Carnivalia, and an open thread

I resurrected an old rant about Francis Collins and Watchmaker Morality the other day, which people might like to read (again, supposing they saw the first version in the comments here).

Hi:
I would like to know PZ and other fellow commenters opinions about little polar bear Kanut .

Couple of background links:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6470509.stm

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9121042

I have a quick question. According to many sources, the chances of any given combination of chromosomes in a human zygote made by the same two parents is 1 in 64 trillion, but this isn't taking into account crossing over. We know how often crossing over occurs, so, what is the probability of any given combination of genetic material in a human zygote made by the same two parents (not including mutations)? Can we even make that calculation, seeing how every crossing over event is different?
was the probability that my genome would ever exist practically zero? lol.

OFF TOPIC: Anyone catch the Newsweek poll about evolution? Ya you guessed it, the usual poor response for supporting evolution:

Newsweek Poll

This is an open thread, I don't think you can be off topic :P
Larry Moran blogged about the newsweek poll, and pointed out that 27% of agnostics/atheists think god guided the process of evolution... so I'm not really sure I trust a single figure in that poll.

Oh joy, an open thread!
[blatant blogwhoring]
Encounters with Creationists!
More Encounters with Creationists!
[/blatant blogwhoring]
(Look, what else are you supposed to do when you've got a shiny new blog?)

Google Maps offers an unusual travel route:

Sacramento to Cardiff.

Note especially step 27 -- don't forget your shark repellent!

David, have more confidence in the Free Market. Surely if you drive off Long Wharf, there will be an increase in demand for flying cars, and the Free Market Will Provide.

Okay, this might be the funniest unintentional (or maybe not) thing I've seen on the tubes in weeks. I was putting together some images for a new cartoon for the Union of Concerned Scientists Scientific Integrity Editorial Cartoon Contest (all the Australopithicenes and early Homos locked up at Guantanamo). So I googled "human ancestors" and came up with The Smithsonian Institution Human Origins Progject. Then I started clicking the links looking for pictures, artists' renderings of what they looked like for purposes of 'tooning. I clicked on the first one, Ardipithecus ramidus . Go ahead, do it yourself. I'll wait.

...

...

...

Are you laughing yet? Here's what it linked to:

We're sorry that our site is still incomplete. We are trying to get the all of the gaps filled.

Please try back here at a later date.

Follow this link to get back to the Human Family Tree

SOMEBODY at the Smithsonian is having a bit of fun, don't you think?

Kevin Beck is first to take on a monumentally stupid post by Michael Egnor on the Design Inference.

Oooh, open thread!

Is there a reason you stopped linking to the Carnival of Education?

I gladly link to the CoE when I get notices about it -- I seem not to have received one last week.