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Glyptodonts for Lunch

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Though many critters from the depths of time are extinct, some have living relatives today. There are living things that were thought to be extinct, then discovered to be alive and labeled living fossils . One animal from days of old is the dilly of armor, the armadillo. It is linked to the  glyptodont  group. As with some other creatures, even the largest of the armadillos are dwarfed by ancient relatives. DNA reveals that glyptodonts are actually giant armadillos — and may have been on the dining menu for some people. Glyptodon clavipes , Flickr / S. Rae (adjusted), ( CC BY 2.0 ) As to why animals were much larger back then, biblical creationists and secular scientists have differing ideas. Creationists have suggested longer lifespans and with them, delayed maturation. However, creationists are uncertain if the pre-Flood conditions on Earth played a part in bigness ( which included the Ice Age ). Also, secular scientists say cutting marks found on bones indicate slicing off meat fro

Non-Science in Dinosaur-to-Bird Evolution

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In Through the Looking-Glass by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (writing as Lewis Carroll), the White Queen boasted of having been able to believe six impossible things before breakfast. That book was published in 1871, and Charles Darwin had published On the Origin of Species  in 1859. Believing impossible things seems to have been growing in popularity. Although the idea of dinosaurs evolving into birds is treated as a scientific fact by many of Darwin's disciples, actual scientific facts are ignored or denied. Evidence and dating systems of secularists work against them, but they still believe impossible things. Archaeopteryx by Dr. Thompsons Seifenpulver , ca. 1900 An early attempt to bolster Darwinism was Archaeopteryx . This bad boy should have been left alone, as most secular paleontologists admitted that it was just a bird, not a transitional form between dinosaurs and birds. Secular dating methods as showing Archie as being older than dinosaurs. Yet some secular paleontologists

Misunderstanding Slavery in the Bible

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Atheists and other unbelievers often attempt to find ways of negating the importance of the Bible. It is extremely common for them to say that the creation account is wrong because it is out of keeping with secular origins stories. Another attempt to negate the Bible by stating, "Your holy book condones slavery!" Restrain your equines, Erika. There is a great deal happening here, not the least of which is conflating slavery in the culture of the ancient Near East with the very different slave trade of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Woman in chains, PxHere Yes, slavery is discussed in the Bible, but manstealing was forbidden. Ancient Israel wanted to be like neighboring nations, so God gave strict guidelines for the treatment of slaves. Those slaves were given better treatment in Israel than elsewhere. Also, conquered people were often taken as slaves by Israel. If you study on it a spell, this is actually merciful because the men were killed in battle — women and ch

Scientist Angry at Politicization in Science

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by Cowboy Bob Sorensen As discussed before, the secular science industry is all in for leftist politics and morality. There are folks in academia and science professions who simply want to do their jobs and are not necessarily thrilled with the extreme leftist views of their employers. People may rightly wonder why science organizations, which should be ignoring politics and doing science stuff, are doing these things. After all, they are essentially making an obscene gesture at millions of people who disagree with their adoration of leftist Democrat policies. Two scientists working, Pexels / Edward Jenner One simple reason is that Democrats promise money. (People want money for their interests no matter who is hurt in the long run, and they want their special interests to be promoted, especially sexual deviances.) The secular science industry wants that grant money, you betcha! Another reason for their partisanship is that they want to be admired by their peers . And many of their pee

Baffling Jacana Bird Defies Evolution

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Admittedly, this is just a speculation, but if baryons-to-birds evolution were true, there should be a large amount of sameness. Laws of nature have to be followed. Anyway, the jacana is a strange bird that goes against many general patterns in nature. They are part of the shorebird created kind . For one thing, the female is much larger than the male. Another is that mating is polyandrous. That is, females mate with multiple males. (Interestingly, many birds are monogamous for a season or even for life.) Behavior toward their own young is...truly bizarre. Crested jacana bird, Flickr / David Minty ( CC BY 2.0 ) It would make sense to nurture the young so the species can keep going. Young jacanas do not live long enough to reach adulthood. Natural selection may have had a part in how a lone female can usurp the dominant female and then kill the chicks that are not hers! (Unlike human females that want to protect a baby, even if they do not know it, because it's a baby.) When an out

Design in Autumn Leaf Colors

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In our neck of the woods, the autumnal equinox has just happened. The first day of fall...because that's what leaves on deciduous trees do. Some folks have fun admiring the autumn foliage, even taking trips to see it. They are sometimes given the silly epithet "leaf peepers." Nature is not tied to solar or manmade calendars. Some trees begin the leaf color-changing process before autumn, others hang on to their leaves a while longer. Conditions are the guiding force, including stress. Leaves changing colors and falling is by design. Late summer trees beginning to change color, Unsplash / Cowboy Bob Sorensen While scientists have a handle on the process, there is still much to learn. Since there will be less sunlight, the leaves that are used to catch it are burdensome. Before they are released from their duty, trees take back nutrients. There is no chlorophyll in the leaves, so their existing colors are revealed — except red leaves, those undergo a chemical transformation

Politically Correct Science and Easter Island

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Although political correctness (a wide-ranging term often unrelated to politics) and cultural sensitivity frequently become absurd, sometimes they can be useful. Ayers Rock in Australia is also known as the Aboriginal name Uluru.  Easter Island and its people are now called  Rapa Nui . While it was arrogant of the white explorers to assign names of their own choosing without so much as a by your leave, leftist ideologies often demonize white people. The secular science industry embraces leftist cultural ideas, and this is illustrated with the history of Easter Island. Easter Island statues, Flickr / The TerraMar Project ( CC BY 2.0 ), modified at PhotoFunia On a side note, the head statues on Easter Island are famous. What is less known is that bodies of a sort are attached to those heads and buried underground. There are stories about how the isolated population of Rapa Nui degenerated and collapsed, even to the point of wars and cannibalism. A big part of it was ecocide , the overu

Homicide in Modern Health Care

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Under the pretense of personal rights, modern medical treatments include bodily mutilation, the murder of the unborn, and other things that were unthinkable at one time. If suffering animals can be euthanized, so can people. One result of a Darwinian worldview is that humans are devalued . Study on it a spell. Everything came from a common ancestor, and ultimately, "star stuff." Secularists consider people for their value to society, Bible-believing Christians see them as valuable because they are created in the image of God. Abandoned Hospital Monsour Medical Center, Flickr / Darryl Moran ( CC BY-ND 2.0 ) It is now being called health care to kill people. Euthanasia can be invoked because of excessive pain or no hope of recovery. Also, "physician assisted suicide" is when medical personnel provide the means of another person to end their own lives. This can include mental illness, depression, hopelessness, and more. The other day was the one-year anniversary of my

Human and Octopus Evolution Research Conundrum

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Fun fact: Octopi  is an incorrect plural for  octopus  because octopus is an English word, not Latin. So it does not receive a Latin plural. Octopuses  is correct even though it may mess with the tongue. Anyway, they are classified as mollusks belonging to the arthropod phylum. Octopuses come in various sizes and show remarkable characteristics, especially intelligence. Their brain neurons have an element that is important for thinking, and are also found in human brains. Humans and octopuses are so clearly different, they could not have evolved from a common ancestor. Octopus, Pexels / Pia B The phrase "Thinking outside the box" is often used to describe how someone goes beyond limitations, often to find a solution or new way of doing things. Evolutionists essentially put their thinking into boxes with phylogenetic trees and homology . These work together, but are illogical. Not only do they limit thinking, but are illogical because they use circular reasoning: Assume evolut

Breastfeeding and the Survival of Women

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My prospector friend Stormie Waters is getting hitched up with Roland Meadows, and they will make a fine couple. Like many others, they want to have the event in the spring. It may even happen outdoors by one of Stormie's favorite streams. They have occasionally sought my advice and sometimes I got a mite uncomfortable. Stormie said, "It's known that breastfeeding is best for a baby's nutrition." She looked at me with wide eyes and asked, "They get calcium that way. Why don't women's bones collapse?" Roland also waited for my reply. Young Mother Breastfeeding Her Child , Jules Breton, 1873 I dealt with my embarrassment about such a personal subject involving close friends by taking a clinical mindset. Also, I had been reading an article about it. Mammals have calcium taken from their bones, and this is not unique to humans. The child needs calcium, but so do adults. Folks have wondered for a mighty long time why women are not harmed by breastfeed