02.25.10
Liberals and Atheists Smarter?
gnxp
Intelligent People Have Values Novel in Human Evolutionary History, Study Finds
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100224132655.htm
Peru poison frog
gnxp
The first monogamous amphibian has been discovered living in the rainforest of South America
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8524000/8524558.stm
No Banker Left Behind
Robert Scheer: No Banker Left Behind
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/02/24-2
Iraq withdrawal
Tom Andrews: Iraq Withdrawal in Danger
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/02/24-10
Avatar: The Prequel
Michael T. Klare: Avatar: The Prequel
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/02/24-0
An extraordinary coup
RG mail
Threatening the Very Existence of the Middle Class
The economic elite have robbed us all. The amount of suffering in the
United States of America is literally a crime against humanity.
by David DeGraw, Amped Status
AlterNet (February 15 2010)
http://www.alternet.org/story/145667/
Tomgram: McKibben on climate change
Tomgram: Bill McKibben, Climate Change’s O.J. Simpson Moment
Posted by Bill McKibben at 7:50am, February 25, 2010.
The ‘population bomb’
RG mail
http://www.socialistreview.org.uk/article.php?articlenumber=11181
The ‘population bomb’
In My View column by Fred Pearce, March 2010
The “population bomb” is on the environmental agenda once more.
Green guru Jonathon Porritt recently lambasted the politically correct for ignoring the demographic elephant in the living room – “exponential population growth”. Is he right?
02.24.10
Scientific incompetence on evolution
Review of What Darwin Got Wrong
Some of the reviewers of the Fodor/PP book have tried, somewhat sheepishly, to suggest the lack of credentials of these critics. But I think that that tactic is beginning to sound hollow.
The sad reality is that the ‘qualified’ experts have proven so incompetent as to be discredited.
The fact of the matter is that we need outsiders to assess the evolution confusion now rampant, and likely to get worse.
The criticisms in the Fodor/PP are something biologists should have alerted us to decades ago, but instead we have this Dawkins cult overlaid on Darwin cult which has produced a horde of Darwinism parrots who have lost the ability to think critically about evolution.
Keep in mind that you cannot trust this ‘paradigm’, and anyone writing secondary books (e.g. on religion) should be aware of the fallacies of natural selection–from now on.
Republicans vs secularists
Republicans v secular America
by Dan Kennedy – guardian.co.uk
from dawkins site
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/feb/23/republicans-religion-secular-america
New dinosaur
New Dinosaur Discovered Head First, for a Change
ScienceDaily (Feb. 24, 2010) — A team of paleontologists has discovered a new dinosaur species they’re calling Abydosaurus, which belongs to the group of gigantic, long-necked, long-tailed, four-legged, plant-eating dinosaurs such as Brachiosaurus.
Tiny RNA
Scientists Create Tiny RNA Molecule With Big Implications for Life’s Origins
ScienceDaily (Feb. 24, 2010) — An extremely small RNA molecule created by a University of Colorado at Boulder team can catalyze a key reaction needed to synthesize proteins, the building blocks of life. The findings could be a substantial step toward understanding “the very origin of Earthly life,” the lead researcher contends.
Evolution of plants
DNA Sequencing Unlocks Evolutionary Origins, Relationships Among Flowering Plants
Human/plant link
Protein Study Shows Evolutionary Link Between Plants, Humans
ScienceDaily (Feb. 23, 2010) — Inserting a human protein important in cancer development was able to revive dying plants, showing an evolutionary link between plants and humans and possibly making it easier to study the protein’s function in cancer development, a Purdue University study has shown.
Grizzlies invade polar bear turf
Grizzly Bears Move Into Polar Bear Habitat in Manitoba, Canada
ScienceDaily (Feb. 23, 2010) — Biologists affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History and City College of the City University of New York have found that grizzly bears are roaming into what was traditionally thought of as polar bear habitat
Runaway methane
Methane levels may see ‘runaway’ rise, scientists warn
A rapid acceleration may have begun in levels of a gas far more harmful than CO2
Humanoid corporations
Published on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 by Creators Syndicate
Fighting the Subversion of Our People’s Sovereignty
by Jim Hightower
As you’ve probably heard, corporations are now “people” — humanoids that are equivalent to you and me. This miraculous metamorphosis happened on Jan. 21. Accompanied by a blinding bolt of lightning, and a terrifying jolt of thunder, five Dr. Frankensteins on the Supreme Court threw a judicial switch that endowed these pulseless paper entities with the human right to speak politically.
Origins and weight
gnxp
Where a US immigrant was born could play a significant role in how many pounds they pack on after arriving in America, according to a new study
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100223/hl_nm/us_immigrant_weight
Testing effective
gnxp
Some of mankind’s most devastating inherited diseases appear to be declining, and a few have nearly disappeared, because more people are using genetic testing to decide whether to have children
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100221/ap_on_sc/us_med_gene_testing
Sleep and memory
gnxp
During sleep, information locked in the brain’s short-term storage migrates into a longer-term “database,” according to a new study that backs up the benefits of midday power naps
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/02/100222-sleep-naps-brain-memories/
By thought alone
gnxp
A vibrating belt and a brainwave-sensing skullcap allow paralysed people to drive a wheelchair by thought alone
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527485.600-good-vibrations-aid-mindcontrolled-steering.html
Chimps assess volumes
gnxp
Chimpanzees are intelligent enough to appreciate how big a pint of liquid is, or the volume of any other measure
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8528000/8528534.stm
Mysteries of touch
gnxp
New research analyzed physical contact to see whether a rich vocabulary of supportive touch is in fact related to performance
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/health/23mind.html
Smart enough to survive?
Ecological Intelligence: Do Humans Have What it Takes to Survive?
Society has lost touch with what may be the singular sensibility crucial to our survival as a species.
Another Planet for James Cameron
Tomgram: Michael Klare, Another Planet for James Cameron
Posted by Michael Klare at 4:00pm, February 23, 2010.
A planet with depleted resources is nothing new at the movies. Few who saw the 1973 film Soylent Green (set in 2022) are likely to forget the brief visit to what looks like a pawnbroker’s shop with grills and bars to get a single tomato or a humanity being fed itself by a rapacious corporation. A Boy and his Dog (1975), Mad Max (1979, and its sequels), Escape from New York (1981), Waterworld (1995), and most recently Children of Men (2006), among others, have all offered glimpses of this planet depleted in some fashion of its basic resources and winding down, a world where the phrase “struggle for survival” has a new, far grimmer meaning.
Bush adviser on war powers
Top Bush Adviser Defends Allowing President to Massacre, Nuke Civilians
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/02/23-1
War propaganda
Marja Offensive Aimed to Shape US Opinion on War
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/02/23-8
The Bubble Barons
Exposing the Great American Bubble Barons: Join Us in the Investigation
Join AlterNet’s collective investigative project into the bubble barons who got obscenely rich as they destroyed our economy. Help hold them accountable with Citizen Journalism.
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