Thursday, February 19, 2009

Net Fluff

Joining in with Heidi...

Type (”[your name] needs”) INTO YOUR FAVORITE SEARCH ENGINE and see what comes up. Make sure to use the quote marks. List the first 10 sentences that make sense

1) Erik needs an heir in order to receive aid in regaining his title, lands, and children stolen from him by his treacherous brother, Nicholas. Already have an heir, but would love to have more kiddos!

2) i'm not running for student counsel this year so erik is. he needs good campaign slogans/pictures. Student counsel seem to be setting my sights a bit low!

3) erik needs a team. Not sure what to make of this one

4) Erik needs to get off his ass -
The title says it all. Wow, they really know me!

5) Erik needs Portland women to interview on camera! Must look good in (and out) of a bikini!

6) We also have a short film by Justin on why Erik needs to wear glasses Ooh, scientific

7) Erik needs your phone numbers Especially nubile callipygous women!

8) Eric needs Cable Petition

9) MySpace profile for Eric needs medication with pictures, videos, personal blog, interests, information about me and more

10) Erik needs to speedily retract and denounce his earlier comments on the subject, not defend them. They are indefensible. I wonder how many have thought this?

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Dinosaurs

Today I took my boy to a Dinosaur museum, Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center to be exact. It's a neat place to visit and if you are traveling hwy 24 through Woodland park you can't miss it as there are colorful models of a T-Rex and a styracosaurus standing guard at the front of the building. If you go during the weekday you can also see the guys working in the lab as they remove bones from the rock and make casts.

After looking around for ourselves we joined in on a tour. Some pretty good information but I, as a creationist, took exception to one statement (tho I didnt argue it on the tour as the thought hadn't fully formed) The guide stated that the large Sauropodomorphids (the "long necks") were less advanced than "later" dinosaurs such as the hadrosaurids (including duck-bills) because the sauropodomorphids did not chew their food and instead used stones (like in a gizzard) to grind their food. Gizzards are a less efficient method than chewing, I am not arguing that point. To be honest I don't have knowledge of that myself but I can certainly agree to it.

The exception I take it that it is less efficient for a large beast, some of which weighed up to 110 tons, would find chewing more effective. If we drop it down to just half that and say 55 tons its really just a race to get food into the mouth and into the body. I can't imagine that there would be near enough time for a creature to chew the amount of food that would be required to feed such an enormous beast.

I do not know the calorie requirements of a dinosaur, and of course no one does. But I have seen stated that a reptile can survive on approx 10% the calories required for a similar sized mammal because of it taking on external heat rather than creating its own. Still this leads to a requirement of 220,000 calories a day for a 55-ton animal. And that is survival, not growing/thriving. The above number was reached at assuming only 2 calories/lb, which is the same amount of calories that is consumed by each lb of fat (in humans) each day. It would seem to me that the number for daily living would be somewhat higher but going with the number above that would equal out to be 500 McDonald's double cheeseburgers each day, or 50 an hour assuming 10 hours of eating each day. Or 785 cans of corn. or 3150 cans of green beans. I feel sorry for the Brachiosaurus stuck eating green beans! Of course these figures would all be doubled at a minimum for the largest of the Sauropodomorphids. Anyways, my point is that a gizzard would be a more efficient way of taking in and processing food when the intake is so high. One "might" even say an example of a perfectly designed creature.

Final thoughts:
There is a school of thought that the sauropods dwelt in water which helped support their weight. This could put an increased caloric demand on the dinosaur, even accounting for warmer weather.

There is also a theory that the earth was far more oxygen rich back in the time of the dinosaurs. It is hard to imagine how such large beasts could breather in enough oxygen otherwise but that they did so somehow is obvious.

There is yet another theory that there was less gravity at that time. Intriguing but I don't see how it is possible and I am not stating I hold this view, just throwing it out there for consideration. Some valid points are certainly raised with regards to leverage and mechanics. There are other statements in the link that are problematic. Maybe I will address those another time.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

We Surround Them

Taken from the Glenn Beck site. Glenn is asking anyone who agrees with even just 7 of these 9 to send in a picture. And please pass this along via blogs and email!

Do you watch the direction that America is being taken in and feel powerless to stop it?

Do you believe that your voice isn’t loud enough to be heard above the noise anymore?

Do you read the headlines everyday and feel an empty pit in your stomach…as if you’re completely alone?

If so, then you’ve fallen for the Wizard of Oz lie. While the voices you hear in the distance may sound intimidating, as if they surround us from all sides—the reality is very different. Once you pull the curtain away you realize that there are only a few people pressing the buttons, and their voices are weak. The truth is that they don’t surround us at all.

We surround them.

So, how do we show America what’s really behind the curtain? Below are nine simple principles. If you believe in at least seven of them, then we have something in common. I urge you to read the instructions at the end for how to help make your voice heard.

Related Video - Watch Glenn Beck on Fox News weeknights at 5PM

The Nine Principles

1. America is good.

2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.

3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.

4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.

5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.

6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.

7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.

8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.

9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

You Are Not Alone

If you agree with at least seven of those principles, then you are not alone. Please send a digital version of your picture to: wesurroundthem@foxnews.com and then stay tuned to the radio and television shows over the coming weeks to see how we intend to pull back the curtain.


They were using wesurroundthem@gmail.com but this article has today's date so they must have changed it.