Christian Democrats in the United States
Domestic Issues - Environment Please tour our lovely National Park System and reflect upon our choices in this great Eden.We support organic farming methods since the use of synthetic chemicals in agriculture incurs disproportionate health consequences on the uninsured poor. We support all efforts to develop sustainable fuel and materials sources from agriculture. We must take every possible measure to ensure that companies producing goods in America do not pollute our air, land and water. We need to solve the energy crisis, but are extremely skeptical of nuclear power's ability to do so.
Also see Global Warming
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Friday, June 12, 2009
1:05 PM
It's important not to overlay the weirdest of prophecies onto our everyday experience because we don't really know what those things mean.
That said, the flying insects mentioned in Revelation that have stingers like scorpions come to mind when you read about things like radioactive wasps.
Let's look at the numbers: in the geological fossil record, periods of high radiation exposure are associated with extinctions. Radiation of various sorts can cause mutations in DNA. In practice, those mutations are overwhelmingly negative, usually resulting in cancer or birth defects. But DNA is very complex, and sometimes a small change in key DNA structure results in a large change to the creature produced, and after those periods, new adaptations and new species are found in fossils. The presence of radioactive cesium and irridium in mud of the wasp nest will cause an increased mutation rate of the eggs laid by the females inside.
So, while not likely, wasps in radioactive nests over a large area could reproduce enough to roll the genetic dice for an advantageous mutation -- perhaps a poisonous stinger and a predatory appetite that results in larger size from competition.
It is all too easy living in the "civilized world" to forget that nature is not at her heart only something pretty to look at from a distance in a park or a museum. Nature can produce impressive capacity for violence and death. After all, look at us, and how far humanity strays from the image of God we can perceive in ourselves. Well, at least we are looking in the right direction, but it's easy to forget that, too.
Again, flirting with nuclear power, we see our tendency to constructively forget the realities of our own nature. There can be all the schematics and policies and procedures in the world, but the reality is, people are careless. Over time, it's more likely someone will cause an accident. That's why it's so important for us to move away from fission (splitting heavy metals) as the source of nuclear power, because the by-products remain radioactive for hundreds or sometimes thousands of years.
Think of that -- we're selling out our descendants thousands of years from now to light our homes because we're afraid of the dark. It's pathetic. If we keep playing that game of lying to ourselves about our imperfections and limits, we will get exactly what we deserve.
insects with stings like scorpions
Radioactive wasps built nests around this contaminated Washington State nuclear site.It's important not to overlay the weirdest of prophecies onto our everyday experience because we don't really know what those things mean.
That said, the flying insects mentioned in Revelation that have stingers like scorpions come to mind when you read about things like radioactive wasps.
Let's look at the numbers: in the geological fossil record, periods of high radiation exposure are associated with extinctions. Radiation of various sorts can cause mutations in DNA. In practice, those mutations are overwhelmingly negative, usually resulting in cancer or birth defects. But DNA is very complex, and sometimes a small change in key DNA structure results in a large change to the creature produced, and after those periods, new adaptations and new species are found in fossils. The presence of radioactive cesium and irridium in mud of the wasp nest will cause an increased mutation rate of the eggs laid by the females inside.
So, while not likely, wasps in radioactive nests over a large area could reproduce enough to roll the genetic dice for an advantageous mutation -- perhaps a poisonous stinger and a predatory appetite that results in larger size from competition.
It is all too easy living in the "civilized world" to forget that nature is not at her heart only something pretty to look at from a distance in a park or a museum. Nature can produce impressive capacity for violence and death. After all, look at us, and how far humanity strays from the image of God we can perceive in ourselves. Well, at least we are looking in the right direction, but it's easy to forget that, too.
Again, flirting with nuclear power, we see our tendency to constructively forget the realities of our own nature. There can be all the schematics and policies and procedures in the world, but the reality is, people are careless. Over time, it's more likely someone will cause an accident. That's why it's so important for us to move away from fission (splitting heavy metals) as the source of nuclear power, because the by-products remain radioactive for hundreds or sometimes thousands of years.
Think of that -- we're selling out our descendants thousands of years from now to light our homes because we're afraid of the dark. It's pathetic. If we keep playing that game of lying to ourselves about our imperfections and limits, we will get exactly what we deserve.
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