RayanaSandy (Anonymous) says…

I agree with Mirecki. KU hasn't done enough to support him at all.

Sandman (Anonymous) says…

Take the polygraph! Prove everyone wrong…

audvisartist (Anonymous) says…

Is it just me, or is anyone else REALLY tired of seeing this guy make the front page on an all too regular basis? And what's up with the black eyes? They're the most symmetrical I've ever seen!

jwmound (Anonymous) says…

yeah, don't look like any black eye ever had, but it isn't a surprise to me when the university asked for a resignation. If you believe in a high power, it will prevail reguardless of this political bullshiste!

enochville (Anonymous) says…

Those bruises look like they could come from the bottom of his glasses being smashed against his face.

audvisartist (Anonymous) says…

hmmmm good point, enochville! But like the old cartoons say, “You'd never hit a guy with glasses!”

ksmattfish (Anonymous) says…

“Is it just me, or is anyone else REALLY tired of seeing this guy make the front page on an all too regular basis?”

Not as tired as I am of ignorant, superstitious, fundamentalist BS making the headlines.

malachi (Anonymous) says…

Unbelievable, this could have all been avoided had we left intelligent design where it belonged. In a book of fairy tales.

ksmattfish (Anonymous) says…

“hide behind the lawyer,boy does that say guilty”

I'll keep this in mind as half the Republican party lines up for court.

LawrenceMommy (Anonymous) says…

Just an interesting point. One of the methods they use in Emergency Departments to determine child abuse is by “staging” the bruising. Bruises of different ages appear different colors due to the process of breaking down the components of blood. The “bruises” on his face are definitely not from the same time as the one on his arm…the arm one is older. The face bruises are still a deep purple color, which indicates they are about 2-5 days old. The arm bruise is green and yellowing toward the edges. That is indicative of a bruse that is 7-10 days old. The alleged beating happened on the 5th and the picture was taken on the 9th. My math must not add up.

nschmi04 (Anonymous) says…

Oh, you right wingers are going to have a field day on this board this morning.

Shardwurm (Anonymous) says…

I don't care if you're right wing or left wing, this guy doesn't know when to shut up.

He says he's gotten 2500 letters from other academics?

Proof that our education system is a shambles.

smitty (Anonymous) says…

From CARE, an educational site on child abuse about bruising:

****stages of healing in bruises
*(A very rough guide) NOTE:
There have been many attempts to correlate the color of a bruise with the chronology (timing) of the injury. However, there continues to be controvery and debate about this subject. One frequently quoted reference is:
Schwartz AJ, Ricci LR: “How accurately can bruises be aged in abused children? Literature review and synthesis.” Pediatrics 1996 Feb;97(2):254-7. ****

From personal experience after a bad fall last year I had the different colors appear at different times based on how deep and large each bruise was. The green and yellow showed quicker on the less severe bruises.

Just a fact thrown in here between the rumors and gossiping.

Rant on!

LarryFarma (Anonymous) says…

I think that the university actually bent over backwards to support Mirecki. For example, before Mirecki's derogatory email was exposed, the university provost released an official statement defending the term “mythologies” in the course title. See —
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/nov/23…

I wonder when Mirecki will sell the movie rights to his story. What's a good name for the movie? Evil Dr. P and the Fundies? The Wizard of Sleaze? Inherit the Kansas Tornado? If I Only Had a Brain? Any suggestions?

I say, let Mirecki continue to make a fool of himself. He makes a nice poster child for anti-ID bigotry.

trinity (Anonymous) says…

just all still smells awful fishy to me.

context (Anonymous) says…

I love my Bill of Rights at least as much as the next guy; but this guy just embarrassed himself, now he's grasping. And don't think I write from the right; I'm part of the quiet left who think this guy's a joke.

offtotheright (Anonymous) says…

He's going to sue the LPD and KU? Figures!

MadAnthony (Anonymous) says…

I will not belieive until I thrurst my hand into the hole in his side from the metal pipe and see his broken (or at least bent) glasses. btw, I would think a shot to the eyes hard enough to cause such bruises, with glasses on, would bruise the nose as well, no? And if not, Dr. P should not be driving around in the country at 6 am without his glasses on! Maybe that is why he got out, he was asking the red necks if they were helping him find his glasses? Kinda like in a dream, like when you end up in front of your debunking christianity class in your silk underwear……

trinity (Anonymous) says…

“It will be interesting to compare the comments here with those under the Altevogt article.”

it's pretty quiet over there, so far, e_m

i think this guy's just in way over his head&is flailing to get his ship righted. so how goes the investigation, as far as finding the two big guys and the large pickup truck?

Kookamooka (Anonymous) says…

Why do you think the Sheriff seized his computer? If I get beat up on my way to breakfast, will the sheriff seize MY computer? That's WEIRD!!
I only wish he had been able to give more details about his assailants so someone can catch them and put them behind bars. Big Thugs hitting people because they don't agree with them is a better reflection of a poor educational system than a bunch of intellectuals supporting free speech!!

OldEnuf2BYurDad (Anonymous) says…

“The University penalized me and denied me my constitutionally protected right to speak”

I work for one of the top-five financial services companies in America, a corporation with hundreds of thousands of employees. Our company clearly states in it's policies that any personal communication (including web logs, chat rooms, etc.) that relates to our professional conduct can be scrutinized, and if that personal communication puts my company in a negative light, I can suffer consequences up to termination. In other words, if I'm known to be an employee of my company and if I posted inappropriate material on a message board (the list of what could be “inappropriate” is too long to mention here) about my company, a competitor, the industry or persons in my company, I could lose my job. Example: I cannot speak my mind if I'm at a non-work function (sitting on a bar stool on a Saturday night for example) but wearing clothing that has a company logo on it. The things I say on that bar stool can be considered the official position of my company if people see the logo on my shirt. We get mandatory yearly training on this issue just to be sure we understand it and do not cross those lines.

Mirecki is an employee of both KU and the State. He posted inappropriate materials that directly related to his position at KU/the State. His employer can “punish” him for doing so. If he had stated “Kid Rock is Satan, and by the way, these are my opinions, not those of the University” that would be different. But, expressing those thoughts (anti-fundie statements) in a forum where his identity is clearly known (a prof who teaches about fundies) was wrong and he should realize that only losing the chairmanship of the department was a “bargain”.

I never really thought that it was his idea to step down.

Mirecki: Yes, you were punished (which was appropriate), but your constitutionally protected right to speak is as an individual. You posted on the SOMA sight, where you are known to have an official position (sponsor of SOMA, and religion prof from KU). You, as a representative of the University, crossed a line that has consequences that the Constitution will not protect you from. If your attorney doesn't know that, get yourself a better attorney.

srj (Anonymous) says…

“The University penalized me and denied me my Constitutionally protected right to speak and express my mind,”?

So, if right here, I told everyone how stupid everyone at work it, including my boss and tell hom bad our product is, I can't get in trouble or fired becase I have a right to speck my mind?

What planet is he from?

OldEnuf2BYurDad (Anonymous) says…

Look at the Mirecki photo. Tanned face. White arms. How ironic: Mirecki IS a redneck! It was “redneck on redneck crime”. Will the insanity ever stop [sobbing sound]?!

lunacydetector (Anonymous) says…

why would he sue the douglas county sherriff's office?

….let's see, a pickup truck started tailgating him in the freezing dark of morn in the middle of nowhere, he pulled over, the truck pulled over, he got out, then two guys got out of their truck (one had a red kneck -i mean red visor), and then they started beating him? sounds like a great reason to sue the sherriff's office.

lunacydetector (Anonymous) says…

GREAT point oldenuf!

OldEnuf2BYurDad (Anonymous) says…

Hey, great post Anthony! Very creative Jesus reference. I wish I had come up with that.

By the way folks, since his assault was connected to his web activities, it makes perfect sense for investigators to want to thoroughly investigate his computer. Who was he communicating with/about who may want to do this to him? Some have suggested that John1945 whacked him. If they wanted to look into that, seeing his communications with John1945 is where you'd start. Not suspicious at all.

Mirecki is losing perspective here. He needs to see a counselor to help him deal with the trauma of this event. I think his martyr complex is getting away from him. First he won't talk to the press and talks about wanting this to go away, then he's on the front page with his NFL linebacker pose talking about a lawsuit.

MadAnthony (Anonymous) says…

Stating the obvious, I would guess that the sheriff seized his computer to determine if anyone had emailed him the concept of the beating before it occured. Either as a threat (rednecks online, isnt that a novel idea?) or as a plan. Will be most interesting to find out if the KBI comes up with anything on that front. (Not that we pebes are likely to ever know.) But if the latter, then Mr. Brown better have some criminal defense background and, if the latter, then I would wager that some in the community may be leaving Lawrence for winter (or is it Boxing Day?) break, never to return to this jurisdiction.

bmelm (Anonymous) says…

Looks like his glasses that are in his shirt pocket survived the beating just fine.

Kookamooka (Anonymous) says…

Just for the record. People get two black eyes, like his, when there is trauma to the nose. The blood pools into the area below the eyes. This exact thing happened to a girl I used to work with when she had a broken nose. (she was beaten by her nice conservative, God fearing, Christian boyfriend)

MadAnthony (Anonymous) says…

You might be right. I only play a doctor on tv. Geez, I bet there was blood all over his shirt, car seat and crime scene if he took that hard of a blast to the honker!

merrill (Anonymous) says…

The two alleged thugs would be hard to find under any circumstances unless more than the two know something about this. If the beating is a true story obviously two men had been stalking him for awhile in order to know he would be going to breakfast at 6 AM or somewhere therabouts.

Making assertions about balck eyes from a journal world photograph cannot be accurate. How many types of impact can cause two black eyes similar to those in the picture?

It's too bad KU cancelled classes over this. The legislators named thus far including the one who contacted the chancellor are part of the Kansas right wing IMO. There is no need for the legislature to be involved in this matter. KU has now cancelled two classes under right wing pressure…where is the backbone.

MadAsHell (Anonymous) says…

The man doth protest too much, me thinks.

hawkbygod (Anonymous) says…

Mirecki is a joke. When the University thought that he was going to teach a legitimate “balanced” class on the topic they supported him without end. So did I, I thought that no matter what your stance was on the issue, the course was a great chance to have intelligent KU students discuss the merits of all sides.

Then, Mirecki showed what a punk he really was with that stupid e-mail he sent out. Once he did that, he basically spat in the face of the University that supported him. Now KU, which already had an interesting relationship with the state legislature, has politics calling of more oversight and funding cuts. Mirecki turned his back on this school when he was a self centered, glory grabbing putz. He didn't deserve to get attacked, but he deserves everything else he's gotten.

bartstop (Anonymous) says…

Doesn't Christianity teach tolerance and forgiveness? Wouldn't beating this guy be considered a sin? It's just another example of the hypocrisy of the religious right.

prospector (Anonymous) says…

Bartstop

As noted above- no :0(

Jeremy (Anonymous) says…

What was the good professor doing so near Wells Overlook park, alone, early in the morning? What a scandall that might be. Wag the dog…

pt (Anonymous) says…

Of course the University asked him to step down as chair. He was chair of the religious department, and clearly is NOT impartial to religion. When someone who is teaching religion, and is the head of the entire department labels a group “fundies” because of their belief, it tells me that he does not respect their beliefs. How can someone teach and direct religion without respecting the beliefs of others?

He can think and feel however he wants, but when he expresses that to colleagues through and email and a proposed class, he states that he is not impartial in his beliefs. Yes he has the freedom of speech, but he has no right to demean a group of people becuase of their beliefs in a classroom setting. Its the same reason why a teacher should be fired if they started writing nasty feelings about muslims, jews, etc. Prejudice feelings have no place in an educational environment.

bankboy119 (Anonymous) says…

Bartstop, yes it would. But just because those who allegedly beat him would be hypocrites doesn't mean the rest of Christians are. Isn't it also hypocritical to claim to be acceptive of all beliefs and then make fun of anyone who professes to be Christian? That's not too accepting is it?

bthom37 (Anonymous) says…

Quick, I think porkrib is having a seizure! Stick his wallet in his mouth so he doesn't bite off his tongue!

Sigmund (Anonymous) says…

I know I'm on the lookout for roving gangs from religious right. It's one of my biggest fears. Anyone else? LA and KC have nothing on Lawrence.

On the other hand maybe Mirecki should apply to chair the Drama Department. The whole concept of a couple of christians beating this guy up is laughable. If I had to choose between violent fundamentalist christians roving the streets of one of the most liberral college towns in the midwest or that Mirecki is a drama queen, my money is on the later.

bthom37 (Anonymous) says…

Anyone else think he looks like a less wrinkled Erik Estrada?

senegal66025 (Anonymous) says…

Ward Churchill

OldEnuf2BYurDad (Anonymous) says…

Has anyone considered that Jews or Muslims might be suspects in the crime and not just Christians? The issues of Creationism and belief in God comes from texts that are revered by all three of those faiths. In Kansas, we tend to only see the “Christan conservative” perspective in the newspaper, but is that fair? My guess is that if these guys were church-goers, they would have figured out by now that what they did was very wrong. I'm guessing that they are among those masses of people who say “this is a Christian nation” but who don't practice Christianity. As if there is a need to protect the policy of “Christianity” without being true to Christ themselves.

PT: While I don't disagree that he should have been asked to step down, I have to disagree with your statement that he should be impartial. I would argue that it's not really possible to be impartial. Even an agnostic has decided that they have made personal decisions about their beliefs. We all have beliefs, and should express/debate those beliefs in appropriate venues. I had 15 hours of Religous Studies credits at KU. Dr. Macaully (a GREAT teacher, I should add) would sometimes come to class wearing his “collar”. He was also an ordained minister. If I remember correctly, Tim Miller also told us in class what his religious background was. But, in niether of those cases did I every feel as if something “personal” was being crammed down my throat. The question is about being judicial and fair in one's academic pursuits. Showing BIAS in his teaching, now THAT is unprofessional, and also a line that he crossed. (Maybe this whole post is about semantics, but I think there is a difference that is worth distinguishing.)

KayCee (Anonymous) says…

Regardless of everyone's opinions, Mirecki has been his own worst enemy.

OldEnuf2BYurDad (Anonymous) says…

Sigmund, are you nuts? You are “on the lookout for roving gangs from religious right”?

Quote me ONE example of a street gang of right-wing Christians even being formed, let alone attacking someone. Just give me ONE link to a news story on that subject. Even one from The Inquirer would satisfy me.

pepper_bar (Anonymous) says…

I wonder if he has to wear glasses to drive. There have been no reports of broken glasses being found at the scene or in Mirecki's possession when he got to the hospital.

Regardless, Hemenway's faint defense of Mirecki in this article is hilarious. “The university deplores the fact that he was apparently attacked.”

YetAgain (Anonymous) says…

It's amazing all the folks on the right who have been calling Miercki (and the folks defending him) bigots and worse, immediately jumped to the conclusion that he faked his beating, is faking his bruises, etc., etc., ad naseum. The hate expressed here is beyond incredible. And by people who call themselves “Christians”. Christiaons beating people up laughable? Have any of you ever heard of Timothy McVey?? Seems to me he defended his god just a state south of you. That's just one fanatic of many. Christian hate is just as ugly as any other kind. You folks are makeing Kansas look like Iran.

Native Kansan in Washington (the world is watching, folks)

just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…

Almost everything I have heard about how Mirecki conducts his classes indicates that he does not do so in a biased way. The only exception I have heard is the fundamentalist christian student quoted in one of the articles today, but it sounds like he would only be satisfied with an approach that viewed the bible as the inerrant word of god, which would be a biased approach, and therefore inappropriate for that context.

The only mistake I see him having made is assuming that a “private” listserve will be respected as such by folks like Altevogt.

OldEnuf2BYurDad (Anonymous) says…

KC has a point. All of this started with him. We can “blame” John A. for outing Mirecki, but only Mirecki could provide the fuel for the flame. It reminds me of when Bill Clinton came on TV to admit that he lied about Monica L. He first admits that he's a liar and an adulterer, then spends half his alotted time ripping Ken Star. Did Ken Star unzip Bill's pants for him? No. In the same way, Mirecki has unzipped his own pants. I think it's unfortunate that this controversy has come this far… but, even THAT is Mirecki's fault at this point. Now his pants are down around his ankles (so to speak).

How far does Mirecki want this to go? Where will he work if he files suit against KU? Will he sit in his home, unemployed and holding a court document with “case dismissed” stamped on it, and be glad he did it?

Kam_Fong_as_Chin_Ho (Anonymous) says…

Who will save Mirecki from himself? He seems to be his own worst enemy; losing more and more crediblity with each passing day. Some fundamentalist nut predicted that Mirecki would become a laughingstock. As much as I dislike oppressive religious wackos, the guy was absolutely right.

just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…

Yea, that'll really put some light on this situation, OldEnuf— let's drag Clinton into this, cuz we just know Mirecki's lying about everything, and if the “blame Clinton for everything” argument works for Arminius on these boards, why not drag it out here, too.

bankboy119 (Anonymous) says…

I bet it was the Muslims. They were on a jihad.

Now let's see how many people call that statement bigoted. How dare I put Islam into that light. But if the statement had read,

“I bet it was the Christians. They were on a crusade,”

this would have been entirely acceptable. That in itself is intolerance against Christianity.

Another example,

Posted by derf (anonymous) on December 10, 2005 at 10:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)

And Allah said, “Forbear not the egoistic assiciate professor,
specially if he's going through an emotional crisis, who cares!
But, smite him with my vengeance. Its OK!”
-the Koran, somewhere I just know Allah says that
And in my worstest judgement I proclaim, crucify him!!!,
in the name of Allah, of course.

That would be completely intolerant if it had read like that. The hypocrites are those who claim to be tolerant of all religions and treat Christians like criminals.

bankboy119 (Anonymous) says…

bozo, the comment you just made about Clinton sheds some light to the name. Nobody was blaming Clinton for anything, just stating history. Let's not twist words.

OldEnuf2BYurDad (Anonymous) says…

Hey, I'm just using it as an example. If it had been Reagan who had a “party” under the desk in the oval office, I would have used him. But, it was Bill.

I never expressed any support for the idea that Mirecki has lied. I'm saying that just as Bill could not blame Starr for riding the wave of Bill's lies, Mirecki can only blame himself for the problems that John A. has “caused” him. As KC said, this is ALL on Mirecki.

OldEnuf2BYurDad (Anonymous) says…

Momma: bruising around the eyes from a bust in the sinuses is not the same as a fleshly bruise on a place like the arm. The bruising is happening in a very different way because it's in the sinuses.

just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…

The history of Bill Clinton has zero, nada, nothing to do with this. Mirecki made the misake of assuming that a private email would not be made public. Otherwise, he got beat up for expressing that opinion, and offering a class that fundies don't want offered. Does that make him somewhat responsible for this situation?— yes. But the largest repsonsiblity for this situation lies with religious wack-jobs and speculators blowing the whole thing out of proportion.

Sigmund (Anonymous) says…

OldEnuf2BYurDad said -
Sigmund, are you nuts? You are “on the lookout for roving gangs from religious right”?

Quote me ONE example of a street gang of right-wing Christians even being formed, let alone attacking someone. Just give me ONE link to a news story on that subject. Even one from The Inquirer would satisfy me.

–––––––––––––––––-
Obviously my dry sense of humor, sarcasm, and deep skepticism was lost on you. I was attempting to show how truly absurd Mirecki's story really is. Thanks for making my point more directly than I was able to and allowing me to clarify.

Ms_D_mocrat (Anonymous) says…

The first thing I thought when he allegedly got beat up was: Now he'll finally get new glasses to replace the ones he wears from 1983. But his glasses seem to be resting unscathed in his shirt pocket in that picture.

I want to believe him. I really do. Oh, Paul, say it ain't so! I can't imagine Christian hoodlums getting up at that hour to follow someone, no one on that road witnessing this, I would've interviewed him for 5 hours too. Jeez. This story just keeps getting better.

OldEnuf2BYurDad (Anonymous) says…

Bozo, you obviously missed my point.

Boy, you are really sensitive about Bill, aren't you? An “off limits” subject. Your name wouldn't be “Monica” would it? Just asking. :)

OldEnuf2BYurDad (Anonymous) says…

Oh, OK Sig. I was wondering.

Roving bands. With all the crap people post here, it's hard to know what's real and what's not.

just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…

I couldn't miss your point— you didn't have one.

Couldn't care less about Bill, but it's as irrelevant here as it is when Kevin drags it out.

OldEnuf2BYurDad (Anonymous) says…

Well, BankBoy got my point.

Wendt was the one that outed John1945 as John A. If you don't admit that my point was well made, I'm going to tell everyone who YOU really are, “M.L.”.

just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…

My real identity is protected as a matter of national security. It would be a federal crime to reveal it.

Sigmund (Anonymous) says…

Posted by Jeremy

What was the good professor doing so near Wells Overlook park, alone, early in the morning? What a scandall that might be. Wag the dog…
–––––––––––––––––—
Getting breakfast, although I can't imagine where. Seriously though, your question is the methaphorical giant pink elephant in the middle of the room that everyone (both on the right and the left) is trying to ignore.

Miyagi_Rules (Anonymous) says…

Bankboy,

As Christians, we really need to quit trotting out the tired argument that we are the poor minority who is being persecuted at every turn. Do people in this country have different standards of tolerance for Christianity as opposed to Islam or other religions? Sure they do, but a lot of that