Archives for November, 2007
John West can Play the Violin But Not the Fiddle
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2007 The 1920s. It was a sad, sad time in America. All the biologists got together and, inspired by Darwinian writings, embarked on a campaign to sterilize those they perceived as unfit, the campaign known to us as Eugenics. From Eugenics grew other evils, such as Planned Parenthood, Modern Evolutionary Biology, and The Nazis.
Lipid Rafts and Everything…
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2007 The Bible as Ethnography ~ 04 ~ Agricultural Transitions
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2007 In Genesis 4, we see specific reference to herdsmen and farmers as distinct groups, represented by Abel and Cain, respectively. God indicates a preference for the results of herding over planting, and the sibling troubles that ensue result in the world becoming a difficult place to farm, and humans becoming more nomadic, as herders. This…
We can now explain the burn marks on the back of Car2d2′s head
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2007 Click the photo!!!!
Today’s Terribly Insulting Quote
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2007 Media Matters reports that during last night’s CNN special Campaign Killers: Why Do Negative Ads Work?, anchor Campbell Brown said: “General David Petraeus made his reputation taking on insurgents in Iraq. But when he came to Capitol Hill in September, he was confronted by American insurgents, a liberal anti-war group called MoveOn.org.” [source]
Happy Birth Day Mark Twain
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2007 Hat Tip: BATC
The Orgasmo Alarm Clock
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2007 From Geekology, who comments: The Orgasmo Clock wakes you up in the morning to the invigorating moan of a woman having an orgasm. Which is pretty freaking awesome if you ask me. It costs $25. I don’t need one though, because I almost always wake up to a woman having an orgasm. Unfortunately it’s my…
Florida School Stands Up for what they Believe In
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2007 Which in this case would be that an intelligent designer created life, or some such drivel.
Makes me want to vote for the guy…
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2007 Hat Tip: Cosmic Variance Go to Cosmic Variance to also see Huckabee talking to God… Plus a thoughtful discussion of this nonsense.
Devil vs Darwin
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2007 Headline: Poll finds more Americans believe in devil than Darwin
Ancient Jade Exchange in Southeast Asia
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2007 Hot off the presses from PNAS, we have a paper on ancient jade exchange in Southeast Asia. From the abstract: We have used electron probe microanalysis to examine Southeast Asian nephrite (jade) artifacts, many archeologically excavated, dating from 3000 B.C. through the first millennium A.D. The research has revealed the existence of one of the…
OMG It’s So Cute!
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2007 Yet Another Cutie: Sharp and Tappin Technology (STTech) is readying two PCs based on Via’s recently introduced pico-ITX motherboard. The picoPC1 and picoPC2 measure as little as 5 x 3.4 x 1.5 inches, and feature separately available cases fashioned from billet aluminum, according to the company. [source]
Is religion a form of child abuse? Part II
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2007 PZ Myers at Pharyngula examines this question in an entirely different case. This is the case of 14 year old Jehovah Witness Dennis Linberg. Dennis died on Wednesday night at a Seattle area hospital because he refused to accept a life saving transfusion on religious grounds. This is, indeed, a parent’s worse nightmare. Your child…
Is religion a form of child abuse?
Posted by Greg Laden on November 30, 2007 This is the tag line for an article in yesterday’s Minneapolis Star Tribune: Where punishment drifts into abuse is the issue in the case of a father who hit his son 36 times. In this case, the “drifting” occurred because… When Shawn Fraser’s discipline failed to rein in his 12-year-old son, he turned to his…
Wow, this makes me thirsty
Posted by Greg Laden on November 29, 2007 … But not hungry. That’s probably because I am thirsty.
Don’t be a Closed Source Moron
Posted by Greg Laden on November 29, 2007 Morons are so annoying. Even the ones that are just passing by, the ones you don’t really have to talk to. These days I often have lunch in a public dining area where most of the patrons are scientists or geeks, or students learning to become scientists or geeks. The other day two geeky scientist…
Wikipedia: Bad for ID, DI
Posted by Greg Laden on November 29, 2007 The blog Afarensis brings us an amusing yet at the same time disturbing discussion of the Discovery Institute’s Casey Luskin concerns about the reliability of Wikipedia as a source of information for students. This is hysterically funny because of the fact that Casey Luskin and all the others at the Discover Institute are a pack…
War on Christmas Update
Posted by Greg Laden on November 29, 2007 12 Days of the War on Christmas (Fox Style)
The Bible as Ethnography ~ 03 ~ Sometimes a Snake is Just a Snake. But not in this case….
Posted by Greg Laden on November 29, 2007 Genesis 2 ends with Adam and Eve being naked yet not ashamed. In Genesis 3, the Serpent, who is wiser than average, tricks Eve into partaking of the forbidden fruit of one of god’s two magic trees. This results in Adam and Eve recognizing their own nakedness, and compelling them to produce the first clothing.…
Something is Rotten in the State of Texas
Posted by Greg Laden on November 29, 2007 The Texas Education Agency’s director of science cirriculum is resigning. Check this out: In documents obtained Wednesday through the Texas Public Information Act, agency officials said they recommended firing Comer for repeated acts of misconduct and insubordination. But Comer said she thinks political concerns about the teaching of creationism in schools were behind what she…
A Parent’s Worst Nightmare
Posted by Greg Laden on November 29, 2007 One of my best friends, who shall remain nameless for the present, a scientist, an atheist, a heavily decorated soldier in the war on Christmas, raised two wonderful, brilliant children, on of which being a devote catholic now in training to be a very devote catholic. Like a priest or something. I am a committed…
Warning
Posted by Greg Laden on November 29, 2007 The internet is a terrorist tool. Apparently, the US House passed a bill that declares it so. This would mean, I assume, that funds and effort will be spent on controlling the Internet, and all bets would be off on things like Constitutional Protections for those of us working, blogging, using the internet to do…
What would it take to place myself in one of these?
Posted by Greg Laden on November 29, 2007 [source]
Climate Change Matters
Posted by Greg Laden on November 29, 2007 There are still climate change deniers out there, and if you are one, I’d like to take a moment to annoy you with the following story: Nearly 300 cases of chikungunya fever, a virus that previously has been common only in Africa and Asia, were reported in Italy – where only isolated cases of the…
Peter Atkins on Natural Selection
Posted by Greg Laden on November 29, 2007 I have a lot of problems with some of the verbiage he uses. But it is all done with a nice English Accent, so he must be a smart guy…
Species Comings and Goings
Posted by Greg Laden on November 29, 2007 Ancient Microbes; Wolves in Idaho; Birds Going Extinct;
I think this one might be real…
Posted by Greg Laden on November 29, 2007 HELLO GREETINGS I NEED YOUR URGENT HELP TO DISTRIBUTE 12.5M USD.TO HUMANITARIAN AND OPHANS.AS I’M WIDOW AND CANCER WOMAN. THIS MY MAIL MIGHT COME TO YOU AS A SURPRISE ANDTHE TEMPTATION TO INGORE IT AS UNSEROUS COULD COME INTO YOUR MIND BUT PL’S CONSIDER IT AS DIVINE AND HELP OUT. THANKS SERENA What do you…
Cell Kills Korean Man
Posted by Greg Laden on November 29, 2007 “His cell phone was found in his shirt pocket with its battery severely melted and his chest burned and fractured.” Ouch. Details here.
But wait, isn’t this what rich and powerful men are SUPPOSED to do?
Posted by Greg Laden on November 29, 2007 As New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani billed obscure city agencies for tens of thousands of dollars in security expenses amassed during the time when he was beginning an extramarital relationship with future wife Judith Nathan in the Hamptons, according to previously undisclosed government records. The documents, obtained by Politico under New York’s Freedom of Information…
, which is now available for the 
