22,000+ Killed in storm

[Sir Lifts-a-lot]

I could honestly care less about this third world dump getting basically blown off the map. Why should we help them? Why should we care? America is in a rough place right now with economic problems and what looks like an endless war so helping out some National Geographic Cover Models isn't really a big concern to me.

[audis4]

as far as the God comments go, it's about faith. not understanding.

exactly what i believe as well!

[shifty_git]

I could honestly care less about this third world dump getting basically blown off the map. Why should we help them? Why should we care? America is in a rough place right now with economic problems and what looks like an endless war so helping out some National Geographic Cover Models isn't really a big concern to me.

I was going to say 'cause your lucky enough not to be ruled by a dictator who treats his countrymen like slaves for his personal financial advantage'

Then i remembered ya from the states and ya in the same boat....

[ChuckLee]

It sounds comparable to Tsunami of 2004

[nirish_mark20]

Yeah, If God creating the universe seems to be a stretch, How can this not?
We evolved from single cell organisms that were anerobic to humans.....Hmm...I'd rather believe I have more of a purpose than that.
The basic timeline is a 4.6 billion year old Earth

4 billion years of simple cells (prokaryotes),
3 billion years of photosynthesis,
2 billion years of complex cells (eukaryotes),
1 billion years of multicellular life,
600 million years of simple animals,
570 million years of arthropods (ancestors of insects, arachnids and crustaceans)
550 million years of complex animals
500 million years of fish and proto-amphibians,
475 million years of land plants,
400 million years of insects and seeds,
360 million years of amphibians,
300 million years of reptiles,
200 million years of mammals,
150 million years of birds,
130 million years of flowers,
65 million years since the non-avian dinosaurs died out,
200,000 years since humans started looking like they do today.


If this is what we evolved from, How do you explain how humans are the only creature that can look 7 miles at one time, and then focus on a grain of sand in their finger instantly.

We just evolved that ability...

this takes a bit of understanding, so please do think about it.

u put it at 2 billion years of single celled organisms. what people dont think enough about is that from when the very first cell replicated, the 'replica' had changes in its DNA, abnormalities almost. when those both replicated again, we had more abnormalities. you have 2 billion years there of evolution. bacteria takes, roughly, 20 minutes to replicate itself
so

from one cell, just that 1, we then have 52,596,000,000,000 different strains of bacteria. just one cell made that, think how many more the other cells made! its a number that we cant understand, its so huge. and thats just single celled organisms!!! salmonella, if left for 1 day to grow, has multiplied itself so much that it is, by our terminology, allowed to be considered a 'planet'

next thing came complex cells- they do the same thing. they all replicated, and produced new cells that had different features. ok these are not always good, but thats natural selection, survival of the fittest. (PLEASE BEAR IN MIND HERE THAT SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST DOES NOT MEAN THE BETTER CELL/ORGANISM/BEING, IT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT CAN BE CONCIOUSLY DECIDED, NATURE DECIDES THAT)
for every cell that reproduces, a new path of evolution will occur. one cell may have reproduced and formed a new cell that was a weird shape. may have eventually gone on to become a flower. another cell may have been purple, and gone on to be a rat. we have no way of knowing, but we do know that things will take a different path in evolution.

as we go down the line, we get to humans. we seem to forget that every time a baby is born, it has more than 120 genetic differences that BOTH its parents, 7-8 of those thatare actually noticable traits. just look at your brothers/sisters. i have 2 brothers, so that is 360 differences from my parents in terms of genetics. take that down a family line, even if there were only single children, and after 10 generations you have a person that has 3000 genetic differences from the 'original' parents. ok, obviously things like who the other parnter is etc, but its still something that you need to consider.


You asked how is it that humans are the only creatures able to see 7 miles yet immediately see a grain of sand on their finger. well first, it isnt immediate, its just fast. but second, are you trying to say that 'God' has made us better in that sense?
why not let us see infra red like a snake, or ultra violet like a bee?
why do cats have better perceptions of colour?
why do spiders have 8 eyes?

again, its evolution and survival of the fittest. the spiders with the best formed eyes got food better than the ones with the not as well formed eyes.

BUT

this does not mean that the weaker one got wiped out. survival of the fittest means you survive long enough to reproduce, so you have to eat and drink then mate. if a spider has mated, but then goes to an area that it struggles to find food, it will die out. because it has mated though, its offspring MAY (not definite) has an abnormality that enables them to suddenly see better. im not saying it happens this fast but it happens. once they start to see better, then the original spider with better eyesight has to struggle. it comes down to where you are and when.

see it as a form of protection of your grounds. why do we get possessive? why do we become territorial? if we dont get protective/territorial, we know (instinct) we will become prone to attack from other species because we have nothing to protect us. ok, its not as bad as that now, but thats where we see our instinct is from. when we didnt have houses etc, or we lived in shacks in trees, if we saw people come, we would fight them off because if they won, we had nowhere to go, and that puts us in danger.

(i dont know if that made sense)

human beings seem to have this thing that makes them feel that we are better than anything else. WE can talk, WE can see 7 miles away, WE can build houses, WE can turn oil into petrol. yes those are pretty amazing- but its also amazing that a spider can produce liquid silk that on contact with air becomes a stocky solid. its also amazing that a bee produces honey from nectar whilst cross pollinating flowers! (this is a good example again of evolution, we also see it a lot in cats and dogs)

you go on to say '200,000 years since humans began to look like they do today'- what did they look like before that? and do we look ANY different? chances are that, yes, we did and yes, we do. why? genetic abnormalities. we find it all difficult to understand because we put numbers onto it. it makes it seem that 200,000 years ago, a person was born that looked like us but different from its parents, and when it reproduced it sprung up people like us. it happened over so much more of a longer period.

evolution is happening right in front of your eyes, every single day. we are evolving the planet by cutting down the trees, driving our cars. we evolve ourselves with our diet.

HOLY CRAP IV FULL ON RANTED THERE!!

my main issue isnt 'is god real?' or 'is evolution the truth?'

my issue is that as a race we are crap at thinking things through. i used to find evolution so wrong, laughable almost, until i read more about it and understood. once we question things, and we find the answers, we can put things together. my issue with religion is that you cant question it, and no one can prove it/disprove it. science though, gives reasons, explanations, but also opens a whole new world of questions. if we spent some time thinking things through, we would all be so much wiser (in my eyes), but unfortunately we are an impatient race, so we dont

[nirish_mark20]

or problem is we cannot comprehend time that is longer than a lifetime. we have historical documents that go back so long. when i even think of things that were written in the 17th century, i find it weird to think there were people doing stuff then!!

in terms of the planet, and how it was formed, its amazing. ok, as with anything, we cannot prove it, but this to me at least 'makes sense'- if i could remember it all i would do it.
I recently watched a program on National Geographic about how the planet was made and where all things like water etc came from. If i remember what its called il post it up, but for now have a look at this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Earth

and QUESTION, QUESTION, QUESTION!!!

the nat geo show was so much more informative than that wikipedia page.

I'd rather believe I have more of a purpose than that

what gives you the right to have more purpose???

[Reprisal 6]

wow - reading on the news that experts put the death toll at a possible 500,000 after famine and disease set in.

500,000 is the latest estimate out which would double the number of casulties from the tsunami a few years back.

[shifty_git]

500,000 is the latest estimate out which would double the number of casulties from the tsunami a few years back.

That's a crazy amount of life lost.

Reminds me of a southpark episode from season 11 with the nits.... (yeah random i know!) anyone who's seen it will know what i mean though.

[JDawg1536]

I could honestly care less about this third world dump getting basically blown off the map. Why should we help them? Why should we care? America is in a rough place right now with economic problems and what looks like an endless war so helping out some National Geographic Cover Models isn't really a big concern to me.

Because it's the right thing to do. You think all those women and children over there choose to live in a third world country? Not everyone is as fortunate as you and me, should they be neglected because of where they were born?

[Schmidty]

Global Warming

[nirish_mark20]

global warming is a load of pants

[SVTmuscle]

The latest thing is the Mynamar is refusing alot of foreign aid! thats really helping their country..... ugh..

[JDawg1536]

The latest thing is the Mynamar is refusing alot of foreign aid! thats really helping their country..... ugh..

And the army is stealing what little aid they are accepting......

[Sir Lifts-a-lot]

Because it's the right thing to do. You think all those women and children over there choose to live in a third world country? Not everyone is as fortunate as you and me, should they be neglected because of where they were born?

I understand what you are saying but I just don't give a damn about the women & children over there. Our government can't and shouldn't give any more money then what they are obligated to by their position in the UN.

Right now I worry if the economic problems in my OWN country, my OWN backyard are going to allow me to go to the grocery store or get health care if I need it. I don't want to see a kid on tv getting free health care and a meal that I foot the bill for when it is my body who needs it.

It's funny how you see these save the children campaigns and they say how you can give a meal or save a life when the real fact of the matter is you are just postponing the truth of the matter which is evolution is now moving far to fast for these shit hole countries to keep up. They will be wiped off the planet by either god or technology powered countries.

If you want to go out and donate money or a blanket be my guest. I will never come down on anyone for that. If you want to go and petition congress to help I will be right there with you defending your right to do so, but don't ask me to willingly give money to these crippled countries.

[JDawg1536]

I understand what you are saying but I just don't give a damn about the women & children over there. Our government can't and shouldn't give any more money then what they are obligated to by their position in the UN.

Right now I worry if the economic problems in my OWN country, my OWN backyard are going to allow me to go to the grocery store or get health care if I need it. I don't want to see a kid on tv getting free health care and a meal that I foot the bill for when it is my body who needs it.

It's funny how you see these save the children campaigns and they say how you can give a meal or save a life when the real fact of the matter is you are just postponing the truth of the matter which is evolution is now moving far to fast for these shit hole countries to keep up. They will be wiped off the planet by either god or technology powered countries.

If you want to go out and donate money or a blanket be my guest. I will never come down on anyone for that. If you want to go and petition congress to help I will be right there with you defending your right to do so, but don't ask me to willingly give money to these crippled countries.

When our government is pissing out billions of dollars like a 6 pack of Tecate, it makes me mad too. I feel the same way sometimes, but with a situation like this that only happens a few times in a lifetime, I will do as much as I can to help out or support whatever relief we can offer.

[Sir Lifts-a-lot]

I guess Burma's relief check for Katrina got lost in the mail right?

[SVTmuscle]

And the army is stealing what little aid they are accepting......

yeah and selling it. pretty messed up situation