Comments on: Dutch clutch such… uh, nonsense

By: Ronn! Blankenship

Ronn! Blankenship — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:56:40 +0000

# Michelle Says:

…Now that I think about it, if we fit everyone tightly together in one spot, how much territory would we take?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_on_Zanzibar#Explanation_of_the_novel.27s_title

By: Michael Campbell

Michael Campbell — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:46:04 +0000

Did this nonsense actually START in America? Or are you just being one of the cool kids and slamming the US?

By: fred edison

fred edison — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:18:54 +0000

“There are times when I wonder if what I’m doing — debunking bad astronomy — is a waste, when I could be doing something else with a bigger impact.”

Please don’t stop anytime soon. I need the laughs. The stuff you find is unbelievable, literally. True, you can’t change the world. But if you educate and change one mind, that mind will educate and change a mind, and that mind will…. I try to do the same, though not as eloquently and convincingly as you.

By: Redx

Redx — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:06:27 +0000

The Centipede:

“…General Tojo will arise from the dead to lead the Imperial Japanese Necrarmy to turn the entire world into undead Communists!”

Man, I keep forgetting if the Imperial Japanese Necrarmy Revolution is coming out in Summer or Fall. The concept art for the Ghost Ship Yamato is just stunning.

By: robhoofd

robhoofd — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:29:15 +0000

The article calls the Dutch ‘rational and laid back’… I remember those days. They were good. But they’re gone.
Every day I wake up hoping that the Dutch people have gotten sensible and give people like Char Margolis, Derek Ogilvie, the 2012 nutters, and all those other cranks and charlatans out there a good laugh and nothing more. But even after a primetime special on Char (with James Randi, w00t), no one has seemed to budge. This country is indeed trying to turn into the US, and it’s disturbingly succesful at it.

By: Sam

Sam — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:08:30 +0000

I’m from Holland and I concur and this country is desperately trying to imitate the unite state. Its a sad state of affairs.

By: PP

PP — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:05:00 +0000

Sailoron (7:29 pm) asked “Have any of them built an ark yet?”; the answer to that is ‘of course!’. Some guy built a (half-size) replica of Noah’s Ark “complete with modal animals”. It is a “testament to his literal belief in the Bible.”

BBC news story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6604879.stm
The website of the ark: http://www.arkvannoach.com/language/en/

By: Immigrant

Immigrant — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:02:23 +0000

Considering that about 50% of the Dutch don’t believe in God means they probably believe in something else, I think 25% of those non believers look to Char and then the rest are looking to Petra, casting the finger at us immigrants. Maybe if I lose 5 pounds she’ll let me stay.

And to blame this on America … nah, you give us way too much credit.

By: Anti-Spam guy

Anti-Spam guy — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:23:11 +0000

Please remove comment-184971 SPAM

http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2008/06/25/dutch-clutch-such-uh-nonsense/#comment-184971

By: themadlolscientist

themadlolscientist — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 07:30:59 +0000

No, no, no……… If the Netherlands is sinking, it’s because of the accumulated weight of decades of issues of National Geographic (the Dutch edition, of course). It was proven back in the 1950s or 60s that the same thing was happening to Manhattan. I know it’s true, I read it in the Journal of Irreproducible Results!

By: RT NZ

RT NZ — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 06:56:48 +0000

Why even try to debunk this BS ? let the morons believe it then just laugh.
Just checked out Jon`s link…Hehe what exactly would you need supplies for ,if the world is coming to a screaming halt?

By: JB of Brisbane

JB of Brisbane — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:37:26 +0000

Evidently, no-one told Zager and Evans about the Mayan calendar.

Zager and Evans?

“In the year twenty-five-twenty-five, etc.”

By: Jelle

Jelle — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:03:11 +0000

Well it’s good I emmigrated to New Zealand then, made the country a bit lighter that way!

By: Jon

Jon — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:13:47 +0000

The Dutch probably get most of their 2012 supplies from http://www.2012Supplies.com

By: Dave W

Dave W — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:35:47 +0000

2012: The world ends for the UK when the Olympic committee abandons its policy of peace and nukes London for not finishing the new stadium.

By: shane

shane — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:01:25 +0000

I think the Mayans got the date wrong. As far as they’re concerned their world ended a long time ago.

In my world, SQL Server, the world didn’t exist before 1 Jan 1753 and ends 31 Dec 9999.

By: Sailor

Sailor — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:29:30 +0000

Well I think if I was living below sea level with no place to go, and looking at the possibility of major sea-level rises in the future, I would be somwhat nervous. Not enough to buy into 2012 though.
Have any of them built an ark yet?

By: geophysicist

geophysicist — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:22:07 +0000

The thing I love most about this article, is that the end of the world implies a certain degree of finality. If the entire world really is coming to an end, is an inflatable boat and a couple of cans of beans really going to help that much?

Me? I’d go for a deck chair instead.

By: MarK

MarK — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:02:53 +0000

I’m not concerned about 2012. I just looked at my calendar on the wall and found out that there is nothing after 31 December 2008!! Oh woe is me for not realising how soon the world would end and not being prepared for it!!!!
Pffft!!!! there really is no monopoly on stupidity is there. It doesn’t matter how this stuff gets out there, someone always believes it and then away we go again.

As for phases of life, why not. We know the the earth has already been through several phases in its existence so far. People go through phases of life as they grow and grow old.

It seems I’m idealising again. I keep dreaming that this mass hysteria might get turned ito something worthwhile. If only that were true

*ramble and rant mode disabled*

By: PP

PP — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:48:25 +0000

pjotrk (12:30 pm) and others who think it was not published in the Volkskrant: it was on page 22-26 of “Volkskrant Magazine” last Saturday.

By: Torbjörn Larsson, OM

Torbjörn Larsson, OM — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:27:23 +0000

Instead of building a boat, Mrs Faile could succeed as a swedish immigrant. Most of our land is still flexing back from the last ice age.

IIRC there are parts up north, Höga Kusten (the High Coast), that is pushing up at a rate of 0.8 cm/year. You can’t keep a good Sweden down!

By: Hugo

Hugo — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:17:04 +0000

This reminds me of something the ‘Museum of Hoaxes’ (more a site of oddities, silly media ravings, absurd claims and such than a full-on skeptic site) ran a couple of years ago about two men who, in 1824, persuaded a large group of working men that it was necessary to saw New York in half to prevent it tipping up on one side and sinking (read it ages ago; my details are a little foggy).

Check it out here: http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/Hoaxipedia/New_York_Sawed_in_Half/

By: Bas K

Bas K — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:08:44 +0000

Is this really such a surprise?

In(s)ane beliefs are rampant in this country.

We have a cabinet whose majority is made up of christian parties. I’m not talking about some people holding christian beliefs. They’re actually called the Christian Union (CU) and Christian Democratic [Appel] (I have no idea how to translate that, the abbreviation is CDA).
Admittedly, it could be worse, but not a whole lot. Political pressure to curb stem-cell research. Donor laws being put down because of ‘religious circumstances’ or whatever the official rationale is (hint: it’s still because of religion). The CU is particularly nasty at this. Wanting to put abortion laws back up for discussion and such.

And yet, somehow, we just take it as a given that such parties exist, and should be allowed to exist, in our political system.

Separation of church and state, my ass.

By: ZorkFox

ZorkFox — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:04:33 +0000

“Never give up, never surrender!”

By: Halcyon Dayz

Halcyon Dayz — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:00:39 +0000

No matter how silly, dumb, or ridiculous some piece of antiscience, there will be someone, somewhere, who will believe it. And there might be a few million who believe it.

- Plait’s Law