Texas higher education officials announced today that they have postponed action on a Bible-oriented group’s proposal to offer a master’s degree in science education.The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board had been scheduled to consider the proposal by the Dallas-based Institute for Creation Research at a meeting Jan. 24.But Eddy Miller, dean of the institute’s graduate school, said in an e-mail to the coordinating board Monday that the school needs more time “to do justice to the concerns you raised,” according to a news release issued by the coordinating board. Miller asked the board to delay consideration of the matter until its April meeting.
Daily Archives: January 15, 2008
Strange Keyboards
This is a virtual keyboard, just a laser image on your desk. See the others in the list of 10 Strange Keyboards, here.
Just In Case
It’s pretty easy to get stuck without a bottle opener … But you’ve always got a chainsaw handy…. Continue reading Just In Case
New EU Probe of Microsoft Monopolist Practices
If there’s a sense of déjà vu permeating a rather massive corporate campus in Redmond, Washington right now, it wouldn’t be surprising. The European Commission, which regulates competition for the European Union, today announced a brand new antitrust investigation against Microsoft.
Evangelistic Film Not OK for Public Schools
From Americans United for the Separation of Church and State:
A church-produced evangelical Christian movie is aimed at evangelism and is inappropriate for public schools, Americans United for Separation of Church and State has told Alabama educators.
After receiving complaints, Americans United has urged officials at Tuscaloosa City Schools to stop showing the film “Facing the Giants.”
“This movie is not educational; it’s evangelistic,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “Parents and taxpayers expect our public schools to teach, not preach.”
In a Jan. 15 letter, Americans United attorneys note that the film was shown repeatedly in classrooms last semester at Paul W. Bryant High School and that the school’s principal plans to continue airing it in the future. The movie depicts the story of a losing high school football coach who turns his struggling team around by convincing them that “With God, all things are possible….”
Hat tip: Evolving in Kansas
Minnesotans: Would You Like to Caucus for Al?
Minnesota is, as my cousin from Colorado was telling me the other day, one of the irrelevant states in the current presidential primary process. Maybe so. But the process is not irrelevant with respect to other issues at hand. Everybody I know is tired of our senior Senator, Norm Coleman, but we also like the guy. We like the guy so much we want to send him into retirement.And replace him with Al Franken. Continue reading Minnesotans: Would You Like to Caucus for Al?
Campaign Update
The Latest Political News from key sources such as PZ Myers and Jon Stewart. Continue reading Campaign Update
Jan Chipchase: Our cell phones, ourselves
Nokia researcher Jan Chipchase’s investigation into the ways we interact with technology has led him from the villages of Uganda to the insides of our pockets. Along the way, he’s made some unexpected discoveries: about the novel ways illiterate people interface with their cellphones, or the role the cellphone can sometimes play in commerce, or the deep emotional bonds we all seem to share with our phones. And watch for his surefire trick to keep you from misplacing your keys.
Genes are only part of the story: ncRNA does stuff
You know that organisms develop, grow, and function in part because genes code for proteins that form the building blocks of life or that function as working bioactive molecules (like enzymes). You also know that most DNA is junk, only a couple percent actually coding for anything useful. Most importantly, however, you know that everything you know is wrong. Right? Continue reading Genes are only part of the story: ncRNA does stuff
Oekologie Blog Carnival
The One Year Anniversary Edition is here, at the Infinite Sphere.
Big Bro Wants to Read Your Email
National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell is drawing up plans for cyberspace spying that would make the current debate on warrantless wiretaps look like a “walk in the park,” according to an interview published in the New Yorker’s print edition today.
New York City Floded By Global Warming?
Mass Eagle Death
We are seeing odd and mixed reports from Alaska, where it is said that perhap more than fifty eagles “dove into” a truck full of fish guts in the vicinity of Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge. The fish guts were from Ocean Beauty Seafoods. Twenty eagles died during the incident, about 30 were cleaned up and saved by Fish and Wildlife workers, and two eagles died during the cleanup.It is a bit frustrating that there are no real details about this incident. Was the truck moving? Exactly how did the eagles die? Did they get fish guts on them and then die of exposure? Did they all run into each other in cartoon-like fashion? We’ll be watching this story with some interest.The same exact AP verbiage, which falls very short of adequate reporting, is seen on any of several news outlets. Here’s one.
Good Morning from Minnesota…
While Duluth is having a balmy morning, just over 10F, here in the twin cities we are hovering a few below zero. Despite the cold, the ice is simply not as thick as people expect it to be. Bradley Erikson’s truck went through the ice on Leech Lake last night. Bradley got out of the water but died on his way back to his camp. Today is the 100th day of work on the new bridge, replacing God’s Bridge, on Highway 35W, which fell down last summer. (Maybe 35E is the holy branch of the now nationally famous Highway 35, and 35W is the evil twin … ever think about that?)Garrison Keillor is annoyed that his next door neighbor is building a “MacHouse” … that’s what Twin Cities home owners, who traditionally live in tiny little stucco-covered hovels, call the new homes being build as infill all across the metro area with unique designs such as having a second story that you don’t have to bend over to walk around in. Garrison is suing.
Keillor and his wife, Jenny Lind Nilsson, are suing their next-door neighbor, Lori Anderson, to stop her from building a two-story addition to her home that would include a three-stall garage and studio.[Star Tribune, 15 January 2008]
University of Minnesota researchers have figured out how to make a functioning heart from scratch, more or less.Other than that, not much else going on here in the North Star State.
More Bill Foster
If you follow the creationist news stories from around the country, you get a lot of the same exact thing over and over again, and it is hard to identify the novel or persistent elements in the flow of information. But increasingly it is clear that Bill Foster of St. Petersburg Florida is somewhat novel and starting to look persistent. Continue reading More Bill Foster