Taung Child: Another Evidence [Proof] of Evolution Falls

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Here is a quick description from the Smithsonian Institute’s site about Taung:

When this 3-year-old child’s skull was found in 1924, it was among the first early human fossils to be found in Africa — and the first early human fossil discovery to draw major attention to this region as a place of origin of the human family tree. Still, it took over 20 years after that before scientists accepted the importance of Africa as a major source of human evolution.

The Taung Child’s fossilized anatomy represented the first time researchers saw evidence of early human upright, two-legged  (bipedal) walking. The evidence was the position of the Taung Child’s foramen magnum, or the hole through which the spinal cord connects with the brain. This spinal cord hole is positioned toward the front of the Taung Child’s skull, a characteristic associated with bipedal locomotion. This bipedal adaptation allows the head to balance atop of the neck; while contrastingly, a four-legged ape has its foramen magnum positioned toward the rear of the head to keep its eyes facing forward (and not down) when it moves.

And here is more from Science Daily, the cites where Creation magazine references:

Summary: By subjecting the skull of the famous Taung Child to the latest CT scan technology, researchers are now casting doubt on theories that Australopithecus africanus shows the same cranial adaptations found in modern human infants and toddlers.

The Taung Child, South Africa’s premier hominin discovered 90 years ago by Wits University Professor Raymond Dart, continues to shed light on human origins. By subjecting the skull of the first australopith discovered to the latest technologies in the Wits University Microfocus X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) facility, researchers are now casting doubt on theories that Australopithecus africanus shows the same cranial adaptations found in modern human infants and toddlers — in effect disproving current support for the idea that this early hominin shows infant brain development in the prefrontal region similar to that of modern humans.

The results have been published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on Aug. 25, in an article titled “New high resolution CT data of the Taung partial cranium and endocast and their bearing on metopism and hominin brain evolution.”

The Taung Child has historical and scientific importance in the fossil record as the first and best example of early hominin brain evolution, and theories have been put forward that it exhibits key cranial adaptations found in modern human infants and toddlers.

To test the ancientness of this evolutionary adaptation, Dr Kristian J. Carlson, Senior Researcher from the Evolutionary Studies Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand, and colleagues, Professor Ralph L. Holloway from Columbia University and Douglas C. Broadfield from Florida Atlantic University, performed an in silico dissection of the Taung fossil using high-resolution computed tomography.

“A recent study has described the roughly 3 million-year-old fossil, thought to have belonged to a 3 to 4-year-old, as having a persistent metopic suture and open anterior fontanelle, two features that facilitate post-natal brain growth in human infants when their disappearance is delayed,” said Carlson.

Comparisons with the existing hominin fossil record and chimpanzee variation do not support this evolutionary scenario.

Citing deficiencies in how the Taung fossil material has been recently assessed, the researchers suggest physical evidence does not incontrovertibly link features of the Taung skull, or its endocast, to early prefrontal lobe expansion, a brain region implicated in many human behaviors.

read it all

Democrats “Accuse” ~ Satan Means “Accuser”

Here is an insightful correlation from Alfonzo Rachel’s book:

I’m black. You know that and I know that, but there are many who insist I’m not. According to the Afrocentrics and those who patronize them, I’m whitewashed. It’s funny when I’ve got liberal, white people trying to tell me they’re blacker than I am. Wow! How is it that white people trying to be black can accuse me of trying to be white? That’s some hypocrisy that’s just too funny! They’re taking blind shots, hoping to get a nod from the black community to sedate their white guilt.

Don’t you love it when white liberals insult anybody white, male, and heterosexual, feeling like they get a pass because, after all, they claim to fight for minorities? These white liberals do not intend to legitimately help these minorities, they just don’t want those minorities to turn against them.

So, the only thing these white, liberal democrats (the true white devils, mind you) do for the so-called minorities is pander. Lib­erals manipulate many non-whites and women with one simple tool—the tool that can turn even loved ones against you. The very tool that changed Adam and Eve’s perception of God—a deadly tool—accusation.

The very name Satan does not translate to mean Evil One, Deceiver, Prince of Darkness, or even Tempter. His name liter­ally means Accuser.

When Satan spoke with Eve, he accused God of not wanting them to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil because God didn’t want them to be like God. That was the statement that broke Eve. That was what damaged the relationship between God and humanity.

Satan’s accusation made it sound like God was trying to keep Adam and Eve down, doesn’t it? This caused Eve to be envious of God and to distrust Him. Satan made it look like God was holding out and hoarding power—it made it look like He had arrested humanity’s development.

What if we apply that truth to our political situation? The Repub­licans are just trying to arrest the development of the black com­munity. They don’t care about blacks, or women, blah, blah, yap, yap, etc. It’s fitting that women would be easily manipulated by liberalism because Satan, the biggest liberal of them all, went to Eve first, and manipulated her by causing her to not trust another male figure. Just like Adam and Eve trusted the accuser who wanted them destroyed, the majority of minorities—the black community, Hispanics, women, and secular Jews—trust the party that would see them destroyed.

So check this out. Before Lucifer became the Accuser, he was God’s most anointed cherub. Now, just as there was a Civil War because Democrats didn’t see blacks as worthy to be considered human, God’s most anointed cherub did not see humans as worthy of the position for which God created us.

As Lucifer became Satan, he formed a confederacy. He used accusations and discourse such as, God wants only to control us! We should be allowed to live out our own destiny, outside of His design! God has this idea of humans having authority in our society. What about our authority? What about our great society that God wants to stain with these humans by bringing them into existence with us? We’re superior. They have no place among us! They’re not fit to even look on us!

Man, what a hater!

These accusations rallied a third of the angels behind the rebel­lious cherub, and he led an attempted coup against the Throne. He fell, and (as is typical of Satan) he used another accusation to bring a curse upon humankind in Eden. That curse still affects us, and the Democrats have learned to manipulate this weak­ness. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” is a command the Democrats depend on breaking in order to gain power. They do just as the Accuser does.

Now, Satan didn’t (and still doesn’t) know how good he had it, crying about oppression in heaven. Liberals are the same way today—crying about oppression in America. Hey, wanna have some fun? Ask some liberals why they’re Democrats. Chances are real good that the first thing they’ll give you is an accusation. I’m a Democrat because the corporations are corrupt, and because republicans are destroying the earth. They are against equal rights! They are bigoted, sexist homophobes, rabble, rabble, rabble.

Hey! Liberal! I didn’t ask you why you’re not a Republican. I asked why you are a Democrat. Accusations made by Demo­crats encourage prejudice and animosity against Republicans—the people that fought for the freedom of blacks and the equal­ity of women. What have Republicans gotten in return? Hatred.

Alfonzo Rachel, Weapon of A.S.S. Destruction (Powder Springs, GA: White Hall Press, 2012), 37-39.

Amtrak Is A Mess! Dump It Now ~ Stossle

Here are some great points from Breaitbart’s article, “11 Things The Media Won’t Tell You About Amtrak

1) The Federal Government Owns and Operates Amtrak

Because train travel is an 18th century invention, by 1971 the passenger train business in America was dying. In its infinite wisdom, the government formed the publicly funded railroad service known as Amtrak.

2) Amtrak Loses Hundreds of Millions of Dollars a Year

Although a law was passed in 1997 that required Amtrak to become profitable by 2002, since 2009, Amtrak has lost somewhere around a whopping $2 billion.

[….]

5) Amtrak Has Already Been Subsidized to the Tune of a Whopping $45 billion

Since  the government took it over, Amtrak has sucked up about $45 billion in taxpayer-funded subsidies over the last 44 years.

6) Amtrak Is Set to Receive Another $7 Billion Over the Next 5 years

The same media telling you Amtrak is under-funded is not telling you that Amtrak will receive $7 billion in welfare through 2020.

[….]

7) Amtrak Is Not Under-Funded, It Is Criminally Mismanaged

Manhattan Institute:

Amtrak’s largest expense is labor, salary, and benefits, which cost over $2 billion in 2014.  Maintaining fully-staffed trains on infrequently-traveled routes has contributed to high labor costs, but the pay rate of Amtrak’s employees raise its costs substantially. The average onboard employee made $41.19 an hour on Amtrak in 2012, while railroads that contracted out services to private companies paid their employees $7.75 to $13.00 an hour.

Base pay may already be substantial, but regulations and poor oversight allowed employees to pocket $185 million in overtime pay in 2013.  The management allowed employee misconduct and wasteful business practices to thrive, even as at the same time it hindered plans to make train stations accessible to the disabled to comply with the Americans with Disability Program.

Amtrak’s did not meet ADA’s goals due to lack of structure and a strategy, according to a 2014 IG report.  Management activities took up 46% of the $100 million budget, $6.5 million was spent on unrelated projects, and an undetermined amount was shipped out of state on non-ADA projects.

8) American People Subsidize $60 of Every Amtrak Ticket Sold

When you look at the figures, the math is not difficult:

With a ridership of only 25 million people, that means for every person boarding a train, the American people are paying $60. I did a quick check on Amtrak’s Web site – to travel from New York City to Washington, D.C., will cost the traveler $69. Does it make sense that it costs the person traveling $69 and the American government $60?

[….]

10)  There Is No Good Reason for The Government To Own Amtrak

Other than misguided nostalgia and the screaming welfare queens in the media, there is no logical or justifiable reason not to give Amtrak away for free to a private business that can make it profitable, and save the taxpayers billions.

The selfish harpies in the mainstream media might lose a few more dollars out of their fat checks by paying full fare, but that sounds like a one-percent problem to those of us in the real world.

…read it all…

 

 

 

 

MO-MONEY/MO-MONEY ~ Dems Solution to Everything (Elder)

What do Amtrak, public schools, and inner cities have in common? Democrats who abhor economic principles and thinking by spending more money fixes all ills. Larry Elder takes us on a tour of history as he bounces around the tragedy of the recent Amtrak derailment, and the derailing of our schools. The solution according to Democrats?

$$$$ MO MONEY – MO MONEY $$$$

For more clear thinking like this from Larry Elder… I invite you to visit: http://www.larryelder.com/ ~AND~ http://www.elderstatement.com/

Flashback (2009): Kerry Predicts Ice Free Arctic Summer In 5 Years

Flashback (2009): Kerry Ridicules Inhofe On Science, Then Predicts Ice Free Arctic Summer In 5 Years

Politifact (2009):

“It is already upon us and its effects are being felt worldwide, right now,” he wrote. “Scientists project that the Arctic will be ice-free in the summer of 2013. Not in 2050, but four years from now. Make no mistake: catastrophic climate change represents a threat to human security, global stability, and — yes — even to American national security.”

Baltimore Police: from Exemplary to Racist In Just Two-Months

Here is a portion of the Investor’s Business Daily article:

Law And Order: Just two months ago, President Obama held up the Baltimore police force as a model of unbiased community policing. Now he’s investigating it for civil-rights violations. What’s changed?

In a March White House report on police reforms, Obama and his Task Force on 21st Century Policing praised Baltimore’s force and its black chief for “implementing national best practices for policies and training,” including “use of force” reforms. His task force even quoted Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts, who said he changed “outdated procedures” that “put officers at odds with the community.”

Yet now the Obama Justice Department is investigating the Baltimore police for a “pattern or practice of discriminating” against the black community in “arrests, traffic stops and other operations.” The federal probe is separate from an ongoing federal inquiry into the death of Freddie Gray, which focuses on the alleged misconduct of six Baltimore cops involved in his arrest, half of whom are black.

It’s absurd to think that black police officers under the direction of a black police chief are inherently biased against young black men. So why does Obama keep charging police bias where mixed-race juries weighing all the evidence conclude there is none?…

…read it all…

Apparently, a lot can change in two months in liberal la-la-land.

Two of Twenty-Two Very Inconvenient Climate Truths

I have been waiting for the following information to explain the below graph more thoroughly:

1. The Mean Global Temperature has been stable since 1997, despite a continuous increase of the CO2 content of the air: how could one say that the increase of the CO2 content of the air is the cause of the increase of the temperature?

2. 57% of the cumulative anthropic emissions since the beginning of the Industrial revolution have been emitted since 1997, but the temperature has been stable. How to uphold that anthropic CO2 emissions (or anthropic cumulative emissions) cause an increase of the Mean Global Temperature?

(See more at link in the “22” graphic.)

Quickly… with the increase of CO2, we see POLAR BEAR POPULATIONS increasing, ISLANDS GROWING (not disappearing), etc. The environmentalist in the past said the disappearing of Polar Bears and Islands was evidence of CO2 increasing being harmful. Would it not fall into “my camp” to now say the increase in these are evidence that CO2 increasing is good? It would have to in order to be logically coherent. If not, the person making the previous claims should do some serious introspection.

Leftist Try To Control Language ~ “News-Speak” For Our Generation

Larry Elder eviscerates Lawrence O’Donnell and the “news-speak” left in their attempt to control language, words, and definitions to suit their political agenda. O’Donnell is saying that the word “thug” is a racist term… the only problem is, he has used it many times.

The “Sage” at his best… throwing down the gauntlet at the elitists.

For more clear thinking like this from Larry Elder… I invite you to visit: http://www.larryelder.com/ ~AND~ http://www.elderstatement.com/

Charles Murray On OVER Regulation and Big Government

“As government regulations grow slowly, we become used to the harness. Habit is a powerful force, and we no longer feel as intensely as we once would have [the] constriction of our liberties that would have been utterly intolerable a mere half century ago.” ~ Judge Robert Bork

This is the first segment from an interview with Charles Murray on his new book, “By the People: Rebuilding Liberty Without Permission.”

This segment reminded me of a quote I have kept for years, and while I am not the biggest fan of the author of it… but this quote and topic is instructive:

This is most evident in the fact that Americans today must obey thirty times as many laws as their great-grandfathers had to obey at the turn of the century. Federal agencies publish an average of over 200 pages of new rulings, regulations, and proposals in the Federal Register each business day. That growth of the federal statute book is one of the clearest measures of the increase of the government control of the citizenry…

James Bovard, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty (St. Martins Griffen; 1994), p. 1.

I fear this will be, not following the many laws by choice, the only route Americans [who hold to the Founding principles of this country] will have to do. Acting by disobeying.