It’s worse than I thought. The cooperation between American creationist flat-earthers and Islamic creationist extremists has been going on for years.
(Take a listen. The audio is only about 4 minutes.)
17 July, 2008
Kicking and Screaming?
I knew that D.C. and other anti-freedom government agencies would resist gun rights after Heller. Cynical as I am, I didn’t see this coming. Let’s add “slow learners” to the list.
Let’s Get Rid of Darwinism
This is an excellent idea. It would deprive the flat-earthers of one straw man.
I’d like to abolish the insidious terms Darwinism, Darwinist and Darwinian. They suggest a false narrowness to the field of modern evolutionary biology, as though it was the brainchild of a single person 150 years ago, rather than a vast, complex and evolving subject to which many other great figures have contributed. (The science would be in a sorry state if one man 150 years ago had, in fact, discovered everything there was to say.) Obsessively focusing on Darwin, perpetually asking whether he was right about this or that, implies that the discovery of something he didn’t think of or know about somehow undermines or threatens the whole enterprise of evolutionary biology today.
It does not. In the years ahead, I predict we will continue to refine our understanding of natural selection, and continue to discover new ways in which it can shape genes and genomes. Indeed, as genetic data continues to flood into the databanks, we will be able to ask questions about the detailed workings of evolution that it has not been possible to ask before.
Yet all too often, evolution — insofar as it is taught in biology classes at all — is taught as the story of Charles Darwin. Then the pages are turned, and everyone settles down to learn how the heart works, or how plants make energy from sunshine, or some other detail. The evolutionary concepts that unify biology, that allow us to frame questions and investigate the glorious diversity of life — these are ignored.
Darwin was an amazing man, and the principal founder of evolutionary biology. But his was the first major statement on the subject, not the last. Calling evolutionary biology “Darwinism,” and evolution by natural selection “Darwinian” evolution, is like calling aeronautical engineering “Wrightism,” and fixed-wing aircraft “Wrightian” planes, after those pioneers of fixed-wing flight, the Wright brothers. The best tribute we could give Darwin is to call him the founder — and leave it at that. Plenty of people in history have had an -ism named after them. Only a handful can claim truly to have given birth to an entire field of modern science.
Read the whole thing.
16 July, 2008
What on Earth happened to Pat Buchanan?
I remember liking the guy some fifteen-ish years ago. Either he’s changed, or I’m just paying more attention now. He’s become an antisemite, hanging out with really unsavory white supremecists, and now comes this attack on “Darwinism”.
Darwinism claims, for example, that matter evolved from non-matter — i.e., something from nothing — that life evolved from non-life; that, through natural selection, rudimentary forms evolved into more complex forms; and that men are descended from animals or apes.
Now, all of this is unproven theory. And as the Darwinists have never been able to create matter out of non-matter or life out of non-life, or extract from the fossil record the “missing links” between species, what they are asking is that we accept it all on faith.
Liar, liar, pants on fire. Note how Buchanan constructs a straw man here. First he uses the term “Darwinism” to make it sound like a political philosophy instead of what it is: the theory of evolution. Then he makes all sorts of wild-eyed claims about what “Darwinism” says. For one thing, evolution is completely silent on the origins of life. It only explains speciation. Then he spins madly off into some sort of inebriated metaphysics talking about how “matter evolved from non-matter”. Huh? I don’t even know what that sentence is supposed to mean. If you can find one life scientist making such an absurd claim let me know.
The only part he gets sort of right is “rudimentary forms” evolving into more complex ones. If the fossil record is clear on one thing it’s that. But that old “men descended from apes” business is tiresome. That is not what evolution says. What is known now beyond a shadow of a doubt is that we share a common ancestor. But in Buchanan’s world it’s apparently possible for your cousin to be your ancestor. I’d hate to look up his family tree.
Then it’s on to the “unproven theory” canard. What this shows is that Buchanan either doesn’t have a clue, or chooses to lie about, the meaning of the word “theory” in the context of “the theory of evolution”. It doesn’t mean a guess. It means it’s an accepted rule which can consistently and successfully be used to make predictions about the natural world. If the theory of evolution is “unproved”, so is the “round earth theory”. And spare us, Pat, the goalpost moving of transitional fossils. The claim (which I used to believe) that there are huge “gaps” in the record is a lie. The fact is that every time a new transitional species is found the creationists claim there are two new gaps! I’d love to know what they think about the fossil record of the Picasso Fish. No doubt they see three gaps instead of a continuum. The fact is that absolutely nothing in biology makes any sense without the theory of evolution. And every day more evidence is piled on.
There is none so blind as he who will not see.
Buchanan has a lot of gall to say science wants us to accept evolution on faith. It is creationism which absolutely requires faith. So why does he think faith is a bad thing when it’s required by his opponent and a good thing when he requires it? Science doesn’t require faith in anything. It requires observation, skepticism, and honesty.
The Pat Buchanan I once thought I admired was an honest man who called ’em as he saw ’em. Well, I’m calling this one as I see it: Pat Buchanan is an antisemitic bone-head; not to be admired.
So Elmer Gantry Walks Into a Bar
Your Obama-approved jokes are ready. A sample:
A Christian, a Jew and Barack Obama are in a rowboat in the middle of the ocean. Barack Obama says, “This joke isn’t going to work because there’s no Muslim in this boat.”
Strange Bedfellows
A strange alliance is forming between creationist extremists and guess what other kind of extremists.
Intellectual Christians have already found that way. They encountered materialism before we did, because it grew right in the heart of Christendom. They have been standing against it for several decades. And recently they have initiated a bold movement—a “wedge” as they call it—to split the foundations of materialism.
This “wedge” is the code name for the Intelligent Design Movement, formed in the early 1990s by Christian scientists and intellectuals. The leader of the movement is Phillip E. Johnson, a prominent professor of law from the University of California, Berkeley. During a sabbatical year in London in 1987, Dr. Johnson read about Darwinism and noticed that Darwinian ideologues like Richard Dawkins use deceptive arguments to sell their unsubstantiated story. He decided to dedicate the rest of life to unravel this sophisticated fallacy. His first book, Darwin on Trial (1991), annoyed the Darwinist establishment terribly, but it was just a beginning. In the following years, serious scientists like Michael Behe from Lehigh University, William Dembski from Baylor University, and Paul Nelson from the University of Chicago joined the ranks of the movement.
Today the movement, headed by the Discovery Institute in Seattle and the Intelligent Design Network in Kansas, is leading a great battle first to free school textbooks and then the whole of society from the Darwinist dogma and the materialist philosophy it supports.
Ironically the Islamists are more openly honest about the “wedge” than their dishonest counterparts at the “Discovery” Institute. The idea that Muslim extremists might gain an ally, if not a foothold, in the war against science is disconcerting, to say the least. At least, so far, Israel isn’t buying it. Quite the interesting divide that seems to be forming.
Jupiter vs. Ares
One the one hand you have a space vehicle designed by thousands of government employees at NASA. On the other you have one designed by a small team of engineers so motivated that they work on it at night after their NASA jobs.
My money’s on the moonlighters.
15 July, 2008
Is the Market Discounting Obama?
Perhaps not, but you couldn’t be called crazy for saying so.
Jennifer’s Fund
A coworker just sent this email around. I’m posting it here with permission. Maybe I’m an old softie, maybe I like the idea of clinical trials to cure cancer, and maybe I have a sister named Jennifer.
Two years ago, I walked with my friend Jennifer Mosher in the three day Breast Cancer walk to help support her in her five year battle with breast cancer. We raised over $8,000 and walked 60 miles. In 2003, Jen was diagnosed breast cancer at the age of 31. This year, two months shy of making her 5 year cancer free mark, Jen was recently diagnosed with Stage IV Bone Metastases.
Last month she went to see Dr. N. Ueno at MD Anderson in Houston, Texas. And FINALLY there is hope. There is a Clinical Trial for her exact condition and for the first time doctors have told her that they want to CURE her and not just keep her alive.
Unfortunately because it is a clinical trial, insurance will not cover her costs of $250,000. The medicine is covered under the trial but the translplant is not and needs to be PAID in FULL for her to begin treatment. This Clinical Trial will only be available to her as long as it does not go into her organs, that is why we are asking for Donations as a Gift of Life for Jennifer.
We are doing our best to raise to $250,000. so that she can start her transplant in July…….ANYTHING will help, please see below on how you can send a check or donate online with a credit card. In two weeks, Jen has raised over half of the money which is a tribute to her courage, strength and smile, You can visit her site at www.jenmosher.com to learn more about her. She is an amazing person.
Jennifer’s Fund
Lake Forest Bank
727 North Bank Lane
Lake Forest IL 60045Attention: Barbara Kubas
bkubas “at” lakeforestbank.com
847-810-5007
I assume all of you non-robots will know how to make that email address work.
AFP Understands
Yup, those MSM guys know how important credibility is. They just have no clue how to get any.
Kicking and Screaming
Instapundit has a roundup of the absurd lengths D.C. wants to go through to keep its subjects helpless.
“Hey, here’s an idea: let’s require the cops to keep their guns disassembled and locked away at all times too, with an exemption allowed only while it’s being fired wildly at some perp during the commission of a crime. After all, if it’s really safety we’re concerned about here, what’s good for the citizenry at large ought to be good for them, too.”
Good News, Bad News
Michael Yon emails:
We have won the war in Iraq. By “we” I mean the Coalition and the Iraqis. Unless there is some unexpected reversal, what lays ahead is the challenge of building a better Iraq. There is still violence. We have lost four soldiers to combat this month, but there were times when we lost that many on an average day. There still are attacks, though we have finally reached the point where all that’s left are truly “dead-enders.” Al Qaeda is still a problem, but their numbers are decreasing in Iraq. The Iraqi people are sick of the violence. The Iraqi Army
is filled with courageous soldiers who can fight. It is possible that by the end of the year we can really say, “Mission Accomplished,” except for the continued support that Iraq will need.Personally, my optimism has never been higher for Iraq.
Knowing Yon’s track record, you can just about take that to the bank. While we have won the war in Iraq, we are currently losing the war in Afghanistan. But read what Yon has to say about that. And note that not only are more troops and resources being freed up in Iraq, but that one key man has been pulled from Iraq and made a global resource.
And now for some messianic comic relief.
Update:
Now this is more like it, Mac. Contrast that with Mr. Elmer “I’m gonna invade Pakistan” Gantry.
14 July, 2008
Associated (with terrorists) Press Strikes Again
This is completely crossing the line from witness to accomplice.
13 July, 2008
Uh, oh
John Derbyshire saw this coming. He predicted that eventually Christianity in the West would move away from creationism, pushed by the tide of fact, and that creationism’s new home would be Islam. The slick but silly tome being promoted by a mysteriously-financed Turkish crank is showing up all over Europe – also being mailed to Christian creationists.
One of the most astonishing claims in the book is that Charles Darwin – the quiet Victorian gentleman naturalist – was responsible for the worst evils of the 20th century: racism, communism, fascism, Nazism, terrorism and, ultimately, 9/11. In a piece of overt symbolic theatre the book’s creators marked the anniversary of 9/11 last year by sending the Atlas to a large number of Protestant priests across Europe. The message was clear: in the fight against the theory of evolution Christians and Muslims stand united.
But despite the hyperbolic claims the shock caused by Atlas of Creation is largely unrelated to its contents, which do not stand up to even the most cursory scrutiny. The real point is that before the book arrived many had no idea there was a resurgent Muslim creationism in Europe, and certainly didn’t know it was so well funded and organised. Who, people began to ask, is bankrolling Oktar’s Science Research Foundation or Global Publishing of Istanbul, which published and distributed the book? So far no one has been able to find out, and all Oktar says is that he is funded by donations.One thing is clear: creationism has indeed come to Europe and unfortunately, therefore, we have to take it seriously. We can’t afford to be complacent, or imagine that creationism is just a bizarre and distant American phenomenon. Just as manipulative as the worst of American creationists, European creationists are hard at work and some of them have a lot of money (Oktar also sent his book to many universities in the US). What we have seen so far is just the beginning.
We Need More Muslims Like This One
Today’s sign of hope.
The so-called modern educated Muslims play a more vicious role than these illiterate mullahs, because they never touch the real issue, but bring logic to such dastardly and senseless attacks on innocent human beings.
I am appalled to see that, in my opinion, the majority of Muslims are not concerned about this crisis in their faith which they follow with such strong conviction.
A faith that does not value human lives is a cult. The main problem with Islam is its reluctance to embrace reason and logic.
Some Conservatives Get WALL•E
When I saw some of the negative reactions to the film on NRO, I thought I was seeing a kind of reverse BDS. Some conservatives, like Charlotte Allen and Rod Dreher seem to get it. Even though they go too far. The real point is that it’s not a political film. It’s a love story.
Movies are a mirror. Reviews tell you more about the reviewer than the film.
12 July, 2008
Robert Redford Campaigns for McCain
If what he’s saying is true, it’ll give a lot of people a really good reason to vote for McCain. I mean, it’s kind of a twofer.
IF BARACK Obama doesn’t win November’s presidential election in the United States, “you can kiss the Democratic Party goodbye”, the actor and director Robert Redford told an audience in Dublin last night.
Speaking of McCain, I don’t think I imagined just how bad his old cell at the Hanoi Hilton was.
Progress?
Genn Reynolds points out that this is progress:
THE World Health Organisation and the European Union have allowed Uganda to spray the DDT chemical, the water and environment minister has said.
Yes, if this is a sign that DDT is coming off the banned lists and, therefore, millions of lives can finally be saved, that’s progress.
But what’s this “allowed” business? Is Uganda a colony or possesion of the WHO or the EU? Why do they get a say? I thought it used to be a British colony.
11 July, 2008
Thad Dylan McCotter for Congress
I know nothing about the man beyond this video.
I wish he were running for congress where I live.
Suddenly tinfoil hats don’t look so dumb
This is clever, but every nutcase in the world knows how to defeat it.
10 July, 2008
Remembering Michael Monsoor
This is not new news, but I had not seen this photo before. For a thorough tribute, see this on BLACKFIVE.
During Petty Officer Mike Monsoor’s funeral here in San Diego, as Mike’s coffin was being moved from the hearse to the grave site at Ft Rosecrans National Cemetery, SEALs were lined up on both sides of the pallbearers route forming a column of two’s with the coffin moving up the center. As the Mike’s coffin passed, each SEAL, having removed his gold Trident from his uniform, slapped it down embedding the Trident in the wooden coffin; the slaps were audible from across the cemetery; by the time the coffin arrived grave side, it looked as though it had a gold inlay from all the Tridents pinned to it.
Here’s the photo, which my mom forwarded via email:
Feauxtography in Iran
What? The Iranians would clumsily doctor a photo to cover up the fact that one of their missiles was a dud?
Well, at least no major western press agency would fall for it. Or fail to give credit for the discovery.
Buttle’s World does give credit. Nice work, Charles!
And folks are already having fun with it.
Update:
Disband the TSA
I don’t entirely believe this woman but, on the other hand, the video shows what kind of goons we have working in Airport (so-called) Security. Unless she was screaming “I’m gonna kill you all!” or “Allahu Akbar!” then this little woman was really not a threat who needed to be knocked down like that.
It’s time to disband the TSA and get real airport security. The way El Al does it: We look for weapons. They look for terrorists.
Et Tu, NRO?
One reason I abandoned The American Spectator was the way they took up the cudgel for “Intelligent Design”. For years now I’ve been reading and enjoying NRO, especially The Corner.
Now NRO has allowed John G. West to spew his dishonest propaganda on its site. Not everybody there is fooled. At least John Derbyshire calls it like it is.
West’s screed is a fine example of squid’s ink: Ad hominem references to a non-existent “science thought police”, and a torturous abuse of the term “critical thinking”.
His attempts to link evolution in particular and science in general to eugenics are insulting, dishonest, and downright heinous. It’s an ad hominem attack West favors, but it’s a bald-faced lie.
He claims that science is being close-minded in its defense of evolution, and that critics of evolution are “silenced”. What a lie. If he, or any of the other moral midgets at the “Discovery” Institute have any science to offer, let them offer it. Science will listen to anybody with a falsifiable, repeatable experiment. To date the “Discovery” Institute has done exactly zero science. Zip. Nada.
If he’s correct that students should hear “Intelligent” Design taught as an alternative to evolution, then he must also insist that students hear the “Stork Theory” as an alternative to sexual reproduction, and the “Geocentric Model” as an alternative to planetary mechanics.
Evolution is the only scientific theory that exists for speciation. There are no other theories. If West or any of his cronies can come up with one, they’ll end up as heroes of science. Until they can, though, the trojan horse of “Intelligent” Design must be treated as the fraud that it is. The fact remains that all of modern biology depends on evolution.
I’m already on record as seeing Jindal as a nutcase for signing this stupid bill. I’m deeply disappointed that my favorite magazine gave this vile propagandist space to spew his bile. I hope they tighten up their standards.
The real meat of his piece is his scurrilous charge that accepting a scientific “facts” (his scare quotes) is a threat to religion. Well, if your religion can’t withstand facts then maybe it’s time to get a new religion. But this is not supposed to be a religious argument; it’s a scientific one. It’s West and his ilk who are attempting to inject a narrow religious view into public education masquerading as science. And the kids of Louisiana are the victims.
Update:
Derb quotes P.Z. Meyers:
I don’t think the religious are necessarily stupid, and I most definitely do not believe they are born stupid. I do believe they are saddled with a set of foolish misconceptions that can throttle their intellectual development and send them careering off into genuinely weird sets of beliefs, but this doesn’t make them stupid. I also think that IQ tests are written by people who promote an implicitly scientific perspective (which is a good thing!), and it’s therefore not surprising that a group in which a significant fraction of its membership actively reject science will do poorly on such tests.
This is a point worth making. Many atheists and, no doubt, many agnostics (where I stand on the difference is here) make the grave error of treating the religious as stupid. I know of some very religious people who, I’m confident, are more intelligent than I. Meyers has it just right. So let me clarify: I’m not claiming that West, Behe, and the rest of the ID mongers at the DI are stupid (though they may well be). I’m claiming that they are demonstrably dishonest – which has its own ironic implications given the tenets of their professed religion.
