Send in the clowns
In the I am not making this stuff up category, the ID crowd is planning on sending a battalion of pseudoscientists to Kansas this May for the upcoming ID Kangaroo Court. On the front page of the Intelligent Design Network’s “we’re not promoting ID” website, we find:
PUBLIC HEARINGS ON MINORITY REPORT. A Committee of the State board has scheduled hearings to provide for an in-depth examination of the Minority Report and its proposed changes. The hearings will be conducted in Topeka on May 5, 6 and 7, and May 12, 13 and 14 at a place to be announced. CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF WITNESSES TO BE CALLED TO TESTIFY FOR THE MINORITY REPORT
And what a list it is!
I’ll post it here, for when they change it after they come to their senses:
LIST OF WITNESSES TO BE CALLED BY AUTHORS OF THE MINORITY REPORT TO TESTIFY at hearings to be convened by the Science Committee of the Kansas State Board of Education On May 5, 6 and 7, 2005, in Topeka, Kansas
Angus Menuge, PhD Professor of Philosophy at Concordia University Wisconsin; Author: Agents Under Fire: Materialism and the Rationality of Science Date of anticipated testimony: May 7
Bryan Leonard, MA High School Biology Teacher and candidate for doctoral degree in science education Date of anticipated testimony: May 6
Bruce Simat, PhD Biochemistry and Human Physiology, Associate Professor North Western College, St. Paul, MN Date of anticipated testimony: May 6
Charles Thaxton, PhD Physical Chemist and co-author of The Mystery of Life’s Origin Date of anticipated testimony: May 5
Daniel Ely, PhD Professor of Biology, University of Akron, specializing in cardiovascular physiology Department of Biology, University of Akron Date of anticipated testimony: May 6
Edward T. Peltzer III, PhD Oceanographer (PhD from Scripps Institution of Oceanography) with research interests in chemical evolution, Associate Editor, Marine Chemistry, Senior Research Specialist Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute Date of anticipated testimony: May 6
Giuseppe Sermonti, PhD Chief Editor of Rivista di Biologia/Biology Forum (Genoa), one of the oldest extant biology journals in the world; retired Professor of Genetics, University of Perugia Date of anticipated testimony: May 7
James Barham, MA Independent scholar and author specializing in evolutionary epistemology, the philosophy of mind, and the foundations of biology Date of anticipated testimony: May 7
John Millam, PhD Theoretical Chemist, Project Manager, Semichem, Inc., a provider of solutions for computational chemistry. Date of anticipated testimony: May 6
John H. Calvert, J.D. Lawyer, specializing in constitutionally appropriate ways to teach origins science in public schools, Managing Director of Intelligent Design network, inc., an organization that seeks institutional objectivity in origins science Date of anticipated testimony: May 7
John Sanford, PhD Geneticist, Associate Professor Cornell University Date of anticipated testimony: May 6
Jonathan Wells, PhD Molecular and cell biologist, author of Icons of Evolution and Senior Fellow Discovery Institute Date of anticipated testimony: May 5
Michael Behe, PhD Biochemist, Professor of Biochemistry Lehigh University, Author of Darwin’s Black Box Date of anticipated testimony: May 5
Mustafa Akoyl, MS Media Director of International Relations at the Intercultural Dialogue Platform (a foundation in Istanbul), freelance writer and spokesman for Islamic organizations interested in origins science Date of anticipated testimony: May 7
Nancy Bryson, PhD Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Kennesaw State University Date of anticipated testimony: May 7
Ralph Seelke, PhD Professor of Microbiology, University of Wisconsin - Superior Date of anticipated testimony: May 5
Robert Disilvestro, PhD Biochemist, Professor of Nutrition, Ohio State University Date of anticipated testimony: May 6
Roger DeHart, BS High School Biology Teacher, Oaks Christian High School in San Diego, CA Date of anticipated testimony: May 6
Russell Carlson, PhD Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology University of Georgia Date of anticipated testimony: May 6 University of Georgia Complex Carbohydrate Research Center
Scott Minnich, PhD Associate Professor of Microbiology at the University of Idaho Date of anticipated testimony: May 6
Stephen Meyer, PhD History and Philosophy of Science, including methodology of historical sciences; Director of the Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute Date of anticipated testimony: May 7 Business: 509-777-4548; Cell: 509-467-5862
Warren Nord, PhD Professor of Philosophy of Religion and Education, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Date of anticipated testimony: May 7
William S. Harris, PhD Biochemist, Professor of Medicine, University of Missouri at Kansas City, Director of the Lipoprotein Research Laboratory, St. Luke’s Hospital, Kansas City, MO Date of anticipated testimony
That’s right, the creationists on the Kansas State Board of Education are planning to use Kansas taxpayer funds in order to:
- Fly in these folks from all over the world – a collection of scientists outside their fields, non-scientists, and straight-up cranks.
- Put on a pointless show trial which will be boycotted by most/all real experts on evolution
- In order to provide political cover for the decision to use the power of the state to change the definition of science in Kansas
- Actively misinforming Kansas’s bright young students and promoting “intelligent design”, which Charles Thaxton himself used to call “creationism” before he began promoting “intelligent design”
- Provoking another round of international scorn and ridicule for the poor citizens of Kansas, and
- Violating the U.S. Constitution as soon as a public school teacher attempts to teach ID as science
- Provoking another round of international scorn, plus a nice expensive lawsuit
- Which the state will eventually lose.
Sounds like a good plan to me.