Remind me to investigate the nature and history of why churches are exempt from taxation here in the U.S.A. Is it all down to the separation of church and state?
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Filed by misterimpatient at 4:52 am under Patter
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People will believe what they want to believe. That includes me. I believe in evolution because it makes sense. Are their gaps? Yes. Fewer today then yesterday but yes, gaps remain. Do the presence of gaps in the evolutionary record make it wrong? No. It makes the argument a little weaker but not wrong. It’s damned hard to argue the point when it’s not an argument between scientific theories. My experience is that, regardless of the strength of a scientific theory, faith, in the mind of the faithful, always trumps science. It ain’t fair, but it is so.
I bring this up today only because of the recent reported discovery of one of those missing links that fills a gap in the theory. Maybe you red this in the NT Times today:
Scientists have discovered fossils of a 375-million-year-old fish, a large scaly creature not seen before, that they say is a long-sought missing link in the evolution of some fishes from water to a life walking on four limbs on land.
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I think this is one hell of a cute fossil and one heck of a great find. It is another solid (God I hope they don’t discover this is a hoax) piece of evidence in support of evolution. It’s not enough for the creationists, of course. That’s ok. I’m convinced that even this simulation wouldn’t do the job to convince creationists that evolution is real. |
Imagine if you can, that God returns to earth and holds a town meeting. Maybe televised on Fox News, just for fun. After a brief introduction and miracle or two to establish his bone fide, He (yeah, I’m going male here) opens the floor for questions:
Questioner: God, thanks for coming today. I know your busy and have better things to do.
God: Not at all. I’ve had this in my Day Timer for millennia.
Questioner: Thank you. Well, anyway, I wondered what Adam and Eve were really like? Did they have good teeth? Where did they get soap and cigarettes and stuff?
God: Ah. Yes. Of course. This had to come up, as I knew it would. Adam and Eve are figures of speech. Allegories. Symbols. Wonderful creations of the imagination of Man to tell the never ending story of birth, innocence, learning, the growing into an adult with responsibilities. An Allegory. Look it up in the Wiki, another wonderful creation of man.
Questioner: I have a follow-up question.
God: Yes?
Questioner: Are you kidding?
God: No.
Questioner: I still believe you created us in your image.
God: Believe what you want. Your choices are your own. You asked me a question and I answered it honestly.
Questioner: I still believe you created us in your image.
God: Men!
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I have a pilot’s license. I haven’t flown since 1985 and I miss it a lot. I stopped when I got layed off from Memorex in 1986. I ended up in Massachusetts and wasn’t near a civil airport plus I was saving to buy a home, etc. When the kid was born, I made the decision not to fly until she was capable of surviving if I dug a deep hole with a spinning prop.
I briefly investigated getting a Powered Paragliderbut I discovered that while the safety statistics were not really well documented, the numbers available were not great. Seeing as safety is the number 1 reason I’m not flying, starting to fly another class of aircraft with an unknown or possibly worse safety record just doesn’t make sense (not that that’s always a good reason mind you).
| So, is there a solution? Maybe. I stopped in the local hobby shop and looked at prebuilt RC aircraft. Prebuilt because I just don’t have the patience to do this myself. A simple beginners plane costs between $100-$150. I guess I can afford that. Back in 1985 $150 would have gotten me about 3 hours flying time. Now, it can get me days, weeks and maybe years of enjoyment. Or, 10 minutes if I crash it in a fiery ball. |  |
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Filed by misterimpatient at 6:36 pm under Patter
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So now the folks at Apple have released an un-supported means for people to purchase MacTel systems and run dual boot with Windows XP. Who are the winners here? Apple and Microsoft. The losers? Dell, HP and all other suppliers of home computers.
Discuss amongst yourselves.
Later…
Filed by misterimpatient at 5:33 pm under Patter
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For those who don’t know, I have a pilot’s license. I haven’t used it in a long time, but I will when the wee one can survive if I do something fatally stupid. I also have 50 or so glider flights. I never got the ticket, but that is something else I’d like to do in the future. All things related to flight catch my eye, and when I saw this headline in the NY Times today, well, I had to have a peek: Wingless Gliders May Reveal the Origins of Insect Flight
It’s interesting stuff but it turned gross, in a cool sort of way part way through the article:
The scientists’ hunch that the ants’ movements, not their body shapes, chiefly dictated their gliding paths was confirmed when they started chopping off appendages to see if the insects could still soar.
The ants showed remarkable resilience. They coasted to controlled landings after multiple leg amputations and even after removal of their abdomens, which ordinarily comprise 30 percent of their body weight. When the researchers covered the insects’ eyes with dots of white nail polish, however, they sank to the forest floor like stones.
I got to that point in the article and wondered why PETA and the ASPCA weren’t all over this like ants on a puddle of melted ice cream.
I wonder what they did with all the dead ants? I’m thinking they went in Susie’s pants!
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Filed by misterimpatient at 7:01 pm under Just for fun
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The dollar signs are not euphemistic. The planned resignation of Tom Delay from his seat in Congress looks, on the surface, like a good thing. It may well be, but I see a darker side to this. Along with his resignation, Tom will be relocating to Virginia. I suspect it’s not the weather bringing him north and east. It’s money and power.
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Tom is not used to being out of the power seat and, if he manages to avoid jail, which is possible and perhaps even likely, he’ll be a very big gun in the lobbying industry. I expect he has a rather detailed record of every favor owed and he’s unlikely to be reluctant about calling these in. Am I suggesting we’d be better off with him in Congress? Perhaps. At least, to a certain extent, we’d be able to keep an eye on him.
Don’t get me wrong, prison would be better then Congress but I hear the gym in prison is just about as good. DeLater… |
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Filed by misterimpatient at 11:51 am under Slightly left of Center
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I have my customized Google homepage which I turn to for snippets of news and a view of my g-mail. Mine also includes Quote of the Day and “How To” of the Day. Today, one of the “How To’s” covered the application of make-up. As I have one 13 year old girl at home and as I would fully expect that makeup will become something of increasing interest, I decided to have a look.
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Men: Be afraid. Be very afraid! The “How To” covered the application of makeup in 16 easy steps. Yes, that’s correct 16 easy steps. Just kill me now. I live in a home with one bathroom. I hope to God my daughter decides that makeup is optional.
Now, who, I wondered, was the author of this tome? Who you gonna call? Google of course. So, I did some research (60 seconds worth) and learned that the original author is a 15 year old girl. 15. If you’re familiar with Wiki’s, you know that people can contribute to any page and that is certainly true for this one, but in essense, the page is “basically” the same steps (+1). While makeup isn’t exactly a science I would like to see my kid explore, I think its just great that a 15 year old with a passion to document this for others is just one of the many benefits of wiki-world. |
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I’ve chosen, for now, not to discuss the ease of discovering that the author is a 15 year old girl. The downside of the Internet can be too much information. When I get home I’m checking the security on my kids computer.
Later…
Seen in a mail thread:
On Wednesday, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06.
Of course, that is US centric. For those of you in the rest of the world, you’ll have to wait another month or so.
Later…
Filed by misterimpatient at 1:20 pm under Patter
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If you were ever fat, you would probably be familiar with the weight and height charts which define the normal range of weight and height for adults. It’s morphed into the new BMI Charts but the idea is the same. I’ve not been able to find the underpinning data on which these tables are built, but I imagine they must have been constructed by collecting data on a large population of western humans. Who, what, when and where I can’t guess but, I do wonder, if these tables didn’t exist today and someone wanted to make them fresh and new, what would the result be?
Look around friends. It is a bulkier world today. The latest bit of news about child seats not fitting modern kids only confirms the obvious: Fatter is normal.
Oh, and if you live outside the U.S.A. don’t feel smug. Fat kids are coming to a neighborhood near you real soon.
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Filed by misterimpatient at 8:46 am under I'm not fat today
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Welcome to daylight savings time, my American friends. Having sprung forward, I’m looking forward to getting out and enjoying this sunny Sunday. But first, I’ve been doing food prep for the week ahead. Cooked and put away:
I make a ton of applesause. At the moment it is my favorite fruit, though I have enjoyed the fresh pineapple I had this week and at $2.50 that comes down to about 0.60 per serving so it is a bargin.
Contra dancing last night was great. I danced both waltzes with very brave women. I tip my hat to both and apoligize to their toes.
I read an interesting book review this morning. If a scientific study of the evolution of religion interests you, take a peek.
Time to make lunch. Be well. Have fun. These are not mutually exclusive!
Later…
Filed by misterimpatient at 10:27 am under I'm not fat today, Patter
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