text:
Further restrictive legislation to keep Creation out of UK state-funded schools
Published: 20 December 2012 (GMT+10)
The UK Government, following a campaign by the British Humanist Association (BHA), the National Secular Society (NSS), the British Centre for Science Education (BCSE), and the Royal Society, is now threatening to remove funding from free schools that do not teach evolution as a "comprehensive, coherent and extensively evidenced theory."1 The new rules will apply from 2013. CMI has previously commented on this secular humanist campaign, and provided a time-line of recent events here. I have also offered my response.
This further ruling is now seen as a necessary move to close a loophole because the secularists fear that free schools (that is, privately-run schools2 receiving state funding) may simply not teach evolution at all to get around present legislation. Sir Paul Nurse is reported as saying that,
"The new clause in the funding agreement should ensure that all pupils at free schools have the opportunity to learn about evolution as an extensively evidenced theory and one of the most fundamentally important tenets of modern biology.
The development of the theory of evolution is an excellent example of how science works and there is a clear consensus within the scientific community regarding both its validity and importance."3
Responding to this latest challenge
Quite clearly this campaign appears successful, but it reveals a disturbing agenda, in that secular humanists/atheists do not show respect for the beliefs of Christian students and parents. In fact, there is a tendency towards angry dismissal of Christian sentiment.4 It is regrettable that the government should heed these extremist voices. But we do need to be frank, that it is an extreme view that seeks to silence honest debate and deny human rights and freedoms to Christians, and Christian school children.
This is really quite a shameful campaign, and a hypocritical one as well, bearing in mind the humanist claim to uphold a sense of morality, including respecting differing views.5 Furthermore, Christians are falsely maligned, as this campaign engages in misrepresentation and fear mongering. Andrew Copson writes that Christians wish to "fan the flames of culture wars", this for simply wishing to have religious beliefs respected in the classroom.6 If there is a culture war here, the aggressors are the secular humanists, as the voice of Christian creationists has simply not been listened to in this debate. Christians instead desire to build a sense of peace, equality and justice in the world.
So how should Christians respond? It was in fact the Apostle Paul who spoke about forgiveness in the face of oppression and persecution, commenting that to forgive is to heap burning coals upon an enemy's head (Romans 12:20). The 'burning coal' in this context is the inner conviction of the Holy Spirit who causes men and women to reflect upon the condition of their own hearts. As Christians we are called to "be transformed by the renewing of our minds" and not to be "conformed to the pattern of the world," and in forgiving those who wrong us we publicly demonstrate the will of God in our lives (Romans 12:2).
Skills in critical thinking and the advance of science
But what can we say? Firstly, children need to have the freedom to sort the wheat-from-the-chaff in science and to develop key skills in both critical thinking and intuition, as they ask questions about what is true in science—to learn to distinguish between facts and story-telling, for example.
Michael Polanyi saw science as a human enterprise that is ultimately guided by the human conscience towards truth.7 Such thinking is integral to the higher levels of science. Children need to be able to think critically about whether theories, such as Darwinian evolution, are coherent and properly evidenced, instead of being forced to accept them without any thought or investigation. The new ruling cannot make the incoherent coherent, neither can "extensive evidence" be considered compelling evidence if it is not properly tested by the questioning of inquisitive school children. What are the Darwinists so afraid of, that they must hide their pet theory behind a legal fig leaf? No other scientific idea gets such legislative protection from scrutiny (see here).
This legal limitation upon science is also a recipe for confusion in the minds of children, whether Christian or not, because it seeks to deny the possibility of acquiring knowledge through faith. It is ultimately deeply flawed and unworkable. My own experience, as a Christian pupil within the humanist education system, was one of confusion, while later acceptance of belief in special creation and revelation led to intellectual clarity. The reason is that some knowledge claims must be accepted on grounds that are not supported by scientific evidence, as for instance, Polanyi recognised in his important book Personal Knowledge.8 The Enlightenment belief that all knowledge can arise through the sciences, involving reason and sensory experience alone (that is, rejecting the light of God's revelation), is untenable. Instead, all of us ultimately must base our understanding of the world on prior commitments (presuppositions) that cannot be proven scientifically, whether we are Christian, atheist or whatever. The truth of our beliefs may be assessed through how we value other human beings, and the world around us: "by their fruit you shall know them" (Matthew 7:16). Our worldview also should provide a framework that makes sense of the universe we live in—a 'coherency of truth'.
Obstructing true science
Of course we accept that there is scientific evidence for mutations and natural selection on a small scale (operating within created genetic limits), but what of the bigger questions that appear to be based upon an anti-Christian narrative that is being imposed upon science? The claim for an unguided evolutionary progression of life is really untestable as well as being an oxymoron (it is effectively an argument for undirected direction). It is the big story of molecules-to-man evolution that creationists reject because it is not supported by scientific evidence, as well as being hostile to Christian faith and Christian values.
This atheist campaign and ruling effectively prevents honest and open inquiry in science classes. It could well prevent children from learning about the latest advances in biological science for instance. Such evidence includes the recognition that so-called "junk DNA" has biological functionality in the cell and can no longer be considered junk. This is incompatible with evolution (evolution needs lots of junk DNA), so will teachers be allowed to teach students about this? Will schools that teach this be de-funded/de-registered? Will teachers be prosecuted?
Furthermore, genetics, and evidence of coded information in DNA, together with its translation into protein molecules, is a highly ordered and controlled system that needs to be taught accurately, and is loosely analogous to the complexity of a modern computer system. Detailed knowledge of this would clearly create doubts in the minds of students about the efficacy of evolution to invent this incredibly sophisticated system (see here).
The school science classroom should also expose children to the evidence of highly organised 'machine-like' systems in cells (although the 'machine' metaphor is really only a weak analogy to explain what is truly going on in living organisms). This includes evidence for molecular motors such as ATP synthase and the bacterial flagellum, or the kinesin and dynein walking transporter proteins that carry other cellular constituents around inside the cell. The ATP molecule, incidentally, is essential for life as it enables energy transfers within the cell. Knowledge of such systems is vitally important if Britain and other Western nations are to excel in science and technology in the modern world, and this is just the tip of the iceberg of cellular complexity that flies in the face of the atheists' insistence that evolution be taught as unquestioned dogma. Our desire is that the quality of science education should be raised in schools, and not held back by the philosophical straightjacket of humanism / atheism.
Human rights of Christian parents in the state education system
Also of importance is the question of the human rights of Christian parents. Their right to decide how and what their children are taught, especially in a way that respects their faith, is being abrogated. After all, Christian parents pay their taxes as much as anyone else, and have a right to be heard in discussions over the development of policy in the education system. This ruling, following the campaign by the atheists and the Royal Society, shows no respect for the beliefs of Christian parents; instead it undermines the rights and duties of parents. Indeed, it reflects a lack of respect by the secular humanists (atheists) for a free and open society.
A return to Marxism?
It perhaps seems too easy to suggest that this reflects latent Marxism in our society, but there is evidence of such a common undercurrent. For instance, consider statements by Jerry Coyne. He has even recently suggested, at a meeting in Scotland, that it should be illegal for parents to teach creation to children in the home—with applause from the largely atheist audience.9 Sadly this has often been the attitude of secular humanists. As we have noted before, Richard Dawkins even likened Christian parents teaching their children of the things of God to child abuse (plus see the box heading this article).
In the last century, Karl Popper wrote two volumes entitled The Open Society and its Enemies. The second volume was critical of Hegel and Marxism, the first, The Spell of Plato10 , was critical of an affinity for the works of Plato amongst some philosophers. As discussed in a previous article Plato's idealistic city-state 'Polis', outlined in The Republic, was elitist and held that a society should be ruled over by philosopher kings, with the majority populace educated merely to the level of obedient servants or soldiers. Only the elite were to be taught to think independently (Plato also favoured breaking up strong family ties). Plato's thinking was influential in the education system of Prussia in the 19th century, and also in the development of Marxism in Russia and Eastern Europe in the 20th century. German philosopher Johann Fichte (1762–1814) asserted that "If you want to influence [the student] at all, you must do more than merely talk to him; you must fashion him, and fashion him in such a way that he simply cannot will otherwise than what you wish him to will."11
Humanistic foundations of education in the US
This is also reflected in the thinking of the American humanist John Dewey (1859–1952) who saw education within the framework of collectivism and social control, while the needs of the child were considered secondary. Dewey wrote that,
" … education is a regulation of the process of coming to share in the social consciousness; and that the adjustment of individual activity on the basis of this social consciousness is the only sure method of social reconstruction."12
And regrettably these thoughts also permeate the thinking of modern secular humanists (atheists). In this, children are not encouraged to think for themselves, but taught only to relate their learning to sensory experience in the natural world. Thus, it is essentially a materialistic creed that stifles the development of higher dimensions of thought that transcend the material world.
" … if knowledge comes from the impressions made upon us by natural objects, it is impossible to procure knowledge without the use of objects which impress the mind." 13
Today's secular humanists, like Dewey, see the role and purpose of the teacher, "as a member of the community", as directing the child's thoughts towards the material world, "to select the influences which shall affect the child" and to direct the child in "properly responding to these influences."14
This, then, negatively impacts education (as reported here in America). Firstly, it effectively directs the child towards materialism (atheism) and away from anything spiritual, and secondly, it doesn't focus upon the child's best interests to constrain him/her to think within such a restricted and unnatural framework. Children should be trained to think rationally across multiple disciplines and to consider higher dimensions. Instead, Dewey and those of a like mind want to force the child to conform to the collective needs. It 'dumbs down' eduction for the majority of the population. How easy it is, once resistance to such ideology crumbles, for those leaders of society who turn away from Christian principles to end up seeking social control of others. It is elitist, and within secular humanism the quality of education for the majority is clearly of less concern. Humanist Paul Blanshard stated that undermining Christian faith was more important than educational standards, writing that,
"I think that the most important factor moving us toward a secular society has been the educational factor. Our schools may not teach Johnny to read properly, but the fact that Johnny is in school until he is sixteen tends to lead toward the elimination of religious superstition."15
A Christian vision for education
On the other hand, Christianity, throughout history, has been central to the establishment of places of learning, which is why today there are still so many church schools in Britain. Christianity has a positive vision for education based upon the principles of quality and equality for all, and a belief in the importance of sound reasoning; this, in turn, lifts children up so they can flourish in life and return a blessing to the community. However, Christian theology involves a recognition that the truly sound mind is one that is enlightened by divine grace.16 There needs to be a transcendent, spiritual dimension to education. Christians are rightly suspicious of (and reject) the elitist restrictive policies being implemented in our modern western world, and strongly supported by secular humanists.
Education also has a value that goes beyond its economic usefulness, and Christians believe that our faith must make a difference in every area of life, including the arts and sciences. Abraham Kuyper, a former Dutch Prime Minster,17 believed that no part of our intellectual life should be exluded from Christ's sovereignity. He wrote that, even after the fall of humanity, the world is not lost inextricably, but instead,
'The world … is the theatre for the mighty works of God, and humanity remains a creation of His hand, which … completes under this present dispensation here on earth, a mighty process, and in its historical development is to glorify the name of Almighty God.'18
A Christian approach to science is one that needs to hold in balance the spiritual and the material. The belief that science, particularly regarding origins, can be done without considering the spiritual, does not respect a Christian view of the world. Respected Christian philosopher Alvin Plantinga has argued for Augustinian science where Christians may approach science with knowledge gained through faith and revelation.19 This was the approach of most of the founders of modern science, such as Newton, so it is hardly anti-science.
It is a shame that theistic evolutionists seem to spend a lot of their efforts undermining those who hold to a literal reading of biblical creation, when they should be challenging the dominance of secular humanism in science. In effect, this is akin to opening the door to a Trojan horse, because evolutionary naturalism will eventually destroy science itself.
The Royal Society's responsibility
It is hard for the Royal Society to avoid the charge that it sees itself in the role of Plato's philosophers kings, dictating what children should learn, rather than considering the benefits of science to society, or the health of science and technology, in an open framework. In fact, prominent RS members seem intent on holding onto the reigns of power and effectively 'dumbing down' the education of children (see an instance of this here). This is tragic, bearing in mind that many founders of the Royal Society were influenced by Christian sentiments;20 although it is true that, later on, the Royal Society often played a big role in the advancement of Darwin's ideas. For instance, this happened through the work of the secretive 'X' Club, and Thomas Huxley's Reign of Terror against anyone who disagreed with Darwin.21 Instead, we believe education should lift children up intellectually, respect Christian beliefs, and encourage all children to think through matters in theology, science and philosophy.
There is a rather ironic anecdote that sheds light on the actual process of science. It is noteworthy that some leading figures in the Royal Society in the 17th century, such as Martin Lister, refused to accept the organic origin of fossils for many years, although other members such as Robert Hooke supported their organic origin, as did the father of modern geology Nicolai Steno, who based his thinking on the Bible's account of Noah's global flood. So flood geology, based in part upon knowledge gained through divine revelation, proved to be an important means of advancing science (it has proved to be a good heuristic22). The lesson is that members of the Royal Society were preventing advances in science, and today I would argue that the actions of the humanists/atheists and their influence on the Royal Society are in effect hindering science by advocating the flawed 19th century Darwinian idea of evolution.
In the 21st century there is increasing abundance of evidence for design in biological organisms. Just as the Royal Society eventually came around to accepting the organic origin of fossils, so too one hopes that it will one day come around to the design paradigm as knowledge of the cell increases. Eventually this campaign against creation and intelligent design will be seen to be a secular Inquisition (as reported here) that is hostile to the enterprise of science and very detrimental to the health of society as a whole and even the future of western civilisation.
Related Articles
Further Reading
- Copson, A., Free schools are exploiting loopholes to teach creationism, Guardian, 30 November 2012, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2012/nov/30/free-schools-creationism. Return to text.
- So-called 'Free schools' in the UK are not local authority controlled and are non-fee paying, the initiative of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government formed in 2010. The concept was designed to enable charitable bodies and even businesses to set up schools. Return to text.
- Burns, J., Teaching evolution key to free school funding deal, BBC Website, 30 November 2012, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-20547195. Return to text.
- As Peter Hitchens observes in the introduction to his recent
book, The Rage Against God, "the difficulties of the anti-theists begin when
they try to engage with anyone who does not agree with them, when their reaction
is often a frustrated rage that the rest of us are so stupid,"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/jun/25/dawkins-atheist-school. Return to text.
- One of the tenets of the Humanist Manifesto III is "Respect for differing yet humane views in an open, secular, democratic, environmentally sustainable society." Return to text.
- Copson, A., see ref 1. Return to text.
- Polanyi, M., Science, Faith, and Society, Oxford Univesity Press, 1946 (ISBN 0-226-67290-5). Reprinted by the University of Chicago Press, 1964. Return to text.
- Michael Polanyi was a distinguished physical chemist and philosopher of science. Personal Knowledge: towards a post-critical philosophy was first published in 1958, Chicago University Press. Return to text.
- This information is from personal correspondence with someone who attended a meeting of the Glasgow Skeptics, 26 November 2012, see http://glasgow.skepticsinthepub.org/Default.aspx/74/Past-Events, accessed 5 December 2012. Return to text.
- Published by Routledge in 1945. Popper thought Plato's position was tyrannical. Return to text.
- Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Addresses to the German Nation, 1807. Second Address: "The General Nature of the New Education," The Open Court Publishing Company, Chicago and London, 1922, p. 21; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prussian_education_system. Return to text.
- Dewey, J., My pedagogic creed, Scholarly Publishing Office, University of Michigan Library, p. 16 (First published in School Journal vol. 54, January 1897, pp. 77–80). Return to text.
- Dewey, J., Democracy and education: An introduction to the philosophy of education, WLC Books, New York, 2009, pp. 217-218 (The original work was published in 1916). Return to text.
- Dewey, ref. 11, p. 9. Return to text.
- Blanshard, P., Three Cheers for Our Secular State, The Humanist, March/April 1976. Return to text.
- This comes from the writings of people like Augustine, as well from the teaching of the New Testament. Return to text.
- As well as a politician, Kuyper was a respected statesman, journalist and orthodox Protestant Christian and theologian. He was the founder of neo-Calvinism and was influenced by Augustine's vision for the City of God, the Civitas Dei coming down from heaven. Augustine wrote this work as the Roman Empire collapsed, urging Christians to put their hope in God and his kingdom. Augustine also saw the inevitable progress of the divine city, the advance of the Christian Church, extending love and values across the earth despite persecution, and culminating in the final return of Christ as the worldly systems fall into chaos. Return to text.
- See for instance: Bratt, J. Dutch Calvinism in Modern America, Wipf and Stock (original Eerdmans), 1984, p .16. Return to text.
- Plantinga, A., When faith and reason clash: evolution and the Bible, Christian Scholars Review 21(1):8–32, 1991; Plantinga, A., Methodological Naturalism? In: Pennock, R.T. (ed.), Intelligent Design Creationism and its Critics: Philosophical, Theological and Scientific Perspectives, The MIT Press, Cambridge Massachusetts, 2001, p. 355. Return to text.
- See for instance Harrison, P., The Bible, Protestantism, and the Rise of Natural Science, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1998. Return to text.
- See for instance Sibley, A., Bathybius haeckelii and a reign of terror, Journal of Creation 23(1):123–127, 2009; creation.com/bathybius-haeckelii. Return to text.
- In this context, a heuristic is defined (see www.thefreedictionary.com) as "an educational method in which learning takes place through discoveries that result from investigations made by the student." Return to text.
@Mark M, in Dr. Sarfati's article "Loving God with all your mind: logic and creation", he talks about how there is a disjunction between evolution and special creation, one that is recognized by both evolutionists and creationists. It is shown how that any evidence against molecules-to-man evolution is evidence FOR creation. Therefore, to say that here is "no evidence for Biblical Creation" is patently false, as we have found much evidence against molecules-to-man evolution, and therefore, evidence for Creation.
I believe that schools should be required to have religion classes that teaches children about all of the major religions of the world like Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, ancient Greek, as well as African religions. In these religion classes students can learn about each religion's version of creationism. But, in their science/biology classes I believe children should be taught evolution.
CMI does not disagree with the teaching of religion in religious education classes and of science in science classes. Evolution, far from being empirical science, has many hallmarks of religious philosophies and is little more than a pseudoscientific creation story. As such, prejudice aside, it would find no place in the science classroom.
This was a very disturbing article as I assume this will be coming soon to our Canadian private schools. It seems to me we should be printing more literature on a young earth etc. without the christian references so we can get them into the public schools science curriculum and then our children will be more open to the Bible.
I'm afraid it would be a vain hope to seek to get biblical creation teaching materials into the public science curriculum. All Christian parents, however, certainly need to be equipping their children with answers and we encourage people to use CMI's Parents Corner to assist you in this.
It is untrue to suggest that all christians are young earth creationists who reject evolution. Many like myself see no incompatibility. Are you all putting yourselves above us?
It is even more untrue to suggest that science teachers teach science to further the cause of atheism or secular humanism (which are different things). That is a slur on the many good christian (and atheist) teachers who work extremely hard to teach children what we currently know about science, further their understanding of science and enable them to go into the world with the skills to make informed decision about science.
It is also untrue to claim that this is an attempt to ban the creation story or notions of christianity from British schools. The creation story remains an integral part of teaching in religious eduction in British schools. Alongside the perfectly true fact that it is approached differently by different christians. That some such as yourselves approach it as a literal account and that others approach it as a truth that is not literal nor scientific but beyond current understanding. The ban is to ensure that no scientific claims are made for the literal creation story because there is none.
You have set up several straw men here; i.e. false statements about what the article writer supposedly is saying. Nowhere does the article state or imply that "all christians are young earth creationists who reject evolution", or that all "science teachers [seek] to further the cause of atheism or secular humanism." As to your last claim, that there is no science in support of the biblical Creation account, literally thousands of articles on this website testify to the contrary.
Hey Graham D., molecules-to-man evolution has no place in the classroom either pal since it is nothing but a pseudoscience and a false religion.
To Graham D, Australia.
You have posted many times on these articles and every time you are proven wrong with evidence shown. Have you not learnt yet that you are just wrong? I hope one day you will open your eyes to the truth and stop being a blind follower so you can think for yourself. What a shame.
In regards to the article, it is just another whinge from the losing side of the origins of the Earth battle. One day people in the UK will just get sick of the whinging and boot them out. Lets hope they don't bring their backwards 19th century views to Australia.
Your last sentence is a little ambiguous. However, based on your previous article feedbacks, I assume that "the losing side" you refer to is the secular humanists who are doing their utmost to legislate what may and may not be taught in schools.
Will the new evolutionary indoctrination curriculum include some scientific laws:
1.) Law of biogenesis
2.) 2nd Law of thermodynamics
3.) Law of cause & effect
4.) Law of Probability
5.) Information theory
I doubt they will cover these SCIENTIFIC LAWS because the religious belief system, that evolution clearly is, violates them.
So, they'll probably skip over those along with tons of other contradictory evidence that shows the bankruptcy of evolution.
Instead, the humanists among us want to tell our children that there is no ultimate meaning to life, you're just a product of random chance, you're just an animal, and when you die, you will cease to exist for eternity. Wow, what an uplifting belief system.
CMI, Thanks for informing us all.
Scientific laws continue to be discussed within the curriculum but there is no certainly mention of how these things pose significant problems for theories like the Big Bang, abiogenesis and molecules-to-man evolution generally. This is why it is important to educate the educators, and pointing them to specific articles on CMI's website is an excellent way of doing so.
The challenge to all of us who value CMI as a wonderful resouce of information, is to get out there and spread the word. You may not feel you can do this in public or in the workplace. But it can be achieved in social media sites, chat rooms, Huffington post etc etc.
Get on and get debating with atheists and if you're no expert like me, refer them to the experts right here at CMI.
Once you get started debating you will see how this dogmatic approach to the theory of evolution has shaped the minds of its supporters, becuase the same old arguements and insults, keep coming and coming.
Always remember it's for the glorification of Jesus Christ.
I am not worried anymore because this has been coming for a long time. The great thing about being with the Lord is that he provides visions and ideas on how we can counter this. There is a lot more information about creation and why it is truthful as there are so many sites about it. Creation is becoming informative in the UK and it will not be long before we put the theory of evolution to bed forever. Secularists maybe winning battles but they will lose the war for hearts and minds and that war is a winner takes all war. Just keep praying and pressurising.
I don't expect atheists to take any notice of what I have to say but I hope that theistic evolutionists do take notice. I was an atheist for most of my life. My belief in evolution was at the core of my atheism. Indoctrinating children with belief in evolution is going to drive them further away from God not closer. To theistic evolutionists I say this; is it God that you fear or is it the opinions of men? Are you concerned about looking foolish in the eyes of the world? The eternal destiny of these children is at stake. Jesus said that it would be better for a person to have a millstone tied round their neck and thrown into the sea than to cause one of these little ones to sin.
I heard about this a week or two ago. It makes me sick. I hear atheists babbling on about how great evolution is and how unproven it is. Little do they realize how incredibly biased they are and completely ignore the facts, ironically what they claim Creationists to do. I have been going to a Christian school for the past few years, and until the past few weeks agreed with my science teacher on "However God made the world doesn't matter". But then I realized that it made all the difference in the world. Things like evolution do not comply with the Bible, at all. And it leads people away from God. We should have expected this. The world wants Christianity eliminated, because it is "corrupting and brainwashing". Little do they realize they are just fulfilling the prophecy...
I have two problems with the following statement:
"atheists do not show respect for the beliefs of Christian students and parents"
Point 1 - In no way shape or form would I ever consider respecting your beliefs, but I will defend your right to do so.
Point 2 - The majority of the world's Christians believe evolution to be the unifying theory of biology. They see it as it does not necessarily jeopardize their salvation.
Creationism/Intelligent Design, has absolutely no place in any nation's curriculum. It is NOT science, and has been declared so in the court of law many times. I.D has about as much as a welcome in science classrooms as astrology and alchemy.
Conflating your point 1 with your last sentence, it is clear that you can live with the fact that certain people disagree with you about origins, as long as they hold their beliefs privately. In practice, this may merely be the thin end of the wedge, with the thick end being what Jerry Coyne was quoted to have said in this article, regarding parents who wish to teach those things to their own children.
Point 2 does not marry up with the results of surveys conducted in recent years. For instance, in October 2009, The Guardian newspaper (UK) ran an article with the self-explanatory title: "Teach both evolution and creationism say 54% of Britons"—and this related to school science lessons! (see here, accessed 18 January 2012.) Note that this was a cross section of the British public in general, not even of Christians.
Please can we get away from the idea that those who espouse evolution are secular humanists. Thousands, actually probably millions, of us are active Christians, walking in the ways of Jesus. Young-earth creationism is not THE Christian view, although some Christians espouse it. It is a blatant untruth to suggest that scientist-Christians such as I am are secular humanists.
Secondly can we knock on the head the idea that Darwin himsself was a secular humanist. He was not, as anyone who who has investigated his life properly will know. He thought it absurd to think that evolution and Christian faith were incompatible (even though his rather dim faith in the existence of God was short of the Christian position)
This article does not state (neither does the writer or CMI believe) that all "those who espouse evolution are secular humanists." Rather, in the first paragraph, it is made clear that the activities of bodies such as the BHA and NSS are in view, peopled by humanists. Therefore you appear to be fighting a straw man, for articles on CMI's website do not say or infer that theistic evolutionists are secular humanists. As to Darwin, agnosticism described his state of mind for most of his life (e.g. see here), by his own profession.
However, you certainly overstate things in saying that Darwin "thought it absurd to think that evolution and Christian faith were incompatible." Much could be said on Darwin's attitude to theistic evolution, but suffice to say, "In Darwin's view the whole point of the theory of evolution by natural selection was that it provided a non-miraculous account of the existence of complex adaptations. … For Darwin, any evolution that had to be helped over the jumps by God was not evolution at all" (Dawkins, R., The Blind Watchmaker, pp. 248-249, Penguin, London, 1991).
I can agree to the confusion I experienced at school while reading through the many stories of how dinosaurs became fossils, and how atoms evolved into life. These claims didn't answer many questions I had about life, purpose, etc. But more so, these ideas just seemed so silly (like a dinosaur falling into a lake, dropping to the bottom, and its bones remaining for sometime intact before being covered in silt/mud). As a child I wondered why our bodies deteriorate and die, why things seem to fall apart, but evolution claims the opposite. That is until I heard the other side of the story only at University. I realise that I don't even need evolution at all to help me think critically, with good reason. In fact, denying me to develop my own understanding is exactly what the theory of evolution did at school.
All I can say is, let everyone have freedom to decide whether or not evolution makes as much sense as it is so claimed to. If it is a solid theory, then it will stand up to scrutiny without the help of other external safe-guards like legislation.
Adding to my previous comments if I may;
The bible teaches Christians have a mandate to offer the good news to everyone but people are free to reject God's message, just like Adam and Eve were allowed to reject God's advice. In the end, God, not man, will be responsible for judging those who reject Christ.
Atheists are not shy in enforcing on our generation, that evolution is a fact.
Disturbing but not unexpected, I encourage my children to learn about evolution and encourage all parents to do the same... but as a religious based hypothesis. Our children are better off being challenged when we can assist them with answers rather than the culture shock of being challenged on their own, later on.
I would like to know if it would be permissible to teach 'random mutations followed by natural selection leading to diversification, adaptation (at the population level) and even speciation (depending on your definition of species)' but leave out the molecules to man over millions of years. Dawkins defines evolution simply as change in gene frequency, under this definition I see no problem with teaching this in science... as long as evolution is not extrapolated to account for molecules to man evolution; not likely.
The problem is both definitions are applied to the same word. Speciation & adaptive changes via mutations & natural selection are necessary but not sufficient (thanks Dr J.S.) for molecules to man evolution but atheists refuse to make this distinction.
Can you imagine if during WW1, a population of men had a mutation where they lost the genetic instructions to build arms, giving them a survival advantage when their healthy bodied friends were being conscripted to fight at Gallipoli? These armless men would be considered more evolved because of that environment, this is misleading to the point of deluding one self. We need to campaign against their ignorance in what we believe. I'm sure most atheists believe creationists don't believe in speciation & adaptive changes via mutations & natural selection... but then what do most Christians /creationists really believe?
Regarding your last point, with the rapid rise in activity on Internet blogs, social media websites and the like, CMI's website is experiencing more and more referral traffic, month on month. Consequently, atheists (both hard-liners and 'moderates') are increasingly coming across articles at creation.com and leaving comments. Certainly, these people are being educated about what informed creationists really believe.
It seems to me the best course of reaction to the ever increasing push towards complete atheism in the schools is for someone to present the other side in a well organised and consistent approach backed up by science as well as scripture. CMI to me is the best choice for that. It can provide an extracurricular educational service itself via the internet using methods similar to what many Universities are doing for distance education. It's about time we had an official organisation that provides a balance by presenting God's side of the story of the origin of everything using scientific as well as Biblical teachings. I'm not suggesting CMI become a church in the traditional sense. I'm talking about an educational service with Christian ideals. CMI can fund the service by way of a reasonable fee. I'm sure many Christian families throughout the world would support such an approach. I and others I'm sure would volunteer our services to help in any way possible.
In the ideal world, such presentation of contrary views would be very reasonable. However, this is precisely what recent legislative decision are designed to outlaw, not merely in science lessons, but also within the religious education classroom.
CMI is, among other things, an 'information ministry' and we encourage others to make good use of the resources (books and DVDs) and information at creation.com in influencing people within their own communities (including schools) wherever this is feasible.
So, I wonder whether the compromising theistic evolutionists and the progressive creationists will heed the warning signs? Or will they continue serenely marching into the dark world of Humanism where, ultimately, all opposition will be permanently silenced? And what of those fellow believers who think that the Bible can be interpreted according to the dominant cultural view of this generation? It's time to wake up from the delusion. Do not be fooled; Humanists are no respecters of the human rights of Christians – the two world views cannot peacefully co-exist – it's one or the other.


text:
In Detroit, a key part of the area's revival has been art. And on Tuesday night, one organization won $20,000 in funding for their efforts.
The group Lo & Behold! Records and Books won the Knights Arts Challenge People's Choice Award to help raise their profile on the local arts scene.
Lo & Behold I hosting a blues night Saturday, Sept. 14, at 8 p.m.
10022 Joseph Campau
Hamtramck, MI 48212

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Science News is available in audio exclusively at Audible.
Delivery: Weekly, Fridays
To get the latest Science News, click here. Or, you can find back issues by searching the complete archive.
© Science Service (P) Audible
"Right level of detail"
I've listened to articles on the same subject from both Science News (SN) and Scientific American (SA)from Audio Books. My experience is that articles come out a month or two earlier on SA, and in greater depth than SN articles. On the other hand SN covers a greater breadth of subjects. If you've ever read a paper SA magazine you know how integral the pictures, illustrations and graphs are for conveying the full content of an article. A picture is worth a thousand words, and the audio version of SA doesn't acknowledge they even exist. The SN articles are at the right level of detail for the audio format.
"Very Educational"
This weekly is the most up to date material I've seen in a long time.
Very educational and interesting new projects that are being done.
I give this one 5 stars.
"Great weekly news magazine"
I first started reading Science News in 1966, and it has never disappointed me. The articles cover every scientific discipline and are presented in an easy to understand vocabulary and format for the lay person, yet there is enough detail, including identification of the source material, to locate the original article or study. Highly recommended if you have a broad interest in science.
"Great Science--Not Great Enteratinment"
For science lovers, this can be a good subscription. I'm interested by discoveries in science, which is exactly what this periodical is about--imparting the latest in scientific discoveries from the world of computers, astronomy, medicine, biology, and more. It's thorough and educational, but not captivating.
The main problem is that there's only one narrator, and though he seems knowledgable, he speaks with little excitement. This leads to a science recording with more than one slow spot. I think it would be better if they had more than one narrator (like a newscast) or at least something to break up the monologue. It just keeps going from one story to the next like a ticker tape.
If you like science, however, I think you can overlook this problem. It's just something to be aware of.
"Best subscription value on Audible"
Perfectly edited, compiled, and nicely read, Science News provides excellent journalist summaries of major and sometimes minor breakthroughs in the sciences. Appropriately, the editors of this series do not editorialize nor do they pass judgment on the stories themselves. Therefore, the hard facts of geology and mathematics are presented right alongside the latest speculations of evolutionary psychology. As a college professor with degrees in both social and natural sciences, teaching in a natural science department, I appreciate and heartily recommend this to anybody with a more than casual interest in research and technology.
"Good and short"
I started with this after looking at reviews for Sci Amer and MIT Tech Review (I record Sci Fri off the radio). Listened to 4 editions for l month. It's ok for what's there, but I expected more quantity. Have tried one issue of MIT Tech and while it covers fewer topics, say 4 or 5 versus 10 or 12, the variety is good and I prefer the greater depth. Sci Amer probably has the depth and variety, too, but I agree with one reviewer who said that SA relies a lot on graphic aids which you won't see. I'm going to put a copy of these comments in the Tech Review section, too.
"Get a better reader"
I am a scientist myself and I like the content of SN, so tried one month of the audio version. I found the poor reading so distracting that I did not renew. Surely audible.com/SN can find someone who is familiar enough with science to be comfortable with the vocabulary, but who also either has acting experience or natural talent for public reading. The current reader does well enough with pronunciation (usually), but is constantly getting the "music" of sentences wrong. (I would have guessed English was his second language, but he has no accent.)
"Horrible, horrible reader"
I'm a neuroscientist and regularly listen to Science Friday and other science programs, so I thought this would be a good listen. It could be, but the reader is so abysmal that it ruins the presentation. He mispronounces words to the point of distraction, often speaks too quickly, and has very little enthusiasm in his voice. The result is dull and trite, which is a shame because the information in the articles is often interesting and timely. Regrettably, until a better reader is hired, I?m canceling my subscription.
"I went back in time 40 YEARS"
I felt like I was back in junior high listening to a badly narrated science film from the 50s. -- With all of the comments about the BORING narration in these reviews, it makes me wonder if anyone at SN or Audible is reading our feedback at all. The content and subject matter should be a 5 for any die-hard science enthusiasts. However, we must keep in mind that editors, who are dedicated and passionate about creating this content are often blind to other flaws like marketing, presentation and customer feedback. For the rest of us who want some variety in their Audible content, my vote goes for SN to hire Raymond Todd, the talented narrator who was used in "Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman" to replace the existing SN narrator. If this happens, I might even re-subscribe?
"Best of the science magazines"
It is amazing, some of these reviewers. One person gave it two stars because they couldn't "skip" sections. My Ipod mini (which is the ONLY player to get, trust me) has a button that allows you to skip sections easily. If you like science you will love it. Get it, go ahead, pull the trigger......what are you waiting for???
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text:
View Poll Results: What should the new look divisions look like?
- Voters
- 41. You may not vote on this poll
No change! I fear change!
Triplets! I love triplets!
GC's lovely 1-2-quad based tier system. It's clearly the best!
Results 4,381 to 4,400 of 8290
18-04-2012, 09:23 PM #4381I am once again writing a blog, vaguely about playing games the wrong way
XCØM2 LØNG WAR CØØP Campaign Long War novices Welcome, now with 100% more laser guns!
In case of forum degradation pull cord.
bash bash bash, sorta move ball. bash bash bash, turnover, caught in traffic at midfield. halftime. bash bash bash, move ball up field, bash bash, score. Last turn, bash bash, snotling thrown with ball into open backfield, needs 2 gfi to tie game 1-1. Makes first, falls on second. Despite it giving me the win and not tie, I couldn't help but feel cheated for the little guy.
Ogres bashed in a few Beastmen, and by the late second half 9/9 snotlings were injured or KO'd. I dare say Joose outplayed me in the game considering his player handicap early on and some terrible terrible block dice for the Ogres in the first half. I had some positioning derps late first half that prevented a score attempt, and probably played too soft considering the blitz on kickoff. That hot snotling throwing action had me worried, as they were doing better at making the hero plays than standard moves. Totally missed the lone snotling stand up for the final kickoff, hidden before a chaos warrior at the line. Thanks to the terrible kick the ball was autoplaced into his hands. But was not to be.
I don't envy anyone playing with Ogres, let alone the body count you'll have to replace after this game. GL with the rest of the season!
What about nurgles rot?I am once again writing a blog, vaguely about playing games the wrong way
XCØM2 LØNG WAR CØØP Campaign Long War novices Welcome, now with 100% more laser guns!
In case of forum degradation pull cord.
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
- Join Date
- Jun 2011
- Location
- Posts
- 461
Steam = [URL="http://steamcommunity.com/id/potatoedoughnut"]potatoedoughnut
[URL=http://bbm.jcmag.fr/BloodBowlManager.WebSite/ImageRoster.aspx?id=918727&lang=en][RPS] Clone High[/URL]
Red Skull Reavers (Pres W., Chaosmans) 1 - 1 Cute Harmless Hippies (Jarvis, also Chaosmans)
What a match! Many exciting things happened; here are some of them:
I was one Go For It from getting a 2-dice shunt off the pitch chance on Jarvis's ball carrier. GFI fail, man falls over. Jarvis scores.
I have two turns to try to get an equaliser before half time. Riot, ref lets the clock run for a turn. Damn you ref!
Jarvis's mino fails a wild animal roll or loners out (to save time, let's assume I have typed this about eight times during this match report. He was a total liability, as bad as mine was the day mine handed the match to Groovy and I sacked him right afterwards).
I scored a touchdown! Yay! (and despite handing the ball to Professor Brian Cox on the line, to get him the SPP, he did not drop it)
Sweltering heat and casualties made big holes in both teams.
Jarvis skulled out at a bad moment and I got the ball, one go for it away from the line.
Jarvis put a bunch of players round the ball carrier and his little posse of defenders.
I managed a bunch of 2-dice blocks to clear them away, with no rerolls left.
I was only one square from victory!
I only needed one Go For It to score...
GFI fail.
It was just possible for Jarvis to score. He needed a blitz from the mino, 2 go for its, a pickup, and a long pass from a chaos warrior, a catch and go for it and handoff from another chaos warrior, and catch and go for it from a beastman. I was willing him to succeed purely because of how awesome it would have been, but it wasn't to be. The chaos warrior failed his GFI at almost the exact same spot my beastman had, and the game ended with them lying side-by-side.
Great game, Jarvis, cheers for playing.
- Join Date
- Apr 2012
- Location
- Toronto, Canada
- Posts
- 11
Norwegian Fancy Nancies (chadsexington, Norse) 1 - 0 Partick Gristle (aerisdead, Chaos)
Crikey. Well, there goes my first "proper" game of Blood Bowl ever, eh? "It's only a bit of fun," I thought, and proceeded to do what I guess every single Blood Bowl rookie does, which is chance my arm at every opportunity by, with a Chaos team throwing pretty much as many one-die blocks and chaining as many dodges together as I could. To be honest, I'm surprised I didn't try any passing (and in fact, had I the opportunity, I probably would have.)
To be honest, Nuffle was kind to me (or perhaps cruel to chadsexington) because despite playing so fast and loose that I ended up with only TWO players on the pitch at turn sixteen, the Norwegian Fancy Nancies only managed to score in the final turn and might not even have managed that, to be honest, due to bad luck across the board. In most cases, my dodges paid off, whereas his didn't, even though we were running a ratio of about five dodges from me to his one. And he never threw a single one-die block, all his players had block other than the werewolves, and his werewolves still managed to punch themselves out on at least one occasion.
My major mistake? (Well, other than not playing conservatively) Not paying heed to the power of the Norse Werewolves Frenzy. I lost maybe six or seven players just to being knocked off at the edge.
The miracle is ultimately in a pretty darn bashy game, both of us got off rather lightly. I managed to get only one proper injury (a Beastman who took a smashed ankle, making him a bit annoying) and I think the Norwegians actually took no injuries at all (disappointingly.) In fact, I suppose my team's development has stood stock still because of that, despite the fact that I think he only had about five or six players on the pitch at the end of the game either.
Ah well. For a first game I think I've learned quite a few lessons, we'll see if I've learned them well enough in the next game to play a slower, more conservative Chaos team.
(Oh, and one that remembers fouling. I completely forgot about fouling.)
- Join Date
- Apr 2012
- Posts
- 225
I had a chance in turn 14 to score with a lineman, but I saw that a berserker only needed one dodge to get to the ball for a turn 15 TD. One dodge too many, apparently.
And aerisdead did play a pretty solid game, despite some one-die blocking. Nuffle also took a full half to let that catch up with him, as was knocking my guys down left and right in the first half without concern for such pedestrian things as dice.
His real problem, as he pointed out, was im sure something we all learned the hard way - frenzy and sidelines. I made sure to teach him that lesson as often as opportunity presented itself, chaining blocks to frenzy players, pushing to get the charge, and one time, marking with the frenzy player and charging with the lineman. GG me.
He stayed even with me in KOs and players ejected for the first half and a bit of the second, but I was able to surf several goats in a row and eventually the greater numbers won out.
19-04-2012, 07:40 AM #4389When asked, he merely responded with a wry bleat followed by a swift kick to the testicles.- Rakysh
Still no internet for me I'm afraid, it could be fixed when I get home from work or it might be another couple of days for all I know. I don't think it's fair to the seven other players that I stall two divisions so I suggest I sit this season out if that sounds ok to Groovy and the other adminpeoples.
19-04-2012, 07:56 AM #4391When asked, he merely responded with a wry bleat followed by a swift kick to the testicles.- Rakysh
- Join Date
- Jun 2011
- Posts
- 565
- Join Date
- Jun 2011
- Posts
- 591
Err, yeah, don't know why we didn't think of this before, but one of us could apply for you MrPier if you PM one of us reliable types your details (PW is the expert, ntw is an option, I'm away tonight so not so helpful), as long as you think you'll have internet before day 1 is finished, at least. If not, we'll put nullkigan into div 3 (instant promotion null!) and PW, if you could apply your filler team to div 7 to get started. Either way, if an admin could sort out one or the other tonight, based on what MrPier decides, we'll get the last 2 divisions going.
Glad to see everyone else getting going, 7 days to go until the end of the first round!Steam, PSN, Xbox Live: Groovychainsaw. Speak 'RPS' and enter.
Well, I have used that particular password elsewhere, nothing important, but still I'd rather not share it, I had considered the option. No slight against PW I have used his particular services before :-p New fixing time from the ISP is tomorrow at 1600, I consider it an 50-50 split that they'll actually do anything worthwhile. I could try using my phone as a wireless access point tonight though and see if I could get an application in that way. Also something I could have used before but I've never tried it and I've been away most evenings anyway.
I'll be around tonight (stunty match vs Screwie ~8pm) should my unique services be required...
@ mrpier - FWIW I have used my HTC Desire (Android) to provide interwebs access to a PC before, tethered using USB though, not doing the wifi + internet thing at the same time...When asked, he merely responded with a wry bleat followed by a swift kick to the testicles.- Rakysh
And 3G is fine for bloodbowl, really. I managed to play MMORPGs and FPS on 3G.
I was just looking at Karandraz's lineup and i realised that non of my skeletons used to be a level 5 skink with 75 SPP, need to fix that.
TBH, more free linemen are actually the last thing i need, currently fit to burst at 15 players I'm actually considering retiring perfectly healthy zombies (what?!). Equipped with so much regeneration on my team even an injury might just be a harmless KO for the purposes of play, I really do not need 4 spares, its just 80 point (considering dropping 2 zombies) of bloat, so unless Karandraz takes on skills, injuries or deaths in the coming match out TV's will be 460 apart, what do I do with all that cash? Grab a vampire count or a mummy star player I guess.
This is also a grudge match back from Sword of the stars where we did nothing in particular to each other.I am once again writing a blog, vaguely about playing games the wrong way
XCØM2 LØNG WAR CØØP Campaign Long War novices Welcome, now with 100% more laser guns!
In case of forum degradation pull cord.
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- Jun 2011
- Posts
- 119
Your not having any stunty skeletons helio, I cannot allow it! which sword of the stars game are you referring to? In one of them I defiantly tangled with some annoying grapple hook ships! In the other game well, we both had enough problems without trying to kill on another ;)
this season should be interesting, Ive got the brutal, murderous and sneaky teams!Where you can find some of my mischief: [URL]http://karandraz.wordpress.com/[/URL]


text:
ALAN Cotter looks to be
attempting to reorder the
run of recent history.
Independent observers
have defined Labour's 13
years in office (1997-2010), as
the most incompetent era of
parliamentary governance in
the history of it, and in the
same breath, state that what
Mr Cotter glibly refers to as
'Britain's woes', are all fairly
and squarely caused by
Labour's remiss discharge of
its stewardship.
Messrs Blair/Brown
tripled the NHS budget, but
'reorganized' the service in
such a way that the prioritisation
of bureaucracy over
patient care, led to thousands
of patients entering NHS
hospitals to be cared for and
cured but being killed by
what was supposed to cure
them, due to lack of leadership,
responsibility and care.
Labour also failed to initiate
modernisation of the
nuclear power stations.
Only a minority of state
schools match the 'centre of
educational excellence' status
held by all schools in the
private education sector:
Labour did nothing to
improve this, and it is only
latterly, with the introduction
of the academies programme,
that this long-time
void in state education is
being addressed.
Labour failed to regulate
the banking sector with any
degree of effectiveness in
order to help fund the exponential
increase in welfare
dependency demanded by
socialist political philosophy
during those 13 years.
It is easy for you to say Mr
Cotter, but you must try to
stop seeing it as welfare as it
is wholly funded by the taxpayer,
so often providing
unearned (and undeserved)
income, from the sweat of
others' brows, and it broke
the bank(s).
Britain's welfare benefit
system, as it is, is going to
have to be almost wholly
phased out, as it is perniciously
unaffordable, and the
EU, far from being a safe
haven, is a direct threat to
the UK, due to the stagnant
(no economic growth) and
indeed downright deflationary
trend presently showing
in the Eurozone economy —
due to the single currency
(and misregulation); unemployment
in Greece and
Spain of 25 per cent (and in
many other EU areas, over 12
per cent) and the EU being
highly 'welfarised', this slow
developing, economic train
crash can only end in tears.
As well as you stating your
degree of confusion, you
have got me confused now,
too, as I don't understand
your use of the term 'of benefit
to Britain', as you apply
it, both to the Labour Party,
and to the EU.
Paddy Keenan,
Ward Close,


text:
How Isabel Marant, Jean Paul Gaultier, and More Want to Improve in 2014
We've all heard the rule that you can't wear white after labor day, but rules are made to be broken. Plus, white has been creeping its way onto all of the major runways for a few seasons now so it's time to get on board. That said, the easiest (and safest, at least for your wallet) way to embrace white is with denim. Here are five looks you can try. You can break the rules, it's all white.
Marc by Marc Jacobs Jessie Boyfriend Jeans, $203; mytheresa.com
Steven Alan merino Crewneck Plaid Sweater, $400; stevenalan.com
Equipment Plaid Shirt, $248; equipmentfr.com
Simone Camille Fur Clutch, $314; avenuek.com
Dolce & Gabbana Tweed Ballet Flat, $419; barneys.com
Keeping Up With Kanye, Karl, and More: The Year in Fashion


text:
China's New Carbon Tax And The Crumbling Case For Inaction
Blog ››› ››› SHAUNA THEEL
China is reportedly set to impose a modest carbon tax, as well as effectively increase taxes on its coal industry. As the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases continues to take steps to curb climate change, the oft-repeated conservative argument that the U.S. can't act until China does becomes increasingly tenuous.
In 2011, the International Energy Agency warned that unless dramatic action is taken by 2017, it will be effectively impossible to meet the international commitment to limit warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6°F) -- a goal that many nations said still would not be enough to guarantee their survival. Experts say that the longer we delay, the more it will cost to reach the target. In light of this, arguing that we can't work to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions until other nations agree to do the same could be seen as immoral.
But in recent years, it's also become nearly counterfactual: China has been taking steps, including investing more in clean energy than the U.S. and creating a long-term, comprehensive plan for expanding its renewable energy industries. Now this developing nation is set to put a price on carbon -- a move that most economists from across the ideological spectrum agree is one of the best ways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions (along with cap-and-trade). Yet the U.S. -- a much wealthier nation -- is no closer to making such a move.
It is true that China will play a critical role in whether we are able to limit catastrophic climate change. In 2007, China overtook the U.S. as the largest contributor to global carbon emissions (although the U.S. still emits far more per person), and its emissions are expected to grow until at least 2030. If China goes through with plans to expand coal production, it will emit more carbon than any other planned energy project in the world. However, China has recently signaled that it will take steps to limit its coal consumption.


text:
"Golden States of Grace"
Reflections by CTS students Brian Blackmore and Andrea Davis on a multi-media exhibit at by CTS.
"Golden States of Grace: Prayers of the Disinherited," is an acclaimed traveling exhibition of black & white photography which aims to give image and voice to nearly a dozen virtually invisible communities on California's religious landscape. It opened at Chicago Theological Seminary on April 2, 2012 and runs through May 31, 2012.
"Golden States of Grace," created by photographer and writer, Rick Nahmias documents groups ranging from a transgender gospel choir, to San Quentin inmates who have converted to Zen Buddhism, to a branch of the Mormon Church created by and catering to the Deaf, to a halfway house for recovering Jewish addicts. Each participating community in the project represents a different denomination, different part of the state's geography, and different ethnic group.
The exhibit includes fifty six portraits plus text and an audio soundtrack taken from in-depth interviews with congregations and community leaders.
Brian Blackmore
I believe that Art is one of the most powerful tools humanity has invented for making faith visible.
The arts have always been at the core of my spiritual journey. My father is an oil painter and I learned so much about the deeper meanings of the world by spending time in his studio. Something about the pungent smell of paint and turpentine, the cool feeling of paint on my fingers and the miracle of new worlds appearing on clean stretched canvas had a profound effect on me as a child.
I was honored and excited to have the opportunity to hang the artwork for "Golden States of Grace" in our new building. I quickly developed a special connection to the people in the images. They became so familiar to me. I knew all of them by their first names and I held each with great care and respect. They spoke to me. It was as if I could trust them to guide me to the right classroom, to teach me something about ministry which might not have been effectively communicated to me during a lecture. Most of all, they kept me mindful of why I chose CTS for theological education. I chose to study at CTS because what you learn is equally important to who you learn with. I do not relate to the people in the Golden States of Grace as if they were in the far distance, out of reach somewhere in California, somehow disconnected from my context. "Vanessa," "Mark," and "Brother Salim" are my colleagues, my friends and my guides as I seek the way which will open for me to "transform society for greater justice and mercy."
The people in "Golden States of Grace" have been silenced, either because society has shunned them or because of their own actions. Opening our spaces at CTS for them to be visible and heard is a powerful testimony for what our school stands for. I believe we are saying with these photographs that CTS is committed to stories of faith that are not often told and less often heard. I am so proud to be a student at CTS, a school which is faithfully, creatively and courageously claiming for our world that all people who have been silenced contain stories which are full of God's grace.
Andria Davis
An image of Krystal, a transsexual sex worker who crossed the border from Puerto Vallarta into the United State, hangs as one of the many black and white photographs within the Golden States of Grace exhibit currently adorning the walls of CTS. In this simple photograph, Krystal holds near her face the one remaining piece of her alter, an image of St. Jude the patron saint of lost causes.
On Friday, April 20th, CTS hosted a powerful performance of The Other Side of Hurt, by the young people who are a part of YEPP, the Youth Empowerment Performance Project. YEPP, a new initiative which (in their own words) "combines theater and therapy," is committed to emboldening the voices of Chicago's street-based LGBTQA youth and sharing their experiences through performance.
In mid-April, I had the honor of welcoming the performers of YEPP into the halls of the Seminary with a tour of the building. As we exited the Clark Chapel, there were audible gasps of excitement when several of the performers spotted the image of Krystal. For several minutes, the group stood before this photograph, gazing at her with admiration and respect. It was clear that the individuals in this group were not only seeing Krystal but were also seeing themselves, their friends, and their own life experiences in this image.
It is moments such as these that remind me why I chose to study at CTS – Our commitments to justice, multi-vocality and transformation are more than just words printed in our Mission, Vision and Commitments. Rather, they are consistently lived and practiced in action. May it continue to be so.


text:
Political Debates from Right to Left
NPA #178: A Recess Appointment of Bill Lann Lee May Send Republicans to the Head of the Class - December 1997
NPA #176: While Congress Debates, Citizens Legislate Campaign Finance Reform - December 1997
NPA #175: Government Use of Contingency Fee Lawyers Works Against Public Interest - December 1997
An Answer to America's "Race Question" - September 1997
For the First Time Since 1974 More Americans Approve of the Performance of Congress Than Disapprove - August 1997
National Policy Analysis #163: Top Ten Acts of The Clinton Administration That Divide Americans By Race and Ethnicity - June 1997
Steve Forbes Says: Act Like a Majority! - March 1997
Why the Modern Woman Voted for President Clinton - November 1996
Liberals Rally Around Government, Conservatives Rally Around Freedom- October 1996
African-American Group Supports End of Racial Preferences: California Civil Rights Initiative Defended; Endorsed by California Members, Including a Former Black Panther - October 1996
African-Americans are in Need of an Awakening - September 1996
A Black Conservative Congressman Defines the American Dream - September 1996
It Takes the Government to Raise a Village - September 1996
If President Clinton Opposes Quotas, Why Does the Democratic Party Use Them to Select Convention Delegates? Asks African-American Group - August 1996
Memo from the National Right-to-Life Committee to Republican Members of Congress - July 25, 1996
House Conservatives To Take On Speaker Gingrich - July 24, 1996
Five Medal of Honor Winners Call on President Clinton to Withdraw Claim of Armed Military Service - May 27, 1996
Poll Shows Union Members Oppose Having Their Dues Used for Political Agenda - May 1996
I'm Not A Victim, I'm A Man
GOP Likely to Remain in Control of Congress - April, 1996
Who Speaks for America? Pat Buchanan or the Beltway? - March, 1996
President Clinton Regulates Tobacco for Political Gain - October 1995
The National Center for Public Policy Research
20 F Street NW, Suite 700 Washington, DC 20002
Phone: (202) 507-6398
Fax: (301) 498-1301
[email protected]
<<< Return to the National Center Home Page


text:
Evaluation of the Safety of and Immune Response to an HIV Vaccine in Healthy Adults
This study has been completed.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Information provided by:
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
First received: January 10, 2003
Last updated: August 23, 2007
Last verified: August 2007
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
Detailed Description:
This study will examine the safety and immune response to a two-part HIV vaccine. Healthy volunteers who are at low risk of HIV infection will receive either active vaccine or a placebo.
|HIV Infections
|Biological: HIV DNA plasmid vaccine plus recombinant fowlpox vector
|Phase 1 Phase 2
|Study Type:
|Study Design:
|Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double
Primary Purpose: Prevention
|Official Title:
|A Randomised, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind, Phase I/IIa Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Safety and Immunogenicity of a Candidate Prophylactic DNA Prime-rFPV Boost HIV Vaccination Strategy
Resource links provided by NLM:
MedlinePlus related topics: HIV/AIDSU.S. FDA Resources
Further study details as provided by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID):
Primary Outcome Measures:
- Safety and adverse events among the two vaccination groups
- lymphoproliferative (LP) responses to HIV antigens, as assessed by LP assays at Week 9
- CD8+ T cell responses to HIV antigens, as assessed by ELIspot assay of interferon gamma (IFN-g) secreting cells at Week 9
Secondary Outcome Measures:
- Proportion of patients with positive LP assay and ELISPOT assay responses
- intracellular cytokine staining (ICS) of IFN-g/CD69 and flow cytometry
- 51-Cr release cytotoxic T cell lymphocyte assay
- HLA class I tetramer analyses
- anti-HIV gag, pol and env antibodies, as assessed by ELISA and Western blot
- behavioral changes in study participants
|Estimated Enrollment:
|Study Start Date:
|March 2003
|Estimated Study Completion Date:
|February 2005
The purpose of this study is to examine the safety and immunogenicity of a candidate vaccine strategy for HIV prophylaxis using a DNA-prime plus recombinant fowlpox boost. The DNA plasmid and fowlpox vector contain HIV genes. However, these vaccines contain only some HIV genes and cannot themselves cause HIV or AIDS.
Eligible volunteers at low risk of HIV infection will be randomized to receive either active vaccine or placebo injections at Day 0, Week 4, and Week 8. Intensive immunologic and safety monitoring will be done during the first 16 weeks of the study. Follow-up will continue to Week 52.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years to 55 Years (Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria
- HIV negative.
- Acceptable methods of contraception.
Exclusion Criteria
- Identifiable risk behavior for HIV infection, including: sexual partners of HIV positive people, sexual intercourse with a partner of unknown HIV status if that partner is reported to be at higher risk for HIV infection, gay men reporting any unprotected anal intercourse with partners of unknown status in the 12 months preceding study entry, individuals diagnosed with a sexually transmissible infection (STI) in the 12 months preceding entry that may have been acquired through anal or vaginal intercourse, individuals reporting sharing of injecting equipment in the last 12 months.
- HIV candidate vaccines in a previous HIV vaccine trial.
- Live attenuated vaccines within 60 days prior to entering the study. Whole killed, toxoid, or sub-unit vaccines (e.g., influenza, pneumococcal, tetanus, and hepatitis B) are not exclusionary within 4 weeks prior to the scheduled experimental HIV vaccines.
- Hypersensitivity to egg products or a known history of anaphylaxis or any other serious adverse reactions to vaccination.
- History of serious allergic reaction requiring hospitalization or emergency medical care (e.g., Stevens-Johnson syndrome, bronchospasm, or hypotension) to any substance.
- Significant illness requiring immunomodulatory or cytotoxic therapy.
- History of cancer unless there is evidence of surgical excision followed by a sufficient observation period to give a reasonable assurance of cure.
- Blood products or immunoglobulins within 6 months prior to entering the study.
- Experimental or investigational agents within 30 days prior to entering the study.
- Recreational and/or therapeutic drug use that might compromise the study participant's safety.
- Medical or psychiatric condition or occupational responsibilities that preclude compliance with the protocol.
- Pregnant or lactating women.
Contacts and Locations
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below. For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00051454
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00051454
|Australia, New South Wales
|National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research
|Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2010
Sponsors and Collaborators
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
|Study Director:
|David A Cooper, MD, DSc
|National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, University of New South Wales
More Information
Keywords provided by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID):
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on August 18, 2017
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT00051454 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|Study First Received:
|January 10, 2003
|Last Updated:
|August 23, 2007
Keywords provided by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID):
HIV Seronegativity
HIV Preventive Vaccine
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
HIV Infections
Lentivirus Infections
Retroviridae Infections
RNA Virus Infections
Virus Diseases
Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes
Immune System Diseases
Immunologic Factors
Physiological Effects of Drugs
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on August 18, 2017


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You exercise your body to stay physically in shape, so why shouldn't you exercise your brain to stay mentally fit? With these daily exercises you will learn how to flex your mind, improve your creativity and boost your memory. As with any exercise, repetition is necessary for you to see improvement, so pick your favorite exercises from our daily suggestions and repeat them as desired. Try to do some mentalrobics every single day!
The next time you are stuck on a project ask yourself this question, "If the goals of this project were completely opposite of the actual goals, what would I do differently?" When we think about a project in one particular way we can get into a mental rut which is hard to escape. A question like this gets you thinking about opposites, which will in turn get you out of the rut and get your mind thinking about new ideas. Sometimes solutions that are completely opposite of the solutions you seek can be very fruitful.
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Creative Caption Game
Can you make the funniest caption for these odd pictures?


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Installing Reader 9.1 modifies Registry permissions for key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{34A715A0-6587-11D0-924A-0020AFC7AC4D} from "Full Control" to "Read". This modification prevents a successful installation in enterprise environments where customized installer files are used. The mentioned key is a part of the Internet Explorer installation and applications that work with the web browser events use it.
The Access Control List for this key before installation is as follows:
BUILTIN\Power Users=Special
NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM=FullControl
CREATOR OWNER=FullControl
Following installation it has been changed to:
NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM=FullControl
Upgrade to Adobe Reader 9.4 or Adobe Reader X. Do a full installation of one of these versions to apply the fix.
As a workaround, you can modify the MST file with Customization Wizard to prevent the permissions on this key being changed.
reference: (181120121/2356114)


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A TEAM of eight from a Worcester based solicitors' practice has raised more than £600 for the Acorns Children's Hospice.
The eight partners, solicitors and paralegals at Medical Accident Group ran from Worcester Cathedral to the hospice in Bath Road and back to their office at Deansway.
They had initially set a target of £150 for their run, dubbed the Three Miles of Madness, but when they counted they money they found to their delight they had raised more than four times as much - a total of £643.50.
Inez Brown, a partner at the firm, said: "Every child deserves the right to access expert palliative care if they require it. The care they provide makes a real difference to children's lives when they need it most. The hospice is bright, fun and bursting with positivity; genuinely a wonderful atmosphere."


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Shane Lynch talks about Boyzone working their way back to a Motown beginning, remembering Stephen Gately, wild fans, dyslexia, religion and his new beard ahead of a summer concert.
Lynch, who lives in Surrey, told VIBE that he is looking forward to performing with the rest of the famous Irish boyband at his "home course", Epsom Downs Racecourse.
After Boyzone celebrated their 20-year anniversary last year, he says they are "moving forward" musically and looking at collaborating with Motown artists.
He says: "Our very first record ever with Boyzone was a Motown record, Working My Way Back to You, and it was something we enjoyed. "There's nothing set in stone, we haven't recorded any records yet, but we're trying to get together with a couple of different artists to make that happen."
Bandmate Stephen Gately remains very much in the thoughts of Lynch, Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy and Mikey Graham after his death in 2009.
Lynch says: "For us guys, one of the reasons that brings us back to Boyzone constantly is the loss of our brother.
"When the four of us are together, it's when we can enjoy and celebrate Stephen's great times here on earth. We reminisce and talk about the good times."
As they continue to make music, he says: "It's something that we kind of want to move forward with because that's what we would have done if he was alive.
"We can keep his memory alive by doing that."
As the boyband turned into a manband over the past two decades, Lynch says the reception from fans at concerts has remained the same.
He says you might presume there would be a change given the general hysteria and noise made by young teenage girls in Boyzone's heyday.
But he said: "Actually none of that has changed, it's still as loud as it ever was. Fans still come out to have a wild time. They are just as loud as I remember back in the 90s so nothing has changed to be honest."
When asked about Boyzone's dance during their TV debut on the Late Late Show, he says: "It's funny as hell but it's great. You have some young guys living the dream.
"They might not have been good at what they did but they had a dream and through hard work and determination they made it happen."
His new full beard has hit the headlines this year after causing a storm on Twitter.
He says: "This year I decided to grow a beard. I never in a million years thought it would be such a talking point. It's a bit of a star."
Lynch, now a committed Christian, has written about visitations from demons and getting kicked out of school at the age of 14 in his autobiography the Chancer.
He says: "I used to dabble back in the day with the occult I suppose. It's a nasty little world. The best thing for me was to go back to church and bible studies classes.
"It was the most amazing thing and it changed my life."
Lynch was diagnosed with dyslexia and opened up about his illiteracy problem during a documentary last year.
He says: "My childhood was ducking and diving. It was all about survival. I was not academic because I didn't understand what was in front of me because of dyslexia.
"You just kind have to make your way through school. I became a good sportsman like you see with high school jocks, you go forward in school regardless of your grades."
Before appearing at Epsom Downs Racecourse, Boyzone will be playing in Dubai, London's Hyde Park and other locations around the UK.
Epsom Downs Racecourse, Epsom Downs; Thursday July 31; 0844 5793004; www.epsomdowns.co.uk


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Re: Update on LY2801653 clinical trial
Not good. The cancer has grown in and outside the liver. The lymph nodes, which had been contained by Gem/Cis such that they weren't even showing, are now bigger than before. Lynn has pain in her shoulder and abdomen all the time. She is back on Oxy for pain. She is bloated from the liver growth. Feels terrible all the time. No appetite.
Man how things have gone downhill in a hurry.
As of today we are officially off the trial and will begin a new chemo regimen (Folfox) beginning next week. Hoping for another successful period of chemo so we can get back to where we were before the trial.
Options are starting to diminish unless we can contain this growth. From day one, however, Lynn's cancer has been very, very aggressive and grows at incredible rates without chemo.
Having expressed the reality of the situation, I can still look back at almost exactly a year ago when Lynn's condition was so difficult we weren't even sure they would administer the first round of chemo.So from that perspective we are in a better position this May than we were last May.


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SAINT LEO, Fla. - Maryanne Simkulak, Assistant Commissioner for the Sunshine State Conference, presented the the Saint Leo softball team with the Sunshine State Conference trophy after the Lions' early morning practice, Thursday at University Stadium. The Lions first clinched the conference title less than a week ago, when their sweep of the Florida Southern Moccasins ended regular season play.
The Lions, who have lost only five games at their home field this season, were excited and honored to be presented the trophy on their home turf. Various faculty, staff, and student-athletes from other teams were present for the ceremony.
On Monday, May 6, the Lions softball program will find out what lies ahead in the post season at the NCAA's South Region Selection Show. The show will begin prompty at 10:30 a.m. on NCAA.com. To watch, click here.
For more information regarding the Saint Leo softball team, stay current with SaintLeoLions.com. Also, make sure the 'Like' the Lions on Facebook and 'Follow' the Lions on Twitter!


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ORLANDO, Fla. - Orange County deputies said they arrested a gunman who opened fire on a group of people at a party overnight.
Deputies said they were called to 1325 43rd Street around 3:06 a.m. Sunday after multiple 911 calls said there was a loud party fight and shots fired.
When deputies arrived, they found a large group of people and three people shot, officials said.
Deputies said all three were taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center.
Deputies said two of the people, Ricardo Mondesir and Greeberd Louis were expected to survive, while a third, Ury David died as a result of being shot.
Deputies said they are actively looking for a shooter and spoke to a number of people who saw the attack.
Deputies said they later arrested Erickson Occeus and charged him with murder and aggravated assault.
Stay with Local 6 for more on this story.
Copyright 2013 by ClickOrlando.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Boot Barn Item #: 2006154
Color: Click a button belowcolor
size: Click a button below Size Chartsize
width: Click a button belowwidth
- Classic rubber overlay
- 100% waterproof
- 7mm Neo-Tech™ insulation to circulate air
- Contoured, removable insole for comfort with Aegis antimicrobial protection
- Durable hand-lasted rubber shell over a four-way stretch inner bootie
- Vibrant allover floral print
- Small lug outsole with latex sponge cushioning
- Non-marking, self-cleaning outsole for dependable traction
No need to wait for May Flowers when you have Bogs! These Classic Tall Muck Boots by Bogs are great for the great outdoors, winter time, or work! And with the allover floral print, this is the perfect feminine boot. They are 100% waterproof and they have Neo-tech insulation to both keep feet warm and promote air circulation. With a durable hand-lasted rubber shell over a four way stretch inner bootie, these boots will last you the seasons!
Style(s): 71028-303
Toe Type: Round
Outsole: Rubber
Lifestyle: Casual
Heel Type: Work
Material: Rubber
Technology Features: Waterproof
Color: Brown
Closure: Pull-On


text:
New York -- Foot Locker Inc. reported Friday that net income for the quarter ended Oct. 27 surged 61% to $106 million, compared with $66 million in the year-ago period. The recent quarter's results, which surpassed Wall Street expectations, included a $9 million tax benefit stemming from the settlement of a foreign tax audit.
Revenue rose 9.3% to $1.52 billion from $1.39 billion, beating analysts' expected $1.47 billion in revenue. Same-store sales climbed 10.2%.


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Dog-friendly Waskerley Cottages & Barbecue
Bedrooms: 2 Sleeps: 5 adults, 2 dogs This elegant holiday cottage overlooking countryside is within an AONB. Corbridge and Hadrian's Wall, 17 miles. Beamish with its open air living museum, 15 miles. Set on the Waskerley Way: perfect for cyclists and walkers and Derwent Reservoir ideal for fishing and sailing.…
- 1


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Rating: 0 stars
Offering an outdoor pool, year-round outdoor pool and barbecue, Pousada Fazenda Ribeirão Das Flores is located in Açungui, 47 km from Castro. There is a restaurant and bar and guests can have fun at the water park. The rooms come with a TV. Guests can enjoy various activities in the surroundings, including horse riding, fishing and hiking. Afonso Pena International Airport is 78 km from the property. Més informació


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Kuwaiti Families Spend Around $13,000 Monthly
According to Gulf News the average Kuwaiti family spends KD 3,723 every month, 14% of that budget is spend on food, nothing new there. Families also spent less than 4% on health care and education, mostly because the government pays for both. I wonder what's the average of the other GCC countries.[Source]


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Ask HE: How Much Fiber Do You Really Need?by Dana Angelo White in Ask the Experts, February 3, 2010
It seems like everyone is talking about fiber lately. Marketers are touting their fiber-rich food products and some manufacturers are even adding more fiber in. You probably know fiber is "good for you" — well, here's the 101 on how much you need in your diet.
Q: How much fiber do I really need in a day (and how do I get it)?
A: Stick to the basics and watch out for "faux" fiber.
The daily recommended amount of fiber all depends on who you are — that is, an active male needs more than a more sedentary female. Typically, the recommendation ranges from 20 to 38 grams per day. A good benchmark amount for any healthy adult is about 25 grams per day. Unfortunately, the average American only gets about 15 grams daily.
Now, some fiber basics. Fiber comes in two main forms: soluble fiber, which is found in oats, nuts, flax and beans, fruits and vegetables, and insoluble fiber, which comes from whole grains and also fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds. Soluble fiber slows our digestion and helps keep blood sugar levels in check. Insoluble fiber, meanwhile, keep things moving through your digestive system. Both fiber types are good for you and many foods contain a combo of the two.
You want fiber in your diet for a few key reasons:
• It helps curb hunger, which keeps you feeling fuller, longer.
• Soluble fiber can help lower cholesterol.
• Insoluble fiber helps your digestive system work properly.
• Fiber-rich foods are also high in healthy vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.
Lately, fiber has become a hot buzzword. Grocery stores are full of products sporting labels that tour a food's high fiber content. Some of these products contain "functional fibers" — that is, man-made fiber additives, which are created in the lab and added to foods such as yogurt, snack bars, crackers and pancake mixes. Even beverages and sugar substitutes such as Splenda are now offering "added fiber"!
When scanning an ingredient list, you may see these added fibers listed as inulin, pectin, cellulose, chicory root, chicory extract, polydextrose and oligosaccharides. These added fibers are safe to eat (and some are even added to replace fat in foods like light ice cream), but the jury is still out on whether they're as good for you as naturally occurring fiber. It's fine to work some of these faux-fiber foods into your day, but don't get romanced by the marketing. To really get all of fiber's benefits, stick to the real deal.
A word of warning — if you're trying to increase your fiber intake, do it gradually to avoid stomach upset (drinking extra water helps, too). Getting that minimum 25 grams a day is easier than you think.
Sample Fiber-Filled Daily Menu
1 cup cooked oatmeal with 2 tablespoons raisins (5 grams of fiber)
Morning Snack:
Orange and 1/4 cup almonds (7 grams)
Spinach salad with 1/4 cup chickpeas, 10 cherry tomatoes and a slice of whole wheat bread (18 grams)
Afternoon Snack:
Apple with 1 tablespoon peanut butter (5 grams)
Grilled salmon with 1 medium baked sweet potato and 1 cup steamed broccoli (9 grams)
Daily total: 1,400 calories; 44 grams of fiber
TELL US: What nutrition question do you want us to answer?


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Semiconductor Fab Clears Air with Intelligent Motor Control
Networked Recirculation Air Handlers Save Hardwiring and Programming Costs
By Paul Miller, contributing editor
While silicon wafer fabrication is largely a discrete manufacturing operation, theres still a lot of process control going on in the utilities supporting a fab. The critical clean room heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems present some especially interesting closed-loop control challenges.
Death by Dust
Semiconductor product yields depend on environmental conditions inside the fabs clean rooms. Not only must ambient temperature and humidity levels be maintained within very tight tolerances, airborne particulates must also be carefully controlled because they can render semiconductor components worthless.
For these reasons, clean rooms use extensive HVAC systems with high-performance filters to tightly control temperature and humidity, while filtering airborne particles. Typically, powerful recirculation air handlers (RAHs) provide a high velocity of air at a uniform temperature. This creates a unidirectional or laminar flow of air through the clean room. The straight parallel streams of air at high velocity carry away airborne particles and prevent wafer contamination. The temperature in the clean room is controlled within ±1.5 °F. To maintain this accuracy, each recirculation air handler relies on a cooling coil, a set of isolation dampers, and a fan.
Teaching an Older Fab New Tricks
At one large wafer fabrication facility, more than 160 truck-sized recirculation air handlers (RAHs) are aligned in a grid high above the 125,000 square foot clean room (Figure 1). When the fab was originally built, nearly 100 air handlers were installed. Unfortunately, only a few were actually commissioned before the project was put on hold in the late 1990s when overcapacity hit the previously red-hot semiconductor manufacturing industry.
Figure 1: Recirculation air handlers (RAHs) are aligned in a grid to provide the fabs cleanroom with tightly controlled and filtered air.
When the decision was made to reopen the fab, the wafer manufacturer also decided to update and coordinate the controls for its critical recirculation air handlers. For this accelerated project, it tapped Industrial Design Corp. (IDC), a global engineering firm for engineering procurement contractor, CH2M Hill.
For our customers, time to market equals time to profit, says Gary Mays, IDCs instrumentation and controls manager. Our first priority is to get our customer up and running as quickly as possible.
To save time, IDC initially considered using the existing motor starters. However, it quickly became apparent that this was neither the best control approach nor the most cost-effective solution for the air handlers.
Instead, IDC worked with Rockwell Automation to develop and implement an innovative intelligent motor control solution for the recirculation air handlers. The solution included Allen-Bradley PowerFlex intelligent, variable speed drives (Figure 2), a ControlLogix programmable automation controller, ControlNet networking, and FactoryTalk View human machine interface (HMI).
Figure 2: Intelligent drives control fan speeds to keep the cleanroom pressurized and save energy.
No More Home-Run Cabling
Using its existing motor starters, the fab previously would have needed to hardwire each starter back to the controller cabinet. By networking the smart drives, they could instead install one communications cable between the drive and controller cabinets. The temperature transmitter, control valve, damper position switches and damper solenoids in each RAH unit were all wired directly to the drive mounted on the RAH unit, eliminating the need to home run these instruments to a central control panel (Figure 3).
Besides reducing wiring and installation costs, this approach created a centralized point for all drive programming and file storage, providing the flexibility and integrated capabilities that would carry the fab into the future.
Drives Pay Own Way
When we evaluated our equipment options, Rockwell didnt have the lowest initial purchase price, says Mays. But when we assessed the total cost to design, develop, and deliver the solution, Rockwells variable frequency drives easily paid for themselves.
Because space is at a premium inside a wafer fab, design firms look for innovative ways to reduce equipment footprints. IDC engineers designed the RAH control system to allow field I/O to be wired directly to the drives I/O board, essentially using the drive as a distributed I/O drop. Networking the drives I/O back to the controller eliminated the space required for new panels and conduit runs, saving valuable real estate.
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Max Mara Spring 2013
MaxMara declared it was going back to its roots this season—and that was a good thing. The company has always had a tradition of filtering current fashion into accessible citywear and, at best, it was nothing too tricky or statement-y to limit their versatility. Because they're Italian, they have a second innate corporate advantage: long experience in designing clothes that function smartly in hot climates. Their starting point for this collection was one of the cornerstones of MaxMara, the trench coat, and it was explored for its army connotations, with an accent on colonial-safari styling.
What worked well was a subtle nod toward fashion's current interest in patchwork that produced smart-casual pieces like tops with a lightweight knitted front and a silk back, cut with a shirttail to wear over pencil skirts, and the vertical paneling of mixed prints—madras checks, animal and pansy print—in skirts and dresses. Other hybrids came as epauletted beige organza camp shirts and anoraks, cut with a puffy volume as a way to assimilate the notion of oversize without overwhelming the body. None of it particularly screamed military or was so bolted into an overmatched total look that it would preclude being split up and used in a relaxed way with other kinds of clothes. A utility collection, in both senses of the word.