Hemant Mehta, the Friendly Atheist, just wrote about a Texas state Representative who -- you might want to sit down, or maybe even lie on the floor as you read this -- wants the Institute for Creation Research to be able to grant Master of Science degrees. OK, I'll let you comically rub your eyes with your fists for a second, then check that yes, you did indeed read that correctly. The ICR -- a wretched hive of scum and villainy -- thinks that it's doing science research (and boy is it not), and it's not fair that they can't grant science degrees! Now, this is not really surprising, seeing that the ICR can't grasp reality with both hands, a vise, and a lifetime supply of crazy glue, but still. It's funny. So this poor sap in the State legislature is trying to get a bill passed to exempt the ICR from the ruling that they can't grant advanced degrees. I'll add that the bill is more general than that; the original news item claims it's driven by the ICR, but the bill itself would actually allow any private institution to grant advanced degrees in science, which would bring down even more chaos on the Lone Star State. Unless you think a Masters of Astrology or a PhD in Flat Earth Studies is a good idea. Given the level of insanity infecting Texas politics right now, I have no idea if this bill will pass or not. The ICR tried to get permission to grant degrees in science in 2008, and was roundly thumped by the state commissioner who told them bluntly that religion isn't science. You should have little doubt -- just look at their name, for Pete's sake -- that the ICR is not doing science. It's doing dogma. Nothing will ever convince them the Earth isn't 6000 years old, and that the Bible isn't the literal truth. Go ahead and check for yourself by searching their site, if you don't mind having your irony gland exploding into a thin oily vapor. I suspect a bill like this doesn't have much a chance, but then the guy running the State Board of Education is an avowed creationist and thinks abstinence-only education is a grand idea, so there is literally no way of knowing this bill's fate. Let's all cross our fingers, throw salt over our shoulders, and rub our lucky rabbit's feet that it fails. And these methods should work -- I have a PhD in Superstionism. And, just to make sure I get on the ICR's enemies list: