Expelled from 'Expelled'

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/03/expelled.php

Taking Coal to Newcastle

This story would be funnier, if I didn't know the gunwoman.

Armed Va. Woman Arrested After Scuffle With Guard
By Allison Klein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 23, 2008; Page B03

A Reston woman armed with a pistol walked into D.C. police headquarters Thursday afternoon and attempted to take a guard's gun before she was wrestled to the ground, authorities said.

Cynthia Nixon, 40, entered the building at 300 Indiana Ave. NW about 3:45 p.m. and pulled out a handgun, police said. She approached a private security officer who was guarding the door, demanding, "Give me your gun," according to charging papers filed yesterday.

Nixon then pointed her handgun at the guard and pulled the trigger, but the weapon did not fire, according to the charging documents.

The guard, who works for Hawk One, which provides security for the building, wrestled the weapon from her, the court papers show. At the same time, several D.C. police officers walked in the front door, saw what was happening and helped take her into custody. No one was hurt.

Nixon was charged with assaulting a police officer while armed, authorities said. She was ordered held without bond by a judge yesterday in D.C. Superior Court.

The charging papers quoted Nixon as telling police that her plan was to "rob a police officer of his weapon." Police found 36 rounds of ammunition, two bags of marijuana and two cigarettes filled with marijuana in a bag belonging to her, the charging documents said.

The police headquarters was equipped with metal detectors after a gunman
got into the building in November 1994 and fatally shot three law enforcement
officers and wounded another. The gunman, Bennie Lee Lawson Jr., had been
questioned a week earlier about a triple slaying in the city. After shooting the
officers, Lawson killed himself.

The building has since been renamed in honor of one of the victims that day, D.C. Police Sgt. Henry J. "Hank" Daly.

The Washington Post, 23 February 2008

Friendly Fire

Most atheists are by definition open to uncomfortable truths, especially from one another. This was evident in the (mostly) enthusiastic response of the 2007 Atheist Alliance International conference to Sam Harris' call for atheists to supplement materialism with contemplation. But they ought not extend this forbearance to atheists who ventriloquize the religious establishment.

In a recent Nation article, Katha Pollitt attacks her fellow atheists without once addressing their arguments. Instead she imputes nefarious motives (fear of Muslim immigration) to both them and their readers. This is usually the strategy of theists, who prefer changing the subject to defending their beliefs. But it is surprising that The Nation published a piece reviewing what atheists might have said, only haven't.

She also indulges the theist chestnut of atheist futility in the face of entrenched religious majorities. In doing so, she is not so much discouraging radical minorities but outsiders. But this approach reveals it is Pollitt, and not another atheist, who differentiates Muslims from their fellow human beings. As Terence wrote, 'I think nothing human alien to me'.

Taking Historical Recreation Too Far

I was dragged to too many historical residences, replete with tour guides in period costume, as a child. But I have always conceded the value of historical recreation, even if it assumes a weak imagination. But teachers at a Grambling, Louisiana, elementary school have taken it too far by 'lynching' some of their first graders.



Teachers were trying to explain an event in nearby Jena, where a vandal had dangled a noose from a tree on the grounds of a high school. But while students need to learn about lynching, they cannot do so by recreating it. First of all, no one survived lynching. And people were rarely lynched by members of the same race, let alone trusted teachers. But the students' expressions make you wonder if the latter description still applies. It is surprising that teachers touched their students (a virtual taboo) while simulating a violent historical act which is more likely to scare than educate first graders. When they are older, a better educational tool would be the book Without Sanctuary.

Second Thoughts about Suffrage

Ann Coulter has called for an end to women's suffrage:

If we took away women's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another Democrat president. It's kind of a pipe dream, it's a personal fantasy of mine, but I don't think it's going to happen. And it is a good way of making the point that women are voting so stupidly, at least single women.

For a funnier take on the subject, watch girls unwittingly disenfranchise themselves.

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Stupid and Proud

Sorry I haven't been blogging in a while; my brother came all the way from Africa for my book party last weekend, and I've been enjoying his company.

Anyway, this entry's title refers to an event already some days old. One of the creationists on The View compounded her ignorance by expressing doubt about the shape of the Earth. Here's the clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNC117UYsHs

How does knowing the planet is round interfere with feeding her child?