nigel99

point taken So in your opinion is it possible for science to disprove creationism aka Genesis? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I agree that we can't prove it wrong - however we can't prove it right either. Secondly while it may fit ALL the evidence we have - it has significant flaws in terms of "missing links" or partially evolved debri that the theory requires. It therefore lacks significant amounts of evidence before it should reach the phase of being un-disputable. Just because virus's and animals adapt to their environment does not imply that they can morph into entirely new beings. I can't categorically state this as fact but I do not believe that there is a single piece of evidence to support the macro-evolution jumps. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Bill - maybe I wasn't clear in what I mean't. To me alot of what you have described as evolution I attributed to mutation. i.e. if you buy into evolution theory then I guess you can call it micro-evolution and when the fruit fly is made longer/drug resistant etc, but when the fruit fly evolves to be a golden eagle then thats macro-evolution... As to theories alot of the theories in science that are currently used have got to be supplemented by "fudge factors", and hence acedemics are actively paid and pursue alternative explainations. While it appears to me that people who search for alternative explainations to evolution (a theory that everyone has to admit has its holes) are described as religous wackos (of which many are - but not all). It is part of my point about the religous devotion to evolution that many people have. Why are non-religous people so eager to defend and argue that a theory is undisputable? Until a theory pass's the criteria to become scientific law I believe that people are free to explore alternatives. As an example - we as humans engage in bio-engineering, design engineering covering robotics etc, it is POSSIBLE that a higher species CREATED us as a form of design engineering - now that can quickly form the basis of a religion where we do not understand the higher beings and therefore gods are created to explain the higher beings status. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

definition of a theory is "a tentative theory about the natural world; a concept that is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain facts or phenomena; "a scientific hypothesis that survives experimental testing becomes a scientific theory"" As evolution is a THEORY I believe that people should be aware of that and not treat it is as a scientific LAW. It amazes me how much "religous" belief people place in evolution. Scientists are happy to research gravity,electromagnetics and try and prove the current theories wrong (because they have holes in them - hence string theory etc) - however they only try and prove evolution right - that is not scientific method as it is meant to be applied. I personally don't buy into evolution and believe that we should be looking for alternative explainations. Beyond mutation - evolution has not been proven. I don't take the bible Genesis explaination at face value either so I am not coming from a religous angle here. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

or 1.2 billion people? Does that mean the US has the right to "reduce" their population through a war and thereby eliminate that "threat"? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

There is no simple answer. I have wondered for a long time about it. However I am currently reading a book that explains the background and makes alot of sense. I will try and post a summary when I am finished reading but it takes the historical differences and logic back to the 2nd world war as a starting point. "Allies at War" http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0071441204/qid=1089039581/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl/202-3135618-9415003 The book appears to be neutral in its bias and not pro or anti-war so far. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I am about to jump on a plane to Dallas from Atlanta and will be there for this evening and tommorrow morning (Sunday) - I am told the weather is awful does anyone have suggestions on where to go/what to do? Thanks Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

the reason I dislike Microsoft is their policy of swamping products with features that I do not want and then have to pay for. For example MS Office is more powerfull than ANY of us will ever have use for - the featureset within it justifies the high price - MS Works is more in line with what we all use BUT MS does not make the two products compatible. The same goes for Windows they bloat the OS with Video editing software/MSN messenger/email & internet apps etc - the featureset justifies the price IF you use them - some of us would prefer the choice of having a barebones windows OS cheaply and buying 3rd party better tools to fulfill our needs. Thankfully in Europe it looks like MS will be forced to do just that. Linux - I've tried it but unless you use a PC just for surfing the net you get severely hit on software for business use. The Linux user interface on software is generally fragmented and not "designed" it has evolved and does not benefit from the money the MS have put into UI studies. Another problem for Linux is the lack of a business face to it - generally we like to have someone we can phone and kick when it goes wrong. It makes a great & cheap server for a small business though (use it for that ourselves) Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

thanks for the link - nice product. Maybe next time I should use engineering units instead of ambiguous "long distance" terms. GPS = global coverage, however a 1 mile radius line of sight (this will degrade in built up areas) To work effectively in the situation suggested I believe you would ideally want to uplink to a satelite for national /or regional coverage. I suppose a 1 mile radius could work if you have aircraft doing the searching as you would get some element of enhanced coverage (don't know the figures of improvement though) Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

GPS is and can be very small - the problem is that GPS is a RECEIVER and not a transmitter and therefore the GPS knows where it is and nobody else does. Making an effective long range transmitter that is small is is extremely difficult/impractical Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I don't know but flying the London/Washington route circa once a month - it is probably the safest flight in the world - the last few times people have been given a thorough going over especially when leaving Washington (seperate secure area AFTER the departure gate where everyone is "scanned" using the magic wand and they freak out about the rivets that are built into your jeans...) It is also the most likely flight to be delayed/cancelled leaving the UK. The escort only joins the airline for the final stage of the flight (I believe) and is the result of an airborne development and therefore not known in advance. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

There's lots of planes that are currently "escorted" by fighters because of the threat of terrorism - the main users of this philosophy being the USA and France. The clear understanding is that these flights are high risk (e.g. the flight between Washington DC & London has had escorts a few times now) and should a hi-jacking take place the fighters would be authorised to shoot the plane down... Would this be a declaration of war on the host country? Would the USA accept France downing an American airliner? I would expect a full court trial in public (not the usual for security reasons the evidence can't be released...) if the USA did it to a British flight... Lastly in such a situation does anybody know whether your typical Warsaw convention /life insurance covers you? I fly to Washington alot from London and it is a genuine concern since this flight appears to be one of the highest profile targets? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Can you name freedom's that you have that we do not enjoy across France/Germany/UK? In fact if liberal attitudes towards nudity carry any weight with regards to freedom then I would say Europe has more freedom than you Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I would say being in Europe it is not jealousy. I also don't think that "most" westerners hate the US. I would say you are generally perceived as ignorant of world affairs & arrogant. (not sure if you've seen the maps circulated around showing american geography - large grey areas with details showing "we bombed here"...) I don't know what's up with the Arab world and their view of the US though... Africa - they tend to see the US as trying to "colonise" them at least that is what I have heard... and no they are not jealous they just want to be left alone to run their dictatorships in peace Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

just picking you up on the statement about "silly rules" - I believe that most of those rules make very good sense when taken in context - i.e. no refrigiration, and the dangers of food poisoning etc. That said diets in general get to me Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

It's the international criminal court and the US is generally perceived badly for not signing up as many people question the motive - if you are whiter than white then what are you scared of? What shocked me was on a trip to the states a few weeks ago someone was on Fox news and she pretty much used the words "international court thingie..." - she did not know the name - fair for the average person but on a NEWS broadcast Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=525308 Not sure if he came with strings though Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

some of his facts are questionable to say the least... on a daily basis implies that a minimum of 200 million Iraqi's a year were executed - accounting for them not working 7 days a week that is... People tend to keep their mouths shut (Iraqi's) when it results in being killed - it DOES NOT excuse the rest of the Arab world for not crying out - but it does the Iraqi's in my book. As to double standards - 4 US civilians were killed and there was a major outcry from the US - how many Iraqi civilians have been killed (limited to the coalition troops doing the killing - it still is a pretty large number) and there is virtually no outcry from the west so double standards are upheld by all parties... Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Good idea in principle except for because then Gordon Brown becomes PM and labour stays in power for another term = my tax's will kill me off Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

yes he does seem confused. But then the Falluja aproach of hand the control over to the Baath party general's in old style uniforms - seemed to work quite well. Heck if they put Saddam back in they don't even need elections and we can get all our troops out before it obscures all the upcomming elections. I mean Saddam's been through a prison rehab program right? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

France has asked for clarification on who the coalition has to answer to, and what the plans are if they are asked to leave. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3745611.stm well I hope this time around my government (UK) listens to the French. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

It was posed as a question and not an accusation/assumption. The UK government has a habit of blaming our high fuel prices on everyone and their dog - forgetting the circa 80% fuel tax's that they impose. I don't think it is unreasonable to question the impact of american demand on world fuel prices - the fact that they are 1 of the largest consummers must have some influence. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

too true - now that the US/UK are in they have got to see it through to some sort of stable solution. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Agreed - the leadership has to go. Military might is going to get the US into deep shit. There is noway that a country can behave like a bully forever and be safe. Not least the US military suppress/kill all dissenters option makes them sound like a repressive regime /rogue state with WMD's - imagine that Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I don't here you crying out for CNN etc to give equal airtime to the deaths of Iraqi civilians at the hands of the coalition as they do to coalition deaths... a bit lopsided to me... Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.