dimanche 31 juillet 2016

Laptop stopped acknowledging charger, now it has died and can't be turned back on?!

Once again, I come to the reliable nerds here, a supplicant, seeking your wisdom. I have a Dell Elitebook running Windows 7 Professional, refurbished, haven't had it that long.

The other day I had it plugged in and was listening to music like usual while doing some other stuff around the apartment. After a few hours of no trouble, I noticed that the "charging" icon wasn't lit up anymore - the laptop had stopped acknowledging the charger at some point. I couldn't find any kinks or anything in the power chord. Finally, I tried two other chords, but to no avail. No acknowledgement. So then the battery died not long after, and now I can't turn it on!

What could have happened? Can it be fixed? And if not, can some files I had on it that I hadn't gotten around to backing up on my external hard drive be recovered from it? I have very little tech knowledge at all, and I certainly don't have any complicated equipment. I don't mind if I have to get a new computer, it's just that I've been having a lot of trouble finding ones that don't run Windows 10 these days, and also I really want the music files off this one. Can anyone help?


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Leftists Who Have Eyes

Here is a clip from Cenk Uygur finally having his epiphany about Trump:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qi_IipZVG8

What is important about his observation is that once he broke free of Washington DC and LA, out in Ohio - he was overwhelmed by the groundswell in middle America.

His main criticism of Clinton is putting up an establishment candidate in this atmosphere.

Here's Michael Moore:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBtqo9Bzwqk

I've always liked Michael Moore even though I disagree with him politically. His film Farenheit 911 was very well done.

What I am glad he did was step out of this mindless "Racist, Sexist, idiot, pathological liar, etc." screeching that has worked so well in this Politically Correct culture until now.

People are sick of it. People are sick of being forbidden to talk about some subjects, of being accused of racism, sexism, etc. for having very reasonable questions - about racism against whites for example. It isn't okay any more than racism against blacks is okay.

Both of them think Trump has "got something", he is connecting with a huge portion of the population - without being able to identify it. Well, it is easy to understand when your whole life you have been on the receiving end of Politically Correct abuse.


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On Sye Ten Bruggencate

I just listened to a podcast off the archives of the Thinking Atheist website where Matt Dillahunty debates Sye.
Essentially the whole debate was Sye trying to trap Matt into admitting he could be a brain in a vat and therefore ultimately lacked the ability to trust his reasoning. Matt would not give in so it really went nowhere.

What I'm trying to figure out is where Sye was going with this. If Matt can't know anything, well, neither can Sye, and whatever revelation he claims to have had or whatever bible he claims to have read could also be an impossible to verify illusion.
What's Sye's game?
How does me admitting I cannot know anything with certainty = God/Jesus exists?


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This Scared Me

A Bernie Bro I've known for years was trying to tell me Clinton's Supreme Court picks wouldn't be any different than Trump's, and that it's not a reason to vote for her. I couldn't believe it. But this person is not stupid and I've known him for 15 years. But he actually thinks this. Good lord, are people this clueless?


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Anti-Zionism, Anti-Semitism

Last week there were a couple articles that found their way into my news feed that reminded me of recent discussions on this forum.

First:

http://ift.tt/2aH7W7X

Cynthia McKinney, a former elected member of the US House of Representatives and oft-times conspiratard tweets a conspiracy theory linking Israel to the attacks in Nice France and Munich Germany. Cynthia says;

"Same Israeli photographer captures Nice and Munich tragedies," McKinney, the Green Party's presidential nominee in 2008, tweeted, including a video about the issue.

"How likely is that? Remember the Dancing Israelis?"


Indeed, mustn't forget the dancing Israelis.

It turns out the photographer isn't Israeli but German, but he's married to an Israeli politician, so in McKinney's mind and the mind of the guy who posted the you-tube video she links to, makes the conspiracy theory plausible.

In another article a German University is criticized for holding lectures claiming Israel harvests Palestinian organs:

http://ift.tt/2aH7FSC

Our sons were robbed of their organs,” was the title of a part of the seminar’s course material, Rebecca Seidler, an academic who blew the whistle on the anti-Israel material, told the weekly German-Jewish newspaper Jüdische Allgemeine Zeitung in an article published Thursday.

It doesn't say so in the article, but I noticed that the title of that part of the course reflects an article written back in 2009 by a Swedish journalist named Donald Boström titled "Våra söner plundras på sina organ" ("Our sons are plundered of their organs"), which was so widely criticized that even Electronic Intifada said it was unfounded and unhelpful.

Also, I was able to locate the original publication, thought the translation to English is done by Google and is a bit clumsy;

http://ift.tt/2ajOGKj

What I notice is that since none of this mentions Jews but only Israel that it's very likely that many who self-identify as anti-Zionist wouldn't recognize this as anti-Semitism, believing incorrectly that the two are wholly different entities.


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Is Humayan Khan Trump's Turning Point?

It seems to me that the revolting way Trump has handled Humayan Khan's parents at the DNC might just be the catalyst to wake some of his supporters up and make them realise their guy is a cowardly bully.

Much as I have little sympathy (none) for grunts who manage to get themselves killed while on active service, attacking Khan's parents is way beyond the pale.

Not just his attitude, but the whole "Look at the sacrifices I've made" response is the lowest kind of thing anyone could possibly say.

Equating the dubious claim of creating jobs with the death of a son is so lousy I can't even come up with an adequate description of it.


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Carry it with you WIFI

As a keen camper/caravanner I'm often finding on-site WiFi to be woeful. I'm considering purchasing a "take it with you" deal but can't convince myself that it would be any better than what's offered at some of the remote sites in the Highlands I like to visit.

I'm at Braemar right now and using the site WiFi and it's patchy at best. Earlier I ventured into town to download a film for tonight and even the local café couldn't muster up much to write home about, with a download time from Amazon of just under one hour.

I assume the take it with you deals depend on connectivity just as much as every other available home based deal?

Any experience with these offerings, anybody?


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Alan Watt

This is someone my own CTer idolizes. Don't know if anyone has heard of him?

He wrote a book called "Breaking Through The Matrix" and he's Canadian.

Some vids from my twoofers CT channel:

YouTube Video This video is not hosted by the ISF. The ISF can not be held responsible for the suitability or legality of this material. By clicking the link below you agree to view content from an external website.
I AGREE


YouTube Video This video is not hosted by the ISF. The ISF can not be held responsible for the suitability or legality of this material. By clicking the link below you agree to view content from an external website.
I AGREE


YouTube Video This video is not hosted by the ISF. The ISF can not be held responsible for the suitability or legality of this material. By clicking the link below you agree to view content from an external website.
I AGREE


"Come my children and be enlightened by the one and only man that broke through the Matrix (although the Matrix is supposed to lighten our darkest hour...)..."




...I'll let myself out... :boxedin:


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How Will Trump Change the Republican Party?

In the years ahead, how will the emergence of Donald Trump as a 'leading' Republican voice, change the party? Or will he have any lasting effect on Republican policies and beliefs? Some think he will.
Quote:

The convention left little doubt over the depth of opposition to trade pacts, once a central tenet of Republican philosophy, or to easing the path for immigrants who want to become citizens, policies that President George W. Bush, a Republican, championed when he was in office. One by one, Mr. Trump, a businessman, has rejected core principles embraced by every Republican president since Richard M. Nixon...The longtime intraparty alliance between disaffected blue-collar whites and the wealthy is unraveling; Mr. Trump seized on that change and personified it. Link to New York Times article
Others think Trump's influence will be short-lived. They envision Trump losing badly in the November election, taking many Republicans down with him and then washing his hands of the whole affair as he has routinely done with other unsuccessful ventures. (e.g. Atlantic City, the airline, the pro football team.)
Quote:

Political shifts are notoriously difficult to predict, even when they do not involve the mercurial Mr. Trump, and it is unclear what might happen if he loses. Would he give up on politics? Would his supporters who are new to politics fade away, discouraged by the experience? Are there political leaders who could pick up his mantle? Has he built enough support for his anti-trade and tough immigration positions that they would live on in the party platform without him?
Guess we have to wait and see.


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Luke Aikins - Skydiver record freefall from 25000 feett

This isn't a record I'd want to break.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8j0YFzmqWc


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Saatchi and Saatchi attempt big PC

I thought this was good stuff from Robert Roberts because I couldn't quite pin it down

http://ift.tt/2amiNP7

I hope our women here can deconstruct and illuminate.


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Multiple victims reported from active shooter in Austin, Texas

Here is a link.

I am posting this to

- lament all casualties.
- support the responding emergency and police personnel.
- make no assumptions about attacker motives.
- make no initial comment on guns.
- hope for the best.

Let's hope this one ends soonest, and I hope it is simply some poor crazy, with no discernible ideology, rather than any other of the types of events we've been seeing in the news.

I hate Summer 2016.


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Why doesn't the US do something about mass shootings?

It's puzzling to me, as a Kiwi, that there have been so many mass shootings in in the US and it doesn't appear that the US has decided to do any sort of reaction to the problem.

Seems like once again they are waiting for a miracle to solve the problem, put thier people on the line so then the rest of the world can sit back once again ridiculing us for not solving the problem , as they have done, for the last few decades.

Why doesn't the US do something to respond to mass shooters.

Don't the numerous attacks warrant a response on behalf of their people and for the security of their kids? After the little kindergarten attack I really expected to see a response. Or wait, let me guess, "everyone is on Holiday and they'll do something when they get back."

:confused:


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samedi 30 juillet 2016

Maybe I am preaching to the choir here but is Trump calling vets losers or what?

I know there is not a lot of love for Trump here but really, Did Trump really say that he sacrificed more than a family who lost their son in (Vietnam), or was it Afghanistan? Anyways, Does Trumps childhood days spent at the military academy really match up? Was he ever spanked as a child? I am thinking not.

Oh yeah he called a general a loser. Lets do the Trump math here.

A general is basically a politician

General = Politician = Loser

Trump wants to be a politician so by Trumps calculation

Trump = Politician = Loser

I am not saying that Trump wants to be a loser(politician). I am guessing he is after the money. He has made 500 million running for president. Lets say becomes a single termer he has 20 good years left in him. So conservatively 20 X 500,000 = 10 Billion $

So, by my math, he can basically tell all of them to stick it because hes going to be worth 15b. And that seems to be the plan


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BC Judge rules RCMP entrapped couple into committing attempted terrorist act

Just heard about this today...

A couple has gone free after a judge ruled that John Nuttall and Amanada Korody were entrapped by RCMP. The sting, dubbed Project Souvenir, cost $900k in police overtime alone.

A few words from the judge:
“This was not a situation in which the police were attempting to disrupt an ongoing criminal enterprise; rather, the offences committed by the defendants were brought about by the police and would not have occurred without their involvement. By any measure, this was a clear case of police-manufactured crime.”

The vulnerable couple was benign, she added.

“There was no imminent risk of harm to the public or the need to disrupt ongoing criminal activity,” Bruce said. “The police were acutely aware that without the constant supervision and direction provided by (the undercover officer), the defendants would be incapable of completing their part in the plan.

“Moreover, the fact that the police went to such great lengths to eliminate the many obstacles the defendants placed in their own path to accomplishing a terrorist mission, as well as obstacles the police concluded the defendants could never overcome because of their vulnerabilities and their lack of resources, renders any risk perceived by the RCMP quite farcical.”

Link to full article:
http://ift.tt/2aFDYBb


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Could there be a Federal Inverstiagion into Trump Espionage?

Trump asks a foreign Country to carry out espionage against our country for his own gain, and they did.

Comparatively, this is FAR worse than the Watergate scandal. The Feds have begun an investigation into the recent hacking, but so far have not indicated whether Trump would be part of that investigation.

Essentially, all Trump did was invite a foreign country to carry out foreign espionage against the US after he had seen that they had recently carried it out before in a way that benefited him.

It was a targeted foreign espionage strike in exactly the way that Trump had called for them to do. However, beyond the public request, there was likely no exchange of money for the hit. It was more like making a free deal with the mob where they may call upon him at a later time for a 'favor.'

http://ift.tt/2ailFyy


You have Hillary not being as careful as she could have been with classified information, while Trump has actively encouraged and tasked a foreign government with performing foreign espionage and stealing US secrets and potential classified information.

I don't think there is much that a Federal investigation would be able to do to Trump at this stage, or if it would be possible for him to face legal repercussions for his actions.


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Masaru Emoto was right, study shows

"The hypothesis that water “treated” with intention can affect ice crystals formed from that water was pilot tested under double-blind conditions. A group of approximately 2,000 people in Tokyo focused positive intentions toward water samples located inside an electromagnetically shielded room in California. That group was unaware of similar water samples set aside in a different location as controls. Ice crystals formed from both sets of water samples were blindly identified and photographed by an analyst, and the resulting images were blindly assessed for aesthetic appeal by 100 independent judges. Results indicates that crystals from the treated water were given higher scores for aesthetic appeal than those from the control water (P = .001, one-tailed), lending support to the hypothesis."

http://ift.tt/2aoN1Cz

So, end of discussion: intentions can influence the structure of water. We exist of water, we influence our physical body by our emotions..


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The Climate Science Deniers are alive and well at Trump's place

This could possibly belong in the conspiracy section since so much of science denier reasoning comes down to a great conspiracy by all science and science institutions. However I post it here in case anyone wants a diversion into the unsettling side of logic and cares to try on the Trump crowd, just for fun.

As always, this topic is published by the same British science denier, James Delingpole who writes stuff for the following place. Caution, you may need your foil helmet on if you choose to join in.

http://ift.tt/2aAeAvR


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Will Donald Trump show up for the debates?

Quote:

Donald Trump says the fall debate schedule is "unacceptable," raising the specter that he may try to skip them.

In a tweet on Friday night, Trump incorrectly said that Hillary Clinton and the Democrats are "trying to rig the debates."

In fact, the fall debate schedule was determined almost a year ago by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, a private group made up of both Republicans and Democrats.

RNC chief strategist Sean Spicer invoked criticism of the commission on CNN Saturday morning, saying "The entire system needs to be relooked at."

The commission responded to Trump on Saturday by saying that it "announced the number, dates and sites for the 2016 general election debates in September 2015."

"The CPD did not consult with any political parties or campaigns in making these decisions," the group said.
http://ift.tt/2aoxhPE

So it seems he and the RNC are already starting to come up with excuses for why he might not show up. If he won't show that means he is a complete coward, period. He won't face Hillary in one on one in a debates yet we're supposed to trust him to take on the Chinese? Please.


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Jerusalem centered place name mapping?

Cartography coincidences?

I got this from an old acquaintance about 15 years ago. Searching did not locate it. Surely someone else has better search skills than I....?

Empire builders locating names of cities/features?

Seems they took God seriously when she proclaimed "This is Jerusalem; I have set her at the center of the nations, with lands around her."

It appears that some places and features were named systematically according to distance and bearing. Maybe someone did it to entertain their inside castle friends and family with familiar names etc.

Perhaps done by elite imperial minded Victorians, and earlier, apparently. Are the Romans too early for this? I dont know.

Or is it just another curiousity?


Note:
The following alignments may not be perfect

Nonetheless, it appears that the alignments were apparently deemed "close enough for government work".

Examples seen so far:

On your Jerusalem centered map:

Stick a tack in Jerusalem.
Tie a string to the tack.
Along each of two straight lines drawn from the tack will be seen:

Jerusalem>>Old Troy>>Novum Troia (aka London,England)>>London,Canada.

Jerusalem>>Carthage>>New Carthage (aka Cartagena, Spain)>>Cartagena, Colombia.

**********

The following two sets do not include Jerusalem, but do suggest systematic naming, aligning on azimuthal maps.

Sydney,Florida>>Sydney,Nova Scotia>>Sydney,Australia

Perth,Ontario>>Perth,UK>>Perth,Australia.

**********

Features located on Jerusalem centered circles:

Lake Victoria and London,UK are on a Jerusalem centered circle.

York Factory, Fort York, & New York are on a Jerusalem centered circle.

Victoria Falls, Victoria Seychelles, & Victoria in Calcutta are on or nearly on a Jerusalem centered circle.

***********

Maybe more can be found around the world. Searching is time consuming.

Related reading:

Political. Good rare maps. http://ift.tt/2ayRUdW

Historical. Great old rare maps. http://ift.tt/2ayRNiu

>>>>


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Trevor Gray: Punished twice

Trevor Gray was a police detective convicted of rape, his wife launched her own investigation, got him a retrial, and he was exonerated. A police board recommended his reinstatement. So all good in the end? Not exactly:

Quote:

Despite his acquittal - and a Police Appeals Tribunal board ruling that Mr Gray could return to work - his employers suspended him in April 2014, a decision later upheld by the same tribunal board.

"They held a disciplinary hearing in which they said - on the balance of probability - they believed the complainant over Trevor," Mrs Gray said.
Oh and:

Quote:

An IPCC report, seen by the BBC, recommended two senior detectives, who investigated the case, face misconduct proceedings.

But the IPCC and the force later agreed the pair would face no formal sanctions. They were instead "given management action relating to performance development".

Full story here:
http://ift.tt/2akao4L


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Evolution and abiogenesis

I often see people here and elsewhere who argue that the creationists are not entirely wrong when they think that abiogenesis is a part of evolution. One poster said that it felt like a "cop out" when we distinguish between the two.

I wonder why? I cannot see any reason why abiogenesis can be part of evolution, and I cannot see why we should satisfy those people who think they should be. I do not want to discuss science history, because it may well be that the two were once considered two sides of the same coin, but how the modern view is like.

As I see it, evolution is much more than just biological evolution. Evolution can be stated as what happens when there is an error prone duplication mechanism, and lots of generations. Isolation will then bring forward generations that have little resemblance to the starting. Life has such a mechanism, and the multitude of species is the result.

I do not think that we have other examples where new "species" have resulted, but I believe we have examples where errors in duplication of the Bible have resulted in new theology, particularly when translations are involved. So while we can think of other things in evolutionary terms, it would not make sense if we needed to know how the first generation came to be.

Besides, none of the terms that are used for evolution, like genes, or alleles, make sense in conjunction with abiogenesis.


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Which do you reckon has the best tunnel, bunker set-up?

The White House
No 10
Buckingham Palace

Tempted to say White House, but London is heaps older and has amazing tunnels under it


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vendredi 29 juillet 2016

Haunting of Hill House

I've been reading horror all my life, including classical horror (Bradbury, Matheson, Lovecraft, Poe, etc.). I just couldn't get into Jackson's book, and it filled me with boredom. Does it get better with repeated readings or something, or am I just uncultured swine?


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Teen girl tells victim "You are my first kill"

The teenage female victim didn't die but is in bad shape after being beaten and throat slashed. It's a really crazy story of violent insanity. The attacker announced that she is a psychopath, you are my first kill and I will probably kill others in the future. The victim was left for dead but did survive. The motive is outrageous and you can read the story for it all.

Quote:

A New Richmond, Wisconsin teenager rode her bicycle 11 miles to the home of her brother’s girlfriend, slipped inside, awakened the girl and went on an hours-long assault that included cutting the victim’s throat before leaving her for dead, according to charges filed Thursday in St. Croix County Circuit Court...

http://ift.tt/2akqZ3R


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"IMF apologises for the immolation of Greece"

"The International Monetary Fund’s top staff misled their own board, made a series of calamitous misjudgments in Greece, became euphoric cheerleaders for the euro project, ignored warning signs of impending crisis, and collectively failed to grasp an elemental concept of currency theory. "

"European Union insiders used the [IMF] fund to rescue their own rich currency union and banking system."

"The injustice is that the cost of the bailouts was switched to ordinary Greek citizens – the least able to support the burden – and it was never acknowledged that the true motive of EU-IMF Troika policy was to protect monetary union. Indeed, the Greeks were repeatedly blamed for failures that stemmed from the policy itself."

The Telegraph (not a notably left-wing source ;))

Yeah, just like Varoufakis and a bunch of Nobel Laureates and other economics gurus said at the time :rolleyes: Fiscal waterboarding.

If (some) posters can be bothered to read it and take it in then that would be a nice change.


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Cause of Indigenous Troubles Finally Resolved!

Today, comes a report from Leonie Pihama, the highly respected Associate Professor of Maori and Indigenous Studies at the prestigious (World ranking 338) Waikato University, which finally identifies the cause of all indigenous people's problems, including their horrific child abuse statistics.

White men.

Read 'em and weep.

What really sickens me about this kind of **** is that it deflects from the problem and never raises a clue about how to improve the situation.

Does the stupid slapper want us to build a time machine and go away?

2000 years ago - long before Maori came to NZ - Julius Caesar wrote "Alia iacta est". The die has been cast. You can't go back and undo bad things - go ask a Jew!

There might even be an element of truth in the idea that forced assimilation of another culture is detrimental in the long term, but it's an idiotic statement that does nothing to improve the situation.

In NZ, Maori have had more help in allowing them to self-determine their path than any other culture, mainly to having never actually been conquered. The "Prof's" own region boasts the mighty Tainui Iwi, alone currently holding assets to the value of $1.3 bn as of 2014. (80,000 members) Total Iwi assets are up around $10 bn these days.

We have guaranteed Maori representation in Parliament and local bodies, have given them enormous tracts of land and huge packets of cash, and even a form of their own justice system.

But it's all our fault.

I think I shall go and buy a Wailing Wall.


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Ann Coulter reaches a new low

She insults Khizr Khan (the father of the US Soldier killed in Iraq who spoke at the Democratic Covention last night):

Quote:

You know what this convention really needed? An angry Muslim with a thick accent like Fareed Zacaria.
And Donald Trump says she is one of his inspirations...


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Discussion or no discussion?

I didn't bother to start a thread because I'm skeptical that anyone here actually wants to discuss this topic. There are potential changes in science, technology, politics, and the internet. You have things like changes in programming languages and development environments. You have a big shift in processor and computer architecture. You have changes in internet access and connection speed. This is probably within the next 12 years.


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Hinkley Point Delayed - Again

I can see this from my house (more or less). It looks like another delay to this major infrastructure project:

http://ift.tt/2a8YFk2

Quote:

The government then said it was "only right" to review the project and would make a decision by the autumn.

Contracts were supposed to have been signed on Friday.
In general I'm in favour of nuclear power forming a significant part of our electricity generation inventory. I'm torn about this because I think that, for the strategic good of the coutnry, the finance and engineering expertise should have been home-grown. Instead the technology is French and a large amount of the finance is from China.

As a result, I'm not happy with the index-linked £95/mwh deal that the government agreed to allow funding to go ahead. Like with the water industry, the customers will be over-charged to provide very generous returns to shareholders. In this case it's not even UK pension funds and the like which will benefit. :mad:

The short notice U-turn OTOH smacks of unprofessionalism and panic.


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jeudi 28 juillet 2016

Trump's violence & anger coming out

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I AGREE







https://youtu.be/0vGkRpOeBzo

Trump was soo "offended" by the DNC speakers. He wished he could have done violence against them.

He talks about this again, and again.

You really want this guy to have his finger on the nuclear button???


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DNC full of hope, RNC full of hate

Is it just me, or has this year's DNC been soo full of hope, and love, and just positivity?

As compared to the RNC, that was full of anger, and yelling, and hate.

Booker's, Michelle's, Barack's, Bill's speeches were just so amazing. Almost felt like crying.

Did anyone feel that way about the RNC speeches? Nope.


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Flat earth maps

On the King's medieval mappamundi (flat earth maps which dominated Europe for 5,000 years) Jerusalem was the center because God, the Pope, and the King said so.

A flat earth map can be centered on most any location. They use distance and bearing, not latitude and longitude for navigating.

True or false:

TV & radio transmitters and aviators use flat earth maps today.


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[Ed] Trump: ISIS is like a paper clip!

Trump: "Beating ISIS is so simple it's like a paper clip!"

But he won't divulge it because he won't get credit. Dated May 2015. Can anyone verify?

ETA: Yes, he actually said that. Audio here. Thousands have people died since then, because Trump needs to get credit. Or maybe, just maybe, because it's a complicated problem and he's an *******.

ETAA: And here's the actual plan:
Quote:

Donald Trump: I would end ISIS forcefully. I think ISIS, what they did, was unbelievable what they did with James Foley and with the cutting off of heads of everybody, I mean these people are totally a disaster. Now, let me just say this, ISIS in Syria, Assad in Syria, Assad and ISIS are mortal enemies. We go in to fight ISIS. Why aren’t we letting ISIS go and fight Assad and then we pick up the remnants? Why are we doing this? We’re fighting ISIS and Assad has to be saying to himself, “They have the nicest or dumbest people that I’ve ever imagined.”
Scott Pelley: Let me get this right, so we lay off ISIS for now?
Donald Trump: Excuse me, let —
Scott Pelley: Lay off in Syria, let them destroy Assad. And then we go in behind that?
Donald Trump: –that’s what I would say. Yes, that’s what I would say…. If you look at Syria. Russia wants to get rid of ISIS. We want to get rid of ISIS. Maybe let Russia do it. Let ’em get rid of ISIS. What the hell do we care?
In my previous edit, I referred to him as an *******, the exit of the rectum. I take that back. That's a useful organ. Trump is of no value whatsoever, and a net loss to the whole world.


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Days of Rest and Fear: Economic Fuction?

1) Is there an economic and environmental purpose for the weekly day of rest that explains why it evolved?
2) Why is there one weekly 'day of rest' where both work and play are effectively banned?
3) Who is hurt, economically or defensively, when the taboo is lifted.


The three major Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) each have a weekly day of 'rest' (Saturday, Sunday, Friday) that has been enforced quite aggressively for thousands of years. It has been quite robust, maybe even more so than some sexual taboos.

Yet, the enforcement of a 'day of rest' has cost the peoples involved quite seriously. For instance, the ban on fighting during the Sabbath really limited Jewish resistance against occupation. The Roman army used to change guard on Saturday to reduce the chances that zealots would fight them.

The law about keeping the Sabbath day holy is part of the ten (nine?) commandments. The law about the Sabbath precedes 'lesser laws like the taboo on murder and adultery. The rules allowing people to work on Sunday have been lifted in some communities comparatively recently.

Yes, people got together to pray on the day of rest. So it gets people together. However, why such a strict rule against all work? The odd thing is the rules against making a fire.

Although the day changes with religion, the enforcement has been amazingly stable. The Christians in Europe were very serious about their day of rest, Sunday. There were no 'Superbowl Sundays' in Merry Old England.

The taboo against playing on Sunday was explicitly removed by King James II. King James II rewrote a lot of religious law for secular convenience, but he had some very reasonable explanation for softening Sunday taboo.

King James said that it was important for the common people to have at least one day for sports because there was no other time to develop fitness. If the common people didn't keep fit, then they could not defend the country.

I am surprised that the issue didn't come up before then! National Defense requires fit soldiers. So it seems that an Army that can't invade on Sunday, or even play football on Sunday, wouldn't be able to fight the Spanish Armada. Yet, the taboo against work on Sunday was very common.

The penalty for breaking the Sabbath in the Torah was death. Businesses had to close on Sunday. The religious Jews of medieval times spun it as a positive thing.

One of the first executions mentioned in the Bible was against a man who picked up sticks on Sabbath out in the desert. Even the miracles mentioned in Exodus seem to be timed with synchronized with the Sabbath.I mean no one could light a light.

You know how dark and cold it can get in the desert on a New moon? Maybe it started out as a defense thing. Lights out people, we don't want the desert raiders finding us during the New moon. If so, why every week? This seems excessive.

I looked up some of the history. The ancient Babylonians started with a monthly 'day of fear' where no one could light a fire or plan for anything new. Yes, it was called the day of fear not rest. I suppose this could be correlated with the New Moon. However, a few thousand years later there was a day of fear every week.

Why did the Romans pick it up? Why don't Oriental cultures have a 'day of rest' tradition?

I am biased toward Marvin Harris's theory that every major taboo that seems disruptive in one context has an economic reason based on the ecology of the area. The Sabbath day doesn't seem to fit that theory. I can't see why going dormant for one day a week has any benefit.

The day of rest and fear seems harder to explain that some dietary and sexual taboos. So has any anthropologist actually considered the functional reasons for the Day of Rest and Fear!

It seems to me that some functional reason for the Day of Rest and Fear that comes every day. I know that God rested on that day in Genesis. However, why should he be so vindictive against people who merely want a little night light? The reason has to function for humans or the custom would not be so robust.


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Chandra Levy murder: charges dropped for convicted man

Charges have been suddenly dropped for the man convicted of Chandra Levy's murder. Ingmar Guandique is being released from jail and will be deported to El Salvador. Gary Condit is a topic again as some of his other mistresses have come forward to say that he was into heavy bondage sex and Levy's bones were found with her knotted jogging tights.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CNN
Prosecutors have dismissed murder charges against a man accused in the death of Chandra Levy, a Washington, D.C., intern whose 2001 disappearance created national headlines.

Federal prosecutors said they can no longer prove a case against Ingmar Guandique because of "recent unforeseen developments that were investigated over the past week," Bill Miller, public information officer for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, said Thursday in a news release. He did not specify what the developments were...


http://ift.tt/2adEe7c


Quote:

Originally Posted by DailyMail
In May this year, counsel for Guandique indicated they would present evidence that would implicate Condit in Chandra Levy murder. Exactly where this now leaves Condit remains to be seen...


http://ift.tt/2adECCE


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People & groups that support Trump & Clinton

Let's have a look:

Supporters of Trump

Kim Jung-Un
Vladimir Putin
The KKK
David Duke
Jesse Ventura
Mike Tyson
Peter Thiel
Ted Nugent
The NRA

some others...


Supporters of Clinton

Barack Obama
Francois Hollande and Nikolas Sarkozy
Vicente Fox
Julia Gillard
Michael Bloomberg (R - NY)
Yael Cohen
Nicola Sturgeon
American Nurses Association
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

a couple more...



Anyone see a pattern here?


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Dark Matter for Laymen

Can someone explain Dark Matter to me in a way that makes sense? I'm not a dummy (at least not in my opinion), but I also know that I don't have the physics chops to figure it out on my own. I've read some wikipedia, but around halfway down the page I get lost. It's just that tiny bit too technical for me to really grasp.

Here's what I think I know:
  • Measurements of cosmic background radiation and the speed at which galaxies move indicate that there's a whole lot more matter out there than what we can observe
  • Dark matter is dark because it doesn't interact with electromagnetic radiation
  • Dark matter does interact with gravity
  • Dark matter does (?) interact with the weak nuclear force

So here's some of my ignoramus questions that I'd like to get a better understanding of:
  • Why are neutrons and neutrinos ruled out?
  • Isn't the weak nuclear force already joined up with electromagnetic force - isn't it the electroweak force?
  • How do we know it's not just one of the many theorems being referenced that is off a bit? Wikipedia refers to the virial theorem quite a bit, not that I understand it.

Clearly, I don't get it. But just as clearly, people who have all the right training to understand this seem to think it's a legitimate thing. Can anyone explain it to me in a way that I can follow?


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Tim Cook (Time To Cook) is Steve Jobs (Steal Jobs)

http://ift.tt/2asOeKA

...riiiiiiiiiiiiiight... :rolleyes:


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Trumps Latest Lie Says it All..... About Trump

We are all accustomed to politicians lying, but Donald Trump's pathology is taking it to a new low.

He's on record as claiming he met Putin. It was proved conclusively that he has never been in a position to have done so. Unless there are secret business meetings not on either of their formal agendas, he just made that up to sound more presidential. Appearing on a news show the same night, from eight thousand miles away is NOT a meet-up. He has even admitted that they never met, when he got caught out on the lie.
Nov. 10: “I got to know him very well because we were both on ‘60 Minutes,’ we were stablemates, and we did very well that night.”
Nov. 13: “I only said I was on @60Minutes four weeks ago with Putin — never said I was in Green Room. Separate pieces — great ratings!”
For Trump, that's pretty good. I assume he had a couple of "I never said that" denials for a few days, but walking back a lie in just four days is better than standing by it forever.

But that takes us to his latest bald-faced lie. He never met the guy. This is established. So just where was he when he was shocked to hear Putin call Obama the N-word. Was this in a broadcast interview? I think we would've heard about it. It couldn't have been in the green room for 60 Minutes - that never happened. They never met.

This is worrisome on more than just the "Why would you elect a pathological liar to the Presidency" level. It is worrisome that the best way he thinks to show disrespect is the use of the hated pejorative, and rather than admit that that is what he thinks, he attributes it - FALSELY - to someone else.

I can really come to no other conclusion than that in his fantasy world and his back alley debates with himself, he likely imagines how swell it would be to be able to come out and call Obama a ******.

I saw an incident of this about four years ago in a restaurant parking lot here. A couple of extremely inebriated and extremely white 'roid heads were having an argument, leading up to a fist fight. White guy number one said something about white guy number two being a pussy who couldn't punch his way out of a paper bag. Number two responded with the worst insult he could think of .... "You stupid ******." To a white dude? It's just a filthy insult and you use it to show your complete hatred of the person you're arguing with. His opponent cold-cocked him for it, so they both saw it the same way.

Not to mention.... hasn't Donald seen John Wick? If it's true and he heard Putin say that, then there are clandestine meetings between the two that no one knows about. Vlad is not going to like that, and it's not going to do Donald any good explaining away his sympatico approach to Russia under Putin, either. If it isn't true? Would you really want to be on Putin's enemy list for making up scurrilous comments and attributing them to him? Either way, he just crossed Vladimir Putin.


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Trump to recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea

Donald Trump's Crimean Gambit

Quote:

Donald Trump’s call on Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails Wednesday resulted in widespread criticism. But his comments on Crimea, coupled with ones he made last week on NATO, are likely to have greater significance if he is elected president in November.

The question came from Mareike Aden, a German reporter, who asked him whether a President Trump would recognize Crimea as Russian and lift sanctions on Moscow imposed after its 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian territory. The candidate’s reply: “Yes. We would be looking at that.”

That response is likely to spread much cheer through Russia—already buoyant about the prospect of a Trump victory in November. But it could spread at least an equal amount of dread in the former Soviet republics. In a matter of two weeks, the man who could become the next American president has not only questioned the utility of NATO, thereby repudiating the post-World War II security consensus, he also has seemingly removed whatever fig leaf of protection from Russia the U.S. offered the post-Soviet republics and Moscow’s former allies in the Eastern bloc.
So in summary, he came right out and said it: he is proposing that we formally recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea, from Ukraine, and lift the sanctions we imposed as punishment. Obviously Putin and Co. would welcome that news. I suppose an argument could even be made that this is better than confronting Russia. But I wonder what Winston Churchill would have thought. Is this not Neville Chamberlain agreeing to recognize Hilter's annexation of the "Sudetanland"? Is this not appeasement? Will this concession satisfy Putin or just whet his appetite to see what other territory he can annex? Former Soviet territories with Russian minorities?


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mercredi 27 juillet 2016

Functional reasons for taboos on homosexual behavior

Have any anthropologist presented a functional hypothesis of why some cultures have a taboo against homosexuality?

I am interested in what type of economic and environmental reasons a society would have to discourage same sex behavior. I understand that bans on same gender sex are not universal. Some argue that it is relatively rare. However, I note that some cultures that ban homosexual behavior are very insistent on the taboo.

It seems to me that the homosexual behavior does not cause a great problem in terms of economics and environmental problems. Yes, there are some diseases that are easier spread by homosexual activities than other sexual activities.

I got reinterested in the subject of homosecual taboo by reading the books and articles of the anthropologist, Marvin Harris. Marvin Harris has a theory that whenever one sees an extreme rules in a culture, which seem to be a major inconvenience to some people in it, there is a functional purpose that has to do with the economics, defense and environmental balance of the culture insisting on the extreme rule.

Harris wrote some convincing functional explanations why pork are forbidden in Abrahamic religions, cows are forbidden to Brahmins, and why religious Messiahs seem to spring up in occupied territories. I read some interviews where he was asked about homosexuality, but he evaded the question.

I am quite aware that the ban often isn't against homosexuality in general, but against penetration. This was even true in 'bisexual' societies like classical Greece. The social status of a person is often lowered in terms of whether the person is penetrated during sex. The gender of the participants doesn't really matter. However, I am including this in my question.

Why would anal sex be relevant to the cultural hierarchy in ancient Greece? Did it really matter to economics

My big interest is homosexual taboos in the Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam). I note that in the Torah, men who lay with men are put to death. However, I note that homosexual subcultures seem to dominate sometimes even though the public ban is brutal.

It seems to me there must be a fundamental reason in human societal terms. I am not a believer in Yaweh anymore, so I don't buy the 'because He says so.' However, those of you who believe in God can help me out.

Why would God care about homosexual behavior? Okay, Yahweh may exist. However, what is it about homosexual behavior that irks His Omnipotence?

Does anyone know any myths or folklore which purports to explain why homosexual behavior is verboten? Any superstitions? Or maybe medical traditions that explain why same gender sex is dangerous to the community?

So what functional reason makes homosexuality more offensive to Christians then Sabbath breaking, for example? People were executed in Biblical times for Sabbath breaking, yet Oral Roberts didn't seem to care.

Adultery was a capital crime, but there isn't so much made out of it in medieval times. Homosexuals were burnt alive. However, adultery on the part of men was accepted.

Are there any environmental conditions that make anal sex less acceptable at some times or others?

Mind you, I am not a homosexual myself. However, I have seen the social tide go in and out :) during my lifetime. It seems to me there must be a fairly mundane reason for these social cycles, just like Marvin Harris hypothesized. So just for an example, when does anal sex go in and out :D


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Hinckley getting out after 35 years.

http://ift.tt/2aLqpg1

Quote:

A federal judge on Wednesday granted John Hinckley Jr., the man who shot President Ronald Reagan in 1981, "full-time convalescent leave" from St. Elizabeth's Hospital. The order allows Hinckley, Jr. to live full-time in Williamsburg, Virginia, but still under certain restrictions.

James Brady, the White House press secretary who was hit in the shooting, died in 2014 due to injuries from the assassination attempt, though authorities announced earlier this year that they would not pursue additional charges.

"Contrary to the judge's decision, we believe John Hinckley is still a threat to others and we strongly oppose his release," the Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute said in a statement.
Only took 35 years. I wonder how much his defense cost the taxpayers?

Ranb


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Republican Party Platform 2016

https://prod-static-ngop-pbl.s3.amaz...DRAFT_12_FINAL[1]-ben_1468872234.pdf
Wow, this piece of crap is even more vague than the Democrat's platform.

Quote:

In Obergefell, five unelected lawyers robbed 320 million Americans of their legitimate constitutional authority to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Funny, I don't feel robbed.

Quote:

Places of worship for the first time in our history have reason to fear the loss of tax-exempt status merely for espousing and practicing traditional religious beliefs that have been held across the world for thousands of years, and for almost four centuries in America.
They should fear it even more. :)

Quote:

The Second Amendment: Our Right to Keep and Bear Arms and blah blah blah
I guess they're just fine with the crap we have on the books now? Nothing about easing some of the more draconian restrictions?

Quote:

The Fifth Amendment: Protecting Human Life....for empowering women
experiencing an unintended pregnancy to choose life.
By forcing women to have that baby.

Quote:

The Fifth Amendment: Protecting Private Property
Unless Trump needs a new parking lot for his limos.

Quote:

Honoring Our Relationship with American Indians

Based on both treaty and other law, the federal government has a unique government-to-government relationship with and trust responsibility for Indian Tribal Governments, American Indians, and Alaska Natives. These obligations have not
been sufficiently honored.
I think the GOP wants the feds to keep their land as much as the Democrats do.

Ranb


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Bill O Reilly:Slavery was not so bad.....



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Bill O Reilly: Slavery Was Not So Bad...

http://ift.tt/1Q5i1HF


No Spin Zone indeed......

WOnderful display of ignorance,Bill.


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2016 Democratic Party Platform

http://ift.tt/2ayGfv4

Just spent a little while reading through the Democrat's Platform. I could have done without all of the "Trump sucks" comments even though it is obvious to the most casual observer that Trump does indeed suck donkey *****.

Below are a few parts of the platform that stood out over the more general "we're going to do this" stuff.

Quote:

We should raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour over time and index it,
Will this increase or decrease unemployment?

Quote:

Democrats will make sure that the United States finally enacts national paid family and medical leave by passing a family and medical leave act that would provide all workers at least 12 weeks of paid leave to care for a new child or address a personal or family member’s serious health issue. We will fight to allow workers the right to earn at least seven days of paid sick leave. We will also encourage employers to provide paid vacation.
With the minimum wage above, I can see this increasing the number of "under the table" employees.

Quote:

We will make sure Social Security’s guaranteed benefits continue for generations to come by asking those at the top to pay more, and will achieve this goal by taxing some of the income of people above $250,000.
I always just assumed that the feds would lower benefits and increase payments to keep Social Security solvent. I'll never make $250k a year, but some of those I know who do are not rich.

Quote:

Because of conflicting federal and state laws concerning marijuana, we encourage the federal government to remove marijuana from the list of “Schedule 1" federal controlled substances and to appropriately regulate it, providing a reasoned pathway for future legalization.
I've yet to see that pot is any more benefit than tobacco or booze. And though I'm in favor of less government restrictions, I can't see any benefit of these chemicals to anyone.

Quote:

We will abolish the death penalty, which has proven to be a cruel and unusual form of punishment.
As much as some people deserve to die for their crimes, the state has proven itself incompetent when it comes to deciding how gets the axe.

Quote:

That is why the Democratic Party will fulfill, honor, and strengthen to the highest extent possible the United States’ fundamental trust responsibility, grounded in the Constitution, treaties, and case law to American Indian and Alaska Native tribes.
So are they going to get their land back or not?

Quote:

We must restore the full protections of the Voting Rights Act.
If there was anything on voter fraud here, I missed it.

Quote:

we will expand and strengthen background checks and close dangerous loopholes in our current laws; repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) to revoke the dangerous legal immunity protections gun makers and sellers now enjoy; and keep weapons of war—such as assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines (LCAM's)—off our streets.
Well, they got to do something about those people selling a legal product then blaming them when someone else uses it for an illegal purpose.

When all guns are assault weapons and all magazines are high capacity, who do we thank? I guess we can start with the MA AG for getting the ball rolling.

Quote:

There is insufficient research on effective gun prevention policies, which is why the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must have the resources it needs to study gun violence as a public health issue.
No **** !

The RNC platform is here; no chance to read it yet.
https://prod-static-ngop-pbl.s3.amaz...DRAFT_12_FINAL[1]-ben_1468872234.pdf

Ranb


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What happened to convention bounce 4 Dems?

Well, this is off to a bad start!:mad:
Huge LA Times Poll: Trump Takes 7-Point Lead

Quote:

A new national poll released Wednesday shows Donald Trump leading Hillary Clinton by 7 points. The USC Dornsife/LA Times Presidential Election Daybreak Poll shows: Donald Trump: 47 percent Hillary Clinton 40 percent The poll surveyed 3,000 Americans by the Los Angeles Times and the USC Dornsife Center. Trump's skyrocketing numbers come just three days after the same poll, which is updated daily, showed Trump leading Clinton 45 percent to 41 percent. And they arrive just hours after Clinton was officially anointed as the Democratic Party's presidential nominee during Day 2 of its convention in Philadelphia.
http://ift.tt/2aaEvYf


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The local races

While most attention is being given to the presidential race, state-level politics is just as contentious and annoying.
Here in Missouri, we have the Republican primaries coming up (finally...) and the candidates for the various state offices are all trying to out right-wing each other.

We all knew that "liberal"had become a perjorative term.... But that's not enough any more. Several of these guys are accusing their opponents of being "moderate".... And, Heaven forfend, being willing to compromise.

We have one fellow who's competing for the governor's slot who features an ad showing himself firing an AR and blowing up some tannerite...
Another has an ad showing some Chinese-looking businessmen walking around the Missouri farm they just bought. It had been illegal to sell farmland to foreign interests....But one candidate is accused of passing a bill that made it legal.
However....This happened 5 years ago, and the bill was drafted by a Republican committee and passed with non-partisan support from a large majority of the house. It allows up to 3% of Missouri farmland to be so sold.
Even the Chinese find the ad offensive....

Yet another ad promises to keep "dangerous Syrian refugees" out of the state, while showing footage of sinister commando-types sneaking across the desert. (Desert? Sneaking into the midwest? It's a long walk...)
And finally, one of the candidates for Attorney General promises to stop "liberal schemes" to cheat at the ballot box by enforcing voter-ID laws.... Even though no evidence of such jiggery-pokery has ever been found.


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"I Just Can't Trust Her."

NPR, as with every election cycle, makes it a point to do "man in the street" interviews with convention-goers, prospective voters, etc.

One of the common complaints of those who are having problems with Clinton is that above statemen, "I just can't trust her." or "I think she'd decietful." or something like that.

What strikes me is that none of these people take this further. (and admittedly, the interviewers don't press...)

Just what do they think Hillary is going to do? Secretly sell the country to the Russians? Do the naughty in the Oval Office to spite Bill?

There's a very long list of presidential candidates on both sides who fudged or outright ignored their campaign promises, often due to recalcitrant congressional resistance. But I don't think anyone thinks of such failures as "deceit".


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Why doesn't Europe do anything about Terrorism?

It's puzzling to me, as an American, that there have been so many terrorist attacks in France lately and it doesn't appear that Europe has decided to do any sort of military reaction to ISIS. Seems like once again they are waiting for America to solve the problem, put American troops on the line, pay for it, so then they can sit back once again ridiculing us for not solving the problem to their liking, as they have done, for the last few decades.

Why doesn't EUROPE do something to respond to ISIS? Don't the numerous attacks warrant a response on behalf of their people and for the security of their countries? After the Bastille Day attack I really expected to see a response. Or wait, let me guess, "everyone is on Holiday and they'll do something when they get back."

:confused:


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The Last Common Ancestor

I believe the last common ancestor of life on planet Earth makes nonsense of any suggestion there is life elsewhere in the universe.
This perfect planet for the origin of life should have yielded multiple ancestors with surviving pathways.

I have analysed this up to the minute treatise, below, and see no reference to this. Earth is far bigger than the universe for this thought experiment. Why would life occur just once here? The question is important, because there should be multiple instances of origin if it were that easy.
Why is a new form of life not originating with a different set of key letters right now?

http://ift.tt/2ah1eki


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mardi 26 juillet 2016

Bye bye, Miss Cleo

Her death was announced this morning. I'm sure all the actors & stage crew she stiffed in Seattle (before she became a Jamaican psychic) are feeling a little schadenfreude today.

http://ift.tt/2as49tO

http://ift.tt/1RrurwB


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Rick Warren deception

Rick Warren, a member of the extreme charismatic movement, gives praise to the Roman Catholic Church, which is one of the many pieces of evidence showing the fact that the spirit driving the extreme charismatic movement is not the Holy Spirit of God, but a spirit of darkness, leading people to embrace the harlot (the Catholic Church) and the Anti-Christ.

More info: http://ift.tt/2a7jaiH


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Should the democrats bring back CETA? Best program ever for unemployed kids

http://ift.tt/2aHHl7f

This was the best program ever for unemployed high school kids. Basically it gave them summer work at minimum wage, for the asking. For instance I worked in a Zoo and did many of the duties of the zookeeper including the feeding of the tigers. I remember one tiger almost hypnotized me with its stare, I resisted and the tiger looked disappointed and looked away. I wonder if any other the other kids fell for it. It really was one of the joys of my life. The Republicans killed it because they do not like the idea of free work.

Anyways do you think the Democrats should bring this one back. It really was one if the shining stars of Jimmy Carters presidency.

I am amazed that there is such a short wiki for a program that touched the lives of literally millions of people.

Heh, I wonder what it cost?


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Michelle !?

Oh wise Americans .. enlighten me. Based on this event:

http://ift.tt/2aHHbgd

our local (Czech Republic) news started to speculate that Michelle could actually enter the election and could even have decent chance.
I mean I see how she could have decent chance. But it's very unclear to me how she could enter.

All I realized after googling is that the situation is quite complicated. Please do not go into detailed descriptions, I can find those, it's just hard to asses them in the whole. All I wanna know is: can Michelle Obama still enter next presidential elections ?

Also, obviously, what do you think about that ?


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Obama is a thin-skinned narcissist

The following are excerpts of a conversation had in another thread:
Quote:

Originally Posted by Ziggurat (Post 11400668)
Obama is a thin-skinned narcissist with a contempt for much of the country and little respect for the military, and he uses divisiveness as a deliberate tactic, [snip]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sunmaster14 (Post 11402566)
I am a close observer of Obama, and I completely agree with Ziggurat. Sure, Obama's not as crude and overt, or perhaps as farcical, as Trump, but I think he's in the same league as far as being a petulant narcissist.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Upchurch (Post 11403468)
Okay, I give up. What [are] some examples of Obama's more nuanced and subtle, perhaps more dramatic, thin-skinned narcissism, oh close observer of Obama, that puts him in the same petulant narcissist league as Donald J. Trump?

[edits by me for focus and because I made a typo originally]

That was probably the wrong thread for that conversation and nobody seemed to want to answer the question. I've heard similar statements on Facebook and similar.

My impression is that Obama has weathered all sorts of insults and jabs with good amount of stoicism and the occasional self-deprecating humor. He's also taken comedic jabs at certain people during the journalist dinner (the name of the event escapes me), which is supposed to be a roast. I honestly don't understand the claim that he is thin-skinned. He certainly hasn't attempted to have gag orders placed on people who have called him names, as has Trump.

I also don't understand the narcissism claim. I'm struggling to even think of an example that might be perceived as narcissism. I suppose calling the ACA "Obamacare" might be one, but that was originally applied by detractors. Obama only later embraced the name as a way to diffuse the connotation. As in, "Why yes, I do care."

So, I re-ask the question in it's own thread: What are some examples of Obama's more nuanced and subtle, perhaps more dramatic, thin-skinned narcissism that puts him in the same petulant narcissist league as Donald J. Trump?


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US police are equally violent to all races finds study

Research by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Maryland finds that the amount of times people are arrested determines how often the situation turns violent and the race which gets stopped the most is the most likely to encounter violence.

http://ift.tt/29X7D8b

“What this study says is that it doesn’t matter what your race is when you’re in a stop and frisk situation or arrest situation with a police officer. Your chance of being injured or killed is the same regardless of race – it’s equally dangerous for everyone,” Miller said."

This, for me is the most disturbing statistic found by the study;

"Miller and his team calculated that during one in 291 stops or arrests by police in 2012, a bystander was either hospitalized or killed"

That seems massive to me, especially since it does not include all injuries, only the most serious and fatal.


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I think I'm turning into Mean Ol' Dawkins

A friend of mine posted this on her Facebook page this morning. And, as someone who understands the importance of faith to many people, and remembers what it was like to cleave to faith in moments of desperation and to feel like the only thing I had was God on my side in my life........wellllll......that's changed so much. I've been an aggressive Atheist for about 10 years now, but in the past I used to have a little compassion to people who believed. I'm so over it now.

GROW UP and FACE REALITY

First of all I watched this quite impressed with it as an acting monologue. I was wondering if he ever used it to audition for a play or something.

Second, I couldn't help but notice that he pointed out three things
  • He's obviously realizing that it's crazy to believe in God
  • He's pointing out that "education" is an attack on his faith. He seems to struggle the most "in classrooms."
  • But the clincher for me was at the end when he starts impersonating God and making up imaginary words said by his imaginary friend. I mean seriously people, if you weren't talking about GOD and were talking about your magic friend that talked to you all the time and told you stuff, you'd be considered mental.
I'm so over this stupid ********. Grow up, already. By the end of it I was really annoyed and had to turn it off before it was over.

For the Christians that visit this site, how in the world can you not see how absolutely stupidly histrionic and emotionally unstable this is and how completely illogical he's being? He's literally losing his mind because classrooms are convincing him that his faith isn't real. And his solution to this is to talk to his imaginary friend, and not just pray, but pretend that the friend is talking back and telling him very profound things.

It's flippin' crazy. If God was not the paradigm of this presentation people would consider this man insane.

I'm fast losing patience with being expected to show this kind of behavior and thinking "respect."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKlIm2OTlZQ


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French church attacked by terrorists

Perhaps we are suffering from atrocity fatigue but there was another attack in France, this time two hostage takers in a church.

France church attack: Priest killed in hostage-taking near Rouen
http://ift.tt/2a6gzFF


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lundi 25 juillet 2016

Is the electorate really this fragmented?

It seems like poll results are changing almost day to day. And stories about huge spikes in 3rd party inquiries during the RNC are followed up by a sudden Trump surge putting him in the lead.

What the frak is going on? Are people really being that fickle or is this a sign that there really is a mass fracturing of the body politic (with it's attendant implications socially and electorally)?


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Stabbing Attack in Tokyo

Breaking news. Lots of fatalities reported.


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The deception the Pope is a hero of faith

Kris Vallotton is senior assistant pastor of the Bethel Church. On his website, Kris Vallotton posted a text (on 13 June 2016) about his meeting with pope Franciscus. Kris Vallotton is involved in the extreme charismatic movement based and rooted in “spiritual gift” activity conveyed by Jesuits.

More info deception, Pope is a hero of faith: http://ift.tt/2acwVOJ


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Paul Bethke vs the 613 Mitzvot

Forum member "Paul Bethke" maintains that modern Christians are required to adhere to a number of Old Testament laws that are ignored by modern Christians. To help us better understand his theology of works, he has graciously offered to answer questions about his adherence to the laws of the old Testament to allow us to better understand his unique faith.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Bethke (Post 11405785)
I actually enjoy answering question regarding the application of Torah.

The laws are generally summarized in the form of the "613 Mitzvot." Like the Ten Commandments, the exact content and order of this list can vary from denomination to denomination. In order to have a baseline for discussion we must first decide upon which version of the 613 Mitzvot we'll use. I propose one of three options.
  1. The Topical list from jewfaq.org
  2. The topical list by Maimonides as listed on Wikipedia
  3. The chronological list by Maimonides as listed on Wikipedia

I've noticed a few verse errors on the chronological list on Wikipedia. Based upon earlier efforts to discuss this subject with "Paul Bethke" I think a topical listing would be preferable to a chronological one, as it will let us more easily answer large banks of questions from a smaller number of responses. To that end I propose we use The Topical list from jewfaq.org as it is well-researched and has a number of citations that I think will provide exciting staring points for more detailed discussion.

To that end, I ask "Paul Bethke" about the first of the Mitzvot as listed on JewFAQ:

Quote:

1. To know that G-d exists (Ex. 20:2; Deut. 5:6) (CCA1).
This should be an easy one, but I'm a stickler for the details.


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Alex Jones Invades TYT and All Hell Breaks Loose



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"Clinton Cash" book & video now seen on ISF.

If only 10% of the scams by Clintons alleged herein are true.....:eek:

At google, surprisingly, only Bigfoot was spotted under: International Skeptics Forum Clinton Cash.
(before this post anyway)

>>>

The video below is apparently still available at time of this post.

CLINTON CASH OFFICIAL DOCUMENTARY MOVIE ( FULL )
104.56 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LYRUOd_QoM

If that is not available try the trailer, or get the book.

Clinton Cash book and video

"Scathing" is not an exaggeration

.


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Someone is shooting up Florida - one dead

Links are a bit clogged on phone


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dimanche 24 juillet 2016

The Alt Right

This is not your father's Oldsmobile conservatism. It's the new, edgy, Internet-savvy right wing ideology. Might be more gay-friendly (possibly) than the old conservatism, but it's also more race-based.

For a quick primer, here is the Wikipedia article:

Alt-right
Quote:

The alt-right is a segment of right-wing ideologies[1] presented as an alternative to mainstream conservatism in the politics of the United States.[1] The alt-right has been described as a movement unified by support for Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump,[2][3][4] as well as opposition to multiculturalism and immigration.[5]

There is no official ideology associated with the alt-right, but various sources have linked it to white nationalism,[6][7] white supremacism[2][5][8] and antisemitism.[2][5][9] The alt-right has also been associated with policies such as right-wing populism,[6][10] libertarianism,[11][12] nativism[13] and the neoreactionary movement.[8][14]

The alt-right has been said to be a largely online movement and internet memes are widely used to advance or express their beliefs, often on websites such as 4chan; much of the coverage of the alt-right has focused on the memes it has produced.[2][8][9][15][16][17]
Quote:

The term's modern usage, however, is most commonly attributed to white nationalist and self-described "identitarian" Richard B. Spencer, president of the National Policy Institute and founder of Alternative Right.[6][22]
Here is the article on Spencer:

Richard B. Spencer

Quote:

Richard Bertrand Spencer (born May 11, 1978) is an American writer, publisher, and self-described "identitarian" known for promoting white supremacist views.[1][2][3] He is president of the National Policy Institute, a white nationalist think-tank, and Washington Summit Publishers, an independent publishing firm.

Spencer advocates for a white homeland for a "dispossessed white race" and calls for "peaceful ethnic cleansing" to halt the "deconstruction" of European culture.[4][5][6]
Quote:

The Anti-Defamation League cited him in 2013 as "a leader in white supremacist circles", and says that since his time at The American Conservatism, he has rejected conservatism, because according to Spencer, its adherents "can't or won't represent explicitly white interests".[13]
That's where the alt-right's favorite insult "cuckservative" comes from: conservatives who "can't or won't represent explicitly white interests".

Quote:

In a 2016 interview for Time, Spencer said that he rejected white supremacy and slavery of nonwhites, preferring to establish a white ethnostate.[14]

Also:
Yes, The Alt-Right Are Just a Bunch of Racists


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how are data miners getting your linked In info?

Heh, I published a post in linked In-apparently it was only sent to myself. It was about how to get your Linked In site in google. Minutes later, ,My linked In account was published, you could see it for a price from various background check sites. I am also seeing personal info being that probably came from my linked in account. I was thinking it keyloggers but I made the account with the demographic details at work, and the post I published here at home. Who you think it is? AM I BEING WATCHED?, OR IS IT just ME?


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Voting for Trump? Please tell me what you like about him.

We'll take it as a given that you don't like Hillary (I don't either, much) so you needn't mention that unless it's your only reason to vote for Trump. I would seriously like to understand what it is that Trump supporters LIKE about him. What are his positives? What's he going to do that you like? What are your favorite Trump policies?

To my fellow libs: Please give this thread a break. Let the other side have their say, for a change. I seriously would like to know what the conservatives here like about Trump. If, in fact, they do.


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Explosion in Germany

Breaking news.

http://ift.tt/2aEzmaP


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IOC ducks Russia decision

So faced with the hard question on whether or not to issue a blanket ban on Russia taking part in the Rio Olympics the IOC has dodged responsibility and palmed the responsibility off to the International Federations of each individual sport:

Rio Olympics 2016: Russia not given blanket Games ban by IOC

Problem is that given the timeframe it's unlikely that many federations will be able to conduct the necessary inquiries in the time left. The IAAF had already banned Russian track and field competitors, and had it's decision upheld. It however had a huge report detailing abuses and months of lead time to work with.


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