Stein: When we just saw that man, I think it was Mr. Myers [i.e. biologist P.Z. Myers], talking about how great scientists were, I was thinking to myself the last time any of my relatives saw scientists telling them what to do they were telling them to go to the showers to get gassed … that was horrifying beyond words, and that’s where science — in my opinion, this is just an opinion — that’s where science leads you.

Crouch: That’s right.

Stein: …Love of God and compassion and empathy leads you to a very glorious place, and science leads you to killing people.

Crouch: Good word, good word.

Kind of ironic that Ben Stein played Kevin’s science teacher in The Wonder Years.

Amazing Beliefs:

That 1 firearm owner in 10,000 will commit an act of violence in his or her lifetime, and this is far more frightening than the 25% of drivers who will cause a serious or fatal accident.

Heh. It’s a long comment, but definitely worth the read.

First, he briefly explains how the Republicans have fucked up in the past few years, bringing us to the brink of electing the most liberal candidate since George McGovern. Then he articulates many of the fears many of us have of an Obama presidency. These are many of the same themes I’ve touched on here. The professional vs. non-professional comparison is left as an exercise for the reader.

Hanson also touches on the racial double-think going on among Obama supporters:

So now we are in this Orwellian paradox of seeing Obama’s base turn out in record numbers on the basis apparently of race, but on the other hand the implied warning that if anyone else were likewise to consider that fact, then he would be racialist.

Finally, he touches on the McCain “affair” non-story.

Good reading.

Hat tip: The Monkey Tennis Centre.

But of course, the media isn’t biased…

Now, much has been made of the fact that Ray Nagin [Mayor of New Orleans] is an incompetent, race-baiting black man, and Rudy Giuliani, who was neither, is white. Also, feminists are upset that people dare attack Governor Blanco because she is incompetent, weak, indecisive, and also a woman. And no doubt there are salivating long-haired, short-cortexed idiots just waiting for this to be over so they can sail into the comments section and tell me what a racist and misogynist I am.

Well, here’s the news flash: Nagin isn’t incompetent because he’s black. He’s incompetent because he’s incompetent. Condoleeza Rice is black. Colin Powell is black. Ted Kennedy, a man well-acquainted with rising water crises is as white as they come. Kennedy is incompetent; Rice and Powell are two of the most competent people on the planet.

This is about tribes, all right: not black and white tribes, but rather a battle between the capable and the culpable.

Same holds for Governor Blanco. She’s not weak because she’s a woman, or because she’s a Democrat. Truman was a democrat. The Buck stopped there. She’s weak and indecisive because that is the individual she is. I wish history could work with variables: I’d love to see what Margaret Thatcher would have done in such a case. It would not only have been better, it would have been good. That woman was tough. She could be Grey as granite. And, for this, the Pink Tribe despises her.

Yes. Read the whole thing.

While much is being made about the federal response to Katrina, the real blame lies at the feet of local officials. Disaster preparedness begins at the local level, not the federal level, and it is glaringly obvious that Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco have utterly failed their constituents.