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from the It's-Fake-News-until-the-Fat-Man-Sings dept.
Democrat Doug Jones won a remarkable upset victory over controversial rival Roy Moore in the diehard Republican state of Alabama on Tuesday to win election to the US Senate.
By a margin of 49.5 to 48.9 with 91% of precincts reporting, Jones dealt a major blow to Donald Trump and his efforts to pass tax reform on Capitol Hill. Jones was able to become the first Democrat in a decade to win any statewide office in Alabama by beating Moore, who had faced multiple allegations of sexual assault during a campaign which exposed Republican party faultlines.
The Democratic victory will reduce the Republican majority in the Senate to 51-49 once Jones takes his seat on Capitol Hill. This significantly reduces the margin for error as Republicans attempt to push through a major corporate tax cut.
takyon: The final count is:
Doug Jones - 671,151 votes (49.9%)
Roy Moore - 650,436 votes (48.4%)
Write-ins (total) - 22,819 votes (1.7%)
The margin for an automatic recount in Alabama is 0.5%. Roy Moore has yet to concede.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Thexalon on Wednesday December 13 2017, @10:36PM (5 children)
There are some answers to this classic philosophical problem. Mine is "There ain't no such thing as a benevolent omnipotent god", but there are also answers like "There's an omniscient omnipotent god, but that god isn't benevolent" (This idea is basically Gnosticism) and "The evil that happens in the world is actually an act of benevolence from this god, we just don't understand why" (a lot of evangelical types subscribe to this one).
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by MostCynical on Wednesday December 13 2017, @11:01PM
Don't forget "he made it perfect, we screwed it up", leading to "all suffering (& evil) in the world is our fault" so "get on your knees and pray for forgiveness"
Tl;dr: it's all Eve's fault.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 3, Insightful) by fyngyrz on Thursday December 14 2017, @02:37AM (2 children)
It's not a philosophical problem.
It's a problem that arises consequent to superstition.
(Score: 2, Disagree) by Thexalon on Thursday December 14 2017, @06:15PM (1 child)
You picked the atheistic answer: No benevolent omnipotent god. That does indeed answer the question, it's just not the only answer to the question. Which is why it has been pondered by people who are a lot smarter than either of us, such as Gottfried Leibniz (a.k.a. the bane of Isaac Newton and high school calculus students everywhere). Wikipedia's overview is pretty good [wikipedia.org].
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Thursday December 14 2017, @10:45PM
I picked the sane, rational answer: "No God" is the same answer as "No Easter Bunny" and "No Banshees" and "No ghosts."
When there is no proof of anything, and no science to back it up, it's fantasy (if you simply contemplate it) or superstition (if you actually believe it) until or unless those specific circumstances change.
When you say a choice "isn't atheist", what you're really saying is "it is superstition." Until or unless you have proof. So far, no one, anywhere, anytime, has any proof to offer. You want to claim there's actually an Easter Bunny? Then put it on the table and proceed with the crapping out of Cadbury eggs and plastic basket-grass. A Banshee? Show the haunted tree. A Ghost? Show us. A God? Then (at least) be prepared to produce some miracles on demand under controlled conditions. Until you do, it's just utter nonsense.
When you reach for the "it's philosophy" title here, in the matter of something you claim to have existence in objective reality, you don't get to finish the reach until you prove it. If you want philosophy, you have to start with "here's an idea for which there is no proof and is at best a mental exercise." As soon as you try for "dude but it's real", then you're in the realm of science, and if you can't put up, you'll be treated by people with functional critical thinking skills as if you should have shut up.
The superstitious... yes, well, they're always with us, certainly. But the fact that you can collect a lot of them doesn't make your claim any better at all.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 14 2017, @10:26AM
Indeed. Sithrak hates us all.