You couldn't be here if stars hadn't exploded.
To the question, “Why me?” the cosmos barely bothers to return the reply, “Why not?”
Atheist: Natural Morals, Real Meaning, Credible Truth

29 December, 2009

Being a spiritual atheist

Being atheist doesn’t mean you can’t meditate, be in the moment, experience the awe of nature and life, empathize with those in pain, be very close to those you love. If that isn’t spiritual, I guess I don’t know what it is. Next time you look at a flower and think of the maelstrom of quantum physics driving the bubbling chemistry in every cell producing the biology of that plant whose place in the ecosystem is just one small piece of the cycle of life you are part of... You are being many times more spiritual than someone who says “what a pretty flower god made”. But all you often can say to someone who says you are spiritually bereft is “how little you know.”

28 December, 2009

The presumption of Rick Warren

"While we have all the flaws concomitant with being children of chance, we also have an advantage: we're free. There is no cosmic fiddler. There is no domineering father in the sky who has a mission for us, who decreed at our birth that there is something we must do with our lives, who has slotted you into one specific role without your consent. You are not driven by an arbitrary external purpose, and you should find the idea of such a daily dictator of every detail of your existence abhorrent to an extreme.

It's a real mystery to me why anyone would find the deterministic slave-philosophy of Rick Warren at all appealing or consoling, especially since the evidence all says that it is wrong, as well. There must be something some people find pleasant in surrendering responsibility to an imaginary scapegoat.

Personally, I appreciate the fact that I'm a combination of traits, some lucky and some unlucky, that are mine and not the product of the whims of some puppetmaster. I'll make of them what I can and what I will, and who I am is my responsibility and to my credit or blame."

Zoe Keating

I sure enjoy watching and listening to her.


26 December, 2009

This atheist enjoys the Holidays!


Atheists enjoy the holidays as much as anyone else. We don't observe the religious aspects, obviously; but we care about family and friends as much as anybody, and we are as happy to celebrate with them during a time of darkness and cold as much as anybody.
I am having a very nice Holiday. I had a nice visit to my Grandfather's house where my sister, her family and parents were also visiting along with my daughters. We had a great time yesterday with Liz's sister and nephew and made a very nice dinner, and I have had a relaxing day at the airport with friends and at home with Liz. The days are dark and cloudy but the time with friends and family has been relaxing and rejuvenating.

I cracked up...

I got this t-shirt for Christmas from Liz's sister and nephew. I love it!

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25 December, 2009

The Reason for the Season


At the time of the winter solstice, let reason prevail.
There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell.
There is only our natural world.
Religion is just myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.

"...the midwinter seasonal holiday was created by people with the superstitious belief that supernatural transitions accompanied natural ones, and these few days are traditionally special because of a belief in their magical importance, and every religion attaches some godly event to the solstice season. It's why you'll get a day off on Christmas, which means it was good for something. So just pause, bow your head, and think about Jesus. And reject him.

Also consider God, the Holy Ghost, all the prophets and saints, the angels and demons, the Great Old Ones, any pantheon ever erected in heaven, all the ghosts and boojums, and deny them, every one. Think about all the pious, sanctimonious god-bothers who tell you to worship their dead gods on this day, and tell them, "No."

You're free.

Feels good, doesn't it? Remember the reason for the season, and be sure to go "Ho ho ho!" at it now and then, and let laughter fill your home."

16 December, 2009

Theodicy III: Primo Levi versus Francis Collins « Why Evolution Is True

Theodicy III: Primo Levi versus Francis Collins « Why Evolution Is True:
"Silence slowly prevails and then, from my bunk on the top row, I see and hear old Kuhn praying aloud, with his beret on his head, swaying backwards and forwards violently. Kuhn is thanking God because he has not been chosen.

Kuhn is out of his senses. Does he not see Beppo the Greek in the bunk next to him, Beppo who is twenty years old and is going to the gas-chamber the day after tomorrow and knows it and lies there looking fixedly at the light without saying anything and without even thinking anymore? Can Kuhn fail to realize that next time it will be his turn? Does Kuhn not understand that what has happened today is an abomination, which no propitiatory prayer, no pardon, no expiation by the guilty, which nothing at all in the power of man can ever clean again?

If I was God, I would spit at Kuhn’s prayer." - Primo Levi, Auschwitz survivor


“Frequent miraculous interventions would be at least as chaotic in the physical realm as they would be in interfering with human acts of free will.” - Francis Collins

And this same Collins shamelessly argues that God has fine-tuned the Universe, manufacturing, out of complete chaos, a Perfect Order of every molecule and every physical law in order to produce Mankind.

His God can shuffle galaxies at ease but is powerless to prevent cancer in children. And he worships this sh**head because he can make a frozen waterfall pretty.

He froze it in 3 strands as a special and personal “sign” that Christianity is true and delivered this sacred sign to the “humble” Collins himself. (Surely such signs take god’s time from the excision of cancerous cells in children.)"


I am finally understanding this free will crap. God gave us free will and won't interfere in the acts of men or of nature. Some such shit. God cares that I don't fly around the room but won't prevent me from killing a puppy? I have free will? Why can't I fly also? Killing a puppy is a physical act, why can't I fly? Francis Collins claims he found god when he came upon a waterfall one winter day frozen in three strands and is making these comments above quoted from his book. He was appointed by Obama to lead the NIH and was the director of the Human Genome Project which sequenced the human DNA. Incredible.

15 December, 2009

PZ gets email

"I do not concede an iota of respect to your stupidity, and will be spending the rest of my life opposing it."
PZ Myers in a comment about some mail he received from a creationist. The arrogant ignorance of the guy was infuriating.

05 December, 2009

Hey Religious Believers, Where's Your Evidence? | Belief | AlterNet


Hey Religious Believers, Where's Your Evidence? | Belief | AlterNet:
"So how is it, exactly, that atheists are the close-minded ones?
Having an open mind doesn't mean thinking all possibilities are equally likely. It means being willing to consider new ideas if the evidence supports them. And it means being willing to give up old ideas if the evidence is against them.

So to any believer who thinks atheists are close-minded, I want to ask you this:

What would convince you that you were mistaken?

Most atheists can answer that question."

02 December, 2009

The way to deal with superstition

Atheists have been “humble” for centuries (who was more humble than Spinoza?) and it hasn’t gotten us anywhere. It’s that crop of new atheist books that have finally created a climate in which atheists need not feel like pariahs. Like my confrères so maligned by Kristof, I think it’s time to try Mencken’s way:

The way to deal with superstition is not to be polite to it, but to tackle it with all arms, and so rout it, cripple it, and make it forever infamous and ridiculous. Is it, perchance, cherished by persons who should know better? Then their folly should be brought out into the light of day, and exhibited there in all its hideousness until they flee from it, hiding their heads in shame.

True enough, even a superstitious man has certain inalienable rights. He has a right to harbor and indulge his imbecilities as long as he pleases, provided only he does not try to inflict them upon other men by force. He has a right to argue for them as eloquently as he can, in season and out of season. He has a right to teach them to his children. But certainly he has no right to be protected against the free criticism of those who do not hold them. He has no right to demand that they be treated as sacred. He has no right to preach them without challenge.

28 November, 2009

Darwin's Influence on Modern Thought: Scientific American

Darwin's Influence on Modern Thought: Scientific American: "Darwinism rejects all supernatural phenomena and causations. The theory of evolution by natural selection explains the adaptedness and diversity of the world solely materialistically. It no longer requires God as creator or designer (although one is certainly still free to believe in God even if one accepts evolution). Darwin pointed out that creation, as described in the Bible and the origin accounts of other cultures, was contradicted by almost any aspect of the natural world. Every aspect of the “wonderful design” so admired by the natural theologians could be explained by natural selection. (A closer look also reveals that design is often not so wonderful—see “Evolution and the Origins of Disease,” by Randolph M. Nesse and George C. Williams; Scientific American, November 1998.) Eliminating God from science made room for strictly scientific explanations of all natural phenomena; it gave rise to positivism; it produced a powerful intellectual and spiritual revolution, the effects of which have lasted to this day."

25 November, 2009

License to Wonder

“But there’s one way in which we should not be limited: imagination. As Einstein put it, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.””

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/license-to-wonder/

19 November, 2009

CFI Announces Blasphemy Contest Winners | Center for Inquiry

CFI Announces Blasphemy Contest Winners | Center for Inquiry: "The Center for Inquiry is pleased to announce that Ken Peters of California is the Grand Prize winner of its Blasphemy Contest, which asked contestants to submit statements of no more than twenty words critical of religious beliefs. The entry Mr. Peters submitted was: “Faith is no reason.” Regarding Mr. Peters’ entry, CFI president and CEO Ronald A. Lindsay observes, “This entry, using only four words, summarizes nicely one of the key principles of post-Enlightenment thought. Beliefs should be based on evidence and reason. Faith is not a basis for logically sound belief.”"

Daughter makes me proud...

Allena examines a book she picked up… (click to em-biggen)

In “celebration” of Darwin’s 150th anniversary of publication of “Origin of Species,” Ray Comfort (a Creationist), printed 100,000 copies of it to hand out at colleges. The kicker being it has a 50+ page introductory rant about how “Dawinism” is evil and wrong and what-not. He also didn’t print some key chapters.

The joker Comfort does his distribution a day earlier and at campuses that he didn't advertise where, one of them being San Jose State. Allena and I had talked about trying to get a copy of the book but it didn't look good. But then when I saw Comfort was executing a day early I sent her a message and after saying she hadn't seen any, she comes back with "I GOT ONE!" Pretty funny. She also was given a fake $1M bill with Obama on it called Jesus Money.

Allena posted her find at The Primate Diaries, I think she made the best picture of the bunch. Very clever and funny, unlike most of the boring head shots.

17 November, 2009

The Don't Diss Darwin Institute


The Don't Diss Darwin Institute: "Comfort's confused polemic, disguised as an informational Introduction but full of mistakes, half truths, untruths, muddled logic, old creationist arguments, misleadingly excerpted quotations, and ill-framed analogies — plus a good dose of fire and brimstone at the end — will do a severe disservice to anyone who takes it for an entryway to Darwin's great book."

15 November, 2009

Why Evolution Is True

Why Evolution Is True: "Creationists have a very fixed view of the world – literally and figuratively. They have The Truth – it’s written in a series of manuscripts that were produced by various tiny Middle Eastern sects 2-3 millennia ago, which were eventually sifted and sorted and mistranslated into a set of what were deemed to be acceptable views to a group of Church leaders around 1500 years ago. All they have to do is to read it, and The Truth is obvious – God created all species, so there can be no evolution.

Science, however, doesn’t claim to have The Truth. We simply have the best approach to reality that we can have, based on the available evidence. If we were to find fossil rabbits in the pre-Cambrian, then we would all have to backtrack on the phrase that forms the title of this blog. However, there comes a point at which the absence of contradictory evidence, and the overwhelming weight of supporting evidence, leads us to stop pussy-footing around. We abandon all that philosophical bet-hedging and simply state “evolution is true”. If the fossil rabbits ever turn up (don’t hold your breath), we’ll revisit the statement – as the French say, only imbeciles don’t change their minds."

11 November, 2009

Lawrence Krauss gives a talk

"The universe is huge and old and rare things happen all the time"



Lawrence Krauss gives a talk on our current picture of the universe, how it will end, and how it could have come from nothing.

This is an excellent talk and well worth the hour to watch.

01 November, 2009

Post Halloween Flight


Nice flying day today. Took Patrick and Justin from work for a ride and lunch at Half Moon Bay (HAF). Clear and little wind, it got crowded at HAF, good thing we got there when we did, parking got scarce. Patrick was funny when I pulled a few maneuvers, one stall and a couple of steep turns. Those big water polo studs can be pretty whimpy. :-)

I didn't take any picture flying or at HAF. Too busy herding the boys along.
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31 October, 2009

Halloween 2009


Ernie in his Superman outfit. Not one Trick or Treat'er. We had to eat the candy all by ourselves. I should have gone with Mark to Santa Cruz.
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27 October, 2009

Cute Kitties

This is best seen in full screen mode... enjoy!




And this cat is in trouble!

08 October, 2009

Why I’m pro-vax

If you think vaccines are an evil conspiracy, are designed to make us sick, are filled with toxins, are a bad thing, then spend 6 minutes and 53 seconds educating yourself.

Because you’re wrong.

30 September, 2009

Blasphemy

I guess I better blaspheme if I am going to support International Blasphemy day.

·         There is no god or allah

·         There is no afterlife

·         Mohammed was nobody special

·         Jesus may not have even existed and at most was nobody special

·         Moses was a bastard

·         A cracker is a cracker, no matter what words are said over it.

·         There is no hell to burn in.

 

 

29 September, 2009

Blasphemy Day - 30 September

"Irreverence is the champion of liberty." –Mark Twain

Free speech is the foundation on which all other liberties rest. Without having the right to express our opinions, however unpopular, those willing to use political clout, violence, and threats will stifle dissent, and we must all suffer the consequences of this. As George Bernard Shaw quipped, "Every great truth begins as a blasphemy."

 

"Society bends over backward to be accommodating to religious sensibilities but not to other kinds of sensibilities. If I say something offensive to religious people, I'll be universally censured, including by many atheists. But if I say something insulting about Democrats or Republicans or the Green Party, one is allowed to get away with that. Hiding behind the smoke screen of untouchability is something religions have been allowed to get away with for too long." – Richard Dawkins

 

 

 

27 September, 2009

Sunday flyer

Quick flight by myself. Do I mind? Not really. It is nice to be on my own sometimes. No worries about the passengers. Saw the Lockeed fire burn area. There are a lot of stuff in there, mobile homes and motor homes. Very strange. It was also very hot, nearly 90 deg at the coast. Did a practice go around at WVI, obviously needed it.


-- Posted from my iTouch

25 September, 2009

"Protect Insurance Companies"

Alt med ghouls

In the wake of the death of Patrick Swayze, the alternative medicine quacks are speaking out, saying his death was caused not by his cancer but by his chemotherapy.  “Why couldn’t they have built [Swayze] up nutritionally and gotten rid of the toxins?"  Because that doesn’t work?  Would that be a good reason?

 

Antiscience advice like this from Mike Adams, Suzanne Somers, Jenny McCarthy, and others can and will lead to people dying if they act on it. These people are dispensing medical advice that is complete nonsense. Detoxifying the body won’t cure cancer, using herbs won’t cure cancer, aligning your chakras won’t cure cancer. If you have cancer, or know someone who has been diagnosed, please please please go to a board-certified and experienced doctor or oncologist. Don’t listen to celebrities, and don’t listen to alternative quacks.”

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/25/alt-med-ghouls/

 

16 September, 2009

GOP! Leave them behind! Let them wait for the Rapture!



I like what this guy said... they feel left behind in science and modern life, good is bad news since the second coming hasn't come. How to deal with the Christian Crazies? Leave them behind waiting for their rapture. Move on without them. The problem is that the Republican party is bowing to them and can't seem to break away.

15 September, 2009

13 September, 2009

'too controversial for religious America'

Charles Darwin film 'too controversial for religious America'

A British film about Charles Darwin has failed to find a US distributor because his theory of evolution is too controversial for American audiences, according to its producer.


Movieguide.org, an influential site which reviews films from a Christian perspective, described Darwin as the father of eugenics and denounced him as "a racist, a bigot and an 1800s naturalist whose legacy is mass murder". His "half-baked theory" directly influenced Adolf Hitler and led to "atrocities, crimes against humanity, cloning and genetic engineering", the site stated.

The film has sparked fierce debate on US Christian websites, with a typical comment dismissing evolution as "a silly theory with a serious lack of evidence to support it despite over a century of trying".

Jeremy Thomas, the Oscar-winning producer of Creation, said he was astonished that such attitudes exist 150 years after On The Origin of Specieswas published.

"That's what we're up against. In 2009. It's amazing," he said.

Amazing. Embarrassing. Outrageous. I have to write the distributors of the movie Religulous. Surely they would distribute it.

"It is unbelievable to us that this is still a really hot potato in America. There's still a great belief that He made the world in six days. It's quite difficult for we in the UK to imagine religion in America. We live in a country which is no longer so religious. But in the US, outside of New York and LA, religion rules.

"Charles Darwin is, I suppose, the hero of the film. But we tried to make the film in a very even-handed way. Darwin wasn't saying 'kill all religion', he never said such a thing, but he is a totem for people."

08 September, 2009

Jupiter, Discovery and ISS

Jupiter and its 4 big moons.


ISS


and Shuttle Discovery

Managed to catch the ISS and Shuttle shortly after undocking today. 7:45pm pass. Not even dark enough to find any good guide stars but Jupiter was visible. Cannon Rebel XTi at 1/1000 sec on 1540mm telescope, 127mm aperature, f12. The Jupiter picture was at 1/3 sec.
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Labor on Labor Day


Had to clean a couple of plugs in order to get into the air on Labor day. It was good to bend the wrenches a little.
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30 August, 2009

Creationists, now they’re coming for your children

Dawkins has a new book coming out and he is out and about getting the press stirred up about it.

Evolution is an inescapable fact, and we should celebrate its astonishing power, simplicity and beauty. Evolution is within us, around us, between us, and its workings are embedded in the rocks of aeons past. Given that, in most cases, we don’t live long enough to watch evolution happening before our eyes, we shall revisit the metaphor of the detective coming upon the scene of a crime after the event and making inferences. The aids to inference that lead scientists to the fact of evolution are far more numerous, more convincing, more incontrovertible, than any eyewitness reports that have ever been used, in any court of law, in any century, to establish guilt in any crime. Proof beyond reasonable doubt? Reasonable doubt? That is the understatement of all time.


I have to get this on my Amazon wish list... better yet, go get it at Bookshop Santa Cruz.

23 August, 2009

Polite Atheists we are!

Calling the new atheists violent or strident serves EXACTLY the same function as calling an african-american “uppity”. We’re standing up for our views and being really insanely polite about it considering the effects of religion.

http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2009/08/14/michael-ruse-whinges/

16 August, 2009

Health Care Debate

The cost of health care will increase by $30Trillion+ over the next 10 years without reform. Taxes, premiums, out of pocket, one way or another we will pay it. So, investing a couple of trillion to make a system that slows that down is not a good idea? There will be no free health care, we have to pay somehow. But it is extremely inefficient to pay an insurance company who pays doctors and hospitals who charge not only for my services but also for the services they have to provide for the un or under insured. I agree that cross state deregulation seems to be a good idea and maybe that is an alternative to the public option.

It takes reasonable debate to get there and there are some who are more into the politics and ratings than the debate. Right now the noise is drowning out the reasonable debate.

This country has been debating health care since Teddy Roosevelt. None of the ideas in the plan are new. Even the life counseling issue has been around for years and was initially brought up by a Republican. The only thing that has changed is that finally the American people elected a Congress with the power and will to do something. It is time to do it before the will is lost to politics again.

The system is broken. My 99 year old grandfather has excellent medical coverage because he has been smart about his finances and insurance and has had great medical advice by really good doctors. On the other hand, a couple of weeks ago, my sister-in-law died when the hospital sent her back home with some Maalox for chest pain. She has always had medical coverage issues, has always fought with the insurance companies, was her coverage a factor for why she died? I shouldn't even have to ask the question.

15 August, 2009

Uppity Atheists

Calling the new atheists violent or strident serves EXACTLY the same function as calling an african-american “uppity”. We’re standing up for our views and being really insanely polite about it considering the effects of religion.

I am speaking out more face to face. I can't hide anymore. When religion comes up, I am no longer silent. Not stident or abusive. But my position is clear. I am atheist.

09 August, 2009

44D at school?


44D going to school? No, just getting washed.
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The Burka

We reject muslim values because they are degrading and offensive.

The whole point of female consealment in Islamic society is that men are not expected to take responsibility for their sexual urges, so that any woman who is not covered up from head to toe is asking to be raped. The Burka therefore ligitimizes rape, it apologizes for rape, it justifies rape. (Are you listening feminists?) This makes it as offensive a public statement as a Klu Klux Klan uniform or a Nazi Swastika and should be treated with exactly same revulsion and contempt.

Muslim men must start treating women as equals, not as possessions.


This comes from Pat Condell's latest YouTube video. It doesn't mean a lot here in this coundry but in Europe, Islamic rights and sensibilities are in debate, appearently. It applies here in the sensibilities Christians demand of their religion, same crap, different problems. The teaching of evolution/creationism in schools, moral authority, abortion and conception. The discussions have been getting more heated and pointed. I hope the American people come to their senses sooner rather than later.

I am fed up.

I am so fed up with the right wing. I seriously don't understand them. Do they really think the health care system we have today is working? Does it make sense to have uninsured/uninsurable people walking around emergency rooms? People who get health care anyway, just paid for by higher insurance and hospital costs? HOW IS THAT NOT SOCIALIZED MEDICINE? What part of 1 + 1 = 2 don't they understand?

The rowdies at the town-hall meetings... I haven't been to one yet. But if they are denying people the right to speak and not participating in the discussion, then they don't have any right to wear any American flags or colors on their clothing. That is about as un-American as you can get. Liz and I want to try to get to a meeting one of these days. I want my congressperson to see I support HR 3200. I have already written to Eshoo that I do.

Limbaugh and Beck. How anyone can stand listening to either of them much less agree with them is a mystery to me. They are morons. No, not morons. Un-American fascists. Very scary people. More scary is that people listen to them.

Obama is blowing it I am afraid. Some kind of push for health care needs to be made. Simple for the simple minded. I wish they had pushed for a single payer plan and just skipped the "bi-partisan" effort. That turned out to be a mistake.

Shit.

07 August, 2009

I CreoZerg'd all day today

Col Dr PZ Myers and nearly 300 atheists visited the Ken Ham Creation Museum in Kentucky today. I watched via Twitter in between work things. The place is amazingly stupid. They believe dinosaurs roamed with people, everyone was a vegetarian, and the universe was created in 6, 24 hour days. Amazing.

They have a Triceratops with a saddle.

If they didn't eat meat or kill, where did the leather come from? Whatever, I don't care what their explanation is.

Jennifer here has some good pictures:
http://blaghag.blogspot.com/2009/08/creation-museum-hilarity.html

And more here:
http://camelswithhammers.com/2009/08/07/creation-museum-highlight-tweets-130-630pm/

More disturbing is the outright lying they do there in teaching this crap to kids. Kids are born gullible and wired to believe what their parents and elders tell them. To me, what they do to kids here is child abuse.


06 August, 2009

Moon


MOON: Movie Trailer - Celebrity bloopers here

This is one damn good movie! Classic science fiction at its best. A question is asked, what if. The answer is explored. Beautiful.

The music is also haunting, it is on my iPod now, I play it all the time! :-)

Atheist Bus Ad Pulled in Iowa

http://www.kcci.com/video/20301777/index.html

They didn't like a bus ad that said:
"Don't believe in god? You are not alone."

Too bad, much more publicity received (and for free) than if they had left it alone.

Didn't have a picture of this bus, so below is a English one from last year.

18 July, 2009

I do NOT trust in god

Congresswoman Eshoo,I wish to express my disappointment at your Aye vote for H CON RES 131 "Directing the Architect of the Capitol to engrave the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag and the National Motto of “In God we trust” in the Capitol Visitor Center".

Millions of Americans do not trust in any god. I fail to understand why anyone would trust the god of the bible if there is one. If anything, it should be "In God we are wary" since it seems (if it existed) to be pretty cruel and cold.

As you know, this motto and the "under god" in the pledge was added out of fear of communism in the 1950's. "E Pluribus Unum" ("from many come one"), our original motto from Jefferson, Adams and Franklin is and should be our only motto.

I would be very interested in your support of a bill to rescind CON RES 131, or to at least stop it's funding from my taxes. The religious world is perfectly capable of paying for this themselves. But on the other hand... this whole issue is going to the Supreme Court if not stopped sooner, it will cost a whole lot more to install, if ever, than the $150,000 appropriated.

Thank you for your time.

Respectfully,

09 July, 2009

ISS over Ben Lomond



I tried again to capture the Space Station. I don't know if this is any better.
These were taken at 1/1600 sec at ISO 1600 on a Cannon Rebel XTi through a 5" 1500mm telescope.
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04 July, 2009

4th of July Young Eagles

A very nice day for Young Eagles. 51 kids flown by about 6 planes and pilots. Good weather. Nobody hurt.


Nobody hurt much anyway...

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Somebody (to remain nameless, not me!) taxied their airplane into a Porche. The plane is totalled, the Porche is probably fine.



28 June, 2009

Moffett Field Young Eagles Rally



Said and I flew over to Moffett Field in Mountain View on Saturday to participate in the EAA Chapter 62 Young Eagles Rally there. 258+ kids were given airplane rides by 29 pilots in their planes. Many happy faces. EAA 62 did a great job and I have to thank AOPA insurance for their help getting the insurance paperwork out for several of the pilots to be able to fly at this event on short notice. It went well for me and those I talked to. The appreciation from the parents was pretty gratifying. I usually tell them it is my pleasure and probably the only meaningful use I have for my expensive hobby. Showing kids the world from above and that someone like them can fly an airplane is very meaningful.

The Word of Christ revealed


"Surprisingly indistinguishable from one’s personal opinion, actually."


21 June, 2009

John Hodgman at Radio & TV Correspondents' Dinner

This is just great.


It brought a tear to my eye!

Shit. Happy Father's Day.

They told me Friday afternoon that I have one or more people to be told they are going to get laid off. Thanks for spoiling my weekend. I don't know who they may be, but I can guess. Damn it. They don't deserve this. There isn't anyone in my group who should lose their job.

17 June, 2009

A little sympathy for the snookered : Pharyngula

"I sympathize because they are all missing the awesomeness of reality for the awfulness of some narrow Bronze Age theocratic bullshit.

But there are also some for whom I have no sympathy at all.

I have zero sympathy for intelligent people who stand before a grandiose monument to lies, an institution that is anti-scientific, anti-rational, and ultimately anti-human, in a place where children are being actively miseducated, an edifice dedicated to an abiding intellectual evil, and choose to complain about how those ghastly atheists are ruining everything.

Those people can just fuck off."


11 June, 2009

Point of Inquiry: Cosmic Dice

In this interview with D.J. Grothe, Dr. Jeffrey Schweitzer argues that adopting the scientific view of human origins has implications for understanding that morality is a consequence of our biology. He argues that religion puts humanity on a pedestal, and why that is dangerous. He contends that religion has failed to morally guide humanity, and he attacks religion for impeding the moral development of humanity and for causing much human suffering. He explains that religion results from fear of death, an attempt to understand the universe, achieve social cohesion and political power, and an attempt to control our fate by appealing to gods. But he argues that in the age of science, these reasons are no longer compelling. He denies that science has become a religion in itself. He explores if and how religion and science ask different questions, and if science can answer the existential questions that religion attempts to answer. He argues that life has no ultimate meaning, and that he derives this fact from science, while denying that this leads to nihilism. He discusses existentialism and contrasts it with his scientific worldview. He argues against the concept of free will as a false concept of religion, and discusses the implications this has for moral responsibility. He talks about the biological component to human morality, and defends his position from the charge of moral relativism, while admitting a kind of cultural relativism. He discusses Social Darwinism, and distinguishes core values from social values that progress over time. He explains components of his moral view, and compares his view with scientific or secular humanism. And he suggests that humanity is at a crossroads where our continued survival is uncertain, and describes the kind of behaviors consistent with a natural ethic that may be key to humanity's surviving the future.

Trying to explain



JAMSHED MOIDU said...
To all Anonymous followers of Darwin
Why are so much irritated when the SCIENTIFIC INVALIDITY of evolution is questioned?

where is the scientific evidence for evolution? don't say THERE ARE MANY EVIDENCE , show us the evidence instead of Barking there are....there are...there are such and such evidence , prove it scientifically rather than getting irritated
Anonymous said...
talkorigins.org happy reading, this should get you started. Or else, Google.com
Tom said...
Evolution is questioned daily by the science community. The fact is that the theory Darwin proposed 150 years ago has been extensivly questioned, tested, refined, questioned and tested, refined again and again. It proposes a mechanism for the creation of species, it predicts what to find in the fossil and DNA records, and those predictions are verified. That happens daily. The theory Darwin proposed 150 years ago is only the starting point. It has grown in detail far beyond your imagination.

Your alternative is nothing. It predicts or explains nothing. You can only say god did it. Sorry, that just isn't good enough. And we are angry at the stupidity of all religion and the waste of time, resources, and lives that the powerful in religion expend to maintain their power.
JAMSHED MOIDU said...
#Tom said...
WHERE IS THE EVIDENCE FOR EVOLUTION THEORY? IF U DON'T HAVE DON'T POTRAY 'DARWINISM' AS A SCIENTIFIC FACT....
JAMSHED MOIDU said...
#Tom
WHERE IS THE EVIDENCE FOR EVOLUTION THEORY? IF U DON'T HAVE DON'T POTRAY 'DARWINISM' AS A SCIENTIFIC FACT....
You don't have scientific evidence for the theory...if u have SHOW US ...
Tom said...
i agree with you , yes we don't have evidence for evolution theory,we cannot prove its scientific validity,but we keep it alive because it is bread and buuter of athiest you ignorant idiot moron
JAMSHED MOIDU said...
That's right Tom
Tom (the real one, not an imposter) said...
Evidence for evolution: Read Jerry Coyne's "Why Evolution is True". Hundreds of fossiles dated in time sequence showing the migration of whales nostrils from the snout to the top of the head. The fact that all mammals have forearms that consist of a single bone, two bones, then fingers. The fact that 98% of our DNA matches that of other apes. The fact that all vertibrates have eyes, hearts, stomaches, intestines, spines. The fact that all living cells function essentially the same way. The fact that bacteria can develop immunity to anti-bacterial agents. The fact is that there is no alternative explaination for life on this planet that tests as true, what is your explaination? God did it? Prove it. And don't quote some document written when people thought the sun went around the earth and stars were crystals in the night sky.
JAMSHED MOIDU said...
The question is on the scientific PROOFS on the validity of the theory..not whether God created or not ...show us the evidence,if not PROCLAIM THAT THE THEORY IS UNSCIENTIFIC..
Tom said...
Are you deliberatly dense? Or just close minded? The proof of evolution is that it is tested. It passes all tests. Evolution predicts. The predictions are verified. Evolution explains life. No other explainations of life pass tests or make predictions. How else do you prove something that is a process? There is no Evoution Particle to weigh, measure, observe. We can only observe nature and see evolution work. We see it all the time, lizards in the Mediterranean that change their digestive systems in 30 years of isolation and competition, E-coli bacteria in a lab evolving to live in conditions it didn't tolerate before. Genetic coding that follows evolutionary paths. Those are the proofs of evolution. Science theory... I suggest you learn what a science theory really is. It is an idea that attempts to explain. Science tests the theory with experiment and observation. The theory is used to make predictions and those predictions are checked. Evolution has been undergoing this process for 150 years and NOT ONCE has it failed. And it only takes once to disprove it. You just need to find a rabbit fossil with some dinosaurs. That would be the end of evolution. Or some other disconnect. Evolution has been improved over the years with more detail and information. It is far from what Darwin described in his day.

Sorry... Evolution is fact. Get over it. Open your eyes to the real world. It is much lighter out here in the real world where you can see real meaning, real morals, real purpose in life, being your own self instead of being controlled.
JAMSHED MOIDU said...
real world where you can see real meaning, real morals, real purpose in life, being your own self instead of being controlled.

Do animals have morals? do animals have ethical principles in life?what is the real meaning of life for animals?
For all your PROOFs I WILL wrote you soon.....i have got exams....
JAMSHED MOIDU said...
all your proofs are nothing and it doesn;t have scientific importance......most of them are the product of the mechanism called adaptation...and adaptation will never gring about new sprcies....
if some one goes to GYMNASIUM his muscle mass increases due to the stress ....but he never transform to another specie...humans are always human...
Anonymous said...
Well, all the proofs are very meaningful as they have immense scientific validity. Anyone with a lick of common sense would see that such a process of adaptation, over a long enough period of time, would eventually lead to a new species. (And, by the way, your example of someone going to the gym shows your extreme ignorance of the subject - acquired characteristics such as that are not passed on, and would never lead to another species. On the other hand, someone born with a certain mutation may find themselves more capable of reproducing than others, and the process goes on long enough that the new species has little resemblance to the original one.)

And I hate to break it to you, but you're being controlled far more than the "Darwinists" you're rallying against.

So far, your responses read like thus!

"Show me the evidence! You don't have no stinking evidence! What's that you have evidence? Well, all your evidence is nothing compared to my ignorance!"

You sound just like a thousand other robots who will look reality in the face then turn away and proudly proclaim your ignorance.
Anonymous said...
Dude, I count no less than 57 (fifty-seven) pictures of Adnan Oktar on your fp. Are the two of you dating?
Anonymous said...
Tom bring us your single most important proof of evolution? A classic evolutionary observation and experiment which proves beyond doubt evolution occured. Dont confuse people by generalized talk on subjects.
Tom said...
Ok. Here is just one. It took me about 54 seconds to find it.
Since this stupid blog won't allow pasting, I have to type the whole thing in. Since it also won't allow cutting, you'll have to type it out.

Links: https://myxo.css.msu.edu/ecoli/

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14094-bacteria-make-major-evolutionary-shift-in-the-lab.html

or Google: lenski evolution
to get:
https://www.msu.edu/~lenski/sciencearticle.html
Where it is specifically stated that this result was NOT adaption because genetically the bacterial had changed substantially and was no longer the same.

There is not a "single most important proof of evolution". There is a preponderence of evidence from many branches of geology and biology.

Sure animals have morals. Most kill only to eat or protect their species, they have community, care for young, train young. Meaning is simple, survive and reproduce. But that requires cooperation and teamwork in many ways. The mean and stupid die off. Human morals are based on the same basics. Survive and reproduce. Since we are not strong, fast, or toothy, we have to cooperate, team up, think it out to survive. Our morals are to relieve suffering and give happiness because those who do survive longer, the mean and stupid die off. All the other crap about pleasing god is just made up stuff by those in power to control the mob and keep women in control.

Look around man... evolution explains a lot.
JAMSHED MOIDU said...
Tom
How did cells and tissues acquired feeling of compassion?
why should animals show compassion to the young one, after all they should kill them to survive and you know that only strong survive according to your theory...
Did Jack fruit, apple ,lemon, grapes,bananas, coconut, mango etc...etc where created through mechanism of ADAPTATION/
Did lotus,rose flower, lilly, Dahlia...etc...etc...where all created through the mechanism of ADAPTATION?
Did ORANGE where evolved from LEMON just ECAUSE THEY LOOK SIMILAR?
Mercedez E-class looks similar to Mercedez S-class-- they where made individually NOT EVOLVED FROM one another...
JAMSHED MOIDU said...
please open your EYELIDS AND LOOK around maaan, INTELLIGENT DESIGN is manifested everywhere......and keep your FRONTAL CORTEX stimulated....
JAMSHED MOIDU said...
Tom
you should answer to one of the anonymous question above
Tom bring us your single most important proof of evolution? A classic evolutionary observation and experiment which proves beyond doubt evolution occured. Dont confuse people by generalized talk on subjects.
JAMSHED MOIDU said...
if something looks similar,does that mean they where evolved? You need more intelligent to make something similar than to make dissimilar things!!

The key board you are typing looks similar to most of the other keyboard , but they where not evolved, they where made by conscious people not just formed one day !!!!
Anonymous said...
TOM the example you cite, Is it another flawed interpretation like the one used for nylonase? You must be knowing that nylonase is now known to derive from a two nucleotide substitution and not the bullcrap of 90% change in genetic information which was propagated for years and is still being propagated by some thickheaded evolutionists. This incident could be explained in a similar manner. There is no complex trait in the evolution of citrate metabolism in the same way there was no complex genetic information built in the adaptation of an extant enzyme to digest nylon. Tom if this is your single MOST IMPORTANT PROOF then we the creationist wont have to endevaour anything in refuting it. Evolution is known for its great deception. Comeon mate it can deceive in better ways.
Anonymous said...
Remember whole apes turned into humans in just 65,000 mutations. This experiment has been going on for 44,000 generations and they just found 1 trait.LOL. The fact that each generation time is much much longer in humans or apes doesnt matter at all. Natural selection is supposed to work much much better in species with smaller generation times to allow quicker adaptation of favorable traits. The fact that a sperm might be accumulating all the wrong mutations in the world is very very probable in a reproductive lifetime of an ape, however that the sperm might be accumulating all the magic traits in perfect order in a single generation without natural selection is foolishness. So Tom what do you have to say? Why dont bacteria evolve after thousands and thousands of generations(44,000) and apes turned into humans in 65,000 generations or so.
Anonymous said...
Correction: 65,000 generations
Anonymous said...
The answer is because apes never did turn into humans. Humans must have emerged independently of apes and the lab experiment you are citing is proof of that.
Anonymous said...
I would believe in evolution if someone could explain me why is that human beings have such a superior brain compared to all the creatures? Why don't any other creatures don't have the ability to think like humans? Why didn't any other creatures evolve like humans? A coincidence?
JAMSHED MOIDU said...
Thanks lot for the anonymous support...

I think Tom will never answer to the questions...
MikeTheInfidel said...
You people are fucking idiots.
JAMSHED MOIDU said...
#Mike
Give evidence .........
JAMSHED MOIDU said...
and prove your INTELLIGENT TRAIT!!
Tom said...
You all continue to be dense.

A flower doesn't compete with it's own kind. That is morality at a basic level.

The keyboard comment... we are talking biology, not mechanical engineering!

The nylon thing... click my name for a wiki article. They have done it with other bacteria.

You all display a fundemental lack of understanding about evolution and natural selection. Here is a start:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnzmxeZJeho

You all cling to your fairy tale that a desiger designed you. You need that belief to feel like there is a reward after this life. Grow up and get over it. You have more important things to do.

I DO look around and I am in AWE of the physics, chemistry, and biology I see around me. I see NO evidence of ANY god. Nothing suggests there is a god around. If he does exist, he is a major fuck up. No wonder he is hiding, I'd be embarrassed by this mess he made as well.
Anonymous said...
WE dont display a lack of understanding of evolution. Evolution displays an ignorance about sciences and the fossil record. Evolution will go on but for how long, the fossils were suppressed until todate, most of the public never saw or came to learn about the huge collection of fossils which we have. Now its clear. It is damn clear. No changes have taken place in species, experiments are failing to cause emergence of complex traits. Bacterial resistance has been explained with pharmacological sciences without the need of evolution.Everything is fitting in with the creationist model of life and rejectin a common descent.
Anonymous said...
The ability of mutations to make millions of complex species is like blind and insane men with no touch sensation trying to build petronas tower, opera house, TaJ Mahal by arranging random building materials. No matter how many full vision supervisors you keep on the site to capitalize small building developments(natural selection), they will wait for trillions and trillions of and no building will emerge.
Anonymous said...
And for the record that youtube video of DonExodus just babbles about Evolution being scientific without proving it. Comparisons are made to gravity and its mechanisms of working which we have all heard out before without any rational, convincing explanation. Convince us how design can emerge. Convince us how a cyctochrome C can emerge or a mitochondria generating ATP can emerge or how the 100,000,000,000 nervous cells can organize and align in perfection to give us vision, hearing, sensation of pain, touch, to give us organized cognition and memory. Comeon provide a rational materialist explanation instead of telling us blind accidents planned all that. Unifying theory?? Evolution doesnt unify anything. All sciences from embryology, paleontology work well and in conformity independent of a hypothesis on origin of species. Evolution doesnt add anything in terms of unification of biological sciences. Embryology, paleontolgy, biochemistry and molecular biology are unified fields of study by the very nature of studying species in the common global setting we reside in.
Anonymous said...
Tom, are you retarded or what? Just look around and see for yourself. I am an athiest, I don't believe in God as there is no proof for his existence, likewise I don't believe in evolution too, its not science but pure shit wothout any solid evidence but instead have lots of contradictions. The time has come for another alternate theory to come or wait until GOD shows up!
Tom said...
"blind and insane men" = evidence you still fail to understand evolution AND natural selection. (Click my name) The implications of selection part of evolution are extremely important and not to be glossed over. You will find, if you look, that the implications of natural selection are very deep and can be very subtle, or quite obvious.

Evolution doesn't create design! There is NO design. Evolution selects for optimal survival and reproduction, that is it. There is no intent in evolution. The organism is not "trying" to be anything different. That is why some organisms don't change for millions of years, if there is no stress (competition for food or mates), then change doesn't get selected over the old organism. Sharks do well as they are because there is plenty of food and no real competition in the sea.

"align in perfection"??? there is nothing perfect in any biology... you have a nerve that goes from your brain, around your heart and aorta and back up to your larynx, that is perfection? Why would it do that. Because as you evolved, that nerve had to stay connected, it couldn't suddenly jump across your aorta and go directly to yuor larynx. Then there are your eyes with backward retinas or the fact that our veins clog up with cholesterol as you age. Organs we don't need, genes that are garbage and turned off. Look, I cannot in this small space describe how our nervous system evolved into what we have today... there is a very good book that pulls it all together with current information: "Why Evolution is True" by Jerry Coyne. He is an actual scientist, unlike Mr Yahya.

Biology is very messy because of evolution. Each step has to build on what was there previously. There are no jumps, if it wasn't there before, it can't exist now. Each change is small and if it is sucessful, is passed on.

So your alternative is some creator designed animals and placed them here. When? Why aren't there any horse fossils in the dinosaur ages? Why aren't there dinosaurs now? How come bats, humans, dogs, whales all have the same basic parts? Head, neck, two arms (forelegs), two legs (back legs), eyes, internal organs, cellular chemistry, genetic code? Wouldn't a designer design better for perfection instead of using the same parts over and over again? You say they are all unrelated but they have the same parts. Couldn't cheeta legs be optimized for running better? Have you ever watched magic tricks? Why are our minds so easily tricked? Why do bats have solid bones instead of lighter hollow ones like birds? This creator guy seems kind of sloppy. There is absolutely nothing perfect in his creations. Definately not in humans.

Of course evolution unifies the biologies! It explains how we find fossils where we do, why embryos are the way they are, why biochemistry does what it does, why the genetic codes vary as they do and are so similar among all animals.

What fossils were suppressed? Fossils that prove WHAT? A horse with a dinosaur? A 3 Million year old human? What? Ridiculous.

Look. I can't help you if you don't even try to understand, but then you don't want my help and will continue to live in the dark ages, your loss. Science and medicine will leave you behind. The discoveries based on or aided by evolution happen daily. You are welcome to wallow in your creationist beliefs, but you will be left behind, you won't understand why, you'll resent it and claim conspiracy. Oh! You seem to be there now! Very sad waste of obvious talent.
Tom said...
I wish people would not be afraid and sign their names....
No, I am not retarded. There is plenty of evidence for evolution as I have stated over and over again. Why is it not science???? The theory explains what we see. We test the theory. It passes (like finding the right fossils in the right places). We use the theory to predict outcome. It happens as predicted (like stressing a bacteria to change what it eats). HOW IS THAT NOT SCIENCE!?!?!?
JAMSHED MOIDU said...
#Tom
A flower doesn't compete with it's own kind. That is morality at a basic level.

According to the Evolution theory it is the basic priciple to compete to survive and to form a new species of living things.....THEN IF NOT FLOWER DID'T COMPETE HOW WAS IT FORMED ACCORDING TO EVOLUTIONARY MECHANISM?

Then what about those fruits? what evolutionary MECHANISM lead to the Formation of JACK FRUIT, BANANA, ORANGE,APPLE,LEMON,STRAWBERRY,GRAPES,WATER MELON, MANGO.......etc....etc....?
Don't say TOMATO EVOLVED TO APPLE or like LEMON EVOLVED TO ORANGE just because they have similarities.....


#The keyboard comment... we are talking biology, not mechanical engineering!

Evolutionist always compare HUMAN BODY to machines, do you know that ? Human bodies functions are divided according to various systems like NERVOUS SYSTEM DIGESTIVE SYSTEM, RESPIRATORY SYSTEM, REPRODUCTIVE SYSTE, etc...etc...all these system works in a MECHANISED fashion, they cordinate each other,if anything happens to one of the system the entire FUNCTIONING is affected.....the biological function act in a MECHANISED way....please read GUYTON'S physiology Medical textbook and UPDATE YOUR knowledge...
IF KEY BOARDS CANNOT ORGANISE THEMSELVES THEN HOW CAN INANIMATE THINGS CAN GIVE RISE TO THE ANIMATE OBJECTS BY THEMSELVES?(The FIRST cell-according to evolutionary mechanism was formed out of COINCIDENCE)

#You all cling to your fairy tale that a desiger designed you. You need that belief to feel like there is a reward after this life. Grow up and get over it. You have more important things to do.

Its you clinging to your IMAGINARY STORIES that life came out of chance, and if you are suffering INSOMNIA..i prescribe you to read the stories of ''ORIGIN OF SPECIES'', you will get enough sleep...

For your kind information...
MEDICAL SCIENCE IS GETTING UPDATED EVERY DAY....EVERY YEAR MEDICAL BOOKS ARE GETTING UPDATED DUE TO THE ACCUMULATION OF KNOWLEDGE....SO I REQUEST YOU TO UPDATE YOUR KNOWLEDGE and please don't LIVE WITH YOU 18TH CENTUARY KNOWLEDGE.....keep updating
If you need to Know anything about NEW BOOKS in Medicine i would be pleased to inform you...
JAMSHED MOIDU said...
#Tom
During embryogenesis: The embryo makes EYES AND EARS...how did embryo came to know that there is OBJECTS outside the womb to SEE and sounds OUSTSIDE to hear?
Was it out of COINCIDENCE?
YOU SEE KEY AND LOCK CANNOT BE THE PRODUCT OF CHANCE!!!!!
Anonymous said...
Evolution doesn't create design! There is NO design. Evolution selects for optimal survival and reproduction, that is it. There is no intent in evolution. The organism is not "trying" to be anything different. That is why some organisms don't change for millions of years, if there is no stress (competition for food or mates), then change doesn't get selected over the old organism. Sharks do well as they are because there is plenty of food and no real competition in the sea.

Apes fought for survival to become human beings? lol poor logic man
Anonymous said...
Jamshed,
You need to read a lot more about evolution before you argue, your level of knowledge is not even comparable to high school kids. Though evolution is not proved as of yet and it lack evidences your understanding of evolution is very bad. Don't read Harun Yahya's books to learn about evolution, use other standard publications or you can even google 'evidences against evolution'. That will give you more scientific explanation for why evolution is not true. Do proper research before you comment or post and don't attack anyone one personally. Way to go bro.

Good luck.

NB: I don't believe in evolution
JAMSHED MOIDU said...
sO YOU ARE TELLING THERE IS NO DESIGN IN YOUR EYES, EARS,FINGERS,TEETH,respiratory system,cardiovascular system, digestive system, locomotor systemm............??????/
JAMSHED MOIDU said...
#Don't read Harun Yahya's books to learn about evolution, use other standard publications or you can even google 'evidences against evolution'

I READ ALL THE BOOKS...ONE THAT IS SUPPORTING ...denying,
But i don;t find any evidence for EVOLUTION THEORY and it is just AN ASSUMPTION without any evidence...

I didn't attack anyone personally without any reason, he just stopped in commenting about evolution,I WAS DOING A RESEARCH ON EVOLUTION,but i find evolutionist to be CLOSED MINDED people....
JAMSHED MOIDU said...
and i did;t attacK anyone...i JUST REQUESTED HIM.....SEE MY POST its written as ''A request to PZ'' not An attack to PZ''...
Anonymous said...
Harun Yahya's book are excellent resources of Evolution.
JAMSHED MOIDU said...
#Harun Yahya's book are excellent resources of Evolution.

Yes...i have been reading since 9 years...

one more thing PZ Myers has blocked me permanetly in commenting his blog..

#Tom
he will never give a proper explanation to the questions.....he is trying to escape by giving UNSCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION....
Anonymous said...
I wrote a long reply to Tom. Unfortunately it didnt get posted and I wast too lazy to type it all out again. So maybe tomorrow. Good points raised Jamshed. The analogy = evolution argument is so lame. And whenever they bring that up just tell them that 5,000 most important genes are 75% similar in humans and nematodes. And that potatoes have 46 chromosomes or that two fishes represent the greatest genomic differences of all vertebrates. According to evolution logic, the elephant is more related to a bat then a bony fish is related to a bony fish.
JAMSHED MOIDU said...
you could have copied those comments and pasted,so you don't loose even if it is not pasted,

#46 chromosomes...yes i have read this one in Harun yahya's Miracle of DNA--result of human genome project

please take care of #TOM...i will be busy with my exams for few days.....
Anonymous said...
Molecular phylogenetics chokes every now and then when more and more examples are found of sequence similarities in distant species more stronger then in close species. It should be a undisputed law if evolution were true that distant species have lesser sequence similarities in ALL their proteins as compared to closely related organisms since proteins are inherited from the most recent common ancestor. Logically the more ancient the common ancestor the more disparate the inherited proteins should be. It would be utterly embarrassing if proteins are found more similar in distant organisms then closely related organisms.
More and more examples of such proteins are being found. Although the ape and human are very similar such differences demolish to rubble any proposal that species are related based on molecular systematics.
Why would a protein be closer in pigs and humans.

Did one of our ape-man father's commit adultery and screwed one from the line of evolving pigs, the product piggy of which inherited that gene.
Tom said...
"During embryogenesis: The embryo makes EYES AND EARS...how did embryo came to know that there is OBJECTS outside the womb to SEE and sounds OUSTSIDE to hear?"
You have a long way to go. Genes dude... genes.

"Apes fought for survival to become human beings? lol poor logic man"
Apes fought for survival AND BECAME human beings. There was no intent. Again, ignorance of evolutionary theory and how it works.

".....he is trying to escape by giving UNSCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION...."
Explain to me please what a SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION would look like. I have cited what science has found through the tests performed on evolution. What more do you want? For me to somehow publish through this tiny comment box a textbook on evolution? I've given you several examples of excellent books on the subject by experts. I am not an expert and I run circles around you guys in my understanding of evolution.

"Did one of our ape-man father's commit adultery and screwed one from the line of evolving pigs, the product piggy of which inherited that gene."
Sorry... beyond my level of knowledge to comment on. I searched and found no controversy on the subject.

"sO YOU ARE TELLING THERE IS NO DESIGN IN YOUR EYES, EARS,FINGERS,TEETH,respiratory system,cardiovascular system, digestive system, locomotor systemm............??????/"
Yes.
In evolution there IS NO INTENT to design. You get what you get. There is nothing out there thinking "we need eyes and ears on this animal so lets start making them." Again. Natural selection chooses the best, it took billions of years and trillions of generations and a billion trillions of individuals, but it got there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution
Anonymous said...
Unanswerable controversies are not regarded as controversies in Darwinists minds. The thin scientific curtain they hide behind is exposed. Go read how many examples like I cited dont fill in with the phylogenetic trees and they just keep these examples under the mat.
Tom said...
Unanswerable controversies! It is either an issue or not. Phylogenetic problems either exist or don't exist. I couldn't find any. Ok, so you provide some evidence of a controversy. A scientifically published paper would be nice.
Anonymous I said...
Well, when any one holds a view against the consensus held by the scientific monopoloy. He is deemed a heretic of science even if that consensus is not based on evidence. The evolutionist biologic 'scientific' community is adopting the same views held by the catholic church when galileo stood up to challenge the widely held view. The counter-evolution movement today is small but growing, based on evidence and has clearly broke the pseudoscientific pillars of Darwinism. Therefore I admit openly, thats it's a rarity to see openly a paper challenging the fundamentals of evolution. However for example indirectly the paper on nylonase showed the scientific basis of how an esterase had already a cleft which was near-conformed to diggest nylon. In the same way there are many quotes from notable people that the the molecular basis of life doesnt neatly fit into the phylogenetic trees we speculate event though this should happen if the tree structure of life was unquestionable.
Anonymous I said...
These are direct quotations from Harun Yahya's website but references can be provided from notable scientific publications:

Comparisons carried out on the molecule cytochrome c, cited by the NAS as evidence for evolution, resulted in disappointment for evolutionists. These comparisons showed that the turtle was closer to birds than to the snake, another reptile. Evolutionists had claimed that the protein sequences of the turtle and snake, two reptiles, should be much closer to each another. The same research also revealed that chickens exhibit greater similarities to penguins than to ducks. Man emerges as closer to kangaroos than to apes.
Anonymous I said...
Molecular evolution is about to be accepted as a method superior to paleontology for the discovery of evolutionary relationships. As a molecular evolutionist I should be elated. Instead it seems disconcerting that many exceptions exist to the orderly progression of species as determined by molecular homologies; so many in fact that I think the exception, the quirks, may carry the more important message

Christian Schwabe, "On the Validity of Molecular Evolution", Trends in Biochemical Sciences, vol. 11, July 1986.
Anonymous I said...
No consistent organismal phylogeny has emerged from the many individual protein phylogenies so far produced. Phylogenetic incongruities can be seen everywhere in the universal tree, from its root to the major branchings within and among the various [groups] to the makeup of the primary groupings themselves.

Carl Woese, "The Universal Ancestor", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 95, 1998, p. 6854
Anonymous I said...
Against this background of high variability between relaxins from purportedly closely related species, the relaxins of pig and whale are all but identical. The molecules derived from rats, guinea-pigs, man and pigs are as distant from each other (approximately 55%) as all are from the elasmobranch's relaxin. ...Insulin, however, brings man and pig phylogenetically closer together than chimpanzee and man.

Christian Schwabe, "Theoretical Limitations of Molecular Phylogenetics and the Evolution of Relaxins", Comparative Biochemical Physiology, vol. 107B,
Creationist said...
Evolution is full of blunders without proofs,
How can infor,ation in the chromosomes form themselves?
the article you have read was not the product of chance,but a product of intelligent mind
Creationist said...
evolution is a fairy tale written by the gratest fairy teller Darwin
Alex said...
Tom
escape..escape...escape...
you cannot give scientific evidence to these people,they have taken master degree on these subject,
so run away.....run away.....hide some where like Richard Dawkins.
Tom said...
I am getting tired of Oktar's picture.

It looks like the phylogenetic trees had have some questions and some detractors. But that is the way of science and the fact these papers got published isn't good evidence of your conspiracy theories. However, one reference is 20 years old, the other 10. A lot has happened lately. Looks like they are pressing on with phylogenetic coding despite your detractors:
http://discovermagazine.com/2005/apr/pushing-phylocode
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhyloCode
http://www.ohio.edu/phylocode/
http://www.palaeos.org/PhyloCode

I am getting tired of beating my head against a brick wall. I hope one of your readers got a germ of evolution planted and maybe someday they'll come to understand it. That would make this worth it. I never really thought I'd convert anyone, but had to try. Enjoy your lives in the delusional dark ages. I sincerely hope it isn't too painful.
JAMSHED MOIDU said...
#Tom
You have a long way to go. Genes dude... genes.

Which evolutionary Mechanism LOADED information into the Genes?
Was it Natural selection? SELECTION NEEDS an intelligent Mind!!!

#Apes fought for survival AND BECAME human beings. There was no intent. Again, ignorance of evolutionary theory and how it works.

Why only Apes fought to become Human?...why not other creatures?

#Explain to me please what a SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION would look like.

A scientific explanation with concrete evidence where EXPERIMENTS validate the theory.
Cite an experiment that proves species can evolve into another BRAND NEW specie.......SO THAT I CAN DO THE SAME EXPERIMENT HERE IN INDIA AND CONFIRM ITS VALIDITY.

#sO YOU ARE TELLING THERE IS NO DESIGN IN YOUR EYES, EARS,FINGERS,TEETH,respiratory system,cardiovascular system, digestive system, locomotor systemm............??????/"
Yes.
In evolution there IS NO INTENT to design.

So you are telling there is no DESIGN in your body.....ok
Is there any DESIGN in your Laptop, Airplane,Mobile phone, shirt, your computer screen,pen......etc....etc.....how was it formed? was it formed out of ''BLIND SELECTION'' or by ''INTELLIGENT SELECTION''?
Luhar From The African Coast said...
"I am getting tired of beating my head against a brick wall"

No you are getting punched by the gloves of the Harun Yahya. Whether a paper is 10, 20 or 1000 years old. As long as the content in it can be validated today suffices. It doesnt change the fact that kangaroos have cytochrome C more analogous then apes if the paper documenting this fact is published in circa 2000 BC or 2000 AD.

You dont need to reconfirm that the evolutionists wont stop at anything to move their theory, the point I was making is that they hide the big big holes in the theory and go to sleep thinking that their imaginatory connections will last for long. Harun yahya has awoken the world and we wont stop until we have intellectually circumcised all this evolutionists propagandists.
Anonymous said...
“Which evolutionary Mechanism LOADED information into the Genes?
Was it Natural selection? SELECTION NEEDS an intelligent Mind!!!”
Selection does not need a mind! Read the theory and understand how it works. Selection is a natural process that HAS NO INTENT.

“Why only Apes fought to become Human?...why not other creatures?”
Read my word exactly please. Our ancestral apes fought to SURVIVE. Not to become human. Humans are the result, not the goal. Not the same thing.

“Cite an experiment that proves species can evolve into another BRAND NEW specie...”
I have already cited one. The E Coli that evolved to live in a citric environment. They are effectively a new species. Other E Coli cannot live in that environment, only the new one. Another example is the breeding of dogs over the centuries. A Great Dane cannot mate naturally with a Dachshund. Genetically they are close but they are separated now physically. Species: "a species is a group of actually or potentially interbreeding individuals who are reproductively isolated from other such groups."

“Is there any DESIGN in your Laptop, Airplane,Mobile phone, shirt, your computer screen,pen...”
There you go again equating technology with biology. Evolution has no intent. Biology has no intent. It strives to survive and reproduce but it has no intent. There is no goal, only a result. You are like a child asked why there are clouds answering “to make the grass grow”. The child attributes intent on the clouds where there is none. You have to attribute intent in order to keep your god around were there is none.

“you are getting punched by the gloves of the Harun Yahya.”
Ha! Ha! HA! HA! SNORT! Ha! HA! That is so funny it hurts! That crook! He is a con man who knows he has a great gig leading you guys around thinking he is a “GREAT SCIENTIST” where in reality is just a crook. Like all the other preacher crooks. Good luck with that!

Tom
Anonymous said...
Tom your answers dont make sense. they are just wild throw outs. Is there a paper which has investigated the nature of the Citrate metabolism emergence?? Until and unless a paper fully documents what changes take place this cannot be cited as proof for evolution. Same with the nylonase. 2 nucleotide substitution morphing the esterase cleft already pre-disposed to digesting nylonase is not proof of emergence of a new trait. Why dont they continue the nylonase experiment and show us it evolving into a fully efficacious enzyme rather than the 2% activity we see? Evolutionist hypocrisy has no bounds, they dont shy from making bold statements like the enzyme evolved into a completely new 100% genetically different enzyme relying on papers by Susumu which are in the 80's and are speculations which have been debunked.
Anonymous said...
"Evolution has no intent and no mind"

Is that why every cell in terms of molecular biology is termed excellent engineering. One can only conclude you have a shallow aesthetic awareness when you say a mindless process produced the Rose plant or the 2 million nephron factory which purifies your blood without which you wont last a few days or the liver which works 500 types of complex metabolic pathways. I guess you make a blind, unreflected statement when you say evolution happened with the only requirement on this earth being time and yet expect people to sit and nod their heads at you. Why would someone nod when your explanations wont be even acceptable to children who know the basic complexities of life. Such a foolish, simple concept as accidents causing magical arrangement only if the accidents are supervised by a process is utter stupidity. The outcomes are in the infinite yet we see a universe with a definitive genetic coding. The genetic formulary doesnt work in infinite sequence options. The limited species this world has experienced are just an ultra-microscopic dot in the vast expanse of non-sense genetic coding possible. This dot theory is enough proof that God designed the precision of the genetic sequences we possess. Tom to change just 38 amino acids into another specific order requires 4 billion years of the natural mutation rate.

Tom REflect and think and dont be dogmatic. The majority is not always correct. The evidence is.
Tom said...
Did you not read the link I provided to Lenski's research on E Coli? Here it is again:
https://www.msu.edu/~lenski/sciencearticle.html

Did you not read what I said I found that they had other bacteria eating nylon. I didn't just throw it out... I found the article. I suggest you get away from Yahya.

"One can only conclude you have a shallow aesthetic awareness when you say a mindless process produced the Rose plant..."
Huh? What has that to do with the argument? However... have you ever seen a Mandelbrot or Fractal where a complicated picture is created from a simple algorithm? The algorithm is simple and mindless but creates a colorful and complicated picture with just small variations of input parameters. Executing a math equation over and over is not a designer, it is just a process running. Like evolution, over and over, trillions of times over billions of years.

"simple concept as accidents causing magical arrangement only if the accidents are supervised by a process is utter stupidity"
Where have I said anything magical happens? Sure there are many more possible combinations of genetic code, they just weren't selected. And each code has to come from parents, nothing in evolution suggests a code just pops out, change is by just one mutation at a time. Also, just because a coding is possible doesn't make it viable. Many were selected and then died off. The fossil record shows many species that no longer exist, branches that were dead ends or were ended by disaster. I am sorry you fail to see the simple beauty of evolution. Do you also fail to see the simple beauty of Kepler's laws of planetary motion? Einstein's Special and General Relativity? Newtons general laws of physics? Is there intelligence behind those processes? In many ways, evolution is much simpler.

Logical Fallacy: Argument from Personal Incredulity
"I cannot explain or understand this, therefore it cannot be true. Creationists are fond of arguing that they cannot imagine the complexity of life resulting from blind evolution, but that does not mean life did not evolve."
From: http://www.theskepticsguide.org/resources/logicalfallacies.aspx

I HAVE reflected on this and I am NOT being dogmatic. For an old aerospace engineer, I think I am being pretty open minded. And I am not in the majority, creationism is still the most popular belief in this world about were we come from. The evidence shown to me is evolution is true. It makes sense to me. You don't see it and I am sorry. All I can suggest is you read Coyne's book, it lays it all out nicely, even addressing some of your points. Let go of your god for just a little while you read it. It could be a releasing experience.

I see no god. Just because something is beautiful and complicated and "looks" designed doesn't make god true.
Anonymous said...
Tom you are immersed in evolutionary fraud. Just to open your slight eyes, all propaganda done on the dino-bird theory has been debunked again with further evidence.Go read the article in science daily 9th June after research done on the the flight-femur relationship of birds by the Orgean university scientists. It is another additional scientific hammer on the heads of evolutionists frauds who persist in their false dogma. Youtube has massive fraud documentaries trying to speculate dino-bird and making it appear as a fact. Musesums controlled by evolutionists make it appear as a fact with only small astersisks and small prints saying a few scientisits disagress. I will read your article and get back to you.

Go read the latest paper on nylonase.
J.Mol Biology(2007) 370, 142-156. Authored by Seiji Negoro et al the study and the crystallographic analysis of nylonase. It proves beyond doubt the false lies place by evolutionary propagandists.

What more do you want. Will you cling to your citrate until it is further debunked. Or will you wait for your death and then open your eyes as to the irrational science you lived in.
Anonymous said...
"Executing a math equation over and over is not a designer"

Tom without doubt, You have no understanding of the world you are living in. Are you serious with this statement. A simple mathematical equation proving the origin of all life and biodiversity, the most incredible, sophisticated engineering, in all its most excellent magnificent design. Tom do you smoke ganja, I know you are my elder but I have to ask you this since ganja can worsen the outcome of those trapped in the overwhelming deceit of darwinism and who have been swayed by evolutionary winds of misinformation.
Anonymous said...
All the laws you mentioned can NEVER be equated with the objective task they represent. Remember Evolution is suppose to represent the True fact of the ORIGIN OF ALL COMPLEXITY. None of the theories even come close to taking such an incredible task.

Fossil record is clear on the Origin of Species - Cambrian explosion, lack of intermediate fossils. The fossil is the last place evolutionists would want to scrutinize. Even now the slogan "Evolution is true without fossils" is become so common to the extent that the worlds leading publicizers has publicly declared it openly. It shows how how gluey the minds of the those afflicted with chronic deceit. They just dont want to let go even though the 100 Million fossils are staring right in their eyes. I think all evolutionists need a trial of anti-psychotics. Perhaps then we might get a period in which all delusional activity will be a minimum and perhaps then the point and evidence will penetrate through.
Anonymous said...
Sorry typed in haste again.I meant to say All the laws you mentioned can NEVER be equated with the objective task Evolution is supposed to represent.
Science Student said...
Tom
You have not yet given any scientific explanation
Tom said...
Maybe you should actually read Negoro's paper (it doesn't say anything about "false lies" or discredit evolution). Here is the science, start reading... where is yours? You guys continue to show that you have not read a word I've wasted here. You have shown you haven't a clue about what evolution is or what the theory says. Please, please read something on evolution that is current and accurate... click my name for Coyne's book. There are many other simple ones to read. Neil Shubin and Donald R. Prothero are other good authors. Good bye... I am not coming back. I am tired of looking at Yahya's stupidly smug face. I hope you guys see the light someday and escape the delusion of creationism.


[1] Appearance of novel capabilities in organisms via mutation and selection - Nylonase enzymes in Japanese Flavobacterium species:

A New Nylon Oligomer Degradation Gene (nylC) on Plasmid pOAD2 from a Flavobacterium sp. by Seiji Negoro, Shinji Kakudo, Itaru Urabe, and Hirosuke Okadam, Journal of Bacteriology, Dec. 1992, p. 7948-7953

Birth of a unique enzyme from an alternative reading frame of the pre-existed, internally repetitious coding sequence by Susumu Ohno, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, Vol. 81, pp. 2421-2425, April 1984

[2] Appearance of novel capabilities in organisms via mutation and selection - Antifreeze Glycoproteins in Antarctic Notothenioid fishes:

Convergent Evolution of Antifreeze Glycoproteins in Antarctic Notothenioid Fishes and Arctic Cod by Liangbiao Chen, Arthur L. deVries and Chi-Hing C. Cheng, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, vol 94, pp 3817-3822, 1997

Evolution of an Antifreeze Glycoprotein by Liangbiao Chen and Chi-Hing C. Cheng, Nature, vol 401, pp 443-444, 1999

Functional Antifreeze Glycoprotein Genes in Temperate-Water New Zealand Nototheniid Fishes Infer An Antarctic Evolutionary Origin by Chi-Hing C Cheng, Liangbiao Chen, Thomas J Near and Yumi Jin, Journal of Molecular and Biological Evolution, Vol 20, no 11, pp 1897-1908, 2003

Nonhepatic Origin of Notothenioid Antifreeze Reveals Pancreatic Synthesis As Common Mechanism in Polar Fish Freezing Avoidance by Chi-Hing C Cheng, Paul A. Cziko and Clive W. Evans, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, vol 103, pp 10491-10496, 2006

[3] Speciation events observed in the laboratory:

Evidence for rapid speciation following a founder event in the laboratory by J.R. Weinberg V. R. Starczak and P. Jora, Evolution vol 46, pp 1214-1220, 1992

Experimentally Created Incipient Species of Drosophila by Theodosius Dobzhansky & Olga Pavlovsky, Nature 230, pp 289 - 292 (02 April 1971)

Founder-flush speciation in Drosophila pseudoobscura: a large scale experiment by A. Galiana, A. Moya and F. J. Alaya, Evolution vol 47, pp 432-444, 1993 (Speciation event in Drosophila melanogaster)

Phagotrophy by a flagellate selects for colonial prey: A possible origin of multicellularity byM.E. Boraas, D.B. Seale and J.E. Boxhorn, Evolutionary Ecology Vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 153-164. Feb 1998


[4] Speciation events in nature and supporting phylogenetic evidence:

Adaptive Evolution And Explosive Speciation: The Cichlid Fish Model by Thomas D. Kocher, Nature Reviews: Genetics, 5: 288-298 (April 2004)

Cichlid Species Flocks of the Past and Present by A. Meyer, Heredity vol 95, 419-420, 20 July 2005

Drosophila paulistorum: A Cluster of Species in Statu Nascendi by Theodosius Dobzhansky & Boris Spassky, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA., 45(3): 419-428 (1959)