Building Blocks of Life Created on Earth from Lifelessness. A setback for Darwin? Dillinger’s 1st Failed Robbery June 24, 2009

The "Lost City"

Is This “proof” that Charles Darwin was wrong or is it just an anomyly?

I was sitting in the doctor’s office and actually found something besides Highlights or 6 month old copies of McCalls or Sports Illustrated. Doctors are notorious for providing extremely old periodicals to read. Anyway, I stumbled upon an article in Science News that talks about how organic material is apparently being created out of inorganic matter. Hydrocarbons, it is hypothesized, are being created out of inorganic chemical reactions in thermal vents in an area called the Lost City.

This Guy Might Be 30,000 yrs old

Thermal vents typically create chimneys of minerals that rise to as high as 20 meters before the collapse. What caught these guys’ eye was the vents that were up to 60 meters and it turned out that they were made up of hydrocarbons. It’s a very interesting article and is an example of how, in the 21st century, we think we are so smart and know everything, when in fact, we know very little. We also tend to find that what we think we knew, we actually didn’t know at all. I could go on about the absolutes that get thrown about on your daily tv weathercast, Global Warming and news reports about medicine, but I won’t. Nevertheless, I will say that one of the American exports of modern science is a lack of humility and lack of recognizing the limitations of man.

I’ve always reasoned that the Charles Darwin theory of Evolution was quite palatable and I can fit it in easily into my own Faith regarding the creation of the earth. But, this little article makes me wonder. I mean, if the hypothesis is correct, then this is evidence of life being created from nothing. I suppose one might say that its evolution in that the volcanic activity is the catalyst that evolves the non-life into life,

Is the Debate Really Over or is This an Attempt to End Debate?

but I don’t think that fits. It’s also just organic matter being created, not a mammal or reptile or anything. Yet, when you look at the Scientific American article that supports Darwin, I don’t think that there is a place for this discovery. They may need to make an update. Then again, if you look at the definition of evolution from Gene Zimmer’s article supporting creationism, you find that this creation of life from lifelessness does fit into the evolutionary model. Whether or not this discovery fits either worldview is immaterial to the fact that it is cool and quite interesting.

On This Date in History: There is a new movie coming out about John Dillinger which stars Johnny Depp. It will be interesting to see if they have scenes regarding a botched robbery attempt on this date in 1933 in Monticello, Indiana. Two aspects of this caper are of interest. One is that there doesn’t seem to be much information on the attempted hold up of a Marshall Fields in Monticello by Dillinger and William Shaw. I suppose its because it was a failed attempt and Americans only like to hear about wins, not losses. Perhaps the movie will shed some light. Then again, movies rarely get history correct so maybe it will invent something based on loose facts.

Anyway, the other interesting thing about Dillinger is that, even though he was Public Enemy Number 1, his career as a criminal didn’t really last all that long. He was put in jail in 1924 following the beating of Mooresville, IN grocer Frank Morgan by Dillinger and his good friend Edgar Singleton. They had been out boozing it up and jumped the guy. Dillinger got caught when, a few days after the assault on September 6, 1924, Dillinger brought attention to himself by inquiring as to the well being of Mr. Morgan. As it turns out, Morgan couldn’t identify his attackers, but Dillinger was tricked into confessing.

McNutt Thought Dillinger Capable of all Sorts of Things after long prison sentence

Meanwhile, his buddy Ed pled not guilty. Ed was out of jail after a couple of years while Dillinger got 10-20 years for assault and 2-14 years for conspiracy to commit a felony. Some scholars think that the difference in sentences is what pissed off Dillinger and led him on a life of crime. Indiana Governor Paul McNutt thought that the sentence was so harsh that it might cause Dillinger to do anything once he was out of jail. The victim, Morgan, and even the sentencing judge thought the sentence was pretty tough and by 1933, the pair was joined by 182 townfolk lobbying to let Dillinger loose. On May 22, 1933 John Dillinger was set free.

That’s the odd part. He was set free on May 22 1933 and was dead by July 22, 1934. So his crime spree only lasted for a little more than a year. His first robbery was probably in Carlisle, IN on June 10, 1933. It was on June 24, 1933 that he and Shaw tried to rob the Marshall Fields in Monticello, IN. The fact it failed was probably more associated with his lack of experience than anything else, but I don’t know for sure. Even Monticello doesn’t want to talk about it. I suppose we could say that his first robbery was on June 10 and his first fialed robbery was on June 24. Anyway, Dillinger went on to amass some $359, 322 in loot taken before he was gunned down in Chicago on July 22, 1934…or was he…read about the conspiracy theory here.

Storms Thursday?

Weather Bottom Line: The big fat ridge that was anchored over the Southeast is progressing across the southern tier of states to the west. We were under the influence on Tuesday, hence, no rain. Same will be true today. However, as the ridge continues to edge westward, it will set itself up over West Texas which will put the Ohio Valley on the periphery. This will allow little disturbances around the edge to rotate through the region from the upper plains. It’s pretty tough to pick one out and say with any certainty when it will get wherever its going and at what stregnth. But, all of the data shows a shortwave moving through here late in the day on Thursday. On the one hand, it appears that the wave will be winding down somewhat. On the other hand, its coming through in the heat of the day. So, the boys at the SPC have put the Ohio Valley in a slight risk of severe thunderstorms for Thursday morning until Friday morning. Otherwise, it remains hot and somewhat humid. Humidity isn’t too bad though. Snow White and I went sculling yesterday evening and it was great.

DAY 2 CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1247 AM CDT WED JUN 24 2009

VALID 251200Z – 261200Z

…THERE IS A SLGT RISK OF SVR TSTMS THU FROM PARTS OF THE MID
MS/OHIO VALLEYS THRU THE LWR GREAT LAKES…

…SYNOPSIS…
IN A BROAD SENSE…LATEST MODEL RUNS ARE FAIRLY SIMILAR WITH REGARD
TO THE UPPER FLOW EVOLUTION THROUGH THIS FORECAST PERIOD. WITHIN
THE PRIMARY BELT OF WESTERLIES NEAR THE CANADIAN/U.S. BORDER…A
COUPLE OF SIGNIFICANT TROUGHS AND EMBEDDED SMALLER SCALE IMPULSES
LIKELY WILL REMAIN PROGRESSIVE. IT APPEARS THAT ONE WILL DIG ACROSS
THE GREAT LAKES/OHIO VALLEY REGION INTO THE NORTHEASTERN
U.S…FINALLY CONTRIBUTING TO THE NORTHEASTWARD ACCELERATION OF
REMNANT CLOSED LOW AWAY FROM THE ATLANTIC SEABOARD…THOUGH A
TRAILING SHEAR AXIS TO ANOTHER CIRCULATION NEAR THE FLORIDA GULF
COAST MAY LINGER. MEANWHILE…AN UPSTREAM TROUGH IS PROGGED TO
SHIFT EAST OF THE CANADIAN ROCKIES INTO THE CANADIAN PRAIRIES. AND
GUIDANCE CONTINUES TO SUGGEST THAT THIS FEATURE WILL CONTRIBUTE TO
NORTHEASTWARD/INLAND ACCELERATION OF THE CLOSED LOW/TROUGH NOW WEST
OF THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST. SUBSTANTIAL DISCREPANCIES REMAIN
AMONG MODELS CONCERNING THE MANNER AND SPEED AT WHICH THIS
OCCURS…WHILE CONSIDERABLE SPREAD PERSISTS AMONG NCEP SREF/MREF
MEMBERS CONCERNING THIS FEATURE AND OTHER SHORT WAVE DEVELOPMENTS
WITHIN THE EVOLVING PATTERN…WHICH WILL BE OF IMPACT TO THE
CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK.

…MID MS/OHIO VALLEYS THROUGH THE LOWER GREAT LAKES/NORTHEAST…
DESPITE THE UNCERTAINTIES…A REMNANT PLUME OF MODESTLY STEEP
MID-LEVEL LAPSE RATES ADVECTING EASTWARD ALONG THE SOUTHERN FRINGE
OF THE STRONGER WESTERLIES SEEMS LIKELY TO CONTRIBUTE TO MODERATE TO
STRONG POTENTIAL INSTABILITY THURSDAY…AHEAD OF THE DIGGING UPPER
TROUGH APPROACHING THE REGION. WITH HEATING OF A MOIST BOUNDARY
LAYER CHARACTERIZED BY SURFACE DEW POINTS IN THE UPPER 60S/LOWER
70S…GUIDANCE SUGGESTS THAT MIXED LAYER CAPE WILL REACH 1500-3000
J/KG. GIVEN RELATIVELY WEAK INHIBITION…THIS
DESTABILIZATION…COUPLED WITH FAVORABLE MID/UPPER FORCING…IS
EXPECTED TO SUPPORT WIDESPREAD CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT. ALTHOUGH
FLOW FIELDS…PARTICULARLY IN LOWER/MID LEVELS…SHOULD REMAIN
FAIRLY WEAK…THERMODYNAMIC PROFILES WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR
DOWNBURSTS AND THE EVOLUTION OF CONVECTIVELY GENERATED COLD POOLS IN
LOOSELY ORGANIZED EASTWARD/SOUTHEASTWARD ADVANCING CONVECTIVE
BANDS/CLUSTERS. THESE MAY BE ACCOMPANIED BY POTENTIALLY DAMAGING
WIND GUSTS THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS…BEFORE
BOUNDARY LAYER INSTABILITY WANES LATE THURSDAY EVENING.

…GREAT BASIN…
UNCERTAINTIES REMAIN TOO LARGE TO CONFIDENTLY DELINEATE SLIGHT RISK
PROBABILITIES. BUT…STRENGTHENING SOUTHWESTERLY MID/UPPER FLOW /UP
TO 40-50 KT AT 500 MB/ APPEARS A POSSIBILITY THURSDAY ACROSS PARTS
OF CENTRAL/EASTERN NEVADA…PERHAPS INTO WESTERN UTAH. ASSOCIATED
MOMENTUM AND INCREASING DEEP LAYER SHEAR… COUPLED WITH LARGE-SCALE
FORCING DOWNSTREAM OF APPROACHING IMPULSE…COULD CONTRIBUTE TO
ORGANIZED CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT AS DESTABILIZATION OCCURS WITH
DAYTIME HEATING. SOME HAIL COULD ACCOMPANY STRONG STORMS…BUT
STRONG WIND GUSTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE THE PRIMARY THREAT…AIDED BY
LARGE LINGERING SUB-CLOUD TEMPERATURE/DEW POINTS SPREADS.

..KERR.. 06/24/2009

Iraq Weather; Is The Ocean Floor Creating Life? Severe Threat This Wed. Eve. June 25, 2008

Note: I got a comment that gave some sort of complaint about using a different term for the Persian Gulf. A term that had been used by National Geographic but is less well known than Persian Gulf. While the writer claims that the term has been “forbidden” by the UN and in Democracies, words are not forbidden, I have gone ahead and changed the references in my spirit of not offending. However, I must point out that the logic given is weak. Further, the other side of the Persian Gulf is admitted by the poster to be occupied by the Arabian Peninsula. How one side has jurisdiction over naming rights is beyond me except in the sense of nationalism. I edit this on the Fourth of July, the day that marked freedom of thought and freedom of speech that spread around the world and invite all who think that I need a lesson in geography to take a lesson in the value of Democracy and Freedom.

Someone tell me why there is such an interest in John Wilkes Booth. There have been over 100 hits on a posting about Booth from late April. I don’t get it. People seem to be going for the picture of Booth but I have no idea why.

Weather in Iraq: Below is a link to a good Persian Gulf Map. It’s a adobe pdf map that is big and the lat and lon lines are very clear. You can use it to view the second map, which is a loop of the forecast pressure and surface temperatures in the Middle East. From the big map, you can find that the coastal region of the Persian Gulf that is part of Iraq on the Iraq/Kuwait border is 30 N and 48 E. From there you should be able to get your bearings on the loop map. I believe it is the GFS solution. This is via the US Air Force and is not classified information. Take a look at how over 72 hours how consistent the isobars and isotherms are. Very hot and not changing. The US Navy forecast for the Persian Gulf is generally highs between 100 and 110 and lows in the low to mid 80′s with periods of dust. I suppose if we saw a big pressure gradient that would mean a big sandstorm though there may be local features that initiate that sort of stuff. Anyway, the press usually doesn’t tell us much about the weather for our men and women serving in Iraq and I thought some of you might be interested. Having said all of that…the references I am making are as of the time of this posting. The link should update and so the information that you get from the loop should be current for whenever you click on it.

Link to:

Persian Gulf Map

Link to:

GFS sfc temp and pressure fcst loop

Life From the Ocean Floor? I was sitting in the doctor’s office and actually found something besides Highlights or 6 month old copies of McCalls or Sports Illustrated. Doctors are notorious for providing extremely old periodicals to read. Anyway, I stumbled upon an article in Science News that talks about how organic material is apparently being created out of inorganic matter. Hydrocarbons, it is hypothesized, are being created out of inorganic chemical reactions in thermal vents in an area called the Lost City. Thermal vents typically create chimneys of minerals that rise to as high as 20 meters before the collapse. What caught these guys’ eye was the vents that were up to 60 meters and it turned out that they were made up of hydrocarbons. It’s a very interesting article and is an example of how, in the 21st century, we think we are so smart and know everything, when in fact, we know very little. We also tend to find that what we think we knew, we actually didn’t know at all. I could go on about the absolutes that are being thrown about in the Global Warming argument, but I won’t. But, I will say that one of the American exports of modern science is a lack of humility and lack of recognizing the limitations of man. Here is the link to the article printed in Science News in February 2008.

Science News Seafloor Chemistry: Life’s Building Blocks Made Inorganically

SPC Severe Threat for Wednesday Night Through Thur. Morning. The SPC has revised their forecast map for the remainder of the day and part of the viewing area is in the slight risk. Thunderstorms have developed just north of Louisville as a shortwave axis slips across. We are on the southern extent of the axis and I wouldn’t think that too much trouble could erupt but it’s not totally out of the realm of possibilities. There is probably a cap in most of our area but it is gone once you get toward Cincinnati. I’ll have more about Louisville weather later.