William Dembski, the Intelligent Design Creationist advocate who was
profiled right here on Daily Kos last Saturday morning, has allegedly reported a scientist to the Department of Homeland Security. What for?
[Source] And so we come to the unfolding case of U. of Texas professor Eric Pianka, who seems to revel in inflammatory rhetoric concerning the earth's human population and how the indications are that we are due for a "crash" -- the sudden (ecologically speaking) death of most of the population. Pianka gets graphic in his talks, and speaks about the Ebola virus and its 90% mortality figures. He speaks of the likelihood, or even inevitability, of the high-mortality strain of Ebola, which currently is only transmitted under restricted forms of contact, to mutate into a strain that has airborne transmission.
Apparently someone heard a public lecture given by Pianka and decided that the UT Professor wasn't just talking about the science and the possibility of new strains of deadly disease; but that Pianka and/or shadowy associates were actively engaged in manufacturing them in the hope of creating just such a catastrophe.
At which point, dear Dr. Dembski, selfless defender of academic freedom by day, reportedly was worried enough to call the DHS and 'have a chat about it'. PZ Myers takes a stab at Dembski's possible motive:
[Pharyngula] Although, actually, I don't think Dembski is paranoid: I suspect there's more a kind of vile glee at seeing a way to harass a scientist.