My personal glimpse into the first half of the 21st Century for some yet to be known future
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Life Confuses Me.
I don't need to have beliefs about things I don't know or can't confirm. I tend to develop notions, but I generally understand that these are just ideas that should not be taken as more than that. So, yeah, there is a lot about this world I don't understand; and I don't need to understand them to live my life.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
The Earth is Flat and the Heaven supported above us?
From the King James Version:
"It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:"First, a circle is not a sphere. Second, it makes reference to the heavens as being a curtain stretched over the Earth as a tent. This is actually in line with the beliefs at the time. The surface of the Earth was viewed as flat, and the heavens were assumed to be stretched out over it, like a bowl turned over being placed on top a support, or like a tent covering. Many scriptures refer to the heavens in this manner. Check out Genesis 1:8, 2:4, 11:4, 28:12, just for starters.
In fact, some translations of the first creation account in Genesis 1:8 describes god as calling into existence the firmament of the heaven. A firmament is a support or pillar. To extend the simile of Isiah 40:22, it is the tent pole upon which heaven is held up above the Earth. This is intended as literal, not poetic. This was the literal belief about the nature of heaven used throughout the Bible's Old Testament. It is a holdover from Egyptian mythology which stated that a large mountain was arisen from the sea to support the heaven.[1]
To further the bowl reference, this word firmament is an interesting derivative. In the Hebrew, the word used for firmament is raqiya which means an extended solid surface or flat expanse. Raqiya is derived from the Hebrew word raqa, which means beaten out or to spread material by beating, hammering, or stamping. This is a reference to the process of making a metal bowl by hammering metal flat. Thus in Job 37:18 we read about Elihu asking Job "Can you beat out [raqa] the vault of the skies, as he does, hard as a mirror of cast metal." (From the Kings James Version: "Hast thou with him spread out the sky which is strong, and as a molten looking-glass?") Additionally, Job 22:14 makes reference to the "vault of heaven", sometimes translated as "vault of the sky" or "arch of heaven" in the context of discussing where god resides.[2][3][4][4 backup link]
To get back to the idea of the Earth being flat, many scriptures make references to the Earth being built upon a foundation. Note Job 38:4, Zechariah 12:1, Hebrews 1:10, Revelations 13:8 and Revelations 17:8. The Earth is also described as being fixed in place in scriptures such as 1 Chronicles 16:30.
All of these promote the idea that the ancients had false concepts about the nature of Earth being flat and heaven being placed over the Earth and supported somehow so that is does not fall. It shows that the writers of the bible showed an acceptance and believed in these false concepts.
----
Though not used as a resource for this article, I also recommend reading The Three-Story Universe (backup link).
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Evolution of Mammal Traits
The platypus is likely the most primitive mammal alive today. It lays eggs. It does feed it's young with a milk-like secretion, but not with nipples. Instead, it has a hairy patch its underside. The secretions not only serve to feed their young, but apparently, it also adds an additional layer of protection to the egg shell before the hatchlings emerge.
Then, the path to marsupials is given to us in the form of the second most primitive mammal, the echidna. This is a group of a few species that also lay eggs. However, when it lays its eggs, it places them into a pouch. This likely represents a primitive marsupial, before egg laying was replaced by embryo birth.
Marsupials in turn do have one advantage to placental mammals (that's us). There are less complications from having to protect the embryo from the mothers immune system since the young leave the womb at such an early stage.
Of course, the advantage of having a placenta during pregnancy has its own advantages, which can be seen by the fact that placental mammals are now the dominate form of mammals.
Even given our high level of development, one can see that mammals have not dominated the Earth for very long. For example, there are far fewer varieties of mammals than reptiles. Given the advancements of mammals, it will be interesting to see what future classes of species evolve on our world.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
The most useful website
I will tell everyone about your new episodes of Futurama. All are ordered to watch them on Comedy Central and to buy the DVD.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
My Restaurant Reviews
Currently, I have reviews for Straits, Pizza Antica and Thea. So far, my reviews are centered around Santana Row, but it will expand.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Home schooling does not mean Parent schooling
Monday, March 10, 2008
Weeklong birthday
Sunday, March 02, 2008
First time in awhile
Friday, February 29, 2008
Journeyman
Monday, February 25, 2008
Obviously Married
Friday, February 15, 2008
Pop goes Mensa
1. M*A*S*H – It had smart repartee and was so much more than a comedy. Yeah, I'll watch its reruns when I'm bored and nothing else
is on.2. Cosmos (with Carl Sagan) – Sagan was able to communicate something
extremely complicated to the layman and do it well, and that’s unusual for a
scientist at his level. It should be noted that Carl
Sagan became an outcast among his peers in the scientific community because of
his attempts to make science accessable to the everyone.3. CSI -- The way they use science to solve their programs is intriguing to
viewers. Only if all the worlds problems could be
solved with a bit of science within an hour.4. House – Again, it’s high level type of show; it’s the personality that
makes it a winner, plus it deals with science. I am
enjoying this show, but find I can't watch its reruns.5. West Wing – you had to pay attention to stay up with it. The repartee was
fast and furious and you needed a fairly high level intelligence to keep up with
it. I did enjoy this show a lot. It would've
been nice if we really had a President like that. It's
impossible.6. Boston Legal – It’s primarily because of the characters. The story lines
are okay, but the characters are incredible and the writers give them great
dialogue. I can watch this sometimes.7. All in the Family – The show dealt with social issues before its time and
was on the forefront of trying to show people’s feelings, beliefs and the
complexities of personality, in both a serious and comedic way. This was an important show in its day. It's ironic that a
show with its social content couldn't be aired today even though we all think
things are better now. I think its more that we are happy with how
effectively we are hiding the underlining issues now.8. Frasier – The repartee was sensational; the main characters were very
good. Even though they portrayed people who were likely of high intelligence,
they also showed their weaknesses. This is a great
show that I can enjoy watching over and over.9. Mad About You – It’s a personal favorite, I loved the characters and the
back and forth. It was very smart. This was a good
show that went deep into human relationships. Sometimes a little too
deep.10. Jeopardy – It’s about the only game show that really tries to test
people’s intelligence. There’s very little luck involved, and there are few game
shows like that. I don’t watch it all that much honestly, but from what I’ve
seen it tests more than knowledge, it tests intelligence too. It's fun at times, but isn't really about smarts; instead about
who can memorize the most information.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Nothing like San Diego
Sunday, February 10, 2008
So far, so
Allie and I hadn't been out to a desent place for awhile, so I figured last night we'd hit up Straits, also at Santana Row. We were actually both impressed with the quality of food there. Its funny how much we end up talking about work, even over a nice dinner. We had also planned to goto the movies, maybe to see National Treasure. Nothing is out that is all that interesting right now, and National Treasure was more a compromise than an actual desired choice, so we changed our minds, hit up Blockbuster and watched Elizabeth: The Golden Age, and The Quiet.
Monday, February 04, 2008
The Big Game
Monday, January 21, 2008
Evening in San Diego
by chance the San Diego Chargers played
there play-off game against the New
England Patriots. Now that the game is
over,and the chargers have had there ugly
loss, the mood here is very subdued. Blue
and yellow balloons hang low along the
street outside of bars and rest'rants as
their helium deflates almost was quickly
as the Chargers. Fans are along walking
slowly in that sort of walk the commutes
'I don't really care...(but it's obvious I
really do.)'
Goodnight Chargers. BTW, what is a charger anyway?
___Sent with SnapperMailwww.snappermail.com