I always prefer going to vote on Election Day rather than mailing in a ballot. There's something about standing in the booth and marking on the paper that makes me feel like my vote really counts. Voting is one of my favorite rituals, a rite of secular democracies that is open to all citizens, where participation allows you to help decide the future and meet your neighbors. It's great.

This year is the first year that I've ever had to wait in line to vote, and I wait I did, for almost an hour this morning. I cast my vote for Obama, and while I am cautiously optimistic, I am also nervous as hell.

Here's to hoping that America makes the best decision today; may we finally shake up the Republican party and its openly hostile anti-intellectual tendencies.

Filed under berkeley · california · culture · education

Posted by H. C. Hodges at 2:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (99)

The news from Nature (free access) is that a terrorism suspect in the UK has been denied access to college-level chemistry and biology classes. The judge has decided that the classes would put the suspect in a "substantially stronger position" to carry out terrorist attacks.

This has to be about the stupidest, most disgusting, anti-democratic and anti-intellectual ruling ever made. I am shocked that an economically advanced country like Britain could place access to basic education off-limits to suspects of any crime. In addition to the presumption of guilt, the government has basically said that if they think an individual might become or might have been a terrorist, then it has the right to limit that person's education. This ruling is really short-sighted and shameful.

More on this at the BBC, who says that the UK government could place these sorts of restrictions "on anyone the secretary of state has reasonable grounds for suspecting is involved in terrorism or terrorism-related activities."

Filed under biology · chemistry · culture · education · science

Posted by H. C. Hodges at 10:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (72)