Darwinism gives us a completely misleading definition of what evolution is, and how it operates. In reality evolution needs to be defined in a new way. History and evolution
A moment’s reflection will tell us that no instantaneous passage between the two is plausible and that our terms have been left ragged. We must, by this logic, be able to detect a Transition between evolution and history. Can we find evidence to match this deduction? Indeed, we can, our non-random pattern, the eonic effect. In fact we can say more: if we apply that same logic to our Transition we should expect it to take the form of a series of transitions in an alternation between evolution and history, as if overlayed, the one emerging from the other. The eonic effect shows just this property of transitions in a series. Have we reached the end of the Great Transition? If not, then our evolution still constitutes our present and future. We should ask who man is, with such wisdom as would constitute achievement of the title, homo sapiens.
In 2003, evolutionary biologist Richard Lenski, philosopher Robert Pennock and others co-published a Nature paper titled “The evolutionary origin of complex features” reporting results of a computer simulation of evolution dubbed “Avida.” Though publicly arguing that Avida refuted intelligent design by showing the evolution of irreducible complexity, their paper refused cite the work of Michael Behe or any other ID proponent. Now, Winston Ewert, William Dembski, and Robert Marks expose in a paper in Proceedings of the 2009 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics why Lenski and Pennock’s “Avida” simulation fails to accurately model Darwinian evolution.
The Complete National Geographic on 160-GB Hard Drive is not shippable outside of the U.S. and Canada. Please also allow an additional 1-2 weeks for delivery.
Explore 120 years of amazing discoveries, fascinating maps, and the world’s best photography with The Complete National Geographic. This definitive collection of every issue of National Geographic magazine, digitally reproduced in stunning high resolution, brings you the world and all that is in it. Use the advanced interface to explore a topic, search for photographs, browse the globe, or wander on your own expedition.
ForaTv
via AtheistMediaBlog http://www.atheistmedia.com/
from dawkins site
Philosopher Colin McGinn and theologian Denys Turner discuss the question of whether atheism can coexist with a sense of morality. Both agree that morality exists independently of divinity.
Using modern sequencing techniques to study ancient modern humans
DNA that is left in the remains of long-dead plants, animals, or humans allows a direct look into the history of evolution. So far, studies of this kind on ancestral members of our own species have been hampered by scientists’ inability to distinguish the ancient DNA from modern-day human DNA contamination. Now, research by Svante Pääbo from The Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, published online on December 31st in Current Biology — a Cell Press publication — overcomes this hurdle and shows how it is possible to directly analyze DNA from a member of our own species who lived around 30,000 years ago.
Marshall Goodman (“Religion strengthens our society,” Letters, Dec. 11) blames most of the 20th century’s “horrors” on “godless” Darwinism and Marxism. I’m not sure exactly what “Darwinism” is, but I do know that the theory of evolution, which was articulated by Charles Darwin, is the most widely accepted and proven fact in the realm of science. It is also true that many scientists recognize this while also being people of religious faith. What is not true is Mr. Goodman’s contention that Adolph Hitler and fascism are examples of atheism at work. Hitler was a Christian. He justified the slaughter of Jews as a divine mandate. He railed against “secular” schools because they did not teach religion and faith. In his words, “… all character training and religion must be derived from faith … we need believing people.”
Natural Variability Led to Extra-Cold 2008, Research Finds
ScienceDaily (Dec. 31, 2009) — An especially cold year in North America in 2008 led some members of the public and the media to question the scientific consensus on human-induced global warming.
Researchers Demonstrate Nanoscale X-Ray Imaging of Bacterial Cells
ScienceDaily (Dec. 30, 2009) — An ultra-high-resolution imaging technique using X-ray diffraction is a step closer to fulfilling its promise as a window on nanometer-scale structures in biological samples.
Published on Thursday, December 31, 2009 by YES! Magazine Nine Ways Our World Changed During the ‘00s
Corporations get still more powerful. A middle-class living slips away from millions. Climate change becomes deadly. War, and more war. Looking back on the ’00s (uh ohs) and the nine trends that changed our world.
by Sarah van Gelder
Published on Thursday, December 31, 2009 by The Nation Good Riddance to Decade That Began With Theft of the Presidency
by John Nichols
The British press has taken to referring to the passing decade as “the Noughties” has made quite a big deal of trying to identify the political, economic and cultural trends of period from 2000 to 2009.
It is an amusing pastime that has some value, but only if we’re focused on identifying the root cause of what made the Noughties such a miserable decade.
If we are serious about the task, there is not much mystery.
The original sin of the good-riddance decade came in December of 2000, when the United States Supreme Court intervened to stop a complete recount of the votes in Florida and then declared George Bush to be the president.
All Check, No Balance
Eliminate the Senate
By WINSLOW T. WHEELER
Pointing out the obvious can sometimes be useful if you have a big enough megaphone. Washington Post staff reporter Ezra Klein was handed that opportunity this past Sunday when that paper’s prestigious Outlook section printed his commentary on “dysfunction” in the Senate: “After Health Care, We Need Senate Reform.” He got it right that the Senate “cannot govern,” especially itself, but he blew his chance to say anything to help readers truly understand the Senate or fix its problems. Oblivious, the Outlook editors put the commentary on page one, above the fold.
gnxp
For years, practitioners of alternative medicine have been touting the benefits of ginkgo, but a new study finds it does little to slow the cognitive decline of aging
gnxp
Among those who carried out the 9/11 attacks, eight were engineers. Among Islamic extremists worldwide, engineers are significantly over-represented, relative to their prevalence in the general population or the population of those with a university education. Why?
gnxp
The offensive against the atavistically religious and the misunderstanders may not be quite what it seems, or at least not quite as straightforwardly targeted as it seems. There is little public understanding of evolutionary theory, but there is little public understanding of physical chemistry or thermodynamics or bio-informatics
Have Americans Traded Freedom For Security?
By Paul Craig Roberts, CounterPunch. Posted December 25, 2009.
According to polls, Americans support torture and don’t mind that their government spies on them without obtaining warrants from a court.
RG mail
Everything Touched by Capital Turns Toxic
by Gifford Hartman
The United States’ most populous state, California is the world’s eighth
largest economy. The state has some of the planet’s most productive
farmland and in the 1990s enjoyed an extensive real-estate boom. But
intensive, industrialised agriculture has polluted much of the environment
and now, with more foreclosed homes than anywhere else in the world, it is
also home to a growing number of tent cities. Gifford Hartman takes us on
a road trip through California’s Central Valley to witness the toxicity:
of mortgages and ecosystems, houses, drugs and human relations.
Monkey Trials and Gorilla Sermons: Evolution and Christianity from Darwin to Intelligent Design (New Histories of Science, Technology, and Medicine) (Paperback)
~ Peter J. Bowler