Archive for June, 2007
Sicko diagnoses our sick political system
What is it to be “sick”? According to Merriam-Webster, there are two definitions: 1 : affected with disease or ill health 2 : spiritually or morally unsound or corrupt This afternoon I viewed “Sicko.” I was one of the many audience members at the theater who applauded at the film’s conclusion. Sicko will serve provoke [...]
Ancestors along the highway
[This idea was born as a comment here, but I decided to create a separate post out of it].
What if your mother stood right behind you, and your mother’s mother stood right behind her? Then your great grandma and then your great great grandma. Imagine them all lined up, one foot apart, stretching out into the distance. If a generation is deemed to be 25 years, a line of your ancestors as long as a football field (300 feet) would stretch backwards 7,500 years. The woman at the end of that 300 foot line would have lived during the time when agriculture just began in ancient Egypt. You’d still recognize each of your ancestors in that 300 foot line to be fully modern humans, biologically speaking.
Isn’t it amazing to think that you could run along side that entire 300 foot line of your ancestors in only 15 seconds (I’m assuming you’re not an Olympic caliber sprinter) to end up standing next to one of your own ancestors who was alive 7,500 years ago?
Now think even further back. In An Ancestor’s Tale, Richard Dawkins calculated that 20,000,000 great-grandparents ago, our relatives were small shrew-like animals living at the end of the Cretaceous period. What if you spaced out your relatives one foot apart to extend all the way back to these shrew-like creatures? That line would be 3,787 miles long. That’s about the length of highway running from my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri to Anchorage Alaska. Imagine speeding alongside that line of your relatives at 60 mph, seeing the generations of your relatives whizzing by, more than 5,000 of them every minute.
It wouldn’t take long to reach the last of your relatives who looks like you. In fact, your trip would have barely begun. Biologically modern humans (those whose bodies are the functional equivalent of our own bodies) came onto the scene between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago. Driving at highway speed parallel to that line of your own relatives, you’d run out of your biologically modern human relatives less than one-minute after beginning your trip. That’s only 4,000 generations.
[More . . . ]
The Apple iPhone: yet another conflation of needs and wants
It’s deemed “news” rather than advertising: It’s right up there with Paris Hilton. Hundreds of people who lined up to be among the first to get their hands on Apple Inc.’s coveted iPhone are now the braggarts and guinea pigs for the latest must-have, cutting-edge piece of techno-wizardry. Gotta have it. Gotta have it! As [...]
A drinking game about the President’s al Qaeda obsessions
Chris Kelly writes about that “thing” on the President’s mind during today’s 45 minute trip to Rhode Island. Bush dropped in, to see what condition his condition was in, and to address the Naval War College. For the audience members playing the drinking game, the 9/11 references were: 1) “This is an ideological conflict we [...]
Ten tips for lousy interviewers: no more excuses for bad interviews
Is it just me, or are the interviews you see on television getting worse and worse? There are exceptionally good interviewers, of course (such as Bill Moyers). Bad interviews are the norm, however. This is a shame, because most bad interviews could be cured if only the interviewers would follow a few basic rules Before [...]
Obesity Cartoons – Fatties Beware
I don’t know how I started receiving Cagle’s emailing list, but it’s a list I’ve truly enjoyed. Cagle’s presents the work of a large number of cartoonists, topic by topic. Today’s cartoon topic is obesity in America, and the cartoonists are merciless.
Supreme Court strikes down the only way to challenge illegal executive branch support of religion
The following excerpts are from a report posted on the website of the plaintiff, the Freedom From Religion Foundation: The U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision today in Hein v. FFRF granting the executive branch the freedom to violate the separation of church and state without court review spells “imperial presidency,” charges the Freedom From Religion [...]
Is anybody thirsty for a drink of green water?
Pollution is so bad in this part of China that this lake water looks like ooblick. Here’s the photos of the lake.
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