cofty

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Posts by cofty

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  32

  Another Professor Renounces Darwinism

  by Sea Breeze in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  david gelernter, a famed yale university professor, has publicly renounced his belief in charles darwin’s theory of evolution, calling it a “beautiful idea” that has been effectively disproven.. article.

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  cofty

  I think much of Darwinian logic relies upon coding

  There is really no comparison beyond a bad analogy between computer coding and DNA.

  all of which has shown random mutation plus natural selection cannot generate new and complex creatures.

  That is nothing but a bald assertion. Only somebody who doesn't understand the basics or who has ideological religious motivations could say it.

  Evolution explains how an original complex creature gave rise to many other sorts of complex creatures. It explains this in astonishing detail.

  It does not explain how geochemistry became biochemistry. That is a whole different ball game.

  He gives an anecdote on how hard it would be to create just one new protein by chance

  Evolution has nothing at all to do with the origins of protein molecules. When people make this sort of objection to evolution you know that they have no interest in actual answers to real questions.

  All of the ideas of the Intelligent Design movement have been thoroughly destroyed by actual scientists. It is nothing but good old fashioned creationism in a new disguise trying to get around the First Amendment.
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  32

  Another Professor Renounces Darwinism

  by Sea Breeze in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  david gelernter, a famed yale university professor, has publicly renounced his belief in charles darwin’s theory of evolution, calling it a “beautiful idea” that has been effectively disproven.. article.

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  cofty

  A prof of computer science.

  His opinion of biology is as valid as his opinion on politics.

  Apparently he is impressed by the ramblings of Stephen Meyer - how embarrassing!
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  65

  KURD is the word - and the word is KURD

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  kurd is the word - the word is kurd________who the heck are they?.

  once upon a time, world war one ended and three people created a new place out of thin air called: iraq.

  (gertrude bell, lawrence of arabia, winston churchill).this new country was divided up into 3 chunks:kurdsunnishia_____solemn promises made by colonel t.e.

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  cofty

  Here is the thing Terry. You have been clicking around the internet and fallen for the bullshit that the Kurds have only got themselves to blame, Assad is not a moral monster and Erdogan is only protecting his country from terrorists. You slyly cast doubt on the source of 9/11 and assert that the biggest problem with the Middle East is western meddling.

  By contrast I have spent the last few years researching ME history written by people whose whole professional lives have been invested in the region. As a result I think I have achieved a bit of breadth and depth of understanding of how we got where we are today.

  Your narrative is so egregiously wrong that I have no ideas where to begin. It literally would be like trying to convince a conspiracy theorist that the earth is not flat and NASA isn't hiding the truth. I would need to invest huge amounts of time and effort, and for what? Your random style of prose makes it even more difficult than usual to converse.

  You have called a troll and Diog dismissed me as 'historically ignorant'.

  I don't care enough to argue it.
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  34

  New Massachusetts Bill ProposesTo Fine or Jail Someone For Calling Someone a Bitch!

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  and if you call someone a bitch , you would be fined 150 dollars the first offense and second is 200 plus possible jail time..

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  cofty

  Laws like that need to be met with mass disobedience.

  Nanny state strikes again.

  One region of England posted a message on social media last week reminding everybody that it was 'national pronoun day' You can imagine the response from the public. 'When are you having catch a fucking burglar day?' was the most 'liked' comment.
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  65

  KURD is the word - and the word is KURD

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  kurd is the word - the word is kurd________who the heck are they?.

  once upon a time, world war one ended and three people created a new place out of thin air called: iraq.

  (gertrude bell, lawrence of arabia, winston churchill).this new country was divided up into 3 chunks:kurdsunnishia_____solemn promises made by colonel t.e.

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  cofty

  I would no more invest time and effort debating with somebody who sides with the moral monsters Assad and Erdogan against a persecuted minority facing ethnic cleansing - and sheds doubt on the perpetrator of 9/11 - than I would debate a Holocaust denier.
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  65

  KURD is the word - and the word is KURD

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  kurd is the word - the word is kurd________who the heck are they?.

  once upon a time, world war one ended and three people created a new place out of thin air called: iraq.

  (gertrude bell, lawrence of arabia, winston churchill).this new country was divided up into 3 chunks:kurdsunnishia_____solemn promises made by colonel t.e.

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  cofty

  Your stack of books is BIGGER than mine. You win? Okay, if that is therapeutic for you

  Actually the disagreement is between a stack of books by academics and a video by Glenn Greenwald.

  You are citing the NYT out of context. The oil is in a semi-autonomous region of Iraq. It is ultimately controlled by Barham Sali's government of Iraq. The Kurds have no independence and no state but are now faced with more persecution and possible ethnic cleansing from Turkey.

  Your claims about Syria and your victim-blaming are appalling. But you would rather lecture me about tone.
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  65

  KURD is the word - and the word is KURD

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  kurd is the word - the word is kurd________who the heck are they?.

  once upon a time, world war one ended and three people created a new place out of thin air called: iraq.

  (gertrude bell, lawrence of arabia, winston churchill).this new country was divided up into 3 chunks:kurdsunnishia_____solemn promises made by colonel t.e.

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  cofty

  I prefer Documentaries when I can find them and books by "been there/done that" authors - Terry

  What books is that Terry? Videos featuring Glenn Greenwald don't count as research. This thread - your OP in particular - are full of misinformation that is nothing short of gaslighting. Your sympathy with Assad and Erdogan and your lack of concern for the Kurdish people is sickening.

  Here, in no particular order, are the books I have read (some of them more than once) in the last two years on Middle East history.

  • A History of the Modern Middle East - Wm/ Clevland & Martin Bunton
  • The Iraq War - John Keegan
  • Iraq; The Cost of War - Jeremy Greenstock
  • ISIS; The Stare of Terror - Jessica Stern & J.M. Berger
  • The Battle for Syria; International Rivalry in the New Middle East - Christopher Phillips
  • The Looming Tower; Al Qaeda's Road to 9/11 - Lawrence Wright
  • The Great War for Civilisation; The Conquest of the Middle East - Robert Fisk
  • The Arab Uprisings - Jeremy Bowen
  • The New Middle East; The World After the Arab Spring - Paul Danahar
  • A Line in the Sand; Britain France and the Struggle that Shaped the Middle East - James Barr
  • The Palestine - Israeli Conflict - Dan Cohen-Sherbok & Dawoud El-Alami
  • Cursed Victory; A History of Israel and the Occupied Territories - Ahron Bregman
  • Revolutionary Iran - Michael Axworthy

  All of these are here on my bookcase and represent countless hours of recent research on this issue from outstanding sources. If you doubt my word I would be happy to post a pic of this collection of books.

  You have taken the obvious fact that the West meddles in the Middle East and spun a complete fabrication based on a few minutes or hours of Google clicks. As you may guess I feel passionately about this.

  Diog - you can apologise any time.
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  33

  I'll be speaking at Columbia University next weekend, meetup to follow....

  by dubstepped in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  so i'll be speaking on a panel as part of the "when rights and religions collide" event next saturday, october 19. if you'd like to attend you can learn more here:https://rightsandreligions.com/.

  i'm also going to host a meetup on sunday if any of you are in the nyc area.

  i'm still putting the finishing touches on the details but if you'd like to join in and meet myself, my wife, and a few people that listen to the shunned podcast or that are in my facebook group called by the same name shoot me a private message soon.

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  cofty

  Outstanding. Thanks for the update
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  65

  KURD is the word - and the word is KURD

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  kurd is the word - the word is kurd________who the heck are they?.

  once upon a time, world war one ended and three people created a new place out of thin air called: iraq.

  (gertrude bell, lawrence of arabia, winston churchill).this new country was divided up into 3 chunks:kurdsunnishia_____solemn promises made by colonel t.e.

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  cofty

  Diog you asserted that Islamic attacks on West began "after we invaded".

  We invaded nobody in 1990.

  Get your facts straight before you criticise others.

  Would you like a suggested reading list of Middle East history?
  

  Salafist jihadi terrorists have told us why they attack us. It is NOT because of the Iraq war or even the second Iraq war.

  Why not pay them the respect of taking them at their word?
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  65

  KURD is the word - and the word is KURD

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  kurd is the word - the word is kurd________who the heck are they?.

  once upon a time, world war one ended and three people created a new place out of thin air called: iraq.

  (gertrude bell, lawrence of arabia, winston churchill).this new country was divided up into 3 chunks:kurdsunnishia_____solemn promises made by colonel t.e.

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  cofty

  Terry - your assertion that the Syrian conflict was not triggered by Assad's violent reaction to popular protest against his oppressive rule is the most outrageously biased and wrong-headed statement in this entire thread.

  It is straight out of Putin's playbook and the sort of gass-lighting spewed daily by RT.

  You are more guilty of subjective and manipulated opinions than your readers.

  Read some books by real journalists who report from the ground in conflict zones of the ME. I could recommend examples if you wish.

  Of course western governments meddle and of course some news sources are biased. That is no excuse for swallowing every anti-establishment conspiracy theory espoused by Michael Moore and Naom Chomsky.

  We need oil. We must do business with some of the most stupid, greedy and corrupt tyrants ever to rule desert kingdoms. One day we will need their black gold no more and they can go back to internecine squabbling.