With the end of the school year approaching, I have been feeling the increased pressure of work commitments. Consequently, my blogging has been rather sparse over the last couple of weeks. It is likely to continue that way for a couple more weeks.
In the meantime, here are some links that our readers might find interesting:
-Via RBH at Panda's Thumb, you must go read this essay by Dr. Joel W. Walker, candidate for the College Station ISD Board of Trustees in College Station, Texas. Dr. Walker's essay is in response to Texas SBOE chairman Don McLeroy's anti-evolution stance. It is eloquently written and profoundly well-informed.
Here's a brief snippet:
Admitting some few exceptions, the considered verdict on these matters among active researchers in the relevant fields is settled, with a statistical weight approaching unanimity. It is inappropriate to ask our high school students to sit in their judgment; we must first simply educate them as to what has been learned. Surely the ultimate truths of science are not up for, nor are ever settled by, a vote of men. As a practical matter however, the science standards of our state are up for vote once each decade. An entrenched mindset bordering on reflexive antipathy to the opinions of our most distinguished scholars has no place on our State Board of Education.
This is the kind of thinking that we need to see more of on local and state school boards.
-An article in the Los Angeles Times shows that an understanding of natural selection theory is crucial for effectively dealing with the swine flu outbreak. So much for natural selection simply being a "figure of speech."
-Susan McCarthy of the Guardian wrote an article in which Don McLeroy has once again revealed his ignorance of evolutionary biology.
"They haven't come up with an explanation of the eye. They haven't. They haven't!"
Oh really???
-Finally, the Texas Freedom Network reports on the slim chances of Don McLeroy being confirmed for a second term as Chairman of the Texas SBOE.
I guess ideas really do have consequences.
posted by Jeremy Mohn
