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Skip to comments.Christopher Hitchens, militant pundit, dies at 62
Posted on 12/16/2011 5:22:24 AM PST by markomalley
Cancer weakened, but did not soften Christopher Hitchens. He did not repent or forgive or ask for pity. As if granted diplomatic immunity, his minds eye looked plainly upon the attack and counterattack of disease and treatments that robbed him of his hair, his stamina, his speaking voice and eventually his life.
I love the imagery of struggle, he wrote about his illness in an August 2010 essay in Vanity Fair. I sometimes wish I were suffering in a good cause, or risking my life for the good of others, instead of just being a gravely endangered patient.
Hitchens, a Washington, D.C.-based author, essayist and polemicist who waged verbal and occasional physical battle on behalf of causes left and right, died Thursday night at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston of pneumonia, a complication of his esophageal cancer, according to a statement from Vanity Fair magazine. He was 62.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
You say that "Hitchens was no fool." And yet who but a "fool" would set himself up as the prime criterion for the judgment of what is "harmful to modern society?"
And that he can infallibly tell you what is "superstition," and what is not?
To say that something is "harmful" or "beneficial" implies that there is an a priori criterion of judgment, according to which the truth of Reality can be reliably perceived. Hitchens simply locates this criterion in himself.
Please explain to me how he is warranted to do this, dear magritte. And then explain to me how, if Hitchens can be such an infallible (albeit "self-selected") criterion, on what basis are we to conclude that the same privilege cannot apply/extend to anybody and everybody else?
If the truth of reality resides only in our own minds, from our very partial perspectives, then it seems to me there's no sense in talking about Reality at all.
IOW, if everyone is his own "criterion," this is tantamount to saying that there is no criterion; there is only "opinion." And one man's opinion is just as good as any other man's.
Is this your position?
If anti-birth control is a religious superstition and is harmful to society, then birth control must be helpful to society, and it must be truth in some form, whether religious truth or general truth.
In terms of anti-birth control, that advocate is saying that God is a better determiner of those who should live.
In terms of birth control, that advocate is saying that individual humans or human groups are better determiners of who should live.
Would I rather have existence in the hands of God or in the hands of a human group?
I must side with the writer of the Declaration of Independence: "endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life..."
I would not want humans to think in any capacity that they are the arbiters of life. Too many horrendous examples of those who have grossly abused power.
Tons of strawmen in your response, but I'll address a few points.
Hitchens never claims to be the grand arbiter. It was his opinion, which is equally valid in such matters to those of the religious bent. Infallibility is only for Popes, if I recall.
Hitchens believed religion is superstition. As David Gibson said The problem is that one man's superstition is another man's religion, and vice versa. Many Protestants today still see Catholicism as being rife with superstition, ... while atheists and agnostics would see bien-pensant Protestants as worshiping an equally absurd form of the supernatural.
Something being harmful doesn't require an a priori criterion of judgment. He didn't like poor Indians dying in the rathole hospitals of Mother Teresa. Some people thought it was just fine. Both positions are valid.
I'm of the opinion that the true God is the incorporeal God of Abraham. "I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil. I am the Lord, that does all these things." (Is. 45:6-7). I believe God is incorporeal, omnipresent, omnipotent, and immortal. I understand that my belief is based a lot on the fact that I was raised in the Judeo-Christian culture, therefore giving me a pre-disposition to accept it as more truthful than say Baha'i. An open-minded analysis of most religions shows that all have there own internal logic and could just as easily be as true or as false as say Christianity or any of its many flavors. They all have their particular holy books, icons, after-life beliefs, creation beliefs, supreme beings and the like. We may find out after death the truth. Or not.
Here's a few quotes to sum up:
"What we call reality is an agreement that people have arrived at to make life more livable." Louise Nevelson
Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth. Marcus Aurelius
But our Lord is a just, merciful, and loving God. I have no reason to believe that He instantly condemned Hitchens for all eternity because such "issues" were not resolved by the date of his death, the "first death." (It is only the "second death" that brings utter oblivion that lasts for all eternity the total separation from God forever.)
WRT Christopher Hitchens, I'm hoping that C. S. Lewis an Anglican Christian is right: Lewis maintained that post-first-death, the soul of the dead man has an opportunity to cleanse itself of its sins before presenting itself to Christ for the Final Judgment, which will relegate it either to eternal life or eternal death. The Catholics call this "region" of post-death spiritual cleansing and renewal Purgatory.
The Lord wants to save all His children but He will not, and does not, force them into salvation, against their free will.
I'm praying for the soul of Christopher Hitchens. By the Grace of God, I hope he will find the Peace, Light, and Love of Christ where he is now; and that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, that he shall be reconciled with the Lord of Life via Jesus Christ, and enter into eternal Life, a life more abundant than we mortals can possibly conceive.
Godspeed, Christopher!
You wrote: "What I can't understand is why Hitchens "hated" Mother Teresa, from his youth."
In addition to my previous post, here's something else I found. bttt
American Thinker
December 16, 2011
Christopher Hitchens Is Dead. Dammit.
By James G. Wiles
[....Large snip.....]
".....Nevertheless, one item about Christopher Hitchens which made the blogs must be told here. I thought of it when I first learned of Hitchens' cancer diagnosis in 2010. ...."
[NOTE: "made the blogs" is a hot link to a 2007 thread on FR: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1901636/posts ]
Here is the thread he links to:
In Drunken Rage, Atheist Guru Hitchens Bullies Hero Priest of 9-11 (Father Rutler!)
Poe ^ | 9-19-07 | Richard Poe
Posted on Monday, September 24, 2007 8:19:12 PM by Diago
Two of the comments in the above thread:
Hitchens is bitter against God because when he was still a boy, his mother committed suicide...his younger brother Peter, who was much younger and didnt remember his mother, is not as bitter.
My oldest (adopted) son had a similar deep set rage because his mother died, and although he continued to believe in God directed this rage against me and others in terrible outbursts .
So pray that Hitchens finds the love of God. Unlike other anti God professionals, Hitchens doesnt hate God out of pride but out of sorrow. .......
30posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 9:19:18 PMby LadyDoc
To: LadyDoc
"Hitchens is bitter against God because when he was still a boy, his mother committed suicide..."
Absolutely so, which he has now so many years later conveniently disguised — buried in the dirt, so to speak — as a lark against a teacher who merely suggested certain botanical features were of God's making.
"So pray that Hitchens finds the love of God. Unlike other "anti God" professionals, Hitchens doesnt hate God out of pride but out of sorrow."
On the contrary, I find that he does so as he has found the much baser but far more common sin of pride extremely self-rewarding. atheists thrive on the notoriety it brings, and for Hitchens, some rare lucre.
If memory serves, Hitchens addressed an atheist convention in Virginia earlier this month, no doubt for his 30 pieces of silver. Yet it takes nothing more to expose Hitchens as a "bright" fraud than to review his passion for grounding the Hitchen children in religious instruction ...[Are You There, God? It's Me, Hitchens.] http://nymag.com/arts/books/features/31244/
New York Magazine: "And what if one of your children found God? Would that be a problem?"
Hitchens: "Not at all. My children, to the extent that they have found religion, have found it from me, in that I insist on at least a modicum of religious education for them. The schools wont do it anymore. And I even insist, though my wife [who is Jewish] isnt that thrilled, on having for our daughter a little version of the Seder."
Almost all of Hitchen's major debates/monologues are on Youtube. I highly suggest everyone watch as many of them as they find tolerable. I find him pedantic on the topic of religion — hypocritical (see above); strident; fearful; loaded with strawmen and appeal to emotion; and totally ignorant of the destruction and genocide that was wrought in the name of atheism in the 20th Century.
33posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2007 4:22:18 PMby StAnDeliver(=)
Are You There, God? It's Me, Hitchens.
Christopher Hitchens on religion (no thanks), Iraq (not a mistake), and his own loud reputation.
By Boris Kachka
Published Apr 26, 2007
Hitchens, who started questioning his faith at age 9 (and wrote a polemic against Mother Teresa called The Missionary Position), has finally written the ultimate attack book, God Is Not Great. He spoke to us about his favorite religious stories, Karl Rove (infidel?), and the one time he found himself praying.
You say in your acknowledgments that youve been writing this book your whole life. Do you think itll mean as much to others as it means to you?
No, its one small step for C.H. into one enormous argument dominated by giants in philosophy and theology and science.
So what makes it different from recent atheist screeds by the likes of Daniel Dennett and Richard Dawkins?
I dont think Richard Dawkins would mind me saying that he looks at religious people with this sort of incredulity, as if, How possibly can you be so stupid? And though we all have moods like that, I think perhaps I dont quite.
And what if one of your children found God? Would that be a problem?
Not at all. My children, to the extent that they have found religion, have found it from me, in that I insist on at least a modicum of religious education for them. The schools wont do it anymore. And I even insist, though my wife [who is Jewish] isnt that thrilled, on having for our daughter a little version of the Seder.
Has anyone in the Bush administration confided in you about being an atheist?
Well, I dont talk that much to them maybe people think I do. I know something which is known to few but is not a secret. Karl Rove is not a believer, and he doesnt shout it from the rooftops, but when asked, he answers quite honestly. I think the way he puts it is, Im not fortunate enough to be a person of faith.
I appreciate what you have written. Again, I think ID begs the question, how rare and "unique" is the information and complexity we see? The assumption is that the structure is very orderly and complex. But we have only a limited vision of what is in the universe, and beyond. It is hubris to "assume" that we have much information, and "therefore" we are a 'miracle.' That leap has always escaped me, but if it helps to quiet your mind and give you a sense of purpose and order, you are welcome to it!
As I have always told my students, 'Science studies local cause & effect relations, such as "Hotter rocks, due to solar flares, cause frogs to develop more toes, to stay of those hot rocks.' But, this does not answer the broader question — where did the sun, and the frogs, and the dust they came from, all come from? That is a larger question, and concerns the "FIRST" cause of everything, is left to theology.
Science and theology — these are two types of knowledge, or understanding. They are not enemies, they address different questions.
I am an atheist because I have no interest in speculating about the latter question. But having said that, I have no hostility to those who want to "fill in the blank" with specific hypotheses, there!
You wrote: "...I'm hoping that C. S. Lewis an Anglican Christian is right: Lewis maintained that post-first-death, the soul of the dead man has an opportunity to cleanse itself of its sins before presenting itself to Christ for the Final Judgment, which will relegate it either to eternal life or eternal death. The Catholics call this "region" of post-death spiritual cleansing and renewal Purgatory. ..."
A Message from the Academy of Farts and Sinuses
Did I just hear the distant bleating of a rump trumpet? Then we must be in hell or among the tenured, where the two ends of the digestive tract are routinely reversed — where pompous gasbags talk trash and pull facts from their behind. The technical term is zonal confusion. The colloquial term is bullshit.
But first had each of them stuck out his tongue
Between his teeth, as signal to their leader,
And he made a trumpet of his rump. —Canto XXI
Upton notes that Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise all correspond to states of being. Although it certainly smells like something crawled up and died here, if it's too much of a leap, you needn't regard them as postmortem, since their odor is readily detectable in this world. ...."
Oh really? Kindly point them out.
Yes, we know that Hitchens "believed religion is superstition." So what? Does that make it so, just on his say-so?
What is clear is that Hitchens wants us to believe this; i.e., to believe that he is "right" about this. And we are to trust him in this, because in his own mind, at least, he is "right" or "correct" about this. That is, he invites us to accept his judgment as the valid criterion that you and I must rely on in our own understanding of Reality (of which we are "parts and participants").
But if Hitchens denigrates Truth in principle which he does, by the way, in making it indistinguishable from mere "opinion" then why should we listen to him at all?
You quoted a couple of notable skeptics:
What we call reality is an agreement that people have arrived at to make life more livable. Louise NevelsonBoth these skeptics are speaking of a world devoid of Logos, devoid of God. God has been deliberately banished from their respective worldviews.
Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth. Marcus Aurelius
Of course, no human can really "banish" the Creator from His Creation. If they try, they simply render created Reality totally senseless, unintelligible.
Regarding Aurelius' comment especially: "Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact" Is the world itself, as it is, in its magnificent, orderly evolution "from Alpha to Omega," a fact, or an opinion?
If the world were predicated on "opinion," then it couldn't be anything at all. It would cease to exist. The world does not conduct its business (so to speak) according to anyone's "opinion," rather it does so according to universal law.
Plato probably the greatest philosopher who ever lived drew the telling distinction between aletheia Truth and doxa opinion.
The point he was making is that there are many "doxa," but only one Truth of Reality. What makes "doxa" a "doxa" is its departure from Truth which the great Heraclitus described as the "Logos, one and common." Meaning that this one Logos universally orders all of Reality; but (as Heraclitus further noted), this one-and-common-to-all Logos is completely inaccessible to men who are "asleep," men who function cognitively entirely within the scope of very private "dream worlds." Which the great philosopher Eric Voegelin has most helpfully classified as "second realities."
It seems very clear to me that Christopher Hitchens was very much a "dreamer" in this sense and thus that Reality was simply "a bridge too far" in his imaginative (dream) life....
Does any of this make any sense to you at all, dear magritte?
You can quit pinging me now.
The quip about "Vatican roulette" is telling. "Vatican roulette" is what some used to call the calendar/rhythm method, which is what my mother would have used 60 years ago. It's like comparing --- oh, from top of my head --- a Univac I with a Mac Pro. Calendar/rhythm predicted ovulation, always dicey. Modern NFP detects ovulation by direct observation of leading indicators. A 2007 study in Germany found it to have a 99.6% method effectiveness; the World Health Assn puts it at a lower effectiveness (when combined with lactational amenorrhea method) at 95% - 99.5%, still comparable to the Pill, putting the avoidance or achievement of pregnancy totally in the hands of the woman but without cost, without lifelong dependency on the pharmaceutical industry or the state, and without and risk of ending up hormonally disrupted, thrombotic, or dead.
These details may not be important to you, but the point is that for a naturally inquisitive person like Hitchens to show no interest in it whatsoever, and so to thoroughly misconstrue the practical significance of NFP, shows a faltering of intellectual vigor on his part. Quite a let-down.
For some reason, Hitchens was uninterested in trying to comprehend a person whose inner life confounded his expectations. For instance, in "Missionary Position," (1997) me made the assumption that Mother T. was buoyed up by the naive self-satisfactions of the do-gooder, the warm fuzzies of chatting with an "Imaginary Friend", the emotional shallowness of brain-stunted full-stop certitudes. When it came out in 2007 that not a bit of that was true (in the posthumously published "Come Be My Light,") Hitchens hadn't the honesty to say, "Hmm. This is unexpected. I guess none of my assumptions about her inner motivation were true." Instead, he launched into a new ambush by saying she was a hypocrite -- for not being what he thought she was!!
(I'd go on but my son wants to use the computer!)
Let me wrap up by saying that Hitchens, whose writing I always leapt to read and usually enjoyed very much (whether I agreed with him or not) managed to be at once superficial, misinformed and vicious on the particular subject of one old woman whose life he really couldn't make heads or tails of.
I relished so much about Hitchens and hated to see him go. The meaning of his life is a mysterious thing. On his account, he would say that ultimately all of it --- his suffering, his satisfactions, his life, his death--- means nothing. She'd say it means everything. For his sake --- I hope she's right.
Somehow, the baton gets dropped in translation.
Christopher Hitchens dies. His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance. 'Welcome to heaven,' says St. Peter. 'Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a celebrity around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you.' 'No problem, just let me in,' says the man. 'Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity.' 'Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven,' says the CH. 'I'm sorry, but we have our rules.' And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him. Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people. They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and champagne. Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly & nice guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go. Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises..... The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him. 'Now it's time to visit heaven.' So, 24 hours pass with the CH joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns. 'Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity.' Christopher reflects for a minute, then he answers: 'Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell.' So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above. The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder. ' I don't understand,' stammers the MP. 'Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened? ' The devil looks at him, smiles and says, ' Yesterday we were campaigning..... Today you voted.
magritte: How about those religions older than Christianity?
esquirette: Judaism is older and it is the foundation of Christianity. Its purpose was to demonstrate that 1) man is a sinner and 2) man cannot save himself.
margritte: Are they merely ABC, as you so say?
esquirette: Yes. There are only two religions: Salvation by works, and salvation by God. All religions aside from Christianity are the former. The Good News of the Gospel is that God Himself came into the world to lay down his life to make a way to satisfy the penalty for sin, and make a way for man to be saved. This is the message of joy in Jesus' birth. "God and sinners reconciled."
magritte: In fact, there are a number of parallels between Vishnu and the Christian god Jesus that some consider are so strong that Christianity is merely an extension or replication of Hinduism.
esquirette: There are many flavors of the ABC religion of works. Hinduism is one of them.
margitte: All religions are manufactured and are just humans trying to make sense of life. No way to know which is right or which is wrong.
esquirette: There is a lot of faith in that statement. It claims faith in an effect (life) without a cause (the Creator). It claims faith in the notion of 'right' and 'wrong,' thereby betraying a fundamental belief in the Christian worldview of ultimate good and evil, among other things. The one religion where God is the ultimate truth, and where He humbled Himself to save mankind is Christianity. All others demand that man work for his salvation, and there is no way of knowing what is enough. When Jesus said on the cross, "It is finished," it was. He did it and not we. That is the God to trust.
No, that's not true. While it may be best left as a mystery with many, many people, a person who openly rejects even the concept of God is not going to get access to grace. Who was it that said "No one comes to the Father but through me?" Who was it that Christopher Hitchens rejected? Same person, right?
I am a Christian.
Then why don't you believe Jesus?
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of Gods one and only Son.
And why are you approving--not tolerating, ignoring or politely taking issue with--a post that calls your Lord an imaginary friend and calls the realtionship you have with Him "kowtowing?"
I refuse to believe that heaven is an arrogant country club full of people that think exactly alike.
Good. But you seem to be missing that it is a place that can only be entered by those who have a relationship with Christ. There's a question many evangelists ask people: "If God asked you, 'Why should I let you into Heaven,' what would be your answer?" The only acceptable answer to that question is "Because I have accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior." There will be liberals and conservatives who can answer it that way, people who married their high school sweetheart and people who had eight divorces, people who died virgins and people who did every perverted act they could think of before they got saved, doctors and drug dealers, war heroes and peace activists, Olympians and couch potatoes, homeless people and billionaires.
But those who say there is no Savior, no relationship and no Heaven to get to will not be able to answer that question that way, will they?
As for arrogant, it is the opposite. I'm saying nobody...NOBODY...deserves to get in. We're all scum. Some of us are saved scum.
If atheists are going to Heaven, why are you trying to convert your wife?
Because at the end of the day, it's the threat of Hell that is the bottom line. No compassionate God would really allow such a thing. If he did, he wouldn't be worthy of worship. You know... if there were a religion that offered a third alternative, I wouldn't mind it so much. For instance: if you're good, you go to Heaven. If you're bad, you go to Hell. If you're not particularly good OR bad, you just go into a kind of wilderness and wander around alone. That would be fine. I'm a loner at heart, my fantasy afterlife is just to wander around inside some weird, red-sky landscape that's like a permanent sunset. Black trees. Silver, glittery ponds. Mountains on the horizon. Caves to explore. Very silent, no wind. Just me and my cats. That would be fine. I just want to be left alone. Most humans irritate me.
You must be a *lot* of fun on the naughty teacher threads ;-)
My comment was simply that many of the Christians are full of how in love with Christ they are, etc. and NOT leading with Hell.
But somehow, the atheists I have seen most often, are FIXATED with standing up "as a free man, beholden to none, and without the craven fear fo punishment."
C.S. Lewis started out as a staunch atheist. As he wrote of his attitude in his autobiography,
[T]here was one way in which the world, as ... rationalism taught me to see it, gratified my wishes. It might be grim and deadly but at least it was free from the Christian God. Some people (not all) will find it hard to understand why this seemed to me such an overwhelming advantage... I was, as you may remember, one whose negative demands were more violent than his positive, far more eager to escape pain than to achieve happiness, and feeling it something of an outrage that I had been created without my own permission. To such a craven the materialist's universe had the enormous attraction that it offered you limited liabilities. No strictly infinite disaster could overtake you in it. Death ended all. And if ever finite disaster proved greater than one wished to bear suicide would always be possible. The horror of the Christian universe was that it had no door marked Exit.
I'm very familiar with the feeling myself. But I'm not going to attempt any apologetics on this point, as I used to be an atheist, and it bugged my when people tried to talk back: I always took it as mere sophistry and a desperate scrabbling attempt to avoid the obvious, where only the few, the hardy, the brave, dared to face the bleak truth.
But I *do* owe you a riposte, for food-for-thought's sake. You had written:
You know... if there were a religion that offered a third alternative, I wouldnt mind it so much. For instance: if youre good, you go to Heaven. If youre bad, you go to Hell. If youre not particularly good OR bad, you just go into a kind of wilderness and wander around alone. That would be fine...Mountains on the horizon. Caves to explore. Very silent, no wind. Just me and my cats. That would be fine. I just want to be left alone. Most humans irritate me.
One of the stock complaints about those Christianists is that their religion is mere wishful thinking, the whole "I want to believe" thing. The way your post was phrased, it almost made it sound like an "I want to DISbelieve."
Full Disclosure: I'm a cat person too. Click on my FReeper homepage and look at the top photo.
This is based on a deeper principle -- or at least divine hunch -- that God would not put himself through the hassle of creating this maninfestation of assouls "capable of dissolving into the oblivion of evil (non-being) for all eternity." bttt
."..But once you exit the unfreeway, it doesn't mean you have to rely on the other guy's map. Indeed, to do so is to defeat the whole purpose of going on one's own bewilderness adventure."
"An intelligent man is one who maintains his intelligence at a temperature independent of his environments temperature "(Don Colacho's Aphorisms). Since so much of what passes for intelligent discussion is just the steam that emanates from a fresh pile of manure, we should unplug from the crazocracy and seek our heat and light elsewhere."
"God ... enters into relationship with us and enables us to be in relationship with him." However, in doing so, he is creating the possibility -- no, the certainty -- that his Name will be dragged through the mud, man being what he is. ....The worst offenders are without question the religious idolators who hijack the Name and essentially engage in cosmic identity theft.
"We can only be in hell because hell is in us."
Excuse me? You came from Hell?"
("...man is situated between two attractors, one above and one below. In either direction, the further one proceeds on the basis of will, the more the will comes to be under the influence of the attractor at either pole. ...")
Clearly.... Dante cannot just skip purgatory and go straight to paradise. Many things remain to be burned and purified, but this is a controlled burn, not an uncontrolled forest fire -- not a raging inferno, as it were.
I'm not referring to the information "we" have ("we" don't have much); I'm referring to the information which accounts for the "very orderly and complex" universal system, taken to be One single, integrated and all-encompassing Whole.
4Liberty, you mentioned that you have no use for FIRST causes. My problem is I don't know how to imagine the problem of universal order apart from FIRST Cause. AND even more stunning, I find I need FINAL CAUSE, too.
I am not a theologian; but I may be a philosopher; and these are philosopher's questions.
You wrote:
Science and theology these are two types of knowledge, or understanding. They are not enemies, they address different questions.I basically agree with you, but with a little "tweaking": I'd say science and philosophy (it has been said that theology is "the queen of metaphysics") are two different modes of understanding. Certainly I do not see them as "enemies"; nor do I see them as necessarily mutually exclusive. To me they are more like complementarities, in Niels Bohr's sense. They employ different methodologies; but at the end of the day, the sum total of human knowledge depends on both science and philosophy/theology. As you say, "they address different questions," by means of different formalisms.
And I think the same can be said WRT FAITH and REASON. They are not mutually exclusive, rather they are the two complementary modes essential for the human mind to think at all.
Everybody even the "atheist" has faith in something. For instance, if a scientist did not have implicit faith in the sheer intelligibility of the world, he'd have nothing to do.
In short, he takes the intelligibility of the Universe for granted: It is his basic working presupposition. Still he may claim to be uninterested in the reason for this intelligibility, for this would be to engage in "speculation." Possibly he senses (like I do), that you can't account for "intelligibility" without reference to FIRST and FINAL Cause.
So just leave the problems of universal and biological order to the philosophers, I guess!!! [plus the information science types, complex systems theorists, mathematically-inclined theoretical biologists, physicists, et al.]
"Science studies local cause & effect relations...." Its time concept is unidirectional, irreversible, linear moving past, to present, to future. This is the temporal line along which physical causation occurs, serially, locally. Yet both relativity and quantum theory point out certain defects in the Newtonian model the heart of classical physics. Perhaps the biggest challenge: There's nothing in Newton that can possibly account for non-local causality.
You wrote:
I am an atheist because I have no interest in speculating about the latter question [i.e., First cause]. But having said that, I have no hostility to those who want to fill in the blank with specific hypotheses, there!Well I'm really glad to hear you are not hostile to me, 4Liberty! Still I don't think I'm doing anything along the "fill-in-the-blanks" line here. I do not expect to find God "in the gaps." I am not interested in constructing specific hypotheses. I am simply engaged in a search....
Thank you so very much, 4Liberty, for writing! I truly appreciate hearing from you.
Hitchens is bitter against God because when he was still a boy, his mother committed suicide...his younger brother Peter, who was much younger and didnt remember his mother, is not as bitter.
My oldest (adopted) son had a similar deep set rage because his mother died, and although he continued to believe in God directed this rage against me and others in terrible outbursts .
So pray that Hitchens finds the love of God. Unlike other anti God professionals, Hitchens doesnt hate God out of pride but out of sorrow. .......
Interestingly enough, C.S. Lewis's mother died when he was a child (read Surprised by Joy for details; and see also his Narnia prelude/Genesis, The Magician's Nephew. The protagonist's mother there was facing death as well, and yet, with all my finely-honed sentimentality / BS detectors going, the depiction of Digory as sad over his mother struck me not as a literary device, nor yet as maudlin, but strangely genuine. I didn't know why at the time, but only after a number of years when I read Surprised by Joy did I get it.
It seems that many atheists are very angry at God for creating an imperfect world; imperfect enough not to have shielded them from specific personal trauma.
As for Rove, as we say on FR, "FUKR".
The other thing that bugs me is when they purr veiled insults in a wide-eyed, disingenuous tone while pretending only to voice a gentle concern for my well-being, like that tioga chick that was here earlier. It's like being needled by a sorority girl. But apparently that's modern-day Christianity.
Look, no offense, but when you post a series of random quotes and links, I don't read them. If you can address me directly and succinctly in your own words, that would be great. Otherwise, don't put yourself through all the effort because I don't even understand what your point is.
She burrowed in like a tick, oblivious to any subtle hints, so I finally dislodged her by saying that I thought David Stockman was a genius.
She immediately left in a huff.
Mission accomplished! :-)
But as far as being as grotesque as Muslims. No, they're not.
I don't recall anyone chanting "Jesus is Lord!" or "Hail Mary, full of grace!" while hijacking a loaded jumbo jet and flying it into a skyscraper.
Don't let your exasperation drive you into exaggeration :-)
(Back when I was an atheist, I remember turning on the TV to watch a long-awaited TV special only to find some religious broadcast in its place. After 10 minutes of roundly chewing them out, I took another look and realized I had misread the TV guide and my show hadn't been pre-empted at all. I still have to relearn that lesson from time to time.)
Now, I've said about six times on this thread exactly what about this disgusts me. Either people can read what I'm actually saying, or they are adding "stupid" to "rude." I'm sorry to be abrupt, but I'm just in no mood for this.
This is just such a bizarre statement, I don't even know where to begin...
"Let he who is without stones commit the first sin."
There are analogies here to the liberal / conservative response to scandals, but I get your point. As I said, I will not engage in apologetics with you.
Now, I've said about six times on this thread exactly what about this disgusts me. Either people can read what I'm actually saying, or they are adding "stupid" to "rude." I'm sorry to be abrupt, but I'm just in no mood for this.
People on FR (despite the claims of detractors from across the spectrum) tend to be far more politically astute than others. Hence the identification of "Muslims" with "Muslim terrorists" : I don't see too many Muslim missionary organizations to the infidels, and the outreach I have heard of, seems to be concentrated among the underclasses and disaffected, the better to undermine the West from within: cf. the charity works of Christianity such as hospitals, leper colonies, distribution of food and water, without attempting to recruit people to be terrorists.
It was not through inattention to your reading, but looking at a larger scale.
No offense was intended.
Cheers...and signing off for now.
If we separate ourselves from Him (we who are made in God's image) and endure the suffering that ultimately results from that action, is God to blame for it? We are, individually, free to cut ourselves off from our Creator, even if the action is ultimately self-destructive.
After all, Satan is the one who suffers most in the Hell of his own making.
How is it bizarre? It's poor manners to gloat over the death of anyone.
1) The most "smug" thing I've seen about this event is "now he knows for sure." That's a statement of fact, hardly smug.
2) Why do atheists care in the slightest about death? There are no repercussions to it as far as they're concerned. Even if a Christian jumped on here and declared "I'm so glad he's burning in Hell!", why would that mean anything to an atheist? He may as well be condemned to Neverland or the Matrix, right?
The entire thing is bizarre. Atheists getting all worked up over consequences they don't believe in in places they think don't exist...weird. I'm sure every atheist here is aware of the consequences if they're wrong versus if the Christians are wrong.
Either they believe what they believe or they don't—stop trying to have it both ways.
That's too bad, since my series of quotes and links were NOT "random" They were in direct response to what you said is your "bottom line".
You wrote: " I dont even understand what your point is."
My point is that, based on the perceptions you hold, you seemed only to have been exposed to "religion and its practitioners", rather than "Christianity".
Christianity is not intended to be a religion, but the cure for religion
It is simply a truism that no one is more blind to his Christian assumptions than the anti-Christian atheist who is the beneficiary of 2000 years of Christian conditioning. Thus, he values all of the precious things that uniquely developed in the Judeo-Christian West and nowhere else: democracy, individuality, liberty, science, freedom of conscience, etc, but then attacks the metaphysical roots of these things -- as if any of them were developed by atheists living in purely secular cultures. In reality, the most atheistic cultures are tied (or is it hanged?) neck and neck with Islam for producing the most cruel and barbaric cultures (with the possible exception of primitive tribes). Even it you entirely reject the Judeo-Christian tradition, if you live in the West, I can pretty much guarantee that you have a Judeo-Christian unconscious. (In the past, I have recommended Gil Baile's brilliant Violence Unveiled, which traces the profound anthropological consequences of the Christian revelation, which, in a certain very real sense, was the "cure" for religion -- including bad forms of Christianity)
So maybe what you SAID was your "bottom line", is not REALLY your bottom line because you also said, "Im a loner at heart, my fantasy afterlife is just to wander around inside some weird, red-sky landscape thats like a permanent sunset. Black trees. Silver, glittery ponds. Mountains on the horizon. Caves to explore. Very silent, no wind. Just me and my cats. That would be fine. I just want to be left alone. Most humans irritate me."
"...Christopher Hitchens' acknowledged immoderate consumption of spiritual lubricants to escape the implications of his own dead metaphysics comes to mind. In reality, he cannot tolerate the infrahuman, crimped little world he has created, so he must secretly escape it. If he were to be completely honest, he would say that this is his truth and his metaphysics: that there is an escape! You just call it God, I call it booze!
[My interjection: A_Perfect_lady would call it, "wandering around inside some weird, red-sky landscape thats like a permanent sunset. Black trees. Silver, glittery ponds. Mountains on the horizon. Caves to explore. Very silent, no wind. Just me and my cats." End interjection. ]
"Likewise, I think we can agree on what would constitute "hell" for Hitchens. It may or may not be hot, but it would certainly be dry.
".. beneath [an] anorexic's rejection of food are issues of trust, control, and fear of dependency. Food is imbued with all of the ambivalence felt toward the original love object, so the control of food is ultimately a strategy for controlling this unconscious Other. ....
"When I saw Hitchens flogging his new anti-theistic puerilemic on the Daily Show the other day, it occurred to me that I was seeing the intoxicating power of the cosmic No in all its nakedly cynical glory. ...."
The Cosmic No: Truth and its Oppositional Opponents
"..in the absence of God, there is no reason to be impressed by anyone or anything, since 1) there is nothing we can know with certainty, 2) loveliness and beauty are simply illusions of the nervous system, and 3) believing untruth is morally indistinguishable from believing truth, since there is no ground for truth or morality anyway.
I know that's one of the excuses they use.
C.S.Lewis "grew UP". :)
"..in the absence of God, there is no reason to be impressed by anyone or anything, since 1) there is nothing we can know with certainty, 2) loveliness and beauty are simply illusions of the nervous system, and 3) believing untruth is morally indistinguishable from believing truth, since there is no ground for truth or morality anyway.
The fundamental "cosmic inversion," brilliantly analyzed by Dr. Godwin....
Thank you ever so much, dear Matchett-PI, for this splendid essay/post, and for the links to "GB!"
You're welcome! :) bttt
I really, really have no idea what you're trying to say to me. It looks like word salad. Can you be BRIEF?
Okay, I am about to say this for the ninth time on this thread. No, literally, the ninth time. I went back and counted. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 and here comes 9:
What makes me angry is that on Free Republic, there are all these threads where athiests are not allowed to post. Do you understand my words, and the order in which they came? Threads. On. F.R. Where. Atheists. Are. Not. Allowed. To. Post.
What I'd like, just once, is a thread where Christians would realize what tacky, snotty, disgusting bad taste it is to come on and gloat and sneer over the death of a well-known atheist. Even worse is that incredibly false, wide-eyed "Gosh, I just hope and pray that in his final moments he validated my beliefs." Man, you people just can't keep your smug mugs shut long enough to even bury the body, can you? And you can't be content with all the threads on this forum that are just for you. JUST FOR YOU! Your precious little selves have your precious little protected threads where you can coo at each other like brain-damaged doves all day and night.
I do not care if you spend your life waiting to see Heaven. I find it only mildly amusing that when you die, you'll just blink out like a snuffed candle and you won't ever even know it because you don't know it when you are dead. That is what dead IS.
But while you are alive, can you please, please have some manners?? Or FAKE some?
You deliberately (willfully) block any reality other than the one you've concocted for yourself. A "closed system" is a loop in which no new information is allowed; brief or long, it would make no difference.
What an ironic ending for your little screed.
Physician, heal yourself.
No. Because I have the same respect for atheists and their beliefs that they have for me and mine. Sucks doesn't it?
Presumably, plenty of Freepers weighed in on how we can only pray that God will comfort her family and how we must all have faith that she is in a better place now.
Now, I could go over there and be a butthead, and post something commenting on how it's a shame she's dead because there is no afterlife and her loved ones are NOT going to be seeing her again. I am quite certain this is true. But why would I do that, hm? What is the point? Why be RUDE on a thread about someone's death?
Now, either you understand what I'm saying and you're pretending not to because it pleases you to do so, or you haven't the intellectual oomph to carry your end of this conversation.
No, I just don't waste my time with cut-n-paste posters. If they can't take the time to do more than Control-C/Control-V/SEND, then why should I? It's just a sneaky way of trying to get me to read your favorite moralist and I'm not going for it. You put into your own words whatever your point is, you make it succinct and you address it to me, and not include me in some SpamPing where I'm supposed to wade through your samplings and figure out what is addressed to me and what is for the other people you pinged... or don't bother.
What goes around, comes around......
"moralist". Now THAT'S funny!!!
Did that woman do anything even slightly negative to atheists, very publically? Did her followers? Was she "brilliant" as well as a cocky prick? No? Then your example is irrelevant.
What's fascinating is that you're so jaded you think people are just saying they're hoping for a deathbed confession/conversion as a means of saying "nyah nyah" covertly. You don't know anything about Christians, obviously, b/c I know they're completely genuine. You think they sully your Great One's memory by showing compassion to what is very likely his ultimate end. I personally don't believe he deserves the same fate as Kim Jong Il, but I don't get to make those decisions.
The people praying for Hitchens are far better people than I, and, while I am trying to improve my attitude, I have a huge problem with compassion towards unbelievable arrogance.
My mistake. You were trying to get me to read your blog. Also something I don't go for.
Another funny! Want to go for strike three?
Look, I'm not kidding: you make no sense to me. Seriously. I have no idea what you want. If you can't just talk to me without quotes and links, let it go.
You seem to be confusing me with Ned Flanders. That's a huge mistake on your part.
No, you are simply another poster who addressed me without me having first addressed him.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.


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June 12, 2014 | Vol. 118 -- No. 8
The second annual Chase Strides for SNAP 5K Run is taking place Sunday, June 22, at Plantes Ferry State Park in Spokane Valley. The run begins at 10 a.m., and is a partnership between Chase Bank and SNAP, Spokane Neighborhood Action Partners, to raise money for the non-profit organization that provides over 30 assistance programs to residents of Spokane County.
In 2013, SNAP helped nearly 43,000 residents, 13,816 households in areas such as energy assistance, foreclosure prevention, money management, weatherization, micro-enterprise development and affordable housing. Last year, SNAP helped...
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Exploring how E. coli enters steak through needle tenderizing earned a Sublette County 4-H team the Wyoming FIRST LEGO League (FLL) championship in competition at the Casper Events Center Dec. 3.
Food Swat, a team of third through sixth graders from Big Piney, bested 59 other teams and will compete against teams from 40 states and 48 countries at the FLL World Fest in St. Louis next April.
FLL is a program, that can include robotics, for 9 to 14 year olds designed to get children excited about science and technology – and teach them valuable employment and life skills, said Robin Schamber, University of Wyoming Extension 4-H educator in Sublette County. FLL is open to everyone and attracts teams from schools and a variety of community youth organizations.
Teams are judged on robot design, robot performance, core values taught in the program and research project. This year, teams were required to research food safety and develop innovative solutions to food safety issues.
Food Swat members worked with John Willford, instructional laboratory coordinator in the Department of Molecular Biology at the University of Wyoming.
"Their goal was to require meat processors to label needle-tenderized steak so consumers know it should not be eaten rare," said Schamber. "They also encouraged the home cook to tenderize meat with an anti-bacterial marinade and buy from small, local growers who don't needle tenderize."
The team was coached by volunteers Kristi and Brent Hibbert and received parental help during the event from Grant Seeman, Kim Taylor and Melanie Bennett.
Other Sublette County teams, all from Pinedale, included the De-Aphinators, Robo-Nerds and the Rotten Eggs. Schamber said these teams researched using natural control methods (ladybugs) rather than chemical pesticides in home-grown produce. They developed a robotic produce sorter to identify the various stages of produce ripening prior to shipping, and the use by backyard poultry producers of a salmonella indicator strip to identify hens carrying salmonella.
Schamber thanked Shell, the 4-H program and Sublette Board of Cooperative Educational Services for their support.
"It's a costly project that wouldn't have happened without them," she said.


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Rejected Marijuana Reform AdDecember 15th, 2006 by Alex
The Marijuana Policy Project created their latest ad to put a face on the normal, non-violent Americans that are put behind bars as a result of marijuana arrests.
Check out the numbers behind the ad to really understand the simple (yet powerful) point that the MPP is trying to get across.
Unfortunately, it seems the ad has been rejected for publication.
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Jan 12, 2010 9:23 AM
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When you think of all the famous stories of the American Revolution, you probably think of rebels tossing tea into the Boston harbor or of the oft discussed battles at Bunker Hill and Lexington and Concord. What you probably don't initially think of is Charlotte, North Carolina. Those who support the legitimacy of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, however, are trying to shift the perception of Charlotte's role in our Revolutionary War.
According to some, you should have Charlotte in the forefront of your mind if you really want to consider some trail-blazing revolutionaries. On this day, May 20, in 1775 some believe that a group of prominent men in the community wrote and signed the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence (colloquially referred to as the MecDec) that declared the area independent from Great Britain.
Now, if your Revolutionary War dates are a little foggy, this would mean that Charlotteans declared independence a full year before John Hancock put quill to paper on July 4, 1776! That would clearly make Charlotte the hipster of American Independence, we were rebelling before it was cool.
Of course, if you've checked out the previous article on Charles Woodmason's impression of Mecklenburg, then you already know Charlotte was a hotbed of Scotch-Irish Presbyterian dissidents. It was, undoubtedly, the fiercely independent nature of Mecklenburg's back country settlers that inspired them to take a much more forward stance on the mounting tensions within the country at this time.
Exactly what actions these back country rebels were inspired to, however, remains the point of controversy. Some argue that the groups of citizens who met from May 19 to May 20, 1775 formed and signed the MecDec after receiving word of the British and American clashes at Lexington and Concord. An original record of this fabled document, however, has not survived. Rather, a purported copy of the original survived and is, largely, the basis for the current claims of veracity.
What has survived, without controversy, is a record of the Mecklenburg Resolves from May 31, 1775. The resolves set out to "provide in some degree for the exigencies of this county in the present alarming period" and reads more like a declaration of independent governance within the county and the organization of rebellion, rather than a full out break-away from Great Britain. While the resolves might not be as mysterious and sexy as the MecDec, both documents give insight into how Charlotte came to later be categorized as a "hornet's nest of rebellion" by General Cornwallis.
Recently, some Charlotte residents have set out to revive the once popular May 20th celebrations that centered around the MecDec. Throughout the nineteenth and into the twentieth century, residents celebrated this day with even more fervor than they did July 4th. Presidents even traveled to Charlotte to celebrate this controversial piece of local history. This year, a parade and celebration is going on downtown, the Charlotte Bobcats have chosen today as the date to officially change back to the Charlotte Hornets, and celebrations will continue at tonight's Charlotte Knight's baseball game.
For information on May 20th events happening around town visit the May 20th Society's website here.
To read up on the documents, the controversy, and the history of Charlotte's rebels visit the Mecklenburg Historical Society site here or the NCPedia entry on the MecDec here.
To listen to a fascinating discussion of the Mecklenburg Declaration, check out today's Charlotte Talks from WFAE featuring an interview with Scott Syferet, Charlotte lawyer and author of The First American Declaration of Independence? The Disputed History of the Mecklenburg Declaration of May 20, 1775.


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Keen to see a DX10 Ruby tech demo running on AMDs yet to be launched R600 monster? Well now you can. Courtesy of ShakyCamTM and Enthusiasm llc you can head over to YouTube and watch it.
Be quick though, it could get pulled at any time!
AMD DESCENDED, possibly in the dead of night, we hear, to visit one of its partner's booths here in the Halle of Hangover, and pick up one of its R600-equipped machines.
Accusing its erstwhile chums of leaking pics of the card to the press, representatives of the firm apparently stole off with the hardware shaking their fists.


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Sophomore Conor Murphy made 15 saves in his first career start last weekend in Colgate's 13-11 victory at No. 6 seed Massachusetts.
May 17, 2012
CENTER VALLEY, Pa. -- Fresh off its first victory in the NCAA Tournament, Colgate gets back to work Sunday as it heads to PPL Park in Chester, Pa., to take on No. 3 seed Duke in the NCAA Quarterfinals.
Patriot League Men's Lacrosse NCAA Quarterfinals Preview - 5.17.12
The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU. Game time is set for 2:30 p.m. Eaman McAnaney will provide the play-by-play, while Quint Kessenich will be the analyst. Paul Calcaterra will report from the sidelines.
Colgate fired the first salvo of the NCAA Tournament when the Raiders upended No. 6 seed and undefeated Massachusetts, 13-11, Saturday at Garber Field in Amherst, Mass. Tewaaraton Award finalist Peter Baum was limited to two goals and three points, but the nation's second-leading offense was buoyed by several other strong performances.
Now the Raiders try to claim a second defeat over a seeded team when they travel to Chester to take on the Blue Devils. It will be the ninth all-time meeting between the programs, with Duke owning a 6-2 advantage. Sunday's matchup will be the first outside Durham, N.C.
Two storylines emerged during and after Colgate's win in Amherst Saturday. The first was the play of Colgate sophomore goalkeeper Conor Murphy, who earned the starting nod in place of senior Jared Madison, who had opened each of the previous 16 games. In his first career start, Murphy stopped 15 shots, including eight in the second half, to buoy a Raider defense that allowed just four goals over the game's final 35:31.
Colgate hung tough despite the Minutemen's tremendous defense on Baum. His scoring didn't come until after halftime, and his second goal of the contest came in the fourth quarter that provided the Raiders with a critical two-goal cushion. Baum was one of five Raiders to find the back of the net twice. In the biggest stage of his young career, Patriot League Rookie of the Year Ryan Walsh scored two times, including on the ensuing extra-man opportunity after he'd drawn a slashing penalty in the second quarter. Matt Baker, Brendon McCann and Chris Zielinski also scored twice apiece, with Zielinski's second of the game standing as the game-winner at the 7:12 mark of the fourth.
While Colgate advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals, Lehigh's dream season ended in the first round in a tough 10-9 loss Sunday at home to visiting Maryland. The seventh-seeded Mountain Hawks trailed 6-1 in the second quarter before rattling off seven straight goals across the second and third frames to move ahead 8-6. Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year Matt Poillon, a freshman, made a career-high 16 saves in the game, including six in the third quarter in which Lehigh outscored the Terps 4-0. But Maryland never allowed the Mountain Hawks to extend the lead beyond two goals, and scored four times in the fourth, including Joe Cummings' marker with six seconds left that was the difference in the Terps' win.
Lehigh ended its season with a school-record 14 victories, and expects to return six of its eight All-League student-athletes from this spring.
Patriot League Notebook
It's been a record-setting year for Colgate. The Raiders earned their first at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament after posting a school-record 13 victories during the regular season. Colgate went into Garber Field in Amherst, Mass., and ended the undefeated run of No. 1-ranked and sixth-seeded Massachusetts last weekend in the program's first NCAA Tournament win. The voyage in uncharted territory continues as the Raiders face No. 3 seed Duke in their first appearance in the NCAA Quarterfinals Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
Colgate improved to 6-0 away from Hamilton, N.Y., this season with last week's 13-11 victory at Massachusetts. The Raiders are the only Patriot League team not to suffer a loss in games either on the road or at neutral sites this spring. Lehigh, which fell last weekend to Maryland at home in the NCAA Tournament, combined for a 9-1 mark away from Bethlehem, Pa., this season.
Against UMass last weekend, junior attackman Peter Baum picked up two goals and three points, rather pedestrian numbers for the nation's leading scorer. Baum still leads the country in points (5.65) and goals (3.88) per game, but his teammates shined in picking up the offensive slack against the Minutemen. Four of Baum's teammates scored a pair of goals, while eight Raiders in all dented the twine. One of those four is freshman Ryan Walsh, the Patriot League Rookie of the Year, who scored his 35th and 36th goals of the season.
Colgate sophomore Conor Murphy collected 15 saves, which is impressive enough given that the keeper was playing in net against the top-ranked, sixth-seeded and undefeated UMass Minutemen. Add in the fact that Murphy was making his first career start, and his numbers are even more incredible. He tallied eight saves in the second half and was instrumental in the Colgate backbone that enabled the offense to outscore UMass 11-4 over the game's last 35:31.
After Colgate earned its first NCAA Tournament victory, Lehigh was trying to do the same a day later. Early on it didn't look good for the seventh-seeded Mountain Hawks, who fell behind 6-1 in the second quarter before staging a three-goal rally to enter halftime down 6-4. Lehigh eventually moved ahead 8-6 and 9-7, but the Terps scored the game's final three goals, including the last tally with six seconds remaining, to send them into the quarterfinal round.
Colgate junior attackman Peter Baum has been named one of five finalists for the Tewaaraton Award. The Tewaaraton Trophy is awarded annually to the top men and women's college lacrosse players in the country. For the second straight season a Patriot League student-athlete has been in the final five, as Army's Jeremy Boltus was a finalist a year ago. Initially 10 from the Patriot League were on the initial Tewaaraton Watch List, which was whittled down to Baum, Bucknell's Billy Eisenreich and Army's Garrett Thul on the eve of the Patriot League Tournament. The winner will be announced May 31 at the Smithsonian National Museum for the American Indian in Washington, D.C.
2012 has been a banner year for the Patriot League, with two teams setting school records for victories and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. The seven League teams have combined for a 33-23 mark against teams from beyond the conference's borders, including .500-or-better showings against the America East (5-1), CAA (6-3), ECAC (3-2), MAAC (5-2), NEC (5-1) and independents (2-1). In addition, the League has combined for nine victories against top-20 teams and five against clubs in the NCAA postseason, including Colgate's triumph over No. 1-ranked UMass last weekend.
Records are made to be broken, but some were tied and others outright destroyed at the Patriot League Tournament three weeks ago. Lehigh scored a tournament-record 29 goals in the two games, while Colgate's Peter Baum and Jeff Ledwick tied the single-game tournament record with five goals. Baum also broke the single-game assist record with six, tied the two-game goal record at eight and obliterated the two-game points record with 18. A full list of tournament records tied or broken is at the end of this release.
The USILA/LaxWorld North-South All-Star game is slated for May 25 at Harvard, and two Patriot League head coaches are set to serve on the sidelines. Army's Joe Alberici will coach the North squad, while Lehigh's Kevin Cassese is slated to co-mentor the South team with Towson's Shawn Nadelen. Cassese was also a head coach in the contest in 2009, which started the current four-year run of at least one League coach appearing on the sidelines in the game. Former Colgate head coach Jim Nagle was involved in the 2010 contest, while former Lafayette coach Terry Mangan was on the sideline last year.
Patriot League NCAA Quarterfinal Preview
PPL Park; Chester, Pa. Sunday, 2:30 p.m.
Series: Duke, 6-2 TV: ESPNU (Eaman McAnaney, Quint Kessenich, Paul Calcaterra)
Streak: Duke, Four Wins Last Meeting: Duke, 9-8 (2.20.2009)
Last Colgate Win: 19-0 (4.5.1960) NCAA Tournament Series: First Meeting
All-Time Series (all games in Durham, N.C.)
1956 - Colgate, 7-6
1957 - Duke, 5-3
1958 - Duke, 6-4
1960 - Colgate, 19-0
1995 - Duke, 19-5
1999 - Duke, 21-10
2008 - Duke, 15-7
2009 - Duke, 9-8
COLGATE Junior attackman Peter Baum continues to re-write the Patriot League record book everytime he scores or sets up a teammate ... The Tewaaraton Award finalist has recorded League and Colgate single-season records for goals (66) and points (96), and he's four points away from becoming the first player in Division I with 100 since John Grant of Delaware had 110 in 1999 ... Baum's 129 career goals already place him third on the League's all-time list, one behind second and eight shy of the record of 138 held by Bucknell's Justin Zackey (1991-94) ... Chris Zielinski was one of five Raiders to tally two goals in Saturday's 13-11 victory at UMass ... They were just his fifth and sixth goals of the year, and his second of the contest stood as the game-winner in the fourth quarter ... Colgate kept pace with UMass with several offensive runs, scoring three in a row to cut a 7-2 deficit to 7-5 and four straight to tie the game at 9-9 before tallying three of the game's last four to win by two ... Colgate outscored the Minutemen 11-4 over the game's final 35:31 ... Eight different players scored Saturday, as the Raiders finished with a 46-37 edge in shots ... Colgate remains second in the nation averaging 13.53 goals per game, while its man-up offense is now third at 49.2 percent ... The Raiders' 14 wins are a school record, besting the previous mark of 11 reached five times (1964, 2006-08, 2011) ... Colgate is one of seven Patriot League teams to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament, and fifth since the League champion secured an automatic bid beginning in 2000 ... Duke is 15-1 all-time against Patriot League teams (since 1991) ... Both of Colgate's victories against the Blue Devils came before the Patriot League began play in 1991 ... Duke's only loss to a League team in the League era was a 13-7 defeat at Army May 8, 2004 ... Colgate is seeking its third straight victory against an ACC team, as it has defeated Maryland in both 2011 and 2012 ... The Blue Devils own three all-time wins over Patriot League teams in the NCAA Tournament, beating Hobart twice (13-1, 2000 First Round; 22-6, 2002 First Round) and Navy once (14-5, 2009 First Round) ... The Raiders are one of three unseeded teams to make the NCAA Quarterfinals, joining Denver and Maryland.
LOOKING FORWARD If Colgate pulls off another victory against a seeded team, the Raiders will advance to the national semifinals Saturday, May 26 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. ... The Colgate-Duke winner takes on the winner between No. 2 Johns Hopkins and Maryland, which takes place Saturday in Annapolis, Md. ... Should Colgate advance, it would become the second Patriot League team to advance to the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Semifinals and first since Navy in 2004 ... That year the Mids advanced all the way to the national championship, where they fell 14-13 to Syracuse.


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Morphodite goat
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Jan 27th, 2007 02:18
Jan 29th, 2007 04:05
Funny that. I used to ride on a farm that had a butch lesbian goat on it's premesis. She was really snotty. She really took great delight in peeing on my boots and eating my choir book... Anyways, her favorite activities were 1. Butting people, 2. Rearing and 3. Mounting and attempting to copulate with the three female dogs on the farm. It was pretty hilarious. I felt sorry for the dogs. Maybe lone female goats have a habit of swapping gender roles?
Jan 29th, 2007 22:03
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I have some hotkey that I press when I do some actions (to open Software, and so on).
Is it possible to monitor these actions? Just to see which file and parameters are called pressing this key...
If the application in question implements its hotkey functionality via the
Locate the Window(s) for your application, right-click and select "Messages." This will begin listing all window messages sent to the window. Look for the
This is not fool-proof, though, as there are other ways to implement hotkeys.


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Posts Tagged 'Exceptional People Magazine'
Derrick Miles Named Top 20 Exceptional Business Icon of 2010 & 2011
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April 15, 2012
Michael Dell, Les Brown, Mark Parker (President/CEO of Nike, Inc), Indra Nooyi (Chairman/CEO of PepsiCo) and others were recognized for great principles and philosophies that have guided them on the path to extraordinary success.
None of them started at the top. It all began with an idea. They each had an idea, they began building on that idea and surrounded themselves with forward-thinking mentors and advisors who helped them develop a solid plan based on sound principles. Here are some principles you may want to consider while continuing to build your business.


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The People Behind Java University at Sun Tech Days Atlanta
By marinasum on Jan 09, 2008
On the morning of the first day of Sun Tech Days Atlanta (January 9), I hobnobbed with two lecturers, a sales support representative, and a business development manager, all from Sun Learning Services. They were on duty for Java University. Knowledgeable, inspiring folks![Read More]


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What is a Twizzle? This new Sochi Olympics term had people turning their heads on Saturday night when watching the NBC broadcast of the Olympic team figure skating competition. While the skaters seemed to grace the ice quite easily, the fans were checking online and referencing dictionaries for this word. Unfortunately, it's a specialized term that describes an ice dancing move so there was no need to drag out a reference book. According to Yahoo Sports on Saturday, the "Twizzle" move is real and it is done by athletes who ice dance.
So what is a twizzle? It is when a skater executes a one-foot turn while moving across the ice, however it must be a continuous turning movement as the skater glides across the ice. The skate movement is required, as it distinguishes a twizzle from a stationary spin. Or even a series of turns.
Mostly used for ice dancing, it's not often seen in figure skating competition. The twizzle was highlighted on Saturday night as the Olympic debut of the team figure skating competition continues. Of course knowing what the announcers are talking about with these moves always makes the audience feel smarter.
While some guesses were close to correct on social media, one item that kept the term being compared to was red rope licorice candy. For the record that is a Twizzler. It tastes good, but has nothing to do with the Olympics. Unless that's what you are munching on while watching the competition.


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Malt-Teaser wrote:It sounds like this was a great evening, sorry I couldn't attend.
Maybe next time.
Well for some of us it was merely an afternoon. Suns still up after all.
And thanks K-Mile.
Malt-Teaser wrote:It sounds like this was a great evening, sorry I couldn't attend.
Maybe next time.
Ian Logan wrote:Try the Nadurra straight first but if its a sample you got from Matt its around 59.7%abv so water is a must at least 50%.
Apples and banana for me in here but with time a lot of fruit will come through.
the palate is where you will see the 1st fill american casks coming through with vanill and honey.
Its damn near chewable the mouth coatting is so heavy.
Ganga wrote:K-Mile,
You should have some fun revisiting this thread at a later date. I tried several different bottlings in numerous glasses. There are lots of notes included the "bananas". Enjoy the 18.
mikeymad wrote:This is a great beverage:
Glenlivet 33yo 1967 (46%, Original Bottling, Cellar Collection 67-00 sample code 2GC8001 in box) - Nosing glass
Nose : caramel, almonds, vanilla, simple syrup... nice balance
Palate : spice (pepper, thyme), caramel, coating smoothness, almost like a cream liquor,
Finish : slides down very smooth coating along the way, slight dryness in the back of the tongue, finish is medium-long
Comment : This dram is a treat, I believe that it is the best expression of The Livet that I have had.
Ian Logan wrote:Mikey,
Delighted to see that you are enjoying the 1967 and thank you for opening it here.
Ian Logan wrote:Ganga, Mikey,
Some of these guys just cant handle the pace!!!!
Ian Logan wrote:Mikey,
Have to be honest here and say I habe not got a clue on this one!!!!!
I was thinking the same thing, looks like a lock in at the bar.