Y2K Day came and went. Y2Kowards are slapping themeselves right now, I'm sure. It was, as some earlier fellow mentioned, the biggest non-event in human history. The only thing I'm worried about right now is pissed-off survivalists . . . I'd like to take this opportunity to send kudos out to Peter Jennings, who covered Y2K Day from midnight in the tiny Pacific island nation of Kiribati to midnight on the West Coast -- poor guy was exhausted at the end of it all. He and ABC are sure to win some Emmys for their coverage. Also kudos to PBS and the BBC for their coverage. Anyway, it gives me great pleasure to announce the final AQOTM winner of the pseudomillenium, with a whopping 18 votes . . . JOHN POPELISH!! "I think that naming your ignorance God and pretending that, having named it, you have converted ignorance to knowledge is a sorry approach to the unknown." Written by John Popelish Nominated by Tony Livernois, seconded by Liz Congratulations to John! Nobody else really even came close . . . second place goes to both Chibiabos and Doug Schiffer, with seven votes apiece. Congrats to all our nominees. Here is the voting record. Be sure to join me for the December 2000 contest, the last month of the REAL millenium! :o) P.S. I think I'll have chocolate ice cream after all . . . --1-- "I know it is scary to see your foundation crumbling, but I think you will find it is not your feet that are made of clay, it's those ridiculous shoes you've been wearing. It may take a while, but eventually you will discover that you really can run better without them." Written by Nicholas Wren Nominated by Andrew Lias, seconded by Arturo Magidin VOTES 4 atheist@home Arturo Magidin Rik Angelico * * * * --2-- "But you wouldn't have the sense to realize it and that's the beauty of xtianity, its looping stupidity. Reason checks in but never checks out." Written by Ordz Nominated by Panama Floyd, seconded by stoney * * * * --3-- [Re: school shootings, which happen in mostly Republican, strongly pro-Christian parts of the U.S.] "Given this fact, how much religion do we need in less pious parts of the nation to avoid these tragedies? Are there better places to post the Ten Commandments, such as printing them on ammo boxes or Christian Coalition voter guides? Or perhaps we need a better moral code. One that doesn't put murder and coveting your neighbors's ox on the same moral plane. One that takes no ethical position on the wearing of poly/cotton blends but stands unambiguously against slavery. One where raping and plundering are *never* acceptable activities but where cooking a goat in its mother's milk is merely revolting cuisine, not an offense to God. Just a thought." Written by Sartyr Nominated by Mike Dahlke, seconded by Daniel Dawson VOTES 3 CT The Great Yang Hu Scott Davidson * * * * --4-- "I just wish people would realize that these kids aren't doing this because they're atheists and they aren't doing it because they're Christians. They're doing it because they have some serious problems. Atheism or Christianity are rarely the real underlying cause. Saying God is the solution OR the problem is not going to help. Seeing that they're troubled and trying to help them before they go postal is the solution." Written by Jester Nominated by Michelle Malkin, seconded by Peter Kelly VOTES 3 ClayeSkye Michelle Malkin Frank Wustner * * * * --5-- "Everything written in the Bible doesn't have to be false if there is no god, but that just because some things might be true, one cannot conclude that there must be a god." Written by Richard Harlos Nominated by Nemo, seconded by Townes de Wombat VOTES 1 Ed Stoebenau * * * * --6-- "Would you trust your life to a man who offers to build your house based upon faith in his ability to do so because, he assures you, he once read a book describing the process? That's the absolute value of faith: mindless acceptance." Written by Mike Dahlke Nominated by Chibiabos, seconded by Mike Smith VOTES 3 Chibiabos Mike Smith Tukla Ratte * * * * --7-- "Human nature takes a lot more to change it than repeatedly hurling ASCII into the Usenet void." Written by Will Jenkins Nominated by Richard Harlos, seconded by Landis Ragon VOTES 1 Charles Ward * * * * --8-- "I cannot speak for the others here, but I find it difficult to hate something that doesn't exist. Instead, I hate what has been done in the name of this something. I hate the blatant irrationality of it. I hate the way it suppresses reason, exploits guilt and fear, promotes intolerance, exhorts its adherents to violence (actual and ritual), makes promises it cannot keep, employs threats and subterfuge to keep itself alive and viable.... I hate the simple non-necessity of it; as if humans are not capable of behaving in acceptable ways without it, but that with it, those who behave badly can ultimately be forgiven. I hate the fact that so many people can be so guiled by such a ridiculous set of Late Stone Age Middle Eastern myths to the point of injecting them into every aspect of our lives here, now, two to four millennia later and half a world away. I hate what it has done to nameless millions immolated, gassed, impaled, shot, flayed, hung, bombed and slaughtered by the "righteous" . . . When it gets right down to it, I guess I hate the fact that this newsgroup even has to exist." Written by Chibiabos Nominated by Scott Pestana, seconded by Fish VOTES 7 Michael Nash Tom Stoudt JS Locust Scott Pestana Robyn Mr. Douglas Sylvan Korvus * * * * --9-- (In response to:) God is Love. And Love is something which can be felt, experienced, and put into action, if not comprehended, by almost all thinking beings. "Oh, please. I love my wife and my children; I even love my fellow man. I think human beings are the coolest, most wonderful creatures ever to exist, and I think that it's great that we continue to struggle against the forces that have bound our existence: fear, ignorance, and death. But I don't need some magical space monkey explanation to understand why I feel this way; biology by itself helps explain that quite well enough." Written by Elf Sternberg Nominated by Joe Zawadowski, seconded by Clothaire VOTES 2 Pat Kiewicz Michael Alexander * * * * --10-- "If I grant my son the freedom to choose any choice of ice creme flavor he wants, it would be damn sick of me to torture him with a blowtorch for choosing anything but strawberry. It would be even more sick of me to never show my face to my son, but to leave hundreds of contradictory messages lying around - in the form of old musty books. Some books claimed that he would be thrown into a furnace for choosing chocolate. Some claimed that he would crushed in a vice for choosing vanilla. Still others claimed that he would be mangled for choosing a flavor with nuts. Then, years later, after he had made up his mind, I suddenly burst into existence in front of him and say "AHA! You didn't choose strawberry! See, right here, in my REAL instruction book I said "blowtorch for non-strawberry!!!" and I whip out the torch...." Written by Doug Schiffer Nominated by Liz, seconded by Mike Smith VOTES 7 Euri Chris Izzo Hoyer Liz Michelle Martin raven1 Daniel Clark * * * * --11-- "And, in all honesty, I find that the suggestion of a lack of an afterlife means nothing to hope for a rather infantile claim. It is as if you were set before a feast. In this feast, there are sensations and joys of every kind. Savory steaks and hams are juicy and delicious. Crisp apples are fresh and have a remarkable squirt of juice when you bite into them. You see a feast of every imaginable delight and think "If I'm a good child and eat this feast, I might get dessert." Who needs dessert when the meal is so grand." Written by wingedbeast Nominated by Fish, seconded by Pat Kiewicz VOTES 4 Michael Moore John Hattan John Popelish Stoney * * * * --12-- "I think that naming your ignorance God and pretending that, having named it, you have converted ignorance to knowledge is a sorry approach to the unknown." Written by John Popelish Nominated by Tony Livernois, seconded by Liz VOTES 18 Kalle Helenius Mark Gradwell Todd Adamson Magyck Carl Funk George Ricker DJ Nozem Graham Wanless Paul Chefurka Nemo Mark Bilbo June Gill Sleepalot Dave Holloway Keith Brannen Landis Ragon Clothaire Maria Elena Quotemeister Dave This page accessed [an error occurred while processing this directive] times since Jan 14, 2000.