Comments by moderndaythomas

Comment #171568 by moderndaythomas on April 28, 2008 at 3:16 pm

bunnyboiler

The U.S.A. should seriously consider the damage he is single handedly doing to its nations perceived collective IQ abroad and consider euthanasia, try him for treason, and if they dont have that law they should make it up..just for him!

Can't help but to agree with you there. Some of my favourite authors are/were from the US (Gould, Sagan, and Carroll to name a few), but the encrouching ID movement is spoiling their batting average.

202. Science leads to killing people

Comment #171435 by moderndaythomas on April 28, 2008 at 1:40 pm

I read that autism is an extreme male charactor trait.
Do you think?

autism.n. a learning and behavior disorder charactorized by difficulty in understanding, or making sense.

203. Orangutan attempts to hunt fish with spear

Comment #171405 by moderndaythomas on April 28, 2008 at 1:26 pm

I think the hairy fellow must just have dropped a can of beer in the river to keep it cool, and that picture portraits her shooing away a Coors Bass that was getting too close to her priced possession.

Coors?
Please, no self respecting orangutan would go fishing for anything less than 6.5% alcohol.
He's got standards!

204. Orangutan attempts to hunt fish with spear

Comment #171003 by moderndaythomas on April 28, 2008 at 8:23 am

What a photo indeed.
How you can look at this and claim no more a relation than the fish he's catching I have no idea.
I see a family resemblance.
In fact I was holding that same pose just the other day.

205. Science leads to killing people

Comment #170999 by moderndaythomas on April 28, 2008 at 8:16 am

pewkatchoo

Stein's comment on universities producing nothing useful; he may have a point. After all, he went to university.

I'm willing to bet it wasn't Cornell

206. Science leads to killing people

Comment #170978 by moderndaythomas on April 28, 2008 at 7:53 am

Comment#170963 by LaTomate

Um... these are the same people telling us that guns don't kill people, people kill people, right?

And that video games kill people.

And that Marilyn Manson, Eminem, or whoever the current "rebel" fad happens to be, kill

Lets not forget the ever popular with the papists, "dancing to close to each other leads to teenage pregnancy and sin"

I'd call this biting the hand that feeds you. How many fewer grandchildren would Stein have today if it weren't for science?
How many women in his family would have died from childbirth fever?
What a charlatan!

I'll see your tea and raise you a coffee.

207. Gunk in T. Rex Fossil Confirms Dino-Bird Lineage

Comment #170499 by moderndaythomas on April 27, 2008 at 7:47 pm

I found myself in the same situation and was also unprepared to respond. I forget that people who aren't in "the field" also aren't as intimately familiar with the process of evolution (and extinction) as we might be

Every now and again I run into people that tell me with amazement that the Sun is a star.
Then I have to decide on the spot if I want to embarrass them or play along and act surprised.

208. Soldier Sues Army, Saying His Atheism Led to Threats

Comment #170487 by moderndaythomas on April 27, 2008 at 7:36 pm

FightingFalcon

I can't understand why anyone with absolutely no experiences with the US military would criticize the entire organization because of the actions of one man. Disgusted is the only word that can describe how I feel toward such people.

The premise to this site (if I'm not mistaken) is to converge on the growing epidemic of religious ignorance.
To which I'm willing to safely bet exists within the ranks of the US millitary (sacred or no) irregardless of the official word on the matter.
Are you certain that this is just one man?
If so we can all just go home.

209. Does science make belief in God obsolete?

Comment #170354 by moderndaythomas on April 27, 2008 at 5:08 pm

Pinker quote.

The essence of morality is the interchangeability of perspectives: the fact that as soon as I appeal to you to treat me in a certain way (to help me when I am in need, or not to hurt me for no reason), I have to be willing to apply the same standards to how I treat you, if I want you to take me seriously. That is the only policy that is logically consistent and leaves both of us better off. And God plays no role in it.

Morality and compassion are boasted as the sole property of religion. This is a direct assault on their turf.

210. Soldier Sues Army, Saying His Atheism Led to Threats

Comment #169786 by moderndaythomas on April 26, 2008 at 7:56 pm

It seems to me that there's few things more unsettling than an army the size as that which the US has with everybodies right hand on the Bible.
I'm sure that's not the case, but clearly it's what some are working towards.
Those of you who are American are on the front lines with this thing; fight hard!

211. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #169577 by moderndaythomas on April 26, 2008 at 10:35 am

Comment#169363 Piper Ann

"How did empathy evolve?"

You may be at the same level of cognitive reasoning as both Quine and MPhil but I am not. They're smart cookies.
But if you're looking for a more, or should I say less neurological explanation, I would suggest a good read by the behavioural scientist William H. Calvin. "A Brain For All Seasons".
He takes you on a good jouney here and in fact does cover the four fs when encountering another animal.LOL.

212. Humans nearly wiped out 70,000 years ago, study says

Comment #169568 by moderndaythomas on April 26, 2008 at 10:08 am

This would further support my theory that the genes for the lowering of the larynx and rounding of the tongue which were necessary for speech were selected because they conserved water in the human body. The process starts about 100,000 years ago and coincides with the severe drought.

Not to sound like a broken record, but if you couple this need to preserve water with the necessity for cooperation between thinning and struggling human communities, you have a strong selective pressure that would pave a way for modern compassion in human beings.
Thus explaining away theologic ethos.

213. Gunk in T. Rex Fossil Confirms Dino-Bird Lineage

Comment #169559 by moderndaythomas on April 26, 2008 at 9:53 am

I love the way this is touted as a startling new discovery... From what I'd gathered, the evolutionary line of descent from Dinosaurs to Birds was pretty much a certainty. Whilst this specific find (If indeed not a hoax) is quite interesting, I don't see that it's all that newsworthy.

This brings to mind somethong that I've read in one of Gould's books. "Dinosaur in a Haystack", I think.
It may be that this is of no surprise to the pelaeontology community, or rather that it was only a matter of time.

And as for my earlier comment, allow me to insert monkey for ape, just to satisfy all you taxanomical purists out there... I admit defeat.

214. Gunk in T. Rex Fossil Confirms Dino-Bird Lineage

Comment #169235 by moderndaythomas on April 25, 2008 at 4:28 pm

Uhhhmmm... No, Moderndaythomas, we are descended from apes... We aren't descended from any *living* apes, but our common ancestor with the other extant apes was also an ancient, extinct ape.

In this respect then, did we descent from mould?
Both you and mould have common ancestry and that ancestor will most likely resemble mould more than you or I.
My point is that creationists see this statement differently than you or I, and in fact I believe that we are arguing the same things.

215. Gunk in T. Rex Fossil Confirms Dino-Bird Lineage

Comment #169206 by moderndaythomas on April 25, 2008 at 3:58 pm

Humans are apes

Gotcha, but we didn't descend from them, we share common ancestry.

216. Tyrannosaurus rex protein proves dinosaurs evolved into birds

Comment #169201 by moderndaythomas on April 25, 2008 at 3:52 pm

Comment#168946 rod-the-farmer

Is there anyone watching this site who could explain that cladogram to us non-techie types ?

It's either the schematics for the electical on an 86 monte, or a two dimensional map of divergence.
I say it's a coin toss.

217. Tyrannosaurus rex protein proves dinosaurs evolved into birds

Comment #169193 by moderndaythomas on April 25, 2008 at 3:42 pm

When I first read that, I couldn't help thinking that no creationist should ever see such a statement. I can vividly imagine what they'd do with it out of context.

It was realy just a Jesusaurus Rex that fell down sometime last December.

There now, everyone's seen my sarcastic side.

218. Gunk in T. Rex Fossil Confirms Dino-Bird Lineage

Comment #169182 by moderndaythomas on April 25, 2008 at 3:34 pm

Comment#169065 by Quine

I hate the way the press messes up the science. Birds did not descend from the T. rex, they descended from an ancestor of the T. rex.

An all too common media blunder, but still, it's closer to the truth than saying that humans descended from apes. Or rather, Ben Stein.
And then again I'm sure the apes resent that.

219. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #169166 by moderndaythomas on April 25, 2008 at 3:25 pm

And so here I am fixing to post this, hoping I didnot time out once again.

I didn't know you could time out, now I'll realy feel the pressure when I have to stop and check my spelling.

220. Humans nearly wiped out 70,000 years ago, study says

Comment #168914 by moderndaythomas on April 25, 2008 at 12:54 pm

MaxD

Doesn't this kind of put the kibash on Neanderthal/Homo sapiens cross breeding?

I though Sykes did that when he extracted DNA from a neanderthal and compared it to that of modern Europeans?

"Seven Daughters of Eve" wasn't it?

221. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #168751 by moderndaythomas on April 25, 2008 at 10:31 am

Steve Zara.

The "speciation can't happen" argument has become "the formation of a new kind of organism can't happen".

Right; big phenotypes verses little genes. Is this called splitting hairs or grasping at straws?

222. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #168733 by moderndaythomas on April 25, 2008 at 10:20 am

al-rawanda

I think I know where you're coming from now, I realy must read closer before running off like that.
You're right, science can't disprove God. But is that it's job?

223. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #168725 by moderndaythomas on April 25, 2008 at 10:13 am

How God is fooling us into seeing these lies posing as demonstrable science.

Hey al_rawandi, I don't think I said that bud.
My handle may misleed, but I'm no bible thumper.
I'm just closer to the darkness than others.

rightnow I'm just happy I got that whole blockquot thing down.

224. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #168710 by moderndaythomas on April 25, 2008 at 10:00 am

Not always. As I have frequently posted here, new species can arise by mechanisms such as polyploidy in a single generation.

Speciation in one generation? That sinks it then. What do they have to argue about

225. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #168699 by moderndaythomas on April 25, 2008 at 9:49 am

One must concede that at some point, a later generation will be sufficiently different from an earlier generation, such that it might not interbreed with it.

Ah, I now see that what you were getting at was the same as I. My mistake.

226. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #168690 by moderndaythomas on April 25, 2008 at 9:41 am

Dr Benway.

"One must concede that at some point, a later generation will be sufficiently different from an earlier generation, such that it might not interbreed with it."

This isn't how it works at all. The daughter generation will always be able to turn around and breed with the mother generation.
But the leading daughter generation will one day not be able to mix genes with the much earlier parent.

This is over many thousands of generations of course.

227. Student's 'Be Happy, Not Gay' t-shirt ok

Comment #168669 by moderndaythomas on April 25, 2008 at 9:22 am

Think I'm going to get one of the T-shirts off that site that says 'Atheists Scream Your Name During Sex'!

Does this mean there are no atheists in bed?

228. Humans nearly wiped out 70,000 years ago, study says

Comment #168666 by moderndaythomas on April 25, 2008 at 9:16 am

Comment#168624 notsobad.

The BBC site is one I visit frequently, though I hadn't seen this one yet. You can still count on the UK to give you science without agenda. Something that I am afraid of on this side of the Atlantic.

I'll be showing this one to my kids. I like to get them excited about the great human diaspora.

229. Yoko Ono sues over use of John Lennon videos

Comment #168635 by moderndaythomas on April 25, 2008 at 8:46 am

I gather that the righteous are confident in their immunity to infringe or impose for the greater good of thier ideals.
In this case, Lennon's Imagine.

I'm reminded of Cuozzo's cave art debacle in France, and when he recklessly trespassed on private property to reveal to the world the Neanderthal sculpture of a mammal in combat with a dinosaur.

This required some immagination in fact as it was a natural formation, if I'm not correct.

230. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #168577 by moderndaythomas on April 25, 2008 at 8:06 am

please name me one book on the science of ID that does not mention evolution or mentions it only in passing. I doubt if you will be able to find one - because if they don't take up space mentioning the 'shortcomings' of evolution, ID is reduced to three words - 'God did it'.

Well said, now how do I get out of this blockqoute?

231. Humans nearly wiped out 70,000 years ago, study says

Comment #168554 by moderndaythomas on April 25, 2008 at 7:49 am

Comment#168528 J.mills

Human drama indeed. Though if Hollywood were to get a hold of it, they would add or subtract a zero to the end of it, suggest creation and insert a pyramid.

As for the near extinction, this would have surely been apparent to the human populations, I think, and stress to them the importance of cooperation between surviving communities. This would further drive the need for reciprocity, and compassion.
This has Gould written all over it.

232. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #168539 by moderndaythomas on April 25, 2008 at 7:36 am

I'm sure TruthID knows and understands the scientific method as do theologens. The difference between science and religion is that science excercises this method and the religious fear it.

I ask for nothing short of a little spontaneous macro generation. Is this too taxing on your designer?

233. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #168515 by moderndaythomas on April 25, 2008 at 7:18 am

Comment#168422 seeker_of_truth.

Human origins and evolution are, for the time being, open for topic in Canadian schools. Ideas that come from those like TruthID will be strongly discouraged, I asure you. Keep it down there!

Though, saddy, even Canadian highschool students must wait until the college or university levels to be introduced officialy to Mendel's genetics, or the Hardy-Weinberg Law.

UK students get this important information up front. At least by grade twelve.

Can you tell me the game plan now, TruthID?Love to hear it.

234. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #168273 by moderndaythomas on April 24, 2008 at 9:21 pm

TruthID clearly has some post secondary bi under his belt, but it's been skewed. I recommend little engagement with him in the future, though I hate to have him think a victory of it.

I'm always a little late on the page.

I'd like to have him talk about judgment day. The religious never sound more foolish than when they open their mouths about religion. Believe me, I know!

235. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #168271 by moderndaythomas on April 24, 2008 at 9:07 pm

Comment#168097 TruthID "Your world is soon going to be crushing down on you. You better open your eyes and be ready."

Give me some hints on what that would be brother?
I want you to tell everyone here what the plan is.

Or am I too late again. I always miss the interesting ones.

236. Judge orders La. school district to stop Bible giveaways

Comment #167315 by moderndaythomas on April 23, 2008 at 10:10 pm

Speaking of how silly the Bible is, I have more than I care to have of the thing, and It never fails to surprise.

ON the occasion that I partake in a sermine, I find myself sitting behind a typical silver haired church lady of the third degree.

She speeks of how satan has control of you if you have more than one drink in an evening. Not one for heavy drinking this is of no concern other than there is a person ten inches in front of me that's insane.

Little does she know that satan has control of me and all I want to do is strangle her! Just kidding, it's not satan, it's me all the way.

237. Judge orders La. school district to stop Bible giveaways

Comment #167312 by moderndaythomas on April 23, 2008 at 10:00 pm

The city of Vancouver is rather diverse in its ethnicity, so the idea of passing the Bible around the class would be stopped immediately.

Though it should be said that this is not because of a more enlightened take on the origin of life, but rather the replacing of the one with the other.

238. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #167303 by moderndaythomas on April 23, 2008 at 9:36 pm

comment#164748by Hmmmm.

I'd like to take a shot at the naturalistic basis for compassion/morality.

Firstly I would recommend a book written by the behavioural scientist William H. Calvin. "A Brain for all Seasons." Though I warn you, he begins somewhere in the neighbourhood of about six million years ago.

The primary motive here, naturaly, is survival. Early homonid survival hinged on their ability to share and store up favours. The beginning of reciprocity, and helping your neighbors who might help you when you're in need. This is also seen in modern primates such as the Chimp and Bonobo.

I see that TheTruthID is still at it. This is for you also

239. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #165469 by moderndaythomas on April 21, 2008 at 1:51 pm

The TruthID. Wow, how's it going brother?

At the end of every day I place all that I know on the scale and I weigh it.
I do this at the end of every day!

On one side I have geology, biology, astronony, and genetics, to name a few; and on the other, and going by many names I have the Book of Genesis.

At the end of every day the magnitude of the unifying theory of biology (evolution), comes out on top.

In the few decades that we've been watching the clock (genetic), there has not been any maco evolution as it requires far more geologic time than we have in one life. But the hard evidence of micro evolution, coupled with geology and the fossil record provides much in the way of positive prodictions and evidence.

And I must say that's significant in comparison to ID claim.

So while you are at making requests for evidence, can I have a little spontaneous generation?

240. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #165420 by moderndaythomas on April 21, 2008 at 1:02 pm

This breaks my heart. This poor guy could have been set strait by Stein but instead was led to fester. Surely Stein knows what Hitler had wrote in Mein Kampf.

Having not read the book myself, I had come across many quotes by prominent writers of science, and anyone claiming to be well read would most certainly be at least as marginaly informed as I am.

241. Ben Stein Vs. Sputtering Atheists

Comment #165216 by moderndaythomas on April 21, 2008 at 8:25 am

Indeed, "gay rights". Hitler was a clear conservative that prefered all women to be bare foot and pregnant.
I missed this the first read through.
You're either the good guy or the bad guy according to this fello, and he's having trouble deciding what side he's on I think.

You can be gay so long as you don't be gay, and you women can speak so long as you don't want us to listen, and you can ask embarrassing questions so long as you don't want an answere. And if that's ok with you I'm the good guy.

242. Ben Stein Vs. Sputtering Atheists

Comment #165207 by moderndaythomas on April 21, 2008 at 8:07 am

Sputtering ranters, crystals, and aliens.
Here's a guy that tries very hard at coming up short.
How deliberately uninforming of him. And how deliberately uneducated his readers will be.

I'll take scientific theory with its sputtering scientists over an unimaginative, incomplete book of Genisis with its charismatic preachers any day.

243. Gods and earthlings

Comment #163578 by moderndaythomas on April 18, 2008 at 2:48 pm

First of all, how hard is it to impregnate a virgin? Sadly I missed the boat on that, thay were all out when I got there, I've only my keen imagination.
In anycase, I'm holding out a little longer for some weightier evidence on this IDC thing.
The articles help clear out the swill.

244. School bars same-sex partners at formals

Comment #163538 by moderndaythomas on April 18, 2008 at 1:39 pm

"Most parents send their children to our schools because of the Christian values that our schools espouse, because our schools stand for biblical values,"
Have I mentioned in the past that in my 12 biology class(never mind when), a female student had inquired as to why the male skeleton had the same number of ribs as the female skeleton?
What are they teaching in their schools besides bigotry?

245. Flea of the week

Comment #163531 by moderndaythomas on April 18, 2008 at 1:19 pm

This isn't a scientology pamphlet is it. If memory serves, was not Carl Sagan an atheist?
If only he were here!
Secondly, on atheism and probability; will we be hearing yet again about all the zero's after the ten in regards to the probability of life on earth.
I wonder how many zero's after the ten one would find when calculating the probability of the magnitude and diversity of life occuring in six days, and a paltry 8000 years ago?

246. Sexpelled: No Intercourse Allowed

Comment #163498 by moderndaythomas on April 18, 2008 at 12:24 pm

Verry funny, I've come across a comic strip of this on the experimental physicist Mano Dingham's blog.
Look it up if you haven't already.
He is known to have an opinion or two on IDC.

247. A New Flea

Comment #160745 by moderndaythomas on April 14, 2008 at 10:56 am

Has this guy forgotten his health? He's healthy enough to write a book because of science. The fact that he's not dead right now is most certainly because of science.
An Oxford man should know that it was the threat of war that compelled the crew at the Dunn School of Pathology to look further into this stray bit of mould that Flemming failed to isolate twelve years earlier.
And what's more, I'm willing to wager that behind every organized act of warfare there's a right hand on the Bible.
Is this a safe bet?

248. Two More Fleas

Comment #160226 by moderndaythomas on April 13, 2008 at 8:32 pm

I'm reminded of the many Christian evidence seminars that I have attended. It took me no time to come to the conclusion that there is little by way of education with these groups.
They are the target audience for such books and they're ripe with ignorance and drunk on self righteousness.
From boulders tumbling to a stop at the foot of a mountain in the shape of a Volkswaggan, to 747's sponteaneously emerging from junk yards, the drivel just keeps on coming. I can't imagine what's next.

249. Richard Dawkins: 'Growth in creationist beliefs a problem for schools'

Comment #156319 by moderndaythomas on April 7, 2008 at 10:27 am

Lately I've been wondering how many of my fellow Canadians are becoming concerned with the encrouching Christian fundamental movement that is migrating up across the 49th parallel.
Through my marriage, I have inherited a place on a pew next to my wife who is, thankfully, some what liberal on the matter; my mother in law however...
My concern culminated when my children came on the scene. They are exposed to condtradictions that at an early age are difficult to clarify. One argument is just as good as another to them it seems. But I am devoutely sceptical and I do not suffer fools well. And so my struggle begins.
My first step was to make very clear that science seeks to eliminate the need for belief through evidence. And that religion, though it may always have a place in thier lives, requires faith and then must therefore lack evidence.
The importance of continuing to teach science at the elementary and secondary levels without the influence of religious creationism is paramount.
Children need a foundation of hard earned facts to place as a template up against all other alternatives that they will most certainly encounter out in the world.