Here’s a funny blurb up on the St. Petersburg Times website:
SENATOR QUITS: The sponsor of a measure allowing Florida teachers to espouse “alternatives” to the theory of evolution announced today that she is resigning from the Legislature to pursue a degree in paleontology.
State Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Brandon, said she has changed her mind about evolution and hopes to be able to build a model of a T. rex in the lobby of the state Capitol.
In reply, the president of the state Association of Science Teachers announced plans to enter a seminary.
The headline says “Be sure to check the date on this news.” Of course, it’s meant for the April 1 edition … but it’s up on the website March 31 at 7:30 p.m. I guess the joke is on the paper for posting a bit too early.
Oh, and speaking of April Fools.
😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆
Well, this is right on cue then!
Text is taken directly from an e-mail from a religious-right group. The Texas Freedom Network does not edit the content for grammar or accuracy.
Date: March 27, 2008
From: Houston Area Pastor Council
By: Mark Cole, HAPC board member
Commentary on “Expelled” after Houston Screening
“Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” contains a warm-hearted and commonsense critique of the bunker mentality of much of the American science academy. Interestingly, much of the critique comes in the form of the academy’s own words which narrator Ben Stein masterfully elicits. The pro-evolution subjects in this documentary routinely spew invective and engage in name-calling when discussing intelligent design, all the while demonstrating a failure to understand even the basic tenets of intelligent design — and a failure to recognize that the arguments for atheistic evolution are notoriously weak.
They basically condemn themselves with their own words. Audiences across America will soon find themselves laughing at these elitists who embarrass themselves in front of the camera – and we are right to do so.
Furthermore, Stein also pinpoints two of the key ethical issues that are inseparable from the expulsion of intelligent design from American educational life. First, the American tradition of liberty under law has historically relied upon the good faith exchange of ideas in the public sector and in the academy. When serious ideas like intelligent design are unjustifiably expelled, debate suffers and liberty suffers.
Second, Stein also exposes the historical and very dark ethical consequences of evolution: Nazism and eugenics. Ideas have consequences, and the consequences of evolution as a dogmatic worldview are tragic. Yet, we are told that evolution shalt not be questioned? Stein doesn’t buy that, and viewers of his move won’t either.
Open-minded viewers will leave “Expelled” emboldened in their defense of more academic freedom in America and encouraged in knowing that questioning the ethical consequences of evolution is both moral and patriotic.
——————————————————————————–
The Texas Freedom Network advances a mainstream agenda of religious freedom and individual liberties to counter the radical right.
Well, as long as I can blame darwin for Nazi Germanys killing of my grandfathers family, i’ll be OK! 🙄
firemancarl,
Someone has done all the work for you.
@Spirula – That’s a great find. I hope you pass it along!
S. Scott,
It probably took Wilkins a long time to generate that but it is breathtaking piece that mocks, desparages, derides, dresses down, castigates, excoriates, keelhauls, rebukes, scoffs, censures, ridicules, debunks, reviles, and expels *ahem* the Darwin-Hitler crap the ID and Coral Ridge crowd keep crowing on about.
Did I mention it assails it too?
Spirula, I saw basically the same thing on PZs site. Ah, I feel sooo much better now. Who can I sue?
firemancarl,
RCC? I hear they’ve got quite the “war chest”.
Senators Introduce Bill to Protect Pregnant Women
(Washington, D.C.)4/1/08 – U.S. Sens. David Vitter, George Voinovich and Sam Brownback this week introduced the Pregnant Women Health and Safety Act, which would require physicians who perform abortions to hold admitting privileges at a hospital that the physician can travel to in one hour or less under average travel conditions.
“This legislation is so important because it provides common sense qualifications for abortion providers,†said Vitter, the primary author of the bill. “As with all medical procedures, abortions carry a risk, and doctors who provide them should, at the least, hold admitting privileges at a hospital in close vicinity to the abortion clinic.â€
The bill also requires that physicians notify patients as to the location of a hospital where they can receive follow-up care from the physician in the event that complications arise. Further, the bill requires that any abortion clinic that receives federal funding be licensed and comply with current requirements relating to ambulatory surgery centers.
The bill also provides that any physician who does not hold clinical privileges may only perform or induce an abortion in order to avert the imminent death of the pregnant woman.
“Patients need to be aware of the possibility of complications arising from abortions,†Vitter said. “This bill requires abortion providers to make sure that a woman is aware of the location of the hospital at which she can receive treatment for any complications. It is time that we took the appropriate steps to provide for the safety of the women who undergo abortions.â€
“We must do all that we can to restore our nation’s once cherished culture of life,†Voinovich said. “I have always said if I had a magic wand the first thing I would do is reconstitute the American family. We will never be able to do that until we respect life – especially the lives of the most vulnerable among us.â€
Brownback said, “While we are working toward the day when every unborn child is welcomed and loved, we are unfortunately not there yet. The Pregnant Women Health and Safety Act will provide oversight of the abortion industry, which is badly in need of improved supervision. Too many abortions are performed under unsafe conditions, and too many women’s lives are at risk. As a compassionate society, we must work to ensure that women are adequately cared for.†………..
http://www.kalb.com/index.php/news/article/senators-introduce-bill-to-protect-pregnant-women/5429/