Sarah Palin: 'I Love That Smell of the Emissions'

The International Energy Agency just released a report showing that greenhouse gas increased by a record amount last year. We had the highest carbon output in history. 

Faith Birol, the chief economist of the IEA stated, "Such warming would disrupt the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people across the planet, leading to widespread mass migration and conflict. That is a risk any sane person would seek to drastically reduce."

Birol stated that we could avoid catastrophe if governments heed the warning.

Enter Sarah Palin, possible GOP candidate for President of the United States, who is currently traveling around the country on a mysterious bus tour.  Her first stop was at a motorcycle rally in Washington, DC, where she stated to reporters, "I love that smell of the emissions!"

The Batshit Files: Post-Memorial Day Weekend News Roundup | 5.31.11

• A Vatican newspaper article says condom use may increase AIDS risk. I'm pretty sure someone also once died from being hit in the head with a life preserver while drowning. (Catholic News Service)

• A man who planned to kill Planned Parenthood doctor and clinic workers was arrested for accidentally shooting his gun in his hotel room. (Hatewatch)

• Bachmann: 'God called me to run for president.' The Lord smites in mysterious ways. (TPM)

•  Roger Ailes' bomb-proof office protects him from 'those gays.' (TPM)

• Christian community threatens violence against atheist student. (DailyKos)

• Where's The Birth Certificate? debuted at number 6 on the New York Times bestseller list (CNN)

• Ben Shapiro: Sesame Street has a liberal bias (Huffington Post)

'Children Full of Life': Lessons in Compassion

We keep hearing about the decline of empathy in America's youth.  Empathy is an evolved trait, and is not confined to humans, or even to primates.  Infants have been shown to exhibit empathic behavior.

Although it's unclear what could account for a decline, Sarah Konrath of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor theorizes that increased isolation in recent decades has played a significant role.  It's not that we are no longer "hard-wired" for empathy, but that it is more fluid than we had perhaps believed.  This is not necessarily bad news.  It means that, although we can become less empathic through increased isolation, we can encourage and nurture empathy to create a more empathic society.

Enter homeroom teacher Toshiro Kanamori and his 4th grade class in a primary school in Kanazawa, northwest of Tokyo. He, and his class, are the subject of an award-winning documentary entitled Children Full of Life. The film was released in 2003, but I was only recently made aware of it, and I think it deserves much wider circulation. Thankfully, for those like myself who missed this gem, the film can be viewed online in full.

The film should serve as an example to parents and educators everywhere. It is a powerful reminder that happiness is an important part of living a successful life. And in order for us to live happy, successful lives, especially in our modern and increasingly isolated society, we must learn the importance of compassion, openness, and communication.

From the NHK Japan Prize Jury Comments:

This is a simple story, well told, that captures the essence of education. The program is an intimate portrait of a teacher and his classroom which subtlety presents a path for all educators who face the challenge of preparing students for life. Unobtrusively capturing extraordinary moments of drama and emotion inside a single Japanese classroom, the documentary demonstrates how individual teachers occasionally exhibit remarkable powers to shape the future of their students.

The documentary elicits tears of laughter and sadness as students and viewers discover the value of sharing powerful emotions, giving meaning to the life and death issues that arise in the classroom. Incidents of bullying, language instruction and outdoor activities are all opportunities to educate in this “School of Life”. Never preachy nor pedantic, the documentary reduces the myriad issues in education to a simple message - learning to care.

It is a powerful and inspiring piece of work.  It underscores the important role our educators play in our children's lives.  It urges us to address the changing educational needs of children in our rapidly evolving and increasingly complex societies.

Part 1 below (each successive part can be accessed at the end of each part):

What Does Science Have To Say About Life After Death?

Physicist and cosmologist Sean M. Carroll sure did step in it. Hot on the heels of Stephen Hawking's assertion that heaven (or any afterlife, for that matter) was "a fairy story for people afraid of the dark," Carroll has published a Scientific American piece entitled Physics and the Immortality of the Soul, that is quite clear on what physics has to say on the topic. And for such a nice guy, he certainly doesn't sugar-coat it.

Now there are many who, like Stephen Jay Gould, assert that there are things on which science and religion do not overlap. Many cite this non-overlapping magisteria when arguing the existence of God, the afterlife, or souls. However, we can't discount the degree of improbability of life after death given the laws of physics.

Carroll explains:

Claims that some form of consciousness persists after our bodies die and decay into their constituent atoms face one huge, insuperable obstacle: the laws of physics underlying everyday life are completely understood, and there's no way within those laws to allow for the information stored in our brains to persist after we die. If you claim that some form of soul persists beyond death, what particles is that soul made of? What forces are holding it together? How does it interact with ordinary matter?

Everything we know about quantum field theory (QFT) says that there aren't any sensible answers to these questions. Of course, everything we know about quantum field theory could be wrong. Also, the Moon could be made of green cheese.

Among advocates for life after death, nobody even tries to sit down and do the hard work of explaining how the basic physics of atoms and electrons would have to be altered in order for this to be true. If we tried, the fundamental absurdity of the task would quickly become evident.

Further on:

Very roughly speaking, when most people think about an immaterial soul that persists after death, they have in mind some sort of blob of spirit energy that takes up residence near our brain, and drives around our body like a soccer mom driving an SUV. The questions are these: what form does that spirit energy take, and how does it interact with our ordinary atoms? Not only is new physics required, but dramatically new physics. Within QFT, there can't be a new collection of "spirit particles" and "spirit forces" that interact with our regular atoms, because we would have detected them in existing experiments. Ockham's razor is not on your side here, since you have to posit a completely new realm of reality obeying very different rules than the ones we know.

Carroll then goes into The Dirac Equation and demonstrates, as simply as a particle physicist can, that it requires an amazing amount of metaphysical shoehorning and the chucking out of everything we know to put any credence in the afterlife concept.

There's no reason to be agnostic about ideas that are dramatically incompatible with everything we know about modern science. Once we get over any reluctance to face reality on this issue, we can get down to the much more interesting questions of how human beings and consciousness really work.

I'm reminded of Carl Sagan's feelings on the afterlife:

I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue. But much as I want to believe that, and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions that assert an afterlife, I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking. The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there's little good evidence. Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides.

If we think about where the concept of the afterlife originated, we must look to our ancestors -- ancestors who, if they were lucky, lived only a fraction of the time we will live.   These ancestors had only a fraction of the knowledge we now have at our fingertips -- knowledge of the interconnectedness of all living things, knowledge of the world, and of the cosmos.  Perhaps, as our knowledge and our lifespans continue to increase, we will find (as we are beginning to see in modern European secular societies), that we do not need the promise of an afterlife.  Isn't this life more than enough?

Silver Bullet Gun Oil: Laced With Pig Fat to Deny Muslims Paradise

The Southern Poverty Law Center's Hatewatch blog reports on a mysterious company selling a product called Silver Bullet Gun Oil. The gun oil is targeted towards the US military, according to their dubious online pitch, and is laced with 13% pig fat with the intention of denying Muslims entrance to paradise.

The Website exclaims (in ridiculous overuse of ALL-CAPS):

SILVER BULLET GUN OIL, is a HIGHLY EFFECTIVE Counter-Islamic terrorist force multiplier. SILVER BULLET GUN OIL was designed specifically to put Demoralizing FEAR and TERROR into SUPPOSEDLY "Fearless" Islamo-Fascist terrorists. It was created with the "TRUE BELIEVER'' in mind. According to the Koran, Allah states, "Any of my followers contaminated by swine at the time of his death will be denied entry to my paradise forever, I HATE THE STENCH OF SWINE."

SILVER BULLET GUN OIL can be used in or on ALL weapons and weapons systems. Put a drop on the remains of ''suicide bombers'' for the same effect-No Paradise! FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT DOWNRANGE; USE ''SILVER BULLET'' AND MAKE SURE THE ISLAMO-FASCIST COWARDS KNOW IT!

The company makes the claim that their product has been used widely throughout the US Armed Forces and by police tactical teams.

It's important to note that the company (which lists no physical address or contacts) claims it isn't at all discriminatory:

THIS PRODUCT IS FOR USE ON ARMED MUSLIM TERRORISTS ONLY.
WE DO NOT PROMOTE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ANY RACE OR RELIGION, ONLY TERRORISTS.

Upon seeing the Website, most would likely wonder if these guys are for real.  The folks at the SPLC wondered the same thing, and sent off for the oil:

The gun oil arrived in a box postmarked from Courtland, Va., a town of about 1,300 people 50 miles southwest of Norfolk. Included with the gun oil were decals and playing cards – the ace of spades printed with the words “One Shot, One Soul” to put on the bodies of dead Muslims. Also included in the package was a biography of a World War I American general who supposedly executed 49 Muslims in the Philippines with bullets soaked in pig’s blood.

A gentleman who goes by the name "The Midnight Rider," a self-proclaimed "Servant of Yaweh" has a lot to get off his chest.   A few paragraphs into his description of the company's production, he unleashes a wandering, page-long diatribe that would make Ted Nugent blush, featuring nuggets like the following:

"We the PEOPLE" are sick of playing with a bunch of COWARDLY Voodoo Heathen cave dwelling
baby murderers. Believe what you want for your so-called "Religion of PEACE" but DON'T try to make
AMERICANS believe the ravings of MOHAMMED the pedophile murderer,or his sycophant followers
who advocate the wholesale slaughter of women and children and non-believers in the Muslim
Sharia type of NAZISM.

LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS AND GO BACK TO YOUR HOMES OR HOVELS OR whatever SHITPIT you come from or SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCE OF DEATH AND THE UNENDING PAIN OF ETERNAL HELL.

But let's be clear: they do not promote discrimination against any race or religion.

Can I Interest You In The Severed Head of the Saint of Genital Disease?

Via the BBC:

The severed head of a man said to be the patron saint of genital disease will go on auction in County Meath on Sunday.

The skull is allegedly that of St Vitalis of Assisi, an Italian Benedictine monk from the 14th century.

It belonged to an Anglo-Irish family from County Louth, and is housed in a Queen Anne case dating from the 17th century.

There has been no official verification of the claim.

St Vitalis was born in Umbria, Italy, and is said to have lived an immoral and licentious youth.

In an attempt to atone for his early sins, he later undertook pilgrimages to shrines throughout Europe, eventually entering the Benedictine monastery at Subiaco.

After leaving the monastery, he lived the remainder of his life as a hermit near Assisi.

It is said that he wore only rags and shunned all material wealth, with the exception of a basket which he used to fetch water from a nearby stream.

He died in 1370, and word of his sanctity soon spread due to reports of numerous miracles performed on those with bladder and genital disorders.

The head could fetch up to $1,650 at auction. Unfortunately, Michael Jackson is unable to bid.

Study: Born-Again Believers Have Smaller Brains

A new study from Duke University Medical Center suggests that mainline Protestants have larger brains than born-again Christians, Catholics, and the religiously unaffiliated.

The study, which examined the hippocampus region of the brain, found that Protestants who did not have a "born again" experience had significantly more gray matter than either those who reported a life-changing religious experience, Catholics, or unaffiliated older adults.

The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Templeton Foundation, included at least two MRI measurements of the hippocampus region of 268 adults between 1994 and 2005.

It found an association between participants' professed religious affiliation and the physical structure of their brain. Specifically, those identified as Protestant who did not have a religious conversion or born-again experience — more common among their evangelical brethren — had a bigger hippocampus.

What does this all mean?

The hippocampus helps regulate emotion and memory, among other things, and shrinkage of it has been linked to Alzheimer's, dementia, and depression. Although the researchers believe there needs to be more research, they have speculated that perhaps the shrinkage in this case could be related to the stress of belonging to a minority group. (Atheists, if included in the religiously unaffiliated, would certainly be a minority as well.)

However, sociologists aren't so sure about this assumption. While born-again Christians are certainly a minority, they make up 40% of the population. The percentage increases as you move into the South. This is not exactly a minority in the truest sense.

If stress is indeed the reason behind the shrinkage, it would certainly dovetail with another recent study showing that those who deny evolution are more likely to experience anxiety about death (and we know that born-again Christians are more likely to deny evolution).

The research seems to present more questions than it answers: Could geography -- factoring in genetic, cultural, and environmental factors -- have something to do with the findings (the pool of participants were somewhat geographically constrained)? And most pressing, was this really a federally funded study?