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Evolution Weblogs Of Note

  • ERV
    Evolution's secret weapon--research backed by wit.
  • Pseudo Science Blog
    What's that BPSDB logo all about?
  • The Loom
    Carl Zimmer frames the discussion.
  • Bad Astronomer
    Explainer of atronomy to the masses and almost as popular as PZ.
  • Science and Evolution
    Science and Evolution, decoded.
  • Exploring Our Matrix
    Butler University Religion Professor Explores
  • Church Burning Ebola Boys
    How can you go wrong with a kickass name like that? Check out (and contribute) to the Tard quotes.
  • Angry Astronomer
    Angry? Yes, for good reason. But thoughtful, witty and great photographs.
  • Right Wing Techno Pagan
    creationism opposed by all shades of the political spectrum
  • Check Six
    Evolution amid the flotsam and jetsam of the mind
  • Respectful Insolence (Orac knows)
    M.D. seeks insolent facts, discussing science, medicine and psedoscience and medicine-- a lot to talk about.
  • Stranger Fruit
    ASU Biologist's well named blog
  • Pharyngula
    A biologist specializing in zebrafish. What soes this have to do with Evolutuion? Oh, nearly everything.
  • Evolution Blog
    Blog by founder of Multiple Designer Theory, perhaps evolving into a great chessplayer
  • The Panda's Thumb
    Scholarly site with multiple contributors. Most have also published books debunking Intellgient design and Creationism. High level science background recommended

Daubert Expert Resources

Evolution Web Resources

  • Afarensis
    reality based humanoid's blog
  • Origin of Species Online
    For God's sake, read the dang thing before you proclaim any thoughts on evolution!! Now it's online at your fingertips. Go. Read. Then, pontificate if you must.
  • Talk Origins
    The master site containing the most comprehensive of evolution and anti-evolution sites and information on the web. A model example of how to really teach the controversy.

Junk Science Sites

Religous Critiques of Intelligent Design

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Links to here

It appears that both Evolution and Intelligent Design are wrong

I recieved an open letter to the NCSE proving that both evolution and Intelligent Design are wrong.  Who knew?  The letter speaks for itself:

An Open Letter to the National Center for Science Education:

The platform of Creation Science is "flood geology" (based upon the flood of Noah in 2611 BC), and that Adam & Eve were created on the Sixth Day of Creation Week, less than 10,000 years ago. The platform of Biblical Reality is "Moses Didn't Write About Creation", which is actually saying that "Moses wrote about Restoration".
The doctrine of Biblical Reality is that God showed Moses six different days which occurred in the past, with each day being taken from a different week, and each week being the first week in seven different geologic eras of mankind. Each day was a different day of the week, with the days of revelation being shown to Moses starting with Sunday, on a Sunday. But chronologically, the earliest vision starts with Wednesday, the only day of Creation Week which Moses was shown. These six visions were given to Moses while he was on Mt. Sinai, in 1598 BC, about six weeks after crossing the Red Sea, in "biblical order".
The opposing view of evolution is not "Creation". I get tired of hearing and reading about people that say that. That is an indication of ignorance of the facts. There are no "creation accounts" in Genesis. The correct opposing view is the "six days of Moses", or what I have coined as the "Observations of Moses". Starting chronologically, the "Fourth Day" was Wednesday of Creation Week, shown to Moses on a Wednesday, representing the first geologic era of mankind, comparable to the Pre-Cambrian/Paleozoic Eras. The death of species occurred by escalation, starting with small life forms in the water. This era ended with the Great Extinction, in 245 Million BC. This is when Lucifer lost "the war in Heaven", and caused the death of all surface life that he could. What followed was the first of six restorations of life on Earth, as defined by God Himself, conveyed by means of the remaining six days of Moses.
The "fifth day" of Moses was a Thursday, shown to Moses on a Thursday, taken from the first week of the Mesozoic Era, where Moses saw "sea monsters" (not great whales, as the King James' misquotes) and ancient birds created. The era ended with the most popular extinction, in 65 Million BC, with the death of the dinosaurs.
The "sixth day" of Moses was a Friday, of the second restoration week of Earth, the first week of the Cenozoic Era. This is the period of the large mammals, and the first biblical mentioning of (prehistoric) mankind. Mankind was created during Creation Week, but for the first time in Earth's history, mankind was restored "in God's image", unlike mankind had been previously made before.
Each period of restoration followed an extinction, after an unknown interval. The end of the recent Ice Age was the sixth extinction, and Adam & Eve were the seventh dispatch of mankind, created in about 7200 BC.
Keep this in mind whenever you hear or see something written about creationism or evolution. The book "Moses Didn't Write About Creation!", which is now in print, explains each 24-hr day that God revealed to Moses. ISBN-10:1424182204, PublishAmerica.com.
I make the declaration that the theory of evolution, which the NCSE supports, is FALSE, and I welcome an open public debate on the issue. You are supporting humanist dogma, and not truth in education!  Don't waste your time or efforts with any other "creationist" entity, such as "Discovery Institute", "Institute of Creation Research", "Reasons to Believe", or any other such organization. What they support is also false, and is a misrepresentation of the Word of God. If you want to challenge the Bible, direct your efforts toward me, and not those others, who are neither authorized, nor qualified to teach on Genesis.
Start promoting the teaching of truth, and not atheism and insanity in our public schools.  There is now another more plausible explanation for the ancient history of life forms on planet Earth.
H.C.

Intelligent Design: unclear on the Peer Review concept

ID peer reviewed article published.

This is not peer reviewed science

No ned to read the article.  This is a philosophy article from the Jonathan Wtt, Logan Gage "aesthetic Intelligent Design" school of philosophy.  Not even good philosophy and certainly not even science.

If this is the best ID can do, it's dead.

A Thing of Beauty.

No BPSBD logo here.  Real scientific research based on evolution.

ERV on HIV and VPU.  ID is SOL.

Hint to Intelligent Design--This is what scientific reaserch looks like.

intelligent design

Ridiculous, meet Sublime.

Bpsdb_02s [Logo link]Two recent Florida Op-Eds relating to evolution have hit the newsstands.

The ridiculous first--Casey Luskin, who else? Casey attempts to come across in his public persona as reasonable.  His Discovery institute attack whines are usually muted when in public. 

His Op-Ed piece can accomplish only the usual "teach the controversy" whine.  Unlike a fine Cabernet, this whine does not improve with age.  He trots out the same hoary talking points without a shred of truth or reliable evidence to support his points.  He claims to teach the controversy but never specifies what is in controversy. Not only that, those darn Darwinists are so dogmatic when they're right.  It's just not fair. In short, he thinks those Florida rubes won't notice the missing facts in all his verbiage.  From the comments following the Op-Ed, I'd say they noticed. Casey Luskin, unMindful Hack.

The sublime--Carl Hiaasen, no hack at all, also weighs in.  Carl has two thing going for him.  First, he lives in Florida and has had a stellar career as a newspaper columnist.

Unlike cdesign proponentsists, Truth means something to him.  Second, he has a series of really great novels revolving around the the recurring theme that many Floridians are nuts and deserve what they get.  He writes fondly of Floridian foibles so his readers can draw universal lessons.  He surely does not consider Floridians a bunch of rubes.  His sense of irony is obvious.

I can only hope he writes a book on intelligent design.  Inhis novels, Hiaasen delights in puncturing pomposity and deflating pretend experts. The comic possibilities are endless. Hiassen's column is in this same vein.  He exhibits his classic fond but bemused ridicule of Floridians by pointing out the lack of scientific opportunities that can and will occur when Casey Luskin creationists have any impact on state education choice standards.  Deftly done.

Read his column.

Buy his books.

Was I harsh on Casey in accusing him of thinking Floridians were simple rubes?  You be the judge.  Check out his reaction to the Florida State Board of Education.  Tricked, they were, tricked!  Those rubes!

Thanks to Mister DNA, CBEB

Intelligent Design, just another Shifty Idea.

Bpsdb_02s [Logo]   Yup.  Shifty.

John Derbyshire has ID's number at the Corner here.

Yet another conservative against ID here.

We know ID can't hold its own against atheist liberals.  We can't expect it to convince liberal atheists when it doesn't even convince conservative or Christians, either.  Denyse O'Leary frantically caterwauls to the contrary:

Traitorous conservatives:

Traitorous Christians, like, here and here.

Even Creationists.

Nobody's buying ID's shifty ideas these days.

Bpsdb_02s_2 This unselfconscious review of ID's research program is compelling.  A must read....

Discovery Institutue "Peer-Reviewed" logo resolution

Bpsdb_02s [Logo]The research.org site has decided not to permit EN&V to use the peer review check mark.  I assume this is provisional--if EN&V does for some strange reason post a few good articles on peer reviewed science, I bet Research.Org will change its mind. 

Continue reading "Discovery Institutue "Peer-Reviewed" logo resolution" »

Casey Luskin Peer Reviewed Logo saga continues.

The “peer reviewed” logo has been removed at the EN&V post after much criticism.  Casey offers this explanation at the site:

“On Feb. 3, I posted this blog post. A co-worker had recommended that I include a graphic that said this was discussing peer-reviewed research. At the time, I had not seen ResearchBlogging.org and I was unaware of the fact that they requested registration in order to use their graphic. Important note: It should be clear that when I first posted my post, I had not yet seen ResearchBlogging.org and was unaware of how it worked.”

He has also expanded on these comments at the BPR3 blog in this thread:

I frequently discuss peer-reviewed research related to evolution at www.evolutionnews.org. In fact, when I posted my post at EvolutionNews, that’s all I thought I was doing–I had no idea that rules, including copyright issues, existed for using the graphic nor did I have any idea that by using the graphic, I would be accused of breaking rules. Given my ignorance prior to using the graphic, I would not necessarily expect my post to conform to rules that I wasn’t even aware of when I posted my post.

Here are some more comments.

1.      The fact that a graphic has a website on it does not mean that it isn’t fair for the public to use it. In fact, in this instance, that is precisely what I was told was the case: I was told by my friend that the graphic was used on all kinds of blogs and websites by people who were blogging about peer-reviewed research. He told me I should use it. So I was led to believe it was like one of those “free license” graphics where no one cares if you use the graphic. After all, we all are aware that the graphic is used on blogs all over the place. So previously I thought the graphic was simply a “free license” graphic that people all over the place used, and

So, based upon what I was told, I had no reason to presume there were “rules” behind using the 117 X 87 pixel graphic that would result in the eruption of much anger when they are violated.

When various blogs erupted in a firestorm yesterday because I used the 117 X 87 pixel graphic for about 24 hours, I first learned that there were rules about using the 117 X 87 pixel graphic. It was then that I first visited ResearchBlogging.org, and it was at that time that I tried to register with ResearchBlogging.org so that I could legitimately use the 117 X 87 pixel graphic. This morning, when I learned that Mr. Munger felt I had used the 117 X 87 pixel graphic inappropriately, I immediately removed the 117 X 87 pixel graphic.

I remain skeptical of these explanations for a number of reasons.  Luskin’s excuse was accurately characterized as the

I’m too stupid to know betterdefense and the "197 pixel defense"  (apparently borrowing 197 is OK, go above 200 pixels and you’ re in deep trouble—got it!) He also asserts the SODDI defense, often heard in criminal court, “Some Other Dude Did It.”  He didn’t copy the image, an unidentified colleague did.  OK, then that makes it all right.

Lawyers can’t use these excuses.  First, ignorance of the law is no excuse--especially for lawyers.  We have fewer excuses than the general public for plausibly claiming legal ignorance.  We have the tools to find out what the law is.

Second, Luskin just recently invoked intellectual property law objecting to his own image being used without permission.  That also received some pointed criticism, which I am sure he reviewed.  He now tells us a week later that it didn’t cross his mind that a professionally drafted logo just might be similarly protected?  I reject his explanation.  He's demonstrated very recently he knows what the law is.  Reciving and using copyrighted matereial from the "other dude that did it" still doens't cut it for  alawyer.

Third, look at my own response below.  I don’t specialize in copyright law either.  I was shocked on February 3 when I saw the EN&V blog displaying the peer reviewed logo.  My initial reaction was, “If they can do—so can I.”  I went to the research.org website on February 3, as I stated, and I took the time to look up the requirements for use of the logo.  I decided that this blog technically could qualify for use of the peer review checkmark logo, but I personally would have little or nothing to add about peer reviewed research.  I leave that in the capable hands of experts, a group far beyond Ph.D’s, I must add (for example graduate students performing real research!). 

Luskin reached a different conclusion regarding his own qualifications for authorized use of the logo, but that’s not my point.  My point is that any reasonable attorney with a smattering of copyright law should have recognized the intellectual property issue and verified the status of the logo for himself.  I can demonstrate at least one attorney did go through the time and effort.

Yet, Luskin apparently didn’t.

He now predictably whines that withholding the use of the peer-reviewed logo is somehow silencing intelligent design.  What nonsense.  The internet is a big place—you can post whatever you want.  And, if you want—you can create your own damn logo!

That thought has not been overlooked by some evil people who probably burn churches for entertainment.

I am actually in favor of allowing the use of the logo for any site with open comments or a link to open comments at research.   

The last thing the DI wants is free and open discussion of these issues, so I don’t expect to see the peer reviewed logo at EN&V.

Casey Luskin demonstrates "fair use" doctrine.

Congratulations to Casey Luskin for finally fumbling an attempt to actually discuss something approaching the outer reaches of science at Evolution News and Views.  Even a facsimile of a scientific article makes the false advertising of Evolution News and Views appear slightly less obviously false.  It seems like it's been years since any post at EN&V even attempted to resemble an actual scientific discussion.   I can't think of a single recent article discussing any peer reviewed intelligent design research recently.   In fact, I can't think of one, ever.  Still secret, I guess.

So, that's news by itself.  What's not news is Casey's misunderstanding of intellectual property law.

Notice that "Peer reviewed" checkmark at this article? I did and was stunned.  I went to the website and found out that any blog can submit an application to display that blog reviewed check mark when blogging on peer-reviewed research.  Even this blog might qualify.  I won't do it because, frankly, peer-reviewed scientific articles are well outside my expertise.  I have nothing intelligent to say that wasn't said in the article itself.   I leave that for qualified scientists to digest and explain. 

(There are several blogs that do a great job of explaining very technical stuff from parasites to penises.  This stuff is  for experts.  Don't try this at home!)

Still, I was impressed the Casey had taken the initiative to join the scientific community.  It would be a good thing and perhaps a learning experience.  Alas, like almost all else about Intelligent Design Creationism, it was a fake.

Yes, the checkmark is copyrighted.

No, it's not fair use.  Succinct analysis.

Potential infringers sometimes claim their work is a parody, a recognized fair use.
That doesn't apply here.  You see, the parody has to be "intentional"--not accidental.

The biggest objection is that the peer-reviewed checkmark represents a screening process that Casey has apparently subverted, affecting the market for the work.  Why go through the screening process when you can just shortcut it and hold yourself out as a "peer review" blogger, as Casey has demonstrated?  The organizers of researchblogging.org invested a lot of time and effort in their screening guidelines to represent real science research to the general public.  Luskin has compromised their hard work and efforts.  Now, we have no idea if the displayed checkmark means anything at all.

More here.

Intelligent Design Creationism? Can you hear me now?

loldog, can u hear me now?, wtf
moar cute puppy pictures

Continue reading "Intelligent Design Creationism? Can you hear me now?" »