tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56825354674342238002024-03-12T21:47:17.652-05:00SirRobert's World"In religion and politics, people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second hand, and without examination." - Mark TwainRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.comBlogger201125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-5865254211820381282010-07-28T09:42:00.003-05:002010-07-28T11:28:56.984-05:00The 'Breitbart'ing of Darwin....<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family: arial;">Luke: 'What's in there?'</span></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family: arial;">Yoda: 'Only what you take with you...'</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It's been a long while since 'Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed' was released and the dust has finally settled and it's clear that not much has changed in the Creationism/ID vs. Darwinism debate. To be sure partisans on each side seem to have hardened their positions ever more. For my part I have seen the documentary and while I don't think it did any serious harm to or in any way undermine the foundation modern biology that is Evolutionary Theory, there were aspects...parts of the film that deeply troubled me... until recently.</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family: arial;">'Could he be that inhuman?'</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">In the documentary Mr. Stein ( or more to the point the producers at Premise Media) attribute the following statement to Charles Darwin's book 'The Descent of Man':</span><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><blockquote>"With savages, the weak in body or mind are soon eliminated. We civilized men, on the other hand, do our utmost to check the process of elimination. We build asylums for the imbecile, the maimed and the sick. Thus the weak members of civilized societies propagate their kind. No one who has attended to the breeding of domestic animals will doubt that this must be highly injurious to the race of man. Hardly anyone is so ignorant as to allow his worst animals to breed."</blockquote></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Yikes! Reading this it becomes exceedingly difficult to castigate anyone for linking the work of Mr. Darwin to the eugenics movement, all the worst behaviors of the 19th century robber barons and most ashamedly Hitler and his greatest hits. Naturally this quote bothered me deeply as I am a compassionate human being.</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Admittedly, I hadn't read 'The Descent of Man'. This quote is decidedly more ominous and less charitable than anything I'd read in Mr. Darwin's earlier magnum opus 'On the Origin of Species'. Could this really be the same man? The tone of this quote is so different. So I decided to look this quote up. So I wrote down the quote word for word as used in 'Expelled'. </span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family: arial;">'A funny thing happened at the googling.'</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">When I searched for the text as quoted from the film, a funny thing happened: I found that the quote doesn't exist in the context offered by the film! What follows is taken from Mr. Darwin's 'The Descent of Man':</span><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">(the emboldened text was conveniently redacted)</span></span></div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></p><blockquote><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;">With savages, the weak in body or mind are soon eliminated; <b>and those that survive commonly exhibit a vigorous state of health</b>. We civilized men, on the other hand, do our utmost to check the process of elimination. We build asylums for the imbecile, the maimed and the sick; <b>we institute poor-laws; and our medical men exert their utmost skill to save the life of every one to the last moment. There is reason to believe that vaccination has preserved thousands, who from a weak constitution would formerly have succumbed to small-pox</b>. Thus the weak members of civilized societies propagate their kind. No one who has attended to the breeding of domestic animals will doubt that this must be highly injurious to the race of man. <b>It is surprising how soon a want of care, or care wrongly directed, leads to the degeneration of a domestic race; but excepting in the case of man himself,</b> hardly anyone is so ignorant as to allow his worst animals to breed.</span></p> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style="font-family: arial;">The aid which we feel impelled to give to the helpless is mainly an incidental result of the instinct of sympathy, which was originally acquired as part of the social instincts, but subsequently rendered, in the manner previously indicated, more tender and more widely diffused. Nor could we check our sympathy, even at the urging of hard reason, without deterioration in the noblest part of our nature. The surgeon may harden himself whilst performing an operation, for he knows that he is acting for the good of his patient; but if we were intentionally to neglect the weak and helpless, it could only be for a contingent benefit, with an overwhelming present evil.</b></span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family: arial;">'Honesty can never take a holiday.'</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Now, my purpose is NOT to debate the the truth value of Darwin's insight into the workings of nature and his explanation for biodiversity on Earth. Everyone seems to have made up their respective minds there. What I feel compelled to do is call out the blatant and cynical dishonesty of Premise Media in their representation of Charles Darwin .</span><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Clearly, it was and continues to be the aim of Premise Media and many like them to lay the holocaust, the eugenics movement squarely at the feet of Charles Darwin and his 'Dangerous Idea'. But what these people have done is precisely what the proponents of those inhuman enterprises have done: take Charles Darwin out of context; omitted sections of or twisted his actual words to fit a presupposition they already had brought with them. This constitutes reprehensible dishonesty in extremis. This is a disservice to every person who has ever worked openly and honestly to expand human understanding. The explanation of the natural world is no place for this kind of tactic, something I have in lieu of recent events labeled 'Breitbarting'.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">You are free to disagree with Darwin's ideas or any other idea for that matter. However, in that disagreement you must, to the best of your knowledge and ability, be honest in your representation of those you disagree with. In all of our discourse we must, above all else, be honest. </span></span><br /><br />R.<br /></div>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-47939668507865623752010-07-08T14:29:00.002-05:002010-07-08T14:49:20.695-05:00Glenn Beck learns from Richard Muller..Generally I am not a fan of Glenn Beck. Probably never will be. I understand why he exists and the niche he fills. I just learned that he had on his program a man whom I consider to be one of the best teachers of physics alive today: Richard A. Muller Mr. Beck and Prof. Muller discussed whether or not Iran's new rocket technology coupled with its' suspected and to be fair, likely, nuclear program is an immediate threat to the West.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dw3Hy5B9GaxGjXQrI6qfQ-AAVhMiSiIXlWBuW7WjV1HXTR95b9fJ0ZDb_4dKNhBEmtY0NKGKVJj_ysvffoEIA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /></div><br />It's a short but insightful interview and a good primer to his U of C at Berkley course: '<a href="http://muller.lbl.gov/teaching/physics10/pffp.html">Physics for Future Presidents</a>". The best part is Professor Muller makes the lectures available to ANYONE with an internet connection and the desire to learn something. You can watch or listen to them via your web browser or even podcast them through Itunes. This is Physics for people with better things to do. The math content is very light but the content is still very useful.<br /><br />I'm an engineer by training so Physics is in my wheelhouse even so, I have watched these lectures for the past 2 years now and every time I do, I learn something new I didn't know before. I highly recommend them that anyone who wants to understand the science behind the stuff of headlines today check them out.<br /><br />R.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-8559587901927094882010-07-07T11:28:00.011-05:002010-07-07T14:53:05.169-05:00Learn to fish....<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/TDS3tlv9-pI/AAAAAAAACq8/y8347lLcNN0/s1600/famfish.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 198px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/TDS3tlv9-pI/AAAAAAAACq8/y8347lLcNN0/s200/famfish.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491215839526779538" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."</span> - <span style="font-weight: bold;">Lao Tzu</span> <span style="font-size:78%;">(I think...)</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">It seems to me that our best means of ascertaining the beliefs of those who have long ago shaken off the mortal coil is limited to reading and understanding their writings. What better way is there to try to understand a person with whom you cannot communicate with directly than to read his written work? This has been something that I have been trying to do much more of over the last two years, that is; READ the actual writings of the actual person rather than another person's interpretation of the same. Due to many factors this is decidedly the much more difficult path. However, is it not self evident that 'learning to fish' is much more rewarding and in the interest of self reliance and independence than being 'given a fish' by a fisherman of whose providence and motivations you cannot be sure? In 21st century America we now have MANY would-be 'fisherman' competing to provide many different kinds 'fish' to a population either unable or in most cases unwilling to provide for themselves. It's abundantly clear to me how dangerous such a state of affairs is. Most of this 'fish' is of, at best, dubious nutritional value and at worst distinctly harmful to the hungry.<br /></div><br />I say all this as a preface to the following question:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Was the founding of the United States a manifestation of the divine working through humanity or.... not so much?</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">There seems to be an on going discussion as to whether or not our esteemed (yet seemingly in decline) republic was merely the journey work of enlightenment educated men or something decidedly more super-natural. Lately, I have learned not to polemically dismiss the supernatural out of hand for reasons relating to the limitations of what we can truly 'know' for certain and without appeal to other presuppositions (not much as it turns out). We ALL do this, it's human nature, the key is to acknowledge it and to be consistent. That said I am trying to base my thoughts and my actions on real world utility. That subject alone could probably fill volumes and this post is not really about that. What concerns me here is what the thoughts and views of the founders of our Republic really were and what they thought they were doing; not what a modern day revisionist/pundit/'theocrat' <span style="font-weight: bold;">SAYS</span> they were doing. I yearn to fish for myself. On a recent 'fishing trip' I caught this:<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>"The United States of America have exhibited, perhaps, the first example of governments erected on the simple principles of nature; and if men are now sufficiently enlightened to disabuse themselves of artifice, imposture, hypocrisy, and superstition, they will consider this event as an era in their history. Although the detail of the formation of the American governments is at present little known or regarded either in Europe or in America, it may hereafter become an object of curiosity. It will never be pretended that any persons employed in that service had interviews with the gods, or were in any degree under the influence of Heaven, more than those at work upon ships or houses, or laboring in merchandise or agriculture; it will forever be acknowledged that these governments were contrived merely by the use of reason and the senses."</blockquote></div>Re-read it. Let it percolate for while. Go ahead I'll wait.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Does this passage not convey a sense of the secularist nature that this person felt embodied the government of the United States? Sadly, this person could not begin to imagine the extent to which Americans would descend into the revisionism and distortion of his and others motivations and beliefs.<br /><br />There are pundits from both sides of the political divide that will knowingly or otherwise 'contextually twist' and 'quote mine' the work of persons long since dead to suit short-sighted and greed based personal or political ends. Most Americans are all too willing to accept these interpretations and feel no need whatever to fact check or to read the actual words of the long dead humans to understand for themselves what these people actually meant.<br /><br />For the sake of our republic and our children we ALL need to learn to fish again.<br /><br />R.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">To answer the inevitable question of the authorship of the above quote t'was:<br /><br />John Adams, from his work- "A defense of the Constitution of the United States", 1786<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/TDS-KHDq2BI/AAAAAAAACrE/XAvN88U7HqI/s1600/john_adams1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 145px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/TDS-KHDq2BI/AAAAAAAACrE/XAvN88U7HqI/s200/john_adams1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491222926573885458" border="0" /></a>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-11909644561018906432010-07-07T10:59:00.006-05:002010-07-07T11:20:43.699-05:00Clearin away the cob webs....<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.slashseconds.org/issues/001/001/articles/01_ahardy/en_Untitled-1cobwebs-01.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 589px; height: 476px;" src="http://www.slashseconds.org/issues/001/001/articles/01_ahardy/en_Untitled-1cobwebs-01.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />OK! I am now blowing off the cob-webs of my blog. In the age of the internet, 'blowing off the cob-webs' is code for deleting all the myriad SPAM that has accumulated in all the comment sections!<br /><br />I guess I will turn on the moderation feature again to prevent such abuses!<br /><br />As many of you know I have been spending most of my time on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/#%21/profile.php?id=790215036">Facebook</a>. However, 'FB', is decidedly stingy about what I can and cannot post and I generally chafe against such restrictions. Given this reality I will be endeavoring to resume posting here on a regular basis. I've said this before but it's my hope that I really mean it this time!<br /><br />RRoberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-43950578068476467322009-12-14T11:30:00.003-05:002009-12-14T11:38:01.026-05:00Does anyone click on this stuff...really?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/SyZoQoe1nLI/AAAAAAAABL0/-VYorhqzf4k/s1600-h/srsly.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/SyZoQoe1nLI/AAAAAAAABL0/-VYorhqzf4k/s320/srsly.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415130236913556658" border="0" /></a><br />If you use a free email client like Yahoo. You've probably seen these 'non-sequitor' type ads off to the side. This one just freaks me out! What's with the unkempt Jesus look-a-like? What, pray tell, does he have to do with Obama asking 'Moms to return to school'?<br /><br />Does this guy represent what a stay at home Mom is supposed to look like?<br /><br />Is this guy waiting for the Mom at school!? Yikes!<br /><br />Is this what Mom's will look like if they <span style="font-weight: bold;">don't</span> go back to school<br /><br />I'm struggling here.<br /><br />R.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-33747990347878301492009-12-14T08:33:00.004-05:002009-12-14T11:04:39.836-05:00The internet......making those who had no more of a soapbox than...well little more than a soapbox in Boston Common from which to scream their drivel at passers-by, look positively Einstein-ian.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/SyY_isYPaYI/AAAAAAAABLs/8UKX81EArGg/s1600-h/revolutionary.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 109px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/SyY_isYPaYI/AAAAAAAABLs/8UKX81EArGg/s320/revolutionary.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415085467220535682" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"></span>Thanks yet again to <a href="http://xkcd.com/">xkcd</a>!Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-24179570155923792009-12-14T08:30:00.002-05:002009-12-14T08:32:31.402-05:00A laugh for a Monday morning...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/SyY-L_gvSBI/AAAAAAAABLk/EYHh56eMChg/s1600-h/two_party_system.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 94px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/SyY-L_gvSBI/AAAAAAAABLk/EYHh56eMChg/s320/two_party_system.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415083977707833362" border="0" /></a><br />Thanks as always to <a href="http://xkcd.com/">xkcd</a>.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-91352884038352013362009-12-08T11:55:00.008-05:002009-12-08T19:15:51.013-05:00A prayer for Obama? Not so much...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/Sx6T7cQx_AI/AAAAAAAABLc/9XRA_H6_hJI/s1600-h/wolf_in_sheeps_clothing.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 270px; height: 299px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/Sx6T7cQx_AI/AAAAAAAABLc/9XRA_H6_hJI/s320/wolf_in_sheeps_clothing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412926451554057218" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">So I was driving into work today here in Massachusetts. Ahead of me was a vehicle, a rather modern well maintained pick-up truck. On the right hand side of the bumper was the "McCain/Palin" sticker we all remember from 2008, faded but still easily identifiable. On the other side was was newer looking sticker on which was the message:<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/Sx6QmRuExjI/AAAAAAAABLU/LqTEpZ9ILFg/s1600-h/psalm109-300x300.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/Sx6QmRuExjI/AAAAAAAABLU/LqTEpZ9ILFg/s320/psalm109-300x300.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412922789411997234" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">“Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8”</span> </span></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Not being a biblical scholar, I had no clue what the passage the message was referring to said. However, for curiosity's sake, I made a mental note to look up the passage later on Bible Gateway, incidentally one of the few non-work related sites that seems to pass muster with employer's overly censoring firewall. As I continued my commute I started to ruminate a bit more. The owner of the vehicle bearing the two stickers could conceivably have been thought of as at the very least 'right leaning' and somewhat religious. With some more consideration I imagined that the owner had probably come to terms with Obama's election and was suggesting people of like mind 'pray' that God inspire Obama to righteous ,Godly and honorable leadership. Knowing what I do about the Psalms, how much the Catholics love them and how often I hear them quoted mostly in inspiration of some higher moral, I felt justified in smiling to myself and thinking, maybe there is some hope for us. Clearly, I'd given this person, and also the creators of this bit of bumper sticker rhetoric, too much credit.<br /></div><br />At my lunch I looked up the passage referenced, this is what it says:<br /><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">"Let his days be few; and let another take his office."</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Cute. Were I to have read this alone I would simply have been let down from my previous view and then concluded that the owner of the vehicle was much more cynical and partisan than I 'd thought. Unlike most of the people who probably thought there was something somehow clever and 'Godly' about the application and context in which this quote is offered, I decided to read those lines before and after the one line referenced. Before you continue, remember this is being offered as a rumination on 'him', 'he'....one Barack Obama:<br /></div><br /><blockquote><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Psalm 109:1-20 (King James Version)<br /></div><br />1 Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise;<br /><br />2 For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.<br /><br />3 They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause.<br /><br />4 For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.<br /><br />5 And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.<br /><br />6 Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand.<br /><br />7 When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin.<br /><br />8 Let his days be few; and let another take his office.<br /><br />9 Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.<br /><br />10 Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.<br /><br />11 Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour.<br /><br />12 Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children.<br /><br />13 Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.<br /><br />14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.<br /><br />15 Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.<br /><br />16 Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.<br /><br />17 As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.<br /><br />18 As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.<br /><br />19 Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually.<br /><br />20 Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul.</blockquote><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">What touching and heart-warming sentiments for our duly elected President and best of all, by extension, for his mother, wife and two young daughters.<br /><br />I am not a Democrat. I am NOT an Obama disciple. I am not at all that impressed with his 1st year in office but to apply this vicious little bronze-age misanthropic tirade to Mr. Obama is DESPICABLE and any one who calls himself an American or even human ought to rail against it. Those who would be proud to display this message ought to be ashamed of themselves. You don't care for Mr. Obama and his policies? Fine. That's your right of conscience. But we have a process for retiring leaders we don't like. Beseeching the almighty to destroy him AND his family is well....Un-American. The accepted process is outlined in the Constitution. Go to Wikipedia and look it up.<br /><br />I don't for one second believe that more than a percent of those who would plague their bumpers with this drivel have EVER read this whole Psalm, even less so the Bible in whole or even in part. But perhaps they should do a just a wee bit of due diligence, lest they be thought of as nothing but 'bronze-age ethics' advocating neanderthals.<br /></div><br />R.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-42335932918286444022009-08-23T19:03:00.004-05:002009-08-27T14:52:11.016-05:00Appreciation....<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/SpbjeraYO_I/AAAAAAAABK8/UJDJiIEbDH8/s1600-h/Double-alaskan-rainbow.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 168px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/SpbjeraYO_I/AAAAAAAABK8/UJDJiIEbDH8/s320/Double-alaskan-rainbow.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374733321502211058" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">There are some moments in life that leave an indelible impression. The memories of which record themselves in our neural pathways forever for future appreciation. Human beings are gifted at recording all of the output of our senses in incredible fidelity within our heads. Today I returned from assisting a relative with a furniture move, I was hot, sweaty and generally pretty uncomfortable. Our home was quiet and the pool in the back yard beckoned. I slipped into the water reveled in the cool bliss of an empty and calm pool. There had been a soaking rain an hour earlier so the air was excessively humid, a condition which the pool provided much welcome relief. As I floated I gazed up towards the east. Against a backdrop of battleship gray cloud was the most complete and brilliant rainbow I had ever seen in my life. Every color perfectly rendered against the canvas of cloud. These are the images that inspire poets, artists, composers… I am not Robert Frost, Claude Monet or Mozart. I cannot convey the impression with anywhere near the artistic beauty of any of those just mentioned, though the image is rendered within my memory with no less majesty. I proceeded to think about what it is in the human mind that makes it possible for us the appreciate the sublime. There are animals that can no doubt perceive the colors the same as I can but the ability to make the image a part of a mental warehouse, that’s a hallmark of humanity. The ability to retain and appreciate experiences that touch us. For most of human history the there was absolutely no understanding of what a rainbow was or how it was painted across a humid sky. Many thoughtful and brilliant people proposed subtle and engaging explanations. John Keats wrote about science taking the wonder out of nature:<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Do not all charms fly</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">At the mere touch of cold philosophy?</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">There was an awful rainbow once in heaven:</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">We know her woof, her texture; she is given</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">In the dull catalogue of common things.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Philosophy will clip an Angel's wings,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Conquer all mysteries by rule and line,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Empty the haunted air, and gnomed mine –</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Unweave a rainbow</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Some say our ability to understand the origin of such natural majesty detracts from the experience. For my part I feel nothing could be further from the truth. This ability to understand the world is the greatest tool for our survival that we have. There is something elevating and almost spiritual that comes with understanding. Something that goes a long way to show how interconnected everything in the universe is. The human brain allows us to be liberated from the mundane; to become more than instinct and survival. We can remember, deconstruct, analyze, and then understand that which our senses reveal. Then we can use what we learn to make a fulfilling and meaningful life for ourselves and help those around us to do the same. Who among us can possibly have complete appreciation of what else might be possible...?<br /><br />R<br /></div>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-27938582400581355472009-08-04T06:39:00.002-05:002009-08-04T06:49:35.006-05:00Disingenuous?As we continue to be accosted by voices pro and con on the subject of health-care reform. I have noticed that one of the statements I hear most often goes something akin to this:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">"Do you want some bureaucrat deciding what medical measures you will receive?"</span><br /></div><br />Having been a member of MANY different private insurer HMO's since I started my career. I find the question a tad disingenuous in that my health-care has been and always will be managed by bureaucrats!<br /><br />Generally we don't call them bureaucrats when they are employed by for-profit insurers but bureaucrats they are in all but name.<br /><br />Do I want to trust my health-care to the 'big greedy' corporations or do I want to trust it to the 'big scary' governments?<br /><br />Can I have a third option please?<br /><br />R.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-17915191966292090372009-07-31T13:53:00.002-05:002009-07-31T13:55:37.096-05:00It's been a while...I know, I know! I got myself so wrapped up in the Book of the Face that I have sadly neglected my little home here at Blogger. Bad Bobby!<br /><br />Well I am resolving to come back to my little slice of blogland.<br /><br />That may or may not gladden your hearts.<br /><br />R.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-57935689510479527992009-06-30T13:47:00.002-05:002009-06-30T13:49:39.543-05:00Grin!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/SkpeA_4_VyI/AAAAAAAABJs/zt68d_3WCUM/s1600-h/090626-TWIToons-13.ss_full.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 275px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/SkpeA_4_VyI/AAAAAAAABJs/zt68d_3WCUM/s400/090626-TWIToons-13.ss_full.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353194478326732578" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Let's have one standard shall we?</span><br />Not two.<br />One for politicians and one for the mob.<br /></div>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-43908622672072239792009-06-07T07:14:00.001-05:002009-06-07T07:15:26.073-05:00A lesson in context,,,<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/SiuvIAJDeJI/AAAAAAAABCQ/45fTkz7V02g/s1600-h/1000_times.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 311px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/SiuvIAJDeJI/AAAAAAAABCQ/45fTkz7V02g/s400/1000_times.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344557934817015954" border="0" /></a>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-1330126401600590062009-06-01T08:21:00.001-05:002009-06-01T08:21:56.879-05:00Testing….<span xmlns=''><p>This is just a test to see if my neat little Word-based blog poster works.<br /></p><p>R.</p></span>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-46642141816585904552009-03-30T15:48:00.000-05:002009-03-30T15:49:25.142-05:00guffaw!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/SdEwM4yB5oI/AAAAAAAABBY/XZNrONv8ziA/s1600-h/mutranowski-5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 248px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/SdEwM4yB5oI/AAAAAAAABBY/XZNrONv8ziA/s320/mutranowski-5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319085632860055170" border="0" /></a>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-65880136732012065622009-03-25T08:54:00.002-05:002009-03-25T09:00:28.238-05:00Lest we forget....<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."</span></span><br /><br />I don't pretend to know fully how we are to attain these goals; but it does seem that most of our elected leaders have forgotten that these are what they are supposed to be working to achieve.</div>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-39194940794243133692009-03-18T14:27:00.000-05:002009-03-18T14:28:49.363-05:00Free Speech is sacred...<center><embed src="http://blip.tv/play/AfPmcYLpcQ" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" height="270"></embed></center>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-86324861763992112522009-03-16T14:00:00.003-05:002009-03-16T17:15:31.431-05:00Hey everyone Pat Boone had a dream....!<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/Sb63LrBHG-I/AAAAAAAABBQ/k5qbkhlVJ-M/s1600-h/Boone+Head+shot+red+BG.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/Sb63LrBHG-I/AAAAAAAABBQ/k5qbkhlVJ-M/s320/Boone+Head+shot+red+BG.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313886021497592802" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">"Isn't he ever so dreamy?"</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Swoon*</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />.....where he was President.<br /><br />Now if the prospect of that doesn't make you break out into a cold sweat....then you are probably a loyal reader of the works of Ann Coulter and get your commentary from Rush Limbaugh.<br /><br />But I digress....<br /><br />Our favorite lunatics over at World <strike>Nut</strike> Net Daily have an <a href="http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=91655">article</a> written by none other than Pat Boone, he outlines a dream he had where he is elected President. <span style="font-weight: bold;">*Wretch*</span> Pardon me had someting in my throat there. He goes on to outline his policies. It's quite an entertaining read in much the same way that is reading those Jehovah's Witness 'Watchtower" pamphlets that occasionally find their way onto my front door threshold.<br /><br />Most of it is standard right-wing and populist dreck.<br /><br />What I found must entertaining was the final two paragraphs. The first<br /><br /><blockquote>"As a man who intended to be a teacher myself, I issued an ultimatum to the teachers' unions: They would return to basic math, including arithmetic, and basic English (the mandated official language), and basic science devoid of unproven theories like evolution, sticking instead to factual evidence and not discounting "intelligent design" as the more scientific basis for life and existence. All history books would again detail the reasons America was founded, and tell the stories of our Founding Fathers and national heroes – not latter day revisions. Teachers' pay and advancement would depend on the test scores and comprehension of their students. "</blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />"basic English (the mandated official language)"?</span><br /><br />How does it feel to be so threatened by the 'brown people' to our south? While I do feel that those who come here do bear some responsibility to try to acclimatize themselves to the culture they'd like to be part of; where begins OUR responsibility to try to communicate effectively with someone who does NOT share the language of our birth? In most European countries it is unusual that a person only speaks ONE language. If we are going to <span style="font-weight: bold;">require</span> immigrants to learn English why not <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">require</span> natural born citizens to learn another language too? Sort of a 'meet them halfway' policy. Maybe the rest of the world wouldn't regard us as so insufferable when we go over seas!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"basic science devoid of unproven theories like evolution"?</span><br /><br />The SCIENCE of evolution is one of the most SUCCESSFUL intellectual constructs ever theorized by man. It's explanatory power with regards to the speciation of life on Earth is unparalleled. No other explanation, creationism, Intelligent Design or whatever misleading moniker you want to attach to the simplistic statement that <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">'God done it'</span>, comes anywhere close to explaining what modern evolutionary theory does so effortlessly. Sticking your head in the sand and pretending otherwise, does nothing to take away from that FACT. Keep the non-science based religiously motivated systems of thought where they belong; in religious philosophy class.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"history books would again detail the reasons America was founded, and tell the stories of our Founding Fathers and national heroes – not latter day revisions."</span><br /><br />Really? What exactly does this statement mean? I think I had a pretty damned good education history wise. I was exposed to the all that was GOOD and BAD in our deep and nuanced history. I think what Mr. Boone is alluding to is the suppression of everything that would paint the founders as anything but the Godly and wise Christian men he has convinced himself they were. Sorry Pat it but it ain't so.... Blocking your ears and screaming 'I can't hear you, I can't hear you' does NOT change history.<br /><br />And finally we come to Mr. Boone's final thought (if we can dignify it as such):<br /><br /><blockquote>"And a final ultimatum was directed to the courts, from the Supremes on down to local judiciary: "Hands off religion, as the First Amendment dictates. And you will no longer legislate from the bench. Keep your personal ideas to yourselves, and enforce the legislated will of the people."</blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />"a final ultimatum was directed to the courts"</span><br /><br />Wow! Clearly Mr. Boone didn't pay much attention in his American Civics class. The President does not get to dictate to the Judiciary how they are going to do their job! That's one of the most amazing thing about our Constitution it codifies the concept of separation of powers and the 'checks and balances'. The courts do not answer to you, Mr. would-be President. If they did, well that would make you a dictator, wouldn't it?<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"Hands off religion"</span><br /><br />Yes by all means! Government, keep your meddling hands off of religion. <span style="font-weight: bold;">And similarly, people of faith...keep your meddling hands off my government!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"enforce the legislated will of the people"</span><br /><br />I LOVE this one!!! Really? Even if it means the degradation or the relegation to the status of second class citizen of a minority of people? Let me ask you this, Mr. would-be President; Would it have been a good thing to leave the fate of the proposed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution">13th Amendment</a> to the 'will of the people' instead of the refined Legislatures of the states? Before you answer consider this more appropriate example: Would it have been RIGHT to allow segregation to continue in this land had the Supreme Court not ruled as it did in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Board_of_Education">1954</a>? Should the 'will of the people' have been the only consideration as to whether or not the state of Kansas, or any state for that matter, should be allowed to continue a policy which can only be described as American apartheid?<br /><br />Mr. Boone, one of the most important functions of the judiciary in this country is to protect a minority from the tyranny of a majority. If that is unclear to you then it is <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">you</span> who most assuredly needs remedial work in American History and Civics. You have NO business being President of a Mickey Mouse fan club let alone a President of a modern liberal democracy.<br /><br />Do us all a favor and stick to what you know: nauseating Christian-ese music.<br /><br />R.<br /></div>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-60549022450504615582009-03-11T14:51:00.002-05:002009-03-11T15:01:13.813-05:00The most telling statement EVER....<div style="text-align: justify;">Said the card carrying creationist while touring The Smithsonian:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">"Why should we be afraid to test our worldview against reality?" asked Bill Jack, a Christian leadership instructor who leads groups across the country for a company called Biblically Correct Tours.</span><br /><br />Really? Is this person suggesting that what the Smithsonian contains is reality? If we can agree that the Smithsonian represents the naturalistic understanding of life on Earth as reality; then it makes little sense to label yourself a creationist. Talk about the mother of all slips.<br /><br />Well Billy I can't argue with that! You go and have yourself a time, you and your <span style="font-style: italic;">Flintstone's</span> version of natural history.<br /><br />See this <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/10/AR2009031003690.html">link</a> for the full Washington post article.<br /><br />R.<br /></div>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-45632925199957098352009-03-03T13:16:00.004-05:002009-03-03T14:41:03.431-05:00What does it mean? Part 1.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/Sa2EJGTjuaI/AAAAAAAABBI/GwWkwUJ_NtE/s1600-h/which.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 207px; height: 100px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/Sa2EJGTjuaI/AAAAAAAABBI/GwWkwUJ_NtE/s320/which.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309044827586017698" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">I recently re-watched HBO's wonderful "John Adams" miniseries based upon the book of the same name by David McCullough. One pivotal scene; John Adams, Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson are gathered together in a room, presumably in Philadelphia going over Mr. Jefferson's draft of the soon to be Declaration of Independence. They are shown to be quibbling over some of the phrasing that Mr. Jefferson chose. Now whether or not this scene is accurately conveyed or historical at all is not really what I'm interested in.<br /><br />What I am interested in, is the very first line of the "Declaration of Independence" as we know it today, that is the first line after the familiar preamble:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..."<br /></div><br />We have all been conditioned to, almost without thinking, ascribe our ascent to this cherished piece of American scripture. But, is it entirely worthy of such reverence?<br /><br />What does this statement mean?<br /><br />What did it mean to Jefferson? What did it mean to Adams or Franklin? Or to any of the other men who affixed their signatures to this document before sending it off to King George?<br /><br />Perhaps most importantly what does it mean to US today more than 200 years later and is it necessary that what we think it means mirror what the founders think it meant?<br /><br />The first part of the statement is so loaded its almost absurd; "<span style="font-style: italic;">We hold these truths to be self evident..."</span>, seems to me to be a qualifier of some sort, meant to convey unambiguity to what follows should be readily seen to be obvious. But obvious to whom, and on what basis? Seems very circular to me. There seems to be non-stated premise that there is some gold standard that we should all be working from that we all have to agree on. What is that standard and by what authority can we conceivably agree to it? Many of the founders were men greatly inspired by the works of John Locke, David Hume, Charles Montesquieu, and St. Paul. If you read the works authored by these men, you would come away with some very different ideas for that standard. That discussion that could take years! In the interest of sanity let's move on...<br /><br />The second part of the statement is very problematic to me: <span style="font-style: italic;">"that all men are created equal..."</span>. When you look at this statement in a vacuum without any context it does seem a logical truism. However, if you look at the world we live in putting aside man-made injustices and just focusing on the all too apparent differences in what skills and capabilities individuals possess this statement seems hilarious to the point of absurdity. Even the founders had to be cognizant of the plain fact that some do have the distinction of achieving greatness with meager means while others even with best of advantages barely rise to mediocrity. Clearly we are not equal in that regard; so whatever were the founders agreeing to here?<br /><br />These are the thoughts I have when I am stuck in 'solar-glare' traffic on Route 2 eastbound in early March.<br /><br />The meaning I ascribe to these words is that we should be equals in the eyes of the government we would choose to create. Equal regardless as to the privileges or liabilities of our respective births. Equal regardless of out mental capacities. Equal regardless of skin color, creed or philosophy.<br /><br />Is this what Mr. Jefferson was thinking? I wish I could ask him, but I'm about 187 years late.<br /><br />Discuss!!!<br /><br />Robert<br /></div>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-5669855272122640512009-02-24T08:21:00.001-05:002009-02-24T08:24:31.127-05:00The maths....<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The maths....</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">...you're doin' it wrong!</span><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/SaP0yay0ddI/AAAAAAAABAw/iOF4N6fADzs/s1600-h/nq090224.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 130px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/SaP0yay0ddI/AAAAAAAABAw/iOF4N6fADzs/s400/nq090224.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306353932995687890" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">EPIC FAIL!!</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-59578674642722101862009-02-23T11:51:00.001-05:002009-02-23T11:53:11.166-05:00How cool is THIS!?<object codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" id="doc_842736016125073" name="doc_842736016125073" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="100%" align="middle" height="500"> <param name="movie" value="http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=12702565&access_key=key-1tr2fltrguz7n1hjeikf&page=1&version=1&viewMode=list"> <param name="quality" value="high"> <param name="play" value="true"> <param name="loop" value="true"> <param name="scale" value="showall"> <param name="wmode" value="opaque"> <param name="devicefont" value="false"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff"> <param name="menu" value="true"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"> <param name="salign" value=""> <param name="mode" value="list"> <embed src="http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=12702565&access_key=key-1tr2fltrguz7n1hjeikf&page=1&version=1&viewMode=list" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" play="true" loop="true" scale="showall" wmode="opaque" devicefont="false" bgcolor="#ffffff" name="doc_842736016125073_object" menu="true" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" salign="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" mode="list" width="100%" align="middle" height="500"></embed> </object> <div style="margin: 6px auto 3px; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; display: block;"> <a href="http://www.scribd.com/upload" style="text-decoration: underline;">Publish at Scribd</a> or <a href="http://www.scribd.com/browse" style="text-decoration: underline;">explore</a> others: <a href="http://www.scribd.com/browse/Research/?style=text-decoration%3A+underline%3B">Research</a> <a href="http://www.scribd.com/browse/Periodicals-Reports/Articles?style=text-decoration%3A+underline%3B">Articles</a> <a href="http://www.scribd.com/tag/holiday" style="text-decoration: underline;">holiday</a> <a href="http://www.scribd.com/tag/holidays" style="text-decoration: underline;">holidays</a> </div><br /><br />And in formerly puritanical Massachusetts no less!?<br /><br />I'm sure Pat Robertson will say the famine and pestilence are on the way to the Bay State presently....<br /><br />R.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-67090789570118366482009-02-20T11:07:00.000-05:002009-02-20T11:08:20.338-05:00How often do YOU....<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/SZ7VPmafGCI/AAAAAAAABAc/SRTQKS0TPgg/s1600-h/facepalm.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/SZ7VPmafGCI/AAAAAAAABAc/SRTQKS0TPgg/s320/facepalm.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304911875075414050" border="0" /></a>Why should we suffer fools so?<br /></div>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-24605153015422268152009-02-19T10:57:00.001-05:002009-02-19T11:00:06.707-05:00Oh the ferric taste of the irony contained within...From Ray Comfort's blog....<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"> "So let’s be careful when we mock things of which we have no understanding."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">This</span> gem from the man who brought us the banana-based 'atheist's nightmare'.<br /><br />Please see this link for full context:<br /><br /><a href="http://raycomfortfood.blogspot.com/2009/01/trillions-of-trillions-of-years-ago.html" onmousedown="'UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this)," target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span>http://raycomfortfood.blog</span><wbr><span class="word_break"></span><span>spot.com/2009/01/trillions</span><wbr><span class="word_break"></span><span>-of-trillions-of-years-ago</span><wbr><span class="word_break"></span>.html</a><br /><br />Practice what thee preacheth indeed, RAY!!!<br /><br />Thank you oh so much! I now no longer feel any reason to waste a single one of my brain cells worrying about ANYTHING that comes out of either Ray Comfort's or Kirk Cameron's respective cake holes!<br /><br />R.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5682535467434223800.post-14165700849045232832009-01-16T11:39:00.004-05:002009-01-16T11:45:19.968-05:00FAIL...<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/SXC4d3gQFrI/AAAAAAAAA-Y/jQVcAWuEvlQ/s1600-h/97103_spl73413_001_122_87lo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Dwbxm2de12k/SXC4d3gQFrI/AAAAAAAAA-Y/jQVcAWuEvlQ/s400/97103_spl73413_001_122_87lo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291932385415272114" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Silly, silly!! You airplane!!! Not boat!!! Get up in air...no go in wawa!</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">On a more serious note. To the pilot: Dude!!! You are Batman seriously! Landing a 30-ton airliner with NO engines, on the water, first try and NOT ripping apart the fuselage!? Stud! Sully!! I will be a passenger on Snoopy's sopwith camel if you are at the helm! <br /><br />Could this guy rock harder? I submit that he could NOT!<br /><br />R<br /></div></div>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255878533958017256noreply@blogger.com2