For all the wrong reasons

Kristin Maguire, chair of the South Carolina State Board of Education, has resigned from her position for all the wrong reasons. She has been a shill for the religious right, and has opposed the teaching of evolution in the public schools; she has also promoted that worthless ‘abstinence only’ sex education. She should have been fired for basic incompetence. But no, that is not sufficient reason to kick someone out of office in America. What gets American politicians in trouble?

You guessed it: sex. There were unverified rumors of inappropriate behavior, but what really got her was that she has a history of publishing hard core erotic porn on the internet, under a pseudonym — ordinary stuff, of the sort you can find on all kinds of sites, like Literotica, all over the place.

I say, good for her. There’s nothing wrong with a healthy sexual outlet, especially since it harmed no one at all. The hypocrisy of fostering a repressive social agenda in her work while indulging in fantasy play in private is a bit bothersome, but that a human being enjoys sex personally and in a way that does not interfere with his or her work should not be a bar to working in government.

Pushing creationism…that ought to be a serious problem. She did not lose her job for that, annoyingly.

At least now she’s free to write more stories!

Missouri’s shame

This is the t-shirt worn by the marching band of Smith-Cotton high school of Sedalia, Missouri.

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The ‘ascent of man’ image is a bit irritating — it is a portrayal of a fallacious idea of directionality in evolution — but the designers had a reasonable goal in mind.

Assistant Band Director Brian Kloppenburg said the shirts were designed by him, Band Director Jordan Summers and Main Street Logo. Kloppenburg said the shirts were intended to portray how brass instruments have evolved in music from the 1960s to modern day. Summers said they chose the evolution of man because it was “recognizable.” The playlist of songs the band is slated to perform revolve around the theme “Brass Evolutions.”

All right, I’ll let ’em pass…but wait! There’s a problem? Parents freaked out over the shirts? Could it be because they’re even fussier about scientific accuracy than I am?

No, I don’t think so. You can guess what people complained about.

Band parent Sherry Melby, who is a teacher in the district, stands behind Pollitt’s decision. Melby said she associated the image on the T-shirt with Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

“I was disappointed with the image on the shirt.” Melby said. “I don’t think evolution should be associated with our school.”

“I don’t think evolution should be associated with our school.” That says it all right there — they don’t want science to be a part of their children’s education. Well, either that or it’s a statement about the Ms Melby’s current state: perhaps her knuckles drag on the floor, and she’s teaching courses in flint-knapping and gnawing hides.

It’s a shame, but there will always be a few ignorant cretins yowling about demanding respect for their religious ignorance in every school district. Responsible, intelligent school administrators will put the students’ needs at the highest priority, and recognize that they don’t need to kow-tow to every crank opinion. They should support science, and know that they do want evolution associated with their school.

Ooops. The assistant superintendent of the schools has yanked the t-shirts and demanded that all of the students turn them in…for a really stupid reason.

“I made the decision to have the band members turn the shirts in after several concerned parents brought the shirts to my attention,” Pollitt said.

Pollitt said the district is required by law to remain neutral where religion is concerned.

“If the shirts had said ‘Brass Resurrections’ and had a picture of Jesus on the cross, we would have done the same thing,” he said.

Evolution is not a religion, no more than sky-is-blueism or gravityism or medicine or mathematics or their shop class. Would they shut down an auto repair class if an Amish family decried their heathen English ways? Pollitt is a pandering moron.

Their school really does need more education in evolutionary biology. They’ve got some quotes from students that reveal they really don’t know much.

High School junior Adam Tilley said he understood why the shirts were repossessed.

“I can see where the parents are coming from,” he said. “Evolution has always been controversial.” The 17-year-old trombone player said his parents “didn’t care” about the shirt because it was the “name of the band’s show.”

Nope. Evolution is not controversial as a science. It is socially controversial, but only because a) people are ignorant of the science (and people like Pollitt contribute to that problem), and b) there are lots of people who profit from perpetuating lies (like, say, Ken Ham).

Here’s the worst:

Senior Drum Major Mike Howard said he was disappointed when he had to return the shirt.

“I liked the shirt because it was unique,” Howard said. “The theory of evolution never even crossed my mind.”

Huh? Adam Tilley says it’s controversial! Students don’t even think of the theory of evolution when they see a t-shirt with the word “evolution” and a picture of evolving apes? There’s a problem.

Shame on Washington state

My home state! In a region with some of the highest percentages of godless people in the country! And they have this awful law on the books.

Washington’s law specifies that a person treated through faith healing “by a duly accredited Christian Science practitioner in lieu of medical care is not considered deprived of medically necessary health care or abandoned.” Other religions are not mentioned.

Christian Science is not science, and it is definitely not medicine. I presume some religious lobby got this evil exemption on the books years ago, but now it’s time to remove it—it’s killing people. The mention of the law comes from a story about a young man, Zachery Swezey, who died a slow, painful death from a ruptured appendix, with his parents looking on.

The day his son died, Greg Swezey told sheriff’s investigators he knew Zakk would die 10 or 15 minutes before the teenager passed away. His condition had gotten much worse about an hour and a half before Zakk died, he told the investigators, and he realized Zakk was exhibiting some of the symptoms of death he’d seen when older church members died.

He did not consider calling an ambulance, he told them.

Who did he call instead? Elders of his church, who showed up to splash oil on the poor kid and pray.

I can only imagine what that was like. I had severe appendicitis as a child, and their description of it is mild: sure, there was vomiting — like an acid geyser firing up your throat. They don’t even mention the agony and the fever and the intermittent loss of consciousness. And I didn’t even get to the point of having a rupture, because my parents did the sensible, reasonable, intelligent thing that any decent human being would do, and rushed me to the doctor, and then to the hospital.

I’m very happy to say that my parents loved me more than some insane primitive dogma, although, you know, that really isn’t saying much.

I’m very sorry that young Zakk isn’t around to say the same.

Change the law, Washingtonians.

By the way, you can find out more about this lunatic cult, The Church of the First Born, on their web page. They’re incoherent and nuts. Warning: the page fires up religious music as soon as it loads. Yeah, one of those.

Wikipedians might want to take a look at their Wikipedia entry, too. It’s pretty clearly written entirely by one of their acolytes — you can tell by all the exclamation points.

Church of the Firstborn – A Phrase/Title found in Scripture! – (Hebrews 12:23).

Not a Denomination! Not an Organization!Founded Much Earlier than any of the groups mentioned below!

The Head of This Church/Assembly is The Very One that you read about in The Holy/Qodesh Scriptures! (Romans 8:29, Colossians 1:15, Colossians 1:18) Members in This Church/Assembly Serve Him & His Father (To Whom we regard as Our Heavenly Father and HIS Son – The Messiah/Our Master & Savior) The First Born from the Dead – Leading the Way for all those that Believe & Follow Him/HIM, Never To Die Again!

It Is Not A Denomination! And It Is Not An Organization In Scripture!

Some things never seem to change

I hadn’t even realized he was still alive, but William Calley has apologized. What a strange thing that is…

There is no doubt that Calley was a bad man and a weak man — he was the lieutenant who led the My Lai massacre of Vietnamese civilians in 1968 — but at the same time, he was one of the pawns in a game dictated at the highest levels of American policy. Why was he convicted of a war crime, while Nixon and Kissinger were given a free pass? How can we still be in denial that our actions in Viet Nam were a shameful stain on our honor?

We became the bad guys, the villains in black hats, in that disgraceful war, and we’ve done it once again in Iraq. I don’t think Bush and Cheney will ever receive their just reward for that, either.

Ted Kennedy has died

Sad news: another Kennedy has gone. Despite his reckless personal life, I liked the policies he stood for, and he was an excellent senator — may we have many more Massachusetts liberals to take his place.

I have to add that there is one thing I find really repellent about that NY Times obituary. It’s the end, where Edward is compared to his brothers, John and Robert.

“He was the survivor,” Mr. Ornstein continued. “He was not a shining star that burned brightly and faded away. He had a long, steady glow. When you survey the impact of the Kennedys on American life and politics and policy, he will end up by far being the most significant.”

John and Robert Kennedy did not ‘burn brightly and fade away’. They were brutally murdered in their prime.

Watch Maine

Maine recently legalized same-sex marriage —hooray and all that, but we don’t get to be complacent about it now. There is a proposition on the ballot for November, Proposition 1, that would revoke marriage equality, and as you might expect, conservative forces are gearing up to promote this bill. Greta Christina has some suggestions for how you can help defeat this hate bill…and explains why you should.

Tulsa, Oklahoma must be paradise

That’s what I must conclude from Anna Falling’s priorities. She’s running for the office of mayor, and her #1 most important issue, the one she’s made the centerpiece of her campaign, is to get creationist displays installed in the Tulsa Zoo.

For Anna Falling, the road to city hall runs through the Tulsa Zoo.  She’s made her Christianity central to her platform and now the exhibit depicting the Christian story of Creationism is her first campaign promise.

“Today we are announcing that God will be glorified in this city.  He shall not be shunned. Upon our election, we hereby commit to honoring Him in all ways that He has been dishonored,” said Anna Falling.

This was news several years ago when the zoo board rejected a proposal to add sectarian Christian messages to their exhibits. The rejection must have rankled, since Falling now thinks this is the Most Important Issue for Tulsa.

Besides being ridiculous, though, it does make me marvel. The economy must be booming in Oklahoma; the mayor doesn’t have to concern herself with recruiting and maintaining new businesses. There must not be any crime. Race issues have disappeared. Education…oh, never mind, creationists don’t worry about good education, anyway. City services must be flawless.

I hope you Tulsans aren’t so lulled by the easy livin’ in Oklahoma that you don’t bother to participate in the political process any more. Get out of your easy chair on election day, strap on your jetpack or get in your flying car, zoom past the gumdrop mountain and the drinking fountains that dispense free beer, and vote!

Oh, wait. The Tulsa World reports that she’s making creationism in the zoos her top priority “among city issues that also include violent crime, budget woes and bumpy streets.” How can this be?

Maybe bumpy streets aren’t that big a deal when you get to work on angel’s wings.

Our health care opponents are shamelessly stupid

Right now, the US is in a political struggle to get better national health care. One of the chief tactics of the opposition is, in addition to simply lying and pretending it would be horrible for poor children to get medical treatment, is to tell us horror stories about all those wicked socialist countries and their miserable health care, without the wondrous benefits of raging capitalism. Investor’s Business Daily, for instance, ran this interesting example of how bad the British health services are (it has since been corrected, with some acute embarrassment, I hope):

“The controlling of medical costs in countries such as Britain through rationing, and the health consequences thereof, are legendary,” read a recent editorial from the paper. “The stories of people dying on a waiting list or being denied altogether read like a horror script…

“People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn’t have a chance in the UK, where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless.”

I guess they thought Stephen Hawking was an American. Maybe it was the accent.

For the record, though, Stephen Hawking: British. Not dead.