Prairie Dog Squeak Equals Human Sentence

I must say that I find it quite incredible that inside the very short squeak of a prairie dog is a complete sentence of the form “Danger, a thin human in a yellow shirt is approaching the colony.”

Buy Organics Because Shit Doesn’t Explode

First let me state that the victims and their families of this explosion and of the recent explosions in Boston have my deepest sympathy and condolences.

What We Know About the Huge Explosion at the West, Texas, Fertilizer Plant

Wednesday’s fire came one day after the 66th anniversary of the worst industrial accident in American history—the Texas City disaster, another fertilizer explosion that left 581 people dead when a French vessel hauling ammonium nitrate caught fire.

Abstinence is a Sin!

First, let me be clear. I am not joking about this. I am being as serious as an atheist who believes that real sin lies only in harming others can be on the subject. For religious readers, if I have any, I hope this encourages thought and dialog. I welcome all serious responses regardless of whether we agree on the topic.

So, here are my points about why I believe abstinence is sinful from both a biblical standpoint and more importantly to me why abstinence only education and the encouragement of abstinence pledges and the like are inherently sinful.

Scientists Respond to Creationism

Unfortunately, scientists are still in the position of having to respond to complete and utter bullshit. There are some good responses in here to why this is a real problem. Unfortunately, I bet there will be induhviduals who respond on this thread in defense of creationism. If you are about to do so, please make sure to at least watch the video first.

My favorite response in this particular video is the one regarding the human eye and jaw as they reflect on the incompetency of god and provide better evidence of unintelligent design than the other kind.

UN Predicts: Global Food Crisis 2013

I’m sure many who read my blog have been convinced for a while that I’m somewhat of a fear monger with respect to climate change and overpopulation. Perhaps. Before you make up your mind, read this:

UN warns of looming worldwide food crisis in 2013

The figures come as one of the world’s leading environmentalists issued a warning that the global food supply system could collapse at any point, leaving hundreds of millions more people hungry, sparking widespread riots and bringing down governments. In a shocking new assessment of the prospects of meeting food needs, Lester Brown, president of the Earth policy research centre in Washington, says that the climate is no longer reliable and the demands for food are growing so fast that a breakdown is inevitable, unless urgent action is taken.

Good thing climate change is just a hoax. Dig hole in sand. Insert head. Fill in hole. Ignorance is bliss.

“Armed aggression is no longer the principal threat to our future. The overriding threats to this century are climate change, population growth, spreading water shortages and rising food prices,” Brown says.

Open Letter to Politicians Re: Climate Change Urgency & Carbon Tax

250 million years ago, this planet suffered the greatest mass extinction of multicellular life in the long history of the planet. The ocean conveyor current stopped. The ocean became anoxic, meaning it had little or no oxygen. Fish died; sulfur producing bacteria thrived. As the anoxic layer of the ocean reached the surface, hydrogen sulfide gas was released into the atmosphere in toxic quantities. The sky turned green. The mass extinction was brought onto land.

95% of all species on the planet died. This was due to global warming.*

Impeach Congressman Paul Broun

Congressman Paul Broun has publicly stated that he is deliberately failing to uphold and defend the constitution of the United States of America. As such, he should be forcibly removed from office for the failure to follow his oath of office. Here is a direct quote from this idiot who has proclaimed that the earth is 9,000 years old, and that evolution, the big bang theory, and embryology are lies straight from the pit of hell.

As you congressman, I hold the holy bible as being the major directions to me for how I vote in Washington DC. And, I’ll continue to do that.

Paul Broun’s act of legislating based on his personal religious beliefs is in direct contradiction to this famous quote.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ….

Monsanto Addresses Overpopulation!

Great news! Someone is dealing with the biggest environmental problem in the world. Most environmental groups won’t even say the word. But, Monsanto is actively addressing the real issue, the cause of climate change, ocean acidification, overfishing, deforestation, all forms of pollution, world hunger, and possibly even war.

Monsanto has taken it upon themselves to address overpopulation.

This is great news folks. If we do not limit our population, nature will limit it for us … mercilessly. So, when I read this, I was thrilled.

GMO Technology: Glyphosate Toxicity Leaving Men Sterile

This Little Higgy Gave Roast Beef Its Mass

OK. That sucks as a nursery rhyme. However, it is really cool science that they found the Higgs particle. Major kudos to Professor Peter Higgs for theorizing this decades ago and for his good luck in living to see the day the particle was found. Major kudos also to all of the theoretical and experimental scientists at CERN for working together to develop and run the experiments that finally found this elusive particle.

Higgs boson-like particle discovery claimed at LHC

And, for comic relief, here’s a related clip from the TV comedy The Big Bang Theory.

Excuse Me, I’m Looking for 144 Million Idiots …

… oh … never mind. I found them.

In U.S., 46% Hold Creationist View of Human Origins

Remember folks, if you do not believe in evolution, you do not believe in modern medicine.

Collapse 2030: Mark Your Calendars

All the times that I said that I hoped that global civilizational collapse would begin late enough for me to live out my life expectancy I had hoped that I was just disasturbating. No such luck.

Why is there stuff in the universe?

Let there be stuff? I don’t think that’s a very satisfying answer. This one is much better.

This lecture is entitled ‘A Universe From Nothing’ by Lawrence Krauss. It is rather lengthy, but amusing throughout and not too technical for a lay audience, such as myself. The introduction is by Richard Dawkins, who if I remember correctly, at some point calls Lawrence Krauss the Woody Allen of physics. It’s a fairly apt description, and a high compliment IMHO.

I highly recommend this. If you’re thinking it’s not worth the time, just replace a couple of reruns of older TV shows with an hour of this. It’s better for your brain anyway and just as entertaining.

Science Flies You to the Moon

Courtesy Richard Dawkins: http://richarddawkins.net

To Breed Or Not To Breed, That Is The Question

When Population Connection posted this on their official Facebook page, they warned of strong language. If 4 shits and a fuck are too much for you, you’ve come to the wrong blog. The cursing is neither particularly offensive nor in high enough quantity to detract from the content, IMNSHO.

We Have Enough Humans, Thanks.

100+ Years of Electric Cars

Here are some seriously classic fully electric cars from over 100 years ago.

7 Electric Cars Over 100 Years Old

So:

• 1891 – 50 mile range, better than Chevy Volt’s pure electric range
• 1901 – 57 MPH
• 1902 – fully electric bus
• 1906 – regenerative braking, like my 2011 prius
• 1909 – 100 miles on a charge

Now, I must ask, what the hell happened?

Keep Spreading Santorum

Looks like it’s time to dig up all the old santorum posts. He does not appear to have gotten any better with age.

http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/06/santorum-global-warming-limbaugh-science

So, sorry to bring up a fairly disgusting topic again. But, don’t worry. The substance is less disgusting than the human being.

http://spreadingsantorum.com/

Religion Going Extinct?

One can only hope. Or rather, this one is surely hoping.

Religion may become extinct in nine nations, study says

Actually, I’m not really that hopeful. First, note that the U.S. is far from being on the list of the nine countries and wields an undue influence on the world partly because of the internet, partly because of the entertainment industry. Second, and perhaps more importantly, for it to go extinct, you would need consensus. I’m not aware of any time in history when humans had consensus about religion either way. Even small pockets of religion will keep it alive waiting for a pendulum swing the other way.

I would love to be as optimistic about the loss of the scourge of religion, but simply do not believe humanity will really go that way with the strength necessary to truly make religion extinct.

2.5 – 6.5 Feet of Sea Level Rise by 2100 — Or More?

Once again, the IPCC estimates are proving to be underestimates of the problem of climate change. That’s what you get with consensus. Yes, we’re confident that the results will be at least as bad as the IPCC forecasts, else some country with financial interests in continuing to burn fossil fuel will reject the statement. But, what we don’t get is the full range of estimates. We get the most watered down statement, not a statement of the greatest odds.

As Glaciers Melt, Scientists Seek New Data on Rising Seas

Birdbrains!

Here’s an interesting brief article with video on the intelligence of the kea, the mountain parrot of New Zealand. When I was there, I had a ball watching these birds. They play like kittens. The video is quite cool, and is narrated by David Attenborough. It’s just under 10 minutes and well worth it. Apparently, their intelligence may rival monkeys.

Smart Parrot Gets Smarter

Climate Spin: 2 Articles Agree With IPCC … Sort Of

Here’s an interesting tale of two spins. Both of these articles are reporting on the same event, findings released by a Dutch environmental agency that agree with the IPCC conclusions. Strangely though, the two articles are clearly intended to present a very different image.

There are two main points from the findings of the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.

1) The IPCC is generally correct that global warming caused by humans already is happening and is threatening the lives and well-being of millions of people.

2) There are some minor errors, including typographical errors in specific predictions of the IPCC, that “do not affect the whole construction [of the IPCC report].”