Nightingale

I think the important thing about the Da Vinci Code is not that it's factual; it isn't. It's a work of fiction based on some rather off the wall historical theories. The important thing about DVC is that it gets people to ask questions, to think, and to wonder if what they've been told all their lives is the truth. Most of the "facts" presented by the main character in DVC are made up. However, a very, very important one is true: Constantine directed the editing of the Christian bible during the Councel of Nicea (325 CE) in order to exercise more control over the people of the Roman empire. Constantine, having become sole emperor, concerned himself with the re-establishment of religious peace as well as of civil order. One of the first things Constantine did, as Emperor, was start persecuting certain Christians, mainly the gnostic Christians and other dualist Christians, Christians who don't have the Old Testament as part of their canon, and others who didn't conform to Constantine's exact vision of Christianity. Many claim that Constantine's conversion to Christianity was sincere and legitimate, but most historians doubt this, as Constantine continued to behave as a pagan, write poetry to pagan gods, and otherwise acknowledged pagan deities after his supposed "conversion". Constantine was an incredible politician and knew he had to do what was necessary to maintain control over the empire and order within it. What Constantine did that was very important to the Christian church was legitimize it as a protected religion of the Roman empire. Sources: Catholic Encyclopedia, BBC, PBS, Encyclopedia Britannica

Your dream self made a smart choice. Even though it's "just a steak knife," a steak knife can still be dangerous. If you have a choice between a physical confrontation and keeping your cash, give up the cash. It's not worth risking your life for.

My cat always wants to see what I'm eating so he can decide if he wants some. I usually eat on the couch, so he's all over me until I let him see what's on the plate. He'll meow if he wants some, and turn up his tail if he doesn't. He loves macaroni and cheese and sushi, but won't touch turkey or chicken. Oh...he's also a member of the No Cheap Beer club. He'll drink guinness and Boddingtons, but won't touch coors, bud, or miller. He's actually deliberately knocked over a glass of coors once, and hissed at a bud light.

With the popularity of MySpace, and the threads that have popped up about it in Bonfire, is there any way we could get a MySpace Homepage address field in the profile, like the fields for AIM, yahoo, MSN and ICQ? I know myspace has been a great resource for me to keep in touch with other skydivers, and a lot of us use it.

If you make mom/dad come in to pick up the phone if it gets taken away, the inconvenience of it may get the parents on the kids case to keep the phone off.

That's one of the problems with the "living wage" idea. How do we decide who deserves a "living wage"?

Yep. I have a spectre and a silhouette, and love them both. The spectre is easier to land, imo, but that's just my personal experience.

Some are made with Splenda. The ones made with aspartame taste foul, so I avoid those.

Slim-Fast makes yogurt smoothies that are actually quite good. You can also find yogurt smoothies by yoplait and dannon in the grocery store next to the regular yogurt. I can't eat breakfast either, and these work well for me.

I didn't say that. I don't shop at Wal-Mart because they support and encorage sweatshop labor in China. In a capitalist economy like the US, the concept of a living wage (and even a minimum wage) just doesn't work. There are ways to take care of the poor in society. Increasing inflation is not one of them.

/signed.

Economics will tell you this is not possible. If you increase how much money the people in the lowest economic class make, you cause inflation, so, while those people may have more dollars, those dollars are worth less. Businesses either have to raise prices or higher fewer people. Costs could be cut elsewhere, but businesses already have the incentive to do that. Creating a burden is unlikely to help a business become more efficient. This skips past that difficultly of setting a living wage to begin with. This also can lead to inflation because any cost a business incurs will be passed on in its prices. Those increased labor costs will get passed on again and again to the only entity that is unable to pass off costs, the consumer. We could theoretically determine a living wage at some snapshot in time and mandate that all workers be paid that wage. Even if there is no additional unemployment, that increased labor cost will result in increased prices across the board. This translates to an increased cost of living and makes the living wage insufficient once the costs pass through the system. Even if you could control the rate of employment, there is no way to set a living wage. It would increase the cost of living and make that living wage insufficient again. data source: John Bambenek, UIUC

Well, not everyone wants a gun, but everyone needs one. They just don't all realize it. Too many people realize AFTER something happens, rather than before when they could've done something to help themselves.

Someone at my school got notified the day before the semester started.

http://www.robeks.com/InsideRobeks/InsideRobeksMenu.asp?PT=I&PID=19 Here's a link to the robek's menu. It doesn't have prices on there, but the costs range from about $2.50 to $6, depending on the drink and size.

I don't care what it is for. I do care that it's a waste of valuable education time.

Buy one of those nice leather journals at the book store. Spend Mother's Day writing down all the awesome things you remember about your mom. All the fun times, the silly times, even the sad times, so you can share it with your kids later on.

I get nervous about jumping my own packjobs. I'd never want to inflict them on someone else.

But we don't have an Offense Department, or an Offense Budget. It is ALL defined as defense. Yes. This is why I specified essential defense funds.

That's how I've felt for the last four weeks. I've been studying like crazy, because my entire grade (and pretty much my whole life) depends on how well I do on those tests.

My buddy is trying to convince me to reinstall that on my computer.... ugh. Clownburner and I play WoW a lot. He's raiding BlackWing Lair at the moment.

Nothing interesting seems to happen when I drink. Plenty of interesting stuff has happened watching other people drink, though.

Well, I just finished a pyrat and coke, which rules out going anywhere else this evening, so I am attempting to amuse myself with DZ.com and WoW. And debating whether to open the bottle of zinfandel in the fridge or just have more rum.

well, as of next week, I'll be working (but not getting paid! paying the school and getting class credit for working) and taking 9 units in addition to working.

Skydiving involves money for a coach jump and a repack, neither of which I can afford at the moment. Maybe next week after I get paid, but then I'll be in summer school and working and have no time again.