Friday, December 30, 2005
Last week, WN repeated a news story of inter-library loans being
monitored by Homeland Security. The student now admits it never
happened. His lie had the effect of trivializing the problem of
our government spying on Americans. Lies are much in the news.
Two weeks ago, a paper in the journal Science was reported to
contain fabrications (WN 16 Dec 05). An investigating panel at
Seoul National University, where the research was conducted, now
concludes that Woo Suk Hwang, who became an international
celebrity and a national hero in South Korea, fabricated the
entire paper. However, according to a story in Science last
week, Hwang still claims his conclusions are valid. That's sadly
reminiscent of the Jan Hendrik Schoen scandal at Bell Labs three
years ago (WN 27 Sep 02) .
We could not help but compare the proper handling of the cloning
scandal by Science and Seoul National University with scandalous
handling of a fraudulent paper by Columbia U. and the J. Reprod.
Medicine (WN 2 Jul 04) .
Because the Columbia prayer study has never been retracted, this
absurd publication, with its claim of supernatural intervention,
is still listed as a valid scientific study on PubMed.
"It is ironic that these individuals, who so proudly touted their
religious convictions in public would time and again lie to cover
their tracks and disguise the real purpose behind the ID Policy."
>From the Jones opinion in Kitzmiller v. Dover school Board.
The journal Science, made an inspired selection this year. But
what really motivated all the work that has gone into showing how
evolution works? Is there one great motivator out there?
In the 150 years since Darwin published his brilliant insight,
there has never been another year like this. Books on evolution
are tumbling out of the presses; networks are making TV specials;
natural history museums are racing to create Darwin exhibits.
All because one organization was able to come up with catchy
phrases like "only a theory" and "a design must have a designer."
The Discovery Institute deserves an award, they made it happen.
A new vaccine was 100% effective on 6,000 women in tests and
could eliminate the sexually transmitted disease that causes
cervical cancer. Conservative Christian groups oppose its use
because it would eliminate the incentive for abstinence.
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