cofty

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Posts by cofty

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  23

  Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is Dead

  by cofty in

  1. social
  2. current

  the so-called caliph, one of the most evil men in human history, has blown himself up along with three of his young children while being pursued by american special forces.. the ambition of isis was to expand the territory of the caliphate under the leadership of al-baghdadi to whom individual jihadists swear allegiance.

  now isis have nowhere to call home and no leader.

  what a pathetic bunch of losers.. they will of course appoint a new caliph and reprisal attacks will no doubt follow in western capitals by christmas but the more contemptible they appear they less likely it is that young men and women will join their delusional cause.. respect to the elite forces who hunted him down - those on the front line and the many intelligence specialists who made it possible.

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  cofty

  This thread is not about American politics.
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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

  One huge catastrophe was the U.S. insistence on selling arms and even nuclear weapons to PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE: the State of Israel.

  Israel proved its need of defense, and its outstanding ability, by defending itself from its murderous neighbours in 1948, '67 and '73.

  Israel is a beacon of freedom and democracy in a region of fascism. The very best place in the Middle East to be a Palestinian is inside Israel.
  
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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

  But - if Saddam goes after Kuwait OIL -- suddenly shock and awe appear and the balance of power (such as it is) is pulled apart at the seams. - Terry

  Nonsense.

  The UN (led by USA) ejected Saddam's army from Kuwait and stopped at the Iraq border leaving the tyrant in power for another decade.
  
  
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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

  Keeping the oil flowing by playing off one 'ally' against another is actually not as immoral as men like Michael Moore and Noam Chomsky and their followers make it seem.

  It has kept the lights on and brought prosperity to millions of people for almost a century.

  Long queues at petrol stations, planned power-cuts, three-day working weeks, mass unemployment and crippling inflation. That is what happens when Middle East policy fails as it did in the 70s.

  It's so easy to stand in judgement of those who have to make the hard choices. Many of those decisions have indeed been idiotic and in a few cases catastrophic but remember that not taking action is also a choice.

  Where would we be now if the UN led by the USA hadn't liberated Kuwait and allowed Saddam to threaten other oil producing countries? The second Iraq war also was not illegal. It was covered by UN resolution. It was the overthrow of a monster and the defense of Kurds and Marsh Arabs. It was the execution of the peace that was criminally incompetent. But the real blame must be placed at the feet of the succession of petty-minded, corrupt and incompetent ME leaders who care only for the enrichment of their family/clan/tribe/religious division.

  The Saudi regime is indeed appalling. But what are you going to do if we piss them off and they turn off the oil, or Iran closes the Straits of Hormuz?

  Criticising foreign policy is childsplay. Making better decisions (and not with the wisdom of hindsight) requires qualities all too often lacking in our leaders.

  The title and OP of this thread are disconnected from your subsequent topic and do you a disservice if you stand by them. In your self-proclaimed skepticism you have displayed astonishing gullibility.

  ETA - we are approaching the time when we will be able to turn our backs on the black gold and ME tyrants can go back to ruling over empty desert kingdoms. Worryingly many of them have spent their money on sophisticated weaponry. It will be quite a show.
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  23

  Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is Dead

  by cofty in

  1. social
  2. current

  the so-called caliph, one of the most evil men in human history, has blown himself up along with three of his young children while being pursued by american special forces.. the ambition of isis was to expand the territory of the caliphate under the leadership of al-baghdadi to whom individual jihadists swear allegiance.

  now isis have nowhere to call home and no leader.

  what a pathetic bunch of losers.. they will of course appoint a new caliph and reprisal attacks will no doubt follow in western capitals by christmas but the more contemptible they appear they less likely it is that young men and women will join their delusional cause.. respect to the elite forces who hunted him down - those on the front line and the many intelligence specialists who made it possible.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  cofty

  The so-called Caliph, one of the most evil men in human history, has blown himself up along with three of his young children while being pursued by American special forces.

  The ambition of ISIS was to expand the territory of the Caliphate under the leadership of al-Baghdadi to whom individual jihadists swear allegiance. Now ISIS have nowhere to call home and no leader. What a pathetic bunch of losers.

  They will of course appoint a new Caliph and reprisal attacks will no doubt follow in Western capitals by Christmas but the more contemptible they appear they less likely it is that young men and women will join their delusional cause.

  Respect to the elite forces who hunted him down - those on the front line and the many intelligence specialists who made it possible. Well done to the American commander-in-Chief who will probably Tweet about his success for a long time to come.
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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

  Sea Breeze - Either you don't understand the 2014 article in Nature or you are deliberately misrepresenting it.

  There is not a single word in the article that even hints at the need for an external force or intelligence to account for complexity or design. The dissenting scientists could not possibly be more opposed to creationists and proponents of ID.

  The debate is about the mechanisms that account for unguided evolution. Did you even read the article?

  Here is the key paragraph...

  In our view, this ‘gene-centric’ focus fails to capture the full gamut of processes that direct evolution. Missing pieces include how physical development influences the generation of variation (developmental bias); how the environment directly shapes organisms’ traits (plasticity); how organisms modify environments (niche construction); and how organisms transmit more than genes across generations (extra-genetic inheritance). For SET, these phenomena are just outcomes of evolution. For the EES, they are also causes.
  

  Please don't be so crass as to reference articles in The Federalist as if it was serious journalism, let alone science.
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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

  Thank you for linking to Coyne's article on Quillette article TD. I actually read that when it was first published last month and forgot about it.
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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

  Apparently Donald D. Hoffman, a human being who is the result of an evolutionary process that has provided him with a series of illusions rather than an accurate take on reality (which does not actually exist), is using these illusions to make claims about the nature of reality (which he has previously claimed does not exist). - Steve Oberski (the comments section of Coyne's blog...)
  
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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

  Newtonian physics for example “worked” but was apparently not “true”.

  Yes it is. It just isn't the complete picture but for macro objects it is true. No scare quotes required.

  In a million years of progress it will still be a fact that extant species descended from earlier common ancestors by evolution.

  Jerry Coyne describes Hoffman's prognostications as ".. a mess, and seems a bit like a gemisch of quantum woo, evolutionary misunderstandings, and postmodernism."

  There is a huge market for po-mo obfuscation, obscurantism and woo woo.
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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

  Those who think that human rationality is the ultimate guide to truth need to do better than respond by saying, “that’s a stupid question”. - SBF

  Yes it is. Observe the astonishing progress since the enlightenment.

  Facts, evidence, reason, rationality works - The End.

  And yet another science thread is dragged through the mire of postmodern bullshit.