1. Saudi court tells girl aged EIGHT she cannot divorce husband who is 50 years her senior

Comment #305057 by IPV4 on December 22, 2008 at 3:08 pm

Barrel price reflects demand as much as supply, remember, and demand is low in the slumping global economy.

Mango,
If you think that the price of oil is based on just supply and demand then I have a bridge to sell you. As soon as the financial collapse starting happening the price of oil started plummeting. Did that many people stop driving/flying in one weeks time??? I think the price of oil of late has more to do with speculation then supply and demand. People stopped buying futures of oil therefore the price of oil dropped. Nothing to do with supply and demand. A quote from an oil executive when the price of oil was at 140/barrel was "a price of oil should be no more then 60/barrel."That is unregulated international derivatives have more to do with the rise and fall of oil prices.

2. The Saudis' dubious interfaith agenda at the UN

Comment #283375 by IPV4 on November 13, 2008 at 12:54 pm

Isn't it ironic the dictatorship of suad is actually just as militant or more so then the so called terrorist that the U.S. is chasing down? Quite a bit if hypocracy don’t you think,when your allies are actually in bed with the enemy and feed the flames of intolerance. Like I have said many times to the right wingers on this site, the war on terror is a farce unless you address the religious fanaticism that the house of suad breeds. It’s not by accident that many of the foreign fighters that are found in Iraq come from Saudia Arabia.

3. Sarah Palin's War on Science

Comment #275115 by IPV4 on October 30, 2008 at 8:00 pm

"Middle class families will see their taxes cut – and no family making less than $250,000 will see their taxes increase. The typical middle class family will receive well over $1,000 in tax relief under the Obama plan, and will pay tax rates that are 20% lower than they faced under President Reagan. According to the Tax Policy Center, the Obama plan provides three times as much tax relief for middle class families as the McCain plan."

Dam this guy is a socialist,his taxes plan will be lower then under Ronald reagans, the nerve of this guy.(:

4. Sarah Palin's War on Science

Comment #274732 by IPV4 on October 30, 2008 at 10:53 am

IPV4, Three Wars?

Chris,

1. War in Iraq
2. war in Afghanistan
3. war on Terror.

5. Sarah Palin's War on Science

Comment #274261 by IPV4 on October 29, 2008 at 8:17 pm

You all must be idiots if you think either candidate will not raise some sort of taxes. People, the U.S. is bankrupt with heavy debt, fighting 3 wars that they are funding by borrowing money from China. But if they were actually honest about the tax situation then neither would be voted in as president which is evident with some of the posts here that don't believe in raising taxes when you're in debt. Here is a simple analogy for people to follow if your house hold monthly income is 1 thousand a month and you have a habit of speding 4 thousand a month then we have a serious problem. The math is quite elementary but yet we are swimming in debt and that was before the "socialist" bailout of what you republicans like to call the free market economy.

6. Bill Maher's Religulous Opens Today

Comment #259473 by IPV4 on October 3, 2008 at 11:57 am

I'm not a fan of Mahers either. I find him painfully unfunny. He isn't bright, or clever.

Jon Stewart's the daily show is my comedy news show, and I will not betray him with pretenders!

Mahers only claims he isn't an atheist so he can attack without having to defend. He lacks the wit and knowledge to defend a position.

Wow, don't hold back , tell us how you really feel about the guy.

7. Bill Maher's Religulous Opens Today

Comment #259471 by IPV4 on October 3, 2008 at 11:55 am

I have 13 daily showings at 3 different cineplexes this weekend all within 5 miles of my house in the Pennsylvania suburbs...

I happened to be in lancaster,pa about a month ago and found it very disturbing the amount of radio stations that were of a religous nature on the FM dial.

8. Bill Maher's Religulous Opens Today

Comment #259455 by IPV4 on October 3, 2008 at 11:38 am

I can't get enough of the guy though I obviously don't agree with him 100% of the time on all issues but do enjoy his take on religion which if I am quoting him correctly is "it's all bullshit". I know we are going to hear some people complain about him usually they are from right wing leanings but aside from his political preferences you should respect him for his anti religious stance especially in light of the fact that he is the only person in America that has a show in front of a mainstream that audience that regularly bashes the hypocrisies of religion.

9. The world according to Hitchens

Comment #258807 by IPV4 on October 2, 2008 at 11:25 am

The supporters of the Iraq war have been wrong about everything.

That's a fact that is not even debatable

10. The world according to Hitchens

Comment #258798 by IPV4 on October 2, 2008 at 11:18 am

If we leave? Genocidal civil war, Saudi-Iranian proxy war. A pro-Iranian shi'a state may emerge, and destabilize the region. A MASSIVE refugee crisis as populations will transfer to surrounding Sunni states.

Leaving would mean disaster

Okay most you mentioned has happened as in massive refugees, I would consider the current millons displaced as being massive. At what point do we leave? And at what cost?

11. The world according to Hitchens

Comment #258795 by IPV4 on October 2, 2008 at 11:14 am

We know ???? I don't know , you tell me?

12. The world according to Hitchens

Comment #258772 by IPV4 on October 2, 2008 at 10:51 am

I guess I am going to have to get back into the frey but in order to continue I would like to consolidate the thoughts of the proponents of the iraq war. Please articulate why we are there? And most importantly what is to be gained by staying and or what is to be lost by leaving? Their has been a lot said spanning over multiple posts and would like some clarfications.

13. The world according to Hitchens

Comment #258137 by IPV4 on October 1, 2008 at 1:02 pm

I'm done feeding the troll.

14. The world according to Hitchens

Comment #258128 by IPV4 on October 1, 2008 at 12:52 pm

didn't go over my head. It was just inane. But what about their feelings about the leadership? You assume Iraqis had much to lose

I don't know how many times I can repeat this but here we go again, hundreds of thousands of civilians dead and millions displaced. Their is no argument about the cruelty of Saddam, the arguments lies in if the Iraqis are better off now then they were before and I bet you their are hundreds of thousands that are dead that wish Saddam was back. There is a lot of evil in the world that we just do nothing about ,to all of sudden hear people come out of the wood work in defense of the U.S. occupation in Iraq as noble cause is just incredulous especially in light that it had nothing to do with helping the Iraqi people.

15. The world according to Hitchens

Comment #258105 by IPV4 on October 1, 2008 at 12:28 pm

First of all, Russia did not install our leadership, support and arm it for 3 decades. Our leadership did not starve its people, use chemical weapons against it and start awful 8 year long wars with a country bordering us.

Our leadership did not roam around raping brides on their wedding nights. It did not fish in local rivers with hand grenades.

right ( we can argue our leader did a lot worse then that if you want to go into it in other countries)and to those people that were effected by Saddam who "WE" put in power as you mention , those people are much happier. The point that I was trying to make which went over your head is how would you feel if someone took out your leadership for good or bad reasons and as a result you had to lose everything.

16. The world according to Hitchens

Comment #258055 by IPV4 on October 1, 2008 at 11:48 am

You quote what I said and then you argue against something I didn't say. I clearly said in my post that the japanese most likely hated us right after the war because we killed there family members and ruined there towns and cities. But TODAY is a different story. TODAY is not 1945. TODAY, a lot of the people from that generation have died and its a new generation living in Japan. Just like we have a new generation in america who didn't have to deal with segregation. So will some Iraqi people hate us now? Yes most likely because of all the reasons you said, even though there are many iraqis who don't hate us, but I am sure you want to ignore those people who actually like us there.

Okay and my arugment is that is this killing okay because future generations will forget and possibly be our allies? Was this the proper war in the right country?
I also do give the troops credit for being in shit hole they never should of been in.

17. The world according to Hitchens

Comment #257790 by IPV4 on October 1, 2008 at 5:48 am

I am sure the japanese hated our guts also when we bombed the hell out of them. 70 years later its a different story though. If what you say is true then why doesn't al queda have millions of soldiers at there disposal? We should be losing in Iraq if what you say is true, but we are not. Iraqis are starting to see that the real enemy are extremist, not americans. I know you would like to ignore how much better things have gotten in Iraq over the past year, but I dont ignore that.

Is this a troll attempt.. this must be a joke. So by your logic , we invade a country, slaughter hundreds of thousands but in due time these people will learn to love us. Well why don't you try putting yourself in someone elses shoes for a second. Just imagine russia invades the U.S. and during the so called "liberation" millions of civilians perish which would be the equivalent of the iraqi deaths that we have today. Imagine now during this process the most dearest to you have either been killed or severly injured should you now be thankful to the occupying powers???????
Comparing Japan to iraq are like comparing apples to oranges, it's just not a good analogy. We can go into that if you would like one difference would be a insurgency from what the americans call it and freedom fighters from what the Iraqis call them. And the only reason you are now seeing a reverse of fortune in iraq is due the large american cash subsidies. For the record Al qaeda is not an army and their numbers have surged most of them being in saudia arabai and pakistan. But wait a second didn't someone say that Iraq has something to do with 911???

18. The world according to Hitchens

Comment #257451 by IPV4 on September 30, 2008 at 12:58 pm

Once again, show me where I went wrong. All you are doing is saying I am wrong but not actually proving anything. Its like when a christian tells me I am wrong for not believing in god, but never proves to me why I am wrong.

If you did not make the case about why we are in Iraq being a beacon of truth for the price of freedom then I will secede my criticism. But to use arm force as a means to an end is a futile enterprise unless that end is vanquishing an opponent's army. But what we have in iraq will never be won by mere force which evident in General Perteaus recent interviews. But the price we are paying in blood and treasure to me is not worth the sacrifice.

I don't listen to Rush, I do listen to Hannity sometimes though so you got me on that one.

Yes ,it comes out loud and clear.

I also try and listen to liberal talk radio but all they do is whine and bitch like children, and that gets annoying fast.

Yes, it gets annoying real fast not as a result of just the bitching,(they bitch just as much on hannity) but as a result of challenging your thought process on what you feel is right. Bottom line is when you take this simplistic view narrowing camps down into either left of right is just juvenile based on a comment that is made that might disparage your country. BTW, extreme patriotism is like a religion especially when it prevents you from thinking logically.

19. The world according to Hitchens

Comment #257321 by IPV4 on September 30, 2008 at 10:08 am

How about you stop listening to left wing radio telling you how evil and bad this country is. The reason liberal radio gets no ratings is because all they do is tell americans what worthless pieces of shit they are. Sorry if I don't think about americans that way.

Yes, bombing a country that never attacked you is not evil we were just sending them well wishes. Millions displaced, not evil we just thought we help find some beach front property away from the violence and the ethnic cleansing. Hundreds of thousands of civilians killed , we were just putting them out of the misery because they wanted to die anyway. What are you freaking kidding me. Your an atheist ,but it appears you have replaced one religion for another. People should not think about americans in that manner that all american are being evil but you should be able to openly critisize your goverment wether it's democratic or republican without being labeled as a "liberal". If that is your definition of a liberal then I don't know what else I can say to you other then to encourage you to keep your nose down in the books and away from the rushlimbaugh, and the sean hannities of the air waves.

Also, tell me what I said wrong that I need to read a history book?

If you think that U.S. are in the business of spreading democracies then you show a lack of knowledge in history.

20. The world according to Hitchens

Comment #256964 by IPV4 on September 29, 2008 at 8:32 pm

Darwinpitbull,

Your right the Japanese are so much better off since we hit them with atomic bombs.. they should be so thankful for our kindness. And Iraq wow.. those people should be even more thankful, who gives a fuck how many hundreds of thousands of civilians that have perished for the sake of your so called "FREEDOM" or the millions that are displaced. They should just say thank you for blowing the shit out their country for as you say spread freedom even though all around the world and throughout history we have done a great job at propping up dictators over democratically elected leaders.. I thank you for clearing the air and showing us all how the thankful the world should be for having the U.S.A spread democracyloloollololollollolloolol. You need to stop listening to American right wing radio and start reading some history books

21. The world according to Hitchens

Comment #255805 by IPV4 on September 28, 2008 at 9:08 am

1) Have you not seen the news in the past year? Aren't you aware of how the Americans are now largely very chummy with the Iraqis who have joined forces to send Al-Qaeda packing? Clearly you stopped watching the news the minute the bad news stopped coming out of Iraq. Would you prefer to have the revolting regime of Saddam back? Do you not acknowledge the merits of this long-term worthwhile struggle? You can't expect a backward country such as Iraq to be turned around in five minutes.

Clearly you have not paid attention to the news that millions of people have been displaced from their homes and hundreds of thousands have been killed. Clearly you haven't been following the news that Sadaam was put into power by the U.S. and kept there by the U.S. even after the gulf war 1..hmmmm I wonder why that was..hmmm. Clearly you haven't been following the news that theirs still bombings going on albeit less due to tribal chiefs getting paid enormous amounts of money why the U.S. economy languishes. Let me tell you something buddy for all the "evil"stuff that Sadaam a U.S. backed dictator has done in his life seems to pale in comparison to the dysfunction that we are seeing now in iraq. You call this a worthwhile struggle? Please define what this "struggle" is for? Do you think it's prudent to spend 10 billion dollars a month on a war(which you borrow from China) you never had to fight from a country that never attacked you and that was one of the more secular in the middle east while it's neighbor saudia arabia a major U.S. ally has by far the most militant society in the region.( many of iraqi suicide bomber have come from saudia arabia.)

22. Russian woman put on trial in Dubai for drinking juice in public

Comment #254911 by IPV4 on September 26, 2008 at 11:46 am

For all the people that are saying they should have known the laws, I call bullshit. Who would possibly think in their right mind even in a muslim country that you were unable to consume or eat which a most natural act to sustain ones self in light of country known to be more secular then its neighbors. How many of you have read the laws of specific states in the U.S. before visiting? Have you any idea of some of the anti gay laws that are on the books that sound like they come from a theocracy? It's also possible that they were aware of it but due to force of habit they partook of this evil beverage....may they go to hell for it.

23. Saudi OKs Killing 'Immoral' TV Execs

Comment #246796 by IPV4 on September 13, 2008 at 8:11 am

This article just makes my head spin and just reiterates to me how far humanity still has to go. Brain washing(religious doctrination) does wonders for the mind.

24. Richard Dawkins and Bill Maher

Comment #161789 by IPV4 on April 15, 2008 at 5:08 pm

FALCON

I thought so, no argument.

25. Richard Dawkins and Bill Maher

Comment #161479 by IPV4 on April 15, 2008 at 10:37 am

So those greedy and heartless car companies rejected the electric car because it would hurt foreign economies? Do you even listen to what you're saying?

It's just not the foreign economies,it's the corporations that make trillions of dollars off this liquid crack. If you don't think power and money which the oil industry has plenty don't write the rules of the game then we need stop this debate. You are are, judging from your rants a right winger and seem to follow the "rush Libaugh" school of thought.

BTW, over 50,000 electric cars exist in America, with an average growth of 30% per year. I guess no one "killed the electric car."

If you consider Goat carts the equivalent to the everyday car then your statistic is valid. These type of vehicles are not the eqivalent to their combustion counter part in size.Walk into your into some dealer near your home and see if you can buy an electric car. I guarantee you cannot.
Wow, you did a wikipedia search and cherry picked information,I am impressed,not(Cherry picking does have a ring of familiarity to it hmm). You lost this debate but continue to be arrogant in the face of the evidence, you should man up and face defeat with honor rather then clinging to your right wing ideology much like a religoius person cling to their beliefs in the face of evidence. It's very ironic on this site to find people like you posting here. Here is some more evidence
http://www.teslamotors.com/
Why hasn't any of the major car manufactures built and sold or mass produced a technology as the one from tesla motors? This is a very miniscule company , surely companies with billion dollar budgets and all that comes with it have the engineers to develope and mass produce quality electric cars.

The same people who staged the Moon landing, I suppose...

You are again being intellectually dishonest or refuse to pay attention to evidence.Fact:" In 1996 The GM ev1 production electric vehicle is made available for consumers at 400 - 500 dollars a month". Surely this is affordable to most Americans yet this was only offered in california and I believe arizona. Here, you do the research and stop bothering me with your weak rebuttals.
research :http://www.sonyclassics.com/whokilledtheelectriccar/electric.html

26. Richard Dawkins and Bill Maher

Comment #161126 by IPV4 on April 14, 2008 at 9:07 pm

IP4: I've heard this argument a million times too. That car companies can build a car that doesn't run on oil but they keep the technology suppressed.

Go see "who killed the electric car" genius. Are you that intellectually lazy that you cannot even do your own research. The information is out their but you choose not find it because it does not fit cleanly into your idea of the world we live in. Let me help you and give you a fact. "The electric car has been around for over "100 YEARS". Draw your own conclusion from this. Oh , by the way Gm is coming out with hybrid electric next year that goes 40 miles on battery before using gas it's called the "VOLT", this technology has existed for quite some time. 10 years prior, they had a pure electric car that they leased but never sold.

Yea....sure. Never mind the fact that a car that doesn't run on oil (or consumes a lot less) would be a modern-day gold mine for the manufacturing companies. But you go ahead and keep believing that there is a massive conspiracy in the works to suppress technology...

Certain coutries economies would cease to exist if oil was no longer being used.

27. Richard Dawkins and Bill Maher

Comment #160153 by IPV4 on April 13, 2008 at 6:19 pm

Colwyn Abernathy

WWeeeeellllll...not necessarily. Just research the short-lived demise of General Motors BRILLIANT little vehicle: the EV-1. It coulda been BIG, coulda been a contender. Those who KNEW about it wanted one. Big ol' waiting list. The infrastructure was ready for California consumers. What did GM do? Offered only leases with no option to buy, scrimped on advertising that was pathetic compared to its Hummer line. We HAVE the technology, consumers that know about it, WANT the technology. Where is it? Why are we wasting time and research on the infeasible hydrogen cell when electricity would be able to fill the gap UNTIL such technology is even remotely feasible? Oh, and the Tesla Roadster? DO WANT! :)

Right, I am very familiar with this car and the next generation version would of blown the doors off the oil industry but they(GM, and the powers that be) never intended to sell them in the first place , that is the reason why as you mentioned they were only leased and only offered in two states.I agree with you in regards with the hydrogen fuel cell , they call this "smoke and mirrors".

28. Richard Dawkins and Bill Maher

Comment #159862 by IPV4 on April 13, 2008 at 9:25 am

For those who keep carrying on about the oil companies and about how the market dictates this or that, is a bunch of bull shit. Oil is the biggest scam of the century. Their is not reason why 80% of cars are not running on batteries. In the U.S.A 70% or all drivers travel less then 40 miles a day. Put that fact in your hat and smoke it. For those who think that if you don't like a product don't buy it, wow, that is very clever of you. The problem is that due some invisible hand certain product don't ever get made. The biggest culprit is called mass manufacturing and only the biggest companies have theh ablities to take advantage of these economies of scale. Go research http://www.teslamotors.com/ which has the technology to put oil companies out of business. Their are other companies such as http://calcars.org/ which are made up of a handful of engineers that are able add a kit to your toyota prius and make it drive 100 to 200mpg. Now why is that the major auto companies with these tremendous R&D budgets not making such vehicles. I can go on and on about technoligies that are easily feasible for the 5 major car companies to create but they don't.

29. Richard Dawkins and Bill Maher

Comment #159643 by IPV4 on April 12, 2008 at 5:19 pm

Your comments are particularly disappointing for someone who was raised a Catholic. To me, a Catholic mass is a splendid synthesis of many branches of the arts, including architecture, drama, music, and literature. Anyone who has witnessed a Catholic rite in a building like St. Peter in Rome must be convinced of this [Yes I know, there are a lot of bad services in ugly church buildings - I don't go there, as I am a cultural Catholic, not a Christian believer]. The Catholic rite, with its Latin prayers, its robes, its historically grown order, is one of the few elements of (late) Ancient Roman culture that we still posses today IN LIVING FORM. To sum this up, the Catholic Church as an institution is as exciting for historians as the discovery of a living prehistoric animal would be for zoologists

You must be kidding me? You are are trolling my friend and are not an atheist. Yes you can respect the architecture , the art and so forth but if you are activley participating in your church traditions as a catholic then you are just feeding the fire and are no better then the actual believers which you probably are.

30. Richard Dawkins and Bill Maher

Comment #159481 by IPV4 on April 12, 2008 at 9:23 am

*brilliant, supposedly funny over-simplification copyrighted by Bill Maher
** my insults to Mr Maher are based on very good evidence: just listen to what the guy says on literally any topic, i.e. religion, Europe, Iraq, his hero George Galloway etc.

Based on good evidence but does not list any.spoken like a true republican.

31. Richard Dawkins and Bill Maher

Comment #159479 by IPV4 on April 12, 2008 at 9:16 am

So what? Should we then endorse every dim witted, obnoxious, attention seeking celebrity who just happens to be an atheist?

No, though I disaggree with you opinion about him , I was just pointing out as an Atheist living in america hearing his left wing perspective and his views on god is unique and a breath of fresh air. Most people that don't approve of him usually are from right wing leanings. Is that the case for you bonzai?

32. Richard Dawkins and Bill Maher

Comment #159457 by IPV4 on April 12, 2008 at 8:26 am

For those who Bash Bill Maher let it be known that he is the only person on TV/Cable in the USA that openly bashes god and religion for what it really is and does it no matter who is on his panel. This is a breath of fresh air in america where discourse on God and religion are held inside an impentrable fortress that know one dares to attack.

33. Sam Harris debate with Rabbi David Wolpe

Comment #108773 by IPV4 on January 7, 2008 at 2:59 pm

344. Comment #108718 by Steve Wrathall on January 7, 2008 at 1:13 pm

As already mentioned the indirect support of these dirty technoligies is far costlier on human beings then you can put a price on it, as well as not cheaper when considering the health care cost of having coal plants and so forth. As far as solar energy they are now becoming competitive.

"If you do the research about electric cars and some of the companies that have the technologies that exist today,"
Some of us want to be able to travel more than 100 km without recharging. If you have this miracle technology in your back pocket, build it.
See, this shows that you are talking without doing the research.

Okay considering 78% of commuters travel less then 40 miles a day I think that would be significantly better(100miles) then supporting rogue regimes with oil money as well as destroy our environment. Besides that, we are beyond that point, have you heard of Tesla motors? You should research them, they sell high end sport electric cars that are a lot costlier then you average car and get more then 300 miles I believe to a charge. They are not the first ones either. The problem is mass manufacturing them so they can become cheaper. How convenient it is that our big auto companies with all the billions of dollars and resources at their disposal as well as huge Research and development labs are not willing to do it.
Take one example the Toyotas prius, great fuel efficiency, but why does it take 3 electrical engineers in a garage to create kits for them so they can get 100-200 miles to a gallon. http://www.calcars.org/about.html
Imagine the resources and talent within the big 3 auto companies and what they are capable of doing. The electric car has been around for over 100 years. A great deal of people are not aware of this fact. Here is another intersting link that you might like it's a guess what? A solar car thats right a solar car imagine that.http://www.physorg.com/news113135176.html
.

34. Sam Harris debate with Rabbi David Wolpe

Comment #108653 by IPV4 on January 7, 2008 at 11:44 am

313. Comment #108316 by Steve Wrathall on January 6, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Harris makes a comment to the effect that we don't sacrifice children anymore in the hope that the weather will be changed.
Actually that's exactly what the Kyoto Treaty seeks to do: weaken economies and deny poor countries access to cheap, reliable energy in the belief that the weather 100 years from now will be 0.07 degrees C cooler



Actually scientist's models predicting more than 4 degrees C as average when nothing is done, some models predicting 10 degrees"This is a common sleight of hand: To allude to scientific consensus, and then imply that the most extremist warming predictions are part of that consensus. Your predictions of 4 deg C+ fly in the face of the NO global warming since 1998. These wild projections assume the climate is dominated by positive feedback. Over 3 billion years of life support shows the opposite is true.

Wow, I hate to throw labels here but you sound like a typical American conservative with your pro-oil stance. Based on your statements it is apparent that you have been thoroughly brain washed (much like religious people) to think that oil or coal is the answers to poor countries, which I find to be just ludicrous. I believe this shows your lack of research in alternative energy and where were are today with them , as well as the efficiency that have been gained in just that last few years. There are different arguments here at play but let's just take oil. Most people don't have the slightest idea of the indirect cost the to American tax payer to use oil in cars. Part of the cost includes wars and the largest and most expensive military in the history of the world. You think you're just paying 100 dollars a barrel for oil, is a joke, you are paying triple that which would make most alternative energies completely feasible in America. Bottom line is, oil is not needed to fuel the majority of American vehicles period. If you do the research about electric cars and some of the companies that have the technologies that exist today, you will find this to be true.

35. Sam Harris debate with Rabbi David Wolpe

Comment #108569 by IPV4 on January 7, 2008 at 8:58 am

Sam, keep up the good fight, I love these debates. I honestly believe that wolpe does not believe his own bullshit but has invested too much of his life to it to turn back.

36. Ayaan Hirsi Ali versus Timothy Garton Ash

Comment #97962 by IPV4 on December 12, 2007 at 10:11 pm

I love the way that timothy inaccuratley presumes that beheading apostastes is not in the Koran. What a crock of shit. Do your homework Tim before making outlandish claims less you sound like an islamic apologist.

37. This deadly religious resistance to vaccinations

Comment #97812 by IPV4 on December 12, 2007 at 5:07 pm

This is why we have to fight the good fight as long as it takes and to never become complacent. This is going to take many years but it is a fight that has to be fought ,we must keep putting peoples religous beliefs under a microscope of ridicule where it belongs.

38. An Open Letter to Richard Dawkins

Comment #97645 by IPV4 on December 12, 2007 at 1:20 pm

Comment #96623 by Atticus_of_Amber on December 10, 2007 at 7:09 pm

Good job on your letter, I think you did a fine job expressing your thoughts against his shortcomings.

39. Daniel Dennett Debates Dinesh D'Souza

Comment #94053 by IPV4 on December 4, 2007 at 4:39 pm

I love Daniel Dennets insights on atheism and such but do think he handled this debate poorly with Dinesh. I feel that he could done alot better at calling Dinesh out on his stupifying analogies such as the one when he compares the intellect of a human to that of a animal His reasoning that we will never understand the mysteries of God just like the way a dog will never understand calculus,something to that effect.

40. Stem cell breakthrough

Comment #90747 by IPV4 on November 26, 2007 at 8:50 am

This is excellent work done by the japanese scientist but to bad the religous right as well as right wing politicians in the U.S.are already saying "I told you so".

41. Romney's Mormonism is fair game

Comment #89726 by IPV4 on November 21, 2007 at 3:37 pm

There are only two Republicans in the race that would not be total disasters, possibly worse than Bush, and they are McCain and Romney.

I'm a New Yorker and still think Rudy would be a horrible president even though he wasnt too bad as our mayor.

42. Ayaan Hirsi Ali: abandoned to fanatics

Comment #77740 by IPV4 on October 10, 2007 at 11:25 am

I concur with Bonzai's assessment.Well said.

43. Ayaan Hirsi Ali: abandoned to fanatics

Comment #77707 by IPV4 on October 10, 2007 at 8:42 am

So a free enterprise, economic forum, have the former head of the World Bank on board...shock horror!

Some of us think that reflects well on the AEI, some of us, heaven forbid, think rather well of Paul Wolfowitz...Golly gosh, there are people who are atheists who have differing views on economics and politics... not all atheists are Lefties....surprise, surprise!

If you don't like Hirsi Ali's politics that's fine. She is however a self declared atheist, an apostate and outspoken critique of Islam. She is at very real risk of attack from Koranic literalist Muslims. She should be protected; the Dutch government's stance on this has been nothing less than disgraceful.

All power to the AEI for sponsoring Hirsi Ali and providing her with a platform.

We as Atheist have a rational response to why we don't believe in god, zeus, thor, fairy tales because their is no evidence that any of these flying fairies exist, evidence is the operable word here. History and evidence has proven that Paul Wolfowitz and his Ilk responsible for the misery of millions of people. Surpise, surprise this is not a left or right issue this is a matter of looking at the evidence and of the plethora of facts that exist. It's funny when people spout distaste with a political figure they are automatically labeled as left or right.

44. Ayaan Hirsi Ali: abandoned to fanatics

Comment #77593 by IPV4 on October 9, 2007 at 7:33 pm

American Enterprise Institute includes such people as Paul Wolfowitz (visiting scholar) and Lynne Cheney, Dick Cheney's wife.

Yes, those three are intellectual giants.LOl.

45. Ayaan Hirsi Ali: abandoned to fanatics

Comment #77570 by IPV4 on October 9, 2007 at 5:42 pm

Thanks DEEP13 for educating those that did not know what the american enterpirise group stood for. And I aslo happen to agree with BAEOZ who says that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend".

46. Ayaan Hirsi Ali: abandoned to fanatics

Comment #77544 by IPV4 on October 9, 2007 at 3:30 pm

I still need an explanation why she, while protesting against Muslim extremists, worked for Christian extremists, American Enterprise Institute?

Yes, I am quite curious about this myself.

47. The Price of Freedom

Comment #77457 by IPV4 on October 9, 2007 at 11:06 am

JIMBOB,


Your right , what I did was a cheap shot but I could not resist given the reasons given by Keith for why Hitchens thought it was a good reason to go invade another country that never attacked us or for that matter was never a threat to us. It appears these answers were taken right out the talking points of a popular right wing neocon radio host in the U.S. called Rush Limbaugh or the fox news chanell.

"Just let me give you one or two pointers why Hitchens might have supported the invasion. Whereas some people like to depict this decision as being either for war or for peace (just read the peace marchers' banners), others have depicted it as war on the one hand versus continued torture of the Iraqi population"

Based on this sentence then we might as well be fighting a majority of the countries in the Middle East. Right, we took out a dictator and torturer that we put in power supported, armed and was a one time ally. Now you have displaced millions of people to this ill conceived war. Most Iraqis consider Saddams rule Disney land compared to what they have here now. Non existent electricity , non existent clean running water and so forth.

"the continuation of sanctions leading to millions of deaths, especially children"
Lets see now, who created the sanctions? We saw that the sanctions were not working so he could be argued that the someone else holds some responsibility to these deaths. C'mon become more original with your thoughts. You spout all the talking points that were propagandized prior to run up to the war. Millions are suffering around the world and the world Governments are paralyzed to do a dam thing! It's only due to progressive activist that we see anything going on in Darfur. Here is a genocide that requires actual armed conflict to stop the mass killing of 2 million people yet we can't get our act together and help these poor people outside of some charities and political activism. Millions of died in other wars in Africa and in other places but we don't do a dam THING! So to bring up the suffering of Iraq as a reason to invade a country is just ridiculous when looked at in a greater context to what's going on in the world today

"Saddam continuing not to cooperate with the weapons inspectors and noting that there are no repercussions to this from the UN and presumably drawing his own conclusions from this fact (as would the rest of the (Islamic) world);"
Yes , this was a good reason to invade a country to displace millions and kill hundreds of thousands. It has been documented by the inspectors themselves that he did NOT have any ability to produce weapons of mass destruction. North Korea has the bomb and has half of their population starving to death yet you feel the need to invade Iraq who was not a threat to anyone but his people and possible Israel. The big difference of the two countries has to do with what you put in your car.OIL! Alan Greenspan just recently said same thing , if Iraq did not have oil we would have nothing to do with it… it's that simple.

" Saddam continuing to support terrorism;"

Yes, and the U.S is a key ally to country that causes 50% of the suicide bombings in the Iraq. Maybe you have heard of this country it's called Saudi Arabia. His support of terrorism was nothing in comparison to Saudi Arabia. Al Qaeda never liked Saddam as far as they were concerned he was too secular.

"the idea that perhaps the coalition could achieve what it had done in northern Iraq ten years earlier, which is now a well-functioning state."

Yes what you fail to realize was that these people where of one ethnicity they call themselves Kurds sir. And what you have today in Iraq is called a civil war due to the different ethnic and religious factions. Saddam strong armed policy which was supported by Americans because he was able to control them through as you have already mentioned his torture and killing tactics which is why the CIA loved this man until they were no longer able to control him.

The thing to remember is that inaction also has its consequences and although you might have had a clear conscience opposing the war you would at the same time have been responsible for keeping a steady flow of Iraqis going through Saddam's torture chambers.
So now they go through U.S torture chambers , what are you talking about? Have you been a republican induced Coma for that last 5 years? We would of made Saddam proud in the way we are now able to induce torture on a mass scale.
"In retrospect, this seems a very small trade off for the catastrophic mess that Iraq now finds itself in, but it was a trade off all the same. Four years ago, would you have spent sleepless nights worrying about some poor forgotten sod rotting in an Iraqi jail because you had opted to keep him there? I suspect not. Out of sight, out of mind, eh? "

But the CIA torture chamber are like a 5 star hotel.

"I just voted for peace".

Doesn't sound like it.


I apologize to everyone on this thread to continue this argument and would leave now leave it alone, being that this not the proper place. but spending time in Iraq and seeing the atrocities first hand makes it kind of personal when people spout the propaganda that has gotten us into this war in the first place. If people feel the need to continue to correspond with me regarding this matter then please feel free to send me a private message.

48. The Price of Freedom

Comment #77410 by IPV4 on October 9, 2007 at 8:25 am

Keith,

Spoken like a true neocon.

49. The Price of Freedom

Comment #77213 by IPV4 on October 8, 2007 at 7:29 pm

This man is a genius in my eyes when it comes to leading the Atheist cause but recently I have read some of articles defending the Iraq war and the so called weapon of mass destruction ... and I'm like this can't be the same person. He needs to come clean on his barbaric need to see hundreds of thousand of people die for lies. I know I'm going to get a bunch of shit about how this is brought up every time he is on Dawkins site but it's really unreal because hearing him talk so eloquently on philosophy , relgion and so forth you have to be taken back with his arsenal of words and facts that hang so effortlessly from his tongue and think that this man is brilliant. But then you read these articles about the Iraq war and you become dumbfounded in disbelief. As atheist we pride ourselves on believing what is real and what is not , what can't be proved and what can. When don't take things at face value we are constantly in search for the truth and just don't follow the mob mentality. It appears in Hitchens case that he has more faith then what he leads us to believe, case in point the weapons of mass destruction that where never found even after the evidence and testimony by experts and military Generasl in the U.S. armed forces stating that Sadam did not have this capability but yet still richard (Even Bush concedes this point) believes blindly in defiance of the facts. Did I mention that he was a remarkable Atheist though.

50. Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #76624 by IPV4 on October 6, 2007 at 1:07 pm

Where is the rest of this interview? It sounds like this clip was cut short.