PrimateDave

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Posts by PrimateDave

• 
  16

  Dell is again offering Windows XP as a choice over Vista on their Systems

  by What-A-Coincidence in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  from one of my yahoo groups:.

  fyi:.

  dell is again offering windows xp as a choice over vista on their systems, due to a plea from over 10,000 customers on dell's "idea storm" website.. .

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  PrimateDave

  I've been running my Dell Inspiron 9100 laptop (Actually a desktop in a laptop package. Everyone remarks on how thick it is.) for 2 1/2 years with Win XP Home without a hitch or glitch. Never reloaded. Hardly ever locks up. I used to reload Win 98 all the time on my previous computers. I played around with a few versions of Linux. I've booted my laptop with Knoppix 5.0 just to see if it would work, and it seems okay. If I ever have to change from XP, I'll go with Linux.
  
  Dave
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  11

  Any Reguetón Fans??? Boricua!!!

  by What-A-Coincidence in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i think tego calderon is the joint!

  for all my caribbean fans!!!

  boricua!!!.

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  PrimateDave

  Well, I live in La Parguera, a small, usually quiet tourist town on the southwestern coast, and I work in Mayaguez. While I like Salsa and the typical music of Puerto Rico's "jibaro's", I do not like Regueton, which is usually heard coming from small cars with impossibly loud bass. I guess I'll never understand this fascination that some young men have with "sharing" their choice in music with the rest of the neighborhood.
  
  Dave
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  21

  CONFLICT: the winner decides what is TRUE in history and theology

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  there was a period of time between judaism, (messianic judaism, christian-judaism and, finally,) christianity in which violent arguments over who/what jesus was vis a vis deity took place.. one of the reasons for writing down the oral traditions was to solidify certain positions and "prove" a particular opinion by representing those opinions as from a higher source.

  after all, the jews were the "people of the book" and no greater authority could be referenced in an argument over orthodoxy than what was "written".. eventually hundreds (if not thousands) of messiah stories, jesus stories were circulated; each with yet more powerful representations of who or what his personage revealed as to nature and importance.

  the names of important men became attached to these writings to bolster their authority and authenticity.

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  PrimateDave

  Yes, I agree that this is true for the most part. Thankfully, with the level of documentation available to scholars today, it is possible to probe a little deeper that what is provided in our "banking" education. Anyone who has read A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn can see that there was way more going on beneath the veneer of names, dates, and wars presented in the average high school history text.
  
  Noam Chomsky likewise decries the collective memory hole on significant events of recent history. The points that 5go brought out in his post are significant in illustrating the ignorance of the American public to the crimes of its own government.
  
  Let me just have a little fun with you Terry. I always enjoy your posts and topics, but you said,
  
  "There has never been a nation in the history of the world so powerful as the U.S.A. that did more to enable prosperity among those it conquered. Japan went from a feudal state of medeival mentality to a thriving economic industrail state reknowned throughout the world. This stems directly from being defeated by the U.S. and rehabilitated. So, we must weigh the past with the present. Viet Nam was a stoneage country of rice paddies before the war and is a top economic society afterward. Weigh this carefully in the balance."
  
  To which I counter with a quote from What Uncle Sam Really Wants by Noam Chomsky:
  
  "Kennan was one of the most intelligent and lucid of US planners, and a major figure in shaping the
  postwar world. His writings are an extremely interesting illustration of the dovish position. One
  document to look at if you want to understand your country is Policy Planning Study 23, written by
  Kennan for the State Department planning staff in 1948. Here's some of what it says:
  
  "'[W]e have about 50% of the world's wealth, but only 6.3% of its population....In this situation,
  we cannot fail to be the object of envy and resentment. Our real task in the coming period is
  to devise a pattern of relationships which will permit us to maintain this position of
  disparity....To do so, we will have to dispense with all sentimentality and day-dreaming; and
  our attention will have to be concentrated everywhere on our immediate national
  objectives....We should cease to talk about vague and...unreal objectives such as human
  rights, the raising of the living standards, and democratization. The day is not far off when
  we are going to have to deal in straight power concepts. The less we are then hampered by
  idealistic slogans, the better.'
  
  "PPS 23 was, of course, a top-secret document. To pacify the public, it was necessary to trumpet the
  'idealistic slogans' (as is still being done constantly), but here planners were talking to one another."
  
  .....
  
  "During World War II, study groups of the State Department and Council on Foreign Relations developed
  plans for the postwar world in terms of what they called the 'Grand Area,' which was to be subordinated
  to the needs of the American economy.
  
  "The Grand Area was to include the Western Hemisphere, Western Europe, the Far East, the former
  British Empire (which was being dismantled), the incomparable energy resources of the Middle East
  (which were then passing into American hands as we pushed out our rivals France and Britain), the rest
  of the Third World and, if possible, the entire globe. These plans were implemented, as opportunities
  allowed.
  
  "Every part of the new world order was assigned a specific function. The industrial countries were to be
  guided by the 'great workshops,' Germany and Japan, who had demonstrated their prowess during the
  war (and now would be working under US supervision).
  
  "The Third World was to 'fulfill its major function as a source of raw materials and a market' for the
  industrial capitalist societies, as a 1949 State Department memo put it. It was to be 'exploited' (in
  Kennan's words) for the reconstruction of Europe and Japan. (The references are to Southeast Asia and
  Africa, but the points are general.)
  
  "Kennan even suggested that Europe might get a psychological lift from the project of 'exploiting' Africa.
  Naturally, no one suggested that Africa should exploit Europe for its reconstruction, perhaps also
  improving its state of mind. These declassified documents are read only by scholars, who apparently find
  nothing odd or jarring in all this."
  
  And, you mentioned Vietnam...
  
  "The Vietnam War emerged from the need to ensure this service role. Vietnamese nationalists didn't want
  to accept it, so they had to be smashed. The threat wasn't that they were going to conquer anyone, but
  that they might set a dangerous example of national independence that would inspire other nations in the
  region."
  
  Yes, it was just another manifestation of old fashioned Colonialism or Exploitation. And it was useful to the Powers That Be in the United States to let Japan and Western Europe exploit the other countries in their regions much as the US has exploited Latin America. The Powers That Be see no problems letting a relatively few intellectuals criticize the immorality of the global economic system because the ignorant masses continue to be lulled by the consensus trance of infotainment and living from paycheck to paycheck.
  
  All of this only proves your original point that the Winner Decides What is True in History. So, you see I am agreeing with you after all.
  
  Also, 5go is right. The rest of the World knows that the United States is the largest terrorist nation in the world.
  
  You also said, "When there is tragedy through natural disaster the U.S. is there with its hand out filled with medicine, cash and humanitarian aid."
  
  To which I turn once again to Chomsky:
  
  "Teaching Nicaragua a Lesson
  
  ...
  
  "From 1960 through 1978, the New York Times had three editorials on Nicaragua. It's not that nothing
  was happening there -- it's just that whatever was happening was unremarkable. Nicaragua was of no
  concern at all, as long as Somoza's tyrannical rule wasn't challenged.
  
  "When his rule was challenged, by the Sandinistas in the late 1970s, the US first tried to institute what
  was called 'Somocismo [Somoza-ism] without Somoza' -- that is, the whole corrupt system intact, but
  with somebody else at the top. That didn't work, so President Carter tried to maintain Somoza's National
  Guard as a base for US power.
  
  "The National Guard had always been remarkably brutal and sadistic. By June 1979, it was carrying out
  massive atrocities in the war against the Sandinistas, bombing residential neighborhoods in Managua,
  killing tens of thousands of people. At that point, the US ambassador sent a cable to the White House
  saying it would be 'ill-advised' to tell the Guard to call off the bombing, because that might interfere
  with the policy of keeping them in power and the Sandinistas out."
  
  And then came the Contras...
  
  "Reagan used them to launch a large-scale terrorist war against Nicaragua, combined with economic
  warfare that was even more lethal. We also intimidated other countries so they wouldn't send aid either.
  
  ...
  
  "Why did the US go to such lengths in Nicaragua? The international development organization Oxfam
  explained the real reasons, stating that, from its experience of working in 76 developing countries,
  'Nicaragua was...exceptional in the strength of that government's commitment...to improving the
  condition of the people and encouraging their active participation in the development process.'
  
  "Of the four Central American countries where Oxfam had a significant presence (El Salvador,
  Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua), only in Nicaragua was there a substantial effort to address
  inequities in land ownership and to extend health, educational and agricultural services to poor peasant
  families.
  
  ...
  
  "The success of the Sandinista reforms terrified US planners. They were aware that -- as José Figueres,
  the father of Costa Rican democracy, put it -- 'for the first time, Nicaragua has a government that cares
  for its people.' (Although Figueres was the leading democratic figure in Central America for forty years,
  his unacceptable insights into the real world were completely censored from the US media.)
  
  "The hatred that was elicited by the Sandinistas for trying to direct resources to the poor (and even
  succeeding at it) was truly wondrous to behold. Just about all US policymakers shared it, and it reached
  virtual frenzy.
  
  ...
  
  "...we launched the contra war along with an illegal economic war to terminate what Oxfam rightly
  called 'the threat of a good example.'
  
  ...
  
  "We even refused to send disaster relief. After the 1972 earthquake, the US sent an enormous amount of
  aid to Nicaragua, most of which was stolen by our buddy Somoza. In October 1988, an even worse
  natural disaster struck Nicaragua -- Hurricane Joan. We didn't send a penny for that, because if we had, it
  would probably have gotten to the people, not just into the pockets of some rich thug. We also pressured
  our allies to send very little aid.
  
  "This devastating hurricane, with its welcome prospects of mass starvation and long-term ecological
  damage, reinforced our efforts. We wanted Nicaraguans to starve so we could accuse the Sandinistas of
  economic mismanagement. Because they weren't under our control, Nicaraguans had to suffer and die."
  
  Well, eventually, Nicaragua brought the United States before the World Court and won. But, as you know, all this has gone down the collective memory hole because the United States is such a peachy nice place and a beacon of democracy. The atrocities committed in the Philippines, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, and Iraq, just to name a few, were for their own good. I'm being sarcastic.
  
  People don't come to the United States anymore because it is such a great country. They come because much of the rest of the world is in such a shitty condition thanks to exploitation by the Global Elites at home and abroad.
  
  Anyway, thanks for reading my rant. Now, go out and read some Chomsky or watch Manufacturing Consent.
  
  Dave
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  44

  covenant, Ark of...

  by Priest73 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hummm.

  i'm sitting here watching the history channel (digging for the truth -great show.

  ) anyway a thought just occurred to me.

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  PrimateDave

  Here is an excerpt from "The Ark of the Covenant and the Temple of Solomon" by Laura Knight-Jadczyk:
  
  "One theologian wrote about the Bible:
  
  "The Bible is an Extraordinary Book: A book which claims infallibility; which aspires to absolute authority over mind and body; which demands unconditional surrender to all its pretensions upon penalty of eternal damnation, is an extraordinary book and should, therefore, be subjected to extraordinary tests.
  
  "But it isn't.
  
  "Neither Christian priests nor Jewish rabbis approve of applying to the bible the same tests by which other books are tried.
  
  "Why?
  
  "Because it will help the bible? It can not be that.
  
  "Because it might hurt the bible? We can think of no other reason.
  
  "The Truth is that The Bible is: A Collection of Writings of Unknown Date and Authorship Rendered into English From Supposed Copies of Supposed Originals Unfortunately Lost."
  ________________
  
  Dave
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  39

  Answering an evolutionist argument.

  by hooberus in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the world is full of complex biological systems (for one example see below):.

  here is a brief overview of the biochemistry of vision.

  when light first strikes the retina, a photon interacts with a molecule called 11-cis-retinal, which rearranges within picoseconds to trans-retinal.

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  PrimateDave

  I generally accept the Theory of Evolution. In its many varied aspects I think it does a good job of explaining what happened in the past.
  
  "Thought and behavior in people are rendered far less mysterious when we realize that choice and sensitivity are already exquisitely developed in the microbial cells that became our ancestors." - Lynn Margulis, evolutionary biologist.
  
  I've read Behe's book. He presents a mechanized and reductionist approach to life. For him the only solution that makes sense is that life originates from an exterior creative source. It is basically a sophisticated way for him to say that he doesn't know how life got here or how it evolved. His non answer is popular with promoters of an omnipotent male deity that was made up by ancient tribal groups.
  
  Dawkins is also reductionist and "materialistic". But, he takes his assertion one step further. Since he can find no external creative source, then it does not exist.
  
  I recently read in David C. Korten's book, The Great Turning..., that life is planetary exuberance, physical matter that has the ability to choose. Consider for a moment the words of Lynn Margulis that I quoted above. What if every microbe has a fundamental intelligence to it? What if that same intelligence is to be found in every single cell in existence? And what if those cells decide to cooperate to form multicellular lifeforms? What if, after nearly four billion years of life, Gaia gave birth to a being that could reflect on its own history and look to the future as well? No, it is not "reductionist" or "materialistic". Instead of a universe where an Omniscient Being made everything "just so", consider a universe with an emerging consciousness in the process of self discovery. We could be a part of that.
  
  One final stab at Creationists: Let's say that there really is an Intelligent Designer as Behe and others suggest? What makes you think that It has anything whatsoever to do with the Bible or Christianity? Just because you say so?
  
  Dave
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  1

  The mental illness of derived power and it's effects on humanity

  by Handsome Dan in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  we are all aware of the empowering effect that religion has availed itself for a select group of men, as an example the wts.

  one hundred years ago a small group of men in new york.

  u.s.a. stated that god's kingdom on earth was being established and we are a part of that kingdom and are its spiritually directed constructors.they were some of many power seekers .

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  PrimateDave

  Yes, the organization known as Jehovah's Witnesses is simply one aspect of the dominator/empire culture that has been in existence for some 5000 or so years. A mini empire unto itself, it will suffer the fate of empires past and future.
  
  I highly recommend a book that I just finished reading: The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community by David C. Korten
  
  Dave
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  35

  Give me a tune to put on my I-pod

  by ninja in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have just gotten myself an i-pod with loads of space...i have exhausted my choice of tunes and still have loads of space left 60+gb....so give me your essential tunes you know i will like.....i like every type of music without exception......ideas please

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  PrimateDave

  If you like Metal, try Agalloch. Their latest album, "Ashes Against the Grain," is excellent.
  
  http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0xfqxq8dld6e
  
  Enjoy, Dave
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  38

  Silly Things You Can Do For Which Jehovah Will Kill You...

  by gaiagirl in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was thinking about all the various people who the bible says have been killed by jehovah or his angels for various acts of disobedience.

  here are a few of the ones i thought of....feel free to add your own eating a piece of fruit (slow death, 930 years) picking up some sticks on the sabbath preventing the ark of the covenant from falling when the guy carrying it stumbles living in a city where your family has lived for generations, in a region where jehovah has "given" the land to his "chosen" people dancing for your victorious warrior father, not knowing he has vowed to offer the first one out of the house as a burnt offering.

  disagreeing with moses

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  PrimateDave

  From IS IT GOD'S WORD? by Joseph Wheless - "YAHVEH -- THE 'TERRIBLE GOD' OF ISRAEL"
  
  "The Hebrew-pagan God Yahveh has all the gods of Greece and of every
  known theogony paled into innocuous shades of villainy by
  comparison. Yahveh, to credit his inspired biography, is the
  greatest criminal on record; he reeks with the blood of murders
  unnumbered, and is personally a murderer and an assassin, by
  stealth and treachery; a pitiless monster of bloody vengeances; a
  relentless persecutor of guilty and innocent alike; the most raging
  and terrifying bully; fickle and changeable as chameleon Fortune;
  a synonym for partiality and injustice; a vain braggart; a false
  promiser; an arrant and shameless liar "and the father of it." He
  has repeated fornications and adulteries to his credit, besides
  being a shameless procurer. Of every commandment except the self-
  glorifying first he is a chronic breaker.
  
  "Every particular of this, maybe to many shocking, description,
  is out of the inspired Bible."
  
  I dare you to read it all:
  http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/joseph_wheless/is_it_gods_word/chapter_10.html
  
  Dave
• 
  38

  Silly Things You Can Do For Which Jehovah Will Kill You...

  by gaiagirl in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was thinking about all the various people who the bible says have been killed by jehovah or his angels for various acts of disobedience.

  here are a few of the ones i thought of....feel free to add your own eating a piece of fruit (slow death, 930 years) picking up some sticks on the sabbath preventing the ark of the covenant from falling when the guy carrying it stumbles living in a city where your family has lived for generations, in a region where jehovah has "given" the land to his "chosen" people dancing for your victorious warrior father, not knowing he has vowed to offer the first one out of the house as a burnt offering.

  disagreeing with moses

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  PrimateDave

  Choking your chicken. And then eating it [with the blood still in it].
  
  Talking with 'postates on JWD.
  
  Dave
• 
  34

  The chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter

  by uuus2b1 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  last year, i bought a few movies for my 16 year old niece when i went on vacation, among them was the movie "the chronicles of narnia (the lion, the witch and the wardrobe).

  a few days later my brother called and said that he would like if i came by to pick up the movie as they would not allow their daughter to watch that movie.

  (my brother is an elder) when i went to his house the movie was left virtually the same place that i had left it.

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  PrimateDave

  Underbeliever, that was great. Kinda shows how shallow many Witnesses are. Some let their children (!) play Grand Theft Auto, and others won't let them see a harmless movie like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Strangely, I liked the older, animated Lion, Witch, Wardrobe better than the newer live-action movie. Then again, it has been years since I saw the animated movie, so as to give it a fair comparison.
  
  Dave