Het nieuwe front van Intelligent Design.

Na Kansas, Dover is nu waarschijnlijk Texas aan de beurt om het opleidingsniveau van z'n inwoners te torpederen. De Texas Board of Education' heeft zes mensen aangewezen die de wetenschapscurriculem moeten bekijken.

Dit zijn: (van Pharyngula)

David Hillis, professor of integrative biology and director of the Center of Computational Biology and Bioinformatics at the University of Texas at Austin;

Ronald K. Wetherington, professor of anthropology at Southern Methodist University and director of the Center for Teaching Excellence;

Gerald Skoog, professor and dean emeritus of the College of Education at Texas Tech and co-director of the Center for Integration of Science Education and Research;

Stephen Meyer, vice-frakkin'-president of the odious Discovery Institute in Washington state;

Ralph Seelke, a pro-ID creationist and biologist from Wisconsin;

Charles Garner, a chemist from Baylor who is also a pro-ID creationist.

Stephen Meyer en Ralph Seelke zjin co-auteur van Explore Evolution (klik op de link voor een engelstalige recensie van het boek.)

Uit de recensie

That said, Discovery faces at least one very significant challenge in its anti-evolution campaign: evolution is overwhelmingly accepted by the scientific community because the evidence for it is extensive and comprehensive. Taking on that evidence runs the risk of simply emphasizing its significance, so EE maneuvers its way around this roadblock by using (and abusing) an approach to teaching called inquiry-based learning (IBL).

Wat zijn de meningen over dit IBL?

Het enge is dat Texas van alle staten de grootste invloed heeft op welke schoolboeken landelijk gebruikt worden, als Texas een bepaald schoolboek kiest is de kans groot dat andere staten hetzelfde boek kiezen.

Dus mensen, jullie menigen hierover...

Detlef

Eerste vragenlijst - Geloof je in...

• God?

Nee

• Gelukkig zijn?

Ja

• Leven na de dood?

Nee

• Eeuwige trouw?

Nee

• De hemel?

Nee

• De hel?

Nee

• Waarzeggers?

Nee

• De duivel?

Nee

• Natuurtalenten?

Ja

• De opstanding van Jezus?

Nee

• Natuurlijke genezing?

Uhm, we hebben een uitstekend afweer systeem! Puur natuur!

• Aliens?

Waarschijnlijk is er wel leven buiten de aarde, hoewel de grote hoevelheid microben zijn.

• Onsterfelijkheid?

Nee, dit is het enige vonkje bewustzijn dat we ooit zullen hebben... LEEF!

• Je vrienden?

Zeker

• Een 3e wereldoorlog?

Ooit, misschien, ik weet niet.

• Jezelf?

Ja

• Geesten?

Nee

• Engelen?

Nee

• Een betere toekomst?

Ja

• De bijbel?

Nee

• Pratende beesten?

Nee

• Heksen?

Nee

• Monsters?

Nee

• Het krijgen van kanker door roken?

Ja

• Dromen die uitkomen?

Nee

• Liefde op het eerste gezicht?

Licht eraan of ik heb gegeten

• Het feit dat mensen kunnen veranderen?

Ja

• De kerstman?

Nee

• Sinterklaas?

Nee

• Dat als je je hart volgt dat dan alles goed komt?

Nee

• Je familie?

Ja

• Allah?

Uhm, dat is gewoon het Arabische woord voor God?! Dus, nee.

• Elfjes?

Nee

• Sprookjes?

Sprookjes bestaan. Ze zijn alleen verzonnen, fake, niet echt!

• Wonen op Mars?

Als we voor die tijd niet zijn uitgestorven

• Bush, die Bin Laden gaat pakken?

Het lijkt me handiger om Bin Laden eerst te vinden en hem dan te pakken...

• Een dag ooit zonder honger?

De eerste 600 miljoen jaar van onze planeet, voordat er leven was... En waarschijn lijk nog wel een paar Miljard jaar daarna, aangezien voor de eeste paar miljard jaar het leven op aarde volledig bestond uit bacterien....

• Een dag ooit zonder oorlog?

Mensen (H. Sapiens Sapiens) loopt pas ca. 250.000 jaar rond op deze planeet....

• Iedereen gelijk is?

Die vraag leest rottig, maar ja...

• Kabouters?

Nee

• Een ronde aardbol?

De aardbol is niet perfect rond, door de rotatie van de aarde...

• Telephatie?

Nee

• Reincarnatie?

Nee

• Bijgeloof?

Nee

• Een vergaande aarde?

Over 5 miljard, nadat de zon tot een rode reus is opgezwollen en de oceanen zijn verdampt en leven onmogelijk is? Ja

• Een overstroming in Nederland?

Is nooit uit te sluiten...

• Een hiernamaals?

Is dat niet hetzelfde als leven na de dood?

• Het broeikaseffect?

Ja... zowel op aarde als andere planeten gebeurd het en is het al eens eerder gebeurt. Klimaar hoort te veranderen. Het stabiele klimaat dat we sinds de laatste ijstijd heb is een absurditeit...

• Iemand die deze vragenlijst gaat lezen?

Waarschijnlijk wel...

Carl Sagan - Pale Blue Dot

Update

Ey,

Ik leef nog, ben bezig met iets op papier te zetten om dan eindelijk echt te beginnen met m'n blog. Dus, dat komt binnenkort. Ik heb volgende week een toetsweek op school dus misshien na volgende week maar waarschijnlijk wel wat eerder. Hoewel ik daarvoor mezelf eens goed ga voorstellen. Waarschijnlijk gewoon wat vragenlijsten van internet afhalen en die beantwoorden... Ik ben nu zwaar hyper, waarschijnlijk omdat m'n medicatie (heb adhd) is uitgewerkt.

Dus, tot binnenkort...

Detlef

Ik wou hier nog een ps. plaatsen maar ik ben vergeten wat ik wou zeggen.........

Reactie op E-mail

Over de afkomst van het menselijk ras:

Een meisje vraagt haar vader: ' Pa, hoe ontstond het menselijk ras?'
Vader antwoordde:' God schiep Adam en Eva en zij kregen kinderen en zo ontstond het menselijk ras.'


Later stelde het meisje aan haar moeder dezelfde vraag.

De moeder antwoordde:' Vele, vele jaren geleden waren er apen van waaruit het menselijk ras evolueerde.'

Dit bracht het meisje in verwarring en ze ging terug naar haar vader:' Papa, hoe is het mogelijk? Jij vertelt mij dat mensen geschapen zijn door God en mama zegt dat ze afstammen van apen.'

De vader antwoordde:' Wel liefje, 't is heel simpel. Ik vertelde je over mijn kant van de familie en je moeder vertelde je over haar kant.'

Om maar gewoon te beginnen met wat het meisje had moeten vragen. 'Hoe is de diersoort Homo Sapiens Sapiens ontstaan'. Dit is een vraag die tenminste nog iets betekent, besef dat je Homo Sapiens Sapiens ook kan vervangen door Pan paniscus (Bonobo), Tiliqua nigrolutea (Gevlekte blauwtongskink), etc.

Om het antwoord van de vader aan flarden te schieten. Als je complexe creative intelligenties wil verklaren, moet je niet een nog complexere, nog creativere, nog intelligentere entiteit verzinnen omdat we toen het antwoord nog niet wisten. Besef ook dat de bijbel vol staat met tegenstrijdigheden en dat iedereen die het boek leest beseft dat God een sadistische massamoordenaar is.

Het antwoord van de moeder klopt ook niet; want dan krijg je het beeld dat evolutie een soort ladder is, terwijl het eigenlijk meer op een dichtbegroeide struik luikt. En we stammen niet alleen af van apen, WE ZIJN APEN. Het is dan ook zinloos om een fossiel tussen mensen en apen te zoeken, dit is hetzelfde als zoeken naar een weg tussen Sittard en Limburg. Deze benoeming hebben we trouwens te danken aan Carolus Linnaeus. Mensen en Chimpansees (zowel de gewone Chimpansee als de Bonobo) hebben een gemeenschappelijke voorouder. Dat geld voor alle dier-, plant-, schimmel- en bacteriesoorten; we zijn allemaal familie, letterlijk familie.

Het meisje hoeft helemaal niet verward te zijn, de beste manier om problemen op te lossen is naar het bewijs te kijken, wat in slecht één richting wijst. Het idee dat ze dan maar beide moet geloven (je gelooft trouwens niet in evolutie, je accepteert het bewijs ervoor) is simpelweg belachelijk. Stel dat de vader zegt dat de aarde plat was, en de moeder zegt dat de aarde een bijna perfecte bol is. Of dat de vader roept dat de zon om de aarde draait (Jozua 10:12-13, Prediker 1:5 en Psalmen 19:4-6 en deze link) en dat moeder zegt dat de aarde om de zon draait (en de eigen as). De vader kan ook roepen dat Pi gelijk is aan 3.0 (1 Koningen 7:23-26 en 2 Kronieken 4:2-5) en de moeder zegt dat Pi gelijk is aan 3.14 (afgerond uiteraard). Moet het meisje hier dan ook kiezen? Het zou natuurlijk belachelijk zijn als je dat moest.

Het idee van de schepping wordt niet alleen tegensproken door de realiteit, het is ook, in de diepste betekenis van het woord, godslasterlijk.

SAD brief Calilasseia

Dear Sir,

I have recently alighted upon a news item in which you have been approached with respect to the removal of evolution from biology classes, on the basis that it is "only a theory", that it is "unproven", and various other canards erected in the usual mendacious fashion by the ideological warriors for creationism.

You may find the following useful in dealing with these specious objections.

One, the word "theory" in science has a different meaning to that extant in lay circles. In science, a theory is an integrated explanation for a class of observed phenomena that has been subject to intense critical scrutiny, empirical test, and which has passed all of the critical tests brought to bear upon it. Therefore in the world of science, a theory has a much higher status than that of a mere conjecture, precisely because it has been subject to rigorous testing.

Two, science does not deal in "proof" in the strict sense understood in the world of mathematics. Science deals in evidential support from observational reality. All scientific theories rest upon this basic concept, be they the germ theory of disease, the theory of gravitation, General Relativity or quantum mechanics. Evolution rests upon a bedrock of massive evidential support from observational reality, the result of untold millions of man hours of diligent labour involving patient observation, construction of experiments and rigorous experimental methodologies, and careful analysis of experimental results to ensure that the conclusions drawn from those results are appropriate, genuinely supported by the results, and robust with respect to a particular hypothesis being tested by the particular experimental setup. The academic institutions and natural history museums of the world are overflowing with the supporting evidence for evolution, so much so that denial of this vast body of evidence and its validity as established by the above diligent endeavours of the world's scientists is not merely untenable, it is perverse.

Three, with respect to that evidence, I would also like to present to you a list of citations for scientific papers that are particularly apposite with respect to the need to fend off egregious and mendacious attacks upon valid science, almost all of which are motivated by blind adherence to assorted reality-denial doctrines. This list of papers is by no means exhaustive, indeed it is only a minute fraction of the available material extant in the scientific literature. In 2007 alone, over eighteen thousand peer reviewed scientific papers were published in the realm of evolutionary biology, and the number is actually growing year on year. I have grouped these papers into specific subject areas, each illustrative of a particular principle. The citations now follow, along with their respective subject area headings.

[1] Appearance of novel capabilities in organisms via mutation and selection - Nylonase enzymes in Japanese Flavobacterium species:

A New Nylon Oligomer Degradation Gene (nylC) on Plasmid pOAD2 from a Flavobacterium sp. By Seiji Negoro, Shinji Kakudo, Itaru Urabe, and Hirosuke Okadam, Journal of Bacteriology, Dec. 1992, p. 7948-7953

Birth of a unique enzyme from an alternative reading frame of the pre-existed, internally repetitious coding sequence by Susumu Ohno, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, Vol. 81, PP. 2421-2425, April 1984

Insertion Sequence IS6100 on Plasmid pOAD2, which degrades Nylon Oligomers by Ko Kato, Kinya Ohtsuki, Hiroyuki Mitsuda, Tetsuya Yomo, Seiji Negoro and Itaru Urabe, Journal of Bacteriology, Feb 1994, PP 1197-1200

[2] Appearance of novel capabilities in organisms via mutation and selection - Antifreeze Glycoproteins in Antarctic Notothenioid fishes:

Convergent Evolution of Antifreeze Glycoproteins in Antarctic Notothenioid Fishes and Arctic Cod by Liangbiao Chen, Arthur L. DeVries and Chi-Hing C. Cheng, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, vol 94, PP 3817-3822, 1997

Evolution of an Antifreeze Glycoprotein by Liangbiao Chen and Chi-Hing C. Cheng, Nature, vol 401, PP 443-444, 1999

Evolution of Antifreeze Glycoprotein Gene from a Trypsinogen Gene in Antarctic Notothenioid Fishes by Liangbiao Chen, Arthur L. DeVries and Chi-Hing C. Cheng, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, vol 94, PP 3811-3816, 1997

Functional Antifreeze Glycoprotein Genes in Temperate-Water New Zealand Nototheniid Fishes Infer An Antarctic Evolutionary Origin by Chi-Hing C Cheng, Liangbiao Chen, Thomas J Near and Yumi Jin, Journal of Molecular and Biological Evolution, Vol 20, no 11, PP 1897-1908, 2003

Nonhepatic Origin of Notothenioid Antifreeze Reveals Pancreatic Synthesis As Common Mechanism in Polar Fish Freezing Avoidance by Chi-Hing C Cheng, Paul A. Cziko and Clive W. Evans, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, vol 103, PP 10491-10496, 2006

[3] Speciation events observed in the laboratory:

Evidence for rapid speciation following a founder event in the laboratory by J.R. Weinberg V. R. Starczak and P. Jora, Evolution vol 46, PP 1214-1220, 1992

Experimentally Created Incipient Species of Drosophila by Theodosius Dobzhansky & Olga Pavlovsky, Nature 230, pp 289 - 292 (02 April 1971)

Founder-flush speciation in Drosophila pseudoobscura: a large scale experiment by A. Galiana, A. Moya and F. J. Alaya, Evolution vol 47, pp 432-444, 1993 (Speciation event in Drosophila melanogaster)

Phagotrophy by a flagellate selects for colonial prey: A possible origin of multicellularity byM.E. Boraas, D.B. Seale and J.E. Boxhorn, Evolutionary Ecology Vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 153-164. Feb 1998

Sexual isolation caused by selection for positive and negative phototaxis and geotaxis in Drosophila pseudoobscura by E. del Solar, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, vol 56, pp 484-487, 1966

The phagotrophic origin of eukaryotes and phylogenetic classification of Protozoa by Tom Cavalier-Smith, International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology vol 52, pp 297-354, 2002

[4] Speciation events in nature and supporting phylogenetic evidence:

Adaptive Evolution And Explosive Speciation: The Cichlid Fish Model by Thomas D. Kocher, Nature Reviews: Genetics, 5: 288-298 (April 2004)

Cichlid Species Flocks of the Past and Present by A. Meyer, Heredity vol 95, 419-420, 20 July 2005

Drosophila paulistorum: A Cluster of Species in Statu Nascendi by Theodosius Dobzhansky & Boris Spassky, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA., 45(3): 419-428 (1959)

Hybridisation and Contemporary Evolution in an introduced Cichlid Fish from Lake Malawi National Park by J. Todd Streelman, S.L. Gymrek, M.R. Kidd, C. Kidd, R.L. Robinson, E. Hert, A.J. Ambali and T.D. Kocher, Molecular Ecology, vol 13, pp 2471-2479, 21 April 2004

Major Histocompatibility Complex Variation In Two Species Of Cichlid Fishes From Lake Malawi by Hideki Ono, Colm O'hUigin, Herbert Tichy and Jan Klein, Molecular and Evolutionary Biology, 10(5): 1060-1072 (1993)

Mitochondrial Phylogeny of the Endemic Mouthbrooding Lineages of Cichlid Fishes from Lake Tanganyika in Eastern Africa by Christian Sturmbauer and Axel Meyer, Journal of Molecular and Biological Evolution, Vol 10, No. 4, pp 751-768, 1993

Multilocus Phylogeny of Cichlid Fishes (Pisces: Perciformes) : Evolutionary Comparison of Microsatellite and Single-Copy Nuclear Loci by J. Todd Streelman, Rafael Zardoya, Axel Meyer and Stephen A Karl, Journal of Molecular and Biological Evolution, Vol 15, No 7, pp 798-808, 1998

Origin of the Superflock of Cichlid Fishes from Lake Victoria, East Africa by Erik Verheyen, Walter Salzburger, Jos Snoeks and Axel Meyer, Science, vol 300, pp 325-329, 11 April 2003

Phylogeny of African Cichlid Fishes as Revealed By Molecular Markers by Werner E. Mayer, Herbert Tichy and Jan Klein., Heredity, vol 80, pp 702-714, 1998

The Species Flocks of East African Cichlid Fishes: Recent Advances in Molecular Phylogenetics and Population Genetics by Walter Salzburger and Axel Mayer, Naturwissenschaft, vol 91, pp 277-290, 20 April 2004

[5] Evolution of specific features in humans:

Accelerated Evolution of the ASPM Gene Controlling Brain Size Begins Prior to Human Brain Expansion by Natalay Kouprina, Adam Pavlicek, Ganeshwaran H. Mochida, Gregory Solomon, William Gersch, Young-Ho Yoon, Randall Collura, Maryellen Ruvolo, J. Carl Barrett, C. Geoffrey Woods, Christopher A. Walsh, Jerzy Jurka and Vladimir Larionov, Public Library of Science Biology, vol 2, No 5, e126 (23rd March 2004)

Evolution of the Human ASPM Gene, A Major Determinant of Brain Size by Jianzhi Ziang, Genetics, vol 165, pp 2063-2070 (December 2003)

Evolution of Olfactory Receptor Genes in the Human Genome by Yoshihito Niimua and Masatoshi Nei, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA., 100(21) 12235-12240 (14 October 2003)

Evolution of Vertebrate Olfactory Systems by H.L. Eisthen, Brain, Behaviour and Evolution, 50(4): 222-233 (1997).

Human Brain Evolution: Insights from Microarrays by Todd M. Preuss, Mario Cáceres, Michael C. Oldham and Daniel H. Geschwind, Nature Reviews of Genetics, vol 5, no 11, pp 850-860 (November 2004)

Molecular Evolution of FOXP2, a Gene Involved in Speech and Language by Wolfgang Enard, Molly Przeworski, Simon E. Fisher, Cecilia S. L. Lai, Victor Wiebe, Takashi Kitano Anthony P. Monaco and Svante Pääbo, Nature, Vol 418, pp 869-872, 22 August 2002

Molecular evolution of microcephalin, a gene determining human brain size by Yin-Qiu Wang and Bing Su, Human Molecular Genetics, Vol 13, No 11, pp 1131-1137 (1st June 2004)

Organisation and Evolution of Olfactory Receptor Genes on Human Chromosome 11 by J.A. Buettner, G. Glusman, N. Ben-Arie, P. Ramos, D. Lancet and G.A. Evans, Genomics 53(1): 56-58 (1 Oct 1998)

Primate evolution of an olfactory receptor cluster: diversification by gene conversion and recent emergence of pseudogenes by D Sharon, G Glusman,Y Pilpel, M Khen, F Gruetzner, T Haaf, D Lancet, Genomics, 61(1) 24-36 (1 Oct 1999)

Sequence, Structure and Evolution of a Complete Human Olfactory Receptor Gene Cluster by Gustavo Glusman, Alona Sosinsky, Edna Ben-Asher, Nili Avidan, Dina Sonkin, Anita Bahar, André Rosenthal, Sandra Clifton, Bruce Roe, Concepción Ferraz, Jacques Demaille and Doron Lancet, Genomics, 63(2) 227-245 (15 Jan 2000).

The Evolution of Mammalian Olfactory Genes by L. Issel-Tarver & J. Rine, Genetics, 145(1): 185-195 (January 1997)

The Human Olfactory Subgenome: From Sequence To Structure To Evolution by Tania Fuchs, Gustavo Glasman, Shirley Horn-Saban, Doron Lancet and Yitzhak Pilpel, Human Genetics, 108: 1-13 (3 January 2001)

[6] Bird evolution and feathers:

Avian Skin Development and the Evolutionary Origin of Feathers by R.H. Sawyer & L.W. Knapp, Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B: Molecular & Devlopmental Evolution, 298(1): 57-72 (15 Aug 2003)

Bird Evolution by Julia Clarke and Kevin Middleton, Current Biology, 16(10): R350-354 (23 May 2006)

Description of the earliest fossil penguin from South America and first Paleogene vertebrate locality of Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina by Julia A. Clarke, Eduard B. Olivero and Pablo Puerta, American Museum of Natural History Novitates, No 3423, pp 1-19 (9 December 2003)

Evolution of the Morphological Innovations of Feathers by Richard O. Prum, Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B: Molecular & Developmental Evolution, 304(6): 570-579 (15 Nov 2005)

The Evolutionary Origin and Diversification of Feathers by Richard O. Prum and Alan H. Brush, Quarterly Review of Biology, 77(3):, 261-295 (September 2002)

When Did Theropods Become Feathered? Evidence For Pre-Archaeopteryx Feathery Appendages by Martin Kundrát, Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B: Molecular & Developmental Evolution, 302(4): 355-64 (15 July 2004)

[7] General vertebrate evolution and important associated features:

Developmental Data and Phylogenetic Systematics: Evolution of the Vertebrate Limb by Paula M. Mabee, Journal of American Zoology, 40: 789-800 (2000)

Tetrapod Phylogeny Inferred from 18S and 28S Ribosomal RNA Sequences, and a Review of the Evidence for Amniote Relationships by S. Blair Hedges, Kirk D. Moberg and Linda R. Maxson, Molecular Biology & Evolution, 7(6): 607-633 (1990) [NOTE: MINOR CORRECTION POSTED IN 1991]

Theropod Forelimb Design And Evolution by Kevin M. Middleton and Stephe M. Gatesby. Zoological Journal of the Linnaean Society, 128: 149-187 (2000)

[8] Phylogenetics and Molecular Phylogeny not covered in papers above, plus genetic and other insights into deep evolutionary time, including the reconstruction of ancient genes and proteins:

Crystal Structure Of An Ancient Protein: Evolution By Conformational Epistasis by Eric A. Ortlund, Jamie T. Bridgham, Matthew R. Redinbo and Joseph W. Thornton, Science, 317: 1544-1548 (14 September 2007)

Fractious Phylogenies by Thomas D Kocher, Nature, Vol 423, pp 489-490, 29 May 2003

Inferring The Historical Patterns Of Biological Evolution by Mark Pagel, Nature, 401: 877-884 (28 October 1999)

Estimating Metazoan Divergence Times With A Molecular Clock by Kevin J. Peterson, Jessica B. Lyons, Kristin S. Nowak, Carter M. Takacs, Matthew J. Wargo & Mark A. McPeek, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of America, April 2004, 101, 17, 6536-6541

Evolution of Amino Acid Frequencies in Proteins Over Deep Time: Inferred Order of Introduction of Amino Acids into the Genetic Code by Dawn J. Brooks, Jacques R. Fresco, Arthur M. Lesk, and Mona Singh, Molecular Biology and Evolution 19: 1645-1655 (2002)

Resurrecting Ancient Genes: Experimental Analysis Of Extinct Molecules by Joseph W. Thornton, Nature Reviews: Genetics, 5: 366-375 (5 May 2004)

Taxonomic Congruence Versus Total Evidence, and Amniote Phylogeny Inferred from Fossils, Molecules and Morphology by Douglas J. Eernisse and Arnold G. Kluge, Molecular Biology & Evolution, 10(6): 1170-1195 (1993)

The Past As The Key To The Present: Resurrection Of Ancient Proteins From Eosinophils by Steven A. Benner, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA., 99(8): 4760-4761 (16 April 2002)

The Timing Of Eukaryotic Evolution: Does A Relaxed Molecular Clock Reconcile Proteins And fossils? by Emmanuel J.P. Douzery, Elizabeth A. Snell, Eric Bapteste, Frédéric Delsuc & Hervé Philiipe, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of America, October 2004, 101, 43, 15386-15391

[9] Blind Cave Fishes and their relevance to the evolution of the eye, plus a special paper on eye evolution:

Adaptive Evolution of Eye Degeneration in the Mexican Blind Cavefish by W. R. Jeffrey, journal of Heredity, 96(3): 185-196 (Jan 2005)

Cavefish as a Model System in Evolutionary Developmental Biology by William R. Jeffrey, Devlopmental Biology, 231:, 1-12 (1 Mar 2001)

Hedgehog Signalling Controls Eye Degeneration in Blind Cavefish by Yoshiyuki Yamamoto, David W. Stock and William R. Jeffery, Nature, 431: 844-847 (14 Oct 2004)

The Master Control Gene For Morphgenesis And Evolution Of The Eye by Walter J. Gehrig, Genes To Cells, 1: 11-15, 1996.

Why cavefish are blind by N.M. Tian & D.J. Price, Bioessays, 27: 235-238 (Mar 2005)

[10] Evolution of photosynthesis:

Early evolution of Photosynthesis: Clues from Nitrogenase and Chlorophyll Iron Proteins by Donald H. Burke, John E. Hearst and Arend Sidow, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 90, No. 15, pp 7134-7138 (1st August 1993)

Evolution: When Did Photosynthesis Emerge on Earth? by David J. Des Marais, Science, Vol 289, pp 1703-1705 (8th September 2000)

Molecular evidence for the early evolution of photosynthesis by Jin Xiong, William M. Fischer, Kazuhito Inoue, Masaaki Nakahara and Carl E. Bauer, Science, Vol 289, pp 1724-1730 (8 September 2000)

Origin and early evolution of photosynthesis by Robert E. Blankenship, Photosynthesis Research, Vol 33, No 2, pp 91-111 (August 1992)

Tracking major evolution of photosynthesis by characterisation of a major photosynthesis gene cluster from Heliobacillus mobilis by Jin Xiong, Kazuhto Inoue and Carl E. Bauer, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, vol 95, Issue 25, pp 14581-14586 (8th December 1998)

[11] General evolutionary theory and supporting evidence:

Empirical Fitness Landscapes Reveal Accessible Evolutionary Paths by Frank J. Poelwijk, Daniel J. Kiviet, Daniel M. Weinreich and Sander J. Tans, Nature, 445: 383-386 (25 January 2007)

Evolution of Biological Information by Thomas D. Schneider, Nucleic Acids Research, 28: 2794-2799 (2000)

Genetic Variability, Twin Hybrids and Constant hybrids in a Case of Balanced Lethal Factors by Hermann Joseph Müller, Genetics, 3(5): 422-499 (1918)

The Cost of Natural Selection Revisited by Leonard Nunney, Ann. Zool. Fennici, Vol 40, 185-194, 30 April 2003

[12] Hominid Ancestry

A New Primate from the early Eocene of Myanmar and the Asian Early Origin of Anthropoids by J.-J. Jaeger, Tin Thein, M. Benammi, Y. Chaimanee, Aung Naing Soe, Thit Lwin, Than Tun, San Wai and S. Ducrocq, Science, 286: 528-520 (15 October 1999)

Initial Sequenceing of the Chimpanzee Genome and Comparison with the Human Genome, The Chimpanzee Genome Sequencing Consortium (see paper for full list of 68 authors), Nature, Vol 437, pp 69-87, 1 September 2005

The oldest known anthropoid postcranial fossils and the early evolution of higher primates by D.L. Gebo, M, D'Agosto, K.C. Beard, T, Qi and J Wang, Nature, vol 404 (6775), pp 276-78, 16 March 2002

As I said above, this is only a tiny fraction of the papers available, and should you wish, I can supply copies of many of these papers for your direct, independent perusal so as to verify their contents, in the form of Adobe PDF documents. Whether I can supply all 71 papers in the above list at short notice is debatable, as I have yet to check that they are all resident on my hard drive (and that I have downloaded all of the papers and not just the citations in some instances), but I can supply a significant percentage of these. In any case, your state education board should be able to request copies of these papers directly from the requisite journals, and I am sure that the journals in question would be only too happy to supply them for the purpose of defending valid science against Machiavellian subversion and assault by propagandists for doctrine.

In addition, I can recommend that you contact Barbara Forrest of the National Center for Science Education, visit the NCSE website to which she is an important contributor, and possibly arrange first hand a meeting with this veteran campaigner for genuine science education, whose track record is a particularly glowing one, and whose ability to spot canards, specious nonsense and deliberate falsehood is particularly acute.

I hope this letter proves useful to you.


Yours sincerely,


xxxxxxxxxxxx.

Mecca should become core to measure time zones: scholars

Mecca should become core to measure time zones: scholars

By Nour Abuzant
SPEAKERS at a Doha conference on Mecca's importance said that the holy city, not Greenwich, should become the reference point for world time, reigniting an old controversy that started some four decades ago.

A group of Islamic scholars presented on Saturday "scientific evidence" to prove that Mecca was the core of that the zero longitude passes through the holy city and not through Greenwich in the UK.

Greenwich in England has been the home of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) since 1884. GMT is sometimes called Greenwich Meridian Time because it is measured from the Greenwich Meridian Line at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. Greenwich is the place from where all time zones are measured.

In a clear support for the call, Islamic scholar Yousuf al-Qaradawi said Islam, "unlike other religions, never contradicted science".
The participants recommended the unification of the time in the Arab world to the time in Mecca instead of Greenwich. They also called the Arab governments to abandon the new world maps "because they are forged to serve Western interests."

They also demanded that buildings in the Arab world be directed towards Qibla.

The gathering also urged to organise conferences to promote the idea of "Mecca as the centre of the world's land" and distribution of CDs to support it.

The conference was organised to introduce Saat Makkah (the watch of Mecca). The inventor of the clock, Yasin a-Shouk, said it runs anti-clockwise in the direction of Tawaf, the rotation around Kaaba.
The Switzerland-based award-winning inventor of Palestinian origin said that his invention met a lot of opposition and it took him four years to win the patent.

The moderator of the event, Rabaa Hamo, who is also the wife of the watch's inventor, said "the West imposed on us the invisible Greenwich line" as the world's reference time.

She hoped that an Islamic country would adopt the project to strengthen the belief that Mecca was the core of the world, not theoretically but practically.

Islamic scholar, Zaghloul al-Najjar, said that the West did not like the scientific proofs that "Mecca was located in the centre of our planet, but nevertheless we will go on our research to establish it as a truth".

Other speakers talked about the privileges of Mecca quoting verses from the Holy Qur'an and the sayings of Prophet Muhammad.

Sexpelled: No Intercourse Allowed (Expelled Parody)

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-ThQQuHtzHM

Anticipating success with their feature film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, Producers Mark Mathis, Logan Craft and Walt Ruloff have already leaked a teaser trailer for the film's sequel. Their "teach the controversy" slogan seemed to work well in getting the general public to believe that Intelligent Design is a viable alternative scientific theory to Evolution, so the team has moved on to promoting other theories that they feel are being suppressed by the scientific community. Sexpelled: No Intercourse Allowed tells of how Sex Theory has thrived unchallenged in the ivory towers of academia, as the explanation for how new babies are created. Proponents of Stork Theory claim that "Big Sex" has been suppressing their claim that babies are delivered by storks. Furthermore, Stork Theory proponents warn of the serious moral dangers posed by teaching children that sex has a function. They point out that evil dictators such as Hitler, Stalin and Mao all believed in Sex Theory, and they may have even had sex themselves.

There is also a late-breaking new development in the controversy, a new theory called Avian Transportation Theory.

Unlike the original Stork Theory, the modern, sophisticated "Avian Transportation Theory" (ATT) merely points out that there are gaps in the orthodox Sex Theory, and that current sonogram imaging is unreliable. Moreover ATT does not specify that babies are necessarily brought by storks but by "large birds unspecified" (although many individual ATT theorists PRIVATELY believe it is a stork).

See more about Expelled:
http://www.expelledexposed.com/

video first posted on richarddawkins.net

Verjaardag.

Ik ben dinsdag jarig, en zal hier een lijst van wat ik al (van me zusje, woont bij m'n pa) heb gekregen.

 € 20,-

Jesus Camp (DVD)
Charles Darwin - The Origin of Species (boek)
Richard Dawkins - The Selfish Gene (boek)

Letter to fundies

I do read the Bible, but for a different reason than Christians (I'm an atheist). I read it to disprove the claim that it is the "inspired word of God", infallible and perfect in all it's parts. Seeking contradictions and other fallacies. In this I, and others like me, have succeeded spectaculary. We do, offcourse, do the same to the Qur'an and all other 'holy' books. But this message will talk only about the bible. I'm going to point out some of those contradictions, and sincerely request someone to explain why Christians still see the bible as the 'word of god'. To note, I will use the New Internation Version, on bible gateway. Given the fact that I live in the Netherlands and don´t have a bible in the English lanquage at my disposal. This message will have some level of sarcasm, but it is not my intention to insult. To enlighten, it is. Also, I'm only going to tell a tiny portion of the contradictions. Writing them all down would be more an enough to fill a book.

Let us begin with Genesis. God created the earth, light, plants, animals, etc. And saw that it was good. Now we are at the dawn of mankind. God only has to create us and be done with it. Let us first turn the ´accepted´ story. God created Adam (Hebrew for man) "from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." (Gen. 2:6) But God didn't wan't him to do what men have the dendency to do when on their own, so he said: "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." (Gen 2:18) "But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man." (Gen. 2:20-22). This version clearly shows that men are created before women.
Let us turn to the previous chapter, now will see something completely different. "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Gen. 1:27) This, to me, demonstrates that Adam and Eve (to use their names) were created at the same time. What does this mean, are there two different creation stories, or is Genesis 2 an detailed account of this creation.

Let us continue. This will be about God's character, which varies greatly. The simplest explanation for this would be "mood swings". But an omnipotent God surely is able to make up his mind, doesn't he? "I will smash them one against the other, fathers and sons alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no pity or mercy or compassion to keep me from destroying them." (Jer. 13:14) No pity, mercy or compassion? Let us look at some other verses. "The Lord is full of compassion and mercy" (James 5:11) "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." (1 Chron. 16:34) "The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made." (Ps. 145:9) The notion that God is good the all quite funny when you look at the Old Testament. Just look at Deut. 20:16-17. One final passage to show the "goodness" of god: "God is love." (1 John 4:16)

Young Earth Creationists often use the geneology of Jesus to show that the earth is about 6.000 years old. I've always wondered why Jesus has a geneology when he has no biological father. Though it might be mistranslated, since the Hebrew words for virgin and 'young woman' are very much the same. The Greek words aren't. To see how this might have happened just look at the Engish words 'maid' and 'maiden'. To return to geneologies.In two places in the New Testament the genealogy of Jesus is mentioned. In Matthew 1:6-16 and Luke 3:23-31 to be precise.The first one starts from Abraham(verse 2) all the way down to Jesus. The second one from Jesus all the way back to Adam. I'm going to look at the line between David and Jesus. Matthew displays 28 generations, whilst Luke has 43. (Both including David and Jesus.) To make matters worse, they almost never overlap. The geneologies can be compared here: http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/gen_ml.html

Let us turn to the crucifixion of Jesus. Which will also be the last contradiction I will mention here, though not the end of this letter.
The specific question we are asking here is a very important one. Was Jesus crucified before or after the passover meal? Let us turn to the bible. 'It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. "Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" "Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked. "We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.' (John 19:14-16) This cleary show Jesus being crucified before the passover meal. Let's see what Mark has to say about it. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?" (Mark 14:12) If you continue reading you'll see they ate the meal and then Jesus was arrested. The next day: "It was the third hour when they crucified him." (Mark 15:25) These passages clearly show John and Mark contradicting each other outright. How do Christians explain this? How do you explain this?

This was the last of the outright contradictions I will adress. But their is one more thing I'll bring to light. Whilst I was watching Jesus Camp is appeared to me that you think you are following the word of God. Throwing out long sermons in Churches and evangelising on streetcorners. But is this really what Jesus wanted you to do? I'm going to let you draw the conclusion on this. The following passage is taken from the Book of Matthew, and it addresses prayer. "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." (Matthew 6:5-8) This might be the verse with the greatest impact. I'm keen to hear your ideas about it. To me it seems that you're not obeying the word of God. Jesus even calls you hypocrites and pagans!

This attemp to show that the bible is not infallible has come to an end. I am sincerely hoping for a response.

Best Wishes,

Detlef Kroeze

ps. The source of the contradictions are: http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/jim_meritt/bible-contradictions.html and http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/index.htm

Steunbetuiging

 De Deense politie heeft drie mensen gearresteerd die een aanslag zouden willen plegen op een tekenaar van de omstreden Mohammed-spotprents. Een aantal Deense kranten wil morgen (13/02/08) de prenten opnieuws afdrukken als steunbetuiging. Dat is ook de rede waarom ik de prenten op mijn blog heb geplaatst. De vrijheid van meningsuiting is ultiem, de vrijheid van religie niet.

Er zijn uiteraard moslims die weten wat ze met een atheïst als mij moeten doen:

"-Toen uw Heer aan de engelen openbaarde: "Ik ben met u; versterkt de gelovigen. Ik boezem ontzag in de harten der ongelovigen. Slaat daarom hun hoofd af en slaat alle toppen van hun vingers af. -" - koran 8:12

Een aantal van de cartoons.



en



en PACMAN







groet, Detlef

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Ja ik leef nog! Om mijn statement in "klopt 100% te ondersteunen  de volgende citaten en bijbel versen. Alles engelstalig

"Deaths in the Bible. God - 2,270,365 not including the victims of Noah's flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, or the many plagues, famines, fiery serpents, etc because no specific numbers were given. Satan - 10. -Unkown"

But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth. But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. -Deut. 20:16-7