I haven’t heard either of them say anything about evolution.

I was damn sure I did, but I can’t for the life of me find it now, maybe I was wrong. I don’t know, maybe I thought of Santorum or Perry instead?

And it’s not “anti-science” to be skeptical about scientific theories, particularly ones as flawed as AGW. Skepticism lies at the heart of science.

A discussion of AGW would probably invoke Jeff’s wrath, so I’ll just briefly say that indeed skepticism is the central tenet of science. BUT. When the overwhelming majority of experts in a field agree on something and you don’t, that’s not skepticism. That’s denial.

I will point people to a long piece on my blog I titled A Tale of Two Space Days.

I’m on the outside, looking in. I’ve proven an ability to organize successful educational events. What’s wrong with this picture? Oh — I am too independent for the insiders.

No refereed papers, no science community dialog at professional conferences. That’s what I thought. You’ve written a self-published book, yes indeed.

“You have your “impact specialists”, I have mine. You have your historians, I have mine.”

I don’t have any “impact specialists” personally. But the science community does, and those people have deliberated and formally reported in various NRC studies. Historians? Perhaps Newt Gingrich got some money from you?

“No: you’re mistaking models for data. DATA is what demonstrates things.”

Exactly right. Data published in refereed papers, where experts have passed formal judgement on the quality of that data.

EP – While our understanding of asteroids has improved, our knowledge of impacts with the Earth has kind of stagnated, which is why you have “Ancient Aliens” fighting wars with nuclear weapons being put forth as a theory for the astroblemes in India.

DB-Please, tell me you don’t seriously think that a badly made TV show in any way represents the actual state of impact research?

Nice try DB. Did you know that Daivd Morrison believed in “Niburu”?

In reality, DB, there are several Indian scientists who are working on the astroblemes in India, and the peoples’ memories of them. Its just that neither you nor the general public has ever heard of them.

Its simply that it is way more fun to fantasize about “Ancient Aliens” than it is to think about death by impact. The “theological” hopes vary, but seem to be that the aliens will save us from our own stupidity.

Here in the states, we face the same kind of problems when working with the extinction of the mammoth. Every other reason is trotted out to explain it; the main effort directed to discrediting the layer of impactites found globally.

The data is that the mammoth starved to death in a climate collapse brought on by a cometary dust load.

So did a lot of people.

It wasn’t gradual climate change, it wasn’t over-hunting, it wasn’t a disease.

Now I know that according to the models of your experts, comets don’t hit.
But the data is what it is.

I’ve told you before, I want all of Hubble’s observing time until the debris stream of comet 73P is located and imaged.

You can call this paranoid fringe kook thinking.

I sure hope googaw posts some more.

Ed Weiler’s failures as an engineering manager are evident to all now.
I simply spotted them early.
I’m pretty sure Ed loves his wife and dog, and doesn’t beat them.
But that does not change the fact the Griffin and Weiler committed contempt of Congress.

I have written a book, not refereed, but I face my “peers” everyday.
You have your “impact specialists”, I have mine.
You have your historians, I have mine.
My historians take their history very seriously.

“Refereed papers and professional dialog are the accepted way to “demonstrate” things”

No: you’re mistaking models for data.
DATA is what demonstrates things.

Essentially, both of you would rather trust in models than data.
Each individual has his own reasons for doing this, but googaw has it fundamentally right, those reasons are usually “theological”.

Skepticism lies at the heart of science, right next to being informed and scientifically literate and those sit on the foundation of trying to find the truth…not pandering to people because that is what you think that they want to hear.

Both Gingrich and Willard have completely reversed their positions on rather important scientific issues of our day, things which to be fair are completely open for debate…but they have done so without a scintilla of reason as to why they have reveresed their views…other then it is what their voting block (or the one that they want) want to hear.

Of course their is Rick Santorum who is just well ignorant.

Put it another way. If Willard had good polling data that said if he came out in favor of an Earth Centered universe then he would get the Santorum group of voters…who here things he would not start passing that off as a “belief”.

The worst thing for Newt and his lunar gambit is that the vast majority of the GOP right wing…(and this has been amazing to me) No longer really believe in space or human spaceflight as a symbol of American power even.

This puts the lie to the notion expressed here dailyl by people like Wind and Whittington RGO

Which has bugger all to do with science.

I haven’t heard either of them say anything about evolution. And it’s not “anti-science” to be skeptical about scientific theories, particularly ones as flawed as AGW. Skepticism lies at the heart of science.

I have changed opinions I had on at least a couple of issues since posting on here starting in 04.

BDB, big dumb boosters, Rand forced me to actually THINK about that one and discovered that not having the Saturn V wasn’t the reason we were no longer flying past LEO.

It was the steadfast refusal of adopting the concept that every form of transportation America has ever used has adopted. Fuel depots/stations/oceanic shipping ports/airports etc.. Christ almighty even horses had a livery stable and blacksmith shop. Except for space. Somehow we need a gas station every 200 miles on terra firma but not for traveling 25,000 miles to GEO or 240,000 miles to Luna. Total and complete insanity on a bun.

Hell Dr, Griffin, the BDB king at NASA during the last administration even proved it at a recent Senate committe meeting, by saying how the Chinese will have Lunar capability as soon as they have the Long March V, a 25 ton launcher. He even bragged about how they could easily do this with only 4 launches.

To me, it sure freakin’ begged the question, why the hell did America waste 12-13 billion on Constellation when we already had the capability you said China needed to goto Luna.

The second thing I changed my opinion on was using NASA to open up space, as Bill White said … go around NASA.

The last 40 years have proved one thing, congress, the final arbitrator of what gets funded at NASA, does not give a flying #$%@#$ about getting to the moon, mars and beyond.

It is about:

Continued corporate contractors campaign contributions from the usual suspects in their districts.

Continued high paying jobs in their district that provide a healthy tax base.

Pay for performance is a foreign concept to them as Crony Capitalism for their contractor buddies with no bid, cost plus-fixed fee contracts. The only thing going to the moon is their escalator clauses.

While our understanding of asteroids has improved, our knowledge of impads with the Earth has kind of stagnated, which is why you have “Ancient Aliens” fighting wars with nuclear weapons being put forth as a theory for the astroblemes in India.

Please, tell me you don’t seriously think that a badly made TV show in any way represents the actual state of impact research?