I'M THANKFUL FOR . . .

Eugenie Scott, who will be appearing in Fresno on Dec. 2nd (Wednesday), and who does such an important job really well.

Bringing Dr. Scott is a nice way to finish out the 2009 bicentennial of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of the Origin of Species, and bringing Dr. Scott to Fresno is a bit of a coup for my colleagues at CSU Fresno. The Consortium for Evolutionary Studies ("Darwin's Bulldogs") at CSU Fresno is presenting to special lecture along with the Tri-Beta Biology Honors Club, the Noyce Scholars Program, the Natural Sciences Student Club, and Associated Students.



I will be at this event, with bells on!

FOR WHAT PURPOSE, THANKSGIVING?

I get a variety of views in my mailbox. Here, for example, are the thoughts of that great bear of burden, Newt Gingrich. Short version: let's remember that the purpose of Thanksgiving is to give thanks to God. Well...duh. But Newt goes a bit farther, and seems to miss the fact that going farther creates an obvious conflict. Right after acknowledging that not all Americans are Christians, he seems to blithely assume that even the non-Christians believe in something not just like 'God', but the God of Washington and Lincoln. Hard to believe the guy was a college professor.

Then, there is Jorge Chan's take from Ph.D. (Piled Higher and Deeper):

There's also the bracing honesty of Charles Barkley, who favorably compares Thanksgiving to the greed of Christmas in an extended rant about the need to lose weight. One gets the impression the 'Round Mound of Rebound' would tell the prof in Ph.D to take a long walk off a short pier:






Finally, check out PZ's subtly-conflicted view: Time off with the family and friends, he's OK with it. Praying to an imaginary being, not so much. But...what if the whole point of the holiday, as (ugh) Newt Gingrich says, is to give thanks to some imaginary being or another? Ack! Must reclaim holiday time in name of non-belief! Like I said, conflicted!