I get e-mail

Though I am no nowhere near as popular as some other science bloggers, I do occasionally get misdirected mail. No hate mail yet, but I'm sure it will come someday. Somehow I missed the filter and have been invited to join an exciting new conservative blogging network!

Dear Fellow Blogger,

It is my distinct pleasure, as the president of Americans for Limited Government, to invite you today to become a key member of the exciting new conservative “bloggers central,” NetRightNation.com.

Umm ... yay?

At ALG, we recognize the critical role you as a blogger play in gathering, assimilating, and disseminating news and commentary. And I, personally, am deeply grateful to you for taking the lead in fighting some of the most important battles our country has faced over the past decade, and more.

Would that be the same decade in which I decided to cast aside my conservative side and grow up?

That's why I am so pleased to announce that NetRightNation.com is providing bloggers like you, the mainstream media, politicians, and other opinion leaders free, instant access to nearly 60,000 conservative blogs nationwide. And counting.

Mainstream media? Hey, how do I know you aren't part of the mainstream media?

As a complete service bureau, NRN provides you a wide new array of blogger opportunities. As a featured blogger on NRN, you will be able to post your own blogs and interface with other like-minded bloggers nationwide. You will soon be able to “claim” your blog and customize your blog profile.

I wonder how they would feel if I accepted their offer but continued posting the same stuff I always have?

Information on NRN – blogs, as well as Twitter feeds -- will be divided by state, as well as by issue, to make it easy for you and others to access. NRN will also include a sophisticated search engine function and will soon have the capability for you to subscribe to customized email blog feeds on your topics of choice. Stay tuned, for these features will soon be online!

As an aside, I loath superfluous adjectives. What new information do I gather from the word sophisticated? It's like the research papers I've read that talk about "very fine micro pipettes". How redundant, and unnecessary, is that description?

And all of that is just the beginning. In fact, I have asked ALG's Director of New Media, Adam Bitely, to follow up on this note with a letter of his own providing you the exciting details on how NRN can help you grow your own blog.

Joy.

Above all, we want to make sure NRN is all that you, an important member of the conservative blogosphere, want it to be. So, as you visit NetRightNation.com, I urge you to please give us your input on how to make it the valuable asset we are committed to providing, at absolutely no charge.

Thank you for all that you are doing. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Bill Wilson

President, Americans for Limited Government

I have been accused, somewhat accurately, of being a libertarian. But a conservative? That is something up with which I will not put.

The Duggars visit Ken Ham's "Museum"

This is what happens when I don't keep up with my DVR. The Duggars, led by America's most prolific gonads (1), visited Ken Ham's Creation Museum. I wish there were a video I could embed, but none could be found. You'll just have to look it up on your television guide. My favorite part was when Ken Ham (again) called evolution a "stumbling block" to the Christian faith (2). A tacit admission that evolution should not be viewed on its merits, but on whether or not it conforms to one's view of the world (3).

I'm rather disappointed in TLC. In presenting the Duggar's visit without context, they seem to be giving approval to creationist beliefs. And while they did some man on the street interviews about evolution, it would have been much better to have a scientist present the facts to counter the creationist lies. Not doing so undermines their integrity as an informative, reality-based network.

Blogs on this:
Little Lady, Big World
City Momma/Country Momma
Duggars Without Pity

(1) Although 17 kids is quite a feat, it is not unheard of. My Great-grandmother had 21 kids. Of course there was some rationale for for having so many: it was the end of the 19th century and only 10 of them survived childhood. Having that many kids now, knowing that probably all of them will survive to adulthood, and calling it the "Lord's will" is disingenuous. God isn't in the bedroom holding a gun to your head and making you have sex.

(2) Actually, just your backward, recalcitrant, myopic vision of what Christian faith is.

(3) I wonder what other advances are stumbling blocks to Christian faith. Anti-biotics? Seat belts? Heavier than air flight? It seems that believing in any of these things would be like thumbing your nose at God. By the way, I have decided that statistics are a stumbling block to my research. From now on, I will be exclusively conducting intra-ocular F tests.