Lincolnites Support Smoking Ban

An overwhelming 72% of Lincolnites support the current smoking ban. Very impressive.

Some bar/restaurant owners have also changed their initial opinions about the ban.

Personally, I love it. It's made the bars much more enjoyable.

On a side note, ABC Sports' Brent Musburger was cited by Lincoln police for having an open container in a vehicle recently... I never liked him anyway, heh.

Intelligent Design

It's roughly the 80th anniversary of the infamous Scopes Monkey Trial and numerous scientists have published articles examining Intelligent Design and its increasing presence in biology courses.

Intelligent Thought" at Edge.org

I was tempted to call "Intelligent Thought" at Edge a "special edition", but there's nothing special about smart people thinking intelligently in support of science. In this regard, Edge is initiating an ongoing feature called "Intelligent Thought at Edge", that will give members of the Edge community an opportunity to present their writings on evolutionary science to each other and to our readers.

One Side Can Be Wrong

Intelligent design is not an argument of the same character as these controversies. It is not a scientific argument at all, but a religious one. It might be worth discussing in a class on the history of ideas, in a philosophy class on popular logical fallacies, or in a comparative religion class on origin myths from around the world. But it no more belongs in a biology class than alchemy belongs in a chemistry class, phlogiston in a physics class or the stork theory in a sex education class. In those cases, the demand for equal time for "both theories" would be ludicrous. Similarly, in a class on 20th-century European history, who would demand equal time for the theory that the Holocaust never happened?

Very good (and refreshing) reads.

Addendum, 09/13/2005:

Bear in mind, I really don't care what you believe in. Whatever makes your life feel complete, go for it, so long as it doesn't infringe upon others' rights. I draw the line when people try to force the teaching of any one theology in our secular public schools. Quite the contrary, I strongly feel a comprehensive "Religions of the World" course would be a very good thing to have in American schools. However, don't preach in our (paid for by taxes from people of many different religions) schools, and I won't teach evolution in your church...

Impressive Photo Montage

Click here.

The Tragedy of New Orleans

It's utterly depressing to hear about all the needless suffering which is still occurring down south...

The Story of the Hurricane

"A 2-year-old girl slept in a pool of urine,"” [Los Angeles Times reporter Scott Gold] wrote in the Times, describing the scene at the Superdome. ... "“Crack vials littered a restroom. Blood stained the walls next to vending machines smashed by teenagers."

Canadians Beat U.S. Army to New Orleans Suburb

The Canadians beat both the Army and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. disaster response department, to St. Bernard Parish east of New Orleans, where flood waters are still 8 feet (2 metres) deep in places, [Louisiana State Senator] Walter Boasso said.

Frustrated: Fire crews to hand out fliers for FEMA

Not long after some 1,000 firefighters sat down for eight hours of training, the whispering began: "What are we doing here?"

As New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin pleaded on national television for firefighters - his own are exhausted after working around the clock for a week - a battalion of highly trained men and women sat idle Sunday in a muggy Sheraton Hotel conference room in Atlanta.

Journalist Groups Protest FEMA Ban on Photos of the Dead

Forced to defend what some critics consider its slow response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said on Tuesday it does not want the news media to take photographs of the dead as they are recovered from New Orleans.

If there was ever any doubt as to the levels of ineptitude and corruption which permeate the Bush Administration, there isn't any now... We can only hope there's a special place reserved in hell for these bastards.

Evangelicals Demand Equal Time For "Intelligent Falling" Theory

KANSAS CITY, KS—As the debate over the teaching of evolution in public schools continues, a new controversy over the science curriculum arose Monday in this embattled Midwestern state. Scientists from the Evangelical Center For Faith-Based Reasoning are now asserting that the long-held "theory of gravity" is flawed, and they have responded to it with a new theory of Intelligent Falling.

"Things fall not because they are acted upon by some gravitational force, but because a higher intelligence, 'God' if you will, is pushing them down," said Gabriel Burdett, who holds degrees in education, applied Scripture, and physics from Oral Roberts University.

This is just too damn funny. Even better that the story happens in Kansas!

The Onion rocks.

It's Husker Gameday!

For footbal and volleyball!

W00T!

...35-10 I say...