Did You Know That. . . .?

Tags

cosmology, evolution, foreign affairs, genius, Good stuff to know, mind, pseudo-scientists, science, Syria, Writers

A lot of disparate thoughts travel through this brain case I can safely inform you. You know me well enough to recognize the dangers of entering into my sandbox of synaptic pleasures. I’m either hopelessly unfocused or a cobbled together unrecognized genius. Some days it’s more one, other days, well.

I’ve come to see it as a blessing of sorts. At least I try to see it that way. I should have been a college professor, but of course that but begs the question–on what subject?

Any the hoo, I have a lot of thoughts about Syria but not a lot of coalesced conclusions, so I’ll beg off at the moment. Is it too trite and cowardly to just say, I’m conflicted?

I had a bizarre discussion with fellow high-school mates about the issue of spanking as discipline which proved to me once again how easy it is to stay with ideas that are both comfortable and supported by simplistic memes that denote little if any critical thinking. More and more I conclude that indeed advances in the human condition are the result of a very few minds indeed, and put into place by mostly brain-dead human hordes who are spoon fed some “reason” for implementing them.

If all that sounds rather cloudy and vague, well, it’s a cloudy and vague day here in Las Cruces. It’s been raining off and on for several days, which is highly unusual, at least for us recent arrivals–we saw so little rain last year that it made one appreciate water as a life-giving commodity surely. This year, we were told, as of Monday at least we had not yet received four inches of the wet stuff, and we might get at least that during this week. Since the desert is nothing but sand covering a rock hard-pan, the danger in these parts is floods in low-lying areas. Water races to its lowest place and rushes along, making gullies and rivulets through the desert. These become ditches or arroyos as we call them here, and eventually the Grand Canyon if you can stick around that long.

So anyway, here are some things I’ve read this week that you might find interesting.

Vlad, who appears to be in the driver’s seat at the moment internationally that is, has some things to say and said them in the NYTimes.

It’s an interesting “open letter to the American people“. Part propaganda, part history lesson, part chutzpah, it is worth a couple of minutes to read.

Having a power mad ex-president of the Communist party and ex-KGB officer, Putin deigns to give America a lesson in democracy. One can but admire the rich irony of that alone!

What he has to say about the subject of exceptionalism is worth reading. There is truth in those words.

As I said, my thoughts on the subject of Syria are unclear. That Putin wants to be a “player” is clear. What it will cost is not so clear.

A man so determined to show off his “masculinity” bespeaks something surely. What that is, I am not at all sure of.

 

¤

I did mention the possibility that I am a hidden genius didn’t I?

That is almost surely a good reason for concluding that I am not.

Like “hero” we bandy about the word genius rather loosely these days.

If you would like to read an interesting take on what genius is and is not, then read I Dream of Genius over at Commentary. I found it a good read.

At least you can see if those you think of as geniuses are what the author does.

¤

If you would like to look at the mind in a different way, a more evolutionary way perhaps then you might want to pick up a new book out there by E. O Wilson, emeritus professor of biology at Harvard.

If you are unsure of whether you want to invest in The Social Conquest of Earth, then you can read through a review of the book from The Spectator.

HINT: once more we are compared to insects. All it all, it looks worthy of some good reading and some very good thinking ahead if you opt in. The review is not favorable on Wilson’s book. See if you agree. In either case, it seems a worthwhile read.

¤

Cosmic archaeology, need I say more?

Some say that aliens have looked and found us. But there is a thriving scientific community that spends its time looking for them. This is way more than looking for Goldilocks planets my friends, much more.

This is the type of scientific speculation that leads young boys and girls to dream of going into space, and leads them to enrolling in our best science and technology universities.

Come and dream for a few minutes. What can it hurt?

Go and read Distant Ruins.

¤

What happens when we both hear and see something? Do these two senses work together to enhance our fact gathering?

Is there a hierarchy of the senses? Do some matter more? Does one?

Oh I’m sure in the late recesses of a bleak and cold winter’s night, you too have asked this question.

So go and get the answer: Who did you hear, Me, or your lying eyes?

HINT: You might just have been McGurked!

¤

Another thing I imagine you’ve given a lot of thought to is why we are so fascinated by the lives of the writers we read and admire. I mean how much has been written about the life of Hemingway for instance? Are we not enthralled with the secret world of Proust, or Dickinson? How about Emerson or Fitzgerald? Balzac? Oh come now, you know you are curious.

A biography writer, shares some thoughts on what we can and cannot learn about those whose words cause us to depart this reality and enter another, one that sometimes we would rather inhabit.

Good reading here.

¤

Finally, if you have ever had the occasion to be “linked” to a “scientist” or other “expert” on something like global warming or evolution, or biblical literalness, American exceptionalism, the Judeo-Christian roots of American government, or similar things, you know what you are up against.

If you had the resources and or time to do the research,  you would almost surely find that most of these experts are anything but. Some our out-and-out failures who can be bought for a price, others are traveling into areas for which they have no formal expertise at all, and others are simply grifters, ready always to make a buck upholding any cockamamie “theory” that comes down the pike.

There is a great little site called Encyclopedia of American Loons. You can look up the biography of a startlingly large group of imposters and get the real low down on what they know and don’t know. An invaluable site. Since they seem to be novice bloggers I asked to them add the widget for a search engine and they have. Now you can enter a name and find out if they have bio’ed him or her. Or if you just want some fun reading, just go read a few.

So, now that I have solved all your reading needs for the weekend, I’ll leave you to it, with promises of more to come.

Related articles

• Sen. Menendez reacts to Putin’s op-ed: I wanted to vomit (thelead.blogs.cnn.com)
• Vladimir Putin Lectures the US on Morality in the New York Times, Greenwald Co-Signs (littlegreenfootballs.com)
• The Social Conquest of Earth – Edward O. Wilson (konradebooks.com)

 

What Time is It?

Tags

Congress, convention, cosmology, Election 2012, GOP, Mitt Romney, science, Texas insanity, time

 

 

If you want to start a fight in my house, just mention TIME. Yes, you heard me, I said time.

While neither the Contrarian nor myself have a degree in astrophysics or quantum physics or even the Dummies Diploma of Basic Astronomy, just mention the issue of whether time is real or not, and the feathers start to fly. (or fur)

Now Einstein said time was relative–it moved faster or slower depending on how close one approached the speed of light. And time slows down at the event horizon of a black hole. Every knows that. Steven Hawking wrote a book called the History of Time, though I’m not sure which side of the fence he sits on regarding the reality of the concept.

I would suggest that the Contrarian lacks the imagination to see the possibility that time is a human construct. It is a way of measuring change and movement in sequential bits. Before the Big Bang, (if you posit the non-existence of parallel or multiple universes), there was NOTHING, so no way to measure it.

Think of it this way: You die. In ten years you are dead. In three million years you are dead. To you, it is irrelevant. You are just as dead.

So to me, it seems realistic to imagine a “time” of no time, and a future of “no time” when our universe ceases to exist. I don’t have any problem with it.

The Contrarian, on the contrary, (*snicker*) sees time as independent of anything, and that it goes blithely on regardless of whether there is anyone there to notice.

Now scientists of the physicist persuasion, differ on this issue themselves. Some see an infinite growth of universes, such that time is eternal. Others see it the right way, as I do. No judgment of course.

So anyways that is my take on the issue. I want to be sure that my opinion is noted for the future when all this is sorted out. I’m sure that it will matter which side you are on.

∩

It appears that when you take the stupidity of your constituents for granted, that well, you might as well go all the way.

If you recall, the Willard and his merry men of mincemeat, decided to take a Obama remark completely out of context a few weeks ago. “You didn’t build this” was said in the context of reminding us all, that the infrastructure that supports us all in our daily lives from roads and bridges to sewers, water pipes and so forth were things that helped business owners in their growth and prosperity. Most businesses could not in fact have built their businesses if they had to pay for roads to carry their goods, and sewer systems and so forth.

Willard, dependent as he is on lies, distorted that and claims that Obama actually said, that people didn’t in fact build their own businesses, but others built it for them. Of course that’s not true, and would be a ludicrous thing to claim. But no matter.

The GOP has decided to use “We Built This” as their theme. Of course the stadium they are going to do this in, was . . . wait for it. . .built by government funds.

Dontcha just love the irony?

∩

It pretty much defies explanation. Why in all the world would sensible people want to hand the reins of governing over to a group of people who deliberately and with malice aforethought, set out to destroy a presidency before it even was sworn in?

“. . . secret meetings led by House GOPWhip Eric Cantor (in December 2008) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (in early January 2009) where they laid out their daring (though cynical and political) no-honeymoon strategy of all-out resistance to a popular president-elect during an economic emergency. “If he was for it,” former Ohio senator George Voinovich explained, “we had to be against it.”

And we elect these people for what reason?

∩

Gosh, I almost forgot the other wingnut of the day. This one from Texas, big surprise. You see, if you take a map of the US and you circle it on itself to create a funnel, well, as it is well known that stupid is heavier than intelligence, stupid slides southward into you know where–TEXAS. This is all a pain in the keister to regular Texans who find their state infested with vermin who should all be shipped to Alaska, where there is more room for idiots, and frankly, idiots seem more or less welcome there anyway.

So, where was I?

Yes. Texas. Lubbock County Judge, Tom Head (the surname is an old English one denoting lack of brains–play on words ya see), he figures that if President Obama is re-elected, good folks like himself cannot sit still.

He would like the good people (there must be some) of Lubbock to drop some money in the county coffers to beef up law enforcement.

Why you ask? To combat lawless protestors?

No, no. This is Texas remember, where Longhorns are more plentiful than IQ points.

Good ole Judge Tom says that beefin’ up is necessary, because he’s quite sure that civil war will ensue–Lexington and Concord kinda violence to “take this guy out”, and he is also quite sure that the President will hand over sovereignty to the UN. When the peacekeeping forces are sent in, Judge Tom swears he will be on the front lines to oppose them, musket in hand.

After receiving assurances by the PO-lice chief that he would “back him” Judge Tom advised that he wanted some “seasoned veterans” who were well armed, hence the need for a new property tax.

Yes, and you thought that fairy tales were only for children. Welcome to America–Land of the seriously stupid.

∩

Now go out there and do something good for your fellow sane person.

Related articles

• Lubbock County Judge Predicts Civil War if Obama is Re-elected, Proposes Tax Hike (blogs.dallasobserver.com)
• Lubbock County Texas Judge Tom Head: “Obama reelection means civil war” (amarillo.com)
• Texas judge thwarted in civil war preparations (salon.com)
• Dumbshit GOP Judge in Texas asks for tax increase to ‘fight back’ against Obama’s ‘U.N. army’! (dangerousminds.net)
• The Party of No: New Details on the GOP Plot to Obstruct Obama (swampland.time.com)
• George Voinovich on Grover Norquist, Citizens United, and the American Dream (communities.washingtontimes.com)
• Obama Tax Cuts Fail To Get Senate Vote After Republicans Balk (huffingtonpost.com)

 

Into the Belly of the Beast

Tags

abortion rights, astronomy, cosmology, Election 2012, GOP, Herman Cain, Italy, life in the meadow, Politics, theoretical physics, Women's issues

We drove into the belly of the beast 130 miles to a courthouse in up-state Iowa.  We came, we saw, we think we conquered. Meaning the judge will issue his findings and order within thirty days.

We have been involved in a claim for money. It was claimed we (my husband actually) owed almost all of a legal debt going back THIRTY YEARS. We claimed and provided documents to prove that every single penny had been paid. The other side provided no documents to the contrary. Confronted with this, admissions were made that we were correct. The claim is now, “Well, I want so more anyway” or words to that effect.

The questions of the judge make it quite clear to me that we will be fully vindicated.  Phrases about “woman scorned” and “filthy lucre” and “money-grubbing” and so forth would be inappropriate, unless you choose to use them by reading between the lines. It’s not worth further explanation.

These things happen to us all, usually more than once in a lifetime. We are happily going along our merry way, when somebody or some entity (usually some government bureaucracy) stands up between us and our goal and demands we spend time, and often money to prove what we know to be true, and what we often believe the other person does as well. It amounts to using legal means to exact retribution emotionally. It’s call harassment.

As I said, whatever happens, we are done with it. And I have a confidence (as does our lawyer whose documents and law went in unopposed) that we will be completely vindicated. We are feeling as if a burden has been removed. We turn our attention to plans for our future.

♦

Well, it was a busy day in the world of politics. We returned to the home front and dashed off to vote for our state senate race. This was a critical one because if our candidate didn’t win, the Senate in Iowa would be tied between the two parties. Happily, the Democratic candidate did win.

The Mississippi referendum to declare a fetus a “person” was defeated. The draconian laws passed in Ohio to take away the rights of unions was soundly recalled. The  Republican creator of the Arizonan immigration act, Russell Pearce,  was recalled in a special election. In New Jersey, voters increased the majority of the Democrats in the Jersey legislature. In Maine, voters restored a “same-day” registration to vote that had been repealed by the GOP controlled legislature.  All in all, a pretty good night for the cause of right (left) versus wrong (right).

♦

Speaking of the Mississippi referendum, the wackos on the extreme right are already promising “God’s wrath.” So I guess we should be looking for earthquakes, off-season hurricanes and other such “natural” disasters to befall the Mississippian populace. Or perhaps only the 58% of them that soundly defeated the act.

♦

Perhaps it might be fun to recall what one can get away with saying today but would have cost you your head in centuries past?  Such a thing happened to one Dominican friar Giordano Bruno in 1600 who dared to suggest that our sun was likely no different from other stars, and that they too might well have planets about them. The Inquisition did not tolerate such obvious claptrap.

Nowadays, we talk about multiverses, dark matter, string theory, and inflation (not the money kind!). A nice article in Discovery Magazine, should you be sick and tired of politics.

♦

Notorious womanizer and all-around harass-master, Herman Cain, Silvio Berlusconi is set to resign as Italian Prime Minister. Un-named sources claim that Mr. Cain, sent  a telegram to the beleaguered Italian Stallion-in-his-own-mind: “Dude you are screwed. Stop.”

♦

Let me just say this about that. The that? The Penn State scandal. What the f**k were you ADULT men thinking? How many wrongs does it take before you step up and PROTECT CHILDREN? And I don’t care how big an idol that Joe Paterno is. Simply advising somebody of the problem (don’t tell ME any details) is not enough. Did anybody ever think to call the POLICE? This reminds me for all the world like the hideous scandal in my own Church and its utter failure to act immediately to stop the abuse.

♦

It appears that Herm Cain’s defense to sexual harassment charges are quite simple. “Her claims were found baseless because she was unable to bring forth any corroborating witness.” Yes, every time that a man has tried to man-handle me, he waited until there were plenty of witnesses around. You are a pig Herm.

♦

And that’s all I got today. So you know you got it all. HA!

 

 

I’m Mrs. Johnny Depp!

Tags

conservativism, cosmology, Election 2012, Entertainment, evolution, Humor, intellectuals, Johnny Depp, Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, morality, NAACP, racism, Recipes, Rick Perry, wacko right wing

Oh, yes I am!

And I can prove it. More or less.

It seems that a respectable number of experimental and theoretical physicists believe that there are multiple universes. Not only that, but that there may be an infinite number of them, all of which means, that any thing that can happen, has.

Well, one thing that can happen (I know it might be a stretch but we are talking about statistical probabilities here) is that Mr. Sexy pants could fall in love with me.

Therefore, some where he has. Proved!

That also means that there is an infinite number of me’s. One of me lives in Hawaii in a gorgeous beach house. One of me is President of the US of A, or the United Planetary Association of Andromeda. The options are as they say infinite.

The Contrarian was a bit off-put by this revelation, until I reminded him that somewhere he was married to Halle Berry. That brought a grin.

The Contrarian has some “issues” with the theoretical physicists in the end though. He’s not much in favor of a time “before” time. I myself have no difficult with that concept. However we both noticed that these guys and gals do have a pretty cushy job. I mean they sit in a comfortable office, with a chalk or white board and doodle with numbers and squiggles, and then travel to nice places and sit and “think”. Often at beaches, mountain ranges, and other pleasant places.

It’s not like they ever have to prove anything. As the Rethuglians always say about anything they don’t want to help pay for: “it’s only a theory.”

Best of all, I can theorize about Johnny Depp all I want, cuz who’s to say that he doesn’t figure into some time warpy travel theory? I mean, being a theoretical physicist is so highfalutin’ that nobody can reasonably challenge my claims right? Only others of my kind. And after all, we have a mutual desire not to upset any of our apple carts.

So, I’m applying for my grant money, and hope to set up shop any day now.

♦

Hope you all had a nice labor day. Out of work laborers most assuredly did not I guess. We had a T-Bone, potato salad and some jalapeño poppers. The latter two recipes can be found at What’s on the Stove, which has it’s only little link on the side bar now.

♦

Ricky “Gosh darn this is fun” Perry is what they call “surging” in the polls. Somebody finally tapped the shyster on the shoulder and told him to act “gubernatorial” and high tail it back to TEXAS where people are losing their homes at an astounding rate due to unchecked wildfires. He’s properly “concerned” now.

Meanwhile Mitt “it’s slipping away” Romney is starting to show the wear and tear of being rejected but once again. Mr. Perpetual Runner whom nobody really likes, stares ever wide-eyed at the audience he addresses, and for all it’s worth you can hear under his breath: “can you morons understand these simple sentences?”

Yeah, actually they can Mitt, and well, they really don’t like you. Can you understand that?

♦

Noam Chomsky writes a very interesting and provocative piece in the Boston Review about the role of the intellectual in today’s murky moral world. He is prompted by the questionable action of murdering Osama Bin Laden and dumping his body at sea without trial.

It’s a most serious read, but one that will benefit you. We seldom spend the time we should thinking of the hard issues.

♦

Michele “damn you Ricky” Bachmann is shakin’ up the team. Ed Rollins is out due to “health” reasons as well as the deputy David Polyansky.

This kinda crap is usual in a campaign going down the crapper. But Michele, it ain’t gonna help. You are simply TeaNutz® lite compared to Ricky “I’m more nutz” Perry.

♦

DCMartin gives us a good old slappin’ story about racism reaction gone amuck. And she has designated herself as the “official spokesperson” for Black America, which sure makes it easy on me. 😛

Go give it a read. She’s very funny and actually makes a fine point as well. Don’t ever Pass the Doucheys. . .”

♦

I was prompted to visit a site I’ve only briefly looked at. Conservapedia. It’s the “trustworthy” encyclopedia. Isn’t that just wrong on its face? How can something that purports to be “conservative” by “trustworthy”? It’s clearly not giving truth, but a point of view.

My favorite quote from the front page is from Isaiah Berlin:

“Good government in a free society keeps positive and negative liberty in balance. These two forms of liberty are out-of-balance today.”

Now that is interesting isn’t it? I betcha some wacko TeaNutz® would have some interesting ideas of what “negative liberty” are. 

♦

From “Constant Comment”

 ♦

Hey, have you ever seen Wilfred? You should. It’s hysterical at times, frightening occasionally. It’s an import from Australia. It is not for the faint of heart. It is not for mortifiable-prone evangelicals. It’s about a dog named Wilfred, who appears as a human in a dog suit to a neighbor. Wilfred teaches lessons, and humps stuffed animals, and smokes pot by the pail full.

I thought it would be stupid. But it’s shocking, and funny at the same time. Try to find it on your TV dial. Oh crap, that dated me. TV’s don’t have dials any more.

Laters gators!

 

 

Your Intolerance of My Intolerance is Intolerable!

Tags

Allen West, budget, cosmology, economy, FAA, gay rights, GOP, Humor, Jesus, jobs, John Boehner, life, lions, teabaggers, universe

So says perennial douche Allen West (R-Fl). It seems Mr. West was disinvited from a business association speaking engagement when LGBT members threatened to boycott.

West is well known for being on the wrong side of almost every issue, and gay rights is one of them. He, the Coronel drummed out of the service for torture, is opposed to the ending of DADT, and of course echoes the extremist view that being gay is matter of choice.

So in his midget mind, gays are now being intolerant of his right to be intolerant, and depriving the fine business folk of the Wilton Manors Business Association of his fine wisdom. I suspect they aren’t gonna miss much.

♦

For a good many years now there has been much speculation and much research on the question of how life arose on this planet (abiogenesis) and the likelihood that live abounds in the universe at large. A very thoughtful examination of that question is in The Australian’s “Hello, is there anybody out there?”

♦

You may have heard that the FAA was partially shut down due to a failure of Congress to fund it. You may not know that the reason is  GOP intransigence again. The GOP, who ran in 2010 on “Jobs”, has put over 70,000 construction workers out of work by their filibuster. In addition 4,000 FAA employees have been furloughed. Nearly 1.2 billion in revenue is not being collected. This is all over some minor tweaking about rural airports and more importantly the GOP demand that unionization not be made easier.

Oh and the kicker here, is that the GOP is playing the same game of hostage. Either cave to their demands by tomorrow, or the layoffs will continue for another month while the Congress goes on vacation.

Hope all those that voted to give the GOP more power are now happy.

♦

As we mentioned, the GOPers ran in 2010 on a mantra of  jobs, jobs, jobs. They were going to create them. Except they didn’t of course, and a very good argument can be made that they have not even tried. No, instead they have been led around by the nose by the TeaPeople, much as they were during the debt crisis. So it’s been all about repealing the Affordable Health Care Act, screwing women’s health care, defunding PPH, and destroying Medicare.

Where are the jobs Mr. Boehner? I think he said, “Let them eat cake.”

♦

Hey time for some levity! Found this cute little site via Infidel753. The question is what exactly was the ethnicity of Jesus? You might be rather surprised when all the evidence is in.

♦

Now if I were a smart Democrat. Okay, no oxymoron jokes please! Pay attention.

1. John Boehner said last night that he got 98% of what he wanted in the debt ceiling deal. He said he was “pretty happy.”
2. An independent think tank, (Economic Policy Institute) says that the bill will cost America 1.8 million jobs by 2012.

So…………

DEMOCRATS: MARRY BOEHNER TO THE BILL! IT’S HIS ECONOMY NOW.

♦

MoJo brings us timely information on how not to be eaten by a lion. I thought you might be contemplating being in the wild, so. . . Hey, I’m always lookin’ out for my peeps!

1. Stay in the car. “Lions don’t see a car as prey, so you’re safer inside,” our director Giles insists. If you’re in a vehicle, stay in it.  (The above does not apply if you vehicle is named “cougar” or “mustang” or other animally names. Lions are quite literal beasts.)

2. If you go tracking on foot be extra vigilant. (Swing you head from side to side, with eyes open. Turn around every five steps. Put on glasses if you use them. Don’t smear body with gazelle guts before beginning trek.)

3. Always travel with a local guide. (Our team had two local guides with them at all times.) (Guides are there to guide you to the lions. If this is what you want, heck get half a dozen. Note: they may also have information on where the nearest tree is.)

4. Carry a big stick and a firearm. (But use them as a deterrent, never intending to inflict harm on the animal. A hurt lion is a very angry lion.) (Drop the stick and carry two guns. Load it BEFORE you enter lion territory. By all means DO intend to inflict harm on the animal. You want to stop it don’t you?)

5. Keep your eyes open: You’d be amazed how close a 500lb lion can get without you noticing. (Besides walking around with your eyes closed encourages falling off cliffs and falling into rivers. Always look down and not up. Lions are not very skilled at flying quite yet. Look for something tan.)

6. Always have a “spotter.” Just because you’re filming one lion, doesn’t mean there isn’t another behind you.(make sure your spotter is not a mute or suffering from laryngitis. If you see a lion who is whistling, you can be sure his bud is behind you. Whirl and shoot, preferably with a gun. Drop the camera.)

7. Travel in a group: Lions are less likely to attack a group. Our team always stuck together and no one ever went out alone.(Have a few practice “runs” before the trek. Make sure there is at least one person who is slower than you are in the group. You don’t have to be the fastest, just faster than somebody.)

8. Know the signs: a lion spoor (footprint) has one pointed and three oval parts. (Spoor? I thought that was poop? Anyways, think dog print. Only bigger. Also if you are following, don’t keep your nose to the grindstone so to speak. Look up and forward from time to time. Otherwise you may come nose to nose with your new BFF)

9. Don’t interrupt their lunch: If you get between them and a carcass, you could be next on the menu. (After all, you are not photographing a swimsuit model. Wait your turn, there is usually lots of leftovers to scavenge after the lion is finished. Be a good guest!)

10. Know their behavior: Lions are more likely to be aggressive if there are cubs around or when they are mating. But a sleeping lion can spring up and attack in the blink of an eye, so never get complacent. (Before you waste all your time learning all the ins and outs of lions, just remember this: is there a set of bars between you and the lion. If so, enjoy, if not, well, you asked for it.)

So there you have it. My additions are make this list hugely more useful.

Have a good day. 

Related articles

• Republicans Hold FAA Authorization Vote Hostage To Extort Anti-Union Deal (crooksandliars.com)

We Got Yer God Particle. . .Maybe

Tags

big bang, Blaze's Nincompoops, cosmology, Humor

Hey there Billy Bob, come on in. Sylvia is in the kitchen russlin’ up some fancy dip for the pork rinds. Heck I like ’em plain myself.

Sorry we had to meet here today. Old Tom snuck in the trailer last night. I gotta get that door fixed. Anyway, he’s been sleeping under the trailer and just is full of fleas.

I set myself down on that sofa this morning and took to scratchin’ like a crazy man. Had to clear out and set off one of them bombs to clean it out.

Anyway, Margaret read all about this “God” thing. Has somethin’ to do with science. I don’t get it much, but she said we better discuss it. She’s in a real tizzy.

So set yourself down. Oh, not there, she said not on that chair, it’s full of cat hair and she ain’t had time to clean it off yet.

So anyway, there’s this big thing they call a collider over in Switzerland or some place. And they are shooting atoms around real fast and they think they are about to find this little itty bitty thing. Margaret called it a God piece, or something like Hogs Boone part-e-cal. I don’t see what all the fuss is about, but Margo is fumin’ about those atheist foreign scientists messin’ with our God.

She’ll tell you all about it here.

Swampy:  Posted on July 26, 2011 at 1:39pm

I don’t know, this just seems like a bad use of this technology, trying to prove the big bang. Like all the time wasted with the Hubble looking at empty pieces of space trying to prove the big bang, when the time could have much better been spent actually viewing objects that might teach us something valuable.

What objects would those be Swamp head? I am looking up your nose and so far, nothing interesting there. There are lots of empty pieces though, so I guess I see you point.

Islesfordian:  Posted on July 26, 2011 at 3:40pm

Another question is, will anyone outside the field remotely understand the theories involved and what is “discovered”? What proof will the layman be able to see that there is anything real to this? How will he know that these scientists know what they are talking about? Without practical proofs and explanations this will all just seem as relevant as a bunch of nerds arguing whether zombies ate brains to stay “alive” or just because they were compelled to.

Yeah dude, if it’s not understandable to a rhesus monkey what good is it? Everybody knows that. So mind explaining to me how your microwave works?

MomRules:  Posted on July 26, 2011 at 12:49pm

Why don’t they just search for God,they could find Him with a simple prayer instead of all this expensive nonsense.

Yeah, you should write them and explain that. They could have had a V-8!

AOL_Refugee :  Posted on July 26, 2011 at 12:39pm

There will be no answer, just more questions

Dumb science! They never know when enough is enough do they?

TwinspeedR:  Posted on July 26, 2011 at 12:29pm

Be careful where you tread, mister scientist man. The secular humanist viewpoint ends in tears, always has, always will because it tries to supplant God (over and over and over again).

The CERN facility is a modern day Tower of Babel, and we know how that ended.

Why you are so correct. I saw Isaac Newton in tears just the other day, and everyone knows that Albert Einstein cried at the drop of a hat. I also have heard that there are just too many languages being spoken at CERN. Nobody understands anybody!

Chigger:  Posted on July 26, 2011 at 5:07pm

@Grapes: How could finding this particle prove something positive about God? The article says they would prove the big bang theory  if they indeed find the particle. That theory seems to be against God.

It SEEMS that you are a homo sapien sapien, but looks are often deceiving. Proof once again that you can walk and talk without functioning  grey matter.

Independent American:  Posted on July 26, 2011 at 12:17pm

Scientists are looking for “God” in a particle? Truthfully, what they are actually looking for is an alternative to God. Men tend to find what they look for. If they don’t find exactly what they want, they will keep on looking or be forced to “redefine” what they do find to support their foregone conclusion, like global warming “scientists” did. Whatever they “find” will be hailed as the ultimate truth–if it fulfills their expectations. Their conclusions will be overly complex in detail, but basically simplistic in general.

Wait and see.

God exists all right, but not as a particle.

Pretty darn smart them scientists. Hey I think you have the makings of a first-class dissertation. Go ahead look that up and see what it means.  I’m sure you can get published in Horse’s Ass Monthly.

 

Sloburn:  Posted on July 26, 2011 at 12:10pm

I have decided – I do not exist.

Now lets see if the Frenches can prove I do.

Who are the Frenches?  I frankly don’t think you do exist. I sure can’t see you. I think you burned up.

Eschatologist:  Posted on July 26, 2011 at 12:09pm

“In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.”

 So let me get this sorta straight? Are you saying that the universe should have been created at the end? Man there would be no place to sit down dude.  But I find there are a lot of angry people around the world. At last I know why!

Alps91:  Posted on July 26, 2011 at 12:08pm

Nobody is claiming that the God particle is God, what they are claiming is that it is what gives physical matter its physicalness, so to speak. It is the theoretical particle that gives mass mass and makes matter matter. It is not in any way supposed to change your view on God, its just a nick-name because it is the end-all-be-all of subatomic particles…

Are you insane? Give these people actual facts and their minds will overload! Can’t you see the steam coming out of their ears already?

RN Mom:  Posted on July 26, 2011 at 6:30pm

Since this study has been funded by European tax dollars, I would like to make this point: How come scientists are given a free pass on developing anti-matter? Given the qualities anti-matter theoretically possesses I wonder why the EPA or environmentalists aren’t up in arms about this? I mean, we can’t drill for oil without millions of permits and bureaucrats, we can’t build bulk head without the wrath of the EPA, we can’t even exhale without offending them- yet antimatter can be developed unchecked???? Where was the vote for this. I think everyone should have a say about what they are doing in the dark cover of caves.

What are those qualities oh wise one? As to the millions of permits. Wrong kiddo. Only 987,322, last time I checked!  You always want to vote on anything you don’t like. You never mention the word if you do. I vote that we vote about whether we should vote.  And tell me more about the caves.  Oh and be sure to tell me what hospital you work in. I’d like to avoid it if possible.

Well that’s it for this installment. As always, I remind you. These people have a legal right to vote. Scary ain’t it?

 

 

 

 

 

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By the Time I’m 90, I Won’t Know a Thing

Tags

cosmology, near death, physics, universe

They tell me that with age comes wisdom, but the wisdom seems to consist in knowing that as you get older, you realize you really know nothing.

Last night was “science night” in the Peyton household. We watched a bunch of shows about various aspects of science: Is there life after death? What was there before the Big Bang? Was there a Big Bang at all?

My head hurts now. Although I am more than ever convinced that death is not the final end to our story. A varied group of scientists, for a variety of reasons, think there is scientific evidence that points to some kind of “cosmic mind” or that something of us survives to interact with a greater mind than our own. I was content with that.

But then the next show had to upset my apple cart about the beginnings of our universe. It seems that a goodly number of theoretical physicists no longer believe in the Big Bang. This may or may not have to do with human hubris. It’s hard to say. The reason they don’t is that they can’t accept a theory that basically says–we can’t transcend into a realm of no-time/no-space. Our minds are not constructed for that, and besides the math simply breaks down into meaningless gibberish.

Some believe that the entire universe is a mathematical construct in which time and space live. Others believe in waves of energy that bump each other from time to time and explode into a matter-forming “universe”. Others that we are living in a succession of black holes that explode, and ultimately end in another, only to cycle through again. There are as many theories as there are active mathematical minds who love scribbling with chalk upon a chalk board.

What I like most about these folks, is that they get paid to think. I could go for a job like that. They never of course have to produce anything practical, just design experiments costing millions to discover the elusive “top quark”. They have reduced the number of elemental particles to about 12, should you care to know. Now they wonder what is so special about six leptons. Why not 7 or 4? They are good at coming up with questions that justify more thinking, more paychecks, and more fancy equipment.

Some of these guys (and for no reason I understand, most are guys) fancy they can think just about anywhere. So some have nice cabins overlooking lakes in the woods, where they put their feet up and “think.” Like I said, these are grifters of the first quality. I want to be one.

So I was busy last night undoing all the stuff I thought I knew. I see little point in remembering much of this new stuff. In five years, it will be obsolete.

If our information is multiplying exponentially, as it is, I wonder what that means in other areas. It’s crystal clear that what was learned in high school by anyone over the age of 40 is essentially useless today. Soon, it will be twenty years, then ten, and well, you see the problem.

They say we are the sum total of every person, event, experience, feeling, we have ever witnessed or engaged in. Well, won’t humans just burst at the seams one day? I mean you can’t have enough room for everything you need to take in, having no decent mechanism to dump out the old. It seems a problem. Is anybody addressing it?

And if my body is essentially new every ten years (cell replacement) who the hell am I after all? I guess my brain cells don’t get replaced or I would never be able to store more than ten years of information. It’s all confusing.

As I said, my head hurts. I guess we should limit ourselves to one hour of science at a time. Unless of course you have properly worked you way up to larger doses.

Come to think of it, writing drivel like this is pretty much like that “thinking” the theoretical physicists do. But then I don’t have a lab, millions of dollars at my disposal for fancy machines, and certainly no paycheck. So far Bill Gates hasn’t seen fit to punch my PayPal donate button and throw a few bucks my way.

After all, I’m just losing my mind, one word at a time. Tomorrow even more stuff I thought I knew will be declared worthless. I’ll be sure to alert you as it happens, so you can clean house in your head to. If someone could just point me to the wastepaper basket in my skull, I’d be most appreciative.