1. Writer Arthur C Clarke dies at 90

Comment #146367 by Clapton_is_God on March 19, 2008 at 2:16 am

One or two of his predictions were wrong, such as his buying into the 1950s orthodoxy that the moon was covered with a thick layer of fine dust, acting like a liquid in the moon's reduced gravity. This was the theme of his novel "A Fall of Moondust".

"Childhood's End" was, I believe, his first full-length novel and in my opinion one of his best.

I particularly liked his "Blade-Runner" style novel "The City and the Stars", a vision of the very far future based on an earlier novella.

He was unerringly scientifically accurate and Kubrick made possibly the only popular movie to adhere to this principle in "2001, A Space Odyssey" His novels sometimes lacked characterisation and emotional narrative. The latter was put right in "Rendezvous with Rama", where his descriptions of the interior of the vast spaceship were mind-blowing.

He lived a long and very fulfilled life. He will be missed.

2. New Atheists Are Not Great

Comment #145128 by Clapton_is_God on March 17, 2008 at 9:35 am

"They seethe with disapproval of God."

I just seethe whenever an apologist suggests that atheists have a god to seethe at.

Why don't they get the simple fact that as far as atheists are concerned, there is no god to hate, dislike, detest, abhor, seethe at or even have mild disapproval of. THERE IS JUST NOT A GOD AT ALL, never has been, never will be.

I (almost) give up trying to drill this simple fact into them.

CiG

3. Special Guest: Richard Dawkins

Comment #142821 by Clapton_is_God on March 13, 2008 at 5:58 am

Re the music. Apart from being a fundamentalist minister Dan is also a gifted musician from a musical family.

It is hardly surprising that he showcases his musical talents occasionally, though I admit I'm more Grateful Dead than the cheesy schmaltz he plays.

4. Fleas on the Horizon: In Defense of God

Comment #138165 by Clapton_is_God on March 4, 2008 at 2:43 am

Despite desperate attempts in these books to clothe the Emperor, he is still stark bollock naked.

5. Cutting Edge: Baby Bible Bashers

Comment #129416 by Clapton_is_God on February 19, 2008 at 5:02 am

I rather liked the response of the New Yorkers whose hard-nosed skepticism and cynicism, not to mention hostility, made the little blond preacher boy cry and where I actually felt sorry for him, and hatred for his parents.

"Southern racist bigots" said one. Talk about sticking your heads above the parapet!

CIG

6. Honour Killings

Comment #114372 by Clapton_is_God on January 22, 2008 at 5:15 am

So, British society is not perfect. Who does have a perfect society? Saudi Arabia? Afghanistan under the Taliban. Not even liberal democracies like Holland and Sweden are free of poverty and deprivation and the social ills thus engendered.

However, to suggest that a liberal western country such as the UK is a hotbed of crime, deprivation and moral turpitude from which Muslim children (How I hate that expression after reading TGD) must be protected by separate education and internally enforced segregation is ludicrous and frankly insulting (should I go and riot outside the Saudi embassy?)

Where I live people go to work, earn a living, live decent lives, worship their preferred deity(ies), (if applicable) love their children, have pride in their community, love their country - just lots of normal, law-abiding people.

7. Creationists plan British theme park

Comment #99579 by Clapton_is_God on December 17, 2007 at 5:32 am

"I wonder if Alister Mcgrath will do the opening ceremony and ribbon-cutting?"

To be fair, McGrath is not a fundy and would not subscribe to such creationist silliness.

Melanie Philips would be a whole lot more appropriate ribbon cutter.

8. Girl, 16, dies after hijab dispute with father

Comment #97426 by Clapton_is_God on December 12, 2007 at 4:23 am

"Are acts of this kind inspired by Arabic culture or by Islam? "

If you read Aayan Hirsi Ali's book "Infidel", you will learn that it is the religion, not the culture, that is the problem. It happens in Somalia, and wherever Somalis have taken refuge (such as Holland), and they are not Arabs.

In the UK it happens in the Pakistani and Bangladeshi community - they are also Moslems, of course.

Iranians (Persians) are NOT Arabs - in fact they despise Arabs, and we all know what Iran is like.

CIG

9. Interview with Christopher Hitchens

Comment #93743 by Clapton_is_God on December 4, 2007 at 4:59 am

eXcommunicate said: Sometimes I wonder if Hitchens and Dawkins get a little miffed by all the condescending (to me) comments about their accents.

As an occasional resident and frequent visitor to the US I found I took the comments about my accent in good heart and it was a convenient ice-breaker. I used to get pissed off about the "Have I had tea with the Queen" and "Do you know Paul McCartney" questions, though, and continual conversations about the political geography of the British Isles, and that the country did not entirely consist of "England"

10. 'Muhammad' teddy teacher arrested

Comment #91049 by clapton_is_god on November 27, 2007 at 5:16 am

Celestial_T said: NAMING A SOFT TOY AFTER A MADE-UP PERSON

Ironically, Mohammed probably did exist, unlike some other resurrecting godman I could mention.

11. The US map of faith

Comment #55704 by Clapton_is_God on July 12, 2007 at 3:16 am

I'd love to see one of these for Europe I suspect it would red in Portugal, Spain, Italy and some of the ex-Soviet countries but yellow almosy everywhere else.

12. Lunging, Flailing, Mispunching

Comment #2712 by Clapton_is_God on October 23, 2006 at 2:46 am

An apologist word-salad almost as incomprehensible as the pseudo-intellectual ramblings of the post-modernist philosphers he mentions at the beginning of his review.

One assumes the Professor Eagleton is an intelligent person. How can someone that intelligent not observe the world around him?

CiG