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Illjwamh

This Day In History

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On January 17 in History:
 
395 - Death of Theodosius I, the last Roman emperor to rule both the West and the East together. It's all downhill from here - for one half much faster than the other.
 
1468 - Death of Skanderbeg. Well, Albania, hope you enjoyed your independence while you had it.
 
1562 - In her capacity as Regent of France, Catherine de' Medici grants Huguenots the right to live. Awfully generous of her.
 
1595 - Former Huguenot King Henry IV of France (and III of Navarre, as if that matters) declares war on Spain to show Catholics that Spain was just using religion as a pretense to mess with French affairs, and to prove to Protestants that just because he's Catholic now, he's no Spanish puppet. And hey, if he can get some territory out of the deal, he won't complain, if you know what I mean.
 
1608 - Susenyos I of Ethiopia surprises and crushes an Oromo army at the town of Ebenat, suffering 400 losses from his own troops in order to kill 12,000. Agincourt didn't have that good a ratio.
 
1811 - 6,000 Spanish troops defeat 100,000 Mexican revolutionaries at the Battle of Calderón Bridge. Ebenar what?
 
1888 - Death of Big Bear, powerful Cree chief and unwitting namesake of the stuffed polar bear by grandparents got me when I was a baby.
 
1893 - A handful of American missionaries and businessmen overthrow Queen Liliʻuokalani of Hawai'i and take over. Do you think Uncle Sam will notice us now?
 
1893 again - Dearth of Rutherford B. Hayes, #1 on the list of presidential first names unlikely to be repeated.
 
1917 - The U.S. buys the Virgin Islands from Denmark. Important note: this does not mean Greenland is also for sale!
 
1920 - "That's it! No more booze!" ~Andrew Volstead
 
1931 - Birth of James Earl Jones. If he could be turned, he would be a powerful ally.
 
1961 - In his farewell address, President Dwight D. Eisenhower warns the American people against the accumulation of power by what he calls the military industrial complex. NARRATOR: They didn't listen.
 
1964 - Birth of Michelle Obama, who of course wasn't called that at the time. That'd be weird.
 
1989 - Birth of Kelly Marie Tran, the actress who was bullied so badly by toxic Star Wars fans that she had to quit social media and go into therapy - an experience she shares with actor Jake Lloyd, who portrayed a young Anakin Skywalker, who grows into Darth Vader, who's voiced by fellow birthday person James Earl Jones. I feel like Kevin Bacon should be involved somehow.
 
1992 - On a visit to South Korea, Japanese prime minister Kiichi Miyazawa apologizes for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery during WW2. Japan in general, not him personally. Gods, that'd be awkward.
 
1998 - Drudge Report scoop: President Clinton has affair with intern! Let the pearl clutching commence!
 
2008 - Bobby Fischer loses his chess match with Death.

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1 hour ago, Illjwamh said:
On January 17 in History:
 
395 - Death of Theodosius I, the last Roman emperor to rule both the West and the East together. It's all downhill from here - for one half much faster than the other.

 

I heard that some Gibbon somewhere wrote about the decline and fall that followed.

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On January 19 in History:
 
379 - Theodosius I is raised to Augustus and made emperor of the East on promises to Build The Wall! Build The Wall!
 
1419 - Henry V of England takes Rouen, completing his conquest of Normandy. "I have no idea how I feel about this." ~William the Conqueror
 
1795 - The Dutch Republic is replaced by the Batavian Republic, which is still Dutch, but more republic. Thanks, Napoleon.
 
1809 - Birth of Edgar Allan Poe, which isn't creepy at all so there isn't any ready-made allusion or reference to be made. Curses!
 
1817 - General José de San Martín and his army cross the Andes from Argentina to Chile on a mission of liberation. Sadly, no elephants.
 
1874 - Future Yokozuna Hitachiyama Taniemon is born. Props to his mom, if you get my drift.
 
1876 - Future Yokozuna Wakashima Gonshirō is born. This weird coincidence is the only reason either of these two are on here in the first place.
 
1953 - 71.9% of all American television sets tune in to "I Love Lucy" to watch the episode where Lucy give birth. In a related story, Desi Arnaz, Jr. is born.
 
1963 - The birth of John Bercow causes quite a stir until someone yells, "ORDAAHHH! ORDAAAHHH!"
 
1969 - Czech student protester Jan Palach dies due to complications arising from setting himself on fire three days ago.
 
1981 - Iran agrees to release 52 American hostages they've been holding for over a year. Tomorrow Reagan will swoop in and take all the credit.
 

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Only one more of these left after today!
 
On January 23 in History:
 
393 - Theodosius the Great makes his 8 year old son Honorius co-emperor, continuing the sacred Roman tradition of making children the most powerful people in the empire.
 
1264 - Louis IX of France hands down a settlement between Henry III of England and Simon de Montfort (leader of the rebellious barons), known as the Mise of Amiens. It is blatantly one-sided in favor of Henry. This means rebellion!
 
1368 - "Call me the Hongwu Emperor. China is Ming now. Get used to it." ~The General Formerly Known As Zhu Yuanzhang
 
1556 - The deadliest earthquake in recorded history, killing an estimated 830,000 people, occurs in Shaanxi Province in China. Roland Emmerich purchases the film rights.
 
1570 - The first known assassination by firearm takes place. The victim is the 1st Earl of Moray, one James Stewart, regent for the infant King of Scotland, one James Stuart. Yeah, that sounds right.
 
1795 - The French capture 14 Dutch ships in the Zuiderzee (a bay of the North Sea) with a cavalry charge. It makes sense in context.
 
1849 - Elizabeth Blackwell earns her M.D. from Geneva Medical College in New York, becoming America's first lady doctor. For those who don't know, it's pronounced "doctor"; the "lady" is silent.
 
1879 - Just over 150 British troops successfully defend the mission station of Rorke's Drift against three to four thousand Zulu warriors. It was Michael Caine's big break; you should see it.
 
1944 - Death comes for Edvard Munch, just as he had foreseen the night he created his most famous painting.
 
1964 - The 24th Amendment outlaws poll taxes in the United States. "Damn. We'll have to think of another way to keep poor black people from voting. How do y'all feel about ID laws?"
 
1989 - Death comes for Salvador Dalí, just as he had foreseen when he made...whatever the hell any of that is.
 
1998 - Netscape announces Mozilla, giving a final F U to Microsoft with its dying breath.
 
2001 - Five people set themselves on fire in Tienanmen Square. Chinese state media says they were members of Falun Gong, and so it's good that the government persecutes such a dangerous ideology. Falun Gong members and independant journalists say it was staged to give credence to government persecution of Falun Gong. So I guess we'll never know.

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3 hours ago, Illjwamh said:

Only one more of these left after today!

You are going to keep posting them, even if they are repeats I assume. 

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7 hours ago, Illjwamh said:

Only one more of these left after today!

So that's it?

We are officially out of History?

I suppose this is what happened to the History Channel which is how they became host to the Ancient Alien "documentaries"
(The real ancient aliens were smart enough to clean up after themselves and were not interested in "probes")

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The very last one!
 
On January 26 in History:
 
661 - The fourth (and last) Rashidun caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib, is assassinated. As, of course, is tradition.
 
945 - Constantine VII overthrows co-emperors Stephen and Constantine to take full control of the Byzantine throne for himself. Notably, he does not kill them, as would be tradition, but forces them to become monks, because he is not without a sense of humor.
 
1531 - A major earthquake and subsequent tsunami and aftershocks kill an estimated 30,000 people in Lisbon. Naturally, the Jews are blamed, because why not, but a massacre is averted when poet/playwright Gil Vicente writes a letter to the king and scolds the city's friars for fearmongering. Well, at least they'll be prepared of anything like this ever happens again, eh?
 
1565 - The defeat of the Vijayanagara Empire by the alliance of the five Deccan sultanates at the Battle of Talikota spells the beginning of the downfall of the last Hindu kingdom in India, and the eventual Islamic domination of the subcontinent. Well, at two to five thousand years, can't say they didn't have a good run.
 
1699 - With the Treaty of Karlowitz between themselves and the Holy League, for the first time after hundreds of years of expansion the Ottomans must cede territory to European Christians instead of the other way around. "Oh, so that's what that feels like. Well shit, I don't like this at all."
 
1788 - Arthur Philip sails the British First Fleet into Port Jackson, Australia to establish a penal colony. "Wow, this place is bloody incredible. You sure you want to waste it on a bunch of convicts? Why not just leave them in Britain and the rest of us can come here?"
 
1823 - Edward Jenner dies of a stroke at the age of 73, which he was able to attain because he didn't have to worry about dying young of smallpox.
 
1856 - U.S. Marines, together with a group of armed settlers, fight off a Native American attack in the first Battle of Seattle, now commemorated every year by a college basketball game.
 
1930 - The Indian National Congress declares today the day of complete independence ("Purna Swaraj") for India. Jumping the gun a little bit, aren't you, guys?
 
1934 - Germany and Poland sign a non-aggression pact. "What's so funny?" ~Poland
 
1945 - Audie Murphy holds off a German tank and infantry advance for an hour, by himself. With a wounded leg. With a single M10 tank destroyer, which is on fire. Not only will he receive the Medal of Honor for this, but when he later portrays himself reenacting the events in the Hollywood movie based on his own book, they have to tone it down for fear people will think it too unrealistic. Rambo freaking wishes he were Audie Murphy.
 
1950 - The constitution of India comes into a effect, with Rajendra Prasad as the country's first president. Nice timing.
 
1961 - Wayne Gretzky is born. I'd have to turn in my Canadian membership card if I didn't mention this. (It's a Tim Horton's coupon).
 
1962 - Mob boss Lucky Luciano dies of a heart attack when his namesake finally gives out.
 
1998 - Bill Clinton denies having "sexual relations" with Monica Lewinsky on national television. Geez, can you stand the balls on this guy? A president lying to our faces on national TV? At least it's not about something important. Can you imagine?
 
2020 - A helicopter crash in California kills Kobe Bryant, which is sad, but it also kills his 13 year old daughter, which I feel like is the bigger tragedy that weirdly no one is talking about.
 

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22 hours ago, Illjwamh said:
The very last one!
 
On January 26 in History:
 
661 - The fourth (and last) Rashidun caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib, is assassinated.

So, you're saying, it took four tries, but they finally got it right?

 

22 hours ago, Illjwamh said:
... As, of course, is tradition.

 

Not any more.

 

22 hours ago, Illjwamh said:

1531 - A major earthquake and subsequent tsunami and aftershocks kill an estimated 30,000 people in Lisbon. Naturally, the Jews are blamed, because why not, but a massacre is averted when poet/playwright Gil Vicente writes a letter to the king and scolds the city's friars for fearmongering. Well, at least they'll be prepared of anything like this ever happens again, eh?

Scientific method:

Hypothesis: Jews cause earthquakes.

Test: Eliminate Jews.

Result: Two years pass, no more earthquakes, hypothesis confirmed.

 

22 hours ago, Illjwamh said:

1788 - Arthur Philip sails the British First Fleet into Port Jackson, Australia to establish a penal colony. "Wow, this place is bloody incredible. You sure you want to waste it on a bunch of convicts? Why not just leave them in Britain and the rest of us can come here?"

Everything there wants to kill you, though.

 

22 hours ago, Illjwamh said:
1961 - Wayne Gretzky is born. I'd have to turn in my Canadian membership card if I didn't mention this. (It's a Tim Horton's coupon).

This is valuable information. I will have to scare up a Toronto newspaper if I ever need to bail out of here.

 

22 hours ago, Illjwamh said:
2020 - A helicopter crash in California kills Kobe Bryant, which is sad, but it also kills his 13 year old daughter, which I feel like is the bigger tragedy that weirdly no one is talking about.

Yes, this is why being a "helicopter parent" is a bad thing.

 

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I don't remember if this was mentioned previously, but I find it interesting

1835 – In the first assassination attempt against a President of the United States, Richard Lawrence attempts to shoot president Andrew Jackson twice, but both guns fail to fire.  Old Hickory then proceeded to beat Lawrence with his cane.  The would-be assassin's life is saved as he is wrestled into submission by a crowd that included Representative David "Davy" Crockett and other Members of Congress.

At his trial in April, the Prosecuting Attorney was Francis Scott Key.  But because Lawrence repeatedly interrupted the proceedings by shouting wild accusations, the Jury only needed five minutes of deliberation to find Lawrence "not guilty by reason of insanity".

Ever wonder how you can be associated with the Mt Rushmore D List without actually becoming a politician yourself?

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On January 31 in The Future:
 
2021 - Former president Donald J. Trump is finally removed from the White House by Secret Service and police, where he had been holed up for eleven days, refusing to leave. Of course we all know he really just accidentally locked himself in the bathroom.
 
2033 - An assassination attempt on Senator Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez fails when her would-be killer suffers a stroke just before he is able to initiate his attack. A self-described "anti-socialist", he had refused access to free public healthcare (famously championed by the senator), which could have saved him. You can't make this stuff up.
 
2057 - The last patch of Maldives soil sinks beneath the waves for good. Now I'm never getting my security deposit back.
 
2081 - Coca-cola retires their once-iconic polar bear advertising mascots, deeming them insensitive. That, and most people under 25 don't even know what they are.
 
2107 - The last ice from the last glacier on Earth melts. This is going to be a really bad hit to the bottled water industry.
 
2116 - The first shots are fired in the Third American Civil War. Folks in the nations of California and Cascadia feel a certain vindication.
 
2199 - Alison Simms, the first human born on Mars, is...well, born. The first person in the history of the world not to be part of the history of the world.
 
2245 - Pope Francis III is elected. Let's hope he's a bit more like his first namesake than his second, eh? Eh? You know what I'm talking about.
 
2311 - Rwanda officially takes the place of Peru as the world's largest economy. China quietly reminds us all of their storied history of playing the long game.
 
2465 - The crew of the Astraeus become the first human beings to leave the Solar System. "Smart move, getting out while you can." ~California and Cascadia

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On 11/16/2019 at 10:15 PM, Illjwamh said:
On November 16 in History:
 
1990 - Milli Vanilli are stripped of their Grammy Award when it is revealed they did not actually sing on their album. Geez, the hoops they make artists jump through these days.

I always wondered why they didn't give the Grammy to whoever did do the singing — if it was a Grammy-worthy performance, don't they deserve the recognition?  Shouldn't they have been household names, at least for a while, as the voices of peoples' favorite songs?

On 11/26/2019 at 6:43 PM, Illjwamh said:
1863 - U.S. president Abraham Lincoln declares a national day of Thanksgiving. This time, he's savvy enough to declare that it should be an annual thing.

This after 17 years of campaigning by the editor of Godey's Ladies' Book, Sarah Hale, to make Thanksgiving a national holiday.  It's thanks to her that we think of roast turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie as the classic Thanksgiving dinner.  Hale is also the author of a poem which she titled "Mary's Lamb" but surely no one today remembers it....

On 12/2/2019 at 0:14 AM, Illjwamh said:
1977 - The TV network Pinwheel is launched in Ohio. It's known today as Nickelodeon, after executives decided the original name wasn't obscure and esoteric enough.

*sings* Pinwheel, pinwheel spinning around / Look at my pinwheel and see what I found...

On 12/3/2019 at 0:08 PM, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Sometimes musical arrangements baffle me

Louis Prima tacked "I Ain't Got Nobody" to the end of "Gigolo" and somehow made it work

As a child, I had a recording of "Yankee Doodle" performed on Bagpipes that ended with "Rule Britannia!"

A friend was noodling on a piano and started playing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as a waltz.  It fit remarkably well!

My favorite musical incongruity is Off Kilter's version of "Johnny B Good" in which a bagpipe plays the guitar solo.

On 12/11/2019 at 2:59 AM, Illjwamh said:

The forum was down all day yesterday and most of today; I couldn't get this up.

*checks....no, Viagra was first approved on March 27....*

Quote

On December 9 in History:

2017 - Australia legalizes same-sex marriage. Better late than never. That's it. That's all you get for this one. You have no idea how hard it is to think of an Australia-based pun that doesn't sound dirty.

And why should that stop you?

On 12/17/2019 at 0:56 PM, Darth Fluffy said:

This past Sunday afternoon, I found an article about millennials leaving church in droves, and not coming back, for pretty much the same reason I did. One of the links at the end of the article linked to an article about a church regrouping and taking a new direction, very much against the Trump flow.  <snip>  How different are they? Well, the article that led me to their website had way more detail than I can recall, but you would appreciate that among many other things, they are trans friendly. I'm a bit surprised no one has tried to burn them at the stake yet. I'll let you know how it goes.

You should see if there's a Unitarian-Universalist church near you.  They're the most welcoming church I know of.  It's where Jewish/Catholic couples end up.  Religious Education (Sunday school) learns about all sorts of religions.  You should check out the Seven Principles and see if it seems your style.  If not, no biggie, just thought it worth suggesting.

On 12/17/2019 at 1:14 PM, The Old Hack said:

I fear I have lost my belief in God. Nonetheless, I have not quite yielded to atheism though it pulls very strongly at me at times. But whether I ever will or not, I will never cease to respect the beliefs of others as long as they make room for those of others in turn.

An excellent attitude.

On 12/18/2019 at 4:45 AM, Illjwamh said:

People who identify as "agnostic" (here I'm generalizing for the sake of illustrating the source of my irritation) tend to say things like, "we can't know if there is a god or not, so why be an atheist?" Or something.

Not exactly.  It's more pointing out that, since we cannot know with absolute certainty whether there is a God or not, declaring that there absolutely is no God is just as much a statement of belief without proof as declaring that there *is* a God.

"Atheist" takes "theist", which denotes a belief in God, and adds the prefix "a-" which denotes a lack of, the way asexual reproduction is reproduction without sex.  If you are an atheist, you are someone who is as certain that there is no God as the theists are certain that there is a God.  If you are not certain, then you are an agnostic, someone who acknowledges that we have no way of knowing with absolute certainty one way or the other (or the other, or the other, or....).  You can be an agnostic who leans toward the side of atheism, but you can't be a complete atheist because that denotes a certainty that agnostics by definition do not have.

Sorry, but I see far too many people confusing these two terms, and I feel it's an important distinction.

Quote

Atheism has nothing to do with knowledge. It's all about belief.

And boy does it infuriate some atheists if you point this out to them!  They are certain, but they insist that their certainty is logical and that it is impossible to come to any other position without being illogical, but they still can't prove they're right, which means that being so certain is not logical.

Quote

James Cameron's quote is harsh (calling anyone cowardly is typically uncalled for), and presumptuous (he purports to "know" there is no god.) I would rephrase it to say they cannot admit they don't believe in a god. That's the part that irks me.

Agnostics don't disbelieve in the existence or non-existence of God, either.  Again, an important distinction.

Quote

A self-identified "agnostic" either believes or doesn't believe. Or is in a transitional stage from one to the other. It's a way of hedging one's bets, but the catch is, you can't keep it up forever. You either believe in something or you don't, and if you're having trouble deciding which it is, it might be a good idea to go back and examine what caused you to have a crisis of faith in the first place.

No, it's not "hedging one's bets," it's acknowledging that we cannot be certain in either direction.  If you are flipping a coin, the theist is certain it will land heads, the atheist is certain it will land tails, and the agnostic says they don't know which way it will land, including landing on edge or being snatched midair by a raven.

A lot more people are agnostic than will admit it.  Usually, that's because they've been taught that they are supposed to believe, that good people do believe, and that doubting is a sin (against God or logic).

On 1/9/2020 at 1:44 AM, Illjwamh said:
On January 8 in History:
 
1935 - A really cool musician is born. His name is Elvis. You probably haven't heard of him, but you should check out some of his stuff.

I keep meaning to listen to his stuff, but just never seem to get around to it.

On 1/9/2020 at 1:44 AM, Illjwamh said:
1964 - U.S. President El BJ declares war on poverty. Many apparently misinterpret this as a war on poor people and act accordingly.

Oh, for the days when politicians at least pretended to want to help the poor, instead of pitting them against each other and watching them fight for scraps.  I sometimes think one of the most evil fictions in the world is the "zero sum game".

On 1/16/2020 at 3:41 PM, Illjwamh said:
On January 16 in History:
 
2006 - Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is elected president of Liberia, the first female head of state in all of Africa. Still waiting, America. He said, while waving a Bernie 2020 placard.

And there's the rub.  There's still varying mixes of genuinely agreeing with a male candidate more than any of the female ones, and not believing a woman President is a real possibility.  (Yes, I know, like the Kinsey scale, that's a great oversimplification, and no one should make assumptions about what degrees of what factors apply to anyone else individually.)  That second point can be not thinking they should get the job, but I think a lot bigger factor for a lot more people is doubting that there are enough other people who would vote for a woman, and thus thinking a man is more likely to win.

On 1/17/2020 at 10:27 PM, Illjwamh said:
On January 17 in History:
 
1608 - Susenyos I of Ethiopia surprises and crushes an Oromo army at the town of Ebenat, suffering 400 losses from his own troops in order to kill 12,000. Agincourt didn't have that good a ratio.
 
1811 - 6,000 Spanish troops defeat 100,000 Mexican revolutionaries at the Battle of Calderón Bridge. Ebenar what?

12000 / 400 =  30

100000 / 6000 = 16.6667

Of course, I suspect Susenyos I had a lot more than 400 troops, that's just the number he lost.

On 1/17/2020 at 10:27 PM, Illjwamh said:
On January 17 in History:
 
1964 - Birth of Michelle Obama, who of course wasn't called that at the time. That'd be weird.

Just ask Eleanor Roosevelt!

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1 hour ago, CritterKeeper said:

You should see if there's a Unitarian-Universalist church near you.  They're the most welcoming church I know of.  It's where Jewish/Catholic couples end up.  Religious Education (Sunday school) learns about all sorts of religions.  You should check out the Seven Principles and see if it seems your style.  If not, no biggie, just thought it worth suggesting.

I've been to a funeral at one, and saw a concert at something similar. They had a good sense of community.

I've also visited a humanitarian "church" of sorts; basically an atheist church. They held their gathering on Sunday, and did non-church things in a church style; speaker where a sermon would go, piano music with songs that made sense in context, like "Imagine". I enjoyed it, I've been twice, I knew some of the folks from elsewhere, and I thought it was weird as hell that they bothered. Oh, they also identified as "non-militant atheists" and mentioned that there were other groups like them, but that were more hard core.

My goal is a group of believers that I can have an intelligent conversation with, but are also not toxic. I haven't found it yet.

 

1 hour ago, CritterKeeper said:

Not exactly.  It's more pointing out that, since we cannot know with absolute certainty whether there is a God or not, declaring that there absolutely is no God is just as much a statement of belief without proof as declaring that there *is* a God.

"Atheist" takes "theist", which denotes a belief in God, and adds the prefix "a-" which denotes a lack of, the way asexual reproduction is reproduction without sex.  If you are an atheist, you are someone who is as certain that there is no God as the theists are certain that there is a God.  If you are not certain, then you are an agnostic, someone who acknowledges that we have no way of knowing with absolute certainty one way or the other (or the other, or the other, or....).  You can be an agnostic who leans toward the side of atheism, but you can't be a complete atheist because that denotes a certainty that agnostics by definition do not have.

Sorry, but I see far too many people confusing these two terms, and I feel it's an important distinction.

And boy does it infuriate some atheists if you point this out to them!  They are certain, but they insist that their certainty is logical and that it is impossible to come to any other position without being illogical, but they still can't prove they're right, which means that being so certain is not logical.

Agnostics don't disbelieve in the existence or non-existence of God, either.  Again, an important distinction.

No, it's not "hedging one's bets," it's acknowledging that we cannot be certain in either direction.  If you are flipping a coin, the theist is certain it will land heads, the atheist is certain it will land tails, and the agnostic says they don't know which way it will land, including landing on edge or being snatched midair by a raven.

A lot more people are agnostic than will admit it.  Usually, that's because they've been taught that they are supposed to believe, that good people do believe, and that doubting is a sin (against God or logic).

I like the neat boxes you describe, but I don't think it's that simple. If you listen to public atheist talking heads, most will at various points say that if they saw evidence, they would change their opinion. There are exceptions like Dawkins, who won't admit the possibility of a deity because he views the topic as toxic, but he's also a reasonable man; I suspect that faced with evidence, he'd be no different.

The agnostics I've talked to seem to embrace an apathy toward the topic, a desire to distance themselves; so a bit more than just stating uncertainty. While I don't embrace this myself, it frankly makes sense that someone would want to.

Regarding evidence, there is a conundrum that seems insurmountable. Any such evidence has to be repeatable, or it is not going to convince very many, and by its nature, it won't be repeatable. As Herod says in Jesus Christ, Superstar, "Walk across my swimming pool." Lacking such, all you have is hearsay, stage tricks, questionable photos or videos.

Generally, evidence is highly interpretive, and is never as cut and dried as it is portrayed in a text book. This adds another layer of complexity. X proved Y? Yeah, we're not gonna talk about the twenty years of debate that took place.

 

1 hour ago, CritterKeeper said:

A friend was noodling on a piano and started playing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as a waltz.  It fit remarkably well!

My favorite musical incongruity is Off Kilter's version of "Johnny B Good" in which a bagpipe plays the guitar solo.

Dueling Tubas

Weird Al's polka medleys; Polka Your Eyes Out, Polka Face, ...

 

 

1 hour ago, CritterKeeper said:

(Elvis) I keep meaning to listen to his stuff, but just never seem to get around to it.

His earlier stuff is more distinctively him.

 

1 hour ago, CritterKeeper said:

Oh, for the days when politicians at least pretended to want to help the poor, instead of pitting them against each other and watching them fight for scraps.  I sometimes think one of the most evil fictions in the world is the "zero sum game".

I don't think that's ever been true. There's always an entitled, elitist faction.

"It's not a zero sum game" depends on how enlightened or stupid we choose to be; how far we set our horizons.

 

1 hour ago, CritterKeeper said:

And there's the rub.  There's still varying mixes of genuinely agreeing with a male candidate more than any of the female ones, and not believing a woman President is a real possibility.  (Yes, I know, like the Kinsey scale, that's a great oversimplification, and no one should make assumptions about what degrees of what factors apply to anyone else individually.)  That second point can be not thinking they should get the job, but I think a lot bigger factor for a lot more people is doubting that there are enough other people who would vote for a woman, and thus thinking a man is more likely to win.

Hillary had issues. Few people trusted her. I think the private email server showed a critical lack of judgement, and there was no correct response; but admitting it and moving on would have at least been damage control. She let the issue fester.

There are good woman candidates this go-round, but I think it won't matter; Trump is too embedded.

 

 

 

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21 February

2020 - Prince George of Cambridge, eldest son of William Duke of Cambridge, eldest son of Charles Prince of Wales is now older than the future Edward VIII was when his Great Grandmother Queen Victoria died

Prince George is now the oldest Heir Apparent to an Heir Apparent to an Heir Apparent in British History

I am convinced that George's Great Grandmother is determined to remain on the throne until EVERY monarchy record in Britain, or perhaps Europe, is held by her and her progeny

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3 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

21 February

2020 - Prince George of Cambridge, eldest son of William Duke of Cambridge, eldest son of Charles Prince of Wales is now older than the future Edward VIII was when his Great Grandmother Queen Victoria died

Prince George is now the oldest Heir Apparent to an Heir Apparent to an Heir Apparent in British History

I am convinced that George's Great Grandmother is determined to remain on the throne until EVERY monarchy record in Britain, or perhaps Europe, is held by her and her progeny

Remove the most spousal heads?

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6 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

I am convinced that George's Great Grandmother is determined to remain on the throne until EVERY monarchy record in Britain, or perhaps Europe, is held by her and her progeny

"The world shall never be truly free until the last monarch has been strangled in the entrails of the last priest."

-- Denis Diderot

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It is 25 February, 2020

Moran Mor Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, Maronite Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and Cardinal Bishop today turns 80 which means he is no longer eligible to participate in a Papal Conclave

The Pope really needs to elevate another Cardinal from Antioch

The Conclave will never reach consensus in a reasonable time frame unless the Cardinals know that someone in there is holding the Holy Hand Grenade

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16 March

1621 – Samoset, a Mohegan, visited the settlers of Plymouth Colony and greets them, "Welcome, Englishmen! My name is Samoset."  Some sources claim he then asked for a beer.  This is all the evidence future generations of English speaking Americans would need to prove that everyone speaks English and we don't need to bother learning any other languages

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24 April

1990 – Following biological warfare tests in World War II, Gruinard Island, Scotland, is officially declared free of the anthrax disease after 48 years of quarantine.
So YES!  Quarantine can eventually end

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42 minutes ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

24 April

1990 – Following biological warfare tests in World War II, Gruinard Island, Scotland, is officially declared free of the anthrax disease after 48 years of quarantine.
So YES!  Quarantine can eventually end

I hope this one doesn't last near that long.

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13 May

2016 - Barack Obama hosts a White House State Dinner honoring Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark, Sauli Niinistö, President of Finland, 
Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson, Prime Minister of Iceland, Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway, and Stefan Löfven, Prime Minister of Sweden.  The evening's entertainment is provided by Disney Channel star Demi Lovato.  This is what happens when you put your teenage daughters in charge of your social calendar.

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Oct 25 seems to be the date for great military actions against overwhelming odds, yet winning the day.  Henry V at Agincourt, the Charge of the Light Brigade, the Battle off Samar.

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