On the essence of little boys

They suck

Let me tell you why below the fold.



I walked down to the local BP a while ago. I got some gum and while I was standing in line somebody pinched my butt!

I turned around and there's this little 12 year old dork all grinning from ear to ear. I whacked him a good one, too, right in his ear.

His Mom was all like "HEY!" I told her what the little *$^!@* did, and she drug him out of the store and wipped the crap out of him right there on the sidewalk.

I didn't really want him to get beat, but hey, learn some manners Heathen!

Sheesh.

Comment Pictures

If you'd like to have your picture (or any graphic) display next to your comments, post a picture up in your blogger profile and let me know in this thread. The picture has to be smaller than 50k.

Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

I took this one in 2001 on a trip to Valley Forge, PA. (I guess you could call this some of my "early work". :)

One more dark and Stormy Pic

This is the statue of Queen Victoria in front of Buckingham Palace.

Another pic

Same momument. At the top is the Statue of Peace, Riding the Chariot of War.

Science, Just Science!

I'm sorry I seem to have gotten myself caught up in the Culture Wars. I don't want this blog to turn into a peeing match, or an insult war. No flames, no insults, or go elsewhere.

I'm much more interested in scientific debate, however. This post is the place to do that.

Ground Rules are "below the fold".



Here are the ground rules, please don't make me add more.

1. Sort of like Godwin's Law, if you insult, you lose and you get banned. I will not tolerate it.

2. This is a science debate about whether evolution or Intelligent Design correctly describes modern humanity. No religion, no politics, no fluff.

3. This is for you to make positive arguments for your case, backed up by science. No attacks on the other side, no critiques even, until I give the OK for rebuttal. POSITIVE EVIDENCE FOR YOUR POSITION ONLY!

4. I am the sole arbiter, and though you may certainly appeal to me any decision you think is unfair, "I think you're wrong" is not a sufficient argument.

5. One comment at a time. We'll start with Dave. Dave will make a positive scientific argument for ID. I will then make a comment, and IAMB (Matt, right?) will make his rebuttal. I will then make a comment, and IAMB can make a positive scientific argument for evolution. Everybody see how this is going to work?

6. If someone else would like to make a comment, a positive argument or rebuttal, please comment with just "ahem, rebuttal to Matt", or "ahem positive evidence", and I'll let you know when you can make your comment.

7. Kissing my butt and gratuitous compliments to me are not positive scientific arguments for your position, but they are welcome anyway.

8. PLEASE WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE! MY MOM, MY AUNT MARY, AND MY NIECE READ THIS BLOG!

I know this all sounds rather dictatorial, but it's the only way I can think of to keep this from degenerating into a flame war.

Those are the rules, I'll add more if they become necessary, but we're all supposed to be grown-ups, so please don't make them necessary.

JanieBelle

Dave, you're up first because I believe that Matt took a shot at you personally first, thus making you the first-injured party here.

Legal Talk

(Or legal "talk-to-myself", the way this thing is going!)


That whole legal fees thing is really getting to me. I was wondering to myself about whether it could be considered extortion. Since I have no legal background whatsoever, and since I had been meaning to join up over at Uncommon Descent anyway, I figured "why not go ask someone?" So I did. Nobody has answered yet, but I guess not everyone is on vacation for the whole summer.

I'll update this if Larry or some other legal expert over there ever answers. Of course, I'm new over there so I might just get overlooked. Plus, it might be off-topic a little, so maybe they'll just come here and answer me.

If one of you guys happens to click over here, feel free to post an answer in the comments here, I'd really like to know.

Thanks, JanieBelle

[Update - I've gotten a few replies, but they sort of led to more questions, so I'll wait until I have it all settled before I write further.]

A Pic

I'm proud of this one. I took it last summer.

Playin' around

Ok, I've been playing around with the settings and what not. What do you think of the look of the blog?


I found some code inserting the recent comments section on the side bar. It took like 30 seconds to find and insert. Not too bad, if I do say so myself. (Actually it's pretty idiot-proof.) It's a convenient feature, and I think it's a great enhancement to a blog. A blog without it would be pretty useless IMHO.

Hey, a whole day has gone by since I started this thing, and not ONE comment? Not even my family?

I feel oh-so-ignored.

:)

Culture Wars Take Three

Ok, I promise this is the last post on this subject for my very first day of blogging. I just saw This new post at Uncommon Descent by DaveScot. Man this burns me.

The people have been stripped of this right to be judged by a jury in federal constitutional rights cases by the prevalent practice of seeking only injuctive relief (technically less than $20 in damages) and using exhorbitant attorney fees as a proxy for punitive damages. Punitive damages are explicitely intended to have a chilling effect on the cause of action. Legal fees are not supposed to be punitive damages but simply reimbursing of legitimate expenses to the prevailing party. But when legal fees hit the seven figure ballpark as it did in Kitzmiller v. Dover School Board they cease being a legitimate expense and become a proxy for punitive damages.

That's a dirty way to get around federal laws. The quick and dirty version is that if the party making the complaint asks for less than $20 in damages, then the defendant is not entitled to a jury trial. Then, instead of asking for huge damages, the party making the complaint tells their lawyers to charge a ridiculous amount of fees that can be claimed as compensation. This is EXACTLY what happened in Dover, PA last year. This tactic uses the threat of huge losses to the defendant, while at the same time denying the right of jury trial to the defendant. It's legal bullying.

It's a shame when the liberal left is in control of everything, and still has to resort to dirty pool. Kind of makes you wonder what they're so afraid of. (Good thing we have Dr. Dembski and DaveScott to keep bringing this stuff in front of the public.)

Ok, this is too funny from back home

With apologies to the AP, I have to reprint their whole article:

Efforts To Get Out Of Jury Duty Land Man In Jail

(AP) COLUMBUS, Ohio Benjamin Ratliffe tried so hard to get out of jury duty that he found himself in jail.

Ratliffe, 21, of Columbus, was ordered to spend a night in jail after claiming he was a heroin addict and a killer during jury selection for a death-penalty case.

Ratliffe filled out a questionnaire for potential jurors and professed to having a "bad jonesin' for heroin." When asked if he had ever fired a weapon, he wrote, "Yes. I killed someone with it, of course. Right."

On Thursday, Ratliffe, who charged with contempt of court and obstruction of justice, apologized to Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Julie M. Lynch.

"He didn't try to defend his responses, and he lied under oath and he was insubordinate," said Lynch, who ultimately removed Ratliffe from the jury pool and dismissed the charges against him. "You do not make a mockery of the process."

(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Sounds like ol' Ben got the last laugh after all, though.

Here's where I found the story

Culture Wars Take Two

Ok, maybe I'm slightly more interested in the Culture Wars than I let on. Slightly.


Over at http://www.uncommondescent.com (I've never posted there, maybe I'll do that soon) Dave seems to be pretty ramped up over an atheist war at the panda's thumb, which is an evolution-is-the-truth-the-whole-truth-and-nothing-but-the-truth blog. I'm all for the atheists pounding each other into nothingness, but I don't really see how it's helping the Intelligent Design cause to be gloating over someone else's petty little insult war.

I'd be happier if Dr. Dembski et al stuck to the science. But hey, that's not my blog over there.

(Alright, I confess I went and checked out some of the flame war. Some of it was kind of funny.)

Culture Wars

While I'm on the subject, let me just say that I've done my best to avoid the culture wars. I don't really have any interest in them at all. I'm not out to convert the world.


On the other hand, let me just say this about that. Science should be open and accessable to all. The idea that Darwinism can't be challenged is ridiculous. Science advances through new concepts. When new concepts are censored, nobody wins. Least of all science.

So I'm not of the opinion that there is any need to prove that God exists. I don't think it's even possible. But scientific ideas like Intelligent Design certainly are suggestive. That's why so many scientists oppose it. They are deathly afraid that if people hear about the truth, they will be driven away from atheism, and that is a direct threat to the agenda of the liberal left.

Intelligent Design (as they see it anyway) is a direct threat to their need to be not accountable for their actions, and that scares them.

If you've got a couple of extra bucks, go check out the two books I have links for on the side bar.

The silver ring thing...

For my first substantive post:

So what do you think? I'm doing it. I've been reading all sorts of studies about whether it's effective or not. Seems like the churches are telling everyone the truth about how well it works, but the atheists are screaming like mad that everyone should just go have sex all over the place. I don't know. It's working for me. Don't get me wrong, I like kissing. But keep your hands over there to yourself, buddy.

:)

First Blog Post

Ok, this is it. My very first blog. Be nice and you won't get your butt kicked!

About me? I'm on vacation right now from my home in the Midwest. This fall I'll be heading across the pond to study Education. I'm planning on teaching Literature. (I'm probably not as literate as I should be, but hey! That's why I'm going to school, silly!)

My heritage is mostly Scotch-Irish, as you can probably tell from my surname. McKnight is a sept of the MacNaughten clan. That means a related kin-folk kind of thing.

I like folks with open minds, but not so open their brain falls out.

Say hi.

About This Blog

JanieBelle, Kate, and Lou explain it all...


Well, I (we) have been meaning to get around to writing this post since we started this blog back in the end of June. It's now November. As you can plainly see, I'm making progress in defeating my procrastination problem. No, really!

If you want the short version, a good place to start might be at the end of the story, oddly enough. If you prefer to witness the whole sordid thing from beginning to end, then don't click on the following link.

All Good Things - The Denouement (that means the end).

Otherwise, check out the archives and begin reading the posts and the comments in order. It's a nifty little story, but would consume a pretty good hunk of time you would have wasted on something else anyway. Think of it as a serial novel.

I'm back-dating this post to June, mostly to keep it out of the way. I should be able to finish it by January, I think. Stay tuned.