Cyn Armistead

@SteveInCo

Actually…I uh…spelt it with an extra “e” on purpose…to…uh…make some sort of statement about stuff…which is…you know…so obvious…I don’t even need to explain it. You dig?

@Paul Ryan

It’s true that a distant fly by was the best they could pull off but it’s remarkable that it is being pulled off. They have promised us that we will still end up with a more and more spectacular image every day and during the flyby…an image with an incredible resolution (a pixel per football field I think I read).

They want to send…[Read more]

What you’re ultimately talking about is half folk-wisdom, half-common sense and half-motivational-uplifting-snippets-of-warm-gooeyness. There is nothing necesarily wrong with that if you take them as tentative ideas and then thoroughly explore them. Some of what you say/claim can and has been backed up by empirical research…and some has not or…[Read more]

It’s a black and white image of Pluto. From what I understand…the imaging tools they have on the probe which have the highest resolution render the images in black and white. The coloured images are composites of the black and white with much lower resolution coloured images collaged together.

I totally know what you mean about closure. The…[Read more]

So many interesting (compelling?) features.

We are not in a position yet to claim that free will does not exist nor that it is impossible…let alone with a reasonable level of certainty. We barely have an accepted model/understanding of cognition. The so called test which shows that our mind makes decisions before we are aware of it is deeply flawed and yet still remains one of the key…[Read more]

We’ve already covered this Arcus. Percentage of government spending does not give us any information. We are not talking about over all spending. We are talking about deep cruel cuts for social programs and other essential services.

You are comparing difficult budget cuts in Ireland, Latvia and Spain with those in Greece? Really? I weathered the cuts here in Spain and I sort of noticed them (and I am low low income). The only reason why Spain (and the Baltics and Ireland) rebounded was because they refused (or their population did not allow them) to implement full out…[Read more]

Steve in Co. Thanks a million not just for doing the calculations but explaining them (how to approach the problem). CHEEEEEEERS!!!!!

I would take Virgil’s rant here with a pinch of salt. There is nothing wrong with bringing up racist-homophobic hate said by religious people you know…in an atheist forum…and ask other atheists for advice. Of course that is a totally appropriate topic here and that does not contaminate the site at all. Zheesh. Perhaps pummeling on a new user…[Read more]

Gallups response pretty much sums up what I would have said only much better. You have cited some news articles now but sources that don’t back up the extreme bizzare claims you’ve made about austerity or the Greek economy.

There’s no sense in discussing anything related to Greece’s debt for a while.

The main topic of this post is the epic fai…[Read more]

Great topic GM. I hope you don’t mind a digression. Just as the confederate flag was:

of treason, aggression, and bigotry, a symbol throughout the world of oppression and one of the worst violations of human rights perpetrated against a people for financial gain

This sounds like a splendid description of Christianity during countless long…[Read more]

And now a clear (though distant) view of Pluto and its moon (twin). Oh the awe

Note how relatively close they are to one another and how similar they are in size. Perhaps Charon appears very large in the Pluto sky? I don’t know how to do the calculations (perhaps someone here does?).

Well I did live in Belgium while he was the Prime Minister there and I am quite familiar with how his style changed from a well spoken politician in Belgium who was able to handle all of the many problems any politician faced in the polarised country as well as offer insightful and nuanced commentary … to an EU Parliament rant-dog of the Nigel…[Read more]