Dinosaur Fossils Fit Perfectly Into The Evolutionary Tree Of Life
I know that the scientific method relies upon the constant testing and revision of hypotheses, but this kind of story is one that that makes the reader go: "Ah Ha! That is so cool...wait, I think I already knew that." I am not saying that this is a bad or stupid story, indeed, it helps reinforce theory, but the subject matter is one that anyone with basic knowledge of Evolutionary Theory already knows. The benefit I see to this news is to ID'er and YE Creationists, but would they really be reading a science blog? Oh my stars and garters, no. This needs to be published in every science classroom in the US (and Turkey too!) and even mailed to churches and religious groups.
Have we become a nation so disconnected from scientific reality that we must publish obvious things in media? When US science test scores fall behind second and third world countries, I say yes. Publish a story about the Sun being hot if that is what it takes to get Americans more knowledgeable about the world they live in. We are the country that invented the computer and the laser, the television and atomic bomb, we landed on the moon. We have a scientific legacy that is being pissed on every time a preacher tells a child that science is for people who don't trust God.
"A Date With Your Family" - Tribute yo Mystery Science Theater 3000
Thursday, January 22, 2009
at
8:59 PM
This brings back so many hilarious memories!
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Fun song from a favorite band.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
at
4:35 PM
Stumbled across this song today, and I think it has thematic significance at this moment in my life. I laughed a hell of a lot.
enjoy.
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Atheism and Confrontationalism
at
2:19 PM
I have been thinking a lot about atheism and its opposition to religion since last night and I think I may have spoken too hastily when I said I dislike Hitchens' and Dawkins' confrontational positions regarding faith. I should have been more accurate and said that I would not act in that way. Hitchens' and Dawkins' methods serve a valuable role in the promotion of rationality and foster the idea that a social movement requires the combined efforts of opposing methods to succeed. MLK and Malcolm X, Harvey Milk and the Stonewall Riots. Hitchens' and Dawkins' blasts on the religious establishment anger so many people, but that anger means they are listening. Getting them to listen is the first step.
I have never been a confrontational person except when I feel that something is being unfairly taken from me. I cannot imaging that happening any more in this world, the loss of my right to dis-believe in a way I see fit. In a country that is 14.1% "No-Religion" I think that there is enough people in that group that atheists can stop being seen as a quaint social movement. This is a country where there are more people that say they have no religion than all other religions, aside from Christianity, combined! I don't think I want to brow-beat a person into rationality but live as an example of it's virtues. Hitchens' and Dawkins' methods, get lots of high profile attention, and that is fantastic, but I guess I like working on a more personal level.
But Like MLK and Malcolm X, two opposing methods merged into a successful social movement, whose efforts have come to fruition today.
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The Red Beans are Cooking
Monday, January 19, 2009
at
8:11 PM
Well, it is Monday and in true New Orleans tradition I have a pot of red beans and rice on the stove.
Being recently single again hasn't provided that renewed sense of freedom that so many purport to gain in similar circumstances. It doesn't help that I am still living with the poor sap out of shear necessity until I can transfer my job to a place closer to where I will be living with my parents. Things have been strained and I am still holding out hope that he will see the error of his ways, but at this stage, with all the half-truths and double-speak I have been told about the impetus for the split, I would be hard pressed to take him back if he did.
But, I promised myself that this blog would not devolve into a self-pity party the way my LiveJournal did. It is important to be honest with myself and masturbatory posts extolling my sorrow over trivial, and indeed temporary, events hardly counted to sharing the truth with the most important person, me. Life has funny ways of showing what is really important to a person, and I think that open honesty, contrary to appearances, can be "frick'n hilarious."
A friend that I encountered recently told me that I should look to God in this time of need; he has always been the religious sort, but not in the way that would stop him from drinking to excess in the basement of an Ann Arbor nightclub. No, as with other issues, I find that my lack of a belief in God has allowed me to place the blame for my troubles squarely on mortal shoulders, my own. I think that atheism is the ultimate self-help tool. It stipulates that if you have a problem, you're the one that it falls on to fix it, not some bearded patriarch in the sky. Atheism is more than just a lack of belief in a god or gods, it is a way of framing all of your experiences that refuses to included supernatural causes for your problems. I am comforted by the idea that I am the one that has the control over my own life and my eventual end.
As the red beans cook away and I sit here typing, trying to write something that translates my mental notes into a palatable format, I wonder how I will move on from recent event in a way that will focus on personal responsibility and honesty with myself. At Necto last week I had [more than] a few drinks and lamented to an old acquaintance about how I don't understand why I THINK men don't find me attractive, I mean consider myself attractive with pleasant features and a body that I have honed. It didn't dawn on me then that it wasn't my physical features that were turning people off, it was my demeanor; they could tell that I wasn't being open to myself. Not that I was looking for anything that night, but even a passing nod or a stray glance from someone does feel nice.
What feels nicer is the ability to recognize fault with in oneself and correct it. The satisfaction that comes from that is second to none. I know that I will move on from the break up, but it will hurt a lot on the way; how will I know what relief feels like if I don't feel the pain first? I'll be fine, I always have. I think that is my finest quality, the ability to pick myself up, dust myself off and get going again.
The red beans are done and will make a nice end to this Monday.
Posted In
atheism,
honesty,
red beans and rice
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