MattZ

It never fails. These threads get going and the only thing that people can agree on is that Beltmann is one smart dude. Cracks me up to no end. I am not an unbiased observer here -- I fall in TheMaker's camp (although my camp isn't quite so abrasive). Thanks to everyone for the thoughtful responses. This has been fun to read.

This is how I rationalize it too. I don't believe in God, but I spend my time trying to lead a good life, I try to help people as best as I can and do good when I can. If it turns out I was wrong about God, and someone like me is forced to spend eternity in hell as a result, and the God whose existence I was wrong about doesn't care about my actions, but only my faith, well, hell is in my future. And that's fine with me. Most of my friends will be there anyway.

It doesn't. Except that you seem to be suggesting (unless I misunderstood you) that the fact that there is no answer for our origin suggests that someone/something had to create it (or that this is evidence that someone/something did). I'd say that one has nothing to do with the other there either. No?

Definitely not -- sometimes I think I spend too much time asking those questions. Notwithstanding my atheism, I still consider myself to be spiritual, and I am constantly asking who I am, where/how I fit, how we are all connected, what we give, what we take.

I agree with you -- I dont think we will ever get to an answer about the origin of the universe. But I just think that is evidence of our simple brains, not of a creator. I have also spent a few summer afternoons with a beer pondering whether there even was an origin and whether "time" is a manmade concept. We know beginnings and ends because we live and die. What if time doesnt have a beginning or an ending? What if there is no origin because time and space are infinite? What if there didn't need to be a creator because there wasn't an origin? I, for one, am happy to see this discussi

Our understanding of the world around us evolves. We don't yet know the answer to your question, and frankly, we may never know. Science certainly doesn't have an answer today. But there were many other things that science could not explain 100s of years ago that it can now explain. Given this current dynamic and the progress that science makes, I am much more willing to accept that either (1) science will eventually get to a point where this mystery can be explained, or (2) science will never get to that point because our brains aren't sophisticated enough to understand concepts like infi

Did I state that? You may be confusing me with someone else. I'm not even sure what this means. You mean by not electing Republicans? I am Democrat myself, but is that really what you think? That Republicans don't care much for this country? As opposed to just disagreeing with Democrats about the way to best run the country? You can't, though. It's either most or some. It can't be both.

Volunteer for what? People in NYC couldn't even volunteer. The blood banks were overflowing with people looking to donate, and you couldn't get below 14th street without ID.

You seem to be backtracking here. From most to some. Either way, as austrya eloquently stated, how can you tell one way or the other whether people "cared" or not? By citing the fact that they went to the mall? Irrelevant. People need to support their families by, yes, shopping for them. That doesnt mean that the events werent at the front of people's minds. And I'd be willing to bet that "most" of those people would've volunteered to help if there was something they could do from halfway across the country. Heck, people in NYC were turned away from blood banks. People in NYC could ba

This is going to sound like I am splitting hairs here, but I think it's a stretch to say either of them are handling anything. They are both standing up and talking. I am an Obama supporter (like you), but it's incredibly easy for Obama to blame the "last 8 years" and to say that "4 more years" of McCain would bring more of this. And he's probably right. But I'd be interested to see what Obama actually proposes to do about this. Calling for more regulation and more oversight is easy to call for. It's tough to implement. You dont want to go so far as to stifle the market either (as regul

Just wait until the libraries start closing, the trains stop running so often, the garbage isn't picked up so often, etc. I am not suggesting anyone anywhere should shed a tear for the i-bankers of the world. But the financial industry funds 20 percent of the entire state's revenue. It accounts for 9 percent of the city's revenue. This is bad news for all new yorkers -- not just the dudes getting laid off today.

If you think those are the only people that will be impacted by this, well, I am not sure what to say.

Holy crap this market is imploding. Down 500 points!

Holy crap that was good. I suppose now is as good of a time as any to start reading some more of his work. Do I start with Infinite Jest? I have a feeling I have been missing much...

I am hearing rumors that BofA wanted Lehman to fail and went into the negotiations this weekend with this in mind because they had their eyes on Merrill all along. Talk about a high stakes game of chess. Wow. BofA knew that if Lehman failed, that the market would then turn to Merrill as the next most likely to fail. Gave BofA the upper hand in their offer to buy Merrill. Shareholders may feel that they have no choice but to ok the deal. FWIW, rumors are that AIG is teetering and could be next... UBS too. Yowsers.

Sorry remphish -- I am working through my own issues. I can't apply logic to the way that I feel no matter how hard I try. I know I shouldn't care one way or the other what other people do. Or what they take pictures of. I am sure that lots of people down there are doing what they are doing for good reasons. Or bad reasons. And either way, what they do has nothing to do with me, so why do I care? I hope I wasn't too abrasive. The Pearl Harbor/Gettysberg analogies are fair ones. I'd be lying if I stood on a soapbox and claimed that there's no way I'd take pictures if I went to either

Although I miss the New York of 9/10, I think I miss the New York of 9/12 more. 9/11/01 still feels like it was yesterday. Even though it also feels like it was 20 years ago. I will never forget the smoke that I could smell/see from my apt uptown. I will never forgive the tourists that go down there with cameras to take pictures of a hole in the ground. Never. I will never forget the rumor that somehow started circulating that morning in my neighborhood that the planes had biological weapons on them. And that we should fill our bathtubs with water in case the water supply was contam

It's not so simple. Obama is stuck in a tough catch-22. Attacking allows the other side to paint him as the "politician for 'change' that is playing the same old attack game." So much of who he is now was defined by how he ran his primary campaign -- staying above the fray, staying on message, insisting that issues matter, being a different kind of politician, etc. Going on the attack now (i.e., telling the country that McCain/Palin are liars) could backfire. He could be portrayed as the guy who didnt stick to his own game, or the guy who attacked a war hero, or the guy who attacked a wom

I agree and I don't know why they have been so lost. It feels like they are afraid to go on the attack for fear of how it plays. I can't help but think that McCain/Palin has become a teflon ticket. Obama just seems tentative, and maybe it's because he is afraid that anything he does will be re-characterized and turned into the story (attack a war hero or pick on a woman?). It's still early, though. Seems like a lot of folks I know are jumping ship. Or at least reaching for their life preservers. Obama has proven, to this point, to be the best politician of my lifetime. He is smart eno

the sun shines brighter when you are alone in first. the pizza tastes better, too.

Something has come up and I will not be able to attend tonight's show. It's nothing bad, just something that I cannot get out of. Can anyone spare a hug?

What is a 24 hr curfew?

Sometimes life is good. Like, when I laugh like I just did.

That's what I said.

Not even. It's weird. I think the series usually explores albums and goes into the making of the album or the influence or impact of the album, etc. Not this one. This one was "faction" (as described on the back cover). Basically, it traces the fictional life of a 20-something drug dealer who moves up to Woodstock for the summer and ends up being a casual friend of a few members of the band, and supplies them with some drugs. The book explores the kid's life -- including a trip home to visit his Dad when his Mom dies, and his crush on a gal, etc. -- and ends up becoming a biography of th