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.
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 ….
I’ve titled this post Misanthropia because I believe that I have every bit as much chance of making these improvements as I do of creating a true Utopia, i.e. none.
Still, I’m going to label each suggestion either plausible or implausible. The plausible changes will be the ones I expect never to have implemented because the Koch brothers and other multi-gazillionaires own all of our politicians and control the whole system by which they are put in place. However, I expect that I would be able to convince most of the so-called 99% that these changes would be good. The implausible are the ones I feel strongly enough about to post despite the extreme likelihood that they are so radical that I couldn’t even convince a significant percentage of the so-called 99%.
Each of the following suggestions or cluster of suggestions are meant to be taken individually. I believe each on its own could help make the U.S. a better country. That said, even were all of these suggestions implemented tomorrow, I do not expect that it would fix all of our problems. I’m not that smart.
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.
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.
I don’t know that I agree with him on all points, especially about other civilizations. But then, he’s Stephen Hawking and I’m not even making mud pies yet.
A homo sapiens (though not any particular homo sapiens) is suspected in the killing of a homo neanderthalensis between 50 and 75 thousand years ago. As there is no statute of limitations on murder, the investigation continues, albeit with little hope of finding the suspect.
OK, I’m mostly joking about the Iraq War and about any murder investigation. Further, I mean no insult to Iraqis and am not implying that today’s Iraqis are Neanderthals.
Anyway, the article makes an interesting read about a case where we have reason to believe a homo sapiens did kill a neanderthal, long a question in the debate about the role of homo sapiens, if any, in the extinction of neanderthals.
Note that since the word human may be applied to any member of the homo genus, I have a bit of a problem with the Live Science headline. Though, they do get it correct in the text of the article for anyone who bothers to read more than just the headline.
Here are three very interesting articles about evolution. They are not in any other way related to each other, except that each is interesting news. The first talks about a possible split in the human species at a time when there were just 2,000 of us on the planet. *
Also, check out the incredibly impressive Heart of the Adirondacks project in the Adirondack State Park, the largest park in the continental United States at twice the size of Yellowstone.
Posted by Misanthropic Scott 
