The Eternal Gaijin

Evolution is the science development of the year . Shortlist for next year includes Newton, Copernicus and Louis Pasteur.

I'm glad that Bush won in the States and would have none of that flip-flop crap going on in his party Money quote: Santorum said his statements are not contradictory, nor has his position changed. But this is a nice outline: Rick Santorum on Intelligent Design "Therefore, intelligent design is a legitimate scientific theory that should be taught in science classes." - 2002 Washington Times op-ed article • "I'm not comfortable with intelligent design being taught in the science classroom." - Interview in August on National Public Radio • "I do not believe it should be required teaching." - Interview yesterday with The Inquirer • "I thought the Thomas More Law Center made a huge mistake in taking this case and in pushing this case to the extent they did." - from Inquirer interview Addendum: someone else has noticed this.

This is just another quick summary . It's just nice to see someone user the word "lie" when discussing a liar.

Well, a day later and the shit is still storming. The National Centre for Science Education's post is short and sweet. Dembski's response is petulant and evasive with the usual blah, blah, Mt Rushmore, blah, Darwinists don't want to be put to the test, blah, blah... a bit of a joke really. PT has a go at that one. So does Pharyngula . The Discovery Institute dropped the activist bomb almost immediately. You don't have to win the JREF prize to see that one coming. So what the fuck does activist judge mean other than "I lost the case?" Slate got their article by Wm Saletan up pretty fast as well. Saletan has had a checkered past with some of his ID articles, but the majority of them were worth the read. This one is in the upper middle of the pack. The ending note is dead on tho'. The fear of modern culture displaced onto scientific findings is one that will continue to motivate the DI and the other fundie/creationist folks. Also, Canadian Cynic has a word o...

The Onion strikes again with this little blurb on the subject of torture.

And we didn't see it coming... Dispatches from the Culture War has a pretty good summary of the decision. It looks for all to see as if everybody could cut right through the obfuscation and peel it back like the belly of a frog in grade 9 bio. ID is Creationism. Once again, the latest Culture War to End all Wars has been won by the good guys. Until the next one. From Pharyngula we get this little tidbit from the decision: To be sure, Darwin's theory of evolution is imperfect. However, the fact that a scientific theory cannot yet render an explanation on every point should not be used as a pretext to thrust an untestable alternative hypothesis grounded in religion into the science classroom or to misrepresent well-established scientific propositions. The citizens of the Dover area were poorly served by the members of the Board who voted for the ID Policy. It is ironic that several of these individuals, who so staunchly and proudly touted their religious conviction...

Frankly I don't know how they do it. They just keep talking about values and they don't seem to care about what people do that reflects them. The level of public discourse in the US has hit what I can only hope is its nadir. What makes the whole exercise in yank-watching so torturous is seeing the very people who exhibit the worst sort of behaviour and the lowest morality calling for an end to boor culture and a return to high morality and getting to set the terms of the debate by defining all these things. It's like letting W. define torture: since we don't torture, everything we do do is by definition not torture. QED. There's just no reaching bottom with some people. Pat Robertson: Bad behaviour comes little lower than the (ir)religious right. And amongst them, this grinning hommunculus sinks among the lowest. Check him out here , here , and here . Republicans What more can you say? George W. Bush Wiretapping . You need more said than that. Georgey-Porgey, I...

Yesterday on one of the yankee channels I saw a bit of The American President. There's a bit at the end where the President (played by the every un-likable Michael Douglas) give a maudlin, manipulative, oooh-aren't-I-rousing-and-presidential speech near the end. The intersting thing about that is in the middle the ACLU comes up. The president had been attacked for supporting the ACLU and turned the tables by asking his opponent why he wasn't a member of an organization dedicated to protecting American Freedoms. I've never understood the American obsession of hating most viscerally the one organization that seems to actually care about the constitution and it's content, the one group vigorously defending freedoms in the US. I mean does that sound hate-worthy? I also don't understand those donkey dong-rinsers who say that our Constitution was the biggest mistake that Trudeau ever made. Seriously, don't you want a line written down that says: "I don't...

Your Elf Name Is... Giggles Mc Flurry What's Your Elf Name?

Yesterday's episode of Da Ali G Show on Showcase was a repeat, but I hadn't seen the beginning. The roundtable discussion on science featured famed scientist, lecturer and paleontology expert Kent Hovind. His contribution was outstanding as always. On the other side, what really made it all work for me was Ali G accusing Hovind of leaving a floater in dressing rooms. Finally someone treats his arguments the way they need to be addressed. Can I say "make a monkey out of him" at this juncture? Semi-related: ScienceDaily has an article on running and its effect on the evolution of human beings. Worth a quick read. Personally I'm waiting for Dr Hovind to come back to the Ali G show and update us on this aspect of evolution. If he can get past the Homo part of Homo Sapiens, that is.

In the South Park movie, the kids as what the hell is wrong with German people. Today, once again, the spotlight moves south to our American cousins. The faux War on Christmas is boiling over in the US and is one of the stupidest things I've heard of in my life. The idea the Bill O'Reilly is allowed to smudge up the screen of my TV with his bloviating and bullshit is reprehensible, but that he's allowed to market this crap of his own invention is insulting. The whole War on Christmas meme is based on a real war on respect and decorum and it's always the right wingers who seem to be behind it. So I want to know from Mr O'Reilly is this: why to you hate Hannukah? Why do you want to destroy it? You've been on record saying that non-Christians are not offended by Merry Christmas, but xtians are offended by Happy Holidays. How thin skinned are you people down there? (I'd like to say more about that, but the Daily Show as always got the best takedown in first). S...

Ah, Seth. I'm a fan of the Are We Alone? and Skeptical Sunday podcasts that Seth Shostak does for the SETI institute. When I discovered his article telling ID creationists to stop, stop I say, using SETI as a smoke screen for their pseudo-science, I loved it. Particularly salient are his points on experience and recognizing design by comparing to design. Do check out the SETI podcasts in iTunes. There's a lot of good stuff in it.

I've been waiting a long, long time for someone to tell any number of the blowhard public figures in the United States to sit down and shut the fuck up. And it finally happened. General Peter Pace basically told Donald Rumsfeld to sit down, shut the fuck up and listen 'cause he might learn something. If that wasn't enough that the topic was the obligation that American soldiers have to intervene and stop abuse if they see it. It's especially nice to see something like that happen when the Iraqis are reporting that abuse is worse now than under Saddam. WashingtonMonthly has the article. Extra Update: Crooks and Liars has the video.