The Continuing Adventures of Clueless Kent
Today’s Pensacola News Journal has an
update
on what’s happening with kent Hovind.
Kent Hovind Pleads Douchebaggery
The Pensacola News Journal reports that Kent Hovind
was in court
yesterday:
Hovind’s attorney [said] his client did not want to enter a plea because he does not believe the United States, the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office “have jurisdiction in this matter.”
When pressed by Davis to enter a plea of either guilty or not guilty, Hovind said he wished to enter a plea of “subornation of false muster.” […]
When pressed by Davis, Hovind said he was entering a not guilty plea “under duress.”
South Dakota Republicans Are Superstitious Reactionaries
The South Dakota GOP has a
list of resolutions for 2006. It’s just a bunch of non-binding, chest-pounding, talking-point-centric rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb, but Resolution 16 caught my eye:
WHEREAS, education on species origin is a vital aspect in the understanding of nature and the purpose of human life; and,
WHEREAS, evolution is a theory that is taught in public schools as fact and at the exclusion of all other theories; and
WHEREAS, the South Dakota Republican Party believes there are other plausible theories, including creationism;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the South Dakota Republican Party supports efforts to expand beyond evolution the knowledge, scope, and debate in public education on the theories of species origin.
(emphasis added)
I understand that these people are reactionaries who never got over women’s suffrage, but come on! This is the 21st century! Didn’t they get the memo that says they’re supposed to call it “intelligent design” these days?
Kent Hovind Arrested
From the
Pensacola News Journal:
Pensacola evangelist who owns the defunct Dinosaur Adventure Land in Pensacola was arrested Thursday on 58 federal charges, including failing to pay $473,818 in employee-related taxes and making threats against investigators.
Of the 58 charges, 44 were filed against Kent Hovind and his wife, Jo, for evading bank reporting requirements as they withdrew $430,500 from AmSouth Bank between July 20, 2001, and Aug. 9, 2002. […]
The indictment alleges Kent Hovind paid his employees in cash and labeled them “missionaries” to avoid payroll tax and FICA requirements. […]
The indictment also says the Hovinds’ made cash withdrawals from AmSouth Bank in a manner that evaded federal requirements for reporting cash transactions.
The withdrawals were for $9,500 or $9,600, just below the $10,000 starting point for reporting cash transactions. […]
Over Kent Hovind’s protests, the judge took away his passport and guns Hovind claimed belonged to his church.
Hovind argued that he needs his passport to continue his evangelism work. He said “thousands and thousands” are waiting to hear him preach in South Africa next month.
But Davis agreed with Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Heldmyer, who argued that “like-minded people” might secret Hovind away if he left the country.
Update: As of this writing, the top story at DrDino.com is “Exciting new developments at CSE”.
Fundies Have No Sense of Humor
Today’s nominee for Stupidest Person on the Planet O’ the Day is Pete from March Together for Life, for his post condemning Miss Caroline Weber for looking forward to her abortion. The only problem… let me take that back. The first obvious problem is that the article he’s criticizing is from the Onion.
(Note to Very Stupid People With No Sense Of Humor: the Onion is a satirical publication. The stories that appear in it are not true.)
Apologetics Is A Joke
A patient wakes up in a hospital and says, “Doctor! I can’t feel my legs!” The doctor replies, “Yes, we had to amputate both of your arms.” (Paraphrased from The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul, by Douglas Adams.)
The reason this joke works is that when we read the first sentence, we build a certain mental image of the situation. But the second one, the punchline, causes us to rethink this image to make it fit not the facts that we imagined, but the facts that we are given.
What does this have to do with apologetics?
Read More
Theocrats In My Back Yard
“The ACLU has an ongoing nationwide campaign to take away the right of any citizen legislator to speak and pray according to his conscience and religious tradition,” [Indian River school] board member Reggie Helms said following that vote. “My freedom of speech is too important to compromise or risk its loss. Our court case, where we have been standing up to the ACLU, provides the opportunity for the federal court to permanently uphold my right not to be treated as a second-class citizen, or to have to move to the back of the bus.”
(Source: Newszap.com/Sussex Post.)
This isn’t happening in Alabama or Kansas, but in Delaware, practically in my back yard.
When to Optimize
The First Rule of Program Optimization:
Don’t do it.The Second Rule of Program Optimization (for experts only!):
Don’t do it yet.— Michael Jackson
First Anniversary
Today marks the first anniversary of this weblog. Yay!
George III vs. George W.
If you’re like most Americans, you probably haven’t read the
Declaration of Independence
in a while, if ever, so you may have forgotten that it includes a
whole laundry list of complaints about king George III of England. It
might be worth rereading some of them: