"Physiologists should think before putting down the instinct of self-preservation as the cardinal instinct of an organic being. A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength - life itself is will to power; self-preservation is only one of the indirect and most frequent results."
-- Nietzsche

"Associated Press/AOL pollsters found that 11 percent of those surveyed said it is "very likely" that Jesus will return to Earth this year (2007.) An additional 14 percent said it was "somewhat likely.

What Evolution Left Behind


* Appendix
We all know about this one. You might even know someone who has had it removed. The appendix is a narrow, muscular tube attached to the large intestine. A common misconception is that this organ was used for digesting raw meat. It was actually used in our plant chewing days; it was the special area for digesting cellulose. Since our diets have changed, we no longer need this organ.

* Paranasal Sinuses
For as far back as I can remember, my mother always had sinus problems. Sometimes so bad she'd have to lay down just to make the pain bearable. Ironically, the sinus cavity serves little to no purpose for a human. The only function they serve now for humans is making our heads lighter (weight wise), and adding warmth and moisture to the air we breath.In animals with an heightened sense of smell (like a dog or cat), the sinus cavities are lined with olfactory tissues. Some scientists believe that our ancestors had a much better sense of smell (our DNA contains broken genes for additional odor receptors) but for some reason we lost that ability.

* Vomeronasal Organ
A tiny pit on each side of the septum is lined with non functioning chemo-receptors. They may be all that remains of a once extensive pheromone-detecting ability. Taken from Wikipedia:

* Coccyx (AKA: The Tail Bone)
The coccyx is a set of fused vertebrae at the bottom of the spinal column. This is another useless remain of our ancestral past. It's all that's left of our tails, which disappeared from hominids before they began walking upright. All it does now is cause a lot of pain if you fall on your butt.

* Extrinsic Ear Muscles
These three muscles most likely made it possible for prehominids to move their ears independently of their heads (again, like a cat or dog). Again, we still have these muscles which is why most people can learn how to wiggle their ears.

* Toes
Technically, humans don't need any of our toes except our big toe (for balance). Our toes were used for grasping and climbing.

* Neck Rib
This is a set of cervical ribs commonly thought to be left-overs from the age of reptiles. They still appear in less than 1% of humans. Unfortunately these can cause nerve and artery problems. Talk about bad luck.

* Third Eyelid
Somewhere down the early evolutionary line we actually had a third eye lid, much like you see on a frog, for example. Humans retain a tiny fold in the inner corner of the eye.

* Darwin's Point
Take your finger and run it along the the inner edge of your ear. Near the top you'll notice a small piece of skin that is almost like a point. If you can't find it, don't worry. Not all humans still carry this. They believe that this may be a remain of a larger shape that helped us focus on distant sounds.

* Subclavius Muscle
There is a muscle stretching under our shoulder from the first rib to the collarbone. This would still be a useful muscle if humans walked on all fours. Not all humans have one. Some don't have one, and a small few actually have two.

* Palmaris Muscle
This muscle (if you have it, only 11% of humans do) is a long and narrow muscle that runs from the elbow to the wrist. They believe once it may have been an important muscle for hanging and climbing. If you ever need reconstructive surgery, this muscle might be taken for that. Thumbs up for free body parts, right?

* Male Nipples
Lactiferous ducts (the lobes of the mammary gland at the tip of the nipple) form well before the the testosterone that causes a fetus to be a male occurs. Men have mammary tissue that can be simulated to produce milk.

* Wisdom Teeth
If you're reading this, you've probably had your wisdom teeth removed. I had all 4 of mine pulled when I was in high school. Despite what you think, these teeth weren't totally useless. Since early humans had to chew a lot of plants to intake the amount of calories needed to survive, the more teeth the better.Another theory regarding wisdom teeth, that is more of an additional to the main theory (that we used them to chew on plants) is that they were replacement teeth that were lost from wear and tear.

* Erector Pili (AKA: Goosebumps)
These are bundles of smooth muscle fibers that allow animals to puff up their fur to intimidate others (like a cat, for example) or for insulation. We still retain this ability even though we lost most of our fur.

* Body Hair
Most of your body hair serves no function (though some think otherwise). Eyebrows keep sweat from going into your eyes, and male facial hair may play a role in sexual selection, but that really is it. Arm and leg hair are just the remains of a once fully covered body of hair.

* Thirteenth Rib
While our closest cousins (chimps and gorillas) still retain this extra set of ribs. Most humans have 12 though 8% of the population have the extra ribs.

* Male Uterus
The remains of the undeveloped female reproductive organ hangs off of the male prostate gland.

* Female Vas Deferens
These are thought to become sperm ducts in males but they become epoophoron in females. It is a cluster of useless dead-end tubules near the ovaries.

PAW PAW -- The Michigan State Police, Paw Paw Post and Van Buren County Central Dispatch began receiving strange reports of a man in a wheel chair being pushed by a semi truck on Wednesday afternoon. The wheel chair of a 21-year-old man became lodged in the grill of a semi truck as the vehicle pulled out of a gas station. The semi then began driving down Red Arrow Highway, with its new and unusual hood ornament still attached. Police initially thought the report might have been a prank until they started receiving more reports of the situation. Troopers responded to the Ralph Moyle Trucking Company, located on Red Arrow Highway, where it was reported the semi truck had pulled in -- wheel chair and occupant still attached. Troopers and officers discovered the man in the wheel chair, unharmed. An investigation revealed the semi truck, owned by RMI, had pulled out of a local gas station. While doing so the young man in the wheel chair pulled in front of the semi truck. His wheel chair became lodged by its handles in the front grill of the semi truck. The unwitting semi truck driver then proceeded to travel west on Red Arrow Highway at speeds of approximately 50 MPH. The semi traveled for an estimated four miles unknowingly pushing the man in the wheel chair. Once the semi truck had pulled into the Ralph Moyle lot, Troopers approached him and advised him of the man in the wheel chair. The driver did not believe them until he stepped out of the truck and saw the man still sitting in his wheel chair. Police said the man was unharmed and unfazed by the incident. The young man said it was quite a ride. One trooper on the scene said it would be possible to work another 90 years in law enforcement and never see an incident such as this one, but they are just glad no one was injured.

Creationism is NOT Science

I opened up the June 3rd edition of the Star Telegram, flipped to my favorite section - the letters - and was met with an abysmally benighted letter entitled "Creationist Science." Creationism takes as axiom a load of untestable claims and extrapolates from them a befuddled mess of an explanation for the origin of the Earth, built upon assertions that are all either demonstrably false or simply unassailable due to their invocation of the supernatural. Unfortunately, sometimes what other people choose to believe does affect me and my posterity. As a nation, an adept grip on science is what thrust us into the spotlight on the world's stage, both academically and economically. We are already seeing the effects of our loosening grip on that discipline, as other countries excel in areas that once were exclusive to us, as they laugh at our children's inability to reason and use the scientific method, an inability brought about by their parent's irresponsibility.

ACE Wound Effects
The fun begins when you play a mod like Advanced Combat Environment, which sports a much-improved player damage system. In ACE, you will notice several additional effects:

* When hit, you may lose control of your character for a moment or two, depending on the power of the round. The impact may spin you a bit as well
* You may be knocked to the ground by the impact and shock of being hit, depending again on the power of the round
* You may briefly white-out from the shock of the wound
* You may begin to bleed from the wound. It may be a light, slow bleed or a heavy, fast bleed. You will hear a heartbeat that intensifies as you get closer to death. You will also leave a blood trail.
* You will begin to black out if heavily wounded. These blackouts will increase in duration and frequency if your wound goes untended.
* You will die if you are not treated and are bleeding. The speed of death will vary depending on how heavy the bleeding.

As you can see, being wounded in ACE can be a much more serious and urgent affair. Since we will be primarily playing ACE, the 'reaction to being wounded' text will be based upon it.

Note that there will be several additional features in ACE that will concern how wounds work, how they must be treated, et cetera. Since ACE is not yet out, it's impossible to write definitely on such topics, so I'll leave those for the future. All future additions will be tracked on the "Revisions" page at the end of this article, so feel free to come back and check it every few weeks for further content.

"The idea that religion and politics don't mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country"

"God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve."

"The Bible is the inerrant ... word of the living God. It is absolutely infallible,without error in all matters pertaining to faith and practice, as well as in areas such as geography, science, history, etc."

"I do not believe the homosexual community deserves minority status. One's misbehavior does not qualify him or her for minority status. Blacks, Hispanics, women, etc., are God-ordained minorities who do indeed deserve minority status."

"AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals. To oppose it would be like an Israelite jumping in the Red Sea to save one of Pharoah's chariotters."

"You'll be riding along in an automobile. You'll be the driver perhaps. You're a Christian. There'll be several people in the automobile with you, maybe someone who is not a Christian. When the trumpet sounds you and the other born-again believers in that automobile will be instantly caught away -- you will disappear, leaving behind only your clothes and physical things that cannot inherit eternal life. That unsaved person or persons in the automobile will suddenly be startled to find the car suddenly somewhere crashes.... Other cars on the highway driven by believers will suddenly be out of control and stark pandemonium will occur on ... every highway in the world where Christians are caught away from the drivers wheel."