1. Prayer refusal pupils 'disciplined'

Comment #204661 by OhioLen on July 5, 2008 at 1:04 pm

" Comment #204627 by thewhitepearl on July 5, 2008 at 11:48 am
I don't think this article is telling the complete story..I have a feeling that there is more to this."

Ding ding ding...we have a winner!

On reading it carefully, there is not enough information to derive any conclusions. Read one way, it should piss off Christians afraid of exo-indoctrination. Read another way, it should piss off atheists outraged at the fuss over a mere demonstration, in a class meant to promote understanding. The truth almost certainly lies somewhere in the middle.

Oh, and NineBerry: where does that article provide any information at all about the teacher's religion?

2. Mayor challenges pope during Genoa visit

Comment #182248 by OhioLen on May 19, 2008 at 2:03 pm

mordacious1 wrote:
"I wish the news media would quit reporting on every thing he says. If they did I think he would fade into obscurity."

It would be nice, but as long as the Catholic Church exists, it will never happen. The Pope is not only a religious figure, he's also officially the head of a sovereign state (the Vatican). Even without the religious aspect, if (for example) Cincinnati's mayor criticised a foreign Head of State during an official visit, it would be stunningly rude and thus newsworthy.

3. Evolution's Critics Shift Tactics With Schools

Comment #174833 by OhioLen on May 3, 2008 at 3:57 pm

I'm half inclined to say "to hell with it, let them teach their nonsense instead of hard science." Then when the USA's economy collapses because we can't keep up with the rest of the world, maybe these morons will get a clue.

Reality doesn't care what their religious beliefs are, but it might take reality to demonstrate it.

4. U.S. a theocratic state, says former Canadian ambassador

Comment #47013 by OhioLen on June 2, 2007 at 6:06 pm

Brian wrote:

This is what worries me. You are too dense to have even formulated the implications of your hysterical fear mongering:-(

In your first post which addressed me, you raised a strawman unrelated to anything I wrote. Now, you're playing ad hominem games.

I wasn't engaging in anything even remotely resembling "hysterical fear mongering," and this is twice now that you have wholly misinterpreted and misrepresented what I wrote. Do you have trouble with reading comprehension?

5. U.S. a theocratic state, says former Canadian ambassador

Comment #46947 by OhioLen on June 2, 2007 at 10:44 am

Would you care to explain which bodily orifice you pulled that strawman out of? I made no mention whatsoever of a first strike; I was pointing out that Pakistan is a far more likely source of nuclear technology than the former Soviet Union.

Please address what is actually written, not what you fabricated in your head.

6. U.S. a theocratic state, says former Canadian ambassador

Comment #46941 by OhioLen on June 2, 2007 at 10:20 am

USA Limey wrote:

First of all, let's look at the probability of Islamic fundamentalist terrorists actually acquiring nuclear weapons. The article you referenced casually states;

"Williams first presents evidence of bin Laden's purchase of highly enriched uranium in Sudan and nuclear devices from the Chechens and the Russian Mafia."

What rot, can't you see that guys just trying to sell a book. What is this myth that the former Soviet Union is like some nuclear Arab street Bazaar where one can go in and come out with few nuclear devices stuffed in the trunk of your car?

Forget Russia. Where do you think Iran, North Korea and Libya (remember, Qaddafi gave up his enrichment program a few years ago) got their nuclear information?

PAKISTAN.

Pakistan, where Pres. Musharraf is deeply unpopular and has survived multiple assassination attempts by radical Islamists. Pakistan, home of the biggest nuclear proliferation ring the world has ever seen (A.Q. Khan's national nuclear laboratory). Pakistan, home of the largely abandoned search for Osama Bin Laden in Waziristan province.

New York Times, 12/26/2004

When experts from the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency came upon blueprints for a 10-kiloton atomic bomb in the files of the Libyan weapons program earlier this year, they found themselves caught between gravity and pettiness.

[...]

Nearly a year after Dr. Khan's arrest, secrets of his nuclear black market continue to uncoil, revealing a vast global enterprise. But the inquiry has been hampered by discord between the Bush administration and the nuclear watchdog, and by Washington's concern that if it pushes too hard for access to Dr. Khan, a national hero in Pakistan, it could destabilize an ally. As a result, much of the urgency has been sapped from the investigation, helping keep hidden the full dimensions of the activities of Dr. Khan and his associates.

[...]

On television, Dr. Khan was forced to confess but he gave no specifics, and General Musharraf pardoned the scientist. American officials pressed to interview him and his chief lieutenant, Mr. Tahir, a Sri Lankan businessman living in Dubai and Malaysia, who was eventually arrested by Malaysian authorities.

[...]

Stephen J. Hadley, the deputy national security adviser, went to Pakistan soon after the Sept. 11 attacks and raised concerns about Dr. Khan [prior to his confession], some of whose scientists were said to have met with Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda's leader. But Mr. Hadley did not ask General Musharraf to take action, according to a senior administration official. He returned to Washington complaining that it was unclear whether the Khan Laboratories were operating with the complicity of the Pakistani military, or were controlled by freelancers, motivated by visions of profit or of spreading the bomb to Islamic nations. The Pakistanis insisted they had no evidence of any proliferation at all, a claim American officials said they found laughable.

More excerpts from the above article can be read on my site.

7. I Believe In Evolution, Except For The Whole Triassic Period

Comment #46462 by OhioLen on May 31, 2007 at 10:56 am

I stopped reading the Onion a couple years ago, when it got to the point that their satire was virtually indistinguishable from "real" news.

8. 12 Year Old Girl Prodigy Paints Pictures of God

Comment #18910 by OhioLen on January 23, 2007 at 3:19 pm

It looks like Sean Penn with REALLY big hair, a bad beard and a hunchback to me, but whatever. The kid admittedly has raw talent, but needs to work on visual perspective and/or human anatomy (those hands and arms just ain't right, among other deformities). She'll likely grow out of the Jebus phase, unless she figures out that there's a market to be exploited for that sort of thing. One has to wonder what her art will look like once she gets older and discovers boys (or girls, if she's so inclined).