Congratulations, Badwillie!
Email me the details...
mikepence
JoinedPosts by mikepence
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9
YIPPEEEE..I just got a new job!!!!!
by badwillie inhey all -.
just wanted to share my joy.
i got a new job today.. way more $$$, nicer (seeming) boss!!.
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27
Announcing the Great Apostate Song Contest.
by Mindchild ininspired by district overbeer valis and his smurf sticker contest, i decided to up the ante and announce a song contest for all you so inclined to play.. what i have in mind is this: take any recorded song you like, even the dreaded jw kingdom songs, and redub them to something much more fun!.
if you have a cool bastardized song (well that is what valis says it is called when you do this) then we can try it out at some of the apostofests that seem to be popping up like crazy all over!.
what do you win?
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mikepence
Or, how about, "I Got DA'ed", sung to the tune of "I Got You, Babe?"
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27
Announcing the Great Apostate Song Contest.
by Mindchild ininspired by district overbeer valis and his smurf sticker contest, i decided to up the ante and announce a song contest for all you so inclined to play.. what i have in mind is this: take any recorded song you like, even the dreaded jw kingdom songs, and redub them to something much more fun!.
if you have a cool bastardized song (well that is what valis says it is called when you do this) then we can try it out at some of the apostofests that seem to be popping up like crazy all over!.
what do you win?
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mikepence
I started one, no time to finish now...
There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a Watchtower subscription
And when she preaches she knows if the doors are closed
With a knock she can change their religionWoe oh oh oh oh oh
And she's buying a Watchtower subscriptionThere's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
And you know sometimes trespass is oh kay
In the tree by the brook there's a songbird who sings
He'll be eating worldy flesh any dayWoe oh oh oh oh oh
And she's buying a Watchtower subscriptionThere's a feeling I get when I look to the west
And my spirit is crying for leaving
In my thoughts I have seen worldy people dying
And the voices of those who stand praisingWoe oh oh oh oh oh
And she's buying a Watchtower subscriptionAnd it's whispered that soon, if we all call the tune
Then Jehovah will bring Armageddon
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
Lest they fall to temptation of Satan -
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An Open Letter to Ray Franz
by mikepence in(please reply to this message with your own signature and added thoughts.
then, we will make sure that this reaches ray.).
dear ray,.
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mikepence
(Please reply to this message with your own signature and added thoughts. Then, we will make sure that this reaches Ray.)
Dear Ray,
We, former Jehovah's Witnesses from around the world, would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the work that you have done in sharing your experiences with us, through your writing.
The death of one's belief system and entire way of life can be a most traumatic affair, as you know. To have your reasoned, reasssuring voice, validating the choices that we have made, and providing an inside look at the workings of the men who run the Watchtower Society, has been invaluable. Through your work, you have comforted so many of us, though we have never met you face to face.
We therefore take this occasion to offer a heartfelt Thank You!
You remain our brother in our hearts.
With love,
Your brothers and sisters -
27
Announcing the Great Apostate Song Contest.
by Mindchild ininspired by district overbeer valis and his smurf sticker contest, i decided to up the ante and announce a song contest for all you so inclined to play.. what i have in mind is this: take any recorded song you like, even the dreaded jw kingdom songs, and redub them to something much more fun!.
if you have a cool bastardized song (well that is what valis says it is called when you do this) then we can try it out at some of the apostofests that seem to be popping up like crazy all over!.
what do you win?
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mikepence
I am confused. Are we making an actual recording, or just making up new lyrics?
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7
American Religious Identification Study
by mikepence insee http://www.gc.cuny.edu/studies/key_findings.htm.
some highlights.... jw's famous for their apostates ;-) almost 1/3rd leave!...
"some groups such as mormons and jehovah's witnesses appear to attract a large number of converts ("in-switchers"), but also nearly as large a number of apostates ("out-switchers").
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mikepence
Yes, if you had to paint the picture of the statistically typical JW, it would be:
A black, middle-aged female, living in a relgiously divided household, under-educated and poor.
JW's...exploiting the populace for over 125 years!
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American Religious Identification Study
by mikepence insee http://www.gc.cuny.edu/studies/key_findings.htm.
some highlights.... jw's famous for their apostates ;-) almost 1/3rd leave!...
"some groups such as mormons and jehovah's witnesses appear to attract a large number of converts ("in-switchers"), but also nearly as large a number of apostates ("out-switchers").
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mikepence
See http://www.gc.cuny.edu/studies/key_findings.htm
Some highlights...
JW's famous for their apostates ;-) Almost 1/3rd leave!..."Some groups such as Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses appear to attract a large number of converts ("in-switchers"), but also nearly as large a number of apostates ("out-switchers"). It is also interesting to note that Buddhists also fall into this category of what one might call high- turnover religious groups."
JW's have lowest divorce rate...The percent currently divorced or separated varies considerably less, from a low of six percent (Jehovah's Witnesses) to a high of fourteen percent (Pentecostals)...
JW's overwhelmingly female, at 71%...
Typical JW household is only 55% JW...
46% white, 37% (highest in the study) black...
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Evolution: First Genetic Evidence Uncovered...
by mikepence infrom http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/science/mchox.htm:.
biologists at the university of california, san diego have uncovered the first genetic evidence that explains how large- scale alterations to body plans were accomplished during the early evolution of animals.. in an advance online publication february 6 by nature of a paper scheduled to appear in nature, the scientists show how mutations in regulatory genes that guide the embryonic development of crustaceans and fruit flies allowed aquatic crustacean-like arthropods, with limbs on every segment of their bodies, to evolve 400 million years ago into a radically different body plan: the terrestrial six-legged insects.. the achievement is a landmark in evolutionary biology, not only because it shows how new animal body plans could arise from a simple genetic mutation, but because it effectively answers a major criticism creationists had long leveled against evolutionthe absence of a genetic mechanism that could permit animals to introduce radical new body designs.. the problem for a long time has been over this issue of macroevolution, says william mcginnis, a professor in ucsds division of biology who headed the study.
how can evolution possibly introduce big changes into an animals body shape and still generate a living animal?
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mikepence
From http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/science/mchox.htm:
Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have uncovered the first genetic evidence that explains how large- scale alterations to body plans were accomplished during the early evolution of animals.
In an advance online publication February 6 by Nature of a paper scheduled to appear in Nature, the scientists show how mutations in regulatory genes that guide the embryonic development of crustaceans and fruit flies allowed aquatic crustacean-like arthropods, with limbs on every segment of their bodies, to evolve 400 million years ago into a radically different body plan: the terrestrial six-legged insects.
The achievement is a landmark in evolutionary biology, not only because it shows how new animal body plans could arise from a simple genetic mutation, but because it effectively answers a major criticism creationists had long leveled against evolution—the absence of a genetic mechanism that could permit animals to introduce radical new body designs.
“The problem for a long time has been over this issue of macroevolution,” says William McGinnis, a professor in UCSD’s Division of Biology who headed the study. “How can evolution possibly introduce big changes into an animal’s body shape and still generate a living animal? Creationists have argued that any big jump would result in a dead animal that wouldn’t be able to perpetuate itself. And until now, no one’s been able to demonstrate how you could do that at the genetic level with specific instructions in the genome.”
The UCSD team, which included Matthew Ronshaugen and Nadine McGinnis, showed in its experiments that this could be accomplished with relatively simple mutations in a class of regulatory genes, known as Hox, that act as master switches by turning on and off other genes during embryonic development. Using laboratory fruit flies and a crustacean known as Artemia, or brine shrimp, the scientists showed how modifications in the Hox gene Ubx—which suppresses 100 percent of the limb development in the thoracic region of fruit flies, but only 15 percent in Artemia—would have allowed the crustacean-like ancestors of Artemia, with limbs on every segment, to lose their hind legs and diverge 400 million years ago into the six-legged insects.
Visitors & Friends > News > Releases > Science > Article
News Releases
EMBARGOED UNTIL February 6, 2002, 11 a.m. Pacific Time (2 p.m. ET)
Comment: William McGinnis (858) 822-0458
Matthew Ronshaugen (858) 822-0461Media Contact: Kim McDonald (858) 534-7572
Graphic and image of Artemia
Credit: Matthew Ronshaugen, UCSDFIRST GENETIC EVIDENCE UNCOVERED OF HOW MAJOR CHANGES
IN BODY SHAPES OCCURRED DURING EARLY ANIMAL EVOLUTIONBiologists at the University of California, San Diego have uncovered the first genetic evidence that explains how large- scale alterations to body plans were accomplished during the early evolution of animals.
In an advance online publication February 6 by Nature of a paper scheduled to appear in Nature, the scientists show how mutations in regulatory genes that guide the embryonic development of crustaceans and fruit flies allowed aquatic crustacean-like arthropods, with limbs on every segment of their bodies, to evolve 400 million years ago into a radically different body plan: the terrestrial six-legged insects.
The achievement is a landmark in evolutionary biology, not only because it shows how new animal body plans could arise from a simple genetic mutation, but because it effectively answers a major criticism creationists had long leveled against evolution—the absence of a genetic mechanism that could permit animals to introduce radical new body designs.
“The problem for a long time has been over this issue of macroevolution,” says William McGinnis, a professor in UCSD’s Division of Biology who headed the study. “How can evolution possibly introduce big changes into an animal’s body shape and still generate a living animal? Creationists have argued that any big jump would result in a dead animal that wouldn’t be able to perpetuate itself. And until now, no one’s been able to demonstrate how you could do that at the genetic level with specific instructions in the genome.”
The UCSD team, which included Matthew Ronshaugen and Nadine McGinnis, showed in its experiments that this could be accomplished with relatively simple mutations in a class of regulatory genes, known as Hox, that act as master switches by turning on and off other genes during embryonic development. Using laboratory fruit flies and a crustacean known as Artemia, or brine shrimp, the scientists showed how modifications in the Hox gene Ubx—which suppresses 100 percent of the limb development in the thoracic region of fruit flies, but only 15 percent in Artemia—would have allowed the crustacean-like ancestors of Artemia, with limbs on every segment, to lose their hind legs and diverge 400 million years ago into the six-legged insects.
“This kind of gene is one that turns on and off lots of other genes in order to make complex structures,” says Ronshaugen, a graduate student working in William McGinnis’ laboratory and the first author of the paper. “What we’ve done is to show that this change alters the way it turns on and off other genes. That’s due to the change in the way the protein produced by this gene functions.”
“The change in the mutated protein allows it to turn off other genes,” says William McGinnis, who discovered with two other scientists in 1983 that the same Hox genes in fruit flies that control the placement of the head, thorax and abdomen during development are a generalized feature of all animals, including humans. “Before the evolution of insects, the Ubx protein didn't turn off genes required for leg formation. And during the early evolution of insects, this gene and the protein it encoded changed so that they now turned off those genes required to make legs, essentially removing those legs from what would be the abdomen in insects.”
The UCSD team’s demonstration of how a mutation in the Ubx gene and changes in the corresponding Ubx protein can lead to such a major change in body design undercuts a primary argument creationists have used against the theory of evolution in debates and biology textbooks. Their specific objection to the idea of macroevolutionary change in animals is summed up in a disclaimer that the Oklahoma State Textbook Committee voted in November, 1999 to include in that state’s biology textbooks:
“The word evolution may refer to many types of change. Evolution describes changes that occur within a species. (White moths, for example, may evolve into gray moths). This process is microevolution, which can be observed and described as fact. Evolution may also refer to the change of one living thing into another, such as reptiles and birds. This process, called macroevolution, has never been observed and should be considered a theory.”
“The creationists’ argument rests in part on the fact that animals have two sets of chromosomes and that in order to get big changes, you’d need to mutate the same genes in both sets of chromosomes,” explains McGinnis. “It’s incredibly unlikely that you would get mutations in the same gene in two chromosomes in a single organism. But in our particular case, the kind of mutation that’s in this gene is a so-called dominant mutation, so you only need to mutate one of the chromosomes to get a big change in body plan.”
The discovery of this general mechanism for producing major leaps in evolutionary change has other implications for scientists. It may provide biologists with insights into the roles of other regulatory genes involved in more evolutionarily recent changes in body designs. In addition, the discovery in the UCSD study, which was financed by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, of how this particular Hox gene regulates limb development also may have an application in improving the understanding human disease and genetic deformities.
“If you compare this gene to many other related genes, you can see that they share certain regions in their sequences, which suggests that their function might be regulated like this gene,” says Ronshaugen. “This may establish how, not only this gene, but relatives of this gene in many, many different organisms actually work. A lot of these genes are involved in the development of cancers and many different genetic abnormalities, such as syndactyly and polydactyly, and they may explain how some of these conditions came to be.”
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Average age of apostates survey.
by sleepy ini thought it might be a good idea to find out at what age or after how long we descided to leave the watchtower.. prehaps we my find a patern in it which we could use .. i think what we need to know are ,.
1.age you left the watchtower.
(or age you found out it was wrong).
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mikepence
SIMON --
When are you going to add polling ability to this web site?
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Robert Scheer on Bush Spending
by mikepence infrom the inimitable salon.com:.
collateral damage.
by robert scheer.
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mikepence
freeman,
Care to substantiate your characterization of Scheer's article? Maybe pick a specific point and comment intelligently on it?
It's easy to characterize a piece as biased. Harder to say why...