Bob Richards

I recall years ago watching the 1st, Home Alone movie,  and the boy star, Macaulay Culkin , who  to a store clerk, who questioned if he was  alone, exclaimed in a tone of defiant confidence, "I don't think so!" To Harold Camping and followers  who claimed they've got pegged down the date of the world's end I'd say the same, "I DON'T THINK SO!"  In saying this however I do not make light of Christian beliefs  which holds there'll some day be some type of new world, an end and yes a new type of beginning.  I say without apology that I consider myself a Christian and the belief that Christ will some day govern the world has been a standard belief of Christians for thousands of years.   The troubling thing about Camping and his followers is why they'd consider it wise, in light of the very scriptures they claim to treasure and hold dear, that they'd take a position which very clearly stands contrary to the very thing Jesus Chr...

On May 2, 2011,  Prime Minister Stephen Harper won a majority government in Canada. I thought I'd like to do a piece  on the journey of a party which seems has gone FULL CIRCLE , and the period of time it took to bring it about. As the saying goes, once upon a time, and  in a country just north of the great USofA  there was in Canada a Conservative majority government.  It's important to understand as one considers the political spectrum of parties, things of the same name may have different meaning from country to country.  To explain the United States of America has the Republican Party which are known to be conservatives. One should not consider the Conservative Party of Canada as sharing exactly the same values as the U.S. Republicans.  The Conservative Party of Canada believes in universal health care for all of it's citizens something the U.S Democrats have long sought to establish. A U.S. President, having ...

How would Robertson have known in 1898 the great ships of the future would have been an average of 800 ft in length?  Probably because they had already started to build such ships like the 704ft  RMS Oceanic which was to be built 1 year later in 1899.  Undoubted Robertson read journals describing the future build of passenger ships as well indicating the sizes would be even larger. What about having the ship hit a berg as the disaster scenario? What else could you have? You might have the ship hitting another  as the Titanic nearly did do with the 570ft ship  'SS City Of New York' when it left the port in Southampton [see picture directly above] but no I'd say the more interesting and believable thing, would be using a berg.  Hitting icebergs were the number one thing feared at the time and being cautious concerning such was top priority for any ship's captain. Robertson imagined h...

It's April, the actual month in which the Titanic sank  in the North Atlantic.  I've always thought  I'd like at some point, touch on the Titanic theme and what better time to do so then the date in which it occurred.  No, I won't bore you with the same ole details concerning the event---I'm sure you've heard them all . There are I think a few discussions not directly about Titanic itself but what I'd call,  OTHER THINGS .  I trust you'll find them of interest. The first, is something which has mystified or that many have considered quite unusual, something occurring     14 years before the great ship floundered.    In 1898 a novel was written by Morgan Robertson entitled   ‘ Futility and the Wreck of the Titan’ which seemed to describe in an uncanny fashion through fiction the almost identical event as the real life Titanic. Robertson wrote about a great passenge...

I DID IT!!! I've been offered the lead role in a  Cast Away/Wilson sequel!!! Really? No, just a silly April Fools joke. It's not that I wouldn't love to do the part.You can see in some of my blogs, http://bit.ly/hdIhBJ     http://bit.ly/f9PZ5f    where I've visited  Chuck Noland's island,  finding Wilson who was swept ashore. Yes I know...you thought he met his demise  with Chuck on the ocean blue  but you do realize that nobody found his body? I can assure you that Wilson has a pretty thick skin! Hard to make a good air filled soccer ball go down!  I did say April Fools, did I not? AFN news? Growing up I seemed to recall there was always a rule connected to April Fools--that nobody was allowed to tell a joke after 12 o'clock noon. It allowed a certain brief period of time where one could lead on their peers in a crazy insane fashion but not for such a time  to become obnoxious. I wasn't particularly fond of the event proba...

I saw in the news today it's William Shatner's 80th birthday and thought I'd like to put down a few thoughts. I for one really consider that he was one of the most under rated actors of our day. I recall back in the 60's when Star Trek came on the scene.  It was the time of the American Apollo missions to the moon and Star Trek showed a possible scenario of how the future might unfold. "To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before!" was a line we heard each week, but in real life I'd say that's pretty much what William Shatner did, or shall I say he's done what not too many actors have tried before. I'd define what that would be as not being afraid to take yourself too seriously, going on out there to take a risk and doing some things just for the kick of it in having fun. One could do a study of Wik to see all the work he's done, a Shakespearean actor, numerous television appearances, a lead in two series, Star Trek, plus seven Star Trek...

Continuation of Japan, Earthquake And The Super Moon  Part 2 Gee we're in for trouble! Earthquakes  would be shaking things up volcanoes would be blowing their tops and all sorts of other scary scenarios as well. I was thinking in 1980 when I heard this theory, "Wow looks like I've got around 24 months to share it with the uninformed!" and so we talked about it around the campfire or on those special occasions my friends and I enjoyed discussing fun out of this world things, "Well only 24 months until 1982, 12 months, 6 and then 3, now fasten your seat beats for here we are!"  What happened?  Nothing. Nothing really at all.   In fact 1982 was relatively a quite year with very few if any major catastrophes anywhere.  There never really was as well  in 1128 AD when the same type of planetary alignment occurred but that's beside the point. When the Jupiter Effect people were questioned as to why no shakeup they suggested ...