Will Texas ever stack up to California? Do the math, at TexasEd.
Will Texas ever stack up to India? China?
Staying competitive: Do the math
May 27, 2008
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Education, Education spending, Globalization, Higher education, Politics, Texas Lege | Tagged: education funding, Higher education, Politics | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
Trafficking workers’ bodies for profit
May 27, 2008If a guy beats someone to death, it’s murder, right? And so the nation’s labor laws hold an employer liable for the death of a worker when unsafe working conditions caused the death.
But what if the worker doesn’t die? What if the worker only loses his arms, or legs, or arms and legs?
No death, no crime, U.S. law says.
What if the employer poisons the worker with cyanide that eats away the worker’s brain?
No death, no crime, U.S. law says.
My colleagues and I were shocked to learn that an employer who breaks the nation’s worker-safety laws can be charged with a crime only if a worker dies. Even then, the crime is a lowly Class B misdemeanor, with a maximum sentence of six months in prison. (About 6,000 workers are killed on the job each year, many in cases where the deaths could have been prevented if their employers followed the law.) Employers who maim their workers face, at worst, a maximum civil penalty of $70,000 for each violation.
Read a plea to change the law, in the New York Times, from David H. Uhlmann, a law professor at the University of Michigan.
1 Comment | Business, Business Ethics, Capitalism, Civil Rights, Economics, Environmental justice, Environmental protection, Free market economics, Freedom - Economic, Government, Gross Injustice, Health care, Human Rights, Labor and unions, OSHA, Politics, Public health | Tagged: Business, Business Ethics, Civil Rights, Environmental, Gross Injustice, Labor Law, Occupational Safety, OSHA, Worker Rights | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Good though: Folksinger, Storyteller, Railroad Tramp Utah Phillips Dead at 73
May 27, 2008Utah Phillips died Friday. He was 73. He died at his home in Nevada City, California.
Wonderful tribute at Fifteen Iguana.
Utah Phillips (publicity photo via Bluegrass Today)
Phillips’s website lists planned tributes, memorials and the funeral in Nevada City, California. KVMR Radio’s site has an obit and links to other tributes.
- Railroading on the Great Divide, from “Legends of Folk” (buy the CD here)
- Origin of the phrase “Good though” from “Good Though” (buy the CD here)
- Sacramento Bee story – excerpted below the fold
4 Comments | A Good Story, Business Ethics, Citizenship, Current History, History, History and art, History audio sources, Humor, Labor and unions, Life, Music | Tagged: Folk Music, History, Labor and unions, Media, Music, Organized Labor, Politics, Railroads, Utah Phillips | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Ghost of Joe McCarthy: LGF/Malkin assault on Rachael Ray
May 26, 2008WARNING: Satirical material ahead.
At long last, Sen. McCarthy Little Green Footballs, have you no decency?
One wonders just how much mob activity these guys can provoke before somebody — perhaps someone at LGF, and Michelle Malkin’s blog — wakes up and stands up to stop the madness.
Rachael Ray wore a black and white patterned scarf at a shoot for a Dunkin’ Donuts ad. As a Blood to a blue bandana or a Crip to a red one, LGF pulled out their rhetorical guns and started firing. ‘Aren’t those the colors of Yassir Arafat’s group, Al Fatah?’ LGF wonders.
You couldn’t make up this kind of craziness if it didn’t exist. Well, almost couldn’t make it up.
I expect that, next, Little Green Footballs will hear that some radio stations are suppressing the news about the invasion of Martians.
Next week: Little Green cake pans filmed flying across LGF’s yard, and LGF leads a new dig at the old quarry in Piltdown. How long before Nebraska Man shows up in the credits to Michelle Malkin’s blog, and they start rooting for the Cardiff Giant during the Hall of Fame Game in Cooperstown? Is it true that Michelle Malkin has an interview with Judge Crater set up for later this week?
Barnum’s ghost is tired.
What Michelle Malkin and LGF claimed to see:
What everyone else saw:
Dunkin’ Donuts pulled the ad rather than risk offending anyone. The scarf had a paisley design, a company spokesman told LGF — and no one disputes that.
Does anyone else see the irony of Little Green Footballs complaining about this and inciting a mob? What will they do when they realize that green was Mohammed’s favorite color, and is almost an official color of Islam?
And when the truth comes out, will it be that LGF was mainstreaming terrorism to sell Little Green Footballs — like mob action against a donut shop — occasionally outing one of their friends or some innocent person to avoid suspicion themselves?
Santayana was right. What do you know about Herb Philbrick’s dip into communism double agentry, in I Led Three Lives? What do you remember about Robespierre and the Summer of Terror? What do you remember about Stalin’s installation of terror in the Soviet Union?
Why aren’t Malkin and LGF going after Rev. Moon, or some real threat to something — whooping cough, measles, something really dangerous?
Whose side is Little Green Footballs on, anyway?
Tip of the old scrub brush to Dispatches from the Culture Wars.
Other Resources:
- Crooks and Liars gets closer to the facts
- Michelle Malkin, coming apart at the seams
- Pandagon keeps feet on the ground: “I had to double check the URL to make sure this isn’t a Malkin parody site, because this is hard to swallow as written by a sincere human being. The paranoid wingnuttery is too pitch perfect.”
Update: Greater, sadder irony: Rachael Ray’s site today featured a nice tribute to our troops, with recipes.
7 Comments | Accuracy, Business Ethics, Current History, Debunking, Ethics, Hoaxes, Lessons of history, Palestine, Paranoia, Rampant stupidity, Santayana's ghost | Tagged: hoax, Mobs, Politics, Rampant stupidity, Witchhunts | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Barnum’s Law and toxic feet
May 26, 2008Much as we’d like to deny it, the evidence to verify Barnum’s Law just keeps piling up.
Here’s a blogger astounded by the black stuff on the pad on her feet, convinced that it’s toxic stuff magically drained out of her body, through her feet.
Who is going to tell her the facts?
Uh, you haven’t been suckered by that scam, have you?
Update: The blogger in question seems to have gotten the message: The post has been yanked. Smart people change things when their errors are pointed out.
Leave a Comment » | Health care, Hoaxes, Scams, Science, Voodoo science, Woo | Tagged: Health care, Scams, Science, Toxic feet, Voodoo science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Texans want McLeroy gone, too
May 26, 2008Texans who ought to know want Education Commissar Don McLeroy out, too — P. Z. Myers (“Fire Don McLeroy”) is not the only one.
In a letter reported in only one newspaper I’ve found, The Houston Chronicle, State Board of Education member Mary Helen Baranga of Corpus Christi asked Gov. Rick Perry to fire McLeroy.
Don McLeroy “has created havoc” as chairman of the State Board of Education and should be replaced, the senior member of the board said in a letter to Gov. Rick Perry.
“It is such a shame that after all these years of trying to improve public education in Texas, we are taking steps backwards because of Don McElroy,” Mary Helen Berlanga of Corpus Christi said in her letter to Perry, misspelling McLeroy’s name.
Berlanga, who has been on the 15-member board since 1984, said McLeroy’s leadership has been a disaster and asked Perry to replace him with “a moderate conservative who can work with all members of the State Board of Education and the citizens of this state.”
Gov. Perry said the SBOE should deal with the issues.
Has Perry forgotten what office he holds? Nuts.
3 Comments | Education, Government, Politics, Public education | Tagged: Education, Education Administration, Gov. Rick Perry, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Memorial Day, 2008 – fly your flag in honor of our nation’s dead
May 26, 2008(Much of this is reprise from Memorial Day 2007)
You may fly your flag the entire weekend. Please fly your flag today.
Memorial Day, traditionally observed on May 30, now observed the last Monday in May, is a day to honor fallen veterans of wars. Traditionally, family members visit the cemetery where loved ones are interred and leave flowers on the grave.
On Memorial Day itself, flags on poles or masts should be flown at half-staff from sunrise to noon. At noon, flags should be raised to full-staff position.
When posting a flag at half-staff, the flag should be raised to the full-staff position first, with vigor, then slowly lowered to half-staff; when retiring a flag posted at half-staff, it should be raised to the full staff position first, with vigor, and then be slowly lowered. Some people attach black streamers to stationary flags, though this is not officially recognized by the U.S. Flag Code.
Got another week of school? Here’s a quiz about the history of Memorial Day that might make a warm-up, provided by Carolyn Abell writing in the Tifton (Georgia) Gazette:
1. Memorial Day was first officially proclaimed by a general officer. His name was: A. Robert E. Lee; B. John A. Logan; C. Douglas MacArthur D. George Washington.
2. The first state to officially recognize Memorial Day was A. Virginia; B. Rhode Island; C. New York; D. Georgia.
3. The use of poppies to commemorate Memorial Day started in A. 1870 B. 1915 C. 1948; D. 1967.
4. The original date of Memorial Day was A. May 30; B. July 4; C. May 28; D. Nov 11.
5. Which U.S. Senator has tried repeatedly to pass legislation that would restore the traditional day of Memorial Day observance? A. John McCain B. Ted Kennedy C. Saxby Chambliss D. Daniel Inouye.
The answers, again provided by the Tifton Gazette:
OK, now for the answers. General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, proclaimed May 30, 1968 as Memorial Day in his General Order Number 11, issued on May 5, 1868. The purpose was to honor the dead from both sides in the War Between the States. Subsequently flowers were placed on the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers in Arlington National Cemetery on May 30 of that year.
New York was the first state to officially recognize the Memorial Day, in 1873. Southern states, though paying tribute to their dead on separate dates, refused to use May 30 as the official date until after World War I, when the holiday was broadened to honor those who died in any war.
In 1915 a woman named Moina Michael, inspired by the poem, “In Flanders Fields,” (by Canadian Colonel John McRae) began wearing red poppies on Memorial Day to honor our nation’s war dead. The tradition grew and even spread to other countries. In 1922 the VFW became the first veterans’ organization to sell the poppies made by disabled veterans as a national effort to raise funds in support of programs for veterans and their dependents. In 1948 the US Post Office issued a red 3-cent stamp honoring Michael for her role in founding the national poppy movement.
As stated above, May 30 was the original Memorial Day. In 1971, with the passage of the national Holiday Act, Congress changed it so that Memorial Day would be celebrated on the last Monday of May. Some citizens feel that turning it into a “three-day weekend” has devalued the importance and significance of this special holiday. In fact, every time a new Congress has convened since 1989, Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii has introduced a bill to the Senate calling for the restoration of May 30th as the day to celebrate Memorial Day.
In his 1999 introductory remarks to the bill, Senator Inouye declared:
“Mr. President, in our effort to accommodate many Americans by making the last Monday in May, Memorial Day, we have lost sight of the significance of this day to our nation. Instead of using Memorial Day as a time to honor and reflect on the sacrifices made by Americans in combat, many Americans use the day as a celebration of the beginning of summer. My bill would restore Memorial Day to May 30 and authorize the flag to fly at half mast on that day.
In addition, this legislation would authorize the President to issue a proclamation designating Memorial Day and Veterans Day as days for prayer and ceremonies honoring American veterans. This legislation would help restore the recognition our veterans deserve for the sacrifices they have made on behalf of our nation.” (from the 1999 U.S. Congressional Record).
Other sources:
4 Comments | Citizenship, Flag ceremony, Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today, Patriotism, veterans, War | Tagged: Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today, Life, Memorial Day, Patriotism | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Technorati Monster: Dead?
May 25, 2008Is anyone else having trouble with Technorati? What has been flawless performance up to now, especially for a free indexing service, has failed to update anything about the Bathtub for more than three days. The statistics listed suggest problems dating back two weeks.
Anybody know what’s going on?
3 Comments | Administrivia, Technology, Weblogs | Tagged: Administrivia, Internet, Technorati | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Phoenix has landed
May 25, 2008Phoenix landed on Mars today at 4:38 p.m. Pacific Time. Confirmation of the landing took 15 minutes to get to Earth, radio signals traveling at the speed of light.
We have a robot scout on Mars again!
This is another of those teachable moments, an event to note in class that your students might tell their children and grandchildren about.
Touchdown occurred exactly at the time programmed and predicted. Such accuracy might be interpreted as a good sign that NASA has anticipated problems, and a successful mission of discovery is in store.
The University of Arizona leads the discovery consortium on this mission (one of my alma maters). Educational activities and plans for teachers are listed at Arizona’s Phoenix Mission website.
NASA is the world’s biggest player in astrobiology, the science of figuring out how life could have begun, and where it might be. Astrobiology is one of the topics Texas’s State Board of Education threatened to remove from biology texts in 2003. That this mission has gotten this far is a sweet little bit of beneficial revenge on the anti-scientists who tried to gut the books then. Maybe it will pose a warning to them on the next go-round.
Teachers, strike a blow for science, knowledge and leadership in knowledge gathering: Teach your kids some astrobiology.
Resources:
- “Rendezvous with Mars,” from NASA’s Astrobiology site
- Astrobiology magazine
- Life on Earth and Elsewhere, NASA lesson plan guide for secondary grades
Leave a Comment » | Biology, Capturing history, Current History, Education, History, Lesson plans, Research, Science, Space exploration, War on Education, War on Science | Tagged: Astrobiology, Education, History, Lesson plans, Mars, Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
More on McLeroy’s war on Texas English students
May 25, 2008The Houston Chronicle’s coverage of the Texas State Board of Education meetings this week is not well indexed on the web. Following a couple of odd links I found Gary Sharrar’s article (he’s the Chronicle’s education reporter), though the Associated Press Story shows up for the paper’s main article on most indices I found.
Sharrar adds a few details of Kommissar McLeroy’s war on English education, but the significant thing about the story is in the comments, I think. One poster appears to have details that are unavailable even from TEA. Partisans in the fight have details that Texas law requires to be made public in advance of the meetings, while the state officials who need to advise on the regulations and carry them out, do not.
TEA has an expensive website with full capabilities of publishing these documents within moments of their passage. As of Sunday morning, TEA’s website still shows the documents from last March. Surely Texas is not getting its value from TEA on this stuff.
Sharrar wrote:
Two different outside groups offered opposite reactions. The Texas Public Policy Foundation, a free-market think tank, favored the board’s action.
“It is obvious that too many Texas public school students aren’t learning the basics with our current curriculum,” said Foundation education policy analyst Brooke Terry. “We are glad the new curriculum will emphasize grammar and writing skills.”
Texas public schools fail to adequately prepare many students for college or the workplace, she said, citing a 2006 survey by the Conference Board found that 81 percent of employers viewed recent high school graduates as “deficient in written communications” needed for letters, memos, formal reports and technical reports.
But the Texas Freedom Network, which promotes public education, religious freedom and individual liberties, called the board divisive and dysfunctional.
“College ready” generally means reading well, and reading broadly in literature. From a pedagogical standpoint, emphasizing “grammar and writing skills” over the reading that is proven to improve grammar and writing skills will be a losing battle. I hope the details of the plan will show something different when TEA ever makes them available to the taxpaying/education consuming public and English teachers. NCLB asks that such changes be backed by solid research — it will be fascinating to see whether there is any research to support the Texas plan (not that it matters; this section of NCLB has been ignored by the right wing from the moment NCLB was signed).
Prior to this week’s series of meetings, Commissar McLeroy expressed what sounds like disdain for reading in the English curriculum to the El Paso Times:
But chairman McLeroy said he would fight against some of the measures the educators want, especially the comprehension and fluency portion.
Their suggestions, he said, would have students waste time on repetitive comprehension strategies instead of actually practicing reading by taking in a rich variety of literature.
“I think that time is going to be lost because they’ll be reading some story, and they’ll just overanalyze,” he said.
By the way, calling the Texas Public Policy Foundation a “free market think tank” is misleading. The group is quite hostile to public education, and features on its board several people who have led fights to gut funding for public schools and impose bleed-the-schools voucher programs. The Foundation appears to endorse preaching in public schools and gutting science standards, among other problems.
If it’s good work, why is it done in secret? Remember that I spent years in right wing spin work in Washington. Here’s what I see: Either McLeroy’s administration at the state board is incredibly incompetent and can’t even get the good news right, and out on time, or there is another, darker and probably illegal agenda at work.
Below the fold, the full text of the comment from “WG1” at the Chronicle’s website.
Other resources:
- Earlier coverage of the meetings, a story by Gary Sharrar in the Houston Chronicle
- “Who decides what children learn in school?” Texas Cable News Network
- Chairman McLeroy to Texas Hispanics: “Drop dead!”
- Be sure to see the Pharyngula post, “Fire Don McLeroy”
- Even the stargazers are worried; see Phil Plait’s comments at Bad Astronomy, “That’s it. Texas Really Is Doomed”
9 Comments | Books, Curricula, Education, Freedom of Information, Literature, No Child Left Behind Act, Politics, Public education, State school boards, TAKS, Teaching, TEKS, Texas, Texas Freedom Network | Tagged: Education, English standards, Open Meetings Act, Politics, state board of education, Texas, War on Education | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Texas education board turns authoritarian
May 24, 2008Nobody can recall the ceremony, but Don McLeroy made it clear yesterday that he thinks he’s been designated Kommissar of Education, ramming through a proposal altering English standards for the next decade — without debate, without even a chance to read the proposal.
It’s probably not so bad a pig in a poke as it might be — of course, no one had the chance to review it, so no one knows, really — but the processes used, worthy of Napoleon or Kruschev on a bad day, should give cause for concern.
Gotta think about this one for a while.
15 Comments | Education, Education quality, Government, History, State school boards, TAKS, Teaching, TEKS, Texas, War on Education | Tagged: Education, education standards, English, Politics, state board of education, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Graduation 2008, part 1
May 24, 2008Today is graduation day for some of my seniors, at the school where I teach. It’s a wonderful affair, and it will be good to see them off on the next step, ceremonial though it is.
The chaos caused by graduation in this district cannot be minimized, for an odd scheduling reason. Today the seniors graduate. Tuesday, we’re back in class with everyone else, with a couple of days of instruction and finals yet to go. It’s nice to have the seniors gone — the halls are much easier to navigate, the juniors are already stepping up, the sophomores and freshmen suddenly realize the work they do leads to something — but the schedule seems out of whack.
I’m trying to adapt.
This year our family has multiple graduations — well, two. Younger son James graduates in a bit over a week, assuming he gets in a mass of work in classes that appeared after the state tests (for which he was exempt because he passed them all the previous year), and after more AP tests than I thought humanly possible.
James’ school held a ceremony and reception for the top 11% of the graduates, 75 kids who may be in the top 10% (a magic number in Texas because it guarantees admission to Texas colleges). Texas colleges won a majority of the plans of the graduates, but there was an impressive number of students off to out-of-state schools of high repute. (James is off to Lawrence, in Wisconsin.)
I wake up in a cold sweat. Clearly we must have done something right, as parents of graduating kids, as teachers of graduating kids. What was it?
5 Comments | Education, Life, No Child Left Behind Act, War on Education | Tagged: Education, Graduation, Life, No Child Left Behind, War on Education | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Jihad for Love – in New York City this week (take 2)
May 23, 2008How very, very odd. I had a post up, and it disappeared.
This is a recreation, as much as I can.
If you’re in New York City this week, go see this movie. It’s got a great producer, a fellow I know only through the Louis August Jonas Foundation. It has a good director, and a few very good reviews. And it covers a topic of surpassing importance.
Below, the press release from the producer, Sandi DuBowski, and other resources.
A Jihad For Love Launches U.S. Theatrical Release at IFC Center in New York from May 21st – June 4th – Two Weeks Only!
Buy your ticket online at http://www.ifccenter.com/film?filmid=38472.
Box Office: 212.924.7771 323 Sixth Avenue (at W. 3rd St. )“CRITIC’S PICK! BRAVE…EYE-OPENING!”
– New York Magazine“REVEALING AND MOVING…A GIFTED FILMMAKER!”
–Wall Street Journal“COURAGEOUS!”
-The Guardian“LIFTS THE VEIL OF SECRECY…FRANKLY BRAVE!”
-NPR Talk of the NationFourteen centuries after the revelation of the holy Qur’an to the Prophet Muhammad, Islam today is the world’s second largest and fastest growing religion. Muslim gay filmmaker Parvez Sharma travels the many worlds of this dynamic faith, discovering the stories of its most unlikely storytellers: lesbian and gay Muslims.
Produced by Sharma and Sandi DuBowski (director of the award-winning Trembling Before G-d), A Jihad for Love was filmed over 5 years in 12 countries and 9 languages and comes from the heart of Islam. Looking beyond a hostile and war-torn present, it reclaims the Islamic concept of a greater Jihad, whose true meaning is akin to ‘an inner struggle’ or ‘to strive in the path of God.’ In doing so the film and its remarkable subjects move beyond the narrow concept of ‘Jihad‘ as holy war.
After Premieres in 15 countries, being banned in Singapore , selling out everywhere including India and Turkey and five international awards, the film comes to the U.S. and NYC.
We need people to show up during our NYC theatrical run in very large numbers. Bookers across the country will be looking at the success of the film at the NYC Box Office to determine its life everywhere else in the country. If you come the first five days, you can significantly impact the film’s theatrical life in the U.S. and other countries.
Joining director/producer Parvez Sharma and producer Sandi DuBowski in the theater are Imam Muhsin Hendricks, the first openly gay imam from Cape Town , South Africa and Mazen from Egypt/France, featured stars of the film and Faisal Alam, the founder of Al-Fatiha.
We will turn the cinema into a town hall – for debate, change and transformation. Visit http://www.ajihadforlove.com/screenings_D.html for our dazzling line-up of Q & A’s and forums on Islam, Human Rights, South Asian Sexualities, Interfaith such as
Thursday, May 22nd, 7 PM & 9.30 PM
Evening with Sholay and A Jihad for Love TeamFriday, May 23rd, 7pm
Dialogue with Progressive Muslims Meet Up GroupSaturday, May 24th, 5:05pm, 7pm, 9:30pm
Human Rights Watch and Scott Long present in association with A Jihad for Love: Before the Crusade Passes By: Trapped in the middle of a “clash of civilizations.”Sunday, May 25th, 7 PM and 9.30 PM
Films for Change… Looking forward to seeing you there!
May 21st – May 29th Show Times: 11:20am, 1:15pm, 3:10pm, 5:05pm, 7:00pm and 9:30pm
Q & A’s and forums with Parvez, Sandi, Muhsin, Mazen, Faisal, and others after 7pm & 9:30pm shows
Get Involved! Here are some ways you can support this film:
Right Now:
* Purchase tickets online for The IFC Center
* Post a link to www.ajihadforlove.com and www.ajihadforlove.blogspot.com on your blogSupport The Cause:
* Donate to our International Muslim Dialogue Project at http://www.ajihadforlove.com/donate.html
Watch A Jihad for Love trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78jUBRio3So
Listen to Parvez Sharma on NPR‘s The Takeaway at http://www.thetakeaway.org/archives/2008/05/19/3
Best,
Sandi DuBowski
Producer, A Jihad for Love
Director/Producer, Trembling Before G-dParvez Sharma
Director/Producer, A Jihad for Love
Other resources:
1 Comment | Civil Rights, Human Rights, Movies | Tagged: Civil Rights, homosexuals, Human Rights, Iran, Media, Movies | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Live blogging conferences: Physics!
May 23, 2008Our Italian friend at A Quantum Diaries Survivor is in Albuquerque for PPC08 — don’t ask me what that stands for, but it’s a physics conference. More, he found another physicist blogging away: World o Science.
If you’re interested in science research, check it out. Some of the posts are terribly technical — I don’t understand them, so I’ll have to get one of our sons to explain it to me — but you can catch the drift of what’s going on. Tommaso also offers a few photos of the Albuquerque area and Sandia Peak, worth the click alone.
It’s a good model of what some of us should do more of (yeah, this is self-flagellation).
Some samples:
1 Comment | Astronomy, Journalism, Physics, Research, Science, Weblogs | Tagged: Albuquerque, blogging, CERN, Fermi Labs, Physics, PPC08, Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Where I confess I may have been wrong about some Mormons
May 22, 2008Some of my earliest and best biology professors were Mormons — Latter-day Saints, or LDS — and from them and a few others I learned that LDS beliefs not only do not cut against evolution, preaching against evolution is “false doctrine” in the faith, since there has never been a revelation against evolution to the LDS prophets.
On the board of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) has long sat Duane Jeffery, a devout Mormon and long-time supporter of evolution as a professor of biology at Brigham Young University.
But as we know from the Methodist and Presbyterian and Catholic and other examples, official church doctrine doesn’t prevent members of the churches from jettisoning their reason when they discuss evolution and demonstrate a failure to understand even the basics of the simple theory. Mormons aren’t immune there, either. Alas.
Here’s an LDS blog where the authors are trying to argue that “philosophically,” creationism should be taught alongside evolution, since it’s a “better” myth than science. Or something like that. All that high-falutin’ use of six-syllable words, e.g., epistemology, makes me think that the words don’t mean what the authors think they mean, especially when the authors then go on to make foolish claims based on something they think they’ve “proven” logically. My tolerance of six-syllable words has been reduced by dealing with actual laws, I think.
Or perhaps, as I suspect, they’re just trying to claim that pigs fly.
“Knowledge is the glory of God” is what I remember* one engraving over one entrance to the campus of Brigham Young University, except when the epistemology is found to be offensive, or something.
You might do well to check out these posts, and other resources:
- Shame on you, Tony Campolo: Darwin was not racist
- Choose wisdom, choose science: Sandefur savages TEA position against evolution
- Peppered moths
- Texas Ed chairman responds: Don’t limit science classes to evolution
- Intelligent Design: A pig that does not fly
- Creationists lose key Texas case
- Why study evolution?
- Vox Day: Trapped in a quote mine cave-in
* “The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth” (D&C 93:36)
22 Comments | Accuracy, Biology, Creationism, Education, Intelligent Design, Religion, Science | Tagged: Creationism, Education, LDS, Mormons, Religion, Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 