pirana

Despite the overwhelming unreasonableness and outright lack of evidence, as well as contradicting evidence? By what mechanism did Jesus confirm and validate Genesis? This isn't going to be another one of the "Because he said so" answers - with all the flowery religious language thrown in. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Yes, and that from an all-knowing, all-powerful, kind and benevolent Creator (A-K/A-P/K&BC). Makes a lot of sense to me - NOT! It's funny when you ask people who think God manages all the world's details why God would allow innocents to suffer. Their answer is usually some nonsense about testing faith. So let me get this straight, we have an A-K/A-P/K&BC who causes pain as a test of faith, then damns all who do not believe to eternal hell? Riiiiiiiiiiight. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Re: Adam & Eve, the Garden of Eden, the Great Flood, Noah's Ark, the parting of the Red Sea, the lamp oil that burned for God knows how long, and all that rot; it is absolutely ludicrous that in this day and age anybody interprets the Bible literally. The fact that certain mainstream religious institutions allow such irresponsible and destructive beliefs to continue is what puts them to shame. For the sake of controlling the flock, they continue to give credence to stories that resemble kids fairy tales more than anything else. If they would stay with it being a great bunch of stories to learn the lessons of life, I'd be good with that. But their adherence to literal interpretation despite irrefuteable evidence to the contrary indicates they are just greedy for power and pride and not worthy of anyone's trust. It has taken about 1,000 years for religious belief to fall from nearly 100% to about half that. Hopefully it will not take another 1,000 before the world sees the end of these idiotic Neolithic beliefs. Given the accelerating pace of change over time, my guess is about another half-dozen generations should see organized religion marginalized and fundamentalism pretty much limited to fringe lunatics. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

WTF are you talking about? I say you've got to examine the risk vs. benefit of each one and make a decision. How is that illogical. The risk of putting foreign bodies in your bloodstream is different from whether or not you might fall down in the shower. If you're so carefree, why not throw caution to the wind and play a nice game of Russian Roulette? I mean, you could develop an allergic reaction to milk at breakfast tomorrow morning. Why not? WTF am I talking about! WTF are you talking about? Either you have no capacity for logic, or you did not read the post. You claimed there are risks associated with vaccination as some sort of justification for not getting vaccinated. I point out that the risks in getting vaccinated are far outweighed by the benefits. Also, that everything in life (including getting out of bed and taking a shower have risks). In case you did not pick up on that, the point is that because something presents some risk does not mean it is something to be avoided. The diligent person weighs the risk of taking, versus not taking, the action. As far as the milk thing goes, what is the relevance? I already did state earlier that if a health professional has evidence or suspicion that a condition exists which increases the dangers of being vaccinated, then it must be a consideration. So yes, I take it as a no-brainer that if you have lactoose intolerance - don't drink the milk. DUH!!! And yes, if a condition increases risk of problems from vaccination, don't do it without further in depth consultation. Arguing with philistines that can not follow the logical structure of a debate is so fucking thankless. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Easy enough to solve; make it part of their sentence, or include parole-for-life as part of their sentence. What about my rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Kinda challenging with an incurable child rapist living next door. I do not have that, but I'm OK with laws designed to prevent it. I say bring back penal colonies. Let the predators fend for themselves and prey on each other. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Gosh Walt, I really like the way you think! It is truly a shame that you are not a supreme court judge!

Granted, seems extreme at first glance. But what do you do with them? All indications are that their behavior can not be modified without being nuetered or taking drugs - and I would not trust them to stay on the drugs. Certainly wouldn't want incureable predators in my neighborhood. As I've stated before, convicted predators should be exterminated. The people who don't think so can invite them to their neighborhood. I feel a crime & punishment debate coming on. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Yes, of course. If you look long enough and hard enough (I do), you can find a chink in any armor. What people forget, and a sensationalizing media and the woo-woos who believe all the cultish BS leaves out, is that prior to vaccinations, some of these diseases killed big numbers on a very steady basis. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

There are risks associated with some vaccinations. There are risks associated with getting out of bed each day. There are risks associated with taking a bath or shower. They are pretty much nil compared to foregoing hygeine the rest of a person's life. Vaccinate the kids. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Get vaccinated. Fear of vaccines these days is grounded in about as much evidence as Planet X, tarot cards, and Scientology. Course you could take it one step further and refuse treatment when a child does become ill. That would REALLY show them! Unless a qualified physician (Oprah, Tom Cruise, the guys on the Morning Show, etc do not count) suspects AND detects a condition that would dictate otherwise - get it done. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

I think it is very telling that instead of focusing all efforts on issues, problems, solutions and so on, both parties are now in the business of manipulating elections. The simplified elementary rhetoric that constitutes most campaign efforts is downright insulting. Throw in the totally irrational polarization that has divided the American public (largely along class lines) and you get what we have: A special interest backed populatity contest waged in soundbites by the elitist subsets of the 2 ruling parties. Democracy has so much to offer. Too bad we've fucked it up so badly. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Defense via potato salad. They could threaten to use Miracle Whip instead of Mayo. That'll scare the shit out of them. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

OK, I had to go check it out. Holy feminine hygiene products Batman, I thought I had accidentally clicked into the Women's Corner. Felt like I had walked into a Lucy skit. I thought I'd leave a message and let them know we were talking about THEM over here, then changed my mind. What if they came over and started doing all that love and hugs and kisses stuff here? " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Health insurance is regulated (for the most part) at the state level. Companies that do business in more than 1 state must offer plans in each state that meet that states requirements. Blue Cross is a brand mark that is licensed to different companies in each state, though many companies now own the mark in multiple states. (There are about 40 distinct companies using the Blue marks). As far as I know (definitely true in this part of the country) you can not be denied coverage or excluded from benefits for specific activities like skydiving. Unlike life insurance, they are not even allowed to ask those kinds of questions. You can be screened for pre-existing conditions and/or ridered for certain conditions, but skydiving is not one of them. EDIT: Big emphasis on the state level of regulation. Careful of the general answers from people that live where you don't. Some states are guarantee issue, which means you can not be turned down. Some require no gap or a maximum gap for coverage to be guaranteed issue or continuous. Some include gender in rating, some don't. You are not rated on your own, even with an individual plan. You are always part of a pool, and the rating factors are limited by law; i.e. - age sex, smoking status, coverage chosen. You can not be singled out and rated up because of claims. The rules are way different than auto or life. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Beautiful place. Spent a school year in Northumberland, and a couple weeks of that hitching around Scotland. One of the benefits of it is when I'm debating someone about Nessie and they get uppity and say "Have YOU ever been there?" And I get to say "Yes, and the whiskey is great and the people are awesome and they are the first to tell you that the whole Nessie thing is kept afloat for the sake of tourism." " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

We'll never be an "us." Which is the difference between us and them. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Desparate housewives heh? Sounds interesting. Where do you find them and for what are they desparate? Maybe we can help. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Not my take. I would consider it more like irrelevant. I am strongly against our presence in Iraq, but do not pass judgement on the soldiers. They are following orders and doing their job. I do not think having more or less people like our soldiers would directly correlate to the world being a better or worse place. I do judge the leaders who sent them there, they are incompetent. Yeah, just my opinion, along with about 60% of the US adult population (and rising all the time). " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

You're right, Kallend. However, how many civilians were saved by the death of him and three civilians? US Troops were apparently 5 minutes away. And the house was under US surveillance. Why not at least attempt to take him alive? Callous indifference to civilians never used to be the American way. If they were harboring him, then it is too bad, so sad. I suppose someone is going to put forth thet they did not know it was him. "Terorist?! Really? Thought he was the Maytag repair guy and just decided to stay for dinner." " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

All good and well; but have you seen The Life of Brian? It had a profound effect on me. I can now haggle with the best of them. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

You're blowing my cover/secret identity again. Made 6 jumps last night - some really fun ones. Attempted a very cool hybrid dive, didn't get it all together, but damn good fun trying. Hear you have a kids activity weekend going on too. Maybe see you Wednesday or Friday. I'm going with Pantheistic Humanist with a twist of a-Bobism. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Actually, there is a corelation between education level and income. (Increased levels of formal education are positively corelated to increased levels of income). Now, it would be interesting to just look at certain narrow segments, say less than $100K, $100K to $1 million, $1 million and over, etc. and see if things hold within those strata. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the hardworking operators and technicians too. Without them, I'd have to do way too much manual labor. Pretty tempting opening there at the end. Funny. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

You sound insecure! I'm just trying to figure out if he is jealous, or one of the people making money on the certifications. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Not likely. The root word has it's origins in the time before Kings existed, or were known as such. The root word means to get over on someone, to top them, to beat them in a contest, etc. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Cool little fact. So PhD's can say "No, actually I am a real doctor" Correct!