Dinosaur World: Science of Fiction?

I was going over my daily reading list and found an interesting piece of information pointed out by PZ Myers on his Pharyngula blog:

You can imagine how some people who had no idea felt; they'd been reading the articles to their kids, who are enthusiastic about dinosaurs, and suddenly, boom, they discover that the authors are idiots. And idiots with a religious agenda. There is nothing about any of this nonsense in their About page; similarly, Wikipedia and none of the other reviews on the web mention that this is a creationist attraction. Sneaky!

Since my son has been to this place with his school at least once (it was a while ago, but still), I felt I needed to do some quick research. I do want to make sure that he gets the best education possible, and not some one's ideological version of how the World goes around.
The announcement from July 25th seems to be gone from their Web site, or I just can't locate it. Browsing around, most of the information appears to be factual to a layman in a field of paleontology, like myself. However, poking deeper and downloading some of the educational materials for parents and teachers, I did find it interesting that you can't find any information about how old all those dinosaurs are. The only exception, where I actually saw a date was from the Kentucky Field Trip Curriculum, which states:

One exhibit in the museum is of a fossilized turtle. Turtles are the oldest living group of reptiles, first appearing about 200 million years ago. The first known turtles appeared on Earth in the late Triassic Period, so they are older than many of the well known great dinosaurs! Turtles have evolved into more than 250 species, including about 180 species of freshwater turtles, 60 species of tortoises, and 8 species of sea turtles, with new species still being discovered.

This was also the only place I could find the word "evolved", but maybe I did not look hard enough. There is plenty of "adaptation", and "change", but "evolution" seems to be absent in most of the materials.
However, in the same document I also found this little tidbit:

There are many theories regarding why dinosaurs became extinct. One includes a catastrophic event such as a meteor or a flood that would have instantly changed the world.

A flood? I do not remember that theory, but maybe I have to brush up on my paleontology.

Finally, in "A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO DINOSAUR WORLD", the last paragraph states:

Dinosaur World hosts field trips for groups of homeschoolers and students from church schools that teach a literal interpretation of the biblical account of creation. The informative plaques in the park present general facts about the dinosaurs. There are very few “millions of years ago” references.
For more information about creation science, see Science Partners (consultants for home-school and other education programs)

So, in my opinion, this place is NOT about teaching, but about business, and business only. They are trying to make sure that everyone is happy, without pretending it is real science. I wonder how they reconcile facts with "very few references" to the real time scales. It is probably a good place to skip when you driving by on I-4 in Florida (or any of their other locations). Much better to head down to MOSI in Tampa, where you and your kids will most likely get the real science and facts behind our natural world.

Science? We Don't Need No Stinking Science...

... says Jonathan Saenz of the Liberty Institute:

“We don’t need some liberal California group coming into Texas telling us how to do our science and our teaching when they have their own problems.”

Continue reading: SMU professor: Science doesn’t choose between Christians and non-believers

Fortunately, this battle ended well for Texas (and the rest of us in the U.S.), but we need to keep an eye on the crazy ones, as they tend to pop up all over the place. We have our own fair share in Florida.

Thanks Sue Carlton

It's nice to see some brains put to good use in this day and age.
A few days ago I wrote about our local teabaggers getting upset at some poor manatees, so it makes me feel much better when I can report that they are getting some well deserved ridicule (the teabaggers, not the manatees) in the press:

And can't you just see the bumper sticker already?

YOU'LL TAKE AWAY MY GOD-GIVEN RIGHT TO RAKE A PROPELLER OVER THE BACKSIDE OF ANY LIVING THING I WANT TO WHEN YOU PRY MY THROTTLE AND MY PBR FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS!

Read it all, and laugh:  Pass the tea and stop the manatee insanity!

As Thomas Jefferson once said:

Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions

Tea Party Against Reason

We all know that the Tea Party does not have the highest intellectual standards for its agenda, or its members. No matter how hard you try to look intelligent, at the end it comes down to: "Stupid is as Stupid does".
When it happens in my own backyard I would just laugh, except that it is scary to know those people want to run the country.
As St. Petersburg Times is reporting:

A Citrus County tea party group has announced that it's fighting new restrictions on boating and other human activities in Kings Bay that have been proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"We cannot elevate nature above people," explained Edna Mattos, 63, leader of the Citrus County Tea Party Patriots, in an interview. "That's against the Bible and the Bill of Rights."

More: Tea party members tackle a new issue: manatees

If you want to fight for issues you believe in, use some brains, come up with some reasonable (and factual) explanations. The Bible does not cut it!

Summer Slump

It's summer time and vacation time for me at the same time. Blogging gets pushed down low on my priority list, but there is some interesting news around.
You can feel the election cycle coming back in the U.S., and with it all the stupidity of some of the candidates for the highest office in the nation in 2012.
Sara Palin has been giving us a steady stream of her brilliant views for a while now, but we have a new contender to the throne: Michele Bachmann. Before even announcing officially her bid for the 2012 presidential elections, she gave us this:

"I support intelligent design," Bachmann told reporters in New Orleans following her speech to the Republican Leadership Conference. "What I support is putting all science on the table and then letting students decide. I don't think it's a good idea for government to come down on one side of scientific issue or another, when there is reasonable doubt on both sides."

See more on CNN: Bachmann: Schools should teach intelligent design

Good start Michele. You are correct. The government should not be deciding on scientific issues. Intelligent Design was put firmly in the realm of religion long time ago, and as such should remain in religion classes, not in public schools' science classes. I think Dover gave us an excellent explanation for that.

Education in Florida: Where Are We Heading?

Is this where our education in Florida is heading, under the brilliant leadership of our current governor?

Eight days and $399 in cash later, at the school's Doral "campus" — a cramped third-floor office next door to US Lubricant LLC and across the hall from a hair extensions company — I was grinning widely, accepting a framed diploma and an official transcript sporting a 3.41 GPA.

More here: We don't need no education: How to get a diploma in eight days for $399 and here: Doral school awards dubious diplomas

Not only one has to watch out for fake college diplomas (or worthless ones from various Bible colleges), but now we have to be careful with high school graduates too??? Crazy!!!

Homeopathy - Purveyors of Magic Complain

A while ago (January) I saw a great TV program on homeopathy that aired on the Canadian CBC station. I wrote about it in the Homeopathy on CBC post.
I'm no friend to homeopathy, not only because it is basically magic and wishful thinking, but also because it scams real people out of real money and, what's far worse, it gives them false hope that does not materialize at the end.
A few years ago, I had a personal brush with a homeopathic practitioner, who offered her services to a friend of mine. The diagnosis was laughable, the outcome was predictable (no help), and the price tag was very high.
So, today, browsing the Web, I found out that there were complaints from the proponents of homeopathy after the CBC piece aired. I'm not surprised, as this is a typical strategy of the alt-med crowd. It is also great to see that CBC reviewed the complaints, performed their own, internal "investigation" and found the report sound, well balanced and fair. Maybe it's high time to admit that homeopathy is just magic (or scam if you prefer to see it that way).

Thanks to Neurologica Blog for the news.

2000 Years... Still Counting

So, we got lucky last Saturday, but don't fear, the wackos have a backup date: October 21st, 2011:

"We've always said October 21 was the day," Camping said during his show. "The only thing we didn't understand was the spirituality of May 21. We're seeing this as a spiritual thing happening rather than a physical thing happening. The timing, the structure, the proofs, none of that has changed at all."

More: Preacher now says end of the world will happen in 5 months

I bet there will be enough crazies, who will not only pour more money into this enterprise, but they'll completely destroy their own lives. This is the best example of what can happen when you don't keep the distance from cults... Like someone smart said: "2000 years of any day now..."

What Are Your Plans For Tomorrow?

May 21st is almost here, but the real question for tomorrow is "which local party to pick: The Best Damned Party, or The Left Behind Party?"...

If you want your daily dose of news high tomorrow, make sure you check weather.com for the latest unusual and violent weather, and the Unites States Geological Survey for earthquake activity.

Have a great Saturday... let's wait for 2012.

Supplements: the Good, the Bad and... the Unproven

you are big on supplements and vitamins, this info graphics from Information Is Beautiful will give you a nice overview on what's really worth your hard earned cash:

Snake Oil? The scientific evidence for health supplements