06.26.11
Posted in you've got mail at 10:32 am by nemo
RG mail
Marine life facing mass extinction ‘within one human generation’
State of seas ‘much worse than we thought’, says global panel of scientists
by Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor
Independent.co.uk (June 21 2011)
The world’s oceans are faced with an unprecedented loss of species
comparable to the great mass extinctions of prehistory, a major report
suggests today. The seas are degenerating far faster than anyone has
predicted, the report says, because of the cumulative impact of a number
of severe individual stresses, ranging from climate warming and sea-water
acidification, to widespread chemical pollution and gross overfishing.
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/oceans-on-brink-of-catastrophe-2300272.html
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06.25.11
Posted in Evolution at 12:25 pm by nemo
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110621093308.htm
These arguments are not very convincing; the need for a simplistic answer to the sudden emergence of modern man makes biologists clutch at single aspect theories..
Cutting Edge Training Developed the Human Brain 80,000 Years Ago
ScienceDaily (June 22, 2011) — Advanced crafting of stone spearheads contributed to the development of new ways of human thinking and behaving, according to new findings by archaeologists from Lund University. The technology took a long time to acquire, required step by step planning and increased social interaction across the generations. This led to the human brain developing new abilities.
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Posted in General at 12:21 pm by nemo
An Evolution Formalism And The Eonic Model
Darwinism is like Newton’s physics without the second law, the first law taken as the basis.
We need to recast evolutionary ideas in terms of real evidence, in terms of two levels: the active process level, and the passive process level.
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Posted in General at 12:19 pm by nemo
The Evolution Of Evolution
One of the ironies of the history of the idea of evolution is the way Darwinism shows the idea undergoing a decline as it goes mainstream. The key, clear to Lamarck, was lost with the natural selection obsession.
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Posted in General at 12:16 pm by nemo
A Better Form of Atheism:
Rescuing the Christian Tradition from Religion Theologian and philosopher Adam Kotsko talks about atonement theory, capitalism as “the empire of sin,” and what it means to be a Christian atheist.
This is a very engaging thesis, but I think that the issue of redemption, even for an ‘Xtian atheist’, is more than social. What it means, in fact, is the great unknown of Xtianity!
But the basic idea of an Xtian ‘atheism’ (perhaps a softer version than the usual) is excellent. But, in fact, it shouldn’t be atheism at all, so much as a liberation from the Xtian obsessive dogmatism about ‘god beliefs’ which actually spoils monotheism!
Politics of Redemption: The Social Logic of Salvation
Adam Kotsko
T&T Clark Int’l (2010)
What does it mean when Christians talk about being saved, or being redeemed? And why would a self-described Christian atheist want to study theology? Recently, I caught up with theologian and philosopher Adam Kotsko to find out. In the conversation below we talk about his most recent book—an examination of the the Christian tradition that speaks to everything from atonement theory, capitalism as “the empire of sin,” and what it means to leave God in place, but leave religion behind.
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Posted in Evolution at 12:05 pm by nemo
http://www.uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/it-doesn%e2%80%99t-matter-whether-you-like-david-brooks%e2%80%99-%e2%80%9csocial-animal%e2%80%9d-your-moral-and-intellectual-superiors-do-2/
DAVID BROOKS is not the first contributor to the airport book stand to whom our leaders have turned for enlightenment and instruction. In the search for insight on the issues of the day, the politicians who are meant to be guiding us toward a better world have nudged, blinked, pirouetted on tipping points and anxiously pondered the wisdom of crowds. Yet none of these brightly packaged manuals has proved to have the practical usefulness that was promised. But not to worry, those who govern us are invincible positive thinkers who will never give up the hope of finding someone who will tell them how to conjure away all our problems. The political appeal of Brooks’s book The Social Animal has been nowhere more pronounced than in Britain, where the youthful David Cameron leads a rebranded Conservative Party in a coalition government. Having instructed all members of his cabinet to read this best seller, Cameron then sought the author’s counsel when Brooks was promoting the book in the UK. A seminar at 10 Downing Street was duly arranged and the prime minister’s media advisers seem to have been much impressed by Brooks’s performance. Not to be left on the sidelines, the Labour opposition leader, Ed Miliband, also met the writer. What is it about the New York Times columnist’s book that gives it such an irresistible appeal to politicians?
“This is the happiest story you’ve ever read. It’s about two people who led wonderfully fulfilling lives. They had engrossing careers, earned the respect of their friends, and made important contributions to their neighborhood, their country, and their world.” These first lines go a long way toward explaining why Brooks’s book litters the desks and bedside tables of elected officials.
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Posted in Evolution at 12:00 pm by nemo
Let’s Be Clear: There Is NO Controversy At All Among Scientists Over Whether Humans Evolved. NONE!”
This statement is right-on, until its author throws in the kicker: ‘evolution’ means ‘evolution by natural selection’. And the latter suddenly becomes questionable.
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Posted in General at 11:58 am by nemo
Some Captive Chimpanzees Show Signs of Compromised Mental Health, Research Shows
ScienceDaily (June 24, 2011) — New research from the University of Kent has shown that serious behavioral abnormalities, some of which could be compared to mental illness in humans, are endemic among captive chimpanzees.
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Posted in General at 11:57 am by nemo
Deep History of Coconuts Decoded: Origins of Cultivation, Ancient Trade Routes, and Colonization of the Americas
ScienceDaily (June 24, 2011) — The coconut (the fruit of the palm Cocos nucifera) is the Swiss Army knife of the plant kingdom; in one neat package it provides a high-calorie food, potable water, fiber that can be spun into rope, and a hard shell that can be turned into charcoal. What’s more, until it is needed for some other purpose it serves as a handy flotation device.
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Posted in General at 11:55 am by nemo
Genes at the Flick of a Light Switch: Human Cells Fitted With Synthetic Signaling Cascade
ScienceDaily (June 24, 2011) — Researchers from ETH Zurich have fitted human cells with a synthetic signaling cascade that can be used to switch on and regulate genes via blue light. This “gene light switch” makes interesting therapies possible, which could be used to treat type 2 diabetes, for instance.
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:51 am by nemo
David Sirota: Is Obama Embracing Unconstitutional Powers?
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/06/24-8
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:51 am by nemo
Eric Augenbraun: America, Land of the Free to Go Hungry
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/06/24-9
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:49 am by nemo
Walden Bello: Capital Is a Fickle Lover
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/06/24-3
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:48 am by nemo
Johann Hari: How to Survive the Age of Distraction
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/06/24-1
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:48 am by nemo
Anne Landman: What Happened to Media Coverage of Fukushima?
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/06/24-0
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Posted in General at 11:47 am by nemo
Joseph Dana: With the Gaza Aid Flotilla
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/06/24-7
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:45 am by nemo
‘Unsung Hero’ Brian Haw, British Anti-war Activist, 1949-2011
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/06/24-5
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:45 am by nemo
Roundup: Birth Defects Caused By World’s Top-Selling Weedkiller, Scientists Say
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/06/24-4
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:44 am by nemo
US State Dept. Threatens Activists with ‘Fines or Incarceration’ if They Proceed to Gaza
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/06/24-9
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:43 am by nemo
Report: Private Prisons Love Mass Incarceration, And Want Politicians To Love It Too
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/06/24-2
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:42 am by nemo
Can Progressives Start Their Own Tea Party?
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/06/24
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:42 am by nemo
US House Rejects Obama’s Libya Policy
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/06/24-8
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:41 am by nemo
Calls for Mass Rally to Bring Egypt Revolt ‘Back to Basics’
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/06/24-3
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:40 am by nemo
Nadler: Unchecked Powers Make President ‘Absolute Monarch’
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/06/24-7
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Posted in you've got mail at 11:39 am by nemo
Van Jones: ‘Rebuild The Dream’
http://www.commondreams.org/video/2011/06/24-0
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06.24.11
Posted in General at 1:22 pm by nemo
Teeming With Life, Pacific’s California Current Likened to Africa’s Serengeti PlainScienceDaily (June 22, 2011) — Like the vast African plains, two huge expanses of the North Pacific Ocean are major corridors of life, attracting an array of marine predators in predictable seasonal patterns, according to final results from the Census of Marine Life Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP) project published June 22 in the journal Nature.
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Posted in General at 1:16 pm by nemo
Idea For A Universal History
The chronicling of history always assumes free agency: it makes no sense otherwise. Every attempt to find a causal historicism has failed, as Popper, and Isaiah Berlin made clear.
Before jumping on Sam Harris’ ‘no free will’ bandwagon, consider the nature of history and how you would write it without assuming free agency.
The danger of negating free will can be seen from the eonic effect: man is potentially expressing his ‘free will’: he is evolving toward its realization.
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Posted in General at 1:09 pm by nemo
Morality Without “Free Will”
Harris’ take on morality is so mediocre that it hardly deserves any attention, but since his media celebrity started with his book on atheism people will take his stance seriously. These people attract ‘respect’ because they are smart, or seem to be, but people fail to see the extraordinary deadening effect of narrow science education.
Harris’ strategy here is actually puzzling. You would think he would be more careful with such a complex subject as morality. But instead he adopts the most impoverished version. Perhaps that is a cynical assessement of his audience, which he must consider too stupid for anything but utilitarian ethics.
I have no objection to someone making the case here, and the free will question is extremely difficult, but with this crowd the strategy, as with Darwinism, is to silence all critics and make any other view ‘non-paradigmatic’.
Harris’ view is especially dangerous because it appeals to the lazy and those who want to eliminte moral ambiguities.
So let’s be clear: there is no morality without free will.
After the ‘easy for dummies’ approach from Harris, try the ‘really really hard approach’, of, say, Kant and his ‘moral landscape’.
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