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John West participating in post-screening discussion at First Baptist Church, Athens, TX.

Seeking Racial Reconciliation in the Heart of Texas at a Screening of Human Zoos

On a cold but sunny Sunday afternoon on Martin Luther King Day weekend, I found myself deep in the heart of Texas. I was visiting the town of Athens, 73 miles southeast of Dallas, for a screening of my documentary Human Zoos at First Baptist Church. The film has just been posted to YouTube after previously being shown on cable television and released on DVD, Blu-ray, and Amazon Prime. Human Zoos communicates Read More ›

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Responses to Criticism of Michael Behe’s Darwin Devolves

With the release of Michael Behe’s Darwin Devolves, the scientific dialogue between its detractors and defenders continues. Here we collect some of the most noteworthy criticisms and responses by Michael Behe and others. Find the most comprehensive coverage and most recent responses of Darwin Devolves at Evolution News. Re: Lents at Skeptic Magazine Regarding “Behe’s Last Stand: The Lion of Intelligent Design Roars Read More ›

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Beautiful butterfly in Hunei, Taiwan
Photo by Boris Smokrovic on Unsplash

Here’s How to Tell if Scientists are Exaggerating

How much can the public trust confident claims by scientists? Especially about morally or politically or philosophically charged topics? Alas, not so much, as the New York Times Magazine reminds us once again in a recent article, “How Beauty Is Making Scientists Rethink Evolution.” The subtitle asks, “The extravagant splendor of the animal kingdom can’t be explained by natural selection alone — …

Seattle Skyline

Go Grow Somewhere Else

Microsoft recently announced an unprecedented three-year, $500 million investment to spur housing development across the Puget Sound region. Since 2011, strong economic growth in the Seattle metro area has boosted overall jobs by 21 percent, but the housing stock has expanded only 13 percent, leading to a massive increase in rental and home prices. It’s a problem reaching crisis levels in all West Coast tech cities. Read More ›
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The Deep State Digs Deeper

As we approach Martin Luther King Day, it seems timely to reflect on King’s statement from a Birmingham jail in 1963 that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Arguably, the greatest injustice and worst crime against the democratic republic of the United States is for an elite cadre to engineer and attempt to carry out a coup that Read More ›

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overpass off of the Alaska Way Viaduct in Seattle

Technology, Transportation, and the Tunnel

The work of Discovery Institute’s ACES Northwest Network was recently featured in this Seattle Times article, authored by project co-chairs Tom Alberg and Bryan Mistele.  The article highlights our efforts to advance autonomous, connected, electric and shared (ACES) vehicle technologies in the Pacific Northwest—especially during the so-called ‘Period of Maximum Constraint’ following the impending closure of the Alaskan Way Viaduct.  Read More ›

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Photo by zhang dayong on Unsplash

Is Society Now Adopting the Values of ‘Blade Runner’?

“Blade Runner” may be the most influential science fiction movie of my lifetime.  The 1982 film starred a terrific Harrison Ford as a world-weary detective assigned to find a terrorist cell of artificially intelligent cyborgs with super human capacities. Led by Rutger Hauer, the cyborgs have traveled to earth from space colonies in a desperate attempt to force their designer Read More ›

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The Federal Bureaucracy in Check

Congress, despite many chances, has not been willing to take responsibility for checking “the administrative state,” as the aggrandizing bureaucratic power of federal agencies has come to be known. Arrival of a Democratic House makes it still less likely that Capitol Hill will resist the continued expansion of federal rules and regulations. As executive, President Trump has tried to slow Read More ›

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Seattle viaduct at dusk

Transportation Technology Can Deliver Us From Viaduct-Closure Gridlock

Seattle is facing a dire transportation crisis with the Jan. 11 closing of the viaduct, politely dubbed the “Period of Maximum Constraint” (POMC). While commuters, employers and school officials are busy making contingency plans, why not take advantage of this moment to tackle some of our traffic congestion problems with creative solutions that might not be possible in normal times. Read More ›