RALFFERS

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You are down the road from me!!

Not even 10-15 minutes from my work and that is within my driving zone....

Behave yourselves.

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Welcome to Florida - yep, if you don't like the weather, wait 5 mins.

That's Chicago...

I just set up my Gmail account to also pull messages from 2 other [POP3] email accounts - this makes my life easier since all my email accounts can be checked in 1 place, & also, all the folders (inbox & sent items) are synchronized between any computer I send & receive messages on & my cell phone.

One question though... is there any way to have a separate 'sent items folder' for each account? I have labels for the 2 additional email accounts, so their inboxes are separated, but no matter which account I send from, it always goes to the default Gmail sent items folder. Worst case scenario, is there any way to at least to label which account a message was sent from within the Gmail sent items folder?

As expected, I'm being 'evangelized' by all my friends from church. I try not to laugh, but it's hard to take these sort of emails seriously.

It looks like a have a bit of reading to catch up on; I was in Oshkosh, for the airshow over the weekend & just got back last night. I took a peak at this thread every now & than, but was trying to save my save my battery for phone calls & pictures.

Thank you, eveeyone for the birthday wishes!
Edited to add: Definitely not a usual birthday! (I know I'm setting myself up here, but what the hell...) lol.

Who's going?

I'll be headed out there in a few hours.

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I also don’t measure gods grace by my bank account. I don’t think 3 years ago when things were great god loved me more and now he hates me. That’s such a simplistic view to look at it.
I think we should question, and unfortunately this life of mine will end as will yours without knowing.

Did you come away with the impression that I stopped believing in God because I didn't, & don't have x number of dollars in my bank account?

I got the feeling you have had some bad experiences and that was your reasoning. I got the impression that you might think believing in god insures a life with less pain.

That is true, only in a small way though, & is far from the primary reason for my lack of belief. The bible does promise though that 'god' will meet your needs. Well, this has not been my experience, & in fact my experience has changed drastically since I was 19. Lets face it, I was a young & impressionable kid at 19 years old. Reality is reality ,y friend, & I rather have the hardest, coldest reality rather than the feel good empty promises bullshit of the bible.

Ask yourself this question - is it a complete coincidence that so many people in prison 'come to Jesus" ? Perhaps that is the case because the majority of people in prison are people that failed miserably in life, & thus their only solace is an all powerful, all loving god who promises eternity in heaven.

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I also don’t measure gods grace by my bank account. I don’t think 3 years ago when things were great god loved me more and now he hates me. That’s such a simplistic view to look at it.
I think we should question, and unfortunately this life of mine will end as will yours without knowing.

Did you come away with the impression that I stopped believing in God because I didn't, & don't have x number of dollars in my bank account?

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I've always thought that atheists are just as confused as the religious types. Claiming to know without a doubt there is no god makes as much sense as claiming to know without a doubt there is a god.

Which I suppose makes agnostics like I the most confused of all with one key difference. We don't really care either way!

No offense to meant to anyone. Diversity is what makes the world interesting.

according to the bible, your just as guilty as the rest of us - see the fucked up thing about religion is that it's all or nothing. You might as well be an atheist, having the assurance that there is nothing hereafter rather than be agnostic & always wonder the what if.

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I'm becoming a big fan of this guy.

well if you're gonna go, just just do it!

spit in my face, then spit in God's face!

Why all this pretense?

Good luck!

Dude, chill I posted that before I saw your reply (not that I wouldn't have posted it anyway), but I'm not here to spit in anyone's face.

You have your life experience, while I have mine; we both have our reasons, they just happen to lead to different conclusions.

I know all there is to know about the bible (I defended the faith against, & debated with the very atheists that I now myself am becoming for 10 years of my life) - the archeological evidence, the prophetic, the scriptural evidence itself, etc, etc...but that's just not enough anymore

I'm becoming a big fan of this guy.

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Who in the fuck poses with guns for their wedding pictures anyway?

The end of the article indicates that it is a tradition of sorts in that part of the world.

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In order to obey one must first believe.

I guess you were never in the military.

Psalm 34:8
O taste and see that the LORD is good;How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

The bible also says: "
Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart - Psalm 37-4

Well, I wholeheartedly believed for the last decade, up until now of course. Has God granted that promise? - no. Have I asked him for anything extravagant? - like winning the lottery? - no I always asked for things any sane man would want in his life - so a job to support myself, a wife, I mean lets face it, being single gets boring sooner than later, & laugh as you may - skydiving. Being that it would bring me so much happiness to be a part of the sport. Are any of those things true in my life? - nope. Life experience has shown me that god does not exist. And if I hear any one more religious person tell me "in God's timing you'll have those things" I'm going to puke 100 meters! I'm 3 days away from turning 29 - time is steadily stopping on being on my side for tthe various things I want to achieve in my life.

Don't get me wrong, this is not a woe me post - all I'm saying is anything that you want out of life it's your responsibility to go out and get it. The hell with waiting on god - who clearly does not exist.

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To said poster - mocking me wont work,; it will indeed have the opposite effect. All my Christian friends have tried that route, & have also tried the "you better watch route" route that you give children in pertaining to the Santa Claus story. All of this has only served as more reason to become an atheist.

Uh, I'm not mocking you. You have 2 jumps and clearly you are trying to impress the older skydivers and become one of the group. Go for it. You will find all sorts of people here to cheer you on. Don't be wimpy, make a stand. .

I'm not trying to impress anyone. If you had a disability, which impacted your ability to make a living, & was an obstacle to over come in terms of skydiving directly than you'd have only 2 jumps for who knows how long as well. No, I'm not here to impress anyone.

Let me clarify something - I could give 2 shits about the fact that I'm disabled; it could be a lot worse, & I'm thankful I have it as good as I do. But if I told you it does not my effect my livelihood (or lack thereof in this case - because of people's perceptions) Than I'd be lying.

I'll get around to jumping when I can - it's torture enough not having a day go by that I don't think about it.

I didn't think you needed jump numbers to post on this forum... Having an interest in, & being passionate about the sport should be enough.

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I do have one question though - as atheists, have you ever wondered the 'what if... after death?

Yes, but I've also wondered the 'what if it's not...' after death.

Yeah, I have - plenty of times over the years.. And to be honest, I don't like the concept of death in either case; I like our existence here as we know it. But seeing that we have to die yay or nay, I'm just out now to have the most fun that I can, while i can.

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Good for you. Show them who is boss. God doesn't love you. Love is a figment of the imagination. Have you ever received a blessing or unmerited favor? Jesus said you need to be hot or cold but, if you are lukewarm He'll spit you out of his mouth. Take a stand, damn't. Becoming an atheist is like becoming pregnant. You either are or you aren't.

Given that your religious faith, I understand why you disagree with him. What I don't understand is why you use the device of mockery and sarcastic scorn to express it to him. I know that you and the other very religious folks resent it when you/they are mocked disrespectfully about their beliefs. Are you trying to spiritually wake him up by using the device of shaming him? I doubt that it will work; in fact, I'd predict it will have the opposite effect. In other words, if you're trying to harden his heart by making him resent the judgmental abuse, that's a good way to go about it.

I respectfully urge you to reflect, and then change your approach to him.

I feel stupid for not picking up on this poster's mockery, Andy, thank you for pointing it out. For whatever reason, it's hard for me sometimes to pickup people's tones online.

To said poster - mocking me wont work,; it will indeed have the opposite effect. All my Christian friends have tried that; they've also have tried the "you better watch route" that you give children in pertaining to the Santa Claus story. All of this has only served as more reason to become an atheist.

Edited for grammatical mistakes.

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Good for you. Show them who is boss. God doesn't love you. Love is a figment of the imagination. Have you ever received a blessing or unmerited favor? Jesus said you need to be hot or cold but, if you are lukewarm He'll spit you out of his mouth. Take a stand, damn't. Becoming an atheist is like becoming pregnant. You either are or you aren't.

Your post seems paradoxical, seeing that you have a Christian Skydivers Association logo as your avatar. I'm confused.

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"Revelation is John on acid"

LMFAO!

Oh, & good point with the Santa Claus example.

edited: to add quotation marks. Yes, I'm that much of a perfectionist.

After years of believing in God (as a kid I had a general belief in God), & then becoming a devout Evangelical Cristian 10 years ago, at the age of 19 - and yet now I find myself steadily becoming an atheist. There are things I just can't blindly accept anymore - hell & the eternal torment that comes with it for starters. The doctrine of pre-destined 'election' would be another. I also think that God is for those who can't explain why certain things happen in their lives; while others need a sense of purpose. All these things are fine - I just can't do it anymore though. If you want something out of life, than it's your responsibility to go out & get it! This is all kinda' weird & new to me still; hell, I've even had a few discussions/debates as to why should one believe in God.

My only issue is explaining my newfound position to my friends & family; without fail I will get the "you changed your mind again?..." thing (I've been struggling with belief on & for a while - but this feels like the final nail in the coffin). Strangely enough, the people I know at church are good people, with whom I have developed friendships over years; so I don't want to lose contact with them, somehow though I think that is inevitable

The only funny thing is my mom keeps rambling on about how God is going to punish me, just like he did years ago... Well, I call bullshit.

I do have one question though - as atheists, have you ever wondered the 'what if... after death? Stupid I know, but valid nevertheless, since none of us have ever been there. Fuck if I know, but I don't really care anymore either. Feels refreshing.

N/A

I figured it out - it was as simple as calling Verizon & activating the international dialing feature. The Feature itself is, but international texts are obviously not, as already mentioned.

The only thing with Verizon that sucks is they charge you for receiving international texts, not just sending.

Clicky

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A wedding photographer was accidentally shot dead after he asked the happy couple to pose with guns as part of the big day celebrations, Italian police have revealed.

Calogero Scimea, 45, was hit in the head after one of the guns went off.

He died in front of horrified bride Valentina Anitra, 22, and groom Ignazio Licodia, 25, as well as their parents.

Police said the tragedy happened just before the couple, who are teenage sweethearts, set off for their local church at Altofonte near Palermo on the island of Sicily.

Police were today questioning them as well as their relatives.

Prosecutors said the groom's parents rail worker Mario, 56, and his wife Rita, face possible charges of negligence leading to manslaughter, as the tragedy happened at their house.

Officers said the bride's parents, who live nearby, were also asked if they had any guns and went home to bring one of their own. All the firearms were legally held.

Ballistics experts have also been called in to examine the weapons, which were hunting rifles kept for shooting mainly wild boar in the nearby hills and countryside.

Palermo police spokesman Colonel Teo Luzi said: 'From what we have been able to establish the photographer had asked the parents of the bride and groom if they had any guns to use as props in a picture and one went off hitting him in the head killing him.

'He was only there as a favour for the wedding photographer who had been originally been booked but had to pull out as he was ill. The bride and groom were distraught and the wedding was immediately cancelled.

'The prosecutor is looking at bringing charges against the groom's parents as this is where the death took place but we need to examine the ballistics report first as the bride's parents also brought a weapon.'

He added: 'The firearms were legally held but in the interests of safety they should all be kept safe and not be handled by people who are not used to them and have no experience.

'What we are trying to establish is if the gun went off as it was being handled by the photographer or if it went off as it was handed to him but no-one is being very talkative.'

In southern Italy and especially Sicily it is common for guns to be fired at family events or festivals as part of the celebrations and in the past this has led to numerous deaths and injuries especially around New Year.

Altofonte's deputy mayor Angela Busellini said: 'No-one can believe it. Everybody is in a state of shock. It's such a tragic accident. The bride and groom are devastated.'

Will be here till tomorrow.

I'm. Kinda' bored at the moment, waiting on some friends - anyone else out here?... Come have a beer with me!