A Disingenuous Argument

In Steve Mirsky's article An Immodest Proposal in the Opinion section of the June 2009 Scientific American (p. 37), Mirsky quotes from Jonathan Wells' article Darwin's Straw God Argument on the Discovery Institute web site (http://www.discovery.org/a/8101) without the courtesy of naming the article and with the discourtesy of insulting the name of the web site. The quote:

Darwinism depends on the splitting of one species into two, which then diverge and split and diverge and split, over and over again, to produce the branching-tree pattern required by Darwin’s theory. And this sort of speciation has never been observed.

Then, apparently pretending to be ignorant of the fact that most creationists, and Wells in particular, make a distinction between macroevolution and microevolution, Mirsky goes on to waste an entire page of ink to propose that the breeding of dogs is proof that the sort of speciation that created all of the species has indeed been observed.

The first part of Wells' paragraph from which Mirsky quotes reads:

The best way to find “evolution’s smoking gun” would be to observe speciation in action. There actually are some confirmed cases of observed speciation in plants -- all of them due to an increase in the number of chromosomes, or “polyploidy.” But observed cases of speciation by polyploidy are limited to flowering plants, and polyploidy does not produce the major changes required for Darwinian evolution.

Later in Wells' article, he writes:

So although Darwinists believe that all species have descended from a common ancestor through variation and selection, they cannot point to a single observed instance in which even one species has originated in this way. Evolution's smoking gun is still missing, and Dobzhansky’s working assumption that macroevolution equals microevolution remains nothing more than an assumption.

So it is obvious that Wells makes a distinction between macroevolution and microevolution. For the sake of readers not familiar with these terms, I will briefly explain: Microevolution refers to the small genetic changes as observed within the various 'kinds' of life. Macroevolution assumes that larger genetic changes or an accumulation of small genetic changes has produced all the species from a common ancestor. Microevolution postulates many genetic trees, and macroevolution postulates one tree. In both cases, the details of the tree branching are only estimates, and for microevolution the division of 'kinds' is also estimated.

Microevolution, creationists admit, has been observed. (So has the continual breaking of world records. But does that even suggest, let alone prove, that one day athletes will jump across the Hudson River from Nyack to Tarrytown?)

So Mirsky's disingenuous proposal does not disprove Wells' statement. His line of argument needs an observation that breeding of dogs has produced cats or lizards or anything other than more dogs.

My Summer Projects

I have taken pictures while doing a series of projects over the last two months, and put them into an album on PicasaWeb, with captions. The link below goes to this album.

After we had new siding put on the house, it became apparent that the fiberglass wall on the west side of the house looked bad by comparison. But we liked the fact that the fiberglass, which is translucent, lets light into the shop/storage area, which has no windows. So we decided to hide the fiberglass wall with a trellis, and hide the air conditioner as well.

We had a string of potted herbs and flowers along that wall, and I had been thinking of making a raised bed for planting herbs. Over the last two years, I have been developing soil from compost for this raised bed, in another area. So we decided to put a raised bed for herbs and flowers below and in front of the trellis. We could also plant clematis in the bed to climb on the trellis.

The raised bed would require that the walkway of stones (small stones and round stepping stones) would need to be moved further away from the house. Over the years, debris falling on the stones has turned into soil, making it difficult to stop weeds from growing. So we might as well sift out the soil and wash the stones while moving them. Around the corner (south), the dirty stone problem was even worse, due to a bird feeder at the back of the house. So the stone cleaning operation would include that area, also. The soil from the stones could also be used for the raised bed.

We also have had a problem with grass along-side the stones growing in among the stones, causing the stone/grass boundary to migrate. So we would also add plastic edging (mostly underground wall) at the stone/grass boundary to prevent the migration.

When making a list of the required lumber for the raised bed and the frame to support the trellis, I realized that I would need to rent a truck to transport the lumber. I also wanted to build two shelf units to better organize the shop/storage area, so I added the lumber for the shelves to the list to save an extra truck rental.

So the trellis idea led to the raised bed, which led to stone cleaning; and the trellis and raised bed led to getting started on the storage shelves. I made detailed measurements and plans for all these projects, but absolutely no schedule. But once I got started, I wanted to keep going as much as possible.

Yes, I'm retired. But retirement isn't doing nothing. It's having no schedule.

Summer Projects Photo Album

Fairness Doctrine? Who are They Kidding?

If you recognize that the so-called ‘Fairness’ Doctrine isn’t fair, then you don’t need to read this. But if you think the ‘Fairness’ Doctrine is fair, then you need a lesson in logic -- read on if you are open-minded.

Basically, the ‘Fairness’ Doctrine seeks to enforce equal time for conservative and liberal views on American radio stations. But why do that and not also enforce equal time on cable and broadcast TV, equal print space in newspapers, etc.? If we really need to enforce an equal voice for conservative and liberal views, it would be ‘fair’ to do it equally for all outlets. But the liberals don’t want that, because then they would lose their advantage in the TV and newspaper outlets. Is a 'fairness' only in an area that gives an advantage to the liberals fair?

Some of the misunderstanding of the ‘Fairness’ Doctrine relates to a common misunderstanding of the freedom of speech. The free communication of ideas involves listening as well as speaking, and thus involves the freedom of listening (or not listening) to any one, as well as the freedom of speaking. For an example, even though people are free to say stupid things, the rest of us are free not to listen to stupid speeches. The natural result, fortunately, is that stupid people don’t get equal time. You can substitute other words such as ‘ranting’ instead of ‘stupid’, and the logic works the same. In an unregulated media that is funded by advertising, advertisers pay for listeners, so programs with few listeners will fail financially. The speakers on these failing programs may not be stupid or ranting, but something is causing potential listeners to tune out, which is freedom at work.

Another part of the issue is: why should conservative and liberal views get equal time? Why not conservative, centrist, and liberal getting equal thirds? Why not far right, right, centrist, left, and far left? Why not Democrat and Republican? Why not pro-life and pro-choice? Pro-amnesty and anti-amnesty? Who should decide the categories? Just to be sure we are really fair, shouldn’t we include all categories, including cat-lovers and dog-lovers? (For a bonus, all the government regulators needed to make this system work will reduce the jobless rate.) Imagine all the paperwork -- does that sound like freedom of speech to you?

"Literary Meme"

A friend passed on this concept that was titled "Literary Meme", which she got from http://www.rusticanda.blogspot.com/. This is how it works:

1. grab the book closest to you
2. open it to page 161
3. find the fifth full sentence
4. post the text of the sentence to your blog
5. don't search around for the coolest book you have, use the one that is really next to you.

My daughter Susan's new novel, "And the Violin Cried", wasn't the closest book to me, but it was the first book that came to mind, so I was curious as to what the sentence would be:

Samantha’s father pounded the last nail into the manger, while Angelica Nelson toddled over toolboxes and through sawdust to donate her baby doll to the cause.

That was from chapter 34, "Send Aaron!", describing Pinedale Bible Church's preparations for a Christmas production.

The nearest book other than my Bible was an anthology called "The Intellectuals Speak Out About God", and the sentence is:

What, for example, the ontological argument basically says is that if you understand what is meant by "God" and at the same time fail to see the necessity of the reality of that Being, then you are not really talking about God but about something else.

This was from chapter 11, "The Rationality of Belief in God", in a section where Professor John E. Smith attempts to answer the question "How best can the theistic point of view be presented to modern man?"

The reason why this book is so close by is that the reading is so deep that I can only read small portions at a time. But I don't want to give up on the book, so I keep it near as a reminder to read more later.

Equally close was my NKJ Bible, and the sentence is:

It is perversion.

That was from Leviticus 18, where God proscribes homosexuality and bestiality. A reminder that belief in God, and necessarily, acceptance of His absolute proclamations, is an inconvenience to those who would rather define morality on their own terms.

Susan's Novel to be Published Soon

I haven't been posting for a while, because my computer died, and I lost my Internet connection. Now I'm back.

The big news around here is that my daughter Susan has found a publisher (Publish America) for her novel (And the Violin Cried). It will be published by late February or March. You can read reviews and articles about it, and get up-to-date news about book signings, etc. at www.PublishedAuthors.net/SusanJoyClark.

I've transitioned from being her nit-picking editor to being her Publish America Publicity Agent (PA PA). (ha ha) So I set up and maintain web sites, design and print business cards and bookmarks for her. I have also done photography for her, including photos of three young friends who posed as three of the characters in the novel.

Susan, who has training in graphic design, has designed a book cover for her novel which uses these three photos. The publisher may use her cover design as is, or may modify it, or do something different (no promises). But when we saw the page proofs, we were happy to see that the photos were incorporated into the book. Various chapters tell the story from the point of view of different characters; and each photo appears at the beginning of the chapter that first takes that character's point of view. We are taking that as a sign that the publisher likes Susan's cover design as well.

We decided that the title page should feature a picture of a violin, so we found a violin shop and asked if we could take a photo of a violin. They were quite gracious in spite of the fact that they were quite busy. One wall was covered with hundreds of violins. We explained that her novel featured a Schweitzer violin that survived the Holocaust, and the lady took a violin from the wall, and handing it to me, said "This one's a Schweitzer."

"Really?", I said, and she explained that it was actually a replica. But the way it was finished, it looked like an old violin that was re-varnished.

We're Not Afraid!

As he was evacuated from a King's Cross underground train after the recent bombing, Adam Stacey sent a photo by cell phone to his friend Alfie Dennen, a web designer in London. When Dennen posted the photo on his blog and began to get a flood of reactions from other friends, he was inspired to set up a new web site to send a defiant message to the terrorists: "We're not afraid."

Within two hours, the web site www.werenotafraid.com was operating. The site has over 2200 photos from all around the world, many with the text "We're not afraid" in the picture or added to it. And they have raised nearly $2000 for the Red Cross London Bomb Relief fund.

In the middle of Gallery 33 on the web site, one photo sent the message without need for words:

It reminded me of the Psalmist's words:

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
(Psalm 23:4)

What a comfort! -- for those for whom The Lord is their shepherd.

China Fears the Internet

A recent CNN news article Beijing clinic ministers to online addicts caught my eye. The Chinese clinic treats youngsters that are addicted to the Internet. It was reported that "They are suffering from depression, nervousness, fear and unwillingness to interact with others, panic and agitation. They also have sleep disorders, the shakes and numbness in their hands."

I knew that the Chinese are interested in more than the mental health of their young people. I read further to see if the news article would mention China's hostility toward the Internet, putting the news in perspective. No, the Associated Press reporter, working in Beijing, was probably fed a press release from the Chinese authorities, putting a 'politically correct' Chinese spin on the report.

The Chinese, like all other Communist nations, have always tried to control the information available to their citizens. That is why it has been necessary to smuggle Bibles into China. And the Internet, although needed for China to catch up with modern technology, is seen by the Communists as a threat. In recent years, the Chinese authorities have been installing equipment to filter the Chinese connections to the Internet.

For example, see the report Empirical Analysis of Internet Filtering in China where "The authors are collecting data on the methods, scope, and depth of selective barriers to Internet access through Chinese networks." A sample of web sites blocked by the Chinese filtering equipment includes:

• Asian American Baptist Church
• Association of Christian Community Computer Centers
• American Cancer Society - Northern California Chinese Unit
• AltaVista - The Search Company
• Amnesty International USA - Defending and Promoting Human Rights Worldwide
• Center for Anti-Communism
• Russian Christian Orthodox church in Boston USA
• Christian Academy in Japan
• Defend AMERICA - US Department of Defense News About The War on Terrorism
• The Free Methodist Church in Canada - MAIN PAGE
• Integrity Episcopal Church
• The Truth in America Project
• Voice of America

For more, see Sites Blocked in China - Highlights

The concern of the Chinese Communists is more than political -- it is idealogically hostile to Christianity. (See, for example, Chinese Christians Sentenced to Death and persecution.org.) Unable to stop the house church movement, they have attempted to control religion by government-controlled 'religious' organizations such as the Three Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM).

Our Potted Herb Garden in July

The herbs are doing well, and we have already harvested some. They grow better if up to a third of the growth is trimmed now and then.

-------From left to right, below, we have chives, oregano, and rosemary.


-------Below, we have sage and dill, with petunias for color.


-------Below, we have more dill, french tarragon, and peppermint.


-------Below, we have (the french tarragon and peppermint shown again), tarragon and lavender, with basil in front.


-------Below, we have (tarragon and lavender shown again) thyme, with parsley in front.


-------The small hoses that are seen in most of the photos are part of an automatic drip watering system that is controlled by a timer. Most herbs grow well in pots, in a sandy, not-too-wet, well-drained soil. The basil and parsley like it a little wetter.