May 28, 2014 by Robert Young One among many inevitable phenomena? Credit: edwardmusiak, CC BY-NC-ND

For a biologist like me, the interesting questions about religion have always been where did it come from and why did it evolve? I taught evolutionary biology in a Catholic University in the most Catholic country in the world Brazil. Some of my colleagues here in the UK thought that must have been very challenging, but it wasn't. The Brazilian population is unusual in that 60% of the population are religious and also believe in evolution by natural selection.

The development of new religions looks like the way new species are formed and thrive. In case of protestants, the "evolutionary spark" would be Martin Luther with his calls for reform. Similarly the deliberate differences, such as religious rituals, were created to keep the two faiths separated in the same manner that speciation of songbirds often provides related species with similar, but distinct songs so they will not interbreed.

A recent study by Bernard Crespi and Kyle Summers at Simon Fraser University attempts to explain religion in biological terms. They believe that evolution of religion is similar to what happens to biological species when they evolve through "inclusive fitness", which is how biologists describe talk about nepotism.

The goal of all organisms is first to survive and then to create as many copies of their genes as possible, this can be done by reproducing at a high rate or by helping your relatives (who have copies of your genes) to reproduce or survive (inclusive fitness). There is an old Bedouin saying, which sums up what scientists call Hamilton's Rule:

Me against my brothers, me and my brothers against my cousins, me and my brother and my cousins against the world.

So inclusive fitness says we should take into account the copies of our genes in the bodies of relatives when expressing behaviour and help relatives when we are in gene profit.

For most of our evolutionary history we lived in small groups (fewer than 250 individuals) of relatives and in-laws. It was here that religion was first born. Anthropologists believe it started as wisdom being passed down from elder relatives. In many religions, the ancients (the dead) are worshipped as givers of advice. Much of this advice would be moral guidelines about how to treat kin well love thy neighbour and thereby promote copies of your own genes through the survival and reproduction of relatives.

The question is how to get people to believe in and follow such advice, the answer would be to develop the concept that such wisdom comes from super-beings. If such elders were long dead, this creates a concept of a benevolent supernatural parent figure, which are frequent in many religions. Thus, serving God is synonymous with serving your kin circle. Such selfless behaviour is susceptible to exploitation by free riders, but this is counteracted by the overseeing kin circle (the omnipresent God).

To support this evolution of tribal Gods, mechanisms are necessary to promote spiritual feelings (belief in the supernatural). Feeling spiritual has a genetic basis related to the creation of ideas and people with these genes are more likely to be religious. These feelings are also related to the friendliness neuromodulator oxytocin, which can generate a warm feeling of power, and which comes from being part of a large cooperative group.

Excerpt from:
Could biology explain the evolution of religion?

CARRINGTON Kindred made it a three-peat in Class B girls golf on Wednesday.

The Vikings shot a 351 in the second and final round at CrossRoads Golf Course and finished with a two-day total of 704 eight strokes ahead of both Hazen and Langdon. Kindred led Hazen by just two strokes after Tuesdays first round, but the Bison couldnt keep pace with the Vikings on Wednesday, turning in a final-round score of 358.

Napoleon-Gackle-Streeter trailed Kindred by three strokes after the first day, but fell to fourth place (731) after shooting a 375 on Wednesday.

Fargo Oak Grove rounded out the top five with a 733.

Kindred placed two golfers among the top 10 individuals. Alexis Piatz tied for third place with a 163 (81-82) and Savanna Nesemeier tied for seventh with a 168 (83-85).

Baylee Fitzgerald led Hazen the state runner-up for the third year in a row with a 174 (85-89). Kayla Lindquist and Nikole Bitterman both finished with a 177, and Bethany Leier carded a 185. Lindquist had Hazens best score of the day, 85.

Hazen coach Kathy Berglund was named Class B girls coach of the year.

Napoleon-GSs top performer was Shania Gross, who finished in a tie for seventh with a 168.

Heart Rivers Jada Mattson claimed medalist honors, shooting a 77 on Wednesday and finishing with a two-day total of 153. Brynn Fischer of Langdon was a distant second with a 160.

Kinzie Molde of Grafton and Mattson were tied for the lead both 76 at the end of the first day, but Molde fell out of contention on Wednesday, struggling to an 89.

Original post:
Kindred girls win third straight' B' crown

It's time to sound the alarms, because summer is officially upon us! Let that sink in, and then get yourself to the closest beach,stat.

It's finally time to whip out your favorite bikini and catch up on all that beach reading that's been piling up. But before you sink your toes into the sand, you'll need to pack the perfect bag in order to survive a day in the sun. Let's be real, forgetting a good sunscreen is a total day-ruiner.

Luckily, this where we come in. In our latest edition of What We Would Wear Wednesdays, we are diving into our own personal beach bags to show you some beach-side essentials that we couldn't live without.

Keep reading to see what we pack!

What We Would Wear: On a first date

"I'm totally obsessed with The Endless Summer and that retro California surf vibe at the moment. This T from Rip Curl and matching rainbow stripe flip flops from Roxy feel like they're straight out of the 70's. Simple swimwear is definitely the way to go with all those stripes and this white bikini from Victoria Secret flatters in all the right places. Throw in a wide brimmed floppy hat, nivea sunblock, my Diana and some Eckhart Tolle and I'm ready for the sunshine!"Jacqueline

"First and foremost, you have to have a good beach towel (mine's from Marshalls!) and a good summer read. I'm currently just getting into Gone Girl and reading like a crazy person before the movie is released! While you're out in the sun, you must make sure to protect yourself. I've been crisped one too many times to leave it up to chance! I use Victoria Secret's Sun Broad Spectrum SPF Spray, and then the After Sun Tan Enhancing Lotion for when I get off of the beach. It's a great way to keep my bronzed look going strong long after a fun weekend. Lastly, I also always make sure to have a quick and easy cover-up on me at all times. I've found that a witty t-shirt goes a long way.Dilascia t-shirts always hilarious and go perfectly with my vintage Dolce and Gabanna jean shorts!"Jenna

What We Would Wear: The Mean Girls Edition

"Not to brag but I feel like I've mastered the art of beach bag packing. It's kind of a requirement for SoCal residents, after all. In my tote I usually have a nautical coverup, a large Ralph Lauren towel, my Aviators, Rainbow flip flops and a beach read (currently: a travel guide on Italy AKA research for my summer vacay). And of course, at least three sunscreens."Cinya

"One of my favorite things about summer is spur-of-the moment trips to the beach. I love the mad scramble of throwing items into my much-loved Trina Turk canvas bag while texting friends about which pier we'll make our camp at. More often than not, I'll wear a pair of Madewell denim shorts and a flowy blouse or tank top over a bikini from Target. I've never bothered with sneakers at the beachwho wants to deal with all that sand?so, flip flops are always the way to go for me. A juicy, page-turner is also a mustthis summer I'll be re-reading Philippa Gregory 's The Other Queen. And last, but certainly not least I never forget to pack a high-duty sunscreen and a pair of sunglasses. Nothing ruins a great beach day like a sunburn."Rosemary

Originally posted here:
What We Would Wear (and Bring!) to the Beach

The pop princess looks fierce as she graces the cover of 62 international editions of the glossy mag

If proof was ever needed that Katy Perry is one of the world's biggest pop stars - here it is.

The Roar singer dazzles as she poses up a storm for the cover of Cosmopolitan's July issue. But it's not just any old cover. Katy is theCosmo's first ever global cover star, which means she'll appear on 62 international editions of the mag.

The 29-year-old green-haired singer rocks a number of different cover looks, including a fierce multi-coloured sequin zip-up playsuit and a sexy extreme thigh split slinky dress.

In another cover, she's dressed in an eye-popping boob tube dress covered in donuts and pop art.

The singer was interviewed by US chat show host Chelsea Handler who at one point bravely quipped: "You were married to Russell Brand. Then you broke up and started dating John Mayer.

"These are two men that most people would say, 'If you're not going to date two people in this world, it should be these two.'"

Katy also told Chelsea: "I know it sounds really hippie-s**t, but I'm living in the now and not fantasising about the future or [being] torn up about the past.

"I'm super Eckhart Tolle. I have a lot of respect for [John] still, and I know it goes both ways. There's no bad blood, but I'm sure there will be inspired songs."

Katy's currently in London performing a string of Prismatic World Tour shows at London's O2 Arena.

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Katy Perry wows as Cosmopolitan magazine's first ever global cover star

Katy Perry looked super fierce on the first global Cosmopolitan cover, with her stunning green locks and flawless COVERGIRL makeup! She reveals her favorite foods and even what color shell dye her hair next in the new issue, hitting newsstands on June 3.

Katy Perry, 29,rocks her new green hair on the first ever global Cosmopolitan July 2014 cover!See the most embarrassing thing in her closet and what she has to say about John Mayer Theres no bad blood, but Im sure there will be inspired songs below.

We are obsessedwith Katys fierce look on the July 2014 cover of Cosmopolitan!

Makeup artistJake Baileydid an amazing job on Katyusing COVERGIRL products.To achieve Katys flawless skin, Jake used the new CoverGirl Ready, Set Gorgeous Foundation in #120.

Katys bold brows were groomed with the CoverGirl Brow and Eyemaker Pencil in Midnight Brown and to darken up her eyes, Jake used the CoverGirl Bombshell Intensity Liner in Pitch Black Passion.

We also love how long Katys lashes were and to get that look, Jake grabbed the CoverGirl Bombshell Curvaceous Mascara by LashBlast. He alsogave hera soft pop of color with theCoverGirl LipPerfection Lip Color in Heavenly #260!

We definitely cant miss her bright green hair that was waved to give her some texture and volume.

Katys rainbow sequined dress on the cover definitely complimented her whole look!

Katy told Chelsea Handler, who conducted the interview: I know it sounds really hippie-sh*t, but Im living in the now and not fantasizing about the future or [being] torn up about the past. Im super Eckhart Tolle. I have a lot of respect for [John] still, and I know it goes both ways. Theres no bad blood, but Im sure there will be inspired songs.

We cant wait to hear those!

Here is the original post:
Katy Perry Admits Shell Write About John Mayer Breakup In Songs

By Anthony Meindl | Posted May 28, 2014, 10 a.m.

Im a good kisser. Lets just start with that.

Yet I recently made out with this guy who told me that I wasnt kissing correctly. Or maybe he didnt say it quite like that, but by stopping me in the middle of a kiss and instructing me as to where and how I should proceed, it sure felt like I wasnt doing it correctly.

Oh no he didnt! You say? Well, actually, yeah he did.

Once I got through the shame and embarrassment of thinking I was doing something wrong (which took me all the way back to my first kissing experience as a 16-year-old and actually not knowing what I was doing), I ascertained in the moment that this remark by my future husband (not) had more to do with his controlling tendencies than it did my missing his bottom lip.

But it also showed me where Iand all of uscan get stuck.

When life (through people, experiences, rejections, and challenges) delivers us a response not to our liking, we often retaliate by meeting such resistance with our own pushbacknamely, control.

It can show up in a lot of ways: Shutting down. disconnecting, disengaging, closing oneself off, getting angry, or just becoming a total ass to someone. This also shows up in acting, where scenes can trigger emotions that we usually try our hardest to shut down and control in our day to day life.

Its normal. It happens. But combatting control with control never works. It shuts out all possibility for solution. It shuts out all possibility of truthfully living in the moment in our work. It shuts out generating the kind of awareness that were looking for in life.

That is, awareness of how to remain open when what you really want to do is control! If we could but realize how powerful we truly are when we let go of control, we might just never try to control things again.

Read more:
What a Kiss Can Teach You About Acting, the Moment, and Life

Feature Article of Friday, 30 May 2014

Columnist: Kwarteng, Francis

In 2002, under the auspices of the Zimbabwe International Book Fair Association, the Pan-African Booksellers Association, the African Publishers Network, Book Development Councils, African Writers Association, Library Associations, and the Pan-African Book Booksellers Association included Kwame Nkrumahs Ghana: The Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah in its comprehensive final list of Africas 100 Best Books of the 20th Century. It should be stressed here that the entire selection process was highly competitive. Moreover, members of the international jury tasked to vet this collection of highly influential writings apiece and to approve their inclusion in the final list, arguably, represented some of the worlds finest, most accomplished, and authoritative thinkers in their chosen fields of expertise.

As a matter of fact, the Information Services of Columbia Univeristy Library has this to say in connection with the rigorous selection process: Nominations were made based on the basis that the book has had a powerful, important or affecting influence on the nominator, as an individual, or on society. Nevertheless, there are many around the world who had equally wished Nkrumahs Consciencism: Philosophy and Ideology for Decolonization, one of his well-known scholarly works as well as of his most widely-read masterpieces, had made the final list as well, given that Consciencism represents one of the most sophisticated philosophical works ever penned by a renowned and respected 20th-Century thinker and scholar.

Quite apart from Nkrumahs Consciencism, Attoh Ahums The Gold Coast Nation and National Consciousness and Joseph E. Casely-Hayfords Ethiopia Unbound are consciously transformative?philosophically, culturally, and ideologically?as far as their cumulative intellectual seminality goes. Likewise, Dr. Theophile Obenga, one of the worlds leading Egyptologists, historians, philosophers, and linguists, has described Consciencism as a powerful, sophisticated philosophical treatise on African psycho-physical decolonization! But, generally, what is usually slurred over in the comprehensive valuation?by way of exegesis?of Nkrumahs corpus of written works by his enemies and supporters alike, in the areas of theory and practice, more importantly, is their intellectual or analytic failure to recognize the scientific infrastructure upon which Nkrumahs ideas are raised.

There is, therefore, a critical exegetical diastema in an otherwise interpretative continuum supposedly enjoyed by the extensive library of Nkrumahs revolutionary ideas, a fundamental question eloquently and vigorously raised and pursued by the polymathic Dr Kofi Kissi Dompere, a well-respected mathematician, economist, philosopher, statistician, historian, business analyst, radio programmer/host (WPFW Radio, 89.3 FM), operations researcher, and prolific author in the American Academy. Moreover, this view of scientific singularity presumptively secreted in the interpretive continuum of the far-reaching library of Nkrumahs provocative ideas enjoys ample support from the material locationality of his massive industrialization projects as well as from his progressive attempts at extenuating human suffering.

That made him, Kwame Nkrumah, an intellectual sophisticate and a redoubtable critical thinker to reckon with. That is, Nkrumah was, as it were, admittedly, a rationalist, empiricist, and pragmatist. What is more, much like the wide-ranging revolutionary ideas of Cheikh Anta Diops, Henri Poincares, Theophile Obengas, Martin Bernals, Albert Einsteins, Molefi Kete Asantes, Louis Leakeys, WEB Du Boiss, the experimental ideas of Kwame Nkrumahs have begun to gain intellectual currency, to acquire global exegetical character, as well as to incur the scientific approbation of investigators. Thus, Kwame Nkrumah pushed his thinking beyond the gibbous heliopause of theorizing to accommodate the galactic socio-political exigencies of praxis, the latter of which his practical legacy articulately represents today, ideally, both in the corporeality of infrastructure, namely, public capital, as well as in the ethereality of innovative ideas and institutions.

This is not surprising, however, for, Nkrumah, a highly-gifted, brilliant, and innovative African philosopher-president, came from an influential stemma of profound thinkers, of which the polymathic Imhotep easily comes to mind (See Robert Bauvals and Thomas Brophys Imhotep the African: Architect of the Cosmos; Molefi Kete Asantes The Egyptian Philosophers: Ancient African Voices from Imhotep to Akhenaten; Theophile Obengas African Philosophy: The Pharaonic Period: 2780-330 BC). Asante writes in this connection: Nkrumah is the single most important African politician of the past century. Almost all ideas that are vetted by contemporary leaders have appeared in Nkrumahs writing. He is the seminal African political philosopher. In fact, the epistemological strength of Nkrumahs intellectual sociality and philosophical culturalilty are incontestable hallmarks of a true genius.

Granted, these ideas Asante implicitly refers to are not merely package-insert questions of epistemology, culture, scientific socialism, political spirituality (decolonization of the African mind), but also of science, technology, development economics, modernization, humanism, political economy, and industrialization of Africa. Yet, Asantes precise synthesis invites another matricial preference from the epistemological coordinate-geometry of Nkrumahs innovative ideas, which is that of the spatial-locational cognate of Nkrumahs scientific philosophizing, the science or politics of pragmatism, that is.

Clearly, the logical carrefour of theory and praxis is inhumed in the formulaic instruments of rigorous scientific philosophization and experimentation, two ideas Dr. Dompere explores in his dynamic critique of Consciencism, though, much unlike Asantes vigorous critique of Du Boisian double consciousness via the epistemological institutionalization of the Theory of Afrocentricity or via the dethronement of Newtonian mechanics or Aristotelian physics (classical physics) by way of the proven experimental majesty of quantum and relativistic physics. The book Consciencism is so influential as to cause Lang T.K.A. Nubour, an author, to re-issue an abridged version of it, titled The Mind of Kwame Nkrumah: Manual for the Study of Consciencism, as the Center for Consciencist Studies and Analysis (CENCSA) notes:

Read more:
Dr. Kofi Dompere On Nkrumahs Scientific Thinking