AK_Thug AMish
-
Posts
524 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by AK_Thug AMish
-
-
Another thing is, Jesus never said anything in the Bible about praying to the saints
or to his mother...Jesus never said a lot of things about a lot of things
I think people often pick and choose what parts of the Bible suit their goals.The wierd thing about Protestants vs. Catholics is that they both can be right, depending what passage of the Bible you want to quote (I used to be a Catholic but don't worry I'm not really offended by someone saying it's false
)! -
I seem to remember in my very own Ohio that the margin for Kerry in the exit polls was either +2 or +3, but the first tally went to Bush +3 IIRC. A one or two point shift is understandable, but certainly a 5 point swing is a bit weird. Plus, the recounts put Kerry something like 10,000 votes closer
The enigmatic Ken Blackwell is behind all of it I tell you!
-
Wow, if that's being socialized to you, I'd recommend living in a box away from such people.
[Off topic]
hmm... I think I know what your idea of 'socializing' is... like putting certain substances in peoples mailboxes...
[/Off topic] -
I don't know if anyone else has heard of this program or not, but I thought that maybe some of the programmer types would like foobar2000. It's a very interesting music player that I discoverd through Foxy Player (Firefox extension).
Basically it's a blank sheet... you can program in exactly how you want everything to look/sort/work.
Here is my look:
and some accompanying code:
As I said earlier it works great with Foxy player, since it takes little memory and it has an air of l337ness you can't get with MP10
-
There were a few deists around at that time, though.
Although, putting the First Amendment aside for a moment... is there any good reason to mix religion and government in the first place? I just fail to see why religion needs the government's help... can't it survive on its own?
-
Back in the day, the FCC simply allocated appropiate frequencies for various media mediums as to prevent excessive interference between them.
Maybe just another example of a bureaucratic organization which has overgrown its purpose.
-
gauchement- awkwardly
sembler- to seem
dont- of which
légere/légerement... etc- light/ly
doucement- gently
désormais-from now on
braquer-to aim or direct
par dessus- above
au lieu de- instead of
bientot- soon
aussitot que- as soon as (accents missing on the last two 'o's
I need to make more and better notecards for helpful words like that
-
George Washington signed that October 3rd, 1789.
The bill of rights was ratified on December 5th, 1791.
Good call. Still though, I'd imagine that the first amendment, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" specifically, would apply to this case.
-
I uninstalled all the extensions, but the problem persists. Here is the exact error message:
AlertError Launching browser window: no XBL binding for browser
Safe mode still works though, and I have tried uninstalling/reinstalling the whole browser twice.
-
Uncle Sam just comes from the "US" lables on supplies going to the army back in WWII IIRC. It is now just a symbol that many political cartoonists use for the USA. BTW, that poster is hanging somewhere in our school, sans the age comment on the bottom
-
I never really had a problem with having an official holiday for Christmas and Easter, since these are days the government acknowledges that people probably aren't going to work anyways
The problem with this day is specifically that the government founds its own day specifically for a god, a holiday that I do not believe is anywhere perscribed by the Bible or anything else. So, I think this fits under the establishment clause of the First Amendment.Whether it's the 18th Century or the 21st century, I think it is important to have a secular government. Now will I bring this case up to the Supreme Court? Probably not. Although it'd be nice to remove 'God' from our money and pledge... I think the price to pay for getting those changes would be too high to be worth the effort. Tradition is tradition (although some things like the 10 Commandments are not). I guess I just used this case as a springboard in class, I enjoy protesting in history class.
-
I have to admit... this is probably the only thing I heard in history class that actually suprised me. So what is Thanksgiving all about? I always thought it was the pilgrim/indian dinner thing, I really had no idea. Here is George Washington's original proclamation, which I will post in full (bold mine):
Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted' for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have show kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d dy of October, A.D. 1789.
(signed) G. Washington
Well my teacher, a rather conservative fellow, was talking about how this is the real Thanksgiving and pretty much implied that it was right. I became rather upset though... and went on a five minute tirade about mostly seperation of Church and State in front of the whole class. The first thing I said was, "Well, if this is true, then it's unconstiutional." I went on saying that the government, according to the First Amendment, could not devote a day "to the service of that great and glorious Being", aka the "Almighty God". The teacher replied that GW was talking about a generic god (as if that mattered). I argued that from the context it is more than obvious that GW is referring to a Judeo-Christian god. I said for the government to establish a day for any god is a violation of the Constitution, pure and simple.
Anyways, from there I went on to the broader topic of C/S separation. I talked about how our system is derived from both English Common law (for the general law stuff) and from mostly French Enlightened thought. Some people argued that the US had a Christian heritage. I replied that although the US is a nation of Christians, it is not an Christian nation. Although many had, and still have, Christian 'values', that our system of government has nothing to do with those. I said nothing in the Bible talks about separation of powers, or even representative democracy for that matter. When he brought up the 10 Commandments, I said that none of them have anything to do with our government at all (exept maybe murder, but that's more from Common Law really), and it's silly to say that we do things like punish adultry, keep the Sabbath Day holy, and never say the Lord's name in vain. I noted that the Constitution (not the Declaration of Independence) starts with "We the People..." and not "Under God...", highlighting the Englightment influence over religious influence on the Constituiton. After all, it is futile to argue the religosity of the founding fathers, but we do know exactly what they wrote.
He did ask me what religion I was, and I said I went to Sunday school for 10 years (well, maybe 8 but 10 popped out) and I was confirmed, but deconverted a few years back. I did make an effort though, to try to stress the point that I'm not against Christianity per se, but rather Christian intrusions in the public government.
I was on a roll, but my teacher said we had to watch a movie and cut me short
He concluded by saying that every session of Congress starts with a prayer (true) and that there is 'God' on our money, and things like that. Overall, I thought I did pretty good for the lone atheist speaking up against the many Christians without sounding condenscending.Sorry about the long incoherent rant (and misspellings, it is 12:30 AM), but I wanted to see other people's arguements, because I always like to refine my own
-
Hey I have a small problem with FF 1.0
When I click on the icon, FF never opens up and an error message along the line of "Xml (blah)" I forget exactly what... But I have to run it in safe mode and none of my extensions seem to work at all
Any help would be great, since FF worked for me in version .9 -
A Comprehensive list of the English translations I know...
Néanmoins
Cependant- However
Pourtant
Enfin- Then
Par conséquent- Consequensly
Voire
Effectivement- Effectively
Au contraire- To the contrary...
Contrairement à- Contrasting to
De ce fait
Quoi qu'il en soit- What it is/seems to be?
En revanche
En même temps- Meanwhile
Malgré
Quitte à
alors- so
donc- thus
en effet- in effect
l'on peut ajouter- one could add
certainement- Certainly
mais- but
où- where
et- and
ni- nor
or- gold
ou- or
de plus- of more
au moins- of less
car- because
pour que- for that
puis- then
parce que
D'ailleurs
Quelle - et toutes les formes
quoique- though
puisque- since
-
Sorry just to cut-and-paste, but this website I find is pretty good at dealing with a variety of myths and things like that: the Skeptic's Dictionary. And Atlantis has been 'found' many times before, I don't see why this should be taken too seriously either.
Plato was not describing a real place any more than his allegory of the cave describes a real cave. The purpose of Atlantis is to express a moral message in a discussion of ideal societies, a favorite theme of his. The fact that nobody in Greece for 9,000 years had mentioned a battle between Athens and Atlantis should serve as a clue that Plato was not talking about a real place or battle....
The story is reminiscent of what Athens did against the Persians in the early 5th century BCE, but the battle with Atlantis allegedly took place in the 8th or 9th millennium BCE. It would not take much of a historical scholar to know that Athens in 9,000 BCE was either uninhabited or was occupied by very primitive people. This fact would not have concerned Plato's readers because they would have understood that he was not giving them an historical account of a real city. To assume, as many believers in Atlantis do, that there is a parallel between Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and Plato's Critias and Timaeus is simply absurd. And those who think that just as Schliemann found Troy so too will we someday crack Plato's code and find Atlantis are drawing an analogy where they should be drawing the curtains. Plato's purpose was not to pass on stories, but to create stories to teach moral lessons. What can we expect next from these lost scholars? A search for the grave of Cecrops, the serpent-tailed first king of Athens? The discovery of the true trident of Poseidon?
If some history buff like Adam can verify some of the facts that'd be fantastic
-
I think we are all very lucky that Gorbachev was around in the 80's... Star Wars was a joke, that's why it was called Star Wars! Gorbachev and Reagan were both a bit off the norm for US and Soviet foreign policy, but I think the USSR could have went out with a much larger bang had a more hawkish premier seized power. I believe that Glasnost and Perastroika did more to end the USSR than the US.
I think LBJ's main problem is underestimating Vietnam, and then trying to fund both "guns and butter" simultaniously. FDR brought the nation out of depression, even before WWII. I would nominate Nixon for the absolute worst. He had so many scandals before Watergate, he deserved to be impeached (compared to Clinton, what a joke). I have a feeling GW Bush will be in the running for this century's worst; not too many presidents have a good second term, and Bush's first was pretty bad (but unfortunately too early to judge like someone else noted). I just hope the Religious Right do not gain too much power in these next four years... A return to more 'secular' politics, even for Republicans, would be best for everyone.
-
Four resignations today in the news: Powell (state), Abraham (Energy), Veneman (Agriculture) and Paige (Education). Powell seemed to be a decent guy in the White House, or at least that's the opinion I got from him while reading "Plan of Attack" (which I still need to finish). I'm not a big fan of Paige, since I feel the No Child Left Behind is slightly ineffective
Luckily I graduate before it effects me. Plus, his credentials are a bit tainted: the "Texas Miracle" -
I'm a little skeptical about this, just through reading that page. The best way to get a college degree is to, well, go to college. Anyone saying how you can get "four-year, fully accredited college degree in less than six months, for less than $5,000." to me sounds a bit fishy, like any get-rich sceme. Plus, the website doesn't seem to authoritive:
Welcome to Homeschool Christian.com. We're your source for information and support for Christian homeschoolers. Check the pull-down menus on the top of this page for home schooling information, over 20 message boards, and regularly scheduled chats to inform and encourage you as you instruct your children in the way they should go. This is an unapologetically Christian Web site to aid Christian families in giving their children a superior home education. All respectful folks are welcome.I'll withold my opinion, but it seems that I overstayed my welcome on that page
-
I second that John Ashcroft is a neo-con, although those people scare me just as much as neo-fascists (no body takes neo-fascists seriously... but neo-cons are getting a large foothold in gov't).
IIRC, Ashcroft lost in a senate race to a person who died to late to be pulled off the ballot. He is also über-super-ultra-hyper religious... "annointing himself with crisco oil" according to my deck of Bush Cards
Does anyone else remember when Ashcroft detained American citizens for supposed terrorism? It's bad enough to detain foreigners... but doesn't detaining Americans give terrorists the win, what they are aiming for?
I don't know much about this Gonzales guy, but I remember he said in a memo that Geneva accords-type anti-torture laws were "quaint". Oh well, he can't be much worse than Ashcroft.
-
I was thinking about MIT, but it is way too expensive for me
I probably could get it, but just barely, so I doubt they'd give me enough money in aid. Thanks everyone, I am happy to get this busy autumn... done. -
It's been awhile since I've had time to lurk around these forums... sorry for my absence
Anyways, cross country is finished (4th in the state woot!) and I'm pretty much done with my college applications.and...
I got accepted to my first university!!
I expected to get accepted to Ohio State anyways (my scores and stuff are way above their average), but their honors engineering program is pretty good (new $75 mil mechanical building) and of course it will be cheap since I'm an Ohio resident. This weekend I visit Jonas and Virginia Tech, finish my Florida and Michigan application, and dream of May 18, my last day of high school...
-
All those religions are basically the same at the core...
blind faith in any sort of deity leads to irrational thinking.
Most good people don't let that irrational thinking get to them (at least in terms of killing people)
I'm not saying religion makes people murder, but rather that it sets up a frame of mind (blind faith/acceptence) that can lead to people like Osama exploiting all those followers.
The only reason I think that Osama has more followers is that he comes from a region with no wealth/hope. I would bet my car that if you switched Islam and Christianity, you would have the exact same problems.
-
Whew! That's way too much for me to respond to anytime soon
On behalf of all 48% of Ohions who voted for Kerry, I sincerely apologize for the doofus in the White House.
This election will usher in a new era of neo-misinformation, neo-theocracy, and neo-conservatism. I really don't have much of a problem with the old school republicans (small government business types) but these new uber-religious repugs are quite scary! What's scarier though, is their massive base. I never knew that so many americans would vote on 'moral' (like Bush is so much more moral than Kerry) issues over EVERYTHING ELSE!
11 of 11 gay marriage bans were passed, all at least by a 20 pt margin. Agh! Why must everyone hate homosexuals? Because they're different? I can't believe anyone would vote for Issue 1 in Ohio, it banned all non-marriage unions, including gf/bf relationships! Way over the top (we already have the most restrictive gay marriage ban anyways), even our Republican Govenor and both senators ® and all major businesses (procter & gamble included) and all major universities (ie Ohio State) spoke out against it!
The only good thing that possible could come out of 2004 is a revamped, and hopefully hillary-less democratic party in 2008. If the religious right take over this country... I'd swim across the lake to Canada!
-
Foobar2000 + Foxy Player
in Computer Desk
Posted
Download here: foobar2000.org
A list of some plugins: here
(columns ui is a good one)
If you're just going to make fun of my playlist you can go post somewhere else