In a letter released by Israel's ministry of education on March 3, 2010, Gavriel Avital promised to follow the ministry's policy on evolution and the environment, Haaretz (March 4, 2010) reported.

The furor over Gavriel Avital's denial of evolution and global warming continues, with a host of eminent scientists calling for his dismissal and with the minister of education reportedly describing his remarks as "unacceptable."

The chief scientist in Israel's ministry of education, Gavriel Avital, "sparked a furor" by questioning the reliability of evolution and global warming, leading to calls for his dismissal, according to Haaretz (February 21, 2010).

Kentucky's House Bill 397 would, if enacted, allow teachers to "use, as permitted by the local school board, other instructional materials to help students understand, analyze, critique, and review scientific theories in an objective manner, including but not limited to the study of evolution, the origins of life, global warming, and human cloning."

Mississippi's House Bill 586, which if enacted would have required "scientifically sound arguments by protagonists and antagonists of the theory of evolution" to be presented in the state's schools, died in committee on February 2, 2010, according to the legislative website.

House Bill 1651, introduced in the Missouri House of Representatives on January 13, 2010, and not yet referred to a committee, is apparently the second antievolution bill of 2010.

A bill in Mississippi is apparently the first antievolution bill of 2010. House Bill 586, introduced on January 12, 2010, and referred to the House Education Committee, would, if enacted, require local school boards to include a lesson on human evolution at the beginning of their high school biology classes. The catch: "The lesson provided to students ... shall have proportionately equal instruction from educational materials that present scientifically sound arguments by protagonists and antagonists of the theory of evolution."

Did Ray Comfort plagiarize part of his "special introduction" to the Origin of Species?

If you recently picked up a copy of Ray Comfort's edition of On the Origin of Species—the edition with the "special" introduction by Comfort calling Darwin a racist and claiming Adolf Hitler was Darwin's most famous "student"—get protection!

First, download the NCSE Safety Bookmark. Carefully open the book past Comfort's intro, turn to page 59 for Darwin's introduction, insert the bookmark, and start reading!

Your brain will thank you.

To see the bookmark in action, watch our special safety video.

Just how wrong is creationist Ray Comfort about Darwin, evolution, the fossil record, Hitler, and more? Read our handy guide to Comfort's transgressions. View the PDF.