Comments on: Texas: careening toward doom

By: Angrification Station | halfbrokehotel

Angrification Station | halfbrokehotel — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:55:39 +0000

[...] Bad Astronomy [...]

By: Sorry, Texas. You’re still doomed. | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:00:24 +0000

[...] Rick Perry withdrew his nomination of the far-right ultra-religious Planter’s sampler Cynthia Dunbar for head of the state Board of Education, but, as predicted, he has instead nominated another [...]

By: Todd W.

Todd W. — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:26:34 +0000

@LGT

Assuming the earth is more than 6,000 years old, how many generations would we have to go back to find prehistoric human ancestors that were just as distasteful as monkeys?

Hmm…none? I’ve met people that make monkeys look like aristocrats.

By: Mav

Mav — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:37:39 +0000

I don’t think Texas has anything to worry about with Dunbar. Isn’t a woman’s place at home with her children obeying her husband? Someone simply needs to remind her or even better, her husband of this.

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:59:11 +0000

MSNBC has talked about this twice now, once with Keith Olbermann last night, and now with the Ed Schultz on the Ed Show, who did credit this blog. Unfortunately both times they’ve got it wrong. Olbermann confused U dating with carbon dating, and now Schultz said that the earth is one billion years old.

By: LGT

LGT — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:42:00 +0000

The problem here is that everyone from evangelists to atheists effectively believes in natural selection. Everyone knows that if their recent ancestors have a rare and deadly genetically-based disorder, they have something to worry about. Everyone knows that the other guy probably doesn’t have those same treacherous genes. Everyone knows that some people die young, and others don’t, as a result of these genetic inheritances. Everyone, whether Christian, Jew, Muslim, Atheist, etc., knows that genetic selection plays a significant role in shaping their fate.

When YEC-types dispute evolutionary process, its always based on a revulsion to monkeys, disagreement about the specifics of the Big Bang, some obscure passage of scripture or other arcane thing. It is never because anyone disagrees with the basic truths about natural selection as outlined in the paragraph above. That’s because no one disagrees with such truths. To teach contrary to what is univerally obvious is simply to teach people to be stupid.

(Well, the YEC-types probably find scientists’ embrace of their simian relatives as disgusting, since anyone who’s been to a zoo knows an ape is not a particularly well-behaved relative. Assuming the earth is more than 6,000 years old, how many generations would we have to go back to find prehistoric human ancestors that were just as distasteful as monkeys?)

By: Gary Ansorge

Gary Ansorge — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:37:13 +0000

It’s not that politics, either Texan or otherwise, is crazy. It’s that the competition between politicians involves people, some who have their heads screwed on tight and some who misplaced theirs. In states where the predominant, politically inclined are nuts, you get crazy politics. One need not be smart and sane to be wealthy but it’s nearly an imperative to be wealthy to enter politics. Smart people tend to eschew politics because it is perceived to be a hypocritical endeavor, as in saying anything to get elected and performing quite opposite to ones’ stated intentions. It’s really difficult to get elected when one is inherently honest.

Gary 7