creationism
pharyngula | March 15, 2009Those creationists sure do love their hypocrisy: on one day, they whine about their version of "academic freedom", which means demanding that creationism be given equal time with legitimate science in the classroom, and the next they throw a hissy fit because someone they disagree with is speaking, such as Barbara Forrest or Richard Dawkins. After failing to block Dawkins from speaking at OU, the Oklahoma legislature is looking for excuses to retroactively punish the university for spending money on his visit. They seem to have this idea that academics they dislike should always work for free…
sa smith | March 14, 2009Vic-- OMG!! Exciting Dawkins/Oklahoma news!!!
Me-- EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! Dawkins had so much fun on his visit to OK he decided to buy a ranch here and raise ostriches?!?!?
Vic--.......... nooo........ *blink*
Me-- *sad*
Vic-- Well the locals had been keeping this a secret for a while, but its not a secret anymore! Dawkins refused to take any money for his visit!
Me-- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA!!! "OMFG U SPENT OVER 9,000 MILLION TAX PAIRS DOLLORS BRINGZ DAWKUNZ 2 CAMPOOS! WE CUDDA SPENT DAT ON BYE-BULLS TO LED PEOPLES TO TEH CROSS!... wuddya mean he takeded no monies?"
Vic-- I know, right? Oh,…
gregladen | March 13, 2009I just got this brief from Robert Luhn of the NCSE
Representative Leo Berman (Republican, District 6, Smith County) has just introduced HB 2800, which would exempt "certain private nonprofit educational institutions" from the rules other degree-granting schools must follow in Texas.
The aim, apparently, is to help the Institute for Creation Research's graduate school, which was denied state certification (a precursor to accreditation) when it moved to Texas. The ICR is a "Young Earth Creationist" organization that believes the Earth is 10,000 years old, Noah's flood really happened,…
mikethemadbiologist | March 13, 2009I know I make the point a lot that much of movement conservatism/Modern Republicanism operates in a intellectuallycognitively similar manner to the creationist movement. But the reason the comparison is instructive is that creationism (whether young earth or intelligent design) is so obviously stupid that it forces you to confront what is actually going on. For many people, economics or foreign policy (or at least subtopics in these areas) are difficult enough that you are tempted to cede that they might have a legitimate point of view, but one that is nonetheless very different than yours…
pharyngula | March 13, 2009I am sometimes accused of having a sense of humor. This base canard is completely unfounded; I merely have great material sent to me. For example, this is an actual abstract for a paper given at the 2004 Baramin Study Group conference. Just try to read it without laughing out loud.
The Origins of Natural Evil Gordon Wilson New St. Andrews College
In a cursory survey of life it is obvious that a vast number of species spanning most kingdoms and phyla have features that are teleologically designed to deal out disease and/or death. Many pathogens, parasites, and predators have sophisticated…
laelaps | March 13, 2009I am no fan of the "March of Progress", but I know it isn't going anywhere. It is too readily recognizable as an evolutionary image for its use to be discontinued. That is why I wasn't surprised to see it in a new commercial for Extra spearmint gum. What I was surprised by, however, was that the creators of the commercial think that sloths figured in our evolution somewhere between tarsiers and chimpanzees;
[facepalm]
Creationists don't like the commercial either, but for entirely different reasons. This chap, for instance, is so fervent in his belief in creationism that he feels deeply…
clock | March 12, 2009...but Creationists cannot:
Anyone who knows me at all knows that I break down creationist biology into four main components: design, natural evil, systematics, speciation, and biogeography.
Hat-tip: Pharyngula, where you will find the relevant link to the rest of this ingenious "college course". Glad it's not a math course...
I am also interested to see the mathematical models of 'natural evil'....
pharyngula | March 12, 2009Todd Wood teaches a creationism course at a bible college, and he has a creationism blog. He has one of the most promising introductions to his way of thinking ever.
Anyone who knows me at all knows that I break down creationist biology into four main components: design, natural evil, systematics, speciation, and biogeography.
That sentence alone is just a marvel.
Read the whole thing, though, and you'll laugh and laugh. He tries to justify all those "well-designed" predators like venomous snakes, and all he's got is the usual creationist answer to all those nasty critters. The Fall. The…
sa smith | March 12, 2009I love the interwebz.
Youre just playing Google Goonies, searching for treasure in the internetz sewer tubes, and you find the neatest stuff. Like yesterday, I was Googling 'Paul Wesselhoft', cause he was one of the twats behind OKs 'Academic Freedom' bill, and he hates puppies, and I found this neat blog post by PastorDude:
Oklahoma University is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars of OUR tax money celebrating Darwin Day and forcing godless evolution onto the students. For example, they are paying Richard Dawkins, the world's leading atheist, $30,000 for a one hour lecture!
LOL! God…
pharyngula | March 11, 2009Thomsen is the Republican representative in Oklahoma who proposed several resolutions that would censure the OU zoology department and Richard Dawkins for not being nice to creationism. You really must see his justification for condemning views he finds religiously disagreeable.
I am trying to promote free thinking. I strongly oppose the Department of Zoology for their unwillingness to lead our state in this discussion and not have opposing views in this matter.
I do not believe Todd Thomsen even knows what free thinking is. The zoology department is not leading the state in the discussion…
pharyngula | March 11, 2009It's the obligatory annual newspaper article on creationists confronted with evidence. In this case, young ignoramuses from Liberty University are filed through the Smithsonian Institution to practice closing their minds, while a newspaper reporter echoes their rationalizations. I hate these exercises in bad journalism: there is absolutely no critical thinking going on here, either among the creationists or the reporter writing it up. An example:
"I love it here," said Ross, who has a doctorate in geosciences from the University of Rhode Island. "There's something romantic about seeing the…
sa smith | March 11, 2009April 7, 1933.
Adolf Hitler signed into law a decree that any non-Aryan 'civil servant' would lose their job. This included every Jewish scientist and professor. Thus most Jewish scientists packed their bags and moved somewhere their intellect would be appreciated, with fate-shifting consequences. I know Im not the only one that heard the old-wives-tale-- If Germany hadnt EXPELLED its scientific elite, they might have had the bomb before us.
So it should come as no surprise to anyone that the current oppressive regime stifling hard working Creationist scientists in the US will lead us to a…
clock | March 11, 2009Darwin issue of a magazine is banned in Turkey:
The title summarizes all the lunacy at once. After all the censorship towards evolution (and many other things), Turkish government finally took a giant step -backwards- for all mankind and blocked the whole issue of a scientific magazine.
Darwin is now completely banned in Turkey. What a shame.
(Note that the above link belongs to RichardDawkins.net, which is another banned website in Turkey. Therefore readers from Turkey can not access it)
According to the news, the cover of the biggest and oldest magazine called Bilim ve Teknik (Science and…
pharyngula | March 10, 2009Schools in Hampshire, England are receiving information on how to incorporate creationism into the classroom. It's hard to judge whether this is good or bad without seeing the actual materials, but I'm inclined to say it's probably a bad idea, since it's supported by people claiming the point is to "analyse different views in a balanced way." That is the wrong way to teach this stuff.
I incorporate creationism into my introductory biology course, too, but I don't think I do it quite the way creationists want. What they want is that we be respectful of their views, explain it as an alternative…
scientificactivist | March 9, 2009What else is new?
Via Greg Laden comes news that creationists are once again mucking about with Texas' education standards. The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) explains just what's at stake:
A number of amendments to the science TEKS were passed at the January 2009 meeting. Here is a brief analysis of these amendments, and why they are problematic for science education in Texas.
In general, the amendments single out topics touching on evolution (including the age and evolution of Earth and the universe as a whole) from other scientific topics included in the TEKS. They uniformly…
sa smith | March 9, 2009Though the Google Machine has pissed me off in the past, I still loves it. One thing I really like about teh Google is Google News, where I can pop in words Im interested in, and read the latest news on that keyword every day.
No big surprise one of my keywords is 'endogenous retrovirus'.
Well today, under the 'ERV' tab, I noticed an article by Adnanabannabiingbong Yahya, or someone writing under his name:
QUESTION: How do you account for Endogenous Retro Viruses (ERVs), and the markers they have left in inheritable genes? You can clearly "trace" ancestry using these ERV markers. How do you…
gregladen | March 8, 2009Well, not ALL of you. Just the ones who also happen to be Scientists. Texans only, please. If you are not a Texan Scientist do not read this blog post.
The National Center for Science Education is asking Texas Scientists to contact the State Board of Education regarding the Proposed Texas Educational Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) Amendments.
Find your SBOE member here.
You are being asked to write your State board of Education member regarding the TEKS amendments passed in Janurary, 2009.
In general, the amendments single out topics touching on evolution (including the age and…
pharyngula | March 8, 2009If you fit that description, please report to Greg Laden. The NCSE has a little job for you.
pharyngula | March 8, 2009So Ray Comfort is now complaining on the revered pages of the respected publication, World Net Daily about me. The article is full of dishonest misquotes, but let's zip right to Ray's scientific misunderstandings. They are deep and painful. He has this bizarre idée fixe that the necessity of every species having males and females somehow greatly reduces the probability that new species could arise. It's total nonsense, and I dismissed it briefly when I commented on it before.
"I know Ray is rather stupid, but who knew he could be that stupid. This has been explained to him multiple times:…
pharyngula | March 8, 2009I was wondering why I was getting the sudden upsurge in hate mail, and one kind messenger was generous enough to tell me his source. In an ironic way, with naughty words. You might not want to look below the fold if you're 3 years old or younger.
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