06/14/2007
News: David Geffen, Creationism, Iraq Surge, Prince Harry
Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi in letter to Bush — the escalation is a failure: "As many had foreseen, the escalation has failed to produce the intended results. The increase in U.S. forces has had little impact in curbing the violence or fostering political reconciliation. It has not enhanced America’s national security. The unsettling reality is that instances of violence against Iraqis remain high and attacks on U.S. forces have increased."
David Geffen yachting with Rupert Murdoch? Nikke Finke: "I'm told that the partner in DreamWorks SKG who's worth $4.7 billion, and the News Corp chief worth $9 billion, kept in contact during Geffen's quixotic quest to buy the Los Angeles Times. Murdoch tried to talk him out of it. I hear the New York Post and Times of London owner (whose Behemoth Media corp also owns print outlets around the world) Murdoch advised Geffen this about owning a newspaper: 'Every day is going to be a headache for you. I'm used to these headaches. You're not.'"
Ptown or bust: Cape Air grounds most of its fleet to repair engines.
British TV entertainer Michael Barrymore arrested in murder case: "Essex police said three men were arrested on suspicion of the murder of Mr Lubbock, who was found dead in Mr Barrymore's swimming pool in 2001. They were also questioned over allegations of serious sexual assault. According to sources, Mr Barrymore was one of the men arrested. The other two arrested men were named by sources as Justin Merritt, a dustman from Harlow, and Jonathan Kenny, Mr Barrymore's ex-lover. Police refused to name the three...Last year, the police launched a fresh inquiry into Mr Lubbock's death, after the Independent Police Complaints Commission announced an investigation into the way detectives handled the original inquiry. The IPCC said it had suspended its inquiry following the three arrests. Mr Barrymore left Britain for New Zealand in 2003, but he appeared on Channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother in January 2006. He then went back to New Zealand but he returned to Britain a month ago."
Prince Harry works the rosy cheeks.
Battlestar Galactica (and Jamie Bamber towel scenes) coming to an end. Here's a flashback...
Boyband mogul Lou Pearlman taken into custody in Indonesia: "Pearlman was thought to be in Germany when federal investigators began to link him to several cases of bank fraud. He is being transferred to Guam to report before a federal judge. Pearlman has been involved in a number of legal battles. On Tuesday, thousands of items that once belonged to Pearlman were auctioned off in an effort to raise money toward the millions of dollars in debt claimed by a number of banks and individual investors. Initial numbers showed the auction brought in approximately $200,000."
A bride's prayer in Chelsea.
Boy George cancels tour, cites "last minute" commitments.
New Gallup poll reveals that more Americans believe in theory of creationism than evolution: "The majority of Republicans in the United States do not believe the theory of evolution is true and do not believe that humans evolved over millions of years from less advanced forms of life. This suggests that when three Republican presidential candidates at a May debate stated they did not believe in evolution, they were generally in sync with the bulk of the rank-and-file Republicans whose nomination they are seeking to obtain. Independents and Democrats are more likely than Republicans to believe in the theory of evolution. But even among non-Republicans there appears to be a significant minority who doubt that evolution adequately explains where humans came from."
Freddie Mercury's piano is for sale.
Posted 2:30 PM EST by Andy in David Geffen, Freddie Mercury, George W. Bush, Nancy Pelosi, News, Prince Harry, Provincetown, Rupert Murdoch | Permalink
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David Geffen yachting with Rupert Murdoch?! Say it isn't so! What's next? The Pope having private dinners with Michael Lukas?
Reid and Pelosi, I comment them for having grown SOME balls, but let's face it, a letter to our current Dictator in Chief is not going to change any minds. Until he leaves office and hopefully replaced with someone who knows what they're doing we're screwed (giving our enemy insurgents who happen to be the enemy of Al Qaeda weapons in HOPES that they will keep their promise on not using those weapons on us to fight a war is PREPOSTEROUS) SIDE NOTE: ANDY, you should post the recent Jon Stewart show in which he addresses this very topic as he draws a very INTERESTING power point type presentation linking all together to a frightening conclusion).
I was enjoying the day until I read that a recent poll suggests more Americans believe in creationism (Intelligent Design?) over Evolution. How's that saying, "If ignorance is bliss..." No wonder the rest of the world thinks the majority of American's are ignorant, cause they are...
Posted by: Cory | Jun 14, 2007 3:09:10 PM
Ugh, creationism is not a theory.
A theory is an explanation or model that can be tested through experimentation and empirical observation.
Creationism can't be tested. It's just a word religious fundies made up to counter science and, ya know, actual reality.
Posted by: chrisb | Jun 14, 2007 3:33:43 PM
Oooh, bring it. I *love* evolutionary discussions! I often-times remove myself from the room when the fundies start preachin' the creationistic word. I get all (press play on Pat Benetar) all fired up!
...and an ice cold cup o' joe ain't helpin' matters today, either.
Posted by: Jason | Jun 14, 2007 3:42:10 PM
Here's a great youtube clip (well, more like presentation, it's 117 minutes lol.
Description:
"Ken Miller's talk on Intelligent Design at Case Western University. Ken Miller basically rips Intelligent Design apart in a 2 hour long exposé of the claims of intelligent design and the tactics that creationists employ to get it shoehorned into the American school system."
If you have the time, watch it, it's very interesting and Ken Miller has a charismatic personality that makes it seem like two minutes (well, at least shorter).
Posted by: Cory | Jun 14, 2007 3:50:24 PM
Oooops, here's the link (sorry, blond moment 1,500,080 today lol)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=JVRsWAjvQSg
Posted by: Cory | Jun 14, 2007 3:51:11 PM
Why do you think majority of Americans do not believe in one of the most basic scientific facts such as the theory of evolution? Are most people here stupid? Unlikely. Ignorant? Perhaps. It is clear to me what causes millions of Americans to ignore evidence and to embrace mythology: it is called FAITH. Contrary to popular misconception, faith by its very nature is antithetical to reason and to the scientific method. People who use faith to explain a phenomenon start with a preconceived notion, a conclusion, and work backwards trying to get the facts to fit their conclusion, ignoring evidence which contradicts that conclusion. It is a dangerous way of thinking. There is absolutely nothing virtuous about faith.
Posted by: ReasReasonBased | Jun 14, 2007 4:01:01 PM
Sadly in a ranking of countries that believe in evolution, the USA is 2nd to last. Only beat out by mullah controled Iran.
The rest of the world is laughing at us.
Posted by: anon | Jun 14, 2007 4:21:42 PM
Reasonbased, you had me until this:
"There is absolutely nothing virtuous about faith."
...Unless you are living in poverty, the citizen of a nation bent on exterminating you, unable to get medication for the sickness that is eating away at your insides...
I could go on. We can argue the silliness of believing in something that cannot be proven from our Ivory Towers of comfort. But for millions of people around the world who are living in circumstances we do not understand and cannot relate to, FAITH is all that they have. Is that a reason to promote it? No, but to say it has NO virtue is simply untrue.
I'm totally with you on the reason why so many seemingly intelligent, educated people (I know a couple) do not believe in evolution. Yes, it is willful ignorance called Faith.
Other nations, such as those of Europe have found a way to keep religion and faith from interfering with common sense and knowledge of the sciences. We here in the Fundamental Extremist Christian nation of America have not.
Posted by: mark m | Jun 14, 2007 4:29:00 PM
Now that I've gotten on my philosophical high horse, let me come down to drool and act like the horny red-blooded gay Sci-Fi dork that I am...
I'm actually pleased that Battlestar Galactica is ending after next season. It needs to go out while it's at the top of its game, plus I have always felt the storyline should only need 4 or 5 seasons to be wrapped up.
Jamie Bamber has the best body on the show but don't forget Galactica hunks Helo, Anders and (the late) Crashdown.
Posted by: mark m | Jun 14, 2007 4:38:24 PM
Well, something like 90% of the population believes in angels, 70% believe in UFO's, 75% believe in astrology, etc. Remember, half the population has an IQ under 100. Mainstream media hardly ever challenges superstitions.
Posted by: anon (gmail.com) | Jun 14, 2007 4:41:46 PM
Mark - I find your reasoning awfully condescending! What you are saying is that althoug we might find absolutist belief (aka faith) silly, there are people less fortunate than us who need such irrational beliefs. This is not very helpful. Nobody is denying the need for HOPE but this is not the same as irrational faith. How is faith in the afterlife going to help an impoverished peasant in India or a poor red neck in Eastern Kentucky? Don't you think that it is precisely ridding themselves of the confines of faith and embracing science and the ideas of the enlightenment that is going to help them escape their conditions better? Nobody is denying that religious faith is comforting to people but hey, so are drugs. This effect does not make it virtuous.
..............................................................................................
"But for millions of people around the world who are living in circumstances we do not understand and cannot relate to, FAITH is all that they have. Is that a reason to promote it?..."
Posted by: ReasonBased | Jun 14, 2007 5:03:50 PM
faith = Keep the masses down and from rising up and demanding their fair share of the world's resources. The resources that the USA and europe have pretty much stolen from other countries and or taken at a evry low pay off to those who the resources belong to. Faith=opiate for the oppressed masses to help keep the elite oligarchy safe in their mansions. Don't complain or rise up, just wait till after death and you can walk on golden streets in heaven halalujah
Posted by: anon | Jun 14, 2007 6:04:43 PM
I've got to agree with REASONBASED here. I think faith that things will be better in the afterlife is an excuse not to make things better in this one.
Posted by: Daniel | Jun 14, 2007 6:41:46 PM
"creationism" isn't science or fact or a verifiable theory ... all they can come up with is "god did it because my bible says so."
That same bible says the earth is flat. Although, sometimes, given people's views maybe the earth really is flat and the sun revolves around the earth.
Posted by: Louie | Jun 15, 2007 4:26:21 AM
Evolution is no longer a "theory" folks. And I don't believe the Gallup poll for a second. Who did they call - all the retired people in the Midwest sitting at home during the day?
Creationism (whatever the f*ck that is defined as) and evolution are not independent ideas - one tells us what happened, one tells us how it happened. I feel sorry for anyone who excludes one because together they make life (all life, not like "I feel alive" life) pretty awesome. Then again, I'm a scientist, so maybe it's just me.
Posted by: shane | Jun 15, 2007 7:33:22 AM
Shane - They are completely independent ideas (well one's a mix of observed fact and theory, the other is just some nonsense) trying to explain the same thing but for very different reasons. The point of Creationism isn't to explain the history of life -- anyone who believes in Creationism *already* thinks they know, it's there in their Bible -- it's to counteract evolutionary science.
Science has a way of shining a bit of light into previously dark corners, leaving a lot of people wondering where their gods went ('God of the Gaps' as it's called). Over the past decade Big Tobacco and Big Oil have invested millions in promoting a doubt-all-science agenda to protect their interests from medical and environmental researchers. Sadly it has worked, and Creationist support is just one of the disturbing outcomes.
Posted by: ohmy | Jun 15, 2007 8:50:43 AM
Reasonbased and others here who are debating the value of faith...
What is faith? Many of you are saying that belief in an afterlife is what defines the futility of faith for the underpriveleged. I never said faith in an afterlife is what is virtuous.
When I speak of the virtues of faith, I am referring to HOPE, and perhaps I should have made that clear. Faith, in my mind, is the belief in something that cannot be proven. I have faith that there is intelligent life in the universe even though it has not been proven. There is as much evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence as there is for the existence of God.
Am I foolish and simple for believing lifeforms like us exist elsewhere?
And let's talk about faith as it relates to atheism. It's actually more "reason-based" and logical to be an agnostic.
An agnostic admits that it cannot be proven one way or the other whether there is a god, so the agnostic is open to either eventuality: God or no god.
When you believe with so much ferver that there IS a god, or that NO GOD EXISTS, you are basing your belief on that which cannot be proven.
That's faith, folks.
Posted by: mark m | Jun 15, 2007 11:26:16 AM
I think Christopher Hitchens is right about Americans and their relationship to Creationism and religion. I think people don't tell the truth in polls. It feels safer to say they beleive in Creationism. To be steadfast in your adamant beleif is the test of faith and faith is a reaction to a fear of death.
Deep down people aren't creationists or even religious really, they just have a really hard time coming to terms with that.
Religion is inane.
Posted by: Matt | Jun 15, 2007 12:36:48 PM
Previously, an article was written about "The Pending Marriage of Science and Genesis".
That, and the article even previous to that (The Divorce of Science From Humanism)
were forerunners to this culmination. After more than fifteen years of rejections by other
publishers, the revelation of the truth of Genesis will now be available for all to examine.
The book promotes "Biblical Reality", which states that Genesis, written by Moses, was
never about Creation (Week). Moses had written down (perhaps by one or more
designated scribes) what God had revealed to him while he was with God on Mt. Sinai in
1598 BC. Creationism and theology have mistakenly believed that Moses was writing
about how our Earth & universe were created, but not so. God revealed to Moses seven
defined geological ages of the historical past to Moses. Even Moses didn't understand
what he saw, but he just had it written down for later generations to learn and perhaps
someday understand. That final understanding would not occur until December 1993,
being about 3,604 years later. How timeless is the Word of God?
Unfortunately, creationism and theology have not done their homework, and continue to
teach false doctrines, namely "young Earth" beliefs (Creation Science), theistic evolution
("Reasons to Believe"), long creation days ("Day-Age" theories), and Ruin & Restoration
("Gap" theories) doctrines. Every single one of them are in error, including "progressive
creationism", and are a misrepresentation of the Genesis text. The "Bible believing
community" can either jump on board with the truth of Genesis, or stand on the sidelines,
and continue promoting their own proven false teachings.
However, there is another "front" that this book is doing battle against, which is the insanity of secular science concerning our origins and prehistoric history of our Earth and
universe. Our creation occurred 4.57 billion years ago (according to the science of
geology), completing in six days (Exodus 20:11), with God "resting" on the seventh day
of a 168 hour week. But God did not reveal that week to Moses. God revealed only one
day from Creation Week, and one day each from the first week of the six following
geological ages of mankind. The seven days which were revealed to Moses (aka "the
Observations of Moses") were not revealed in chronological order, but in what's called
"Biblical Order", which any theologian or "bible scholar" worth their salt should be able
to ascertain. Here is where the current ignorance of mainstream theology will be made known for all to see.
To preview what the book (“Moses Didn’t Write About Creation!!”) shall convey, go to:
http://hometown.aol.com/ephraim7/myhomepage/index.html.
There, it will keep you abreast of when the book will be available, and how to obtain a
copy. In the book, the true “Origin of Satan” is revealed. Also, comprehensive coverage
of the “Extra-Celestial Civil War” (aka “the war in Heaven”) is given, what brought it
about, when it ended, and why Satan was allowed to do his evil deeds in this universe.
It is a given that secular science shall at first criticize the work, calling it "a new attempt
to harmonize science with religious literature". Afterwards, they may try to call it "a
convenient coincidence". But what will the worlds of current creationism and theology
do? Close ranks, "get on board" and accept the truth, or remain defiant and criticize from
the sidelines, as the Sanhedrin did in 27 AD?
Herman Cummings
Ephraim7@aol.com
PO Box 1745
Fortson GA, 31808
Posted by: Herman Cummings | Jun 15, 2007 6:06:21 PM