Sunday School

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

America’s (lack of) separation between church and state, explained.

Right-Wing Bible Study returns to the Trump Discipleship.

Destruction of Education Department is a chance to push Religious Indoctrination in Schools.

An Arizona bill to let chaplains in schools would ban atheists from participating.

It is time to recognize sex apartheid as a crime against humanity.

World of Woo: Sports supplements are not always what they appear to be.

Environment:  All of Earth’s glacier regions shrank again in 2024, says UN.

The 100 year anniversary of the Scopes trial in Tennessee.

Having a Steak ’n Shake with the new sheriff in town while NIH officials tell scientists not to reference mRNA on grant applications.

This story made me angry and sad at the same time…..I am sure there will be more.

Why don’t molecules ever stop moving?

Humans long to cheat death, but is there any validity to life extension technology?

Long Reads:

In Texas, the Christian right grows confident and assertive.

How the G.O.P. went from championing campus Free Speech to fighting it.

Inside the religious sect that took over a Midwestern town.

Modern Physics and the legacy of angels and demons.

The case for expanding the definition of intelligence.

What a robot pet taught me about consciousness.

The man with a mind-reading chip in his brain, thanks to Elon Musk.

‘Organic’ Agriculture: The $52 Billion Hoax.

Sunday Book Club: Theft by Abdulrazak Gurnah.

Some photographs taken last week.

While you are waiting for the kettle to boil……

Coffee Break Videos:  Do we teach Critical Thinking in schools?  The problem of defining a Palestinian. A major cognitive dissonance of the Islamic world revealed.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

I was recently told that I am deliberately refusing to listen to god calling me. I asked them how they knew which god was calling out to me. Then I told them this silly joke…

A hurricane is headed for a small town. The news says that everyone needs to evacuate. A religious man in the town says “I’m not going to leave my home, God will protect me”.

The hurricane hits, and it’s bad. There’s mass flooding, and the police come to the man’s door and tell him he needs to leave. The man says “I’m not afraid, God will protect me.” The police give up and leave him.

The water rises in his house, so the man is forced to climb onto his roof. Just then a National Guard boat comes by and tells him to get in. The man says “I’m not afraid, my God will protect me” and refuses to get in the boat. Eventually the National Guard is forced to give up and move on to help others.

Then the man drowns.

When he gets to the pearly gates he meets God and says “God, why didn’t you protect me?”

God sighs and says “I sent you the news, the police, and a boat. What fucking more do you want?!”

[jakelafortParticipant]

Another woman who was raised in Gaza and describes the reality that undermines the lefty religion of Jew hatred. Further she describes how degenerate Islamic culture is. Hard to believe she is in her 70s.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Yes, it has nothing to do with land. It is just the indoctrinated hatred of Jews by the poisoned minds of Islamist’s that is the problem. In the article I posted above about measles “that made me angry and sad”, the mother meets with RFK after her child dies from measles. A totally preventable death but she does not see that. She is still on “Team Anti-Vax”. This is the same mentality as “Um martyred son”. Then the woman gets paid by Hamas for the honor of having a martyred child. It is a totally warped mentality. As the video asks “How is this not obvious”. Rewind to 4:30 if anyone missed it.

[TheEncogitationerParticipant]

Reg,

‘Organic’ Agriculture: The $52 Billion Hoax.

That article confirmed everything I’ve been saying about Organic and more.

It also confirms Howard Stern’s cynical pronouncements: “‘Organic’ means ‘let’s tell people we didn’t spray this shit and then charge them more for it!'”

And one woo leads to another. Ergotism from fungus-spoiled rye bread was probably the cause of the fantastic testimonials in the Salem Witch Trials. That and Epilepsy chalks up a lot of “Demon Possessions” and the vision of Daniel and Ezekiel.

The point about “Organic” crops requiring more land and water was very telling too. “Organic” junkies will be engaging in land wars with solar panel enthusiasts over who can mark territory.

Anybody who rhapsodizes “Farm to Table” food doesn’t know the first thing about all the necessary steps in between that make it possible. And all the Vegans who say “Forks Over Knives” never had to cut a watermelon or a yuca root.

And anyone who eats “Nothing from a bag or box” shares their food with everything else that latches on for the ride.

[TheEncogitationerParticipant]

Reg,

And you know who else liked “Organic” food under another name, evidently grown from a Hollow Earth made from ice?

Pseudosciences That Fueled The Nazis
https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2022/09/24/five_pseudosciences_that_fueled_the_nazis_853576.html

Those Aryan Pure Supermen must have had some real “Biodynamic” gag reflexes and colons to expel out all the feces-borne pathogens.

[TheEncogitationerParticipant]

Reg,

Humans long to cheat death, but is there any validity to life extension technology?

After those depressing stories of anti-vaxxers in Texas, the cult-ran town of Oregon, Illinois, and the woman from Gaza exposing Hamas, outliving nonsense may be the only way on Earth to overcome it. Let’s hope it’s possible.

[_Robert_Participant]

I remember the days when TV news agencies were not hype-driven profit centers. Newspaper reporting was serious business, and reliable sources were a requirement.  Retractions were printed if mistakes were made.

It’s almost like people had…….what’s that word…..it’s been so long…..Oh yes, “integrity”. I vaguely remember that.

[TheEncogitationerParticipant]

Robert,

I remember the days when TV news agencies were not hype-driven profit centers. Newspaper reporting was serious business, and reliable sources were a requirement. Retractions were printed if mistakes were made.

It’s almost like people had…….what’s that word…..it’s been so long…..Oh yes, “integrity”. I vaguely remember that.

When was all this? When William Randolph Hearst used his “yellow journalism” to get us into the Spanish-American War? Or when the Chicago Daily Tribune famously proclaimed: “DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN”? Or when a media hoax by Ben Franklin created The Jersey Devil cryptid, still allegedly seen to this day?

And when was TV news better? When NBC was blowing up a Chevy truck while claiming the tank ruptured? When Dan Rather was fired from CBS for allegations over George W. Bush’s National Guard service based on inauthenticated documents?

Don’t tell me Golden Age myths are an Atheist thing now.

• This reply was modified 3 weeks, 3 days ago by  TheEncogitationer. Reason: Addendum of "National"

[_Robert_Participant]

TheEncogitationer wrote:

Robert,

I remember the days when TV news agencies were not hype-driven profit centers. Newspaper reporting was serious business, and reliable sources were a requirement. Retractions were printed if mistakes were made. It’s almost like people had…….what’s that word…..it’s been so long…..Oh yes, “integrity”. I vaguely remember that.

When was all this? When William Randolph Hearst used his “yellow journalism” to get us into the Spanish-American War? Or when the Chicago Daily Tribune famously proclaimed: “DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN”? Or when a media hoax by Ben Franklin created The Jersey Devil cryptid, still allegedly seen to this day? And when was TV news better? When NBC was blowing up a Chevy truck while claiming the tank ruptured? When Dan Rather was fired from CBS for allegations over George W. Bush’s National Guard service based on inauthenticated documents? Don’t tell me Golden Age myths are an Atheist thing now.

If you think any of that (some that were honest mistakes) even compares to today’s Fox news or Newmax, you are nuts. They tell more lies a day than the multi-decade events you posted. Just look at our president, what an honest guy…literally controlling the chicken-shit media, suing the crap out of them. No, you are dead wrong.

[TheEncogitationerParticipant]

Robert,

If you think any of that (some that were honest mistakes) even compares to today’s Fox news or Newmax, you are nuts. They tell more lies a day than the multi-decade events you posted. Just look at our president, what an honest guy…literally controlling the chicken-shit media, suing the crap out of them. No, you are dead wrong.

I never compared any media to FOX or Newsmax. I compared media of the past with media now and showed that hype and Mis/Dis/Mal-Information have always existed in media.

And lest you get too fixated on FOX and Newsmax, just put “Gaza” in Microsoft Bing and look at what pops up from the rest of the media outlets. Pure dogpile on Israel. And look at how many newspapers carry horoscopes. They don’t need to be sued by the Bad Orange Man to spread lies.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

The problems with news media started with the loss of local newspapers. . Many areas had 2 or more regular papers with opposing views. Local reporters kept local politicians and officials in check. In the last 20 years most of these have fallen victim to the mega corporations and local politicians “get away with more”. These “news deserts” were filled with online news providers, the majority of them having little intellectual merit.  Now we get poorly informed opinion pieces masquerading as critical analysis.

[_Robert_Participant]

TheEncogitationer wrote:

Robert,

If you think any of that (some that were honest mistakes) even compares to today’s Fox news or Newmax, you are nuts. They tell more lies a day than the multi-decade events you posted. Just look at our president, what an honest guy…literally controlling the chicken-shit media, suing the crap out of them. No, you are dead wrong.

I never compared any media to FOX or Newsmax. I compared media of the past with media now and showed that hype and Mis/Dis/Mal-Information have always existed in media. And lest you get too fixated on FOX and Newsmax, just put “Gaza” in Microsoft Bing and look at what pops up from the rest of the media outlets. Pure dogpile on Israel. And look at how many newspapers carry horoscopes. They don’t need to be sued by the Bad Orange Man to spread lies.

I really think the big news sources of the 1900’s tried to do accurate and balanced reporting, local as Reg mentioned and national….with notable exceptions of course. Those generations understood that the availability of facts is important to have some sort of successful democracy. From Wiki on the fairness doctrine.

In 1987, the FCC abolished the fairness doctrine,[2] prompting some to urge its reintroduction through either Commission policy or congressional legislation.[3] The FCC removed the rule that implemented the policy from the Federal Register in August 2011.[4]

The fairness doctrine had two basic elements: It required broadcasters to devote some of their airtime to discussing controversial matters of public interest, and to air contrasting views regarding those matters. Stations were given wide latitude as to how to provide contrasting views: It could be done through news segments, public affairs shows, or editorials. The doctrine did not require equal time for opposing views but required that contrasting viewpoints be presented. The demise of this FCC rule has been cited as a contributing factor in the rising level of party polarization in the United States.[5][6]

So now we have alternative facts, DeFacto Administration/party propaganda TV “news” channels, Musk’s X cesspool and Zuck’s Fuckbook. Just keep repeating BS and its true as they dismantle federal institutions to implement their tech-bro future visions. So we are swimming in idiotic conspiracy theories and entire red states believe it’s not the billionaires taking away their wealth and lowering their living standards, it’s trans prisoners and illegal Mexicans doing all the damage. Putin is a good guy, Russia is the land of Christian values, our enemies are Canada and Denmark, and vaccines are bad.

Be nice if we had old school sources back, because it sure seems like most people are helpless against all this misinformation.

 

 

[jakelafortParticipant]

[TheEncogitationerParticipant]

Reg,

The problems with news media started with the loss of local newspapers. . Many areas had 2 or more regular papers with opposing views. Local reporters kept local politicians and officials in check. In the last 20 years most of these have fallen victim to the mega corporations and local politicians “get away with more”. These “news deserts” were filled with online news providers, the majority of them having little intellectual merit. Now we get poorly informed opinion pieces masquerading as critical analysis.

Dead tree media has been in decline to electronic media for decades in large part because of the expense and reach of the respective media. And the lowering of production expense by electronic media meant that more voices could participate in the mediasphere.

Also, the intellectual content of any media varies with the intellect of the participants.

Fortunately, the lowering of media production expense means that more intelligent participants and their ideas can have a niche that didn’t exist in the era of newspapers. I’d venture to say the Four Horsemen of today have given more far more mindshare to Atheism with YouTube than Madalyn O’Hair could with “All The News That’s Fit To Print” or even with appearances on The Phil Donahue Show.

As Stewart Brand said of the Internet: “What it is, is up to us.”

• This reply was modified 3 weeks, 1 day ago by  TheEncogitationer. Reason: Correcting spelling and making my part of the Internet mine

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