January 6, 2016::End of the day round-up

King Crocoduck's closing remark is a bit apropos considering a discussion held the other night concerning my delving into the fallacies behind the "Tornado in a Junkyard" analogy. I had stated that instead of doing "real" science in regards to ID, the proponents sit back and "just think up" counter arguments regardless of whether science supports those views. Best example is Behe and his testimony during Dover v Kitmiller (2005) where he admitted under oath 'that evolution could not explain immunology without even investigating the subject. He was presented with 58 peer reviewed articles, nine books, and several textbook chapters on the subject; he insisted they were 'not good enough.'"

Here's what KC had to say to his adversary [6:26], spawned from the misapplication of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics - nothing can not be greater than something.

Your pretension that your philosophical ponderings on causality are even remotely comparable to the rigor and discipline required to understand the subject under discussion.

,,,[Lots of sciencey, mathey terms that blew right over my head and I wouldn't be able to spell if my life depended on it]

This is the arrogance that underlies creationism. This notion that a layperson, can sit back and idly think about a discipline that takes years to understand much less master and disprove it with facile simple minded arguments.

Sweet Justice?: Bakery Owners Finally Pay Fine For Discriminating Against Lesbian Couple

“Aaron and Melissa Klein are devoted to honoring God in every aspect of their lives, including how they conduct themselves in this litigation. Oregon law requires that as they appeal the Oregon government’s decision denying them their First Amendment rights, they must either pay the amount imposed by the Oregon government, or obtain a bond for the amount of the judgment,” Smith said. “The least expensive option to stay in compliance with the law was to pay the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries funds that will be kept in a separate account until they prevail in their court appeal.”
,,,
The Oregonian reports that the Kleins paid a total of $144,000 to the state this month; that figure includes accrued interest for their refusal to pay it earlier. At the time, they claimed they simply couldn’t afford the fine---even though they’d raised approximately $517,000 from various crowdfunding sites in order to cover the debt. “It's difficult to understand the Kleins’ unwillingness to pay the debt when they have, very publicly, raised nearly a half million dollars,” a labor bureau spokesman said in an October statement.

Despite that windfall, they say they’ve suffered for their refusal to bake the cake. Aaron Klein claims he was forced to work as a garbage collector after they closed their storefront location, and vandals broke into the business’ branded car twice.

We Want Debunk (1) : The Alkaline Diet

If you remember I touched on the acid/alkaline mythos last month. Guerilla Girl attacks from a bit different angle:

The website acidalkalinediet.net says that acid-forming diets are the cause of acidosis and the major cause of diseases like cancer, diabetes, and stroke. This is a red flag of pseudoscientific theories: several different diseases are attributed to one cause. The truth is that each disease is unique and has a unique cause. For the purposes of this post, I’ll talk briefly about acidosis and cancer.
,,,
While it’s certainly true that fruits and vegetables are good for you, it’s because they are nutrient-dense, not because they are alkaline forming. The alkaline diet seems very restrictive to me – it’s basically a raw vegan diet (oooh, another diet to debunk!). I have no problem with ethical vegans, but the vegan diet takes some work to do in a healthy way (see Ginny Messina, RD for more information). Most of the foods on the acid-forming list can be beneficial – fish, dairy, grains, legumes, even caffeine has nutrients and proven health benefits. It seems like restrictive diets are increasingly popular, and there is growing concern that they can lead to disordered eating.

The "disordered eating" issue is one I may tackle some time in the near future.

Pat Robertson: Beat non-religious kids on Christmas until they appreciate ‘blessings of discipline’

Robertson immediately recommended that the grandson should be taken “to the woodshed and let him understand the blessings of discipline.”

“He needs a strong male figure,” Robertson continued. “He’s going to wind up in a correctional institution, and the next thing you know, he’s going to be doing hard time in some prison. And then he would wish he wasn’t such a smart, you know, wise guy. Because he’ll be disciplined in a way that he’ll never forget in some prison.”

“He needs discipline in the worst possible way.”

In the end, the Christian Broadcasting Network founder recommended that the viewer avoid her daughter’s house on Christmas.

UPDATING: Alabama Chief Justice Issues Order Blocking Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

The Chief Justice of the Alabama State Supreme Court Wednesday morning issued an order to all probate judges to not issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Judge Roy Moore claims a previous order issued by his court in March remains in effect, and warns those judges that they "have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary" to Alabama state law and its constitution.

Justice Moore, "said the conflict between the state court ruling and the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June has caused 'confusion and uncertainty' among probate judges," AL.com reports.

The Decateur Daily adds that "Moore's order found that a June ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that struck down laws banning same-sex marriage in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee did not necessarily affect Alabama's similar laws."

Ben Carson would consider banning gays from the military

“Well, I think the first priority again is cohesion, and the second priority would be that the commander-in-chief listen to the best military advice, so on a number of these social issues the best military advice has been thwarted and the administration has said, ‘Do this, do this, do this,’ apart from military and defense considerations as a priority,” said the general.

Tapper asked Carson if he agreed with the general’s remarks, Carson said:

“One of the things that I learned in a long medical career is that you make decisions based on evidence, and not on ideology. So, yes, I would be willing to sit down with people from both sides and examine the evidence and make decisions based on what the evidence shows.”

Nicol Simard of Atheism TV had the perfect response to Ben Carson

He be willing to sit down with people from both sides and examine the evidence and make decisions based on what the evidence shows? This is coming from a creationist? From someone who believes pyramids were build to store grain?

Please don't mind me while I roll on the floor laughing IN A PUDDLE OF MY OWN PISS because he made me pee myself, I laughed so hard.

Matt Carey offers a complete breakdown of the William Thompson debacle that began last year.


The William Thompson Documents. There’s no whistle to blow.

For those unfamiliar with the story of William Thompson, here’s a brief introduction. William Thompson is a CDC researcher who has worked on vaccine/autism studies. About 2 years ago he approached Brian Hooker (an autism parent and very vocal advocate for the idea that vaccines cause autism) stating that a statistically significant result was not only left out of an old study but that this represented not a scientific decision, but misconduct on the part of the CDC. It is worth noting that “statistically significant” is not the same as “proof of a connection”. Brian Hooker published his own analysis (incorrectly claimed as being the same as the CDC analysis method) in a now retracted paper. The result he presented was that there was an apparent increased risk of autism for one small subset of the study population: African American males, who were vaccinated not on schedule but before age 3.

There are some questions, of course, that this raises. Is this result very strong? Does the lack of inclusion in the paper represent scientific fraud or a legitimate scientific decision?

Those following the anti-vaxx movement are well aware of the stir this caused. Those outside the "bubble" should have been but the story was woefully under-reported.

The importance of what Matt didn't find: 1] The vaccines-cause-autism story is built on lies and it is very damaging. There has been nothing since the Kanner/Bettleheim “refrigerator parent” idea that has caused so much damage to our community. And that is the real story here. A group of people perpetuating a failed idea by carefully crafting a story.

In other words maybe now this trope can finally be laid to rest and science can concentrate on what it does best.   "And they [referring to Hooker and Wakefield] still aren’t calling for better services better diagnosis in these underserved groups. Instead they are just trying to recruit as many parents as they into the vaccines-cause-autism camp. Imagine being convinced, wrongly, that you participated in injuring your own child. The charlatans who prey on our community with fake–and sometimes abusive–therapies rely on the vaccine/autism idea for the majority of their business."

2] Science wins!!

I really should have written more about this debacle,,,sigh!!

Science deniers use false equivalence to create fake debates

This article is #3 of the 12 most popular posts on Skeptical Raptor during 2015. This article discusses how science deniers employ false equivalence to create fake debates.

If you read a news article, Google a scientific topic, or watch TV, you’d think that some scientific principles were actually being debated by scientists. The unfiltered information about important scientific subjects allows the science deniers to use a false equivalence to make it appear that the often minority, and scientifically unsupported viewpoint is equivalent to the scientific consensus which is based on huge amounts of published evidence.

From listening to the screaming and yelling, you would think that scientists aren’t sure about evolution, vaccines, global warming, and the age of the earth (or even the age of the universe). There are even those who think there’s a debate that HIV doesn’t cause AIDS. It’s because some news sources think there’s a debate, so bring one person to represent one side, and one for the other, and the person screams the loudest often wins.

An anti-equality faith healer is trying to build a mega-complex in San Diego

Morris Cerullo, an 84-year-old evangelical mega-church pastor and self-proclaimed faith healer and miracle worker, is proposing an 18.1-acre mega-church complex in the city of San Diego, California.

Cerullo, who was convicted for falsifying tax documents between 1998 and 2000, a conviction overturned on a technicality in 2007, has been flying under the radar in the city with this proposal that would include a religious retreat, underground catacombs, a Jerusalem-style Wailing Wall, an outdoor amphitheater and bazaar, a TV studio, and timeshare units for his followers.

The complex would be built on the site of the San Diego Resort Hotel complex which Cerullo recently purchased.

“That’s where I’ve failed as a scientist”: Bill Nye opens up about the climate wars - Salon.com

In February, celebrated scientist Bill Nye engaged in a much-publicized debate with Christian celebrity Ken Ham about whether creationism was “viable” as a scientific theory. Polls found that Nye roundly won the debate.

Triumph in this debate, however, did not necessarily mean a win for science education. In the United States, there is still an uphill battle not only for funding and better teachers, but also to stem the proliferation of charter schools that cast doubt on evolution or flatly deny it. Nye’s biggest worry, he says, is about children — and specifically about their ability to compete and innovate in the future.

The debate with Ham eventually led Nye to pen his newest book, “Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation” (out tomorrow), which broadens, contextualizes and connects evolution to everyday life.

Salon spoke to Nye about everything from climate change and evolution, to Ken Ham and John Oliver. This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. (Audio from the upcoming book is below.)

“That’s where I’ve failed as a scientist”: Bill Nye opens up about the climate wars - Salon.com

Founders Of Idaho Creation Museum Urge Visitors To 'Think Critically' | Boise State Public Radio

"This stone right here, you can see there's a man on it riding on a triceratops dinosaur."

Stan Lutz, Co-Founder, Northwest Science Museum (Boise, Idaho)

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I have written before about this group of creationist ideologues. This is a group who, like Ken Ham, have no qualms stating, "No apparent, perceived, or claimed interpretation of evidence in any field, including history and chronology, can be valid if it contradicts the Scriptural record." So in claiming they are a "science museum" is an out right false hood.

Most scientists, textbooks, and natural history museums would tell you the Earth is several billion years old, that plant and animal species evolved over time, and that dinosaurs died out millions of years before our human ancestors appeared. You might even take that as a given. But a large segment of the population believe something else happened.

That's the funny thing about science, it is not based on "belief" but evidence. As I have stated before, science is not a democracy.

The ole tornado in the junkyard gambit, “If you can make up a system that says there is no god, that things just happen by chance, then we're not accountable to any higher being,” he said. “And so you can do what you want and have no consequence.”

A blatant mis-statement of what science tells us; a strawman argument in which the analogy works by random chance to a final product that is unlike the beginning product. Evolution on the other hand operates by a fixed law - natural selection - complex results that are built up gradually; it is a cumulative process minus a specific target (airplane).

But this is the most baffling of what the "museum" presents:

“I think everybody needs to see the evidence we will have in the museum,” he added. “One of the things we have here in this vision center is probably the most controversial stones in the world. Because they show man and dinosaurs interacting.”

In one of the glass cases, Stan Lutz, one of the other founders, pointed out a collection of “Ica stones,” which he said are ancient stones from Peru.

“This stone right here, you can see there's a man on it riding on a triceratops dinosaur,” he said.

Lutz pointed to a tan colored stone with a man on a lizard-like creature.

“We have rocks showing at least 14 species of dinosaur that are all accurately drawn,” he said.

First, Stan Lutz is the least qualified person to be presenting evidence:

Stan has been interested in reconciling the Bible with science for most of his life, and is in the process of developing a creation museum. Toward that end, he has assembled numerous artifacts, which he displays for interested groups upon request or when speaking on various topics of creation apologetics.

He formally studied creation science through Kent Hovind’s ministry and successfully finished the equivalent of 20 college credits of creation science 101, 102, 103, and 104.

In early 2005 and part of 2006 Stan worked for Joe Taylor at the Mt. Blanco Fossil Museum, in Crosbyton, Texas. During his time at Mt. Blanco, he led museum tours and partipated in two fossil digs that resulted in the excavation of parts of two mammoths. Mr. Lutz also assisted with the assembly of a Bison priscus skull from Alaska, a large Hadrosaur skull, and a Psittacosaurus skeleton. In addition, he helped finish the Lone Star Mastodon skull found in San Antonio, Texas, which is said to be one of the largest four-tusked mastodon skulls ever found.

Stan also spent time at Creation Evidence Museum in Glen Rose, Texas along the Paluxy River examining the dinosaur and human footprints found together. While at Glen Rose, Stan and Ian Juby filmed a dig with Carl Baugh where several new tracks were discovered.

For the rest, I'll just leave this here.


And this as well.

The farmer who gave Cabrera his first stone was subsequently arrested for selling the stones to tourists. In his defence, he said that he had not in fact found them in a cave, as he had told Dr Cabrera, but made them himself. Other local people continue to make these engraved stones. They are selling forged hoaxes – a Bad Archaeology double whammy! However, Cabrera countered this claim with the sheer numbers of stones. As well as the 20,000 or so in his collection and those sold to tourists, he said that locals have found about 50,000, while the cave contains another 100,000. This is too great a number to be the effort of a single poor farmer with little spare time to create so many hoaxes. Nevertheless, he maintained that he carved at least some of them. Neither he nor Dr Cabrera revealed the location of the cave that is supposed to contain the huge cache of stones.

It is possible that some of the stones are genuine examples of pre-Columbian Peruvian art, but at least some are forgeries. Many of the allegedly anomalous images are so highly stylised that it is difficult to see exactly what is being depicted. Some are so plainly bizarre that they can be discounted, as in the example showing a human riding on the shoulders of a pteranodon, a species of pterosaur that (should the bizarre act ever have occurred) could never have supported such a weight. Those that show dinosaurs, especially, show them as reconstructions popular in the early to mid twentieth century did: as lumbering beasts, dragging their tails along the ground. We now know that this was not how they walked, a clear demonstration (as if any were needed) that the stones are a twentieth-century product and not the creations of people who saw living dinosaurs.

Founders Of Idaho Creation Museum Urge Visitors To 'Think Critically' | Boise State Public Radio

Minnesota House candidate makes AIDS, 'Gay Agenda' campaign issues | MinnPost

With Michele Bachmann and Bradlee Dean in your corner, who gives a fuck about science. This here is 'merika and truth doesn't matter.

But on a serious note, remember the "15 per cent solution" brought up in a previous posting? Here is a prime example of it at work in Minnesota.

The formula they've concocted has been called the "15 per cent solution" by the Christian Coalition. Even in a well attended presidential election, only 15 per cent of eligible voters determine the outcome,,, "We don't have to worry about convincing a majority of Americans to agree with us," Guy Rodgers, the Christian Coalition's national field director declared at the 1991 Road to Victory conference. Most of them are staying home and watching Falcon Crest."

One candidate is focused on the "real issues of - education, transportation, taxes." Whilst the other has chosen the road of hot button social issues, counting on that all important 15 percent.

Frey says he’s also talking about business and taxes. He says education is a particular passion, developed while working with then-state senator Michele Bachmann to defeat the “profiles in learning” education platform.

But when questioned about his position on social issues, Frey added that it “does certainly need to be addressed for what it is. It’s not about the gay agenda but about the science and the financial impact of that agenda. It’s more about sodomy than about pigeonholing a lifestyle.”

Frey then explained his view: “When you have egg and sperm that meet in conception, there’s an enzyme in the front that burns through the egg. The enzyme burns through so the DNA can enter the egg. If the sperm is deposited anally, it's the enzyme that causes the immune system to fail. That’s why the term is AIDS – acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.”

(This explanation of AIDS has no scientific validity, but it may strike a familiar chord: It is essentially the same one given by Bob's son, Mike Frey, in testimony given before the House Civil Law Committee last year during the debate over gay marriage.)

Of the financial impact, Bob Frey says, “It’s about sodomy. It’s huge amounts of money. AIDS is a long term illness, causing pain, suffering, death, a long-term illness that’s very expensive to treat.”

Minnesota House candidate makes AIDS, 'Gay Agenda' campaign issues | MinnPost

Religious nuts lead Creationist tour in Denver museum. - YouTube

Although this video is a few years old - 2008(?), it highlights what is so wrong with the religionists's view of science, evolution in particular. Ignoring the idiocy of "Jesus" being our creator and designer bit in the beginning, what struck me was the inability to answer this simple question (1:12): "Why are human and dinosaur bones not found in the same sedimentary layers?"

Answer, "There's several problems for the creationist, there's no doubt about that. And one would be that."

Reminds me of the Ham v Nye debate where Ham blatantly states, "No one will ever convince me that the word of God is not true." And that is a very dangerous viewpoint to have. Evolution is the only way that biology makes sense, a point embraced by Kirk Johnson.

Evolution is a central tenet of biology without it, we have no means to study, understand or combat how bacteria come to resist antibiotics, for example; we have no means to improve food production. It lends to the lack of critical thinking skills necessary to discern between pseudo- science and accepted science theory and I think we all know where that can lead.

In Jenny McCarthy’s own words

Sometimes, in order to appreciate just how wrong antivaccinationist are, it’s best to let them speak in their own words. Nowhere recently have I seen a better example of this than in an interview with Jenny McCarthy published on the TIME Magazine website. In it, along with the usual invocation of the “toxins gambit” and appeals to anecdotal evidence over science, Jenny reveals that she clearly thinks it’s regrettable but acceptable that infectious diseases will return because of the efforts of her and her fellow antivaccine activists:

I do believe sadly it’s going to take some diseases coming back to realize that we need to change and develop vaccines that are safe. If the vaccine companies are not listening to us, it’s their fucking fault that the diseases are coming back. They’re making a product that’s shit. If you give us a safe vaccine, we’ll use it. It shouldn’t be polio versus autism.

Eating Yoga Mats

Hari the food babe has created a classic piece of pseudoscientific scaremongering, worthy of dihydrogen monoxide. She has collected a group of factoids that superficially appear scary, but do not relate to the risk of ADA as used in bread. They are designed to mislead and to stoke fears based upon scientific misunderstanding.

She also pulls the common scam of linking to references to support her claims, but not fairly representing what those references actually say.

Microwaves and Nutrition

Hari warns her readers to throw out their microwaves, writing:

Live, healthy, and nutritious foods can become dead in a matter of seconds when you use a microwave. We are the only species on the planet that destroys the nutrient content of our food before eating it. A study published in the November 2003 issue of the Journal of Science of Food and Agriculture found that broccoli cooked in the microwave lost up to 97 percent of its antioxidant content.

The first claim above is that food is supposed to be alive, and that cooking it “kills” the food. This is pure naturalistic nonsense. By the time certain foods, like meat, hit your table, even if it is raw, any cells in the food are dead. The cells in fruits and vegetables start dying after they are picked. Anything frozen will also be dead. Some things alive in the food, you probably don’t want there, such as bacteria that cause spoilage.The more important point, however, is that having living cells is irrelevant to nutrient content.

[,,,]
That’s right – microwaving is among the best methods of cooking in terms of preserving nutrients. Hari’s conclusion, therefore, is the exact opposite of what the science says.

Religious nuts lead Creationist tour in Denver museum. - YouTube

UPDATE::New Boise creationist museum seeks to promote 'true science' by disputing evolution | Boise, Garden City, Mountain Home | Idahostatesman.com

So basically, the fundies are only trying to open up the conversation to all possibilities currently being shut out by the Christian persecuting, secular-lib-humanist, fasci-Marxist tyrants who rule our once-great Judeo-Christian nation.

A group of Idahoans dismayed by science education have opened the Northwest Science Museum offering a Biblical explanation of Earth's origins and disputing other explanations, such as evolution.

"We want to show a lot of science that's being censored and not presented to the public," said Doug Bennett, the museum's executive director.

[,,,]
The central premise of the museum is to counter "mainstream science" with exhibits about life on Earth as created by God in six days, about 6,000 years ago — not over a span of millions of years.

Bennett said the founders had been kicking around the idea for a creation museum for 10 or 20 years.

The organization is "just a group of us that have kind of the same idea of promoting true science," he said, adding that it's not affiliated with any church or religious group.

What is sad, it is thinking such as the above, "We want to show a lot of science that's being censored and not presented to the public." And, "No apparent, perceived, or claimed interpretation of evidence in any field, including history and chronology, can be valid if it contradicts the Scriptural record."  That leads to shit like this,




and yes Comfort is be serious.**

Or how bout this:



Which then tends to become "mainstream" leaving the next generation grasping at straws to understand basic 
science.

 
(H/T: DeadState)

So yes religious ideology masking itself in faith does have consequences.

New Boise creationist museum seeks to promote 'true science' by disputing evolution | Boise, Garden City, Mountain Home | Idahostatesman.com


**PS::  As some may remember Ray Comfort became comic relief for many in the atheist and science communities for his banana analogy.  Not long after, he continued with his stupidity by first saying, "Oops, my bad, guess I wasn't very clear in my meaning.  Seriously who has the time to read science like books to learn a basic understanding of agricultural methods through the ages.  Anyway it was Gawd that gave man the smarts to modify it, so that it perfectly fit into his hand.  Yea, Gawd did it." [My words]  Then in another interview, he flip-flops yet again adding a few more unsubstantiated claims.Truth-Saves has an excellent write-up concerning this banana controversy concluding with this statement: 

Ray Comfort appears to be more concerned with what he wants to be true rather than what is actually true. If he did care about what was true then Ray would have taken at least five minutes to research his original claim and also would not have twisted the words and information of his own sources. Ray Comfort's entire career revolves around telling creationists what they want to hear during his lectures or in his own books and television show so there is also the likely possibility that he lies because it is financially profitable. Regardless of why Ray Comfort intentionally lies so much may not be clear but whatever his true agenda is the fact remains that Ray Comfort is anything but honest. He is too smart to make all of these false claims accidentally, especially when the truth is provided in his sources, so that means is claims are an act of pure dishonesty. This lack of concern for honesty really comes at no surprise given his track record for dishonesty and deceit.

A New Museum Devoted to Creationism Will Open Tomorrow in Idaho

The Museum’s Statement of Faith gets right to the heart of why it doesn’t actually promote science:

No apparent, perceived, or claimed interpretation of evidence in any field, including history and chronology, can be valid if it contradicts the Scriptural record.  <--that right there should scare the bejeebus out of you!!

For them, the evidence doesn’t matter if it poses a challenge to their faith.

That’s not how science works.

With science, you go where the evidence leads you. You don’t get to shoehorn science into the narrow confines of a holy book.

So, like I said, the Brainwashing Compound opens up tomorrow in Idaho. It’ll compete with Ken Ham’s Kentucky-based Creation Museum in a race to warp the minds of little kids and gullible adults everywhere.

A New Museum Devoted to Creationism Will Open Tomorrow in Idaho

Upcoming Christian Film to ‘Cause a Stir’ in Creation/Evolution Debate | Christian News Network

The subject matter of A Matter of Faith, Christiano told Christian News Network, is the evolution versus creation debate.

“Evolution is basically taught in our schools and universities across this great land of ours as a matter of fact,” Christiano said. “Yet nobody can prove evolution, because nobody was there at the beginning—just as no person can prove creation, since nobody was there at the beginning. Both of these then become a matter of faith, not fact.”

The film’s plot centers around a Christian girl who is influenced during her first year of college by an evolutionist Biology professor. When the student’s father notices his daughter drifting from the faith, he decides to do something about it and agrees to publicly challenge the professor in a debate.

Christiano told Christian News Network that A Matter of Faith will likely spark widespread discussion on the creation/evolution debate once the film is released in theaters September 26.

“I think this movie can be an excellent discussion starter,” he stated. “I think it’s a very strong movie to show to a non-believer.”


The crux of the evolution/creation debate, Christiano said, ultimately comes down to a simple question: “Who are you putting your faith in? Darwin? Or God?” Christiano hopes the message of the film will resonate with Christians across the country.

Upcoming Christian Film to ‘Cause a Stir’ in Creation/Evolution Debate | Christian News Network

This Is Why You Have No Business Challenging Scientific Experts | Mother Jones

I am still pondering what I have read and listened to. What has struck me so far is this statement, "If we devalue scientific attitudes and scientific values, we're going to find ourselves living in an unpleasant society," In my naive mind I believe we are witnessing this first hand with the re-emergence of polio and measles, the fact that many still believe the sun revolves around the earth, and the fact that faith healing trumps standard medical care.
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Remember "Climategate"? It was the 2009 nonscandal scandal in which a trove of climate scientists' emails, pilfered from the University of East Anglia in the UK, were used to call all of modern climate research into question. Why? Largely because a cursory reading of those emails—showing, for example, climate scientists frankly discussing how to respond to burdensome data requests and attacks on their work—revealed a side of researchers that most people aren't really used to seeing. Suddenly, these "experts" looked more like ordinary human beings who speak their minds, who sometimes have emotions and rivalries with one another, and (shocker) don't really like people who question the validity of their knowledge.

In other words, Climategate demonstrated something that sociologists of science have know for some time—that scientists are mortals, just like all the rest of us. "What was being exposed was not something special and local but 'business as usual' across the whole scientific world," writes Cardiff University scholar Harry Collins, one of the original founders of the field of "science studies," in his masterful new book, Are We All Scientific Experts Now? But that means that Climategate didn't undermine the case for human-caused global warming at all, says Collins. Rather, it demonstrated why it is so hard for ordinary citizens to understand what is going on inside the scientific community—much less to snipe and criticize it from the outside. They simply don't grasp how researchers work on a day-to-day basis, or what kind of shared knowledge exists within the group.

That's a case that Collins makes not only about the climate issue, but also to rebut vaccine deniers, HIV-AIDS skeptics, and all manner of scientific cranks and mavericks. All of them, he argues, are failing to understand what's so important and powerful about a group of experts coming to a scientific consensus. "If we devalue scientific attitudes and scientific values, we're going to find ourselves living in an unpleasant society," explains Collins on the latest episode of the Inquiring Minds podcast.

[,,,]
That's why it's so significant to find Collins, in his new book, laying out a robust defense of scientific expertise and arguing, as he puts it, that "scientists are a special group of people…in terms of the values that drive their lives and their aspirations in respect of how they live their lives."

[,,,]
So it's not that Collins now repudiates his older research. He just thinks some scholars took it all too far, winding up in radically postmodernist positions that really did seem to devalue expertise and scientific knowledge. "It just seemed to me that we were moving into a position where, at least in the narrow academic world of my colleagues, it was ceasing to be possible to talk about experts," says Collins. "If you said, 'So and so is an expert,' you were accused of being an elitist."


This Is Why You Have No Business Challenging Scientific Experts | Mother Jones

UPDATE::Antievolution bills die in Missouri | NCSE

An update to this previous story from February,,,

Two antievolution bills died in committee in the Missouri House of Representatives on May 16, 2014, when the legislature adjourned.

House Bill 1472 would have, if enacted, required school districts to allow parents to have their children excused from learning about evolution,,,Interviewed by the Kansas City Star (February 6, 2014), the bill's sponsor Rick Brattin (R-District 55) described evolution as "just as much faith and, you know, just as much pulled out of the air as, say, any religion."

[,,,]
HB 1587 would have required state and local educational authorities to "assist teachers to find more effective ways to present the science curriculum where it addresses scientific controversies and permit teachers "to help students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of the theory of biological and hypotheses of chemical evolution"; it would have prevented such authorities from "prohibit[ing] any teacher in a public school system of this state from helping students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of biological or chemical evolution whenever these subjects are taught."

Antievolution bills die in Missouri | NCSE

Creationist Group Answers in Genesis Says 'Cosmos' TV Series Promotes 'Blind Faith' in Evolution

I find it hilarious that the Reich has their panties in such a wad over the new "Cosmos." It just goes to show how tightly pack they are inside their little box. There is no such thing as faith in evolution and an inability to understand science is not a valid argument against it, Evolution is not a belief, it's a matter of understanding why it is true.

Creationist group Answers in Genesis has spoken out against the TV series "Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey," arguing that it promotes a "blind faith" in evolution.

"Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey, if the first segment is any indication, will attempt to package unconditional blind faith in evolution as scientific literacy in an effort to create interest in science," wrote Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell on the AiG blog.

"We hope that future segments will spend more time showing actual scientific observations-such as the brief part of this episode showing where earth is in relation to the rest of the universe."

Creationist Group Answers in Genesis Says 'Cosmos' TV Series Promotes 'Blind Faith' in Evolution

Wyoming Governor Takes Major Stand Against Modern Science

There are many tangents one could go off on in regards to this article and it's causing a conundrum. So I am going to just post it and run away as fast as I can, but not without this one thought or question. Regardless of whether one is for, or against "standards" as a whole, why would anyone want ignorance and/or religion to trump science?

Wyoming took an unprecedented step this week when the governor approved a budget that would prevent the state from reviewing or funding a new set of science standards that treat climate change as fact.

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are a new set of education initiatives that have been adopted in 10 states and, like the Common Core State Standards, are designed to make sure students across the country are being held to the same benchmarks. They were developed with input from 26 states; Wyoming does not number among them.

Although the adoption of the NGSS has been controversial in other parts of the country, Wyoming is the first and only state to take legislative action to prevent the its Board of Education from reviewing the Science Standards, according to a press release from education advocacy group Climate Parents.

Rep. Matt Teeters (R-Lingle) first proposed a budget amendment that stops the state from considering the NGSS, according to Wyoming outlet the Casper Star-Tribune. Gov. Matt Mead (R) approved this amendment in his budget Wednesday.



Wyoming Governor Takes Major Stand Against Modern Science

Insist That People Coexisted With Dinosaurs…and Get an A in Science Class! | Mother Jones

In biology class, public school students can't generally argue that dinosaurs and people ran around Earth at the same time, at least not without risking a big fat F. But that could soon change for kids in Oklahoma: On Tuesday, the Oklahoma Common Education committee is expected to consider a House bill that would forbid teachers from penalizing students who turn in papers attempting to debunk almost universally accepted scientific theories such as biological evolution and anthropogenic (human-driven) climate change.

Gus Blackwell, the Republican state representative who introduced the bill, insists that his legislation has nothing to do with religion; it simply encourages scientific exploration. "I proposed this bill because there are teachers and students who may be afraid of going against what they see in their textbooks," says Blackwell, who previously spent 20 years working for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. "A student has the freedom to write a paper that points out that highly complex life may not be explained by chance mutations."

Stated another way, students could make untestable, faith-based claims in science classes without fear of receiving a poor mark.

HB 1674 is the latest in an ongoing series of "academic freedom" bills aimed at watering down the teaching of science on highly charged topics. Instead of requiring that teachers and textbooks include creationism—see the bill proposed by Missouri state Rep. Rick Brattin—HB 1674's crafters say it merely encourages teachers and students to question, as the bill puts it, the "scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses" of topics that "cause controversy," including "biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning."

Insist That People Coexisted With Dinosaurs…and Get an A in Science Class! | Mother Jones

See also:
Antiscience bill passes the Oklahoma House

Sorry Dumb-ass science trumps your bile

I have been mulling this story over for a few days weeks now but my irritation has not gone away.  I couldn't put my finger on the why until this past weekend when two news stories came to light.  First, did you know that the sun revolves around the earth?

But the kicker for me was when news broke about the death of snake handling Pastor Jamie Coots. Religion and the inane beliefs associated do kill! The root cause of those deaths, a literalistic view of the Bible demonstrated by proponents such as Ham and Fischer.

Most churches view the passage as a metaphor, but for almost a century a small number of believers in Tennessee, Kentucky and other parts of Appalachia have followed the passage [Mark 16:18] literally. Coots and Hamblin believed that, if they did not practice the snake-handling ritual, they would be condemned to hell.

It is this anti-science that is bandied about that bothers me.  I am no genius when it comes to the sciences, but I do have a solid understanding of the basics; what I don't know, I learn!  Every time I hear that "evolution is just a theory" I flashback to the time I tried to test the "theory of gravity."  I ended up in a nut house for 3 1/2 weeks.


The initial report from the Guardian, starts simple enough:

That they processed aboard the enormous floating wildlife collection two-by-two is well known. Less familiar, however, is the possibility that the animals Noah shepherded on to his ark then went round and round inside.

According to newly translated instructions inscribed in ancient Babylonian on a clay tablet telling the story of the ark, the vessel that saved one virtuous man, his family and the animals from god's watery wrath was not the pointy-prowed craft of popular imagination but rather a giant circular reed raft.

That was in 2010, but then something weird happened.  There is no mention of Finkel's work in the MSM, a four years lapse (that I am aware of). So why the sudden interest?  The Russel Crowe movie is due out soon.  Nah that can't be it.




Hmm,,,maybe it is because Finkel's book, ARK BEFORE NOAH was just release.  Well that is part of it.  The other part, some dumb-asses decided to show their ignorance to the whole world.  First was Ken Ham:

Over the weekend, media outlets from around the world ran a story about a “recently deciphered” tablet that bears strong resemblance to the biblical account of Noah, the Ark, and the Flood. We have been asked by many people (especially those who visit the Fox News website) to respond to yet another Ark report attempting to undermine the historicity of the Genesis account.

[,,,]
Should this tablet “cause consternation among believers in the Biblical story” as the article suggests? Of course not—in fact, this is just another archaeological find that corroborates the biblical Flood account. It is only reasonable that people in cultures the world over—being descended from the eight people that got off the Ark—would recall various versions of the Flood in their cultural memory and traditions. Hundreds of flood stories have been found in cultures around the world. While many of these contain legendary embellishments, it is very obvious that many of them refer back to a real event described in Genesis, many of the details of which were passed down through the generations.

[,,,]
Secular researchers often jump to the conclusion that the Bible borrowed from other ancient records. Yet other explanations exist for the similarities between Scripture and these ancient myths. It could be that the other myths borrowed from the biblical writers, assuming the tablet model is accurate. Or it could be that the Bible and the ancient myths are records of actual events, but while the Bible records the true history of our world, these other myths are loaded with legendary embellishments but still contain strands of truth.  [Emphasis mine]

You see part of Ken's problem, an issue he so aptly displayed in his recent debate with Bill Nye, no amount of evidence will change his mind.  He has a belief in the Bible that will never go away.  His irrational and steadfast belief in the truth of the Bible is what makes his religion work for him despite the scientific evidence.  In his mind science is wrong, Bible is right.

Next on our short list of dumb-asses is Bryan Fischer who two days later tweeted this:

Now if Fischer had actually read the article by the Jill Lawlwss of the AP, he would have discovered one key piece of information,

"I'm sure the story of the flood and a boat to rescue life is a Babylonian invention," he said.

He believes the tale was likely passed on to the Jews during their exile in Babylon in the 6th century B.C. And he doesn't think the tablet provides evidence the ark described in the Bible existed. He said it's more likely that a devastating real flood made its way into folk memory, and has remained there ever since.

"I don't think the ark existed - but a lot of people do," he said. "It doesn't really matter. The Biblical version is a thing of itself and it has a vitality forever.

Totally blows my mind!!

Virginia House Bill 207: encouraging pseudoscience is a bad idea - Mountain Beltway - AGU Blogosphere

I was first alerted to the proposal of a new bill in the Virginia House of Delegates last Wednesday by a colleague at James Madison University, Eric Pyle. Eric and I serve as state Councilors for the state of Virginia in the National Association of Geoscience Teachers. As such, we are sincerely concerned about any policy that would weaken science education in the Old Dominion, in particular when it comes to geoscience literacy. The proposed bill, HB 207, would allow creationist teachers to pass creationism off as science. It would undermine the state’s solid record of science education and imperil the utility and employ-ability of Virginia’s science graduates in the economy of the future. We agree that this bill is pernicious at worst, and unnecessary at best. It should not pass the House, nor be ratified into law.

[,,,]
Encourage students to explore scientific questions? Learn about evidence? Develop critical thinking skills? Delegate Bell, we already do exactly that! That’s exactly what my colleagues and I strive to do every day to produce graduates who will be ready to take their place on the cutting edge of scientific jobs. So clearly, that’s not what this is all about.

[,,,]
If we want Virginia’s graduates to be contributors and leaders in the global economy, they need to emerge from school unblinkered by superstition and unbrainwashed by the politics of their elders. For them to succeed in science and technology careers, we need them to be data-driven, and capable of logical coherence that transcends individual mythologies and ideologies with verifiable facts. We do not want them confusing their familial belief system or some politically-inspired gobbledygook with peer-reviewed assessments of reality.

Virginia House Bill 207: encouraging pseudoscience is a bad idea - Mountain Beltway - AGU Blogosphere

State lawmakers prove to be anti-science - Northwest Missourian: Opinion

,,,It appears that Andrew Koenig (R- District 99) wants to redefine those long-held ideas along with several other Republican congressmen.

Last week, Koenig introduced House Bill 1587, the second anti-evolution bill presented in the state legislature in less than a year. The first tried to force the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution at all public schools, including introductory biology courses at colleges. I’ll spare you from much of the pseudo-science BS that occupies much of the text of this bill and focus on phrases that cause serious concern.

One section of the bill forces educational authorities to “...assist teachers in finding more effective ways to present science curriculum where it address scientific controversies.” Now in ordinary circumstances, this language is fairly innocuous. However, in the hands of a religious-minded politician, it’s a chance to inject creationist ideas into public schools. You see, evolution is not a controversy in the scientific community, no matter which way you look at it. As stated before, there is large consensus among professional men of science who have concluded its validity. Does that mean they aren’t open to ideas that are contrary to that evolution? Of course not. Science is founded upon the ability for one to refute and critique its theories by presenting a legitimate, scientific answer to them. If the counter-theory is valid and is consistent with the data, it gains credibility within the scientific community over time. The problem is that evolution has withstood endless scrutiny from all scientific circles for more than 150 years. If you formulated a theory that actually disproved evolution, you would likely win a Nobel Prize for your work,,,

State lawmakers prove to be anti-science - Northwest Missourian: Opinion

Creationists' Last Stand at the State Board of Education - - News - Dallas - Dallas Observer

An interesting look at the "history" or maybe better stated, the development of Texas anti-evolutionism. Some may argue that the author is being sympathetic to the creationist crowd, but that is not the feeling I get. It's more of delving into their ideology that drives them to deny science. For example, Raymond Bohlin whose sole purpose of attaining his doctorate in molecular biology was to be a critic of evolution, "I have to make sure I understand in detail how it's supposed to work." But yet, as the author points out, ",,,he may be the only creationist to have participated in naming a new species,,,"

The author also take a look at Mel and Norma Gabler, founders of Educational Research Analysts, notorious for their fear of secularization, "relativist erosions of traditional, Judeo-Christian morality, free-market principles, patriotism and abstinence-only sex education." And continues up to today, including David Barton and Peter Marshall, the Dover Trial.

Creationists' Last Stand at the State Board of Education - - News - Dallas - Dallas Observer

The Science of Why We Don't Believe Science | Mother Jones

"A MAN WITH A CONVICTION is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point." So wrote the celebrated Stanford University psychologist Leon Festinger (PDF), in a passage that might have been referring to climate change denial—the persistent rejection, on the part of so many Americans today, of what we know about global warming and its human causes. But it was too early for that—this was the 1950s—and Festinger was actually describing a famous case study in psychology.

Festinger and several of his colleagues had infiltrated the Seekers, a small Chicago-area cult whose members thought they were communicating with aliens—including one, "Sananda," who they believed was the astral incarnation of Jesus Christ. The group was led by Dorothy Martin, a Dianetics devotee who transcribed the interstellar messages through automatic writing.

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Through her, the aliens had given the precise date of an Earth-rending cataclysm: December 21, 1954. Some of Martin's followers quit their jobs and sold their property, expecting to be rescued by a flying saucer when the continent split asunder and a new sea swallowed much of the United States. The disciples even went so far as to remove brassieres and rip zippers out of their trousers—the metal, they believed, would pose a danger on the spacecraft.

Festinger and his team were with the cult when the prophecy failed. First, the "boys upstairs" (as the aliens were sometimes called) did not show up and rescue the Seekers. Then December 21 arrived without incident. It was the moment Festinger had been waiting for: How would people so emotionally invested in a belief system react, now that it had been soundly refuted?

[,,,]
And since Festinger's day, an array of new discoveries in psychology and neuroscience has further demonstrated how our preexisting beliefs, far more than any new facts, can skew our thoughts and even color what we consider our most dispassionate and logical conclusions. This tendency toward so-called "motivated reasoning" helps explain why we find groups so polarized over matters where the evidence is so unequivocal: climate change, vaccines, "death panels," the birthplace and religion of the president (PDF), and much else. It would seem that expecting people to be convinced by the facts flies in the face of, you know, the facts.

The Science of Why We Don't Believe Science | Mother Jones

Vaccine-fearing Texas megachurch urges flock to immunize after measles outbreak | The Raw Story

But the call for vaccinations was made awkward by the fact that Pearsons’ father, televangelist Kenneth Copeland, has promoted the idea that vaccines may lead to autism, according to the Dallas Observer.

Tarrant County Public Health Department spokesperson Al Roy told WFAA that people in at least 10 of the cases were not able to produce documentation that they had been vaccinated.

Pearsons did her best on Sunday to try to put a biblical spin on why the church had flip-flopped on its vaccination stance.

“There are a lot of people that think the Bible — we talk about walking by faith — it leaves out things such as, I don’t know, people just get strange,” she said. “But when you read the Old Testament, you find that it is full of precautionary measures, and it is full of the law.”

“Why did the Jewish people, why did they not die out during the plague? Because the Bible told them how to be clean, told them how to disinfect, told them there was something contagious,” Pearsons continued. “And the interesting thing of it, it wasn’t a medical doctor per se who took care of those things, it was the priesthood. It was the ministers, it was those who knew how to take the promises of God as well as the commandments of God to take care of things like disinfection and so forth.”



Vaccine-fearing Texas megachurch urges flock to immunize after measles outbreak | The Raw Story

Creationism Canard: The Last Thing Fundamentalists Want Is Open Inquiry In The Classroom | Americans United

Kruse is back with a new proposal, a bill that he says will promote critical inquiry in the classroom. The Indianapolis Star reported that Kruse described the bill like this: “If a student thinks something isn’t true, then they can question the teacher and the teacher would have to come up with some kind of research to support that what they are teaching is true or not true.”

At first glance, that sounds harmless. After all, we want to encourage youngsters to be inquisitive in the classroom. But Micah Clark, executive director of American Family Association of Indiana, blew the lid off what’s really going on here, telling the Star that he interprets the bill as a form of protection for teachers who want to discuss creationism and intelligent design.

[,,,]
A quick-witted science teacher would know how to handle a challenge like this in the classroom. (Handing a dissenting student a copy of On The Origin of Species would be a good start.) But Kruse’s law doesn’t seek to help good teachers. It is designed to create the impression that evolution is somehow controversial or in doubt, and thus special laws are needed so that it can be challenged. The idea is to encourage teachers to water down such instruction or not offer it at all.

[,,,]
Gerry Wheeler, executive director of the National Science Teachers Association, put it well: “It’s fine for a child to have religion; it’s fine for a child to believe whatever he or she wants to believe,” he said. “But within the science classroom, if we’re going to produce the strong workforce we need for this country, we have to stick to science and we have to stick to the evidence behind science.”


Creationism Canard: The Last Thing Fundamentalists Want Is Open Inquiry In The Classroom | Americans United