Truthosaurus's Comments (771)

“The Catholic Church has positions on a whole bunch of things, including abortion. Kennedy has freedom to choose another religion, if he wants a religion that supports his personal positions. Freedom of religion is not demanding that a religious group accept your position, when your belief and actions run counter to the church teachings. My suggestion as an atheist, is that he leave the church, because you got to question Kennedy's judgment belonging to an authoritarian organization that discriminates against women with all male leadership. The Catholic Church's abortion stand is the least of the problems with that organization.”

“Along with all the other religious people who share some blame, by legitimizing the existence of gods, who supposedly communicate with humans and tell them what to do. Religious people legitimize the supernatural for Hasan, but then complain when Hasan's version of a god tells him to do something they don't like. If people really want to improve the situation, a start would be to quit running around telling everyone that gods exist.”

“Yes I agree, that part is way over the top and seemingly generalized. As a male, that was not part of any ritual in my subculture. No way I or any of my friends would have put up with that going on. Although it may be part of some horrible ritual in some youth/gang subcultures. Problem is, it's difficult to have honest critique of cultures, because some people confuse culture with race.”

“We don't know for sure what happened. But we all have our biases which may lead to a certain kind of narrative forming, as you do as well given flavor of your post. I did some quick research online, and it seems there is security video, and it will be introduced in court, and based on the prosecutor assessment it doesn't look too good for Ms. Ellis side of the story. Do I believe the prosecutor without question? No. I don't believe anyone until I can examine the evidence. I do question Ms. Ellis credibility as she seems unable to admit to any wrong doing at all, not even for cutting in line. Instead everyone else is racist and to blame.”

““Ms. Ellis can be very clearly seen in the video shoving the merchandise of the next customer in line back from the register and trying to place her own in front of it,” Sokoloff wrote in his letter. “The video also clearly shows her cursing at the officers as they followed her out of the store, it also clearly shows that there was no excessive force used in the arrest and that Ms. Ellis was not lifted off the ground. Further despite your report that there were no injured victims, one officer sustained a split lip from a punch thrown by the ‘innocent’ Ms. Ellis and another bruised shin where she kicked him. Further, the E.R. records of Ms. Ellis’ visit show no visible injuries. “

The above is from the North Dallas Gazette, quoted from the prosecuting attorney. I am not claiming it tells the full story, and it would not surprise me if there was some bad behavior from several parties. But it is suspicious that Ms. Ellis seems to take no responsibility at all for any wrong doing in the matter, even for cutting in line. Instead the fault is with everyone around her.”

“Forget about Swine Flue, the major problem we face is "Restless Leg Syndrome". It must be a big problem, because there are many commercials on television about it, with various medications to protect the public from this latest scourge;)”

“I just want to say that I appreciate these comments coming from the Queen. It’s a good thing to have monarchs in that part of the world who know what is going on. I think they are the best persons for the job of improving the situation in the region and bringing modernization.”

“Thanks for your posts on the subject. Nice to have this type of content and evaluation.”

“Yes, I think this is mostly about making some money, and Palin has little intention of ever running for office again. The goal now is to keep her name in the news for book sales and maybe speaking engagements.”

“"So you're saying all US Presidents bow or have bowed to the emperor of Japan, and it's normal protocol? Got links?"

No, I am not saying that. My post was in jest, hence the sarcasm sign. I was making fun of some people calling others uncultured for not showing proper respect for divine birthright. Obama should not have been bowing so low and often in his role as elected leader of a people with democratic ideals, not in front of some emperor through birthright. It is not a huge deal like some may play up, but hopefully next time a mild bow of greeting will suffice.”

“A key thing to keep in mind is that the Emperor is a person born into privilege inherited through divine birthright. President Obama is merely an elected leader. As such, it makes sense for a president to bow low before the emperor. The problem is that Americans don’t get out much, and are just too uncultured to understand this sign of respect for birthright;)”

“He is an emperor which stands for privilege through birthright. Sometimes even divine birthright no less. We need not respect the man or culture in that regard. And given that the president is an elected leader on behalf of a country with democratic ideals, which does not support divine birthright of emperors and kings, a mild bow of greeting would have sufficed. Enough with this silliness that somehow we need respect something by slapping "culture" on it. There are plenty of aspects of cultures that should not be respected.”

“Yet the "justice system" doesn't always result in justice. It appears social standing and access to money has a determination on the outcome, among other things. And the assignment of lesser or greater penalties for certain crimes does indeed cater to particular victims at the expense of others. So I have little problem with Pearl's parents speaking out, given how easily the "justice system" is gamed by others.”

“Respect is not something that is demanded or expected, it is something that is earned. Maybe the "emperor" is a nice guy or maybe not. But he is not an elected official, he is a person born of privilege. Coming from an elected president representing all Americans who value democracy, a mild bow would have sufficed. It is ironic you write of a "superior than thou attitude" when we are talking about an "emperor". Superiority through birthright. Hard to believe we even have these monarchs in this day and age.”

“Cultural standards and protocol? The "do it that way because it has always been done that way" excuse. One of the poorest excuses for doing something. Plus it is not even clear that this unequal bowing was necessary by claimed standards. A slight and simple bow of greeting (hopefully reciprocated) would have sufficed. And any deference to those crooks who rule in the Middle East should also be taken to task regardless of who does it. One excuse I could see for the unequal and exaggerated bow, would be claiming that Obama was bowing as sign of respect for an elder. But again, he is president and needs to keep in mind that he represents Americans when interacting with unelected leaders of privilege.”

“I agree. A mild bow from both parties could be viewed as a simple greeting, as some people here are trying to claim, but that did not occur. The "emperor" seems to have barely moved while Obama bent way down. Who elected the "emperor"? As the elected head of the USA, Obama represents all it's citizens, and I don't like to see the president making undue acknowledgement or deference to any unelected royals of privilege. A slight bow of greeting would have sufficed. This issue is a mild one that may be blown out of proportion by the opposition, but I still would rather Obama had not bowed in the manner he did.”

“Sarah Palin is done with political office. I believe she has no intention to ever run for political office again. Her main goal now is to make money. It is a mistake to judge her actions as if she were going to run for political office. The "pity Couric" and other comments keep her in the news and give publicity for her book. Mission accomplished. Going forward, she will need to stay in the public eye, be seen as a power player supporting certain candidates, and she will want to keep her constituency who supported her in prior elections (for influence and as buyers). This is all to maximize earning potential.”

“The president said that policy should be set and argument made in government, not by claiming a god wants something, but by basing the policy and argument on sound reasoning and evidence in this world. But now it seems, the president is taking his cue on same sex marriage from a god. Problem. Obama is not following his own admonition. President Obama is not a cleric. He holds a secular office. Whatever exists now in terms of the State involvement should be equally open to same sex couples. Equal rights. Simple. Whatever religious people wish to go on in their churches is their business. If you are religious, then don't have your version of a god recognize the union, if that makes you feel better.”

“Correct. Whatever is available now in terms of legal marriage contract with the State, should be equally available to same sex couples. Equal rights for marriage. What the various religions wish to do at their churches is their problem. If certain religious people do not want a same sex ceremony at their church, then they should not have the ceremony at their church.”

“"The president, both during the campaign and since taking office, has expressed support for civil unions, but insisted that his religious beliefs prevent him from backing full-fledged marriage equality for gay couples."

This is unacceptable. We already had the previous president apparently making decisions based on his beliefs about the supernatural and what a god was wanting him to do. Now it seems we have the current president engaging in similar conduct? If President Obama wishes to deny gay marriage, then we must press him to do it based on his own previously stated standard, on the merits in terms of reason and evidence in this world, not on his belief in any gods.”

“Maybe if the media weren't in such a mad rush to break a story and beat opponents to air/print, everyone could take the time to sort things out and get it right. It's absurd to blame the military for not knowing exactly what happened and who's bullets hit whom shortly after the events. And I don't buy this white/black trumped up controversy either. This is 24 hour news cycle fluff. If the military made any mistake, it was mainly in not telling the media to take a hike, until what occurred could be sorted out.”

“There are plenty of people on both sides unwilling or unable to stick to discussion of the issues. Hillary was personally attacked by supporters of other candidates on the left during the campaign. Humans are kind of messed up. We evolved to handle certain conditions to survive, not necessarily to always be rational and logical. That takes work and doesn't all come naturally. How to think and have reasoned discourse should be taught more in the schools and at home. But the conflict, shouting and personal attacks obviously hold some allure, else they would not be so prevalent and popular.”

“Like sportscaster Keith Olbermann.”

“Indeed, if the claim is legit in terms of how a proposed destruction scene of an Islamic holy site was considered and pulled, and the reason given for not shooting the scene is also correctly stated, that is the critical point as you mention. It speaks to the issue of Islam getting different treatment and why. I would want to verify the source though.”

“Regardless of this current movie silliness, it's still true that large numbers of news agencies did not show certain cartoons. You all know the cartoons to which I refer. What part fear played in the decision process is legitimate discussion. Because given the results when these cartoons were published, you would have to be quite dense not to have some concerns, including for personal safety.

By the way, I am an atheist who is equal opportunity in terms of critique of religious belief. But it is quite odd the tongue lashing Christianity gets sometimes including in these pages compared to Islam. Perhaps because some people don’t know enough about Islam. I was just reading a religious guide to the Hajj, you want to talk about out there. Want to know what to do about a "wet dream” during the Hajj, read a guide, including pages on how to properly throw pebbles. Honestly, read one of the guides and you will wonder how on earth anyone follows this thing.”