[IrishEyes]

Ok, so I was reading (yeah, I know, do I do ANYTHING else?) and I came across this article. I thought it was mildly interesting, and I was hoping for some input from you guys. I think this article perfectly illustrates something that Freethinker often references in one form or another - as technology advances, so does our understanding of how things work. One thing that made me chuckle though... there is a reference in here that says something like "this is as close as we can get with our current technology, but it's not likely to be very far off" . What makes me want to laugh is that I am sure that the same thing was said 10 years ago, and 100 years before that, and a 1000 years before that. And still we advance. And still we learn that we have much more to learn.

Anyhow, here's the link. Hope you will chek it out and make comments as appropriate!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6289901/

EDIT to correct the ridiculous amount of TYPOS!

[Tormod]

Very interesting reading, indeed. So maize has twice the genes that humans have.

Well if it shows one thing it is that the amount of genes is not what makes us smart (or else maybe maize are the real leaders of this world!!!) Maybe that movie "Children of the Corn" is a documentary after all and not a horror movie as they try to make us believe.

I'm not sure why you posted this in the evolution group, though, since your argument is about the limits of technology...

[IrishEyes]

I'm not sure why you posted this in the evolution group, though, since your argument is about the limits of technology...

Because I was VERY tired.
I'll move it after I catch up with the rest of the stuff. I can't believe how many posts I made last night, barely awake. I will be SO glad when my neighbor's husband gets home tomorrow and I can get back on a regular sleep pattern!

[Tormod]

Originally posted by: IrishEyes
I will be SO glad when my neighbor's husband gets home tomorrow and I can get back on a regular sleep pattern!

The T-bot wanted to comment on this but it has been banned.

[IrishEyes]

The T-bot wanted to comment on this but it has been banned.

Poor poor T-bot. Should have been nicer to the Hypo-momma, huh?

I think I mentioned in another thread... neighbor doesn't do well when husband is away, lots of crying, gnashing of teeth, etc. So when he goes on travel, I go over there with 2 or 3 movies every night and I go through about a pot of coffee, keep an eye on her 3 lil ones, and wait for her to fall asleep. the poor dear just has the worst time of it, and being a fromer military wife, i can understand. of course, being a former military husband, Mr. Irish is about at an end of his limits for me being out until all hours. The husband will soon return and will only need to make one more trip until next year. YAHOO!! But it has been VERY good for my post counter, since I get home in th middle of the night and my house is silent, and i've got a bunch of coffee to burn off before i can sleep...

I think Uncle Martin needs a disappearing wife next to his house... maybe then he'd catch up!

[Tormod]

If it's good for your post counter then it's good for us. I'm sure Prez Bush will celebrate his upcoming victory by attacking another oil-rich country with a religion based state run by a preacher (no wait, that would be Norway...)

Seriously, I hear what you're saying. You really take care of the people around you. That's good. But there has to be limits!?

[IrishEyes]

Yes.
Limits are good.
My limit right now is 5 cups of coffee.

[BlameTheEx]

Irish

Hm.

If your neighbour needs consoling while her husband is away, I think your husband has a right to be miffed. More fun if he does it.

[Freethinker]

Originally posted by: Tormod
a religion based state run by a preacher (no wait, that would be Norway...)

I have been meaning to ask about this. But was not sure where to put it. OK, I probably stated that wrong...

A friend, a supposed Fundy, mentioned that his missionary work in Latin America got a major financial boost from your country because of it's Luthern Minister President and tax money he funneled oout of your country. Any comment?

[Tormod]

Probably very likely. It's not a secret, either. Norway has always funded a lot of missionary groups with taxpayer money (well, for as long as we've been an independent state, I think).

In Norway, the Salvation Army has a very good standing in the population (regardless of faith) because of their work with homeless, drug addicts etc. One of their strong points is that they do not demand that people convert before they receive help.

Also, there is something called the Norwegian Church Aid http://www.nca.no/article/archive/40 who do a lot of very good work abroad. They are highly regarded as a serious organization, and they do not hide their Christian objectives. I think they also do not require conversion in order to help. If I remember correctly, there was a large fundraiser on national TV a year or two ago where they received about 20 million dollars from people.

So yes, Norway does fund missionary work and some of it is very good. I would personally prefer that the money spent on religious groups was spent on independent groups like the Red Cross and Save the Children, but they too receive a lot of state funding AFAIK.

I am not very familiar with how money is distributed in this field but I don't think there is a lot of secrecy going on.