201. A Tyrannical Romance

Comment #126641 by Radesq on February 13, 2008 at 5:24 pm

Dr. Steve everybody knows T-Rex had small arms in order to wear small wristwatches. Unfortunately for them, back then there was only one blind watchmaker.

202. My Saudi Valentine

Comment #126638 by Radesq on February 13, 2008 at 5:20 pm

...and we enjoy exchanging gifts -- through our chauffeurs or housemaids.

203. A Tyrannical Romance

Comment #126635 by Radesq on February 13, 2008 at 5:06 pm

It appears I missed my tern at making the bird puns, the end of that discussion was rather swift. That's too bad because I had a covey of them, but I'm not going to grouse about it or be filled with bitter egret because many of them were a bit of ostrich anyway and somewhat hard to swallow.

204. Charles Simonyi Professorship in the Public Understanding of Science

Comment #126441 by Radesq on February 13, 2008 at 8:54 am

Hey Artful_Dodger I get the joke...it took me a while though -- Mr. Dawkins.

205. Murder plot against Danish cartoonist

Comment #126419 by Radesq on February 13, 2008 at 8:03 am

Styrer - I don't think the second statement is redundant I think it is contradictory. That is because I am conflicted in my view. That is to say, I believe the rule should be no torture...but then there are exceptions to every rule.

I am not a fan of absolutes. I also freely admit my bias against and distrust of the Bush administration and its adherents. I think it was al rawandi above who said something to the effect that he doesn't trust W, Cheney et al to define who is an enemy of the state and then decide to torture him/her. As a rule, the American people should not allow anyone to do that sort of thing, but again, I will admit that having W in charge pushes me farther in the direction of absolutely no torture.

206. Murder plot against Danish cartoonist

Comment #126411 by Radesq on February 13, 2008 at 7:23 am

Also to Jaster who I posted a comment to back a page or so. It is right that you don't know how to take my comment...because what it means depends on your point of view. That character was both admirable and despicable.

Torture is morally repugnant, it should not be the policy of the United States to engage in torture. If you are fighting for a United States that does not believe in treating pows humanely, upholding international treaties and conventions, and not engaging in cruel and unusual punishment -- then what you are really fighting for is much less than the USA ought to be.

Still, there are scenarios where to paraphrase another fictional character "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one". I appreciate the efforts of men and women like yourself who take on the task of protecting this country.

207. Murder plot against Danish cartoonist

Comment #126410 by Radesq on February 13, 2008 at 7:16 am

My point was that you sounded to me like you were saying -- only barbarians torture and we should not become like the barbarians or else what could we achieve but a Pyhrric victory.

Or... we would hope and expect that our soldiers (or enemy combatants if we were to have such things - Blackwater maybe)would be treated humanely and not tortured -- so we shouldn't engage in torture ourselves.

208. Murder plot against Danish cartoonist

Comment #126403 by Radesq on February 13, 2008 at 6:59 am

al Rawandi -- If I didn't know better I would think you were espousing a torture philsophy of: do onto others as you would have done onto you.

209. Murder plot against Danish cartoonist

Comment #126243 by Radesq on February 12, 2008 at 7:07 pm

Jaster are you really Col. Jessup?

"I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post."

210. Charles Simonyi Professorship in the Public Understanding of Science

Comment #126233 by Radesq on February 12, 2008 at 5:51 pm

Ray Davies would probably be better.

211. Why multiculturalism must be abandoned

Comment #125664 by Radesq on February 11, 2008 at 7:58 pm

Goldy: Isn't Magnus Magnusson the world's strongest man?

212. Sharia fiasco

Comment #124992 by Radesq on February 10, 2008 at 3:36 pm

Would it be wrong to say that RW's approach to Sharia in the UK is letting the camel's nose in the tent?

213. Sharia fiasco

Comment #124918 by Radesq on February 10, 2008 at 12:19 pm

RE: Dr. Steve@33 ...and figure out how to deal with the demand, even if the consequences are (hopefully) to show that it won't be met

214. Christopher Hitchens on Books & Ideas

Comment #124908 by Radesq on February 10, 2008 at 12:11 pm

To be honest Styrer I don't even remember if I thought you were right or wrong as it was late here and I had been into the ale. But from the tone of your commentary I got the feeling I wasn't the only one. In any case rave on!

215. Christopher Hitchens on Books & Ideas

Comment #124899 by Radesq on February 10, 2008 at 12:00 pm

Styrer

What happened to the string of obscenity laden ranting you engaged in last night. Today you sound downright temperate. :)

216. Sharia fiasco

Comment #124887 by Radesq on February 10, 2008 at 11:47 am

7. Comment #124856 by Lucas
RE: deporting Muslims

I was very surprised to hear in the Hitchens/Jackson debate clips this Biblical nugget from Leviticus 19:

33 " 'When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. 34 The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

Have US religious conservatives been made aware of this passage? Mike Huckabee better start taking to task the xenophobes in his party (otherwise known as the Romney base voters).

217. Sharia fiasco

Comment #124878 by Radesq on February 10, 2008 at 11:39 am

Dr. Steve & Diacanu: George Carlin has been a master of it over the years...please forgive me if I think he has lost a little off his fastball these days.

By the way if you see Artful Dodger posting anywhere tell him I finally got the joke...Artful Dodger was also referred to as Master Dawkins in Oliver Twist. Sorry for being slow on the uptake but I only saw the movie musical.

218. Christopher Hitchens on Books & Ideas

Comment #124870 by Radesq on February 10, 2008 at 11:32 am

C'mon now Scooter the slap at Dr. Steve was opinion not fact. It is simply not widely accepted enough to be considered fact. It's OK to slap people around if you like every so often. Dr. Steve is an adult he can take it. Moderation that's all or that kind of spicy talk loses its flavor.

219. Christopher Hitchens on Books & Ideas

Comment #124863 by Radesq on February 10, 2008 at 11:28 am

Scooter I have no intention of going down that path, and in fact I have no gripe with voc-tech education or skilled tradespeople who supply much needed talents and often make a very good living doing so. It is what I deem to be your philosophy of self-reliance and the distaste for shared social responsibility (including financial contribution through taxes)that leads me to extreme examples because that is what it seems to counsel. Like any ideology -- it simply isn't pragmatic. Is it a good thing to take responsibility for your decisions? Yes. Is it good to let your ideology get the best of you resulting in, what I can only describe as, an "hooray for me and to hell with you" attitude? No. All things in moderation Scooter.

220. Sharia fiasco

Comment #124852 by Radesq on February 10, 2008 at 11:14 am

Humor and satire are among the most effective tools for knocking down fraudulent or fatuous beliefs. Pat seems to me to be one of the very best at using these tools. Although, the first video is pretty straight forward until the last 30 seconds (the best part imho).

221. Christopher Hitchens on Books & Ideas

Comment #124839 by Radesq on February 10, 2008 at 11:00 am

batboy: The second problem is that you present no evidence that once your subsidy plan dries up parents will continue to send their children to school.

Scooter: Some kids don't do well in school, but may have a trade in them more useful.

batboy: and perhaps some children are just not particularly useful for anything -- why not reopen the Victorian poorhouses and just put those kids to work without any schooling -- it's no more than they deserve, they should have thought twice about having such irresponsible parents no?

222. Christopher Hitchens on Books & Ideas

Comment #124816 by Radesq on February 10, 2008 at 10:17 am

Hello Scooter...well I understand why you don't want to pay for public schools if you see people who use them as welfare dependents. I don't view it that way; I view it as an infrastructure development investment in human resources.

It appears that you would like to incentivise people who are not wealthy not to have children. I'm sure that would be a great deal easier than publicly arguing for a law restricting their right to procreate. The second problem is that you present no evidence that once your subsidy plan dries up parents will continue to send their children to school. That is problematic.

Of course the private schools that the government is subsidizing in this fashion could simply provide a sliding scale tuition for students of lower means - but that wouldn't solve your problem of somebody taking your money and using it for someone else's benefit. Alternatively, we could have a economically stratified primary/secondary school system - and a race to the bottom to see who could provide the least expensive education for those poor bastards.

Again, Libertarianism is a nice theory but it doesn't work in practice. We humans are a social species -- we need help and cooperation from others to get along -- there can only be a few "rugged individualists" at any one time. Why? because what they don't realize or acknowledge is that people have helped them and are helping them -- they are apparently just too selfish to return the favor.

223. Battle of the Chambersburg billboards

Comment #124784 by Radesq on February 10, 2008 at 8:35 am

I want to thank satanhimself...

for the link to the reporter's bio. above.



I'm waiting to see if they make a billboard of this

224. Christopher Hitchens on Books & Ideas

Comment #124756 by Radesq on February 10, 2008 at 6:49 am

Scooter, I have to go out and get some groceries before an approaching storm hits so I will have to continue this later. However, while Libertarianism does a good job of pointing out problems with other social and political systems Utilitarianism, Liberalism, etc. The problem with it is the cure is worse than the disease. Allow American children to die of hunger if their parents can't afford to feed them, leave them uneducated if their parents can't afford to school them. These are idealogic (if that's a word)answers that are of little use in the real world. This is especially true, in my opinion, of the Conservative strain of Libertarianism -- the part that is concerned with other people's behavior and its effect on one's pocketbook rather than the Liberal strain that is simply concerned with being left alone to smoke pot and have junk cars parked in the front yard. I'll look for your comments when I return.

edit~ Alright...it is now a few hours later and no reply. Can I assume that your silence means you are in agreement with my assessment of Libertarianism Scooter? :)

225. Christopher Hitchens on Books & Ideas

Comment #124743 by Radesq on February 10, 2008 at 6:26 am

The employable I assume you mean, that is what I meant at least. Well, if you really want to argue that most violent offenders in prison are well educated or that people who are gainfully employed commit the majority of violent crimes -- I suppose we can go look up the statistics. You don't wish to concede those points? In any event, all taxation is a trade off of freedom for security or some other benefit - and public education though far from perfect in the USA is a worthwhile pursuit. A voluntary system would leave too many people uneducated the "soup kitchenization" of public education does not seem like a good idea to me. A pacifist pays taxes for the benefit of having the armed forces - so Libertarians will just have to "suck it up" and help pay for the education of someone else's kids so that they have the benefit of not living in an violent Idiocracy.

226. Christopher Hitchens on Books & Ideas

Comment #124730 by Radesq on February 10, 2008 at 6:11 am

Scooter you need to turn that M upside down. Stop thinking about "me" and start thinking about "we".:) Where do you suppose the money to build Catholic Schools you went to came from...other people. What were they thinking...paying for a school that you could attend as well as their children?
You can certainly argue that the state has the power to compel contribution for its schools and the Church contribution is "voluntary". However, I think it is preferable to educate everyone regardless of ability to pay or religious affiliation. I think you should as well if for no other reason (and of course there are other reasons) than if they are employable they are less likely to kill you and your family while they are robbing your house(in free state fantasy town)to get money to feed themselves.

227. The Passion of 'Anonymous'

Comment #124713 by Radesq on February 10, 2008 at 5:48 am

drcancerman I can't read what you wrote. Was that your intention? I thought Stan was in the Hare Club for men. I do see a fair number of South Park inspired avatars here(I think even some members of the United Atheist Alliance, which is amusing).

228. Christopher Hitchens on Books & Ideas

Comment #124710 by Radesq on February 10, 2008 at 5:43 am

Scooternyc, good morning. Is it not in everyone's interest to see that the people are educated? Why shouldn't everyone pay for that as well as paying to make sure everyone is protected?

229. Are the 'New Atheists' avoiding the 'real arguments'?

Comment #124647 by Radesq on February 9, 2008 at 11:38 pm

Good night Sharon...and all.

230. Are the 'New Atheists' avoiding the 'real arguments'?

Comment #124645 by Radesq on February 9, 2008 at 11:27 pm

Again Shrommer what you are talking about is not what witnesses saw but what writers said the witnesses saw. What would an historical account of the reasons for the American Civil War look like if the South had won? What would the story of Christianity look like if not for Paul and Emperor Constantine?

As for traveling to different countries I can only imagine it would have played out like a Monty Python skit.

Woman: Oh. How do you do?
Jesus: How do you do, good lady? I am Jesus, King of the Christians. Whose castle is that?
Woman: King of the who?
Jesus: King of the Christians.
Woman: Who are the Christians?
Jesus: Well, we all are. We are all Christians. And I am your king.
Woman: I didn't know we had a king. I thought we were an autonomous collective.

231. Are the 'New Atheists' avoiding the 'real arguments'?

Comment #124630 by Radesq on February 9, 2008 at 11:02 pm

One could as easily ask how do you get 8,000 Jews in South Florida to vote for Pat Buchanan for President in 2000. Just because people act like something is true doesn't make it so.

232. Are the 'New Atheists' avoiding the 'real arguments'?

Comment #124622 by Radesq on February 9, 2008 at 10:54 pm

Not a good comparison Diacanu as The CON and LOTR are well written and edited and mostly internally consistent. I would say historical as The Book of Mormon or Dianetics (no relation I assume). There may be some historical evidence for Jesus (I really don't know) but given the implausibility of the stories about him it is more reasonable to believe he is the subject of myth making like George Washington or Daniel Boone that I mentioned above. I'm sure you Brits have many of your own embelished historical figures. I suppose King Arthur and Robin Hood come to mind but then whether they actually existed is a subject of some debate as well (I guess the consensus is that they never really existed?). It is myth people, myth, a story, fiction, not accurate history.

233. Are the 'New Atheists' avoiding the 'real arguments'?

Comment #124611 by Radesq on February 9, 2008 at 10:40 pm

Shrommer

The status of the Bible as fiction/nonfiction is not one worth going into. I suspect that the reason Hitchens and others attack these sideline arguments about morality and who starts more wars, etc... is because that's what Theists change the subject to when they tire of God did its and because it's in the Bible.

What were the miracles taking place today?

234. Are the 'New Atheists' avoiding the 'real arguments'?

Comment #124590 by Radesq on February 9, 2008 at 10:02 pm

Shrommer ~ @ 134 (sorry this thread is passing my slow typing fingers by)

after his resurrection he was seen by over 500 people, with sightings taking place over a generous forty day period.

No, somebody years later wrote that he was seen by over 500 people. That doesn't prove that it happened.


These accounts were told to thousands of people who could all verify them with the witnesses, if not actually being witnesses themselves

Millions of school children have been told and could repeat that George Washington chopped down a cherry tree and then was so forthright that he could not tell a lie about it. Never happened.

People like Josephus and the rabbis who wrote the Talmud, along with several others also give accounts of Christ's miracles and teachings

Daniel Boone wrestled a bear and won. He was a well known real historical figure about whom a number of tall tales have been told.

There are also miracles taking place today
Such as?

I see that you place a great deal of faith in the collected writings in the Bible and other writings that are now thousands of years old. This does not convince me. People were still burning witches in my neighborhood a millennia and a half after these writings because of superstition. These writings are also self contradictory. Now evidence of miracles or other manifestations of God in the world today that can be observed and tested for veracity �" that interests me. You will understand I hope, however, if I am skeptical.

235. Are the 'New Atheists' avoiding the 'real arguments'?

Comment #124566 by Radesq on February 9, 2008 at 9:02 pm

RE:
Shrommer
"I want to say all true Christians, place their faith in Christ BECAUSE we have sufficient evidence to do so"

I have only read this page so I may have missed it, but what evidence are you referring to? I assume it is different for every Christian...so how would you know what every or almost every "true Christian" (this implies that there are false Christians I guess - which seems problematic)is basing their faith on?

I of course do not believe there is any reliable evidence for God or Jesus' divinity (or of anyone else who has claimed it) so I am curious to know what I am missing.

236. 10 cc of atheism

Comment #124557 by Radesq on February 9, 2008 at 8:22 pm

Yes in fact that is her sister Laura Silverman. Interestingly, according to IMDB another sister Susan is a Rabbi and is married to Yosef I. Abramowitz who has a short bio at http://www.jflmedia.com. These folks must have very interesting discussions at family functions.

237. Battle of the Chambersburg billboards

Comment #124547 by Radesq on February 9, 2008 at 7:11 pm

Quill - What if the sign said "Why do Liberals hate America?" Free speech is not a debate in America, it is a bar fight. If you don't hit first and hit hard (and preferably below the belt)you lose.

238. The Passion of 'Anonymous'

Comment #124546 by Radesq on February 9, 2008 at 7:07 pm

Cairnarvon - I'm sorry.

Gymnopedie - Shh...I think we are supposed to keep quiet about that so the Theists will think that they thought of it themselves when it dawns on them. That's the only way they would believe it.

239. 10 cc of atheism

Comment #124539 by Radesq on February 9, 2008 at 6:39 pm

Why did they choose Judaism as the vehicle for this episode?

240. Battle of the Chambersburg billboards

Comment #124533 by Radesq on February 9, 2008 at 6:09 pm

...Bitterness corrodes the can it's carried in...

That's why they call me Rusty!

edit~ and for a bit of fun there is a poll on whether or not you believe in evolution on the Southern Baptist for Huckabee Blog. It's running about 95% to 5% against evolution. Feel free to drop in and vote, you don't have to register.

http://www.freewebs.com/baptistforhuckabee/index.htm

241. Battle of the Chambersburg billboards

Comment #124512 by Radesq on February 9, 2008 at 4:35 pm

Why do the Fundies hate everybody?

242. Christopher Hitchens Debates Timothy Jackson

Comment #124501 by Radesq on February 9, 2008 at 4:25 pm

Please let's just drop this valuable/invaluable stuff. I feel like this topic could be an inflammable one.

243. Christopher Hitchens Debates Timothy Jackson

Comment #124497 by Radesq on February 9, 2008 at 4:17 pm

Don't you just love what an offhand remark can generate!

244. Why Darwin matters

Comment #124496 by Radesq on February 9, 2008 at 4:14 pm

Diacanu - you've seen the movie "Idiocracy" too many times. Then again "shit's real bad" these days. Maybe I'll watch it again.

245. The Passion of 'Anonymous'

Comment #124481 by Radesq on February 9, 2008 at 3:37 pm

RE: 26. Comment #124443 by Lucas

Lucas - I'm a little standoffish about reading anything written by somebody whose name is that close to "wooter".

246. Why Darwin matters

Comment #124478 by Radesq on February 9, 2008 at 3:29 pm

I do believe in faeries, I do, I do!

247. Christopher Hitchens Debates Timothy Jackson

Comment #124453 by Radesq on February 9, 2008 at 2:14 pm

I have to disagree with you Dr. Steve; I think Hitchens' contributions are valuable.

248. Sharia law in UK is 'unavoidable'

Comment #123843 by Radesq on February 7, 2008 at 6:09 pm

Rowan Williams as Johnny Rotten

Sharia for the UK
It's coming sometime or may be
We'll get along fine 'till it's stoning time
My future scheme to make Anglican's scream
'cause I wanna seem more PC

249. The Mind of the Market

Comment #121620 by Radesq on February 3, 2008 at 8:31 pm

Investing strategies of evangelical financial advisors: 1) Invest in companies that make extremely large needles; 2) see number one.

250. Letters: Theology has no place in a university

Comment #121615 by Radesq on February 3, 2008 at 8:22 pm

More likely Angband Cartomancer; he seems old school to me.