Is it possible for all atheists to be logically consistent, or do some lack logic? Why or why not?

The problem with Atheism, is that Atheists DO believe in Gods. They just don’t believe in the Christian or the Islamic God. Atheists are free form polytheists, who create their own Gods, which they worship just like Theists do. They may not believe in a Creator of the Universe in the conventional sense, but, they believe in the Big Bang. What’s the difference? There isn’t any! But Atheists will simply say their Gods aren’t Gods, but “reality”. Whatever that is! https://www.quora.com/Is-it-possible-for-all-atheists-to-be-logically-consistent-or-do-some-lack-logic-Why-or-why-not

Which is more beneficial to study, ancient Chinese or Greek history?

I think if I had to choose, I would choose ancient Greek history, because it’s the basis for Western Culture, and, Western culture is still, I believe, the dominant world Culture. However, they are both extremely rich cultures, and, to a large degree they complement each other. The Chinese system emphasized stability and government control, and this led to many advantages for the people. The Greek system was extremely individualistic, and this brought many advantages too, of a rather different type than the controlled Chinese system. Both have their points, and both have their advantages and their disadvantages. https://www.quora.com/unanswered/Which-is-more-beneficial-to-study-ancient-Chinese-or-Greek-history

Why is Donald Trump promising Christians they won't have to vote again in four years?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-tells-crowd-wont-vote-061425008.html Is Trump now openly adopting his Adolf Hitler role in U.S. politics to appeal to the fascist element in the U.S. electorate? It sure looks like it!

What methods did ancient Chinese use to record and preserve their history before the invention of paper?

They used strips of wood tied together with cords, as their books. They would paint Chinese pictograms with brushes on these strips of wood, tie them together, and, presto, there’s a book, as long as you want the book to be. You can see these in depictions of pre-imperial China, like this one, the legend of Mi Yue. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yktA4VDp9VA https://www.quora.com/What-methods-did-ancient-Chinese-use-to-record-and-preserve-their-history-before-the-invention-of-paper

Why is China still called a communist country when there is nothing communist about China's economy?

According to the Constitution and the land laws, **Chinese individuals cannot privately own land and natural resources**. The Constitution provides that land in urban areas must be owned by the state, whereas land in rural and suburban areas must be owned by the state or by local collectives. China is much more communist than you realize. Businessmen serve at the pleasure of the communist government, and challenge the communist government at their peril! https://www.quora.com/Why-is-China-still-called-a-communist-country-when-there-is-nothing-communist-about-Chinas-economy

Why is Stalin regarded as a hero today in Russia?

The Russians are highly ambivalent about Josef Stalin. He is sometimes portrayed heroically, sometimes he is portrayed tragically, sometimes he is portrayed as a kind of madman. They admire his leadership during WWII, against the Nazis, but, they realize he was extremely brutal and repressive, and, they don’t feel that this was really necessary, or useful, most of the time, anyway. The like the fact that Russia was superpower by the end of Stalin’s rule, but, they feel the cost of getting there was too high. https://www.quora.com/Why-is-Stalin-regarded-as-a-hero-today-in-Russia

In three-way race including RFK Jr., Harris leads Donald Trump by 4 points -- Bye-Bye Donald!

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/harris-leads-trump-44-42-us-presidential-race-reutersipsos-poll-finds-2024-07-23/ In a two-way race with Donald Trump, Kamela Harris leads by 2 points. In a 3-way race including RFK Jr., Kamela Harris leads Donald Trump by 4 points, outside the poll's margin of error. This, immediately following both the Republican Convention, which normally gives candidates a 5 or 6 point boost, and the stagey assassination attempt on Donald Trump, which caused Ronald Reagan's polling to skyrocket, forty years ago. Trump is toast! The Republicans are toast! Democratic sweep in November. Blue Wave in November!

Parallels between Donald Trump and Mormon prophet Joseph Smith

While Donald Trump has a history as an entrepreneur and actor, and Joseph Smith was a poor country boy who founded a significant world religion, there are, nevertheless some interesting parallels between the latter portions of their lives, as major political figures in the United States of America. In particular, consider the events leading up to Joseph Smith's lynching in Illinois, in 1844. 1. Joseph Smith publicly advocated polygamy for all Mormons, even requiring polygamy as a religious duty, if at all possible. 2. Joseph Smith publicly announced that he was running for President of the United States, and would pursue a policy pressuring all Americans to convert to Mormonism, breaking down the separation of Church and State. 3. Joseph Smith denounced members of the press publicly criticizing Mormonism in any way, shape or form. 4. Joseph Smith ordered the destruction of a local newspaper in Illinois for criticizing Mormonism. 5. The newspaper banned by Joseph Smith was publicly destroyed by a mob of Mormon followers of Joseph Smith. Not surprisingly, the state of Illinois brought Joseph Smith to trial for incitement of a riot, and, also not so surprisingly, a mob dragged him from the jail, and lynched him, at the age of 38. To what extent is Donald Trump a polygamist? Well, that's hard to say, exactly. Trump leans that way, shall we say, and, it's perfectly likely, many Republicans, current Mormons included of course, lean that way, as well. Obviously, Trump has been President of the United States, and wants to be President of the United States, again. Obviously, Trump has gotten into trouble for incitement to riot, the January 6, 2021 incidents being the most obvious example. Obviously, Trump has a lot of trouble with the law lately, being a convicted felon. Obviously, Trump and his right wing Christian followers, Mormons included, favor the breakdown of the separation of Church and State. Obviously, Trump is very intolerant of any criticisms from the press, or anyone else, and, given the power, would probably shut these critics down, permanently, like Joseph Smith himself. Obviously, Trump is himself facing the prospect of lynching, having very nearly been assassinated just days ago. Donald Trump is a charismatic demagogue seeking power by any means possible over Americans as a whole, in precisely the same way that Mormon prophet Joseph Smith was. Donald Trump's followers are just as rabid and adamant about the genius of Donald Trump, as the early Mormons were about the genius of their prophet, Joseph Smith. Donald Trump is presenting himself as an American prophet and putting himself forward as a potential dictator of the United States, very much along the lines of Joseph Smith, and seems to be heading for a rather similar fate!

Why do people say that the United States is on stolen land even though it was acquired from the first nations through mutually beneficial treaties intended to maintain peace and ensure cooperation between the two parties?

Because they weren’t mutually beneficial treaties intended to maintain peace and ensure cooperation between the two parties. The natives were forced into giving up their lands by treaty at gunpoint and through bribery of influential natives, and, when that didn’t work, the whites just took their lands and removed the natives by force! https://www.quora.com/unanswered/Why-do-people-say-that-the-United-States-is-on-stolen-land-even-though-it-was-acquired-from-the-first-nations-through-mutually-beneficial-treaties-intended-to-maintain-peace-and-ensure-cooperation-between-the-two

Why Donald Trump's attempted assassination hasn't helped him politically

One of the aspects of Trump's recent misfortune of being shot at that hasn't been discussed a great deal, is why it doesn't appear to be helping him politically at all. In fact if anything, it may be hurting him a bit. Immediately following the incident, most people were predicting an effect similar to Ronald Reagan's survival of an assassination attempt -- a huge popularity boost. This hasn't happened at all, and, it's pretty clear now, that it's not going to happen. Trump handled the incident fairly well, pumping his fist in the air, shouting "fight, fight, fight". He's obviously spunky. However, was his behavior really Presidential? Or, was it rather juvenile? Is Trump entering his second childhood, acting like a twelve year old, whatever happens, even the prospect of his own immediate and violent death? Another aspect here, is that the shooter was apparently a conservative. He had Donald Trump signs in his own backyard. This wasn't a antifa member with a clear left-wing political agenda to remove Donald Trump. This was simply some Republican nut who felt like killing Donald Trump, perhaps because he thought some other candidate might be better for the Party, or maybe just for fun, or to get attention. So, no traction is available here in attacking the "left" in the U.S. What this plays into, is the general sense that what the Democrats are claiming might be correct, that the Republicans are the Party of instability, and Civil War, and that Donald Trump is a magnet for political violence, even from his own supporters. In fact, it appears that, whatever the limitations of the Democrats might be, the Republicans are nothing but trouble for the people of the U.S., with their juvenile fantasies of simple solutions to what are, actually, very complex problems. And, Independents are seeing this, in the behavior of both Donald Trump, and his potential assassin, both just a couple of immature, juvenile fantasists trying to get attention, any way they can possibly think of! Are Donald Trump and Thomas Matthew Crooks just two of a kind? Just a couple of "crooks", as it were. Can Republicans really expect any Independents at all, to vote for that? However "energized" this may make the Republican "base", is that "base", alone, really going to be sufficient to win in November? Don't count on it! Not if all the Independents are scared to death of Donald Trump and his crazy hangers on.

Why is the quality of Stephen King's novels decreasing?

Because Stephen King is getting very old, and, actually, most of his books were never terribly good, anyway. He was a very good advertising executive, hard working and creative, but, this meant that he was always trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator. And, that’s what his books have always done, too. He’s always been trying to make as much money as he possibly could, by appealing to fairly illiterate people, with rather illiterate books. Personally, I think Stephen King should have stuck to advertising, that’s really what he was born to do. He wouldn’t look quite as ridiculous as he does today, trying to pump out horror shlock to make money, when he’s too old to have any new ideas. Old writers can still be very good, and can even improve with age, if they’re really good writers, who are fascinated by human nature, and forever curious. That’s not Stephen King! He’s just a greedy SOB who is always working frantically to make money. You know what the true “horror” is in Stephen King’s books? Ordinary life in Maine! https://www.quora.com/unanswered/Why-is-the-quality-of-Stephen-Kings-novels-decreasing

What was the relationship between Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla? Did they collaborate or simply admire each other's work?

Actually, Tesla had complete contempt for Albert Einstein’s work. He believed the theory of relativity was absurd, and favored the old nineteenth century idea of some kind of an “ether” in the vacuum of space, to explain why light travelled as a waveform in a vacuum. He believed that the notion that space and time were related was ridiculous and impossible. He did not believe that light speed represented an absolute limit. Tesla was quite emphatic on these points, and never changed his views, till the day he died, in 1943, at the age of 86. https://www.quora.com/unanswered/What-was-the-relationship-between-Albert-Einstein-and-Nikola-Tesla-Did-they-collaborate-or-simply-admire-each-others-work

Why did Trump choose JD Vance as Vice President?

Because this means Trump will win Ohio, and every candidate who won Ohio, won the Presidency, historically speaking. https://www.quora.com/Why-did-Trump-choose-JD-Vance-as-Vice-President

Was Trump right when he called the Canadian Health System "catastrophic"?

It’s catastrophic for the insurance industry — there’s no health insurance market in Canada. It’s catastrophic for the pharmaceutical industry — if they want to market drugs in Canada, they have to keep the prices low, on government order. The doctors don’t like the fact they have to do what they’re told, and keep their rates reasonable. It’s catastrophic for the litigators — there’s almost no medical malpractice litigation at all in Canada, the courts won’t pay out big claims. As for the patients, they kind of like having cheap, quality health care, with not complications, for the most part. And, there are far fewer serious quacks, in Canada, than in the U.S. https://www.quora.com/Was-Trump-right-when-he-called-the-Canadian-Health-System-catastrophic

Russia is pacifying Ukraine. The Mongol Golden Horde has returned to Europe!

While the West babbles on and on about how superior it is to Russia, and how Russia cannot possibly win its "failed war" against Ukraine, and how Russia cannot possibly win a war of attrition against NATO, Russia continues to systematically take territory and towns throughout Ukraine on a weekly basis. Not only that, Russia is also demonstrating how it can go around even the most sophisticated air defenses NATO has, and can destroy anything it wants, whenever it wants to, in Ukraine. This is significant, in that it indicates that NATO nations have no defense whatsoever against any potential Russian thermonuclear attack on NATO soil. This represents a significant threat and moral deterrent, to NATO. NATO has always claimed that Russia could not possibly win a war of attrition with it. The problem is, NATO cannot possibly fight a war of attrition with Russia over Ukraine, the NATO populations will never support this. Only Russia is willing to fight a war of attrition here, and, that's precisely why Russia is winning this war. And, it's more than that. As we all know, North Korea is sending troops to fight in Ukraine, alongside their Russian allies. A nuclear armed military of 1.3 million men. And, it's more than even that. Just recently, Belarus has formed much closer ties with Communist China. https://www.yahoo.com/news/chinese-troops-begin-drills-along-221102994.html And, now, Chinese troops are now in Belarus, drilling alongside Belarussian troops, effectively a province of Moscow, and of Russia. They are drilling along the Polish border, along the border with NATO. Russia, China, North Korea, all together, fighting NATO, in Europe. The Mongol Golden Horde has returned to Europe, for the first time in 600 years!

What is the history of dice games and how old are they as a form of entertainment?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dice An extremely old form of human activity, dating to before the dawn of human history. All concepts of how the practice originated are, therefore, purely speculative. They may have been used for divination, entertainment or perhaps some other form of activity, originally, and probably the first dice were bones of some type — thus “casting the bones”. They were used in games by the ancient Egyptians and many other early cultures from the dawn of human history. The ancient Romans were great gamblers with dice. Playing cards and dominoes developed from dice and games played with dice, first, in China. https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-history-of-dice-games-and-how-old-are-they-as-a-form-of-entertainment?show_editor=True

Why do men treat women as objects, and why do women treat men like dogs?

Excellent question. Because life is competitive, and everyone’s trying to use everyone else to accomplish their own personal objectives. So, men treat women like garbage, and men treat women like garbage. And, men treat other men like garbage, and women treat other women like garbage. This is one of the excellent arguments for simply becoming a hermit! https://www.quora.com/unanswered/Why-do-men-treat-women-as-objects-and-why-do-women-treat-men-like-dogs

Could we soon end up in a situation in which Germany is pressured by the whole world to approve another genocide on the Jews, because French, and Britisch pro Jewishness is collapsing and so is Russians Pro Jewishness?

You seem to be under the misimpression that there are a lot of Jews in Germany. There aren’t. Most of the Jews the Germans massacred were in Poland, and there aren’t many Jews there either these days. The Jews are in Israel, the U.S., Argentina, Russia, mostly. If the Germans were going to massacre anybody, and they do from time to time, it would be Turkish Muslims. The Nazis in Germany hate Turkish Muslims with a passion these days, because there are so many of them, and they’re competing with native Germans for jobs and social services. https://www.quora.com/Could-we-soon-end-up-in-a-situation-in-which-Germany-is-pressured-by-the-whole-world-to-approve-another-genocide-on-the-Jews-because-French-and-Britisch-pro-Jewishness-is-collapsing-and-so-is-Russians-Pro-Jewishness

How close would you think the Romans were to the industrial age with a big continuous string of good emperors?

The concept of an “industrial age” would have effectively been meaningless to the Romans. They had the steam engine, in toys, but, why would they have wanted to create steam engines to replace slaves with? The Romans liked their economic system based on slavery, that’s what they were used to, and that’s the way they thought things should always be. The Romans made the deserts of North Africa bloom with slave labor, organizing slave labor was what the Romans thought was their purpose in life. The idea of an “industrial age” would have simply been too bizarre a concept for the Romans to even understand, let alone strive for. https://www.quora.com/unanswered/How-close-would-you-think-the-Romans-were-to-the-industrial-age-with-a-big-continuous-string-of-good-emperors

Why did European powers allow Charles V to be the leader of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain but not Louis XIV’s grandson to become king of France and Spain?

Because the English were not yet strong enough to forcefully intervene in European affair at the beginning of the sixteenth century, but, they were strong enough by beginning of the eighteenth century. The English have always opposed hegemony in Europe, and favored a balance of powers there. They hadn’t the power to do anything much about it when Charles V became leader of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain, but, they had the money, men, and naval power to intervene to prevent France and Spain from being united, when the occasion arose almost two centuries later. In the intervening two centuries, England had become a world superpower, particularly at sea and commercially, and, they had no reason to tolerate direct competition from a united Spain and France by that stage. https://www.quora.com/Why-did-European-powers-allow-Charles-V-to-be-the-leader-of-the-Holy-Roman-Empire-and-Spain-but-not-Louis-XIV-s-grandson-to-become-king-of-France-and-Spain

The Russian advance into Chasiv Yar proves that Ukraine is doomed.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-chasiv-yar-889d04cd5b88754771dfd51c888c9079# Despite massive NATO assistance, the Ukrainians, with most of their military liquidated by the Russians by this time, are incapable of even holding onto major cities like Chasiv Yar, which is now falling once more under Russian control, for the first time since 1991. The NATO "wonder weapons" aren't, and, in fact, they're scarcely a match, despite their incredible price tags, for Soviet era Russian weapons that are much, much cheaper. NATO itself is falling apart, as nations like Hungary, Turkey and the Slovak Republic chart their own course, and France and Britain are electing governments that are lukewarm at best to continued participation in the alliance, and are unlikely to support any further intervention in Ukraine. This was all highly predictable, of course. Ukraine never beats Russia, they simply haven't the discipline to do it! The Russians learned discipline from the Mongols under 250 years of Mongol servitude, paying tribute, until Ivan the Great drove them away in 1480, once, and for all. It may be that Vladimir Putin does indeed see himself as a modern incarnation of Ivan the Great, with the United States taking the place of the Mongols as the "overlords" who must be driven from pillaging the Russian people. If you're interested, here's a very beautiful series purportedly about Ivan the Great's wife, Sophia, but actually about Ivan the Great, which may give you a feel for the period, if you know a little Russian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5msAxCCZhPQ It is probably not a coincidence that filming of this series began just six months after the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea, in 2014, and that Ivan the Great bears a rather striking resemblance to Vladimir Putin in this particular series!

Is the conviction of Donald Trump in New York going out the window?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/judge-suggests-trump-felony-sentencing-152402076.html The wording of Judge Merchan's statement suggests at least the possibility that there may be no sentencing of Donald Trump, at all, ever. Of course, the presiding judge may just be trying to sound reasonable, and accepting the possibility of the validity of the defense's arguments to dismiss the charges, even though he has no intention to do so. On the other hand, he may have been well and truly intimidated by the Supreme Court's formal granting of immunity for all official acts to President Trump. Or, he may believe the defense has a pretty good case. So, what's going to happen on September 18, when the judge is, once more, in principle, supposed to pass sentence? Has this just all been a smoke and mirrors exercise, to give people the illusion of accountability at the highest levels, when, in fact, the concept is just a joke? Is the judge just going to say, "Well, he was President, so, we can all just forget about all this." ? It does look a bit that way, doesn't it?

Why do the Jews want to hide so desperately that the vast majority of the communist Bolshevik leaders in the USSR were Jewish?

The vast majority of the communist Bolshevik leaders in the USSR weren’t Jewish. Jews represented only a small fraction of the Russian population, they couldn’t possibly have represented the majority of the communist Bolshevik leadership, the rest of the Russians wouldn’t have paid any attention to them, at all. That said, a significant minority of the communist Bolshevik leaders were indeed Jewish, including Leon Trotsky, the most powerful of them all. Jews make no secret of this, they aren’t trying to hide it, at all. On the whole Jews are rather proud of Trotsky, and think the USSR might have worked better with him at the helm, instead of Christian failed priest, Josef Stalin. https://www.quora.com/unanswered/Why-do-the-Jews-want-to-hide-so-desperately-that-the-vast-majority-of-the-communist-Bolshevik-leaders-in-the-USSR-were-Jewish

How do people feel who were forced into taking the vaccine to avoid being sacked?

They all died of COVID after taking the vaccine, so, we don’t know. https://www.quora.com/How-do-people-feel-who-were-forced-into-taking-the-vaccine-to-avoid-being-sacked

Why can’t more scientists value wisdom over intelligence?

Scientists are stupid, rigid specialists, who are completely ignorant of everything outside of their specialized field of study. Scientists therefore have no concept whatsoever of wisdom, they think exclusively in terms of skills related specifically to their particular field of specialization. https://www.quora.com/Why-can-t-more-scientists-value-wisdom-over-intelligence

What is the meaning of the poem "Out Out" by Robert Frost?

‘"Out, out, brief candle!" This line is spoken by Macbeth in Act 5, Scene 5, upon learning of the death of his wife, Lady Macbeth. The phrase **signifies his despair and the fleeting nature of life, comparing human existence to a brief candle flame that is extinguished**.’ That’s just straight from Google, and I think Robert Frost is just giving a very prosaic, contemporary American example of the nature of human existence, in general, that Shakespeare has made tragic in Macbeth. Frost is generalizing this principle to all human beings, not just tragic heroes or villains. https://www.quora.com/unanswered/What-is-the-meaning-of-the-poem-Out-Out-by-Robert-Frost