Pioneer1

Troy Have you ever heard of Project Star Gate? http://www.remotevie...ry_military.htm The U.S. military has invested millions of dollars and decades studying Remote Viewing and being able to gather information by telepathy. It's hard to imagine that a practical institution like the Pentagon would invest so much money and time in a fairytale dreamed up by the Brothers Grimm. Further, there are millions of people who have mastered the art of Lucid Dreaming (being able to control your dreams). The proof is there; now whether you want to accept it or not is a different matter.

Cynique "Puleeze, Pioneer. You, and your god-complex are so emeshed in your ego-driven pontificating that you think you speak the gospel. You don't. You don't know anymore than anybody else on this subject. You're just parroting what is comfortable for you to believe. It's increasingly obvious, that you cannot wrap your brain around anything that rejects your premise. Let me clarify that the difference between me and you on this subject. I express a sentiment, but my ultimate sentiment is that I don't know the unknowable. Your position is: This is what I believe because I know everything and I am irrefutably right." Uh huh...... Well, I think I'll just overlook the little temper tantrum that made up the first 75% of your post and address the more reasonable of it. I've never claimed to know "everything"....but I do KNOW that God exists. Just because you admittedly don't know this, you shouldn't assume that no one else does or that it's somehow "unknowable". By the way, the other day YOUR position was: "In the big picture, there is no such thing as good or evil or moral or immoral or Satan or God. " http://aalbc.com/tc/index.php?/topic/1837-where-does-your-inspiration-come-from/page__st__40 That sounds like a pretty definite statement for someone who takes the humble position of not knowing the unknowable. "And not only content to reject challenges to your stifled way of thinking, you apparently fancy yourself a psychiatrist, supplying a motive for my stance. If guilt was a factor, then why wouldn't I simply relieve my guilt by embracing religion?" If my way of thinking was stifled then I wouldn't have changed my religion based on research that I've done nor would I continue to read and study multiple religions and philosphies found around the world to further my enlightenemnt on theological and spiritual matters. What I reject is combative intolerance wrapped around ignorance. If you don't know whether God exists or not, why do you contantly argue with others over the matter? I didn't say you felt guilty about not belonging to a religion. You can take that straw-man and dispose of it how you will. I suggested that perhaps you felt guilty about defending ATHEISM You don't have to embrace a religion to believe in God you know. When a person continuously makes references to............ An Omnipotent Infinite Force. A Supreme Intelligence A Universal Intelligence An Original Source While at the same time argues: "In the big picture, there is no such thing as good or evil or moral or immoral or Satan or God. " Then turns around and after all that arguing and says that they really don't know one way or another ......all within a 3 day period. I don't know if a psychiatrist is necessary but I think a good therapist is in order. Somebody to sit you down and help you organize your theological thoughts, lol.

Saw the movie today..... Actually, I loved it. It reminded me of Posse in a way. I wish my father was still alive, I would have took him to see it as he loved Westerns and couldn't get enough of seeing Posse. ((shruggs shoulders)) Not sure what Spike Lee found offensive about it besides White people saying "nigger". Hell, it was a movie about Black slaves.....that's how White people down south commonly refered to our people back then (and many still do today). The only thing I really took objection to was Jamie Foxx's White partner's constant use of the word "poor devils" in reference to the slaves. Americans over 30 are used to White people being the only humans refered to as "devils", perhaps a "meme" is being introduced to the audience to change this. But overall I think it was an excellent film. Both Jamie and Samuel "killed" the hell out of thier roles.

Troy "Hi Pioneer, your statement is the definition of a stereotype. Your observations only means something to you and can not, by extension, be ascribed to everyone else in the group you are stereotyping." While I agree that those characteristics can't be ascribed to "everyone" in a group I disagree that they mean something ONLY to me. As I've said before, most stereotypes are based in some sort of truth or reality. I have no mental illnesses and I don't do drugs so I'm not prone to hallucinations. I'm sure I'm not the ONLY one who has noticed the characteristics I've described about Italians. Infact, I've talked to dozens of Black people who've noticed the same thing about Italian Americans. "No you don't have to meet every woman in the world, and while you may have met 1,000's of women, you can not associate your observations to the other 3.5 Billion woman. Your sample set is just too small and your way of making the determination of relative self-consciousnesses about appearance is flawed. That is you have not meet enough women, and you are not skilled enough to determine self-conscientiousness. Or maybe you just roll in an environment where self-conscious women are abundant -- do you see my point?" Yes, I see your point but don't agree with it. You don't seem to be disagreeing with the fact well known by most people of maturity including most psychologists and other social scientists that females tend to be MORE self-conciouse about there looks.....are you? You just seem to be interested in educating me on the dangers of stereotyping, lol. Only a person with Aspergers Syndrome and no social skills whatsoever would refrain from making any judgments and decisions about the people they've encountered until they've met EVERYBODY on the planet who belonged to that particular group. The rest of us must base our judgements on the sampling of those we've encountered. We agree that we don't have to meet every woman to make any determinations about them, but what figure would you put it at....millions? At some people, you move from the impractical to the not-humanly-possible. "Stereotyping, while apparently natural, can lead to some disastrous decisions." Perhaps it can if that stereotyping came about ONLY as a result of what we see on television and the movies. But if those stereotypes are confirmed by what is experienced/observed in REAL LIFE then it can be integrated into what we call "common sense" and will aid you in making proper decisions when dealing with people. Most of the Italians that I've known from school, to work, to socializing seemed to have certain unmistakable characteristics similar to AfroAmericans. Most Italian males I knew loved to chase women like most Black males I know. Most Italians I knew tended to wear more gold that other White people, like most AfroAmericans. Most Italians I knew had a fondness for rap music and/or music with a lot of bass in it like most AfroAmericans. Many Italian American men I knew tended to cry when they were angry like many Black men I know, I know few non-Italian Whites who teared up and cried from anger. Most Italian Americans I know tend to have dark hair and tan easily. These are not "conincidences".....they are unmistakable patterns. Patterns I believe are directly related to the fact that most Italian Americans are of southern-Italian descent and are known to have an abundance of Arab and African ancestry. Ancestry that apparently influences their thinking and behavior. Now call this a stereotype all you want, but you live in (or are atleast from) New York. Have you met ALL or ENOUGH Italian Americans to refute these claims and call them bogus? Lol, or will you continue to focus on my "stereotyping"?

I like this brother. I've seen him on numerous shows and not only is he smart but he has a sense of humor that makes him more down to Earth (no pun intended) than many scientists.

Admin You said that you don't believe anyone can communicate with the dead. I don't know you personally but based on the content and demeanor of your posts, I'm gonna take a wild guess and assume you're OVER the age of 30, lol. (Pioneer1 smiles gently) Now Troy, I haven't met too many people over the age of 30 who haven't had ANY sort of communication with deceased loved ones in one form or another. Almost anyone of us who has lost a parent, sibling, friend, or any relative/friend close to use has either seen and talked with the actual spirit of that individual or done the same in a "vivid" dream that we KNEW was more than just a dream. Are you gonna tell me you've experienced nothing? Nada? Zilch? Come on bro.....lol.

Troy "Pioneer1, what your are describing are classic stereotypes and are not based upon anything more than the observations of a subset of people, which does not mean much when you try to extend it to an entire group of people.." Ok? And? My experiences and observations have shown my that most stereotypes are based (even if loosely) in some truth and reality regardless as to how hard it may be to accept. I don't have to meet every woman in the world to know that women tend to be more self-concious about thier appearance than men. The thousands that I've met are just a subset of the billions on our planet today, but wouldn't you say it's enough to base a fair judgement on? Most people of Italian descent I've met have certain clear characteristics commonly not found in the majority of other White Americans. "Some of what you describe in terms of behavior, dress, etc would be better attributed to social class of just being brought up in a similar environment." I agree totaly.

Cynique "I simply don't buy that just because a person doesn't believe in a supreme being that this makes him incapable of being sincere when it comes to not harming others." Like the shady Black man used to say in those 1970's tv shows: "Wait, wait, wait, hold on ya got me all wroooong........" Lol, I don't hold the position that not believing in a Supreme Being (which can't be said of one who still believes in a "Supreme Intelligence") prevents one from being sincere about not hurting his fellow man. They can certainly be sincere. The very emotion of empathy that God put in most men allows this to happen. But hell, even animals can feel empathy as any pet owner knows. Just like morality goes deeper than merely man-made laws, morality goes deeper than emotions. It's held up by multiple pillars such as conviction, the desire to please the divine, the inate sense that "ultimate justice" beyond this world will await one. But if I'm making you feel guilty about defending atheism, then I'll stop right there. All Telepathy is basically the transferring of thought from one person's mind to another's. We know light travels, why not thought? How can one look at the modern marvel of the wireless internet and still NOT believe in telepathy? Scientists have known for well over a century that telepathy exists, even Thomas Edison. And this takes us right back to the original subjects of the thread of where does one's inspiration come from. Because if thoughts and ideas can be transfered, cannot this be said about what so many artists call "inspiration"?

Troy Actually, no it wasn't. Any AfroAmerican who has lived, worked, or spent any reasonable about of time around Italian Americans can't help but to notice some of the behavioral and even physical similarities between them and us more so than other White Americans.

Cynique Sorry you checked out, But you're still welcomed to read my response to your post to me as well as further commentary. Feel free to hop back in, lol. "If an atheist and a believer act in the exact same way, Pioneer, then it's ridiculous for a person speaking the English language to say that what the believer is doing is moral and what the non-believer is doing is not moral because believers have a monolpoly on being called a certain word that describes how people act. And it's not how an atheist thinks of himself, it's how an objective observer would categorize him. A visitor from Mars wouldn't be able to tell the difference between two people acting just alike. If an atheist and a believer both reject molesting a child then what would an English speaking person call the atheist?" Not actually. An atheist and believer may behave in the same way but they're doing it for different reasons and THAT in and of itself is one of the key differences between morals and ethics. Let me illustrate my point using theft leaving legal punishment out of the picture: If a true atheist sees something that they desparately want but refuse to steal it, they're doing it for ethical reasons. They don't want to wear the badge of shame that comes from being known as a thief in the community. However if a believer sees something that they desparately want but refuses to steal it, they're doing it for moral reasons because they see it as inherantly wrong because God said it was, plus they fear some sort of divine punishment or displeasure by God. Now this is the reason why it matters........ The reason the believer has for not stealing (moral)is actually more effective and ideal than the atheist's reason (ethical) because since it doesn't depend on pleasing other human beings it will withstand any peer pressure that may from a break down in social order. It's a reason that LASTS, regardless as to what is going on in the environment. In an atheistic society, take away the police and social order and you have a madhouse. "I kinda believe that earthlings all came from the same source and are all a part of a universal intelligence. And that we don't know what we know" Omnipotent Force/Universal intelligence/Original source = Supreme Being Lol, are you sure you don't really believe in God and just don't know it?.....yet. Delano I guess mathematics can be considered a language, but I see it more as a measurement or comparison of subjects and objects. Language is just a means of communicating ideas from one human being to another. If you can do this telepathically you don't need language....but you'll still need a form of mathematics/measurement.

Nah'sun Interesting take on the word "Django". Where did you get that definition from? I was actually trying to find out what the word meant because despite the "o" on the end, it sounds like something of Arabic origin. I couldn't find the word in any Arabic or Spanish dictionaries.

Indeed. Southern Italians have strong African and Arab ancestry. This is one of the reasons why there was constant rivalry between them and Northern Italians. They can't escape this truth, they know it deep down inside no matter how much many Italians may try to deny this. The way they dress, sing, dance, love gold, ect......tells on them. I've met many Italians who actually embrace the fact that they have Black ancestry and see it as a bragging rite because they think it makes them tough and hard.

Troy Lol, that was a pretty convincing video on the atheism among scientists. Although they start off pretty definate about not believing, when they explain thier "lack" of belief in detail it seems to go back to not believing in the Judeo/Christian idea of who God is. Like most people in the West in general, most Western scientists start off believing in a false concept of God and when they realized that they were deceived.....many of them abandoned theism all together rather than doing dilligent research on the truth of the matter. Should a woman never marry or trust a man again simple because her first husband cheated on her? Cynique "I think we need to make a distinction between a Supreme Being and an Omnipotent, Infinite Force. Religion, which is an invention of man, has crafted "god" in the image of a person, making "him" either a petty, vindictive old man who doles out punishment, or a Mystical prophet who spouts riddles. And any one who judges people by the bible or other religious scriptures written by men is not qualified to be objectve." If you reject the idea that God is some angry old man riding on clouds, so do I. Do you believe there is an Omnipotent Force in this Universe/Reality ? "To say that an atheist can't be "moral" is simply an opinion. In the big picture, there is no such thing as good or evil or moral or immoral or Satan or God. There is simply matter and anti-matter, negative and positive, darkness and light. The "good" and "bad" labels are constructs of civilization. But, as is proven everyday, these opposing energies co-exist." If you hold the position of not believing there is a God then you just helped to prove my point that atheists can't really have morality. You said in the big picture this IS NO good or evil or moral or immoral. This believe that many if not most atheists hold illustrates my point that athiests can have ethics (man made rules governing human behavior in given communities) but they can't really have morals because they don't believe in ultimate good or evil. Troy/Delano I believe there are ACTUAL truths and UNIVERSAL truths. Actual meaning they are true now but may change with time. A good is example of the difference is language and mathematics..... Language is based in actual truths as the meaning of words often change with time. Mathematics is based on universal truths, 2+2 will always equal 4.

Cynique I agree that a racist in a position of power like a mayor or governor has the ability to do much more harm than some redneck sitting up in his trailer spitting and cussing at his television everytime Jesse Jackson comes on. However racism is also a BELIEF, not just a practice. If a Klansman got into an accident and was paralyzed to the point he couldn't move or speak, would he no longer be racist because he no longer had the power to move or influence others to do his bidding? I see xenophobia as a passive form of racim. But it still falls under the racist catagory. Whether you're targetting people based on race or avoiding people based on racism, it's still based on race.....which is racism.

Cynique "Come on now, Pioneer. Do you really think the West has any influence on Third World countries who hate us? Furthermore, the Middle East and the Eastern countries are very saturated with their religions." The West still has tremendous influence on the Third and Developing world. Actully the West have even MORE influence on the world today than 40 years ago because the Soviet Union is no longer around as competition. Regardless as to how the citizens (or resident rather....because citizens actually have some say~so) of these nations feel about the United States, the LEADERS are in control of the economies and militaries and it's them who the U.S. does business with. "And just because people are Atheists doesn't mean they have no ethics or morals. In addition to being a well organized segment of society and, unlike to a lot of religious hypocrites, Atheists are quite often people who have high morals and lofty principles and who love their fellow man and choose to lead the kind of lives that will benefit the common good." I agree that atheists can have "ethics".....a means of determining what's acceptable and not acceptable in a given community. But I don't believe that a true atheist can have "morals".....which is based on ultimate determinations of what is right and wrong. How can man himself decide what is universally "right"? His knowledge is too limited, subjective, and versatile to determine universal good/evil which is what morals are in their truest sense. "Also, many scientists can reconcile their belief in a Supreme Being with their scientific positions. It's not that hard to accept that an eternal, omnipotent, omnisicent force is the Master of the Universe and therefore, among all other things, is the origin of what we call science." Exactly! That supports my point that most scientists DO believe in God. But the rest of my point is that there seems to be some sort of agenda in Western Academia to promote the idea that education and enlightenment leads to atheism. Delano "Pioneer - There was a survey of scientists 80% and they were atheist They thought the 20% that weren't atheist weren't rational. So even though the assume they see rational they aren't. The only rational position id to be an atheist." I found out a long time ago that when it comes to educated Whites...... There is often a LARGE gulf between what they say in public and what they REALLY believe. The same White female teacher who will go everyday to an innercity school and teach Black girls to be independant, that marriage isn't necessary for a healthy relationship, and to not waste thier lives trying to please a man. Will drive back home way out in the woods somewhere and try to be the perfect wife for HER husban and raise her daughters to be the same. I know many scientists are THOUGHT to be atheist. Indeed, many want this image to be put out. But how many actually SAY outright that they don't believe in any type of god?

When I look at old pictures, old footage, and read about the first European immigrants who came to the United States whether they were Jews, Italians, or Germans. I look at how they dressed, what they ate, and how they behaved..... It reminds me so much of AfroAmericans and how we used to dress, eat, and behave. I've had more than one European from places like France and Italy tell me that in terms of style and behavior Black Americans were actually more like Europeans that White Americans.

If you want my honest opinion..... I think MOST scientists, just like most professors and other members of Academia actually DO believe in God. If you investigate, you'll find that most scientists, professors, policy makers, and others who hold prominent positions in this society are MARRIED. Why do such educated men and women who believe that humans are essentially animals and know that man is polygamous would even take such a self-imposed restrictive institution like marriage seriously, let alone engage in it? Not only are they married but they tend to talk in terms of morality, decency, attend religious ceremonies, maintain ancient traditions, take "oaths" in court....and engage in other behavior that would be considered strange for people who don't believe in a higher power. One of the biggest tricks the West has played on the rest of the world is tricking them into not believing in a Supreme Being. A Supreme Being that THEY clearly believe in.

Cynique "Can we agree that racism is about empowerment, - about being able to enforce and instituionalize color discrimination, something that children don't have the authority to do." I'm not the type who believes Black people can't be racist because of a lack of power. I believe racism is simply assigning a value (especially a negative value) to a particular race, plain and simple. I believe you can be racist whether you have the power to act on your beliefs or not. All Let me throw something else in the mix......... I believe RACISM is learn behavior, however I believe HATRED is not. Hatred....like love, happiness, and jealousy.....is an emotion. And emotions are natural. There are those who are born without the ability to hate, like those who are born without the ability to love...or born without the ability to see....or walk. But these are abnormal DIS-abilities. Hatred is a normal human emotion not necessarily tied to racism. Indeed, there are some racists who don't even hate the targeted race.

Troy "You may be correct Pioneer. But I choose to believe he had a plan and advancing in politics was his goal, Wright was a stepping stone." Absolurely! That's what I was saying; he basically joined the church to get some "street cred" in the community. "Obama's current alignment with Rev Sharpton is a little more curious." Are you sure it's not more like Reverend Sharpton aligning himself with Obama? Seems to me that ever since he's gotten that talk show on MSNBC, he's become less "pro Black" and more "pro Democrat" aligning himself with any and almost every issue on the Democrat platform. For the past few years he's been advocating gay rights and gay marriage, something that the majority of the Black church is against and something he NEVER spoke on in the past.

There are 2 types of science. Science in the classical use of the term. Science in the contempary use of the term. Classical science is the collection of verifiable facts and other forms of information based on observation and experimentation. It's not beholding to any particular institution or tied to any agenda. Contemporary science...especially in the West....seems to be a religion or fraternity. It is established. It gets it's orders from the top down. It resists and sometimes even persecutes change and alternative thinking. It has an agenda. A good example of the difference is the Theory of Evolution. Contemporary science says that evolotion is a fact, there is no room for argument. Classical science says evolution is only one of many theories...some weak some strong....but since man wasn't around to observe or record his origins we can't call it absolute fact.

It seems to me that Obama is much much too left-brained or "intellectual" to be a devout member of the typical inner-city Black church with all it's singing, clapping, and strong emotionalsim. I know I didn't care too much for it when I was a Christian. I prefered ministers along the line of Fredrick KC Price and others who TEACH more than PREACH. While I don't doubt that he's a Christian, I think he just affiliated himself with that particular church early in his political career to endear himself with the people of the community while trying to help the unemployed factory workers in the area. He knew THEIR minds were in the church, so he went into the church to reach them.

Racism is learned, race conciousness is not....it's natural. Any child with eyesight can readily see the difference between what we call a Black person and White person. I knew Bruce Lee was different from the other people in my neighborhood when I was just 3 years old! But in order to assign value and/or negative characteristics to a particular color....which is racism.....has to be learned either through indoctrination or experience.

Damn.....lol. So should the people just save their money? It would seem that any movie with James Brown's "Big Payback" in the trailer would be a blockbuster!

Troy "Well Pioneer, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but haven't you noticed that gender differences have been greatly neutralized over the last half century. People are fighting for same sex marriages, men's clothing is becoming increasing feminized, girls fighting to be included on football -- with the men. Women literally standing up and saying they don't men men in their lives, to help them raise children, they can be just as good a father as any man. I could go on but you see my point. There are distinct differences between men and women -- indeed ignoring these inherent differences is what has contributed to the destruction of the family..." I couldn't agree with you more on how this has contributed to the destruction of the family, especially the Black family. It appears that the same social engineers (mostly White college professors and media executives) who are promoting "gender neutrality" among the masses don't seem to practice it in thier own homes. The same White woman teaching girls in an innercity highschool that they don't need men in thier lives and that they should learn to be independant is usually married herself and would probably kick her own daughter out of the house if she came home and announced that she was a lesbian. I've long suspected that much of this is a trick to set Black men and women against eachother and destroy the Black family. However, when it comes to sex.....as well as race....we're dealing with biology and genetics, not necessarily sociology and human behavior in a given environment. Just like a man is still a man (facial hair, testicles, penis) regardless as to whether or not he wears a miniskirt, lipstick and listens to Barbara Striesand...... A Black person is still Black (dark skin, kinky hair, high butt, ect....) regardless as to what he wears, how he talks, or even what he wants to CALL himself. "We have this laws called "Bias Crimes" where, in essence, if the perpetrator of a crime was motivated by some prejudice the penalties would be far worse. This makes no sense to me." While it makes sense to me.....I actually don't agree with it. I think crimes should be punished accordingly but I don't necessarily agree with giving someone "extra" punishment because of thier personal beliefs because it involves trying to figure out what's in someone elses head. "If a Black man yells, "nigger I'ma beat the shit out of you!" then proceeds to pummel a black man -- he gets a slap on the wrist. If white boy does exactly the same thing he gets thrown under the jail and his picture on the cover of the local tabloid. Suppose a mulatto guy does the same thing -- what do we do with him? Ultimately if people stop thinking in terms of race, there can't be racists, right. And isn't that our goal? " The word "if" is the key factor in the statement you just made. "If" is often a symptom of wishful thinking....lol. My old man used to say that "if" a bullfrog had wings he wouldn't bump his ass everytime he took a leap, lol. If racism didn't exist, things would be much better.....but it does, so those who have been the historical victims of it must learn how to defend themselves against it. Most problem solvers will tell you the very first step in solving a problem is identifying it. As I've been saying since I started this thread, if racism is a problem and we took away racial classification then how would one be able to identify the problem or racism? You ignoring racism isn't going to keep a racist from discriminating against you any more than refusing to acknowledge death will keep one from dying. "Unless you believe racism is natural" Well personally, I believe racial distincition....or recognizing that there are different races, is natural. I don't believe that racism itself necessarily is though. BTW Troy and Cynique In regards to the government being racist because they use racial classification...... There is a difference between being RACIST and being RACE CONSCIOUS. One is practicing discrimination and assigning value based on race; the other is simply being aware that there are different races while adding no values or judgements to any specific racial group.

Delano "Pioneer - we may be tuning into some of the same frequencies. perhaps the personal mind is one cabinet in universal warehouse. i am in agreement with what you say about the mind. How can the intangible be connected to the tangible." I've been reading a lot about Near Death Experiences and Out of Body Experiences these past few years. It's really educated me on a lot of things with regards to the mind and various powers in the body. Cynique . "I'd say the mind works through the brain. The brain is tangible, but the mind is spiritual. It's like body and soul. Inspiration is spontaneous; it just comes to you from The Source of all thought. An idea is the fruition of inspiration." I'm beginning to believe that the brain is more of an "antenna" to receive and broadcast the works of the mind and beyond. Troy If your basic premise is that people people's beliefs should be grounded in reality, I hear exactly what you're saying and agree. But I've learned there's more to "reality" that just what we see on a daily basis. I've had personal experiences myself that have confirmed this. We know that certain animals like birds see a greater range of colors and other sights than humans. We know other animals have a much much better sense of smell and can smell things that humans don't even know exist. I was looking at a report today on CNN about animals who can detect cancer and other diseases even before they can be seen on an MRI! The spectrum of REAL-ity or what is "real" is much much greater than most humans REAL-ize.