“Dutch
Instead of ‘rant” how about the following..
Bombastic
Rhetoric
Spindoctor for the left.
inflamatory(sic) and

“Dutch
Phil is just working the system. He needs to keep the number of hits and posts up. How do you do that? Make one sided blanket statements such as ” The past seven years have been one of seemingly unending downward spirals into recession” for which there is no truth and he apparently has no base of knowledge. Then sit back and let the money roll in. All he has to do is every once in a while post something that has truth in it on a subject he has knowledge of, so that he maintains some credibility. and

“Dutch
Will M.
In your first paragraph you say the following “WHY do find it necessary to whine?” Then you proceed to whine like a baby.

Next you state the following “If you don’t like the entire content, DON’T #@&%*!$ read it! ” May be you should take some of your own advice and DON”T READ IT.

Next you state the following ” stop with the snide, derisive, offensive comments” Again take you own advice. I think in your last post your said I was not to sharp and I sound like a fool. I guess there is nothing snide, derisive or offensive in that comment.

You are a case study in conflict. You must live by the motto ” Do as I say, not as I do.”
Next you state the following “If you don’t like the entire content, DON’T #@&%*!$ read it! ” May be you should take some of your own advice and DON”T READ IT.

Next you state the following ” stop with the snide, derisive, offensive comments” Again take you own advice. I think in your last post your said I was not to sharp and I sound like a fool. I guess there is nothing snide, derisive or offensive in that comment.”

Will. M
Dutch:
“Yeah, I too am getting tired of the folks who bitch about this website not giving them astronomy 24/7. Since no one is forcing you folks to visit here, when you do, WHY do find it necessary to whine? If you don’t like the entire content, DON’T #@&%*!$ read it!”

What is it you find “silly” about that statement? It’s pretty straightforward: if you don’t like what content Dr. Plait puts in his blog, then don’t read it. This applies to all the “keep it to astronomy” whiners, of whom there seem to be an increasing number of late. No whine there; only straight talk. Do you belong to that category?

I like the entire content of this site, Dutch. I just don’t like folks like you who carp, criticize and whine incessantly, using snide and derisive commentary completely devoid of factual rebuttals for your criticism (see above), which is directed mainly at Dr. Plait and not at what his post references.

And if you read my comment re your nicknamesake, nothing in it directly calls you a dullard, a fool, or an annoyance. It does imply that anyone who can’t understand the restaurant analogy might think the comment was directed at him, though.

(the rest of my first post)
“And stop with the snide, derisive, offensive comments about Dr. Plait and the rest of us who generally agree with him. That kind of behavior isn’t endearing you to anyone here. And to whine about “anti-intellectualism” and getting dumped on for “expressing an opinion” is absurd, when the content of your post is derogatory or otherwise a rant about the CONTENTS of the blog, which ISN’T up for criticism. Gripe about the topic, gripe about the poster’s responses, but not about the blog in general.”

This didn’t apply to you, Dutch, as well - although you seem to think it did. But I will concede that the last part was badly phrased, especially the last sentence, and might have led to some confusion on your part. To post-edit the post: If the only reason to comment here is to complain about the lack of an astronomy-only content, or to otherwise post ad hominem (attacking an opponent’s motives or character rather than the policy or position they maintain) attacks on Dr. Plait or the posters, then don’t read the site. Howzzat?
And to make you happy:
You are offensive, snide, foolish and certainly not witty with your whinging (that’s a synonym for whine) and unsubstantiated comments about Dr. Plait. There.
Happy now?
Will. M

Next you state the following “If you don’t like the entire content, DON’T #@&%*!$ read it! ” May be you should take some of your own advice and DON”T READ IT.

Next you state the following ” stop with the snide, derisive, offensive comments” Again take you own advice. I think in your last post your said I was not to sharp and I sound like a fool. I guess there is nothing snide, derisive or offensive in that comment.

You are a case study in conflict. You must live by the motto ” Do as I say, not as I do.”

Wow. Just…wow.

“I’m telling the drama queens that when they leave, they can simply do so without The Grand Speech…”*

* From the Politics/Religion link found on the menu of *every* page of this site, comment 122717, 15 Jul 2007, The Bad Astronomer

That was easier then I thought. Mission Accomplished.

From my perspective, I feel it’s rather silly to demand changes to information service that I have zero financial investment in. If I was paying for this service, I would feel more comfortable demanding more of X and less of Y. When I don’t pay anything, and in fact enjoy a completely free service that BA isn’t on the hook in any way to make available, I feel privileged to have access to it at all. “Shut up” isn’t in my vocabulary in this scenario.

Furthermore, those that advocate the “shut up” approach would have more credibility if they practiced what they preach. In my opinion, there is a fundamental flaw in their argument: They reserve for themselves rights that they aren’t willing to grant to another. It’s rather ironic: they feel they are entitled to express themselves - their views and complaints in the comments; however BA isn’t allowed to do so in his comments, i.e., “The Blog”.

- JR