Ben Carson's pyramid scheme

[pcgeek11]

I can only hope Carson wins the nomination . . . and that then I hosted a satirical talk show.

Book this, though: Despite where things stand now, Jeb! will be the nominee.

Just like Hillary was / is preordained.

And it shall pass.

 

[zinfamous]

Nope, all different. Most Protestant/Evangelicals consider them Cults, but they are quite independent of each other.

I was just reading up on it. So it seems like their main thing that defines their sect is the Saturday Sabbath thing (pretty weak, imo), and that it is because of this that the papists, protestants, and the government will stand with the antichrist, and against the 7th Day Adventists on the day of Judgement, casting all adventists into hell.

That is....really stupid. Why interpret something so mundane as the day you go you choose to go to your clubhouse as a fundamental crime against the forces of evil? Also, who wants to live under the fundamental prophecy that you and your religion is basically a direct pathway to centuries of hell?

maybe it is because they also believe in the literal truth of creation = 6 days?

 

[Blanky]

Something is truly inexplicable about this man. Most of what he says is either reasonable--but never impressive (meaning, it is average)--or beyond fucking stupid. How he became a neurosurgeon I don't know. I am assuming whatever part of his brain was needed for that functions fine, but the part responsible for him having opinions and talking doesn't work properly.

I'm looking forward to him imploding soon.

 

[CZroe]

I honestly can't figure why Carson is ahead of Fiorina, but I've thought all along that it's going to have to be Rubio.

There's simply no way Trump or Carson or Jeb could win with only SOME Conservatives willing to vote for them (despite their leading numbers, many have a vitriolic reaction to all of them). For some reason most Conservatives and Republicans think Paul is a liberal attacking their values when he's using logic and backs all of his positions with reason and how he interprets the Constitution. Cruz should have been laughed out because of his ridiculous legislation where Americans lose their citizenship when they join terrorist groups. That would allow the government to redefine terrorism to strip dissenters of their Constitutional rights and prevent citizens from disagreeing/changing their own government, peacefully or otherwise (that would make them "terrorists"). It goes against absolutely everything a president is sworn to do.

LOL! Grains are the bulk/foundation of it.

He even made up his story about applying for and getting a full scholarship to West Point. Did he really think they don't keep records? Although he wrote his book about 25 years ago and nobody cared enough to check it all out until now.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/ben-carson-west-point-215598

That article got ripped apart yesterday. He never claimed to have applied and turned the offer down so the lack of such documentation means nothing. Others have come forward saying that they had similar unsolicited offers to West Point on the merits of their intelligence or abilities so there is nothing curious about this claim.

Being offered a slot in a prestigious taxpayer funded school and then turning it down, he went on with his life unfamiliar with the details of the West Point offer and its funding, wrongly referring to it as a "full scholarship." It's not really that much different than being approached on the merits of your athletic abilities and being offered a full scholarship at an NCAA-affiliated university, so I can see why he would be confused.

the pyramids being built to store grain is not a plausible theory at all. do you and Ben Carson believe they are hollow or something?

Still silly, but perhaps they think the grain was stored on shelves outside?

Each step would have awnings extending from the step above, like the hanging gardens of Babylon are often depicted. Obviously, the increased surface area would not be enough to justify the enormous effort of building them, but they do have more surface area outside than inside.

 

[zinfamous]

yeah, it almost seems that Rubio is the repubs only shot right now. However, the majority of Latinos are anti-Rubio. so that is problematic.

 

[CZroe]

I was just reading up on it. So it seems like their main thing that defines their sect is the Saturday Sabbath thing (pretty weak, imo), and that it is because of this that the papists, protestants, and the government will stand with the antichrist, and against the 7th Day Adventists on the day of Judgement, casting all adventists into hell.



That is....really stupid. Why interpret something so mundane as the day you go you choose to go to your clubhouse as a fundamental crime against the forces of evil? Also, who wants to live under the fundamental prophecy that you and your religion is basically a direct pathway to centuries of hell?



maybe it is because they also believe in the literal truth of creation = 6 days?

"Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy" *is* one of the Ten Commandments. I'm actually a bit surprised that other Christian denominations don't take that one more seriously. Most just redefine "Sabbath" to mean any particular day of worship, including Sunday.

 

[Blanky]

yeah, it almost seems that Rubio is the repubs only shot right now. However, the majority of Latinos are anti-Rubio. so that is problematic.

Considering this late in the game the #2 is Carson I'd say the Republicans have a crisis on their hands. Trump is a better pick but unlikely to sway a lot of die hard democrats. At least he's not incompetent, and despite professional accolades to the contrary Ben Carson seems utterly inept.

It's also a damn shame Hillary is going essentially unopposed to her party's nomination.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I was just reading up on it. So it seems like their main thing that defines their sect is the Saturday Sabbath thing (pretty weak, imo), and that it is because of this that the papists, protestants, and the government will stand with the antichrist, and against the 7th Day Adventists on the day of Judgement, casting all adventists into hell.

That is....really stupid. Why interpret something so mundane as the day you go you choose to go to your clubhouse as a fundamental crime against the forces of evil? Also, who wants to live under the fundamental prophecy that you and your religion is basically a direct pathway to centuries of hell?

maybe it is because they also believe in the literal truth of creation = 6 days?

While I'm no expert it probably feeds into Christ will rise again and descend to hell to free the worthy again.
Again I feel we no longer call Politicians out about silly beliefs in the name of inclusiveness. I want to know does Carson believe the world is 5,000 years old. He has stated he does not believe in evolution. Does he believe the fossil record was planted by the devil to distract humans like some fundamentalist believe?

 

[Perknose]

That article [about Carson's lazy and fundamentally dishonest "embellishments"] got ripped apart yesterday.

Link? I'd like to know which site persuaded you that his published dishonesty wasn't lazy and dishonest, and the details that persuaded you the claim was "ripped apart."

It's not really that much different than being approached on the merits of your athletic abilities and being offered a full scholarship at an NCAA-affiliated university, so I can see why he would be confused.

Oh, he's easily confused, alright. Too easily.

According to his account in “Gifted Hands,” he was offered a “full scholarship to West Point” after meeting with Gen. William C. Westmoreland, the Army chief of staff, because of his accomplishments in the R.O.T.C. in Detroit.

He wasn't.

Elsewhere in “Gifted Hands,” Mr. Carson wrote that he had applied only to Yale because he could not afford the application fees for any more colleges. But over the years, he referred to his West Point invitation in a way that could make it seem like an official offer.

It wasn't.

In a later book, “You Have a Brain,” he described how he had decided which college to attend: “I still had the scholarship offer from West Point as a result of my R.O.T.C. achievements,” he wrote.

This is a lie.

More recently, in a Facebook post in August, he responded to a question on whether he had been offered a spot at West Point by writing that he had been “thrilled to get an offer from West Point.”

He never got an offer from West Point. His saying he did is a lie.

“I don’t remember all the specific details,” he said. “It was, you know, an informal ‘with a record like yours, we could easily get you a scholarship to West Point.’ ”

So, Dr. Carson, in your own words, after years and years of repeatedly lying about it in print and in public statements, but only after being found out, you now formally admit you were never offered "a scholarship" to West Point.

Now, about your claim regarding the Pyramids, Ben. :sneaky:

His lazy and dishonest habit of playing fast and loose with the truth seems part of an emerging, long held pattern, CZ.

Yet just a couple of hours after the news conference, another report, in The Wall Street Journal [That Socialist, extreme left wing rag!], challenged events Mr. Carson has recounted.

One of them, recalled in “Gifted Hands,” involved a psychology class he said he had attended at Yale University, called Perceptions 301. Mr. Carson described the professor’s conducting an honesty experiment on the class and wrote that he was the only one who passed, prompting The Yale Daily News to take his picture.

But no photo identifying Mr. Carson as a student appeared in the newspaper’s archives, The Journal reported, and a Yale librarian told the newspaper that there was no psychology course by that name or class number during Mr. Carson’s years at Yale.

Oops.

 

[K1052]

So he's either an idiot or a pathological liar.

A splendid choice for the nomination.

 

[BxgJ]

So he's either an idiot or a pathological liar.

A splendid choice for the nomination.

Maybe both? I seem to remember him bringing up the 'pathological liar' bit during a press conference yesterday, perhaps as a way of inoculating himself against the accusation. These specific events in his life that he has mentioned have started to be scrutinized, and there are questions being raised.

 

[Perknose]

Maybe both? I seem to remember him bringing up the 'pathological liar' bit during a press conference yesterday, perhaps as a way of inoculating himself against the accusation. These specific events in his life that he has mentioned have started to be scrutinized, and there are questions being raised.

It just seems to me that he's a distinctly odd duck who lives in his own head, a kind of idiot savant who was, by all accounts, a brilliant surgeon but who is simply not suited for the larger reality of this wide world.

Hence, he can say tone deaf things like Obama care is worse than slavery without ever realizing how ridiculous, even offensive, that sounds to fully functioning adults.

Like someone on the autistic spectrum, he seems to be able to hone in on the detailed rote learning of his medical career, but comes crazily adrift in this fast paced, multiple and simultaneously decision-vectored world the rest of us have to live in.

An illuminating vignette from Ben Carson’s Past Faces Deeper Questions:

Those acquainted with Mr. Carson said he was a serious student, typically wearing a pocket protector and toting a reddish-brown briefcase.

“He would go to bed at like 9 p.m. and get up at 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. and put on a suit, a tie and a jacket and a button-down shirt and study in the early morning,” said Thomas Noonan, an actor and Mr. Carson’s roommate their sophomore year.

By dint of his hard work and perseverance, this quirky bird became a top flight neurosurgeon and thereby made the world a better place.

It's just SAD that this truth-challenged dreamer leads the Republican field for President at this point, and that his number one challenger is a blustery bore-ass once famously described as a "stubby fingered vulgarian."

What's sadder to me is the millions of people who avidly support either. Are they that clueless and stupid? Or are they that seduced and blinded by the dog whistle calls to their shallow, simpleton-friendly ideology? Because Obama Care is worse than slavery!

 

[CZroe]

Link? I'd like to know which site persuaded you that his published dishonesty wasn't lazy and dishonest, and the details that persuaded you the claim was "ripped apart."







Oh, he's easily confused, alright. Too easily.







He wasn't.







It wasn't.







This is a lie.







He never got an offer from West Point. His saying he did is a lie.







So, Dr. Carson, in your own words, after years and years of repeatedly lying about it in print and in public statements, but only after being found out, you now formally admit you were never offered "a scholarship" to West Point.



Now, about your claim regarding the Pyramids, Ben. :sneaky:



His lazy and dishonest habit of playing fast and loose with the truth seems part of an emerging, long held pattern, CZ.







Oops.

You're doing exactly what they said you would do: RUN with the initial headline. The headline claimed that he "admitted fabricating." This was retracted in your very link. They also claimed that it was a "fabrication" because there were no records of him applying when he never claimed that he applied.

A fabrication is deliberate. Not knowing how to refer to the offer from Westmoreland and not knowing that they don't do scholarships is not a fabrication. Calling it a fabrication is deceptive. You fell for that deception and it has tainted you perception of everything since.

The offer happened. As others I listened to on the radio testified yesterday, they never applied and were pulled out of training and offered a slot at West Pointe just like Carson, yet you insist that "it never happened" just because he got the terminology wrong.

As for being lazy, fast, and loose with the truth, that doesn't add up. If it were a deliberate deception then he would have done some research to make it more believable ("Gee! It looks like they don't do scholarships!"). Instead, it looks exactly like reality: he did not accept and moved on with his life and, thus, his understanding of the matter never evolved.

If you know anything about the way memory works, then you know that your mind will reinforce things when you recall them, especially when the recollection does not contradict what you know. Over time this makes you more sure about things you were unsure about and eventually that is how you will remember them, corrupting your memories the same way it solidifies them. You might paraphrase something when you recall a few times and later it will seem like you remember word-for-word. Neurons that fire together, wire together. He was young with a limited understanding of college and scholarships and military schools. They are all related. These neurons fired with those neurons and we have him assuming that it was an "like a scholarship" and eventually "a scholarship" (no one corrected him all those years). It's simplifying.

Most of your childhood memories are wrong. Look it up.

I'm not a Carson fan, but I am a realist and I see exactly what's happening here.

 

[Strk]

It just seems to me that he's a distinctly odd duck who lives in his own head, a kind of idiot savant who was, by all accounts, a brilliant surgeon but who is simply not suited for the larger reality of this wide world.

Hence, he can say tone deaf things like Obama care is worse than slavery without ever realizing how ridiculous, even offensive, that sounds to fully functioning adults.

Like someone on the autistic spectrum, he seems to be able to hone in on the detailed rote learning of his medical career, but comes crazily adrift in this fast paced, multiple and simultaneously decision-vectored world the rest of us have to live in.

An illuminating vignette from Ben Carson’s Past Faces Deeper Questions:



By dint of his hard work and perseverance, this quirky bird became a top flight neurosurgeon and thereby made the world a better place.

It's just SAD that this truth-challenged dreamer leads the Republican field for President at this point, and that his number one challenger is a blustery bore-ass once famously described as a "stubby fingered vulgarian."

What's sadder to me is the millions of people who avidly support either. Are they that clueless and stupid? Or are they that seduced and blinded by the dog whistle calls to their shallow, simpleton-friendly ideology? Because Obama Care is worse than slavery!

It's weird that he insists on obvious lies, especially since his real story is one of perseverance.

 

[NAC4EV]

 

[Darwin333]

The pyramids being built to store grain is a very plausible theory. I dont even see why anyone would be "offended" by such a theory. It's not like it is terribly radical or upsetting of too many applecarts. It is a theory rooted in praticality. Especially given that those structures were built in an era of alternating extreme abundance and mass starvation. The pyramidal structure is very strong, it can withstand heavy sieging and erosion. It makes a lot of sense to build such a structure to store one of most valuable commodities those civilizations had to offer.

Somebody posted a food pyramid for some silly reason. But it brings up a point that what we think we know is often plain wrong. The classical food pyramid is very wrong. Humans arent meant to be consuming mostly starches and other highly processed fast carbohydrates. Bread may have been around for thousands of years but for most of that time it was consumed along with lard heavy stews containing lots of animal fat and at least some meat. These starches are nearly identical to sugar in terms of matabolization and impact on the pancreas, liver, diabetes, and overall health decline. Humans should be getting the majority of their calories from animal fats and green fibrous vegetables, not starches.

Except for the entire size of the pyramids versus the empty space inside in which to store shit...... Sure, makes plenty of sense to build something so massive that can store so little...

 

[Jeff7]

This brings to mind Zach Weiner's BAHFest: Make up some screwy scientific-sounding hypothesis to explain something.


Examples:
Yawning evolved to permit efficient capture of flying insect swarms for food.
Sleeping in mammals is a response to self-hatred.

 

[CZroe]

Link? I'd like to know which site persuaded you that his published dishonesty wasn't lazy and dishonest, and the details that persuaded you the claim was "ripped apart."

New front-runner Ben Carson faces closer scrutiny of his life story - The Washington Post - www.washingtonpost.com
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...77e032-84b8-11e5-8ba6-cec48b74b2a7_story.html

This is all about terminology. He used the wrong words to describe being offered a free ride at an exclusive school ("full scholarship") and Politico used the wrong words when they said his people "admitted" that he "fabricated" and when they falsely claimed that Carson claims to have "applied."

It looks to me like Politico's terminology is especially, egregiously, wrong where Carson only expressed a misunderstanding that many in the same situation would have. He didn't pursue West Point and he didn't learn that they don't do scholarships. He didn't accept their offer to get him in because he wanted to be a doctor. He didn't familiarize himself any more than he needed to when using the story to make his (still valid) point about additional opportunities when you excel at what you do. Big deal.

Don't be a media pawn. Be more discriminating. When they say something bombastic about his camp "admitting" to "fabricating," you should think that it's a pretty serious thing to admit without resigning the race and question the article and it's motives deeper. Look at what Carson actually said. Look at how that contrasts with what Politico said. Then look at what his campaign people actually said. Don't just take the narrative and run with it.

 

[Spungo]

Ben Carson, making Trump look like the sane republican candidate for president.D:

I almost wonder how much of the election process is complete nonsense. What if some super rich person says to him "hey, I'll give you $20M if you say _____" and it discredits the whole party. Either that or someone does it gangster style and threatens to kill his whole family.

At least I hope that's how it works. It's scary to think a person this insane can get this close to being president. Even if his odds are only 1%, that's still too close.

So he's either an idiot or a pathological liar

Probably the second. Hardcore liars get remarkably far in life. I see this all the time in every office. People get into high technical positions and they have absolutely no technical skills. It's all lying.

 

[shady28]

The Politico article is a stinking pile of lies. Multiple outlets have already eviscerated that story, yet it may still change the course of the election.

That's just perfect, another election where the best liar wins.

This is the part of Carson's 1992 book that Politico is referencing :

At the end of my twelfth grade I marched at the head of the Memorial Day parade. I felt so proud, my chest bursting with ribbons and braids of every kind. To make it more wonderful, We had important visitors that day. Two soldiers who had won the Congressional Medal of Honor in Viet Nam were present. More exciting to me, General William Westmoreland (very prominent in the Viet Nam war) attended with an impressive entourage. Afterward, Sgt. Hunt introduced me to General Westmoreland, and I had dinner with him and the Congressional Medal winners. Later I was offered a full scholarship to West Point. I didn’t refuse the scholarship outright, but I let them know that a military career wasn’t where I saw myself going.

Carson also stated clearly that he did not apply to West Point, but to only one school (from his facebook page 3 months ago) :

I was the highest student ROTC member in Detroit and was thrilled to get an offer from West Point. But I knew medicine is what I wanted to do. So I applied to only one school. (it was all the money I had). I applied to Yale and thank God they accepted me. I often wonder what might have happened had they said no.

It would certainly have been full scholarship, they all are. Note the section in red. You only have to pay tuition back if you fail to serve afterwards.

Meanwhile the Politico article has been changed including the title, on the sly. Only when called out did their editor note the change.

Also note the title in the "new" article, and compare to the text of Carson's book and what he said on facebook. He never freaking said he applied. This article is nothing more than a lie and a smear campaign.

Before

Carson's Facebook page, Aug 2015 :

I was the highest student ROTC member in Detroit and was thrilled to get an offer from West Point. But I knew medicine is what I wanted to do. So I applied to only one school. (it was all the money I had). I applied to Yale and thank God they accepted me. I often wonder what might have happened had they said no.

After

 

[DrPizza]

So, is this whole West Point non-issue of semantics just a distraction from the pyramid statement?

 

[HamburgerBoy]

So, is this whole West Point non-issue of semantics just a distraction from the pyramid statement?

You think allegedly lying about a military scholarship looks better in the eyes of the average American than believing the pyramids were used to store grain? Or that God made the pyramids? The latter potentially helps him with the religious Republican base.

 

[KMFJD]

 

[Victorian Gray]

From that den of left wing, Satan worshipers, The Wall Street Journal:

Ben Carson’s Past Faces Deeper Questions

"In harsh light of presidential politics, parts of his inspirational biography are questioned"

and a couple of examples:

"Last month, Mr. Carson said in a radio interview that, as a young doctor, he had a gun stuck in his ribs at a Popeye’s restaurant in Baltimore near Johns Hopkins University. “A guy comes in and puts a gun in my ribs. And I just said, ‘I believe that you want the guy behind the counter,’” Mr. Carson said. “He said, ‘Oh, okay.’” The Baltimore Police Department later said it couldn’t find a report matching the incident Mr. Carson described.

In response to a question at a recent GOP presidential debate, Mr. Carson said he “didn’t have an involvement” with Mannatech Inc., a multilevel marketing company that sells nutritional supplements, and called any suggestion to the contrary “propaganda.” Mr. Carson, who has taken the company’s products, appeared in videos that could until recently be found on Mannatech’s website, including two filmed in 2013 and styled like commercials.

Mr. Carson also has given four paid speeches at Mannatech gatherings; the proceeds from three went to a Carson-affiliated charity. Mannatech settled false-advertising charges with Texas in 2009."

http://www.wsj.com/articles/ben-carsons-past-faces-deeper-questions-1446861864


“Tell the truth. If you tell the truth all the time you don't have to worry three months down the line about what you said three months earlier. Truth is always the truth. You won't have to complicate your life by trying to cover up.”
― Ben Carson, Think Big: Unleashing Your Potential for Excellence

https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/15615-think-big-unleashing-your-potential-for-excellence

 

[CZroe]

From that den of left wing, Satan worshipers, The Wall Street Journal:

Ben Carson’s Past Faces Deeper Questions

"In harsh light of presidential politics, parts of his inspirational biography are questioned"

*yawn*

The campaign continues.

I don't want Ben Carson for president, but it couldn't be more obvious what's going on here now that he's the front runner.