| |||
A Selection of Articles and Reports on the Petra Papyri 2007–2010 compiled by M. Buchholz … xi | |||
Bibliography and Abbreviations compiled by M. Buchholz … xiii | |||
Corrigenda in Volumes I and III by A. Arjava and M. Buchholz … xix | |||
Introduction | |||
Legal Terminology in the Petra Papyri by M. Buchholz … 1 | |||
Terms Connected with Houses in 39 and Other Petra Papyri by J. Kaimio … 9 | |||
Updated Synoptic Chronological Table by A. Arjava and M. Lehtinen … 23 | |||
Map of Byzantine Province of Palaestina Tertia Salutaris … 26 | |||
37. Tax Receipt by A. Arjava and T. Gagos … 27 | |||
38. Receipt by T. Gagos … 39 | |||
39. Settlement of a Dispute by Arbitration by M. Kaimio … 41 | |||
40. Defensio of the Sale of an Outbuilding by J. Kaimio … 121 | |||
41. Deed Connected with a Sale of Houses by J. Kaimio …127 | |||
42. Marriage Contract by T. Gagos and C. A. Kuehn … 141 | |||
43. Agreement on Marital Property by T. Gagos and C. A. Kuehn … 151 | |||
44. End of a Document by T. Gagos … 163 | |||
45–47. Introduction: Tax Receipts by A. Arjava … 165 | |||
45. Tax Receipt by T. Gagos … 167 | |||
46. Tax Receipt by A. Arjava and T. Gagos … 171 | |||
47. Tax Receipt by T. Gagos …173 | |||
48–49. Introduction: Fragments of Ecclesiastical Documents by M. Buchholz and T. Gagos… 177 | |||
48. Fragments of One or More Ecclesiastical Document(s) by M. Buchholz and T. Gagos … 179 | |||
49. Fragments of One or More Ecclesiastical Document(s) by M. Buchholz and T. Gagos …183 | |||
Index to Volumes I, III and IV by T. Purola … 187 | |||
Introduction to the Plates by M. Buchholz … 213 | |||
Plates prepared by M. Holappa and V. Vahtikari … 215 | |||
Concordance … 289 | |||
Illustration Credits … 291 | |||
Friday, January 20, 2012
A. Arjava, M. Buchholz, T. Gagos, and M. Kaimio, P. Perta IV
Understanding Mutation Rates and Evolution
The complexity of creating two sequential or simultaneous mutations that would confer improved survival has been studied in the malaria parasite when exposed to chloroquine. The actual incidence of two base-pair mutations leading to two changed amino acids leading to resistance has been shown to be 1 in 1020 cases (42). To better understand this incidence, the likelihood that Homo sapiens would achieve any single mutation of the kind required for malaria to become resistant to chloroquine (a simple shift of two amino acids) would be 100 million times 10 million years (many times the age of the universe). This example has been used to further explain the difficulty in managing more than one mutation to achieve benefit.The reference is to The Edge of Evolution by Michael Behe. His book was published in 2007 but I never got around to reviewing it thoroughly—partly because it's so difficult to explain where he goes wrong.1 Here's my take on one part of the book: The Two Binding Sites Rule. This post covers "chloroquine-complexity clusters" (CCC).
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Thursday, January 19, 2012
Congratulations Vip!
Alain de Botton Tells Us the Good Things About Religion
Here's a TED talk by Alain de Botton. He claims to be an atheist but he's promoting Atheism 2.0. That's a version of atheism that incorporates all the good parts of religion like how they can brainwash children and con people out of lots of money. And pilgrimage. Let's not forget the value of pilgrimage and the importance of travel. (Think Canterbury Tales!)
There's a certain mysticism about TED talks that I deplore. In order to be a successful TED talker you need to be articulate and clever. You need to be engaging and just a little bit radical—though not too radical. That's just about all it takes to get an enthusiastic standing ovation from the people who comes to listen to these 18 talks. What you're actually saying doesn't really count for anything as this example plainly shows.
The mantra of TED talks is "Ideas Worth Spreading" but if you think about it there aren't very many important new ideas that can be explained in 18 minutes. On the other hand, if you want to spread ideas that your audience already agrees with then TED talks are just the thing for you.
[Hat Tip: PZ Myers: Alain de Botton is right about one thing.]
James Shapiro Publishes on Evolution News & Views
Shapiro has now been allowed to post an article on the main IDiot blog, Evolution News & Views [A Response to Ann Gauger's and Douglas Axe's Comments. I don't agree with his response but that's not the point. Do you know any respectable evolution supporter who would post on a creationist blog?
Can you imagine his University of Chicago Colleague, Jerry Coyne, posting an article on the flagship blog of the Discovery Institute?
Physicians Can Be IDiots
Kuhn has an M.D. degree. He is not a scientist and he has no obvious expertise in biology and/or evolution. He is a Roman Catholic. He is definitely an Intelligent Design Creationist.
Let's look as what this IDiot has to say ...
The primary conflicts or anomalies with neo-Darwinian evolution lie in the failure of mutation and natural selection to account for the formation of DNA, the information of DNA, or the complexity of the human cell. In all fairness, many physicians, medical students, and college students have not been shown the weakness of Darwinian evolution. They haven’t been shown the failure of the Miller-Urey experiments to explain DNA, RNA, or protein formation; the paucity of fossil data; or the refutations of transitional species based on a growing biochemical understanding of complex systems and the limits of DNA mutation to account for the formation of new DNA, new chromosomes, and therefore new species.There's so much wrong here that I hardly know where to begin. First, biological evolution, whether it be the outmoded neo-Darwinian model or a more modern version, was never intended to explain the origin of life. We don't know how life originated but that has nothing to do with the truth and power of evolution as an explanatory mechanism.
In contrast, how is it possible that the majority of National Academy of Science members (who should know the above weaknesses) fully believe that random mutation and natural selection can explain the origin of DNA and the subsequent generation of a vast array of protein systems within complex cells? It is possible that the biologist, the paleontologist, and the anthropologist are each studying a small portion of the picture and do not have the education and training to see the full picture. More likely, their previous research relies on the established paradigm of Darwinian evolution to provide structure for their work. As the limitations of existing paradigms become apparent, adoption of a new paradigm typically requires at least a full generation, since existing practitioners and scientists often hold on to the old paradigm.
The standard IDiot talking point these days is that students and the general public are being misled because scientists won't teach all the problems and controversies concerning biological evolution. This is an attitude that completely ignores all the debate and discussion that has been taking place on the internet and in popular books, magazines, and journals over the past four decades. None of the problems and controversies have stood up to close analysis in spite of the fact they have been dogmatically defended by dozens of leading IDiots.
Of course Joseph Kuhn, the physician, knows nothing about this. That's why he writes ...
When the Texas State Board of Education voted to recognize the weaknesses of Darwinian evolution in explaining the origin of the species, it was a result of 3 full days of intense debate and scientific dispute. In 2011, when new textbooks were presented to the State Board of Education, 9 out of 10 failed to provide the mandated supplementary curricula, which would include both positive and negative aspects of evolution (44). Moreover, several of the textbooks continued to incorrectly promote the debunked Miller-Urey origin of life experiment, the long-discredited claims about nonfunctional appendix and tonsils, and the fraudulent embryo drawings from Ernst Haeckel. In essence, current biology students, aspiring medical students, and future scientists are not being taught the whole story. Rather, evidence suggests that they continue to receive incorrect and incomplete material that exaggerates the effect of random mutation and natural selection to account for DNA, the cell, or the transition from species to species.It's hard to imagine what must be going on inside the head of someone who could write such drivel. Let's say that the Texas Board of Education succeeds in brainwashing students about the "weaknesses" of evolution. Is that going to change the minds of any expert who studies biological evolution for a living? Is that going to lead to a new generation of scientists who accept Intelligent Design Creationism? No, not even in Texas.
The Texas State Board of Education guidelines do not propose teaching any other alternatives to Darwinian evolution. Rather, the students of tomorrow and teachers of today should appropriately recognize that there are weaknesses that have been pointed out by reasonable scientists. In this dissection of Darwinism, we have cut into the weaknesses of the fossil evidence for human evolution, the failure of the fossil data to demonstrate substantial transition species, and the awareness of the sudden formation of most species in a short window of time, with no significant subsequent variation. More importantly, this physician-perspective article emphasizes the extreme impossibility of the natural formation or self-formation of billions of nucleotides in a specific sequence, allowing for the coding of RNA and proteins in a complex cell with thousands of interrelated and irreducibly complex functions. The article also enlightens the reader regarding the conflicts and difficulty of using natural selection and mutation to explain the simultaneous or sequential changes in cellular DNA, involving entirely new strands of DNA and thousands of new proteins, which are necessary for the formation of new species.
Only an IDiot could believe that forcing Intelligent Design Creationism down the throats of students in some parts of southern USA will eventually lead to a "paradigm shift" in thinking about evolution. Only an IDiot physician could believe that he knows more about evolution than the experts. In fairness, you've got to give the creationists some credit for convincing some, otherwise intelligent, people that 99.9% of all scientists are really, really stupid.
UPDATE:Jonathan Wells defends Joseph A. Kuhn, MD ["Shut up," Coyne Explained].
[Hat Tip: Jerry Coyne in Creationist paper in a medical journal.]
Canadian Blog Awards: Science and Technology
Most of you will be interested in the science blogs. The category is Best Science and Technology Blog. Here are the finalists ...
Sync.ca
Here at Sync, we strive to bring you the latest in news, reviews and opinions from the tech universe. It′s our way of helping to keep Canadians in sync with tech and gadgets that surround us in our daily lives. Never miss a beat: stay in Sync.iPhoneinCanada.ca
iPhoneinCanada.ca was started in late 2007 in Vancouver, BC. The site was created to document using the first generation iPhone in Canada. The blog has evolved along with the iPhone and we are now the leading Canadian iPhone authority for news, reviews, tips, tricks and anything else iPhone-related. We are powered by a fantastic iPhone community.Jon Arnold's Analyst 2.0 Blog
Independent analysis of the IP communications sector - VoIP, Mobile Broadband, IPTV, Unified Communications, Telepresence, Mashups, Web 2.0, Social Media, etc. Plus, my thoughts on all the other things I enjoy during the rest of the day like the Red Sox and great music. And more recently, Smart Grid too!Hi-Sci-Fi
Creator, producer, writer and host of HiSciFi is Irma Arkus. Over the years, she noticed that the idea of sitting by herself in a studio is unappealing, and potentially dangerously unfunny too. So, Irma had quite a few lovely co-hosts over the years: Andrew Yang, Jevon Ryan, Gregory Milne, and Tarek Suliman. Irma is evidently a man-eater.Mark Evens Tech
BROADCASTING OF HISCIFI
HiSciFi is taped and broadcast live, every Friday at 5:00-6:00 p.m. on CJSF 90.1FM in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Currently, HiSciFi is evaluated for syndication.
www.HiSciFi.com is the place where the show gets a second life as a podcast, and as such can be found at numerous podcast distribution sites, as well as distributed by Mininova.org, PirateBay.com and BTJunkie.org via bit-torrent.
My company, ME Consulting, creates digital strategies and does tactical execution for startups and entrepreneurs that want to take their marketing efforts to the next level. Having worked for startups, covered them a reporter and consulted with them for the past three years, I understand their goals, and what they need to be successful.Hmmm ....
There seems to be a slight problem. There are no "science" blogs in the running for best science and technology blog! This is one of my pet peeves. Why can't people understand the difference between science and technology?
When's the last time you saw an actual science project win a Science Fair?
If you really want to cast a vote then go to Best Religion and Philosophy Blog and vote for Canadian Athiest.
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