ÿþ<html> <head> <title>Pego's Page of Reason</title> <meta name="description" content="Personal opinions on great many issues."> </head> <body bgcolor="silver" text="maroon"> <p><h2 align="center">Pego's Hall of Shame</h2><br> <p align="left"><font color="#003300"><b><i>CANONIZATION OF THE ROMANOV FAMILY</i><br> <br>On August 7 2000 the Russian Orthodox Church under the leadership of Patriarch Alexey canonized Nicholas II and his family strictly on the basis of them having been murdered by the Bolsheviks. This act is highly offensive to all the victims of Czar Nicholas as well as millions of victims of Stalinism. To elevate this brutal and incompetent despot to sainthood is absurd. Many monarchs have been executed throughout the history by revolutions. Imagine that Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette would be canonized (and next to Nicholas and Alexandra they were angels).<br> <br> What a farce!<br> <br> <hr> <br> <i>WRATH OF GOD</i><br> <br> While the world is stunned by horror of the despicable terrorist strikes against humanity, Rev. Pat Robertson and Rev. Jerry Falwell declared these acts to be God s punishment for various alleged  sins of America. They sound virtually identical to the declarations of some Orthodox rabbis proclaiming the Holocaust to be God s wrath on the European Jewry for their  sin of secularization. Some 400 years earlier Martin Luther considered the Turkish scourge God's punishment for "sins" of Christian Europe. Finally, some Imams, Mullahs and Ayatollahs that instigated and incited these terrorist attacks use the same rhetoric with an invocation of yet different  sins . Rev. Robertson, Rev. Falwell, your declarations would be laughable if they were not so profoundly frightening.</b></font></p><br> <hr noshade> <br> <p><h2 align="center">Pegasus Rhesus Hilarius</h2><br> <p align="left">My ultimate joke:</p><br> <blockquote><font color="green">"When I die, I want to go like my grandfather; quietly in his sleep. Not cursing and screaming like the passengers in his car."</font></blockquote><br> <hr noshade> <br> <p><h2 align="center">Pegasus Rhesus Nostradamus</h2><br> <p align="left">MY PREDICTIONS (not wishes) INTO THE 21st CENTURY<br> <p align="left"><font color="brown">1. <i>Resurgence of Communism</i><br> <br> Concept: Centralized economy with a dominant political party. Private enterprise and religion would be legal but discouraged.<br> <br> Reasons: <blockquote>Democracy with the capitalistic economic model has failed in many countries for variety of reasons. Security of the "cradle-to-grave" welfare system is attractive to a great deal of population in those countries, where the change to more prosperous, but brutally competitive capitalism led to unemployment and increase in poverty numbers. The primary reasons for a collapse of the Soviet system were</blockquote><br> (A) War on religion.<br> (B) Economic collapse largely due to poor productivity and the cold war.<br> <br> They are avoidable.<br> <br> 2. <i>Cloning</i><br> <br> Mass cloning of humans, (as many people fear), will not happen.<br> <br> Reason: <blockquote>Evolution chose the sexual reproduction over the asexual (cloning) as superior more than 1500 million years ago.</blockquote><br> <br> 3. <i>Predictions of some "futurologists" that online media will replace books and class based education.</i><br> <br> This will not happen.<br> <br> Reason: <blockquote>There is a lot more to books and education than content.</blockquote></p><br> <hr noshade> <br> <p><h2 align="center">MEMENTO</h2><br> <p align="left">EXCEPTIONAL ANNIVERSARIES/DATES</p><br> </font> <p align="left"><font color="#003366">400 years<br> February 17 1600 - 2000 <b>GIORDANO BRUNO</b><br> <i>burned at the stake for teaching a heliocentric system</i><br> <br> 30 years<br> May 4 1970 - 2000 <b>KENT STATE</b> <br><i>what exactly is the difference from Tia-nan-men Square other than the number of the dead and wounded?!</i><br> <br> 75 years<br> July 1925 - 2000 <b>SCOPES TRIAL</b> <br><i>in spite of a mountain of overwhelming evidence for <a href=Morality.html><font color="indigo">evolution</font></a>, there is still substantial and widespread opposition to its acceptance</i><br> <br> 50 years<br> May 29 1953 - 2003 <b>CONQUEST OF Mt.EVEREST</b> <br><i>a man (actually, two of them) stand on the top of the world</i><br> <br> 40 years<br> November 22 1963 - 2003 <b>J.F.KENNEDY ASSASSINATION</b> <br><i>how senseless!!!</i><br> <br> 100 years<br> December 17 1903 - 2003 <b>DAWN OF THE AVIATION AGE</b> <br><i>a heavier-than-air flying machine launched by the Wright brothers</i><br> <br> 60 years<br> August 6 1945 - 2005 <b>HIROSHIMA</b> <br><i>I have never been convinced it was necessary</i><br> <br> 100 years<br> September 1905 - 2005 <b>ALBERT EINSTEIN PUBLISHES THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY</b> <br><i>dawn of the quantum physics</i><br> <br> 50 years<br> October 4 1957 - 2007 <b>THE FIRST MAN MADE SATELLITE - SPUTNIK 1 - IS LAUNCHED</b> <br><i>beginning of space exploration</i><br> <br> 40 years<br> August 20 1968 - 2008 <b>INVASION OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA BY WARSAW PACT NATIONS</b> <br><i>defining event of my life</i><br> <br> 200 years<br> February 12 1809 - 2009 <b>BIRTHDAY OF BOTH CHARLES DARWIN AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN</b> <br><i>while I don't routinely enter birthdate anniversaries in Pego's Page, these two giants belong in my highest pantheon of heroes</i><br> <br> 40 years<br> July 20 1969 - 2009 <b>MANKIND ON THE MOON</b> <br><i>hard to believe, it has been 40 years already</i><br> <br> 50 years<br> January 17 1961 - 2011 <b>PATRICE LUMUMBA ASSASSINATED</b> <br><i>one must wonder, what direction would have the entire Africa taken, had he become the prime-minister of post-colonial Congo </i><br> <br> 50 years<br> April 12 1961 - 2011 <b>A MAN IN SPACE</b> <br><i>Yuriy Gagarin in Vostok orbits the Earth </i></font></p><br> <hr noshade> <p><h2 align="center">PARTE</h2><br> <p align="left"><font color="black">Departure of extraordinary people I have admired (established in October 1999).</font></p><br> <p align="left">Science - Medicine</p><br> <p align="left"><font color="black"><b>HENRY BROSIN M.D.</b> - July 3 2000<br> psychiatrist-teacher-humanist<br> <br> <b>STEVEN JAY GOULD</b> - May 20th 2002<br> paleontologist-biologist-author</font><br> <p align="left"> <img src="gould.jpg" width="74" height="107"> <font size="-1"font color="gray"><i>copied from Enel.it</i></font><br> <br> <font color="black"><b>ERNST MAYR</b> - February 3rd 2005<br> beacon of evolutionary biology of the 20th century</font><br> <br> <font color="black"><b>FRANCIS M. FORSTER M.D.</b> - February 23rd 2006<br> Professor of Neurology at the University of Wisconsin, co-founder of American Academy of Neurology</font><br> <font color="green"><b><i>Some friendships established during the adult life are special. He WAS special.</b></i></font><br> <br> <font color="black"><b>STANLEY MILLER</b> - May 20th 2007<br> American chemist, co-author of the grounbreaking <a href="http://www.chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/Exobiology/miller.html">Miller-Urey experiment.</a></font><br> <br> <font color="black"><b>MARTIN GARDNER</b> - May 22nd 2010<br> mathematician, science writer, educator non-pareil</font><br> <br> <font color="black"><b>MUDr. ONDREJ BÍRO</b> - September 2011<br> longtime chief of Neurology in Michalovce, Slovakia</font><br> <font color="green"><b><i>The man responsible for Pego becoming a neurologist followed by a life-long friendship.</b></i></font><br></p> <p align="left">Political personalities</p><br> <p align="left"><font color="black"><b>HABIB BOURGHIBA</b> - April 6th 2000<br> founder of post-colonial Tunisia<br> <br> <b>PAUL WELLSTONE</b> - October 25th 2002<br> US Senator from Minnesota<br> <br> <b>DANIEL PATRICK MOYNIHAN</b> - March 26th 2003<br> US Senator from New York<br> <br> <b>WILLIAM PROXMIRE</b> - December 15th 2005<br> US Senator from Wisconsin<br> <br> <b>JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH</b> - April 29th 2006<br> economist - author<br> <br> <b>LLOYD MILLARD BENTSEN Jr.</b> - May 23rd 2006<br> US Senator from Texas<br> <br><b>THEODORE "Teddy" KOLLEK</b> - January 2nd 2007<br> Mayor of Jerusalem</font></p><br> <p align="left">Humanities</p><br> <p align="left"><font color="black"><b>CHARLES SCHULZ</b> - February 13th 2000<br> cartoonist - Peanuts<br> <br> <b>VITTORIO GASSMAN</b> - June 29th 2000<br> Italian actor<br> <br> <b>WALTER MATTHAU</b> - July 1st 2000<br> American actor<br> <br> <b>Sir ALEC GUINNESS</b> - August 5th 2000<br> English actor<br> <br> <b>ANTHONY QUINN</b> - June 3rd 2001<br> actor - a citizen of the world<br> <br> <b>JACK LEMMON</b> - June 28th 2001<br> American actor<br> <br> <b>ISAAC STERN</b> - September 22nd 2001<br> concert violinist<br> <br> <b>STEFAN HEYM</b> - December 16th 2001<br> German Author<br> <br> <b>KOLOMAN SOKOL</b> - January 12th 2003<br> Slovak - Mexican artist</font></p><br> <p align="left"> <img src="image022.gif" width="419" height="638"> <font size="-1"font color="gray"><i>Koloman Sokol 1963 - presented to me by the artist in 1971</i></font></p><br> <p align="left"><font color="black"><b>SUSAN STODDARD</b> - January 13th 2003<br> <font color="green"><b><i>a bright light of reason, knowledge, compassion and courage - left us way too early</b></i></font><br> <br> <b>HOWARD FAST</b> - March 12th 2003<br> American Author<br> <br> <b>GREGORY PECK</b> - June 11th 2003<br> American Actor<br> <br> <b>KATHERINE HEPBURN</b> - June 29th 2003<br> American Actress - Pego's film actress of the Century (see My Humble Review of the Twentieth Century)<br> <br> <b>SIMON WIESENTHAL</b> - September 20th 2005<br> "Never, never again."<br> <br> <b>JACK ANDERSON</b> - December 17th 2005<br> investigative reporter<br> <br> <b>ART BUCHWALD</b> - January 18th 2007<br> the wittiest American journalist since H.L.Mencken<br> <br> <b>SHERWIN WINE</b> - July 21st 2007<br> founder of the Humanistic Judaism<br> <br> <b>MARCEL MARCEAU</b> - September 23rd 2007<br> mime of the Century</font></p><br> <p align="left">Sport personalities</p><br> <p align="left"><font color="black"><b>WILT CHAMBERLAIN</b> - October 12th 1999<br> basketball<br> <br> <b>WALTER PAYTON</b> - November 1st 1999<br> American football<br> <br> <b>Sir STANLEY MATTHEWS</b> - February 23rd 2000<br> football (soccer)<br> <br> <b>EMIL ZÁTOPEK</b> - November 21st 2000<br> Olympic Champion<br> 1948 - 10000 m<br> 1952 - 5000 m, 10000 m, Marathon</font><br> <font color="green"><b><i>One of my all-time heroes</b></i></font></p><br> <p align="left"> <img src="zatopek1.jpg" width="453" height="720"> <font size="-1"font color="gray"><i>Sports Publishing Inc.</i></font></p><br> <p align="left"><font color="black"><b>WILLIE STARGELL</b> - April 9 2001<br> baseball<br> <br> <b>MUDr. PAVOL SCHMIDT</b> - August 31st 2001<br> Olympic Champion - 1960 - rowing<br> <font color="green"><b><i>My instructor in Psychiatry.</b></i></font><br> <br> <b>CORNELIUS "Dutch" WARMERDAM</b> - November 13th 2001<br> Pole Vault<br> <br> <b>JOSEF "Pepi" BICAN</b> - December 12th 2001<br> football (soccer)<br> <br> <b>VALERIY BRUMEL</b> - January 26th 2003<br> Olympic Champion - 1964 - the greatest high-jumper of all times<br> <br> <b>LÁSZLÓ PAPP</b> - October 16th 2003<br> Olympic Champion 1948, 1952, 1956 - boxing<br> <br> <b>EMIL  Ba a PA}ICKÝ</b> - November 21st 2003<br> football (soccer)<br> <br> <b>FANNY BLANKERS-KOEN</b> - January 25th 2004<br> Olympic Champion 1948<br> 100m, 200m, 80mH, 4X100m relay<br> the Grand old dame of the athletics - a class act<br> <br> <b>KURO UBERAL</b>  November 15th 2004<br> basketball</font><br> <font color="green"><b><i>Coach and referee, founder of Slovak women basketball, my mentor and friend.</b></i></font><br> <br><font color="black"><b>BOB MATHIAS</b> - September 2nd 2006<br> Olympic Champion - 1948 and 1972 - Decathlon<br> <br><b>FERENC "Öcsi" PUSKÁS</b> - November 17th 2006<br> football (soccer)<br> <br> <b>AL OERTER</b> - September 30th 2007<br> four time Olympic Champion - 1956 - 1960 - 1964 - 1968 - Discus<br> <br> <b>KAY YOW</b> - January 23th 2009<br> women basketball coach of North Carolina State University - a class act<br> <br> <b>JÁN "Bimbo" POPLUHÁR</b> - March 6th 2011<br> football (soccer) - Slovak player of the century<br></font></p> <hr noshade> <br> <p><h2 align="center">LINKS</h2><br> <blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><b>Reason</b></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> <a href="http://www.secularhumanism.org/">Free Inquiry</a><br> <a href="http://www.americanhumanist.org/">American Humanist Association</a><br> <a href="http://www.au.org/site/PageServer">Americans United for Separation of Church and State</a><br> <a href="http://auwisconsin.org/">Americans United for Separation of Church and State - Wisconsin Chapter</a><br> <br> <a href="http://www.csicop.org/">Skeptical Inquirer - CSI</a><br> <a href="http://www.skeptic.com/">Skeptic</a><br> <a href="http://www.randi.org/">James Randi Educational Foundation</a><br> <a href="http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/">Natural History</a><br> <a href="http://www.talkorigins.org/">Talk Origins Archive</a><br> <a href="http://www.quackwatch.org/">Quackwatch</a><br> <a href="http://www.ncahf.org/">National Council Against Health Fraud</a><br> <blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><b>Slovakia</b></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> <a href="http://www.slovakia.org/">Slovakia</a><br> <a href="http://www.best.sk/www/Denniky.htm">Slovak Daily Papers</a><br> <a href="http://www.panorama.sk/">Panoráma</a><br> <a href="http://www.tanap.sk/">High Tatras National Park</a><br> <blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><b>Sport</b></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> <a href="http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/tfn/index.jsp">Track & Field News</a><br> <a href="http://www.iaaf.org/">IAAF</a><br> <a href="http://www.usatf.org/">USA Track & Field</a><br> <a href="http://www.atletikasvk.sk/">Slovak Athletic Federation</a><br> <a href="http://www.olympic.org/uk/index_uk.asp">International Olympic Committee</a><br> <a href="http://www.olympic-usa.org/">US Olympic Committee</a><br> <a href="http://www.olympic.sk/">Slovak Olympic Committee</a><br> <a href="http://www.slovanfutbal.com/sk/">`K Slovan Bratislava</a> <br> <hr> <a href="mailto:pegospageofreason@yahoo.com"><font color="dark blue"><i>click here to e-mail me your comments</i></a></font></p><br> <hr noshade> <hr noshade> <br> <a href="Pego's Page of Reason.html"><font color="indigo">Page 1 - Introduction</font></a><br> <a href="opinions.html"><font color="indigo">Page 2 - Opinions</font></a><br> <a href="review.html"><font color="indigo">Page 3 - Review 1</font></a><br> <a href="Christmas.html"><font color="indigo">Page 5 - Christmas</font></a><br> <a href=Morality.html><font color="indigo">Page 6 - Morality</font></a><br> <br> <br> <br> <blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> <!-- Site Meter --> <a href="http://s25.sitemeter.com/stats.asp?site=s25pegospageofreason" target="_top"> <img src="http://s25.sitemeter.com/meter.asp?site=s25pegospageofreason" alt="Site Meter" border="0"/></a> <!-- Copyright (c)2006 Site Meter --> </body> </html>