Comments by Frankus1122

Comment #244323 by Frankus1122 on September 8, 2008 at 2:50 pm

teapot,
Yes, creationists are really bad.
Almost as bad as transgendered sex workers.

(runs away)

Comment #244283 by Frankus1122 on September 8, 2008 at 2:08 pm

kaiserkriss,
I'm not sure how you get this:

brushing off any research funded by the hydrocarbon industry as tainted is narrow minded and appears to be pushing your own agenda. What evidence do you have that it is tainted? Is it because you say so?

From this:

But based on past evidence of tobacco companies researching the effects of cigarette smoke, and the conclusions they reach, one has to question the validity of those results.

I try not to push any agenda on the students. Except that they question the information presented to them
, including the info I provide them.

I never told the students the information was tainted. It could be the case that the hydrocarbon industry would fund research that produced results critical of their practices. I personally don't think that it is very likely that those results would be published prominently. However, this is not something I impart to my students (consciously anyway).
As I said, they are encouraged to question the validity of the information provided - including the info I provide them.

What you are saying in essence is that Scientists can be bought off, and that they lack credibility.

Not at all. But again, I would suggest that it is true that SOME scientists can be bought off, and therefore those particular scientists lack credibility. I would not think that a group of people, such as scientists, had any more or less integrity than any other group of people. When big money is involved some people can be less principled than they would otherwise be.
I would never think of all scientists as being one particular way. I believe they are individuals subject to the same pressures and weaknesses as us all.

153. 'Climate crisis' needs brain gain

Comment #244094 by Frankus1122 on September 8, 2008 at 9:30 am

Sciros,

...but would you not agree that companies like Exxon *should* be actively researching issues that they may be directly involved in?

Sure. But based on past evidence of tobacco companies researching the effects of cigarette smoke, and the conclusions they reach, one has to question the validity of those results.
I try not to push any agenda on the students. Except that they question the information presented to them, including the info I provide them.
I was just teaching them about Bloom's taxonomy of higher order thinking skills this morning.
Knowledge>Understanding>Application>Analysis>Synthesis> Evaluation or Judgement.
Determining what the facts are is the crucial first step. Although there are many facts that are not in dispute, making sense of what those facts mean and coming to a reasonable conclusion does take a bit of critical/higher order thinking.
I am not here to provide answers for my students; I just try to get them to think about questions in more meaningful ways.

154. 'Climate crisis' needs brain gain

Comment #244078 by Frankus1122 on September 8, 2008 at 9:02 am

I showed my class the Great Global Warming Swindle after watching An Inconvenient Truth as an exercise in looking at information critically. After we watched GGWS we looked it up in Wikipedia. We found a list of scientists involved in the film. We randomly looked up info on one of the scientists listed. He belonged to some foundation (can't remember the name). We looked up the foundation. One of its major sponsors was Exon.
It was a good little exercise in checking sources of information and thinking critically about the information presented.

155. Large Hadron Collider readies for world's biggest experiment

Comment #243574 by Frankus1122 on September 6, 2008 at 9:05 am

I just heard a preview of my favourite radio show, Quirks and Quarks.
They promised to talk about the LHC.
You can listen online here:

http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/08-09/qq-2008-09-06.html

156. Palin: average isn't good enough

Comment #243547 by Frankus1122 on September 6, 2008 at 6:44 am

The fireworks, signs, excessive cheering, crying even and the 'rock star' way they are done is so over the top, false and most importantly, vacuous.

To stick with my food analogy, it is like a lot of empty calories. They are stuck on drinking pop and eating ice cream. It may taste good but it is not really good for you.
Would you rather listen to a detailed explanation of foreign policy (eat a bowl of brown rice) or watch fireworks and cheer for vacuous slogans (eat ice cream)?
How do you convince your children that they can't eat Fruit Loops for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Do you provide them with reasoned argument or do you just tell them, "No."?
I just assert my parental authority. Unfortunately this is not possible with a nation that claims to be free and democratic.
I think a dictatorial oligarchy is looking pretty good. ;)

157. Palin: average isn't good enough

Comment #243543 by Frankus1122 on September 6, 2008 at 6:26 am

I can put it down to nothing but that an entire generation was perverted by Annette Funicello and the Mickey Mouse Club.

That is funny.
However, I wonder about the cultural meme that encourages this type of behaviour. It is surviving and flourishing in America. Why? Is it because it works?

The image of a positive-happy-family-guy-leader has morphed out of control into a bizarre caricature.

It is kind of like eating fatty foods. In the evolutionary past it was advantageous, but now it is dangerous to our health.

158. Bettany and Connelly to Star in Creation

Comment #243419 by Frankus1122 on September 5, 2008 at 7:41 pm

Don_Quix

I've always found it interesting that people in various eras always seem to be portrayed as having a particular "look" to them, beyond fashion and hairstyles,

You mean like Emma Watson and Richard Dawkins?

It is actually an interesting observation. I wonder if you would be able to tell from what era a person was if s/he were stripped of fashion and hairstyle 'tells'?
A fairly easy experiment to set up. If one was able to determine an era, I wonder what that could mean.

159. Large Hadron Collider readies for world's biggest experiment

Comment #243148 by Frankus1122 on September 5, 2008 at 8:00 am

What I like about this is it is an example of science blithely marching forward with no regard whatsoever to religion.
The LHC was not mentioned in the Bible where, according to religionists, all truths can be found. Do the experimenters think about this for a second? I doubt it.
Religion is irrelevant.

160. Palin: average isn't good enough

Comment #242938 by Frankus1122 on September 4, 2008 at 7:25 pm

Banning books?!

Banning books?!!

Why?

"Because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them."

Let me guess: Catcher in the Rye.

There is really only one book you need read. That, of course, is the Bible. Everything worth knowing is in there. If it isn't in the Bible then God didn't think we need know it and that is good enough for me. It is the Devil that tempts us with knowledge. God does not wish us to be too smart. He... I'm sorry, I can't go on with this.

As a librarian, I occasionally get nut-jobs asking that I ban Harry Potter books. I've found that if I ignore things they usually go away. (Although it hasn't quite worked for that leak in the ceiling). Giving the complainant lots of paper work to fill out sometimes helps.
I have never banned a book. I even accepted a donated book on 'alternative medicine'. I try to include a verbal caution to anyone who signs it out. ("You know that's all bullshit, don't you?")

161. Opening minds

Comment #242931 by Frankus1122 on September 4, 2008 at 7:00 pm

Darwin's Teapot

I am curious though as to how/if they teach evolution. More generally, I am curious how/if evolution is taught in the Asian world at all. I'd answer my own query, but my Korean is extremely weak. The country is 44% Catholic.

Then at least 44% should believe in evolution. I believe the official position of the Catholic Church is evolution is a fact; God helped direct it.
Whether or not that has anything to do with evolution being taught in the schools is another matter.
I know some evangelical Christians from Korea and they do not believe in evolution (despite one of them being a science teacher!).

162. Palin's Church May Have Shaped Controversial Worldview

Comment #242449 by Frankus1122 on September 3, 2008 at 6:17 pm

There has always been an invisible enemy. What you see in Iraq, basically, is a manifestation of what's going on in this unseen world called the spirit world.

Why, seriously, why does someone not just say. "No." ?

No, this is not true in any sense whatsoever.
It is completely made up.
It is false and a lie.

By 'someone' I mean someone politically. Someone, at some point, had the guts to say that the world is actually round and not flat when there was a majority of people who believed otherwise. Someone must have the courage to say, "Actually, there is not an invisible 'spirit world' where our fate is decided. That is completely untrue. It is crazy-nutty to believe such nonsense. There is absolutely no reason to believe this in any way. Nope. Not true."

What if someone were to say this in a political debate? I don't understand why no one does. They would lose, of course but it would be a blow for sanity. Does no one have the courage to do this?

163. Better Know a Lobby - Atheism

Comment #241596 by Frankus1122 on September 2, 2008 at 6:16 pm

Planes Trains and Automobiles...BRILLIANT!!

John Candy was a funny man.
SCTV anyone?
Kids in the Hall?
Too Canadian?

164. The atheist delusion

Comment #241088 by Frankus1122 on September 1, 2008 at 6:27 pm

Carloss,
Many of the opinions expressed here are not the result of double-blind laboratory testing; they are off-the-cuff remarks. However, I do think that many if not most of the posters are intelligent people who base their beliefs on the best available evidence.
I have not investigated the mathematics behind quantum physics or relativity but I do read about these topics and I trust the sources I read to be fairly accurate. I trust them in the same way you trust that your car will get you to the store without disassembling or that the airplane you get on will actually fly.
I do not understand exactly how my car works or exactly why planes fly (I sort of know) but this is not 'blindly' believing.

165. The atheist delusion

Comment #241081 by Frankus1122 on September 1, 2008 at 6:08 pm

Carloss,
I think a great many of Dawkins' 'followers' are knowledgeable about the basics, at the very least, of evolution, as well as a great many other topics.
There can be knee-jerk reactions to what may be seen as criticism of someone with whom we agree on most topics.
I listened to an extensive interview with Gray the other day. He raised some interesting points which gave me pause to think further. Rather than being pissed off, I was pleased at being challenged in my thought. He is speaking a new thought. (New to me, anyway). He has discovered a pattern of thought, a new way of looking at the world, at history that poses challenges to old ways of thought.
There may be some buckling at this. Fine.
I don't think that anyone who is honest with themselves would discount an idea without first looking at it closely.

166. The atheist delusion

Comment #241074 by Frankus1122 on September 1, 2008 at 5:48 pm

Steveroot, you have a new avatar. (New to me).
It reminds me of this:
http://www.jesusoftheweek.com/jesii/319/index.html

167. The atheist delusion

Comment #241071 by Frankus1122 on September 1, 2008 at 5:42 pm

This is what you get when you translate Diacanu's translation from English to Dutch to French to Greek and back to English:

I will be, l abrupt violent argumentation that applies in the dome of person which, in every case other people it doesn't become. the mass is also speechless dominable. The religions have been born [aytoes] they dominate and they have realised for the innumerable cruelties.

You know, I am a bit ashamed that this is my contribution after a couple of month's absence but I am a goof.

On a semi-serious note: was not the Bible translated from a whole whack of different languages over hundreds and hundreds of years?
Is this why a lot of the Bible makes as much sense to me as the above translation?

I have a poster next to my desk that shows a guy looking up to heaven praising god (I guess) for destroying a city in the background. It has the following Biblical quotation:

"Have faith in the preserving alive of the soul."

What on earth does this mean?

168. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #237360 by Frankus1122 on August 26, 2008 at 11:42 am

I'm back from summer vacation and decided to check in to the 'scratching post'. I see txpiper is still fighting the good fight.
Eeepist made a comment about summer vaction and the age of the Earth. While I was on summer vacation I told my children that the rock we were climbing over was several billion years old (Canadian Shield).

Now when I told my students that oil was formed several million years ago I was told by txp that perhaps it was not. I can't exactly remember the 'real' explanation. I think it had something to do with an ice shield around the earth melting really fast and creating a lot of pressure.
I did not relay that 'information' to them because there was no evidence for txp's claim.

I was wondering if txp has some explanation for the billions of years old rock I was looking at with my children. Geologists have a pretty convincing explanation as far as I can tell from the books we looked at. Are all the geologists in the world wrong?

txp, what should I tell my children about the age of the Canadian Shield?

PS: it is good to be back although I feel a bit overwhelmed. Too much information.

169. The Return of Religion

Comment #213780 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 9:50 pm

I am off to bed now. I have a big party tomorrow and I only have a month to recuperate.

170. The Return of Religion

Comment #213773 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 9:39 pm

smoking the ganja that night?

There are times when my artistic talent flares up in the kitchen and the delectable fruits of my labour are so exquisite that it defies description.

Yes.

171. The Return of Religion

Comment #213770 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 9:35 pm

Fill up a watermelon with vodka.
Put it in the fridge for a while.
Take it to the beach.
Enjoy.

172. The Return of Religion

Comment #213762 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 9:31 pm

Radesq,
No.
But I have tried vanilla ice cream, maple syrup, nachos and hot salsa all mixed up together in a big bowl.

173. The Return of Religion

Comment #213754 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 9:24 pm

Budweiser Budvar from the Czech Republic. I have friends who went on a tour of the brewery there and wound up in the brew masters room after ditching the official tour. They drank with him all day and spent the next couple of days at his house.
I'll be drinking Church Key and Mill Street tomorrow.

Creamsicles are what's in the freezer. It was either that or frozen fish. I think I made the right choice.

174. The Return of Religion

Comment #213751 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 9:16 pm

I am off to Mississippi Station, Eastern Ontario.
http://www.maplandia.com/canada/ontario/frontenac-county/mississippi-station/
I am surrounded by miles of trees and lakes and birds and deer and boring stuff like that. It was painful to come back into the city but there is this big bash tomorrow. Lots of good food and fine booze, so I made the sacrifice.

175. The Return of Religion

Comment #213743 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 8:56 pm

I'm still hanging in. I had to go get a creamsicle and my wife took over the computer.
I am shortly to be off until the end of the summer unless I can get access to a 'puter in the wilderness.

176. Texas State Board of Education approves Bible course for high schools

Comment #213705 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 7:47 pm

Unless it is a comparative religion course the various sects of Christianity will eat each other alive.
It does not seem very well thought out.

177. The Return of Religion

Comment #213698 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 7:29 pm

Oingo Boingo reminds me of The English Beat.
whitepearl:
This is not music from Zappa, just a flavour of his mind:
http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/zappa.htm

178. The Return of Religion

Comment #213688 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 7:15 pm

I almost saw Bob Marley. I won tickets off a radio station but he got sick and had to cancel the show. He died shortly after.
AC/DC was another good concert.
Lyrically meaningful to me and related obliquely to Hallelujah is kd lang singing Neil Young's "Helpless".
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=L5KRVtjgMkM

This is fun.

179. The Return of Religion

Comment #213683 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 7:05 pm

Radesq
Jimmy Page!
I knew you looked familiar. I couldn't place you until you mentioned Led Zep. They were perhaps most influential in my early years. I still listen to Led Zep. A new generation of youngsters are being turned on by their music.

Behind Blue Eyes. I forgot to mentioned that I went ot several of The Who's 'final' concerts.
Remember the Police Picnics? Flock of Seagulls, Joan Jett?
Remember the original Lolapalooza? Jane's Addiction? That was one of the last 33&1/3 records I ever bought.
That's not true. I now buy them for nostalgia's sake.

But old Led Zep. My jeans were covered with their 'symbols' back in high school. The good old daze.
But like Steve Zara I listen to a lot of current music. Alternative I suppose. Not big, just passionate.
Chad Vangaalen is my current favourite artist.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=jNejftjfcvs

It is YouTube music video night.

180. The Return of Religion

Comment #213662 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 6:27 pm

whitepearl,
Your "heavy" video reminded me of this:
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=eJQ9j9-g0mE

Not heavy at all.

It also reminded me of this video:
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=3_FxR4UkgmA

I'm Still Your Fag
Broken Social Scene is a loose collective out of Toronto. Just about everyone from Feist to Amy Millan has played in BSS.
Worth checking out.

181. The Return of Religion

Comment #213570 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 3:16 pm

All my favourite music is right here:
http://radio3.cbc.ca/

User Playlist: Frankus

When I was a kid I saw all the big acts in concert:
Pink Fyoyd, Bowie, Supertramp, Rolling Stones, Santana, Rush, Queen, The Cars, The Police, U2, Jethro Tull, Yes, and on and on.
The best two concerts were The Police right after their second lp came out and Sanatana. Both were at Massey Hall - a small venue in Toronto.

182. Texas State Board of Education approves Bible course for high schools

Comment #213557 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 2:55 pm

Comment #213552 by Stormkahn

and for bonus points can we have Pastafarianism?

I say go for full blown Rastafarianism.
Spliff Rolling 101

183. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #213431 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 12:58 pm

You know, I am tempted to set that site up?

What would be the content?

I was thinking of WWSZWD? just yesterday as there was talk on the radio of the WWJD? movement in the States.

Perhaps it could be serious answers to serious questions. Or perhaps more appropriately silly answers to silly questions.

184. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #213415 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 12:38 pm

Cartomancer,
You have it. We must learn to treat these posts with the respect they deserve.
Hey Joe:
If you are Italian how can you be a Muslim? Michaelangelo painted God, not Allah.
In your face!

185. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #213391 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 12:22 pm

Joe,
as a Sillyanne you must be familiar with that scene from "True Romance". You know the one with Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walken.
You are lying.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=tqccyUpnZwA

186. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #213385 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 12:16 pm

If I win the debate, whoever you choose has to buy me a 12 pack of beer

That does not include Miller Lite I am assuming. Wait a minute, I thought you said you didn't drink camel piss.

187. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #213379 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 12:13 pm

Al,
Joe mentioned Toronto in his 'novel-post'.
While I am no al-rawandi (I only stand 6'4"-245 lbs), I will gladly be a stand in to kick his ass for you. Generally I try to avoid the violence but sometimes it seems to help.;)

188. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #213357 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 11:57 am

Forgive me but I cannot believe Joe is for real. Like clearwwoter his posts are just too stupid to be the real efforts of a sentient being. The dancing around spouting stupid stupid comments and not answering questions is not the work of an authentic living creature.

I can't help the feeling that we are being made fun of by someone pretending to be so stupid. We respond to inanity as though it were coming from an authentic poster.
But then again there is the Poe's Law thing...

As Cartomancer said

at least he inspires some top class obscenities from the Very Reverend Shayne Dark.

Yes. That is always a good thing.

189. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #213259 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 10:51 am

More on the nutty notions and jobs idea:
A friend up in the country who is an organic farmer said he did not plant certain crops until very late because there was a full moon on June 18 or May 20 (I can't remember).
I asked what difference the phase of the moon makes to planting crops on Earth.
He told me that the 'oldtimers' had more wisdom about planting and the earth in their little finger than we have in our whole heads. They said that a full moon means there will be a late frost.
I checked out the weather forcasts for the area and there was no indication of a late frost. In fact, there was no late frost at all in the area- just as predicted by the scientific weather forcasts provided by Environment Canada.
In fact, another friend looked up the full moon /frost notion and found that someone had done some research of full moons and incidents of frost and found there was no correlation whatsoever. (Sorry I don't have the source).
We showed our friend this information and he still believes - despite the evidence- that you should not plant crops if there is to be a full moon.
New Age nuttiness reigns.
That's another thing that bugs me:
'old time' or 'ancient wisdom'
What's up with that?
Why do people insist on deferring to the knowledge base of people who had not discovered the wheel and thought the Earth was flat?

190. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #213245 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 10:34 am

hungarianelephant,

Either way, when these things start getting in the way of actually doing your job, they cease to be irrelevant and should have no special status, any more than a preference for certain kinds of work. This way madness lies.

I was just listening to Sam Harris talk about how certain ideas should preclude one from certain positions. He spoke of telling a potential employer (let's make it a stock brokerage company) that you believe in astrology. That is nutty and should rightfully preclude one from a job that requires one to look at the real world in rationally justifiable ways.
We laugh at people who believe such nonsense.
We ought to laugh at people who hold nutty religious beliefs.
I am not saying that we discriminate where it does no harm to hold such beliefs but that we should where it does do harm.

191. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #213238 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 10:24 am

Greg,

Welcome back

Thanks.
I'm only back for an annual summer bash at a friend's place. There will be lots of fine food and fine booze. Not really a Miller Lite and hot dog thing, but fun none-the-less.

192. The Return of Religion

Comment #213164 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 8:32 am

Again, I am late to the party.
While you were all discussing the finer points of drinking yesterday, I was on my way back to the Big Smoke, stopping in Pethericks Corners to buy a couple of Growlers (64 oz.) of Northumberland Ale and the multi award-winning Holy Smoke Scotch Ale.
Both very very fine drinks.
http://www.churchkeybrewing.com/
As for more drinking fun try some of the cocktails offered at:
http://www.tikibartv.com/tikibar_display.php?pver=qh&vid=47

193. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #213148 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 8:09 am

DamnDirtyApe,

What would be really interesting is to see if the areas of the brain which lit up for OCD people also lit up for religious people. That would lend further credence to Tyler's theory.

194. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #213125 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 7:36 am

There is, I have to admit, a certain guilty pleasure in winning

But there is also the disappointment that the defeated do not realize they are on the ground, battered and bloody.
It reminds me of the scene from 'Cool Hand Luke" where Luke keeps getting up each time he gets knocked down.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=8n0mgkaEGQc

195. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #213103 by Frankus1122 on July 18, 2008 at 7:04 am

Speaking of ocd...
I was on vacation for a couple of weeks without internet access - jonesing all the while for a hit of RD.net. Thankfully (thank god, or Jehovah in this case) some Jehovah Witnesses showed up on my doorstep in the country. My wife said she was not interested but perhaps her husband would be. I love that woman.
They turned on me.
It was fun.
We went through the usual steps of the dance.
I asked about the myriad religions of the world and how they knew they had the right one.
The Bible is the true word of God; other sacred texts were written by man.
How is it that JWs are the only one of thousands of Christians sects that have it right?
Only JWs follow the word of God correctly.
They gave me the argument from design: What if you were walking in the woods and came across a house...?
The Theory of Evolution is just a 'theory'...
At this point my wife told me later that I was a bit rude. I shouldn't have said they were "astoundingly ignorant" as I went on to explain what a theory in science actually means.

We had a good half hour of back and forth. As they left I said I hoped I gave them something to think about. They said the same to me.

Anyway, sorry to intrude on this thread in this manner but I had to make a trip to the scratching post.
I can see from the last few posts that txpiper is still at it and andylacey has joined the 'debate'.
txp: Wednesday? Wednesday? Perhaps you haven't noticed but church service is on a SUNDAY; three days after Good Friday. Geesh!

196. Saving Us from Darwin

Comment #200232 by Frankus1122 on June 27, 2008 at 6:11 am

I came to have one last peek before I leave for the summer. To my great joy there was a clearwwoter post!

We had this gem:

What is a piranha's life cycle?
birth-eat-poop-die

What is clearwooter's life cycle?

birth- eat poop-spew poop from mouth-die

Sorry, clearwooter. No LOGIC god for you in heaven. You be worm poop when you die.

197. A War On Science

Comment #200074 by Frankus1122 on June 26, 2008 at 7:06 pm

It is as clear as God.

198. A War On Science

Comment #200072 by Frankus1122 on June 26, 2008 at 7:05 pm

Oh, now I get it.

199. A War On Science

Comment #200068 by Frankus1122 on June 26, 2008 at 6:56 pm