Creating A Nation of Ignoramuses

I offer this is support of my rejection of the claim that Americans hold science in awe. In fact, this seems to be the new sex ed. Parents were unprepared to teach their kids anything useful about sex; they are far less qualified to choose between science and anti-science. mjh

Most in poll want creationism taught
Those in favor included liberals, secular supporters
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
THE NEW YORK TIMES

In a finding that is likely to intensify the debate over what to teach students about the origins of life, a poll released Tuesday found that nearly two-thirds of Americans say that creationism should be taught alongside evolution in public schools.

The poll found that 42 percent of respondents hold strict creationist views, agreeing that “living things have existed in their present form since the beginning of time.”

In contrast, 48 percent said they believed that humans had evolved over time; but of those, 18 percent said that evolution was “guided by a supreme being,” and 26 percent said that evolution occurred through natural selection. In all, 64 percent said they were open to the idea of teaching creationism in addition to evolution, while 38 percent favored replacing evolution with creationism.

The poll was conducted July 7-17 by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. The questions about evolution were asked of 2,000 people, and the margin of error is 2.5 percentage points. …

Intelligent design, a descendant of creationism, is the belief that life is so intricate that only a supreme being could have designed it.

The poll showed 41 percent of Americans want parents to have the primary say over how evolution is taught, compared with 28 percent who say teachers and scientists should decide and 21 percent who say school boards should. Asked whether they believed creationism should be taught instead of evolution, 38 percent were in favor, and 49 percent were opposed.

More of those who believe in creationism said they were “very certain” of their views (63 percent), compared with those who believe in evolution (32 percent).

The poll also asked about religion and politics. This question was asked of a smaller pool of 1,000 respondents and the margin of error is 2.5 percentage points, Pew researchers said.

The public’s impression of the Democratic Party has changed in the last year, the survey found. Only 29 percent of respondents said they viewed Democrats as being “friendly toward religion,” down from 40 percent in August of 2004. Fifty-five percent said the Republican Party was friendly toward religion.

Several things are troubling about the following argument. We are called upon to be open-minded, non-dogmatic to allow for a view held by dogmatic, close-minded people. In classic “1984”-style, Galileo is used to indict Science and defend Religion. We are told that “complexity” is next to godliness — if we haven’t figured it out yet, we can’t and won’t cuz it’s god’s doing. Letting ID into the classroom will keep religion out? Nonsense. mjh

ABQjournal: Science Classes Should Educate, Not Indoctrinate By Rebecca Keller, Science Text Publisher

However, being willing to consider a design inference, if the data point in that direction, is good science regardless of the philosophical or religious implications.

No scientist should ever be so committed to an ideology, whether that ideology is religious or philosophical in nature, that it blinds him to possible interpretations of scientific data. That happened in Galileo’s time and it is happening today whenever people close their eyes and plug their ears to design inferences in biology.

Living things are incredibly complex. Even on the microscopic scale each cell is literally packed with interacting networks of molecular machines. It looks designed. If it looks designed, how can it be unscientific to wonder if that design is real?

It is understandable that people are concerned about the metaphysical implications; if there is design then there must be a designer.

But the basic trouble, and the underlying reason this controversy never ends, is that evolution is a creation story; it has huge metaphysical implications no matter how it is taught. How is it less religious or less controversial to teach evolution as it is now, pretending that we somehow know that there is no design? …

In fact, disagreeing about how data should be interpreted is what scientists do. That is science. The history of science illustrates that disagreements in science are the very thing that fuels scientific discovery.

Evolution as a secular creation story is already being preached from the classroom pulpit. Teaching the controversy helps keep religion, of any flavor, out of the classroom. [mjh: how can she possibly believe that last statement?]

This is good science education and this is what is being proposed in Rio Rancho and across the country.

Rebecca Keller, who has a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of New Mexico, is president of Gravitas Publications of Albuquerque and writes elementary and middle-school science textbooks.

QOTD

ABQjournal: Disaster Areas Stun Bush

“If we can’t respond faster than this to an event we saw coming across the Gulf for days, then why do we think we’re prepared to respond to a nuclear or biological attack?” asked former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican.

President Bush looks out the window of Air Force One inspecting damage from Hurricane Katrina while flying over New Orleans en route back to the White House, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Tuesday Deadline to Register to Vote

ABQjournal: Tuesday Deadline to Register to Vote
Journal Staff Report

The deadline to register to vote in the Oct. 4 municipal election is Tuesday.

To be eligible, you must register with the Bernalillo County Clerk’s Office, which is in the city-county Government Center at Fifth and Marquette NW. Call 768-4085 for more information.

Here are other key election dates:

# Wednesday: Absentee in-person voting starts. You may cast your absentee ballot in person at the City Clerk’s Office at the government center or at the city records center at 604 Menaul NW. The hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Contact the clerk’s office online at www.cabq.gov or 768-3030 to request an absentee ballot application.

# Sept. 14: Early voting starts. You can vote in person at the City Clerk’s Office or at the Menaul records center. Both are open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The records center is also open on two Saturdays — Sept. 17 and Sept. 24 — from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

# Sept. 30: Early voting ends.

# Oct. 4: Election Day. If you haven’t already turned in your absentee ballot, you must do so by 7 p.m. on Election Day.

# Nov. 15: Runoff election. If no candidate gets 40 percent of the vote on Oct. 4, there will be a runoff election involving the top two candidates in that race.

QOTD

ABQjournal: Minimum Wage Hike Pressed, Could End Up On The Legislature’s Calendar

“We believe that nobody who works full time should live in poverty,” said Christine Trujillo, president of the New Mexico Federation of Labor and the American Federation of Teachers of New Mexico. “We believe that working people should be paid a wage that can support a family.”

That should be a plank of the Democratic Party Platform nationally. Most Democrats would agree and most Republicans would jeer and sneer. mjh

ABQjournal: Minimum Wage Hike Pressed, Could End Up On The Legislature’s Calendar By Barry Massey
The Associated Press

“Increasing the minimum wage is a proven way to decrease poverty,” Gerry Bradley, an economist with New Mexico Voices for Children, said Thursday in releasing a report critical of the state’s economy.

A greater share of New Mexicans — about 6 percent — work in jobs paying at or below the minimum wage than any other state in the nation, he said.

“The bottom line is New Mexico’s economy is not an engine for opportunity and prosperity for far too many of our working families. A staggering 43 percent of New Mexicans live at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level,” said Bradley. …

There are 16 states and the District of Columbia with minimum wages above the federal level, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The state of Washington has a $7.35 an hour minimum wage, which is adjusted yearly for inflation. Oregon is next with a $7.25-an-hour.

Anybody know which the other 14 states are? Have they all gone to hell as a result of raising the minimum wage? mjh

It’s a nasty weapon

ABQjournal: Bunker-Buster Critics Make N.M. Visit By John Fleck, Journal Staff Writer

Weapons supporters say it could be an important military tool to destroy deep underground enemy bunkers. Critics say it would kick up dangerous clouds of radioactive fallout, while being of little military utility.

“It’s a nasty weapon,” said Robert Nelson, a Princeton University physicist who studies nuclear weapons for the Union of Concerned Scientists. …

“We’re just here to kill it,” Nelson said of the groups’ New Mexico trip.

Bush Undercut New Orleans Flood Control

Critics Say Bush Undercut New Orleans Flood Control
By Jim VandeHei and Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, September 2, 2005; Page A16

President Bush repeatedly requested less money for programs to guard against catastrophic storms in New Orleans than many federal and state officials requested, decisions that are triggering a partisan debate over administration priorities at a time when the budget is strained by the Iraq war.

Even with full funding in recent years, none of the flood-control projects would have been completed in time to prevent the swamping of the city, as Democrats yesterday acknowledged. But they said Bush’s decision to hold down spending on fortifying levees around New Orleans reflected a broader shuffling of resources — to pay for tax cuts and the Iraq invasion — that has left the United States more vulnerable.

Is Bush to Blame for New Orleans Flooding – FactCheck.org

Our fact-checking confirms that Bush indeed cut funding for projects specifically designed to strengthen levees. Indeed, local officials had been complaining about that for years.

It is not so clear whether the money Bush cut from levee projects would have made any difference, however, and we’re not in a position to judge that. The Army Corps of Engineers — which is under the President’s command and has its own reputation to defend — insists that Katrina was just too strong, and that even if the levee project had been completed it was only designed to withstand a category 3 hurricane.