The Jewmanist

Teach the controversy! Oh, well, wait..

The chief scientist in Israel’s ministry of education, Gavriel Avital, “sparked a furor” by questioning the reliability of evolution and global warming, leading to calls for his dismissal, according to Haaretz (February 21, 2010). “If textbooks state explicitly that human beings’ origins are to be found with monkeys, I would want students to pursue and grapple with other opinions. There are many people who don’t believe the evolutionary account is correct,” he was quoted as saying. “There are those for whom evolution is a religion and are unwilling to hear about anything else. Part of my responsibility, in light of my position with the Education Ministry, is to examine textbooks and curricula.”

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Hava Yablonka of Tel Aviv University told Haaretz that Avital’s statements were tantamount “to saying that space should be given in textbooks to the view that the earth is flat and the sun revolves around it. It’s astonishing that the chief scientist of a government ministry can say such bizarre things.”

Interhuss Designs

By this time next week, I’ll be in Vegas for the first full day. As you may recall, I temporarily moved to Miami. Much of what I set out to do has been accomplished and what’s left is not for me to do anything about.

Another cross-country move and I’m very excited, though there’s an amalgam of bustling emotions. Now I can make all those conventions I never could. I plan on attending TAM this year but have not purchased the very pricey ticket yet. If you’re going to be there, let me know.

Gather ’round fellow skeptics! Yesterday morning I received a submission to The Coming Out Godless Project that I thought was a bit off-topic. A first I thought it could be satire but upon a second glance, it seemed like human spam. It wouldn’t be the first time. Here’s Sandra Brothers’ story:

Hebah Ismail, an Egyptian-American Harvard Law student flew to Israel to do research on human rights. From the Harvard Law Record:

A warm smile and easy laugh reveal Hebah Ismail’s unthreatening, gentle personality. An American citizen, this 3L of Egyptian descent works with the International Human Rights Clinic on projects related to Bedouin land rights. Hebah wears a hijab. She still does not know which of one, or combination, of these characteristics prompted the immigration personnel at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport to deem her dangerous and deny her entry to Israel.

Profiling at it’s best…

After going through her computer, including the external hard drive, the line of questions continued. While most of those originally holding Ismail appeared rather young, a man in his 30s and clearly in a position of authority took over the interrogation.

Ismail recounts how this man introduced himself.