https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/laura-bailey-fitness-360.html
https://www.fitness.com/interview/1/8-time-ms-olympia-lenda-murray
https://www.muscleandperformance.com/training-performance/leigh-hickombottom
https://femmefitalefitclub.com/2015/03/in-the-gym-with-leigh-hickombottom/
https://www.oxygenmag.com/kettlebell-flow/get-to-know-coach-venus-lau
https://www.gaiahealthblog.com/2016/03/02/adrienne-galloway/
https://gaiahealthblog.com/2019/09/20/fifty-fit-and-fabulous-angelique-miles-2/
http://www.venusfit.com/blog
https://www.instagram.com/msjeanettejenkins/?hl=en
https://gaiahealthblog.com/2019/11/12/body-part-47-time-part-2/
https://www.thehollywoodtrainer.com/
https://www.thehollywoodtrainer.com/about-jeanette/
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Sunday, December 15, 2019
God Indeed Has a Son.
https://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/son-of-god-faq.htm
https://carm.org/dictionary-son-of-god
https://carm.org/jesus-christ/how-can-jesus-be-both-god-and-son-of-god
http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/1john57.htm
http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/naz.htm
http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/monk.htm
https://www.jesus-is-lord.com/jesusgd2.htm
https://www.jesus-is-lord.com/testimny.htm
https://carm.org/dictionary-son-of-god
https://carm.org/jesus-christ/how-can-jesus-be-both-god-and-son-of-god
http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/1john57.htm
http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/naz.htm
http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/monk.htm
https://www.jesus-is-lord.com/jesusgd2.htm
https://www.jesus-is-lord.com/testimny.htm
Monday, November 25, 2019
Inspirational Words from Nixak77.
Nixak*77* Jim 6 days ago
'Repent & Sin No More.'
PS: In his piece I see that Bart.E slams Bill.O's book on 'Jesus' which says 'Jesus' [Yeshua] opposed the Roman occupation of Judea [IMO true], but then Bill.O tries to spin that fact to Him being against so-called 'big gov't' & taxes. Well I say to Bart.E despite Bill.O's anti 'big-gov't' & taxes 'spin', can there be any doubt the Yeshua was against the Roman occupation of Judea that resulted not only in His own crucifixion, but also the sacking of Jerusalem & the destruction of the Temple? IMO of-course NOT!!
Nixak*77* Arthur Jeffries a month ago
Most folks [including me] agree that Josephus' account of Yeshua being executed by Pontius Pilate, most likely was tampered w after the fact by some over-zealous Xtian scribe.... That being said why does Carrier even think Josephus' TF should read like a quasi mini-gospel &/or quasi Pauline type epistle account narrative of Yeshua's life, especially since Josephus was a non-Xtian Judean-Roman writer?? IMO had Josephus covered 'all the bases' Carrier's griping about, historians & scholars would have {mis}taken Josephus for a Xtian, instead of a non-Xtian Judean.
- And IMO Carrier's being a bit disingenuous to say Josephus doesn't name any of Yeshua's relatives, when in fact he talks about the death of His brother Yaacov [aka St James] & even Yokhanon [John] the Baptist too [G.Luke says they were cousins]. And re those accounts, almost no-one thinks they were tampered with.
- A Carrier objection: 'Nor does it [TF] mention any Christians ever being persecuted—at all, much less why.'
- First of all Carrier, Josephus notes the persecution & execution of the 2 top leaders of Yeshua's Judean movement, Yeshua [by the Romans] & His brother Yaacov [by the Sanhedrin], along w one who's associated w Yeshua, Yokhanon the Baptist too. IMO it doesn't take a 'genius' to figure out that if you're killing off the top leadership of a movement, the whole movement was likely under full-assault- Duhh!! 2ndly Josephus was NOT writing for jokers like Carrier, he was writing for Romans & Judeans toward the end of the 1st century after the Romans had already sacked Jerusalem. It was well known at that time in both Judea & Rome that members of Yeshua's movement were under persecution in both Judea & in Rome, so why does Carrier insist that Josephus should have noted something that was most likely common knowledge to Josephus' target audience(s)? When Einstein wrote E = M(C^2), would Carrier insist Einstein should have noted that 2+2 = 2*2 = 2^2= 4? Hell NO! It's assumed anyone studying hi-level physics must already know basic arithmetic- Duhh!
- But of-course IMO all Carrier's trying to do is discredit all what Josephus says re to Yeshua, His Brother Yaacov [& likely even Yokhanon the Baptist too], so he can push his whacked 'Jesus Mythicism' & try to make it seem more 'credible' & 'scholarly' [just because something seems 'credible & scholarly', don't mean it's true].
Nixak*77* Jim a month ago
I didn't mean to imply G.Mark may have copied from G.Matt, but IMO since we know G.Matt was likely first written in Hebrew / Aramaic, it likely was written concurrent w or even before G.Mark was written. And IMO both could have been written before 60 ACE. That ain't the current Erhman type 'secularized' Gospel-scholar consensus view, but... Erhman & his ilk can't actually prove otherwise.
Nixak*77* Jim a month ago
On the issue of Yeshua's genealogies per G.Matt vs G.Luke, Erhman misspoke on at-least 2 counts: 1st} All the names between Yosafe & David are NOT totally different. At-least 2-3 names in both genealogies between Yosafe & David do match-up.
2nd } IMO the biggest problem w trying to reconcile the 2 genealogies [G.Matt vs G.Luke] is not necessarily the many different names between the 2, after all oft-times the same person in the Bible was/is known by more than just 1 name [IE: Abram / Abraham; Jacob / Israel; Benjamin / Ben-oni; Joseph / Zaphnath-paaneah; Esau / Edom; Daniel / Belteshazzar; Kush / Ethiopia; Egypt / Mizraim / the Land of KHam; Ur of the Chaldeans / Shinar; etc...], the biggest issue to reconcile is the difference in the number of generations between David & Yeshua per G.Matt [28 gens] vs G.Luke [42 gens] in combo w the different names.
The other issue w Erhman, is he takes it as 'gospel' that G.Mark precedes G.Matt & that G.Matt & G.Luke were written circa 85 ACE. Yet IMO G.Matt may well been written at the same time or even before G.Mark, & both may have been written before 60 ACE [as early as 50 ACE, but G.Matt first written in Hebrew / Aramaic & without the genealogy].
Nixak*77* Anthony66 a month ago
Uhm Ant666, HTF can you even 'test' for macro-evolution in real-time?? You CAN'T!!! - You can only 'extrapolate', 'interprelate' & HYPE-O-Thesize re it!! Whether in "virtual-'reality' " or real reality!!
Nixak*77* Anthony66 a month ago
Re your 'plant/animal symbiosis' quip, of course when insects were created / appeared such a relation would 'evolve' to the mutual benefit of both insects & plants. Insects like bees & butterflies would helped proliferate many plants that much faster & efficiently. Ditto when birds were created / appeared, But... Plants & algae had to come first otherwise what would have been the base of the food chain for insects, birds & fish? Even more crucial & critical, without plants & algae to oxygenate the atmosphere w increasing levels of O2 via photosynthesis- How could insects, birds, land animals & even fish have even breathed??
Nixak*77* Anthony66 a month ago
Uhm Ant666, I can't see what any of that has to do w extracting & doing any actual DNA analysis of fossil-fragments that allegedly are over +3mn to over 7 - 10 mn yrs old or even older....
- But anyway Ant666, since you're trying to just 'wowzer' me w 'nested hierarchies' & such, & blah, blah, blah..., IMO you can take this back to your 'nest of hierarchies' & chew on it: BIO-Complexity Presents Better Model than Common Ancestry for Explaining Pattern of Nature [see @ https://evolutionnews.org/2... -&- https://evolutionnews.org/2... -& also @ https://evolutionnews.org/2... -&- https://evolutionnews.org/2... ]!!
Uhm Ant666 re your 'end of science' quip, you know as well as I do, that most of the 'fathers' / pioneers' of the modern scientific age [IE: Galileo, Newton, Pasteur, etc] were Men of Faith. In fact they said their scientific endeavors glorified God. As such their faith in God as they did science, marked the beginning of the modern scientific age NOT the end of it- Duhh!! That's just a LAME anti-theistic rhetorical 'spin'-meme!!
Nixak*77* Jim a month ago
This article shows just how uncertain many things still are in cosmology: How Can a Star Be Older Than the Universe? [@ www.livescience.com/how-can... ]
- The star's in question [aka 'Methuselah'] estimated age is 700 mn yrs older than the current standard guesstimated age of the Universe itself [14.5 vs 13.8 bn yrs]. Plus 'Methuselah' ain't even near the outer realm of the observable Universe, which per the standard cosmological model is where the oldest stars, galaxies & quasars should be; but instead is 'just' 190 lys away from our solar-system.
- The article goes on to say that the value of the Hubble constant [H0] ain't really settled either [standard value for H0 = 67.8 km/s per mega-parsec], but could be as hi as 84.5 km/s per mega parsec. But if H0 increases, the age guesstimate of the Universe could drop to as low as 'just' 11.5 bn yrs [still a long way from Ham type YECs' assertion of 'just' 6k - 10k yrs].
- Obviously if 'Methuselah' is 14.5 bn yrs old, the Universe must be older than that, & thus well older than the current best guesstimate of 13.8 bn yrs. Yet if the age of the Universe is closer to 15 bn yrs than 14 bn yrs, then H0's value must be less than 67.8 km/s per megaparsec [63.3?].
Point being despite the hype, 'scientists' ain't got it all figured out- Not by a long shot!!
Nixak*77* a month ago
Outline of the 6 ‘Day’ [epoch] of Creation Process per each of the 6 Stages / ‘Days’ of the Process:
- ‘Day’ / Epoch 1: As the 'Big Bang' confirms, God caused the Universe to burst into existence w a sudden brilliant burst of light energy, ‘illuminating’ & ‘bursting thru’ the ‘darkness’ of the 'void', as is denoted by the diagram of Big Bang @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wi... -&-
Thumbnail
; for which a cosmologist just won a Nobel Prize [not Penrose’s CCC HYPE-O-Thesis] – Also note per Einstein’s [E = M(C^2], when you have light-energy you can / will get matter / the material universe. Note the Sun & Moon were actually created ‘In the Beginning’ when God ‘Created the Heavens & Earth’ via the ‘Light’, NOT during 'Day' / Epoch 4.
- ‘Day’ / Epoch 2: Separation of Earth’s hydrosphere from its atmosphere. Apparently the atmosphere was initially super-saturated w water-vapor [fog / mist & clouds] & IMO CO2 too, which would have effectively obscured stars & heavenly bodies [including the Sun & Moon] from earthly view.
- ‘Day’ / Epoch 3: God uses plate tectonics & volcanism to lift continental land-masses from the depths of the sea. Then upon these land-masses God caused vegetation to appear, & readily grow & proliferate in an environment ‘rich’ in water-vapor, CO2 & volcanic-ash enriched soil.
- ‘Day’ / Epoch 4: Plant photosynthesis absorbs excess water-vapor & CO2 from the atmosphere, while steadily increasing its O2 levels. The effect was that atmospheric visibility increased to the point that the Sun & Moon became clearly visible from Earth. Thus the Sun & Moon could now be used as markers for the daily day-night cycle, monthly [‘moonly’] cycles, seasonal cycles [ala the 4 seasons] & yearly cycles. IMO insect-like creatures [IE: trilobites] also likely appeared & began to proliferate on ‘Day 4’.
- ‘Day’ / Epoch 5: Via photosynthesis God caused atmospheric O2 levels to rise to a % level that could support bird & fish / sea-creature life-forms [@ % atmospheric O2 levels of 8 – 11%]. We know birds [but not dinos] can survive & thrive at O2 levels of 8 – 11%, because migratory birds can / do soar for days at a time at altitudes above 20K ft above sea-level [ASL] to even as hi as 35-40K ft above sea-level [FYI: @ 20K ft above sea-level the O2 equivalent = 10% & @ 30K ft ASL the O2 equivalent = about 7%]. Also most fish can survive in water where the dissolved O2 levels is 1/3rd to 1/2 of normal levels [equivalent to O2 atmospheric levels of about 7% to 10-11%], which is roughly the equivalent minimal % O2 levels required by birds. PS: By this epoch the Earth would have already been teaming w both plant & insect life-forms = an abundance of food-sources for both birds & fish [& of-course some aquatic birds do also eat fish].
- ‘Day’ / Epoch 6: Via photosynthesis God caused the % of atmospheric O2 to rise to & beyond 17% [current normal level = 21%], which is hi enough to support land-animal / land-creature life-forms- The last land-creature that God made being Man / Humans in the region of the Earth ‘Eastward in Eden’ arching between Kush [= ancient Ethiopia & parts of ancient Sudan] & ancient Egypt [KHemit] over to the Mesopotamia [Note the ‘Garden of Eden’ aka the Fertile Crescent].
-
-
Why Darwinian Macro-Evolution is NOT Reconcilable w the Genesis Account [IMO YECs miss the real point, it ain’t really about whether God created the Earth 6K ybp in 6 literal 24-hr earth-solar days]:
- 1} Per Darwinian random-selection theory, the Creation including life itself was a ‘lucky’, unintended, unguided accident [thus no God required / involved], which is totally contrary to ‘In the Beginning God [purposefully] Created the Heavens & Earth. The effect is to deny God was / is the ‘Author of Life’, the ‘Creator of the Creation’.
- 2} Per the 1st point above re the Darwinian paradigm, life in general including human-life, has no true ultimate purpose beyond ‘survival of the fittest’ to ‘spread one’s ‘selfish’-genes’. Yet the Bible makes it clear that life in general & human-life in particular has a purpose that surpasses / transcends ‘survival of the fittest’ to “spread one’s ‘selfish’-genes” [a key theme of the Bible is selflessness {= love for & service to one’s fellow man} vs Darwinian selfishness per its ‘survival of the fittest’ doctrine]
- 3} Darwin’s ‘theory’ asserts given enough time via random-mutation & NS [= ‘survival of the fittest’ - Note: RM + NS = random-selection], a dino can ‘macro-{d}evolve’ into a bird & a long extinct mini-hippo type land-mammal can ‘macro-{d}evolve’ into dolphins, orcas & whales; etc... Yet Genesis says each species reproduces & multiplies after its own kind, which is NOT a ‘theory’ / HYPE-O-Thesis but a true observable biological-fact in real time.
- 4} Per the Darwinian paradigm humans {d}'evolved' from the physical & behavioral ‘image’ of a long extinct ape-like creature, yet per Genesis humans were originally created to be in the spiritual, intellectual & moral image of their Creator. Note that ‘In the Beginning’ for each ‘Day’ / Epoch of Creation God said ‘Let there be such & so’… Then when God created Man, He let Man behold each creature that God had made & then told Man to ‘name each creature & whatever you call it, that’ll be its name’. Question for Theistic evolutionists, Xtian Darwinists, etc: Where does it say & God spoke to some ape-like creature & told it to name all the different creatures that God had made?? Do apes talk / communicate by any spoken &/or written language?? Hell NO!! The only ‘creature’ it says God spoke to / communicated w & thus gave specific instructions to, was Man / the Adamic Generation / the Human Family!
- Thus IMO there can be NO ‘harmonizing’ / ‘reconciling’ of the Darwinian macro-evolution w the core principles & ideals of the Genesis Creation account re any the 4 Points above- especially for Points 1 & 4!!
-
Questions for Darwinists [ala Andrew Parker]
- How can a strictly-materialistic & mindless process ala Darwinian evolution, ever ‘evolve’ any creature / being who could have any real sense of the ‘divine’ / ‘spirituality’?
- How can an inherently A-moral process [ala Darwinian evolution] ever ‘evolve’ any ‘creature’ / being w any true sense of morality?
- How can an inherently mindless goalless process w no ‘sense of fore-sight’ [ala Darwinian evolution] ever ‘evolve’ any ‘creature’ / being w a mind that can set long-term goals based on said mind having fore-sight / a long-term vision for the future?
- These are questions that are NOT so easily ignored / dismissed by 'sincere' Darwinists, yet Darwinists tend to assert that Darwinian ‘evolution’ must have done it [as Andrew did here], rather than actually explain in some detail how it could have possibly been done via the Darwinian paradigm.
Saturday, November 09, 2019
Hair
https://timeline.com/headwraps-were-born-out-of-slavery-before-being-reclaimed-207e2c65703b
https://www.essence.com/hair/respect-our-roots-brief-history-our-braids-cultural-appropriation/
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/navy-dreadlocks-ban_n_5b46299de4b048036ea4f8d0
https://www.history.com/news/black-hairstyles-visual-history-in-photos
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_hair
https://www.allthingshair.com/en-us/hairstyles-haircuts/short-hairstyles/short-hairstyles-for-black-women/
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/j5abvx/black-womens-hair-illegal-tignon-laws-new-orleans-louisiana
https://blackamericaweb.com/2019/07/01/california-moves-to-protect-black-women-who-wear-natural-hairstyles/
https://www.essence.com/hair/respect-our-roots-brief-history-our-braids-cultural-appropriation/
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/navy-dreadlocks-ban_n_5b46299de4b048036ea4f8d0
https://www.history.com/news/black-hairstyles-visual-history-in-photos
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_hair
https://www.allthingshair.com/en-us/hairstyles-haircuts/short-hairstyles/short-hairstyles-for-black-women/
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/j5abvx/black-womens-hair-illegal-tignon-laws-new-orleans-louisiana
https://blackamericaweb.com/2019/07/01/california-moves-to-protect-black-women-who-wear-natural-hairstyles/
Monday, October 21, 2019
Interesting Words.
Nixak*77* Jim 18 hours ago
Uhm Jim, we both know the Bible ain't a college-level science / astro-physics text-book, yet ever since the priest mathematician-astronomer Georges Lemaître proposed it & cosmologist Edwin Hubble confirmed it via his analysis of the 'red-shift' pattern of light from distant receding stars & galaxies; strict-materialists have had 'issues' w the theistic implications of the Big Bang. Genesis 1: 1 says the Universe had a beginning, the Big Bang also says / confirms the Universe had a beginning [pre Big Bang cosmology just assumed the Universe was eternal], Gen 1: 3 says God created the Universe w a burst of 'light' [energy], Big Bang theory says the Universe came into being w a burst of light energy.
- Thus you've got guys like Larry Krauss & Pete Atkins trying to assert the Universe created itself from 'nothing', or Penrose trying to 'resurrect' the eternal Universe w his CCC HYPE-O-Thesis..., & then there's those hyping the sci-fi nether-worldly 'multi-verse' HYPE-O-Thesis. IMO they're just a bit a 'desperate', because it's clear that the Big Bang looks a bit too much like Gen 1: 1 & Gen 1: 3, & they don't like such an implication!!
Nixak*77* 19 hours ago
Outline of the 6 ‘Day’ [epoch] of Creation Process per each of the 6 Stages / ‘Days’ of the Process:
- ‘Day’ / Epoch 1: As the 'Big Bang' confirms, God caused the Universe to burst into existence w a sudden brilliant burst of light energy, ‘illuminating’ & ‘bursting thru’ the ‘darkness’ of the 'void', as is denoted by the diagram of Big Bang @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wi... -&-
Thumbnail
; for which a cosmologist just won a Nobel Prize [not Penrose’s CCC HYPE-O-Thesis] – Also note per Einstein’s [E = M(C^2], when you have light-energy you can / will get matter / the material universe. Note the Sun & Moon were actually created ‘In the Beginning’ when God ‘Created the Heavens & Earth’ via the ‘Light’, NOT during 'Day' / Epoch 4.
- ‘Day’ / Epoch 2: Separation of Earth’s hydrosphere from its atmosphere. Apparently the atmosphere was initially super-saturated w water-vapor [fog / mist & clouds] & IMO CO2 too, which would have effectively obscured stars & heavenly bodies [including the Sun & Moon] from earthly view.
- ‘Day’ / Epoch 3: God uses plate tectonics & volcanism to lift continental land-masses from the depths of the sea. Then upon these land-masses God caused vegetation to appear, & readily grow & proliferate in an environment ‘rich’ in water-vapor, CO2 & volcanic-ash enriched soil.
- ‘Day’ / Epoch 4: Plant photosynthesis absorbs excess water-vapor & CO2 from the atmosphere, while steadily increasing its O2 levels. The effect was that atmospheric visibility increased to the point that the Sun & Moon became clearly visible from Earth. Thus the Sun & Moon could now be used as markers for the daily day-night cycle, monthly [‘moonly’] cycles, seasonal cycles [ala the 4 seasons] & yearly cycles. IMO insect-like creatures [IE: trilobites] also likely appeared & began to proliferate on ‘Day 4’.
- ‘Day’ / Epoch 5: Via photosynthesis God caused atmospheric O2 levels to rise to a % level that could support bird & fish / sea-creature life-forms [@ % atmospheric O2 levels of 8 – 11%]. We know birds [but not dinos] can survive & thrive at O2 levels of 8 – 11%, because migratory birds can / do soar for days at a time at altitudes above 20K ft above sea-level [ASL] to even as hi as 35-40K ft above sea-level [FYI: @ 20K ft above sea-level the O2 equivalent = 10% & @ 30K ft ASL the O2 equivalent = about 7%]. Also most fish can survive in water where the dissolved O2 levels is 1/3rd to 1/2 of normal levels [equivalent to O2 atmospheric levels of about 7% to 10-11%], which is roughly the equivalent minimal % O2 levels required by birds. PS: By this epoch the Earth would have already been teaming w both plant & insect life-forms = an abundance of food-sources for both birds & fish [& of-course some aquatic birds do also eat fish].
- ‘Day’ / Epoch 6: Via photosynthesis God caused the % of atmospheric O2 to rise to & beyond 17% [current normal level = 21%], which is hi enough to support land-animal / land-creature life-forms- The last land-creature that God made being Man / Humans in the region of the Earth ‘Eastward in Eden’ arching between Kush [= ancient Ethiopia & parts of ancient Sudan] & ancient Egypt [KHemit] over to the Mesopotamia [Note the ‘Garden of Eden’ aka the Fertile Crescent].
-
-
Why Darwinian Macro-Evolution is NOT Reconcilable w the Genesis Account [IMO YECs miss the real point, it ain’t really about whether God created the Earth 6K ybp in 6 literal 24-hr earth-solar days]:
- 1} Per Darwinian random-selection theory, the Creation including life itself was a ‘lucky’, unintended, unguided accident [thus no God required / involved], which is totally contrary to ‘In the Beginning God [purposefully] Created the Heavens & Earth. The effect is to deny God was / is the ‘Author of Life’, the ‘Creator of the Creation’.
- 2} Per the 1st point above re the Darwinian paradigm, life in general including human-life, has no true ultimate purpose beyond ‘survival of the fittest’ to ‘spread one’s ‘selfish’-genes’. Yet the Bible makes it clear that life in general & human-life in particular has a purpose that surpasses / transcends ‘survival of the fittest’ to “spread one’s ‘selfish’-genes” [a key theme of the Bible is selflessness {= love for & service to one’s fellow man} vs Darwinian selfishness per its ‘survival of the fittest’ doctrine]
- 3} Darwin’s ‘theory’ asserts given enough time via random-mutation & NS [= ‘survival of the fittest’ - Note: RM + NS = random-selection], a dino can ‘macro-{d}evolve’ into a bird & a long extinct mini-hippo type land-mammal can ‘macro-{d}evolve’ into dolphins, orcas & whales; etc... Yet Genesis says each species reproduces & multiplies after its own kind, which is NOT a ‘theory’ / HYPE-O-Thesis but a true observable biological-fact in real time.
- 4} Per the Darwinian paradigm humans {d}'evolved' from the physical & behavioral ‘image’ of a long extinct ape-like creature, yet per Genesis humans were originally created to be in the spiritual, intellectual & moral image of their Creator. Note that ‘In the Beginning’ for each ‘Day’ / Epoch of Creation God said ‘Let there be such & so’… Then when God created Man, He let Man behold each creature that God had made & then told Man to ‘name each creature & whatever you call it, that’ll be its name’. Question for Theistic evolutionists, Xtian Darwinists, etc: Where does it say & God spoke to some ape-like creature & told it to name all the different creatures that God had made?? Do apes talk / communicate by any spoken &/or written language?? Hell NO!! The only ‘creature’ it says God spoke to / communicated w & thus gave specific instructions to, was Man / the Adamic Generation / the Human Family!
- Thus IMO there can be NO ‘harmonizing’ / ‘reconciling’ of the Darwinian macro-evolution w the core principles & ideals of the Genesis Creation account re any the 4 Points above- especially for Points 1 & 4!!
-
Questions for Darwinists [ala Andrew Parker]
- How can a strictly-materialistic & mindless process ala Darwinian evolution, ever ‘evolve’ any creature / being who could have any real sense of the ‘divine’ / ‘spirituality’?
- How can an inherently A-moral process [ala Darwinian evolution] ever ‘evolve’ any ‘creature’ / being w any true sense of morality?
- How can an inherently mindless goalless process w no ‘sense of fore-sight’ [ala Darwinian evolution] ever ‘evolve’ any ‘creature’ / being w a mind that can set long-term goals based on said mind having fore-sight / a long-term vision for the future?
- These are questions that are NOT so easily ignored / dismissed by 'sincere' Darwinists, yet Darwinists tend to assert that Darwinian ‘evolution’ must have done it [as Andrew did here], rather than actually explain in some detail how it could have possibly been done via the Darwinian paradigm.
Nixak*77* TylerB 12 days ago
Duplicitous Double-Speak Tyler's back at talking out of both-sides of your damn mouth yet again!!
Out of one side your say: 'Any form of racism / racial discrimination should not be tolerated.', while out of the other-side of you mouth you let your real 'Record-Player Joe Biden' show thru by dissing reparations for slavery out of hand = You're all for ending racism in the 'abstract', as long as(s) doing so does NOT cost you much to end it!
- And then there's the fact that just last week, you felt it was just A-OK to say 'Africans 'breed' too much' & that many [most?] African women are a bunch of AIDS spreading 'hookers' who are just 'crawling' all over the place! - Humm....
Nixak*77* 21 days ago
In response to Tara, Tyler & others of their anti-theistic ilk, who keep trying to assert atheism is ' the 'Church of What's Happening Now' while belief in God is waning the world over ['Don't Believe Their Hype']. This 'may' well be so in westernized countries [Tyler hyped a poll that said 'nones' are now 22% of the US' adult population, which = 78% of the US' population still ID as 'Folks of Faith, while less than half of those US 'nones' even ID as atheists], but in most of the rest of the World, that 'Ain't Necessarily So' by a long shot!!
- Last week Marvin linked to an article that even I found surprising, that officially atheistic China [of all places] is on course to have the most Xtians of any country in the world within a decade or 2 [FYI: China's currently the world's most atheistic country both by % & total numbers]. Tyler & Tara tried to dismiss this info, with the standard anti-theistic rhetoric that Xtianity is waning [again maybe so among well-off western white-guys].
From the Guardian, Aug 27, 2018: Religion: Why Faith Is Becoming More and More Popular [despite the hype] Faith Is on the Rise as 84% of the Global Population Identifies with a Religious Group [see @ www.theguardian.com/news/20... ]: Some key excerpts: } If you think religion belongs to the past and we live in a new age of reason, you need to check out the facts: 84% of the world’s population identifies with a religious group. Members of this demographic are generally younger and produce more children than those who have no religious affiliation, so the world is getting more religious, not less – although there are significant geographical variations.
- Christians form the biggest religious group by some margin, with 2.3 billion adherents or 31.2% of the total world population of 7.3 billion. Next come Muslims (1.8 billion, or 24.1%), Hindus (1.1 billion, or 15.1%) and Buddhists (500 million, or 6.9%). [Note: so Xtians = 31% + Muslims = 24% = 55% & adding Jews / Hebrews = about 57% of the World's people are of the Abrahamic Faiths traditions vs at best maybe barely 10% of the World's people are atheists]
- The third biggest category is missing from the above list. In 2015, 1.2 billion people in the world, or 16%, said they have no religious affiliation at all. But this does not mean all those people are committed atheists; some – perhaps most – have a strong sense of spirituality or belief in God, gods or guiding forces, but they just don’t identify with or practise an organised religion.
- Geography is important in religion. Asia-Pacific is the most populous region in the world, and also the most religious. It is home to 99% of Hindus, 99% of Buddhists, and 90% of those practising folk or traditional religions. The region also hosts 76% of the world’s religiously unaffiliated people, 700m of whom are Chinese.
- Religion is on the wane in western Europe and North America, but it’s growing everywhere else.
- Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world – more than twice as fast as the overall global population. Between 2015 and 2060, the world’s inhabitants are expected to increase by 32%, but the Muslim population is forecast to grow by 70%. And even though Christians will also outgrow the general population over that period, with an increase of 34% forecast mainly thanks to population growth in sub-Saharan Africa, Christianity is likely to lose its top spot in the world religion league table to Islam by the middle of this century.
- Hindus are set to grow by 27%, and Jews by 15% mainly because of the high birth rate among the ultra-Orthodox. However the religiously unaffiliated will see an increase of just 3%. - And while the religiously unaffiliated currently make up 16% of the global population, only about 10% of the world’s newborns were born to religiously unaffiliated mothers between 2010 and 2015.
- China has seen a huge religious revival in recent years and some predict it will have the world’s largest Christian population by 2030. The number of Chinese Protestants has grown by an average of 10 % annually since 1979, to between 93 million and 115 million, according to one estimate. There are reckoned to be another 10-12 million Chinese Catholics.... {
- So as(s) Tyler & Tara & their ilk, hype that there maybe a couple of million more atheists in the US, & 10 - 20 mn more atheists in the EU & Canada, the World's most atheistic country China, has 90 - 100 mn more Xtians [& that don't even count the growing number of Chinese Muslims & of course Buddhists & Confuciansts]. And how many atheists in Russia were lost in that count w the fall of the Berlin Wall?? - And there's Africa where atheists are almost as rare as African saber-tooth tigers!!
And this sidebar to the article: Science and Religion: } A key proponent of the incompatibility of science and religion is Richard Dawkins, the British evolutionary biologist [& out-spoken anti-theistic author of The God Delusion], who has ridiculed creation and intelligent design theories.
- A survey of 3,000 science, medical, technical, and engineering professionals in the UK, Germany and France, commissioned by the Scientific and Medical Network, found that 25% described themselves as atheists, and 45% as religious or spiritual.
- Professor Eric Priest, a mathematician and a former president of the Royal Astronomical Society, said the supposed conflict between science and spirituality was outdated, and many scientists had “a more subtle, nuanced view of the relationship, and recognise that questioning, imagination, creativity, reason, faith and community are common features of both science and religion”.
- In the US, a survey of scientists in 2009 found they were roughly half as likely as the general public to believe in God or a higher power. One in three scientists said they believed in God compared with 83% of the general population. Just under half the scientists polled said they had no religious affiliation, compared with only 17% of the public.
- Jennifer Wiseman, a Christian astrophysicist and director of Dialogue on Science, Ethics and Religion, a programme of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, told ABC News that science was a “wonderful tool for understanding the physical universe” but religious belief provides answers to bigger philosophical questions in life. “We are physically connected to the universe and I think we have a deeper connection as well.” {
- What this shows is, despite Dawkins & his {not so}'New Atheists' ilk, one can indeed be a serious scientist & still be a 'Person of Faith', but we should already know that based on the bios of legendary scientists like Sir Isaac Newton, George Washington Carver, Gregor Mendel, Louis Pasteur, among many others. It's only become 'fashionable' to try to associate science w atheism / agnosticism since in the wake of Darwin.
Monday, October 14, 2019
Abolitionists in Virginia
https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/the_abolition_of_slavery_in_virginia
https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Underground_Railroad_in_Virginia
https://www.virginiahistory.org/collections-and-resources/virginia-history-explorer/abolitionist-pitcher
https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Virginia_Society_for_Promoting_the_Abolition_of_Slavery_The
https://www.virginia.org/africanamericanvirginians
https://www.blackfacts.com/fact/hampton-university-1868
https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Underground_Railroad_in_Virginia
https://www.virginiahistory.org/collections-and-resources/virginia-history-explorer/abolitionist-pitcher
https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Virginia_Society_for_Promoting_the_Abolition_of_Slavery_The
https://www.virginia.org/africanamericanvirginians
https://www.blackfacts.com/fact/hampton-university-1868
Wednesday, October 09, 2019
Words.
Nixak*77* 3 days ago
As soon as I saw this story being hyped about the slain-victim's brother hugging & forgiving his brother's killer-cop, I had a problem w it.
Black folks are expected to be forgiving, even before the culprit is charged [let alone tried, convicted & serving time], often Xs even when the culprit will NOT be charged!! This ain't the first time a Black victim's family member(s) have talked about forgiving a white culprit [especially if they're a white cop], but IMO this is particularly problematic that not only the Black victim's brother felt the need to console the white-woman killer-cop culprit, but also the Black woman judge & Black woman court-guard, too.
I mean how much consoling did the white-woman judge, prosecutor & jury give to Trayvon Martin's mom when KIller-ZMan stalked-down & gunned him down?? The cops & MSM media 'spun' & 'tarred' Trayvon as a thug who deserved to get shot-down!! Ditto Big Mike Brown when Killer-cop Wilson gunned him down execution style [shot him 8 - 9Xs w 3 shots to the top of 6ft-4in 'Big Mike's' head]. Did the cops & MSM media talk about the fact that Big Mike was due to start college that week?? Hell NO! He was made out to be a strong-arm thug who deserved to get gunned-down like an animal & his body left to rot in the hot sun for 4.5 HRS!!
- Has the FOP & that slain Philly cop's widow forgiven Mumia, for a murder he most likely did NOT even do? Hell NO!! Ditto for the MOVE folks who the Philly cops attacked & then forced into a 'shoot-out'! No forgiveness there, either!! They just locked-up the MOVE folks & threw away the damn-key!! And what about Assatta Shakkur, have the cops forgiven a 70 yr old grand-mother for getting damn-near killed in a shoot-out w the cops? Hell NO! Instead they got a Black POTUS & his Black US-AG to double-up the ante' / bounty on her head!!
- Hell we can't even get Repug POTUS Trump to forgive the Central Park 5, even tho they've been officially fully exonerated w a full confession by the true culprit & the City of New York officially exonerating & paying them restitution!! None of that matters to the Trumpster, who's made it clear if it were up to him, the Central-Park 5 would be on death-row [or even hung by now], not even giving a damn about the fact that when they were falsely charged, their ages ranged from just 14 to NOT more than 16!!
- And we won't even talk about O.J!! NO forgiveness there, despite the fact that he was found not-guilty in a well publicized / widely viewed court trial!!! But hey, 'mainstream' USA seems to have forgiven that racist ex-cop Mark Fuhrman, tho. And 'main-stream' USA has lot only forgiven, but has effectively forgotten all about Robert Blake!
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FYI: In just a few days will be the Biblical Holy-Day of Yom-Kippur / the Day of Atonement. It's a day for one to ask [or even beg] for forgiveness for the wrong one has done. But if one is to be forgiven they must humble themselves, even to the point of [as it says in the Bible] - 'Afflicting One's Soul'!! 'Afflicting One's Soul' when one knows they've committed a serious offense(s), is like one metaphorically speaking- Flogging oneself / sack-cloth & ashes, getting-down on one's knees &/or even crawling on one belly & pleading for forgiveness!! Euro-Xtianity, especially slave-oriented Euro-Xtianity has, as Jacqueline.L, says given folks [especially Black folks] a real skewed [screwed-up] view of what one must do to seek atonement & forgiveness!! When King David screwed-up by taking another man's wife & then gave orders to set him up to be killed in battle..., When confronted by the Man of God, David confessed & he was 'forgiven' -But- David had to pay a hi-price for that 'forgiveness'!! First the child of that illicit relationship died in birth, despite David's prayers that the child be spared. Then David's children of his household just went nuts, even to the point David's favorite son & heir-apparent led a revolt against him, & violated [IE: raped] several of his father's concubines in full view of the House of Israel [As you David took another man's wife in secret, so shall another take your wives in full view of all of Israel]!! David had to eat & swallow all of that! Yet the Bible says David was the 'Apple of God's Eye' to the point He made an everlasting covenant w David. Now how many could handle paying such a hi-price for 'forgiveness'??! Most folks expect forgiveness on the cheap, even without bothering to confess wrong-doing & then saying they're sorry, let alone paying a just price for 'forgiveness'!!
Nixak*77* bblais 2 months ago
What do you mean by 'the 'net energy' of the Universe appears to be zero'?? So do you think the net mass of the Universe = zero, too?? I know that the net electrical charge of the Universe is basically zero [simply means there are as many protons in the Universe as there are electrons, beginning at the atomic level], but that don't mean the net energy of the Universe also = 0... IMO that would mean that the average temp of the Universe = 'absolute zero' [- 460`F / - 273'C] essentially everywhere, which is obviously NOT so. Heck not even the average temps of the gas-giant / ice-giant planets in our solar-system are at absolute zero.
Nixak*77* 2 months ago
So per atheist philosopher Alex.M, infinite egress could be possible because at-times weird stuff can happen- Except when it comes to Yeshua & the Resurrection [or even walking on water], Moses Parting the Red Sea, or Joshua Praying to Stop the Sun from Setting- Then per Alex' ilk those types of ‘weird’ stuff [aka miracles] can’t happen, Humm...
- Uhm Alex.M, obviously pushing the beginning of anything [IE: the beginning of the Universe] to the infinite past, is a logical & mathematical impossibility, because you could never actually arrive at the present from an infinite past [by definition you'd always be winding the clock backwards & thus could never run it forward to even try to get to here & now from 'there'].
Then Alex talks about an infinite chain of people borrowing money from each other –Except- Humanity does NOT represent an infinite chain- Duhh!! Per evolutionary biologists & geneticists, humans first originated circa 200K – 300K ypb & there have ‘only’ been about 100 bn – 200 bn total humans born since then [FYI: approx 7.5 bn total humans exist now]. Plus the invention of money does not even date back to the beginning of humanity, that was invented much later. So Uhm Alex, that by definition does NOT / can NOT = an infinite chain of humans borrowing money- Duhh 2Xs!! But this effectively reflects Alex’ {mis}‘Use of ‘Reason’.’- Which IMO is about as(s) cool as having a tooth pulled!!
Of course Alex has an issue of a first cause that’s likened unto the Creator, because his ilk likes to try to skirt the issue entirely by denying there’s even a need for a first cause in the first place, which is why he / they ['must'] entertain the dubious notion of infinite egress into the past.
- But Alex feigns at entertaining the possibility of a first cause as thee cause of the origin of the Universe, while objecting to such a cause 'looking' anything like the Creator [of the Heavens & the Earth]. Alex' objection is based on the constraints his strict-materialistic ideological world-view, but what Alex & his strict-materialistic ilk seem to wanna try to deny is that their strict-materialism fails / is by definition inadequate & effectively a boundary-limit to conceiving & grasping the idea of a power / entity / first-cause that exists beyond physical time & space [= beyond &/or before the physical Universe]. Which is why they must entertain the dubious idea of infinite egress into the past, to try to skirt the issue.
Then Alex throws out the dubious idea of laws of physics can create a Universe from nothing. Uhm Alex laws of physics can’t exists without matter & energy, time & space = can’t exist without nothing [physical]- Except in the Mind of a Creator who exists beyond time & space. In fact the very fact it’s even called ‘physics’ implies its laws can only describe that which physically exists in time & space. So HTF could such laws create of their own accord, a physical Universe from nothing [physical]? Duhh!!
‘Random Choice’, Humm.... Uhm Alex, if it’s random it’s NOT really a ‘choice’, & if it’s a conscious choice then it’s not truly random- Duhh again!! But this is yet another example of Alex’ {mis}’Use of ‘Reason’.’!!
Nixak*77* Guest 2 months ago
IMO 'Jesus Mythicists' [including their grand guru Rich Carrier] are mostly LAME. I mean there's Tyler below trying to compare Yeshua to 'Wonder Woman' of all {non}people. I mean that's so damn LAME I see no reason to even comment on it to debunk it.
- Then there's Chris: First Chris tries to set-up a bunch of straw-men that I didn't even cite re Yeshua's historicity ala: Phlegon and Thallus... In fact the excerpts I posted re the historical Yeshua were taken directly [basically word for word] from Wikipedia on the issue [meaning what I posted ain't just my 'opinion'], & it is they who note what Josephus & Tacitus have to say re Yeshua, & that most true historians take those 2 sources to be about as good as it gets re confirmation of ancient historical persons.
- Then Chris makes 2 specific assertions that I knew to be erroneous- IE: that 'Chrestus' was a common / typical ancient 'Jewish' [= Judean / Hebraic] name [NOT!], & that G.Mark's Yeshua [aka 'Jesus'] was based on 'Jesus Ben Ananias' from Josephus' 'Antiquities of the Jews'- Which is obviously false as most real Bible scholars say G.Mark was written circa 60 - 70 ACE, while Josephus' 'Antiquities' was written 2 - 3 DECADES later circa 93-94 ACE!! So Chris then tries to salvage his blunder by saying 'Jesus Ben Ananias' was also spoken of in Josephus' 'Jewish War' written circa 78 ACE, but somehow Chris failed to see that's still at-least 1 - 1.5 DECADES too shy / too late to salvage his bogus HYPE-O-Thesis!!
- IMO Chris is likely too 'obtuse' to get the point, which is for those who actually know something about the subject(s), just these 2 easily refutable erroneous assertions on his part show he likely don't really know WTF he's talking about re the subject!!
But IMO Chris' 'inspiration' re 'Jesus b.Ananias' allegedly [but FALSELY] being the template for G.Mark's Yeshua, is 'top' 'Jesus Mythicist' 'guru' Rich Carrier, who tries to assert the same lame {non}'reasoning' that Apollonius is the template for the Gospels' Yeshua- Even tho the 'tales' Apollonius' was written a full 125 - 150 YRS AFTER all 4 Gospel accounts were written, & the evidence actually shows that the alleged 'miracles' claimed to be linked to Apollonius were actually 'inspired' by the Gospels so 'tales of Apollonius' could be hyped as an attempted counter-narrative to Yeshua's story- NOT vice-versa!! Which means either Carrier's done some really piss-poor {non}'scholarship', or he's deliberately being disingenuous & misleading on the issue!!
Chris also tries to assert G.Luke's author was in contact w Josephus, yet fails to cite any [real] sources or make any truly reasonable argument(s) to support such a dubious assertion!
So next Chris tries to diss Yeshua as just some 'nobody' who wandered around Judea stirring up trouble, & ended-up getting himself killed. So I then pointed out there are jokers who try to diss M.Gandhi & ML.King Jr in much the same way!!
- So then what does Chris stoop to doing? He resorts to the typical spewing of wanna-be 'clever' ad-hominems & [not-so] 'wise'-cracks!
Nixak*77* Jim 2 months ago
IMO the issue w you view, besides being basically conjecture, is it seems you think Josephus could have never heard of Yeshua, His brother Ya'akov [aka James] nor even Yokhanon ['John' the Baptist] until after Josephus went to & made Rome his home. The fact is Josephus [aka Yosef ben Matityahu] was born in Judea & in fact was of the Levite Priestly tribe [as was apparently Yokhanon the Baptist] & lived in Judea till his early 30s, up until the Roman siege of Jerusalem. Thus IMO what Josephus wrote about Yeshua [& Ya'akov & Yokhanon the Baptist, too] was likely based on Judean sources, even more so than Roman 'Xtian' ones, w Roman 'secular' sources as a supplemental [IE: docs & info re: Pontius Pilate's tenure as Roman Imperial Gov of Judea]. In fact IMO w Josephus having ties to Judean priestly class, he may have even heard 'insider info' about how the Hi-Priest & Sanhedrin turned Yeshua over to Pontius Pilate for execution from {ex}priests &/or {ex}members of the Sanhedrin themselves!
Nixak*77* TylerB 4 days ago
'Penrose responded by outlining... an [alleged] 99.6% probability that waves from a previous aeon have been detected.'
RE The conformal cyclic cosmology (CCC)...: } In 2010, Penrose and Vahe Gurzadyan published a preprint of a paper claiming that observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) made by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) and the BOOMERanG experiment contained an excess of concentric circles compared to simulations based on the standard Lambda-CDM model of cosmology, quoting a 6-sigma significance of the result. However, the statistical significance of the claimed detection has since been disputed. Three groups have independently attempted to reproduce these results, but found that the detection of the concentric anomalies was not statistically significant, in that no more concentric circles appeared in the data than in Lambda-CDM simulations. {
- So much for the claim of an alleged 99.6% probability that waves from an alleged previous cosmic eon have been detected.
Nixak*77* Tara 4 days ago
Well for one whom facts don't ever seem to matter...
Re Bush-Cheney-Bliar's genocidal Iraq Attack Pt2 based on LIES, which the late 'Chris Hitch' religiously regurgitated in hyping his approval...
- 100s of thousands of helpless Iraqi women, children & elders were ruthlessly slaughtered as 'bug-splat' Tara ain't you seen Wikileaks 'Collateral Murder' video, which is the real reason the USG wants to Gitmotize Julian Assange??
- 10s of thousands of Iraqis were effective held under slave conditions, Tara. Ain't you seen the pics of Iraqi prisoners being tortured at Abu Ghraib & Gitmo??
- 10s or even 100s of thousands of Iraqi women & girls were raped, but they were not 'forced to marry their rapist', they were just forced / sold into prostitution instead!!
Rich Dawkins' 'bosom-buddy'/ close pal & chum Chris Hitchens' [whom you too admire] gave his OK / 2 BIG Thumbs-Up for all of that, based on a damn 'Pack of LIES'.... Yet neither Hitch nor Dawkins even believe any of what you're ranting about ever happened at-all!! So just HTF is Dawkins' dissing WLC over some [per Dawkins & Hitchens] NON-events that didn't happen in the distant past, yet apparently was just A-OK w Hitchens, Bliar et-al over a real travesty that's occurred not just recently, but is in fact yet on-going??! So IMO Dawkins is just full of s-
- Tara you're the one who just don't get it, like you did NOT get it last week when I called your good 'chum' Tyler out for spewing racist tropes, because for you Tara, 'Facts Just Don't Matter'!!
PS: I'm beginning to think there's NO true 'Love' NOR 'Light' in you, Tara!!
Nixak*77* TylerB 4 days ago
Per You: 'If Hitch was still alive today, I [Tyler] am sure he would acknowledge the mistakes that were made re Iraq...'
Uhm Dude do I really need to re-post Youtube videos yet again of Hitch defending Bush-Cheney-Bliar's Iraq Attack Pt2 based on LIES in debates w anti-war leftists / progressives like Michael Parenti, George Galloway & Chris Hedges?? FYI: Hitch debated Parenti in 2005 [= over +2 YRS after the Iraq invasion, yet Hitch was still hyping Iraq's phantom / non-existent WMDs in 2005] & Hedges in 2007 [= over +4 YRS after the Iraq invasion]. Or I should I post a video of one of Hitch's last interviews before his death, w CBS News' 60 Minutes, where Hitch effectively on his death bed, was totally unapologetic / expressed little if any regrets for his pro Iraq-Attack Pt2 stance??!
So IDK WTF you're so sure about re Hitch having any regrets for hyping Bush-Cheney-Bliars' Iraq-Attack Pt2 based on a d__ 'Pack of LIES'!!!
- PS: And Oh, Let's not forget you & Tara's ilk's other favorite new-atheist 'guru' Sam Harris, was just as bad or worse than Hitch was re the Iraq-Attack Pt2!!
Nixak*77* dandbj13 3 months ago
Re Your Flip-quip: 'Blending modern tech with a 2,000 year old religion based on a bronze-age religion invented by people with a stone-age understanding of the universe.'
- In fact only one of those quips is accurate, that Xtianity is roughly 2000 yrs old. But FYI 2000 yrs ago marked the iron-age, not the bronze age- DUHH!! And the stone age ended in prehistoric times so you're way-out in left-field w the flip-quip!!
FYI: Agriculture is a bronze-age innovation, so are you gonna go-back to hunter-gatherer mode because agriculture & farming is so bronze-age? Or maybe you think GMOed & processed food is such a hi-tech improvement over food grown the old bronze-age fashion way.
- Reading & writing is also a bronze-age innovation & idea, so are you gonna kick that to the curb to as Oh so low-tech [IMO you're too hooked on writing Oh sooo loooog-winded diatribes]??
- Ditto for math, but then hey you admit you HATE Math!!
Nixak*77* TylerB 3 days ago
Uhm Dude, 'Hitch' was not just an 'apologist' for so-called 'genocide' [that he, Dawkins & your ilk don't even believe happened- but assuming it did, it was over 3000 YRS ago], he was a very active & unrepentant cheer-leading propagandist for a recent & on-going [= current] genocide in Iraq based on LIES, yet he was Dawkins' bosom-buddy & pal [& you & Tara's new-atheist 'guru']. Thus IMO re WLC, Dawkins is just full of s______ w his phony BS 'outrage' vs WLC!!
_________________________________
Sunday, September 29, 2019
Sunday, September 08, 2019
Words on Class Issues.
rosa roja TJ 11 hours ago
Your main question is this: Is "white America" collectively responsible for the oppression of black people? If you ask it in those words, I will answer No, but I don't think a one-word answer is adequate. If you bear with me, I will try to indicate where I think a fuller answer lies.
The starting point must be that the ultimate responsibility for the oppression of "black people" in the US and everywhere, falls on the ruling class in the core capitalist nations of Europe and America. They are the ones who organize it, and who benefit the most from it. It was European (i.e. "White") imperialism that plundered the non-European world, instituted chattel slavery, organized the genocide in the settler colonies, and carried out all those crimes that Marx denounces so eloquently in Capital.
But to promote this process, a racist ideology had to be created, and it has sunk its roots into the culture of Europe (and the US, etc). This culture influences the thought -- and therefore the actions -- of everyone, not just members of the ruling class. (I don't see how any one who has lived in the US could deny this, or how a historical materialist could have expected anything different.) In a sense then, a shared culture does imply a kind of "collective responsibility".
Since you read this website, you might be interested that Trotsky did not feel the need to mince words in discussing white racism of his era (1933): "But today the white workers in relation to the Negroes are the oppressors, scoundrels, who persecute the black and the yellow, hold them in contempt and lynch them." And he exhorted his followers in the US to carry out "an uncompromising merciless struggle ... against the colossal prejudices of the white workers". You might also be interested, if you haven't seen it, to read what Lenin had to say about how a layer of English workers benefited materially from the super-exploitation of the English colonies, and how this hobbled the workers' movement.
I'm not sure I've answered your questions, but I hope at least it's the beginning of an answer.
You also asked about my "position on Hannah-Jones". I know her only from this one article. She writes well and with passion, and she brings out some historical facts that eveyone needs to know. But her analysis leads to a dead end. It operates at a superficial level that ignores the material basis of racial oppression and its roots in capitalism/imperialism. Some of her prose descends into what people sometimes called "Pork Chop Nationalism" in the 1970's, when what's wanted is the "revolutionary nationalism" of people like Fred Hampton, who before his murder by the state was forging an alliance between workers and community members of all colours (the original Rainbow Coalition). She even seems to want to drive a wedge between Africa and its diaspora! Claiming to combat racism without connecting it to imperialism as Malcolm X did is dangerously misguided.
rosa roja TJ 15 hours ago
Thanks for the link, TJ. Actually I had not read her article, but now that I have, I can state with certainty that nowhere does she claim or imply there is a biological basis to racism. She referred to "DNA" only in one sentence, where it is obviously intended as a metaphor. For wsws
to imply the opposite was not honest.
Now let me make a start on your questions. I do NOT endorse the NYT viewpoint, in fact I rarely read them these days. Always the voice of the capitalist ruling class, they have more recently degenerated so much that most of their articles are more fluff and propaganda than they are news.
I will reply to your other questions in a separate post.
rosa roja Yasir 21 hours ago
"All you scholars should know, the conditions and the execution of slavery was much different than what was done in the Americas."
This is very important. You have put your finger on what is dishonest about this article. Equally important is that modern slavery was part of a bigger phenomenon, a Euro-American racism/imperialism that is a fundamental mode of organization of capitalism on a world scale.
One thing I would add, however, is that I do not think that a "level playing field" is a good description of what we want. We want a cooperative society that has no economic winners and losers.
rosa roja 21 hours ago
Response to Pierre, Jim Bergren, MB, de rubempre.
To Pierre:
My comments are not meant for you. I comment here because I believe that the site has many honest readers who are anxious for an honest discussion. It has them because it tells the truth about many things that the bourgeois media lies about. Unfortunately wsws in important ways ALSO deviates from the tradition it claims to uphold.
If you look at my old comments you will see that in many cases I praised articles here. It happens rarely now. If and when I decide that all the thoughtful readers have been driven away by comments like yours, I'll stop commenting.
To MB and Jim:
If you read the article carefully, I think you will agree with me. The authors wrote, "Hannah-Jones's reference to DNA is part of a growing tendency to derive racial antagonisms from innate biological processes." If she really said this, evidence should have been provided. The use of a metaphor is hardly evidence.
To de rubempre:
The metaphor does NOT imply that people of European descent are biologically programmed to be racists. It is merely implying that racism is deeply embedded in the history and present of the US. If the article wants to dispute that, fine, but don't make charges you cannot substantiate.
rosa roja rosa roja a month ago
Too many responses to reply to separately!
Dear Warren, Pierre, Eric, Matt,
I commented as I did because I think we need to be objective, and objectivity demands that we not cherry pick quotes to fit a preconceived point of view. Unfortunately the article did so in my opinion.
That was the only reason I commented, but I will also try to address some of the more general points you all have raised:
1. AOC is a social democrat and nothing more, but for the moment she is intervening in politics in a positive manner. Should we be unhappy about that?
2. Social democracy too often turns into "social imperialism". I see no sign of that in AOC's statements.
3. Support for decolonization of Puerto Rico is valid and important. Maybe a website based in the centre of the Empire has a hard time understanding this.
4. To slam Ocasio-Cortez as a fake because she's a member of the Democratic Party is disingenuous. I personally do not believe the party can be reformed, but that doesn't mean that people who try to reform it are all hypocrites.
rosa roja 4 months ago
Attempts by characters like Shockley and Herrnstein
to "scientifically" justify imperialism/racism and class-exploitation are repugnant but they are hardly new. They are as old as capitalism and always promoted by the ruling class. If anything is new it is the success of the Cambridge students in excluding this particular bourgeois ideologue from their university.
oswald durand pierre • 3 hours ago
Pierre, your 'innocence' in this matter is really revealing of the unhealthy political atmosphere you dwell in.
I assure you that it is no revelation to me that politicians are "SELECTED" by their party bosses before being presented to their constituents to be elected. Reading your comments leads me to believe that you think there's some kind of conspiracy involved to foist Black politicians on an unsuspecting public. Really?
Let's look at the selection of Barack H. Obama. As far as I know, he made all the moves required to be in contention to get the backing of people with power in his party.
He did so by going to the right schools, holding the right jobs, marrying the right kind of lady and making friends with the right kind of people. His trajectory was similar to that of his rivals for the democratic nomination. If you can show me that the rules that apply were cast aside on his behalf, I will take your claim on affirmative action as a serious one instead of the nonsense I think it is, used by White losers to salve their bruised egos.
Tom Peters wrote: "The ruling class, generally speaking, decided to increase the numbers of black people in bourgeois politics, big business, academia, the state apparatus, etc. One of the mechanisms for this was affirmative action policies.
Obama is an obvious concrete example of this change: His elevation to the presidency would have been inconceivable in the Jim Crow era. He has also publicly stated that he "undoubtedly benefited from affirmative action” in his academic career. https://www.nytimes.com/200...
Oprah Winfrey's rise to worldwide fame and fortune also wouldn't have happened under Jim Crow. Again, this seems like an obvious point to make. Winfrey's first broadcasting jobs were helped by broadcasters' affirmative action policies, as she herself was aware.
If one compares the position of these individuals to that of black political leaders and celebrities in 1960, the difference is obvious: Obama and Winfrey are both richer and far more powerful. It doesn't require much special insight or painstaking analysis to see the change that has taken place in the ruling class."
Mr. Peters is correct, the Jim Crow era is dead and the ruling class has gotten better at picking its representatives, certain nostalgic types want to revive it. My main objection to the anti-affirmative action crowd is the exaggeration of the import of these programs. So what if she got her first job due to some employer's affirmative action policies, lots of Whites get these breaks for reasons ranging from the employer seeing something of him/herself in that young person, to the desire to have sex with the candidate for the job.
If affirmative action is to be judged by the end results, the bourgeoisie's investment in Obama and Winfrey paid rich dividends, based on his management of the 2008 economic crisis and her ability to flog products such as books, etc. on tv. The WSWS may not like these facts but it cannot deny the fact it was money well spent.
Why is the WSWS fixated on a program that began it's death agony as far back as the Bakke case, forty-one years ago, and is now dead an buried? If, as the WSWS likes to claim, affirmative action impeded the advance of the proletariat's march to power, why did reversals to that program fail to lead to the WSWS's favored outcome? Too bad you failed to read Trotsky on the "Negro Question". He would have shown you how a real revolutionist approaches such problems.
oswald durand Ozmay • 3 days ago
Ozmay, thanks for the link. You are correct that I object to the impression given that Blacks who hold positions in science, business and other fields do so solely because of affirmative action. That's a lie. I have zero objection to criticisms of some black public figures who make overly broad claims. To me they are as ridiculous as people who want to reduce Black successes to 'affirmative action'
Your main question is this: Is "white America" collectively responsible for the oppression of black people? If you ask it in those words, I will answer No, but I don't think a one-word answer is adequate. If you bear with me, I will try to indicate where I think a fuller answer lies.
The starting point must be that the ultimate responsibility for the oppression of "black people" in the US and everywhere, falls on the ruling class in the core capitalist nations of Europe and America. They are the ones who organize it, and who benefit the most from it. It was European (i.e. "White") imperialism that plundered the non-European world, instituted chattel slavery, organized the genocide in the settler colonies, and carried out all those crimes that Marx denounces so eloquently in Capital.
But to promote this process, a racist ideology had to be created, and it has sunk its roots into the culture of Europe (and the US, etc). This culture influences the thought -- and therefore the actions -- of everyone, not just members of the ruling class. (I don't see how any one who has lived in the US could deny this, or how a historical materialist could have expected anything different.) In a sense then, a shared culture does imply a kind of "collective responsibility".
Since you read this website, you might be interested that Trotsky did not feel the need to mince words in discussing white racism of his era (1933): "But today the white workers in relation to the Negroes are the oppressors, scoundrels, who persecute the black and the yellow, hold them in contempt and lynch them." And he exhorted his followers in the US to carry out "an uncompromising merciless struggle ... against the colossal prejudices of the white workers". You might also be interested, if you haven't seen it, to read what Lenin had to say about how a layer of English workers benefited materially from the super-exploitation of the English colonies, and how this hobbled the workers' movement.
I'm not sure I've answered your questions, but I hope at least it's the beginning of an answer.
You also asked about my "position on Hannah-Jones". I know her only from this one article. She writes well and with passion, and she brings out some historical facts that eveyone needs to know. But her analysis leads to a dead end. It operates at a superficial level that ignores the material basis of racial oppression and its roots in capitalism/imperialism. Some of her prose descends into what people sometimes called "Pork Chop Nationalism" in the 1970's, when what's wanted is the "revolutionary nationalism" of people like Fred Hampton, who before his murder by the state was forging an alliance between workers and community members of all colours (the original Rainbow Coalition). She even seems to want to drive a wedge between Africa and its diaspora! Claiming to combat racism without connecting it to imperialism as Malcolm X did is dangerously misguided.
rosa roja TJ 15 hours ago
Thanks for the link, TJ. Actually I had not read her article, but now that I have, I can state with certainty that nowhere does she claim or imply there is a biological basis to racism. She referred to "DNA" only in one sentence, where it is obviously intended as a metaphor. For wsws
to imply the opposite was not honest.
Now let me make a start on your questions. I do NOT endorse the NYT viewpoint, in fact I rarely read them these days. Always the voice of the capitalist ruling class, they have more recently degenerated so much that most of their articles are more fluff and propaganda than they are news.
I will reply to your other questions in a separate post.
rosa roja Yasir 21 hours ago
"All you scholars should know, the conditions and the execution of slavery was much different than what was done in the Americas."
This is very important. You have put your finger on what is dishonest about this article. Equally important is that modern slavery was part of a bigger phenomenon, a Euro-American racism/imperialism that is a fundamental mode of organization of capitalism on a world scale.
One thing I would add, however, is that I do not think that a "level playing field" is a good description of what we want. We want a cooperative society that has no economic winners and losers.
rosa roja 21 hours ago
Response to Pierre, Jim Bergren, MB, de rubempre.
To Pierre:
My comments are not meant for you. I comment here because I believe that the site has many honest readers who are anxious for an honest discussion. It has them because it tells the truth about many things that the bourgeois media lies about. Unfortunately wsws in important ways ALSO deviates from the tradition it claims to uphold.
If you look at my old comments you will see that in many cases I praised articles here. It happens rarely now. If and when I decide that all the thoughtful readers have been driven away by comments like yours, I'll stop commenting.
To MB and Jim:
If you read the article carefully, I think you will agree with me. The authors wrote, "Hannah-Jones's reference to DNA is part of a growing tendency to derive racial antagonisms from innate biological processes." If she really said this, evidence should have been provided. The use of a metaphor is hardly evidence.
To de rubempre:
The metaphor does NOT imply that people of European descent are biologically programmed to be racists. It is merely implying that racism is deeply embedded in the history and present of the US. If the article wants to dispute that, fine, but don't make charges you cannot substantiate.
rosa roja rosa roja a month ago
Too many responses to reply to separately!
Dear Warren, Pierre, Eric, Matt,
I commented as I did because I think we need to be objective, and objectivity demands that we not cherry pick quotes to fit a preconceived point of view. Unfortunately the article did so in my opinion.
That was the only reason I commented, but I will also try to address some of the more general points you all have raised:
1. AOC is a social democrat and nothing more, but for the moment she is intervening in politics in a positive manner. Should we be unhappy about that?
2. Social democracy too often turns into "social imperialism". I see no sign of that in AOC's statements.
3. Support for decolonization of Puerto Rico is valid and important. Maybe a website based in the centre of the Empire has a hard time understanding this.
4. To slam Ocasio-Cortez as a fake because she's a member of the Democratic Party is disingenuous. I personally do not believe the party can be reformed, but that doesn't mean that people who try to reform it are all hypocrites.
rosa roja 4 months ago
Attempts by characters like Shockley and Herrnstein
to "scientifically" justify imperialism/racism and class-exploitation are repugnant but they are hardly new. They are as old as capitalism and always promoted by the ruling class. If anything is new it is the success of the Cambridge students in excluding this particular bourgeois ideologue from their university.
oswald durand pierre • 3 hours ago
Pierre, your 'innocence' in this matter is really revealing of the unhealthy political atmosphere you dwell in.
I assure you that it is no revelation to me that politicians are "SELECTED" by their party bosses before being presented to their constituents to be elected. Reading your comments leads me to believe that you think there's some kind of conspiracy involved to foist Black politicians on an unsuspecting public. Really?
Let's look at the selection of Barack H. Obama. As far as I know, he made all the moves required to be in contention to get the backing of people with power in his party.
He did so by going to the right schools, holding the right jobs, marrying the right kind of lady and making friends with the right kind of people. His trajectory was similar to that of his rivals for the democratic nomination. If you can show me that the rules that apply were cast aside on his behalf, I will take your claim on affirmative action as a serious one instead of the nonsense I think it is, used by White losers to salve their bruised egos.
Tom Peters wrote: "The ruling class, generally speaking, decided to increase the numbers of black people in bourgeois politics, big business, academia, the state apparatus, etc. One of the mechanisms for this was affirmative action policies.
Obama is an obvious concrete example of this change: His elevation to the presidency would have been inconceivable in the Jim Crow era. He has also publicly stated that he "undoubtedly benefited from affirmative action” in his academic career. https://www.nytimes.com/200...
Oprah Winfrey's rise to worldwide fame and fortune also wouldn't have happened under Jim Crow. Again, this seems like an obvious point to make. Winfrey's first broadcasting jobs were helped by broadcasters' affirmative action policies, as she herself was aware.
If one compares the position of these individuals to that of black political leaders and celebrities in 1960, the difference is obvious: Obama and Winfrey are both richer and far more powerful. It doesn't require much special insight or painstaking analysis to see the change that has taken place in the ruling class."
Mr. Peters is correct, the Jim Crow era is dead and the ruling class has gotten better at picking its representatives, certain nostalgic types want to revive it. My main objection to the anti-affirmative action crowd is the exaggeration of the import of these programs. So what if she got her first job due to some employer's affirmative action policies, lots of Whites get these breaks for reasons ranging from the employer seeing something of him/herself in that young person, to the desire to have sex with the candidate for the job.
If affirmative action is to be judged by the end results, the bourgeoisie's investment in Obama and Winfrey paid rich dividends, based on his management of the 2008 economic crisis and her ability to flog products such as books, etc. on tv. The WSWS may not like these facts but it cannot deny the fact it was money well spent.
Why is the WSWS fixated on a program that began it's death agony as far back as the Bakke case, forty-one years ago, and is now dead an buried? If, as the WSWS likes to claim, affirmative action impeded the advance of the proletariat's march to power, why did reversals to that program fail to lead to the WSWS's favored outcome? Too bad you failed to read Trotsky on the "Negro Question". He would have shown you how a real revolutionist approaches such problems.
oswald durand Ozmay • 3 days ago
Ozmay, thanks for the link. You are correct that I object to the impression given that Blacks who hold positions in science, business and other fields do so solely because of affirmative action. That's a lie. I have zero objection to criticisms of some black public figures who make overly broad claims. To me they are as ridiculous as people who want to reduce Black successes to 'affirmative action'
Saturday, September 07, 2019
Religious Information.
Nixak*77* Jim a month ago
IMO the issue w you view, besides being basically conjecture, is it seems you think Josephus could have never heard of Yeshua, His brother Ya'akov [aka James] nor even Yokhanon ['John' the Baptist] until after Josephus went to & made Rome his home. The fact is Josephus [aka Yosef ben Matityahu] was born in Judea & in fact was of the Levite Priestly tribe [as was apparently Yokhanon the Baptist] & lived in Judea till his early 30s, up until the Roman siege of Jerusalem. Thus IMO what Josephus wrote about Yeshua [& Ya'akov & Yokhanon the Baptist, too] was likely based on Judean sources, even more so than Roman 'Xtian' ones, w Roman 'secular' sources as a supplemental [IE: docs & info re: Pontius Pilate's tenure as Roman Imperial Gov of Judea]. In fact IMO w Josephus having ties to Judean priestly class, he may have even heard 'insider info' about how the Hi-Priest & Sanhedrin turned Yeshua over to Pontius Pilate for execution from {ex}priests &/or {ex}members of the Sanhedrin themselves!
Nixak*77* Guest a month ago
IMO 'Jesus Mythicists' [including their grand guru Rich Carrier] are mostly LAME. I mean there's Tyler below trying to compare Yeshua to 'Wonder Woman' of all {non}people. I mean that's so damn LAME I see no reason to even comment on it to debunk it.
- Then there's Chris: First Chris tries to set-up a bunch of straw-men that I didn't even cite re Yeshua's historicity ala: Phlegon and Thallus... In fact the excerpts I posted re the historical Yeshua were taken directly [basically word for word] from Wikipedia on the issue [meaning what I posted ain't just my 'opinion'], & it is they who note what Josephus & Tacitus have to say re Yeshua, & that most true historians take those 2 sources to be about as good as it gets re confirmation of ancient historical persons.
- Then Chris makes 2 specific assertions that I knew to be erroneous- IE: that 'Chrestus' was a common / typical ancient 'Jewish' [= Judean / Hebraic] name [NOT!], & that G.Mark's Yeshua [aka 'Jesus'] was based on 'Jesus Ben Ananias' from Josephus' 'Antiquities of the Jews'- Which is obviously false as most real Bible scholars say G.Mark was written circa 60 - 70 ACE, while Josephus' 'Antiquities' was written 2 - 3 DECADES later circa 93-94 ACE!! So Chris then tries to salvage his blunder by saying 'Jesus Ben Ananias' was also spoken of in Josephus' 'Jewish War' written circa 78 ACE, but somehow Chris failed to see that's still at-least 1 - 1.5 DECADES too shy / too late to salvage his bogus HYPE-O-Thesis!!
- IMO Chris is likely too 'obtuse' to get the point, which is for those who actually know something about the subject(s), just these 2 easily refutable erroneous assertions on his part show he likely don't really know WTF he's talking about re the subject!!
But IMO Chris' 'inspiration' re 'Jesus b.Ananias' allegedly [but FALSELY] being the template for G.Mark's Yeshua, is 'top' 'Jesus Mythicist' 'guru' Rich Carrier, who tries to assert the same lame {non}'reasoning' that Apollonius is the template for the Gospels' Yeshua- Even tho the 'tales' Apollonius' was written a full 125 - 150 YRS AFTER all 4 Gospel accounts were written, & the evidence actually shows that the alleged 'miracles' claimed to be linked to Apollonius were actually 'inspired' by the Gospels so 'tales of Apollonius' could be hyped as an attempted counter-narrative to Yeshua's story- NOT vice-versa!! Which means either Carrier's done some really piss-poor {non}'scholarship', or he's deliberately being disingenuous & misleading on the issue!!
Chris also tries to assert G.Luke's author was in contact w Josephus, yet fails to cite any [real] sources or make any truly reasonable argument(s) to support such a dubious assertion!
So next Chris tries to diss Yeshua as just some 'nobody' who wandered around Judea stirring up trouble, & ended-up getting himself killed. So I then pointed out there are jokers who try to diss M.Gandhi & ML.King Jr in much the same way!!
- So then what does Chris stoop to doing? He resorts to the typical spewing of wanna-be 'clever' ad-hominems & [not-so] 'wise'-cracks!
Nixak*77* Guest a month ago
} The historicity of Jesus is the question if Jesus of Nazareth can be regarded as a historical figure. Nearly all New Testament scholars and Near East historians, applying the standard criteria of historical-critical investigation, find that the historicity of Jesus is effectively certain, although they differ about the beliefs and teachings of Jesus as well as the accuracy of the details of his life that have been described in the gospels.
- While scholars have criticized Jesus scholarship for religious bias and lack of methodological soundness, with very few exceptions such critics generally do support the historicity of Jesus and reject the Christ myth theory that Jesus never existed.
- In Books 18 and 20 of Antiquities of the Jews, written around AD 93 to 94, Josephus twice refers to the biblical Jesus. The general scholarly view holds that the longer passage, known as the Testimonium Flavianum, most likely consists of an authentic nucleus that was subjected to later Christian 'interpolation'... On the other hand, Josephus scholar Louis H. Feldman states that "few have doubted the genuineness" of the reference found in Antiquities 20, 9, 1 to "the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James".
- Tacitus, in his Annals (written c. AD 115), book 15, chapter 44, describes Nero's scapegoating of the Christians following the Fire of Rome. He writes that founder of the sect was named Christus (the Christian title for Jesus); that he was executed under Pontius Pilate; and that the movement, initially checked, broke out again in Judea and even in Rome itself. {
I did NOT know of Suetonius, but he seems to be a key early supplemental back-up who supports what Tacitus [& even Josephus] document & record about Yeshua.
Nixak*77* Matthew Taylor 2 months ago
Uhm Matt, humans originated in the tropic regions of Africa, & from there initially migrated to the tropical / near-tropical regions of Asia [IE: the so-called mid-east, the Mesopotamia & the Indian sub-continent & then SE-Asia, Paupa New Guinea, Australia & NZ, & then on to the Pacific Islands]. The problem w pale-skin in such tropical-regions, is it's readily subject to UV radiation damage which can even result in skin-cancer [FYI white Aussies & NZers have the world's highest rate of melanoma, closely followed by Israelis].
- As such pale-skin only became viable & advantageous, when AMH ancestors of Europeans finally migrated into the Nordic regions of Europe, which on average has far less bright sun-light than tropical Africa & Asia.
Note: 'Ironically' European & Caucasian males tend to be much 'hairier' than men of African [& most other men of non-Euro] ancestry.
PS: Apparently the trait for pale-skin, blond-hair & blue-eyes was / is a quite recent phenomenon in human 'evolutionary' development. AMH humans' origins in Africa date back to circa 200K - 300K ybp [some even say perhaps 350K ybp], yet the trait for pale-skin, blond-hair & blue-eyes apparently only dates back to about 6000 yrs ago.
I spoke repeatedly about governance based on non-sectarian neutrality & said jack about setting-up any 'theocracy, yet you've spun that to accuse me of not wanting a Govt based non-sectarian neutrality but rather wanting to set-up a theocratic state- Humm...
- You must be a 'mind-reader' to try to assert that I really don't mean what I've actually said & that I really mean what I've never said- WOW!!
Nixak*77* dandbj13 2 months ago
Name a state-atheistic state that you think was / is successful? Communist China, N.Korea, Stalin's USSR, Pol-Pot's / Khmer-Rouge's Cambodia??! Or even a country run by atheists tho not necessarily officially an atheistic state- IE: Napoleon's France or Mussolini's fascist Italy??
Nixak*77* dandbj13 2 months ago
FYI: Slave-colony perpetrator Napoleon was an atheist [as was David Humes], freedom-fighter Toussaint L'Ouverture who opposed Napoleon's slave-colonial forces, was NOT.
Slave concentration-camp perpetrator Mussolini was an atheist, freedom fighters Omar Mukhtar & Haile Selassie who opposed Mussolini's imperial fascist forces, were NOT.
PS: 'We' [as(s) in secular {in}'humanists'] did NOT do much of jack! Your secular {in}'humanist' ilk was mainly MIA / AWOL on the issue when it really mattered- Duhh!! So chattel-slavery ended NO-thanks to your secular {in}'humanist' ilk!! Yet you & you ilk keep trying to usurp undue credit re the issue by misusing the 'Royal We'- Humm...
Nixak*77* dandbj13 2 months ago
And I can just keep pointing out the fact that even as(s) your secular {in}'humanistic' ilk have tried to usurp undue credit for the abolition of slavery, you-all were basically MIA / AWOL on the issue in the 1700s & 1800s when it actually mattered [yet top atheists were perpetrators of slavery IE: Napoleon, David Humes, Mussolini, Stalin, Pol-Pot, etc...]; even as those at the fore-front in the fight against slavery were 'Folks of Faith'! And apparently that same trend continues into the 20th & 21st centuries re the Nobel Peace Prize, too!!
Nixak*77* Matthew Taylor 2 months ago
Pr You: 'Dr. {WL.}Craig says that the Borde-Guth-Vilenkin theorem implies the universe had a beginning, that is false. That is not what it says...'
Uhm NOT according to the theorem's co-author cosmologist Dr Alex Vilenkin: From TuftsNow @ Tufts Univ: In the Beginning Was the Beginning: Cosmologist Alex Vilenkin does the math to show that the universe did indeed had a starting point - “For many physicists, the beginning of the universe is uncomfortable, because it suggests that something must have caused the beginning, that there should be some cause outside the universe,” says Alex Vilenkin
Excerpts from a 2012 Interview w Dr Vilenkin: } There’s a scientific consensus that our universe exploded into existence almost 14 billion years ago in an event known as the Big Bang. But that theory raises more questions about the universe’s origins than it answers, including the most basic one: what happened before the Big Bang? Some cosmologists have argued [even still] that the universe could have no beginning, but simply always was.
- In 2003, Tufts cosmologist Alexander Vilenkin and his colleagues, Arvind Borde, [Prof of Math], and Alan Guth, prof of physics at MIT, proved a mathematical theorem showing that, under very general assumptions, the universe must have had a beginning.
- Dr Vilenkin: For the eternal inflation model, what we can show mathematically is that there is no end to this process. So some people thought maybe you could avoid a beginning, too. But our 2003 theorem shows that [avoiding a beginning] is impossible for this scenario. Although inflation may be eternal into the future, it cannot be extended indefinitely to the past. .
- A cyclic universe runs into the second law of thermodynamics, which says that any system left to itself eventually reaches the state of maximum disorder, called thermal equilibrium. So if the universe were cyclic, then in every cycle, the disorder in the universe would increase. Eventually the universe would reach this thermal equilibrium state, which is a totally featureless mixture of everything—this is not what we see around us. - One hypothesis about a cyclic universe [tries] avoids this problem of thermodynamics. There are models of a cyclic universe in which the volume grows in every cycle. This way, the universe expands and contracts, but contracts to a larger volume than in the previous cycle. So even though disorder increases, disorder per unit volume doesn’t change. - That’s possible, but our 2003 theorem poses a problem because if the volume of the universe grows, then there [still] must have been a beginning. So the cyclic universe scenario doesn’t avoid a beginning either.
- And the cosmic egg? - There are classical physics models for this static universe to sit there forever and then suddenly start expanding. But what we showed is that, quantum mechanically, this universe is not stable. - What we showed [in the new paper] is that this closed, static universe also has a probability of collapsing quantum mechanically. Its probability of collapse is nonzero, and therefore it could not have existed forever, either. So this emergent egg scenario, if you include quantum mechanics—and we should—is not viable either... {
So per BGV theorem's co-author Dr Vilenkin, WL.Craig is NOT misrepresenting the theorem's implications. The BGV theorem does indeed imply the Universe must have had a beginning. Plus logically & mathematically there's a real problem w the idea that the Universe 'began' / can be extended into the infinite past. The problem mathematically is the same w trying to reach infinity in the future from now [or any specific point time {in the past or future} that can be 'measured' from now], you can never actually reach future infinity from now, only approach it indefinitely. So now reverse that scenario w the hypothetical 'starting point' being time = negative infinity, you could never reach any specific point in time [ala NOW] 'starting from' t = negative infinity [= the problem of infinite regress]. That fact alone implies the Universe had to have a definitive starting point in the past, that's actually 'measurable' / definable from our current time. For that past point in time the current best guesstimate is approx 14 bybp, & past that initial bang-Bang 'singularity' there was nothing physical [= measurable]- NOT space, matter or energy, nor even time [as we know them].
- I know you strict-materialists don't like & thus try to deny the real implications of the Big-Bang 'singularity' [IE: that the Universe popped into existence from nowhere & nothing {physical} some 14 bn yrs ago], because it's got you-all in a real 'pickle'. But...
Name a state-atheistic state that you think was / is successful? Communist China, N.Korea, Stalin's USSR, Pol-Pot's / Khmer-Rouge's Cambodia??! Or even a country run by atheists tho not necessarily officially an atheistic state- IE: Napoleon's France or Mussolini's fascist Italy??
Nixak*77* dandbj13 2 months ago
FYI: Slave-colony perpetrator Napoleon was an atheist [as was David Humes], freedom-fighter Toussaint L'Ouverture who opposed Napoleon's slave-colonial forces, was NOT.
Slave concentration-camp perpetrator Mussolini was an atheist, freedom fighters Omar Mukhtar & Haile Selassie who opposed Mussolini's imperial fascist forces, were NOT.
PS: 'We' [as(s) in secular {in}'humanists'] did NOT do much of jack! Your secular {in}'humanist' ilk was mainly MIA / AWOL on the issue when it really mattered- Duhh!! So chattel-slavery ended NO-thanks to your secular {in}'humanist' ilk!! Yet you & you ilk keep trying to usurp undue credit re the issue by misusing the 'Royal We'- Humm...
Nixak*77* dandbj13 2 months ago
And I can just keep pointing out the fact that even as(s) your secular {in}'humanistic' ilk have tried to usurp undue credit for the abolition of slavery, you-all were basically MIA / AWOL on the issue in the 1700s & 1800s when it actually mattered [yet top atheists were perpetrators of slavery IE: Napoleon, David Humes, Mussolini, Stalin, Pol-Pot, etc...]; even as those at the fore-front in the fight against slavery were 'Folks of Faith'! And apparently that same trend continues into the 20th & 21st centuries re the Nobel Peace Prize, too!!
Nixak*77* Matthew Taylor 2 months ago
Pr You: 'Dr. {WL.}Craig says that the Borde-Guth-Vilenkin theorem implies the universe had a beginning, that is false. That is not what it says...'
Uhm NOT according to the theorem's co-author cosmologist Dr Alex Vilenkin: From TuftsNow @ Tufts Univ: In the Beginning Was the Beginning: Cosmologist Alex Vilenkin does the math to show that the universe did indeed had a starting point - “For many physicists, the beginning of the universe is uncomfortable, because it suggests that something must have caused the beginning, that there should be some cause outside the universe,” says Alex Vilenkin
Excerpts from a 2012 Interview w Dr Vilenkin: } There’s a scientific consensus that our universe exploded into existence almost 14 billion years ago in an event known as the Big Bang. But that theory raises more questions about the universe’s origins than it answers, including the most basic one: what happened before the Big Bang? Some cosmologists have argued [even still] that the universe could have no beginning, but simply always was.
- In 2003, Tufts cosmologist Alexander Vilenkin and his colleagues, Arvind Borde, [Prof of Math], and Alan Guth, prof of physics at MIT, proved a mathematical theorem showing that, under very general assumptions, the universe must have had a beginning.
- Dr Vilenkin: For the eternal inflation model, what we can show mathematically is that there is no end to this process. So some people thought maybe you could avoid a beginning, too. But our 2003 theorem shows that [avoiding a beginning] is impossible for this scenario. Although inflation may be eternal into the future, it cannot be extended indefinitely to the past. .
- A cyclic universe runs into the second law of thermodynamics, which says that any system left to itself eventually reaches the state of maximum disorder, called thermal equilibrium. So if the universe were cyclic, then in every cycle, the disorder in the universe would increase. Eventually the universe would reach this thermal equilibrium state, which is a totally featureless mixture of everything—this is not what we see around us. - One hypothesis about a cyclic universe [tries] avoids this problem of thermodynamics. There are models of a cyclic universe in which the volume grows in every cycle. This way, the universe expands and contracts, but contracts to a larger volume than in the previous cycle. So even though disorder increases, disorder per unit volume doesn’t change. - That’s possible, but our 2003 theorem poses a problem because if the volume of the universe grows, then there [still] must have been a beginning. So the cyclic universe scenario doesn’t avoid a beginning either.
- And the cosmic egg? - There are classical physics models for this static universe to sit there forever and then suddenly start expanding. But what we showed is that, quantum mechanically, this universe is not stable. - What we showed [in the new paper] is that this closed, static universe also has a probability of collapsing quantum mechanically. Its probability of collapse is nonzero, and therefore it could not have existed forever, either. So this emergent egg scenario, if you include quantum mechanics—and we should—is not viable either... {
So per BGV theorem's co-author Dr Vilenkin, WL.Craig is NOT misrepresenting the theorem's implications. The BGV theorem does indeed imply the Universe must have had a beginning. Plus logically & mathematically there's a real problem w the idea that the Universe 'began' / can be extended into the infinite past. The problem mathematically is the same w trying to reach infinity in the future from now [or any specific point time {in the past or future} that can be 'measured' from now], you can never actually reach future infinity from now, only approach it indefinitely. So now reverse that scenario w the hypothetical 'starting point' being time = negative infinity, you could never reach any specific point in time [ala NOW] 'starting from' t = negative infinity [= the problem of infinite regress]. That fact alone implies the Universe had to have a definitive starting point in the past, that's actually 'measurable' / definable from our current time. For that past point in time the current best guesstimate is approx 14 bybp, & past that initial bang-Bang 'singularity' there was nothing physical [= measurable]- NOT space, matter or energy, nor even time [as we know them].
- I know you strict-materialists don't like & thus try to deny the real implications of the Big-Bang 'singularity' [IE: that the Universe popped into existence from nowhere & nothing {physical} some 14 bn yrs ago], because it's got you-all in a real 'pickle'. But...
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Monday, August 26, 2019
Saturday, August 17, 2019
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Attucks Theater 100 Years Later (1919-2019)
http://www.coastalvirginiamag.com/May-June-2019/Attucks-Theatre-Celebrates-100-Years/
https://www.sevenvenues.com/attucks100
https://www.sevenvenues.com/attucks100/attucks-theatre-documentary
https://support.whro.org/images/dimensions/FEB2019.pdf
https://www.norfolk.gov/index.aspx?NID=4123
https://www.virginia.org/virginiaathletes/
https://veermag.com/2019/02/the-attucks-at-100-the-apollo-of-the-south/
https://www.sevenvenues.com/attucks100
https://www.sevenvenues.com/attucks100/attucks-theatre-documentary
https://support.whro.org/images/dimensions/FEB2019.pdf
https://www.norfolk.gov/index.aspx?NID=4123
https://www.virginia.org/virginiaathletes/
https://veermag.com/2019/02/the-attucks-at-100-the-apollo-of-the-south/
Monday, July 22, 2019
Geography Part 2: Human Geography
Geography Part 2: Human Geography
Culture
Culture is one of the greatest subjects to learn and study. Culture is the social behavior and norms found in human societies. Culture has been studied by anthropologists and sociologists for generations. Culture has been found in societies universally. It can deal with art, music, dance, religion, technologies, fashion, etc. Culture can be passed down throughout generations over time. It can be written in literature or passed down orally. So, culture about the way people think, act, and interpret reality. Readily, material objects used to form a people’s way of life. Ideals formed are part of nonmaterial culture. Material culture is the physical things formed by people in a society. The United States of America is a multicultural society where different cultures flourish together and blend. There are almost 400 languages spoken in America.
Various museums specifically celebrate African American culture, Native American culture, Irish culture, Greek culture, Latino culture, etc. Culture can include symbols, language, values, beliefs, and various norms. Values readily change over time. In human history, we have agriculture, industrial societies, and post industrialism (which means that the production of information via computer technology that dominates society). Subcultures, countercultures, and other parts of culture exist. Diffusion, invention, and discovery can influence cultural changes. For example, hip hop music is part of a culture that has been diffusion from Bronx, NYC to places like Africa, Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, South America, and other places of the Earth. Culture is a human trait. We can shape our cultures positively from cooperation, assistance, and progressive developments.
Race and Ethnicity (plus Sociology)
Identity is part of our lives. We identify ourselves by our location, by the region in where we live, and by the family in which we are born in. Race is a serious topic being discussed in the 2020 election, and in everyday life. My ancestors came from West and Central Africa. My ancestors were also the victims of the Maafa and antebellum slavery in Virginia plus North Carolina. Therefore, I know a great deal on the issue of race. In America, we have only lived almost 60 years since the end of legalized Jim Crow. Jim Crow ended not too long ago. Today, the institutions of redlining, discrimination, excessive gentrification, macroaggressions, and racism harm many black people plus other people of color in 2019. The recent, disrespectful comments by Trump about four, qualified Congresswomen of color proves that racism is still here in America. That is why it is important to discuss about race. The reason is that the only way where we can have justice in this world is by talking about it, eliminating systems of oppression, mentoring, stopping injustice, and building institutions where black people and all people can live in a world filled with tranquility plus safety.
What is race? Race is a social construct used by individuals to categorize people (usually if these people share similar biologically transmitted traits that members of a society consider specific distinctions). Back then, people have classified race in both nationality terms and by physical traits. Modern sociologists and scientists view race as partially based on physical similarities within groups, but they believe that race is not an inherent physical or biological quality. It is a historical fact that people have used the issue of race to promote racism. What is racism? Racism is the belief that one’s skin color or physical appearance denotes superiority or inferiority among the human family (and racism is about hating someone because of his or her color including using the institutions of power to deprive people of rights because of his or her color). In other words, racism is about the lie that one is better than another person by virtue of his or her color or physical phenotypes. Thomas Jefferson is one of the most evil slave owning racists of all time. In his words and literature, Jefferson saw Africans as inferior to whites especially in regards to their intellect, and slandered black human beings in other ways, but he described Native Americans as equals to whites. Of course, Thomas Jefferson is a liar, because tons of black people have PhDs, are inventors, and have great intellectual power. Racial categories have evolved over time and are not very comprehensive (and they can be ambiguous. Brazil has multiple racial categories).
One example is that a Turkish person’s ancestors usually didn’t originate from China or England. Another example is that an Aboriginal living in Australia is not a black African and he or she is not Siberian. Therefore, humankind is complex culturally and live in diverse geographic locations. There is why there is human genetic variation among people in the same cultural group. Humans are diverse because of many reasons. Many physical differences are environmental as humans with darker melanin readily live in warmer climates and those with lighter melanin readily live in colder climates. Europeans and Asians have a higher level of Neanderthal DNA than other humans. What we have learned about race is learned. Today, the United States allows the census to classify people in one racial category or in more than one racial category. Over the course of years, many people want to identify themselves as multiracial. Right now, there are over 41 million black people living in the United States of America. Certainly, we want black populations to flourish worldwide.
There is the concept of ethnicity too. Ethnicity is a shared cultural heritage. Ethnicity is different than race. An ethnicity is a group of people that share the same language, religion, or social identity. America is multiethnic nation. Ethnicity is culturally constructed too. The difference between race and ethnicity is that race is a social construct from biological traits while ethnicity is socially constructed form cultural traits. For example, a French person refers to ethnicity while Caucasian is in reference to race. Another example is that Hispanic is an ethnic group, but Hispanic people in general can be white, black, and multiracial. Me personally, my race is black and my ethnicity is African American. Many people do identify themselves in multiple ethnic backgrounds. Soledad O’Brian is a woman with black and white ancestries. Examples of racial or ethnic groups in America are: Native Americans, African Americans, European Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Arabic Americans. Minority groups make up a small percentage of the population in any nation, and many minorities experience prejudice, racism, and other injustices. You can look at history to witness that from lynchings of black people to the Chinese Exclusion Act of the 19th century (including the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II). According to the U.S. Census Bureau, by 2044, America will be a majority minority nation. It is important to fight evil stereotypes and nefarious prejudices. We know tons of people of every color who exemplify excellence of character and human compassion. The Golden Rule works. Also, it is important to mention that minority groups are diverse. Many minorities are rich, poor, middle class, young, old, middle aged, etc.
Cultural Regions
Cultural regions are key involving the subjects of anthropology and geography. A cultural region deals with geography with one relatively homogenous human activity of a complex of activities. Such a region can be dealing with ethnolinguistic groups too. Specific cultures often do not limit their geographic coverage to the borders of a nation state, or to smaller subdivisions of a state. Cultural "spheres of influence" may also overlap or form concentric structures of macro cultures encompassing smaller local cultures. Different boundaries may also be drawn depending on the particular aspect of interest, such as religion and folklore vs. dress and architecture vs. language. Culture region can be defined by religion, language, or a type of livelihood. For example, the Roman Empire was divided into the Eastern and Western regions. It is important to note that a cultural region can be as small as a neighborhood. Chinatown in New York City is a cultural region that has language, actions, religion, and beliefs unique in its structure.
Sex and Gender
One of the most important issues involving human geography deal with sex and gender. These concepts relate to our lives literally. Views on sex and sexuality have changed over time. Sex is more than a biological process that can cause human reproduction. It deals with laws, culture, and other parts of everyday life. Without sex, we wouldn't be here on this Earth literally. The reason why you are reading these words is because of sex literally (i.e. you were born on this Earth as a product of sex or other biological procedures). Sex is also a biological way to define men and women. Most humans on Earth identify themselves as either men or women as adults. A child's sex is determined at conception. A child with a XX combination of chromosomes is a girl. A child with a XY combination of chromosomes is a boy. Of course, there are exceptions to this reality. Intersexual people have bodies including genitals with both female and male characteristics. Transgender people exist as well. In many cultures, sexuality can be restricted or promoted in a more open fashion. In America, laws do exist that ban incest among relatives, that bans or limits prostitution, and other things that places restrictions on human sexuality. The Sexual Revolution in America contributed to more Americans having more progressive attitudes on sex and sexuality than any other movement in American history. Just 50 years ago, Americans opposed pre-martial sex in a higher level than today when most Americans support pre-martial sex in our time. Sexual orientation is a person's romantic and emotional attraction to another person. There is heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, pansexuality, and asexuality. Many people have trouble understanding what non-binary is.
Non-binary is is a spectrum of gender identities that are not exclusively masculine or feminine—identities that are outside the gender binary. Gender refers to social and cultural expressions among human beings. A pansexual is a person who has the emotional, romantic or sexual attraction to people of any gender though not necessarily simultaneously, in the same way or to the same degree. Cisgender is term used to describe a person whose gender identity aligns with those typically associated with the sex assigned to them at birth. Gender fluid is a person who does not identify with a single fixed gender; of or relating to a person having or expressing a fluid or unfixed gender identity. In sociology, structural functional theory, symbolic interaction, social conflict, and feminist theories evaluate how populations deal with sexuality.
Technology
Technology and human geography go hand in hand. We need technology to achieve survival in many cases from growing foods to developing resources. Technology’s purpose is manifold. One purpose of it is to try to make the lives of human beings easier or more efficient. As time as gone onward in human history, technology does change. Sometimes it can change rapidly. Sociologists and geography experts have studied this socio-evolution in terms of the items of hunting and gathering, horticulture, pastoralism, agriculture, industry, and post-industrialism. The first humans in Africa were hunter gatherers. This was about a system where people hunted animals for food and gathered plants for food as well. Life was not easy. Many animals were predators, and they readily killed humans and other animals. Migration was commonplace. Edible plants were eaten. This culture is extinct except in certain locations like in Canada, Central Africa, Australia, and Malaysia. Some used shamans back then for advice or for spiritual ceremonies. Technology was limited thousands of years ago. Later, horticulture was commonplace about 10,000 years ago. This used technology to plant crops. Soil was fertile in the Middle East, Western Europe, China, the Americas, etc. Crops being developed increased the power of human civilization. By this time, the belief of one God spread in the world in the midst of a pastoral environmental. This environment saw the origins of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. We saw agriculture revolutionize technology too. In agriculture, animals and machines are utilized to promote energy and the cultivation of crops. This spread by about 3,000 years ago. Human civilization by this time developed writing, number systems, and urban centers spread in Europe, Africa, China, Asia, the Americas, etc.
Some people used plows to build the soil. People traded using barter. Also, social inequality came about in the midst of agriculture too. Some people were enslaved to plant crops. You had the nobles and the elites controlling most of the farmland or the urban centers. Cultural diversity, the spreading of literature, and global trade advanced. The Industrial Age of humankind dealt with using technology to drive large machines in producing energy in a high scale. Humans expanded power. Industrialization grew by factories. Back then, there were many injustices involving industrialization like discrimination, child labor, income inequality, etc. That is why social movements (from the labor rights movement to socialists) came about to address these problems. With many industries, trains, planes, ships, railroads traveled faster and carried goods more efficiently. Industrial societies and advancements in technology plus sanitation (including medicine) have increased the life expectancy of humanity.
Industry relies on advanced technology from microchips to electronic devices. The price of this has dealt with some corporations polluting the environment, exploiting workers financially, and the weakening of human community. That is why groups and activists are here fighting against these problems. Postindustrial technology dealt with what’s happening now especially in the global North. It involves service jobs, computer technology, and automation. Many jobs are being more automated which replaces industrial jobs. This causes layoffs and many families suffering. This era of postindustrial society relies more on analyzing data, using computers, using speech, writing, and other skills. Many people are here now to formulate programs and solutions to help people adjust to the postindustrial reality. What the future holds will be interesting.
Transportation
Transportation is one of the most important parts of human existence. For years, humans have traveled the world over. I have been on planes, buses, and other modes of travel to go to Richmond, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Annapolis, Southampton County, Cape Charles, and other great places in America. Transportation geography deals with studying transportation in a geographic area involving its aspects. Transportation is about the movement of people, goods, and information in regions. Cities like New York City, regions like the South, and global areas deal with transportation from roads, rail, aviation, and ships. During ancient times, human beings used horses and boats plus ships to travel along large areas. Today, there is a diversity of means of transportation. Social and environmental factors impact transportation too. For example, large railway systems are readily needed in large urban communities. In rural communities, you need satellite dishes, farm equipment transport systems, and massive communication services. The weather can influence how goods are shipped during certain times of the years. It is more difficult to ship items in the snow than during a clear spring day. You have to deal with nodes or the beginning or end of a transportation point. There are networks in infrastructure that links the nodes. You have to deal with demand of how consumers deal with transportation or how the economy deals with transportation. Travelers, customers, and researchers evaluate transportation geography constantly.
Air, road, water, and rail plus space involve transportation for a long time. In the span of 400 years, transportation has expanded massively. For thousands of years until the 19th century, most transportation involved horses, carriages, sailing ships, balloons, and likeminded vehicles. Then, the canal came by the 1800’s and steam locomotives causing trains to go ca. 75 mph. By the 20th century, we see aircraft, automobiles, space rockets, and other inventions going underwater. By the 21st century, we have high speed rail (which is growing in the USA), more automobiles, space stations, satellites, and other instruments of transportation. In our time, we still deal with traffic congestion, population densities, and other issues. Transportation must always involve helping the poor, the sick, and the homeless.
Populations and Geography
Population and geography goes hand in hand. When we do a census count, when we study population density, and when we research migration pattern, it all involves geography. Thousands of years ago, the Earth's population was only 5 million people. By the time of the birth of Jesus Christ, about 300 million people were on the Earth. The population of the Earth grew slow until the start of the Industrial Revolution in 1750. Today, the world's population is over 7 billion human beings. With this number, we have seen discussions about resources, the environment, and other issues come about. The birth of a child is a blessing in the Universe. Therefore, the human population is a gift. Also, we have the responsibility to care for human life, the environment, and the Earth in general. Demographics deals with studying the composition of a population from its ethnicity, age, region, etc. Fertility is about the the incidence of childbirth. To find the crude child birth, you have to divide the number of live birth's in a year by the total population of a nation. Then, you multiple the quotient by 1000. America has a crude birthrate of 12.4. Crude birth rates are high in some populations and low in other populations. Mortality is the measure of death in a country's population. The crude death rate is the number of deaths in a given year for every 1,000 in a population. In world life expectancy, usually, women live longer than men. Men in America live to their late 70's on average while women live into their 80's on average.
Migrations are commonplace. In recent years, population migration has increased in Florida, parts of Texas, and other locations where housing is cheaper and the climate is warmer. Populations are influenced by fertility mortality, and migration. Usually, high population growth are in nations of color including poorer nation than industrialized nations. Scholars research populations by using age-sex population pyramid charts and other studies. Malthus was wrong in saying that population growth would ruin the world in a geometric fashion. New technologies have worked to help populations. Populations have stabilized in their growth in post industrial societies because the focus is on technology, and many people delay childbearing. Like always, we have to realize that we must use policies that respect the environment, since resources on Earth aren't unlimited. Also, caring for Nature is the right thing to do. We live on one world. We may reach 9 billion people in 2050.
Religions
Religions are truly part of human existence for billions of people. Religion is an institution or a celebration of one entity (or many entities) in relating to human interaction. There are people who use religion to help people, create hope, and build up societies. Others have exploited religion to advance brutality, unjust wars, slavery, economic exploitation, and other evils. Religion deals with the sacred. Ritual, faith, and belief systems are found in numerous religions from Christianity to Islam. To many followers of spirituality, they want social cohesion, social control, and meaning plus purpose in life. People celebrate holidays like Passover, Easter, Ramadan, etc. Conservatives have used religion to promote fundamentalism in many cases. Liberals have used religion to advance liberation theology or other social justice causes. You have churches, sects like the Amish, and cults (which deals with a strict policy of being outside of cultural traditions). Cults like Heaven’s Gate have been very deadly. Religions have been polytheistic, monotheistic, and animist (or forests, water, mountains, and the wind being seen as spiritual forces). The most common religious belief is the belief in a single divine Creator which existed after pastoral and horticultural societies grew thousands of years ago. Sociologically wise, the most religious nations are in low income nations than in high income nations. Most Americans believe in God, but an increase of Americans is turning to the New Age, no religious affiliation, and alternative belief systems.
Human resources
Human resources are very important involving human geography. Without resources, the human race won’t survive literally. Human resources deal with the business sectors, organizations, talent, labor, people, and empowerment of people. There are issues that deal with employment, labor laws, and benefits. In May 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor stated that human resource assistants earn about $38,040 annually and human resource managers earn about $104,440 annually. People are key in the developing of any nation. Any society wants motivated human beings to deal with the issues of life. Any person regardless of educational level, age, or sex has equal value and ought to be treated with dignity and with respect. The issue is that human resources are not equally distributed in the world right now. We have racism, discrimination, xenophobia, sexism, and other evils. That is why activism is important to do something about. Scholars of human resources research literacy, health conditions, occupations, and income levels to witness the reality of the Universe.
Tourism
Tourism and geography go hand in hand. By the 20th century, scholars accepted the study of tourism geography. Tourism has existed for a long time. Many people in the Caribbean have experienced the complicated nature of tourism. Tourism is about human beings going into other places for the purposes of leisure, having fun, or other forms of personal enjoyment. Tourism is linked to geography since tourism does deal with many aspects of geography like: scale, accessibility, location, place, and natural resources. Tourism can led into positive development of industries, job growth, and other ways of enriching society. Also, tourism can be used in a negative way in causing gentrification at times, causing cultural exploitation, promoting displacement of lands, and other negative consequences. When studying tourism, you have understanding about resources, infrastructure (inlcuding transportation, accommodation, etc.), the types of tourism, markets, and demographics. For example, the way mountains are situated, the way that a population is distributed, and how a culture is formed can determine how strong tourism may be. Tourism can be less risky like traveling into a state park or extremely risky like some tourists trying to climb to the top of Mount Everest.
By Timothy
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