Midday Open Thread

• Ivan Oelrich of the Federation of American Scientists slams Ben Stein's Flat Earther Porn "intelligent design" movie, in his blog post "Ben Stein Is Very, Very Wrong: Problems with Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed".
• Speaking of Flat Earthers, Sen. James "Global Warming Is A Hoax" Inhofe (R-OK) has received another award to bolster his "Enemy of the Environment" cred (as if he needed more):

  U.S. Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.) this week was honored with the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association’s (OIPA) "2008 Friend of the Wildcatter" award for his service to Oklahoma’s oil and natural gas industry.  Inhofe, who serves as ranking Republican on the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has long supported efforts to increase domestic production.The award recognizes Inhofe as " ‘Friend of the Wildcatter’ for voting consistently in the 110th Congress to grow the economy, protect Oklahoma’s oil and natural gas industry jobs, and increase domestic exploration and production."

  ("Wlldcatter" defined here.)

• Check out this cool BBC News interview with some of Obama's childhood friends... in Indonesia:

  In the playground of his old school, I met up with two of his classmates - Mary and Rina. Was there anything special about him, I asked?

  "No," said Mary. "He wasn't a special boy, just an ordinary one. But maybe that's the special thing; he had a capability to blend with any kind of situation."

  One thing marked him out as different though, said Rina - his ambition, noted in the school memoir book.

  "At that time, here in Indonesia, all the parents pushed their kids: 'You have to become a doctor' or 'You have to become an engineer'," she told me. "But he wrote that he'd like to be a president. So we thought, 'Oh in your dreams!'"

  And maybe in January 2009....?

• Also from the BBC:  Radio 4's "Donald Rumsfeld Soundbites".  Click here for the streaming audio.

  "I would not say that the future is necessarily less predictable than the past.  I think the past was not predictable when it started."

  Thanks for the memories, Rummy.  Not.

• The Albuquerque Journal started a series today on the primaries.  They kicked it off with the Heather Wilson - Steve Pearce "who's more conservative?" war.  Of course, the Journal screws it up right away, buying into Wilson's spin:

  The battle-tested congresswoman from the Albuquerque-based 1st Congressional District is once again fighting for her political life as she campaigns for the U.S. Senate seat Sen. Pete Domenici will relinquish in January after 36 years in office.

  Wilson, a moderate Republican, faces Rep. Steve Pearce, a conservative, three-term congressman from southern New Mexico, in the June 3 Republican primary election.

  She's about as "moderate" as McCain.  Pearce is more conservative, but not by much.  Oh well, it's the Albuquerque Journal... New Mexico Dems are familiar with its unreliable reporting.

  New Mexico blogger Heath Haussamen has more on the current state of the Senate race here.

• Funny stuff: "If ABC ran the Lincoln-Douglas Debates".