Monthly Archives: March 2012

Vultures, Human Evolution, Climate Change, and Windmills

Climate Change, Uncategorized

Last weekend, Desiree Schell and I taped a segment of “Everything You Know Is (Sort of) Wrong” (apologies)for Skeptically Speaking, a radio talk show and podcast that Desiree hosts. The topic was the concept of humans as predators, or hunters, or really, eaters of meat, and I was discussing the many ways in which people misconceived this notion. One of the misconceptions that came up is the idea that human ancestors went through an evolutionary stage called “scavenging” during which time we were not capable hunters, but we were good enough to scavenge, so we did that for a while until we improved our lot and became the top predator.

This pointy-headed idea came from three places, and all three were in part reactions to the prevailing “Man the Hunter” (or “Killer Ape”) popularizations of human evolution (we also discussed those fallacies for the show). The first was Lewis Binford…

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Religious Message Delivered to Iowa Public School Students

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In the form of song.

High school students in Dunkerton, Iowa were expecting an assembly about bullying and making good choices. What they got instead was the Christian rap/hard rock band called Junkyard Prophet delivering an anti-gay and anti-abortion rant.

After the band played, they broke the students up into gender-based groups and then lectured them.

“They told my daughter, the girls, that they were going to have mud on their wedding dresses if they weren’t virgins,” said Jennifer Littlefield, whose 16-year-old daughter, Alivia called her in tears after the event. Reportedly, one of the band members led the girls in a chant pledging purity and encouraged them to be submissive to their husbands after marriage.

Here’s part of the presentation:

And another:

Let me tell you two things about this: 1) It is an outrage; and 2) This kind of thing happens in high schools across the country on a regular basis; it is not that frequent, but it happens.

Hat Tip: Gwenn Smith Olson

Developments in Trayvon Martin Case

Uncategorized, ,

The investigation of the killing of Trayvon Martin by a “neighborhood watch” vigilante (noted here) has taken a new turn as the state has taken over the investigation, and we note that the local police may have been doing it wrong. From Huffington Post:

“State Attorney Norm Wolfinger recognizes that Trayvon Martin and his family, interested persons, and the public-at-large are entitled to no less than a thorough, deliberate and just review of the information provided, along with any other evidence that may or may not be developed in the course of the review process,” a statement released from the State Attorney’s Offices Tuesday evening said. “We intend to honor that commitment.”
The shift from local to state officials comes amid suspicion about the department’s investigating techniques, according to reports.

See also this report from ABC: Continue reading Developments in Trayvon Martin Case →

New Development in Minnesota Family Value Republicans Having Affairs Maneno

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You will will recall that a while back our Republican Leader was caught having an affair with a male staffer, who was then fired. Well, he’s suing on the bases of sex discrimination; he claims that female staffers with whom affairs are had are routinely not fired, and he was fired because he was a guy. His lawyer has officially stated:

“He intends to depose all of the female legislative staff employees who participated in intimate relationships, as well as the legislators who were party to those intimate relationships, in support of his claims of gender discrimination,” the notice said.

Brodkorb is seeking a half a million in damages. I wonder if he’ll be using that to pay out damages to the people he is now bent on damaging?

PS: Stephanie has also posted an item on this.

“Before the Lights Go Out: Conquering the Energy Crisis Before It Conquers Us” April 1st (New Plan)

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Maggie’s Interview will be on April 1st. This Sunday, we will be in the studio with a Special Guest: Jen McCreight.

Maggie Koerth-Baker is the author of the new book, “Before the Lights Go Out: Conquering the Energy Crisis Before It Conquers Us”. Maggie is the science editor and a regular writer at Boing Boing, and hails from the Twin Cities. She was once described as “A lighthouse of reason in a churling ocean of stupidity,” which is exactly why we all need to read her book and listen to her interview Sunday, April 1st on Minnesota Atheists Talk Radio. Continue reading “Before the Lights Go Out: Conquering the Energy Crisis Before It Conquers Us” April 1st (New Plan) →

140 Drop Rush

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The most recent count shows that 140 companies have dropped advertising from Rush Limbaugh’s show. I can’t say if that is a lot or not. When I heard the number to be 40 or so, I thought THAT was a lot, and in fact, wondered how many advertisers a show would actually have. Now that it is 140 I realize that I have no clue what a large or small number might be.

This latest info comes from Think Progress:

ThinkProgress has obtained an internal memo from Premiere Radio Networks listing 96 national companies that have “specifically asked” their advertisments not be played during the Rush Limbaugh Show. Premiere is the distributor of Limbaugh’s program. The advertisers have also requested to be excluded from other right-wing hosts including Michael Savage, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity. According to the memo, the listed companies’ advertisements should be excluded from these programs because they have been “deemed to be offensive.”

Good for them.