YESORNODC

A West Wing Writer Imagines Four Days in Denver.

I knew Ben Stein was conservative, but I thought he was fiscally conservative, not, you know, totally out of his fucking mind. In his new movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, Stein and a production team trick evolutionary biologists using Borat-style tactics, recite the ‘Darwinism = eugenics = Nazism’ fallacy, and generally mischaracterize everything they can get their hands on.

And just look at what Mr. Stein is wearing! No joke, I find this part the most troubling. An attempt to make intelligent design look hip and rebellious terrifies me because it just might work.

From the About section of the Official Expelled Blog

In a scientific world gone mad, EXPELLED: No Intelligence Allowed is the controversial documentary that will chronicle Ben Stein’s confrontation with the Neo-Darwinian machine, exposing widespread suppression and entrenched discrimination in his heroic quest to bring back freedom in our institutions, laboratories and most importantly, in our classrooms, with the help of the world’s top scientists, educators and thinkers.

The emphasis is theirs. Thank you Mr. Stein. Thank you for letting us know about this new hip thing called creationism that THE MAN doesn’t want us to know about. We are in your debt.

Scientific American was invited to a pre-screening, and has a great article about it. And be sure to watch the “super” trailer.

Human development researchers at Cornell have done some work that shows kids are a lot more reliable and accurate than adults when it comes to testifying in court. It turns out kids are less likely to analyze the event, whereas adults tend to just remember their analysis of what happened.

From the article:

The finding is counterintuitive; it doesn’t square with current legal tenets, and may have important implications for legal proceedings. “Because children have fewer meaning-based experience records, they are less likely to form false memories,” says Reyna. “But the law assumes children are more susceptible to false memories than adults.”

Link, via .

Until coming to SXSW I didn’t understand it’s brilliance. Austin is normally a pretty hip/cheap/fun place to spend time, but right now it’s spring break for UT Austin’s nearly 50,000 students. They leave and make room for all the hippsters, scenesters, and musicians. It’s unclear what the hell I’m doing here, but I’m having a fantastic time, though I did feel sort of inferior as one of five people on my flight without a guitar.

I’m surprised by how much of it is free and doesn’t require a badge, which is good news, as I don’t have one. Next Year.

Tapes ‘n Tapes put on a good show yesterday. List of super cool band’s I’ve discovered here will follow in a later post.

Crazy popular authentic pizzeria 2Amys has another reason to be all kinds of crowded. Weekend brunch at the Cleavland Park eatery now features what are sure to be exceptional bagels, as well as their rare cousin, the bialy.

via Zagat