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Posts Made By: Paul Kammueller

September 10, 2004 11:28 AM Forum: Politics

Strategy: Flypaper?

Posted By Paul Kammueller
Another interesting possibility is that the whole Iraq occupation is part of a strategy to 'draw out' the real enemy into a localized arena where we can face them. To create a U.S. presence in an area, such as Iraq, that is irresistable to Islamic radicals and their associates to come out and fight, particularly if they may think they have the chance to establish an islamic state?

September 16, 2004 09:01 PM Forum: Politics

Re: Attacks on Iran Nuclear Facilities being debat

Posted By Paul Kammueller
Whether we should have gone into Iraq or not, now that we're pregnant with it we've got to see it to full term. Finish this war *BEFORE* we start the next one.

September 23, 2004 11:16 AM Forum: Politics

Fun Partisan Platform Juxtapositions

Posted By Paul Kammueller
Environment -- Dems: pro-regulation -- Repubs: antiregulation

Business in General -- Dems: pro-regulation -- Repubs: antiregulation

Guns -- Dems: pro-regulation -- Repubs: anti-regulation

Marriage / Sex -- Dems: anti-regulation -- Repubs: pro-regulation

Abortion -- Dems: anti-regulation -- Repubs: pro-regulation

Stem Cell Research -- Dems: anti-regulation -- Repubs: pro-regulation

Religion -- Dems: pro-separation -- Repubs: pro-commingling

Budget -- Dems: more taxing + more spending -- Repubs: more borrowing + more spending


September 25, 2004 01:26 AM Forum: Politics

The Religious Right rears its head

Posted By Paul Kammueller
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040917/ap_on_el_pr/campaign_mail_2

Until now this election cycle it seemed the Republicans had managed to keep religious right on a pretty tight leash lest they mess up Bush's re-election. Last week though the religious right wing made itself felt in a series of mailings in West Virginia warning voters that liberals were going to ban the Bible.

Ignoring the fact that it's generally religious fundamentalists who are into book-banning, it's obvious from the mailing the GOP doesn't think too highly of the intellect of voters in West Virginia.

The religious right is the biggest piece of political baggage that the Republican party has saddled itself with, I could probably be a republican myself if it weren't for these kooks.

September 26, 2004 12:19 AM Forum: Politics

A Pollster Came to My House Today

Posted By Paul Kammueller
I live in St. Paul, capitol city in an acknowledged "battleground state". Historically this has always been a blue state (this is THE state that voted for Mondale in 1984!) but it is really up for grabs this year.

So this afternoon a guy knocked on my door. Not called, actually came to my HOUSE to see which way I was leaning. I was straight up with him, and in my best Minnesota Nice voice said I was undecided pending the debates.

I was just wondering, is anyone else here getting bugged by pollsters this year?

September 26, 2004 12:54 AM Forum: Religion

Re: The Church Councils around 200 - 300CE

Posted By Paul Kammueller
Well, technically the "bible" per se did not exist prior to the Council of Nicea in 3XX AD or whenever it was. What we had was scattered "early christian writings" various books all attributed to various prophets or apostles, with no ruleset or authority validating this or the other.

The Council of Nicaea created "the Bible" by definition. They collected the books they liked and 'canonize' it, declaring it the official true-blue Word of God. God didn't come down out of the heavens and give his Stamp of Approval on it, of course, however the reasoning of the time was that if God had wanted it to be anything other than what the Council had created, it would have done like Patrick Stewart and Made It So. His silence was teken to be His blessing, and thus the canonical books were the Inspired Word of God and the various other books floating around were what would later be known as "the heresies".

September 26, 2004 03:21 AM Forum: Religion

Re: The Church Councils around 200 - 300CE

Posted By Paul Kammueller
>Can we somehow prove that these writings were left out, or that they were not even known at the time of the compiling of the book we know today? <

I don't think this can be 'proved'.

Though I think many scholars regard at least the Gospel of Thomas as 'archaic' in its nature, as do I. It has the primitive, unrefined 'feel' of the much hypothesized 'Q' document. The Gospel of Thomas has a very old, 'unedited' feel to it. I strongly suspect it is probably either concurrent with, or predates, the Gospel of Mark.

The gospels of Luke and Matthew are obviously later, and they incorporate a lot more deific language ascribed to Christ. By the time the last gospel, John, was written, Christ of course has taken on positiively cosmic god-like proportions.

September 28, 2004 04:56 AM Forum: Investment Discussions

The god almighty dollar

Posted By Paul Kammueller
The U.S. dollar, having chopped sideways the last few months (after a 2-year-long downhill slide) looks 'weak', starting to lean to the downside once again.

With gold and commodity prices of all sorts climbing and oil hitting the $50 mark, and the current account deficit pushing 6% of GDP, some fairly ugly stars are coming into alignment.

Opinions? I'm... ah... a little concerned...

September 29, 2004 09:58 PM Forum: Religion

Is 'God' a zero-probability existence/event?

Posted By Paul Kammueller
It has been posited (by myself, among others) that reality may be governed by probability. That is, that in a potential infinity of space and time, any non-zero probability event will occur, and/or will have occurred.

So: is 'God' a non-zero probability entity or event? Or is it zero probability? If we can answer this question we can prove (or disprove) logically, His existence. wink I'd like to hear people's reasoning, and assumptions upon which they are based (finite space, infinite (hyper)space, infinite/finite time, etc.)

October 5, 2004 01:21 PM Forum: Investment Discussions

Oil & Gas

Posted By Paul Kammueller
The commodity futures charts on oil and unleaded gasoline appear to be relieving their overbought conditions by chopping straight sideways, hardly giving up any of their gains in the consolidation phase.

Natural gas has been very volatile, surging upward very rapid and very jerky the last 2 weeks. Looks like a long, cold expensive heating season in store for this Minnesotan sad

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