The Next Best Book Club discussion

Trapped in a Dan Brown novel reading/watching the news?

CERN is a real place? Recreating the Big Bang?

Is someone going to blow-up the Vatican?

Brenda.
I do my best to stay away from all news stations and channels. The world is a scary place. I like living in my own, self induced happy place. The less I know around me. The better.

Otherwise I think I would be living in my houses crawlspaces, eating out of tin cans with a keroscene lamp as my only source of light and heat!! (or would become like Mel Gibsons character in Conspiracy)

It's funny that you mentioned this topic Brenda. I'm currently on the 3rd book of His Dark Material Trilogy by Pullman. The issues that Pullman deals with in his series are the same issues being raised today. Everytime I read it feels like deja vu.

National Geographic had a really interesting article about the Large Hadron Collider a few months ago. I don't really see much cause for concern, though I wish these experiments were going on in the vacuum of space. I think that's more because I wish all things were done in the vacuum of space than any concern about the safety of the world. Besides, we're faced with so many mundane ways of killing each other every day- child soldiers, famine, suicide bombings, etc.- that I for one am interested in a death by science fiction option.

Yes, Brenda, it definitely gets scarier everytime I look at or read the news. :/ Like Lori, I try not to watch it too often.

that I for one am interested in a death by science fiction option.

Logan, I had never considered it but now that you mention it....although I have no interest in being tortured by aliens.

Damn, I knew I should have got my husband to build that underground shelter.

Oh Ann... that was too funny!

Thinking about Hawking controlling the thing...I had an image of him floating in zero gravity flash through my mind. Anyone else see that? I'd feel pretty uncomfortable with him at the controls too. Poor guy...
^^;

That would be my luck. I would be sitting in my safe little shelter, drinking my bottled water, eating my canned vienna sausage, then BAMMM!!! What's a girl to do?

Hey, Ann...don't tell Boof or Ken about any of your plans...I've learned in the "Random Thought" thread that they are secretly colluding to control the earth one book lover at a time...resistance is the only option.

ANYTHING BUT THE HAIR!

OH, the humanity!

OCD has forced me to relocate this thread under a more fitting catagory...

Not that Im not loving the visions of Hawkings floating in zero gravity or Ann eating her tin can dinner, or Ken and Boof holding us against our will giving us homemade haircuts and confiscating our books....

Tee hee

Yahooooooooooooooooooooooo! I am with you on that one. What a great flick.

Ken, this is a tangent, but speaking of hoarding books, did you ever see the Twilight Zone where Burgess Meredith is left on earth with all his books and then goes blind. What a horrible thought to the likes of us.

Well, a couple of days ago I read something on the Verichip that's being implemented in the US for medical purposes.

I'm not a fan of conspiracy theories but, quite frankly, its potential for misuse seems to me like a good basis for the creation a brave new world. :-/

Ken, your questions related to the experiment on going at CERN had been and are my questions, too. The moral aspect. Almost all, at least in the media, are engrossed with the explanations on the Big Bang and the bosons and speed and the features of the machine. But, at the end, which is the most important aspect of this endevor?

Actually, regarding the CERN experiment, I am just amazed that a bunch of scientists are spending (wasting?) such a cr*pload of money trying to figure out how the universe was created... instead of spending said cr*pload of money to figure out how to stop us from destroying it!

You know, Andrea, it was a book that changed my view on the actual environmental actions. Am apparently fiction one. State of Fear, by Michael Crichton.

Hi Mirela!

I'm not sure I follow you, since I don't know what were your views before reading that book (or now, for that matter :p)

Before reading that book I was 100% convinced by the rightness of the evironmentalist movements. Now I have doubts. Even I didn't studied the domanin in detail, I have some notions. What's strange is that year by year the causes of the effect (affected environment) are not efficiently mitigated, even the newspapres are fool with concerns, initiatives, programs, promotion, funds, conferences, books etc.

I read State of Fear, too. It really makes you think. Well, it made me think, TRUST NO ONE! Now I'm totally paranoid and asking, "what's in it for him/her" when they go spouting figures regarding the environment.

Another issue I'm paranoid about is this whole moving to digital TV in February and the government is giving everyone two $40 coupons for a digital converter box. Why? What's in it for the government to keep the population glued to the TV to subsidize $80 for every household in the nation??

We spend waaaaay too much time in front of that damn box. The government really shouldn't be encouraging that, but should be spending that money to get people off the couches and helping the community or even, yes, you guessed it, READING!

I'm sure there is more to this than my meager brain can think of....

sheeeeesh I hate being away there is way too much to catch up on. **LE Sigh**

The government giving money so everyone can have their TV fix is just too much like the Roman Circus - keep the population happy and unaware by providing "free" entertainment! What will they be doing while we're all watching Grey's Anatomy and CSI?

Looking at that post, I think I'm ready for a role in "Conspiracy Theory" ! As for the scientific thing - I think God is still a few steps ahead of all of us, and they're gonna be surprised!

I read the title about the CERN experiment in the Alps, but my boyfriend explained me more about it. Which is great, but he just chose a too perfect place to do that: on our way to Switzerland coming from Italy!

I actually also wonder why they spend so much money on it and then the scientists answering on a question about the risks! They are practically no risks, they're really small, maybe 0.01% risk or something....Sorry but I don't even care about how much risk there is, jsut that there is a risk to all this1 But then again, if it happens that we and the earth would dissapear..we want know anything about it afterwards and if we do well then we found out that we do remember something afterwards...okay I am rambling...and better get of the site if I am going back to threads of this far.....