On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection

The Origin of Species (full title On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life) by British naturalist Charles Darwin is one of the hallmark works of biology. In it, Darwin details his theory that organisms gradually evolve through natural selection. It was first published on November 24, 1859 and immediately sold out its initial print run. The book was highly controversial when first published, as it negated the need for a biblical creation.
Darwin presents a theory of evolution that is, except concerning the inheritance of traits acquired by education in which he still believes (see discussion page), almost identical to the theories now accepted by scientists. He carefully argues out this theory of evolution of species by natural selection by presenting all the accumulated scientific evidence from his voyage on the HMS Beagle in the 1830s. His theories were opposed to the then-accepted viewpoint of creationism. It is arguably one of the pivotal works in scientific history. Moreover, it was (and still is) eminently readable, even by the non-specialist (although it is very wordy - a good general level of intelligence is a prerequisite for comprehending the arguments and subtle nuances put forth by Darwin).
Darwin, as evidenced by his later work, The Descent of Man, was well aware of the implications such a theory would have on the study of the origins of humanity; consequently, he withheld publication of his accumulated evidence in favour of natural selection for more than a decade. He was eventually forced into publication because of the independent development of a similar theory by Alfred Russel Wallace, who sent Darwin his manuscript in 1858. A joint publication of Darwin/Wallace's theory of evolution was put forth the following year. It is felt by some that Wallace deserves as much credit as Darwin for the theory of natural selection, and that he has been rather unfairly marginalised from the history of its development.
Although the theory is widely accepted by scientists today, it is still highly controversial in many countries, particularly in certain southern states of the United States — see Scopes Monkey Trial, creationism.

Sniper Media Coverage and Endless False Speculations Were a Perfect Example of Mindless Overkill of All Fluff & No Substance

Nothing has been more contemptible than the wall-to-wall, 24/7 coverage of the DC sniper case. Of course, it was a big, terrifying case, but nothing justify the utter waste of media attention. A hostage standoff, riot or a volcano provide lots of slow moments punctuated with furious action, but at least the media can find the action and cover the juicy parts. Unless they intended on covering every last square meter of the four surrounding counties and Washington DC 24/7, only blind luck could put the camera at the scene & time of the crime. So endless time was spent mining the human interest remains of the poor sods who stopped these Islamic terrorists' bullets, cops walking around in circles at the crime scene or endless reading of official pronouncements at police news conferences all day.

The most contemptible part was the endless parade of experts, profilers and psychic diviners who all had their speculations turn to the trash it was when the real truth emerged. The profile, of course, called for a white male Christian right wing loner/loser (probably voted for Bush and joined the NRA); this was an article of faith amongst the idiotarians. Of course, it was two black male Islamic terrorist losers. From the start, I refused to believe it was a serial killer, I knew it was Islamic terrorists. Think DC = Nation's Capital, War on (Islamic) Terror, Duh Homer! So on the cheap, these homeless punks created untold havoc and misery while tying down at least a billion bucks worth of police and ten billion worth of media resources. No surprise to this webmeister that they were black, with the Black Muslims' penchant for violence, like H Rap Brown's and the notorious 5 Percenters, expect more! But thanks to the stupid cops and their whiteman profile, these black punks got away to kill some more after a police stop in the Charm City. Imagine the reverse happening, Sharpton would have started a riot by now. Only 55% of sniper killers in this country are white men, but in the mind of the average liberal or black blockhead, it's 100%. Notice how the media talking heads would like us to forget their stupidity. laziness and mendaciously boring coverage.

Yes Virginia, they are Islamic terrorists! Like the Mafia and the coalition of international Communist countries, the Islamicists don't act under a unified high command with endless written orders and detailed chain of command. Instead, a biggy like Osama plans few big attacks and hopes the faithful, in allied Islamicist organizations, will follow through with mayhem of their own. The only ways to defeat them is to first strike back at them in their sanctuaries. No more will good Muslim leaders like Khaddafy, the Taliban or Idi Amin use their captive nation as a sanctuary for these brutes. But most important, they must be defeated every time, even at the cost of some civilain casualties. Putin and the Russians are ham fisted and brutal at times, but they should be commended for making future terriorist dwell not only on their impending deaths and the deaths of their camp followers, BUT THEY WILL PROBABLY FAIL! Nothing fails better than failure!