Don,

So?

I worked with Gene Shoemaker, but that gives ME no additional abilities. YOU STATED YOUR qualifications and asked mine- I replied, and in the opinion of any sane person, ON WHAT YOU STATED **I** have as good or better qualifications on the subject at hand. So when YOU state that I am not entitled to have an educated opinion, I fail to see how you can claim anything of the kind.


As for Jerry Pournelle, he and I shared computer connections ( Heath/Zenith) Perhaps you should read what you wrote:

"In addition to having an encyclopedic mind for scientific facts and theories, he had a vivid imagination, which served him well both in writing some really fine science fiction and in hatching up alternative ways of doing things.

He was a Southerner, born and raised in Louisiana, which, despite his prodigious knowledge, may explain his political conservatism. He and Newt Gingrich became good friends, which really puzzles me, but that's another question."

Perhaps you should be asking why YOU disagree with HIS political opinions, instead of denying that others are permitted to disagree with you.