The final public hearing on science standards/ID is tonight, in Topeka.

[atommom]

It was originally scheduled for Feb. 8, but was postponed due to bad weather. It will be from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. tonight at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Topeka, 1717 S.W. Topeka Blvd. I hope some pro-evolution people will be there to counterbalance the creationists. (At the KC hearing, one person blamed Darwin for creating the Nazis!)

[smoogatz]

1. This week's Sunday Times Magazine

contained an interesting short piece on ID. It pointed out that it should rightly be called UD (Unintelligent Design), because, in fact, adaptation is a pretty chaotic process. For instance, if there's an omnipotent/omniscient designer at work, why do male mammals have nipples? Why are 99% of all the species that have existed extinct? Sounds like randomness to me--or at least trial and error. And what about long-term, chronic pain? If we're all the product of a benevolent creator, what possible adaptive purpose does the pain of severe arthritis or bone cancer serve?

Ultimately, of course, it's not about science or reason--it's about the desperate desire of the religious right radicals to sieze control of the public schools. The children MUST be properly indoctrinated, even if it turns them into idiots unsuited for anything but menial work. But then, maybe that's the point.

[atommom]

2. Forgot to mention that AFTER the hearing, at 9:15 PM, there will

be a public meeting to discuss the hearings that the subcommittee has planned. This meeting will be at the Kansas State Department of Education Board Room, 120 SE 10th Avenue, Topeka, KS. This is the first public meeting about the subcommittee hearing process, and the public is encouraged to attend.

The subcommittee will be composed entirely of ID supporters, who plan to hear testimony from ID "scientists" to support the teaching of ID in schools. This plan is controversial, and rightly so. I'm hoping they will hear some criticism at tonight's meeting.