May 23, 2013


From V.T.Sundaramurthy:

Re: Cotton may offer “eco friendly” way to clean up oil (May 15, 2013): It is a good piece of research. It has full of academic value and does not have any practical utility. The global warming will reduce the area under cotton in coming years and world production of cotton may fall. The natural fibers help the mankind in providing protection against UV radiation, enhance the level of immunoglobulinA, histamine and sebaceous gland activity in human beings. Under this situation one cannot think of using to remove the oil spills.
—Dr.V.T.Sundaramurthy

From John Gunkler:

Re: Does your physical strength influence your politics? (May 19, 2013): The article states: “…data showed that wealthy men with high upper-body strength were less likely to sup­port redis­tri­bu­tion, while less wealthy men of the same strength were more likely to sup­port it.”

That means that the factor which influenced support of distribution was NOT strength but wealth. Strength was held equally high in these two cases (so it cannot explain a change in support), but wealth changed from high to lower. So it’s relative wealth which influences this political opinion – not a surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention.

From Edward N. Haas:

Re: Killed twice in 1600s, hoax “dragon” slain again-in crea (May 8, 2013): The notion of dragons goes back even to very ancient times, and that fact has amazed many, because the notion of a dragon bears strong resemblance to modern depictions of some kinds of dinosaurs. In its article “Dragon” on page 209 of volume 4 of its 1992 edition, “Encyclopedia Britannica “puzzles over how “The belief in these creatures apparently arose without the slightest knowledge on the part of the ancients of the gigantic, prehistoric, dragon-like reptiles.” As Britannica points out on page 315 of vol. 17 of its 1992 edition, “there was no concept of anything like a dinosaur” prior to 1841. Whence comes this 5, 000 year old, startling similarity of dragons to creatures which, supposedly, were wholly unknown before 1841? An interesting explanation is found in a book by Wilhelm Bousset entitled “The Antichrist Legend” and translated by A. H. Keane in 1896. To the front of the book, Mr. Keane attached his own explanation of how the dinosaur like imagery of dragons came about in ancient Babylon. According to Mr. Keane, it all started when humanity switched to living off of crops and, therefore, had to grow food along the banks of serpentine rivers which often flooded and thereby brought large alligators into conflict with the human race. Stories of dragons, then, are, according to Mr. Keane, the way our ancient ancestors memorialized the troubles inflicted upon them by winding rivers and large alligators.

From Tibor Machan:

Re: Does your physical strength influence your politics? (May 19, 2013): The issues are very poorly framed. What matters is forced redistribution. One can support generosity, even welfare without championing government involvement! The study, for what it is worth, shows little of who favors statism as distinct from helpfulness.

From DRo sent2 88@aol.c om:

Re: Killed twice in 1600s, hoax “dragon” slain again-in crea (May 8, 2013): These so-called cre(a)ti(o)nists are simply grasping at straws but THEY HAVE NO CASE.