Month: February 2020

 

From Infidel753:

If there’s been one constant across the last four centuries, it’s ever-accelerating technological progress and cultural change. There have been setbacks for a few years in this or that country, but taking the long view, they’re trivial compared to the overall trend. It’s a safe bet that that trend will continue.

Here are some things I expect will happen before the end of the twenty-first century:

1) Victory over global warming, by a combination of geoengineering and a massive world-wide shift to non-fossil-fuel energy.

2) General abandonment and rejection of the practice of meat-eating as barbaric and disgusting.

3) Decline of religion to near-irrelevance in the US, Latin America, and even the Middle East, similar to what has already happened in most of Europe.

4) Two or three more profound changes in cultural attitudes at least as fundamental as the sexual revolution or the shift toward acceptance of gay rights.

5) Unmanned space probes to some nearby stars, traveling at close to the speed of light, possibly microscopic.

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From The International Journal of Psychology:

An important implication is that the association between driving a high‐status car and unethical driving behaviour may not, as is commonly argued, be due to the corruptive effects of wealth. Rather, certain personality traits, such as low agreeableness, may be associated with both unethical driving behaviour and with driving a high‐status car.

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From Helen Philpot at Margaret and Helen:

I would have torn him a new asshole.

Margaret, have you been watching any news lately or did you give up and go back to just talking to your parrots? If you did, I don’t blame you. The media is about to make me lose my religion. There’s so much shit being broadcast, I’m more lost than a fart in a fan factory. Somehow the Iowa Caucuses, which to be honest are about as interesting as watching paint dry, are headline news because we didn’t get our vote count in ten minutes. But an impeached President disrespects the National Anthem, can’t find Missouri on a map and then goes on TV and sniffs and snorts and lies to the American people and it’s declared a victory because he’s just rallying his confederacy of dunces. Lord Jesus have mercy. Where do I begin?

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From The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser:

An anonymous commenter left the following comment (no longer publicly available) on the Galatians 4 blog:

if the Bible is not truth; the Word of God – then NO ONE can be saved. If we do not believe the Bible, we cannot be saved.

This comment was left on a post on a blog entry titled, The IFB Pastor Turned Atheist: Those Who Fall Away. The post is about my defection from Christianity. The author of the blog post agrees with the anonymous commenter’s view: that if we do not believe the Bible we cannot be saved. (Interestingly, the owner of the Galatians 4 website is now an unbeliever.)

Here’s the problem with this view:

First, it makes salvation dependent on reading the right words and believing the right things.

Second, the first-century Christian church had no Bible. They had the Old Testament, a text that makes no mention of Christian salvation and Christian oral traditions. Besides, most early Christians could not read or write.

Third, the gospels were not written until decades after Jesus Christ died and resurrected from the dead. The writings of the Apostle Paul were written first, and they are quite sparse when it comes mentioning Jesus and clearly articulating the Christian gospel. Paul’s writings need the gospels for the Christian/Pauline gospel to make sense.

Fourth, the printing press was invented 1500 years AFTER the death of Jesus. What Bible did people read before the invention of the printing press?

Fifth, illiteracy and the cost of a printed Bible meant that most Christians did not own a copy of the Bible. They relied on others to read the Bible to them or pass on the oral stories of Christianity.

Sixth, it took centuries to complete the canon of the Christian Bible. Prior to this, Christians had “incomplete” Bibles, often containing only a few books of the Bible.

The anonymous commenter does what a lot of Christians do: he takes how things are now and reads it back into Christian Church history. You know, if the Oxford, Calf-Skinned KJV Scofield Bible was good enough for the Apostle Paul it is good enough for me.

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From The Onion:

Rush Limbaugh Admits Presidential Medal Of Freedom Less Of An Honor Knowing That Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou Also Received It

“I almost sent it back. But instead I have decided to keep my Medal of Freedom and let it stand as a testament to my willingness to tolerate others. I hope my acceptance of it will go some way toward reclaiming this honor from the Martin Luther Kings and Nelson Mandelas of the world.”

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From Dave Dubya:

While he is a repugnant and vile man, I take no joy in his illness, and I wish people would not reflexively celebrate his condition.

However, no one should be surprised that the hate and racism Limbaugh generated has drawn hate back in his direction. In that sense, he asked for it.

I would much prefer that his hate and dishonesty would end by embracing compassion for the people who do not have the wealth and health care he has enjoyed.

That is unlikely, so death will have the final word.

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From nojo:

When you’re a President, they let you do it.

They let you lie.

And lie.

And lie.

They broadcast your lies, no matter how bald, with the weakest of clarifications.

They never call them lies.

President claims. President says. President asserts, without evidence. No foundation for President’s charges that.

Whatever it is, it’s never a lie.

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From The Miami Herald:

But during the national anthem at his own Super Bowl watch party Sunday night, a brief video posted to Instagram shows Trump greeting guests, adjusting his chair, and straightening his suit jacket as other attendees — including first lady Melania Trump and their teenage son — stand with their hands over their hearts. As “The Star Spangled Banner” crescendoes, Trump raises both of his hands in the air, and twirls them around as if conducting the music.

The video was included in an Instagram story by a real estate agent for a Russian-American firm who frequents Mar-a-Lago and other Trump properties and events.

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From Joe Gandelman Editor-In-Chief of The Moderate Voice:

The word being used now to describe the Iowa caucus vote — where, in the end, problems with a new app meant the evening ended with no winner announced — is “chaos.”

Or a kind of “show” proceeded by another word that we don’t often use on The Moderate Voice because we largely adhere to old-fashioned newspaper standards.

At the least, the Democratic Party ended the evening with a bad image that just screamed out “Inept/”

At a little more than least, the Democratic Party will now get lots of publicity as late night comedians, comedians in comedy clubs and Donald Trump can create all kinds of one liners.

At the worst, the question becomes: what is the impact of no winners being announced and the candidates immediately scrambling to get on their planes to New Hampshire for the next big vote? The fact that no one lost and no one has to pull out of the contests because of a hideous showing means Iowa failed it’s most basic test. The fact that it was an app that didn’t work right signifies a lack of quality control.

The fact that an app was used in a vote that isn’t a monster vote is also puzzling: it’s sort of like someone developing an app that with the touch of your phone will flush your toilet.

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With this comment:

This is really well done. People who are upper- and middle-class need to see that they are suckers, too. The ”trickle down” theory that the wealthiest are ”creating” economic health for all with their investment is exposed in this visual.