… is eternal vigilance.
 |
Yes, that’s Canis Minor. Click to embiggen, and feel free to share it with others.
Now I’m off to do what I do every July 4: read the Declaration of Independence.
The price of freedom…
About Bad Astronomy
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Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He has written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic, and fights misuses of science as well as praising the wonder of real science.
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July 4th, 2009 at 10:18 am
It’s too bad the squirrels are better at it…
July 4th, 2009 at 10:23 am
What does this have to do with astronomy or any other sciences?
Now I’m off to do what I do every July 4: read the Declaration of Independence.
July 4th, 2009 at 10:31 am
@ZERO, if you notice, it is labelled as “Humor, Piece of mind, Politics, Pretty pictures” … I see nothing there about astronomy or any other sciences.
July 4th, 2009 at 10:34 am
So, where is the squirrel?
July 4th, 2009 at 10:36 am
I don’t get it
What squirrels? What’s Canis Minor? Wikipedia says it is a constellation…
July 4th, 2009 at 10:39 am
@ Josh
Well, I thought that this blog is aboout science, skepticism and debunking and I see him posting updates with picturs of himself eating fire, his pet and pictures which apparently resemble someone’s face!
July 4th, 2009 at 10:40 am
Ah, the lesser known northern border wall– keeping out all those filthy Canadians.
July 4th, 2009 at 10:41 am
@ZERO
The Declaration of Independence has EVERYTHING to do with science! Without the freedom to study the natural world unfettered by political and/or religious agenda science becomes the joke creationists have tried to make of it for years. Freedom from religion was a fundamental principle of the founding of this nation. Plus, Jefferson was certainly a fan of science.
July 4th, 2009 at 10:43 am
If you can find a used copy (or one in a public library), you might like to look at Philip S. Foner’s “WE THE OTHER PEOPLE: Alternative Declarations of Independence by Labor Groups, Farmers, Woman’s Rights Advocates, Socialists, and Blacks 1829-1975″. I find it a fascinating look at how the ideas embodied in the Declaration have been expanded to cover other historic movements. Amazon has links to used book sources for it.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0252006232/qid=1115585029/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/104-2271696-7403133?v=glance&s=books
July 4th, 2009 at 10:46 am
@ Justin
LOL! Good one! Then why are there so many antiscientists in the yank congress? About half of them are! And why is science under attack so much in that nation?
July 4th, 2009 at 10:46 am
@Zero
So you won’t be joining us here any longer?
July 4th, 2009 at 10:46 am
nice. my pup, murph, is of course exactly the same.
July 4th, 2009 at 10:53 am
Aww, Canis Minor isn’t so minor!
(Everyone else can talk about politics and skepticism. I go all gooshy about dogs.)
July 4th, 2009 at 11:02 am
@ ZERO:
Are you serious? It’s Phil’s blog, he can write about whatever he wants.
July 4th, 2009 at 11:04 am
ZERO: Your concern is noted.
July 4th, 2009 at 11:04 am
@ Zero
Yank Congress? You must be one of those arrogant “I’m better than those uncivilized Americans” Brits……
July 4th, 2009 at 11:07 am
I don’t see any resemblance of canis minor or squirrels in this poster. I don’t get it! Why would I share this with others?
July 4th, 2009 at 11:07 am
What part of “Don’t feed the !@$$! trolls” is so hard for the internet to understand?
OK, so it’s not as if I haven’t done it a time or two (thousand) myself. Honestly, why do we do it?
July 4th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Jason A.
Excellent! Then how about taking some action?
July 4th, 2009 at 11:15 am
“When, in the course of human events, –who’s a good boy? You? Are you a good boy? Awww, goody lickums from my good boy. . .”
To all my fellow ‘Merkins, have a safe (which does not neccessarily mean explosion-free) and happy Fourth of July. Go ahead and read the Constitution after you get done with the Declaration, it’s almost breathtaking how forward-thinking the founding fathers were.
July 4th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Stuart Van Onselen:
Why do we feel compelled to swat, with a rolled-up newspaper, that damn bluebottle fly buzzing around the room?
July 4th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Canis Minor is Phil’s dog and that is probably his back yard.
July 4th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Phil: What is the URL for that post where you respond to the people whining that your blog is full of a bunch of stuff that they don’t want to read? You really should put a link to that in the right column. Seriously. Every time a concern troll pops up in here, I want to post it, but the last time I actually found it required a fair bit of time searching through your blog archives.
July 4th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
I call Poe. Now, who wants a hug?
July 4th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Zero, here’s an idea. First, read this. Second, stop complaining or go away.
July 4th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
@ Eric
I’m not British, if you really want to know!
July 4th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
@ Phil Plait
So, this blog is more about antivaxxers, religulous antiscientists(I’m using Bill Maher’s term), and some daily life topics! Now I know why it’s called ‘Bad Astronomy’.
July 4th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
@zero
What is so wrong about writing on other stuff? If a blog just stuck to one topic, it would be boring. Even though my blog’s theme is astronomy (or at least a high schooler’s level of understanding), I like to post a lot of other random fun stuff because they are interesting. Not only that, he is putting up issues which is important to him, so the blog is a good place to put those things up. Plus, it is his blog, so you have no business in telling him what to post about. If you don’t like it, you have the choice to go away. How hard is that?
July 4th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Actually, Canis Minor can climb that fence. I don’t know what that means exactly, within the construct of the social/political metaphor, but I think it’s pretty impressive. Maybe she’s like an eighteenth century American colonist, ready and able to cast off the yoke of oppression. Or maybe she’s just a psycho dog with an under-domesticated prey drive, willing to do anything to catch a squirrel.
July 4th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
I play “4th of July” by X every July 4th. It’s not much of a tradition, but it’s mine.
July 4th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
Canis Minor and the squirrel wavelength tracks are just too cute!
July 4th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Phil, good on ya. Hope you have a good one.
July 4th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
ZOMG, Phil, you didn’t!!!!
For both democracies and squirrels, Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Freedom.
That would mean… that would mean… Canis Major is a terrorist!!
July 4th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Zero: FFS man, don’t write in bold! It’s almost as annoying AS WHEN PEOPLE WRITE IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS FOR NO GOOD reason. And I really hate it when people do that:P. CaPiTaL lEtTeRs AnD bOlD !=gOoD.
July 4th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Happy 4th Phil and fellow commenters!
July 4th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
To Zero @ #27,
Be polite. This is Phil’s blog. Despite your accusations, you should know that Phil has never been negligent on the laying out scientific issues. The fun of it is, he also focuses on daily tidbits akin to playing after class. Consider them recess periods. This is necessary so as to give the grey cells time to cogitate on the more important issues.
How to Behave on an Internet Forum – Respect the Admins
Internet: Useful Tips: How To Behave On An Internet Forum
~~~~~~~~~~~
AwOMG!! Phil is a teenager!
July 4th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Phil and Mrs. BA, Canis Minor is a very cool name for a cute pup, but I have to ask, what do you call her when you want her attention? I keep trying to envision “Fetch, Canis Minor, Fetch!” “Canis Miiiiiiiinor, here, Canis Minor, come here, girl!” “No, Canis Minor, drop the squirrel NOW, before you come inside!” Does she end up being Mini, or Canie, or ???
Have a great, safe 4th, all!
July 4th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
I prefer a slightly longer document.
Happy Independence Day – Thank You Thomas Paine.
Nice post.
July 4th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Correction for Entry #33,
Canis Minor, not Canis Major.
Hmmm, interesting mythology behind the names.
July 4th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Happy 4th!
July 4th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
You know, on any OTHER day, I’d find that image quite amusing. Today, I just
find it disrespectful. Fortunately, the U.S. is still a (mostly) free country, and somewhat freer today than this time last year, IMNSHO.
July 4th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Happy 4th to our American friends!
SpriteSuzi:
If I remember correctly, I think Phil said one time Canis Minor is a pseudonym.
July 4th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Coolstar, you have caught me. I hate America, which is why I said I read the Declaration every Fourth of July.
Seriously, coolstar, take a chill pill. Or you could, y’know, go away since you seem to hate this blog so much.
July 4th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
@Autumn
Merkins have a holiday today as well? Lucky little fellas!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkin
@Phil
Always pays to keep your head low if you don’t want it made a target. (which is shorthand for don’t politicise a blog with that which not everyone may find as eminently worthy as you do)
July 4th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Yeesh, the Fourth of July seems to bring out all the cranky people down there. Up North, all Canada Day does is bring out the flags.
HJ Hornbeck
(hotlinked like a firecracker)
July 4th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
I guarantee you that zero is some christian fundie nutjob that Phil has ticked off at some time or another and he’s spamming this non-sensical rubbish just to try to throw a spanner in the works. DO NOT LET HIM SUCCEED! Just ignore the little lunatic and move on people.
July 4th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
For both democracies and squirrels, Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Freedom.
Actually, Phil, eternal vigilance is true for most, if not all, forms of governments; not just for us democracies.
~~~~~
Fish @ #45,
Phil can do whatever he wants in this blog. That includes feeding or not feeding trolls.
Someone has to take pity on them, ya’know.
July 4th, 2009 at 11:59 pm
@ZERO
The nature of blogging is that everyone gets their own soapbox to stand on, and no matter what a blog’s supposed to be about it’s really about the blogger first and foremost. I’m not saying that’s inherently a bad thing, but it’s not the best way of getting information on… well much of anything aside from the aforementioend blogger. Nevertheless, it’s the vogue website pattern of the era and so if you want to hear the interesting things some folks have to say you’re stuck with the things that don’t interest you as well. Fortunately, the nature of the format is also that you can easily skip over anything that doesn’t strike your fancy, which is what you should do in the future.
July 5th, 2009 at 12:50 am
Happy 4th of July my American Friends – enjoy the celebration of one of history’s great beginnings.
July 5th, 2009 at 12:57 am
Jeremy (48) et al,
Very well put. The problem with Zero and others is that (obviously) they have an agenda that doesn’t match these blog forums. It gets down to their emotional investment in some religious fantasy or an entrenched political position that doesn’t mesh with this blog. Thus, they can’t simply skip over the occasional thread because : Ya can’t let go if ya wanna control.
July 5th, 2009 at 1:40 am
“We hold these truths to be self-evident”…
I love that phrase. In mathematics, these are like stating the axioms on which a principle is based. No exhaustive proof is given of these axioms as they are considered “self-evident”. Sure, they go on to show how the King of Great Brittan breaks these rights, but that does not prove why they are necessary.
Worth stating again, since even today these aren’t givens in many places in the world:
1) all men are created equal
2) they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights–among these are: Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness
3) to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed
4) whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form
What I love about these is how encompassing they are. Are you a devout follower of a particular religion/political group? Then if you can agree to follow and afford others these 4 things, you’re fine. Are you atheistic or agnostic? Then again, if you can agree to follow and afford others these 4 things, you’re fine.
As a religious person (in the US), I consider the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights as sacred, and I am happy that these documents have afforded a society of people from all walks of life who agree to these fundamental principles.
That sounds a little platitudinous, but it’s hard not to feel that way after reading one of these documents (thanks for the reminder Phil).
July 5th, 2009 at 1:49 am
Torture, genocide, rape, infesting countries with mercenaries, financing terrorism in Iran, committing the ultimate warcrime of Aggression after torturing people to get false confessions, supporting this crime in Somalia, unwarranted spying, a subservient media to sell wars with, a militarized society with an unsound hero-cult and unquestioning “patriotism” that is also undistinguishable from militarism – to the point where you must stuff your face with freedom fries to serve – a country with a government that systematically pardons the architects of the most despicable crimes, can tolerate laywers who want to crush the testicles of childen (John Yoo) but can’t tolerate a little oral sex between two adults. I’d say the United States of America is way past the vigilance fase. I don’t hate America, the idea – no bone to pick with the people (well with certain categories I do) just with the regime – I just hate what it has now come to stand for in reality as opposed to the myth.
July 5th, 2009 at 4:19 am
Eternal vigilance of what?
Eternal vigilance of TRUTH.
http://www.bentham-open.org/pages/content.php?TOCPJ/2009/00000002/00000001/7TOCPJ.SGM
Americans are modern mutated slaves shackled to lies by the Zionist mafia criminals that control us.
The center cannot hold.
There will be an infinite number of future July fourths.
But yesterday might very well have been our last 4th of July.
Cowardice and treason by the majority have wrecked us.
Israel uber alles!
July 5th, 2009 at 6:09 am
Stone Age Scientist,
You’re quite a clown!
July 5th, 2009 at 6:12 am
@ Adam
Well, yes! Technically he can post anything but then it wouldn’t be a science blog anymore!
July 5th, 2009 at 6:13 am
@ GeekGoddess
Oh, I will, dear!
July 5th, 2009 at 7:32 am
The price of freedom……
is forever teaching and actively debating topics with critical thinking skills. No more sacred cows, no more group think, and no more labelling people .
Stop doing above logical fallacies or society will descend into chaos.
Sermon over.
July 5th, 2009 at 7:56 am
Hey Zero, yohoo,
(swats fly.)
July 5th, 2009 at 8:31 am
if you don’t like the blog….gfy (code)
July 5th, 2009 at 8:40 am
29: Mrs BA:
My first dog was a Border Collie and he LOVED cats and squirrels, baked, broiled or fried,,,or raw,,,but he wasn’t adept at climbing fences. On the other hand, we had a collie/shepherd cross breed with a Chow tail that could clear that fence in a single bound.
Snow on the ground? In JULY? Or, I suppose, this is an old pic? My Chow and Chow/Shepherd mix would LOVE that weather. Every year I have to have them shaved so they can survive the summer here in Georgia. By Sept they’ll be looking like Alaskan Huskies again, awaiting the advent of cold weather with drooping tongues,,,
Now, if I could just catch a Florida black panther kitten, I could have a complete menagerie of effective mammalian carnivores,,,so sweet and playful when they’re not hungry,,,and eternally vigilant,,,
GAry 7
July 5th, 2009 at 10:29 am
I thought the price of freedom was a buck o’ five
July 5th, 2009 at 10:45 am
Attention Neil…
— Oscar Wilde
July 5th, 2009 at 11:28 am
@Gary Ansorge – speaking of the Florida panther, they are rapidly disappearing. There are fewer than 100 left, with many killed by cars every year. Here’s a link to a Sierra Club page which will help you send an email to Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, asking that critical habitat be preserved for these magnificent cats.
If you live in Florida, you can also write to your representative to let him or her know that you think saving this species is more important than building more new houses and shopping centers.
July 5th, 2009 at 11:39 am
58. Stone Age Scientist Says:
Hey Zero, yohoo,
(swats fly.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORZ00OyKp0I
JP=?
July 5th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
#53, Neil:
Ah, Neil… wrong website. The Jeff Rense site is down the hall, extreme right, all the way doown, as far as you can go…
July 5th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
@ 24. Arnold Jamtart :
I call Poe. Now, who wants a hug?
Yes, please! Can I specify who I get it from?
@ ‘neil’ : Take your anti-pyschotics or whatever other medication and mental health treatment you clearly so badly need and have a good long lie-down before you post anything else here dude.
I’m guessing paranoid schitzophrenia’s your deal, right?
July 5th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
@ the BA :
Canis Minor?
What about Canis Major? Was that your other / last dogs name?
(Speaking personally, my last dog -a staffy-cross – that I named was called Sirius & I have a cat called Zosma after the star name Delta Leonis so I can’t talk. Well I can but a-n-y-w-a-y …
)
July 5th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
The price of freedom is ….
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
…. Putting up with other peoples ideas of freedom too!
I may disagree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
That in a sentence is what the US should stand for & be.
Even here on the net.
July 5th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
I provide the link to a peer-reviewed scientific paper published in a respected scientific journal that PROVES the World Trade Center was packed with nanothermite and you charge “conspiracy theory.”
I place everyone in checkmate and the response is to fling the board across the room.
Would that be “conspiracy theory” like in 19 Arabs with boxcutters?
No, that would be conspiracy theory in like the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty was an accident despite the credible testimony of the Captain, Officer of the Deck, most of the crew and two Israeli pilots.
I’m old enough to remember the days of the former Soviet Union when the news would give frequent reports of another political dissident declared mentally ill, tranquilized and incarcerated in a mental institution. The only difference today in the USA is they want people to declare themselves insane with visits to their physicians for prescriptions for chemically lobotomizing Murti-Bing style mind controlling drugs like Zoloft, Paxil and Prozac. And everybody has suddenly become authorities on mental illness. Anyone daring to challenge their comfort zone with an intelligent argument is declared paranoid schizophrenic, a tinfoil hatter, a homo, off their meds, should commit suicide, etc.
July 5th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
I learned something yesterday.
I learned Neil Armstrong is jewish.
How interesting is that?
July 5th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
See, Neil, do you see the irony here?
You can post your bat-s**t insane rants in a free society without having the men in jack-boots come and carry you away.
You have the right to believe your insane rants, and, we, likewise have the right to say that you are a nut-bar.
Isn’t freedom of speech wonderful!
(BTW, since this is Phil’s blog, he has the right to ban you, or anyone else… againg, one of the great things about freedom!)
July 5th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Michael L
But I was bullied, mobbed, threatened, assaulted, fired, sabotaged and libeled by an unaccountable criminal Zionist-controlled University of California.
I also had the Federal thought police (Zionist mafia muscle) come banging on my door supported by a small army of local cops because of my internet writings. At the time I was making serious waves at Yale in my attempt to incite a strike for 9/11 TRUTH. They didn’t have an arrest warrant because I didn’t break the law but our Zionist mafia controllers are powerful enough to dispatch them anyway to harrass. It took about two minutes in my unintimidated standoff against the cops in my driveway where I finally realized the local boys in blue weren’t really there to assist the Feds but rather to protect me. At one point I had to intercede to calm everyone down because I thought the local cops were about to beat up the Feds in my front yard. Having no arrests, no complaints and no tickets for a decade helps. Not only that, the Feds subpoenaed my private emails for the previous four years and to top it off handed them over to my former University of California employer to read and distribute.
They wanted my guns but I wouldn’t hand them over.
I even bought more.
I think there are a lot of nervous people in California.
July 5th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Umm, yeah, I’d be nervous living near you too… Time to up the dosage, I think…
July 5th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Ah, and with that I am banning Neil. That is a clear enough if indirect threat of violence that I don’t need to allow him here anymore. If he wants to claim Zionist conspiracy with me too, he’s free to… somewhere else.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Neil:
*Sigh*
Counter-arguments:
* Rethinking Thermite
* Sol-gel, thermite, and the WTC
* Grimmer, thermite, and the WTC
July 5th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
This was submitted in error and deleted by author.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Phil, did you once or do you plan to have a bigger dog at some point?
July 5th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
LOL!
July 5th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Not very.
It’s also not true.
July 5th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Neil:
Here are some interesting facts on the author of that ‘scientific paper’ by Prof. Steven E. Jones. In the autumn of 2006, amid controversy surrounding his work on the collapse of the World Trade Center, he was relieved of his teaching duties and placed on paid leave from Brigham Young University.
Professor Steven E. Jones and the “Scholars For 911 Truth”
Steven E. Jones [was] a professor at Brigham Young University. He [had] created the paper which has created the ground swell around the 911 conspiracy theories. His paper was peer reviewed, but not by a civil engineering journal. [Editor: My emphasis] One would think a serious professor would get his paper peer reviewed by a scientific journal which specializes in the field they are writing the paper on.
But is Professor Jones qualified to create a paper which says the towers must have fallen due to explosives? He is a physics professor but what experience does Jones have in building collapse forensics? He has none. His other peer reviewed papers consist of cold fusion technology. He conducts research in nuclear fusion and solar energy. Nothing in his background would suggest he is qualified to write a civil engineering paper on the infinitely complex building collapse of the towers.
Brigham Young University doesn’t want anything to do with the paper.
Jones says his paper will pass peer review again. But will it pass peer review in a respected civil engineering journal? Nothing less would be taken seriously.
One of Jones BYU colleagues had this to say after reading his paper…
Letter to the Editor
Refuting 9/11 Conspiracy Theory
April 09, 2006
More critiques of his paper can be seen here.
July 5th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Neil,
Instead of derailing this talk back why don’t you head over to the JREF forums where your ideas can be torn apart in a more appropriate venue.
July 5th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Speaking of wacky theories have you heard the one where supposedly while on route to the moon, or in orbit, Neil Armstrong magically heard the “call to prayer” from some Mullah and has since converted to Islam and that is why he has become reclusive because NASA won’t let him speak any more?
For every wacky claim there is a contradictory even wackier claim.
Back on topic, Happy Birthday America.
July 5th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
I learned something yesterday.
I learned Neil Armstrong is jewish.
How interesting is that?
He’s also Muslim and a 33rd degree Mason (Buzz was a Mason, not Neil)
Both of those urban legends have been around for years. You can google them both.
My favorite, however, has got to be that his real first words on the moon were “Good luck, Mr. Gorsky”. that one has been around for ever but is a bit off-color, so I leave it to readers to google.
Poor Neil, no wonder he stays home.
July 5th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
I learned something yesterday.
I learned Neil Armstrong is jewish.
How interesting is that?
Oh and by the way, Armstrong’s mother was Viola Louise Engel, a third generation German-American. She and her family were Lutherans and she herself a devout, bible studying Christian. Armstrong’s father was of Irish descent and Presbyterian. Armstrong’s genealogy is traced and documented extensively in his authorized biography “First Man” By James R Hansen.
I know, don’t feed the trolls, but people really need to look stuff up.
July 6th, 2009 at 1:30 am
” I learned something yesterday.
I learned Neil Armstrong is jewish.
How interesting is that? ”
No, but I heard that Werner von Braun was a Nazi. Who knew?
July 6th, 2009 at 2:44 am
@ 85 csrster : me!
@ 84 Grisha : Armstrong’s genealogy is traced and documented extensively in his authorized biography “First Man” By James R Hansen.
Yes – an excellent book. I read that the other year and found it very interesting, very well written and very comprehensive. It gets 9 /10 from me.
Incidentally, apparently – if I recall right – an earlier generation of Armstrong’s were rebel cowboys or something. I believe that their town actually barred the Armstrong clan from returning on pain of death … or maybe horsewhipping.
Think that was mentioned in that ‘First Man’ book too. I’d look it up & confirm /give exact info. but, alas, don’t have a copy of it myself – borrowed it from library.
@ 83 Grisha again : “My favorite, however, has got to be that his real first words on the moon were “Good luck, Mr. Gorsky”. that one has been around for ever but is a bit off-color, so I leave it to readers to google.”:
Yeah, that is a good tale / joke – albeit, minorest of nits, I thought they were supposedly his *second* line on the Moon?
@ 74 Phil Plait : Good. That tedious troll has been wrecking & hijacking every Moon-related thread with his drivel for ages.
PS. Hmm … Hijacking a thread to get it *on* the topic of the Moon landings -wow! Who’d have thought!
July 6th, 2009 at 3:18 am
@ 74 Phil Plait : Your blog & your rules so okay up to you but I do think that was a bit of an over-reaction. Not defending the troll or anything but I don’t think he was actually threatening anyone here or stating he was going to use violence in any way, only spouting off vaguely. While that troll was a tedious and deluded pain in the backside I do think its sad whenever anyone gets banned & that we should allow all voices to be heard however dumb.(pun unintended.)
Freedom of speech and freedom to express yourself publicly are important principles – We do indeed need to be eternally vigilant about protecting them – & not just for those who share our views but more importantly those who don’t too.
Censorship and banning those who say what we disagree with is almost always wrong.
@ 70. Neil :
I learned something yesterday. I learned Neil Armstrong is jewish. How interesting is that?
Not at all – even if it were true.
Buzz Aldrin was a Catholic who held himself a private one man mass on the Moon. What difference does it possibly make?
Are you trying to imply anyone jewish is an evil overlord of some sort? Or are doing the bidding of the Zionist Elders, the Zeta Reticulan lizard-men or Antartican nazis or the Emperor of Pluto or whoever else you’ve dreamt up in a paranoid fever? Are even you that crazy?
If it was true then I think it’d be kind of nice – a catholic and a jew together on the Moon – it’d tell us that the US and NASA are tolerant, unfussed about religion and welcoming of all faiths and ethnicities. Which, pretty well, they are.
As it happens Armstrong is, I believe in truth, a private unpreachy, deist or agnostic / atheist. Several Apollo astronauts were or became quite religious Christians (Jim Irwin & Charlie Duke) and most others don’t seem to have strong religious sentiments one way or the other. All of which really means diddly squat and makes no difference at all to their accomplishments in the Moon-landings.
Well, with the possible exception of disproving the Moon-hoaxers insane and inane claims that it was all a strictly jewish plot of some kind.
July 6th, 2009 at 3:43 am
I think it’s time we listen to Tom Lehrer’s “National Brotherhood Week”.
I think the really funny thing is that the whole conspiracy theory construct is a conspiracy!
July 6th, 2009 at 9:09 am
Voltaire, Neil the Lunatic’s freedom of speech remains unchallenged. He’s just been kicked out of Phil’s house. About time, too. (May I suggest Zero next?)
The big problem with these guys is not that they just disagree, it’s that they derail threads with completely irrelevant crap, and make everything about themselves.
July 6th, 2009 at 9:38 am
At least they are nice enough to flag themselves so plainly. There are other breeds of internet nasties out there that manipulate, and insult in ways that are far more destructive, long term.
“Squirrel!!!”
July 6th, 2009 at 11:06 am
Voltaire, I agree with Nemo, in a way, we are invited guests into Phil’s “home” on the web. One rule states, Don’t be a jerk. I think Neil violated that with his comments and rants, which I took to be quite anti-Semitic. And, yes, I read his last comments to be a veiled threat of violence against his former employer.
July 6th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
The cost of freedom is risk.
The cost of safety is conformity, restriction, and repression.
You can bank on it.
July 6th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Man, Phil, is there something in the water these days? (Or maybe it’s HAARP.) There just seems to be a greater-than-usual number of cranks around here …
July 7th, 2009 at 1:06 am
Ahem…
s/Democracies/Republics/
July 7th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
“The price of freedom… is eternal vigilance”
Channeling Malcolm McDowell?