Nightingale

That article is a good explanation of why I'm a libertarian. I gave up on both the republicans and the democrats, because they're both all about controlling people, although in different ways. I want a government that exists to provide an environment where people can make their own choices and live with the consequences of those choices.

It's not his job to offer an alternative. That's like saying that if someone said that "leeches don't work to cure fevers!", they'd have to offer an alternative for the statement to have any value. Exposing the lie has value in itself, because it prevents us from wasting time with things that don't work. Bullshit tries to point out when people are lying (whether to the public, themselves, or both). They're professional debunkers, not gurus. The whole point of Bullshit is to tell people about what's out there that's false. Their job is to make us aware of problems. Fixing them is up to us.

My sources indicate otherwise. Can you provide a citation? (ideally, one that isn't directly from a 12 step program)? "There is a high rate of recovery among alcoholics and addicts, treated and untreated. According to one estimate, heroin addicts break the habit in an average of 11 years. Another estimate is that at least 50% of alcoholics eventually free themselves although only 10% are ever treated. One recent study found that 80% of all alcoholics who recover for a year or more do so on their own, some after being unsuccessfully treated. When a group of these self-treated alcoholics was interviewed, 57% said they simply decided that alcohol was bad for them. Twenty-nine percent said health problems, frightening experiences, accidents, or blackouts persuaded them to quit. Others used such phrases as "Things were building up" or "I was sick and tired of it." Support from a husband or wife was important in sustaining the resolution. -Treatment of Drug Abuse and Addiction -- Part III, The Harvard Mental Health Letter, Volume 12, Number 4, October 1995, page 3. (See Aug. (Part I), Sept. (Part II), Oct. 1995 (Part III).)

Hmm... Darwinism in action?

And how many people would have died without antibiotics? Comparing science and religion is just stupid. They both have positives and negatives, and they both have caused positive and negative effects, but that's pretty much where the similarities end. They're two entirely different things that ultimately have nothing to do with each other. Religion is the the realm of spirituality, and science is the realm of the physical.

I was raised Catholic, so I was just trying to answer your questions about Mary and her place in the church.

Trying to do this would be a disaster, mainly because too many people say that the other people aren't "real christians" whatever the heck that means. I've heard "Mormons aren't christians...they have another book!" "Catholics can't be christians...they pray to saints instead of god!" "People who were sprinkled with water at baptism aren't christians... you have to be completely submerged to be baptised!" "Jehovah's Witnesses arent' christians... they don't believe in the trinity!" "Nobody but Catholics are really christian, because the other religions don't believe in eucharistic transmutation!" Honestly, I don't think anybody will be able to agree on anything enough to actually be able to unify christianity.

That's an interesting statement. Then why do Catholics say "Hail Mary's" for the forgiveness of sins? Why confess their sins to a mortal? Why all of the statues of Saint Mary in everybodies yards? Is this not idolotry?.... The end of the Hail Mary asks "Pray for us sinners..." The Hail Mary isn't a prayer to Mary as some kind of goddess, it's a request to Mary to pray for the person saying the prayer.

No... The government can't promote religion. Keeping religion out of government sponsored schools is appropriate. Teaching religion in government sponsored schools is not. By not teaching religion, the government is not advocating atheism or non-belief. The government is not interfering with anyone's practice of religion by not teaching it in government sponsored schools. The government would be simply allowing children to learn religion in an appropriate forum: outside the classroom.

Vouchers would be giving government money to schools that promote religion. Therefore, the government would be assisting those schools in promoting religion. If the school can show that the money goes only to classes that are not taught from a religious view, fine. If they're using the money to promote their religion, that's not fine.

I don't like the voucher idea to begin with, but if we're going to do them, homeschool is a problem. We'd have to figure out the difference between a homeschool and a private school. Many homeschool networks have different teachers for different subjects, and they teach several (sometimes 10+). If you're going to include private schools in a voucher program, it may be hard not to include some home schools, provided they meet all the requirements.

I wouldn't deny them either. If they want to pay for it, their kid can have any kind of education they want. I just don't think the people as a whole should have to help pay to promote religion. It's not the place of the government or the taxpayers to do so, because the government should not be helping any group establish or promote any religion.

If whoever is homeschooling the kid is a credentialed teacher and meets all other state requirements for testing, accreditation, etc, then yes, they should be able to receive vouchers. In most religious schools, religion classes are mandatory and many other classes (science, for example) are taught with a religious viewpoint. IMO, giving government money to schools such as these would be "respecting an establishment of religion". If the school's religion classes were truly elective, and the other classes were taught without bringing religion in, then I wouldn't have a problem with vouchers, provided the vouchers were used only to fund non-religious programs.

When I was in college, I was doing at least 20 hours a week of karate, plus three hours a day of dance. I'd have been really pissed off if my school required additional training, especially if it involved running. I HATE running. If a college student hasn't learned the value of exercise by the time they're in college, an extra phys ed class or two is just going to make them resent exercise even more. Forcing someone to do something is a surefire way to make sure they're not going to do it voluntarily.

I was answering steve's question of "what justification would a non-theist use for slavery?".

Wasn't Downtown Train recorded by Rod Stewart in the 80s?

Rain Dogs Heart of Saturday Night Alice Mule Variations So far, the only one I really don't like is Blood Money, because there are too many songs where he sounds like a giant troll with a broken calliope. There are two or three good songs on that one too, though. Edited to add: OMG, I forgot about Orphans and Used Songs. Those are great!

It's out there. Took me about ten seconds with google. Non-theists used pseudo-science to try to prove that people with darker skin were intellectually inferior. They used concepts such as scientific racism, social darwinism and eugenics. Wikipedia: Dutch scholar Pieter Camper (1722-1789) was one of the first theorists of craniometry, the measure of skulls, which he used to justify racial differences. In 1770, he invented in one of his numerous memoirs the concept of the "facial angle", a measure meant to determine intelligence among various species. According to this technique, a "facial angle" was formed by drawing two lines: one horizontally from the nostril to the ear; and the other perpendicularly from the advancing part of the upper jawbone to the most prominent part of the forehead. Camper claimed that antique statues presented an angle of 90°, Europeans of 80°, Black people of 70° and the orangutan of 58°, thus displaying a hierarchic and racist view of mankind, based on a decadent conception of history. These scientific racist researchs were continued by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1772-1844) and Paul Broca (1824-1880). Samuel George Morton (1799-1851), one of the inspirator of physical anthropology, collected hundreds of human skulls from all over the world and started trying to find a way to classify them according to some logical criteria. Influenced by the common racist theories of his time, he claimed that he could judge the intellectual capacity of a race by the cranial capacity (the measure of the volume of the interior of the skull). A large skull meant a large brain and high intellectual capacity, and a small skull indicated a small brain and decreased intellectual capacity. By studying these skulls he decided at what point Caucasians stopped being Caucasians, and at what point Negroes began... His two major monographs were the Crania Americana (1839), An Inquiry into the Distinctive Characteristics of the Aboriginal Race of America and Crania Aegyptiaca (1844). In Crania Americana, he claimed that the mean cranial capacity of the skulls of Whites was 87 in³ (1,425 cm³), while that of Blacks was 78 in³ (1,278 cm³). Based on the measurement of 144 skulls of Native Americans, he reported a figure of 82 in³ (1,344 cm³) [sic]. __ of course, this was all proved to be false later on.

I think that getting rid of teacher tenure would go a long way toward solving the problem, and I'm speaking as a former teacher myself. Tenure makes no sense in primary and secondary education. These teachers generally don't do anything controversial that would require their protection from administration. They show up, they teach, they go home, grade papers, and plan lessons. Teacher tenure has largely become a way (and an excuse) to keep poor teachers in the classroom. Another problem is special ed funding. The schools are using 30-40% of their pupil budget to educate 10% of students. I'm not saying that special ed is a bad thing (quite the opposite), but funding it from districts' general pupil fund isn't the way to do it, because funding it in this manner removes funding from non-special ed students who need it. IDEA may require that student A gets $10,000 worth of special assistance, and there are groups that will sue on student A's behalf if that assistance isn't received, but sometimes, giving student A that assistance will mean that the school can't afford to get a science textbook for student B, and because student B is a normal kid, there aren't many people who will speak up for him. There are many reasons that schools "fail" and honestly, most of them have nothing at all to do with the school. Many of these are caused by poverty, such as both parents working, leaving nobody at home to supervise homework or attend parent teacher conferences, language barriers preventing parents from communicating with teachers or assisting with homework, or sometimes, just a general lack of value placed on education. There is a ton of stuff beyond the control of the school. However, there is stuff that the schools can control, such as resources and teacher quality, and they need to do it. As an aside, I wouldn't object to a voucher program, provided the vouchers could be used at private schools, but not religious schools (I believe this would violate the first amendment), and those schools were held to the same standards as the public schools (teachers must have credentials, etc).

You can always go to a jewelry store and find something dangly you like. Just have the jeweler put a small ring on the end instead of whatever is already there. Then, drop the ring on to the navel ring or onto the barbell, insert, and put the bead on to close it.

I think that anyone who has ever made a skydive has been touched by it in some way. Skydiving is an experience that isn't easily forgotten, even if someone only jumps a few times. The tattoo will always be a reflection of that. Not sure why you'd laugh at them for it.

I've been working in the criminal justice system for the last two years, both with prosecutors and defense attorneys, and I don't know anybody who believes that there is a way to be certain that innocent people will not be executed as long as we have the death penalty. We rely on twelve human beings to make decisions about whether a defendant lives or dies. Human beings are by nature fallible. As long as the system relies on humans to make these decisions, there will be mistakes. No matter how hard we work to ensure accuracy in the system, it will never be 100%. When it comes to life or death, anything less than 100% is not acceptable.

And they execute record numbers of innocent people as a result. Cite? I'd highly suggest you read "Death of Innocents" by Helen Prejean. Nobody can say how many innocent people were actually executed, because once someone is dead, the focus turns to exonerating people who are living, as death penalty defense organizations have limited resources. However, EJUSA.org lists the following as innocent people executed by the state of Texas: Odell Barnes, Jr. Robert Nelson Drew Gary Graham Richard Wayne Jones Frank Basil McFarland You can find summaries of the cases and why these men were most probably innocent on the ejusa.org website. It's too much info to post here. The following is a list of people who have been released from Death Row in the US. To be included on this list, defendants must have been convicted, sentenced to death and subsequently either- a) their conviction was overturned AND i) they were acquited at re-trial or ii) all charges were dropped b) they were given an absolute pardon by the governor based on new evidence of innocence. 1. David Keaton 2. Samuel A. Poole 3. Wilbert Lee 4. Freddie Pitts 5. James Creamer 6. Thomas Gladish 7. Richard Greer 8. Ronald Keine 9. Clarence Smith 10. Delbert Tibbs 11. Earl Charles 12. Jonathan Treadway 13. Gary Beeman 14. Jerry Banks 15. Larry Hicks 16. Charles Ray Giddens 17. Michael Linder 18. Johnny Ross 19. Annibal Jaramillo 20. Lawyer Johnson 21. Anthony Brown 22. Neil Ferber 23. Larry Fisher 24. Clifford Henry Bowen 25. Joseph Green Brown 26. Perry Cobb 27. Darby (Williams) Tillis 28. Henry Drake 29. John Henry Knapp 30. Vernon McManus 31. Anthony Ray Peek 32. Juan Ramos 33. Robert Wallace 34. Richard Neal Jones 35. Jerry Bigelow 36. Willie Brown 37. Larry Troy 38. William Jent 39. Earnest Miller 40. Randall Dale Adams 41. Jesse Keith Brown 42. Robert Cox 43. Timothy Hennis 44. James Richardson 45. Clarence Brandley 46. Patrick Croy 47. John C. Skelton 48. Dale Johnston 49. Jimmy Lee Mathers 50. Gary Nelson 51. Bradley P. Scott 52. Charles Smith 53. Jay C. Smith 54. Kirk Bloodsworth 55. Federico M. Macias 56. Walter McMillan 57. Gregory R. Wilhoit 58. James Robison 59. Muneer Deeb 60. Andrew Golden 61. Joseph Burrows 62. Adolph Munson 63. Robert Charles 64. Rolando Cruz 65. Alejandro Hernandez 66. Sabrina Butler 67. Verneal Jimerson 68. Dennis Williams 69. Roberto Miranda 70. Gary Gauger 71. Troy Lee Jones 72. Christopher McCrimmon 73. Carl Lawson 74. Ricardo Aldape Guerra 75. Benjamin Harris 76. Robert Hayes 77. Randall Padgett 78. Robert Lee Miller, Jr. 79. Curtis Kyles 80. Shareef Cousin 81. Anthony Porter 82. Steven Smith 83. Ronald Williamson 84. Ronald Jones 85. Clarence Dexter, Jr. 86. Warren Douglas Manning 87. Alfred Rivera 88. Steve Manning 89. Eric Clemmons 90. Joseph Nahume Green 91. Earl Washington 92. William Nieves 93. Frank Lee Smith 94. Michael Graham 95. Albert Burrell 96. Peter Limone 97. Gary Drinkard 98. Joaquin Jose Martinez 99. Jeremy Sheets 100. Charles Fain 101. Juan Roberto Melendez 102. Ray Krone 103. Thomas Kimbell, Jr. 104. Larry Osborne 105. Rudolph Holton 106. Aaron Patterson 107. Madison Hobley 108. Leroy Orange 109. Stanley Howard 110. John Thompson 111. Timothy Howard 112. Gary Lamar James 113. Joseph Amrine 114. Nicholas Yarris 115. Alan Gell 116. Gordon Randall Steidl 117. Laurence Adams 118. Dan L. Bright 119. Ryan Matthews 120. Ernest Ray Willis 121. Derrick Jamison 122. Harold Wilson 123. John Ballard

You don't have to plan a year in advance... you just have to be persistent because other people plan a year in advance, and then cancel. The online reservation system is inaccurate. Call the park. There are always rooms that aren't listed online. Many times the online system will say "sold out" and when you call two minutes later, you have your room. Last time I went, I must've called for about ten days straight, but they did get me in. Two days at Canyon and three at Lake. =) Canyon is a good last resort, because it's pretty central, but you'll have to drive a bit to get peace and quiet. The other thing you can do is rent a van-style RV (or just an SUV... fold down the seats and roll out your sleeping bag in the back) in Jackson or West Yellowstone, and park it in the lot at Roosevelt. The staff will say something about a big RV, but will probably ignore a van.

Which redwood forests are you talking about? the ones in California? I've spent quite a lot of time up in Yellowstone/Tetons. June is a pretty sucky month. The place is crawling with both mosquitos and tourists. I'd suggest April or late August if you really want to be able to enjoy the parks and not get eaten alive or smothered by crowds. No matter when you go, it will rain. Plan for it. The weather is shorts/t-shirt during the day, and parka/ugg boots at night. If you stay in a tent, bring a very, very good sleeping bag, or you will freeze. I'd suggest a cabin/inn room if you can afford it. YELLOWSTONE: If you really want to see Yellowstone, you need a week. You could spend three weeks there and still not see everything (I've done that, and there was still stuff I really wanted to do). Good places to stay: Old Faithful Inn, if you can afford it. Big log inn, huge fireplace, beautiful view of the geysers. Otherwise, second choice would be the cabins up at Roosevelt. Roosevelt is a very quiet area. Lots of hiking and fishing, and wolves. Roosevelt area is probably the best wildlife area in the park, but it is far away from the geysers. Third choice would be Lake Lodge Cabins. Campgrounds are usually booked a long time in advance. There are a few that don't take reservations, but those tend to fill up quickly also, so you can't count on getting a spot. Stuff you must do: Mud Volcano Area: 3 hours, tops. See Dragon's Mouth Spring and the other features of the area. Spend a day or two walking the upper and lower geyser basins. Find out when the best geysers are errupting (old faithful, grand, castle) and make a point to watch. Buy the book called "Geysers of Yellowstone". It'll tell you the stories behind all the names of the geysers and hot springs, and give you good advice. Spend a few hours at Mammoth Hot Springs. 3-4 hours is plenty. Drive the Lamar Valley, and if you see a park ranger on the hill with a scope, stop. They're watching for wolves. The valley is beautiful and quiet, so it's a good place to relax. Spend the afternoon/evening here. Lamar is right near Roosevelt, and Roosevelt is THE place for quiet time. No crowds, beautiful one hour hikes, gorgeous waterfalls. Spend an evening at Old Faithful Inn/Lodge area. Watch the moonrise over the geyser. See the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Yellowstone Falls. Two hours, tops, but pretty amazing. Best in the morning. Stuff you should do if you can: Horseback ride out of Roosevelt and see the back country. Spend some time at Lake Lodge in the evening. TETONS Don't stay in Tetons. A day trip down there is plenty. It's more of a backpacker's park. Everything that can be seen within brief walking distance from the road can be done in one day. Bring your camera. Lots of wildlife. Your park pass into Yellowstone will also get you into Tetons. The absolute best way to see Tetonsis to take a "Float Trip" down the Snake River. There's no rapids on that stretch of river, and you'll see some really amazing wildlife. The raft companies are all based out of Jackson. I usually do a float trip in the morning, and then hit the whitewater on the lower part of the snake in the afternoon. It's well worth the money. GRAND CANYON: Three days, tops. Spend one day at the North Rim, and the next day or two at the south rim. There's camping at South, so plan on seeing North, and then driving and setting up camp at South. Other places you might want to stop: Bryce Canyon and Zion Nat'l Parks in Utah. 1-2 days each. Small parks, but gorgeous.