More bad science and who's to blame for Bradley's bad record??

Another article in the media for those interested in science...
but as is so common - the article is not very scientific - and instead shows publicity-hungry "scientists" offering little more than hopeful speculation.
If this stuff falls under the banner "Science" then I guess there's precious little left to put into the column "Conjecture"..

It's the AP story on page 2 of the PJ Star titled "Astronomers see more planets than stars"..

First - the headline is so totally false and inaccurate that it caused me to almost gag when I read it.
Do you know how many stars can be seen by astronomers?

-With the naked eye we can see at least 1000 stars - compared to only a half dozen or so planets visible - all within our own solar system (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn).

-Then with even the cheapest Sears catalog telescope - at least a million stars can be seen and still only about eight planets (you can add Uranus & Neptune).

-With the most elaborate telescopes, hundreds of millions - and even billions of stars are easily visible.
And yet as the article states - there's perhaps 700 planets CONFIRMED - and perhaps a few thousands more suspected...
anything beyond that is pure speculation....but they have NOT been seen as the headline states.

SO -- isn't the headline a bit misleading?? Isn't it NON-science and pure speculation that if they've found a few thousand planets then there must be BILLIONS??

Again -- science is - according to those who are scientists - all about the measurable, observable, provable, reproducible, and confirmable.
But this story is pure fantasy-speculation.

BUT still -- I have no problem with speculation - just be honest and call it that and don't lie and claim this is good science --- but this story even one-ups that...

One thing that this story also confirms is that the very things these SAME scientists believed to be facts just a few years ago are now totally overturned and they believe NEW "facts".

So.... just how factual are facts if they get revised every few years?? Hmmm -- sounds like we're really talking speculation and theories here and not facts.

The column says that just a few years ago - scientists believed it was NOT possible for planets to orbit a double star/sun...

they said...
"this type of two-sun system is too unstable to support planets"

BUT -- now they believe the total opposite - that it can happen...
I guess I wonder how sure can they be of some theory or concept if just a couple years ago it replaced a different theory or concept they thought was fact at that time?

Come on -- facts should not change and be substituted with "new facts"!
Just maybe a little caution and skepticism is due here but these guys sure don't think so -- they're raving about their new-found "facts"...

Just a few years ago - they were sure that these exoplanets (planets orbiting other stars) were rare - maybe only one in 100 or even 1000 stars had them.
Now they totally reverse that and say they are much common -- and speculate they may even be more common than stars (but the headline still remains totally false because nobody sees that many).

Then there's this statement...
"Because it's so hard to see these size planets, they must be pretty plentiful, (John) Johnson said. It's kind of like cockroaches.."

"must be plentiful"??? Again - just how scientific is that??? We don't see them, and it's quite difficult to see them - so let's speculate and say there MUST BE plenty of them!!!

Using that argument I could say it's "so hard to see pink elephants and little green men - thus they must be pretty plentiful!"

I don't claim to be any world renowned scientist but these guys are funny - they defy their own definition of science and substitute pure speculation whenever they want to grab some headlines - or maybe sell a book.

But you know where this is all headed -- it just goes with the claim many scientists make that since there's endless numbers of planets "out there" is somehow "proves" there must be intelligent life out there as well. (it's some effort to cheapen life on earth and make it less unique and special)

Baloney - it proves no such thing. IT IS MANDATORY by the very definition of science - that we have to observe some evidence of life before we say it's out there or even possibly out there...and we have observed NONE even after looking intensely for it for more than 6 or 7 decades.

In fact - the more planets we find - then the more the Fermi principle fits -- that if there's so many planets and they have intelligent life on them- then why doesn't at least one of them (intentionally or unintentionally) emit or send out a signal (as we earth people have done many times for decades in the form of electronic signals, laser signals, spacecraft like Voyager that even contained message for other intelligence to find, etc...)?
If there's life on any planet nearby or even close to nearby - then within a few years after intelligence gets to the electronic age we'd start receiving non-random electronic signals that can be interpreted as intelligently formed.
I am not saying it will never happen - we have no way of knowing but it sure hasn't happened yet!

S0 -- still - nothing - no evidence -- never has been and I believe never will be....
I think the evidence is clear - we are alone -- if we were not then why wouldn't at least ONE of those intelligent civilizations come and make contact -- just one????
And for those who say they have then they have to invent to "conspiracy" arguments or the "someone's hiding it" arguments...

The most laughable "pseudo-science" is on History Channel in the form of the "Ancient Aliens" shows -- how laughable is it that aliens came to earth long ago - when they built pyramids, when the Native Americans scrawled their cave-man like drawings, and even when Hitler was fighting WWII.

AND - in every case they gave the earth civilizations NEW technology. But still there's no evidence that any technology at that time was anything more than stone-age or contemporary "technology"...
The final argument is that if the aliens were helping Adolph Hitler and the Germans - why didn't they give Hitler the technology to make A-bombs and win the war - or digital technology, or stealth technology, etc....why did they give Hitler only enough technology to be a force in the world but not enough to avoid losing the war to more technologically advanced nations like us??
Do these people not see how really silly and stupid they look with these ridiculous theories?

But these stories do make for some good entertainment...



Lastly - there is lots of blame being thrown about by miserable and unhappy fans of Bradley basketball - this is hardly new....
There have been people whining about sub-par play and records for years always looking for someone to blame it on.
They blame the coach, the players, and even the other fans that support the team.
Yes - I was told once by an angry and disgruntled BU fan that he blamed me personally because he saw ME as someone who supported Coach Les - thus I was responsible in his eyes for JL not being fired.
Never mind that I couldn't have either kept him in place nor gotten him fired by any action or support I ever had - no matter what and no matter how loony that thought is...
Truth is - JL was fired as soon as the person firing him could get Board of Trustee approval and it happened moments after that occurred and couldn't have possibly happened sooner.

Well - despite warnings and predictions from those who are the bright ones in the fans base - Bradley is way, way worse now than ever in anyone's memory and the "other shoe" may not have even dropped yet...
in other words it may get worse and overall dissatisfaction gets the players down and we might yet see some player departures.

Anyway -- I don't bother hardly ever reading the crap people post on the message boards where the trashing and whining is not only allowed but encouraged and where it is the norm....and I never go to a certain board where irrational and schizophrenic thoughts abound among people always quick to heap blame for their own actions onto someone else.
But people tell me what's going on. And it is obvious that there's a small crowd of endless whiners and complainers who gotta find someone to blame for their misery.
They have tried blaming the players and it's even getting harsher and more vitriolic - maybe even blaming the fans who continue to cheer and support (God-knows where the logic comes from on this one??)...
but none of those bozos have yet to properly figure out who really deserves the blame.

So I will put it succinctly -- the blame - nearly 100% of it - goes to those who spent the last couple years clamoring for and demanding that we fire Jim Les...
those are the people whose own actions - as selfish and short sighted as they are - have gotten exactly what they demanded - and it's landed us where we are now.
The people who wanted JL fired and who got what they wanted have shot themselves in the foot and are now looking to shoot the other foot as well by blaming everyone but themselves and creating bitterness and dischord.
You guys who wanted to run Jim Les and everyone associated with him out of town have only yourselves to blame...

Look in a mirror, then ask yourself this..
"Did I open my mouth and ask for this change? Was I one who bitched and whined and wanted to make the move or even wrote or said that we ought to fire Jim Les and move on from there and been a strong and open supporter of that move?"

Then if you answer yes to that question - then blame yourself for what you're now trying to blame everyone else for.
Most who answer "yes" were never really supporters of BU anyway - they whined loudly all the time and never gave any financial support, and when they became the LOUD squeaky wheel they triggered the actions that led to this - and that's a fact!
We are where we are - with perhaps the worst team and the worst record in anyone's memory - because of YOU. At least in 2002-2003 we had a ton of fine young players in Gillingham, Gilbert, etc...other years we at least had injuries to account for sub-par performance, but this year we are not playing well and yet lose our best player and only consistent scorer when the season ends.

Sorry - I know this will send some off the deep end - as some will deny it but others will know it's true and will go ballistic trying to lie, deflect and deny....the traits they're best at..

Meanwhile - I feel we still have a group of fine young players with potential and the job can still get done. I am not bailing and I'll be there enjoying every game - although I see the disappointment with what could have been.
As I noted - somewhere there's a coach or two who are financially very well set - saying to themselves - whoa - what a mess they have in Peoria - a mess of certain people's own doing and am I ever glad to be outta there.