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#1 02-05-09 12:39 pm

john8verse32
Member
Registered: 01-02-09
Posts: 765

It could be worse....or could it?

with the economy in the dumps, whats a guy to do when he can no longer afford a real girlfriend? <BR> <BR>and how bad are things down in Florida? <BR>and is this how their citizens behave and look? <BR> <BR><a href="http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0205091doll1.html" target=_top>http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/02 05091doll1.html</a> <BR> <BR>I&#39;ve been surfing the realty web, and you can buy a forclosed 2 yr old 3 br, 2 bath ranch house in Coral Gables with municipal services, public street, for under 80k.... <BR> <BR>what&#39;s this country comin&#39; to?


If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

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#2 02-11-09 10:55 am

john8verse32
Member
Registered: 01-02-09
Posts: 765

Re: It could be worse....or could it?

Big &#34;O&#34;&#39;s &#34;Stimulus package explained:  <BR> <BR>&#34;Sometime this year, taxpayers will receive an Economic Stimulus Payment. This is a very exciting new program that I will explain using  <BR>the Q and A format:  <BR> <BR>&#34;Q. What is an Economic Stimulus Payment?  <BR>&#34;A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.  <BR> <BR>&#34;Q. Where will the government get this money?  <BR>&#34;A. From taxpayers.  <BR> <BR>&#34;Q. So the government is giving me back my own money?  <BR>&#34;A. No, they are borrowing it from China . Your children are expected to repay the Chinese.  <BR> <BR>&#34;Q. What is the purpose of this payment?  <BR>&#34;A. The plan is that you will use the money to purchase a high-definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy.  <BR> <BR>&#34;Q. But isn&#39;t that stimulating the economy of China ?  <BR>&#34;A. Shut up.&#34;  <BR> <BR>Below is some helpful advice on how to best help the US economy by spending your stimulus check wisely:  <BR> <BR>If you spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China .  <BR> <BR>If you spend it on gasoline it will go to Hugo Chavez, the Arabs and Al Queda  <BR> <BR>If you purchase a computer it will go to Taiwan .  <BR> <BR>If you purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to Mexico , Honduras , Chile , and Guatemala .  <BR> <BR>If you buy a car it will go to Japan and Korea .  <BR> <BR>If you purchase prescription drugs it will go to India  <BR> <BR>If you purchase heroin it will go to the Taliban in Afghanistan  <BR> <BR>If you give it to a charitable cause, it will go to Nigeria .  <BR> <BR>And none of it will help the American economy.  <BR> <BR>We need to keep that money here in America .  <BR> <BR>You can keep the money in America by spending it at yard sales, going to a baseball game, or  <BR>spend it on prostitutes, beer &#40;domestic ONLY&#41;, or tattoos, since those are the only profitable businesses still in the US.&#34; <BR> <BR>so, of course, we can trust the governments stimulus package, right? <BR><img src="http://www.atomorrow.net/discus/messages/22/498.jpg" alt="">


If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

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#3 02-11-09 11:47 am

maggie
Member
Registered: 01-07-09
Posts: 367

Re: It could be worse....or could it?

<font color="0000ff">We need to keep that money here in America.</font> <BR> <BR>Why so dismal...we can always print more!!! <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.atomorrow.net/discus/messages/22/502.jpg" alt="Balkie"> <BR><font size="-2">I can&#39;t be out of money-- <BR>I still have checks!!!</font> <BR> <BR>And besides, Meracuns have alway been <i>real</i> creative with fund raising.<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1><b>quote:</b></font><p><b>Cheney Dunk Tank Raises $800 Billion For Nation</b> <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.atomorrow.net/discus/messages/22/503.jpg" alt="dunk"> <BR> <BR>WASHINGTON—Organizers reported Sunday that the 44th White House Carnival was a rousing success, raising a record $800,000,066,845 for the federal government—$800 billion of which came from a dunk tank featuring former vice president Dick Cheney. <BR> <BR>According to Secretary of the Treasury and carnival volunteer Timothy Geithner, the 5-foot-deep tank has provided a much-needed boost to the nation&#39;s flagging economy. <BR> <BR>&#34;We expected a big turn out, but this is unbelievable,&#34; said Geithner, adding that it&#39;s tradition for the outgoing vice president to work the dunk tank. &#34;More than half the country has already gone, and there&#39;s still about 20 million people stretching all the way to Maryland waiting for their chance to sink Cheney. We&#39;ll be leaving this booth open for as long as it takes for everyone to get a turn.&#34;  <BR> <BR><a href="http://www.theonion.com/content/news/cheney_dunk_tank_raises_800" target="_blank">http://www.theonion.com/content/news/cheney_dunk_tank_raises_800</a><!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>

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#4 05-13-09 10:39 pm

john8verse32
Member
Registered: 01-02-09
Posts: 765

Re: It could be worse....or could it?

$ave big. become an illegal alien <BR> <BR>Great Idea! Become Illegal! Check it out! <BR> <BR>craigslist.org  <BR>Date: 2009-05-13, 9:13PM EDT <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>You&#39;ll love this!  <BR> <BR>FORMS ARE GOING FAST- SIGN UP TODAY!  <BR> <BR>Becoming Illegal &#40;Actual letter from an Iowa resident and sent to his senator&#41;The Honorable Tom Harkin  <BR> <BR>731 Hart Senate Office Building  <BR> <BR>Phone &#40;202&#41; 224 3254  <BR> <BR>Washington, DC 20510  <BR> <BR> <BR>Dear Senator Harkin, <BR> <BR>As a native Iowan and excellent customer of the Internal Revenue Service , I am writing to ask for your assistance. I have contacted the Department of Homeland Security in an effort to determine the process for becoming an illegal alien and they referred me to you... <BR> <BR>My primary reason for wishing to change my status from U.S. Citizen to illegal alien stems from the bill which was recently passed by the Senate and for which you voted. If my understanding of this bill&#39;s provisions is accurate, as an illegal alien who has been in the United States for five years, all I need to do to become a citizen is to pay a $2,000 fine and income taxes for three of the last five years. I know a good deal when I see one and I am anxious to get the process started before everyone figures it out.  <BR> <BR>Simply put, those of us who have been here legally have had to pay taxes every year so I&#39;m excited about the prospect of avoiding two years of taxes in return for paying a $2,000 fine. Is there any way that I can apply to be illegal retroactively? This would yield an excellent result for me and my family because we paid heavy taxes in 2004 and 2005.  <BR> <BR>Additionally, as an illegal alien I could begin using the local emergency room as my primary health care provider. Once I have stopped paying premiums for medical insurance, my accountant figures I could save almost $10,000 a year.  <BR> <BR>Another benefit in gaining illegal status would be that my daughter would receive preferential treatment relative to her law school applications, as well as &#39;in-state&#39; tuition rates for many colleges throughout the United States for my son...  <BR> <BR>Lastly, I understand that illegal status would relieve me of the burden of renewing my driver&#39;s license and making those burdensome car insurance premiums . This is very important to me given that I still have college age children driving my car.  <BR> <BR>If you would provide me with an outline of the process to become illegal &#40;retroactively if possible&#41; and copies of the necessary forms, I would be most appreciative. Thank you for your assistance.  <BR> <BR>Your Loyal Constituent, &#40;hoping to reach &#39;illegal alien&#39; status rather than just a bonafide citizen of the USA &#41;  <BR> <BR> <BR>Donald Ruppert  <BR>Burlington, IA  <BR> <BR>Get your Forms &#40;NOW&#41;!!  <BR> <BR>Call your Internal Revenue Service at 1-800-289-1040 ...  <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>&#40;Please pass this on to your friends so they can save on this great offer.&#41;


If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

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#5 06-02-09 1:23 pm

john8verse32
Member
Registered: 01-02-09
Posts: 765

Re: It could be worse....or could it?

another Airbus crash.... <BR>in the middle of the Atlantic, and this time probably no black box will be recovered, so we may never know... <BR> <BR>but speculation is interesting: <BR> <BR>Weather:  air over the Sahara desert is super heated, and rises in spiral fashion.....as a low pressure area, it spirals counterclockwise... <BR> <BR>then at the equator, the rotating earth moves out from under that rising air, placing the circulating fledgling storm over the warm central Atlantic, where it picks up moisture <BR> <BR>Evaporation from the Atlantic cools the ocean, but adds heat to the moist air, which makes it expand and rise more... as the air rises and therefore cools with increasing altitude, moisture condenses as rain out of the clouds, and this condensation process gives off more heat,  causing the continued rise of the weather system, possibly into a tropical storm.   <BR> <BR>This is the same condensation-gives-off-heat issue which means Noah&#39;s flood could NOT have been caused by a &#34;vapor canopy&#34;,  which if it condensed into water sufficient to cover earths mountains, the heat given off would have melted rocks!!! <BR> <BR>the rising storms are blown westward &#40;actually the earth revolves to the east under the storms&#41;, and the storms encounter increasingly warm atlantic waters, further feeding storms into towering thunderstorms....causing....turbulence and <BR> <BR>Lightning:   as a result of the rising storms lightning could have hit the plane....in the past, aircraft were made out of aluminium tubes, which deflected the lightning away from interior components, protecting the planes systems. <BR> <BR>Airbusses are made of more composite materials, held together with French glue...the same type of glue that did not keep my sons last two pairs of Rossignol skis from delaminating when subjected to cold and stress!!! and up at 35,000 feet, the air could be -20-30....add in the structural flexing needed to stand up to the turbulence, and you have the potential for delam.   <BR> <BR>And the lightening not subjects the plane and its composite structure to the force of the &#34;strike&#34;, where the sudden and intense heat from the strike causes rapid expansion,  but you have the potential delam problem as well. <BR> <BR>Interior damage to the plane would be more severe in a composite structure than an aluminum one. <BR> <BR>Electronics:  in an Airbus are therefore less protected from a lightning strike, and could have been compromised or ruined. <BR> <BR>Computers and software:  are what run an Airbus, it has a &#34;glass cockpit&#34;,  with all input from the pilot going first to a computer, then electronic signals are sent to electrical actuators on wings, flaps, rudder..etc....  and if the computer were zonked by a strike, the whole airplace could become uncontrollable. <BR> <BR>Last time I broke my promise to myself to NEVER fly on an airbus,  the Jet Blue plane taxied away from  Boston terminal, but stopped just short of the runway; the pilot excused the situation by saying &#34;this almost never happens,  but we&#39;re getting funny readings out ofour main computer...we&#39;re going to shut everything down and &#34;reboot&#34;...this means we&#39;ll be here about 10 minutes bringing everything back up&#34; <BR> <BR>conclusion...again:  NEVERNEVERNEVER FLY ON AN AIRBUS AGAIN. <BR> <BR>SWAir flies the smaller Boeing 727 which, while it has computers, is flown by the pilot using controls which are independant of the computer, with hydraulic actuaters not subject to lightning strike or computer error!!! <BR> <BR>but if you&#39;re going intercontental,  or trans continental, there are plenty of Boengs to choose made out of aluminum using US electronics and software.... <BR> <BR>but many of the discounters chose the airbus because the Europeans subsidized the sales ... <BR> <BR>just keep in mind next time your computer crashes: <BR>why trust your flight to a computer when there is a perfectly good pilot up front, and hydraulics &#40;not electronics&#41;to make things work


If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

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#6 06-03-09 6:20 pm

john8verse32
Member
Registered: 01-02-09
Posts: 765

Re: It could be worse....or could it?

Air France will never admit that their plane broke up in the air!!!!  but reports are that electrical failure as described in my prior post may have rendered the controls inoperative, and the aircraft may have become uncontrolable, and broke up in flight. <BR> <BR>from <BR><a href="http://news.aol.com/article/air-france-crash-black-boxes/505833?icid=main" target=_top>http://news.aol.com/article/air-france-crash-black -boxes/505833?icid=main</a>|compaq-desktop|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.co m%2Farticle%2Fair-france-crash-black-boxes%2F50583 3 <BR> <BR><font color="0000ff">Flight 447 disappeared minutes after flying into an extremely dangerous band of storms Sunday night, but what exactly caused its electrical systems and cabin pressure to fail remains a mystery. The &#34;black box&#34; cockpit recorders could be miles below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. <BR> <BR>If they can&#39;t be recovered, investigators will have to focus on maintenance records and a burst of messages sent by the plane just before it disappeared. Officials have released some details of these messages, but a more complete chronology was published Wednesday by Brazil&#39;s O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper, citing an unidentified Air France source. <BR> <BR>  Air France and Brazilian military officials refused to confirm the report. But if accurate, it suggests that Flight 447 may have broken up thousands of feet in the air as it passed through a violent storm, experts told The Associated Press. <BR> <BR>The report said the pilot sent a manual signal at 11 p.m. local time saying he was flying through an area of &#34;CBs&#34; — black, electrically charged cumulo-nimbus clouds ...</font> <BR> <BR>&#40;cumulo-means growing, accumulating, &#41;  <BR>&#40;nimbus means that rain is involved&#41;  <BR>Buildup &#40;meaning they are huge thunderheads&#41; <BR> <BR>   <font color="0000ff">...that come with violent winds and lightning. Satellite data has shown that towering thunderheads were sending 100-mph updrafts into the jet&#39;s flight path at that time. <BR>Ten minutes later, the plane sent a burst of automatic messages, indicating the autopilot had disengaged the &#34;fly-by-wire&#34; computer system had been switched to alternative power, and <b>controls needed to keep the plane stable had been damaged.</b> An alarm also sounded, indicating the deterioration of flight systems, according to the report.</font> <BR> <BR>&#40;and because of the &#34;modern&#34; fly by wire concept of everything bypassing the pilot and going thru a computer, the pilot could no longer control the plane!!!&#41; <BR> <BR> <BR><font color="0000ff">Three minutes after that, more automatic messages indicated the failure of two other fundamental systems pilots use to monitor air speed, altitude and direction. Then, a cascade of other electrical failures in systems that control the main flight computer and wing spoilers. <BR> <BR>The report repeats a detail previously released by Brazil&#39;s Air Force: that the last message came at 11:14 p.m., indicating loss of air pressure</font>... <BR> <BR><i>probably meaning the plane had started breaking up and the internal air pressure was escaping</i> <BR> <BR><font color="0000ff"> and electrical failure. The newspaper said this could mean sudden de-pressurization, or that the plane was already plunging into the ocean.</font> <BR> <BR><i>I hereby resolve to stay off laminated plastic planes.... just like my son stopped buying laminated plastic French Rossignol skis after two sets broke up....</i> <BR> <BR>the pity is that the usual on board weather radar should have warned the pilot to divert around the storms but even pilots sometimes suffer from &#34;get-home-itis&#34;, and company regs may require flying thru &#34;moderate&#34; storms in a straight line to avoid the extra cost of fuel required to &#34;go around&#34; a large set of storms....


If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

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#7 06-24-09 10:25 am

john8verse32
Member
Registered: 01-02-09
Posts: 765

Re: It could be worse....or could it?

“You Light Up My Life”  <BR> <BR>as sung by Debbie Boone..... <BR> <BR>may have had some inappropriate  origins: <BR> <BR>the Songwriter has been Charged With Sexual Assaults  <BR>6/24/09, 9:07 am EST <BR> <BR>Joseph Brooks, the songwriter who won an Oscar for his 1977 hit “You Light Up My Life,” was arrested and charged with 91 counts of rape and sexual assault charges yesterday in Manhattan, the New York Times reports. Brooks, now 71, allegedly advertised on Craigslist in Portland and Seattle for aspiring actresses and lured respondents back to his Upper East Side apartment, where District Attorney Robert Morgenthau says he forced them to drink wine and assaulted them. The incidents occurred between 2005 and 2008, but Morgenthau says the DAs office is also investigating other possible attacks dating back to 1970. Brooks’ attorney Jeffrey C. Hoffman, said his client would plead not guilty and that the charges “look preposterous,” the Times reports. “You Light Up My Life,” which was penned for the film of the same name, won an Academy Award in 1978; the platinum Debby Boone cover set a Billboard record for longest time spent at Number One.  <BR> <BR>Rolling Stone


If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

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#8 06-24-09 9:51 pm

bob_2
Member
Registered: 12-28-08
Posts: 3,790

Re: It could be worse....or could it?

There is ettiquette that young ladies should not violate, like being alone with powerful people and imbibing anything in that situation that can make one powerless or weaker. It is no excuse for the &#34;abuser&#34; but most ladies who have other men in their lives usually can teach them aboutthese situations, so they are not abused or vulnerable. <BR> <BR>However if the young lady&#39;s profit motive is stronger than her common sense or desire to be safe, then look out.

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#9 07-03-09 8:54 pm

john8verse32
Member
Registered: 01-02-09
Posts: 765

Re: It could be worse....or could it?

just when we thought things were getting bad... <BR>along comes the wisest man who ever lived.. <BR> <BR>and things are no better for him!!! <BR> <BR>&#40;CEV&#41; Ecclesiastes 1:1  <BR><font color="ff6000">When the son of David was king in Jerusalem, he was known to be very wise, and he said:    <BR> <BR>2 Nothing makes sense! Everything is nonsense.  <BR>I have seen it all -- nothing makes sense! <BR>    <BR>3 What is there to show for all of our hard work here on this earth?  <BR>   <BR>4 People come, and people go, but still the world never changes.  <BR>   <BR>5 The sun comes up, the sun goes down; it hurries right back to where it started from.   6 The wind blows south, the wind blows north; round and round it blows over and over again. <BR> <BR>7 All rivers empty into the sea, but it never spills over; one by one the rivers return to their source.  <BR>   <BR>8 All of life is far more boring than words could ever say. Our eyes and our ears are never satisfied with what we see and hear.  <BR>   <BR>9 Everything that happens has happened before; nothing is new, nothing under the sun.  <BR>   <BR>10 Someone might say, &#34;Here is something new!&#34; But it happened before, long before we were born.  <BR>   <BR>11 No one who lived in the past is remembered anymore, and everyone yet to be born will be forgotten too.  <BR>   <BR>12 I said these things when I lived in Jerusalem as king of Israel. 13 With all my wisdom I tried to understand everything that happens here on earth. And God has made this so hard for us humans to do.  <BR>   <BR>14 I have seen it all, and everything is just as senseless as chasing the wind. <BR>    <BR>15 If something is crooked, it can&#39;t be made straight; if something isn&#39;t there, it can&#39;t be counted.  <BR>   <BR>16 I said to myself, &#34;You are by far the wisest person who has ever lived in Jerusalem. You are eager to learn, and you have learned a lot.&#34;  <BR> <BR>  17 Then I decided to find out all I could about wisdom and foolishness. Soon I realized that this too was as senseless as chasing the wind. <BR> <BR>   18 The more you know, the more you hurt;  <BR>the more you understand, the more you suffer. </font> <BR> <BR>and this is part of our divine guideline for life? <BR> <BR>and who is to blame for all this?  according to the wisest man who ever lived???? <BR> <BR><font color="ff6000">With all my wisdom I tried to understand everything that happens here on earth. And <b>God has made this so hard for us humans to do.</b></font>


If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

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#10 07-03-09 9:14 pm

john8verse32
Member
Registered: 01-02-09
Posts: 765

Re: It could be worse....or could it?

that version seemed so negative, I thought I&#39;d try another modern version: <BR> <BR>&#40;TEV&#41; Ecclesiastes 1:1  <BR> <BR><font color="ff6000">These are the words of the Philosopher, David&#39;s son, who was king in Jerusalem.    <BR> <BR>2 It is useless, useless, said the Philosopher. Life is useless, all useless.    <BR> <BR>3 You spend your life working, laboring, and what do you have to show for it?    <BR> <BR>4 Generations come and generations go, but the world stays just the same.    <BR> <BR>5 The sun still rises, and it still goes down, going wearily back to where it must start all over again.    <BR> <BR>6 The wind blows south, the wind blows north--round and round and back again.    <BR> <BR>7 Every river flows into the sea, but the sea is not yet full. The water returns to where the rivers began, and starts all over again.    <BR> <BR>8 Everything leads to weariness--a weariness too great for words. Our eyes can never see enough to be satisfied; our ears can never hear enough.    <BR> <BR>9 What has happened before will happen again. What has been done before will be done again. There is nothing new in the whole world. <BR> <BR>   10 &#34;Look,&#34; they say, &#34;here is something new!&#34; But no, it has all happened before, long before we were born.    <BR> <BR>11 No one remembers what has happened in the past, and no one in days to come will remember what happens between now and then.    <BR> <BR> <BR>12 I, the Philosopher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.   13 I determined that I would examine and study all the things that are done in this world. ... <BR><b><font size="+2">God has laid a miserable fate upon us.</font></b>    <BR> <BR>14 I have seen everything done in this world, and I tell you, <b>it is all useless.</b> It is like chasing the wind.    <BR> <BR>15 You can&#39;t straighten out what is crooked; you can&#39;t count things that aren&#39;t there.    <BR> <BR>16 I told myself, &#34;I have become a great man, far wiser than anyone who ruled Jerusalem before me. I know what wisdom and knowledge really are.&#34;    <BR> <BR>17 I was determined to learn the difference between knowledge and foolishness, wisdom and madness. But I found out that I might as well be chasing the wind.    <BR> <BR>18 The wiser you are, the more worries you have; the more you know, the more it hurts.</font> <BR> <BR>ah,  would somebody please pass me that bottle of lithium?   or whatever Michael jackson was taking?  <BR><img src="http://www.atomorrow.net/discus/messages/22/1502.jpg" alt="">


If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

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#11 07-03-09 11:05 pm

renie
Member
Registered: 01-02-09
Posts: 174

Re: It could be worse....or could it?

Here&#39;s one you&#39;ll like from Ecclesasties 7: 15,16.  I have this one memorized  <BR> <BR>&#34;In this meaningless life of mine, I have seen both of these. <BR>A righteous man parishing in his righteousness and a wicked man live long in his wickedness. <BR> <BR>Therefore, do not be overly righteous.&#34; <BR> <BR>That&#39;s not bad advice. <BR> <BR>renie

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#12 07-04-09 12:38 am

john8verse32
Member
Registered: 01-02-09
Posts: 765

Re: It could be worse....or could it?

ya, Renie...but did you read the rest of the story? <BR> <BR>again, allegedly the world&#39;s wisest man writing in Ecc: <BR> <BR> <BR><font color="ff6000">23 I told myself that I would be smart and try to understand all of this, but it was too much for me.    <BR> <BR>24 The truth is beyond us. It&#39;s far too deep.  <BR> <BR>  25 So I decided to learn everything I could and become wise enough to discover what life is all about. At the same time, I wanted to understand why it&#39;s stupid and senseless to be an evil fool.    <BR> <BR>26 Here is what I discovered: <b>A bad woman is worse than death.</b> She is a trap, reaching out with body and soul to catch you. But if you obey God, you can escape. If you don&#39;t obey, <b>you are done for.</b>    <BR> <BR>27 With all my wisdom I have tried to find out how everything fits together,   28 but so far I have not been able to. I do know there is one good man in a thousand, but <b>never have I found a good woman.</b>    <BR> <BR>29 I did learn one thing: We were completely honest when God created us, but now we have twisted minds.</font>  <BR> <BR>never found a good woman?   after trying out thousands of them?  <BR>  <BR>consecutively?..  <BR>concurrently?.. <BR>continually? <BR>consumately? <BR> <BR>what hope is there for the rest of us guys who are supposed to be limited to trying out only one at a time? <BR> <BR>I wonder if Soloman used beer goggles? <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.atomorrow.net/discus/messages/22/1509.gif" alt="">


If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

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#13 07-04-09 7:24 pm

renie
Member
Registered: 01-02-09
Posts: 174

Re: It could be worse....or could it?

John, I just  realized tht I HATE Ecc.  Honestly, I had never read the rest.  I just got quote from somewhere. <BR> <BR>Now I&#39;m going to have to try to unmemorize ECC. 7 <BR> <BR>Oh well!! <BR> <BR>renie

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#14 07-05-09 12:18 pm

pilgrim99
Member
Registered: 12-28-08
Posts: 147

Re: It could be worse....or could it?

Renie, <BR> <BR>Please take some time to work through this study.<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1><b>quote:</b></font><p>Ecclesiastes is one of the favorite books of the Bible for skeptics, scoffers, atheists and certain of the cultists. The reason for that is that there are certain passages in this book which seem to deny that there is life after death, that it is all over when this life ends. Atheists love to contend that the book of Ecclesiastes seems to confirm that view. That is why they frequently quote from it. Hedonists love this book too because it apparently endorses a rather Epicurean lifestyle. Those who pursue pleasure as the chief aim of life -- and there are a great many of them in this country today, as the United States is probably more hedonistic than any nation that has ever existed -- love the book because again and again throughout it we are exhorted to an &#34;Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we must die&#34; philosophy. Then there are passages in this book which are the favorite texts of those who declare that even if we survive beyond this life we enter a period of quietness, a time when we have no knowledge or desires. This teaching falls in line with those cultists who teach &#34;soul sleep,&#34; i.e., that when the body dies the soul goes to sleep within the body. <BR> <BR>But all of these groups fail to note what we must note right from the beginning, that this book is an examination of secular wisdom and knowledge. The book clearly states at the outset that it is limiting itself to that which is apparent to the natural mind. One of the key phrases of the book is the continual repetition of the words, &#34;under the sun.&#34; What does a man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?&#34; Verse 3 asks. We find that phrase used again in Verse 9. That is the limitation put upon this book. <BR> <BR>Ecclesiastes is a collection of what man is able to discern under the sun, i.e., in the visible world. The book does not take into consideration revelation that comes from beyond man&#39;s powers of observation and reason. It is an inspired, an accurate book. It guarantees that what it reports is what people actually believe. but it is an examination of those beliefs. The book is not merely a collection of ancient philosophy, for what it talks about is very much up-to-date and extremely relevant. Here is what you will hear propounded in soap operas, in political speeches, in the radical or conservative movements of our day. Here is what you will hear in the halls of academia, or on the streets of any city. In this book the philosophies by which people attempt to live life are brought into consideration and examined. That is why Ecclesiastes is so practical and up-to-date.<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote> <BR> <BR>The entire study can be engaged with in several different formats at <a href="http://www.pbc.org/message_sets/3767" target=_top>Things that Don&#39;t Work: Ecclesiastes By: Ray Stedman</a>

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#15 07-05-09 9:32 pm

john8verse32
Member
Registered: 01-02-09
Posts: 765

Re: It could be worse....or could it?

Solomon musta had some bad experiences with a few of his many wives and concubines....or maybe all those mothers in law!!! <BR> <BR>cause he says again, this time in Prov 24:25 <BR> <BR><font color="ff6000"> [It is] better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house</font> <BR> <BR>back then, of course, the mud brick houses had a open air roof top probably for sleeping on a hot night ... and its better for a guy up there than inside with a nagging woman!!! <BR> <BR>I&#39;m sure that none of the lovely angels who post here have ever presented that problem.   <BR><img src="http://www.atomorrow.net/discus/messages/22/1529.gif" alt=""> <BR> <BR> <BR>I once saw an episode of Married with Children where Al Bundy and his buds did just that to get away from their wives...only they took their cable tv up on the roof with them!!!


If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

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#16 07-05-09 9:36 pm

pilgrim99
Member
Registered: 12-28-08
Posts: 147

Re: It could be worse....or could it?

Dupe! <BR> <BR>&#40;Message edited by pilgrim99 on July 05, 2009&#41;

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#17 07-06-09 7:46 pm

renie
Member
Registered: 01-02-09
Posts: 174

Re: It could be worse....or could it?

John,  when you want to get rid of the noice in your car, let her drive. <BR> <BR>renie

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#18 07-07-09 7:48 pm

lijhakim
Member
Registered: 12-28-08
Posts: 108

Re: It could be worse....or could it?

&#34;Your Permanent Record&#34; <BR> by Bob Greene. <BR> <BR>&#34;You remember the Permanent Record. In school you were constantly being told that if you messed up, the news would be sent to the principal and placed in your Permanent Record. <BR> <BR>Nothing more needed to be said. No one had ever seen a Permanent Record. That didn&#39;t matter. We knew it was there.  We imagined a steel filing cabinet crammed full of Permanent Records-one for each kid in the school. I think we always assumed that our Permanent Record was sent on to college with us, and later to our employers,- probably with a duplicate to the U.S. government. <BR> <BR>I have a terrible feeling that mine was the last generation to know what a Permanent Record was- and it has disappeared as a concept in society. <BR> <BR>There was a time when people really stopped before they did something they knew was decietful, immoral, or unethical. They didn&#39;t stop because they were such holy folks. They stopped because they had a nagging fear that if they did the foul deed, it would end up on their Permanent Record. <BR> <BR>At some point in the last few decades, I&#39;m afraid, people wised up to something that amazed them: there is no Permanent Record. They discovered that no matter how badly you fouled up your life or the lives of others, there was nothing about it on your record. You would always be forgiven, no matter what. <BR> <BR>So pretty soon men and women- instead of fearing the Permanent Record- started laughing at it. The things that they used to be ashamed of, that once made them cringe when they thought about them, now became &#34;interesting&#34; aspects of their personalities. <BR> <BR>If the details were weird enough, the kind of things that would have really jazzed up the Permanent Record, people sometimes wrote books confessing them, and the books became best-sellers. they found out that other people- far from scorning them-would line up in bookstores to get their autographs. Talk-show host would say, &#34;Thank you for being so honest with us. I&#39;m sure our audience understands how much guts it takes for you to tell us these things.&#34; Permanent Records were being opened up for the whole world to see-and the sky didn&#39;t fall in. <BR> <BR>As Americans began to realize that there probably never had been a Permanent Record, they deduced that any kind of behavior was permissible. All you had to do was say, &#34;That was a real crazy period in my life.&#34; All would be okay. <BR> <BR>And there is where we are today. We have accepted the notion that no one is keeping track. No one is even allowed to keep track. I doubt that you could scare a school-kid nowadays by telling him that the principal was going to inscribe something on his Permanent Record; the kid would file a suit under the Freedom of Information Act and expect to obtain his Permanent Record by recess. Either that, or call it up on his or her computer and delete it. <BR> <BR>As for us adults, it has been so long since we believed in the Permanent Record that the very mention of it now brings a nostalgic smile to our faces. We feel naive for ever having believed there was such a thing. <BR> <BR>BUT WHO REALLY KNOWS? &#40;My emphasis&#41; On some distant day when we check out of this earthly world and approach the gates of our new eternal home, our smiles may freeze. We just might be greeted by a heavenly presence sitting there, casually leafing through a dusty, battered volume of our Permanent Record, as we come jauntily into view.&#34;

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#19 07-08-09 6:35 am

don
Member
Registered: 12-28-08
Posts: 1,121

Re: It could be worse....or could it?

I teach where I went to school. Recently, someone in the Records Office invited me to look over my Permanent Record. Much of the material kept in the file was extraneous to its purpose. All extra material I was invited to remove before it got purged and thrown away. <BR> <BR>I was intrigued with what I found besides the necessary transcript of grades: <ul><li>Two aptitude tests and two rather different IQ scores; neither terribly flattering.  <LI>A letter sent home alerting mom to our being tardy to the 7:30 a.m. class.  <LI>A letter from the president telling me not to involve a renegade group from Walla Walla because reports of the group were &#34;not favorable&#34;. <LI>A form indicating why I was on the Honour Roll.</li></ul>All these things had long past disappeared from my conscious memory. <BR> <BR>At my age, and stage in my career, I doubt that even the transcripts in that Permanent Record folder really makes that much difference. But, to a budding historian, the record is fascinating. <BR><font color="ffffff"><font size="-2">.</font></font>

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#20 07-13-09 11:53 pm

bob
Member
Registered: 12-28-08
Posts: 296

Re: It could be worse....or could it?

Hubert, I have the record of my life permanently recorded in my brain.  Jesus promised to destroy my permanent record when I gave my life to Him. The book of records with my name is blank and yours is or could be too.  I trust that He is faithful in doing so. <BR> <BR>You get your cue from the IJ which is nowhere found in scripture.  It keeps SDAs from knowing or expressing that they are saved.  You can&#39;t have a positive belief in Scripture and believe the writings of Ellen White, they conflict.

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