Anonymous wrote:

It's too bad my God and my religion prevent me from telling you to just fuck off entirely, because I'd sorely like to.

Hmmmmm....."your God". And WHICH one might that be?

The oh-so personal Christian entity which loves us all so dearly but won't hesitate to condemn us to the eternal microwave if we disbelieve it?

Or is it an impersonal variant of that, say the "Universal Mind" as taught by the Unity school?

Or is it Jehovah, always vengeful and looking for the 'Gotcha' moment?

Or are you one of those who simply sets out the God = Love equation?

Or is it the Socinian Deity which only knows and act to the degree of its most sentient elements?

Since you believers never ever bother to explicitly articulate your "God" it is difficult to ascertain if anything you say or do comports with it.

So, seeing as how your imaginary sky Being is and remains undefined, and unexplicated don't let us stop you from telling us unbelievers to "fuck off". Act like a man, not like a pathetic little god follower and lemming.

As for "religion" that is neither here nor there, as Richard Dawkins so aptly put it, religion is merely a mind virus.

Favre was the obvious and imho - only pick. Being a long term NFL QB is the hardest sports job there is -vastly more than putting around holes on a golf course or tossing baseballs - where you needn't worry about some 400 lb. goliath smashing your bones into the turf.

Favre's longevity speaks to his excellence, as well as his setting so many passing records. Now surpassing even the great Marino in a number of them.

Does he have as many SB wins as Montana? No - but he is tougher, and one must always reckon the acocmpanying cast into the mix.

Favre's performance this year is nothing less than stellar, bringing the Pack to their best record in years and a possible SB berth.

Where I hope they will beat the living snot out of the odious Patsies.

Anonymous wrote:

does any serious football fan really believe that Favre and the Pack can really beat Brady and the Pats, who refuse to lose even when they ought to?

You bet I do. The Pats almost got taken down by the Eagles last week, then again Monday night by a 4-7 Ravens team. Within 44 secs and a terrible decision call (the infamous time out) of shutting all Patsie lovers the hell up.

If those less than stellar teams can come close then a Pack team with lots more talent and discipline can surely do it.

In any case, I predict the Steelers will end the Pats magic season this Sunday.

The Patsies - even with all their whining and the refs solidly in their pocket (because the NFL wants another perfect team to galvanize fans for or against) have their days numbered.

Against grainy black-and-white images of the American hostages in Iran, he spins a macho fable.

Giuliani IS a macho fable. All posturing, macho yap but no substance. Bill Maher- on his 'Real Time' last year, already showed at least three tapes-videos with Rudy cross-dressing at assorteed parties, events.

All that any owuld-be dem candidate has to do to beat Rudy in a face-off is to get hold of those tapes and show the great "hero of 9-11' in drag, mincing around with his coquettish clique.

That will be all she wrote, as they say.

Anon wrote:

The Patriots, at least publicly, treat football with the same inevitable yet phlegmatic melancholy that a North Atlantic iceberg treats the Titanic

And that is why real humans, with HUMAN (as opposed to robot) teams - hate them. They are too fine, too perfect, too emotionless. Pod -people. Straight out of 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'. The reaction of real humans is that these perfecto pretenders must be stopped.

We therefore look to the next genunely human team - the Steelers- to do it.

On the human level, Billick and the Ravens showed at least they had hearts, and for that merit kudos even if they lost. The Patsies - by winning like the engineered robots they are- merely confirmed that they lack red blood, hormones and probably real flesh.

They can't be trusted, and they have to have their (robot) heads handed to them. If not by the Steelers, then by Dallas or the Pack later.

Freedom requires religion? What garbage! In fact, religion is the exact counterpoise to real freedom!

Religion's stupid and antiquated ancient dictates circumvent freedom at every turn. Worse, because they are so antiquated and aren't updated according to changing global conditions (e.g. the world is now overpopulated, so "be fruitful and multiply" is an injunction for extinction) they present enormous impediments to humanity's advancement.

The bottom line is that religious bullshit (including bullshit scriptures) should not enter at any level in the political arena. The fact that it does, now more than ever, shows the extent of ignorance of most Americans about policies and issues.

Thus, they have to invoke stupid proxies like "shared values", religion, and potential for social shmoozing ("I'd have a beer with him!") to make their absurd choices.

kate_b wrote:

I say, let him have his fun competing with Hitchens and Dawkins for the title of 2007 Atheist Who Doesn't Know When To Shut His Pie Hole

Well, given that the stupid Christians have been working their pie holes (and a-holes) into fits for the last two thousand years, I say let the atheists have their turn. Dawkins and Hitchens for sure have put the Christianoids in their place with their recent books.

As for Pullman, I find his characters terrific and the thrust just right.

Why? Hey - I guess it must be because I am an atheist!