Monthly Archives: February 2006

Stuff

This entry was posted in Uncategorized on by

Blogging block has been in full operation over the last couple days.
I don’t know how some folks can keep so focused on detailing the ongoing failures, mistakes and lies of the bushies. I’ve looked at the titles of many hundreds of posts over the past few days (thank goodness for RSS) and rest assured if they had anything to do with the ongoing bush debacle I hit the delete button.
This was, of course, the key reason to vote for fresh meat in the last presidential election: bush and his minions/handlers, though extremely dangerous to us all, were getting very boring and remain so. Especially as they start replaying some of the same scripts.
It would have been a pleasure to have a dem or even a different repub to chew over for a few years. Yes, there would have been plenty to chew on if a dem had been elected. Different bones, perhaps, but still plenty to chew on.
One idea that I noticed in some of the post titles that is important to all, no matter your political leaning, is the idea of local activity. You can blog all you want but if you are not out working the issues in your local community, county and state then you may as well be spinnng your wheels in the mud. This is key whether you are a dem, repub, green or lib.
It is critical if you are independent. Get out, work your issues and persuade folks to leave the established parties. They and their candidates do not represent you. They represent interests that likely have no interest in your local community or state.
For those of you who understand the importance of disintermediating the current political establishment local activity is mandatory. Without it how will you define and create the replacement non-political institutuions? More on this from time to time in future.

Well, that shook out a bit of the blockage.

Conflating Creation Myths With Understanding

This entry was posted in Education Religion Science on by

This question and answer session might be ok if it were couched in terms of understanding a work of literature or historical fiction:

They are trailing Rusty Carter, a guide with Biblically Correct Tours. At a large, colorful panel along a wall, Carter reads aloud from a passage describing the disappearance of dinosaurs from the earth about 65 million years ago. He and some of the older students exchange knowing smiles at the timeline, which contradicts their interpretation the Bible suggesting a 6,000-year-old planet.
“Did man and dinosaurs live together?” Carter asks. A timid yes comes from the students.
“How do we know that to be true?” Carter says. There’s a long pause.
“What day did God create dinosaurs on?” he continues.
“Six,” says a chorus of voices.
“What day did God create man on?”
“Six.”
“Did man and dinosaurs live together?”
“Yes,” the students say.
Mission accomplished for Carter, who has been leading such tours since 1988. He and the other guides counter secular interpretations of history, nature and the origin of life with their own literal reading of the Bible. And they do so right at the point where they feel they feel science indoctrinates young people — museums.

In the context in which it is presented, though, it is fraudulent and, perhaps, borders on child abuse.

Update (2/20): Myers is right that it is time to go on the offensive:

This is an excellent example of a place where the public and scientists and our institutions ought to be going on the offensive: when one of these tour groups goes through, and some biblical studies major babbles stupidly and misstates a scientific fact, everyone around him should turn around and shout, for the benefit of the group, “THAT’S NOT TRUE!”

Update 2 (2/20): Kieren Healy recommends some related reading.