Watch it now before it gets pulled:
Continue reading The video the Republicans don’t want you to see
Daily Archives: March 30, 2011
Anti-evolution bills suffer diverse fates
The Anti-Evolution Bills in Tennessee have advanced.
Tennessee’s House Bill 368 was passed by the House Education Committee on March 29, 2011, and referred to the House Calendar and Rules Committee, while its counterpart, Senate Bill 893, is scheduled to be discussed by the Senate Education Committee on March 30, 2011. These bills, if enacted, would require state and local educational authorities to “assist teachers to find effective ways to present the science curriculum as it addresses scientific controversies” and permit teachers to “help students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in the course being taught.” The only examples provided of “controversial” theories are “biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning.”
Antievolution bill in New Mexico dies
New Mexico’s House Bill 302 died in committee on March 19, 2011, when the legislative session ended. The bill had been tabled by the Education Commitee of the House of Representatives on a 5-4 vote on February 18, 2011. A version of the currently popular “academic freedom” antievolution strategy, HB 302, if enacted, would have required teachers to be allowed to inform students “about relevant scientific information regarding either the scientific strengths or scientific weaknesses” pertaining to “controversial” scientific topics…
Ark Park Makes Mark with Darwinian Snark!
For that special organization or person that makes you throw up a little in your mouth when you hear about their latest aggravating attack on our children’s education, by way of making fun of something that is not really all that funny, DontDissDarwn Central annually awards the highly alliterated angs-ridden accolade: The Upchucky. And this year’s award is bestowed, nay, foisted on Answers in Genesis, for their latest dumb-ass venture, the Noah’s Ark Park.
“rooted in outright opposition to science…[this] hostility to science, knowledge and education does little to attract the kind of employers that will provide good-paying jobs with a future.”
-Lexington Herald-Leader
Click here to read about all of the nominees and find out what they wore to the ceremony.
The genius puppetry behind War Horse
“Puppets always have to try to be alive,” says Adrian Kohler of the Handspring Puppet Company, a gloriously ambitious troupe of human and wooden actors. Beginning with the tale of a hyena’s subtle paw, puppeteers Kohler and Basil Jones build to the story of their latest astonishment: the wonderfully life-like Joey, the War Horse, who trots (and gallops) convincingly onto the TED stage.
Japan quake, tsunami, nuke news 13: When in doubt, throw a towel on it.
As I tune in to NHK live TV, and see the piece on using Twitter to aid in disaster relief being shown for the 20th time over the last 48 hours, I wonder about what appears to be a sudden and dramatic drop in the level of coverage of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster. Over the last several days, the IAEA has stopped bothering to note that cooling systems are still not working and have shifted their attention to monitoring the rising radiation levels outside the plant on both land and sea. Meanwhile, TEPCO engineers are speaking of covering the reactor plant with a big blanket of some kind while reasonably credible sources (i.e., those involved in building the plant) seem increasingly convinced that one reactor’s core has breached its containment vessel.
We have mainly been simply reporting what the Internet has been saying, what the Japanese news has been saying, and what the International Atomic Energy Agency has been saying. This is interesting because Ana’s feed is live and catches with its currency and all the quirks and foibles along with the news, the Internet is a diversity of reaction delayed by hours, and the IAEA response is at least a day behind, measured, and we presume most accurate.
And, of course, we have been told to quiet down in a number of ways by a number of people. First we were told to quiet down because there really could not be a disaster here. Radiation could not really escape at serious levels. The buildings that exploded were not really needed. They are supposed to explode, so it is no big deal. The containment vessel is so solid that nothing can get out of it. Anyway, the Tsunami is the real disaster. Automobile deaths are the real problem. Food poisoning is where we should be focusing our attention. And, most recently, asking questions about what is happening during a very current and very real nuclear power plant disaster is offensive to the hard working people who are in danger at the plant.
We are not amused with the screeching monkeys.
Here’s what we’ve got:
Continue reading Japan quake, tsunami, nuke news 13: When in doubt, throw a towel on it.