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<channel>
	<title>Heaving Dead Cats &#187; wow</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/category/wow/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://www.heavingdeadcats.com</link>
	<description>Skeptical Freethought Atheist Musings to Dispel Ignorance and Enlighten the Mind</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Mon, 30 Aug 2010 02:55:43 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>The Immortal Jelly</title>
		<link>http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2010/07/15/the-immortal-jelly/</link>
		<comments>http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2010/07/15/the-immortal-jelly/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Jul 2010 09:41:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Neece</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fascinating]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interesting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[neat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[animals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[immortal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[immortality]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jellies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jelly]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jellyfish]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nature]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Skeptic's Guide to the Universe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[transdifferentiation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turritopsis nutricula]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/?p=2955</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here is an amazing creature! Turritopsis nutricula is a hydrozoan, a jelly. They aren&#8217;t called jellyfish anymore, by the way. Now they are called jellies. Nom! Only I don&#8217;t want to eat this one on toast, I want scientists to study it. Why? Well, it&#8217;s basically immortal. After it reaches sexual maturity, it can go [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/jelly.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-2957" title="Turritopsis nutricula" src="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/jelly.jpg" alt="" width="365" height="259" /></a>Here is an amazing creature! <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_nutricula" target="_blank">Turritopsis nutricula</a> is a hydrozoan, a jelly. They aren&#8217;t called jellyfish anymore, by the way. Now they are called jellies. Nom! Only I don&#8217;t want to eat this one on toast, I want scientists to study it. Why? Well, it&#8217;s basically immortal.</p>
<p>After it reaches sexual maturity, it can go through a process of transdifferentiation and transform mature cells back to young cells (polyps). Here&#8217;s one way to explain it:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Cell transdifferentiation is when the jellyfish &#8220;alters the differentiated state of the cell and transforms it into a new cell. In this process the medusa of the immortal jellyfish is transformed into the polyps of a new polyp colony. First, the umbrella reverts itself and then the tentacles and mesoglea get resorbed. The reverted medusa then attaches itself to the substrate by the end that had been at the opposite end of the umbrella and starts giving rise to new polyps to form the new colony. Theoretically, this process can go on infinitely, effectively rendering the jellyfish biologically immortal. (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_nutricula" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</p>
<p>This little creature is about 4.5 mm in diameter (.18 inches). The red in the center is its large stomach. Young jellies have about 8 tentacles while adults have 80-90 tentacles. The picture shown below is actually a Turritopsis rubra from New Zealand which is closely related. They are very similar, but it&#8217;s not known if  T. rubra can transform back into polyps.</p>
<p>The jelly originated in the Carribbean but now it&#8217;s found all over the world in temperate to tropical oceans. Because it&#8217;s basically immortal (if it doesn&#8217;t succumb to predation, etc), the numbers are spiking.  They think it&#8217;s spreading by ships discharging ballast water in ports.</p>
<p>A bit more about their immortality:<span id="more-2955"></span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/turritopsis-rubra2.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-2956" title="turritopsis-rubra" src="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/turritopsis-rubra2.jpg" alt="" width="298" height="293" /></a>Careful laboratory experiments have revealed that all stages of the medusae, from newly released to fully mature individuals, can transform back into polyps.[3] The transforming medusa is characterized first by deterioration of the bell and tentacles, with subsequent growth of a perisarc sheet (see hydroid) and stolons, and finally feeding polyps. Polyps further multiply by growing additional stolons, branches and then polyps, to form colonial hydroids. This ability to reverse the life cycle (in response to adverse conditions) is probably unique in the animal kingdom, and allows the jellyfish to bypass death, rendering Turritopsis nutricula potentially biologically immortal. Studies in the laboratory showed that 100% of specimens could revert to the polyp stage, but so far the process has not been observed in nature, in part because the process is quite rapid and field observations at the right moment in time are unlikely.[3] In spite of this remarkable ability, most Turritopsis medusae are likely to fall victim to the general hazards of life as plankton, including being eaten by other animals, or succumbing to disease.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydra_(genus)" target="_blank">hydra</a> is also being studied because it also has the ability to regenerate. It can regenerate tissue when injured or severed and doesn&#8217;t age.</p>
<p>Fascinating! The natural world is so wonderful and full of mystery. Maybe someday this beautiful little creature will help us all live longer, but if not, it&#8217;s just at least exciting to know that it exists and thrives in our fantastic world.</p>
<p>Thanks to <a href="http://www.theskepticsguide.org/archive/podcastinfo.aspx?mid=1&amp;pid=258" target="_blank">The Skeptic&#8217;s Guide to the Universe</a> for telling me about T. nutricula.</p>

	<h4>Related posts</h4>
	<ul class="st-related-posts">
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2010/07/24/why-people-defend-their-dogma/" title="Why People Defend Their Dogma (July 24, 2010)">Why People Defend Their Dogma</a> (5)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2008/11/04/superstitious-it-could-be-your-lack-of-control/" title="Superstitious? It Could Be Your Lack Of Control (November 4, 2008)">Superstitious? It Could Be Your Lack Of Control</a> (5)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2008/11/23/science-human-body-amazing/" title="Science And The Human Body: Amazing (November 23, 2008)">Science And The Human Body: Amazing</a> (0)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2009/02/12/religion-is-the-path-of-least-resistance/" title="Religion is the Path of Least Resistance (February 12, 2009)">Religion is the Path of Least Resistance</a> (2)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2009/03/13/random-thoughts-about-human-impact-on-evolution/" title="Random Thoughts About Human Impact On Evolution (March 13, 2009)">Random Thoughts About Human Impact On Evolution</a> (2)</li>
</ul>

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		<item>
		<title>Australia&#8217;s New Prime Minister is Not Religious!</title>
		<link>http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2010/06/24/australias-new-prime-minister-is-not-religious/</link>
		<comments>http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2010/06/24/australias-new-prime-minister-is-not-religious/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Jun 2010 21:33:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Neece</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Agnostic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Atheism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Atheist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interesting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[news story]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[australia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Julia Gillard]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[not religious]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prime minister]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/?p=2884</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My friend Kevin lives in Australia and sent me a message this morning about their new prime minister Down Under. Julia Gillard is the first female prime minister of Australia, AND this is what she says about her personal life: Gillard has never married or had children.  Her partner since 2006, Tim Mathieson, is a [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Julia-Gillard.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-2885" title="Julia-Gillard" src="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Julia-Gillard.jpg" alt="" width="228" height="333" /></a>My friend Kevin lives in Australia and sent me a message this morning about their new prime minister Down Under. Julia Gillard is the first female prime minister of Australia, AND this is what she says about her personal life:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Gillard has never married or had children.  Her partner since 2006, Tim Mathieson, is a hairdresser. Gillard said through a spokeswoman that she was a &#8220;non-practising Baptist&#8221; and &#8220;not religious&#8221;. She is tolerant of public interest in her personal life, stating that &#8220;People want to know who you are, the shape of your life. That is legitimate.&#8221;</p>
<p>Very interesting! Australia has voted in a woman who is Not Religious! How did that happen? That&#8217;s wonderful! She is the first person in high politics I&#8217;ve ever heard of who has said that.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s hope she does a great job and that other &#8220;non-religious&#8221; politicians follow suit and run for high offices and succeed. I wonder if we could ever get that far here in America? Wow, I&#8217;m really reaching for the stars now!</p>
<p>Good luck, Julia. I hope you do great things in your run as prime minister.</p>

	<h4>Related posts</h4>
	<ul class="st-related-posts">
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2008/08/19/why-im-an-atheist-not-an-agnostic/" title="Why I&#8217;m An Atheist, Not An Agnostic (August 19, 2008)">Why I&#8217;m An Atheist, Not An Agnostic</a> (19)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2008/11/23/science-human-body-amazing/" title="Science And The Human Body: Amazing (November 23, 2008)">Science And The Human Body: Amazing</a> (0)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2008/09/28/hypocrisy/" title="Hypocrisy (September 28, 2008)">Hypocrisy</a> (3)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2009/02/19/why-do-atheists-have-to-rock-the-boat/" title="Why Do Atheists Have To Rock The Boat? (February 19, 2009)">Why Do Atheists Have To Rock The Boat?</a> (22)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2008/08/23/websters-dictionary-biased-towards-christianity/" title="Webster&#8217;s Dictionary is Biased Towards Christianity (August 23, 2008)">Webster&#8217;s Dictionary is Biased Towards Christianity</a> (26)</li>
</ul>

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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Liquid Glass Is Groovy!</title>
		<link>http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2010/02/12/liquid-glass-is-groovy/</link>
		<comments>http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2010/02/12/liquid-glass-is-groovy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 12 Feb 2010 19:03:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Neece</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Brilliant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[evolution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[helpful stuff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[innovation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[neat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cool]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[darwin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[darwin day]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[environment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[groovy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[liquid glass]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nanotech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[research]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[technology]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/?p=2505</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Happy Darwin Day everyone! Today is Darwin&#8217;s birthday and in honor of him, I thought I&#8217;d post this article about Liquid Glass, which could possibly be the coolest nanotech material I&#8217;ve seen in some time. I think it&#8217;s so cool mainly because of its versatility and the fact that it&#8217;s already in use in Germany, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/1718295_222350_110564f499_p.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-2506" title="Halloo!" src="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/1718295_222350_110564f499_p-420x449.jpg" alt="" width="316" height="338" /></a>Happy Darwin Day everyone! Today is Darwin&#8217;s birthday and in honor of him, I thought I&#8217;d post this article about Liquid Glass, which could possibly be the coolest nanotech material I&#8217;ve seen in some time. I think it&#8217;s so cool mainly because of its versatility and the fact that it&#8217;s already in use in Germany, the UK and Turkey.</p>
<p>Why am I talking about nanotech on Darwin&#8217;s birthday? If you think about it, without evolution, we wouldn&#8217;t be able to manipulate our world so deftly and with such finesse. About 195,000 years ago homo sapiens first appeared in the fossil record. We started leaving Africa about 70,000 years ago, and migrated as far as the Americas 14,500 years ago.</p>
<p>A mere 10,000 years ago, we were mostly hunter-gatherers in nomadic groups. The first proto-states were developed only 6,000 years ago. Think of that! Look how far we&#8217;ve come in such a short time!</p>
<p>Think of how we lived just 100 years ago in 1910.</p>
<ul>
<li>By 1910 many suburban homes were wired up with power and new electronic gadgets.</li>
<li>Vacuum cleaners and washing machines had just become commercially available, though still expensive for middle class folks</li>
<li>The telephone was new, and millions of American homes were connected by manual switchboard</li>
<li>People relied on the paper for their news, but radio technology was in its infancy</li>
<li>The age of the airship was in full swing. Only 7 years previously, the Wright brothers had flown at Kitty Hawk</li>
<li>Henry Ford introduced the Model T 2 years before and sold about 10,000 of them this year</li>
<li>Advances in the use of gases meant the first electric refrigerators and air conditioning units.</li>
<li>Neon lighting was debuted in Paris</li>
<li>Inventions included: escalators, teabags, cellophane, instant coffee and disposable razor blades</li>
<li>Women still had another 3 years of corsets</li>
</ul>
<p>Things they didn&#8217;t have in 1910:<span id="more-2505"></span></p>
<ul>
<li>stainless steel</li>
<li>zippers</li>
<li>the modern bra</li>
<li>the modern band-aid</li>
<li>the pop-up toaster</li>
<li>sliced bread</li>
</ul>
<p>But let&#8217;s get back to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_silicate" target="_blank">Liquid  Glass</a>. You spray it on. It&#8217;s transparent, non-toxic and can protect virtually any surface against almost any damage from hazards such as water, UV radiation, dirt, heat and bacterial infections. It&#8217;s flexible and breathable, which means it can be used on all kinds of products.</p>
<blockquote><p>The liquid glass spray (technically termed “SiO2 ultra-thin layering”) consists of almost pure silicon dioxide (silica, the normal compound in glass) extracted from quartz sand. Water or ethanol is added, depending on the type of surface to be coated. There are no additives, and the nano-scale glass coating bonds to the surface because of the quantum forces involved. According to the manufacturers, liquid glass has a long-lasting antibacterial effect because microbes landing on the surface cannot divide or replicate easily.</p>
<p>Liquid glass was invented in Turkey and the patent is held by Nanopool, a family-owned German company. Research on the product was carried out at the Saarbrücken Institute for New Materials. Nanopool is already in negotiations in the UK with a number of companies and with the National Health Service, with a view to its widespread adoption.</p>
<p>The liquid glass spray produces a water-resistant coating only around 100 nanometers (15-30 molecules) thick. On this nanoscale the glass is highly flexible and breathable. The coating is environmentally harmless and non-toxic, and easy to clean using only water or a simple wipe with a damp cloth. It repels bacteria, water and dirt, and resists heat, UV light and even acids. UK project manager with Nanopool, Neil McClelland, said soon almost every product you purchase will be coated with liquid glass.</p>
<p>Food processing companies in Germany have already carried out trials of the spray, and found sterile surfaces that usually needed to be cleaned with strong bleach to keep them sterile needed only a hot water rinse if they were coated with liquid glass. The levels of sterility were higher for the glass-coated surfaces, and the surfaces remained sterile for months.</p>
<p>Other organizations, such as a train company and a hotel chain in the UK, and a hamburger chain in Germany, are also testing liquid glass for a wide range of uses. A year-long trial of the spray in a Lancashire hospital also produced “very promising” results for a range of applications including coatings for equipment, medical implants, catheters, sutures and bandages. The war graves association in the UK is investigating using the spray to treat stone monuments and grave stones, since trials have shown the coating protects against weathering and graffiti. Trials in Turkey are testing the product on monuments such as the Ataturk Mausoleum in Ankara.</p>
<p>The liquid glass coating is breathable, which means it can be used on plants and seeds. Trials in vineyards have found spraying vines increases their resistance to fungal diseases, while other tests have shown sprayed seeds germinate and grow faster than untreated seeds, and coated wood is not attacked by termites. Other vineyard applications include coating corks with liquid glass to prevent “corking” and contamination of wine. The spray cannot be seen by the naked eye, which means it could also be used to treat clothing and other materials to make them stain-resistant. McClelland said you can “pour a bottle of wine over an expensive silk shirt and it will come right off”.</p>
<p>In the home, spray-on glass would eliminate the need for scrubbing and make most cleaning products obsolete. Since it is available in both water-based and alcohol-based solutions, it can be used in the oven, in bathrooms, tiles, sinks, and almost every other surface in the home, and one spray is said to last a year.</p>
<p>Liquid glass spray is perhaps the most important nanotechnology product to emerge to date. It will be available in DIY stores in Britain soon, with prices starting at around £5 ($8 US). Other outlets, such as many supermarkets, may be unwilling to stock the products because they make enormous profits from cleaning products that need to be replaced regularly, and liquid glass would make virtually all of them obsolete.</p>
<p>Thanks, <a href="http://www.physorg.com/news184310039.html" target="_blank">PhysOrg</a></p></blockquote>
<p>A bit more info on it:</p>
<blockquote><p>The flexible and breathable glass coating is approximately 100 nanometres thick (500 times thinner than a human hair), and so it is completely undetectable. It is food safe, environmentally friendly (winner of the Green Apple  Award) and it can be applied to almost any surface within seconds . When coated, all surfaces become easy to clean and anti-microbially protected  (Winner of the NHS Smart Solutions Award ). Houses, cars, ovens, wedding  dress   or any other  protected surface  become stain resistant and can be easily cleaned with water  ; no cleaning chemicals  are required. Amazingly a 30 second DIY application to a sink unit will last for a year or years, depending on how often it is used. But it does not stop there &#8211; the coatings are now also recognised as being suitable for agricultural and in-vivo application. Vines coated with SiO2 don’t  suffer from mildew, and coated seeds grow more rapidly without the need for anti-fungal chemicals. This will result in farmers in enjoying  massively increased yields.</p></blockquote>
<blockquote><p>&#8230;The really clever part is that there are no added nano-particles ,  resins or additives- the coatings form and bond due to quantum forces.  Our research informs us that in all probability, we  offer the most  versatile coating in the world. This technology is now available for domestic use in Germany.  Full scale retail availability in the UK will commence in early 2010.</p></blockquote>
<blockquote><p><a href="http://www.nanopool.eu/couk/index.htm" target="_blank">Nanopool</a></p></blockquote>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_sapiens" target="_blank">Evolution Information</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.livescience.com/technology/100101-technology-1910.html" target="_blank">100 Years Ago Information</a></li>
</ul>

	<h4>Related posts</h4>
	<ul class="st-related-posts">
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2009/03/13/random-thoughts-about-human-impact-on-evolution/" title="Random Thoughts About Human Impact On Evolution (March 13, 2009)">Random Thoughts About Human Impact On Evolution</a> (2)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2010/06/18/more-groovy-science-2-2/" title="More Groovy Science 2 (June 18, 2010)">More Groovy Science 2</a> (2)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2010/02/23/some-recent-scientific-studies/" title="Some Recent Scientific Studies (February 23, 2010)">Some Recent Scientific Studies</a> (0)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2010/07/27/more-groovy-science-4/" title="More Groovy Science 4 (July 27, 2010)">More Groovy Science 4</a> (5)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2010/07/13/more-groovy-science-3/" title="More Groovy Science 3 (July 13, 2010)">More Groovy Science 3</a> (5)</li>
</ul>

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		<title>A Wild Ride With Robert Sapolsky</title>
		<link>http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2010/02/04/a-wild-ride-with-robert-sapolsky/</link>
		<comments>http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2010/02/04/a-wild-ride-with-robert-sapolsky/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:50:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Neece</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Atheist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Study]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fascinating]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interesting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[book]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[parasite]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[robert sapolsky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/?p=2485</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My friend Brent sent me a link to a page on the web. It&#8217;s a conversation with Robert Sapolsky, a quiet, funny, apparently brilliant professor of biological sciences at Stanford University and of neurology at Stanford&#8217;s School of Medicine. Professor Sapolsky has written several books such as: Monkeyluv: And Other Essays on Our Lives as [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/sapolsky.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-2486" title="sapolsky" src="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/sapolsky-450x298.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="298" /></a>My friend Brent sent me a link to a page on the web. It&#8217;s a conversation with Robert Sapolsky, a quiet, funny, apparently brilliant professor of biological sciences at Stanford University and of neurology at Stanford&#8217;s School of Medicine. Professor Sapolsky has written several books such as:</p>
<ul>
<li> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743260163?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=zenswor-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0743260163">Monkeyluv: And Other Essays on Our Lives as Animals</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805073698?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=zenswor-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0805073698">Why Zebras Don&#8217;t Get Ulcers</a></li>
<li> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743202414?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=zenswor-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0743202414">A Primate&#8217;s Memoir: A Neuroscientist&#8217;s Unconventional Life Among the Baboons</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684838915?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=zenswor-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0684838915">The Trouble With Testosterone: And Other Essays On The Biology Of The Human Predicament</a></li>
</ul>
<p>The link Brent sent me was called <a href="http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/sapolsky09/sapolsky09_index.html" target="_blank">TOXO</a> and he suggested it to me because our book club is reading <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0970950519?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=zenswor-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0970950519">The God Virus: How religion infects our lives and culture</a>, by Daniel W Ray. Now the video on that page was Robert Sapolsky talking about a most interesting parasite called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasma_gondii" target="_blank">Toxoplasma</a>. This is what pregnant women need to worry about, and why they avoid cats and cat feces. It can wreak havoc on their unborn baby&#8217;s nervous system.</p>
<p>If you read The God Virus, which talks about parasites and viruses as an analogy for religion, I highly recommend watching this video. If you aren&#8217;t going to read the book I still recommend the video. The transcript is underneath it too, which will make it even more accessible for you. But the video is longer than the transcript. So take 25 minutes and enjoy it. <a href="http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/sapolsky09/sapolsky09_index.html#video" target="_blank">Here&#8217;s another link to the video</a>. I&#8217;m telling you, it&#8217;s fascinating. As I mentioned, the video is longer than the transcript. He goes into  telemeres and molecular age, which I heard a study about recently confirming what he is explaining.</p>
<p>What he&#8217;s talking about touches on evolution, common ancestors, parasites and how they go about getting where they need to be, motorcyclists and speed freaks, and schizophrenics, as well as the government&#8217;s interest in this parasite. A wild ride indeed!<span id="more-2485"></span></p>
<p>Of course, as a skeptic, I thought I&#8217;d just look around a bit and see who this Sapolsky guy is, since I&#8217;d never heard of him. I found his books (linked to above), his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Sapolsky" target="_blank">Wikipedia </a>page, and a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrCVu25wQ5s&amp;feature=player_embedded" target="_blank">very cool speech</a> he gave to Stanford students about to graduate. It&#8217;s about the uniqueness of humans. Here is the Stanford speech:</p>
<p><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="344" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hrCVu25wQ5s&amp;color1=0xb1b1b1&amp;color2=0xcfcfcf&amp;hl=en_US&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;fs=1" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hrCVu25wQ5s&amp;color1=0xb1b1b1&amp;color2=0xcfcfcf&amp;hl=en_US&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;fs=1" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
<p><a href="http://www.ted.com/" target="_blank">TED</a> likes him too. Here&#8217;s <a href="http://www.ted.com/speakers/robert_sapolsky.html" target="_blank">his bio page</a><a href="http://www.ted.com/" target="_blank"></a>.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;If a rat is a good model for your emotional life, you&#8217;re in big trouble.&#8221; Robert Sapolsky</p></blockquote>
<p>I guess it&#8217;s no surprise that he&#8217;s an &#8220;<a href="http://www.celebatheists.com/wiki/Robert_Sapolsky" target="_blank">unbudgeable atheist</a>&#8220;. Did I mention he was awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant? But if you watch the videos, you&#8217;ll find that he&#8217;s fairly easy to understand, so he&#8217;s able to teach what he knows, which is awesome.</p>
<p>Oh, and the connection between toxoplasma and schizophrenia? Science Daily has a few studies that I could find:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060125082853.htm" target="_blank">Scientists Find Stronger Evidence For Link Between Cat Faeces And Schizophrenia</a>: Jan 2006</li>
<li><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090311085151.htm" target="_blank">Toxoplasmosis Parasite May Trigger Schizophrenia And Bipolar Disorders</a>: March 2009</li>
<li><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080116123517.htm" target="_blank">Toxoplasma Infection Increases Risk Of Schizophrenia, Study Suggests</a>: Jan 2008</li>
</ul>
<p>Cross-posted from <a href="http://www.morgantownatheists.com/2010/02/03/a-wild-ride-with-robert-sapolsky/" target="_blank">Morgantown Atheists</a></p>

	<h4>Related posts</h4>
	<ul class="st-related-posts">
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2009/04/28/entertainment-that-enlightens-1/" title="Entertainment That Enlightens 1 (April 28, 2009)">Entertainment That Enlightens 1</a> (20)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2009/09/23/what-are-you-doing-november-19/" title="What Are You Doing November 19? (September 23, 2009)">What Are You Doing November 19?</a> (10)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2009/03/06/more-differences-in-the-brains-of-believers-and-non-believers/" title="More Differences In The Brains Of Believers And Non-Believers (March 6, 2009)">More Differences In The Brains Of Believers And Non-Believers</a> (6)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2009/07/20/swearing-brings-pain-relief/" title="Swearing Brings Pain Relief (July 20, 2009)">Swearing Brings Pain Relief</a> (6)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2008/11/04/superstitious-it-could-be-your-lack-of-control/" title="Superstitious? It Could Be Your Lack Of Control (November 4, 2008)">Superstitious? It Could Be Your Lack Of Control</a> (5)</li>
</ul>

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		</item>
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		<title>A Symphony of Science</title>
		<link>http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2009/12/11/a-symphony-of-science/</link>
		<comments>http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2009/12/11/a-symphony-of-science/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:51:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Neece</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Brilliant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Think]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Words]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[happy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[symphony of science]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/?p=2337</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I have some videos to share with you today. All three are created by John Boswell and are different, interesting, inspiring and thought provoking. You can find the videos with the lyrics and downloads of the songs in different formats at his site: The Symphony of Science. Here&#8217;s what the site says: &#8220;The Symphony of [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/phdcatdebates128524600461723750.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-2340" title="phdcatdebates128524600461723750" src="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/phdcatdebates128524600461723750.jpg" alt="phdcatdebates128524600461723750" width="412" height="310" /></a>I have some videos to share with you today. All three are created by John Boswell and are different, interesting, inspiring and thought provoking. You can find the videos with the lyrics and downloads of the songs in different formats at his site: <a href="http://www.symphonyofscience.com/" target="_blank">The Symphony of Science</a>. Here&#8217;s what the site says:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">&#8220;The Symphony of Science is a musical project by John Boswell designed to deliver scientific knowledge and philosophy in musical form. Here you can watch music videos, download songs, read lyrics and find links relating to the messages conveyed by the music.&#8221;</p>
<p>The first time I heard A Glorious Dawn was on the <a href="http://doubtreligion.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Reasonable Doubts</a> podcast. I didn&#8217;t care for it for the first few seconds but it grew on me very quickly. When I watched the videos I was inspired. Basically Carl Sagan and other awesome scientists are singing in a synthesized way. There&#8217;s a special program that does this, but I can&#8217;t think of what it&#8217;s called at the moment. Ozzie and Cher have both put out albums using this same technique to save their sagging voices. But here John Boswell turns speech into music.</p>
<p>All three are awesome. I hope you try them out. Go to the website to download the music. A Glorious Dawn is also available on iTunes!<span id="more-2337"></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSgiXGELjbc&amp;feature=player_embedded" target="_blank">A Glorious Dawn</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="344" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zSgiXGELjbc&amp;color1=0xb1b1b1&amp;color2=0xcfcfcf&amp;hl=en_US&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;fs=1" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zSgiXGELjbc&amp;color1=0xb1b1b1&amp;color2=0xcfcfcf&amp;hl=en_US&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;fs=1" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Symphony of Science &#8211; Carl Sagan &#8211; &#8220;A Glorious Dawn&#8221;, featuring Stephen Hawking</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">[Sagan]<br />
If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch<br />
You must first invent the universe</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Space is filled with a network of wormholes<br />
You might emerge somewhere else in space<br />
Some when-else in time</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">The sky calls to us<br />
If we do not destroy ourselves<br />
We will one day venture to the stars</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">A still more glorious dawn awaits<br />
Not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise<br />
A morning filled with 400 billion suns<br />
The rising of the milky way</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">The Cosmos is full beyond measure of elegant truths<br />
Of exquisite interrelationships<br />
Of the awesome machinery of nature</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">I believe our future depends powerfully<br />
On how well we understand this cosmos<br />
In which we float like a mote of dust<br />
In the morning sky</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">But the brain does much more than just recollect<br />
It inter-compares, it synthesizes, it analyzes<br />
it generates abstractions</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">The simplest thought like the concept of the number one<br />
Has an elaborate logical underpinning<br />
The brain has its own language<br />
For testing the structure and consistency of the world</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">[Hawking]<br />
For thousands of years<br />
People have wondered about the universe<br />
Did it stretch out forever<br />
Or was there a limit</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">From the big bang to black holes<br />
From dark matter to a possible big crunch<br />
Our image of the universe today<br />
Is full of strange sounding ideas</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">[Sagan]<br />
How lucky we are to live in this time<br />
The first moment in human history<br />
When we are in fact visiting other worlds</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">The surface of the earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean<br />
Recently we&#8217;ve waded a little way out<br />
And the water seems inviting</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">~</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGK84Poeynk&amp;feature=player_embedded" target="_blank">We Are All Connected</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="344" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XGK84Poeynk&amp;color1=0x3a3a3a&amp;color2=0x999999&amp;hl=en_US&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;fs=1" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XGK84Poeynk&amp;color1=0x3a3a3a&amp;color2=0x999999&amp;hl=en_US&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;fs=1" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Symphony of Science &#8211; We Are All Connected<br />
featuring Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">[deGrasse Tyson]<br />
We are all connected;<br />
To each other, biologically<br />
To the earth, chemically<br />
To the rest of the universe atomically</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">[Feynman]<br />
I think nature&#8217;s imagination<br />
Is so much greater than man&#8217;s<br />
She&#8217;s never going to let us relax</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">[Sagan]<br />
We live in an in-between universe<br />
Where things change all right<br />
But according to patterns, rules,<br />
Or as we call them, laws of nature</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">[Nye]<br />
I&#8217;m this guy standing on a planet<br />
Really I&#8217;m just a speck<br />
Compared with a star, the planet is just another speck<br />
To think about all of this<br />
To think about the vast emptiness of space<br />
There&#8217;s billions and billions of stars<br />
Billions and billions of specks</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">[Sagan]<br />
The beauty of a living thing is not the atoms that go into it<br />
But the way those atoms are put together<br />
The cosmos is also within us<br />
We&#8217;re made of star stuff<br />
We are a way for the cosmos to know itself</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Across the sea of space<br />
The stars are other suns<br />
We have traveled this way before<br />
And there is much to be learned</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">I find it elevating and exhilarating<br />
To discover that we live in a universe<br />
Which permits the evolution of molecular machines<br />
As intricate and subtle as we</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">[deGrasse Tyson]<br />
I know that the molecules in my body are traceable<br />
To phenomena in the cosmos<br />
That makes me want to grab people in the street<br />
And say, have you heard this??</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">(Richard Feynman on hand drums and chanting)</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">[Feynman]<br />
There&#8217;s this tremendous mess<br />
Of waves all over in space<br />
Which is the light bouncing around the room<br />
And going from one thing to the other</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">And it&#8217;s all really there<br />
But you gotta stop and think about it<br />
About the complexity to really get the pleasure<br />
And it&#8217;s all really there<br />
The inconceivable nature of nature</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">~</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vioZf4TjoUI&amp;feature=player_embedded" target="_blank">Our Place in the Cosmos</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="344" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vioZf4TjoUI&amp;color1=0x3a3a3a&amp;color2=0x999999&amp;hl=en_US&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;fs=1" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vioZf4TjoUI&amp;color1=0x3a3a3a&amp;color2=0x999999&amp;hl=en_US&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;fs=1" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Symphony of Science &#8211; Our Place in the Cosmos<br />
featuring Carl Sagan, Richard Dawkins, Michio Kaku and Robert Jastrow<br />
[Narrator]<br />
With every century<br />
Our eyes on the universe have been opened anew<br />
We are witness<br />
To the very brink of time and space</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">[Robert Jastrow]<br />
We must ask ourselves<br />
We who are so proud of our accomplishments<br />
What is our place in the cosmic perspective of life?</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">[Carl Sagan]<br />
The exploration of the cosmos<br />
Is a voyage of self discovery<br />
As long as there have been humans<br />
We have searched for our place in the cosmos</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">[Richard Dawkins]<br />
Are there things about the universe<br />
That will be forever beyond our grasp?<br />
Are there things about the universe that are<br />
Ungraspable?</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">[Sagan]<br />
One of the great revelations of space exploration<br />
Is the image of the earth, finite and lonely<br />
Bearing the entire human species<br />
Through the oceans of space and time</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">[Dawkins]<br />
Matter flows from place to place<br />
And momentarily comes together to be you<br />
Some people find that thought disturbing<br />
I find the reality thrilling</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">[Sagan]<br />
As the ancient mythmakers knew<br />
We&#8217;re children equally of the earth and the sky<br />
In our tenure on this planet, we&#8217;ve accumulated<br />
Dangerous evolutionary baggage</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">We&#8217;ve also acquired compassion for others,<br />
Love for our children,<br />
And a great soaring passionate intelligence<br />
The clear tools for our continued survival</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">[Michio Kaku]<br />
We could be in the middle<br />
Of an inter-galactic conversation<br />
And we wouldn&#8217;t even know</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">[Sagan]<br />
We&#8217;ve begun at last<br />
To wonder about our origins<br />
Star stuff contemplating the stars<br />
Tracing that long path</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Our obligation to survive and flourish<br />
Is owed not just to ourselves<br />
But also to that cosmos<br />
Ancient and vast, from which we spring</p>

	<h4>Related posts</h4>
	<ul class="st-related-posts">
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2010/02/27/2-new-symphony-of-science-songs-one-helpful-diagram/" title="2 New Symphony of Science Songs, One Helpful Diagram (February 27, 2010)">2 New Symphony of Science Songs, One Helpful Diagram</a> (0)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2009/04/05/an-open-mind-is-a-happy-mind/" title="An Open Mind Is A Happy Mind! (April 5, 2009)">An Open Mind Is A Happy Mind!</a> (1)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2009/02/21/where-can-i-buy-some-creedocide/" title="Where Can I Buy Some Creedocide? (February 21, 2009)">Where Can I Buy Some Creedocide?</a> (4)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2009/06/01/what-jesus-wouldnt-do-and-what-i-have-done/" title="What Jesus Wouldn&#8217;t Do and What I Have Done (June 1, 2009)">What Jesus Wouldn&#8217;t Do and What I Have Done</a> (6)</li>
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2009/09/23/what-are-you-doing-november-19/" title="What Are You Doing November 19? (September 23, 2009)">What Are You Doing November 19?</a> (10)</li>
</ul>

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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Dumb As A Stump!</title>
		<link>http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2009/07/10/dumb-as-a-stump/</link>
		<comments>http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2009/07/10/dumb-as-a-stump/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:32:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Neece</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[believing problem]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[news story]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[worship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pareidolia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stupidity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[whacko jacko]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/?p=1662</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Oh for christ&#8217;s sake! Some people in Sacramento have seen an image of Whacko Jacko show up in a stump in their front yard the day he died. It&#8217;s a miracle! I wonder if it heals people and molests little boys? I wonder if it does the moon walk? Now, you&#8217;ve got to feel for [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/dumb-as-a-stump.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-1663" title="dumb-as-a-stump" src="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/dumb-as-a-stump.jpg" alt="dumb-as-a-stump" width="320" height="240" /></a>Oh for christ&#8217;s sake! Some people in Sacramento have seen an <a href="http://cbs13.com/local/michael.jackson.tree.2.1072797.html" target="_blank">image of Whacko Jacko</a> show up in a stump in their front yard the day he died. It&#8217;s a miracle! I wonder if it heals people and molests little boys? I wonder if it does the moon walk?</p>
<p>Now, you&#8217;ve got to feel for the local reporter doing this stupid story. Unless he asked them leading questions which were beyond stupid. Because if you watch the related video of the magical stump story, the people are exceedingly moronic.</p>
<p>When asked why MJ would show up, specifically to these people, and not some other celebrity or religious figure, this is what one idiot said: &#8220;Because Michael Jackson was an icon to us,&#8221; said one neighbor. &#8220;To Stockton, Michael Jackson meant more to us than Jesus, to some people. I think they&#8217;re both about even.&#8221;</p>
<p>So <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia" target="_blank">pareidolia</a> be damned. That&#8217;s just a stupid psychological phenomenon where a vague, random stimulus (like an image or a sound) is perceived as significant. That&#8217;s so boring compared to imagining a knot in a stump is something magical and exciting. Let&#8217;s all start worshiping the magic michael stump!</p>
<p>Hell, I can&#8217;t see anything. I guess I&#8217;m doomed to suffer in a lake of hair on fire or something.</p>

	<h4>Related posts</h4>
	<ul class="st-related-posts">
	<li><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2010/04/25/what-would-it-take-to-make-me-believe-in-god/" title="What Would It Take To Make Me Believe In God? (April 25, 2010)">What Would It Take To Make Me Believe In God?</a> (10)</li>
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		<title>Oh Lordy, Kill My Oppressors, Please!</title>
		<link>http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2009/06/06/oh-lordy-kill-my-oppressors-please/</link>
		<comments>http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2009/06/06/oh-lordy-kill-my-oppressors-please/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 06 Jun 2009 23:40:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Neece</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[believing problem]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bible]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[critical thinking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hypocrisy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Atheist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bigotry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[christian]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[humanity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Insane]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/?p=1534</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Wiley Drake, a southern baptist preacher in California went on Fox News Radio&#8217;s Alan Colmes show on June 2nd and said he&#8217;s praying for god to kill President Obama. Drake used to be the 2nd vice president of the southern baptist convention. Apparently there&#8217;s a special kind of prayer from psalms where you ask god [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="size-full wp-image-1538 alignleft" title="fairy tales are for children" src="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/n605070095_5523596_7772.jpg" alt="fairy tales are for children" width="154" height="73" />Wiley Drake, a southern baptist preacher in California went on Fox News Radio&#8217;s Alan Colmes show on June 2nd and said he&#8217;s praying for god to kill President Obama. Drake used to be the 2nd vice president of the southern baptist convention.</p>
<p>Apparently there&#8217;s a special kind of prayer from psalms where you ask god to kill people for you, to vindicate your innocence and relieve you of your oppressors. It&#8217;s called imprecatory prayer.</p>
<p><a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=imprecate&amp;db=luna" target="_blank">Imprecate</a>: To call down by prayer, as something hurtful or calamitous. To invoke evil upon; curse.</p>
<p>Drake prayed to his god for the death of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Tiller" target="_blank">Dr. George Tiller</a>, who was murdered in his church on May 31st. Drake called his death an answer to prayer.</p>
<p>(emphasis of the following quotes are mine, with my comments interspersed)</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;Imprecatory prayer is agreeing with God, and if people don&#8217;t like that, they need to talk to God,&#8221; Drake told syndicated talk-show host Alan Colmes. <strong>&#8220;God said it, I didn&#8217;t. I was just agreeing with God.&#8221;</strong></p></blockquote>
<p>Lame! Cop-out! &#8216;Don&#8217;t blame me, it&#8217;s god&#8217;s responsibility! I just pestered him till he did what i demanded!&#8217;</p>
<blockquote><p>Asked if there are others for whom Drake is praying &#8220;imprecatory prayer,&#8221; Drake hesitated before answering that there are several. &#8220;The usurper that is in the White House is one, B. Hussein Obama,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Later in the interview, Colmes returned to Drake&#8217;s answer to make sure he heard him right.</p>
<p>&#8220;Are you praying for his death?&#8221; Colmes asked.</p>
<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; Drake replied.</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;So you&#8217;re praying for the death of the president of the United States?&#8221;</strong></p>
<p><strong>&#8220;Yes.&#8221;</strong></p>
<p>Colmes asked Drake if he was concerned that by saying that he might be placed on a Secret Service or FBI watch list, and if he believed it appropriate to talk or pray that way.</p></blockquote>
<p>At least he&#8217;s just praying, which we know to be completely ineffectual.<span id="more-1534"></span></p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;I think it&#8217;s appropriate to pray the Word of God,&#8221; Drake said. &#8220;I&#8217;m not saying anything. What I am doing is repeating what God is saying, and if that puts me on somebody&#8217;s list, then I&#8217;ll just have to be on their list.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;You would like for the president of the United States to die?&#8221; Colmes asked once more.</p>
<p>&#8220;If he does not turn to God and does not turn his life around, I am asking God to enforce imprecatory prayers that are throughout the Scripture that would cause him death, that&#8217;s correct.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>Uh, Obama&#8217;s a christian, Wiley. He prays at every state funded prayer service at the White House and at different functions.  Admit it, he&#8217;s just not <em>your</em> brand of christian. Hatemonger.</p>
<blockquote><p>Most of the half-hour interview on &#8220;The Alan Colmes Show&#8221; is premium programming available by paid subscription, but a five-minute clip appeared as a &#8220;top video&#8221; on the Fox News Radio website.</p>
<p>Drake said he didn&#8217;t pray for Tiller to be murdered &#8212; only that God would take his life by some method &#8212; but that he &#8220;absolutely&#8221; believed that God wanted the doctor dead.</p></blockquote>
<p>But, god couldn&#8217;t just strike Dr. Tiller with a bolt of lightning before he ever performed his first abortion, if that was such a heinous crime against humanity? Wiley&#8217;s god is so powerless he needs Wiley himself to pray fervently for certain things so that god knows what to do? Maybe god just isn&#8217;t a self-starter. Maybe god needs to be told what to do repeatedly because he tends to procrastinate and has no motivation. That would explain a lot, if there was a god.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;I believe the whole Bible, Alan,&#8221; he explained. &#8220;I don&#8217;t just preach part of it. I don&#8217;t just preach the soft, fuzzy, warm stuff where we&#8217;re supposed to be nice to everybody. I preach the whole Bible.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>Here is the only thing this slimeball said that I have to begrudgingly agree with. I don&#8217;t think christians should just pick out the warm fuzzy bits of the bible. But if they really read the whole thing, they&#8217;d probably end up atheists, like me and others who&#8217;ve studied it. Between the overabundance of hate and bigotry and violence against the innocent, and the huge inconsistencies and constant contradictions, it is a pretty sorry kind of book, lacking any kind of holiness.</p>
<blockquote><p>Part of the Bible, Drake claimed, is imprecatory prayer &#8212; words of judgment in the Psalms prayed back to God &#8212; a practice he said the church has lost.</p>
<p>Drake fielded calls from a few listeners, including one identifying himself as a lifelong Southern Baptist who said he was saddened to hear a minister would pray for someone to die.</p>
<p>&#8220;This whole concept that we&#8217;re always to pray little, nice, soft, fluffy, prayers &#8212; that we&#8217;re not to pray imprecatory prayer &#8212; has been something that just, in all honesty, that Southern Baptists have lost, and we need to regain imprecatory prayer,&#8221; Drake said. &#8220;It is in the Bible, and we are proud to say as Southern Baptists that we believe the Book. You&#8217;ve got to believe the whole Book, brother, or you don&#8217;t believe any of it.&#8221;</p>
<p>Asked if he thinks there might be other people praying imprecatory prayers for him that might be successful, Drake said, &#8220;Well, that&#8217;s certainly possible, but that&#8217;s in God&#8217;s hands, not in mine.&#8221;</p>
<p>Asked if he claimed to know God&#8217;s will, Drake replied: &#8220;In some cases I do. Not in all cases. I know this, that if I do die right now, I&#8217;ll go to heaven when I die because I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That&#8217;s why I&#8217;ll go to heaven and not to hell. And the reason George Tiller went to hell when he died was not because he killed babies, as terrible as that was. If he went to hell, and I think he did &#8212; that&#8217;s God&#8217;s judgment and not mine &#8212; but if he did go to hell it&#8217;s because he did not accept Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>Uh, once again, WTF is wrong with this dude? Dr. Tiller was IN CHURCH when he was murdered in cold blood. He was in church, actually helping his congregation by being an usher. Where is there any sense that he didn&#8217;t think he had a personal relationship with Jesus? But somehow god could tell that it wasn&#8217;t a good relationship with Jesus so he answered Wiley&#8217;s prayer and made some made pro-life christian go shoot him, in god&#8217;s own house of worship? Why would a sane god do that? Why would god <em>need</em> to do that? This is all so far beyond stupid. Seriously.</p>
<blockquote><p>Drake said he did not believe Tiller&#8217;s accused killer is a pro-life Christian.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m of the opinion &#8212; and now everybody&#8217;s going to say &#8216;There goes Wiley down the conspiracy-theory road,&#8217; I&#8217;m of the opinion that somebody in the Obama camp had this guy killed.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>OMFG. This guy is way off the deep end. Never mind. He&#8217;s a complete nutter. Still, is he a dangerous nutter though?</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;Who benefits the most from this man killing a doctor?&#8221; Drake asked. &#8220;We certainly don&#8217;t. Pro-life people certainly don&#8217;t. It hurts us. It damages us, but Obama will indeed advance it. This will be one of those crises to take advantage of, and he&#8217;s already done that.&#8221;</p>
<p>Drake said he had no evidence and admitted his opinion for now is &#8220;pure speculation.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Everybody said [Lee Harvey] Oswald was a lone gunman, et cetera, et cetera, too,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But I think we&#8217;re going to find there was somebody else involved.&#8221;</p>
<p>Drake said Tiller&#8217;s murder would be a setback for pro-life Christians seeking to end abortion by legal and proper means. He said he also expects to see answers to other imprecatory prayers in the days ahead.</p>
<p>&#8220;God says very clearly in his Word that we are to continue to pray and he will answer our prayers,&#8221; Drake said.</p>
<p>(From the <a href="http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=4126&amp;Itemid=53" target="_blank">apb news</a>) via <a href="http://thebeattitude.com/2009/06/04/god-is-a-hit-man-for-hire-a-baptist-prayer-for-god-to-kill-president-obama/" target="_blank">the BEattitude</a></p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/2dqq4vl.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-1537" title="thanks jesus" src="http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/2dqq4vl.jpg" alt="thanks jesus" width="500" height="332" /></a>I can&#8217;t think of anything else to add. I think my brain froze up from the complete shock of lack of reality from the whole story. I need to calm down and go take a nap or something.</p>

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