Amusingly, most white-collar criminals are actually republicans.
Amusingly, most white-collar criminals are actually democrats but spread the myth that such crooks are mostly republicans. B-)
Amusingly, most white-collar criminals are actually indifferent to political party and will claim whatever political affiliation they think will get them the maximum amount of leverage/sympathy/etc. possible.:-P
Hell, we have the basis on which to build another epic tale of adventure, as our young hero fruitlessly attempts to elude BIG BROTHER!! All we need to decide, is whether we'll have Elves, Dragons, Aliens, or Angels in the story. Crap - let's have them ALL!!
John Ringo's even completed a whole series on it. Damn that magnificent bastard!
Wait, what? Jesus was born in September in Canada? Awesome!
Um duh... if you'd read the New Testament, you'd know that Jesus is a Canuck. Read Dekey 14:24 for the part where he turns the water into maple syrup, or there's Biffy 20:10 where he drives the money-lenders out of the Temple hockey rink, and then there's my personal favorite - Tuque 9:28 about where they served back bacon and beer at the last supper in Moose Jaw, eh?
If you want Linux, Ubuntu, and the rest of the free OS's to stay superior and exploit-free, then why on earth would you ever want mainstream acceptance of said OS's? Wouldn't Linux et all going mainstream and replacing Windows/OSX mean that the botnets (and their owners) and scriptkiddies would then change their tactics to exploit whatever's currently dominant in market share?
If I were you, I'd be praying to the FSM for Windows/MS to stay dominant forever, just so that you could continue to use Linux without fear of someone writing script specifically to target YOUR OS's weaknesses. But that's just me
When I read TFA, I saw the part where 47% of Droid apps use third party coding, and 23% of Apple apps also use it. Then I realized, there's no safe place to hide. I like my walled garden, but even that has leaks.
Re:Plagiarism? or Ghost writing? Outsourcing?
on
Plagiarism Inc.
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· Score: 3, Insightful
I take it you've had some run-ins with business degree students then?
Are you absolutely sure that it was Paul who wrote Corinthians and Romans? Biblical scholars are pretty sure that Paul only wrote 8 of the numerous tracts ascribed to him. Also, they're pretty sure that Timothy didn't write Timothy. Much of the New Testament was ghost-written - meaning literate scribes wrote under the pseudonyms of their favored apostles to promote their own view, and since literacy was rare, most illiterate believers tended to treat such letters as real.
That undermines your argument. I will concede that it is well known that Paul was virulently anti-gay, but I suspect it was in the manner of a closeted gay man who got off on self-anguish and torment
Actually, the sacred texts didn't reveal three divinities. The whole Trinity is based off a dubious understanding of the Great Charge that Jesus laid upon the disciples. If you look back at the history, nowhere else in the four gospels is the Trinity mentioned. It's a dogma put forth by Paul in his expansion on Christianity, which Augustine expanded on in his arguments with Arius and Pelagius - it was a very Roman way to interpret Christian doctrine.
The trinity itself is the mumbo jumbo you're referring to - and there's quite a schism within Christianity about it. This is why theology is important. Theologians not only understand the texts themselves, they understand the history and the different interpretations behind them.
Jesus was gay, and he raised his old lover back from the dead, according to one of the gospels AND the secret Gospel of St. Thomas. He also had a grudge against fig trees, bankers, and priests. In addition, he may or may not have boinked a harlot, and he was a flagrant trespasser, and a communist. Your point is?
Thank you for the apology you racist douche-bag, I appreciate it. As for the barbarism, ever been to the United Arab Emirates? I have. I wouldn't say they're barbarian by any measure. Decadent would be the word, but not barbaric. Pakistan is its own special flavor of Hell, but you're showing your true ignorance, you coward, when you denigrate all of current Arab/Muslim culture as barbarians. And you are a coward, sir. You will always be a coward, no matter what you say, no matter what you do, you will be known as a coward. You refuse to step out of your own little box to investigate the wider world beyond and encounter viewpoints and cultures different from yours. Coward.
You have a valid point there, to my sorrow. Well put. I'll have to watch out for the fallacy in the future. I do know the distinctions and I know what Islam's supposed to be. But you have me with what reality is. At least grant me this: There are millions of moderate Muslims who do not believe as the fanatics do. They have the same problem with their own fanatics as we do with ours.
With all due respect, you're a fucking idiot. Mohammad was an Arab; that fact alone is why Arabic culture, along with blood feuds and revenge fantasies, permeates the Muslim world.
Instead of debating about what "actual" Islam is, why don't you look at the way Islamic societies the world over behave?
This is what I'm saying we should do, separate Islam itself from the culture its in.
They're a bunch of nutjobs who think it's a good idea to cut off someone's hand for stealing a loaf of bread. They're barbarians and not worth the time of day.
Gee, prejudiced much? Buy into the propaganda? Tell me, is your best friend an Arab or a Muslim? Outright ethnic hatred on your part will be met by mockery on my part, jackass (and I mean that with all due respect)
Every religion is irrational, and all of them should be dismissed as the meanderings of insane minds used by evil minds to have control over weak minds. But don't kid yourself that there's a different Islamic culture out there that's somehow "more pure" than what we see today.
And I would much rather trust a biologist who's been trained in the scientific method to debunk irrational behavior than some moron who thinks the Invisible Sky Wizard likes to watch him masturbate.
There IS a difference. You are right to point out Arab cultural flaws. That's been Islam's problem since the beginning. But you're combining your personal ethnic hatred of the other with propagandistic viewpoints, and a stubborn refusal to recognize or validate the possibility that there might be subtle distinctions you're overlooking. Jackass (don't due respect me, just call me a fucking idiot, you ignorant coward).
Properly trained Theologians could tell you about the following (which I have recapped from a previous post):
Dawkins knows a hell of a lot about evolution, but next to nothing about theology. If he did know anything about theology, he'd focus on how the majority of the new testament was written by ghost writers claiming to be Apostles, or about how all four gospels are irrelevant to each other and were written at different times for different viewpoints (John was written for Roman converts - painting Jesus as the super-Emperor). Or he'd talk about how Paul, the most prolific author in the New Testament, only wrote 8 of the umpteen missives attributed to him (or even that there seem to be two Pauls - one who went to Arabia, and one who didn't). Or he'd talk about how Judas dies two separate ways in the New Testament. Or he'd talk about how there was no Star of Bethlehem, no census that Herod had to take, and no massive attempt to get Jesus's birth to confirm to the prophecies of the Messiah as listed in the Torah. No, Richard Dawkins is an idiot when it comes to Theology. He has every right to attack and debate the existence of God, but he's just as bad as the religious fundamentalists he opposes
Bert, I call bullshit. Dawkins knows a hell of a lot about evolution, but next to nothing about theology. If he did know anything about theology, he'd focus on how the majority of the new testament was written by ghost writers claiming to be Apostles, or about how all four gospels are irrelevant to each other and were written at different times for different viewpoints (John was written for Roman converts - painting Jesus as the super-Emperor). Or he'd talk about how Paul, the most prolific author in the New Testament, only wrote 8 of the umpteen missives attributed to him (or even that there seem to be two Pauls - one who went to Arabia, and one who didn't). Or he'd talk about how Judas dies two separate ways in the New Testament. Or he'd talk about how there was no Star of Bethlehem, no census that Herod had to take, and no massive attempt to get Jesus's birth to confirm to the prophecies of the Messiah as listed in the Torah.
No, Richard Dawkins is an idiot when it comes to Theology. He has every right to attack and debate the existence of God, but he's just as bad as the religious fundamentalists he opposes
Yes, let's read the Koran, and then apply to time and place. At the time those sutras were written, Mohammed and his followers were in Medina, fighting against the polytheists of Mecca (who worshipped a whole lot of tribal pagan gods). The Kaaba in Mecca used to be the central temple for all these pagan gods, and each family in Mecca had its own particular god it worshipped, given a particular circumstance or tribe or what have you.
The polytheists in the Koran were the residents of Mecca - but you're taking these quotes out of context.
based on the actions of their equivalent of Jack Thompson? Oh way to go there. Let's show the rest of the non-Judeo Christian based world just how merciful and understanding we really are.
Here's a thought. Why don't we read up on what actual Islam is, versus the supremacist Arab culture that permeates and corrupts it. Karen Armstrong did a wonderful job of pointing out what Islam actually is, and how Arab culture with it's tradition of jahilliyeh has since permeated and corrupted it (note to the curious - Wahibist Islam is a fundamentalist version of Islam where the clerics try to reconcile the pre-Mohammed "heroic" cultural mores of Arab tribal culture with Islam itself - which is what Mohammed explicitly fought against).
but wait. It's far easier to learn programming, and read physics textbooks, and read Dawkins/Hitchens, and other men bloviating about the evils of religion, when they don't even have any real expertise in theology to begin with (Dawkins is a BIOLOGIST). And therefore, when one Muslim version of Jack Thompson goes with an attention-getting stunt, we automatically do to the entire muslim world what people who didn't understand gaming did to us gamers - we stereotype and hate. Way to go, there.
Damn it man, I disagree with you much of the time... and then you have to go and write this. Argh! Why can't I just paint you as a one-dimensional inhuman tool and hate my mind's psychological construct of you?
And now for a serious moment, great summary and insight. Thank you. IMHO, in most multi-cultural countries in the world you'd never get those who are firm believers in Worldview #1 to commit because you'd essentially be asking them to destroy themselves for your sake, and vice versa. That's just reality - too many people have invested their entire self concept in the idea of "vessels of purity" to allow for mass access to simulated ultraviolence for the sake of catharsis. Japan can get away with it because they are a monolithic society built upon an ethno-cultural monopoly - they're all 'the same' , and its easier to issue permission to those similar to you than those dissimilar. You couldn't do it in the West though - we're just too pluralistic for it.
That's just it, Hargrand. You cannot change human nature. As long as there is individuality and differentiation, there will always be prejudice against that which is different. It's been sixty years and we've still got public officials using racial slurs without care for the media. There is still widespread practice of keeping blacks off of juries in the South through the flimsiest of legal excuses. It's been sixty years since the Civil Rights era and we STILL have people growing up believing that segregation is good and that minorities should be suppressed. A strong central government is needed to overcome this inherent cultural bias and preserve the Union.
The modern libertarian is nothing more than the latest iteration of the utopian. Libertarian principles sound great: each man for himself, responsible for himself, and collective action is good as long as everyone pulls their own weight and acts responsible. This philosophy makes the admirable assumption that everyone is capable of being responsible and able to ignore skin color, age, and gender in the pursuit of treating each other as equal individuals. This is admirable, but not possible. This is why we need a strong central government - because libertarian ideals alone cannot overcome innate cultural/individual preferences and prejudices. The government must enforce an equal playing field, or else you will have a caste system form very quickly.
The debate isn't over. Just two days ago, a South Carolina state senator called Nikki Haley and Obama "ragheads". The debate will never be over, as long as humans continue to have individuality and preferences.
The problem with your lifestyle is that your country/people can only afford it for two generations or so. Even now the EU is having to start paring back on the vacation time, the generous pensions, the social networks, etc, because you can't afford it.
Don't be so quick to dismiss us. While I'll readily admit that we tend to demonize European socialism, we also know that your economy can't keep spending the resources necessary to maintain your lifestyle forever - you're going to have to cut back.
Slashdot Mirror
I did too, about an hour and a half ago. Damn jalapenos.
LOL!!!!! Nice! Tell me, is there a definite difference in tone and perspective when posting as "Tom"?
This is a damn good post, sir. Thank you for writing this.
Amusingly, most white-collar criminals are actually republicans.
Amusingly, most white-collar criminals are actually democrats but spread the myth that such crooks are mostly republicans. B-)
Amusingly, most white-collar criminals are actually indifferent to political party and will claim whatever political affiliation they think will get them the maximum amount of leverage/sympathy/etc. possible. :-P
Hell, we have the basis on which to build another epic tale of adventure, as our young hero fruitlessly attempts to elude BIG BROTHER!! All we need to decide, is whether we'll have Elves, Dragons, Aliens, or Angels in the story. Crap - let's have them ALL!!
John Ringo's even completed a whole series on it. Damn that magnificent bastard!
Wait, what? Jesus was born in September in Canada? Awesome!
Um duh... if you'd read the New Testament, you'd know that Jesus is a Canuck. Read Dekey 14:24 for the part where he turns the water into maple syrup, or there's Biffy 20:10 where he drives the money-lenders out of the Temple hockey rink, and then there's my personal favorite - Tuque 9:28 about where they served back bacon and beer at the last supper in Moose Jaw, eh?
If you want Linux, Ubuntu, and the rest of the free OS's to stay superior and exploit-free, then why on earth would you ever want mainstream acceptance of said OS's? Wouldn't Linux et all going mainstream and replacing Windows/OSX mean that the botnets (and their owners) and scriptkiddies would then change their tactics to exploit whatever's currently dominant in market share?
If I were you, I'd be praying to the FSM for Windows/MS to stay dominant forever, just so that you could continue to use Linux without fear of someone writing script specifically to target YOUR OS's weaknesses. But that's just me
When I read TFA, I saw the part where 47% of Droid apps use third party coding, and 23% of Apple apps also use it. Then I realized, there's no safe place to hide. I like my walled garden, but even that has leaks.
I take it you've had some run-ins with business degree students then?
Are you absolutely sure that it was Paul who wrote Corinthians and Romans? Biblical scholars are pretty sure that Paul only wrote 8 of the numerous tracts ascribed to him. Also, they're pretty sure that Timothy didn't write Timothy. Much of the New Testament was ghost-written - meaning literate scribes wrote under the pseudonyms of their favored apostles to promote their own view, and since literacy was rare, most illiterate believers tended to treat such letters as real.
That undermines your argument. I will concede that it is well known that Paul was virulently anti-gay, but I suspect it was in the manner of a closeted gay man who got off on self-anguish and torment
Actually, the sacred texts didn't reveal three divinities. The whole Trinity is based off a dubious understanding of the Great Charge that Jesus laid upon the disciples. If you look back at the history, nowhere else in the four gospels is the Trinity mentioned. It's a dogma put forth by Paul in his expansion on Christianity, which Augustine expanded on in his arguments with Arius and Pelagius - it was a very Roman way to interpret Christian doctrine.
The trinity itself is the mumbo jumbo you're referring to - and there's quite a schism within Christianity about it. This is why theology is important. Theologians not only understand the texts themselves, they understand the history and the different interpretations behind them.
Jesus was gay, and he raised his old lover back from the dead, according to one of the gospels AND the secret Gospel of St. Thomas. He also had a grudge against fig trees, bankers, and priests. In addition, he may or may not have boinked a harlot, and he was a flagrant trespasser, and a communist. Your point is?
Thank you for the apology you racist douche-bag, I appreciate it. As for the barbarism, ever been to the United Arab Emirates? I have. I wouldn't say they're barbarian by any measure. Decadent would be the word, but not barbaric. Pakistan is its own special flavor of Hell, but you're showing your true ignorance, you coward, when you denigrate all of current Arab/Muslim culture as barbarians. And you are a coward, sir. You will always be a coward, no matter what you say, no matter what you do, you will be known as a coward. You refuse to step out of your own little box to investigate the wider world beyond and encounter viewpoints and cultures different from yours. Coward.
You have a valid point there, to my sorrow. Well put. I'll have to watch out for the fallacy in the future. I do know the distinctions and I know what Islam's supposed to be. But you have me with what reality is. At least grant me this: There are millions of moderate Muslims who do not believe as the fanatics do. They have the same problem with their own fanatics as we do with ours.
With all due respect, you're a fucking idiot. Mohammad was an Arab; that fact alone is why Arabic culture, along with blood feuds and revenge fantasies, permeates the Muslim world.
Instead of debating about what "actual" Islam is, why don't you look at the way Islamic societies the world over behave?
This is what I'm saying we should do, separate Islam itself from the culture its in.
They're a bunch of nutjobs who think it's a good idea to cut off someone's hand for stealing a loaf of bread. They're barbarians and not worth the time of day.
Gee, prejudiced much? Buy into the propaganda? Tell me, is your best friend an Arab or a Muslim? Outright ethnic hatred on your part will be met by mockery on my part, jackass (and I mean that with all due respect)
Every religion is irrational, and all of them should be dismissed as the meanderings of insane minds used by evil minds to have control over weak minds. But don't kid yourself that there's a different Islamic culture out there that's somehow "more pure" than what we see today.
And I would much rather trust a biologist who's been trained in the scientific method to debunk irrational behavior than some moron who thinks the Invisible Sky Wizard likes to watch him masturbate.
There IS a difference. You are right to point out Arab cultural flaws. That's been Islam's problem since the beginning. But you're combining your personal ethnic hatred of the other with propagandistic viewpoints, and a stubborn refusal to recognize or validate the possibility that there might be subtle distinctions you're overlooking. Jackass (don't due respect me, just call me a fucking idiot, you ignorant coward).
Properly trained Theologians could tell you about the following (which I have recapped from a previous post):
Dawkins knows a hell of a lot about evolution, but next to nothing about theology. If he did know anything about theology, he'd focus on how the majority of the new testament was written by ghost writers claiming to be Apostles, or about how all four gospels are irrelevant to each other and were written at different times for different viewpoints (John was written for Roman converts - painting Jesus as the super-Emperor). Or he'd talk about how Paul, the most prolific author in the New Testament, only wrote 8 of the umpteen missives attributed to him (or even that there seem to be two Pauls - one who went to Arabia, and one who didn't). Or he'd talk about how Judas dies two separate ways in the New Testament. Or he'd talk about how there was no Star of Bethlehem, no census that Herod had to take, and no massive attempt to get Jesus's birth to confirm to the prophecies of the Messiah as listed in the Torah. No, Richard Dawkins is an idiot when it comes to Theology. He has every right to attack and debate the existence of God, but he's just as bad as the religious fundamentalists he opposes
Bert, I call bullshit. Dawkins knows a hell of a lot about evolution, but next to nothing about theology. If he did know anything about theology, he'd focus on how the majority of the new testament was written by ghost writers claiming to be Apostles, or about how all four gospels are irrelevant to each other and were written at different times for different viewpoints (John was written for Roman converts - painting Jesus as the super-Emperor). Or he'd talk about how Paul, the most prolific author in the New Testament, only wrote 8 of the umpteen missives attributed to him (or even that there seem to be two Pauls - one who went to Arabia, and one who didn't). Or he'd talk about how Judas dies two separate ways in the New Testament. Or he'd talk about how there was no Star of Bethlehem, no census that Herod had to take, and no massive attempt to get Jesus's birth to confirm to the prophecies of the Messiah as listed in the Torah. No, Richard Dawkins is an idiot when it comes to Theology. He has every right to attack and debate the existence of God, but he's just as bad as the religious fundamentalists he opposes
Yes, let's read the Koran, and then apply to time and place. At the time those sutras were written, Mohammed and his followers were in Medina, fighting against the polytheists of Mecca (who worshipped a whole lot of tribal pagan gods). The Kaaba in Mecca used to be the central temple for all these pagan gods, and each family in Mecca had its own particular god it worshipped, given a particular circumstance or tribe or what have you. The polytheists in the Koran were the residents of Mecca - but you're taking these quotes out of context.
based on the actions of their equivalent of Jack Thompson? Oh way to go there. Let's show the rest of the non-Judeo Christian based world just how merciful and understanding we really are.
Here's a thought. Why don't we read up on what actual Islam is, versus the supremacist Arab culture that permeates and corrupts it. Karen Armstrong did a wonderful job of pointing out what Islam actually is, and how Arab culture with it's tradition of jahilliyeh has since permeated and corrupted it (note to the curious - Wahibist Islam is a fundamentalist version of Islam where the clerics try to reconcile the pre-Mohammed "heroic" cultural mores of Arab tribal culture with Islam itself - which is what Mohammed explicitly fought against).
but wait. It's far easier to learn programming, and read physics textbooks, and read Dawkins/Hitchens, and other men bloviating about the evils of religion, when they don't even have any real expertise in theology to begin with (Dawkins is a BIOLOGIST). And therefore, when one Muslim version of Jack Thompson goes with an attention-getting stunt, we automatically do to the entire muslim world what people who didn't understand gaming did to us gamers - we stereotype and hate. Way to go, there.
Damn it man, I disagree with you much of the time... and then you have to go and write this. Argh! Why can't I just paint you as a one-dimensional inhuman tool and hate my mind's psychological construct of you?
And now for a serious moment, great summary and insight. Thank you. IMHO, in most multi-cultural countries in the world you'd never get those who are firm believers in Worldview #1 to commit because you'd essentially be asking them to destroy themselves for your sake, and vice versa. That's just reality - too many people have invested their entire self concept in the idea of "vessels of purity" to allow for mass access to simulated ultraviolence for the sake of catharsis. Japan can get away with it because they are a monolithic society built upon an ethno-cultural monopoly - they're all 'the same' , and its easier to issue permission to those similar to you than those dissimilar. You couldn't do it in the West though - we're just too pluralistic for it.
I'm going to go outside and stare up at the sky for a while now... and maybe eat a doughnut.
Is paved with the bricks from Utopia.
That's just it, Hargrand. You cannot change human nature. As long as there is individuality and differentiation, there will always be prejudice against that which is different. It's been sixty years and we've still got public officials using racial slurs without care for the media. There is still widespread practice of keeping blacks off of juries in the South through the flimsiest of legal excuses. It's been sixty years since the Civil Rights era and we STILL have people growing up believing that segregation is good and that minorities should be suppressed. A strong central government is needed to overcome this inherent cultural bias and preserve the Union.
The modern libertarian is nothing more than the latest iteration of the utopian. Libertarian principles sound great: each man for himself, responsible for himself, and collective action is good as long as everyone pulls their own weight and acts responsible. This philosophy makes the admirable assumption that everyone is capable of being responsible and able to ignore skin color, age, and gender in the pursuit of treating each other as equal individuals. This is admirable, but not possible. This is why we need a strong central government - because libertarian ideals alone cannot overcome innate cultural/individual preferences and prejudices. The government must enforce an equal playing field, or else you will have a caste system form very quickly.
The debate isn't over. Just two days ago, a South Carolina state senator called Nikki Haley and Obama "ragheads". The debate will never be over, as long as humans continue to have individuality and preferences.
The problem with your lifestyle is that your country/people can only afford it for two generations or so. Even now the EU is having to start paring back on the vacation time, the generous pensions, the social networks, etc, because you can't afford it.
Don't be so quick to dismiss us. While I'll readily admit that we tend to demonize European socialism, we also know that your economy can't keep spending the resources necessary to maintain your lifestyle forever - you're going to have to cut back.