Another issue I've found, in IT at least, is recruitment agents who are supposedly 'tech specialists' but apparently don't know diddly, sending across candidate resumes that are completely inappropriate for the job spec. When that happens consistently, patience wears thin and you starting looking for ways to shortcut the process.

It's pretty simple really: Evolution is a theory based on some very big assumptions - assumptions that are the realm of philosophy and religion, not science. The Texas board is, I presume, made up of people who reject those assumptions, and therefore reject the notion that Evolution is the only valid explanation.

It sounds to me like they're having to pull their punches. They'd like to be able to say 'we don't want Evolution taught as fact', but instead are using statements like 'we want to teach all sides of scientific explanation' which is much more politically correct and palatable, but also vague and ineffective.

This is a great questions, and I hope he gets to answer it! Full disclosure: I *do* believe in original sin

Did God smite them down? I don't think so. Species die out for all sorts of reasons and bigger creatures, that require larger territories and more food, are often less able to adapt. If you believe the timeline of creation as recorded in the Bible, then dinosaurs could have been roaming the earth for a couple of thousand years before they died out. It's not like God created them one day, and they all the died the next!

Christianity's 'species centricity' as you put it is not a spatial thing. The Bible says God exists outside of time and space, so I can't see why putting us at the 'centre' would be signficant to Him. Humans are central for spiritual reasons. Unlike animals, we're made 'in His image', for the purpose of being in relationship with Him.

It means some poor sucker got squashed by a dino

This works both ways however. Reading your description, I can't help but be reminded of the power structures / heirarchies that exists within the walls of scientific academia.

This grabbed my attention, so I went and had a look at the spreadsheets but couldn't see much beyond a grand here, a few hundred there. I'd be interested to know what you think her annual income is, and how you came up with that figure based on the available data.

Interesting - didn't know that before. I just listened to the Rolling Stone's original (The Last Time) and the Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestral cover for comparison. I would never have linked the Stone's version to Oldham or The Verve unless I'd been told as it sounds nothing like it! Wikipedia says that, as a result of the legal tassle, songwriting credits for Bitter Sweet Symphony were changed to Jagger and Richards, which is just ridiculous. Oldham alone should take credit for that catchy riff.

Hi have no problem with the idea of eating horse meat, but I'd like to know in advance. Advertising your horse burgers as having '100% beef' is hardly fair warning.

Small point of order: Australia did not 'outlaw' guns. You can still legally own a gun, there's just a lot more hoops you have to jump through. Sure violent crime has gone up...but linking that to reduced gun ownership is crazy talk. If I had to choose what a home invader was armed with: gun or knife - I'd be picking the knife every time.

The whole background to this kid's life is tragic from beginning to bitter end. It's no wonder he had mental health problems! For one thing, it sounds to me like this kid lacked mature, well-adjusted adults in his life who cared about him and could provide guidance and perspective. His parents divorced and his dad left to start a new family some place else = deep hurt, rejection, self blame. His mum sounds a bit flaky: not working due to living off alimony payments, some crazy ideas about the end of the world, living in a huge house out of town = disconnected from the 'real' world, frustration, loneliness. He was a social dropout, so was most likely bullied mercilessly at school = soul destroying

Why he chose to take so many with him, and little children, we will never know.

I recently had some Finnish people staying with me and when I mentioned Nokia to them they look rather depressed. Nokia was at one time a real source of pride for the nation and now....well it's just a bit embarrassing. I cheered them up by talking about Linus Torvalds instead :)

I purchased an S3 clone a few weeks back direct from China - couldn't be happier with it, and several work colleagues have expressed interested in getting one too. For all I know the phone infringes on multiple patents - I don't know, nor do I care! While the 'brand name' companies squabble over patents, Chinese manufacturers are stealing their lunch.

I agree that we should dismiss superstitions, fairy stories, and baseless, discredited theories*. There is so much more to life, however, than what can be proved, analysed, reduced to naturalistic explanations. To go through life holding so tightly to a position that something is only worthy of consideration unless and until it can be quantified, measured, observed is, like going to a concert to hear the sound but completely miss the music.

"Laws give us only a universe of "Ifs and Ands": not this universe which actually exists. What we know through laws and general principles is a series of connections. But, in order for there to be a real universe, the connections must be given something to connect; a torrent of opaque actualities must be fed into the pattern. If God created the world then He is precisely the source of this torrent, and it alone gives our truest principles anything to be true about." - C.S. Lewis

(*Creationism is not a theory in that sense. Intelligent Design could be more accurately described as such.)