Ok.. just kidding but they did create a resolution denying that humans were to blame for global warming. I'm glad we have religious figures as well as the government to interpret our scientific data! What would we do without them? I'm about to send in a paper in an attempt to get it published. I'm a little confused now on who to send it to first! Do I send it to the Baptists or to the Bush administration? Oh... or are they the same thing? I'm so confused can someone help me out here?

Here's some of the global warming story.

Southern Baptists approved a resolution on global warming Wednesday that questions the prevailing scientific belief that humans are largely to blame for the phenomenon and also warns that increased regulation of greenhouse gases will hurt the poor.

ohh.. and here's some more juicy stupidity.

The SBC resolution, approved near the end of the denomination's annual meeting, acknowledges a rise in global temperatures. But it rejects government-mandated limits on carbon-dioxide and other emissions as "very dangerous" because they might not make much difference and could lead to "major economic hardships" worldwide.

Originally, the measure also backed more government-funded research into global warming's causes and alternative energies to oil. But the resolution was amended to drop that language, in part over concerns that it would endorse strong government engagement in the issue.

If you haven't seen it yet, everyone's raving about The Neurophilosopher's excellent post about the history of trepanation. Trepanning creates a hole in the skull; cultures have done it for a variety of superstitious reasons over the ages.

I've wanted to do a (far more brief) post on the subject myself, since it's begging for more debunking. Self-trepanning advocate Bart Hughes claims that trepanation induces higher states of consciousness by increasing blood volume in the brain and decreasing cerebrospinal fluid. Increased vitality, etc.

This about that: trepanning can't affect blood flow or volume inside the brain since the hole doesn't penetrate the dura mater. It's not physically possible. CSF is located in the subarachnoid layer, below the dura (see figure; click for larger image). Mr. Hughes and his followers only opened their skulls.

It's also quite unnecessary if all you want is more blood flow in the brain. A quote from The Neurocritic: "There are a lot of ways you can increase blood flow to the brain. One of them is raising your metabolic rate, you don't need to drill a f***ing hole in your head. Like, duh."

It doesn't make one smarter, younger or happier anyway. One man who underwent a home procedure only to conclude it didn't work warns, "I would, at this time, warn against undergoing this procedure, mostly to anyone who was considering this as a way to alleviate chronic depression. If someone underwent this hoping it would be a panacea for all of their troubles and then it wasn't, that might just push them off the edge." He adds, "As much I hate to realize it, I believed what I wanted to believe."

For an interesting look at the contemporary subculture around trepanation, and his story, complete with diary and gory pictures, check out this page at the fab BME body modifications site.

Joke of the Day from Professor Vinod Menon, about a George Bush brain scan.