2004).
Tim Dudley, Board Member, $0 (2004).

They paid their top building contractors in 2003:
plumbing and HVAC: $829,979
concrete: $310,252
steel erection: $279,428
building electric: $249,450
concrete foundations: $195,872

In 2003 they sold or gave away several old computers, and gave a 2002 Toyota Camry to CFO Bill Wise (who also got a free Compaq laptop).

The full AiG 2004 Form 990 may be found here (PDF).

Ken Ham earns a pretty good salary for someone who spouts misrepresentations of and about evolution for a living and resides in a state where the median household income in 2002-2003 was $37,270.

Answers in Genesis of Kentucky's unwillingness to undergo even the peer review of fellow creationist organizations indicates to me a lack of ethics and integrity.

UPDATE: I didn't explicitly note above that this schism must have actually taken place back in 2005, since Carl Wieland and the other Australians (Greg Peacock and Paul Salmon) disappeared from the AiG Kentucky board in the 2004 Form 990 (signed on August 10, 2005, apparently an update since the original was due by May 15). Also of note is that John Thallon, an Australian who helped lose the Creation Science Foundation thousands of dollars in a bogus investment (he was also a victim, not a party to the fraud--see the "Loss of Funds" section of my article "How Not To Argue With Creationists"), has moved to Kentucky and is on the board as of 2004.

One other thing worthy of note is that as Answers in Genesis of Kentucky has grown, it has pulled support away from the Institute for Creation Research (ICR), which Henry Morris' son John Morris has never really had his heart in running. The ICR's 2004 revenue was $4,341,000, with expenses of $4,231,885. They had assets of $5,628,352 and liabilities of $537,283--so they're not exactly hurting, but they're not doing AiG-sized business, either. (2004 Form 990 for the ICR is here (PDF).) It wouldn't surprise me if AiG ultimately completely displaced (or perhaps acquired) the ICR.

The current tree of life

Carl Zimmer's blog, The Loom, features this image with better resolution. It comes from biologists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, who have published in Science the most thorough tree of life based on sequencing 31 universal genes selected from 191 species of animals, plants, fungi, protozoans, bacteria, and archaea.

Zimmer explains the diagram:

Here's a quick tour of the tree. Start at middle of the circle. The central point represents the last common ancestor of all living things on Earth. The tree sprouts three deep branches, which between them contain all the species the scientists studied. These deep branches first came to light in the 1970s, and are known as domains. We belong to the red domain of Eukaryota, along with plants, fungi, and protozoans. Bacteria (blue) and Archaea (green) make up the other two domains.

These lineages probably split very early in the history of life. Fossils of bacteria that look much like living bacteria turn up at least 3.4 billion years ago. Just a few lineages became multicellular much later, with some algae getting macroscopic about two billion years ago.

The length of the branches on this tree represent so-called genetic distance. The longer the branch, the more substitutions have accumulated in its genes. Since these genomes all come from living species, the branches all span the same period of time. The fact that some branches are long and some are short means that some lineages have evolved more than others. Many forces can stretch out genetic distance. A species may reproduce fast, or it may have a life that makes it prone to acquiring more mutations. The slash in the Bacteria branch represents a segment that the scientists left out to make the full tree easier to see.

It's amazing how small the animal kingdom is in the picture--if "speciesism" is a real problem, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are apparently guilty of it by focusing only on animals.

Dirty Politician: "Duke" Cunningham gets 8 years, 4 months

Former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) was sentenced to 8 years, 4 months in federal prison and will be required to pay $1.8 million in restitution. This is the longest sentence ever for a member of Congress. This case is just the tip of the iceberg--Congress full of similar corrupt politicians, some of whom are in similar trouble and others of whom will only be exposed later.

There's a nice collection of Cunningham data at Talking Points Memo.

AT&T's 1.9-trillion-call database

John Markoff has a story in the New York Times about AT&T's "Daytona" database, which has a record of 1.9 trillion calls from over the last several decades. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which has filed a lawsuit against AT&T for cooperating with the NSA's warrantless interception program, asserts that this database has been used by the NSA for data mining.

"Checking every phone call ever made is an example of old think," he said.

He was alluding to databases maintained at an AT&T data center in Kansas, which now contain electronic records of 1.92 trillion telephone calls, going back decades. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital-rights advocacy group, has asserted in a lawsuit that the AT&T Daytona system, a giant storehouse of calling records and Internet message routing information, was the foundation of the N.S.A.'s effort to mine telephone records without a warrant.

An AT&T spokeswoman said the company would not comment on the claim, or generally on matters of national security or customer privacy.

But the mining of the databases in other law enforcement investigations is well established, with documented results. One application of the database technology, called Security Call Analysis and Monitoring Platform, or Scamp, offers access to about nine weeks of calling information. It currently handles about 70,000 queries a month from fraud and law enforcement investigators, according to AT&T documents.

A former AT&T official who had detailed knowledge of the call-record database said the Daytona system takes great care to make certain that anyone using the database — whether AT&T employee or law enforcement official with a subpoena — sees only information he or she is authorized to see, and that an audit trail keeps track of all users. Such information is frequently used to build models of suspects' social networks.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing sensitive corporate matters, said every telephone call generated a record: number called, time of call, duration of call, billing category and other details. While the database does not contain such billing data as names, addresses and credit card numbers, those records are in a linked database that can be tapped by authorized users.

New calls are entered into the database immediately after they end, the official said, adding, "I would characterize it as near real time."

(Via Bruce Schneier's blog.)

Congress approves renewal of expiring PATRIOT Act provisions

After months of wrangling, Congress has approved the renewal the 16 expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act by making 14 of them permanent and extending the other two by four years. The renewal also includes things like fighting methamphetamine abuse. This version of the bill is the last one passed by the House on December 14 of last year, so none of the delay accomplished anything to improve it.

A few reforms were included--libraries can't be subpoenaed without a court approval, recipients of subpoenas don't have to provide the names of their attorneys, and individuals subject to gag orders can challenge the orders--after waiting a year.

The Senate is considering passing an additional requirement that targets of "sneak-and-peek" searches be notified within seven days.

The bill, HR 3199, the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act, was passed by an 89-10 vote in the Senate. Both of Arizona's Senators, Kyl and McCain, voted in favor of it. The ten no votes were from Sens. Akaka (D-HI), Bingaman (D-NM), Byrd (D-WV), Feingold (D-WI), Harkin (D-IA), Jeffords (I-VT), Leahy (D-VT), Levin (D-MI), Murray (D-WA), and Wyden (D-WA). Sen. Inouye (D-HI) did not vote.

The House passed the bill on December 14, 2005 with a 251-174 vote, the details of which are here. Arizona's Representatives voted along party lines: For: Flake (R-6th), Franks (R-2nd), Hayworth (R-5th), Kolbe (R-8th), Renzi (R-1st), Shadegg (R-3rd), Against: Grijalva (D-7th), Pastor (D-4th).

Santorum flip-flops on Intelligent Design--again

After the Dover decision came down in December 2005, Sen. Rick Santorum resigned as a director of the Thomas More Law Center (which defended the Dover school board) and publicly stated that "I thought the Thomas More Law Center made a huge mistake in taking this case and in pushing this case to the extent they did."

This was his first flip-flop, as he had earlier in 2005 written an op-ed which supported the Dover school board.

Now he's flip-flopped again, writing a forward to a new book about Philip Johnson, Darwin's Nemesis. (Hat tip: Pharyngula.)

United Auto Workers' Jobs Bank program

This Wall Street Journal article describes the UAW Jobs Bank program, under which American auto manufacturers pay some 15,000 unneeded employees wages and benefits which can exceed $100,000 a year, with a total cost of over $1.4 billion per year. GM has the most workers in the program--between this and the pensions, it's no wonder GM is not competitive.

While many of the workers in the program do community service or participate in educational programs, some of the latter seem rather dubious (studying crossword puzzles?). Other employees spend their time in the "rubber room" engaging in creative loafing.

(Via The Agitator.)

Skeptics Circle #29

The 29th Skeptics' Circle is hosted at the Huge Entity.