@Mazex

Well, where your claim about brainwashed people falls apart is that if Jesus was made up (which no reputed historian would claim), or His resurrection wasn't true, his disciples certainly wouldn't have martyred themselves for that lie. Being direct witnesses of the fact, you can't claim they were brainwashed. So yeah.

I posted the historical reliability of the bible because it shows its not just cooked up, as you tried to claim. It's highly intricate, and I dare say it would be actually be more miraculous for holding up so reliably if it wasnt true. 100 percent historical accuracy is pretty compelling, I think..it indicates that these are honest eye witness accounts we're dealing with.

Here are some interesting science facts that the bible fortold thousands of years before science knew anything about it..pretty good for made up isnt it?

The earth free-floats in space (Job 26:7), affected only by gravity. While other sources declared the earth sat on the back of an elephant or turtle, or was held up by Atlas, the Bible alone states what we now know to be true – “He hangs the earth on nothing.”

Creation is made of particles, indiscernible to our eyes (Hebrews 11:3). Not until the 19th century was it discovered that all visible matter consists of invisible elements.

Oceans contain springs (Job 38:16). The ocean is very deep. Almost all the ocean floor is in total darkness and the pressure there is enormous. It would have been impossible for Job to have explored the "springs of the sea." Until recently, it was thought that oceans were fed only by rivers and rain. Yet in the 1970s, with the help of deep diving research submarines that were constructed to withstand 6,000 pounds-per-square-inch pressure, oceanographers discovered springs on the ocean floors!

There are mountains on the bottom of the ocean floor (Jonah 2:5-6). Only in the last century have we discovered that there are towering mountains and deep trenches in the depths of the sea

Blood is the source of life and health (Leviticus 17:11; 14). Up until 120 years ago, sick people were “bled” and many died as a result (e.g. George Washington). Today we know that healthy blood is necessary to bring life-giving nutrients to every cell in the body. God declared that “the life of the flesh is in the blood” long before science understood its function.

Noble behavior understood (John 15:13; Romans 5:7-8). The Bible and history reveal that countless people have endangered or even sacrificed their lives for another. This reality is completely at odds with Darwin’s theory of the survival of the fittest.

The first three verses of Genesis accurately express all known aspects of the creation (Genesis 1:1-3). Science expresses the universe in terms of: time, space, matter, and energy. In Genesis chapter one we read: “In the beginning (time) God created the heavens (space) and the earth (matter)…Then God said, “Let there be light (energy).” No other creation account agrees with the observable evidence.

The universe had a beginning (Genesis 1:1; Hebrews 1:10-12). Starting with the studies of Albert Einstein in the early 1900s and continuing today, science has confirmed the biblical view that the universe had a beginning. When the Bible was written most people believed the universe was eternal. Science has proven them wrong, but the Bible correct.

Light can be divided (Job 38:24). Sir Isaac Newton studied light and discovered that white light is made of seven colors, which can be “parted” and then recombined. Science confirmed this four centuries ago – God declared this four millennia ago!

Ocean currents anticipated (Psalm 8:8). Three thousand years ago the Bible described the “paths of the seas.” In the 19th century Matthew Maury – the father of oceanography – after reading Psalm 8, researched and discovered ocean currents that follow specific paths through the seas! Utilizing Maury’s data, marine navigators have since reduced by many days the time required to traverse the seas.

Incalculable number of stars (Jeremiah 33:22). At a time when less than 5,000 stars were visible to the human eye, God stated that the stars of heaven were innumerable. Not until the 17th century did Galileo glimpse the immensity of our universe with his new telescope. Today, astronomers estimate that there are ten thousand billion trillion stars – that’s a 1 followed by 25 zeros! Yet, as the Bible states, scientists admit this number may be woefully inadequate.

The number of stars, though vast, are finite (Isaiah 40:26). Although man is unable to calculate the exact number of stars, we now know their number is finite. Of course God knew this all along – “He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name” (Psalm 147:4). What an awesome God!

The fact that God once flooded the earth (the Noahic Flood) would be denied (2 Peter 3:5-6). There is a mass of fossil evidence to prove this fact, yet it is flatly ignored by most of the scientific world because it was God’s judgment on man’s wickedness.

The continents were created as one large land mass (Genesis 1:9-10). Many geologists agree there is strong evidence that the earth was originally one super continent – just as the Bible said way back in Genesis.

Life begins at fertilization (Jeremiah 1:5). God declares that He knew us before we were born. The biblical penalty for murdering an unborn child was death (Exodus 21:22-23). Today, it is an irrefutable biological fact that the fertilized egg is truly an entire human being. Nothing will be added to the first cell except nutrition and oxygen.

God has created all mankind from one blood (Acts 17:26; Genesis 5). Today researchers have discovered that we have all descended from one gene pool. For example, a 1995 study of a section of Y chromosomes from 38 men from different ethnic groups around the world was consistent with the biblical teaching that we all come from one man (Adam)

Origin of the major language groups explained (Genesis 11). After the rebellion at Babel, God scattered the people by confounding the one language into many languages. Evolution teaches that we all evolved from a common ancestor, yet offers no mechanism to explain the origin of the thousands of diverse languages in existence today.

Origin of the different “races” explained (Genesis 11). As Noah’s descendants migrated around the world after Babel, each language group developed distinct features based on environment and genetic variation. Those with a genetic makeup suitable to their new environment survived to reproduce. Over time, certain traits (such as dark skin color for those closer to the equator) dominated. Genesis alone offers a reasonable answer to the origin of the races and languages.

Air has weight (Job 28:25). It was once thought that air was weightless. Yet 4,000 years ago Job declared that God established “a weight for the wind.” In recent years, meteorologists have calculated that the average thunderstorm holds thousands of tons of rain. To carry this load, air must have mass.

Medical quarantine instituted (Leviticus 13:45-46; Numbers 5:1-4). Long before man understood the principles of quarantine, God commanded the Israelites to isolate those with a contagious disease until cured.

Circumcision on the eighth day is ideal (Genesis 17:12; Leviticus 12:3; Luke 1:59). Medical science has discovered that the blood clotting chemical prothrombin peaks in a newborn on the eighth day. This is therefore the safest day to circumcise a baby. How did Moses know?!

Our ancestors were not primitive (Genesis 4:20-22; Job 8:8-10; 12:12). Archeologists have discovered that our ancestors mined, had metallurgical factories, created air-conditioned buildings, designed musical instruments, studied the stars, and much more. This evidence directly contradicts the theory of evolution, but agrees completely with God’s Word.

A seed must die to produce new life (1 Corinthians 15:36-38). Jesus said, “unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” (John 12:24). In this verse is remarkable confirmation of two of the fundamental concepts in biology: 1) Cells arise only from existing cells. 2) A grain must die to produce more grain. The fallen seed is surrounded by supporting cells from the old body. These supporting cells “give their lives” to provide nourishment to the inner kernel. Once planted, this inner kernel germinates resulting in much grain

Olive oil and wine useful on wounds (Luke 10:34). Jesus told of a Samaritan man, who when he came upon a wounded traveler, he bandaged him – pouring upon his wounds olive oil and wine. Today we know that wine contains ethyl alcohol and traces of methyl alcohol. Both are good disinfectants. Olive oil is also a good disinfectant, as well as a skin moisturizer, protector, and soothing lotion. This is common knowledge to us today. However, did you know that during the Middle Ages and right up till the early 20th century, millions died because they did not know to treat and protect open wounds?

The Pleiades and Orion star clusters described (Job 38:31). The Pleiades star cluster is gravitationally bound, while the Orion star cluster is loose and disintegrating because the gravity of the cluster is not enough to bind the group together. 4,000 years ago God asked Job, "Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loose the belt of Orion?" Yet, it is only recently that we realized that the Pleiades is gravitationally bound, but Orion's stars are flying apart.

Soil conservation (Leviticus 23:22). Not only was the land to lay fallow every seventh year, but God also instructed farmers to leave the gleanings when reaping their fields, and not to reap the corners (sides) of their fields. This served several purposes: 1) Vital soil minerals would be maintained. 2) The hedge row would limit wind erosion. 3) The poor could eat the gleanings. Today, approximately four billion metric tons of soil are lost from U.S. crop lands each year. Much of this soil depletion could be avoided if God’s commands were followed.

Animals do not have a conscience (Psalm 32:9). A parrot can be taught to swear and blaspheme, yet never feel conviction. Many animals steal, but they do not experience guilt. If man evolved from animals, where did our conscience come from? The Bible explains that man alone was created as a moral being in God’s image.

>> ^blankfist:

>> ^NetRunner:
>> ^blankfist:
And their stock suggestions have worked out well for me. But that's mainly because I think it's a good idea to bet against the US dollar, especially now, and their stock suggestions are basically mostly that.

So be specific, how are they saying to bet against the dollar? Buy gold and silver? Buy foreign currency or foreign stocks & bonds?
Which of those have paid off big (you mentioned tripling your 401k)?

I didn't say they said "bet against the dollar". I said that. They don't sell gold or silver, either. They review companies that do though. And as far as I can tell they're not selling anything.
They have a number of stocks they think will do well as the currency inflates, and so far they've been spot on. Mainly mining companies and the occasional agriculture company. Read on.
http://inflation.us/stocks.html


Intro paragraph at that link:

One of our missions at the National Inflation Association is to discover and profile companies that we believe will prosper in an inflationary environment. Typically we will bring to you producing, profitable, Gold and Silver companies with strong balance sheets. We believe these stocks have a chance of becoming some of the best performers of the next decade.

That said, those look like decent enough picks, even if the much ballyhooed hyperinflation never actually arrives. They've got oil, gas, food, tech stocks, even some potash (very trendy) in there, which are mostly bets that global warming is real, the oil is running out, and the developing economies will rapidly increase their demand for food & oil over the next decade. All safe bets!

Though the bulk of it is stock in precious metal traders and miners, and I'm not sure that quite counts as "betting against the dollar" so much as betting that the hysteria about inflation will lead to a boom for gold traders. At least inflation.us knows which side their bread is buttered on.

Assuming these companies themselves aren't scams, they're not setting you up to lose your shirt if Paul Krugman continues to be right, and Peter Schiff continues to be wrong. You might take a hit if/when a Republican reclaims the White House, and all the talk of inflation disappears though.

>> ^BansheeX:

I see little difference between this and dollars. Who is behind its issuance? Who will be behind it 100 years from now? What ensures that a company or a government doesn't take it over and issue bitcoins for themselves without labor while everyone else has to labor?<


The system actually does not allow this. The "mint" as well as the "bank" are a massively peer to peer system. The coins are scarce, because the system only generates coins at a fixed rate. Because the system auto adjusts, each coin is cryptographically more difficult to generate then the one before. these coins are awarded to miners based on real cryptographic, unfakable, work that they do to generate the coins. The history of each coin is tracked collectively by the p2p system, and any coin that has broken its rules is considered invalid.

The only significant hacks on the system require having more processing power than the entire existing BitCoin network, and only allows you to either:

1) reverse your own transactions, thereby double spending, and committing easily traceable fraud.
2) deviate from the systems rules, making all your coins invalid, getting barred from interacting with peers using the official client, and end up with a fork of the network, which generates and processes coins that nobody on the official network will accept. (Note: official in this context refers to adhering to the standard, not the approval of any central body)

wow, even the elite left are perfectly sure our government is telling the whole story with bin laden. maybe i'd believe the tale too if it wasn't for the this:
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/16/inv.binladen.denial/
and the fake "confession":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhctMpvszqQ&feature=related

not saying bin laden didn't hate america, or take action against this country. and maybe he was the "mastermind"...the ultimate boogey man. but i'm not so sure things are so tidy. and i'm pretty sure that the image of bin laden has been well crafted in both life and death.
and where has saudi arabia been in the discussion (ever?)
why is it that we accept that bush lied to get us into Iraq but we can't equally consider that our government lied to get us into afghanistan (some of the richest mineral deposits in the world)?
Our government is in the business of perception management and largely communicates to its people through crafted propaganda.
something is rotten in denmark

http://lyrics.wikia.com/Cowboy_Junkies:Mining_For_Gold

We are miners, hard rock miners
To the shaft house we must go
oil bottles on our shoulders
We are marching to the slow

On the line boys, on the line boys
Drill your holes and stand in line
'til the shift boss comes to tell you
You must drill her out on time

Can't you feel the rock dust in your lungs?
It'll cut down a miner when he is still young
Two years and the silicosis takes hold
and I feel like I'm dying from mining for gold

Yes, I feel like I'm dying from mining for gold

>> ^BoneRemake:

>> ^syncron:
I have just came to the realization that I've learned nothing from my middle school geography class.

Geography or geology ?

Yea the scale is a good thing to know about.


Oh... geology, I guess I didn't learn anything about geography either.

>> ^syncron:

I have just came to the realization that I've learned nothing from my middle school geography class.


Geography or geology ?


Yea the scale is a good thing to know about.

They're just starting in Michigan now.

http://www.cleanwateraction.org/feature/rush-drill-threatens-michigan%E2%80%99s-water-and-quality-life

Unfortunately, the economic situation in many states is forcing mineral rights sales...fun times. I can't see how risking contamination of as much fresh water as is in question here can possibly be a good idea for anyone. Can you imagine the economic damage that comes with entire areas of the country having unsafe drinking water?

There needs to be some sort of standard punishment for causing long-term damage to any public system, whether it's economic or environmental. The fact that the gas companies can do this or banks can do similar things economically and get away with executive bonuses and such is simply intolerable. In the case of fracking, even if some case were somehow brought against Halliburton can you even put a true dollar amount on the damages you'd be responsible for as a corporation when you're talking about an entire aquifer or watershed?

>> ^dgandhi:

>> ^NordlichReiter:
Also Planned Parenthood representatives should not be telling people to lie on their forms.

Think about that for a second, Some guy comes in, says he is pimping out young girls, and that he may need to get them abortions. You can:
A) tell him that you can't help and have him go to some back ally butcher, and totally off your radar.
B) tell him to bring the girls in, where they will at least get competent medical care, and might get some legal help.
This is exactly what happened with ACORN, they played to the supposed pimp, TO GATHER INFORMATION, and then they reported it to the AG, that's what they SHOULD do.
PP needs to grow a pair of ovaries and say loudly and publicly that stringing along criminals to assist in the collection of information about the abuse and sexual exploitation of miners is, and should be, part of their job, and deserves federal funding.


That's all fine so long as they do not break the law in the process. Justice is blind and blind for a reason.

>> ^NordlichReiter:

Also Planned Parenthood representatives should not be telling people to lie on their forms.


Think about that for a second, Some guy comes in, says he is pimping out young girls, and that he may need to get them abortions. You can:

A) tell him that you can't help and have him go to some back ally butcher, and totally off your radar.
B) tell him to bring the girls in, where they will at least get competent medical care, and might get some legal help.

This is exactly what happened with ACORN, they played to the supposed pimp, TO GATHER INFORMATION, and then they reported it to the AG, that's what they SHOULD do.

PP needs to grow a pair of ovaries and say loudly and publicly that stringing along criminals to assist in the collection of information about the abuse and sexual exploitation of miners is, and should be, part of their job, and deserves federal funding.

All things considered, I think I'd rather be shot by a miner than be indoctrinated into our current modern world.

How to make a fish tank case mod.

[redacted]

damn... that's seriously claustrophobic. And that scene of the two miners taking a rest, and smoking?? So wrong (for several reasons).

I think people understate just how much of a mess the gameplay of of ME1 was. The shooting felt subpar by 3rd person shooter standards. The abilities were either poorly thought out or overpowered. Remember all the floating helplessly and praying not to die? The inventory interface was an atrocity. The game suffered from a Diabloesque overload of randomly generated loot. Fucking omnigel. Endless bouncy rover missions on spiky randomly generated terrain, all so you can slowly horde minerals and literally useless collectibles.

I totally agree that some of that could have been fixed and redeemed rather than scrapped and replaced. I'd like to see weapon mods, armor mods, and implants come back. As well as a fun version of vehicle based planetary exploration.

But over all, ME2 managed to make the combat solid and enjoyable. While keeping the focus on the story and characters, which is really what kept most of us playing.