Skeptical reporter @ 2013-03-15

Skeptical Reporter for March 15th, 2013 The majority of homeschooled children in America belong to evangelical Christian families, but some parents are dismayed by the textbooks they can use to teach their children. For many evangelical families, the rationale for homeschooling has nothing to do with a belief in Young Earth Creationism or a rejection of evolutionary theory. Now, evangelical families who embrace modern science are becoming more vocal about it -- and are facing the inevitable criticism that comes with that choice. At least one publisher, Christian Schools International in Grand Rapids, Michigan has noted the demand and produced textbooks that promote Christian values and modern science. "Most science textbooks that attempt to present the content from a Christian perspective also attempt to discredit the theory of evolution," says Ken Bergwerff, a science curriculum specialist at Christian Schools International. "Some do it discreetly; others are quite blatant. The CSI science curriculum clearly presents science from a Christian perspective, but does not attempt to discredit the theory of evolution. The content presents God as the author of all of creation, no matter how he did it or when he did it." Following six years of preparations, a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) school in the Canadian province of British Columbia has applied to local educational authorities to become the first institute in the country to offer a TCM curriculum at university-degree level. PCU College of Holistic Medicine in Burnaby wants to launch a five-year degree program in TCM this September. Currently, the college offers three-year diploma programs in both acupuncture and Chinese medicine. With some 1,400 TCM practitioners and 400 students currently registered in the western Canadian province, PCU College Dean Dr. John Yang exaplined in a recent interview that he hopes this move will offer a greater public acceptance of the practice. He also supports the idea that TCM shouldn't be taken in tandem with western medicines. In Australia a new study has revealed that sickness being attributed to wind turbines is more likely to have been caused by people getting alarmed at the health warnings circulated by activists. Complaints of illness were far more prevalent in communities targeted by anti-windfarm groups, said the report's author, Simon Chapman, professor of public health at Sydney University. His report concludes that illnesses being blamed on windfarms are more than likely caused by the psychological effect of suggestions that the turbines make people ill, rather than by the turbines themselves. "If windfarms were intrinsically unhealthy or dangerous in some way, we would expect to see complaints applying to all of them, but in fact there is a large number where there have been no complaints at all," Chapman said. The report, which is the first study of the history of complaints about windfarms in Australia, found that 63% had never been subject to noise or health complaints. In the state of Western Australia, where there are 13 windfarms, there have been no complaints. The study shows that the majority of complaints (68%) have come from residents near five windfarms that have been heavily targeted by opponent groups. The report says more than 80% of complaints about health and noise began after 2009 when the groups "began to add health concerns to their wider opposition". In Malawi, a traditional healer has been sentenced to eight years imprisoned with hard labour for wounding two 10-month-old babies when he was cleansing them from witchcraft. Frank Josamu was arrested on February 21st for wounding the children in a witchcraft cleansing ritual which ended in the babies sustaining second degree burns that covered 18 percent of their total body surface. Police Prosecutor, Inspector Lloyd Kachotsa told the court that the accused deserved the harsh sentence due to the permanent scars inflicted on the unsusp...