Archives 2007

Let’s Hire A Grizzly as a Babysitter, While We’re at It

Brad Blog reports that someone managed to make a key that opens Diebold voting machines… by copying it off of an image on Diebold’s web site.

Can you imagine what would happen if an individual, rather than a company, had screwed up this way? If you answered “that person would be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom”, pat yourself on the back. Unfortunately, we can’t give medals to corporations, but this comes close:

NORTH CANTON, Ohio– Diebold, Incorporated, one of the nation’s largest security integrators with expertise in the government, commercial, financial and retail markets, has solidified its homeland security presence. The company recently earned certification from the General Services Administration (GSA) to deliver security integration services that meet the requirements of the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12).

I tried to come up with a better subject line. Really, I did. But all I could come up with was “It’s like letting Bush & Co. run the country” or “Like letting Halliburton handle the post-Katrina reconstruction”.

Irrational Scientists

Overcoming Bias has a good article about scientists holding unscientific beliefs outside the lab. The gist of it is, if a scientist throws out science when he leaves work, does he really understand what it’s for and how it works?

Why? Well, suppose that an apprentice shepherd is laboriously trained to count sheep, as they pass in and out of a fold. Thus the shepherd knows when all the sheep have left, and when all the sheep have returned. Then you give the shepherd a few apples, and say: “How many apples?” But the shepherd stares at you blankly, because they weren’t trained to count apples – just sheep. You would probably suspect that the shepherd didn’t understand counting very well.

(HT Pharyngula.)

More on Hovind

Jennifer Epstein has a sympathetic account of Kent Hovind’s sentencing. Interesting if you want to know more about what happened aside from the actual sentencing.

And the Pensacola News Journal has a delightfully snarky editorial entitled “Earth to ‘Dr. Dino’: Please pay your taxes and start facing reality”:

In court, Hovind offers the judge a deal: Release him and he will stop suing the government.

Hovind blames his problems on lawyers, another pastor, the Internal Revenue Service. His own sins are minor.

“I forgot to dot some i’s and cross some t’s,” he said.

And apparently he really is as stupid as all that:

He talked tough in telephone conversations from Escambia County Jail, where he was held while waiting to be sentenced Friday on 58 charges.

Although phones include warnings that conversations are recorded, he didn’t mince words as he ran up eight hours of calls per week.

He vowed to “make life miserable” for the IRS, keep suing the government and promote his cockamamie theory that he’s tax-exempt.

This call will be monitored, and not just for quality assurance purposes. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say may be used against you.

Why Are Fundies Illiterate?

I seem to have attracted a number of fundies and creationists, most likely due to the fact that I’ve been talking about Kent Hovind. [info]curvemudgeon has pointed out that for some reason, they can’t seem to go four sentences without committing crimes against the English language (so it’s not just me). Why is that?

Aside from the obvious, I mean. That they’re uneducated rednecks who’ve tragically never been taught to think or how to learn, otherwise they wouldn’t be creationists?

I know that there are smart and educated people who can’t spell or compose a sentence, but still, I think we have a large enough sample to draw some conclusions.

Hovind Sentencing: Whiny Git Update

The Pensacola News Journal has
another article
about Kent Hovind’s sentencing. This one points out the contrast between Hovind’s behavior before the trial:

In a recording of one of the telephone conversations played in court Friday, Hovind said the Internal Revenue Service, presiding judge and prosecutor broke the law by going after him, and there were things he could do “to make their lives miserable.”

Comparing himself to a buffalo in a lion fight, Hovind’s voice was heard saying “As long as I have some horns, I’m going to swing. As long as I have some hoofs, I’m going to kick. As long as I have some teeth, I’m going to fight. The lion’s going to know he’s been in a fight.”

and after spending two months in jail:

Before his sentencing, a tearful Kent Hovind compared his situation to that of the lion and the mouse in Aesop’s Fables.

“I feel like the mouse,” Hovind told U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers. “I stand here in great fear of the power of this court. Your decision can destroy my life, my ministry and my grandchildren.”

Note, also, the subtle difference between Hovindland and the real world:

“I am not a tax protester and never have been,” Kent Hovind told Rodgers. “The laws are just fine. It is just that some are enforcing laws that are not there.”

The recordings, compiled by the IRS from phone conversations from jail, showed Kent Hovind was trying to hide assets from the government, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Heldmyer said.

See? Just because he hid money from the government and didn’t pay payroll taxes, doesn’t mean he’s a tax protester. And besides, he’s a fine upright moral citizen:

“My father is not a man who is in love with money. He’s in love with God,” son Eric Hovind said. “He is a man who loves this country and loves others.”

Hovind’s supporters don’t get it either. Apparently a man is either 100% good or 100% evil. They can’t imagine that Hovind might be a liar and a crook, and also be kind to puppy dogs.

Oh, and the judge didn’t let the bit about loving his country slip by:

When handing down the sentence, Rodgers admonished those present the trial “is not and has never been about religion.”
…

Furthermore, Rodgers contended Kent Hovind had failed his fellow citizens and the men and women of the military — who fight to defend his freedoms — by refusing to pay taxes.

So let’s not have too much bogus sympathy for Hovind. He brought this on himself. He had every chance in the world to comply with the law, to make restitution before the matter came to trial, to plea-bargain. Heck, he didn’t even mount a defense, and tried to play tough throughout. Well, it looks like he picked a fight with the wrong federal agency. Maybe he’ll learn something in Federal PMITA Prison, but I wouldn’t count on it.

Hovind Sentenced to 10 Years

The Pensacola News Journal finally has the story:

U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers ordered Hovind also:
— Pay $640,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.
— Pay the prosecution’s court costs of $7,078.
— Serve three years parole once he is released from prison.

Read More

Gonzales to Judges: Don’t Worry Your Pretty Little Heads About the Law

From the Associated Press:

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says federal judges are unqualified to make rulings affecting national security policy, ramping up his criticism of how they handle terrorism cases.

In remarks prepared for delivery Wednesday, Gonzales says judges generally should defer to the will of the president and Congress when deciding national security cases.

People have been saying for years that someone needs to give Bush a blow job so he can be impeached. I think we’ve just found the man to do it.

Unflattering Comparison

Say, Dave Simpson wouldn’t be
a bit of a heretic,
would he? 🙂

No, It Doesn’t Play Pong

Steve Jobs says
that he wants to keep third-party applications off of the
Apple iPhone:

Mr. Jobs also appears to be restricting the potential for third-party software developers to write applications for the new handset — from ringtones to word processors.
…

“We define everything that is on the phone,” he said. “You don’t want your phone to be like a PC. The last thing you want is to have loaded three apps on your phone and then you go to make a call and it doesn’t work anymore. These are more like iPods than they are like computers.”

Read More

Bumper Sticker O’ the Day

Bush = Leeroy Jenkins

(Thanks to [info]mcoletti, who found the idea somewhere.)