Posts by cellomould

66

Why Are the Democrats So Evil?

by cellomould in

jw
friends

george bush took advantage of your fears of 'big government' to get into office.... ...so are the democrats proponents of 'big government'?

do they love in-your-face politics?

do they want to give all of your hard-earned money away to good-for-nothing slobs?.

cellomould

Thanks all for your comments...

I wish I had been as critically minded during the Clinton administration. I was a loyal JW back then...not thinking much about politics. But during the elections, I was starting to think for myself. I liked either Gore or McCain. I really thought those should have been the two opponents for the presidency. I don't know where the heck Bush came from.

What are his credentials, really? Gore and McCain have both been senators. Both have worked hard and stood up for what they felt was right. (And of course, they aren't always right) Bush was a governor of Texas. That's quite unlike working on Capitol Hill. I have yet to see an example of Bush deciding against the path of least resistance, especially when campaign dollars are involved. Yes, he talks incessantly about values and responsibity...So we have elected a fine talker (although perhaps not that great with grammar)...

Now about this war...Preston, you explained yourself quite well, thanks...

It will accomplish much less than the problems it will solve. The White House administration is really not focusing on the real question: how do we ensure the safety of our citizens? Do they want us to feel safer, or to actually be safer? There is a not-so-subtle difference.

Great nations have been undone by the fighting of pointless wars. If the primary motivation is the preservation of the ego, that is a problem.

Francois quoted Hitler, a man whose vision we desire not to emulate...Don't you think he was responding to perceived threat when he invaded Poland? The Germans were feeling vulnerable and they welcomed a decisive leader, who would eliminate these threats. The entire history of that regime can be understood in terms of response to perceived threats. In hindsight, we perceive Hitler as a maniac.

cellmould

86

Carbon Dating

by Wolfgirl in

sorry, i don't have time to search the site right now.

this bloody french isp is rubbish, and i keep getting dropped when i try anything that takes more than 10 seconds.

has the society ever come up with any intelligent reasoning to counter the ages that carbon dating/science has given to various artifacts, i.e.

cellomould

Hoob,

You are trying to open a can of worms...If the C14/C12 ratio were many orders of magnitude (factors of 10) smaller in the past, what made it increase? What we do know is that this ratio has been relatively stable...we know that it has not experienced sudden increases because we measure samples in different strata and see a linear (not exponential) continuum of ratios.

I repeat Crazy's question: Do you believe the earth to be only 6,000 years old?

It is a safe assumption to say that the C14/C12 atmospheric ratio has been relatively constant over the years.

Let's say that there was a flood about 4,000 to 8,000 years ago. Almost all life on earth was destroyed (Although we do know better than to believe that). Would this event have caused the isotope ratio to plummet, making animals that died 3,000 years ago appear to be millions of years old?

Just think about that. It doesn't make sense at all. With the loss of vegetation and animal mass on earth, carbon 14 production would have slowed down considerably, but...here is the clincher...C14 decays VERY SLOWLY. If you do the math, you will see that while Carbon 14 production might decrease, but it does not instantly disappear from the atmosphere. It would still take millions of years of decreased production for it to decay to such small levels.

Geological events would also not be responsible for shifting isotope ratios. The difference in mass between C14 and C12 is so tiny that the two are chemically equivalent. (In terms of reactivity) If anything, geological events could only homogenize isotope ratios, by causing a mixture of matter with different isotope ratios. But in no way could a geological event cause isotope ratios to be shifted.

The major point is this...atmospheric C14/C12 ratios are very stable right now. Had there been any major perturbation in recent history, we would not be any where near equilibrium right now. At the very least, we would be seeing the levels oscillate significantly.

It doesn't require faith to believe that the dinosaurs lived millions of years ago. You can simply read a book or two and become intellectually convinced of the soundness of that conclusion.

I know from experience that the only thing of which the Bible convices you is the need to have faith. That doesn't cut it for me.

cellmould

66

Why Are the Democrats So Evil?

by cellomould in

jw
friends

george bush took advantage of your fears of 'big government' to get into office.... ...so are the democrats proponents of 'big government'?

do they love in-your-face politics?

do they want to give all of your hard-earned money away to good-for-nothing slobs?.

cellomould

George Bush took advantage of your fears of 'Big Government' to get into office...

...so are the Democrats proponents of 'Big Government'? Do they love in-your-face politics? Do they want to give all of your hard-earned money away to good-for-nothing slobs?

Are they pure evil?

Let's complain about them too!

cellmould

86

Carbon Dating

by Wolfgirl in

sorry, i don't have time to search the site right now.

this bloody french isp is rubbish, and i keep getting dropped when i try anything that takes more than 10 seconds.

has the society ever come up with any intelligent reasoning to counter the ages that carbon dating/science has given to various artifacts, i.e.

cellomould

By the way, for anyone who doesn't know this tidbit already, check the date given for the oldest mummy ever discovered. My dad told that he thought this man died in 'the flood'. Hmmm...his DNA shows that he has living relatives. By the way, his closest living relatives do not live in the Middle East (which you would expect if he were related through Noah) but rather in Europe, where he was found.

86

Carbon Dating

by Wolfgirl in

sorry, i don't have time to search the site right now.

this bloody french isp is rubbish, and i keep getting dropped when i try anything that takes more than 10 seconds.

has the society ever come up with any intelligent reasoning to counter the ages that carbon dating/science has given to various artifacts, i.e.

cellomould

Those who would argue with carbon dating also throw out any evidence from molecular biology. That field similarly tells us that the most recent ancestor of all humans was much longer than 4,000 years ago. Much, much longer. Sorry, Noah. And sorry Adam, too.

How does one figure that the great diversity of humans, physically, linguistically, culturally, etc., was a product of only a few thousand years of development? Apologists have actually included extremely rapid rates of microevolution (or speciation from the biblical 'kinds', or genera) in their explanations of the diversity of the animal kingdom since the 'flood'. That's because all the species now present don't actually fit into a box of the dimensions of the ark. Yes, they have to make all kinds of assumptions to mathematically squeeze all the animals into Noah's ark...

...In other words, the species we see today have diverged from the original 'kinds'. Remember the scripture that says 'each according to its own kind'? Yeah, that's the one. So 'kind' means genus, not species. Just in case you were prone to believe what the geneticists tell you about reproduction...

Wait, we don't have to buy that explanation...we know that while lions and tigers might both be cats, the offspring of a lion and tiger mating are not themselves fertile. They are separate species by definition; therefore it is entirely arbitrary (not to mention wrong) to say that a genus 'reproduces according to its own kind'. Bogus.

So Noah would have had to keep a pen for each species: lions, tigers, sabertooths (watch out for those teeth), etc...

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

And back to the original topic of carbon dating...

A bit about a flightless bird, the moa, from http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/birds/printouts/Moa.shtml

The oldest-known moa fossils date from 2.4 million years ago. The last of the moa (the smaller species) lived on the South Island of New Zealand until the 1700's.

So, do you throw out those dates from millions of years ago? Because it looks like moas continually inhabited New Zealand until not long after humans arrived. How would you explain how the moas got to New Zealand from Mr. Ararat, considering they could not fly over the Indian Ocean? Wouldn't humans have reached New Zealand faster?

Try to spin that one without spinning your head. I sure can't.

cellmould

10

Why is there growth in the Jehovah's Witness relig

by kenpodragon in

jw
friends

one of the most amazing and disturbing events in human history, has got to be the time of the black plague.

in which people were dying so fast and in such numbers that the authorities were unable to bury them fast enough.

disease in general has been a terrible part of the human race, even today.

cellomould

Hey kenpo,

I enjoyed your thoughts. There is much that can be said about disease pushing human populations to evolve. Very interesting stuff. Have you heard about the relations between malaria resistance and sickle cell anemia?

As I recall, there are two types of genetic mutations, both involving only one gene, that are common in African populations at great risk of contracting malaria. Both give increased resistance against malarial infections. But one mutation leaves people particularly vulnerable to sickle cell anemia. If a person has one copy of this recessive gene, they are quite healthy; two copies of this recessive gene causes their red blood cells to drastically change shape. This can be a fatal disease, but the benefits to the entire population are still apparent.

The other mutation has fewer side effects, to my knowledge.

Anyhow, back to the point of your article: Why is there growth in the JWs? Perhaps the survivors of this 'disease' will be better equipped to meet other challenges in life. That is a good point you make. I agree.

cellmould

28

Update on Jan (Zazu)

by larc in

jw
friends

things went pretty well today.

my daughter was doing some laundry, underwear and such, for her mom, and she was a bit late to get me and her to the hospital.

hours start at eleven and we go there about noon.

cellomould

Larc,

So sorry to hear about your wife...but I wish you both good luck in recovery.

take care,

cellmould

6

Stradegy for Palestinians.

by Yerusalyim in

jw
friends

i have a fail proof stradegy for the palestinians to acheive statehood and bring peace to the middle east, if they would do it.

if the palestinian authority would on the one hand crack down on the hamas and fatah extremists, and if the palestinian people wouldn't shelther them in their midsts, combined with peaceful resistance ala gandi, there would be a palestinian state in three years or less.

this nonviolence only works for some countries.

cellomould

Yeru,

Satyagraha (non-violence) is a very powerful method.If it were adopted in Palestine, it would also be important that prominent Israeli voices made it known that they supported non-violence. Things would quickly improve.

Also, negotiations cannot be halted every time someone is killed somewhere. What egos these two sides have! How can you expect there not to be killings even in the midst of negotiations? I mean, just look at the statistics.

Anyhow, given a few leaders who want to make a difference (from both sides of the fence), the Palestinian problems could definitely be mitigated.

I still see a huge problem with ideology, though. The Palestinians should not have to take crap from the Israelis, and vice versa. But this does not mean that all of the other class must die. How do the inhabitants of the region really feel about this? The militants among the Palestinians have become the most visible dissidents. Could they really be supplanted by a vocal group of peacful protesters?

Do the Israeli leaders really expect the militant Palestinians to target the Israeli military rather than civilians? These are civilians killing civilians. But the Isreali military is targeting civilians as well, and they should know better. Could they too be supplanted by a vocal group of peaceful protesters?

I think that the voices for peace are being drowned out. They need more support. Who knows what prominent voices may join them?

cellmould

13

Why Have the Republicans Permitted Wickedness?

by cellomould in

jw
friends

why does the republican party represent such a noxious mix of evil?

you have religious zealots teaming up with money-grubbing conservatives...with the demonstrated effect of impeding progress in our country.... if this link works, check out how the republicans in the house of representatives voted on important social and economic issues...consistently voicing disrespect for the long term health of our communities and environment:.

http://pirg.org/score2002/californiadata.html.

cellomould

freedom,

is there anyone else running for governor?

18

Dinner with Trotafox

by VeniceIT in

jw
friends

well i finally after all this time got to meet trotafox.

last year i was working less then a mile fro where she worked and never knew it.

ahh well that has finally been reminded.

cellomould

I have been thinking of using my 'other' screename...would I cease to be the same person <gasp>?

By the way, I met dungbeetle recently. We chatted for about 2 1/2 hours before we knew 5 minutes had passed. Such is life, eh? But we had a great time.

cellmould