Goddidit!

One of the predictions of creationism intelligent design is that the hand of God the intelligent designer will be found in creation in the Design.

Well, I have finally found it. And wouldn't Behe be impressed, I found it in Plasmodium yoelli, a malarial parasite that infects rodents. Just like Craig Venter, who inscribed his name into the organism that he designed, God the Intelligent Designer placed his watermark on the chromosome of that totally improbable rodent parasite, Plasmodium. Are you ready? This is what he wrote:

HEDIDIT

It's found in the impossibly large hypothetical protein PY01329 in Plasmodium yoelli. GodThe Disembodied Telic entity has marked his work in there. And he did it *before* Craig Venter did it. And in the 3rd person. So there.

(Note: Searches for GODDIDIT so far haven't found any perfect matches, but give me time and a few more genomic sequences, and we'll find it)

For those folks totally lacking a sense of humor - I'm being sarcastic. While this sequence of amino acids is in the genome of the Plasmodium parasite, it is not an indication of God'sthe Designer's hand.

Friday beautiful science

Today's Friday Beautiful Science comes from the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute. They're genetically engineering mosquitoes, with the hopes of making a malaria resistant mosquito. See more pictures here.

83rd Skeptics' Circle

This week's Skeptics' Circle is up at Mike's Weekly Skeptic Rant. Go have a gander, and win Ben Stein's Knickers!

Please, pretty please, read my blog?

An Open Letter to PZ,





I'm just begging for more traffic. It's worked for others, why not for me?

Deathstar Troofers Unite!

Deathstar troofers:

We’ve all heard the “official conspiracy theory” of the Death Star attack. We all know about Luke Skywalker and his ragtag bunch of rebels, how they mounted a foolhardy attack on the most powerful, well-defended battle station ever built. And we’ve all seen the video over, and over, and over, of the one-in-a-million shot that resulted in a massive chain reaction that not just damaged, but completely obliterated that massive technological wonder.

Like many citizens of the Empire, I was fed this story when I was growing up. But as I watched the video, I began to realize that all was not as it seemed. And the more I questioned the official story, the deeper into the rabbit hole I went.

Death strike to my naiveté

I don't like to think of myself as naive. Who does? But this has been an eye opener for me.

When I first started following the evolution/creationism 'debate', I thought that the creationists were merely mistaken. I was raised a Christian, and while my immediate family aren't biblical literalists, many of my aunts and uncles are. I understand these people. I was raised as one of them. And I discovered, through science, that many of the suppositions that these people hold are incorrect.

That said, I assumed that all creationists were merely incorrect. I didn't like folks who railed against the dishonesty of creationists. After all, many of my family are creationists, and I don't think they're dishonest.

But professional creationists are of a completely other breed. These people lie for a living. If you doubt it, take a look at the recent movie "Expelled". It's a movie that portrays creationists as martyrs to an unkind establishment (see quote at the top of my blog about unkind establishments). Currently, they're offering free showings of this movie to the public, all you have to do is sign up on their website. It's free. I've been thinking of going. The only restrictions listed are:

Please fill out one entry form per attendee. Once confirmed, your name will be on a list at the door of the theater. IDs will be checked.

For security, no bags, cell phones, or recording devices of any kind will be allowed into the theater. Please leave them in your car.

That's it. Recently, PZ Myers registered to go, and then was stopped at the door, and told he couldn't enter. Juvenile, right? Fine. His guest, Richard Dawkins, was allowed in.

Look what professional creationists say about it:

Amazingly, the best selling Oxford scientist/author Richard Dawkins also crashed a showing of Expelled in Minnesota last night

Crashed? Crashed? Come on, he registered and showed his ID at the door.

Dawkins apparently acknowledged that he had not been invited and did not have a ticket. A sophomoric side to his ideological campaign is thus revealed.

He acknowledged he wasn't invited? Likely none of the other people were either. You can register to go on their website. Are you trying to be dishonest?

When even little details like these get twisted and embellished, one wonders what credibility they have at all.

Expelled, the musical!

Okay, this deserves all kinds of linkage. It contains humiliation! Armed guards! Nazis! (No, really, it contains Nazis. Well, it contains footage of Nazis). The makers of the pseudo-scientific "Expelled" movie tossed PZ Myers out of the movie (and he's even a subject in the movie!). Or, rather, they Expelled him. Oh the irony! Very funny! Read it! Link it! This deserves to be widely read!