From the Lone Star Looney bin - II

This time it is wackos from Waco, Texas who seem to believe that the Moon generates its own light and does not reflect light... 

The Emmy-winning scientist [Bill Nye] angered a few audience members when he criticized literal interpretation of the biblical verse Genesis 1:16, which reads: "God made two great lights - the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars." He pointed out that the sun, the "greater light," is but one of countless stars and that the "lesser light" is the moon, which really is not a light at all, rather a reflector of light. A number of audience members left the room at that point, visibly angered by what some perceived as irreverence. "We believe in a God!" exclaimed one woman as she left the room with three young children.

Photo

Today's front page photo on the Times included a factoid that caught me by surprise... "Houston, the capital of Texas has more than 1500 licensed gun dealers..." - but then, what else would one expect from the great state of Texas.

Although federal agents say licensed dealers are the source of most guns going to Mexico, some come from private sellers at gun shows, where even noncitizens can buy guns. Dozens of shows are held each year across Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. At a recent show in Pharr, Tex., another border town, a college freshman with a wispy beard arrived with two AR-15 rifles strapped to his body, spidery black guns designed for combat, tricked out with features that soldiers prize: collapsible stocks, pistol grips, extra long magazines. The student, who asked to be identified only as Shane, was asking $1,900 for one of his rifles. As for paper work, he wanted only a handwritten receipt with the buyer’s name and address. He was not worried, he said, about the gun’s falling into the hands of drug cartels in Mexico.

“They are going to get their guns either way,” he said. “The only thing that a ban is going to stop is good people being able to get a gun.”

Shoot first racism

Racism is alive and well in the great state of Texas. This time the targets are Indians. (via Sepia)

Texas hold'em chronicles

In the continuing Texas hold'em series (first one posted here and more here), this is one on creationism.

From the Times: Starting this summer, the state education board will determine the curriculum for the next decade and decide whether the “strengths and weaknesses” of evolution should be taught. The benign-sounding phrase, some argue, is a reasonable effort at balance. But critics say it is a new strategy taking shape across the nation to undermine the teaching of evolution, a way for students to hear religious objections under the heading of scientific discourse.

Here are interesting viewpoints from the chairman of the Texas education board, Dr. Don McLeroy:

On Evolution: I just don’t think it’s true.

On Geology: Earth’s appearance is a recent geologic event — thousands of years old, not 4.5 billion.

On Religion: I believe a lot of incredible things. The most incredible thing I believe is the Christmas story. That little baby born in the manger was the god that created the universe.

Circle of Pietro Ricchi Il Lucchese (1606 - 1676), 'The Temptation of Saint Anthony of Padua', oil on canvas, 36" X 52"