After weeks of anticipation, I went to see the movie Expelled today. It is a documentary by Ben Stein on how the scientific community routinely suppresses legitimate scientists and doctors from expressing any point of view other than that of evolution.

The full name of the movie is, Expelled, No Intelligence Allowed. It is called that because of the many scientists Ben interviewed that have been fired and blacklisted since they published papers hinting that Intelligent Design, I.D., is a valid explanation for how life began.

Despite Ben Stein being a comedic actor, he is deadly serious about this subject. He does a great job of making his series of interviews with numerous scientists and doctors from both schools of thought engaging. Old black and white movie clips from movies such as Frankenstein, Wizard of Oz and I think Inherit the Wind, as well as news clips of Hitler, the Berlin Wall, etc. are used to emphasize various points. Their inclusion makes the documentary more interesting to the viewer.

Ben visits and interviews scientists from all over the world, including the Discovery Institute, Center for Science & Culture, a think tank "challenging various aspects of evolutionary theory." The Discovery Institute is not a religious organization.

Intelligent Design is not faith based. The media and most mainstream scientists, universities, and institutions, however like to brand it as such. I admit, I was not really familiar with exactly what Intelligent Design meant. Although I.D. dove-tails with Creation Science, I.D. does not specify who or what the intelligence is. It just tries to answer the question of who or what started that first cell or created the universe.

I.D. questions evolution and Darwinism in that evolution cannot explain how the one cell began. Some evolutionary explanations defy logic. One scientist, Dr. Ruse (sp?) insisted life got started by certain molecules piggy-backing on top of crystals. (No explanation where the crystals or molecules came from.)

An I.D. Scientist countered that thinking by stating 217 proteins are needed to create life and that those 217 proteins would need to be arranged by accident 250 times in succession for life to have started. That defies logic. Therefore some intelligence had to have created it. 

Back when Darwin published his theory in 1859, little was known about the complexity of the cell. Now, thanks to modern science and sophisticated equipment, doctors and scientists are constantly amazed at how intricate each part of the cell is. The deeper they look, the more complex cellular structure and physiology is.

The real kicker came at the end of the movie. Stein again interviewed Dr. Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion. Dawkins is an avowed atheist and evolutionist.

Ben asks Dawkins, who created the universe and how did life start? Keep in mind Dawkins cannot accept Intelligent Design in any way, but he answers something akin to this: some other sort of life could have evolved elsewhere and it planted its seed here.

In other words, some sort of alien from another world evolved into some very intelligent being and then came here and planted that first seed of life. (No explanation of how that alien life got started.) I think Dawkins went on to say something about how it (life) couldn't have just happened all at once. (Watch for this part when you see the movie.)

To Dawkins, Alien Design is OK, Intelligent Design, not OK--even if who or what is that intelligence is not identified? 

Judeo-Christian religious beliefs and science are not polar opposites. Noteworthy scientists such as Galileo, Newton, and Kepler were all Christians. If Ben Stein, who is Jewish, has his way, men of other religions besides that of atheism and evolution will again be able to have their voices heard without fear of termination and blacklisting. 

This weekend promises to be quite awful weather wise. It might be a good time to investigate Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed for yourself. I saw it at Mayfair at their $5, 10AM showing. It is also at these theaters.  

The movie is rated PG, possibly because they showed some scenes from German death camps? 

Links: Upcoming events in Brookfield

4th Annual Weed Out, May 3rd, Mary Knoll Park

Brookfield7, Fairly Conservative, Betterbrookfield,  Vicki Mckenna

 

One of my regular readers sent me this today. I think if fits in well with the latest vote yes postcard.

"Today's the big day! Will our community whimsically vote to add more debt to our already outstanding sum of $2,798.66* for every man, woman and child in the Elmbrook school district? (YIKES) Or will we Just Say No!"

The way you vote for this referendum today will speak volumes to your children about what is important in life.

If you are trying to teach them to be fiscally responsible, manage their money well, and live within their means, a Yes vote will not reinforce those ideas.

If you are trying to teach them to be good stewards, a Yes vote will reinforce the idea that you don't need to be responsible with "the little" to be entrusted with more.

If you are trying to teach your children to be considerate of others and respect their elders, a Yes vote again will not reinforce those ideals. Most seniors already have a hard time deciding on whether to eat or buy prescriptions. This referendum will bring them to tougher decisions.

Will your vote today teach your children to be ruled by wants and emotions and value only the shiny and new or will it teach them to base their decisions on facts and the reality of budgets.

Lastly, IF you had to bring a check to the polling place today, made out for the entire amount of the referendum and dated so that the district could take out their yearly allotment in order to cast a YES vote, would you still vote yes?

Today is MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TUESDAY! Go vote! Besides 2 no votes on the referendums, I am writing in Jon Wolff against Bob Ziegler and Cindy Kilkenny against Glen Allgaier.

Please attend the Public Comment session at Brookfield's City hall tonight at 7:45 pm. This will be your final opportunity to speak out against the moving of 2 fire stations to the west. East High School will lose its 1 minute response time.

Post WW2 era buildings = modern construction

WANT TO CONTACT ME ANONYMOUSLY? CLICK HERE

LINKS:Brookfield7 postings Betterbrookfield, Votenoapril3.com


*Source:
Wold Printing Services, Chicago, Il - online muni's
School District of Elmbrook, Waukesha County, Wisconsin Taxable General Obligation Refunding Bonds, posted 01/20/2005: $9,780,000 bonds w/ maturity 2006-2024
"direct, overlapping and underlying bonded indebtedness per capita: $2,798.66"

Certainly every parent wants to know their children are safe while at school. The district knows this too and makes it one of their reasons to vote for the referendum.

On Elmbrook’s “Fact” sheet #1, it states: “While it is now standard equipment in most high schools, neither Brookfield Central nor Brookfield East has a closed circuit security television system for monitoring activity in the hallways, common areas, or parking lots and for monitoring access to over 60 outside doors at each school.”

There is one BIG FACT missing from this sheet. The FACT that next year, the cameras will be installed regardless of referendum passage. Principal LaBonte told us this little known fact when I toured Central last month.

Here is another FACT you may be interested in. Other area schools have been in the process of getting their cameras installed for a few years now, working their way, school by school through their districts--without a referendum.

Time to dispel another fallacy: These cameras are not to protect against Stranger Danger or terrorist intrusion. I think when most people hear the words security system or closed circuit security cameras they immediately conjure up the image of the security checkpoint at the Pentagon!

THIS is NOT what these cameras are for. These cameras are primarily to monitor STUDENT activity, not STRANGER activity.

A recent Brookfieldnow article stated, “In a time when many high schools around the nation have dealt with incidents of school violence, a closed-circuit security television system is necessary to monitor activity in the hallways, common areas and parking lots, according to principals.”

Remember that most high school violence is caused by students, not strangers. The cameras record motion in the hallways or wherever they are mounted, and that information is stored for future use. As a rule, it is not monitored continually during the day as we would think of a closed circuit television system. It is only there if there is an incident, they can see who was involved.

While on the mechanical tour of Central, the guide told us that one of the stairways in the 3 story addition was seldom used. I asked why, since I had heard the other stairways were so crowded. He hesitated, then said, they were too isolated and things happened in the stairwells.

Whether we are talking hanky-panky or bullying or drug deals, I don’t know. I do know going back to the concept of a hall monitor might help. In any event, this is not a STRANGER problem; it is a STUDENT problem.

The real question is: Why has Elmbrook neglected this “need” until now?

Could it be the same reason they have neglected other standard maintenance issues? They are trying to present a needier picture of our high schools than there really is, and in the case of security cameras, they will be installed next year—even without the referendum.

ONLY 5 MORE DAYS UNTIL MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TUESDAY!

WANT TO CONTACT ME ANONYMOUSLY? CLICK HERE

LINKS:Brookfield7 postings Betterbrookfield, Votenoapril3.com

In all the ACT benchmark hoopla last week, I neglected to point out a little detail.

Did you notice that Brookfield Central, the school that the Elmbrook School District maligns and makes disparaging remarks about in regards to its condition, outscored Brookfield East on the 2006 ACT scores?

Does that fact make you at least question the premise that the district and Vote Yes gang continually perpetuate, that the lack of facility amenities adversely affect learning?

The ACT scores certainly do not bear out their assumptions. Elmbrook ranks in the top ten, and Central last year beat East.

If you look at all of the scores from the past 5 years, you see that the two schools are pretty much tied neck and neck. Check out “Fact sheet #23”. East is said to be much better than Central, yet the students obviously learn at both schools.

Dr. Joe Schroeder, Assistant Superintendent for the School District of Elmbrook, submitted a letter to Brookfieldnow. Seems that Stefanie Scott selectively reported only parts of his report before the School Board on March 13th.

Dr. Schroeder sets the record straight in this letter. He says, “the press, ignoring multiple areas of very positive news of student achievement that preceded the ending” (of his report)... “This produced an incomplete story and a blazing headline that misrepresented the overall themes of the presentation.”

ONLY 7 MORE DAYS UNTIL MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TUESDAY!

WANT TO CONTACT ME ANONYMOUSLY? CLICK HERE

LINKS:Brookfield7 postings Betterbrookfield, Votenoapril3.com