It is so amazing how much difference an hour or two makes. When I go into work early the ride is nice. When I leave work early the ride is peaceful. I guess arriving late and staying late do the same. So why don’t you all show up late and leave late so I have a great ride. Those that want to sleep in should. The early birds should get to work early. Let’s get rid of a standard workday and banish rush hour!
Today was a slow ride home. I still don’t understand why all three lanes must creep when a car is parked on the far right of the road. A car parked way out of the way must be interesting to look at for some strange reason. Traffic backed up for a mile for this poor lonely car…..
I always find it interesting to read articles on The Missing Link. If you really read the articles there is so much assumption, guessing, and plain old wishing. I highlighted all the phrases that catch my eye. As an evolutionist, do you even notices these anymore? This came directly from the article Fossil Discovery Is Heralded – WSJ.com.
In what could prove to be a landmark discovery, a leading paleontologist said scientists have dug up the 47 million-year-old fossil of an ancient primate whose features suggest it could be the common ancestor of all later monkeys, apes and humans.
Anthropologists have long believed that humans evolved from ancient ape-like ancestors. Some 50 million years ago, two ape-like groups walked the Earth. One is known as the tarsidae, a precursor of the tarsier, a tiny, large-eyed creature that lives in Asia. Another group is known as the adapidae, a precursor of today’s lemurs in Madagascar.
Based on previously limited fossil evidence, one big debate had been whether the tarsidae or adapidae group gave rise to monkeys, apes and humans. The latest discovery bolsters the less common position that our ancient ape-like ancestor was an adapid, the believed precursor of lemurs.
A fossil discovery suggests humans may be descended from an animal that resembles present-day lemurs like this one.
Philip Gingerich, president-elect of the Paleontological Society in the U.S., has co-written a paper that will detail next week the latest fossil discovery in Public Library of Science, a peer-reviewed, online journal.
“This discovery brings a forgotten group into focus as a possible ancestor of higher primates,” Mr. Gingerich, a professor of paleontology at the University of Michigan, said in an interview.
The discovery has little bearing on a separate paleontological debate centering on the identity of a common ancestor of chimps and humans, which could have lived about six million years ago and still hasn’t been found. That gap in the evolution story is colloquially referred to as the “missing link” controversy. In reality, though, all gaps in the fossil record are technically “missing links” until filled in, and many scientists say the term is meaningless.
Nonetheless, the latest fossil find is likely to ignite further the debate between evolutionists who draw conclusions based on a limited fossil record, and creationists who don’t believe that humans, monkeys and apes evolved from a common ancestor.
Scientists won’t necessarily agree about the details either. “Lemur advocates will be delighted, but tarsier advocates will be underwhelmed” by the new evidence, says Tim White, a paleontologist at the University of California, Berkeley. “The debate will persist.”
The skeleton will be unveiled at New York City’s American Museum of Natural History next Tuesday by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and an international team involved in the discovery.
According to Prof. Gingerich, the fossilized remains are of a young female adapid. The skeleton was unearthed by collectors about two years ago and has been kept tightly under wraps since then, in an unusual feat of scientific secrecy.
Prof. Gingerich said he had twice examined the adapid skeleton, which was “a complete, spectacular fossil.” The completeness of the preserved skeleton is crucial, because most previously found fossils of ancient primates were small finds, such as teeth and jawbones.
It was found in the Messel Shale Pit, a disused quarry near Frankfurt, Germany. The pit has long been a World Heritage Site and is the source of a number of well-preserved fossils from the middle Eocene epoch, some 50 million years ago.
Prof. Gingerich said several scientists, including Jorn Hurum of Norway’s National History Museum, had inspected the fossil with computer tomography scanning, a sophisticated X-ray technique that can provide detailed, cross-sectional views. Dr. Hurum declined to comment.
Although the creature looks like a lemur, there are some distinctive physical differences. Lemurs have a tooth comb (a tooth modified to help groom fur); a grooming claw; and a wet nose. Dr. Gingerich said that the adapid skeleton has neither a grooming claw nor a tooth comb. “We can’t say whether it had a wet nose or not,” he noted.
Since the fossilized creature found in Germany didn’t have features like a tooth comb or grooming claw, it could be argued that it gave rise to monkeys, apes and humans, which don’t have these features either.
As usual, there a a few phrases that I just can’t let rest without some comment. Here are a couple that really jump out at me:
- “The latest discovery bolsters the less common position . . . “ suggests that sciences has flipped and flopped numerous times. The sides are not in agreement. I won’t pick at this, but it is worth noting.
- “the latest fossil find is likely to ignite further the debate between evolutionists who draw conclusions based on a limited fossil record” clearly states that the conclusions are based on limited fossil sets. And, if you add in the part stating “because most previously found fossils of ancient primates were small finds, such as teeth and jawbones.” it leads me to believe that the conclusions are primarily based on limited fossil finds that are really just fragments.
What jumps out at you in this article? I bet several of you can make some observations from other perspectives too. Also, who knows of a site that collects and explains many of the fossil finds that scientists draw conclusions with.
Tags: creation, evolution, Faith, missing link
Living in a cell phone, digital aged, continually connected world I see things that amaze me. They are not amazing in the sense that they are extraordinary, but rather just things I could have never imagined.
Today I was in the rest room and noticed someone reading email at the urinal. What kid 10 or 20 years ago would have thought they wanted to do that as part of their job? I sure didn’t.
The other day I watched a couple driving down the road on Cell phones. The funny thing is they were in the same car and both talking to someone else. Who would of thought….
What are some things you notice that you never would have imagined?
Tags: driving, the future
Everyone is interested in saving a buck or two. This little article on learning to drive efficiently is a great tip. So many time we want to get somewhere as fast as possible. Taking an extra few minutes to save a little on each trip can add up over a year. A dollar a day in a year can add up to over 250 dollars in savings. If you can find a route that is enjoyable rather than a traffic-jammed interstate you’ll have a better drive overall.
I found this as a comment on a blog by Ray Comfort. If you are serious about being an Atheist this is a good way to start.
ex-atheist said…
How to be an Atheist:
- Refute everything in the Bible because men wrote it.
- Believe and quote other writings of men to prove that the Bible is wrong.
- Completely ignore the inconsistency between steps 1 & 2.
- Call yourself a “freethinker” and “open minded” but don’t practice such virtues when it comes to Christianity.
- Try to laugh out loud every time a Christian makes a statement about what they believe even if you don’t think it’s really that funny. This helps avoid a “serious” conversation.
- Always bring up Zeus, Allah, and Santa Claus to prove that if you must believe in one God then you have to believe in all of them otherwise it’s just not fair.
- When referring to the Bible use the word “myth” as often as possible and call believers whatever names you want because the goal is to frustrate the Christian so that his sinful nature comes out and he gets angry and then you can call him a hypocrite.
- Set your own moral standards very very very low so that you’ll never look like a hypocrite yourself. The lower the better.
- Never answer a question directly but quickly change the subject to make a completely different point. If you’re asked why you keep changing the subject just repeat this step as necessary.
- Be as argumentative, loud, sarcastic and verbal as possible – there is no need to make sense or use logic in your arguments – just keep arguing.
- Use words like “strawman,” “ad hominem,” “fallacy,” “red herring” and non sequiturs” against every argument whether you understand those terms or not.
- Claim that atheism is rooted in “common sense” even though less than 10% of the human population claim to be atheists.
- Reject all notions of faith even though you must put your faith in pilots, cars, food, doctors, evolution, and the next chair that you sit in.
- Always ask for evidence for God but never accept anything presented to you. At the end of a discussion remind them that all you needed was some evidence for God.
- Quote only the Bible verses that make God look mean and unfair.
- Talk about being a good person remembering that you are allowed to define good however you would like because there is no objective moral standard.
- Say that you have read the Bible and that you understand what it teaches whether this is true or not.
- Only pick on Christians – you don’t want to get killed in a Jihad. However, be sure to say that there is no difference between Radical Muslims and Fundamentalist Christians.
- Always use the crusades to make the point above.
- Remember that you are looking for faults in other worldviews not trying to defend your own – do not try to prove atheism! Remember, it’s much easier to destroy than build up.
- Make the claim that you only have one life and don’t want to waste it on religion.
- If your conscience begins to bother you because of moral guilt you can numb it with drugs, alcohol, sex, or pride. You can give up the first three but never give up your pride.
- Everyday feel free to thank God that you’re an atheist – just in case.
A limo pulling a u-haul trailer
Can you believe the economy is so bad that limo drivers are now pulling double duty. . . . hauling goods while hauling VIPs.
This year on National Atheist Day take a few minutes to pray for Atheists around the world. What do Atheists do to celebrate on this special day?
OK, so most of you already know it is a joke.
If I offend any of the practicing atheists out there please forgive me. But the rest of the year many of your buddies call Christian’s idiots. You’ve trained yourself and many others to claim that having faith means you have less intelligence. The amazing part for me is that the more I try to find flaws and error in the bible and Christianity the more it solidifies my faith. The details in the bible are amazing. The fact that God made it humanly impossible for this world to have a Messiah, but then fulfilled His prophecies with precision always amazes me. The more I learn about evolution the more I believe in Creationism. Creation is fact with precision and nothing disproved. Evolution is still a theory that is built on a house of cards with hundreds of assumptions and estimations.
The ability to believe that there is no God takes a GREAT DEAL OF FAITH. Atheists that really believe in Atheism have more faith than the average Christian
President Obama was found in the oval office without a suit jacket on. Is this really news? Well, it is important to shed some light on a couple points. First of all he does not set the highest standard he possibly can. Oh well, Americans are slackers and don’t care so much about appearance and respect anymore. I can’t really speak about that because I’d probably wear flip-flops to work if I could. But that isn’t the interesting part….It is much better.
Here is a quote from the NY Times article titled White House Unbuttons Formal Dress Code on January 29, 2009.
“He’s from Hawaii, O.K.?” said Mr. Obama’s senior adviser, David Axelrod, who occupies the small but strategically located office next door to his boss. “He likes it warm. You could grow orchids in there.”
And then here’s the quote from Obama when he was wooing all his voters.
We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK. That’s not leadership. That’s not going to happen.
Here’s an optimal range for growing orchid.
Daytime temperatures should range between 70 and 80 degrees F.
I wonder if he was on the high or low end of the range? I keep my thermostat no higher than 62 . . . actually 55 when I am gone for the day. My wife thinks I am crazy, but our bills are reasonable.
While watching the inauguration I have to wander how the atheists are taking this. There is A LOT of God in the speeches. The prayer alone was probably enough to cause several new unwarranted law suits. Then on top of that Obama included a lot of God and wrapped up with God.
Good stuff from my perspective. How about your perspective. To really feel there is NO God takes a GREAT deal of faith….misdirected faith in my opinion.
Tags: God, inaguration, obama