Reaper

The stars themselves don't twinkle, but the turbulance in our atmosphere makes them appear that way, as was noted in the post above. In fact, anything that has a non-zero apparent size from our sky will not twinkle; the stars do because from Earth they appear as point-like objects. Here's more info: http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=114

I don't know if this will be considered spam, but I'd thought I would just tell you guys of my new blog. The reason I'm posting about it is because the blog I just set up is largely about science and devoted to debunking pseudoscience and other forms of quackery or misconceptions, and rant about philosophy and life in general... And no, its not intended to compete with dbunked, its just a place where I can post my random thoughts about life. You are free to look onto my blog and either critique my views or give me praise . here is the link: http://radiantaspie.blogspot.com/ And for future reference, my link is on my signature. There is not much on it, since I just started it today, but don't worry, there will be an abundance of topics on it as soon as I have the time to post them.

Well, now I know that you don't know anything about science or that you didn't really understand the material in the links, because experiments are all about OBSERVATION! When an experiment confirms something, it usually means that they saw it happen! I love the irony. ------------------------------------------------------------ This here is an example of a dogmatic creationist. He ignores evidence, cited works, etc... And it does not seem that he will ever change his position, instead falling back on logical fallicies and quote mining. And when his back is against the wall, he uses ad hominems. I see no more value in this thread, and no more reason to continue.

Question: Did you actually read the links, or the numerous books out there on evolution? There are experiments cited in there that clearly show support for evolution. It seems to me that the only reason you take the "middle ground" here is because you know that you lack support and you can't come up with anything else to defend your position. I'll go as far as saying that you probably know that creationism is wrong and you are too afraid to admit it...

I don't think there really is a definition of tolerance nowadays. Either people agree with each other, or they ignore or avoid people they don't agree with. And at the same time they attack other people who don't agree with them as closed-minded and intolerant. Our definition of tolerance seems to depend on what the current social trend is....sigh..... All we are really doing right now is protecting the right to be utterly ignorant and stupid.

What are you talking about, we have an enormous amount of evidence that evolution did occur. We even posted links. You have yet to show evidence supporting your position. I hate it when people like you try to impose this view as the view of Christianity, because you should know that most people who believe in God also accept evolution for the same reasons that we at this site have. Again, read the link that I posted earlier.

Here is one: "The devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them" Matthew 4.1-12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The people who wrote the bible assumed that the Earth was flat, a flat disk about a few thousand kilometers wide with a single continent on it.

Not true. In the old testament, it is clearly implied that they believed in a flat Earth, I can quote the passages if you want. The New Testament makes no mention of the nature of the planet. The fact that the Earth is round was proven by the Greeks over 2000 years ago.

Well, that refutation didn't take very long . Maybe a trip to Mr. Simanek's homepage will keep him better informed: http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/philosop/creation.htm What you are about to read might kill your belief in creationism and your ego ( > ), but if you let it sink in you will be much better educated .

Or you could just try to convert them to atheism, I did that successfully with my parents and the rest of my known family .

pioneer, your ability to soapbox both amazes and frightens me. Why don't you practice staying on topic and everyone will be happy .

Indeed. Apparently it all boils down to this: all one needs to do is think something is a bomb and before you know it you have the SWAT team jumping on you. And if it turns out to be nothing of the sort, then the person is somehow guilty of a hoax! Makes perfect sense now. It won't be long before people are arrested for carrying watches on their wrists, laptops in their backpacks, or even for having silly putty and paperclips in the same pocket. Hell, it won't be long before people are arrested for carrying their own luggages.....

It's not really about freedom of expression, its more about whether or not the security system completely overreacted. She wasn't even planning on boarding the airplane, she was just there to pick someone up. Anyways, Pangloss does have a point here: Yeah, but she was not covered with plastic and electronics. And even if she was, she would have never been able to get through security under normal circumstances since she wouldn't even get past the metal detectors. It is certainly possible to see whether or not some device is a threat without having to resort to such measures.

This is the thread where you tell us about how you came up with your username. Just out of curiosity, how did you come up with the username you use for this site? What is it based on, or what influenced you to make it up. For starters, my username is based, as you can plainly see, on a major defense contractor. I like to keep up with developments in aerospace and military tech, so I chose this username. I also contemplated on using the word "Mig" (As in the Russian class of fighter jets) as my username, but I ruled it out in favor of "Lockheed".

Given that they have not thought of doing that so implies lack of imagination . Unlikely. The tone of the article suggests that she wasn't even thinking about it at the time.

The problem with this reasoning is: 1) People who do intend to carry a bomb and blow something up will likely be far more subtle in their methods. It's not like, as Swansont said earlier, what you normally see on cartoons or in other popular media. They aren't going to be walking around with the word "bomb" in big flashing letters, nor are they going to walk around with explosive chemicals in plain sight. 2) I don't think a bomb is powered by a 9-volt battery, and one doesn't usually see the circuit boards on the bomb, nor are they as big as the one depicted on the student. Also, circuit boards are usually used on either guided munitions or on timed weapons. Other then that, you only need a fuse. 3) There were always a lot of nutjobs trying to blow stuff up, and today is no different, whether its by criminals, terrorists, governments, etc. And in all truth, is someone is really dedicated to blowing themselves up or is intent on hurting other people, there isn't much you can do about it. And no amount of policing and security is going to stop it from happening. I'm the same generation as you are, but I do not support what is obviously a paranoid reaction and an infringement on our liberties in the US. I'm not sure why they do this, but my reasoning tells me that it is probably so that they don't lose credibility and/or it is a way to remove the responsibility of their actions from themselves. In short, it is a way to justify their actions.

I would have to say that the U.S. is starting to tend toward fascism. We are getting more paranoid, the government already keeps secrets regarding important issues (or ignores them all together), and the reasons for some of the absurd measures and policies we are making are becoming quite irrational and sometimes they have a ring of propaganda to it. Also, there has been a trend toward giving the president more power and influence within government affairs. My two cents anyway.

From the first article Go figure. I live around the area, so there's already been a lot of news coverage around here. Something like this is one of the reasons why we don't go to Logan Airport anymore. I'm not surprised, they did something like this before. The people here just need to lighten up and get on with life. I sometimes feel like the world is getting ever more stupid as the years go on *sigh*.

If it really bothers you, tell them to cut the jokes and make them see that you are serious about your beliefs. Make them defend their own faith from time to time (Just make sure you don't go overboard and bash them for their beliefs though) And its ok to make a joke about their faith, provided that they don't find it too offensive.... I remember when I converted to atheism several years ago, when I was about 15, and I had a lot of tension within my family and community for a long while. Now they are used to it. Sometimes we make jokes about each other's faith, but I can laugh about it because I know that they have accepted my conversion. They usually don't make a lot of "hell" jokes though.

yeah, its supposed to be staff@dbunked, you don't include the first "e" in "debunked"

Gasp! It all makes sense now! We have to stop those bastards, bring the truth to the public, and save the world!

Evidence and reality has always proved too much or too inconvenient for any governing body or type of culture to handle. That's why they always go to crap and fall apart in the end.... I think the one thing that has to be made clear to the public is that in science, it either is, or isn't.

yet another conspiracy theorist/evolution denier/crackpot/whatever, they're all the same to me...... Given that this post is primarily an advertisement, I'm not even going to waste my time looking at the site..... No use in making arguments either, this guy will not listen.... NEXT! *Pushes button, mcwilliams disappears under trapdoor*

That depends on who you ask..... I would rather say I don't know than to have the wrong answer, or delude myself with it. I will say that myths are useful though.

I just sent the email, Just let me know if I'm part of the club.