Posts Made By: Maurice Clark

Hi Joseph,

NGC 1365 shows great spiral arms in a 10" and a 10" will also start to show the spiral arms of M83.

Cheers,

Maurice

Hi Joe,

An interesting question. For my part, I do not think that the mood is anti-christian. Rather it is an effort to make certain religious fundamentalists realise that unlike many other countries, christianity is not the state religion of the USA. For my mind, this is the greatest strength of the USA, that there is no state religion. Everyone is free to believe any religion they want, or not to believe if they so wish.

Unfortunately it seems that there are many on the "religious right" who seem not to accept this and desire to make their brand of christianity the state religion. When someone else opposes this, they get branded "anti-christian". No doubt there are some people who are very anti-christian involved, but to brand everyone anti-christian is very wide of the mark.

The battle over making christianity the state religion of the USA has been going on ever since the USA was first settled. (Why was the Rhode Island colony founded?) It is becomming more and more vocal in recent times, and looks like getting more vocal in the future. Quite frankly, when politicians start using religion to get elected, and religions start dabbling in politics, it frightens me! Persecution in the name of religion, has been all too prevalent in the past, even in so-called free America, and can very quickly reappear.

Regards,

Maurice

Hi David,

You are very likely to get into BIG trouble from my wife after posting a photo like that!! :-)

I want one!!!!!!!!!

Cheers,

Maurice

Hi,

My congradulations to you both. I hope you have a very happy life together.

Just one question Christine. Is it a step up or a step down? (I am talking about the scopes!! )

Regards,

Maurice

The dream.

The king's dream is described in Dan 2: 29 - 36.

Briefly, the king had gone to bed wondering what would happen the his kingdom after he died, and the dream was to show him what would happen.

He dreamt about a large statue, looking like a man. This statue had a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet partly of iron and partly of clay. Then a large rock, cut out without hands, smashed into the feet of the statue and shattered it. The wind blew away the remains of the statue, while the rock became a huge mountain that filled the whole Earth.

Quite a dream. No wonder it woke him up and worried him!

Daniel gives the interpretation of the dream in the rest of the chapter.

In vs 36 - 38 he states quite clearly that Nebuchadnezzar is the head of gold. This does aptly represent the neo-Bablyonian empire, which was one of the largest and most affulent empires of ancient times. The fabled hanging gardens, one of the seven wonders of the world, built by Nebuchadnezzar for his wife, were just one of the magnificent edifices gracing the city.

In vs 39, Daniel goes on to say that after Nebuchadnezzar, another kingdom would arise that would be inferior to Bablyon. What kingdom was this? The Bible give us the answer in Daniel 5:28, where it says that the Bablyonian empire was given to the Medo-Persian empire. History tells us that the city of Bablyon fell to the armies of Media and Persia in October 539 BC. The Medo-Persian empire then took over as the major world power. The Medes and the Persians were related tribes from what is not Iran who joined forces to carve out a world empire. Initally, the Medes were the dominant tribe but eventually the Persians became dominent. History also tells us that although the Medo-Persian empire occupied a larger area than the Bablyonian, it never reached the heights of luxury or learning that the Bablyonian did. So the prophecy was fulfilled.

Daniel continued in vs 39 to say that a third kingdom would arise and rule the world. Who was this? Again the answer is given in the Bible as well as history. In Daniel 11:2 it says that Greece would overthrow the Medo-Persian empire. This is confirmed by history, when Alexander the Great conquored the then-known world, overthrowing the Persians in 331 BC.

In vs 40 Daniel says that a 4th kingdom would arise that would rule the world. Who was this? The Bible does not identify this power, however history tells us that the Greek empire was overthrown by the Roman in 168 BC. It was the Romans who ruled the world at the time of Jesus.

Hi Daryl,

While I do not accept things like crop circles, Nessie, alien abduction etc, as one who spent several years involved in the occult, I can tell you that there most definitely is something "out there"! Séances do work. We had a discussion about this quite some time back. Although several of our A/A friends did not believe what I said since I could not give any evidence they could examine, the things that I experienced were real.

Regards,

Maurice

Hi Jim,

Oh I forgot, no one supports Kerry, they are just against President Bush

I think you are right on the money with this. It seems to me that it is not a case of who will WIN this election, but who will LOSE. Many people seem to be against Bush, but are undecided about Kerry.

Only one thing seems certain, whoever winds up as president, we know who will lose.... Joe Blow the working man!

Cheers,

Maurice

From reading the report, if this had been the thinking back in the 60's segregation would still be legal. Or maybe they are trying to prevent the anti-war protests of the 70's.

Ominous sign indeed.

Maurice

Hi Dave,

Just read about this on comets.ml. Seems like it could be a good one around Christmas and into January. It was pass through M45 in early January at around mag 5 - 6.

Any bets for cloud!!???? :C :S

Cheers,

Maurice

Hi Jim,

An interesting article. I agree with most of it, however, at least in the US, party members have much freedom to cross the floor and cast "free" votes. Also, you can have the situation where the President can be from one party, while the other party can control congress. This gives "some" balance.

In Australia that is not possible. The Prime Minister is the leader of the party with the most elected members, so there is nothing to stop him from doing whatever he wants. Also, members who cross the floor and vote with the other party are subject to stiff reprisals, usually being kicked out of the party, resulting in them loosing their seat at the next election. It is a case of "toe the party line or else".

Australian elections are *always* about the party, never about the person. :C Your local representative is just a mindless number.

Regards,

Maurice