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Bluefish Way

Bluefish Way
The life of Ralph and his cats

November 18, 2018

350: Sun & Samantha

~ Solar Update~ Heck, the forecast says that we, in Graz, Austria, are in for a cold, snowy beginning of the week. But, hey, a little bit of us, well, our names, are toast. The Parker Solar Probe flew past, really close to the...

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Take Back the Sky

Take Back the Sky
Because the first private manned US spaceship should be named SERENITY!

November 17, 2018

November 19 SpaceX Launch Will Be Monumental on Many Levels

When SpaceX sends the SSO-A SmallSat Express into the black from Vandenberg Air Force Base on Monday, Elon Musk’s private space company will achieve a number of milestones simultaneously. The launch will be SpaceX’s 19th launch of 2018, and will break the company’s record for the most launches in a single year. It will also […]

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Esme’s Cloud

Esme’s Cloud
The Wanderings and wonderings of a sentient cloud.

November 16, 2018

When Galaxies Collide

The Antennae Galaxies in Collision. Here. Advertisements

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gigglinginthegutter

gigglinginthegutter
love life

November 15, 2018

Hey, it worked 100 years ago (didn’t it?)

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Skeptical Inquirer

Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

October 22, 2018

The God Engine

Whatever its form, religion is powerful and pervasive and, for billions of people, obviously important. Yet, while major religions such as Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism have endured since ancient times, others, despite having enjoyed great appeal for centuries, have disappeared into the history books. No longer does anyone worship Zeus, the supreme god of the ancient Greeks; Marduk, the Babylonian god of creation; Bast, the Egyptian goddess of protection; Jupiter, the supreme god of the Romans; the Incan Apocatequil; or the Aztec Huehueteotl. Those bygone gods were central figures in highly developed theocracies and were as real to their devotees as are today’s deities to contemporary worshippers.

The continuing power of religious belief in all its many contradictory forms suggests that it serves important functions. Indeed, some researchers consider religion to have become culturally important because fear of the deity promoted social solidarity, cooperation, trust, and self-sacrifice. Important behaviors were either mandated or declared taboo by religion, and believers had little choice but to accept that a powerful supernatural being had deemed them so. This social control in turn increased the likelihood of the survival and reproduction of individuals as well as the long-term survival of the group itself. As religion became deeply established within a group, the religious beliefs and rituals taught to young people contributed an important part of their social identities, and their corresponding roles and duties further contributed to the functioning and cohesiveness of the group.

However, the prevailing view in modern psychology is that religious belief developed not because of those functions but rather as the automatic byproduct of brain systems that evolved for everyday cognition. That is, belief in the supernatural is a natural consequence

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Oaklandon

Oaklandon
The Unofficial Oaklandon Community Website

October 17, 2018

BANDIT BUSINESS IN INDIANA DULL

Muncie Post-Democrat,Muncie, Delaware County, 25 April 1930

BANDIT BUSINESS IN INDIANA DULL

Hard Times Causing Banks to Close, About Put Bank Robbers Out of Job.

Indianapolis, April 25. (UP) Even the bank robbing business has its dull days, according to George Hartman, 23, who with three other men set out to rob a bank somewhere but came back empty handed after visiting eight towns on one day.

"Maybe, we were a little timid." Hartman admitted as he sat in the city jail here with Albert Harmon, 22, awaiting transportation where they will be tried for planning to rob a hank there. "But nowhere in in the entire tour could we find conditions suitable for pulling a job."

In a confession to E. L. Osborne, chief of the state bureau of criminal identification and investigation, Hartman told of the trip to nearby towns with Harmon, Cecil Johnson and James Ryan. The last two recently were sentenced to 10 years in state prison on charge of robbing the Fishers' state bank on February 24.

"We formulated our plans on a street corner in Indianapolis and one of the fellows stole a Chevrolet for the trip," Hartman said. "Determined to rob a bank, we started out one morning and stopped at Lawrence. There were too many people in the bank there so wo drove on to Hadden Hall but when we saw five men in the postoffice that looked like coppers we decided to drive on to Thorntown. Things were not to our liking there so we went back to Buck Creek and then to Battle Creek, Oaklandon and Plainfield."

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Bloggin’ It While Doggin’ It

November 20, 2018

Inay - for us all

From the exotic shores of the Philippines and Singapore comes a daughter's unabashed tale of heartache and loss. Christine Asuncion has compiled for us entries from her journals, replete with bits and pieces of her soul, to relate what it means to lose the single most important person in your life. Christine shares some experiences and life lessons as she introduces the world to a lady dearly missed by us all in spite of many of us having (until now) never yet had the pleasure to meet. After becoming a fairly recent reader of Christine's rather copious collection of blog entries I was thrilled to see she had published a book and immediately clicked on over to Amazon to make the purchase. I got the paperback (which I patiently await) and was granted the Kindle version as a reward for purchasing the hard-copy. I wasted no time reading this work and was enormously pleased with Christine's ability to evoke a wide range of emotions from even this crusty old barnacle. While much of the content of this book has been previously available in blog form it was an extra special treat to have these words arranged and presented as narrative, highlighting the special bond of mother and daughter. This was an enjoyable albeit brief read (but apropos in this respect.) A work that was no doubt cathartic for its author is sure to bring some healing light to all who read it.

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