One of the great attempted slams on Rachel Carson is the false and scurrilous claim that “population growth opponents” or environmentalists were overheard saying that with DDT, population growth would continue. Generally this canard is accompanied by an observation that France is now Islamic, since only Moslems have babies in France.
Where is Bob Park when you need a whiff of sanity?
4. POPULATION: ARE THEY SURE THEY HAVE THE THEORY RIGHT?
Demographic experts warn that population decline in Russia could have serious economic consequences. It’s the same growth-is-good bull shit that always comes from the Chamber of Commerce. Russia’s neighbors, Norway, Finland and Sweden, have the highest standards of living in the world and small populations. Afghanistan, on the other hand, which is not exactly a tourist Mecca, has a fertility rate above 7, the highest in the world.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
On a broad range of issues, mainline clergy affirm equality for gay and lesbian Americans. Roughly two‐thirds of mainline clergy support some legal recognition for same‐sex couples (65%), passing hate crime laws (67%) and employment nondiscrimination protections for gay and lesbian people (66%). A majority (55%) of mainline clergy support adoption rights for gay and lesbian people. Mainline Protestant clergy are strong advocates of church state separation.
A majority (65%) of mainline clergy agree that the U.S. should “maintain a strict separation of church and state.” Mainline clergy are more worried about public officials who are too close to religious leaders (59%) than about public officials who do not pay enough attention to religion (41%).
Mainline clergy are more likely to publicly address hunger and poverty and family issues than controversial social issues. More than 8‐in‐10 clergy say they publicly expressed their views about hunger and poverty often in the last year, and three‐quarters say they addressed marriage and family issues often. Only about one‐quarter (26%) say they often discussed the issues of abortion and capital punishment.
But where is the Methodist church falling down in getting clergy who understand science? If 54% of Methodist pastors don’t think evolution is the best explanation for diversity of life (the question got muddled in the questionnaire, alas), no wonder their congregations are so misinformed. You’d think they’d know better. You’d think the denomination would be truer to its roots of making the minister the best-informed guy in town.
Mainline clergy views of evolution and its place in public school curriculum are complex. On the one hand, the majority of mainline clergy (54%) do not support the teaching of creationism alongside evolution in public school biology classes. On the other hand, mainline clergy are more evenly divided in their views about the theory of evolution itself. Forty‐four percent of mainline ministers say that evolution is the best explanation for the origins of life on earth, and a similar number disagrees (43%). United Methodist clergy and American Baptist clergy are most likely to disagree. Seven‐in‐ten American Baptist clergy (70%) and a majority (53%) of United Methodist clergy say that evolution is not the best explanation for the origins of life on earth.
One question glaringly missing: Should Christians stick to the facts about science?
Here’s a very odd news item. It’s odd because, first, the disaster at Chernobyl is widely dismissed, and certainly out of the news, so it’s unusual to see any news item that suggests it remains a big problem, or that hints at what a big problem it was (especially from a nominally communist view); and second, who would have predicted Cuba would play a role at all?
(acn) –Havana – Over 20,000 children suffering from different diseases have been seen in Cuba as part of the Cuban Medical Program for Children of Chernobyl, marking last Wednesday the 19th anniversary of its creation. The plan began in 1990, when children and their relatives began to arrive en masse from Russia, the Ukraine, Byelorussia, Moldavia and Armenia to the former Pioneer Children’s Camp in Tarará, east of this city. Dr. Julio Medina, coordinator of the Program, explained that from 700 to 800 children arrive in Cuba annually to be treated by multidisciplinary teams of Cuban specialists. So far, patients with blood diseases have been treated, especially with different variants of leukemia; bone marrow and kidney transplants have been done, as well as cardiovascular surgery due to congenital malformations.
Ukrainian Dr. Nadiezhda Guerazimenko, coordinator of the Program in that country, highlighted the professionalism of Cuban doctors. She added that the best example of this statement lies in the high figure of patients who have returned to their respective countries cured of their ailments. The Program has a significant impact in the health and recovery of children and their families. In its almost two decades of existence, it has treated more than 16,000 Ukrainians, almost 3,000 Russians, and 671 Byelorussians. Some 40,000 people died immediately and millions were contaminated as a result of the nuclear disaster on April 26, 1986, which at first hit the Ukraine, and then extended to Russia, Belarus and different parts of Europe and Asia. The event caused several types of diseases, like leukemia, tumors, heart malformations, kidney problems, psoriasis, vitiligo and alopecia. Many of the children and youngsters seen today in Cuba weren’t even born when the disaster occurred.However, their parents were affected by the radiation.
Hurry, teachers, get your workshops before the State Board of Education declares science workshops to be illegal:
FREE upcoming teacher training workshops at the Texas Natural Science Center — sign up now! Change Over Timeworkshop — 2 sessions (1 for elementary; 1 for middle school) on Saturday, May 2, 2009.
Enjoy inquiry-based, hands-on activities using the Change Over Time kit containing TEKS-based geological science instructional materials for grades K-8! This workshop is designed to help students master Earth Science concepts tested on the TAKS (Grade 5 and/or Grade 8). Conducted in conjunction with Sargent-Welch, Science Kit, and Ward’s. For information and registration, visit http://www.utexas.edu/tmm/education/profdev/cot/index.html
Texas: Past, Present and Future — 4 one-day workshops: June 30, July 14, July 22, and July 30.
Learn more about geology, paleontology and Texas biodiversity! Participating teachers will explore how animals are adapted to varying environments, investigate how paleontologists use fundamental principles to recreate what life was like in Texas’ past, and learn how to integrate these concepts into the classroom. Workshop participants will receive curriculum guides and be able to check out a Texas Fish and Mammals Loaner Kit for use in their classrooms. For information and registration, visit http://www.utexas.edu/tmm/education/profdev/txppf/index.html
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
First e-mail of the day, from an early-riser friend:
A short while ago I caught a replay, on C-SPAN, of President Obama’s speech in Hradcany Square in Prague. I tuned in so as to catch almost all of it — practically all I missed were the introductory remarks. And they were cheering, I tell you. Can you say, “Ich bin ein Berliner” ??
This guy isn’t fooling around. He’s no Bush. He’s a “people’s President.” He’s charismatic. He’s exactly who we need and when we need him.
Great trick, or a miracle: Darwin’s grandfather Erasmus died in 1802. Charles Darwin was born seven years later, in 1809. For people who believe in miracles, this is no problem, I suppose. But I worry that they attribute such astounding miracles to Darwin. That departs a bit from Christian theology, it seems to me.
(It’s a classic wingnut site — comments closed, don’t ask, not no way, not no how.)
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
Just when you thought things were looking up for getting the facts out — I mean, even Sen. Tom Coburn lifted his hold on the bill to name the post office after Rachel Carson — along comes Green Hell Blog.
Green Hell Blog? It looks like a vanity site for Steve Milloy, the polluting company shill who has maintained the unholy dudgeon against Rachel Carson, against health professionals, against malaria fighters, and for reintroducing DDT to poison Africa. Milloy has a new book published by Regnery (couldn’t you have guessed the publisher?). Title of Milloy’s book: Green Hell.
Holy mother of pearl! Here’s Milloy’s flatterer (Milloy himself?) railing away at educating kids at nature centers.
Can you believe it? He’s complaining about people like Boy Scouts as threats to the environment. One might have differences with Boy Scout officials, but criticizing Boy Scouts themselves is just beyond the pale.
One might ask, tongue in cheek, why does Mr. Milloy hate America, America’s natural resources, and America’s history so? What does Milloy have against kids? Then there is the creeping, nagging thought: What if it’s not parody?
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
Or, until that account is unsuspended by the forces supporting Donald Trump: Follow @FillmoreWhite, the account of the Millard Fillmore White House Library
We've been soaking in the Bathtub for several months, long enough that some of the links we've used have gone to the Great Internet in the Sky.
If you find a dead link, please leave a comment to that post, and tell us what link has expired.
Thanks!
Retired teacher of law, economics, history, AP government, psychology and science. Former speechwriter, press guy and legislative aide in U.S. Senate. Former Department of Education. Former airline real estate, telecom towers, Big 6 (that old!) consultant. Lab and field research in air pollution control.
My blog, Millard Fillmore's Bathtub, is a continuing experiment to test how to use blogs to improve and speed up learning processes for students, perhaps by making some of the courses actually interesting. It is a blog for teachers, to see if we can use blogs. It is for people interested in social studies and social studies education, to see if we can learn to get it right. It's a blog for science fans, to promote good science and good science policy. It's a blog for people interested in good government and how to achieve it.
BS in Mass Communication, University of Utah
Graduate study in Rhetoric and Speech Communication, University of Arizona
JD from the National Law Center, George Washington University
Posted by Ed Darrell 
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
