jeudi 30 avril 2020

Child abuse getting worse during pandemic.

Teachers and the usual others aren't able to report apparent child abuse, so the first people who see cases are the emergency room doctors, sometimes too late.
Quote:

Across the country, from California to Iowa to Massachusetts, child abuse reports have plummeted since the virus arrived. In the nation’s capital, hotline reports of abuse and neglect between mid-March and mid-April were 62 percent lower than in the same period last year, according to the D.C. Child and Family Services Agency. Reports to child protective services in Maryland have fallen just as far, and in Virginia, referrals from school staffers have dipped by 94 percent.

The cases surfacing often involve children so severely injured they end up in the emergency room and intensive care unit. In some hospitals, they are dying at an unusually high rate.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/educa...s-coronavirus/


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New Canadian Gun Ban

Canada has announced a new gun ban

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trudeau
There is no need in Canada for guns designed to kill the largest amount of people in the shortest amount of time.

Canada set to ban 11 categories of assault rifles, other weapons

I'm okay with this because I personally have no interest in killing any of my fellow Canadians.


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Most COVID Victims Who Are "Ventilated" Die. So Why Keep Doing It To Them?

Look the stats up for yourselves.


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The Quranic challenge

I doubt this thread will have many takers, but I need to post my effort at writing a Quranic surah for Muslims to read it. The Quran says nobody could write a surah like it. I says the Quran is simplistic trash not worthy of any kind of God and anyone could write better verses. My effort is deliberately satirical but some of it is just like any verse in the Quran.

2.23 And if ye are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our
servant, then produce a Sura like thereunto; and call your witnesses or helpers (If
there are any) besides God, if your (doubts) are true.

2.24 But if ye cannot- and of a surety ye cannot- then fear the Fire whose fuel is
men and stones,- which is prepared for those who reject Faith.


The quran says above that no one can produce a sura like it. Here is my sura.


Sura 118 Al Baba.

118.1 Praised be to Allah the almighty and most merciful, the lord of the worlds.
118.2 Obey Allah and his messenger, Muhammad, and if you should give all you own, and die in battle for Allah you will be well rewarded.
118.3 You will recline on couches drinking from silver goblets, and be waited on by wide eyed virgins, who have been specially made for you in heaven. (well they may have been fixed by surgery)
118.3 So you will no longer have to hobble Thamud the she camel for your satisfaction as you did on earth.
118.4 Did we not tell you of Ali Baba and the forty thieves, and did we not remind you of Noah, and how we asked him to gather two of every creature, we even saved the pig, but I am damned if we can remember why we mentioned them. Unless it was to poison unbelievers, yes I think that was it.
118.4 And did we not give you the sand to play in, as far as the eye can see, nothing but sand,sand, sand. Allah love sand, no, he really likes making sand. And did we not surround it by the seas which are too salty to drink. Allah is most merciful and wise.
118.5 Did we not tell you to fight the unbelievers wherever you find them, so that you could steal their lands and get out of all that sand. So great and merciful is Allah to the followers of the messenger. Obey the messenger and fight the unbelievers and take their wives and steal their possessions, you can have the wives, but the loot belongs to Allah, (and his messenger Muhammed so had it over or else) But do not kill unbelievers if they become believers, just sign them up as conscripts, and put them in the front line of the next battle to liberate the lands of more unbelievers. Only kill them if they become believers, then change their minds when they start thinking for themselves ,and asking awkward questions. Then strike their necks with a sword.
118.6 Allah will curse the unbelievers to be roasted over a slow burning flame for all eternity, and have their eyes plucked out with hooks. But Allah will give them new eyes, so that they can be plucked out again, because Allah is most wise and great, and he likes to watch. He likes little boys that pick the wings of flies as that amuses him. He is the seer-er of all you do, and even peeps on you when you are in the bathroom.
118.7 Allah be praised and praised, then praised some more.
No really, you had better get down on your heads and grovel, you wretched worms, or you are really going to get it in the head. You either praise me(Muhammad) or have your flesh peeled off, and red hot irons shoved where the sun does not shine.
118.8 Whoops, That may have been a verse influenced by Satan, so do not worry to much about that one, I may abrogate it later. Anyway, don't mess with the messenger (Muhammad) if you know whats good for you.


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It's Spring in Maine and the Sap Is Running!

Let's take a short break from national politics and have a look at the Great State of MaineTM:

Former Gov. LePage says he will run against Mills in 2022

Quote:

Former Gov. Paul LePage told a conservative radio host Wednesday that he will challenge Democratic Gov. Janet Mills in 2022.

After LePage ridiculed Mills’ handling of the coronavirus pandemic – he said 14 of Maine’s 16 counties could open tomorrow instead of opening their economies in phases – Boston talk show host <and notorious idiot -- Ed.> Howie Carr asked, “What are you going to do about it?”

LePage replied that he “fully intends to challenge her,” or if not Mills, then the Maine Democratic nominee.

“Believe me, I will challenge her,” LePage said, expressing concerns about state spending and its impact on the budget. “Yes, I am going to challenge Janet Mills in 2022 because the state will be worse off than it was when I took over in 2010 and I do believe I have the skill set to fix it.”

This clown, who was first elected governor in 2010 with just 37.6% in a five candidate race, spent eight years running the state into the ground and spewing nonsense that would make Trump envious.

A bit about him from Wikipedia:

Quote:

LePage ran for governor of Maine in the 2010 election, winning the general election with a plurality, 37.6%, in a five-candidate race. He was re-elected with a stronger plurality, 48.2% of the vote, in a three-candidate election in 2014. During his tenure as the Governor of Maine, he made extensive use of his veto power, vetoing 652 bills as of July 2018, more than the total by all Maine governors over the previous 100 years combined.[1] As governor he made controversial remarks regarding abortion, the LGBTQ community, racial minorities, the death penalty, voting rights, campaign financing, the government and the environment that sparked widespread national criticism including calls for impeachment.

As of April 2018, LePage had an approval rate of 41% in Maine, and his disapproval rate of 53% was tied for fourth-highest of all current governors.[2] LePage was blocked by Maine's term limits from serving a third consecutive term. His plurality wins and unpopular tenure contributed to Maine voters changing their voting system from plurality voting to ranked-choice voting in a 2016 ballot initiative.
He was out in 2018 because of term limits, but the Tea Party clod wants "his job" back. Now that Maine has changed to ranked-choice voting, it seems very unlikely he'll get it.

And yes, I wrote this whole thing just for the headline.


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Homework Help - How Would You Cite This?

I need to cite this page - https://www.planetfitness.com/franch...planet-fitness - as a source for a project, using the APA style. I'm a little stuck on how to do that, because I'm not sure if the page would be considered an article with no author and date, a website, or something else.

If anyone sees this, what do you think? I'm leaning toward citing it as an article with no author, but I have no idea what the in-text citation should be for a page like this. Google isn't much help, since I'm not sure how exactly to word my question.

Thanks.


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Thoughts on Covid-19 testing in the US?

I've been under the impression that widespread testing was a major part of the solution to the pandemic. Due to the realities of manufacturing and delivering tests all across the US, most places were only testing people with all the major symptoms or if you had direct contact with someone who had tested positive.

I've been following my local county govt (central FL) on Facebook. They added all healthcare workers to the list a few weeks ago.

Last week I saw they were setting up more mobile sites for testing this week. There is now no criteria - anyone can get tested for free by appointment. This was not presented as a major announcement, it was simply one of the bullet points on the digital flyer they shared.

I sent the link to two friends. One had no reaction and one simply said "I want the anti-body test."

My gf and I made an appointment. The people we've told have been pretty non-plussed, and the general comments are "What do you gain from being tested?" "Even if you test negative, you could get infected the very next day" etc. A few co-workers seemed more positive, but they didn't make appointments for themselves.

When we went to the mobile site yesterday, which was set up in a parking lot and you never get out of your car, there were more workers than people to be tested. They were obviously set up for large amounts of people - there were 4 or 5 checkpoints as you went through the lot with people pointing you in the direction to go - but we breezed right on through as there were barely any other cars there even though we were about 30 mins early for our appointment. We were in and out in less than 10 minutes.

Is "widespread testing is what is needed" no longer the narrative?


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Julian Knight Hoddle St murderer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Knight_(murderer)

There is no doubt that Knight killed 7 people and injured many others in a crime where my city of Melbourne lost its innocence. He is a reprehensible creature and I’d have no problem with him remaining in jail for life. However he was sentenced to 27 years in 1987, which was then considered a fair sentence.

What I’m interested in debating is his sentencing and the behaviour of the Victorian state government. When he came up for parole in 2014 the government passed a law specifically relating to him (this has happened before) that he never be released. He appealed but lost, so will die in jail.

“Do the crime, do the time” was thrown out the window, along with the principal of rehabilitation. As much as I hate this vermin, I think he has been done an injustice. I’m no doubt one of a very few that feels this way about Knight.

I’m very uncomfortable about laws which apply to individuals and about such a precedent.


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Help with HDD recovery

My dad's computer died. Like, 100%, won't start up, no power, no nothing, dead.

There's some stuff on the HDD that he needs. Not backed up, of course. I've fished the HDD out of the laptop and purchased an external bay for it. I have to go put the extracted HDD in the external bay this evening.

Will it be as simple as just plugging it in and copying the files? Or will there be issues that I, a total know nothing in these areas, have not anticpated.

Other than "Yeah, he should have had a backup", of course :)


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Do you know about Nissan dot com...?

I didn't.

Go to Nissan.com and find out about this poor bloke who, in 1994, registered nissan.com for his business on the reasonable basis that his name was Mr Nissan. So, in 1999, they sued him. A lot.

Or you can read about it here, at this jalopnik article.


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mercredi 29 avril 2020

Is it safe to uninstall apps in Macbook?

I just want to know if it is safe to uninstall the default apps installed in my Macbook like garageband, iMovie, etc.

And if I do so then it will not affect my MacBook's performance. This is my first experience with Apple devices and macOS that is why I have no idea how this works.

Thanks


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mardi 28 avril 2020

Is an alien invasion imminent?

A new SciManDan Tinfoil Tuesday vid. Asking out of curiosity if anyone knows this Christopher Green or knows someone that does? If you do what is he like in real life? He seems emotionally normal until the end segment of Dan's vid then the bats start coming out of the belfry.
http://https://youtu.be/931vb1qjyWE

Original vid. http://https://youtu.be/GQCcFOAqVzY


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Ethical Challenge: Human Procreation

It is inevitable that anyone alive must suffer.

It is inevitable that anyone alive must be burdened with ethically dubious choices.

It is profoundly unethical to impose suffering on people against their will. It is profoundly unethical to subject people to intractable ethical dilemmas against their will.

Nobody chooses to be born into this world of their own free will.

Therefore, it is profoundly unethical to procreate.


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lundi 27 avril 2020

Food Supply Disruptions - Government Response

I've been watching it develop. So far, food supply disruptions have been largely a matter of convenience. Your favorite product is out of stock. At the beginning, there was "stocking up", which looks a lot like hoarding, but really it's just a rather common sense reaction to the fact that you don't want to go to the grocery store for a few weeks. That should go away, eventually.

Now, though, we're hearing of actual, pending, shortfalls, especially for meat. I won't link to a specific article, but try putting "meat" in a google news search. What you will see is some bleak forecasts.

Yesterday, Tyson Foods bought a full page ad in the New York Times to talk about supply chain disruption.

This could be bad.

Meanwhile, farmers are actually destroying crops and destroying animals.


So, can the government do anything about this? Should they?

I honestly don't know the answer to the first question. How do you increase slaughterhouse capacity? It would seem that at the very least, government could provide testing to workers at key food processing centers, so that workers could be sent home before they have a chance to infect lots of other workers. Is there anything else they could do?

The answer to the second question rather obviously depends on the answer to the first question. However, if the answer to the first question is yes, then I say the answer to the second question is yes. It's food. We have to eat. The "free market" won't take care of this problem.

Is government doing anything about it now? Is anyone looking into this problem?

One thing I am certain of is that the solution is not to give someone money to compensate them for their losses. I can't eat money. I just read today that in this time of meat shortfalls, one facility had to kill two million chickens. If the farmers are compensated for their lost money on raising those chickens, I still can't eat the chicken. I'm not saying that we absolutely shouldn't give anyone money in this situation, merely that doing so does nothing to solve the problem.

And if real food shortages develop, should we blame Donald Trump? Yes. That's the point of having a government, to do something about the really big problems that private enterprise can't handle. To be fair to The Donald, if I can't buy meat real soon, I'll also throw some hate toward congressional leaders, who have less power to act than the President has, but if they are not at least making a whole bunch of noise about it, they really should share some of the blame.

So, here's a thread specifically for issues related to food supply, and whose fault it is if there isn't enough of it. I put it in USA politics because I anticipate that "whose fault is it" will be a significant part of the discussion, and because I am particularly interested in the situation in the USA. However, even better than the "whose fault is it" discussion would be information about what could, realistically, be done. Then we can get around to blaming politicians for not doing it.

Or, is it too much hype? Other than having to pay and addition 20% or so for meat, is there really a big problem here? Is it just hype, or will there be actual food shortages, with accompanying malnutrition?


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dimanche 26 avril 2020

4 Studies Proving Cancer is Not a Genetic Disease

It has been known for decades that the somatic mutations theory of cancer is incorrect, yet governments and the 126 Billion dollar Cancer Industry worldwide are fully committed to cancer's genetic theory. This is how they justify the use of knives, poisons and ionizing radiation as treatments.

If a cancer cell is a mutant 'monster' cell that's entirely foreign to the body and looking to kill the patient, then using murder weapons make sense. But the reality is a cancer cell is nothing but injured tissue that the body is struggling to repair. Oncologists are taught to respond to damaged tissue with treatments that cause further damage: That's the sum of their medical intelligence.

The cancer industry will never tell the public the truth because it profits from a lie. And governments will forever protect that lie like they've always done. If you want to never die of cancer, you must investigate the evidence for yourself and form your opinion based on that.

Here are 4 studies proving cancer is not a genetic disease...
youtube.com/watch?v=SJ2dUiiHIto


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The murder of Stephen Lawrence

Who killed Stephen Lawrence? Two men are serving prison sentences, but I think there have to be doubts about the strength of the convictions and this case also raises wider interesting issues.

I've started this thread to put down a marker for discussion, and will return to this later as I look more into it.


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samedi 25 avril 2020

Blog 2020 Up and Running

I'll post a link in this section, also. In early March, I pivoted from a sports gambling and social psychology of gambling blog to the COVID-19 crisis. I'd appreciate any feedback. A couple of the entries are more like Aesop's fables -- they start on one topic that's almost a MacGuffin, then eventually circle to the actual subject matter and thrust of the entry later.

https://theskepticalgambler.blogspot...ouncement.html


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vendredi 24 avril 2020

Hubble Space Telescope turns 30

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/...hotos/12129618


One of our best investments ever. Better even than the moon landing.


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So, what did I accidentally do?

I type pretty fast, but not well. Every once in a while I fat-finger something and Chrome goes all wonky. I can't type in a dialog box. Clicking on a page to open downloads it instead. When it happened this morning, I closed Chrome and restarted but it still wouldn't work. I expect I'm actually hitting Ctrl-something when trying to hit the shift key, but what the heck? Why would that even be a thing?


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Mile-Wide Asteroid 52768 (1998 OR2) Near Earth on April 29

Mile-wide Asteroid 52768 (1998 OR2) is expected to pass Earth by only 0.0421 AU on 2020 APR 29 at 09.59 UT (04.59 CDT). The estimated greatest brilliance by JPL is magnitude +10.8 on MAY 01.

I’ve created a chart and ephemeris that can be viewed at https://www.CurtRenz.com/asteroids.html

Photos and descriptions of the asteroid would be welcome additions to this thread.


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Should we sell off government cheese?

While shopping I've noticed difficulty in getting pizza ingredients.
And, I start seeing articles how various pizza places were hiring.
I think Dominoes added over 10,000 and pizza hut added over
30,000 employees. Why not sell off the government cheese?

P. S. Why not sell off the useless gold as well?


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[Split Thread] Nationalcosmopolitan's corona virus hoax thread

Hi!
After this “CV-19 global fake pandemic” it will become a very good time to implement my Global Social Project “The New Seventh Day”.
The project includes 4 main blocks.
But every block is a great positive social revolution.
1 The symmetry of working weeks and creative vacation weeks in a year for most of the people. 26 weks of working time and 26 weeks of creative vacation time in a year.
2. Most working places including all state power places should be given according the random samples (lotto) and only in 1 cadence to every candidate that was successful in professional test.
3 To give the life long multi professional and multi cultural high skills education to the most citizens.
4.To establish the Global Union of all Developed and Correctly Developing Countries.
Holy Resurrected Israel will become the Capital of this union.


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How do you arrange your daily workflow?

How do scientists, reesarchers and students take notes / plan their work day?


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jeudi 23 avril 2020

Supreme Court Sides with Environmentalists

In a 6-3 opinion, the Supreme Court today sided with clean water advocates in a case involving dumping pollutants into water.

The Clean Water Act says that companies, or governments, or whoever, cannot dump pollutants into streams, lakes or oceans without a permit. On the island of Maui, a sewage treatement plant was dumping.....stuff....into wells. However, testing showed that from the wells, it went into groundwater and ultimately ended up in the ocean. They didn't have a permit to dump in the ocean.

The Trump administration sided with the polluters saying that it was ok to pump stuff into the ground. The environmentalists said that if it went into the groundwater, and from there into the ocean, that's really no different than dumping it directly into the ocean. The court, in a 6-3 decision agreed with the environmentalists. Roberts and Kavanaugh joined the four Democratically appointed justices.

It is often said that Kavanaugh is a Trump lapdog and will side with him every time, but the record shows otherwise. Once more, he shows that he has at least a little bit of an independent streak. He's no Bill Kennedy, but he also isn't Clarence Thomas, for which we can all be grateful.

(Just in case there's any doubt, I think the majority opinion is pretty much a no brainer. It's rather obvious the intent of the law was to keep pollutants out of waterways. The fact that it goes through groundwater first is hardly a good reason for allowing pollution.)

Here's a link to a CNN story on the opinion.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/23/supr...ater-case.html


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30 Pedophiles Arrested in Virginia

Police arrest 30 pedophiles in just one Virginia county as part of a 'Covid crackdown' operation set up to help protect children who are vulnerable to online abuse while taking classes on the internet

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daily Mail
Police have arrested thirty alleged pedophiles in just one Virginia county over the course of this month as part of 'Operation COVID Crackdown'.

The undercover investigation, designed to protect youngsters using the internet to take classes has seen a total of 68 felony charges put on 30 potential predators.

Officers at Fairfax County Police found the pedophiles starting 'explicit conversations' with the decoy children online before trying to 'initiate sex' with them.

The alleged pedophiles, all male and aged 20 to 74, were arrested at the locations they had agreed to meet the 'underage children', who were actually police officers posing as children.

All thirty arrested now face more than one count of solicitation of a minor and attempted indecent liberties or soliciting a minor for prostitution.

Major Ed O’Carroll, Bureau Commander of Major Crimes for the department said in a statement: 'Our detectives have remained vigilant and they recognized the increased threat posed by online predators in recent weeks.'...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...crackdown.html

Attached Images
File Type: jpg covid-crackdown-19.jpg (96.9 KB)


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How addictive is nicotine?

An interesting topic came up in discussion in the COVID-19 thread and rather than derail that one I have started this thread to discuss how addictive nicotine actually is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by William Parcher (Post 13065833)
Understood. Then let's start from square one.

To what extent is nicotine itself addictive?

That's very hard to quantify.

I think that nicotine is no more addictive (or bad for you) than caffeine. They do similar things, they are both alkaloids, both stimulants, both habit forming, both addictive.

But traditionally tobacco is smoked and that smoke is inhaled. It's this method of delivery that is seriously bad for your health (and the added 4000 odd other chemicals present in cigarette smoke)

Caffeine is traditionally drank, either via tea or coffee or cola. It's method of delivery is safe and most people don't bat an eyelid over caffeine.

Maybe I am wrong and nicotine is a dangerous highly addictive substance. If anyone can show me evidence to support that then I am all ears.


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itstha theekret

itstha theekret


Where secrecy or mystery begins, vice or roguery is not far off . _Johnson


https://www.veteranstoday.com/2020/0...rr-911secrets/
[excerpt]


Attorney General William Barr : "....9-11 secrets must remain secret"


Judge : ... reason for the secrecy?


Barr "It's a secret



Judge: The reason for the secrets’ secrecy?


Barr: " That’s an even bigger secret. And the secret secret reason for the secrecy of the second-level secret secret is still more secret
And guess what, the secret behind that is even worse, it’s classified at the
very highest level—only God Himself is allowed to know.
And the secret behind THAT secret is so secret that even God can’t be told, since His knowing it
could result in potentially grave harm to our national security.” [/excerpt]


Truth-seekers will never enlighten the terminally ignorant, nor awaken the intentionally somnombulist,
this information may jump-start a lazy intellect.


https://www.propublica.org/article/a...of-the-victims


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The study of atoms in the brain doesn't explain the redness of red;Materialism = FAKE



[All impolite comments will be ignored.]

;)


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mercredi 22 avril 2020

Left Wing Virus Conspiracy Theories

I haven't caught up on everything posted, so could somebody let me know if there are a lot of conspiracy theories pouring in with a left spin? Most of the stuff I've read comes from the alt-right.

Something along the lines of: More blacks are dying, so it's a GOP plot to trim the voter rolls the old fashioned way. That would tie in with Trump giving governors the leeway to open early in the South, where mega-death might really help the cause.


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Happy Earth Day - Rethinking the Future

The link below is to the video presentation by Tony Seba for the 1st World CleanTech Week eConvention on this Earth Day 2020.

Rethinking the Future - Clean Disruption and the Collapse of the Oil, Coal and Internal Combustion Engine Vehicle Industries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-kbzfWzvSI


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11 words from John Oliver that expose Fox News' fundamental hypocrisy

Quote:

"They only pretend to believe these things on television for money."

11 words from John Oliver that expose Fox News' fundamental hypocrisy

Quote:

(CNN) - HBO's John Oliver dedicated his entire 21-minute show on Sunday night to a deep dive into false information being peddled by Fox News and other conservative media outlets about the coronavirus, and the impacts those falsehoods are having on President Donald Trump and his decision-making.

It's a stunning exposé into, as Oliver puts it, how "the feedback loop between Fox and Trump has run way ahead of the science." (You can -- and should -- watch the whole segment here.)

But there was one thing -- actually one sentence of 11 words -- that really stood out to me in the Oliver segment. And it was this, when he was talking about Fox News' coronavirus coverage:

"They only pretend to believe these things on television for money."


The point Oliver was making was that even as many Fox News anchors were pushing the idea that coronavirus was less virulent than the flu and that it was the product of a hyper-partisan media trying to "get" Trump, the company was warning its employees to stay at home and "reducing the staff footprint at our headquarters in New York."

I'll stop quoting there, but the point is that Faux News is telling its viewers to go out and risk their health and lives while they tell employees to stay home. They don't give a **** what happens to their viewers, it's entirely about money.

We knew this of course, but Oliver makes it absolutely clear.

[yt]dRFbwjwQ4VE[/yt]


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kawika advocates murder

Over at 911blogger, our member kawika has now called for extralegal killings:
Quote:

Originally Posted by kawika
WHAT IF.................
What if this problem got right in our face, instead of us being far removed, insulated? Are we gonna be polite, honorable and follow rules that the predators obviously aren't subject to? Are we incapable of taking direct action?

The rabid dogs (two legged variety) will eventually show up on your street, threatening your children and peace of mind. Are you going to have the nanny call somebody, or will you dispatch the evil and get back to work?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2L0WQu2fEI

The video scene from To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) depicts Gregory Peck's character actually shooting dead a mad (rabid?) dog.

Kawika apparently has sunk to the radical, amoral level of the actual murderers of 9/11. This is a "movement" that sooner or later will produce actual terrorits.


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Apollo Film Digital Interpolation

One of the members over at Apollohoax.net has been working on digitally enhancing and interpolating original NASA film & broadcast footage from the Apollo missions

This is his latest effort, the Apollo 16 deep space EVA - original 16 mm on the right, interpolated TV on the left (the interpolated version doesn't appear until about 25 seconds into the video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A0O...ature=emb_logo

A truly stunning effort. You can see more and some technical details in the thread at apollohoax.net

http://www.apollohoax.net/forum/inde...53260#msg53260


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mardi 21 avril 2020

De Blasio’s social distancing tip line flooded with penis photos, Hitler memes

https://nypost.com/2020/04/21/de-bla...h-obscenities/

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s critics let him know how they really felt about him ordering New Yorkers to snitch on each other for violating social-distancing rules — by flooding his new tip line with crank complaints including “dick pics” and people flipping the bird, The Post has learned.


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lundi 20 avril 2020

Kim Jong Un - Leader of North Korea brain dead after surgery

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/20/polit...rea/index.html

This should get very interesting. Wonder if there will be a power vacuum there now.


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How to find someone who mistakenly uses your email adress halfway around the world?

I've been using gmail for a long time now, and to prevent malicious access I've set up that system that gives warnings on your phone if someone tries to access your account from unexpected places.

In the last year I've had numerous times that someone from New-Zealand tried to reset the password, which I've blocked.
At first I thought it was a hacker, but recently I've also gotten links to subscribe to various sites in NZ, commercials targeted at the same name (not mine) and today I got about 20 links to subscribe to TVNZ, with repeated password attemtps.
I strongly suspect someone in NZ has a mail adress that is very similar to mine but a slightly different way of writing it.
Thing is, if I google the name I get in adverts combined with my last name I only get a hit in Australia, and given the dutch migration to NZ mid last century my last name appears to be very common there.
Does anyone have any tips on how I could find out who this person is so we can clear this up? I feel bad for them as their attempts to do something during lockdown end up in my email adress.


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dimanche 19 avril 2020

[Split From] Calling Trump supporters...

Wow. Four posts in a row I can't see. :cool:


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Ralph Sarchie

So I need help debunking something based on my own irrational fears.

I read an interview with Eric Bana regarding the movie Deliver Us From Evil, in which he played real life detective cum self styled demonic exorcist Ralph Sarchie.

Bana stated he was a sceptic until he saw footage from one of Sarchies exorcisms in which a man in a straight jacket had a wound appear on his forehead on camera and his drool turned to blood.

What do you guys think? I tried looking up Sarchie and amongst other things he's hosted a typically bad paranormal investigation TV show ala Ghost Adventures and - red flag alert - he often worked with Ed and Lorraine Warren and John Zaffis.

For some reason this is bothering me.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk


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samedi 18 avril 2020

The "CIA is sponsoring Uyghur jihadists against China" thread.

Since China has been in the global spotlight in recent months because of COViD-19, I thought that we might as well have a thread on the conspiracy theory in the thread title.


From NPR, just this past December:
Quote:

DAVID GREENE, HOST: Activists cheered after House lawmakers in the U.S. passed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act on Tuesday. This bill condemns the mass detention of Muslim ethnic minorities, including Uighurs in China, and sanctions the officials accused of being behind the crackdown. China is furious, and NPR's Emily Feng reports on Beijing's defiant reaction.

EMILY FENG, BYLINE: Darren Byler woke up Tuesday morning and found several emails waiting in his inbox from concerned friends about a Chinese state media editorial lashing out at him and two other academics.

DARREN BYLER: They're basically saying that all the scholars that are reporting about the camps are actually working for the CIA or intelligence services.

FENG: Byler is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Colorado, Boulder and well-known for his work on Uighur culture and policy in the region of Xinjiang. Now the Xinjiang government was accusing him of being a CIA agent who fabricated lies about China's detention of hundreds of thousands of Muslims in China.
Quote:

FENG: Specifically, Byler does research on how the U.S. war on terror and counterinsurgency tactics have given Beijing both the methods and ethical cover behind the detention of, at its peak, up to 1.5 million Muslims in the western region of Xinjiang since 2017.

BYLER: I don't see the U.S. as the good guy in this situation, necessarily.
Quote:

FENG: Adrian Zenz is a German scholar and now senior fellow at American advocacy group Victims of Communism. He's put together forensically detailed investigations that have given American officials the most precise estimates of detentions in Xinjiang. On Tuesday, he was also falsely labeled a CIA agent by Chinese state media - a sign, he says, Beijing knows it's facing growing global criticism and is effectively shrugging its shoulders and saying, so what?
https://www.npr.org/2019/12/06/78544...to-uighur-bill


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A Critique of Sibrel's Moon Hoax Video

I critiqued Sibrel's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Moon". Each time the narrator said something stupid I grabbed a video frame and captioned it with the dubious claim. At first I overlaid the caption across the captured image, but it was hard to read so I changed the ratio from 16:9 to 4:3 with the caption at the bottom of the frame.

Since I only used several dozen frames of his 46 minute video, I figure it falls under the Fair Use Act. Mush of the video is public domain footage from NASA anyway.

Speaking on video is not one of my strong points. My stutter comes out a bit. The end contains the sources I used to refute the claims in the video. Please tell me what I can do better and if let me know what mistakes I made. Thanks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzFpHBOD3-4


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Leonardo da Vinci knew the Earth was expanding all the time?!?

I think Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci knew the Earth was expanding all the time?!?

He painted Mona Lisa where a woman smiles just as if she knew something very essential about something.

"The distant, dreamlike vista behind the Mona Lisa's head seems to be higher on the right-hand side than on the left. It is hard to see how the landscape would join up. This is subliminally unsettling: Mona Lisa appears taller, more erect, when one's gaze drifts to the left than when it is on the right."

🤔

Attached Images
File Type: jpg Screenshot_20200418-234031.jpg (49.9 KB)


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Tell me about small business insurance.

A question I've wondered about is whether any of the losses incurred by small businesses during this crisis are covered by insurance. Can restaurants, barber shops, hardward stores etc. get -- and if so, can they typically afford -- some kind of "business interruption" coverage that would reimburse them if they lose income through no fault of their own as a result of a hurricane, flood, fire or, in this case, pandemic?


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Trump; 24 conspiracy theories.

https://www.businessinsider.com/dona...sing-emails-24

Though we have all heard it before, this list is still amazing to me. When consolidated in the article, a clearer picture emerges that he is off his rocker. Again, nothing we didn't already know.


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Calling Trump supporters...

Question for discussion
Are there any members of this forum that are Donald Trump supporters or at least sympathetic to positions he has taken on issues?

Why am I interested?
My question is not rhetorical or intended to prove a particular point. I am genuinely interested to know whether any members of the Forum would acknowledge this. I’ll explain why.

I am new to this Forum but understand that the ISF seeks to promote critical thinking and reasoned debate on various issues. My perception of Donald Trump, regardless of the validity of the position he takes on issues (for instance, apparent climate change denial or refusal to engage with questions and criticism from certain members of the media), is that he does not appear to engage in critical thinking or reasoned debate. It’s one thing to question whether the mainstream media’s views are biased to a particular perspective and what interests they have, and it’s another to automatically shut down questions or reports from the mainstream media without further debate because they are perceived as ‘corrupt’ or purveyors of ‘fake news’.

As someone who is based in the UK, I’ve not been exposed to many views from Trump supporters and therefore haven’t had the opportunity to hear any reasoned articulate arguments from them about the positions he takes. What I have seen from Twitter though is those supporters who use slogans, conspiracies, and sometimes insults when faced with criticism of his decisions. I would therefore be really interested to know if any members of the Forum want to discuss their support for Trump’s positions.

After all, I joined this Forum because I enjoy debating issues, challenging my beliefs and learning new things!

More generally I recognise that skeptics, critical thinkers or however you want to describe them, are a diverse bunch. It’s possible for them to be on different parts of the political spectrum (socialists, liberals, centrists, libertarians, conservatives etc.)

Thank you


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[Split From] I challenge you:cite ONE paper that discerns Science from Pseudoscience wth CERTAINTY




"Science is an essentially anarchistic enterprise: theoretical anarchism is more humanitarian and more likely to encourage progress than its law-and-order alternatives.
This is shown both by an examination of historical episodes and by an abstract analysis of the relation between idea and action.
The only principle that does not inhibit progress is: anything goes."


[Text available here - https://www.marxists.org/reference/s...e/feyerabe.htm


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Nasa manned mission launch in May

Nasa has announced that next month it will launch its first manned mission from US soil in almost 10 years.

Quote:

The rocket and the spacecraft it is carrying are due to take off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre on 27 May, taking two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52333932


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vendredi 17 avril 2020

A story of free speech, Covid 19, and left and right in America

I read an interesting story today. Here's the link:

https://reason.com/2020/04/17/a-teen...dnt-delete-it/

The basic summary is that a 16 year old Wisconsin high school student travelled to Florida nere the beginning of the outbreak on a spring break trip with other students. The trip was cut short and the students went home, but the girl developed respiratory symptoms. At the time, no Covid 19 tests were available, but the symptoms were consistent. She was later admitted to the hospital and put on oxygen as her condition worsened. She was eventually released from the hospital, and recovered. At some point, she was also eventually tested for Covid 19, and the test came back negative. However, doctors informed her that there were a lot of false negatives. According to the story she "missed the window" for a positive test. I have no idea what that means, unless it's a case that she had pretty much fully recovered by the time she was tested and so no virus was in her system.

Either way, she believed that she had Covid 19, and apparently, doctors believed it as well. As this was going on, she periodically posted her story on her Instagram page. Telling about her experience with Covid 19, and showing such things as her in the hospital with an oxygen mask.

One day, a knock on the door. There was a deputy sheriff, threatening to arrest her for disorderly conduct if she didn't take down the Instagram posts. She did so. She later discovered that the deputy was there at the request of the school district, who said she could not have Covid 19 because, at the time, there had been no positive tests. The posts were, according to the school district, a ploy for attention, and absolutely false. Since they could lead to panic, they were declared disorderly conduct, and they called the sheriff's department to threaten the girl with arrest.

The family got a lawyer, who demanded an apology from the school district, and a promise that there would be no more threats of arrest. This was not forthcoming, and so the lawyers filed a lawsuit.

The lawyers representing the girl are from a group called the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty. I thought that was a rather interesting name, and so I went to their website. As I expected, they were a non-partisan group, but one that I think most people would label as "right wing". The cases they talked about certainly would not be "left wing". They might be libertarian, but generally of the right wing slant of libertarians.

And that is what I found interesting. I thought back to my youth. Any story that involves, "teenager sues school district for infringing freedom of speech" would be labelled a left wing story. The authoritarian school district threatening her arrest would have been labelled right wing, and the group defending her would have been the ACLU or some other left wing organization.

Oh how times have changed.

For my part, I'm firmly on the girl's side, so does that make me a right winger or a left winger?


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The One Covid-19 Science and Medicine Thread

Mod WarningMultiple threads have been opened in this Science section regarding the novel corona virus. They cross each other frequently, making it difficult to decide in which thread a comment should go. This thread has been opened for all discussions of the science, math, medicine and technology related to our current pandemic.

All other threads have been closed. The threads have not been merged because it would create a chaos of cross-talk and confused timelines. However, members should feel free to quote from those closed threads and continue those discussions here.

Other aspects of the virus - such as the political decisions being made around the world, the economy, personal anecdotes and anything not related to this subform - are off topic. The posts will be sent to AAH and infractions or harsher mod actions will ensue. This shall constitute a Modbox Warning.

We look forward to a spirited discussion among our science-minded members and those looking to learn.

Thank you.
Posted By:Loss Leader


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Genetic tracing is rapidly revealing COVID-19, evolution

Drexel University researchers have reported a method to quickly identify and label mutated versions of the virus that causes COVID-19. Their preliminary analysis, using information from a global database of genetic information gleaned from coronavirus testing, suggests that there are at least six to 10 slightly different versions of the virus infecting people in America, some of which are either the same as, or have subsequently evolved from, strains directly from Asia, while others are the same as those found in Europe.
More > https://phys.org/news/2020-04-geneti...ng-covid-.html


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jeudi 16 avril 2020

Surviving 2023: Coronavirus, Plague and the Global Flood

Here's proof - using only empirical evidence - that the oligarchs who control the media, banking, technology and entertainment industries are preparing to unleash an ebola-like plague + global flood on most of the world come 2023. Not only that - but it will be impossible to survive due to extreme weather conditions, toxic air, rising sea level and the death of trees, flowers and other plants. Also this project has been in the works since at least the 1950s when NASA was founded and JFK gave his famous speech on Secret Societies.

Please discuss the evidence in my video minus any ad-hominem attacks...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGHuFTvXC-k


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Lost my profile and can't access files

I hope someone might be able to help me here. Normally I'd simply take the computer to a repair shop and let them work on it. In fact ideally I'd get a new computer and ask them to configure it and copy over the relevant files, as this computer is getting elderly. However we are where we are.

Earlier today I did a restart on the computer and it went through all the updating Windows thing that periodically happens. Usually this is no trouble, but this time it seems to have failed to recover my profile or something. It logged me in with a temporary profile and two more restarts didn't get me back to my normal desktop.

I have managed to reconnect my email, which is something, and I can access the internet, but I can't access any of the files on my hard disc. I think they're there all right, I can't see why they wouldn't be, and the disc usage looks reasonable, but no way can I find them. There is a folder in Windows Explorer with my name, but everything is empty. It isn't my normal "My Documents" folder.

Any idea what I might be able to do about this, at least until I can take the thing to someone who can sort out the problem properly?


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Corpotations hava already gotten $Trillions of tax dollars in relief

...so why should the virus bill give them even one penny more?

They took the trillions from Taxscam and bid up their stock prices and paid lavish bonuses to their execs. What they should have done was build their rainy-day funds for just such emergencies as this virus.

Now the Paycheck Protection funds are already used up even efter more $Billions were voted in direct subsidies on top of that.

NO future dollars should go to corporations and businesses. Send it all to individual workers for them and their families. Let the parasite investors and their lackies on the Boards eat their paper!


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April Presidential Poll: Biden, Trump or ?

I'm going to run a poll each month down to the November election. This isn't to determine how this forum leans; I think we all pretty much know how that goes already. This is to see how support for each candidate changes from month-to-month. This poll runs through the end of the month, and I'll start a new one May 1.


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9/11 Families, Experts Mount Unprecedented Challenge to NIST in New Filing

seems they are going to submit a “request for correction” to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) regarding its 2008 report on the collapse of World Trade Center Building 7

https://www.ae911truth.org/news/677-...-in-new-filing

Does this mean they are ok with WTC 1 and 2 report now?

Quote:

Starting today, under the procedure governing requests submitted to NIST, the agency has four months to respond. If NIST elects not to take corrective action, it must provide a “point-by-point response to any relevant data quality arguments contained in the request.” The request notes that if NIST does not provide a point-by-point response, NIST will have denied the request “in an arbitrary and capricious manner,” which would set the stage for legal action to force compliance.
in the filing https://files.wtc7report.org/file/pu...t-04-15-20.pdf I see

Quote:

Re: Request for Correction Under the Data Quality Act to NIST’s Final Report on the Collapse of World Trade Center Building 7
Dear Ms. Fletcher:

This petition is a request for correction of information disseminated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”). This Request for correction (the “Request”) is being submitted by 10 family members of people killed on September 11, 2001, by 88 architects and structural engineers, and by the organization Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth, Inc. (referred to herein collectively as “Requesters”)
So does this mean they have 88 architects and engineers in total or is this a seperate group of architects and engineers?
And is it a petition or a request for correction?

I thought there own report would refute the NIST report on WTC7, but I guess that did not get the attention they hoped for.


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mercredi 15 avril 2020

The Wolfram Physics Project

The Wolfram Physics Project

Apparently he has a project where he looks at all the possible computable
universes and selects the one model that matches ours. Not sure though.

Here's the short summary.


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Racist Threats and Attacks that Rattled a California University Campus Were Faked

Behavior like this does not help victims of racism, every provable case of fakery makes it that much harder for the real victims to prove their case.


Quote:

very single one in this photo will get what is coming to them," read the ominous Instagram message sent to several students of color at the University of La Verne, east of Los Angeles, in March 2019. The accompanying black-and-white photo was of a group of outspoken students who were well-known on campus for organizing anti-racism protests. Seen in the photo: Anayeli Dominguez Peña, a Mexican-American graduate student and vocal social-justice campaigner. She had been instrumental in organizing numerous protests in the Decolonize ULV group she co-led.


......



All the cases remained unsolved—until March 9, 2020. After nearly a year of investigations involving multiple agencies, the LVPD said at a press conference that Dominguez Peña, 25, had faked the threats against herself and others in ten total separate "incidents." The same day, she was arrested on felony charges of making criminal threats and perjury, as well as seven misdemeanors related to electronic impersonation and filing false police reports.

https://www.newsweek.com/racist-thre...ce-say-1497533


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Trump Regime to Banks: It's OK to steal virus relief checks

https://www.salon.com/2020/04/15/tru...CtdNiGpWYTL_2I

Absolutely disgusting. Yet another low from the bottom-feeding traitors of the Trump government...


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Work from Home setup issues

I wanted to get a SSD to run Windows on alongside my late 2012 iMac, mostly because of World of Warcraft no longer running well on Macs since the patch in January. I did a combination of Boot Camp and some Wine program, and while it works great for playing the game, Windows doesn't have access to speakers or microphone. It can't even see them.

Do I need to wipe the SSD, redownload Windows onto it and hope that the correct drivers get loaded this time for running with sound? Given that my 'essential services' job involves taking calls, not having sound is a real drawback.... and I need to start working as soon as possible. The stimulus is practically nothing.


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mardi 14 avril 2020

The Truth About 5G

SciMan Dan settin' the record straight. It's a short video. You may want to pass it on if you know it would benefit someone.https://youtu.be/C137OyVrzVA


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Article: Confessions of a Conspiracy Theorist - by Author, Oliver Harris

This one popped up in my Crime Read's feed today and it's an excellent, fact-based introspection, and history of the CT,and real-world espionage:

https://crimereads.com/confessions-o...racy-theorist/

Quote:

I loved conspiracy theories long before I wrote them. I thought of myself as a connoisseur, chasing a revelatory rush as new possibilities emerged and the world became surprising again. They needed to walk the line between plausibility and astonishment, piling up enough arguments that you found yourself involuntarily steered into the realms of just maybe. But I also loved them in the way I loved big airport thrillers—stories expanding to consume all, interweaving what had been disconnected. Both seemed to be attempts to do justice to the complexity of events, and to expose hidden worlds barely touched by the news.

That was the kind of justification I used. Isn’t it our duty as citizens to question the narratives that underpin power?
And this:

Quote:

Conspiracy theories were now seen to degrade politics, muddying true and false, allowing toxic arguments to gain prominence while undermining genuine issues. Most of all, they divide people—you disagreed not just on what was right but what was real. The Red Pill grants you access to a higher truth (Amazon places books about conspiracy in the category of religion and spirituality). Everyone else is dumb or complicit. 9/11 Truthers (a phenomenon that originally seemed, in part, a reaction to the news media’s own over-simplifications) slid into the grotesque spectacle of people claiming high school massacres as false flags. Politics became the assertion of your right to believe whatever you wanted, to stand firm against the oppression of reality. Suddenly a genre that I saw challenging the edifice of establishment power became very clearly a tool for maintaining it.
The rest of the essay is a mix of real MI6, CIA, and Russian skulduggery, and it's a solid read.:thumbsup:


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Trumps deal with Russia and Saudi Arabia to drive up oil prices

This is getting swamped by COVID stuff in the general Trump thread. But seriously wtf? Why would an American President want to help Russia and Saudi Arabia raise oil/gas prices?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/12/b...ronavirus.html

Even as someone who wants to see higher oil prices as a means to fighting climate change I find this shocking. Carbon tax systems keep the money inside the country so they are neutral in terms of capital flows and economic impact. This deal is a massive capital flow toward two problematic and hostile nations. It helps Russia, helps Saudi Arabia and hurts just about everyone else including US consumers. Why would any American President do something like this.


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The all-new "US Politics and coronavirus" thread



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I challenge you:cite ONE paper that discerns Science from Pseudoscience wth CERTAINTY

Hi all,

This is a collective didactic experiment within the community meant to learn from everyone and not to attack anyone but belief systems. Hence, please don't feel offended if your scientific paradigms are questioned for it's nothing personal.

Please, debate nicely, politely and with well manners and I'll do the same. Thanks.



Without further ado, I would like to posit you 5 questions:


1. What are the necessary and sufficient conditions so that a certain assertion, precisely defined and without any kind of ambiguity can be considered scientific vs. a pseudoscientific one? Why don't you cite ONE paper on Philosophy of Science that allows us to follow a logical, rational and consistent method to determine with certainty between science and pseudoscience, that's to say a Demarcation Criterion? -> please cite from Google Scholar.

2. In case that you affirm to be able to discern between science and pseudoscience with certainty, then: what logical, rational and consistent method do you follow to affirm whether String Theory or the Multiverse hypothesis are science or pseudoscience? Are they falseable? And, if they are falseable, how exactly? What type of observable 'datum', directly or indirectly mensurable would refute each of them?

3. What logical, rational and consistent algorithm do you follow to be able to distinguish if Matter and Consciousness are one and the same thing?

4. Can you describe the redness of red as if you were describing it to a man born with blind, from the subjective experience of an self-conscious 'I' 'emerged'? from a viscous matter called brain?

5. Which degree of certainty (in percentage) would you demand from a judge to justify his sentence to you for condemning you to indemnify with $100.000 and 5 years of prison for you having slandered the honor of a certain homeopath calling her 'pseudoscientific' without justifying which Demarcation Criterion did you use to discern between Science and Pseudoscience with certainty? 70%?, 95% of certainty? What value (precisely) would leave you satisfied so that your prison sentence would be rationally justified?

My answers:


1. I DON'T KNOW.
2. I DON'T KNOW.
3. I DON'T KNOW.
4. NO.
5. I DON'T KNOW.




FAQ:

Science is what follows THE Scientific Method.

Fine.

In that case:

How do you precisely define THE Scientific Method?
Is it valid for natural sciences and for social sciences as well?

Is Falsifiability a necessary and sufficient condition for a certain assertion to be considered scientific? If not, why?

Most importantly: could you please rebut each one of Karl Popper's 3 arguments against the existence of the Scientific Method?

i.e.:

The Preface to Popper's Realism and the Aim of Science (1983)
A talk to a meeting of the Fellows of the Centre for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford in November 1956.


“As a rule, I begin my lectures on Scientific Method by telling my students that
Scientific Method does not exist
. I add that I ought to know, having been for a time, the one and only professor of this non-existent subject within the British Commonwealth.”
—Realism and the Aim of Science, Karl Popper, p. 5

I assert that no scientific method exists in any of these three senses. To put it in a more direct way:

(1) There is no method of discovering a scientific theory.
(2) There is no method of ascertaining the truth of a scientific hypothesis, i. e., no method of verification.
(3) There is no method of ascertaining whether a hypothesis is “probable”, or probably true.


—Realism and the Aim of Science, Karl Popper, p. 6

I believe that the so-called method of science consists in this kind of criticism [severe]. Scientific theories are distinguished from myths merely in being criticizable, and in being open to modifications in the light of criticism. They can be neither verified nor probabilified.
—Realism and the Aim of Science, Karl Popper, p. 7

This alleged but non-existent method [of science] is that of collecting observations and then “drawing conclusions” from them. It is slavishly aped by some historians who believe that they can collect documentary evidence which corresponding to the observations of natural science, forms the “empirical basis” for their conclusions.

This alleged method is one that can never be put into effect: you can neither collect observations nor documentary evidence if you do not first have a problem.
—Objective Knowledge, Karl Popper, p. 186

“What do I teach my students? And how can I teach them?”

Source:
"Realism and the Aim of Science: From the Postscript to The Logic of Scientific Discovery", por Karl Popper, Routledge, 1983, ISBN-10: 0-415-08400-8. 464 pp. Pages 5 and 6:

Extract @ Google Books: /books?id=tlowU8nS2ygC


Also:

"The theory of natural selection may be so formulated that it is far from tautological. In this case it is not only testable, but it turns out to be NOT STRICTLY UNIVERSALLY TRUE. There seem to be exceptions, as with so many biological theories; and considering the random character o f the variations on which natural selection operates, the occurrence of exceptions is not surprising. Thus not all phenomena of evolution are explained by natural selection alone. Yet in every particular case it is a challenging research program to show how far natural selection can possibly be held responsible for the evolution of a particular organ or behavioral program."

Sources:
[1] Popper, Karl (1976). Unended Quest. La Salle: Open Court. ISBN 0875483437.
[2] Autobiography, Karl Popper. "I consider darwinism as metaphysics and as a research program. It is metaphysics because it is NOT TESTABLE."
Google Books: /books?id=NyCEnehPMd8C&lpg=PP1&dq=unended ques
[3] Miller, David (1985). Popper selections. pp. 239-246. ISBN 978-0691020310.
[4] Evolutionary epistemology, rationality, and the sociology of knowledge, by Karl Popper. pp. 143-147.
Google Books: /books?id=QnFiTrCzg5oC&lpg=PA143&ots=c7x_hTlgH


Happy debate! :-)


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Teach a 5-year-old what a virus is

This Easter weekend we had another one of those Trump moments where you think to yourself: Is this the dumbest man alive? Why does he pretend to know stuff when he makes it so obvious to (almost) everybody that he doesn't?

49 sec:"The germ has gotten brilliant" Donald Trump
[yt]llL_9dLKb3c[/yt]
He is certainly the most powerful man alive, he has the most brilliant scientific advisers that money can buy, and yet they haven't even been able to teach him the difference between bacteria and virus and why antibiotics are useful against one but useless against the other.

I don't think that the scientists are to blame for this, but leaving Trump's attention deficit and narcissism aside, how would you explain to an actual 5-year-old what the difference is between virus and bacteria?
After all, this forum is the successor of the James Randi Educational Foundation, so is anybody up to the challenge?


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lundi 13 avril 2020

India to Trump: "F- Off!"

In a report on an Indian news network, the presenter minced no words. After pointing out that India's recent decision to once again start providing Hydryocloroquine (?) for export came BEFORE Trump threatened them, the anchor delivered a scating rebuke to Cheeto Furher, saying that he was in no position to dictate anything "not at home, not abroad, and certainly not in India".

https://www.facebook.com/OccupyDemoc...eJj8&__tn__=-R

And before anyone blasts the link, that's the only place I've found this video so far.


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The Trump Presidency: Part 21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meadmaker (Post 13054554)
A lot of meat packing facilities closed.

This could suck, a lot.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-h...-idUSKCN21V09W

We're stocking up today after work. I generally eat a low carb, high protein diet. Not having any meats would cause huge issues.


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Posted By:kmortis


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Impending financial collapse of the USPS

The long struggling US postal service is in danger of financial collapse.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/u...-the-mail.html

The USPS has long been suffering from the absurd funding requirements of the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, a poison pill that requires the USPS to pre-fund future pension payments. No other business or government agency is required to do this, and pre-funding these retirement benefits has put intense financial strain on the agency.

https://theweek.com/articles/767184/...ke-post-office

This financial instability has been exasperated by the Covid-19 pandemic, seeing mail volume and revenue drop as the economy grinds to a halt.

As of yet, the Trump administration is opposing efforts to include the USPS in any covid-19 bailout legislation.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...source=twitter

Republicans may finally achieve their dream of fully privatizing the mail.


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dimanche 12 avril 2020

Is Donald Trump a P-Zombie?

Could it be that Donald Trump has no consciousness? That he is simply a mindless machine in human form, that he just reacts to stimuli with no understanding, no different than a basic animal? That, rather than being the criminally deranged psychotic sociopath he appears to be, he is simply incapable of normal human thinking and behavior because he is literally not conscious and sentient?

I think this possibility needs to be explored further.


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What Fallacy(s) is this?

You don't have a degree in X therefore you must be wrong about X

I am almost positive that this fits into Ad-hominem, but is it also appeal to authority and/or something else?


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samedi 11 avril 2020

Some difficulties on Facebook

A few days ago, I noticed that I was no longer able to log in to Facebook.

They said a security check was needed, and they would send me a "confirmation code" to my phone. Unfortunately, the phone number which was on my profile (and which they used) was no longer valid (it was the phone number of my previous phone and, not being very active on Facebook, I had not updated it after I got my latest phone). So, I did not receive the confirmation code and, since I could no longer log in, there was no way I could update my profile with my new phone number.

I didn't know what to do, so I tried to create a new account. In the process of creating this new account (with my real, unchanged, name), I gave them my phone number (rather than my e-mail address; I had the choice) and, this time, they did send me a confirmation code (to my phone). Thereafter, they told me to upload a picture of myself, which I did reluctantly (because I didn't see the point). Then, after a waiting time of about 30 hours, when I tried to log in, they said my account had been disabled "because of an infraction to Facebook's terms of use". Surprisingly and shockingly, they did not specify the nature of the alleged infraction, they just gave a list of general possible reasons, and they said I had a right to appeal.

When I tried to appeal, they told me a upload a copy of my identity card, or some other identification (which I did), and they said they would send me an e-mail soon. However, I am worried I shall never receive this e-mail because, when I signed up for the last time, I used my phone number rather than my e-mail address. In addition, when I download my latest profile (which I can do without being logged in), I see than my e-mail address is no longer shown in my profile.

Have you had a similar experience? Can you give me some advice as to the best strategy when your Facebook account has been disabled?


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latest research clarifies Corona-virus caused by the vortex of the "accidental" ...

latest research clarifies Corona-virus caused by the vortex of the "accidental" sinking of USS John S. McCain, the applause of Chinese people (and they did it on camera for the world to enjoy!) and the disappointing dance of Queen Elizabeth!

// __ Five sailors injured, 10 missing after U.S. Navy destroyer collides with a merchant ship

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...3fa_story.html
~
// __ Collision of USS John S. McCain is met with 'applause' in China, according to state media

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/21/uss-...ate-media.html
~
// __ To Avoid Future Collisions, U.S. Navy Ships Will Advertise Their Locations in High-Traffic Areas The effort should help cut the risk of collisions at sea, but only addresses half the problem.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/mil...traffic-areas/
~
// __ Chinese fighter jets have "once again" engaged in "unsafe and unprofessional" behavior around a US Navy plane flying over the contested South China Sea, ABC News reports.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/chinese-fi...170151362.html
~
So far I have been taking all the CV frenzy with a whole bag of salt.

I have heard that CV is kind of related to the SAR-1 family of virus that (seems to have!) mutated from no one really knows where as original genomic ecosystem to bats then onto pangolins and then onto humans . . . in the Wuhan animal market and that the pink lion of Central Park managed to get infected with the CV as its way to commit suicide because it was missing his friend Harambe . . .

I wonder at which point you will hear that they "discovered" that CV was caused by the last fart of Marilyn Monroe as King Kong grabbed her on the top of the empire state building which kept floating in what remains of the ozone layer to protect it until now when its molecules descended as CV droplets on the Wuhan animal market. Thank you, Marilyn. It is nice to hear that some gringos care about our environment/Nature, not just their TV sets.

Here is the thing, if viri would mutate and jump from a genome to another just like that we would have all died from mutations from measles or any other host of viri. In fact, most probably humans would not have been, evolution, as we know it, could not have happened. I find suspicious that you don't hear anyone talking about the chirality of that artistic looking virus and its functional biological and chemical components. How come they have made so many "simulations" to describe how it will spread but, AFAIK, none to investigate how did it happen, where did it come from to begin with.

I have heard CV peculiarly uses for the information interchange supporting its mutation phonemes from Putonghua, Iranian and Italian, which explains some aspects relating to its spread, but the most fundamental questions are still unanswered and, scientifically speaking, we are not living in the age of the bubonic plague, when they accused the Jews of poisoning the wells, would "clearly see" astrological explanations for the black death. We live in an era in which "a kid in a garage" can genetically "produce" a new multicellular organism out of parts from other living organism.

I would easily understand when politicians wonder about "sonic attacks" certainly created by Vladimir Putin (how can you prove that? Well, they attacked U.S. diplomats in Havana, you see?, right there is the proof!) and Duterte says that "God was telling him to stop cursing USG":

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/29/w...rse-words.html

and he seems to have taken "God's advice" seriously, he stopped!

But have scientists started to talk/be like politicians?!? Galileo must be revolting in his grave!

Are you also old enough to remember that idiotic prime minister (from New Zealand I think he was) who was viscerally making fun of his own people when they pointed out to him that New Zealand was a five eye (or ******* was it?) country. He even promised to renounce if any of it was true? Well, the guy at the very least seemed to have some sense of honor. He did renounce.

// __ How did coronavirus start and where did it come from? Was it really Wuhan's animal market?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-animal-market
~
You see! There you have it! CV hopping from animal to animal again, it also infected the lion of Central Park Zoo and in its latest mutation can spread even through Quantum entanglement, so the 2m Abstand rule will not save you!

Here is a thing that every scientist knows: Nature has absolutely nothing to hide! (tm). When you notice something which articulation of its understanding and/or doubts are not plain clear from the start (especially when they are well-known natural phenomena), then you know right away it is not really about "mother Nature". If anything (not bats, pangolins, humans, which are all mammals), when you notice such things they are most probably related to the Linnaeus' taxa of fish.

As it has happened with all previous viri which have become a public health threat, scientist know that first they have to "own it", trace and find its origins and then reproduce it artificially as a way to falsify their own theories before they start to work on a vaccine. Why is there a blind spot when it comes to finding the origins of CV in this genetic engineering era in which you would expect absolutely everything about it to be well known?

Hume was amazed at how easily structures of control people mess with "We the people". Even on supposedly question-authority media outlets such as theIntercept.com they were saying that those "sonic attacks" were cause by the common Caribbean cricket and they have kept saying that Kennedy was killed by a Castro plot!:

// __ Beyond BuzzFeed: The 10 Worst, Most Embarrassing U.S. Media Failures on the Trump-Russia Story

https://theintercept.com/2019/01/20/...nts=1#comments
~
// __ NSA Concealed Records on JFK Assassination for Decades

https://theintercept.com/2017/10/25/...nts=1#comments
~
The last time I received anything USG could have a handle on was a box of books from the U.S. Even though I was very careful it repeatedly made my eyes swell and itch badly.

The U.S. has had also a long history of biological attacks on people (against Cuba, India and Russia , ... (and hey! I don't give a ***** about Castro communism, or politicians in general, but to me abusing people like that is wrong. Period! even if "'God' is telling you to do such things for the greater good" (tm))) The Castro government would even share samples of those mosquitos that were being used as infection vectors and even U.S. based scientists admitted that those were genetic knock offs. My scientist and medical friends (who, BTW, also didn't give a ***** about the government) would tell me that it was all "very, very strange", that if such things would happen so easily and frequently in place, from a biological point of view, relatively isolated and with a dictatorial government that took public health so seriously, e.g., Haitian people would not even manage to exist.

http://www.afrocubaweb.com/biowar.htm

Not only through the protests of the Cuban government, but some scholars/writers have revealed and written about various programs to "biologically weaken Cuban people" to a point that "they would not be able to fight back". The smart rear ends they are, USG vaccinated all Cuban nationals working at the Naval Base in Gitmo with a vaccine against the same virus they were about to spread, which, of course, the "Cuban intelligence" noticed.

Those "very, very strange" public health incidents have been happening in Cuba since the early 70! In one of those books they have related how USG infected a Cuban cargo ship with sugar bound to Russia and Kennedy had to personally stopped their operation. No wonder, he got killed by the Cuban government! He didn't seem to like that song from the 60's "sugar; honey, honey, ..."

What did USG have to say to the various, scientifically backed accusations at the UN, the WHO and various other public health institutions?, their standard "we don't discuss allegations".

So here is a theory: CV was created by the vortex of the "accidental" sinking USS John S. McCain, the applause of Chinese people and the crappy dance of Queen Elizabeth when she joined the "British Royal Navy" as they dressed in white to collectively dance la Makarena:

// __ Britain's Empty South China Sea Gesture

https://thediplomat.com/2019/02/brit...a-sea-gesture/
~
// __ Exclusive - British Navy warship sails near South China Sea islands, angering Beijing ...

https://www.yahoo.com/news/exclusive...001513209.html
~
Now, the crucial aspect of that sentence is reduced to the adjective "near" and the British seem to have their own sense of humor which they didn't forget to include in their action. Wake me up if you can once the British dare to make their move more substantive.

// __ What's behind Beijing's drive to control the South China Sea?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ina-sea-hainan
~
// __ China Doesn't Care About What Some Dutch Court Thinks about the South China Sea And veiled threats from the U.S. Secretary of Defense clearly don't scare it, either.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/06/08...uth-china-sea/
~

Now, don't the Chinese know well, "they are doing something they shouldn't have been doing" (tm by Trump
all rights reserved)?

When I heard that the British had finally decided to go back to subjugate China into another century of shame, I was like: "great! It was about time". The next you heard is that all they did after going all the way there was collectively danced la macarena and as a way to recall the "or die while trying" of those "conquer the world! long live the queen!" stanzas, the(ir) queen joined them. Some people who watched her dance expected a good K-pop like performance. They were crassly disappointed! They thought she had developed some sense of rhythm after waiving at the country for more then 6 decades, no?

// __ the Onion: Queen Will Leave Behind Long Legacy Of Waving

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5pkDB7zEeo
~
What I would like to hear is if you could carry CV in a laser beam as they do with smoke rings. Only that would explain a lot.

truth and peace and love,
rclopez2


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