Comments by TeraBrat

151. On this Day: Galileo Sentenced for Believing Sun Is Center of Universe

Comment #197887 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 8:29 pm

And by the way, as a matter of fact ,I DO OWN THE ROAD.........

I'd hate to be paying your taxes...

Comment #197886 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 8:27 pm

Human made things are not natural, they are anthropogenic. As far as I know no one in the science community thinks otherwise. In any case it would be a very small minority.

An alien could think in terms that you can't even begin to imagine. You are presuming that they would think like us in some way. There's no way of knowing. As a scientist I don't see the point in seriously speculating on something like that.

153. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #197880 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 8:11 pm

I am not saying aliens from the planet X exist, but in order to view ourselves, we have to try and see things from a non-human point of view, eh?

How do you do that? Can you even begin to imagine what kind of thought processes an alien would have if they even existed? We have a hard enough time understanding other human cultures. How do you propose explaining an unknown alien?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Don,

Not a problem.

154. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #197877 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 8:07 pm

Luckily we, as humans, occupy a variety of different environments. I guess we'd cope...

What if it's global? What if everything changes quickly and drastically?

Do you know that GW is happening faster than was originally thought and that we may face "runaway global warming"?

Will a few of us survive? Probably. Will there be enough genetic diversity for the species to survive over time? Probably not.

155. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #197874 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 7:57 pm

Brian,

I'm sure they do, they believe in god. I fail to see what this has to do with us not showing a belief in fictional characters.

I'm not trying to diss or bash Goldy.

156. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #197868 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 7:47 pm

Goldy,

You have the right to your own thoughts. I'm just wondering if a scientific forum is the place to raise fictional questions like that. I'm sure there are forums for that kind of discussion.

Don't forget that religious people come and read these forums. If we start speculating about aliens we may lose all our credibility. "AHA! You don't beleieve in God but you believe in aliens. What if aliens are God..."

157. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #197862 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 7:33 pm

I'm not qualified to even begin to guess how an alien would think. That's the equivalent of asking what god thinks about it, or the celestial teapot. At this point we have no proof that aliens even exist.

Don't we have enough to occupy our minds without going into the realms of fiction?

158. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #197857 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 7:19 pm

Termite mounds and beaver dams inadvertently change the environment while building their homes. It's no different than a bird building a nest or a bee building a hive. It's also something that developed over millions of years along with the rest of nature. We deliberately build dams to hold water preventing it from flowing naturally. We move water to the desert, cut down forests, destroy top soil, divert rivers and build canals. We build roads and cities that prevent ground water recharge then pump ground water at a much faster rate than it can recharge. Synthesize anthropogenc chemicals in laboratories and pollute the environment with them. Destroyed the source sink balnce of CO2.

Do I need to go on?

Ants looking after aphids is not environment modification. That is a symbiotic relationship between two species.

159. Richard Dawkins Public Lecture - Liverpool 08

Comment #197850 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 7:03 pm

Many are grumbling against "string theory" because of alleged intrinsic untestability.

I agree with them.

I also think it's way too complicated to be right. Occums razor.

Information theory makes more sense to me.

I'm not a physicist but I know that a lot of physicists think that way.

Thank you for explaining.

160. On this Day: Galileo Sentenced for Believing Sun Is Center of Universe

Comment #197840 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 6:29 pm

I agree that it's not a very useful question as far as changing history is concerned. But it's an interesting intellectual exercise that helps to realize how much Christianity held us back.

The point that another, possibly worse religion may have sprung up instead is a valid one to consider. On the other hand, we may not have had Islam either since it was built on Christianity. Muhammed may not have had the idea of declaring himself the prophet of god if he didn't have the example of Jesus. Judaism wouldn't have mattered because Judaism flows with the mainstream of the world, adapts, and keeps to itself.

161. Where do US lawmakers stand on science?

Comment #197838 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 6:21 pm

I've known quite a few engineers who were not religious and some who were outright atheists.

162. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview

Comment #197836 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 6:18 pm

Vinelectric,

Thank you for sharing that. Even without that human nature is to dig inyour heels when your beliefs are being attacked. That will make it even worse.

I've never seen anyone be convinced of anything when you confront them.

I've never been much of a "follower" I question everything (including my boss). Not because I'm rebelious (maybe a little bit rebelious), but, because I need to understand what I'm doing.

163. Richard Dawkins Public Lecture - Liverpool 08

Comment #197831 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 6:10 pm

I have a question about string theory.

We generally start with a hypothesis, run tests to confirm the hypothesis, write a paper, have it peer reviewed, repeated by other scientists and then it becomes a theory.

String "theory" is an hypothesis. It's never even been tested.

So why is it called a theory?

164. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #197827 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 6:04 pm

Steve,

Do you prefer invaded.

1. We don't breed cockroaches.

2. They will survive. Cockroaches are amongst the most adaptive insects and they will adapt.
They will be the last to survive after a nuclear war too.

165. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview

Comment #197824 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 5:59 pm

Vinelectric,

Thank you for the information.

I made that remark just to point out that it's possible to be a non-believer and still feel a connection to the culture you come from (religion is culture).

I think that with Judaism it's different than other religions. According to Judaism you never stop being Jewish. So I could be an atheist my whole life and at any time walk into a synagogue and no one would question my right to be there. To me it's my lineage, ethnicity, culture; it's everything. I just don't believe in god.

166. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #197817 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 5:49 pm

The housefly uses us like crazy. As do rats, mice and a horde of other wee besties.

They don't need us. They have learned to survive with us even though we do our damndest to kill them. There were flies, rats and mice and all the other beasties before we came along. We stole their natural habitats and they adapted.

167. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #197810 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 5:43 pm

There are wild cattle.

So you think cows don't mind dying for us? I suggest a visit to a slaughterhouse.

I suggest a visit to a dairy barn the day a calf is born and just listen to that cow bawling for hours for the calf that was stolen from her. And don't tell me that we're raising the calf because we don't raise the bullcalfs we slaughter them after a week. Think about that the next time you eat a piece of veal.

It has been proven that animals have preferences when breeding. We don't give them a choice we don't even ask them if they want to be bred. We artificiallt inseminate them and then take the calf away from them at birth.

We gave them mad cow disease and slaughtered thousands of them, a lot of them never got to reproduce. Most farm animals don't get to breed, they are slaughtered before they have a chance to breed. They have no guarantee that their genes will be passed on.

168. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview

Comment #197802 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 5:35 pm

Mind you, Allah doesn't like women (despite protestations to the contrary by those who believe...protestations without much evidence) so their prayers aren't worth diddly.

I know for a fact that Muslim women pray. I don't know all the rules and regulations in Islam, but, every Muslim woman I have known had a prayer mat and prayed five times a day.

169. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #197797 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 5:27 pm

No it's not a symbiotic relationship it's a slave master relationship for the farm animals.

170. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #197787 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 5:16 pm

All that matters to natural selection is - do the genes survive and replicate long-term. Looked at that way, cattle and pets have been phenomenally successful.

But they can't survive without us. So the success is artificial. If we go they go. Not only that if we suddenly arbitrarily decide not to breed german shepherds anymore there won't be anymore german shepherds. Hundreds of breeds of cows and chickens have died out because we found other breeds we preffered.

Their success is not from natural selection it's from human selection. They are at our mercy and we have a history of not caring about our animals survival.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Decius,

Maybe, but we want our meat animals to give us a lot of meat and they end up with a lot of joint diseases because they can't bear the weight. We want out dairy cows to give us a lot of milk and they end up with all sorts of problems.

About the pets. We could but then they won't be purebreds and that's what everyone (except me it seems) seems to want. I've never owned a purebred animal. All my cats have been strays that I adopted.

171. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview

Comment #197783 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 5:06 pm

I'm a Jewish atheist. Just because I don't believe in god doesn;t mean I'm not Jewish.

172. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #197781 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 5:02 pm

But, what we do is certainly part of nature, and part of natural selection. We do breed for the wellbeing of our farm animals, our crops, our pets. We breed for their success while living with us. No-one can doubt the reproductive fitness of modern cattle - just look how many of them there are.

Have you ever worked with farm animals? I have. They have serious physical defects. We get away with it because we don't care about their well being all we (farmers) care about is making money off of them.

Pedigreed pets. German Shephers have hip problems, boxers, bulldogs, pugdogs have breathing problems. So do persian cats. I'm not going to go through the whole list of ailments they have.

How many animals get "dumped" End up as strays? So when we breed them to be taken care by us and then dump them and they end up in a pound getting euthenized or eaten by a mountain lion or coyote because they are not adapted or able to take care of themsleves what do you call that?

173. The Flea Delusion

Comment #197777 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 4:50 pm

Regarding your user name, it seems to put you at a trillion on the Brat scale. That's a lot of Brat-ness.

If you wanted to be a monster Brat, you'd add another 't': TeratBrat.

I'm working on it :D.

I started out as MegaBrat three years ago. I like Tera because a lot of people confuse it with Terra. The fact that I'm a tree hugging Environmental Scientist has absolutely NOTHING to do with that ;-).

174. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #197775 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 4:40 pm

As we are of Nature, then even our active selection on ourselves is...natural selection :-)

Absolutely positvely NOT true!!!

We breed for our ourselves not the wellbeing of the animal or plant we our breeding. Most purebred dogs, and many farm animals have at least one serious physical defect. Our crop and ornamental plants are much less hardy than weeds.

We are not "nature" we are products of nature or part of nature. We are dumber than our genes.

175. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview

Comment #197744 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 3:24 pm

Tera

Maybe if you let one go in a catholic church it would be a weapon of "Mass" destruction. Sorry, but you guys started this.

I was thinking of letting one go in a mosque.

176. The Flea Delusion

Comment #197691 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 1:52 pm

Steve,

Have you ever read the "guide for the perplexed?" It was written in the 12th centurey and considering what they knew about sciece at the time it's a very good attempt to scientifically prove gods existence. Some of the stuff he says is pretty astute for that time period.

177. On this Day: Galileo Sentenced for Believing Sun Is Center of Universe

Comment #197685 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 1:47 pm

Do you ever wonder where we could be scientifically if Christianity never existed?

178. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview

Comment #197680 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 1:42 pm

mordacious1,

If my farts DID smell like flowers I wouldn't be able to use them as a weapon again Islam.

Don't be so sure about no one knowing who you are :-p

179. The Flea Delusion

Comment #197676 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 1:30 pm

Cartomancer,

Make sure you put in a chapter on bigfoot being a devout Christian.

180. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview

Comment #197670 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 1:12 pm

Hot and desirable, maybe, but not perfect...

grumble...mumble...mumble...grumble

Sigh!

OK. I can live with hot and desirable. :-p

181. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #197663 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 12:58 pm

no, I'm afraid none of us who aren't Jewish can POSSIBLY understand. Though that doesn't let us off trying

That's all we really ask for.

182. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview

Comment #197659 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 12:47 pm

But...but...but...we ARE perfect :-p

183. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview

Comment #197651 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 12:34 pm

That's a bit like how saying that not all Jewish farts smell like flowers would get you accused of antisemitism...

My farts don't smell like flowers they smell like...

FANUSI WE HAVE A WEAPON AGAINST ISLAM.

WE"RE GOING TO FART THEM TO DEATH!!!!

184. Oystein Elgaroy - the Christian defender who became an Atheist

Comment #197647 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 12:27 pm

I ride my bike to work. The bicycle rack was almost empty last year and this year it's full. I guess even the State Environment Department is getting the message about oil...

185. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview

Comment #197619 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 11:36 am

Fanusi,

We need to get that list of yours publicized. It won't get much attention as a comment.

186. Where do US lawmakers stand on science?

Comment #197613 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 11:29 am

Not really.

187. The Flea Delusion

Comment #197609 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 11:23 am

Why not wait and find out what the book actually says before putting it down.

188. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview

Comment #197607 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 11:21 am

Fanusi,

I agree.

189. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview

Comment #197598 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 11:09 am

Islam as an ideology must be combated from the outside. Maybe the "avalanche" of criticism from the non-Islamic world will force at least the moderate Muslims into introspection.

From my experience it works the opposite way.

When you critisize someone they "get offended" and rationalize their position by believeing you are an "idiot" "stupid" "imbecile"...Criticizing from the outside only strengthens a stance. What is needed is criticism from the inside if that's at all possible in this case.

The best thing we can do is develope alternative energy technologies so that we don't need their oil and without the money from the oil they won't be as dangerous to the rest of the world. I'm not sure what to tell you about the inner suffering. I've seen it personally and there's no solution without getting rid of the fundamentalists.

190. The Flea Delusion

Comment #197587 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 10:59 am

Here's some information about

Tao de Haas

http://www.taodehaas.com/index.php?incl=13

191. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates

Comment #197576 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 10:44 am

Fanusi,

DDT and phospho-organo pesticides are dangerous and most of them have been proven to be carcinogens and muta. The newer pesticides are much less dangerous and have a much, much, higher LD 50. Check ATSDR toxicology facts on pesticides. You can't wash these pesticides off, they are extremely hydrophobic and they do bio-accumulate.

Household cleaners can be just as bad. There are three levels of warning on all these products (including pesticides) 1. Danger 2. Warning 3. Caution. Never buy anything with more than a caution.

192. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview

Comment #197560 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 10:22 am

felandath,

It sounds like you are saying that the only way to beat Islam is with an outright war that would result in the deaths of thousands. I hope I misunderstood you

193. The Flea Delusion

Comment #197558 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 10:19 am

The fact that so many books were written to refute that book shows how worried they are about it.

194. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview

Comment #197551 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 10:14 am

Sargeist,

That's a better attitude than a lot of people have. Jumping in and stating facts with no back up is the worst thing you can do. If you want to express an opinion then express it as an opinion not a fact. It also helps to google things and see if you can find backup for your ideas ;-). Google is your friend. Just be careful and look at a few sources if it's something you are totally unfamiliar with. Not all websites are created equal. Wikepedia can be biased and wrong sometimes. The science portions are usually pretty sound.

195. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview

Comment #197540 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 9:58 am

Sargeist,

Are you wishy washy or contemplative? There's a huge difference.

196. Saving Us from Darwin

Comment #197537 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 9:56 am

Bugaboo,

From my experience insulting someone just makes them more adamant about their own views. Think about your reaction to being called and infedil, dog, pig etc. If you can't be constructive towards them then say nothing. When you ignore a troll it will go away looking for new victims.

Don't turn yourself into an internet bully because of them.

197. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #197533 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 9:51 am

Jethro,

Could you explain yourself? Not meaning to be disrespectful, but, it sounds like you don't believe that god created the universe and us, so what do you believe in?

198. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview

Comment #197531 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 9:48 am

Sargeist,

We're in Iraq right now imposing our rule and forcing them to become a democracy.

The Vietnem war, Korean war and first gulf war were all in the last century. We were less invasive in those wars but we stuck our noses in other peoples business for our own reasons. Historically speaking Western Civilization were obnoxious bullies. I'm not an historian (shudder-I hated history in school), but, I know enough history to know that much.

199. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview

Comment #197518 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 9:28 am

Sargeist

Western civilization has a history of foisting itself on foreign civilizations and forcing Christianity on them. While I agree about despising Islam because they are blood thirsty murderers you can't deny that many civilizations such as the Native Americans and Hawaiians have not been decimated by Western Civilization and Christianity. Can you blame other cultures for being touchy about it?

200. Saving Us from Darwin

Comment #197514 by TeraBrat on June 22, 2008 at 9:22 am

bugaboo,

By all means use it in private or on a post about something really horrifying like that Muslim father who murdered his daughter. Sometimes it's acceptable to be in a rage (required even). I've seen it used inapropriately and that will do damage.

Some religious people come here to bait. The best way to deal with them is to ignore them once youve established that they are trolls. Others come looking for answers and we need to be careful and stay respectful even if they annoy us because it's so "obvious" to us and we've answered this a million times. Each one of them follows their own path in their own time. Name calling never resolves anything.