Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) vice presidential running mate, signals in her new book Going Rogue that she doesn’t believe in evolution, panning it as theory that human beings “originated from fish that sprouted legs and crawled out of the sea.”
“Elsewhere in this volume, she talks about creationism, saying she “didn’t believe in the theory that human beings — thinking, loving beings — originated from fish that sprouted legs and crawled out of the sea” or from “monkeys who eventually swung down from the trees.” In everything that happens to her, from meeting Todd to her selection by Mr. McCain for the Republican ticket, she sees the hand of God: “My life is in His hands. I encourage readers to do what I did many years ago, invite Him in to take over.””
Palin’s stance may itself an be “evolution” from a previous position. In 2006, ThinkProgress notes, Palin advocated that both creationism (the belief that humankind originated from a supreme being) and evolution should be taught side-by-side in public schools.
Steve Schmidt now joins a host of former McCain staffers who have challenged the veracity of Sarah Palin’s book, Going Rogue, even before it hits the streets on Tuesday: here.
The Knesset speaker barred the director of Peace Now from entering the parliament on Monday, after activists from his left-wing group interviewed rightist MKs while posing as students.
Following the incident, Peace Now said it had wanted to make a “Borat-like” film to expose the lawmakers’ embarrassing remarks, referring to comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s alter ego, a clueless Kazakh journalist.
The group subsequently condemned the ban imposed on Yariv Oppenheimer.
“Peace Now rejects this attempt to punish the movement in the actual place that is supposed to guard the freedom of movement for all of society - whether left- or right-wing,” the organization said in a statement.
On Sunday, three Peace Now activists were arrested at the Knesset for asking to interview right-wing MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) while posing as students.
The three were released from custody shortly after the arrest, but a complaint was filed against them for impersonation and for trying to deceive an MK.
The National Union of Journalists has called for “tough and urgent” police action in response to the physical violence, intimidation and death threats members covering far-right demonstrations endure: here.
A declassified ruling by a federal court judge reveals that Fouad al-Rabiah, an innocent Kuwaiti prisoner who was ordered released from Guantanamo three weeks ago, was brutally tortured into making false confessions by US interrogators and repeatedly threatened until he confessed to terrorist activities in which he was not involved: here.
Moore’s latest screen gem, “Capitalism: a Love Story,” may be the most he has moved away from support for capitalism and the closest he has come toward advocating socialist solutions. His final comment on the matter? “Democracy is the system” he likes best: here.
Having spent much of his adult life campaigning on issues including the arms trade, the illegality of the Iraq war and the misdeeds of Coca-Cola, comedian and activist Mark Thomas has now turned his attention to the ongoing financial crisis: here.
Britain: In a surprisingly bold move the TUC has invited Linton Kwesi Johnson to headline an event for its World Day for Decent Work. The day will focus on the impact of the international financial crisis on workers’ rights: here.
The US Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest federation of businesses, has demanded that the Environment Protection Agency hold a public hearing to put the science of global warming on trial, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.
The Chamber apparently envisages the lawsuit as a 21st Century Scopes trial, the 1925 legal case that overturned the Butler Act, a law forbidding the teaching of evolution in US schools.
Huh? Don’t they realise that science won in that case?
In April, the EPA paved the way for strict regulation of greenhouse gas emissions by ruling that climate change is bad for human health - and therefore subject to the Clean Air Act.
Now, with only a few weeks left before the policy change becomes official, the Chamber of Commerce is fighting back, demanding a public hearing to “force transparency” from the EPA regarding its evidence for the decision.
Not that they’re being taken seriously. The move has been dismissed as a ploy to sow political discord and undermine global warming legislation. The EPA itself shrugged off the threatened lawsuit as both a “waste of time” and “frivolous”. Ouch.
The Yes Men Pull Off Prank Claiming U.S. Chamber of Commerce Had Changed Its Stance on Climate Change: here.
“Forget ‘alternative’ energy — it can’t work!” That — and in almost those exact words — was among the messages of an article published in the Rupert Murdoch-owned Weekend Australian on August 8 by journalist Terry McCrann: here.
The BBC gave in to a “ludicrous” concern about impartiality when it dropped a day of programmes intended to raise awareness about energy efficiency and climate change, one of Britain’s most senior scientists says: here.
Climate myths: Any cooling disproves global warming: here.
USA: Bush Administration covered up global warming finding, then deliberately kept from Democrats: here.
The US Chamber of Commerce is taking a real hammering on Facebook these days. A visit to its wall finds a significant number of visitors demanding that it stop fudging its membership numbers: here.
