I can't seem to recall a "2003 UB313" from Greek mythology...
Written by: Beck
Astronomers have
discovered a new planet (or not--they can't agree on whether it's a planet or not). It's 1.5 times larger than Pluto, orbits 3 times further out from the sun than Pluto, and is at a 45 degree tilt from the orbit of the sun's 9 primary planets (which is why no one ever spotted it before now).
The important thing here is neither the discovery, nor the controversy in astronomical circles regarding whether 2003 UB313 (and Pluto for that matter) is really a planet at all. What's important is
the write-up at Ace of Spades where I first found this story.
It's content like this:
Plutonian Politics: Is there any way we can use the Planet (?) Pluto controversy as a wedge issue against the Democrats?
Can we bait Howard Dean into saying something derogatory about Pluto?
Because, if we could, it would really annoy a lot of nerdy liberal-leaning voters.
There must be some way to use this. We conservatives can argue on behalf of "tradition," and bait liberals into taking an anti-Pluto position by using over-the-top anti-intellectual arguments in favor of Pluto, perhaps attacking the "pusillanimous puling pencil-necked pointy-heads" with all their silly "facts" and "theories" and "arrayed radio telescopes."
The "reality-based community" will then, predictably and inevitably, be forced to mock the Plutophiles, perhaps denigrating Pluto as a "sub-planetoid Jeebus spacerock."
That keeps me coming back to read Ace on a daily basis. You just can't find that sort of mentally-unbalanced politics-cum-nerdery anywhere else on the web. Seriously. I challenge you to name just one person who even comes close.