Muhammad Rasheed's Blog, page 227

Defense of the Gold Standard & the Discovery of Freedom, pt 2 of 7

Muhammad Rasheed - Abdur Rasheed wrote: "Ok. What should the government have done to prevent what happened?"
Regular police enforcement shit. Those directly responsible are brought up on charges and fined all the way up the chain of command. The company given a hard deadline when they need to fix the damage, and if it isn't met shut all of that shit down, confiscate it, and throw them in prison. Or hang them from the gibbet. Whichever is cheaper.
Muhammad Rasheed - Abdur Rasheed wrote: "Who's job is it to catch companies when they pollute? Who reported the chemical company when they realized that the water was contaminated?"
I don't know. Tell me.
Abdur Rasheed - Muhammad wrote: "That's nonsense, and narrow-minded thinking. Currency wouldn't be limited to how much gold we have, when you can just divide the dollar up further."
[blinks]
I'm starting to suspect that you don't even know what the gold standard is.
The gold standard means that the USA carries the amount of gold to back up every cent of our money.
That's just what it was. If you have a fixed amount of gold backing up the equal share of your countries currency...you can't just break down the penny into little sub pennies and everything will be alright, Goober.
We both live on an island and we both trade 10 gold coins between us for goods and services. We both agree that a gold coin is worth a fixed amount of goods and services.
Say you end up with the last remaining fresh water on your side of the island and I have to keep buying my water from you. I get down to my last two gold coins so I cut them both into 300 equal pieces.
Am I NOW the richest man on the island?
Say 10 more people come to our island and they all provide different services and goods that we all need but we only have 10 gold coins.
I guess some people have to die. [grabs beating club]
Or we get the fuck off of this bullshit gold standard.
Muhammad wrote: "The Kuwaiti Dinar (KD) is the highest-valued currency in the world... everybody wants it! The KD is divided into a thousand parts (fils) as opposed to the USD's one hundred parts (cents). A 250/1000 of a KD is powerful. Using this money is what it was like living under the gold standard when the USD was still rock solid."
I didn't realize that Kuwait was still on the gold standard and that they were doing so well.
You just shot holes all in my....Kuwait ain't on no gotdamnit gold standard.
They DO produce valuable shit that most of the free world uses at their entire economy is based on it.
Kuwait is an Army base (for protection) a goat village, and one of the largest OIL fields in the world.
THAT is why their money is so valuable.
Fuck the gold standard!
Abdur Rasheed - Muhammad wrote: "Abdur Rasheed wrote: "Ok. What should the government have done to prevent what happened?"
Regular police enforcement shit. Those directly responsible are brought up on charges and fined all the way up the chain of command. The company given a hard deadline when they need to fix the damage, and if it isn't met shut all of that shit down, confiscate it, and throw them in prison."
Uuuuummmmm...it was just an accident man. Chill! Do you think that company wanted all of this negative publicity?
They just wanted to refine chemicals and make money.
Some valve leaked underground or some shit and nobody knew until the water started to smell funny and the COMPANY did and investigation and reported it to the EPA.
Relax over there Barney Fife and put that bullet away.
See why I'm not living in your crazy libertarian world.
Muhammad Rasheed - Abdur Rasheed wrote: "That's just what it was. If you have a fixed amount of gold backing up the equal share of your countries currency...you can't just break down the penny into little sub pennies and everything will be alright, Goober."
Of COURSE you can. That's what a cent is... the dollar broken down into fractions. It can be broken down even further... issue new notes. That way the dollar will not be watered down from inflation by printing more than the gold we have, and the strength of the dollar will maintain its integrity.
I didn't bring up the KD as an example of them being on the gold standard, but to point out how a further sub-divided currency note looks. 1/1,000 versus our 1/100.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: "Uuuuummmmm...it was just an accident man."
Yeah, okay. Now the WV citizens are apparently drinking motor oil out of bathtubs. They can fix that shit in 60 days... clean it all up... or their CEO will hang from the gibbet.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: "Chill! Do you think that company wanted all of this negative publicity?"
I'm sure their lawyers are trying to figure out how to sue the motherfucker that snitched.
Abdur Rasheed - I didn't mean that you weren't able to breakdown the damn penny. I meant that it doesn't add value and that would be fucking stupid (see: my island scenario.)
Muhammad Rasheed - lol Your island scenario could easily been fixed by breaking down those 10 coins, stupid.
Muhammad Rasheed - smh
Abdur Rasheed - So in your magical world...breaking DOWN money increases the value?
On the gold standard we would be limited on our gold reserves.
Which means that the value of of currency is directly linked to the amount of gold we have in our reserves as a country...and not a dollar more.
That's why they don't want to aide other countries.
The gold standard started to take a shit during WWI we we over extended our gold treasuries.
If your dollar's value is represented by X amount of gold and you run out of gold or simply can't keep up with and economic upturn...breaking down the money that you already have is NOT going to help you.
If I can buy Monsters 101 in paperback for $12 and we run out of gold and therefor cash...how can I buy a copy of Monsters 101?
I divided up all of my pennies ...now what? Can I NOW buy a copy for 100th of a penny?
SWEET!
That sounds stable.
Dumb ass!
Abdur Rasheed - Muhammad wrote: "There wouldn't be any bubbles if we were on the gold standard. "Bubbles" are caused by printing money arbitrarily backed by nothing by the Fed saying "Okay, print some more just because" and inflation threatening to collapse the economy. You don't have an argument on this topic."
No I don't.
Because YOU just made it for me.
Go and look up what the gold standard actually is, and then get back to me.
Start here: "A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a FIXED quantity of gold."
Muhammad Rasheed - It's supposed to be a fixed quantity of gold, that's where the stability comes from. Printing more notes than the amount of gold you have creates inflation/instability.
Abdur Rasheed - Yeah, yeah. That's what I said.
THE QUESTION WAS: What happens during a sudden economic boom when your money is limited to a fixed quantity of gold?
Your answer: Break down your pennies.
Retarded answer and shows a lack of understanding of basic economic principals.
Start again.
Abdur Rasheed - Muhammad wrote: "That's nonsense, and narrow-minded thinking. Currency wouldn't be limited to how much gold we have, when you can just divide the dollar up further."
Right there is where you said it.^^^^^^^^ dumb^^^^^^^^
Muhammad Rasheed - Abdur Rasheed wrote: "So in your magical world...breaking DOWN money increases the value?"
Where did I say it increases the value? It already had value; it was worth that exact amount of gold the note represented. Your $1 note is worth 1/20 of an ounce of gold. Break it in half and issue a $0.50 note. That one is worth 1/40 of an ounce of gold. New notes were issued, stability maintained, no inflation.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: "On the gold standard we would be limited on our gold reserves."
Yup. That's how it works. That's its strength.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: "That's why they don't want to aide other countries."
"Aid" other countries doing what?
Abdur Rasheed wrote: "The gold standard started to take a shit during WWI we we over extended our gold treasuries."
1.) World War I began one year after the private banking interests known as the Money Trust slipped the Federal Reserve Act through over the holidays when the politicians they knew would ‘Nay’ it were on leave.2.) The Money Trust (their super villain name) formed the corporation The Federal Reserve, and in partnership with the US government, were given the job of controlling the nation’s wealth.3.) They IMMEDIATELY started printing more money that we had in our reserves, creating the very first recession bubble that caused The Great Depression 20 years later.
The gold standard “took a shit” because it was deliberately sabotaged by the villain of the story that wanted it gone. Slow clap for people just like you who are willful dupes because of your ignorant blind faith in a system you only think you understand. Now the economy is screwed up completely and we live in a permanent debt culture. Thanks.
Stop calling me names and argue your case.
Abdur Rasheed - Muhammad Rasheed wrote: "What makes it arbitrary? At the moment you are the only human being in history that doesn't consider gold true wealth."
I'm good with that. You still haven't found a real use for gold yet and you haven't shown why assigning an arbitrary value to a shiny rock is so different than Wall Street assigning an arbitrary value to a house. I'm still waiting. Wheat has more practical value. Laurie's seasoning salt has more value. Fresh water. The active ingredient to deodorant.
Gold is pretty though.
Muhammad wrote: "B...but everybody SAYS its valuable.
Rah: "Oh. Ok. Go get some and hold it tight."
Muhammad wrote: "Even the Federal Reserve, that believes in creating bubbles and recessions from producing money literally from thin air that you're such a big proponent of, has a stockpile of gold for their private company usage."
So you're following the federal reserve when you agree with them?
Nice.
Muhammad wrote: "There wouldn't be any bubbles if we were on the gold standard. "Bubbles" are caused by printing money arbitrarily backed by nothing by the Fed saying "Okay, print some more just because" and inflation threatening to collapse the economy."
[blinks]
Not only do you not hear ME, but you don't even hear yourself.
So printing money arbitrarily is BAD, but printing money based on the arbitrary value of a shiny rock is GOOD?
K
I guess I don't have an argument.
So when are we going back on the gold standard from the early 1900's?
Sounds fun.
Abdur Rasheed - Muhammad wrote: "lol Your island scenario could easily been fixed by breaking down those 10 coins, stupid."
Abdur Rasheed - I know that it's easy to jump head first into conspiracy theories and all, but no war is budgeted.
If you live an a house and every dollar you spend is allocated for a purpose. Then you have a beef with a neighbor and it costs billions of dollars that you didn't plan on spending you are going to go bankrupt.
Now if you were on the gold standard and every dollar HAD to be backed buy gold...you would run out of gold and bankrupt your household.
If we were going to go to was against ze Germans and DIDN'T want to go bankrupt...we HAD to get off the gold standard or at least start making major plans to do so or we would go bankrupt.
I know I know the secret meeting with the illuminati and the lizard people and 'em, but sometimes it's just smarter.

Muhammad Rasheed - Abdur Rasheed wrote: “I'm good with that. You still haven't found a real use for gold yet…”
FROM WIKI – “The value of gold is rooted in its medium rarity, easily handling, easy smelting, non-corrosiveness, distinct color and non-reactiveness to other elements; qualities most other metals lack. It is a good reflector of electromagnetic radiation such as infrared and visible light as well as radio waves. It is used for the protective coatings on many artificial satellites, in infrared protective faceplates in thermal protection suits and astronauts' helmets and in electronic warfare planes like the EA-6B Prowler. It can be manufactured so thin that it appears transparent. It is used in some aircraft cockpit windows for de-icing or anti-icing by passing electricity through it. The heat produced by the resistance of the gold is enough to deter ice from forming. Plus it is a great conductor of both heat and electricity with the added benefit of corrosion resistance.”
Sounds useful to ME. In fact, in the current technological age it is more practically useful than ever.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “…and you haven't shown why assigning an arbitrary value to a shiny rock is so different than Wall Street assigning an arbitrary value to a house.”
The above list from the Wiki page proves the value isn’t arbitrary at all.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “I’m still waiting.”
You are also stubborn and prideful.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “Wheat has more practical value. Laurie's seasoning salt has more value. Fresh water. The active ingredient to deodorant. Gold is pretty though.”
Gold is permanent, while those items are perishable. All the gold that has ever been mined from the earth is being used now. It does not rust or corrode. Permanence is a fundamentally desired quality in the candidates up for something stable to back up a currency. Gold has won that race over and over since before recorded history. You are the only one who can’t see that.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “Muhammad wrote: "B...but everybody SAYS its valuable.Rah: "Oh. Ok. Go get some and hold it tight."So you're following the federal reserve when you agree with them? Nice."
The very enemy who schemed to remove us off of the gold standard so he could become [more] super rich under the same fiat system that indebted Old Europe and destroyed their economy is SHOWING YOU the true value of gold by hoarding it himself and you still don’t see that. lol
But you called me a dumb ass? Interesting.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “[blinks]Not only do you not hear ME, but you don't even hear yourself.”
At this point in the thread you’ve proved yourself not worth hearing.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “So printing money arbitrarily is BAD…”
It literally causes inflation bubbles, recessions and depressions.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “…but printing money based on the arbitrary value of a shiny rock is GOOD?”
Not a single inflation bubble, recession or depression is caused by a stable currency backed by the world’s most consistently precious metal. Literally.
Lol I can’t explain it any more clearer than that.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “I guess I don't have an argument.”
Not even a LITTLE bit. Don't call me a dumb ass again. Get yourself together on this item.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “So when are we going back on the gold standard from the early 1900's?”
Why would the Fed give up their gravy train? Let me break down the fiat system again: 1.) I produce money from out of thin air by simply printing the currency. 2.) I assign a value to it based on eenie-meenie-mynie-moe 3.) I loan it to you 4.) I charge you interest and collect your actual wealth (gold!) as payment 5.) when I own all of your gold, the national deficit starts growing 6.) you are now in debt to me forever. CONGRATS!
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “Sounds fun.”
Being debt free is more than fun. It is a blessing, a badge of true freedom, and worth fighting for.
I wish FB let us use bold, italic, and underline.
Muhammad Rasheed - Abdur Rasheed wrote: “I know that it's easy to jump head first into conspiracy theories and all, but no war is budgeted. If you live an a house and every dollar you spend is allocated for a purpose. Then you have a beef with a neighbor and it costs billions of dollars that you didn't plan on spending you are going to go bankrupt. Now if you were on the gold standard and every dollar HAD to be backed buy gold...you would run out of gold and bankrupt your household. If we were going to go to was against ze Germans and DIDN'T want to go bankrupt...we HAD to get off the gold standard or at least start making major plans to do so or we would go bankrupt. I know I know the secret meeting with the illuminati and the lizard people and 'em, but sometimes it's just smarter.”
Why did we enter that war? World War I? Americans were calling it the “European War,” and nobody wanted to enter it. For what? It would’ve cost a fortune in national resources and human lives and it was popular opinion that it wasn’t our fight. Our nation had also consistently rejected the Central Bank’s offers to take over our money system to use the very fiat system that destroyed Europe’s economy. Our economy was strong. Rock solid. But you think it was “just smarter” to hand our financial system over to a private institution that specialized in a finance system that was proven to destroy whole nations for the previous several centuries? You think it was smart for us to enter that war that nobody wanted, that we still haven’t recovered from?
And it doesn’t bother you at all that the private banking institution… not aliens or lizards or none of that… people you actually know, in fact… pushed an act through when most of the voting members were off for the holidays? They did that so that we would give them our money system. So we would enter that war. And you think it was smart. That we’re better for it.
‘Kay.
Muhammad Rasheed - Abdur Rasheed wrote: “Then you have a beef with a neighbor and it costs billions of dollars that you didn't plan on spending you are going to go bankrupt ... If we were going to go to was against ze Germans and DIDN'T want to go bankrupt..."
Then you don't go to war. You fight for peace because the cost of war is too great.
If the world wasn't enslaved to the Central Banking system and its debt-producing tool of fiat, we wouldn't have the current Global War Machine Culture that requires fiat to finance it.
You are right. If we were on the gold standard, it would severely restrict the war machine. So we were tricked off of it, and a year later we were in a ridiculously costly war the American people said wasn't our fight.
Muhammad Rasheed - Imagine being in the current technological age in which there was no war (or much reduced), and we weren't in debt. That's what it would be like if the world was still on the gold standard, and the Central banks were destroyed. "Sounds fun." Fun? It would be a Golden Age of prosperity.
Interesting. Love talking about this stuff because the dots just keep connecting.
Muhammad Rasheed - Abdur Rasheed wrote: "THE QUESTION WAS: What happens during a sudden economic boom when your money is limited to a fixed quantity of gold? Your answer: Break down your pennies."
A consistently stable currency during economic growth and "booms" means the value of the currency increases. The basic currency unit would stretch farther and farther and farther...
...the literal opposite to what inflation does to the currency. Inflation weakens the currency... dilutes it... so that it no longer can buy as much as it used to. A stable currency during economic growth has the opposite effect, and the fractional increments of the currency unit can buy more and more.
Muhammad Rasheed - Under the stable economy of the gold standard in previous US centuries, you could buy two goats and a bag of feed for half a handful of pennies. Today you might be able to buy a gumball with that. With a co-signer.
Abdur Rasheed - Muhammad Rasheed wrote: "FROM WIKI – “The value of gold is rooted in its medium rarity, easily handling, easy smelting, non-corrosiveness, distinct color and non-reactiveness to other elements; qualities most other metals lack. It is a good reflector of electromagnetic radiation such as infrared and visible light as well as radio waves. It is used for the protective coatings on many artificial satellites, in infrared protective faceplates in thermal protection suits and astronauts' helmets and in electronic warfare planes like the EA-6B Prowler. It can be manufactured so thin that it appears transparent. It is used in some aircraft cockpit windows for de-icing or anti-icing by passing electricity through it. The heat produced by the resistance of the gold is enough to deter ice from forming. Plus it is a great conductor of both heat and electricity with the added benefit of corrosion resistance.”
Sounds useful to ME. In fact, in the current technological age it is more practically useful than ever."
That IS pretty useful. I didn't realize how useful gold is.
How big is the market share for cockpit window defrosters?
They must be FLYING off the shelves at Air Plane Depot.
So because EVERYBODY must have an airplane cockpit window defroster explains why gold is in such high demand.
If you would have just said, "Jewelry" it would have made more sense.
I know that gold IS valuable because everybody says to get it, but you can lose you ass investing in gold just as easily as anything else.
It's worth more now more than ever, but its STILL just an inflated price based on the fluctuations of some magic wand, Muhammad. It has ZERO value.
They don't make enough gold plated satellites and twin turbo plane to justify the price. If they made something that everybody could actually use with gold then the price would skyrocket and nobody could afford whatever they were making with it.
I know that is only if we go back to the economy limiting gold standard and we can no longer own it, but the REST of the world wouldn't and as I said its a GLOBAL economy.
Muhammad wrote: "The above list from the wiki page proves..."
That less than .0001% usefulness proves my point unless you have one of the $52 million dollar jets that was made or modified back in the 1960's.
Muhammad wrote: "You are stubborn and prideful."
And rich not based on theories from days long passed.
NOT stubborn and prideful ARBITRARILY.
I know what works. I am recession proof because I don't get caught in bubbles. Gold or otherwise.
Muhammad Rasheed wrote: "Gold is permanent, while those items are perishable. All the gold that has ever been mined from the earth is being used now. It does not rust or corrode. Permanence is a fundamental desired quality in the candidates for something stable to back up a currency. Gold has won that race over and over since before recorded history. You are the only one who can’t see that."
So are most of the elements on the periodic table.
So are PCB's.
Diamonds.
Did you every ask why gold over diamonds?
Who would benefit?
I just spent a SHIT LOAD of money on diamond tipped drill bits. Gold drill bits are useless btw.
Muhammad wrote: "The very enemy who schemed to remove us off of the gold standard so he could become [more] super rich under the same fiat system that indebted Old Europe and destroyed their economy is SHOWING YOU the true value of gold by hoarding it himself and you still don’t see that. lolBut you called me a dumb ass? Interesting."
Space aliens again, Eh?
Ok.
Scary.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “…but printing money based on the arbitrary value of a shiny rock is GOOD?”
Muhammad wrote: "Not a single inflation bubble, recession or depression is caused under a stable currency backed by the world’s most consistently precious metal. Literally.
Lol I can’t explain it any more clearer than that. "
I know you can't.
Because you would be wrong.
When your money is limited by your gold reserves your economy crawls at a snails pace.
If you have goods to sell you cannot raise your price.
Breaking down the penny won't help you.
Recessions happen when people panic and start snatching money out of the economy and burying it in the yard.
People panic when their money is supports by the arbitrary whims of the market.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of...
We were ON the gold standard in 1907 and there was no Federal Reserve.
I know the evil lizard people and space ships did it, but here in the real world...a bubble is a bubble and a BAD idea is just a fucking bad idea.
Rah
Abdur Rasheed - The idea of increasing value by breaking down the penny IS stupid.
Abdur Rasheed - Muhammad Rasheed wrote: "Under the stable economy of the gold standard in previous US centuries, you could buy two goats and a bag of feed for half a handful of pennies. Today you might be able to buy a gumball with that. With a co-signer."
You think that the only difference in the cost of living in the early 1900's and 2014 is the fiat banking system???
K
Abdur Rasheed - Have you abandoned the notion that breaking down pennies adds value?
Muhammad Rasheed - Abdur Rasheed wrote: “If you would have just said, "Jewelry" it would have made more sense.”
It was the above-listed properties that make it valuable in science/industry, jewelry, and a stable precious metal to back currency. Toss it aside as you like, Abdur. I guarantee it won’t lay there for long despite your stubborn insistence that it’s not actually valuable in anyway. A trillion, trillion human beings going all the way back to Adam will disagree with you. Pigs don’t care much for pearls either I hear.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “I know that gold IS valuable because everybody says to get it, but you can lose you ass investing in gold just as easily as anything else.”
Yeah, compare how gold functions as a stable backing of currency to how it functions now under the Central Banks’ fiat system where it’s used as just another commodity. THAT’S the same. Sure. Lol
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “It's worth more now more than ever…”
In context because of the current usage in our technological society.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “…but its STILL just an inflated price based on the fluctuations of some magic wand, Muhammad.”
The price of the dollar is what is being manipulated, giving the illusion that those items are fluctuating in value. A troy ounce of gold will buy the same thing today as it would’ve bought 2,000 years ago.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “It has ZERO value.”
Things with zero value are rarely hoarded, sir.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “They don't make enough gold plated satellites and twin turbo plane to justify the price. If they made something that everybody could actually use with gold then the price would skyrocket and nobody could afford whatever they were making with it.”
Everyone uses jewelry. People use gold for all kinds of things; its stats make it suitable for lots of things. [casual skim down the WIKI page] Oh, look. Gold is used in medicine. Sounds pretty valuable to ME. It has well-known uses in dentistry, and it has numerous applications making it a vital component for the electron microscope. But let me stop. That’s probably not valuable to you either, amIright? Stupid science!
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “I know that is only if we go back to the economy limiting gold standard and we can no longer own it, but the REST of the world wouldn't and as I said its a GLOBAL economy.”
Yeah. So what does that mean exactly? We wouldn’t have a global economy otherwise? lol We could still do business with other nations… did not the ancients import/export? Explain yourself. Because the only component of a global economy that thrives on the fiat system is the War for Profit industry, as you yourself were so kind to shine a spotlight upon.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “That less than .0001% usefulness proves my point unless you have one of the $52 million dollar jets that was made or modified back in the 1960's.”
It has usefulness in industry, but it also has recognized universal value that is based on its natural properties, properties that make it the perfect candidate to back a currency as it has proved for ages. Meanwhile the Central Bank’s preferred object to back a currency known as “zero” is the very worst candidate that has proven for centuries to create only debt while making a tiny fraction of the population obscenely rich. lol I don’t even understand what cause you think you are fighting for in this thread.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “And rich not based on theories from days long passed.”
Foolishness. You are rich based on learning what you need to learn, and applying hard-won developed skills to a particular goal path. You would probably be more wealthy underneath the goal standard and consistently growing economy.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “I know what works.”
Not on this topic.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “ I am recession proof because I don't get caught in bubbles. Gold or otherwise.”
Staying out of debt traps and guarding against it makes anybody recession proof. But this fiat system is rigged to pull people into debt.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “So are most of the elements on the periodic table.”
You just pulled that out of your butt.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “So are PCB's. Diamonds. Did you every ask why gold over diamonds?”
So you can pound a diamond flat until it is transparent? And mercury? And uranium? And aluminum? lol And radon?Smh
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “Who would benefit?”
Yeah, compare how gold functions as a stable backing of currency to how it functions now under the Central Banks’ fiat system where it’s used as just another commodity. THAT’S the same. Sure. Lol
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “I just spent a SHIT LOAD of money on diamond tipped drill bits. Gold drill bits are useless btw.”
Wow that was… remarkably relevant to this topic. How did you DO that???
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “
But you called me a dumb ass? Interesting.">Space aliens again, Eh? Ok. Scary.”
FROM WIKI – “Central banks continue to keep a portion of their liquid reserves as gold in some form…”
Why do that if it has no value?
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “
Lol I can’t explain it any more clearer than that. ">I know you can't. Because you would be wrong.”
Not. The flaw lies in the receiver, not the messenger.
Muhammad Rasheed - Abdur Rasheed wrote: “When your money is limited by your gold reserves your economy crawls at a snails pace.”
Lol
1. Define “a snail’s pace.”2. So?
The currency is stable and the economy continues to grow “at a snail’s pace” consistently. Lol I’m supposed to be afraid of this scenario, Abdur, and prefer continuous recession bubbles, a consistently weakening dollar and a debt culture instead? Do you hear yourself?
A-Rah wrote: “Under the gold standard our stable economy would unfortunately only boom at a snail’s pace so we should vote for a truly FUCKED UP! economy instead. It’s smarter.”
Right. "Smarter." Whose side are you on exactly? Do you hate us?
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “If you have goods to sell you cannot raise your price.”
Sure I can! If supply and demand call for it I can raise my price to where the market will sustain it. A certain good I sell is scarce but the people are demanding more, so I can raise my price up from 1/1,000,000 of a gold-backed cent to 5/1,000,000 of a gold backed cent.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “Breaking down the penny won't help you.”
lol smh Lord help me.
Abdur Rasheed wrote: “Recessions happen when people panic and start snatching money out of the economy and burying it in the yard. People panic when their money is supports by the arbitrary whims of the market. [WIKI - Panic_of_1907] We were ON the gold standard in 1907 and there was no Federal Reserve.”
The panic of ’07 was also a tiny little thing that didn’t adversely affect the nation’s economy. People didn't lose confidence in the gold-backed currency, they lost faith in the banks holding their savings and wanted to hold onto it themselves. The banks took a loss and JP Morgan advised his people to come out of pocket to save their money-lending businesses. The only regular citizens who were affected negatively lost in stock market drops from betting everything on that copper company, and from the folk who were doing that unregulated side betting stuff. The banks got fucked up by that panic, and certain over-enthusiastic investors, but the citizens and the economy were fine. And notice that the banks had to bail THEMSELVES out. Imagine that?
Yeah, keep talking. You make 1907 sound good as hell compared to now (economically).
Muhammad Rasheed - Abdur Rasheed wrote: "Have abandoned the notion that breaking down pennies adds value?"
Sure, since I didn't say that.
The currency already has value... the gold that backs it, remember? The currency increases in value at your "snail's pace" as the stable economy continues to grow. As the currency increases in value, it is able to purchase more, so you can break the unit down in smaller amounts. Over time the future dime will have the same purchase power as the current dollar, and you'll be able to break it down even further if you need to. Breaking it down doesn't add the value. You break it down to take advantage of the consistently added value that builds "at a snail's pace."
Got it yet?
That's the 180 degree polar opposite to what inflation does. With inflation, you print more than what you actually possess which creates debt and dilutes the dollar. The one makes an economy prosper, the other destroys the economy.
Muhammad Rasheed - Abdur Rasheed wrote: "You think that the only difference in the cost of living in the early 1900's and 2014 is the fiat banking system???"
A strawman? I wasn't expecting that from you. I'm disappointed.
Am I arguing between the differences in cost of living between eras, or am I arguing the purchasing power of the currency itself comparing gold standard versus fiat? Stay focused, please.
Muhammad Rasheed - Abdur's article wrote: "justices across the ideological spectrum questioned whether President Barack Obama legally appointed three members of the National Labor Relations Board in January 2012. The case is the court’s first look at a constitutional provision that lets the president make temporary appointments to high-level posts during Senate recesses. Several justices indicated they accepted the argument, made jointly by a company facing NLRB sanctions and Senate Republicans, that the chamber wasn’t in a recess when Obama made the appointments. At stake is the scope of a power the Obama administration says has been used thousands of times since the country’s founding."
That's not the first time the president has taken a move like that in history for his own use. Didn't he pull a George Bush and pull some money out and go after Syria the same way Bush did in the War on Terror?
Obviously that recess temp thing is there for emergencies, but should a major law that has been consistently shot down literally since the country's founding be allowed to be passed through on that kind of super slick temp appointment loop hole when ALL Americans since forever said "Fuck no!" to giving our money to the Central Banks? Temp appointments should only be used to pass through baby laws, not major laws that you KNOW their political opponents are against because of an actual rock solid reason why not, and folk have to wait for them to go on vacation to pass.
Now that you've found this little tidbit, do you still think the fraudulent way the Fed Reserve Act being passed was just a conspiracy fantasy? You found the bloody glove yourself! lol
Jeremy Travis - Only commenting so that I can continue to receive notifications. Carry on.
Muhammad Rasheed - Proven by a United States congressional subcommittee which was formed between May 1912 and January 1913.
The Money Trust
Muhammad Rasheed - The Money Trust comes together to workout their fiat gravy train and plan how they would unleash the beast upon the US.
Jekyll Island was the location of a meeting in November 1910 in which draft legislation was written to create the U.S. Federal Reserve. Following the Panic of 1907, banking reform became a major issue in the United States. Senator Nelson Aldrich (R-RI), chairman of the National Monetary Commission, went to Europe for almost two years to study that continent's banking systems. Upon his return, he brought together many of the country's leading financiers to Jekyll Island to discuss monetary policy and the banking system, an event which was the impetus for the creation of the Federal Reserve.
On the evening of November 22, 1910, Sen. Aldrich and A.P. Andrews (Assistant Secretary of the United States Treasury Department), Paul Warburg (a naturalized German representing Kuhn, Loeb & Co.), Frank A. Vanderlip (president of the National City Bank of New York), Henry P. Davison (senior partner of J. P. Morgan Company), Charles D. Norton (president of the Morgan-dominated First National Bank of New York), and Benjamin Strong (representing J. P. Morgan), together representing about one fourth the world's wealth at the time, left Hoboken, New Jersey on a train in complete secrecy, dropping their last names in favor of first names, or code names, so no one would discover who they all were. The excuse for such powerful representatives and wealth was to go on a duck hunting trip on Jekyll Island.
Forbes magazine founder Bertie Charles Forbes wrote several years later:
Picture a party of the nation’s greatest bankers stealing out of New York on a private railroad car under cover of darkness, stealthily riding hundreds of miles South, embarking on a mysterious launch, sneaking onto an island deserted by all but a few servants, living there a full week under such rigid secrecy that the names of not one of them was once mentioned, lest the servants learn the identity and disclose to the world this strangest, most secret expedition in the history of American finance. I am not romancing; I am giving to the world, for the first time, the real story of how the famous Aldrich currency report, the foundation of our new currency system, was written... The utmost secrecy was enjoined upon all. The public must not glean a hint of what was to be done. Senator Aldrich notified each one to go quietly into a private car of which the railroad had received orders to draw up on an unfrequented platform. Off the party set. New York’s ubiquitous reporters had been foiled... Nelson (Aldrich) had confided to Henry, Frank, Paul and Piatt that he was to keep them locked up at Jekyll Island, out of the rest of the world, until they had evolved and compiled a scientific currency system for the United States, the real birth of the present Federal Reserve System, the plan done on Jekyll Island in the conference with Paul, Frank and Henry... Warburg is the link that binds the Aldrich system and the present system together. He more than any one man has made the system possible as a working reality.
The Jekyll Island Club
Muhammad Rasheed - Criticisms of the Federal Reserve Act
Throughout the history of the United States, there has been an enduring economic and political debate regarding the costs and benefits of central banking. Since the inception of a central bank in the United States, there were two major opposing views to this type of economic system. Opposition was based on protectionist sentiment; a central bank would serve a handful of financiers at the expense of small producers, businesses, farmers and consumers, and could destabilize the economy through speculation and inflation. Proponents argued that a strong banking system could provide enough credit for a growing economy and avoid economic depressions. Preceding the creation of the Federal Reserve, no U.S. central banking systems lasted for more than 25 years. Some of the questions raised include: whether Congress has the Constitutional power to delegate its power to coin money or issue paper money, whether the structure of the federal reserve is transparent enough, whether the Federal Reserve is a public Cartel of private banks (also called a banking cartel) established to protect powerful financial interests, low but steady increases in inflation, high government deficits, and whether the Federal Reserve's actions increased the severity of the Great Depression in the 1930s  (and/or the severity or frequency of other boom-bust economic cycles, such as the late 2000s recession).
The Federal Reserve Act
Muhammad Rasheed - Abdur Rasheed wrote: "This conversation is like the difference between the first Wall Street movie and the second one. In the first one the worst thing that they could think of in the financial market was insider trading. In the second one insider training was laughable it was so insignificant."
How does that relate to this conversation? Explain.
Abdur Rasheed - Muhammad wrote: "Abdur Rasheed wrote: “If you would have just said, "Jewelry" it would have made more sense.”
It was the above-listed properties that make it valuable in science/industry..."
What do I do again?
They named one part from one aircraft that they only made 170 of them and they no longer make them. That is the worst business model I have ever heard of. If they used gold wiring in every house then nobody could afford to buy a house. Wiring a typical house would cost well over 10 Million dollars alone. We use copper wiring in every house in the country. Copper has many ACTUAL uses in science and industry. Why is gold more valuable than copper? What makes the cost of commodities fluctuate?
Muhammad wrote: "..., jewelry,"
What makes the cost of jewelry fluctuate? You either want a big stoopid dookie chain around your neck or you don't from year to year. Is it more valuable from year over year. I'm talking about TRUE useful value and not bubble value that fluctuates with the market or the whines of the panicked masses.
Muhammad wrote: "...and a stable precious metal to back currency."
You have the cart ahead of the horse on this one. If gold wasn't arbitrarily assigned fake value not based on any usefulness then this one wouldn't be on your list.
Abdur Rasheed - Muhammad wrote: "...and a stable precious metal to back currency."
You have the cart ahead of the horse on this one. If gold wasn't arbitrarily assigned fake value not based on any usefulness then this one wouldn't be on your list.
Muhammad wrote: " I Toss it aside as you like, Abdur. I guarantee it won’t lay there for long despite your stubborn insistence that it’s not actually valuable in anyway. A trillion, trillion human beings going all the way back to Adam will disagree with you. Pigs don’t care much for pearls either I hear."
I don't think you understand my point (despite me saying it a thousand times.)
We are talking about TWO different things.
1. Gold has arbitrary value based upon the sketchy whims of the market and nothing more like any other commodity.
And
2. We, as a country, should go back on the gold standard and what that would mean for the economy.
Regarding #1 I don't worship gold. I recognize it as a shiny stone that people think that they can't live without.
If I have the opportunity to buy it low and sell it high I would get in it and then QUICKLY get the fuck out if it. If I tie up all of my money in gold and the price takes a dump then I could lose my ass.
I like my ass.
I invest in the most stable commodity...ME. I have yet to let me down.
I don't waste time moaning about how we should go back to the old days before anybody I knew was even heard of after you admit will never return because of some super evil genius that you couldn't pick out of a line up if he robbed you with a musket.
Muhammad: "You know what we should all do?"
Rah: "What's that Bro?"
Muhammad: "We should all start wearing top hats and tails and start going to cotillions like they did in the good old days."
Rah: "Whuh?"
Muhammad wrote: "Those were the days. Before the evil base ball cap Industry monopolized the market. Those evil fuckers!"
Rah: "What in the F..."
Muhammad wrote: "THOSE were the good old days alright. I'm just going to sit here and meditate on how sweet it would be if I had a top hat and awesome tails on right now. Mmmmmmmmmmm Top hat mmmmmmmmmmmm tails mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm."
Rah: "Yeah. Look Muhammad...I'm going to the office.
Muhammad: "Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm top hat mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm tails mmmmmmmmmm everybody else is dumb mmmmmmmmmmm"

Dr. Oz: 'Exposed' or Unfairly Attacked?

Daniel McNeal - Dr. Oz...exposed. As my homegirl Michele Ward always said, nothing will never take the place of hard work, sensible eating, and plenty o' water:
The 'Dr. Oz Effect': Senators Scold Mehmet Oz For Diet Scams
Jimmy Pereira - Taking advantage of the uneducate...n like u said, everyone lookin for the quick fix
Muhammad Rasheed - Did y'all even read the article? He wasn't "exposed," they just beat up on him because the real guys didn't want to show up.
Daniel McNeal - I did....but his shameless promotion of fad items had revealed that a) he doesn't do his homework if he is so easily duped and b) he is definitely about that sponsorship check.
Christine Hutchinson - He's a sensationalist douche. I can't believe people listen to anything he has to say. I didn't read the article, and don't need to;)
Muhammad Rasheed - FROM the ARTICLE: Oz, who has sued some of the companies using his image, said he never sells any products and says the scammers will misuse his image no matter what he says. “You know … the biggest disservice I have done for my audience?” he asked. “It’s that I never told then where to go to buy the products.”
He said he did that for ethical reasons, but it backfired by opening up a market for "fake stuff, real stuff, it doesn't frankly matter and start to use my name to start to sell."
Muhammad Rasheed - FROM the ARTICLE: McCaskill asked why Oz didn’t use his show to promote what actually has been proven to help people lose weight — careful eating and exercise.
I watched that show several times, and Dr. Oz ABSOLUTELY promotes proper diet and exercise. They were only attacking him because the heads of the networks that they really wanted to beat up on didn't want to appear for the hearing.
Muhammad Rasheed - Daniel McNeal wrote: "I did....but his shameless promotion of fad items..."
FROM the ARTICLE: “I actually do personally believe in the items I talk about on the show,” he added. “I recognize that oftentimes they don’t have the scientific muster to pass as fact. I have given my family these products.” Oz said the products give people hope to keep trying to lose weight — something almost all experts agree is a very difficult thing to do. Two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese."
That doesn't remotely sound like a "shameless promotion." But he's affiliated with Oprah, who's affiliated with Tyler Perry, and y'all hate them, so he's going to be a villain no matter what, hence: " I didn't read the article, and don't need to."
Christine Hutchinson - I never said he was a villain. my mouth is already full of my own words, but thank you. my assertions have nothing to do with tyler perry. He is a sensationalist douche.
Muhammad Rasheed - "I don't need to read the article because I've already made up my mind about him and it doesn't matter what he said to defend himself. In my mind he will always be a 'sensationalist douche' and I will never care about any evidence to the contrary. I like believing he's a 'sensationalist douche' because that's the kind of person I am."
Christine Hutchinson - Enjoy.
Muhammad Rasheed - I have! Thanks.
Daniel McNeal - Brother M. Rah, as always, thanks for the dialogue. Truly appreciate it. It helps me stay on my toes and offer my opinions!
When I read the article, the part that resonated most with me was the fact that he concedes to the FTC that his "flowery language", recommendations and his failure to inform individuals on where to buy the proper products. He further notes that for enetrtainment purposes, he has to make the script and show engaging. For me, my interpretation is that he might as well having been hawking the fake product himself rather than pass the buck. If we unpackage that a moment, as you and I know, by recommending one brand, one vendor and etc., it cuts off your money and locks you in to one client. Make no mistake, he is getting multiple checks from multiple vendors of whatever diet fad he's promoting. (generic company, name brand company -0 which is a very common practice between celebs and pharmaceutical companies)
Dr. Oz is extremely aware of his "Oz Effect" and the issue that I have is that he didn't from day one, take responsibility for that. He has a nationally syndicated show that allows him and his words to be perceieved as law. Unfortunately with that power comes the backlash and association of anything negative or to the contray of his word. So rather than do the responsible thing from the giddy up, he opted to bury his head in the sand.
The most powerful part of the article is Sen. McCaskill's statement on the scientific communities view of Dr. Oz as being monolithic and the repeated claims of these miracle products. As a medical practioner, he knows that sensible diet, exercise and proper rest are the only true panaceas against weight loss. So, for me, he is hawking "fake wares" - he has the medical knowledge and responsibility to know better and provide better info.
Muhammad Rasheed - Daniel McNeal wrote: “Brother M. Rah, as always, thanks for the dialogue. Truly appreciate it. It helps me stay on my toes and offer my opinions!”
It’s your thread, bud. I always have respect for people willing to have a dialogue and analyze particular topics from different viewpoints… the effort is one of the ways people really learn about a subject, just from discussing it and the research that can accompany a serious discussion. People who make up their mind about what it’s about beforehand, based on their shallow prejudices, are just primitive cave people in the modern day and provide zero value to societal progress.
Daniel McNeal wrote: “When I read the article, the part that resonated most with me was the fact that he concedes to the FTC that his "flowery language", recommendations and his failure to inform individuals on where to buy the proper products. He further notes that for enetrtainment purposes, he has to make the script and show engaging.”
1) The flowery language is his effort to make the show engaging. I remember when he started out, making guest spots on Oprah’s show, he was naturally charismatic, but his presentation was stiff and a bit too technical. He had to work with Oprah’s producers for years before he was ready to carry his own show himself. Keeping his audience tuned in is 90% of his job as a tv personality.2) On his show, Dr. Oz gives both sides of an issue, over a product’s claims, a chance to speak their piece, and combined with his own background as a scientist/doctor, will determine that these products are relatively harmless and will tell the audience that they can try it and see if it works for them individually. I see nothing wrong with that approach, particularly because those products have nothing in them but natural herbs and such.3) Regarding his “failure to inform individuals on where to buy” these items, he didn’t feel it was his place to endorse products on that level since they hadn’t been reviewed and approved by the FDA, so if the people wanted them based on their viewing that episode, they were free to find them on their own. But the hassle involved with people taking liberties with what he actually said on the show, combined with being attacked by these people at the FTC, made him say that he might as well HAD endorsed them since he ended up going through a bunch of this nonsense over it anyway. Obviously he was just speaking out of emotion.
Daniel McNeal wrote: “For me, my interpretation is that he might as well having been hawking the fake product himself rather than pass the buck.”
I hardly consider that “passing the buck.” There’s a particular product making a buzz, and he uses his show’s format to show exactly what it is on the air. If it proves to be relatively harmless… no weird chemicals in it or anything like that… then he’ll go ahead and tell the audience that they can go find the stuff if they want to. Particular vendors will have a field day and plaster his image all over their packaging to his annoyance, forcing him into litigation. He clearly explained that in the article. How you found “passing the buck” within that was an interesting magic trick.
Daniel McNeal wrote: “If we unpackage that a moment, as you and I know, by recommending one brand, one vendor and etc., it cuts off your money and locks you in to one client. Make no mistake, he is getting multiple checks from multiple vendors of whatever diet fad he's promoting. (generic company, name brand company -0 which is a very common practice between celebs and pharmaceutical companies)”
Again, that isn’t what his testimony in the article revealed. And having watched the show myself, he doesn’t recommend “one brand, one vendor and etc.,” but showcases the nature of a particular substance and determines whether or not it’s okay or not. He doesn’t endorse the products themselves as he said, so how could he get a check from it? He admitted, from a place of raw irritation from this FTC circus show, that if he knew he was going to get attacked over this little bit maybe he might as well had just straight up told the audience where to go.
Daniel McNeal wrote: “Dr. Oz is extremely aware of his "Oz Effect" and the issue that I have is that he didn't from day one, take responsibility for that.”
“He said he did that for ethical reasons…” is him taking responsibility for the power he wields as a media personality. He didn’t realize that those predatory businesses would be as relentless as they are, which is how his efforts to do right seemed to backfire on him, and they just took advantage of the things he did say.
Daniel McNeal wrote: “He has a nationally syndicated show that allows him and his words to be perceieved as law. Unfortunately with that power comes the backlash and association of anything negative or to the contray of his word. So rather than do the responsible thing from the giddy up, he opted to bury his head in the sand.”
I enjoy his show, and his approach to giving these products a fair shake by letting both opponents and supporters give their presentations about them, and then giving his own opinion about the product after breaking down the science behind how the main ingredients work. Instead of the mainstream medical community’s typical monopoly of telling you only to buy stuff that will make THEM money, Dr. Oz takes a fairer, and more responsible approach, without treating his audience like idiots. Unfortunately the FTC sides with the monolithic majority and treats Dr. Oz like a bad guy when he’s actually proven to be the foil to the bad guy which is why they hate him.
Daniel McNeal wrote: “The most powerful part of the article is Sen. McCaskill's statement on the scientific communities view of Dr. Oz as being monolithic…”
Which is ironic.
Daniel McNeal wrote: “…and the repeated claims of these miracle products.”
Revealing that a particular ingredient within an herb or substance that has the ability to help you control your appetite, or isolate fat cells in some way, may not necessarily be a “miracle” in the biblical sense, but it would obviously provide some additional motivation for the average joe in the fattest country in the world to help get him/herself in shape. Being coldly technical in his presentation wouldn’t be particularly helpful, thus the “flowery language” of a tv show host calling it a “miracle.”
Daniel McNeal wrote: “As a medical practioner, he knows that sensible diet, exercise and proper rest are the only true panaceas against weight loss.”
Dr. Oz frequently talks about that stuff as well. In his own example he’ll explain what he eats and show his own regular workouts, along with guests who show their own variations. I would think it was odd if a single one of his regular viewers DIDN’T know that proper diet and regular exercise was the best way to maximum health.
Daniel McNeal wrote: “So, for me, he is hawking ‘fake wares’"
And for me, he’s doing no such a thing, but the undiscerning FTC people (who are interestingly quite unhealthy looking) have grouped him in with the bad folk and sided with the medical monopoly against him. I disagree with the article’s entire stance.
Daniel McNeal wrote: “…he has the medical knowledge and responsibility to know better and provide better info.”
And he absolutely does so. He can’t control the criminal element, and not even just those greedy small businesses desperate to sell product. I agree with Dr. Oz that they would do that no matter what, and the only way to stop it is for him to just not show his face in public at all as a celebrity. Everyone knows celebrity endorsement, whether real or not, will move more product and the only thing this controversy reveals is one of the negative sides of celebrity.
See Also: Why Didn't Oprah Use Her Show To Educate Her Audience On the Black Experience?

The Cost of Integration

Kamau Mkafele Mshale – [shared photo] This is the most insidious kind of racism




Alby Johnson - I'm not racist! PHOTO OP!! 
Dave Fox - Yeah seriously what does she want a cookie for giving them a couple bucks after assuming they were criminals? The post still says it's normal and acceptable to assume that of black boys, just that it's good to "overcome" that 
Muhammad Rasheed - Shit like this makes me feel hatred. Raw. 
Maia Crown Williams - Alby n dave Ripped the nouns, verbs, and adjectives right out of me. This is comical as all hell. PHOTO OPP!! 
Will Kindovabigdealwill Cross - Maaaaaan, SMFH!!! 
Chris Flick - Wait... I need some explanation here because I'm reading this in a totally different way. I read this whole thing as this was her attempt to prove to her friend that these two guys WEREN'T up to no good - as her friend assumed.I would say she probably could have approached them a lot better than she described but other than that, I'm not seeing or getting what you guys are. help fill me in, okay?
Muhammad Rasheed - When I read it, it sounds like Tuohy AND her friend thought the kids were "suspicious," and because it was her store, she went over to bravely ("well you know me") find out what was going on. That if two white teens were "literally huddled over in a corner table nose to nose," no one would've 'noticed' anything. 
Muhammad Rasheed - She gave them "money for popcorn and bus fare" because she felt bad from her and her friend's racist assumptions. 
Guilt money. 
Sean Henry - Crazy story. Anyone else find it funny how the one kid has a nice chain, beats by Dre headphones but can't scrape up 3 bucks for a basketball game. 
Muhammad Rasheed - No. There were times when I didn't have any cash on me as a teen, even though I had "stuff." And who said they 'can't' scrape it up? She said they were in the process of getting it, that's what the nose-to-nose meeting was about as they contacted their friends. 
Chris Flick - @Muhammad Rasheed, Yeah, I can see you're interpretation as well. That's why I said I think she could have approached the two guys a little differently.  
But I also subscribe that we (as a people) also put our own spin on things as well. I'm also looking at this as maybe the lady who wrote this wasn't as eloquent of a writer as she could have been. There seems to be a lot of short hand here as well. I don;t know her but through her post, I'm supposed to know what kind of an individual she is ("you know me").How many times have we said that to our friends? You know the type of person I am... well, that could be she does this with a lot of strangers in her store... sits right down beside them and starts talking to them with little or no introduction. I know people who do that. i also know people who are uncomfortable being approached that way or approaching other people that way so no, I don't actually "know her". I can only guess.If you're comfortable with other people approaching you like that, maybe this is innocent and she's simply curious. If you aren't, then maybe she IS like her friend and wants to see for herself. Again, I don't know her so it's all speculation and conjecture on my part. 
All I can say is if this was my and I was that lady, my post would have been written a whole lot different. Specific details would have been added such as explaining to my friend I bet those two aren't up to anything and I'm going to go find out.I would have approached them differently by first introducing myself and telling them I was the owner and asking if I could sit with them.I would have said they looked like they were having some trouble.Once they told me what their troubles were, I would have offered to help them out.Once I did, I would have said I helped them get their basketball tickets so they didn't have to ask their friends and offered them a little help with bus fare as well.Sometimes, it's all in how you approach somebody or how you properly express yourself as well that makes all the difference. Would you agree with that? 
Muhammad Rasheed - I think it's interesting that you are generously willing to give a white woman the benefit of the doubt that she meant no harm, while I am un-generously not willing to give her the benefit of the doubt based on normal behavior experienced from that demographic towards my own demographic. I wouldn't have thought the kids were automatically up to no good either. 
Muhammad Rasheed - This is precisely the reason why I think cops should only patrol their own ethic group neighborhoods. 
Muhammad Rasheed - People are FAR more generous and nice to their own, and FAR more willing to be understanding, as opposed to this horrifying "shoot first & let God sort it out" attitude the white cops have in my neighborhoods, compared to how they act in their own neighborhoods. GET OUT!!!!!!!!!! 
Muhammad Rasheed - White Cops on Armed White Teens: "Awww..! Those Little Rascals!"
Kamau Mkafele Mshale - Like m.rasheed said. If they were white kids no one would cared. Also no prize for the photo op would have been cooler to just inform her friend of their racist attitude. 
Chris Flick - Well, that's why I am asking these questions, Muhammad Rasheed. Only by asking them and seeing each others perspective can we learn how the other people see things.I don't think this is strictly a race-related thing though. I think this can also be a man/woman thing as well. We men do things that we think are completely innocent all the time that some women take great offense to and women can do similar things to men.It's hard to see at that precise moment why things are misinterpreted until we start talking to each other and seeing things from different points of view.That's really all I am saying.As far as all the terrible things that are currently going on with cops and racial tensions, I think Andrew Hawkins had an absolutely great response in his reaction to the Cleveland police union wanting an apology from him for wearing the shirt he wore on Sunday. If you - or anybody else - haven't read his response to it, you should Google it because it is definitely worth the read and he makes some really great points. 
Muhammad Rasheed - I read it yesterday. 
Chris Flick - Figured you did but just wanted to mention it in case others haven't yet.   :)
Muhammad Rasheed - To me they look like a couple of goofy teens. To her and her friend I imagine they looked like 30 year old savages scheming on robbing the joint and raping them.

Chris Flick - As far as helping people of their own kind out... I think it's much more complicated than that. I do agree that, for the most part, why people would think that's true. I would offer a slightly different take though.I think, if you're a type of person that sees "race" before seeing "human", you do tend to "help your own kind out first". But, if you're the type of person that sees 'human" first, you don't have any hesitation helping someone else out no matter what nationality they are. And there ARE people out there of all nationalities that see "human" first before the see "race".Same thing with people of different sexualities as well. Some people see "gay". Other people see "people".I'd like to think I see "people" before I see "race" just as I see "people" before I see "sexual orientation". But that's why I first asked this question. It's mostly to try and understand your perspective.
To me, they ALSO look like two goofy kids. In fact, turn the clock back 30 years and those two could be me and my best friend - two goofy white dudes trying to figure out a way to get some extra cash for a movie, basketball game or whatever. No real point there. Just letting you know I thought they looked the same to me as they did to you.
Muhammad Rasheed - Chris Flick wrote: "But, if you're the type of person that sees 'human" first, you don't have any hesitation helping someone else out no matter what nationality they are."
That doesn't sound even remotely like America in any way, shape or form.
Muhammad Rasheed - Chris Flick wrote: "As far as helping people of their own kind out... I think it's much more complicated than that."
There are many other factors, and humans are very complex. But America in particular has been severely racially polarized for centuries, and race-on-race interactions tend to go very badly for my people. The "reverse racism" crowd like to point towards violence towards whites from black criminals, but the criminal element attacks for opportunity, not race. The FBI graph patterns from white-on-black and black-on-white murders look exactly the same. They attack whoever they think is weak like any other predator. It's the "normals" that attack people because of their pre-programmed prejudices, as demonstrated in Tuohy's photo above.

Kamau Mkafele Mshale - Part of the problem is few white people want to step back and examine their thoughts and reactions. Instead they offten just defend and ignore. That ignorance is a large part of the problem. I thinkk white people should ask them selves "would I do X if they were white"

Chris Flick - I think it all depends on where and how you were raised. And much of it depends on each individual's life experiences.I might be unique... I don't know. I was a military brat of a Air Force Sargent. I grew up with a bunch of kids that were all sons and daughters of low ranking military personnel that were all kinds of nationalities... Black, Asian, White, American Indian... all across the spectrum. So maybe my viewpoint IS unique. I don't know.I know one thing... in the last 30 years of my life, i am seeing a whole lot more mixed marriages than I have ever seen before. And there is a whole lot more acceptance of gay and lesbian people as well. Does that mean everything is perfect? Absolutely not. there is still a whole heck of lot more progress to be made. I'm just saying things are changing. 
Muhammad Rasheed - At the same time some things are changing, the other side seems to be doubling down on the racist hatred part.
Muhammad Rasheed - They kind of cancel each other out to me.

Chris Flick - Yeah, but the sad part is, that's always going to be the case. I have nothing to say about that except I'm sad that that is the case.To me, it's a Glass half full / Glass half empty kind of thing. 
Muhammad Rasheed - Seeing the glass as half full isn't going to stop these folk from killing my people, Chris.

White Cops on Armed White Teens: "Awww..! Those Little Rascals!"

Muhammad Rasheed - [shared link]  White Police: "Why didn't we shoot him? Well, he was white so we just gave him the benefit of the doubt. Can't just go around half-cocked shooting good white folk dead without knowing all the facts. How are we going to get all the facts if we don't gently ask the suspect questions over pizza and a beer?"


Man arrested after shooting BB gun towards police

Chris Suess - really that was their quote? weird.
Crystal Hubbard - People who've shot up office buildings and school campuses have been taken in alive. Are you really surprised by this...?
Chris Suess - I dont think I have ever heard of someone that did that though and resisted arrest that didn't end up dead.
Donnell SeaSick Swinson - Ain't this a b.... smh...
Muhammad Rasheed - lol @ Chris
Muhammad Rasheed - As you will recall, when the cops pulled up on 12 year old Tamir Rice, they IMMEDIATELY shot him dead the second they opened the patrol car door. This kid actually shot at them, and the cops were like "awww... how adorable. Want some ice cream, li'l fella?"

AURORA, Colo. — A teenager carrying a loaded shotgun on a busy street in Aurora was stopped by police. But he says he should not have been stopped and he videotaped his encounter with officers. Police have a different opinion.
The 18-year-old posted his cell phone video online. He spoke exclusively with reporter Dave Young Friday.
Young also spoke with police as the two sides debated open carry gun laws and public safety.

Steve Lohner claims he was well within Colorado law while he walked in the area of South Buckley Road and East Iliff Avenue while carrying a shotgun.
Police who were called to the scene say they weren’t able to determine if he was doing it legally. Lohner refused to show them an ID to prove he’s 18.
“I simply carry this for the protection of myself and those around me,” Lohner says.
His shotgun is a Stoeger P-350 12 gauge.
“I’ve been stopped close to a dozen times for this and this is actually the first time I’ve been forced to provide ID,” he says.
The teen says he’s on a campaign to call attention to open carry laws. “I feel like a lot of people now they see a weapon like that and they think, you know, James Holmes or Sandy Hook,”
Lohner says that’s why he started walking along major streets with his gun.
“It’s alarming to the citizens — alarming enough to where they call,” says Aurora police spokesman Frank Fania.
Colorado law backs up Aurora police when asking to see an ID while investigating a possible crime.
“He may be within his rights and legal, within the law to carry this gun but if we’re investigating it and he refuses to cooperate that may violate other municipal laws,” Fania says.
In fact, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that police who are investigating a suspected crime can require an ID from people reasonably believed to have information or  were involved with that crime.
In this case police couldn’t even determine if Lohner, who they determined looks younger than 18, was old enough to legally possess the weapon.
Lohner says, “The police treat open carry like you’re a criminal until proven innocent.”
But police say it raises questions of public safety and takes officers off of other calls. “It ties up our resources whether you’re right or wrong,” Fania says.
Lohner, who just turned 18, plans to continue his protest walks. “If enough people were to lawfully open carry in those areas and do it in a safe and lawful manner then these people would end up feeling comfortable around it.”
The teen admits that the Aurora theater shooting makes police in the city cautious.
Police say they have to respond to 911 calls when people call about what Lohner is doing. They reiterate they may be getting pulled away from other real, life-threatening situations.
Lohner faces a misdemeanor obstruction charge for refusing to show his identification.
We spoke to Lohner’s mother and she told us she is concerned about his safety.
SOURCE: Aurora teen walks on busy streets with shotgun, videotapes encounter with police

America in Half

Tom Luth - [shared photo] Yup.


Monica M Sharp - my son's roommate is black. I worry.
Tom Luth - It is sad, and unbelievable, that this is even an issue today. I recall after the Treyvon Martin murder people saying "He was wearing a hoodie like a thug; he got what he deserved." Seriously? A hoodie? Like George H. W. Bush used to wear jogging when he was President? That sort of hoodie? Geez.
Ed Gauthier - I blame that trouble causer Adam Sandler and his suspicious "street cred" Red-Hooded Sweatshirt that started it all.
Muhammad Rasheed - (i blame racism)
Tom Luth - Yeah, I think that is more to the point. Like the story below of how police were able to safely take down an armed white murderer without difficulty and without shooting him, yet they need to execute unarmed black men who "look threatening." It doesn't take a graduate degree to figure this one out.
Chris Rullestad - I agree that Sargents cartoon is spot on, however it seems that all the other races are being left out. If this movement were a little more inclusive ( bad cops victimize all races) there would be much more support and I think we would see more progress.
Muhammad Rasheed - ^Because to hell with black people and their stupid problems. It'll take more than them to make people give a shit. I mean, didn't I read somewhere that they were barely human anyway...?
Chris Rullestad - My comment was reasonable Muhammad, yours wasn't, so I'm done here.
Muhammad Rasheed - lol
Muhammad Rasheed - Don't go; I was just being trollish. I'll quit.
Chris Rullestad - So what? We agree on my comment?
Muhammad Rasheed - I agree that it'll need to have more weight to the issue than just "black people problems" to get the American political machine to take it seriously. Black people alone have proven ineffective at getting issues important to our basic human rights addressed with any degree of seriousness since the civil rights act was passed. Everyone seems like they're mad at us about it, lo these 50 something years.
Muhammad Rasheed - A major chunk of it is ineffective leadership though.
Muhammad Rasheed - (the ones left over after the Assassination Era of the '60s weren't all that good, you see... i guess that was kind of the point)
Chris Rullestad - As a white person it's kind of hard for me to comment on your comment because our perspectives are obviously different.
Muhammad Rasheed - I welcome your perspective. Tell me what you see, please.
Chris Rullestad - MLK was replaced by Sharpton and Jackson and there should be no comparison
Chris Rullestad - Why hasn't there been another MLK???
Chris Rullestad - Here's my take. Jesse Jackson was part of MLK's entourage and when King was murdered I suppose Jesse felt that he was King's heir apparent. He took the ball and ran with it and then along came Al Sharpton in a track suit. So now those two have been battling it out for years and I think the message may have been muddied a bit in the fog of war...
Muhammad Rasheed - Our strongest leaders, as well as those with the most potential to be, weren't killed by lone nuts, Chris. They were killed by organized, well-connected groups that didn't want us empowered. The Assassination Era birthed the original Black Panther Party, because those actions turned those late leaders into martyrs, which mobilized our angry youth to a warfare mindset. To prevent that from happening again, the next leaders to crop up were character assassinated... any new leaders with that kind of potential were smeared and discredited. Similar to the tactics currently used by those undercover cops that sabotage peaceful demonstrations by instigating looting and violence so the gov with force the protesters to disburse, so too are their infiltrators in the black communities to keep an eye on the "uppity" trouble makers and keep them from mobilizing the 'change' of Obama's vision.
Chris Rullestad - What the hell does Obama's vision got to do with civil rights?
Muhammad Rasheed - Part of Obama's 'change' vision involves the empowerment of disenfranchised ethnic groups.
Chris Rullestad - What do you mean by empowerment?
Chris Rullestad - Empowerment is one of those buzz words that I don't really get. We don't need a president to empower us, we empower ourselves. Life is what you make of it.
Muhammad Rasheed - After being in that second class citizen status for so long, and after the Assassination Era, many in the black community not only gave up on the political machine, but developed a defeatist attitude that it wasn't for us anyway... and attitude that the greater American society seems to also reflect. That's what my caricature faux-quote from about was making fun of. Obama had hope that his presidency would give the community them hope to reach for more, and start to make that political machine work for them, too, as well as other items like throwing his weight behind education reform. You're right, he did say early on that he couldn't do it by himself; the people had to do their part, too. My disappointments haven't been with his presidency at all, but with how the people never took him up on that, and preferred to believe the negative media narrative of Barrack Obama. But I think our ideological enemy knew how that would go, and their efforts to shut him down whenever they could were also a potent symbol.

The Craziest Eyes of All

Crystal Hubbard - If Whoopi Goldberg and Murdock from the A-Team had a baby, it would be Crazy Eyes...
Joyner Christina - Lol
Tanya Sandlin Brown - I love crazy eyes!!
Whitney Porterfield Cameron - I'm noticing a pattern - are you watching the series tonight, Crystal? lol
Patti Armanini - you're going to have withdrawals waiting for season 3 to start.
Muhammad Rasheed - Whoopi Goldberg wasn't on the A-Team! That was Mr. T!!!
You're MEAN!!!!
Whitney Porterfield Cameron - I don’t think you read her comment right? Muhammad...
Muhammad Rasheed - #stopBlackOnBlackCrime
Crystal Hubbard - I edited my comment to reflect my original intent since you're pretending to be obtuse, Muhammad Rasheed. You know I'm too much of a television junkie to confuse Whoopi Goldberg with Mr. T...!


Muhammad Rasheed - awww...
Muhammad Rasheed - it was funnier the other way.   :(

A Tribute to Jack Vance (August 28, 1916 – May 26, 2013)

Muhammad Rasheed - Jack Vance is my favorite writer, and my number one biggest creative influence. It's hard to name a favorite character of his that stands out. There's a bunch of characters of his that are absolutely wonderful to me. There are types of characters that he created that influenced almost everything I write.




His magicians... are awesome. He doesn't make them in the Gandalf type. Jack's magicians are like eccentric artist, adventurer swordsmen, scientists. Their power levels have a wide range, from the quirky little guy with a few magic objects on his person, to immortal cosmic level beings who barely remember when they were merely human, and a bunch in between. Some of my favorites of Jack Vance's magicians are:
1.) Mazirian - Making his sole appearance in the chapter of The Dying Earth that bears his name, Mazirian the Magician was my introduction to the Vancian Universe. In the far future, when the flickering sun could burn out at any moment, Mazirian spent his time hunting down spells. The Golden Age of magic was behind them about 4 aeons back, when over a thousand spells, cantraps and runes were known. In Mazirian's day, about a hundred were available, of which he had secured about seventy... pretty much similar to how Darth Vader hunted down the Jedi. Mazirian the Magician was a ruthless, out-cold psychopath, and that little story changed my world forever, with little exaggeration. I read that story in an anthology of "the year's best" fantasy stories I picked up at a used book store during my college days, and when I discovered that it was only one chapter in a whole BOOK of tales just like it, I nearly messed myself from shear excitement.
2.) Rogol Domedonfors - This guy ruled as the magician-king over a wonderful city that he either built himself, or remade himself once he showed up. His mastery of the Wondrous Arts was such that the city didn't need any departments to fix things, clean up, innovate, etc. to make the peoples' lives easier because they had him to watch over them. And their lifestyle he provided was Jetsons like. It was bananas! At some point in his legend he went into seclusion. During the 50,000 years he was gone the high-tech city sorta fell into ruin, but since mostly everything still worked if you knew how to operate gadgets, it was a testament to the scope and force of his power. When he came back he pretty much put the city back to the way it was in its hey day in about ten minutes. Rogol Domedonfors' only flaw, was that he wasn't as good at understanding people as he was understanding the Sciences.
3.) Kerlin the Curator - Although he never actually said he was, Kerlin was clearly a magician. He was the curator of the Museum of Man, and his sole guardianship over that ancient edifice was pretty much the same as Rogol's rule over the wonderful city of Ampridatvir. But the Museum of Man was far more awesome, so surely it's guardian had to be correspondingly more so. Imagine the ultimate... I really can't stress that part enough... the ULTIMATE! library/university/Internet/etc. that housed the accumulated knowledge of millions of years of human history. Not just a linear telling of the history, but a detailed, organized record of the development and how-to of all of our discoveries and inventions... everything we've ever done; High Magic, High Science, primitive magic, primitive science... everything. All of Rogol Domedonfors' impressive lore and skill were only a tiny PIECE of the knowledge held within the Museum of Man; the mighty city only a tiny, inconsequential footnote to the history held within its walls. Kerlin the Curator had unrestricted access to all of it, and put the perks to good use. When we met him, he was untold ages old, having absorbed an incomprehensible amount of data into his powerful mind, but the weight of countless centuries had begun to negatively affect that mind...
4.) Phandaal the Great - The Golden Age of Magic was during the 18th Aeon known as Grand Mothalam. The greatest names in magic EVER lived during that time period, a few of them we even met. If you've ever read his short story "Green Magic," it should interest you that during wonderful Grand Mothalam there was a "green & purple college" mentioned. [me ----> O_O] Phandaal the Great was the mightiest magician during that time, having personally wrought many of the spells eagerly sought after by everyone, even into the future of Mazirian's day. Throughout the four books within The Dying Earth saga, we've heard Phandaal's named referenced, heard a rumor[?] of how he may have died, and even seen spell folios with his trademark purple velvet covers, but we've never actually read a tale of him in action.
5.) Pandalume - One of Mazirian's foes ran into the mighty Pandalume during the course of those adventures. Somehow Pandalume knows and/or has access to all of the spells known during Grand Mothalam. The full extent of his knowledge is unknown (does he know everything Kerlin knows...?), but some limitations to his power are evident, as well as some weird and frighteningly enigmatic personal weaknesses, but he is safe from Mazirian's over-developed ambitious tendencies both by way of the force of his power, as well as the fact that his single story brick mansion is tucked away inside an inaccessible pocket dimension.
6.) Pharesm the Sorcerer - The extremely patient and meticulous Pharesm spent a massive amount of time first extensively studying and then trying to get to appear on earth the physical manifestation of the metaphysical concept of TOTALITY. This so that he may seize it, study it further, and perhaps let it touch (with more than likely disastrous results) its opposite concept of NULLITY. Fortunately for the Dying Earth populous, the mendicant rogue Cugel the Clever inadvertently sabotaged this scheme much to the furious magician's dismay. By these acts however, Cugel pretty much signed himself up to be Pharesm's TOTALITY finding slave...



After his truly great magicians from The Dying Earth and Lyonesse, my next favorite character types of his that Vance was really good at creating were his villains, the best of which were featured in this masterful revenge saga starring the badass Kirth Gersen. Over the course of five books, Gersen tracked down five interplanetary villains Vance called Demon Princes... "Demon Prince" corresponding to "Super Villain" not dissimilar to how my own "First King" relates to "Elder God."
The Five Demon Princes were in ways similar to the magicians; they inhabited a science fiction, space faring landscape in which mankind had colonized planets across the galaxy, so the tech they had access to (whether legally or illegally) was often the functional equivalent of magic. In addition to being maniacally evil, they were also tragic figures, being compared by other reviewers to the "failed artist" archetype. Each of them also had an eccentric, ego-based singular obsession of some type, making them all come across like they wouldn't be out of place within Batman's rogue's gallery.
1.) Mattel Allagate the Woe - featured in the first novel of the series "Star King," the titular character was the Demon Prince himself... an alien creature pretending to be human that had infiltrated our society to prove he could be more human than us. The story was set up as a mystery with Gersen trying to figure out which of his suspects was the diabolical fiend.
2.) Kokkor Hekkus - While all of the Demon Princes were extremely secretive, the so-called "Killing Machine" was unusually so, with rumors floating that he was actually some kind of ghoul. Descriptions of what he actually looked like varied so wide and completely to make authorities wonder if he wasn't just a phantasm.
3.) Viole Falushe - While most prudently refused even to speculate, the fascination around the reason behind why the notorious villain Viole Falushe built The Palace of Love would never die. But the over-the-top hedonistic resort was a mere side effect to Viole's obsession over a long ago teen girl who dared scorn the advances of the proto-Demon Prince. Now he will use every horrifying resource at his command to make her love him unless Kirth Gersen can stop him first!
4.) Lens Larque - The savage Lens Larque's penchant for sadist violence can only be matched by his over developed sense of revenge over a minor slight. But can Gersen stop the fiend from unleashing unholy hell upon the populous of an entire planet before the massive Demon Prince can make him overly familiar with Panek, Lens Larque's infamous whip?
5.) Howard Alan Treesong - At once the most imaginative, most ambitious, and most dangerous of the Demon Princes, Treesong is the one that made the authorities sweat the most. Recognized across the galaxy as the king of criminals, the interplanetary police organization just barely managed to prevent the Demon Prince from also making himself the head director of their organization. Wielding his schizophrenic Book of Dreams, Treesong's next scheme just might make even that effort look like chump change. Pressed for time, the authorities ask the highly competent Kirth Gersen for his assistance, but even though this is his dream assignment, the master of vengeance just might have met his match!

BOOK REVIEW - The Devil's Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions by David Berlinski

Muhammad Rasheed - I first became aware of this book when I happened to come across a brief interview clip in which mathematician, philosopher, and author David Berlinski impressed me with his casual intelligence, high wit, and thorough understanding of major scientific principles. I looked him up to see if he was published and found the Wiki article describing The Devil's Delusion. Considering himself a "secular Jew," this book represents the author's gift to the theist community... a `freebie,' if you will... and those who are not entrenched inside the scientific community to know all the dirty little secrets. Those secrets are no less than all the reasons the favored theories supported by atheist scientists lack exactly what they need to be the `factual truths' they present them to be in public. Even though he is not a religious man, Berlinski's motivation as a very learned man, is his annoyance with the atheist scientists who have pretty much derailed scientific progress - especially in theoretical physics - by focusing ridiculously on attempts to "debunk God." He regards this as the main reason why there haven't been any great scientific personages to emerge since the passing of the last... Richard Feynman.

One of the reference sites listed at the bottom of the Wiki article, took me to a James Randi message board thread, where one of the member skeptics had posted a review he found of Berlinski's book that described it as a praise-worthy thumb in the eye of the atheist-scientific community. Obviously the forum member posted the review highlights to give the other members the opportunity to rip into it. Interestingly, none of the comments under it addressed the actual content, but instead reserved their vitriol towards calling the author a `crank' and taking childish pot shots at the idea of his critique against the `truth' of their pet theories. I recognized the signs of an actual strong argument when I saw it (if they could've ripped into his content, then of course they would have), and immediately clicked over to Amazon to purchase the book for myself.
And my! Did it deliver! Berlinski elegantly describes both the strengths and weaknesses of the atheist scientists' favorite arguments, revealing exactly what they have, and what they don't have that they actually need in order for them to actually be able to `free us from the crutch of God' as is their futile dream. He reads all of the scientific journals, and stays up on their publishing, and recognizes and notes when they admit that their hand isn't as strong as they pretend.
Thank you, David, for this most excellent gift. [salute]

Of a Marriagable Age: Aisha, Mother of the Faithful

In the booklet Prophet of Islam, which was later incorporated in 1948 as the first chapter of his book Living Thoughts of the Prophet Muhammad, Maulana Muhammad Ali writes in a lengthy footnote as follows:
"A great misconception prevails as to the age at which Aisha was taken in marriage by the Prophet. Ibn Sa'd has stated in the Tabaqat that when Abu Bakr [father of Aisha] was approached on behalf of the Holy Prophet, he replied that the girl had already been betrothed to Jubair, and that he would have to settle the matter first with him. This shows that Aisha must have been approaching majority at the time. Again, the Isaba, speaking of the Prophet's daughter Fatima, says that she was born five years before the Call and was about five years older than Aisha. This shows that Aisha must have been about ten years at the time of her betrothal to the Prophet, and not six years as she is generally supposed to be. This is further borne out by the fact that Aisha herself is reported to have stated that when the chapter [of the Holy Quran] entitled The Moon, the fifty-fourth chapter, was revealed, she was a girl playing about and remembered certain verses then revealed. Now the fifty-fourth chapter was undoubtedly revealed before the sixth year of the Call. All these considerations point to but one conclusion, viz., that Aisha could not have been less than ten years of age at the time of her nikah, which was virtually only a betrothal. And there is one report in the Tabaqat that Aisha was nine years of age at the time of nikah. Again it is a fact admitted on all hands that the nikah of Aisha took place in the tenth year of the Call in the month of Shawwal, while there is also preponderance of evidence as to the consummation of her marriage taking place in the second year of Hijra in the same month, which shows that full five years had elapsed between the nikah and the consummation. Hence there is not the least doubt that Aisha was at least nine or ten years of age at the time of betrothal, and fourteen or fifteen years at the time of marriage.
"To facilitate understanding dates of these events, please note that it was in the tenth year of the Call, i.e. the tenth year after the Holy Prophet Muhammad received his calling from God to his mission of prophethood, that his wife Khadija passed away, and the approach was made to Abu Bakr for the hand of his daughter Aisha. The hijra or emigration of the Holy Prophet to Madina took place three years later, and Aisha came to the household of the Holy Prophet in the second year after hijra. So if Aisha was born in the year of the Call, she would be ten years old at the time of the nikah and fifteen years old at the time of the consummation of the marriage.
[1]: Most of these narratives are reported only by Hisham ibn `urwah reporting on the authority of his father. An event as well known as the one being reported, should logically have been reported by more people than just one, two or three.
[2]:It is quite strange that no one from Medinah, where Hisham ibn `urwah lived the first seventy one years of his life has narrated the event, even though in Medinah his pupils included people as well known as Malik ibn Anas. All the narratives of this event have been reported by narrators from Iraq, where Hisham is reported to have had shifted after living in Medinah for seventy one years.
[3]:Tehzibu'l-tehzib, one of the most well known books on the life and reliability of the narrators of the traditions of the Prophet (pbuh) reports that according to Yaqub ibn Shaibah: "narratives reported by Hisham are reliable except those that are reported through the people of Iraq". It further states that Malik ibn Anas objected on those narratives of Hisham which were reported through people of Iraq. (vol 11, pg 48 - 51)
[4]:Mizanu'l-ai`tidal, another book on the narrators of the traditions of the Prophet (pbuh) reports that when he was old, Hisham's memory suffered quite badly. (vol 4, pg 301 - 302)
[5]:According to the generally accepted tradition, Ayesha (ra) was born about eight years before Hijrah. But according to another narrative in Bukhari (kitabu'l-tafseer) Ayesha (ra) is reported to have said that at the time Surah Al-Qamar, the 54th chapter of the Qur'an, was revealed, "I was a young girl". The 54th surah of the Qur'an was revealed nine years before Hijrah. According to this tradition, Ayesha (ra) had not only been born before the revelation of the referred surah, but was actually a young girl (jariyah), not an infant (sibyah) at that time. Obviously, if this narrative is held to be true, it is in clear contradiction with the narratives reported by Hisham ibn `urwah. I see absolutely no reason that after the comments of the experts on the narratives of Hisham ibn `urwah, why we should not accept this narrative to be more accurate.
[6]:According to a number of narratives, Ayesha (ra) accompanied the Muslims in the battle of Badr and Uhud. Furthermore, it is also reported in books of hadith and history that no one under the age of 15 years was allowed to take part in the battle of Uhud. All the boys below 15 years of age were sent back. Ayesha's (ra) participation in the battle of Badr and Uhud clearly indicate that she was not nine or ten years old at that time. After all, women used to accompany men to the battle fields to help them, not to be a burden on them.
[7]:According to almost all the historians Asma (ra), the elder sister of Ayesha (ra) was ten years older than Ayesha (ra). It is reported in Taqri'bu'l-tehzi'b as well as Al-bidayah wa'l-nihayah that Asma (ra) died in 73 hijrah when she was 100 years old. Now, obviously if Asma (ra) was 100 years old in 73 hijrah she should have been 27 or 28 years old at the time of hijrah. If Asma (ra) was 27 or 28 years old at the time of hijrah, Ayesha (ra) should have been 17 or 18 years old at that time. Thus, Ayesha (ra), if she got married in 1 AH (after hijrah) or 2 AH, was between 18 to 20 years old at the time of her marriage.
[8]:Tabari in his treatise on Islamic history, while mentioning Abu Bakr (ra) reports that Abu Bakr had four children and all four were born during the Jahiliyyah -- the pre Islamic period. Obviously, if Ayesha (ra) was born in the period of jahiliyyah, she could not have been less than 14 years in 1 AH -- the time she most likely got married.
[9]:According to Ibn Hisham, the historian, Ayesha (ra) accepted Islam quite some time before Umar ibn Khattab (ra). This shows that Ayesha (ra) accepted Islam during the first year of Islam. While, if the narrative of Ayesha's (ra) marriage at seven years of age is held to be true, Ayesha (ra) should not have been born during the first year of Islam.
[10]:Tabari has also reported that at the time Abu Bakr planned on migrating to Habshah (8 years before Hijrah), he went to Mut`am -- with whose son Ayesha (ra) was engaged -- and asked him to take Ayesha (ra) in his house as his son's wife. Mut`am refused, because Abu Bakr had embraced Islam, and subsequently his son divorced Ayesha (ra). Now, if Ayesha (ra) was only seven years old at the time of her marriage, she could not have been born at the time Abu Bakr decided on migrating to Habshah. On the basis of this report it seems only reasonable to assume that Ayesha (ra) had not only been born 8 years before hijrah, but was also a young lady, quite prepared for marriage.
[11]:According to a narrative reported by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, after the death of Khadijah (ra), when Khaulah (ra) came to the Prophet (pbuh) advising him to marry again, the Prophet (pbuh) asked her regarding the choices she had in her mind. Khaulah said: "You can marry a virgin (bikr) or a woman who has already been married (thayyib)". When the Prophet (pbuh) asked about who the virgin was, Khaulah proposed Ayesha's (ra) name. All those who know the Arabic language, are aware that the word "bikr" in the Arabic language is not used for an immature nine year old girl. The correct word for a young playful girl, as stated earlier is "Jariyah". "Bikr" on the other hand, is used for an unmarried lady, and obviously a nine year old is not a "lady".
[12]:According to Ibn Hajar, Fatimah (ra) was five years older than Ayesha (ra). Fatimah (ra) is reported to have been born when the Prophet (pbuh) was 35 years old. Thus, even if this information is taken to be correct, Ayesha (ra) could by no means be less than 14 years old at the time of hijrah, and 15 or 16 years old at the time of her marriage.
These are some of the major points that go against accepting the commonly known narrative regarding Ayesha's (ra) age at the time of her marriage.
Neither was it an Arab tradition to give away girls in marriage at an age as young as nine or ten years, nor did the Prophet (pbuh) marry Ayesha (ra) at such a young age. The people of Arabia did not object to this marriage, because it never happened in the manner it has been narrated.
SOURCE: Ayesha's Age

The Appeal of a Life Without Hope

Dee Anne Moore - [shared meme]


Muhammad Rasheed - While Europe was plunged into the darkness between the collapse of "classic civilization" and the Italian Renaissance, the rest of the civilized world was fine and thriving.
John E. Zaphiriou - Technology may be our salvation; but, there will be a price to pay for it. Some humans, if not millions, will hope that their salvation will come for service to God. Nevertheless, it is hard to live meaningful lives as long has there are the super rich and the super poor on this planet. Materialist endeavors is a trap.
Muhammad Rasheed - Tech isn't a salvation, it just helps make our earthly existence easier. The poor will always be among us. Always.
John E. Zaphiriou - You may see the world and it's outcomes with a different lens than I.
Muhammad Rasheed - Everyone sees life differently, John. We're supposed to.
But the poor aren't going anywhere.
John E. Zaphiriou - No there is unity. Yes we are individuals with free will. But slaves are formed all the time.
Muhammad Rasheed - We can see life united in our humanity, but we all still see the journey differently. God made us different so we may learn from each other.
John E. Zaphiriou - As some once said God must love the poor for he made so many of them. Yet the poor can be the happiness people on earth.
John E. Zaphiriou - A journey is just a path. I can not speak for God.
Muhammad Rasheed - The poor are God's people. It's the believers' responsibility to be charitable to them.
John E. Zaphiriou - ... some travel in circles.
Muhammad Rasheed - lol I don't speak for God, I just recite what He told us.
John E. Zaphiriou - Charity, hope and love is the madra.
John E. Zaphiriou - reciting is memory work. Reflective thinking is more.
John E. Zaphiriou - Good night .. Friend.
Muhammad Rasheed - If your reflective thinking can't incorporate the Truth of the Lord within it, then what good is it?
Muhammad Rasheed - Have a good night, friend.
Dee Anne Moore - I think we are lab rats.
Muhammad Rasheed - You are.
Dee Anne Moore - So I've been told  :)
Muhammad Rasheed - lol
Dee Anne Moore - I do like cheese...as a vegetarian who still eats dairy... The rodent in me I guess!!
Muhammad Rasheed - You're not a rat! I was just teasing.
Dee Anne Moore - What if....just consider for a moment... that the universe is so much more complex and we are slowly unraveling it's mysteries... That all species are vying for the resources. But perhaps we have learned too late that the so called, 'web of life' is important to the well being of the whole and the individuals. That technology could have been able to confront the complexities of limited resources and the carrying capacity of the earth... But the natural inclination to be short-sighted and greedy has made it nearly impossible to utilize our evolved abilities to do so... opposible thumbs and developed frontal lobes... I would think that the old men of yore created gods to explain that which was not yet able to be explained. What if, per chance, that there had been a Jesus and he was an ordinary political activist and the groupies he had were trying to get the ear of the populace and created the stories about heaven and hell... that the bush Moses allegedly saw was a stone mason that carved some rules for him to take to the parttiers down below...that just as we grow to learn that santa was a lovely feel good idea to keep kids from being too out of control...that the stories that developed about the so called 'prophets' were simply that....just stories.. Would not their messages of love and caring for one another be less valuable without some promise of reward?
Muhammad Rasheed - Dee Anne Moore wrote: “What if....just consider for a moment... that the universe is so much more complex and we are slowly unraveling it's mysteries...”
I don’t have to “consider that for a moment.” It’s true. The universe is very complex, and we are only just now being to penetrate its mysteries.
Dee Anne Moore wrote: “That all species are vying for the resources.”
Also true.
Dee Anne Moore wrote: “But perhaps we have learned too late that the so called, 'web of life' is important to the well being of the whole and the individuals. That technology could have been able to confront the complexities of limited resources and the carrying capacity of the earth... But the natural inclination to be short-sighted and greedy has made it nearly impossible to utilize our evolved abilities to do so... opposible thumbs and developed frontal lobes...”
Too late for what?
Dee Anne Moore wrote: “I would think that the old men of yore created gods to explain that which was not yet able to be explained. “
Sure they did. That’s what paganism is about.
Dee Anne Moore wrote: “What if, per chance, that there had been a Jesus and he was an ordinary political activist and the groupies he had were trying to get the ear of the populace and created the stories about heaven and hell... that the bush Moses allegedly saw was a stone mason that carved some rules for him to take to the parttiers down below...that just as we grow to learn that santa was a lovely feel good idea to keep kids from being too out of control...that the stories that developed about the so called 'prophets' were simply that....just stories.. Would not their messages of love and caring for one another be less valuable without some promise of reward?”
Are you asking me to embrace an existence in which the material universe was all there was? An existence in which there is no after life? A life in which there is no hope? Why would I deliberately wish to narrow my focus onto a faction of our existence and pretend it was all there was to life? What value would there be in that? In what way would that profit me? In an existence stripped of everything that matters, where nothing was left except the material, and all abstract concepts were worthless vapors that would not profit me in any real sense… why would I want that? What are you trying to offer me?
Dee Anne Moore - Forty hours a week with benefits and two weeks off for vacation!! But really folks, The material world is incredibly wonderful...poetry, music, dance...love! The interaction with other beings ...The idea that we have to keep going after we have lived a life does not appeal to me... The reality that we stop being and become part of the earth...seems so more natural and easy to believe that imagining some ..something or someone that made rules about trivia like how to wear our hair or clothes or what days to eat certain foods... or picks and chooses who to kill or who to spare...These ideas seem to be (to me) human attributes...not 'supernatural' . So, I'm just okay with life being what we have and I'm okay without all the arbitrary rules. I often wonder about the disclaimers..."he works in mysterious ways"..when things don't pan out...or, strange descriptions of what might be waiting after we die in some far off galaxy...like in Star Wars... I'm just not a follower or believer of religions ...I do love humanity, the creatures of this earth...mysteries....the universe...silence...the beginnings of spring...the winds of autumn that portend the coming of winter... I love life... Plain, hold the mustard!
Muhammad Rasheed - Dee Anne Moore wrote: “Forty hours a week with benefits and two weeks off for vacation!!”
UGH!!! lol
Dee Anne Moore wrote: “But really folks, The material world is incredibly wonderful...poetry, music, dance...love! The interaction with other beings ...”
It IS wonderful. And it is only a mere fraction of the true existence waiting for us on the other side of it.
Dee Anne Moore wrote: “The idea that we have to keep going after we have lived a life does not appeal to me...”
You lack insight.
Dee Anne Moore wrote: “The reality that we stop being and become part of the earth...”
That’s a teeny-tiny aspect of our reality, confined only to the mere shell we inhabit. There is so much more.
Dee Anne Moore wrote: “…seems so more natural and easy to believe…”
Yes, that’s the nature of the temptation. Narrow, confined thinking is often easy.
Dee Anne Moore wrote: “…that imagining some ..something or someone that made rules about trivia like how to wear our hair or clothes or what days to eat certain foods... or picks and chooses who to kill or who to spare...These ideas seem to be (to me) human attributes...not 'supernatural' .”
Give me examples. Pretty much everything I know about those things ARE human rules. lol So let me get this straight… you complain about human-attributed trivial rules, but somehow believe they won’t exist in a purely human-run materialist existence?
Dee Anne Moore wrote: “So, I'm just okay with life being what we have and I'm okay without all the arbitrary rules.”
If God is only imaginary as you seem to believe, and the scriptures are only the product of mere men, then how is what you claim to want different from what you have? Humans are not going to stop being humans.
Dee Anne Moore wrote: “I often wonder about the disclaimers..."he works in mysterious ways"..when things don't pan out...”
That’s what everyone wonders about when they lack scriptural insight.
Dee Anne Moore wrote: “…or, strange descriptions of what might be waiting after we die in some far off galaxy...like in Star Wars...”
The strange descriptions aren’t describing anything in THIS universe.
Dee Anne Moore wrote: “ I'm just not a follower or believer of religions ...I do love humanity, the creatures of this earth...mysteries...”
You’ve just demonstrated that you reject mystery in favor of materialist comfort and a mentality of intellectual ease.
Dee Anne Moore wrote: “..the universe...silence...the beginnings of spring...the winds of autumn that portend the coming of winter... I love life... Plain, hold the mustard!”
So be it. Those who prefer this finite life of illusion over the mysteries of the afterlife will receive it as their reward. Congratulations, you’ve made it.
Dee Anne Moore - Muhammad, I just finished listening to NPR..the Diane Rhem Show. the guest was Simon xxxx (missed his last name) discuss a book that he finished re the history of the Jews. Toward the end of the program...there was the reminder that Israel was promised to the Jews and that being Jewish is a gift and Jews are the chosen people. I cannot imagine being a Palestinian and being told that the settlers are chosen to be on the land so the Palestinians must give up their homes... I am not fond of tribal mentality...As far as me, rejecting mystery... I have no idea what happens after we die except that the body decomposes...I know this because our fellow beings on this planet do so. I do good because I choose to do good...not because I'm afraid of retribution....except for the rejection of other beings. I appreciate that some need to cling to a belief in a controlling being... I simply do not. Do I think there is some universal consciousness that we (all creatures) are part of..an energy field perhaps... I don't rule it out. But, a deity that exists in the pages of the Torah, Bible or the Koran ...among other expressions of unseen, invisible beings...I just can't go there.
Muhammad Rasheed - Dee Anne Moore wrote: "the guest was Simon xxxx"
That's nasty, Dee.
Dee Anne Moore - Schama... Had to look it up.
Muhammad Rasheed - Dee Anne Moore wrote: “Muhammad, I just finished listening to NPR..the Diane Rehm Show. the guest was Simon xxxx (missed his last name) discuss a book that he finished re the history of the Jews. Toward the end of the program...there was the reminder that Israel was promised to the Jews and that being Jewish is a gift and Jews are the chosen people.”
When Moses finally led the children of Israel to the River Jordan, before they crossed over into the Promised Land, God said that the promise to their patriarchs had been fulfilled. They were not the “chosen people” by blood any more. From then on the chosen people of God were whosoever recognized His message as true and worshiped Him.
Dee Anne Moore wrote: “I cannot imagine being a Palestinian and being told that the settlers are chosen to be on the land so the Palestinians must give up their homes... I am not fond of tribal mentality...”
http://www.freewebs.com/jewsagainstzi...
Dee Anne Moore wrote: “As far as me, rejecting mystery... I have no idea what happens after we die except that the body decomposes...I know this because our fellow beings on this planet do so.”
Is that you decomposing or just your body? Is the body the sum total of you? Does “consciousness” decompose? What is consciousness made of?
Dee Anne Moore wrote: “I do good because I choose to do good...not because I'm afraid of retribution....except for the rejection of other beings.”
Everyone has their varying reasons for doing what they do. Even the believers. For those believers who do good simply for the love of doing good, the message of God is called The Good News… all they have to do is keep the course and all will be well, whether they think about it or not. There are varying levels of reward in the afterlife, to match the varying levels of reasons people do what they do.
Dee Anne Moore wrote: “I appreciate that some need to cling to a belief in a controlling being...”
Free Will. No one is being controlled. All are free to do or believe whatever they wish. That’s what Free Will is all about.
Dee Anne Moore wrote: “I simply do not.”
That’s really a strawman since it’s not what the belief system is about, Dee.
Dee Anne Moore wrote: “Do I think there is some universal consciousness that we (all creatures) are part of..an energy field perhaps... I don't rule it out. But, a deity that exists in the pages of the Torah, Bible or the Koran ...among other expressions of unseen, invisible beings...I just can't go there.”
You are free to believe whatever you wish. *shrug* Of course in the end there will be consequences for whatever we decided to believe and do, but no one is suggesting that you’re supposed to be controlled because that isn’t the case.
Dee Anne Moore - Muhammad wrote: You are free to believe whatever you wish. *shrug* Of course in the end there will be consequences for whatever we decided to believe and do, but no one is suggesting that you’re supposed to be controlled because that isn’t the case
I find it curious that you speak of eternity, yet you state, "in the end"...As far as having "free will"... that, to me, is an example of a 'disclaimer' in order to give the deity a pass if little 'Johnny goes on a stealing spree.. Cannot you not see how difficult it is to think that there is an all powerful being that supposedly creates everything and makes some of it capable of doing harm to each other? Read "The Stranger" by Mark Twain....
Muhammad Rasheed - Dee Anne Moore wrote: "I find it curious that you speak of eternity, yet you state, 'in the end'"
At the end of this material life span, there will be Judgment. The Day of Accountability.
Dee Anne Moore wrote: "...As far as having "free will"... that, to me, is an example of a 'disclaimer' in order to give the deity a pass if little 'Johnny goes on a stealing spree.."
The conflict came from what you only thought the belief system represented, compared to what it actually says.
Dee Anne Moore wrote: "Cannot you not see how difficult it is to think that there is an all powerful being that supposedly creates everything and makes some of it capable of doing harm to each other?"
I have zero issue with wrapping my mind around the fundamental concepts of my faith. That's why I'm not the one of us promulgating atheism/agnosticism.
Dee Anne Moore wrote: "Read "The Stranger" by Mark Twain...."
Meh.