ToV - Ignorance is alive and well in Townsville

[AstroJunk]

This made me laugh, without the brilliant scientists that came before us, this woman could well have been just another syphilitic fish-wife who would die during child birth in her early twenties.

Maybe working for the Townsville Bulletin is the modern equivalent :rofl:

Standing on the shoulders of giants...

[FlashDrive]

Well ...:rofl: ... sorta funny isn't it .... only a male would understand the ' need ' to watch a ' small black dot ' go across a large ' yellow dot '

It's a ' male ' thing ... that's what she needs to be told. :lol:

' Secret Men's Business "

Flash :hi:

[Shark Bait]

Sounds like she has spent too much time staring at her navel. :stupid:

Time to crawl back under her rock. ;)

[Omaroo]

As interested in all things space and astonomy as I am, it bored the heck out of me too. I was working indoors throughout the entire transit, but I didn't really feel like making the time in my day to go outside and have a look. Deep space objects? Beautiful. One body crossing in front of another....zzzzzzzzz. Sorry, there are aspects of astronomy that I don't have much interest in. :eyepop: Having said that, I can't wait for the total solar eclipse in November, as the corona will be photographically spectacular.

[Octane]

lol, I can see where she's coming from.

We make a big deal of it because we love the heavens and understand the rarity (once in a lifetime, and, so on) of seeing a body cross in front of another.

H

[casstony]

She's either a dope or she's being intentionally controversial - any publicity is better than no publicity. Best ignored.

[Lee]

Kathleen Skene?.... I've never heard of her.... and I doubt I ever will again....

[naskies]

That's my bet.



Agreed! :thumbsup:

[multiweb]

Regardless of anything else it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and that is what made it special.

[Nico13]

Ah yes I guess it depends on which world you live in as to the level of importance placed on this particular event and a couple of things that cracked me up, one on the day and one the following day at work.

A former work colleague "Engineer" who lives down the road from me saw me as he went past my place around 2/3rd transit and so pulled in the driveway to say gday and asked what I was up to with the telescopes out.
After explaining I was watching the transit of Venus across the face of the Sun he replied,
"Can you see that in the daytime"
Now I almost LOL :rofl: when he said that but I held my composure and reiterated, "ah it's the Sun" :screwy:

And then to go to work the next day and having put a very nice shot that I'd got as my computer screen background up and then showing a current work colleague "Engineer" I proudly said that I'd taken the shot of the Venus transit and with the picture of the Sun right in front of him I again heard those immortal words,
"Can you see that in the daytime" :question: :lol:

So if she finds following bald headed men around a more interesting way to get her jollies then so be it. ;)

[stephenb]

I've seen this type of "contributor" before in many regional rags. Wannabe journalists who try to be funny and think they are going to go places in the industry. Someone like her will always be writing crap for B and C grade rags all their life. Not worth wiping your backside on most of these publications.

[LyraMoonstarer]

What a dozy cow! Well, it does take all sorts to make the world.

I loved the transit (as I did the previous one) and will enjoy the next transit on our list, aka the big one in November ;-)

Diane

[astronut]

She's probably the type that would think that "Being Lara Bingle" is a cinematic treasure!!

[brian nordstrom]

:question: Hell no !!! , better she never finds out that sort of secret :thumbsup: .
Men's stuff.. :rofl:
Brian.

[FlashDrive]

I think she should start smoking something ... !! :rofl:

Flash :lol:

[Lee]

Gee.... what would they say about Mercury transits!

[AstroJunk]

I recon her Anzac day write up will be something like "Stupid old duffers should just get over it".

Shock Jock drivel.

[Liz]

Yes, just read that ... oh well, each to their own, but there was a huge amount of interest up here.

[GeoffMc]

In my opinion the journalist is mindless and consequently unimaginative. Sadly the mass media is quite well-endowed with such people. They are not restricted to regional newspapers and TV stations. In fact it's probably the reverse trend to what's been proposed: the more accurate reporters are usually sidelined in the mass media. Sensational and controversial sells papers; level headed reporting does not. Incidentally, the absolute best response to this and similar journalists is complete and utter silence. Being ignored in the mass media is fatal.

Here in Canberra I set up a scope at my school and, with the help of a couple of student volunteers, showed an estimated 480 students, staff and visitors the transit. We further estimate around 1% had the same reaction as the Townsville journalist: "Oh, is that all it is?" The vast majority --- remember these are teenagers raised on iPhones with net access --- thought it was the coolist thing they'd seen in ages. Several were astonished to learn they were seeing a planet the size of Earth passing in silhouette against the Sun. The H alpha telescope tipped the scales for most and made it a memorable occasion. According to several independent reports, the corridors were buzzing with conversations about what the students had seen. In an age of movies like Avatar this is a really positive result.

My hypothesis is people appreciate seeing natural phenomena with their own eyes rather than web casts or similar. Watching the transit on a screen is the equivalent of taking a virtual tour of a rainforest (or whatever): people want to see for themselves. (I really pity that correspondent who couldn't be bothered walking out to see the transit for himself.) Most of us have had similar experiences showing the public Uranus or Neptune: visually dull; conceptually astounding.

[troypiggo]

She's a journalist? That read more like a FaceBook post than a newspaper article!

[pmrid]

I was struck by the Cap'n Cook connection. This is where it all began for Australia. It struck me as less interesting astromically than historically. Having a look at the transit was a little like looking over Captain Cook's shoulder. I got a buzz out of it.

The Townsville Bulletin article struck me not so much for it's banality as for the use of the language (w.t.f for example). Is this journalism? I think not.

Peter

[MattT]

Ditto :hi: Matt

[jenchris]

I feel the same way about the 100 metre dash in the olympics.

But I don't feel that way about the transit.

To me it is awe inspiring this is only the second series since Cook.

The 100 metre dash is in every school in every class every summer. But they all show it on TV like it is something remarkable - oooh I did it 0.001 second faster than you....
So in ten kilometres, you'd be 100 metres in front of me and possibly quite tired and out of breath - yawn.

[lacad01]

Yep my thoughts also, unfortunately a reflection of where journalism is heading.

[Irish stargazer]

Probably more interested in the latest iPhone release than a cosmic event:P unfortunately there is a significant audience for this kind of "journalism"
There is so much noise and distraction in people's lives these days that it takes a cosmic event to put it all back in perspective.
I was amazed at the reactions of people during the event we held at work. Most were amazed at what they were seeing and when it was mentioned that Venus was similar in size to the Earth there were lots of comments like "wow, we really live on a black spec, make me feel insignificant". Had some comments that it was way overrated too and that's fine, at least you went to the trouble of having a look at it.

[Baddad]

Someone tell her that the transit of Mars will be truly spectacular.
She will wait forever. LOL:lol:

Cheers

[Ric]

I wonder if she actually saw it as it happened through a scope or just looked at a picture afterwards.

Maybe her views might have been totally different.

Then again maybe not.

[AndrewJ]

Nahhhh, just turn off the electricity or sewerage. :-)
( or worse than that, disable their wireless system )
I wonder how exciting so called "boring" stuff becomes then.
I suspect the problem these days is that people like the mentioned journalist no longer know what is truly amazing as they just take it all for granted.

Andrew

[Suzy]

First of all I had no idea a newspaper journalist should be allowed to write like that (re, bad language & slang)- what's the world coming too. :rolleyes:
I've never read anything like that in a paper in my life... guess I'm sheltered.:rolleyes:

Secondly, I have a burning desire to give her a black eye.:mad2:
I just a need a crate to stand on- she looks tall.:question:

[Jeffkop]

For even the most moderate of interested people this event at least should have been able to give them some real life tangible idea of how big the sun is compared to earth seeing as venus is very close to the same size as us and that was very significant even more so when you consider there was about 65 million miles between them. You just dont get those real life, see it with your own eyes type of comparisons very often .. in this case once every 105 or so years.

Its one thing to not be interested .. its another to present a take on it like that ... Anyway not to give it too much of my time ..

[bobson]

Weather you like it or not what she wrote in the newspaper she achieved what she wanted.
Attention!
So many here said she should be ignored yet again there are two pages on this topic. Interesting how we like to criticize someone else way of writing and what she compared the event to.
Yet some people mentioned Anzac, Captain Cook, dashing to 100 meters and other things just to prove their point of view? Some even said they never heard of her and probably never will again? Ever wonder has she heard of any one of you? Some would go that far of giving her black eye! She was called dozy cow! Wow!
This just proves how much we love this hobby but at the same time how much some of us are ignorant to other things in life.

I am with Chris about this transit.

cheers

bob

[astroron]

Is she trying to be the Townsville counterpart of Kyle Sandilands :question:
I am a big fan of Captain Cook, and what I saw on Wednesday connected me to his voyage to observe the transit of 1769 and the subsequent "Discovery" of Australia.
The Historical fact alone should have been enough for observing the transit.

I must say that the Television Media was very supportive, and showed some brilliant images and video's of the transit.:)

I suppose the old adage, for every positive reaction, there is a negative reaction holds sway here .

I had quite a few people drop in to have a look at the transit through the various Telescopes and Binoculars, and did not get one adverse reaction:D
I suppose I would say, that her opinion will really not effect all the people in Townsville and surrounds who saw the transit and read her rant, will treat it with the contempt it deserves.
Cheers:thumbsup:

[Terry B]

So what would inspire her?
Make a list. Feel free to add to it.

Some royal getting pregnant.
Some underwhelming singer winning a TV show competition.
What a Kardashian(?sp) is up to.

I'm sure there are plenty more.
:P

[tlgerdes]

I personally think her comments are a sad indictment on us all, (especially those Townsville IIS'ers :P) to not do a better job of educating the populace.

The captain cook connection to Australia is one of importance, but also the mathematics of time of him, and why it was important to measure this astronomical event.

Back in his time, we had no proven knowledge of how far the Sun was from us, let alone how big it was, or the size of Venus in itself. All these things were finally measured and theories were proven due to this event.

We discussed these aspects at our recent ASNSW Astro Imaging meeting and the mathematics are fascinating.

[Shark Bait]

You summed it up in one short sentence. :thumbsup:

[bloodhound31]

I guess she's a glass is half empty type of girl Suzy. I wouldn't dignify her with any kind of response.

NEXT!

Baz.

[rcheshire]

Journalism - WTF. It's a question of censorship - what we allow - perhaps a reflection of what has become accepted as every day narrative in a wider circle of society.

I don't like it because it reminds me of the materialistic world that is ever more pervading of higher contemplation and thoughtful reflection.

Not a lot of well considered argument there.

Personally, my interest in the transit is passing - no pun intended.

[Liz]

I have never heard of her before, but her little writeup is not popular up here. As with any place in Aus there are those loved the Transit, and those who didnt care, shes just an ignoramus, and not typical of Townsville. Alas, her comment seems to be making her famous :help:

[rcheshire]

As intended...

[allan gould]

Poor journalistic skills but she probably tailored it deliberately to a certain audience with like IQ's.
Just noticed that there is an email address. I think I might drop the dear girl a line and point out what science there was in the event.

[TrevorW]

Although she hasn't a clue, I can see her point, due to bad weather, no solar filter etc it was a non event for me but personally I won't lose any sleep over not seeing the TOV

[mithrandir]

Marty, you can simulate Earth transiting the Sun as seen from Mars on Sky Safari. I haven't checked but you might be able simulate Mars transits as seen from the asteroid belt or beyond.
So one day off-Earth settlers may see them.

[Outbackmanyep]

So some people just don't get what the Transit Of Venus is all about, i happened to really enjoy it, i am glad i saw it, I'm glad i got video of it, i am glad that i got photo's of it, i am glad that i got to show other interested people, i am really happy the clouds stayed away, for those trashing it GET A LIFE you miserable sods!

[mozzie]

she probably was smoking something !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mozzie]

the transit was one of the best solar objects i'd seen...bloody loved it...

can't wait to see her solar eclipse write up later in the year!!!!!!!!

should be a duzzie !!!!!!!:D:D

[Miaplacidus]

Reading threads like this is a bit of a guilty pleasure...

So much outrage, so much oxygen... It's a journalist's job to fill column inches. In the morning, in the mirror, when the alcohol wears off, I guess the phrase they use to justify an otherwise meaningless existence is "generating debate". So much blether, so many inflamed egos. How much easier than shearing sheep back on daddy's farm, if somehow strangely similar.

I imagine I could do much the same by writing an article about, say, AFL football. And somewhere in the aether, on a sports website populated by people I care nothing for, whose opinion I care nothing about, I'd be derided in much the same way.

My boss would be happy. The advertisers would be happy. Rupert Murdoch would be happy... Vodka in the bottom drawer. Coke in the bathroom at lunchtime. Only 500 words to go.

"Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Except in the newspapers...

[stephenb]

We get two 'local' newspapers in our area and apart from a quick glance in the job section I have never read them for over ten years. Wannabe reporters filling up space with 'cat stuck up tree' stories. Most of these reporters never amount to much in their career, IMO. Anyway I see she's moved up in the world from being a cadet reporter for the Herbert River Express.

[AstralTraveller]

We weren't blaming all Townvillians. Idiots are pretty evenly spread. :)

[AstralTraveller]

All that anger and angst on weed?? Nah, I reckon it's the diet pills.

[Baddad]

Hi Andrew,

Marty, you can simulate Earth transiting the Sun as seen from Mars on Sky Safari. I haven't checked but you might be able simulate Mars transits as seen from the asteroid belt or beyond.
So one day off-Earth settlers may see them.

Yes but not in her life time. Also she will not be aware that a transit of Mars is currently not possible viewed from the Earth.
Hence she will wait forever.

Cheers

[mental4astro]

I went to a local highschool, set up my gear with two fellow IIS members, and ranted. I tried really hard to make those young people understand the real science in this, not the known facts. I even went to the extent of giving a little demo on how the science actually works to sussing out exoplanets, with real everday applications to show that it isn't rocket science, but something tangible. I was enthusiastic, and animated (at least that's the feedback I got, :lol:).

Did the actual Transit excite me? No.

I'm with Chris on this one.

I just shook my head with what was being said on TV about the Transit. And that included from fellow amateur astronomers. It all added to a whole lot of misinformation about the event, and its significance to both professional and amateur astronomers.

Let's face it, to amateurs its significance is only novelty, a chance coincidence of planets and Sun. It is really only to professional astronomers that THIS Transit is significant now. With the way that technology is today, I doubt any amateur instruments would be making any real contribution to the pool of science with this event. It is only in the realm of professional instruments that real science is being developed.

So I see this as a double edged sword:
1, We as a whole have been lacking in many instances on voicing this properly, forgetting the real new science, only proclaiming the history and already known facts, missing an opportunity to really inform.
2, Many folks who percieve anything to do with astronomy as "rocket science" just tune out and create mental barriers for themselves (this lady I think is one of them). This event only added to their confusion and layers of barriers.

I am happy that many folks were excited by the Transit! I really, really am. Each person with their own reasons! For me, it was to excite young people on how science is something tangible, and not some mystical "rocket science" taboo.

[astroron]

I just shook my head with what was being said on TV about the Transit. And that included from fellow amateur astronomers. It all added to a whole lot of misinformation about the event, and its significance to both professional and amateur astronomers.

Let's face it, to amateurs its significance is only novelty, a chance coincidence of planets and Sun. It is really only to professional astronomers that THIS Transit is significant now. With the way that technology is today, I doubt any amateur instruments would be making any real contribution to the pool of science with this event. It is only in the realm of professional instruments that real science is being developed.

So I see this as a double edged sword:
1, We as a whole have been lacking in many instances on voicing this properly, forgetting the real new science, only proclaiming the history and already known facts, missing an opportunity to really inform.
2, Many folks who percieve anything to do with astronomy as "rocket science" just tune out and create mental barriers for themselves (this lady I think is one of them). This event only added to their confusion and layers of barriers.

I am happy that many folks were excited by the Transit! I really, really am. Each person with their own reasons! For me, it was to excite young people on how science is something tangible, and not some mystical "rocket science" taboo.[/QUOTE]

First, I think you are wrong in saying it's significance to amateurs is only a novelty, Too a lot of us it was a chance to see something that no one alive today will see again and convey to others the Wonders of nature.
If you call that a novelty so be it:shrug:

Tell me what scientific value it has any more:question:
What is the real Science you are talking about:question:
Amateurs Don't have to contribute to science for every thing they do in their hobby.
What are they supposed to inform ? please elaborate ?

I have not encountered anyone saying that it was extra special to science,not now.
It was in 1769 and periods up to the end of the last century, but with all the new technology there is little if any scientific value left.
Some scientists who use transits of Exosolar planets may have got some value 0ut of it but that is all.
If you did not enjoy it for what it was a piece of history and a significant event especially for Australia.
It did have meaning for a lot of people who saw it through the numerous outlets both media amateur telescopes.
I have not come across the theme you highlighted, about Astronomy being"Rocket Science" That people look to us to get some information in things astronomical I can appreciate but Rocket Science,NO
Cheers :thumbsup:

[mental4astro]

Novelty - a unique or new experience.

Clearly not the definition you have decided that its use was. I thought the definition was very clear in the entirety of the post. Such a shame.

I cannot understand how in a post that praises the pursuits of my fellow amateurs, you have conjured up a world of ridicule, put down, and scorn. Very unedifying.

[AndrewJ]

:shrug:
No "chance" involved.
It was mathematically predicted based on known equations of motion.
Maybe boring now, to people who cant figure out maths
beyond 8 fingers and two thumbs without a calculator,
but not "chance"

Andrew

[mental4astro]

Really, Andrew. Again, the word chance here is used in its correct definition and context.

Maybe the astrology mob will be more understanding... :question:

Curious, against my better judgement I decided to post my views here. I should have known better. This post is going true to form.

I'm out. Time to spike someone else's thread. :lol:

[AndrewJ]

I have no problem with your views.
Everyone has their own. ( Incl astrologers ;) )
I merely wished to point out it wasnt a "chance" alignment.

Ref some definitions of chance
( grabbed from the net so there is a chance they are wrong )

a. The unknown and unpredictable element in happenings that seems to have no assignable cause.
b. A force assumed to cause events that cannot be foreseen or controlled; luck: Chance will determine the outcome.

etc etc etc

No "chance" involved in this one;)

Andrew

[astroron]

I went to a local highschool, set up my gear with two fellow IIS members, and ranted. I tried really hard to make those young people understand the real science in this, not the known facts. I even went to the extent of giving a little demo on how the science actually works to sussing out exoplanets, with real everday applications to show that it isn't rocket science, but something tangible. I was enthusiastic, and animated (at least that's the feedback I got, :lol:).

Did the actual Transit excite me? No.

Alex, me thinks you spoke with forked tongue;)
Faining enthusiasm when it was not really there.:rolleyes:

So the known facts are not the truth then :question:
Maybe if your heart was not really in it, it would have been better to not have done it at all.
To me at least your post came across as being disappointed in the whole event.:sadeyes:
Maybe I am wrong:shrug:
Cheers:thumbsup:
PS where in your post did you praise your fellow amateurs ?

[Little Johnny]

Ignorance is alive and well in the 21st century.

I was one of 12 AAQ club members who spent the day at the University of Queensland. There was live video streaming from three scopes to computers on campus and on ustream to the net. Another six scopes were available for people to look through plus two projection set ups which were great for kids.

We had more than 2,000 students/staff/members of the public, come along and look through our variety of equipment. All people who viewed through the scopes were amazed at the sight.

Staff and astronomers from the School of Maths and Physics joined in and answered questions from the public.

I realise that it is not to everybody's taste. This is my second transit (I travelled to WA for the first one) and I thought it was as fantastic this time as it was in 2004.

I even had people say they would see me at the next one :D

John :thanx:

[AstroJunk]

New competition: Where's Waldo, er Little Johnny in this crowd of happy transit viewers as seen on ABC News!

[Sirius1066]

Thank the gods for those who dare to look up. For it is those people and people like them throughout history who change the world.

It would be a safe bet that among the millions of people who were fascinated by the transit stood a young child who, inspired by the simple wonder of such an event, will go on to change the world for the better someday.

On the other hand, a talentless journalist writing sensationalist articles for a C grade tabloid; now that's what I would call 'unimpressive' and a 'ridiculously overrated black spot' on our social fabric.

An ignorant journalist... Now that is something that has 'happened predictably and regularly since records began and will continue to happen predictably and regularly for the foreseeable future'.

'Its kind of like the sunrise really - it just happens more often'.

[Jen]

:eyepop: W.T.F. :shrug: What a big sour puss :poke:

Just wait :rolleyes: i should send her up my hall of fame in the local paper its totally opposite to hers :lol: I think the words spectacular and awsome were in my article :D

[FlashDrive]

Yeaaaaah ... !!! Go Jen :D

[Steffen]

Unlike most of the things we're looking at through our scopes and imagers, this was something we're definitely not going to see again.

The pretty galaxies and nebulae will sit and wait around forever until we're in the mood to take a look at them. And if we liked what we saw we can look again. And again. For the rest of our lives.

I'm glad I made the trip to Cootamundra, my only regret is that I could only convince one of my sons to come along.

Cheers
Steffen.

[pmrid]

I love that quote from Oscar Wilde:
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." Says it all.
Peter

[mental4astro]

Steffen!!! This is jist of what "chance" means here, Andrew:

The opportunity afforded to us. Not the generation before or after, but us.

Sure physics comes into play, but why just see things so coldly as a stainless steel lab bench?

So, I stand by my use of Chance. :D

Steffen, I'm so glad you were able to enjoy ToV with your boy. Same for all of you. Same went for my CHANCE to share it with 1000 young people.

[Poita]

C'mon, jump to 1:25 or 1:45 in tho video and tell me there isn't some beauty and grandeur to be had.

http://youtu.be/4Z9rM8ChTjY

[AndrewJ]

Gday Alex



I understand "now" what you meant, but it wasnt what was written,
and what i commented on then ie ;)



perhaps if it had been ", a chance to see a coincidence.... "




Cos i'm an engineer, i cant help it:D

Andrew

[Rob_K]

How true Brian, but the analogy falls down when you compare our pathetic trivial attachments to cultural artifices with the real world and our place in the Universe.



Mmmm, beauty & grandeur indeed!! :thumbsup: :D

Personally, I was transfixed by the event. Rarity was the least of it although you couldn't help but think of those who live long and fruitful lives and yet never have an opportunity to view a Venus transit. The history gets me, the very first time we got a reasonable handle on the actual scale of the solar system from the 1769 transit. I've stood at Venus Point in Tahiti and imagined Cook and his crew on that day in 1769. And Horrocks projecting the disk of the Sun onto a piece of paper in 1639. As I imagined again in my backyard on 6 June!

But there was also the chance to share the event with my partner, kids & grandkids - the local school did nothing so my kids gave the older grandies a day off in protest. Man, where do you get parents like that? ;) The littlies, both 2-yo, were a bit young but the older ones, 5 & 6, had a great time. They were going backwards & forwards from eclipse glasses to the telescope, and taking photos with my camera. And the questions, phew! :lol: The older one stayed with it for hours, couldn't get enough of it. His only disappointment was that I couldn't print his photos out straight away because of a badly-timed power outage.

Amazing who was interested too. My brother is a surveyor and he rang me from Yeppoon on the day saying that all the firm's surveyors were gathered excitedly in the carpark watching the transit through a theodilite and a Sun filter (has a particular name in surveying but can't remember what he called it). These are people who didn't have a particular astronomical interest as we know it but whose training involved a grounding in shooting the Sun & stars.

There's beauty too, but of course it's in the eye of the beholder. Things don't have to be spectacular to be beautiful or interesting do they? What got me at the eyepiece, and that I had to constantly remind myself of, was that the black silhouette I was watching wasn't a mark on the Sun or a shadow, it was a planet that was much closer to the Earth than the Sun, in rough terms only about a quarter of the distance from Earth to the Sun.

As for the article, well it's just part of the dumbing-down, the same response that sees morning show hosts snigger whenever there's an item with a slightly scientific bent unless it's to do with diet or living forever.

Cheers -

[stephenb]

I was able to show the TOV to both my wife and my daughter - my job's done!

[AstroJunk]

Continuing on with the anonymous flurry of animated emoticons:

:scared3: Sell your scopes everyone, we've been rumbled...:rofl:

[allan gould]

Well that certainly blew a draft up her nickers! It's a wonder she managed to keep a train of thought in her head long enough to read all the messages to the end. What a clever girly to hide her droll message so skillfully that we missed it. Now that's reporting skills well above her column. Can't wait to hear her views on the discovery of penicillin or the development of the bionic ear, that should be up there with her shopping list.

[troypiggo]

I stand by my previous comment. That's not journalism, that's another FaceBook rant.

[barx1963]

Basically her new column in summary is saying "I was trying to be funny"
She should have checked it first to make sure it actually was funny!

:shrug:

[RobF]

It's all relative but you do what you can to educate people a bit too. I'm glad I took time out to check it out, but must admit conjunctions of moon/planets don't usually do it for me, and I guess you can argue it's all celestial clockwork.

A friend of my wife came over during the transit and spent 30mins like a little kid playing with the eclipse glasses and ooo'ing over pics I was taking. Then later said to my wife "did he take the day off just for that?!" :rolleyes: :)

[Shark Bait]

Mmmm.... still seems fixated by her navel. :D

[Gem]

Simple - we all write to the paper, not her email address, and voice our disgust. If we stay quiet, it keeps happenning.

[rcheshire]

Journalist 1

Surely it's not the sentiment, but the expression that sparked the debate.

It's important to science and unless there is a social or economic effect most people just forget. Venus shall transit again and be forgotten, except by those to which it matters.

There are bigger issues afoot in this world. That's what gets people's attention. Including that of youth. They will choose what matters to them irrespective of what matters to science.

[Omaroo]

I think that most of you have missed her point. ;) It's an opinion column, not news. It's her opinion, and whilst it may not agree with the bulk of ours, are you all saying that she's not allowed it? Hmmm...

[Gem]

But Chris, you are then missing your own point! ;)
We can ALSO have an opinion and are just as free to express it! :)

[Omaroo]

:shrug:

Not sure where you think I stated that you could not? :) Are you inferring that by me saying that she should be allowed her opinion, it is to be at the expense of yours? Don't think so..... but you're still vilifying her for having a different one. Funny old world, eh?

[troypiggo]

She's allowed her opinion, even if it's wrong. :lol:

My objection wasn't so much about her opinion, but the overall writing style. I mean, how can they be allowed to write "WTF" in a paper? Don't they know what it stands for? And what self-respecting Editor allowed that through?

[mental4astro]

Tov - Ignorance is alive and well in Townsville - Think carefully about this. It is more significant than we may have thought of at first!

There was a time, not too long ago, when an "opinion piece" or "column" was to flesh out the current stories. The journalists where the sticky-beaks that big corporations feared, snooping around with very polished know-how, and produced good quality stories.

Today, the "opinion piece" is really the old fashioned "gossip column". It is sport today (both in the press, TV and radio) to put down, ridicule, and scandalise any sense of intellect. And today's journalists are just lazy, mediocre "messengers", who lap up the clever, but purely deceitful, spun press releases that smug PR companies produce for their corporate clients.

There was time, also not too long ago, when the sport of the time was to burn all books, and crucify intellectuals, in favour of manipulative meglomaniacs. How we've come full circle.

The two articles this woman has written are symptomatic of this. She thinks she is clever, but there is nothing clever. It is just a straight put down of anything actually intellectual, regardless that in this case it is about the ToV. Coldly, she has actually fulfilled her job description. Nothing more.

Our anger and outrage would be best directed at the editors and owners of the newspapers, media and radio. Their opinion of the general public has seen the degredation of the quality of "news". Rather than seeking to promote a smarter public, they dumb down the readers with the easiest form of manipulation - HATE.

Hate for intellect. Hate for progress. Hate for our neighbour. Hate for ourselves.

This has manivest itself here in IIS too, where some people think it a legitimate sport to put down, ridicule, and deliberately misinterpret what others write.

I love the enthusiam of my fellow astronomers with the ToV. Everyone who has made a positive contribution to this thread has voiced a level headed and reasoned argument on what and how the ToV has excited them (or not, :rolleyes:). But directing scorn, disgust and even threats (according to the woman's second article), is not the best way to attempt to address a wider problem. Not at this woman. Not at each other.

Something to think about.

[Omaroo]

Oh, I absolutely agree Troy. I'm getting a little sick and tired of both print and television media thinking that it's OK to use language like this. Are they trying to get cosy with the up-coming generation over some plan to maintain patronage? There's being hip and there's being lazy. Since when is it OK for someone working for a large newspaper to casually infer the "F" word? It's unprofessional at best.

[Sirius1066]

Omaroo, I think the point here is that everyone is free to express an opinion. But you are not free from any consequences that doing so would invoke.

I am quite free to tell my partner that the dinner which took all day to make tastes like crap. But I shouldn't be surprised if I find myself having to cook my own dinner the next few nights or needing to duck as the plate comes flying in my direction.

In the same way Ms Skene is free to express her opinion. But if by doing so she shows herself to be, perhaps a little on the unenlightened side of the spectrum. She shouldn't be surprised when those who actually understand the significance of the "black Spot" tell her so.

[strongmanmike]

:lol: SPOT on :rofl:

ED. Meant as a joke play on words :help:

[Sirius1066]

Well said Alexander.

[Omaroo]

Not saying I don't agree. Of course I do. :) A bit silly on her part. I guess that if you're going to express an opinion then you'd better understand that a component of your target audience aren't going to agree with you. If you're going to do that, then at least give plausible reason for your opinion too - otherwise expect the result we had here. :thumbsup:

[Irish stargazer]

OMG thats hilarious :lol:
The IIS boards are getting a bit heated these days. Think I'll join a Star Trek forum and quit my day job:P