progresswear/clothing

Believe. In Science.

We're featuring our new "Believe in Science" t-shirt on the homepage. It's a companion to the "Believer in Science" shirt and both are proving very popular in the scientific communities as well as the atheist/agnostic camp.

They're designed in such a manner that the punch line "in Science" cannot be read until the reader is within feet of you. From a distance one simply assumes that they're being approached by yet another individual proselytizing their beliefs. The "IN SCIENCE" line will get a second reaction of surprise as the message isn't what they're expecting.

There's been a war on science brewing in this country for years. From the rise of the Christian Right and its attendant home schooling to Bush's refusal to acknowledge myriad scientific truths, this is a war between reason and superstition. The times are changing and the tides are changing. Our favorite customer, Jennifer Miller of the famed Dover Intelligent Design trial and many other science teachers of my acquaintance are not allowed to teach basic scientific truths lest they ruffle the feathers of even one parent.

The belief in the promise of science was a religion itself through the first half of this century. And while it's unfortunate that it spawned both the atom bomb and the Flowbee, no one can question the impact science has had on our lives. Stem Cell Research holds a near biblical promise to cure the sick and make the lame walk. We do little to encourage the study of science in our classrooms. Post 9.11 hysteria has made it so difficult for foreign students - the bulk of our university science population - to study there that they're choosing, for the first time, Europe over America to study science. As the best and brightest choose to go elsewhere, America's leadership in Science will abruptly cease.

With the superiority our manufacturing economy a distant memory it is essential that our ability to address the scientific questions of the day grows with each generation. With our need to solve global warming, find clean alternative fuels and reinvent our systems of transportation and energy use alone, massive employment awaits a new generation of green scientists. Our ability to even approach GNPs of past decades is dependent upon still having great ideas. Trusting science. Believing in Science.

As a couple of stumblers added some silly reviews that involved a thumbs down, I thought I'd better thumb up the women's page. We sell to women of all sizes, shapes and ages, for the record.

Keep your eye on our selection of shirts as we're finally adding a number of new designs. The Philadelphia City Paper is doing an article on us and it's been a wonderful incentive to get new ideas out there.

Intelligent Design Isn't.
"Intelligent Design Isn't" is one of our best sellers. I wish I could say I coined the phrase, but I'm sure thousands had uttered it before me. Months after designing the shirt I came across a New Yorker article by H. Allen Orr entitled nearly that, "Why Intelligent Design Isn't."

My mother loved our themes, but not this one. She felt the one which smugly states "Intelligent Design is Stupid" implied that I felt God was stupid. I bit my tongue lest I inform this woman who brought me into a very Catholic world that I had little time for gods these days. I stated that those who were trying to get the theory of Intelligent Design taught in schools were scientific dolts grasping at straws to bring God into the public classrooms of America.

While we high five each other as school boards, starting with Dover, are struck down in their attempts to meddle with local curricula, hundreds of other cases are brought monthly, virtually strangling science education in America. A friend who teaches science in my hometown is forbidden to teach evolution. If you think we're winning this particular battle, guess again.

The first woman to buy this shirt was Jennifer Miller, the Dover, Pennsylvania middle school science teacher at the center of the maelstrom. Look for her in the forthcoming book "Into the Great Divide" by Matthew Chapman, great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin. Jennifer has volunteered the services of her fellow science teachers to proudly sport our attire at various science education functions.

In future photoshoots I want to show what our messages mean in the context of the history of this burg I call home. Ben Franklin's Grave. Independence and Carpenters Halls. The Liberty Bell.

Philadelphians are often guilty of treating this nation's birthplace with a smirk, cursing at the tourists we trip over daily. Never visiting these treasures unless we have family in from out of town.

Living in the middle of history central for five years gave me a rare appreciation. Walking my dog through the various parks and buildings spread over a quadrant of Center City forced me to think daily about these amazing, crazy men who started this American Experiment. They were the most radical of souls, and they're spinning in their graves as the theocrats steer us back to the middle ages. Every American needs a kick in the ass tour cum Constitutional seminar of this city, replete with in-your-face quotations about the founding fathers' fervent disdain for religion and the religious.

Want a nation under God? Go visit, or better yet, move to Iran. Afghanistan. Iraq.

We're raising a generation of children who shall, through the narrow mindedness of blind faith, become the least educated scientifically in the industrialized world. There's a war on science. This message fights back.

LIERAQ Sale Extended
I've spent the better part of two weeks laboriously e-mailing around 800 of our friends, family, clients, collectors, buyers and the 125 or so people who've actually asked for any spam from us to tell them that we're having a sale, $5.00 off all LIERAQ gear until December 10th. It's our first sale, in honor of our first anniversary. And in anticipation of our pull out of Iraq, be that two months or twenty years.

We've got an electorate who feels that now it's our turn to declare a mandate, though, as with Bush's two elections, the use of the M word is most inappropriate. Yet many feel we've earned capital and can borrow Georgie's line and announce to the world that we're going to spend that there capital. Voters, bloggers and grassroots groups are already launching campaigns of accountability, promising to hold the collective feet of the newly elected to the fire. If they won't give us a nice, juicy, bloody impeachment, they can at least ensure that serious hearings into how and why we went into Iraq will take place. And soon, one can only hope.

Polling since the mid-terms shows overwhelming support for impeachment should it be concluded that Bush lied about Iraq. He did, and with any luck this will be our Watergate. Jack Abramoff's in jail. Tom DeWho is all but invisible on the political landscape. In what seemed like mere weeks the Repulic party (to paraphrase Mr. Bush) self destructed and deflated before our eyes as a groundswell of thinking Americans rose to vote, the war in Iraq their number one issue. Gay marriage, stem cell research, abortion, not even immigration came close. For once, the values voter was taking a truly moral stance.

It gives one hope that perhaps there is a bit of justice in the world and that this time, it just might prevail. Yet who is going to tell that to the mourners of the 100,000 to 600,000 Iraqis no longer walking the planet due to our folly? We've buried 2,890 of our own. Watching the hearings and coming to terms at last with the truth about why their sons and daughters aren't coming home will be painful for these people. And for those who stood silent witnessing the lies, or cheered on the march to war, their silent shame will be palpable.

LIERAQ. $5.00 OFF THROUGH DECEMBER 15TH.

The LIERAQ shirts are finally in!!!
After the longest delay yet waiting for new shirts we're proud to announce that the LIERAQ shirts are finally in. To all those who've purchased one they should be arriving shortly.

Shortly we'll be showing the tanks, spaghettis and raglans for the women as well as fitted scoop neck tees. Guys, we gots yer basic tee in 4 colors. Sweats and hoodies are next.

Thanks for all the support, folks.