Evolution and Genesis

Timothy Birdnow

Here is an interesting discussion about the Adam and Eve story in the Book of Genesis.

Bob Clasen says:

Jim Shepherd replies:

If you call the Adam and Eve story a myth, perhaps you've already determined whether it's true or not.

Bob Clasen adds:

A myth is a story that has real meaning but which is not necessarily literally true. Stories that have lasted for thousands and thousands of years last for a reason. They signify something important. The Tree of Life. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Modern critics say it is not fair to punish children for the sins of an ancestor (except for Black Lives Matter) but that is taking the story literally. Isn’t it interesting that the very first human disobeyed and and sinned, after he ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil? Setting aside the question of whether it is literally true what does this mean? See Jung, Joseph Campbell and Jordan Peterson, to name just a few.

Jim adds:

Yes I understand the concept that myth has different meanings other than the regular one of not being literally true. What I find fascinating about the Genesis story of Adam and Eve is that even the literal understanding of this story is missed by many people. Recently, I've read the story taking pen and paper, reading it word for word, and using a Hebrew lexicon to find the what the words actually mean in Hebrew. It's quite interesting indeed. more...

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Arctic Sea Ice Not Melting

This from Frank Lasee:

Sea ice 🧊is up 28% in Canada in 2020. More ice than in 2008 or 1998. We have had a cold winter in 2021. All of this is on long term cycles.

News Flash; Arctic Ice is not Melting - Santa's Safe

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The Chicago Police Shooting

This from Willis Eschenbach:

Here's a sane analysis of the police shooting of Adam Toledo, a 13-year-old running from police in Chicago at 2:30 AM ...

From the article:

The video clearly depicts a tragedy—but it is far from clear that it depicts a crime, let alone one motivated by racial animus. Consider four freeze-frames from the body-camera footage of Officer Stillman.

In the first (pictured below), Toledo is seen holding what appears to be a gun in his right hand. Notice the timestamp, which shows the second-marker at 39 seconds. At this point, Toledo, who had led Officer Stillman on a foot-chase through the dark alley, had come to a stop and was beginning to orient his body toward Stillman.

The second freeze-frame (pictured below) shows Toledo as he turned to his left toward the officer, at which point both the gun and his right hand were positioned behind Toledo’s body, hidden from the officer’s view. This seems to be the point at which Toledo began to toss the gun behind the wooden fence, which the officer could not have seen through. Again, notice the second-marker on the time stamp, which is still at 39 seconds. The time that has elapsed between these two freeze frames is in the range of a few-hundred milliseconds. Notice also how blurry both the arm and hand of officer Stillman are, reminding us that, while the media has fixated on a single freeze-frame we can all pore over while sitting still in well-lit rooms, the picture before Stillman was dark and in motion.

The next frame (see below) shows that Toledo is still turning toward the officer, while his right hand (and the gun) are still hidden from view. Notice how blurry Toledo is in the frame, indicating that he and/or Stillman are still in motion. And take note of the second-marker, which is still at just 39 seconds.

The final freeze-frame captures the moment Officer Stillman fired his weapon—as Toledo was completing his turn to face Stillman, while raising his now-empty hands. This is the point at which journalists and commentators have decided to both start and end their analysis of this case.

Notice, again, the time stamp, which shows the second-marker at 40 seconds.

Sometimes, police officers simply don’t have the luxury of even ten seconds to assess a situation. Consider another disturbing video(released just five days ago) which depicts the murder of New Mexico State Police Officer Darian Jarrott. While this incident got far less attention than other recent officer-involved shootings, it shows just how quickly a suspect’s hands can go from empty to armed.

Less than one second elapsed between Toledo beginning his turn toward the officer with a gun in his right hand, and the officer firing a single shot from his service weapon. And these were not ideal conditions in which to make a split-second decision: it was dark, and Stillman’s heart rate and adrenaline levels were likely elevated due to the foot chase. Furthermore, Stillman and his partner had encountered Toledo and another man, who was taken into custody at the scene, because they were responding to a ShotSpotter alert. ShotSpotter is a system of sensors that detects gunfire in real-time and provides that information to nearby police, so that they can respond to shootings more quickly. When Stillman and his partner arrived, there were only two people in sight. One of them took off with a gun in his hand.

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Which Content Does Facebook Not Want You To Know?

James Doogue

I recently had a post deleted by Facebook with no notice or reason given. I'm going to try to discover which part, or parts of the post, the Facebook censor didn't want you to see. I've

The most recent post deleted by Facebook contained a number of things the hard-left-leani ng Facebook organisation don't really want the general population to know about including:

1. Joe Biden ineffectively wearing a face mask. This was published in the mainstream media.

2. A picture of Joe Biden's son Hunter before he got his meth effected teeth fixed. This was published in the mainstream media.

3. A picture appropriately blurred of Hunter Biden 'horse riding' a scantily clad female which was published in the mainstream media.

4. The context of the Hunter Biden pictures was that Joe Biden in a recent interview claimed Hunter Biden was the Smartest man he knew. I included a link with that quote.

5. An article from which I quoted experts confirming the risk of contracting Covid-19 outdoors is "so small as to be insignificant".

6. An article confirming CDC research that masks are an ineffective tool in controlling the rate of Covid-19 infections.

7. A picture taken from Prince Phillip's funeral showing COVID-19 vaccinated people wearing masks while outside, and which more than socially distanced, indoors.

So now I'm going to attempt to find out which of this seven, truthful, verifiable contents, Facebook found so worrying that they needed to protect the public from viewing, by deleting my post without notification.

I will do this by positing on each content item individually and see what, if any, remains posted.

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Violence is Golden for Democrats

Willis Eschenbach observes:

President Trump was impeached under the false claim that he incited violence.

Now, Maxine Waters is actually inciting violence and Democrats are suddenly deaf and dumb ...

w.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1383635117147451417

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Aviary Postponed Due to Hillbillies

Timothy Birdnow

Hey gang!

Sorry about light blogging the last few days. I really didn't have much to say, and they were running a Beverly Hillbillies marathon on television, so I watched that instead of blogging. I needed the break pretty badly.

I'll try to do better - I promise!

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United Airline's gets woke years after discriminationg against a white military veteran

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Biden the Shoot 'em up President

Warner Todd Huston

There have been 54 mass shootings since Biden became president. If this number of shootings had occurred under Trump, the media would be calling these "Trumps shootings" and claiming that he is responsible for them. So, what is the media doing with this many shootings today? Practically nothing. Imagine that.

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A Good Day

Timothy Birdnow

Good day yesterday! First, last night I caught two mice in the same trap - withing about 45 minutes of each-other! I have had little luck with my big game hunting (although my chemical warfare aka dining and dying experience has been presumably more effective) and only caught a few mice. But a couple of days ago I heard a trap snap and found it flipped and empty - but a huge mouse lay dead a couple of feet away. He got out of the trap but was mortally wounded. I was a happy camper; he was one of the real trouble-makers, obviously an older resident. He may well have predated the invasion of the Birdendy.

At any rate, the two last night were small - one gray and one brown.

Now, I've been sleeping in the living room in my easy chair to give my wife some comfort and I awoke to the sense of something next to my chair and a kind of defiant growl at me. Maybe I dreamed it, but I suspect another mouse came out and gave me a piece of her mind. Perhaps it was the mother. At any rate, I feel like the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk and often even say "fee, fi, fo, fum" when in pursuit of these little Viet Cong. I know they must view me with a jaundiced eye; the great giant who kills them on occasion. At any rate, I don't know if I dreamed that or if it really happened, but I doubt I am going to win any popularity contests with these little love children.

The better news is that my wife had an MRI and the radiation oncology doctor said everything is looking good. I presume this means the tumor is shrinking. I didn't speak with him personally, but my sister-in-law did (and she's an oncologist herself.) So, even though Cathy is still in a lot of pain and sick most of the time, there may be light at the end of the tunnel.

As I say, a good day.

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A Letter In Opposition to Wokeness in Education

Timothy Birdnow

Yes, you DO have to read this letter.

A parent of a girl in a private school is pulling the kid out to get away from the Political Correctness. And he tears the school a new one in the process.

Here is a taste:

I object to the idea that Blacks are unable to succeed in this country without aid from government or from whites. Brearley, by adopting critical race theory, is advocating the abhorrent viewpoint that Blacks should forever be regarded as helpless victims, and are incapable of success regardless of their skills, talents, or hard work. What Brearley is teaching our children is precisely the true and correct definition of racism.

I object to mandatory anti-racism training for parents, especially when presented by the rent-seeking charlatans of Pollyanna. These sessions, in both their content and delivery, are so sophomoric and simplistic, so unsophisticated and inane, that I would be embarrassed if they were taught to Brearley kindergarteners. They are an insult to parents and unbecoming of any educational institution, let alone one of Brearley's caliber.

I object to Brearley’s vacuous, inappropriate, and fanatical use of words such as "equity,” "diversity” and "inclusiveness.” If Brearley’s administration was truly concerned about so-called "equity,” it would be discussing the cessation of admissions preferences for legacies, siblings, and those families with especially deep pockets. If the administration was genuinely serious about "diversity,” it would not insist on the indoctrination of its students, and their families, to a single mindset, most reminiscent of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Instead, the school would foster an environment of intellectual openness and freedom of thought. And if Brearley really cared about "inclusiveness,” the school would return to the concepts encapsulated in the motto "One Brearley,” instead of teaching the extraordinarily divisive idea that there are only, and always, two groups in this country: victims and oppressors.

l object to Brearley’s advocacy for groups and movements such as Black Lives Matter, a Marxist, anti family, heterophobic, anti-Asian and anti-Semitic organization that neither speaks for the majority of the Black community in this country, nor in any way, shape or form, represents their best interests.

I object to, as we have been told time and time again over the past year, that the school’s first priority is the safety of our children. For goodness sake, Brearley is a school, not a hospital! The number one priority of a school has always been, and always will be, education. Brearley’s misguided priorities exemplify both the safety culture and "cover-your-ass” culture that together have proved so toxic to our society and have so damaged the mental health and resiliency of two generations of children, and counting.

Read the whole thing.

Hat tip: Willis Eschenbach.

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Near Mistrial in Chauvin Case

Timothy Birdnow

So the prosecution in the Chauvin trial almost got the whole thing thrown out as a mistrial the other day. Seems that they wanted to spring a little October Surprise on the Defense.

Apparently they had an expert witness - Dr. Martin Tobin - who supposedly contacted them after the Defense presented expert testimony about possible carbon monoxide poisoning of Floyd. Said witness claimed to have had a report from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner showing no major increased levels of CO in Floyd's system. The judge ruled this was inadmissible, although he allowed the expert to testify. He gave strict instructions to not mention this report which the Defense had clearly not been given.

Prosecutors are not allowed surprises.

Dr. Tobin mentioned it on the witness stand anyway.

Judge Peter Cahill held a sidebar conference with the lead Prosecutor, who argued the comment did not prejudice the jury in that the statement didn't convey enough information. The witness said he didn't believe Floyd suffered carbon monoxide poisoning because of a report. The Judge, who should have declared a mistrial at this point, let the case proceed.

This gives Chauvin grounds for an appeal if he's convicted.

This tells me a few things. For one, it suggests the Prosecution is not confident in their case, that they had to spring a surprise witness on the Defense. I don't for a moment believe they didn't know about this report and that it was brought to their attention at the last moment by Dr. Tobin.

Given the thoroughness with which the Prosecution has gone after Chauvin, this doesn't seem likely they would have overlooked this - especially since they knew the Defense would bring up CO poisoning.

I think these people are willing to do whatever it takes to win this.

Second off, I wonder if the Prosecution didn't fall into a trap here. Frankly, carbon monoxide poisoning might help Chauvin beat the murder rap but it actually hurts him with the Manslaughter charge. It could be argued he was careless with Floyd's life by holding him down next to a car tail pipe. But by arguing so vociferously against this possibility the Prosecution makes getting a conviction for Manslaughter less likely. This actually helps the case made by the Defense. Murder is a much harder charge to make stick, especially in this circumstance where you cannot prove intent to kill Floyd.

Remember, the Defense need but seed reasonable doubt. As the Prosecution has quibbled over every detail of the Defense's case, reasonable doubt would loom larger, in my opinion. The folks on Court TV didn't agree; one of the analysts said this will mean the jury will go to a gut feeling and ignore the evidence. Perhaps. But if they follow their instructions they will have to take the Defense case seriously, and that left plenty of room for reasonable doubt.

It makes me wonder; was all this overkill by the Prosecution intended to convict Chauvin or to push away the jurors and get a non-conviction? Maybe I have a conspiratorial bent here, but I have believed all along that there are people in Minnesota government (most notably Attorney General Keith Ellison) who want rioting and chaos. It may be they overplayed their hand purposely to get an acquittal and thus rioting, and to in turn get lots of donations in the future and gin up anger which will translate into votes.

Maybe.

And maybe it is what it appears, a rather desperate attempt on the part of prosecutors to win a very visible case. And maybe they are just going at this way too hard. And maybe they never had a solid case to begin with and so had to send in an army of "expert witnesses" to drown out the facts of the case. Bear in mind an expert witness is still giving an opinion, not stating fact.

This next week should be very interesting.

BTW Chauvin's decision to not testify was the smart move. He had nothing to gain from it. The Prosecution would try to twist him into a pretzel, and he would be in danger of making misstatements. IF he was acquitted but was caught in an error they may well have gone after him for perjury. Getting on the stand quite perilous for him. And all he could do was act remorseful and say he feared letting Floyd up (which he had every reason to be fearful as Floyd was much larger than Chauvin and had been resisting arrest, and there was a hostile crowd around putting pressure on Chauvin.)

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Chelsea Handler advice on how young blacks can die more often

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The National Socialist Covid

Timothy Birdnow

Here is food for thought. Sadly, it's in PDF format (sorry.)

Download this and read the whole thing.

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Co-Dependents

Lance Sjogren asks:

You'd think citizens in the major cities would eventually become wary of the left destroying their communities and decide to flip their political affiliation. There's no sign of that happening. My guess it has to do with obedience. I used to call leftism "politically fashionable". Nowadays, it's not a fashion, it's a dress code. And someone who lives in that community who doesn't conform is going to experience negative consequences.

Tim answers:

It's co-dependency. You see this with battered women all the time; they just keep going back to the abuser because they don't know what else to do.

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Democrats Scheme to Seize SCOTUS

Timothy Birdnow

The Democrats have introduced a Court-packing bill in the House of Representatives.

The scheme is intended to expand the Supreme Court from 9 to 13 Justices, to annul the three Justices appointed by Donald Trump.

Democrats poo-pooed the notion they would do this before the last election and then Joe Stealin' set up a commission to "study" the "problem" just last week. This was quick work.

Conservative radio talk show host Mike "Valley Girl" Gallagher claimed this would doom the Democrats in the '22 elections.

Gallagher is more enthusiastic than intelligent. The fact is, half of America won't even know about this until it is a fait-accompli and of those who do know about it a sizable number will think it no big deal - or actively support it. The media, when it discusses it at all, will portray this as "rebalancing the Court" after "Trump packed it" by appointing people to fill vacancies. That has been the argument used by Democrats since Trump appointed Kavanaugh, and it will be the one used by the media to numb the sensibilities of the public should it be necessary. They will equate acting in accordance with the Constitution with "court packing" and will justify court packing to somehow fulfill the Constitution - even though there is nothing there about balancing the Court.

They will (correctly) argue the nine member SCOTUS is by custom and not law, and that it is perfectly acceptable to do this. No doubt they will point to appelate courts, which are reformed from time to time. They'll work on this, and in the end enough people will drop their opposition that they will get it.

The Left rarely acts quickly. Often they float trial balloons, not to see how they will fly but to get the public used to the idea.

As one caller to Gallagher's show rightly pointed out, a Hillary Presidency would have taken complete control of the Court and this wouldn't be necessary. Now they need to take the Court in another way. They know SCOTUS is all that stands in the way of their radical agenda.

So they are going to throw America into a pot of water and turn up the heat.

Gallagher believes Americans will rebel. How did that work out with Obamacare? I notice we STILL have it despite an enraged public. And Biden will resurrect the individual mandate (if he hasn't already done so.)

Control of the Supreme Court is critical for the next phase of the great socialist revolution in America. They have to give their impramateur to the radical agenda that is about to be unleashed. And they are necessary to putting the Democrats in eternal power. The Court's refusal to hear the Texas vote fraud case (despite being "packed" by Trump) is one example. Pack this Court and the Democrats will be able to set up a copymachine outside of apolling place printing fake ballots and SCOTUS will say it's o.k. Remember, the judiciary is autocratic and it can override the fickle Will of the People any time it likes. And we've accepted the notion (an extra-Constitutional notion, I might add) that the Courts have the final say.

No, I don't think this is going to do any real permanent damage to the Democrats. It will do permanent damage to the Republic and the Republican Party, but not the Democrats, who will triumph thanks in no small part to their domination of the news media.

I predicted last year would be the last free and fair election. I see nothing to suggest it will be otherwise.

Optimism is fine, but being a pollyanna is just plain stupid.

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A Cold, Quiet Sun

This from Jim Church

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Texas Calls Out the Guard

Timothy Birdnow

Finally!  States are starting to stand up despite the Bidenocracy.

Looks like Texas is sending  the National Guard to the border.

High time.

The states are going to have to start acting, whether the Federal government likes it or not. This lawless regime is actively attempting to destroy this country. It is the job of the states (which used to be sovereign entities) to do the job the Feds Just Won't Do.

Now let's see if Gov. Abbott has the courage to stand against the Feds when they try to force him to stand down.

From the Christian Post:

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the state’s Department of Public Safety will deploy the Texas National Guard to the United States-Mexico border as part of "Operation Lone Star” to prevent Mexican cartels and traffickers from smuggling people and drugs into the state.

Describing the situation as a "border crisis,” the Republican governor made the announcement on TwitterSaturday. He said the operation involves the deployment of the Texas National Guard as well as air, ground, marine and tactical border security assets "to deny Mexican Cartels & smugglers the ability to move drugs & people into Texas.”

In a statement, the governor was critical of the Biden administration, which has pledged to reverse the Trump administration’s strict immigration policies that aimed to thwart smuggling and illegal immigration through the southern border.

"The crisis at our southern border continues to escalate because of Biden Administration policies that refuse to secure the border and invite illegal immigration,” Abbott was quoted as saying by local news outlet KFOX14.

So what is Abbott really going to do? Basic law enforcement, it appears.

We need more than that. Texas should take the lead in refusing to allow anyone to come across that border. They need the Texas Rangers down there. They need voluntary citizen border patrols. And they need to be armed, and willing to force these people back into Mexico if it comes to it.

America is being purposely destroyed by the current crop of internationalists who stole the election.

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Neopronoun Nonsense

Selwyn Duke

If you want to know what happens when you don’t learn after age two that the world doesn’t completely revolve around you, look no further than "neopronouns.” These are "personal” pronouns an individual chooses to express his "identity.”

But don’t think this simply means an opposite-sex identity. That’s antiquated thinking — right out of 2019.

Rather, the New York Times provides a guide on the matter and asks, "Are you a person, place or thing?” before presenting neopronoun examples such as "bun/bunself,” "kitten/kittenself,” and "prin/cess/princesself.” Mine, at least right now, is besidemyself.

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The Low Probability Pandemic

This from E. Calvin Beisner

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Sexual Anarchy

Selwyn Duke

Have you heard the story about the engine and the caboose? The caboose doesn’t want to go where the engine is taking it, but the latter has all the energy and provides the movement. So the caboose sometimes is lighter and pulled more swiftly and sometimes is heavier and provides more resistance, but reaching the destination is a foregone conclusion — all that will vary is the arrival time.

This is a metaphor for the conservative-liberal struggle, and bringing it to mind is....

Sexual Anarchy: the GOP Fiddles While Kids' Souls Burn

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