On a recent post titled “Your right to say it,” there were some comments from someone who posts under the name “Greg Goodknight.” He and I don’t seem to like each other.
Friday I found that I was unable to post, delete posts, or edit posts on my blog, and found this message on the dashboard when logging into my wordpress blog:
Warning: We have a concern about some of the content on your blog. Please click here to contact us as soon as possible to resolve the issue and re-enable posting.
After contacting wordpress personnel, I received this message:
Hi,Please remove all posts and all comments that either name or allude to a Mr Goodknight
The only exception to this is where you absolutely make it clear it is your opinion or you can prove legally that what you say it true.
Thank you.
The post in question was one in which I defended the right of my most heated “internet adversary” to express his opinion without harassment. How ironic.
Open Mind 
Juliet said it best:
— Romeo And Juliet Act 2, scene 2
From this side of the planet it seems the whole “Right to Say It” thread is gone… ironic indeed.
Switching to conspiracy mode: Is this blog and WTFUWTBOH both on wordpress?
You should use blogger instead of WordPress.
I suppose that because he who cannot be named is now named in this blog post that this blog post will disappear in 10, 9, 8, … Goodnight!
I think the “How low can you go?” post was premature.
Always worse than you can possibly imagine even after taking into consideration that they are worse than you can possibly imagine.
[edit]
[Be careful what you say. We mustn’t offend Mr. Goodknight.]
Ironic and disturbing.
Can you sanitize and resurrect “Your right to say it?” I found some of the comments worth keeping.
Why on earth would you have to delete the entire post, and not just whatever comments that are contentious?
“Nice”
http://rebaneruminations.typepad.com/rebanes_ruminations/2010/03/the-sad-tale-of-anna-haynes.html
Ironic, indeed. No need for me to belabor that point further, I suppose.
I’m seeing “How Low Can You Go” OK–sanitized, I presume. (In a way, I see the verb as quite fitting, IYKWIM.)
Tamino,
don’t take it lying down. Appeal with WordPress, and send a copy of the post plus comments to the desmoggers. They love this kind of thing :-)
Tamino,
Sorry to hear about this mess. Consider taking this case to DeSmogblog as suggested by poster “Gavin’s Pussycat”.
So WUWT can libel scientists at will, without consequence, and WP has now instructed you to remove the thread? Something is amiss.
A lot is not being said here, and I am not only referring to censorship. Why and how was WP pressured into making their statement concerning “Greg”?
Does Lucia’s blog provide any way of contacting her privately? It looks like the “private msg” functionality of her “contact” page has been broken since the beginning of the year.
And does anyone know if the meaning of the verb “to follow” has changed recently?
(As for the fellow who’s the subject of this post, the less said the better.)
Victim-bully post removed by victim-bully.
I believe the current phrase of the moment is “the irony it burns”… ;-)
Wait a minute, since when did things on the internet have to be true? I don’t want to upset those delicate flowers over in the WordPress law offices, but occasionally incorrect statements do get published on the internet. Like, for example, the statement below that I found in a RealClimate comment section:
“Finally, it would seem to this almost layman (who abandoned Physics, after earning a BS, for electrical engineering) that the high energy neutron flux would tend not to correlate well over the short term to GCR modulated by the sun’s magnetic field (I believe this is the dominant effect claimed by Svensmark) since, iirc, uncharged particles tend to not be affected by magnetic fields. ”
See? The poor person making that statement has no clue that the high-energy neutrons are produced solely by charged particle GCR interactions in the atmosphere, and as such GCR modulation due to a changing solar magnetic field strength does affect the high-energy neutron flux measured here on Earth. That statement gives the impression that the person who wrote it thinks there are free neutrons in the primary GCR field. Perhaps he/she missed the class where they talked about the neutron lifetime.
For calibration – a comment at Lucia’s blog signed “Greg Goodknight” (#46230, June 21st, 2010 at 10:48 am ) calls this current Tamino post a “diatribe”.
Is that what Judith Curry has been talking about for some time now, “diatribes” of scientists??
And this is why it’s best to host on your own server.
Anna, on what post at Lucia’s is the comment you reference?
Oh.
http://rankexploits.com/musings/2010/development-tamino-deletes-post/#comment-46255
No PDA, it was an earlier post on that blog; it should be pretty easy to find.
(and sorry, but I don’t feel comfortable linking there)
sounds like censorship, in your free country.
GG and traffic reports. http://jeffpelline.wordpress.com/2010/05/26/its-mavember-thanks-to-snow-in-tahoe/
I’ve been getting private emails from the gentleman in question, gloating that tamino received a “spanking” and this is why I was having trouble reading the blog.
Please rest assured that “God is not dead, nor doth he sleep.” People who seem to be getting away with something will eventually be judged for their deeds. M. Bonne-Nuit needs to read Luke 13:3 and 5.
BPL: Indeed – I quite agree with you. The world has not gone away! This is something that the contrarians may one day realise. There will sure be some squirming at that point!
Cheers – John
While we disagree on a great deal irt climate, I agree that censorship is bad. Especially of those with whom I disagree.
I hope that he-who-whines-if-spoken-of experiences an appropriate karmic payback, and sooner than later.
And who approved this message?
Don’t forget the K, in the middle of the last name.
It looks as though this troll has a number of hobbyhorses and a consistent strategy of harassment and personal attacks. See “Goodnight” on math education, of all things:
http://www.daily-jeff.com/news/article_no_comments/3115712?page=0
On this thread “Greg” threw out four posts in a row, all deleted as inflammatory:
Sad little troll.
Tamino, perhaps you should force “Mr. Goodknight” to take legal action. In WordPress-land, he just has to make an accusation to cause trouble. In the real world, he has to show there is a case to answer, AND he has to prove harm. I think “Mr Goodknight” is an idiot – a statement which is not libellous because a) it is my opinion, b) it does not harm “Mr Gooknight’s” reputation because “Mr Goodknight” has no reputation to damage, since he is just an anonymous buzzing noise on the Internet. And truth, of course, is an absolute defence.
If you don’t take action, you risk opening yourself up to a flood of nuisance claims to WordPress from deniers who think you have put their nose out of joint.
WordPress should have a mechanism for forcing frivolous claimers to go to court or slink away in shame and embarrassment.
Tamino has a day job. We all have better things to do than to get involved with the legal system even if we are in the right. Unfortunatly I doubt it would change much of anything Open Mind-wise or WordPress-wise if Tamino chose to expend fiscal AND temporal resources on this issue.
The pragmatic person picks their battles.
Kind of missing the point. Forcing “Mr Goodknight” to put his claims on a legal footing will cause him to rudely discover that he has no grounds for a complaint. Even if he is misguided enough to waste money on filing, the judge will throw it out instantly.
The courts are less forgiving of frivolous lawsuits than TV shows would have you believe.
So, the chances of “Mr Goodknight” actually seeking legal remedy is very, very small, since he knows he hasn’t a leg to stand on (actually, that might not be true – he does seem very deluded about what actually constitutes his rights – but any real lawyer should be able to set him straight before he wastes his money). And when WordPress reverse their decision after litigation fails to materialise, the “me too”ers at WUWT and elsewhere will be far less inclined to play “abuse the reporting system” with WordPress in general and Open Mind in particular.
Didactylos – I agree with you about the legal footing part, but I’m not so sure it would play out that way.
It seems that Mr.[edit] has threatened WordPress (WP), or at least in some way has led them to believe that they could share some liability. WP (being liability adverse) put the screws to Tamino. If Tamino does not cooperate with WP they will likely be within their rights to cancel his contract. In order to prevent WP from doing this Tamino would have to convince them of his case – something that WP is unlikely to bother with without legal counsel (even if they were sympathetic). It would require considerable investment of Tamino’s time, effort and likely involve legal council just for Tamino to force Mr [edit]’s hand since the call is not really his.
Personally I would rather Tamino continue to put his effort into where his interested and expertise is.
arch stanton has it absolutely right.
And even if Tamino cared enough to set up his own wordpress site at another ISP, Mr. [Edit] would just chase him there, and cause similar pain.
Not worth it. Even people like Lucia suggest that Mr. [Edit] is off following his own aura, very much alone.
“Even people like Lucia suggest that Mr. [Edit] is off following his own aura, very much alone.”
Yes, thank you. I was thinking that also before my verbs tensed up and my pleurals and brain reached some kind of singularity.
The more I think about this the more I think that everyone involved has over reacted a bit. That includes Tamino for deleting the entire thread, it comes across as somewhat petulant even if its not intended that way.
The old adage is ever true: “dont argue on the internet because even when you win you still look retarded.”
Didn’t I read somewhere that this “gentleman” claimed to have a degree in Physics based on two terms of study? And how can we doubt him, for surely Goodknight is an honourable man.
Out of curiosity, why isn’t Watts defending your right to blog?
LOL
Watts just did
Good for Watts. If I could post there under my nom de web I’d even tell him so.
Yeap, I’ve seen it. I’m pleasantly surprised.
Tamino may defend your right to say it, but not everyone will :(
I hate to say this, but I think Tamino is taking in general the actions of a “reasonable man.”
When someone starts this sort of thing, it’s best to move deliberately – the same thing happens with DMCA claims.
I don’t think it’s showing weakness. When people start threatening action (which I have to believe is what’s happened) to a free blogging service, it’s good to first do what the service asks, then discuss and negotiate. That means both the blogging service and you have “taken action.”
Don’t worry about it Tamino. It just means the ‘How Low Can You Go’ post is further up the list ;)
Karma.
Richard C // June 21, 2010 at 8:57 pm — Harvey Mudd College (now #2 undergraduate only engg school in the USA) requires two semesters of physics for all students irrespective of intended major. Herr Gutritter probably did a BS Physics before an MSEE.
I’m not suprised. Tamino defending Watts’ freedom of expression was truly pearls before swine. Is Watts now going to defend Tamino’s freedom? I wouldn’t hold my breath.
As for the-one-who-may-not-be-named, this has allowed me to remove what little doubt I had on which version of his encounter with Anna Haynes is closer to to reality. I’d wish him good luck but he’s gone already…
The irony burns hot indeed…
And I always thought Nevada City, CA was such a *mellow* place.
Let’s see…a Republican Central Committee fistfight, threats of violence against Quakers, census workers greeted with shotguns and crossbows, a severed ruminant head at the Dem campaign office, nails in someone else’s driveway…
Yup. We’re mellow.
(though most of this was some years back; we really *are* more mellow now. And sometimes I think I know why.)
[edit]
[Response: We don’t need further reports of the crazy goings-on in Nevada County.]
With regard to Mr. Goodnight, what can one say but
[Edit]
That he should be so [Edit] and have such little regard for [Edit] merely shows him to be [Edit]
Hey, this is fun!
Wait, let me get this straight. I, psuedo-anonymously voluntarily make comments on a blog and get into a stupid argument where the veracity of my claimed credentials is questioned. I can now demand takedown of all that material via a claim of libel?
If so, not only is someone on the internet wrong, but someone at WP is very likely wrong on the law.
Wait, did I just hear somebody say “Weeeaaaaaaaggghhh!!!”
http://www.sciencebits.com/touch-and-go
He claims to have graduated from Harvey Mudd in the 70’s. Look for comments in this thread. Mr. GG alleges he only looked into climate change to do his civic duty and was convinced by “Celestial Climate Drivers” by Veizer that it’s the galaxy itself causing trouble, not humans.
I can understand why they wouldn’t want to be named in a suit. Win or lose, it’s expensive.
You should simply take the blog off of wordpress.org
It isn’t all that difficult to setup a blog on a neutral hosting service (Amazon EC2 or cheaper competitors, etc) these days. I’m sure that you could find help setting it up.
The infamous “celestial drivers” paper, of all papers, is what convinced that self-proclaimed physicist that an enhanced greenhouse effect wasn’t causing global climate change? Wow.
Methinks that Greg you-know-what is a little bit of a usurpator with that K in his name.
The real Good Knight, le Bon Chevalier, was this guy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Terrail,_seigneur_de_Bayard
Revered, and even mourned by his adversaries. A far cry from some blogger.
Tamino,
Perhaps Anthony Watts will come to your defense?
It seems Mr [edit] may have “previous”, judging from this and this on The Math Forum. In a boring week you could trawl all his comms on that forum to check both sides of the various arguments (if you were so inclined!), since you can search on the author there.
Richard C: Out of curiosity, why isn’t Watts defending your right to blog?
BPL: This is just a guess, since I don’t know the man, but could it be… abject, flaming hypocrisy, coupled with ingratitude toward a man who publicly defended HIM?
The problem is,for Some People(tm), the very concept that there could be any common ground between themselves and someone they have an argument with is anathema. After all, this could lead to the establishment of engagement, of rules of debate – things that they absolutely cannot allow to happen, because it would disturb their ideological purity.
Of course, the post and thread is still in google cache, there being no Internet memory hole..
BTW, Tamino, if you want to move your blog to http://BartonPaulLevenson.com, I’d be happy to have you there–yahoo hosts it. If you need more space than I’ve got, let me know.
Frankly, I think Tamino is taking the right approach. He-whose-name-must-not-be-spoken has no case, no facts, no intelligence and no clue. By squealing all the way to WP, he has in effect admitted as much. He has made himself an object of ridicule and derision much more effectively than anyone else could have.
WRT “celestial drivers”, don’t underestimate the appeal of explaining the unknown in terms of the unknown. It ain’t science, but it’s much harder to disprove than for example the drivel spouted by Miskolczi or G&T where we do understand the science. I’ve known some very smart folks–even pretty decent scientists–who have succumbed to the charms of this anti-science fallacy. Let’s face it, nobody wants to find out that AGW is the answer to the Fermi Paradox (particularly by experiment). We all wish the crisis would go away. Some of us just aren’t willing to give up on the concept of physical reality to accomplish that.
The ironing, it burns!
A sanitised version of the how-low-can-they-go post would be good for posterity. As for how low can they go, even lower is the answer, so it would seem.
At least when this kind of devious WP /blog tactic happens in the future we will have a name for it; as in ….“He pulled a G…n….”.
Sounds appropriate to me.
Some seem to display their academic credentials in public places as if they were some sort of “Medal of Intellectual Knighthood”, but credentials really have no bearing whatsoever on the validity of one’s arguments.
Nature does not give a rat’s patootie whether one has a degree from (or faculty position at) Harvard Mud College.
And (sadly) from what Horatio has seen (ie, IHHO*), having a degree from (or even faculty position at) a highly ranked physics program does not in itself appear to be proof of competence in physics (or even basic logic).
*but that would be just Horatio’s humble opinion, of course. ~@:>
Hey guys, just came over in a show of support. While I almost always disagree with the opinions here, I’m absolutely horrified by the censorship. I don’t know who this Greg Goodknight is nor what was said, but the person needs to get a grip. There can be no dialogue or debate with his approach. I am a skeptic, but I’ll absolutely defend your right to freely express yourselves.
Best wishes,
James
“on the other we have Tamino’s blog who has been the target of some legal complaint which prompted the removal of a post, ironically, one defending my rights. While I don’t agree much with Tamino, it is his “place”. He can say what he wants, it is his right.”
A lesson here: When you care so much about what others say about you, you not only confirm their judgments, but establish yourself as a crybaby, too.
T: I am sure that you would placate WordPress (who are generally good guys IMHO) by simply deleting He whose name must not be mentioned’s comments, and any others that refer. Your original post should not be a problem.
Regards
Whereof one cannot speak one is perforce to remain silent.
What famous philosopher did I paraphrase?
Everything that is from world, is how it is.
Does this mean the unmentionable person is not of this world?
Still exists in the google cache, although w/o goodknight’s comments. Several about him tho.
Will have to consult Ms Manners about this.
Ms. Manners and and Johnny Cache go wayback.
What a sad little troll.
Sorry, that was how the opening had been translated to my native language, but, there’s also this one, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_language_argument . In order to communication to work, one has to have some common definitions, like ‘edible – something another something can eat* without this something causing harm to itself.’
*’eat – one of the minimum of two things individual animals (kingdom of living beings) have to do to replenish themselves’ (see:secretion).
blah, enough of this. Happy Summer solstice (the longest day in a year, though this greeting is late for this year ) and Midsummer (the festivities celebrating John the Baptist (the historicity of whom is questioned by some atheists), Summer solstice (though the festivities are not usually on the time of the solstice) summer in general (the warm season**, which has increased, somewhat, in duration here, between 1970s and 2000s) to you!
FYI: He’s posted a mea culpa of sorts on WUWT:
L Nettles,
Well, I take back what I said about Watts. He’s at least honorable enough to defend someone who defended him.
Two things:
1. May I point out that what’s happened is actually extremely clever. Think about who’s been harmed, who benefits, whose time has been taken up & away from addressing real-life climate news, & what remains online for newcomers to judge by. And what sort of precedents have been set, by the views expressed.
2. FYI, here’s Eli’s post on the incident(s).
Since newcomers don’t know the people he refers to (and since I don’t seem to be able to comment on blogs using Blogger’s $%^ newfangled interface), here’s a remedial Cast of Characters:
(pls correct where inaccurate)
Roger – Roger Pielke Jr., political scientist with let’s-not-put-a-price-on-carbon opinions on climate policy
Roger’s dad – Roger Pielke Sr., emeritus contrarian climate scientist
Eli – the climate scientist proprietor (and head lagomorph ) of weblog Rabett Run.
Watts – Anthony Watts, contrarian Chico CA weathercaster host of blog Watts Up With That
Judith Curry: climate scientist who accords contrarians the benefit of the doubt, in the good faith&intent dept.
Joe: Joe Romm, whose combative, heavily-read, the-time-for-action-is-now blog ClimateProgress.org you should be reading too
(and for further info, the
Warming101 custom search is at your service…)
“(and for further info, the
Warming101 custom search is at your service…)”
Oh top stuff! No more having to sift through pages of shill and nutjob search results all repeating the very same thing (literally). Thanks!
J, glad to help.
Also – I noticed on another blog you were defending the (potential) relevance of my bio PhD, to climate science. But the truth is, it’s old and the subject matter *isn’t* relevant – what is, is that (as with any natural science degree program, I suspect) you learn humility and a respect for the expertise of the scientific community, and you develop a gut understanding of the self-correcting nature of science.
An MSEE program doesn’t do this – nor does a BS physics (at least not an ancient one)
Anna, it was pointed out to me. Unfortunately, biology is most certainly a part of climate science, and feeble attempts to restrict climate science to the IPCC, GCM’s and climate sensitivity to CO2 doubling just doesn’t pass muster. I dare say you are certainly as qualified (at the very, very least), to examine the science and have an informed opinion.
David, I hardly think the Tractatus had this situation in mind…
Judith goes beyond that, I think. Since Climategate, she’s gone from having one foot in the McIntyre camp to having pretty much moved in, leaving perhaps one big toe dangling in the science camp for appearances.
Perhaps I’m being too harsh, though.
Gavin’s Pussycat // June 23, 2010 at 5:53 pm — Surely not.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tractatus_Logico-Philosophicus
Anna, Eli posted using firefox w/o a problem, both anonymously and using a google ID. No idea what is happening
Let’s not forget Don Baccus, photographer, birder, Postgres expert, with no training in climate science, no papers published, but goes around chastising actual climate scientists and their points of view.
Anon, thank you for once again demonstrating that the denialist side is an utter stranger to truth.
anon, have you ever considered applying your crack sleuthing skills to another pseudonym: Steven Goddard?
Yes, that’s me. How many times did you have to type “dhogaza” into Google before you managed to spell it correctly?
Now, which climate scientists do I chastise?
Anthony Watts? Stephen Goddard?
Snicker snicker.
I’m enjoying the irony of a post made by ‘anon’ that has as it’s sole purpose the outing of the name behind a pseudonym.
I don’t understand the denialist’s obsession with pseudonyms.
Jealousy.
We got all the fun ones:)
… or possibly that they simply have no imagination/creativity, which they have demonstrated time and again by their rehash of the same hackneyed ideas.
dhogaza (Is that spelled right?)
Beautiful photos.
Horatio lived in Utah for 15 years (and also in Southern AZ for a couple) and spent time in several o f the places that you have photographed (Arches, Bear River, Organ Pipe, Saguaro, ).
Took a lot of photos over the years but the vast majority are slides. Have enlarged some of them and used these as basis for some paintings, but most of them just sit around in boxes and collect dust.
Anyway, keep up the great work!
Thanks for the kind words, Horatio!
Those you see on my ancient website are all cheap Kodak PhotoCD scans from slides (that technology is dead, which is too bad, because in batches of 500 I could get 2000×3000 pixel scans from 35mm chrome for $0.95 each).
I’ve got a bunch of digital stuff from the last several years, and unscanned medium format stuff, that I’ve not put online. Need to arrange a month or so of hard work to do so.
“dhogaza” is spelled right, of course – it’s actually “dho gaza”, an arabic term for a net invented a thousand years or so ago to catch falcons for the falconry trade. I’ve done a variety of bird-related field work over the years, as a volunteer for the BLM, USFS, USF&W and a variety of non-profits, including 20 years experience trapping and banding raptors. I’m very fond of dho gazas because they’re a very effective yet safe net trap.
I have nothing to hide regarding my identity, and like Lee, I don’t understand the denialist obsession with pseudonyms nor their somewhat gloating pride in their ability to use Google …
Lee, denialists lack the irony detection gene, among several others, mind.
Just for the record, “anon” has published my real name on Keith Kloor’s blog, as well.
Apparently anon’s little heart is just swelling with pride over its new-found google skills.
Apparently, the dho gaza also works well as a trap for for the common twit.
They’re just emulating the Watts “gotcha” attitude everytime he calls by real name a poster who has used a pseudonym to challenge him. imitation being the most sincere form of flattery, Watts would probably approve.
I miss the kodak slides too. Although I didn’t produce pics as good as yours, I used to be very fond of Kodachrome and Ektachrome; in fact, I hardly ever used anything else. You couldn’t beat the price for that kind of quality. The Kodachrome 25 was the best if you had the light.
So is Steve Goddard, really Steve Goddard? Or is he another case of a ‘skeptic’ pretending to be someone who they are not, like McI pretending to be Nigel Persaud ;)
Ah, Velvia!
Rattus I too loved Fujichrome Velvia…do they still sell it?
Velveeta was cheesy – but I shot a lot of it.
For most bird species I preferred Kodak E100SW, and photo editors seemed to love it.
But I went digital some years back, and would never go back to chrome. There’s something nice about shooting a medium that has a dynamic range on the order of 10 stops (if you shoot raw), vs. Velvia and its 5 stops (barely, if you were nice to it).
E100SW was a sweet emulsion. I really liked it too, gave generally more faithful color reproduction than Velvia and was a bit easier to deal with.
But really, digital is the stuff, it is so much easier as a medium to work in.
It always amazed me that so few photographers picked up on E100SW, with its sweet color palette and, as you say, being a bit easier to deal with (easily a half stop more dynamic range, and lower saturation, yet punchy).
Enough, though, this ain’t photo.net :)
I did enjoy developing my own slides. But the chemicals…….ugh. Yes, I too now use digital exclusively, although I have some ILFORD FP4 lurking in the fridge. Need to dust off my manual SLR and use that this summer.
I really think not trumpeting everything has value – prevents them from being able to lazily harrass people as easily, for one. For that reason, I think this tactic is disturbing and something of an ad baculum.
Also, clearly, posting pseudonymously creates greater distance between an employer or institution and what the person posting or commenting says.
I hope they don’t find out my real name is not Sam, but Conrad Lipschitz.
MapleLeaf
Velvia still available I think as here with this Channel Islands (UK) supplier:
http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=100049
As for Kodachrome II this stuff has lasted best amongst the variety that I once used – devil to scan though and ASA (ISO) 25 was a bit slow for shooting jets approaching a carriers deck at around 200 knts, but we managed.
Got some good night shots though. ;-)
Get some of your own server space for a few quid per year and install WordPress yourself (from WordPress.org).
Looks Kate at Climate Sight had a similar problem:
A suggestion is to not allow any comments that are anonymous. There is a reason that newspapers have had this rule for many, many years.
If you had a real email address, it would be quite easy for those of us who blog on science, to make sure he has no opportunity to post anything that would receive comments that he could demand be removed.
How about Science Blogs? Many others use that without apparent problems. http://scienceblogs.com/
I’ve dueled several times over the past couple of years with Goodnight in the pages of the Union in Grass Valley, Ca. He can be bombastic and much like Monckton (one of his favorites) uses his knowledge of science to misinform. He has said several times that Monckton, for the most part, has the science correct. That tells you all you need to know about this troll.
Jim Groom,
What knowledge of science. I’ve seen no expertise from HIM WHOSE NAME MUST NOT BE SPOKEN. He speaks only in generalities and assertions–never backed with evidence.
Sensitivity Issues?
A delightful piece of prose Mr Algeranon.
Tamino,
Read comment 85!
http://www.realclimate.org/?comments_popup=530
Silence is golden.
David Benson,
Or as Blogo would say, “Silence is *bleepin* golden.”
Ever wondered why, if silence is [bleepin] golden, there is so much base chatter?
My working hypothesis is that perhaps it’s because “Shakespeare’s monkeys” at their keyboards have at last somehow managed to cobble together a few multi-letter-string collections that make sense (in isolation/out of context) and are wont to espouse their new-found proficiencies in wordsmithery.
Douglas Adams character Ford Prefect speculated that if people ever shut up for any length of time, their brains might start working.
Silence is bleepin’ golden precisely because it is so rare.