Monthly Archives: June 2017

Nigel Dodds and Arlene Foster, DUP deputy leader and leader

Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

By Frank Swain

Having failed to win an overall majority in the UKs general election, Theresa Mays Conservative party is hoping to foster an informal coalition with Northern Irelands Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Members of the party have taken controversial stances on everything from climate change to evolution, with one assembly member being unaware that heterosexual people can contract HIV. Here are five things you need to know when it comes to science and the DUP

The party has a history of speaking out against climate change. Senior member Sammy Wilson has called climate change a con, and described the Paris Agreement as window dressing for climate chancers. During his time as Northern Irelands environment minister, he said that people would eventually look back at this whole climate change debate and ask ourselves how on Earth we were ever conned into spending billions of pounds on the issue.

It isnt just Wilson though in 2014, DUP ministers tried to oppose proposals to introduce local measures against climate change in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland remains the only part of the UK where women cannot access abortion unless their life is endangered by pregnancy a legal situation that is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, according to a Belfast High Court ruling in 2015.

But on taking leadership of the party in 2016, Arlene Foster promised to block any attempt to change these laws, telling reporters I would not want abortion to be as freely available here as it is in England.

Foster did, however, say she might consider an amendment in cases of rape. But the DUPs Jim Wells formerly the health minister for Northern Ireland opposes abortion even in these circumstances.

DUP assembly member Thomas Buchanan has previously called for creationism to be taught in schools. In 2016, he voiced support for an evangelical Christian programme that offers helpful practical advice on how to counter evolutionary teaching. He has expressed a desire to see every school in Northern Ireland teaching creationism, describing evolution as a peddled lie.

Buchanan told the Irish News Im someone who believes in creationism and that the world was spoken into existence in six days by His power, adding that children had been corrupted by the teaching of evolution.

The DUPs leader narrowly survived a no-confidence motion following a disastrous attempt to bolster green energy in Northern Ireland by providing subsidies for wood burners. Arlene Foster introduced the scheme in 2012 when she was head of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. The original budget was 25 million, but a lack of price controls meant that, over five years, almost 500 million went up in smoke.

Last year, DUP assembly member Trevor Clarke admitted that he had thought only gay people could be infected with HIV, until a charity explained otherwise. He made the comments during a parliamentary debate around a campaign to promote awareness and prevention of HIV in Northern Ireland and to increase support for those living with HIV.

Read more: How YouGovs experimental poll correctly called the UK election

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Five things you need to know about DUP politicians and science - New Scientist

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Its time to add to the summer release calendar as Shattered Sun are on their way back with new music. The band just announced that their sophomore set will be titled The Evolution of Anger and theyve also unleashed a new video for the song Burn It Down.

The rising rockers settled into the studio with producer Mark Lewis earlier this year. Lewis, who has previously worked with DevilDriver and Fallujah, definitely had an impact on the band. Mark brought a sound to the band that we didnt think we were capable of, says guitarist Jessie Santos. You can check out the track listing for the album below and look for the disc arriving via Victory Records on July 21. Pre-orders are being taken here.

As for the song, theres some serious low end pummeling going on. People are fed up and I am certainly fed up, says singer Marcos Leal, reacting to the worldwide state of affairs. The singer continues, We almost burned this band into the ground internally. Guitarist Daniel Trejo decided to leave the band in late 2015, and internal issues began to surface before the band worked them out and Trejo returned. Between all the things we have done over the years, things finally came to the surface. Once Daniel came back into the fold, the first song he showed me was Burn it Down, and it is a perfect reflection of what occurred within Shattered Sun. You can watch the Dustin Smith-directed video for Burn It Down above.

Meanwhile, you can look for Shattered Sun playing select shows on the Vans Warped Tour this summer. See the dates below, and stay tuned for a fall tour announcement coming soon.

Shattered Sun, The Evolution of Anger Track Listing

1. Keep Your Eyes Shut 2. Blame 3. Declassified 4. Hollow Chains 5. Out for Justice 6. Die for Nothing 7. Burn It Down 8. Like Gasoline 9. Terminal 10. Hope Dies

Shattered Sun on Vans Warped Tour 2017

7/26 Maryland Heights, Mo. @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre 7/27 Bonner Springs, Kan. @ Providence Medical Center Amphitheatre 7/28 Dallas, Texas @ Starplex Pavilion 7/29 San Antonio, Texas @ AT&T Center 7/30 Houston, Texas @ NRG Park 8/1 Las Cruces, N.M. @ NMSU Intramural Field 8/4 Mountain View, Calif. @ Shoreline Amphitheatre 8/5 San Diego, Calif. @ Qualcomm Stadium 8/6 Pomona, Calif. @ Pomona Fairplex

Most Anticipated Upcoming Hard Rock + Metal Releases of 2017

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Shattered Sun Detail 'The Evolution of Anger' Album, Unleash 'Burn It Down' Video - Loudwire

A University of Washington professor recently suggested that the stress caused by Donald Trumps election to the presidency could bring about an evolutionary consequence.

Professor Peter Ward, who teaches in the schools Department of Biology, was interviewed by Gizmodo for a piece on the possibility of superhuman mutants, such as the kind found in films like X-Men, where the characters have developed powers of night vision or mind control.

"There is going to be an evolutionary consequence."

[RELATED: Yale prof: Trumps mental impairment a state of emergency]

In response to the question, though, Ward elected to discuss the stress that Americans are going through as a result of Trumps victory over Hillary Clinton.

Were finding more and more that, for instance, people who have gone through combat, or women who have been abusedwhen you have these horrendous episodes in life, it causes permanent change, which is then passed on to your kid, Ward began, then suggesting that Trumps election could have similar effects.

[RELATED: Prof: To save American democracy, Trump must hang]

On a larger scale, the amount of stress that Americans are going through now, because of Trumpthere is going to be an evolutionary consequence, he remarked.

Campus Reform reached out to Ward for elaboration on his claims, and is currently awaiting a response.

(H:T/Heat Street)

Follow the author of this article on Twitter:@MrDanJackson

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Prof: 'stress' of Trump election will change human evolution - Campus Reform