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71
General Discussion / Global scam industry
« Last post by Sriram on April 03, 2025, 08:49:17 AM »
Hi everyone,


Here is something about the global scam industry. People in every country are affected.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/02/asia/myanmar-scam-center-crackdown-intl-hnk-dst/index.html


*******

Hundreds of men and women stand in rows, divided by nationality, in the courtyard of a white-walled compound, flanked by armed guards in fatigues.

“Do you want to go home?” a voice shouts in the video obtained by CNN. They raise their hands. “Yes,” they reply in chorus.

The group were among around 7,000 people recently released from scam centers run by criminal gangs and warlords operating along Myanmar’s border with Thailand, where many are held against their will and forced to work conning ordinary people, including American citizens, out of their life savings.

Some volunteer to work in the compounds. But many others are lured by promises of well-paying jobs or other enticing opportunities, before being trafficked across the border into Myanmar to carry out fraudulent investment schemes and romance scams.

For years, the scam centers and cyber fraud compounds - many run by Chinese crime syndicates – have proliferated along the mountainous frontier, raking in billions of dollars from scams, money laundering and other illicit activities. The Chinese and Thai governments finally launched a highly publicized crackdown in February.

Those included in the releases are a fraction of an estimated 100,000 people trapped along the border.

*******

Cheers.

Sriram
72
Philosophy, in all its guises. / Re: NDE again
« Last post by Sriram on April 03, 2025, 08:20:05 AM »


Thanks NS.  :)
73
Philosophy, in all its guises. / Re: NDE again
« Last post by Nearly Sane on April 03, 2025, 08:12:29 AM »
Hi eeryone,


I don't know why the earlier two posts of ekim and myself were deleted from the old NDE thread. But in the process I noticed the article that I had linked in 2020. This seems to be a very good one. I am linking it here again fyi.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2012.00209/full

***********

Science exists to refute dogmas; nevertheless, dogmas may be introduced when undemonstrated scientific axioms lead us to reject facts incompatible with them. Several studies have proposed psychobiological interpretations of near-death experiences (NDEs), claiming that NDEs are a mere byproduct of brain functions gone awry; however, relevant facts incompatible with the ruling physicalist and reductionist stance have been often neglected.

Reductionism is a good and powerful tool we should make a good use of, but it is only a tool, like a knife, which can be used for both saving a life or killing a man. The reductionist approach is essential for studying areas of the brain and mechanisms involved in specific functions, but it looks to be blind to the phenomenality of experiences, meanings, values, and their impact on human life and culture, which remain on the dark side of the reductionistic moon. Here it is only worth mentioning how the relationship between mind and brain, the so-called “hard problem,” is still an unsolved problem

The whole of data here reported indicates an increasing need for a broader scientific approach to consciousness and other non-ordinary activities of mind, including those belonging to the suspicious areas of transcendence and spirituality, with their still misunderstood physiology. This might be the case with NDEs as well, where taking a priori the content of such awkward experiences as exclusive expression of brain pathology and worthless epiphenomena of brain circuitry might lead to misleading results.

***********

Cheers.

Sriram
Please see reply no 3 on thread below

https://www.religionethics.co.uk/index.php?topic=22578.msg904236#msg904236
74
General Discussion / Re: The Weather
« Last post by Nearly Sane on April 03, 2025, 08:10:52 AM »
Another beautiful morning
75
Sports, Hobbies & Interests / Re: Wordle
« Last post by Gordon on April 03, 2025, 08:04:58 AM »

That was frustrating today.


Wordle 1,384 6/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
76
Philosophy, in all its guises. / NDE again
« Last post by Sriram on April 03, 2025, 08:01:11 AM »
Hi eeryone,


I don't know why the earlier two posts of ekim and myself were deleted from the old NDE thread. But in the process I noticed the article that I had linked in 2020. This seems to be a very good one. I am linking it here again fyi.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2012.00209/full

***********

Science exists to refute dogmas; nevertheless, dogmas may be introduced when undemonstrated scientific axioms lead us to reject facts incompatible with them. Several studies have proposed psychobiological interpretations of near-death experiences (NDEs), claiming that NDEs are a mere byproduct of brain functions gone awry; however, relevant facts incompatible with the ruling physicalist and reductionist stance have been often neglected.

Reductionism is a good and powerful tool we should make a good use of, but it is only a tool, like a knife, which can be used for both saving a life or killing a man. The reductionist approach is essential for studying areas of the brain and mechanisms involved in specific functions, but it looks to be blind to the phenomenality of experiences, meanings, values, and their impact on human life and culture, which remain on the dark side of the reductionistic moon. Here it is only worth mentioning how the relationship between mind and brain, the so-called “hard problem,” is still an unsolved problem

The whole of data here reported indicates an increasing need for a broader scientific approach to consciousness and other non-ordinary activities of mind, including those belonging to the suspicious areas of transcendence and spirituality, with their still misunderstood physiology. This might be the case with NDEs as well, where taking a priori the content of such awkward experiences as exclusive expression of brain pathology and worthless epiphenomena of brain circuitry might lead to misleading results.

***********

Cheers.

Sriram

77
Politics & Current Affairs / Re: President Trump
« Last post by Nearly Sane on April 03, 2025, 07:10:58 AM »
I see the Tories line is that the 10% tariff is a Brexit benefit. Rather than speaking up on behalf of free trade, one of the aims of many of them, they make idiotic comments like that because they are scared to stand up for what they believe but would rather pusillanimously cheer that the big boy only thumped them once.

78
Sports, Hobbies & Interests / Re: Alphaguess - yet another new word game.
« Last post by Gordon on April 03, 2025, 06:59:36 AM »
🧩 Puzzle #618

🤔 13 guesses

⏱️ 4m 46s

🔗 alphaguess.com
79
Sports, Hobbies & Interests / Re: A new word game....
« Last post by Aruntraveller on April 03, 2025, 04:59:26 AM »
Connections
Puzzle #662
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟦🟪🟦
🟩🟪🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟪🟦🟦
🟦🟪🟦🟪
80
Sports, Hobbies & Interests / Re: Strands - another new word game.
« Last post by Aruntraveller on April 03, 2025, 04:55:23 AM »
Strands #396
“Get the bug”
🟡🔵🔵🔵
🔵🔵🔵
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