Monthly Archives: May 2006
Recommendation from a molecular biologist friend
| May 31, 2006 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
I love animations of cellular and subcellular events. Today, I found a good website with some new animations. It’s at http://www.fivth.com/fiVthSite/web-content/NewFiles/GrahamJcom/web-content/gjPortfolioCBani.html and each of the thumbnails has an animation associated with it. more
Philosophy of Information Blog
| May 31, 2006 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
Go here: http://www.wolfson.ox.ac.uk/~floridi/blog/index.html. more
Darwin, Natural Selection, and the Norman Bates School of Hotel Management
| May 31, 2006 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
There’s an old Saturday Night Live routine with Anthony Perkins (who played Norman Bates, the crazed motel operator in Hitchcock’s PSYCHO). In it, Perkins, playing Bates, describes his new school of hotel management: Norman Bates: [ to camera ] Are you tired of slaving away in a dull, dead-end job? Fed up with meager paychecks… more
“Darwin’s Divisions”
| May 30, 2006 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
Darwin’s Divisions BY FR. MARTIN HILBERT Philosopher of science and Catholic priest Martin Hilbert explores the church’s role in discussing science and Darwinism using the recent comments of Popes, Cardinal Schönborn of Austria, and the head of the Vatican Observatory, Father George Coyne, S. J. The church would do a great disservice to believers and… more
Think of atheists like the mafia and ID as cutting into their profits
| May 30, 2006 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
Intelligent design leads to forsaking atheism By Jerry Bergman Why did the court rule against teaching intelligent design in the Dover, Pa., case? Judge Jones’ ruling was summed up by one commentator as follows: Critical analysis of evolutionism leads to intelligent design, which leads to the Creator requirement. The Creator requirement leads to religion, which… more
Presenting a united front — Evolutionists are finding it more and more difficult
| May 30, 2006 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
Pitt anthropologist thinks Darwin’s theory needs to evolve on some points Monday, May 29, 2006 By Mark Roth Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Source: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06149/694046-85.stm Darwin was wrong, and his modern-day adherents perpetuate his mistakes. That sounds like the opening salvo of an advocate for Intelligent Design or some other religiously driven critique of the theory of evolution.… more
The argument from incredulity vs. The argument from gullibility
| May 27, 2006 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
On another blog, the following quotes from Intelligent Thought: Science versus the Intelligent Design Movement are listed approvingly: “Evolutionary biology certainly hasn’t explained everything that perplexes biologists, but intelligent design hasn’t yet tried to explain anything at all.†–Daniel C. Dennett, Philosopher “Not only is ID markedly inferior to Darwinism at explaining and understanding nature… more
Dennett and Dawkins are “Darwinian Fundamentalists” — Dennett says so himself
| May 26, 2006 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
[Excerpts from a lecture by Daniel Dennett in March this year:] The late Steve Gould was really right when he called Richard and me Darwinian fundamentalists. And I want to say what a Darwinian fundamentalist is. A Darwinian fundamentalist is one who recognizes that either you shun Darwinian evolution altogether, or you turn the traditional… more
Who coined the term “methodological naturalism”?
| May 26, 2006 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
It appears that the first usage of this term traces to the Christian philosopher Paul de Vries. He used the term orally at a conference in 1983. A few years later it appeared in print in the paper “Naturalism in the Natural Sciences,” Christian Scholar’s Review 15 (1986), 388-96. For de Vries, methodological naturalism says… more
Visigoths at the Gates
| May 26, 2006 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
Extracts from the introduction to Intelligent Thought: Science versus the Intelligent Design Movement, edited by John Brockman, Vintage Books (go here for an earlier report about this book on this blog): Religious fundamentalism is on the rise under the rubric of “intelligent design.” ID imperils American global dominance in science and presents the gravest of… more
Discovery Institute Press Release on Cobb County Case
| May 26, 2006 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
FOR RELEASE MAY 25, 2006 Discovery Institute Applauds Federal U.S. Appeals Court Decision To Throw Out Judge’s Ruling Against Evolution Disclaimers on Textbooks Atlanta – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has thrown out the trial court decision ruling that evolution disclaimers on science textbooks were unconstitutional. In a unanimous decision the… more
The Cobb County decision is out
| May 25, 2006 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
The opinion has been issued (it’s been described as a “mess” — a remand for fact-finding). Go here: http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/todaysops.php. more
Stop the ACLU
| May 25, 2006 | Posted by Dave S. under Constitution, Courts, Laws, Legal |
Stop the ACLU more
ACLU Supports Vile Protesters at Military Funerals
| May 25, 2006 | Posted by Dave S. under Constitution, Courts, Laws, Legal |
ACLU lawsuit challenges Ky. funeral-protest law By The Associated Press 05.02.06 FRANKFORT, Ky.  Portions of a new state law intended to prevent protesters from disrupting funerals for soldiers killed in Iraq are unconstitutional and should be struck down, the American Civil Liberties Union said in a federal lawsuit filed yesterday. more
ACLU Stops Graduation Prayers
| May 25, 2006 | Posted by Dave S. under Constitution, Courts, Laws, Legal |
Graduation prayer axed at Shelby County High PRINCIPAL CITES COMPLAINT FROM STUDENT, CIVIL LIBERTIES ORGANIZATION ASSOCIATED PRESS SHELBYVILLE – The principal of Shelby County High School said the school will not have formal prayer at graduation exercises next month after receiving a complaint from a student and the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky. more
IDEA UVa adviser, molecular geneticist and biochemist doubts Darwin
| May 25, 2006 | Posted by scordova under Intelligent Design |
Ultimate Questions “Scientific knowledge is a malleable body of information that changes over time, as new tools are applied and new facts are integrated,” says Bryce Paschal, an associate professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics at U.Va. “Good science identifies weak links in what is known. Science should acknowledge the shortcomings in evolutionary science, especially… more
Dawkins’s use of hip hop against ID (reprise)
| May 25, 2006 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
In an earlier post (go here), I remarked: Have a listen to the following segment from Dawkins’s documentary against religion (â€ÂThe Root of All Evil?â€Â): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUy-Uq3WuhA Who is the rapper that did this rendition of the Lord’s Prayer? The first comment on this previous post implicated Al Nezy, “Da PreachaMan,” as the rapper responsible for… more
Error Correction and Fidelity Mechanisms — How does life evolve these if life presupposes them?
| May 25, 2006 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
Early nonsense: mRNA decay solves a translational problem Nadia Amrani, Matthew S. Sachs and Allan Jacobson http://www.nature.com/nrm/journal/v7/n6/pdf/nrm1942.pdf [Here are some excerpts:] The nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway ensures that incomplete messenger RNAs that harbour premature termination, or nonsense (non Amino acid coding), codons are targeted for rapid degradation. New insights into the process of NMD… more
New Engand Journal of Medicine & ID
| May 24, 2006 | Posted by Douglas Moran under Intelligent Design |
It seems even the New England Journal of Medicine is unable to honestly charactarize what ID is. http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/354/21/2277 more
Henry Rollins giving ID the finger
| May 24, 2006 | Posted by William Dembski under Intelligent Design |
Here’s the transcript for the previous posting. It’s comforting to know that popular culture is in such capable hands. A new Zogby international poll shows that 69% of Americans support public school teachers presenting the theory of evolution as well as theories that are in opposition. If only there were any that didn’t have God… more