Cloned Mammoths Made More Likely

Sometimes I read the science news and just scratch my head. It is really going to be possible to clone an extent mammoth? A couple of scientists from Japan think they have a technique. My question is... Is it ethical?

Cloning mammoths would probably be tougher, since the temperatures of the frozen carcasses have fluctuated a lot over tens of thousands of years. If good DNA could be found, donor eggs could be used from Asian elephants, close relatives of mammoths. (African elephants are more distantly related.)

Source: Cloned Mammoths Made More Likely by Frozen Mice

On the surface, I cannot come up with a good argument against cloning a mammoth. That does not mean that doing so is ethical. I simply do not have enough information at this time. I will need to think about it (I say that a lot these days).

I like to see science news tempered by ethical discussions, especially science that crosses into science fiction. Of course, I would line up to see the first cloned mammoth just like the next guy. 

Technorati tags: Cloning, Ethics, Mammoths, Japan

Map the galaxy in 3D

I never thought of our understanding of the galaxy being spatially limited until I read this article about China's effort to produce a 3D map of the Galaxy. I am not sure I understand how it would work, but I am intrigued by the prospect.

China is commissioning a strangely-shaped telescope in the forested hills northeast of Beijing that Chinese scientists said will be the world's most efficient tool for mapping the galaxy in three dimensions.

Unlike most such instruments, where the whole telescope moves to follow the object being studied in the sky, the Chinese design features a fixed structure and two moveable, segmented mirrors.

Source:  China's odd telescope to map galaxy in 3D - Space- msnbc.com

I wonder where I put my 3D glasses?

Technorati tags: Science, China

Am I cool yet?

My wife alerted me to this article, "Suddenly, it may be cool to be an American again", written by William J. Kole of the Associated Press. It seems a stranger kissed him on the cheek.

It happened on the bus on my way to work Wednesday morning, a few hours after compatriots clamoring for change swept Barack Obama to his historic victory. I was on the phone, and the 20-something Austrian woman seated in front of me overheard me speaking English.

Without a word, she turned, pecked me on the cheek and stepped off at the next stop.

Nothing was said, but the message was clear: Today, we are all Americans.

I've traveled abroad a lot, even before Bush made it difficult. I've always had problems when people recognize me as American. I've even been roughed up a few times... although I am pretty sure I contributed to those situations. However, the hope of the kiss is clear. Is the Bush era of international lunacy finally over? I hope so. I had more fun when I was mistaken as a German.

Technorati tags: Obama, Politics, Travel

I did my duty

I was the 26th person to vote in my district. When I arrived there were 11 people in line. We use electronic ballots that produce paper ballots. The process takes about three minutes. Voting using the machines is a little confusing. You must press a bunch of buttons in the right sequence. A few of the older people needed help. The volunteers were helpful. It was a good experience.

It was a tough call for me. I am a libertarian. I normally waste my vote. I choose to make my vote count this year. I voted for Obama, and against fundie backed propositions 4 and 8.

Do your duty. Go vote.

Technorati tags: 2008 Elections, Obama, Voting

Praying about tomorrow

Image by mojoey via Flickr

I am a magnet for Christians (at least it feels that way). Today, I was approached by a women in a gas station Mini Market out in Ventura County. She was wearing a "Vote for Prop 8" yellow sweatshirt. She asked me if I was praying about tomorrow. I told her no. She persisted with a request to vote for Prop 8. I again said no. She gave me this big toothy smile and said, "God has a plan for America." I could tell she wanted to talk, but I was in no mood for her empty headed banter. I walked toward the door. As I stepped through the door, I spoke over my shoulder, "I'm betting you will be real disappointed in God's plan by tomorrow night. You might want to start working on your rationalization."

I sure hope I'm right.

On another note: I found my picture used without credit on this article.

Related articles

• A Middle Finger For Prop 8
• Politics in California Begin to Make Sense As Support For Prop 8 Plummets

Technorati tags: Prop 8, Gay Rights, Elections

Blogroll Update: The Liquid Thinker

In the author's own words:

Hi! My name is Tim Johnson and I am the creator of The Liquid Thinker. I'm one of those physicists who's gone into industry doing software development. Apparently not having enough to do, I somehow thought starting up a blog would be a fun experiment to try.

Having a fairly broad range of interests, there are probably a great deal of topics I'll eventually touch on, but the main themes weaving through (or currents, if you will) The Liquid Thinker are science, education, technology, and atheism (and some politics here and there). So why ponder atheism? Now an atheist, I come from a religious background and have observed what appears to be an increasing tendency in our society to make decisions and take action based on dogmatic supernatural thinking instead of evidence. I am convinced this is a dangerous path to travel. It is something we need to be talking about. At the same time, my experience as a scientist tells me that the universe is much more amazing and wondrous than the ancient religions ever guessed.

So, if any of that strikes your fancy, feel free to drop by. If you are someone who is religious or maybe having doubts, perhaps some little miscellaneous tidbit I write will give you something to consider.

Drop in and say hi.

Technorati tags: The Atheist Blogroll, Atheism, Blogging

OC Atheists November Meeting

Orange County Atheists is a politically active organization in my own neighborhood. I've decided to start participating. The next meeting in Nov. 14.

The Next Orange County Atheists meeting will take place Wednesday, November 12 at 7:30PM at the International House of Pancakes at 18542 MacArthur Blvd in Irvine, near John Wayne Airport. Those interested will also meet for a less formal gathering at 6:00PM at the El Torito across from the IHOP before coming to the 7:30PM meeting.

A map to the IHOP is available here. We'll be meeting in the upstairs meeting room. Please RSVP at this page to let us know you're coming one or both events!

I know there are a few OC readers out there. Stop in, I'd love to meet you.

Technorati tags: OC Atheists, Atheism

The Liberal Atheist Vegetarian

The ocregister (Orange County Register) has a new blog called the Liberal Atheist Vegetarian. What is this world coming to? Here is a sample:

The Liberal Atheist Vegetarian loves voting - having my voice heard, being involved in my government, and helping to shape the world I live in. In reality though, too often I’m faced with a huge list of initiatives, school board members and judges I really don’t know much about. I don’t want to vote “wrong”, but it can be hard to know how to vote right.

Enter the voter guide.

Everyone seems to be putting one out. Political action groups, neighborhood associations, political parties, groups pretending to be political parties, and even religious groups. They’re fairly helpful on our propositions (The Courage Campaign’s guide lists their choices as well as other progressive group’s picks, for example), but in terms of local races, it’s hard to know who to vote for.

I'm hooked already.

Technorati tags: Blogging, Atheism

Walking for Down Syndrome

I participated in a charity buddy walk benefiting Down Syndrome, held by the  Down Syndrome Association of Orange County. It was held at Angels Stadium in Anaheim. The company my wife works for sponsored a few walkers. It was fun.   The walk itself is all of a mile. Although it takes around 45 minutes because everyone walks in slow motion. There were several thousand people in attendance.

I have a family member with Down Syndrome, a cousin. She is a wonderful young lady who loves to sing and dance.  She is not the main reason we walked. My wife is on some committee at work, and where she goes, I go.

I took my camera and fished for shots in the crowd. I caught Darth Vader recruiting for the Dark Side. I managed to enjoyed myself despite the light rain.

In noticed two things which I want to blog. First, the event was sponsored by several churches and a "family friendly" Christian radio station called The Fish. Religion, specifically Christianity, was on display in a way which helps build their brand. Charity work is uplifting and a worthy cause.  I could tell it was their moment. The owned it. What was missing from the evet was any kind of secular presence. No Orange County Atheist, no secular organizations, nothing at all. I know the Atheist Community of Austin is fairly good about community outreach. I think it would have been nice to do something similar. Maybe next year.

The second thing relates to how I handled questions about religion. The lady who organized the event asked or referred to her faith several times. I like to think of myself as open about my Atheism. Yet I resisted saying anything every time it was brought up. In thinking about it later, I realized that I did not want to put my wife on the spot with her co-workers.

Technorati tags: Activism, Charity, Down Syndrome

Blogroll Update: The Atheist News

In the author's own words:

"The Atheist News" -blog will be an avenue to publish all the interesting rational and sometimes irritatingly irrational things I encounter in my travels in wide world of the computer internet.

I have published over time a lot of links in Facebook, but as you know Facebook is a perishable commodity. I think many of these links hare a more longstanding value than for a few hours things stay afloat in the ever-flowing world of Facebook and so I created this blog where they will stay available for years to come.

I have on already another English blog at http://beinghuman.blogs.fi, but I have long ago decided to keep it as place where I publish my longer and more deeper ponderings, that is to say the essay-class stuff.

That has left me with no avenue for short musings on daily news on the bizarre world of religious beliefs and rational thought.

Drop in and say hi.

Technorati tags: The Atheist Blogroll, Atheism, Blogging

Priest indicted for rape

Father Gary Mercure faces charges that he raped to boys back in the 80s.

Gary Mercure, 60, was indicted on three counts, including child rape, according to Frederick Lantz, spokesman for Berkshire County District Attorney David Capeless.

Mercure allegedly raped two boys. The first, involving a man who is now 33 years old, occurred in the Great Barrington area in the fall of 1986, Lantz said. The second alleged rape occurred in February, 1989 in New Ashford. The alleged victim is now 32 years old, Lantz said

Source: Charges filed against former Troy pries

Mercure worked at Sacred Heart and St. William Parishes in Troy, Massachusetts.

Technorati tags: Gary Mecure, Catholics, Clergy Sexual Abuse, Rape

Blogrolling News & Status

I expected some kind of update on the status of Blogrolling.com. Their last update was on October 24. I can report that the ping forn is now redirecting to blogrolling.com, so they at least paid the bill for their domain. I do not understand this company. With thousands of customers waiting for the service to restart, they fail to communicate with the online community for a whole week. It is like they want to kill off their business on purpose.

Note to Blogrolling.com... Can you at least send out a tweet every other day or so?

To Atheist Blogroll members... I am not able to make changes at this time. The most I can do is add new blogs.

Technorati tags: The Atheist Blogroll, Blogging, Blogrolling.com

Blogroll Update: A New Flickr Pool

I created a Flickr group for the Atheist blogroll. The idea is that blogroll members can contribute photos to the pool for use by other blogroll members. I am always looking for photos to use with my own blog posts. The 20,000 I have on my computer are not enough. Plus, I've recently started shooting photos with blog posts in mind. It seems like a natural fit.

Join The Atheist Blogroll Flickr Pool

The url is: http://www.flickr.com/groups/atheistblogroll/

If you have a Flickr account, simply choose "Join Group" when you visit the url.

The greeting reads:

Welcome to The Atheist Blogroll's Flickr pool, a collection of photos submitted by readers of blogs belonging to The Atheist Blogroll and Deep Thoughts for possible use in blog posts.

We are looking for pictures related to any and all religions, atheism, secularism, skepticism and politics.

Be sure to tag, name, and describe so we can find your pictures more easily!

I plan to use the group for two things.

1. I want to provide a pool of photos that other Atheist bloggers can use to illustrate their posts.
2. Once photos start to flow in, I will post a "best of" the Atheist Blogroll Flickr Pool each Saturday.

Technorati tags: The Atheist Blogroll, Atheism, Flickr, Photography

Subtle Racism?

I saw this sign in Westminster a few days ago. I thought it was odd that a church located in a city with a large Vietnamese (38%) and Hispanic (21%) would insist that their services will be in English only. When I mean predominately Vietnamese, I am not kidding. Westminster is also know as little Saigon. It is a great place to eat! I once attended a wedding feast in Little Siagon that served 14 courses. Between each course they served Cognac.  I was blitzed, and the food was wonderful... except for the pigeon. It was all bones.

Is English the language of God or is this just a subtle form of racism?

Technorati tags: Christians, Baptists, Racism

I am sad this morning

The first news story I read this morning was of a young girl stoned to death in Somalia. She was 13-years-old. The reported three men from raping her. The Islamic authorities in turn accused her of adultery. He murder was committed in an area in front of a crowd of 1,000 onlookers. She died a horrible death at the hand of Islam. The injustice of the situation is what makes me sad. Let me explain.

I was walking in a park this morning with a few friends. We play a early morning round of disc golf at La Mirada regional park. It was about 30 minutes after sunrise when I turned to see a small herd of 13 and 14-year-old girls running toward me. They were dressed in Halloween costumes. Superwoman was in the lead. I was nonplussed. I took me a few seconds to realize I was standing on their path. I jumped aside as they ran past me. I remember thinking it must be nice to be so young and free of care. They all seemed so happy.

An hour later I am home reading the morning news. This is what I read:

A 13-year-old girl who said she had been raped was stoned to death in Somalia after being accused of adultery by Islamic militants, a human rights group said.

Dozens of men stoned Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow to death Oct. 27 in a stadium packed with 1,000 spectators in the southern port city of Kismayo, Amnesty International and Somali media reported, citing witnesses. The Islamic militia in charge of Kismayo had accused her of adultery after she reported that three men had raped her, the rights group said.

Source: Amnesty: Somali rape victim, 13, stoned to death, AF

It used to bother me that the AP would avoid the religious aspects of a crime like this one. I later realized that religion has very little to do with it. Like the communists of the Russian and Chinese revolutions, or the crazed communist minions of Pol Pot Cambodian nightmare. Islamic extremist use their religion as a means to a political end. I don't think of them as misguided religious zealots any longer. They sit right next Pol Pot and Mao Zedong as power hungry murderous thugs.

What is the diplomatic solution for Somalia? I do not think what the world is doing makes any difference.

Technorati tags: Somalia, Islam, Stoning