Piltdown Superman

Some years ago, I  briefly discussed the genetic fallacy . We need to give it another look. In one way, it is simple: People reject information because they dislike its source. That is a cop out to avoid dealing with subject matter that may be pertinent. Recently, I wrote in  Resistance to Question Evolution Day  that someone posted about QED on Reddit and angry atheists had many illogical comments. The poster was asked if people should pay attention to someone called "Cowboy Bob." The genetic fallacy was weaponized and the content of QED was ignored. Plato and Aristotle dazzle the School of Athens  with basketball displays Regular readers know that I encourage people to know basic informal logical fallacies . It can be quite fun. Christians (especially biblical creationists) need to know these things not only to catch deceit and manipulation from misotheists and Darwin's disciples, but also to keep from doing it ourselves and dishonoring the Lord. One challenge...

It seems that theories of relativity are the domain of mathematical geniuses, but it is said that us reg'lar folk can get a handle on them. Uncle Albert Einstein had two theories, General and Special. When physicists study motion, that is mechanics . When the motions of objects in different locations are compared, that is relativity . People have studied motion and relative positions for millennia. Aristotle had some ideas, but got things wrong. Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei got on the prod about Aristotle's teachings and did his own studies. This brought changes in physics. Albert Einstein explaining relativity on chalkboard made at Hetemeel Then Isaac Newton got involved and further developed the relativity that Galileo had been working on. Great, Newtonian laws of motion were developed. Then came Albert Einstein and his theory of special relativity. Some folks say that his work replaced Newtonian physics, but that is not the case. He expanded on it. Interestin...

In the secular science industry, the peer review process seems more like a "good ol' boys" club than the dissemination of objective scientific information. While gatekeeping keeps out much of the riffraff, it also protects favored views from contrary data. Although creation scientists do publish in peer-reviewed journals , they cannot get material refuting evolution, supporting the global Genesis Flood, and so on published. Not only is evolution protected, but leftist views on climate change and other things are shielded. The peer-review process has numerous flaws that bother even secular scientists. Made at  Redkid.net I've got some bad news for you, Sunshine: Scientists are not the bastions of integrity and impartiality that many people think. They are human and subject to wicked urges just like the rest of us. Peer review has cheating, ethical problems, a reproducibility crisis , and other flaws. There appears to be a rebellion in the works. Some want it scrapped. ...

It is amazing how astronomers can use technology to find planets outside our solar system, even so much as to speculate on their size and composition. Pictures of exoplanets are only artist concepts; the planets cannot be seen. Continued observations of activity in their solar systems can raise questions. Transits in the Kepler-51 system caused some confusion, as they were not what was expected. While a number of large planets have been discovered, these seem to have a density comparable to cotton candy. Astronomers are looking for ways to explain what is happening. Bags of cotton candy, Pexels / Magda Ehlers These super-puff planets should not exist according to standard cosmology. Their cores lack density, which means they should not have atmospheres. How these puff daddies formed in the first place is a mystery, and one speculation about what's going on is that there is a great deal of dust kicked up by outflowing atmospheres — which should have dissipated millions of years ago ...

February 12 is Question Evolution Day for those of us who care about free speech, intellectual and academic freedoms, and more. Many secularists call it Darwin Day since Charlie is treated like a religious icon. Speak ill of him and call down their thunder. Yet people also say that nobody believes Darwinism anymore, theories of evolution have progressed. Don't even refer to evolution as Darwinism . But they still have the day of observance. It would be amazing if secular scientists told the secular science industry, "We can work without evolutionary thinking. Send him packing." Charles Darwin hitchhiking, made with AI at Bing While atheists and other secularists may be screaming, "Katie, bar the door!" about such a heretical concept of science without Darwinism, there are some basic facts to consider. First, he was not a "great scientist," as his only earned degree was in theology. Second, he promised to back up his claims, but never followed through ...

Scoffers often accuse Jews and Christians of stupidly accepting ancient texts and legends, then incorporating them into our belief systems. They claim Mithras, Osiris, Krishna, and other pagan myths had striking similarities to our beliefs — but those claims are utterly false . False religions and others have presented books and letters attributed to the apostles and other church leaders. In tense times, the canon was decided upon using specific criteria . The book of Revelation was not enthusiastically embraced at first because church leaders wondered if it was authentic. Heaven clipart, Free Christian Illustrations I'll allow that Revelation reads quite a bit differently than other New Testament books, and it has been used by heretics for their own agendas. But then, selecting verses for cultic agendas happens with rest of the Bible itself. Liberal scholars have tried to find reasons to downplay Revelation, but those sidewinders have been doing that stuff for quite a long time — ...

While there were other hippopotamuses long ago, there are only two kinds left: the pygmy and the river. Interesting contrast, as the river hippo makes its home in the Nile. It is the third largest land animal and very dangerous. They are also fragile. To modify a line from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , Hippopotamuses glide through water in much the same way that bricks don't. Water temperature must be just right, and no salt, either. So how did they get to merrie olde England? Dining hippopotamus, Pixabay / Petar Ubiparip Since they cannot fit through the doors of mass transit and they cannot operate motor vehicles, they must have walked. But Cowboy Bob, England isn't very merry and it's surrounded by water! Well, Ireland and Britain are islands now , but there was a time when the areas were accessible by foot. This involves the Ice Age that was the result of the Genesis Flood. (People have some wrong ideas about the Ice Age, such as many of them in the past an...

A possible missing link for bird evolution had been proposed, and the hands at the Darwin Ranch were all a-twitter. Indeed, they were celebrating so loudly, they could be heard all the way to Stinking Lake (which is not as bad as it sounds). But there was little reason for it. Consider that if universal common ancestor evolution were true, scientists would practically be tripping over the multitude of transitional forms. Instead, they are happy when they find a few possibilities. This bird skull find is packed with weasel words and dubious reasoning. Suspicious ostrich is suspicious, Pexels / Adriaan Greyling (modified, also used ImgFlip ) Several basic concepts have been neglected. A larger brain does not guarantee more cognitive ability. This bad boy is supposed to fit between Archaeopteryx  (a true bird) and modern birds, but birds have different sized skulls. Consider that the ostrich skull has a typical length of  almost 19 cm. (7.4 in.) and a house sparrow runs 2-1/2 cm...

Studies of how unborn children respond are fascinating, and I witnessed how one of my newborn children recognized my voice. I spoke, and he tried to turn his head in my direction! It has been recommended that expectant parents talk to their developing children; some also read to them. It has been discovered that babies have a built-in ability to learn  and are also ready to read . Naturally, it fits right in that they are ready to learn the language of the people around them. It was discovered that they learn it earlier than scientists thought. Baby feet in crib, RGBstock /  Jean Scheijen For that matter, it is known that children are far more adept at learning more than one language, but it is often difficult for adults to learn additional languages. It would be in the best interests for children of parents who do not speak the language of the country where they live to learn that country's language as well as the one their parents speak. That way, the whole family doesn't ha...

Habitability out there, thataway, was a simple concept: A planet had to be the right distance from a suitable star. There also had to be some water. Secular cosmologists and astrobiologists (yet there are no aliens to study) depend on atoms-to-alien evolution to happen. Aside from the silliness of believing in abiogenesis despite  science and reason, these folks also have to deal with how the habitability zone becomes increasingly complex. It gets more complicated the way water is vital for habitability in more ways than scientists previously considered. Desert world scene, Pixabay / Gordon Taylor There are books and movies about desert worlds where water is a precious commodity. Computer simulations greatly increase the suspension of disbelief in audiences because a world without water could not evolve  — a substantial amount of water, at that. Also, the water would have to be at a minimum level. Such information should inspire people to be thankful to the Creator for the wor...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Although Reddit is really big on teh interwebs and seems to have evolved from newsgroups , I have little use for it. Interesting because I was involved in newsgroups for a spell. They were like the Wild West; there was no town marshall, so almost anything could be posted. Reddit is a bit moderated, I hear. Someone posted about Question Evolution Day . As expected, atheists and other anti-creationists went ballistic. A cursory glance shows that they still reject rational discourse and logic — yet they claim to be the rational ones. The first thing I noticed (again, cursory glances) is that the substance of QED was not discussed. Instead, they used straw man arguments, prejudicial conjecture, and some fabricated complaints that were decades  old (railing against a book from 1997). One complained that creationists are always lying, which I have pointed out is ludicrous even on the surface: Why would we, who believe in a holy and righteous God who hates lyi...

Denizens of the secular science industry have a habit of telling stories, especially when they need to protect deep time. After all, the Bearded Buddha needs many years to make his evolution story seem plausible, so they give it to him. Evidence for the Genesis Flood is rejected out of hand. Some time ago, Dr. Andrew Snelling was pondering the folded rocks at Grand Canyon. Try to bend or fold a rock now, it shatters under the force. He wanted to take some rocks for examination, but government officials discriminated against him and refused permission . Monument fold in the Tapeats Sandstone, Flickr / Nate Loper ( CC BY 2.0 ) Fortunately, Dr. Snelling won the lawsuit and was able to collect fifty-three samples. His goal was to see if secular scientists could adequately explain rock folds or if they were just using the principle of Making Things Up™ again to bolster their story of 500 million years to fold those rocks. Tomorrow is Question Evolution Day The samples were processed with g...

There is a perennial wildflower that grows in temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere known as fireweed  in America, and  rosebay willowherb in Britain. It seems like an understatement to refer to land as disturbed  after fires or volcanic eruptions (or bombing, it has been called bombweed  in England), but fireweed is ready to reclaim the land. Fireweed is attractive, but may be sparse during good times for the land. Its method of distributing itself on disturbed land (above and below ground) is quite interesting. Fireweed, Flickr / Alaska Region U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Kristine Sowl (PD) When Mt. St. Helens erupted, the land was a mess and scientists watched for years to see how it would recover. Guess what showed up right quick-like? Yup, fireweed was observed  by 1985. Fungi also joined the land reclamation party. Add to this is that fireweed and other plants are food for wildlife — if they eat the right varieties at opportune times. One reas...

When soft tissues in dinosaurs were found, Darwin's disciples denied it. Accusations of faulty laboratory procedures, sample contamination, and other excuses were made. Even so, discoveries of soft tissues and saying those things should   not exist  continued. Things kept getting worse for evolutionists. Cellular proteins were found in dinosaur fossils , and so has DNA . Not only is the word fossil  used loosely because not all fossils are permineralized, a new study definitively confirmed that dinosaur collagen exists in fossils. Modified postage stamp of an  Edmontosaurus  head from the author's collection The hip bone of an  Edmontosaurus  was studied with several techniques and identified the remnants of collagen. Molecules had degraded, but they were clearly identified as collagen. When compared to protein sequences of other animals, those of dinosaurs were unique. It is commendable that the researchers admitted to the evidence, which is a huge pr...

Off the coast of Australia is the island state of Tasmania, and off the coast of that is Mount Chappell Island (also called Hummocky). It is uninhabited private property used for sheep grazing. Some critters live there, one of which is the extremely venomous tiger snake. This snake gets its name from bands of color resembling a tiger, but there are color varieties. If you are uncertain about its identity, leave it alone — especially since that part of the world is chock full o' venomous things. Interestingly, that island tiger snake is a study in natural selection. Tiger snake, iNaturalist / Max Tibby (PD), modified at PhotoFunia Darwinists may be surprised that informed biblical creationists accept natural selection, and that it fits nicely with creationist models. Part of their confusion is from natural selection being a part of the evolutionary framework, but their adaptation by selection idea also requires mutations. Many creationists postulate that the Creator frontloaded liv...

While woolgathering the other day, I thought back to a small get-together at my prospector friend Stormie Waters' place. There were equine games. I knew Stormie's friend Ruby Slippers was skilled at horse riding, but in the speed, turns, and fine maneuvering, she and the horse were like a unit. In the heyday of the nineteenth century American cattle drives, riders and horses worked together. Such unity is common. Long ago, people were using horses for transportation (riding and pulling wagons), pack animals, and more. So why say there were not designed to be ridden? The Cowboy , Frederic Remington, 1902 We have looked at dysteleology  arguments (that something supposedly had bad design, so the Creator does not exist or is incompetent, therefore evolution) several times. Sorry, Wilbur, but the argument can be used about the horse. Of course. Although poor design imaginings are used to prop up evolution, they are theological opinions, not scientific, in nature. Interestingly, th...

An exclamation of amazement at absurdity is, "How dumb can you get?" It implies that stupidity cannot get much worse. Someone pointed out that it seems like a challenge, so: "How dumb can you get? Hold my beer!" We have contenders from the nature rights movement. Those addlepated folks at the Nonhuman Rights Project tried to get personhood status for an elephant , but that was overturned. They are still trying. Also, there is no mention if hallucinogenic substances were a factor, but a mountain is legally a person with rights and responsibilities. Elephant reading a book, made with  Bing Image Generator  and enhanced The Nonhuman Rights Project keeps trying to get legislation for critters to be granted personhood. They failed in the People's Republic of New York, so they turned their attention to getting a pachyderm made a person in Colorado. Those people weren't having it . The whole idea is infested with ridiculous ideas and contradictions. In New Zealand,...

Not everyone has state-of-the-art audio receivers always available, and tuning in to a distant broadcast can include static and other noise. If there is too much, we may say "Fuggedaboudit" and move on. It would have been nice to hear the program, though. It is similar when using televisions with aerials. For something that is considered a "fact" or even a "law ," the signal from proponents of descent-with-modification evolution should be clear. It is not. Many scientists and those in academia do not understand evolution, so no wonder the common person is confused. Darwin on television with signal noise, public domain images including Clker clipart A researcher and a professor think they have tools to reduce the noise in statistical rates. However, they were talking about what some folks erroneously call microevolution , which is really just small changes: a bacterium is still a bacterium, a frog is still a frog, a chimpanzee is still a chimpanzee. Basical...

Those other jellyfish get the media attention, what with their bell shapes, lack of brains, deadly stinging tentacles and such. What about the "immortal jellyfish" that scientists call  Turritopsis dohrnii ? Of course, they are 0.18 inches (4.5 mm) long, so they are difficult to see — but are in pretty much every ocean. Nothing physical is immortal, but T. dohrnii makes a good try though, barring accidents and such. They essentially regenerate themselves (no word if any carry sonic screwdrivers), reverting to an immature stage. Sometimes they even skip that stage. The process is amazingly complex. Turritopsis dohrnii , enlarged from Wikimedia Commons / Bachware ( CC BY-SA 4.0 ) On a side note, it has been said that youth is wasted on the young... Can you imagine starting over as someone much younger but retaining the knowledge you have? Of course, these critters lack brains, so there's not a whole lot of knowledge to draw from as they progress. Sometimes the jellyfish e...

Admit it, you have occasionally tried to avoid bad luck or enhance good luck. If you study on it a spell, you can see that luck is treated like an entity that dispenses favorable or unfavorable events. Mayhaps it is like the Force of Star Wars , or  the Fates . Many superstitions are widespread but have no known origins. A remark attributed to Groucho (Julius Henry) Marx is if a black cat crosses your path, it means the animal is going someplace. It is bad luck in some places but good luck in others. Groundhog, Pexels / Abdullah Dawud It is interesting that Groundhog Day actually has an old history, and the rodent was first associated with it by Germans. Many of them settled in Pennsylvania, so their traditions eventually blossomed into Punxsutawney Phil, the weather predictor with a lousy track record. Why that name, Cowboy Bob? I dunno. This burrowing cousin of squirrels (who can climb trees) has other monikers. How about Woodchuck Day? Better yet, Whistle-pig Day? How ...

No, abiogenesis — chemical evolution — has not, and cannot  be scientifically demonstrated. Thanks for reading. Good day. Okay, you want a mite more. People calculate astronomical odds against life coming from non-life , and it has been proven to be impossible , some atheists and other evolutionists still cling to that absurd hope. Dr. James Tour challenged secularists to answer some origin of life (OoL) questions. They did not answer . Also, there is a $10 million dollar prize waiting for someone to meet the standard and become comfortably well-off. Taken from public domain images  here  and  here , then heavily modified The ID article featured below made grandiose claims about the importance of abiogenesis happening. However, even if it was demonstrated, it would only show that it was made possible in that prize-winning instance. Pull back the reins on that pony and slow down, Hoss! Many questions would then be raised. Also, the same unethical secular science indus...