tvashtarkatena

Here's to a full and speedy recovery to our injured comrade.

ever seen the USS Oregon in Philly? teak decks, more polished brass than a thousand fern bars, and a captains/stewards quarters to DIE for. Projecting power was never so awesome We need more of that kewlness bitch. Naval artillery: accept no substitute.

Expand the Great White Flight!

TRENDING NOW: HORSES WITH BAYONETS

Does it matter? Nevermind.

We should start trying to run every aspect of our society like this. Oh, wait, we are...and it's sucking. N CUT N RUN FUM ANAE PROLLUM THAT DA FREE MAHKET CAINT FIX. DOEN GTTZ ME WRONG, US BLACK FOLK LOVES US SUM FREE GOODZ N SOIVICES!

SO YOUZ A UNION MAN. N HEUH AH ALLUS PEGGED YOU FOA SUTHUN MAN. DOEN PAY DAT JAYBEE NO MINE BIG MAN. WE BLACK FOLK DOEN NEEDS NO SKOOLIN CUZ WE JIS PRISON BOUN ANEWAYZ.

Whoa Coppertop!

Translation: let public schools in poorer districts die on the vine rather than fund and fix them properly. Randian Fuck the Poor Policy #467. Not that I don't think you believe your own bullshit, Jay. I think you actually do, so there's that. What in God's name do you know about the public school system anyway? How do you know its so fucked and 'beyond repair'? Now on to the'whites and asians and indians' remark...yup...the real root of your message: WEZE GOTS TA GIT 'WAY FUM DEM CULLUDZ, N VOUCHUHZ N CHAHTUHZ BE DA WAY TA DO IT!

It's always more expensive and less efficient to reinvent the wheel with a huge infrastructure like public education than to improve the wheel you've got. It's a non-starter from the gitgo IMO. Why split our forces to tackle the problem? Must be some other reason(s) other than better education. Hmmmm.

One man's 'principled' is another's 'ideological'. You'd think prisons wouldn't be a money maker, either. They are.

Gay weed lover's meeting this Sat, otherwise we'd consider it. What else to do until the snowpack shapes up?

To aforementioned hydropel, changing socks, inserts, etc - merino wool if ur not using em already

Down one chain saw but up one ice climbing partner , obwan, although when u see me flail up a lead u might wish you still had the saw instead.

Dumb troll from a smart guy, speaking of using a classic Fox tactic. Did i say i was against private bidness? Im against profit being the primary motive for primary govt functions like defense n education...and health care, for that matter. Im also against creating an expensive, parallel systems rather than fixing the one weve got. One of the biggest problems with public education is too many expensive layers of admin that syphon a fixed cash pie from what we need most: teachers. Im against paying for religious indoctrination of chillunz. I went to catholic school...and me Da paid for it out of pocket. Finally, im against hiding bad public policy under the guise of 'helping speshul needs kids' or whatev. Is that a bit clearer for ya?

Did some research. Charter schools are backed by two special interest groups: private bidnesses wanting to cash in on privatization of state funded education N bust another union while they're at it, and d Kristians, who bait and switched the unpopular 'voucher' movement for the better sounding 'charter' program. Its typical Rfuck skulduggery n buggery, as usual. Scam. Vote no. On a different note, ive spoken about gay weed n free speech at a number of high schools, and have been impressed by the intelligence and engagement of teachers and students.

I have exactly as much doubt that god is not a human invention as I have that the tooth fairy is not a human invention. Atheism is a belief that god is a human invention, not the other way around. I have an enormous body of historical evidence to indicate that this is, in fact, the case. and no credible evidence to the contrary. So yes, I can 'prove' that god is a human invention...to myself. I cannot, of course, convince one who relies on faith to make that call, any more than I milk a male tiger. This isn't preaching, it's simply stating a point of view. Feeling something is proof of nothing. I've felt that someone loved me who actually didn't, and I've felt that someone didn't love me who actually did. I felt both quite profoundly, but no amount of intensity made either reality. Feeling is internal brain chemistry, nothing more.

I was merely demonstrating to the thread some of Einstein's thoughts on the matter, which are in opposition to the "facts" brought up by one of the participants. Breathe. Breathe yourself. The comment clearly wasn't directed at you, but at the poster who altered Einstein's beliefs to bolster his own opinion.

I'm going to pray to one of my personal gods, now: water. Is there a more beautiful and frightening substance in the universe? Time for a little lap swim meditation.

I used to run every day at lunch with a devout Christian. We debated religion, of course. One day he said "You know, a lot of people get caught up in the literal truth of the Bible and whatnot, and miss the higher truth contained in it." Another time he said "You know, I pray for you." Knowing him pretty well at that point, I knew his was a message of unselfish, unprejudiced love, of wishing the best for me within the template of his beliefs, not an admonishment for my lack of faith. His god would have watched out for me during such a downhill ride without prejudice. His god wasn't a fucking asshole, because he wasn't a fucking asshole. His god was all inclusive. He was killed with his son when his light plane ran into a mountain in the Sierras several years back. Since god is essentially a blank slate, we make him out to be who we want. Born Agains, Catholics, atheists, whatev - in the end we all choose to buy into a set of beliefs, values, and actions or not. We're not 'bound' by anything in this regard. It's always a choice. Some of us take responsibility for making that choice, others don't. I don't pray during or after near misses, and I've had a few. Oh, being the old Catholic, I 'joke pray' sometimes. Last time I was running for a plane I joke prayed like a motherfucker (it was still on the tarmac, thanks to United's reliably horrible on time performance). I do recognize that I owe a karmic debt, however, and try to pay up when I can.

It's easier to resurrect a dead man's thoughts in your image than breath life into your own.

You're wrong on that. He probably did believe in "god" (really more of a Spinoza's sort of god by most accounts of his private letters, rather than a traditional deist-type personal god) but he certainly never said that E=MC2 was proof of it. And even if he HAD said it, so what? What if he said chocolate was better than vanilla, is it? Citing Einstein seems to be a popular way to avoid independent though. "Well, even Einstein agreed with me...." -- really just another form of religion. The most common argument in favor of denying same sex couples marriage equality is that "30 something states also have such laws" and that "marriage equality has never won when subjected to a popular vote". In other words, get with the herd and stop thinking for yourself. A classic Kristian mentality, and a tactic when you really don't have anything else. The same argument, back in the day, was made for maintaining slavery and denying women the right to vote...by guess who? Kristian groups. Inconveniently, we have this set of principles called the Bill of Rights which was designed to prevent exactly this kind of unjust tyranny of the majority. That's why the Defense of Marriage Act has had its ass handed to it 7 out of 7 times in federal court so far. It'll most likely go to SCOTUS next, which will be hard pressed to overturn seven previous rulings. Ie, as with Intelligent Design, the Kristians most likely have fucked themselves by overreaching, yet again. Seriously, Kristians, who invited you to the civil ceremony? Fuck off. PS Einstein was doggedly wrong regarding quantum physics throughout most of his life. Even smart guys win some and lose some.

Since Rob had the gall to inject some actual decent information into this soul-sucker, I'll add some more recommended theological reading: The Evolution of God (Robert Wright): An excellent treatise on the historical evolution of religion and morality, whereby the author concludes that both have been trending, in the aggregate, towards a better future for human understanding and tolerance. Wright describes himself as an agnostic, but the richness of his beliefs defy such simplistic categorization. He is an incredible scholar - the real deal. Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism (Susan Jacoby) A less sanguine treatise on the role of religion in America, and how it has roadblocked the creation of a truly egalitarian liberal (in the broader historical sense) society. Jacoby is a raging atheist and a lot of fun to read, but reportedly not as fun as Patrick O'brien. These two books will both enlighten you and help with your insomnia, depending on where you are in the read. It would be great if Kristians, on occasion, put their Bibles down and read something with some actual research and original thought being it, but the movement doesn't exactly encourage such behavior when denial of the soul, which many followers understandably interpret as even questioning the nature of the soul, is a mortal sin that can never be forgiven. They might, then, realize how parroted, canned and cliche their 'scientific' arguments really are. And BTW, I wish 17th century philosophers would quit plagiarizing my thought experiments.

Last time I went to Static I drove to the TH. Times have changed. As Mr. Brooks teaches us, you can effortlessly pull alder, cedar, and hemlock seedlings out like weeds after a good rain, up to about an inch caliper in some cases. Makes cleaning up a trail SO much easier.

All I can say is DO NOT GET IN FRONT OF DAVID YOUNT WHEN HE'S GOT A CHAIN SAW. The man is a trail clearing tour de force. Thanks for a great day in some interesting weather and an uninterrupted 10 hours nights sleep afterwards. I've never kilt so many trees in one day before.