Psylo Posted March 4, 2012 David Icke is a Class-A knob. Take it to the nutter forums, whitey. I wish Richard Feynman was around to contribute to the WWW. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
whitewind Posted March 4, 2012 David Icke is like someone who can partially see, but whose vision is obscured by a darkness he doesn't want to remove, as he believes it helps him see the truth. I feel a bit sorry for him, but I'm also quite fascinated for some reason. I have this feeling that if he were to let go of all the darkness and conspiracy madness, there might be something worth listening to. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
qualia Posted March 5, 2012 Mu (lost continent) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Mu is the name of a hypothetical continent that allegedly existed in one of Earth's oceans, but disappeared at the dawn of human history. The concept and the name were proposed by 19th century traveler and writer Augustus Le Plongeon, who claimed that several ancient civilizations, such as those ofEgypt and Mesoamerica, were created by refugees from Mu—which he located in the Atlantic Ocean.[1] This concept was popularized and expanded by James Churchward, who asserted that Mu was once located in the Pacific.[2] The existence of Mu was disputed already in Le Plongeon's time. Today, scientists universally dismiss the concept of Mu (and of other lost continents like Lemuria) as physically impossible, since a continent can neither sink nor be destroyed in the short period of time required by this premise.[3][4] Mu is today considered to be a fictional place.[5][6] Contents 1 History of the concept 1.1 Augustus Le Plongeon 1.2 James Churchward 1.3 Modern claims [*]2 Criticisms 2.1 Geological arguments 2.2 Archaeological and genetic evidence 2.3 Troano Codex [*]3 In popular culture [*]4 See also [*]5 References History of the concept Augustus Le Plongeon The idea of Mu first appeared in the works of Augustus Le Plongeon (1825–1908), after his investigations of the Maya ruins in Yucatán.[1] He claimed that he had translated the ancient Mayan writings, which supposedly showed that the Maya of Yucatán were older than the later civilizations of Greece and Egypt, and additionally told the story of an even older continent. Le Plongeon actually got the name "Mu" from Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg who in 1864 mistranslated what was then called the Troano Codex using the de Landa alphabet. Brasseur believed that a word that he read as Mu referred to a land submerged by a catastrophe.[7] Le Plongeon then identified this lost land with Atlantis, and turned it into a continent which had supposedly sunk into the Atlantic Ocean: "In our journey westward across the Atlantic we shall pass in sight of that spot where once existed the pride and life of the ocean, the Land of Mu, which, at the epoch that we have been considering, had not yet been visited by the wrath of Humen, that lord of volcanic fires to whose fury it afterward fell a victim. The description of that land given to Solon by Sonchis, priest at Sais; its destruction by earthquakes, and submergence, recorded by Plato in his Timaeus, have been told and retold so many times that it is useless to encumber these pages with a repetition of it".[1]: ch. VI, p. 66 Le Plongeon claimed that the civilization of ancient Egypt was founded by Queen Moo, a refugee from the land's demise. Other refugees supposedly fled to Central America and became the Mayans.[4] James Churchward Mu, as a lost Pacific Ocean continent, was later popularised by James Churchward (1851–1936) in a series of books, beginning with Lost Continent of Mu, the Motherland of Man (1926),[2] re-edited later as The Lost Continent Mu (1931).[8] Other popular books in the series are The Children of Mu (1931), and The Sacred Symbols of Mu (1933). Churchward claimed that "more than fifty years ago," while he was a soldier in India, he befriended a high-ranking temple priest who showed him a set of ancient "sunburnt" clay tablets, supposedly in a long lost "Naga-Maya language" which only two other people in India could read. Having mastered the language himself, Churchward found out that they originated from "the place where [man] first appeared—Mu." The 1931 edition states that “all matter of science in this work are based on translations of two sets of ancient tablets:” the clay tables he read in India, and a collection 2,500 stone tablets that had been uncovered byWilliam Niven in Mexico.[8]: p. 7 Churchward gave a vivid description of Mu as the home of an advanced civilization, the Naacal, which flourished between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago, was dominated by a “white race,"[8]: p. 48 and was "superior in many respects to our own" [8]: p. 17 At the time of its demise, about 12,000 years ago, Mu had 64,000,000 inhabitants and many large cities, and colonies in the other continents. Churchward claimed that the landmass of Mu was located in the Pacific Ocean, and stretched east-west from the Marianas to Easter Island, and north-south from Hawaii to Mangaia. He claimed that according to the creation myth he read in the Indian tablets, Mu had been lifted above sea level by the expansion of underground volcanic gases. Eventually Mu “was completely obliterated in almost a single night”[8]: p. 44: after a series of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, "the broken land fell into that great abyss of fire" and was covered by "fifty millions of square miles of water."[8]: p. 50 Churchward claimed that Mu was the common origin of the great civilizations of Egypt, Greece, Central America, India, Burma and others, including Easter Island, and was in particular the source of ancientmegalithic architecture. As evidence for his claims, he pointed to symbols from throughout the world, in which he saw common themes of birds, the relation of the Earth and the sky, and especially the Sun. Churchward claims the king of Mu was Ra and he relates this to the Egyptian god of the sun, Ra, and the Rapanui word for Sun, ra’a, which he incorrectly spells "raa."[8]: p. 48 He claimed to have found symbols of the Sun in “Egypt, Babylonia, Peru and all ancient lands and countries – it was a universal symbol.”[8]: p. 138 Churchward attributed all megalithic art in Polynesia to the people of Mu. He claimed that symbols of the sun are found “depicted on stones of Polynesian ruins,” such as the stone hats (pukao) on top of the giantmoai statues of Easter Island. Citing W.J. Johnson, Churchward describes the cylindrical hats as “spheres” that "seem to show red in the distance”, and asserts that they “represent the Sun as Ra.”[8]: p. 138 He also incorrectly claimed that some of them are made of "red sandstone" [8]: p. 89 which does not occur in the island. The platforms on which the statues rest (ahu) are described by Churchward as being “platform-like accumulations of cut and dressed stone,” which were supposedly left in their current positions “awaiting shipment to some other part of the continent for the building of temples and palaces.”[8]: p. 89 He also cites the pillars “erected by the Māori of New Zealand” as an example of this lost civilization’s handiwork.[8]: p. 158 In Churchward's view, the present-day Polynesians are not descendants of the dominant members of the lost civilization of Mu, responsible for these great works, but survivors of the cataclysm that adopted “the first cannibalism and savagery” in the world.[8]: p. 54 Underwater structures claimed to be remnants of Mu, near Yonaguni, Japan Modern claims James Bramwell and William Scott-Elliott claimed that the cataclysmic events on Mu began 800,000 years ago[9]: p. 194 and went on until the last catastrophe, which occurred precisely in 9564 BCE.[9]: p. 195 In 1930s, Atatürk, founder of the Turkish Republic, was interested in Churchward's work and considered Mu as a possible location of the Turkish original homeland.[10] Ruth Montgomery in her book The World Before (1976) wrote that Mu and Lemuria were the same place, located from the “northern reaches of California to the tip of Peru, and encompassing a vast pacific area of which Hawaii, Tahiti, Polynesia, and Easter Island are remnants.”[11] Masaaki Kimura has suggested that certain underwater features located off the coast of Yonaguni Island, Japan (popularly known as the Yonaguni Monument) are ruins of Mu [12][13] (or "ruins of the lost world of Muin" according to CNN [14]). Criticisms Geological arguments Modern geological knowledge rules out "lost continents" of any significant size. According to the theory of plate tectonics, which has been extensively confirmed over the past 40 years, the Earth's crust consists of lighter "sial" rocks (continental crust rich in aluminium silicates) that float on heavier "sima" rocks (oceanic crust richer in magnesium silicates). The sial is generally absent in the ocean floor where the crust is a few kilometers thick, while the continents are huge solid blocks tens of kilometers thick. Since continents float on the sima much like icebergs float on water, a continent cannot simply "sink" under the ocean. It is true that continental drift and seafloor spreading can change the shape and position of continents and occasionally break a continent into two or more pieces (as happened to Pangaea). However, these are very slow processes that occur in geological time scales (hundreds of millions of years). Over the scale of history (tens of thousands of years), the sima under the continental crust can be considered solid, and the continents are basically anchored on it. It is all but certain that the continents and ocean floors have retained their present position and shape for the whole span of human existence. There is also no conceivable event that could have "destroyed" a continent, since its huge mass of sial rocks would have to end up somewhere—and there is no trace of it at the bottom of the oceans. The Pacific Ocean islands are not part of a submerged landmass but rather the tips of isolated volcanoes. Map of Easter Island showing locations of the ahu and moai This is the case, in particular, of Easter Island, which is a recent volcanic peak surrounded by deep ocean (3,000 m deep at 30 km off the island). After visiting the island in the 1930s, Alfred Metraux observed that the moai platforms are concentrated along the current coast of the island, which implies that the island's shape has changed little since they were built. Moreover, the "Triumphal Road" that Pierre Loti had reported ran from the island to the submerged lands below, is actually a natural lava flow.[15] Furthermore, while Churchward was correct in his claim that the island has no sandstone or sedimentary rocks, the point is moot because the pukao are all made of native volcanic scoria. Archaeological and genetic evidence The historical details and implications of the Mu theory, which from the start were even more controversial than the physical ones, have been thoroughly discredited by archaeological and genetic research.[citation needed] There is evidence that the civilizations of the Americas and the Old World developed independently of each other[16] and, in fact, agriculture and urban societies probably first developed, after the end of the Ice Age, somewhere in the Levant some 10,000 years ago and gradually spread outwards from there to the rest of the Old World. The development of the oldest known cities, such as Çatalhöyük, can more easily be attributed to local and gradual evolution than to the coming of refugees from a "superior civilization".[citation needed] Finally, genetic studies of the indigenous peoples of America, the Pacific Islanders, and the ancient peoples of the Old World are quite incompatible with the Mu theory.[citation needed] As for Easter Island, it was first settled around 300 AD[17] and the pukao on the moai are regarded as ceremonial[17], or traditional headdresses[17]. In fact there is no evidence of a highly advanced civilisation on what is left of the island's land mass [18]. Troano Codex Other researchers who have tried to use the de Landa alphabet have reported it produces only gibberish. Recent research into the Mayan ‘alphabet’ has shown it to not consist of letters but pictograms. Recent translations of the Troano Codex have shown it to be treaties on astrology.[19] In popular culture H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937) featured the lost continent in his revision of Hazel Heald's short story "Out of the Aeons" (1935).[20] Mu appears in numerous Cthulhu mythos stories, including many written by Lin Carter.[21] Massimo De Vita: Topolino e l'enigma di Mu (Mickey Mouse and the Secret of Mu), comic strip, 1979.[22] Mickey Mouse and Goofy discover the secret of Mu's civilization and its abrupt disappearance. Atragon (1963) and Super Atragon (1996), based on S. Oshikawa's 1902 novel The Undersea Battleship and Komatsuzaki's illustrated short story The Undersea Kingdom (Kaitei Okuku).[23] In The Mysterious Cities of Gold, Tao, one of the young protagonists, is the last descendant of the Mu empire (although this was changed to Hiva in the English dub). The NES game DuckTales 2 features Mu as one of the stages.[24] "Mu", a track on the 1967 album Atlantis by jazz musician Sun Ra. Robert Plant, of the rock group Led Zeppelin, claimed his symbol on the band's fourth album (a feather inside a circle) represents the Mu civilization.[25] Planet Mu, a British electronic music label, has released albums titled The Sacred Symbols of Mu, The Cosmic Forces of Mu, Children of Mu and Amμnition. In the shounen manga "Shaman King" by Hiroyuki Takei, Mu is the location of the final round of the Shaman Fight and where the Shaman King is crowned. See also Atlantis Lemuria (continent) Lost city Lost lands References ^ a b c Le Plongeon, Augustus (1896). Queen Móo & The Egyptian Sphinx. The Author. pp. 277 pages. ^ a b Churchward, James (1926). The Lost Continent of Mu: Motherland of Man. ^ Haugton, Brian (2007). Hidden History. New Page Books. ISBN 978-1564148971,. Page 60. ^ a b De Camp, Lyon Sprague (1954; reprinted 1971). Lost Continents: Atlantis Theme in History, Science and Literature. Dover Publications. ISBN 978-0486226682. ^ Brennan, Louis A. (1959). No Stone Unturned: An Almanac of North American Pre-history. Random House. Page 228. ^ Witzel, Michael (2006). Garrett G. Fagan Routledge. ed. Archaeological Fantasies. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-30593-8. Page 220. ^ John Sladek, The New Apocrypha (New York: Stein and day, 1974) 65-66. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Churchward, James (1931). The Lost Continent of Mu. Ives Washburn. pp. 335 pages. ^ a b Bramwell, James (1939). Lost Atlantis. ^ Kayıp Kıta Mu, presentation, Ege-Meta Yayınları, İzmir, 2000, ISBN 975-7089-20-6 ^ Ruth Montgomery The World Before Fawcett, 1995, p. 22 ISBN 034547029X ^ Kimura, Masaaki (1991). Mu tairiku wa Ryukyu ni atta (The Continent of Mu was in Ryukyu). Tokuma Shoten. ^ Schoch, Robert M.. "Ancient underwater pyramid structure off the coast of Yonaguni-jima". ^ "Japan's Underwater Ruins (video)". CNN. ^ Metraux, Alfred. Mysteries of Easter Island. ^ Abramyan, Evgeny (2009). Civilization in the 21st Century. Russia: How to Save the Future?. . 62; ^ a b c Danver, Steven L.. Popular controversies in world history : investigating history's intriguing questions. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781598840773.. 222; ^ The Ryukyuanist (57). Autumn 2002. http://www.uchinanch...ukyuanist57.pdf. Retrieved 1 January 2012. ^ Citadels of Mystery, L Sprague deCamp and C decamp, Fontana Books 1969, page 10 ^ Lovecraft, Howard P. and Hazel Heald. "Out of the Aeons" (1935) in The Horror in the Museum and Other Revisions, S.T. Joshi (ed.), 1989. Sauk City, WI: Arkham House Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0-87054-040-8. ^ Harms, Daniel. "Mu" in The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana (2nd ed.), pp. 200–202. Chaosium, Inc., 1998. ISBN 1-56882-119-0. ^ http://coa.inducks.o...?c=I+TL+1238-AP ^ G-Fan #75. Daikaiju Enterprises Ltd. 2006. Pg.80 ^ "Duck Tales 2". Retrieved 16 September 2011. ^ (From the book Talking, by Dave Lewis.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chnt Posted March 5, 2012 planet mu has some pretty awesome shit on it, but that article missed the most important mu Mū Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazonian Posted March 8, 2012 (edited) I got some grapes from the shop and i think they are HUGE! . Nice and sweet and crisp and not seeded. This is big,,,,,right? Edited March 8, 2012 by Amazonian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chnt Posted March 8, 2012 looks to be very big, unless you have tiny hands and a trick coin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Distracted Posted March 15, 2012 I remember reading once that our vision under normal conditions is quite high definition but low frames per second, but under intense stress like a crisis or accident we can reduce the resolution of our vision to increase the amount of frames we perceive each second, so we think time is going slower. I've been trying to read anything anywhere that suggests that and it's hard I ended up finding this study though which was a good idea but I don't think it emulated the true conditions. In The Matrix, when an agent first shoots at Neo, his perception of time slows down, allowing him to see and avoid oncoming bullets. In the real world, almost all of us have experienced moments of crisis when time seems to slow to a crawl, be it a crashing car, an incoming fist, or a falling valuable.Now, a trio of scientists has shown that this effect is an illusion. When danger looms, we don’t actually experience events in slow motion. Instead, our brains just remember time moving more slowly after the event has passed. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/05/03/time-doesn%E2%80%99t-actually-slow-down-in-a-crisis/ 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FancyPants Posted March 15, 2012 ^^^ Cool! I remember a time while being visited by Lucy with two other friends, my friend was enjoying Mary from a Billy, she was fumbling for the stoker for - what seemed to me - ages until I finally twigged and passed it to her after which she finished. She and our other friend were staring at me agape, they said I was lightning fast and the friend who was kissing Mary said she'd only barely begun reaching and I'd shoved it into her hand. I agree with you about the study being completely accurate. *** Had my first hypnotherapy session yesterday, was amazing! I'm VERY good at suppressing shit, so felt like the traditional route of talking out my past issues just wasn't going to cut it for me - let alone if being charged by the hour is anything to go by, damned expensive. Even under the "trance" I had to be asked three times what emotion I needed to get out (was anger). There's no way a psychiatrist could've wrangled that out of me. Recent events have enlightened me that my previous "partner" had emotionally abused me in such a subversive way (and I'm sure he didn't/wouldn't see it that way) that even someone as perceptive as myself didn't see it. I'm still finding it a bit hard to come to grips with the fact that someone who sees themself as strong was treated so and let it continue for four-odd years. Oh well, such was my lesson to learn, and I'm sure as shit going to be a helluva lot stronger for it 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
qualia Posted March 17, 2012 Defenestration is the act of throwing someone or something out of a window.[1] The term was coined around the time of an incident in Prague Castle in the year 1618. The word comes from the Latin de- (down or away from) and fenestra (window or opening).[2] Likewise, it can also refer to the condition of being thrown out of a window, as in The Defenestration of Ermintrude Inch.[3] The act of defenestration connotes the forcible or peremptory removal of an adversary, and the term is sometimes used in just that sense;[4] it also suggests breaking the windows in the process (de- also means removal). Although defenestrations can be fatal due to the height of the window through which a person is thrown or throws oneself or due to lacerations from broken glass, the act of defenestration need not carry the intent or result of death. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defenestration 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Quill Posted March 19, 2012 candy is dandy, but I'm a diabetic Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Psylo Posted March 23, 2012 I just had a most enjoyable 30 minute discussion with a couple of JW's, complete with me pulling out the New International bible for cross reference to their ridiculous claims. Very enjoyable to see them squirm under their own though processing. The answers run dry when Psylo starts throwing mathematics around regarding population growth in their utopian post-rapture fantasy planet. Hell, one of them even slipped, and started suggesting that 'god' might start having people live on another planet. Newsflash: I am deemed as wicked. Thanks for making my day, ladies. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
whitewind Posted March 24, 2012 (edited) Voluntary Human Extinction Movement From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Motto May we live long and die out Founder Les U. Knight Website vhemt.org The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement (VHEMT[A]) is an environmental movement that calls for all people to abstain from reproduction to cause the gradual voluntary extinction of humankind. VHEMT supports human extinction primarily because, in the group's view, it would prevent environmental degradation. The group states that a decrease in the human population would prevent a significant amount of man-made human suffering. The extinctions of non-human species and the scarcity of resources required by humans are frequently cited by the group as evidence of the harm caused by human overpopulation. VHEMT was founded in 1991 by Les U. Knight, an activist who became involved in the environmental movement in the 1970s and thereafter concluded that human extinction was the best solution to the problems facing the Earth's biosphere and humanity. Knight publishes the group's newsletter and serves as its spokesperson. Although the group is promoted by a website and represented at some environmental events, it relies heavily on coverage from outside media to spread its message. Many commentators view its platform as unacceptably extreme, though other writers have applauded VHEMT's perspective. In response to VHEMT, some journalists and academics have argued that humans can develop sustainable lifestyles or can reduce their population to sustainable levels. Others maintain that, whatever the merits of the idea, because of the human reproductive drive humankind will never voluntarily seek extinction. Contents The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement was founded by Les U. Knight, a resident of Portland, Oregon,[1] who was raised in a large family.[2] After becoming involved in the environmental movement as a college student in the 1970s, Knight attributed most of the dangers faced by the planet to human overpopulation. After coming to this conclusion, he joined the Zero Population Growth organization[1] and chose to get a vasectomy at age 25.[2] He later concluded that the extinction of humanity would be the best solution to the Earth's environmental problems.[1] He believes that this idea has been held to by some people throughout human history.[3] In 1991, Knight began publishing VHEMT's newsletter,[1] known as These Exit Times.[4] In the newsletter, he asked readers not to procreate to further human extinction.[1] VHEMT has also published cartoons,[5] including a comic strip titled "Bonobo Baby", featuring a woman who forgoes childbearing in favor of adopting a bonobo.[4] In 1996, Knight created a website for VHEMT;[6] it was available in 11 languages by 2010.[7] VHEMT's logo features the letter "V" (for Voluntary) and an inverted Earth.[8][C] [edit] Organization and promotion VHEMT functions as a loose network rather than a formal organization,[9] and does not compile a list of members. Daniel Metz of Willamette University stated in 1995 that VHEMT's mailing list had just under 400 subscribers.[1] Six years later, Fox News said the list had only 230 subscribers.[10] Knight says that anyone who agrees with his ideology is a member of the movement;[1] and that this includes "millions of people".[11][D] Knight serves as the spokesperson for VHEMT.[1] He attends environmental conferences and events, where he publicizes information about population growth.[7] VHEMT's message has, however, primarily been spread through coverage by media outlets, rather than events and its newsletter.[6] VHEMT sells buttons and T-shirts,[6] as well as bumper stickers that say "Thank you for not breeding".[4] [edit] Ideology Knight argues that the human population is far greater than the Earth can handle, and that allowing humans to die out is the best thing that can be done for Earth's biosphere.[12] This is due to his belief that humans are "incompatible with the biosphere",[4] and that human existence is solely self-serving, lacking any ecological benefit.[13] He argues that the vast majority of human societies have not lived sustainable lifestyles,[2] and that attempts to live environmentally friendly lifestyles do not change the fact that human existence is harmful to the Earth.[4] Human extinction is promoted on the grounds that it will prevent human suffering and the extinction of other species; Knight points out that many species are threatened by the rise of the human population.[1][10][12] James Ormrod, a psychologist who profiled the group in the journal Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society, notes that the "most fundamental belief" of VHEMT is that "human beings should stop reproducing", and that some people consider themselves members of the group but do not actually support human extinction.[6] Knight, however, believes that even if humans become more environmentally friendly, they could still return to environmentally destructive lifestyles and hence should be eliminated.[2] Residents of First World countries bear the most responsibility to change, according to Knight, as they consume a large proportion of resources.[14] Knight believes that animal species are more important than human accomplishments, such as art. He argues that species which are higher on the food chain are less important than lower species, and that humans are therefore not very valuable to the planet.[4] His ideology is drawn in part from deep ecology, and he sometimes refers to the Earth as Gaia.[15] He notes that human extinction is unavoidable, and that it is better to become extinct soon to avoid concomitant extinctions.[12] The potential for evolution of other organisms is also cited as a benefit.[6] Knight also casts non-reproduction as an altruistic choice,[2] characterizing it as a way to prevent involuntary human suffering.[16] The death of children from preventable causes is cited as an example of needless suffering.[2] Knight claims that non-reproduction would eventually allow humans to lead idyllic lifestyles in an environment comparable to the Garden of Eden,[17] and maintains that the last remaining humans would be proud of their accomplishment.[18] Other benefits of ceasing human reproduction that he cites include the end of abortion, war, and starvation.[17] Reproduction is cast as a type of child abuse; Knight argues that the standard of human life will worsen if resources are consumed by a growing population rather than spent solving existing issues.[15] He speculates that if people ceased to reproduce, they would use their energy for other pursuits, such as gardening,[4] and suggests adoption and foster care as outlets for people who desire children.[2] VHEMT rejects government-mandated human population control programs in favor of voluntary population reduction,[1] supporting only the use of birth control and willpower to prevent pregnancies.[4] Knight states that coercive tactics are unlikely to permanently lower the human population, citing the fact that humanity has survived catastrophic wars, famines, and viruses.[7] Though their newsletter's name recalls the suicide manual Final Exit,[13] the idea of mass suicide is rejected,[14] and they have adopted the slogan "May we live long and die out".[2] A 1995 survey of VHEMT members found that a majority of VHEMT members felt a strong moral obligation to protect the earth, distrusted the ability of political processes to prevent harm to the environment, and were willing to surrender some of their rights for their cause. VHEMT members who strongly believed that "Civilization [is] headed for collapse" were most likely to embrace these views.[19] However, VHEMT does not take any overt political stances.[6] VHEMT promotes a more extreme ideology than Population Action International, a group that argues humanity should reduce—but not eliminate—its population to care for the Earth. However, the VHEMT platform is more moderate and serious than the Church of Euthanasia, which advocates population reduction by suicide and cannibalism.[10][17] The 1995 survey found that 36% considered themselves members of Earth First! or had donated to the group in the previous five years.[20] [edit] Reception Knight states his group's ideology runs counter to contemporary society's natalism. He believes this pressure has stopped many people from supporting, or even discussing, population control.[2] He admits that his group is unlikely to succeed, but contends that attempting to reduce the Earth's population is the only moral option.[4] Reception of Knight's idea in the mainstream media has been mixed. Writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, Gregory Dicum states that there is an "undeniable logic" to VHEMT's arguments, but he doubts whether Knight's ideas can succeed, arguing that many people desire to have children and cannot be dissuaded.[2] Stephen Jarvis echoes this skepticism in The Independent, noting that VHEMT faces great difficulty owing to the human reproductive drive.[4] In The Guardian, Guy Dammann applauds the movement's aim as "in many ways laudable", but argues that it is absurd to believe that humans will voluntarily seek extinction.[21] In the same paper, Abby O'Reilly writes that since having children is frequently viewed as a measure of success, VHEMT's goal is difficult to attain.[22] Knight contends in response to these arguments that though sexual desire is natural, human desire for children is a product of enculturation.[4] The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York has criticized Knight's platform, arguing that the existence of humanity is divinely ordained.[10] Ormrod claims that Knight "arguably abandons deep ecology in favour of straightforward misanthropy". He notes that Knight's claim that the last humans in an extinction scenario would have an abundance of resources promotes his cause based on "benefits accruing to humans". Ormrod sees this type of argument as counter-intuitive, arguing that it borrows the language of "late-modern consumer societies". He faults Knight for what he sees as a failure to develop a consistent and unambiguous ideology.[15] The Economist characterizes Knight's claim that voluntary human extinction is advisable due to limited resources as "Malthusian bosh". The paper further states that compassion for the planet does not necessarily require the pursuit of human extinction.[1] Sociologist Frank Furedi also deems VHEMT to be a Malthusian group, classifying them as a type of environmental organization that "[thinks] the worst about the human species".[23] Writing in Spiked, Josie Appleton argues that the group is indifferent to humanity, rather than "anti-human".[24] Brian Bethune writes in Maclean's that Knight's logic is "as absurd as it's unassailable". However, he doubts Knight's claim that the last survivors of the human race would have pleasant lives and suspects that a "collective loss of the will to live" would prevail.[17] In response to Knight's platform, journalist Sheldon Richman argues that humans are "active agents" and can change their behavior. He contends that people are capable of solving the problems facing Earth.[12] Alan Weisman, author of The World Without Us, suggests a limit of one child per family as a preferable alternative to abstinence from reproduction.[17] Katharine Mieszkowski of Salon.com recommends that childless people adopt VHEMT's arguments when facing "probing questions" about their childlessness.[25] Writing in the Journal for Critical Animal Studies, Carmen Dell'Aversano notes that VHEMT seeks to renounce children as a symbol of perpetual human progress. She casts the movement as a form of "queer oppositional politics" because it rejects perpetual reproduction as a form of motivation. She argues that the movement seeks to come to a new definition of "civil order", as Lee Edelman suggested that queer theory should. Dell'Aversano believes that VHEMT fulfills Edelman's mandate because they embody the death drive rather than ideas that focus on the reproduction of the past.[26] Although Knight's organization has been featured in a book titled Kooks: A Guide to the Outer Limits of Human Belief,[1] The Guardian journalist Oliver Burkeman notes that in a phone conversation Knight seems "rather sane and self-deprecating".[27] Weisman echoes this sentiment, characterizing Knight as "thoughtful, soft-spoken, articulate, and quite serious".[24] Philosophers Steven Best and Douglas Kellner view VHEMT's stance as extreme, but they note that the movement formed in response to extreme stances found in "modern humanism".[28] Edited March 24, 2012 by whitewind Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
qualia Posted March 27, 2012 (edited) David Howard incident On January 15, 1999, David Howard, a white aide to Anthony A. Williams, the black mayor of Washington, D.C., used "niggardly" in reference to a budget. This apparently upset one of his black colleagues (identified by Howard as Marshall Brown), who interpreted it as a racial slur and lodged a complaint. As a result, on January 25 Howard tendered his resignation, and Williams accepted it.[1] However, after pressure from thegay community (of which Howard was a member) an internal review into the matter was brought about, and the mayor offered Howard the chance to return to his position as Office of the Public Advocate on February 4. Howard refused but accepted another position with the mayor instead, insisting that he did not feel victimized by the incident. On the contrary, Howard felt that he had learned from the situation. "I used to think it would be great if we could all be colorblind. That's naïve, especially for a white person, because a white person can afford to be colorblind. They don't have to think about race every day. An African American does."[1] It has been speculated that this incident inspired Philip Roth's novel The Human Stain.[2] Public response The Howard incident led to a national debate in the U.S., in the context of racial sensitivity and political correctness, on whether use of niggardly should be avoided. Some observers noted, however, that the "national debate" was made up almost entirely of commentators defending use of the word. As James Poniewozik wrote in Salon, the controversy was "an issue that opinion-makers right, left and center could universally agree on." He wrote that "the defenders of the dictionary" were "legion, and still queued up six abreast."[3] Julian Bond, then chairman of the NAACP, deplored the offense that had been taken at Howard's use of the word. "You hate to think you have to censor your language to meet other people's lack of understanding", he said. "David Howard should not have quit. Mayor Williams should bring him back — and order dictionaries issued to all staff who need them."[4] Bond also said, "Seems to me the mayor has been niggardly in his judgment on the issue" and as a nation we have a "hair-trigger sensibility" on race that can be tripped by both real and false grievances.[5 http://en.wikipedia....%22niggardly%22 Edited March 27, 2012 by qualia Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
whitewind Posted March 27, 2012 When I was a kid the word Jew was used to refer to someone who was niggardly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Psylo Posted April 1, 2012 Today I saw a wombat, two 4 foot+ monitor lizards, and the head of a 200kg shark which fell off the back of a ute. Thanks for reading. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazonian Posted April 7, 2012 The Easter Bunny is waiting for my kids to go to sleep so she can then go to sleep too. Would i be a bad parent if i slipped a sleeper in my kids Milo...?. (joke of course) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bert&Ernie Posted April 7, 2012 The Easter Bunny is waiting for my kids to go to sleep so she can then go to sleep too. Would i be a bad parent if i slipped a sleeper in my kids Milo...?. (joke of course) no of course not hehehe Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FancyPants Posted April 8, 2012 My cat just wants to be like me; she's on buprenorphine for the next few days. Had to take her to the vet last night, luckily she's "only" got cystitis (I also had a kidney infection not long ago), probably caused by all the major housework I've been doing lately, plus all my moods going up and down. This is one extremely sooky pud! My boyfriend guessed anaemia last night too and the vet confirmed she's slightly anaemic this morning. Apparently a few cats have had UTIs lately so if you've got a puss, keep an eye out. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
qualia Posted April 8, 2012 A quincunx /ˈkwɪn.kəŋks/ is a geometric pattern consisting of five points arranged in a cross, that is five coplanar points, four of them forming a square or rectangle and a fifth at its center. It forms the arrangement of five units in the pattern corresponding to the five-spot on a six-sided die, playing cards, or dominoes. The quincunx was originally a coin issued by the Roman Republic c. 211–200 BC, whose value was five twelfths (quinque + uncia) of an as, the Roman standard bronze coin. On the Roman quincunx coins, the value was sometimes indicated by a pattern of five dots or pellets. However, these dots were not always arranged in a quincunx pattern. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quincunx Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazonian Posted July 1, 2012 Here's something on ebay.. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/280907838474?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 . Its a Hang Drum. It goes off in about 9 hours, it has 52 bids, and is sitting on about $4000 . I didn't think they were worth that much. They can sound pretty neat. Marcel got me onto them. You can make one from an old gas bottle hey (with caution of course). I want one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
qualia Posted September 24, 2012 Nectarian The Nectarian Period of the lunar geologic timescale runs from 3920 million years ago to 3850 million years ago. It is the period during which the Nectaris Basin and other major basins were formed by large impact events. Ejecta from Nectaris forms the upper part of the densely cratered terrain found in lunar highlands. Millions of years before present Relationship to Earth's geologic time scale Since little or no geological evidence on Earth exists from the time spanned by the Nectarian period of the Moon, the Nectarian has been used by at least one notable scientific work[1] as an unofficial subdivision of the terrestrial Hadean eon. References ^ W. Harland, R. Armstrong, A. Cox, L. Craig, A. Smith, D. Smith (1990). A Geologic time scale 1989. Cambridge University Press. Trivia 'The Nectarians' is also the name of a secret organisation, dedicated to preserving balance in the world, in the story 'The Rise of Raikasen'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nectarian nectarian is a thing Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazonian Posted November 3, 2012 So i have a question right.... This smiley >>> ... It reminds me of Daffy Duck, flapp'n saliva about. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
incognito Posted November 4, 2012 I believe it's an indication that you would like to perform oral sex. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites