world cup - a big game

germany vs poland.

hard to see how poland can win this game or stay alive to get through to the second round.

world cup - games 15 & 16

spain vs ukraine.

spain. easily

tunisia vs saudia arabia

tunisia

i'm not going to be able to watch either of these games, but i'll be back for germany vs poland this afternoon.

world cup - at last a good match-up game

brazil vs croatia.




this game will not be a 0-0 draw. should be a good one to watch.

brazil.

well done switzerland!

"it's a choice..." - whose? your family and friends?...

he wears a helmet on grass, but not on the road.

a few things don't sit right with ben roethlisberger's motorcycle accident.

1. pennsylvania had a mandatory helmet law, but repealed it in 2003.

you repealed a mandatory helmet law?!!! the state of pennsylvania must have had the fullest support of police, local hospitals and doctors, along with the motorcycle safety foundation.

2. he was riding a hayabusa at the time of the accident.

this is a big, heavy, very fast motorcycle capable of 190mph. ben must be one of a very select few individuals that feel it's o.k to pilot such a potent bike with no head protection.

3. "it's a choice." roethlisberger added, referring to his riding without a helmet. "i just get out there and relax, i don't try to take too many risks. i just go out and enjoy myself."

"i just get out there and relax!!!"
i think ben has just had a crash course in the realities involved with motorcycling. here's one for ya ben to chew over while you're waiting for your broken jaw to heal: while 20 % of car crashes result in injury or death, an astounding 80% of motorcycle crashes result in injury or death.

wearing a helmet whether required by law or not, is a reflection of your attitude toward riding motorcycles. you think ben and his family and friends feel the same way now he's just had a very painful demonstration of the importance of wearing a crash helmet?

riding a motorcycle is an immensely rewarding experience. successfully piloting a motorcycle is however a much more involved task than driving a car. this may come as a shock to some, but riding a motorcycle, especially a top sports bike demands constant vision and concentration. it is anything but relaxing.

i know, because i had an accident that resulted in concussion, amnesia, a dislocated hip, multiple fractures in my pelvis and back, internal bleeding, and i have spent a total of 4 years on crutches. i was riding with full protective gear, and had completed an advanced rider training course. was the accident my fault; no. could it have been avoided; absolutely yes.

sober up, ben, and take this opportunity to promote the wearing of crash helmets and personally campaign for their mandatory use in all states. you're a public figure that guys will listen to. you have a golden opportunity to do some real good with your life; actually saving some real lives. what you do off the field can have a huge impact on attitudes to motorcycling. become its champion, now you've joined the club as one if it's countless victims.

get well. heal up. forget about whose fault it was; it doesn't matter. you're the one in hospital. she got out of the car, shocked, but unscathed...a lawyer can campaign for compensation. no one can ever take away that awful sound of the huge BANG! you heard and felt, at the slow-mo moment of impact.

world cup - game 13

france vs switzerland.

being english, i have to root for anyone that plays against france.

the french are going to win easily.

world cup - game 12

south korea vs togo.

i'm rooting for togo, even though they have less chance of winning than usa does of going through to the second round.

i'm stupid!

hi,

my name is big ben. in case you didn't know, i'm a superbowl quarterback with the pittsburgh steelers. i also ride a big heavy motorcycle without wearing a crash helmet (he he).

you know, it's the nfl rule that makes me wear a protective helmet on the field. wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle isn't against the law in pennsylvania. look at me; i'd look ridiculous wearing something that might save my life. totally not cool! the nfl is right to make us wear safety helmets; no professional would consider going into the game without one.

heck, i'm much more likely to get hurt on a football field, playing a game with medical attendents on the sidelines of lovingly-maintained grass, being hit by another highly paid professional football player, travelling at a breathtaking 8 mph, than i ever am on gentle asphalt-soft and friendly, danger-free public roads, that are full of highly trained and educated, considerate drivers, carefully in command of their lightweight environmentally-friendly vehicles, who are always paying attention, never talking on their cell 'phones, and always travelling well under the posted speed limit...i mean, if that wasn't he case, you'ld have to be absolutely barking to go out on a 700lb motorcycle. i've talked it over with my head coach and he's completely happy.

i'm ben roethlisberger; i'm stupid! (and in hospital!) gotta go. swab time.

world cup - game 10

italy vs ghana.

no, this isn't a typo. these two teams will actually play.

italy need at least 3 goals to match czech's beating of usa.

nutty loses his body while dj'ing in georgetown!

for anyone thinking of dj'ing at mate (accent on e), in georgetown, my advice is very simple: don't...

i'm still looking for my soul...

usa vs czech republic

12 of the 24 man usa squad play for european teams. that's a pretty telling statistic, countries that have half or more of it's squad playing in foreign leagues define just how strong their home competitions are when compared with the world standard.

i think the americans are capable of pulling off an upset here against the czechs, but it certainly won't be easy. the czechs are capable of beating anyone, anytime.

i give this one to the czechs, but it should be a very interesting and fast-paced game to watch. the ridiculous fifa ranking given to the usa will be severely put to the test here against a very strong european national team. then comes italy...

japan vs australia

i'm going with japan.

world cup - game 7

iran vs mexico.

i'm rooting for iran here, given all the negative publicity this country's been getting.

should be an easy win for mexico.

world cup - game 6

netherlands vs serbia & montenegro.

is this really fair, first thing on a sunday morning?

if holland lose this, i know even less about football than i do...

world cup - game 5

i am so rooting for the ivory coast squad against the hated argies, here.

they have no chance, but if only the 'hand of god' would interven...

world cup - game 4

as much as i'd like to see trinidad & tobago win this game, i'm picking sweden.

england crush paraguay

that would make my 9 o'clock tomorrow morning cup of rosy extra special.

world cup - game 2

poland vs ecuador.

i'm going with poland on this one.

world cup - game 1

germany vs costa rica.

hm, that's a toughie. i'm taking germany...

the catholic church - still oppressing freedom

China Bans 'Code' After Warning From Catholics

BEIJING, June 9 — Chinese authorities ordered theaters nationwide to stop showing "The Da Vinci Code" today after Chinese Catholics warned that the film could threaten social stability.

republican christian conservatives

between them, they want to:

repeal the estate tax. because the super rich are really suffering.

ban same-sex marriages. (definitely the most pressing problem in america. why defend so strongly an institution that has a divorce rate of 50%?)

view any immigration reform as an amnesty for law breakers (now, where exactly did you say your great, great grandparents come from...?)
oppose separation of church and state. (i mean, christianity is the law)

want to make it a federal crime for a woman to choose, with no exceptions, even for rape. (wisdom of solomon?)

temporarily suspend the gas tax because of high prices and an election looming. (no way is this a quick fix. the best thing for everyone)

want to teach 'intelligent design' to children in public schools. (try going to europe and tell someone that the earth is 6,000 years old...)

what a sorry bunch. i wonder just how many of these champions of humanity and common sense actually live in major cities...

supergirl music - a letter to alienware

dear alienware, (businessdev@alienware.com)

i opened up my e-mail to see an ad for your new 'superman' edition notebook and desktop limited edition models. how sad that you managed to make a dog's dinner of the soundtrack to accompany this marketing association. the original superman music?

talk about cheese! for a minute, i thought that biesch, the notorious minister of cheese, was having a cheddar-filled laugh at my expense. are you guys so out of touch with music that you think the original score is the best way to sell your computer systems to your intended marketing base?

i would have been well impressed had you chosen something altogether more 'blokey'.
i suggest, if possible, you get a hold of this record and play it very LOUD!

vinyl syndicate
man of steal (superman track) - written & produced by dj slip
urbtake8a

urban takeover

you'll see what i mean after you've listened to the track.

please spare us the cheese; here in washington, d.c. we are all too aware that the minister grows stronger with every passing cheesy moment...

cheers,

nutty

get ready for some evil...it's the sixth day of the six month of the sixth year

The fear of the number 666 is known as:

hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia.

the creationists must be literally terrified; i would be if i feared something with 29 letters.

- how come it takes 29 letters to describe a fear of 3 numbers anyway?

the doctor is back. rossi wins the italian motogp

motorcycle racing at the very highest level and of the highest calibre.

amazing.

ama superbike and motogp; easily the best racing on' speed channel'

biesch is back!

this will no doubt be a sadly familiar sight, now that the minister has returned from his scandalously cheesy, venezuelan conquests.

world cup dreams

i see the united states is ranked 5th in this world cup. no disrespect, but 5th!!?

until the united states beats the top european and international teams, no one in football is going to take that rank seriously.

when the nation's women team outperforms the men's, that alone should tell you something.

hey, good luck against the czech republic on june 12th and italy on june 17th...

did you know that:

HEAVEN IS HOTTER THAN HELL

The temperature of Heaven can be rather accurately computed.

Our authority is Isaiah 30:26, "Moreover, the light of the Moon shall be as the light of the Sun and the light of the Sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days." Thus Heaven receives from the Moon as much radiation as we do from the Sun, and in addition 7*7 (49) times as much as the Earth does from the Sun, or 50 times in all.

The light we receive from the Moon is one 1/10,000 of the light we receive from the Sun, so we can ignore that ... The radiation falling on Heaven will heat it to the point where the heat lost by radiation is just equal to the heat received by radiation, i.e., Heaven loses 50 times as much heat as the Earth by radiation.

Using the Stefan-Boltzmann law for radiation, (H/E)^4 = 50, where E is the absolute temperature of the earth (300K), gives H as 798K (525C). The exact temperature of Hell cannot be computed ...

However, Revelations 21:8 says "But the fearful, and unbelieving...

shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone." A lake of molten brimstone means that its temperature must be at or below the boiling point,
444.6C.

We have, then, that Heaven, at 525C is hotter than Hell at 445C.

-- From "Applied Optics" vol. 11, A14, 1972

great round 1 race of ama superbike

road america at lake elkhart, WI looks a great track.

ben spies almost pulled off the impossible, but mat mladin just had his number today. 7 wins in a row isn't too shabby, though.

these two riders have been putting on a great show over ther first 5 rounds. it's how racing should be. mental.

"you can never have too many telescopes" - memorial day weekend

We walked out of our apartment building around 11:30am and crossed the road to pick up the Zip Car for our Memorial Day weekend, a Toyota Prius. Loading up the hybrid was surprisingly easy and we headed out of Dodge, off to Spruce Knob and the mountains of West Virginia.

Motorcycles; lots of 'em. Harley, Harley, Harley, Harley, you get the idea, Harley; "there's one!" No, it's a Harley….must have seen 180 or so of them by the time we reached half way to TMI, with the occasional Japanese outcast touring bike spotted every once in a while standing out (or is that outstanding…) among the American iron, bruiser heavyweights. Then we saw a huge flank on the opposite side of Route 66 heading towards D.C. Rolling Thunder! I reckon there must have been 300 motorcycles, all together, with a State Trooper on a bike, leading the way, while traffic was being held to allow them all to get onto 66 together.

We stopped for gas, munchies and coffee before reaching the mountains, and saw a couple of ducks with their 5 very cute 'ducklets'. The Prius was surprisingly capable getting up, down, and through the mountain twisties. Electric motors have very good torque, and by around 4:45pm, we reached TMI and loaded all the non-scope related gear into our dorm. Since we were the first to arrive, we had first pick.

It's 5pm and it starts to pour, just like the forecast had predicted. Looks like it means business. Dinner's at six. It feels great to be here again, despite the crappy weather. I think the last time we were there was Labour Day weekend. Here's hoping that tomorrow night and Sunday will be clear for us.

It's so quiet, here. All I can hear is the heavy splats of rain hitting the window. Since I've done absolutely no planning, I decide to have a look at my books and charts after a nap. Rebecca wakes me up by returning to the dorm with "It is chucking it".

Dinner is great. 3 helpings!... Everyone at the Institute is very friendly, all new faces. There are (I think) 3 others from Novac. No one's setting anything up until tomorrow. We return to the dorm well fed. In minutes, I'm asleep. At some point, I wake up. I haven't got a clue what time it is, all I know that it's very dark, as I make my way over to the showers. I can't see a thing, as I creep very slowly towards the light, remembering to unpack a torch tomorrow, already knowing that I'll forget.

Saturday. It's very grey and cloudy, but not raining. After breakfast, the weather begins to look more promising and we chuck off the 'scope and tripod, etc. on the observing field and go for a drive. What great roads, all bends, curves, hardly a straight in sight. We're getting hungry and stop off at 'Kroger' store in Elkins, to pick up some supplies. It has a weird self-pay system that still requires two attendants at each checkout…

Spicy Chicken sandwiches to go from McDonald's serve as our late afternoon gourmet feast, and we head back to Spruce Knob around 5pm. We take a different route that looks quicker. Twenty minutes later, we realize that this is a mistake, as the normal road begins to disappear and the number of potholes increases (my lower back really appreciated all the kangarooing of the short wheelbase Prius). But by now, the weather has completely cleared, and after dinner we head off to the field to set 'Uhuru' our 8" LX200GPS up.

As darkness begins to fall, I can already see more stars in the twilight than I have in the past six months of looking up at the downtown D.C night sky. It's not long before everyone there for the Saturday night is waiting for some Spruce Knob darkness. Carole and Martha set up nearby.

Don't you just love dew? It can't be more than a couple of hours in and almost everyone is complaining about the dew. I only have one heater on my corrector plate and lose the viewfinder in about 2 hours. Rob, the 11 year-old announces that he lasted about 30 mins, with no heaters. Well at least the sky is clear, which affords Rob plenty of time to do the rounds, talking to everyone, and counting shooting stars. There are a lot of them tonight, and like always, never fail to impress.

Without my finder scope, this rookie is in big trouble and I decide to cover Uhuru and let the dew win for the night. I walk over to Lyle in the soaking wet grass, who has pretty much all bases covered with 4 heaters on his Celestron 9.25. Rebecca and I are floored at his ability to find and view deep sky objects in the sky without assistance, using only his charts and hands. I reckon it would be a tough battle between Lyle and Ralph on a deep sky Spruce Knob shootout contest. Rob joins us, pointing out shooting stars that I'm too slow to see. Together, we reckon he's spotted about 60.

Have you read John Carpenter's 'The Fog'? Late night, Spruce Knob did a very good impression of it (without the tortured souls), as all around us, you could hardly see a thing, while up above, the sky looked incredible. With only a few of us left, we all saw a mighty flash, as the brightest of the shooting stars sliced a colored slit in the sky. We just stood there, still seeing the remainder of the streak some 30 seconds after the flash. Incredible. I guess it was around 3am when even Lyle had to call it quits.

Sunday. What a beautiful day. I felt sorry for those, especially Rob and his father, who only could make the one night. And it's warm! Everyone is in good spirits and looking forward to the evening. We met Yassu and Yumi from Michigan (apologies for the very likely incorrect spelling) at lunchtime. Ralph is talking about how he acquired his telescopes. Yassu gets everyone's roar of approval by stating that "you can never have too many telescopes!" After lunch, Rebecca decides to do some yoga while I decide to come up a dew prevention device for the finder scope, attacking a large, empty water bottle with a borrowed pair of TMI's kitchen scissors, and a yoghurt carton that would serve as a handy aid against dew at the eyepiece. I see Lyle walking his marine deep cycle 140ah battery to the car. Seeing that it can run four heaters all night, I name it the 'Dew-minator'. I retire to the dorm and construct an observing plan for this evening. After last night's rinsing, I'm determined to have a good night observing and bag a good number of Messier objects. It promises to be a great night observing by the look of things.

The late afternoon Sun hangs low in the Western sky as a much more optimistic group of observers get themselves and their equipment ready for the hours ahead. A beautiful crescent moon appears as a sliver in the Southeastern sky, offering us a happy opportunity to enjoy our closest planetary neighbour. Jupiter soon appears in the East, and last night's triumphs, frustrations and limitations are soon forgotten as we wait. Joe and his wife walk past, and I mention that I would like a look through the big dob. "Yes Sir!" is the very welcome response.

I have my 3 sheets of graph paper of Messier objects by constellation and explain my plan to Ralph. Part of the huge reward of observing is the confidence that achieving steps on the learning curve ladder inspires. I'm not too happy with the collimation and decide that against despite my reluctance to have a go at this in the field, it has to be done. Twenty minutes later I'm much happier, after more than a couple of moments when I was sure that I was making it much worse. Thank goodness for 'Bob's Knobs'. I can't imagine how disconcerting it must be to be groping about with an Allen key next to corrector plate in the dark. Come on Meade and Celestron!

With Rebecca in charge of writing down times, we begin in Ursa Major, 'bagging' M81 & M82 before 10:15pm. 2 hours later, I'm very happy not to have to turn the dew heater on at all. The sky looks wonderful and together, Rebecca and I munch our way into the list. It's so much easier viewing by sticking to one constellation at a time. I didn't feel bad about rushing through my list of objects. After over six months of not observing at all, I wanted to see as many objects as I could. Rebecca lasted until 1:30am and headed to the car to warm up and get some sleep. It was me, Uhuru, my lists, a great bunch of like-minded enthusiasts and a great night sky above as company.

At some point, Joe calls me over to let me have a look at a transit of Jupiter. Sure enough, despite the seeing not being particularly helpful, and Jupiter lowish in the sky, I could easily make out a sharp, black dot on Jupiter. The coloured cloud belts and the sight more than make up for the seeing. Hot coffee and warm soup helped. I reckon it was sometime after 3am, when only a few of us remained. Lloyd came over, as did Eric. The pesky dew returned, but at least it was manageable by turning up the heater to full. At around 5am, I hear bleeping from the battery complaining that she'd had enough. I can't protest, as I'm tired, yet very happy that I had just experienced my best ever night observing.

It's just hinting at daylight as I slowly make my way back to the dorms. I get some sleep but still manage to make breakfast at 9am. Everyone is very pleased about last night. My total of Messier objects observed is 34. Sadly most people have to leave. Yassu and Yumi are staying the extra night. We can't make up our minds and agree to make a decision shortly. With reluctance we choose to head back to the car and pack up our things. It's been a great weekend. I felt that everyone in the group had really enjoyed their stay at TMI, and enjoyed a great camaraderie amongst all there, including the great staff who really make everyone feel welcome.

It's getting hot as we walk our up to the observing field. Others are packing away their equipment as we reach the very dusty Prius. The door's locked…I try again. I look at Rebecca who returns a 'Wallace and Gromit' look at me, and together, we both have that same look on our faces as we stare back at the car. Zip Cars have a magnetic swipe that enables entry via a strip at the top of the windscreen. All you have to do is pass your membership card over this patch and the door unlocks. This is great, except that Rebecca had left her card inside the car and the car had locked itself between the time I left the vehicle at around 5am and our return after breakfast…

This isn't normally a problem, because Zip Car can send a signal via cell 'phone towers and unlock the car from their headquarters. The problem is that we're in a radio quiet area; Cell 'phones don't work here. It's also Memorial Day…With the hot Sun beating down on the rear window, with my cheap Orion eyepieces and more expensive Lumicon filters in the back, I cover the back window up using our tarp and some very handy logs laying close by to prevent the heat from building quickly in the car.

Yassu decides it's photo time, as we pose in front of the %&#@! Prius, capturing the moment for prosperity. Eric, very graciously offers Rebecca a drive down to the Earth Shelter, where she telephones Zip Car to explain the situation. About 20 minutes later, they return. It appears that Rebecca hasn't quite gotten the days of the rental period correct, and has forgotten to add the extra day for the weekend. The car should have already been returned. However, the good news is that Zip Car tells her that they will send a signal and unlock the vehicle. It doesn't work.

By now, almost everyone has left, leaving us to ponder our next move. It's some protracted telephone time with Zip Car back at the main yurt, as Rebecca spends a few hours of returning phone calls in the TMI office, Eric (we really appreciate all the help, mate) drives me back to Uhuru and then back to the dorm so I can recharge the dead battery. It looks like we'll be staying the extra night. I get some sleep and Rebecca finally walks in announcing that in a very convoluted arrangement, a local company has come out and 'obtained entry' into the car. This is great, except that an hour later, the same company telephones TMI to say that the credit card provided by Zip Car hasn't gone through and so Rebecca has to spend another half hour on the 'phone clearing that up.

TMI isn't providing meals on Monday, but we have soups, etc. so not a problem. I can't say I'm sorry for the opportunity to stay another night under these skies. I make another observing plan, deciding that it would be fun to see just how many objects I could bag over the two nights. It's definitely cooler and their's a slight breeze as we return to Uhuru with a mostly charged battery. Armed with a compliant goto and my plan, and no dew forming, we begin going through our list. By the time we're all done in the early hours of dawn, I haven't turned the dew heater on at all, and my total number of Messier objects is 50 for the night and 36 for the night before, making 86 Messier objects in total for the Sunday and Monday. Despite the dew, fog, and lock-out, it's truly been a great weekend.

By the time we get back to D.C., the Prius has averaged 46mpg for the whole journey!

Thank you to everyone that made it special!

my god! biesch actually eats record!

apparently he thought it was cheesy...

at least it wasn't tiernan's.

biesch needs help. it's obviously a cry for cheddar.

you think biesch has this in his library?

did you know...

that black holes are the simplest objects in the universe. you can describe one completely by just its mass, spin rate, and electric charge.

in contrast, to completely describe a dust mote you're have to specify the position and state of all of its atoms, taking at least 10^16 numbers.

that's 10,000,000,000,000,000 numbers.

black holes can do some very strange things. for instance, if you were very close to one, so close that it bent visible light, you would be able to see the back of your own head.

here's a 'blokey' bike for ya

the sad power of the internet

stock up on plenty of cheese. you never know when the minister will strike…

i thought this was a joke when i first came across it on the internet. sad.

"Ever wish your life had its own special soundtrack? Want to introduce your friend to new tunes? Easy, just make a mix tape or CD! Whether it's a gift or just for you, read on for simple tips on how to be your own mixmaster.

Before you begin, you have to know the purpose of the mix. You might need music you can dance to for a party. Romantic grooves might be in order for that special someone. Maybe you just want a mix that you know will cheer up a friend who's down in the dumps. The mood you want to set influences the songs you'll pick

We can't cover every type of mix here, so we're going to concentrate on making a great dance tape. Click the button for our how-tos.

Before dubbing, you should plan out what songs to include, and the exact order you want them to go in. To make a successful mix, you have to create the perfect mood to draw in your listeners and make them beg for more! Here are some guidelines:

1. Start with some big hits that people will recognize. This will get them into the music and onto the dance floor. Examples include; "Independent Women, Part I" by Destiny's Child, or Madonna's "Music."

2. After you've won over the crowd with some smash hits they love, put in a few songs that are older, but still great to dance to, like Jackson 5's "ABC."

3. Now that the crowd is groovin', hit them with YOUR personal favorite tracks. For Channel One's Music Supervisor Brian Miller, that would mean "One More Time" by Daft Punk, or "Freedom" by Bob Sinclar.

4. The next to last song of the mix has a special purpose. That's where you make YOUR STATEMENT. You can teach the listeners something, express a particular feeling or just plain rock the house! Brian's picks for "statement tracks"? Alice Deejay's "Better Off Alone" or Stardust's "The Music Sounds Better With You."

5. The very last one is the decompression song. It switches the tempo down since everyone kinda beat but not ready to stop. You still want to pick a relatively popular song, but with a different beat, like Joe's slow jam "I Wanna Know."

· Try to keep the tempo the same throughout the mix. This will keep the crowd on their feet and dancing. Only on the last song should switch tempo.

· Unless you have two CD players and a mixer, or two turntables and a mixer, you can't really control where one song fades out and the other begins, so don't worry about that.

· Funky re-mixes of current songs, like 'N Sync's "Pop," are a fun way to spice things up. The words of the song are familiar, but you still get to introduce different beats and sounds.

· Have fun! The more you energy you put into it, the more enjoyment you and your friends will get out of the mix when it's done."

and don't blame me if there's a sudden, unruly cheesy disturbance at your party...

if someone asked you...

...to name the best program ever shown on television, what would you say?

'cosmos' by carl sagan, is nutty's choice.

hey, iran. this is america!

the most stupid thing i've read for a long time:

All text and images are protected under U.S copyright law.
Do not use without permission.

that's scary...it's in red!




http://www.angelfire.com/mi/dinosaurs/behemoth.html

it's hard to know where to begin with this site, but i guess if you live in kansas, this is what the kids are being fed as "science".

"If we trust the Bible as true, and accept theories compatible with scripture we will never have a problem." (this means that any theories not compatible with scripture are automatically rejected from consideration) doesn't sound very scientific to me..

"You can learn more about dinosaurs from 2 hours of reading your Bible, than man has learned on his own in the last 150 years of studying their bones. " (i would say that the vast literature produced by scientists from all over the world over the last 150 years of studying dinosaur bones might disagree with this) exactly what would you learn about dinosaurs from a 2 hour reading of the bible?

No Scientist was there when the earth was formed or when life began. So any ideas they currently have are only educated guesses. (i guess all the phd paleontologists are in complete agreement) i think their contribution is more than only educated guesses.

The only way to learn the truth about how and when life began is to read the testimony of the only one who was there, God himself. (so don't ask any awkward questions, such as why can't i challenge anything in the bible...)

We must believe by faith, the uncompromising Word of God as our source of information. Therefore, knowing and believing that the Bible is true, we can conclude that all land animals were created the same day as man. (that's quite a scientific statement...)

Instead Satan uses dinosaurs as a tool of deception. There is no better animal for Satan to use against the very God that created them, than the animal that represented the very power of God himself. (you're losing it big time, dude)

"Dinosaurs and man DID live together. There is plenty of ways to prove this." (uh huh) there is plenty of ways? no excuse for bad grammer. oh, and how about that proof?

But most importantly from scripture we know that all animals were created to live peacefully with man. (i think we're all fully aware of the cave paintings where sabre-tooth tigers are depicted just chillin' peacefully, in harmony with the cave dudes round the camp fire while they all hang around, waiting the odd hundred thousand years or so for the bible to be written)

for scientific theories to be accepted, they must stand up to close scrutiny and criticism from all others. theories must agree with all observations, and when specific observations are in doubt, then the methodology of how that data was collected, and the accuracy of the results must be shown to be in agreement within the parameters of standardised methods.

real science always advances. take the ancient greeks, who gave us geometry and the pythagorean rule (which today every physics student has to learn). man can do many things, but turn the clock back on the progress of science is not one of them.

i can't wait for this site to be updated when life is discovered elsewhere, either in our solar system or from beyond.

the universally accepted view is that the theory of evolution is almost as successful as the theory of quantum mechanics, the most successful theory in the history of mankind. quantum mechanics just doesn't make any sense, and yet it's importance cannot be overstated. both theories are far from complete, but that doesn't imply that these theories are just ideas, as relevant to us as others with absolutely no scientific merit.

that is surely the triumph of science over reason. ask your doctor what is missing from a complete understanding of the human mind and my guess is that he'll be able to rattle off a list a mile long. ask that same doctor if he thinks that our current scientific understanding, while lacking in detail is completely wrong, and will be eventually overturned by a biblical interpretation, and i think you'll make him look up at you...

there are many things i don't like or agree upon. science, the very backbone of modern human history cannot be one of them.

i'm reminded of the lunar landing conspiracy theorists. show them compelling evidence, data from the mcdonnell observatory, for instance, that seals the deal, and they stick their collective heads in the sand and either refuse to accept it or discount it as part of the conspiracy.

if kansas is unhappy with a scientific theory, how come they're just singling evolution out?

just imagine for a moment that the creationists had their way, and children around the country were taught the following:

1) the earth is 6,000, to 10,000 years old.

2) all life was created in 6 literal days.

3) death and decay came about as the result of adam & eve's fall.

4) geology must be interpreted in terms of noah's flood.

5) there is literally a place that is heaven, where only peace and harmony exists, and hell, where all us sinners are gonna end up. it's not enough to die, i, along with all my friends, have to listen to all the terrible things we've done, and then we'll be sent to satan himself for perpetual eternal agony. - and this is the work of a supreme being? praise me, sacrifice yourself mentally, or suffer eternal damnation forever.

i reckon it boils down to this: truly mind-numbingly cheery, clap-your-hands, christian songs of praise, or some full-on blokey drum n bass.

Big Bud @ Science Club

kansas, intelligent design, evolution, and the progress of science

from the new york times:

THE usefulness of scientific theories, like those on gravity, relativity and evolution, is to make predictions. When theories make practicable foresight possible, they are widely accepted and used to make all of the new things that we enjoy — like global positioning systems, which rely on the theories of relativity, and the satellites that make them possible, which are placed in their orbits thanks to the good old theory of gravity.

Creationists who oppose the teaching of evolution as the predominant theory of biology contend that alternatives should be part of the curriculum because evolution is "just a theory," but they never attack mere theories of gravity and relativity in the same way. The creationists took it on their intelligently designed chins recently from a judge in Pennsylvania who found that teaching alternatives to evolution amounted to the teaching of religion. They prevailed, however, in Kansas, where the school board changed the definition of science to accommodate the teaching of intelligent design.

Both sides say they are fighting for lofty goals and defending the truth. But lost in all this truth-defending are more pragmatic issues that have to do with the young people whose educations are at stake here and this pesky fact: creationism has no commercial application. Evolution does.

Since evolution has been the dominant theory of biology for more than a century, it's a safe statement that all of the wonderful innovations in medicine and agriculture that we derive from biological research stem from the theory of evolution. Recent, exciting examples are humanized antibodies like Remicade for inflammation and Herceptin for breast cancer, both initially made in mice. Without our knowledge of the evolution of mice and humans and their immune systems, we wouldn't have such life-saving and life-improving technologies.

Another specific example is resistant bacterial infections, one of the scariest threats to public health. The ones that are resistant to antibiotics are more reproductively successful than their non-resistant relatives and pass the new resistance genes on to more offspring. Just as Darwin said 150 years ago.

The creationists have devised a tortuous work-around for this phenomenon, which endorses natural selection and survival of the fittest, but says that evolution doesn't explain the original development of species. The problem is, there are hundreds of genes that occur in both bacteria and humans. It's hard to see why a designer would do it that way, since having the same genes in bacteria and humans makes infections harder to treat: drugs that act on bacterial gene products act on the human versions as well, so those drugs could kill both the bacterium and the human host. Talk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

So evolution has some pretty exciting applications (like food), and I'm guessing most people would prefer antibiotics developed by someone who knows the evolutionary relationship of humans and bacteria. What does this mean for the young people who go to school in Kansas? Are we going to close them out from working in the life sciences? And what about companies in Kansas that want to attract scientists to work there? Will Mom or Dad Scientist want to live somewhere where their children are less likely to learn evolution?

One Kansas biology teacher, a past president of the National Association of Biology Teachers, told Popular Science magazine that students from Kansas now face tougher scrutiny when seeking admission to medical schools. And companies seeking to innovate in the life sciences could perhaps be excused for giving the Sunflower State a miss: one Web site that lists companies looking for workers in biotechnology has more than 600 hiring scientists in California and more than 240 in Massachusetts. Kansas has 11.

In his most recent State of the Union address, President Bush mentioned our problems in science education and promised to focus on "keeping America competitive" by increasing the budget for research and spending money to get more science teachers. I hope he delivers, but we can't keep America competitive if some states teach science that has no commercial utility. Those smart youngsters in India and China whom you keep hearing about are learning secular science, not biblical literalism.

The battle is about more than which truth is truthier, it's about who will be allowed to innovate and where they will do it. Sequestering our scientists in California and Massachusetts makes no sense. We need to allow everyone to participate and increase the chance of finding the innovations to improve society and compete globally.

Where science gets done is where wealth gets created, so places that decide to put stickers on their textbooks or change the definition of science have decided, perhaps unknowingly, not to go to the innovation party of the future. Maybe that's fine for the grownups who'd rather stay home, but it seems like a raw deal for the 14-year-old girl in Topeka who might have gone on to find a cure for resistant infections if only she had been taught evolution in high school.

Holden Thorp is chairman of the chemistry department at the University of North Carolina.

BIG BUD @ Science Club

Hello everybody!

We have a great Drum & Bass night coming up on Saturday night, May20th with Tiernan and Big Bud spinning on the decks at Science club.

Big Bud who was formerly on LTJ Bukem's label "GLO," now has his own label "Soundtrax" and will be promoting his first album off the label. It is called the "Fear of Flying Tour" and DC has been

recently added as the last stop. This is a rare occasion to hear
this guy spin so I urge you all to check it out.

For those of you who have not been to Science Club, we have room for
the people that like to chill and for the people that like to shake.
There is a great vegetarian menu for the starving and there is plenty
of room to sit, drink, and chill on any of the four floors. On the
dancefloor there is a heavy sound system for the Drum & Bass purists.

This party should rival some of our old bangers at Red with plenty
of attractive blokes and birds, good tunes, and debauchery. We would
love to kick the summer off strong with all old and new crew, so come
out and lets make DC dynamic and cutting edge!

P.S. - Feel free to forward this on to anyone who likes good drum &
bass or is simply down for a good bender:)

Cheers,

Tancred Dickens

oil and politics mix all too easily

rising gas prices. you can't get away from the subject. you'ld think that by now, someone, anyone, would have stepped up and told the truth, how the present system should be changed, and just what unpleasant dose of medicine called reality it will take to turn a corner and display a plan and vision for the future, instead of being shackled by present practices. in short, it's time to get tough, because unless you do so now, it's gonna' be a lot tougher when you might not have quite so many options to choose from.

let's see how this government has responded to the present dilemma.

1. a $100 check. the idiot(s) who dreamt up this economic tour de force should be fired because:

a) they are stupid, short-sighted, passing the buck, incapable of insight, evil. (pick one, or more)

b) suspend or reduce the federal tax on gasoline. that's great, except what are you going to do, if/when prices still rise? very difficult to re-implement a tax. it also does absolutely nothing to solve the problem, except in the months leading up to an election that is...

this is great, guys...here's old nutty's quick fixes:

1) claw some of the ridiculous tax-payers subsidies back from the oil companies and hit them with a windfall profits tax. what are they going to do? stop selling gasoline?

2) invest all the tax revenues raised through oil and gasoline, and instead of building more and more roads, actually come up with a plan to invest equally in roads, public transportation, and alternative fuels. it's called hedging your bets and not keeping all your eggs in one basket - stupid, i know...

3) pass legislation that directly and adversely affects the sale of gas guzzlers. not just a single one-off tax, but a yearly scalable sum depending on just how fuel-inefficient these present behemoths of the highway are. that should make the auto manufacturs scuttle to the autocad, especially if this yearly tax was to be split 50/50 between the owner and manufacturer.

f) pass legislation that directly provides incentives to auto manufacturers to produce ever-efficient vehicles, and not just the trendy media-grabbing hybrids. i mean all small, fuel-efficient vehicles. come on america, make small interesting, cars that are actually fun to drive.

g) pass legislation that provides tax incentives (yes, i said it) to oil companies who earn an increasing share of their profits and income through the sale of alternative fuels and energy sources. the oil industry seems to be extremely well merged and vertically integrated, why cannot this immensely profitable industry succeed horizontally as well? there won't be any 'oil' companies in the distant future, so the shareholders and executives shouldn't be too alarmed at this suggestion if they want to survive. i have no objection to these companies making huge sums of money, but let's see some real long-term vision, combined with action and responsibility to the environment in doing so.

in 100 years from now, if we have managed to survive mankind's best efforts of screwing the planet up, how will the text books cover this period for american students learning about their current energy and transportation needs. it's impossible to answer, of course, but i bet it will be very different from today's b*****ks coming out of the mouths of fat, overly-lunched politicians, who display an amazing ability to talk a good show and yet do nothing at the same time, all in the sole interest of not representing their public, but rather in maintaining their own status quo.

perhaps this attitude will change once america is no longer number 1 in the world. i believe that that historically significant moment will come to pass in a lot less than 100 years.

america will have to get used to the idea of having to change its ways. it may be a very bitter pill to swallow, but does anyone actually believe that we can continue to bury our heads in the sand and instead look to poiliticians to come up short, and wheel out band-aids as a way out without anyone sacrificing something?

all that and global warming, too! the planet 100 years from now will physically be a very different place than it is today. that $100 check looks even more stupid than it did before i started writing any of this.

you may think i'm a bit of a hypocrite as i have no problem watching racing 230+hp motorcycles that weigh less than the average adult that frequents mcdonald's, race around circuits. well yes i am. but i also know that for the 100,000 fans and spectators who make their way home from such races, what they ride or drive has a far greater impact tahn the 22 riders on the grid.

and just to give you a feel for the difference between cars and motorcycles, the current top sportsbike, the suzuki gsx-r 1000 costs $10,500, will hit 0-60 in 2.9 secs, 0-100 in 5.50 secs, 1/4 mile in 10.10 secs at 143mph, top speed 180 mph, and deliver 40mpg.

it's called power to weight ratio, and it demonstrates that there is no getting away from the laws of physics. there isn't a single standard for-sale, anyone can afford one, car on the planet, that can come anywhere close to this set of figures.

racing as good as it gets.

world superbikes at monza. what a first race. wow! bayliss won, but what a battle for 2nd between barros, corser and haga throughout the whole of race 1.

i will never understand why nascar is so hugely popular. it guess it doesn't help that none of the networks show any motorcycle racing. thanks, fox, nbc, abc. you do a great job on nascar, golf and ice figure skating.

zzzzzzzzzzz.......

good luck daisy!

tomorrow morning, she, along with juliana and friends, and a quite a few thousand others, will be riding 42 miles by bike in new york.

good luck to everyone!

nutty's going out on a limb and predicting $4.20 a gallon before year's end

let's see how close i get. personally, i'll be amazed if gasoline doesn't hit $4 a gallon.

jovian junior

jupiter's junior red may look small, but it's still approx. the size of the earth...

managed to grab a decent look at saturn through the telescope a couple of nights ago, and could easily make out the cassini division in the rings, plus the moons titan, dione, and rhea.

any ballerinas planning a solar system performance amidst the jupiter clouds had better be prepared for a slight weight adjustment. a 110lb ballerina on earth would weigh in at some 280lbs on jupiter (i pity the poor guy that has to catch that one). better off going to the moon, love. at 18lbs, your leaps will be spectacular!, and your male counterpart will be able to catch you with one hand.

and for all you golfers out there, just think how far tiger woods could drive a golf ball! (without any calculations, i'd estimate he could drive the ball a couple of miles before it plopped down into the lunar soil).

gravity; there's no getting away from it. it stops people from falling off the earth at the south pole, to us at least. (there is no such thing as up or down in space, only direction). it holds the earth and all other solar system objects in orbit around the sun. it holds our galaxy, the milky way together. it holds all the galaxies (including ours) that make up what's called the local group together. it holds entire groups of galaxies together, called galactic structures, and it holds all these super galactic structures together.

oil, cars, tax and the price at the pump.

if you were to take the highly educated, highly paid lawmakers out of the equation in finding answers to these factors, and were to set a class of high school students a group discussion on what to do about this mess, what do you think they would say?

1. do you think any of them would suggest a $100 check?

2. do you think any of them would say to leave things as they are and hope that everything returns back to normal?

3. do you think any of them would say that big, heavy, non-commercial vehicles should not be accordingly penalized?

4. do you think that they would say, smaller, lighter, cars make more sense, and people should be financially encouraged to do so?

5. why only offer tax incentives to hybrids? all fuel-efficient vehicles should be treated the same. hybrids are a special case and should be treated as such.

6. do you think that any of them would say that the government is doing all it can for their future energy needs?

7. what is the government doing to encourage poor people to drive fuel eficient cars? where are their incentives to get these old, heavy polluters off the road?

8. if a single oil company can afford to pay $400 million in compensation to 1 individual, why shouldn't it pay a windfall profits tax?

9. just why were the oil companies allowed to merge, further limiting competition in the domestic marketplace?

10. how many in the class think that drilling for oil in the arctic refuge is a good idea?

11. how much money the government receives from gasoline tax is spent on investment in public transportation?

12. hands up class if you think the people currently in charge would really listen to what you have say if you were old enough to vote?

place your bets.

the oil companies and nonesense

i'm a little confused. according to the full-page ads taken out by america's oil & natural gas industry. it claims that your gasoline dollar is consumed by the following factors:

1. 55% the price of crude oil.
2 26% refining, distribution & service stations
3 19%taxes

1. so each dollar you spend at the pump is the direct result of the price of crude oil. on the world markets, yes. in america, i find that a little rich. the price of crude oil is determined by OPEC. the members of this nice little cartel are:

Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.

the united states is not a member of opec. there is, however, a very strong incentive (profits) for oil producers to keep their prices in line with OPEC. since OPEC has freedom to raise or lower the production of crude, and the price of crude oil, exactly why, if exxon/mobil, et al, are producing and selling crude to america, why is it doing nothing to ease the current situation? if OPEC can change their prices, so can american producers to american buyers (you).

2. refining, distribution, and service stations are all controlled by the respective oil companies. in economic terms, this is known as vertical integration. this means that for an oil company extracting oil from the ground, they also own the businesses that take that raw product and deliver it to the point of sale (service stations). the same company does the lot. thus, it doesn't pay anybody else's costs or profits.

3. taxes. i would love to see a breakdown of just how these taxes are spent by the government. to make things really fair, perhaps they should have included a figure on all the subsidies and tax breaks received.

i love the sentence on the ad that goes: "to learn more about fuel prices, what the oil and gas industry is doing and what you can do, visit www.api.org." org?! why is this an org?

well, i think we know what the industry is doing. what we can do? is this a joke? i tell you what we can do. we can elect officials that will put an end to this cosy little club. we can elect officials that make it law that this country is entitled to national referendums on critical choices facing its future. we can force changes that will forever prevent the oil and gas industry from deciding on this country's energy policies, no matter which political party is in power.

hopefully, there is someone amongst the 'we' that has the courage to stand up for what's right, and run on that platform for office, and not what just sounds right. having a senate comprised of individuals that require substantial sums to run for office in order to be elected would be a good place to take the broom and sweep through changes, making it possible for ordinary citizens to have a chance at higher office, and not be automatically limited because of wealth, to 'just' reside at local politics.

there are 260 million people in this country. being in touch with some of their lives, and not just the wealthiest, wouldn't go amiss. who wouldn't vote for that?

oh, by the way, how's bush's $350 billion dollar tax cut working out for everyone?

Chinese man buys MiG through eBay

A Chinese businessman has bought an old MiG-21f fighter jet for nearly $25,000 (£14,000) on eBay to decorate his office, a Chinese newspaper reports.

i'm sure i taped a $20 bill here somewhere...

Former Open champion John Daly believes he has lost as much as £33m in the last 12 years through heavy gambling.

apart from an addiction to alcohol, he firmly believes that he simply wasted the rest of his money...

when asked by reporters if he considered himself unlucky, he responded by saying "oh no; it could be a lot worse. imagine if i was fat or ugly!"