Has Dave Scot Been Expelled?

May 25th, 2008 midwifetoad

Upon my return from a couple days away from the computer I found I’d been summarily expelled from the inner sanctum of the “big tent”.

Here are a couple of ground rules that weren’t spelled out to me about being allowed inside the big tent:

1) Thou shalt not question the Discovery Institute, its purposes, intents, or methods.

2) Thou shalt not question that belief in Darwin’s theory on the Origin of Species made the holocaust possible.

In other words, you don’t have to believe in God but you’d better believe in the Discovery Institute and not wander off-message.

Discussion at Panda’s Thumb.

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Closing the gap…

May 23rd, 2008 Black Ops

WELL, CLOSING ONE of them anyway. From the Telegraph, a missing link of sorts is located:

The origin of today’s amphibians is controversial because of a lack of intermediate forms to show which ancient creatures evolved into frogs and salamanders.

Now a Texan fossil, Gerobatrachus hottoni (”Hotton’s elder frog”) from around 300 million years ago, proves the previously disputed fact that some modern amphibians, frogs and salamanders evolved from one group of ancient primitive amphibians called temnospondyls, some of which were up to 1.5 metres long.

More.

Just a matter of time before creationists point out that two new gaps are now opened up, on either side of G. hottoni, but there you go.

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Get Well Soon…

May 16th, 2008 Central Archivist

It has come to our attention that Jim Robinson, the founder of Free Republic, has been hospitalized and has undergone extensive surgery.  We here at Darwin Central wish him a full and speedy recovery and hope for the best for him in the future.

Posted in Commentary | 1 Comment »

A Squamatan Sonnet from Lacertilian Bards

May 11th, 2008 RWA

Courtesy LGF:

Who Knows?

’Twas once upon the internet I chanced upon an argument;
A blog appeared to splinter into internecine wars.
’Twas all precipitated by a movie dedicated to
Portraying Darwinism as a truth-suppressing force.

A thousand comments did I read, another thousand did I feed
Into my aching brain, yet little progress did I find.
No sooner was a claim defeated, than it was again repeated;
Surely there’s a better way to influence a mind.

Oh Lord, I grew so weary of the cry: “It’s just a theory!” for
This charge is not dismissive in the scientific world.
And though this point was oft explained, it did not hinder those who claimed
That “Theory!” is rhetorical invective to be hurled.

My neurons whirled, my senses swirled; how did man come into this world?
I longed to take a nap, but someone said: “I’ve found a gap!”
And though the gap was quickly filled, there promptly came a voice more thrilled:
“Behold!” it cried, “I now have spied a flanking pair of gaps!”

Read the rest of this entry »

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Harun Yahya given 3-year jail sentence

May 11th, 2008 midwifetoad

From Reuters, Via ERV, We receive news that the Turkish creationist writer has been convicted of “creating an illegal organization for personal gain.”

Oktar [aka Harun Yahya] had been tried with 17 other defendants in an Istanbul court. The verdict and sentence came after a previous trial that began in 2000 after Oktar, along with 50 members of his foundation, was arrested in 1999.

In that court case, Oktar had been charged with using threats for personal benefit and creating an organization with the intent to commit a crime. The charges were dropped but another court picked them up resulting in the latest case.
…
Oktar, born in 1956, is the driving force behind a richly funded movement based in Turkey that champions creationism, the belief that God literally created the world in six days as told in the Bible and the Koran.

Posted in News | 8 Comments »

Dave Scot On a Roll

May 6th, 2008 midwifetoad

This is becoming a problem. Dave Scot, a Friend of Bill Dembski, continues to post rational arguments. We fear that his mental health has become permanently balanced, and we continue to fear for his survival at Uncommon Descent. (Click link for discussion, if you dare.)

There are people who believe that because Darwin provided a theoretical basis that humans and animals have a common ancestor it becomes a rationale for treating humans more like animals. Thus we get things like Nazi Germany and the holocaust.

I suppose that’s one way of looking at it.

Another equally valid way of looking at it is that common ancestry becomes a rationale for treating animals more like humans. Thus we get things like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

It’s all a matter of how you choose to look at it. It’s really more a reflection on your own soul which way you choose to see it.

Good people do good things. Evil people do evil things. Knowledge (like Darwinian evolution and the recipe for dynamite) is inanimate and can be employed by good people for good things and evil people for evil things.

Posted in News | 5 Comments »

The Steintanic sinks….

May 5th, 2008 RWA

Expelled plunges another 50% in its third week and goes down to 656 theaters, raking in a total of just under seven million in three weeks.

Posted in News | 3 Comments »

DI: Those Wascawwy Wepubwicans killed FL’s antievolution law

May 5th, 2008 EmmaPeel

John West of the Discovery Institute is fuming at those wascawwy Wepubwicans in the Florida legislature for introducing a fatal poison pill into the DI’s model “Academic Freedom” bill.

Posted in News | 1 Comment »

Expelled Enjoined

May 3rd, 2008 midwifetoad

Flunked, Not Expelled: Expelled Enjoined

There was a hearing in the Yoko Ono copyright infringement case this past week, and Premise Media has been enjoined against further distribution of “Expelled” until the case is settled next hearing on May 19th.

That means that theaters that already have a copy may continue to show it, but no further prints may be sent out to other theaters, and no CD or DVD versions may be distributed, either.

More…

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Evolution bills die in Legislature as session ends

May 2nd, 2008 midwifetoad

By BILL KACZOR

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Hotly debated evolution bills that critics said would inject religious doctrine into public schools in the guise of science died a quiet death Friday on the final day of the legislative session.
…
A House bill (HB 1483) would have gone farther, not just allowing such challenges but requiring that schools teach “critical analysis” of evolution.

The Senate version was based on model legislation advocated by the Discovery Institute, a Seattle think tank that supports research on intelligent design. That theory holds that some features of the universe and living things can be explained by an “intelligent cause.”

Link

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