Welcome to General Chat - GAW Community Area
This General Chat area started off as a place for people to talk about things that are off topic, however it has quickly evolved into a community and has become an integral part of the GAW experience for many of us.
Based on its evolving needs and plenty of user feedback, we are trying to bring some order and institute some rules. Please make sure you read these rules and participate in the spirit of this community.
Rules for General Chat
-
Be respectful to each other. This is of utmost importance, and comments may be removed if deemed not respectful.
-
Avoid long drawn out arguments. This should be a place to relax, not to waste your time needlessly.
-
Personal anecdotes, puzzles, cute pics/clips - everything welcome
-
Please do not spam at the top level. If you have a lot to post each day, try and post them all together in one top level comment
-
Try keep things light. If you are bringing in deep stuff, try not to go overboard.
-
Things that are clearly on-topic for this board should be posted as a separate post and not here (except if you are new and still getting the feel of this place)
-
If you find people violating these rules, deport them rather than start a argument here.
-
Feel free to give feedback as these rules are expected to keep evolving
In short, imagine this thread to be a local community hall where we all gather and chat daily. Please be respectful to others in the same way
Rules For the rest of the Site also accessible on the sidebar.
--
Jackson County Missouri here. We have a ballot measure here called amendment 5. Lots of ads for it. Its ads say phase out income tax and lower real-estate taxes by raising taxes on the rich. "They should pay their fair share so you don't have to." I see communist red flags all over this. I'm sure it's being pushed with much deception. It's disgusting. I doubt if many see through the lies. It will probably pass. I hope it gets some attention!
Saw this on Gettr. Apparently Larry Silverstein wasn’t around to have a demolition crew rig and pull this building.
https://gettr.com/post/p41c9g5de26
I keep seeing this everywhere. For what its worth, it was a small plane like cessna, not a passenger plane
Traditional Welsh music from the Whistling Badger pub.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pMOHIQeTsg&list=PLavq4kmeyKEGdUWxRAMKeWYns-vvw13SV
u/#ridetofreedom
Still here riding. Flag of freedom still flying, even through the moments of anger.
Evil is deeply intertwined everywhere.
I think it's beyond what we can undo.
We'll need a miracle to dwarf Exodus.
I pray it's the Glorified Return, at last!
On the last day of his 45 presidency DJT said that God is coming back and there will be no doubt in in anyone mind that it was our God. I can't find this clip anywhere after years of looking, I believe it was on either Voat or Facebook.
God IS in Charge.
He CAN Do Anything if it's His Will.
PRAY!
If my people who are called by my name...
Wings of Beauty: Designed Detail in Butterflies BY JONATHAN K. CORRADO, PH.D., P. E. * | MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2026
https://www.icr.org/article/15974/
A butterfly wing may look like painted glass, but beneath its beauty is a living control system. A recent study on South American butterflies and a day-flying moth found a striking theme. Two genes, ivory and optix, help make similar colors in insects that conventional scientists place far apart on the family tree.1 The study presents this as evidence that evolution has repeated itself. Yet the finding points to a stronger, creation-based thesis: these wing patterns show built-in flexibility based on stable, reusable design.
The wing colors in these insects, although very pretty, are not random decoration: they are warning signs. Many of the species use bright bands and patches as warning signals that help mark them as poor food choices for predators.2 That function requires not only pigment, but also wing scales, color paths, body plans, timing, and controls that put the right color in the right place.
Again and again, the PLOS Biology study found that similar color patterns are tied to the same control regions near the ivory and optix genes.1 Earlier butterfly research also showed that wing pattern changes can involve moved or reshuffled control parts that affect where a trait appears.3 This means that butterflies’ genes don’t start from scratch when formulating the color design on their wings. Instead, they tune their existing system in the control regions to adjust where the colors go.
These regions act like dimmer switches. While they can’t explain the machine they control, dimmer switches can adjust a light. But they did not invent the power, wires, glass, or bulb. In the same way, control DNA can change color placement on a wing, but it does not explain the origin of the wing, the pigment system, or the genetic logic behind it.
The authors also state that repeated use of the same genes points to strong limits and expected outcomes.1 That observation fits well with the creation model’s assertion that living things show flexibility, just as butterflies and moths vary in color pattern. But that modification works inside limits, so the core system remains intact.
The logic is straightforward. When a system gives controlled, repeatable results, its built-in parts should be central to explaining those outcomes. ICR has made this point about biological adaptability. Organisms use internal systems to adjust to changing conditions rather than inventing themselves through unguided processes, like the butterflies in the study demonstrate.4
The butterfly wing gives a small but powerful lesson in design. Its colors can change, but only through systems already in place—illustrating the difference between flexibility and invention. The study shows real variation within clear limits in a living system, not the origin of the machinery behind it. Such apparent design is not surprising in a world made by the Creator. His workmanship is displayed in both the grandeur of life and the fine details of a butterfly wing.
References
Ben Chehida, Y. et al. 2026. Genetic Parallelism Underpins Convergent Mimicry Coloration in Lepidoptera across 120 Million Years of Evolution. PLOS Biology. 24 (4). Evolution Has Reused the Same Genes for 120 Million Years, Study Shows. University of York news release. Posted on york.ac.uk April 30, 2026. Wallbank, R. W. R. et al. 2016. Evolutionary Novelty in a Butterfly Wing Pattern through Enhancer Shuffling. PLOS Biology. 14 (1). Guliuzza, R. J. 2019. Engineered Adaptability: Continuous Environmental Tracking Wrap-Up. Acts & Facts. 48 (8): 17–19.
The intricacies and beauty designed for insects like butterflies and dragonflies are really amazing and point to a Creator who put His love and care into even the smallest of things. The more we learn, the sillier it is to believe that all this was random evolution.
Yep. He has the whole world in his hands. Including evolution.