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Comments by al-rawandi


601. It Doesn't Take an Einstein

Comment #196213 by al-rawandi on June 19, 2008 at 1:15 pm

Sciros,






Why? Because TeraBat is trying to sell some racial nonsense, and I can't stand that bull shit. Besides I don't really care about making these threads train wrecks.

602. It Doesn't Take an Einstein

Comment #196211 by al-rawandi on June 19, 2008 at 1:12 pm

esuther,







Remember this photo (at top of the page):

http://www.intifada.com/childhood.html


The young boy throwing rocks at the tank was shot by an Israeli sniper. I heard rumors the sniper got a medal, but this might just be Arab propaganda which is never in short supply.


It is getting difficult to reconcile Jewish claims to victimhood with an increasing military might, which surpasses its remaining enemies.

603. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #196198 by al-rawandi on June 19, 2008 at 12:54 pm

Podaar,





I am waiting on a research report from Nasdaq, can't do much til it gets here..... b-b-b-b-oring.





MPhil,







I understand that, I was using "biology" as a metaphor for the smallest reducible physical object or property. It was meant to be obviously reducible. I was more worried about conveying the point that one cannot "transcend" one's biology (or any of its subsidiary objects). This may be a matter of wildly differing definitions of transcend, which I think may be the case because I was using the dictionary definition, while fizhburn was talking about ending xenophobia and making long term plans.


So maybe I missed this philosophical boat.

604. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #196183 by al-rawandi on June 19, 2008 at 12:15 pm

Galactor,








Isn't it "Bejeebus"?


Now that is fucking pedantic... I am ashamed.

605. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #196182 by al-rawandi on June 19, 2008 at 12:13 pm

fizhburn,





Ok, we can leave Kant alone, that would be a little off topic, even for myself.


But let me clarify my slight hyperbole. You said:


ought we to transcend our biology?



What does that mean "transcend"? Maybe we are encountering semantic problems at this juncture, but I would have to say that it is simply impossible to trancsend our biology, is it not? We can only operate within a biological frame work, one which we have evolved. I said "soul" because it seemed to me, you were giving ontological value to some "transcendence" which I argue can never occur, because any change must be made possible through some biological change, either in a single generation or over several.


Xenophobia is biological, as is the absence of xenophobia, would it not?


I am making quite a large ordeal out of a very small issue here.

606. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #196164 by al-rawandi on June 19, 2008 at 11:42 am

fizhburn,



Now in humans, we can identify similarly miswired individuals. One extreme example is the sociopath. Sociopaths engage in behaviors that are likely to get them sanctioned by the society they live in, if they are caught




Wired? How is that? What defines a sociopath is only partially inherited, namely the anti-social personality disorder. There are plenty of these types who are in the military, police, fire department, sky divers, etc... Sociopath, in the way you may be using it, require some extra coaching... but you may know this and understand environment as part of their wiring.



I'm not advocating the sort of objective items that certain Kantians want to hold exist, as for all "rational" agents, because of "constituitive features of rational action." Nor do I think there is a sans phrase Form of the Good.



Why not, exactly? I don't mean to distract, but I found a lot of Kant's moral writing quite convincing.



I don't think this prejudices a further question, which is, ought we to transcend our biology?




So you reject materialism, and assign ontological value to things such as "soul" and "mind". Everything is reducible to its biological components and processes, we cannot transend them as we ARE them.

607. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #196156 by al-rawandi on June 19, 2008 at 11:20 am

Someone send this in for a submission, Josh doesn't like me and never posts my submissions (who can blame him with the 10 pornographic links I sent in).



This kid is the cousin of the toddler who died from going untreated. What a bunch of loons.


http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/06/19/faith.healer.deaths.ap/index.html

608. The Mother, The Child, The School Board And The Psychic

Comment #196116 by al-rawandi on June 19, 2008 at 10:15 am

MPhil,








Kenny G. is pretty talented as well.... but he is the reason I hate elevators.

609. The Mother, The Child, The School Board And The Psychic

Comment #196104 by al-rawandi on June 19, 2008 at 9:56 am

mordacious1,






I just read that severed foot story today.


Maybe they can get a psychic to track down the killer. And wasn't there some killer out in the country feeding his victims to pigs???

610. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #196092 by al-rawandi on June 19, 2008 at 9:35 am

irate,





irate_atheist is now having a glass of water before spreading 'the word'.




Is the word legs?


*ducks*

611. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #196074 by al-rawandi on June 19, 2008 at 9:15 am

Wow.... b-b-b-boring today.




Someone post a controversial article.... fast!

612. Charles Darwin: 'Is man an ape or an angel?'

Comment #196004 by al-rawandi on June 19, 2008 at 7:10 am

Laurie Fraser,





You know that history is inadmissable as evidence.


:-)

613. The Mother, The Child, The School Board And The Psychic

Comment #195976 by al-rawandi on June 19, 2008 at 6:28 am

I sense..... a presence.... a presence of.... bull shit.

614. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #195955 by al-rawandi on June 19, 2008 at 5:53 am

RTG,






I have a request... The Dow Jones finished below 12,000 yesterday... not good. Could I ask you to pray for a 150 point bump today... we could really use it, otherwise the bear's will have the market.



Thanks.

615. We Urgently Need Your Help Now!!

Comment #195562 by al-rawandi on June 18, 2008 at 1:16 pm

cerad,






Hurricane Darwin is bearing down on LA

616. Divine Impulses: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Comment #195561 by al-rawandi on June 18, 2008 at 1:15 pm

Enlightenme...,





As for Jewish demotion to jobs of usury... What about Arabs? They are often business owners and the like and many people think it "difficult" to do business with them. Maybe it is semitic people? They lived in an area that was the nexus of several continents, and a lot of trade came their way.... Maybe this has something to do with it.

617. Divine Impulses: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Comment #195547 by al-rawandi on June 18, 2008 at 12:55 pm

Enlightenme...,





You are not going to have a hard time convincing rational people that there are race issues, including differences in the races. You are going to have a hard time convincing the die hard liberals that they will have to abandon there "Everyone is the same and the sun is shining" dogmatism. It is canonical in leftist politics, these dogmas, so beware.

618. Oystein Elgaroy - the Christian defender who became an Atheist

Comment #195490 by al-rawandi on June 18, 2008 at 10:23 am

Carto,







Way to insult the new guy. Geeze, we can't take you anywhere.... You always have to make a scene.

619. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #195483 by al-rawandi on June 18, 2008 at 10:07 am

mesomodel,





Name this speaker:


"The nose is clearly designed for spectacles, so we wear spectacles, and the foot is clearly designed to be booted, so we wear boots."

620. Divine Impulses: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Comment #195402 by al-rawandi on June 18, 2008 at 7:04 am

Enlightenme...,







Well read "Guns, Germs, and Steel". Many a native population conquered through disease (Cortez and Atahualpa for example).

Anyhow, the presence of mega-flora and mega-fauna were instrumental in the development of peoples. I really don't like to suggest that people are fundamentally different, but they do often come from fundamentally different environments. In terms of race, there is no scientific data to suggest any biological difference between peoples. In fact genetic variegation can be as great within one race as it could be between races.

It is no coincidence that the Abrahamic faiths have so much in common and all come from roughly the same region. My trouble is that I really love Arabic, the Middle East and Arab culture, there is so much about it I like and enjoy, yet the nasty bits are so flagrant as to stand out beyond the niceties (more often than not).



RamziD,


You are right, I am growing weary of the things that come out of the Middle East. I think we need to get unhooked from oil and then let them sort themselves out. Any reformation will have to be because they want it and initiate it.



Fanusi,



PM for you.

621. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #195377 by al-rawandi on June 18, 2008 at 6:16 am

epeeist,






You do not resemble George Galloway at all. I can't detect even a hint of a Scottish accent in your posts, so don't worry.

622. Divine Impulses: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Comment #195029 by al-rawandi on June 17, 2008 at 3:09 pm

RamziD,




When you have thousands of years of cultural history to sort through, it's hard to pinpoint exactly what the problem is.



I pinpoint those thousands of years as the problem. I was not getting specific, quite the opposite I think.


I know you're waiting for me to spout off about something like oppression from the west, exploitation, the US is to blame



No I wasn't. Actually I tend to think you are pretty rational about things. Your posts are not reactionary, so I expected about what I got, a pretty reasonable answer.



but you are also pretty absolutist by saying that Arab muslims can't be enlightened



Well to be fair, I meant a society, since enlightened Arab Muslims are a minority. But I would say I was wrong to be so absolutist, in fact I know a lot of enlightened Arab-Muslims. And I happen to like many aspects of Arab culture immensely, just not the mean stuff. But there is much about my own culture the bothers the hell out of me (American that is).



So my post was a little bit of a fringe comment, pushing the envelope, although not technically wrong I don't think. But that is what happens when I talk to Fanusi too much.

623. Divine Impulses: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Comment #195019 by al-rawandi on June 17, 2008 at 2:34 pm

RamziD,






How do you know I am not an Arab? How do you know my parents aren't Lebanese?


But to answer your question, Arab tribal ethos was a nasty bit of business in pre-Islamic times. Islam codified this into a religion. So when other countries shed their tribalistic ethos, Arabs didn't because it was now codified in their religion.

Since there is no god, as you admit, then Islam is a product of the Arabs, is it not? Specifically Muhammad, and since there was not a system of forced conversion, Arabs chose this faith (for any number of reasons). So I fail to see how Islam is NOT a reflection of Arab tribal ethos. How then do you account for the more passive nature of Bosnian and Chinese Muslims?



or if people like me are just exceptions to your rule



I have no rule, only observations and history. Like I said, there are Christian Arabs who were suicide bombers.


People's cultures develop around their environment. Is it any wonder that the Muslim view of heaven is rivers and gardens... the one thing lacking in the deserts of Arabia? The harsh environment of the peninsula could only be conquered by a harsh people. Do you agree or disagree that a species' environment plays a significant role in the evolution of that species.

Personally, I like the Arabian peninsula very much, I have written on its historical geography. But there is no doubt that it is a harsh place and the people there subscribe to different ethos.


What, inherent in them, makes them unable to achieve modernization?



Nothing. There are plenty of enlightened Arabs... Ibn Warraq for instance. However why is Arab culture not enlightened (in general terms)? Because it pushes back against things that help to enlighten a culture (women's rights, democracy, freedom of speech, etc...). There is nothing inherent in them because there is nothing you can do to show me they are in any way, biologically different from other humans. So there is a cultural issue, that is persistent.


But to make this fair, let's hear your theory on why the Arab world is suffering under its own weight?

624. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #194882 by al-rawandi on June 17, 2008 at 11:05 am

Steve,






I have noticed something. Evolution by natural selection is clearly explained, in well worded papers with copious evidence. While creationism is actually an ever changing amorphous pile of ad hominem, which isn't ever delineated in detail because anytime it has been, it was destroyed by scientists.

From a simply aesthetic perspective, evolution and natural selection are an organized blue print, while creationism is a heap of crayon sketched dinosaur saddles.

Striking differences.

625. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #194869 by al-rawandi on June 17, 2008 at 10:48 am

Karda,





In this new religion "Dudeism" there would not be "Altar Boys" only "Little Lebowski Urban Achievers".

626. Saving Us from Darwin

Comment #194777 by al-rawandi on June 17, 2008 at 9:03 am

epeeist,





Throwing a little logic at these people is quite a humorous adventure.


I always take the miracle approach. They love Jesus miracles, but not the ones in Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc... Those are fake miracles and only looney toons would believe in them. It seems too strange to be true.

627. Saving Us from Darwin

Comment #194764 by al-rawandi on June 17, 2008 at 8:45 am

ketch22,




I have actually read the Koran, and there are no miracles performed by Muhammad there. I actually read right to left as this was how the book was represented when I obtained it. All miracles come from Islamic tradition from so-called Hadith. This Islamic traditions comes hundreds of years after Muhammad's life and therefore isn't comparable to the gospels, which were written down within the first generation when the eyewitnesses were still alive.




You read the "Koran" in Arabic? It is read right to left of course. Or you read the English right to left? I studied Arabic, and I don't see the value of reading a translation of Arabic right to left. Perhaps you actually read it in Arabic, I could be wrong.

The Hadith were recorded more or less contemporaneously, but were only compiled into cannonical form by Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, and al-Tirmidhi.

If you had done ANY research on the Hadith you would realize that these were strict systems of codification of the traditions, and that the narrators must have been reliable and the strongest Hadith were narrated by more than one person. Meaning there were many witnesses, and they all related a similar story.



And so how exactly did Jesus hold stars in his hand as the Bible said? Don't you think bringing a burning star that close to the earth might effect global weather patterns?

628. Saving Us from Darwin

Comment #194718 by al-rawandi on June 17, 2008 at 7:56 am

ketch22,




And as far as miracles go, if you believe God exists, then you have no problem with believing He can perform miracles, either as a man or as God in heaven.




You believe in miracles eh?


Well how do you accept the miracles of Jesus and discount the miracles of Muhammad. Hundreds witnessed Muhammad summon rain clouds at al-Hijr and miraculously locate his she-camel. Others witnessed him split the moon in two.

How do you discount those miracles while accepting the miracles of Jesus on the same amount of evidence? I am simply curious how you manage this massive display of hypocrisy.

629. Unlike Others, U.S. Defends Freedom to Offend in Speech

Comment #194660 by al-rawandi on June 17, 2008 at 6:29 am

Dr. Benway,





I like the Newspeak you throw in. Winston Smith would be proud.

630. Report: Troubling texts at Va. Islamic school

Comment #194659 by al-rawandi on June 17, 2008 at 6:28 am

Naked Celt,





Excellent point on WWI Arab resistance. The Hashemites worked quite hard at their insurgency. All one has to do is read T.E. Lawrence, or hell, just watch the movie "Lawrence of Arabia".


I must also concur, the Crusades were a genocidal offensive "jihad" and the massacres perpetrated by the Crusaders belie their actually intent. It was not to do with "defense".

631. Divine Impulses: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Comment #194654 by al-rawandi on June 17, 2008 at 6:21 am

Fanusi,






This is a point I made earlier, about Israelis. And of course lastgreekstanding objected, but that makes me feel a little better (When the idiots start complaining.... push on).

Look at Israel and look at the history of Jews. Jews in the OT are mean sons of bitches, slaughtering, killing, stoning, hating. They spend a few centuries in Europe, undergo all the influences of an enlightenment and come back a secular group of civilized people (although far from perfect). Now, how many Jews do you see stoning people for cutting their hair to short? Or working on Saturday? None, zero.

And look at how social dynamics work in Israel. Ashkenazi Jews are the successful ones, they are from Europe. Mizrachi Jews (Oriental) are suffering and are largely the lower rungs of society, they never spent time in Europe, they remained in the Middle East... and what is their political party???? Shas, a party of religious whackery that does more harm than good to the ISraeli cause.

It is no coincidence that Bosnians, Huis, Uzbeks, and others don't stone adulterers or behead apostates... because they are removed from the Arab center. The problem emenates from the Peninsula.


Muslim society can undergo an enlightenment, just not an Arab Muslim society.

632. Divine Impulses: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Comment #194650 by al-rawandi on June 17, 2008 at 6:13 am

elephant,




Since religion isn't uniform, it is specific to the person. Most Muslims I know practice the faith in a way that reflects their personality, and since I only consider good people my friends, the Muslims I know all practice Islam in a way tolerable to me.

The people who get "radicalized" are often converts who have serious identity crises. Not all converts do so out of identity crisis, but those who do tend to become radical. They feel they need to staunchly defend their new faith and identity against the society which made a social outcast of them.

Christianity isn't the answer. There is no answer to radical Islam.

The issue with Nazism was that there was one man at the head, we could kill him and show everyone that Nazism is a bankrupt and failed ideology. Islam, as a social system, is a failed ideology already. We cannot show these whackos that their ideology is failed because it is in plain sight, they live in squalor and they see this as confirmation of their beliefs. The only option is to kill them, or allow them a state in which they can busy themselves stoning adulterers and beheading people.


The options don't look good.

633. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #194646 by al-rawandi on June 17, 2008 at 6:07 am

Frankus,




Jesus said:

"This is some bush league psych out stuff!"


"You try any of that shit with me, pull a piece out on the lane... I will take it away from you, shove it up your ass and pull the trigger until it goes.... click."


And thus spaketh Walter Sobchak:

"No he's a peterass Dude, he did 6 months in Chino for exposing himself to an 8 year old. Had to go door to door telling everyone he was a peterass."

634. Divine Impulses: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Comment #194636 by al-rawandi on June 17, 2008 at 5:50 am

Fanusi,






No thanks. There is a reason Bosnian Islam is mild compared to some of the stuff in Yemen. There is a reason why Uzbeks had long been moderates until Arabs showed up. There is a reason Hui Mulsims in Xianjiang were largely passive. The lack of Arab influence.


There have been Arab Christian suicide bombers, terrorists and other whackos. George Habash was head of the PFLP (responsible for hijackings)... he was a Christian.


I would want austere ass holes practicing any religion. Such radical dichotomists can easily turn Christianity into a nasty (*EDIT* even nastier) doctrine. So I must agree with Irate Atheist on this one.

635. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #194633 by al-rawandi on June 17, 2008 at 5:47 am

Karda,





Hey! Dudeism? I am in soooo in for that:


"Jackie Treehorn treats objects like women man"

We can drink the sacramental "white russian", and then go bowling.... And if anyone questions the doctrines????


"You are entering a world of pain Smokey.... Mark it fucking zero!"

636. Divine Impulses: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Comment #194437 by al-rawandi on June 16, 2008 at 7:26 pm

LGS,






You are correct, government housing encourages migration to settlements, but who would migrate to the settlements? If you watch "Palestine is Still the Issue" you can see plenty of interviews with settlers and see their fanatacism at work.


How do explain the difference between European Jews and the Jews of the OT? What accounts for that? No Jews are stoned for anything, yet Muslims still stone people. I am afraid a European vacation of many centuries can have a positive effect, don't you?

637. Unlike Others, U.S. Defends Freedom to Offend in Speech

Comment #194428 by al-rawandi on June 16, 2008 at 7:11 pm

alvorin,






I should only have to repost your post #136 to make my point. Fucktard.


I didn't say free markets are utopian, I said they are better than the alternative. This is merely another example of your habit of spouting lies about other people and what they say. But I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are simply incapable of reading.

I never said our foreign policy was good. In fact I am one of the biggest and most persistent critics of US foreign policy, and have routinely suggested alternatives.


The problem is you are a simpleton. In your double digit IQ world, everyone who detests socialism is a believer in free makret utopias. And every American who believes liberty is better than Islamic totalitarianism supports an "idiotic foreign" policy.

You are just a simpleton that is all. Flailing away at strawmen, and lying to put other people in the scare crow outfit.

My suggestion, stop lying and people might start to take some of your stupidity seriously. Until then I am marking you with the "fucktard" button. You have certainly earned it, wear it with pride.


Liars disgust me.

638. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #194419 by al-rawandi on June 16, 2008 at 6:49 pm

RTG,






I am an American, you are a disgrace to our great country. You can take your rude posts about the British and shove them. The British are some of the bravest people on earth, and their new secular direction is a credit to their intellectual advancement. As an American I have nothing but respect for the British, you can thank much of their political thought for producing the Founding Fathers of our nation, who also thought religion was a pernicious cancer to be marginalized at all costs.


You are truly pathetic.

639. Saving Us from Darwin

Comment #194415 by al-rawandi on June 16, 2008 at 6:33 pm

ketch22



I simply came here wondering why it is so difficult to believe in evolution and a creator.




Because everything that I see around me suggests a lack of design...

Wisdom teeth
Appendix
Blind Spot
Tail Bone
Retarded children
Sickle cell
massive death
injustice
evil


All of these suggest that there isn't a god, and if there is, he certainly isn't the god of the Bible.

640. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #194234 by al-rawandi on June 16, 2008 at 2:45 pm

RTG,





asteemed




Ass teamed? That is where three guys get a puerto rican hook... oh never mind.

641. Vatican bans Dan Brown film Angels & Demons from Rome churches

Comment #194227 by al-rawandi on June 16, 2008 at 2:41 pm

Fanusi,








Moore is so dishonest. He said in his 9/11 film that Saudis own about 1% of our economy. This may be true, but what about Japan, England, or any other country? China has billions upon billions in T-bonds and T-notes. They could potentially destroy our currency. So he is disengenuous by omission, which to me can be worse.

642. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #194223 by al-rawandi on June 16, 2008 at 2:39 pm

MPhil,





That is just a bunch of prebiased deceivement on your part.


|>:-{o

643. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #194210 by al-rawandi on June 16, 2008 at 2:30 pm

RTG,







What atheist screamed that?

I have a small volume on what religious women scream.... one I have compiled... don't ask me how I went about it, apparently Christian morals aren't all that strong after all.

644. Vatican bans Dan Brown film Angels & Demons from Rome churches

Comment #194208 by al-rawandi on June 16, 2008 at 2:27 pm

FF,







Yeshua, Iesus, Yehoshua... something in that range probably.



Iesus being similar to the Arabic 'Issa, which makes me think the Arabic is gleaned from the Greek and not the Aramiac. Strange etymology for the Semitic languages.

645. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #194203 by al-rawandi on June 16, 2008 at 2:26 pm

RTG,






"Deceivement"
"Prebiased"




Drop the axe and step away from the English language! Do it now!

646. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #194195 by al-rawandi on June 16, 2008 at 2:18 pm

RTG,




Ridicule Kirk Cameron? Who are you and what is your accomplishment to society other than intentually contributing to the continued deceivement of Evolution theory.





Tell me English is your second or third language.

Do you have any contribution other than the shameful mutilation of the English language?

647. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #194192 by al-rawandi on June 16, 2008 at 2:12 pm

RTG



With a display of 5 pieces of art, would not an art novice have the ability to determine which 3 were the works of Picasso? Why? The same creator and or designer.




I can prove Picasso actually existed.

That is a shit analogy.

648. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #194182 by al-rawandi on June 16, 2008 at 2:01 pm

Steve,







Ooooooh someone has been stockpiling their aresenal!


Well done sir, well done.


In a debate with Kirk Cameron, my sole tactic would be to remind him that he is in fact, Kirk Cameron, no person could survive such a comment.

649. Vatican bans Dan Brown film Angels & Demons from Rome churches

Comment #194177 by al-rawandi on June 16, 2008 at 1:50 pm

FF,




His name wasn't Jesus, as Jesus is not a name in any of the languages present in the Levant at that period.


Try Apollonius of Tyanna.

650. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #194175 by al-rawandi on June 16, 2008 at 1:48 pm

ReceivedtheGift,





Narrow minded? Dr. Zara is the foremost authority in regards to Macroevolution. Who says? All others are quacks and stupid




Wow. Where did epeeist say "foremost authority" in regards to Steve? No where, this is your fabrication.


Does lying come easily to you, or does it take some work.



A plant is still a plant. A dog is still a dog. So on and so on



*face palm*


Sometimes it is like explaining calculus to chimpanzee, as much as you try all you get is hooting and hollering.

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