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Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Oakville Polar Bear Dip 2007
Yo! Icey cold crazy fun coming up on January 1st... I don't know what I'm doing for New Years Eve yet, but I do know that I'll be plunging into Lake Ontario on January 1st, raising money for World Vision!
Here's all the info, come on out and do it, here's why it's a good idea:
Yo! Icey cold crazy fun coming up on January 1st... I don't know what I'm doing for New Years Eve yet, but I do know that I'll be plunging into Lake Ontario on January 1st, raising money for World Vision! Here's all the info, come on out and do it, here's why it's a good idea:
- Money Raised goes to Charity
- It keeps you from getting completely messed up the night before
- We'll have some Gluvine in the Parking Lot, post dip!
- It's crazy fun!
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
OH NO! Creationist Adsense!
There's a funny video on the homepage, then if you click on the 'FREE BOOKLET', you get to THIS PAGE
Only a few generations ago laws prevented the teaching of the theory of evolution in some communities and regions in the United States. The Bible was commonly accepted as true and a reliable account of our origins. But now almost the opposite is true. The Bible is banned from classrooms in American schools, and serious discussion of the biblical view of the creation of our universe—and our human origins—is forbidden.
Certainly not all scientists agree that no Creator exists and that we as human beings are the product of random chance. In 1972 the California State Board of Education asked NASA director Wernher von Braun, who has been called the father of the American space program, for his thoughts on the origin of the universe, life and the human race. Here's how he responded: "For me, the idea of a creation is not conceivable without invoking the necessity of design. One cannot be exposed to the law and order of the universe without concluding that there must be design and purpose behind it all. In the world around us, we can behold the obvious manifestations of an ordered, structured plan or design . . .
"And we are humbled by the powerful forces at work on a galactic scale, and the purposeful orderliness of nature that endows a tiny and ungainly seed with the ability to develop into a beautiful flower. The better we understand the intricacies of the universe and all it harbors, the more reason we have found to marvel at the inherent design upon which it is based . . .
"To be forced to believe only one conclusion—that everything in the universe happened by chance—would violate the very objectivity of science itself. Certainly there are those who argue that the universe evolved out of a random process, but what random process could produce the brain of a man or the system of the human eye?
"Some people say that science has been unable to prove the existence of a Designer. They admit that many of the miracles in the world around us are hard to understand, and they do not deny that the universe, as modern science sees it, is indeed a far more wondrous thing than the creation medieval man could perceive. But they still maintain that since science has provided us with so many answers the day will soon arrive when we will be able to understand even the fundamental laws of nature without a Divine intent.
They challenge science to prove the existence of God. But must we really light a candle to see the sun? . . .
"What strange rationale makes some physicists accept the inconceivable electron as real while refusing to accept the reality of a Designer on the ground that they cannot conceive of Him?" (Scott Huse, The Collapse of Evolution, 1997, pp. 159-160).
If evolution is the guiding force in human development, how is it that higher forms of life evolved with male and female sexes? If humans are the pinnacle of the evolutionary process,
Let's take it a step further. If humans are the result of evolution continually reinforcing characteristics that offer a survival advantage while eliminating those that hinder perpetuation, how can we explain a human infant?
Now, almost a century and a half after the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species, we can see where his thinking has led. In Europe in particular, belief in a personal God has plummeted.
Meanwhile, the world languishes in the sorrow and suffering resulting from rejecting absolute moral standards.
Could man create a religion with no god? The widespread acceptance of evolution shows that we have done just that. The Bible teaches us that God created man. Evolution teaches us that man created God.
If God created man we have no right to ignore Him. If man created God we can easily ignore Him. What man has made he can do away with. Thus we are free to act as though God doesn't exist, free to dismiss the Bible, free to determine for ourselves what is right and wrong and how we will choose to live.
Which is the myth, God or evolution? Louis Bounoure, director of France's Strasbourg Zoological Museum and professor of biology at the University of Strasbourg, stated: "Evolution is a fairy tale for grown-ups. This theory has helped nothing in the progress of science. It is useless" (Federer, p. 61).
Professor Bounoure, though right about evolution, was wrong about one thing. Rather than being useless, evolution is quite useful if one wants to reject the idea of God.
In this booklet we examine the foundational premises of evolution. We consider the evidence evolutionists cite to support the theory. Perhaps most important, we look at the scientific facts evolutionists don't discuss in public—for reasons that will become clear.
I was curious about one the adsense ads on my page which asked the question:
CREATION OR EVOLUTION?
Oh my f*cking chr*st! There's advertisements for CREATIONIST propaganda on my blog! Ugh! Oh well, you know what, it's funny to read what these MORONS are preaching...
There's a funny video on the homepage, then if you click on the 'FREE BOOKLET', you get to THIS PAGE
I'm certainly no expert in evolution, but even with what I know, I can see this this is baseless garbage, here's some of the text from the site, with my comments in BLUE...
...
Text from their site below - in black, my comments, in blue...
...
Why has evolution become so widely accepted, and why has the Bible come to be viewed with such hostility? What has changed?
Society has changed... Because people are becoming educated, we are using logic, reason, evidence and the scientific method to understand our universe instead of 2,000 year old dogma and scripture... Duh!
Only a few generations ago laws prevented the teaching of the theory of evolution in some communities and regions in the United States. The Bible was commonly accepted as true and a reliable account of our origins. But now almost the opposite is true. The Bible is banned from classrooms in American schools, and serious discussion of the biblical view of the creation of our universe—and our human origins—is forbidden.
Whoa! The bible isn't BANNED from classrooms, but it is banned from SCIENCE class when you want to talk about the the origins of life.
At the same time, criticism of the theory of evolution is at times ruthlessly suppressed in academic and scientific circles.
It's hardly ruthlessly supressed, it's just that there is, and has been for hundreds of years, a scientific concensus that the theory of evolution is true, so why beat a dead fish? If new evidence comes forward to show that there IS a Creator, great, bring it on, but no sense going over the same old baloney arguments...
Certainly not all scientists agree that no Creator exists and that we as human beings are the product of random chance. In 1972 the California State Board of Education asked NASA director Wernher von Braun, who has been called the father of the American space program, for his thoughts on the origin of the universe, life and the human race. Here's how he responded: "For me, the idea of a creation is not conceivable without invoking the necessity of design. One cannot be exposed to the law and order of the universe without concluding that there must be design and purpose behind it all. In the world around us, we can behold the obvious manifestations of an ordered, structured plan or design . . .
Yes, yes, this is the same old, same old, the fact that Creationists can't see that the whole concept of Creation simply creates a circular argument baffles me... Ok, so the universe was CREATED, so who CREATED the CREATOR? Creationism isn't only a bad solution, it's a non-solution, it's a cop-out, anyway... Ok, so they found one Scientists they could quote that didn't believe in evolution, ok, great, how about the MILLIONS that DO believe in Evolution?
"And we are humbled by the powerful forces at work on a galactic scale, and the purposeful orderliness of nature that endows a tiny and ungainly seed with the ability to develop into a beautiful flower. The better we understand the intricacies of the universe and all it harbors, the more reason we have found to marvel at the inherent design upon which it is based . . .
"To be forced to believe only one conclusion—that everything in the universe happened by chance—would violate the very objectivity of science itself. Certainly there are those who argue that the universe evolved out of a random process, but what random process could produce the brain of a man or the system of the human eye?
Whoa! Random process? Random process? This also drives me wild when people who clearly DON'T understand evolution call it a RANDOM process! Yes, ONE element of Evolutionary Theory involves Random Genetic Mutations, but that isn't what the whole theory is about... That is just one element of it... It's not that humans just poof appeared by chance, we're a result of about 3 billion years of random chance occuring billions of times throughout climate changes, etc. Read a little something from Richard Dawkins about Evolution...
"Some people say that science has been unable to prove the existence of a Designer. They admit that many of the miracles in the world around us are hard to understand, and they do not deny that the universe, as modern science sees it, is indeed a far more wondrous thing than the creation medieval man could perceive. But they still maintain that since science has provided us with so many answers the day will soon arrive when we will be able to understand even the fundamental laws of nature without a Divine intent.
They challenge science to prove the existence of God. But must we really light a candle to see the sun? . . .
"What strange rationale makes some physicists accept the inconceivable electron as real while refusing to accept the reality of a Designer on the ground that they cannot conceive of Him?" (Scott Huse, The Collapse of Evolution, 1997, pp. 159-160).
Many educated people accept the theory of evolution. But is it true? Curiously enough, our existence as humans is one of the best arguments against it. According to evolutionary theory, the traits that offer the greatest advantage for survival are passed from generation to generation. Yet human reproduction itself argues powerfully against this fundamental premise of evolution.
Ah, yes, great argument, since Humans are imperfect, therefore Evolution must be false... Could this exact same argument be used against Creation? If we were created by God, wouldn't he create us to be perfect? Explain the f*cking appendix! (I almost died of Appendicitis when I was about 10 years old, so Creator, you F*CKED up! Thankfully SCIENCE saved me...) Evolution does not somehow posit perfection or that Humans are at the top of the pyramid, Evolution does not exist to arrive at Human, Evolution has arrived at the millions (billions?) of species on the planet, we just happen to be one of them, and we're still changing. Every species on the planet is just as EVOLVED as we are, they've just evolved differently to adapt to different specialized environments.
If evolution is the guiding force in human development, how is it that higher forms of life evolved with male and female sexes? If humans are the pinnacle of the evolutionary process,
Whoa! Stop again, this is a typical religious viewpoint, that humans are the pinnacle of the evolutionary process, what an ignorant, self-righteous viewpoint! HUMANS ARE NOT SPECIAL! Evolution didn't have a plan that got us from ameoba to homo sapien... As I mentioned we're just one little branch on the entire tree of life...
how is it that we have the disadvantage of requiring a member of the opposite sex to reproduce, when lower forms of life—such as bacteria, viruses and protozoa—are sexless and far more prolific? If they can reproduce by far simpler methods, why can't we? If evolution is true, what went wrong?
Let's take it a step further. If humans are the result of evolution continually reinforcing characteristics that offer a survival advantage while eliminating those that hinder perpetuation, how can we explain a human infant?
Among thousands of species the newly born (or newly hatched) are capable of survival within a matter of days or, in some cases, only minutes. Many never even see their parents. Yet, among humans, an infant is utterly helpless—not for days but for up to several years after birth.
A human baby is reliant on adults for the nourishment, shelter and care he or she needs to survive. Meanwhile, caring for that helpless infant is a distinct survival disadvantage for adults, since giving of their time and energy lessens their own prospects for survival.
A human baby is reliant on adults for the nourishment, shelter and care he or she needs to survive. Meanwhile, caring for that helpless infant is a distinct survival disadvantage for adults, since giving of their time and energy lessens their own prospects for survival.
My understanding on this is that the capacity for a species to LEARN is indirectly proportional to it's built in INSTINCT. Therefore human babies are born being practically useless, but we therefore have the maximum ability to learn, whereas many other animals are born and within minutes or hours are walking around, feeding themselves, etc, but never learn complex communication, etc... It's got to do with the way the brain is wired. Clearly through the evolutionary history of Man, larger brains and intelligence were traits that were selected for,and thus over time we gradually grew more and more intelligent, lost much of our instinct, but continued to gain larger brain capacity and the ability to learn.
If evolution is true, and humans are the pinnacle of the evolutionary process, why does a process as basic as human reproduction fly in the face of everything that evolution holds true?
Regrettably, such obvious flaws in the theory are too often overlooked.
Even Charles Darwin, whose theories about evolution took the world by storm, had second thoughts. In his later years he reflected on what he had started: "I was a young man with unformed ideas. I threw out queries, suggestions, wondering all the time over everything; and to my astonishment the ideas took like wildfire. People made a religion of them" (William Federer, America's God and Country, 1996, p. 199, emphasis added).
Now, almost a century and a half after the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species, we can see where his thinking has led. In Europe in particular, belief in a personal God has plummeted.
APPLAUSE! WHOOHOO! Yes! In Europe where much of what we consider the philosophies and science of the Modern World has come from, they continue to lead the way!
In the United States, court decisions have interpreted constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion as freedom from religion—effectively banning public expression of religious beliefs and denying the country's rich religious heritage.
The US Constitution was a brilliant document that understood the importance of a secular society, of church-state separation. The religious right is trying to perpetuate this myth that the US is a Christian Nation and needs to return to it's Christian roots... The founders of the US did not want to create a theocracy, they very intentionally stayed away from that...
Meanwhile, the world languishes in the sorrow and suffering resulting from rejecting absolute moral standards.
Whoa! Hold on a minute, here we go making this huge leap from, I believe in Evolution, not creation, therefore I have no morality... I find this absolutely insulting! Hello? I don't have to believe in Christianity, or any religion for that matter to understand Morality and Ethics, to want to be a 'good' person, to be altruistic, treat others with love and respect, show empathy towards others... Why do I need to believe in God in order to understand and live by these principals? Bollocks!
With no absolute standards, we have no reason to care what happens to our fellowman. We should seek only our personal gain regardless of the cost to others—acting exactly as evolutionary theory says we should.
No reason to care? Oh, so Religious people just care about others because the bible tells them to? What a freaking cop out!!! Think about it! Do you act the way you act because you've been TOLD to act that way, or because you know intrinsically that it's the RIGHT way to act? What is a higher form of ethics, to behave in a good way in order to go to Heaven, or to behave in a good way because you actually CARE about other people and want to improve their condition in THIS world? There are plenty of reasons why species show altruistic behaviour, and this is NOT limited to Homo Sapiens...
Could man create a religion with no god? The widespread acceptance of evolution shows that we have done just that. The Bible teaches us that God created man. Evolution teaches us that man created God.
If God created man we have no right to ignore Him. If man created God we can easily ignore Him. What man has made he can do away with. Thus we are free to act as though God doesn't exist, free to dismiss the Bible, free to determine for ourselves what is right and wrong and how we will choose to live.
Yes! Correct! Man created God, Man realizes that Man created God, Man kills God, Man finds a new, better way to live...
Which is the myth, God or evolution? Louis Bounoure, director of France's Strasbourg Zoological Museum and professor of biology at the University of Strasbourg, stated: "Evolution is a fairy tale for grown-ups. This theory has helped nothing in the progress of science. It is useless" (Federer, p. 61).
Oh, yes, great, a quote from the World Famous Scientist Louis Bounoure! Wait a minute, who? Nope, never heard of him... Skeptical about this guy? You should be - read this...
Professor Bounoure, though right about evolution, was wrong about one thing. Rather than being useless, evolution is quite useful if one wants to reject the idea of God.
In this booklet we examine the foundational premises of evolution. We consider the evidence evolutionists cite to support the theory. Perhaps most important, we look at the scientific facts evolutionists don't discuss in public—for reasons that will become clear.
You can know whether evolution is true. We hope you'll examine the evidence carefully. What you believe does matter.
Yes, you can know whether evolution is true! Read a book by Richard Dawkins and compare that to Genesis and see which you feel provides a more reasoned, logical, rational and evidence-based explanation of the origins of life... Creationism my arse!, BAH! By the way, please click on their Adsense ad a lot, we can channel the money they're paying for the ad into a subscription to a subscription to Free Inquiry Magazine or the Humanist Association of Toronto or something...
¶ 11:45 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
It's easy...
I've figured it out - Ok, not on my own, not trying to take credit for this one, but I've listened, and I've learned and I like to share what I've come up with...
Look around at the world.... Look around at the organisms that exist around the Earth. Those have have been succesfull in an existential way. Those that exist have EVOLVED. They have adapted to the world around them... This is biological evolution, it has to do with variations within species, with heredity, with natural selection, but these things take hundreds of thousands of years to affect change.
How can we take this principle and adapt it to our own lifes to allow us to be successful in ways that we can measure? Surely it must be LEARNING. We (at this time anyway) do not have the ability to biologically evolve. We have the genes we've inherited from our parents, that much is beyond our control. But what IS within our control is our mind, our understanding of the world around us, and thus our reactions to events that are placed in our path.
How can we best cope and deal with the situations which are presented to us? To evolve with our brains, to learn, to grow, to experiment, to test, to fail, but to learn from that failure, to make NEW mistakes, learn from those and continue trying. In that process we affect our OWN personal evolution within our lifetime. We thus transcend the potential that we are born with and we CREATE a new, more fully realized existance.
Whew! I gotta jump on the treadmill now... ¶ 7:34 PM 3 comments
Look around at the world.... Look around at the organisms that exist around the Earth. Those have have been succesfull in an existential way. Those that exist have EVOLVED. They have adapted to the world around them... This is biological evolution, it has to do with variations within species, with heredity, with natural selection, but these things take hundreds of thousands of years to affect change.
How can we take this principle and adapt it to our own lifes to allow us to be successful in ways that we can measure? Surely it must be LEARNING. We (at this time anyway) do not have the ability to biologically evolve. We have the genes we've inherited from our parents, that much is beyond our control. But what IS within our control is our mind, our understanding of the world around us, and thus our reactions to events that are placed in our path.
How can we best cope and deal with the situations which are presented to us? To evolve with our brains, to learn, to grow, to experiment, to test, to fail, but to learn from that failure, to make NEW mistakes, learn from those and continue trying. In that process we affect our OWN personal evolution within our lifetime. We thus transcend the potential that we are born with and we CREATE a new, more fully realized existance.
Whew! I gotta jump on the treadmill now... ¶ 7:34 PM 3 comments
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