YOU are NOT one of these anti-religious nutbags. Thanks for your reply. I also agree with you 100% that many "fundies" ought to get their facts straight. Many would do well to spend a quite a bit more time reading the Bible, Q'ran, or whatever scripture drives their faith as well as study science. The word science simply means knowledge.
However I do respectfully disagree with you about the way science is taught. I believe that science (especially biology) is taught with a definite bias towards evolution as the way man has come about. In the biology class where I went to school was the poseter of the crawling monkey, semi upright monkey, the more erect monkey, the high standing hairy cave man, and finally the modern human. What the teacher failed to point out is that the pig is more similar in protein, tissue, and organ structure than what is taught to be our nearest related organisms (chimps, gorillas, etc). Do away with the man from monkey poster and simply teach the straight known facts about how DNA switches certain genes on and off, how when certain features are turned on, they can make an organism better adapted for a certain environment.
Evolution is a process of change that allows organisms to adapt to their environment. DNA is remarkable code. Mankind is just beginning to similate such programming with techniques and methods such as neural nets and digital DNA. As remarkable as some of these programs have come to similating natural creatures and changing to adapt to specific situations, the programs are still written by man. Evolution occurs not only in living organisms, but it also occurs in language, geology, religion, etc. When many "fundies" argue against the existance of evolution, they are denying nature itself. What you and I disagree on is not evolution itself, but rather what started the process and who or what designed the process (if the process was designed at all.)
As far as the intelligent design theory goes, why is it so harmful to state that some scientists and most creationalists believe that a certain power (whether a god, alien race, etc) created life on Earth at the very beginning. Although most biologists may disagree, there are some that believe it is mathmatically impossible to created such complex life forms that we have today in the estimated time Earth has existed. They believe that there was some outside influence. Teaching this could be done in a single class period. Doing this is not misrepresenting scientific facts at all.
As far as you resenting Christmas (and Easter) more than I or not can neither be proven one way or another. You and I probably hate Christmas for mostly the same reasons. What you may want to do, if you have not already done so, is study the origin of Christmas and its customs. Christmas and Easter go against all logic and common sense. Many Christians may be shocked to know that neither is found in the Bible (at least until newer translations came out). It also has been a time of great danger to many of whom share the same beliefs as I do.
While I am of Messianic Jewish faith, I do respect the beliefs of other faiths such as Islam, Christianity, Atheism, Hinduism, Buddism, etc. I also do not see the logic in newer translations of different writings that basically teach, "All people who do not believe exactly what this says is going to be tortured by fire for the countless billions of years to come." You are an Atheist because you have looked at information that is available to you and made a decision based on that information. If you are incorrect, it is because you have made your decision based upon incorrect information or the lack of certain information. If I am incorrect, it is because I have based my decision upon incorrect or missing information.
Even though you and I respectfully disagree, we still respect each other's beliefs. I only wish that other people in this forum would do the same whether they believe in a "God," or not. The reason I used the term, "anti-religious nutbag," was t
There are three types of lies: Lies, damned lies, and statistics.
While many people who calculate statistics are honest hardworking people, they quite often fail to see other factors involved when making calculations. Some of these includes how the transient and migratory populations are counted, the ease and availability ofobtaining drugs and liquor, etc. The South with its warm weather makes it easier to grow illicit crops such as marijuana. Also with its close proximity to the Carribean and latin American countries, it has become a conduit for the traffick of illegal drugs. I would tend to factor in such things as the availibility, cost, and advertisement of products to which people become addicted. Other factors include stressors such as economy, etc. In fact I know many, many families who have gottendivorces, and most of them are not members or any Church, Synagogue, Mosque, or other temple or are simply token believers. Inother cases only onespouse was a believer. The families I know in which both parents are believers in their faith, I have seen verylittle divorce. When I talk about believe, I'm not talking about someone who gets their information from a pulpit, but rather someone who spends hours a week reading or studying the Bible, Tanak, or even the Q'ran.
Yes, I agree with you that divorce, alcoholism, and drugaddiction rates are higher in the South where there are more believers. However this can be explained by a number of factors most likely not taken into proper consideration. Culture shck is another factor that should not be taken lightly. Things are very different here in the South compared to what they were even 10 to 20 years ago. Most people here dispite what you may have read orbeen told are not that extremely religous. Have you even though that maybe people in New England are better able to cover uptheirproblems? In densely populated areas, people are able to travel via public transportation, therefore drunks who use such public transportation are not as likely to be stopped for drunk driving. Therefore this may be a factor in DUIrates. In the South, areas tend to be more sparsely populated, therefor people who are drunk, tend to drive while drunk simply because there are fewer options. I only wonder how many of these factors are taken into account, how much these things count in coming up with the statistics, etc.
Another way to look at this is the statistic the Christians tend to vote Republican more than democrat. is this because Republicans tend to vote family values or vote in things Christians want, or is it because the Republican Party spends much more time marketing itself to the Christians? The same thing goes for the Democrats. If the Democratic Party continued to vote the way it currently does now but decided to spend as much time, money, and effort amrketing itself to the Christians, we would in time tend to believe that Christians tended to be democratic. Statistics in many cases can be skewed intentionally or unintentionally to support a certain position. It is done all of the time.
I do agree that clannish congregations, cronyism in governemnt and business is not a good thing. Even though I have had good relations with most Christians, I also once been discriminated against simply because Iam not a Christian. Even counting the time I was discriminated against, I still believe that the U.S. is better as a whole because of Christianity and Bible belief. This country was founded mainly by Christians seeking religous freedom. A Majority of our Founding Fathers were Christian orotherwise believe in the Creator. The Declaration of Independence is evidence of this. Unfortunately, this country now has a vocal group of atheists who are FORCING their beliefs on the people at taxpayer expense. Each year, it seems to get worse and worse. Those who are atheists, you will likely continue to win approval for more and more deviant behavor. History will be a witness against atheists whocontinue to force their doctrine on the population. Sin
"In other words, you want your kids to be just as close-minded as you are. The rest of the society disagrees, because close-mindedness such as that is obviously damaging both to the person, and those around it."
I am afraid that it is YOU that is closed minded, pal. As my post stated, I believe that the theory of evolution should be taught only I do not believe that it should be taught as the ONLY POSSIBLE SOURCE OF LIFE. Being closed minded means that one is afraid of showing different sides of an issue. This seems to charactarize you. Apparently you seem to believe that being open-minded means that I am supposed to accept the one sided teaching that ALL LIFE CAME ABOUT through evolution at the the exclusion of other theories.
Even if, as you say, that the rest of society disagrees with me, that does not mean that they are "open-minded." It simply means that they are as narrow minded as you. I just happen to know many in my area who happen to agree with me.
You call me damaged, yet you know very little about me, my family, or even my religous beliefs. I happen to have a happy and fulfilling life, and so do my children. This includes the ones that my family adopted. You must be so insecure about what you belief that you have to spend time bashing other who just want more than one side shown. Would you like to be a defendent in a court case and for the court to only hear what the prosecution says and put you on total disregard? That is what you are basically doing here. You see, being open-minded means listening to and allowing others to hear other ideas than the ones you support. Apparently, that is not what you support.
Yes bad things have happened throughout history. Many of the things you mentioned (except the lynching of blacks) was very infrequent. However the lynching of Blacks was apposed by many Christians both black and white. The abolition movent was largely made up of Christians. Many on the other side who wanted to hold onto discrimination were Christian as well. The race riot of Birmingham, mongomery, L.A. as well as other places had more to do with politics rather than religion.
Anti-faith nutbags always like to assume that Christians are hate mongering, cave dwelling dimwits with no compassion. I am a non-Christian who happens to live in a predominate Southern Christian community, and I have been treated well by my neigbors. Christian and people of other faiths tend to UPHOLD human dignity rather than destroy it. As far as murders and lynchings go, you can only look towards the atheistic organizations such as Planned Parenthood as well as others who got court rulings passed that have since permitted the deaths of MILLIONS. Even a pro Darwinist organization (National Geographic Society) will show that this is the case. In a recent series, "In the Womb" they show how preborn babies play, fight, and touch their prebord siblings. Yet under court rulings, these babies can be killed with near impunity.
Yes, America had slavery, but many of the people who worked to abolish slavery were Christians or people of other faiths. Why do I stick up for Christians? Because I believe that most of them are getting a bum rap. Even though slavery has been officially banned, it still exists todayin a different form. As our rights have been taken away and the protections of sovereignty been done away, many, many people work for near slave wages. I know many people who once have had plenty but are now up to their ass in debt. Many of these people live paycheck to paycheck and are only a major car repair away from homelessness. As atheism, porn, drugs, etc have been glorified, these things have infected the once Christian community in which I lived. Where people have never had to lock their doors, it is foolish for them not to any more. As far as religous zealotry being responsible for the deaths of million, this is true. However, the recent existance of atheistic governments have been responsible for millions of deaths as well.
As far as Christians hating Blacks, you are right to point out that some denominations actually preached against Blacks being equal. However, many others preached equality. I came to the United States in the early 70's and spent most of my life here living in the South. With few exceptions, people treated us very kindly even though we were non-Christian foreigners. There was still freedom of religon in schools. Although I was uncomfortable during Christmastime, I never felt threatened. It is when people try to force their will on others that the "shit hits the fan." To tell you the truth, I have more to fear from the likes of you than I do from the Christians. When we first move to the South, people came over and helped us get set up. They helped us fix our home and car. If needed, they would have even fed us. All of this was done voluntarily and not because some nutbag had it mandated by law. Unless taught differently by the government, people generally do not hurt those who are different.
Most of my friends are Christian, but I have friends of other faiths as well. These Christians have put up and endured assaults on their faith, moral values and culture by agencies that they are forced to support via their tax dollars. I thought that government was not allowed to get involved with religion one way or another. Schools today are not only non-religious, they also in many cases actually teach against belief in a Supreme Creator. I recently moved to a community where Chrisitanity is still widespread. They still open county commission meetings with prayer and say the Pledge of Allegence. Business is done cordially. I
To tell you the truth, if I had to watch cartel product, I'd prefer "pirated" movies to store bought DVD's simply because I am not forced to watch or skip all of the damned advertisements. I have seen these movies on home made DVD's at other people's homes. I am amazed at their high quality. It should be high time that the movie and music industry stop suing and start listening to their customers. They can start doing this by removing Digital Restrictions Management from their products and stop overcharging. The only reason why these cartels have gotten away with their overcharging for so many years is because they have shut out any competition. Thankfully, those days are over.
With that said, I also want to state that I download video and music from the Internet all of the time. Just about everything that I download however, is not owned or copyrighted by the entertainment cartels. This is not because I have any moral qualms about doing so, rather, it is because most of the stuff produced by the entertainment cartels is pure unadultrated crap. It is a good thing that there are so many people "pirating." I hope that the piracy rate goes even higher until the entertainment cartels finally get the message. When the cartels finally accept the fact that they can no longer overcharge for their product and put unreasonable controls over how their product can be watched, they may regain some of the customers they have lost.
Much of what has been put out by the cartels these days has been little more than glorified reruns. If I want original entertainment, I go to the Internet and such sites as You Tube. The entertainment cartels will most likely never again make the kind of money that they once made now that they have competition, however people will be better off, and new producers will be able to enter the market. Yes, "piracy" is good, and no, it is NOT STEALING.
Here goes more bashing people who believe in a creator. You imply that people who have moral values or believe in "God" want to live in caves and are afraid of thunder or want to force that lifestyle on everyone else. FYI, I believe in a supreme creator and have moral values. It may also surprise you that I also support the teaching of the theory of evolution in school. What I do not support is the fervent teaching of evolution as ONLY explanation of the existence of life. I do not support teaching that there "is no God" in the public schools. If you want to label those who believe in a creator anti-science, then you might as well apply that label to the father of modern physics and calculus, Sir Isaac Newton.
I only say that other points of view (non-sectarian) should be at least mentioned. I know that I will get a lot of replies from all of the anti-religious nutbags out there, but I do have a valid point. Science have brought us a lot of good things, but it has also brought us a lot of bad things as well.
Scientific progress have brought us motor vehicles. These allow us to get around rapidly and speed the delivery of goods and services. Science has also brought us better medicines, which are used in the treatment of disease. Science have also brought us computers which help us communicate and become much more productive. Science has also brought us new forms of energy as well, making lives easier and longer. Science has brought about gene splicing, pesticides, and farming techniques which increase food supply.
Some of the bad things science has brought us are motor vehicles because they bring about a great number of deaths due to accidents, and their exhaust gasses are a big contributor to global warming (if scientists are correct). Science has also brought about drugs which have as much side effects as the diseases that they are supposed to treat as well as bringing about the creation of super-bacteria. Science has also brought about computers which are used to surveil, subjugate and control entire populations as well as used to spread pornography, fill our landfills with toxic, technological waste. Science has also brought us new forms of energy many of which contribute to global warming, and threaten the destruction of life as we know it via nuclear war. Science has brought forth the creation of gene splicing, pesticides, and farming techniques that threaten the environment and has increased the amount of desert area and has been responsible for the destruction of critical wildlife and wildlife habitat. Knowlege is dangerous without wisdom. Wisdom is taught in books such as the Bible.
Science should be taught in school but should not be taught in a way that attempts to destroy children's belief in a creator. Science can neither prove or disprove the existence of a Creator. However, the way science is being taught in public schools today essentially teaches that there is no Creator. I resent this just as much as I do with Christmas being thrust upon my kids. Many anti-religious nutbags do will not even agree with a disclaimer put in biology books stating that evolution is just a theory.
I and many Christians, Jews, and people of other faiths are sick and tired of having beliefs like yours thrust upon our children. Even worse is the fact that we are expected to pay for the efforts of people like you to undermine the values taught at home. I lived in a country where atheism and Darwinism was forced upon both children and adults while belief in a Supreme Creator was forbidden. That country was East Germany. I now live in the United States. When the population of the United States was more "God fearing," it was a superb place to live. Now that people like you seem to want to take any mention of "God" out of public life, this country is become more and more of a police state like the former East Germany. No, I am not anti-science because I believe that we should live by Biblical values any more than Issac Newton was for believing the same.
One can come up with all kinds of trick to filter spam, however, the problem still remains. Spam will continue as long as it is profitable. There are too many "Puppies in a barrel" for a spammer to choose. After many, many years of prodding, many people have finally gotten antivirus program, yet they neglect to download or purchase virus database updates. Many people spend time and effort to ensure that their computers are malware free, yet their router retains the default username and admin password. Spammers have programs that allow people to try to log in to these routers and use their embedded telnet commands to send spam without the knowledge of the computer owner or any program residing on their computer. The point is that the Internet can be compared more to "swiss cheese" rather than the "series of tubes" that the politicians use. There are many, many points of attack for spammers to use.
Filtering spam is much akin to a person who holds hands in front of his or her face while a bully is pummeling him or her. The person is likely to fend off blows from the bully, but some of the blows will get through. Once a spam is sent, even if properly filtered, the damage has already been done. Until very recently, all I had in my area was dialup. My program successfully filtered about 99% of the spam received, however I still had to wait about 30 minutes before I was able to view my legitimate mail. I lost 30 minutes of time that I could have been working on a client's problem, while the spammer lost nothing. I also lost a client because a program that I previous used labeled his email he sent me as spam. Again the spammer who spammed me lost nothing. Spammers are like bullies, they will not stop until people HIT BACK!
It is only when spammers have to deal with the large amount of bandwith used, the processing power to handle complaints, and the loss of sales that result from efforts to filter complaints will spam be much less profitable. The idea is to punch back and deter the bully. Sending complaints to the spammers' websites get them at their weak point - the place where they make contact with potential buyers. Several program have attempted to hit back, and 2 of them were very successful in doing so. However, like spammers, these programs had a weak point, and that point was the fact that they needed a central server in order to instruct each individual program. Now things are different. There are several projects currently underway to trade complaint instruction files via peer to peer networks. What this means is that there is no central server which spammers can attack in order to silence complaints to their websites. One such project is called SpammerSkewer, and it is an open source GPL program that is in alpha. The program can be found at http://spammerskewer.sourceforge.net/.
It is also important to note that these new programs are not distributed denial of service programs. As for SpammerSkewer, it only receives instructions on how to complain. It does not initiate complaints. Only a user can initiate a complaint by either bringing up the complaint interface or by dragging an email into SpammerSkewer's spam directory. It is the Spammer who determines how many complaints are submitted to their websites. SpammerSkewer's author even provides a way for spammers to "opt out" from receiving complaints if they insert a header clearly labeling their email as spam. Another way they can opt out is by not sending spam in the first place. In a distributed denial of service attack, a person other than the one who controls a victim's website is the one that controls how many visits a site receives. With SpammerSkewer, it is the Spammer who sends out the spam that determines how many visits a site advertised via spam gets. The only sites that are put in SPammerSkewer's instruction files are those well known to be advertised via spam. Instruction files are also cryptographically signed in order to prevent tampering. I
Below is a not that was sent home with a child of ours. This child spoke proper English before starting school, and now, we have to constantly have to correct his grammar. The note comes from a person with a four year college degree.
Pre-K Parents,
This is just a reminder that students need to have break everyday! Break includes a snack and a drink. I have a lot of students that have not been sending break, and we have nothing to give them, if they don't have break. Please send break daily!
This note is posted per batum. I am only a high school graduate, yet I know how to use proper grammar. More tax money is spent per student in the U.S. than in many other countries which have better educational systems. I wish that we could get tax breaks for homeschooling our children. Just remember that ignorant people are easier to control.
I have a big problem with filtering. I believe too that it is wrong. It is wrong because it costs the victim ISP's and users while costing spammers very little. Most filters work pretty well at getting rid of spam. However, legitimate messages can also be filtered by spam filters. Yes, I know that most filters route messages to spam folders. In doing so, people still have to wade through such spam folders to check for legitimate messages. This wading through spam takes time to do, and that time costs spam victims. Filtering spam is much like putting one's hand in front of his face to fend off the punches thrown by a schoolyard bully. The best way in dealing with spammers and schoolyard bullies is for a number of people to HIT BACK.
I remember when Blue Security had their Blue Frog program going. My spam was decreased significantly. The problem with Blue Security and the likes is the fact that like most spammers, they depended upon a central server. When spammers start feeling the heat caused by such programs as Blue Frog, they take out the Internet server(s) on which spam complaint programs depend. Now there will be a new program that allows spam recipients to fight back. This new program will operate on instruction files that are updated via a peer to peer network. These instruction files will be cryptographically signed so that there is little chance that the instruction programs will be tampered with. I hope to release this GPL licenced program within a couple of days. Look for SpammerSkewer soon.
How can you be sure or can you prove that the content was not ripped from a bought CD or DVD?
If the computer is connected to a wireless router, how can you prove or are you sure that the music wasn't put on the drive or was downloaded from an unauthorized leecher.
How do you know or can you prove that the file title listed is the same song that is allegedly owned by the RIAA?
Can you prove ownership of the content on the hard drive is owned by you? Do you have a certificate or document showing that you legitimately purchased the copyright?
Exactly where and to whom was the content actually sent? Can you provide any log file, witness statement, or other proof that this transfer actually took place? Please provide dates and times.
Exactly from where and whom was the content received? Can you provide any log file, witness statement, or other proof that this transfer actually took place? Please provide dates and times.
Can you prove that any log files provided was not doctored or faked?
Herein comes the joy of hacking (no not breaking into computers or that kind of thing). It you like what a coll thing does, read about it. If you can, buy it. Get on the net and look up books that can be downloaded (Hint: don't be afraid of using Bittorrent, Azeurus, or the like and Google). I'm learning about neural networks. It's slow and frustrating, but it is also very rewarding. I have worked as a software engineer for a small company, yet I have no degree or formal education in Computer Science. All of my education has been learn by doing, reading, etc. I really have no use for a college degree except that it is (unfortunately) today's work permit.
"Furthermore, in all the years not one single scientific discovery has ever came about by a direct or inspired reading of the bible. Not one."
When the Bible talks about the ant, it refers to the ant as "her" and "she." That could be due to article translation or previous knowlege. The fathers of modern archaeology were interested in searching for places mentioned in the Bible. National Geographic channel did a show on this very thing. However, for the sake of debate, let's say that your assertion is true. Is this "lack of scientific progress a bad thing? Science led to the invention of the automobile. Isn't this the very thing that many scientists blame global warming on? What about the someone with the big idea of making a country the premier honey exporter? This is how the Africanized ("killer") bee has been unleashed. What about all of the genetically modified plants with the terminator gene? Some of these plants are cross polinating with non genetically modified species. What will be the consequences of this. Many inventions of science can be used to destroy life as we know it on this planet (i.e.) humankind. What good is this? Yes science has caused the invention of many things such as this computer I'm typing on, but can one actually argue that human kind is much better off because of science? It was not until about 200 years ago that science has really taken hold. Now that it has, man has the capability of destrying itself. Maybe, just maybe, we could use a little bit more wisdom and a lot less knowlege (BTW the scriptures warned about this time).
No just misinformed and you should work on enlarging your view.
The only evidence you link to was that Sodom was found. How is this evidence for the Bible? Are there any woman shaped pillars of salt near by? Is there a big smoking crater?
The presence of sulpher ballls (brimstone) has not been explained any other way. Within this pile of ashes are the traces of buildings that once were. There is much physical evidence of other events in the Bible as well. However, it is only a wast of time an energy to present it here.
How about how they discovered the city of Troy from the Illiad? Is Troy evidence that the Gods the ancient Greeks worshiped existed?
Troy was likely inhabited by descendants of the Israelite tribe of Dan. I could go into much detail about all of this but it would be fruitless. Many of the gods of Greek mythology are taken from Biblical events. Ever wonder why Greek Mythology and some events in the Bible are very similar?
If there was a big flood is there any evidence that God did it? Is there any evidence that it truly did kill all land animals and birds that weren't on the Ark? (Mitochondrial DNA clocks, genetic diversity, and common sense, suggest otherwise)
Like I said before (read the post), Current translation states that the Flood covered the entire earth (as in planet). The original Hebrew word is Eretz which means land. It could just as easily been translated that the flood covered the entire land (where Noach lived).
You say that the first Genesis was the creation of hunter gatherers, and the "second Genesis" was the creation of agriculture. This contradicts God's curse against Cain, IIRC God said something to the effect of "The land will yield nothing for you, you will be a wanderer in the land" to which Cain replied to the effect of "No, anything but that, if I become a wanderer men will kill me". And didn't Cain's feeble offering to God that resulted in him murdering his brother contain sheep and other farm produce?
I'm talking about the first and second chapers (no, not books) of Genesis. God cursed Cain by keeping the land from yeilding (Cain was from the agricultural people fathered by Adam). Cain's offereing DID NOT contain sheep. It did however include his produce. Actually, your statement show exactly how little you know about the Bible. Yes Cain was a farmer, he came directly from Adam (the father of the agriculteral people). His wife most likely came from other people (not descended from Adam).
No-one doubts that the Bible isn't completely fiction, just like no-one says that the Illiad isn't completely fiction, but that doesn't mean the whole thing is non-fiction. There is simply no way you can take the Bible literally without "interpreting" it in such a way that it loses all meaning.
I agree with you in this statement. Hebrew is very much a metaphoric language. (trees clapping hands - we all know that trees do not have hands). In order to understand the Bible, one must also look at the Hebrew culture, its language, and the idioms of the language in that day. One must also look at how things can be mis-translated as the Bible was translated from one language to another. I have studied all of these things, and have taken them into account.
"You see, science is very "confortable" as it only tells what people already know giving a different explaniation." Which answer leads to more thinking? "The sky is blue because God thinks blue is pretty" "The sky is blue because the water vapor in the atmosphere refracts incident sunlight in such a way that we see more blue wavelengths than other wavelengths." Thinking is good. "
You seem to believe that only people who do not believe in a God to be thinkers, man you are soooo wrong.
I respect laws that are lawful. Laws that are lawful fall in the catagory that they are beneficial to the entire population of the nation. Just because a governmental or court body legislates something, it does not mean that something is right or good. By saying that you should respect and obey every law that a your government makes means that you are making the governmeent your god or highest authority. For an example, the Nurenberg laws were legislated by a goivernment, but that did not make them right or for the benefit of the people.
The highest (manmade) law of the land in my nation is the Constitution. Any law that contradicts the Constitution is in fact no law at all. Yes, I respect laws that are for the good of the people. For example, I do not steal, I do not murder, I do not rape, I do not drive drunk, and I obey many other laws as well. In fact, I even try to respect and obey copyrights, unless said copyrights are over 7 years old. I want the creator of a work to benefit from his or her discovery or invention so that the sciences and arts are promoted.
My respect for the law ends when the law is a product of corrupt corporations, corrupt legislators, and other corrupt public offical. Our nation's founding fatheres intended for the laws of the land to work for the benefit of the people. In fact, they also stated that when a government no longer works for the benefit of the people, then it is the DUTY of the people to REPLACE the government. I believe that by not buying corporate product, one depletes the the resources that are available to bribe officials (I mean giving political action campaign contributions, etc). I as well as millions of other believe that governments no longer serve the people. As such, these governemtns need replacing. Since I am not a man of violence, I believe that one must use other means of achieving this end. One of these means is by shutting out the the (multinational, multibillion-dollar) corporations and restoring the free market. The average working person does not have the money necessary to get laws passed that benefit the people. The only voice we have in our government is how we spend our money.
"For example, if Adam & Eve were the only parents why are people so different?"
I believe that they were not the only parents. It looks like to me that the creation events of the first chapter of Genesis are a separate event from the creation spoken out in the second chapter. If, as I believe, this is true, it would very well explained how Cain could have met his wife. The humans from the first chapters of Genisis were the hunter-gatherers while the creation of the man in the second chapter was hte beginning of agriculture.
"How did all the animals fit on Noah's Ark? If there were just 2 of the animals (dogs for instance) why are they so different now?" The actual Hebrew word that is translated to Earth is eretz. Eretz means land or soil. Was it the entire planet that was flooded, or was it the entire land (in that area)? Many cultures totally unrelated to Judeaism and Christianity have records of the Flood. It is obvious that the Flood was a major world event, and to me it looks like the flood covered the entire land (in that area).
"What about humans on the Ark, were they forced to inbreed for a second time to populate?" Maybe.
"Also, we may not have the ability to actually observe Macro Evolution, but Micro Evolution has been evident for some time now. We have documented proof that Americans have gotten taller for instance." Americans have gotten taller, and when conditions are right, Americans can become shorter as well. Evolution, natural selection, or whatever you want to call it is a mechanical process, nothing more. There are switches with this program that allow certain features to be turned on and off as conditions warrrant. Software crackers also manipulate these switches to affect the behaviour of a program (by switching of registration screens, etc). Computer scientists are in some cases designing programs so that these types of switches can be easily activated and deactivated by other processes in order to try to cause programs to self improve.
The point is that I have seen physical evidence, historical evidence, and linguistic evidence, and archealogical evidence of Biblical truth as well as fossil evidence of the mechanical process of evolution. Much of both evidence goes against what many mainstream Christian BELIEVE, but it does not go against what the original (Biblical) scriptures ACTUALLY SAY. Am I a Christian? no, I am not. I am a Messianic Jew. I also resent the anti-creator bias that is displayed in slashdot as well as many (not all) scientific circles.
Just as there is physucal evidence of the mechanical process of evolution, there is also physical evidence of Biblical authenticity. Look at http://www.bibleplus.org/discoveries/sodomfound.ht m Long before scientists stated (and proved) that the heavens are expanding, the Bible has stated this fact (Job 9:8, Isaiah 40:22, 42:5, as well as many others). I could go on and on about many pieces of evidence, however this evidence is not really hidden. One can find references to most of it online. Yes, I fully expect that this post will be modded down and labelled as flaim bait (typical). However I post such information so that people will get to see a broader view and diverse opinions.
"If someone sees this shopowner's product and that someone decides to make his or her own, its not stealing the physical property, but it IS stealing the intellectual property."
Nope. It is however, infringment on the owner's monopoly. I have invented several things for my use around the home. One of these things was a jewelry clasp opener and closer that I created 15 years ago. My mom loved it, and it did the job wonderfully. Now, this same device is found on QVC, HSN, and most likely in many stores. If I were to start selling my product, would you call me a thief for "stealing their ideas?" If you don't, the court system will if I am sued for doing this. I invented this thing, yet I would have no case in court (or the funds to pursue such a case if I did). You see, I happen to agree with you in the fact that if you violate someone's monopoly in such regards that you will be called a "thief." In order to change the law to something that is more reasonable, one must quit allowing the multinationals to define the language used, how the battle is fought, or otherwise set the rules. It is those with the gold that make the rules. It is time that we stop letting them do so.
The current copyright and patent system favors multinational billionair companies over the original purpose of promoting useful arts and sciences. The system actually stifles innovation rather than encourages it. When I worked for a large company's IT department, I wrote several programs on my own that speeded up my work tremendously. Was I rewarded for my work? No I was not! I was told to quit using the programs I written because of possible legal concernes. The programs I wrote were not copycat programs or ideas taken from a website, they were not viruses or peer to peer filesharing programs. They were programs that parsed company-generated log files and refoprmatted them into a fopr that management could use. They were the product of my own mind and imagination. Has someone else patented a similar procedure I use or have they copyrighted a similar program? I don't know. All I know is that I had a very time-consuming task, and I wrote a small program that would allow me to complete that task in a few seconds rather than 45 minutes. Unfortunately, legal concernes over "intellectual property" stifled my innovative solution, and I was forced to carry out the task the hard and time consuming way.
Like the moonshiners and home producers of alcohol that forced the U.S. government to do away with prohibition, filesharing and other forms of copyright infringement will force governments to enact a more reasonable copyright and patent system. When that happens, we will see a huge leap in technical progress and the standard of living. I absolutely agree with the industry when it says that copyright infringement deprives them of sales. The question is really what percentage of sales is affected. However, copyright infringment (not stealing) is a form of civil disobedience that I encourage. I encourage it because the media and software cartel has effectively purchased legislation that gives it a stranglehold on the cultures and functioning of many nations. The current copyright and patent system is broken and nees to be fixed. It will not be fixed if its rules are obeyed by the masses simply because it is not in the immediate financial interests of those who hold the money and power. I will be fixed when people forces governments to fix it. As far as the law or government is concerned, I respect them ONLY when they are in the interests or protects the people. When the l;aw or government no longer speaks for the people, then it is time to change such laws or governemnts.
"A person who buys a plant from a nursery and then makes a cutting of the plant for his friend didn't steal the plant from the nursery - but, you are considered to be 'depriving of potential profit' - which, for a nursery, isn't illegal. It is, for software and software companies."
Shoplifting deprives the store owner of bhis product. However, if someone sees this shopowner's product and that someone decides to make his or her own, that is not stealing. A person who buys a plant from a nursery then makes and roots a cutting of this plant for a friend IS NOT STEALING from the nursery. Making an illegal copy of a piece of software IS NOT STEALING. It is copyright infringement or violation of the copyright owner's monopoly. The owner of the original still has his or her copy.
Could it be the advertisers' fault. I definitely think so!!! Most ads are incredibly intrusive, offensive, annoying, in-your-face, or advertise products of dubious value. Others such as the pop-ups on TBS, TNT, etc pop-up on the bottom of the screen and distract from the content. Others are so loud that they can be heard by the neighbors. Many of these same problems also occur on the Net.
On the web, if an ad banner drops down in front of the content, takes too long to load, is annoyingly flashy, or otherwise in-your-face, I start changing my browser settings to restrict the website scripting as much as possible without affecting content. I am FED UP with all of the in your face tactics used to push uneeded crap. In fact, if I find an ad particularly annoying, I will NOT PURCHASE the product.
I remember an Indian poster telling American IT workers to get a real education so that they can compete when it was the Americans being outsourced. Now it is Indian workers complaining about the same thing. In my response to the Indian poster, I let him know that smarts or willingness to work had nothing to do with their jobs being outsourced. Outsourcing has everything to do with big companies cutting the throats of workers just so that they can generate a few more cents per share in dividends for their stockholders.
When I worked at Sykes Enterprises, I remember the Marianna, Florida employees being told that a new center in the Phillipeans was just a "backup center." To add insult to injury, some team managers from the Marianna facility was sent to the new center to train their future replacements. Within a short period of time after the corporate welfare (excuse me, I meant incentives) ran out, Sykes ran to the Phillipeans. Fortunately for me, I saw what was coming beforehand and managed to get out and was able to find a decent job as a programmer. Unfortunately for most of the others, they were stuck with even lower paying "service" jobs. Ethical behaviour within big corporations is an oxymoron for the most part.
Anybody with average intelligence and an interest in a particular occupation can be taught or trained outside of a school. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible for a prospective employee to get an employer to acknowlege such an education. The only reason that I got the programming job listed above was because the job was at a small business whose owner homeschooled his children. His business was the only one who would even take a glance at my portfolio or would even allow me to show what I could do. It is unfortunate that people must go 10's of thousand of dollars into debt just for a license (college degree) to work. As a matter of fact, when I left my programming job, I had to train my replacement (college educated) so that he could perform my duties.
The point is that people everywhere are smart (and in some cases, just plain stupid) and can learn. The problem with this so called "free trade" system is that it allows big companies to move to countries where the cheap labor plentiful, but it does not allow the labor to move to where decent jobs are plentiful. I have little pity for most big multinational companies when they complain that their patents are being improperly used or when their products are being counterfeited. In fact this counterfeiting and patent infringement make me happy, simply because at the low wages being paid today, it means that people can actually have a chance to partake in the wealth they generate.
Note that I said natural selection (not evolution as the origin of species) is a fact. It is demonstrated many. many times that creatures that are well suited towards an environment tend to produce offspring that is better suited for the same environemnt. That is what I mean by natural selection.
Unfortunately, in most schools, evolution (even as the origin of species) is taught and treated as if it is a fact rather than a theory. Courts have even blocked a disclaimer label being put in textbooks that state that evolution is a theory. In fact evolution as the origin of life is being taught with religious zeal in our public schools.
Note that I said natural selection is a fact - not natural selection as the origin of life. It is a proven fact that certain animals in each species have certain qualities that make it able to thrive or breed better in its envoronment. Combinations of certain genes as well as learned behaviours can be passed from parent to offspring.
"there is equal amount of evidence for other possibilities regarding the origin of life on this planet.
What evidence and for what other possibilities?"
Yes there is an equal amount of evidence demonstrating other possibilities. There is also little scientific evidence that points to evolution as the source off all life on this planet. Many cultures have reords of the great flood and other biblical events. There is physical evidence of other biblical events such as the sulfer balls from the site where Sodom and Gommorrah was beleived to have existed. As far as other possibilities are concerned, these possibilities include a supreme being creating life on this planet or life from beyond this planet bringing life here.
I can go on and on with various forms of evidence, but most here have made up their minds about what they want to believe. I also have better things to do than spend my arguing back and forth with people who are stuck on one ideology. Yes, I was once an atheist, howeveronce I was open minded enough to look at evindence and records from many different sources and have changed my mind. By the way, I do have a college education in the sciences and many other scientists also believe in a Supreme being. One such Scientists is the father of modern calculus. His name is Isaac Newton.
Does this mean that I agree with what the fundamentalist Christians believe? No It doesn't. In fact, my beliefs are in many ways very different from what most people call Christian. In fact, there is a huge difference between what the original biblical texts say and what most Christians THINK they say. Knowlege of ancient customs and idioms is essential in understanding what the Scriptures say. I do not approach any subject with blind faith. I base my belifs on what I have studied in the past.
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YOU are NOT one of these anti-religious nutbags. Thanks for your reply. I also agree with you 100% that many "fundies" ought to get their facts straight. Many would do well to spend a quite a bit more time reading the Bible, Q'ran, or whatever scripture drives their faith as well as study science. The word science simply means knowledge.
However I do respectfully disagree with you about the way science is taught. I believe that science (especially biology) is taught with a definite bias towards evolution as the way man has come about. In the biology class where I went to school was the poseter of the crawling monkey, semi upright monkey, the more erect monkey, the high standing hairy cave man, and finally the modern human. What the teacher failed to point out is that the pig is more similar in protein, tissue, and organ structure than what is taught to be our nearest related organisms (chimps, gorillas, etc). Do away with the man from monkey poster and simply teach the straight known facts about how DNA switches certain genes on and off, how when certain features are turned on, they can make an organism better adapted for a certain environment.
Evolution is a process of change that allows organisms to adapt to their environment. DNA is remarkable code. Mankind is just beginning to similate such programming with techniques and methods such as neural nets and digital DNA. As remarkable as some of these programs have come to similating natural creatures and changing to adapt to specific situations, the programs are still written by man. Evolution occurs not only in living organisms, but it also occurs in language, geology, religion, etc. When many "fundies" argue against the existance of evolution, they are denying nature itself. What you and I disagree on is not evolution itself, but rather what started the process and who or what designed the process (if the process was designed at all.)
As far as the intelligent design theory goes, why is it so harmful to state that some scientists and most creationalists believe that a certain power (whether a god, alien race, etc) created life on Earth at the very beginning. Although most biologists may disagree, there are some that believe it is mathmatically impossible to created such complex life forms that we have today in the estimated time Earth has existed. They believe that there was some outside influence. Teaching this could be done in a single class period. Doing this is not misrepresenting scientific facts at all.
As far as you resenting Christmas (and Easter) more than I or not can neither be proven one way or another. You and I probably hate Christmas for mostly the same reasons. What you may want to do, if you have not already done so, is study the origin of Christmas and its customs. Christmas and Easter go against all logic and common sense. Many Christians may be shocked to know that neither is found in the Bible (at least until newer translations came out). It also has been a time of great danger to many of whom share the same beliefs as I do.
While I am of Messianic Jewish faith, I do respect the beliefs of other faiths such as Islam, Christianity, Atheism, Hinduism, Buddism, etc. I also do not see the logic in newer translations of different writings that basically teach, "All people who do not believe exactly what this says is going to be tortured by fire for the countless billions of years to come." You are an Atheist because you have looked at information that is available to you and made a decision based on that information. If you are incorrect, it is because you have made your decision based upon incorrect information or the lack of certain information. If I am incorrect, it is because I have based my decision upon incorrect or missing information.
Even though you and I respectfully disagree, we still respect each other's beliefs. I only wish that other people in this forum would do the same whether they believe in a "God," or not. The reason I used the term, "anti-religious nutbag," was t
There are three types of lies: Lies, damned lies, and statistics.
While many people who calculate statistics are honest hardworking people, they quite often fail to see other factors involved when making calculations. Some of these includes how the transient and migratory populations are counted, the ease and availability ofobtaining drugs and liquor, etc. The South with its warm weather makes it easier to grow illicit crops such as marijuana. Also with its close proximity to the Carribean and latin American countries, it has become a conduit for the traffick of illegal drugs. I would tend to factor in such things as the availibility, cost, and advertisement of products to which people become addicted. Other factors include stressors such as economy, etc. In fact I know many, many families who have gottendivorces, and most of them are not members or any Church, Synagogue, Mosque, or other temple or are simply token believers. Inother cases only onespouse was a believer. The families I know in which both parents are believers in their faith, I have seen verylittle divorce. When I talk about believe, I'm not talking about someone who gets their information from a pulpit, but rather someone who spends hours a week reading or studying the Bible, Tanak, or even the Q'ran.
Yes, I agree with you that divorce, alcoholism, and drugaddiction rates are higher in the South where there are more believers. However this can be explained by a number of factors most likely not taken into proper consideration. Culture shck is another factor that should not be taken lightly. Things are very different here in the South compared to what they were even 10 to 20 years ago. Most people here dispite what you may have read orbeen told are not that extremely religous. Have you even though that maybe people in New England are better able to cover uptheirproblems? In densely populated areas, people are able to travel via public transportation, therefore drunks who use such public transportation are not as likely to be stopped for drunk driving. Therefore this may be a factor in DUIrates. In the South, areas tend to be more sparsely populated, therefor people who are drunk, tend to drive while drunk simply because there are fewer options. I only wonder how many of these factors are taken into account, how much these things count in coming up with the statistics, etc.
Another way to look at this is the statistic the Christians tend to vote Republican more than democrat. is this because Republicans tend to vote family values or vote in things Christians want, or is it because the Republican Party spends much more time marketing itself to the Christians? The same thing goes for the Democrats. If the Democratic Party continued to vote the way it currently does now but decided to spend as much time, money, and effort amrketing itself to the Christians, we would in time tend to believe that Christians tended to be democratic. Statistics in many cases can be skewed intentionally or unintentionally to support a certain position. It is done all of the time.
I do agree that clannish congregations, cronyism in governemnt and business is not a good thing. Even though I have had good relations with most Christians, I also once been discriminated against simply because Iam not a Christian. Even counting the time I was discriminated against, I still believe that the U.S. is better as a whole because of Christianity and Bible belief. This country was founded mainly by Christians seeking religous freedom. A Majority of our Founding Fathers were Christian orotherwise believe in the Creator. The Declaration of Independence is evidence of this. Unfortunately, this country now has a vocal group of atheists who are FORCING their beliefs on the people at taxpayer expense. Each year, it seems to get worse and worse. Those who are atheists, you will likely continue to win approval for more and more deviant behavor. History will be a witness against atheists whocontinue to force their doctrine on the population. Sin
"In other words, you want your kids to be just as close-minded as you are. The rest of the society disagrees, because close-mindedness such as that is obviously damaging both to the person, and those around it."
I am afraid that it is YOU that is closed minded, pal. As my post stated, I believe that the theory of evolution should be taught only I do not believe that it should be taught as the ONLY POSSIBLE SOURCE OF LIFE. Being closed minded means that one is afraid of showing different sides of an issue. This seems to charactarize you. Apparently you seem to believe that being open-minded means that I am supposed to accept the one sided teaching that ALL LIFE CAME ABOUT through evolution at the the exclusion of other theories.
Even if, as you say, that the rest of society disagrees with me, that does not mean that they are "open-minded." It simply means that they are as narrow minded as you. I just happen to know many in my area who happen to agree with me.
You call me damaged, yet you know very little about me, my family, or even my religous beliefs. I happen to have a happy and fulfilling life, and so do my children. This includes the ones that my family adopted. You must be so insecure about what you belief that you have to spend time bashing other who just want more than one side shown. Would you like to be a defendent in a court case and for the court to only hear what the prosecution says and put you on total disregard? That is what you are basically doing here. You see, being open-minded means listening to and allowing others to hear other ideas than the ones you support. Apparently, that is not what you support.
Where do you get your information?
Yes bad things have happened throughout history. Many of the things you mentioned (except the lynching of blacks) was very infrequent. However the lynching of Blacks was apposed by many Christians both black and white. The abolition movent was largely made up of Christians. Many on the other side who wanted to hold onto discrimination were Christian as well. The race riot of Birmingham, mongomery, L.A. as well as other places had more to do with politics rather than religion.
Anti-faith nutbags always like to assume that Christians are hate mongering, cave dwelling dimwits with no compassion. I am a non-Christian who happens to live in a predominate Southern Christian community, and I have been treated well by my neigbors. Christian and people of other faiths tend to UPHOLD human dignity rather than destroy it. As far as murders and lynchings go, you can only look towards the atheistic organizations such as Planned Parenthood as well as others who got court rulings passed that have since permitted the deaths of MILLIONS. Even a pro Darwinist organization (National Geographic Society) will show that this is the case. In a recent series, "In the Womb" they show how preborn babies play, fight, and touch their prebord siblings. Yet under court rulings, these babies can be killed with near impunity.
Yes, America had slavery, but many of the people who worked to abolish slavery were Christians or people of other faiths. Why do I stick up for Christians? Because I believe that most of them are getting a bum rap. Even though slavery has been officially banned, it still exists todayin a different form. As our rights have been taken away and the protections of sovereignty been done away, many, many people work for near slave wages. I know many people who once have had plenty but are now up to their ass in debt. Many of these people live paycheck to paycheck and are only a major car repair away from homelessness. As atheism, porn, drugs, etc have been glorified, these things have infected the once Christian community in which I lived. Where people have never had to lock their doors, it is foolish for them not to any more. As far as religous zealotry being responsible for the deaths of million, this is true. However, the recent existance of atheistic governments have been responsible for millions of deaths as well.
As far as Christians hating Blacks, you are right to point out that some denominations actually preached against Blacks being equal. However, many others preached equality. I came to the United States in the early 70's and spent most of my life here living in the South. With few exceptions, people treated us very kindly even though we were non-Christian foreigners. There was still freedom of religon in schools. Although I was uncomfortable during Christmastime, I never felt threatened. It is when people try to force their will on others that the "shit hits the fan." To tell you the truth, I have more to fear from the likes of you than I do from the Christians. When we first move to the South, people came over and helped us get set up. They helped us fix our home and car. If needed, they would have even fed us. All of this was done voluntarily and not because some nutbag had it mandated by law. Unless taught differently by the government, people generally do not hurt those who are different.
Most of my friends are Christian, but I have friends of other faiths as well. These Christians have put up and endured assaults on their faith, moral values and culture by agencies that they are forced to support via their tax dollars. I thought that government was not allowed to get involved with religion one way or another. Schools today are not only non-religious, they also in many cases actually teach against belief in a Supreme Creator. I recently moved to a community where Chrisitanity is still widespread. They still open county commission meetings with prayer and say the Pledge of Allegence. Business is done cordially. I
To tell you the truth, if I had to watch cartel product, I'd prefer "pirated" movies to store bought DVD's simply because I am not forced to watch or skip all of the damned advertisements. I have seen these movies on home made DVD's at other people's homes. I am amazed at their high quality. It should be high time that the movie and music industry stop suing and start listening to their customers. They can start doing this by removing Digital Restrictions Management from their products and stop overcharging. The only reason why these cartels have gotten away with their overcharging for so many years is because they have shut out any competition. Thankfully, those days are over.
With that said, I also want to state that I download video and music from the Internet all of the time. Just about everything that I download however, is not owned or copyrighted by the entertainment cartels. This is not because I have any moral qualms about doing so, rather, it is because most of the stuff produced by the entertainment cartels is pure unadultrated crap. It is a good thing that there are so many people "pirating." I hope that the piracy rate goes even higher until the entertainment cartels finally get the message. When the cartels finally accept the fact that they can no longer overcharge for their product and put unreasonable controls over how their product can be watched, they may regain some of the customers they have lost.
Much of what has been put out by the cartels these days has been little more than glorified reruns. If I want original entertainment, I go to the Internet and such sites as You Tube. The entertainment cartels will most likely never again make the kind of money that they once made now that they have competition, however people will be better off, and new producers will be able to enter the market. Yes, "piracy" is good, and no, it is NOT STEALING.
Here goes more bashing people who believe in a creator. You imply that people who have moral values or believe in "God" want to live in caves and are afraid of thunder or want to force that lifestyle on everyone else. FYI, I believe in a supreme creator and have moral values. It may also surprise you that I also support the teaching of the theory of evolution in school. What I do not support is the fervent teaching of evolution as ONLY explanation of the existence of life. I do not support teaching that there "is no God" in the public schools. If you want to label those who believe in a creator anti-science, then you might as well apply that label to the father of modern physics and calculus, Sir Isaac Newton.
I only say that other points of view (non-sectarian) should be at least mentioned. I know that I will get a lot of replies from all of the anti-religious nutbags out there, but I do have a valid point. Science have brought us a lot of good things, but it has also brought us a lot of bad things as well.
Scientific progress have brought us motor vehicles. These allow us to get around rapidly and speed the delivery of goods and services. Science has also brought us better medicines, which are used in the treatment of disease. Science have also brought us computers which help us communicate and become much more productive. Science has also brought us new forms of energy as well, making lives easier and longer. Science has brought about gene splicing, pesticides, and farming techniques which increase food supply.
Some of the bad things science has brought us are motor vehicles because they bring about a great number of deaths due to accidents, and their exhaust gasses are a big contributor to global warming (if scientists are correct). Science has also brought about drugs which have as much side
effects as the diseases that they are supposed to treat as well as bringing about the creation of super-bacteria. Science has also brought about computers which are used to surveil, subjugate and control entire populations as well as used to spread pornography, fill our landfills with toxic, technological waste. Science has also brought us new forms of energy many of which contribute to global warming, and threaten the destruction of life as we know it via nuclear war. Science has brought forth the creation of gene splicing, pesticides, and farming techniques that threaten the environment and has increased the amount of desert area and has been responsible for the destruction of critical wildlife and wildlife habitat. Knowlege is dangerous without wisdom. Wisdom is taught in books such as the Bible.
Science should be taught in school but should not be taught in a way that attempts to destroy children's belief in a creator. Science can neither prove or disprove the existence of a Creator. However, the way science is being taught in public schools today essentially teaches that there is no Creator. I resent this just as much as I do with Christmas being thrust upon my kids. Many anti-religious nutbags do will not even agree with a disclaimer put in biology books stating that evolution is just a theory.
I and many Christians, Jews, and people of other faiths are sick and tired of having beliefs like yours thrust upon our children. Even worse is the fact that we are expected to pay for the efforts of people like you to undermine the values taught at home. I lived in a country where atheism and Darwinism was forced upon both children and adults while belief in a Supreme Creator was forbidden. That country was East Germany. I now live in the United States. When the population of the United States was more "God fearing," it was a superb place to live. Now that people like you seem to want to take any mention of "God" out of public life, this country is become more and more of a police state like the former East Germany. No, I am not anti-science because I believe that we should live by Biblical values any more than Issac Newton was for believing the same.
Actually, either one is correct. Even if it were misspelled, a typo or even two can be excused. Unlike the note, my post is not filled with errors.
One can come up with all kinds of trick to filter spam, however, the problem still remains. Spam will continue as long as it is profitable. There are too many "Puppies in a barrel" for a spammer to choose. After many, many years of prodding, many people have finally gotten antivirus program, yet they neglect to download or purchase virus database updates. Many people spend time and effort to ensure that their computers are malware
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free, yet their router retains the default username and admin password. Spammers have programs that allow people to try to log in to these routers and use their embedded telnet commands to send spam without the knowledge of the computer owner or any program residing on their computer. The point is that the Internet can be compared more to "swiss cheese" rather than the "series of tubes" that the politicians use. There are many, many points of attack for spammers to use.
Filtering spam is much akin to a person who holds hands in front of his or her face while a bully is pummeling him or her. The person is likely to fend off blows from the bully, but some of the blows will get through. Once a spam is sent, even if properly filtered, the damage has already been done. Until very recently, all I had in my area was dialup. My program successfully filtered about 99% of the spam received, however I still had to wait about 30 minutes before I was able to view my legitimate mail. I lost 30 minutes of time that I could have been working on a client's problem, while the spammer lost nothing. I also lost a client because a program that I previous used labeled his email he sent me as spam. Again the spammer who spammed me lost nothing. Spammers are like bullies, they will not stop until people HIT BACK!
It is only when spammers have to deal with the large amount of bandwith used, the processing power to handle complaints, and the loss of sales that result from efforts to filter complaints will spam be much less profitable. The idea is to punch back and deter the bully. Sending complaints to the spammers' websites get them at their weak point - the place where they make contact with potential buyers. Several program have attempted to hit back, and 2 of them were very successful in doing so. However, like spammers, these programs had a weak point, and that point was the fact that they needed a central server in order to instruct each individual program. Now things are different. There are several projects currently underway to trade complaint instruction files via peer to peer networks. What this means is that there is no central server which spammers can attack in order to silence complaints to their websites. One such project is called SpammerSkewer, and it is an open source GPL program that is in alpha. The program can be found at http://spammerskewer.sourceforge.net/
It is also important to note that these new programs are not distributed denial of service programs. As for SpammerSkewer, it only receives instructions on how to complain. It does not initiate complaints. Only a user can initiate a complaint by either bringing up the complaint interface or by dragging an email into SpammerSkewer's spam directory. It is the Spammer who determines how many complaints are submitted to their websites. SpammerSkewer's author even provides a way for spammers to "opt out" from receiving complaints if they insert a header clearly labeling their email as spam. Another way they can opt out is by not sending spam in the first place. In a distributed denial of service attack, a person other than the one who controls a victim's website is the one that controls how many visits a site receives. With SpammerSkewer, it is the Spammer who sends out the spam that determines how many visits a site advertised via spam gets. The only sites that are put in SPammerSkewer's instruction files are those well known to be advertised via spam. Instruction files are also cryptographically signed in order to prevent tampering. I
Below is a not that was sent home with a child of ours. This child spoke proper
English before starting school, and now, we have to constantly have to correct
his grammar. The note comes from a person with a four year college degree.
Pre-K Parents,
This is just a reminder that students need to have break
everyday! Break includes a snack and a drink. I have a lot of
students that have not been sending break, and we have nothing to
give them, if they don't have break. Please send break daily!
This note is posted per batum. I am only a high school graduate,
yet I know how to use proper grammar. More tax money is spent
per student in the U.S. than in many other countries which have
better educational systems. I wish that we could get tax breaks
for homeschooling our children. Just remember that ignorant people
are easier to control.
I have a big problem with filtering. I believe too that it is wrong. It is wrong because it costs the victim ISP's and users while costing spammers very little. Most filters work pretty well at getting rid of spam. However, legitimate messages can also be filtered by spam filters. Yes, I know that most filters route messages to spam folders. In doing so, people still have to wade through such spam folders to check for legitimate messages. This wading through spam takes time to do, and that time costs spam victims. Filtering spam is much like putting one's hand in front of his face to fend off the punches thrown by a schoolyard bully. The best way in dealing with spammers and schoolyard bullies is for a number of people to HIT BACK.
I remember when Blue Security had their Blue Frog program going. My spam was decreased significantly. The problem with Blue Security and the likes is the fact that like most spammers, they depended upon a central server. When spammers start feeling the heat caused by such programs as Blue Frog, they take out the Internet server(s) on which spam complaint programs depend. Now there will be a new program that allows spam recipients to fight back. This new program will operate on instruction files that are updated via a peer to peer network. These instruction files will be cryptographically signed so that there is little chance that the instruction programs will be tampered with. I hope to release this GPL licenced program within a couple of days. Look for SpammerSkewer soon.
How can you be sure or can you prove that the content was not ripped from a bought CD or DVD? If the computer is connected to a wireless router, how can you prove or are you sure that the music wasn't put on the drive or was downloaded from an unauthorized leecher. How do you know or can you prove that the file title listed is the same song that is allegedly owned by the RIAA? Can you prove ownership of the content on the hard drive is owned by you? Do you have a certificate or document showing that you legitimately purchased the copyright? Exactly where and to whom was the content actually sent? Can you provide any log file, witness statement, or other proof that this transfer actually took place? Please provide dates and times. Exactly from where and whom was the content received? Can you provide any log file, witness statement, or other proof that this transfer actually took place? Please provide dates and times. Can you prove that any log files provided was not doctored or faked?
Herein comes the joy of hacking (no not breaking into computers or that kind of thing). It you like what a coll thing does, read about it. If you can, buy it. Get on the net and look up books that can be downloaded (Hint: don't be afraid of using Bittorrent, Azeurus, or the like and Google). I'm learning about neural networks. It's slow and frustrating, but it is also very rewarding. I have worked as a software engineer for a small company, yet I have no degree or formal education in Computer Science. All of my education has been learn by doing, reading, etc. I really have no use for a college degree except that it is (unfortunately) today's work permit.
"Furthermore, in all the years not one single scientific discovery has ever came about by a direct or inspired reading of the bible. Not one."
When the Bible talks about the ant, it refers to the ant as "her" and "she." That could be due to article translation or previous knowlege. The fathers of modern archaeology were interested in searching for places mentioned in the Bible. National Geographic channel did a show on this very thing. However, for the sake of debate, let's say that your assertion is true. Is this "lack of scientific progress a bad thing? Science led to the invention of the automobile. Isn't this the very thing that many scientists blame global warming on? What about the someone with the big idea of making a country the premier honey exporter? This is how the Africanized ("killer") bee has been unleashed. What about all of the genetically modified plants with the terminator gene? Some of these plants are cross polinating with non genetically modified species. What will be the consequences of this. Many inventions of science can be used to destroy life as we know it on this planet (i.e.) humankind. What good is this? Yes science has caused the invention of many things such as this computer I'm typing on, but can one actually argue that human kind is much better off because of science? It was not until about 200 years ago that science has really taken hold. Now that it has, man has the capability of destrying itself. Maybe, just maybe, we could use a little bit more wisdom and a lot less knowlege (BTW the scriptures warned about this time).
No just misinformed and you should work on enlarging your view.
I can truly say the same thing about you.
The only evidence you link to was that Sodom was found. How is this evidence for the Bible? Are there any woman shaped pillars of salt near by? Is there a big smoking crater?
The presence of sulpher ballls (brimstone) has not been explained any other way. Within this pile of ashes are the traces of buildings that once were. There is much physical evidence of other events in the Bible as well. However, it is only a wast of time an energy to present it here.
How about how they discovered the city of Troy from the Illiad? Is Troy evidence that the Gods the ancient Greeks worshiped existed?
Troy was likely inhabited by descendants of the Israelite tribe of Dan. I could go into much detail about all of this but it would be fruitless. Many of the gods of Greek mythology are taken from Biblical events. Ever wonder why Greek Mythology and some events in the Bible are very similar?
If there was a big flood is there any evidence that God did it? Is there any evidence that it truly did kill all land animals and birds that weren't on the Ark? (Mitochondrial DNA clocks, genetic diversity, and common sense, suggest otherwise)
Like I said before (read the post), Current translation states that the Flood covered the entire earth (as in planet). The original Hebrew word is Eretz which means land. It could just as easily been translated that the flood covered the entire land (where Noach lived).
You say that the first Genesis was the creation of hunter gatherers, and the "second Genesis" was the creation of agriculture. This contradicts God's curse against Cain, IIRC God said something to the effect of "The land will yield nothing for you, you will be a wanderer in the land" to which Cain replied to the effect of "No, anything but that, if I become a wanderer men will kill me". And didn't Cain's feeble offering to God that resulted in him murdering his brother contain sheep and other farm produce?
I'm talking about the first and second chapers (no, not books) of Genesis. God cursed Cain by keeping the land from yeilding (Cain was from the agricultural people fathered by Adam). Cain's offereing DID NOT contain sheep. It did however include his produce.
Actually, your statement show exactly how little you know about the Bible. Yes Cain was a farmer, he came directly from Adam (the father of the agriculteral people). His wife most likely came from other people (not descended from Adam).
No-one doubts that the Bible isn't completely fiction, just like no-one says that the Illiad isn't completely fiction, but that doesn't mean the whole thing is non-fiction.
There is simply no way you can take the Bible literally without "interpreting" it in such a way that it loses all meaning.
I agree with you in this statement. Hebrew is very much a metaphoric language. (trees clapping hands - we all know that trees do not have hands). In order to understand the Bible, one must also look at the Hebrew culture, its language, and the idioms of the language in that day. One must also look at how things can be mis-translated as the Bible was translated from one language to another. I have studied all of these things, and have taken them into account.
"You see, science is very "confortable" as it only tells what people already know giving a different explaniation."
Which answer leads to more thinking?
"The sky is blue because God thinks blue is pretty"
"The sky is blue because the water vapor in the atmosphere refracts incident sunlight in such a way that we see more blue wavelengths than other wavelengths."
Thinking is good.
"
You seem to believe that only people who do not believe in a God to be thinkers, man you are soooo wrong.
I respect laws that are lawful. Laws that are lawful fall in the catagory that they are beneficial to the entire population of the nation. Just because a governmental or court body legislates something, it does not mean that something is right or good. By saying that you should respect and obey every law that a your government makes means that you are making the governmeent your god or highest authority. For an example, the Nurenberg laws were legislated by a goivernment, but that did not make them right or for the benefit of the people.
The highest (manmade) law of the land in my nation is the Constitution. Any law that contradicts the Constitution is in fact no law at all. Yes, I respect laws that are for the good of the people. For example, I do not steal, I do not murder, I do not rape, I do not drive drunk, and I obey many other laws as well. In fact, I even try to respect and obey copyrights, unless said copyrights are over 7 years old. I want the creator of a work to benefit from his or her discovery or invention so that the sciences and arts are promoted.
My respect for the law ends when the law is a product of corrupt corporations, corrupt legislators, and other corrupt public offical. Our nation's founding fatheres intended for the laws of the land to work for the benefit of the people. In fact, they also stated that when a government no longer works for the benefit of the people, then it is the DUTY of the people to REPLACE the government. I believe that by not buying corporate product, one depletes the the resources that are available to bribe officials (I mean giving political action campaign contributions, etc). I as well as millions of other believe that governments no longer serve the people. As such, these governemtns need replacing. Since I am not a man of violence, I believe that one must use other means of achieving this end. One of these means is by shutting out the the (multinational, multibillion-dollar) corporations and restoring the free market. The average working person does not have the money necessary to get laws passed that benefit the people. The only voice we have in our government is how we spend our money.
"For example, if Adam & Eve were the only parents why are people so different?"
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I believe that they were not the only parents. It looks like to me that the creation events of the first chapter of Genesis are a separate event from the creation spoken out in the second chapter. If, as I believe, this is true, it would very well explained how Cain could have met his wife.
The humans from the first chapters of Genisis were the hunter-gatherers while the creation of the man in the second chapter was hte beginning of agriculture.
"How did all the animals fit on Noah's Ark? If there were just 2 of the animals (dogs for instance) why are they so different now?"
The actual Hebrew word that is translated to Earth is eretz. Eretz means land or soil. Was it the entire planet that was flooded, or was it the entire land (in that area)? Many cultures totally unrelated to Judeaism and Christianity have records of the Flood. It is obvious that the Flood was a major world event, and to me it looks like the flood covered the entire land (in that area).
"What about humans on the Ark, were they forced to inbreed for a second time to populate?"
Maybe.
"Also, we may not have the ability to actually observe Macro Evolution, but Micro Evolution has been evident for some time now. We have documented proof that Americans have gotten taller for instance."
Americans have gotten taller, and when conditions are right, Americans can become shorter as well. Evolution, natural selection, or whatever you want to call it is a mechanical process, nothing more. There are switches with this program that allow certain features to be turned on and off as conditions warrrant. Software crackers also manipulate these switches to affect the behaviour of a program (by switching of registration screens, etc). Computer scientists are in some cases designing programs so that these types of switches can be easily activated and deactivated by other processes in order to try to cause programs to self improve.
The point is that I have seen physical evidence, historical evidence, and linguistic evidence, and archealogical evidence of Biblical truth as well as fossil evidence of the mechanical process of evolution. Much of both evidence goes against what many mainstream Christian BELIEVE, but it does not go against what the original (Biblical) scriptures ACTUALLY SAY. Am I a Christian? no, I am not. I am a Messianic Jew. I also resent the anti-creator bias that is displayed in slashdot as well as many (not all) scientific circles.
Just as there is physucal evidence of the mechanical process of evolution, there is also physical evidence of Biblical authenticity.
Look at http://www.bibleplus.org/discoveries/sodomfound.h
Long before scientists stated (and proved) that the heavens are expanding, the Bible has stated this fact (Job 9:8, Isaiah 40:22, 42:5, as well as many others). I could go on and on about many pieces of evidence, however this evidence is not really hidden. One can find references to most of it online. Yes, I fully expect that this post will be modded down and labelled as flaim bait (typical). However I post such information so that people will get to see a broader view and diverse opinions.
"If someone sees this shopowner's product and that someone decides to make his or her own, its not stealing the physical property, but it IS stealing the intellectual property."
Nope. It is however, infringment on the owner's monopoly. I have invented several things for my use around the home. One of these things was a jewelry clasp opener and closer that I created 15 years ago. My mom loved it, and it did the job wonderfully. Now, this same device is found on QVC, HSN, and most likely in many stores. If I were to start selling my product, would you call me a thief for "stealing their ideas?" If you don't, the court system will if I am sued for doing this. I invented this thing, yet I would have no case in court (or the funds to pursue such a case if I did). You see, I happen to agree with you in the fact that if you violate someone's monopoly in such regards that you will be called a "thief." In order to change the law to something that is more reasonable, one must quit allowing the multinationals to define the language used, how the battle is fought, or otherwise set the rules. It is those with the gold that make the rules. It is time that we stop letting them do so.
The current copyright and patent system favors multinational billionair companies over the original purpose of promoting useful arts and sciences. The system actually stifles innovation rather than encourages it. When I worked for a large company's IT department, I wrote several programs on my own that speeded up my work tremendously. Was I rewarded for my work? No I was not! I was told to quit using the programs I written because of possible legal concernes. The programs I wrote were not copycat programs or ideas taken from a website, they were not viruses or peer to peer filesharing programs. They were programs that parsed company-generated log files and refoprmatted them into a fopr that management could use. They were the product of my own mind and imagination. Has someone else patented a similar procedure I use or have they copyrighted a similar program? I don't know. All I know is that I had a very time-consuming task, and I wrote a small program that would allow me to complete that task in a few seconds rather than 45 minutes. Unfortunately, legal concernes over "intellectual property" stifled my innovative solution, and I was forced to carry out the task the hard and time consuming way.
Like the moonshiners and home producers of alcohol that forced the U.S. government to do away with prohibition, filesharing and other forms of copyright infringement will force governments to enact a more reasonable copyright and patent system. When that happens, we will see a huge leap in technical progress and the standard of living. I absolutely agree with the industry when it says that copyright infringement deprives them of sales. The question is really what percentage of sales is affected. However, copyright infringment (not stealing) is a form of civil disobedience that I encourage. I encourage it because the media and software cartel has effectively purchased legislation that gives it a stranglehold on the cultures and functioning of many nations. The current copyright and patent system is broken and nees to be fixed. It will not be fixed if its rules are obeyed by the masses simply because it is not in the immediate financial interests of those who hold the money and power. I will be fixed when people forces governments to fix it. As far as the law or government is concerned, I respect them ONLY when they are in the interests or protects the people. When the l;aw or government no longer speaks for the people, then it is time to change such laws or governemnts.
"A person who buys a plant from a nursery and then makes a cutting of the plant for his friend didn't steal the plant from the nursery - but, you are considered to be 'depriving of potential profit' - which, for a nursery, isn't illegal. It is, for software and software companies."
Actually, it is in many areas. If companies like
Shoplifting deprives the store owner of bhis product. However, if someone sees this shopowner's product and that someone decides to make his or her own, that is not stealing. A person who buys a plant from a nursery then makes and roots a cutting of this plant for a friend IS NOT STEALING from the nursery. Making an illegal copy of a piece of software IS NOT STEALING. It is copyright infringement or violation of the copyright owner's monopoly. The owner of the original still has his or her copy.
The answer to unwanted commercials is filesharing and passing burnt DVD's around. "Piracy" is definitely a good way of avoiding rip offs.
Could it be the advertisers' fault. I definitely think so!!! Most ads are incredibly intrusive, offensive, annoying, in-your-face, or advertise products of dubious value. Others such as the pop-ups on TBS, TNT, etc pop-up on the bottom of the screen and distract from the content. Others are so loud that they can be heard by the neighbors. Many of these same problems also occur on the Net. On the web, if an ad banner drops down in front of the content, takes too long to load, is annoyingly flashy, or otherwise in-your-face, I start changing my browser settings to restrict the website scripting as much as possible without affecting content. I am FED UP with all of the in your face tactics used to push uneeded crap. In fact, if I find an ad particularly annoying, I will NOT PURCHASE the product.
I remember an Indian poster telling American IT workers to get a real education so that they can compete when it was the Americans being outsourced. Now it is Indian workers complaining about the same thing. In my response to the Indian poster, I let him know that smarts or willingness to work had nothing to do with their jobs being outsourced. Outsourcing has everything to do with big companies cutting the throats of workers just so that they can generate a few more cents per share in dividends for their stockholders.
When I worked at Sykes Enterprises, I remember the Marianna, Florida employees being told that a new center in the Phillipeans was just a "backup center." To add insult to injury, some team managers from the Marianna facility was sent to the new center to train their future replacements. Within a short period of time after the corporate welfare (excuse me, I meant incentives) ran out, Sykes ran to the Phillipeans. Fortunately for me, I saw what was coming beforehand and managed to get out and was able to find a decent job as a programmer. Unfortunately for most of the others, they were stuck with even lower paying "service" jobs. Ethical behaviour within big corporations is an oxymoron for the most part.
Anybody with average intelligence and an interest in a particular occupation can be taught or trained outside of a school. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible for a prospective employee to get an employer to acknowlege such an education. The only reason that I got the programming job listed above was because the job was at a small business whose owner homeschooled his children. His business was the only one who would even take a glance at my portfolio or would even allow me to show what I could do. It is unfortunate that people must go 10's of thousand of dollars into debt just for a license (college degree) to work. As a matter of fact, when I left my programming job, I had to train my replacement (college educated) so that he could perform my duties.
The point is that people everywhere are smart (and in some cases, just plain stupid) and can learn. The problem with this so called "free trade" system is that it allows big companies to move to countries where the cheap labor plentiful, but it does not allow the labor to move to where decent jobs are plentiful. I have little pity for most big multinational companies when they complain that their patents are being improperly used or when their products are being counterfeited. In fact this counterfeiting and patent infringement make me happy, simply because at the low wages being paid today, it means that people can actually have a chance to partake in the wealth they generate.
Note that I said natural selection (not evolution as the origin of species) is a fact. It is demonstrated many. many times that creatures that are well suited towards an environment tend to produce offspring that is better suited for the same environemnt. That is what I mean by natural selection.
Unfortunately, in most schools, evolution (even as the origin of species) is taught and treated as if it is a fact rather than a theory. Courts have even blocked a disclaimer label being put in textbooks that state that evolution is a theory. In fact evolution as the origin of life is being taught with religious zeal in our public schools.
Note that I said natural selection is a fact - not natural selection as the origin of life. It is a proven fact that certain animals in each species have certain qualities that make it able to thrive or breed better in its envoronment. Combinations of certain genes as well as learned behaviours can be passed from parent to offspring.
"there is equal amount of evidence for other possibilities regarding the origin of life on this planet. What evidence and for what other possibilities?" Yes there is an equal amount of evidence demonstrating other possibilities. There is also little scientific evidence that points to evolution as the source off all life on this planet. Many cultures have reords of the great flood and other biblical events. There is physical evidence of other biblical events such as the sulfer balls from the site where Sodom and Gommorrah was beleived to have existed. As far as other possibilities are concerned, these possibilities include a supreme being creating life on this planet or life from beyond this planet bringing life here. I can go on and on with various forms of evidence, but most here have made up their minds about what they want to believe. I also have better things to do than spend my arguing back and forth with people who are stuck on one ideology. Yes, I was once an atheist, howeveronce I was open minded enough to look at evindence and records from many different sources and have changed my mind. By the way, I do have a college education in the sciences and many other scientists also believe in a Supreme being. One such Scientists is the father of modern calculus. His name is Isaac Newton. Does this mean that I agree with what the fundamentalist Christians believe? No It doesn't. In fact, my beliefs are in many ways very different from what most people call Christian. In fact, there is a huge difference between what the original biblical texts say and what most Christians THINK they say. Knowlege of ancient customs and idioms is essential in understanding what the Scriptures say. I do not approach any subject with blind faith. I base my belifs on what I have studied in the past.