ScienceDaily (1999-08-10) -- Fire provided the spark for modern human evolution, but not because it allowed our ancestors to eat meat. Rather, it was the ability to cook tuberous roots akin to carrots, potatoes and beets that caused hominids to turn a major evolutionary corner about 1.9 million years ago, according to anthropologists Richard Wrangham of Harvard University, Gregory Laden of the University of Minnesota and Harvard colleagues David Pilbeam, Jamie Jones and NancyLou Conklin-Brittain.

And,  Starch 'fuel of human evolution' http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6983330.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8270000/8270396.stm 'A Protection Racket'

Ref, 'Evolution. Fish to Man. Man's Debt To The Past' http://luckyme0.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!A18BF3FCC5E126A2!960.entry

Ref, 'The Prehistoric Mind. How did Prehistoric Man Think? The Primitive Mind' - http://luckyme0.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!A18BF3FCC5E126A2!1520.entry

Self-deception at 'Creationist Schools' - mostly today - are the 'Private Schools' or 'Independent Schools' (Private - family, homes, so on...). Nursery (some) and in the earlier learning 'Primary Schools'. By my experience: 'religious services' of schools, generally, and those that are aimed at older children UK. Reaction to my personal confrontation of the current 'authority' or 'status quo' = generally; with some amusement or more like impertinence. Ref, 'the impertinent insolence of truths or dogmas, and in those who have 'total certainty' about their faith or belief: impertinent insolence flying in the face of the Divine'.

(Some, private funded schools and some: Church Schools or Faith Schools - some, will tell you they teach quite differently they are happy to lie - 'school gates' are kept firmly shut)

Click the top line for the 'correct size article'.

Behind those school gates, the 'easier answers' and 'superstitious ones' are everywhere, and in many, repetitive constant' prayer' or praying is considered very important! They are not learning, how to: 'handle freedom and not conformity' or that, 'respect for authority is nearly always wrong and violence is sometimes right'. 'True freedom, always, and by most generations, will have to be hard fought for'. Ref, Karl Popper and Others. PC - ness of today.

I would like you to consider the meaning of freedom that much used, but misunderstood word. Freedom is a word rather like time, everyone thinks they know what it means, but cannot define it.

The foundation of freedom is knowledge and without knowledge no man can be free!

That is why religious and secular dictators throughout history, have burned and censored books, closed universities, imprisoned professors, and do so today in Russia, Eastern Europe, China, Iran, and many other Nations. Freedom is the ability to choose courses of action, and to make decisions that are based on an objective knowledge of the World. Without such knowledge, primitive subjective feelings, values, and goals, remain the primary determinants of human action. Knowing this; the sophisticated and unscrupulous - manipulate the credulous. True freedom is frightening to many because it necessitates the individual breaking out of the cocoon of half truths, ignorance, and ready made opinions, in which, most of mankind is happily and comfortably imprisoned.

No man can be free until he seeks objective answers to three questions, namely, "Where am I? What am I? Why am l?" For, it is the ability to frame these questions that separates us from the rest of the animal world and nothing else. And, it is the approach to fording the answers that distinguishes the educated from the ignorant, and the cultured from the philistine. Any attempt to answer these questions must be made with a ruthless determination, to avoid conclusions that are based on poor evidence, or on a desire to see the world, as so many wish it to be, magical and made for us. I say, any attempt to answer these questions, because for psychological reasons that is beyond the scope of this lecture. Few people will ever try to do so! (Have given up! Ref, `The Long Childhood' tribal culture - J.Bronowski. 

Most prefer what Huxley called, "The sleep of everyday living". Even the brilliant Voltaire wrote, "Through a quarter of my lifetime, I was absolutely ignorant of the reasons for everything I saw, and heard, and felt, and was merely a parrot, prompted by other parrots". Sir Winston Churchill spent 40 years looking at the countryside, but noticed nothing before he started painting it.

We are part of the evolving animal world and that this fact, which individually and collectively we prefer to ignore. We pretend we are god like creatures playing with nature, not subject to her inexorable law. Smart organisms survive, and those that fail to make sense of their environment perish. We must understand ourselves, and our place in nature, or die. There is no choice about this. The only choice is to recognize it and do so in time!

If you take the trouble to study the evolution of Primates, Hominids (us) and their brains, ancient and modern group behaviour and how you have come to have certain loyalties and attitudes a structure will appear. All the meaningless little pieces of knowledge will form a coherent whole, perhaps, what you now consider sensible will seem trivial and ridiculous. Ref, 'The Fear of Freedom' Erich Fromm 'The Proper Structuralised View Of The World.

A new kind of freedom will have been achieved.

There is also however, a more personal answer. 'Science tells us what we can know, but what we can know is little, and if we forget how much we cannot know, we become insensitive to many things of very great importance. Theology, on the other hand, induces a dogmatic belief that we have knowledge, where in fact we have ignorance and by doing so generates a kind of impertinent insolence towards the Universe. Uncertainty, in the presence of vivid hopes and fears is painful but must be endured if we wish to live without the support of comforting fairy tales ('The Infantile Situation GB' -'Identity and Violence' Amartya Sen) . To teach how to live without certainty, and yet, without being paralysed by hesitation, is perhaps the chief thing that philosophy in our age can still do for those who study it.'

The Church of England.

How aware are our children and parents of this matter. Do they know what is going on, now, in our Schools!

Are they at all aware of History, and of 'Human Group Behaviour? And, why do humans like to believe in something that is quite often preposterous. In fact, humans seek a faith or belief or an ideology - it is in their nature to do this, for better or worse.

Bewildered And Afraid:­

With regard to all basic questions, a great sector of our culture has just one function to, "Befog The Issue"! One kind of smokescreen is the assertion that the problems are too complicated for the, "Average individual to grasp"! On the contrary, it would seem that many of the basic issues are very simple, so simple in fact that, "Everyone Should Be Expected To Understand Them"!

To let them appear to be so enormously complicated that only a "Specialist" can understand them tends to discourage people from trusting their own capacity to think. The result of this is two fold.

1) A scepticism and cynicism towards everything that is said or printed.

 2) A childish belief in anything that is told with authority.

This combination of cynicism, and naivety, is typical of the modern individual.

Another way of paralysing the ability to think critically is the absence of any kind of "Structuralized Picture Of The World" or "The Proper Structuralised View Of The World". (Proper = Scientific and an outline knowledge of Cosmology, Evolution and the History of Man.

Facts lose the specific quality, which they can have only as parts of a structualised whole, and retain merely an abstract quantitative meaning, each fact, is just another fact, and all that matters, is whether we know more, or less. The Media have a devastating effect on this score. The announcement of the bombing of a city, or the deaths of hundreds of people, is shamelessly followed by an advertisement for soap or wine. Those of a fashion show, follow, pictures of war. The trite thoughts, or breakfast habits, of a fashionable nonentity, are reported with the same seriousness, as events of a scientific, or artistic importance.

Because of all this, we cease to be genuinely related to what we hear, our emotions, and our critical judgement become hampered, and eventually, our attitude to what is going on in the world assumes a quality of flatness and indifference. Life loses all structure, it is composed of many little pieces, each separate from the other, and lacking any sense as a whole.

The individual is left alone with these pieces, like a child with a puzzle. The difference, however, is that the child knows what a house is, and therefore, can recognise the parts of the house in the little pieces he is playing with. Whereas, the adult does not see the meaning of the whole, with the pieces which come into his hands, he is bewildered and afraid and just goes on gazing at his little meaningless little pieces.

Economic crises, unemployment, war, govern man's fate. (IMF http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8282074.stm) Man has built his world, he has built houses and factories, he produces cars, and clothes, and he grows grain and fruit. But, he has become estranged from the products of his own hands, he is not really the master any more of the world he has built, on the contrary: this man made world has become his master before whom he bows down, whom he tries to placate, or to manipulate, as best he can. The work of his own hands has become his God. He seems to be driven by self-interest, but in reality his total self, with all its concrete potentialities, has become an instrument for the purposes of the very machine his hands have built.

He keeps up the illusion of being the, "Centre of the World", and yet, he is pervaded by an intense sense of insignificance, and powerlessness, which his ancestors once consciously felt toward God.

Barmy Britain through the Looking Glass

'how an obsessive adherence to certain laws 'flies in the face of common sense''. Ref, Creationism, or 'fundamental religiosity' in our Schools - "An impertinent insolence that flies in the face of the Divine".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/philipjohnston/6238090/Barmy-Britain-through-the-looking-glass.html

T. S. Eliot. Wilhelm Muller. Albert Camus. ('in history we set no great store': individually, and by the great length of the 'cosmic time lines' we are just will o' the wisp's) 

"Modern nations are driven by powerful forces along the roads of power and domination . . . They hardly need our help and, for the moment, they laugh at attempts to hinder them. They will, then, continue. But I will ask only this simple question: what if these forces wind up in a dead end, what if that logic of History on which so many now rely turns out to be a will o' the wisp?" 

Into the deepest mountain chasms
A will o' wisp lured me;
How to find a way out
Doesn't worry me much.

I'm used to going astray,
And every way leads to the goal.
Our joys, our sorrows,
Are all a will o' the wisp's game !

Through the mountain stream's dry channel
I wend my way calmly downward.
Every river finds its way to the ocean,
And every sorrow to its grave.

Summer of Love

Humanists have always been supportive of equality and human rights, particularly for those who are persecuted due to religious teachings because fewer people are prepared to voice their objections. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues have risen up the agenda again, with the BHA working with many other organisations to make sure these issues are discussed and that human rights are put before religion. 

Of course, freedom to express one’s beliefs is also very important, but it cannot be allowed to oppress the rights of others. The BHA, along with the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA) and various local groups, have attended numerous Pride festivals this summer supporting the events and giving out information to raise the profile of Humanism. The BHA also had a stall at the GALHA’s birthday celebration. 

Our work on the Equality Bill will see us supporting moves to remove exemptions that religious organisations have in discrimination law, including against those with non-heterosexual lifestyles. We are also supporting the call for an apology for Alan Turing and supporting the Day in Hand campaign to encourage same sex couples and friends to hold hands in public with pride. 

So while various religious organisations try to use their ‘religious rights’ to discriminate against others, the BHA will continue to lobby for inclusive legislation and government policy which allows people the freedom to be who they are and speak out against those voices who try to argue that they have a ‘right’ to discriminate.

Airline Bomb Plot 2006 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8242238.stm (vague memories - today, will o' the wisp's: frightening chaos and delays - will o' the wisp's are going to jail)

Uncompromising Groups and the Rich and Poor Divide - Europe. 

The former head of the Commission for Racial Equality, he was appointed chair of the £70m a year super-quango when it was launched two years ago to bring together equality bodies for gender, race and disability discrimination, as well as sexuality, age, religion and human rights.

Critics said it was impossible to reconcile so many uncompromising interest groups, with the equality minister Harriet Harman recently admitting everything had been put "into one melting pot". http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/sep/04/equality-watchdog-problems-trevor-phillips

G20 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8239855.stm

Keynes is rejected. (throw money at the poor, pay off their mortgages: do whatever it takes  - they will spend it, i.e., $1 given = $1.60 to the real economy. The middle class will save it, and if it is spent on the Bankers, it is, and has been, totally wasted - except, maybe - to keep them open from day to day! Money that is spent on Government (middle class) - they will mostly make up, so many more, very silly, and ghastly repressive rules. Vs the 'Weimar'. 

"Today that is disturbingly similar to what triggered the 1923 hyperinflation. As in Weimar Germany, money creation in the U.S. is now being undertaken by a privately-owned central bank, the Federal Reserve; and it is largely being done to settle speculative bets on the books of private banks, without producing anything of value to the economy. As gold investor James Sinclair warned nearly two years ago:"

“[T]he real problem is a trembling $20 trillion mountain of over the counter credit and default derivatives. Think deeply about the Weimar Republic case study because every day it looks more and more like a repeat in cause and effect . . . .”9

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13673

Accord’s first birthday marked by launch of new award.

Accord is now one year old and to mark the occasion we are launching a competition to find the school doing most to bring together people of different backgrounds and beliefs. The prize will be open to all state schools and will be judged by a panel of experts from diverse political and religious backgrounds.

The aim is to recognise schools that develop an ethos based on shared values across all that they do, including admissions policies, assemblies and links with the local community.

Apply today!

For the awards to be a success, we need your help. If you are a parent, governor or teacher at a school with inclusion at its heart, then please nominate it for an award today.

Alternatively, you can forward details of the award to someone else better able to fill in the application form.

In the words of Accord Chair Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain:

“So many people just sit back complain about the state of our schools that Accord has decided to do the reverse - actively seek out and reward those that are inclusive, tolerant and transparent.

Not all of Britain is “broken” - there are also many examples of remarkable success and cohesion - so it’s time to praise those schools that work hard to build bridges between the different faith and ethnic communities.”

Apply today!

Polly Toynbee, the journalist and social commentator, is one of the judges of the awards and said:

“We need to celebrate schools that find ways to bring people together by promoting  thought and ideas, encouraging debate across cultural barriers, opening minds and exploring beliefs with tolerance and imagination." 

Apply today!

From the opposite political spectrum, the Award has also been welcomed by former Conservative Secretary for Education, Lord Baker, who has agreed to serve as one of the judges. He said:

“One of the ways in which harmony, understanding and tolerance will be promoted in many of our towns and cities is if children of all races and creeds learnt alongside each other, had lunch together and played together at school.  The Accord Awards will help to highlight the best examples of such inclusivity, tolerance and transparency and I am glad to have been asked to be one of the judges.” 

Apply now! To enter a school for the awards, please contact Alex Kennedy (0207 462 4990 / alex@accordcoalition.org.uk) for an application pack or visit the Accord website for further details.

	Reality
	Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
	Philip K. Dick  (1928 - 1982)
	U.S. science-fiction writer
	I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon, 1986, "How to Build a Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later"