According to the scientific definition, a gene is a distinct unit of information, in the form of a specific pattern of nucleotides that comprise part of a chromosome. Roughly translated into English, genes are packets or sequences of DNA (information) that specifically code for one protein, whereas a genome is the full genetic code, or set of rules, for a given organism. For example, the genome of a primate will have specific genes that define the development of fur, arms, and legs, while the genome of a bird will have certain genes that cause development of beaks, feathers, and wings. Both organisms will have genes responsible for developing heart, lungs, eyes, and other internal organs that almost all animals share in common, while also having enough genetic material that a single individual can be uniquely identified out of millions of other people. Only identical twins share the same DNA, but even they can be uniquely identified through their fingerprints. DNA is basically a recipe for how to create an organism from scratch. The average layperson may not be able to recognize an individual gene under a microscope, but any two experts in genetics should be able to identify the specific pattern of a known gene. Most of us have seen enough TV shows like NCIS and CSI delving into forensic police investigative work to know that leaving DNA evidence at the scene of a crime is just about as damning as a voluntary confession—unless the perpetrator can convince the jury that the evidence was planted in an attempt to frame them, the … [Read more...]
Breaching “The Bulwark”
According to the dictionary, a bulwark is a defensive wall-sort of like the wall President Trump wants to build on the southern border to prevent illegal immigration. Hadrian's Wall and the Great Wall of China are probably the two best known examples of bulwarks constructed in an attempt to halt the advance of an invading army. The Bulwark is a website that curiously describes itself as “a news network launched in 2018 dedicated to providing political analysis and reporting free of the constraints of partisan loyalties or tribal prejudices.” Which really means The Bulwark probably ought to be called The Bulls##t instead, because they are full of it. Question: do podcasts count as televised news programs? These people certainly are not competing with Fox News or even CNN for viewers. Founded by former conservative, former radio host Charlie Sykes, The Bullwark employs Never Trumpers such as Bill Kristol, Sykes’ former boss at The Weekly Standard, and Mona Charen, the theoretically conservative author of propaganda such as “How a Democrat Can Win Over a Never-Trumper”, published at Politico. They are the closest thing resembling conservatives that this alleged “news network” employs. Most of the other writers seem to be pure liberals with credentials as contributors to CNN and MSNBC, or members of Common Cause, which is currently raising money and advocating for mail-in voting. Tim Miller is described as “senior adviser to the anti-Trump Our Principles PAC”, whatever that’s supposed to be. This might explain why the website hasn't become more popular…I remained … [Read more...]
A Universe From Nothing
I've been thinking about writing another nonfiction book in the same vein as Divine Evolution and Counterargument for God. The tentative title of this planned new work is God or Good Luck? The difference between this new book and those first two books is that I don't plan on quoting anybody else, only to cite their work and suggest to my readers that they should investigate on their own. No footnotes, or end notes, and no need for a bibliography. In my opinion, not only should you doubt everything I say and investigate it on your own, you should take that approach with anything you read, no matter who wrote it. This time I plan to begin my argument at the beginning and take it straight through to the end in the most coherent manner possible, so the point I'm trying to make is so crystal clear and no one could possibly claim to be confused, not even my harshest critic (who skipped over most of the book he critiqued). Even the title of this proposed new book is pretty self-explanatory...the best explanation of "everything" or anything can be easily boiled down to a dichotomy of only two real choices: it's either God or good luck. Any and every other potential answer can ultimately be shown to be an inferior (and inadequate) substitution for one or the other--whether that suggested alternative is claimed to be science, nature, multiverses, quantum physics, string theory, an invisible wizard who lives in the sky, or even a flying spaghetti monster. Every one of them is a form of good luck, or represents a god. Absent a creator God, the existence of our universe becomes … [Read more...]
My Top 10 Song Covers
I've been working hard for a while now, mostly editing with a few articles written for American Thinker, and hard work isn't always a lot of fun. When I'm not writing, I'm usually reading something, and even my "pleasure" reading has a purpose...for example, as I continue finishing what has turned out to be an almost complete rewrite of my first novel, Coastal Empire, and my editing and "other" work on the Rootstock epic fantasy series written by L. H. Leonard. Legend of the Storm Hawks and Path of the Spirit Runner are already available in ebook or print (audio still to come), and the final two novels in the collection are scheduled to be published before the end of summer. John Sandford Like I just said, when I'm not writing, editing, entertaining animals or trying to clean house, I'm usually reading something, and it was probably written by John Sandford, my favorite author of mystery and suspense novels. Quite frankly, John Sandford is my role model. Before I die, I can only hope that one of my novels will be half as good as his average effort in the "Prey" series featuring Detective Lucas Davenport, or his other series of novels featuring BCA Investigator Virgil Flowers. Sandford's plots are typically brilliant, and his dialog both razor sharp and realistic. His timing is impeccable, whether comic and dramatic. John Sandford is so good that it was more than ten years and maybe twenty novels before I ever found what I clearly knew was a mistake in one of his novels. And if the reader wasn't a John Sandford fanatic like me, the mistake wouldn't have even been … [Read more...]
A glimpse into the mind of a Bernie Bro
My personal policy on Facebook is to accept friend requests from almost everyone who asks. As a result, I’ve become social media “friends” with a very wide cross-section of society with friends who range from evangelical Christians to atheists, with representatives of every faith welcome as well, but only up to a point. On the political spectrum my friends range from transgender conservative to fairly radical liberals. No two people think exactly alike. My personal opinion is that it's impossible to learn if you never listen to people who disagree with you. I’m a firm believer in open dialog and listening to what the other side has to say. Up to a point. The price of my willingness to listen to a contrary or even disturbing argument is the opportunity for me to speak in turn. Sometimes I find out the door of friendship was left a little too open to virtual strangers, and a raving lunatic reveals himself. It usually doesn't take very long. In fairness, I already knew the Bernie Bro in this conversation was considerably more liberal in his philosophical worldview than me, but this conversation I'm about to share revealed exactly how insane these people are. I cleaned up his grammar and spelling only as necessary to maintain readability. The content has not been altered. The conversation begins as the Bernie Bro's comments on a parody article from the Babylon Bee. In other words, this all started with his response to a JOKE, proving that socialists are humor-impaired. Bernie Bro (BB): Show me (where) Bernie (is) promoting for violence. Show me what … [Read more...]
