Thanks for reading, if you have any comments or suggestions you can reach me directly HERE. Or on Myspace HERE.
Stay rational,
Jack
and the RRS MI team

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RRS Radio stream will be sporadic over next few days

JIST OF THIS POST: EXPECT THE STICKAM ROOM TO BE DOWN OFTEN OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. WE MIGHT EVEN MISS OUR FRIDAY NIGHT BROADCAST.

DETAILS:
I have finally taken the plunge and spent quite a bit of money on enhancing the performance of the several computers we have here to run our show and everything else we do. As many of you know, I've had an issue since I started hosting our stickam stream 24/7 (or as close as I could come). I was unable to edit audio and host the stream at the same time. Because of this I have about 10 weeks of material on my desktop that isn't being touched because if I do so, I have to shut down the stream (or allow you to listen to my editing). Rooks computer (an ancient dog right now) in our office will soon double as the computer for the stream and my computer will be freed up for more editing. Both computers are getting major performance upgrades. I'll post the data I'm compiling from tests designed to show how well a computer is performing, when my enhancements are complete. I might even post a list of all the upgrades and let you nerds flame away. Sticking out tongue

Total expenses so far are around $3,000. If we make the enhancements to our sound (pro tools, new compatible mixer, pro audio card, and new mics) that we should make to step up our game, we'll be looking at about another $2,000. I am waiting to see how much our sound quality is enhanced when we try our new and improved computers, before I take that plunge. I should note, all of this was purchased with personal savings from before I started RRS, RRS doesn't generate enough income to make purchases like these (yet). I feel I'm investing in our future, I hope you folks stick around and enjoy it with us.

Because of all these enhancements, parts coming on different days, major computer overhauls, and product switching, a total of 4 computers being worked on, and my lack of knowledge on some of the installation procedures... you can expect that the stream will be down quite a bit over the next few days. I hope to have all of the work done by Tuesday (Aug 28th) of this coming week and we'll be stronger and better than ever before. The RRS conference room will be up as usual.

We have also made enhancements to our bandwidth, including two more enhancements on the way. This should max out the potential of audio and video being transmitted via the web. Once all of the upgrades are made, it will be reasonable to exclude our home as the source of any lag you receive while hanging out with us on stickam.

If you happen to build computers for a living or have a very thorough knowledge of the trade (intel cpus), and would be willing to be our tech support if we have any issues, please feel free to reach out. I think I have it covered, but it would be great to know I can call someone for a quick tip if needed. (skype search: "Brian Sapient")

Comment on this forum post HERE!

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RRS Michigan social gathering at Alberts

I've decided the next meeting will simply be a social gathering at a nearby restaurant/bar called Alberts on the Alley on Thursday, August 30th. I'll be getting there around 6:00 pm. If your not familiar, it's at the corner of Ford Rd. and Middlebelt at 5651 Middlebelt Rd, Garden City, MI - (734) 525-5231. The food is good, and the drink and food prices are great! I'm hoping this will draw more of you reclusive bastards out so we can discuss and just get to know each other. Hope to see you all there, but please RSVP me at [email protected] so I know how many will be attending.

CLICK HERE for directions to Alberts on the Alley!

Hope to see you there!
Stay rational,
Jack
and the RRS MI team

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First patent claimed on man-made life form, and challenged

A research institute has applied for a pat­ent on what could be the first largely ar­ti­fi­cial or­gan­ism. And peo­ple should be al­armed, claims an ad­vo­ca­cy group that is try­ing to shoot down the bid.

The idea of own­ing a spe­cies breaches “a so­ci­e­tal bound­ary,” said Pat Mooney of the Ot­ta­wa, Canada-based ETC Group, which is asking the pat­ent ap­pli­cants to drop their claim. Creat­ing and own­ing an or­gan­ism, he added, means that “for the first time, God has com­pe­ti­tion.”

His group claims cred­it for spur­ring the Eu­ro­pe­an Pat­ent Of­fice last month to re­voke a pat­ent on ge­net­ic­ally mod­i­fied soy­beans by St. Lou­is, Mo.-based Mon­santo Co., af­ter a 13-year le­gal chal­lenge by ETC.

The ar­ti­fi­cial or­gan­ism, a mere mi­crobe, is the brain­child of re­search­ers at the Rock­ville, Md.-based J. Craig Ven­ter In­sti­tute. The or­gan­iz­a­tion is named for its found­er and CEO, the ge­net­icist who led the pri­vate sec­tor race to map the hu­man ge­nome in the late 1990s.

The re­search­ers filed their pat­ent claim on the ar­ti­fi­cial or­gan­ism and on its ge­nome. Ge­net­i­cally mo­di­fied life forms have been pa­tented be­fore; but this is the first pa­tent claim for a crea­ture whose genome might be created chem­i­cally from scratch, Mooney said.

Sci­en­tists at the in­sti­tute de­signed the bac­te­ri­um to have a “min­i­mal ge­nome”—the small­est set of genes any or­gan­ism can live on.

The proj­ect, which be­gan in the early 2000s, was partly a phil­o­soph­i­cal ex­er­cise: to help de­fine life it­self bet­ter by iden­ti­fy­ing its bare-bones re­quire­ments. But it was al­so fraught with com­mer­cial pos­si­bil­i­ties: if one could re­liably rec­re­ate a stand­ard­ized, min­i­mal life form, oth­er use­ful genes could be added in as needed for var­i­ous pur­poses.

For in­stance, “If we made an or­gan­ism that pro­duced fu­el, that could be the first billion- or trillion-dollar or­gan­ism,” said Ven­ter in the June 4 is­sue of Newsweek mag­a­zine. The sci­en­tists based the de­sign on the bac­te­ri­um My­coplasma gen­i­tal­ium, in which they had iden­ti­fied an es­ti­mat­ed 265 to 350 co­re genes re­quired for life.

Oth­er re­search­ers, pur­su­ing si­m­i­lar re­search with oth­er spe­cies, have since claimed to be able to re­duce this so-called min­i­mal gene some­what fur­ther. The bound­a­ry of what’s really the “min­i­mum” gets fuzzy be­cause some of these pared-down crea­tures are so ge­net­ic­ally chal­lenged that they hang on to life only with a lot of help.

In their U.S. pat­ent ap­plica­t­ion pub­lished May 31, In­sti­tute sci­en­tists chose a some­what more ro­bust 381 to 386 genes as their “min­i­mal ge­nome” for a hy­po­thet­i­cal mi­crobe, based on M. gen­i­tal­ium, but dubbed My­coplasma lab­o­r­a­to­rium.

In prac­tice, the or­gan­ism is “be­ing pat­ented for what it is not,” ETC said in a state­ment this week.

In the pat­ent ap­plica­t­ion, the sci­en­tists al­so dis­cussed the pos­si­bil­ity of cre­at­ing the genes from scratch us­ing chem­i­cal meth­ods, then in­ject­ing these in­to a cell whose own ge­nome has been re­moved. Wheth­er that has ac­tu­ally been done yet is un­clear, but “many peo­ple think Ven­ter’s company has the sci­en­tif­ic ex­pert­ise to do the job,” said Mooney.

“The same pat­ent ap­plica­t­ion has been pub­lished in­terna­t­ionally to be sub­mit­ted at over 100 na­tional pat­ent of­fices,” said ETC’s Jim Thom­as in an e­mail.

The Ven­ter In­sti­tute did not re­spond to re­quests for com­ment. But Venter and colleagues have ar­gued that the stripped-down cell or other syn­thetic mi­crobes could be use­ful in tasks rang­ing from gen­er­at­ing cheap en­ergy to aid­ing in ag­ri­cul­ture and cli­mate change re­med­ia­tion.

By cre­at­ing a man-made or­gan­ism as a plat­form for oth­er genes to be added at will, like soft­ware on a com­put­er, “Ven­ter’s en­ter­prises are po­si­tion­ing them­selves to be the Mi­crosoft of syn­thet­ic bi­ol­o­gy,” ETC said in a state­ment.

The or­gan­iz­a­tion claimed there could be draw­backs to al­low­ing one company to mo­nop­o­lize this in­forma­t­ion. For in­stance, the mi­crobe could be har­nessed to build a vir­u­lent path­o­gen, Thom­as said.

It could be a b­low for “o­pen source” bi­ol­o­gy – the idea that re­search­ers should have free ac­cess to the fun­da­men­tal tools and com­po­nents of syn­thet­ic bi­ol­o­gy, the new and grow­ing sci­ence of re-de­signing and re-building nat­u­ral bi­o­log­i­cal sys­tems from the ground up for var­i­ous pur­poses.

“Be­fore these claims go for­ward, so­ci­e­ty must con­sid­er their far-reach­ing so­cial, eth­i­cal and en­vi­ron­men­tal im­pacts,” Thom­as wrote in the e­mail. In its state­ment, the ETC Group said it will be writ­ing to Ven­ter, to the U.S. Pat­ent Of­fice and the World In­tel­lec­tu­al Prop­er­ty Or­gan­iz­a­tion urg­ing them to quash the pat­ent ef­fort un­til such a pub­lic de­bate takes place.

Read the original story HERE!

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Carl Sagan - Pale Blue Dot

Posted this before, but it rocks! So it bears repeating. R.I.P. Carl...

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Jupiter: Friend Or Foe?

Science Daily — The traditional belief that Jupiter acts as a celestial shield, deflecting asteroids and comets away from the inner Solar System, has been challenged by the first in a series of studies evaluating the impact risk to the Earth posed by different groups of object.

Issues, simply put, are the questions that are critical for the positive's side. They are inherent in the proposition itself, and they are questions whose answers DIRECTLY prove the proposition. Here, of course, lies the heart of debate. Few debates are as simple as answering a simple question with an undisputed answer. Often, the positive may feel that he has sufficiently answered the question, but the negative will respond with the assertion that the positive has not satisfied peripheral questions that bear directly on the answer to the issue. These questions are called contentions.

Contentions are the supporting statements for a proposition. It is helpful to think of the proposition as a house constructed on stilts, which are analogous to contentions. Perhaps the house only has four stilts, one on each corner. Or perhaps it has dozens, each placed only a few feet from the other. The house with only four stilts is strong so long as all four supports remain, but if even one is yanked out from underneath, the house is in serious danger of falling over. If two disappear, the house is doomed. In the case of the house with dozens of supports, one could knock away perhaps six or eight, and the house would still be structurally sound. In some cases, there is a support that is crucial to many others, and knocking it over has a domino effect. You can also imagine a house built on an enormous central support, with several smaller supports around the edges. Even if you pulled all the supports except for the center, the house would still stand, supported by the immense power of the unperturbed center. There are many possible scenarios, as you might well imagine. The negative seeks to undermine the claims of the positive by attacking the contentions that support the proposition. The savvy debater is quick to identify the most solid supports and determine if he can destroy them, or whether it is best to chip away at the edges until there is not enough support left to hold the issue. So, there is no rule as to a percentage of contentions that must be defeated in order to defeat a proposition. Each debate hinges on different topics, each with their own unique character. The important thing to remember is that the positive MUST be able to demonstrate the ISSUE, not the contentions.

DEFINITIONS:

Obviously, definitions are one of the first things we must agree on before we can enter into a debate. If I propose that we debate the effectiveness of nano-drip technology in curing rickity-splits, we'd both better be sure we know what that means. In English, there are thousands of words that have multiple meanings, some of which are quite close, and could be used in the same sentence, but mean slightly different things. In addition, some words are used differently in colloquial discussions than in scientific debate.

The first thing to understand is the different ways in which words are defined. This essay deals with the multiple methods of assigning meaning to words.

Debate: Forms, Practices, and Techniques

This essay, along with those that follow, is designed to serve three purposes. First, it will help the reader understand the difference between a proper debate in the legal, scientific, or philosophical sense, and a debate in the colloquial sense. Second, he will be able to examine his own beliefs and determine if they are sufficiently developed to be qualified for a debate. Third, the reader will be able to formulate and articulate their position effectively and convincingly. In order to maintain neutrality, I will avoid using examples from religious debates. The sources for this essay are many, and I will not be posting a full bibliography, but for primary reference, I am using Argumentation and Debate: Rational Decision Making, Austin J. Freeley, John Carroll University, and Patterns of Argument, Bliskey, Harcourt College Press. You will note that both of these books are over fifty years old. Rather than reflecting an outdated approach, these books demonstrate the longevity and consistency of the forms and patterns of debate. A careful study of more current texts will show a remarkable level of agreement with these older texts.

Hey, guys. Be sure to check out the RRS news section today, and the Community section. A hero to many is calling it quits on Youtube. Supexcellency is taking down his account! You only have a few more hours to see the video I've posted before he takes it down and deletes his account. The reasons are explained in the video.

There are a lot of interesting things contained herein today. Every section has something you can sink your teeth into, I think.

Thanks for reading, if you have any comments or suggestions you can reach me directly HERE. Or on Myspace HERE.
Stay rational,
Jack
and the RRS MI team

Table of Contents

Click HERE to find your local affiliate!

Rational Response Squad News

RRS Affiliate News

Science News

Religion

Government

Community

Entertainment

Rational Response Column

RRS Radio stream will be sporadic over next few days

JIST OF THIS POST: EXPECT THE STICKAM ROOM TO BE DOWN OFTEN OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. WE MIGHT EVEN MISS OUR FRIDAY NIGHT BROADCAST.

DETAILS:
I have finally taken the plunge and spent quite a bit of money on enhancing the performance of the several computers we have here to run our show and everything else we do. As many of you know, I've had an issue since I started hosting our stickam stream 24/7 (or as close as I could come). I was unable to edit audio and host the stream at the same time. Because of this I have about 10 weeks of material on my desktop that isn't being touched because if I do so, I have to shut down the stream (or allow you to listen to my editing). Rooks computer (an ancient dog right now) in our office will soon double as the computer for the stream and my computer will be freed up for more editing. Both computers are getting major performance upgrades. I'll post the data I'm compiling from tests designed to show how well a computer is performing, when my enhancements are complete. I might even post a list of all the upgrades and let you nerds flame away. Sticking out tongue

Total expenses so far are around $3,000. If we make the enhancements to our sound (pro tools, new compatible mixer, pro audio card, and new mics) that we should make to step up our game, we'll be looking at about another $2,000. I am waiting to see how much our sound quality is enhanced when we try our new and improved computers, before I take that plunge. I should note, all of this was purchased with personal savings from before I started RRS, RRS doesn't generate enough income to make purchases like these (yet). I feel I'm investing in our future, I hope you folks stick around and enjoy it with us.

Because of all these enhancements, parts coming on different days, major computer overhauls, and product switching, a total of 4 computers being worked on, and my lack of knowledge on some of the installation procedures... you can expect that the stream will be down quite a bit over the next few days. I hope to have all of the work done by Tuesday (Aug 28th) of this coming week and we'll be stronger and better than ever before. The RRS conference room will be up as usual.

We have also made enhancements to our bandwidth, including two more enhancements on the way. This should max out the potential of audio and video being transmitted via the web. Once all of the upgrades are made, it will be reasonable to exclude our home as the source of any lag you receive while hanging out with us on stickam.

If you happen to build computers for a living or have a very thorough knowledge of the trade (intel cpus), and would be willing to be our tech support if we have any issues, please feel free to reach out. I think I have it covered, but it would be great to know I can call someone for a quick tip if needed. (skype search: "Brian Sapient")

Comment on this forum post HERE!

Back to Table of Contents

RRS Michigan social gathering at Alberts and a "field trip"!

I've decided the next meeting will simply be a social gathering at a nearby restaurant/bar called Alberts on the Alley on Thursday, August 30th. I'll be getting there around 6:00 pm. If your not familiar, it's at the corner of Ford Rd. and Middlebelt at 5651 Middlebelt Rd, Garden City, MI - (734) 525-5231. The food is good, and the drink and food prices are great! I'm hoping this will draw more of you reclusive bastards out so we can discuss and just get to know each other. Hope to see you all there, but please RSVP me at [email protected] so I know how many will be attending. I am also still planing a "field trip" to the Detroit Science Center to see the Universe within exhibit, for Friday, August 24th. We'll meet there at 7:00 pm. Admission is $24.95, for details on this exhibit Click HERE!

CLICK HERE for directions to Alberts on the Alley!

CLICK HERE for directions to the Detroit Science Center!

Hope to see you there!
Stay rational,
Jack
and the RRS MI team

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Astronomers Get First Look At Uranus's Rings As They Swing Edge-on To Earth

This series of images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope shows how the ring system around the distant planet Uranus appears at ever more oblique (shallower) tilts as viewed from Earth - culminating in the rings being seen edge-on in three observing opportunities in 2007. The best of these events appears in the far right image taken with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on August 14, 2007. (Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Showalter (SETI Institute))

Science Daily — As the rings of Uranus swing edge-on to Earth - a short-lived view we get only once every 42 years - astronomers observing the event are getting an unprecedented, glare-free view of the rings and the fine dust that permeates them.

Hello chums. I've been taking a break from the philosophy/theology thing for a bit. I don't know how you all do it my heads about to explode. I'm still around Though. I've been thinking about what and what not to ask you guys. So I just came up with this. And I stand my ground on the topic but by far, I'm no Scholar.

What do you say to the events of Bible Prophecy? Yeah I can't Believe I'm going there too.

I know you don't agree to there exsistence, but the idea in general. If you read the Bible (mind you know how to really read and study your Bible) and look at some history an alarming number of things line up. Many things have to do with Israel. Let me know.

I figured I'd post a bit about myself and my history so you can know me a bit better.

My name is L.G., I was born in Roswell, New Mexico. I was raised in a religiously neutral home for 12 years, after which I moved with my parents to Abilene, Texas. My grandmother, a strict Southern Baptist, insisted on indoctrinating me with religion as soon as we got there. I fell for it for a number of years, having had membership at a number of churches: Baptist, Methodist, C of C, even Episcopalian. I started doubting after I left the Episcopal Church.

My doubt didn't last long, when I met my ex-best friend Bekah. A devout and charismatic Mormon, I felt what I found in Mormonism was the filling to the empty hole other religions left. I was only an active Mormon for about 3 months, after which I fell away and had my name removed from their church.

Thanks for reading, if you have any comments or suggestions you can reach me directly HERE. Or on Myspace HERE.
Stay rational,
Jack
and the RRS MI team

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Click HERE to find your local affiliate!

Rational Response Squad News

RRS Affiliate News

Science News

Religion

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RRS at Austin Rally September 8th!

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Submit your questions! AAI 2007 Conference

It's getting close to arguably the largest atheist event this year (perhaps the most important in history?), the 2007 Atheist Alliance International conference in the Washington DC metro area! I will be attending (special thanks go out to Sapient) along with, yes, Sapient and the whole RRS crew, not to mention plenty of other well knows in our community. Well the big stars here are really the guest speakers, and damn is there an impressive list. One of the ways RRS is preparing to take advantage of this incredible collection of skeptical super-stars by asking YOU, our dedicated base, for INTERVIEW QUESTIONS.

I go back to school in about two weeks. This will be my senior year in High School. Luckily, I received the obligatory Summer injury just in time. Specifically, a sprained ankle.

It happened while my sister and I were watching the Leonid meteors. We were near a local Lutheran (pre-) school in a small field with apple trees lining the perimeter of the field. At some point, I saw some guy walking by. He stopped when he saw us and started to move towards the bushes that were near the apple trees on the east edge of the field. I was not particularly worried. I just thought it was some prankster trying to spook us for a laugh. My sister noticed that he had been standing in the bushes, watching us for awhile. She became worried and we both opted to go back home.

If "sin" is defined as deviation from the way of god, then objectively there is not and never has been any such thing, because there is not and never has been any god. I think that, when the point is reached where the material and ideological conditions exist for humanity to voluntarily and consciously change itself and the world, then there will also be no subjective basis for "sin", because there will no longer be a need or basis for belief in god. At that point and into the future, there will of course still be right and wrong, good and bad --in the sense that of what does and does not conform to objective reality and does and does not contribute to forging freedom from necessity and enhancing the ability of society and the individuals who comprise it to continue developing in an all-around way. Then there will no longer be the notion of "sin."