Troubles in Paradise

[TomS]

Thanks to Nick Matzke for alerting us to "Troubles in Paradise: an amazing
pro-science resource by Downard (summary and interview)" by a entry
in Panda's Thumb
<http://pandasthumb.org/archives/2015/03/troubles-in-par.html#more>

"I would like to introduce everyone to James Downard, and his website
Troubles in Paradise (TIP). TIP is available at
http://tortucan.wordpress.com or http://www.tortucan.com."

"Troubles in Paradise is a massive review of the
creationism/ID movement, its people, and its arguments, along
with a similarly massive review of relevant scientific evidence
and literature. TIP primarily covers the movement up to about
2004, which of course was just about the peak of the ID
movement, leading up to the 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover case."


--
God is not a demiurge or a magician - Pope Francis
---Tom S.

[jillery]

Wandering through Youtube, I recently tripped over some of
Downard's continuing efforts in support of Science generally and
biological evolution specifically, ex:

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BiKzS8YCog>

@2:12 he says the following:
*********************************************
I'm building up a dataset that as far as I know nobody else has ever
done; no group, no organization, no author, from Richard Dawkins to
National Center for Science Education, has actually approached this
problem from a comprehensive documentation of what the source material
is, and how it connects up to the bigger science data, and therefore
you can see the landscape and you can see why the anti-evolutionists
have their head up their ass.
********************************************

Without in any way criticizing the work Downard has done and is doing
along these lines, I am disappointed he makes no mention of the
talk.origins archives. Although the ever-increasing invalid links are
troublesome, and new material is almost nonexistent, my impression is
the archives in its day did substantially what Downard says he is
doing today. ISTM rather than let the archives wither on the vine,
Downard could use them as an historical foundation at the very least,
especially the comprehensive "29+ Evidences For Macroevolution".

Another example is Downard's recent book "Evolution Slam Dunk", where
he uses evidence for the reptile-mammal transition to describe and
unquestionably demonstrate macroevolution:

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIYi-kx2yCg>

Evolution deniers are put on notice.

Here's Downard's second Youtube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKWCvSQLZXg

He titles it: "Donald Trump, the Kent Hovind of Modern Politics".
Great minds think alike.

--
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

Evelyn Beatrice Hall
Attributed to Voltaire

[Ray Martinez]

James Downard has been around a while now. Nick Matzke, as a courtesy, introduced him, put a spotlight on his work. But Downard can't answer criticism. He basically folds under pressure. His work, for the most part, is un-scholarly, using catch phrases that become dated quickly.

Ray

[Ray Martinez]

And James Downard hides himself at Pandas Thumb. He won't come out from behind moderator protection over there.

Ray

[jillery]

>James Downard has been around a while now. Nick Matzke, as a courtesy, introduced him, put a spotlight on his work. But Downard can't answer criticism. He basically folds under pressure. His work, for the most part, is un-scholarly, using catch phrases that become dated quickly.
>
>Ray

Yes, Youtube makes it obvious that Downard is an Old White Man.
However, his TIP website, and his "Evolution Slam Dunk" Amazon review,
and his Youtube videos are very new, with hardly a comment posted to
them. Imagine, you could be among the first.