Sunday, November 7, 2010
Daylight Savings changeover again...
I really dislike changing my clocks twice per year. I've yet to be convinced that there is even a need for it. Various groups insist that it saves lives and energy while various others insist that it does the opposite. Since it doesn't seem to be going away any time soon, I suppose it is pointless to complain... but complain I shall anyway.
Friday, November 5, 2010
NAI Workshop Without Walls on Molecular Paleontology and Resurrection: Rewinding the Tape of Life
The Workshop Without Walls on November 8-10, 2010 will be conducted with NAI collaborative tools, shown in use by scientists in the above images
A three-day workshop using NAI remote communications tools will be held on November 8, 9 & 10, 2010. Participants will discuss ‘top down’ origin of life research, which will ultimately allow us to rewind the evolutionary record of biochemical processes and assemblies.
Organized by John Peters and Loren Williams, PIs of the NAI’s Montana State University and Georgia Tech teams, a primary goal of the workshop is to foster new interdisciplinary collaborations across the community.
Session topics will include
* Phylogenetic Studies on Key Enzymes Involved in Information Pathways and Metabolism
* The Evolutionary History of Protein Synthesis
* Minerals to Enzymes – Bridging the Gap Between Metal Based Abiotic and Biological Chemistry
* Phylogenetic Reconstruction/Resurrection – A Glimpse into Extinct Biochemistry
* What can Modern Biological Energy Transformation Systems Tell Us About Conditions on the Early Earth?
* Linking the Evolutionary Record to the Geological Record
The workshop will consist of talks and discussion. Each presentation will allow ample time for questions and answers afterwards. Although talks will be recorded and posted online, we encourage researchers to attend in real time to engage in what we expect will be a lively exchange of ideas during the workshop.
This will be the second Workshop Without Walls organized by NAI scientists. As with the first workshop, we will be experimenting with best use of the virtual communications capabilities of NAI. The workshop is open to the worldwide science community and will be accessible via internet browser—no special software or equipment is required. Once again we look forward to a productive conference with a low carbon footprint and without registration fees, the hassle of travel, and time away from family.
Workshop Organizing Committee
* Betul Kacar Arslan (Georgia Tech, betul@gatech.edu)
* Eric Boyd (Montana State University, eboyd@montana.edu)
* John Peters (Montana State University, john.peters@chemistry.montana.edu)
* Loren Williams (Georgia Tech, loren.williams@chemistry.gatech.edu)
Agenda
Click here to view the agenda
http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/nai/ool-www/program
To accommodate all US time zones, the workshop will run from 1pm-5pm EST each day.
Please, everyone who is straight, consider this project.
http://weareallies.tumblr.com/
WeAreAllies: Be the anti-bully, Be an ALLY
People with love in their hearts for the GLBT community- enough with the bullies, this is a place where you can meet your allies.
If you consider yourself an ally, please submit your post (video or written) to weareallies@gmail.com or click "Declare Yourself An Ally" in the header section of the blog, then scroll down for the submission form. You will be notified when your post is up on our site. Please let us know if we can publish your name, age, geographic location; be sure to include that information if you want it to be published. We claim all rights to your submission once we have posted it.
If you are seeking more support please visit http://www.thetrevorproject.org/
WeAreAllies: Be the anti-bully, Be an ALLY
People with love in their hearts for the GLBT community- enough with the bullies, this is a place where you can meet your allies.
If you consider yourself an ally, please submit your post (video or written) to weareallies@gmail.com or click "Declare Yourself An Ally" in the header section of the blog, then scroll down for the submission form. You will be notified when your post is up on our site. Please let us know if we can publish your name, age, geographic location; be sure to include that information if you want it to be published. We claim all rights to your submission once we have posted it.
If you are seeking more support please visit http://www.thetrevorproject.org/
Sunday, October 24, 2010
DADT is back! Thnx Obummer!
So Obama did direct his lawyers to protest the perfectly legal and thoughtful judges ruling that momentarily cast DADT into the wastebin of bad laws built on bigotry. Along with the 3/5 rule, Jim Crow, Separate but Equal, etc., DADT could have collected dust with other laws that do nothing but marginalise important segments of our society.
A primary argument seems to be that the judge overstepped his bounds or that congress needs to remove the law. TRIPE! It is well within (and even describes) the judges JOB of measuring the constitutionality of laws to prevent the trampling of the minority by the majority or by political idiocies. Of course, Obama wants a few bigots to vote for his party, so he's selling out the LGBT community.
Just to add a little more insult, there is the "too much, too soon" crowd.
"Military officers have argued that if the change is made too quickly, it will place the military on a collision course with federal statutes. Families and spouses of soldiers have access to benefits like housing, health care and education through marriage, which the federal government does not recognize for same-sex couples."
OH NOES!
The government may have to allow other measures of equality if they allow this one! Quick! Run for the hills! Gay people might be full citizens soon!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/21/us/21recruit.html?ref=us
A primary argument seems to be that the judge overstepped his bounds or that congress needs to remove the law. TRIPE! It is well within (and even describes) the judges JOB of measuring the constitutionality of laws to prevent the trampling of the minority by the majority or by political idiocies. Of course, Obama wants a few bigots to vote for his party, so he's selling out the LGBT community.
Just to add a little more insult, there is the "too much, too soon" crowd.
"Military officers have argued that if the change is made too quickly, it will place the military on a collision course with federal statutes. Families and spouses of soldiers have access to benefits like housing, health care and education through marriage, which the federal government does not recognize for same-sex couples."
OH NOES!
The government may have to allow other measures of equality if they allow this one! Quick! Run for the hills! Gay people might be full citizens soon!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/21/us/21recruit.html?ref=us
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
NO ATHEISTS IN [CHILEAN] MINES
Bill Donahue
October 15, 2010
The miraculous rescue of all 33 Chilean miners is difficult to understand from a purely secular perspective. In this day and age of militant atheism, coupled with relentless assaults on Roman Catholicism, it is refreshing to read about the central role that Catholicism played in helping these courageous men survive, and of their enormous gratitude to God.
To those who cling to the superstition that there is no meaning to life beyond sheer material existence, we ask them to reflect on the following testimonials. Just as there are no atheists in foxholes, there are no atheists in trapped mines.
http://www.catholicleague.org/release.php?id=2005
---------------------------------------------------------------------
This twaddle is so ridiculous that it barely deserves recognition, but it mentions a couple incredibly common misconceptions that I'll take a few minutes to address. Funnily enough, the entire piece is one misconception trailed by another. From any other source I would be upset or indignant, but one does not expect Donahue to think before typing. I'm fairly certain that his next reasoned thought will be his first.
a) "The miraculous rescue of all 33 Chilean miners is difficult to understand from a purely secular perspective."
I'm not entirely certain what miraculous event occurred during the rescue. I know that I saw equipment and men, I know that many serious calculations were being done for weeks, and I witnessed a government step in and work hard to get these men out alive. Perhaps I missed something, but I'm not sure that christ was the one drilling the rescue tunnel or passing down food, water, and cots.
And just what was the "secular perspective?" Humans worked hard to save humans. No religious perspective needed.
b) "In this day and age of militant atheism, coupled with relentless assaults on Roman Catholicism, it is refreshing to read about the central role that Catholicism played in helping these courageous men survive, and of their enormous gratitude to God."
I love the term militant atheist. It is one of those few terms that shows, up front and immediately, just how ignorant and often false the next words will be. Relentless assaults? I think those have been done BY the church, not to it. This lying, disingenuous pope and the culture of paedophile protection that he supported and enforced before he became pope is why the church is facing criticism, and rightly so. The murders of millions of Africans by forbidding condoms, or withholding aid unless the government stood with them on the topic, is why the church is facing criticism, and rightly so. The misogyny and prejudices of the church is why it is facing criticism, and rightly so. It's stand on gay rights is a reason that the church is facing criticism, and rightly so.
All of that said, could someone tell me what role the church played in the rescue? Distracting the families with prayer while people worked hard to get the men out is the only act that seems to have been undertaken by "Catholicism" at the rescue. The majority of priests there claimed to be the only one talking to god and, unsurprisingly, the messages were quite different from one another. One even claimed that the miners were rescued because he sung them out with gods help. To all of these I can only respond with the thought that they should all be sealed in the mine. The priest that prays(or sings) himself out or has a divine intervention gets credit for the miners rescue.
Why do so many people think that, in the extremely small chance that a god exists, this sadistic freak would be worth worshipping? Let me do something I rarely do; lets pretend that god exists and this is all him working. HE TRAPPED 33 MEN IN A MINE FOR OVER TWO MONTHS. Not as a punishment mind, just so that he could get credit for being nice and rescuing them. In America we punish people that injure others wantonly, even those rare psychotic nurses and doctors that do it in order to mend them. We punish firefighters that light fires to maintain employment. Why then do you want to praise a god that is doing nothing more?
c) "To those who cling to the superstition that there is no meaning to life beyond sheer material existence, we ask them to reflect on the following testimonials."
Superstition? Does billy even know the definition of the word?
Superstition:
1. An irrational belief that an object, action, or circumstance not logically related to a course of events influences its outcome.
2.
1. A belief, practice, or rite irrationally maintained by ignorance of the laws of nature or by faith in magic or chance.
2. A fearful or abject state of mind resulting from such ignorance or irrationality.
3. Idolatry.
http://www.answers.com/topic/superstition
He feels that a magical fairy godfather had part in this rescue, reasoning people know that it was science and mechanics, wielded by men, and used in accordance with the laws of nature that rescued the miners. Considering that catholics worship idols, pray for god to influence the world around them, and purposely maintain "A fearful or abject state of mind..." in order to gain favour from this god; how the hell can he call people that don't do these things superstitious? By not knowing what the word means.
Reflect on testimonials? What the hell good are testimonials? People give testimonials that they hear voices, are visited by aliens, saw bigfoot, know that lizardmen have infiltrated the government, etc. . Keep the testimonials and provide evidence.
d) "Just as there are no atheists in foxholes, there are no atheists in trapped mines. "
Ah yes, the old, tired fallacy that morons love so much. There are indeed atheists in foxholes. The military has a higher rate of atheism/agnosticism than American society at large. This isn't because they don't understand killing is wrong due to non-belief in fairies, it is due to the fact that most people in the military know that they need to protect themselves and each other while relying on the weaponry and defences that were made for them by their fellow countrymen. It is also because reconciling the horrors and brutalities of war with a loving god is very difficult. http://maaf.info/
Is the mine thing because god likes killing any atheist that enters one? There are thousands and thousands of mining deaths worldwide every year. Perhaps billy thinks that the miracle there is that god could identify and justly murder each one for their unbelief?
Humans work damn hard to rescue humans using science and every available resource and all these twats can do is claim "godunnit." Bullshit. For more on this visit here: http://friendlyatheist.com/2010/10/18/there-are-no-atheists-in-trapped-mines-says-bill-donohue/
(as always, read the comments)
October 15, 2010
The miraculous rescue of all 33 Chilean miners is difficult to understand from a purely secular perspective. In this day and age of militant atheism, coupled with relentless assaults on Roman Catholicism, it is refreshing to read about the central role that Catholicism played in helping these courageous men survive, and of their enormous gratitude to God.
To those who cling to the superstition that there is no meaning to life beyond sheer material existence, we ask them to reflect on the following testimonials. Just as there are no atheists in foxholes, there are no atheists in trapped mines.
http://www.catholicleague.org/release.php?id=2005
---------------------------------------------------------------------
This twaddle is so ridiculous that it barely deserves recognition, but it mentions a couple incredibly common misconceptions that I'll take a few minutes to address. Funnily enough, the entire piece is one misconception trailed by another. From any other source I would be upset or indignant, but one does not expect Donahue to think before typing. I'm fairly certain that his next reasoned thought will be his first.
a) "The miraculous rescue of all 33 Chilean miners is difficult to understand from a purely secular perspective."
I'm not entirely certain what miraculous event occurred during the rescue. I know that I saw equipment and men, I know that many serious calculations were being done for weeks, and I witnessed a government step in and work hard to get these men out alive. Perhaps I missed something, but I'm not sure that christ was the one drilling the rescue tunnel or passing down food, water, and cots.
And just what was the "secular perspective?" Humans worked hard to save humans. No religious perspective needed.
b) "In this day and age of militant atheism, coupled with relentless assaults on Roman Catholicism, it is refreshing to read about the central role that Catholicism played in helping these courageous men survive, and of their enormous gratitude to God."
I love the term militant atheist. It is one of those few terms that shows, up front and immediately, just how ignorant and often false the next words will be. Relentless assaults? I think those have been done BY the church, not to it. This lying, disingenuous pope and the culture of paedophile protection that he supported and enforced before he became pope is why the church is facing criticism, and rightly so. The murders of millions of Africans by forbidding condoms, or withholding aid unless the government stood with them on the topic, is why the church is facing criticism, and rightly so. The misogyny and prejudices of the church is why it is facing criticism, and rightly so. It's stand on gay rights is a reason that the church is facing criticism, and rightly so.
All of that said, could someone tell me what role the church played in the rescue? Distracting the families with prayer while people worked hard to get the men out is the only act that seems to have been undertaken by "Catholicism" at the rescue. The majority of priests there claimed to be the only one talking to god and, unsurprisingly, the messages were quite different from one another. One even claimed that the miners were rescued because he sung them out with gods help. To all of these I can only respond with the thought that they should all be sealed in the mine. The priest that prays(or sings) himself out or has a divine intervention gets credit for the miners rescue.
Why do so many people think that, in the extremely small chance that a god exists, this sadistic freak would be worth worshipping? Let me do something I rarely do; lets pretend that god exists and this is all him working. HE TRAPPED 33 MEN IN A MINE FOR OVER TWO MONTHS. Not as a punishment mind, just so that he could get credit for being nice and rescuing them. In America we punish people that injure others wantonly, even those rare psychotic nurses and doctors that do it in order to mend them. We punish firefighters that light fires to maintain employment. Why then do you want to praise a god that is doing nothing more?
c) "To those who cling to the superstition that there is no meaning to life beyond sheer material existence, we ask them to reflect on the following testimonials."
Superstition? Does billy even know the definition of the word?
Superstition:
1. An irrational belief that an object, action, or circumstance not logically related to a course of events influences its outcome.
2.
1. A belief, practice, or rite irrationally maintained by ignorance of the laws of nature or by faith in magic or chance.
2. A fearful or abject state of mind resulting from such ignorance or irrationality.
3. Idolatry.
http://www.answers.com/topic/superstition
He feels that a magical fairy godfather had part in this rescue, reasoning people know that it was science and mechanics, wielded by men, and used in accordance with the laws of nature that rescued the miners. Considering that catholics worship idols, pray for god to influence the world around them, and purposely maintain "A fearful or abject state of mind..." in order to gain favour from this god; how the hell can he call people that don't do these things superstitious? By not knowing what the word means.
Reflect on testimonials? What the hell good are testimonials? People give testimonials that they hear voices, are visited by aliens, saw bigfoot, know that lizardmen have infiltrated the government, etc. . Keep the testimonials and provide evidence.
d) "Just as there are no atheists in foxholes, there are no atheists in trapped mines. "
Ah yes, the old, tired fallacy that morons love so much. There are indeed atheists in foxholes. The military has a higher rate of atheism/agnosticism than American society at large. This isn't because they don't understand killing is wrong due to non-belief in fairies, it is due to the fact that most people in the military know that they need to protect themselves and each other while relying on the weaponry and defences that were made for them by their fellow countrymen. It is also because reconciling the horrors and brutalities of war with a loving god is very difficult. http://maaf.info/
Is the mine thing because god likes killing any atheist that enters one? There are thousands and thousands of mining deaths worldwide every year. Perhaps billy thinks that the miracle there is that god could identify and justly murder each one for their unbelief?
Humans work damn hard to rescue humans using science and every available resource and all these twats can do is claim "godunnit." Bullshit. For more on this visit here: http://friendlyatheist.com/2010/10/18/there-are-no-atheists-in-trapped-mines-says-bill-donohue/
(as always, read the comments)
Friday, April 9, 2010
How to know when you are TRULY repugnant
I found this on PZ Myers blog, Pharyngula. I'd say that when the Klan
disassociates itself from you, your group, or your message, you have
truly found the bottom of the dungheap.
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/04/they_get_no_respect.php
Everyone knows that this church and it's attendees are complete trash
and wastes of oxygen, but wow! The Klan actually has higher standards
and practises!
disassociates itself from you, your group, or your message, you have
truly found the bottom of the dungheap.
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/04/they_get_no_respect.php
Everyone knows that this church and it's attendees are complete trash
and wastes of oxygen, but wow! The Klan actually has higher standards
and practises!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
i suck at blogging
I keep trying to write in my blog and end up writing in everyone elses. After I spend so much time formulating and using arguments, I'd like to regurgitate them here but I have no evidence that anyone has ever even seen this site. If you see my writing, whether or not you agree, please speak! Let me know! Converse!
Remember that we need not agree, discussion is enough, even if it's written.
Remember that we need not agree, discussion is enough, even if it's written.
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