They're onto us, Kathleen

Many folks have been following the Kathleen Seidel subpoena story--it's being discussed in various sectors of the blogosphere, not "just" on blogs about autism but on blogs about science, law, and blogging itself. (I Speak of Dreams has been compiling a good long list of blog responses to the controversy.)

My in-house science consultant (aka, my husband, the physicist) pointed me to this choice quote in the response by one of the attorneys seeking access to Seidel's email files. Apparently they think her connections should be treated as suspect because she's

"a person utilizing investigative ability well in excess of that available to the mother and housewife she claims to be..."

Uh, whuh? I can't understand, maybe I'm a little distracted, what with the jangle of minivan keys in my pocket and the Spongebob songs running on a loop in the next room... but "mother and housewife" status doesn't limit my "investigative ability," and it is surely completely irrelevant to Ms. Seidel's capacity for finding and analyzing published or public-record legal and scientific documents, too. Now I'd say more about this, but my suspiciously excessive ability to use a search engine doesn't get the dishwasher loaded or the other kid off the schoolbus...