Posts by PrimateDave

5

If one can be Disfacebookshipped...

by sabastious in

jw
friends

then i guess it's possible to get refriendinstated?.

-sab.

PrimateDave

jitu50, you violated posting guideline number 6. Advertising a commercial website. Maybe the mods will catch it.

40

Just watched Avatar! Great film

by AK - Jeff in

we just watched it from standard dvd format on our 36" flatscreen.

it was a good flick - but i bet it is fabulous in 3d and theater quality.. jeff.

PrimateDave

I wanted to see it in theaters, but the cost of seeing a movie just one time is a put off for me. I bought the DVD/BluRay when it came out a few months ago.

I love this movie. It describes our Empire culture very well and what it has done to indigenous people and environments around the world. Certainly First Nations people come to mind for residents of North America, but displacement and oppression have had a long history in the Old World as well. Those who benefit greatly from their favored position in Empire culture may not find the themes to their liking. Corporate land grabs are happening right now.

I thought the effects were amazing. We've come a long way since Tron.

59

Dorky Geeky Gamer Thread

by agonus in

jw
friends

just polling: what are some of your favorite classic and/or obscure video/computer games?.

lately i've been having an absolute blast with a pc engine emulator called "ootake.

" if you're not familiar with the pc engine, it was a console that was huge in japan but flopped in the u.s. as the "turbografx-16".

PrimateDave

Dorky Geeky Gamer?

Well I used to program little games in Extended Basic on my TI99/4A and saved them to cassette. lol! They didn't play very well, but it was lots of fun anyway back in 1983.

I played Lode Runner quite a bit on the old PCs, but I got away from video games after High School. That changed when I got a Nintendo 64 in 1997. One of my first favorite games on it was Mischief Makers. I don't care how good your N64 emulator is (and I've tried the best), the only way to play MM is on the console! Another Nintendo 64 favorite of mine is Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber. You can play it on an emulator, but the best way is still the cartridge. Finally, Space Station Silicon Valley rounds out my list of lesser known console favorites.

11

Ten Highest Paid CEOs Who Laid Off Most Employees

by Justitia Themis in

http://www.resumark.com/blog/sergey/the-10-highest-paid-ceos-who-laid-off-the-most-employees/.

ceos of the 50 u.s. firms that cut the most jobs during the recession earned 42% more than the average s&p 500 firm ceo, according to a study released by a liberal think tank in washington.. .

the study also found that 36 of the 50 layoff leaders announced their layoffs at a time of positive earnings reports, suggesting a trend of squeezing workers to boost profits and to maintain high ceo pay.

PrimateDave

Mary, there was an SEC lawsuit brought against Goldman Sachs earlier this year. It was kind of forgotten in the midst of the Gulf oil disaster. I recall reading, however, that GS got off with a $550 million settlement. That's really just a slap on the wrist to them. Of course, no criminal proceedings were ever brought against any of their executives that I know of. After the settlement, their stock went up too. Wall Street owns Washington. Let's not forget that fact.

22

Jehovah's Witnesses not a protestant religion? (from The Watchtower 2009)

by Joliette in

jehovahs witnesses do not consider themselves to be a protestant religion.

protestantism arose in 16th-century europe in an effort to reform the roman catholic church.

the word protestant was first applied to the followers of martin luther at the diet of speyer in 1529. since then, the term has generally come to describe all those who adhere to the tenets and goals of the reformation.

PrimateDave

From the Wikipedia on Adventism:

Adventism is a Christian movement began in the 19th century, in the context of the Second Great Awakening revival in the United States. The name refers to belief in the soon Second Advent of Jesus (popularly known as the Second coming). It was started by William Miller, whose followers became known as Millerites. Today, the largest church within the movement is the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
The Adventist family of churches are regarded today as conservative Protestants. [ 1 ] While they hold much in common, their theology differs on whether the intermediate state is unconscious sleep or consciousness, whether the ultimate punishment of the wicked is annihilation or eternal torment, the nature of immortality, whether or not the wicked are resurrected, and whether the sanctuary of Daniel 8 refers to the one in heaven or on earth. [ 1 ] The movement has encouraged the examination of the Old Testament, leading them to observe the Sabbath.
...
Charles Taze Russell's Bible Student movement (from which the Jehovah's Witnesses emerged in 1931 following a schism in 1917) had connections at the very beginning with the Millerite movement.
Jehovah's Witnesses are generally not regarded as part of the Millerite Adventist movement, although at least one source does. [ 6 ] The founder Charles Taze Russell attended an Adventist church 1870–4 and "was deeply influenced by Adventist thought". [ 7 ]

So, really if it weren't for Protestantism and one of its offshoots, Adventism, JWism wouldn't exist. They can argue semantics all they want just to appear exceptional, but they can hardly deny their religious and cultural roots which make them just as much a part of the "world" as any other product of Western Civilization. The Organization's materialism, in other words its preocupations with time, money, and rules should make that pretty obvious.

97

Beware of the Strawman argument!

by Farkel in

jw
friends

years ago before i took the time and effort to study logic and argumentation, i went to a market and bought some toothpaste.

it was a little-known brand and it touted "baking soda" as its magic ingredient.

it was also cheaper than the name-brand toothpastes and that helped me in my decision.

PrimateDave

Debator(post337) said: "...what the Witnesses teach against the bible..." See, the Witnesses are against the Bible! He/she is really apostate after all! lol!

PS. Quote mining in the finest Watchtower tradition.

97

Beware of the Strawman argument!

by Farkel in

jw
friends

years ago before i took the time and effort to study logic and argumentation, i went to a market and bought some toothpaste.

it was a little-known brand and it touted "baking soda" as its magic ingredient.

it was also cheaper than the name-brand toothpastes and that helped me in my decision.

PrimateDave

Well, Farkel, I'll certainly agree that it is important to learn to recognize logical fallacies. At the same time I have found that real life situations can be rather difficult to categorize. Sometimes I'll know that a fallacy has been used in an argument but have a hard time pinning down exactly which one.

In your example, however, I'm not sure that the dentist used any fallacy at all. He merely questioned your sources of information. Since you did not have any acredited sources to back up the advertising claims found on the tube of toothpaste, your dentist expressed skepticism about its effectiveness. Healthy skepticism is not fallacious reasoning.

Watchtower publications misuse sources by quote mining and vague references to "experts". They will even hand pick "experts" as sources for their arguments. If a published scientist or scholar expresses skepticism of vague claims made in a Watchtower publication, thus causing us to doubt those claims, it would neither be a red herring nor a strawman argument.

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