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Dinesh D’Souza is no one’s idea of a thoughtful participant in the nation’s public conversation. Still, his tweet on Wednesday morning may have set a new low for the right-wing rabble-rouser. Commenting on a widely circulated image of President Obama taking a picture of himself with selfie stick, D’Souza tweeted the following message: “YOU CAN TAKE THE BOY OUT OF THE GHETTO... Watch this vulgar man show his stuff, while America cowers in embarrassment.” The tweet has created quite a stir, especially among people who think it demonstrates D’Souza’s racism. But I think it reveals something that might actually be...

Ten Scientific Problems with Biological and Chemical Evolution Casey Luskin Permalink Based upon Casey Luskin's chapter, "The Top Ten Scientific Problems with Biological and Chemical Evolution," in the volume More than Myth, edited by Paul Brown and Robert Stackpole (Chartwell Press, 2014) "There are no weaknesses in the theory of evolution."1 So said Eugenie Scott, the de facto head of the Darwin lobby, while speaking to the media in response to the Texas State Board of Education's 2009 vote to require students to learn about both the scientific evidence for and against neo-Darwinian evolution. For those who follow the...

The 2016 presidential campaign is already upon us and the debate is heating up over an unexpected issue -- the theory of evolution. Of course, in an ideal world, evolution would never really become a campaign issue. But the anti-science wing of the Republican Party continues to voice skepticism. Apologists for this wing would dearly like to distract the media and the voting public from what is, frankly, a national if not a global embarrassment. In truth, the President of the United States needs to be scientifically literate. For the federal government has an important role to play and it...

If you think you understand it, you don't know nearly enough about it It will soon be 200 years since the birth of Charles Darwin and 150 years since the publication of On the Origin of Species, arguably the most important book ever written. In it, Darwin outlined an idea that many still find shocking - that all life on Earth, including human life, evolved through natural selection. Darwin presented compelling evidence for evolution in On the Origin and, since his time, the case has become overwhelming. Countless fossil discoveries allow us to trace the evolution of today's organisms from...

Did the mainstream media – or Time magazine, specifically – ever try to find Barack Obama’s high school teachers? Unlikely, but the magazine managed to dig up Gov. Scott Walker’s high school science teacher for her reaction to Walker’s “punt” of a question about evolution.

I tried to warn them. In addition, back in 2012, after Marco Rubio was asked about the age of the earth, I provided conservative politicians (and others interested) a primer for answering some of the “gotcha” questions that most every conservative running for political office in the U.S. will inevitably face. It seems that Scott Walker or his staff need to spend more time on my website, or on American Thinker (one of the top conservative websites in America). Byron York hopes Walker learned a valuable lesson. Silvio Canto at American Thinker doesn’t care what Scott Walker (or Hillary Clinton)...

Unsuccessful presidential candidate and former Governor Howard Dean (D-Vt) assailed Wisconsin’s Republican Governor Scott Walker’s lack of a college degree as “disqualifying. Given the complex world we live in, America needs to be led by only the most highly educated men and women. The fate of the nation can’t be entrusted to a guy who couldn’t hack it and dropped out.” “Look, college in the 1980s, when Walker was a student, wasn’t that hard,” Dean argued. “Even the minimally competent could get a degree. A person would’ve had to be incredibly dumb or unmotivated not to have been able to...

Scott Walker stumbled on it during a trip to London. He and the rest of the 2016 Republican presidential field will face it repeatedly in the months ahead. So it would probably be best if GOP candidates prepared a quick and clear answer to the question, 'Do you believe in evolution?' They'll have to use it a lot. If they are like most Americans, Republican candidates believe God has guided the creation of the Earth and its inhabitants. That alone is enough to craft an answer that will both represent their beliefs and work in a campaign. The Gallup polling...

We all knew this was coming: liberal attacks on Gov. Scott Walker for not having a college degree. In 1990, Walker decided to drop out of Marquette University during the spring semester of his senior year - a decision that’s mystified the political left. But then there’s former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who–as Dan wrote–basically questioned Walker’s intelligence: "This is a particular problem for Scott Walker which has not been an issue yet, but it will. Scott Walker, were he to become president, would be the first president in many generations who did not have a college degree. So the...

Primitive Man and Science On Thursday, the state-directed media went ballistic when Scott Walker was asked his opinion of evolution. Unlike the majority of Americans and the entire liberal media complex, Scott Walker does not consider himself an expert on scientific problems he knows almost nothing about. The man who first described Quantum Physics, made this observation after a lifetime of scientific study. As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear-headed science, the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter...

At an event in London on trade policy, Scott Walker was asked about evolution. "It's almost a tradition now," the moderator said, to ask "senior Republicans" if they are "comfortable with the idea of evolution." "I'm going to punt on that one as well," the Wisconsin governor replied. "That's a question a politician shouldn't be involved in one way or another." It wasn't a great answer, though there have been worse ones. But it was also a bad question, even though it's a favorite among liberal journalists in the U.S., and apparently across the pond, too. That's not to say...

On Thursday, the media went collectively insane over Governor Scott Walker’s failure to answer a question about his beliefs on the theory of evolution. A questioner asked Walker earlier this week in London, “Are you comfortable with the idea of evolution? Do you believe in it?” Walker said he would “punt” on the issue, adding, “That’s a question politicians shouldn’t be involved in one way or another. I am going to leave that up to you. I’m here to talk about trade, not to pontificate about evolution.” This led to blaring headlines throughout the media. Huffington Post said Walker “dodged”...

Today is the 206th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, a day now celebrated by some as Darwin Day. Darwin, of course, is best known for his theory of evolution through natural selection. When Darwin's work was first made public in 1859, it shocked Britain's religious establishment. And while today it is accepted by virtually all scientists, evolutionary theory is still rejected by many Americans, often because it conflicts with their religious beliefs about divine creation.

The amazing muroid hind anatomy of Rattus norvegicus may be the product of eons of mind-bendingly complex Darwinian refinement, but I still don’t give a rat’s ass what Scott Walker thinks about evolution. And neither does anybody else. Not really. Governor Walker, making the rounds in London as part of his plan to relocate from Madison to Washington — the presidency is a roundabout affair — was asked whether he “believes in” evolution. “Believes in” is key language — nobody ever asks a politician whether he knows anything about evolution. It is a safe bet that Walker, famously a college...

Happy Darwin Day? If Darwin Day devotees want to be viewed as more than the mere members of a quirky cult, they need to start engaging their thoughtful critics. By John West Published on February 12, 2015 Today is the birthday of Charles Darwin, and enthusiasts around the globe will be marking the occasion with special dinners, lectures, birthday parties and more.Darwin boosters often insist they are inspired simply by a disinterested commitment to science, while their critics are motivated primarily by religion. But Darwin Day festivities make it painfully obvious that many promoters of Darwinian theory are just as interested...

New Edition of Darwin Day in America Exposes the Rise of "Totalitarian Science" in the Age of Obama Is America entering an era of "totalitarian science"? In the expanded paperback edition of Darwin Day in America (ISI Books, February 2015), political scientist John G. West describes the growing misuse of science to curtail basic freedoms, erode time-honored ethics, and circumvent democratic accountability. The paperback edition includes a brand new chapter titled "Scientism in the Age of Obama -- and Beyond." "Our culture is witnessing the rise of what could be called totalitarian science -- science so totalistic in its outlook...

The other day an old friend of mine said the following: “I believe in Christianity except for the part about the resurrection. We all know that didn’t happen. The New Testament may say Jesus arose from the dead. But that was probably due to corruption of the early manuscripts.” When you hear a quote like that you might assume it comes from reading The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. More likely, it comes from unwillingness to part ways with philosophical naturalism. In other words, it is not a surface factual problem. It is a deeper worldview problem. The problem,...

Creation Conversion: From Atheist to Creationist by Jerry Bergman, Ph.D. * I have always loved science, partly due to the influence of my engineer father, who was heavily involved in research and development. While growing up, my free-time diet consisted of Mr. Wizard, Disney nature films, and doing science experiments. At Wayne State University, where I earned my bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. degrees, I was exposed to evolution. Influenced by my atheist father and my professors, I accepted this worldview, as did most of my peers. We also accepted the atheist philosophy that came with it. The university invited a...

Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, say they’ve discovered a microorganism that hasn’t evolved in more than two billion years — the longest ever absence of evolutionary evidence in a single species. Researchers say the deep sea creature — whose evolutionary stasis is detailed in the journal PNAS doesn’t disprove evolution so much as bolster Darwin’s case. “The rule of biology is not to evolve unless the physical or biological environment changes, which is consistent with Darwin,” lead study author J. William Schopf, a professor of earth, planetary and space sciences at UCLA. SNIP Schopf says it is...

Engineering is the science and practice of designing things, usually systems and sometime systems of systems. Engineers understand that nothing worthwhile happens by accident in this universe, ever. The probabilities are too vastly against it. With 70,000 gene pairs in the average chromosome and 12 different proteins at work, that would mean at least odds of (70,000 X 70,000 X 12 X 12) = 7.0 X 10^11 if you could get all that stuff in the same place at the same time without the added consideration of the right conditions. All the monkeys with their typewriters would have several thousands...