My new soapbox.

Sorry to be away so long. Facebook was already a distraction, but now I'm engaged with a majot time eater, the Huffington Post. I had saved the site as a news source, and visited every couple of days, but a month ago I signed up as a member so I could post a comment regarding a Kennedy wife who got a DUI. "There but for the grace of God go I." and, what the heck, two people fanned me. Wasn't that nice.

A couple days later, I read an article about a scientist who'd was being hounded off Obama's scientific team because he had written a few years ago about feeling the gay community was responsible for the aids epidemic, and, besides, the writer of the post said, the scientist was a "global warming denier" I posted that I'd been reading lately that some scientists were investigating the effects of solar activity on climate change, and proposing that hydrocarbons in the atmosphere might not be as important a factor in climate change as thought a few years ago, and also,that I didn't think his position re gays and aids was completely unreasonabe.

I don't know who was more upset, gays, global warming activists, or gay global warming activists, but I got a lot on negative responses. Well, I didn't feel that strongly about either of these subjects, so I answered the comments in fairly non-confrontational words, saying I really wasn't expert in either area.

Then I commented on an article about the Gulf disaster to the effect that Obama should have dropped a nuke in that hole within a week of the blow out and sealed the gusher off, and that BP was fooling around with ineffectual measures to appear to be doing something while actually stalling for time to drill relief wells and recover theit investment. Manwhile the environment was suffering untold damage. I wasn't trying to take an extreme position, but a few people felt that they had to tell me what an idiot I was. I didn't demure this time, responding with references to an aricle about Russia sealing a blown out well that way.

Then of course there was the Israelis and the flotilla. Obviously, I would havw words with a few people on such an event as that.

Meanwhile Janett has been stressing to me that Facebooks is family recreation and not a place to argue about politics, and I pretty much agree. Besides now I have Huffington Post. The novelty will soon wear off, I hope, and I'll resume my Faceboolk and Blogger activity. On the bright side, it was probably a good thing that I was distracted from college football last week while this Mega Conference tempest blew itself out. I think that episode ended OK for Notre Dame, and hopefully left the Big TelevEN with a little egg on its collective face.