Unit of life 3

(cont'd from this post)

Imagine an Olympic long-jumper clearing two whole football fields. That sort of thing can't really happen. But it does happen in the world of a planthopper, which can jump 100x its body length.

From studying this bug with special cameras, scientists at Cambridge found out that it coordinates the motion of its legs with incredibly precise gears so that its legs are in perfect sync for maximum power.

A branch of engineering called "biomimetics" makes engineering progress by mimicking biology. For example, the study of dragonfly wings enabled better efficiency in the building of wind turbines.

(cont'd tomorrow)

Miracle drug 3

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

"Christian America is disappearing."

As this author says, "Only 4% of American adults follow a consistent biblical worldview." His message to American Christians is: Wake up! (For another author saying "wake up," see Letter to the American Church by Eric Metaxas.)

Along with falling church membership, the nature of America is corroding. The rich legacy of freedom and goodness that we've had since the founding is being squandered. It's never more than one generation away from extinction unless we genuinely pass it on to our kids and grandkids.

Memes are a visual way to look into popular opposition to Christianity. Are your kids/grandkids seeing these messages? Without a doubt. They are barraged with mocking atheism. Will they leave faith behind? They might - unless they also see answers to these memes, these mocking arguments. 

You can help them get the answers they need, because they're online just like the memes are. Go to this article and start learning the answers for yourself, then share them.

from The Stream

Miracle drug 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Church attendance being good for you has been known for decades. I wonder why it's not commonly known and why fewer people go to church. In America, "church membership as a percentage of the population is now at a record low—down more than 20 points in the twenty-first century." That's bad news for America.

Actually, I think that both you and I could think of reasons why church is not so popular anymore. Christians sometimes behave badly (that's true), clergy are vilified in movies, and the "new atheists" tell us that God doesn't exist and claim that science says so.

Another possibility is the trend of our churches to bow to popular culture rather than lifting up a strong Biblical message. "If Christianity is merely a kind of hobby or weekly pep talk designed to enhance psychological wellbeing or career success, then we can find better stuff on YouTube or Spotify."

"For 2,000 years, the knowledge and fear of a transcendent God, not helpful social programs, built and filled churches." We, America's church members, need to bow to God's program, not to our culture's program.

photo

from Breakpoint

Miracle drug

Here's an excellent question:

If there were a drug that could improve Americans' mental and physical health at no personal cost, what value would our society put on it? What if it could also reduce mortality by 20-30% over a 15-year-period? 

That remedy would be fast-tracked to the public. It would be in media headlines and be taught to school children. (That is, if our culture were rational and focused on the common good.)

Great news, it's already available to the public! It's regular church attendance. Surprised? Someone might suspect this news is simply religious propaganda from a dubious source. 

photo

Well, is Harvard University a good enough source for you? "The results have been replicated in enough studies and populations to be considered quite reliable."

from USA Today

(cont'd tomorrow)

Unit of life 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Dr. Behe kept his eyes open for theories of how the living cell could have developed by simple processes found in nature. But, to this day, there's still no good origin-of-life/cell theory. He explains in the video below why its complexity makes him think there had to be more involved in creation of the first cell. 

Think of a mouse trap. It has five parts, each of them essential to the trap's function. If any were not there, the mousetrap would not just function poorly, but rather would not function at all. So Dr. Behe calls it "irreducibly complex." That's the sort of complexity he finds in parts of the cell. 

For example, there's a flagellum on one end of a bacteria cell that has parts made of molecules. It spins around to propel the bacterium on its search for food. An elegant machine, its motor has been clocked at 100,000 revolutions per minute. 

Its parts correspond to the parts of an outboard motor. The flagellum can't operate if any of its parts are missing. It's "irreducibly complex." Could it have been built by random, unguided forces, one stage at a time? 

(cont'd next week)

Unit of life 1

We are now in the most exciting time ever to be a biologist! So says Dr. Michael Behe, a biochemist who "studies the molecules of life." Stunning breakthroughs are revealing so much about the most fundamental unit of life.

That's what a cell is, the smallest unit that can be said to be alive.

While conducting post-doctoral research at the NIH, both he and his post-doc partner questioned how the amazingly complex living cell could have developed by accumulations of undirected changes - i.e., by Darwinian evolution. But, they supposed, somebody must understand how the first, original cell evolved!

Ten years later, he had found no answer to his question. All the science he read assumed that there was an evolutionary answer, or that there would be . . assumed it. 

Then he read Evolution: Theory in Crisis. Author and molecular biologist Michael Denton shared his doubts and added some more.

(cont'd tomorrow)

Come to Maui

Hawaii's island of Maui is devastated. Wildfires destroyed the city of Lahaina, where 300 homes, businesses and landmarks were burned to the ground (see the fire locations here).  More than a thousand people are reported missing. 

Hawaii-native actor Jason Momoa has publicly urged tourists to stay away, to let them recover in peace: "Maui is not the place to have your vacation right now,” the 44-year-old actor wrote. “DO NOT TRAVEL TO MAUI.” 

But his opinion is not held by everyone. They don't need gawkers at the tragedy, but they do still need tourists. Most of the island is still intact, and their economy depends on tourism. Surviving businesses are trying to help the victims while their own incomes are in danger. 

Here they are (one of them was on a Guy Fieri show) making their case to the public:

from Daily Signal

A changed life

If you watched yesterday's video, you saw Becket Cook conducting the interview. After growing up Catholic in Dallas, Texas, Becket lived a glamorous Hollywood life in Los Angeles as a gay man doing writing, acting, fashion set design. But the glamor wore off and he began to ask himself, "is that all there is?"

God can change lives. Watch the 15-minute interview segment below (Eric Metaxas is the interviewer) to find out what He did for Becket.

Not mean

Now for a very different sort of post. 

Caleb's life was not a common one. His parents divorced when he was young, both of them entering same-sex relationships, so he was brought up by two lesbian moms and a gay dad. His mom brought him to gay events, parades and clubs.

When he saw some people being mean to them, he asked his mother why they acted like that. She told him that they were Christians and Christians hate gay people. So he decided he would never be a Christian because if they were this bad, how much worse must Jesus be! 

As a teenager, Caleb attended a Bible study (to disprove it). At the age of 16 he came out to his parents as Christian - and at first they threw him out of the house. Today he's a pastor. His parents became believers in their old age. 

An amazing story. He's uniquely qualified to speak to believers (like me, and every genuine believer) about how to love our LGBTQ friends and family. We in the church must address -  not ignore - this issue: how to love them while at the same time holding to Bible truth.

COSM 2023

ChatGPT, launched less than a year ago, is now the fastest-growing app of all time. After only two months, 13 million customers per day were using it last January.

Duolingo (learn a language), Expedia (travel planning), Coca Cola are just a few businesses who already use it (or its improved versions) to give their customers better, more personalized service. 

AI has certainly reached a new level. It's everywhere and it's surging. Many are alarmed. Some say it must be slowed down or even shut down entirely until cooler heads can figure out how to regulate it.

At the very least, civil discussion among knowledgeable people with different viewpoints needs to happen. I know of one event that's organized to do that very thing: COSM 2023 in Seattle.

"COSM is an exclusive national summit on the technologies remaking the world as we know it. The mission of the conference is to stimulate debate and deliberation amongst industry leaders . . ." It's open to the public.

from Mind Matters

Amazon's AI

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Amazon's CEO has no intention of being left behind by the AI train. Their employees are preparing to move ahead with new projects. He says:

“Every single one” of Amazon’s businesses has “multiple generative AI initiatives going right now.” 

In his Q2 2023 earnings call, he told management/media/everybody that AI is vital and central to what they're doing: "It’s true in our Stores business, it’s true in our AWS business, it’s true in our advertising business, it’s true in all our devices — and you can just imagine what we’re working on with respect to Alexa there — it’s true in our entertainment businesses... every single one."

One of their initiatives is to use generative AI to summarize reviews of products so that a customer doesn't have to read dozens of them to get the trend. You can click on a quality that is important to you like "ease of use" or "performance" to find reviews that mention it.

image

Job destroyer?

Fear of losing their jobs to AI is a real worry for about 40% of workers. It's true that artificial intelligence replaces some tedious, repetitive jobs, but it can even do something like a writing job. 

In fact, that's a key point of the SAG-AFTRA strike now going on. Faces and voices are easily replicated, while something like ChatGPT can write realistically (but not creatively). Actors and writers want regulations to protect them.

photo

But this think-tank writer says there are also opportunities coming: "Perhaps . . AI will turn out to be a tide that lifts all workers rather than a job-destroying technological tsunami."

For example, a study of customer service at call centers found that AI helped all to be more productive, and lower-skilled workers quickly grew to the level of higher-performing workers. In general, it may support all workers in their areas of weakness.

As usual, innovation can open new opportunities for those who prepare for it.

from AEI

(cont'd tomorrow: AI at Amazon)

Under God

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Say it and display it. It's your heritage as an American, no matter how you became one and no matter who doesn't like it.

In God We Trust

We have a national motto, "In God We Trust." It's on our money, but it will come as a surprise to some that it's official.

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It was made so in 1956. Since then, it was challenged unsuccessfully in court three times. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said that the phrase "has nothing whatsoever to do with the establishment of religion."

Public schools in at least 11 states are required to display the national motto. A law passed last week in Louisiana clarifies that it must be at least 11" by 14," it must be the center of the display, the font must be easy to read . . and patriotic customs must be taught.

According to the founder of Liberty Counsel,  "The Declaration of Independence declares that our rights come from God, not government. Acknowledging this undeniable heritage is not only constitutional, it’s imperative to sustaining a collective memory of how our nation came to be."

Yes, students have a right to know where our American values came from, what got us started.

from Liberty Counsel

(cont'd tomorrow)

France nuclear

Another European country is giving the green light to nuclear power. Finland, Sweden, and Poland have either opened new plants or they plan to.

Now, France moved to speed up the construction of new nuclear plants three months ago. This reverses their course set in 2014 to back off from nuclear. Political opposition came from the Greens, the radical left, and some Communists.

photo

The bill cut about two years from the process by simplifying administrative procedures and documentation that precedes construction. But construction still won't begin until 2027.

"Energy Transition Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher assured left-wing [opposed] MPs that “voting against renewable energy and nuclear power is voting for fossil fuels. It is a vote for global warming.”

from Euractiv

"Petty" crime 3

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Some might say "why not?" to shoplifting, if they think only super rich companies own businesses. But local business owners aren't rich, and it hurts them. They bought the goods, bought the store, and employ their neighbors - and it's not fair to steal from them.

A shoe shop opened in a Minnesota suburb in 2021, but the owner gave up in 2022.

Here's the sad story: 

"In just six months, five robberies alone have cost me $30,000 worth of merchandise and caused me to close my store. Repeatedly, burglars smashed the glass doors of my storefront and ripped sneakers right off my shelves. Not only did the last incident cost my store $13,000 in stolen goods, but I am now left with devastating costs to fix all the damage to my store."

He and his family are now awash in debt. 

from Startribune

"Petty" crime 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Some assume that retail theft is understandable and forgivable, as one woman said while robbing a grocery store: "I have to feed my family!" But much of it has nothing to do with feeding families. It’s about reselling stolen items for profit. 

"Organized retail crime" is a thing, defined as coordinated theft of merchandise by individuals and groups. "Underlying our current crime wave is the emergence of a sophisticated illegal infrastructure for recruiting shoplifters."

Shoplifting is yet another dysfunction of our society that's made worse by social media. No need to peddle stolen goods on the street when you can put it on Craigslist or Facebook Market Place. Reddit educates shoplifters on how to do it at Walmart and Publix.

Anti-capitalist rhetoric may claim it's a valid way to "tackle the system." That woman taking food may have bought into the thinking. If this is the only way she can feed her family, then she's cleared of any wrongdoing and somebody should help her!

Wait . . help is provided by every level of government (county, city, state, federal). Last year the U.S. spent $185 billion on food stamps and other nutrition assistance programs. Looks like she and others like her could actually feed a family without stealing food. 

from City Journal

(cont'd tomorrow)

"Petty" crime 1

Is it wrong to steal what belongs to other people? For a lot of Americans - hopefully a minority - the answer is, "It depends."

It depends on who you are, why you steal, and who you steal from. Of course, it also depends on your identity group. Corrupted elites and officials will find a way to excuse you from consequences if you belong to a protected class.

Retail crime in the U.S. since 2018 is up by a stunning 90% in just five years, nearly double.

Whole Foods' big flagship store in San Francisco opened in March 2022 and closed "temporarily" in April this year because of rampant theft and fear for their safety. Basic protection from crime is required if people are going to work there and if customers are going  to feel safe enough to shop there.

Local news aired this report on widespread retail crime in San Francisco:

from City Journal

(cont'd tomorrow)

ZeroGPT

Artificial intelligence plays a growing part in our lives, especially now that there is ChatGPT and other LLM's (large language models) like it. They scan the internet to produce text per the instructions you give it. 

But remember . . the report it gives you is not creative thinking, and it's not the carefully considered opinion of a human or any sentient being. It's the "rearranging [of] words according to various probabilities." We shouldn't give it the deference, the respect we might give a counsellor or teacher or friend or any human person whom we trust.

So we have a situation on our hands. Somehow we'll have to learn how to distinguish the work of a thoughtful and responsible human being as opposed to the work of AI. There's already a program now which does that, as I learned from a reader's comment.

image

ZeroGPT was created by (surprise!) a college student majoring in computer science to tell you if something was written by AI. 

Within a week of launch last January, 30,000 people tried it . As he said on Twitter (now called X), "We deserve to know!" Yes, we do.

from NPR

Buy up land 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Concern and suspicion about the land purchase near Travis AFB are not unique to the California congressman. People want to know who this buyer is, and specifically if China is behind it.

Concern is rising about the China's growing real estate purchases in various parts of the U.S. That's because China is viewed as an aggressive competitor of ours, at least, and maybe an actual enemy. People don't like it when a purchase is near a military base.

It's come up before. A Chinese company bought 300 acres twenty miles down the road from Grand Forks Air Force Base (North Dakota). They tried to set up a milling plant last year, but there was opposition, including politicians from both parties. 

An Air Force officer commented, “Some of the most sensitive elements of Grand Forks exist with the digital uplinks and downlinks inherent with unmanned air systems and their interaction with space-based assets.”

Said one senator, “I think we grossly underappreciate how effective they are at collecting information, collecting data, using it in nefarious ways.”

photo of Grand Forks city council meeting

The city of Grand Forks didn't approve the mill. But the land still belongs to the Chinese company, and people are not happy about it.

from CNBC

Buy up land 1

Somebody bought land around three sides of Travis Air Force Base in California. The farmers who sold it were not really interested in selling, but negotiation eventually brought them an offer way above market value. In the end, they couldn't refuse the negotiated selling price, $800 million. So the land was sold to Flannery Associates.

photo

Now, they're being sued by the buyer who claims that they illegally colluded to drive up the selling price. Odd.

But wait, there's more. A congressman from the area triggered a federal investigation of the whole thing because it doesn't make sense. He asks, what does Flannery plan to do with the land? Why were they willing to pay such a high price? Why were they so anxious to buy the land that they paid 5-10x what it's worth? 

Then, the biggest question: who is Flannery Associates anyway? It should be easy to find out who is involved - just google it. Or, maybe an important person can go through certain channels to get the information. 

But no. After months of investigation, neither the local nor the federal government was able to find out. What, the government isn't important enough and resourceful enough to get answers?? That's more than odd.

from ABC11

(cont'd tomorrow)

Trafficking 2

 Follow-up to this post

Children do cross the border alone, and it's not just a few. U.S. Customs and Border Protection  report an average of 435 unaccompanied kids per day in May 2023. It's thought that over half of them will end up in prostitution, forced labor, and child porn.

Kidnapping (as in "Sound of Freedom") happens, but a Texas organization estimates that over half of child trafficking victims are recruited on social media. Kids in the U.S. sex trade usually start at the age of 12-14. The most vulnerable is a child in a single-parent home with an unrelated male living there.

Predators pay about $90 to rent a child who may work six days per week with twenty rentals per day. How would a child ever recover from something like this? 

"Sound of Freedom" is being attacked. But for its producer, Eduardo Verastegui, the movie was just his attempt to help bring an end to child trafficking. Every American should be able to support that.

from Stream

Faith-based

If you've seen "Sound of Freedom," you now know more than you ever wanted to know about child trafficking. The movie was buried for five years until Angel Studios picked it up. To everyone's surprise, it's now in 4000 theatres  and has brought in over $130 million on budget costs of $15 million.

It has no religious message, but is seen anyway as part of a current trend of faith-based entertainment that includes "Jesus Revolution" and of course "The Chosen." 

Polling says that less than half of Americans view pastors or priests in a positive light, while only 57% like Christianity in general. Yet 71% of Americans still like Jesus.

Christians believe there's a "deep hunger for spiritually significant stories rooted in eternal questions of life and death." As the Bible says, God placed eternity in our hearts.

from Newsweek