Re: Wealthy couples travel to U.S. to choose baby's sex
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ] [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: ]] ]]If Biological Law is the survival of the more fit, then we ]]don't obey this Law. Sometimes, what happens is the survival of ]]the _less_ fit. ] ]Biologic laws are not like the laws of physics (at least not superficially). I've heard of one that *is* like the laws of physics: it states that the pile of solid waste that an animal might leave behind cannot taller than, well, um, its behind. :-) -- Matt ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Wealthy couples travel to U.S. to choose baby's sex
At 02:34 AM Thursday 7/27/2006, Matt Grimaldi wrote: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Biologic laws are not like the laws of physics (at least not superficially). I've heard of one that *is* like the laws of physics: it states that the pile of solid waste that an animal might leave behind cannot taller than, well, um, its behind. :-) A visit to Washington D.C. might convince you otherwise . . . -- Ronn! :) Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself. - Mark Twain, a Biography ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Wealthy couples travel to U.S. to choose baby's sex
On 27/07/2006, at 7:00 PM, Ronn!Blankenship wrote: At 02:34 AM Thursday 7/27/2006, Matt Grimaldi wrote: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Biologic laws are not like the laws of physics (at least not superficially). I've heard of one that *is* like the laws of physics: it states that the pile of solid waste that an animal might leave behind cannot taller than, well, um, its behind. :-) A visit to Washington D.C. might convince you otherwise . . . that's 'cause the digestive flow tends to be reversed in DC. Charlie ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Wealthy couples travel to U.S. to choose baby's sex
--- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The definition I gave (interbreding populations) Doesn't this definition fail to account for species that reproduce asexually? JDG ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Wealthy couples travel to U.S. to choose baby's sex
On 27/07/2006, at 9:23 PM, jdiebremse wrote: --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The definition I gave (interbreding populations) Doesn't this definition fail to account for species that reproduce asexually? Somebody needs to read ahead before replying... ;-) Charlie ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Part 4 of The Seven Most Common Thinking Errors ...
http://photoninthedarkness.blogspot.com/2006/07/seven-most-common-thinking-errors-of_18.html If anyone needs a tinyurl, holler. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Interesting blog
A surgeon started a blog recently. I found this entry particularly interesting: http://surgeonsblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/global-warming-inoperable-truth.html (If that entry name doesn't capture someone's attention here, I don't know what will. :D ) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
The Paracast
www.theparacast.com
If it's Thursday, your already late downloading the latest podcast.
I've enjoyed this weekly podcast centered around the scientifically
weird and mystically rational constructs we encounter trying to sort
out the awkwardly tangible from the merely impossible. Launched about
half a year ago most of the discussions hover around UFO's and psychic
phenom. Hosts Gene Steinberg David Biedny are a thoughtful duo
intent on divining the Truth {I know, I know, it's Out There -
somewhere} by inspecting odd reports, the folklore stories we pass
around and the often dubious evidence presented to the public. One is
a believer in UFO's, but hasn't seen one, while the other had a clear
childhood experience, but remains the hard-boiled skeptic.
This is a show for Those Who Want To Believe - but Can't.
I've found the shows interesting and some of them more than intriguing
with aspects that intrude into daily life unbidden. The shows are
usually 90 minutes long with a goodly hour for their guest of the week
sandwiched between prolog and debriefing. Have you wondered if the new
DVD Dan Akroyd Unplugged on UFO's was worth the rental fee and your
evening of time? I found the recent Mexican Air Force FLIR footage
alone of value. Take a few minutes to look over Paracast topics and
download a few to scratch-n-sniff. The only irksome production issue I
have is the advertising placement easy-slides into the conversation
without bumper music or announcement making for some mental
frame-shifting, but the ads are minimal and over quickly.
This weeks show is with www.DisclosureProject.org founder Dr Steven
Greer http://theparacast.com/podcasts/paracast_060725.mp3. I caught
the National Press Club briefing he gave a few years ago via C-SPAN
where he announced and presented credible witness testimony that the US
Gov is concealing detailed knowledge of UFO's - which I hadn't thought
about much for many years. In this Paracast interview he presents a
fascinating poli-sci milspec take on the nebulous forces of our
most-uppercrusted of society and why they are not keen to find clean
new power generation technologies the admission of UFO's would ipso
facto. Dr Greer asserts a relatively few controlling families groups
seek to thwart contact with industry-shaking aliens who could easily
upset such dino-fart peddling apple carts as the petroleum auto
industries - for example. These global would-be kings certainly have
the vast means and motivation to keep people in the dark and the
parallels with my own discoveries about WTC/9-11 conspiracy forces
prompted me to add this to our Brin-L conversation as a worthy tangent.
Dr Greer's expanding list of military servicemen and cultivation of
ex-government witnesses and informants is remarkable for the
notoriously tight-lipped and toe-the-line crew-cut crowd not known for
crazy talk. For those who enjoy the Brin-L discussion group for the
political side plausible musings on where humanity is going should
find this an interesting interview.If some significant portion of
this comes true it would surely shake up Brin's galactic Uplift
scenario, but wouldn't shut it down - unlike a huge swath of the sci-fi
genre that would need major rewriting.
I particularly enjoyed:
- The interview with physicist Stanton Friedman,
http://theparacast.com/podcasts/paracast_060711.mp3.
- Host David and his brother Barry relay their childhood encounter in
downtown Caracas, Venezuela,
http://theparacast.com/podcasts/paracast_060328.mp3.
- If you relish a good debate and thorough trouncing of hoaxers, then
dial back a few weeks
http://theparacast.com/podcasts/paracast_060627.mp3 and follow the
debunking of the Billy Miers' cult and the rather vicious attacks by
their official spokesman, which followed. I immediately found this
fellow, Michael Horn, suspicious based on his speaking tactics and
overt topic misdirections and over the following weeks the discussion
board and follow up counter-interview
http://theparacast.com/podcasts/paracast_060711.mp3 confirmed these
feelings. For the scientific minded David provides a lucid explanation
{if short} of some photo fakery Miers' promulgates as well as the
images and the artifacts that give away their falsehood.
But you decide. I thought it all worth passing along.
Caveat: David is an old and dear friend who used his early sighting to
explore photography and visual effects to the point where he became a
world-class adept sought after by LucasArts and Industrial Light
Magic. For many years he wrote books on Adobe Photoshop / After
Effects and ran image manipulation training seminars with illustrator
Burt Monroy. The dot-gone ebb tide has left many talented folk unable
to find a purchase on the barren rocky shores of our neo-Dickens
economy and now even luminaries like David turn from the anemic
computer sector to see if data-casting media can net the golden fishes.
Re: Wealthy couples travel to U.S. to choose baby's sex
In a message dated 7/26/2006 10:27:48 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Anyway, the Biological Species Concept, as with every single other way of defining species, has weaknesses. With this one, it's that it assumes sexual reproduction, so asexual organisms are hard to classify using it. Ultimately, in defining species, biologists use a combination of the various methods, tailored to the situation. Another problem is that members of a species may never have an opportunity to interbreed. A ring species where there are variations in a geographically continuous members who can interbreed with their next door neighbor but not with individuals at the other end of the ring (be it around the world or around a geographic barrier.) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Wealthy couples travel to U.S. to choose baby's sex
In a message dated 7/27/2006 7:33:32 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Doesn't this definition fail to account for species that reproduce asexually? Very few plant and animal species reproduce asexually of course. Some reproduce asexually some of the time but very few higher creators completely abstain from sex ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Wealthy couples travel to U.S. to choose baby's sex
On 28/07/2006, at 10:26 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Another problem is that members of a species may never have an opportunity to interbreed. That's not so much of a problem - if there are two distinct breeding groups that are separated, they can be considered separate species even if they could successfully reproduce if mingled. But yes, it does show another grey area that must be considered when deciding on species status. A ring species where there are variations in a geographically continuous members who can interbreed with their next door neighbor but not with individuals at the other end of the ring (be it around the world or around a geographic barrier.) For everyone else, in case you're not aware, the classic example is usually given as various gulls around the Arctic Circle. The Lesser Black-Backed Gull and the Herring Gull are two common gulls seen in the UK, two very distinct species. But the Herring Gull could interbreed with the American Herring Gull, and the Black-Backed with its Russian cousins. And those relatives interbreed with others further round, and *those* breed with each other. So it shows that small variations that characterise only sub-species or close species relationships can lead to a wide gulf across a long geographic range. Of course, science being science, it's recently been shown that while the concept is sound, the classic example might not actually be a true ring species as the Herring Gull and American Herring Gull's ranges are distinct, and they both evolved from a common ancestor. D'oh. :) But it also seems like the range of the Lesser Black-Backed is expanding across the Atlantic, so the ring may yet be closed... Charlie ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
