#269525 - 15/11/2005 20:30
Re: My take...
[Re: Cybjorg]
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new poster
Registered: 10/11/2005
Posts: 35
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Quote: At the same time, the claims are unrefutable. After all, if a person came to me and claimed to talk to aliens, I don't have to believe him, but I can't prove otherwise either.
You've hit it on the head. When someone makes a claim that is by definition irrefutable, that statement is utterly worthless for demonstrating truth in either direction. Truly scientific claims make predictions that can be tested -- meaning that you can design a test for me to perform and pick a particular result from this test that, were it to occur, I would know your statement was false. For instance, I can't prove 100% that humans and chimpanzees descended from common ancestors, because I obviously wasn't there. But I do know that if someone were to discover a fossilized human skeleton in the same rock strata that contain trilobite fossils, that would prove quite conclusively that humans and chimpanzees did not descend from a common ancestor. The fact that there have been hundreds or thousands of experiments, many of which I could reproduce myself, and all of which could, but do not, disprove a particular hypothesis does serve to strengthen my suspicion that it is true.
By contrast, when some people propose "experiments" to test religious dogma, they come out something like "If X happens, God did it. But if Y happens, God did it. And if neither of those things happen, then, well... God did it!" This type of "experiment" can never provide any useful information, no matter how many times you do it.
Quote: But I'd better think twice when millions of people around the world start claiming that they have interaction with aliens. And I would think three times if many of these "fanatics" were willing to face mockery, persecution, and even death for their testimony. After all, not to many people would pay the ultimate price for a lie.
Unfortunately, too many people would and do pay the ultimate price for lies. This "one hundred million deluded dupes can't all be wrong" type of argument is singularly unconvincing.
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MkIIa #40104178, 22GB
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I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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FireFox31
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14/11/2005 03:02
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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matthew_k
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14/11/2005 03:54
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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hybrid8
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14/11/2005 04:45
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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canuckInOR
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14/11/2005 05:55
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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JeffS
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14/11/2005 11:23
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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DWallach
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14/11/2005 11:51
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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Roger
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14/11/2005 13:47
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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tonyc
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14/11/2005 14:09
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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JeffS
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14/11/2005 14:48
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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wfaulk
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14/11/2005 15:13
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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JeffS
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14/11/2005 15:33
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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wfaulk
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14/11/2005 16:13
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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JeffS
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14/11/2005 16:58
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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wfaulk
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14/11/2005 17:17
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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JeffS
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14/11/2005 17:38
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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wfaulk
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14/11/2005 17:51
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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blitz
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14/11/2005 17:48
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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tanstaafl.
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14/11/2005 18:54
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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Ezekiel
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14/11/2005 19:27
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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wfaulk
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14/11/2005 19:38
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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Ezekiel
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14/11/2005 20:03
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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JeffS
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14/11/2005 20:43
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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DWallach
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14/11/2005 21:13
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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Ezekiel
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14/11/2005 21:24
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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wfaulk
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14/11/2005 21:58
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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JeffS
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14/11/2005 23:10
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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Ezekiel
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15/11/2005 01:47
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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Ezekiel
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15/11/2005 01:54
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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bonzi
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14/11/2005 22:38
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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JeffS
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14/11/2005 20:31
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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bonzi
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14/11/2005 21:50
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My take...
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visuvius
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14/11/2005 22:48
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Re: My take...
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JeffS
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14/11/2005 23:13
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Re: My take...
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DWallach
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14/11/2005 23:30
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Re: My take...
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JeffS
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15/11/2005 00:30
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Re: My take...
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Anonymous
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15/11/2005 01:29
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Re: My take...
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canuckInOR
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15/11/2005 02:54
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Re: My take...
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Anonymous
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15/11/2005 11:38
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Re: My take...
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JeffS
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15/11/2005 11:01
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Re: My take...
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Cybjorg
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15/11/2005 07:28
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Re: My take...
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peter
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15/11/2005 08:41
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Re: My take...
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JeffS
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15/11/2005 10:44
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Re: My take...
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wfaulk
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15/11/2005 15:43
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Re: My take...
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Cybjorg
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15/11/2005 16:39
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Re: My take...
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wfaulk
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15/11/2005 17:51
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Re: My take...
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jpt
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15/11/2005 20:30
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Re: My take...
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bonzi
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15/11/2005 20:39
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Re: My take...
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jpt
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15/11/2005 20:45
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Re: My take...
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bonzi
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15/11/2005 20:53
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Re: My take...
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JeffS
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16/11/2005 00:19
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Question
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jpt
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15/11/2005 20:51
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Re: My take...
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JeffS
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16/11/2005 00:11
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Re: My take...
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wfaulk
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16/11/2005 00:29
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Re: My take...
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JeffS
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16/11/2005 00:31
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Re: My take...
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tanstaafl.
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16/11/2005 03:55
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Re: My take...
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Cybjorg
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16/11/2005 07:26
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Re: My take...
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bonzi
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16/11/2005 06:21
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Re: My take...
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JeffS
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16/11/2005 06:32
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Re: My take...
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peter
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16/11/2005 11:28
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Re: My take...
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wfaulk
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16/11/2005 13:11
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Re: My take...
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canuckInOR
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16/11/2005 06:34
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Re: My take...
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JeffS
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16/11/2005 07:02
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Re: My take...
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Anonymous
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15/11/2005 20:14
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Re: My take...
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jpt
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15/11/2005 20:40
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Re: My take...
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DWallach
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15/11/2005 20:45
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Re: My take...
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jpt
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15/11/2005 20:52
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Re: My take...
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Anonymous
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15/11/2005 21:24
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Re: My take...
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Ezekiel
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15/11/2005 21:27
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Re: My take...
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wfaulk
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15/11/2005 21:52
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Re: My take...
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larry818
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16/11/2005 00:36
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Re: My take...
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wfaulk
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16/11/2005 00:39
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Re: My take...
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larry818
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17/11/2005 15:23
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Re: My take...
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DWallach
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17/11/2005 16:25
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Re: My take...
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DWallach
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16/11/2005 16:00
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Re: My take...
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bonzi
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16/11/2005 21:33
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Re: My take...
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Anonymous
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17/11/2005 02:05
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Re: My take...
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andy
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17/11/2005 06:13
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Re: My take...
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Ezekiel
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17/11/2005 11:37
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Re: My take...
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larry818
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17/11/2005 15:01
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Re: My take...
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Ezekiel
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16/11/2005 12:33
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Re: My take...
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jpt
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16/11/2005 00:47
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Re: My take...
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wfaulk
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16/11/2005 01:18
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Re: My take...
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JeffS
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16/11/2005 01:23
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Re: My take...
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wfaulk
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16/11/2005 01:28
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Re: My take...
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JeffS
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16/11/2005 02:40
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Re: My take...
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bonzi
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16/11/2005 05:55
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Re: My take...
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JeffS
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16/11/2005 06:51
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Re: My take...
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JeffS
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16/11/2005 07:09
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Re: My take...
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tfabris
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16/11/2005 17:58
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Re: My take...
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JeffS
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16/11/2005 18:21
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Re: My take...
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bonzi
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16/11/2005 21:13
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Re: My take...
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Anonymous
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15/11/2005 21:39
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Re: My take...
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wfaulk
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15/11/2005 21:54
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Re: My take...
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Anonymous
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15/11/2005 22:07
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Re: My take...
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Anonymous
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15/11/2005 22:12
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Re: My take...
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wfaulk
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16/11/2005 00:26
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Re: My take...
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wfaulk
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16/11/2005 00:21
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Re: My take...
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JeffS
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15/11/2005 23:42
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Re: My take...
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JeffS
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15/11/2005 10:48
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Re: My take...
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tanstaafl.
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15/11/2005 00:21
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Re: My take...
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drakino
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15/11/2005 01:42
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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FireFox31
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15/11/2005 03:30
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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bonzi
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15/11/2005 06:29
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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Cybjorg
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15/11/2005 07:36
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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Dignan
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18/11/2005 13:16
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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wfaulk
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18/11/2005 14:01
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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Dylan
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18/11/2005 17:23
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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wfaulk
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18/11/2005 17:32
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Re: I support* Intelligent Design, let's fight. *kind of
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bonzi
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18/11/2005 17:41
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