tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post2555375227752238757..comments2024-03-27T18:24:19.683-07:00Comments on Steve Sailer: iSteve: The Iceland VolcanoUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-73866787757333635952010-04-19T18:46:08.216-07:002010-04-19T18:46:08.216-07:00Now my point is that something very special was go...<i>Now my point is that something very special was going on in the old America, small rural populations with access to full literacy and fledgling medicine and science.</i> <br /><br />It was a very, very special time in the annals of human history.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-84003663199506013622010-04-19T18:32:43.254-07:002010-04-19T18:32:43.254-07:00Steve,
Here is a temperture graph from the Summer...Steve,<br /><br />Here is a temperture graph from the Summer you mentioned when Mt.Pinatudo in the Philippines<br />erupted:<br />http://ncwatch.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451e28a69e201347fe4f8e6970c-piSkip G.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-78046562102990816742010-04-19T14:11:24.757-07:002010-04-19T14:11:24.757-07:00Anonymous:
It's "hanged" not "...Anonymous:<br /><br />It's "hanged" not "hung". But in any event, try reading your history better. That "lives, fortunes and sacred honor" pledge was quite literal...for about two years. Google "Carlisle Peace Commission".<br /><br />Irrelevant, since by the time the offer was on the table, it was far too late, the war was in full swing, with British casualties continuing to mount.<br />Who are YOU to say the author and signers of the Declaration of Independence would get off scott free by 1778 if they had, as they did, refused the offer of the Brits, but went on to lose the war?<br />Until the French arrived with their warships towards the very end, nobody knew how that war would conclude.<br />Not even you.<br />I think you'd be better off reading any biography on Franklin. You will come across numerous remarks regarding his concern of British retribution, and pay particular attention to his relationship with his son, a Tory. How'd that work out?<br />Stop with the "if grandma had wheels, she'd be a wheelbarrow" line of silly reasoning.<br />She doesn't, she ain't, and repeating it will only continue to deliver unintended comic results.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-9306991098258108842010-04-19T12:05:46.906-07:002010-04-19T12:05:46.906-07:00David Davenport: Franklin was neither a Calvinist ...David Davenport: Franklin was neither a Calvinist (although he was raised as one in Boston) nor a Quaker. The French thought he was a Quaker because he played up the "just a plain Pennsylvanian" image, but he was never a member of the Society of Friends. <br /><br />When a young man he worked out an elaborate sytem (somewhat similar to Mormonism, now that I think of it) in which there were many gods and each ruled his own solar system, but as an adult he was a Deist/proto-Unitarian, although I believe he occasionally attended Anglican services with his wife before her death.James Kabalahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02335302113772004687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-49178784579311840652010-04-19T07:04:34.278-07:002010-04-19T07:04:34.278-07:00Guys like Darwin didn't seem to get hung up on...Guys like Darwin didn't seem to get hung up on the science/philosophy angle, I think they still thought they were hunting truth rather than creating B.S.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-47997810111496957102010-04-19T07:03:01.279-07:002010-04-19T07:03:01.279-07:00Somewhat on topic, but Joseph
Smith (yeah that one...Somewhat on topic, but Joseph<br />Smith (yeah that one) was saved<br />as a young boy by a ground breaking surgery to remove a bone infection which was unheard of in its day. This was performed at Dartmouth Med. School in the early 19th century. Now to this day, the area where Dartmouth is is semi-rural to think of how it was then. <br /><br />Now my point is that something very special was going on in the old America, small rural populations with access to full literacy and fledgling medicine and science. Europeans don't get it, since all they know about America they get from T.V.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-9440789901441218632010-04-18T23:09:10.359-07:002010-04-18T23:09:10.359-07:00"Natural philosopher" was the term in us...<i>"Natural philosopher" was the term in use in the 18th century, instead of "scientist."</i> <br /><br />My point was that Witherspoon was closer to what we would now call a philosopher, whereas Rush was closer to what we would now call a scientist.<br /><br />But even within those divisions, I'm quite confident that Witherspoon wouldn't have had any problem holding his own in a conversation about what we would now call the Philosophy of Science.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-63287448748868374842010-04-18T18:28:52.348-07:002010-04-18T18:28:52.348-07:00Where do you come up with this malarky? If the rev...<i>Where do you come up with this malarky? If the revolution failed, every person who signed the Declaration of Independence would have been hung.</i><br /><br />It's "hanged" not "hung". But in any event, try reading your history better. That "lives, fortunes and sacred honor" pledge was quite literal...for about two years. Google "Carlisle Peace Commission". By 1778, the North government in London had changed its position so that after Saratoga, in fact possibly before it even learned of Burgoyne's defeat, the peace terms were as generous as could be imagined: basically the British would give the colonists <i>everything</i> they had been asking for and more; And by "everything" I mean everything: all the taxes repealed, formal declaration by Parliament of no jurisdiction, repeal of the Quebec Act and a<br />greenlight to western settlement. They would even give blanket<br />amnesties across the board, not just general ones but specific ones to Patriot leaders, and would have sold the Tory Loyalists<br />down the river (which in the end analysis Whitehall did anyway). <br /><br />Only independence was not on offer, and even that was on the table in a <i>de facto</i> sort of way, since obviously the status quo ante bellum could not be revived. Basically the Carlisle mission would have given the Patriots as much self-rule as they wanted as long as they kept some nominal allegiance to the crown.<br /><br />It was too late. By that point in the war, de jure Independence was too popular and too central<br />to the revolutionary movement to consider even the most generous<br />peace terms. Nevertheless, by the fall of '78, the Founders were not really in danger of getting tried for treason.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-9711127288185170532010-04-18T17:54:56.539-07:002010-04-18T17:54:56.539-07:00... Against Calvinist Type aimed at the court and ...<i> ... Against Calvinist Type aimed at the court and subjects of the Most Catholic king of France. In other words, we're not fellow crusaders in spirit with England; we're Moderates, we like siestas, we take long meals, etc. </i><br /><br />Brn. F. was a Quaker. Quakers were not at all Calvinist. You don't know much about Christian denominations.<br /><br />And why did Franklin make his entrance at the Versailles wearing a dark, solid color coat and breeches and a rustic fur hat -- an outfit his contemporaries called a "Quaker suit," if he was dressing to make a sophisticated, oh-so-European impression? <br /><i><br />I wouldn't say "largely". Franklin, Jefferson - both gentlemen scientists. <br /><br />PS: A little off-topic, but Thomas Jackson was a Professor of Natural & Experimental Philosophy at VMI.<br /><br /></i><br />Better known as Gen. Stonewall Jackson. He taught math ... probably not very advanced mathematics. <br /><i><br />John Witherspoon - a little more at philosophy than what we would now call "science" </i><br /><br />"Natural philosopher" was the term in use in the 18th century, instead of "scientist." <br /><br />Natural philosophy was a gentleman's hobby or avocation. There were very few full time natural philosophers.<br /><br />This was changing by the 1850's, when Jackson was a math prof.<br /><i><br /><br />I would probably have liked to be a slave for Franklin than work in a terrible factory during the Industrial Revolution as a "free" wage earner.<br />Why do we give the Capitalists credit then when they killed so many people in their factories and mines? Slaves were an asset while they factory owner didn't care if you died because there was someone else to take their place.Both were unpleasant lifestyles.</i><br /><br />You do realize that precisely that line of thought was presented as an excuse for slavery in the Olde South, don't you?<br /><br />Read 1854's "Sociology For the South" by Virgina lawyer and slave owner George Fitzhugh.<br /><br />Conveniently available from Amazon:<br /><i><br />Sociology For The South: Or The Failure Of Free Society (1854) by George Fitzhugh (Hardcover - Dec. 7, 2009)<br />Buy new: $45.95 $34.92<br /> <br />9 new from $30.973 used from $36.37<br /><br /></i><br />Fitzhugh is credited with coining the word "sociology," by the way. Kind of ironic in that most sociologists nowadays are Commies.David Davenportnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-50992842523349323882010-04-18T15:37:24.580-07:002010-04-18T15:37:24.580-07:00I think some of you need to brush up on your knowl...I think some of you need to brush up on your knowledge of Ben Franklin. He had interpersonal challenges, just like you and me:<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABFQ-T3uAVIAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-4864053481224494782010-04-18T15:19:45.673-07:002010-04-18T15:19:45.673-07:00"the more likely explanation is that he might..."the more likely explanation is that he might have been setting up an 'insurance policy' in case the Revolution failed, for himself and indirectly for Pennsylvania. As a middleman, with inside connections on both sides, he could be in a position to arrange a moderate settlement."<br /><br />Where do you come up with this malarky? If the revolution failed, every person who signed the Declaration of Independence would have been hung. Franklin would be in no position to cut a deal with anyone. He parked his hiney in France, because without the support of the French the war would have ended in a quick victory for the Brits, via a massacre of Americans.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-35162958341950053042010-04-18T10:43:52.710-07:002010-04-18T10:43:52.710-07:00He also became an abolitionist later in life, thou...<i>He also became an abolitionist later in life, though apparently, he managed to do this while still owning slaves, another mark of genius I suppose.</i><br /><br />Maybe he figured that with slavery still legal, it served little purpose for him to free slaves. Chasing short-term menial jobs offered by the least-lowest-bidding employee isn't necessarily a much better fate for unskilled, illiterate, ununionized freedmen. I don't know myself, but I surmise that that was the opinion of a lot of slaveowning abolitionists.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-14542251918058254402010-04-18T09:46:24.102-07:002010-04-18T09:46:24.102-07:00Well, yeah. [Witherspoon] was actually a clergyman...<b>Well, yeah. [Witherspoon] was actually a clergyman. So you might as well claim that America was founded largely by clergymen.</b><br /><br />Well, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_colony" rel="nofollow">yeah</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams_(theologian)" rel="nofollow"> you</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_Bay_Colony" rel="nofollow"> could</a>.Captain Jack Aubreynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-56727303655989708612010-04-18T09:07:53.674-07:002010-04-18T09:07:53.674-07:00Franklin also had a special genius for networking ...Franklin also had a special genius for networking and self-promotion, two traits that hye shared with George Washington.Jonathannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-56005768991277942142010-04-18T06:30:16.551-07:002010-04-18T06:30:16.551-07:00Another possibility is that Franklin was working a...Another possibility is that Franklin was working as what we would now call a double-agent.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-83321720904342388542010-04-18T00:30:05.646-07:002010-04-18T00:30:05.646-07:00"Dan Kurt said...
Franklin was a British spy..."Dan Kurt said...<br /><br />Franklin was a British spy.<br /><br />................<br /><br />Both books are available on Amazon, cheap.<br /><br /> Dan Kurt"<br /><br />Thanks for the tip. I'll check them out.Mr. Anonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-89326684086042086692010-04-17T22:33:50.804-07:002010-04-17T22:33:50.804-07:00>Who would you have play him in a movie?<
O...>Who would you have play him in a movie?<<br /><br /><a href="http://tinyurl.com/y2jcncq" rel="nofollow">Orson Welles</a> did so twice. (<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055070/" rel="nofollow">1</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047484/fullcredits#cast" rel="nofollow">2</a>.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-37361904771253432292010-04-17T21:42:54.476-07:002010-04-17T21:42:54.476-07:00I don't think he even patented the Franklin St...I don't think he even patented the Franklin Stove.<br /><br />I would probably have liked to be a slave for Franklin than work in a terrible factory during the Industrial Revolution as a "free" wage earner.<br />Why do we give the Capitalists credit then when they killed so many people in their factories and mines? Slaves were an asset while they factory owner didn't care if you died because there was someone else to take their place.Both were unpleasant lifestyles.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-75353554635178858642010-04-17T19:40:20.557-07:002010-04-17T19:40:20.557-07:00Glad I’m not living in Europe anymore :-)
Good, t...<i>Glad I’m not living in Europe anymore :-)</i><br /><br />Good, then I wont worry you by mentioning that super volcano lurking under Yellowstone. And you won't look it up.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-27624023618480769222010-04-17T19:29:01.047-07:002010-04-17T19:29:01.047-07:00That's all you got? I suspect the Soviet Revol...<i>That's all you got? I suspect the Soviet Revolution had more genuine scientists involved in it than that.</i> <br /><br />In the era we are talking about, "science" [as you undoubtedly choose to use the term] hadn't even been invented yet.<br /><br />17th Century scientists were so rare that, from a statistical point of view, they didn't even exist - and yet we had very prominent, self-financed scientists and philosophers, like Franklin, Rush, and Witherspoon, whose signatures are on our founding documents.<br /><br />By contrast, fast forward to the modern era, when everyone and their brother is a scientist - when we [quite literally] have a surfeit of scientists coming out of our ears - and ask youself: When was the last time we had a member of Congress who wrote a book on chemistry, or discovered a fundamental "force" of nature, or could engage in a discourse on the philosophy of science?<br /><br />[You know, come to think of it, I might actually know <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_G._Martin" rel="nofollow">the answer to that question</a>.]Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-6349936835472573372010-04-17T19:13:43.000-07:002010-04-17T19:13:43.000-07:00Well, yeah. He was actually a clergyman.
All of ...<i>Well, yeah. He was actually a clergyman.</i> <br /><br />All of the people in [what we would now call] the humanities were essentially clergymen until well into the 19th Century.<br /><br />The idea of a non-clerical humanities professor is very recent in nature.<br /><br />[And to the extent that all university people now believe - most passionately - in nonsense like the myth of global warming, it's entirely accurate to point out that they are STILL nothing but clergymen - it's just that the nature of the underlying religion has changed so dramatically (for the worse).]Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-91405607408182745852010-04-17T18:36:23.896-07:002010-04-17T18:36:23.896-07:00Franklin was a British spy...John Jay suspected Fr...<i>Franklin was a British spy...John Jay suspected Franklin's duplicity but never was able to prove his suspicions.</i><br /><br />Someone in the comments box always brings this up every time Steve posts on Franklin. Like it's a devastating secret that forever banishes Ben from the circle of the Founding Fathers' memory.<br /><br />The smarter reaction is "eh". It should not surprise anyone who knows anything about the man to learn that Franklin was working both sides of the street--to some extent. Please, please remember--in addition to being a scientist and diplomat and everything else, he was above all a political boss in Pennsylvania, certainly <b>the</b> political boss of Philly, and quite capable of backdoor deals when and as needed. Contact with British intelligence (or even a little money taken from them) would not mean that he was not a supporter of the Revolution; the more likely explanation is that he might have been setting up an 'insurance policy' in case the Revolution failed, for himself and indirectly for Pennsylvania. As a middleman, with inside connections on both sides, he could be in a position to arrange a moderate settlement.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-62923199857701412142010-04-17T17:49:40.837-07:002010-04-17T17:49:40.837-07:00President George Washington racks up $300,000 late...<b>President George Washington racks up $300,000 late fee for two Manhattan library books</b> <br />BY Rich Schapiro<br />DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER<br />Saturday, April 17th 2010, 4:00 AM<br /><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/04/17/2010-04-17_read_it__weep_by_george_prez_racks_up_300g_late_fee_for_two_books.html" rel="nofollow">nydailynews.com</a> <br /><br /><i>...Two centuries ago, the nation's first President borrowed two tomes from the New York Society Library on E. 79th St. and never returned them, racking up an inflation-adjusted $300,000 late fee...<br /><br />On Oct. 5, 1789, Washington borrowed the "Law of Nations," a treatise on international relations, and Vol. 12 of the "Commons Debates," which contained transcripts of debates from Britain's House of Commons...</i>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-19743007368336265342010-04-17T17:36:14.734-07:002010-04-17T17:36:14.734-07:00@dearime,
Actually, I'll go along with you on...@dearime,<br /><br />Actually, I'll go along with you on this one. Saying that America was founded largely by scientists makes the story of little George Washington and the Cherry Tree seem like documented history by comparison.<br /><br />Still, I felt like having a larf, and you've asked for a bit of satirizing yourself, or is that "satirising."<br /><br />--drearieAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-7519929831185073232010-04-17T16:10:15.674-07:002010-04-17T16:10:15.674-07:00Franklin wasn't "just" an engineerin...Franklin wasn't "just" an engineering genius, he was one of the preeminent scientists of his time. He also became an abolitionist later in life, though apparently, he managed to do this while still owning slaves, another mark of genius I suppose.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17835964221273181843noreply@blogger.com