Recent News Related to SOD
posted by Kevin Wirth - updated 01/15/09
01/14/09 - You've heard of Richard Dawkin's book "Climbing Mt. Improbable," Well, there is a counter argument that a better description of adaptaion is "Pit Improbable," as defined by Chris Nedin over at Ediacaran.
01/13/09 - If you want to follow the day by day and blow by blow events at the John Freshwater trial, you can read about it over at Panda's Thumb. Freshwater is a high school science teacher who has been accused of "branding" some of his students with a jolt of electricity as well as refusing to remove his bible from his desk at the school where he once taught (he has been suspended pending the outcome of the trial).
01/10/09 - Freshwater hearing report from the Mt. Vernon News. Reporting on the testimony of Dr. Patricia Princehouse, lecturer in philosophy and evolutionary biology at Case Western Reserve University. " Princehouse, who received her Ph.D. from Harvard University, said she was asked to examine [Freshwater's teaching] material with regard to its content and relevance to a science classroom, and to form an opinion as to the material’s potential effect on science students. Using a PowerPoint presentation to illustrate her conclusions, Princehouse said these worksheets are not serious attempts to teach science and that the source of many of these sheets are from a creationist Web site. Princehouse is quoted as saying "Science deals with the laws of nature. An intelligent designer is a theological concept, not a scientific one.”
01/09/09 - If you'd like to track many of the Darwin Day events slated to take effect this year, then you'll want to visit the Darwin Day Celebration site.
01/06/09 - Be sure to check out the University of Oklahoma campus calendar of Darwin related events, including the following:
- 02/12/09 - Dr. Allen Orr to be presented with the prestigious Darwin Wallace medal (awarded only once every 50 years)
- 03/06/09 - Richard Dawkins lecture on "The Purpose of Purpose."
01/05/09 - Freshwater hearing reports from the Columbus Dispatch and the Mt. Vernon News. Fired 8th grade science teacher John Freshwater's trial resumes today after a lengthy break since the end of October. The hearing has thus far cost over $200,000 and Freshwater is just beginning his defense, where he is expected to call up to 60 witnesses. According to the Mt. Vernon News report, Freshwater stands accused of:
1) causing physical harm to a student during a science experiment (burning a cross onto a student's arm),
2) overstepped his bounds as a monitor of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes,
3) promoting particular religious beliefs in the classroom while denigrating others, and
4) was insubordinate in refusing to follow directives from the school administration.
01/03/09 -"Expelled" movie producer Walt Ruloff is interviewed by Vancouver Sun writer Douglas Todd. Ruloff discusses his views about the impact of the film. None of the four key controversies associated with the film were really addressed here. Followup comments about this article include:
The working scientific definition of the theory of evolution implies atheism: humans are the result of a purposeless and random process that didn't have us in mind. Such a definition has obvious philosophical implications for human behavior and culture, as a cursory glance at the history and foundations of totalitarianism in the 20th century illustrates. How could it not? If we are mere mud, then human morality is very obviously a construct. - Redcross knight
01/03/09 - 15 Evolutionary Gems: A resource for those wishing to spread awareness of evidence for evolution by natural selection as viewed by Nature Magazine. Geared for educators, this overhyped and stunningly incompetent collection of just-so stories about evolution has more holes in it than your average baloney and swiss cheese sandwich. More...
01/02/09 - Smoke and Mirrors (posted at The Loom). Ken Miller responds to Discovery Institute's Casey Luskin on Miller's testimony at the Kitzmiller trial regarding Michael Behe's argument using vertebrate blood clotting cascade in support of “irreducible complexity." Miller offers his views of Luskin's current rehabilitation of this argument and challenge of Miller's testimony.
12/28/08 - Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Top 10 Evolution articles for 2008 as seen by New Scientist. More...
12/26/08 - Surprising Results Reveal Genesis Account of Creation More Scientific Than Theory of Evolution
Minneapolis, MN (PRWEB) December 26, 2008 -- Keeping within scientific standards most commonly used by evolutionists, Who Is Your Creator http://www.whoisyourcreator.com/ has created a scientific narrative for the Genesis Account of Creation. By using those same standards, Who Is Your Creator also exposes the utter lack of scientific evidence for the origin of the universe, origin of life, and common descent.
Due to the biased media coverage of the upcoming worldwide Darwin Day celebration http://darwinday.org, Who Is Your Creator is stepping up its attack on the pro-evolution fabrications and misrepresentations that are commonly associated with Darwinism. To help with deciphering what is true and what is false, they are also producing a DVD that will be primarily geared towards students, parents, and churches. More...
12/16/08 - The Latest Case of Creationism in the Classroom. Scientific American (January, 2009). Darwin Evangelists and notorious Darwin Skeptic chasers Eugenie Scott and Glenn Branch unleash another one of their tirades beginning on page 92. This entire issue of SCIAM is devoted to a series of articles under the umbrella title of "the evolution of evolution."
For critical commentary about the article by Scott and Branch, see the remarks from David Coppedge.
11/20/08 - Darwin 200: Beyond the Origin. NATURE magazine devotes substantial print space to the upcoming 200th anniversay of the birth of Charles Darwin. Read all the articles online from this portal.
11/19/08 - Darwin Day Celebrations have finally kicked off with the November 20, 2008 issue of Nature. February 9, 2009 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, and all around the world many Darwinists will be gearing up to celebrate this event. We consider this edition of Nature to represent the kick-off of this event. More...