Uranus Is Visible — Free Fire Zone

The creationists are just babbling away and they’re not even amusing, so we found some news at PhysOrg that you may find interesting. Their article is titled Planets on parade: 5 will be lined up in night sky this week. Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us for emphasis, and occasional Curmudgeonly interjections that look [like this]:

Keep an eye to the sky this week for a chance to see a planetary hangout. Five planets — Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus and Mars—will line up near the moon.

Wowie — that doesn’t happen every day. Then they say:

The best day to catch the whole group is Tuesday. You’ll want to look to the western horizon right after sunset, said NASA astronomer Bill Cooke. The planets will stretch from the horizon line to around halfway up the night sky. But don’t be late: Mercury and Jupiter will quickly dip below the horizon around half an hour after sunset.

You don’t need to mark your calendar — this is happening now! After that they tell us:

The five-planet spread can be seen from anywhere on Earth, as long as you have clear skies and a view of the west.

PhysOrg continues:

Jupiter, Venus and Mars will all be pretty easy to see since they shine brightly, Cooke said. Venus will be one of the brightest things in the sky, and Mars will be hanging out near the moon with a reddish glow. Mercury and Uranus could be trickier to spot, since they will be dimmer. You’ll probably need to grab a pair of binoculars. If you’re a “planet collector,” it’s a rare chance to spot Uranus, which usually isn’t visible, Cooke said. Look out for its green glow just above Venus.

One last excerpt:

Different numbers and groups of planets line up in the sky from time to time. There was a five-planet lineup last summer and there’s another one in June, with a slightly different makeup.

That’s all the news we can find, so we’re declaring another Intellectual Free Fire Zone. Use the comments for the discussion of pretty much anything — science, politics, economics, whatever — as long as it’s tasteful and interesting. Banter, babble, bicker, bluster, blubber, blather, blab, blurt, burble, boast — say what you will. But avoid flame-wars and beware of the profanity filters.

We now throw open the comments to you, dear reader. Have at it!

Copyright © 2023. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

Hambo and the Forbidden Planet

Look what we found at the blog of Ken Ham (ol’ Hambo) — the ayatollah of Appalachia, the world’s holiest man who knows more about religion and science than everyone else. It’s titled A “Forbidden” Planet Is Causing an Evolutionary Rewrite . . . Again, and it was written by Hambo himself. Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us for emphasis, and occasional Curmudgeonly interjections that look [like this]:

I recently wrote a blog [Link omitted!] about an “impossible” new ring system scientists discovered in our solar system and how this ring system is challenging evolutionary assumptions about the formation of planets. Well, two weeks later, headlines proclaimed the discovery of another evolutionary problem [Link omitted!], this time describing a “forbidden” planet that “shouldn’t exist.”

Wowie — the sinful house of science (he calls it all “evolution”) is falling apart! Then he says:

An article summarizing this new discovery states,

He quotes the article:

Scientists have discovered a huge Jupiter-sized planet orbiting a very small star, a combination described as “forbidden” by one researcher because it challenges theories about how planets form, reports a new study.

Why is Hambo all worked up over this? He explains:

Yes, yet again, the evolutionary ideas about planetary formation are being challenged because the evidence doesn’t match what they’d expect. But evolution is such a “plastic” ideology that even when the evidence doesn’t fit, it doesn’t matter — they’ll just change the story to match with the new evidence! [Gasp!] We’ve seen this time and time again. Why? Well, because these evolutionary scientists already believe everything evolved and therefore believe that if something exists, evolution must explain it somehow — so the story just changes to keep up with the evidence.

Barbaric behavior! Hambo would never revise any part of his theory of creationism. It has always predicted everything — right from the beginning. Let’s read on:

This is a good reminder for Christians. We should never start our thinking with man’s words. It’s shifting sand, changing with every new study or new phenomena. If we choose to start our thinking with man’s words, we too will be constantly changing and shifting, blown about by every new thing, and compromising and reinterpreting God’s Word along the way to “keep up” with the ever-changing secular world.

Hambo is too smart — and too holy — to behave the way scientists do. Another excerpt:

No, we must start our thinking with God’s Word in every area (including origins!). God’s Word teaches that all planets (besides earth) and other heavenly bodies were created by God on day four of creation week, just a few thousand years ago. That’s the truth, and no new study of another amazing star or planet is going to change that!

Hooray for Hambo! And now we come to the end:

While man’s word is ever changing, God’s Word is eternal and unchanging — it’s a rock-solid foundation for our thinking! [Scripture quotes omitted!]

There it is, dear reader. Astronomers are idiots, and Hambo has the proof.

Copyright © 2023. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

The Sun Is Proof of Intelligent Design

This one is a real goodie! It was found at the website of the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) — the granddaddy of of all creationists outfits, the fountainhead of young Earth creationist wisdom. Their post is titled Our Sun, Finely Tuned for Life on Earth, and it was written by Jonathan K. Corrado. He has a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from Colorado State University and then — get this! — a Th.M. (presumably a Masters in Theology) from Liberty University. Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us for emphasis, and occasional Curmudgeonly interjections that look [like this]:

Aside from appreciating the splendor of the sun during a beautiful sunrise or sunset, many rarely consider how special, necessary, and finely tuned our sun is to support life on Earth. [Ooooooooooooh! The sun is fine-tuned for us!] Like the hub of a wheel, our sun plays an essential role in the activity of our solar system and Earth’s unique ability to support life. The sun exhibits an intricate design, a delicate balance, and displays the incredible intelligence of its Designer.

Good start, isn’t it? Then he says:

From our perspective on Earth, the sun may seem like a fixed source of light and heat in the sky. But our sun is quite dynamic, powering our solar system by continuously transmitting energy into space. [Who knew?] The sun is the largest object in our solar system, with a diameter of about 865,000 miles, and its huge gravitational field holds the solar system together. Additionally, due to its massive size, the sun generates a magnetic field that extends into space and envelopes all the planets in our solar system.

Amazing stuff! After skipping a couple of paragraphs, he tells us:

For life to be possible on Earth, the sun must exhibit several key specific design features. For instance, it must emit a precise range of color. If the range were shifted more toward red or more toward blue, photosynthesis would be weaker and inefficient, and thus life could not be supported.

Wowie — we’re really lucky! He continues:

Uniformitarian scientist [Hee hee!] maintain that the sun was much dimmer billions of years ago. That should have resulted in a frozen, uninhabitable earth, yet most evolutionists believe the earth was quite warm at that time. This “young faint sun paradox” is only a problem for those holding to deep time. It’s not a problem for the recent creation viewpoint, since one would not expect the sun’s brightness to change much in just 6,000 years. Interestingly, famous solar astronomer John Eddy once admitted that observational data of the sun do not demand an age of billions of years and that scientists could “live with” an age of just 6,000 years for the earth and sun.

Fascinating. So is the sun young or old? Let’s read on:

Lastly, Earth is near the inner edge of the circumstellar habitable zone. This is commonly referred to as the Goldilocks zone [Ah yes!], the range of possible orbits around a star within which a planet can sustain on its surface the liquid water necessary to support life. A less massive sun would cause a narrowing of the Goldilocks zone, leading to an orbit range for Earth that is closer to the sun. This decrease in orbit range would increase tidal forces, resulting in an increase in deleterious natural phenomena such as flooding and tsunamis.

Amazing — we’ve got just the right Goldilocks zone! Another excerpt:

These examples, and others beyond the scope of this article, strongly imply that our sun was designed with the purpose of supporting life on Earth. [Gasp!] Given all the evidence, it’s easy to infer that our physical existence resulted from design, in contrast to inadvertent evolutionary causes.

Verily, the evidence is overwhelming! And now we come to the end:

As science advances and unfolds the mysteries of the sun, scientists continue to discover how uniquely tailored our universe is for life. For “the heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1).

There you have it, dear reader — undeniable proof that the universe was designed for life. Only a fool would deny it.

Copyright © 2023. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

Wild Hearing on Montana’s Crazy Science Bill

Two weeks ago we posted Crazy Science Legislation Proposed in Montana, describing a wildly insane bill filed in the Montana legislature that would cripple science education in the state by excluding anything but “scientific fact” from curriculum and instruction. Today, our friends at the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) have posted an update, titled Montana’s antiscience bill heard in committee, written by Glenn Branch, their Deputy Director. Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us for emphasis, and occasional Curmudgeonly interjections that look [like this]:

Montana’s Senate Bill 235, which would cripple science education in the state by excluding anything but “scientific fact” from curriculum and instruction, received a hearing in the Senate Education and Cultural Resources Committee on February 6, 2023.

It’s difficult to imagine such a hearing, but it actually happened. Glenn says:

The bill’s main sponsor, Daniel Emrich (R-District 11), a new member of the Senate, “said that he didn’t think the bill would prohibit the teaching of scientific theories, which are the basis of explaining science,” according to the Missoulian (February 6, 2023). But that was not the impression of anyone testifying for or against the bill.

Daniel Emrich has got to be one of the dumbest people in Montana — or the whole world, actually. Glenn tells us:

The only person to testify for the bill [They found somebody!], a law professor working in South Korea, understood it to prohibit the teaching of evolution, the Big Bang, and related topics, as NBC Montana (February 6, 2023) reported; he also described these topics as fraudulent and aimed at impeaching the veracity of the Holy Bible. [BWAHAHAHAHAHA!] Emrich [the bill’s sponsor] did not distance himself from these views.

That “law professor” is a genius! Emrich, the bill’s sponsor, had to go all the way to South Korea to find a favorable witness. Ah well, Glenn continues:

Among the bill’s opponents were students, teachers, and representatives of the Blackfeet Tribe, School Administrators for Montana, Coalition of Advocates for Montana Public Schools, the Board of Public Education, North East Rural Schools, the Montana Federation of Public Employees, Montana Conservation Voters, and Montana Audubon.

Wowie — there’s a lot of intelligent people in Montana. Let’s read on:

Rob Jensen, a retired Montana science teacher, told the committee that the bill was “the most extreme anti-science legislation I’ve ever seen in this country,” making the 1925 trial of John Scopes for violating a Tennessee ban on teaching human evolution “look like a period of [e]nlightenment,” according to the Daily Montanan (February 6, 2023).

This is amazing! It actually gives us hope for the future of humanity. Here’s one last excerpt from the end of Glenn’s post:

In his closing remarks before the committee, Emrich dismissed some of the concerns raised about his bill but acknowledged others, suggesting that he might amend his bill accordingly. The committee did not vote on the bill.

Okay, dear reader, there you have it. So what’s next in this creationist drama? Will Daniel Emrich amend his bill so it only attacks evolution? Or will he do something even crazier? Stay tuned to this blog!

Copyright © 2023. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.