New Study Shows That Catholic Primary Schools Are No Better (and Arguably Worse) Than Public Primary Schools

November 1, 2013 By 143 Comments

A new study shows that Catholic primary schools are no better — and arguably worse — than public primary schools, contrary to popular belief.

The study, published in the Journal of Urban Economics, was done by Michigan State University’s Todd Elder and University College Dublin’s Christopher Jepsen.

Catholic school children actually do better at an early age, like in kindergarten, but that’s likely because they come from the kinds of families that can afford to pay private school tuition, giving them a bit of a head start in life. As they get older, however, the advantages fade:



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Filed Under: Education, General, Science 143 Comments

Reverend Austin Miles Says Nobel Prize in Physics Was Given to Scientists Whose Primary Goal Was to Disprove God

October 11, 2013 By 202 Comments

Rev. Austin Miles is very unhappy that the Nobel Prize in Physics went to two of the scientists who theorized the existence of the Higgs Boson (a.k.a. the “God Particle”).

His problem isn’t with the scientists, per se, or even the Nobel committee. It’s with the tool that allowed them to make their discovery: the Large Hadron Collider. Miles thinks it’s all a waste of space and (somehow) anti-Christian.

Really. (Emphasis and sloppy grammar his.)

And how did this “proof” [of the Higgs Boson] surface? First of all, the scientists involved managed to raise and spend $10 billion dollars to build a “Particle Collider.” which would be the world’s biggest atom smasher, built in a 17 mile tunnel under the Swiss-French border. That is 10 BILLION dollars, with a B.

The goal was to find a subatomic particle that would be called, The Higgs Boson, but became better known as, The God Particle, from whence everything sprung.

This, of course would mean that it was all spontaneous combustion, there was no higher intelligence involved….yep…God does not exist, and this settles it.

Ten Billion Dollars spent in an effort to disprove the existence of God. Think how far that amount of money would go to improve education, communities, cities, libraries, museums, and the lives of so many.


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Filed Under: General, Science 202 Comments

Newspaper Editor Says He Won’t Publish Letters from Climate Change Deniers Because They’re Factually Inaccurate

October 10, 2013 By 98 Comments

The letters-to-the-editor page of any newspaper tends to be filled with kooks of all stripes, but the Los Angeles Times refuses to print letters with demonstrable lies, as one of its editors explained over the weekend:

Regular readers of The Times’ Opinion pages will know that, among the few letters published over the last week that have blamed the Democrats for the government shutdown (a preponderance faulted House Republicans), none made the argument about Congress exempting itself from Obamacare.

Why? Simply put, this objection to the president’s healthcare law is based on a falsehood, and letters that have an untrue basis (for example, ones that say there’s no sign humans have caused climate change) do not get printed.

They won’t print things that aren’t true?! As you would expect, conservative bloggers weren’t taking the news so well:



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Filed Under: General, Science 98 Comments

The Discovery Institute is Mad at Ball State University for Offering the Most Awesome Class Ever

October 7, 2013 By 61 Comments

A couple months ago, I wrote a bit about Ball State University, its president, Jo Ann Gora, and a science class that was not very scientific.

I was pretty excited to be writing about BSU because Gora was taking a stand for all that is good and true in this world — namely, teaching science in science classes.

After Ball State hired a professor (Eric Hedin) who was encouraging the “theory” of Intelligent Design in his physics class, the Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a complaint. In a great move, Gora and Ball State put the kibosh on that situation, drawing the ire of The Discovery Institute. A representative from the pro-creationism group criticized Gora, calling her insistence of teaching science in science courses “Orwellian.”

Since then, it seems that they have been keeping their beady little eyes on Ball State, ready to spring into action for any real or perceived religious offenses.

They found what they were looking for in an honors course called “Dangerous Ideas.”

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Filed Under: Education, FFRF, General, Science 61 Comments