Saturday, September 20, 2008

Manny the Genius

There is something about Manny Ramirez -- formerly of Red Sox fame, now a Dodger -- that I like.  Maybe it's the fact that he High-Five a fan in a middle of a double play, catch and throw.  I don't know.  But I like him.  And to top it off, he's a genius.  It would make sense... I think.

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ሰላም ዮሃንስ

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Creation vs. Evolution: I'm irritated

As someone who has a biology degree in university.  Who has taken special interest in evolution.  Who grew up Christian... I am better able than most (including more so than most PhDs in the sciences, it seems) to discuss the whole evolution vs. creationism issue.  And frankly I'm getting tired of hearing non-sense and bull from people who think they know what the hell they are talking about.  Specifically those who are incredulous that people talk about teaching creationism along side evolution. 

Those that know (and there are few, even among "scientists"), if they are truly confident that there is nothing to creationism... aren't paying attention/are-more-clueless than they think.  I have no problem with those that disagree with the theory.  I don't agree... but people believe what they want.  But if the theory really can withstand scrutiny, why would people have a problem with discussing another possible theory?  Isn't science supposed to be a discussion?  I'm not saying it should replace it.  I haven't heard anyone say that either.  But that both should be talked about.

What really irritates me is that those that are really critical (at least most of the media, it seems), have no idea what the hell they are criticizing.  Most of those that read this and are critical would have no idea (for or against) what the evidence for this "myth" is. 

Seriously ask yourself this question:  What actual information do I know that supports evolution?

Do you know anything about how all the different kinds of dating (i.e. carbon dating, etc) work?  Did you even know that there are more than one kind and all have the same problem?  Do you know the evidence that supports this dating?

For example, how can life start randomly from inanimate objects?  There's absolutely zero, none, nada, zilch, niente proof/evidence to even begin to show how it might possibly be. 

Re-read the last two sentences as many times as needed.  Go ahead... I'll wait.



In fact every possible test seems to show it cannot happen.  The very definition of life is that it must come from other life.  Sooo... why is it dumb to talk about both again?????

Go ahead... I'll wait for an answer.



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ሰላም ዮሃንስ

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Blog Name Change

Hey all,

Ok, so if you can read, the name of the blog has changed (if you can't, don't worry about it). I did this for a few reasons.

1) My initial attempt was irony. This clearly is not -- and never has been --the Greatest Blog Ever. It was completely ordinary. Of course I have opinions and I occasionally share them.
2) I have come to realize that my perspective is -- at least compared to a lot of people -- different. Here are the reasons:
a) I am a man
b) I am "black" (technically brown). Born in Ethiopia but Eritrean (which is why I left).
c) Spent 5 years in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia (with a few months in Eritrea). One year in West Berlin. Two years in Italy. And the rest in Toronto, Canada (grew up in a poor neighbourhood with a lot of Jamaicans and such)
d) I have been Christian as long as I can remember (meaning I don't just go to church on Sundays, but actually believe the words in the bible)
e) I have a threating appearance, it seems, to those who don't know me (read: black, male, long hair)
f) I don't hold "conservative" values as a lot of self professed liberals view it (I would sooner vote NDP than Reform... i mean Conservative (which isn't to say I'm an NDPer, I'm not. I don't do party affiliations).
g) Some people (a few friends for instance) think I'm "smart". I disagree. I'm average, I just like to make a point of thinking about everything (some may consider this "smart", but again I would disagree, if anything this is "wise").

3) And finally it seems that everytime I tell people about my experiences (who aren't black guys and such) they get surprised. A perspective, it seems, not a lot of people know about.
4) It sounds more interesting.
5) I like being different.

Hope that clarified things. And you don't get too upset. If I get enough protests from my one reader, A. Nonymous, I might consider change it back. Once considered, I will proceed to do nothing about it. :) Maybe...

Monday, September 08, 2008

Spielberg's best stance

So, one of the criticism I've had about the open ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics (for those that had asked me) was the pointlessness of a lot of the things in it (see a couple of posts ago). Specifically --- though not only --- the whole paper thing they did ('this another great thing we gave to the world, so let's watch some people dance on it with ink on their hands') was a grand "who cares?" I mean really, I'm watching the Olympics and I'm getting a symbolic history lesson about paper? Seriously? My overall impression is they threw in a LOT of money (I heard $100 million), but got no real value. It was well rehearsed and technically very difficult... but at the end of the day, all I could thing about was "who cares?"

Well this may explain a lot (though not all) of it.

Spielberg quitting as artistic director would make a difference. My main thought was that they needed a better one who could have a more ... ummm... thought-out ceremonies. Making the whole greater than the sum of their parts. I would think that in the last 7-8 months would be too late to make great changes. So I'm not sure how much he would have improved it -- but knowing him -- it would have been better. Mind you I still don't see how one could save the whole paper thing in any way.

And on the off off off off off off off off off off off off off off off off chance that someone that knows him see this post -- give this message to him:
At no point in your life will you look in the mirror and say 'Damn! I shoulda work on Beijing'. You may not ever think to be thankful for not working with China. But I guarantee you that if you had worked with them, you would have definitely ended up regretting it. Getting more money, honour or 'respect' doesn't compare to trying to help save lives. And even if nothing came of it, you didn't just stand by and do nothing.


See ya.