"News that's not known, or not known enough."
Helen & Harry Highwater's cranky weblog of news and opinion.
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"News that's not known, or not known enough." Helen & Harry Highwater's cranky weblog of news and opinion. |
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Judge, jury, and executioner Bush by Angry Annie Wednesday, July 16, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Court says Bush can order indefinite military detentions of US civilians
Someone explain to me why these alleged judges shouldn't be promptly impeached and disbarred. Angry Annie  Back in the middle ages by Marshall S. Wednesday, July 16, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Billboard displays burning World Trade Center with slogan, 'Please don't vote for a Democrat'
Bad taste abounds this election.
Does anybody take this psycho seriously any more?
To quote Mel Brooks, "We have the best government that money can buy."
There goes habeas corpus and hundreds of years of legal progress. We're back in the middle ages folks. when 11 Pakistanis died in strike against militants
What gets me is how these fool military leaders can puff out their chests and show off their medals and at the same time be useless, murderous idiots. They're probably saying about the killed Pakistanis: "What's the fuss, they weren't white." Marshall S. Two-headed dog by SirJ Wednesday, July 16, 2008 PERMANENT LINK TV program reveals the REAL Frankensteins
Ah the strange things you run into when you research evolution. I had asked two Jehovah's Witnesses months ago what part of Genesis conflicted with evolution. They were very specific. It is the phrase "after their own kind" referring to the reproduction of the plants and animals. So I Googled "after their own kind" to be able to cite the chapter and verse and was taken to this page, which linked to the much more interesting account of the two headed dog. I vaguely remember reading something about the two headed dog experiment a LONG time ago... or maybe not. SirJ Oh my goodness (in Shirley Temple's voice)... Helen & Harry
Peekaboo by Cassandra Wednesday, July 16, 2008 PERMANENT LINK NEW YORKER. Iran. You name it. Man, oh man, did I pick a bad time to put my head back out into the real world. It's safer at the damned hospital. Cassandra On the bright side, things are going to get a lot worse, so in the near future what you're seeing now will seem like a sweet memory. Helen & Harry
Sterols and billboards by JR Mooneyham Wednesday, July 16, 2008 PERMANENT LINK 'Healthy' plant sterols may pose health risk This is bad news for lots of folks. For I think this is the same stuff put into certain types of butter and orange juice and maybe other products which then market themselves as actively lowering cholesterol. 1-2 years ago my dad was put on some cholesterol lowering drugs which almost killed him, and so had to stop taking. After that I did some studying and came up with a list of items like that butter and orange juice for him to use instead-- as well as other cholesterol reducing tips, like a dash of cinnamon a day, using honey rather than sugar, and others. Now I got to worry about the butter and orange juice too... Obama already has (and will have) TONS of FALSE allegations to somehow fend off before the election. So he sure didn't do himself any favors by throwing REAL wrongdoing atop the possible bonfire of criticisms, with things like his FISA betrayal, his flip flop in regards to war-mongering, and his maybe ever weakening healthcare proposals. It's beginning to look like this guy is lots dumber than we thought. No-one ever talks about the fact JR Mooneyham (www.jrmooneyham.com/) Rockets red glare by Sherri B. Wednesday, July 16, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re Loads by Sherri B. Quick, polish the proper symbolism...Yep, right before the bombs start dropping. They'd better be glad my money isn't in there. One "mistake" on our defense network like this one and the U.S. is toast. Sherri B. Bastille Day by Siskiyousis Wednesday, July 16, 2008 PERMANENT LINK ... anything here look familiar? Siskiyousis Not as familiar as I wish it looked... Helen & Harry
Wrong on every issue, big and small by Amber Perez Wednesday, July 16, 2008 PERMANENT LINK I have never seen anyone as consistently wrong as Bush. It is remarkable how the man is always wrong. You can take it to the bookie, then collect the winnings and take them to the bank: Bet against him and become a millionaire in the last six months of his presidency. ... Click for more ... Amber Perez Roar of the bears by The Canadian Wednesday, July 16, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Wow! This is quite the Bear Market!!!! All sectors are down including gold, which is a typical safe haven. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac collectively own 50% of the mortgages of the US and, in general, are responsible for $5.3 trillion of mortgage contracts. The USD is going to sell sell sell and deflate. Just like when the rollercoaster is nearing the edge of a drop, take a long deep breath. The Canadian I really don't see where any recovery is supposed to come from. Thin air doesn't count. Helen & Harry
Species by MonkeyMan Wednesday, July 16, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re The problem with evolution by SirJ The misunderstanding then is of the word "Species." Genus: the usual major subdivision of a family or subfamily in the classification of organisms, usually consisting of more than one species. Species:the major subdivision of a genus or subgenus, regarded as the basic category of biological classification, composed of related individuals that resemble one another, are able to breed among themselves, but are not able to breed with members of another species. The catch is a that a new species develops, that cannot breed with other species. Coyote, Canis latrans and Black-backed Jackal, Canis mesomelas Here are two "True Dogs' who have the same genus, but are different species. These two have a common ancestor. Monkeys are from the family Hominidae, as are humans. The theory of evolution states that chimpanzees and humans came from the same origin and developed into two different species, they cannot breed (so don't try it kids). So these two species came from one species, they cannot breed with one another, nor (I'm guessing) the original species. The lab experiments are supposed to offer proof that it can and did happen, as well as present possible models. By grouping similar plants and animals together, a dichotomous key if formed, where we can see divergence. If, as many believe, life started in the oceans, life that evolved and crawled out onto land, then became all of the animals and plants we see around the world today, differentiating into millions of species, then it is a clear demonstration of how new species are born of an old one. New species, 2007 Natural Selection has to do with survival. If a species can survive by migrating, then evolving would only be necessary if the new environment made it necessary. That is what the finches on Galapagos reflected. As they migrated, they adapted for survival in a new environment. Not all at once in a lab, but in the new environment over the course of years. What I find remarkable is that creationists can't explain the slight genetic differences between whites, blacks, latinos, asians, etc., when we supposedly all came from Adam and Eve or whatever. The differences can only be explained by evolution, which undermines their stance that evolution is a myth. Strange that. Believe it or not, I do believe in God. I just don't believe in magic. MonkeyMan Uh, correct me if I'm wrong but the Neil Young spider seems a bit off topic. Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi is a newly-discovered spider species, but the key word is discovered. I don't think anybody's claiming that the species didn't exist five years ago or five hundred years ago, we just didn't know about it until twenty-ought-seven. Helen & Harry Bug freaks like me have been tramping the countryside, beating the bushes, snatching up bugs and putting them under a scope since the 1800s. I personally find it very difficult to believe this little guy would go un-noticed. A critter at the bottom of the ocean maybe, in wilds of Alabama, no. MonkeyMan Wiener economics by Chris M. Wednesday, July 16, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Treasury acts to shore up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
What strikes me about this whole mess is that the people responsible for it appear to be totally clueless when it comes to running any kind of business. Why is it that the current "captains of industry" wind up being graduates from Ivy League business schools who haven't even run a lemonade stand, let alone a bank or corporation of any kind?? An MBA ain't worth spit without some experience. And good old Washington in its usual way manages to come up with the worst ideas applied far too late, to repair a problem that should never have been allowed to come about in the first place. If your typical street corner hot dog vendor ran his hot dog stand the way most of these financial institutions are run, he would be out of business in the first hour and probably banned from all street corners too boot.
Oh John... you mean by getting shot down and spending the rest of the war in a POW camp begging for mercy ??? Sorry... I'll take a Chicago street kid any time. At least they know how to fight. Chris M. The greyhounds of evolution by Herb Ruhs, MD Wednesday, July 16, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Why is the anti-war movement supporting a pro-war candidate? Sir J writes: "Tony Snow's bio at nndb.com says evolution "has been observed in microorganisms." Can anybody direct me to a link on the Internet to confirm this? Observing a gene change here or there in a microorganism is a far cry from verifying the creation of a new species, which is after all what the theory of evolution contends. Have any new species been created in the lab? No new species = no verification." I am not sure it will be helpful to respond or not. There is a lot of confusion here. I have put in many hours of reading and study about evolution and I can not make sense of this inquiry. No point in entering into a evolution basics discussion here. Species can evolve without creating new species, in fact that is how evolution works. Species formation is a subtopic in evolution and is quite complex and often controversial. The definition of the word species is not a simple matter. The most useful popular book that I have read (better than the internet for basic learning) discussing species formation is The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time, winner of the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction, by Jonathan Weiner, which reports on modern day work with the same birds Darwin was so taken with. A good popular book, which I enjoyed, addressing the whole arena of evolution is The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution" By Richard Dawkins which is both entertaining and informative and accessible to the unscientifically trained. Bacteria are the greyhounds of evolution. It is difficult to impossible to define what is a species of bacteria since the basic feature of a species is reproductive isolation, which is hard to demonstrate in bacteria. A most remarkable example of evolution in action is the continual invention of biochemical defenses by bacteria against every new antibiotic that comes along. What gives them this power is their very short lives. As little as twenty minutes can pass before they reproduce. That, combined with astronomical numbers creates the possibility that the survival of one in a billion organisms in the face of a threat like a new antibiotic can serve to create a strain (not a new species) that is resistant. This is the main reason why it is important to take the entire course of an antibiotic. Stopping early can just serve to allow a few hardy survivors to reestablish an infection that will be resistant to the original antibiotic. One of the most horrible intellectual crimes of the past century was the attempt to justify injustice on the basis of Social Darwinism. We have been so thoroughly propagandized by this slimy rationalization for domination and exploitation that it is hard for people to resist using pseudo-evolutionary arguments in political discussions. There are occasional parallels between evolutionary science and history but most arguments that evoke biological explanations for social and political events are pure bull shit. Herb Ruhs, MD Species are persistent by Bustedagain Wednesday, July 16, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re The problem with evolution by SirJ Did I miss something? 8000 isn't very long on an evolutionary scale but in any case, I can't see any justification on the point this guy makes. Species are persistent? I don't see that as a problem with evolution. Evolution is adaptation to environment (assuming the mutation persists) and this can happen within a species can it not? So one species may (for some reason) branch into two and the two can cohabit. Or one dies off (as in the case of the dinosaurs). Bustedagain All McSame by David M. Wednesday, July 16, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re Obama's massive miscalculation by Angry Annie Now you're the one making the gigantic mistake. Do NOT vote for Obama. We must teach those who would represent ordinary people that they cannot play the elite and keep our trust. Time for Barr or Nader. That's where I'm going. Like I wrote to Obama's campaign site, "I don't care if McSame wins, because you're all McSame now." I understand the sentiment entirely, believe me, understand it way too well to argue. That's me in 2000. Helen & Harry
Horse blinders by Wig Wednesday, July 16, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Torture, death at Iraq juvenile prison Under the rug Wig Looks like it's right out in the open to me. In plain sight, not under the rug. It's just that nobody in America gives a damn. Helen & Harry Could be. Seems like americans are now wearing horse blinders. Wig Wish it was true by Brick Pillow Wednesday, July 16, 2008 PERMANENT LINK CNN again airs without challenge McCain's false claim that Obama opposed designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist group It's too bad it's not true. I wish Obama had the courage to stand up to this and the Bush administration's other lies. Brick Pillow Dance etiquette by Alllie Wednesday, July 16, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re Obama's massive miscalculation by Angry Annie Obama has to learn to dance with the ones that brung him. He ignores his base and goes kissing up to the right, his base might decide to leave him and go home alone. Alllie |
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