Current_Events

Former chess champion and renowned eccentric Bobby Fischer has died in Iceland.

Just what makes that little old ant
Think he'll move that rubber tree plant
Anyone knows an ant, can't
Move a rubber tree plant

But he's got high hopes, he's got high hopes
He's got high apple pie, in the sky hopes

So any time your gettin' low
'stead of lettin' go
Just remember that ant
Oops there goes another rubber tree plant…

Remember Callahan's Law, sweet lady…

One thing the Kitzmiller v. Dover trial has established is that "intelligent design" is exactly the same thing as creationism.

"Conservatives' complaints about left-wing ugliness are akin to those of the lunatic who walks about the town square poking his fellow citizens in the eye with a sharp stick—and then complaining about their lack of civility afterward."

Here's a quick guide to intelligent design's five favorite myths, and the simple means of deflating them.

Bush Rewrites History To Criticize His Anti-war Critics … "[W]hile accusing his critics of falsifying history, Bush never conceded that he launched the war on a false premise—that Saddam Hussein was up to his neck in WMDs—and, thus, as he paid tribute to veterans of this war and others, he did not accept responsibility for sending American troops into battle for a cause that did not exist."

Are you a depressed liberal commie-loving loser? Be a winner! Become Republican! Requires Flash.

PZ Myers discusses the article Greetings from Idiot America : "The rise of Idiot America is essentially a war on expertise… [T]he rise of Idiot America today represents—for profit mainly, but also, and more cynically, for political advantage in the pursuit of power—the breakdown of a consensus that the pursuit of knowledge is a good." UPDATE 11/10/05: The full Idiot America article, along with some comments thereupon, is available online.

Being Stalked by Intelligent Design… "ID is an insidious attempt by a religious caucus to impose its views on the whole country. The avowed aim of ID advocates—to undermine science and replace it with their personal religious convictions—amounts to a form of prejudice that is both poisonous and horribly frightening… As scientists, we must stop ignoring the ID movement. It won't go away. Each of us must learn to avoid jargon in order to communicate better with the public. Every scientist should become a mentor; share your experience of the wonder and beauty of science! Finally, critically, we must expose Intelligent Design for what it really is: religious prejudice masked as intellectual freedom."

October 3 through 9 is Pandemic Flu Awareness Week.
Rebecca Blood has more information (article, article, article, article).

Despite the protestations of its advocates that "intelligent design" really really really isn't creationism, it turns out that it is, after all: ""Devastating" early drafts of a controversial book recommended as reading at a US high school reveal how the word “creationism” had been later swapped for “intelligent design”, a landmark US trial scrutinising the teaching of ID heard on Wednesday. The early drafts of the book Of Pandas and People, was used as evidence to link the book to creationism, which it is illegal to teach in US schools."

"In a victory for free speech on the Internet, the Delaware Supreme Court reversed an order today enforcing a subpoena to identify a citizen who anonymously posted criticism of a member of the Smyrna Town Council."

Al Gore discusses The Threat to American Democracy : "[S]ome extremely important elements of American Democracy have been pushed to the sidelines. And the most prominent casualty has been the "marketplace of ideas" that was so beloved and so carefully protected by our Founders. It effectively no longer exists."

What would intelligent design have looked like… in the beginning? My favorite line: 'The Inca sun god, however, only scoffed. “Been there. Evolution,” he said. “It’s called a shaved monkey.”'