What Does a GOP Apology Cost

By now everyone has heard of Joe Barton, ranking republican on the Congressional Committee on Energy and Commerce and his apology to BP.

However this allows us to calculate a handy base line.

Barton has received a total of $1,447,880 from oil and gas companies, and his apology consisted of 326 words.

The price of an apology from the ranking Republican on a Congressional Committee = $4440.00 per word.

New Energy Secretary is a Steve

President-elect Obama has announce his Energy Secretary will be physicist Steven Chu. Professor Chu is, apart from Professor of Physics at Stanford, and a Nobel laureate, a member of Project Steve. This is a list of scientists names Steve (or Stephanie, or Stephan, etc.) who accept that:

Evolution is a vital, well-supported, unifying principle of the biological sciences, and the scientific evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of the idea that all living things share a common ancestry. Although there are legitimate debates about the patterns and processes of evolution, there is no serious scientific doubt that evolution occurred or that natural selection is a major mechanism in its occurrence. It is scientifically inappropriate and pedagogically irresponsible for creationist pseudoscience, including but not limited to "intelligent design," to be introduced into the science curricula of our nation's public schools.

The Project is run by the NSCE as a parody of the creationist tactic of compiling lists of "scientists" (most of whom have no connection to biology or evolution) that 'dissent from evolution'. In response the NSCE created Project Steve in honour of Steven J. Gould.

Professor Steven Chu should not be confused with Professor Steve Steve, who is far too busy a panda to be Energy Secretary.

Currently Project Steve is approaching 1000 'Steve's'.

Are you a Steve (or Stephanie, or Stephan, etc.)?
Are you a scientist?
Do you agree with the statement above?
Then go to Project Steve and sign up.

And while you are at it, sign up to NSCE. They do great work.

Palienation 2012

Palin for 2012! No. Really.

I think almost everyone would want Governor Palin to run in 2012.

The religious right want her because she's their kind of gal, and while she is a woman, it's the Vice President and close advisers that make all the decisions, right?

The moderate Republicans would want her to run because 2012 is probably a lost cause (unless something drastic happens) and so why waste a good candidate. Also, it'll be a sop to the christian right and, when the palienation of moderate America is complete, they can tell the christian right "we did it your way, it didn't work. Now lets go back to the centre."

The Democrats would want her to run because if she did, President Obama wouldn't need to campaign!

So Palianation 2012? Yes we can!

The AntiPalin

Gogreen18. She's smart, articulate and an atheist. She's the AntiPalin! Check out her youtube site.

And remember, people who think like the people who tried to get her banned also vote. So Vote!


From Pharyngula.

A moderate in the hand is worth two religious rights in George's bush

The GOP are in serious trouble due to some major tactical errors. One rationale for bringing the terrible Sarah Palin on board is obvious, Senator McCain was simply too liberal for many of the religious right, and their support was crumbling. However, bringing in a sop for the religious right simply drove off the moderates. And that's the real problem.

To explain. Say the vote is approximately McCain 50 : Obama 50 and perhaps 20% of McCain's vote is the religious right (that's 10 of his 50). Then say he loses those votes because of his wildly liberal views. Those votes are lost. Gone. They'll not vote for anyone more liberal than Senator McCain. The count is then McCain 40 : Obama 50. Senator Obama gets a 10 point lead.

Now, say we introduce the Palin factor. Back come your religious right, fervoured up, hoping for a McCain/Palin win, and praying for a swift McCain death (I kid you not!) However, away goes the moderate end of the support, the 20% who stuck with Senator McCain but can't stomach the rantings of the religious right.

So where does that leave Senator McCain? back at 40:50 right? Wrong. The problem for the GOP is that, while the moderate vote is lost to McCain, the votes themselves aren't lost. Unlike the religious right, the moderates still vote - but for Senator Obama! The count is now McCain 40 : Obama 60 - a 20 point spread for the same number of votes lost.

The GOP needs to bring 2 religious right votes for every moderate they loose, and I don't think they can do it.

Stand tall moderates, you vote is worth two religious right votes!