A new explanation!
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
I almost feel sorry for Guillermo Gonzalez. The Discovery Institute is turning him into a political football, and making his denial of tenure a far greater mess than is warranted. They’re going to hold a press conference on Monday.
The fight will rage on over Iowa State University astronomy professor Guillermo Gonzalez, who advocated for intelligent design, the theory that disputes parts of evolution, and lost a bid for tenure.
Advocates for Gonzalez said in a release distributed Tuesday that they will hold a news conference at 11 a.m. Monday in Des Moines. There, they said, they will discuss documents they contend will prove that Gonzalez “lost his job” because he supports intelligent design, not because he was deficient as a scholar. Gonzalez’s backers say an appeal to the Iowa Board of Regents and possibly a lawsuit would be the next steps.
…
The news conference scheduled for Monday at the Capitol will include attorneys for Gonzalez, representatives of the Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based organization that supports discussions of intelligent design in science classes, and one or more state legislators, staff of the Discovery Institute said.
The most likely result of this caterwauling: no change in Gonzalez’ status at all, and he’ll have to find another job elsewhere. Search committees everywhere, though, will see him as pure poison, a grandstander who will turn every criticism into a public event. He will be known as the Intelligent Design creationist with a team of lawyers.
If by some bizarre stroke of highly politicized luck he is given tenure, he’s going to be the non-collegial colleague who is taking up a tenure line that they could have given to someone more productive. This will not be a happy situation for him or his department.
Gonzalez can’t win in this fight.
The Discovery Institute, though, stands to benefit from turning Gonzalez into a martyr — they’ll be waving the bloody shreds of his career at everyone, blaming the Darwinists, when the real destructive force here is the DI itself. Anyone else in this position would quietly go through internal channels to review the tenure decision, and when that failed, would quietly go about applying for new jobs…with the intent of doing a better job of fulfilling the requirements for tenure at a new position. This situation comes up a lot — tenure approval is not automatic by any means — and you just have to move on. I’ve been there myself.
I suspect, though, that the DI simply sees a state full of presidential candidates and an opportunity to score some political points. We’ll have to tune in on Monday and see if any of them take the bait and try to use a national candidacy to play games with an individual decision by a single university.
Our Friday plans are getting better and better. Remember, the crappy talk by John West blaming Darwin for Hitler is at 7 on 30 November at the UM campus — come prepared to be critical. The fun part is that we’re meeting between 5:30 and 6:45 in the Campus Club, on the fourth floor of the Coffman Union. Then some really good news: Mark Borrello, UM’s expert in the history of science, is going to speak briefly after West’s drivel. West isn’t going to get away with anything, at least on Friday.
Unfortunately, he’s also being given an opportunity to lie unchecked to the public on Saturday. The Minnesota Family Council — you already know that this is an evil organization because they’ve got “family” in their title — is going to sponsor another talk.
I mentioned before that Michael Medved was joining the Discovery Institute, and now Amanda comments:
I love the move, because it’s so transparent. The weak claims to be an institution dedicated to scientific research fall away; Medved is no scientist, just a dedicated culture war soldier. Which of course means that the Discovery Institute is less interested in discovery than in squelching any perceived threat to the cultural dominance of white Christians of a fundamentalist stripe. Medved no doubt was hired because of his willingness to lie, deceive, conceal, and distract from any realities that clash with his and the Discovery Institute’s culture war goals.
I agree — it’s an interesting indicator of the Discovery Institute’s future direction. Science is a dead-end for them, but appealing to the worst aspects of right-wing culture is a growth industry. It also lines up well with the direction taken in the Expelled movie: no honest content, but much rabid huffing and puffing. I will be looking forward to Medved’s review of that movie, although I suspect I could write it right now. With my eyes closed. In crayon. While drunk.
Amanda also points out something appalling: Michael Medved, slavery denialist.
He’s going to fit in so well at the DI.
You all remember Dembski’s recent faux pas — he was caught stealing a science video from Harvard/XVIVO for use in his Intelligent Design creationism lectures. Dembski has issued one of his patented not-pologies. He now declares that all of the allegations against him are false, but he now promises to no longer use the video. You see, he really didn’t steal it. Here’s his excuse.
The video was so good that I wanted to use it in some of my public presentations, but when I tried to purchase a DVD of it (I sent several emails to relevant parties), I was informed it wasn’t ready.
Translation: He wanted to use the really good video, but the owners said “no”, so he had to use it without their permission. Yeah, that’s the ticket. That’s not stealing. That’s appropriating-without-the-owner’s-permission, a whole different thing.
For a kinder, gentler summary, see Tyler DiPietro.
Keep an eye on ERV, I’m sure she’ll have more to say later.
As expected, ERV speaks.
How can you possibly make the Creation “Museum” look sillier?
This may not be a LOL image, but I thought it was hilarious.
If you’re having trouble reading the blurry print, it says:
According to God’s Word, thorns came after Adam’s sin, about six thousand years ago, not millions of years ago. Since we have discovered thorns in the fossil record, along with dinosaurs and other plants and animals, they all must have lived at the same time as humans, after Adam’s sin.
How can you argue with logic like that that?
Those clever sleazeballs at Uncommon Descent have now used some generic animation tools at JibJab to make a pointless video of Genie Scott, Richard Dawkins, and others dancing the can-can. In a particularly tacky twist, they also claim that it was “produced by the innovators at JibJab.com studios”. Uh, no. JibJab made a template; the ID loonies cut-and-paste photos into it. Special bonus sleaze points for getting the Expelled movie site to feature it.
Speaking of Ben Stein, did you know he hangs out with prostitutes and cries? Thanks, Kristine, for the celebrity gossip.
As has been frequently noted by critics, Noah’s Ark has a math problem. The frantic scribblings of creationists to cover these problems reveal that they know it, too.
If the religious can experience apophenia, so can we. It’s a Squidmas Miracle!
It’s easy to forget what a repellent, sniveling little turd-speck Sal Cordova is until one is reminded by a reference on a blog worth reading (it’s not as if I read Cordova’s ugly little site myself, you know). The occasion this time is that Slimy Sal has just discovered that Joan Roughgarden, the evolutionary biologist who also happens to be a Christian, is a transgendered woman. Oh, the young jackanapes sees many opportunities for hilarity and amusement in this!
The new preview for the movie Expelled looks very slick and professional — there are some deep pockets behind this effort.
