On Powell for Obama

Today the media is drunk on the fact that Gen. Colin Powell has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama's candidacy for the presidency of the U.S. I am not sure if this is that much of a big deal.

Here was one man who could single handedly have prevented the Iraq fiasco. Here was one man who could have asked tougher questions to his boss and his direct reports before he lied to the United Nations (full transcript here) about the State of Iraq amassing WMDs. I remember watching that speech and actually believing him. I had a funny feeling that a highly decorated military man would not stand up in front of the United Nations and spew lies. At the end of that speech, I was thinking that it might be the right move after all - Iraq and Saddam Hussein must indeed be stopped in their tracks.

I also remember a feeling of betrayal that swept across the nation when it was conclusively proved that all the talk of finding stockpiles of yellow cake uranium, WMDs and chemical weapons turned out to be a complete fabrication. Remember vividly…
I am not so sure if this endorsement is such a big deal especially when Sen. Barack Obama actually voted against going to war in Iraq.

Detail from a painting by Winslow Homer (1836 - 1910), 'Sounding Reveille', oil on canvas, 13" X 19", 1865 (image from a Christie's book)

Unblinded with science

A fascinating article in the British Medical Journal dispels some commonly held myths that we harbor about health, medicine and their intertwined hand-me-down tales. Among the myths debunked are the ones listed below. I have heard of most of them except for the one about fingernails and hair growing after a person passes on. The study gave reasonable scientific explanations debunking each of these myths. My personal favorite is the much touted myth that we use only 10 percent of our brains - modern fMRI has clearly shown that we use nearly all parts of our brains - putting it to use in actions that have efficiencies of 10 percent is another matter altogether... Plus, having this knowledge will come in handy the next time that burly security guard tells you to turn that cell phone off in a hospital… Throw some science at the person while singing that classic 80’s one hit wonder “She Blinded Me with Science”…

Myths explained to be untrue:
- People should drink at least eight glasses of water a day
- We use only 10% of our brains
- Hair and fingernails continue to grow after death
- Shaving hair causes it to grow back faster, darker, or coarser
- Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight
- Eating turkey makes people especially drowsy
- Mobile phones create electromagnetic interference in hospitals.

Despite their popularity, all of these medical beliefs range from unproved to untrue. While some of these myths simply do not have evidence to confirm them, others have been studied and proved wrong. The venerable journal also reports that even physicians sometimes believe medical myths contradicted by scientific evidence and stresses the need for more objective evidence based medicine.

Madeline von Foerster, 'O Rubor Sanguinis', Acrylic on panel in wood frame, 27" X 21"

Whack a mole! Another pops!

I was in two minds, actually write about it and give it a little more light or keep quiet and make sure that the less covered an event, the better (especially if the event in question tries to take established theories of evolution, folds it into a thick wad and shoves it up your backside)...
That is kind of how uncomfortable I feel when I see the latest crap creationist contortion from the Muslim world. I had talked about this mumbo jumbo sometime back here, but this one tries to best the levels of stupidity as yet achieved our home grown variety.

This one comes from Turkey and is the brainchild of Mr. Harun Yahya. This person has so much money that he does not try and create a book that will hit the book stores and sell based on its popularity/content, instead, he decides to mail the book for free to just about anybody who cares to have a copy and has already carpet bombed the mailboxes of leading US university professors by sending each one a complimentary copy. The New York Times estimated the production costs of each book to be at least 100 dollars apiece (given the glossy pages and detailing in the pictures).

Mumbo Jumbo - a page from the book.

The crux of the book lies along the following fault line and it seems to crumble the moment you read it...

Fossils reveal that life forms on Earth have never undergone even the slightest change and have never developed into one another. Examining the fossil record, we see that living things are exactly the same today as they were hundreds of millions of years ago—in other words, that they never underwent evolution. Even during the most ancient periods, life forms emerged suddenly with all their complex structures–with the perfect and superior features, just as do their counterparts today.

This demonstrates one indisputable fact: Living things did not come into being through the imaginary processes of evolution. All the living things that have ever existed on Earth were created by God. This fact of creation is once again revealed in the traces left behind them by flawless living things.

It does look like our scientists are taking this in stride..

So far, no similar response is emerging in the United States. “In our country we are used to nonsense like this,” said Kevin Padian, an evolutionary biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, who, like colleagues there, found a copy in his mailbox. He said people who had received copies were “just astounded at its size and production values and equally astonished at what a load of crap it is.

William Sartorius (1754 - 1785), 'Still life of fruit, birds and insects in a grotto', Oil on canvas, 23 in X 26 in

Just when the world needs more rational thinking than less, we seem to be assailed by people who seem to be bent on distributing propaganda that is outright false…

How far will these guys go?