Friend and fellow Panda lover Wes Elsberry has an interesting post on the Dover ruling on his personal blog where he points out two fascinating items. First, that Dembski may owe someone a bottle of good scotch:
I'll wager a bottle of single-malt scotch, should it ever go to trial whether ID may legitimately be taught in public school science curricula, that ID will pass all constitutional hurdles. To see why, check out the fine Utah Law Review article by David DeWolf et al. at http://www.arn.org/docs/dewolf/utah.pdf.
In case you were wondering, Bill, I prefer Lagavulin (21 year old) or Laphroaig (15 year old). Wes also catches a very important passage from the ruling that may well put a hole in the IDers' "teach the controversy" and "critical thinking about evolution" strategies as well:
Moreover, ID's backers have sought to avoid the scientific scrutiny which we have now determined that it cannot withstand by advocating that the controversy, but not ID itself, should be taught in science class. This tactic is at best disingenuous, and at worst a canard. The goal of the IDM is not to encourage critical thought, but to foment a revolution which would supplant evolutionary theory with ID.
Could this ruling possibly be any worse for the ID movement? Nice catch, Wes.
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Whenever Wes Elsberry speaks I listen. He always makes sense.
Lynn wrote:
I agree completely, hon. There are few people around that I hold in higher esteem than Wes. He is truly both a gentleman and a scholar at a time when both are rare.
Fifteen years of not drinking still hasn't removed the wondrous and amazing taste of Laphroaig from my memory banks.
I suspect though that Dembski will use the same tactics to get out of his bet as he does with "debate." Avoiding the existence of reality seems to be par for his course.
spyder wrote:
Yeah, I rarely drink myself. I have a handful of drinks in an entire year, mostly wine here and there. But every once in a while, a glass of good single malt is a necessity.
Interestingly, I find that I much prefer the Laphroaig 10 to the 15. Islay malts tend to be, er, "challenging", and the extra 5 years just mellows the sea and the peat smoke. And I'll make up for you both by enjoying a couple of Laphroaigs on a regular basis...
mikey