Isn't that just too bad that many people like you do not and cannot respond to the subject matter. Instead, they resort to personal attacks and putdowns.
Israel scattered in all nations then gathered -> Deuteronomy 30:1-30_9, Ezekiel 36:19-36:28
Jerusalem an international dilemma -> Zecheriah 12:2-3
The second Jewish Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans. Just before Jesus comes again, there will be a third Temple in which will take place the Desecration of temple -> Matthew 24:14, Daniel 9:27.
....What predictions of Jesus coming are you talking about...
There are many predictions concerning the second coming of Jesus, both in the old and new Testaments of the Bible. Included in these prophecies are some of the conditions leading up to and necessary for Jesus to come again. Most of them are yet future to our time, but some of them are being fulfilled in this generation.
One of these is the re-establishment of the nation of Israel. Jewish people from all over the world are returning to Israel, their homeland. Even the ancient Hebrew language, once dead like Latin, is again a living language.
Another is the establishment of sovereignty by the nation of Israel over all of Jerusalem. These two prophesied events took place in 1948 and 1967 respectively.
It was there in Jerusalem, or just outside thereof, that Jesus ascended into heaven almost 2000 years ago. It is foretold that he will return to that exact same spot.
Acts 1:11 who also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into the heaven? This same Jesus who is taken up from you into Heaven, will come in the way you have seen Him going into Heaven.
In the not-too-distant future, you will read headlines concerning the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple. This is so that the Jews will once again be able to make the offerings and sacrifices required by their religious laws.
God himself, in the person of the God-man Jesus Christ will rule the earth with peace and justice. For Christians there is no doomsday.
...once peace happens... If human history is any guide, that won't happen, at least not by human effort. Whether you pick the Biblical 6000 years or other considerably greater figures, doesn't really matter. There are more people now than ever competing for the earth's resources. Mankind has developed weapons of mass destruction which will be used to reduce this competition.
All these scenarios and clocks, as well as doomsday predictions have the underlying assumption that humanity is in charge of their destiny and of this world. There are millions of Christians who believe that God has not resigned and is still ultimately in charge of the affairs of men.
All of the predictions of Jesus first coming were fulfilled in complete detail. In the same way, the second coming of Jesus Christ to his world will also be fulfilled exactly as the prophecies say they will be fulfilled. Therefore, I am not worried about a silly doomsday clock, where so-called scientists, educated beyond their intelligence, try to scare the rest of us.
....Things have cooled off and there is very little worry of an all out nuclear war....
I would like to hope that you're right. However, there are still thousands of these weapons, with their fissionable materials inside, scattered all over the globe. Until all of these are dismantled and their fissile materials rendered unusable, the danger of nuclear war has not been eliminated from the earth. Besides that, all-out conventional war, as well as biological and chemical weapons present plenty of additional possibilities for mass destruction of humanity.
The Bible predicts a final war culminating in the battle in the valley of Armageddon, just north of Jerusalem. It predicts that all nations on earth will somehow participate in this war. Even today, all nations with the exception of the USA are lined up against the tiny nation of Israel. The problem of Jerusalem seems to be insoluble. It was predicted long ago that Jerusalem would be a thorn for ALL nations.
At some point, world leaders will say that peace has been achieved. That is the time after which war will suddenly break out. This was predicted thousands of years ago by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians.
1Thessalonians 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety! Then sudden destruction comes on them, as travail upon a woman with child. And they shall not escape.
By looking at history, it is very evident that humans are incapable of lasting peace.
....The threat from nuclear annihilation... is only put forth by those who believe that mankind is in charge of this planet and their own destiny.
Those who believe in the God of the Bible, do not share this pessimistic view. According to the prophecies of the Bible, which in the past have been remarkably accurate, there will come a time of trouble, such as not been on earth before and will not be again. Jesus Christ clearly talked about this. We read that Jesus himself will prevent mankind from self-destructing, as erroneously envisioned by the prophets of doom. Humanity has amply demonstrated in the last few thousand years, that people on their own are incapable of forging a lasting peace and getting rid of poverty.
Anybody who has ever listened to Handel's Messiah, should recall that line from Isaiah that goes... and the government shall be on his shoulders. Jesus, at the head of world government, with the assistance of a willing humanity, will usher in an age of unprecedented peace and prosperity.
I think that is a much better future to look forward to, than that painted by these overeducated doomsayers.
....it could make a huge difference to the spelling/grammar/writing-impaired.... It would make an even bigger difference if people would learn how to spell while still in school. Someone who can't even correctly post a short note on a forum such as Slashdot, should not even get a high school diploma.
...I've been downmodded for posting something unpopular (e.g., any mention of religion) but not always...
Religion, especially Christianity is unpopular on Slashdot. But so are other topics, especially in science, where the point of view expressed is outside of the mainstream.
PS I know someone named Mcgrew who is married to a blind lady. Is that you by chance? He is into computers and could be on Slashdot.
The Slashdot moderation system is broken, totally ruined. It seems that anyone who posts anything controversial, to which the majority of Slashdot readers disagree, gets modded troll or flamebait. On the other hand, obscenity and profanity often gets modded insightful. I have gotten to the point where I don't give a hoot if every one of my posts gets modded down, just because I often post opinions to which the majority disagrees.
By refraining to speak your mind, just because you don't want to be modded down, you're helping prop up a broken system.
....People wanted OS X, on hardware they liked better.....
The problem is that Apple never sold anything but upgrade copies of OS X. They never sold the operating system to anyone except for those people who had already owned a Mac. Companies do that all the time. If you buy an upgrade version of software, the installer checks to see if there is a previous version of that software already installed. If not, then you cannot install the upgrade, but have to pay for a full version. In Apple's case, the full version happens to be an expensive dongle called a Macintosh. In what way is Apple doing anything most other companies are not doing?
....if you ask me the deity that needs to constantly fiddle with the universe.... You are assuming, that is believing, that God MUST interact with his creation. What if he simply WANTS to? After all, we humans constantly interact with the things that we construct. Why should anyone, including God, want to create anything, and then not want to interact with it? It would be like parents who don't want to have a relationship or interaction with their children.
It seems like the -1 moderations are used by moderators who disagree.
........"Unbelievers are those that say: "God is the Messiah, the son of Mary.......
All other religious gurus and prophets in some way only pointed the way to God, but Jesus alone claimed to BE God come to earth. Jesus proved this claim by rising from the dead. All the other religious gurus and prophets, including Mohammed, are dead, dead, dead, dead, stone dead. None of them even made the claim to conquer death. Jesus not only made the claim, that he actually did it. Moslems have a dead prophet, but Christians have a risen Lord.
.....Please keep your mythological beliefs to yourself....
Why am I supposed to do that, when others on Slashdot spout their mythological beliefs and falsely call it science? I thought we lived in a free country, where we have freedom of speech (still) and can express our opinions freely. Just because someone with more degrees than a thermometer spouts a doomsday scenario, doesn't mean it will happen.
If you want to quake in your boots, because a black hole from the LHC may swallow up the earth, that's fine if you want to believe that nonsense. Just because such garbage is cloaked in scientific terms, doesn't suddenly make it true.
However, you or your descendants will quake in your boots, not because of a black hole, but when Jesus shows up to judge his enemies.
Revelation 6:16 And they said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him sitting on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; Revelation 6:17 for the great day of His wrath has come, and who will be able to stand?
Jesus Christ has done more to change the earth and history than any other human being, because he was more than human, he is God. The whole earth, the East as well as the West, EVERYBODY counts the time of their existence on this earth from the time Jesus appeared. We just changed the calendar to the year 2010, counted from the time the God man Jesus showed up on the earth.
You will be forgotten in a short time, but millions of Christians around the earth still worship him, who walked this earth so many centuries ago and celebrate the time of his birth, death and resurrection.
....find the true answer to life... for those of us who believe Jesus Christ is who he said he is, God come to earth, there is nothing to worry about.
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, I am the Resurrection and the Life! He who believes in Me, though he die, yet he shall live. John 11:26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?
His followers asked him specifically when he would return and end the world. Here is a short excerpt from his answer:
Matt 24:3 And as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the world? Matt 24:4 And Jesus answered and said to them, Take heed that no man deceive you. Matt 24:5 For many will come in My name, saying, I am Christ, and will deceive many. Matt 24:6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all these things must occur; but the end is not yet. Matt 24:7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in different places. Matt 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Nowhere does he say anything about a black hole swallowing up the earth. Christians believe that it will happen exactly as Jesus Christ predicted.
This is not our earth. Mankind is not in charge of it. Jesus Christ is. We did not make the earth and we are not going to destroy it either. Jesus will return, be in charge and help mankind make our planet into the paradise it once was. To me that is a better future to think about than getting swallowed up by a black hole.
Besides that, nobody has ever directly observed a black hole. They are only inferred by the motion of stars and other objects.
....swinging around an incredibly massive object at the center.... That assumes (a belief, not knowledge) that gravity is the ONLY force that can govern the motion of objects such as stars. If there is electricity and/or magnetism involved in addition to gravity, then the assumption of a black hole is false. Just the fact that the electric force is 36 orders of magnitude greater than gravity, makes it quite probable that electric and magnetic fields would be a large factor in controlling the motion we observe. This would be especially true in the center of the galaxy, with its dense population of stars. We know from our Sun, that large magnetic and electric fields are associated with it.
Because of this absolutely huge strength difference between gravity and electricity, even a tiny charge imbalance or a relatively small magnetic fields, can generate enormous forces that can completely overwhelm the weak gravitational interaction.
If scientists are going to make assumptions, is it reasonable at all, to totally exclude the electric and magnetic forces from consideration in the large-scale operation of the universe? There are theories, developed by scientists with just as many credentials and degrees, which explain the observations, without resorting to complicated mathematical constructs, such as black holes and relegating as much as 90% of all matter & energy in this universe invisible to direct observation. When fundamental assumptions fail to make sense of the data, it is time to throw out those assumptions and start over with new ones. That of course is very difficult to do by someone who has scribbled a ton or two of chalk onto some academic blackboard, writing complicated equations to try to explain the measurements.
....Black Holes were still a mostly theoretical idea and we had no real empirical evidence to support their existence.... They still are nothing but a mathematical construct, because nobody has ever observed one actually exists. They are inferred to exist, the same as dark matter and energy, because we observe stars and galaxies to move in ways that our incomplete knowledge can't explain.
....because supermassive black holes are observed at the *centers* of galaxies... Black holes, supermassive or otherwise have never been OBSERVED anywhere. They are mathematical constructs that are theorized to exist in the center of galaxies and maybe other places, but no one has ever seen one anywhere. They, as well as dark matter and energy are theorized to exist, because of the unexplained motion of heavenly bodies we CAN observe. Clearly something is causing stars and galaxies to move differently than our knowledge of the laws of gravity predict. The operation of gravity is understood well enough and has been understood, to enable us to launch satellites and rockets to the moon and other parts of the solar system.
There are theories that besides gravity, electrical and magnetic forces may be also involved. Scientists and researchers who even mention electricity being involved in the operation of large-scale universe are labeled as crackpots and nuts by well-funded mainstream scientists. Quite often in science, these so-called nuts were later vindicated by mainstream science.
...Really, it comes down you believe that people are in a lower caste than corporations....
In every modern society, money is power. In the Soviet Union, none of the bosses were poor and none of the poor were bosses. In this world, money and power are hand in glove. If Steve Jobs actually owned Apple, rather than managing running it, would that make any difference? In all of human history, have rich people or groups of rich people collectively, oppressed poor.
What is a corporation anyway? Does it not come from the word corporate which means body, a body of people, a group?
(...I have no complaints with the way that Google handles their app store...) Great! Now you can choose to buy programs and devices that have a walled garden of their own, even if the wall is only a foot high, rather than the 10 foot high wall with barbed wire on top that Apple has erected. Evidently, there are millions of people who are OK with a wall that will keep out varmints and predators. Microsoft is an example of no wall or even a fence around their garden. That is why their garden is crawling with varmints and predators. You may not, but there are millions of people who appreciate the fact that Apple has gone to great lengths to protect the devices made by them from the world's software criminals.
...It has nothing to do with capitalism and everything to do with... the legal system in the USA. As long as doctors can be sued at the drop of a hat, many doctors will comply with the demands of their patients. Doctors are afraid of lawsuits or even threats of legal action. For some doctors, insurance against lawsuits is the biggest expense. The cost of medical care in this country would be less, if the legal damage awards would be sharply limited. There is nothing in any of the health care bills as far as I know, that addresses the considerable expense of medical malpractice suits. Our politicians are mostly members of, or former members of the legal profession. They would never in 1 million years vote for any kind of meaningful legal reform that would cut one cent off the income of lawyers.
....everything seemed to work fine... just offline... I don't know how that works with the iPhone, but if you don't want to pay the monthly charges you can buy an iTouch, which can do everything over WI-FI except make phone calls.
...so corporations have to follow the rules of the people...
I agree with that totally. What government has made rules that say Apple or any other business is not allowed to include and exclude certain functions? Does a shoe store have to sell every brand of shoes that exists on earth or even in a given country in which they do business? If not, then why should the app store from Apple be forced to sell anybody's and everybody's software? Should they not have the right to sell whatever programs they wish?.
If you want to jailbreak your iPhone, Apple won't sue you. If you want to install OS X on the Dell, you can do that even though it is against their EULA whichIn most places does not have the force of law or is even a valid contract that does carry the force of law behind it. On the other hand if you want to do what Psystar did, who violated Apple's copyright in order to do their business, Apple rightfully had a court of law squelch that idea.
....People have every right to implement "communist" policies if they so wish....
As long as they do it only for themselves and not force it upon others, it would be fine. Unfortunately that is not how it works. If I work hard, I do not necessarily want to share the fruits of my labor with a lazy person. I think that to rob the rich to feed the poor is wrong. If people would get along in peace and ALL work together, there are more than enough resources for everyone.
I have nothing against taking care of the poor, if they are poor through no choice of their own. When somebody's house burned down about six months ago through no fault of their own, our community rallied around them and helped them get into another house. They had no insurance, because they could not afford such. Why should I be forced to pay the medical bills of someone who takes drugs or smokes like a chimney, slowly killing themselves? Whatever happened to individual responsibility?
Apple sells good products that millions of people freely spend their hard-earned cash for. Anybody that does not like what they make and how they restrict it, is not forced to buy their products. Even Microsoft, in their worst days ever, did not force anyone to buy a computer. People lived without computers, cell phones, DVD players and all the modern technological accoutrements. Most of the natural laws upon which all this modern technology is based, were discovered by scientists with not much more than pencil and paper.
Slashdot Mirror
Isn't that just too bad that many people like you do not and cannot respond to the subject matter. Instead, they resort to personal attacks and putdowns.
.....Without scripture references...
Israel scattered in all nations then gathered -> Deuteronomy 30:1-30_9, Ezekiel 36:19-36:28
Jerusalem an international dilemma -> Zecheriah 12:2-3
The second Jewish Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans. Just before Jesus comes again, there will be a third Temple in which will take place the Desecration of temple -> Matthew 24:14, Daniel 9:27.
....What predictions of Jesus coming are you talking about...
There are many predictions concerning the second coming of Jesus, both in the old and new Testaments of the Bible. Included in these prophecies are some of the conditions leading up to and necessary for Jesus to come again. Most of them are yet future to our time, but some of them are being fulfilled in this generation.
One of these is the re-establishment of the nation of Israel. Jewish people from all over the world are returning to Israel, their homeland. Even the ancient Hebrew language, once dead like Latin, is again a living language.
Another is the establishment of sovereignty by the nation of Israel over all of Jerusalem. These two prophesied events took place in 1948 and 1967 respectively.
It was there in Jerusalem, or just outside thereof, that Jesus ascended into heaven almost 2000 years ago. It is foretold that he will return to that exact same spot.
Acts 1:11 who also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into the heaven? This same Jesus who is taken up from you into Heaven, will come in the way you have seen Him going into Heaven.
In the not-too-distant future, you will read headlines concerning the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple. This is so that the Jews will once again be able to make the offerings and sacrifices required by their religious laws.
God himself, in the person of the God-man Jesus Christ will rule the earth with peace and justice. For Christians there is no doomsday.
...once peace happens...
If human history is any guide, that won't happen, at least not by human effort. Whether you pick the Biblical 6000 years or other considerably greater figures, doesn't really matter. There are more people now than ever competing for the earth's resources. Mankind has developed weapons of mass destruction which will be used to reduce this competition.
All these scenarios and clocks, as well as doomsday predictions have the underlying assumption that humanity is in charge of their destiny and of this world. There are millions of Christians who believe that God has not resigned and is still ultimately in charge of the affairs of men.
All of the predictions of Jesus first coming were fulfilled in complete detail. In the same way, the second coming of Jesus Christ to his world will also be fulfilled exactly as the prophecies say they will be fulfilled. Therefore, I am not worried about a silly doomsday clock, where so-called scientists, educated beyond their intelligence, try to scare the rest of us.
....Things have cooled off and there is very little worry of an all out nuclear war....
I would like to hope that you're right. However, there are still thousands of these weapons, with their fissionable materials inside, scattered all over the globe. Until all of these are dismantled and their fissile materials rendered unusable, the danger of nuclear war has not been eliminated from the earth. Besides that, all-out conventional war, as well as biological and chemical weapons present plenty of additional possibilities for mass destruction of humanity.
The Bible predicts a final war culminating in the battle in the valley of Armageddon, just north of Jerusalem. It predicts that all nations on earth will somehow participate in this war. Even today, all nations with the exception of the USA are lined up against the tiny nation of Israel. The problem of Jerusalem seems to be insoluble. It was predicted long ago that Jerusalem would be a thorn for ALL nations.
At some point, world leaders will say that peace has been achieved. That is the time after which war will suddenly break out. This was predicted thousands of years ago by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians.
1Thessalonians 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety! Then sudden destruction comes on them, as travail upon a woman with child. And they shall not escape.
By looking at history, it is very evident that humans are incapable of lasting peace.
....The threat from nuclear annihilation...
is only put forth by those who believe that mankind is in charge of this planet and their own destiny.
Those who believe in the God of the Bible, do not share this pessimistic view. According to the prophecies of the Bible, which in the past have been remarkably accurate, there will come a time of trouble, such as not been on earth before and will not be again. Jesus Christ clearly talked about this. We read that Jesus himself will prevent mankind from self-destructing, as erroneously envisioned by the prophets of doom. Humanity has amply demonstrated in the last few thousand years, that people on their own are incapable of forging a lasting peace and getting rid of poverty.
Anybody who has ever listened to Handel's Messiah, should recall that line from Isaiah that goes... and the government shall be on his shoulders. Jesus, at the head of world government, with the assistance of a willing humanity, will usher in an age of unprecedented peace and prosperity.
I think that is a much better future to look forward to, than that painted by these overeducated doomsayers.
....it could make a huge difference to the spelling/grammar/writing-impaired....
It would make an even bigger difference if people would learn how to spell while still in school. Someone who can't even correctly post a short note on a forum such as Slashdot, should not even get a high school diploma.
...I've been downmodded for posting something unpopular (e.g., any mention of religion) but not always...
Religion, especially Christianity is unpopular on Slashdot. But so are other topics, especially in science, where the point of view expressed is outside of the mainstream.
PS I know someone named Mcgrew who is married to a blind lady. Is that you by chance? He is into computers and could be on Slashdot.
...I don't want to risk ending up a troll....
The Slashdot moderation system is broken, totally ruined. It seems that anyone who posts anything controversial, to which the majority of Slashdot readers disagree, gets modded troll or flamebait. On the other hand, obscenity and profanity often gets modded insightful. I have gotten to the point where I don't give a hoot if every one of my posts gets modded down, just because I often post opinions to which the majority disagrees.
By refraining to speak your mind, just because you don't want to be modded down, you're helping prop up a broken system.
....People wanted OS X, on hardware they liked better.....
The problem is that Apple never sold anything but upgrade copies of OS X. They never sold the operating system to anyone except for those people who had already owned a Mac. Companies do that all the time. If you buy an upgrade version of software, the installer checks to see if there is a previous version of that software already installed. If not, then you cannot install the upgrade, but have to pay for a full version. In Apple's case, the full version happens to be an expensive dongle called a Macintosh. In what way is Apple doing anything most other companies are not doing?
....if you ask me the deity that needs to constantly fiddle with the universe....
You are assuming, that is believing, that God MUST interact with his creation. What if he simply WANTS to? After all, we humans constantly interact with the things that we construct. Why should anyone, including God, want to create anything, and then not want to interact with it? It would be like parents who don't want to have a relationship or interaction with their children.
It seems like the -1 moderations are used by moderators who disagree.
...My first thought was "creepy."...
My first thought was that this could not be an accident of evolution, but evidence of intelligent design.
........"Unbelievers are those that say: "God is the Messiah, the son of Mary.......
All other religious gurus and prophets in some way only pointed the way to God, but Jesus alone claimed to BE God come to earth. Jesus proved this claim by rising from the dead. All the other religious gurus and prophets, including Mohammed, are dead, dead, dead, dead, stone dead. None of them even made the claim to conquer death. Jesus not only made the claim, that he actually did it. Moslems have a dead prophet, but Christians have a risen Lord.
..."It must be God's plan" is no excuse for inaction...
So what action are you going to take to thwart God's plan?
.....Please keep your mythological beliefs to yourself....
Why am I supposed to do that, when others on Slashdot spout their mythological beliefs and falsely call it science? I thought we lived in a free country, where we have freedom of speech (still) and can express our opinions freely. Just because someone with more degrees than a thermometer spouts a doomsday scenario, doesn't mean it will happen.
If you want to quake in your boots, because a black hole from the LHC may swallow up the earth, that's fine if you want to believe that nonsense. Just because such garbage is cloaked in scientific terms, doesn't suddenly make it true.
However, you or your descendants will quake in your boots, not because of a black hole, but when Jesus shows up to judge his enemies.
Revelation 6:16 And they said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him sitting on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;
Revelation 6:17 for the great day of His wrath has come, and who will be able to stand?
Jesus Christ has done more to change the earth and history than any other human being, because he was more than human, he is God. The whole earth, the East as well as the West, EVERYBODY counts the time of their existence on this earth from the time Jesus appeared. We just changed the calendar to the year 2010, counted from the time the God man Jesus showed up on the earth.
You will be forgotten in a short time, but millions of Christians around the earth still worship him, who walked this earth so many centuries ago and celebrate the time of his birth, death and resurrection.
....find the true answer to life...
for those of us who believe Jesus Christ is who he said he is, God come to earth, there is nothing to worry about.
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, I am the Resurrection and the Life! He who believes in Me, though he die, yet he shall live.
John 11:26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?
His followers asked him specifically when he would return and end the world. Here is a short excerpt from his answer:
Matt 24:3 And as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the world?
Matt 24:4 And Jesus answered and said to them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
Matt 24:5 For many will come in My name, saying, I am Christ, and will deceive many.
Matt 24:6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all these things must occur; but the end is not yet.
Matt 24:7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in different places.
Matt 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Nowhere does he say anything about a black hole swallowing up the earth. Christians believe that it will happen exactly as Jesus Christ predicted.
This is not our earth. Mankind is not in charge of it. Jesus Christ is. We did not make the earth and we are not going to destroy it either. Jesus will return, be in charge and help mankind make our planet into the paradise it once was. To me that is a better future to think about than getting swallowed up by a black hole.
Besides that, nobody has ever directly observed a black hole. They are only inferred by the motion of stars and other objects.
....swinging around an incredibly massive object at the center....
That assumes (a belief, not knowledge) that gravity is the ONLY force that can govern the motion of objects such as stars. If there is electricity and/or magnetism involved in addition to gravity, then the assumption of a black hole is false. Just the fact that the electric force is 36 orders of magnitude greater than gravity, makes it quite probable that electric and magnetic fields would be a large factor in controlling the motion we observe. This would be especially true in the center of the galaxy, with its dense population of stars. We know from our Sun, that large magnetic and electric fields are associated with it.
Because of this absolutely huge strength difference between gravity and electricity, even a tiny charge imbalance or a relatively small magnetic fields, can generate enormous forces that can completely overwhelm the weak gravitational interaction.
If scientists are going to make assumptions, is it reasonable at all, to totally exclude the electric and magnetic forces from consideration in the large-scale operation of the universe? There are theories, developed by scientists with just as many credentials and degrees, which explain the observations, without resorting to complicated mathematical constructs, such as black holes and relegating as much as 90% of all matter & energy in this universe invisible to direct observation. When fundamental assumptions fail to make sense of the data, it is time to throw out those assumptions and start over with new ones. That of course is very difficult to do by someone who has scribbled a ton or two of chalk onto some academic blackboard, writing complicated equations to try to explain the measurements.
....Black Holes were still a mostly theoretical idea and we had no real empirical evidence to support their existence....
They still are nothing but a mathematical construct, because nobody has ever observed one actually exists. They are inferred to exist, the same as dark matter and energy, because we observe stars and galaxies to move in ways that our incomplete knowledge can't explain.
If global warming doesn't get us first.
....because supermassive black holes are observed at the *centers* of galaxies...
Black holes, supermassive or otherwise have never been OBSERVED anywhere. They are mathematical constructs that are theorized to exist in the center of galaxies and maybe other places, but no one has ever seen one anywhere. They, as well as dark matter and energy are theorized to exist, because of the unexplained motion of heavenly bodies we CAN observe. Clearly something is causing stars and galaxies to move differently than our knowledge of the laws of gravity predict. The operation of gravity is understood well enough and has been understood, to enable us to launch satellites and rockets to the moon and other parts of the solar system.
There are theories that besides gravity, electrical and magnetic forces may be also involved. Scientists and researchers who even mention electricity being involved in the operation of large-scale universe are labeled as crackpots and nuts by well-funded mainstream scientists. Quite often in science, these so-called nuts were later vindicated by mainstream science.
...Really, it comes down you believe that people are in a lower caste than corporations....
In every modern society, money is power. In the Soviet Union, none of the bosses were poor and none of the poor were bosses. In this world, money and power are hand in glove. If Steve Jobs actually owned Apple, rather than managing running it, would that make any difference? In all of human history, have rich people or groups of rich people collectively, oppressed poor.
What is a corporation anyway? Does it not come from the word corporate which means body, a body of people, a group?
(...I have no complaints with the way that Google handles their app store...)
Great! Now you can choose to buy programs and devices that have a walled garden of their own, even if the wall is only a foot high, rather than the 10 foot high wall with barbed wire on top that Apple has erected. Evidently, there are millions of people who are OK with a wall that will keep out varmints and predators. Microsoft is an example of no wall or even a fence around their garden. That is why their garden is crawling with varmints and predators. You may not, but there are millions of people who appreciate the fact that Apple has gone to great lengths to protect the devices made by them from the world's software criminals.
...It has nothing to do with capitalism and everything to do with...
the legal system in the USA. As long as doctors can be sued at the drop of a hat, many doctors will comply with the demands of their patients. Doctors are afraid of lawsuits or even threats of legal action. For some doctors, insurance against lawsuits is the biggest expense. The cost of medical care in this country would be less, if the legal damage awards would be sharply limited. There is nothing in any of the health care bills as far as I know, that addresses the considerable expense of medical malpractice suits. Our politicians are mostly members of, or former members of the legal profession. They would never in 1 million years vote for any kind of meaningful legal reform that would cut one cent off the income of lawyers.
....everything seemed to work fine... just offline...
I don't know how that works with the iPhone, but if you don't want to pay the monthly charges you can buy an iTouch, which can do everything over WI-FI except make phone calls.
...so corporations have to follow the rules of the people...
I agree with that totally. What government has made rules that say Apple or any other business is not allowed to include and exclude certain functions? Does a shoe store have to sell every brand of shoes that exists on earth or even in a given country in which they do business? If not, then why should the app store from Apple be forced to sell anybody's and everybody's software? Should they not have the right to sell whatever programs they wish?.
If you want to jailbreak your iPhone, Apple won't sue you. If you want to install OS X on the Dell, you can do that even though it is against their EULA whichIn most places does not have the force of law or is even a valid contract that does carry the force of law behind it. On the other hand if you want to do what Psystar did, who violated Apple's copyright in order to do their business, Apple rightfully had a court of law squelch that idea.
....People have every right to implement "communist" policies if they so wish....
As long as they do it only for themselves and not force it upon others, it would be fine. Unfortunately that is not how it works. If I work hard, I do not necessarily want to share the fruits of my labor with a lazy person. I think that to rob the rich to feed the poor is wrong. If people would get along in peace and ALL work together, there are more than enough resources for everyone.
I have nothing against taking care of the poor, if they are poor through no choice of their own. When somebody's house burned down about six months ago through no fault of their own, our community rallied around them and helped them get into another house. They had no insurance, because they could not afford such. Why should I be forced to pay the medical bills of someone who takes drugs or smokes like a chimney, slowly killing themselves? Whatever happened to individual responsibility?
Apple sells good products that millions of people freely spend their hard-earned cash for. Anybody that does not like what they make and how they restrict it, is not forced to buy their products. Even Microsoft, in their worst days ever, did not force anyone to buy a computer. People lived without computers, cell phones, DVD players and all the modern technological accoutrements. Most of the natural laws upon which all this modern technology is based, were discovered by scientists with not much more than pencil and paper.