lundi 31 juillet 2017

Scaramucci Out ...

http://ift.tt/2vmr6JV

White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci has offered his resignation, ABC News has learned.

The news comes only days after Scaramucci's hiring earlier this month. Since then, the White House has faced the resignations of press secretary Sean Spicer and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

A day prior to Priebus' announced departure last week, Scaramucci made headlines for delivering a scathing, profanity-laced critique of the chief of staff to a reporter with The New Yorker.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.


Did not see that one coming ...


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Mooch out!

Wow. The CNN anchor could barely keep herself from busting out laughing as she read the (truly) breaking news.


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History question on hurricanes

How long did it take the Spanish once they started sailing to the Caribbean on a regular basis to figure out the nature, scope and 'schedule' of hurricane season?


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Sunday Times accused of antisemitism

Kevin Myers accuses two Jewish women of not being stupid, which apparently constitutes antisemitism.

http://ift.tt/2tWQK7y


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Another flat earther

I couldn't resist not passing this flat earther vid on to you all. Not only does he know the Earth is flat, he also denies gravity in favor of the electromagnetic force. He believes stars are not millions of miles away, but much closer. He anticipates the up coming solar eclispe will show the sun and moon are not 93 million and 250k away. He leaves comments open.
https://youtu.be/XVJPpY10OPs


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ALEC’s scary plan for electing your senators

Salon (original article from Alternet): ALEC’s scary plan for electing your senators
Quote:

With so much news, however, perhaps the most shocking and consequential story of all slipped under the radar: A bombshell report in the Nation that the American Legislative Exchange Counsel (ALEC) — the most influential power behind conservative legislation marching through state legislatures — has drafted a proposal to return the power to select U.S. senators to state legislators.

That’s right: ALEC’s “model legislation” would repeal the 17th amendment, end more than a century of American citizens electing U.S. senators at the ballot box, and empower gerrymandered legislatures to choose senators for us, as was the practice in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Nation: ALEC Is Talking About Changing the Way Senators Are Elected and Taking Away Your Vote
Quote:

The United States Senate is an undemocratic institution. Just do the math: Progressive California Senator Kamala Harris was elected in 2016 with 7,542,753 votes. Yet her vote on issues such as health-care reform counts for no more than that of conservative Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi, who was elected in 2014 with 121,554 votes.

This is an absurd imbalance. In fact, the only thing that would make it more absurd would be if voters were removed from the equation altogether.

Say “hello” to the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, the corporate-funded project to impose a top-down right-wing agenda on the states. ALEC is considering whether to adopt a new piece of “model legislation” that proposes to do away with an elected Senate.
While I can't see a repeal of the 17th Amendment getting ratified, I didn't think Trump could get elected either.
Quote:

The John Birch Society peddled the proposal decades ago. But with the rise of the “Tea Party” movement, the notion moved into the conservative mainstream.

Then–Texas Governor Rick Perry argued in 2012 that the direct election of senators “took the states out of the process.” Several Republican senators apparently agree, with Utah Senator Mike Lee referring to the 17th Amendment as “a mistake” and Arizona Senator Jeff Flake saying, “I think it’s better as it reinforces the notion of federalism to have senators appointed by state legislatures.” What was once a fringe fantasy is being taken ever more seriously by conservative strategists.
This stuff is flying under the radar and that is an issue.


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What is it with rich people and tax dodges?

The Fifth Estate, (Canadian Broadcasting program), tonight is about the KPMG tax shelter fraud.
Quote:

The KPMG tax shelter fraud scandal involves allegedly illegal U.S. tax shelters by KPMG that were exposed beginning in 2003. In early 2005, the United States member firm of KPMG International, KPMG LLP, was accused by the United States Department of Justice of fraud in marketing abusive tax shelters.
Fifth Estate: KPMG and Tax Havens for the Rich : The Untouchables
Quote:

A story of money, secrecy and greed: a tax dodge for the wealthy dreamed up by one of the biggest accounting giants in the world

KPMG Canada devised what it called an “Offshore Company Structure” for a select group of rich clients: they would claim to give away millions of dollars to a shell company supposedly out of their control and therefore wouldn’t have to pay taxes on it.

In the U.S., top KPMG officials were convicted of tax evasion schemes concocted there. But in Canada, a different scheme led to a secret amnesty deal with the Canada Revenue Agency.
A federal government inquiry vowing to get to the bottom of it went nowhere

What was the accounting firm trying to hide?

With revelations from industry insiders, internal KPMG documents and corporate records from the Isle of Man offshore tax haven, we expose the details of the scheme and unveil the names of some of the wealthy clients.
So how many gazillion of these tax evasion schemes are we up to now?


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dimanche 30 juillet 2017

Are you smarter than a 5 year old. I am not

I was playing a game of eye-spy in my car today with my 5 year old daughter and we came up with the following:
Daughter
1. I spy with my eye something black that is far away from the sky.
Dad
1. I spy with my eye something that starts with a K that is by a lake.
Daughter
2. I spy with my eye something that is either blue with white stripes, or white with blue stripes.
Dad
2. I spy something yellow that has to do with with a type of traffic apparatus.

Can anybody guess these riddles?


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Amazing achievment and card handling

This guy -Richard Turner-is incredible least of all as he is blind since 9 years old! His card handling is something else, his stuff is mostly gambling themed sleights. Here he is on Fool Us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwFIJyWKs1k

Also he's a black belt in karate,anyone interested in knowing more about him check out a documentary about him which is fascinating.


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Disruption

During the first decade of the 20th century, our ancestors were stunned by the sudden collapse of the horse industry.

Is a similar disruption about to occur regarding the end of internal combustion engines and human piloted cars?

Tony Seba - Clean Disruption - Energy & Transportation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b3ttqYDwF0

CBS This Morning - Tesla Model 3:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw4sHo5d47E


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How accurately does Chris Nolan's film Dunkirk reflect history?

Having seen the film 'Dunkirk' I was surprised to discover that it has been heavily criticised by critics. In particular, the French claim it fails to give adequate credit to their forces. The film was released in India, where disappointed film goers are upset that the Indian forces were not portrayed.

I myself thought it was an excellent film. However, I am aware history gets revised over time, depending on who's doing the storytelling.

However, as Sibelius once remarked, 'A critic has never had a statue erected in his honour.'


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Bastyr threatens Britt Marie Hermes

Background:

Britt Marie Hermes runs this site http://ift.tt/2dFcSeL

Quote:

About Naturopathic Diaries

I am an ex-naturopathic doctor. I started this blog to expose naturopathic medicine and protect patients from the dangerous and incompetent practices rife in my former profession. —Britt Marie Hermes

She is a real hero in the battle against quackery. Now she is being threatened with a "cease-and-desist" letter from Bastyr's legal representative (http://ift.tt/2tU0tM7) in what is going to be rather, ahem, "interesting".

If she, at some point, requires assistance, I hope my fellow forumites will be generous.

In any case, this is going to be something to follow with passion.


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samedi 29 juillet 2017

Mormon in breeding.

This sounds like conditions dogs suffer with their hind legs, dragging themselves around.

http://ift.tt/2waw60A


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Are Mental States Equivalent to Brain States?

Are they the same? If so, then knowledge of brain states should lead to corresponding knowledge of mental states, but that seems wrong for obvious reasons: All the knowledge of brain states in the world won't help people blind from birth know what seeing is like; you can't know how to ride a bike by studying brain states of bike riders; looking at my brain states won't give you information on what it's like to be me, etc.

Is the mind an emergent property of the brain? Nevermind the ongoing difficulties of a causal explanation of how brains produce mental states (and even in that sentence, you can see the ease with which we separate the two, like we intuitively know brains and minds are different things), the knowledge problem from above still applies: total knowledge of the brain would entail knowing all the emergent properties of the brain, like mind and consciousness. If an alien with a radically different mind than ours studied our brains completely, would they know everything to know about what the emergent property human consciousness is? What it's like to have a human mind? No! And so we're back to you have to experience it to know it.

But under materialism, how can mental states not be brain states?

If mental states are not brain states, is materialism false?

*I obviously borrowed heavily from Mary's Room, and Thomas Nagel.


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We missed Nibiru!!!

The world was supposed to end a couple of days ago (again), and I missed it!

https://youtu.be/psCGMISSMJc

This signature is intended to irritate people.


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Lawrence Krauss: Humans, its time to stop binding ourselves to solely "echo chambers"



Lawrence Krauss gives us some thoughts on bolstering our critical thinking skills, reminding us not to merely contact "echo chambers":

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

His words are non nonsense.


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Storage of ammunition in the US

Mods feel free to move if this is in the wrong forum.

A question from someone from the UK who knows nothing about guns.

Several posters here have alluded to the fact that they possess thousands of rounds of ammo. Is this not a fire risk? By which I do not mean they will spontaneously burst into flames, but if there is a fire won't they start going off? Do US firemen get injured by exploding ammunition? Do they need to wear bullet proof gear when fighting fires? Do you have to notify the fire service if you have ammunition at home? Are there cases of dead bodies found after fires with bullets in them that may or may not have been a consequence of exploding ammunition?

Are there laws about how much ammunition people can have and how to store it? Are they enforced?


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White House Survivor

Who will get fired / forced out next?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro


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What is life's scientific meaning/purpose?

Life’s meaning probably occurs on the horizon of optimization.

Artificial intelligence models are non-trivial optimizers.

Life’s meaning then perhaps warrants the construction of artificial general intelligence.

Alternatively, could life perhaps be absent meaning?


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vendredi 28 juillet 2017

Anthropomorphic gods?

Is the concept of god at its most basic, most primal form that of a man literally in the sky?

If so, how might have this come about at first?

My personal hypothesis: Anatomically modern humans had been burying their dead for a while. Whenever the "Silverback", so to speak, the lead male of the family died, they would've associated him with good fortune and possibly seen visions of him or in dreams.

How that translates to him being associated with living in the sky, I dunno...


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Police brutality and a few "bad apples"

So, for a long time now we've been fed a line that police brutality isn't a symptom of a larger problem with who has been recruited into the police ranks but just a few "bad apples".

But then today Trump told a gathering of officers to beat the **** out of people and it was greeted with a roar of cheers.

What are we to make of this?


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Priebus out...

Priebus out, Gen. Kelly leaves DHS to become WH chief of staff.

http://ift.tt/2u5LIRF


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Mystery = aliens did it

More Debunking Fun.

(upper case headline means aliens did it, more often than not)

ERASED FROM HISTORY – WHO BUILT THIS ANCIENT HIGH TECH CAVE SYSTEM IN CHINA?

http://ift.tt/2w7y6qk


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432 vs 440 again

Its back, with a vengeance....Schuman Resonance, Scientific pitch. sacred geometry

Kill it with fire!


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Boy Scouts

There was a brief period not long ago when I was a bit embarrassed to have been a Boy Scout long ago. Once upon a time it was a grand organization and a social safety net for many. I was a Scout for a long time, enjoyed it immensely, and odd as it seems so many years later, I was an Eagle Scout too, with a couple of palm clusters. Some of the things I learned getting those merit badges still serve me to this day. I'll always know how to connect a light switch, sharpen an axe, bail out a canoe, etc.

Recent developments, including the slapdown of President Trump's stupidly political speech, have restored some of my faith in the organization.

I just wanted to go on record as saying "Good for you, BSA."


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"Auditing the Fed"

Is there anyone out there who has a coherent (doesn't have to be rational, just coherent) explanation of why this is so important?

Supposedly, JFK was assassinated because he was going to have an audit done of the Federal Reserve Bank, and other presidents have been intimidated into not doing so.

What exactly do these people think they are going to find? $1 Billion in platinum coins stamped "ROTHSCHILD" hidden under a mattress in the break room?

(There are a lot of dead tropes that still live in conspiracy literature. I recall an article on "The Rockefeller-Rothschild Feud". Besides feeding on anti-Semitism, I don't believe the families in question have any unified opinion or now even much financial power. And I can mention others, such as an obsession with the Masons -- an aging group of people who are if anything cosplaying in their own way.)

Yet "Audit the Fed" is a constant theme. In fact it seems to be axiomatic.

:blackcat:


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Can a party of "no" actually govern?

My hypothesis: for eight years the GOP turned itself into a party whose core motivation was being an obstacle to Obama and other perceived "liberals".

They screamed about how things shouldn't be done but never really gave reasons. We all know the real reason was a huge amount of butthurt over how W left in disgrace and Obama arrived with a wave of optimism. They just never got over it and devoted themselves to hating everything he proposed.

But now they are in power. Now they have no one to oppose. No one to stop. They seem like Ronin, wandering about with no purpose. So is it a surprise that they have accomplished nothing? That they seem to still be aiming to fight Obama even as Obama is content to windsurf around the world?

So, what do you think? Can a party built around saying "nope" actually become a party that does things?


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jeudi 27 juillet 2017

Homosexuality and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

I want to talk about my experiences being a gay Mormon and living in Utah. First of all, I've come to the realization that the Church is not responsible for my misconceptions about my sexuality. I left activity in the church when I was about 21 and I developed a complex of feeling bad about being gay that the church didn't teach.

The church teaches that God loves all His children, regardless of their sexual orientation. The other Mormons have always shown nothing but love and acceptance towards me in all ways. I really appreciate the love they have shown me, today especially. In the past I have inferred that they condemned me and I even joked that they made me fill out a form in triplicate to masturbate!

I just want to say how much I appreciate the loving way my bishops and church leaders and other members have treated me over the years, and how wrong I was to imply that the church disapproved or hated me for my sexuality. I am proud to be a Mormon, a member of a church that teaches that homosexual feelings are okay.

bb


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The Electric Comet Theory Part III - Let's Go Round Again

Mod Info This is a continuation from here, and as is usual, the split point was arbitrary. Participants are free to copy & paste from the previous iteration[s] of the thread.
Posted By:Agatha








As has been pointed out by RC,, the flaring mentioned by Talbott is (presumably) to do with an increase in the non-existent electrical woo that he believed (surely he can't still believe it?) causes the jets at comets.
We already knew before Rosetta that the jets aren't any kind of electric woo. I point the interested reader to some of the papers on the Hartley 2 mission. CO2 gas and ice, was the outcome in that particular case. So, Sol discussing particular aspects of perfectly mainstream science, regarding what happens in a cometary coma during a CME, is a totally pointless discussion. Interesting, but totally unrelated to any of the woo dreamed up by T & T.
For what it's worth, we know that solar wind heavy ions are responsible for the x-ray emission seen at comets. So, an increase in the solar wind flux should see an increase in x-ray production. Want to call that a flare? Fine, if you must, but it's a perfectly mainstream one. The whole of the sunward coma will be compressed. There has been a paper on this. Again, very interesting, but nothing to do with EU woo.
Given how vague the predictions of Talbott were, it is hard to know exactly what he was on about. Which is the whole ethos of EU; keep it as vague as possible, so that you can later claim to be right. A bit like tabloid psychics.


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The Trials of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito: Part 26

Mod Info Continued from here. As usual the split point is arbitrary and participants are free to quote from previous iteration[s] of this thread.
Posted By:Agatha





Quote:

Originally Posted by Vixen (Post 11936340)
It matters not a jot how intentional their usage. A judge does not have the authority to change a law.

Nowhere in Art 530,2 do the words 'did not commit the act' appear.

There is no way Marasca or you can wish it so.

http://ift.tt/2vNIOTw

Della rubric per non a vere I ricorrenti commesso il fatto


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Russian Hairball Mini Creature Hoax

Here's a fun YouTube video showing some sort of animal in a Russian home. It seems to be dressed up in a long hair wig and walks around bipedally while on a string leash. It's likely to be a monkey in costume. The hand is shown in close-up and the nails are typical for monkeys, but seems abnormally hairless as if the hoaxer used hair removal lotion. Same for the face which is monkeyish but hairless.

I'd guess that their goal is to seem as if they'd found some weird new species of small bipedal primate or hominoid. It's better than the boring Bigfoot hoaxes from America.

https://youtu.be/Sxb0CEwai4U


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Suppose the Electoral College was abolished?

The Electoral College was created to prevent smaller states from being overwhelmed by more populous states at a time when the states were the primary organ of government, and the federal government was relatively limited. Those days ended long ago, and other interests are paramount now. Rhode Island and Wyoming, for example, have small populations, but they have much more in common with their immediate neighbors than with each other. And large states like New York and Texas don't have much in common with each other either.

If the President was selected entirely on the basis of the popular vote, Democrats in the red states and Republicans in the blue states would have equal voice in the national government. Every voter would have reason to go to the polls. What would be the impact of true popular election on the electoral process and the government?

Discuss.


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Mahirishi Vedic Observatory

http://ift.tt/2v1k5xq

“the structure of the universe”
The Maharishi Vedic Observatory is an open-air observatory of 10 masonry sundials is unique in the world for its ability to display in one compact form the whole structure of the universe along with all the movements of the sun; planets and stars. These instruments are based on a traditional reaching back thousands of years.

The principle of the instruments of the Maharishi Vedic Observatory is demonstrated in the travel of the shadow caused by the Sun. The shadow follows the movement of the Sun, starting at the longest length, then disappearing, and then coming back into shadow again. This movement of the shadow exactly resembles the overshadowing influence of waking, dreaming, and sleeping on Pure Consciousness-this reality of the three is a mirage. Measuring the Sun from the shadow exactly resembles the phenomenon of locating Transcendental Consciousness from the state of waking consciousness. Waking state of consciousness is a shadow; it's the mirage of a string being mistaken for a snake.

http://ift.tt/2v1W2yy

...........

It ain't Mount Palomar, folks. It's not clear to me what this structure is supposed to accomplish. Thoughts?


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mercredi 26 juillet 2017

Scaramucci accuses Priebus of leaking Scara's financial disclosure



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Now Seperation of Church and State is Fake News..

Tweet from Trump today:

Quote:

“IN AMERICA WE DON’T WORSHIP GOVERNMENT—WE WORSHIP GOD!”
What makes this really disgusting is the hypocrisy:Trump did not give a damn about religion until he ran for President.

Makes me want to go out and buy another hundred or so 5.56 rounds...just in case. I want the underground to hit the ground running.


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Old maps for debunking

Some old maps for fun debunking

"9 Ancient maps that SHOULD NOT exist"

http://ift.tt/2w105YD


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President Pence could be worse...

Thoughts on what could be coming:
Quote:

Vice President Pence is a complete nutcase, to put it bluntly. Where Trump adopts extreme positions to stay in the news, Pence’s views are actually built on conviction.
http://ift.tt/2uXS5e3


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Trump - No transgender individuals in the military

Seems he will reverse everything Obama did - regardless of merit :mad:

http://ift.tt/2eNrtGf

Quote:

US President Donald Trump says transgender people cannot serve in "any capacity" in the military.
As well as the whole message being the usual ill-informed reactionary nonsense, the thing I find very disturbing is his description of what the military should be focused on:

Quote:

"Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail."
Putting to one side whatever the "tremendous medical costs" would be, I thought that the military should be focused on keeping the US safe, not on "decisive and overwhelming victory" :rolleyes:


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mardi 25 juillet 2017

Whats the best price/cost ratio 3d printer out there.

I have an idea for a machine that would need to have precisely fitted plastic parts. I am thinking of a number of ways to do this, but am interested in what 3d printing has to offer. I am thinking I need one that can do a plastic part about a foot and a half wide by a foot. What interests me about the 3d printer is that perhaps, I would not need a plant to do it. What kind of printer would work for this job. What kind of training, reading will I need to use such a printer. Are some printers/programs easier to work than others? 3d printing is not my only option, but, I think, would probably would produce a nicer looking product than others. What other machines could you use that would not require a lot of space that would do. Yeah, it will be profitable if I can pull it off. No I do not want to actually describe the machine though, there is probably someone out there that is similar. Have I given up on the book? I am thinking that this might be profitable; in the short term at least

Thanks,

Brant


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NewZealand General Election

After the thrills of Brexit, Trump & May, the NZ election is a snore-fest, with the only interest being whether the centuries-old Winston Peters - who has been in Parliament since 1878 - will hold enough power to force his way into the PM seat.

I have no doubt National will do a deal and give the old boy a term as PM if that's where the vote goes.

Crying shame is that Gareth Morgan's Very Sensible Party will get 0.5% and fall into the obscurity from which he arose.

The Greens are dead, with their idiotic, obese, joke of a co-leader admitting to both personal benefit fraud and being comfortable with beneficiaries committing fraud.

Labour must be screaming in pain - their erstwhile partner has shown itself to be a hypocritical joke, while also dragging a guaranteed beneficiary vote that would normally go to Labour.

The main thing about the election so far is how little impact it's having. It's like a Clayton's election. Even the billboards are late appearing, with only the dear Nats having all theirs up already.

Delivering for New Zealanders!

Delivering....

20% more prison inmates, despite a drop in crime.
20% more children in poverty, despite housing inflation in double digits.


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Conservative Case for Single-Payer

The Conservative Case for Universal Healthcare
https://www.theamericanconservative....al-healthcare/

Quote:

...Why does socialized healthcare cost less? Getting rid of private insurers, which suck up a lot money without adding any value, would result in a huge savings, as much as 15*percent by one academic estimate published in the American Journal of Public Health. When the government flexing its monopsony muscle as the overwhelmingly largest buyer of medical services, drugs and technology, it would also lower prices-–that’s what happens in nearly every other country...

The objections to socialized healthcare crumble upon impact with the reality. One beloved piece of folklore is that once people are given free healthcare they’ll abuse it by going on weird medical joyrides, just because they can, or simply let themselves go because they’ll have free doctor visits. I hate to ruin this gloating fantasy of lumpenproletariat irresponsibility,*but people need take an honest look at the various health crises in the United States compared to other OECD*(Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries...

The real obstacle may be the Democrats. As Max Fine, last surviving member of John F. Kennedy’s Medicare task force, recently told*the Intercept, *“Single payer is the only real answer and some day I believe the Republicans will leap ahead of the Democrats and lead in its enactment,” he speculated, “just as did Bismarck in Germany and David Lloyd George and Churchill in the UK.” For now, an invigorating civil war is raging within the Democrats with the National Nurses Union, the savvy practitioner-wonks of the Physicians for a National Health Program, and thousands of everyday Americans shouting at their congressional reps at town hall meetings are clamoring for single-payer against the party’s donor base of horrified Big Pharma executives and affluent doctors. In a few years there might even be a left-right pincers movement against the neolib/neocon middle, whose unlovable professional-class technocrats are the main source of resistance to single payer...
I would definitely prefer single-payer to the current system, but find universal public health care greatly preferable to any health insurance coverage, even single-payer coverage. The debate and discussion between Universal Health Care and Medicare for All, however, would be the best fight our country could hope to have.


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Alternate History: If the Confederacy Had Won

In thinking about the "states' rights" claims about the Confederacy, I wonder, were they really in support? I mean, we have the real life attempts to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act, and the fact that they threatened to secede over the fact that Delaware tried to get around it. But let's take it a bit more: Suppose the Confederacy had won?

Would they have imposed the CSA constitution on the union? If I remember right, the CSA constitution specifically prohibited states from outlawing slavery. Would that apply to the rest of the union, then?

I contend the south was not in any way in favor of states' rights, because if it were up to them, they would have insisted that all that states be slave states. They only adopted a "states' rights" stance to protect their right to keep slavery. I don't think for a second that, had they the power, they would have forced all states to participate. They actually opposed the states' rights guaranteed by the US Constitution, so when they got their chance to write their own, they took that part out.


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What Happened to Snopes?

This seems bizarre to me. Snopes is reported to have been hijacked.

http://ift.tt/2v3xF3K

http://ift.tt/2usVhfb

Quote:

Originally Posted by savesnopes.com
We had previously contracted with an outside vendor to provide certain services for Snopes.com. That contractual relationship ended earlier this year, but the vendor will not acknowledge the change in contractual status and continues to essentially hold the Snopes.com web site hostage. Although we maintain editorial control (for now), the vendor will not relinquish the site’s hosting to our control, so we cannot modify the site, develop it, or — most crucially — place advertising on it. The vendor continues to insert their own ads and has been withholding the advertising revenue from us.

I wouldn't have thought that something like this would be so hard to resolve.


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Hip health freaks think smoking is cool again

Now this is just weird, as smoking gets pushed to the margins, this is the last thing I expected, but it makes a change from smokers convinced that marijuana legalization is the key to making cigarettes 'acceptable' again.

Quote:

Down the road from Navy Beach and overlooking Fort Pond Bay in Montauk is a bungalow that from afar appears to have the trappings of a wellness retreat: Massage tables pepper the lawn, and yoga mats are set up on the patio. But the houseguests staying here aren’t your standard healthy hippies. Clad in Gucci slip-ons and cutoffs, they’re all smoking cigarettes, and the host of the house, Hestia Tobacco founder David Sley, encourages that.
http://ift.tt/2tVrgTq

There is also a wonderful paragraph that takes a swipe at the 'natural is harmless' meme further down.

Quote:

And cigarettes marketed as natural are just as bad for smokers, according to a study published in the journal Tobacco Control in December 2016. “Inhaling burnt tobacco is harmful whether it’s organic, additive-free, or natural, it doesn’t matter,” lead study author Jennifer Pearson told Reuters.


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lundi 24 juillet 2017

Sessions on the way out?

Reports are coming in that Trump is seriously thinking of firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions. I guess he is really not taking him recusing himself well.

Okay, who would have guessed Sessions, of all people, would be fired for showing some integrity?


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What is the NRA up to these days?

The NRA is making videos these days that seem to only peripherally be about guns or gun laws.

In the latest one there is this rant against the Washington Post.

Quote:

The Washington Post isn’t mad about the lack of guns, it’s upset about the abundance of truth: the truth about their role in the organized anarchy of the violent left by spreading lies about those who disagree with their radical agenda, while refusing to cover the extremist beliefs and tactics of people like Carmen Perez, Deray McKesson, and liberal politicians like Al Franken and Chuck Schumer, who refuse to condemn them.
I'm not really sure who Carmen Perez or Deray McKesson are or why Al Franken and Chuck Schumer are singled out as needing to condemn them. But I'm intrigued by their notion of "organized anarchy" which is something that not only supposedly exists but is part of the Left agenda. Now I'm a politically active leftist by admission and I will have to admit that I've never heard the term "organized anarchy" at any point.

Quote:

Listen to me, Washington Post. In fact, I’m telling every leftist media propaganda machine defending the violent left to hear what I’m about to say: We talk about more than guns because every freedom is connected. If one is threatened, they all are threatened. And the organized anarchy that you and your politicians and your activists are pushing is destroying our country.


It’s why we will never stop fighting the violent left on the battlefield of truth.
And so we now move onto an allegation that Leftist media is defending some purported "violent left". Yes how violent it is to want less police brutality, less war, less crime and less class injustice. Just so, so violent to want a better world for everyone.

:rolleyes:

And, again, we hear about the "organized anarchy" thingy.

So, anyways, can we just stop pretending that the NRA is about gun rights?


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Professor annoyed at support for John McCain

http://ift.tt/2twLsvk


"Professor of political science Jonathan Graubart posted "I find myself annoyed at the groundswell of good wishes for John McCain after his diagnosis of glioblastoma and have been thinking through why."

Graubart goes on to call McCain "a war criminal" and said "ultimately what troubles me is the urge to send such well wishes to an utter stranger as it reinforces the notion that some lives are more important than others."


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Republicans Seek Revenge Against CBO for Pointing Out Trumpcare is Terrible

What scum.

Quote:

In an apparent response to this political black eye, four Republican congressmen introduced legislation on Monday that would eliminate the CBO’s Budget Analysis Division and reduce the office’s staff by 89 employees.

Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA), the amendment’s lead sponsor, claims that CBO too often releases inaccurate predictions, such as when it “overestimated by millions the number of people who would enroll in the Obamacare exchanges.” Under Griffith’s amendment, which is co-sponsored by Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Mark Meadows (R-NC), and Scott Perry (R-PA), the CBO would become “an aggregator of predictions made by third-party public policy groups across the political spectrum.”

So, instead of actually providing its own impartial advice on the impact of certain legislation, the CBO would simply relay what outside entities say about the bill, including self-interested groups with a political ax to grind.

It should be noted, while Griffith is correct that the CBO did underestimate the number of people who would enroll in the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges, it outperformed other independent groups examining the impact of Obamacare — arriving at more accurate predictions than “the Obama administration’s own figures, and those of the RAND Corporation, the Urban Institute and the Lewin Group, a health industry consulting firm.”


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Attack by responsible chainsaw owner in gun-saturated Switzerland

BBC News: Switzerland chainsaw attack - Police hunt Schaffhausen attacker

"Police are hunting for a man who attacked five people with a chainsaw in the Swiss town of Schaffhausen.

The man launched his assault at an office shortly after 10:30 local time (08:30 GMT) on Monday.

Emergency services were on the scene within minutes, but the attacker had already fled.

Police, who said the incident was not terrorism related, have since released a picture of the man, but have not revealed his name or possible motive."


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Buddhism

Hi everyone, my second post here.

I would like to open a new discussion, this time, as there are not many skeptical discussions debunking Buddhism, I would like to talk about it:


1- Buddhism has an idealistic psychology too. In which you blame the suffering of the person in the present for errors of the past (Karma)

2- Buddhism has irrational and banal ideas: If the "I" is an illusion, what reincarnates? The Karma.

3- Buddhism has very dualistic concepts: All pleasure and attachment is the source of suffering, so is suffering

4- Buddhism may even be right about some types of suffering, but it generalizes ALL forms of suffering caused by attachment and pleasure. Yet it says that life is suffering and death is suffering.

5- Buddhism uses very vague and groundless concepts in reality:
One test would be the five aggregates and their erroneous statements

6- Buddhism says that we only suffer because we have attachment to the world and the body, we should not hold on.

7-And yet the complete distrust and hatred before the human mind, even if it is not completely reliable, it has always been useful to us

8- And to conclude, the statement that our world is an illusion, the fruit of our ignorance

I have a little difficulty debunking some of these concepts, can you help me?


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Fed up Sydney chef slams diners with fake allergies

This is an interesting case of how the promotion of 'food faddism', and food fears by the wellness industry, anti-gluten/GMO/MSG/etc activists could potentially be counterproductive to those with real food allergies.

Quote:

Queen Chow head chef Patrick Friesen aired his gripe on his Instagram account, claiming many were using allergies as an excuse to order customised meals.

He shared an image of a ticket loaded with spurious claims of gluten and shellfish allergies alongside orders for fried rice and seafood.
http://ift.tt/2gVYctE


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dimanche 23 juillet 2017

Trump and legal issues..impeachment, indictment, self pardon

I created this thread to cover the legal questions arising from the investigations of Trump. Does he have a right to pardon himself? Can he be indicted? I think it should be open to any Constitutional or legal questions and not necessarily be strictly limited to Trump.


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The insanity of our banking system .....

duplicate post


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The insanity of our banking system .....

I finally (I made a months long effort a couple of years ago and failed miserably) figured it out. I'm reading a book, Tradgedy and Hope 101, a synopsis of Quigley's book, and the author does a good job of explaining what money is up to a point. So, he lists historically the types of money ...
Barter
Commodity money
Receipt money
Fractional money
Fiat money
Debt money

All is clear thru fiat money, but the jump to debt money remained a mystery to me. And, I've made a concerted effort in the past to understand the objections to debt money, but ... never could get it. Now I see that in most explanations there are missing steps, and now I see what they are and understand the problem, and I'll explain it here ...

Debt money - here we will bypass the book's write up and do our own - with fiat money the govt. prints the money and then uses it to buy goods and services, so it finances itself and creates money and puts it into the economy at the same time. The money derives its value by govt. fiat.

Now we ask ourselves how does 'debt money' get created ...

Debt money type 1 - simple:
What if the govt. printed money and then, instead of using it to buy goods, loaned it to the economy, i.e. persons, businesses. The govt. could charge interest, if it wanted, money would be in the economy, and the govt. would be holding a collection of I.O.U.s.

Debt money type 2 - twisted:
It doesn't at first blush make sense for the govt. to instead of loaning money into the economy, to create money by borrowing money from the economy. Yet that is the basis for our current system. Here is how it works.... the govt. wants money so it issues a govt. bond to borrow from the economy. Drawback #1 - the govt. has to pay interest on the money. The govt. sells the bond to a bank. The bank takes money from its vault and pays the govt. So far, money has been taken out of the economy. But, the bank counts the bond as an asset, and using fractional banking, can loan money into the economy equal to say ten times the bond face value. Thus, the bank loans money equal to ten times the bond value into the economy, creating new money, and profits handsomely for its efforts. What an unbelievable racket !

Edit - even here there is a missing subtlety, when the bank buys the bond its vault money goes down by the face value of the bond, while its bond holdings go up. So, its net assets remain unchanged. However, there is a distinction in the types of assets banks hold, with the bond representing a type 1 asset that the bank can use as the basis for fractional lending, where as the vault cash is a type 2 asset that doesn't serve as a basis for fractional lending. !!!


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samedi 22 juillet 2017

Humans occupied Australia 65,000 years ago

Human occupation of northern Australia by 65,000 year.

New excavations at site in in northern Australia push back the possible populating of Australia a further 15k years, using based on thermo-luminescence and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of the surrounding sediments..

This evidence sets a new minimum age for the arrival of humans in Australia, the dispersal of modern humans out of Africa, and the subsequent interactions of modern humans with Neanderthals and Denisovans.

As well as living in the same region as the ancient, now extinct, Homo floresiensis aka 'the hobbit', for at least 15,000 years.


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general racial issues, racial hypocrisy, split from "Australian Woman Shot"

Mod said I should repost, http://www.internationalskeptics.com...9#post11930469 post 589, so I'm attempting to split, and copying a couple moved posts from AAH http://www.internationalskeptics.com...d.php?t=321646

I said in response to a reply about my "When are the White Lives Matter riots going to start?"

Quote:

It's a concern of mine here in California, where whites are not even the biggest minority anymore. Pretty soon Hispanics will be the majority. You should see the number of Hispanic names on a ballot these days. And in the world as a whole, whites are a minority.

And, just as most of the problems with racial divides are social, not racial, the racist "minorities" blame my skin color for the social success that makes the difference. And yes, brown and black people can be racists too. Or not, too.

So, a White Lives Matter riot now is a bit tongue in cheek, but is a real concern for the future.

Someday, a riot that starts in a 'dark' neighborhood will spread to burning down the homes of Whitey families, not just their own shopping districts. Which side will the Thin Brown Line be facing then?
and a reply
Quote:

Nessie: North America was populated by indigenous people, until Northern Europeans and Hispanics started to colonise it. Black people then arrived, as slaves. Then, in need of more and more people to sustain massive economic growth and recognising whites do not have an exclusive on the country, other immigrants arrived and settled.

Just because northern Europeans were originally the dominant colonists, does not mean their ancestors or later, similar immigrants have the dominant right to live in the USA.
The hypocrisy abounds: Those "Indigenous peoples" were merely colonists from Asia. Yet the SJWs decry their doom, being caused by Hispanic and Caucasians. The Spanish were here first, settling in Mexico and Florida long before the English. And nowadays, Blacks as well.

The Whites are the ones being overrun, not only in the New World, but in their home lands of Europe. But that's OK, because White Lives Don't Matter to SJWs.

Does anybody else see the Racist hypocrisy here?


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New tablet

My worthless old tablet died today, and I'm thinking about buying a new one. I got attached to the old one after I broke my arm in 5 places and had to use a stylus wedged into my cast.

I want one 10" or so diagonal that can run Windows 10 programs. I don't do Mac.

I like some of the Windows Surface machines, but I'm not willing to pay the premium prices.

Any favorites?


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The Beatles are "Evil To Da Bone"

http://ift.tt/2uLO0t3

So, the beatles were part of the Illuminati? And at the same time, they were killed by THEM and replaced by clones...

Why kill members from your own organisation??

http://ift.tt/2uLO105

And now they're pedos, Satan worshippers and Freemasons (though, that part would explain why the Illuminati killed them. Because they went to the opposition.)

Part of the article in the second link:

Quote:

The Beatles visited paedophile parties with Jimmy Savile, John Lennon
How does this guy know that?

Quote:

Swinging Sixties pop group ‘attended Jimmy Savile paedophile brothel’ according to secret police report
If it's a SECRET Police report, how the **** does this bloke know about it?

Quote:

Is it the Beatles who visited these parties? and is the information being suppressed because McCartney is still alive? Is this the real reason Lennon was murdered was he about to tell all?
Tell what? He was killed by a sick obsessed fan. Also, who wants to bet that there will be a gazillion CT's about McCartney's death when he dies?

Quote:

It is also unclear whether the group visited with Savile, who was described as a “well known disc jockey ”, or separately.
The report, marked “RESTRICTED”, was written by Detective Superintendent David Gray, the officer spearheading Operation Yewtree, the investigation into Savile and other celebrities suspected of sexual abuse.
Mr Gray examined the paedophile brothel case after it was highlighted by another official report in 2013 into what police knew about Savile’s abuse before he died.
And this proves that the beatles are pedo's... how?

And who's this David Gray? Someone like that Dmitri Baxter?

Quote:

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary revealed that a man was jailed for two years for pimping two children’s home girls staying at the flat in Battersea, south west London. The HMIC report made not mention of the band visiting the flat.
*********** what? Also, since when do they call a Child Dealer (or whatever they call these people), a pimp?

Quote:

Mr Gray found the intelligence in the 1964 ledger may have helped officers in 2003, when a victim contacted the force to reveal an attack by Savile in the 1970s.
1. 10 women stepped forward who were abused by Savile during the 70's AND 60's. And:

Quote:

The woman told police she was 15 when she was assaulted by the BBC star during a recording of Top Of The Pops.
2. She was 14 (also in the link above).

Quote:

“However although Savile and a pop group were known to frequent that does not in itself show any linkage or grounds to investigate further, except with the benefit of hindsight.
So, why accuse The Beatles?

Seriously, linking The Beatles with Savile's sick behaviour... :boggled:


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Morphing shape over England - multiple videos

Someone made a clip of collecting multiple videos of a morphing shape over England / Cornwall.

My first reaction, flock of birds. But the shape is to consistent.
So, it is obiously the Millenium Falken having problems with the new cloaking device that Chewie just installed.

Or maybe just multiple video fakes.

[YT]nGcKQs4MUeA[/YT]


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NHS to end prescription of homeopathic remedies?

'A misuse of scarce funds': NHS to end prescription of homeopathic remedies

A public consultation has just opened on whether a number of treatments, including homeopathy, should be available.

Quote:

Homeopathic remedies will no longer be available on prescription on the NHS according to newly-announced plans.

The move comes as part of the NHS England’s drive to save more than £190m a year through a new set of national guidelines, which are now open for public consultation.

The consultation, open until 21st October, is linked from the third paragraph of the story.


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Croc returns body after'mystic' ritual

I found this strange news on BBC: Crocodile returns body after 'mystic ritual'. A man was taken by a crocodile, and the next day the villagers approached a 'crocodile charmer'.
Quote:

After the charmer preformed a ritual, a crocodile appeared with a dead body in its mouth, leaving it near the riverbank, reports said. [...] A crowd gathered on the riverbank and recorded the bizarre incident with their mobile phones - spawning several viral videos that have become the talk of Indonesian social media.
.
I have never heard of crocs that do not wring their victims apart almost immediately, so the curious incident does not start with the charmer. I hope that some of the videos will shed more light on what really happened.

Do anybody have a good explanation? I can only come up with the idea that it was a trained crocodile, but that would mean that the charmer is a murderer, and I am not all that sure that crocs can be trained like that.


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vendredi 21 juillet 2017

Are people replacing God with UFOs?

http://ift.tt/2gRoXzs

From the article:

.........

Furthermore, evidence suggests that the religious mind persists even when we lose faith in traditional religious beliefs and institutions. Consider that roughly 30 percent of Americans report they have felt in contact with someone who has died. Nearly 20 percent believe they have been in the presence of a ghost. About one-third of Americans believe that ghosts exist and can interact with and harm humans; around two-thirds hold supernatural or paranormal beliefs of some kind, including beliefs in reincarnation, spiritual energy and psychic powers.

These numbers are much higher than they were in previous decades, when more people reported being highly religious. People who do not frequently attend church are twice as likely to believe in ghosts as those who are regular churchgoers. The less religious people are, the more likely they are to endorse empirically unsupported ideas about U.F.O.s, intelligent aliens monitoring the lives of humans and related conspiracies about a government cover-up of these phenomena.

An emerging body of research supports the thesis that these interests in nontraditional supernatural and paranormal phenomena are driven by the same cognitive processes and motives that inspire religion. For instance, my colleagues and I recently published a series of studies in the journal Motivation and Emotion demonstrating that the link between low religiosity and belief in advanced alien visitors is at least partly explained by the pursuit of meaning. The less religious participants were, we found, the less they perceived their lives as meaningful. This lack of meaning was associated with a desire to find meaning, which in turn was associated with belief in U.F.O.s and alien visitors.


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Spicer OUT ...

Glenn Thrush‏Verified account
@GlennThrush

@PressSec resigned after vehemently objecting to appointment at 10 a.m. Friday of Anthony Scaramucci as WH Communications director, per SAO


I'll miss him at the podium. I hope he reaps what he sowed.


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Christian Honor killing.

When will we start to civilize these Christians!!

http://ift.tt/2uPqEDH


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jeudi 20 juillet 2017

Brit Tabloids: "We've always been at war with (South)Eastasia

"Boss, lookit this Facebook post! Paul Nicholls hurt himself in Thailand and the hospital's trying to rip him off for 13,000 a night!"

> "Who's Paul Nicholls?"

"That bit of eye candy from The East Enders. He still does a lot of teevee!"

> "Ooooh, got any pics?"

"Yeah lots of 'em! Want me to check out the story?"

> "Naaah, just run with what you've got; we're on deadline."

Sun, Mirror and Daily Mail: "Thai hospital charging Brit actor 13,000 pounds per night!!"

http://ift.tt/2ufKhBP


No. It was 13,000 baht (that's, oh, about three hundred pounds, you idiots). But apologies are free and the Brit tabloids are the Brit tabloids. Their last group apology came after they ran with an anonymous Reddit story of how two little girls in Muang costumes had stolen a Brit tourist's watch. She even posted the picture of the girls holding hands with her just before the "little thieves" stole her watch. The entire tabloid industry ran with this one, then published their apologies on page 63 under the Country Cricket Fixtures. The drunk found her watch. "Oooh, lookit Alf. Here's me watch. I guess I didn't have it on, after all."

http://ift.tt/2ufKdC5

As to Mr. Nicholls? In spite of warnings posted in all hotels that waterfalls are a bit dangerous in the rainy season, he decided he wanted a selfie. The story is enough in itself. Poor guy spent three days at the bottom of the fall, has a ripped up knee (will probably lose the knee cap, from the descriptions) and got an infection of godonlyknowswhat from lying there with his torn up leg submerged.

ETA: To cycle this back to current topics.... I'd certainly approve of the beeyatch from the Reddit story being doxxed. She's still currently referred to as "the anonymous British tourist".


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Tennesee county instates eugenics program

No, the thread title is not hyperbole, exaggeration, or spin. A judge in White County has created a program whereby prison inmates can get their incarceration time reduced if they agree to be sterilized.

Quote:

Judge Benningfield told NewsChannel 5 that he was trying to break a vicious cycle of repeat offenders who constantly come into his courtroom on drug related charges, subsequently can’t afford child support and have trouble finding jobs.

“I hope to encourage them to take personal responsibility and give them a chance, when they do get out, to not to be burdened with children. This gives them a chance to get on their feet and make something of themselves,” Judge Benningfield said in an interview.


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Obama Situation Room pic

So this iconic picture:



I've from time to time pondered, what are they watching? Cinema and TV create the impression that it is impressive visuals, HD video in real time attached to helmet cameras.

Would it have been much less dramatic than that? Grainy video cutting out on regular occasions, signal lost, something akin to a powerpoint stuck on the screen.


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Women kills boyfriend because she was accused of being reptile alien

Your read that right. You can't make this **** up.

http://ift.tt/2vnQhZn

Quote:

The trouble began in April, when alleged cult members accused Barbara Rogers of being a reptile alien for eating raw steak. Three months later, she killed her boyfriend, police say.


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Florida man protects his castle against AT&T

http://ift.tt/2tupJIp

Man does not like AT&T truck parked in front of his house. Workers say they are working on pole and will be leaving in a few minutes. Answer does not satisfy man, so he goes back into his house, gets a gun and shoots out the tires and puts a few bullets into the truck for good measure.

The man was not heard to say, "Can you hear me know?".


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How long would ancient ships remain at port?

This is one of those random questions you'd think would be easy to answer, but google has failed me. Back in the eras of sailing ships, before mercantile ships were barges full of shipping containers and passenger ships were floating cities, how long would ships, once docked, typically remain at port?


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UK - Plug pulled on rail electrification plans

Rail transport in the UK has had a long and complicated history. Unlike some European countries, the rail network was never centrally planned and IMO the UK rail infrastructure has often suffered because of it because of lack of infrastructure in some places, and duplication in others.

Another area where the UK has long lagged is in electrification. We've only had limited electrification, largely on commuter services and because of various reasons, some technical, many financial, electrification has been via a third rail rather than overhead. This is both a risk to people working on the line and limits the amount of power available.

The rail industry was chronically underfunded, definitely since the Second World War and arguably since the First World War. One of the few advantages of rail privatisation was that money could be made available for investment (at a price however) and so there has been some improvement in the under-investment - although IMO there are much better value, both in terms of cost to the consumer but also the government, ways to do it.

Finally, it seemed as though UK mainline services would be electrified but it seems that this has been abandoned and we'll have to use slow accelerating, fossil fuel guzzling diesels for the foreseeable future. :mad:

Quote:

The government has scrapped the planned electrification of railway lines in Wales, the Midlands and the North.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said the government will instead introduce faster trains with more seats and better on-board facilities.
http://ift.tt/2ubAU5R

Yet another promise broken it seems :rolleyes:


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Kim Jong Il

Is Kim Jong Un onto something here?
There is no point in allowing the riff raff to engage in nefarious activity.
Execute them publicly, deterrence should work.

http://ift.tt/2gMPBJx


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mercredi 19 juillet 2017

What is politics?

As I've noticed there is far more gossip than politics discussed in this subforum, I thought that this nine minute video by Richard Wolff could be quite helpful to explain what politics actually is. If you search youtube you can find full length lectures by him with similarly condensed meaning.

[yt]ATK7e8JqP0A[/yt]


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John McCain Diagnosed With Brain Cancer



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Poland moves towards authoritarianism - Will the EU defend liberal democratic values?

Quote:

WARSAW — Poland’s populist government accelerated its efforts on Wednesday to control the nation’s judiciary — the last government institution offering resistance to its rule — prompting threats of sanctions from the European Union and street protests.

New measures, which would allow the government to choose judges for all the nation’s courts, were introduced barely two weeks after President Trump paid a triumphant visit in which he praised the governing Law and Justice Party. The proposed changes drew widespread condemnation as an assault on democracy, and they set up a confrontation with the opposition and the public.

...

The conflict over the judiciary has been simmering for some time. One proposed law, already approved by Parliament and waiting President Andrzej Duda’s signature, would reconfigure Poland’s National Council of the Judiciary, which chooses those eligible to become judges, so that government-appointed members have effective veto power.

A second bill, unveiled late last week, would force the resignations of all current members of the Supreme Court, several of whom have been feuding with the government, replacing them with judges selected by the ruling party’s Minister of Justice.

“Their goal is to create political control over the judiciary,” said Adam Bodnar, Poland’s official ombudsman, who has come out against the laws. “I don’t have doubts about it.”
http://ift.tt/2uKmZH1

Quote:

The European Commission is “very close” to triggering the EU’s Article 7 procedure against Poland — a move that can lead to the suspension of a member country’s voting rights, Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans said Wednesday.

The Commission will also prepare to start infringement proceedings against Warsaw for breaching EU law over its plans to bring the judiciary under government control, Timmermans told reporters.

Timmermans said triggering Article 7 — sometimes described as the EU’s “nuclear option” — was “part of the discussion” on Poland. “Given the latest developments, we are coming very close to triggering Article 7,” he said.

The EU has never used Article 7, which was established more than 17 years ago as a way to ensure “that all EU countries respect the common values of the EU.”

...

Under EU law, the Commission may determine “that there is a clear risk of a serious breach by a Member State” of the EU’s fundamental values. The Commission’s decision would then set in motion a process that could lead to the country losing its right to vote in the Council.

Nevertheless, the loss of voting rights under Article 7 requires the unanimous consent of all EU member countries — and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has stated that he would veto any attempt to sanction Poland.
http://ift.tt/2vkAr1r

The EU looked on when Hungary moved towards what its leader openly called "illiberal democracy". By demonstrating that the EU wouldn't act when authoritarian leaders were busy chipping away at the rule of law slowly but methodically they only encouraged others who shared the same kind of illiberal mindset. It's important that many EU countries are very, very new to democracy. Even the countries that were nominally democratic before they fell behind the iron curtain were still very flawed democracies.

Requiring consensus on the most important issues is one of strongest and most fundamental strengths in the EU but also one of the most serious weaknesses. Acting against one single rogue authoritarian element would be easier but when multiple ones are holding each-others backs it's hard, if not impossible, to do in practice.


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University of Alaska Fairbanks $300000 model that disproves NIST theory on wtc 7?

I have been out of the whole 9/11 conspiracy debate for some time. So not sure if this has been addressed. I grew tired of the truthers and their stupidity.

I saw this post on this reddit post (contains so much woo) http://ift.tt/2uKahbD

The University of Alaska Fairbanks is set to release its $300,000 computer model of Building 7. This finite element analysis of the 3rd tower collapse on 9/11 has exposed the official NIST report as fraudulent. Here is the UAF presentation for members of the American Society of Civil Engineers:*https://youtu.be/EKN4qilUOfs

Why is this important?

Just this year, a former NIST employee of 14 years made his first public appearance speaking out against the official report with Dr. Hulsey from UAF:

If NIST truly believes in the veracity of its WTC investigation, then it should openly share all evidence, data, models, computations, and other relevant information unless specific and compelling reasons are otherwise provided.*—Peter Ketcham, NIST 1997-2011

Some of the professionals who helped fund this research along side the University of Alaska Fairbanks:

David Topete, MSCE, S.E., Structural Engineer

Mr. Topete discusses how WTC Building 7's column 79's failure could not have caused the symmetrical and simultaneous global collapse at free fall acceleration.

Kamal Obeid, C.E., S.E. – Civil/Structural Engineer

Mr. Obeid, a 30-year structural engineer explains how NIST's analysis actually disproves it's own theories on how WTC Building 7 collapsed, thereby confirming the use of controlled demolition.

Tom Sullivan - Former Explosives Loader for Controlled Demolition, Inc.

Tom discusses the complex process of preparing a building for controlled demolition and explains the reasons why WTC Building 7 was a textbook controlled demolition in his eyes.

WTC Chief Electrical Design Engineer, Richard Huemenn P.E.

"An international commission should be formed to look at this in an unbiased manner."

The NIST report is fraudulent and this fact is now being discussed across the world. Here is a physics magazine article dissecting the NIST fraud, which has now been read over*550,000*times:

http://ift.tt/2uKy8b2

Subscribers include the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft, the world's largest organization of physicists.

Any thoughts on this model? Perhaps it offers a different explanation, but doesnt prove CD?



Sent from my LG-H850 using Tapatalk


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Definitive list of who was involved

Has anyone ever taken the time to write down in bullet points who would have to be in on this in order for the conspiracy to be true?

Employees of the Trade Center
Employees of the Pentagon
All Emergency responders

etc
etc.
etc?


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Woo ********

I would like to know what you think about the extrapolations created by philosophy like Plato and Pythagoras did?
In this topic I would like to open on an argument used by many woo-promoters:

'' Scientific method is imprecise and incomplete, it is something flawed, both to analyze a spiritual world and a subjective world ''
What do you think? What would be the flaws of this argument?


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mardi 18 juillet 2017

Submit To Your Husbands In The Name of God

I was a little surprised by this article to be honest. The condoning of violence against women in Islam is no secret but in Christianity I had hoped for more progress.

Perhaps I should not be surprised, as I know my born again brother firmly believed he was in charge in the family, and it may be a small step for some, (although I don't think my brother did), to enforce this with violence.


http://ift.tt/2vzWO2n


Quote:

Research shows that the men most likely to abuse their wives are evangelical Christians who attend church sporadically. Church leaders in Australia say they abhor abuse of any kind. But advocates say the church is not just failing to sufficiently address domestic violence, it is both enabling and concealing it.


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What does it mean when you do not have a secure login?

I go to a website where I used to post and even though I am logged in it tells me I do not have a secure login. What does that mean and how do I get this secure login? I used to be able to post there all the time but now when I try to comment the comment disappears and it doesn't come back.


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Sorry Jurrasic World Fans?

Apparently the T-Rex was not able to run.

http://ift.tt/2vzbgrk

Quote:

A study by researchers at Manchester University has poured cold water on the popular image of the Tyrannosaurus Rex speeding after its prey.

Using biomechanical analysis techniques, the study has found that the giant predator’s leg bones would have buckled beneath it at running speed. The research, published on July 18 on PeerJ.com, was led by Prof William Sellers from Manchester University’s School of Earth and Environmental Sciences. He said the results of the study showed that any running gaits for T rex would probably have led to “unacceptably high skeletal loads”. Credit: Manchester University via Storyful


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[Split Thread] Plural voting and compulsory voting

Mod Info The first 95 posts of this thread were split from the Trump Presidency thread, in which they were off-topic. Please use this thread to discuss ideas for the future of democracy, rather than hijacking existing threads.
Posted By:Agatha



Quote:

Originally Posted by McHrozni (Post 11922817)
Trump is in no small part a result of the collapse in the Democrat party agenda. He could never win against a credible party that would field credible opponents. Neither could other Republican crazies for that matter. US politics needs an overhaul, at a minimum it needs an end to gerrymandering and obligatory participation in elections. The first one doesn't need a further explanation, the second one should cut down substantially on the negative approach to elections, where the focus is primarily on making the other guy look worse than you do, so the electorate chooses you as the lesser evil.

These two reforms are something that might be doable. I'd be all for something more profound (e.g. single transferable vote), but that's impossible to achieve anytime soon.

McHrozni


I'm not sure what you mean by "obligatory participation in elections".


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Garbage Men as Surveillance Personnel

It seems that various communities around the US are training waste collectors to detect suspicious activity. The program isn't any sort of secret, but it doesn't seem to be particularly common knowledge. I'm not crazy about it myself, but garbage men are well-positioned to spot disreputable activity that police might not be aware of.

http://ift.tt/2u568eZ

http://ift.tt/2u569j3


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lundi 17 juillet 2017

UK - Life expectancy not increasing

Possibly due to the effects of austerity, and in particular reduced amounts of money being spent on health, social care and welfare - according to an academic in UCL (University College London)

Quote:

Austerity may be starting to affect how long we live in England, according to a leading health expert.

Life expectancy has been rising for decades, but the latest data shows the rate of increase has slowed.

University College London expert Sir Michael Marmot said he was "deeply concerned" by the situation, saying it was "entirely possible" austerity was affecting how long people live.
Then again, possibly not - according to the government ;)

http://ift.tt/2t9sX01

If it is due to austerity, I'd expect to see life expectancy continuing to increase for the richest and start to reverse for the poorest.

The Trump administration is in the process of being even more austere, especially with respect to access to healthcare so I'd also expect to see similar falls in life expectancy over there in the next few years if the academic is right.


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GOP House says climate change is real....

"The $696 billion bill, which sets up the military’s 2018 fiscal year budget, passed by a vote of 344-81."

"The surprising section calls global warming “a direct threat to the national security” and instructs the Pentagon to create a report on how climate change could affect the military. It asks for a list of 10 bases that could be susceptible to phenomena such as increased flooding and rising oceans."

From: http://ift.tt/2taxKhD


I'm cynical about this 180-degree change of the GOP stance on climate change. Maybe it is just because I form my opinions based on their behavior and rhetoric, but I could be wrong.


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Why do some scientists believe in science?

Sure, one may believe in science stuff.

However, belief is shown to typically allow the ignorance of new evidence, especially after initial evidence is obtained.

Science in contrast, is shown to highly concern evidence.




Why do some scientists believe in science?

Why do you particularly embrace belief (if applicable)?


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Bike tax in Oregon

http://ift.tt/2u2PVqL

"Democratic Gov. Kate Brown is expected to sign the sweeping $5.3 billion transportation package, which includes a $15 excise tax on the sale of bicycles costing more than $200 with a wheel diameter of at least 26 inches.

Even though the funding has been earmarked for improvements that will benefit cyclists, the tax has managed to irk both anti-tax Republicans and environmentally conscious bikers alike."

If you take a walk I'll tax your feet.


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Canada Pays 8 Million And Apologizes To Terrorist

Liberals officially announce payout and formal apology to Omar Khadr

http://ift.tt/2u35P4y



Quote:

Khadr wound up in U.S. custody at Guantanamo at age 15 for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed American soldier Christopher Speer in Afghanistan in 2002. He pleaded guilty to five war crimes — including killing Speer — before a military commission, a process that has since been widely condemned.


The Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that the Canadian government’s participation in the “then-illegal military regime” at Guantanamo breached Khadr’s guarantee of fundamental justice under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

As I understand it, a Canadian citizen went to go fight with ISIS, killed an American soldier and blinded another soldier with a grenade, was sent to Gitmo, and received 8 million dollars and an apology from the government for "trampling" his civil rights.

Meanwhile, the wife of the slain soldier may not be able to pursue her own claims against this guy.

Should the fact that he left his own country to go fight alongside ISIS in any way negate his civil rights? Isn't he basically declaring war by joining ISIS?

A lot of people in Canada are furious about this (so I've read). My reaction at the moment is that this is incredibly stupid.

I think this sets a bad precedent, but I don't know, I only found out about this half an hour ago. I'd like to see other opinions.

*
By the way, I wasn't sure if this was the best sub-forum for this. It includes US and Canada, and some politics. Mods move this as you see fit.


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Death by Tumeric

http://ift.tt/2u35O0u

Thank goodness she wasn't killed by corrupt and dangerous Allopathic Medicine! :wackyarghh:


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Risk limiting election audits?

Came across this rather outlandish claim in a Politico article Colorado launches election safeguards:
Quote:

Risk-limiting audits are cheaper and more efficient than older audit methods because they use statistical processes to select and analyze a smaller sample of ballots than was previously necessary. Stephanie Singer, the project lead at Free & Fair, told Eric that Colorado would only have to check 142 ballots out of the 2.85 million cast statewide in 2016 to determine whether the results were correct, compared to the 32,000 ballots required under a normal audit.
(Highlight added).

Anyone care to explain how this could possibly work?


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