1651. Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol

Comment #181914 by Goldy on May 18, 2008 at 6:06 pm

From Arabnews.com

US-Led Capitalist System Headed for Collapse?
Syed Rashid Husain, Arab News

Oil prices continue to rise and rise, with no end in sight. Virtually all other commodities seem to be following to be the same suit. Some now say a new economic system is emerging from the ashes of the old and now crumbling financial structure. Failing to meet even the basic needs of the common man, the current economic system is facing its worst crisis and appears in doldrums. It has miserably failed the underprivileged of this world.

Markets appear divorced from the fundamentals. F. William Engdahl strongly says in a recent write up that the oil markets (and other markets too) today are controlled by an elaborate financial market system as well as by the four major Anglo-American oil companies. As much as 60 percent of today's crude oil price is pure speculation driven by large trader banks and hedge funds. It has nothing to do with the convenient myths of Peak Oil. It has to do with control of oil and its price.

And the end-result is growing deprivation to a large number of people across geographical boundaries!

In the 90's, with the war in Afghanistan taking its toll, the Soviet empire virtually melted before our eyes under its own weight. The number of deprived, form Moscow to Siberia and Grozny started to grow and grow rapidly. And as the number of have-nots in then USSR rose, the system could not cope with the pressures, and failed to provide even the basic needs to the common man in the streets. And within years the mighty and the powerful USSR was assigned into the annals of history.

Analysts today point to the Afghan war as one of the major causes for the disintegration of the USSR. Many then rejoiced over the demise of the USSR, claiming the capitalist system has won the war â€" finally. Many in the West, including the Regan Administration claimed supremacy of the capitalist system over the Marxist ideals. The victory of the West was described in terms of ideologies.

Current developments also point to a new emerging reality. The capitalist economy now seem to be failing its underprivileged, the have-nots of the world. With the number of people below the poverty line growing rapidly all over the globe, the common man on the streets today appear more and more desperate today.

In sharp contrast to this grim reality, it is only a few, the haves of the world, controlling the capital, benefiting from the current scenario. The vast majority is now being deprived of two square meals a day too. The old Malthusian theory, which has been lying dormant in the shelves for quite sometime, seem to be back and people have started to look at it closely once again. And this is happening in this 21st century, when the world claims to have taken tremendous strides in the fields of science and technology. What a growth indeed!

The people to benefit out of this imbroglio are the money vendors, the rich of the world. Real estate and property boom has been the engine of growth all around. Conservative economists do not accept investments in real estate as really contributing toward the growth of the economy. Terming it as stagnant investment, these conservative economists continue to claim, growth in the real estate sector does not contribute significantly to the over all GDP of an economy. And secondly it is only the fortunate few who could benefit out of this boom â€" and at the cost of poor many.

Unable to come up to the expectations of the vast majority of the common man, many seem asking the question today, is the capitalist economy also passing through its last phases? The situation is grim for a vast majority. Global food prices, based on United Nations records, rose 35 percent in the year to the end of January, markedly accelerating an upturn that began, gently at first, in 2002.

Since then, prices have risen 65 percent. In 2007 alone, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's world food index, dairy prices rose nearly 80 percent and grain 42 percent. The World Bank estimates that 33 countries around the world face potential political and social unrest because of the acute hike in food and energy prices.

And this has resulted in disastrous social consequences for the billions below the poverty line in the impoverished, underdeveloped world. The scenario is so bleak for the common man on street that the world is witnessing food riots virtually all across the globe. People of the world are hungry in this era of growth and emancipation!

Where are we being led? We are living in a different world with a new era seeming to dawn upon us. In the 21st century, when the world was supposed to be at the click of a mouse, the number of hungry population, those who can't afford proper food three times a day has increased. It seems, the age of scarcity, of shortages, of rising prices, of food riots, of ration cards, is finally upon us, all around the globe.

What is happening, that with the weakening of the ruling currency of the world, the US dollar, the moneyed class of the world â€" sans frontiers in this age of freedom and liberty- is moving their capital into commodities â€" from oil to gold and grains.

This paper transaction, at times termed as speculation, is taking place even without the physical transfer of the goods and is making a mockery of the conservative economic models. And this is contributing to the current imbroglio. Unfortunately only the moneyed class has the capacity to participate and benefit from this entire game â€" at the cost of the poor.

Religious scholars tell that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) did not permit transactions in which physical transaction of the goods under question did not take place. And in the current situation, rarely is the physical transaction taking place.

This paper circulation is contributing to this rise of virtually all commodities â€" oil included. If it continues the same way, it may not be too wrong to point out that like the Marxist ideals, the current era of capitalism may also not last long. It may already be in its final throes, some hence deduce.

If a system cannot meet the basic idea of having some sort of equity within the society, where the have-nots could not have at least three meals a day, then it is bound to fizzle out, proponents of the theory underline.

The war in Afghanistan turned out to be the Achilles heel of the Russian empire and who knows the two concurrent wars, in Iraq and in Afghanistan, is leading the US-led capitalist economic system toward the same fate? Only time has the answer to this trillion dollar question.

1652. Face to faith

Comment #181913 by Goldy on May 18, 2008 at 5:58 pm

Damn, did I miss Henri this last weeknd? Ah, well, no matter. Got my TR6 running again.
I do like Henri, though he's a bit funny, what with his amorality (it's a western construct, this moral thing, he says. Of course, he then blows his argument, again, by saying Western thought is Christian in origin. I always maintain that European Christianity is western thought derived - a reworking of Middle Eastern mythology made to fit our Euro-centrism) and his weak genes (though he hasn't mentioned them for a while).
Ah, well, no matter, I can read the comments at work :-)

1653. Gimme that Old-Time Irreligion

Comment #181912 by Goldy on May 18, 2008 at 5:53 pm

But...those are mostly places in Western Europe. The big "test" of secularization theory is whether Western Europe points the way to the future, or is an anomaly

That's a mighty fine point there! Too much Euro-centrism in these here threads for my liking. I can understand it, but having a Chinese wife has really made me realise there are other ways of thinking.

1654. Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol

Comment #181910 by Goldy on May 18, 2008 at 5:41 pm

Mind you, maybe there was a reason for using personal transport in the first place - a reason all too familiar to us today!
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/train-firms-accused-of-using-new-ticketing-system-to-raise-prices-830575.html

1655. Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol

Comment #181909 by Goldy on May 18, 2008 at 5:34 pm

http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/blogs/100-mile-diet/wine-sail-100-mile-diet-smith-44032408
Old ideas are being renewed. Soon, I dare say, they will be modernised :-)
Have to say, Tera, I had sort of forgotten how important internet is. After all, who would have thought, a mere generation ago, that we would be talking to relatives in other continents using sound and sight. I can't imagine not talking to my parents or in-laws without MSN Messenger/Skype/etc and actually seeing them as well.

For large-scale, relatively fast ground transport perhaps the most practical and potentially sustainable method is electric rail, but for nations which don't have electric rail networks now, building them will take decades and cost fortunes.

Tell me about it. Seems to be a big issue here in NZ. Of course, there's no rail system to speak of here in Auckland as cars and buses were thought to be the way forward (as I understand things).

1656. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #181907 by Goldy on May 18, 2008 at 5:28 pm

Diacanu

it's anti_American

It's anti British!

I think it may even be anti French, but I'm not sure.

Hah! I have it on good authority (Holocaust deniers, Arabists et al) that is is all a Zionist plot!

1657. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #180807 by Goldy on May 15, 2008 at 9:00 pm

James Coppedge has written a chapter about the insurmountable problems associated with the accidental formation of proteins.

Had a look at Amazon...
http://www.amazon.com/review/product/0310224918/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?_encoding=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
I liked this...

By Michael Catalano - See all my reviews


As a mathematics professor, I was interested in this book as a possible source of examples. As a Christian, I was interested in the book from a personal standpoint.
Overall, I was very disappointed in the book. The calculations are correct as far as I checked, and he does give a reasonable exposition of basic probability (though in a somewhat patronizing fashion).

The main problem is that Coppedge tries to get the reader to buy the idea that just because the calculation is correct, it allows one to conlude that one has the truth "with certainty". Unfortunately, his calculations are based on biological assumptions that may or may not be reasonable. The Talk Origins website has a number of refutations of the assumptions that went into these calculations. At best, Coppedge shows only that if you buy his very restrictive and speculative biological assumptions, than abiogenesis (or life arising from non-life) is highly improbable. As the computer people say, "garbage in, garbage out."

Coppedge is a biblical literalist. This is fine, but I was rather surprised that his only supporting rationale for the inerrancy of his particular literalist interpretation of the Bible is Hal Lindsey's book "The Late Great Planet Earth". Coppedge implies that Lindsey's book is sufficient reason to accept his particular scriptural interpretation.

Like Duane Gish and other creationists, Coppedge tries to get the reader to buy in to the false dichotomy that either evolution (as he defines it) is true, or creation (as he defines it in the young-earth tradition) is true. This is essentially like saying in a legal setting that if we can prove defendant A is innocent, then we would be justified in picking anyone we like off the street to be defendant B and concluding, without even having a trial, that B must be guilty.

Coppedge's literalist position completely ignores that many sincere and learned men have been very mistaken about what the Bible says, even though they took the most straightforward interpretation. Martin Luther's many quotations of scripture showing that it was not possible for the earth to move are but one example.

Coppedge also claims that if scientists cannot explain the origins of the first life in natural terms, then the entire theory of evolution is invalid. This is like saying we should throw out all of chemistry because chemists can't or don't or won't explain where atoms and molecules come from.

The other very disappointing, and rather insulting for me as a Christian, aspect of the book was his constant insistance that evolution is inherently un-Christian, and therefore must be opposed. He insists that the millions of Christians who accept that the earth is billions of years old, and not thousands, and who see evolution as the most reasonable scientific explanation for the diversity of life are deceived and in league with unbelievers. I found his arguments in support of this position very poor.

I would not recommend this book to anyone.

The positive reviews were from Christian nuts and his son. Pretty good, eh? The last review was not positive and from a professed Christian.
As I said before and I will say again, there are those that are militant in maintaining their ignorance. To argue with them is to waste breath, thought and finger cells.

1658. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #180804 by Goldy on May 15, 2008 at 8:50 pm

Max, why persist? Txtpiper is militantly ignorant. He is fighting to keep his eyes shut to evidence contrary to what he wants to believe. Here...

I don't have time to go into all that. You would have to accept notations in the Genesis record in order to accept the explanation, and I feel sure you would not. I'm really just interested in pointing out that there are incomprehensible amounts of sedimentary materials loaded with countless billions of fossils. That, in my mind, is an enormous anomaly that is better explained by a catastrophic flood than the establishment idea of local events happening over millions of years. I don't believe that because it is simply, to me, not believable, though I'm happy to consider your explanations as to why you think it is.

Never mind pushing boulders uphill, arguing with him is like a Classical punishment for some transgression against the gods. You will never win because he does not want to be educated.

1659. Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol

Comment #180797 by Goldy on May 15, 2008 at 8:16 pm

This means the first and most important adaptation to life after the oil peak is learning to live - and prosper! - with far less physical travel. The people who figure that out first will do better than the people who are slow to figure it out.

Getting a bicycle and learning how to maintain it would also be a good idea. But you'd also like to find a way to make money without moving, even if it's only a part-time option.

If things get really rough, we might see problems with food. This would be a good time to think about starting a garden, just so one has the skills in place if it becomes necessary. Even if one can afford to buy food, growing some of one's own reduces competition on food prices, which might be something to think about if you care about the starving Haitians who are getting priced out in part because people like me have been too lazy to garden.

Getting to know one's neighbors better is advisable as well. Reduction in travel will require communities to become more self-sufficient than they have been lately.

So, we go back to our grandparents mode of living. Not so bad, methinks. I do, however, question if we need to this far - after all, we have tasted the sweet sweet taste of personal freedom, even for travel. Can we let it go so easily? There are other modes of transport not yet allowed to peek from the shadow of cheap oil, other modes of propulsion.
Where there is a will, I dare say there is a way.
Saying that, my bicycle is being maintained, my garden is being planned (if the council allows me to cut down a tree or two) and my produce is getting ever more local :-) I'm even brewing my own beer again! Be a still next - still legal in NZ!

1660. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #180791 by Goldy on May 15, 2008 at 8:00 pm

Start with any given form, and show how a mutation adds something beneficial to its genome. Like the reptile form that supposedly developed mammary function by way of mutations I mentioned.

Check out the platypus genome.
Mind you, you believe in the biblical flood (forgive lack of capitals). Why am I even bothering with suggestions to you?

1661. The Neural Buddhists

Comment #180735 by Goldy on May 15, 2008 at 4:35 pm

...though I of course would never stoop to its usage.

Max, if you don't use it, it will die out! And then we'd be bereft of the more colourful aspects of our language!

1662. Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol

Comment #180692 by Goldy on May 15, 2008 at 2:57 pm

Mark my words (or just wait for me to come back and say I told you so): in five years, or less, everybody who wasted even one brain cell fretting over the Expelled movie - as if it was an issue that mattered - will regret not having focused that spare mental capacity on the energy problem sooner. Not just the energy problem in the abstract, which is certainly worth educating ourselves about, but also your personal problem with energy. How will you manage, personally, when oil hits $200/bbl? $300/bbl? $400/bbl? What is your plan? Now is the time to prepare. Everybody needs to think about this, starting yesterday.

Started already :-) Absolutely no mention anywhere in Aotearoa about Expelled (if it wasn't for this website, i'd have been blissfully unaware). However, petrol up 5c/L - EVERYONE is talking about that. Sales of scooters shooting up (along with inevitable casualties and loss of revenue - there is rumblings here and there about front number plates on 2 wheelers for cameras to note and for compulsary daytime lights).
There is even a petition for cycle lanes on what is pretty much the only bridge linking Auckland to the northern suburbs. Sure, we can catch a ferry etc, but that works out as pretty much the same as running a car (even 5c/L extra) with passengers (like moi). Buses also run at about the same price - I think if I took a bus (and there has been an amazing amount of work making bus lanes here), I'll be paying probably more than I would for petrol. The money I save running a car over catching a bus covers the incidentals like insurance and servicing (as these are shared costs with my wife...)
My father finds this all a bit amusing. He remembers the days as an oil engineer, busting his arse to get oil out of the ground for US$6/barrel.

1663. The Neural Buddhists

Comment #180688 by Goldy on May 15, 2008 at 2:50 pm

Max, it's one of those things I just have to find out... Gosh, I feel like Alex in Clockwork Orange, my eyelids propped open and someone dripping saline on my eyeballs while I an made to watch things I don't like.
Anyway, I never had much of a problem with RM. I guess I am a bit too laid back to take much seriously :-)

1664. The Neural Buddhists

Comment #180679 by Goldy on May 15, 2008 at 2:38 pm

Quetz, I'd be interested in the story. I have never had goddiness within me and it is something of a Holy Grail for me...I need to know what makes people think that gods are the answer.
Cheers!

1665. The Neural Buddhists

Comment #180421 by Goldy on May 14, 2008 at 9:29 pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/steakandkidneypuddin_4410.shtml

do you really believe that I thought, "Oh this must be God. Therefore I will convert?" Do you think it happened that way? If so, it proves that I'm a lousy communicator. Sorry about that.

Obviously you must have thought fairly long and hard about it and could not think of another answer. Hopefully, if and answer does come, you might consider it...but then again, you might be happy as you are. I don't know. I myself can't envisage a god in my life, certainly not the god I was taught about and of which I am a cultural victim of his cult.
I know you said for 15 years you would have reasoned as I would. But somehow this time was different. Now, unlike me, you were a Mormon, if I recall. An evangelical one. Maybe therein is the difference between you and me. An alcoholic can go years without a drop passing his lips. Doesn't make him any less an alcoholic.
Gosh, just reading that makes me cringe a bit - it's a pretty harsh analogy! I apologise! But I think you can understand where I am coming from. I hope you do.
I am curious why this time it was different - and no trying to describe the taste of salt :-) Just sit and analyse the feelings leading up to this. Oh, and maybe an explanation about going to that Robertson cove. I think that annoyed more than any deity worship!
Now, best be off to pick up wife, unborn child and born child. And damned if now I can't get that steak and kidney pud out of my mind!!!! Swine!! ;-)

1666. The Neural Buddhists

Comment #180388 by Goldy on May 14, 2008 at 7:01 pm

Could a brain infarction make me perceive so many things differently? Could it open to me to a greater sensation of love - given and received?

I believe it could, yes. Amazing organ, the brain. Interconnections everywhere, with repair mechanisms. Certainly some trauma to one site would make you feel different (they can make you feel and taste stuff by basically prodding different regions of the brain. Cool, eh?).
How you translate these feelings is up to you. You think God and therefore convert, others..well, they think it's a pretty good feeling and carry on :-)

1667. The Neural Buddhists

Comment #180385 by Goldy on May 14, 2008 at 6:54 pm

But are temporary brain infarctions and epileptic fits life-changing?

Yes, if they make you change something about yourself. All depends, doesn't it? Some people think "Bugger me, that's odd. Hope it doesn't happen again!" and some people think that it is a sign from God or something. Kardashovel heard voices in his head. His immediate response was "God is talking to me". Now, not having had lucid and clear voices in my head, I can't say for certain but my immediate response would be to go to a doctor, with schizophrenia ringing bells where the voices are!

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God"

Saved from what? I still maintain that faith is a mental construct, within you (hence I disagree with the "this not from yourself" line. That sounds like spin to me from someone selling the idea of a god). As there is no God, it cannot be a gift from him.
QED.
;-)

1668. The Neural Buddhists

Comment #180368 by Goldy on May 14, 2008 at 4:59 pm

Goldy - I still haven't forgiven you for that UFO experience! I was driving it at the time!

It was you?? Aha, that reprobate Kardashovel claimed it was him...or did he say it was his god...memeory a bit lax. Gin, you know.
I am going home now - I have man things to do...well, actually, I have to tidy garage and get cars to at least move a short distance in preparation for our house move.
Hope you're not put off by the more aggressive posters here. Be interesting to dissect you, as it were, to find out how this religion things comes and goes from a person :-) And comes back, as in your case :-D
TTFN!

1669. The Neural Buddhists

Comment #180361 by Goldy on May 14, 2008 at 4:48 pm

Richard

Don't you mean that the brain activity can be observed during certain experiences labelled "religious" or "mystical" and perhaps be replicated?

The brain activity IS the experience. There isn't any external stimulus that can be detected, so the focus is on the internal stimuli that cause these experiences.
You'll have to forgive me on the qualia aspect - that's for philosophers more than me :-) I am but a mere lab technician with some research background :-( All I can say regarding these experiences is that I do not generally have them - and if I do, another part of my brain "rationalises" them into something I am comfortable with. Like that UFO experience I had - I knew I was not sleeping un the umbra of a passing spaceship, though it felt like it and I was paralysed at the time. I knew I would be OK once that "craft" had passed by and I would be able to move. It all happened as I thought it would and though I still hanker after the UFO explanation (well, it does sound pretty exotic!) I knew then and I know now there was something else involved. And I'm not the only one - look, others! http://www.medhelp.org/posts/show/439547
Sleep paralysis, apparently (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis).
See, our bodies are not the perfect controllable things we'd like them to be. I think religion is the same, only sanctioned by society. I can't tell you about the UFO I encountered but if I changed that term to "God" then I'm quids in (except here ;-)).
So you see, it is all your brain telling you this. Which, in a way, is great news because if we knew how, we'd be able to replicate your epiphany then we'd all get to share!

1670. The Neural Buddhists

Comment #180331 by Goldy on May 14, 2008 at 3:39 pm

Are you saying that since that which is apparently being perceived in the "religious" experience in unverifiable by scientific method

I think religious experiences can be verified by scientific method. It's all in the brain. You can treat it with drugs or by manipulation. You can also try and replicate the same experience by the aforementioned methods.
Nice to see you back, Richard.

1671. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #180326 by Goldy on May 14, 2008 at 3:22 pm

Coming in late here - if communism is so good, why do people have to be forced into it (I'll accept that those with nothing are not forced, but then, they have nothing to lose).
China is communist, follows the Manifesto (with Chinese characteristics) but allows capitalism to flourish because it knows the system doesn't work. With no reward, there's no incentive. With no incentive, there is no production...etc, etc.

1672. Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol

Comment #179743 by Goldy on May 13, 2008 at 3:49 pm

Goldy.. I hate to say it, but Red Deer is hardly representative of Alberta

Though I also lived in Calgary, most of my time was spent in Red Deer and Brooks, both pick up towns. Worked everywhere between Medicine Hat and Peace River, enjoyed the tranquility of Red Earth Creek in the north and dinos in Drumheller, up the Rockies and freezing in the praries. Worked with Metis, native Canadians, Hutterites, Newfies, Ukrainians as well as Anglo-descended Albertans. All of them hankered after the Ford pick up (can't remember what model) when it came out with the bigger engine to couter the Dodge and that little door to let you get into the back seats. Wouldn't consider a V6 - that was the ladies car.
Admittedly, the company I kept (oilmen/farmers) did not fully understand my Subaru owning logic, though it was popular in Calgary and Edmonton. Oddly, I met people in Calgary, Canadians, who looked at me aghast when I mentioned beer with a side of clamato. Never heard of it, which was odd as it was served in every diner I went to all over Alberta.
Suffice to say I really liked it there! Great place, one I sometimes wish I had never left.

1673. 'My daughter deserved to die for falling in love'

Comment #179733 by Goldy on May 13, 2008 at 3:28 pm

Finally, if we are going to cut support to anyone, it should be to the entire Muslim world. Let them spend their own money for a change.

Yep, we could do that. Of course, the Chinese and Indians would be only too pleased to take their goods in exchange for money. And the Chinese, as we all know, do operate a policy of non-intervention...

1674. Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol

Comment #179726 by Goldy on May 13, 2008 at 3:18 pm

Comment #179322 by Christopher Davis
Mate, sorry for the delay - went to bed.
No, I'm not really having a dig at Americans. I know it is hard for them, but then again, it's not really easy for us not bonded by the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans either. We do, I guess, have much better public transport. However, some things were apparent last time I was Stateside (and up in Alberta) - Americans don't walk or cycle except in the movies or in front of their houses. OK, I generalise, but in Memphis there were no pavements (sidewalks) between my ex's house and the local Piggly Wiggly supermarket. None - at all! I was shocked! In Alberta, I was the only commuter in Red Deer on a bike, as far as I could tell. Odd because the cycle lanes were fairly extensive (well, going to the city and the parks, not to where I worked). Pretty much everyone in Red Deer had a pick-up (to haul lumber, apparently) but petrol was only 47 cents a litre back then.
Not that Europeans are off the hook. When was the last time any Brit went to Blackpool or Skegness or Morecambe for a holiday with the family? And took public transport to get there? I'll wager it was Benidorm, or Carcassonne, by RyanAir. Some cheap flight (costing a fraction of the rail price to a British resort). Buying flowers on your return flown in from Kenya...
And those calling for more increases in fuel prices - ever wonder how the food gets on the shelves? Even the "local" stuff?
Edit - Having worked for Johnson Matthey developing hygrogen purification systems for fuel cell vehicles, I think I tried to do my bit :-) Battery cars - are they going to be like mobile phones, with batteries dying after a period of time and needing replacement? What happens to those batteries? And are there conflicts in Africa over patches of mud, mud containing the raw materials needed for said batteries? Don't batteries need to be charged? Where does that power come from? Given the number of clean power stations I know of...
I think the future of personal transport os a dying concept - unless someone thinks of something else and guarded interests allow it to develop.

1675. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #179250 by Goldy on May 13, 2008 at 1:11 am

Rian, he's ignorant. Militantly so and will fight each and every attempt at education. Save your typing for those that wish to learn.
He believes in the Biblical flood - what does that tell you about him?

1676. Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol

Comment #179245 by Goldy on May 13, 2008 at 1:03 am

Yep, poor single mother driving a Lemans 20 miles. Poor single mother here in NZ has just been hit by a 5c/litre price rise. When she set off this morning it was a measly $1.88/L. On the way home, when she thought she'd fill up it's $1.94. Of course, childcare has also gone up - mind you, if she waits until the child is 3 then the government steps in with 20 free hours. However, she'll still have to stump up $285/week if it isn't a government subsidised creche...and funny how the government ones are just so damn far away from anywhere....
Yep, the rest of us are all rolling on clover. Keep praying, idiots. One day you'll realise your god has already answered your prayers and you just took it for granted!

1677. Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol

Comment #179205 by Goldy on May 12, 2008 at 9:36 pm

Unlike the U.S., where the public transit sucks except in a few cities.

Hardly surprising with petrol that cheap ;-p

1678. 'My daughter deserved to die for falling in love'

Comment #179202 by Goldy on May 12, 2008 at 9:30 pm

I will use as counter-example the more or less dishonest moderate Muslim man who did not want to answer Dawkin's question about the penalty for apostacy in Islam. I hold this example in my mind to give me pause.

And who labelled him moderate? And when? On past views? I dare say now he's left those ranks and gone to the jihadis.
I really want to be right. Things like this can't be thought of as normal - it's inhuman. I want to be right because labelling everyone by the same brush makes me feel that those who want to profit from a "clash of civilisations" are winning, that they are making me see people, human beings, as, well, untermensch. Anyway, the letters pages will hopefully be illuminating.

1679. Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol

Comment #179195 by Goldy on May 12, 2008 at 9:17 pm

"We pay more to drive to the supermarket, and then get hit with higher prices when we get there," Senator Charles Schumer told the hearing.

Welcome to planet Earth. Wish the rest of us westerners had the same cheap prices you have!
Man, that's annoyed me. How can people complain when they are squandering fuel like that?
Here's the situation in NZ
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10509620
I got NZ$2 to look forward to for regular. AND dairy products have gone up a lot - and this is a country that pretty much only exports dairy products! (OK, there's timber and wool...and people - but that's it! Oh, sorry forgot, we export hobbits too...)

1680. Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol

Comment #179188 by Goldy on May 12, 2008 at 8:58 pm

markg, I know. And we've been laughing at them for years.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4950680.stm
97 pence a litre in the UK. That's US$1.89/L or about US$7.15/US gallon.
And they complain? Sheesh!

1681. Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol

Comment #179186 by Goldy on May 12, 2008 at 8:53 pm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1948640/Loss-of-God-is-making-us-miserable,-say-MPs.html
Another stupid article in the same vein.
We are miserable because we have lost God. Yet these miserable gits in the US have God and Jesus and they're not happy. Someone ought to tell the silly Christian MPs that. And, while they're at it, maybe also tell these silly Christian MPs that maybe their policies are making more peole miserable than any loss of mythical deity.
Rant over...deep breath...

1682. Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol

Comment #179184 by Goldy on May 12, 2008 at 8:45 pm

If I worked it out right, they're paying 95 US cents a litre. That's NZ$1.24. We pay almost NZ$1.90 for the cheap stuff - premium is over 2 bucks a litre now.
Lucky bastards! Typical religious people - living in clover and still they complain!

1683. Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol

Comment #179182 by Goldy on May 12, 2008 at 8:39 pm

I'm assuming the prices quoted are $/US gallon. Lucky bastards - wish our petrol was that cheap!

1684. 'My daughter deserved to die for falling in love'

Comment #179179 by Goldy on May 12, 2008 at 8:35 pm

Max, I think you'll find this is a minority view in the fuller sense. Tribal leanings of backward people. I have read the article and the mother's reaction made me realise it isn't as deeply entrenched. I somehow can't see this happening in, say Indonesia, Malaysia, western China, Bosnia, urban Turkey, etc, etc. The gang rapes in Pakistan drew massive condemnation in Pakistan and no one is accusing Afghanistan of progressive views - they had been in a civil war since 1979 and the last government they had before this one was hardly normal.
You are picking abnormal situations and colouring it to fit a stereotype. I don't see all US citizens as bible-toting, Gospel quoting, evolution denying young earth creationists, after all. Certainly can't call all Austrians child inprisoning molesters despite of the last two recently in the news and so I will not tar 1.2 billion (est - http://www.religioustolerance.org/isl_numb.htm) becasue of tribals with tribal cultures and backward societies in a country in the midst of internal strife.
As it is, the article says this man is a government employee and a Shia. In Basra, this could mean he's well in with the local militia. What would the policemen say to him otherwise?
As my NYT links show, as well as my comments, I still think it is a backward and evil superstition that makes this happen, but I really think there is more to this story than I have read. Something about the mother's behaviour makes me think there is more to it than meets the eye. As it is, the man is sectionable. He is the Fritzl of Basra - nothing can justify his crime.

1685. Americans pray at the pump for cheaper petrol

Comment #179146 by Goldy on May 12, 2008 at 7:19 pm

Praying? PRAYING?? And not even considering a more economical car or, god forbid, walking to the closer destinations...
If they want their prayers answered, they should try going to the UK for a spell - driving holiday using their own money. On their return, their prayers will have been answered :-)

1686. 'My daughter deserved to die for falling in love'

Comment #179145 by Goldy on May 12, 2008 at 7:16 pm

They do not think the same as normal people - the mother's reaction is proof enough for me that this is a rather extreme view and not one the Islamic, and indeed Arab, world would totally agree with.
For some perspective...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/world/middleeast/13girls.html?hp
and
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/12/world/middleeast/12saudi.html
Sad that religion has made the natural so....unnatural.

1687. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #179139 by Goldy on May 12, 2008 at 6:43 pm

People repeatedly disavow Eugenics as being part of Darwinian thinking but his family did not seem to think so...

Given the squabbling when wills are read and then contested, this is hardly a link between eugenics and Darwin's (and Wallace's) theory of evolution, is it?
As Rian points out, eugenics is not evolution, it is selective breeding. There is a slight difference :-)

1688. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #179104 by Goldy on May 12, 2008 at 3:02 pm

As mush as one posts showing evidence, I have to say we are comnversing with one who believes in the Biblical flood story, believes, against scientific AND religious evidence, that is it a true story.
Is there any point?

1689. Shaw TV Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #177274 by Goldy on May 8, 2008 at 8:56 pm

My my, getting a bit touchy, aren't we?
My conclusion to the suppression statement you used - sounds the same as the IDiots' excuse. No more, no less. The punishable aspect I find does contravene free speech. However, one can say it is balanced a bit by Turkey, the opposite occurs, namely denial is official and denial of denial is punishable by prison.

I was just fishing for someone like yourself to point out that you resent the racial stereotyping of Jews, but only in one sense

And I was smiling when I wrote it. Actually, Europeans are called "Big Noses" in Asia. And who is to say big noses are not beautiful?
In answer to my question, I would not have mentioned noses or IQ - they are irrelevant and merely act to colour a person. Jews are well known to be good with money - maybe the IQ reference covered that? We all know where that stereotype got them...

Should we perhaps start talking about monoconspiracism and polyconspiracism?

OK - right after micro evolution and macro evolution :-)
Cheer up - not everything here is nasty. I personally have no bone to pick with you. I do think the holocaust happened. Given man's predeliction for slaughtering millions at the drop of a propaganda radio program, why couldn't it have happened? Because Germans are European and Europeans don't do that? Because logistically one can't see it happening? I don't know. If I were to study this, I'd have to trawl through all the evidence, pro and con. You have given us all the con - everything you gave tells us it didn't happen. I need a balance to tell me it did, then I can make my mind up.
Relax, have a beer and chill.

1690. Churchgoing on its knees as Christianity falls out of favour

Comment #177268 by Goldy on May 8, 2008 at 8:45 pm

Why worry. If recent local election results are anything to go by, I dare say things might get a bit uncomfortable for many who don't practise the local religion.
Besides, religon is for the backward and primitive. Which would rather be? :-)

1691. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #177260 by Goldy on May 8, 2008 at 8:39 pm

"I believe that evil influences have convinced man otherwise in many circumstaces."

There is only 1 god (God) and man is made in his image. Suggests evil comes from that template. Or there's teh Devil (Satan). However, with all his powers, that suggests he is also a god. But there is only 1 god...hmmm. A fallen angel? Angels are messengers of God, not minor gods. They tell, not do. Incidently, we have physical descriptions of them (aside from Ezekiel's mad visions) http://www.arabnews.com/?page=5§ion=0&article=109506&d=2&m=5&y=2008.

For the first time in the Qur'an we have a physical description of the angels. Previously we were given descriptions of their nature and role, such as "Those that are with Him are never too proud to worship Him and never grow weary of that. They extol His limitless glory by night and day, tirelessly." (21: 19-20) "Those who are near to your Lord are never too proud to worship Him. They extol His limitless glory, and before Him alone prostrate themselves." (7: 206) Here, however, we have a reference to their physical appearance. They are 'endowed with wings, two, or three, or four.' This description does not, however, help us imagine how they look, because we do not know anything about their physique or about the form their wings take. We can do no more than take this description as it is, without adding anything from our imagination, for anything we may imagine could be wrong. We do not have any definite description of how the angels look from a reliable source. What we do have though in the Qur'an is this description and a reference to the angels in charge of hell: "Over it are appointed angels who are stern and severe: they do not disobey God in whatever He has commanded them, but always do what they are bidden to do." (66: 6) Again this description does not give any physical delineation. It is reported in a Hadith that 'the Prophet saw Gabriel in his natural form twice.' One report mentions that Gabriel 'has 600 wings.' (Related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.) Again we do not have here a physical description, so we must leave it at the level God has imparted to us, accepting that all knowledge belongs to Him.

None sound like Satan, so that can't be him.
This "evil" influence can only come from the maker (God) and as this god is just good, evil is good.

1692. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #177252 by Goldy on May 8, 2008 at 8:31 pm

Frankus

The Flood and Noah's Ark

Which version. Anyway, I find it a hell of an education. I mean, there's a scientific theory behind it - starring Noah? And now I'm wondering what animals Noah sacrificed - were unicorns clean? Or maybe he slapped an apatosaurus on the slab...
It's a journey for me, a real journey!

1693. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #177213 by Goldy on May 8, 2008 at 7:08 pm

Righton, that's a perfect example of moral zeitgeist :-) One interprets the information using the mores of the period.
Ask tehm if the southern slave owners used a different Bible. After all, I'm not 100% sure their version of slavery "was one in which slaves were paid and treated quite respectfully".

I don't think that beating your wife has EVER been considered a good behavior

Ask about Paul's "Shut the fuck up in church" piece. It's in the NT, I believe...maybe not quite phrased like that :-)

I believe that, no matter what society or time, Man knows that hurting another human is wrong and unjustified NO MATTER WHAT

Deuteronomy and similar gives a slightly different picture. Check out punishments for slaves. This http://www.regia.org/viking2.htm is also rather interesting.
Zeitgeist, pure and simple. And a rather splendid example :-)

1694. Shaw TV Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #177208 by Goldy on May 8, 2008 at 6:54 pm

Not necessarily, and nothing against the British on my part. But do you have a better theory? Of course, no more than conjecture, but why not telling us about it?

Sarcasm, old boy, sarcasm. It's always the fault of the British. Living in a former colony, don't ask how many ills have been heaped on our heads :-) Of course, I can always point to the Zionists!
As for the ID

Hmmm, are you sure?

IDiots appear to be under the impression there is a conspiracy afoot to discredit any "research" into intelligent design in favour of evolution. Your comments about some conspiracy being afoot to discredit holocaust deniers sounded so much alike I had to laugh out loud (in print, no easy feat!)
I'm a bit unsure about this

JEWS: ordinary people, often with big noses and very nice IQ, under the curse of the worst religion ever invented.

Often with big noses? One hopes there is a hint of...racial stereotyping here. Does add a slight flavour to your arguments.

1695. Faith in Britain today

Comment #177204 by Goldy on May 8, 2008 at 6:38 pm

Perhaps it's an Irish thingy.

Or even British
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/science/05cnd-brits.html?ex=1330750800&en=b9b6996d54ba5cc6&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

Or Spanish, if mythology is true...

1696. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #177200 by Goldy on May 8, 2008 at 6:27 pm

OK, brief Noah story (with my emphases)

Genesis 6:1 - 9:17

Noah's Ark and the Flood - Story Summary:
God saw how great wickedness had become and decided to wipe mankind from the face of the earth. However, one righteous man among all the people of that time, Noah, found favor in God's eyes. With very specific instructions, God told Noah to build an ark for him and his family in preparation for a catastrophic flood that would destroy every living thing on earth.God also instructed Noah to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, along with every kind of food to be stored as food for the animals and his family while on the ark. Noah obeyed everything God commanded him to do.After they entered the ark, rain fell on the earth for a period of forty days and nights. The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days, and every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out. As the waters receded, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. Noah and his family continued to wait for almost eight more months while the surface of the earth dried out.Finally after an entire year, God invited Noah to come out of the ark. Immediately, he built an altar and worshiped the Lord with burnt offerings from some of the clean animals. God was pleased with the offerings and promised never again to destroy all the living creatures as he had just done. Later God established a covenant with Noah: "Never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth." As a sign of this everlasting covenant God set a rainbow in the clouds.

Doesn't sound very rough to me. Sounds almost gentle cleansing - no mention of waves. Another point - if Noah made offerings from some of the clean animals, would that not mean they are extinct? Bit pointless saving them...

And look what else one finds about the flood
http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/localflood.html
Here's the abstract

The Bible says the flood was global?
"The Bible says it. I believe it. That settles it!" The phrase is a common argument used for those who call for the "literal reading" of the Bible. I have no complaints against reading the Bible literally. However, many who claim to be literalists apparently do not believe everything the Bible says. Creation passages clearly say that God caused the original global seas to be restricted - never to cover the entire earth again. The Genesis flood passage itself says that the water covered "the entire earth" even though Noah could see the distant mountains, indicating that the "earth" was just the entire land of Mesopotamia.

1697. Faith in Britain today

Comment #177195 by Goldy on May 8, 2008 at 6:19 pm

Hey, it could be worse
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7389874.stm

1698. Gene map proves platypus is part bird, mammal and reptile

Comment #177193 by Goldy on May 8, 2008 at 6:15 pm

I can see the headlines now..."Part man, part fish, gene map of modern humans"
http://richarddawkins.net/article,2137,Interview-with-Neil-Shubin-author-of-Your-Inner-Fish,The-Colbert-Report

1699. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #177190 by Goldy on May 8, 2008 at 6:05 pm

I'm really just interested in pointing out that there are incomprehensible amounts of sedimentary materials loaded with countless billions of fossils. That, in my mind, is an enormous anomaly that is better explained by a catastrophic flood than the establishment idea of local events happening over millions of years.

Sorry...but !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You being serious? Or just taking the Mick?

"The presence of upright stems, and bivalves that are not parallel to the plane of sedimentation indicates that the fossils were formed by the quick burial of organisms during some great catastrophe. Other clues leading to this hypothesis are the presence of fossilized upright trees that can reach nine feet in height….Other evidence for the quick deposition of sediment on organisms as seen in a great catastrophe is provided by the presence of soft-bodied organisms in the fossil record. In order for such organisms to be preserved in the fossil record, they must be buried rapidly with the inhibition of anaerobic decomposers, and the development of concretions must also be rapid. These conditions can only be met if a catastrophe dumped massive amounts of sediment on the organisms while they were still alive."

Yeah, but not all in one go. Many catastrophes, many layers. The Boxing Day tsunami was a catastrophe and will leave tell tale signs. The cyclone in Burma is another separate catastrophe and will leave signs. The next big tsunami will be a catasptrphe and will leave signs. All of these signs will probably not all lie in exactly the same layer when they are dug up.
Besides, the flood came about by rain, did it not? And the waters receded slowly, did they not? So why canyons and jagged layers? Water came in relatively gently and seemingly evaporated away.
And how do you explain this?
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=5§ion=0&article=106587&d=8&m=2&y=2008

To start with, there are several statements in the Qur'an making clear that Prophet Noah was sent to his own people. He was not a messenger to all mankind. Only Prophet Muhammad was given this task, and therefore, the miracle supporting his message was a book, the Qur'an, outlining a code of living that is suitable to all generations and all communities and environments. Therefore, the question posed by the reader is valid: was the great flood a punishment to all people on earth at the time? If so, why?

In fact, there is no indication or reference in the Qur'an suggesting that the floods overwhelmed the entire planet. The description given in the Qur'an of the flood makes clear that it was of overwhelming proportions, leaving none of the wrongdoers among Noah's people alive. It does not mention other communities. In fact there are several references that it engulfed Noah's own people in particular. Take for example the twice-repeated Qur'anic statement: "Do not appeal to Me on behalf of the wrongdoers. They shall be drowned." (11: 37 & 23: 27) "We saved him together with all those who stood by him, in the ark, and caused those who rejected Our revelations to drown. Surely they were blind people." (7: 64) The contexts in which all these statements occur are very clear in their references to Noah's own community to whom he was required to address his message. Hence we can say that the flood punishment was directed to his own people who rejected his faith, after clear evidence had been given to them, and after their long opposition to his efforts and their repeated hurling of abuse and ridicule on him.

This means that other communities to whom Noah's message was not addressed were not involved in these events.

There is no reason to suppose otherwise. This means that those communities either received other messages, about which the Qur'an remained silent, or they were not at the time receiving any message. In either case, their fate would be determined by their circumstances. We need not go into this because we have no means to establish such historical events with any reasonable measure.

Nor can we say that all people living today are descendents of Noah through his three sons. To start with, there were other people saved in the Ark. These could have had children of their own and they would have descendents. Moreover, We cannot establish with any degree of certainty that Noah had three sons. Indeed, it is practically impossible to ascertain that Sam ever existed, which casts doubt on the very idea of Semitism.

Whether such things are established or not is of no importance. What is important is to rely only on what God says in the Qur'an and what the Prophet has taught in his authentic Sunnah. This is what ensures our salvation in the life to come.

This is from the word of God, remember. Straight from the horse's mouth, as it were.

1700. Gene map proves platypus is part bird, mammal and reptile

Comment #177171 by Goldy on May 8, 2008 at 5:22 pm

Probably not very long at all, but it is more likely that Emu's will go the chicken route - plumper and less aggressive (oh please.... less aggresive.)

Hmmm, plump chicken...and it's lunch time here...
See Brian - aggressive. Note that word describing the Aussie ratite. Moas were nice and friendly - that's why they got wiped out ;-)
Yes, I dare say emus might get smaller - but that's by natural selection. I'm selectively breeding in my mind - playing god...I mean, the Intelligent Designer (eh? Whassat? They're the same dude? No shit? Really??) - to make them bigger.