Mark Casey Online

For years, the state of Florida’s educational systems have been required to use “code-words” and pseudonyms for the documented scientific process known as evolution.  You know, the reason we humans have a tail bone but no tail.

But, just when you thought the anti-evolution crowd was going to keep slowing down progress for at least ten more years before they got bored and went back to abortion clinics, Florida comes along and officially states “Yeah… we really don’t care.”

This week, the Florida State Board of Education voted to make the term “Scientific Theory of Evolution” the state standard for the first time ever.  Before that, teachers were ostensibly required to say “change over time.”  Originally, the board was to vote on the term “evolution,” but upon hearing arguments from Intelligent Designers, settled on pinning the qualifier “Scientific Theory” beforehand.

Funny.  They never require you to say “theory” before talking about how the Earth moves around the Sun.  One step at a time, I guess.

No, George W. Bush and his religious cohorts didn’t suddenly ‘get science,’ but rather science somehow seems to be puttering along at its desired pace, no matter what soundbytes certain politicians provide conservative interest groups.

A California based company, Geron, is the first to announce its plans to start testing, with FDA approval, for this year — but other research groups aren’t far behind, and unless something truly strange happens, it looks like we’re going to be staring down the barrel at the first honest-to-goodness results and information about what stem cells can really do for human subjects.

Amen.