Intelligent Design

Ed 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.

You'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!!!!!)

I 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…

"Dover may be the first of many battles to follow..."

Creationists Acting Badly, as usual... [Hat Tip: Pz Myers]

Lee 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…

"The first witness called by attorneys for the parents was Dr. Kenneth Miller"

The 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…

So there, 'intelligent' cdesign proponentists, eat your hearts out.

"Eventually, I came up with a name for it. I called it 'irreducible complexity'"

"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…

"Twelve mentions of Charles Darwin in a 1,400 page textbook..." Previous in the series

This 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…

This is a repost of an item from my old blog. The Twin Cities Home Schooling Creationist Science Fair at Har Mar Mall in Roseville, Minnesota happened last month. The organization that (at least partly) sponsors this event (Twin Cities Creation Science) usually posts photographs of the science fair, but this year they got into a tizzy about it for some reason and removed the photographs from their web site. I was at the science fair, and I snapped a couple of photos, and I think there are interesting points of discussion that are lost with the TCCSA dropping the ball. Unfortunately, many…

This is a repost of an item from my old blog. The fear of God is the beginning of knowledge. Proverbs 1:7 This is an Absodoodly-don't miss event! Har Mar Mall, Rosedale District Roseville Minnesota Feb 17 and 18 2007 Exhibits must be set up between 8:30 and 10:00 am Saturday and will remain up until 4:00 pm Sunday Judging begins at 10:00 am and finishes at about 12:30 pm Saturday According to Russ McGlenn (the dapper gentlemen in the photo, shown here at the Har Mar Mall during a previous Creation Science Fair), of Adventure Safaris (facilitator and coordinating agency of the Home…

I'm serious. You can't see this post until you put down your coffee and make sure your airways are clear. Then you can click on the heading and laugh, and cry, and everything... This is a repost of an item from my old blog. OK, I think this is fake, it can't be real. This was spotted on Pharyngula, and PZ Myers is a smart guy, but maybe this time he was fooled. I'm talking about the "Twin Citeis Creation Science Association 2007 Home School Science Fair" planned for February 17th and 18th. Here is the link if you want to see their site. The following are my favorites form a list of 114…

"This is the story of a battle between faith and knowledge..." The first in a series from the BBC Next in the series

From the NCSE newsroom: At least nine county school boards in northern Florida have adopted resolutions calling for the state board of education "to revise the new Sunshine State Standards for Science such that evolution is not presented as fact, but as one of several theories," according to a January 23, 2008, report from Florida Citizens for Science. These resolutions represent a backlash to a draft set of new state science standards, which are presently undergoing revision in response to comments from the public. The state board of education is expected to consider the revised draft set of…

[Hat Tip: PZ Myers] Might as well watch this one too: