...and we wonder why public education sucks so bad in the good 'ol US of A and keeps getting worse. The problem is the 'public' wants to dictate what is taught in public schools and the public is stupid. Rinse and repeat.

Want to save public education? Take the public politics out of it.

No words describe how much I love this plan. I demand the creation story from Cuthulu Mythos be included in every textbook!

Well, it looks like the good folks of Missouri have come up with a fool proof (maybe that's a bad choice of words) way to keep their kids on the farm. Its going to be pretty hard to get a well paying job once employers figure out what a diploma from a Missouri school actually means.

I love when non-scientists come up with new definitions of "science". If your pet belief doesn't pass muster, just redefine the words until you can shoe-horn it all in.

Some 100 odd years ago, a bill was introduced in the Indiana legislature to define pi as an "easier number to handle" because a few dim legislators couldn't quite grasp the idea of irrational numbers. It died a quiet death.

Fuck religion

"I think it would be fairly difficult to teach geology, anthropology and zoology without evolution... Intelligent Design is not a scientific theory. It's a religious belief and our constitution does not allow for the teaching of religion in our public schools... Evolution is not perfect, It doesn't answer every question but it is based on scientific facts. Facts that can be predicted, tested and proven. Intelligent Design asks theological questions... can't we agree that the inclusion of non-scientific explanations into the science curriculum of our schools misrepresents the nature of science and therefore compromises the central purpose of our public education which is the preparation of a scientifically literate work force?"

Season 7 of the West Wing. Not that many of these people listen to logic, even when it's softened to be less "offensive" to Christians.

The short of it is, "Teaching intelligent design in schools is fucking dumb. What the fuck is wrong with you?"

The right wing is being out flanked by the internet. All this bullshit they want to brainwash children with will be for nothing. Missouri sounds like misery for a reason.

I'm interested in joining this committee--but I'm concerned that I will have to provide my own glue and scissors.

For being "a huge science buff," this guy has some astoundingly stupid notions about what hypotheses and theories are. But then, he is the product of a Missouri education, so maybe we shouldn't hold it against him.

If you've never been to Missouri, I would recommend staying out of it. I was pushed out of a vagina in Missouri (damn near Kansas, god help me), and I can say it was one of the worst decisions I ever made.

I long for a day when the god-worshippers accept that perhaps their all-powerful creator is the driving force behind evolution. They could still believe in an afterlife while the rest of us could shrug and say, "okay, sure." That's my irrational belief, at least.

Born and raised in MO, moved to NYC for school. Missouri has a lot going for it, with all of the cities along I-70 (St. Louis, Columbia, KC) actually developing a weirdly cool educated urban/folksie rural culture. The St. Louis food scene, for example, is sneaky badass. Even a lot of the small rural towns are more Northern Exposure than Deliverance. But, there are places (like Rush Limbaugh's hometown, Cape Girardeau) that just Steven Baldwin the rest of the family. I blame a lot of it on Jefferson City. It is (I believe) the only lower 48 capital that isn't on a major highway, and it's a small and small-minded, miasmatic, cursed, wasteland. If you've ever been there, you'll understand. Whether Jefferson City creeps you out or charms you is a foolproof test of your political leanings.

What the actual fuck.