"Amazon's terms to authors specifically allow lending. But they don't suggest you can give them to a service to lend for you, especially not one that profits from it. I don't think that the Amazon term considers this as a valid use."
Sigh, you're making the SAME DAMNED MISTAKE the stupid authors did! Let's make this simple: Lendink is not "given" anything, they simply match lenders and borrowers. They have no content, they simply scrape the Amazon store and list ALL books, with a button next to those authors' works that CHOSE to enable lending. This is EXACTLY how the program is supposed to work, as evidenced by the fact that Amazon is completely on board with Lendink.
Dude, just fucking admit you were wrong for once....
"The truth is that you're a failed author who cannot make a living on his writing. How much of your living is derived from the sale of your books?"
I'll leave what is likely our differing definitions of failure aside for the moment, and instead tell you that writing provides me with a significant percentage of my yearly income. What that percentage is will depend on the income I get from my "regular" job in technology, which fluctuates greatly from year to year, but suffice it so say that writing will generate five figures worth of income for me this year. Is that good enough for you?
"Evolution is full of wholes and is still only a theory. Yet you and most others preach it as fact."
Sigh....really? Again, an actual understanding of how theories and laws in science work will alleviate you of this nonsense. Evolution is accepted by the vast majority of the scientific world, including a great swath of Christian scientists, I might add. Or perhaps you haven't heard the intelligent design tautology making the rounds?
Of course not, because he doesn't exist. The people who claim to interpret his wishes sure as hell change their minds an awful lot, though.
I remember when Purgatory was the truth...then it vanished. I remember when Pope's were infallible...then they weren't after a bunch of them were found to be crooks and fascists. Hell, the entire concept of Christ coming down and wiping out the rules of the Old Testament is a giant change of mind.
Seriously, do you even KNOW your own religion, or do you need someone who has studied it enough to know how ridiculous it is written to teach it to you?
"You, like most non-Christians, believe that you have all the answers and that you "know" for a "fact" they are true."
This is exactly incorrect, although it is a common misconception of the non-theist. What we believe is that we do NOT know, but we also do not follow thought for which there is no evidence. It is in fact the religious that claim to "know", when in reality their beliefs amount to mere tautology in logical debate.
There is no evidence for God. There is no evidence that there is not God. The thing is, there is no evidence that invisible phantoms don't hide my car keys in the morning, and there is no evidence that they do. But guess which one we believe?
Because while a lack of evidence is not an evidence of lack, it does mean there's no logical reason for belief....
You didn't supply "proof" either. Your citation was statistically irrelevant as it contained revisionist numbers for the Inquisition (chiefly failing to take into account the Americas) and the insane nonsense as counting Nazi Germany as a secularist occurrence when the Nazis were in fact waging a war with the supposed backing of God.
The point isn't that most/all WARS are created by religion. It's that there is more suffering/death due to religion by a variety of causes (health, retardation of science, etc.) than secularism. So much so, in fact, that estimates to their wide ranging effects are difficult to estimate. For a fair take on the history of destructive religion, however, I'll refer you to the collective works of Christopher Hitchens....
I find that to be a tremendous copout of an answer, particularly in that the tool of religion isn't wielded equally by the congregation and the supposed moral authorities. A gun does not require subservience, religion does. It is enslavement either to an institution or a misguided belief. Either way, you need to find a better analogy than guns....
I got to the part of your link where the Rabbi proclaimed that "3000 people died in the Inquisition" and stopped. I've heard that revisionist take on the historical record before, in debates and in text, and it never ceases to make me laugh....
It's almost as good as when people claim Hitler was a secularist and not murdering Jews in the name of God, despite the exact text to the contrary in Mein Kampf....
"I am under the firm belief that God put us here to figure out things on our own (hey we have a whole universe to explore ^_^ )and that includes actual scientific thinking."
I respect your right to believe that, even if I find the belief to be egotistical and xenocentric on a massive scale. Understanding our biology, how we came to be, how we almost came NOT to be, relieves me of the centric notion that all of what I see around me is about mankind....
"Yes, non-religious people are perfect and full of truth and light and have never done any of these things. So we must eradicate religion so that we can all be saved."
Are you contending that religion has NOT been responsible for the negatives I mentioned on a scale far beyond the secular?
"It just goes to show that neither the GOP nor DNC really set out to do what they say to do. They just want votes."
Frankly, it also goes to show how much more level-headed a religion's average "believer" is compared to the actual theology of the religion they ascribe to. I'm always puzzled as to how this isn't a red flag for the believer to drop that religion, but I commend their ability to compartmentalize nonetheless....
"I'm an atheist, but not the kind that thinks that religion should be wiped from the face of the planet."
You're entitled to your opinion, of course, although I suggest that out of a proponderance of love for your fellow man you rethink this platform. If you believe, as I do, that religion in history has had a net negative effect on mankind when considering all things (wars, divisiveness, control, retardation of science and society), then there is no reason to believe that such a net negative effect won't continue as long as religion exists on our planet.
So, while I would never call for a mandated ban on religion, arguing for its removal voluntarily is a platform I wholeheartedly endorse....
Why would you try to be anti-religion? You can be a deist and not a theist quite easily. Belief in a supernatural God does not require belief in a super-corrupt convention like religion.
I happen to find myself thinking anti-theism is the closer to the truth than either deism or theism, but at least deists don't have to answer for the misguided notion of religion....
Welcome to the infusion of morality and religion into public policy. Personally, I can't think of anything stupider than injecting the superstitions of the minority into the public policy of the whole....
On the post: The Aftershock Of Stupidity: Lendink Reopens Only To Receive Trolling DMCA Notices
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Sigh, you're making the SAME DAMNED MISTAKE the stupid authors did! Let's make this simple: Lendink is not "given" anything, they simply match lenders and borrowers. They have no content, they simply scrape the Amazon store and list ALL books, with a button next to those authors' works that CHOSE to enable lending. This is EXACTLY how the program is supposed to work, as evidenced by the fact that Amazon is completely on board with Lendink.
Dude, just fucking admit you were wrong for once....
On the post: The Aftershock Of Stupidity: Lendink Reopens Only To Receive Trolling DMCA Notices
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I'll leave what is likely our differing definitions of failure aside for the moment, and instead tell you that writing provides me with a significant percentage of my yearly income. What that percentage is will depend on the income I get from my "regular" job in technology, which fluctuates greatly from year to year, but suffice it so say that writing will generate five figures worth of income for me this year. Is that good enough for you?
On the post: GOP Platform May Include Internet Freedom Language... But Also Wants Crackdown On Internet Porn
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Sigh....really? Again, an actual understanding of how theories and laws in science work will alleviate you of this nonsense. Evolution is accepted by the vast majority of the scientific world, including a great swath of Christian scientists, I might add. Or perhaps you haven't heard the intelligent design tautology making the rounds?
On the post: GOP Platform May Include Internet Freedom Language... But Also Wants Crackdown On Internet Porn
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Ah, I see the problem. You don't understand what science is....
On the post: GOP Platform May Include Internet Freedom Language... But Also Wants Crackdown On Internet Porn
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Of course not, because he doesn't exist. The people who claim to interpret his wishes sure as hell change their minds an awful lot, though.
I remember when Purgatory was the truth...then it vanished. I remember when Pope's were infallible...then they weren't after a bunch of them were found to be crooks and fascists. Hell, the entire concept of Christ coming down and wiping out the rules of the Old Testament is a giant change of mind.
Seriously, do you even KNOW your own religion, or do you need someone who has studied it enough to know how ridiculous it is written to teach it to you?
On the post: GOP Platform May Include Internet Freedom Language... But Also Wants Crackdown On Internet Porn
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This is exactly incorrect, although it is a common misconception of the non-theist. What we believe is that we do NOT know, but we also do not follow thought for which there is no evidence. It is in fact the religious that claim to "know", when in reality their beliefs amount to mere tautology in logical debate.
There is no evidence for God. There is no evidence that there is not God. The thing is, there is no evidence that invisible phantoms don't hide my car keys in the morning, and there is no evidence that they do. But guess which one we believe?
Because while a lack of evidence is not an evidence of lack, it does mean there's no logical reason for belief....
On the post: GOP Platform May Include Internet Freedom Language... But Also Wants Crackdown On Internet Porn
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On the post: GOP Platform May Include Internet Freedom Language... But Also Wants Crackdown On Internet Porn
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Morality
The point isn't that most/all WARS are created by religion. It's that there is more suffering/death due to religion by a variety of causes (health, retardation of science, etc.) than secularism. So much so, in fact, that estimates to their wide ranging effects are difficult to estimate. For a fair take on the history of destructive religion, however, I'll refer you to the collective works of Christopher Hitchens....
On the post: GOP Platform May Include Internet Freedom Language... But Also Wants Crackdown On Internet Porn
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Morality
On the post: GOP Platform May Include Internet Freedom Language... But Also Wants Crackdown On Internet Porn
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On the post: GOP Platform May Include Internet Freedom Language... But Also Wants Crackdown On Internet Porn
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It's almost as good as when people claim Hitler was a secularist and not murdering Jews in the name of God, despite the exact text to the contrary in Mein Kampf....
On the post: GOP Platform May Include Internet Freedom Language... But Also Wants Crackdown On Internet Porn
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I respect your right to believe that, even if I find the belief to be egotistical and xenocentric on a massive scale. Understanding our biology, how we came to be, how we almost came NOT to be, relieves me of the centric notion that all of what I see around me is about mankind....
On the post: GOP Platform May Include Internet Freedom Language... But Also Wants Crackdown On Internet Porn
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Are you contending that religion has NOT been responsible for the negatives I mentioned on a scale far beyond the secular?
On the post: GOP Platform May Include Internet Freedom Language... But Also Wants Crackdown On Internet Porn
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Frankly, it also goes to show how much more level-headed a religion's average "believer" is compared to the actual theology of the religion they ascribe to. I'm always puzzled as to how this isn't a red flag for the believer to drop that religion, but I commend their ability to compartmentalize nonetheless....
On the post: GOP Platform May Include Internet Freedom Language... But Also Wants Crackdown On Internet Porn
Re: Re: Re: Re: Morality
You're entitled to your opinion, of course, although I suggest that out of a proponderance of love for your fellow man you rethink this platform. If you believe, as I do, that religion in history has had a net negative effect on mankind when considering all things (wars, divisiveness, control, retardation of science and society), then there is no reason to believe that such a net negative effect won't continue as long as religion exists on our planet.
So, while I would never call for a mandated ban on religion, arguing for its removal voluntarily is a platform I wholeheartedly endorse....
On the post: GOP Platform May Include Internet Freedom Language... But Also Wants Crackdown On Internet Porn
Re: Re: Morality
I happen to find myself thinking anti-theism is the closer to the truth than either deism or theism, but at least deists don't have to answer for the misguided notion of religion....
On the post: GOP Platform May Include Internet Freedom Language... But Also Wants Crackdown On Internet Porn
Morality
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You people don't appreciate me... :)
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