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Frank Foundation, World Child and “Wrongful Adoption”

It’s every adoptive parent’s nightmare. You go to an agency, one that is officially accredited to do adoptions from Russia and tell them you would like to adopt a healthy baby. You do everything you’re supposed to, are never told that the baby’s anything but normal. Then, a few weeks or months later you learn that the child you love Read More ›

Loosening Darwin’s Grip

Original Story Larry Taylor had run his volunteers through public-speaking drills, and now he was seeing the fruit of his labor. Parents favoring a new science education policy in Cobb County, Ga., a policy that would allow evidence against evolution into classrooms long dominated by Darwin’s flawed theory, were gaining the upper hand at the county’s September board meeting. The Read More ›

Bush Tax Bill Fulfills Campaign Pledge to Aid Children and Families

Prospective adoptive families scanning the news today and finding no information about the adoption tax credit can relax. Sources on Capitol Hill said Saturday that the Republican-controlled Conference on the President’s proposal to return some of the tax surplus to citizens included the credit in the package. According to these sources, tucked into the bill that will be signed into Read More ›

FCC Reform

It seems almost churlish to suggest reforms for an agency whose current commissioners have shown signs of a welcome shift away from harmful policies of the past. It amounts to penalizing those doing pretty well now for acts of predecessors who did great damage. But there is no assurance that some future constellation of commissioners will retain good judgment, and there is ever the problem of attitudes among longtime staff. Thus, certain reforms are appropriate notwithstanding today’s solid cast at the agency. Read More ›

Stephen Jay Gould, 1942-2002:

For more information about David Berlinski – his new books, video clips from interviews, and upcoming events – please visit his website at www.davidberlinski.org. Stephen Jay Gould was the most important paleontologist of his generation, the impact of his life best measured by the wide-spread sense of loss occasioned by his death. Gould wrote widely on a variety of topics in Read More ›

‘Intelligent Design’ vs. Evolution

Original Article When Charles Darwin published his theory of evolution in 1859, most scientists were skeptical and said the theory lacked sufficient evidence. Now, nearly 150 years later, the vast majority of scientists accept evolution as the best explanation for life’s diversity. Nevertheless, a small contingent of scientists is pushing for an alternative. They call it “intelligent design.” And just Read More ›

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Anthropology Afoul of the Facts

In 1928, Margaret Mead published Coming of Age in Samoa. An immediate success, this slender volume established Mead as the most famous and most influential anthropologist of the 20th century. For nearly half a century, whether writing scholarly articles from her desk at the American Museum of Natural History in New York or pontificating as contributing editor of the popular Read More ›

The New Facism

Chances are we will be less free in the coming years because of a rising statist authoritarianism primarily emanating from Europe. The increasing assault on financial privacy is an example of this new threat to individual liberties. Financial privacy, a fundamental liberty which is necessary for individuals to protect themselves from corrupt or despotic governments, kidnappers and other assorted criminals, Read More ›

Obsessively Criticized but Scarcely Refuted

1. Preamble

I have many critics. Some are measured and calm. Others are obsessive. Richard Wein is perhaps the most obsessive. His critique of my book No Free Lunch (hereafter NFL) weighs in at 37,000 words and purports to provide the most thorough refutation of my work to date. It certainly is long. But is it thorough and does it succeed in actually refuting my ideas? In fact, the critique fails as a refutation and skirts key issues at every opportunity. It is therefore neither thorough nor a refutation.

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The Crusader

From the In the Northwest roundup column, on Discovery board chairman John Miller The crusader: As a Seattle congressman from 1984 to 1992, Republican John Miller spoke out against both his city’s and his administration’s foreign policy. He denounced human rights abuses by the Sandinista rulers of Nicaragua at a time when Seattle political and religious figures were acting as Read More ›