Free Republic

Last week, the American Civil Liberties Union sued the Dover, Pennsylvania School Board. The ACLU argues that the School Board violated the Constitution's Establishment Clause by mandating that students in public school biology classes be taught the theory of "intelligent design" as an alternative to evolution. Proponents of intelligent design--which is closely related to what is sometimes called "creationism"--point to gaps in the fossil record and other uncertainties to argue that evolution by natural selection cannot explain the emergence of new species. They contend instead that an intelligent agent must have been guiding the course of life on Earth. Evolution...

Columbus - The State Board of Education gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a 10th-grade biology lesson that scientists say could put "intelligent design" in Ohio classrooms. Setting aside an impassioned plea from the National Academy of Sciences, the board voted 13-4 to declare its intent to adopt the "Critical Analysis of Evolution" lesson next month. The academy warned that doing so would give a green light to teaching intelligent design, the idea that life is so complex that a higher being must have created it. The disputed lesson plan has thrust Ohio back into the middle of a national fight...

Two drafts of Minnesota's science standards circulated this week. The only difference? How they described the teaching of evolution. The version the public didn't see included words like "might" and "possible" at strategic points that clearly cast doubt on the certainty of biological evolution. When members of the citizens' panel that wrote the standards saw what was to be the final document, several saw the "mights" and "possibles" and protested that they didn't write the document that way and that the department made critical changes without telling the panel. In the end, the committee got the language it wanted, giving...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 June 7 Warped Spiral Galaxy ESO 510-13 Credit: Hubble Heritage Team (STScI / AURA), C. Conselice (U. Wisconsin / STScI) et al., NASA Explanation: How did spiral galaxy ESO 510-13 get bent out of shape? The disks of many spirals are thin and flat, but not solid. Spiral disks are loose conglomerations of billions of stars and diffuse gas all gravitationally orbiting a galaxy center. A flat...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 June 8 Rhea: Saturn's Second Largest Moon Credit: Voyager, NASA; Copyright: Calvin J. Hamilton Explanation: Rhea is the second largest moon of Saturn, behind Titan, and the largest without an atmosphere. It is composed mostly of water ice, but has a small rocky core. Rhea's rotation and orbit are locked together (just like Earth's Moon) so that one side always faces Saturn. A consequence of this is...

<p>"I hate your opinions, but I would die to defend your right to express them." This famous quote by the 18th-century philosopher Voltaire applies to the debate currently raging in Ohio. The Board of Education is discussing whether to include alternate theories of evolution in the classroom. Some board members however, are opposed to Voltaire's defense of rational inquiry and intellectual tolerance. They are seeking to prohibit different theories other than Darwinism, from being taught to students. This threatens freedom of thought and academic excellence.</p>

<p>ANN ARBOR -- Graduate assistants at the University of Michigan walked out Monday morning to protest the lack of progress in contract negotiations with the university.</p> <p>Negotiators for the university and the Graduate Employees Organization, which represents 1,600 graduate student instructors, negotiated until 4 a.m. Monday.</p>

Haddad taken by Marshals Monday, January 14, 2002 By JO COLLINS MATHIS NEWS STAFF REPORTER -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ann Arbor Muslim leader moved to secret location Federal authorities have taken Ann Arbor Muslim leader Rabih Haddad to an undisclosed location and were not allowing him to speak to either his attorneys or family. Haddad, who has been held on immigration charges since Dec. 14, has been removed from custody of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and turned over to the United States Marshals Service. A spokesman for the Marshals Service said today that Haddad is being held in an undisclosed location and ...

911 RANG AGAIN - A REVIEW OF THE PBS VIDEO SERIES &quot;EVOLUTION&quot; Ken Cumming, Ph.D. Biology Another Attack It was about 10 a.m. in the morning of September 11, 2001 when Barbara Olson called her husband Tom from a cell phone on board American Airlines flight 77 to tell him, &quot;We've been hijacked!&quot;1 Tom told her in turn that he saw on TV along with millions of others that two airliners already had crashed into the World Trade Center an hour earlier. In one grand wakeup call, America heard the cry for &quot;help&quot; from thousands of civilians victimized by ...

Tonight is the beginning of the Evolution Series on PBS. I thought I'd open up some threads of discussion here prior, during and after the telecast of the episodes. Here's PBS's homepage for the telecast: PBS Homepage And Here's something from the Discovery Institute, who is evidently irritated about turning down free publicity on the telecast. (They were offered time on the final night of the telecast, and turned down PBS.) Discovery Institute

Chandra (aka AXAF) caught the Black Hole in the center of the galaxy having lunch. See article at: This Link This is a first for this particular source.