"The Book of Mormon is one of the boldest hoaxes of all time. And millions of people have fallen for it. Joseph Smith Jr. claimed that an angel gifted him—an uneducated farm boy—with ancient golden plates and the ability to translate their hieroglyphics. From that improbable premise sprang The Book of Mormon and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, with its millions of followers, known as Mormons. In Book of Mormon, Book of Lies, authors Meredith Ray Sheets and Kendal M. Sheets expose The Book of Mormon and the story surrounding its creation as one of the greatest deceptions in the history of America, if not the entire world.
The result of twenty-five years of research, Book of Mormon, Book of Lies will alter the course of global religion, finance, and politics. Book of Lies proves that Smith’s manuscript, which he published in 1830, is nothing more than cleverly disguised plagiarism of The Travels of Marco Polo, the voyage of Christopher Columbus to the New World as recorded by his son, histories of the Spanish conquest of Mexico, and travel journals . . . all readily available to Smith. In Book of Lies, Meredith Sheets, a retired petroleum executive, and Kendal M. Sheets, an experienced intellectual property attorney, compare content from historic books with the content of The Book of Mormon. The results are astonishing. For the first time ever, the authors show exactly how the American-born religion of Mormonism and its religious scriptures were created by man and not by God."
Historical facts , linguistics, and archaeology all indicate that the Mormon religion is based on a fabrication of lies and deception, but will that convince someone who believes in the LDS faith? Sort of doubt it.
"David Stuart, professor of art history at The University of Texas at Austin, has deciphered the second known reference in Maya culture to the so-called “end date” of December 21, 2012. Stuart says the reference does not predict the end of time but rather, was intended to promote continuity during a time of crisis.
..... The findings are the latest from Stuart’s more than 15 years of exploration and documentation of a site of Maya ruins in northwest Guatemala, which he named La Corona (“The Crown”).
......“What this text shows us is that in times of crisis, the ancient Maya used their calendar to promote continuity and stability rather than predict apocalypse,” says Canuto.
Stuart is the David and Linda Schele Professor of Mesoamerican Art and Writing at The University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of “The Order of Days: The Maya World and the Truth about 2012.” Stuart’s research is supported by the Schele research fund from the College of Fine Arts at The University of Texas at Austin, and through the Casa Herrera research facility in Guatemala, where he does much of his work throughout the year."
Hopefully these latest findings will help to erase the contemporary new age myth of the Apocalyse on Dec 21. 2012, though I sort of doubt it. 'Prophets of Doom' seem to enjoy their preoccupation with end-of-time fantasies, and conveniently overlook the actual facts.
"One language dies every 14 days. By the next century nearly half of the roughly 7,000 languages spoken on Earth will likely disappear, as communities abandon native tongues in favor of English, Mandarin, or Spanish. What is lost when a language goes silent?
...Within the next century, linguists think, nearly half of the world’s current stock of languages may disappear. More than a thousand are listed as critically or severely endangered—teetering on the edge of oblivion.
...Does each language have boxed up within it some irreplaceable beneficial knowledge? Are there aspects of cultures that won’t survive if they are translated into a dominant language? What unexpected insights are being lost to the world with the collapse of its linguistic variety? ....."
Immanuel Kant, who coined the term genius in the 1700s, defined it as the rare capacity to independently understand concepts that would normally have to be taught by another person. Since then, the spectrum of abilities that we call genius has widened, but pivotal questions remain: What exactly is genius? Where do the remarkable abilities of genius come from? Is genius something that lives within all of us, or is it a categorically different way of seeing the world that is bestowed upon only a few?
With the emergence of new imaging technologies and a fundamental shift in the understanding of how information is spread through our brains, we’re beginning to find some answers. We joined neuroscientists, psychologists, renowned thinkers, and special performers as they untangled the complicated nature of genius, creativity, and exceptionality.
Recently watched the documentary 'The Linguists' on the BBC channel about David Harrison's linguistic work around the world.
"Informative conversation with K. David Harrison, assistant professor of linguistics at Swarthmore College near Philadelphia and the author of the new book "When Languages Die: The Extinction of the World's Languages and the Erosion of Human Knowledge". He is the Director of Research at the Living Tongues Institute and was recently featured in the documentary called "The Linguists" which followed hands-on linguistic field work in countries around the world. In this fascinating interview, Harrison discusses the critical importance of the world's many threatened languages and the vital knowledge that each language uniquely packages and holds for all of us. Harrison also discusses the need for more trained linguistic personnel to go out into some of the remotest parts of the world to document these nearly extinct languages before they are lost to humanity forever."
Yet another absolutely brilliant series of programs, hosted by Stephen Fry, on how we, as a species, have developed a means of communicating with each other, LANGUAGE. This episode, part 4, deals specifically with the way in which humans have developed various writing systems so as to permanently preserve our verbal communication.
How to say "Hello" in the various languages which I am intimately familiar with:
It would appear that some charlatans will do absolutely anything to establish the validiity and historicity of Christianity, well, religion in general. The 'Jordanian Codices' episode began in March of this year. But by September it had been established that the 'Jordanian Codices' were undoubtedly fakes, not even very well produced fakes, and David Elkington's proposed book deal was in the process of collapsing.
Fascinating trail of deception, somewhat like a contemporary detective story. This involved story all began with a press release, passed though the hallowed halls of academia and scientific investigation, naturally was touted on Facebook, and eventually found its way to YouTube:
"One of the biggest and best preserved hoards of ancient sealed books, which had been secretly hidden for centuries, has been discovered in Jordan. Early indications are that some of the books could date from the first century CE/ADand may be among the earliest Christian documents, predating the writings of St Paul. Leading academics consider that the find might be as pivotal as the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947.The hoard consists of up to 70 ring-bound books (codices) made of lead and copper. Many of them are sealed on all sides. Scrolls, tablets and other artefacts, including an incense bowl, were also found at the same site. Some of the lead pages are written in a form of archaic Hebrew script with ancient messianic symbols. Some of the writing appears to be in a form of code.There is likely to be considerable academic and political debate about the collection’s authenticity, meaning and interpretation. But now there is also a race against time to safeguard the collection’s future. Having been originally discovered some 5 years ago in a remote cave within a militarized zone by Jordanian Bedouin, the hoard was subsequently acquired by an Israeli Bedouin, who illegally smuggled them across the Border into Israel, wheret hey remain hidden under his protection.However, legal advice has confirmed that the find qualifies as treasure troveunder Jordanian law, and is rightly the property of the Kingdom of Jordan. TheJordanian Government is now working at the highest levels to repatriate and safeguard the collection. The British team leading the work on the discovery fears that the present Israeli ‘keeper’ may be looking to sell some of the books on to the black market, or worse - destroy them.The collection appears to be of mixed provenance. But initial metallurgical tests indicate that some of the books made of lead could date from the firstcentury CE/AD, based on the form of corrosion which has taken place, which experts believe would be impossible to achieve artificially. Sealed books were used by early Christian writers as a code for secret teaching; they were heavily persecuted and needed to protect their knowledge. Until now, no such book has ever been found. The codices were discovered in an area to which Christian refugees are known to have fled after the fall of Jerusalem in 70CE/AD, and where important documents from the same period have previously been found. The existence of a significant, hidden collection of sealed codices is mentioned in the Christian Bible’s Book of Revelation and in other biblical books."
"The current consensus amongst expert bloggers in the fields of Religion, Archaeology and Linguistics is that the Jordinian Lead Codices are in – all probability – not authentic." [many links]
"More scandalous is the complete lack of journalistic integrity, honest research, and thorough fact-checking. These codices might never have been heard of if the authors of the reports for BBC and Fox News (among others) had just checked with the academic community before publishing the “find”. At the very least, the journalists might have used less authoritative language, expressed more caution, and exposed the controversy rather than simply stating, as if doing so made it fact, that these codices were “the earliest Christian texts” and that they held “early images of Jesus. . . . . .”
But my favortite report is from the sensationalist Daily Mail [with lots of lovely photos and is a must see/read]. This British tabloid is always good for a few chuckles.
"Seventy metal books found in cave in Jordan could change our view of Biblical history. For scholars of faith and history, it is a treasure trove too precious for price. This ancient collection of 70 tiny books, their lead pages bound with wire, could unlock some of the secrets of the earliest days of Christianity. . . . . "
Biologist Mark Pagel shares an intriguing theory about why humans evolved our complex system of language. He suggests that language is a piece of "social technology" that allowed early human tribes to access a powerful new tool: cooperation.
Where would we be today if it weren't for the scientists of the past? From the miniature world of genetics to the vast expanse of space, review the greatest discoveries of all time across eight different scientific categories in this multi-part series. Join host Bill Nye as he recounts the 100 most important discoveries and explains how each one has had a hand in shaping the modern world. Watch his lively and dramatic accounts and learn how the great discoveries were made, how they impacted the development of scientific knowledge and how they touch our lives today. From the discovery of the dinosaur-killing KT asteroid to Carl Linnaeus' still-used life form classification system to the groundbreaking theories of Charles Darwin. Learn how intelligent life began on earth.
A friend recently wrote that in January he will be visiting Thailand for about a month. He asked my assistance in helping him to learn a few words and phrases in order to make his visit a more pleasing and worthwhile experience.
Most people don't realize that the Thai language is composed of four basic dialects: Standard Thai which is spoken in the central part of the country [Bangkok] and taught throughout the country, Southern Thai spoken in the provinces south of Bangkok, Northeastern Thai spoken in the Issan area and is closely related to the Laoatian language and the Northern dialect spoken in Chiang Mai and neighboring provinces.
A very good source of Thai language help is 'thai language.com', which has an excellent online dictionary, abundant audio clips for individual words and phrases, and language lessons.
"Thai: Languages of Southeast Asia" a video hosted by Professor Alexander Arguelles, a well known linguist who has a YouTube channel.
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A commercial firm 'The Traveling Linguist' has number of videos with a good basic introduction to everyday expressions and listed as "Thai 101".
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Another good YouTube source is 'Learn Thai' with a number of videos.