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DISCOVERY INSTITUTE
Re-posted from Skeptical Analysis Number 2 in a series. Hot damn! This is getting good. Yesterday I kicked off this series with a review of a post (by somebody) on Evolution News, the blog site hosted by the Discovery Institute Center for Science and Culture.That’s the group doing the heavy lifting to promote the Intelligent Design version of creationism in this country.MIKE VAN BIEZEN
Mike van Biezen is adjunct professor at Compton College, Santa Monica College, El Camino College, and Loyola Marymount University teaching Physics, Mathematics, Astronomy, and Earth Science. That should be impressive enough. Let’s see what Mr. Biezen has to say about AGW. There are ten points: RAY COMFORT REVIEWED Cross posted from Skeptical Analysis. First of all, we should all be careful to not take Ray Comfort much too seriously. Even seriously: In 2006, Comfort recorded a segment for The Way of the Master ‘s television show in which he argued that the banana was an “atheists’ nightmare”, arguing that it displayed many user-friendly features UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN … UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN SUCCESS? By Daryl J. Bem, John Palmer, and Rich ard S. Broughton ABSTRACT : The ex istence of
EARLY EVOLUTION OF THE VERTEBRATE EYE FOSSIL EVIDENCE ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE Early Evolution of the Vertebrate Eye—Fossil Evidence Gavin C. Young Published online: 18 October 2008 # Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2008 Abstract Evidence of detailed brain morphology is illus- THE “TEACH THE CONTROVERSY” CONTROVERSY DEWOLF-FORMATTED.docx 3/6/2010 12:26 PM No. 1] The “Teach the Controversy” Controversy 327 claims of Darwinian evolution—that random mutation and natural selection (or some similarly unguided process)5 are sufficient to produce increasingly complex life forms—cannot be confirmed through experimentation in theSKEPTICAL NEWS
SKEPTICAL NEWS
Wednesday, September 17, 2003 Newly Found Virus Blamed for Common Colds By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 5:15 p.m. ET. CHICAGO (AP) -- Something called the metapneumovirus, discovered just two years ago, is turning out to be an exceedingly common cause of human misery, responsible for garden-variety colds in grown-ups and more severe coughing, wheezing andSKEPTICAL NEWS
Skeptical News for 9 August 2001 Archive of previous NTS SkepticalNews listings
NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS Number 2 of a Series. It’s back. Actually, I think it never left. In fact, this outdates that good old American snake oil by centuries. It’s Qigong, and it’s here to save your life. I have a number of email accounts, and one of them is devoted to matters skeptical.DISCOVERY INSTITUTE
Re-posted from Skeptical Analysis Number 2 in a series. Hot damn! This is getting good. Yesterday I kicked off this series with a review of a post (by somebody) on Evolution News, the blog site hosted by the Discovery Institute Center for Science and Culture.That’s the group doing the heavy lifting to promote the Intelligent Design version of creationism in this country.MIKE VAN BIEZEN
Mike van Biezen is adjunct professor at Compton College, Santa Monica College, El Camino College, and Loyola Marymount University teaching Physics, Mathematics, Astronomy, and Earth Science. That should be impressive enough. Let’s see what Mr. Biezen has to say about AGW. There are ten points: RAY COMFORT REVIEWED Cross posted from Skeptical Analysis. First of all, we should all be careful to not take Ray Comfort much too seriously. Even seriously: In 2006, Comfort recorded a segment for The Way of the Master ‘s television show in which he argued that the banana was an “atheists’ nightmare”, arguing that it displayed many user-friendly features UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN … UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN SUCCESS? By Daryl J. Bem, John Palmer, and Rich ard S. Broughton ABSTRACT : The ex istence of
EARLY EVOLUTION OF THE VERTEBRATE EYE FOSSIL EVIDENCE ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE Early Evolution of the Vertebrate Eye—Fossil Evidence Gavin C. Young Published online: 18 October 2008 # Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2008 Abstract Evidence of detailed brain morphology is illus- THE “TEACH THE CONTROVERSY” CONTROVERSY DEWOLF-FORMATTED.docx 3/6/2010 12:26 PM No. 1] The “Teach the Controversy” Controversy 327 claims of Darwinian evolution—that random mutation and natural selection (or some similarly unguided process)5 are sufficient to produce increasingly complex life forms—cannot be confirmed through experimentation in theSKEPTICAL NEWS
SKEPTICAL NEWS
Wednesday, September 17, 2003 Newly Found Virus Blamed for Common Colds By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 5:15 p.m. ET. CHICAGO (AP) -- Something called the metapneumovirus, discovered just two years ago, is turning out to be an exceedingly common cause of human misery, responsible for garden-variety colds in grown-ups and more severe coughing, wheezing andSKEPTICAL NEWS
Skeptical News for 9 August 2001 Archive of previous NTS SkepticalNews listings
ABOUT | NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS The Organization. The North Texas Skeptics was incorporated in 1989 as non-profit corporation within the meaning of Internal Revenue Code Section 501 (c) (3) and the Texas Tax Code Section 11.18 (c) (1). The organization was founded with the following mission: MEMBERSHIP | NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS Membership. North Texas Skeptics is a registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 75-2275586), so your donations are tax deductible.. Membership in The North Texas Skeptics costs $30 per year.Here is what you get: The pride of belonging to an organization that takes a stand for rational thinking in an irrational worldJOE BARNHART
Readers will recall Joe Barnhart as a long-time advisor to The North Texas Skeptics. Interesting events transpired following Joe’s retirement and move to Tennessee. Without elaborating on the foolish nature of Dr. Warren’s dip into anti-science, I will observe itshould
REMOTE VIEWING
Edward Dames is a ROTC Distinguished Military Graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. Between 1979 and 1983, Major Dames served as an electronic warfare officer and scientific and technical intelligence officer. In 1982, Ingo Swann, under the direction of Dr. Harold Puthoff, head of the Remote Viewing Laboratory at StanfordResearch
STEPHEN C. MEYER
An addendum. Over the past few days I reviewed ten episodes of Does God Exist, a video produced by the fundamentalist Christian organization Focus on the Family.It’s offered as a DVD and is also streaming on Amazon Prime Video. In addition to the ten episodes addressing the question, “does God exist,” there is a bonus segment highlighting the challenges fundamentalist Christians DINO TRAX | NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS They were heady times. This edition of Dino Trax contains a section on “MIOS Books.”. They are creationist books you can order through MIOS. Pandas is included, and it lists for $18.95, including a teacher’s guide, and it’s intended for use by high school students. Here’s what Dino Trax has to say about the Pandas book: UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN … UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN SUCCESS? By Daryl J. Bem, John Palmer, and Rich ard S. Broughton ABSTRACT : The ex istence of
SCIENCEDIRECT
Abstract. In 1988, radiocarbon laboratories at Arizona, Cambridge, and Zurich determined the age of a sample from the Shroud of Turin. They reported that the date of the cloth's production lay between A.D. 1260 and 1390 with 95% confidence. This came as a surprise in view of the technology used to produce the cloth, its chemical composition, and the lack of vanillin in its lignin.FOOL’S ARGUMENT
The Michael Polanyi Center (MPC) at Baylor University , Texas was the first center at a research university exclusively dedicated to intelligent design study. It was founded in 1999 “with the primary aim of advancing the understanding of the sciences,” in a THE NORTH TEXAS SKEPTIC William Radam and the Microbe Killer An Account of Classic Medical Quackery from the Heart of Texas By Daniel R. Barnett Since its annexation into the United States in 1845, Texas has provided a home to its share of medical quacks who made their living off of the desperate and the scientifically illiterate. NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS Number 2 of a Series. It’s back. Actually, I think it never left. In fact, this outdates that good old American snake oil by centuries. It’s Qigong, and it’s here to save your life. I have a number of email accounts, and one of them is devoted to matters skeptical.DISCOVERY INSTITUTE
Re-posted from Skeptical Analysis Number 2 in a series. Hot damn! This is getting good. Yesterday I kicked off this series with a review of a post (by somebody) on Evolution News, the blog site hosted by the Discovery Institute Center for Science and Culture.That’s the group doing the heavy lifting to promote the Intelligent Design version of creationism in this country.MIKE VAN BIEZEN
Mike van Biezen is adjunct professor at Compton College, Santa Monica College, El Camino College, and Loyola Marymount University teaching Physics, Mathematics, Astronomy, and Earth Science. That should be impressive enough. Let’s see what Mr. Biezen has to say about AGW. There are ten points:SKEPTICAL NEWS
SCIENCEDIRECT
Abstract. In 1988, radiocarbon laboratories at Arizona, Cambridge, and Zurich determined the age of a sample from the Shroud of Turin. They reported that the date of the cloth's production lay between A.D. 1260 and 1390 with 95% confidence. This came as a surprise in view of the technology used to produce the cloth, its chemical composition, and the lack of vanillin in its lignin. EARLY EVOLUTION OF THE VERTEBRATE EYE FOSSIL EVIDENCE ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE Early Evolution of the Vertebrate Eye—Fossil Evidence Gavin C. Young Published online: 18 October 2008 # Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2008 Abstract Evidence of detailed brain morphology is illus- UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN … UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN SUCCESS? By Daryl J. Bem, John Palmer, and Rich ard S. Broughton ABSTRACT : The ex istence of
THE “TEACH THE CONTROVERSY” CONTROVERSY DEWOLF-FORMATTED.docx 3/6/2010 12:26 PM No. 1] The “Teach the Controversy” Controversy 327 claims of Darwinian evolution—that random mutation and natural selection (or some similarly unguided process)5 are sufficient to produce increasingly complex life forms—cannot be confirmed through experimentation in theSKEPTICAL NEWS
Skeptical News for 9 August 2001 Archive of previous NTS SkepticalNews listings
WILLIAM RADAM AND THE MICROBE A LIQUID THAT HE CONSIDERED January 2004 The North Texas Skeptics Page 3 Avenue with a great view of Central Park. The one-time gardener now operated sev-enteenfacto-ries across
NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS Number 2 of a Series. It’s back. Actually, I think it never left. In fact, this outdates that good old American snake oil by centuries. It’s Qigong, and it’s here to save your life. I have a number of email accounts, and one of them is devoted to matters skeptical.DISCOVERY INSTITUTE
Re-posted from Skeptical Analysis Number 2 in a series. Hot damn! This is getting good. Yesterday I kicked off this series with a review of a post (by somebody) on Evolution News, the blog site hosted by the Discovery Institute Center for Science and Culture.That’s the group doing the heavy lifting to promote the Intelligent Design version of creationism in this country.MIKE VAN BIEZEN
Mike van Biezen is adjunct professor at Compton College, Santa Monica College, El Camino College, and Loyola Marymount University teaching Physics, Mathematics, Astronomy, and Earth Science. That should be impressive enough. Let’s see what Mr. Biezen has to say about AGW. There are ten points:SKEPTICAL NEWS
SCIENCEDIRECT
Abstract. In 1988, radiocarbon laboratories at Arizona, Cambridge, and Zurich determined the age of a sample from the Shroud of Turin. They reported that the date of the cloth's production lay between A.D. 1260 and 1390 with 95% confidence. This came as a surprise in view of the technology used to produce the cloth, its chemical composition, and the lack of vanillin in its lignin. EARLY EVOLUTION OF THE VERTEBRATE EYE FOSSIL EVIDENCE ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE Early Evolution of the Vertebrate Eye—Fossil Evidence Gavin C. Young Published online: 18 October 2008 # Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2008 Abstract Evidence of detailed brain morphology is illus- UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN … UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN SUCCESS? By Daryl J. Bem, John Palmer, and Rich ard S. Broughton ABSTRACT : The ex istence of
THE “TEACH THE CONTROVERSY” CONTROVERSY DEWOLF-FORMATTED.docx 3/6/2010 12:26 PM No. 1] The “Teach the Controversy” Controversy 327 claims of Darwinian evolution—that random mutation and natural selection (or some similarly unguided process)5 are sufficient to produce increasingly complex life forms—cannot be confirmed through experimentation in theSKEPTICAL NEWS
Skeptical News for 9 August 2001 Archive of previous NTS SkepticalNews listings
WILLIAM RADAM AND THE MICROBE A LIQUID THAT HE CONSIDERED January 2004 The North Texas Skeptics Page 3 Avenue with a great view of Central Park. The one-time gardener now operated sev-enteenfacto-ries across
NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS Number 2 of a Series. It’s back. Actually, I think it never left. In fact, this outdates that good old American snake oil by centuries. It’s Qigong, and it’s here to save your life. I have a number of email accounts, and one of them is devoted to matters skeptical. JANUARY | 2020 | NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS Discovery Institute to the rescue again.Whenever I need a story about abuse of science I know I can always find one coming from this creationist organization. Their Evolution News site is a wealth of material. Here I can always count on something fresh. EVENTS | NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS The federal Liberal election campaign wasted no time including health concerns from the controversial new power lines in Tsawwassen. On Tuesday, Delta-Richmond East candidate Dana Miller was accompanied by Liberal health critic Dr. Carolyn Bennett, a former health minister in Paul Martin’s government, to meet residents opposed to the higher voltage overhead lines.MIKE VAN BIEZEN
Mike van Biezen is adjunct professor at Compton College, Santa Monica College, El Camino College, and Loyola Marymount University teaching Physics, Mathematics, Astronomy, and Earth Science. That should be impressive enough. Let’s see what Mr. Biezen has to say about AGW. There are ten points:JOE BARNHART
Readers will recall Joe Barnhart as a long-time advisor to The North Texas Skeptics. Interesting events transpired following Joe’s retirement and move to Tennessee. Without elaborating on the foolish nature of Dr. Warren’s dip into anti-science, I will observe itshould
SKEPTICAL NEWS
Wednesday, September 17, 2003 Newly Found Virus Blamed for Common Colds By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 5:15 p.m. ET. CHICAGO (AP) -- Something called the metapneumovirus, discovered just two years ago, is turning out to be an exceedingly common cause of human misery, responsible for garden-variety colds in grown-ups and more severe coughing, wheezing and SEPTEMBER | 2018 | NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS Number 2 of a Series. It’s back. Actually, I think it never left. In fact, this outdates that good old American snake oil by centuries. It’s Qigong, and it’s here to save your life. I have a number of email accounts, and one of them is devoted to matters skeptical. CREATIONIST STEVE RUDD As far as I can tell, Steve Rudd is Don Patton's Web master. Some time ago Steve Rudd introduced himself: Subject: John, John, John Date: Mon, 08 Apr 2002 16:16:56 -0400 TOP TEN WAYS TO TELL IF YOU'RE A SKEPTIC Top ten ways to tell if you're a skeptic by John Blanton Number 10: Dionne Warwick doesn't return your phone calls. Number 9: You think "energized water" is another name for vodka. AUGUST | 2015 | NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS Saturday, 15 August, the North Texas Skeptics will give a presentation on Ghosts. It may not be all you ever wanted to know about ghosts, but it’s what we have. NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS Number 2 of a Series. It’s back. Actually, I think it never left. In fact, this outdates that good old American snake oil by centuries. It’s Qigong, and it’s here to save your life. I have a number of email accounts, and one of them is devoted to matters skeptical. ABOUT | NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICSSEE MORE ON NTSKEPTICS.ORGDISCOVERY INSTITUTE
Re-posted from Skeptical Analysis Number 2 in a series. Hot damn! This is getting good. Yesterday I kicked off this series with a review of a post (by somebody) on Evolution News, the blog site hosted by the Discovery Institute Center for Science and Culture.That’s the group doing the heavy lifting to promote the Intelligent Design version of creationism in this country.MIKE VAN BIEZEN
Mike van Biezen is adjunct professor at Compton College, Santa Monica College, El Camino College, and Loyola Marymount University teaching Physics, Mathematics, Astronomy, and Earth Science. That should be impressive enough. Let’s see what Mr. Biezen has to say about AGW. There are ten points:JOE BARNHART
Readers will recall Joe Barnhart as a long-time advisor to The North Texas Skeptics. Interesting events transpired following Joe’s retirement and move to Tennessee. Without elaborating on the foolish nature of Dr. Warren’s dip into anti-science, I will observe itshould
RAY COMFORT REVIEWED Cross posted from Skeptical Analysis. First of all, we should all be careful to not take Ray Comfort much too seriously. Even seriously: In 2006, Comfort recorded a segment for The Way of the Master ‘s television show in which he argued that the banana was an “atheists’ nightmare”, arguing that it displayed many user-friendly features UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN … UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN SUCCESS? By Daryl J. Bem, John Palmer, and Rich ard S. Broughton ABSTRACT : The ex istence of
EARLY EVOLUTION OF THE VERTEBRATE EYE FOSSIL EVIDENCE ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE Early Evolution of the Vertebrate Eye—Fossil Evidence Gavin C. Young Published online: 18 October 2008 # Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2008 Abstract Evidence of detailed brain morphology is illus- THE “TEACH THE CONTROVERSY” CONTROVERSY DEWOLF-FORMATTED.docx 3/6/2010 12:26 PM No. 1] The “Teach the Controversy” Controversy 327 claims of Darwinian evolution—that random mutation and natural selection (or some similarly unguided process)5 are sufficient to produce increasingly complex life forms—cannot be confirmed through experimentation in theSKEPTICAL NEWS
Skeptical News for 9 August 2001 Archive of previous NTS SkepticalNews listings
NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS Number 2 of a Series. It’s back. Actually, I think it never left. In fact, this outdates that good old American snake oil by centuries. It’s Qigong, and it’s here to save your life. I have a number of email accounts, and one of them is devoted to matters skeptical. ABOUT | NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICSSEE MORE ON NTSKEPTICS.ORGDISCOVERY INSTITUTE
Re-posted from Skeptical Analysis Number 2 in a series. Hot damn! This is getting good. Yesterday I kicked off this series with a review of a post (by somebody) on Evolution News, the blog site hosted by the Discovery Institute Center for Science and Culture.That’s the group doing the heavy lifting to promote the Intelligent Design version of creationism in this country.MIKE VAN BIEZEN
Mike van Biezen is adjunct professor at Compton College, Santa Monica College, El Camino College, and Loyola Marymount University teaching Physics, Mathematics, Astronomy, and Earth Science. That should be impressive enough. Let’s see what Mr. Biezen has to say about AGW. There are ten points:JOE BARNHART
Readers will recall Joe Barnhart as a long-time advisor to The North Texas Skeptics. Interesting events transpired following Joe’s retirement and move to Tennessee. Without elaborating on the foolish nature of Dr. Warren’s dip into anti-science, I will observe itshould
RAY COMFORT REVIEWED Cross posted from Skeptical Analysis. First of all, we should all be careful to not take Ray Comfort much too seriously. Even seriously: In 2006, Comfort recorded a segment for The Way of the Master ‘s television show in which he argued that the banana was an “atheists’ nightmare”, arguing that it displayed many user-friendly features UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN … UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN SUCCESS? By Daryl J. Bem, John Palmer, and Rich ard S. Broughton ABSTRACT : The ex istence of
EARLY EVOLUTION OF THE VERTEBRATE EYE FOSSIL EVIDENCE ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE Early Evolution of the Vertebrate Eye—Fossil Evidence Gavin C. Young Published online: 18 October 2008 # Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2008 Abstract Evidence of detailed brain morphology is illus- THE “TEACH THE CONTROVERSY” CONTROVERSY DEWOLF-FORMATTED.docx 3/6/2010 12:26 PM No. 1] The “Teach the Controversy” Controversy 327 claims of Darwinian evolution—that random mutation and natural selection (or some similarly unguided process)5 are sufficient to produce increasingly complex life forms—cannot be confirmed through experimentation in theSKEPTICAL NEWS
Skeptical News for 9 August 2001 Archive of previous NTS SkepticalNews listings
ABOUT | NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS The Organization. The North Texas Skeptics was incorporated in 1989 as non-profit corporation within the meaning of Internal Revenue Code Section 501 (c) (3) and the Texas Tax Code Section 11.18 (c) (1). The organization was founded with the following mission: SKEPTICISM | NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS An addendum. Over the past few days I reviewed ten episodes of Does God Exist, a video produced by the fundamentalist Christian organization Focus on the Family.It’s offered as a DVD and is also streaming on Amazon Prime Video. In addition to the ten episodes addressing the question, “does God exist,” there is a bonus segment highlighting the challenges fundamentalist ChristiansSKEPTICAL NEWS
The NY Times News Service interviews CFI-West director James Underdown about his test of Sparky, an alleged canine mathematical genius who could count off numbers by barking. Underdown discovered that the dog was actually barking a certain number of times at the cue of his owner. April 8, 2001. The New York Times.REMOTE VIEWING
Edward Dames is a ROTC Distinguished Military Graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. Between 1979 and 1983, Major Dames served as an electronic warfare officer and scientific and technical intelligence officer. In 1982, Ingo Swann, under the direction of Dr. Harold Puthoff, head of the Remote Viewing Laboratory at StanfordResearch
STEPHEN C. MEYER
An addendum. Over the past few days I reviewed ten episodes of Does God Exist, a video produced by the fundamentalist Christian organization Focus on the Family.It’s offered as a DVD and is also streaming on Amazon Prime Video. In addition to the ten episodes addressing the question, “does God exist,” there is a bonus segment highlighting the challenges fundamentalist Christians UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN … UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN SUCCESS? By Daryl J. Bem, John Palmer, and Rich ard S. Broughton ABSTRACT : The ex istence of
DINO TRAX | NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS They were heady times. This edition of Dino Trax contains a section on “MIOS Books.”. They are creationist books you can order through MIOS. Pandas is included, and it lists for $18.95, including a teacher’s guide, and it’s intended for use by high school students. Here’s what Dino Trax has to say about the Pandas book:SCIENCEDIRECT
Abstract. In 1988, radiocarbon laboratories at Arizona, Cambridge, and Zurich determined the age of a sample from the Shroud of Turin. They reported that the date of the cloth's production lay between A.D. 1260 and 1390 with 95% confidence. This came as a surprise in view of the technology used to produce the cloth, its chemical composition, and the lack of vanillin in its lignin. CHARTING EVOLUTION S TRAJECTORY: USING MOLLUSCAN EYE ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE Charting Evolution’s Trajectory: Using Molluscan Eye Diversity to Understand Parallel and Convergent Evolution Jeanne M. Serb & Douglas J. Eernisse Published online: 25September 2008
TOP TEN WAYS TO TELL IF YOU'RE A SKEPTIC Top ten ways to tell if you're a skeptic by John Blanton Number 10: Dionne Warwick doesn't return your phone calls. Number 9: You think "energized water" is another name for vodka. NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS Number 2 of a Series. It’s back. Actually, I think it never left. In fact, this outdates that good old American snake oil by centuries. It’s Qigong, and it’s here to save your life. I have a number of email accounts, and one of them is devoted to matters skeptical.DISCOVERY INSTITUTE
Re-posted from Skeptical Analysis Number 2 in a series. Hot damn! This is getting good. Yesterday I kicked off this series with a review of a post (by somebody) on Evolution News, the blog site hosted by the Discovery Institute Center for Science and Culture.That’s the group doing the heavy lifting to promote the Intelligent Design version of creationism in this country.MIKE VAN BIEZEN
Mike van Biezen is adjunct professor at Compton College, Santa Monica College, El Camino College, and Loyola Marymount University teaching Physics, Mathematics, Astronomy, and Earth Science. That should be impressive enough. Let’s see what Mr. Biezen has to say about AGW. There are ten points: RAY COMFORT REVIEWED Cross posted from Skeptical Analysis. First of all, we should all be careful to not take Ray Comfort much too seriously. Even seriously: In 2006, Comfort recorded a segment for The Way of the Master ‘s television show in which he argued that the banana was an “atheists’ nightmare”, arguing that it displayed many user-friendly featuresSCIENCEDIRECT
Abstract. In 1988, radiocarbon laboratories at Arizona, Cambridge, and Zurich determined the age of a sample from the Shroud of Turin. They reported that the date of the cloth's production lay between A.D. 1260 and 1390 with 95% confidence. This came as a surprise in view of the technology used to produce the cloth, its chemical composition, and the lack of vanillin in its lignin. UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN … UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN SUCCESS? By Daryl J. Bem, John Palmer, and Rich ard S. Broughton ABSTRACT : The ex istence of
EARLY EVOLUTION OF THE VERTEBRATE EYE FOSSIL EVIDENCE ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE Early Evolution of the Vertebrate Eye—Fossil Evidence Gavin C. Young Published online: 18 October 2008 # Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2008 Abstract Evidence of detailed brain morphology is illus- THE “TEACH THE CONTROVERSY” CONTROVERSY DEWOLF-FORMATTED.docx 3/6/2010 12:26 PM No. 1] The “Teach the Controversy” Controversy 327 claims of Darwinian evolution—that random mutation and natural selection (or some similarly unguided process)5 are sufficient to produce increasingly complex life forms—cannot be confirmed through experimentation in theSKEPTICAL NEWS
Skeptical News for 9 August 2001 Archive of previous NTS SkepticalNews listings
WILLIAM RADAM AND THE MICROBE A LIQUID THAT HE CONSIDERED January 2004 The North Texas Skeptics Page 3 Avenue with a great view of Central Park. The one-time gardener now operated sev-enteenfacto-ries across
NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS I previously reviewed chapter 1, Energy at a Crossroads, subtitled Doomslayers vs. Doomsayers.That chapter, with a number of failings noted, is a determined argument, largely successful, that fossil fuels are a boon to modern civilization.DISCOVERY INSTITUTE
Re-posted from Skeptical Analysis Number 2 in a series. Hot damn! This is getting good. Yesterday I kicked off this series with a review of a post (by somebody) on Evolution News, the blog site hosted by the Discovery Institute Center for Science and Culture.That’s the group doing the heavy lifting to promote the Intelligent Design version of creationism in this country.MIKE VAN BIEZEN
Mike van Biezen is adjunct professor at Compton College, Santa Monica College, El Camino College, and Loyola Marymount University teaching Physics, Mathematics, Astronomy, and Earth Science. That should be impressive enough. Let’s see what Mr. Biezen has to say about AGW. There are ten points: RAY COMFORT REVIEWED Cross posted from Skeptical Analysis. First of all, we should all be careful to not take Ray Comfort much too seriously. Even seriously: In 2006, Comfort recorded a segment for The Way of the Master ‘s television show in which he argued that the banana was an “atheists’ nightmare”, arguing that it displayed many user-friendly featuresSCIENCEDIRECT
Abstract. In 1988, radiocarbon laboratories at Arizona, Cambridge, and Zurich determined the age of a sample from the Shroud of Turin. They reported that the date of the cloth's production lay between A.D. 1260 and 1390 with 95% confidence. This came as a surprise in view of the technology used to produce the cloth, its chemical composition, and the lack of vanillin in its lignin. UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN … UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN SUCCESS? By Daryl J. Bem, John Palmer, and Rich ard S. Broughton ABSTRACT : The ex istence of
EARLY EVOLUTION OF THE VERTEBRATE EYE FOSSIL EVIDENCE ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE Early Evolution of the Vertebrate Eye—Fossil Evidence Gavin C. Young Published online: 18 October 2008 # Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2008 Abstract Evidence of detailed brain morphology is illus- THE “TEACH THE CONTROVERSY” CONTROVERSY DEWOLF-FORMATTED.docx 3/6/2010 12:26 PM No. 1] The “Teach the Controversy” Controversy 327 claims of Darwinian evolution—that random mutation and natural selection (or some similarly unguided process)5 are sufficient to produce increasingly complex life forms—cannot be confirmed through experimentation in theSKEPTICAL NEWS
Skeptical News for 9 August 2001 Archive of previous NTS SkepticalNews listings
WILLIAM RADAM AND THE MICROBE A LIQUID THAT HE CONSIDERED January 2004 The North Texas Skeptics Page 3 Avenue with a great view of Central Park. The one-time gardener now operated sev-enteenfacto-ries across
INFORMATION
We are happy to inform you that NTS is now part of the Secular Policy Institute (SPI) coalition. Our name appears in the list of organizations in the Texas section at this SPI’s page. NTS board of directors discussed the request from SPI to join the coalition. NEW AGE | NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS This is being cross-posted from the Skeptical Analysis site.. I was looking for a title—something to call this. Help was on the way: For example, a cotton shirt cannot be made until the cotton has been sown as seeds, then grown, harvested and woven, and from this fabric many types of garments can be made.UNCATEGORIZED
Fascinating evening. Eric Meikle discussed the continued prevalence of evolution denial in the United States and explained how the National Center on Science Education (NCSE.com) supports everyone involved in school administration, parents and students, teachers and administrators, as well as policy-makers in the accurate teaching of evolution, and now, climate science. EVENTS | NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS The federal Liberal election campaign wasted no time including health concerns from the controversial new power lines in Tsawwassen. On Tuesday, Delta-Richmond East candidate Dana Miller was accompanied by Liberal health critic Dr. Carolyn Bennett, a former health minister in Paul Martin’s government, to meet residents opposed to the higher voltage overhead lines.STEPHEN C. MEYER
An addendum. Over the past few days I reviewed ten episodes of Does God Exist, a video produced by the fundamentalist Christian organization Focus on the Family.It’s offered as a DVD and is also streaming on Amazon Prime Video. In addition to the ten episodes addressing the question, “does God exist,” there is a bonus segment highlighting the challenges fundamentalist Christians QIGONG | NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS Qigong (chee gong) is not new to the Skeptics. At the CSICOP conference we hosted in 1992 they had a presenter come all the way from China to fill us in. It works like this. From Wikipedia: The theories of ancient Chinese qigong include the Yin-Yang and Five Phases Theory, Essence – Qi – Spirit Theory, Zang-Xiang Theory,and Meridians and
SKEPTICAL NEWS
The NY Times News Service interviews CFI-West director James Underdown about his test of Sparky, an alleged canine mathematical genius who could count off numbers by barking. Underdown discovered that the dog was actually barking a certain number of times at the cue of his owner. April 8, 2001. The New York Times. UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN … UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN SUCCESS? By Daryl J. Bem, John Palmer, and Rich ard S. Broughton ABSTRACT : The ex istence of
DINO TRAX | NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS They were heady times. This edition of Dino Trax contains a section on “MIOS Books.”. They are creationist books you can order through MIOS. Pandas is included, and it lists for $18.95, including a teacher’s guide, and it’s intended for use by high school students. Here’s what Dino Trax has to say about the Pandas book: SCIENCE AND RELIGION TWENTY YEARS AFTER MCLEAN V. … No. 2] Science and Religion 20 Years After McLean than non-agent explanations, such as natural selection or scientific laws working on the unguided interaction of matter. NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS Number 2 of a Series. It’s back. Actually, I think it never left. In fact, this outdates that good old American snake oil by centuries. It’s Qigong, and it’s here to save your life. I have a number of email accounts, and one of them is devoted to matters skeptical. ABOUT | NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICSSEE MORE ON NTSKEPTICS.ORG MEMBERSHIP | NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS Membership. North Texas Skeptics is a registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 75-2275586), so your donations are tax deductible.. Membership in The North Texas Skeptics costs $30 per year.Here is what you get: The pride of belonging to an organization that takes a stand for rational thinking in an irrational worldDISCOVERY INSTITUTE
Re-posted from Skeptical Analysis Number 2 in a series. Hot damn! This is getting good. Yesterday I kicked off this series with a review of a post (by somebody) on Evolution News, the blog site hosted by the Discovery Institute Center for Science and Culture.That’s the group doing the heavy lifting to promote the Intelligent Design version of creationism in this country.MIKE VAN BIEZEN
Mike van Biezen is adjunct professor at Compton College, Santa Monica College, El Camino College, and Loyola Marymount University teaching Physics, Mathematics, Astronomy, and Earth Science. That should be impressive enough. Let’s see what Mr. Biezen has to say about AGW. There are ten points:JOE BARNHART
Readers will recall Joe Barnhart as a long-time advisor to The North Texas Skeptics. Interesting events transpired following Joe’s retirement and move to Tennessee. Without elaborating on the foolish nature of Dr. Warren’s dip into anti-science, I will observe itshould
STEPHEN C. MEYER
An addendum. Over the past few days I reviewed ten episodes of Does God Exist, a video produced by the fundamentalist Christian organization Focus on the Family.It’s offered as a DVD and is also streaming on Amazon Prime Video. In addition to the ten episodes addressing the question, “does God exist,” there is a bonus segment highlighting the challenges fundamentalist Christians RAY COMFORT REVIEWED Cross posted from Skeptical Analysis. First of all, we should all be careful to not take Ray Comfort much too seriously. Even seriously: In 2006, Comfort recorded a segment for The Way of the Master ‘s television show in which he argued that the banana was an “atheists’ nightmare”, arguing that it displayed many user-friendly features THE “TEACH THE CONTROVERSY” CONTROVERSY DEWOLF-FORMATTED.docx 3/6/2010 12:26 PM No. 1] The “Teach the Controversy” Controversy 327 claims of Darwinian evolution—that random mutation and natural selection (or some similarly unguided process)5 are sufficient to produce increasingly complex life forms—cannot be confirmed through experimentation in the UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN … UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN SUCCESS? By Daryl J. Bem, John Palmer, and Rich ard S. Broughton ABSTRACT : The ex istence of
NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS Number 2 of a Series. It’s back. Actually, I think it never left. In fact, this outdates that good old American snake oil by centuries. It’s Qigong, and it’s here to save your life. I have a number of email accounts, and one of them is devoted to matters skeptical. ABOUT | NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICSSEE MORE ON NTSKEPTICS.ORG MEMBERSHIP | NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS Membership. North Texas Skeptics is a registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 75-2275586), so your donations are tax deductible.. Membership in The North Texas Skeptics costs $30 per year.Here is what you get: The pride of belonging to an organization that takes a stand for rational thinking in an irrational worldDISCOVERY INSTITUTE
Re-posted from Skeptical Analysis Number 2 in a series. Hot damn! This is getting good. Yesterday I kicked off this series with a review of a post (by somebody) on Evolution News, the blog site hosted by the Discovery Institute Center for Science and Culture.That’s the group doing the heavy lifting to promote the Intelligent Design version of creationism in this country.MIKE VAN BIEZEN
Mike van Biezen is adjunct professor at Compton College, Santa Monica College, El Camino College, and Loyola Marymount University teaching Physics, Mathematics, Astronomy, and Earth Science. That should be impressive enough. Let’s see what Mr. Biezen has to say about AGW. There are ten points:JOE BARNHART
Readers will recall Joe Barnhart as a long-time advisor to The North Texas Skeptics. Interesting events transpired following Joe’s retirement and move to Tennessee. Without elaborating on the foolish nature of Dr. Warren’s dip into anti-science, I will observe itshould
STEPHEN C. MEYER
An addendum. Over the past few days I reviewed ten episodes of Does God Exist, a video produced by the fundamentalist Christian organization Focus on the Family.It’s offered as a DVD and is also streaming on Amazon Prime Video. In addition to the ten episodes addressing the question, “does God exist,” there is a bonus segment highlighting the challenges fundamentalist Christians RAY COMFORT REVIEWED Cross posted from Skeptical Analysis. First of all, we should all be careful to not take Ray Comfort much too seriously. Even seriously: In 2006, Comfort recorded a segment for The Way of the Master ‘s television show in which he argued that the banana was an “atheists’ nightmare”, arguing that it displayed many user-friendly features THE “TEACH THE CONTROVERSY” CONTROVERSY DEWOLF-FORMATTED.docx 3/6/2010 12:26 PM No. 1] The “Teach the Controversy” Controversy 327 claims of Darwinian evolution—that random mutation and natural selection (or some similarly unguided process)5 are sufficient to produce increasingly complex life forms—cannot be confirmed through experimentation in the UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN … UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN SUCCESS? By Daryl J. Bem, John Palmer, and Rich ard S. Broughton ABSTRACT : The ex istence of
ABOUT | NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS The Organization. The North Texas Skeptics was incorporated in 1989 as non-profit corporation within the meaning of Internal Revenue Code Section 501 (c) (3) and the Texas Tax Code Section 11.18 (c) (1). The organization was founded with the following mission: CONTACT | NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS Mailing Address. The North Texas Skeptics P.O. Box 111794 Carrollton,TX 75011-1794
INFORMATION
We are happy to inform you that NTS is now part of the Secular Policy Institute (SPI) coalition. Our name appears in the list of organizations in the Texas section at this SPI’s page. NTS board of directors discussed the request from SPI to join the coalition. NEW AGE | NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS This is being cross-posted from the Skeptical Analysis site.. I was looking for a title—something to call this. Help was on the way: For example, a cotton shirt cannot be made until the cotton has been sown as seeds, then grown, harvested and woven, and from this fabric many types of garments can be made.FAITH HEALING
This is being cross-posted from Skeptical Analysis: Some more of the same. It’s Tuesday again, the day we commemorate those who have died or suffered through the consequences of belief. ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE This is being reposted from Skeptical Analysis.. Every con job it requires two to complete the deal. A con artist may be devious of mind and sharp of tongue, but if the mark does not perform his part, the thing falls through.DAVID KLINGHOFFER
Re-posted from Skeptical Analysis Number 2 in a series. Hot damn! This is getting good. Yesterday I kicked off this series with a review of a post (by somebody) on Evolution News, the blog site hosted by the Discovery Institute Center for Science and Culture.That’s the group doing the heavy lifting to promote the Intelligent Design version of creationism in this country. UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN … UPDATING THE GANZFELD DATABASE: A VICTIM OF ITS OWN SUCCESS? By Daryl J. Bem, John Palmer, and Rich ard S. Broughton ABSTRACT : The ex istence of
RAY COMFORT
The North Texas Skeptics does not get involved in strictly religious matters. However, and this is crucial, when religious zealots, particularly creationists, make claims about scientific validity, they step into the purview of the NTS. THE NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH TEXAS Creationist text turned back Large Dallas-area district puts Pandas on endangered species list. Citizens had hoped to make pseudoscience text extinct By Mike Sullivan Plano, Texas — Hundreds of angry residents, educators and local clergy members united at a school board meeting in this large suburban Dallas district to keep a textbook that promotes Creationism out of the public school NORTH TEXAS SKEPTICS HELPING PEOPLE MAKE BETTER DECISIONS IN DALLAS/FT. WORTH AND SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES.Search
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ABUSING SCIENCE
Posted on January 24, 2020by John Blanton
Discovery Institute
to the rescue
again. Whenever I need a story about abuse of science I know I can always find one coming from this creationist organization. Their Evolution News site is a wealth of material. Here I can always count on something fresh. By “fresh” I mean stale. A lot of this stuff I have seen in a previous life spent writing about young Earth creationism. Truth be told, I subscribe to their newsletter. A recent issue pointed me to a video titled “Is Homology Evidence for Evolution? ” It’s short, and it is aimed at children. The idea of religious zealots is to inoculate young minds in order to ensure a ready feed stock for adult propagandizing. It’s a touchy-feely form of child abuse. I watched it through twice and obtained some screen shots for illustration. This video attacks biological evolution by going after the concept of homology. Briefly, homology, the study of like forms, got people to thinking about evolution thousands of years ago. The idea is it appears humans share structures of like form with other animals. And here is what is so ironic. The Intelligent Design advocates largely accept common ancestry. Jon Buell heads up the Foundation for Thought and Ethics (see following), and the late Philip Johnsonis considered the
godfather of the modern Intelligent Design movement. In a conversation in March 1994 both agreed they believed in common ancestry. Despite what you will be told in the video, homology is evidence of evolution and also common ancestry. Young minds enjoying this piece of propaganda are supposed to get the idea homology is the linchpin holding evolution together and, further, they will be informed that homology is debunked. Whales, people, and dogs enjoy five-digit appendages. But, what is the proper interpretation? Is it common descent, or is it evidence of a common designer? This is the point where the video first hints at Intelligent Design. The video illustrates with the Corvette—a classic American sports car. If you follow the evolution of the car’s design from its origins to today’s model, you will see it morph through severalstages.
But this is not due to Corvette models’ common ancestry. It is due to the car’s common manufacturer, the American Motors Corporation. Here the video is being disingenuous. The story of the Corvette relates descent with modification. Homology relates existing organisms according to their common features. Machines are products of human enterprise and do not undergo the evolutionary process that living things did. Although still not pertinent, a more proper illustration would have been to compare the modern bicycle with the 2020 model of the Corvette. Thousands of years ago people got the idea that wheels would facilitate transportation, and a result is both the bicycle and the Corvette have wheels. At this point, the video gets to the matter of cytochromeC.
We have seen that before. From the item linked above: It reflects an argument used by a young Earth creationist in an attempt to debunk homology, and evolution. The argument goes likethis:
* You compare the amino acid sequence of cytochrome C in modernorganisms.
* You note the differences do not reflect a progression from “least developed,” e.g., a carp, to “most developed,” e.g., a horse. The image is derived from one on page 38 of the creationist text _Of Pandas and People_, second edition. The book was produced by the Richardson, Texas, Foundation for Thought and Ethics. Creationists attempted unsuccessfully to introduce the book into the science curriculum of the Plano, Texas, public schools in 1995. A similar attempt with the Dover, Pennsylvania, school district culminated with the 2005 case _Kitzmiller, v. Dover Board of Education_.
The creationists lost “bigly” then, and a lot of the Discovery Institute’s propaganda thrust since has been in response to thisloss.
Here is another illustration from page 37 the _Pandas_ book. This illustrates how little the Intelligent Design argument has progressed in its attempt to distance itself from the dismal science of young Earth creationism. The difference in cytochrome C sequences reflects not development from ancient to modern, but the development since the most recent common ancestor. The difference between human and wheat and the difference between human and dogfish are nearly the same, because their most recent common ancestor marked the branching between plant life and animal life. The video entertains us with more of this. And it moves on to cytochrome D, which I have not studied. The video characterizes the involvement of homology in the theory of evolution as a circular argument. Evolution implies homology, whichimplies evolution.
Abuse of science has not much grown up since the Bible-thumping days of the Scopes Trial . Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged creationism , Discovery Institute , Intelligent Design, religion
SKEPTICS AT OUTBACK
Posted on November 10, 2019by John
Blanton
TOGETHER AGAIN
It’s good when the Skeptics can get together. We have become far-flung this past decade, with people moving out of town and even retiring. This Sunday we were able to meet for dinner at Outback Steakhouse in Addison for food and conversation. Here are a few photos I have put up to share. Full sizes are available on request. We accomplished no business discussed at the dinner, but there did come up the matter of the ICR museum, new in town. We are working up for somebody to pay a visit and write a story. Bueller? Bueller?Anybody?
Posted in Meeting | TaggedDinner
SON OF SNAKE OIL
Posted on September 16, 2018by John Blanton
NUMBER 2 OF A SERIESIt’s back.
Actually, I think it never left. In fact, this outdates that good old American snake oil by centuries. It’s Qigong , and it’s here to save yourlife.
I have a number of email accounts, and one of them is devoted to matters skeptical. Here I receive all manner of challenges for the North Texas Skeptics paranormal prize and also a bunch of stuff relating to alternative medicine—AltMed. Qigong (chee gong) is not new to the Skeptics. At the CSICOP conferencewe
hosted in 1992 they had a presenter come all the way from China to fill us in. It works like this. From Wikipedia:
> The theories of ancient Chinese qigong include the Yin-Yang > and Five Phases > Theory, Essence> –Qi
> –Spirit
> Theory,
> Zang-Xiang Theory, and Meridians and Qi-Blood Theory, which have > been synthesized as part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)> . TCM
> focuses on tracing and correcting underlying disharmony, in terms of > deficiency and excess, using the complementary and opposing forces > of yin and yang (陰陽) > , to create a balanced > flow of qi. Qi is believed to be cultivated and stored in three > main dantian energy > centers and to travel through the body along twelve main meridians > (Jīng Luò 經絡)> , with
> numerous smaller branches and tributaries. The main meridians > correspond to twelve main organs (Zàng fǔ 臟腑)) > . Qi is balanced in terms > of yin and yang in > the context of the traditional system of Five Phases (Wu xing> 五行) .
>
> A
> person is believed to become ill or die when qi becomes diminished > or unbalanced. Health is believed to be returned by rebuilding qi, > eliminating qi blockages, and correcting qi imbalances. These TCM > concepts do not translate readily to modern science and medicine. The above image is from the site linked in the email I received Saturday. So is this one: You are going to click on the images of satisfied patients to obtain additional information. Here is what they offer: > Feeling stressed? Having trouble unplugging from your full — > sometimes _too_ full! — life?>
> You might be looking for a simple practice that can help you find > more balance… physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.>
> Or maybe your energy is low, you feel rundown, and you’re > vulnerable to illness — or you have a chronic condition — and > your go-to remedies and practices aren’t enough to turn things> around.
>
> IT’S TIME TO TAKE YOUR HEALTH INTO YOUR OWN HANDS.>
> A daily Qigong practice, available to everyone, can immediately > lower stress, increase energy, prevent illness, and support you in > rejuvenating your body, mind, and spirit.>
> With Qigong, you can learn to bring healing energy — known as > “Qi” — to particular parts of your body to transform anxiety, > stress, and disease into self-confidence, inner peace, and optimal> health.
>
> As your body responds by doing what it’s designed to do (heal and > re-balance itself), blockages in your flow of Qi disappear and your > full life force energy moves smoothly, radiating out into all > aspects of your daily life.>
> During _The __Qigong Global Summit, _some of the world’s > foremost Qigong teachers — including MASTER MANTAK CHIA, DAISY > LEE, LEE HOLDEN, DR. EFFIE CHOW, DR. ROGER JAHNKE, MASTER MINGTONG > GU, PEDRAM SHOJAI, SIFU AMA LIA WAI CHING LEE, ROBERT PENG, and > others — will show you simple yet powerful practices to cultivate > abundant Qi flow for your health, healing, and daily life.>
> These Qigong teachers, masters, and doctors in the > first-ever _Qigong Global Summit_ will share insights into the > practices of QIGONG, TAI CHI, MARTIAL ARTS, AND TRADITIONAL CHINESE > MEDICINE — AS WELL AS HOW QI IS THE FOUNDATION OF ALL OF THESE > ANCIENT ARTS, AND MORE.>
> Through beautiful, high-quality video, they’ll illuminate both the > philosophical and practical components of working with Qi — and > offer simple practices you can use right away.>
> Our highly esteemed teachers will offer their wisdom on how to > discover your inner healing potential, and perspectives on how to > flow with the challenges of daily life. That next to last paragraph is a winner. Qigong is all about managingyour qi :
> Believers of _qi_ (chee) describe it as a vital energy > whose flow must be > balanced for health. Qi is a pseudoscientific> , unverified
> concept, which has never been directly observed, and is unrelated > to the concept of energy used in science (vital energy is itself > an abandoned scientific notion). I am not an authority on acupuncture, but those knowledgeable tell me it is based on managing your qi:
> You may have heard the words “qi” or chi” with regard to > acupuncture and alternative medicine. But do you even know how to > pronounce it, let alone understand the concept? If you’ve ever > wondered: “What is (qi) chi energy?” then read on. Understanding > this important concept will help you better comprehend how > Traditional Chinese Medicine and acupuncture work.>
> THE BASICS OF UNDERSTANDING _CHI_ | AMC ACUPUNCTURE SCHOOL MIAMI>
> Qi or chi — pronounced “chee” — is the energy flow created > along the pathways that connect the acupuncture points on the body. > The pathways between the points are called meridians, which also > connect to internal organs in the body. Using acupuncture needles, > pressure or heat to manipulate a point or two separate points on > the body can improve a person’s qi — which is also thought of as > one’s life force — and relieve the symptoms of a variety of > medical conditions, including chronic pain, digestive issues, > respiratory problems and more. This understanding of the human > body comes from Traditional Chinese Medicine, which is thousands of > years old. It’s a different way of thinking about how the body > works than conventional Western medicine. I was thankful to receive this particular piece of mail. It reminded me that foolishness is not not a modern invention. It is a human tradition that stretches back to the time when ignorance was anexcuse.
Coming next: feng shui . I guarantee, you’re going to love it. Posted in AltMed | Tagged alternative Chinese medicine,
Alternative Medicine, qigong
THE HARTNETT DELUSION Posted on April 14, 2018by John
Blanton
THIS IS BEING RE-POSTED FROM SKEPTICAL ANALYSIS.
Continuing a review of the Kathleen Hartnett White book _HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=XDWBQPUEXQE&T=306S_ I previously reviewed chapter 1, _Energy at a Crossroads_, subtitled _Doomslayers vs. Doomsayers_. That chapter, with a number of failings noted, is a determined argument, largely successful, that fossil fuels are a boon to modern civilization. Here I am going to cover chapters 2, 3, and 4 in a single posting, which about measures the limits of my endurance. I will post a some pertinent excerpts along with assessments.Start with
CHAPTER 2, _HOW THE SHALE REVOLUTION IS CHANGING EVERYTHING_. In fact, the shale revolution is changing everything. Forty years ago we were forecasting petroleum production to peak in the 21st century. We always knew there were vast stores of oil locked in stone—shale—impractical to extract. Advancing technology has turned that around. With liquid crude oil pumping at $40 per barrel and higher, oil from shale is now competitive. > Strangely enough, the energy bonanza has coincided with the > presidency of a man hell-bent on eliminating fossil fuels to avert > alleged global warming.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 602-603). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. The writers (Moore and White) are, of course, speaking of liberal President Barack Obama, in office at the time the book was published. As I advance through the book, I recognize more and more the pen of writer Stephen Moore, his style and agenda coming to the surface. Here we see the calculated implementation of loaded phrasing with terms like “hell-bent” and “alleged” appearing close by in the same sentence. “Hell-bent” nods to mindless intent on the part of Mr. Obama, and “alleged” reminds us that the science behind anthropogenic global warming (AGW) is faulty, even devious. A stroll through the book will disclose that Moore and White string out a slew of true statements, which soon become undercut by a number of scientific misconceptions and blatant falsehoods. For the remainder of the book I will attribute the content to Moore for the sake ofsimplicity.
> Yet after more than eighteen years without warming global > temperatures, the president seeks to increase our dependence on > these thuggish regimes and declares that global warming is a greater > threat than ISIS.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 606-607). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. Here Moore displays a couple of miscues: * His statement about global temperatures is wrong. * He published too early, his reference regarding ISIS now overcomeby events.
This chart is “Global mean surface temperature change since 1880. Source: NASA GISS ” Contrary to what Moore states, we do not seem to have experienced “more than eighteen years without warming global temperatures.” In the meantime, opposing forces, including the United States military, have driven ISIS from its world headquarters in Raqqa, Syria, and ISIS has ceased to exist as a territorial entity. Also, contrary to Moore’s proclamations, ISIS will cease to be an issue long before the effects of AGW have dissipated, if ever. > We know that ISIS terrorist networks are funded to the tune of $ 1 > million a day through oil dollars.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 638-639). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. I’m still trying to figure out how that fact supports the intentof this book.
> The oil and gas extracted in the shale fields began as small aquatic > organisms in an ancient inland sea covering the central region of > North America from the Great Plains to what we now call > Pennsylvania. And by an ancient inland sea, we mean ancient— > formed sixty million years ago, during the Cretaceous Period.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 738-740). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. While I am prepared to concede that the vast body of oil being pumped today comes from the geological Cenozoic Period, I will not agree that 60 million years ago represents the Cretaceous Period, which ended about 66 million years ago. While this technical gaff does not bely Moore’s tale about the origin of these deposits, it does reflect on sloppy writing and a lack of deep understanding. > One presidential signature can deprive Americans of critical natural > resources. In 1996, for example, President Bill Clinton designated > 1.7 million acres of land in Utah’s Grand Staircase Escalante as a > national monument, putting the largest store of low-sulfur coal in > the country off limits. This is the least polluting form of coal and > in the highest demand.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 854-856). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. Obviously this signals a disconnect of priorities. The Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument is a national treasure, which was given protection by President Clinton. When George W. Bush became president he revoked that protection as one of his first actions. That action produced a backlash, especially from people in the region, and President Bush quickly rescinded his revocation. While I concur with Moore and White that our natural resources need to be exploited for the good of all, there is bound to be something that is too valuable to put on the block. Bringing the narrative up to the present, President Trump was elected on the strength of his commitment to put business interests first, and his Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, is proposing to again reverse government protection of the area. > Over the last four decades, American industries have dramatically > reduced air and water pollution.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Location 866). Regnery Publishing.> Kindle Edition.
Yes, that is true. I hope Moore and White do not seek to convince us these reductions are being made voluntarily. The hard truth is that government regulations account for these reductions, which regulations, by the way, are now being lifted by the industry-friendly Trump administration. Some of the book’s language is curious, even puzzling. Take this from the previous chapter: > Yet a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions of this magnitude would > mean curtailing the use of the carbon-rich fertilizers that have fed > the world since the 1950s, putting the developing world at risk of> famine.
>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 499-500). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. I hope everybody agrees that fertilizers do not contain carbon or its compounds as active ingredients. Paging through the chapter I cometo this:
> Eliminating fertilizer made from natural gas would reduce the food > supply— increasing the chronic hunger now suffered by five hundred > million human beings.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 897-899). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. Yes, natural gas is used in the production of nitrogen fertilizers, but what the authors possibly do not realize is that the process uses hydrogen from natural gas. In the production of ammonia, NH3, the hydrogen from natural gas, CH4, combines with nitrogen in the air. There are many examples like this, indicating the need for some technical assistance in writing the book. > In 2015, the ethanol mandate absorbed 40 percent of the U.S. corn > crop. Multiple studies now conclude the production of ethanol is a > net energy loss and increases genuine pollution and carbon dioxide. > Ethanol policy is a prime example of counterproductive, outdated, > and ethically offensive federal energy policy.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 932-935). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. I’m tossing this bit out to illustrate the number of valid points made in the book. I’m not bothering to check the facts on this one, because, if the stated numbers are not completely accurate, they are closely enough accurate. Anybody having better information is invited to challenge me here. I look for someone to dig into this more deeply. Any good points in the book are quickly blunted by statements such asthe following:
> However disappointing to some who have pledged their careers to > politicized climate science, carbon dioxide is not a genuine > pollutant capable of harming human health. Fossil fuels— abundant, > affordable, concentrated and versatile— are superior to other > energy sources at this time.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 944-946). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. I am going to take that as saying that all the scientists concluding that AGW is a problem are politicizing climate science. Moore and White want us to know that AGW is not a problem and also that these scientists are lying. CHAPTER 3: SAUDI AMERICA, HOW ENERGY IS REMAKING THE U.S. ECONOMY Lots of numbers get thrown around here. > The oil wells of Williston seem to be bottomless. In 1995, the U.S. > Geological Survey estimated there were one hundred fifty million > “technically recoverable barrels of oil” in the Bakken shale. By > 2013, geologists were estimating twenty-four billion barrels. > Current technology allows for the extraction of only about 6 percent > of the oil trapped one to two miles beneath the earth’s surface, > so as the technology advances, recoverable oil could eventually > exceed five hundred billion barrels.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 1003-1007). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. And I don’t know where Moore and White get these numbers.
> In April 2008, a USGS report estimated the amount of recoverable oil > using technology readily available at the end of 2007 within the > Bakken Formation at 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels (680,000,000 m3), > with a mean of 3.65 billion. Simultaneously the state of North > Dakota released a report with a lower estimate of 2.1 billion > barrels (330,000,000 m3) of technically recoverable oil in the > Bakken. Various other estimates place the total reserves, > recoverable and non-recoverable with today’s technology, at up to > 24 billion barrels. A recent estimate places the figure at 18 > billion barrels. In April 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey> released a
> new figure for expected ultimate recovery of 7.4 billion barrels of> oil.
CHAPTER 4: THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD Let’s start with this: > Steve Moore was once quoted in the New York Times as saying that > “our oil supply is infinite. We will never run out,” a statement > that provoked outrage. One high school science teacher wrote, “Mr. > Moore: Even my fourteen-year-olds know that oil is finite.” That > teacher probably became a top science advisor to President Obama.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 1272-1275). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. This is good. The author quotes himself—which quote I was unable to locate—and steps outside his area of expertise. Moore’s _NYT_ statement is technically untrue, as no material thing in this universe seems to be infinite. Whether we will ever run out of oil is another question. A number of things can make this true, including we could all die first. Another possibility is we could reduce our consumption rate to the point we are using oil at the rate the planet is producing it. > To become more prosperous over time, we don’t want to conserve > energy, we want to use it.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 1288-1289). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. Again a bit of over-inflated rhetoric, and I am sure Moore and White did not intend this to come across the way it did. However, I am not inclined to give them a break. Yes, we want to conserve energy. Energy consumption costs money, and if you want more money in your pocket at the end of the day you will use energy wisely. I reviewed this topic afew years back.
Yeah, a conservative site posted this, presumably to poke fun at the foolishness of energy-saving electric lamps. Here’s a recap:
> If only there were any substance to it. Let’s take a look at some > reality. A quick visit to Home Depot reveals the following:>
> $6.97 / package: > EcoSmart 60W Equivalent Daylight (5000K) Spiral CFL Light Bulb> (4-Pack)
>
>
> $8.97 / case:
> Philips 60W Equivalent Daylight (6500K) T2 Spiral CFL Light Bulb> (E*) (4-Pack)
>
> What happened to the $6.34 each for CFLs? Where did that price come > from? How long did it take the person composing the little ditty > above to come up with such a number? It could have taken a while. > Writing fiction can be tedious. How about the $0.42 each for > incandescents? Let me know where I can get them. Home Depot has its> own price:
>
> GE Reveal 60-Watt Incandescent A19 Reveal Light Bulb (6-Pack)>
>
>
> Model # 60A/RVL-6PK>
> $8.77 / package > Which brings us back to “I love using liberal clichés to > illustrate the absurdity of liberal policies.” By now you are > beginning to think what I’m thinking. This is a joke, right? I > mean, nothing goes this far off the rails without a little nudge > from somebody. I’m guessing this particular somebody was > thinking, “I’m bored, so what I’m going to do is have some fun > with dim-witted libruls.”>
> All right. I concede. It was fun. If this was somebody’s idea of a > joke, the joke was well and truly joined. If it was not a joke, > then… Then oops! Somebody’s got a problem, and it’s not the > kind of problem I’m prepared to help with. Let’s all hope > this was just a wall-laid spoof and let it go at that.>
> Whatever it was, let me describe a bit of the real world.>
> * 2600 square foot all-electric residence in San Antonio, Texas > * Compact fluorescents installed throughout > * Lamps purchased at Home Depot as shown > * April last year $61 electric bill > * July last year $105 electric bill>
> Since then I have replaced maybe 26 CFLs with LED lamps equivalent > to 60W incandescents but consuming only 9.5 Watts. Stephen Moore, you are going to have to start getting serious if you want people to take you seriously. > What do we use our energy resources for? That seems like a question > with a patently obvious answer, but it’s shocking how few people > know where energy comes from and how it is used. When we speak to > high school and college kids, we ask, “Where does your electricity > come from?” And most of the kids point to the outlet in the wall. > Ah, the millennials. They know everything, don’t they? For those > who are wiser and know what they don’t know, here are some energy> basics.
>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 1294-1297). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. To which I respond, “In your dreams, Stephen Moore.” Public school students are connected to the same sources of information Stephen Moore is, and his humorous characterization is a bit over-played. Reading through this book leaves the impression it is Stephen Moore who could benefit from technical education. > Compounds derived from fossil fuels are the raw materials for > thousands of synthetic materials. How would a zero-carbon economy > replace these goods and the services they provide?>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 1323-1324). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. Wait. Wait! Moore is being deliberately deceptive here. Scientists say “zero-carbon,” and they are talking about zero introducing carbon (dioxide) from fossil fuels into the atmosphere. They are not talking about uses of carbon from petroleum to produce consumer products. Unless these synthetic materials are burned, their carbon (dioxide) hardly makes it into the atmosphere. True, the stuff might bloat our landfills, and it often ends up floating somewhere in the ocean, but that is not the same impact as burning fuel oil. Moore and White venture into the world of physical science and beyond their area of expertise. Some results are amusing. > Damming the flow of rivers in order to generate hydroelectric power > is an example of converting gravitational energy.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 1391-1392). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. The truth be known, hydro-electric power is ultimately solar power. > The muscles of human beings and animals act as a kind of heat engine > to generate mechanical energy for movement and work.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 1399-1400). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. No. Just no. Muscle power is not an example of heat conversion to mechanical energy. Muscle action is direct chemical to mechanicalconversion.
> Chemical energy is the most pervasive form of energy.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Location 1407). Regnery Publishing.> Kindle Edition.
I recognize this book is not intended as a technical treatise, but additional exactitude would be beneficial if sprinkled throughout. On this planet, chemical energy is not an ultimate source. The ultimate source of practically all chemical energy is the sun. > The egg stores almost as much energy as the barrel of oil!>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 1433-1434). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. Is there a proof reader in the house. Somewhere along the chain Moore has slipped a link. This brash statement is coupled to an externalreference:
> Vaclav Smil, _Energy and Nature in Society_ (2007), Table A. 8 > Energy Flows and Stores at 393. I don’t have a copy of the book. It’s $38 for the Kindle edition, and I most recently spent my last thousand dollars on a vacation to the tropics. In any event, missteps such as this bolster the impression that precision is not Moore’s strong suite. Throughout, Moore spells BTU as Btu. It’s BTU. Moore takes great lengths to emphasize “power density.” Forexample:
> Hydrogen has an energy density by weight far higher than that of any > other fuel at 143 MJ/ kg,>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 1465-1466). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. For the record, about ten years ago I had this discussion with another engineer, and I went so far as to write on paper, sign the paper, and hand over, my statement that the future of powered transportation, particularly automobiles, is hydro-carbon fuel. The high energy density of these fuels makes automobile transportation practical. If petroleum becomes problematic, we will need to manufacture something like gasoline from atmospheric carbon dioxide. Keep in mind that modern air transport relies 100% on hydrocarbon fuel. Since 100 years ago large military operations have been impossible without high-density fuels such as hydrocarbons. Destroy the enemy’s fuel supplies, and you win the war. Moore gets around to attacking climate science directly. > The theories of man-made global warming and predictions of > catastrophic climate change are based on assumptions about the > earth’s climate system that are not confirmed by observational > evidence. The empirical sciences have long understood that > measurement, observation, and experiment are the essential means of > validating a scientific hypothesis. Claims of consensus cannot trump > physical evidence. As the renowned paleogeologist Ian Plimer, of the > University of Adelaide, argues, “The theory of human induced > global warming is not science because research is based on a > pre-ordained conclusion, huge bodies of evidence are ignored, and > the analytical procedures are treated as> evidence.”
>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 1496-1501). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. I found this interesting, because I have prior (indirect) experience with Ian Plimer. From the newsletter of the North Texas Skeptics:
> Of course, the creationists have their embarrassments, as well, and > this little pamphlet has been one of them. As reported by Chris > Stassen in the talk.origins > archive (http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/gish-exposed.html)> Ian Plimer
> debated Gish in Australia in 1988, and the topic > of _Brainwashed _came up. Stassen quotes from a video tape of the > debate. His transcript has Plimer talking about the pamphlet:>
> There is a diagram there that says, “precambrian: void of > fossils.” That is a lie. The Precambrian is not void of fossils; > the Precambrian is extremely rich in fossils. He has come to > the country where there are many Precambrian fossils going back to 3 > thousand 3 hundred million years ago. Plimer has long been known as a champion of real science as opposed to creationism. Moore has quoted Plimer and has provided a footnote: > Alan Moran, Ed., Climate Change: The Facts, “Chapter 1: The > Science and Politics of Climate Change,” Ian Plimer (Stockade > Books, Institute of Public Affairs, Melbourne, 2015).>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 4637-4638). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. The book is available in Kindle, and this morning I clicked a link and had it delivered to my computer. Plimer’s section in the book is succinct, and a quick analysis is in order. His statement, “THE THEORY OF HUMAN INDUCED GLOBAL WARMING IS NOT SCIENCE BECAUSE RESEARCH IS BASED ON A PRE-ORDAINED CONCLUSION, HUGE BODIES OF EVIDENCE ARE IGNORED, AND THE ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES ARE TREATED AS EVIDENCE,” is worth some analysis. I interpret the first clause as saying that research into AGW is aimed at confirming a conclusion. That statement hangs out there with no visible means of support. None is given here by Plimer, and evidence does not support the conclusion. It would be helpful if Plimer would cite some of the huge bodies of evidence that are being ignored. And finally, no. Climate models are not treated as evidence. Climate models are matched against the evidence and corrected to better conform. Furthermore, when the evidence is examined we find the planet (oceans, atmosphere) is getting warmer year after year. See the abovegraph.
Plimer has more to say, part of which I will excerpt: > Point (ii) has shown to be invalid on all time scales. There is no > doubt that CO2 is a greenhouse gas. However, the main greenhouse gas > is water vapour. The first 100 parts per million (ppm) of CO2 have a > significant effect on atmospheric temperature, whereas any increase > from the current 400 ppm will have an insignificant effect. > Furthermore, because CO2 has a short residence time in the > atmosphere, it is naturally sequestered into the oceans, life, or > rocks in less than a decade. In fact, only one molecule of every > 85,000 in the atmosphere is CO2 of human origin, and yet we are > asked to believe that this one molecule drives hugely complex > climate change systems. We are also asked to believe that the 32 > molecules of CO2 of natural origin in every 85,000 molecules play no > part in driving climate change.>
> Abbot, Dr John; James Delingpole, Dr Robert M. Carter ~ Rupert > Darwall ~; Donna Laframboise, Dr Christopher Essex ~ Dr Stewart W. > Franks ~ Dr Kesten C. Green ~; Dr Richard S. Lindzen, Nigel Lawson ~ > Bernard Lewin ~; Dr Patrick J. Michaels ~ Dr Alan Moran, Dr Jennifer > Marohasy ~ Dr Ross McKitrick ~; Nova, Jo; Dr Willie Soon, Dr Garth > W. Paltridge ~ Dr Ian Plimer ~; Steyn, Mark; Watts, Anthony; Andrew > Bolt; Dr J. Scott Armstrong. Climate Change: The Facts (Kindle > Locations 201-208). Stockade Books. Kindle Edition. “However, the main greenhouse gas is water vapour.” Yes! What of it? Water vapor in the atmosphere contributes immensely to keeping the planet warm. The effect of carbon-dioxide is an add-on. “The first 100 parts per million (ppm) of CO2 have a significant effect on atmospheric temperature, whereas any increase from the current 400 ppm will have an insignificant effect.” This statement would be helped if some substantiation were provided. “Furthermore, because CO2 has a short residence time in the atmosphere, it is naturally sequestered into the oceans, life, or rocks in LESS THAN A DECADE.” This is contrary to known facts. The life span of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is in the order of 200 years. “In fact, only one molecule of every 85,000 in the atmosphere is CO2 of human origin.” I don’t get the same number that Plimer does. Starting with 280 ppm CO2 we are now at 400 ppm, due to human activity. That’s a 120 ppm human contribution, or one molecule for every 8333 in the atmosphere. Where did the 85,000 come from? The remainder of Plimer’s statement is an argument from incredulity, something Plimer must have seen a lot in his debates with creationists. You don’t believe something, so it must be false. Anyhow, Moore and White choose citations from sources that fit their purpose, apparently with little regard for fact. > To oversimplify, it is said that the relatively small increment of > man-made carbon dioxide added to the natural atmospheric > concentration of carbon dioxide since the Industrial Revolution > disrupts the natural dynamics of climate. Adding more carbon > dioxide, a greenhouse gas, to the atmosphere could lead to some > warming, but could the relatively small additional increment of > man-made carbon dioxide overpower the natural variables of climate, > leading to planetary catastrophe?>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 1502-1505). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. Yes, the rise in temperature due to AGW is small, something in the order of 1 – 3 C. People, that’s the problem we are talking about. That is only through the end of the 21st century, and it assumes additional concentrations of CO2. Take another look at the graph above. I see a rise of 1 C since I was born. The effects are already noticeable. Please let me know if you do not think this is aproblem.
> In a 2009 scandal popularly known as “Climategate,” e-mails > between key authors of the IPCC’s 2008 assessment report revealed > an even darker side of the IPCC: active efforts to suppress, > destroy, and manipulate data, to exaggerate temperature records and > to prevent the publication of works by dissenting scientists in > academic journals. 32 Several investigations followed, and some > leading scientists called for a dissolution of the IPCC, but the > UN-driven process limped on.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 1520-1524). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. Really? A deeper look at the supposed scandal is worthwhile.
> Eight committees investigated the allegations and published reports, > finding no evidence of fraud or scientific misconduct. However, the > reports called on the scientists to avoid any such allegations in > the future by taking steps to regain public confidence in their > work, for example by opening up access to their supporting data, > processing methods and software, and by promptly honouring freedom> of information
> requests. The scientific > consensus that global warming is occurring> as
> a result of human activity> remained
> unchanged throughout the investigations. AGW skeptics continue to cite this story, indicating this is one of their best arguments going. My take: a good argument must be made ofstronger stuff.
> For instance, the way the human body burns the chemical energy > contained in food is similar to the way the internal combustion > engine of an automobile burns the chemical energy in gasoline.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 1544-1546). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition.Again, no.
> This makes the concentration of carbon dioxide in human expiration > about forty thousand parts per million (ppm)! The current > atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide is now about four > hundred ppm, including man-made contributions from the combustion of > fossil fuels. 39 Atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide in 1850 are > thought to have been about 280 ppm.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 1562-1565). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. This is a strange argument. I wish somebody would explain what Mooreis getting at.
> The earth’s location in our solar system is also essential to its > ability to support life.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 1565-1566). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. Really, again. And this has what to do with the discussion? > “That the sun influences our climate should not be surprising . . > . when we consider that 99.98 percent of the total energy of the > world’s climate comes from the sun.”>
> Oddly, the UN’s IPCC, whose “science” is the authoritative > support for climate policy to supplant fossil fuels, largely > dismisses the sun’s effect on climate. The IPCC assumes that the > increased man-made emissions of carbon dioxide over the previous two > centuries overpower the influence of the sun— and of all other > natural climactic variables, such as water vapor, clouds, and > aerosols— on climate.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 1574-1579). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. The reference is to a book by Luning and Vahrenholt, and this seems to be the quote of interest. > What makes us so sure that the sun, which is dismissed by the IPCC, > plays a central role in climate events? That is relatively easy to > answer. Geological climate reconstructions exhaustively show that > temperatures on earth have followed solar activit y for thousands of > years. That is not surprising when we consider that 99.98 per cent > of the total energy of the world’s climate comes from the sun. > Would it not make sense to suspect that even small changes in solar > energy could have huge impacts?>
> Luning, Sebastian; Vahrenholt, Fritz. The Neglected Sun: Why the Sun > Precludes Climate Catastrophe (Kindle Locations 576-580). The > Heartland Institute. Kindle Edition. What is odd is that Moore is telling us the IPCC discounts the sun’s effects on global warming. Actually, _all_ of AGW is due to the sun. Somewhere it has gotten lost that AGW results from the action of additional CO2 trapping additional heat from the sun. What is not odd is the publisher of the Luning and Vahrenholt book is the Heartland Institute.
> HUMAN ACTIVITY TRUMPS THE POWER OF THE SUN?>
> To get a sense of the power of the sun, consider that it burns over > six hundred million metric tons of hydrogen every second.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 1592-1593). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. Moore and White continue to impress us with the power of the sun, deliberately missing the irrelevance of this argument. > Major advances in the scientific understanding of energy and its > engineering applications have occurred only within the past two > centuries. Although we know more about how energy operates in the > natural world and how it can be harnessed for human purposes, we > still lack a clear understanding of what energy is. Is it a particle> or a wave?
>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 1603-1605). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. Yikes! Is there a physicist in the house? Energy is a particle or a wave? Does Moore want to take another cut at that statement? Reading through the book, I get an indication of why the _Kansas City Star_ no longer prints Moore’s contributions.
> And the agent is the most fundamental natural energy conversion on > the earth, commonly known as photosynthesis catalyzed by atmospheric> carbon dioxide.
>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 1617-1618). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. Now we need help from a chemistry major. Strictly speaking, carbon dioxide does not catalyze photosynthesis. It is consumed in theprocess.
> Many machines, or “prime movers” as engineers call them, that > convert energy from one form to another, like the turbines used by > modern thermal power plants, can convert 99 percent of the > turbine’s mechanical energy into electricity.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 1645-1646). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. While likely true, also irrelevant. The conversion of mechanical energy to electrical energy is a notably efficient process. The turbine turns a generator rotor, driving an electric current through the coils. What is critical to the operation of a turbine generating system is the efficiency of converting available energy from the coal (oil, natural gas) into mechanical energy. This is much less than 98%. And none of it matters to the topic under discussion. > Many senior scientists in the field conclude that it is time to > declare the IPCC’s methodology and computer models a failure. A > portion of the federal research funds should be allocated to those > highly credentialed scientists— now marginalized as skeptics— to > assess the IPCC’s work over the last several decades and to offer > alternative theories and evidence.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 1657-1660). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. Yes, get rid of the scientists who are coming up with conclusions you disagree with and get in some of your own people. Changing the researcher is the best way to change the facts. Except, it does not work that way. The facts are going to remain the same. > Natural carbon dioxide accounts for a minuscule 0.039 percent of the > atmospheric gasses we actually breathe at the tropospheric level.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 1668-1669). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. Yes, I know. “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds .” However, is it too much to ask Moore not to state the concentration of CO2 is 400 ppm and then a few pages later state it’s 399? And wait! He’s calling the 399 ppm “natural CO2,” when 120 ppm of that is due to human activity. Forget about consistency. > Governments and the private sector have already directed hundreds of > billions of dollars to ridding the world of carbon. Betting on the > success of this effort would be a highly risky investment. Carbon, > after all, is defined as “the chemical basis of all known life.” > 55 Have people forgotten this fact?>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 1686-1688). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. I know of one household where this is not forgotten. What seems to be forgotten by Moore is that the conversation is supposed to be about carbon in the atmosphere in the form of CO2 produced by humanactivity.
> The global warming alarmists and many educated elites have lost > their faith in man’s ability to adapt and to tame his natural > surroundings. Making carbon the enemy of the planet means that > mankind is the enemy of the planet. Our bones, blood, and flesh are > made of carbon.>
> Moore, Stephen; White, Kathleen Hartnett. Fueling Freedom: Exposing > the Mad War on Energy (Kindle Locations 1710-1712). Regnery > Publishing. Kindle Edition. My impression: this is the level of thinking that went into the writing of this book. Am I allowed to take a small victory lap and then head off for a nap? No, I still have to read chapters 5 through 11. It promises to be fun. Keep reading. And may Jesus have mercy on our souls. Posted in Climate Science, science
| Tagged AnthropogenicGlobal Warming
, Heartland
Institute , Ian
Plimer , Kathleen HartnettWhite , science
THE YEARS OF LIVING STUPIDLY Posted on February 8, 2018by
John Blanton
REPOSTED FROM SKEPTICAL ANALYSIS Did I mention I previously attended meetings of a creationist group in Dallas? I’m sure I did. Here’s more of the same. There’s a group called the Metroplex Institute of Origin Science, MIOS, and they had program meetings on a Tuesday night most every month. Often times there were presentations on why creation is true and evolution is wrong, not only wrong but usually evil. These were what I call creationists of the first type. They hold to a literal interpretation of the Bible, which is the origin of the creation story. So they need to continually confirm the truth of biblical stories, including the famous flood of Noah. Also other stories. Including the story of Joshua. A presentation one night was a bizarre explanation of how the story of Joshua at the Battle of Jericho has been proved true. I have a copy of the handouts from the meeting, and here it is, as verbatim as myability allows:
> THE _SUN _DID STAND STILL>
> DID YOU KNOW THAT THE SPACE PROGRAM IS BUSY PROVING THAT WHAT HAS > BEEN CALLED “MYTH” IN THE BIBLE IS TRUE? MR. HAROLD HILL, > PRESIDENT OF THE CURTIS ENGINE CO. IN BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, AND A > CONSULTANT IN THE SPACE PROGRAM, RELATES THE FOLLOWING DEVELOPMENT:>
> “I THINK ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING THINGS THAT GOD HAS FOR US TODAY > HAPPENED RECENTLY TO OUR ASTRONAUTS AND SPACE SCIENTISTS AT GREEN > BELT, MARYLAND. THEY WERE CHECKING THE POSITION OF THE SUN, MOON, > AND PLANETS OUT IN SPACE WHERE THEY WOULD BE 100 YEARS AND 1,000 > YEARS FROM NOW. WE HAVE TO KNOW THIS SO WE DON’T SEND A SATELLITE > UP AND HAVE IT BUMP INTO SOMETHING LATER ON IN ITS ORBITS. WE HAVE > TO LAY OUT THE ORBITS IN TERMS OF THE LIFE OF THE SATELLITE, AND > WHERE THE PLANETS WILL BE SO THE WHOLE THING WILL NOT BOG DOWN! THEY > RAN THE COMPUTER MEASUREMENT BACK AND FORTH OVER THE CENTURIES AND > IT CAME TO A HALT. THE COMPUTER STOPPED AND PUT UP A RED SIGNAL, > WHICH MEANT THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG EITHER WITH THE > INFORMATION FED INTO IT OR WITH THE RESULTS AS COMPARED TO THE > STANDARDS. THEY CALLED IN THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT TO CHECK IT OUT AND > THEY SAID, “IT’S PERFECT.” THE HEAD OF OPERATIONS SAID, > “WHAT’S WRONG?” “WELL, THEY HAVE FOUND THERE IS A DAY > MISSING IN SPACE IN ELAPSED TIME.” THEY SCRATCHED THEIR HEADS AND > TORE THEIR HAIR. THERE WAS NO ANSWER!>
> ONE RELIGIOUS FELLOW ON THE TEAM SAID, “YOU KNOW, ONE TIME I WAS > IN SUNDAY SCHOOL AND THEY TALKED ABOUT THE SUN STANDING STILL.” > THEY DIDN’T BELIEVE HIM; BUT THEY DIDN’T HAVE ANY OTHER ANSWER > SO THEY SAID, “SHOW US.” HE GOT A BIBLE AND WENT BACK TO THE > BOOK OF JOSHUA WHERE THEY FOUND A PRETTY RIDICULOUS STATEMENT FOR > ANYBODY WHO HAS ‘COMMON SENSE’. THERE THEY FOUND THE LORD SAYING > TO JOSHUA, “FEAR THEM NOT; FOR I HAVE DELIVERED THEM INTO THINE > HAND; THERE SHALL NOT A MAN OF THEM STAND BEFORE THEE.” JOSHUA WAS > CONCERNED BECAUSE HE WAS SURROUNDED BY THE ENEMY AND IF DARKNESS > FELL THEY WOULD OVERPOWER THEM. SO JOSHUA ASKED THE LORD TO MAKE THE > SUN STAND STILL! THAT’S RIGHT — “THE SUN STOOD STILL, AND THE > MOON STAYED . . . AND PASTED NOT TO GO DOWN ABOUT A WHOLE DAY.” > JOSHUA 10:8,12,13. THE SPACE MEN SAID, “THERE IS THE MISSING > DAY!” THEY CHECKED THE COMPUTERS GOING BACK INTO THE TIME IT WAS > WRITTEN AND FOUND IT WAS CLOSE BUT NOT CLOSE ENOUGH. THE ELAPSED > TIME THAT WAS MISSING BACK IN JOSHUA’S DAY WAS 23 HOURS AND 20 > MINUTES — NOT A WHOLE DAY. THEY READ THE BIBLE AND THERE IT WAS > -”ABOUT (APPROXIMATELY) A DAY.”>
> THESE LITTLE WORDS IN THE BIBLE ARE IMPORTANT. BUT THEY WERE STILL > IN TROUBLE BECAUSE IF YOU CANNOT ACCOUNT FOR 40 MINUTES YOU’LL BE > IN TROUBLE 1,000 YEARS FROM NOW. FORTY MINUTES HAD TO BE FOUND > BECAUSE IT CAN BE MULTIPLIED MANY TIMES OVER IN ORBITS. THIS > RELIGIOUS FELLOW ALSO REMEMBERED SOMWHERE IN THE BIBLE WHERE IT SAID > THE SUN WENT BACKWARDS. THE SPACE MEN TOLD HIM HE WAS OUT OF HIS > MIND. BUT THEY GOT THE BOOK AND READ THESE WORDS IN II KINGS: > HEZAKIAH, ON HIS DEATH-BED, WAS VISITED BY THE PROPHET ISAIAH WHO > TOLD HIM THAT HE WAS NOT GOING TO DIE. HEZEKIAH ASKED FOR A SIGN AS > PROOF. ISAIAH SAID, “DO YOU WANT THE SUN TO GO AHEAD TEN > DEGREES?” HEZEKIAH SAID, “IT’S NOTHING FOR THE SUN TO GO AHEAD > TEN DEGREES, BUT LET THE SHADOW RETURN BACKWARD TEN DEGREES.” II > KINGS 20: 9-11. ISAIAH SPOKE TO THE LORD AND THE LORD BROUGHT THE > SHADOW TEN DEGREES BACKWARDS! TEN DEGREES IS EXACTLY 40 MINUTES! > TWENTY-THREE HOURS AND 20 MINUTES IN JOSHUA, PLUS 40 MINUTES IN II > KINGS MAKE THE MISSING 24 HOURS THE SPACE TRAVELERS HAD TO LOG IN > THE LOGBOOK AS BEING THE MISSING DAY IN THE UNIVERSE! ISN’T THAT > AMAZING? OUR GOD IS RUBBING THEIR NOSES IN HIS TRUTH!”>
> THE ABOVE ARTICLE WAS COPIED FROM “THE EVENING STAR”, SPENCER, > INDIANA. IT IS VERIFIED BY MR. HAROLD HILL, WHO GAVE PERMISSION FOR > REPRINTING, FEBRUARY 22, 1970.>
> References Cited for “The Missing Day in Time”>
> _Did the Sun Stand Still? _Tract No. 1211. North Syracuse, N.Y.: > Book Fellowship *Mentions Irwin H. Linton, _A Lawyer > Examines the Bible._>
> _Apologetics. _By Harry Conn. Minneapolis: Men for Missions>
> _The Missing Day /Behind the Missing Day. _Minneapolis: Osterhus> Pub. House
>
> Harold Hill, as told to Irene Burk Harrell. _How to Live Like a > King’s Kid. _Plainfield, N.J.: Logos International, 1974. Ch. 13, > “How to Find the Missing Day,” pp. 65-75. On pp. 75-77: “Book > Report ‘Long Day of Joshua’ C. A. L. Totten,” by V. L. > Westberg, August 1970, Sonoma, Cal.>
> _Joshua’s Long Day. In Five Minutes with the Bible & Science. > Daily Reading Magazine. _Supplement to _Bible-Science > Newsletter. _Vol. VIII: No. 5 (May, 1978). Caldwell, Id. > *Mentions Robert L. Odem, “The Lost Day of > Joshua,” _Ministry _(November/December, 1970), and J. B. > Dimbleby, _All Past Time._>
> Harry Rimmer. _The Harmony of Science and Scripture. _ 4th > edn., Berne, Ind.: Berne Witness Company, 1937.>
> Charles A. L. Totten. _Joshua’s Long Day and the Dial of Ahaz. A > Scientific Vindication. _ Study No. 2 of “The Our Race > Series—The Voice of History.” Merrimac, Mass.: Destiny > Publishers, 1968 edn. with a foreword by Howard B. Rand.>
> Dan A. Oren. _Joining the Club: A History of Jews and > Yale.New _Haven: Yale University Press, 1985.>
> “A Clergyman Insane. He is a Graduate of Yale and one of Lieut. > Toten’s Disciples.” _The New York Times. _26 June 1891.> p.l.
>
> “No Rest for Totten.” _The New York Times. _13 March 1892. p. > 4. “Lieut. Totten’s Vagaries.” _The New York Times. _30 > March 1892. p. 1>
> *I have not yet located these three publications, mentioned in works > consulted. I would be grateful for information about them, and for > copies of “Missing Day” fliers or tracts.>
> Jan Harold Brunvand Department of English University of Utah Salt > Lake City, UT 84112 All right. You’ve read it. So, maybe you didn’t read it. Maybe you read part of it. Let’s take it from there. I was in the room when this presentation was handed out. There were fully functional adults in the room. And nobody laughed. Nobody. I must have held my breath. How about some Skeptical Analysis. Where to start? Let’s start with this bit of unreason: > THEY RAN THE COMPUTER MEASUREMENT BACK AND FORTH OVER THE CENTURIES > AND IT CAME TO A HALT. THE COMPUTER STOPPED AND PUT UP A RED SIGNAL, > WHICH MEANT THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG EITHER WITH THE > INFORMATION FED INTO IT OR WITH THE RESULTS AS COMPARED TO THE> STANDARDS.
The computer stopped? Really? Why? Computers don’t just stop. They get finished, and they pause, waiting for something new to come along. The computer put up a red signal? This massively intriguing. I am, most of us are, accustomed to error messages on computers. They tend to be in the order of: * Unexpected “{” in line 32.* File not found.
* Segmentation fault—core dumped. * Blue screen of death. Some forgiveness may be due. Permission for reprinting was given in 1970, so the events preceded Windows 3.2. Maybe a red light (flashing or not) was all that was available. Anyhow, the explanation for the computer’s stopping comes off the rails quickly. There was a missing day? Really? How does a day turn up missing? What information could the computer possibly have been chewing on to make it conclude there was a missing day? Yeah, that’s curious. Fortunately I have done some of this stuff. I took celestial mechanics and interplanetary navigation in college, and I also did a term project much like the one described above. It goes like this. You provide the data for the simulation. There are celestial bodies with these masses in these positions and traveling at these velocities. You press the start key, and the simulation launches, predicting where the bodies will be in one-minute (or whatever) intervals. One of the inputs includes a condition that signals the simulation to stop. A condition such as “Simulate 500 hours.” You can easily run the simulation backwards in time. Just reverse the velocities of all the bodies and hit the start key. The simulation will tell you where the bodies were in the past. That is what the NASA simulation must have been doing. And NASA and astronomers and curious amateurs like me do this sort of thing. For one thing, you might want to know where the moon’s shadow crossed the Earth’s surface.Here’s one:
> 12 June 2000 BC 03:14:51 5 Total 1.0733 06m 37s 6.0°N 33.3°W 247> km (153 mi)
I don’t know if anybody was around to see that, but we can all be sure it happened. Celestial mechanics is a well-developed science. And no, there is no missing day. The remainder of the story requires scrutiny. I will scrutinizepartially.
> THE ABOVE ARTICLE WAS COPIED FROM “THE EVENING STAR”, SPENCER, > INDIANA. IT IS VERIFIED BY MR. HAROLD HILL, WHO GAVE PERMISSION FOR > REPRINTING, FEBRUARY 22, 1970. Permission was given in February 22, 1970. Compare that with this: > Harold Hill, as told to Irene Burk Harrell. _How to Live Like a > King’s Kid. _Plainfield, N.J.: Logos International, 1974. Ch. 13, > “How to Find the Missing Day,” pp. 65-75. On pp. 75-77: “Book > Report ‘Long Day of Joshua’ C. A. L. Totten,” by V. L. > Westberg, August 1970, Sonoma, Cal. Permission was given to reprint prior to when Harold Hill told the story to Irene Burk Harrell. I will not belabor. Feel free to spot the additional discrepancies. I was able to verify the “Totten” references appearing in the New York Times back in the 19th century. Apparently there was a C.A.L. Totten back then, and he caught the attention of the _Times_ often. This is from Wikipedia:
> CHARLES ADELLE LEWIS TOTTEN (February 3, 1851 – April 12, 1908) > was an American military > officer, a professor of > military tactics, a prolific writer, and an influential early > advocate of British Israelism> .
Finally, there is this item’s signatory: > Jan Harold Brunvand Department of English University of Utah Salt > Lake City, UT 84112 We know Jan Brunvand. He’s the person
who created the concept of the urban legend. Is it possible “The Sun Did Stand Still” is a sample from his studies blown up into something to impress fellow creationists? I shudder to think. Posted in Creationism | Tagged creationism , JanBrunvand , Joshua
, MIOS
, religion
, urban legends
DINO TRAX
Posted on January 31, 2018by John Blanton
THAT OLD TIME CREATIONISM Some of us remember a few years back when creationism was the hottest thing going, and all the skeptics wanted to pile on—get out, meet the creationists, write a funny journal. Yeah, those creationists don’t get around locally so much anymore. But we still have ourmemories.
The above is from 1990—seems like yesterday. I heard there was this Metroplex Institution of Origin Science (MIOS) and I hauled myself over to their Tuesday night meetings, once a month at the time. About this time a guy at work gave me a pamphlet. He’s a creationist of the first order. The pamphlet is _Dino Trax_, and I need to explain. That’s a cute way of spelling dino tracks, rather dinosaur tracks. The allusion is to the dinosaur tracks still visible in the Paluxy River, a few miles from where I was born. Beginning maybe 40 years ago creationists started selling the idea there were human footprints in the limestone river bottom as well as dinosaur tracks. The implication was (is) that dinosaurs made some tracks, and people made some tracks, in the same soft limestone mud, about the same time. The problem, of course, is that modern geology and modern paleontology inform us that dinosaurs died out about 65 million years ago, and humans didn’t show up until something like three million years ago. Were that true, it could be demonstrated, that the underpinnings of modern science are wrong, and the creationists have had it right allthe time.
Anyhow, _Dino Trax_ is intended to provide all the straight skinny you need to convince yourself the Bible, particularly Genesis, is true, and also much of what you were taught in school about geology and the age of the earth is false. During my visits i garnered several copies of these tracts, and have since recycled them, retaining scannedcopies.
What is interesting about this edition is it introduces the Percival Davis and Dean H.Kenyon creationist
school supplement titled “Of Pandas And People: the Central Question of Biological Origins,” which book came out the year before. The Intelligent Design controversy was just beginning to heat up in those days. They were heady times. This edition of _Dino Trax_ contains a section on “MIOS Books.” They are creationist books you can order through MIOS. _Pandas_ is included, and it lists for $18.95, including a teacher’s guide, and it’s intended for use by high school students. Here’s what _Dino Trax_ has to say about the _Pandas_ book: > Designed as a supplement to High School Biology text books. Provides > a scientific alternative to conventional evolutionary propaganda. > Its academic integrity has earned it endorsements from a wide range > of representative scientists and educators nation-wide. I note use of the term “academic integrity.” Working with creationists provided my first encounter with purveyors of fake news. As we all know, the _Pandas_ drama swelled before collapsing 15 years later. A board member attempted to introduce the book into the science curriculum in Plano, Texas, and much push back from parents and teachers ensued. The North Texas Skeptics weighed in on the side of the citizens, and Ginny Vaughn had produced and distributed a passel of name badges for people to wear to the public discussion. Here’s what they look like: There was perhaps more than one school board member pushing for the _Pandas_ book that night, and I am told the view they received was a sea of No-Pandas badges. The steam went out of that road machine, and there was not much more said about it. The issue came to a head ten years later, when two school officials attempted to crowd _Pandas_ onto the study list in a Pennsylvania town. This time there was a law suit, and the ACLU took the case. Federal Judge John E. Jones III, in a 129-page scorching, concluded that Intelligent design is a religious movement with no basis in science. The school district ate the cost of the trial, and the official miscreants shucked off all responsibility. And _Dino Trax_ was there when it all began. The few copies I was able to snag have been scanned to PDF for all interested in viewing a bit of history. I have the copies, and I am copying them to the NTS archives. Send an email if you want to read some ancient history. Posted in Creationism , Education , IntelligentDesign | Tagged
creationism , Dino Trax, dinosaur tracks
, Intelligent Design, MIOS
, Paluxy River
THE YEARS OF LIVING STUPIDLY Posted on January 22, 2018by
John Blanton
RE-POSTED FROM SKEPTICAL ANALYSIS NUMBER 2 IN A SERIES Hot damn! This is getting good. Yesterday I kicked off this series with a review of a post (by somebody) on _Evolution New_s, the blog site hosted by the Discovery Institute Center for Science and Culture.
That’s the group doing the heavy lifting to promote the IntelligentDesign version of
creationism in this country. It so happens I picked up on three such postings, courtesy of a Facebook friend who linked them on his time line. Here’s another:
> SUBMIT NOMINATIONS FOR 2018 CENSOR OF THE YEAR NOW!>
> David Klinghoffer > | @d_klinghoffer>
> January 8, 2018, 1:47 PM > We’re about a month away from Darwin Day, February 12. It’s the > great man’s birthday, celebrated by Discovery Institute’s Center > for Science & Culture as Academic Freedom Day. We prefer this > alternative framing of the occasion because the freedom to debate > Charles Darwin’s scientific legacy is continually endangered by > intimidation, threats to careers and livelihoods, fake news and fake > science, and subtle and totally unsubtle forms of censorship. All right! This is going to be good. The language of _Evolution News_ is picking up the tone of rhetoric in today’s political world. I particularly enjoy seeing “intimidation, threats to careers and livelihoods, fake news and fake science.” Also “unsubtle forms of censorship.” This writer is prepared to lay it on thick. Whocould ask for more?
The writer is identified, something often missing. He’s David Klinghoffer, somebody I enjoy reading. Here’s his Wikipedia entry:
> DAVID KLINGHOFFER is an Orthodox Jewish> author and
> essayist, and a proponent of intelligent design > . He is a Senior > Fellow of the Discovery Institute> , the
> organization that is the driving force behind the intelligent> design movement
> . He is
> also a frequent contributor to _National Review > _, and a former > columnist for the Jewish weekly newspaper _The Forward > _, to which he still > contributes occasional essays.And there’s more:
> Klinghoffer has published a series of articles, editorial columns, > and letters to the editor in both Jewish and non-Jewish conservative > publications seeking to promote opposition to Darwinian views of > evolution, stating that science can include a support for an > underlying intelligent design in the development of living things > and the universe as a whole, and, indeed, that some scientists hold > to such views. Larry Yudelson> has
> responded, in a piece directed at Klinghoffer, that rabbinical > Judaism has accepted evolutionary theory for more than a century, > and that Judaism has never rejected science. Yudelson also argues > that Klinghoffer’s employer, the Discovery Institute> , is a
> Christian think tank > that is funded by > organizations that seek to promote a “Christian-friendly world> view”
Surprise, surprise! Yes, people, Jews do support creationism. Don’t forget, Jews invented this fantasy to begin with. Christians and Muslims since picked up the torch, and especially Christians are now the big promoters. Anyhow, David Klinghoffer has more to say from his _Evolution News_ post. He is asking readers to submit nominations for Censor of the Year (COTY). Here’s what he has to say about the great injustice being perpetrated: > Darwinists do not go so far as to burn books by proponents of > intelligent design. However, their actual tactics in suppressing > open debate are far more effective because, for the most part, they > are practiced behind a veil of secrecy.>
> Remember, as Sarah Chaffee pointed out last week> ,
> most Darwinist censorship works via self-censorship. In academic and > other contexts, the intimidation need not be explicit. It is > practiced quietly, without drawing attention to itself. The victims, > the censored, understandably don’t want to imperil their work, > their income, or their reputation. So they keep quiet both about > their doubts on Darwinian evolution and about the power structure in > their institutions that maintains the informal speech code. Yes, that’s it. Darwinists (scientists) intimidate the opposition by subtle and nefarious means, such means not being elaborated here, but perhaps in the Sarah Chaffee post that is linked above. I invite you to follow the link and read the sordid details. She tells of professors who give private talks promoting Intelligent Design, who must disclaim up front they do not speak for their academic institutions. Additionally she writes: > Or just take a look at our pictures on _Evolution News_ of the > Summer Seminars on Intelligent Design. You may see the very tops of > students’ heads, no more. Not their faces, not an inch of their > profile. Those we carefully crop out. This is to keep > participants’ identities a secret. It’s so their career > prospects will not be harmed by an association with intelligent> design.
Anyhow, the issue is that people in the know who want to criticize Darwinian evolution and more so, promote Intelligent Design, find themselves ridiculed by colleagues and others. Yes ridiculed. Coerced into keeping quiet. To be sure, I have my own characterization of what’s happening:
> Typically a candidate for tenure at a college or university must > pass review by his peers. Tenure is almost a lifetime assurance of > employment and can be denied if your peers do not look forward to > working with you. I have stated elsewhere that there are only so > many times you can show up for the party with your fly unzipped > before you are no longer invited. Sadly it is true. If you say stuff that is foolish enough for long enough, people around you will start to conclude there is something wrong with your thinking process. And therein lies the problem with Klinghoffer’s premise and that of the rest of the Intelligent Design crowd. This is undue criticism, undue intimidation, only if Intelligent Design has a basis in fact. The problem for Klinghoffer _et al_ is that Intelligent Design really is creationism dressed up to look like science. And thinking people recognize this. And they act appropriately, if unkindly, in response. There are more of these. Keep reading. Posted in Creationism ,Intelligent Design
| Tagged
creationism , David
Klinghoffer , Discovery Institute , Evolution News , Intelligent Design THE YEARS OF LIVING STUPIDLY Posted on January 22, 2018by
John Blanton
RE-POSTED FROM SKEPTICAL ANALYSIS TIME TO START A NEW SERIES. A fellow skeptic keeps posting stuff from _Evolution News_, and my Facebook feed picks it up. _Evolution News_ is the blog of the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture, an enterprise started up by creationist Stephen C. Meyerin
1996, and he is currently the director. I’ve spent a lot of time the past two years trying to ignore output from the Discovery Institute, but something about this post brought me back. Here’s what it’s about:
> _ADAM AND THE GENOME_ AND HUMAN-APE GENETIC SIMILARITY>
> Evolution News
> | @DiscoveryCSC
> January 18, 2018, 7:54 AM>
> In _Adam and the Genome_> ,
> Trinity Western University biologist Dennis Venema covers many other > subjects besides what you might expect from the book’s title. We > have been reviewing this material by the prominent theistic > evolutionist and BioLogos author; find the series so far here> .
>
> Thus, Venema cites the high degree of genetic similarities between > insulin genes in humans and other mammals as evidence for our common > ancestry. He writes:>
>> e can see that there is good evidence to support the hypothesis >> that these two present-day genes come from a common ancestral >> population in the distant past … What we observe for this short >> segment is that the gorilla sequence is identical to that of the >> human except for one letter; the chimpanzee is identical except >> for three; and the orangutan is identical except for five. As >> before, this level of identity far exceeds what is needed for >> functional insulin, and strongly supports the hypothesis that >> humans share a common ancestral population with great apes. >> Indeed, the similarities between these sequences make English and >> West Frisian look like very distant relatives by comparison.>>
>> (_Adam and the Genome_, p. 30) Yes, it appears _Evolution News_ is having a go at biologist Dennis Venema’s new book (2017) _Adam and the Genome_.
What the Discovery Institute wants to convince us is that life forms and all we see about us could not have come about by natural processes. A creator, an intelligent entity of some sort, must be behind it. That’s what’s going on here. Here _Evolution News_ is digging at Venema’s evolutionary explanation for the similarity between the human genome and that of some of our close relations. Venema is using the origin of languages to make a comparison. I have the Kindle edition of the book, which allows me to provide the contextof the above:
> In looking at the sequences above, WE CAN SEE THAT THERE IS GOOD > EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THE HYPOTHESIS THAT THESE TWO PRESENT-DAY GENES > COME FROM A COMMON ANCESTRAL POPULATION IN THE DISTANT PAST, just as > “butter, bread, and green cheese” and “bûter, brea, en griene > tsiis” do. The principle is the same: they are far more similar to > each other than they are functionally required to be. In principle, > any words could stand for these concepts in either English or West > Frisian; similarly, any matched pair of hormone and receptor could > function to regulate blood sugar levels in humans or dogs. Yet what > we observe strongly suggests, in both cases, that the present-day > sequences are the modified descendants of what was once a common> sequence.
>
> Now that we understand the redundancy of the codon code, we can see > that for genes this rabbit hole goes even deeper. Many of the amino > acids in insulin can be coded for by alternate codons. For example, > “Leu” in the diagram indicates the amino acid leucine, for which > there are six possible codons. This short snippet of the insulin > gene codes for nine leucines, and eight of them use exactly the same > codon in dogs and humans (and the ninth differs by only one letter). > For these nine codons, there are 96 (= 531,441) possible > combinations that will correctly code for just these nine leucines, > to say nothing of the other 101 amino acids found in insulin, most > of which can be encoded for by multiple codons. Is it merely by > chance that what we observe in these two species is only one letter > different for these nine codons? A simpler, more reasonable > explanation (or what a scientist would call a more > “parsimonious” explanation) is that these sequences come from a > common ancestral population and have been slightly modified along> the way.
>
> Of course, scientists have sequenced the genomes of many other > species, so we can test this hypothesis by looking at a larger data > set. Humans are not thought to have shared a common ancestral > population with dogs for a very long time; other species are thought > to be our much closer relatives due to other shared features, such > as anatomy. When the pre-Darwin biologist Carl Linnaeus (1707– 78) > drew up his taxonomy of animal life (i.e., a system that organized > life into categories), he famously placed humans and great apes in a > category he called “primate,” from the Latin indicating > “prime” or “first.” While he was certainly not thinking > about common ancestry, he naturally recognized that these species > (such as chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans) have a closer > anatomical affinity to humans than other animals. In light of such > an affinity, evolutionary theory predicts that these species share a > more recent common ancestral population with humans than nonprimate > species, such as dogs, do. Therefore, their gene sequences should be > a closer match to human sequences than what we observe in dogs. Not > surprisingly, this is exactly what we observe. Let’s return to our > example of the insulin gene and extend our comparison of the same > short stretch to include three great apes (fig. 2.6).>
> WHAT WE OBSERVE FOR THIS SHORT SEGMENT IS THAT THE GORILLA SEQUENCE > IS IDENTICAL TO THAT OF THE HUMAN EXCEPT FOR ONE LETTER; THE > CHIMPANZEE IS IDENTICAL EXCEPT FOR THREE; AND THE ORANGUTAN IS > IDENTICAL EXCEPT FOR FIVE. AS BEFORE, THIS LEVEL OF IDENTITY FAR > EXCEEDS WHAT IS NEEDED FOR FUNCTIONAL INSULIN, AND STRONGLY SUPPORTS > THE HYPOTHESIS THAT HUMANS SHARE A COMMON ANCESTRAL POPULATION WITH > GREAT APES. INDEED, THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THESE SEQUENCES MAKE > ENGLISH AND WEST FRISIAN LOOK LIKE VERY DISTANT RELATIVES BY> COMPARISON.
>
> McKnight, Scot; Venema, Dennis R.. Adam and the Genome: Reading > Scripture after Genetic Science (p. 30-31). Baker Publishing Group.> Kindle Edition.
I highlighted the portions the author reprinted from the original. Use of this partial excerpt is legitimate, since it does not change Venema’s original meaning and intent. What is to be found in the complete text is a fuller explanation, plus a tie-in to Venema’slanguage analogy.
The history of languages makes for an interesting study, and for English readers there is particular significance. The book _The Storyof English_ ,
by Robert MacNeil
, Robert McCrum
, and William Cran
is
a companion book to the PBS television series of the same name. I have a similar book, _The Stories of English_,
by David Crystal . It rehashes the history of English in much the same way: > We can note both of these processes happening for the Germanic group > of languages during the period. In the late second century, the > Goths moved into Europe from southern Scandinavia, eventually > arriving in the Mediterranean region. During the fourth century, > Bishop Wulfilas translated the Bible into Gothic. The language had > changed so much during this short time that scholars now consider it > to be a distinct, eastern branch of the Germanic family. On the > other hand, the westward movement of peoples along the north > European coast and into England resulted in a group of languages > which had much greater similarities. English and Frisian, indeed, > were so close that they would probably have been mutually > intelligible for many centuries, especially in Kent. Even today, > though mutual intelligibility has long since gone, English people > listening to modern Frisian sense a familiarity with its expression > which is not present in the case of Dutch or German. Genetic > anthropologists have discovered a significant Y-chromosome identity, > too (p. 31). 3>
> Crystal, David. The Stories of English (pp. 20-21). The Overlook > Press. Kindle Edition. I once visited the northwest coast of the European continent and was struck by the similarity. At a company cafeteria I picked up a coupon good for two desserts and had no trouble reading it, even though it was written in the local language. Anyhow, the background is fascinating, but the intent of _Evolution News_ is to demonstrate that Venema is wrong—genetic similarity does not indicate common descent. _Evolution News_ sometime ago quit identifying authors, but whoever posted this item failed to get the message. Traditionally, Intelligent Design, a concoction of the Discovery Institute, does not rule out common ancestry. These people tend to allow for that, but they also want us to know that natural, and especially random, process are not at work. The whole line of descent process was managed by an intelligent entity, yet unnamed. With some exceptions:
> If the Associated Press writer confused a challenge to common > descent with “Intelligent Design,” it could be because > Intelligent Design proponents with the CSC on occasion do challenge > common descent. For example, Ray Bohlin is a CSC fellow and > supposedly a spokesman for Intelligent Design. At the Texas Faith > Network conference in Dallas on 3 November 2003 Bohlin addressed a > large room full of people and stated that common descent was true > for all life forms, except humans. You can imagine the confusion of > all in attendance. Retired law professor Phillip Johnson is considered the godfather of the modern Intelligent Design movement. At a symposium titled “Darwinism: Scientific Inference or Philosophical Preference,” held on the campus of Southern Methodist University in March 199, .I had a chance to talk with Johnson and get his views firsthand. He expressed some surprising points for an opponent of evolution:
> n 1992 Johnson attended the conference on “Darwinism: Scientific > Inference or Philosophical Preference” at Southern Methodist > University (SMU). The conference was inspired by Jon Buell, a local > creationist. Buell’s Foundation for Thought and Ethics (FTE) > published the book _Pandas and People_> ,
> an early work pushing Intelligent Design. At the conference the > departure from young-Earth creationism was stark. Johnson and Buell > were standing together when I asked them the question. Their answer > was significant. Yes, the Earth and the universe really are billions > of years old, and yes, present life forms share a common ancestry. > These were not your grandfather’s creationists. Here is a copy of the proceedings. Anyhow, _Evolution News_ is now having none of that. Continuing fromthe post:
> The obvious answer to this argument is common design — that > humans, gorillas, and orangutans were designed based upon a common > blueprint. This would explain genetic similarity between humans and > other species quite well. Then the author presents an additional excerpt and promptly goes off the rails with this: > There he goes again, telling God what he can and cannot do. It’s a > bit of chutzpah, don’t you think? He’s also telling God what God > must intend when he does certain things. In particular, Venema is > telling God that if he designs two species to be similar then God > must thereby intend to tell us that those species are related > through common ancestry. And if those species aren’t really > related, then Venema tells God that he is being deceitful.>
> But what if Venema is putting thoughts into God’s head that > aren’t there? What if God could have entirely different purposes > for designing two species as similar — purposes that have nothing > to do with trying to communicate some message to humans about > relatedness or unrelatedness? Oh, Jesus! You gave away the store. Intelligent Design is not supposed to be about God. It’s supposed to be science, real science, well-researched science, science that reveals there is a Designer, not identified and definitely not identified as G*d. G*d is the word that keeps Intelligent Design out of public classrooms, which is where its proponents, despite much public posturing, in their heart of hearts want it to be. Possibly we are now seeing the offshoot of all those years of living stupidly. That covered, there is more of interest. The post dips into a discussion of _The Language of God_,
a book by _Francis Collins_:
> FRANCIS SELLERS COLLINS (born April 14, 1950) is an > American physician-geneticist > noted for his > discoveries of disease genes and his leadership of the Human Genome > Project . He is > director of the National Institutes of Health> (NIH)
> in Bethesda, Maryland, United States.>
> Before being appointed director of the NIH, Collins led the Human > Genome Project and other genomics research initiatives as director > of the National Human Genome Research Institute> (NHGRI),
> one of the 27 institutes and centers at NIH. Before joining NHGRI, > he earned a reputation as a gene hunter at the University of> Michigan . He
> has been elected to the Institute of Medicine> and
> the National Academy of Sciences> , and
> has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom> and
> the National Medal of Science> .
In order to continue following the discussion I obtained a Kindle edition and will be covering that in future posts. Also, and free on Amazon, is _Intelligent Design the Final Proof of God_.
Go for it. Kindle readers are free for tablets and computers. Posted in Books , Creationism , Intelligent Design| Tagged
creationism , IntelligentDesign , religion
THE QUINTESSENCE OF DUMBSHITIA Posted on January 18, 2018by
John Blanton
REPOSTED FROM SKEPTICAL ANALYSIS NUMBER 4 IN A CONTINUING THREAD As a refresher, _Dumbshitia_ is an imaginary world or state of mind. It’s where you go when you take on a load of dumb shit so malodorous you need to live apart from thinking people. This came to mind a few days ago when I was cleaning out boxes stacked in my closet. Some stuff was too valuable to be relegated to the recycle bin, so I scanned it in, converting pounds of paper to milligrams of flash memory. Included were a number of news clippings from (apparently) 1994. I’m guessing that year, because these meetings were held 29 September through 2 October, and recollections are the series culminated on a Sunday. Anyhow, we were treated to the wisdom of Thomas Warren, who I did not know at the time would come to have his own Wikipedia entry:
> THOMAS BRATTON WARREN (August 1, 1920 – August 8, 2000) was a > professor of philosophy of religion and apologetics at > the Harding School of Theology> in
> Memphis, Tennessee, USA, and was an > important philosopher and theologian in the Churches of Christ> during the
> latter half of the twentieth century. There is more. Had I known this I would have been prepared to be impressed. However, I was presented only a surface view, and came immediately to conclude Thomas B. Warren was the Quintessence of Dumbshitia. Witness the image at the top. This appeared in the local newspaper, I’m guessing _The Dallas Morning News_, and it promised a grand unveiling of wisdom to whomever would partake. How could I resist? I went, possibly twice, and had my preconceptions confirmed. Dr. Warren, in person, revealed to be as fact-deprived as his promotionals promised, and sanctimonious besides. First take in, please, the implied argument put forth in the above sketch. There is a mother (human) and a baby. Dr. Warren wants to challenge biological evolution. He (cartoon and the headline) proposes a dichotomy. Either evolution is false, or there was a human baby born to a non-human mother. My observation, viewing the people who crowded the sanctuary at the Seagoville Church of Christ, was this was a dichotomy that most accepted. Little understanding and even less acceptance of modern science was everywhere evident. A few quotes from the ad will be beneficial: > It seems clear that atheistic evolutionists (who deny that creation > ever occurred) have had considerable success in bringing about the > situation in our public schools in which atheistic evolution is to > be taught but creationism cannot be presented as a viable > alternative. They have also had some success in persuading people to > accept, in a docile manner, their view that human beings who are now > living on the earth owe their ultimate origin (as human beings) > to _evolution_ (by purely naturalistic, non-miraculous, > non-purposive, non-intelligent, non-living materialistic forces) > from non-living matter.It also seems that the atheistic > evolutionists have succeeded in persuading most of > the _creationists_ (people who believe that _God created_ the > first man and the first _woman_ and that all _other_ human > beings are _descendants_ of that first human pair) to no > longer _oppose_ with much vigor the dictums of the atheistic> evolutionists.
And that is the opening paragraph. There is more. Dr. Warren posits that evolutionists (scientists) will be unable to answer a number of questions at the heart of the matter. Here are the 13: * True false. A woman was on earth before any human baby was. * True false. A human baby was on earth before any woman was. * True false. The first woman and the first human baby came into existence at the exact same instant. * True false. A man was on earth before any human baby was. * True false. A human baby was on earth before any man was. * True false. The first man and the first human baby came into existence at the exact same instant. * True false. At least one human being _now living_ on earth was formerly an ape (or some other non-human being), and that ape was _transformed _ (its very nature was changed) from an ape intoa _human being_.
* True false. At least one human being who lived on the earth in the _past_ (but is now _dead_) was at one time an _ape_ (or some other non-human thing), and that ape was _transformed_ from an ape into a human being. * True false. At least one human being who lived in the _past_ (but who is now _dead_) was begotten by a male ape (or some other _non-human_ thing) and was _born_ of a female ape (or some other non-human female) as a _human being_. * True false. There is absolutely _nothing_ that has occurred in the _past_ or anything which _could_ occur in the _future_ which could convince me (1) God does exist, (2) God created the first _man_ and the first _woman_, and (3) that all of the rest of the human beings who have ever lived (and ever will live) on the earth are (or will be) _descendants_ of that first man and that firstwoman.
* True false. The complete list of _my own ancestry_ would include either (1) a male ape and a female ape or (2) some other _non-human male_ and some other _non-human female_. * True false. The complete list of my own ancestry would begin with (and, of course, include ) the first _man_ and the first _woman_ (who came into existence by the creative action ofGod).
* True false. The various states of this nation have the constitutional right to _compel_ the children who attend their state schools to be taught _atheistic evolution_ as the only acceptable position while they forbid even the presentation of _creationism_ as a sensible solution to the problem of the origins of human being onthe earth.
While the author’s extensive use of italics and underlining is puzzling, the intent is more clear. Evolution (in the author’s mind) poses a dilemma regarding the origin of the human species as descended from ape-like beings. Also, states are wrong to impose the teaching of evolution, while at the same time denying students the benefits of reaffirmation of their religious belief. Lest the author think these questions are a challenge, I will submit here my answers.* False
* False
* False
* False
* False
* False
* False
* False
* False
* False
* True
* False
* True
Readers having questions should contact me. What seems to be happening here is that an educated man, such as Thomas Warren, has slipped a cog at a point in his development. His argument either ignores a large body of established fact or else misapplies any ability at rational thought. Continuing from hisWikipedia entry:
> Warren’s earliest published work in philosophy was modified from > the final chapter of his Vanderbilt University dissertation and was > published in 1972. In _Have Atheists Proved There is No > God?_, Warren develops a version of a soul-making theodicy > to answer J. L. Mackie’s > argument from evil against theism. Warren’s chief claim to fame > outside the Churches of Christ are his debates with Antony Flew > and Wallace Matson> on
> the existence of God, and his debate with Joe E. Barnhart on the > adequacy of utilitarian ethics > . The debate with > Flew, a major proponent of atheism > famous for his argument > that theism is not falsifiable, was held at North Texas State > University (now the University of North Texas> ) in
> Denton, Texas, USA from September 20–23, 1976. This was an > exceptionally well attended debate, and Flew describes it as the > best attended of his many debates with theists on the existence of > God, with audiences each night ranging from 5,000-7,000 people. The > Warren-Matson Debate took place in Tampa, Florida, USA from > September 11–14, 1978. Matson, a professor of philosophy at the > University of California at Berkeley was, like Flew, a long-time > proponent of atheism. The Warren-Barnhart Debate took place at > North Texas State University on November 3–6, 1980. Barnhart has > retired as Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Texas. Readers will recall Joe Barnhart as a long-time advisor to The NorthTexas Skeptics
.
Interesting events transpired following Joe’s retirement and moveto Tennessee
.
Without elaborating on the foolish nature of Dr. Warren’s dip into anti-science, I will observe it should be apparent to all, this is the Quintessence of Dumbshitia. I may have more on this. It was a lot of fun. Keep reading. Posted in Creationism | Tagged creationism , Joe Barnhart , Thomas WarrenPEOPLE UNCLEAR
Posted on December 26, 2017by John Blanton
REPOSTED FROM SKEPTICAL ANALYSIS YES, SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO SCRATCH YOUR HEAD AND SAY, “WHAT WASHE THINKING?”
Let’s take the case of the Woodland, North Carolina, solar farm:
> BY KEITH HOGGARD>
>
> Email the author>
> Published 9:53 am Tuesday, December 8, 2015>
> WOODLAND – The Woodland Town Council rejected a proposal to > rezone a section of land north of town to M2 (manufacturing) from RA > (residential/agricultural), essentially denying approval of a solar> farm.
>
> Newly sworn in councilman Cecil Harkey voted against the motion to > reject rezoning the land, while council members David Cooper, Ron > Lane, and Pat Liverman voted to approve it following public comments > against the rezoning.>
> The Planning Board had recommended the property be rezoned to allow > Strata Solar Company to build a solar farm off U.S. highway 258.>
> Three other solar farms were previously accepted by the town > council, with one now in the process of installing solar panels. Wait. Wait! That’s not the story. Here’s the story: > Wednesday, December 16, 2015 NORTHAMPTON COUNTY, N.C. — Leaders > in the small North Carolina town of Woodland rejected a new solar > farm after residents expressed concerns that it would “suck up all > the energy from the sun.” > The Roanoke-Chowan News Herald reports the Woodland Town Council > denied approval of the solar farm and put a moratorium on others > after citizens expressed distrust and fear of the solar panels. > One resident, a retired Northampton County science teacher, > reportedly said she was concerned that photosynthesis would not > happen after she said she observed areas near solar panels where > plants were brown and dead because they did not get enough sunlight.>
> Another resident reportedly questioned the high number of cancer > deaths in the area, saying no one could tell her that solar panels > didn’t cause cancer. All right! I believe I can clear up some of these concerns First of all, solar panels to not cause cancer. I don’t have my research studies close at hand right now, but I can tell you this. Just trustme.
Second, the matter of solar panels sucking up all the sun is a real concern. My several decades of research has demonstrated with close to 100% certainty that solar panels do block the sun and prevent precious sunlight from reaching crops planted underneath. Here is a warning to all you soybean and hemp growers in North Carolina; do not, I repeat, DO NOT plant your crops in the shade of a solar panel. The stuff is going to die. Trust me. I hope that clears things up for now. If you have additional questions, then chuck me an email. Or you can just go soak your head. Results will be the same. Posted in science | Tagged Anthropogenic Global Warming, Solar
Energy
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