Quote concerning Michele Bachman's Homophobic Attitude

It is people like her that give straights a bad name. 

She is a charter member of the gang that couldn't lie straight.
--
FRISH

Wanna know why there are so many of us?

This report details ways human health has improved over the last 100 years!

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6024a4.htm?s_cid=mm6024a4_w

More children born without complication, longer lives, better health care leading to more kids reaching childbearing age, it's a vicious cycle!

--
FRISH

Re: [atheists-614] Re: Birthright Israel

Gary,

I have always maintained that rationalism in regards to the supernatural

and rationalism concerning human future are quite related.

Consider, all 9Bn scheduled to be on board in 2050, are descended from about 2000 people who lived about 70,000 years ago...so, even if only a few of us survive, it's likely to happen again!

EVEN IF WE ALL BECAME VEGAN STOPPED DRIVING OR BURNING PETROLEUM ATE LOCALLY AND SOMEHOW FOUND A PLACE TO PUT OUR "EXHAUST" WE'LL SIMPLE CONTINUE HAVING KIDS UNTIL WE EAT ALL THE PLANTS ON THE PLANET.

That's just another reason I'm a volunteer in the www.vhemt.org.  

I vehement AND no offspring can blame me!

To change human behavior to allow us to continue in a SUSTAINABLE fashion (no other course is valid) will take some true social engineering.

Witness the graphic pictures going onto cigarette packs.  

That's SOCIETY encouraging moral behavior.  

It's moral because the cost of smoking is a societal wide cost, not just a cost to the individual.

So, it doesn't serve societal goals of "continuance" (which all societies share).  

Smoking has been legislated immoral!

Society first needs to agree there is a problem (too many of us, too much pollution, too little sustainability, etc.)

Then society must act, with as much direction and dedication as we did with cigarettes (but not waiting 47 years to be most graphic!).

Don't know if I shared this here, but enjoy again if I have.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Morals-are-the-genes-of-so-by-Frish-Frishberg-110515-957.html

It's how societies evolve.  If we have any chance (my vote is in already, but many wouldn't consider human extinction a close in possibility) to overcome our follies, we have to change our behavior, and what was moral maybe isn't anymore.

Like having children!

SINCE THE RELIGIOUS AMONGST US ARE THE SUPPOSED PURVEYORS OF MORALITY, WE OUGHT TO BE CHALLENGING THEM TO STOP BEING DOMINIONISTS AND START SHEPARDING THE EARTH.

(Had to cool my diatribe with an easy to implement action item, challenge your favorite faithful today!)

Frish

On Sun, Jun 26, 2011 at 7:07 PM, Gary H <gary100dm@yahoo.com> wrote:

Frish, et. al.

following your link about dying oceans...
I've heard some programs or interviews about this on KPFK radio and I  think also on NPR (which is doing a series on water).

I felt the same way you do.
Humans can't seem to stop squabbling over ethnicity, culture and territory ("God is not a real estate agent." - Hanan Ashrawi) and arguing supernatural-isms and faith over facts. So I felt the same pangs of despair wondering if humans can save the planet for themselves. And given that a vast population of anti-intellectuals, nationalists, and the  culturally hubristic won't pay attention to the balance of the planets eco-system, it appears we humans may be doomed. The prospects appear  horrible even if we do survive.

Gary



--- On Sun, 6/26/11, frish

From:
Subject: Re: [atheists-614] Birthright Israel
To: atheists-614@meetup.com
Date: Sunday, June 26, 2011, 2:57 PM

A niece just returned from her birthright experience, I'll see what she thinks of the article.  (And any before/after reactions to the experience, which was quite an interesting tour of Israel...)

To Gary's point, nationalism was a great way to organize, right up until now, because if we don't start THINKING AND ACTING GLOBALLY ain't no one going to be around to care.

Today' Headline: Fish in worse shape than previously thought 

MULTIPLE OCEAN STRESSES THREATEN "GLOBALLY SIGNIFICANT" MARINE EXTINCTION

http://www.stateoftheocean.org/

--
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--
FRISH

Re: [atheists-614] Birthright Israel

A niece just returned from her birthright experience, I'll see what she thinks of the article.  

(And any before/after reactions to the experience, which was quite an interesting tour of Israel...)

To Gary's point, nationalism was a great way to organize, right up until now, 

because if we don't start THINKING AND ACTING GLOBALLY ain't no one going to be around to care.

Today' Headline: Fish in worse shape than previously thought 

2 billion more people are expect to arrive by the same time the fisheries are extinguished, about 2050!

Won't much matter who believes or doesn't believe much when that occurs...

Frish

On Sun, Jun 26, 2011 at 10:37 AM, Gary H <gary100dm@yahoo.com> wrote:

[A Secular Humanist Concern. - Gary]
"I believe that what 'poisons everything' is tribalism, machismo and greed."
 -- Jennifer Michael Hecht

The Romance of Birthright Israel

Birthright Israel, the American Zionist organization that has, since its founding in 1999, spent almost $600 million to send more than 260,000 young diaspora Jews on free vacations to the Holy Land.
by Kiera Feldman

http://www.thenation.com/article/161460/romance-birthright-israel

the selling of Jewishness to Jews

"My liberal arts education taught me that any distinct concept or ideal will crumble under the scrutiny of too many questions," laments a recent college grad writing on her Birthright experience, which taught her "it was okay and even honorable to believe in the state of Israel, to adopt, so to speak, the settlers' original dream."

posted by Gary

Reads like a scary novel.. but, it's real.

"With just centimeters remaining before the radioactive water overtops its storage, however, another release of contaminated water into the ocean looks ever more likely. Already, pools of this water burned at least two workers at the plant when they stepped in the puddles, and TEPCO was forced to dump more than 11,000 metric tons of such contaminated water in early April."
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fukushima-meltdown-radioactive-flood

11,000 metric tons of water...11 000 000 kilograms = 24,250,848.84 pounds 

At 8.35 gal/lb = 2,904,293.27 gallons/660,000 gallons = 4.5 OLYMPIC SWIMMING POOLS.

Water hot enough to burn...A cubic mile is one trillion gallons.  

If this water is, say, 1000ppm radioactive, that would be an additional .001 radioactive stuff per gallon.

The radiation in one gallon will be spread to 1,000,000 gallons, still sounds like a lot to me!

HazMat folk say: "The solution to pollution is dilution" and, unfortunately we may find out if that's true in this case...

They will be spraying coolant on these reactors for several decades, minimum...

FRISH

Even tho' he says nothing, and even tho' he's channeling one of the best songs of all time...

I still can't stand Craig Ferguson.   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwkK5-ibYcw&NR=1

"Look out there's a Monster Coming" Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band

From the album:

The Bonzo Dog Band - The Intro

Dec 1969

The album also includes the song:

11 Mustachioed Daughters

It Rhymes:

11 Mustaschioed Daughters, running in a field of Fat,

the full moon high, the mandrake shrieked: "please come to our sabbat!"

--
FRISH

Ocean extinctions

My friend Thinkenstein shared the following.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/20/ipso-2011-ocean-report-mass-extinction_n_880656.html

People used to think we could dump anything into the ocean because it was so big it could take care of itself?   Turns out we were wrong. 

Personally, and on an individually accessible contribution basis, I think not having kids is about the best thing anybody can do for the planet.    As the great Pogo used to say, "We have found the enemy, and he is us!"

--  Thinkenstein

--
FRISH

Sometimes news is just weird. Dog judged to be stoned to death...by religious court.

Dog while inhabited by a reincarnated soul must be stoned to death!

New word for me...Lapidation.  Nice.  

And, uh, this isn't in Putsomesyllableshere-istan...It's in Israel!

--
FRISH

The Answer: PETROLEUM, OR WOMEN

The question: What will be the hardest fought Resource Wars?

Identifying sick babies before they were born, instead of casual use by parents interested in what color to paint the nursery, 

(or, whether or not to abort a baby of unwanted gender) was the original goal of ultrasound...

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-ultrasound-changed-human-sex-ratio

"It didn't matter that the early ultrasound machines yielded fuzzy images, however, or that they only proved helpful in a small proportion of pregnancies. To the 1960s public the technology looked positively futuristic. Around the time pregnancy became a choice rather than an inevitability and the business of having children became about more than generating labor for the farm, we began seeking ways to bond with our babies before birth. An image on which to pin parental hopes made that task a whole lot easier, and so it was a breakthrough to have a preview, however muddled, of the baby growing inside a mother's uterus. Coming at a time of technological optimism when Americans were enamored of outer space and kitchen appliances alike, an era some were calling the Biological Revolution, ultrasound captured the public imagination."

This article speaks to how technology speeds up implementation of existing societal goals, even when doing so creates bigger problems than the technology was trying to solve to begin with.  (Think "drift nets", "nuclear power",  "internal combustion engine", "TV", "facebook"  (lol)...)

From the Amazon Blurb:

Lianyungang, a booming port city, has China's most extreme gender ratio for children under four: 163 boys for every 100 girls. These numbers don't seem terribly grim, but in ten years, the skewed sex ratio will pose a colossal challenge. By the time those children reach adulthood, their generation will have twenty-four million more men than women.

The prognosis for China's neighbors is no less bleak: Asia now has 163 million females "missing" from its population. Gender imbalance reaches far beyond Asia, affecting Georgia, Eastern Europe, and cities in the U.S. where there are significant immigrant populations. The world, therefore, is becoming increasingly male, and this mismatch is likely to create profound social upheaval.

Historically, eras in which there have been an excess of men have produced periods of violent conflict and instability. Mara Hvistendahl has written a stunning, impeccably-researched book that does not flinch from examining not only the consequences of the misbegotten policies of sex selection but Western complicity with them."

Will it be Mars Needs Women  or, Being Gay is Okay...

FRISH

CityVille addiction: A friend's cry for help (For Real...thanks for helping)

A normally Hyper-Rational friend writes:

"I think I may need Cityville therapy.  

I don't know how it happened.  

I was on Facebook minding my own business.  

I have never done anything like this before.  

But I think I need medication.  

I simply can't stop.  

And I am ashamed to admit they have my credit card information.  

What do I do?  I may need an intervention."

First, know any resources for breaking internet-gaming-facebook addiction beyond this:

http://www.wikihow.com/Defeat-a-Facebook-Addiction

Second, any indication that this is a common malady?

Seems like a Wired article anyway...or a foundation waiting to happen...
--
FRISH

A vision...

A friend took this shot in the bathroom of a hotel.

Seems somehow weird to me. 

Like, where's the TV? 

-- 

FRISH

"We don't see this often" (PIO's Understatement of the Year nomination!)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110608/wl_canada_nm/canada_us_bear
"We don't see (this) often, even if we live in the country. Lots of deer, but collisions with a bear and two people died? That's really rare," local police spokesman Martin Fournel told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
--
FRISH

Headstones go interactive...QR TO Web Presence of Deceased...leave messages...

THE 'LIVING HEADSTONE' (You cannot make this stuff up!)
They sell a subscription service...

"...snip...Quiring Monuments can add a link onto the memorial which enables users of smart phones to scan and automatically connect to a personalized website...snip....This link can be applied to new or existing cemetery headstones, mausoleum shutters, cremation urns, garden benches or as an addition to a public memorial.  In situations where cremated remains were previously scattered, a miniature memorial plaque with the digital link is available for display in your home or garden or even on a field stone in a Green Burial Cemetery."

One summer I almost worked as a "pre-need" salesperson at a large mortuary in San Diego.  

Decided against.  

Another opportunity lost!!

--
FRISH

Bridge, and chatting during bridge...

Playing bridge one can chat along the bottom of the screen.

Ckat and I are in a tournament, and between rounds we may chat privately.

We just finished playing hands 4, 5 and 6 and have a couple minutes...

Ckat says: $ also might be good.
Ckat: #4

frish: got it  (written concurrently with just prior line)

frish: i speak dyslexia p...

Ckat: rofl

--
FRISH

found this today....says it all.

--
FRISH

New Zealand Man blows up like a balloon...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13537084
--
FRISH

Heard about the impending shortage of helium...

So, I searched the web, and, found this little item, taken from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute graduation announcement published just yesterday 5/18/2011!

Here's some scary stuff...

"In addition, to make this year's Commencement environmentally friendly, a long-standing decoration will not be used. Recently, a "Non-Research Helium Boycott" initiative spearheaded by Benjamin Cohen '11, Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, has encouraged members of the Rensselaer campus community to support the initiative and consider the elimination of helium-filled balloons while planning campus events.

Helium, the second lightest element, is a non-renewable resource. The gas is created by the nuclear fusion process of the Sun, or by slow and steady radioactive decay of terrestrial rock, and is typically captured as a byproduct of the natural gas drilling industry.

Recent reports by news, science, industry, and government organizations have noted that the world's most commonly used inert gas is being depleted at an astonishing rate due to a law passed in 1996 that has made helium too cheap to recycle. The Helium Preservation Act stipulates that the helium must be sold off by 2015, regardless of the market price. Researchers note that it is possible that there may be an empty spot on the periodic table within the next 30 years.

Many industrial processes rely on helium. The gas is used for MRI and nuclear magnetic resonance machines, pressurizing and purging rockets, welding, as well as in the production of fiber optics, LCDs, and food. In his proposal, Cohen stated the following: "RPI as a world-class technological research university, understanding the importance of helium to the scientific community and for common human good, commits to curbing the using of helium on campus for non-research or science-based purposes. This is in effect a boycott of helium balloons in the hopes of also increasing awareness for material scarcity.""

FRISH

Michael Moore is absolutely right

Terrorism was once defined as "Criminal acts performed for political purposes."

If we had the political will to have the police of all countries really share information, 

terrorists couldn't hide anywhere in the world and we'd soon be done with them.

Instead, with Bush Jr. we start the "War on Terror".  However, we aren't really at "war' (to whom might we surrender?).

Therefore, there ought not be such entities as "enemy combatants", with limbo for a legal status.

And, this war is never-ending, since there is no formal enemy to surrender or surrender to! 

If we simply use the higher moral authority we claim by actually living within the rule of law, all would be much better!

Instead, the Obama administration declares an unarmed, unprotected OBL to be a casualty of our war on terror.

They therefore are conveniently using the "at war" line when they need to justify their actions, 

and "let's try them in NYC" line when they know that's the moral and legally correct thing to do, with a path paved with prior success.

How surprising they have it both ways, so that those who can never be tried for lack of acceptable evidence, but are too dangerous to let loose, can now rot in Guantanamo.

America has fallen short in moral standing for several reasons:

The whole idea of an "elective" or "pre-emptive" war is totally immoral, illegal and ought to be totally unacceptable.

"Fight them over there"   Can anything be less moral? 

Not following the rule of law by failing to apprehend instead of assassinate Osama bin Laden.

Torture, special rendition, and all the rest.

I despair regards my countrymen's glee.

-- 

Frish

end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Frish at the Palm Oasis in Anza Borrego 4/27/11

near here
33 16'48.68"N Lat

116 26'0.82"W Long

1.5 miles UP the hill from the last campground, lots of running water (that week anyway!).

FRISH

Has there ever been a society that used less energy as they "progressed"???

So, here's what passes for "good news".  

China won't be a runaway greenhouse emissions and ecologic disaster, 

since their demand for energy will flatten over the next 4 decades...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110427131937.htm

Wonder if those economists determined what 1.4Bn people will consume (just eating) 

and what to do with their exhaust (shit by another name) forget about appliances...

Will there be ANY wilderness left in China?

--
FRISH

She's pregnant, and got pregnant!

For those concerned with reproduction, at the margins! 

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=superfetation-pregnant-while-alread-2011-04-27

It doesn't look like there is much of this happening, (no surprise, no kidding).

On an related search, I discovered "types of twins".  (I thought there were more!)

Conjoined - a single initial embryo splits but doesn't fully separate...

Superfetation - twins conceived separately

Heteropaternal Superfecundation - twins from different fathers

Polar Body Twins: "Half Identical" possibly one egg splits and each half meets a sperm. Weird! 

Monozygotic - two identical same gender copies

Mirror Image Twins - also Monozygotic (one initial egg) these twins aren't identical in fun ways.

Parasitic - this is too gross.

Semi-Identical - only one known pair!  One egg, two sperm, one is a hermaphrodite.

Twins with different birthdays - "twins have been born days, even weeks apart! "

Twins of different races - a special case of HeteroSuper above. Also possible with bi-racial parents!

Twins happen ("naturally") with more frequency in older mothers, (over 35) of which there are an abundance.

Fertility treatments are (now) a major source.  Octo-Mom lives way too close to me!

Our bodies are wonderful, let's fully enjoy them as we live long and die out!

Vehemently Yours, 

      FRISH      

As the Near East opens a democratic political environment...perhaps we ought to adopt some of what they do...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110421/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_kyrgyzstan_sacrifice;_ylt=Aj2weC_D45f_xWlFPk2lzn_tiBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTMyNzhhbGZsBGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTEwNDIxL291a29lX3VrX2t5cmd5enN0YW5fc2FjcmlmaWNlBHBvcwM3BHNlYwN5bl9hcnRpY2xlX3N1bW1hcnlfbGlzdARzbGsDa3lyZ3l6bXBzc2Fj

  

"We decided to resort to popular customs, in order for this building not to see bloodshed anymore,"

member of parliament Myktybek* Abdyldayev told Reuters 

after the rams were sacrificed on a green lawn in front of the government headquarters.

* Not to be confused with Superman's enemy from  the 5th dimension, Mister Mxyzptlk!

-- 

FRISH

Smart Carbon Calculator ... it provides appropriate suggestions!

Here is an article about it.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110415163527.htm

Here is the calculator:

http://coolclimate.berkeley.edu/uscalc

This is a much smarter carbon footprint calculator, 

as it gives you suggestions on how to reduce it, 

depending on the costs of things as a percentage of your expenses

where you live...(USA only I believe, sorry about that, but if we're more aware and act, that's the best possible result!)

In Southern California, where I live, we have zero heating oil expense for example, 

so changing our heating oil habit won't change my footprint.

But if I could quit driving and eating so much meat, better results would occur.

I was at about 70% of the US average for a two person household.

Which made us about 3X the world average...

-- 

FRISH

Languages don't have common rules regarding word order etc....

This is more than mildly interesting.  To me anyway!
http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2011/04/chomsky-was-wrong-evolutionary-analysis-shows-languages-obey-few-rules.ars?utm_source=Ars+Technica+Newsletter&utm_campaign=9e447c8395-April_15_2011_Newsletter&utm_medium=email
--
FRISH

Wonder how many other "philanthropists" are funding similar ventures...

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=prize-in-the-sky-the-templeton-foun-2011-04-08

Templeton Foundation is to spirituality what the Koch Brothers are to global warming denials.

Wonder what other big money is trying to influence an outcome of science?

Nah, they're all ethical scientists.

--
FRISH

This is a most "economic view" of the value of humanity! Recognizing the risk of extinction...and other low probability events.

http://www.upmc-biosecurity.org/website/resources/publications/2007_orig-articles/2007-10-15-reducingrisk.html
Abstract: 

In this century a number of events could extinguish humanity. 

The probability of these events may be very low, 

but the expected value of preventing them could be high, 

as it represents the value of all future human lives. 

We review the challenges to studying human extinction risks and, 

by way of example, 

estimate the cost effectiveness of preventing extinction-level asteroid impacts.

Here's a bit of the summary!

"We may be poorly equipped to recognize or plan for extinction risks (Yudkowsky, 2007). 

We may not be good at grasping the significance of 

very large numbers (catastrophic outcomes) or 

very small numbers (probabilities) over large timeframes. 

We struggle with estimating the probabilities of rare or unprecedented events (Kunreuther et al., 2001). 

Policymakers may not plan far beyond current political administrations and rarely do risk assessments value the existence of future generations.¹⁸ 

We may unjustifiably discount the value of future lives. 

Finally, extinction risks are market failures where an individual enjoys no perceptible benefit from his or her investment in risk reduction.  (Had to read this three times...basically faced with extinction, not much anyone can do to avoid it!)

Human survival may thus be a good requiring deliberate policies to protect."

I'd say with some authority that the type of investment in human survival that this paper suggests ought to be done, is not and will not be done.  "If it didn't happen yesterday, why would it happen tomorrow" is the INERTIA one works against when investing to avoid low probability hi impact events.

...like oil well blow outs, big earthquakes, tsunamis, and nuclear reactors that are no longer functional...not something that happens very often...or with any frequency..

FRISH

Coolest Tech Today! Ray Gun Fire Extinguisher

Fire Suppression via Electrical field!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110327191034.htm

From my days with Disaster Preparedness I figure a new level of exercise reality...

FIRE!  as Moulage*...I mean, what else...now that it's safe to get back into the water (or something...). 

Insurance companies are going to HATE this news...they can't charge for fire insurance since there won't be any need...

* Moulange is realistic make up used to simulate MAJOR DAMAGE after stuff hits fan for a more realistic disaster simulation.  (This site sells kits from a client of mine!)...

I want to be the marketing guy who wrote this blurb...I need a new job!

"The Master Moulage Kit contains all the makeup materials and tools needed to create hundreds of wounds."

Great commentary: Obstacles to discussing population policy

You can see the comment at the following URL:
http://www.grist.org/article/2010-12-14-ask-umbras-book-club-why-dont-we-talk-about-population/

Obstacles to discussing population policy

Progressives, liberals, environmentalists, social activists, since sometime
in the 80's, have been reluctant to address population for some of the
following reasons (or so it appears to me):

We do not want to engage with conservative, fundamentalist, religious
opposition to birth control

We are embarrassed to suggest that people in poorer countries who have
large families should lower their birthrates (and so appear racist,
ethnicist, and hypocritical because of our own high consumption rates)

We are afraid that population policy requires draconiam measures (as in
China)

We are reassured that there is (has been) enough food produced on the world
for everyone, and that the main problem is unjust access to it.

We are convinced, from past experience, that only development, education of
women and job opportunities will lower birth rates

We shy away from the pessimistic opinion that only famine, plague and war
can make a dent in overpopulation.

We cannot accept the ungenerous position that poor immigrants should be
kept out of developed countries because of their high birth rate, suspecting
racism.

We may not want to think about our own and families' need and love for
children, what joy they give us, and that a low child society may be hard on
some.


There is also the capitalist economists position that economic growth is
imperative, including and partly driven by population growth, to "grow"
GDP, pay for social security, and our elders, and that "birth dearth" is
socially
harmful.

There is the sexist patriarchal male dominant position, that women must be
kept in their procreative place.

There is the libertarian view, (which also fits with much of the media and
commercial advertising), that regards unencumbered sex as freedom.

There is the "tribal" position (usually of oppressed ethnic groups) that
embraces reproduction as a means of gaining power by outnumbering the
oppressor.

And the "feminist" preference for addressing only the individual woman
and ignoring the responsibility (and reproductive needs) of men, families
and communities (I know some must sometimes be exclude from interfering, but
the responsibility should be encouraged there too).

and more: We love children and don't want to think about not having them

and: many US women are now having trouble conceiving, and talking about not
having children makes them feel bad

Beedy Parker, Camden, Maine

For some musically interested folk...

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=music-is-all-in-the-mind

--
FRISH

Deaths down, lives lengthen

"Basically, this is nothing but good news," Kochanek says.

My sister and I consider the following to be the only English Language construction of it's type.

Two positives make a negative. 

But, it's all I can say:  "Yeah, right..." 

FRISH

How the Earth's core, the length of a day, cloud formation and climate chaos caused by humans are interrelated...

"Our study implies that human influences on climate during the past 80 years mask the natural balance that exists among Earth's rotation, the core angular momentum and the temperature at Earth's surface."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110311140706.htm

The variance of Global Temperature is related to the measured force of Earth's magnetic field for data before 1930 in a statistically significant way.

In other words, if left on the trajectory from before the 1930's, things wouldn't be as they are, and the differences are attributable to human activity.

Not that Human Caused Climate Chaos deniers will end their crusade.  Lubricated by oil, and ignorance.

--
FRISH

Japan's Prime Minister: "The radiation levels are not dangerous to human health".

Ahhh, yeah.

 

A. There are radiation levels.

B. What are comfortable levels?
--
FRISH

Re: [atheists-614] Is an Israel company contracting for mercernaries for Gaddafi ?

There's some big news, Gaddafi does business with international criminals (who in this case happen to be Israelis.)

I worked at IBM with guys who worked data processing for the oil companies in Libya under Gaddafi in the 70's.

Different set of international criminals...but a great assignment if you liked shopping at a PX like store in an American 'compound', like living Dennis the Menace's neighborhood, with hot and cold running servants...Frosted Flakes, Campbell's Tomato Soup, Velvetta, Cheap Cigarettes, etc.

Rather like a country club, with an American School http://www.state.gov/m/a/os/56522.htm purpose built for xpat oil workers et al...

---Egyptian sources have revealed that the Israeli company has so far provided Gaddafi's regime with 50,000 African mercenaries to attack the civilian anti-government protesters in Libya.

---The arms company was previously convicted in an African country over illegal deals, News-Israel website reported.

FRISH

Two articles from the land of unintended consequences

Here's a little nano-tech that may have huge impact going forward...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110301111457.htm

And, fascinating adaptation of plants to increasing levels of CO2

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110303111624.htm

The first is an article about technology that will be introduced without delay or proof of it's benign place in the ecosystem.

It will take a commercial turn, and will be yet another experiment of the Earth's tolerance for perfectly natural things that happen to be man-made.

The second is the result of consequences, that few if anyone would predict.

If I read things correctly, it appears that plants transpire less water as they don't have as many pores with which to breathe.

This is in reaction to high CO2 levels.  

I make this up, but I expect that's because plants react to high levels of CO2 as though a drought was occurring, since that much CO2 in the atmosphere must be due to burning trees...per se evidence of drought.

--
FRISH

Perhaps the Robots will Take Over

Dear Buythenet:

You said:

If humans keep working on robots and robot brains such as IBM's Watson who is now champion at the game Jeopardy!, then perhaps we don't have to be concerned with how to make humans extinct. The robots will do it for us. Here are some YouTube videos which discuss this topic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frprCxIerGg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4sTPTsq-UM

While the videos are rather humorous (and as believable as a Davey and Goliath Cartoon, see comments below*...) you are actually on to something.

(BTW, I'm a volunteer)...

As Earth's systems fail, and humans find life is difficult and soon to be impossible, some smart folk will realize the only way "Humanity" will survive is through digital avatars/robots/self replicating and scattered amongst the stars...each with a compendium of human knowledge (WikiWiki)...

The "interesting" thing will be if we can get that together, well enough, before we're wiped clean out of the universe.

I submit no alien "civilization" has yet done so, unless life on Earth is a result thereof!

Therefore, it's unlikely we'll be successful and I'll put real money on that bet, based solely on lack of evidence of alien life...

IMHO.  and LOL, since others may bet otherwise, but neither they nor I will be around to enjoy our bets whichever wins!

Don't have kids.  It's immoral.  Here's why:

People, overall, see an overpopulated planet and say: We need more food.  We need more energy.

If those limitations, just the current crop of nature's forces we've overcome for the last 1,000,000 years, are also over come, do you think we will suddenly adapt to a sustainable relationship with the biosphere?  

If so, do tell.

Human nature not only is to spoil our nest and move on, it is also to overcome any limitation to our existence.  

With enough energy and food, what will then overcome the desire for "all" to have kids, which will simply provide us the opportunity to eat every other living thing on the planet.  Game over.

-- 

FRISH

* I am well aware of technology "evolution" (and market acceptance thereof (MBA Marketing, 15 years with IBM new product development...), CEO of a software firm, etc. but it all began with my BA of Archaeology..always happy to talk about technology from the Atlatl to WATSON!))

 

Humans are subject to Evolution, we survive at the pleasure of the biosphere, but robots must be 

built, redesigned, and "improved"  

What does improved mean to a robot?

By what means will Robots decide what their evolution ought to be?

They are only here to serve, even as they may be dangerous from all sorts of viewpoints.

Firstly they can be immensely powerful (runaway nuclear war command computers anyone?) and couldn't care less about what damage they may do.  

But, think about a car, out of control, we already live in a world where technology is out to get us!

BTW, no robot would be miffed that humans shoot the messenger.  

That datum could be part of it's laws of human behavior, the robot would only find it "interesting" if the human did NOT shoot the messenger, which is SO NON-NOTEWORTHY as to be ignored, by both robots and humans.  

If the messenger does get shot, that's as expected and even less noteworthy!

Robots don't know squat about what's right/wrong or all the other ways our chemistry and culture are expressed.

I would think a world of robots would be at grave risk as a "monoculture".

Think about WHY humans have personalities in the first place and perhaps you'll see what I mean...

Re: [atheists-614] Supreme Court rules to anti-gay protestors at military funerals

I'll bet anything Westboro gets money like Paris Hilton, by being famous for being famous.  

It must be "fund raisin' time in Dixie" whenever they make the national news.

 

I was thinkin'...in order to achieve any chance at a retirement, I ought to fling atheist slurs at funerals so fellow atheists would be motivated to fling money at me!

(I wrote a generally appalling scenario, and realized upon reflection I am too PC to include same in an open forum!)...

1. Unlike Westboro, let's just see how long I'll stay out of jail.

2. Of course, it might be an "early retirement" since I'd be dead as soon as the pall bearers get back to the guns in their cars.

3. But, I'm all about making a point. 

(I'm looking for a job at the Onion, anyone know anyone who knows anyone?)

Okay, what's really disturbing is the length our judicial system will go to defend their non-profit status.

"It's their belief.  Send in money, cure grammy's cancer.".  whoa. 

Doesn't pass the sniff test.

Over 20,000 separate sects of Christianity, always fascinating what gets their rocks off.

(That's weird, I suppose the TRUTH isn't as easy to determine as some might wish.)

Oh, Me of Little Faith - Frish

On Wed, Mar 2, 2011 at 7:31 PM, :

Wow that's really messed up. A similar story about Christian parents wanting to adopt in England had the opposite result due to their homophobic ideals.

http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2011/03/02/melanesian-frog-worship/

----------------------------------------
Breaking News Alert: Supreme Court rules for military funeral protesters
March 2, 2011 10:23:17 AM
----------------------------------------

The Supreme Court has ruled that the First Amendment protects fundamentalist church members who mount attention-getting, anti-gay protests outside military funerals.

The court voted 8-1 Wednesday in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan. The decision upheld an appeals court ruling that threw out a $5 million judgment to the father of a dead Marine who sued church members after they picketed his son's funeral.


http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/7CWL7Z/8A4XJA/WTFR92/6R89OH/WXLB9/ZH/h

For more information, visit washingtonpost.com

 

tax the rich, not because they are richer

Tax those who get the benefits of taxes.

LIke Rule of Law that keeps their books safe and their families

Like Roads that work so their goods can flow

Like Police and Prisons to keep them down

Like schools to pour out employees and soldiers

Like contracts for planes and bombs and mercenaries and etc.

If they are making 90% of the income and taxed 80% of the taxes, where is the fairness in that?
FIll in the blank on the percentage, but you get the idea, it's not anything to do with the money they have managed to keep thanks to Bush et al.

Our entire systems of economics, education, transportation, manufacturing, etc. are in place to make the rich even richer.

That is why they ought to pay for the privilege!

Those same rich people own the debt and get paid tax payer money tax free for owning the debt that made them rich in the first place.

Follow the money.

--
FRISH

The Economist: "The 9 Billion-people question" Special report 16pp 02/26/2011

Feeding The World

The latest numbs.  From a rather influential and highly visible magazine/data source.

The incredible part:  The Feeding (and cleaning up after) 9,000,000,000 people they see as feasible (with a whole LOT of IFs). (See last page)...

(And, they recognize "climate change will add to the strains", amongst several other pithy observations.)

The problem I have with that is if they really think that food will be available, population will go up, with food no longer a consideration.

9Bn humans?  with 6Bn or more from now until 2110???  We'll eat everything on the planet.

-- 

FRISH

Results from bridge play tonight...

Enjoy the attached, we did.  

George is a genius from CT. and a world class player.

THANKS George!

(It looks better than actual, we were 12th pair out of 192 (first in our section).)

POINTS are always good!   

FRISH

Immigrants, diversity, and our future...

The world is the world.  We cannot change it.  If the USA expects to have a vibrant economy, under capitalism that is, it requires young workers and innovators.  

Since those who have been here for generations are having fewer children the natural outcome is more children by immigrants.

So what?

It's been like that since the early 1600's and the same jingoist, nationalist, isolationist, xenophobic and outright racist slurs are of the same age or older.

Don't you like capitalism Fred?

Don't you want the USA to be successful?

Are Italians and Irish and Jews still as hated and feared as they were 100 and 150 years ago?

Did their assimilation diminish America or strengthen it?

Aren't all those "brown skin nations" growing more than the rest of the world?

Doesn't that just mean they are a burgeoning market, it's ours to lose, the Chinese already get it!  

Being friendly and having those same brown skinned people here can be advantageous and, how their brethren are treated here also is noted by our trading partners.

If there is a demographic shift happening, it is insane to try to thwart it, we should anticipate it and deal with it. 

And, no, dealing with it doesn't include ridiculous things like having English as the official language of the land!

It's really hilarious how conservatives want government out of their lives, and into the lives of the rest of us!

You cannot Control Culture.  

Just Ask Mubarek.

Frish

Frish's Non-Shopping Network: My blog gets world wide attention

http://www.hinducurrents.com/articles/40893/frishs-non-shopping-network-christians-and-separat/

Rate at Which Neuronal Networks in Cerebral Cortex Delete Sensory Information

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110124090729.htm
"This extraordinarily high deletion rate came as a huge surprise to us", says Wolf. It appears that information is lost in the brain as quickly as it can be "delivered" from the senses. 

I think this is a great article for loads of reason...but, are these guys stupid?  

Of course the great majority of sensory input needs to be forgotten as soon as possible.

Why keep track of the color of a car in the alley you glimpsed as you made a right turn.  

Total clutter...so, your brain is off doing what it does best, finding meaning in patterns...

It's called "short term memory" after all...

Fuggitaboutit!

-- 

FRISH

The power of prayer...?

Allegedly a popular activity amongst deists, prayer has yet to be shown to cause action at a distance.

Helping to describe the "usefulness" of prayer and it's popularity, perhaps praying provides certain benefits for the practitioner, similar to those described in this abstract.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110121144007.htm

"This study demonstrates that changes in brain structure may underlie some of these reported improvements and that people are not just feeling better because they are spending time relaxing."

Consider...

OM is a sacred Sanskrit syllable, used in Yogic meditation practice for 6000 years.  

It's the root of the word shal(om) or peace, in Hebrew...

Perhaps that's not coincidence if prayer affects brains in similar ways to "mindfulness meditation"...

-- 

FRISH