Neil deGrasse Tyson, super-cool dude.

[P3nT4gR4m]

The fact that the earth revolving around the sun can still be a topic of discussion in 2014 makes me want to kick all the babies.

I'm kinda shit at astrophysics but my gut tells me that it should be possible to pick any arbitrary point in the universe, declare it static and generate a model of everything else moving around it. Seems like a kind of dumb waste of time tho.

So long as you don't look too closely, yes.

I may have slightly understated my level of astrophysics ignorance. 

[Nephew Twiddleton]

The fact that the earth revolving around the sun can still be a topic of discussion in 2014 makes me want to kick all the babies.

I'm kinda shit at astrophysics but my gut tells me that it should be possible to pick any arbitrary point in the universe, declare it static and generate a model of everything else moving around it. Seems like a kind of dumb waste of time tho.

So long as you don't look too closely, yes.

I may have slightly understated my level of astrophysics ignorance. 

The sky will look like you're in the middle of it, because stars generally look like they're evenly dispersed in all directions, even though that's not true. At the beginning of the 20th century we were unaware that there were other galaxies, due to this. The discovery that the Milky Way was a somewhat distinct thing, let alone that other galaxies existed, was a bit of a "wait, what?" moment.

[Reginald Ret]

Not looking too closely is a primairy component of all forms of ignorance. Really, you can't be ignorant without it!

[hooplala]

"The Fox television show COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey has attracted its fair share of detractors since the docudrama first aired on March 9th.  But soon, the controversy revolving around the show might reach climactic new heights, as several State senators in Kansas will propose a bill on Thursday that would force Fox affiliates in their state to black out the science show completely. 

The bill, which many are expecting will pass, would force local Kansas television stations affiliated with Fox to pay steep fines for airing the program.  Should any network continue to air all thirteen episodes of the show's first season, the State would move to revoke their broadcasting privileges completely, driving those networks off the air.

Conservative lawmakers in Kansas are, however, offering Fox a back door through which they could skirt the new law: they won't press this law into effect if Fox will agree to immediately develop a new show, hosted by young-Earth creationist Ken Ham, which pushes the theories of so-called "intelligent design."  This new show would need to be aired on Sunday evenings, before Cosmos, in order for the small-time Fox affiliates to avoid Kansas' legislative wrath."

http://nationalreport.net/kansas-black-cosmos-show-controversies/

How reliable is the National Report?

[P3nT4gR4m]

It really does seem like the batshit retarded contingent have a much louder voice in the US. In the UK it's almost at the stage where if you admit you so much as believe in god, small children will gang up and kick the shit out of you. Creationism isn't even a thing here. Other than something we laugh at america for.

[Junkenstein]

It really does seem like the batshit retarded contingent have a much louder voice in the US. In the UK it's almost at the stage where if you admit you so much as believe in god, small children will gang up and kick the shit out of you. Creationism isn't even a thing here. Other than something we laugh at america for.

Please note - This is not the situation for the whole UK.

Round here, they still pray for the sun to rise perform all manner of arcane sporting and lottery rituals.

Small children still attack people but it's more for fun and profit than ideological differences.

[LMNO]

You know how in one of RAW's books all the wingnuts basically moved to Badass, TX?

I suggest we encourage all the Creationists to move to Kansas, which we will then wall off from the rest of the US.

[P3nT4gR4m]

It really does seem like the batshit retarded contingent have a much louder voice in the US. In the UK it's almost at the stage where if you admit you so much as believe in god, small children will gang up and kick the shit out of you. Creationism isn't even a thing here. Other than something we laugh at america for.

Please note - This is not the situation for the whole UK.

Round here, they still pray for the sun to rise perform all manner of arcane sporting and lottery rituals.

Small children still attack people but it's more for fun and profit than ideological differences.

Yeah, I have to admit the small children round my neck of the woods mainly attack for lulz/profit/trip to jail to visit their parents. Nobody takes religious wingnuts seriously, tho. Imagine someone started a campaign demanding they teach intelligent design in our schools? It's not like the fucking anglicans wouldn't publicly mock them along with the rest of us.

Something about America. Too much wide open space? It seems* like the psychos are encouraged to make these mental demands and the establishment has some sort of duty to consider them, rather than just point and laugh



*this is how the situation appears over here, at least. I have been reliably informed that it's not really true but then I hear another headline about my little unicorn theory of whatever 

[Nephew Twiddleton]

It really does seem like the batshit retarded contingent have a much louder voice in the US. In the UK it's almost at the stage where if you admit you so much as believe in god, small children will gang up and kick the shit out of you. Creationism isn't even a thing here. Other than something we laugh at america for.

Please note - This is not the situation for the whole UK.

Round here, they still pray for the sun to rise perform all manner of arcane sporting and lottery rituals.

Small children still attack people but it's more for fun and profit than ideological differences.

Yeah, I have to admit the small children round my neck of the woods mainly attack for lulz/profit/trip to jail to visit their parents. Nobody takes religious wingnuts seriously, tho. Imagine someone started a campaign demanding they teach intelligent design in our schools? It's not like the fucking anglicans wouldn't publicly mock them along with the rest of us.

Something about America. Too much wide open space? It seems* like the psychos are encouraged to make these mental demands and the establishment has some sort of duty to consider them, rather than just point and laugh



*this is how the situation appears over here, at least. I have been reliably informed that it's not really true but then I hear another headline about my little unicorn theory of whatever 

It really kinda depends. If you're in a city like Boston, it's going to be way different than if you're in Topeka. We have religious nuts here too, but religious nuts are generally nuts anyway. So we have people like That Jesus Guy but guys like him are generally ignored. We have religious folk who aren't nuts, but they tend to be of the Roman Catholic variety, but with a largely socially liberal outlook. Many religiously affiliated people don't really practice. Atheism is well tolerated.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Just checked the demographics of religious affiliation in Massachusetts.

As expected, the largest group were Catholics, at 44%
Somewhat surprisingly, the second largest group is No Religion at 23%


Table at the bottom of page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Massachusetts#Religion

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I've got something to say about all of this, but it will have to wait a couple of hours.

And for once, it ain't inflammatory.

[LMNO]

I've got something to say about all of this, but it will have to wait a couple of hours.

And for once, it ain't inflammatory.

Not inflammatory?

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I've got something to say about all of this, but it will have to wait a couple of hours.

And for once, it ain't inflammatory.

Not inflammatory?

Nope.  Shouldn't be a burned butt in the house.

And not because



either.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

"The Fox television show COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey has attracted its fair share of detractors since the docudrama first aired on March 9th.  But soon, the controversy revolving around the show might reach climactic new heights, as several State senators in Kansas will propose a bill on Thursday that would force Fox affiliates in their state to black out the science show completely. 

The bill, which many are expecting will pass, would force local Kansas television stations affiliated with Fox to pay steep fines for airing the program.  Should any network continue to air all thirteen episodes of the show's first season, the State would move to revoke their broadcasting privileges completely, driving those networks off the air.

Conservative lawmakers in Kansas are, however, offering Fox a back door through which they could skirt the new law: they won't press this law into effect if Fox will agree to immediately develop a new show, hosted by young-Earth creationist Ken Ham, which pushes the theories of so-called "intelligent design."  This new show would need to be aired on Sunday evenings, before Cosmos, in order for the small-time Fox affiliates to avoid Kansas' legislative wrath."

http://nationalreport.net/kansas-black-cosmos-show-controversies/

How reliable is the National Report?

incredibly reliable.

Google "Jane Agni".

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Here we go:

http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php?topic=36411.msg1338592#new