Georgia conservatives seek to ban "evolution": Georgia is considering altering its statewide science curriculum to ban the word "evolution." According to Republican school superintendent Kathy Cox, the concept of evolution can still be taught but, if amended, the curriculum will refer to it as "biological changes over time." In a 2003, Georgia ranked 41st among all states in terms of student "well-being," and in 2002, the state's SAT scores were the second-worst in the nation. Don't educators in Georgia have something better to do than nix "evolution" from their lesson plans?

Update 2/1: Former president and Georgia resident Jimmy Carter issued a statement saying he was embarrassed by the proposal. "The existing and long-standing use of the word 'evolution' in our state's textbooks has not adversely affected Georgians' belief in the omnipotence of God as creator of the universe. There can be no incompatibility between Christian faith and proven facts concerning geology, biology, and astronomy," he said. "There is no need to teach that stars can fall out of the sky and land on a flat Earth in order to defend our religious faith."