In case you missed it, last week The Daily Show ran a funny piece on the battle over the re-election of Joe Straus as speaker of the Texas House. The show poked fun at the “miracle” of electing a Jewish speaker in a famously Christian land like Texas. And predictably, they found plenty of religious […]
Recent Blogs
Paranoia Will Destroy Ya
Once again Texans are getting a lesson in how the religious right uses lies and distortions to promote fear and bigotry. The newest lesson revolves around the Mansfield school district’s decision to accept a five-year, $1.3 million federal grant that largely funds elective classes teaching Arabic (alongside current classes in the district that teach Spanish, […]
Small Government or Small Minds?
The so-called “Tea Party” movement has claimed the last couple of years to be focused on shrinking government. But often the intolerant rhetoric of its leaders betrays such claims as terribly disingenuous. Case in point: Dallas Tea Party leader Phillip Dennis’ televised attacks on the faith of President Obama and on Muslims this week. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ee-Xrsvs1A] […]
Dodging a Bullet?
Last month’s announcement by a prominent creationist group that it had decided not to seek state approval to sell instructional materials to Texas public schools was good news for supporters of sound science education. Now e-mails obtained by the Texas Freedom Network through a Texas Public Information Act request reveal just how bad the materials […]
Creationists Target Texas Science Classes
Politics and personal agendas dominated the Texas State Board of Education’s process for adopting new science curriculum standards for public schools two years ago. Now our first look at the developing process for approving science instructional materials based on those standards has increased our concerns that politics will continue to trump education. The State Board […]