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Evolution Debate Led to Ouster, Official Says
Associated Press ^ | November 30, 2007 | The Associated Press

Posted on 12/01/2007 12:39:07 PM PST by Alter Kaker

AUSTIN, Tex., Nov. 29 (AP) — The state’s director of science curriculum said she resigned this month under pressure from officials who said she had given the appearance of criticizing the teaching of intelligent design.

The Texas Education Agency put the director, Chris Comer, on 30 days’ paid administrative leave in late October, resulting in what Ms. Comer called a forced resignation.

The move came shortly after she forwarded an e-mail message announcing a presentation by Barbara Forrest, an author of “Creationism’s Trojan Horse.” The book argues that creationist politics are behind the movement to get intelligent design theory taught in public schools. Ms. Comer sent the message to several people and a few online communities.

Ms. Comer, who held her position for nine years, said she believed evolution politics were behind her ousting. “None of the other reasons they gave are, in and of themselves, firing offenses,” she said.

Education agency officials declined to comment Wednesday on the matter. But they explained their recommendation to fire Ms. Comer in documents obtained by The Austin American-Statesman through the Texas Public Information Act.

“Ms. Comer’s e-mail implies endorsement of the speaker and implies that T.E.A. endorses the speaker’s position on a subject on which the agency must remain neutral,” the officials said.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: creationism; evolution; id; scienceeducation
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To: LibertarianSchmoe
"I'm not qualified to either make or refute that claim. I can say that our ability to engineer new life forms has no bearing on the validity of the Theory of Evolution or I.D." - LibertarianSchmoe

You're contradicting yourself.

If we are engineering new life forms, then ID explains all such new species, scientifically. That means that ID is a valid theory. It conclusively explains something without question.

321 posted on 12/06/2007 8:13:40 AM PST by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: Southack
Science is not a popularity contest.

It is, however a collaborative and consensus seeking process. The main difference between science and other systems of knowledge is the self-correction applied by competing individuals. In that sense it is similar to capitalism.

However, I am not asking for a majority vote. I am asking if any other freepers agree with you that corals are ancestors of humans, or whether you or anyone else can find a professional reference making that claim.

I am also asking a rather simple common sense question: If code skipping is such a great silver bullet for killing evolution, why are creationists or ID proponents not shouting about it.

I can only assume they are not stupid enough to think mainstream science includes modern corals and fish in the human lineage.

322 posted on 12/06/2007 9:52:31 AM PST by js1138
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To: Southack
If we are engineering new life forms, then ID explains all such new species, scientifically.

Another claim so mind-bendingly stupid that you stand alone.

Is there anyone lurking on this thread who believes that because humans can dig ditches, all rivers and creeks are intelligently designed?

323 posted on 12/06/2007 10:25:44 AM PST by js1138
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To: Southack
You're contradicting yourself. If we are engineering new life forms, then ID explains all such new species, scientifically. That means that ID is a valid theory. It conclusively explains something without question.

No, I'm not contradicting myself. You're just not understanding: just because man can do something artificially doesn't mean that that is the only way it can be done. Another example: Lake Mead, behind Hoover Dam, is man-made. Does that mean that all lakes are the result of some Intelligent Dammer?

324 posted on 12/06/2007 11:23:11 AM PST by LibertarianSchmoe ("...yeah, but, that's different!" - mating call of the North American Ten-Toed Hypocrite)
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To: LibertarianSchmoe
Placemarker.

And:

I clicked to your profile and for a split second thought it was incomplete. :-D

325 posted on 12/06/2007 1:11:47 PM PST by ahayes ("Impenetrability! That's what I say!")
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To: xzins
4. Therefore, God has placed clear indicators of His law of evolution in the Holy Bible.

Unfortunately, #4 is not true. It is not there. Even though the subject is discussed, there is no revelation of the Law of Evolution in the Holy Bible.

God placed even less evidence of a recent creation in the natural record. Indeed, the evidence points quite the other way.

326 posted on 12/06/2007 1:15:17 PM PST by ahayes ("Impenetrability! That's what I say!")
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To: js1138
Is there anyone lurking on this thread who believes that because humans can dig ditches, all rivers and creeks are intelligently designed?

Well you have to admit, it is impressive how they manage to avoid all the hills.
327 posted on 12/06/2007 1:25:04 PM PST by Ha Ha Thats Very Logical
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To: ahayes

Oh, it’s complete, all right!

;?)


328 posted on 12/06/2007 1:32:20 PM PST by LibertarianSchmoe ("...yeah, but, that's different!" - mating call of the North American Ten-Toed Hypocrite)
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To: ahayes

So, you are admitting that the subject of origins is discussed at some depth in the bible. Good.


329 posted on 12/06/2007 4:23:51 PM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain! True Supporters of Our Troops Support the Necessity of their Sacrifice!)
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To: Virginia-American
"Have you found any details about whatever it is you've been claiming that corals and people, but not fish, have?" - Virginia-American

Fish don't have the endotoxic recognition and signaling that ancient Coral and Modern Humans share. Somehow that trait skipped from Coral to Mammals.

330 posted on 12/06/2007 8:24:10 PM PST by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: xzins

You would have gotten a really good grade in my flakey English teacher’s class in high school. A major part of the course was reading into text ideas that were not there.


331 posted on 12/07/2007 5:24:50 AM PST by ahayes ("Impenetrability! That's what I say!")
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To: Southack
To correct your blatantly incorrect statement for about the billionth time.

The genetic evidence is consistent with evolution and does not contain any of your imagined "code-skipping".

332 posted on 12/07/2007 6:13:18 AM PST by ahayes ("Impenetrability! That's what I say!")
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To: ahayes

Coral have sophisticated endotoxic recognition and signaling capabilities.

Fish do not.

Humans do.

The original article referenced here (and thread itself) contains the links that document the above: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1823622/posts


333 posted on 12/07/2007 7:50:10 AM PST by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: ahayes
"Mammals inherited many of these Toll-like receptors from their tetrapod ancestor (which descended from now-extinct lobe-finned fish and not from modern ray-finned fish) and elaborated these into an even larger family of receptors." - ahayes

Since you've been demanding sources from me, I'll begin returning the courtesy. Please show the DNA in hand from extinct lobe-finned fish to support your above claim (or else admit that Evolutionary Theory is a fraud propped up by conjecture instead of with hard genetic evidence).

I'll be waiting for your source...

334 posted on 12/07/2007 7:53:08 AM PST by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: Southack

No lobe-finned fish genome has been sequenced yet. We will never have a genome sequence for the lobe-finned fish ancestral to the tetrapods, since they are extinct.

The genome sequences we do have for coral, humans, and ray-finned fish are all consistent with evolution. This demolishes your nonsensical “code-skipping” fabrication.


335 posted on 12/07/2007 7:56:58 AM PST by ahayes ("Impenetrability! That's what I say!")
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To: Southack
Coral have sophisticated endotoxic recognition and signaling capabilities.

You are assuming facts not in evidence. The authors of the actual paper did not engage in such flights of fancy. They determined an ancestral Toll-like gene was present. Similar Toll-like genes are found in fish. These Toll-like genes and more are found in humans.

Only one Toll-like gene is involved in endotoxin recognition in humans. This is TLR-4. It is found in most ray-finned fish (deleted in at least one species), as I demonstrated on the previous thread in which I tried to pound this information into your head. TLR-4 is involved in endotoxin recognition in mammals but may have a different function in fish. It is not present at all in coral.

Unfortunately your brain appears to be refusing new synaptic connections right now so the information slipped away as if down a clear mountain stream without making a dent in your memory last time I presented it. Maybe I'll have better luck this time.

336 posted on 12/07/2007 8:02:06 AM PST by ahayes ("Impenetrability! That's what I say!")
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To: ahayes
"No lobe-finned fish genome has been sequenced yet." - ahayes

"Mammals inherited many of these Toll-like receptors from their tetrapod ancestor (which descended from now-extinct lobe-finned fish and not from modern ray-finned fish) ..." - ahayes

So you admit that you have no scientific evidence to support such "Evolutionary" claims.

The only surprise is that you admit your baseless "science," though.

337 posted on 12/07/2007 8:09:44 AM PST by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: ahayes
"Only one Toll-like gene is involved in endotoxin recognition in humans. This is TLR-4. It is found in most ray-finned fish (deleted in at least one species), as I demonstrated on the previous thread in which I tried to pound this information into your head. TLR-4 is involved in endotoxin recognition in mammals but may have a different function in fish. It is not present at all in coral." - ahayes

That's a specious argument that depends on casual observers falling for obfuscation of TLR and TLR-4 genes with that of traits.

Coral has sophisticated endotoxic recognition and signaling (see link above) traits, but Fish do not.

Humans do.

That's the self-same genetic code-skipping that has you in such a wad.

Pity.

338 posted on 12/07/2007 8:14:33 AM PST by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: Southack
Coral has sophisticated endotoxic recognition and signaling

Prove it. The only thing you're going on is: "Prof Miller says another surprise has been that coral shares many genes with humans, including those related to the development of immune systems."

Toll genes are involved in the innate immune system. Only one Toll gene is involved in endotoxin recognition. This is absent in coral.

Put up or shut up.

339 posted on 12/07/2007 8:23:27 AM PST by ahayes ("Impenetrability! That's what I say!")
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To: Southack
So you admit that you have no scientific evidence to support such "Evolutionary" claims.

No, I do not. The evidence from coral, ray-finned fish, and humans is consistent with evolution.

So you admit you can't read?

340 posted on 12/07/2007 8:24:08 AM PST by ahayes ("Impenetrability! That's what I say!")
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