This reminds me of the Great Disappointment of 1844. Unfortunately, the cognitive dissonance of not having the prophecy fulfilled makes those involved double down and become MORE devoted to the cause afterwards.

pity that even the title of this conversation is cast through a religious lens

But the good doctor is not liberal, nor even republican, in the ordinary sense of the word. He's a true libertarian, isn't he? More than his son, it seems.

Only a little religious study will lead you to understand they took rafts from the middle=east
>> ^mgittle:

I'd like to see the explanation of how species made it to other continents if Noah let all the animals off the ark in the same place.
Also, there is no mention of plants. I guess they can't drown.

Responding to pennypacker's "Isn't a common trope from neolibs and Videosifters a lament that the American public is "too stupid" to vote?"

Yes, it's frustrating that huge chunks of the population believes in stupid shit and votes based on misinformation (Iraq attacked us on 9/11, etc) but that's an argument for better education and accurate journalism, not for taking the knuckleheads' right to vote away!

The liberal argument is that we shouldn't be giving tax cuts out (cutting revenue) during a recession, but at least tax cuts to the middle class would spur the economy. Rich folks don't do nothing with tax cuts but squirrel it away, according to statistics and studies et cetera. I lived among the richest of folks and the only suffering going on around here is the ever-present status anxiety that the life among the cloudy heights will fall soon. Whereas my notsorich family is so grateful that medicare kicked in to help get through the cancer...

I don't think I understand this argument. He is saying that the rich are going to spend money on stuff . . . right? Isn't that what we want the rich to do - spend money? I also am a bit mystified as to his motive for the class warfare crap (assigning evil to every millionaire, ie 'the high and mighty'); whose love of money is he exposing, exactly? Sounds like he's got a bit of pecunious envy. That love of money deal- it really is the root of all sorts of evil.

Sure, dogs stick to routines, but they are extremely loyal, as well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachik%C5%8D

In an ideal world we'd know the signs of impending death before we have to go through the shock of watching our loved ones go through the whole process (terminal agitation, heightened sensitivity, etc) feeling the horror of not knowing what to do, how to make it better.

Thanks for answering my next question. Is the black a warning color or something?

>> ^bamdrew:

Apparently a European Hamster - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Hamster - a.k.a. a black-bellied hamster

Had that poster, too. An image from my scariest dreams.

speaking of original intents, it seems our anti-progress friends have forgotten that that most conservative of founding fathers, the framer of the constitution, James Madison felt so strongly that government should have nothing to do with religion that he was against tax-exempt status for churches and even military chaplains

Let me simplify this whole PC thing: don't be a dick. It's ugly. Grow up already.



...mmm, Inupiat Pies...

I'll say it again, if gals needed to play guitar to get boys to want to have sex with them, we'd see a lot more of this

Also just had this thought this morning: Could sexual orientation be epigenetically determined? It would still be innate, but be a response to the conditions that one of your grandmothers lived through, for instance.

Sure, evidence abounds. For the most scientifically exhaustive [ie boring] compilation of observation of non-heterosexual behavior in the animal world go to Bi
ological Exuberance.

Gay giraffes necking... imagine the possibilities! Not just gay, every imaginable variation of behavior. Human beings are still the most diverse in this way, though.
>> ^Mcboinkens:

Do you have any evidence of this in the animal world?