Missing Link vs Religion

Potentially big news in the “science vs religion” world today, scientists have discovered what is believed to be one of the significant evolutionary steps between animals and humans. If you haven’t heard, you’re probably even more sheltered then I am, which is tough and my hat is off to you, but today you just go to Google and click in the logo, which links you to a search entitled Missing Link Found.

Here’s what I don’t get: The creationist viewpoint does not, as I understand it, inherently exclude evolution. It seems to me that religion is pushing an “us vs them” war with science, when a better approach might be to complement science by adding perspective and spiritual understanding. Conversely, from the other point of view, I don’t really see anyone in the scientific community going out of their way to discredit religion, as much as hypothesize as new evidence is discovered.

Put another way, if I decide to believe in a just and loving god that made everything just the way he wanted, isn’t it reasonable to suggest that he might have big-banged, started that initial spark/seed of life that science can’t explain, thereby creating humanity by way of creating our ancestral evolutionary steps?

Phonetic alphabet for dummies

Are you ever on the phone trying to spell out a word to some poor soul in India and you’re just not getting through? Well there is a simple solution, spell phonetically. For those who can’t come up with a word for each letter, I’m working on a list to help you out — There are a few gaps, I’ll update this post as I come up with possibilities

Aisle
Bdellium
Cue
Django
Eye
Fnord
Gnat
Heir
I
Jalapeno
Knight
L
Mnemonic
Ngwee
Oedipal
Pneumatic
Quran
R
See
Tsar
Urn
V
Wrangle
Xylophone
You
Zero

The above list is my personal favourite, taken from various sources including panix.com, rec.arts.sf.fandom, ask.metafilter.com, with an extra special thanks to Leigh Cain’s Google skillz.

The TSA wins once again

The TSA is spending $100,000-$120,000 per machine on new Millimeter Wave Machines and despite the privacy concerns and cost of the equipment, and despite the fact that they’ve been testing these since 2007 the success story that the TSA chooses to present to us is a foiled terrorist plot? No. Maybe a nutjob planning to blow up his shoes? Not so much. I know, maybe someone with a concealed carry permit who was running late and forgot to secure his gun? Heck, even a nail file with a sharp edge?

Here we are in 2009 and the best the TSA presents to us on their blog is that they finally cause one piece of contraband, a bottle of lotion.

I think I’m going to go ahead and agree with the TSA’s own comment: “Thank the heavens for the TSA. Without them, a harmless bottle of lotion would have made it onto an airplane”

Good job TSA.