Monday T-Shirt Rescue and Linkfest.

I've been doing internet chores all day, one of which was to get started on fixing my Zazzle stores. They've been improved, you see. And you know what that means... a lot of work. So I figured I'd try to get started on turning a pile of designs into some sort of coherent organized form.

And of course, I found some old designs I rather liked. Most of these have been used in blog posts over the last several years, but some haven't, and some are topical again.

I'm interspersing with stories I thought worth a thought, with an eye toward there be some vague relationship...

Spafford 2.0 Template by webcarve
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On Being Hated In a Nation of Assholes

by: David Sirota

I'll put it bluntly: We are becoming a nation of haters - a nation, really, of assholes, or at least dominated by assholes. And sure, maybe we've always been that way - but what's different is that it's become almost impossible to pretend otherwise. There's no more delusions, no more fantasies. Despising one another and ignoring the substance of issues has become the defining mark of Americanness in the 21st century - and that's a tragedy.

Human Genome XX T-Shirt by webcarve
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Great Minds Think by webcarve
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HL Mencken on Religion by webcarve
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Get off my lawn! T-Shirt by webcarve
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And that kind of sums up my view of the general mood out there in the blogosphere today, what with tea party louts and screaming health care opponents. It's all rather depressing, and the biggest reason I take time to make shirts is to take the edge off.

Perfect for The Science Class

I wish I'd thought of this. I really wish I'd thought of this! But I'll settle for blogging it, and strongly suggesting that it makes an hilarious point. Call it a signpost on the road back to sanity, evidence and politics in actual contact with reality.

Oh, and the fact that it will cause spontaneous cranial detonations among mindless Midwesterners can only be seen as a bonus. For the latest in evolutionary schadenfreude from a verbal perspective, check out P.Z Myers who often writes about small changes smart people believe in.

The Texas legislature is generally the butt of jokes, and it's not hard to see why: it's an awesome body of distilled stupidity. However, that doesn't mean there aren't some good ones among the chaff, and State Senator Rodney Ellis and State Representative Patrick Rose should be counted among them. They've written an excellent op-ed for the Houston Chronicle in which they point out the contradiction of a state that wants to build a leading-edge set of scientific research institutions with a State Board of Education led by a mob of incompetent creationist cretins. They've put together some legislation to hold the SBOE accountable for their performance — a marvelous turnabout of the No Child Left Behind philosophy of policing schools on their performance. Let's see the rascals who want to put together bogus curricula scrutinized on the basis of long-term performance in science by the kids!

Here's something you can do right now. Thank these two smart politicians by signing a letter. It's the least you can do. And if you're a Texan in their districts, vote for them!

Very Gradual Change We Can Believe In by darwin2009
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Wait, wait, I have a T-Shirt for that!

Vive La Evolution 2 T-Shirt by webcarve
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It's been a Zazzly day. I got a notice that I'd sold another Darwin design on Zazzle - and started looking at the numbers. To my astonishment, my Darwin designs are now outselling my No Whining designs - and to make it both topical and interesting - this has been since the election. Prior to then, I may have sold one or two items - since then - well, I've moved dozens. Well, more accurately, people came looking for them - they must have done, because I do almost no promotion, other than this blog. Now, that tells me that people are getting fed up with the nonsense and are willing to take a public stand. I'm delighted to report that one of these has sent to Fairfax, VA, and - this classroom sized "I Heart Darwin" is... well, I'm hoping it's in a science classroom in New York.

The biggest mover seems to be Darwin Ties - and I threw a new one into the mix today. I have to say, I've looked. You won't find better designs on Zazzle, at least. I'm thinking that points to "science teacher."

But that meant I was poking around, and I found several of those annoying "keep the change" designs. I just couldn't leave it alone (And it may come in handy later.)

Here's The Deal T-Shirt by webcarve
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And then somehow I managed to find myself on Digg, where someone was commenting about Kieth Olbermann's special comment in regard to Dick Cheney.

"rawstory.com — "It is time for you to desist or to be made to desist," said Olbermann in Thursday's special comment. "With damnable words you protect no American, you serve no American and you aid and abet those who would destroy this nation from within or without. ... Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!" VIDEO included."

Someone thought that would make a good t-shirt. I concurred... and found that it could be stretched to two. Well, the second one really references John Stewart.

No Dick! by webcarve
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Dickless! by webcarve
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Anyway, I had fun and I take comfort in the fact that these images are probably the most intelligent thing I could have said today. If you enjoyed them, pass them around. :)

It's a Faux Analogy! Peanut Butter V. Science

Proof that having a really good suit and a tv-trained voice does not make you smart. Or Correct. Or in these Post Faux Days - Credible.

A spokesmuffin and a supposed engineer try to discredit Evolution - with peanut butter.



HT to "Hell's Handmaiden" who has some even MORE hilarity in store for y'all. Better yet, one of them is Creationist Generated.

The response is from "The Bacon Eating Athiest Jew" - so I betcha know where that's going.

I just had to chime in here to assert that you don't have to be an athiest to find these people too goddam* embarrassing to stand near.

*Not Demanding, Sir and or Madame. PLEADING!

Spoko observes:

Spocko is a stumbleupon buddy o' mine; it's a great way for bloggers to inflict - I mean share stories and links with a bit of explanation. I had to laugh out loud at this - and I'm far from being an athiest! But it does help to be able to think outside of the "big box church!"

StumbleUpon » Spocko's web site reviews and blog:

"Top Ten Signs You're a Fundamentalist Christian

10 - You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours.

9 - You feel insulted and 'dehumanized' when scientists say that people evolved from other life forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim that we were created from dirt.

8 - You laugh at polytheists, but you have no problem believing in a Triune God.

7 - Your face turns purple when you hear of the 'atrocities' attributed to Allah, but you don't even flinch when hearing about how God/Jehovah slaughtered all the babies of Egypt in 'Exodus' and ordered the elimination of entire ethnic groups in 'Joshua' including women, children, and trees!

6 - You laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man-god who got killed, came back to life and then ascended into the sky.

5 - You are willing to spend your life looking for little loopholes in the scientifically established age of Earth (few billion years), but you find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by Bronze Age tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that Earth is a few generations old.

4 - You believe that the entire population of this planet with the exception of those who share your beliefs -- though excluding those in all rival sects - will spend Eternity in an infinite Hell of Suffering. And yet consider your religion the most "tolerant" and "loving."

3 - While modern science, history, geology, biology, and physics have failed to convince you otherwise, some idiot rolling around on the floor speaking in "tongues" may be all the evidence you need to "prove" Christianity.

2 - You define 0.01% as a "high success rate" when it comes to answered prayers. You consider that to be evidence that prayer works. And you think that the remaining 99.99% FAILURE was simply the will of God.

1 - You actually know a lot less than many atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and church history - but still call yourself a Christian.

Oh, I have a couple-three nits to pick, here and there. I believe in prayer (theurgy) as well as magic, (thaumaturgy) and I do not think 0.001% is a plausible success rate. Regarding both phenomonae; aboriginal people did not have food to waste on useless individuals - and a shaman can be pretty damn useless in any respect other than shamanism. Same for Priests and Magicians. Now, all sorts are notorious for putting a thumb on the scale of public opinion - but you just can't fool all of the people, all of the time.

But none of the intuitive arts - and in "intuitive arts" I also include such disciplines as "teacher" and "psycologist" - can ever aspire to truly reproducable results, actually falsifiable theories or indeed, immunity from skeptical derision.

I should also note that while this is a fairly accurate assessment of a certain sort of mean-spirited, judgemental, self-rightious idiot, that all the hallmarks of it are actually mocked and derided IN the Bible, by Jesus. Make of that what you will - and I notice there seems to be a similar dissonance between what the Koran says and what certain folk who call themselvs Islamic (or even Imam) would like to tell you it says.

SSDR.

Theories Evolve while Doctrine is just Static.

The New York Review of Books: Evolving Evolution

A must-read "review" of From DNA to Diversity: Molecular Genetics and the Evolution of Animal Design by Sean B. Carroll, Jennifer K. Grenier, and Scott D. Weatherbee,
serves as an overview of the last twenty years of evolutionary biology. Apparently we have a much deeper and more profound explanation of the mechanisms of evolution than I was taught in school. The link above goes to the Amazon.com page for the book, which contains much praise for the book itself, though it's stated to be a dense and difficult read.

The upshot is this makes evolution a far more robust theory than in my youth, one with real predictive value and engineering applications. That of course is the essence of any scientific theory - that one can use the theory both to explain what is known and to suggest directions of inquiry toward what is not yet understood.

Tip o' the hat to Mike the Mad Biologist for this excellent bit of brain candy.

And since we ARE tipping Mike, it should be observed that Intelligent Design and Creationism both fail predicatively and in the realm of engineering utility. I mean, unless by "utility," you mean they are useful in discounting the importance of stack emissions and heavy -metal contaminants.

tag: evolution, ID, intelligent design, evolutionary biology, theory of evolution,