Brain Candy

Yes i am aware of what the judged ruled, as well as how all of his previous work has been magically discredited since then. I am also aware that this gets away from whether it is right to deport him, despite many people with racists view are never brought to trial, is it because he was an academic? Also Id never claim the holocaust never happened, its the extent that I think should be open to debate, if at least to shut up the conspiracy theorists around it. This thread may be dead.

Most people have underlying political motivations when discussing things like the holocaust, and people should be aware of them. But would it not be better to allow debate at a factual level on this issue, like Irving attempted? And if they are completely off base, then proove it? Iran set up a holocaust conference to openly mock the wests stigma on this issue, and I think we deserved it.

But to what extent? And why should anyone be in jail for expressing their views on this issue? And why has any attempt to look through the numbers of people who have died been lumped together with "Holocaust Denial" when any sane person can tell the difference? All of these question are important and wont be answered by getting emotional.

Apparently the puppy was allready dead, or was a doll, even PETA is cautious about making a statement on it, but im sure this guy will get alot of angry morons protesting for the next little while, what a great distraction. Meanwhile, the world keeps turning.

I agree, a collapse similar to the dark ages or, worse, a "Brave New World" like scenario where a few manipulative people control and streamline the distracted masses into a few mechanical functions are both possible outcomes of society longterm. I think the best way to resist it on a personal level is to approach your life as something varied and dynamic while at the same time having some sort of focus or idealism at its core, sort of like how civilisations work when they are healthy, or how the important philosophers presented their ideas, or how great symphonies are constructed.

Then what is real and what is fake civilisation, and why is everything that came before Jesus the latter.

No. I pointed that out as possible evidence that they could not be antisemites, and holocaust numbers could be inflated to cast a larger shadow of horror on their supposed ideological enemies post war.

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Its something Irving and a number of holocaust revisionist, both political and non political, have brought up though Irving seems to be the one with the most evidence. The only refutation ive heard of this is that the communist were antisemite too, but that ignores the fact that the general knowledge seems to be that Jews only made up half of the victims, as well as any a could deal of the higher ups in the communist regime were of Jewish descent. The communists use of propaganda was well known, but It would be a hard thing to prove either way without a large scale unbiased research into the issue, which you wont get in the near future.

I thought No Country For Old Men made this year good for movies. Javier Bardem as death incarnate and the anecdote in the last scene were both incredible

I dont think a conspiracy of this magnitude is possible, what is possible is that... A) the majority died of starvation as Germany's supply got thin, not poison gas. B)The numbers at least on the communist side were grossely exaggerated for propaganda effect. so I dont think its out of the question for more research to be done on both these topics, and anyone who equates questioning aspects of the holocaust at an academic level, as Irving did, with "Holocaust denial." is a moron, or letting their emotions get the better of them or is doing so for political purposes. As a side note I honestly think the way Irving was treated was a disgrace and adds fuel to the crackpots on either side that think with their emotions and politics before logic. It also raises the question; is it possible to ever find real truth on controversial issues?

IQ tests arent purely based on memory, It also deals with conceptual ability, extracting or expanding a truth from other things we hold to be true, and also the speed at which the mind can function. Memory is one part of it but I dont think compassion or even honesty has anything to do with intelligents, maybe it falls more under virtue. A dunce or genius can be kind or vicious, but they will be such at different levels and for different reasons.

Sometimes i wonder about this; better in what way? It brought us good and useful things, its also brought us TV, porn and other useless, disposable yet pleasant distractions. This is probably because alot of us are dumb and cant seperate what they want from what will make them happier or better people, thus demand and receive garbage .

I dont think Hitler or Stalin were of limited intelligence. They could be heartless, and both made mistakes, but hardly stupid.

Osama bin Laden '08: Messenger of Peace, Prophet of Change Osama is a man of change, yet he seeks to preserve family, tradition, and religious values. He wants to stop the collapse of society, putting the individual into context. He visions setting the family forth as the basis of society. He seeks to put the legal system where it belongs: in local communities. Osama '08 - bin Laden for President Hilarious!

If you think the blame of the entire war can be put on one man you might need to take another look, my comment wasnt directed at you but its something I notice when people discuss this in general. Ideologies and racism aside, It seems Germany's plan was allways to move east a duke it out with who they saw as their ideological enemy: Russia. The fear of Communism was all throughout Europe, but was understandably large in Germany due to an attempted revolution awhile back. But from their, as wars tend to go entangled alliances drew everyone into the fray and Germany bit off more then it could chew, as aggressors normally do. I wonder what would have happened if Germany had stayed put, a Russian invasion perhaps? Surely you cant have two huge armies with opposing ideologies staring each other down for too long.

Notice how much the arguement for the positive in Stalin is the like the flipside of the arguement for the positive in Hitler "At least he helped drive back the nazis. At least he helped drive back the communists." If its a competition for the smallest body count Hitler wins by a mile.

I must disagree here, you cant understand the principles behind how a 747 works if you cant understand how the first airplane worked. Also you mention theories here that are based in economic s(needs, wants and obstructions to those things), which is related to but not the same as philosophy. They are better at explaining how large scale situations tend to work but do not go deep into the 'why' and the 'good and bad' of things, and definately dont deal with anything like ethics, virtue, or perception of reality like Aristotle, Plato and their more direct decendance did. Interesting article!

I think 1. is falsely attributed to alot of people who dont support involvement in foreign conflicts period. Yes their existence has been a struggle, but why is it anybodies responsibility but theirs to maintain their existence... ...All cultures could be equally valid, but definately not equal. But yeah, anyone who cant see how war, ESPECIALLY over resources, is sometimes inevitable has to get their perception checked. Interesting read, but anyone who immediately equates decadence with loss in the believe of god is 100% false. I think what they mean to say is a loss in the belief of virtue, which is a concept much older then the christian god.

Profile:Aristotle That last part seems like the basis for the principles of christianity, except they replace distraction with the word sin and thus get people up in arms on both sides shouting ..GOOD.. ..EVIL.. without knowing why, and atheists and modern pagans thinking they are "opposing the chains of christianity" by acting like fools . I wish politicians would declare they follow the teaching of Aristotle more then the teachings of the bible, or they follow the bible but put emphasis on where it follows the same line of thought, if not directly derives from, this great thinker

The explanation, many scientists argue, could be that the childless gays put extra efforts into helping raise nephews and nieces. That would boost the children’s chances of survival, and someday reproduc­tion. These youths, even if not gay, might share with their aunt or uncle a few genes promoting homosexu­ality—ensuring a clutch of “gay genes” in every generation. Study finds homosexuality natura; and possibly helpful I don't think this is incorrect. While many perverts and pederasts use homosexuality as a cover story, I think many people are honestly born gay. Gay men in particular also have a high rate of early death due to congenital defects. It could be that gay is nature's way of making extra caregivers. American conservatives like to bash homosexuals as a bunch of anti-family values perverts. However, they are only against family values when not given a better option, like a gay community. Observations at a gay pride parade(probably not safe for work due to url)

Actually we share alot of dna with mice and plants, so all we really are is a grotesque mice plant hybrid, except for our pesky nature of creating civilisation and pondering the meaning of existence. Small differences in DNA= major differences in traits.

All races are human... but... "Differences in culture are barriers to gene flow; over time, such barriers differentiate gene pools. Conversely, genetic intermixture bring separate gene pools closer together, but also serves to homogenize cultures." http://genetics.plosjournals.org/perlserv/...al.pgen.0040004

Even stranger how its more true today.

They will, but sex in itself is ultimately a frivolous way to spend your time and amounts to the same level of intimacy as masterbation. People hopefully realize this after college, but casual sex as a symbol for freedom seems to be the message plastured throughout our media and culture.