So here's an email to the NYT in defense of Joe Biden's "handiness.

racocn8 comments on Apr 10, 2019:

Note that Lucy Flores has been careful to avoid describing her actual motive for her bringing this up. In the absence of said motive, and the lack of anything described as being wrongful, we can all safely assume that she is lying for her own gain (improved status among fellow Bernie-supporters?). For the rest of us, Flores's immoral deception rivals that of Trump.

Republicans falsely claim Ilhan Omar denied 9/11 attackers were terrorists

racocn8 comments on Apr 10, 2019:

On the other hand, Islam fully sanctions its believers to lie, if it is on behalf of Islam. Which is only a little different from Christians who lie for Jesus whenever it suits their purposes. The only difference is that the Quran spells out the authorization.

Trump does not understand this

racocn8 comments on Apr 10, 2019:

Nor do his followers.

Rep.

racocn8 comments on Apr 9, 2019:

Rep. Omar's use of anti-Semitic tropes is well recorded elsewhere. Claiming they are merely anti-Israel is a distinction without a difference. When Muslims complain about the support for Saudi Arabia as loudly as against support for Israel, that might suggest a gleam of rationality and fairness. I won't hold my breath. Let's be clear though, of the three main western religions, Islam is horrifically violent and antithetical to western civilization and science (Though the other two aren't really far behind. Fortunately, Jews have practically abandoned the more primitive dicta of their *Holy* writings).

I am still on Rep Doug Collins, mailing list from Ga.

racocn8 comments on Apr 9, 2019:

Women put Trump in office as much as any other group. SCOTUS should overturn Roe V. Wade if only to send a thank-you message to those ladies. Also, the evangelicals will whither twice as fast if they are denied the anti-abortion issue to rally the troops.

Rep.

racocn8 comments on Apr 9, 2019:

To be sure, Omar and Miller are both bigots of the worst sort. The problem is with Miller who is directing national policy. That Miller is Jewish is bizarre. Is he another self-hating Jew? Where did he get his racist values? No need to guess where Omar got hers.

I'LL SAY THIS FOR THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION -- It has proven just how corrupt and broken the ...

racocn8 comments on Apr 9, 2019:

Trump is following Nixon's game plan except that instead of power, he's only interested in money. As for seeing it coming, Trump was installed by the Deep State, with a little help from Putin. The NSA knew Russia would interfere as it had with Ukraine, Le Pen, and Brexit. Trump got all the help he needed from the networks, Comey, the Evangelicals, the NRA, Obama, and even Hillary herself. They were all following orders from behind the Dark Curtain. The real question is Why?

We need to fix this. [politico.com]

racocn8 comments on Apr 9, 2019:

Not going to happen under Trump. He is only interested in spinning the issue in whatever way he thinks will help his re-election.

Guys ask why women are so pissed off.

racocn8 comments on Apr 2, 2019:

Can we at least mention the elephant in the room? That being how religion has instructed the cultural values so that women withhold sexual availability. Now we have men becoming mass murderers in response to their frustration. As long as the underlying issues are self-censored, we shouldn't expect any improvement, and indeed, a worsening. The corollary is that women also suffer as a result of their fear and inhibitions.

God hates porn?

racocn8 comments on Apr 1, 2019:

How could anyone tell that a God hated porn? (No one has a direct line or is delusional if they say they do).

Giving money to panhandlers/homeless

racocn8 comments on Mar 28, 2019:

Please be sure to go see the movie "The Public" which presents a compassionate depiction of the homeless. In theaters soon...

Charles S.

racocn8 comments on Mar 27, 2019:

Thousands of years of history and nowhere has any spiritual phenomena been identified. No one can demonstrate astral travel, mind-reading, clairvoyance, precognition, or telekinesis. If any of that were possible, biologic variation would express it in at least some tiny fraction of the population. That is not the case. One can reasonably assume reality/people don't work that way. Similarly, religion does not demonstrate superstitious benefit beyond the placebo effect. No religious practice has produced information that is meaningful, has value, or was previously unknown. Making a claim of God explains absolutely nothing and creates more confusion, not less, about our universe. Nor can anyone say anything about any such God with reliability. And yet, the vast majority believe all nature of lies, mostly as a matter of social convenience. Sadly, almost no one really cares to look for truth and only a fraction of them have the horsepower to grasp the truth that is known. Oh, well... What would we do with it if we could know the truth?

Giving money to panhandlers/homeless

racocn8 comments on Mar 27, 2019:

Atheists are always attacked because they have almost no organized charity. It's a cheap shot coming from religionists who expect divine reward in exchange for their good-deeds, and who expect those receiving charity to give adopt their propaganda. Non-believers should act charitably, giving to the less fortunate if they appear they will benefit (and not use it for addiction). This is real, honest charity, and not dependent on psychological threats. Having empathy for others is part of the intrinsic sense of justice and fairness, said trait being observed in reptiles on-up; religion plays zero-part in real empathy, and can only be a mind-job/delusion.

What’s the world’s worst religion?

racocn8 comments on Mar 27, 2019:

Islamic justice is brutal in keeping with the period and location where it was developed. Judaism is almost as bad and maybe worse, except that modern Jews don't follow the really cruel injunctions. Christianity, like Judaism and Islam has a horrific blood-soaked history, which they hypocritically blame on atheists! Most strong Christians are still Nazi-wanna-be s, as has been made clear by the evangelical support of Trump. It would be nice to point to Christians evolving their sensibilities, but clearly that is limited. And those carrying water for the Saudis make the same claim about the Israelis. Except that the Israelis do go to great lengths to moderate and target the killing of Hamas fanatics. Christians also commonly call out atheism as being responsible for the millions killed by Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot. The problem is that the victims weren't killed for refusing to believers in atheism, but rather, for refusing to adopt Communism (or refusing to kowtow to the communist leader). That is a huge difference, and is not easy explained to the common idiot. On occasion, Christians are happy to confabulate the Nazis as being atheists too. Yeah, I wonder what percent atheists were present in Nazi Germany - - even one percent?

AOC burns the barn with another speech on climate and nails the republicans.

racocn8 comments on Mar 27, 2019:

While both parties may get contributions, that's a really big false equivalence. Plainly GOP rarely even admit to climate change while this is widely accepted by Democrats. The level of allegiance and support for oil is much much higher in the GOP. All of that is why Citizens United matters.

End protection welfare! Abolish all government military and police forces! They must all be ...

racocn8 comments on Mar 25, 2019:

Silly and badly done.

So.

racocn8 comments on Mar 13, 2019:

Surely you are mistaken. It's the rest of the Universe that is shrinking. We may have to shoot you into space before you overwhelm the planet.

IT TIME FOR THE UGLY TRUTH How long we are going to allow the ignorance breeding ground to go ...

racocn8 comments on Mar 5, 2019:

Everyone should be required to take the MMPI. Then we can see what religions do to peoples heads, and not just wait for a violent or corrupt outcome. We already know that atheists are under-represented in prison populations. The religionists won't and don't care.

Criticizing the current Israeli government and it's policies is not anti-Semitic.

racocn8 comments on Mar 5, 2019:

Only when Muslims disavow the tropes disseminated by the Saudis, only then will they and their self-hating Jew stooges will be regarded as more that militant Islamic wackos. Until then, it's obvious they are robots from Riyadh (as are the Palestinians). Only a few (or no) Islamic countries oppress fewer Islamics than Israel does and yet they never get called out by the BDS (Boycott-Divest-Sanction) *do-gooders*.

Sanders launches his campaign with a blast of demagogy - World Socialist Web Site

racocn8 comments on Mar 5, 2019:

Can one ever tire of cultists eating their own for the sake of purity?

[alternet.org] PARADOX; Here's the bizarre reason why white evangelical women love Donald Trump.

racocn8 comments on Feb 21, 2019:

Overturning Roe V Wade is deemed to have a higher value than supporting all the other Christian values that Donald Trump violates. Thus, they choose to give Trump a *Golden* Pass on all discretions. The problem is they don't realize the extent of Trump's perversity, and Steele's Dossier shows one shouldn't underestimate that. They deserve the shaming they get.

Everyone Hates Starbucks Billionaire Howard Schultz | The Daily Show - YouTube

racocn8 comments on Feb 5, 2019:

The only reason he's rich is from viciously overcharging his customers. But Friedman said there's no such thing as a monopoly...

Sam Harris Fans: what is your opinion of this piece?

racocn8 comments on Jan 23, 2019:

@TheMiddleWay As you were raised Catholic, it's understandable that you may still be sympathetic to the Church. On balance, I would claim that the Church does not deserve your sympathy. The article mentioned that the Church is not always at odds with science, but does not cite any exceptions, and does not make any valid arguments toward its own thesis, except to point to a few learned monks. History readily reveals that the Catholic church is an enemy to women, gays, Jews, other cultures and religions. The Catholic version of Christianity does not evade the patent contradiction between evolution and the proposition of a first human, Adam, committing the Original Sin that required the human sacrifice of Jesus. Catholics surely knew from their own studies that the whole of Christianity was fabricated, but elected to retain their power and keep the truth from Humanity. If Catholicism is not the enemy of science, it surely is no friend. On the gun article, the author praises Harris numerous times, but disagrees with his logic. Perhaps Harris is out of his depth on this one. As to the persecution of the religious by the Chinese, I assume that some amount of actual abuse occurs, but religious people are themselves abusive to others on a routine basis, either by their own discrimination, practices and brainwashing of their children. The claim that this is persecution in the name of atheism is surely wrong. Disabusing people of their delusions cannot be a totally bad thing. Realize that those conveying this story may be much less than objective in their presentation. It is certain that the Chinese will be vastly more compassionate than the Catholics have been to non-Catholics (typically murder and genocide).

Sam Harris Fans: what is your opinion of this piece?

racocn8 comments on Jan 22, 2019:

"...it's just that I think he fails to recognize that he suffer from the same failing as those he denounces." That is just fatuous example of false equivalence. The false equivalence is that religious people are religious and Sam Harris is aligned with scientific inquiry. Both have express loyalty to their beliefs, but the similarity ends there. Harris is open to alternatives supported by evidence, religious kooks are not. Harris goes where the evidence leads; kooks disregard the evidence, or worse. It's hard not to appear arrogant to those who see emphatic loyalty to truth as a repudiation of their loyalty to lies. The difference is there (and huge) but religionists are uncomfortable with cognitive dissonance. The reality and punchline is that it is the self-same cognitive dissonance that creates psychological trauma that then triggers the violence in the behaviorally challenged religionists. Atheists do not suffer the same problem, hence, no violence in the name of atheism.

KAMALA HARRIS 2020 (she will not except any P.A.C. money) [facebook.com]

racocn8 comments on Jan 22, 2019:

My friend told me that he wrote to Kamala Harris imploring her to do anything to clean up the corruption in Long Beach's City Hall. All he got from Ms. Harris was crickets. She benefits from being colored, but she did nothing to normalize the cannabis industry and allowed the police to continue their theft and intimidation tactics. So, she's a coward and a do-nothing until she can demonstrate otherwise. Not a good choice for president; just promoting her own future.

Do you think Death ever has a bad day?

racocn8 comments on Jan 22, 2019:

Quite a few. Nothing to do for the first billion years. (or however long it took to create enough heavy elements for habitable solar systems). Also, why does it always want to go on holiday?

Joe Biden: White America Has To Admit There Is Systemic Racism | HuffPost

racocn8 comments on Jan 21, 2019:

This is one area (among many others) where the Dems differ from the GOP. But on the issue of racism, the GOP has always used code or has overtly enacted racist policies, if only to push back against non-whites who favor the Dems. Not really. The GOP base as revealed by Trump is profoundly racist. Systematic Racism? My God (?), just look at the history of the Supreme Court. Despicable! If the US is the pinnacle, the Human Race deserves extinction. It's closer than the Civil War and probably WWII. That's comforting actually.

So I've watched the video of the kids with the MAGA hats.

racocn8 comments on Jan 21, 2019:

Kudos to the Elder who tried to diffuse the situation. Shame on the school for using kids to promote anti-abortion (and anti-women) bigotry. The Black Israelites are... probably nut cases. A whole lot of mental illness going on, using groups to assuage the trauma of cognitive dissonance.

Rape Culture No Myth.

racocn8 comments on Jan 21, 2019:

In the absence of justice, one or more of the victims should give him the extreme prejudice he deserves.

These were very accurate, for me. [huffingtonpost.com]

racocn8 comments on Jan 10, 2019:

Interesting, but these features that supposedly make a man *hot* don't translate to the decision-making process that actually gets applied. As to the prevalence of bad decisions or no decision, how does that happen? Maybe it's the pressure of societal congestion or maybe it's just Disney's Princess agitprop.

Just thinking out loud here.

racocn8 comments on Jan 10, 2019:

Better to...

Copied from FB post An anguished question from a Trump supporter: "Why do liberals think Trump ...

racocn8 comments on Jan 10, 2019:

Nicely done. The overlap of Trump supporters and evangelical Christians means that these people are so loyal to stopping abortion rights that they will indeed sacrifice all other considerations (such as you've listed). Trump is an agent of Putin, but not the only one. Putin pulled out a lot of stops to get Trump elected. There is some amount of conspiracy on Trump's side, but Russia's effort on Trump's behalf was an extremely extensive campaign, so much so that there was overt cheering in Moscow's pubs when Trump won. The US was definitely attacked, successfully, but the Republican president and congress have given it zero attention for the last two years. Partly that is because the Russians have had considerable success in recruiting (gaining loyalty) of numerous congress members, especially on the Republican side. The involvement of the NRA is being developed, but we know it was severely compromised. It is my theory that the Deep State allowed Trump to be elected in order to expose the extensive co-opting of the Republican leadership, and probably some Democrats too.

The online dating "Scattershot Effect" Years ago i had this friend .

racocn8 comments on Jan 8, 2019:

Out to lunch. Most dating sites make reporting creeps easy and they are usually removed quite quickly. The real issue is shaming those ladies who do choose to have sex where shaming promiscuity is the common tactic of those who are inhibited by society and religion. Women are too inhibited when it comes to sex. STDs are generally under control and one can take measures to prevent infection or pregnancy.

How to respond to those who say they will pray for you?

racocn8 comments on Jan 8, 2019:

Just ignore it and insincerely say *Thanks*. If you think about it at all, it will just make you frustrated. Prayer is indistinguishable from wishing. Prayer is pure, rank selfishness; nothing more. People who offer prayers only do so to selfishly obtain favorable treatment from their God, either for themselves or for those they know. In the latter case, getting favor for a third party still benefits the person offering the prayer by trying to gain relief from the frustration over the third party's situation. So, if someone says they'll pray for you, they're simply saying *I'm selfish and proud of it*. And, they are seeking validation for a belief system they know is bullshit at some level. Religious people have a colossal amount of cognitive dissonance, and inject their religiosity at every opportunity to fight their insecurity. It's a tragic expression of mental illness, but also, hugely arrogant and intentionally offensive, albeit at a deeply buried level.

I solved the universe again today

racocn8 comments on Jan 8, 2019:

Universal Consciousness may exist as a property akin to Dark Energy, or as an aspect of one of the dimensions we cannot perceive. This Universal Conscious may well be entirely mundane, like Time, a mere property that completes the equations, or serves as a dimensional placeholder. In other words, not a spiritual nor religious aspect, just another Planck's Constant that helps complete the picture and fulfill the *spooky action at a distance* . Be cautious that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. We do have evidence for consciousness, and we don't understand it, yet. The caution is against assigning any sort of overly transcendental role to something that may turn out to be entirely prosaic.

The problem of racism as it presents itself in antisemitism, versus the Nation of Israel which ...

racocn8 comments on Nov 20, 2018:

@cava After reading Judith Butler's bio, it's clear she is both a naive leftist and a self-hating Jew. Her works indicate that she has severe problems in many categories. It's difficult to read about someone that disturbed. Given her family history, it's clear where it came from. She even denies being a self-hating Jew, but it's obvious. One of the traumas of self-awareness is not liking what one was born as. No good answers for that one, just therapy and drugs. Of course political correctness says one shouldn't blame the victim, but some victims do bring tragedy on themselves, and bear some responsibility, or more. Gazans elected Hamas so they chose to become martyrs. They had their chance at self-determination and they screwed up all by themselves. Suffering the consequences doesn't absolve them from the responsibility of embracing terrorism. In the recent conflict, the Israelis should be lauded for winging the combatants, rather than just shooting to kill, as every other military would. Humane to maim, but not very nice to deprive them of their 70 virgins.

The problem of racism as it presents itself in antisemitism, versus the Nation of Israel which ...

racocn8 comments on Nov 19, 2018:

Advocating BDS may skirt the concept of hate speech only when it is undertaken by naive leftists, but the use of the term Apartheid is intentionally inflammatory and readily identifies the true nature of the user. Strictly speaking, I was not conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism; only pointing out that, except for Arabic support for antisemitism and anti-Zionism, the BDS campaign would not exist (It would lose funding and promotion). Those who support antisemitism and those who support anti-Zionism are mostly overlapping sets. The exceptions are readily categorized as noted in my first post. Singling out Israel over most of the other countries in the world necessarily poisons any validity BDS might have. Singling out Palestinians as pathetic is more than suspicious given that the Palestinians have MOST of the responsibility for their own long term degradation, brought about by supporting Hamas's Islamic extremism and the terrorist targeting of civilians. BDS advocates reek of bias, overt or otherwise. Unless a BDS advocate can advance an excuse for focusing on Israel, they may reasonably be seen as either antisemitic or naively abetting it. If someone can't find a worthier cause, they should expect to be identified as a bigot. The shoe fits.

Opinion on people of faith.

racocn8 comments on Nov 19, 2018:

It is the tragedy of our time that even with so much truth being freely available to the curious, most people choose to blind themselves with faith (lies). The reasons are many. Science can be intimidating and may not provide happy answers. Most people are stupidly convinced they don't have the horsepower when they do. People prefer being stupid over the hard work of actually thinking for themselves. They are lazy. Or they know how intolerant their fellow religionists are and don't wish to be exiled or worse. Those with faith disrespect truth; they promote their lies and all the evil that goes with them. They dishonor themselves and poison whatever good acts they perform. As liars to themselves, they are liars to everyone else too. Trust must be calibrated accordingly.

The problem of racism as it presents itself in antisemitism, versus the Nation of Israel which ...

racocn8 comments on Nov 19, 2018:

The problem with BDS is that it singles out Israel. Even with Israel's bad behavior, Israel still stands out as being far more humane (even in addressing the intransigent terrorism of non-Jordanian Palestinians) in regards to the human rights of all of its citizens. Israel is far more humane than the majority of nation-states currently existing. Thus, the singling out of Israel is correctly identified as either directly anti-Semitic, or as bias at the behest of Arab states that actively promote anti-Semitic bigotry via BDS. BDS advocates may well imagine they are supporting the Palestinians, but BDS does nothing for the Palestinians. BDS is mainly promoted by the Arabs, naive leftists and self-hating Jews, with a few Nazis adding to the noise. When the BDS supporters add the multitude of other nations that do far worse than Israel, then and only then will BDS be recognized as supporting all human rights and not just the agenda of the anti-Semites. BDS advocates either are themselves anti-Semitic, or are useful idiots on behalf of the anti-Semites.

What your problem with the Me Too movement?

racocn8 comments on Oct 29, 2018:

@hippydog In the Time reference is this: "She also alleged that Franken grabbed her breasts while she slept on the flight home. She shared a picture that appears to show the alleged incident." The photo clearly shows his hands posed well above her breasts, and posed for the picture-taking as a joke. A joke in questionable taste, but a joke nonetheless with no groping involved. This variance brings the rest of her testimony, and her motives into question. Other complaints could easily have been misinterpreted physicality, and still others are notably anonymous even though Franken is hardly a threatening personality. Sen. Gillibrand used the occasion to destroy Franken's career in the absurdly naive hope that she could get Trump to resign too. Mainly, she destroyed Franken to improve her own stats within the party. So I see her as sociopathically ruthless and a dangerously scary demagogue on the Left (Never ready for prime time, and probably also in the Russia mafia's pocket, being from NY). Before his departure, Franken distinguished himself as a dogged questioner of Republican wrong-doing and made himself a clear target. Franken could have been one of the bright lights in the Progessive firmament and I am very suspicious about the accusations I consider Franken to be precise and honest in his discourse. You might note how his denials are very specific and differ in character from those of Kavenaugh. As to Krauss, there is this from Sam Harris, who has an inside track via his association with Krauss. The video contains any number or characterizations which may be colorful, but reflect Harris's notorious credibility. Indeed, some of his comments are noteworthy for this forum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vuBhKPy1As

What your problem with the Me Too movement?

racocn8 comments on Oct 28, 2018:

@hippydog I suspect that Krauss and Franken are examples of misuse of the MeToo movement for political motives. The accusations appear to be false or to be cruel exaggerations. We live in a severely pathological culture and behavior of both sexes often gets a pass because the deeper problems are too explosive to discuss. To the extent that the MeToo exposes bad actors, that's great if the guys actually did it. However, the claims against Krauss and Franken have serious problems that suggest they were hit-jobs. In Franken's case, the MeToo advocates piled on instead of denouncing the false accusations. False accusations do occur for whatever reasons. I don't believe the accusations against Kavenaugh were false.

I am a very tolerant person.

racocn8 comments on Oct 28, 2018:

Based on your broken syntax and topic, I suspect you are a Russian troll. Consider the background for generating that conclusion, that Trump conspired with Russia to illegitimately win election. The real question is why the Establishment and IC allowed it. The provision of free air time by the MSM shows their complicity. But, in the off-chance that you're not another troll, I've yet to hear of any net-positive thing that Trump has done, and I watch a lot of news. Just list them...

What your problem with the Me Too movement?

racocn8 comments on Oct 28, 2018:

1. Lawrence Krauss 2. Al Franken

Today my job had a company wide meeting telling us that 200 people were getting laid off ...

racocn8 comments on Oct 18, 2018:

Why did they bother with the company-wide meeting? Lay-offs and re-organizations are never fun. Corporations have the gold and make the rules. If Humanity doesn't figure out how to stop their domination, it may well degenerate, splinter or simply not survive. Or, you could embrace your degradation. A lot of religionists look on corporate life as their own martyrdom, at least in part. I would still claim that these practices are a testament to our cultural insanity. Unethical protocols defined by *attorneys*. Honestly, a significant portion of the population are (like DT) narcissist egomaniacs who enjoy and even thrive on sowing havoc. People like to exercise power, and watching people do their bidding is a thrill. They love the schadenfreude that comes when they define an unrealistic challenge. Pathological bosses are not hard to find, in a culture where nearly everyone has some pathology.

Who's Worse: Melania or Hillary?

racocn8 comments on Oct 14, 2018:

Plainly, supporting DT and the Republican agenda speaks very badly for Melania. DT's only deviation from pure evil is the more measured evil he enacts as a puppet of the Deep State. That would be the same Deep State that gave Hillary and Obama their marching orders. So Melania is worse for not having a positive opinion, nor a positive influence. Not to mention being loyal to a traitor. She is certainly a horrible example for women. At least Hillary is trying to support progressives in the next election, though it's not at all clear her support helps her candidates. Hillary should crawl back under her rock, but she never understood her limitations. The latter being one of the severe negatives that disqualified her as a candidate. @Krish55 The Counterpunch is undisguised propaganda filled with lies and half-truths. But it's hard to influence with invective badly outweighing actual facts. While Hillary gets blamed for foreign policy failures in Iraq, Libya and Syria, these countries were wretched dictatorships to begin with. You and the article conveniently forget this. Policies in the Middle East and Africa are complicated; there simply aren't that many good guys where the cultures are dominated by insane religions, power-mad politicians and money-mad corporations. Hillary's responsibility is way, way down on the list behind many others, far more deserving of blame. Hillary was mainly seeking to build her credentials before another presidential run. I don't think she accomplished much except coordinating the military buildup needed to counter Al-Qaida. The bigger issue becomes: Why try to tar Hillary at this point? What is the motive? Is it like so many Republicans, you're obsessed and just can't let go of your hate?

Does "the atheist closet" detract from what homosexual individuals went through?

racocn8 comments on Oct 10, 2018:

I'd say it could only be offensive to someone who is LBGTQ and it seems unlikely that they'd be in the group to which you are speaking. If you are worried someone in the audience could take offense, skip that analogy. I will say that I take offense at Pro-Life advocates likening it to th Holocaust. Also, likening Israeli policies to Apartheid. In both cases, the crude and sloppy application of the analogies are intended to offend and expression of their bigotry is taken as a matter of pride. Also note the use of the word science in Creation Science. Again, part of the motivation is to offend the third party, those who revere the scientific method. And for the third time, it comes from political Christians.

Is scientific knowledge limited in principle?

racocn8 comments on Oct 5, 2018:

As with wavelengths of light, we understand that light exists that we cannot see. String theory suggests 11 dimensions, well beyond our comprehension. The better question is how can we benefit from what we cannot comprehend? Is something cannot be perceived, can it still be tested, manipulated and made useful? Again, the use of imaginary numbers to solve electrical networks is instructive. Is it just a functional formalism, or is it actually imaginary! Or, it it just semantics where nouns can only exist if they are comprehensible.

The MeToo campaign versus the presumption of innocence - World Socialist Web Site

racocn8 comments on Oct 5, 2018:

The number of false allegations is significant so an allegation of sexual assault should rightly subject the claimant to legal responsibility and defamation of character counter-charge. Women do get and should get jailed for false allegations. However, sexual offenders are frequently serial in their behavior and public disclosure by multiple victims is a useful tool. The local funding to fully evaluate rape kits has put numerous rapists and serial rapists behind bars. This seems to be money well spent and such funding should be standard.

If it is proven that Dr Ford lied under oath - how many years should she spend in prison?

racocn8 comments on Oct 5, 2018:

I have yet to hear a claim as to anything Ford said that was untrue. Given Cavanaugh's background and demeanor, the attack seems entirely plausible. The defense of Cavanaugh by Republicans speaks volumes for the complete mindjob they embrace (Fox agitprop). Cavanaugh's blanket denial, while emphatic, doesn't displace the unwillingness to take a lie-detector, or to specifically declare that Ford was lying. By his own testimony, Cavanaugh appeared to have lied in his self-representation as not having been an uncontrolled alcoholic. Cavenaugh's extreme partisanship and delusional obsession with Clinton patently demonstrates disqualifying traits (Hence the condemnations by other, real jurists). Thus, he also appears to lie in saying that he can be unbiased; his previous positions and statements contradict this. The Republicans all step backwards together as far as validating Cavanaugh's claim his accusers are part of a conspiracy. His statement and their complicity are pure slime. Steamrolling this unvarnished partisan onto the Supreme Court is a record low in Republican behavior, ever and always placing party ahead of the Country's welfare. Will Republicans adopt the unwanted children generated by nixing RoeVWade? Or will they complain that Blacks are robbing the welfare system? Will Republicans lose traction with the Evangelicals when the Christians lose the Pro-Life rallying cry?

What are your favorite proofs against the Bible?

racocn8 comments on Oct 1, 2018:

Jesus is God when Jesus is a sacrifice for God. God sacrifices himself to himself? Not that making a sacrifice makes any sense in itself. Evolution is proof against Christian dogma... Jesus is a Human Sacrifice that is killed to atone for the (Original) Sin of Adam's Fall. Insofar as Humans evolved from lower life forms, the Adam and Eve story are mythical, as are Adam's Fall and the need for a Human Sacrifice.

Meaning of existence

racocn8 comments on Aug 29, 2018:

Ah, religion... *What is the meaning of existence?* We have some notion of what existence is, or think we do. But what is the meaning of the actual word *meaning*. From the responses below, we see different interpretations of what *meaning* is to the respondents. What is the object of *meaning*? Are you seeking a principle by which to guide your actions? Or is it all the expression of what reality *determines*. Are we mechanisms, or do we have free will to influence our lives, in which case seeking guidance on behavior is pointless. Sam Harris gives a thumbs down to free will. It's true. Which of the billions of neurons is *me*. Do I even have an identity? I tend to have several identities. I certainly feel like a committee. We get in some heated arguments. Each has an opinion on *meaning*. In truth, a notion like *meaning* has many dimensions, and one can only make arguments about which one should prevail. It is the *free will* you don't really have that decides which dimension of meaning is best. And you take it from there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSg2Db3jF_4 In a way, a notion like *meaning* is like a fractal equation as when you have a concept, and it's the same concept at the surface or along the many deeper levels of magnification, but the recurring curve generates all these different zones and textures. These different textures might be the different dimensions of meaning, but they all transition into the other dimensions by moving or changing magnification. *Meaning* transitions to other dimensions of interpretation, but they're related by being the same curving pattern. What might start out as a simple concept, or equation, in expression, becomes a universe of nuance.

Why is science willing to update models, theories, and books, while the bible and religions still ...

racocn8 comments on Aug 29, 2018:

The New Testament comprises a collection of texts related by subject rather than by reference. They don't refer to each other. The Synoptic Gospels are understood to have evolved from an unknown original. Apocrypha are texts that didn't make it into the New Testament as canonized by the Council of Nicea. Parts of Thomas show up in the Synoptic Gospels. In a big way, the Biblical texts bear similarity to genetic material in the way that copies are generated that are then modified into new functions. The evolution of the basic story content is a slightly different process, where much or most of the content has been drawn from earlier myths, which also evolved through time. Indeed, religions may be understood to be megamemes that, like a gene-based organism, evolved through time, but are more like cellular organisms that merge or associate symbiotically. I believe that cells originally incorporated mitochondria as a different life form, and that is said to explain the mitochondrial DNA. We can imagine that the proto-gospel of the Synoptic Gospels was written, then copied, and the copies mutated into the four Gospels. These fostered cults that then wrote the Epistles and the Apocrypha. The profusion of texts fostered the Council that blessed some writings as canon, and others, the Apocrypha were banned. Or something like that.

Conspiracy Theorists, and the Harm They Do

racocn8 comments on Aug 26, 2018:

Only just yesterday I found out that it was the Ukranians who shot down the Siberia Airlines Flight 1812, not the Russian backed separatists. So yes, the news can be and is effectively manipulated. The JFK assassination is more credibly assigned to the CIA than to Oswald. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri8f7hguqac=PLYEnChrKOgm7vzFc7SJt21nJESBkOHeo4 The Magic Bullet is indeed proof, along with the wholly improper autopsy. UFO's and the disinformation campaign from the deep state are well established: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v737aqOJ2fs Also see the Condign Report and the Cometa Report. The collapse of Building 7 which was 'pulled' (a detonics term) and the identical planned hijack exercise and non-working Pentagon cameras persuasively argue for a false flag conspiracy. The nonsensical fake conspiracy theories positing the Israelis being involved indicates the same deep state assholes who pump out disinformation on UFO's were tapped to do the same for 9/11. Sandy Hook happened as reported by the MSM.

What are the current theories related to the creation of the universe?

racocn8 comments on Aug 26, 2018:

The Universe was thought by religionists to have been created. Others supposed it was eternal. The nature of the red shift increasing with distance led to the Big Bang. Then we got the idea of an oscillating universe. The 'tuned constants' and the Anthropic Principle led to the Multiverse. Physicists see matter and energy created out of 'virtual' existence, hence the notion of a Big Bang arising from a virtual universe.

Why are Fox News viewers less well informed than people who do not watch any news?

racocn8 comments on Aug 26, 2018:

The real question is "What are Rupert Murdoch's ties to Putin?"

The true costs of the War in Afghanistan

racocn8 comments on Aug 26, 2018:

Morphine from poppies costs a lot.

Understanding the impeachment process.

racocn8 comments on Aug 26, 2018:

Don't the 'intelligence' agencies have silent dart guns with toxins that cause a heart attack?

Name one song you think everybody should have to hear.

racocn8 comments on Aug 25, 2018:

Ecstasy of Gold, Bohemian Rhapsody

Not all tRump supporters are racist, but all of them decided racism wasn't a deal breaker.

racocn8 comments on Aug 24, 2018:

And rank sexism wasn't a deal breaker, even to the women. The women voted for Trump anyway. The Blacks simply couldn't be bothered to vote for a white woman against an overt racist. The FBI couldn't be bothered to stop Trump's patently criminal candidacy. The President, Congress and Intelligence agencies couldn't be bothered to stop a traitor. The corruptions of this society are so pervasive, it's ineffable.

Your soul, do we have one.

racocn8 comments on Aug 22, 2018:

For humans to have a soul, all living things would have one too. That makes heaven pretty crowded. A soul, human or otherwise is a meaningless concept that is unverifiable, unfalsifiable and has no utility. Do identical twins have half a soul? Do dizygotic (merged fraternal twins) people have two souls in one body? The only aspects that might distinguish a soul is it's personality and memory. Outside of one's lifetime, what would be the meaning of that personality and its memories?

Miami Herald Endorses GOP House Candidate Who Says She Flew on Alien Spaceship – Friendly Atheist

racocn8 comments on Aug 21, 2018:

For your information, Florida is a hot spot for UFO sightings. Remember all the (faked) Gulf Breeze photos? Stephen Greer has been down there doing Close Encounter 5's. Abduction may not be completely crazy. A couple of servicepersons may well have been taken briefly during the Rendlesham Forest incident, and that was taken very seriously (UFO's again stalking our nuclear weapons site).

Today is a great day for our country.

racocn8 comments on Aug 21, 2018:

"Do not underestimate the power of the Emperor" (Yoda). We're in the mud with this pig. He's a slimy disgusting psychopathic demon with zero morals. It won't be over till it's over. Praise to Mueller for making the pig lose his cool. Best worst case, he gets a heart attack. I do so love the "I am Sparticus" from the 'intelligence' agencies... Very memorable...

I would like some feedback.

racocn8 comments on Aug 21, 2018:

So a couple of dates seemed to go poorly because you outwitted your opponent? You're the winner so no point in playing any more? Or, as is so often the case, you've come up with this story to excuse lapsing into asexuality. That's a frequent choice for older women overwhelmed by social congestion. (The problem is men don't get that option except by default.) Go ahead and study away. Just try to leave behind something that's actually useful to Humanity.

Too much, just right or not enough?

racocn8 comments on Aug 18, 2018:

There can't be too many geographically desirable non-believers in Kentucky. I have a hard time imagining how I could live with a Christian, but the number of female non-believers in the Los Angeles basin is very small, and most (all) of them have profound problems (It's L.A and misandry is standard). Women are usually only on a dating site to assuage their guilt over being single; they very rarely respond to solicitations except to get out for a free meal. You like being alone, and you could change that any time you like. You should get used to being single. Relationships are really just too much work. Love isn't worth it (sarcasm).

Exactly how do you save other people by dying on a cross when people die in more horrendous ...

racocn8 comments on Aug 15, 2018:

Christian redemption dogma claims that Jesus's death is a human sacrifice made to God in the same way that animal sacrifices were made. It is said to be a special sacrifice in that while animal sacrifices atone for day-to-day sins, a human sacrifice is needed to mitigate the Original Sin passed down from Adam. The *saving of other people by dying on a cross* is the propitiation of Original Sin and thus making the person's soul suitable for Heaven. That's the short answer. The concepts have numerous problems in many dimensions. Some of the problems are fact-based and thus falsify and invalidate the whole scheme, albeit indirectly.

Drugs for insomnia.

racocn8 comments on Aug 15, 2018:

Other sleep-aid alternatives: CBD, Kava Kava. Lower room temperature. Chamomile Tea.

Besides politics, religion and age... what is your dating "dealbreaker"?

racocn8 comments on Aug 14, 2018:

Needless drama.

As a non theist, what are your top 3 political issues you would like to see addressed in the ...

racocn8 comments on Aug 14, 2018:

1. The National Security Act of 1947 that created the Deep State. 2. Reverse Citizens United. 3. Impeachment and repudiation of all the actions taken by the Fake President, especially including Supreme Court Justice(s).

What is the best way to sustain our future?

racocn8 comments on Aug 12, 2018:

Our civilization is not on a sustainable path. Bacteria on a petri dish grow fine for a while but they produce by-products and toxins that slow the colony growth to near zero. A few will take over the petri dish if they are motile. So, we could ensure survival by traveling to other stars, but achieving interseller travel may not develop soon enough (or be prohibited). On this planet we have to become sustainable, and that means not reproducing freely. Until we're mature enough to discuss restricting reproduction, sustainability and avoiding extinction will elude Humanity.

I think that it is strange that anyone has to “come out” as an Atheist.

racocn8 comments on Aug 11, 2018:

Being atheist only matters if you have an opportunity to educate someone who is open to it. Other than that, remember that atheists are reviled more than Muslims. Thus, unless you have a martyr complex, best keep it to yourself. Yes, discrimination is out there, especially if you're an atheist. I totally agree with Drew in advocating for normalizing atheism.

How do you fusion convert a Jupiter class planet?

racocn8 comments on Aug 10, 2018:

I had the idea of fusing Jupiter in 1973. I was learning about nuclear reactions and wondered what it would take. The first thought is to use a thermonuclear device, but can it reach a depth where ignition would be self-sustaining? The US military *hoped* that the Earth would not ignite when they did the first H-bomb test. Hydrogen bombs use Lithium and Deuterium fusing in the flash plasma of the uranium or plutonium fission device (or so I recall). Maybe if one packs a large enough quantity of LiD2 ? The mainly hydrogen composition of Jupiter may be less inclined to fuse unless temperature and compression are still hotter that a nuke can provide. If so, a bomb won't do it. The crashing of comets into the Jovian surface yield terrific scars from the burn-up, and I'm sure Jupiter has seen much worse. Thermal or thermonuclear explosions probably can't start it. So yeah, you need a million obelisks.

So trump has placed Pence in charge of the "Space Force".

racocn8 comments on Aug 10, 2018:

Remember Dan Quayle, a similar religious moron, was picked to chair a prominent space advisory. Most of Trumps team are science nitwits, and he won't trust anyone with a brain or bona fide science credentials.

Why does the Democratic Party like Trump so much? After all they got him elected.

racocn8 comments on Aug 9, 2018:

1. The states the Russians targeted narrowly went for Trump. 2. Blacks didn't vote for their interest (reverting to apathy). 3. White trash didn't vote for their interest (brainwashed and dim). 4. White women didn't vote for their interest (Stockholm Syndrome variant). 5. Sanders voters bombarded by Russian anti-Clinton bots. 6. Fence-sitters pushed by Comey's partisan posturing. 7. The whole mess was orchestrated by the Deep State as demonstrated by the wholesale apathy of the FBI and all the other intelligence agencies, and Obama. Everything the Russians did, they did in Ukraine with Manafort's help. At least the Ukraines kicked out their puppet.

Why does the Democratic Party like Trump so much? After all they got him elected.

racocn8 comments on Aug 9, 2018:

Why are right-wingers indistinguishable from trolls?

Do you think Hillary Clinton will be held accountable for her emails scandal?

racocn8 comments on Aug 9, 2018:

Been there. Done that.

Why does the left constantly use identity politics and politically correct terms to all their ...

racocn8 comments on Aug 9, 2018:

Why are right-wingers indistinguishable from trolls?

“If you voted for Donald Trump...”

racocn8 comments on Aug 9, 2018:

The problem is that Trump supporters have no shame. None. It is a zero sum that strongly correlates to their inability to think critically. And just as they have no shame, they have no honor. Lying comes like breathing. If you present them with facts, they disregard them and try to present you with their alternative facts. It's a lot like ADHD: one minute after reviewing their bad behavior, they're back at it.

My Political Awakening [ghionjournal.

racocn8 comments on Aug 7, 2018:

It's true. Obama was supposed to be an outsider, but as soon as he was inside, his loyalty to the country faded away. Not one crook from Wall Street went to jail. Zero. And yes, he greatly expanded the drone war. No word to the electorate why. He only grudgingly accepted gay rights after the fact. Trump's record is horrific, but really, more of the same, except to roll back the few improvements Obama did make, more out of spite than policy. I hate to break it to you, but the Deep State is very real and has a complete choke-hold on the planet, with the exception of Iran and North Korea. We are all dead meat; we just don't know it yet.

Should marijuana be legal for recreational use? Please comment your support for your position.

racocn8 comments on Aug 2, 2018:

Cannabis (marijuana) cures or improves many dozens of disease conditions. Cannabis can cure some forms of cancer and certainly improves the nausea from chemotherapy. It is likely that millions of people including many children have died from cancers and epilepsy that could have been cured by cannabis. The Endocannabinoid System is a critical neuromodulating and immunomodulating process that has been forbidden from receiving research funding. Many of the beneficial effects develop from a cocktail of drugs present in cannabis, and this Entourage Effect does not lend itself to being recreated by pharmaceutical companies. Thus, the 'Establishment' sees little benefit except tax revenue from cannabis. (Properly combined, the THC and CBD strains are a potent aphrodisiac.)

New Law Declares Israel a Jewish Nation-State with Hebrew as Sole National Language | Democracy Now!

racocn8 comments on Jul 24, 2018:

To Lukian's last response: As previously noted, applying the term 'Apartheid' to Israel stands out as a dishonest statement in service to bigotry. It is hyperbolic and denotes disrespect to the point of hatred (Even from J. Carter). As for Israel becoming less tolerant, it does appear as if populist bias is rampant. European countries are restricting access to immigrants, as is the US. Bigotry is never a good thing. However, removing borders and granting unrestricted access places an undesired burden on existing citizens that should be understood by well-intentioned humanitarians. Amazingly, Lukian references IfAmericaKnew.org after I described the 'self-hating Jew'. The groups author, Alison Weir, looks to be a prototypical specimen. Even the Jewish Voice for Peace, an organization with similar sympathy to the Palestinians denounced Ms. Weir saying: "they chose not to work with Weir, on the grounds that "she has consistently chosen to stay silent when given the opportunity to challenge bigotry, which we find repugnant. There is a fundamental difference between engaging with oppressive beliefs in order to challenge them, and tacitly or directly endorsing those beliefs without challenge."" (Wikipedia). I wouldn't be surprised at all if Weir was on the Saudi payroll. Weir's website is high quality and that shit doesn't come cheap. Getting back to Lukian, quoting: "Paragraph #4: Saudi's are not the enemy of Israel, Iran is." Iran is no friend to Israel and neither is Saudi Arabia. Hell, the US is not even its own friend. and "...The aggression is very one-sided..." "Wasn't Israel carved out of a Palestinian territory..." Res Ipsa Loquitur. These statements speak for themselves. What do you think the US would do if the Mexicans started firing rockets over our border?

New Law Declares Israel a Jewish Nation-State with Hebrew as Sole National Language | Democracy Now!

racocn8 comments on Jul 24, 2018:

To Lukian's last response: As previously noted, applying the term 'Apartheid' to Israel stands out as a dishonest statement in service to bigotry. It is hyperbolic and denotes disrespect to the point of hatred (Even from J. Carter). As for Israel becoming less tolerant, it does appear as if populist bias is rampant. European countries are restricting access to immigrants, as is the US. Bigotry is never a good thing. However, removing borders and granting unrestricted access places an undesired burden on existing citizens that should be understood by well-intentioned humanitarians. Amazingly, Lukian references IfAmericaKnew.org after I described the 'self-hating Jew'. The groups author, Alison Weir, looks to be a prototypical specimen. Even the Jewish Voice for Peace, an organization with similar sympathy to the Palestinians denounced Ms. Weir saying: "they chose not to work with Weir, on the grounds that "she has consistently chosen to stay silent when given the opportunity to challenge bigotry, which we find repugnant. There is a fundamental difference between engaging with oppressive beliefs in order to challenge them, and tacitly or directly endorsing those beliefs without challenge."" (Wikipedia). I wouldn't be surprised at all if Weir was on the Saudi payroll. Weir's website is high quality and that shit doesn't come cheap. Getting back to Lukian, quoting: "Paragraph #4: Saudi's are not the enemy of Israel, Iran is." Iran is no friend to Israel and neither is Saudi Arabia. Hell, the US is not even its own friend. and "...The aggression is very one-sided..." "Wasn't Israel carved out of a Palestinian territory..." Res Ipsa Loquitur. These statements speak for themselves. What do you think the US would do if the Mexicans started firing rockets over our border?

New Law Declares Israel a Jewish Nation-State with Hebrew as Sole National Language | Democracy Now!

racocn8 comments on Jul 22, 2018:

To Lukian: Criticizing Israel is not off-limits, but as my statement noted, singling Israel out with a double standard compared to all the other countries begs the question of why Israel is being singled out. Bigotry or brainwashing remain the two most likely causes. Judaism is a wholly artificial belief system based almost entirely on primitive myths. It imposes any number of absurd rituals on its adherents. While it encourages scholastic achievement, it rejects the incorporation of discovered truths into its teachings. Judaism is as much bullshit as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. Within these super-cults, the pressure to conform to nonsensical beliefs generates a psychological anxiety that comes from cognitive dissonance. For anxiety-ridden Jews, quite a percentage become 'self-hating Jews' and engage in all sorts of extreme, neurotic behaviors. In regards to the video, greed may well be a significant motivation for the Birthright participants to get a free vacation, but then they chose to 'Walkoff'? While the Birthright campaign is novel PR, not all participants will have disregarded the Saudi anti-Israel propaganda, and many are subject to the self-hating described above. Anyone who pays attention at all knows that the Palestinians educate their children with maps of Palestine that show no trace of Israel. The Birthright maps may well be a subtle counter-dig. As to Gaza and the West Bank requiring military occupation, that has been necessitated by the intransigent political/religious aggression of the Palestinians/Jordanians.

New Law Declares Israel a Jewish Nation-State with Hebrew as Sole National Language | Democracy Now!

racocn8 comments on Jul 22, 2018:

To Paul4747: On your comment that "Israel lost international goodwill through their own doing", I don't recall that Israel ever had any international goodwill to start with, and the Saudi hate campaign didn't improve that. Israel gets credit for successfully rebuffing the insanity of the surrounding Islamic countries, sometimes quite heroically (Entebbe), often quite creatively (i.e. bombing nuclear and chemical weapon sites). I'm not fond of Judaism, but Israel's behavior stands out over that of other countries, especially the surrounding Arab states. As example, the so-called civilian protesters seeking to breach the border have mostly suffered leg wounds from the snipers. Damn good aim to minimize mortal casualties. Too bad our own cops only shoot to kill. Bulldozing the homes of bombers seems crudely appropriate, as does continuing to appropriate land in the face of intransigence. None of that begins to compare with Assad's use of poison gas and carpet bombing. Selecting Israel for criticism ahead of the many dozens of far worse countries can never pass the test for Anti-Semitism.

This likely would have avoided the shit storm we're in.

racocn8 comments on Jul 22, 2018:

I agree with this concept. However, remember that in 2016, both candidates were colorful, albeit Trump much more so. The bigger issue is the process itself where only creeps get nominated and the people vote for them anyway. What we need besides the tests and vetting is a "NONE OF THE ABOVE" option.

[yahoo.com] Joe Biden Says Trump is Assaulting US Dignity

racocn8 comments on Jul 22, 2018:

I don't mind Joe Biden as much as many people, but I don't think he's a viable candidate for president. I welcome Biden to the chorus if that's all there is to it. I think that if he's going to criticize Trump, he should follow up with more substantive statements of what he objects to.

Trump said in a tweet, .

racocn8 comments on Jul 22, 2018:

If Trump was referring to Truman, I don't know of any democrats that regard Truman as a favorite president. Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947. This "reorganization" of the intelligence agencies is regarded in some circles as being the causative policy that created the Deep State. The Deep State is an assortment of silo committees that have exclusive decision power over major policy arenas, and the proceedings of these committees are outside the purview of the elected government. Essentially, a secret government evolved that manages the Military Industrial Complex, and whatever black projects they deem appropriate (i.e. Gary McKinnon's Non-Terrestrial Officers).

New Law Declares Israel a Jewish Nation-State with Hebrew as Sole National Language | Democracy Now!

racocn8 comments on Jul 20, 2018:

Israel cries wolf? Seems like the wolf has come several times and is still firing rockets on a daily basis. Yes, the UN has repeatedly singled out Israel and taken up special measures to vote against Israel at the urging of its Arab neighbors. As for Israel being or becoming an apartheid theocracy, neither of those terms can be honestly applied, unless one is a Saudi apologist. Israel does not treat Arab citizens anything like how the South African treated the indigenous Black people, such extreme racism does not come even remotely close to what occurs in Israel. Israel is still much more democratic in its government than the truly theocratic dictatorships that exist in the neighboring Arab states. Bigotry is such an ugly word. To focus on Israel and to grossly misuse terms in the service of rancorous propaganda invites the assumption that the origin is Anti-Semitic in nature. That or a shill for the Saudis. Saudi money has quietly perverted the views on Israel among select Liberal spokespersons. To be fair, Judaism is as much a screwball religion as any other. A great deal of Judaism is based on demonstrable myth, and Conservative Judaism denies and eschews the social justice that has developed in the last 50 years. (But it still compares very, very favorably to Wahhabism.) And yet, Israel is among the most progressive nations, in stark contrast to their Arab neighbors. Whatever punishments Israel metes to the Jordanian-Palestinians has usually been well earned.

What about you has a "gender bender" quality to it?

racocn8 comments on Jul 20, 2018:

I generally prefer to fantasize myself as a woman having sex. Fantasizing as being a man is harder to attain climax.

Annunaki and other EBEs

racocn8 comments on Jul 19, 2018:

Interviews from those who have had Close Encounters indicate several species visit Earth. We see that they generally don't engage humans. Thus, it is unlikely that they would come, interact and behave as Gods. I would hope they would be more mature than that. That they are here at all indicates that they have cultures stable enough to persist through time. If they were here during Human evolution, it's possible they might push the species in one direction or another. However, I know of no biochemical or other evidence that would suggest interference. Nothing about our biochemistry suggests anything more than Natural Selection.

‘American Patriot’: Australian PM Backs Donald Trump, Defends Putin Meeting [breitbart.

racocn8 comments on Jul 17, 2018:

Supposedly, we can thank the Australia diplomat corps for alerting the US intelligence community of Papadopoulos' claim that Trump got info from the Russians, and started the FBI probe. My guess is that the Australian PM is in bed with Rupert Murdoch. Both could be Putin poodles like Trump. They're all Social Darwinist hypocrites, only out for themselves.

Obvious Stupid Question...

racocn8 comments on Jul 17, 2018:

If you know the answer, why are you asking the question? Mueller hasn't released the report detailing Trump's transgressions,... yet. Even if Mueller released an open and shut case, the GOP House is too corrupt to begin impeachment. Only a report that is a 20 on a scale of 0 to 10 could have a shot at unseating Trump. Only if the House is flipped can impeachment have a shot. That leaves two scenarios: 1. The report released creates so much stink that Trump has to resign. 2. Mueller exposes enough Russian influence in the House that he simply issues an indictment directly, the legality of which is debatable (That would get seriously messy.) The 3rd scenario is that Trump succumbs to (take your pick) a medical emergency or assassination. Come on, CIA, do your stuff... We're not getting out of this without a constitutional crisis and maybe worse. It's a dopey script, but that's Hollywood (er, the Deep State) for you.

After Helsinki, Democrats incite "deep state" action against Trump. [wsws.org]

racocn8 comments on Jul 17, 2018:

Friend, the totality of the news, Fox and MSM, Trump and Putin, is all being played out according to a script written by the Deep State. It really is all fake news, on all sides. It's soma; just relax, it'll all be ok, it doesn't matter and there's nothing you can do about it anyway.

How can we as a nation accuse Russia, China and numerous other countries of being an aggresser?

racocn8 comments on Jul 17, 2018:

Just because the US has been aggressive doesn't mean we can't call out those who are aggressive against the US. Calling out our enemies is good PR to distract from the crimes of the US. You infer that being an aggressor undercuts the moral authority of US to complain against others. Would a Black man who had been abused by police lose his right to complain about the police if it was later revealed that he was a thief? Only in the mind of a racist. A racist would rationalize that street justice meted out by dirty cops was a good thing. And yes, someone who believed that the US had become irredeemably corrupt may well see US complaints against Russia and China as the height of hypocrisy. It comes down to whether one still has any loyalty to the US. Certainly there are many noble principles the US claims to revere and respect. One may still revere those principles, and point to them when they are disrespected, whether by internal or external agents. Trump is called out when he disparages the media, and the proposition of a free press and free speech is pointed to as the guiding principle. The principle of 'Free Elections' is pointed to both in reference to Russian meddling and to partisan (GOP) gerrymandering. So the answer is in your question "...we as a nation...". Who is that "we" anymore, given the bipartisan acceptance of naked corruption? The founders of the US were good, very good; so good we haven't seen their like in our lifetime. And yet, they failed miserably. They missed what Spiderman learned, that with great power comes great responsibility. Nothing in the Constitution game plan addressed the need to constantly and relentlessly enforce that principle. And so now, it's just a meme for a comic book hero, not a revered principle. Indeed, our culture reveres those who can make a fortune even when it comes from stiffing others, as long as you got away with it. You have to look to #metoo to find a hint of opposition. Bottom line: garbage in, garbage out, garbage in (severely flawed constitution), garbage out (Trump and the evangelists who support him).

How Did We Get Clown Fuhrer Trump?

racocn8 comments on Jul 6, 2018:

One of my perspectives/scenarios follows: That Trump is a puppet of the Deep State as much as Hillary, and that a great deal of what Trump does is scripted for him by agencies outside the White House. How likely is it for Putin to put Trump in office without the blessings of Deep State power brokers? Per George Will's assessment of Trumps intelligence, Trump couldn't possibly be originating most of what he does. I'm inclined to believe his White House advisors only relay dictation from their own connections. This explains why the FBI, Obama and the Intelligence Community said next to nothing about Russia's election interference as it was building up. They probably thought it was a fun experiment. They view America as a productivity cash cow. Foisting this creep means they care nothing about us, so much so that they are fully subscribed to Social Darwinism. Indeed, they do share that attitude with DT and Hillary. Bottom line: both parties are indeed complete sell-outs, only debating the smallest details. These politicians have dumbed down the conversation so far you couldn't scrape it with a putty knife. USA RIP. (but yes, the Republicans are far worse). Most notably, the Religious Right/ Moral Majority/ Evangelist trailer trash finally took over the government. So never say Reagan had any redeeming features compared to DT. DT is Reagan reincarnated, just updated with a big dose of Howard Stern and Rush Limbaugh. I'm going to rinse my fingers in bleach.

I am so sick of both political party's and their hate and bullying! They are acting like children ...

racocn8 comments on Jul 6, 2018:

Absurd false equivalence demonstrating poster's true political loyalty.

Over the past several days I have noticed fewer intelligent and/or serious posts.

racocn8 comments on Jul 6, 2018:

Yeah, I'm estimating the IQ was only 120 to begin with, but it's dropped to 112. Nothing going on here; move along, move along.

Why Does Palestine Matter?

racocn8 comments on Jul 5, 2018:

Both sides are motivated by their religious extremism. Both are imprisoned by their own power structures. The Gazans have maintained an attitude of hostility even in the face of repeated defeat. In the face of this intransigence, Israel has penalized the Palestinians by taking/stealing more land. This strategy hasn't worked to reduce the hostility, but the Palestinians do lose real estate. None of the other Arab countries will take them in, and they generally revile the Palestinians as a people as much as the Israelis do. The Iranians and Saudis use the Palestinians as PR puppets, and the Saudis could and do help the Palestinians financially, but the Palestinians divert most of the Saudi, UN and US money for clandestine warfare. As long as the Gazans support Hamas, nothing can improve. That's their choice and they've made it. If it were any other country other than Israel, the Gazans would be dead history.

One of the very few Christians never seems to judge me, never tried to tell me I'm sinning.

racocn8 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

It's all drivel. One can scarcely generate meaningful statements within the context of profoundly delusional thinking. Indeed, such statements can only be understood as having originated within delusion.

Do you think a civil war is coming in the U.S.?

racocn8 comments on Jul 3, 2018:

One of my perspectives/scenarios follows: That Trump is a puppet of the Deep State as much as Hillary, and that a great deal of what Trump does is scripted for him by agencies outside the White House. How likely is it for Putin to put Trump in office without the blessings of Deep State power brokers? Consider the Stuxnet virus sabotage of the Iranian uranium centrifuges. That may have set the stage for the odd bonding of Israel, Germany, Russia and the US intelligence. Resources from all those countries seem to have been needed to achieve the Stuxnet virus. I would classify that effort as being generated by the Deep State, and only acceded to by the president. Per George Will's assessment of Trumps intelligence, Trump couldn't possibly be originating most of what he does. I'm inclined to believe his White House advisors only relay dictation from their own connections (or it could all be as advertised, and that's a horrible thought too). I wouldn't put it past the Deep State to orchestrate mass destruction if they see that as desirable, as might have happened with 9/11.

Do women look older than men at the same age?

racocn8 comments on Jul 2, 2018:

Aging is extremely variable, and the rate of age appearance may be linked to specific races and subgroups. One can look at many Asians, Americans and Africans to see some people who have few wrinkles. Yet, others in those groups do get severely wrinkled too. I can't recall seeing the same tight skin on Europeans. Diet and other lifestyle factors likely play a big part.