Comments on: There's a little town down in Texas known as Wacko. For a reason.

By: F

Fri, 04 May 2012 23:36:40 +0000

I recall having arguments with fellow students and in one case the teacher in grade school over the claims 1) the sun can be in front of clouds, and 2) the sun is hot but stars are cold.

By: Jim Ramsey

Jim Ramsey — Fri, 04 May 2012 11:28:17 +0000

This fun story about the BSD daemon mascot/logo has been rattling around for a while.

http://www.erenkrantz.com/Humor/BSDDaemon.shtml

By: Wow

Wow — Fri, 04 May 2012 06:10:44 +0000

re: 14. Of course, if Greg has his hand out in greeting, all fingers are pointing at Texas…

The problem is, at the moment, the dangerous wingnuts that can SCARE you into not confronting them are the right wing wingnuts.

In the 60’s, you were more likely to get the left wing wingnuts doing it, but the availablity of coordination and publication (i.e. the internet) wasn’t available at that time to make it quite as dangerous as the wingnuttery is today.

And the rightwingnuts are getting all the traction they can from it.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Thu, 03 May 2012 23:38:13 +0000

I know, I know, sorry …. trying to fix that.

By: cfeagans

cfeagans — Thu, 03 May 2012 22:53:41 +0000

Hey, when you point your finger down here to Texas, just remember there are three more pointing back at Michelle Bachman 😉

heh. We definitely have our fundies, but we have a lot of really cool, smart folk, too. We’re just way out-numbered it seems. Still, I doubt Nye’s reception in Waco (6 years ago!) was all that bad. The majority probably loved it.

By: PaulG

PaulG — Wed, 02 May 2012 11:44:55 +0000

I think you were thinking of Don Herbert, aka Mr. Wizard. I think I had the Mr. Wizard chemistry set as a kid.

By: Amoeba

Amoeba — Wed, 02 May 2012 02:29:01 +0000

I am stunned by the ignorance.

There is so much in the Bible that is acceptable to ‘god’, but which is utterly abhorrent that it cannot be treated as a reliable source of anything. What does one expect of a bronze-age collection of myths?
I cite: Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Judges and most of the rest of the O.T.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Tue, 01 May 2012 22:10:33 +0000

I was not watching in the 80s. I was busy being a scientist and stuff. He probably got his PhD in the late 70s!

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 01 May 2012 22:07:57 +0000

He was definitely Doctor Science when I listened to him, which must have been when I lived in Colorado in 1984-1988 .

Wikipedia helpfully notes that “In the segment’s earliest days, it was known as ‘Ask Mr. Science.'”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Science

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Tue, 01 May 2012 20:51:43 +0000

Dean, there was a “logical” argument made. SInce the moon is only up at night, it can’t be the moon. Yet it is there. Therefore it must be the earth. that it is the other side of the earth would then be obvious.

I’ve never heard anyone else say it, though. Might have just been his older brother funning with him.