Month: March 2013

In Place of A Real Post, Here’s An Update

1. Do not fear that I will no longer make substantive and relevant posts; I have every intent of continuing to review the “Biblical History”.
2. Le site d’Irna is doing an excellent review of the pseudohistorical schlockumentary “The Revelation of the Pyramids”.
3. I, like McGrath and Goodacre, am annoyed by the coming end of Google Reader. The only workable alternative I have yet found is “The Old Reader“, made by a group of Russian-speakers. Feedly is an app; it cannot be accessed by all browsers.
4. Along with Google Reader, Ancient Aliens Debunked is also now only available in segments due to sleazy motherfuckers being sleazy motherfuckers. (Update as of 5/17/2013 -The video was restored as of roughly a week ago-see the gap in the YT comments).
5. Some idiot at PuffHo quotes a clear fabrication as a bit of the Cyrus Cylinder. I’ve had a debate on the nature of the Cyrus Cylinder here. This is an outrage-but, hey-this is PuffHo.
6. I have, with minimum research and a minimum quantity of words, responded to at least a dozen or two comments on the TED blog.

My Translation of the 1944 Soviet National Anthem

Alternative renditions of certain words are in brackets.

Union indestructible of republics free
Bound-together for centuries Grand[Great] Rus.
Yes welcomes created by the will of the nations
The single[united], mighty Soviet Union!
Chorus:

Be famed, Fatherland our free,
The friendship of the nations is a reliable bond!
Soviet banner*, banner national
Let it from victory to victory lead!

Through lightnings shone us the sun of freedom,
And great[grand] Lenin* to us the[a] path made clear:
Us raised Stalin-for the[on]** truth [reliability] to the nation,
For** work[labor] and on** movements[expeditions] us made spirited!
Chorus
We army our grew in battles[lit. confrontations].
Captors[conquerors] despicable[lowly] from the road we will sweep!
We in battles decide the fate of generations,
We to the fame of the Fatherland*** our[ours] lead!
Chorus

*Word order deliberately switched.
** The same word, “na” (on) is used here. It is not always used in the sense of “on”.
*** Not the same word as used the previous time.

You may notice deficiencies in my “word-for-word” manner of translation. I first attempted this translation after re-listening to Lee Doren’s wonderful addition of appropriate music to the ending of the “Story of Stuff” video.

Crank Magnetism in Action (With Chris White, Maker of the Good “Ancient Aliens Debunked”)

Right here. Chris White is an anti-vaxxer (and is thus dangerous to society) and an anti-fluoridationist (and is thus fearful of a conspiracy that isn’t, at least in Germany and Japan). Curiously, I received a reply from an anti-vaxxer on this video, perhaps the first YouTube video I commented on, the same day (today) I found out that Chris White was not ambivalent about his anti-vaccinationism. This, of course, is clear evidence of crank magnetism (found rather frequently at other ‘correct thrice-in-a-blue-moon’ sites, such as lewrockwell.com). Though Ancient Aliens Debunked (a creation of Chris White) is a good movie, it suffers from its Biblical inerrantism and poorly-disguised Judeo-Christian apologetics. Chris White’s other videos are also a mixed bag: a good one:

and a bad one (though not a terrible one):

I commented on both. If you click on the first video embedded, you already know what the next post will look like.

Check the Schedule page for updates on where I have recently commented around the web.

Ooh, Looky Here-A Useful and Usable Map of Every Site Surveyed By Israel in the West Bank

The actual map is available on its own here. The sourcebook is not fully reliable.

Right here. Of course, Price is much, much less a ‘pseudo-archaeologist’ than those who are typically called as such. As the good Israel Finkelstein states,

Let the truth be known: Most of the looting in the West Bank (as well as in Israel!) has been carried out by Palestinians. In addition, the viewer should remember that since the 1993 Oslo agreement about 50% of the West Bank has been administered by the Palestinian Authority. If looting there continues, it is being done under Palestinian rule.

Nobody claims the James Ossuary itself is “fraudulent” except the truly ignorant. The misconceptions that “Actual discoveries in the region rarely make headlines. [utterly untrue]” and “Cultural strata in Israel and Palestine lack the lavish treasures and mystique associated with the power centers of the ancient world [also utterly untrue], such as Egypt or Mesopotamia.” is also stated in the article. The wise Alex Joffe and Ron Hendel have added their correct opinions to the Disqus comments. I responded to he-who-must-not-be-named in the comments by sheer accident-I did not read his name!