#0008 RRS Newsletter for June 7, 2007
Hello everyone. First thing I would like to direct your attention to is the fact that our co-founder Rook Hawkins has started an online college level history course, of course, if you've been paying attention to my bulletins, you already know this. Enrollment has closed, but you all are still welcome stop by, and even take part in the homework, if you are interested in doing so.
To get into the chat room, just click on the magnifying glass at the lower left hand corner of the cam box. You will need a Stickam . com account to get in. Don't worry, it's free, and it only takes a minute. You can find the room here:
RRS Academy History course, presented by Rook Hawkins on Stickam
Rook Hawkins of the Rational Response Squad teaches a class on History! Come check it out in the chatroom live! Starts at 11pm EST!
PASS ON!
After the class, come join us in our open chatroom on Stickam . com for discussions, and just hang out. You'll find it under the chat room tab, the name of the room is rational responders. The password to get in is: sapient.
Well that's all from me today. On to the most interesting posts I've recieved today. Enjoy, and stay rational.
Jack,
and the RRS MI team
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From: The A-Team
Date: Jun 6, 2007 10:25 PM
This article was taken from the Humanist Network News newsletter
Atheist Books Overtaking Christian Titles in Best-Sellers Lists
COLUMN By TERRY SANDERSON
From NSS Newsline
June 6, 2007
The Association of American Publishers (AAP), the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry, recently released its annual estimate of total book sales in the United States, and according to its findings, religious books had a "difficult year."
The report, which reveals sales from 2006, marked a sharp 10.2 percent drop in religious books sales compared to the previous twelve months. The trend was one of the biggest decreases among all the book categories reported on by AAP. According to AAP, the drop is not critical, however, since "compound growth is still strong at 7.5 percent per year."
Coincidently alongside the sag in sales of religious books has been a rapid interest in atheist books over the past months. Books that had not sold that well in the past are now beginning to turn into purchases. According to some critics, people in the United States are starting to resent the role religion has played in society.
"There is something like a change in the zeitgeist," explained Christopher Hitchens, author of God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, in the Associated Press. "There are a lot of people, in this country in particular, who are fed up with endless lectures by bogus clerics and endless bullying."
Some Christians, however, say they see the rise in atheist literature as only a reaction to the rise of religious influence. Christianity is gaining more strength, with several victories gained throughout the year. "It sort of dawned on the secular establishment that they might lose here," explained the Rev. Douglas Wilson, author of Letter from a Christian Citizen, in a debate on ChristianityToday.com. "All of this is happening precisely because there's a significant force that they have to deal with."
With the growth in the number of anti-religion books being sold, more are expected to come on to the market.
We are The A-Team and we approve this message.
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From: Dangerous Talk
Date: Jun 7, 2007 3:49 AM
Presidential candidates Joe Biden and Tom Tancredo have made YouTube videos. Biden has asked, "What Would You Do to Break Our Dependence on Oil?" and Tancredo has asked, "How Has Illegal Immigration Impacted You?" Dangerous Talk has responded to each of these two candidates.
-Staks
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From: The A-Team
Date: Jun 7, 2007 10:17 AM
This comes from one of our Christian friends, so keep that in mind.
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From: Steven
Date: Jun 7, 2007 7:45 AM
House Defeats Fake Human Cloning Ban Allowing it For Research
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The House of Representatives defeated a human cloning bill Wednesday that claimed to prohibit the grisly practice but would have allowed scientists to create and destroy human embryos for research. The 213-204 vote comes just one day before the House will consider a measure on embryonic stem cell research. Backers of the phony ban needed a two-thirds vote ot move the bill forward but they were unable to even get a majority vote for their measure. Rep. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat and co-sponsor of the measure, claimed the debate was only about reproductive human cloning. "With the enactment of this legislation, reproductive human cloning will be illegal, nothing more, nothing less," he said. Backers of the bill said it would prohibit cloning but the definitions in the bill define human cloning as the implantation of a cloned human being, not the creation of a human embryo. That fact was not lost on opponents of the bill such as New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith. "The fact is, this bill doesn't ban any human cloning at all -- absolutely none. Researchers are able to clone to their heart's content as long as the kill and destroy the human embryo," the Republican said. He pointed out that the bill would make it law requiring scientists to kill cloned human beings because it fails to ban all forms of human cloning. "This bizarre piece of legislation would make it illegal not to kill a cloned human being," Smith added. "This phony ban sanctions unlimited human cloning research. This would allow the creation of human life for its sole purpose of destruction." Find out how your Representative voted by going here. Read the complete story.
Supermodel Giselle Bundchen Attacks Catholic Church Abortion Position
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil (LifeNews.com) -- Supermodel Giselle Bundchen made news on Wednesday but not because of a fashion shoot or appearance on the runway. Instead, she's getting press as a result of her speaking out in the overwhelmingly Catholic nation of Brazil about the Church's position on abortion. Bundchen, called the Catholic position on abortion and sexuality outdated because she says it was adopted at a time when "the women were virgins and the guys were virgins." "Today no one is a virgin when they get married ... show me someone who's a virgin!" she demanded. Asked about abortion, the supermodel replied that women should have the right to have one if they want, even in dubious circumstances. "If she thinks she doesn't have the money or the emotional condition to raise a child, why should she give birth?" Giselle's comments differ significantly from comments other top models have made. Supermodel and successful businesswoman Kathy Ireland and actor and model Jennifer O'Neill are among those who have been outspoken about their pro-life beliefs.
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From: The A-Team
Date: Jun 7, 2007 10:56 AM
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Thursday, June 7, 2007 
"What are you doing? You're insulting my intellect. And so I am."
- Ray Comfort
We are The A-Team and we approve this message.
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From: ATHEISTS AGNOSTICS SKEPTICS & HUMANISTS ON MYSPACE
Date: Jun 7, 2007 2:09 PM
Evolution requires more than just self-replication. Evolution requires self-replication with mutations to generate variation. Without variation, all of the copies are identical with the original, and hence there is no possibility of evolution. Could proteins have achieved the power of self-replication with mutations? Although proteins have been described that catalyze the ligation (binding together) of two peptides (short proteins) to form copies of themselves (Paul N, Joyce G. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 2002, 99, 12733–12740), evolution can not occur because the copies are identical with the original. Some of these proteins catalyze the ligation of peptides with different amino-acid sequences, thereby forming new proteins. What would have been the fate of these proteins? Unless proteins and nucleic acids are regularly replicated, they decompose under the conditions existing four billion years ago (Joyce, G. Nature, 2002, 418, 214–221). Replication of the particular sequence of amino acids in a protein requires a team of sophisticated molecules that did not exist four billion years ago (Page 1319 of Johnston W, Unrau P, Lawrence M, Glasner M, Bartel D. Science, 2001, 292, 1319–1325). No one has demonstrated a collection of proteins arising under the conditions existing four billion years ago that does anything other than decompose. Thus, unaided proteins could not have achieved the power of self-replication with mutations.
I copied this from Evolutionary Psychology,Sociobiology, Behaviral Genetics, & Neuroscience Groug posted by http://myspace.com/guidorah
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From: ATHEISTS AGNOSTICS SKEPTICS & HUMANISTS ON MYSPACE
Date: Jun 7, 2007 4:42 PM
This is a non-partisan, medical article demonstrating no rational design in but one of the many systems of the human body. This was not the author's intention, but the facts speak for themselves. Our knees were better suited for all fours, not bi-pedal movement.
http://health.howstuffworks.com/home-remedies-for-knee-pain.htm
15 Home Remedies for Knee Pain by the Editors of Consumer Guide
We bend them, kneel on them, run and jump on them daily, yet few of us give them a second thought. Knees. They're one of the most complex -- and most injury-prone -- joints in your body. Why? Blame the knee's design. Unlike the more stable hip joint, which is a ball in a deeply-cushioned pocket, the knee joint is more exposed -- and more vulnerable.
Essentially, the knee is made up of the thighbone (femur), which has a bottom end made up of two rounded knobs (condyles), sitting on the relatively flat top end of the shinbone (tibia). The kneecap is a small, rounded bone that sits in the vertical groove between the two condyles and gives the joint strength.
As the knee bends and straightens, the kneecap slides up and down in the groove. A tendon attaches the kneecap to the thigh muscles above, and a ligament connects it to the shinbone below. The kneecap acts like a
pulley, increasing the power of the muscles
attached to it.
This intricate design can cause problems, especially for the kneecap, which is the source of about 20 percent of all cases of knee pain. Proper functioning of the knee and its kneecap doesn't depend on the alignment of the bones themselves, but on the alignment of the surrounding structures.
Think about the kneecap as a puppet controlled by "strings" -- muscles, tendons, and ligaments. As long as all of the strings pull in just the right way, the kneecap moves back and forth smoothly in its track. But if any string pulls too strongly or not hard enough, the kneecap is pulled out of its track and can no longer glide easily against the thighbone, which can cause pain and may even damage the kneecap.
Because women have wider hips, the upper-leg bone of a woman enters the knee at a greater angle, which twists the knee. This makes women more vulnerable to certain types of kneecap injuries, such as chondromalacia (in which the smooth layer of cartilage that coats the end of the thighbone becomes roughened or cracked), as well as problems with the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
If the large muscles in the thigh (quadriceps) are inflexible due to disuse or lack of stretching before exercise or if these muscles are overused, they can cause inflammation of the knee tendons (patellar tendinitis), or "jumper's knee." Muscle imbalances, in which one group of muscles is stronger than another and pulls harder, can cause knee problems, too.
While knee problems can result from injuries such as falls, automobile accidents, and athletic injuries or diseases like arthritis, the vast majority of knee problems are caused from overstressing the knee during running, climbing, or other repetitive, high-impact exercise. Poorly conditioned leg muscles also stress the knees.
However, if your knee problems are the result of overuse, lack of use (or "weekend warrior syndrome"), or improper training rather than injury, you can use the strategies and home remedies in the next section to improve and maintain the health of your knees and, if you do develop pain, to help ease the hurt and speed healing.
*PLEASE WHEN YOU REPOST, GIVE CREDIT TO THOSE WHO HAVE ALSO AND EXCLUDE NO ONE.
Help Save Internet Radio
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From: www.Outsight.mu - Outsight Radio Hours
Date: Jun 7, 2007 7:30 PM
Greetings,
As you know, the future of Internet radio is in serious danger. Thanks to all your letters and calls to Congressional representatives the “Internet Radio Equality Act", H.R. 2060, has been co-sponsored by 109 Representatives in just over 1 month! As you can see from the speed at which the House bill is picking up co-sponsors and the attention this issue is receiving, your phone calls are an extremely effective way to pressure your representatives in Congress to lend their support to Internet radio.
A companion bill in the Senate, S. 1353, also named “The Internet Radio Equality Act,” was introduced on May 10 and thanks to your tens of thousands of phone calls this bill has been put on the radar of every Senator.
To find the phone numbers for your Senators and for your Congressional representative, as well as talking points for the calls, please visit http://capwiz.com/saveinternetradio/home/ and enter your zip code.
The darkness of godlessness lets wisdom shine.
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