Tag Archives: Minnesota

Darwin Year Panel Discussion, Sunday in the Twin Cities

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Feb 15 – Darwin Year Panel Discussion Featuring Myers, Laden, Moore, Cotner and Phillips

2009 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origins of Species. In honor of this, we have assembled a distinguished panel of scientists to give us their thoughts on evolution, creationism, and Darwin. The panelists are: PZ Myers, Randy Moore, Greg Laden, Sehoya Cotner, and Jane Phillips.

The discussion will be moderated by Lynn Fellman. Lynn is a frequent science interviewer on our Atheists Talk radio program. She is also an independent artist and designer (FellmanStudio.com) who incorporates science into her work.

This event is free and open to the public.

Location:
Rondo Community Outreach Library
461 N Dale St
Saint Paul, MN 55103
651-266-7400

Minnesota Atheists Feburary Membership Meeting

February 15, 2009

1:00-1:15 p.m. – Social time.
1:15-1:45 p.m. – MNA business meeting, including annual elections.
1:45-2:00 p.m. – Social time.
2:00-3:00 p.m. – Panel discussion.
3:00-3:30 p.m. – Social time.
4:00 p.m. – Dinner at a nearby restaurant.


Mn Atheist Web Site

Minnesota. If you don’t like the weather …. you better get into the basement.

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Got home from the lake last night happy to see that our neighborhood was spared any significant damage from the big giant storm that engulfed several local communities, including ours. There was very large hail up-stream from us and there are a few big trees down not far from here.The people really hit were in Hugo, where a twister formed and touched down, doing a very large amount of damage and killing one child.Ana’s sibling (you know Ana, she’s running for president) not far from the twiseter saw a giant oak tree sucked into the sky and carried off to oz.I suspect no tornadoes today. They hardly ever happne when it is THIRTY SEVEN degrees Fahrenheit!!! Continue reading Minnesota. If you don’t like the weather …. you better get into the basement. →

Can Darwin Make You Healthy?

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A talk by Mark Decker!May 20, 7 p.m.Bryant-Lake Bowl, Uptown$5-$10 (pay what you can)Darwin wrote about the competition between individuals that results in the survival of the fittest. But what about competitions within individuals, between the cells inside our bodies? In that struggle, cancer cells could be considered the most successful since they are the most prolific. Can Darwin provide us with a novel approach to understanding cancer? How might Darwin explain the degenerative diseases of old age? Some biologists suspect that evolution actually favors diseases of old age. In fact, an evolutionary approach to studying longevity, scrutinizing the lowly roundworm, may yield secrets to a long and vigorous life. Explore these and other medical applications of Darwinism in a discussion with Mark Decker, an evolutionary biologist in the University’s Biology Program.

Too Many Tornadoes

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Marilee Thomas of Beaver City, Nebraska. And a tornado. [source]
Mid-Americans … Minnesotans, Texans, Nebraskans and denizens of Arkansas, and everyone in between, understand tornadoes, but to varying degrees. There are differences by region in how we deal with them. In Arkansas, I’ve seen foolish bravado. The tornado shelter there is known as the “fraidy hole” and having one or not in your back yard may be linked to one’s sense of machismo. People from Missouri that I have known have a deep respect for tornadoes. An example: A few years back there was a talk being given at The U when the tornado sirens went off. Looking out the windows all we could see was black punctuated by white dots (the hail hitting the window). That was not good at 3:00 in the afternoon. As the group sat there wondering what to do, my student, Lynne, stood up and said “I’m from Missouri. I’m going to the basement. You’all can stay here if you like.” Continue reading Too Many Tornadoes →

‘Sodans and Sconsinites, Sharpen your Quills!

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Vaccine denialism and related issues is something that I took a great interest in many years ago with the publication of Laruie Garret’s “The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance,” a book which presaged a great deal of later popular and more technical literature on diseases. My interested was piqued in connection with an interest in so called “emerging diseases” that came from my work at that time in emerging disease land (the northeastern Congo forest). (Yes, these are all linked in various ways. But my interest in writing about these issues has been dampened since joining Scienceblogs.com. Continue reading ‘Sodans and Sconsinites, Sharpen your Quills! →

Ellison Endorses Madia

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i-42463a742e85439b72c48a8d3e7dcc49-madia.jpgMinnesota Third Congressional District hopeful, Democratic candidate Ashwin Madia, was endorsed by Fifth District’s Keith Ellison.You will remember that Keith Ellison attained sudden national attention when he was first elected to congress last year because he is not a Christian, and many right wing fanatics thought maybe he’d swear his oath of office on the Koran, thus ruining everything….Indeed, many hard right wing groups continue to spew anti-Ellison propaganda. He is everything the right wing hates … non Christian, Muslim, and Black.Ellison is a very popular figure in Minnesota, and has proven to be an effective member of congress.i-c9c77e08af5ff527287f7d85824559d5-ellison.jpgMadia is trying to take an open seat in a traditionally Republican district, and the word is that he has a fair chance of doing so. This district was gerrymandered years ago to be a Republican district. The logic behind that (from the perspective of the Republicans) was to surround the generally liberal and Democratic Twin Cities with Republican member of congress. There are certain political processes having to do with funding and planning that strike fear in the hearts of suburbanites, such as spending money in the “inner city” and on poor people who are sometimes not white, etc. But the district has changed, and much of it is now working class and Democratic. The fact that the Republican congressman who has represented this district (he is now retiring) is very moderate (for a Republican) has minimized the chances for any strong anti-Republican backlash. But now that the seat is open, there is a good chance of a turnover.Ellison’s endorsement: Continue reading Ellison Endorses Madia →

Minnesota al Qaeda Attack Thwarted by Patriot … or maybe not

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i-186f7eed436a526f7d48b4f93f61b03d-blazers_bin.jpgAmericans revel in violence. We have an excuse for almost any kind of violent or oppressive act. When a young boy poking around, on a dare, in what he thought was an abandoned house was shot dead by my neighbor last year, the boy was vilified as a threat and the trigger happy crazy guy lauded as a hero, by my other neighbors. Why would that be? Earlier this week, an event happened in a nearby town that helps us to understand the sorry state our culture has attained.During a high school basketball game between local teams Shakopee and Prior Lake, a “fan” ran onto the basketball court twice, interrupting the game. While he did this, his buddies were elsewhere in the gym throwing eggs at people. During his second interruption, the “fan” grabbed the basketball from a player preparing for a foul shot, and started taking layups. That is when activities director John Janke violently tackled the fan, bringing him to the ground.Janke is now a hero in the local press. I beg to differ. Let me tell you why. Continue reading Minnesota al Qaeda Attack Thwarted by Patriot … or maybe not →

Good Morning from Minnesota…

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While Duluth is having a balmy morning, just over 10F, here in the twin cities we are hovering a few below zero. Despite the cold, the ice is simply not as thick as people expect it to be. Bradley Erikson’s truck went through the ice on Leech Lake last night. Bradley got out of the water but died on his way back to his camp. Today is the 100th day of work on the new bridge, replacing God’s Bridge, on Highway 35W, which fell down last summer. (Maybe 35E is the holy branch of the now nationally famous Highway 35, and 35W is the evil twin … ever think about that?)Garrison Keillor is annoyed that his next door neighbor is building a “MacHouse” … that’s what Twin Cities home owners, who traditionally live in tiny little stucco-covered hovels, call the new homes being build as infill all across the metro area with unique designs such as having a second story that you don’t have to bend over to walk around in. Garrison is suing.

Keillor and his wife, Jenny Lind Nilsson, are suing their next-door neighbor, Lori Anderson, to stop her from building a two-story addition to her home that would include a three-stall garage and studio.[Star Tribune, 15 January 2008]

University of Minnesota researchers have figured out how to make a functioning heart from scratch, more or less.Other than that, not much else going on here in the North Star State.