Actually, the lower numbers indicate Low Pressure.
Why would low pressure zone be associated with Antarctica if pressure had nothing to do with heat or cold?
Why don't the tropics and Antarctica "balance out" if its natural for Low and High Pressure systems to equalize? Weren't we just told that the Atmospheric Lip Hypothesis couldn't work since the atmosphere would just "balance out"?
Clearly, temperature is related to pressure, and clearly, environments can and do maintain their own pressure systems in relation to the ambient temperature.
Seems like the Atmospheric Lip Hypothesis is valid and the RE'ers petty antics are not.
Let me help you out Tom, because you clearly missed the point of my post. You've been saying that the highest pressure should be somewhere along the equator (spotlight shines there mostly, so more heat, thus more pressure). You also say that the pressure should slowly drop as you go outwards towards antarctica, until eventually the temperatures are so low that pressure is sufficiently low as to keep the atmosphere in.
But in the real world that isn't what's going on. The hottest spot, the equator, has the highest temperatures, but has lower pressures than the cooler subtropics because the air is rising. Antarctica, on the other hand, has cold, dense air travelling downwards on its center, so it's pressure is higher than the immediate surrounding area which is somewhat warmer. The bottom edge of antarctica has a higher pressure than the outer region of antarctica. So sure, it has a lower pressure than say, the equator, but it still has a higher pressure than the coast does. The system can't equalize, because there heat isn't equally spread out across the entire earth (round or flat). So air must constantly move. The hot air rises and becomes cold, while the cold air moves horizontally and becomes warmer. That air then rises and gets replaced by colder air underneath... cycle repeats ad nauseum. If incoming solar radiation all of a sudden stopped adding heat to the system or was equal at every point on the earth, then over time the pressures and temperatures would balance out.
So when you said
"Stunningly clear examples that Heat is associated with High Pressure and Cold is associated with Low Pressure."
You were dead wrong. Your oven and fridge hardly represent anything close to an atmospheric system and only apply to closed systems where volume is held constant.
Winds and pressure do not occupy a closed container and are more complicated than a simple temperature relationship given in Boyle's law. Since you missed out on 4th grade science, here's a diagram that explains perfectly why certain pressures are located at certain spots, and why temperatures cause circulation.
