Mister P-Mosh

It's funny, but I have Irish family in the U.S. that is scared of their small midwestern town because the local news makes it look very dangerous. This same person has been around me in places like Shankill Road, and in other areas previously bombed, without being concerned at all. For those that don't know, on Shankill Road you see stuff like this all over the place:

Outside of a bunch of ranting nutjobs, nobody is really serious about it. I doubt that poll number is even accurate, but I also can see people voting for it as a joke just like voting for Kinky Friedman. The majority of those that really want to secede are the same nuts that live in cult compounds and listen to Rush Limbaugh all day. They sit around being angry over imagined offenses, fearful of imagined threats, and planning for impossible futures. If Texas tried to secede, even if the U.S. said no, we'd fail as a nation. How many of our jobs depend on other states? How much of our food is imported? We might stand half of a chance if we set up deals with other nations ahead of time, particularly Mexico since they sell us a lot of food, but I really don't think it would work.

The core problem here is that in Pat Robertson's mind, bad things can't happen to innocent people. It's like the only part of the bible he read is the part about Soddom and Gomorrah. This belief allows him a feeling of being in control of his life because if he doesn't sin and acts as Christian as he can, then he theoretically should be able to keep himself and his family safe from random disasters. It's a stupid idea, and exactly what TWI taught us as well, but that's why he says stupid crap like this.

While I agree with Tzaia that people with mental illness already can be drawn to cults like TWI, I do think that it's also true that they caused mental problems for many. If you are in an abusive situation of any kind, you are likely to develop mental illness. We were "trained" to be mentally ill. Speaking in tongues, hearing voices, paranoia about devil spirits, deferring to leaders over listening to our own common sense, etc. all caused those of us who were in TWI during LCM's reign to have issues. I personally have never gone to talk to any professional about it because I think I've not had problems like many folks, I am aware of how I'm "different" as a result of growing up in TWI. I missed out on some things growing up, went overboard on others, and it resulted in me being a person who, while easily popular, still doesn't really feel comfortable anywhere.

Well at least you did mention Jesus in your poem, although I don't know that naming a reindeer after him is exactly what all the angry people are looking for when they talk about the "war" on Christmas.

Technically, you could skew the results by looking at it this way: Somewhat Likely Very Likely NOT (Very Likely), which could overlap with "Somewhat Likely" because it can be interpreted to be an option other than "Very Likely" and anything else. This doesn't fix the numbers to make them add up correctly, but I've been up late working on something very technical and my brain is just stuck in that mode.

I was wondering the same thing so I googled it. I've never heard it called that, usually just a nativity.

He really is a smooth M.F.<p><p> <object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value=" name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>

My wife and I got the H1N1 vaccine a couple of weeks ago now, but not my daughter. Once she has the vaccine we should be better covered, although my son is too young to get it. Unfortunately, though, we're all sick with colds right now.

One error in your poll is that a few of the countries listed would classify as part of "America" and there's no option for U.S.A. so I selected other. Also, I'm mixed between primarily northern European with a few slivers of Native American ancestry, so I selected other for that as well.

BIRDPILOT TO BIRDJET...ATTACK FORMATION DELTA!

sky4it, I appreciate your compliments and holding me in high regard in terms of my mental ability. That ability is a bit dulled at the moment due to sleep deprivation, so I won't respond in detail, although I have a lot of thoughts that I could respond and answer some of what you said about. One thing I wanted to mention first, is that it is possible to believe in evolution, or any other scientific principle, and follow religious beliefs. In Judaism, for example, I don't think anyone believes that the story of creation was to be taken literally. It is only some Christians who believe the Earth and all life was created in six days a few thousand years ago. For example, some Christians believe that the Christian god created the Earth by creating the process of evolution, creating the big bang, creating the laws of physics, etc. and simply let everything fall into place. Also, if anyone has an issue with you, it will be for things that seem patronizing. While to you it seems like you are praying for us to help us and because you want us to be saved and all that, from the outside it seems belittling. Imagine if a Catholic tells you that they are going to pray for you because as a protestant, you are a heretic. Then they say that while there are a few good protestants out there, the leaders of protestant movements and denominations were con men and pure evil looking to fool people away from the true path of Christianity. Or they say that most protestants are ignorant because they don't believe in saints, and that protestants are much more rude than Catholics. It's a cliche, but keep in mind that "atheists" like myself don't have any lofty beliefs or ideas about religion. We simply have an absence of belief in what you believe in. You too are an atheist to many other religions. I imagine that you don't believe Buddha will give you good luck by putting a statue of him in your home. I imagine you don't put a mirror above the front door of your house to ward off evil spirits. I bet you also don't pray towards Mecca a few times a day in the name of Allah. You surely don't believe that the thunder is caused by Zeus rather than simple electrical charges in the clouds. Everyone is an atheist of some sort, and I think it would help believers of the various faiths to understand us on similar terms rather than trying to differentiate us from each other.

I've not been one to share much personal info here, but I can't help but brag. I am a father again, this time to a healthy baby boy. His "big" (she's only two) sister loves him, and everyone is home, happy, and adjusting.

While this does seem wrong on many levels, one of the lesser known ones is that the "black and tans" were an oppressive police force that the British sent to occupy Ireland. So if you go over to Ireland and want to drink something like this, you may get kicked out of the place asking for a "black and tan". Instead, ask for a half and half.

Not just that. Here is a quote from a PC World article discussing Facebook's Beacon system: Of course, this is not the problem I was originally talking about, but it is one aspect. The original problem I mentioned is discussed in this Washington Post article: