Chariots of Iron

In a great example of how science corrects its own errors is this recent article in the New York Times showing that recent studies indicate that the early earth may have been more hospitable to life than originally thought. It’s a clear example of how, when backed by evidence long-held scientific “truths” can be overturned when one follows the proper process of evidence, study and review.

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Wearscience.com has some great t-shirts for those at all interested in the creationism/ID vs. evolution debate. The discworldy shirt is calling my name.

According to this article on ScienceNOW, a  molecule of glycolaldehyde (an essential molecule in the formation  of ribose, one of the constituents of RNA) has been discovered in a a massive star-forming region in the Milky Way.

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Tragic news in Nigeria, Africa today. Apparently Christian and Muslim gangs are involved in a bit of a conflict, with fighting now claiming 400. Unlike the claims of most religious folks according to the story this is religious violence being disguised as political violence (most of the buildings being destroyed are churches and mosques).

Allow me to reflect on this after just having read Hector Avalos’ great bok Fighting Words. Religion workes my breaking tribal and familial bonds in favor of a bigger “tribe” that of those sharing your faith. It creates and in-group and an out-group and often emphasises the differences between “believers” and “non-believers”, especially in the desert dogmas we find that non-believers are dehumanized and in some cases the mere presence of non-believers and/or thier alternate beliefs are a risk to ones personal salvation (and eternal afterlife bliss, puppies and rainbows, etc.).   Religion is also used as an effective tool to ge people to circumvent thier own personal morality and commit atrocity they would otherwise oppose. While the motives of those making the religious appeal may be political it is the appeal to that highest of authorities that can get the faithful masses to buy in and participate. Once again, when reality becomes truped by ideology, problems are sure to follow.

According to AiG’s Ken Ham (in agreement with a sermon given by Charles Haddon Spurgeon back in the 19th century) I’m dead, and so are a whole heck of a lot of other folks.

The theological loopholes this implies are truly baffling given some of the parallels drawn by Ken Ham’s quote of this apparently “famous” sermon. It more goes to show that I think christianity does so well is that it’s an “easy out” for your afterlife needs. If I must have religious nutters running about at least give me a brand that actualy associates the doing of good deeds here on earth as a neseccity for salvation.

Over on Panda’s Thumb they’ve got a great little write up on a Triassic fossil found in china. It is that of  Odontochelys, a clear mid-point between turtles and reptiles. The thing has reptile-like teeth and broad flat ribs as well as belly armor, but no shell on it’s back. Not quite a crocoduck, but a “lizurtle” (turtizard?, oh I like that, sounds like a pokemon… tutrizard! I choose you!) to be sure. I’ll be having Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron eating their hats now please.

Oh, this one’s originally posed by PZ Myers, so I’m sure you’ll find they information on pharyngula as well.

There is a nother nice write-up on Not Exactly Rocket Science.

Bill Donohue is at is again, over on the Catholic legue website is this little gem. It’s Donohue railing against the appointment of Melody Barnes as the Director of the Domestic Policy Council.  My favorite quote from the blurb is the following:

“A few years ago, when pro-life Catholic and evangelical judges were being summarily denied the right to serve on the federal bench, Barnes denied that bigotry was at play. To top it off, when asked to name people who are both pro-abortion and religious, she offered as proof the notoriously anti-Catholic group, Catholics for a Free Choice. Looks like Obama has chosen a ringer.”

Co the CFFC is now “anti-catholic”, sorry folks, Jews for Jesus is anti-jew, but the CFFC is definitley not “anti-catholic” in any way, the differ from the papal dictates on abortion and birth control. Appaerntly when a Catholic organaization admits that the reality of our modern world makes certain dogmatic declarations to be the inverse of just plain common sense then they’re stuffed into the same category as the KKK (now there’s an orgnization that can truly be called “anti-catholic”!) or the Penecostal “the catholic church is an apostate church” Faith. Sorry Billy-boy I just ain’t buying it. As a matter of fact I don’t buy any Abrahamic religious argments against abortion or birth-control. I am aghast that religious fundamentalists refer to a book that has been used to both support and condemn racism, slavery and the abuse of both women and children for any setting of public policy.

One of Kent Hovind’s more ridiculous claims in his creationist videos is that Earth is the sole repository of water in the universe. Aside from just being patently false (water is the second most common molecule in the universe right after H-H), scientists now have compelling evidence that aside form Earth and Jupiter’s Moon Europa that one of Saturn’s Moons, Enceladus, may have liquid water near it’s surface (let’s not forget all the ice that’s floating around the solar system as well).

I personally cannot wait until we have the technonlogy to get an unmanned space vehicle that can not only go and look, but either grab-and-analyze or bring the samples back to earth for further study. If you keep up with science news at all, and realize that this is just a hint of the full wonder of the universe I don’t see how you can be satisfied with a few hundred pages of “scripture” to provide you with an explanation.

A very depressing story form South Africa came to my attention this morning. Apprently former South African president Thabo Mbeki and his administration had adopted a fringe belief that AIDS is not caused by a virus. South Africa’s AIDs epidemic is one of the largest in the globe, but to deny that this disease not caused by an infection of some sort (and thus denying it’s communicability) is literally a death sentence for those under his administration.

The stance by Mbeki’s administration caused them to turn down free drugs and grants to help deal with the problem. Ignorance of science is by no means isolated to those with strong religious convictions, but such beliefs as held by the Mbeki administration do require similar leaps of logic.

You will hear me say this a lot in the blog, but religious belief is just another species of a much bigger problem and that is one of ideology over reality.

Apparently Ann Coulter’s Jaw has been wired shut.

Anyway to make this a permanent condition?