We, the students of BIOL 4003: Neurobiology have a proposal. We will clean your lab for extra credit. Think about it. That tank with the yellow stagnant water and other unidentifiable bits of matter? GONE. Those countless bottles of fruit fly carcasses? Sparkling clean and ready for next semester’s genetics class. We would also consider not having a final test an acceptable trade.
Respectfully awaiting your reply,
The Students
Yesterday, I got a request to publicize a drive to promote charitable giving by atheists; then today I’m pointed to a list of atheist charities. Perfect! Bring these two together, and we’ve got synergy: we should all be doing what we can to help the needy, and now we have an excellent list of good destinations for your giving.
Don’t miss this one: tomorrow on Science Friday, Flatow interviews the expelled director of the Texas science curriculum.
Education and Evolution in Texas
(broadcast Friday, December 7th, 2007)
The education official responsible for the science curriculum in the state of Texas resigned last month saying she was forced to step down after being reprimanded for informing colleagues of a talk on the conflict over the teaching of evolution. Christine Castillo Comer, former Director of Science in the curriculum division of the Texas Education Agency, forwarded several colleagues an email notice of a upcoming talk by Barbara Forrest, co-author of the book “Creationism’s Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design.” Castillo Comer’s supervisor said the email was grounds for termination as the ‘FYI’ email “implies endorsement of the speaker and implies that TEA endorses the speaker’s position on a subject on which the agency must remain neutral.”In this segment, Ira talks with Christine Castillo Comer about the case and about evolution, ‘intelligent design,’ and creationism in Texas.
What is wrong with the teachers in New Hampshire? They just endorsed Clinton for the Democratic candidate, and Huckabee for the Republicans. Huckabee is a deranged young earth creationist! Did the NEA just spit in the face of its science teachers? How could they possibly support a creationist?
Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, was the only Republican candidate to speak at the national NEA meeting in Philadelphia in July. His campaign also courted the New Hampshire chapter, and he was the only GOP candidate to meet with chapter officials, a source with the New Hampshire union said.
Oh. The NH NEA can be bought for cheap: just show up.
There is a certain creationist book that contains this infamous quote:
No matter what ideology they may espouse, those who perpetrate terror over the world are, in reality, Darwinists. Darwinism is the only philosophy that places a value on-and thus encourages-conflict.
Kind of a common sentiment on the far right, I know. But you’d think a member of the far right would be reluctant to use it, because it’s from an Islamic crackpot, Adnan Oktar AKA Haryun Yahya, in his massive plagiarized tome, The Atlas of Creation.
Yet this book is prominently displayed in the waiting room of Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez. I’m wondering why GW Bush’s CIA and FBI aren’t all over this guy for endorsing the work of a radical Islamic nutcase. I’m wondering how a Bush appointee can parade a book with Arabic script on the cover without getting at least a strange look from his fellow travelers in peculiar politics. I don’t know how they can handle the conflict.
They must have really thick skulls.
For some reason, I have been having difficulty getting through to the latest edition, but at last I have succeeded, and it was worth the effort. Behold, it is Tangled Bank #94!
The University of Oregon and Indiana University have this wonderful Integrated Graduate Education and Research Traineeship in evo-devo that was, unfortunately, established long after I graduated from the UO. I have to say that it is a great idea, and it isn’t their fault I’m a superannuated anachronism. Anyway, the important thing is that they are hosting a symposium on evolution, development, and genomics: “From Patterns to Process:
Bridging Micro-and-Macroevolutionary Concepts through Evo-Devo” on
4-6 April, in beautiful Eugene, Oregon. And look at the speakers they have lined up!
Keynote Speakers
Scheduled Speakers
A springtime meeting in Oregon in which I get to hear the latest in evo-devo from some of its biggest names and a rather significant detractor (Coyne)? Well, that settles it for me — I’m going. This sounds like spectacular fun.
Josh Rosenau summarizes the Gonzalez affair:
This whole song and dance is too absurd for words. Gonzalez had a poor record of grant-writing, a poor record of graduating students, limited telescope time, and his record of publication tailed off since he started working on his ID creationist book. He even submitted that book as part of his tenure file, yet he and the DI are shocked (shocked!) that his department would consider his ID work. At the very least they are shocked (shocked?) that his colleagues were unenthusiastic about that work.
They talk the talk of wanting “fairness”, but it’s all one-sided: they only want positive recognition of any old nonsense they might spout, but when anyone criticizes their rationalizations, oh, no…you are being ‘biased’.
One of the few papers any of the Discovery Institute frauds have managed to get published was a bit of fluff by Jonathan Wells, who made a strange argument that centrioles generate a “polar ejection force” — his rationale was that they looked like turbines. Then he made a sloppy connection to ID by claiming that since turbines are designed, and he made his inference about their function because of that resemblance, the design hypothesis is therefore useful.
Ian Musgrave dissected Wells a while back, but now we have another worthy deconstruction: Stephen Matheson reviews the paper. He seems … unimpressed.
The holiday season is upon us, and our source of cocoa is going on strike. I hope the US Strategic Chocolate Reserve is well stocked, or Santa will go into withdrawal this Christmas eve.
(We ‘podmas celebrants have no worries, at least, unless the herring supplies are depleted.)
