However, Creationists often make it sound like any bird could micro-evolve any other bird because “birds” are a “kind” of animal. However, the same person will then fail to group all “mammals” as a “kind,” saying things like dogs can’t become cats (and monkeys can’t become people).

Sometimes (when convenient), “kind” seems to refer to entire taxonomic Classes of organisms. Other times, it is mysteriously restricted to taxonomic Families. Still other times, it seems to limit change to the Genus or Species level. But the difference is never explained.

So, can any creationist out there provide a clear, non-shifting, usable definition of the word “kind” that we could use in a serious debate about evolution? One that isn’t subjective and won’t change from discussion to discussion?

Thanks!
@gertystorrud:

“‘kind’=the specific, individual species. Period.”

So, Noah did take a pair of every *species* of animal on the ark, then?

Out of curiosity, does this include species like the various monotremes which only exist in Australia and never in the Middle East and, if a “kind” of animal all their own, could not have micro-evolved from any other “kind” of animal that would have been on the ark?

How did Noah get them? And how did he get them back to Australia (and only Australia) after the flood?
@ Israel Lover:
“A person is a kind, black or white does not matter.
A cat is a kind, Panther or house cat does not matter.”

This is EXACTLY what I am taking about. People are a species (Homo sapiens sapiens).

“Cats” are a Family (Felidae).

WHY does “kind” mean Species for humans and Family for cats? Why isn’t the “kind” for man Hominidae?

What is the *specific, distinguishing* thing that lumps ALL feline and feline-like things in a big pool, but specifically excludes humans from other related primates?

First question:
-It was storming outside
-the rain poured on the yard
-i could hear the thunder
-the weather was bad

Second Question:
-The birds sang all day
-they were doing yard work
-the lawnmower drowned their voices
-the workers were outside making a fuss

Thank you soo much!
OMG I am very confused with Abstract and COncrete. And they are different questions so within each question you can only rate within 1 to 4 and the second question another 1 to 4.
(sorry for the confusion)

First question: Rating it 1-4
-It was storming outside
-the rain poured on the yard
-i could hear the thunder
-the weather was bad

and

Second Question: Rating this only 1-4
-The birds sang all day
-they were doing yard work
-the lawnmower drowned their voices
-the workers were outside making a fuss

Thank you soo much!

After removing my carpet and padding (including old carpet tack strips and baseboards) I found cracks in the concrete, paint or primer all over the floor, and in some spots where I pulled the tack strips, divets of concrete came out with the nails. Does anyone have experience with repairing concrete prior to acid staining? I’d like to do an overlay rather than taking the time to repair each individual flaw plus getting the primer or paint off the floor. I figure an overlay will kill all birds with one stone. I’m guessing I’ll have to allow 30 days for the new overlay to cure. Strangely enough, I can’t find any info online to tell me that YES, IT IS OKAY TO USE AN OVERLAY BEFORE USING QUIKRETE ACID ETCHING AND THE PRODUCT YOU NEED TO BUY TO OVERLAY IS CALLED …. (fill in the blank). I don’t just want to take the advice of the people at Lowe’s or Home Depot. I am looking for someone who actually has experience in repairing concrete before applying acid stain. Thanks for any and all info!

In fact, Dan of Buffalo won second place with a fetching tune from Garth Brooks. But the modelves and axtors who won that day were shams. It seems that the night before, the judges got wasted in a tavern downtown. They then burned the few notes they had taken, and instead put all the numbers in hat. (Each modelf and axtor was given a number at the time of the initial competition the day before.) The then randomly pulled forty-eight numbers, and those were the finalists. (The few who opposed this method were promptly consumed by the tarp-wearing judge.)

In fact, one of the finalists announced for the acting category seemed very surprised. When he got up to the stage and gave his name, he confessed his shock was due to the fact that he hadn’t even auditioned for the acting portion of the competition. He was promptly eaten by the tarp’d judge.

The axtors were atrocious, and to watch them was to snort anthrax. Jesse conceded that he knew little of modeling and so could not truly judge. although he could not see the method in the madness. But as for the acting he knew poo when he saw it. And what he saw was poo after poo after poo. In fact, a very acute logic struck him. See if you can follow along.

There were six different rooms with different judges in each one. The auditions weren’t recorded. So how did the judges determine the top 12 male and female actors. And so on and so forth? If each panel of judges convened (which is doubtful) and agreed on their top 12, that’s 36 of the best guy axtors. And if they picked the top two in each room, who is to say that the third pick of one room wasn’t actually better than the first pick of another room?

Whatever the logic, whatever the circumstance, those axtors picked didn’t seem to know what a stage was, let alone what to do on it. But at last, the torment ended. The winners were declared and the mass was dismissed for call backs.

Callbacks

And so begins the shortest chapter in this tale. Jesse The Gray had to stand in line under the letter “G” for his callback. By no random twist of fate, it happened to be the longest line in the whole alphabet…dwarfing even “A” and “B”. All 3,000 modelves and axtors got callbacks, guaranteeing that no one would leave consciously feeling pillaged.

After an hour, Jesse got his callback envelope. He had a total of four-three of which were the ones every mother’s son and daughter got. He made his way upstairs and waited in the main line for two and a half hours. Then he went into the different rooms, where the callback lines wound around and through each other like the many snakes of Madusa’s hair. Another two hours.

Reaching the front of the line, Jesse was given a card, and a lady behind the fold up table said: “Here, o’ victim of perilous scams! Take this card and visit my website. Send me a headshot and we’ll talk. Farewell.”

And thus ended the callbacks for Jesse The Gray.

Epilogue

Thus the quest ended for Jesse The Gray. He left the Conference hotel a good four hours later than he had planned on-and empty handed at that. He made his way back to the coast, stopping and slowing and accelerating sporadically as he went.

His Bird O’ Fire began to sound very worn out and all 175 ponies heehawed in protest. Upon reaching the main road, he spent a good two hours sitting in traffic. As luck would have it, there were three different accidents several miles apart involving young guys who had modified rims, lowered bodies, and windows that were tinted black. It may very well have been that they were painted black, for that at least would have given just cause for why their drivers couldn’t drive.

Jesse could not make it back to his little home in Spotsylvania in time, and so had to make an unplanned stay in dump that passed for a hotel only because someone charged people to stay there. The room reeked of cigarette butts and human butts, and was falling apart in countless places. Jesse mused that the inn must have been built when the Earth was very young…perhaps on the eighth day of creation. But he weathered the night, and finished his journey home in fifty-degree weather.

Upon arriving at home, he took off his One Ring and threw it in the fire to feel like he had accomplished something, but then regretted it because it was very precious to him.

The next day he fell ill with ear infections and bronchitis, and so lay on his back for a week.

Thus ends the merry quest and adventures of block machine, who traveled through four states (twice), paid $240 for gas, oil, and inns, put another 3,000 miles on his Bird O’ Fire, and caught a horrible cold and then had nothing better to do but write it all down in a mostly non-fictional third-person narrative.

Concrete blocks are used in building everything from huge buildings right down to the smallest backyard compost box. Demand is constant and will never die as long as building is going on. You can count on a good market for your cement blocks. You are not making widgets which go out of fashion in a short time.

If you do not have a lot of money to invest,but are looking for a way to start your own business,concrete block manufacturing may be your opportunity. You can start from home working with hand molds in your garage. With this method you can turn out 100 blocks per day quite easily. At a later stage your business will have grown and you will need more blocks to supply your customers. You can buy or build a concrete block machine capable of making hundreds of blocks in a working day.

Plywood and sheet metal are needed to make hand molds. They are easy to make from available plans. You simply fill the molds with the appropriate concrete mix and turn out the blocks to dry. Plans with instructions are available to show how this is done. All you need to get started are some plywood and sheet metal to make the molds and a supply of Portland cement,sand,gravel and water. All of these are easy to obtain locally at your lumberyard.

When your concrete brick machine production using hand molds is no longer sufficient you will want a machine to manufacture the blocks. There are a number of commercially made machines available. They do a good job but are quite pricey. Buy one if you can afford it and it will pay for itself with increased productivity. Building your own machine is the cheaper way to go.

Build your own machine? Yes you can build an excellent machine from new or used auto parts and a few odds and ends. It is easy to make and a welding shop can do the welding if you are not competent at this. This machine can turn out 800 blocks in a working day and is as good as or better than the commercial models.

When you are manufacturing concrete blocks you will naturally want to add other concrete products to your line. There is a strong demand for bird baths, sundials,garden furniture,patio slabs and a variety of other products. These additional products will add considerably to your profits when you offer them to customers. The markup on these is often much more than on cement blocks. Plans and instructions are available for all these items and they are certainly worth adding to your business line of products.

The small business which you started part time in your garage can in a relatively short time become a full time very profitable enterprise. The sky is the limit depending on how hard you are prepared to work at it. Go to it and soon you will be making a far better income than you could expect at any job.

Making your own block machine is reasonably easy if you have any mechanical ability. The saving over purchase of a machine is big. You can also build a smaller hand operated machine which is of simple construction and can turn out 200 blocks in a day. When you have a machine going you will need help to operate the machine and move the completed blocks to the drying area. To house your blocks while drying you will need more space.