EonBlue

I would like to introduce Dr. Judy Stout. She is the school board member representing District 2 here in Mobile, Alabama (the district I live in).

Here is a school board member with a firm grip on what should be taught as science. In a recent email conversation with her, I expressed my concerns with the rise of anti-science religious fundamentalism in school boards across the country in the wake of the Dover trial. She assured me that she is strong opposed to teaching psuedo-science like the so-called “intelligent design” catechism and outright religious dogma like abrahamic creationism in our public schools. She is also a proponent of teaching critical thinking skills.

She is an Associate Professor of Marine Science at the University of South Alabama. More info here.

I’m glad to find, in my own backyard, that there remain some school board representatives that know what a scientific theory is, what evidence-based research is, and are in the forefront in the fight to properly educate our children.

Now that the Florida primaries are complete, Mike Huckabee came in fourth place. This is surprising to me, given all the hoopla with the viral-creationism that is infecting a significant amount of school boards in the state. McCain won first place, and as I showed in my Chart of the Candidates, he is a evolution-non-denier.

So what do we take from this? It seems that the voting arm of the conservatives doesn’t quite match the infestations in the aforementioned school boards. Mike Huckabee is the candidate for the anti-science crowd. McCain would be anathema. However, Huckabee did quite poorly, just above the ignoramus Ron Paul (whose only redeeming quality is his opposition to the “war”).

So perhaps there is some glimmer of hope here. When these school boards come back for re-election, the viral-creationists may not fare as well now that they have outed themselves for the willfully ignorant anti-science cretins that they are. The electorate voted these people in for other reasons, and will now take them out.

It is a dream I have. (apologies to Excalibur)

Oh, and here is another Huckabee video for your entertainment (thanks to Pharyngula):

In my opinion, a candidate that does not recognize evolution as fact and the Theory of Evolution as a well-established scientific theory that best explains the evidence we see does not belong in the White House. Here is a handy dandy chart (in no particular order):