Total posts: 1,065
Defense Primer: Directed-Energy Weapons
July 20, 2021 – September 12, 2022 IF11882
The DOD has a number of DE development programs underway, requesting at least $669 million in FY2023 for unclassified DE research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) and at least $345 million for unclassified DE weapons procurement. For additional information about specific U.S. DE weapons programs, see CRS Report R44175, Navy Lasers, Railgun, and Gun-Launched Guided Projectile: Background and Issues for Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke, and CRS Report R45098, U.S. Army Weapons- Related Directed Energy (DE) Programs: Background and Potential Issues for Congress, by Andrew Feickert.
SOURCE:
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@oromagi
According to the Trump administration, Derkach was a Russian spy working for Putin in the Ukrainian government
I'll wait for real evidence. I don't trust bureaucrats who don't give reasons for why they believe things.
you are literally just parroting information fed to you by Russian intelligence.
That doesn't make it wrong or right. That Russian intelligence aligns with emails from Hinter Biden's laptop. The video also cites a phone call from 2016.
They also have two supposed witnesses who explained how they were working for Russian entities and laundering money for Russia.
The point is you can't just ignore something because of the source. US Intelligence lies just as much as Russian Intelligence or any other intelligence agency.
I assumed Derkach was in Moscow since he has been wanted for treason in Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion on Feb 24th
Well, to be fair, Ukraine's entire government is full of turncoats and spies. They are a football in a proxy war between Russia and the United States. We overtook it in 2014 with a coup, and then Russia and then us again. It goes back and forth.
But what I did notice was a lack of plainly laid out evidence for him being a Russian spy. No intelligence report could be found with no physical evidence to examine. Unlike with Shokin.
I still do believe Biden is dirty. So is Soros and the Obama Administration in Ukraine. Biden openly bragged about it. (I already cited sources on the 2014 Ukrainian coup). [1]
Here is the infamous video where Biden admits to it nonchalantly:
So the Ruskis actually spoke some truth about him in 2020, imho. That doesn't happen all the time. Psyops is full of disinformation no matter which intelligence agency engages in it.
SOURCES:
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ADreamOfLiberty
Trust narratives where people's motivations explain the outcome, not the words they say.
While I do agree motivations matter, I think that is not the best way to weigh statements.
Why not weigh their statements against logic and the all of the fact themselves and then we can determine whether it is the truth or not?
I think that is better than just relying on motivations.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@oromagi
This press conference is from 2020. I know this because I remember reading about it back in 2020 while Trump was still in office.
It may have been reuploaded in 2022, but it certainly also is not russian government propaganda lol. Those are Ukrainian officials.
Do you ever do any cursory research before you post?
Here are three news outlets that covered the press conference. As you can see from the timestamps, they all predate the Ukraine War by about 18 months.
Zerohedge (December 30, 2020):
Lew Rockwell (December 31, 2020):
American Thinker (December 29, 2020):
You are indeed correct it is not Shokin. I was mistaken about that. But it certainly is not Russian Government propaganda. The people in the video are Ukrainian government officials.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Greyparrot
What accidentally made America great was the initial inability to tax the citizens which led to the accidental ownership of the land amongst the collected people instead of the state as the state sold off parcels of land to pay down the debts.People from all over the world came to America to take advantage of this accident. Nowhere in the world could you ever expect to own property like you could in America.That all ended when the State granted itself the authority to seize back property from people for any reason. Now America is no better than any other country and nothing special.
I mean. It wasn't an accident. The people who controlled the states and acted as the middle men selling the land made boatloads when they rented out most of the houses until the 1960s or 70s. They then switched to a mainly mortgage model and forced people to get a mortgage from the bank they owned and so people continuously paid to rent the land, even though they "owned" it on paper, until they couldn't make payments. Then it was simply returned and either sold via an auction or reused for a new mortgage.
Do you know why income taxes originally came out? Funny story... it was to make us pay for the billionaires' infrastructure projects and welfare projects. They created a scam where the states taxed people and then this money went to "infrastructure" spending (e.g. elites' pet projects) so they didn't have to pay a cent to build their businesses, and even MADE MONEY in the building process.
Then they opened up their newfangled business and got free publicity because they owned the newspaper the people read and they bankrolled the governing officials who told people about the businesses for them.
Movies like It's A Wonderful Life weren't fiction. That was quite literally how many cities were run. A wealthy businessman would build everything and be the banker who sold the land, be the landlords of the apartments, and more because the government never really outlawed this practice. The Sherman antitrust act was for national companies, not city companies. Besides, they purposely kept a few unowned pieces of property and a few local businesses around that weren't threats so they could legally claim they weren't monopolies.
If the elites can't monetize it, then it won't exist in government!!
Nevermind the fact that they can literally write off virtually their entire profit margins by leveraging debt and, until the 90s, could turn themselves into an LLC, give themselves a $1 salary, but since they are an LLC they basically write everything off as a business expense and not pay personal income taxes because they make $1/year. Oh, and they just make the people buying their stuff pay the business taxes they owe.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Greyparrot
America is in a sad state
I think America peaked in 1791, when we ratified the Bill of Rights, with some minor inklings of returning to the founding ideals in the 1910s, 2000s, and 2017-2019. Note, I am not saying we actually returned to them, But I am saying we actually achieved significant direction toward achieving the goals we set out in 1776 and 1789 in those particular years.
Throughout most of American history, we have been oppressing, attacking, and stealing from our own citizens, rigging elections, having show trials and corrupt prosecutions, and we even had internment camps during WWII and now have them again in 2022 for the j6 rioters.
I want to believe America was a great nation, but, on the whole, I think it is our ideals at our founding that makes us great. The road to achieving them is, honestly, quite appalling. And our government was corrupt for as far back as can be remembered. Right back to the 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts, the first speech control and government determination of terrorism this country ever had. From then on, the government basically had the legal power to call anyone they wanted a terrorist. This was never really repealed, and although the government used it sparingly, only the newspapers were able to get away with not being prosecuted (funny how that works. The marketing departments for the politicians got a free pass while everyone else suffered).
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@SkepticalOne
the evidence can be verified
Then verify it. Because I doubt zircon is 4.3 billion years old due to that being inconsistent with so much of what we know about plate tectonics, the fossil record, and the decay of u234 and u238 which has an equilibrium of 2 million years, and by 10 million years more than 99.9% of u238 would be completely gone. But what we see in the earth's crust and all other places is a disequilibrium of u238 and u234, with more u238 existing than u234. So it is impossible that a zircon fragment is 4.3 billion years old. That would mean all the u238 in the earth should be almost completely gone, since it has a half life of 4.46 billion years. But the data doesn't show that. [1] [2]
I would much rather err on the side that finds dinosaurs in North America (e.g. real, undisputable, physical evidence) and u238 measurements detected globally than a scientist's approximations for zircon being 4 billion years old. But that's just my 2c.
Because, if uniformitarian principles are true, then it would be physically impossible to find dinosaurs in North America, since they did not "appear" until about 250 million years ago. By then the earth's crust would have been separating for 4.05 billion years, creating a gigantic chasm between North America and the rest of the world, making the evolution of dinosaurs in North America highly improbable. Either one accepts dinosaurs are 4.3 billion years old and every single dating method is wrong, or one accepts spontaneously similar evolution of the same dinosaur species at the same time despite completely different environments between Europe and North America at the time. Both cases are highly improbable.
So this and the u238 decay tables leads to a conclusion that the earth is likely significantly younger than what the old earth scientists say.
SOURCES:
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@RationalMadman
There are times when it's suboptimal to waste character overly engaging the opponent's case
Personally I disagree. The best debaters, historically, were those who were able to eviscerate their opponents from an argument standard by picking out flaws in their reasoning and amplifying such flaws to reveal the horribleness of the argument.
Socrates was one of the best debaters in human history. So much so that he ended up being killed for being right. The whole town of Athens had run out of logical reasons to disagree with him so they made up bullshit excuses to kill him. You could argue he ultimately lost the war, but much of what he said was for the onlookers who were watching and not for the other people involved.
Jesus did this too. He would point out things the other party believed and show how their case is completely wrong. But Jesus would often take a premise that the other party does not dispute and show how, if they agree with that, then they cannot object to another bigger and more important conclusion that relies on that premise. It's a little different, but it still gets at the central idea of engaging directly with the other person's statements and either discrediting it by showing the logical inconsistencies of it or flat out eviscerating the opponent's foundational beliefs.
Cicero, too, believed arguments are won by knowing more than the other person. He would base his rhetoric mostly on attacking and discrediting the other person's arguments while showing how the other person is not providing a better case than his own. And when Cicero was on the defensive, he would dig in further and seek to discredit the other person's argument entirely and show how it is not a real representation of his beliefs.
I am citing these three because they are arguably the most persuasive people in history who won a great many debates. To this day, Socrates is still revered as one of the greatest philosophers of all time. And Jesus is seen by billions around the world as an extremely wise man. Cicero is lesser-known today, but in his day few thought there was a batter orator than him.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@SkepticalOne
but the point is, you don't have to
Can you, right now, prove a zircon fragment is 4.3 billion years old?
Created:
Posted in:
Tbh, DDO would eviscerate DART.
Top 5 on DART (No particular order), being absolutely serious here:
Ramshutu
Oromagi
Novice II
Public choice
Elliott
(And if I am not allowed to vote for myself, whiteflame)
Top 5 DDO (no particular order):
Bluesteel
Mikal
Bsh1
Thett3
RoyLatham
I think bluesteel and bsh1 alone could take 4 of the top 5 DART members by themselves without much effort. Mikal, I think, could easily take 3, 4 with serious effort, but only 5 if given advanced time to prepare.
So that shows where the differences are. When Mikal and Bluesteel debated gun rights, for instance, it looked like two ivy league scholars debating their research for a peer-reviewed board of criminologists to vote on. They brought forward advanced statistical analysis, deeply sourced research, and also spent time picking apart all the logical fallacies in each other's arguments with gusto and brutally logical responses.
When MisterChris and RationalMadman debated recently, it looked like two bookworms who had a shouting match with sources. No deep analysis of the other person's positions. No heavy engagement with the other person's sources, no real analysis of why the other person is actually wrong. Just two people shouting their interpretation is right and telling voters the other person's interpretations are moot.
So, in all honesty, bluesteel and Mikal alone could probably sufficiently demolish most of the whole DART top 5 if it was just 2v5 besides maybe Ramshutu (again assuming I am not allowed to choose myself), who would be able to actually pick holes in bluesteel and mikal's arguments without resorting to logical fallacies and voter manipulation tactics. Tbh, idk if I can sufficiently demolish either one individually on every topic, let alone both combined. I might be able to beat bluesteel on some issues, and Mikal on some issues, but certainly not both combined. Idk if Ramshutu can beat them either, but he certainly seems like a much better candidate than almost all of the rest of DART to even have a chance.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@IwantRooseveltagain
The owner of Just Facts is a Christian wack job with an agenda
Can you prove he is a "wack job" or is a religion with 3+ billion adherents all just automatically written off as "wack jobs" to you?
Because it seems more apparent to me that you're the wack job for performing a character assassination in place of actually engaging with the facts from the article.
If all outspoken religious adherents counted as wackjobs then Stephen Hawking, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and many other brilliant scholars in their field would not be allowed to state anything in their field and share their knowledge because they are "atheist wack jobs."
I swear the more I talk to liberals the more they are just very strong adherents of the genetic fallacy and appeal to authority. There is very little intellectual honesty at all in the greater left-wing movement.
At least Ramshutu engaged with the article and provided a reasoned response for it. I may not agree with him, but if he can prove the passports and diamonds were his and Ukraine actually charged him of crimes in an investigation then I will obviously be wrong about Shokin.
Don't let thought-stopping do all the work for you, IWantRooseveltAgain, think logically, not emotionally.
Created:
-->
@Shila
But we don't have all the data, though. The WHO has been asking for it since 2021 and still has not received it.
Created:
-->
@Elliott
I found this article that suggests the early cases of the virus originated from a Huanan seafood market in Wuhan.
I don't think it says that.
From the abstract:
The Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, was identified as a likely source of cases in early reports, but later this conclusion became controversial
They also, in the conclusion to their abstract, leave a very wide margin for them to be wrong:
Although there is insufficient evidence to define upstream events, and exact circumstances remain obscure, our analyses indicate that the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 occurred through the live wildlife trade in China and show that the Huanan market was the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In their Discussion section they state:
These findings suggest that infected animals were present at the Huanan market at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic; however, we do not have access to any live animal samples from relevant species. Additional information, including sequencing data and detailed sampling strategy, would be invaluable to test this hypothesis comprehensively.
Their argument is based on how many of the cases were from proximity to the wet market. But correlation =/= causation. They state they believe there is a causation, but it is based in a correlation. They admit that, to "conclusively" test this hypothesis, they would have needed animal samples and sequencing data, which they did not have.
Moreover, this wet market was near the Wuhan Institute of Virology. But the paper does not discuss this possible objection to their research.
It is possible the people who work at the WIV live near the Huanon Market, as the unlinked cases fall into the Taipei Residential District and not the market. In fact most cases are unlinked to the market.
Thirdly, this is assuming the data is comprehensive for China. The WHO is still asking China for ALL the data from the outbreak, at least as of 2021. [1]
The study, according to the methods section, is using data from 2020 from what I could tell.
SOURCES:
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
it is an admission that you are unable to make your own evaluations and a confession that you need a "cheat sheet
Idk if I agree, tbh.
To arrive at truth, we first need facts. Some websites, like Just Facts, the Congressional Research Service, ProCon.org, and others tend to provide heavily researched opinions.
Does this mean we question unwaveringly everything they say? Of course not.
But to arrive at any sort of truth, one needs to have facts, right? And if some outlets tend to supply proof for their assertions, then are those not more credible sources than those that do not?
Of course the gold standard in research is primary sources, comprehensive data, and other such original documents or sources, because they are (generally) not marred by observer bias or reporting bias, but if someone else is compiling such information, then that is a huge help, because one can then follow the links and get to the original sources.
So I think fact checking websites have a place, assuming they make logical arguments from original sources.
They certainly do not mean I let them do my thinking for me. They simply help in the research process, so long as they are quality fact checks.
Created:
Posted in:
One more thing, Shokin dropped a press conference where he released everything he found on Biden:
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Ramshutu
That could be a fair take on the speech, tbh.
But then Shokin's appointee cleans house and accuses 300 people of corruption and then files 107 court cases in 2017.
Does this mean that Shokin was standing in the way of reform, or could we argue his appointee brought significant reform to Ukraine?
Tbh I don't think any of the stuff going on at the Government level in Ukraine really will matter. The CIA and FSB have been fighting for Ukraine for at least 50 years. The government always swings wildly one way or another. And the new guy is just as much a puppet as the last guy most of the time.
Shokin, though, was never formally charged with a crime and Biden is currently being investigated by the Ukraine government for trying to force Shokin out.
To say that Just Facts mischaracterizes Biden's actions and Shokin's is to also accuse Ukraine's government of mischaracterizing Biden's actions as well. Just saying.
Created:
Posted in:
he was credibly accused of standing in the way of multiple investigations
There is no such thing as a "credible accusation." Yhe sources you cited did not bring a material fact to the charges he is being charged of.
Moreover, two people who are friends of someone is not proof that the person is Dirty. Frank Sinatra, for instance, had mob connections, but he didn't murder people or steal millions of dollars in merchandise. Connections do not equate with evidence.
Shokin, according to the EMAILS CITED AS FOUND ON HUNTER BIDEN'S LAPTOP, was fired because of political pressure from Joe Biden and others.
He wasn't investigated and found guilty. He wasn't brought forward with actual evidence of a crime. In fact, there was no actual evidence he obstructed anything. It would all count in court of law as hearsay.
But, somehow, just SOMEHOW, Biden can't possibly be doing the very thing the emails cited by Just Facts show he did. We HAVE to grasp at anything else imaginable.
Can you produce a report bringing crimes against Shokin? No. Why? Because there was no investigation. There was no smoking gun on Shokin. He wasn't even charged with anything.
Biden pressured the Ukrainian government to fire someone who was looking into him. That is the only so-called "credible accusation" from the facts:
Biden, not shokin, is being investigated by Ukraine. Biden, not Shokin is being investigated for corruption in Ukraine.
But, yeah, Just Facts, certainly not the western media that is beholden and run by NATO, mischaracterized the whole thing, lol.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Ramshutu
PRYATT'S speech was for the person before Shokin, though. It cites a January 2015 corruption probe. Shokin was appointed in February of 2015.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Ramshutu
From this,a post-hoc-ergo-Propter -hoc rationale is given for Biden firing on the prosecutor. Oddly, this “just facts” website seems not to include some key facts relating to judging Biden’s actions here.
Your assumptions about Just Facts misportraying the facts is extremely misleading.
For starters, they get their information from the following sources:
- Sworn affidavit from Shokin himself [https://www.justfacts.com/document/ukraine_burisma_viktor_shokin_affidavit_9.4.19.pdf]
- Remarks by US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt in 2015 [https://www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Remarks-by-US-Ambassador-Geoffrey-Pyatt-at-the-Odesa-Financial-Forum-on-September-24-2015-ukraine.pdf#page=2}
- A Ukrainian news source translated into English [https://euromaidanpress.com/2015/02/21/shock-therapy-ukraines-new-prosecutor-general/]
- A Ukrainian Article written by the Ukrainian National Association [http://www.ukrweekly.com/uwwp/shokin-replaces-yarema-as-top-prosecutor/]
Those are extremely credible sources. To blow off sworn affidavits and more such evidence because a few news agencies in the U.S. say some things is a very serious accusation.
But your main argument is that Shokin was not doing enough to combat corruption in Ukraine. This is patently false.
For starters, he obtained a court orer to freeze assets of Russian Oligarchs in Ukraine:
Furthermore,facts about the Ukraine investigation reveal other key things:
- Viktor Shokin recently appointed Nazar Holodnitsky as head of the Anti-Corruption office. Nazar Holodnitsky headed the organization when it seized hundreds of billions of dollars in embezzled money. [1] Additionally under Nazar Holodnitsky in 2017, after Shokin was ousted:
From the very start of investigations, the Detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the prosecutors of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) have exposed more than 300 persons allegedly involved in the corruption crimes. Also 107 cases have already been sent to court. [1]
So Shokin's appointee got a lot done, which means Shokin was onto something. Shokin was the man who exposed Biden's Russian oligarch friend, and Holodnitsky then proceeded to attempt to removemore than 100 people from Ukrainian government.
So was Viktor Shokin really just a corrupt investigator, or did he actually try to get things done? I would say that he tried to get things done. The pressure for him to resign was over vast amounts of money to be lost, not over any real corruption.
SOURCES:
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@IwantRooseveltagain
Did you not see the link to the emails?
Created:
-->
@dustryder
anyone can be an advocate of pseudoscience by definition regardless of what degree you possess or what content you cite.
Pseudoscience definition: a system of theories, assumptions, and methods erroneously regarded as scientific [1]
Scientific: of, relating to, or exhibiting the methods or principles of science [2]
Science: knowledge or a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through scientific method [3]
And we all know what the scientific method is.
If a person is summarizing scientific studies published in journals, then how is he engaging in pseudoscience? The definition of pseudoscience is to "erroneously" regard something as scientific. Citing scientific studies in favor of a premise is not engaging in pseudoscience. It is simply citing science.
In fact, what Joseph Mercola does is no different to what Scientific American does when they publish a science explainer article or Nature does when they release a bulletin on something, or the gross majority of science textbooks when they teach science. They are simply providing their commentary on science issues and citing the requisite studies that confirm their summary. This is not pseudoscience by the definition.
Pseudoscience is when one WRONGLY uses science that does not agree with their claim or they cite studies that are erroneous or not real studies in support of their positions. Dr. Mercola does not do this any more than any other scientist would. Even great researchers are still prone to falling for pseudoscience. But that does not mean they are pseudoscientists. Dr. Mercola has definitely made some wrong conclusions, but this does not mean he is a pseudoscientist or all of his research is pseudoscience.
SOURCES:
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@dustryder
In July 2015, shortly after his appointment, reformist minority member Yehor Soboliev advanced a motion to dismiss Shokin for corruption, gaining 127 of the required 150 signatures including several members of the ruling parties.[56] Representatives of the EU and the United States pressed Poroshenko for his removal,[2] as did the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.[3]In March 2016 the Ukrainian Parliament voted overwhelmingly to remove Shokin, a decision which was welcomed by the EU.[57]
You do know that the Ukrainian government was in the midst of fighting against a coup run by the United States Intelligence Community and NATO, right?
That was the main purpose of the investigation, and that is actually what the facts revealed. [1] Biden, in addition to George Soros (who openly told CNN he laundered money for the Federal Government in Ukraine [2]) put in a fascist dictator.
Here's a few articles from liberal, conservative, and EU publications on the 2014 Ukrainian Coup:
So it was the Obama Administration, using George Soros as a money launderer, [3] that messed Ukraine up with a coup, installing a fascist who backed U.S. interests. [4] [5] Wikipedia completely ignores this with their "summary" that you quoted. Even George Soros openly tells CNN that he is going to invest 1 billion dollars of U.S. government money into Ukraine -- He says he will launder money for the U.S. government -- so he will make a profit off of it.
Now it appears Zelenskyy is another NATO puppet:
But, you know, Wikipedia is always SOOOOOOO accurate.
SOURCES:
[5] https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraines-former-president-blocked-leaving-country-2022-05-28/
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
@Elliott
I know you guys are having a back and forth on this, but I actually supplied evidence of the lab leak theory. . .
Created:
-->
@Elliott
What do you mean by gone up? Gone up in credibility? Or gone up in smoke?
Created:
-->
@Elliott
On “Media Bias Fact Check” it is received High for factual reporting.
Media Bias Fact Check is a hack website run by a climate-change cult member and a hardcore anti-alternative-medicine skeptic.
His idea of science is a democratic vote by western, particularly Western European Liberal Democrat and Corporate American, scientists. And his idea of a fact check is whatever the ICFN says is fact, even though the ICFN has promoted conspiracy theories, like the Trump-Russia Collusion, and other patently false statements as fact.
Just ask the folks over at https://examine.com/ or https://www.lifeextension.com/ if there is zero credible evidence that a great many alternative treatments work. They have literally hundreds of studies that prove many alternative treatments work, and hundreds of studies showing which ones probably don't work. Alternative medicine is not pseudoscience. Many of the assertions of it have been proven in multiple studies, showing high falsifiability. But the owner of Media Bias Fact Check rejects anything that isn't Western Liberal Democrat Corporatist medicine as fact.
In fact here is his opinion of The Epoch Times:
Further, the Epoch Times frequently publishes pseudoscience news, such as Supernormal Abilities Developed Through Meditation: Dr. Dean Radin Discusses. They also publish false claims from Pseudoscience and anti-vaccination activist Joeseph Mercola who has a long track record of publishing misinformation. Finally, the above referenced NBC News report states, “In addition to claims that alien abductions are real and the “deep state engineered the drug epidemic,” the channel pushes the QAnon conspiracy theory, which falsely posits that the same “Spygate” cabal is a front for a global pedophile ring being taken down by Trump.”
The "pseudoscience" that The Epoch Times promotes is articles written by medical doctors and psychologists on meditation and other alternative and ancient Chinese treatments. I would know, since, until very recently, I was a regular reader of their website. Joseph Mercola is not a pseudoscientist. He is a medical doctor with an actual medical degree who actually cites studies in his articles. You don't have to agree with him. But calling a medical doctor who cites research and studies in every article a "pseudoscientist" is highly spurious behavior.
One again, you don't have to agree with Dr. Joseph Mercola. But a medical doctor publishing summaries of research is certainly not "pseudoscience" simply because his positions disagree with yours. That is extremely lazy fact checking.
Also, did you notice how they called a scientist giving his opinion on supernormal abilities pseudoscience? The CIA extensively researched ESP and meditation for years and came to the same conclusion. Is the CIA a bunch of pseudoscientific hacks?
The only thing that website consistently gets right is the bias of the websites. But any attempts at labeling them pseudoscience or propaganda is based purely on his own cherry picking of sources. Not based on any real, objective criterion.
One such example was when he "fact checked" Just Facts by using a gun study with atrocious methodology as a response to an article in Just Facts Daily that cited at least 5 or 6 studies and government reports on gun violence. He later had to heighten his credibility rating for Just Facts after the website eviscerated his "fact check" of Just Facts.
The guy who runs that website is a hardcore liberal Democrat who lets his bias show on fact checks. BUT, he does get the bias correct. And that is one reason I consistently go to the website. Just solely to find out the bias of a website.
Created:
-->
@Elliott
What about the link I cited from 2020 from Newsweek? Does that count?
Also, I have seen some studies comparing COVID to HIV. The argument was COVID was somehow fused with HIV to make it more viral.
I have actually heard your argument earlier on in the pandemic, like 2019 to early 2020. But by 2021 even the former CDC head (in 2021) was saying it was probably manufactured in a lab, according to this exclusive interview with Fox News:
I am not citing Fox News because I believe they are a reputable news outlet, btw. I am citing it because they interviewed the former head of the CDC and he is a virologist as well. That is certainly a primary source for my assertion that the former head of the CDC claimed it was manufactured in a lab.
So to claim it is mere conjecture is to claim that nobody seriously believes the claims, and yet here we have the former director of the CDC not only touting it, but also explaining his reasoning behind it from a virology perspective.
There's also the paper written by one virologist who is the chair of a pharmaceutical company and one former MI6 head that the Daily Mail had an exclusive into:
The authors claim there is no way COVID had a natural origin and must have been created in a lab. Here is the original paper:
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@oromagi
I mean... you could have at least clicked on the link and went to the emails he clearly and obviously linked to that he gave summaries of.
Maybe then it would have made more sense.
Created:
-->
@Elliott
There is no evidence to support allegations that the virus was created in a Wuhan laboratory
Sigh...
Created:
-->
@IwantRooseveltagain
There was plenty of evidence though:
Those government sources didnt cite any evidence to back their claim. They fail the burden of proof lol
Created:
-->
@IwantRooseveltagain
"Look, extreme MAGA Republicans don’t just threaten our personal rights and our economic security, they embrace political violence. (Applause.) Look — no, look, the reason — I’m not talking all Republicans, I’m talking about these extreme MAGA Republicans.
Think about it. Think about it. The definition of democracy is you accept the will of the people when the votes are honestly counted. (Applause.) These guys don’t do it.
Name me a democracy in the world where a leader argues to engage in violence. To this day, MAGA Republicans in Congress defend the mob that stormed the Capitol, and people died later." - Labor Day Speech
Those "MAGA Republicans" are sitting in a prison right now before even being tried. And this President says anyone who questions the results of the election is a threat to democracy and ties them to a mob of mostly Antifa members and fringe right lunatics who do not represent a MAGA Republican.
This is no differen than the rhetoric of Xi or the actions of the CCP. We have political prisoners who were denied bail and are imprisoned awaiting a trial.
Right now House Democrats are condemning 100,000 protesters at an event, calling them all dangerous terrorists who stormed the Capitol when most of the violence happened before Trump even finished speaking.
And you're telling me there are no parallels today to Communist China? That Biden and Democrats are not acting anything remotely like a communist regime?
Read the CRS on China, then think about what Biden said and you'll see it's true.
SOURCE:
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Greyparrot
It is the Ukrainian government
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@IwantRooseveltagain
Rather than actually engage with something you disagree with, you just decide to shut your ears and close your eyes and say "LAH LAH LAH" as loud as you can.
It is depressing, really, that this is where America is nowadays.
Created:
Abstract
Designed and engineered protein and DNA nanopores can be used to sense and characterize single molecules and control transmembrane transport of molecular species. However, designed biomolecular pores are less than 100 nm in length and are used primarily for transport across lipid membranes. Nanochannels that span longer distances could be used as conduits for molecules between nonadjacent compartments or cells. Here, we design micrometer-long, 7-nm-diameter DNA nanochannels that small molecules can traverse according to the laws of continuum diffusion. Binding DNA origami caps to channel ends eliminates transport and demonstrates that molecules diffuse from one channel end to the other rather than permeating through channel walls. These micrometer-length nanochannels can also grow, form interconnects, and interface with living cells. This work thus shows how to construct multifunctional, dynamic agents that control molecular transport, opening ways of studying intercellular signaling and modulating molecular transport between synthetic and living cells.
SOURCE:
Created:
Posted in:
Smoking Gun: Newly Discovered Emails Confirm Joe Biden Obstructed Justice For His Son’s Foreign Business Deal
By James Agresti
August 2, 2022
Overview
Newly discovered emails prove beyond all doubt that the “true purpose” of Hunter Biden’s lucrative deal with a Ukrainian energy company was for Hunter to get “high-ranking US officials” to visit Ukraine and persuade the nation’s leaders to “close down” all criminal “cases/pursuits against” the firm’s primary owner, a notoriously corrupt oligarch with ties to Russia.
Documentation of this illegal scheme begins with a widely overlooked email on Hunter’s laptop in which a top executive of the Ukrainian firm describes the plan. Now, emails uncovered by Just Facts prove that Hunter and his partners:
- explicitly agreed to this deal.
- concealed the names of top U.S. officials to “be on the safe and cautious side.”
- affirmed that only Hunter could credibly promise to get those officials to shield the oligarch from criminal charges.
Just one month later, then-Vice President Joe Biden did exactly what those emails specified by visiting Ukraine and threatening to withhold U.S. aid unless the prosecutor investigating Hunter’s cash cow was fired. Moreover, Biden did this by going after two “key targets” identified in the emails: the “President of Ukraine” and the “Prosecutor General.” . . .
Read more:
SOURCE FOR EMAILS:
Created:
Anyone else see parallels between Communist China and what Biden said in his speech about what he wants to do to dissenters and Trump supporters?
Created:
Selected Human Rights Issues
Under Xi’s leadership, China has further restricted and suppressed civil society, religious groups, human rights defenders, speech, and academic discourse. The government has enacted laws and policies that enhance the legal authority of the state to counter perceived ideological, social, political, and security threats. It has closed much of the space that had previously existed for limited social activism, such as that relating to environmental issues, women’s rights, and gay rights. In 2021, the government widened the tightening of freedoms to include some relatively non-political entities, such as tech giants, private education companies, and social media influencers.
The Department of State’s annual report on human rights practices states that in 2021, “[PRC] authorities continued to impose ever-tighter control of all print, broadcast, electronic, and social media and regularly used them to propagate government views and CCP ideology.” The PRC government oversees one of the most extensive and stringent internet censorship systems in the world, which includes blocking major U.S. news and social media sites and censoring domestic social media platforms. In 2021, PRC authorities blocked Signal, a U.S.-based messaging app popular with Chinese social activists, dissidents, and journalists. PRC internet platforms have censored online criticism of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and disseminated pro-Russian views and misinformation about the war. An online video (“Voices of April”) compiling audio recordings of people describing the severe 2022 Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown in Shanghai circulated widely before authorities blocked it.
According to the Department of State, “[PRC] law grants public security officers broad administrative detention powers and the ability to detain individuals for extended periods without formal arrest or criminal charges” and police target lawyers, human rights activists, journalists, religious leaders and adherents, and former political prisoners and their family members for arbitrary detention or arrest. The nonprofit Dui Hua Foundation has compiled over 7,600 cases of political and religious prisoners in China as of June 2022. PRC leaders long have asserted that human rights standards vary by country, and that a country’s human rights policies are an “internal affair.” In 2021, the PRC government released a white paper on China’s democratic development that emphasized “material and cultural prosperity” when referring to human rights.
Religious and Ethnic Minority Policies
In 2016, Xi Jinping launched a policy known as “Sinicization,” by which China’s religious and ethnic minorities are required to “assimilate” or conform to majority Han Chinese culture as defined by the CCP and adhere to “core socialist values.” The PRC government has implemented policies in Tibetan areas, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia requiring that nearly all primary school courses be taught in Mandarin rather than in minority languages. Since 2018, new regulations require religious organizations to obtain government permission for nearly every aspect of their operations, submit to greater state supervision, and register all clergy in a national database. The government has continued to pressure unofficial Christian congregations to register with the state and to persecute practitioners of the Falun Gong spiritual exercise. The State Department has designated China as a “Country of Particular Concern” for “particularly severe violations of religious freedom” under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-292) in every annual designation list since the law’s passage.
Authorities have carried out coercive assimilation and employment in Tibetan areas, including by “forcibly resettling and urbanizing nomads and farmers, weakening Tibetan-language education in public schools, and weakening monasteries’ role in Tibetan society,” according to the Department of State. The PRC government insists that Chinese laws, and not Tibetan Buddhist religious traditions, govern the process by which lineages of Tibetan lamas are reincarnated, and that the state has the right to choose the successor to the Tibetan spiritual leader, the 87- year-old 14th Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India.
Source:
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@RationalMadman
I thought you were being serious but shrouding it up in sarcasm.
I was being sarcastic because I don't believe he is an AI.
Created:
-->
@RationalMadman
You may be right. And I think this is because society, at large, is becoming cult-initiated into the cult of Republican or the cult of Democrat. Both sides have very toxic cancel culture.
But there has to be SOME solution to it. Because I actually want to debate things on a website that has debate in the title of it. I have some rather unpopular topics I want to have debates on, like Max The Sax being a better saxophonist than Charlie Parker, or diesel cars being the most environmentally friendly form of vehicle transportation, or that Kenny G actually deserved his awards, or how 2020s pop music thus far is basically devoid of most music theory and is inferior to any other decade of music.
I also would love to debate the Bible, aspects of world religions, and more to seek greater understanding in these topics. I also have a deep love of science, but not really for technology, engineering, or mathematics. Well, what I mean is, I love using technology, but I don't geek out over how a building is built or why one metal or mineral is better than another or how robotics is coming along. I prefer physics, medical science, psychology, sociology, etc. Topics few actually seem to be informed on these days, and those who are tend to be the people who become quite narcissistic and will begin to shout down peoples' opinions of the subject.
Like, I actually think there is usage to both eastern and western supplements and pills. I think alternative medicine is not bunk science, and I also happen to think a lot of Western medicine is not designed to cure people but rather treat them endlessly until the person dies. And I do think turmeric is more effective than Advil and Tylenol, and that ivermectin is not "horse medicine," and lockdowns did not work and weren't even the scientific consensus until March of 2020. I also believe n95 masks are completely pointless for many types of illnesses and all PPE is pointless unless a person is properly trained on how to wear it.
I haven't debated most COVID topics on here because I fear I will get "the CDC says you are wrong," or "Dr. Fauci says ____." Despite endless studies being given, endless research conducted, and serious methodological flaws in how a COVID case was recorded, and the complete poisoning of the well for many who were respected experts in their field until January of 2021, when they magically became hacks and hucksters for simply repeating the decades of research that was commonly accepted until 2021 as medical science, all because the CDC and Dr. Fauci, and the WHO asserted things with very little evidence. TBH, Dr. Fauci botched the AIDs epidemic so horribly that I can't believe he actually kept his career. I think he is a huckster and would LOVE to debate someone on that. Especially since he gets royalties from the Remdesivir he sold the general public on.
But if feel many on this website either don't care about these topics in the slightest, or aren't informed enough to seriously debate them. And I understand why. These are extremely specialized niche topics. I admit that I care deeply about issues few even bother to spend time thinking about. I think everyone is like this. We all have hobbies that we geek out on, that really make us feel fulfilled and add much value to our lives, but are extremely boring or unnecessary to other people. But that was one thing that made Debate.Org so great! You could find avid fans of these topics who actually spent a significant amount of time engaging with the subject matter, so a real debate could occur.
Created:
-->
@ComputerNerd
Well, to explain my own personal journey.
I stumbled upon Debate.Org in high school, my junior or senior year. What drove me toward such a discovery I don't really remember. I think I was looking for a social media platform where I could debate people on any topic I wanted, since I am a person who is naturally drawn toward debate since I prefer to think in terms of epistemic logic and syllogisms and term logic as opposed to be agreeable or let people believe things I believe are patently false.
Naturally, this makes people like me a general nuisance toward society at large (I mean, just look at what Athens did to Socrates!), so Debate.Org was sort of like a salve to a serious everyday problem I faced. In a world where people preferred to get along as opposed to actually agree on things and seek truth and live their lives in reality instead of fantasy, Debate.Org was a sort of release. A place I could be myself.
Well... life got extremely busy. I stopped visiting. I lost a few debates due to forfeiture. I went to college, where I basically found that academia basically built a gigantic wall (built out of subjective sociological research and cherry picking of facts and data to give a faux air of objectivity), around this idea of not offending people by creating a culture where offending people basically became "disagreeing with the research;" research which was extremely flawed to begin with.
So, later in life, after getting into endless arguments on social media, many of which were basically just a contest of who is better at emotional blackmail, a couple years ago I remembered Debate.Org and decided to revisit it, only to find the debates switched from actual analysis, pros and cons, and reasoning to just an extension of the toxic argumentation of other social media. And most of the userbase had left, so all that was left were internet trolls who shouted past each other with sophistic reasoning as opposed to real debate. I mourned the loss of intelligent discourse at this point, and I basically left the website for good.
Fast forward to today, and I came across DebateArt. It reminded me of the once-vibrant, intelligent community that was Debate.Org. The forum section once again had people who focused on reason, proper sourcing, and actually responding with a higher degree of rationality. I once again thought I found a home.
Then I realized that the main reason to be on the website (debates) was almost nonexistent. And the debate topics were extremely nonsensical or, quite honestly, topics I have no interest in. It isn't like Debate.Org where there was always SOMEONE willing to debate ANYTHING, no matter the topic. From cars to whether Kantian or Aristotelian metaphysics is superior, there was a person so passionate on the topic they were willing to match wits with someone else who also was passionate on the topic. And this was great, because people who know absolutely nothing about a topic, but wish to gain a more balanced perspective on it, could read these debates and come across significantly more informed, have good sources to follow up on, and become somewhat of an expert on the topic with the following research through the sources used by either side.
The lack of a community stifles many of the features that are great about a debate website. Having more active users means more debates on more topics that will be worth reading. It would only be as chaotic as one wishes. They can choose to only participate in forum posts they want, read debates they want, and engage in debates they want, since there are many more options to choose from.
I learned quite a bit about some societally important topics from reading Debate.Org debates, and I also was able to better think through some of my positions for topics after debating someone else on them. These are aspects I sorely miss from society at large today. Nobody wants to debate or have a discourse. They just want to shout at someone until the other person accepts.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@RationalMadman
@oromagi
Do oromagi next. I heard he's a secret government AI propaganda program!!!
I don't think he is, but I heard whispers!!!
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Stephen
Regarding the initial post. . .
Protestants believe God the Son was placed in Mary's womb supernaturally, without any sexual acts, since God is able to do anything.
Protestants also do not believe Mary is supposed to be venerated as the Mother of God and worshipped and prayed to and such. Protestants generally believe she is a woman who was chosen for a special purpose by God and was therefore blessed among women since she was to be the mother of Jesus, the Messiah.
Now, as to God the Father and God the Son, we must remember that we, as humans, are bound to the rules of our own universe. But God made our universe, so he persisted the rules that are in our universe.
So by this very nature, The Father does not have to predate His Son, since those rules were created following the existence of God, since He created the rules.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Shila
Yes he did appear to the 12 for 40 days and they watched him rise into heaven (Acts 1:1-8).
But he also appeared to some on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35).
And Paul said Jesus appeard to over 500 people, even telling his readers that many are still alive. (1 Corinthians 15:6). This is significant because, if Paul were making this up, he would not have said that, because Luke and others compiled eyewitness statements about Jesus's life from every source they could find. Surely these 500 people would have stated they never saw Jesus and therefore fact check Paul. But we see no such historical record existing.
Paul, himself, is a particularly interesting witness of the Resurrection because he was becoming a prominent Jewish religious leader who gained fame and prominence from stoning Christians. He thought the entire Christian religion was a cult. His views we so passionate about it that he stoned Christians to death himself.
To Paul, the only thing that actually changed his mind was literally seeing Jesus risen from the dead, and being blinded by it, so that he had to be guided to the God following man who healed him.
Paul's life after being a Christian was no laughing matter. He was broke, imprisoned multiple times, shipwrecked, literally floating out to sea, beaten, and whipped for his testimony.
Who would give up prominence, fame, and fortune to be poor, beaten, imprisoned, and shipwrecked? Only someone who truly believed what happened to him.
In various accounts of Paul, not one man calls him crazy or irrational, and there isn't any chance it is a mental disorder because of his coherence and intelligence and scholarliness.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@IwantRooseveltagain
You didn't cite any provision in the bill. You said the bill does something. Cite me the section in the bill and then you've done your job.
Don't get mad at me because you can't work beyond a 4th grade research ability.
It isn't my fault you didn't do your research before you opened your mouth. I shouldn't do your thinking for you. And I certainly shouldn't be insulted for simply asking for evidence.
You can believe whatever you what, but don't be a bigot with microaggressions toward volintaryists and take your triggered behavior to one of your safe spaces. I'll even buy the crayons for the coloring book.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@IwantRooseveltagain
No. You need a source to prove your analysis of it. You can't just claim things without pointing out where these analyses come from. If you cite specific sections of the tax code then that could count as evidence.
The burden of proof is always on the one who makes statements, not on the person who requests it.
You may be completely right, or completely wrong. But without any sort of source material or your citation of where the vill or other things you mentions agreed with you, then how can I possibly know? You provided no evidence. Therefore it did not satisfy the burden of proof.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ebuc
Do you, like, ever make a logical argument for anything you believe? Or are you all 5th grade insults?
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@IwantRooseveltagain
Even though the Republicans try to punish blue states whenever they can
Source?
Actually, any source at all for any of your assertions in the op?
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Shila
Yeah... but they haven't found the body though...
In the eyewitness accounts, 500 people saw Jesus resurrect. There is no body, but record of a crucifixion, a tomb, and more.
And furthermore, if you read the eyewitness accounts, you will find that Jesus said he gave his life up voluntarily and he would rise from the dead after three days and three nights.
The only way to kill God is precisely if He lets you. And even moreso, just his human body died, not his spirit.
Then he rises from the dead three days later. Like. Once again, we haven't found the body despite knowing the tomb, there being a historical record of his crucifixion, etc. Pretty powerful and convincing stuff if you ask me.
Also, people to this day are still healed of things after prayer to God. That, to me, is the clincher. People are just miraculously healed of cancer, multiple sclerosis, and more. These are not just flukes, either. They are medically documented miracles. There are doctor's notes, x-rays, scans and more.
One such book of these miracles is called Ten Healing Miracles by medical researcher H. Richard Casdorph. As the title suggests, he medically documents 10 miracles that happened after prayer to God. It's literally physical proof of miracles after prayer to God, written by a medical researcher with 100 published articles.
Created:
-->
@dustryder
Yes. Both voter groups fell for disinformation on political topics.
Even the Trump voters got almost half of the questions wrong, and they were the MOST informed in the survey.
The survey actually asks questions that both Republicans and Democrats would get right. So it is interesting to see how ideological shift determines the chance of correctly gauging the answer of a question.
Also, FWIW, I do not deny the change in climate, I think there isn't enough evidence it is human caused.
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
Who uses 538 as the gold standard? lol...
Liberals do. Because Nate Silvers says what they want to be true, so he is an "expert."
Nevermind the fact he got 2016 and 2020 completely wrong, and also messed up on a lot of state elections.
He is now the "gold standard" of polling because the left says he is.
Get with the program, man!! Facts, logic, analysis, and reason don't make you right, agreeing with the dogma does!!
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ebuc
time for me to move on.
And take a few writing classes and maybe read a grammar book because, apparently, the only person who understands what you wrote is you thus far.
Created: