Stuck in the Middle with You.

Did you know that there are extremists on both the right and left of the political spectrum? No, really. Because it seems that some people don't acknowledge extremes. Thus the uproar over the past few weeks about a report from homeland security that suggests (I'm paraphrasing) the current political and domestic atmosphere may encourage activities, including violence, by right wing extremists or terrorists.

Now, for the average citizen who leans right politically, or even adopts the label, right-wing, this should be neither cause for alarm nor surprise. But yet, some seem to have had that reaction.

Bob Bennett (R), from Utah, wrote to HS secretary Janet Napolitano saying,

"Do you truly believe that our returning war heroes, and all citizens who are gun owners, are not only unpatriotic, but threats to the state?"

Did the report make this claim? Here's the offending part of the report.

"The willingness of a small percentage of military personnel to join extremist groups during the 1990s because they were disgruntled, disillusioned or suffering from the psychological effects of war is being replicated today,"

In other words, after Gulf War I, a very small percent of returning vets who possibly had psychological or other problems joined extremists groups. Of course, people from all walks of life with similar problems join radical groups. Why would homeland security focus on vets? Just a guess, but I'd say it was because they have MILITARY TRAINING. Call me crazy, but I think our military is the best trained, most lethal force in the world. If my beer-swilling overweight racist neighbor living on disability joins a radical organization, I don't worry too much. But a former SEAL sniper, or military demolitions expert, etc... who joins such a group causes me a bit of alarm. Not because they are more or less likely to harbor violent intent, but because they are much more capable of successfully acting out any violent intentions that may develop. Case in point, Timothy McVeigh who is sighted in the report. McVeigh is not singled out as an example of the character of vets. He is singled out as an example of the capabilities and threat posed by a combination of extreme ideology and military training.

Abortion clinics have been bombed. Timothy McVeigh did exist. Jim Adkisson and Richard Poplawski were real people who killed real people. These people do not represent that average conservative. They do no represent the average right wing American. I have several conservative friends. They do not act like these people. My conservative friends have a name for right-wingers like these guys...what do they call them? Oh yeah- EXTREMISTS. Just like the report said.

How is this so difficult. Either people like Pat Robertson (who is having a fit about this, even questioning the sexual orientation of those composing the report) have such profound ignorance that they don't know these people really exist. Or perhaps they just want something to bitch about and hope that the average conservative American will jump on the bandwagon- once again proving my hypothesis that modern conservative rhetoric depends heavily on the listener being ignorant and not thinking about it.

The final possibility which I hope is not the case, is that these people complaining honestly can't distinguish between their own views and the views of extremists- in which case the report really was about them.

I'll leave with a story about protests against some left-wing extremists. I'm talking about animal rights extremists. There was a counter protest, creatively named Pro-Test, on Earth Day in support of scientists who do conduct research on animals. It had a great turnout- far more than the animal rights wingnuts. Good for them. Read more about it at Scienceblogs.

Galactic insurer nightmare

This is a really cool picture from hubble.

It shows a collision of 4 galaxy clusters. The Bad Astronomer has an informative write up on his blog.

A couple of other blog entries that have entertained me today.

About a recent Sarah Palin appearance:

Addressing an addled sampling of Indiana's populace at the Vandeburgh County
Right-to-Life dinner tonight, Palin once again exposed both her basic lack of
intellectual candlepower and her 10-kiloton hypocrisy, prating on about the
importance of abstinence despite the fact that she was well aware of her
daughter Bristol's sexual involvement with Levi Johnston, delivering more
plaintive and dishonest pro-life tripe, and just sounding--again--like a madly
winking anus would sound if backed by a sufficiently strong and steady supply of
searing intestinal effluvia.

From Kevin Beck at Dr. Joan Bushwell's Chimpanzee Refuge

About the Teabaggers around America:

Comrade PhysioProf walked through one of these wackaloon teabagger parties
yesterday. Looking at and listening to the people in attendance, it was
abundantly clear that they represent the most ignorant stone-cold-fucking-stupid
dregs of the dregs of remaining sewage of the sick-fuck right wing of American
society. These selfish whiny pig people are repugnant to decent Americans.

That's the entire post. Concise and vitriolic. I like it. From Comrade Physioprof

Funny

Hate to send anyone to Myspace, but this is hilarious. Not the most talent, but terrific message.

Keep Your Jesus Off My Penis Song

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Top 5 Mind Expanding Scientific Ideas

1. Schrodinger's Cat- The whole dual nature of quantum particles in quantum mechanics is one of the most mind-blowing concepts I have ever tried (and I do mean tried) to wrap my brain around.

2. Relative Time- The idea in Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity that time is not an objective force but is relative and subject to manipulation, especially as one approaches the speed of light.

3. "We are Star Stuff"- In the beginning there was hydrogen. Astrophysics tells us that this hydrogen formed the first generation of stars and inside them, the processes of nuclear fusion created all heavier elements. As this initial generation finished it's lifespan, the release of these newly created heavier elements through supernova, and in star generations to follow spread all heavier elements found in the universe today, including the atoms in our bodies. Our atoms were forged in the hearts of stars billions of years ago.

4. Implications of the Speed of Light- Understanding that light has a speed and therefore over the great distances within our universe, we may "see" the past. Knowing that some of the stars you see at night may be long dead, but their light is just completing its long journey to your eyes, allowing you to see it as it was. Also, with lightspeed as the ultimate limit in the universe, light can determine the volume of space for which you exist in the universe- you cannot affect anything outside a sphere with a radius equal to the distance light could travel from the moment of your existence.

5. The interconnectedness of all life- From Darwin's Theory of Evolution we understand that all life on earth is connected, bound together as family descending from a common ancestor.

Un-American

This is the lack of understanding of American values that is sad and really pisses me off. Those who interrupted this are truly un-American, un-patriotic, and plain ignorant.

Websense at work.

Websense at work. Our wonderful new filter at work is now fully installed. And let me tell you it is a view of a future that is scary. The Websense filter now used by the public school which employs me is a tool of absolute control that in the name of security and conformity serves only to restrict independent thinking and research. I felt it was overly protective when even Scienceblogs was considered a blocked website. Some brief research pulled up this article in the HeraldTribune.

"Nathan Robinson, 16, was pulling together the horoscopes for the student newspaper when he ran into an eye-opening problem: The school's Web filter blocked him from getting any information on astrology because it fell under the state's filter for cults and nonmainstream religions."

That's right. There is a filter called cults and nonmainstream religions. I guess the "mainstream" religions have so much more evidence for the validity of their claims. Bunk is bunk- regardless of popularity. How is this not discriminatory?

"We have access to sites on Christianity, Judaism and Islam, but not a lot of the smaller religions, or the various cults and things," said Robinson, who is a member of the Pine View Progressive Club. "We find that the filter picks on some of these nontraditional religions are arbitrary."
...
"Our goal is really simple," Robinson said. "We just want to see nontraditional religions removed as a category."

This is ridiculous. No one should be afraid of information. Children being exposed to different or non-traditional information should be viewed as an opportunity to learn, teach, and think critically. It should open up dialog between parents and children-teachers and students. It should not be something feared. I suppose it could possibly undo some carefully constructed brainwashing.

I read on Wikipedia that this software is also used by countries like Iran and China for their censorship protocols. *Skeptic's Qualification- Wikipedia does not necessarily indicate reliable.

I tried to do more research, but sites like the OpenNet Initiative which tracks and researches censorship on the internet were blocked. Websense Filter Category- Advocacy Groups.