Fact 1 - Violent crime overall has reduced significantly in recent decades.
Fact 2 - A disproportionate amount of violent crime is committed by racial minorities.
Posts by cofty
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82Generally Speaking Do You Support The Police?
by minimus ini know bad cops exist in many cities.
i know some cops who aren’t “bad” but do have an attitude.
however, i prefer to have law and order as opposed to chaos.
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82
Generally Speaking Do You Support The Police?
by minimus ini know bad cops exist in many cities.
i know some cops who aren’t “bad” but do have an attitude.
however, i prefer to have law and order as opposed to chaos.
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cofty
In general the British police are worthy of respect and support.
Civil societies have conceded a monopoly in violence to the state - Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan. That has led to the lowest rates of murder in human history. The vast majority of murders in mature democracies happen among minorities who reject the authority of the state in favour of an honour-based, revenge-oriented culture.
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The real dividing line isn’t between apostates and apologists it’s between...
by slimboyfat inexcellent observation from zizek about communist regimes: they didn’t care if people accepted the ideology or took it seriously, so long as people acted as if the ideology was true, that was the important thing.
in fact the regimes were deeply suspicious people who took the ideology too seriously.
people who took the ideology seriously were dangerous because they were prone to noticing the inconsistencies and flaws in the system.
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cofty
Interesting OP SBF thanks.
My only disagreement is with the idea that the WT leadership might actually understand the difference. Certainly all the years I was a member they were very intense about the need to take even the most obscure doctrine totally seriously.
Nevertheless I agree that there is a strong correlation between commitment to doctrinal compliance and apostasy. My experience is similar to xantippe above.
I think the many others who have less interest in the details of their faith are more likely to drift away quietly.
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JW's ransom sacrifice DOGMA
by The Fall Guy init-2 p. 735 ransom - “the real ransom (a) sacrifice.....would have to correspond (b) to the perfect adam......and enslavement into which their first father adam had sold them.
only thereby could he satisfy god’s perfect justice (c) that requires like for like...(d)’”.
a) can a ransom redeem something which wasn't lost – i.e.
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cofty
Russell taught that Jesus died to redeem Adam - one perfect life for another. All the rest of mankind were unborn in 'Adam's loins' and therefore saved by proxy.
Rutherford decided that Adam was eternally condemned. He swapped 'Adam' for the value of 'Adam's perfect life' and the current car-crash doctrine was born.
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Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is Dead
by cofty inthe 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
DOC - Read the OP (amazing how few contributors ever bother to do that)
I congratulated the American SF and the CIC.
As always the thread was in danger of degenerating into the usual boring Trump v anti-Trump - but you already knew that.
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Russian raid on 50 Jehovahs witnesses
by Diogenesister inthere has been a raid on a large jehovahs witness gathering in norilsk, above the arctic circle, according to the moscow times.. a building with 50 jws inside was surrounded by masked, armed special forces forces who burst into the building and demanded they surrender all electronic devices.. i'll link the article but it's obviously going to drive these witnesses deeper into the religion.
not to mention the images conjured up in the report are likely to be used by watchtower as more fear mongering, since its very much like last year's terrifying assembly videos where witnesses were huddled in a field and surrounded with similarly masked, armed men.. https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/10/22/russian-special-agents-raid-jehovahs-witnesses-resort-as-crackdown-intensifies-a67855.
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cofty
Russia is a regime of extreme Eurasian nationalism. The Orthodox Church is an important part of post-communist Russian identity and no challenges to that are permitted.
Putin is a man who arranges the assassination of critical journalists and political opponents. He sanctioned the use of one of the world's most dangerous biological weapons on British soil in the murder of a double agent resulting in the death of innocents.
No amount of outrage or protest will make the slightest difference. The Watchtower is a lost cause in Russia, but at least the Governing Body get to bask in righteous indignation from their ivory tower.
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Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is Dead
by cofty inthe 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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KURD is the word - and the word is KURD
by Terry inkurd 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 inkurd 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 inkurd 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.