When I see Jonathan Wells’ name on anything, I know I’m in for some furious gnashing of the teeth because of the man’s infuriating tendency to blatantly lie with every sentence. That’s the case with his recent baseless criticisms of the peppered moth story; Mike Dunford takes care of him this time around.
His blog is now two years old, which means it is at that point where it’s very cute but has an infuriating habit of saying “no” a lot and throwing tantrums. It helps if everyone makes sure that he gets his naps.
We had our very first meeting of UMM Campus Atheists, Skeptics, and Humanists tonight. About two dozen people had expressed interest before, so we expected, optimistically, about 20 people to show up. We got there a little early, and people were waiting for us … and then our 20 were there, and then more, and then more, and then more. I had to keep going up to the counter to tell them we were going to have to order a few more pizzas.
Final tally: 60 students showed up. We basically took over the whole restaurant.
This one has been around for a while, but it’s still funny.
I have survived the first week of classes (my schedule leaves Fridays free of lecturing), as have my students — one down, sixteen to go. I’ve got a fairly heavy load this term, with a brand new introductory biology course (with 84 freshman students!) and a neurobiology course for more advanced students, so it’s going to be a long hard slog, I can tell. Pity those poor students, though — thrown right into the lion’s den. Ask Billy Graham, he knows.
Q. I’m headed for college in a few weeks, and as a Christian I’m wondering what to expect. Some people say that my faith will be attacked there, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that. Do you have any advice for me?
Now the Stuart Pivar Story is on Daily Kos. Even after he dropped the lawsuit, his reputation on the blogosphere is sealed. If he’d never started this duel, it would have been nothing but a few fading memories of a negative review of an obscure book … but by playing games with the law and trying to intimidate others by throwing his money around, he’s elevated himself into notoriety.
Admit it: if you were walking along and saw this on the trail, you’d stop and turn back, wondering if Shelob was sneaking up behind you.
It’s not just me! Other people get strange messages, like the one forwarded to me below. Have fun with it.
The author, Don Pribor, is a member of the biology faculty at the University of Toledo. You really must read his research statement.
The second part of the DI’s interview with Ruloff, producer of the movie Expelled, is now available. He’s claiming now that there will be no hacking and chopping of the interview footage, which is, of course, complete nonsense. I was interviewed for something close to two hours; we know that that will be extensively cut for the movie, and I fully expect my part will be notably brief. The question is one of what context will be removed to make their point.
But OK, since he promises that the movie will make no distortions, here’s the challenge: send me a copy of the unedited footage. Likewise, send copies of their interviews to Eugenie Scott and Richard Dawkins. That’s an easy resolution that any confident, reasonable person should consider perfectly fair.
I’ll look forward to receiving the tape in my mail.
