Vatican Intelligence

"Intelligent Design isn't science even though it pretends to be, if you want to teach it in schools, intelligent design should be taught when religion or cultural history is taught, not science."

Here is your quiz of the day: who said this?
No, you're not going to guess.

This dissenting opinion on the recent decision of the Kansas Board of Education to teach Intelligent Design in science classes was proffered by... the Vatican's chief astronomer, Rev. George Coyne. See, you've already learned something reading this. There is a chief astronomer at the Vatican?! Yes, and his abode is not the shabbiest either - the observatory is at Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence just outside Rome, and you know how Jesuits always found the best places to settle. The castle has three domes, one the expected Bernini-designed coupola for the chapel, and the other two for the observatory telescopes! I could insert some smart-ass quip on the necessity of the terrestrial envoys of God to actually have to look into the sky to know what's there, but that's exactly the point of Dr. Coyne.
He says that, of course, the Big guy created the whole thing, but that since then he has been pretty hands-off, behaving more like "an encouraging parent", "not continually intervening". God flipped the switch, he says in substance, but "science explains the history of the universe". God in his infinite freedom continuously creates a world that reflects that freedom at all levels of the evolutionary process to greater and greater complexity."

We don't agree on how the switch was pulled, but since neither you nor I know - or can even begin to comprehend - how the world was created, your version is as good as any. It's not every day that you will hear me say I agree, even in part, with the Catholics...

The complete AP article is at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051118/ap_on_re_eu/vatican_evolution;_ylt=AnGYIZ6FZfsLC8s6xQ7B2j6s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MjBwMWtkBHNlYwM3MTg-

Blowing up the earth

You wouldn’t expect the oil industry to waste their hard-earned money funding research to try and compensate for the ill effects of their activity on our planet, would you. Well, they did just that, in collaboration with the Canadian government and the American Department of Energy. It was reported yesterday that an experiment to re-inject carbon dioxide into the underground holes created by oil drilling was successful. They managed to rid the atmosphere of 5 million tons of CO2 and stick it underground.

I am not sure what that represents compared to what we produce, or how much needs to be removed from the atmosphere to hope to compensate for greenhouse gas effect on global temperature. The trumpeting from the experimentators is that, if we did this everywhere over the globe, we could reduce atmospheric CO2 by half, over the next century. Now, I am a pessimist, but is anyone going to first try and calculate the effect blowing up gas into the planet might have? What happens if an earthquake decides to crack the ground above one of these gas stores? Will the planet bolt in the other direction like a suddenly deflating balloon, until it hits Jupiter or whatever planet happens to be orbiting in the wrong place? Sure, this would help the extra-solar system exploration programs, but would we still be here to enjoy the scientific benefits? And, if the repartition of the man-made underground holes is uneven around the globe, as it is, is this intensive gassing going to change the density of one hemisphere compared to the other even so slightly to inch the planet out of orbit?

Of course, you cynics were right – this is not a philanthropic endeavor. The result of injecting CO2 in holes is that it increases the pressure inside the hole, thereby pushing out whatever oil is left there. It is therefore a way to increase the yields of existing holes, and to improve the benefits of oil companies. In the words of the Energy Secretary, "we would see billions of additional barrels of oil and a reduction of CO2 emissions equivalent to pulling more than 200 million cars off the road for a year." Am I the only one who sees the irony of removing CO2 from the atmosphere, so that we can get more oil to power more cars who can produce more CO2?

Moon, Mars and Lemon Drops

Tonight is a full moon. Get out and watch, Mars is at its closest to the Moon. It is an incredibly bright red toddler-sized dot, next to it's big round mother. At some point during the night, it should even be eclipsed.

Last night we finally found an satisfying recipe of Lemon Drop - a supposedly "girly" cocktail invented in the 70s in San Francisco. It is decadent and delicious, so I thought I'd share. The trick is the superfine sugar - which can be made in a pestle and mortar out of regular sugar.
1 and 1/2 ounce (or whatever your dose is...) of vodka
1 ounce Cointreau
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
Add all ingredients to the shaker half-filled with ice cubes. Shake 40 times to get the sugar dissolved. Serve in glasses with a rim of the same sugar. The Délots of all genders loved it.

Premier essai

This is my first try - let's see how it looks. It will be short because AA is awake.