The Salvation Army "debate" is off the schedule

We were supposed to have taped a "friendly" discussion tomorrow. This was the second reschedule. Just now I received an email that they wanted to change the "other side" for the third time. And the discussion topic was obviously going to be the evo-creato bullshit from Ray Comfort's "Way of the Master" wanker fest. I had already refused to discuss anything with Comfort because he is a hack. He does nothing but repeat the same tired lies he has for the last 15 years, and will continue to until he dies. He knows they are bullshit, but that is all he has to retire on, and he isn't about to get a real job.

Instead they tried to switch a potentially interesting fellow, Dr. Bob Docter, with one of Ray Comfort's acolytes, Stuart G. Scott.

This was such an unprofessional operation that I don't trust them honestly editing any video. No telling how they would chop it. See Expelled Exposed for examples of how creationists lie with video edits, particularly see the section at this URL link.


ah' haz had enuff.

The new "letter to the editor" ran this morning

The Mountain Press of Sevierville, Tn ran a LtE that I wrote last week. Their header is Former teacher misunderstands issues about Scopes, evolution. They have a print circulation of only about 7,500. But, Tennessee is a small population state, and a current hot-spot for creationist laws.

I'll be interested to see if there are any creationists that will comment on-line. I'd be particularly amused if Mr. Shipe tries to defend his multiple lies.

Here is the copy I emailed,]

I wondered how bills like the Monkey Law passed. Then I read the letter Jack
Shipe. Since Shipe claimed he taught science, this ignorance has deep roots.
None of his so-called facts stand against honest examination.

John Scopes was not motivated by the ACLU, which offered to defend anyone
arrested teaching evolution. There was never any “reward.” Dayton business men
brought it up to Scopes to boost travel to, and the reputation of their town.
“Nebraska Man” was never introduced at the trial. There was never any scientific
evidence introduced at the trial. Scientific materials were appended to the
record after the trial, but none of these mentioned “Nebraska Man.”

There is nothing accurate in Mr. Shipe’s other Nebraska Man assertions either.
Tooth fragments were discovered by a rancher and amateur geologist, who sent
them to Henry Fairfield Osborn. Osborn was a paleontologist, not an
archaeologist. Osborn published in 1922 that they were from a primitive ape. He
never identified them as human. Other paleontologists disagreed even with that.
1925 professional excavations showed that the tooth fragments belonged to an
extinct peccary. This was published in scientific journals, and popular
newspapers like the New York Times.

Charles Lyell published “Principles of Geology, vol. 1” in 1830. He never
suggested the Earth’s age in years. He mentions tree rings in Volume 3 (1833)
when citing another scientist’s estimate that an African Baobab-tree was 5,150
years old. Early attempts to estimate the age of the earth used the cooling time
of rock, or iron. Boffon used heated iron spheres in 1778. From their cooling
rate, he estimated that Earth to be at least 300,000 years old. Privately he
speculated the number could be billions of years. This work was continued by
Lord Kelvin in the 1860s. He estimated the Earth’s surface to be between 20, and
400 million years old. Kelvin’s estimates were overturned by the 1903 discovery
that radioactivity heats rocks.

Apparently Shipe missed simple physics. The “leap second” results from
gravitational friction between the Earth and Moon. Currently the Earth and Moon
are tidally locked slowing Earth’s rotation as the Moon slowly moves further
away. This adds only 1 second to the Earth’s rotational speed per 500 days, but
this varied over time. Currently, it is 85 days per million years.

Shipe’s next gross error is his confusion about sex. Division into
reproductively exclusive sexes was never a single generational jump. Today we
observe hundreds of species with individuals reproductively both male and
female. Some, like Semicossyphus pulcher, are first female and then transition
to male. The evolutionary origin of sexual reproduction dates back to the yeasts
which reproduce both sexually, and asexually.

Finally, Shipe does not know what a species is, let alone how they evolve. I
recommend reading, “What is a Species, and What is Not,” by Ernst Mayr which
explains why evolution must always been at the species level. We have directly
observed this in nature, and experiments. (Google: “Emergence of New Species” ).

The only comfort we can take from Mr. Shipe’s letter is that he is no longer a
teacher.

See how many errors they introduced in editing? (OK, just 1) It is instructive to me to read the original comment, versus the edited comment (above), versus the published comment.

Why are we still ignorant?

I edited the letter down to 513 words at the request of the newspaper's editor. I'll post a link if/when they publish. Most of Mr. Shipe's "facts" are copied from "Answers in Genesis Ministries."

Here is why, The Mountain Press - Letter: Evolution is a religion forced on our children

My reply as sent to the newspaper.

I wonder how bills like the new Tennessee Monkey Law are passed. Then I read a letter like the one by Jack Shipe published in The Mountain Press April 26, 2012. Since Mr. Shipe claimed to have been a science teacher, I see that such ignorance has deep roots. Not one of his so-called facts can stand against honest examination. John Scopes was not motivated by the 1925 ACLU advertisement, which merely offered to defend anyone arrested for teaching evolution. There was never any “reward” offered. Some Dayton business men brought it up to Scopes as a way to boost travel to, and the reputation of their town. “Nebraska Man” was never introduced at the trial. There was never any scientific evidence introduced at the trial. Some scientific materials were appended to the record after the trial, but none of these mentioned “Nebraska Man.”

There is nothing in Mr. Shipe’s assertions about the so-called Nebraska Man that was accurate either. The tooth fragments were discovered by a rancher and amateur geologist, and he sent them to Henry Fairfield Osborn. Osborn was a paleontologist, not an archaeologist. Osborn published in 1922 that they were from a primitive ape, and never identified them as human. Other paleontologists were doubtful that this was even correct. In 1925, controlled professional excavations showed that the tooth fragments belonged to an extinct pig. This finding was published not only in scientific journals, but in popular newspapers like the New York Times.

Charles Lyell never mentioned an age of the earth in years in “Principles of Geology, vol. 1” published in 1830. He did mention tree rings in Volume 3 published in 1833 when he cited the work of another scientist who estimated that an African Baobab-tree could be as old as 5,150 years old. Early attempts to estimate the age of the earth used the cooling time of rock, or iron. For example, in the 1700s Boffon heated iron spheres and timed their cooling rate and estimated that Earth to be at least 300,000 years old. In unpublished notebooks he speculated the number could be billions of years. This was extended by Lord Kelvin who in the 1860s estimated that the Earth’s surface could be between 20, and 400 million years old. When it was shown in 1903 that radioactivity heated rocks, Kelvin’s estimates were overturned.

Apparently Mr. Shipe cannot grasp simple physics either. The “leap second” results mostly from the gravitational friction between the Earth, and Moon. This currently keeps the Moon tidally locked with the Earth slowing its rotation, and the Moon (equally slowly) moves further away from the Earth. This is currently adding about 1 second to the Earth’s rotational speed per 500 days, but was not constant throughout time. At the current rate, this is just about 85 days per 1 million years.

The next exposure of great ignorance is Mr. Shipe’s confusion about the evolution of sex. The division into reproductive sexes was never, and could never be a single generational jump. Today we can observe hundreds of species with individuals reproductively both male and female. Some, like the fish Semicossyphus pulcher, are first female, and then later in life transition to male. The evolutionary origin of sexual reproduction dates well back to the yeasts which are both sexual, and asexual.

Finally, it is clear the Mr. Shipe does not even know what a species is, let alone how they evolve. For the first, I recommend reading, “What is a Species, and What is Not,” by Ernst Mayr which also explains why all evolution has always been at the species level. And, we have of course directly observed this in nature, and experiments. I have compiled a list of many examples available from my personal blog (Google: “Emergence of New Species” ).

The only comfort we can take from Mr. Shipe’s letter is that he is no longer a teacher.

Liars on the Right

For what seems like many years (actually over four), science blogger Richard Hope has been tracking the lawsuits, and commentaries surrounding Ohioan creationist John Freshwater's dismissal as an 8th grade science teacher. On 20, June 2008, the Mt. Vernon School Board started termination proceedings against Freshwater. The saga continues. RBH made a very insightful post this AM on The Panda's Thumb blog about the way the right-wing Christian press has consistently lied about Freshwater, and why he was fired. I highly recommend reading his comments.

Charles Darwin's Education from Wikipedia

I read the Wikipedia article on Darwin's education this morning. It was excellent. It was exceptionally detailed, but very readable. I have updated my little sketch with a link to the Wikipedia's page.

Another lecture done

My colleague Jim Hofmann, Professor and Chair of Liberal Studies at Cal State U, Fullerton, had me over on Tuesday to talk with his class, "Evolution and Creation." Jim and I met years ago when taping video interviews about creationism. The website linked above has a massive compilation of links to all sides of the evo/creato debates. My topic was "Geological Features of Great Age." I will try (again) to figure a way to post my Power Point slides to "Stones and Bones." If anyone knows how to do this, please teach me.

I was a bit ragged this time, I fear. I was getting ready for my UFO abduction audition: I had a colonoscopy scheduled Thursday morning (crack of dawn pun suppressed).

More "Steves" sign the Steve's List

The NCSE Project Steve has passed the 1,200 signatory mark (as of today, 7th April, 2012 there are 1,202).

The happy occasion was duly marked by The Sensuous Curmudgeon, who writes a pro-science blog well worth reading.

TV Debates

I was invited to do an internet TV (what's that?) debate hosted by the Salvation Army. I was apparently invited because I am on the Center for Inquiry speakers list.

Regarding the 'other side,' I made the following remark, "Personally, if I were to just sit down for a chat it would be with Sean McDowell. Ray Comfort knows his arguments are lame, and his "facts" are false. He doesn't care. Consequently, all he does is repeat the same things he has repeated for over a decade. With Ray, it is just a job."

I'll keep you updated.

The paper debunking Joe "the surgeon" Kuhn is evolving. A ten page draft text mostly about origin of life research had 121 references. This was too much science. So, the new idea is to have a short article on all three of Kuhn's screw-ups (OOL, Irreducible Complexity, and No Transitional Species), with all the hard science parts in a separate text(s) to be hosted on-line.

Edited 12 noon, 7 April;

The debate is on with Sean McDowell. The video taping will be 23 April, and the discussion posted sometime in June. You can see Sean McDowell in action debating Jim Corbett on this link. My opinion of Jim Corbett was not improved watching his performance versus Sean McDowell.