Thoughts of a Freethinker

Sometime, millions of years ago, something happened that changed earth from a place made up of rocks to a place where a form of life appeared. There was no god or supernature thingy involved. We don't know precisely how it happened, we only know for certain it did happen. For decades, scientists studying this have known that wherever the first life happened there had to be a lot of the element phosphorous. I don't understand this but, apparently, it is widely agreed upon. The problem of figuring out where and why there was phosphorous continued because in today's bodies of liquid there isn't enough present. A new theory is now being discussed . It is that life could have started near a volcano or near several volcanoes. Volcanoes spew out a lot of phosphorous and a lot of heat that could accelerate chemical reactions that would not happen otherwise. It is known there were many more volcanos on earth back millions of years ago.   The scientists working on this hasten to ...

 Iowa has its fair share of corn-fed people in politics. A set of Republicans wants to stop allowing children to see drag performers. I assume that means men in dresses. Lots of male clergy wear dresses. Back in the 1970's, the period of antiwar and hippies, it was popular to become members of the Hary Krista branch of Hinduism. They walked around places where the public gathered and performed chants. I recall seeing a group of them at the Red River Valley Fair in West Fargo, ND. They also had a booth selling their garments. Both men and women wore the same garments, gowns that reached the ankle tops. Catholic Cardinals, and many other male clergy, wear gowns to the ankles. But men in drag wear makeup you might argue. You can bet TV savvy Cardinals wear TV makeup.  Maybe the law will exclude male clergy by saying they are not impersonating women. There are lots of female clergy preaching and praying. I'm not sure they do anything different than male preachers and priests....