Creationists have long used credentials to make their case for them. Demsbki has posted a link to a SSRN (i.e. grey literature) paper by Edward Sisson (who is an architect and lawyer) in which he “relates lessons learned not only about evolution, molecular biology, and ‘intelligent design,’ but also about the accumulated ‘bad habits’ that have developed and encrusted the conduct of science in the 130 years since the foundation of the research-oriented universities in the 1870s.” It’s actually an address to architecture students, but I guess by the standards of ID literature it counts as a…
I've written before about efforts to study jaguar (Panthera onca) populations here in the desert southwest and Mexico, most recently to note that the Bush administration had declined to formulate a recovery plan for the species in the Southwest. The following is therefore encouraging for those of us who care about these magnificent animals. Three days ago, Arizona Game and Fish successfully captured and collared a wild jaguar for the first time in Arizona - a male (picture above) found just southwest of Tucson. The 118 pound specimen (perhaps âMacho Bâ who has been captured on camera a…
I gave two talks yesterday. The first was at a luncheon for ASUâs chapter of Sigma Xi. A small crowd of largely retired scientists and engineers heard me give the same talk I gave in Norman last week. Naturally, given the comparative size of the audience (400+ versus 16) the dynamic was different and Iâm not sure folks really got what I was saying. I spent the early evening at Science Cafe over at the Arizona Science Center discussing "Evolution and Faith Revisited: Can the two be reconciled?" After presenting a brief set of talking points (which I had hoped the audience would pick up on),…
Looks like I had a  better day than Abbie. I only had to give two talks whereas she had to listen to John West and Casey Luskin. Hopefully sheâll post more details but for the moment we know that West pontificated that âDarwin was Wrongâ and Luskin tried to justify the cdesign proponentists snafu. Pure comedy gold, Iâm sure.  Poor Abbie is going to have to suffer a little more â Dembskiâs blowing into town in a few weeks. Update: Abbie has presented more details (see links above). Here are Westâs âSeven myths about Darwinismâ: There is no scientific debate over evolution (featuring use of…
Pallas’ cat, Felis manul Pallas 1776 <source>
So I’m contemplating getting a Macbook Pro and thus leaving my current main machine (an XP laptop which I have been very happy with, by the way). I’m specifically looking at the 17 inch model, particularly because of the eight hour battery life. Any readers out there have any experience with the new Macbooks? Pros? Cons?  Do you really get 8 hrs with WiFi enabled? I’m assuming I’m going to have to buy iWork, but is there any other software (for pay or free) that you would recommend? Any comments will be gratefully received!
On the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin, William Dembski, research professor of philosophy at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, challenged Darwin's famed theory of evolution during a seminary chapel service. A fixation with Darwin and a sermon in a chapel. Nothing more to add. <source>
No sooner than Oklahoma’s SB 320 gets axed than we find out about another “academic freedom”/”strengths and weaknesses” bill. This time it’s Missouri HB 656 introduced on Feb 10th. As NCSE reports, Robert Wayne Cooper (R-District 155), the chief sponsor, has a history of wasting time introducing pro-creationism bills. So the current state of play for 2009 is: Mississippi - dead in committee Oklahoma - dead in committee New Mexico - in committee Iowa - in committee Alabama - in committee. Missouri - in committee Texas - at state board Florida - looks like there's to be a "teach…
Some folks have been asking to see the slides from my talk last week at OU. They're a little opaque without my commentary, but here they are: I'll be giving a very similar talk at ASU on Friday for Sigma Xi.
I had received the news that Oklahoma SB 320 died in committee whilst at the Will Rogers airport heading home. I tried to post some details using my phone but that clearly didn't work. In the comments section Vic provides the details. This means the state of the nation currently is: Mississippi - disclaimer - dead in committee Oklahoma - “strengths and weaknesses” - dead in committee New Mexico - “strengths and weaknesses” - in committee Iowa - “academic freedom” - in committee Alabama - “academic freedom” - in committee. Texas - "strengths and weaknesses" - at state board Florida - looks…
Saturday was the last full day of the OSLEP course and we had the students thinking about religious and other reactions to Darwinâs ideas; three hours on St George Jackson Mivart, Alfred Russel Wallace, Ernst Haeckel, and Charles Kingsley, followed by another three hours on American anti-evolutionism. The students really seemed to get into the material and Iâve been very impressed with what theyâve been able to accomplish since Wednesday. For those that may be interested, on Wednesday we discussed natural theology (Paley & Hume) and Darwinâs life. Thursday was devoted to discussions of…
More here. My gut feeling is that an improvement in general science education in this country could swing many of the âno opinionâ folks towards evolution.
Not a bad article in the Norman Transcript which is apparently a fairly conservative paper. It will be interesting to see what happens in the comment thread over the next few hours.
Jungle cat, Felis chaus Schreber 1777 (source)
Abbie (of ERV fame) and I after my talk at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Natural History Museum. It went well, I think. About 350 folks in the audience and the local NPR and PBS stations will apparently be offering audio and video at some stage. No questions from creationists (surprisingly) and, while the theme was the Darwinian Revolution, I got to get in a few comments regarding SB 320 and science education, and managed to plug Oklahomans for Excellence for Science Education. Abbie tells me that she’ll blog something about the talk at some stage. We didn’t get to chat much, but will be getting…
You probably already know that today is the bicentennial of Darwinâs birthday. What you may not know is that Iâm giving a talk tonight (7pm) at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Natural History Museum on âWas there a Darwinian Revolution?â It is the open address for the University of Oklahomaâs âDarwin 2009â celebrations.  If youâre in the area, do drop along. Later on in the week, I may get around to posting slides.
Iâm in Oklahoma at the moment (more anon perhaps) but was dismayed, to put it mildly, to see the following announcement come from ASUâs Provost: The funding lost in the recently revised FY09 state budget has forced Arizona State University to cap enrollment and to close applications to next yearâs freshman class on March 1, five months earlier than usual. ⦠ASU is also closing about four dozen academic programs, many on the Tempe campus, and scaling down administrative operations at its Polytechnic and West campuses, in response to state budget reductions, which have totaled $88 million or…
Letâs look at what the Republicans in the Senate are currently fighting against in the stimulus bill: $40 billion in aid to state governments for education and other programs; money that economists say is a relatively efficient way to pump up the economy by preventing layoffs, cuts in services or tax increases. $20 billion for construction and repair of schools and university facilities. Those funds would have supported many construction jobs. Short version: the Senate Republicans (including McCain and Kyl) are not willing to help their own states out when suffering an severe educational…
No sooner that I posted the current status of anti-evolution legislation that Glenn Branch posted on a new “academic freedom” bill in Alabama. HB 300 is sponsored by Republican (seeing a trend here?) David Grimes and has been sent to committee. Unsurprisingly, it’s the same old DI boilerplate that is popping up everywhere. So the field of play for 2009 now looks like: Mississippi - disclaimer - dead in committee New Mexico - “strengths and weaknesses” - in committee Iowa - “academic freedom” - in committee Oklahoma - “strengths and weaknesses” - in committee Alabama - “academic freedom…
The NCSE is reporting that the Mississippi Disclaimer Bill has died in committee, leaving Alabama as the only state with a disclaimer on biology textbooks. Apparently the bill’s sponsor, Gary Chism (R-Distinct 37) is considering “drafting another bill next year supporting the teaching of the strengths and weaknesses of evolutionary theory in public school classrooms.” I’m sure the Discovery Institute would be happy to help him. So the current status of anti-evolution legislation in 2009 is: Mississippi - disclaimer - dead in committee New Mexico - “strengths and weaknesses” - in committee…