Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Good news, bad news

It was a bit more than four hours after the polls closed in California, and it was looking like I could go to bed happy:



But then I flipped over to Pharyngula, and found this: the Kansas school board has given in to ID proponents and included statements in their science standards that "the basic Darwinian theory that all life had a common origin and that natural chemical processes created the building blocks of life have been challenged in recent years by fossil evidence and molecular biology."

Pharyngula responds:
"For the next few years, a lot of schoolkids are going to get taught slippery twaddle--instead of learning what scientists actually say about biology, they're going to get the phony pseudoscience of ideologues and dishonest hucksters. And that means the next generation of Kansans are going to be a little less well informed, even more prone to believing the prattlings of liars, and the cycle will keep on going, keep on getting worse.

...

"Goodbye, Kansas. I don't expect to see many of your sons and daughters at my university in coming years, unless the teachers of your state refuse to support the outrageous crapola their school board has foisted on them. I hope the rest of the country moves on, refusing to join you in your stagnant backwater of 18th century hokum.
"

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