Rational Conservatives Can Breath Easy For Now

July 23rd, 2008 RWA

Jindal won’t be McCain’s running mate.

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Iowa Regents Uphold Gonzalez Tenure Denial

July 10th, 2008 midwifetoad

GazetteOnline

The regents met in closed session for more than one hour before voting 7-1 to reaffirm ISU’s final decision in the case.

The Discovery Institute is not pleased:

Stellar Astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez Denied Fair Hearing by Iowa State Board of Regents
The Board of Regents of the State of Iowa has denied the tenure appeal of Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez, Assistant Professor of Astronomy at Iowa State University (ISU). Dr. Gonzalez’s appeal has been ongoing since the summer of 2007, when he was first denied tenure by ISU.

“We are extremely disappointed that the Board of Regents refused to give Dr. Gonzalez a fair hearing in his appeal,” said Gonzalez’s attorney Chuck Hurley. “They say in Iowa that academic freedom is supposed to be the ‘foundation of the university.’ That foundation is cracked.”

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Massimo Pigliucci and the Woodstock of Evolution

July 10th, 2008 midwifetoad

The blogworld of creationist and cdesign proponentsists has been buzzing about the Altenberg 16 and the secret meeting coming up in austria. Typical of the commentary is this from telicthoughts.

What it amounts to is a gathering of 16 biologists and philosophers of rock star stature – let’s call them “the Altenberg 16″ – who recognize that the theory of evolution which most practicing biologists accept and which is taught in classrooms today, is inadequate in explaining our existence.

TelicThoughts specializes in analyzing science news and asserting new discoveries support creationism rather than supporting what the resesearchers say their findings support.

So is this the beginning of the end for Darwinism? Let’s see what the organizer of the Altenberg conferences has to say:
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John G. West is an Idiot

July 8th, 2008 RWA

UPDATE: Jim Manzi offers his own response to West here.

Oh my dear NRO, is there a more bipolar on-line journal around? You regularly publish brilliant pieces by John Derbyshire, Mark Steyn, Deroy Murdock and Thomas Sowell, but then you turn around and post something like…this.  John West  of the Discovery Institute is already notorious for his rabid anti-science views and dogged determination to be ignorant of the very things he pretends to have authority to discuss, but man, this article is so stunningly stupid, that after you read it, you’ll be like one of the zombies in Return of the Living Dead, running around screaming “brains brains!” in a desperate attempt to replenish your cerebral cortex following its accelerated decay. It starts out has just another yawn-inducing Discoveroid diatribe crowing over their “victory” in Louisiana but as you near the end of the first page, the stupidity really begins:

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Former state science director sues over intelligent design e-mail

July 3rd, 2008 midwifetoad

The Dallas Morning News  - ERV - Pharyngula

AUSTIN – A former state science curriculum director filed suit against the Texas Education Agency and Education Commissioner Robert Scott on Wednesday, alleging she was illegally fired for forwarding an e-mail about a lecture that was critical of the teaching of intelligent design in science classes.

“The agency’s ‘neutrality’ policy has the purpose or effect of endorsing religion, and thus violates the Establishment Clause,” the lawsuit said.

Lawsuit filed by Christina Comer (text pdf)

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Ice, Mud and Blood

July 2nd, 2008 midwifetoad

From Pharyngula we have a review of a new book on climate change.

I’m very fond of Chris Turney’s book, Bones, Rocks, and Stars. It’s a slender, simple description of the many tools scientists use to figure out how old something is, and when arguing with young earth creationists, it’s become the first thing I recommend to them. It’s short and easy to read, and focuses on explaining how dating methods work.

Turney has a new book out: Ice, Mud and Blood: Lessons from Climates Past. This is the one you’ll be able to hand to climate change denialists, and it’s a winner.

An interview with the author can be found here.

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