Duck! An asteroid is going to come whizzing by, as the Bad Astronomer points out. Okay, it’s not coming dangerously close, but astronomers are getting better at detecting approaching asteroids. The pun-master also ends this post with a real side-splitter.

James Randi speaks about Carl Sagan… so cool…

Ian O’Neill wrote up a news story for Universe Today about a Russian probe that aims to send microbes to Mars’s moon Phobos to see if they will survive and flourish upon return. This led to a very interesting Twitter discussion about the regulations and international treaties in place that forbids the contamination of other worlds. (Thanks to gfish3000, pgerak, and sumrtime!) As long as the bugs stay in the spacecraft, they should be alright. Just don’t crash…

Carl Zimmer of The Loom continues his exploration of a a recent Washington Post column that did not properly fact-check on a scientific study involving global coverage of ice. Reading through the whole story as it happens is a fascinating insight into the world of science journalism, and there’s a cautionary tale for scientists and journalists alike. (When in doubt, ASK the people who did the research!)

Mike Simonsen posts a really pretty picture of sundogs! Go look go look go look! I’ve never seen that in person, but would like to. I did get some decent pictures of moondogs a while back, which I’ve added to my brand new Flickr account. Go add me as a contact. I love looking a pretty pictures.

Daylight Atheism has some “action items” for those who are interested in keeping church and state separate. They take just a few minutes of your time. In fact, I was talking recently with a friend who was lobbying with Planned Parenthood. She told me that, contrary to my original belief, the staff of politicians actually tally up the “for” and “against” statements from their constituents and include that when voting, even if they can’t get around to actually reading all the comments.

The big, bad PZ Myers shows his soft side for a touching story animated by Nina Paley. It is called “Sita Sings the Blues” and is billed as “the greatest breakup story ever told.” It puts fantastic visuals with Hindu myth, modern love and pain, and 1920s jazz. It is SO worth a watch. It has also been down intermittently, but be patient, it should be available. It is being made available in other formats, under a Creative Commons License. There are some bitorrents out there, too!

Enjoy! On to the week…

There are some establishments, however, where smoking is an integral part of the environment. Cigar shops and hookah bars make their living by providing havens for people to smoke. NBC highlights a few hookah bars in Virginia that are under threat from the ban. After reading that, I see no reason why cigar shops and hookah bars should not be exempt from the law, as was done in DC. Customers going to and employees working in such establishments know up front that they are in a place specifically meant for smoking. So the argument of “protecting the employees” is just silly.

I enjoy the occasional cigar and hookah, so I’ll be very sad to see this ban take place if the exemptions are not made. Charlottesville is seeing a rise in popularity of Middle Eastern dance, and some of the same venues that feature dance also offer hookahs. We’ll have the food, the tea, the music, the dancers… but no hookahs? That’s just a shame.

Buy me a pretty hookah and we’ll party at my place!

Obama is now expanding the Faith-Based Initiative that was started under President Bush, which has been highly criticized in the secular community for linking church and state and allowing federal tax dollars to be used for proselytizing and discriminatory hiring practices. The goal of using community organizations to combat poverty seems reasonable to me, which is why it should be scrapped and restarted as a “community-based initiative” without preference to religions. D.J. Grothe from the Center for Inquiry gives a good breakdown of the problems with the initiative, and James Randi is similarly peeved.

We have a lot of work ahead of us, as well put by Massimo Pigliucci at Rationally Speaking, PZ Myers of Pharyngula, and carr2d2 at Skepchick.

Also, a loss for gay marriage in California (is it official yet?) and other states, but there is solace in Massachusetts…

Here’s Nancy Pfotenhauer separating NoVa from “real” Virginia. I consider Charlottesville to be politically very close to NoVa, so take offense, CVillians.

So those of us who disagree with McCain in Virginia aren’t part of “real” Virginia! So you can’t vote in the state if you are “metro”? That is ludicrous. Are geographic battle lines really being drawn… again?

Palin goes on to talk about “real” America in the small towns. Ironically, Bill O’Reilly juxtaposes this with Biden’s intelligent comment that we all love America.

And honestly, disagree as you might with policies and politicians, don’t we all think, hey, this is a pretty good place to live, lets make it the best possible? Especially, those of us who give a rats-ass about this election. So, O’Reilly, we can’t be pro-America and think you are completely wrong?

Then there is this dumbass, Rep. Michelle Bachmann, who distinguishes between pro- and anti-American, and calls for a look into the patriotism of Congresspeople.

These ridiculous associations and claims make me sick.

Check out some commentary on this issue from Keith Olbermann and Jon Stewart, as posted kindly by PZ Myers.

Alright, so I’m usually not even involved in this “us vs. them” politics, since I lean libertarian. I’m so “them” I’m not even included. I support individualism, freedom, dissent and civil liberties, and that the Democrats have made good in supporting these causes. However, that optimistic wish-to-fix may not work economically, certainly not on the federal level. The economy is a big complex thing, and it will take time and patience to unravel all the problems and surely some smart, good people can help with that. But in the long-run, trying to steer this big complex machine this way or that may lead to only more problems. And although the Republicans claim to be fiscally conservative, it seems as of late that they, too, think they have all the answers and can rule by authoritative control.

But what sickens me most about conservative politicians is the constant need to control the personal aspects of the lives of those around them. I try and give them the benefit of the doubt, that most people are just good and honest and hard-working, even if not critically thinking, and honestly believe they are doing their best for their neighbors. But now I’m sick of the bullshit, sick of being told this is a Christian nation, that gay marriage is a threat, that science is tantamount to elitist opinion, and that above all, those who question, dissent, and won’t be controlled are anti-American. These big cities, seen as festering pools of shameful liberalism, regarded as centers of sickening diversity, these cities, New York and DC, were purposely targeted by terrorists for being exactly what America stands for. These big cities, full of people who helped their neighbors, who cleaned up after these attacks, who died or were injured by the real terrorists or in the act of saving others, this is what you call anti-American?

See, don’t piss off a New Yorker. I may be a resident of Virginia now, but I was born and raised with a Staten Island attitude. And I don’t think I can take four more years of divisive, xenophobic ridiculousness in the White House. I was going to vote for a third party, but today I’ve decided to vote for Obama. I may not agree with him on many big issues, but I’m convinced that his administration will bring in the intelligence and cool-headedness that this country needs. And once and for all, the attendees at McCain-Palin’s rallies will learn that the world will not turn upside when we elect a President that is black, has Muslim roots, and is a liberal.

Sic semper tyrannis, bitch.

So the UVa astro-kids got together to watch the last Presidential debate of this wild election season last night. 7 people, 5 Macs, and 1PC, it was quite a sight. I was watching the great liveblog over at Amateur Scientist which was thoroughly entertaining. Regardless of your political affiliation, you have to be appalled at McCain’s lack of knowledge or awareness when he continues to harp on the “overhead projector” at Adler Planetarium. I bitched about this previously, along with every other astronomy blogger on the ‘tubez. Citizens, arm yourself with knowledge. Learn all about this incredible planetarium projector, to which the money was never actually allocated, and donate to this excellent educational tool!

So I have a few problems with this. Now, I love the idea of commercial spacecraft. Yet I’ve heard lots of bashing of it, and how only the federal government can successfully run a space program. And yet here, we see the federal program attempting to lean on the commercial efforts! So score one for SpaceX. (Check out their spectacularly awesome video of the launch FROM the rocket!)

Second, I didn’t realize that businesses in the US are prevented

from doing business with Russia if Russia is doing business with Iran, North Korea or Syria to further their development of nuclear technology.

Although I understand the spirit of the matter, I find it hard to believe that businesses can be restricted from certain deals while a government agency can get a waiver. And, I assume that is what is happening here. Even if it only applies to government agencies, then how much do lawmakers really care about the spirit of this law if they are willing to give such waivers? It just smells like fishy politics to me.

Regardless of those issues, it is good for our astronauts to have one, or multiple, avenues to space and to the space station. NASA is in a bit of a bind with the shuttle. And I’m especially happy to see the SpaceX guys get a nod like this!

ScienceDebate 2008 asked both candidates 14 questions on their science and technology policy. McCain’s answer on education was actually quite encouraging, including quotes like:

We must fill the pipeline to our colleges and universities with students prepared for the rigors of advanced engineering, math, science and technology degrees.

We must move aggressively to provide opportunities from elementary school on, for students to explore the sciences through laboratory experimentation, science fairs and competitions.

So you wonder who actually wrote that bit, when a planetarium is an excellent example of exciting science education for students, yet it’s dismissed so casually more than once.

Also, don’t piss off the astronomers.

I finally got a chance to catch up on the first presidential debate at Hulu. Needless to say, I was unimpressed. Besides the ridiculous fact that a debate on foreign affairs spent the first half hour on the US’s economic crisis, both candidates had good things to say, and both said things that annoyed me. Obama is in favor of retreating from Iraq within a reasonable time period… yay! He is, however, intent on expanding the military presence in Afghanistan. And I can’t help but wonder, will it do any good? McCain wants us to “win the war in Iraq” but I find it hard to believe that we’ll “win” anything at this rate. Both candidates give good lip service to more careful spending in government, though McCain is more forceful in his delivery. Even for a scientist such as myself, who sees important scientific work get hurt by spending cuts and freezes, and unsustainable government budget is something that we cannot live with. However, McCain shows little restraint when discussing government spending on defense (or what I call offense). Both candidates find time to bicker, contradict, appeal to emotion, and make outlandish promises. I don’t think I like politics in general, and my cynicism is only raised when I see that you can now Google quote mine for yourself! Like I mentioned before, there as plenty of talk of the struggling economy and the proposed bailout that was later voted down in the House that week. (And will be resurfacing?)

So what is one to make of the economic situation? Some say it’s dire, others that the economy is doing quite well despite the headlines. Mike Flynn at Reason says that it’s Wall Street’s problem, not Main Street’s. (Thanks, Seth, for the link!) Many are writing to their Congresspeople to stop the bailout on these and similar grounds. After all, wasn’t it government meddling that got us in this mess in the first place? Others, such as Obama, call this a failure of an unregulated market and call for more government intervention in its aftermath. One guest on NPR’s “On Point” said it was time for a “new New Deal.” (I wish I could remember who it was, I just happened to tune in to a bit on my way to work.) I’m no economist, so I can only share my virtually worthless anecdotes and opinions. Despite the cries of panic being uttered in the media, and the colossal failure of some well-known institutions, I do think this is the last stand of a rot from within that will only serve to clean up and help our economy in the long run. The failure of these businesses is due to their own poor practices, so don’t bail them out! However, their bad choices may influence many people who otherwise made good economic decisions on their own. So what do we do for them? Is the situation really that bad for most people if we’re still all buying iPods and Priuses? If the government contributed to this mess, shouldn’t they at least help clean it up? Is there a way to clean up the mess with taxpayers’ money, give the money back as rebates when the crisis is over, then begin to break up the marriage between government and business that has impeded the market so far? What do I know, I’m just a poor grad student.