Carnivalia, and an open thread

Read and discuss:

Or talk about anything you want. The pope's presence annihilates ice cream and tampons. Bill Frist really needs to take a shower before working in the Senate. What kind of penalties would be appropriate for Kenny Boy? I'm sure you can all think of something to talk about—I'm buckling down for a few hours to finish reviewing a paper.

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Ice Cream and Tampons... sounds like a good name for a chick-rock group!

"Frist cut out a dog's heart and held it in his palm. It continued to beat for a slippery minute."

Just one line from the worst-written article I've ever read.

By Evan Murdock (not verified) on 25 May 2006 #permalink

From the ice cream article:

Areas that the Pope will visit, including the cities of Warsaw and Krakow, will be dry, with a ban on all alcohol sales while the Pope is in town.
.
Polish police say the ban is in place to maintain public order and as a mark of respect for the pontiff.
.
Pope Benedict XVI himself will be offered both red and white wine as he attends a series of gala dinners, according to local media reports.

********* hypocrites.

I am a student who regularly reads this blog and who has never commented before. I have a dear classmate who is a Bible literalist and young-Earth creationist. She believes:

1. The Earth is ten thousand years old.
2. Dinosaurs died after Noah's flood made environmental conditions harsh, but before that, humans and dinosaurs coexisted.
3. Carbon dating is inaccurate.
4. "If evolution is true, why are there still animals? Why hasn't everything evolved into humans?"
5. Microevolution can happen, but not macroevolution.
6. "Evolution takes the glory away from God."
7. The Earth was created in six days.
8. The Big Bang means that God must exist.
And so many more.

Is there any way I can explain things to her? Something she can read, maybe? The problem is that I can't argue with her without calling her faith into question. If she thinks the Bible is literal, then there is no way that evolution is compatible with her beliefs. And I have hardly studied enough biology to refute her arguments satisfactorily (especially the "life is too complex to have happened by chance" argument). I need help.

j,

If you can find it, a recent issue of National Geographic posed the question, "Was Darwin Wrong?". Long story short, their answer is "No!". It's a very accessible article; I highly recommend it.

Hey, that family that died in Indonesia recently of Avian Flu? They sought out help from a Witch Doctor, against the advice of other Indonesians!

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=aiu7Xi_3TZEY&refer=…

Mythology loses again!

What the hell is wrong with the writers for Doctor Who?

When they wish to, they can be witty and sophisticated... and then they turn around and have the Doctor act profoundly stupidly, and pretend it's some kind of moral stance.

If they intend it to be so, it's a perversely retarded form of morality that abhors violence at any cost but glorifies past human violence as heroic and not only justified, but required.

By Caledonian (not verified) on 25 May 2006 #permalink

j,

Here's a link to the "Was Darwin Wrong" article:
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0411/feature1/fulltext.html

Here's a great link: Understanding Evolution

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/

and there have been some good book recommendations made in earlier posts on Pharyngula. Your friend may not read them, but read them yourself. It's important not for the sake of converting your friend (good luck with that!) but to know what evidence is, and how it differs from anecdote. Best wishes.

Maybe that comet that's due today could land on Kenny Boy? Splat, bang, innards all over...

By DominEditrix (not verified) on 25 May 2006 #permalink

Testing. Testing. Just testing the comments. I've tried to make two comments on this blog and neither has appeared. Hope this one works!