Day: April 12, 2006

The Man Who Saved A Billion Lives

Chris 6 Comments

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Who says one person can’t make a difference?

Norman Ernest Borlaug (born March 25, 1914) is an American agricultural scientist, humanitarian, Nobel laureate, and the father of the Green Revolution. Borlaug received his Ph.D. in plant pathology and genetics from the University of Minnesota in 1942. He took up an agricultural research position in Mexico, where he developed semi-dwarf high-yield, disease-resistant wheat varieties.

During the mid-20th century, Borlaug led the introduction of his grain and modern agricultural production techniques to Mexico, Pakistan, and India. As a result, Mexico became a net exporter of wheat by 1963. Between 1965 and 1970, wheat yields nearly doubled in Pakistan and India, greatly improving the food security in those nations. These collective increases in yield have been labeled the Green Revolution, and Borlaug is often credited with saving over a billion people from starvation.1 He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 in recognition of his contributions to world peace through increasing food supply.

And Another Blow To Creationism

Chris 7 Comments

More physical evidence that god hid on us to test our faith has been found.

LONDON (Reuters) – An international team of scientists have discovered 4.1 million year old fossils in eastern Ethiopia that fill a missing gap in human evolution.

The teeth and bones belong to a primitive species of Australopithecus known as Au. anamensis, an ape-man creature that walked on two legs.

The Australopithecus genus is thought to be an ancestor of modern humans. Seven separate species have been named. Au. anamensis is the most primitive.

“This new discovery closes the gap between the fully blown Australopithecines and earlier forms we call Ardipithecus,” said Tim White, a leader of the team from the University of California, Berkeley.

Flight 93 Hijack Transcript

Chris

The Smoking Gun has the transcript to the Flight 93 cockpit voice recorder.

The tape begins with a hijacker’s announcement that, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is the captain…we have a bomb on board, so sit.” As the recording continues, the hijackers can be heard praying to Allah and warning passengers to “Shut up” and “Don’t move.” Transcript excerpts in bold were translated from Arabic by government officials. At one point during the mayhem, someone in the cockpit says, “Please don’t hurt me. Oh God!” Then, moments later, “I don’t want to die” is repeated three times by an unknown passenger.

Daily Dose of Ingersoll

Chris 3 Comments
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Some Christian lawyers — some eminent and stupid judges — have said and still say, that the Ten Commandments are the foundation of all law.

Nothing could be more absurd. Long before these commandments were given there were codes of laws in India and Egypt — laws against murder, perjury, larceny, adultery and fraud. Such laws are as old as human society; as old as the love of life; as old as industry; as the idea of prosperity; as old as human love.

All of the Ten Commandments that are good were old; all that were new art foolish. If Jehovah had been civilized he would have left out the commandment about keeping the Sabbath, and in its place would have said: “Thou shalt not enslave thy fellow-men.” He would have omitted the one about swearing, and said: “The man shall have but one wife, and the woman but one husband.” He would have left out the one about graven images, and in its stead would have said: “Thou shalt not wage wars of extermination, and thou shalt not unsheathe the sword except in self-defence.”

If Jehovah had been civilized, how much grander the Ten Commandments would have been.

— Robert Green Ingersoll, “About the Holy Bible” (1894)