Torchwood Children Of Earth will be aired on NRJ12 at 8.30pm every tuesday. It will begin the 17th of November.
Though, as always on NRJ12, no original version will be available, only the dubbed one (but they dubbed the first 2 seasons very well imo) so nothing to fear :p
- Mood:excited
They came CHARGING at us out of nowhere, squealing "PUUUUPPIES! PUUUUPPIES! OMG PUPPIES!!!!" and literally threw themselves at my Shibas without even asking if they were friendly.
I know that neither of them has aggression, and Ayla was actually thrilled and happily frolicking around the kids, but Yoshi is very shy and gets stressed around loud kids. He ran and hid behind me as I tried to be nice and told the girls to please back off b/c Yoshi is shy and does not like people rushing at him.
Well, usually when I tell over-excited kids to leave the dog alone they listen. Not these girls.
As soon as I told them that Yoshi is shy and nervous and to leave him alone, they both went right for him!!! Grabbing and petting and insisting that "they can make Yoshi like them!"
So I had to try again, No do not bother him, he is very nervous. I was down on the ground shielding my dogs from these kids trying to keep them off without luck. They were like parasites.
SOOOOO the one girl GRABS HIS LEASH and yanks him towards her and tries to hug him!
I made her let go and backed away, but they kept provoking.
THEN they asked me "Can we walk them?" and I said no. And they did not understand why, even after explaining that they shouldn't walk strange dogs, and the dogs can run away, etc.... they would not understand why I would not let them take Yoshi and Ayla for a walk.
So the mother comes by... and she is unfortunately just as dumb as the kids (surprise...) and whatever I said, she just giggled and thought it was cute how her kids were acting!!!
Finally, the kids asked me... "Can we have one?"
WTF...??? they were serious.
I said no way I am ever giving away my dogs. And they pestered some more "Well, which one don't you like? We can take the one you like least!" And- still trying to remain civil, but firm, I told them I love my dogs equally and would never give them up for anything...
the mother was continuing to chuckle like it was sooooo cuuuuute.
So I was finally able to walk away without them following me.
What rude kids, and rude mom. God forbid I had an aggressive dog who bit them while they were forcing themselves at them. My dog would have to be put to sleep because of someone else's poorly raised kids. Parents don't teach their kids any kind of respect or manners anymore. Thankfully my dogs aren't aggressive, but Yoshi is very shy and nervous, and gets so stressed and shaky when put in a situation like that.
I really wish I could have been meaner to the kids... however, all I could think was that I work in an elementary school in town, and need to keep my temper with the local children, especially since the mother did not see anything wrong with how they were acting.
- Mood:
annoyed
The one thing about medical technology is that it is constantly advancing, evolving and making things a reality that were impossible only a few short years before. I stumbled across two articles that reminded me of an old joke that transwomen and transmen other used to say to each other.
We used to remark to each other it would be nice if we could just swap the gender specific body parts.
While the medical technology as of yet hasn't perfected a realistic looking and functional penis for transguys, the news is a little different for transwomen.
We've always had since the 60's SRS surgeons skilled in creating realistic looking feminine genitalia. Now if the news coming from research scientists pans out, a result of gynecological research being done to help infertile cismothers bear children, may also give transwomen the ability to give birth.
Lili Elbe, one of our pioneering transwomen, died 78 years ago from complications stemming from the rejection of her uterine transplant. She did so because she wanted to bear children Lili's dream may soon become a reality for 21st century transwomen.
A New York surgical team is now interviewing candidates who will attempt to do the first human womb transplant in the United States. The technique was tried by a Saudi Arabian surgical team in 2000, but the womb was rejected after three months.
The procedure would potentially allow women who have had their wombs damaged or removed to develop a pregnancy and give birth. It may also give transwomen who desire to do so the ability to give birth to children as well.
Transman Thomas Beattie caught a lot of flack inside and outside the trans community in 2008 for stopping his testosterone shots so that he could bear children.
Never mind the fact he did so because he and his wife wished to become parents and his wife was infertile. In addition to their now one year old daughter, Thomas recently gave birth to a son on June 9, 2009.
But that Beattie drama got me thinking about our reproductive rights as transpeople and how they've taken a back seat to just living our lives.Many of us back in the day didn't consider banking our sperm before we had our orchiectomies or SRS. Thanks to the restrictive HBIGDA/WPATH transition rules in place at the time, we never considered the possibility that one day you'd might wish to have children with some of your family DNA in them.
And who would have even contemplated the thought that transwomen would not only stay married to their cis spouses, but keep their neoclits and get busy being fruitful and multiplying? What are the odds of a transwoman meeting a ciswoman who loved you enough to marry you, simply wanted to bear your child or a transman doing so?Somehow I doubt much has changed in the 2k's. I don't believe it's high on the priority lists of many 21st century transpeople either, much less is a discussion topic in our gender meeting groups.
Some will argue life's hard enough for us now. Why bring a child into this situation? Ask any parent raising them and they can give you infinite reasons why you should.
As these interesting medical developments unfold, maybe it's time for us to be proactive in this debate instead of reactive. You can bet your last hormone shot that the fundies and their haters are already looking for a way to demonize a process that will help millions of people.It's time to get our arguments ready to counter whatever lies and out of context Scripture they come up with.
It's time to do some hard solid thinking about where we are in terms of reproductive rights issues as they relate to us personally and as a community.
It's time for us to ask the question, will 'being fruitful and multiply' not only become a reality for those of u who wish to do so, but what are the ramifications for the child we bring into the world as well?
i have a half dotson and half terror dog that needs a good home. the reason i'm getting rid of him is because he started to bite one of my kids the other 2 kids he loves to death.
I cracked up at SO MUCH of this.
The dog is free though. Any takers?
Some basic background: She wrote the post reacting to someone on Twitter who said, and I quote:
"I need 2 say again: if u participate in the fuckery of yoga, our religious practice, Kali Ma will shit on you. Consider yourself warned."
"[to the woman practicing yoga] last thing: 4 u and any1 else who does this wack ass white ppl yoga know that u cannot achieve inner peace on a basis of racism"
"sweep the criticism of the Indian under the rug while you go enjoy the religious practice that white ppl steal from us"
The problem I had was when said blogger conflated religious appropriation with cultural appropriation and proceeded to write a post that treats the appropriation of Christian holidays and traditions as equal to the appropriation of Indian culture and she is having a hard time understanding that some religious traditions are deeply and indelibly entwined with ethnicity and race. A good example is how one is born a Jew ethnically regardless of what you end up believing in as far as spirituality goes.
So, for discussion, how do you explain to someone that not all religious traditions are "just" religion? How do you make clear that some religious identities are also ethnic identities, and cannot just be assumed because you like them?
ETA: Since I have decided to end the conversation with the aforementioned blogger, I am adding a link to it here. This comes with one condition. PLEASE don't go and pile on her if you think she is wrong. I'm putting it up here for the sake of full disclosure, nothing more. I think you all will be able to tell which poster is me. Feel free to critique my points made there over here if you like.
( For those who want to read the article and not the link... )
The ensuing wank is hilarious. Of course you have the few people who say it's selfish to have kids as old as Rene is, the women who "need" IVF because they can't get pregnant, etc. I thought maybe you guys would get a kick out of it :P
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stumbleupon ( Huntsville Adventures. )
Edit: I keep forgetting to mention. Greg and I learned you can gargle with chips. No really. Well, not really. But it was pretty damn funny.
- Mood:
amused
When you first moved to your new location about five months ago, I was rather pleased. You stock Wellness and other good foods. Until your store dog growled at me twice. I left and only came back a week ago. I am now stunned to see you stock rabbits, rats, mice, parrots, and fish. The whole store stinks like a wet, nasty hamster cage and the rabbits with their shaving filled boxes full on feces is revolting. I won't even mention the aqauruims that are too small for the rats and the overall stained carpet. I am not buying here. BTW, $5 for a clicker? Come on!
- Mood:
annoyed
New warning on 'perfect vaginas'
FOUND FROM HERE Labioplasty involves cutting excess tissue that protrudes from the vagina |
Women are undergoing surgery to create perfect genitalia amid a "shocking" lack of information on the potential risks of the procedure, a report says.
Research published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology also questions the very notion of aesthetically pleasing genitals.
Operations to improve the appearance of the sex organs for both psychological and physical reasons are on the rise.
But surgeons said the report overplayed the risks of an established procedure.
( Read more here. )I saw a post from September and I believe people suggested doing something with a beer bottle and hot water. I'm ready to try anything but I'm afraid of getting it infected because I do not have health insurance and I am not certain if Planned Parenthood deals with these types of things. I don't even have time to go - I'm working 6 days this week. So, any suggestions? Any help is appreciated.
Ok, my question is this: I have had the implanon for around a year now (28th of August was when it was inserted last year) and my periods have been wacko ever since. I bled for a good 6 months when I first had it put in (as in, very light bleeding for 3 weeks, heavy normal period of 1) and they weren't very regular patches of bleeding either. Anyway, then it sorted itself out and I got my (relatively) predictable cycle back which lasted 8-12 days but was quite light for all the days except the first two. Since September, however, I have not had a period. Obviously being on birth control I am sexually active, and I panicked and took 4 pregnancy tests. 2 1 week after the missed period (1 came up negative, and one didn't work properly...I guess it was a shitty cheap one from China?) and 2 about a week ago (1 came up negative, the other one...idk what happened, apparently it means its defective, but the test area didn't show a line but the whole other part of it turned pink (no line, just solid colour)). So yeah, I'm going with 2 negative pregnancy tests. I'm planning on taking another one because I really don't want to be pregnant, but is it possible that I could HEALTHILY be missing my periods because of implanon? This late into having it inserted? Being pregnant would be the worst luck ever, he pulled out and I have this thing which is 99% effective.
I should mention I've recently moved to China (for stress factor), am recovering EDNOS (though that has not affected my period before), and am suffering a very bad bout of depression atm...so any good news will be well-recieved. I just want to know if you guys think I should go to the doctors (because doctors in China are GHETTO and I don't really want to try and explain this all in Chinese...-_-;;) or if its possible this would happen with the implanon and I'm going to be fiiine lol...
Thanks :)
- Music:Bon Iver - Skinny Love | Powered by Last.fm
We rounded up some of our favorite packaging (and most are previously unseen here on The Dieline) from the new Communication Arts Annual. Visit Communication Arts to see all the projects, a few more posted after the jump.
Tub Gin, designed by Red Tettemer:
"We filled a gaping hole in the booze biz with a super-smooth, lone-batch gin. TuB came kicking and screaming into the world in an understated bottle and with a little hair on its chest."
Apple Accessories, design in-house:
"Mac and iPod accessories are packaged using a remarkably simple system. On every box or bag, the labeling is clear, the product is shown actual size and the packaging is recyclable."
Koala Ranch Wineries, designed by Colle + McVoy:
"Koala Ranch Wineries asked us to redesign the labels for their line of value wines and to position them as fun, simple and inviting wines that reflect the region from which they hail."
1300 on Fillmore, designed by Landor Associates:
"We were challenged with developing a specialty foods packaging system for 1300 on Fillmore that would become an extension of the restaurant experience. Differentiating enough to drive sales and awareness of Chef Lawrence, as well as traffic to the restaurant, the packaging brings him to the forefront, while focusing on the artisanal nature of his craft and paying homage to where it all happens—1300 on Fillmore."
Perricone MD, designed by Concrete Design Communications:
"Dr. Perricone and Perricone MD products have had extensive media coverage. The range of products includes topical anti-inflammatory formulations, and dietary supplements that are scientifically designed to promote healthy, youthful skin. We developed a comprehensive campaign that involved updating the visual identity, creating new packaging design, overhauling the Web site and developing both brand and tactical advertising. The design approach was a modern interpretation of traditional apothecary—understated, elegant typography, scientific photography and frosted amber glass."
Big Boss Brewing Co. "Bad Penny," designed by McKinney:
"How do you create beer packaging? Well, start with some beer. Add some
WWII bomber names, random trivia, more beer, some gasket seals, a
little bit of Spanish, a touch of German, more beer, a few pinup girls,
a little bit of luck, more beer, swizzle sticks, mongrel dogs, fairy
dust, a dash of kustom kulture, a heavy dose of metallic inks and some
more beer. Stir. Serve cold."
High Vale Core Cider, designed by brainCELLS:
"Core Cider hails from the High Vale Orchard, east of Perth, in Western Australia. High Vale was entering the competitive Ready To Drink alcohol market and sought a unique branding solution. The bio-dynamic product was the perfect foil for a clean, simple and sophisticated label design. The transparent paper stock was chosen to showcase the vibrant color of the product, made of organic apples grown at the High Vale farm."
Four more after the jump!
Civilized, designed by Neatly Trimmed Beard:
"We created the Civilized brand for a new micro distillery in northern Michigan. The concept is based on the woodland gentleman of yore; the sort of man who cut wood for a living and wrestled grizzlies for fun, but still found time to wax his mustache and comb pomade through his hair. That in mind, we set out to make something vintage but with some modern flourishes—something both manly and gentlemanly."
Number 4 Performance Hair Care, designed by Bureau Number 4:
"Number 4 High Performance Hair Care was founded with the mission to create a hair care line that runs parallel to fashion, science, art, music and industrial design creative cycles. The Number 4 package design is inspired by the crossover between the essence of Swedish graphic design and the complex industrial minimalism of Japanese package design."
Chipotle in-store packaging, designed by Sequence:
"Chipotle Mexican Grill is one of the fastest growing restaurant-chains in the U.S. Its goal is to change the way the world thinks about and eats fast food by serving high-quality and sustainably-raised food quickly and affordably. We created a new packaging system defined by unique, hand-drawn messages from customers, employees and even ingredients. This lighthearted, passionate approach is a perfect vehicle to convey Chipotle's 'un-chain' philosophy."
Farmer's Leap, designed by Parallax Design:
"Scott Longbottom is a potato farmer and grape grower from Padthaway. Farmer's Leap was his first foray into winemaking, hence the name. Farmer's Leap is a reflection of Scott—uncomplicated, honest and straight to the point. "
Me: Do you still want these?
Mom: I was saving them in case you guys wanted them for your kids.
Me: I'm not having kids.
Mom: Really?
Me: Yeah. I don't like them. Do you want them or not?
Mom: Ask your sister.
Then she went back to watching television. It was pretty nice, actually. I was kind of tempted to keep the purple velvet dress, but I ended up giving it to the anti-poverty group. My sister kept her first communion dress, but that's it (she'll definitely be having kids). I'm not 100% sure my mom took the encounter seriously, but I like that she didn't freak out.
If anyone could tell me by the end of the day that would be great, I'll keep looking over stuff but extra input would be great & this is due Friday at 3pm EST. Thanks again.
- Location:b r a c k e n
- Mood:
aggravated - Music:Hechizo De Amor * * * * Tiger Army
http://westernmass.craigslist.org/pet/14
My opinion just dropped as the original owner posts this:
http://westernmass.craigslist.org/pet/14
*headdesk*
- Mood: annoyed
Welcome to the new and improved Feministe. As you can see, we have a lovely new lay-out and a quicker site, thanks to the amazing TigTog at Hoyden About Town. We also have a lovely new and talented blogger, Chally from Zero at the Bone. We’ve added tag clouds on the right-hand side so that you aren’t overwhelmed with a bunch of categories; we’ve also made our archives easier to navigate (just click here). And we hope we’ve made everything prettier and more user-friendly.
But that isn’t all, Feministas. We have two new bloggers for your reading pleasure, who will be introducing themselves in the coming days. I think you’ll all be very pleased and excited when you see who they are.
In the meantime, we would love your feedback about the new site. Is everything working ok? Anything wonky? Anything we took away that you loved? Anything you see on other sites that you’re dying to see here?
Thanks for all of your patience while we get the kinks ironed out, and welcome to the next level of Feministe goodness.
http://tinyurl.com/ye8spmz
Almost as Scary as the real thing. *g*
Long time lurker here... I have been reading the posts here for quite some time and always find something amusing to read! So now I thought I might share something funny that happened to me today, that folks here might be able to relate to.
I joined OKCupid a couple days ago, having heard a lot of great things about it. In the "what's the most private thing I'm willing to admit" I wrote the following-
"I am childfree. I would prefer to meet a woman who is also childfree, or at the very least, doesn't have any children who are young enough to require a great deal of supervision."
In the last part of my profile I mention that I'm looking to meet a gamer girl - and with tongue in cheek, question their existence (since it is pretty rare that I meet one).
So far I received two replies - one wink (YAY!), and one message from a 23-year old single mom!
"gamer girls do exist, but some of them have children .(and some have children small enough to need supervision). Good luck."
My ignore list now has its first person! WOOT.
What do y'all make of this? Is there a friendlier way to get the message across that I don't want to date single moms with young ones? I figured this might be a good place to ask!
Why is it always 10 questions? Couldn't they just ask one really good question? I'd prefer that to these flibbertigibbet deluges of piddling pointlessnesses that the creationists want to fling at us. I think it's because they want to make sure no one spends too much time showing how silly each individual question is.
A few years ago, Jonathan Wells came up with his 10 questions to ask your biology teacher — they were largely drawn from his book, Icons of Evolution, and they were awful — they were only difficult to answer if you knew nothing of the science and accepted the dishonest pseudoscience Well presented as "scholarship". NCSE has all the answers you need; I think they hoped to stump a few school teachers here and there by feeding students with a collection of questions the students wouldn't understand, but that might hit a few gaps in the teacher's knowledge.
Now Dembski and some guy named Sean McDowell have a new list of Ten Questions to Ask Your Biology Teacher About Intelligent Design. Once again, it's mislead-and-confuse time.
1. Design Detection If nature, or some aspect of it, is intelligently designed, how could we tell?
Design inferences in the past were largely informal and intuitive. Usually people knew it when they saw it. Intelligent design, by introducing specified complexity, makes the detection of design rigorous. Something is complex if it is hard to reproduce by chance and specified if it matches an independently given pattern (an example is the faces on Mt. Rushmore). Specified complexity gives a precise criterion for reliably inferring intelligence.
OK, so? Give me an independently specified pattern created by intelligent design to match against, say, a beetle. I can compare Lincoln's face on Rushmore to photos, paintings, and death casts of the real person's face, and can say that there's sufficient similarity on all details to rule out the possibility that Rushmore is a natural accident. Where's the design template for Odontolabis femoralis?
2. Looking for Design in Biology Should biologists be encouraged to look for signs of intelligence in biological systems? Why or why not?
Scientists today look for signs of intelligence coming in many places, including from distant space (consider SETI, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence). Yet, many biologists regard it as illegitimate to look for signs of intelligence in biological systems. Why arbitrarily exclude design inferences from biology if we accept them for other scientific disciplines? It is an open question whether the apparent design in nature is real.
Nobody says you can't look for signs of design in biological systems; so do it already, creationists! Of course, you have yet to explain where you're going to find that independently given pattern that specifies Odontolabis femoralis. You haven't even explained yet what artificial/design mechanisms were used in the construction of that beetle. The natural explanation has the advantage that it only postulates mechanisms that we've seen to operate; we don't have to imagine a magical gene lathe operated by an invisible man.
I wouldn't encourage a grad student to waste his time looking for design in biology because the concept is so vaguely defined and so malformed to be useless. Productive science is about getting results, and I don't see any path given to generate useful data from this design hypothesis.
3. The Rules of Science Who determines the rules of science? Are these rules written in stone? Is it mandatory that scientific explanations only appeal to matter and energy operating by unbroken natural laws (a principle known as methodological naturalism)?
The rules of science are not written in stone. They have been negotiated over many centuries as science (formerly called "natural philosophy") has tried to understand the natural world. These rules have changed in the past and they will change in the future. Right now much of the scientific community is bewitched by a view of science called methodological naturalism, which says that science may only offer naturalistic explanations. Science seeks to understand nature. If intelligent causes operate in nature, then methodological naturalism must not be used to rule them out.
Who? Man, these guys have got intent and agency etched deep into their brain, don't they?
The rules of science are entirely pragmatic — we do what works, defined as a process that produces explanations that allow us to push deeper and deeper into a problem. That's all we care about. Show us a tool that actually generates new insights into biology, rather than recycling tired theological notions, and some scientist somewhere will use it. We're still waiting for one.
I am amused by the use of the word 'bewitched' to categorize people who don't invoke magical ad hoc explanations built around undetectable supernatural entities, however.
4. Biology's Information Problem How do we account for the complex information-rich patterns in biological systems? What is the source of that information?
The central problem for biology is information. Living things are not mere lumps of matter. Life is special, and what makes life special is the arrangement of its matter into very specific forms. In other words, what makes life special is information. Where did the information necessary for life come from? Where did the information necessary for the Cambrian explosion come from? How can a blind material process generate the novel information of biological systems? ID argues that such information has an intelligent source.
We know that chance and selection can generate information. This is not a problem at all.
ID can argue that Bozo the Clown put the information there. It doesn't make it true.
5. Molecular Machines Do any structures in the cell resemble machines designed by humans? How do we account for such structures?
The biological world is full of molecular machines that are strikingly similar to humanly made machines. In fact, they are more than similar. Just about every engineering principle that we employ in our own machines gets used at the molecular level, with this exception: the technology inside the cell vastly exceeds human technology. How, then, do biologists explain the origin of such structures? How can a blind material process generate the multiple coordinated changes needed to build a molecular machine? If we see a level of engineering inside the cell that far surpasses our own abilities, it is reasonable to conclude that these molecular machines are actually, and not merely apparently, designed.
No, the molecules in cells do not resemble human-made machines, except in the sense that they use the forces of physics and chemistry to do work. I notice that our own machines do not require supernatural forces to explain them; why should cellular machinery demand them?
Notice the sleight of hand there: they say we see a "level of engineering" in cells, therefore they are designed. They beg the question. Cells are not engineered. We have an alternative explanation, that they are evolved, which does not require conjuring up unknown forces.
6. Irreducible Complexity What are irreducibly complex systems? Do such systems exist in biology? If so, are those systems evidence for design? If not, why not?
The biological world is full of functioning molecular systems that cannot be simplified without losing the system's function. Take away parts and the system's function cannot be recovered. Such systems are called irreducibly complex. How do evolutionary theorists propose to account for such systems? What detailed, testable, step-by-step proposals explain the emergence of irreducibly complex machines such as the flagellum? Given that intelligence is known to design such systems, it is a reasonable inference to conclude that they were designed.
"Irreducibly complex" systems exist in biology. The catch is that they can be easily generated by natural processes, and IC does not imply intent or design. We explain complex organelles like the flagellum by looking in the cell for related structures that show potential paths to the structure; we know of natural processes, like gene duplication, cooption and exaptation, and coevolution that can produce features that exhibit irreducible complexity in the final state.
That last sentence is a classic non sequitur. We know that human beings build penis-shaped objects; that does not imply that Bill Dembski's penis is made of silicone and has an on-off switch, let alone that someone made it in an injection-molding machine.
7. Similar Structures Human designers reuse designs that work well. Life forms also reuse certain structures (the camera eye, for example, appears in humans and octopuses). How well does this evidence support Darwinian evolution? Does it support intelligent design more strongly?
Evolutionary biologists attribute similar biological structures to either common descent or convergence. Structures are said to result from convergence if they evolved independently from distinct lines of organisms. Darwinian explanations of convergence strain credulity because they must account for how trial-and-error tinkering (natural selection acting on random variations) could produce strikingly similar structures in widely different organisms and environments. It's one thing for evolution to explain similarity by common descent--the same structure is then just carried along in different lineages. It's another to explain it as the result of blind tinkering that happened to hit on the same structure multiple times. Design proponents attribute such similar structures to common design (just as an engineer may use the same parts in different machines). If human designers frequently reuse successful designs, the designer of nature can surely do the same.
Camera eyes evolved independently multiple times because there are a limited number of ways to build an image-forming light-detection device. An eyeball with a light-sensitive sheet on the back (a retina) and a lens in front is a natural way to do it. When we look at the octopus and human eye, though, we also see a host of differences: the octopus eye has a more efficient retina that puts the light collectors at the front of the light path, and instead of channeling all the outputs from the photoreceptors into a single point that creates a blind spot, the output neurons project in a diffuse array out the back of the eyeball.
They also use different molecular pathways to generate a response — we have ciliary photoreceptors, they have rhabdomeric photoreceptors. Why, it looks as if both lineages have been carrying out blind tinkering to produce something functional, and the there are deep differences under the superficial similarities!
So, why didn't the designer use similar eyeball modules in humans and octopuses? You don't get to argue that the designer used the engineering principle of recycling similar modules in different lineages while ignoring the fact that there are substantial differences between those two kinds of eyes.
8. Fine-Tuning The laws of physics are fine-tuned to allow life to exist. Since designers are capable of fine-tuning a system, can design be considered the best explanation for the universe?
Physicists agree that the constants of nature have a strange thing in common: they seem precisely calibrated for the existence of life. As Frederick Hoyle famously remarked, it appears that someone has "monkeyed" with physics. Naturalistic explanations that attempt to account for this eerie fine-tuning invariably introduce entities for which there is no independent evidence (for example, they invoke multiple worlds with which we have no physical way of interacting). The fine-tuning of the universe strongly suggests that it was intelligently designed.
Oh, please. I'd be more impressed if the constants of nature were not calibrated for the existence of life, and we were here anyway. Now that would be eerie. That the universe has laws that are consistent with our existence does not in any way imply that it was designed.
9. The Privileged Planet The Earth seems ideally positioned in our galaxy for complex life to exist and for scientific discovery to advance. Does this privileged status of Earth indicate intelligent design? Why or why not?
Many factors had to come together on earth for human life to exist (chapter 9). We exist in just the right place in just the right type of galaxy at just the right cosmic moment. We orbit the right type of star at the right distance for life. The earth has large surrounding planets to protect us from comets, a moon to direct important life-permitting cycles, and an iron core that protects us from harmful radiation. Moreover, the earth has many features that facilitate scientific discovery, such as a moon that makes possible perfect eclipses. Humans seem ideally situated on the earth to make scientific discoveries. This suggests that a designer designed our place in the world so that we can understand the world's design. Naturalism, by contrast, leaves it a complete mystery why we should be able to do science and gain insight into the underlying structure of the world.
Isn't this the same concept as 'problem' 9? We belong to a scientific/technological society; it is unsurprising that we live on a world in which that is possible. Again, I'd be more baffled if the features of this planet conspired against scientific discovery, but we made them anyway.
10. The Origin of the Universe The universe gives every indication of having a beginning. Since something cannot come from nothing, is it legitimate to conclude that a designer made the universe? If not, why not?
For most of world history, scientists believed the universe was eternal. With advances in our understanding of cosmology over the last forty years, however, scientists now recognize that the universe had a beginning and is finite in duration and size. In other words, the universe has not always been there. Since the universe had a beginning, why not conclude that it had a designer that brought it into existence? Since matter, space, and time themselves had a beginning, this would suggest that the universe had a non-physical, non-spatial, and non-temporal cause. A designer in the mold of the Christian God certainly fits the bill.
Question begging again? Is this the only trick they know?
How do you know that something cannot come from nothing? Here, take an hour, and a physicist will explain that you can get a universe from nothing. Physics is stranger than creationists can imagine, and it's always irritating to see incompetent ignoramuses like Dembski and McDowell think they can bamboozle us by invoking a physics they don't understand.
(I showed this video before, so it may be familiar to you.)
The Christian god was a god-man who had a distinct and transient anthropoid form. I don't see how the origin of the universe in some kind of quantum foam points to a dead Hebrew rabbi.
Ho-hum. Another collection of bad questions that assume what they intend to demonstrate, and another uninteresting exercise in tired apologetics from the Discovery Institute con artists.
Read the comments on this post...
New work from Samantha Ziino, a student at RMIT.
"We had to do a project on an existing polish vodka alcohol. Pravda is a Polish vodka that prides itself on purity & fine ingredients. The bottle & box are white & simple creating an aesthetic purity. A little red is used to distinguish the brand whilst staying true to Polish culture."
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Sociologists have observed that pornography is becoming increasingly mainstream, especially among people who are now in their teens and twenties. No longer something for men to hide under a mattress, pornography is now considered, by many in these generations, to be a routine and regular part of everyday life for both men and women.
I was struck by this normalization of porn while watching a special on the technological challenges facing pornographers today. The show, Vanguard, does special in-depth reporting on a different topic each episode. Here is a screen shot of the most recent episodes available on Hulu. You’ll see that recent episodes cover the war, revolution in Cuba, and illegal and legal drugs:
I found out about the program because it was on the front page of Hulu:
So, just to be clear, this program was just plain ‘ol, regular programming for regular folk.
And the program treated pornography as if it was just any other industry; it could have been a discussion of the car industry in light of the economic downturn or pig farmers in light of swine flu.
It’s not that I necessarily think that the show should have been all “Oh and, by the way, we know this is porn and porn is bad OOGA BOOGA!” I was just shocked by how easily it brushed off any such concerns (with a few employees explaining that their job is just like any other job) and moved onto the “isn’t it interesting how the industry is coping with these new challenges.”
I feel like I’m having a tough time explaining it. If you’ve got 22-minutes, see for yourself:
(I’m sorry non-American readers! I know you can’t watch Hulu! You maybe able to watch it here.)
See also our posts on pornification of everyday life here, here, and here.
(View original at http://contexts.org/socimages)
Since this isn’t client work, I’m not editing. How about this: comment your favorite and I’ll put that as the primary image for this post. Thanks!
You say: "Man, I'm not gonna pop out a crotch dropping, nohow!" and suddenly, they're acting so offended by that fact. Like because you'd rather not breed, somehow you're telling them that they're totally out of line.
This happened to me in
wtf_inc Which honestly is one of the strangest places I ever thought it would happen:((THIS LINK MAY BE OFFENSIVE OR NSFW!!!!)) http://community.livejournal.com/wtf_om
All I did was answer a question! Yeesh!
- Mood:
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( Arkmar falafel )
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"I Believe" License Banned by Judge
by Richard S. Chang
A United States District Judge has struck down a Christian-themed license plate that had been approved by the South Carolina Legislature, reports the BBC.
Judge Cameron Currie ruled that the plate was a violation of the First Amendment, which prohibits Congress from making a law “respecting an establishment of religion.” The South Carolina plate featured an image of a cross in front of a stained-glass window, accompanied by the words “I Believe.” ( Read more... )
It's a small victory, but it's nice to hear good news about this kind of stuff for a change.
After a marathon session in front of a packed chamber, the Fort Worth City Council voted 6-3 to expand the city's anti-discrimination ordinance to cover transgender people. The ordinance already prevented discrimination based on race, sex, religion or sexual orientation. Much of the debate centered on the broader proposals of which some of them the Fort Worth City Council has already tacitly approved.
City staffers will be trained to respectfully interface with the TBLG community, and the Fort Worth Police Department has appointed a liaison to the community.
Other recommendations such as offering domestic-partner benefits and expanding the city health insurance plan to cover gender reassignment procedures are being studied."We believe, as you do, that we should respect each other," said Jon Nelson of Fairness Fort Worth. "The foundation of these recommendations isn’t preferential treatment, it’s equal treatment."
"Being a transgender person has nothing to do with a person’s ability to do their job," Victoria Van Fleet said.
I was not shocked by the outcome. Dallas has had TBLG protections on the books for several years now. Fort Worth has a sizable TBLG population despite its fundie rep.Civic leaders were serious about passing this in the wake of the contentious Rainbow Room raid. I've also chronicled one Fort Worth transperson's struggle with discrimination, but her story isn't unique in Cowtown.
It may be a surprise to you readers, but as I told you peeps, my birth state is progressive in the cities, but regressive in the rural areas. East Texas is another matter that will take a post to explain.
Congratulations Fort Worth! This segues nicely into my next thought that is directed to the politicos in my hometown.
Now Houston, if Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin can do this, what's stopping the largest city in the state from stepping up to the plate and protecting all transpeople residing in Houston not employed by the city from discrimination?
Apparently still smarting from the trouncing Catholics received from Hitchens and Fry, a site called Catholic Truth Scotland is trying to recoup some dignity…by running an online poll? We could tell them that that won't work.
The Catholic Church is a force for good in the world
True [70.6%]
False [29.4%]
I fear those numbers are about to change in a way that will make them very unhappy.
Read the comments on this post...| Etsy Buy Handmade HermeticDog |
Artwork as well as random animal relics and things, on sale!
Proceeds from the sales of all items today will be donated to a Veteran's Day organization, and also help me offset the costs of mailing supplies to troops overseas.
Thanks for looking!
On Mary K.’s birthday she received the following birthday-related promotion from Best Buy. Notice that the promotion is personalized: it says “Happy Birthday, Mary” in the upper right corner. Nonetheless, the promotion features a tie as an example of a bad gift and a camera as an example of something that Mary might really want.
Given how carefully ads are now targeted to internet users (based both on the demographics it can gather about you [e.g., when you're on Facebook] and the content of the text you’re reading [e.g., alongside email exchanges]), it’s kind of fascinating that Best Buy is apparently NOT paying attention to Mary’s sex. This, of course, might be heartily welcomed by many of you.
But, if Best Buy is going to put together a non-sex-specific promotion, it sure seems like it would be a good idea to make it non-sex-specific (featuring, as a bad gift, something non-gendered like an electric toothbrush or something). For whatever reason, Best Buy went with “we’re going to assume that all our customers are dudes.”
For more instances of male as the default human, see these posts: one, two, three, and four.
(View original at http://contexts.org/socimages)
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