As Reagan said, regarding the Soviets: "Trust, but verify"
I think that was a clever and memorable way to say "Of course I don't trust them, but I'll pretend to while constantly checking to see if they are actually doing what they SAY they're doing."
We worry about you, purkiss . . . I hope you're reasonably safe and even more, that things start turning around. Sounds like SA is nearing a Precipice; do you see any signs that a sizable percentage of South Africans are getting fed up with the violence and BS, and understand that a different, healthier path is the only way to improve the situation?
Is an Argentina-style (or MAGA analogue) even a remote possibility there?
Everything I see about SA is extremely negative. Any bright spots at all?
Every well-funded military in the world is working on AI. It would be foolish to believe those projects are all entirely defensive in nature (to put it mildly).
Plenty of large corporations and governments are working on using AI to censor the web and to control people in other ways.
The Deep State and probably every other tyrant-wannabe organization has been hoping to use AI to increase its own power and control since long before actual AI was possible. It's been a dream, a goal, and a heavily funded project for them since the first electronic computers were developed.
The question is: will they succeed? Or do White Hat organizations -- any groups run by decent humans with positive, non-authoritarian goals -- actually have the upper hand, AI-wise?
For that matter, is it POSSIBLE for AI to be used safely and for good, or -- like Power itself -- is the mere USE of true general AI, even when intended for GOOD, so dangerous that only evil will ever come of it in the long run?
I wish I knew the answers.
Kissinger has ALWAYS been in Hell. Here's a direct quote from Jesus (as reported by Luke and translated into English for the KJ Bible, of course):
Luke: 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
The "kingdom of God" is thus a healthy human soul -- imo, of course, but what ELSE could "within you" mean? Your liver? Your spleen?
To be cut off from deep connection with God, other humans, and the rest of nature is to be an UNHEALTHY soul. Without a healthy connection and bond with others, one is in solitary confinement, psychologically speaking.
Psychopaths (who have frontal-lobe damage or disfunction that prevents full empathy and a true connection to others) ARE basically living in solitary confinement -- which is to say, in Hell.
So, all those telecommunications and other satellites, including the ones in geosynchronous orbit -- how's THAT work?
But there are always those JUST open enough, or who have recently BECOME open enough, to see the truth when presented with it.
Not a huge percentage, no.
But that's how the ball starts rolling down the hill of Truth. And we've reached the point where momentum is being gained ever-more rapidly.
EMPATHY and LOVE come from HUMAN BIOLOGY.
Computers don't have that.
Nature (God, if you will) created insanely-complex biology that, to an astonishing extent, is shared by ALL life on Earth (even plants make melatonin and other important molecules that humans rely on, for instance). Humans are only alive because plants and other animals make vitamin C, for another example; our gene for creating C from cholesterol is defective, and without C, you die of scurvy.
This shared biological heritage -- which means that we are all, LITERALLY, family, when you take the long view -- includes emotions (which are whole-body biological states, not just "thoughts" in the brain). Empathy is only possible because of this; when you see another person or an animal suffering, your brain and body process the experience with the same circuits, pathways, neurochemicals, and so on with which it processes your OWN suffering. You empathize with others (unless you are emotionally shut down) because their expression of feeling causes a feeling in you.
Again, computers don't have that.
Computers are psychopathic, in the sense that they lack a way to experience human emotion, empathically or otherwise.
Computers have other problems that make them dangerous as well, but the lack of genuine empathy (and of love, which is closely associated) is one that seems almost entirely overlooked.
If what Mr Shoebat states is true, how can there be ANY Christian churches or jewish synagogues in predominantly muslim countries? I just picked Iran as an example, but look into others.
So far as I know, there are SOME Christians in almost EVERY majority-Muslim country. Removing every single Christian is probably not a high priority once the overwhelming mass of the population is Muslim, and in the case of Iran, which (before the Shah's overthrow) had a vibrant Christian community and was far more Western and secular than most nations in the region, there may be unique reasons for not persecuting the Christians even more than they already quite clearly are. ("In 2023, the country was scored zero out of 4 for religious freedom."[65]
"In the same year, it was ranked as the 8th most difficult place in the world to be a Christian."[66])
Whether Iran is unique in their level of tolerance for a small Christian minority (~150,000 in a nation of 87+ million) or not, we can see the process that Shoebat describes taking place all over the world: as a Muslim minority grows, it becomes more violent (including gang-raping the local women; see Sweden and London as well-known examples) and works tirelessly convert the host nation to Islam.
I'll add that the majority of Muslims in many nations (perhaps not in all) seem to be decent, honest people and no threat to others. On the other hand, my father told me that the man he sat next to on a plane flying out of the Middle East was a pleasant, intelligent guy and a good conversationalist. As they got up to leave after landing, he told my dad "There is one thing I have to do before I die. I have to kill a Jew." (No, my family isn't Jewish)
And that's what you get from a religion that TELLS its people that non-believers must be converted or killed. Muslim violence against "infidels" is a real thing and it is built-in to Islam. That's not true of Christianity, Jainism, Hinduism, or Buddhism.
Yes, there remains a minority Christian community in Iran, which shrunk after the Shah's ouster but in recent years has rebounded. I agree with you that Iran -- as oppressive as it is to Christians and to the entire general population -- has at least not attempted to eradicate the relatively small number of Christians in the country.
from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Iran#Freedom_of_religion -
In 2023, the country was scored zero out of 4 for religious freedom.[65]
In the same year, it was ranked as the 8th most difficult place in the world to be a Christian.[66]
and
there are at least 6000 churches and 100,000–150,000 Christians in Iran.[1]
According to the main Wikipedia article on Iran, the population is over 87 million.
Again from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Iran#History --
The government guarantees the recognized Christian minorities a number of rights (production and sale of non-halal foods),[citation needed] representation in parliament, special family law etc.[citation needed] According to US-based Barnabas Fund government intrusion, expropriation of property, forced closure and persecution, particularly in the initial years after the Iranian Revolution, have all been documented.[citation needed]
On 2 February 2018, four United Nations human rights experts said that members of the Christian minority in Iran, particularly those who have converted to Christianity, are facing severe discrimination and religious persecution in Iran. They expressed their concerns over treatment of three Iranian Christians imprisoned in Iran.[24]
Iranian Christians tend to be urban, with 50% living in Tehran.[25]
Christianity remains the second-largest non-Muslim minority religion in the country.[26]
A June 2020 online survey found a much smaller percentage of Iranians stating they believe in Islam, with half of those surveyed indicating they had lost their religious faith.[27] The poll, conducted by the Netherlands-based GAMAAN (Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran), using online polling to provide greater anonymity for respondents, surveyed 50,000 Iranians and found 1.5% identified as Christians.[27][28]
https://shoebat.com/2011/07/02/what-to-expect-the-effect-of-muslim-population-growth-on-a-society/
Found that posted by /u/HenryBowman1984 as a comment to https://greatawakening.win/p/17rlw0uOy9/islam-phase-2/
A long excerpt: (Percentage numbers are from 2010 or earlier)
As long as the Muslim population remains around or under 2% in any given country, they will be for the most part be regarded as a peace-loving minority, and not as a threat to other citizens. This is the case in:
United States — Muslim 0.6%
Australia — Muslim 1.5%
Canada — Muslim 1.9%
China — Muslim 1.8%
Italy — Muslim 1.5%
Norway — Muslim 1.8%
At 2% to 5%, they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups, often with major recruiting from the jails and among street gangs.
This is happening in:
Denmark — Muslim 2%
Germany — Muslim 3.7%
United Kingdom — Muslim 2.7%
Spain — Muslim 4%
Thailand — Muslim 4.6%
From 5% on, they exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population. For example, they will push for the introduction of halal (clean by Islamic standards) food, thereby securing food preparation jobs for Muslims. They will increase pressure on supermarket chains to feature halal on their shelves — along with threats for failure to comply. This is occurring in:
France — Muslim 8%
Philippines — 5%
Sweden — Muslim 5%
Switzerland — Muslim 4.3%
The Netherlands — Muslim 5.5%
Trinidad & Tobago — Muslim 5.8%
At this point, they will work to get the ruling government to allow them to rule themselves (within their ghettos) under Sharia, the Islamic Law. The ultimate goal of Islamists is to establish Sharia law over the entire world.
When Muslims approach 10% of the population, they tend to increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions. In Paris, we are already seeing car burnings. Any non-Muslim action offends Islam, and results in uprisings and threats, such as in Amsterdam, with opposition to Mohammed cartoons and films about Islam. Such tensions are seen daily, particularly in Muslim sections, in:
Guyana — Muslim 10%
India — Muslim 13.4%
Israel — Muslim 16%
Kenya — Muslim 10%
Russia — Muslim 15%
After reaching 20%, nations can expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings, and the burnings of Christian churches and Jewish synagogues, such as in:
Ethiopia — Muslim 32.8%
At 40%, nations experience widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks, and ongoing militia warfare, such as in:
Bosnia — Muslim 40%
Chad — Muslim 53.1%
Lebanon — Muslim 59.7%
From 60%, nations experience unfettered persecution of non-believers of all other religions (including non-conforming Muslims), sporadic ethnic cleansing (genocide), use of Sharia law as a weapon, and jizya, the tax placed on infidels, such as in:
Albania — Muslim 70%
Malaysia — Muslim 60.4%
Qatar — Muslim 77.5%
Sudan — Muslim 70%
After 80%, expect daily intimidation and violent jihad, some state-run ethnic cleansing, and even some genocide, as these nations drive out the infidels, and move toward 100% Muslim, such as has been experienced and in some ways is on-going in:
Bangladesh — Muslim 83%
Egypt — Muslim 90%
Gaza — Muslim 98.7%
Indonesia — Muslim 86.1%
Iran — Muslim 98%
Iraq — Muslim 97%
Jordan — Muslim 92%
Morocco — Muslim 98.7%
Pakistan — Muslim 97%
Palestine — Muslim 99%
Syria — Muslim 90%
Tajikistan — Muslim 90%
Turkey — Muslim 99.8%
United Arab Emirates — Muslim 96%
100% will usher in the peace of ‘Dar-es-Salaam’ — the Islamic House of Peace. Here there’s supposed to be peace, because everybody is a Muslim, the Madrasses are the only schools, and the Koran is the only word, such as in:
Afghanistan — Muslim 100%
Saudi Arabia — Muslim 100%
Somalia — Muslim 100%
Yemen — Muslim 100%
Unfortunately, peace is never achieved, as in these 100% states the most radical Muslims intimidate and spew hatred, and satisfy their blood lust by killing less radical Muslims, for a variety of reasons.
Islam is a scheme to invade and conquer the world, disguised as a religon.
ANYTHING calling itself a "religion" that advocates subjugating and murdering people of other religions is not a true religion, but instead a criminal organization.
Does Islam advocate subjugating and murdering infidels? Do its teachings RELIABLY lead to subjugation and murder of Christians and others as the percentage of Muslims increases in a nation?
Yes, absolutely -- including, near the end-point, of moderate Muslims who do not support Jihad (i.e., decent people who happen to have been raised in Islam).
Two suggestions for research into the actual nature of Islam:
They Must Be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It by Brigitte Gabriel
Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Yes. And then there are the MANY English translations.
Thanks! Did not know that.