Yet another group of slack jawed yokels in some backwater school district want to force their religious beliefs on children in their local school district. This time it’s Nassau County.
“The theory of evolution falls short here since it cannot be observed, hasn’t been repeated and cannot be tested,” Marjorie Ramseur told School Board members. “I applaud you for taking a stand on this issue. If you’re going to teach evolution, please teach all of it.”
Certain Bloggers have been giving Floridians a hard time because of the opposition to teaching science in public science classrooms. Shame on those bloggers. (See here and here for examples). There are some local school districts in Florida that insist that excellent science, and not creationism or religion of any kind, be taught in public schools. Continue reading Not All Floridians Are Inbred Slack Jawed Yokels
A survey conducted by the St. Petersburg Times shows that half of the respondents want “only faith-based theories such as creationism or intelligent design” taught in public school classrooms, and only 22 percent want evolution-only life science curriculum.
Continue reading Florida Poll: Only 22 percent say teach evolution only
On Wednesday the Bay District School Board voted to sign a resolution saying it does not agree with the proposed science standards as they are currently written.
Continue reading Local Florida School Board Rejects Modern Science
Paul Abramson founded and runs “creationism.org” … a creation science web site. It is one of those sites that provides parents and students material to use in harassing their life science teachers and generally making an obnoxious nuisance of themselves.Paul is now seeking the Republican Party’s nominiation for congress, with which he hopes to challenge sitting congressman Brad Ellsworth (Democrat).[source]
Michael Behe made a guest appearance in Beaver County the other day to engage in a debate on intelligent Design vs. Real Science. He got interviewed by a local reporter, who posed questions to both Behe and his antagonist. Here I provide a few excerpts for your amusement. Continue reading Proven: Michael Behe is a Moron
What?! Is Florida totally full of morons, or what?The Bay District School Board will vote on Wednesday on a resolution that waters down the proposed state standards for life science education. Please go to the Channel 7 web site where this story is posted and add your comments along side some guy from New York who is the first to chime in (in favor of rational thinking). If you are from one of these states mainly known for slack-jawed yokels who prefer to marry their siblings but will take a cousin in a pinch, and are NOT one of these morons, please, it is especially important that you chime in.Oh, and if you are from Florida and are offended by my attitude … Don’t ask me to change. Change Florida. I’m busy up here working on Minnesota, and we’ve got our hands full….
The provocative title of this post is the title of a new book, by Ken Ham (founder of the absurd Creation Museum, in the woeful state of Kentucky) . Charles ware is co-author. Continue reading Darwin’s Plantation: Evolution’s Racist Roots
After the Sunday service in Westminster Chapel, where worshippers were exhorted to wage “the culture war” in the Second World World War spirit of Sir Winston Churchill, cabbie James McLean delivered his verdict on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.”Evolution is a lie, and it’s being taught in schools as fact, and it’s leading our kids in the wrong direction,” said McLean, chatting outside the chapel. “But now people like Ken Ham are tearing evolution to pieces.”
This is a short piece in the Barrie Examiner updating the growing American-like trend of creationism in Britain.
After the Sunday service in Westminster Chapel, where worshippers were exhorted to wage “the culture war” in the Second World World War spirit of Sir Winston Churchill, cabbie James McLean delivered his verdict on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.
“Evolution is a lie, and it’s being taught in schools as fact, and it’s leading our kids in the wrong direction,” said McLean, chatting outside the chapel. “But now people like Ken Ham are tearing evolution to pieces.”
This is a short piece in the Barrie Examiner updating the growing American-like trend of creationism in Britain.
Marshall Helberger writes an interesting editorial in the Timberjay, a northern Minnesota newspaper, about creationist tactics. Continue reading Creationists and Deception
The Texas Acadamy of Science has come out with a statement about creationism in Texas schools science classes, called “Texas Academy of Science Position Against the Inclusion of Creationism and Design Concepts in the Science Curricula in Texas Schools”You can get the PDF here.Among other things, the document states:
Texas science teachers have a finite amount of class time and textbook space in which to teach the many valid and foundational scientific concepts that enable students to become knowledgeable consumers, decision makers and voters. Inclusion of creationist or intelligent design concepts in science curricula would seriously diminish the effectiveness of science education by distracting teachers from covering an already overwhelming body of knowledge, and would consequently dilute student’s understanding of scientifically valid concepts and theories. Therefore, it is the position of the Texas Academy of Science that, through their policies and decisions, the State Board of Education, the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board should ensure that neither “creationism” nor “intelligent design” is added to the state’s scientific curricula.
Whenever I’ve reviewed a paper for publication, I always remind myself that I don’t want to be the guy who reads only the good 75% of the paper, and skips over the 25% that contains some egregious error or insane reasoning. Apparently not everyone thinks that. Continue reading The Real Reason that Peer Review is Anonymous
… as if you didn’t know…At Panda’s Thumb, there
is a guest post by Daniel R. Brooks, FRSC. Brooks is a professor in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto. In June 2007 he attended an apparently secret conference organized by ID advocates and entitled the “Wistar Retrospective Symposium.”
This is quite an interesting read, and will make your blood boil. Read it and weep. . Or seethe.This is part of the reason that the Blogging Peer Reviewed Research people do not need to explain why intelligent design material or Discovery Institute blogs are not valid BPR3 links. Not because of what is wrong with the writing itself, but rather, … how many times, now many ways can I make this point …. would you play Wagner at a Jewish Wedding? I don’t think so.Hat Tip, and important commentary, at Pharyngula
The Bloggers for Peer-Reviewed Research Reporting Administration has made a decision in what has come to be known as t”The Luskin situation: A summary, analysis and decision.” I believe they made the right decision, but for the wrong reasons. I respect and admire (and participate in) their efforts, but I think they are being nice. This is no time to be nice. Continue reading Luskin and the Discovery Institute Do Not Deserve the Respect They’ve been Afforded