GO AMERICA!

[G-spotter]

thats what going to Ren. faires will do to ya

 

1. I sat cross-legged on a hard pillow, closed my eyes gently and practised Zen.

2. My teacher came in and hit my head to test if I had a Zen experience.

3. I was shocked when he said he did not hit me, but years later I realized my kind teacher was trying to make me aware that there was no hitting, and no nothing, in Zen.

4. Lacking a deep understanding, many people may think Zen masters are mad.

 

Therefore, this girl's father must have been trying to help his daughter attain No-mind.

[ivan]

Gee...the abuse (and every other documented measure of family dysfunction- teen pregs, divorce, etc.) is highly concentrated in the Bible Belt, where the practices of beating children and absolute male authority over the family, and early marriage are staunchly defended by evangelical fundamentalism.

 

Must be lack of caseworkers.

 

"Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up." (Hosea 13:16)

 

Nice guy, that God.

oddly though, having a son seemed to turn him into a fucking hippie

[Off_White]

Yeah, that old testament god was right jealous bastard, he gets no respect from me.

[G-spotter]

Yeah, that old testament god was right jealous bastard, he gets no respect from me.

 

That's anti-Semitic!

[rob]

who cares? The jews caused 9/11 anyway. I know, cause Kevbone sent me a youtube video about it.

[JayB]

Gee...the abuse (and every other documented measure of family dysfunction- teen pregs, divorce, etc.) is highly concentrated in the Bible Belt, where the practices of beating children and absolute male authority over the family, and early marriage are staunchly defended by evangelical fundamentalism.

 

Must be lack of caseworkers.

 

I think if you were doing a statistical regression between population characteristics and lethal child abuse the tightest correlations would be between 1) poverty and 2)being baptist or evangelical - so I agree with both Tvash and j_b.

 

I'm quite certain that the reason that financially secure athiests, Unitarians, and Quakers aren't abusing their children to death isn't because of the constant surveillance from CCTV cameras.

[JayB]

Jay, those are red herrings. Overall murder rate is not child abuse rate. Rough justice is not killing your baby. Stick to the topic.

 

You are quite correct. They aren't the same thing, but look at the geographic distribution of the annual incidence murder and lethal child abuse in the US and you'll find that there's an almost perfect (or at least very considerable) overlap.

 

If you turned the intermountain west and the PWN into its own country, it'd have social stats roughly comparable to Canada's. You could toss Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Utah, and the Dakotas without budging the child murder needle.

 

Guess what would happen to Canada's stats if you annexed all of the bits of the US where there are lots of Baptists. Just for fun - I'll tell you. Your murder rate - for both adults and children - would skyrocket and your existing social services infrastructure would do little or nothing to alleviate the problem for many decades.

 

 

It's all yours.

[tvashtarkatena]

In Your Name, Lord!

[ivan]

In Your Name, Lord!

baptists have always been literalists - think they might be taking that abraham n' isaac story a bit too seriously?

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usGIkEJXJJ4

[Phil K]

Wow, same day: Dru is called out for being wrong in one thread and JB agrees w/ j_b and Tvash in another.

[murraysovereign]

Wow, same day: Dru is called out for being wrong in one thread and JB agrees w/ j_b and Tvash in another.

 

Maybe it's the start of some sort of "cc.com Spring"?

[j_b]

Guess what would happen to Canada's stats if you annexed all of the bits of the US where there are lots of Baptists. Just for fun - I'll tell you. Your murder rate - for both adults and children - would skyrocket and your existing social services infrastructure would do little or nothing to alleviate the problem for many decades.

 

There is no evidence pointing to your conclusion and I note that you didn't include poverty in your example, which is unfortunate because rigid belief in the culturally absurd also happens to be inversely correlated with socio-economic status.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

There is no evidence pointing to your conclusion and I note that you didn't include poverty in your example, which is unfortunate because rigid belief in the culturally absurd also happen to be inversely correlated with socio-economic status.

 

You must be dirt-poor.

[j_b]

more garbage from douchebag

[ZimZam]

Blame it on misery.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - An unofficial gauge of human misery in the United States rose last month to a 28-year high as Americans struggled with rising inflation and high unemployment.

 

The misery index -- which is simply the sum of the country's inflation and unemployment rates -- rose to 13.0, pushed up by higher price data the government reported on Wednesday.

 

The data underscores the extent that Americans continue to suffer even two years after a deep recession ended, with a weak economic recovery imperiling President Barack Obama's hopes of winning reelection next year.

 

Inez Stallworth, an underwriting assistant for a financial services company, recently gave up her car, in part because of rising costs for gasoline and groceries.

 

"I can't fit it in," said the 27-year-old Chicago resident, who said most of her extended family was getting by "paycheck-to-paycheck."

 

Consumer prices rose 3.9 percent in the 12 months through September, the fastest pace in three years.

 

With gasoline prices high, consumers have less to spend on other things. Moreover, a rise in overall prices saps economic growth, which is typically measured in inflation-adjusted terms.

 

The last time the misery index was at current levels was in 1983. But in 1984 an improving economy probably helped President Ronald Reagan win reelection. This year, the index has risen more than 2 points.

 

INFLATION RESPITE

 

While the misery index rose in September, many economists expect some respite in coming months, driven by softer inflation.

 

Wednesday's price data showed inflation outside food and energy rose at the slowest pace in six months in September.

 

Weakness in the jobs markets also accounts for some factors that could push inflation lower in coming months, economists say.

 

"With households facing weak wage growth and tight budgets, it is difficult to see a sustained, broad-based increase in prices," said Bank of America Merrill Lynch economist Neil Dutta.

 

He said Wednesday's data showed that businesses' ability to raise prices on clothing, movies and toys was "hitting a wall." Weak incomes also will make it harder for building owners to raise rents, further dampening inflation, Dutta said.

 

Indeed, inflation could slow to below 2 percent by mid-2012, said Capital Economics economist Paul Ashworth.

 

But a decline in the misery index declines due to softer inflation might not help Obama's reelection chances much.

 

"Any lowering of inflation isn't going to have much effect. People are just focused like a laser on unemployment," said independent political analyst Stuart Rothenberg.

 

Analysts polled by Reuters last week saw the jobless rate -- currently stuck at 9.1 percent -- barely ticking down to 8.9 percent by the end of next year. With the election in November 2012, the expected decline looks unlikely to help Obama's job prospects much.

 

Harold Archie, a bus driver with the Chicago Transit Authority, knows well the toll that unemployment is taking on Americans. Higher food and gasoline prices have compounded the strain on his finances since his son lost his job. Archie, 57, has been helping him financially.

 

: Archie said his son might have a shot at getting his job back, but with a pay cut"And he was only making $13 an hour to start with."

[Off_White]

Dru is called out for being wrong in one thread

 

There's no percentage in fighting that battle, the man is a total bulldog when his veracity is challenged.