Paul Soglin: Waxing America

Zanzibar Fishermen Land Ancient Fish: What Does The Bible Say?

We wrote previously about evolution and the foolishness of intelligent design. Every once in a while there is a report such as this, July 15, 2007, from Reuters:

Fishermen in Zanzibar have caught a coelacanth, an ancient fish once thought to have become extinct when it disappeared from fossil records 80 million years ago, an official said on Sunday...The coelacanth, known from fossil records dating back more than 360 million years, was believed to have become extinct some 80 million years ago until one was caught off the eastern coast of South Africa in 1938 -- a major zoological find.

I guess those who read the bible too literally and believe animals have only been on the planet for 16,000 years or so, simply dismiss such stories as lies and fabrications.

I Read Job in Public High School

Junior year of high school in the literature class our reading included Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Mark Twain, and the Book of Job. Not a problem.  We analyzed the style and purpose of the authors and the impact of their writing. Excellent.

Reading the Bible as a work of literature is appropriate.  Teaching religion for the purpose of proselytizing or even advocating that the student be religious is not.

Texas legislators were correctly concerned about a proposed Bible class becoming a religious class, not a literature class.

Panel tones down bill for Bible classes

AUSTIN -- A bill that would have required Texas public schools to offer classes teaching the Bible as a textbook was amended by a House panel that agreed offering the classes should be optional.

The House Public Education Committee passed the modified bill on Thursday, drawing praise from critics who feared mandatory Bible courses would be more religious than academic...

...The original bill by state Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, would have required schools to offer Bible courses as an elective.  Chisum’s bill called for history and literature courses on the Old and New Testaments...

The state already allows districts to offer Bible courses as electives, but only 25 high schools do so.

Frankly, any class on religion should be a comparative study and should provide the views of atheists and agnostics.

Inherit the WInd: Theory of Evolution

The Broadway revival of Inherit the Wind is getting decent reviews, including the New York Times.  Of course the United States ranks 34th among Western and Eastern European nations when it come to accepting the scientific truth of evolution.

Sixty percent of the American people do not believe that the earth is 4.5 million billion* years old. That the evidence is solid that the first humans were in a Australia 50,000 years ago, Europe 40,000 years ago,  Africa 60,000, and the Western Hemisphere 12-14,000 years ago is a mere inconvenience. They are convinced that humans first appeared 6-12,000 years ago.

Part of the debate is over the word theory, which is a manipulative ploy by right wing pundits who enjoy further confusing the discussion. As Wikipedia notes:

The word theory has a number of distinct meanings ...

In common usage, people often use the word theory to signify a conjecture, an opinion, or a speculation. In this usage, a theory is not necessarily based on facts; ...

In science, a theory is a mathematical description, a logical explanation, a verified hypothesis, or a proven model of the manner of interaction of a set of natural phenomena, capable of predicting future occurrences or observations of the same kind, and capable of being tested through experiment or otherwise falsified through empirical observation. It follows from this that for scientists "theory" and "fact" do not necessarily stand in opposition. For example, it is a fact that an apple dropped on earth has been observed to fall towards the center of the planet, and the theory which explains why the apple behaves so is the current theory of gravitation.

Speaking of gravitation, that too is only a theory, as in Newton's Theory of Universal Gravitation. I know, it's my imagination that when you throw a ball into the air it comes down or that we all don't go spinning off the earth into space.

If you don't believe in either of these theories, you should not drive a car, take antibiotics, eat refrigerated food, believe that men walked on the moon, accepted the concept of a tsunami, or, heaven forbid, watch television, especially cable television.

* Thanks for the correction Charlie.

Bad, Dangerous, Democratic Legislation

A group of very progressive Wisconsin legislators are sponsoring a bill requiring the school to teach the history of organized labor in America, to wit:

SECTION 1. 118.01 (2) (c) 6. of the statutes is amended to read: 118.01 (2) (c) 6. Knowledge of state, national, and world history, including knowledge of the history of organized labor in America and the collective bargaining process.

Readers of Waxing America know that I recently  decried the lack of civics instruction in our public schools. 

The Wisconsin legislators who introduced this legislation are well intentioned, but they are very dangerously in error. This proposal is similar to a recent California proposal to teach gay history in the schools. Or the flawed initiatives around the country to include "intelligent design" the curriculum.

The dangers of legislative bodies controlling the curriculum, no matter how well intentioned is a misuse of political power and destructive to the educational process. It tramples the freedom of open discourse in the classroom.

It is beyond me how anyone who calls themselves a progressive can place their judgment in law above the independent judgment of professional educators.

If you want to see the outcome of such miscues, just read little further down in the existing statue:

8. At all grade levels, an understanding of human relations, particularly with regard to American Indians, Black Americans and Hispanics.

I guess a lot of other people are just not as important as American Indians, Black Americans, and Hispanics. 

Outlining skills or broad areas of knowledge is one thing. Legislating the content of the curriculum is another.

This is bad. Very bad.

For a complete reading of Chapter 118 go here. You will see that the legislation covers general education including basic skills (reading, writing, arithmetic), analytical skills (thinking), vocational skills, citizenship, personal development, and decision making . That is the way if should be. Only rarely does the statute go into specific topics such as cooperative marketing or the vitamin content of food.

McGee's 'Jew Cops' and Al Gore's Thugs

The post earlier this week on the confusion as whether Milwaukee Alderman Michael McGee said Jew cops (he did not) or Jude cops (he did) brought back memories of a moment at the Democratic Party Convention in Chicago in 1996.

Al Gore was speaking and making reference to the National Rifle Association.  A year earlier in a letter to the NRA membership, Wayne LaPierre, their executive vice-president referred to law enforcement as "jack-booted thugs."

The Vice-President was quoting LaPierre and his words were transcribed on the screen for the hearing impaired.

It came out as "jack-Buddhist thugs."

A nicely turned phrase.

Mark Green: Do You Deny The Existence of Gene Therapy?

Conservative Wisconsin Republican Congressman Mark Green is running for governor on an anti-stem cell platform.

The devout people I know believe that medical breakthroughs in science are a gift from their god. I am not going to argue theology.

No matter where it came from it is a gift. And it took dedicated researchers, great public institutions, a government commitment, and a belief in the scientific method.

What do you have to say Mark Green?

Scientists use gene therapy to destroy tumours

For the first time scientists have destroyed cancer using genetically-engineered cells from a person's own blood.

Researchers took normal cells from the immune system and altered them so they would hone in on cancer.

After giving them to two men who were dying of skin cancer, they found their tumours began to shrink.

Two years on both men are still cancer-free...

I wonder if Green was diagnosed with Melanoma, the most aggressive skin cancer, if he would ask for this treatment and support the research?

Update 7:57 am: In a comment below, Chris correctly notes the distinction between embryonic stem cell research and gene therapy using the individual's own cells.  If I have not been clear, let me restate that I challenge Mark Green to prove he supports cell therapy research and development in that field.  His legislative record demonstrates a disregard for:

dedicated researchers, great public institutions, a government commitment, and a belief in the scientific method.

Those are critical elements common to work in both fields which Green has universally rejected. The break though in gene therapy would not have come without government support.

Some California Democrats Prove As Dangerous As The Right Wing Nuts

Fresh from fighting back extreme right wing efforts to control the content of school books, California Democrats cannot leave well enough alone. Democrats in both houses of the Golden State legislature are advancing a bill that would require the history of gays in school books.

California braced for battle over gays in textbooks

SAN FRANCISCO, April 7 (Reuters) - California school textbooks would highlight the role gays have played in the history of the nation's most populous state if a new proposal that has angered conservatives passes the state Legislature...

...The proposed bill would require school textbooks to include lessons on how gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender persons have helped California develop. ..

...Conservative groups say the proposal before lawmakers goes too far and promise a hard fight in California's ideologically divided Legislature. They say it is another bold political move by gay-rights advocates who last year lobbied the Democrat-led Legislature to pass a bill to allow same-sex marriages.. .

I only hope that conservatives are not the only ones who say this legislation goes too far.  I hope every lefty, Democrat, and gay fights this very wrong bill.

If the legislation becomes law, I expect the free speech organizations from the ACLU to FIRE to oppose it.

The control of what takes place in the classroom, and that includes the content of schoolbooks, should be decided by educators and the school board.  The day politicians decide what is to be taught in the classroom through mandated legislation is the day our public schools are no longer free.  They might as well lock the classroom doors.

When I was mayor in the 1970's, Madison became the first city, state, or county to adopt legislation extending equal protection to people regardless of their sexual preference or orientation. I stand by that and will stand with anyone advancing civil liberties and civil rights to all people; that includes housing, employment and every aspect of domestic life, including marriage and adoption.

This legislation is not about civil rights or civil liberties; it is about politicians controlling the school curriculum. That is wrong. It is scary. It is dangerous.

Chile's New Leader A Woman

She is a Socialist, a pediatrician, and a victim of Pinochet torture in the 1970's

Michelle Bachelet, a 54-year-old physician who had been health and defense minister under outgoing President Ricardo Lagos, won 53.51% of votes, based on results from more than 97% of votes. Businessman Sebastian Pinera conceded defeat...

"Who would have imagined 10, 20, even five years ago that Chile would elect a woman president?" she asked.

Her victory appeared to signal a political shift in Chile, one of the western hemisphere's most conservative countries, where traditional religious values have guided public policy.

Bachelet is an agnostic. She has been long separated from her husband and has raised three children largely on her own -- "all possible sins together," she has said.

She was imprisoned and tortured during the early years of Gen. Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship and lived in European exile in the late-1970s. She speaks five languages.

Does this mean there is hope for us?  Five languages? Our president has trouble with one.

Lawyer Kidnaps Client Over Fees

This is why lawyers get a bad name: Texas Attorney Arrested for Allegedly Kidnapping Client in Attempt to Collect Legal Fees:

A lawyer faces a felony charge of kidnapping for allegedly abducting a client from his wedding celebration in an attempt to collect legal fees.

Castelan, 31, hired Allen in April when he was arrested for possession of a stolen firearm, tampering with a government document and possession of a controlled substance.

Allen vouched for Castelan's bond amount of $5,000, police said. Six months later, a grand jury indicted Castelan on the drug possession charge, but he failed to show up to court.

Allen tried to persuade Castelan to come to court, but when he didn't, the court found her responsible for the $5,000 bond.

Police say Paula Allen, 51, took Rolando Castelan from his Dec. 10 wedding and then drove him around in handcuffs as Castelan called friends and family from a cell phone to scrounge up the money he owed his lawyer, the Waco Tribune-Herald reported for its Friday edition.

Police say she took Castelan from his wedding reception with the help of three "associates," whom police have not identified.

When Castelan's ex-wife agreed to meet and pay the money, Castelan managed to escape the Suburban he had been held in for four hours.

Castelan turned himself into authorities nine days later and remains in the McLennan County Jail for his indictment. His post-indictment warrant does not allow for a bond.

The  story  never tells us if Castelan returned to the wedding celebration or how the marriage is doing.

Borat: Sacha Baron Cohen-An Olddate

Sorry, but I cannot manufacture Borat updates when there is nothing new. To quench the thirst of those in need, let's have an 'olddate' and go back to a New Yorker article from September 20, 2004.  Talk of the Town decided to check with Kazakhstan officials to verify the assertions of that country's foremost journalist Borat. 

It turned out falsehoods, and many others, have been spread by Borat,:

Roman Vassilenko, the press secretary for the Embassy of Kazakhstan, wants to clear up a few misconceptions about his country. Women are not kept in cages. The national sport is not shooting a dog and then having a party. You cannot earn a living being a Gypsy catcher. Wine is not made from fermented horse urine. It is not customary for a man to grab another man’s khrum. “Khrum” is not the word for testicles.

Like you , I was disappointed to learn that Borat , at times, was less than reliable.  However:

Travel guides mention a Kazakh sport called kokpar, a precursor of polo. When Vassilenko was asked about it, he hesitated, then explained, “That’s the one where a goat, a dead goat”—a headless dead goat—“is, um, being held as a sort of a prize. And then one rider has it, and he has to run away with it from others who seek to catch it and snatch it from him.” And then they have a party.

On the American Journalism Scorecard for Accuracy in Reporting:

Borat 62%

Ann Coulter 19%  (She is a good speller.)