Open thread 12/30

Thread_2

68 Comments

  1. Max
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 1:25 am | Permalink

    Say Pat, here’s another benefit to global warming.

    Check out the lakes in Canada.

    Could still go fishing in Southern Ontario.

    http://www.socc.ca/lakeice/lakeice_current_e.cfm

  2. Pat Herron
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 1:47 am | Permalink

    I agree Max. The ice house will either stay on the bank, or I guess it will fall through and become nice cover for the fish!

    But with the dollar less than the maple leaf, not sure I want to take my dollars north.

    Palm Trees has it correct. The trees will line the blvds in the midwest one day!

    Instead of cold water northern, walleye, and musky, we will see more small/big mouth bass and crappie!

    Might as well enjoy a warmer world. (sure could use it tonight)

  3. Herbert West III
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 2:28 am | Permalink

    Good morning. I found “The Hobbit” on the internet. It was Published in 1937 and was followed in 1955 by “The Lord of the Rings”. I did a yahoo search engione search and found this at wilkipdedia. I e-mailed them at info@store.tolkien.co.uk They are the original “Hobbit”. “Harry Potter” is plagorism. I hope too see what comes of this. I advised them too file an “Apostille”. That is at uslegal.com under Legal Definitions. I dont remember them making the Wizard QUEER. I only feel the original, which is still in print, should get fair exposure and it is very enjoyable. Eversince “”1937″”. Herbert WEst III, Publisher/Journalist west.herb@yahoo.com

  4. writerdog
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 7:19 am | Permalink

    http://www.boston.com/news/local/politics/primarysource/2008republicans/
    http://www.boston.com/news/local/politics/primarysource/2007/12/paul_fox_news_i.html“By James Pindell December 29, 2007 01:40 PM
    PLAISTOW, N.H. — Ron Paul said the decision to exclude him from a debate on Fox News Sunday the weekend before the New Hampshire Primary is proof that the network “is scared” of him.”They are scared of me and don’t want my message to get out, but it will,” Paul said in an interview at a diner here. “They are propagandists for this war and I challenge them on the notion that they are conservative.”Paul’s staff said they are beginning to plan a rally that will take place at the same time the 90-minute debate will air on television. It will be taped at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown.”They will not win this skirmish,” he promised.The Fox debate occurs less than 24 hours after two back to back Republican and Democratic debates on the same campus sponsored by ABC News, WMUR-TV and the social networking website Facebook.
    Paul, the Republican Texas Congressman, was wrapping up his final day of campaigning in New Hampshire until the Iowa Caucuses on Thursday.He spent much of the day campaigning at diners in Manchester and Plaistow and downtown walks in Derry and Exeter.

  5. Door King
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 7:47 am | Permalink

    Harry Potter” is plagorism.

    Books that cause the plague?

  6. Herbert West III
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 8:15 am | Permalink

    I spelled it wrong, “plagiarized/plagiarizing”. The Hobbit is the original, Harry Potter is the copycat. Thanks again, Door King. Herbert West III, Publisher/Journalist, west.herb@yahoo.com

  7. XXX
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 9:13 am | Permalink

    There could be some discord during the Tournament of Roses Parade as demonstrators promise to raise issues during the holiday spectacle that has been going on for more than a century. Human rights advocates plan to protest a float honoring the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and anti-war activists, including “Peace Mom” Cindy Sheehan, intend to rally for peace.http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/R/ROSE_PARADE?SITE=WIFON&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

    Cindy Sheehan, please just go away. You’ve had your 15 minutes of fame; please leave.

  8. Posted December 30, 2007 at 9:15 am | Permalink

    Chief Meteorologist Eugenio Hackbart of the MetSul Meteorologia Weather Center in Sao Leopoldo – Rio Grande do Sul – Brazil declared himself a skeptic.

    “The media is promoting an unprecedented hyping related to global warming. The media and many scientists are ignoring very important facts that point to a natural variation in the climate system as the cause of the recent global warming,” Hackbart wrote on May 30, 2007. “I believe we have the duty to inform people about the true facts of global warming. It is interesting that is this global warming era of hysteria we just lived a very cold week with snow in the higher elevation of Southern Brazil and that the next week could be even colder with low temperatures not seen in this part of the globe during the month of May in the last 20 to 30 years. It is not only South Africa that is freezing. South America is under a sequence of cold blasts not seen since the very cold climatic winter of 2000 (La Niña),” Hackbart concluded. In a June 5, 2007 article, Hackbart noted that the “historical cold events in Southern Brazil (in 1957, 1965, 1975, 1984, 1996 and 2006) have another aspect in common. They all took place around the 11-year sun cycle solar minimum.

    http://icecap.us/index.php/go/joes-blog/the_great_south_american_may_cold_spell/

  9. Posted December 30, 2007 at 9:19 am | Permalink

    Good morning XXX!

    Come on now, Cindy is your girl! She’s on your side!

    I hope she stays true to her word and runs against Pelosi in ‘08.

  10. Herbert West III
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 9:21 am | Permalink

    Lets look at, “experience”, in the Campaign for President. The old ideals dont work. They are being misused. I cannot think of anything that Candidate Barack Obama has done in Judgement, attached to experience, that is detremental to us or myself. Clinto has a tack record of bowing and changing her mind. She only seems to follow the responce of the immediate crowd. Her “experience/judgement” seems “who is in my face at the time”, in nature. Look at all the “experiences” we have had and the results that are not changeable and those that are, that will not be changed. The greastest experience that I have to share about Candidate Barack Obama is the most important one that we all need. That “ONE” greatest experience he has shared in giving and recieving with us all is, “HE LISTEN’S”!!! He doesnt just let the communication flow and move on down the line for votes and hype. He listens with his heart and has a solid American Heart View for America and its Allies. He listens with his heart and refuses to bow to votes, hype and I bagged a few votes by being able to repeat what you want to hear. He is genuine and I am proud of his heart and his sharing it with us. In todays world we lack heart, caring, substance and respect. I thank Candidate Obama for the “experience of listening to me. I thank his wife and his staff for the phone calls we have shared”. I am proud to support and speak with as well as listen to “Heart, Humanbeing Style”!!! Herbert West III, Publisher/Journalist west.herb@yahoo.com, experience humanity, vote for Heart! Vote for Barack Obama “our, next President, not just, the next President”!!!

  11. XXX
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 9:33 am | Permalink

    Morning Hank!

    Sorry but Cindy isn’t “my girl” and I seriously doubt that she’s on anybody’s side except her own. She’s a nut case.

    “I hope she stays true to her word and runs against Pelosi in ‘08.”

    Don’t you need supporters and money to do that? From my standpoint, Pelosi is in no danger for the same reason most incumbents aren’t in danger, be they republican or Democrat.

    Seriously Hank, both sides have their nut cases. Cindy is so far left, she’s fallen off the edge of the planet. Your side has its dingbats too.

  12. XXX
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 9:37 am | Permalink

    Speaking of dingbats…

    “A 29-year-old Wenatchee man told police a pterodactyl caused him to drive his car into a light pole about 11:30 p.m. Thursday.”http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20071229/NEWS02/290431530

  13. XXX
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 9:47 am | Permalink

    Pakistanis identify Bhutto assassin, plan to chase him ineffectually for several years while invading some random country and burning down their Constitutionhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/pakistan/Story/0,,2233038,00.html

  14. XXX
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 9:50 am | Permalink

    Wichita Police will conduct field sobriety and breath alcohol tests Monday on a group of volunteer drinkers to show the effects of alcohol on drivers. Mapquest servers crash due to people printing driving directions to Wichitahttp://www.kansas.com/news/updates/story/265963.html

  15. Eagle Beak
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 10:17 am | Permalink

    Mapquest servers crash due to people printing driving directions to Wichita.

    Now that sounds like a contest I might be able to win at!

    When I was in the military, I unfortunately was selected to attend Level III alcohol and drug abuse counseling training. They must have known – it takes one to know one. Anyway, I hate to admit it, but I was the pecker checker during urinalysis testing. Also sat in the first sergeant (or Sgt Maj depending upon at which command) when we rolled the dice. Whatever number came up, became the number selected for testing. Usually, it corresponded with last digit of the SSAN. Roll a six, all SSAN’s ending with six were tested that time. We were sometimes selective and not always did we leave it to chance. If they suspected a certain individual, well the dice would just “happen” to land on that Marines number.

    Anyway, another aspect was alcohol. We had portable test kits to check blood/alcohol levels. Little cotton swab put in the mouth, then stuck into a measuring device. Had boxes and boxes of these swabs.

    It became quite popular at parties for everyone to check themselves. We even developed drinking games to see who would pop positive first (point 1 in those days now point 8?). And the real topper was trying to see who could score highest on BAC!!Senior SNCO’s just messing around.

    Crazy Marines.

  16. Apophis
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 10:20 am | Permalink

    .08% ?

  17. Autumn Sandeen
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 11:01 am | Permalink

    MSNBC has a few quotes up as Republican Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee, reacting to former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s death. His comments seems to highlight his lack of foreign policy sagacity, and that he’s going to continue the politics of fear-mongering.

    “In light of what happened in Pakistan yesterday it’s interesting that there were more Pakistanis who illegally crossed the border than of any other nationality except for those immediately south of our border — 660 last year.”

    And…

    “My point once again is to highlight that the lack of security on our borders poses a potential threat to us. I’m making the observation that we have more Pakistani illegals coming across our border than all other nationalities except those immediately south of the border. And in light of what’s happening in Pakistan it ought to give us pause as to why are so many illegals coming across these borders.”

    He didn’t get the facts right though. The Washington Post pointed out:

    “[T]he ex-governor blundered a bit in both the number of undocumented people caught by U.S. officials and its ranking among countries. Huckabee, citing a Denver Post article, said 660 people had been caught crossing the border illegally from Pakistan “last year,” but the article actually noted 660 came from Pakistan from 2002 to 2005. He said more Pakistanis “than any other nationality except for those immediately south of the border” had been caught here illegally, but the Department of Homeland Security said in the last year both the Philippines and China had more people who were caught here illegally than Pakistan.”

    In an International Herald-Tribune piece, we read this quote with the publication’s comment:

    “We have seen what happens in the Musharraf government,” Huckabee said on MSNBC. “He has told us he does not have enough control of those eastern borders near Afghanistan to be able go after the terrorists. But on the other hand, he did not want us going in, so what do we do?”

    Those borders are actually on the west, not the east.

    And, quoting a New York Times piece entitled “Huckabee Sees Pakistan as Reason for Border Fence,” Huckabee on Thursday night told reporters in Orlando, Florida:

    “We ought to have an immediate, very clear monitoring of our borders and particularly to make sure if there’s any unusual activity of Pakistanis coming into the country.”

    The Times went on to say:

    “Asked how a border fence would help keep out Pakistani immigrants, Mr. Huckabee argued that airplane security was already strong, but that security at the southern United States border was dangerously weak.

    “The fact is that the immigration issue is not so much about people coming to pick lettuce or make beds, it’s about someone coming with a shoulder-fired missile,” he said.

    That Huckabee pivoted from Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s death to U.S. immigration says to me that with Huckabee presidency, we’d get someone who doesn’t really think in terms of foreign policy when international events occur (he doesn’t know the geography; he doesn’t have the facts straight), but pretty much only in terms of how international events impact domestic issues. And, Huckabee’s tack on Bhutto’s assassination tells me a Huckabee presidency would be one of four more years of the national politics of fear. We do not need four more years of simple-minded foreign policies and four more years of fear-mongering.

  18. Rox
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 12:19 pm | Permalink

    Mr. West,

    Setting aside the fact that you have no idea how to spell “plagiarism”, as someone has already pointed out, perhaps you should look into what plagiarism really is. Whomever holds the copyright to “The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings” (I believe that is the J.R.R. Tolkien Estate Trust) is probably laughing their @ss off at your email.

  19. Posted December 30, 2007 at 12:36 pm | Permalink

    Dear HANK,

    Thank you for your 9:15 AM post, yet again proving that you’re completely CLUELESS about anthropogenic global warming (AGW).

    “Meteorologists” are not necessarily qualified climate scientists.

    Regions in Southern Brazil and South America do NOT equal the “Global” in AGW.

    Individual weather events neither prove, nor disprove AGW.

    Climate models predicted, and observations show, the most rapid warming from AGW in the upper Northern latitudes (not Southern Brazil, etc).

    AGW does NOT prevent the “natural variations” caused by Hackbart’s La Niña, 11-year solar cycles, etc.

    For example, the temperature spike in 1998 was from AGW combined with a record El Niño event.

    The year 2007 will probably be the second hottest on record, beating 1998, despite Hackbart’s cold weather in Southern Brazil.

  20. Posted December 30, 2007 at 2:38 pm | Permalink

    Dear HANK,

    Thank you for your 9:15 AM post, yet again proving that you’re completely CLUELESS about anthropogenic global warming (AGW).

    Posted by: cosmos | December 30, 2007 at 12:36 PM

    Now there, cosmos. Calling me “CLUELESS” is just mean spirited.

    You’ve got me at a disadvantage. You post under the nic ‘cosmos’ which I assume you use because of that old nitwit atheist Carl Sagan. (I might be wrong, but from your wrong headed opinions ol’ Carl could have been one of your heroes)

    I post under my own name. I’m in the book. Come out and see me sometime, I’m very polite and hospitable.

    I have a pretty good resume, one that might be a little light on academic accomplishments, but one that elevates me a little above “CLUELESS”.

  21. Posted December 30, 2007 at 3:04 pm | Permalink

    Dear Hank,

    If you are not “clueless” about AGW, please defend/explain your 9:15 AM post.

    For example, how do “natural variations”, say caused by La Niña, refute AGW?

    And also answer my question from yesterday, “is Massen’s claim accurate?”http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2007/12/open-thread–26.html#comment-95151188

  22. Herbert West III
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 3:21 pm | Permalink

    Rox:??? Why would they be laughing their @@@ off??? I spelled it right. Plagiarism defined, “literary theft, forgery, fraud. what would they fin amusing about this? Herbert West III, Publisher/Journalist, west.herb@yahoo.com

  23. Posted December 30, 2007 at 3:25 pm | Permalink

    “You post under the nic ‘cosmos’ which I assume you use because of that old nitwit atheist Carl Sagan.”

    Posted by: Hank | December 30, 2007 at 02:38 PM

    Actually, I use “cosmos” because I like the word, not because of Sagan.

    But thank you for saying that you believe that a person who was highly educated and successful was a “nitwit”.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_sagan

    That helps explain your opinions and viewpoints.

  24. mrbill
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 4:17 pm | Permalink

    Seems that the Telegraph Newspaper in England was able to find an appropriate nominee for the Person of the year.

    Our local TIME mag had to go to Russia to find one.

    See who the Brits had a take on. And he is a Yank.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=AA4OSBQXNV5A3QFIQMFCFFWAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/12/30/nperson130.xml

    Like the cut of the mans Jib. To bad he is to smart to run for office.

    Will do well though Im guessing.

  25. J R
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 4:56 pm | Permalink

    Let me spoil the surprise for everyone else. I just HAD to see who mrbill thinks is Presidential timber.

    Petraeus?

    Uh yeah. Do a little looking on what his fellow men in uniform think of the guy there mrbill. Hint:it aint good.

    Petaeus is most likely destined to be a face in a corporate boardroom someday. I give you, he will likely be better at that than bush was. But he’ll be there for the same reason. For now he’s the sheriff on the porch stopping the domestic violence inside.

  26. Rox
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 5:25 pm | Permalink

    “literary theft, forgery, fraud.”

    Literary theft of what? An idea?

    Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. While Tolkien’s works might have sparked an idea, there is no plagiarism in that. His characters and stories may have sparked ideas for many writers. There is no copyright on “wizards”. Other than that and magic, and an elf here and there, I don’t find much at all similar in the writings of Tolkien and Rowland. They are clearly different with only a few very basic similiarities, and those, at best, are weak.

    To plagiarize would be to take the very words of one and use them as one’s own. Ideas are not copyrighted. Sorry to burst your bubble. If you can find a passage in any Harry Potter book that is almost exactly the same as one in either of the Tolkien books, then you might have cause to cry plagiarism. I’m sure you won’t. Don’t you think someone would have caught it, considering the millions of readers of both authors?

  27. Hank Price
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 6:14 pm | Permalink

    billions and billions and billions. . . . . .

  28. Posted December 30, 2007 at 6:43 pm | Permalink

    Dear Hank,

    Okay, I was right… you are “clueless” about AGW.

    You cannot defend/explain your 9:15 AM post.

    You refuse to answer my question from yesterday, “is Massen’s claim accurate?”http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2007/12/open-thread–26.html#comment-95151188

    All you can do is attack the late Dr. Carl Sagan.And make copy/paste posts of Marc Morano’s obvious, unscientific deceptions.

  29. Rox
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 7:00 pm | Permalink

    LOL Hank! I stand corrected.

  30. Herbert West III
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 7:03 pm | Permalink

    The Cat in the Hat, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Bobby of Bobbies World, Fonzie, Andy Griffith, Barney Phife, Jack Tripper, Evil Keniveal, Flava Flave, Betty Boop, Scooby Doo, Fred Flintstone, Howard the Duck, Wonder Woman, Car 54, Frank Poncharelio, Fresh Prince of Bel Aire, Richie Cunningham, Spanky, House, Joey, Hue Hefner, Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Speed Racer, Hannible Lector, Fat Albert, Mickey Mouse, Alphalfa, Goofy, Laurel and Hardy, Teen Wolfe, Billy the Kid, Cool Hand Luke, Inspector Gadget, Spice Girls, Archie Bunker, “Whats you talkin bout willis”??, Fred Sanford, Doris Day, Frank Sinatra, Prince, Elvis, Pink Floyd, Tool Time, Bay Watch, Knight Rider, Beverly Hills 90210, Laverne and Shirley, etc:… All up for grabs because they seem familiar and they only remotely are similar in character. Plagiarism is Plagiarism!!!! Apostille protects as too such. Lets design a game just like “Deal or Now Deal” and use girls in shorts instead of skirts and lets use a host with hair. We can call it “Continue or Dont Continue”. We will be rich because it is originally different on purpose and the simularity is not there because guys can grow hair and girls wear shorts all the time anyways. Your and idiot!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Herbert West III, Publisher/Journalist. west.herb@yahoo.com . Heck, just respond anywhere on the web, its all the same anyways. The Wictita Eagle doesnt have rights here because we have a yahoo search window.

  31. Apophis
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 7:28 pm | Permalink

    Hey Herbert West III, it’s spelled “Wichita”!

  32. Herbert West III
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 7:33 pm | Permalink

    Are you sure?? It might be “”my”" original opinion that just sounds the same??? Right.

  33. Posted December 30, 2007 at 7:34 pm | Permalink

    Rox,

    Hank’s “billions…” post may have been re the person he called an “old nitwit”, the late Dr. Sagan.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_sagan

  34. J R
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 7:46 pm | Permalink

    Hank respects george bush but trashes Dr.Carl Sagan. Nuff said.

  35. Apophis
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 8:02 pm | Permalink

    Why would anyone respect bush?

  36. J R
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 8:09 pm | Permalink

    Money thing Apophis.

  37. David B
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 8:44 pm | Permalink

    Carl Sagan, who did so much to popularize the science of astronomy in the 80s is certainly one of MY heroes…

  38. Posted December 30, 2007 at 8:48 pm | Permalink

    Hey cosmos, that was “old nitwit atheist” Carl Sagan.

    In truth, he liked to be called an agnostic but he pretty much ridiculed any one of faith.

    I’m merely returning his disdain for people of faith.

  39. J R
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 8:52 pm | Permalink

    Uh Hank?

    As usual, you don’t know what you are talking about.

    Please read “Contact” a novel by Dr. Carl Sagan. The movie version isn’t as deep but the message is there as well.

    Then you can apologize for speaking ill and wrong of the dead.

  40. Stu Meckle
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 8:55 pm | Permalink

    talkingpointsmemo.com has the Bhutto shooting video footage. She was shot before the bomb went off.How is Mushareff going to explain his lies?

  41. J R
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 8:56 pm | Permalink

    Oh and the movie came many years after the book. By the time the movie was released, Sagan had an even greater if grudging respect for religion.

  42. J R
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 9:00 pm | Permalink

    Now being a scientist, Sagan did make a point of how religion had held science back. But that was just honest history. It only took the Catholic church 500 some years to apologize to Galileo.

  43. Stu Meckle
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 9:21 pm | Permalink

    The only thing worse than hearing the adult businesses have to move outside city limits is hearing it from Kake TV’s little fairy maiden Larry Hatteburg. Does this guy know what a twinky he sounds like. I am not a fan.

  44. J R
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 9:26 pm | Permalink

    What are you talking about stu?

    Now I agree with you about “adult businesses”. But ol’ Larry just reads the news, he doesn’t write the laws.

    I like Larry and his Hatteburgs people. Hey the guy could have moved away from this burg for bigger money a LONG time ago. That says something for him. Well to me anyway.

  45. Stu Meckle
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 9:30 pm | Permalink

    The Pope is recruiting exorcists. Hmmm, common sense tells me that IF exorcisms worked…there would be retail outlets next to every insurance business across the world.Exorcism is a propaganda tool. Line up the lemmings..get’m to church and ask for their money.

  46. ksagnostic
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 9:38 pm | Permalink

    “Hey cosmos, that was ‘old nitwit atheist’ Carl Sagan.

    “In truth, he liked to be called an agnostic but he pretty much ridiculed any one of faith.

    “I’m merely returning his disdain for people of faith.”

    What an ignorant statement.

    Carl Sagan promoted skepticism and was a critic of religion, particularly when it was invoked against science, but to claim that he ridiculed “people of faith” reveals two things about you:

    1) You have a narrow definition of “people of faith”.

    2) You confuse criticism with attack and ridicule.

    You’re wrong. Criticising certain religious beliefs and actions is not the same as ridiculing or having disdain for them. The fact that you don’t seem to know the difference is your problem, and you make yourself look like a fool when you refer to Carl Sagan the way you did to anyone who has extensively read the man’s works.

    And yes, I stand by my use of both the adjective dumb and the noun fool with regards to this post. You earned them.

  47. Posted December 30, 2007 at 9:38 pm | Permalink

    “In truth, he liked to be called an agnostic but he pretty much ridiculed any one of faith.”

    Posted by Hank

    Really? Then Hank, explain the points about “faith” in his movie ‘Contact’ near the end, when Jodie Foster’s character testifies to Congress.

    And Sagan definitely was not a scientific “nitwit”.

    Also, on a clear, low humidity night, find a dark rural location, and just gaze at all of the stars out there.

  48. ksagnostic
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 9:41 pm | Permalink

    “Please read “Contact” a novel by Dr. Carl Sagan. The movie version isn’t as deep but the message is there as well.

    “Then you can apologize for speaking ill and wrong of the dead.”

    Indeed.

  49. Stu Meckle
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 9:52 pm | Permalink

    J R, sorry, I disagree about Hatteburg. It’s his delivery. His voice. His facial expressions. I just don’t like him…and I just happened to be watching The Sound of Music and during a break his voice came through. Julie Andrews singing must have lulled me into a fantasy land of beauty only to be slapped into hell by the voice of Larry “I am fake” Hatteburg. The guy was a gaggling idiot during the BTK saga. I also deeply dislike Nicolas Cage, Kevin Costner, Deb Farris, and Channel 3’s weather man. The guy with the hedge hog face.

  50. Posted December 30, 2007 at 9:57 pm | Permalink

    Dear Hank,

    And your only “academic accomplishments” re climate science seems to be the ability to copy/paste BS from Rush Limbaugh’s ex-employee,

    http://www.desmogblog.com/400-prominent-scientists-dispute-global-warming-bunk

  51. Stu Meckle
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 10:01 pm | Permalink

    Rush Limbaugh is to America as Fatty Arbuckle was to Hollywood.

  52. Posted December 30, 2007 at 10:19 pm | Permalink

    Here’s a sample of Hank’s “old nitwit atheist(sic)”, Dr. Carl Sagan.

    Our ONLY home. . . . .

    ‘Our Pale Blue Dot’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p86BPM1GV8M

  53. J R
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 11:27 pm | Permalink

    Thank you for that cosmos.

    That is perhaps one of the most profound and moving moments in voice and video that I have ever seen. Everyone should see it.

  54. Posted December 30, 2007 at 11:48 pm | Permalink

    Carl Sagan was a very pathetic and sad individual. He observed the creation of God and never acknowledged the Creator.

    His PBS program “Cosmos” was a denial of God. His slogan in “Cosmos”:

    “The cosmos is all there is, or ever was or ever will be.”

    He denied the existence of God. Sad. Many of the great astronomers of our time look on the glory of God and are moved. Sagan missed it.

    “Our Pale Blue Dot” visual and commentary are evidence of the sad work of an atheist.

    Nothing profound or moving about it.

  55. J R
    Posted December 30, 2007 at 11:55 pm | Permalink

    And with that Hank, I dismiss you as unreachable. Even on this small blue dot there are those who just cannot be reasoned with. I guess they store up themselves and whatever for some other world.

    Let that be their province.

  56. Nathan
    Posted December 31, 2007 at 12:05 am | Permalink

    JR,

    Thought I would let you know that my “rich” mom the Doctor and my “kept” father bought me an XM Radio for Christmas with a years subscription.

    This way I can listen to hate radio all the time!

  57. J R
    Posted December 31, 2007 at 12:09 am | Permalink

    Keep ignorance and hate alive in the family there Nathan.

  58. Posted December 31, 2007 at 12:12 am | Permalink

    Careful boy,

    You’ll be ‘dismissed as unreachable’!

    You’ll get the reputation as being a spoiled rich kid of privilege.

  59. J R
    Posted December 31, 2007 at 12:19 am | Permalink

    I’ll let my posts stand for me and the posts of Hank and his son stand for them.

  60. Nathan
    Posted December 31, 2007 at 12:19 am | Permalink

    JR,

    The only one who is unreachable is you.

    Instead of trying to have a well thought out discussion you simply choose to label my father and I.

  61. Nathan
    Posted December 31, 2007 at 12:20 am | Permalink

    JR,

    You don’t have to let them stand at all, they do that on their own.

    Once again, playing the blog king monitor…

  62. J R
    Posted December 31, 2007 at 12:23 am | Permalink

    You label yourselves well enough Nathan.

  63. J R
    Posted December 31, 2007 at 12:48 am | Permalink

    And in the spirit of the stirring words of Dr. Sagan, I marginalize Hank and Nathan and his family not to my hatred but to my indifference. I’ll straight the record when they lie. And I will not lie about them.

  64. Nathan
    Posted December 31, 2007 at 1:12 am | Permalink

    JR,

    Hardly anything on this blog between you and I is about correcting lies.

    So you won’t have much work to do.

    At least you got to say something witty though. I am sure that was all you were trying for anyhow.

  65. J R
    Posted December 31, 2007 at 6:36 am | Permalink

    And I am equally as sure that is all you would credit me Nathan. And so far, the lies or distortions have come only from your direction.

    One of the things that makes me better than you.

  66. ksagnostic
    Posted December 31, 2007 at 9:31 am | Permalink

    “Carl Sagan was a very pathetic and sad individual. He observed the creation of God and never acknowledged the Creator.”

    This statement says far more about you than it says about Carl Sagan. Carl Sagan was a man who had a sense of wonder, and was very much concerned about his fellow human beings and his world. He was a beloved husband and father.

    But no, in your eyes he was a “sad and pathetic” figure.

    And why did you come to this conclusion?

    “His PBS program “Cosmos” was a denial of God. His slogan in ‘Cosmos’:

    “‘The cosmos is all there is, or ever was or ever will be.’”

    So, because Carl Sagan comes to a different, metaphysical naturalist conclusion about the cosmos, one that is different from yours, he is a “sad and pathetic” individual.

    “He denied the existence of God. Sad.”

    Yep, this pretty much confirms it.

    “Many of the great astronomers of our time look on the glory of God and are moved. Sagan missed it.”

    Actually, that is half right. There are a number of natural scientists who also believe in god, but there is a high proportion of natural scientists who do not. All of them practice methodological naturalism, which is that they only resort to natural explanations because they are the only ones that can be tested, others also become philosophically metaphysical naturalist, which is the philisophical conclusion that the natural world is sufficient all in itself, and is all that needs to be invoked. However, one group or the other hardly has cornered the market on awe and wonder and humility. Carl Sagan’s writing clearly and repeatedly communicated his sense of wonder and humility. He also communicated, repeatedly and clearly, his extension of that awe and wonder about his fellow human beings. In his one piece of fiction, the people of faith were hardly presented as one dimensional characters. When he wrote as a skeptic and promoted skepticism, he clearly differentiated between what he thought were poor arguments, poor reasons for believing something, and the actual people themselves. He argued for a skepticism that was both tough minded and gentle, and that was humble.

    Your dismissal of Carl Sagan as “sad and pathetic” simply because he didn’t see “God” you see(and I suspect that you are referring to the “God” whose existence you assume) doesn’t reveal anything about him. What it does is reveal quite a lot about you.

    I do not assume that you are sad and pathetic. From what I have read on this blog, you are happily married, you love your son, and you and I share a love of animals, particularly dogs. I can not think of someone who has these things in life as sad and pathetic. Hell, I gather from those who have met you personally, even though they strongly disagree with you, that you are a likable guy and a great host.

    You are also, very clearly from your own writing, a bigot. You dismiss people like the late Carl Sagan as being “sad and pathetic” because of a theological disagreement. That means that you would also dismiss me as “sad and pathetic” because my viewpoint if far more similar to Carl Sagan’s than yours. However, unlike you I do not confuse atheism and agnosticism with anti-theism.

    You are a bigot, not because you are a Christian, but because of what you think of people who are not. You have communicated those thoughts with your own words.

  67. Nathan
    Posted December 31, 2007 at 7:18 pm | Permalink

    JR,

    I am not sure what lies you are talking about.

    I take my integrity very seriously and don’t lie.

  68. J R
    Posted December 31, 2007 at 10:45 pm | Permalink

    Me and you and a number of other posters know otherwise Nathan.

    Vile and defamatory as they were, I will not give what you have posted another airing here.