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I moved my crap to Google.

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Evolution Survey

A Survey of the Public Understanding of Evolution

I filled out in this survey the other day. It’s relatively short, though it contains two essay questions. I found myself struggling to define and describe evolution in my own words. It revealed to me, what I already knew, that I need to educate myself on the topic. Whether you accept evolution or not, you should consider taking the survey.

If you are interested, you can read my answers below. If you plan to take the survey, stop reading after this paragraph. Otherwise you might be influenced by my words, whether they be good responses or bad.

. . . . .

To the best of your understanding, and in your own words, please explain what “evolution” means.

“Descent with modification? The change in allele frequency over time? Just kidding! Evolution is the theory which explains the origin and diversity of all species on Earth (maybe other places too). It explains how genetic information is inherited through generations, and what factors are responsible for genetic changes. At its core, though not singularly, the mechanism of natural selection, which is driven by environmental pressures such as competition, favors individuals of a species which are able to survive long enough to reproduce. That reproduction passes along genes, however alike or different from the parent, suitable for survival in the current environment. All members of a species which are genetically different, in any degree from the previous generation, are describes having evolved. Evolution describes this process and is useful for determining ancestry among all living things.”

If you accept the theory of evolution, please explain in your own words why; or if you do not accept the theory of evolution, please explain in your own words why not.

“I accept evolutionary theory because, of the evidence I have reviewed, it has been adequately supported. I am convinced, even though my knowledge on the subject is little. Examples like the inability of apes and humans to synthesize vitamin C due to genes which are mutated, disabled in the same way has helped me understand just what kind of evidence really exists on the subject. I’m no expert, obviously.”

How confident are you that you understand the scientific theory of evolution?

“60-70% sure”

On the question of the origin and development of life and humans,
what do you believe?

“I believe that life and humans evolved through natural forces without guidance by God.”

I consider myself to be:

“a fiscal/economic conservative” to “a fiscal/economic liberal” – 3
“a social conservative” to “a social liberal” – 5
“not very interested in science” to “very interested in science” – 4
“not religious at all” to “very religious” – 1

Do you believe there is a God?
(a purposeful higher intelligence that created the universe)

“Definitely No”

On average, when you were growing up, how often did you attend religious services?

“Once a Week”

How often do you presently attend religious services?

“Never”

Current religious organization membership:

“None”

What is your highest level of education?

“college degree”

Gender

“male”

Age

“30 to 39″

Ethnicity

“White/Caucasian”

What is your country of residence?

“United States (USA)”

If you are a Canadian or United States resident, in what state or province do you live?

“North Carolina”

Pronouncing Band Names

Pink

This week, the monotony of mowing the lawn was interrupted by an enjoyable little surprise. A few delicate little flowers sprouted up amid the grass. Please comment if you can identify this flower.

Revised Prayer List Page

I finally decided to revise the Prayer List page. When I originally posted it, I rushed through the explanation. It was sloppy, but is now much more clear.

Comments are disabled on this post. If you have something to say, do so on the Prayer List page.

Identicons as Default Avatars

Don’t freak out when you see some weird graphic beside your name and comment. WordPress recently added a new feature which provides avatars for users who don’t have one. I have chosen to enable this feature, here, on my insignificant, seldom-read weblog.

Default Avatar Options – Identicons

I would highly recommend trying out Identicons, which are a cool math-based image idea created by Don Park that’s unique to the commenter, so even if someone doesn’t have an avatar yet they have a consistent (and handsome) image next to their name when they comment.

This post has plenty of comments for you to get an idea of what Identicons are like. I’m not sure I agree with them being “handsome,” but they are certainly more pleasing to the eye than the gray mystery man. If, by chance, you don’t like having a generated avatar for yourself, you can always use a Gravatar.

Suspicious Voter Registration Call

I received a suspicious automated phone call recently concerning voter registration. I emailed the North Carolina State Board of Elections. Here is the exchange.

Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2008 07:59:43 -0700 (PDT)
From: “J.S.Brown”
Subject: Phone call about voter registration
To: elections.sboe

I just received a phone call. It was a recorded message that said something like this:

“Hello. This is Lamont Williams. In a few days you should be getting a voter registration form in the mail. Please fill it out and return promptly and you will be able to vote. Thank you.”

Is this legitimate? I thought I was already registered to vote. Should I ignore whatever arrives in my mailbox concerning voter registration? And who is Lamont Williams?

Subject: FW: Phone call about voter registration
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:42:53 -0400
From: “Don Wright”
To: “J.S.Brown”

The State Board of Elections knows nothing of this. If you get anything from this man or group, fax to my attention at [FAX NUMBER REMOVED] and we will investigate.

Don Wright
General Counsel

The automated phone call seems, to me, like an attempt to trick new, unregistered, and unsure voters into submitting sensitive personal information. So far, I haven’t yet received any mail about voter registration. For now, it’s no more than a suspicious phone call. I advise everyone to be cautious.

I apologize for not posting this sooner.

NC Democratic Primary: Unaffiliated Voters

I’ve been hearing that unaffiliated voters won’t be allowed to vote in the upcoming North Carolina Democratic primary election. Since I have been planning to vote in said primary, I was unhappy to hear this.

Good news! According to the North Carolina Democratic Party’s website:

In North Carolina, unaffiliated voters are permitted to vote in the Democratic primary.

However, if an unaffiliated voter chooses to vote in the Democratic primary, he or she cannot vote in a Republican runoff (or second primary). Similarly, an unaffiliated voter who votes in a Republican primary cannot vote in a Democratic runoff.

To Pray or to Reason

Astoundingly, today is National Day of Prayer in the USA. Fortunately, there are some smart people in this country who have countered it by starting a National Day of Reason, which falls on the same day.

This day offers a choice: will you pray, or will you reason? It’s an easy choice for me. I’ve tried both. Only one has ever been useful to me.

I wrote about this last year, though my blog was on Yahoo! 360° at the time. I brought that post with me to WordPress. You can read it here, if interested.

PZ has a good post on this today: Happy National Day of Prayer!

Todd Bentley’s revival continues

Mary wrote to me on MySpace to tell me that the healing revival in Florida, with Todd Bentley, will be on at 7:00 PM this week. Since I missed the shows on Saturday and Sunday, which I wrote about, I decided to watch tonight. It’s still on now…

I tuned-in at 7:00 PM. After about ten minutes, I realized the music portion of the show was to come first. I flipped back and forth, checking for something new. The band played what sounds, to me, like one boring, never-ending, horrible song. The keyboard player / singer actually whistled at one point.

Todd Bentley didn’t come on stage until 84 minutes into the show. From the first time I saw him, he was lying. Seriously, he was outstretched on the floor, shaking his head, and possibly drooling. I call that metaphorical Freudian foreshadowing.

It’s now almost 9:00. He’s still preaching / ranting. So far, there has been no healing, or even any “healing.” The only highlight was his anecdote about seeing a “light” in Applebee’s earlier today. And then “the angel of the lord” appeared there. Unbelievable.

I simply can’t tolerate anymore of this. I held out as long as I could. Holy shit!