Fun Tests About Yourself

Here's how I look in these tests. I would say they are pretty close.

Your Dominant Intelligence is Interpersonal Intelligence

You shine in your ability to realate to and understand others. Good at seeing others' points of view, you get how people think and feel. You have an uncanny ability to sense true feelings, intentions, and motivations. A natural born leader, you are great at teaching and mediating conflict. You would make a good counselor, salesperson, politician, or business person.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

Your Element Is Earth

You excel at planning and strategizing. You could be a champ at chess or Survivor. Well grounded, you are able to be realistic and rationalize. On the inside, you have a hard core. It's tough to phase you. You are super productive, and you are able to think anything through. Focused and super charged, your instincts are a good guide for your next step.

What's Your Element?

Ethical Experimentation

Thanks to the Book of ThoTH website I was directed to an interesting article about stem cell research and the moral issue of mixing human cells with that of animals.

On the surface this sounds like something from a horror film. The article sites, "The Island of Dr. Moreau” as one example.

Go and read the article, then come back here for my take on the issue.

Without experimentation our scientific knowledge will stagnate. These scientists have already stated that they are learning more from these experiments then they ever wood have.

I think the risks are worth the end if it can bring cures to things like Parkinson's, cancer, Alzheimer's, etc...

We are reaching yet another point in our lives where science fiction meets science fact. Already the ability to have almost every body part replaced is upon us. Add to this the addition of bionic pieces like appendages, hearts, eyes and we can medically do just about anything.

How close are we to being able to walk in to the hospital and get replacement parts just because we can? Once we start replacing body parts, at what point do we cease to be who we were, and change into something we were not?

Should there now be laws that we can only replace a certain percentage of our current bodies to regain our own humanity? Once we reach adulthood should we be allowed to go into a medical hobby shop and get replacement organs that are genetically superior then the ones we are born with?

Medically speaking we are doing things now that would have been unheard of even 20 years ago. We got to this point by scientists doing experiments. By restraining the hands of the scientists we may be signing the extermination of our own race.

To adapt for the future we must continue to explore, experiment, and grow scientifically. Scary or not, this is the way it will be and I really don't see anyone being able to stop this forward progress.

Unfortunately, if this type of research “gets away” from us, I can foresee something like the Planet of the Apes movie actually coming to pass. How far fetched would it be for our scientists to create several primate chimera, and allow them to breed for experimental purposes.

Once these human/primates become more cognoscente of who they are, they could potentially demand their rights. Before you know it, there are primate sections in cities. Far fetched? These days I think it's only an experiment gone out of control away.

All of these horror stories aside, I still think that if the end result is the cure of major diseases that now haunt our population, it will be worth the effort and the risks.

So where do we go from here?

As is our way, we'll cinch up our morals and march on into the future.

Open Letter To Kim

Kim,

Don't be in too big a hurry to grow up. I know it's tough, but I'm serious when I say, enjoy it while you can, your childhood is almost gone, and you will miss it regardless of what you think at the moment.

Ah, piercings. I may be an old fart like your folks, so you may just ignore what I think as well. I think the standard one per ear looks nice. More then that starts to look worse as the numbers increase. I fail to see the reasons behind multiple piercings, but then again, I'm ancient.

Don't get me started with the rest of the body. Smile

As a comparrison many of the people in high school that had multiple piercings, guys with long hair, etc... quickly switched into mature mode when they had to get into college, get jobs, and yes, even get dates.

Although expressing yourself when you're younger seems like a good idea at the time, the unfortunate side effect is that the only people who agree are at your same peer level. Everyone else you have to interface with, boss, parents, teachers, etc... look at you much differently, and not in a positive way.

I realize that sucks, and does not seem right, but it's a truism none-the-less.

You are an extremely intelligent person, and because of that you will feel older in some ways. Intelligence is a great thing, but wisdom only comes from longevity. The young think they are wise until they grow up and begin to realize how nieve they were.

Instead of seeking to rebel against the elders of the clan, might I suggest you step back and truly listen to their advice from a studied viewpoint. Resist the urge to want to do everything your way or else.

For some reason I keep using the line from the Spiderman comics and movies, but in its simplicty is a profound lesson.

"With great power comes great responsibility."

The reason there are age limits imposed on the young is to save them from themselves. As we grow up our minds play tricks on us. We think we're ready to conqure the world when we're 6 years old. These feelings increase as we get even older.

It's perfectly normal to think you are an adult at 16, but look back and you will hopefully understand this reasoning. Heck, look at Freshmen in your school, and see if you think they're as ready for things as you thought you were at their age.

Oh yes, but they are all immature compared to you. News flash, they are all thinking the same thing about the younger kids behind them as well.

Your feelings are not something unique to just you. Most kids feel this way, and it's been that way since probably the human race has existed.

When you cross the threshhold of an age, for example 18, nobody looks at you as an instant adult. In fact, many 18 year olds figure this out quickly. The age of 18 is when the world begins to let you learn what making decisions on your own is all about. You're going to mess up a lot for the rest of your adult life, because you can now make those decisions.

Let's look back once again to the younger crowd. How do you think the world would be if the drinking age was lowered to 16, or removed altogether? Pretty much chaos. Driving would become a lot more dangerous, and many more kids would be dead from overextending themselves at parties, etc...

This is why we make people wait until they are 21 before they can drink. Regardless of how old you feel at 18, you still have some growing up to do.

It's the very act of kids wanting to get drunk and party that throws up the warning flags. Many of those same partying adults will grow up and realize how stupid an immature they were. They stop drinking, and start acting like a responsible member of society. This is why there are age limits.

Do you want to drink, smoke, take drungs? Why? What will it provide you that you do not already have? I do not drink, smoke, or do drugs, and never have, because I too used my intelligence and reasoned out that these things would provide me with nothing positive, and only potential negatives in my life, so why start?

I'm an adult, so chances are you tuned me out several paragraphs ago. If not, I'll leave you with this last thought.

If your goal is to have a good life, listen to the advice of those who have gone before you. Many mistakes can be bypassed by using your intelligence and heeding the wisdom of your elders. This is true in business, history, war and even life.

By-the-way, I still enjoy a good fart joke!

Who Are You?

Throughout my life I have had to deal with many different types of personalities. As such, I think over the years I have developed the ability to see people beyond their surface attitudes. In a sense, I “don't judge a book by its cover”.

Stereotypically speaking, there are some folks from New York City who have an abrasive personality. I have had to work with such a person and got to know him very well.

My boss, had the impression that this person was a terrible worker, mostly based on his minor exposure to him at one point or another. I can't even begin to tell you what I went through to defend this worker when it came time to write his review. I was challenged by my boss time and again on my position. This employee was one of my best workers, but he did come across a bit rough at times, with him, I would merely “consider the source”.

I know people with an outward demeanor of being an ass. Some of these same people would be the first to lend a hand when you are in need, and do whatever they could to help. Buried within them is also the love for other people that is so strong, they try not to let it show so as not to ruin their tough personality.

When you get into a fight with someone, whether it be a friend or family member, remember the adage that “it takes two to tango”. If someone always makes comments that seem like little digs here and there, my bet is that this is how they are to everyone. These little comments are how they deal with life.

Taking what someone says too personally is a bad way to go through life. I am going to fill this article with cliché's, because they just seem to fit. In fact, so many of these obvious remarks fit so well because they are common mistakes that people make when dealing with one another.

If someone makes comments about you that are not a blatant attack on you, let them roll off of you “like water off a duck”. Remember, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”. Do these sound silly yet? Think about your actions toward others who you think are hurting you with their words.

I always thought that people who used the, “your mother...” offensive tactic were ignorant. You can say anything you want about my mother and I will not get upset. First of all, because you don't know my mother, and second because I know you are using this tactic just to anger me. Sorry, but you're not worth the effort. I do know my mother, and nothing your narrow mind can sum up to try to demean her can provoke me.

Speaking of my mother, let's look at family members for a bit.

This can apply to the family you grew up with, or perhaps even your spouse, siblings or children. Chances are you have lived with these people for a very long time. It's a normal thing for people who live together for long periods of time to get on each other's nerves. Accepting this fact is half the battle.

There will always be arguments and issues within a family unit. The trick to dealing with these is simple. “If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”

Told you I was going to use a lot of cliché's.

If someone in your family “gets on your nerves”, or “rubs you the wrong way”, go someplace else and calm down. If it's just a verbal disagreement my advice to you, as the bigger person, would be to get over it. A weak-willed person will dwell on such an issue and work themselves into such a tizzy that they get angrier and angrier. This is not the way to deal with this.

After you have got away from the ugly scene, think about how strong you are an how secure you are in who you are and how you look at life. After all, you know who you are, you look in the mirror every day and know that you are a strong and independent person, and that no amount of words uttered by another person can affect that.

Once you have regained your sense of self, think about the person who is so sad that they need to make comments like that to others just to give themselves an ego boost. This is probably not their fault, it is their personality that has grown on them as they have matured.

In reality, your personality probably drives others nuts as well. I know my own personality is not without flaws. I'm just thankful that those I deal with at work and in my family have learned to accept me for who I am, flaws and all.

Now think about who the person you have issues with are as a person. Does this person give you gifts, send you cards, show up to important events in your life? If the answer is yes, chances are they love you very much, they just have trouble with their own personalities. If this is the case, then there is no need to begin a war with these folks, because it will become a futile battle. They can no more change who they are then you can.

This is where your inner strength must win out. You know they cannot change their personality for you, and you now understand that they truly care for you, they just have trouble expressing themselves properly. Don't fall into the trap of becoming so wrapped up in your own emotions about the pettiness of others, that you can't find your way back to them.

Be the stronger person. “Swallow your pride” and apologize, or take the first step in healing old wounds. “Consider the source”, then after that, accept that the source is flawed and work to help repair the damage that has occurred between you and the other person.

There is no honor in sticking to your anger and possibly destroying a relationship any further. Doing this allows the flaw in others to trigger a flaw in yourself. Holding onto anger, and letting it smolder inside of you is a flaw that needs to be worked out of your personality. If you are experiencing this, it is a tough road to haul, but it can be done.

This is a common problem with many marriages. For some reason one spouse or the other, or perhaps both, try to change the other. I'll step out on another stereotypical limb here, but it does seem like women try to change men in many cases. I have some advice for you women who are struggling with this now.

YOU ARE NOT GOING TO CHANGE YOUR MAN. It won't happen, ever!

Do not get married with the thought that after marriage you will somehow be able to train your partner to do tricks only you want them to do. If you have problems with them before marriage that you don't think you will be able to tolerate, don't marry that person!

Can you tell me that you have never uttered a hurtful word to someone else? Even unknowingly, because of your own personality, you may have hurt someone else. This brings us to, “let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”

Can a bible verse be a cliché? I think they qualify. And don't go abusing me for getting the verses wrong, I'm pulling these out of my faulty brain, not researching sacred biblical documents here.

One last cliché before I end this. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Regardless of how others treat you, stay strong and self confident. When you're strong, nobody can lead you down the path to anger unless you allow them to. If you find yourself angry already, only you can pull yourself back out.

Nobody affects you like you affect yourself. In short, if you have a bad relationship with someone, it's always your own fault whether you choose to admit this or not.

Stop whining. Stand up straight, march right over to the person you're having a disagreement with and say, “I'm sorry.”

Cyber Sleuths Nab A Sicko

What a sick world we live in. Perhaps we do not live in a sick world, it’s just that some humans, if you can call them that, are really messed up individuals.

I could not believe the story when I heard that someone had killed a pregnant woman, then cut an unborn baby from her and kidnapped it. Doesn’t this sound more like a bizarre horror flick then reality?

Unfortunately for Bobbie Jo Stinnett, reality was worse then the movies on the day she was to meet someone that wanted to purchase a rat terrier puppy from her. Apparently this was just a ploy to get close to the mother-to-be so that she could be strangled, and her month premature baby could be cut from her womb.

When I read about stories like this I can’t even imagine someone is freaky enough to kidnap somebody else’s kid, much less do something this gruesome. How twisted is this person to plan something this awful. I mean, some killings you can understand when two people have a brawl and it gets out-of-hand, or drinking is involved, or any number of probable scenarios.

Strangling a woman is bad enough by doing the killing in such a personal manner. Strangling a pregnant woman is even sadder knowing that a mother and a baby are now dead. Killing a pregnant woman, then staying to cut the unborn baby from her has got to be downright diabolical!

Although there are not enough adjectives in our language to fully encompass how wrong this murder is, I find it great that the FBI zeroed in on the killer quickly by doing a little cyber investigative work.

Luckily Bobbie Jo’s computer held the key to her killer’s identity. By taking her computer and analyzing her use of it, the FBI was able to track down the IP address (it’s like a house address, though for computers) of the woman that took her life.

The only good news in this story is that not only is another wacko off the street, but the baby was found and is in great condition. What a terrible way to enter this world.

This is a great case for the use of capital punishment. In normal cases I think the use of capital punishment should be carefully weighed, but in this case I say a speedy launch to the electric chair is warranted. I have absolutely no compassion when it comes to a case like this. There is no excuse in the universe that can explain the actions of the woman who killed Bobbie Jo Stinnett by strangling her to death.

In fact, let’s bypass this mamby-pamby lethal injection or electric chair route. It’s time to throw her into a pen of other male lifers and let them rape her, beat her and when she has been tortured beyond belief, strangle her to death slowly.

Sound harsh? It is. Since I don’t believe in hell, it’s time to make her life a living hell just before she dies.

This woman destroyed multiple families, as well as robbing a little baby of having a mother. She did this in the most heinous way imaginable, and she did it in a cold and calculating manner.

Some of you may go for forgiveness, or other such nonsense, but even though I personally can forgive a great many folks for a great deal of hurt, this is one time where the gloves should come off of our legal system. Once proven guilty, there should be no mercy for this woman.

Maybe this story caught me on a bad day, but I don’t think mental instability should be a case for something such as this. If this chick try’s to plead mental, and she’s so messed up she can do something like this, it’s time to get her out of the gene-pool so she does not spawn any more sick mutations like herself. Perhaps nature has made her barren so that she could not breed, and she did this to actually have a child of her own.

We’re not talking about a mentally retarded person who accidentally squashed a mouse in their hand by holding it to tight, we’re talking about a person with enough thought to arrange a meeting using the Internet, strangle woman to death, and remove her unborn baby!

I’m almost certain other evil people walk our streets with all sorts of nasty and wicked thoughts, but when they expose themselves by acting them out in this way, the time has come to remove them from this planet once and for all.

This killer gets two thumbs down from me; Let’s toss her to the lions!

Who Watches The Watchers?

Remember the song, “I always feel like, somebody’s watching me”? Will you ever see a U.F.O. or Bigfoot? Not if you’re like a majority of the people on this planet.

If you’re like most of us, you have your daily routine. Perhaps you get up, take a shower, brush your teeth and do all the other necessary morning duties just before leaving home. You then travel to work, or to school, maybe talk to your friends on a cell phone, but how many of you look up, or look around you as life passes you by?

Ninja’s practice the art of invisibility. In today’s world, it’s not as difficult as you would think. How many times have you stood still in your house, for example, and someone did not even know you were there? I do this all of the time when my kids are playing, or picking on one another. I’ll head to where they are in the house and just observe them to either find a good time to referee a squabble, or just smile as I enjoy watching them pretend with their Barbie’s.

If the house is even more camouflaged, such as after dark, I can even stand in a corner and watch them get up and get a drink, or go about some other nightly task without knowing their Dad is still up.

No, I don’t stalk my own family, most of the time this is just being in the right place at the right time to practice some stealthy tactics.

My point is how many times have you walked through your home half-asleep and missing potential creatures lurking in the dark corners watching you? Aliens, ghosts, MIB’s or even shadowmen could be observing your every move and you probably would not even notice.

Once outside we’re watching street signs, the people in cars next two us, and embroiled in our own thoughts and not really watching the world that is just out of our attention span. A U.F.O. could be flying overhead and the majority of the folks down below would miss the event if it used only mild camouflage techniques such as cloud cover.

Even those adventurous sorts among you that go hiking and backpacking. The next time you’re out and about in the woods stop, stay silent, and look deep into the wilderness your tromping through. You will never see many animals because many people trudge around in the wilderness like robots pounding out their steps methodically and with one purpose, to put one foot in front of the other and get to their destination.

When animals hear you breathing like a freight train, and stomping the dirt trail like a narrow-sighted caveman, they tend to stay out of your way.

In scuba diving it’s the same thing. I always hear people say they never would scuba dive because they are scared of sharks. Did you know that sharks know you’re around for miles off? They can tell we’re there in all of our bubble-blowing glory way before we know they are around. It’s this one fact that requires people to go out on shark feeding expeditions just so they can actually see a shark under water.

My wife likes to snorkel, but I told her I’d rather be under the water where I can see things, then bobbing around on the surface like fish food. I’m certain this put her mind at ease, but it’s true! When I go diving I can’t wait to get off the surface and actually get down where I feel more a part of things, rather then helplessly flailing around in the waves.

On the other hand, making a lot of noise while you’re hiking tends to keep the nasties away. After all, most animals want nothing to do with people. In fact, most attacks by bears, cougars, sharks, or whatever are caused by either humans surprising them accidentally, or the predator mistaking them for another critter such as a seal in the case of shark attacks.

So what’s the point of all of this?

If Bigfoot was indeed out there, you can bet your life that he’s not trying to go to the silly noisy humans marching along the dirt trails. He’ll be deep away from where most humans roam, living life in blissful solitude. Even if he accidentally comes near one of the dirt trails, how difficult would it be for them to stop, and stand still momentarily? Once the nature-loving human passes by, they can go about their business.

It has been said that if you go out into nature where there are no city lights to cloud your view, and stare up into the clear starry sky, you will be guaranteed to see several U.F.O.’s. I’m not suggesting these would all be little green men flying here from another planet, but you will truly see things that to you are unidentifiable. The fact is that some of them will be things like shooting stars and satellites, but you get the idea.

On a daily basis, if you don’t notice these objects in the night sky, it would be easy for U.F.O.’s, whether alien powered or of our own governments design, to fly around virtually unnoticed. There is always the whole radar thing, but what if these ships could somehow avoid our typical detection devices?

The next time you’re in the woods, stop and look for the elusive critters that are most certainly all watching you. When you find yourself out in the middle of nowhere on a drive, stop the car (in a safe location), turn off your lights, and watch the night sky, you’ll be amazed at what you see. If you get up to get a drink in the middle of the night, you just might want to turn on a light or two as you stumble through the house…just in case.

Sweet dreams.

The Future Is Now

This week was spent on the road for work. Not really what you’d call an interesting topic, but as I was driving an interesting realization came to mind.

While I was driving I was listening to a book on CD. The book was “I Robot”, by the late great Isaac Asimov. Come to think of it, the book may have proven to be a catalyst for my train of thought.

It was time to change the CD, and I watched the CD eject magically from the player, and I placed the next CD in the slot and the player robotically sucked in the new disc. I couldn’t help think that not too long ago that one task would have looked like science fiction.

Next, my cell phone rang and I flipped it open like I was Captain James Tiberius Kirk of the starship Enterprise. Not only can I speak to people around the world on my little communicator, but I can also access a wealth of information from the global computer network, or send and receive written communications on the same device.

Were we all asleep when science fiction became science reality? Stop your fast pace life for just a second now and ponder what we have achieved.

People from the Earth have landed on the moon, drove a dune buggy and played golf. We have orbiting satellites that can be seen outside the window of the International Space Station. Our neighboring planets are becoming tourist attractions as we send spacecraft after spacecraft to beam back holiday snaps from their distant journeys.

While you were worrying about which diet to try this week, the medical scientific community was learning how to replace almost every body part there is, and how to cure or relieve many diseases. Let’s not even get into Viagra and similar such enhancement products.

Are you watching survivor this season? Did you see the contestant that was competing right along with everyone else with an artificial leg?

Watching television in my hotel room a commercial came on with the newest version of that robot that vacuums your floors, and returns to its recharging station by itself. Last week I saw Honda’s Asimo robot go up and down stairs, dance, and interact with Regis and Kelly very much like a real person would.

In my house I have loaded my CD’s onto my computer and can stream anyone I wish to my entertainment center in my television room, or play all of my country or classic rock CD’s in random order like a jukebox on steroids.

Speaking of television, mine is fed by a satellite where it comes into my house and onto a digital video recorder. This allows me to pause live television, record shows through a schedule, or rewind and fast-forward any show we are watching. No more stacks of videotapes, which makes my wife happy.

When I climb into my scuba gear and dive down to 80 feet under the ocean, my time, air consumption and a variety of other factors are monitored by a computer. In my car I know the outside air temperature, how many more miles I have to go on the remaining gas, and can adjust the temperature internally for two different zones, while the kids watch a DVD and adjust their own temperatures.

At the movies we are now being entertained by movies completely generated by computers, or with special effects so real that an entire film can be shot in front of a “green screen” and the locations added by a computer later. They can even make a film where the same actor plays multiple people, show them in the same scene, and we can’t tell the difference.

Although I can’t afford the one I’d like, you can buy a huge television that hangs on your wall like a picture, and upload 80 digital pictures you took from your digital camera to a picture frame in your house. You can plug a USB “thumb drive” into your computer and download gigabytes of data on it. Does anyone use floppy disks anymore?

Technology has allowed us to track down our dogs, and family members who may need it. If your car gets in an accident a system will be notified instantly and help will be sent quickly to your location.

Why not load hundreds of songs into an MP3 player and go on a run? Or subscribe to a satellite radio station and listen to the same station from one end of the country to the other.

In the near future we will be answering more questions on things like genetics, cloning, robotics, colonizing nearby planets, and hopefully more cures for what ails us. We’ll be able to checkout of a supermarket by pushing our basket through a scanner that will total everything in it at one time, or using the same technology our refrigerator and cupboards will sense when we are low on an item and either create a shopping list, or actually order more from the store.

What was the point of taking you through this romp down a technological memory lane? I guess it was to share with you the fact that we are living in a scientific world. We are living in the fantasy world of our parents. Can you imagine what the world of our children will be like? I think you can.

The Passion of Christianity

Cruising back through my articles I find that it has been a while since I have dug into the topic of religion. Yes, I know many of you are actually glad about that, but the time has come to once again make your brain think.

Now don't go running away from this site just knowing in your heart that it's words spawned from hell, trying to trick you into something evil.

Stay a while and actually read another side to The Passion of Christianity.

I truly do tend to pick on the Christians a lot, but it's not because I am out to get them or anything, it's merely because it is the predominant religion in the world, and the one most people are familiar with.

Oh now it's the whining that I'm not being politically correct since I did not mention your goat worshiping mountain religion, or the Holy Order of the Hedgehog. I simply can't cover every religion on the planet, so I must focus on a narrow sampling, and the Christians are just plain fun to pick on.

I've discussed this in the past, but I feel it's an important point for most of you to wrap your frontal lobes around.

Why do you worship how you do? I'll bet for about 99% of you it's because you were taught your beliefs by your parents. For the remaining folks, well there's no delicate way to put this, you're gullible. You apparently are suckered in by anyone who has a spiritual candy bar.

Let's focus on the sane people for now, and leave the people who change their beliefs based on the direction the wind is blowing for another time.

Many people have a firm foundation in their belief, because they have grown up with it, and quiet frankly, it's all they know how to believe in.

I spoke to a woman one day that said she really understood my thoughts on religion, but as a Catholic she could not bring herself to agree with me, because in doing so she would have to turn her back on all that she followed her entire life.

This was a very profound statement. Years ago it took a lot out of me emotionally to make a stand on not believing God existed. It was not something I did flippantly, nor was it an instant realization on my part. It took me years of studying and researching to arrive at my current position in my beliefs.

In fact, I think I enjoy discussing religion so much now because of all of the delving that it took me to break out of my Christian shell, and into a world of realization that all religions are indeed man-made.

I'm not asking you to believe this as a truism, I'm telling you that it's true. There is nothing you can show me, or anyway you can demonstrate to me, that any religion based on a supernatural deity, is real.

This is not a closed minded stance, but a well-researched one.

You see, many religious folks are classified as close-minded because it's their religion or they don't want to hear about it. In fact, many have stopped reading this because they know that I am lost and just spewing Satan's words, or some such nonsense like that. They refuse to read or hear anything that goes against their beliefs.

If instead they would branch out and read about other religions it would take a short amount of time to see that viewing the world through the vision of a single religion is ridiculous. There is so much more to learn out in the world, and too many people willing to kill each other to prevent their “flock” from learning it.

Man-made religions from all continents are one of the primary reasons we have war on this planet. The sooner we realize that there is no rational reason for going to war over fictitious belief systems the better.

I encourage you to read my other articles on the topic of “Religion” to get a better understanding of what I mean in all of this. better yet, stop by the “Forums” and get me involved in a discussion on whatever topic you choose.

I'll bet your reaction to this article, instead, will be to write me off as a crazy non-believer and you won't even bother in commenting on it, or engaging in a deeper discussion in the forums.

A gauntlet has been thrown down at your feet. I am questioning all that you believe in, and all that you hold dear. Will you sit there reading my grating words and not defend yourselves?

Time to go and do something useful, like take my daughters to watch “Monster's Inc. On Ice”.