Plead the First

This is coming a little late, since I was away when the ruling was announced in the Kitzmiller case, but I wanted to make a brief comment on it anyway. Of the possible decisions that could have been made, Judge Jones made a pretty strong ruling. Rather than confining himself to merely saying that the […]

I was away visiting family for Christmas, but I’m back now. Posts may be sporadic until I get back into the swing of things. Hope I didn’t miss anything too important!

The alleged War on Christmas, touted by many conservatives, is a myth. There are no legions of Liberals frothing at the mouth when they hear the phrase “Merry Christmas”. Similarly, the “War on Christianity”, and the portrayal of the ACLU as the enemy of all that is good and decent are also two ideas with […]

The Associated Press had an article this week about consumer boycotts of retailers for various causes. Some groups, such as the American Family Association, advocate boycotts on retailers who they feel haven’t sufficiently displayed the word “Christmas”: This year’s high-profile targets include retailers Sears and Target. In the eyes of some conservative activists, the companies […]

The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation has released a review of state science standards. The good news – or, not-so-bad-news, as the case may be: We get a ‘B’. On the whole, North Carolina has mounted a good science standards effort that would be better were the process materials less intrusive and more ofthe indispensable chemistry […]

David Boyd says that a terrorist is a terrorist. But what about an Iraqi who doesn’t want the U.S. in his country, and is targeting U.S. troops? Is he a terrorist as well? According to a report by the Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS), between September 2003 and October 2004 there were an estimated […]

Over the past few days I’ve been involved in a couple of discussions over at the News and Record’s Letters to the Editor blog that relate to some topics recently discussed here at Plead the First. The first takes place on the letter entitled “A Higher Standard?” The letter writer, questioning a previous letter writer […]

A Washington Monthly article takes a look at some of the lies told by the past four Presidents, and has a panel of judges rate their seriousness. George W. Bush leads the pack slightly, but the article was written in 2003, so he may have pulled even further ahead in the last two years. Of […]

David Boyd, thought-provoking as always, posts a quote from Tom Bethel on Intelligent Design. One of the claims Bethel makes is that the theory of evolution is not falsifiable, and therefore not scientific. Bethel is wrong. As I pointed out in the comments: [T]he theory of evolution most certainly is falsifiable. If the fossil record […]

Cooler, quieter … horizontalier: Cordarounds.