mans origins

Jerry Randal Bauer wrote:
> I've just read "Genesis Revisited" by Glenn G. Strickland. (1979)
> (ISBN: 0-8037-2828-X)
>
> I didn't like it, but I recommend it anyway.
>
> I didn't like it because the author adopts a very arrogant attitude
> toward anthropologists. He has figured out the answers to all the
> mysteries of human evolution; they have not, because they are unable
> to think rationally. He has been able to do this because he is
> (trumpet flourish here) a _RETIRED OPERATIONS RESEARCHER_!
>
> I didn't like it because the author failed to convince me of the
> validity of several of his conclusions. This is, in part, because he
> has made a definite effort to avoid anything the least bit technical.
> However, I think that many of his arguments just are not well thought
> out.
>
> His central thesis is that humankind developed where the Mediterranean
> Sea is now. Evidence exists that between 10 and 20 million years ago,
> the Mediterranean was dry. Tectonic forces had closed Gibraltar, and
> the sea had evaporated. The author posits that around each river
> "delta", where the river fell into the basin to evaporate, an
> ecological community developed, and that these areas were conducive to
> the development of our ancestors.
>
> This is why, even though I found the book flawed in content and
> presentation, I recommend it. This thesis is intriguing. The
> drying-up of the Mediterranean is well-supported by geological
> evidence beyond that given in this book. It happened at the time our
> ancestors were developing, according to some chronologies. It seems
> that such a situation could not but have some effect.
>
> So I would say read it. Some of the points raised within are quite
> original, and may serve to spark more effectively supportable
> theories.
>
> But, please, if you are or aspire to be an author, avoid any
> temptation to adopt Mr. Strickland's hubris.
>
> Jerry Randal Bauer

The arc of the universe

The Arc of the Universe Is Long But It Bends Towards Justice

On April 4, 2008, then-Senator Barack Hussein Obama, speaking on the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, declared:

"Dr. King once said that the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice. It bends towards justice, but here is the thing: it does not bend on its own. It bends because each of us in our own ways put our hand on that arc and we bend it in the direction of justice...."

(My birthday is April 4th)