What's Wrong With Tennessee? Creationism In Schools Allowed

Pssst. . .creationists: Darwin didn't claim to know the origin of
the universe! Image from source.

Insanity. I don't care how fervently you believe that God created the universe, the idea doesn't belong in science class. As hard as they've tried to separate "creationism" from "intelligent design," there is no difference, other than taking the "Christianity" brand off of it. It's still taking the idea of an all-powerful magical being, and inserting it into science class. There isn't a scintilla of science in that. Not to mention that evolution makes no claim to the origins of the universe.

I know that I'll never convince a true believer that there is no God. But there is no denying that positing a "creator" into evolution or the big bang just makes the whole thing more complicated, not less. If you disbelieve the idea of the universe having always existed in one form or another, how is it so easy to believe that an omnipotent, invisible, intangible, omnipresent, omniscient, all-loving, vengeful, jealous God has always existed? You've just inserted a doozy of a claim into the story! And we won't even get into how this mega-creature, creator of the vastness of all that is, cares what we individual humans on this little speck called Earth, do with our private parts.

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TN science bill protects teachers who allow debate over evolution

Senators voted 24-8 to pass a bill that says schoolteachers cannot be punished for "helping students to understand, analyze, critique and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories" taught in public schools. . .


Read more at: WBIR.com

Science is Cool: How Men Lost Their Penis Spines

Hey, everybody! I didn't get anything up on the blog on Friday, because I was quite simply spending time with The Other Half. Thanks to my good friend Stupid Monkey Planet for sending me some links so that I could at least get something fresh up. And leave it to the Monkey to find something kind of bawdy about science, and monkeys! I think that straight women and gay men can all breathe a healthy whew! when they find out that men came thisclose to having spiny penises!

Image from BoingBoing

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How Men Lost Their Penis Spines

Time to give thanks for your genome: A new study finds that at some point in our evolutionary history, humans lost a stretch of DNA that would have otherwise promoted the growth of spines on the penis. . .

Read more at: Live Science

Evolution Taking Hold Over Creationism?

Image from source, Raw Story

It's easy to get down about America, to think that overt religiosity, superstition, ignorance and outright stupidity is taking hold. But every once in a while, I'm heartened by a story like the one excerpted below. I'm not arrogant enough to say that I'm 100% right about my (nearly atheistic) agnosticism. As an agnostic, I don't have to claim that I know 100%, it's kind of the point. But it is easy to say that Genesis cannot be taken literally, or squared with what we know about science.

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Poll: More Americans believe humans evolved without God



More Americans today believe that human beings developed without any involvement of a higher power, according to a new poll.


Gallup reported that since 1982, the number of Americans believing that humans evolved over millions of years increased by seven percentage points. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

Glenn Beck: "I Haven't Seen A Half-Monkey, Half-Person Yet"

Image from source, Huffington Post

Question: do high-profile conservatives actually not understand the fundamentals of evolution, or are they pandering to those who do not?  Because if Glenn Beck believes this statement to be some sort of profound argument against Darwin, he's a bigger moron than I thought he was.

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Glenn Beck: 'I Haven't Seen A Half-Monkey, Half-Person Yet' (AUDIO)



If it's Wednesday in America, then someone, somewhere, is probably saying something astonishingly crazy about evolution. Today, it's Glenn Beck, who is probably happy to have the attention of the blogs! Per Media Matters, Glenn was asking the tough questions today, such as "How many people believe in evolution in this country?". . .
 
Read more at: Huffington Post

Christine O'Donnell's Views on Evolution

From Friday's Real Time with Bill Maher.

Ghost Train Seeker Killed by REAL Train

Image from source, Mail Online

A potential candidate for the Darwin Awards. . .

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Ghost train hunter is killed when a REAL train comes down the tracks



A man who was waiting with several friends for a legendary North Carolina 'ghost train' was killed when a real train came down the tracks.



Christopher Kaiser, 29, of Charlotte was waiting with around a dozen friends on a railway bridge when the three engines and one wagon rounded the bend. . .

Read more at: Mail Online

The Origin of Stupidity: Darwin, Cameron and Comfort

Oddly enough, I don't often delve into my own religious beliefs, or rather lack thereof, on the blog. I'm an agnostic, but not--usually--radically so. But every once in a while, a story or video clip comes along that just screams blogworthy!

The subject of this video is a free giveaway of The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin on the 150th anniversary of its publication. The catch is, a creationist named Ray Comfort has shoehorned in a 50-page "introduction" to the book. It is an attempt to debunk Darwin with "creation science" In addition to this secular blasphemy (heh!), actor Kirk Cameron (Growing Pains, Left Behind) is helping him promote the special giveaway as earnestly as his acting ability allows. Kirk, whose most famous role was as a amoral, Lothario teenager (scrubbed squeaky-clean, 80s-style) has become one of the most outspoken actors-for-Jesus in the industry.

Needless to say, the sales pitch is sort of goofy. But, the girl in the video below, Christina, offers an outstanding and entertaining critique of the whole idea. Her Romanian accent is rather thick, but no harder to understand than Arianna Huffington, and she's surely saner than Orly Taitz. Thanks to The Ex-Roommate, Rich for the link. This girl is a hoot!

Genesis Explained Scientifically, At Last

A lot of people ask me, when I tell them that I'm agnostic, what led me down the road to that non-specific belief system. Or words to that effect. And the one thing I can point to is that I was taking Sunday School lessons to be "confirmed" in the Lutheran Church at precisely the same time that I was taking Freshman Earth Science. As it happens, my textbook made a whole lot more sense than Genesis. Presto, change-o, agnostic. Well, it wasn't that fast, but you get the idea.

Now, I'm not out to change anybody's religion. And by the way, it would be very nice if the religious folks would afford me the same respect, and stop knocking on my door. Oh, and trying to take my rights away based on their specific religious beliefs. But, I digress. . .

Here is a great video that makes the attempt to squeeze actual science into the Genesis story of creation, without being too snarky about it. Enjoy.

Texas Board of Education Voting on Evolution

I realize that some people have a hard time squaring Darwin's theory of evolution with their religious beliefs. I understand that they can't reconcile it, and so will do anything they can to deny that evolution is a sound theory. But they're going too far when their personal religious beliefs are codified in public school curriculum.

If a person wants to deny that evolution is a workable scientific theory, fine. They can declare the Earth flat, and the sun the center of the universe too, if that makes them happy. But they shouldn't be able to take science out of science classes, or to add completely unscientific religion to science class. Conservatives often decry the "dumbing down of America," and yet they seem to often contribute to it.

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Texas Board of Education voting on Evolution

This week, a debate over evolution versus creationism or intelligent design as some now call it, is brewing before the Texas Board of Education.It's considering a change in the State's science standards. At issue whether or not teachers should explain the "strengths and weaknesses" of evolution which would raise doubts that all living things have a common ancestor. . .

Read more at: the33tv.com

Rachel Maddow, Darwin Day, & the Flying Spaghetti Monster

Yeah, her again. But can I help it if Rachel Maddow was talking about Charles Darwin Day, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and the silliness of "Intelligent Design?" All big faves here at Greenlee Gazette.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

200th Birthday of Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin

Picture from source, FamousBirthdays

February 12, 1809 was a pretty amazing day. On that day, two men were born whose legacies will likely effect mankind for the rest of its existence. Abraham Lincoln has always been thought of as one of our greatest Presidents, and that opinion is unlikely to change. Without him, the country as we know it would be a very different place. And Charles Darwin's advancement of the Theory of Evolution continues to be a point of contention, at least in the United States.

I thought I'd try to dig up some other luminaries also born this day, but none I could find are anywhere on that scale. Christina Ricci, Arsenio Hall, Judy Blume, Joe Garagiola, Lorne Greene, and Joanna Kearns have all made names for themselves, but history changing? I guess not.

There is a person in my life whose birthday is February 12. Todd, my brother-in-law, may not change the course of human history, but he's made a place in our family's history. And he had a little to do with growing the family too, with the birth two years ago of my nephew, Lux. So happy birthday, Todd! It's not too late. You could become President, or discover some new theory, right? Get crackin'! Heh.

Source for birthdays: Famous Birthdays

Science is Cool: Lungless Frog?

Photo from source, Live Science

Thanks to Stupid Monkey Planet for a couple of story ideas today. The first is this one, about a bizarre species of frog--with no lungs. I find that a little freaky, and can't think of an intelligent design that would explain it. I'll side with Darwin on this one. In any case, it is an interesting story.

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Bizarre Frog Has No Lungs

The first lungless frog has been discovered lurking in the jungles of Borneo.

The enigmatic amphibian, dubbed Barbourula kalimantanensis, apparently gets all the oxygen it needs through its skin.

Scientists first saw one of these frogs 30 years ago, but due to their rarity, just one other specimen had been collected since then and neither had been dissected. . .

Read more at: Live Science