Murray Mound

I'm watching 3rd Round tennis at Wimbledon. I just caught ear of "Murray Mound". I mean really...can it become more silly?
Roddick is out to Lopez in long but straight sets. Federer plays Nalbandian next...ought to be good.
Rafa is brilliant as usual. I think the men's is fairly open yet. I'd like to see Roger do it one more time.
In the women's draw i'm guessing it's between Serena, Venus or Sharapova. My pick is Venus.

It's raining at Wimbledon right now and it just finished raining here as well, so i kinda feel like i'm sitting on Murray Mound watching the Scott attempt to undo Ljubicic.

Home of the Fooled

You have to wonder how the country that was first to the Moon, that was the world leader in science and technology could have fallen so far off the mark in the last few years when it comes to...science and technology.
 How do we explain the number of people accepting "intelligent design", the Moon landing conspiracies and all the various and sundry fables that organized religion visits upon us? Why would a large number of Americans embrace superstition, suedo-science and just plain misinformation rather   than good solid scientific evidence?
In a word...Religion. Religion makes it possible to fob off the most fantastic nonsense as truth. Many Americans have swallowed religion hook, line and sinker. If someone sees Jesus on his toast then it's taken as gospel that it was a manifestation of the Christ. If we put a man on the Moon, complete with pictures of the event, they believe it's a conspiracy. If you were to tell them that god says we went to the Moon they would believe it instantly.

In short, we have bought into faery tales at the expense of our logic, skepticism, and common sense.

Happy Father's Day: My Dad

Happy Father's Day to all you seeders and breeders.
I just wanted to share my thoughts and impressions of my own dad who is gone since 1979.
I'd say he was conflicted in many ways, but he was aware of the conflicts and understood what he was going through although he may have been at odds with himself on how to resolve his issues.
He was intelligent, independent and strong minded with a concept of fairness and honour. He admired pilots and sportsmen though he neither hunted nor flew. He could be very disciplinary but you always knew what the logic was behind the discipline...and it usually involved your well-being.
As a father and teacher i would liken him to Polonius of Hamlet:
"And these few precepts in thy memory
See thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportioned thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledged comrade. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,
Bear't that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous chief in that.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine ownself be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man."
I can almost imagine these words coming from him.
My most vivid memory of him? When he picked me up and hugged me, his face felt scratchy. :)