Pat Oliphant for June 16, 2010

Pollution alters the environment, forcing evolutionary change.

Extinction events help, too.

I believe in evolution. But I also believe, when I hike the Grand Canyon and see it at sunset, that the hand of God is there also. John McCain

I thought it was comets…

I just finished hiking Bright Angel Point, a bunny trail on the north rim of the Grand Canyon at sunset. Stunning view - I thought it was due to uplift and erosion.

And so it is.

Ayup

^^ Orwellian ain’t it?

As I said earlier, I was recently at the Grand Canyon. I do recall some of the public literature saying that formation of the canyon is not fully understood and is under continuing study. I found that slightly puzzling because geological formation, plate tectonics, and dating techniques have been around for some time. So I bought a geology booklet at the visitor center that gives the scientific explanation. I don’t recall any religious material on the subject at the center because I wasn’t looking for it, but I wouldn’t be surprised.

@ SuperGriz, you, much like your Ira Einhorn, are true environmentalists; for you don’t love flora and fauna–you HATE PEOPLE!

Since the time of Socrates, Man’s political viewpoints have been in thrall to the conception that the best should govern. How to determine “that” best, the scale of values to be used in order that the ‘best’ and not mere undifferentiated ‘betters’ should rule–these have been the basic issues around which have raged the fires of political controversy for almost three millennia. Whether an aristocracy of birth or intellect should prevail is an argument over values; whether rulers should be determined by the will of a god as determined by the entrials of a hog, or selected by the whole people on the basis of the ballot tally–these are alternatives, in method. But hitherto no political system has ventured away from the implicit and unexamined assumption first embodied by the philosopher state of Plato’s Republic. Now, at last, America has turned and questioned the pragmatic validity of the axiom. Take note of former Vice President Al Gore’s opinion, ‘Nobody likes you if you’re smart’ as more than a wish fulfillment, but think of it as testament to an applied “dumbing down”, shall we say, a refutation of Platonic thought, and basic intellectualism, that harkens to a new dawn of Homo Moronus in America, particularly within the boundaries of the District of Columbia, and the cesspool from which these political tadpoles are drawn is growing superfluous, I fear. The young democracy to the West, which introduced the concept of the Rights of Man to jurisprudence, now gives a feverish world the Doctrine of the Lowest Common Denominator in government. Gone are the days of the Philosopher King, gone , for according to this doctrine as I have come to understand it through prolonged observation, it is not the worst who should govern–as many of my prejudiced countrymen insist–but the mean, that bellcurve of feigned political thought, take gaff-man Joe Biden or the Democratic Representative from Georgia, Hank Johnson (who suggested Guam might sink from an overpopulation imbalance), for instance, as examples of that which is most expedient, if not popular, in the dull imagination of its countrymen, what might be termed as “the unbest” or an elite of “non-elites”.

Did you get bored with surfing porn in your mom’s basement, Billy, and decided to try your hand at an uninspired harangue, which would imply removing your hand, foremost, from your favorite organ, which is comparative in size, and output, mind, to your equally teensy brain, that is?

What on Earth are you talking about, J? You do know that the Republicans have been running on a platform of “regular guy,” “guy you’d want to have a beer with” for ages, right? That’s part of what made Bush popular - hiding the fact that he is in fact a Connecticut-born, Ivy-(semi-)educated scion of wealth behind a Texas “ranch” he sold as soon as he left office? Who referred to the idea of an elite as bad? Why, Republicans!

J., you’re just being mean without a point. Most righties here make their point without going that low.

I had aa talk with an old lady a few days ago…she’s nice, but she is absolutely sure she saw the devil! She said is was a guy al dressed in black riding a bike. (quite a version of the devil in our folk tales…). I tried to tell her, how many people wear black? And how many people ride bikes?

When I come to think about it, why would she need to know that space and time are a continuum and that Jupiter has seventeen moons? She was not an astronomer.

Sad, but sometimes truths are more useless than lies.

If some people believe in Creationism, I guess they figured a pleasant fable was more useful to them than truth. Why would it be otherwise unless they are scientists?

The amoebas had a clean energy bill. Hasn’t been one since. They’ll have the last laugh when they are all that’s left again.

cfimeiatpap – I was taught by my parents that the 2 viewpoints can easily be reconciled. The RR has simply turned it into an argument to win political favor.

I, for one, gave up looking for it after about the first sentence. Much better things to do with my time.

Thanks to all those (right, left, center, other) who can put together a reasoned, readable argument!

Corosive, what in Teuffel’s name are you talking about? Scatological eschatology? Obviously, the old woman is nice, and afraid of dying, but what??? And human, thank you for the irrelevant Turabian info, Chicago standard, bubi. Mean? Hardly, m’dear. And baslim, if you prefer the lesser of the nth degree idiots, by ballot method, as your political median, then that is your choice; although I doubt you’d pass a requisite civics test to justify your vote, which is my point, you literal, obtuse dumkopfs. Du bist verruckt; du musst nach D.C., ja! And yes, I’m quite aware of the regular guy mentality as a packaged product sold by the media, a studied averageness, so to speak, and this has been utilized by Bush 1, who hated brocolli, both Clintons, and even Obama, particularly with his settling the Gates affair over a Lowenbrau, and caught eating tater-tots and cheeseburgers on camera with his staff. And baslim, you proved your point by cynicism alone, for the American electorate, yes, the voters, who put Obama in office are a reflection of the President’s own average, feigned intelligence, competence, and, I agree, much as Benny Franklin observed, the American electorate deserves every bit of what’s coming to them, good and hard!

^You sound like a bad interpretation of a Ionesco play.

(and no, I don’t expect you to know what I’m talking about.)

I believe in the devil, I just don’t think every goth kid is the devil.

you know what pat (oliphant) you seriously rock and freakin’ roll. you been doin toons a long time and yet you are so freakin’ in touch. i love you dude.

flagged another one..

Sooky Rottweiler says; SPAAMMMER!!!! WOOH WOOH WOOH WOOH!

There are some seriously weird posters around. Then again, maybe that includes me.

Sometimes you want to flag more than the spammers.

Who knows how long god’s day is? Maybe we’re in the 8th day about noon and he doesn’t like what he sees.

“Who knows how long god’s day is? Maybe we’re in the 8th day about noon and he doesn’t like what he sees.”

So all recorded human history has transpired while God’s had the Monday Morning Blahs? That would explain a lot. It seems like he also clocked in late, nursing a hangover. Let’s hope his work product picks up after he gets back from lunch.

It’s obvious that J is parodying himself in addition to parodying others who think jargon has anything whatever to do with communication. Too bad he isn’t skilled at it……….

The Grand Canyon is the result of plate tectonics and hydrology, over millions of years. Period.

Environmentalists do NOT “hate people”. We DO however distrust idiots, pity morons, and hope that SOME day, our species will wake up, get some education, throw away trash myths that PRAY for destruction, and start doing something to save the world, the natural world, that we are supposed to be taking care of, not raping.

Happy Father’s Day, and let’s hope we’ll soon see that endlessly expanding those offspring is NOT a terribly bright idea.

Sooky Rottweiler says; lonecat; are you talking about me? I’m only being a good watchdog!

Bummer! It happened to every dog at least once! You bark at something worth it, but it’s gone by the time your human turns around to see it and you look like like a fool.

Then people yell “Shut up, Sooky!”.

Bummer. People should walk a mile in a dog’s fur, once in a while…

Hey Sooky – nothing personal intended. My poodle has an abscess on her rear end, and it’s been driving her (and us) crazy. We had to put a cone on her, and she hates that. But she’s getting better.

Sooky Rottweiler says; I sympathyze. Cones are a pain! You can’t lick yourself with that.

Yes, Sooky, that’s the point. We tried to explain to the princess, but she just kept licking. She’s better today.

Bruce – I just can’t imagine trying to put a cone on a cat. Has it ever worked? They just don’t go together. How did the cat do without it?

J.

Your panties are showing.