Science News: Monkeys Wear Perfume?

I really like World Science. They have a lot of really interesting articles that are pretty easy to read.

Here is one that caught my eye:

Sci­en­tists have been re­porting sight­ings of wild spi­der mon­keys rub­bing them­selves with chewed-up leaves that may func­tion as per­fumes. Although it’s un­pro­ven that they do it spe­ci­fi­cal­ly to take on an aro­ma, mount­ing ev­i­dence points that way, the in­vest­i­ga­t­ors say.

I know, I know. The sentence has Fundies favorite "scientific term" in it; unproven. Yes, this is "still a theory." This means that further findings and studies may falsify the theory. Again, not to be confused with evolution and the mounds and mounds and mounds of evidence that has turned evolution into a fact, although there a many sub theories within it. Evolution is fact because it even observable. Take the cane toads in Australia for example, and the snakes that pray on them.

Again, if evolution were false, there would be mounds of evidence that contradicts it. Just as there is mounds of evidence that contradicts the old theory that the sun revolved around the earth.

The world is a wonderful place when you accept scientific facts and findings.


And who says that apes are so different from man. Oh yeah, the Fundies. Well, check this out. Chimps have obviously discovered a great way to relieve stress.
********Don't view this if you are an inappropriate person:


Still thinks man is special? The above video gets me thinking. First off, I wasn't able to see the front of the altruistic chimp, so I couldn't tell if it was a he or a she.
Was this nature or nurture? And if nurture, was it taught by man? Maybe Ted Haggard is working on a new flock. Baptist chimps? It has been done before.


But if this wasn't taught by man(by man I mean man or woman), it had to be taught by chimp, and then it inevitably has to be nature, unless you believe God told the chimps what to do. Who would have thought that every sperm isn't sacred?

The chimps have come up with a great way to help mankind progress.
For a good 15 to 20 minutes Louie is void of aggression. The female can go on with her daily chores knowing she won't be bothered for at least 15 minutes and Louie can now think about things like a feeding his family, building towns, curing cancer, etc.

I wonder what our world would be like if humans were just like Louie and his friend.

Meanwhile, I'm bringing a large stone into the bedroom and I'm gonna take off my clothes, get on top of the stone and act like a chimp. Lets see what the wife does.

What Attracts Atheist Jews To Israel

I have been arguing/debating/lecturing a few people on the Raving Atheist forums lately on the fact that a very high percentage of Jews in Israel are Atheist or Agnostic, that the majority of Jews in Israel never attend synagogue on Saturday mornings, and that the founder of modern Zionism, Theodor Herzl was in fact an Atheist Jew.

This is something that many Israeli bashers really don't like. They like to blame the Israeli conflict on religion. Sure, the land of Israel was picked because it was the birthplace of the religion, but the reasons for Jews to go live there are very mixed.

I just want to make something clear. I am happy to live in Canada at this moment and have no desire to live in Israel, so I can only speculate (a very good educational guess) as to exactly why an Atheist or Agnostic Jew would want to live in the land promised by the Invisible Sky Fairy.

1. To escape anti-semitism. This was Herzl's main goal. Unfortunately, his dream didn't happen before Hitler proved his point. Anti-semitism can get out of hand anywhere in the world at any time. Recently, many Jews left France for Israel to further justify this point in today's "modern" world. Nobody mentioned if these French Jews believed in God or to what degree. In other words, I wouldn't be surprised if many non believers were amongst those who migrated to Israel. Anti-semitism is a hatred of ethnic Jews more than it is of religious Jews. If I was in France and saw what was going on there first hand, I might have jumped ship too.
This idea of escaping anti-semitism can be equated today as assuring oneself that he or she will be treated as an equal.

2. To be with family. Lets face it, most Atheist Jews have religious Jewish relatives. If economically viable, for example, a family business, I can see why a Jew may leave for Israel. Also, one person, a husband or wife may become very religious in his or her life and ultimately decide to live out the rest of their life in Israel, taking the family with them. There is no assurance that some or most of the family share equal beliefs.

3. Atheist Jews born in Israel. Contrary to the garbage fed by Liberal Israeli haters and the Arab media, over 65% of Jews alive today in Israel were born in Israel. Israel is a modern country with a modern education system. And education creates Atheists. Scientific facts, geology, and archaeology all make a literal bible nothing more than a Dr. Seuss novel. From there, the more questions one asks (and Jews are taught to ask questions), the higher the probality that one who honestly looks at the answers, will turn into an Agnostic if not Atheist in many instances.


The above reasons leads to another main reason for an Atheist Jew to go to Israel:

4. Politics.

Where on this planet can an open Atheist get elected and become a trusted politician, with a high post?

Not many places, and definitely not the USA (Atheists are the least trusted minority in the USA), and probably even Canada today.

Now where can an open Atheist Jew get elected and become a trusted politician, with a high post? A religious Jew has a shot, just don't admit to Atheism. In other words lie about yourself.
Hey, wait a sec, isn't being a good liar a prerequisite to making it big as a Politician in the US?

The only place an open Atheist Jew can get to the top or near the top politically is most likely Israel. Maybe, Denmark, Sweden, and even the UK (guaranteed assassination in the UK), too. But you'd have to be slightly to aggressively anti-Zionist in those three countries to make it.

Separation of church and state doesn't matter much when it comes getting votes in a country where the majority believes in God. Politics shouldn't be like that, but even today, this is the way it is in the USA and Canada to a lesser extent.

To conclude, if I want my political ideas to be considered on an equal playing field (where religion does not matter), I can only have this Utopian equality in Israel.

Some Atheists have defied the odds in the world. Surprisingly Wikipedia lists 3 from India. Many were communist, but only one was brutal (Stalin, the poster boy for political Atheists in the Theist world). Former Polish president Aleksander Kwaśniewski, is an Atheist, but his voters thought he was just an indifferent Agnostic. Agnostics can get away with so much more socially than Atheists because they can still be saved (to the Theist). Agnostics are just one crisis away from being devoutly religious (to the Theist).

The Wikipedia list is most likely missing quite a few Atheist politicians. Especially those in Israel.

Remember this exchange with George Bush Sr.:

Sherman (interviewer from American Atheists): What will you do to win the votes of the Americans who are atheists?

Bush: I guess I'm pretty weak in the atheist community. Faith in God is important to me.

Sherman: Surely you recognize the equal citizenship and patriotism of Americans who are atheists?

Bush: No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.

Sherman (somewhat taken aback): Do you support as a sound constitutional principle the separation of state and church?

Bush: Yes, I support the separation of church and state. I'm just not very high on atheists.


Right now, an equal political chance doesn't matter to me and I don't feel threatened as an ethnic Jew, so it is still Oh Canada for me.

What Liberal Assmonkeys Don't Get About Israel

I like using the word "assmonkey." I want this blog to be the number one match when it comes to anyone searching the term on Google.

An assmonkey is someone who refuses to try to understand a concept or idea without fully understanding it, and takes actions based on their misunderstand or wilful ignorance of the facts. Action can include preaching and writing, as well as suicide bombings or demonstrations. An assmonkey can also be someone who supports assmonkeys. Yes, one can be an assmonkey by association.

One can be an assmonkey when it comes to a lot of things.

Religious assmonkey: those who oppose gay marriage because of religious reasons or someone who uses their book of God to override scientific fact (there are many more examples of religious assmonkeys).

Arab/Muslim assmonkey: an Arab/Muslim who supports suicide bombings for any reason; Arab/Muslims who refuse to understand and point the finger at who really is responsible and in many cases invent conspiracy theories and/or readily believe them.

Anti-semitic assmonkey: do a search of Mark Glenn assmonkey to see what I mean.

Liberal assmonkeys: much like the Arab/Muslim assmonkey, the Liberal assmonkey has a very hard time figuring out who the real victim is (or underdog), because they have an overwhelming tendency to believe, that automatically, the victim or underdog is the person or group that cries victimhood the most, and in most cases has less material goods than those they are whining about. They also have a tendency to allow these "victims" to be as blameless as humanly possible. Liberal assmonkeys believe rapes, suicide bombings, and even murder MUST have been MOSTLY caused by THE MAN, SOCIETY, or, THE GOVERNMENT.

I'm pretty much a Liberal when it comes to most causes and issues, but I'm not a Liberal Assmonkey. I look at all situations on a individual basis and as objectively as I can. If I don't have enough information, I really don't like to comment on it or make assumption. I ask a lot of questions, and I do a lot of Google searches when I'm in doubt.

I think anyone who questions Israel's right of existence is either extremely biased or just doesn't have enough information.

Without repeating myself too much, I have already written a post about my secular justification for Israel. I will now reiterate the main points and add a few new ones:

1. Jews in Europe in the late 1800's were facing growing anti-semitism. It was mostly ethnic in nature and not religious, but at a time when most Jews were also religious to a much larger degree than today, religion did play a bigger part in it than it did at the time of Nazi Germany. So Jews began to lobby for their own space where they could be treated as equals. The Palestine region was the birthplace of Judaism and it was also relatively empty. There were only 500,000 inhabitants on the same land that has 9 million inhabitants today.

2. The Palestine region was not sovereign territory. This is a biggie. Check out a world map. Look at the boundaries. Pick any. Find me one sovereign nation that was created where MIGHT DIDN'T MAKE RIGHT. "Might" can include negotiations and lobbying with the previous controllers of the non sovereign land, and of course, war. The formula for every sovereign (independent) state in the world is: MIGHT MAKES RIGHT UNTIL SOVEREIGN. Why do Liberal Assmonkeys expect Israel to be the only nation on this planet to have been formed where every one of the natives were happy?

3. Migration: Demographics change everywhere. Except, for some reason, they are not supposed to change in the Middle East, unless the change means getting rid of non Arabs/Muslims. Everywhere else:
Land is either owned and/or governed. That is it. That is how land works. Land is just dirt, plain and simple. Only 20% of the land controlled by Britain in 1947 was owned by Arabs, and only 3.3% by those who actually lived there. There is no such thing as Palestinian land, Muslim land, Arab land, Jewish land, Atheist land, Caucasian land, Christian land, etc. Jews migrating to the Palestine region were doing so mostly legally. And by 1947, an area that had a Jewish majority population was designated as the state that would have Jewish governance and in the future it would allow Jews who felt discriminated against anywhere on the planet a place of refuge.
BIG FRICKEN DEAL. Well, it was to the intolerant Arabs, and still is.
I'll ask the Liberal assmonkeys; why is it OK for Dearborn to become a Muslim majority city, but it was such a crime to humanity that certain areas of the Palestine region (which again was not sovereign) became mostly populated by Jews?
Read this before you answer.

4. Right of Return: First the obvious; most Palestinians alive today were not born within the sovereign portion of Israel. Here is my analogy:

If my grandfather had a mansion worth 1 million dollars in 1948, and he got upset because an Arab family moved in next door. His family members told him to go take a vacation for a week or two.
He decided to go to Vegas where he lost everything including his house.
And lets say my grandfather had to go rent somewhere else for the rest of his life.

Now the mansion is worth 50 million. Can I lay claim to the mansion?

Palestinian Arabs are the only people on this planet who claim to be genetic refugees.

One more fact for my Liberal Assmonkey friends. A very high percentage of Palestinian Arabs who left during the 1948 War of Independence were given the opportunity to come back, but refused because the Arab Mufti told them not to return. Read actual news clips here and here.
It was the neighboring Arab nations that began the 1948 war.

They didn't give a rats ass when it came to the indigenous Arabs. And they had no right to start a war in the Palestine region. It was not their business.

They were simply intolerant that a small chunk of land that had a Jewish majority in 1947 was to be partitioned off as a JEWISH GOVERNED state.

5. The West Bank and Gaza are up for grabs. Jordan gave up any rights they may have had to the West Bank in 1987. The lands in Gaza and the West Bank are NOT sovereign right now. They are still in the MIGHT WILL MAKE RIGHT category as far as land on this planet goes (Gaza, through lobbying and negotiation is now a Jew free zone). But Jewish settlers have every right to the land as Arabs do. At least to the land that is unowned. Why are Jews considered settlers there, but Arabs are not? In fact, Arabs are settlers in the West Bank too. Read this excellent analogy on the situation.

6. Claims of Apartheid: Israel does not have any obligation to give equal status to non citizens living on non sovereign lands. In Puerto Rico, the citizens there pay some taxes to the USA, but only those deemed Americans can vote in the US election.
The same was true in Hawaii until Hawaii became a state in 1959. Lets not forget that those living in Hawaii were not trying to blow up Americans, so the US treated them better than Israel treats the Palestinian assmonkeys.

7. Victimhood. The Palestinians may be victims, but they aren't victims of Israel.
They are victims Arab intolerance and the surrounding Arab countries. They are victims of their own leaders. Blaming Israel is ridiculous. IF THE PALESTINIANS/ARABS DROPPED THEIR WEAPONS THERE WOULD BE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST.

Israel has been defending itself since it became a legal sovereign nation, yet Liberal assmonkeys buy into the lie that Israel is the aggressor. If you still believe this, go seek help.


Bonus: GAZACAM
Watch the Hamas brain trust in action:


Read the Sudanese Thinker's Thoughts on Zionism. Good stuff. He still doesn't get everything, but he is close.

Buzzing Around The Internet

A Canuckian professional writer and friend of mine just started his own blog: Keeping Up With The Blogses. Check it out. He seems to have an opinion about everything. I enjoy reading blogs from professional writers. For example, I frequently visit Rondi's blog: Begin Each Day As If It Were On Purpose. She is Canuckian too, and gets the war on terror, just like my friend does.

I went back to check out Advice From God. I admit it, that blogger is funnier than me.
And it takes a real man and a great man to admit this.
Laugh out loud humor is difficult when restricted to the written word. Speaking of laugh out loud humor, Professor Kurgman Phd., Phd., Phd. ranks right at the top. And his illegitimate daughter's site is very funny too: Kathy Blog. She doesn't post that much because she is in the middle of earning her Phd.'s.

Celebrity blogs are in these days. I especially like the one where you can leave comments and assume that the celebrity actually reads it. Mark Cuban, computer billionaire has a blog. Seems he doesn't like the Donald too much, and he took Rosie's side recently in their View war.
I am taking Rosie's side too. She is a comedian, and she didn't say anything that was untrue. Donald really cost himself large by calling her "ugly" and a "fat pig."
Way to alienate half of America, Donald. Expect the Apprentice ratings to plummet.

Good to see Julia Sweeney making rounds on TV talk shows. She is an ex-Catholic who let go of God. She is promoting her CD, Letting Go Of God. And she does have a blog, but I find the people there a bit pretentious.

Thanks to The Judge at Raving Atheists, I found a great site that has lots of old TV shows avaliable for free. Here is the site.

One of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes: To Serve Man

The Twilight Zone - 089 - To Serve Man
Uploaded by mg217

Jack's Shack found a site that has links to the 50 greatest cartoons ever made.

I have always loved this one:


And the Palestinians are still assmonkeys. Somethings never change. If you don't believe me, just read Elder Of Ziyon's blog anytime.

I'm picking the Baltimore Ravens to win the Super Bowl.

Finally, some more proof of evolution:

I know that Kathy from Relapsed Catholic will dismiss it because it was probably done by someone who went to university.

THE INTERNET WILL BE THE DEATH OF YOUNG EARTH CREATIONISM

Religious Fundamentalists (those who believe the earth is young and evolution is crap) beware. The internet is your enemy. You may not have realized this before, or maybe you still haven't, but facts are not your friend either.

Do yourself a favor Fundies, and throw your computer away. Get your kids away from the computer too, or they may turn into Godless infidels. And guess who is most responsible for turning religious fence sitters into devout Agnostics? Who is responsible for those who went from not asking questions, to those who are all of a sudden curious about Fundamental beliefs they used to believe were gospel? It isn't Richard Dawkins and it isn't Sam Harris either. Fence sitters don't usually get to their wonderful material.
No, it is the Fundies who have the audacity to confront Atheists, scientists, Agnostics, etc. who are to blame.

Fundies have to understand that your religious spew and groundless faith only works when you have an audience of faithful listeners. When they go out of their realm, they are like a chicken walking into the mouth of a hungry crocodile. They don't have a chance.

The big problem is they want to debate things like evolution and the age of the earth with no facts behind you. Their answers may be impressive to fellow Fundies when there are nothing but Fundies around, but they get squashed by a bug when you deal with anyone who doesn't deny reality.


They are tiresome with the same old arguments. "Evolution is only a theory." As soon as I see this, I realize that the person stating it, has no real idea about evolution or science, and doesn't want to understand it either.

So why do Atheists like me bother with confrontational Fundies? The answer is simple: I do it for the lurkers.

I realize I will most likely not change the uneducated opinion of a Fundy by supporting my arguments with up to date links from real science sites (they don't bother clicking the links usually). I am going to change the opinion of the odd lurker, though.

When a Fundy says there is no proof for evolution, and I respond with 10 links, I know that in many cases, I will make a difference with some lurkers. Facts are facts. Fundies arguing that the earth is young for example, might as well state the earth is made of chocolate. They inevitably make themselves look like baseless fools.

It is apparent, they have nothing but faith. Yet they want to pretend that they have science behind them. They constantly move the goal posts during "debates" too by avoiding questions, and changing their assertions. I remember one "debate" recently where the Fundy went from stating that God is easily provable, to God is easily provable on a spiritual level (WTF?), when I asked for the easy proof.

Youtube is also making a difference too. There is a phenomenal amount of creative people out there who, in an intelligent manner, mock the ridiculous claims made by Fundamentalists.

Todays children have too many facts in front of them. And even if they had no intention of asking questions, they are seeing the real replies to the silly denials and ludicrous assertions that Fundies are spewing.

I can see Fundamental Christians looking for a way to ban a tremendous amount of the internet from their households....Saudi Arabia does this.

I find that Fundies don't like it when I state the following in a "debate":

1. There is no contemporary historical evidence Jesus ever existed. (Josephus was not contemporary) Can I have your best piece of evidence?

2. There is no historical evidence the Exodus happened. Forget the Hyksos, I'm talking about what the OT states.

3. Find me one scientific study that refutes or contradicts evolution. If evolution were false, there would be many, but you can't find one piece for me.

4. There is no evidence that there was a worldwide Great Flood. Local floods, yes, but not a worldwide one. Oh yeah, the idea of the Ark story is embarrassing to believe.

5. If the earth was young, why can't a Fundy scientist come up with a way to prove it?


The best a Fundy can do is try to poke holes in evolution theory. And that is when it gets good, because that is when the links come out and the lurkers get a free education:)

And when overwhelmed by evidence the young earth creationist will finally concede that any contradiction between science and the literal word of the bible can easily be explained. From a recent discussion on a Fundy blog:



“Kerwin, if you believe in a trickster God, I can’t argue with you. “ The Atheist Jew


If this below passage describes a trickster God then I do believe in a trickster God.

Deuteronomy 13(NIV)

“1 If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, 2 and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” 3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.”

Comment by Kerwin — thep31e12beFri, 29 Dec 2006 03:07:15

Yep, the word of God clearly states that he throws curve balls, like dinosaur bones and an earth that appears, to every reputable geologist on this planet, to be 4.5 billion years old, just to test ones faith in HIM.


If you believe scientists, you don't love God as much as you should.

So basically all the evidence in the world means nothing to a devout Fundy.

Fundies will believe that woman came from Adam's rib (with zero evidence such a thing could happen outside the bible), but can't buy into evolution (with the mounds and mounds of evidence that evolution happens).

Fundies so far have avoided major debates with large audiences. I think the big Fundy guns realize they have nothing. I'd love to see Ann Coulter in an honest debate about evolution with Richard Dawkins.
Unfortunately, it will never happen. Dawkins would make her look like a monkey.


Oh, I found another very funny site, especially if you want first hand Advice From God.