Creation Science
gregladen | February 4, 2008Determining where a genome has been produced or altered by an intelligent designer is a matter of some importance. Consider the claims that the HIV virus was engineered as a biowarfare weapon, or the concern that virulence genes from other organisms could be inserted into viruses and bacteria to "weaponise" them. For example the engineered mouse pox virus that turned lethal (Nature. 2001 May 17;411(6835):232-5 see also Nat Genet. 2001 Nov;29(3):253-6) and limits on the sequencing of the 1918 strain of the flu to stop flu from being weaponised (Fed Regist. 2005 Oct 20;70(202):61047-9,). A…
gregladen | February 3, 2008I'd like to point you to an interesting piece on teaching evolution in Florida:
Sometimes, Allyn Sue Baylor doesn't teach evolution in her science class, even though the state requires it. She knows of other teachers who duck the issue, too.
They fear a backlash.
"There are cases when parents have gotten really upset," said Baylor, who teaches at Palm Harbor Middle School in Pinellas County. "It's scary. You can lose your job."
Its an interesting article in the St Pete's times. Here.
Which reminds me to remind you. If you want your public school teachers to teach evolution to your children…
gregladen | February 3, 2008With all five school board members believing evolution should not be taught as fact, the School Board of Highlands County on Tuesday will consider a resolution opposing the state's proposed new science standards stance on evolution.
The proposed resolution states, "The board recognizes the importance of providing a thorough and comprehensive science education to all students in Highlands County, which the board believes should include the multiple theories regarding the origins of the universe and life on earth."
[source]
gregladen | February 3, 2008Ed Brayton asks us to sign this online petition "...to keep the pressure on the state Board of Education to adopt the new proposed science standards as they are ..."
Please go do it.
gregladen | February 1, 2008You've heard of the movie Flock of Dodo's. ... But have you seen the out takes?
Me neither. But I do have this for you (warning: Includes PZ Myers Footage)...
(Do wait for the end. The best bit is at the end. Don't miss it!!!!!)
gregladen | February 1, 2008An increasingly large number of K through 12 students (in the tens of thousands or more) are getting some or all of their education on line. Typically, the on line resources are provided by private corporate vendors contracting to individuals or in some cases school districts, and the target audience tends to be middle school or high school.
School districts and teachers (including unions) are typically reticent to support this shift. While such groups may be resisting online offerings because it constitutes direct competition, they also have valid complaints that online learning, like…
gregladen | January 31, 2008I wish we had more details of this story, but this is what we know so far:
The Lafayette County School Board unanimously adopted a resolution in protest of a proposed Florida Department of Education revision of the science portion of the Sunshine State Standards at a special meeting on Jan. 25.
According to Fred Ward, Lafayette County superintendent of schools, FDOE is considering new standards which would make the teaching of evolution mandatory in every school and to disallow the teaching of any other explanation about how the earth, universe, and man came into existence.
"The new Sunshine…
gregladen | January 29, 2008You may not want to miss this (Feb 13th) episode of Wife Swap:
a theologically liberal high powered corporate executive mother with a stay-at-home husband swaps lives with a born again Christian mom who believes women are created to be men's help-mates ...
... the Childs are born-again Christians who interpret the bible literally and use it as a guide for life. In the Childs' family constitution, God comes first, husband Christopher comes second. The family have to serve God at all times with a cheerful heart, and they follow the words of scripture to the letter. Lee-Ann is a stay-at-home mom…
gregladen | January 29, 2008Lee Salisbury, a former evangelical preacher, comments on evolution and creationism.
He starts with this:
Creationism seems to be gaining credence far beyond its actual influence in the world of science. Even American presidential candidates, lest they offend the religious right, reject evolution in favor of creationism. Mike Huckabee, Fred Thompson and Mit Romney endorse creationism.
And ends with this:
Creationists are quite explicit in their stated goals, and there is little room for doubt their true intentions. The true mission of creationism is theocracy. Thus exposed, the need to fight…
gregladen | January 28, 2008"The first witness called by attorneys for the parents was Dr. Kenneth Miller"
gregladen | January 28, 2008The Twin Cities Creation Science Association Home School Science Fair, held each year in February, in Har Mar Mall, Roseville, Minnesota, will occur this year on Saturday & Sunday, February 16 and 17, 2008.
The Application Deadline is January 31st, 2008 ($5.00 entry fee)
You can register after January 31st at the door for only three bucks more!
Here are the entry guidelines:
This fair is open to all Home School students in the greater Twin Cities area.
Each student may enter only one project.
There will be only individual projects, and team projects will not be allowed.
Each exhibit…
gregladen | January 27, 2008"Eventually, I came up with a name for it. I called it 'irreducible complexity'"
gregladen | January 27, 2008"Counterknowledge," I would have thought, includes things like how a particular customer likes her eggs, or if another customer gets antsy if he does not get his refill right way. You know, like in a diner. Counter knowledge. But it turns out that Counterknowledge is stuff like creationism, creation science, Scientology, alternative medicine, and so on.
The Telegraph has a review of a book by Damian Thompson with the title "Counterknowledge."
A synopsis from the publisher:
We are being swamped by dangerous nonsense. From 9/11 conspiracy theories to Holocaust denial, creationism to…
gregladen | January 27, 2008The loss of sight in cave dwelling species is widely known. We presume that since sight in utter darkness has no fitness value, the mutation of a gene critical to the development of the sense of sight is not selected against. Over time, any population living in darkness will eventually experience experience such mutations, and these mutations can reach fixation.
Astyanax mexicanus: Top is the surface, sighted form, bottom is the cave-dwelling, blind form. From the Jeffery Lab.Beyond this, we may hypothesize that a mutation "turning off" sight could be beneficial. By definition, an…
gregladen | January 26, 2008"Twelve mentions of Charles Darwin in a 1,400 page textbook..."
Previous in the series
gregladen | January 26, 2008This is a repost of an item from my old blog.
The Twin Cities Creation Science Fair association usually posts "random" photographs of the children's exhibits on their web site after the fair is over. You can go and see them for the last few years. (Don't look for a place to click on this post, I don't provide it here.)
But this year, something different happened, and if you go to the site where the photographs are supposed to be posted, you get this:
Interesting, huh?
Now, to really get the context of this, you may need to read at least the blog post and the last six or so comments in…