Topic: An Aussie take on...
Lynann's photo
Sun 11/02/08 09:11 AM
Palin

It's an entertaining read.

Creationist Sarah and the politics of extinction
1/11/2008 1:00:01 AM

Sarah Palin believes in fossil fuels but not necessarily in fossils. This is no trivial matter. Of all the intense scrutiny Palin has faced in this campaign - not least on the matter of her wardrobe - nobody in America seemed much interested in asking her the dinosaur question.

That is: do you believe, or have you ever believed, that the world was created in the past 5000 or 10,000 years and that dinosaurs roamed the planet alongside humans?

Palin's political extinction may be only days away but somebody really should have asked this question of the woman who has advocated the discussion of creationism in the classroom; the woman who might have been a heartbeat from the presidency; the woman whom John McCain described as being among the "foremost experts in this nation on energy issues".

Well, we know that Palin believes in oil, especially the stuff she wants drilled in Alaska. But does the energy expert know where oil comes from? Does Palin, the daughter of a science teacher, know that the tiger in her tank is more likely a dinosaur - fossilised matter dating back a little further than 10,000 years? Add another 300 million years and she'd be getting warm.

During the 2006 gubernatorial debate in Alaska, Palin suggested schools could teach creationism as well as evolution. "Teach both," she said. "You know, don't be afraid of education. Healthy debate is so important and it's so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both."

Both? So, once the kids rigorously and logically dispense with evolution, they can arrive at only one other conclusion … and here in Alaska we have both kinds of music: country and western.

Palin later qualified her remarks to say she would not push for creationism to be required on the state curriculum. She had only meant that debate should be allowed if the subject arose. "I don't think there should be a prohibition against debate if it comes up in class."

Similarly, schools could allow healthy debate on flat Earth versus sphere, or sexual procreation versus the cabbage patch.

An Alaskan music teacher, Philip Munger, recalls two encounters with Palin which he regards as important "in light of the possibility that she might some day soon be in charge of thousands of thermonuclear weapons".

In June 1997, Munger writes in a blog, he was directing a community band while Palin delivered an address for home schoolers.

"It was held at her church, the Wasilla Assembly of God," Munger writes.

"Palin had recently become Wasilla mayor … A large part of her campaign had been to enlist fundamentalist Christian groups and invoke evangelical buzzwords in her talks and literature.

"As the ceremony concluded, I bumped into her in a hall away from other people. I congratulated her on her victory and took her aside to ask about her faith. Among other things, she declared that she was a Young Earth creationist, accepting both that the world was about 6000-plus years old and that humans and dinosaurs walked the earth at the same time.

"I asked how she felt about the second coming and the end times. She responded that she fully believed that the signs of Jesus returning soon 'during MY lifetime' were obvious. 'I can see that, maybe you can't - but it guides me every day.' " The next time they met, Palin had switched to the less strict Wasilla Bible Church. By now people were beginning to encourage her to run for governor.

"I reminded her of the earlier conversation," Munger writes, "asking her if her views had changed. She was no longer 'necessarily' a Young Earth creationist, she told me. But she strongly reiterated her belief that 'the Lord is coming soon'. I was trying to get her to tell me what she felt the signs were, when she had to move on."

Does it really matter what Palin believes about life, the universe and everything?

Matt Damon, for one, reckons it matters how clever - or not - the vice-president is. The actor told Associated Press: "I need to know if she really thinks dinosaurs were here 4000 years ago … I want to know that, I really do, because she's going to have the nuclear codes."

Should the heartbeat of a President McCain falter, climate scientists might struggle to advise his understudy on 740,000-year-old evidence from ice cores.

But the prospect of a creationist vice-president may not be so alarming to many Americans. A Gallup poll in 1997 found 44 per cent believed that "God created man pretty much in his present form at one time within the past 10,000 years".

A CBS poll in 2006 found 55 per cent believed that God created humans in their present form, against 27 per cent who believed humans evolved but God guided the process, and 13 per cent who believed evolution needed no help from a god.

Palin's Democratic rival, Joe Biden, is clear on this. "I refuse to believe the majority of people believe this malarkey," he said two years back.

Courageous - even foolhardy - given the numbers. But at least we know.

Since McCain drafted Palin, nobody has asked her what she really believes on the subject. Someone really should.

And if she answered that, yes, she was a creationist, they might suggest she conduct the following exercise: step outside the front door of the Governor's Mansion in Alaska; draw an imaginary line to the vice-presidential residence in Washington; imagine the starting point is the beginning of all time on Earth and that Washington is the present day. Now, draw your creationist's timeline parallel to the first line, then walk along the latter. It will end before you reach the front gate.

Which might be just as well.


Source: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/10/31/1224956332789. ...

Jess642's photo
Sun 11/02/08 12:35 PM
Where's the aussie???? huh

I looked and looked and couldn't find one, even under the rug..

Lynann's photo
Sun 11/02/08 12:47 PM
It's how my down under friends refer to themselves.

I usually just call them lazy sheep shaggers.

Jess642's photo
Sun 11/02/08 01:02 PM

It's how my down under friends refer to themselves.

I usually just call them lazy sheep shaggers.



Pssst...I'm an aussie...laugh laugh Have a look at the profile...


Bwah hahahahaha!!!!!

And sheep shagger??? That's usually kept as a term of endearment for New Zealanders.:wink:

Lynann's photo
Sun 11/02/08 01:08 PM
haha yeah I know...

I am a gamer and have known some folks from down there for ten years or so. We've never met in person but we are great long distance friends.

You all might have some competition for the ewe's. Check this out!!

Breeders hold first pageant for Saudi-bred sheep

By DONNA ABU-NASR – 2 days ago

BANBAN, Saudi Arabia (AP) — The contestants scampered down the runway, bleating at their admirers. Poets sang their praises in verse as the male-only audience appraised the competitors' physical beauty, right down to the length of their necks.

But instead of receiving roses and a tiara, it was off to the highest bidder for many finalists in the first Saudi beauty pageant featuring locally bred sheep.

The contest, a far cry from female beauty pageants held in some Arab countries like Lebanon, offered an opportunity for breeders to do business and a rare outlet for entertainment in a country where the few recreational activities that exist are conducted under the strict glare of the religious police.

The goal of Thursday's competition was to encourage Saudis to breed for quality. Some of those who attended the event said Saudi sheep — known as Nejdi sheep — have markedly improved over the past decade because of the attention given to breeding them.

"The Nejdi sheep of today are much more beautiful than those of 10 years ago," said Salem al-Ghannami, a 37-year-old Emirati at the event.

In the past few years, beauty pageants involving camels and goats — which, together with sheep, symbolize Bedouin lifestyle — have been held across the kingdom. But senior members of the royal family have reportedly been upset because the contests turned into rancorous competitions between tribes over who has the most beautiful breed. To avoid such conflicts the sheep pageant did not list the tribes who owned the animals.

On Thursday evening, some 4,000 men assembled on a lit-up stretch of desert just north of Riyadh covered with hundreds of carpets. The event was off-limits to women in keeping with strict Saudi rules that ban the sexes from mixing in public.

The men sat in armchairs around a tiny runway covered with red carpeting. The stench of dung filled the cool desert air as rams and ewes were put on display following a fireworks show and a competition for the best poem in praise of sheep.

The event's organizer, Faisal al-Saadoun, said connoisseurs have an eye for attractive sheep.

"Just like humans, sheep shouldn't have fat in unwanted places," said al-Saadoun. "They should also be tall."

He said good ewes sell for 20,000-30,000 Saudi riyals, the equivalent of $5,300-$8,000. But good rams can fetch hundreds of thousands of riyals. The sheep sold Thursday were to be used for breeding.

"Rams are more expensive because they can produce 100 sheep a year, while ewes can produce a couple or so," he said.

Al-Saadoun owns 3-year-old Burgan — Arabic for lightning — the kingdom's most famous sheep, which has been compared to an oil well because his much sought-after offspring have fetched a total of more than $2.1 million.

Out of the 10 finalists, eight were Burgan's offspring, including the winning ram and ewe. Al-Ghannami — who owns 200 sheep, including two from Burgan — said breeders are willing to "pay millions for beauty."

"I want to collect sheep from a good stock," said al-Ghannami, who works in the United Arab Emirates' Interior Ministry. "It's a hobby. I don't do it for money."

Close to midnight, Fahd al-Jinahi, a 31-year-old Saudi, walked away with his prize purchase: Sana, a ram from Burgan's breed that he bought for $120,650.

Why did he choose it?

"I loved the length and width of his cheeks, his long neck and how his creamy yellow hair falls down his body," said al-Jinahi.