February 10-11, 2016::End of the day round-up

 

Besides Ham's bizarre response, and hissy fit,,,

Ken Ham Declares Darwin Was Wrong Day

Secularists are becoming increasingly aggressive and intolerant in promoting their anti-God philosophy. Evolutionary ideas provide the foundation for this worldview because they seemingly allow mankind the ability to explain the existence of life and the universe without God. As Christians, we need to be bold in proclaiming the truth of God’s Word to a hurting (groaning, Romans 8:22) world. This year, on February 12, instead of celebrating Darwin’s anti-God religion, we can take this opportunity to show the world that Darwin’s ideas about our supposed evolutionary origins were wrong, and that God’s Word is true, from the very beginning. Let’s make February 12 Darwin Was Wrong Day and point people to the truth of God’s Word.

Dan Arel notes,

The rest of the AiG article is mostly rehashed arguments against evolutionary theory that show the organizations great misunderstanding and ignorance of not only the theory but of the scientific method, first discrediting life from non-life ideas (that have nothing to do with the theory of evolution by the way) to not understanding what natural selection is.

As a handful of people on Twitter have pointed out to me. It is rather telling that Ham’s organization spends all of its time attacking Darwin and focuses almost zero time on the latest scientific information available on the subject.

19 Kids and Counting Is Not Returning to Television, but Some of the Duggar Kids May Be

In short, TLC hasn’t severed its ties with the Duggar family. They may very well air more episodes — maybe even entire shows — around the 18 Duggar kids who aren’t mired in scandal.

But 19 Kids and Counting, the show that focused on the entire Duggar family (including Josh), doesn’t appear to be returning to television anytime soon, no matter what the Christian Post says.

Update on the Zika Virus

The bigger concern is if a pregnant women becomes infected. There are numerous reports of poor pregnancy outcomes, mostly microcephaly, in women who have been infected with Zika while pregnant. Microcephaly means small head, and results from poor brain development (more on this below).

There is currently no treatment for a Zika infection (other than usual supportive care if necessary). There is also no vaccine, although efforts are already underway to develop one.
,,,
There are as yet no cases of locally acquired Zika in the US. There have been a few cases of people returning from travel to South America with a Zika infection. It is possible for Zika to become endemic in the US.

The virus can spread wherever there are Aedes mosquitoes, which exist throughout the Americas except for Peru and Canada. Interestingly, these mosquitoes were previously localized to the tropics and subtropics, but have been spread as invasive species by human activity – paving the way for later viral infections.

Zika is in the news now because its pace of spread has dramatically increased. It is no longer a “slow” pandemic, but rather is spreading rapidly.
,,,
While the connection between Zika and the spike in microcephaly needs to be absolutely confirmed, the evidence so far is very compelling, and other likely causes so far have been ruled out.
,,,
Another popular conspiracy theory is that the virus is being spread by genetically modified mosquitoes. This theory fails on multiple levels but perhaps the single biggest failure is that the genetically modified mosquitoes are all male, and male mosquitoes do not bite. The males are nectar feeders, and only the females feed on blood.

January 23, 2016::End of the day round-up

STRONG BARF ALERT REQUIRED,,,

Rafael Cruz Asks God To Raise Up A Spiritual And Political Revival That Will Elect His Son President

"So we commit this campaign to You, Father," he continued, "we commit this next three or four months to You, Father, that righteousness will prevail, Father. That You'll wake up that sleeping giant, Father. Lord God, we did it in 1980 when we mobilized millions of Christians, millions of Christians across America to help elect whom I consider the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln, president Ronald Reagan. Father, we needed it big in 1980, we can do it again, Father. I pray, Lord God, that You create an awakening, Father, a movement, a spiritual revival and political revival, Father, to restore America again to that shining city on a hill to Your glory, Father."

I have been unformed that 5 provinces in Canada are also under advisement as well - Deadly Listeria Outbreak Linked To Pennsylvania « CBS Pittsburgh

My Dad Worked at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, and He Knows What Happens When Ranchers Get Their Way

In statements to the media, Ammon Bundy, who heads the occupation, has made it clear that he considers the expansion of the wildlife refuge, and its shift away from allowing private citizens to use it for commercial activity, to be counter to the interests of the “people.”

This refuge—it has been destructive to the people of the county and to the people of the area. They are continuing to expand the refuge at the expense of the ranchers and miners.
…
This is about taking the correct stand without harming anybody to restore the land and resources to the people so people across the country can begin thriving again.

Bundy seems to assume that if the federal government let the ranchers manage their own affairs, we’d all be riding the gravy train to prosperity station. But my dad worked on the refuge as a field archaeologist for five years in the 1970s, and he has a very different story to tell:

My first experience with cattle grazing on the refuge lands was in the south part of the refuge near Frenchglen. Several fields between the west side canal and the Donner und Blitzen River were being used for grazing. There were lots of cattle there. I think these cattle were from one of the larger ranches in the area, can’t say which one, but Roaring Springs Ranch comes to mind. The cattle had pretty much eaten just about all available vegetation there. These fields were merely mud and cow shit. It was ugly. We were not able to survey these fields for prehistoric sites until a few years later when the fields were not used for grazing.

Darwin Day approaches

It's time to dust off your Darwin costume again: less than a month remains before Darwin Day 2016! Colleges and universities, schools, libraries, museums, churches, civic groups, and just plain folks across the country — and the world — are preparing to celebrate Darwin Day, on or around February 12, in honor of the life and work of Charles Darwin. These events provide a marvelous opportunity not only to celebrate Darwin's birthday but also to engage in public outreach about science, evolution, and the importance of evolution education — which is especially needed with assaults on evolution education already under way in state legislatures. NCSE encourages its members and friends to attend, participate in, and even organize Darwin Day events in their own communities. To find a local event, check the websites of local universities and museums and the registry of Darwin Day events maintained by the Darwin Day Celebration website. (And don't forget to register your own event with the Darwin Day Celebration website!)

• International Darwin Day organization

• Progress Toward a National Resolution:

• 2016:  Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s Darwin Day Resolution (S. Res 337)
• 2016:  Rep. Jim Himes’ Darwin Day Resolution (H. Res. 548)

Say "No" to eulogizing Charles Darwin and evolution | No Darwin Day!

This is just so wrong. Every fallacy in the arsenal is present and all because of this, "Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) re-introduced the “Darwin Day” resolution on the House floor Wednesday, advancing a proposal to designate British naturalist Charles Darwin’s Feb. 12 birthday as a day of recognition for 'the importance of science in the betterment of humanity.'"

Why are the atheists asking the government to endorse something that is so blatantly wrong and obviously a bait and switch tactic? What’s at stake? There are only two views of how the universe, the world and you and I came to be. Either it was created or it evolved. This is a philosophical debate—ultimately, it’s not really about the science. The constitution calls for the state not to be involved in the establishment of any religion—yet a mandated religious view is being proposed.

[,,,]
This has led to much of the moral decay we see in society. So, let the debate really be about science and let’s see who is really teaching it badly. Such teachings have had disastrous consequences on individuals and our societies including promoting euthanasia—and the abortion of millions of innocent unborn children because of the faulty evolutionary belief that they are not yet fully human. Worse still, even President Obama has agreed with arguably the world’s most radical bioethicist/eugenicist, Peter Singer, that infanticide (killing children after they are born) should be legal. If one is old, handicapped or just unwanted—one is not safe anymore.

[,,,]
How would you feel about possibly being forced to take a public holiday to celebrate Darwin and endorse evolution? It’s already happening in the UK! If we allow this to happen any criticism of evolution will not be tolerated. This brainwashing will increasingly create a moral vacuum in our culture. So much for the scientific method of critiquing any hypothesis! Such censorship is authoritarian, and similar regimes with this evolutionary atheism at its core are responsible for more deaths in the last century than in all of the recorded religious wars in history. This is an attack on free speech and our constitutional rights. There is already ample evidence that shows the discrimination against any scientist who does not hold to an evolutionary worldview. What is happening to our great democracies?

What I find strange, off to the left they have a page labeled "Famous scientists who believe in creation." When you follow the link it leads you to a list off maybe 100-130 "scientists." Take a look, all I'm gonna say.

Say "No" to eulogizing Charles Darwin and evolution | No Darwin Day!