nomadpete

I have always wondered why nobody was invrstigating the money trail. Turns out they were. But that was kept quiet. And although there were suggestions that the results in likely successful prosecutions, nothing came of it. This is the 69 page memo I mentioned. Some curious un black bits. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet 9/EFTA00173953.pdf

Well the Middle East is a great success for USA. Haven't seen a headline about Epstein Files for ages! But a with little digging...... https://www.finance.senate.gov/ranking-members-news/wyden-questions-dea-over-mystery-epstein-investigation Seems that "Newly Uncovered, Heavily-Redacted Memorandum Reveals Epstein Was Targeted in a Major DEA Investigation into Possible Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering; Wyden Seeks Unredacted Memo and Details About the Investigation’s Conclusion........ Senator Wyden also requested a complete, unredacted copy of the document that revealed the existence of the investigation, a 69-page memorandum prepared in 2015 by the then-director of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces’ (OCDETF) Fusion Center. (The OCDETF, a specialized Department of Justice unit tasked with identifying and dismantling transnational organized crime and drug trafficking networks, was shut down by the Trump administration in 2025.) A heavily-redacted version of the memorandum was among the documents released following the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act." The names of fouteen persons of interest are redacted (note none were victims of sex offences), and hundreds of millions were alleged to have been shuffled, that should have raised money laundering flags.

Soon we might be merging this thread with the Iran Rar thread.... Fron The Guardian: "US troops were told war on Iran was ‘all part of God’s divine plan’, watchdog alleges" The claim is that the intention is to trigger armageddon and therefore christ's return. NOW the inmates are running the asylum!

Did the elastic snap? Maybe you need a bigger size. Next time try sliding on a bigger pair.

Was yer a bit rough? Ya get the finest music from a gentler touch.

Well, no. Majority who identify as christian, may have a bible, but are not churchgoers. I still have mine, but I only went to church for hatches, matches and despatches. Now I am no longer in the beliver cohort. Anyway, regarding the use of it as a historic reference book, I suspect few historians keep a copy on hand when writing history theses. The bible is a sacred totem (prob also other similar texts) in a hangover fron the ages when the priests ruled the masses and only a foolish king would disobey the priesthood. The masses were prohibited from reading it until King James came along and spoilt everything. I totally agree with your opinion that significant natural or war events are the foundation of most enduring mythical stories. Especially when the stories are passed on through word of mouth. There was no 'Funk n Wagnals' back in the day. A bit like listening to tall tales & true from the legendary past. The percentages are in doubt.

Well played, sir!

Back to British Passports. What advantage would one of those be, to an Australian? BTW, I never heard anyone complain about cutting a finger, sliding it in a G string chord. Try a lower chord, Will.

I rather like OME's analogy - the old bible was a compendium of ancient writings, sprinkled with some ideology.

I don't believe that the average churchgoer holds a bible for history lessons. That only leaves it as a source of deity information. I hesitate to use the word :fact" due to the lack of substantiation. By the way, there are quite a few Greek and Roman records dating back to around zero BC

I'm curious about what events might follow. Iran supplies China with a lot of oil. So they have skin in the game. Between the Iran attacks, Venezuela, and maybe Cuba has USA given a green-light to China’s expected takeover of Taiwan? Or at least moved it up,since they have plenty of military toys. The west wouldn’t have a leg to stand on to object and couldn't stop it?

And that shows how a well intentioned movement can be developed into a ruthless system of mass control. Every religion is discriminatory. It has no place in any government. Spirituality is a personal thing and any attempt to corporatise it is bad for society, in my opinion.

I can neither agree nor disagree with that. Unfortunately we lack access to enough other records of ancient Hebrew history, to support this. We seem to have only one book of, as you suggest, embellished anecdotes that may be connected to distant events. But even if it was an accurate history book combined with a guide to life, it seems a poor way to teach good behaviour. The eight commandments basically say "be nice, don't be an arxhole"

On this, I back away. Sure there are some stories designed to teach moral societal behaviour. But are you discounting the old testament? Our present society would say there is way too much immoral stuff in that. And remember, for a very long time you would be executed for suggesting that it was anything but the word of god.

Does that make the scriptures more like a "Goatherders guide to the Galaxy" ? I was trying to address the high probability the any document (dare I call it that?) or book is unlikely to resemble whatever was originally recorded by the authors. This applies to any reliance upon the book for historic 'facts'. Just because a few paragraphs align with other authors does not automatically make all the stories 'factual'. So many revisions (authorised by a god, of course). So many language translations. Unless a god actually signs off on all the inevetible changes, how can the "word" be trusted? Any god who can create a universe in less than a week might find the time to verify their follower's guide book. He has had a couple of billion years to address this issue.

No need to look for bonespurs?

Yes but... As usual, the USA has not proposed any plan, or perthway to a regime change. As usual, the old regime has a sucession plan to continue power. As usual, USA has no plan for what to do next. Just go in all gunz blazing and expect the locals to miraculously unite their mobs and create a whole new system of government. Never worked before, unlikely to now. P.S. With the present state of amazing intel, and amazing precision strike capability, why did they destroy a school full of kids?

Is it possible that Pootin doesn't mind US hitting Iran? After all, according to reports the russian economy is in a bad way. They rely heavily on oil income, which is presently limited by caps on Russian oil prices. Right now, the price of crude is likely to go up bigtime? Would this boost Russian income? I doubt that Donold would do much to enrage his mate Pootin. Just looking for an upside. There always is one but not always obvious.

Whenever I was feeling all alone, stuck in some isolated grubby motel, away from the comforts of home...... I'd rummage through the bedside drawer for anything to read. Alas, the only thing I ever found was a Gideon's Bible. In desperation I'd open it in hope of finding some mental stimulation beyond what the local TV repeater offered. The first pages hold nice, uplifting positive affamations.... then there is The Old Testament. Wow. Lots of heavy rather unscientific stuff about laws controlling what animals shall be sacrificed for what occasions, & when it is time to stone women to death, etc, etc. I guess later on the eight commandments made life easier for the common man (person). All too depressing - small wonder there is so much suicide in the bush. Maybe the book is due for revision again.... Question - is Scripture teaching fact? Whose Scripture? What revision number? Does it come with a change log and was it stored in a code repository so we can track document changes back to confirm the original author(s)?

Listen to what our mate Stephen Fry says about A.I.

Maybe we need a separate thread for Iran.

At what point can we csll a device "autonomous"? At present both sides in the Ukrain/Russia war, A.I. is being used for navigation by attack drones. They are using preprogrammed landscape recognition to recognise their location and guide them to a target. Although at present (as far as we know) they still need a human toget it out of its box an switch it on. From that point it is autonomous - navigating to a (at present) preprogrammed target. At our present rate of computing evolution, it won't be long before it will be feasible to have satellite data constantly monitoring enemy movements and doing target decisions very quickly. In the old days each technological advancement took time to reveal its hazards. This allowed humans to assess and mitigate risks before too many people got wiped out..But with the present rapidity of developments, it is a lot harder to deal with widespread downsides.

All the statements have the caveat "now", and "today", meaning " maybe not ok now". At some stage, either a board of directors, or CEO, or deranged president can declare "ok now". When that day comes I won't trust the first generation of autonomous weapons, say perhaps flocks of autonomous killer drones, to recognise my face as friend-not-foe. Worse still, imagine the money that governments around the world can save when drones can do the work of our police. Autonomous ICE is sure to be trialled in USA first! Once this was just sci fi plots, now it is getting real.

Absolutely agree with that! I love to see innovation, when it works.

OK you got me there. You are obviously more digitally competant than I. However I'd say that the 'upwardly raised middle finger' is unlikely to result in any transport.