South Carolina ‘creationist’ science quiz is real

Stephan:  Most people who aren't Creationists think people that do believe God created the world in six days, roughly 10,000 years ago, with everything pretty much as it is today constitute a tiny fringe. Not so, I am afraid. The Gallup Organization has done multiple polls on this and they report 42 per cent of Americans believe this; and it has been that way for the past three decades. The other day I saw a video of students at George Mason University, part of the University of Virginia System in Virginia outside of D.C.. The Koch brothers have funneled millions of dollars into George Mason trying to have people taught what they believe. I do not assert a causal relationship between that and the video. I simply note the existence of the funding. In the video a team of students from another school went up to GM students and showed them a picture of Vice President Joe Biden, and asked them to identify who was in the picture. Only one could do so. They then showed them a picture of Kim Kardashian. What do you think? Everyone could identify her. The Willful Ignorance Trend is alive and well. Here is an example of what I mean. And I think we should take this very seriously because it is one of the most powerful forces in our politics.
A genuine example of willful ignorance

A genuine example of willful ignorance

This has been floating around for a while, but it looks like Snopes has now confirmed it. It’s real. The above is an actual science quiz given to 4th graders at Blue Ridge Christian Academy in South Carolina. Here’s page two:

A creationism-based 4th grade science quiz from a South Carolina private religious school (page 2 of 2)

This particular Christian Academy is a tiny school, it’s private, it’s got Christian right there in the name so you know where they’re coming from, and like a good portion of America’s much-heralded private schools it apparently exists to give children the shittiest possible education that your limited money can buy, the sort of education that will get them laughed at for the rest of their life. Or something. No, there’s nothing in American law that says you can’t give your children the silliest possible education—if you want, you can teach them that the sun is a 50-year-old man from Orlando who just got […]

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What it was like to spend five weeks embedded with the Bundy militants in Oregon

Stephan:  I had hoped that someone who was not a Theocratic Rightist terrorist might have been able to insert themselves into the "patriots" who occupied the wildlife reserve in Harney County, Oregon, and then report on it. Someone was able to do this and this is his account of the experience. The Sagebrush Revolution is a Caucasian Christian terrorist movement, and I think the government handled it correctly. What I find disturbing is how government can behave sensibly as in this case but, when it comes to Blacks, it's shoot first and ask questions later.
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Credit: noospheregeologic.com

Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
Credit: noospheregeologic.com

Editor’s note: University of Oregon geography professor Peter Walker has just returned from Harney County, Oregon, where armed occupiers took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. He spent several weeks attending community meetings and watching the events unfold, which he describes here.

On January 2, 2016, some 300 local citizens and outside militia members marched in Harney County, Oregon, to protest the resentencing for arson of local father-and-son ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond.

At stake was far more than the fate of the Hammonds. In the works was nothing less than an armed insurrection against virtually all federal ownership of land in the United States – and even against the very existence of the federal government as we know it. Had the almost surreally audacious plan succeeded, communities and economies across the American West, and the entire country, would have been changed profoundly.

As a researcher in the politics of public land, I went to Harney County to see what was going on firsthand. Having spent […]

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What Russia’s Failing Economy Means For Putin’s Legacy And Military Ambitions

Stephan:  A few days ago I ran a piece on what I thought Putin was doing geopolitically. This report explains why he is doing it. I strongly agree with this assessment.
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to President of Russia's Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) Alexander Shokhin in the Novo-Ogaryov residence, outside Moscow on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. Credit: Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo/AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to President of Russia’s Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) Alexander Shokhin in the Novo-Ogaryov residence, outside Moscow on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016.
Credit: Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo/AP)

Every week, The WorldPost asks an expert to shed light on a topic driving headlines around the world. In this edition, we speak with Sergey Aleksashenko, former deputy chairman of the Central Bank of Russia and a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings Institution, about the national and international implications of Russia’s weakening economy. 

Russia is in the middle of its worst economic crisis since 2008.

The country’s economic output declined by 3.7 percent in 2015 and is projected to decrease by a further 1 percent in 2016, according to International Monetary Fund estimates published in January. Inflation soared to 15.4 percent in 2015, compared with […]

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Is Organic More Nutritious? New Study Adds To The Evidence

Stephan:  This is a good news story concerning the benefits of organic food. And it is also a good news story about the power of the quotidian choice. This research was done, and the expansion of organics is the direct result of the multitude of little choices made by hundreds of thousands of individuals.
organic produce

Credit: Healthways

It’s often a split-second decision.

You’re in the produce aisle, and those organic apples on display look nice. You like the idea of organic — but they’re a few bucks extra. Ditto for the organic milk and meat. Do you splurge? Or do you ask yourself: What am I really getting from organic?

Scientists have been trying to answer this question. And the results of a huge new meta-analysis published this week in the British Journal of Nutrition adds to the evidence that organic production can boost key nutrients in foods.

The study finds that organic dairy and meat contain about 50 percent more omega-3 fatty acids. The increase is the result of animals foraging on grasses rich in omega-3s, which then end up in dairy and meats. The findings are based on data pooled from more than 200 studies, and research in the U.S. has pointed to similar benefits.

“Omega-3s are linked to reductions in cardiovascular disease, improved neurological development and function, and better immune function,” writes study co-author Chris […]

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Stopping America’s Endless Wars Could ‘Sink The Ship Of State,’ Fmr. Bush Official Warns

Stephan:  Col. Lawrence Wilkerson is a very rare bird. A high level insider who saw the truth and spoke it. I have enormous respect for him and, based on my own experiences in government, know he is telling the truth. That it is a truth few want to hear is a sad commentary on a failing empire.
Lawrence Wilkerson, a critic of Bush administration detainee policies and a former chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, gestures duirng an interview with the Associated Press in Washington, Monday, Nov. 28, 2005. Credit: AP Photo/Susan Walsh

Lawrence Wilkerson, a critic of Bush administration detainee policies and a former chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, gestures duirng an interview with the Associated Press in Washington, Monday, Nov. 28, 2005.
Credit: AP Photo/Susan Walsh

WASHINGTONDisgusted by the infamous Abu Ghraib torture photos, an assistant to the Bush administration now speaks out against the excesses of American empire.

“I knew that the United States had been involved in heinous activities,” explained retired U.S. Army Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, during a Dec. 11 interview with journalist Abby Martin on her TV show, “The Empire Files.”

“I never knew in any time in our history where those bad things had not only been authorized by the highest levels in the land, but encouraged by the highest levels in the […]

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