Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
On Thursday morning, I'm heading off to Chicago for the YearlyKos Conference. I'll be participating in two sessions, the science bloggers caucus on Thursday at 4:30, which will be hosted by Tara Smith, and a panel on science and politics, where I will be speaking along with Chris Mooney and Sean Carroll. The subject of my speech, which will be about 20 minutes long, is the need for scientifically literate people to run for school boards to counter the influence of the religious right.
I will be discussing the Dover case and the situation in Odessa, Texas as examples of what happens when the religious right gets control of a school board. There's a very good chance that you will be able to watch the second session on C-SPAN. They informed us on Monday that ours was one of 4 sections they will be taping for broadcast (not live, apparently, but for later). That's not a guarantee, as they could decide that something else looks more interesting, but we're on the slate at this point at least.
The best thing about the weekend, other than the fact that it gives Bill O'Reilly a case of the vapors, is that I will get to meet a bunch of people that I've only known from a distance for far too long. That list includes several ScienceBlogs sciblings, including our benevolent Goddess ruler Katherine, who will be there manning the Seed table. Some others: Frederick Clarkson and Chip Berlet of Talk2Action, Pam Spaulding of Pam's House Blend, Lindsay Beyerstein of Majikthise and several others.
I'm also meeting up with an old friend from my debate coaching days, someone I haven't seen in 16 or 17 years. We've got a big group going to dinner at a blues and BBQ place on Friday. I may also get a chance to meet Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama or the other candidates who will be there, but I'm certainly not going to go out of my way to do so. We will have wifi available at the conference center, so I should be able to post updates on what's going on. We'll have lots of pictures available very quickly, evidently, and I may even be able to post audio of my talk shortly after it's done. We'll see how that goes.
I really want to send out a big thank you to my pal DarkSyde. It's really incredible to think of all the things that have happened in the last 6 or 7 years since I first met him as a result of an email he sent to the TalkOrigins archive. Shortly after I started my blog, I introduced him to the idea. He went on to post at DailyKos, becoming a front pager last year and now an integral part of that whole organization. And if it wasn't for him, this opportunity would not be possible. So thanks, DS. The first round is on me.
I do have many posts scheduled to go up the next 3 days while I'm gone, but I also plan to post from the conference as it goes on. So this place will still be plenty busy while I'm away.
Comments
Thanks for all your help Blogfather!
Posted by: DarkSyde | August 2, 2007 10:31 AM
Good luck, Ed! If you find out what time (EST or whatever you're told) you'll possibly be on C-SPAN let us know ASAP! It'd be pretty cool to see you in action.
...you will be keeping your shirt on, right?
Posted by: llDayo | August 2, 2007 10:35 AM
No! Take it off, take it off! *whistles*
Posted by: Skemono | August 2, 2007 10:48 AM
echoes Skemono's refrain ...
will look forward to your return and all the stories ...
Posted by: jesse | August 2, 2007 1:12 PM
Give Hillary a noogie for me.
Posted by: Chuck C | August 2, 2007 2:32 PM
Thanks Ed. I really appreciate all the work you and others put into these sites. Maybe next year I'll be able to attend the YearlyKos.
Posted by: Loc | August 2, 2007 2:32 PM
Second on what IlDayo said.
I'll definitely tune in!
Posted by: twincats | August 3, 2007 3:40 PM