Texas is not as bass-ackwards as one might think

I am aware that there are people in this world who think that Texas is not as awesome as I think it is. Texas gets a bad rap in many TV shows and movies (if there's an obnoxious southern idiot, nine times out of ten it'll be a Texan), and George W. Bush really didn't help our image either.

But let this story show that we're not all kooks - the Texas Board of Education has voted down efforts by creationists to chip away at the theory of evolution. At least for the next 10 years, there will be no state mandate to include a discussion of the "strengths and weaknesses" of Darwinism in textbooks.

I have to say, I'm a little upset. I would have loved to have seen a mention of the Flying Spaghetti Monster in my kid's science book.


Edit to add: Hmm, looks like it's not a huge victory. They were able to stick on last minute amendments to include the text "analyze, evaluate and critique scientific explanations" instead of "evaluate strengths and weaknesses." Le sigh.