Original Article Intelligent design isn’t meant to re-insert God into science but rather to question the mechanisms of the Darwinian theory of evolution. That is what Phillip E. Johnson, a retired law professor who is sometimes called the “father of intelligent design,” told a group of Washburn University students and members of the community Saturday night. “I thought it went Read More ›
This article, published by The York Dispatch, mentions Discovery Institute: Seattle-based Discovery Institute, the leading proponent of intelligent design, has issued a statement disassociating itself with Dover school board’s “misguided” policy. The rest of the article can be found here.
Click here to view a PDF of the text below. The shriek of Katrina’s 140 mph winds and rat-a-tat-tat of its driving, torrential rain left in its tumultuous wake a coast silenced by vast devastation. Darkness ruled not just night but day, as the electric grid crash darkened shelters and the lights of fiber-optic cable went off in an instant. Cell towers Read More ›
The Internet has flourished without oversight by the Federal Communications Commission, yet, for some reason, a draft proposal for re-writing the Telecommunications Act of 1996 tells the FCC to regulate it. Regulation is the enemy of innovation, and all sides have agreed that as competition develops it should be possible to eliminate regulation. Unfortunately, that’s not the overall direction of Read More ›
This article, published by HeraldNet, quotes Discovery Institute Fellow Bruce Agnew: “We think that, with community support, we can do this,” said Bruce Agnew, director of the Cascadia Center for Transportation and a former Snohomish County Councilman. The rest of the article can be found here.
In Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, the ACLU is suing the school board of Dover, Pennsylvania for adopting a policy that requires students to be informed about the theory of intelligent design. The ACLU claims that the Dover policy violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by promoting a religious doctrine. While Discovery Institute does not support efforts Read More ›
A SUMMER road trip is an enduring American tradition. Despite today’s high gas prices, it remains an inexpensive way to travel and experience the country beyond the narrow confines of one’s own city. The changes in scenery that unfolded during my 3,000-mile drive from Seattle to Washington, D.C., were wondrous. Even before I left Washington state, I passed through several Read More ›
For more background information on the Dover trial click here. “While Discovery Institute opposes efforts to mandate the teaching of intelligent design in public schools, it even more strongly objects to the ACLU’s Orwellian efforts to shut down classroom discussions of intelligent design through government-imposed censorship,” said Dr. John West, Associate Director of Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture, the Read More ›
San Francisco, CA — A California parent, Jeanne Caldwell, is filing a federal lawsuit today against officials of the National Science Foundation and the University of California at Berkeley for spending more than $500,000 of federal money on a website that encourages teachers to use religion to promote evolution in violation of the First Amendment. “In this stunning example of Read More ›
Assume you were a regular blood donor but had an accident in which you lost a considerable amount of blood. Do you think you should increase or decrease the size and frequency of your blood donations until you recover?
Though most politicians are smart enough to answer, “decrease the blood donations,” many seem not smart enough to understand that, when you take an economic hit, you don’t want to unnecessarily add burdens to the economy. I refer to the call from some politicians to increase taxes or not extend President Bush’s tax cuts to “pay” for New Orleans. (Note: Not making the tax cuts permanent is the same as a tax increase because tax rates therefore would be higher than now.)
The tax increase proponents seemingly cannot grasp that taxes reduce our economic vitality. When taxes rise, the economy slows. When taxes are reduced, job creation and economic growth accelerate. Those who do not understand the role of incentives are always surprised when tax revenues increase, as they did after the Reagan and recent Bush tax cuts, and fall or stagnate when tax rates increase. (For instance, the capital gains tax now — at a maximum 15 percent — produces many times the tax revenue it did when the rate was 40 percent, even after adjusting for inflation and the economy’s size.)
Raising tax rates can increase government revenue over the long run, if the rate is low enough to only have a minimal effect on incentives to work, save and invest. Unfortunately, almost all major U.S. taxes are at rates where the disincentive effects of any rate increase eventually swamp any short-term revenue gains. Almost any tax rate increase can augment revenues in the very short run (the next week or month), before people and businesses have time to adjust their behavior, which most often result in lower long-term tax revenue.
Read More ›