Access Research Network's top ten media-related intelligent design stories for 2009 #7

7. Michael Behe Expelled from Bloggingheads.

On August 26, 2009, an interview between John McWhorter and Michael Behe about Behe's recent book Edge of Evolution [- which discussed limits to Darwinian evolution -] appeared on bloggingheads.tv. Within hours the interview disappeared with this message "from" McWhorter posted by the administrator: "John McWhorter feels, with regret, that this interview represents neither himself, Professor Behe, nor Bloggingheads usefully, takes full responsibility for same, and has asked that it be taken down from the site. He apologizes to all who found it’s airing objectionable.” A public outcry resulted, due to the seemingly open-minded editorial policy of the organization (“We pride ourselves on having a diversity of views in our diavlogs and an accordingly diverse comments section, where thoughtful disagreement is expressed in civil terms.”)

Cooler heads prevailed at Bloggingheads and the Behe interview was reinstated with an apology. Michael Behe reported on the experience one day before the interview reappeared.

Journalist Denyse O’Leary, who covers intelligent design and other controversial issues, comments, “The central issue here is that media are not public relations agencies. If a person agrees to discuss a controversial topic in public, they have no business demanding that the medium scrub whatever they said or did later just because it generated some heat. Wouldn’t every politician in the country want that? Congratulations to Bloggingheads for rethinking their position and taking a stand now.”

Go here for story # 8.

For links, you must go here.

[Not much more to say here than this: If McWhorter said it, he said it, whatever it was. And he should just live with that. Media get special privileges in society for the specific reason that we are NOT a public relations agency. I can flash my press card and get to the head of the line. But the fact that some guy doesn't think a particular interview did him any good is not a reason you shouldn't hear my story. Maybe the opposite.]

Here is the #8 story .

Here are the previous three years' top ten stories:

2008 Darwin and design

2007 Darwin and design

2006 Darwin and design

ARN also offers "top ten" resources that are worth checking out if you follow the controversy.

Find out why there is an intelligent design controversy:

Access Research Network's top ten media-related intelligent design stories for 2009 #7

7. Michael Behe Expelled from Bloggingheads.

On August 26, 2009, an interview between John McWhorter and Michael Behe about Behe's recent book Edge of Evolution [- which discussed limits to Darwinian evolution -] appeared on bloggingheads.tv.

Within hours the interview disappeared with this message "from" McWhorter posted by the administrator: "John McWhorter feels, with regret, that this interview represents neither himself, Professor Behe, nor Bloggingheads usefully, takes full responsibility for same, and has asked that it be taken down from the site. He apologizes to all who found it’s airing objectionable.”

A public outcry resulted, due to the seemingly open-minded editorial policy of the organization (“We pride ourselves on having a diversity of views in our diavlogs and an accordingly diverse comments section, where thoughtful disagreement is expressed in civil terms.”) Cooler heads prevailed at Bloggingheads and the Behe interview was reinstated with an apology. Michael Behe reported on the experience one day before the interview reappeared.

Journalist Denyse O’Leary, who covers intelligent design and other controversial issues, comments, “The central issue here is that media are not public relations agencies. If a person agrees to discuss a controversial topic in public, they have no business demanding that the medium scrub whatever they said or did later just because it generated some heat. Wouldn’t every politician in the country want that? Congratulations to Bloggingheads for rethinking their position and taking a stand now.”

Go here for story # 8.

For links, you must go here.

[Not much more to say here than this: If McWhorter said it, he said it, whatever it was. And he should just live with that. Media get special privileges in society for the specific reason that we are NOT a public relations agency. I can flash my press card and get to the head of the line. But the fact that some guy doesn't think a particular interview did him any good is not a reason you shouldn't hear my story. Maybe the opposite.]

Here is the #8 story .

Here are the previous three years' top ten stories:

2008 Darwin and design

2007 Darwin and design

2006 Darwin and design

ARN also offers "top ten" resources that are worth checking out if you follow the controversy.

Find out why there is an intelligent design controversy:

Access Research Network's top ten media-related intelligent design stories for 2009 #8

8. Federal Court Dismisses Evolutionist Lawsuit in Texas.

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit on March 31, 2009 by a former Texas state science curriculum director, Chris Comer, who alleged that she was illegally fired for sending out an e-mail about a lecture criticizing those who want to teach alternatives to evolution in science classes. While National Center for Science Education and national media saw the matter as evidence of discrimination against evolutionists, Internal Texas Education Agency (TEA) documents obtained by Texans for Better Science Education (TBSE) under the Texas public information act reveal that Comer had a long history of “insubordination” and “misconduct.” Comer had been disciplined for at least eight separate incidents, seven of which had nothing to do with evolution. As Mark Ramsey of TBSE observed in an earlier press release “It appears that Ms. Comer was not fired, but resigned after a history of disciplinary issues. If Darwinists want to create a scandal and invent a martyr for their cause, they appear to have picked the wrong case.”

For links, you must go here.

[Yes, I think they did indeed pick the wrong case. It can be difficult for a civil servant to acknowledge the fact that civil service often means that one cannot just run the joint whatever (legal) way one likes, in the same way that a private contractor would run her business. A contractor's policies make sense or not, and she makes money or not - but civil service involves rules worked out over centuries, and taxpayers are required by law to fund it. I am glad that this case put a limit to Darwinian arrogance. Either Comer was of use to TEA or she was not. Perhaps, she will do better in the private sector, but learning to listen would be a really good start.]

Here is story #9.

Here are the previous three years' top ten stories:

2008 Darwin and design

2007 Darwin and design

2006 Darwin and design

ARN also offers "top ten" resources that are worth checking out if you follow the controversy.

Find out why there is an intelligent design controversy:

Access Research Network's top ten media-related intelligent design stories for 2009 #9

9. Ben Stein Expelled from the University of Vermont.

Actor, TV host, and economist Ben Stein, who hosted the 2008 film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, learned firsthand in February 2009 what it feels like to be “expelled.” Apologizing for inviting gifted actor and writer Ben Stein to be commencement speaker at the University of Vermont, President Daniel Fogel has highlighted what he called Stein’s “highly controversial views” about “evolutionary theory, intelligent design, and the role of science in the Holocaust.” Fogel attempted to make penance for inviting Stein by claiming that “Commencement should be a time when our community gathers inclusively, not divisively.”

Some critics have noted that inclusivity must have a special meaning because in 2007 Fogel chose as commencement speaker Democratic congressman John Lewis, who in 1995 compared Republicans to Nazis. For Lewis, this was not an incidental lapse in taste. Last year Lewis compared John McCain and Sarah Palin to segregationist George Wallace and racist church bombers. Fogel’s 2006 commencement speaker was Gustavo Esteva, a far-left activist and advisor to the radical Zapatista National Liberation Army in Mexico. Says Dr. John West, Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute, “In today’s academic double-speak, invitations to far-left revolutionaries and race-baiting Congressmen are apparently “inclusive,” while inviting a speaker who favors free speech on the issue of evolution is beyond the pale.” According to reports, Stein withdrew “voluntarily,” after he received a phone call from Dr. Fogel, which many believe, made clear he was no longer welcome.

For links, you must go here.

[Okay, another one from Arrogance Central. Lots more people probably wanted to hear Ben Stein than hear the leftists helping people stay poor in the United States or Mexico. In general, I am not very political, but I must say that far leftists have a poor record for helping poor people solve their key problem: Stop being poor. Look, I am a Canadian: Picture North America as a jug with two handles. The US is in the middle. Canada is one handle; Mexico the other. We're not poor; they are. We could argue all day about the causes. But, so far as I can see, far leftism has never contributed anything to helping people stop being poor. It tends to focus on grievances, which produce nothing but resentment, instead of goods and services, which is what poor people need.]

Here's #10.

Here are the previous three years' top ten stories:

2008 Darwin and design

2007 Darwin and design

2006 Darwin and design

ARN also offers "top ten" resources that are worth checking out if you follow the controversy.

Find out why there is an intelligent design controversy:

Access Research Network's top ten media-related intelligent design stories for 2009 #10

I have here appended comments to these stories, chosen by a vote among knowledgeable people. I am doing them in order from 10 to 1. The science stories are here, and comprise a different list.
10. Evolutionary Psychology Finally Comes Under Media Attack. In an effort to make the science press sound a bit less like the National Enquirer, Sharon Begley for Newsweek and David Brooks for the New York Times start to question some of the absurd theories fostered upon the public in the name of “evolutionary psychology.” Many thoughtful people are beginning to express concern about the attention given to speculation about human psychology based on what our remote ancestors supposedly did. For the most part, we don't know what they did, because they did not write anything down. The criticism is that evolutionary psychology dwells on unfalsifiable and often trivial concepts such as “Why men are big spenders” or “Why women love to shop”, which reflect only the popular beliefs of our own culture today.

[I'd voted for this one, and wished it had placed higher, but never mind. I don't think evolution is - in principle - a waste of time as a study, but it desperately needs to be brought under control as a science discipline, not just an excuse for people to act out. This could be done if evolutionary biologists severed their links with "evolutionary" psychologists. But it won't happen, and I predict they will go down together.

The difference? Oh, that's easy: Tyrannosaurus rex - even if he is dead - is a subject. The Cave Man is generally a figure onto which people project their opinions and prejudices.]

Here are the previous three years' top ten stories:

2008 Darwin and design

2007 Darwin and design

2006 Darwin and design

ARN also offers "top ten" resources that are worth checking out if you follow the controversy.