Most people do not have the time to get the facts about even one of these topics. I used to write environmental analyses for the Dept of Energy so I know first hand how much work it takes to get the real data, find some way to fill in the gaps, and then figure out what it all means. Nobody could do this about all the topics before us and some topics are so murky that there may be few facts to consider.
I think the first post in this long thread made a very valid point. As Lincoln told us: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." When someone tries to persuade me with "facts" that I know are wrong, I tend to tune out the rest of it. On the other hand, sometimes we simplify the facts because there is not enough time to lay out all the facts. A stickler for all the facts may get upset, but laying out all the facts won't change the conclusion. >Nope. You only said that these debates turn into religious style >arguments and then said Betty proved your point. The implication is >anyone who debates this on either side is doing so from fanatical >devotion to a cause and not from scientific ideas, and that Betty must >be one of those fanatics since she supposedly proved it. ************************************************************************ * ==> QUICK LIST-COMMAND REFERENCE - Put the following commands in <== * ==> the body of an email & send 'em to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <== * Join the list: SUBSCRIBE COMPUTERGUYS-L Your Name * Too much mail? Try Daily Digests command: SET COMPUTERGUYS-L DIGEST * Tired of the List? Unsubscribe command: SIGNOFF COMPUTERGUYS-L * New address? From OLD address send: CHANGE COMPUTERGUYS-L YourNewAddress * Need more help? Send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ************************************************************************ * List archive from 1/1/2000 is on the MARC http://marc.info/?l=computerguys-l * List archive at www.mail-archive.com/computerguys-l@listserv.aol.com/ * RSS at www.mail-archive.com/computerguys-l@listserv.aol.com/maillist.xml * Messages bearing the header "X-No-Archive: yes" will not be archived ************************************************************************