#0036 RRS Newsletter for July 30, 2007
Submitted by hellfiend666 on July 30, 2007 - 2:46am.
Todays post is a little heavy on the articles, so it got a bit long. The whole thing is, however, very interesting, I thought.
I missed the last few of days due to a sudden outbreak of a social life, but don't worry, it doesn't happen too often! LOL
I'd like to once again thank Sapient for my new venue for this project! You rock bro!
Thanks for reading, if you have any comments or suggestions you can reach me directly HERE. Or on Myspace HERE.
Stay rational,
Jack
and the RRS MI team
Table of Contents
Click HERE to find your local affiliate!
Rational Response Squad News
The great big request for submissions WIN PRIZES!
Science News
Oldest Homo Sapiens Fossils Found, Experts Say
Society Of Vertebrate Paleontology Speaks Out On Creation Museum
Glow-in-the-Dark Sharks at Risk
Clues Boost 'Out of Africa' Theory
Religion
Blood Diamonds & "The Most Dangerous Man in America?"
Interesting argument against God
Government
Mike Gravel at the Democratic Debate
AP: New details on Tillman's death
In case you missed this... One more freedom taken away
Community
Atheist Blood Drive
Root of all Evil? - CBC Debate
Entertainment
War Pigs
Homophobia and Hypocracy: a btich-slap from Margaret Cho
New Song - 'Impossible Claims' (words and music by RabidApe)
THE SIMPSONS VS. FOX
The great big request for submissions WIN PRIZES!
****UPDATE 7-22-07 CONTEST EXTENDED. GREYDON SQUARE CATEGORY ADDED. OTHER CHANGES AND PRIZES AWARDED. PLEASE REVIEW AGAIN AND SUBMIT SOMETHING!!!****
NOTE: DUE TO ERROR IN LINKS AND LOW SUBMISSIONS, THIS CONTEST HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO MARCH 15TH, 2008.
IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION READ EVERYTHING FIRST, CLICK LINKS! COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS SHOULD BE POSTED PUBLICLY IN THIS THREAD FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL PARTICIPANTS! PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THE INFORMATION OF THIS SUBMISSION DRIVE FREELY.
The Rational Response Squad is proud to announce a call to action for content submissisions. We have been blown away by the positive feedback we've received from the freethinking community. Thanks to everyone who has placed a banner, or our player on your website and helped spread the word in some manner. We've received many great written submissions of thoughts and views, but had no place to put them, so we've created a guideline to help you, help us. The categories in which we need submissions are listed below, send us your best material. Your writings will be added to our library of articles, essays, and debunkings. We're hoping to build one of the largest and diverse free libraries of rational thoughts on the internet. Please post everything publicly on our forum so it's there for all RRS members to access who are working on this project. In addition to hosting everything in a free web archive, we may also compile views into a free e-book or a book for sale to generate money for activist projects. Not that you need a reward to share your views with others, but as a thank you we'll be awarding prizes to as many of the top participants as we can. Prizes will be awarded based on effort put in and quality of writing.
We've put the categories in order of need and may alter the order later as submissions come in.
Prizes will be awarded MARCH 15TH, 2008, but you can continue to submit content well after MARCH 15TH, 2008.
For more info on this and other RRS sponsored contests go to the thread HERE
The next RRS MI meeting is in the planning phase still, check back later this week for details!
Reach me directly HERE, or on Myspace HERE
Oldest Homo Sapiens Fossils Found, Experts Say
I've posted this before, but it bears repeating. Next time someone throws a picture of a "Crockoduck"at you, respond with this article!
By John Roach
for National Geographic News
June 11, 2003
Three fossil skulls recovered from the windswept scrabble of Ethiopia's dry and barren Afar rift valley lend archaeological credence to the theory that modern humans evolved in Africa before spreading around the world.
The fossils include two adult males and one child and are estimated to be 160,000 years old. They were found among stone tools and butchered hippopotamus bones. Cut marks on the skulls suggest an early form of mortuary practice.
Prior to the discovery of these fossils, evidence for the out-of-Africa theory of evolution for modern humans was largely based on the analysis of genetic variation in people alive today. Archaeological evidence from 100,000 to 300,000 years ago was scarce.
As a result, another theory that modern humans evolved simultaneously in various parts of the world at roughly the same time from ancient local populations, such as the Neandertals in Europe, maintained plausible traction.
Timothy White, a paleoanthropologist at the University of California at Berkeley, said that the fossils he and his colleagues found in Ethiopia fill this gap in the archaeological record and support the argument that Neandertal was an evolutionary side branch unrelated to modern humans.
"The genetic data predicted we would find fossils that showed none of the characters we see in Neanderthal but rather would show characters on their way to becoming us, and indeed we have tested that hypothesis by finding these new fossils," he said.
The international team of scientists recovered the fossils outside the pastoral Afar village of Herto in 1997. Since the discovery, White and his colleague Berhane Asfaw have methodically dated, pieced together, and analyzed the fossils. They published two papers on the find in the June 12 issue of Nature.
"We are all very pleased we can contribute new information on a period that was previously very poorly known," said White, who serves as the team's American spokesperson.
Owing to the mix of primitive and modern features exhibited by the fossil skulls, White and colleagues assign them to a new subspecies of Homo sapiens they named Homo sapiens idaltu. Idaltu means elder in the Afar language.
Chris Stringer, a paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London, said that "in terms of completeness and dating these are perhaps the most important early human fossils found."
Previous fossils purportedly from this epoch have been fragmentary and were not well dated. The fossils from Ethiopia, however, were found sandwiched between two layers of ash from regularly erupting volcanoes and are very well preserved.
"These are complete enough to show they are modern humans and they are really well dated," said Stringer, who wrote an accompanying perspective in Nature on the find.
Ancient Lakeshore
The skulls were found within 650 feet (200 meters) of one another and had all eroded from the same geological layer of ancient river and beach deposits. No other skeletal bones were recovered and the team found no evidence for intentional burial.
Project geologists and paleontologists say that 160,000 years ago a shallow, freshwater lake teeming with crocodiles, catfish, and hippopotamus covered the region and supplied sustenance to the hominids that lived on the shore. Buffalo roamed the land.
A hippopotamus skull found amongst the remains has clear cut marks made by stone tools, though the team cannot tell whether the hominids actively hunted the animals or scavenged them.
The tools found amongst the remains document a transitional period in tool technology wherein earlier hand axe-dominated assemblages of the wood and bone Acheulean gave way to the flake-dominated assemblages of the Middle Stone Age, according to the team.
Each of the skulls also bears cut marks made by stone tools in what appear to be the result of some sort of post-death ritual.
"They were manipulating the skulls after the death of the individual as some sort of mortuary practice that involved not only de-fleshing—or taking the flesh off—but also keeping the bones around for some purpose," said White.
There is no evidence to suggest cannibalism, but the closest analog to these skulls come from Papua New Guinea, where the remains of the dead are retained for ritual practices that involved cannibalism.
"Could you have the same sort of modification of bones without any ingestion of human flesh? Of course you can," said White. "It is a completely open question that we will need additional remains to answer."
Susan Antón, a paleoanthropologist at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, said that the cut marks do not appear cannibalistic in nature, but rather seem to represent some other sort of mortuary practice.
"This would signal the importance of culture in these ancient hominids, which should not come as a surprise to us," she said. "I expect they were much more like us than we have given them credit for being."
Unique Species?
White and colleagues assigned the fossils to a new species of Homo sapiens after comparing them to other fossils as well as a worldwide sample of several thousand human skulls.
They found that the fossils from Herto are similar to, but do not duplicate, the anatomy of modern humans. Their faces are longer, the skulls more robust, and the brow ridges are larger than those of modern humans, for example.
"It was a very large individual with a complex set of characters that show it is anatomically similar to modern humans, but there are a few differences," said White. "To recognize the differences, we named the subspecies."
According to White, the differences link anatomically modern humans with more archaic forms of humans. This link also fits in with the hominids' tool technology which represents a transition from the Acheulean to the Middle Stone Age, he said.
Stringer says the characteristics White and colleagues use to justify assigning the Herto fossils to their own subspecies of Homo sapiens may not be so unusual among modern humans.
"Personally, I don't think the subspecies name is very useful," he said. "I think those features would be found in other parts of the world in the Pleistocene, for example in Australia."
Whether the fossils represent an immediate ancestor of modern humans or are indeed the first modern humans, Stringer says that the fossils are a fantastic find that places the origin of modern humans in Africa.
The next question is where in Africa did modern humans evolve?
"There might be just one small place where modern humans originated and spread out from there, or did different bits of Africa contribute to the overall modern human pattern?" said Stringer.
Further research and better dating of the African fossils may eventually reveal an answer.
Society Of Vertebrate Paleontology Speaks Out On Creation Museum
Science Daily — Professional paleontologists from around the world are concerned about the misrepresentation of science at the newly opened Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky. The Creation Museum has been marketed to the public as a “reasoned, logical defence” for young-earth creationism by Ken Ham, the President and CEO of Answers in Genesis, which runs the Creation Museum.
The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, a world-wide scientific and educational organization concerned with vertebrate paleontology, contends that the museum presents visitors with a view of earth history that has been scientifically disproven for over a century.
The Creation Museum’s fossil exhibitions, though artistically impressive, include a vast number of scientific errors, large and small. These errors range from implying that the Earth’s sedimentary rocks were deposited by a single biblical Flood, to claiming that humans and dinosaurs lived alongside one another, to denouncing the reality of transitional fossils.
"Ken Ham is not recognized as a scientist or educator among experts in the fields of geology and paleontology, and his views on the interpretation of Biblical texts are extremist. Visitors to his ‘museum’ may arrive knowing little about these sciences, but they will leave misled and intellectually deceived,” said Dr. Kevin Padian, professor and curator, University of California, Berkeley and president of the National Center for Science Education.
The fossil exhibits at the Creation Museum discount the last 150 years of paleontological and geological discovery. Not only are transitional fossils, including snakes with limbs and dinosaurs with feathers, abundant in the fossil record, but radiometric dating allows paleontologists to pinpoint the timing of major events in the ancient history of the earth.
For example, Tyrannosaurus rex existed over 65 million years ago, whereas modern humans didn’t show up on the scene until 200 thousand years ago. They never walked side by side. The Creation Museum neglects to include this critical data in its analysis of the history of life on earth. “Most of us in the public view museums as places to get the latest information on scientific discovery. In this case, the Creation Museum is using the disguise of science museums and centers without including an iota of science inside,” said Dr. Kristi Curry Rogers of the Science Museum of Minnesota.
“That’s the real danger of such a place – undermining the basic principles of science, eroding the public's confidence in science, and causing a general weakening of science education in the country,” commented Dr. Glenn Storrs of the Cincinnati Museum Center.
Dr. Catherine Badgley, a professor at the University of Michigan and president of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, remarked, “according to the Creation Museum, the history of life is short, sin-ridden, and laden with moralizing imperatives. In contrast, the real fossil record shows that this long history is brimming with discoveries of new kinds of animals, plants, and environments, inviting people to use their unusual minds to question, to reason, and to wonder at life’s remarkable variety.”
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Comment on this forum post HERE!
Glow-in-the-Dark Sharks at Risk?
Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News
July 17, 2007 — One of the first ever detailed studies on deep water lantern sharks, so named for their ability to glow in the dark, has found they are in danger of extinction.
Recent studies have linked declines in shark populations to the collapse of entire marine ecosystems. The loss of lantern sharks could devastate other ocean life globally, as many lantern sharks have wide ranges.
Researchers focused on one species in particular, the smooth lantern shark, commonly caught as by-catch in Portuguese trawling and longline fisheries. Since the bioluminescent shark has little commercial value, the fishermen usually just discard it.
"What we now know is that this species has a vulnerable life cycle characterized by slow growth rates, low fecundity and late maturity," lead author Rui Coelho told Discovery News.
"When fisheries mortality increases, the populations start to decline and cannot compensate for this," added Coelho, a shark researcher at the University of Algarve, Portugal.
He and colleague Karim Erzini analyzed 614 by-catch sharks over a two-year period. Their measurements showed the species grows anywhere from 5 to 19 inches long.
The sharks have special light-producing organs, called photophores, mostly found on their sides.
"These photophores may be used to allow individuals to escape from predators, approach prey without the sharks being detected or for species recognition, such as during the mating season," explained Coelho.
The scientists developed a unique way to determine the age of the sharks: The inner portions of their spines grow continuously. By counting growth bands in this spinal area, similar to counting tree rings, the researchers could estimate each shark's age.
Their findings have been accepted for publication in the journal Fisheries Research.
The oldest male they found was 13 years old, while the oldest females were 17 years old.
Eggs found within females numbered, on average, 10.44. Since this shark's reproductive cycle may last as long as three years, the birthrate is extremely low when compared to most other animals and fishes. The researchers also noticed that many females miscarried — likely due to stress — when they became by-catch.
Prior studies conducted by Coelho and Erzini suggest that a number of strategies can reduce by-catch and help prevent lantern shark populations from declining further.
Since the sharks often swim in very deep water, the researchers suggest that fishermen remove hooks from their gear at these levels. For deep water trawling, rigid grids may help to keep fish out of desired crustacean catches.
Laws, such as one that now prohibits trawling in the Mediterranean at depths deeper than 3280 feet, might also afford some level of protection to the sharks and other deepwater species.
Shark expert Maurice Clarke of the Marine Institute in Ireland told Discovery News that the new study is "very comprehensive" and "is the first paper to validate age estimation for a deepwater shark."
Of the smooth lantern shark, Clarke said, "It is clear that it is a slow-growing species that matures late in its life. It is likely to be vulnerable to exploitation."
Clarke added, "The next step is to quantify the amount of this species being removed from the sea. This information, along with the data from Rui and Karim's study can form the basis of an analysis of the vulnerability of this species being caught and discarded in commercial fisheries."
Clues Boost 'Out of Africa' Theory
AFP
July 18, 2007 — Twenty years after it was popularized, the "Out of Africa" theory, which posits that modern humans originally came from Africa before spreading out in a global conquest, has received an emphatic boost, scientists said on Wednesday.
Rival theories about the rise of Homo sapiens sapiens, as anatomically modern man is called, say humans either came from a single point in Africa or among different populations in different parts around the world, who evolved independently from a forebear, Homo erectus.
The "Out of Africa" scenario has been underpinned since 1987 by genetic studies based mainly on the rate of mutations in mitochondrial DNA, a genetic material inherited from the maternal line of ancestry.
The "multiple origins" school, meanwhile, points out that human skulls from around the world have clearly different characteristics, and argues that this proves our species evolved in slightly different forms more or less simultaneously.
In a study released by the British journal Nature, University of Cambridge researchers combined both techniques.
Analysis of genetic diversity among human populations is backed by evidence from 4,500 male skulls from around the world, demonstrating we all came from a single area in Africa, the authors say.
They found that the farther a population is from Africa, the less genetic diversity that population has.
This was the result of a "bottleneck," or interbreeding among a smaller gene pool that occurred when migrating populations were temporarily reduced by war, disease or some other catastrophe.
The loss in genetic diversity was mirrored by a corresponding loss in diversity of skull characteristics.
Applying a benchmark of characteristics, the researchers found that the most varied skulls were from southeastern Africa — and the diversity progressively declined the farther the skull was from Africa.
"We have combined our genetic data with new measurements of a large sample of skulls to show definitively that modern humans originated from a single area in sub-Saharan Africa," said lead researcher Andrea Manica of the university's Department of Zoology.
The team tested the "multiple origins" theory on these two tools, and found "this just did not work," said fellow researcher Francois Balloux.
In 2000, Swedish research based on the molecular clock estimated that H. sapiens sapiens emerged about 121,500 to 221,500 years ago, and the migration out of Africa was about 52,000 years ago, give or take 27,500 years.
Blood Diamonds & "The Most Dangerous Man in America?"
Diamond Pat
Another one of Robertson's more notorious business deals is the recently exposed diamond mine case. In this ingenious venture, Robertson saw an opportunity in the country formerly named Zaire (now the Congo) for diamond mines. The former Zaire is a country rich in natural resources, including diamonds, but these resources were thus far being plundered by its (former) dictator, the brutal Mobuto Sese Seko. Mobuto (who recently died of cancer) was one of the world's richest men, while his people lived in grinding poverty. It was often noted that he could have cured all of his country's ills by writing a personal check. Mobuto had been trying to come to the US to try to improve relations, but the State Department refused to grant him a visa, due to his lengthy human rights violations (see the Pat's Dictator Friends page for more info). In all of this, the clever Pat Robertson saw an opportunity. The two became close associates, and Mobuto allowed Pat to open diamond mines in Zaire, under the name of the African Development Company, while Pat tried to persuade the State Department to allow Mobuto entry into the US. Ultimately, it was found out that Pat had been using CBN money and equipment to aid his diamond mining operation in Zaire (see the News page for more details). A good deal for Pat, seeing as he employed people in Zaire for ridiculously low wages, and managed to use CBN's infrastructure to cut costs even more.
Ultimately, one is struck by the constant use of non-profit, donor money used to fund Pat's schemes, and the total lack of ethics that this man has. Anyone thinking about sending money to CBN to "promote the gospel" should definitely take note; chances are that your money will end up being used to increase the fortune of one Marion "Pat" Robertson instead. For even more information on Pat's business practices, I encourage you to check out Rob Boston's book entitled "The Most Dangerous Man in America? Pat Robertson and the Rise of the Christian Coalition," from which some of my information comes.
"Operation Blessing, also financed entirely through charitable donations from Robertson's cult following, has proved to be a more shaky financial venture for Robertson. First, he used the airplane and resources brought in by Operation Blessing to fly to Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo) to purchase diamond mines for Robertson's company African Development Corporation, to harvest so-called blood diamonds produced by near slave labor. "
Interesting argument against God
#0035 RRS Newsletter for July 26, 2007
Submitted by hellfiend666 on July 26, 2007 - 5:32am.
I am introducing a new feature today, and I need YOU all to participate! The section is called the "Rational Response Column", any essays or experiences you would like to share with the world. For now we are interested in hearing your "deconversion" stories. For the first addition to this new section, I have posted the Deconversion story of Kelly, one of the Co-founders of the RRS. Depending on the response I receive, I may not have this in every edition, but hopefully at least once a week.
I would also like to direct your attention to the Community section for the details about the death one of the most influential psychologists in the feild. He has been credited as the #2 most influential, in fact, beating out even Frued, that man was Albert Ellis.
Thanks for reading, if you have any comments or suggestions you can reach me directly HERE. Or on Myspace HERE.
Stay rational,
Jack
and the RRS MI team
Table of Contents
Click HERE to find your local affiliate!
Rational Response Squad News
The great big request for submissions WIN PRIZES!
RRS Michigan News
The first monthly meeting of RRS MI
Science News
Ancient Sumerian Astronomy
Scientists unveil the 'face' of newly encoded memory
No Diamonds in Uranus' Skies
Mastodon mitochondrial genome is sequenced
Religion
James Randi explains why he examines paranormal claims
The Great delusion - Why we must continue to fight religion!
Deliver us from Evil, Movie
Government
Texas is DOOMED!
Vendor Arrested For Impeach Him Buttons
Bad Bills On The Hill: Church-State Wall Under Fire In New Congress
THIS is why Dennis Kucinich is behind in all the polls
Community
Atheist Blood Drive
In Memory of Albert Ellis
Albert Ellis dies at 93
Theism is irrational (duh)
Entertainment
Bill Hicks- face down in the mud in Afghanistan '04 elohel
Bill Maher - The Decider
The great big request for submissions WIN PRIZES!
****UPDATE 7-22-07 CONTEST EXTENDED. GREYDON SQUARE CATEGORY ADDED. OTHER CHANGES AND PRIZES AWARDED. PLEASE REVIEW AGAIN AND SUBMIT SOMETHING!!!****
NOTE: DUE TO ERROR IN LINKS AND LOW SUBMISSIONS, THIS CONTEST HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO MARCH 15TH, 2008.
IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION READ EVERYTHING FIRST, CLICK LINKS! COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS SHOULD BE POSTED PUBLICLY IN THIS THREAD FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL PARTICIPANTS! PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THE INFORMATION OF THIS SUBMISSION DRIVE FREELY.
The Rational Response Squad is proud to announce a call to action for content submissisions. We have been blown away by the positive feedback we've received from the freethinking community. Thanks to everyone who has placed a banner, or our player on your website and helped spread the word in some manner. We've received many great written submissions of thoughts and views, but had no place to put them, so we've created a guideline to help you, help us. The categories in which we need submissions are listed below, send us your best material. Your writings will be added to our library of articles, essays, and debunkings. We're hoping to build one of the largest and diverse free libraries of rational thoughts on the internet. Please post everything publicly on our forum so it's there for all RRS members to access who are working on this project. In addition to hosting everything in a free web archive, we may also compile views into a free e-book or a book for sale to generate money for activist projects. Not that you need a reward to share your views with others, but as a thank you we'll be awarding prizes to as many of the top participants as we can. Prizes will be awarded based on effort put in and quality of writing.
We've put the categories in order of need and may alter the order later as submissions come in.
Prizes will be awarded MARCH 15TH, 2008, but you can continue to submit content well after MARCH 15TH, 2008.
For more info on this and other RRS sponsored contests go to the thread HERE
The first monthly meeting of RRS MI
I have decided that I will host monthly RRS MI meetings and/or outings in an effort to build a better sense of community. These will be held on the last Thursday of every month. This means the first one will be held on July 26th, and we will be watching the movie "The God Who Wasn't There". If you all have seen this, please let me know, we can choose another, but I thought it fitting to start with that one, and I WILL start the evening off with a group discussion on where and what we would like to see come out of this local chapter (something that was never really talked about in depth at the last meet). Other activities under consideration are things like scientific exhibition outings, protests where needed, and possibly the planning of political activism as our state is concerned.Reach me directly HERE, or on Myspace HERE to RSVP!
Ancient Sumerian Astronomy
Um, this is a theory I've not heard before, weird.
Scientists unveil the 'face' of newly encoded memory
http://www.newkerala.com/july.php?action=fullnews&id=48839
Washington, July 25 : Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have made a breakthrough in the fulfilment of a century-old dream of neuroscientists to visualize a memory by capturing, for the first time, images of the changes in brain cell connections following a common form of learning.
The researchers used newly developing microscopic techniques called restorative deconvolution microscopy in their groundbreaking research, reported in the Journal of Neuroscience.
They have found that synaptic connections in a region of rats' brains critical to learning change shape when the rodents learn to navigate a new, complex environment.
They say that the rats stopped learning upon the use of drugs to block those changes in the course of research, an indication that the shape change plays a significant role in the production of stable memory.
'This is the first time anyone has seen the physical substrate, the 'face,' of newly encoded memory. We have cleared a hurdle that once seemed insurmountable,' said Gary Lynch, Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour at the university UC Irvine and leader of one of the two research teams involved in the studies.
The research has shown that markers related to long-term potentiation (LTP), a physiological effect closely related to memory storage, appear during learning and are associated with expanded synapses in the hippocampus.
Since the size of a synapse relates to its effectiveness in transmitting messages between neurons, the new results indicate that learning improves communication between particular groups of brain cells.
The new findings have raised hopes for mapping the distribution of memory across brain regions, which is one of the greatest objectives of the life sciences.
UC Irvine researchers are now planning to set up a consortium of laboratories directed at producing the first maps of memory.
No Diamonds in Uranus' Skies
Irene Klotz, Discovery News
July 25, 2007 — Given enough carbon, pressure and time, diamonds can form — but apparently not everywhere, say researchers who developed new modeling methods to parry the notion that small diamonds could spontaneously form in the skies of giant gas planets like Uranus and Neptune.
The discovery three years ago of a white dwarf star with a solid diamond core bolstered theories that the carbon-containing atmospheres of the large outer planets were celestial diamond factories even closer to home.
"Our simulations indicate that it is extremely unlikely that diamonds could ever have nucleated from the carbon-rich middle layer of Uranus and Neptune," a team of Dutch physicists wrote in paper to be published in Physical Review Letters.
The scientists discovered that carbon atoms in the planets' atmosphere would be much more likely to line up in triangular arrangements, which would yield bits of graphite, not the straight lines more suitable for diamond crystallization, said James Riordon with the American Physical Society.
"People assumed that there were going to be certain combinations that would be suitable" for diamond formation, he said.
Instead, the team from the University of Amsterdam and the FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics in the Netherlands found just the opposite.
"There is a wide range of conditions where diamonds could form in principle, but never will in practice," the scientists wrote.
Through advanced computer modeling, the team found that the concentration of carbon needs to be at least 15 percent for diamonds to form.
"Such conditions exist in white dwarf (stars), but certainly not in Uranus or Neptune," the researchers said.
In 2004, scientists discovered a white dwarf star 50 light-years from Earth with a diamond core 2,500 miles in diameter. The cosmic gem is the remains of a star that was once much like our sun.
After expending its nuclear fuel, the star, which is located in the constellation Centaurus, cooled and contracted, leaving behind a jewel weighing about 5 million trillion trillion pounds. In another seven billion years or so, our sun should look quite like it.
Mastodon mitochondrial genome is sequenced
LEIPZIG, Germany, July 24 (UPI) -- A team of German, Swiss and U.S. scientists has announced the sequencing of the complete mitochondrial genome of the mastodon.Michael Hofreiter of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and colleagues said the sequence of the extinct relative of elephants was obtained from a tooth dated to 50,000-130,000 years.
The mastodon is now only the third extinct taxon for which the complete mitochondrial genome is known, joining the woolly mammoth, and several species of Moa, a giant flightless Australasian bird.
The researchers said the sequence showed mammoths are more closely related to Asian than to African elephants. The researchers also determined the time of divergence of African elephants from Asian elephants and mammoths occurred about 7.6 million years ago and the time of divergence between mammoths and Asian elephants about 6.7 million years ago.
The researchers note those dates are strikingly similar to the divergence time for humans, chimpanzees, and gorillas, raising the possibility that the speciation of mammoths and elephants and of humans and African great apes had a common cause.
The findings appear in the open access journal PLoS Biology.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
James Randi explains why he examines paranormal claims
#0034 RRS Newsletter for July 25, 2007
Submitted by hellfiend666 on July 25, 2007 - 2:38am. Well, firstly I'd like to point out that I was unable to access one of my main resourses, but I had enough material in reserve, and enough material that Brian wanted me to include to warrant a good post. I also did a little digging, and found some other interesting stuff I thought you all would like to know about.
You will, no doubt, notice some changes in the near future, that is due to my getting used to the new home, and my collaboration with Sapient to hone this project to be the best that it can!
#0033 RRS Newsletter for July 23, 2007
Submitted by hellfiend666 on July 23, 2007 - 1:09am.Well, it seems I have finally found a permanant home for my newsletters! Yesterday, after taking notice of the project, and also noticing the troubles Myspace was presenting it with, Brian Sapient felt we needed to talk about resolving these issues by giving me a spot here on the national site. I, of course, was thrilled by this, and promptly took him up on the offer. As you may have noticed, I have already posted all of the back issues, as well.
For this gratiousness, I would like extend my thanks and gratitude to Brian for allowing me this opportunity to present this exactly how I would like it to be. I hope I can be rescource for the community.
Well, now that thats out of the way, there is a lot to get to today, so I'll not babble longer.
Thanks for reading, if you have any comments or suggestions you can reach me directly HERE.
Stay rational,
Jack
and the RRS MI team
Table of Contents
Rational Response Squad News
The great big request for submissions WIN PRIZES!
RRS Michigan News
The first monthly meeting of RRS MI
Science News
Journey by Starlight plus fre mp3 Einstein Relativity
Pale Blue Dot narrated by Carl Sagan.
Fins to limbs, Anglerfish!
Looking for something? Surprising number of neurons help...
Religion
How the religion beat became a test of faith
Free Will: Is serving God a choice?
Another youth pastor arrested for alleged rape
True Christians Can Drink Poison
Government
Youtube and CNN to host Presidential Debates
GET OFF YOUR ASS AND DO SOMETHING!
The 9/11 Truth Movement in Perspective
The Politics of Fear and Bush's Propaganda Machine
Henry Rollins - Incredible Rant "Never Relent"
Community
Message from Ellen Johnson, American Atheists
Books of interest...
Featured MySpace Book: "God Is Not Great" (Review It)
Entertainment
Lol. Why God never recieved Tenure at any University
Music Videos from Chris
The great big request for submissions WIN PRIZES!
****UPDATE 7-22-07 CONTEST EXTENDED. GREYDON SQUARE CATEGORY ADDED. OTHER CHANGES AND PRIZES AWARDED. PLEASE REVIEW AGAIN AND SUBMIT SOMETHING!!!****
NOTE: DUE TO ERROR IN LINKS AND LOW SUBMISSIONS, THIS CONTEST HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO MARCH 15TH, 2008.
IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION READ EVERYTHING FIRST, CLICK LINKS! COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS SHOULD BE POSTED PUBLICLY IN THIS THREAD FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL PARTICIPANTS! PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THE INFORMATION OF THIS SUBMISSION DRIVE FREELY.
The Rational Response Squad is proud to announce a call to action for content submissisions. We have been blown away by the positive feedback we've received from the freethinking community. Thanks to everyone who has placed a banner, or our player on your website and helped spread the word in some manner. We've received many great written submissions of thoughts and views, but had no place to put them, so we've created a guideline to help you, help us. The categories in which we need submissions are listed below, send us your best material. Your writings will be added to our library of articles, essays, and debunkings. We're hoping to build one of the largest and diverse free libraries of rational thoughts on the internet. Please post everything publicly on our forum so it's there for all RRS members to access who are working on this project. In addition to hosting everything in a free web archive, we may also compile views into a free e-book or a book for sale to generate money for activist projects. Not that you need a reward to share your views with others, but as a thank you we'll be awarding prizes to as many of the top participants as we can. Prizes will be awarded based on effort put in and quality of writing.
We've put the categories in order of need and may alter the order later as submissions come in.
Prizes will be awarded MARCH 15TH, 2008, but you can continue to submit content well after MARCH 15TH, 2008.
For more info on this and other RRS sponsored contests go to the thread HERE
The first monthly meeting of RRS MI
I have decided that I will host monthly RRS MI meetings and/or outings in an effort to build a better sense of community. These will be held on the last Thursday of every month. This means the first one will be held on July 26th, and we will be watching the movie "The God Who Wasn't There". If you all have seen this, please let me know, we can choose another, but I thought it fitting to start with that one, and I WILL start the evening off with a group discussion on where and what we would like to see come out of this local chapter (something that was never really talked about in depth at the last meet). Other activities under consideration are things like scientific exhibition outings, protests where needed, and possibly the planning of political activism as our state is concerned.Journey by Starlight plus free mp3 Einstein Relativity
----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: TPO
Date: Jul 22, 2007 11:14 AM
This website is awesome.Thanx for sharing...Monika
From: The Son of the Self-Aware Universe
Great post! Thanks LET NEWTON BE, AND ALL WAS LIGHT!
Just want to add a link to a free download of Albert Einstin's book Relativity
to save just "right click and save taget as"
From: LET NEWTON BE, AND ALL WAS LIGHT!
JOURNEY BY STARLIGHT
THIS WEBSITE IS REALLY AMAZING...YOU SHOULD TAKE A LOOK
Pale Blue Dot
----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: TPO
Date: Jul 22, 2007 11:37 AM
Blu222
Substance D
Pegasus
We used to have the audio cassette tapes for Pale Blue Dot; however, TPO donated them to the local library to share the knowledge. Awesome book!
Thanks to:
Beatle bones 'n' smokein' stones
The Son of the Self-Aware Universe
..................................................................................................
Some time before he died in 1996, Carl Sagan recorded a partial audio version of his 1994 book "Pale Blue Dot". Often described as the "sequel" to Cosmos, the audio version of Pale Blue Dot is, at this moment, regrettably out of print.
This video is "episode one" of an unauthorized attempt at producing a series of videos based on Carl Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot" audio book combined with a soundtrack and appropriate video and still images intended to recall the feel of the classic documentary series "Ascent of Man" and "Cosmos"
Please visit the official project website at "Wanderers"
to view the full version (40 minutes running time)
Fins to limbs, Anglerfish!
----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Human evolution
Date: Jul 22, 2007 1:18 PM
Looking for something? Surprising number of neurons help...
----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Reverend AtheiStar
Date: Jul 22, 2007 7:36 PM
http://www.medicexchange.com/mall/departmentpage.cfm/MedicExchangeUSA/_96103/2083/departments-contentview
Looking for something? Surprising number of neurons help find it, research shows
Source: University of California - Irvine
Author:
Date: Thu, 19 July 2007
A person searching for a ripe tomato at the grocery store is more likely to notice apples, strawberries and other red fruits as well, according to a new study that measured changes in blood flow in the brain. The researchers also discovered that more neurons are called into action to help the eyes find a particular object than has previously been documented.
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers observed systematic changes in brain activity when participants focused on observing a certain object in motion, no matter where it appeared in their visual field.
"This increased activity in the brain is what helps you find objects you are looking for, even when you don't know exactly where the objects are," said UC Irvine cognitive scientist John Serences.
The study, co-authored by Serences and University of Washington associate professor Geoffrey Boynton, is published in the July 18 online edition of the journal Neuron.
In their study, researchers presented participants with a computer display of objects moving in different directions. Participants were asked to pay attention to objects moving only in a particular direction (for example, the object moving to the left). Using noninvasive fMRI to indirectly measure neural activity, researchers demonstrate that patterns of brain activity change when people pay attention to objects moving in different directions.
In addition, paying attention to one direction of motion makes the brain more responsive to other objects moving in that direction, no matter where the other objects appear in their visual field - a phenomenon that has not previously been documented.
This research may enhance scientists' understanding of problems such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, while also explaining how healthy people's brains create awareness of their surroundings.
"By gaining a more thorough understanding of how a healthy human brain functions, we will be better equipped in the future to recognize, diagnose and treat abnormalities within the brain," Serences says.
How the religion beat became a test of faith
----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: TPO
Date: Jul 22, 2007 10:29 AM
How the religion beat became a test of faith
I just finished reading a moving essay by a reporter for the LA Times where he describes how the religion beat became a test of his faith. In this piece he explains how the religious stories he covered affected his faith and his spiritual journey.
He opens the piece by describing what being assigned the religion beat for his paper meant to him:
"WHEN Times editors assigned me to the religion beat, I believed God had answered my prayers.Something very different indeed, he came to the only reasonable conclusion anyone who is honest with themselves will arrive at sooner or later.
As a serious Christian, I had cringed at some of the coverage in the mainstream media. Faith frequently was treated like a circus, even a freak show.
I wanted to report objectively and respectfully about how belief shapes people's lives. Along the way, I believed, my own faith would grow deeper and sturdier.
But during the eight years I covered religion, something very different happened.
"I wondered if my born-again experience at the mountain retreat was more about fatigue, spiritual longing and emotional vulnerability than being touched by Jesus.
And I considered another possibility: Maybe God didn't exist.
#0032 RRS Newsletter for July 21, 2007
Submitted by hellfiend666 on July 22, 2007 - 3:14am.
So, for the last couple days there wasn't really anything noteworthy being spread, but now I'm back, and I wish to draw your attention first to the Community section. A couple of interesting things there. Under Religion, I posted an article I received that was authored by Christopher Hitchens, we all love the Hitchens!
Thanks for reading, if you have any comments or suggestions you can reach me directly HERE.
Stay rational,
Jack
and the RRS MI team
Table of Contents
Science News
My contributions for today
Evolution 101
Religion
My contributions for today
PERIODIC REMINDER HITLER WASN'T AN ATHEIST #2
An Atheist Responds (by Christopher Hitchens)
Children of God AKA The Family
Government
My contributions for today
Bush Again Bows to Religious Right on Stem Cells
Attorney General Gonzalez Visits the Discovery Institute
Indecency Legislation; Bill Treads on the First Amendment
The Politics of Fear and Bush's Propaganda Machine
OLBERMANN SPECIAL COMMENT JULY 18, 2007 (repost)
Community
My contributions for today
What Do the KKK and FFRF Have in Common?
CETA - Cult for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is Bullshit
Why does faith deserve respect?
Jim Crow Justice in Louisiana High School
Entertainment
My contributions for today
george carlin nails it
George Carlin - The Planet Is Fine
Bible Spoiler!
Tonight the Rational Response Squad covers "Sicko Weekend." Have you seen Sicko yet? Michael Moore has approved viewing his movie online for free however, consider going to watch it in the theater to send a message, enjoy it the way it should be, laugh alongside theatergoers, and pay your tithes.
Festivities begin now... LIVE. Currently we're playing clips. By 6:30 PM we'll be playing Sicko clips. At around 8 pm we'll go live with Brian Flemming to discuss the movie and the health care crisis in this country. We'd like to hear from you as well. Join the chatroom... hang out with us and tell us your point of view. The purpose of our conversation is to try and find agreement amongst our community about this issue. We will try to entertain as many views from the chat room as possible. Join us by 8pm est...
DOUBLE CLICK THE VIDEO WINDOW TO OPEN THE CHAT ROOM. ENABLE POP-UPS.
Here is another way to access our chat room.
Hosted By: Jack Wynne
When: Thursday Jul 26, 2007
at 6:00 PM
Where: Jack's house
321 Central
Inkster, MI 48141
United States
Description:
Jack Wynne
Click Here To View Event
I have decided that I will host monthly RRS MI meetings and/or outings in an effort to build a better sense of community. These will be held on the last Thursday of every month. This means the first one will be held on July 26th, and we will be watching the movie "The God Who Wasn't There". If you all have seen this, please let me know, we can choose another, but I thought it fitting to start with that one, and I WILL start the evening off with a group discussion on where and what we would like to see come out of this local chapter (something that was never really talked about in depth at the last meet). Other activities under consideration are things like scientific exhibition outings, protests where needed, and possibly the planning of political activism as our state is concerned.
Evolution 101
----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: TPO
Date: Jul 19, 2007 6:40 PM
These videos are completely fascinating. I highly encourage everyone to read and learn more about biology, astronomy, geology, chemistry, etc. The immense amount of scientific illiteracy in the US is very disgusting. We are a very unenlightened nation compared to Canada, Europe, and many other countries.
Search through this website for more, http://talkorigins.org/
Keep in mind that the Carl Sagan Cosmos Series is from 1980. Much more has been discovered and updated. Hit up youtube for more because there are tons of videos from his cosmos series. *Note in this first videos he is talking about crabs and how they were artificially selected. He was referring to an old myth that was believed by the people on the island that represented ancient warriors. Out of respect, the people of the island would throw crabs back into the water that had shells which looked like the face of a warrior...
Carl Sagan 1-
2-
3-
4-
Richard Dawkins
This documentary by Dawkins is important because there is a wall of myths and misunderstandings surrounding evolutionary theory that need to be pointed out. It is all too often that creationists or other people who don't understand evolutionary theory blow it off because they think that it represents a theory of "chance." That everything "just happened" by accident. That something as complex as the eye or ear just "somehow formed itself." Or maybe they disregard it as just that, saying that it is "just a theory." This is all clearly not true. Biological evolution does not work like that at all, and we refer to it as a theory because it is the unified explanation of biology. Scientific theory is different and is not just a wild guess. It is of course a collection of facts, laws, and explanations.
Tribute to kent hovind
evolution 101
These videos are completely fascinating. I highly encourage everyone to read and learn more about biology, astronomy, geology, chemistry, etc. The immense amount of scientific illiteracy in the US is very disgusting. We are a very unenlightened nation compared to Canada, Europe, and many other countries.
Search through this website for more, http://talkorigins.org/
Click her to read more and to comment on this blog...
PERIODIC REMINDER HITLER WASN'T AN ATHEIST #2
----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: ATHEISTS AGNOSTICS SKEPTICS & HUMANISTS ON MYSPACE
Date: Jul 19, 2007 4:40 PM
Hitler in front of "Church of our Lady" in Nuremberg, Sept. 1934. Photographer, Heinrich Hoffmann.
http://www.ushmm.orghttp://www.nobeliefs.com/nazis.htm
An Atheist Responds
----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: TPO
Date: Jul 19, 2007 4:49 PM
An Atheist Responds by Christopher Hitchens
It's uncommonly generous of Michael Gerson[" What Atheists Can't Answer," op-ed, July 13] to refer to me as "intellectually courageous and unfailingly kind," since (a) this might be taken as proof that he hardly knows me and (b) it was he who was so kind when I once rang him to check a scurrilous peacenik rumor that he was a secret convert from Judaism to Christian fundamentalism.
#0031 RRS Newsletter for July 18, 2007
Submitted by hellfiend666 on July 22, 2007 - 3:10am.
The first thing I'd like to draw your attention to today is the first post in the Community section, it's about a news website called TheRealNews.com! I am excited about this, check it out to see why!!! Then go to the next post in that category, a video of John Stewart on CNNs "Crossfire". He calls them out!
Thanks for reading, if you have any comments or suggestions you can reach me directly HERE.
Stay rational,
Jack
and the RRS MI team
Table of Contents
Science News
My contributions for today
Oldest Homo Sapiens Fossils Found, Experts Say
Homologies "TEXT"
James Randi outdoes Uri Geller
A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science
How scientists calculate the age of the earth.
Religion
My contributions for today
Xian Desperation? 'Use Harry Potter to spread Xian message"
Government
My contributions for today
The results of our negligence overseas
How will the presidential candidates appeal to YOU?
WH Claims Executive Privilege Over Tillman Documents
AL QAEDA: REALITY CHECK ~OLBERMANN
Dangerous Men and their dangerous goals!!!
Community
My contributions for today
Support TheRealNews.com! (Please Repost Widely)
John Stewart - ONE OF THE LAST SANE VOICES !!!!
PERIODIC REMINDER THAT HITLER WASN'T AN ATHEIST # 1
Entertainment
My contributions for today
Eggs - Funny Irish Short Movie
Atheist are Liars who Worship Satan!
Oldest Homo Sapiens Fossils Found, Experts Say
Homologies "TEXT"
----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Human evolution
Date: Jul 16, 2007 10:41 PM
There are an enormous number of homologies between living species, and it is not possible to list more than a tiny fraction of the examples here. However, you will get a general overview of the types of homologies with a few examples of each. There are basically three categories into which the homology evidence falls:
* anatomical,
* embryonic and
* biochemical.
Despite some overlap between the categories, these three are a reasonable way to separate the evidence. The embryonic is mostly a subset of the anatomical but is nevertheless a special case and bears some discussion on its own. There is also an overarching theme to all of these homologies - hierarchies - that provides some of the strongest evidence for common descent. But the first things to consider are the actual homologies themselves; later we will look at how they fall into hierarchies and the significance of this fact.
Most of the traditional evidences for the idea of common descent came from comparative anatomy. It is still a powerful category of evidence with a wealth of examples that support the idea of evolution. The basic concept of anatomical homologies is that different species show many morphological or physiological similarities which don't make sense from a functional perspective.
If species actually arose independently (naturally or through a divine act) one would think that each organism would have characteristics that were uniquely suited to its nature and environment. That is, an organism's anatomy would function in a manner most suited to its particular way of life. And yet virtually all organisms have anatomical similarities with other very different species which, based on our knowledge of biology, biochemistry and biophysics, don't make any sense functionally.
There are countless examples of these kinds of homologies. One frequently cited example is the pentadactyl (five digit) limb of tetrapods (vertebrates with four limbs including amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals). When you consider the vastly different functions of the various limbs of all of these creatures (grasping, walking, digging, flying, swimming, etc.) there is no functional reason for all of these limbs to have the same basic structure. Why do humans, cats, birds and whales all have the same basic five digit limb structure? (Note: adult birds actually have three digit limbs, but embryonically these digits develop from a five digit precursor.)
The only idea that makes sense is if all of these creatures developed from a common ancestor that happened to have five digit limbs. This idea is further supported if you examine the fossil evidence. Fossils from the Devonian time period, when tetrapods are thought to have developed, show examples of six, seven and eight digit limbs - so it is not as if there were some limitation to five digit limbs. Four limbed creatures with different numbers of digits on their limbs did exist. Again, the only explanation that makes any sense is that all of the tetrapods developed from a common ancestor that happened to have five digit limbs.
In many homologies, the similarity between species is not actively disadvantageous in any apparent way. It may not make sense from a functional perspective, but it doesn't appear to actually harm the organism. On the other hand, some homologies do indeed appear to be positively disadvantageous.
One example is a cranial nerve that goes from the brain to the larynx via a tube near the heart. In fish, this path is a direct route. What is interesting is that this nerve follows the same route in all species that have the homologous nerve. This means that in an animal like the giraffe, this nerve must make a ridiculous detour down the neck from the brain and then back up the neck to the larynx area.
So, the giraffe has to grow an extra 10-15 feet of nerve compared to a direct connection. This recurrent laryngeal nerve, as it is called, is clearly inefficient. It is easy to explain why the nerve takes this circuitous route if we accept that giraffes evolved from fish-like ancestors.Another example would be the human knee. Rearward articulating knees are much better if a creature spends most of its time walking on the ground. Of course, forward articulating knees are great if you spend a lot of time climbing trees.
Why giraffes and humans would have such poor configurations if they originated independently is something that remains for creationists to explain. The most common creationist rebuttal to homologies of any kind is frequently of the "God created all creatures according to some pattern which is why different species show similarities" variety. Ignoring the point that we would have to consider God an extremely poor designer if this were the case, this explanation isn't really an explanation at all. If creationists are going to claim that some plan exists, it is up to them to explain the plan. To do otherwise is just an argument from ignorance and is equivalent to saying things are the way they are "just because." Given the evidence, the evolutionary explanation makes more sense.
Copied and pasted from http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/evolution/blfaq_evolution_evidence07.htm
James Randi outdoes Uri Geller
----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: The A-Team
Date: Jul 17, 2007 9:12 AM
We are The A-Team and we approve this message.
A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science
----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: TPO
Date: Jul 17, 2007 4:24 PM
Here is a good book review from one of my favorite bloggers. I just downloaded the book but I have not listened to it yet.
TPO
The Canon
Pharyngula, 17/07/2007| Pharyngula
As a major fan of Natalie Angier, I was well-disposed to favor The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science(amzn/b&n/abe/pwll) — and overall, my opinion of the book is favorable. I'm afraid, though, that it's filling a very narrow niche and most of my readers here won't be interested in it…but some of you may find it just right.
#0030 RRS Newsletter for July 17, 2007
Submitted by hellfiend666 on July 22, 2007 - 3:07am.
Hello again all! Not much in todays post, but here it is, for what it's worth.
Thanks for reading, if you have any comments or suggestions you can reach me directly HERE.
Stay rational,
Jack
and the RRS MI team
Table of Contents
Science News
My contributions for today
Baby Mammoth found frozen in Russia
Bullshit Near Death Experiences
Religion
My contributions for today
Theist Challenge - Repost
THE MENTALLY ILL ASSMONKEY, JOSEPH COHEN/YOUSEF AL-KHATTAB
Abstinence Makes the Church Grow Fondlers
Archdiocese to pay $660M in sexual abuse scandal
Every EVIL would be God's design! (so much for a loving god)
Government
My contributions for today
Community
My contributions for today
Believing the Unbelievable (Sam Harris speech)
Einsteins God/Religion
Entertainment
My contributions for today
Tribute to Kent Hovind
Family Guy takes on abstinence
jesus the second conviction
Why can't I own a Canadian
I have decided that I will host monthly RRS MI meetings and/or outings in an effort to build a better sense of community. These will be held on the last Thursday of every month. This means the first one will be held on July 26th, and we will be watching the movie "The God Who Wasn't There". If you all have seen this, please let me know, we can choose another, but I thought it fitting to start with that one, and I WILL start the evening off with a group discussion on where and what we would like to see come out of this local chapter (something that was never really talked about in depth at the last meet). Other activities under consideration are things like scientific exhibition outings, protests where needed, and possibly the planning of political activism as our state is concerned.
Baby Mammoth found frozen in Russia
----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: TPO
Date: Jul 16, 2007 4:01 PM
Pegasus
Beatle bones 'n' smokein' stones
Blu222
Adam
#0029 RRS Newsletter for July 14, 2007
Submitted by hellfiend666 on July 22, 2007 - 3:05am.
The Government section is pretty heavy today, but I would reccomend that you read the contents in it's entirety. To spout out my personal motto, "If your not outraged, your not paying attention!"
Toaday is the last day to vote for the atheist comedian, Jamie Kilstein!
Thanks for reading, if you have any comments or suggestions you can reach me directly HERE.
Stay rational,
Jack
and the RRS MI team
Table of Contents
Science News
My contributions for today
Butterfly shows evolution at work
Religion
My contributions for today
Nice, More Christian Radical Home Brew Terrorists.
Christian Terrorism in Colorado
Government
My contributions for today
The Republican War on Science Rages On
Special Comment: On Michael Chertoff’s Gut (Keith Olbermann)
DoD No Bid Contracts Has “Put Troops At Risk”
Bush blames Saddam for the US attack of Iraq
Overprivileged Executive
Oh gee dubs...
Unhealthy Interference
Give 'em HELL Dennis [Video]
Community
My contributions for today
Skeptical Online Dictionaries
What theists don't ask
American Atheists Convention on C-SPAN
"What Atheists Can't Answer"!! (WTF is this crap?)
Entertainment
My contributions for today
Worship the Invisible Pink Unicorn
I have decided that I will host monthly RRS MI meetings and/or outings in an effort to build a better sense of community. These will be held on the last Thursday of every month. This means the first one will be held on July 26th, and we will be watching the movie "The God Who Wasn't There". If you all have seen this, please let me know, we can choose another, but I thought it fitting to start with that one, and I WILL start the evening off with a group discussion on where and what we would like to see come out of this local chapter (something that was never really talked about in depth yesterday). Other activities under consideration are things like scientific exhibition outings, protests where needed, and possibly the planning of political activism as our state is concerned.
Thanks go to Double B for this one
Butterfly shows evolution at work
Scientists say they have seen one of the fastest evolutionary changes ever observed in a species of butterfly.
The tropical blue moon butterfly has developed a way of fighting back against parasitic bacteria.
Six years ago, males accounted for just 1% of the blue moon population on two islands in the South Pacific.
But by last year, the butterflies had evolved a gene to keep the bacteria in check and male numbers were up to about 40% of the population.
Scientists believe the comeback is due to "suppressor" genes that control the Wolbachia bacteria that is passed down from the mother and kills the male embryos before they hatch.
"To my knowledge, this is the fastest evolutionary change that has ever been observed," said Sylvain Charlat, of University College London, UK, whose study appears in the journal Science.
Rapid natural selection
Gregory Hurst, a University College researcher who worked with Mr Charlat, added: "We usually think of natural selection as acting slowly, over hundreds of thousands of years.
"But the example in this study happened in the blink of the eye, in terms of evolutionary time, and is a remarkable thing to get to observe."
The team first documented the massive imbalance in the sex ratio of the blue moon butterfly (Hypolimnas bolina) on the Samoan islands of Savaii and Upolu in 2001.
In 2006, they started a new survey after an increase in reports of male sightings at Upolo.
They found that the numbers of male butterflies had either reached or were approaching those of females.
The researchers are not sure whether the gene that suppressed the parasite emerged from a mutation in the local population or whether it was introduced by migratory Southeast Asian butterflies in which the mutation already existed.
But they said that the repopulation of male butterflies illustrates rapid natural selection, a process in which traits that help a species survive become more prominent in a population.
"We're witnessing an evolutionary arms race between the parasite and the host. This strengthens the view that parasites can be major drivers in evolution," Mr Charlat said.
Taken from BBC News
Nice, More Christian Radical Home Brew Terrorists.
----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: The A-Team
Date: Jul 13, 2007 2:25 PM
----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Big evil Grin
Date: Jul 12, 2007 6:32 PM
Three men in jail over bomb at church
By MARTHA DELLER
Three Burleson men who belong to a "radical Christian activist group" were in the Johnson County Jail on Friday night after a church deacon caught two of them attempting to ignite an explosive device on Independence Day at a church under construction in north Burleson, authorities said Friday.
Dayton Lee Calaway, 19, and Michael Philip Plaisted Jr., 18, were arrested Wednesday night near the Victory Family Church after they got bogged down in mud as a fleet-footed deacon chased them from the church in the 400 block of Northwest John Jones Drive, police said.
Two other people drove away, the deacon told officers.
An explosive device in a glass container was found propped against the church door. The suspects apparently tried to detonate the device twice before being interrupted by the deacon, police and Burleson Fire Marshal Stacy Singleton said.
As authorities were investigating at the church, they were notified of a fire on undeveloped land behind a north Burleson residential subdivision. A nearby resident reported seeing a vehicle drive away.
On Thursday, Jered Michael Ragon, 18, voluntarily went to the police station for questioning after Calaway and Plaisted implicated him, police Detective T. Catron said. Police called a MedStar ambulance because Ragon's feet were burned, and a emergency medical crew treated him at the station.
Ragon had gotten gasoline on his feet as he tried to destroy evidence from the church fire in the field, and his feet were burned, Catron said.
Calaway, Plaisted and Ragon face charges of arson at a place of worship, a first-degree felony that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, Singleton said.
They remained in the Johnson County Jail in Cleburne on Friday night with bail set at $30,000 each. Ragon also faces a charge of tampering with evidence; bail was set at $5,000.
The glass container from the church and evidence found in the field have been sent to a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives lab for analysis, Singleton said. The ATF and the U.S. attorney's office are reviewing the case to determine whether federal charges will be filed, he said.
Search warrants served Thursday night and Friday morning at Ragon's and Plaisted's homes uncovered evidence that was also sent to the ATF lab, police said.
Cmdr. Chris Havens, the Police Department spokesman, said the suspects boasted about belonging to a leaderless group of 10 or 15 who share a belief that society has become too focused on self-improvement and self-gratification and has lost focus on the glorification of God.
"They admit to being Christian and being brought up Christian, but they believe there should be one denomination and one church, not multiple denominations," Havens said.
"They did not say they had a name for their group, other than they were a radical Christian activist group. That was the way they explained their group," he said.
The suspects said the group has three levels of involvement: Bible study, consensual fighting and destructive acts. Because one of their beliefs is free thought, however, participation in all three levels is not mandatory, they told police.
The three admitted to being in a core group of seven that created the explosive weapon as a test to draw attention to the demise of society and to see whether the device would work, Havens said.
"They believe that the past generations have accumulated trash and are responsible for making younger generations clean up their mess," he said. "They're trying to make a statement and get society's attention regarding that."
That's why two of the men said they were involved in an earlier fire in a recycling bin at CentrePoint Church on Alsbury Road, Singleton said. That fire burned the materials in the bin but did not damage the church, he said.
None of the men has a criminal record, he said.
A fourth suspect, a juvenile, was not arrested because the others said he was not involved, Havens said.
#0028 RRS Newsletter for July 13, 2007
Submitted by hellfiend666 on July 22, 2007 - 3:04am.
Okay, I have returned! The science and religion sections are pretty interesting today!
I would also like to draw your attention to the Entertainment section for the atheist comedian I just found (well, rather, he found me) Jamie Kilstein, he is very funny and he is currently in an online competition that YOU can vote on! Go register and vote for this dude, you can go straight to his article and video by clicking HERE. I will be featuring him all week, the voting closes this Saturday so be sure to get your vote in before then!
Thanks for reading, if you have any comments or suggestions you can reach me directly HERE.
Stay rational,
Jack
and the RRS MI team
Table of Contents
Science News
My contributions for today
New hominid fossils found! July 10th
Galaxy spotting
Sun's activity rules out link to global warming-NewScientist
Religion
My contributions for today
Bible Salesman Struck by Lightning
Religious Rituals - Female Circumcision
God's plan is Ridiculous
Dahmer's going to heaven; you're still going to hell though
Government
My contributions for today
Kucinich Keeps Kicking
Neocons, theocons, Demcons, excons, and future cons
Community
My contributions for today
Crystal Clear Atheism Convention, September 28-30th
What's Next with FOX & CBS?
"They're teaching kids lies!"
Entertainment
My contributions for today
Jamie Kilstein
Time To Offend The Catholics Again
I have decided that I will host monthly RRS MI meetings and/or outings in an effort to build a better sense of community. These will be held on the last Thursday of every month. This means the first one will be held on July 26th, and we will be watching the movie "The God Who Wasn't There". If you all have seen this, please let me know, we can choose another, but I thought it fitting to start with that one, and I WILL start the evening off with a group discussion on where and what we would like to see come out of this local chapter (something that was never really talked about in depth at the last meet). Other activities under consideration are things like scientific exhibition outings, protests where needed, and possibly the planning of political activism as our state is concerned.
Astronomers Find Farthest Known Galaxies
Astronomers have found evidence for the most distant galaxies ever detected.
The galaxies are seen as they existed just 500 million years after the birth of the universe. Their light, traversing the cosmos for more than 13 billion years, was seen only because it was distorted in a natural "gravitational lens" created by the gravity-bending mass of a nearer cluster of galaxies.
"Gravitational lensing is the magnification of distant sources by foreground structures," explained Caltech astronomer Richard Ellis, who led the international team. "By looking through carefully selected clusters, we have located six star-forming galaxies seen at unprecedented distances, corresponding to a time when the universe was only 500 million years old, or less than 4 percent of its present age."
The universe is estimated to be 13.7 billion years old, so that puts the newfound galaxies at 13.2 billion light-years away. A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion kilometers).
Tricky technique
The team found the galaxies using the 10-meter Keck II telescope atop Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. The finding will be presented tomorrow at a conference of the Geological Society in London.
The light from the half-dozen faraway star-forming galaxies was boosted about 20 times by the magnifying effect of the foreground galaxy cluster, said team member Dan Stark, a Caltech graduate student.
Gravitational lensing is tricky, the researchers admit. To bolster their case, they point to very ancient galaxies that are just slightly closer, yet which already contain old stars.
"To produce these old stars requires significant earlier activity, most likely in the fainter star-forming galaxies we have now seen," Stark said.
In 2004, a separate team claimed discovery of a galaxy 13.23 billion light-years away, "but re-examination of that object by others showed it to be spurious," Stark told SPACE.com today.
End of the Dark Ages
The galaxies offer a glimpse of an era shortly after the first stars formed.
After the theoretical Big Bang, there were no stars. Eventually, a thick "fog" was effectively burned off by hot, young stars, ending what's called the cosmic Dark Ages.
"That we should find so many distant galaxies in our small survey area suggests they are very numerous indeed," Stark said. "We estimate the combined radiation output of this population could be sufficient to break apart (ionize) the hydrogen atoms in space at that time, thereby ending the Dark Ages."
Taken from A href="http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070710_distant_galaxies.html">SPACE. com
New hominid fossils found! July 10th
----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: The A-Team
Date: Jul 12, 2007 10:25 AM
----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: ATHEISTS AGNOSTICS SKEPTICS & HUMANISTS ON MYSPACE
Date: Jul 11, 2007 9:56 PM
Human evolution
(Thanks, Nicole!)
Ethiopian scientists said on Tuesday they have discovered hominid fossil fragments dating from between 3.5 million and 3.8 million years ago in what could fill a crucial gap in the understanding of human evolution.
Ethiopian archaeologist Yohannes Haile Selassie said the find included several complete jaws and one partial skeleton and were unearthed in the Afar desert at Woranso-Mille, near where the famous fossil skeleton known as Lucy was found in 1974.
"This is a major finding that could fill a gap in human evolution," he told a news conference in Addis Ababa.
"The fossil hominids from the Woranso-Mille area sample a time period that is poorly known in human evolutionary study."
Researchers say the area, about 140 miles northeast of Addis, boasts the most continuous record of human evolution.
Last year, an international team of scientists unveiled the discovery of 4.1 million-year-old fossils in the region.
Lucy, the most famous find, lived between 3.3 million and 3.6 million years ago. But Yohannes said Afar had yielded early hominid fossil remains spanning the last 6 million years.
"This has placed Ethiopia in the forefront of paleoanthropology," he told reporters.
GEOLOGY AND DATING
Exposed sediments in the new fossiliferous area are mostly silty sand and silty clay horizons interbedded with a number of volcanic tuffs and basaltic flows suitable for dating. The total section in the area is estimated to be about 50 meters thick. Geochronologist Dr. Alan Deino has collected 16 rock samples and the most critical samples above and below the fossiliferous horizon will be dated soon at the Berkeley Geochronology Center in Berkeley, California. The estimated age of the site, based on preliminary field analysis of the associated animal fossils is roughly 3.8 to 4 million years. However, confirmation has to await radiometric dating of the rock samples.
"Ethiopia is known to the world as the cradle of humankind."
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Galaxy spotting
----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: TPO
Date: Jul 12, 2007 11:23 AM
nullifidian, 12/07/2007| Nullifidian
#0027 RRS Newsletter for July 10, 2007
Submitted by hellfiend666 on July 22, 2007 - 3:03am.
This has turned out to be a video heavy post today.
For the Christopher Hitchens fans, I have posted a series of videos I received from the A-Team. they are in the Community section, and they are highly reccomended! His public speaking skills are second to none.
I would also like to draw your attention to the Entertainment section for the atheist comedian I just found (well, rather, he found me) Jamie Kilstein, he is very funny and he is currently in an online competition that YOU can vote on! Go register and vote for this dude, you can go straight to his article and video by clicking HERE. I will be featuring him all week, the voting closes this Saturday so be sure to get your vote in before then!
Thanks for reading, if you have any comments or suggestions you can reach me directly HERE.
Stay rational,
Jack
and the RRS MI team
Table of Contents
Science News
My contributions for today
Origin of Life - Lecture by John Maynard Smith (4 of 6)
Origin of Life - Lecture by John Maynard Smith (5 of 6)
Origin of Life - Lecture by John Maynard Smith (6 of 6)
Jupiters Polar Aurora, Photos
Religion
My contributions for today
Abortion: Why The Religious Right Is Wrong
Scientology is evil
Donnie Davies - "God Hates Fags"
Government
My contributions for today
Conyers brings up the Impeachment polls
Community
My contributions for today
Christopher Hitchens on Religion
Atheism on MSNBC Today
The Conflict Between Religion and Science Education
Entertainment
My contributions for today
Jamie Kilstein
Unbelievably Messed-Up Bible Stories
Atheist's Nightmare, Bitch (LOL)
George Carlin - Touched by an Atheist
repost for SATAN
I have decided that I will host monthly RRS MI meetings and/or outings in an effort to build a better sense of community. These will be held on the last Thursday of every month. This means the first one will be held on July 26th, and we will be watching the movie "The God Who Wasn't There". If you all have seen this, please let me know, we can choose another, but I thought it fitting to start with that one, and I WILL start the evening off with a group discussion on where and what we would like to see come out of this local chapter (something that was never really talked about in depth yesterday). Other activities under consideration are things like scientific exhibition outings, protests where needed, and possibly the planning of political activism as our state is concerned.
Origin of Life - Lecture by John Maynard Smith (4 of 6)
Origin of Life - Lecture by John Maynard Smith (5 of 6)
Origin of Life - Lecture by John Maynard Smith (6 of 6)
Jupiters Polar Aurora, Photos
March 30, 2007—No, Jupiter hasn't acquired a new toupee and goatee to impress Venus.
Those dashing purple puffs are x-ray images of the gas giant's high-voltage auroras—"northern lights on steroids," said planetary scientist Randy Gladstone of this image released yesterday by NASA.
The colorized picture is something of a collage. Several x-ray images taken by NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory have been combined and superimposed on the latest Hubble Space Telescope image of Jupiter.
"Jupiter has auroras bigger than our entire planet," said Gladstone, of the independent, nonprofit Southwest Research Institute in Texas, in a statement.
Gladstone hopes these latest observations will help him crack some Jovian mysteries. For starter, what causes these "hyper-auroras"?
The solar system's biggest planet and its magnetic field rotate extremely quickly—every ten hours—generating ten million volts around its poles. Toss in charged particles from the volcanic moon Io and you've got a crackling, nonstop sky show.
But how do the volcanic particles get from a relatively small moon to Jupiter's planetary poles? That, Gladstone says, remains one of the planet's unsolved puzzles.
—Ted Chamberlain
Taken from National Geographic News
Abortion: Why The Religious Right Is Wrong
----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: The A-Team
Date: Jul 9, 2007 11:50 AM
----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: ATHEISTS AGNOSTICS SKEPTICS & HUMANISTS ON MYSPACE
Date: Jul 8, 2007 11:56 PM
TPO
Abortion: Why The Religious Right Is Wrong
by Steven Morris, PhD
"The dead women we saw had either bled to death or they had died from overwhelming infections. Some had tears along the vaginal tract where they had used coat hangers to get up into the uterus and break things up--like rupture the amniotic sac... Most of the dead women I saw were in their teens or twenties... The deaths stopped overnight in 1973, and I never saw another abortion death in all the eighteen years after that until I retired." --Pennsylvania coroner (1)
Anti-abortionists are patiently chipping away at the right that women now possess to choose whether or not to have an abortion, enshrined in law by the Roe vs. Wade decision of 1973. Arbitrary waiting periods, harassment, unjust financial burdens and the murder of doctors by 'pro-life' assassins, are considered by many right-wing Christians to be the moral approach to forcing their opinions on everyone else. We may yet return to the 'good old days' of back-alley abortions, and their harvest of abandoned women, mutilated or dead.
This places the well-meaning Christian in a difficult dilemma. Despite the immorality of the anti-abortion position, how can the Christian be pro-choice when the Bible and the history of Christianity are anti-abortion? However, it is the dirty little secret of the anti-abortionist leaders that their prejudice against abortion has nothing to do with the Bible or the alleged life of the fetus.
History
Abortion has been practiced since early times. Plato suggested in The Republic that abortion be used in cases of incest or older parents, and Aristotle recommended abortion as a way to limit family size. (2) The position of the Catholic Church varied over the centuries, and it was only in the 18th century that the teachings of the Church shifted significantly toward the position that the human fetus deserves from conception the care due to humans. (3) It was in 1869 that Giovanni Ferretti (Pope Pius IX) issued a decree declaring abortion sinful and banning it entirely. (2) His reason for doing so was bizarre, and had nothing to do with morality; the change in doctrine originated with the acceptance of the Immaculate Conception. (4) This unnecessary doctrine supposed that Mary (not Jesus) was without sin from the moment of her conception. To emphasize her sinlessness, the rest of us must be sinful (and alive) from conception. In any case, the penalty for all abortions was merely excommunication, not civil punishment.
Since then, the Catholic position has become increasingly irrational. In 1968, the encyclical Humanae Vitae by Giovanni Montini (Pope Pius VI) banned contraception. Surveys in the United States indicate that more than 80% of Catholics of child-bearing age do not, in fact, observe the encyclical's teaching. (5) This failure has not deterred Church leaders from trying to make secular government enforce doctrines that the Church itself did not believe for most of its own history.
The anti-abortion laws that Rod vs. Wade overturned were not originally adopted to halt "the murder of unborn children," but to reduce the morality rate of women who obtained abortions from midwives, homeopaths and local healers. Because of the lack of modern scientific knowledge in the 19th century, surgical abortions carried a 30% mortality rate from infection. Anti-abortion laws were not passed by an overwhelming public vote against abortion, but rather through the efforts of a few powerful groups such as the American Medical Association. Before these laws were passed, advertisements for abortionists were carried in religious publications as well as newspapers and magazines. (6) The AMA's concerns are now obsolete; legal abortions have a mortality rate that is thirteen times smaller than for childbirth. (1)
How did parents regulate the size of their families during the Middle Ages, when the churches controlled what people thought and did? Infanticide. Studies of 9th century manorial rolls at St Germain-de-Pres, of 15th century Canterbury Church courts, of 17th century Somerset parish records, and interviews with women in 20th century Bosnian hamlets all show the same choice. Let the child be born and then let it die. In particular, let it die if it is female. (7) this callous attitude is echoed in the Christian Right today, whose 'Parental Rights' amendment to the Constitution would strip children of legal protection. Fundamentalists may weep for the fetus in its three trimesters, but when the 'fourth trimester' begins, the baby is on its own.
The Bible
It would surprise many in the anti-abortion flock to learn that abortion is nowhere mentioned in the Bible. The closest the Bible gets is an accidental miscarriage that might occur when men are fighting with each other (Ex. 21: 22, 23). If the woman dies as a result if the miscarriage, the man at fault must die because he committed a murder; "thou shalt give life for life." If a miscarriage occurs and the woman is unharmed, the man merely pays a fine; no life for life here, as no life was lost.
"Abortion is murder!" cry the anti-abortionists, despite the Bible. "Thou shalt not kill!" But they conveniently ignore another well-known passage; "To every thing there is a season... a time to kill, and a time to heal' (Eccles. 3:1, 3). Even if the fetus were alive, the taking of life is Bible-based.
But what is life, anyway? On this subject, the Bible is hopelessly confused. "The blood is the life" (Deut. 12: 23), "For the life of the flesh is in the blood" (Lev. 17: 11). But fertilized egg cells have no blood, and it is only when the umbilical cord is cut, after childbirth, that the fetus lives as more than a blood-sustained part of its mother. But then the Bible contradicts itself; it is the breath, not the blood that makes the difference between life and death; "I will... cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live" (Ezek. 37: 6), "thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust" (Ps. 104- 29). To live one must first breathe, .."text-decoration: underline;">after childbirth.
According to the Bible, the fetus is not alive and abortion isn't murder. But what Christian cares for what the Bible says?
When abortions were illegal, hundreds of thousands of desperate women endured back-alley abortions every year. We will never know how many died, a horrific human sacrifice on the altar of Christianity. The Religious Right looks back on this bloodbath and says. "Let's do it again!" The truly pro-life position is to stand up and say, "Never!"
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Scientology is evil
----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: TPO
Date: Jul 9, 2007 4:20 PM
Pharyngula,09/07/2007| Pharyngula
