Utah's Attack on Evolution

The Utah legislature rejected a bill that would have required biology teachers to tell student that the State did not endorse evolution and that it was not fact.

State Sen. Chris Buttars (R), argued that "it was time to rein in teachers who were teaching that man descended from apes and rattling the faith of students." Since when has it been the responsibility of the public school system to nurture the faith and religious beliefs of the students with modifications of curriculum.

Certainly Buttars would not contend that the pledge of allegiance should be removed in order to nurture the religious beliefs of those students who are Jehova's Witnesses and find taking oaths to be contrary to their religious beliefs.

Further support for Buttar's position was that he does not "believe that anybody in [the state Senate] really wants their kids to be taught that their great-grandfather was an ape." Neither would I because it is simply not true - which brings me to the most important point regarding this controversy. Mr. Buttars is off by about 1 Million years.

Many like Mr. Buttars operate with a severe fundamental misunderstanding of natural selection and a complete unwillingness to consider the facts despite proven examples e.g., antibiotic resistance in bacteria, animal breeds (dogs, cats, and livestock), and plant breeding to produce larger and more productive strains (consider seedless watermelons).

Transgender Teacher Allowed to Teach

When a school district decided to allowed a post-op transgender to resume teaching, many members of the community objected.

Among the complaints of some parents were:

- That children in the school -- which consists of kindergarten through sixth grade -- were not old enough to understand the concept of changing one's gender.

- One parent was "am appalled to have this issue brought into [his] child's psychology."

- Another parent predicted "chaos" at the school.

- Some, [laughably,] asserted that young children will be confused by the conflicting appearance of the teacher, who has a deep voice and masculine features but otherwise looks like a woman. (Who hasn't had that teacher?)

Too bad parents don't get in such an uproar when they hear that this countries children continue to lag behind other countries when it comes to quality of education. I guess as long as they aren't exposed to evolution and sexuality who cares what they learn, if they learn at all.

Abortion Debate

The Supreme Court will here a challenge to a Federal Law prohibiting Late Term Abortions.

Restrictions on abortions, under current Supreme Court precedent, must have an exception permitting them when the mother's life is at risk or she is facing dire health consequences such as severe blood loss, damage to vital organs, or infertility.

The law that is being challenged would expressly prohibit, with criminal sanctions against the doctors and the women, abortions even if taking no action will lead to infertility of the mother, inevitable death of the fetus, severe blood loss, and damage to vital organs. To avoid criminal punishment, the women and doctors would be required by law to wait to take action until the woman's life is in jeopardy.

Many are expecting for Roe v. Wade to fall under the Supreme Court as currently constituted.

US Gov't is Outsourcing National Security to Arab County - No Joke!

Those in government frequently assert that the primary role of a government is to protect its public. Such appeals are made when it comes to funding the military, domestic wiretapping, continuing the USA PATRIOT Act, and invading Iraq. There is another issue where this assertion is being made, but this time by everyone (Democrats and Republicans) except the White House.

A deal from "a secretive government panel" is nearing completion to allow a company controlled by the United Arab Emirates to operate the ports of New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans, and Miami. Is this a bad dream?

Alarmingly no, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff stated that "Congress is welcome to look at this and can get classified briefings." He justified this move stating, "We have to balance the paramount urgency of security against the fact that we still want to have a robust global trading system."

Security or Money, Mr. Chertoff?

Mr. James Lewis, who worked with the secretive U.S. committee at the State and Commerce departments stated that "It's in Dubai's interest to make sure this runs well. There is strong economic incentive to be sure these worries never materialize."
It's in Dubai's interest, Mr Lewis? I would say that America's interest is not worth taking the risk you propose. Saudi Arabia is also considered a "friend" and "close ally in the war on terror," does that mean we should trust them to protect the American people? I'd go so far as to say that I wouldn't leave it to the British to protect the American people.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, on CBS's "Face the Nation," said, "It is ridiculous to say you're taking secret steps to make sure that it's OK for a nation that had ties to 9/11, (to) take over part of our port operations in many of our largest ports. This has to stop."

"It's unbelievably tone deaf politically at this point in our history," said Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-South Carolina.

"Federal law requires the president or his designee investigate the impact on national security of a foreign acquisition if the acquisition 'could result in control of a person engaged in interstate commerce in the United States that could affect the national security of the United States," reads a letter to Treasury Secretary John Snow, requesting that his committee conduct a full 45-day investigation of the transaction, saying it's essential for national security. The letter was signed by Sens. Schumer, Tom Coburn, R-Okla., Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and Chris Dodd, D-Conn., as well as Reps. Chris Shays, R-Conn., Vito Fossella, R-N.Y., and Mark Foley, R-Fla (See the entire letter).

Whats wrong with the United Arab Emirates (UAE)? (All of the following points come from this FoxNews Article)

- The FBI has also concluded that the UAE's banking system filtered much of the money used for the operational planning before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and many of the hijackers traveled to the United States through the UAE.

- When the international community is attempting to bring Iran's nuclear abilities to a halt, the United Arab Emirates are talking about expanded trade opportunities with Iran.

- This is . . . a country that still sees the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan and still fails to recognize Israel as a sovereign state

- It would be the job of this UAE controlled company to hire security personnel for the ports - can you see the potential danger?

To all of this Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said, "I would hope that our friends in Abu Dhabi would not be offended by the fact that in our democracy, we debate these things."

We certainly didn't worry about what our friends in Europe thought about us invading Iraq - that, after all, was a matter of national security (and I agreed with that justification when I thought it was a matter of national security).

Concealment and Failed Spin

A Yahoo News article discusses the initial reports and the facts of Cheney's hunting accident as they are now known. The vice president said that he delayed reporting the incident because he wanted to confusing details to come out right. That didn't work.


Blame

Initial reports from Mrs. Armstrong, the ranch owner, and from the Scott McClellan, the White House Press Secretary, were that Mr. Whittington failed to properly call out his location. "The vice president did everything right," Mrs. Armstrong said, adding that Whittington's mistake "exposed him to getting shot." McClellan later said that "the protocal was not followed by Mr. Whittington."

When Cheney spoke, he stated that "you can't place the blame anywhere else. I'm the guy who pulled the trigger and shot my friend."


Drinking

Mrs. Armstrong indicated that "No one was drinking . . . No, zero, zippo." She later stated that there were beers in the hunters' cooler but she didn't think anyone had any.

Mr. Cheney said, "I had a beer at lunch."


Victim's Condition

It was initially reported that he was "just fine," and cracking jokes with nurses.

Just fine is subjective. After being shot Whittington was conscious but not verbally responsive and he apparently was not cracking jokes with the nurses. Further, it is now clear that some pellets entered his chest cavity resulting in damage to his heart.


Hunting Licenses

The White House initially stated that all licenses were up to date.

Apparently Cheney was missing a stamp allowing hunting of Upland Game Birds.


Disclosure

The article continues by discussing communications with the White House and eventual disclosure to the public. Apparently even the White House didn't know what had happened until late that evening. Scott McClellan, the Press Secretary who was going to have to explain this to the press and public, was not informed until the next morning.

Senate Plans No Hearings On Domestic Surveillance

CNN reports that the Senate will not conduct hearings probing into the Executive Branch's domestic wiretapping program.

Committee chairman Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) said that "An investigation at this point . . . would be detrimental to this highly classified program and our efforts to reach some accommodation with the administration."

No committee vote was taken as to whether an investigation should be pursued.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-West Virginia) said "It is ... more than apparent to me that the White House has applied heavy pressure in recent days and recent weeks to prevent the committee from doing its job" (see here for me information).

Rockefeller further argued that "The very independence of this committee is called into question as we are continually prevented from having a full accounting of prewar intelligence on Iraq; the CIA's detention, interrogation and rendition program; and now, the NSA's warrantless surveillance and eavesdropping program."

I'm Sorry I Got in the Way of Your Bullets

a www.cnn.com headline reads:

Shooting victim apologizes to vice president

As well he should.

Ken Starr Fabricates Evidence to Free a Convicted Murderer

Ken Starr, a former federal Appeals Court Judge, is best known for his role as the special investigator in the Clinton Whitewater controversy, and then, of course, pursuing the Monica Lewinsky issue. Now, however, he is the Dean of Pepperdine's Law School.

Starr criticized President Clinton because, as he put it, the President "chose deception."

Friday, cnn reported that "Lawyers for a death row inmate, including . . . Kenneth Starr, sent fake letters from jurors asking California's governor to spare the man's life."

When the jurors were shown the letters that were supposedly sent by them, they all denied that the letters were theirs. The article goes on to say that, "On Friday, the San Joaquin District Attorney's office sent [Gov.] Schwarzenegger a new batch of sworn statements from five of those jurors saying they not only still supported capital punishment for Morales, but had never spoken with the defense investigator who claimed to have secured their signatures."

So much for the ultra-conservative Ken Starr being tough on crime.

Cheney's Victim

Contrary to earlier reports, Vice President Dick Cheney's shooting victim apparently suffered much more serious wounds than previously indicated.

What FoxNews determined consituted a "spraying" rather than a shooting, appears to have resulted in a "BB" (FoxNews's term) from Mr. Cheney's shotgun becoming lodged deep in the chest of Mr. Whittington, causing atrial fibrillation, which resulted in Mr. Whittington having a minor heart attack and a subsequent transfer to Intensive Care.

On Sunday, Cheney's office reported that Cheney was "pleased Mr Whittington is in good shape and good spirits." Other reports described that the shots "broke the skin," and "knocked him silly. But he was fine." And of course, these reports were delayed for nearly a full day. While there is no indication at the time that any of this information was known to be false at the time the statements were made, certainly these statements understate the potential seriousness of the situation - the "BB's" did in fact break the skin as well as the body well, entering the chest cavity.

FoxNews also reported that "Cheney was legally hunting with a license he purchased in November, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department spokesman Steve Lightfoot said. The vice president flew back to Washington on Sunday evening, according to his office." -- Apparently that was not entirely true, either.

I certainly do not believe that there are any sinister circumstances involved regarding the event, but the handling of the situation after it occurred has been inadequate, it lacks forthrightness and openness. It was obviously a very unfortunate accident, what was the need for concealment?

My question is - say the poor guy dies because of the damage to his heart, that would certainly constitute involuntary manslaughter.

Was the White House delay merely to assess the degree of spin necessary for this new mistake? I think the seriousness of this event and the clear pattern of disclosure (or non-disclosure) by the White House demonstrates a how they really operate and why trusting them has become difficult - even for people like me who once their supporter.

NASA PR Officer: Follow-Up

George Deutsch, 24, was given a job as a PR officer at NASA after having worked on Bush's 2004 Presidential Campaign. He recently courted controversy when he emailed NASA scientists that "The theory that the universe was created by a 'big bang' is just that - a theory. It is not proven fact; it is opinion. Yes, the scientific community by and large may share this opinion, but that doesn't make it correct . . . It is not Nasa's place, nor should it be, to make a declaration such as this about the existence of the universe that discounts intelligent design by a creator" (emphasis added).

He was also accused of "tr[ying] to keep the agency's top climate scientist from speaking publicly about global warming." The New York Times reported that he defended himself by saying that "the scientist, James E. Hansen, exaggerated the threat of warming and tried to cast the Bush administration's response to it as inadequate."

The Times also reported that "Leslie McCarthy, a public affairs officer who told The Times of several conversations in which Mr. Deutsch said his job was to 'make the president look good.'"

Further, Texas A&M reported that while Mr. Deutsch did in fact attend their university, he never received any degree from there, as he had contended in his resume. He defended himself saying that he wrote that he had the degree because he had anticipated graduating.

Deutsch has resigned from his post at NASA.

Defeating Science and Reason

Fighting Against Science

NASA officials have recently been speaking with and forwarding their emails to the NY Times out of frustration over continuing pressure from White House appointees to modify official statements to advance White House policies.

The Big Bang

George Deutsch "a 24-year-old presidential appointee in the press office at NASA headquarters whose résumé says he was an intern in the 'war room' of the 2004 Bush-Cheney re-election campaign. A 2003 journalism graduate of Texas A&M" distributed a memo demanding that the word "theory" be placed after "Big Bang" because the Big Bang is merely an "opinion" and "It is not NASA's place, nor should it be to make a declaration such as this about the existence of the universe that discounts intelligent design by a creator." He further rebuked the scientists declaring that "This is more than a science issue, it is a religious issue."

Since when has advancement of religious issues been part of NASA's mission? And since when has a journalism degree qualified one to make decisions regarding dissemination of scientific facts and making of scientific policy?

Further, A federal court in Pennsylvania, just last month, concluded that intelligent design in not based in fact and is not a scientific theory. This ruling (by a federal judge appointed by Bush) also relied on the testimony of the creator of the intelligent design idea, Michael Behe, who, stated that he developed the idea "based on theological and philosophical and historical factors." He was later asked if there was factual support for intelligent design conceded that there was "little" (see the full trial transcript).

If there is concededly little factual support for intelligent design how can we possibly demand that NASA statements conform to its claims? And we wonder why American students continue to fall behind other countries in math and science. (see this article which describes that "If current trends continue, by 2010, only four years from now, more than 90 percent of all scientists and engineers in the world will live in Asia.")

Support at the Vatican for Darwin and Evolution

To the surprise of many, the Vatican has taken positions in support of evolution and that intelligent design is not science.

In 1996, Pope John Paul II stated that evolution was "more than a hypothesis" and went on to say that evolution is as "an effectively proven fact." The official position of the Church has been that it has "accepted evolution as solid science but objected to the way some Darwinists concluded that it proved God did not exist." Further, "Cardinal Paul Poupard, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, is quoted as saying the Genesis description of how God created the universe and Darwin's theory of evolution are 'perfectly compatible' if the Bible is read correctly." Fascinating!

Just two weeks ago "The Roman Catholic Church has restated its support for evolution with an article praising a U.S. court decision that rejects the 'intelligent design' theory as non-scientific" (see also here and here).

Climate Change

The White House has also been pressuring NASA scientists to watch what they say when it comes to climate change. "Scientist, James E. Hansen, [said] he was threatened with "dire consequences" if he continued to call for prompt action to limit emissions of heat-trapping gases linked to global warming. He and intermediaries in the agency's 350-member public-affairs staff said the warnings came from White House appointees in NASA headquarters."

The article goes on to stated that "there were several other instances in which political appointees had sought to control the flow of scientific information from the agency."

Is this how science and great societies advance?

Science has always had a universally understood and well accepted policy of openness, which is intended to allow critical analysis and discussion of all available facts in order to advance our understanding of natural phenomena. This openness is starkly contradictory to current political policies and we are seeing the consequence of suppression of information, the retardation of progress.

"Shocks the Conscience"

A group of New Yorkers is suing the EPA and Christine Todd Whitman, the Director of the agency after 9/11 for providing incorrect and misleading assertions that the area was safe for them to return while airborne contaminants remained present.

A District Court just ruled today that Whitman did not have qualified immunity because "No reasonable person would have thought that telling thousands of people that it was safe to return to lower Manhattan, while knowing that such return could pose long-term health risks and other dire consequences, was conduct sanctioned by our laws."

The article goes on to note that "The EPA's internal watchdog later found that the agency, at the urging of White House officials, gave misleading assurances."

So much for the government keeping us safe from harm.