Hey Newtboy, what's your background in reading and understanding scripture? I believe this is the scripture you were referring to, and if it is there is more to it:

1 Corinthians 2:11 For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

Through the Holy Spirit, man is capable of understand Gods word:

1 Corinthians 2:12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.

1 Corinthians 2:13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

This can come through the hearing of the word, the exposition of the word by a believer, or other means..but in all cases God must intervene directly with revelation:

John 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

It is the Holy Spirit who will teach us how to understand and interpret the word of God:

John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

It is not that men are incapable of understanding the truth that God reveals, it is that they deliberately turn away from that truth and harden their hearts towards God:

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

Romans 1:19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

Romans 1:20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

We have a choice to accept or reject God; He makes His will known to each one of us, but we have the choice of rejecting His will and doing what we would like to do instead:

John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the Light, because their deeds were evil.

Thanks for answering my questions.

Sure thing

I don't give a single fuck about mainstream music, but, you really can't find fault in the artist at this point.
Just like automation has made many of us lazy in day to day tasks, I'm sure the benefits of digitization have made most of todays 'pop' artists not care too much about their real-life performances.
Not that this has to be said, hopefully, but: Ultimately 'pop' music is a construct of dozens of individuals, neatly produced, prepped and packaged for an audience with the sole intent of profit. Those that buy into it are far more worthy of ridicule than the artists themselves, even if the artists and all those who support them are guilty of dumbing down what most people consider art.
In the end, if you don't like this kind of shit, post, promote and value your favorite live bands. At least that introduces people to new, greater-quality experiences, whereas this won't change anyone's mind about the music. It just makes fans turn away, and those who already knew better feel good about themselves.
This wasn't aimed at the poster. Just humanity in general.

I would fail. I couldn't bring myself to hit a woman. In any circumstance. (especially not the blonde in the TN, rowr!)

In the course of my business, I got involved with an employee's problem with a drunk. He was much smaller than me, but got in a sucker punch while I was turned away from him. He was obviously hoping for a glass jaw, but mine is more like a cinder brick, only heavier. Anyways, he just pissed me off. He was flitting around, connecting, breaking skin a couple times, but no real power so it was just annoying. I finally connected -once- and he went down. Then two girls from his group grabbed onto me (ugly skanks so it wasn't remotely fun) and he ran off. They were scratching at me, kicking, and then one started to -without one word of a lie- try to burn me with her cigarette lighter. I still didn't hit either one. I wasn't brought up that way. I was finally able to push them far enough away and threatening to pound them kept them away.

It might be different if the female in question had a weapon, knife or club, and was intent on killing me, but anyplace where I could handle the damage, and knowing I could do seriously outclassed damage to them? No, I'd just take it.

Seems odd that the pepsi is easy to recognize as a pepsi product, but the beers have had the labels removed and the wine is turned away so not to recognize. Possibly some kind of viral? Can anyone think of why they would remove the beer labels but not the pepsi label?

-edit-
hmmm well the other vids they have don't seem to have any obvious product placement but still curious as to why the beer labels have been removed.

Meh, I dunno Aaronfr. I do understand your point of view and the cynical part of me is turned away by it, but really, it's a win-win. For instance, most people don't donate to charities out of genuine altruism so much as to *feel* as though they're altruistic, and that's really a perfectly acceptable reason. Every company that "donates a portion to charity" and has pink yogurt lids or whatever are doing it for marketing, but that's okay too because they're still donating money.

If that's what it takes, that's what it takes. These things work both ways. Maybe this kid took advantage of the WWE's desire for free publicity to get his dying wish fulfilled. If giving people a ribbon to wear on their lapel so they can stroke stroke their ego in public for the rest of the day brings in more donations, it's worth the extra cost of the ribbons.

So, a little birdie told me my comments resonated a bit. I just wanted to followup on that.

Above all; life hasn't given anyone turdinade in the context of this site. It's given us a really well maintained site with a well-meaning community, so don't take my criticism to be pooh-poohing what I visit every day and am really thankful for.

Secondly, my only real criticism was that the 'sift leaned heavily in the direction of the 'cool-kids club', in that you had to prove yourself to be acknowledged as a viable member.
There is nothing wrong with that in and of itself.
If I were to suggest *anything* be changed it's from a an entirely , selfish, subjective and personal perspective, and the only thing that has ever come to mind is this: If someone's been around for years, participates in some form regularly, and isn't a complete asshole, maybe they should get additional member benefits.
Otherwise it just seems the site could be more balanced for its own features and functions. I supposedly have 38 Power Points saved up, but I've no idea what I can do with them, and siftbot knocks my hand aside every time I try to do even the most seemingly innocent thing.

Also, this opinion has also been formed in complete ignorance of the rules or steps necessary to gain more privileges on the site. My initial negative feelings toward the gated privileges caused me to never care enough to look up what I might have to do in order to grow more.

At any rate this turns the whole topic into an Artician-pity-party (cause: 'wah! I don't sift videos and partake in the predetermined path to membership, and I'm butt-hurt I don't have more status/authority/control over the basic features of the website!") and ultimately, that's the only place my gripe was coming from.
I've known others to feel similarly in the past, though never spoken to anyone at length about it, and I can imagine that the rules as they are have turned away many people over the years who otherwise might have stuck around if they didn't have to fight an uphill battle to get rid of that horrid, red 'P' next to their names.

<3

My analogy has nothing to do with accepting the job and backing out, it has everything to do with WHY they refused these clients service. These people were turned away because of their sexual orientation. That was the photographers own words, it's not contested. 'We don't want to shoot your wedding because same sex marriage is against our beliefs.' That's discrimination. It's really quite simple. If you turn down customers on the basis of sexual orientation you are discriminating. You pay a fine.

This is probably the only time I'll ever agree with Mike Hucabee.

Gay people should not be turned away from like a best buy, applebees, whatever. But people who take photos, make videos, design clothes, they should be allowed to say I can't do this for you because my heart would not be in it.

While I see where you're coming from, I have a few issues with what you're saying:

1. The organization you're referring to is staffed, has offices and overheads. Assuming it isn't corrupt and skimming and holding multi-million-dollar appreciation nights and galas (and we probably shouldn't assume that it isn't), the money you're giving this organization still gets portioned off quite a bit. Your point about helping on the systemic level is quite valid (provided you are channelling your concern into actually doing so), but I'd look more into local community health centres or the nonprofit down the street, and still, that money isn't guaranteed to reach the person in front of you. Much as a social worker can help him connect to essential services, advocate for fair and affordable housing, counsel him on trauma, etc, he will still need money for a lot of basic needs.

2. You are vastly oversimplifying the needs and situation of every person on the street. That person may actually depend on money from strangers to make rent (being that welfare barely puts a dent in even the lowest affordable housing costs), feed kids, buy food that isn't McDonald's or canned food, get a haircut, or a million other things that everyone needs money for.

3. Even if that person intends to spend some of your money on oxy or crack, it is not in your right to judge that. While addiction can very generally be called "bad", this person may suffer from chronic pain, trauma, mental illnesses, or some combination and short of governments finally realizing that housing and caring for the poor is cheaper than incarcerating them and treating emergency health conditions, self-medicating is the only reasonable way they can continue functioning for another day. This isn't even an unlikely scenario; think how easily someone can go from your (or my) comfy life to homeless, poor and desperate. It isn't always "bad decisions"; you could be a contractor that falls and gets a serious injury, hit by a car, stricken with a mental illness you have no control over, traumatized earlier in life, born into a high-risk environment or social strata, or anything else, and then start sliding from there. You develop an addiction, your income comes to a screeching halt, your loved ones can't or get too tired to support you, bills that were routine become suffocating, and there you are on the street, pain exploding relentlessly in your body/mind, on the other side of the decision, seeing chins turned up and eyes turned away from you and hearing people mutter "Don't give anything to him; he's just gonna use it to get high," to each other.

4. Not a single person in the video (and really, in just about every situation you see on whatever street you're on) speaks to or even looks at the guy.

While I wouldn't expect that everyone gives money to folks on the street (I myself have only done it a few times), it frustrates me to hear people insist that nobody should. "He's just going to use it for drugs/booze" is a presumptuous and ignorant statement and mindset.

One more thing: if you really care about urban poverty and those suffering from it, the biggest thing (IMO) you can do is vote for politicians/parties who openly and strongly support social services and welfare, then hold them to their promises. I don't make a ton of money, but I am happy to pay higher taxes and lose some luxuries if it means people who need help just to get by get it.

*related=http://videosift.com/video/No-Sleep-Til-Brooklyn-Beastie-Boys-1986

I love this tune - I know it by heart - or at least know by heart how I though the lyrics went when I listened to it as a kid.



Bedtime boys!
Oh mom!

Now hey there people, won't you lend an ear?
'cause I've a story to tell and I'm telling it here
I was born in a town in the great UK
From a baby to a boy to a man today
And I'm a musical man, and I'm a man of verse
But I've got a little problem and it's getting worse

Well my life was so well planned
Survivin' and a-jivin' in a f-f-funk band
'cause rappin', it's my, bread and butter
But it's hard to rap when you're born with a st-st-st, st, st-st, st,
st-t, st-t, stutter!

Well no-one's ever seen what I mean
From the age of n-n-n-n-n-n-thirteen
We've all been caught in a m-m-mouth trap
So join with us and do the st-st-st-st-st-st-st-stutter rap

Well it was '82 when I joined the boys
And I was hip, and I was cool, but now I've lost my poise
The kids, our fans, are starting to doubt
When you open your mouth and nothing comes out
(..)

And it breaks my heart that we're not on the chart
'cause the record's nearly over when the vocals start
And I'm down and out, and I'm down on my luck
And I'm livin' on my own and I'm dying for a fr-riend to say "You're great!" But I'm under the hammer
'cause all I seem to do is s-s-s-stee-
(..)
Come on man!
(..)
s-s-s-st-stammer!

Well no-one's ever seen what I mean
From the age of n-n-n-n-n-n-thirteen
We've all been caught in a m-m-mouth trap
So join with us and do the st-st-st-st-st-st-st-stutter rap

Neighbours..

Well interviewers turn away
Who wants to be covered with spray?
Talkin' to me for more than an hour
Is equivalent to an April shower
It's tough! Tough! Tougher than tough!
It's worse than Benny Hill and that's bad enough!
Something must be wrong with your vocal technique
When the twelve inch mix goes on for a week

I was rappin' in my club the other night
When nothin' I said was comin' out right
The crowd got angry, and this one man
He was gonna throw a bottle
He was gonna chuck a can, chuck a can, chuck a, chuck a, chuck a,
chuck a

Well no-one's ever seen what I mean
From the age of n-n-n-n-n-n-thirteen
We've all been caught in a m-m-mouth trap
So join with us and do the st-st-st-st-st-st-st-stutter rap

N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-NO, NEED, FOR SHOUTING!

W-w-w-w-why's that then?

Well, you'll wake Mr Whittaker at number thirty-two

Besides, it's not very good for the voice

(An amplifier or similar shorts out)

Uuhhh!

That's a bit harsh isn't it?

NO, SLEEP, 'TIL BEDTIME!

Talking of which - it's ten-thirty already!

Is it? Ooooh!

What time do they stay up 'til in America?

(I mean)

Oh, very late. Sometimes quarter to eleven

(Ahhhh)

Well actually I've heard in New York they sometimes even stay up 'til midnight

No! No wonder they do all that shouting

(I mean)

Yes, they must be very snappy and irritable

That's right

(Ahhhh)

Do you know, I heard a story that those Toastie Boys stayed up 'til
quarter past twelve!

Really? Well that's just silly!

They're just gonna get burnt out

Burnt out!

Well no-one's ever seen what I mean
From the age of n-n-n-n-n-n-thirteen
We've all been caught in a m-m-mouth trap
So join with us and do the st-st-st-st-st-st-st-stutter rap

Well no-one's ever seen what I mean
From the age of n-n-n-n-n-n-thirteen
We've all been caught in a m-m-mouth trap
So join with us and do the st-st-st-st-st-st-st-stutter rap

Well no-one's ever seen what I mean
From the age of n-n-n-n-n-n-thirteen...

(Fades out)

I think it's because Quebec has a shortage of doctors because Quebec in it's infinite stupidity and xenophobia do not allow doctors to practice unless they speak high level french (the same reason I can't get Permanent Residency here while other Aussie friends in BC and Ontario had no issue). I guess we simply didn't have a serious shortage in Australia. It's so easy to find a GP, I guess it might be harder to find one that Bulk Bills (medicare takes the entire cost of consultation) for low income earners.

My experience at hospitals is limited. When i got hit on the head by a cricket bat, i had to wait 2 hours, I think (was a long time ago), to get stitches. And when I had my tonsils out, I had to wait 6 months for the elective surgery because we didn't have private insurance.

My girlfriend had to go to the ER when she had mono here, we had to wait an hour or two before she was seen by a doctor. While we were there, the hospital was fucking decrepit, the waiting room was freezing (there was a lady who had a broken arm and she was violently shivering), and nearer the end of the day (my GF had to have an IV drip so we had to wait around there all day to see if it helped her) an old lady was called up and as she was walking past she said she had been there since 8 in the morning and they had literally forgotten about her.

One of my friends has an issue with kidney stones, they build up and he has to have surgery to get them out. He had a procedure booked for I don't know how long, went to the hospital and they told him they didn't have any beds left and he had to wait another week.

The Jewish General has now been instructed to turn away off-island patients. It has the best cancer treatment facility of any hospital, so people with cancer are now instructed to kindly fuck off.

The new, mega hospital in Vendome is waaaay over budget and time, and people (particularly old people) can't even get to it from the metro station right near it!

I'd love to move to Vancouver...

Hey, as long as the no-waiting includes semi-emergency services akin to and with the predictability of the ethics of trauma center care for cost-prohibitive percutaneous coronary intervention, they can bill me...I simply may not be able to pay all at once, but I'll guarantee with confidence and a certainty from experience that I won't get turned-away from the table, with or without insurance. If we have to, and taking a cue from the fine United States citizens bordering our neighbors to the north, we'll simply stroll into Canada-

Everyone's gonna go someday until we don't have to unless we choose to and the alternative to the flesh dying and that kind of longevity probably won't happen for at least a hundred years or more....Timing. Almost everything.

I thought it was telling that the guy was masturbating/watching porn openly with the door open, like he was hoping that his room mate (or anyone) would come home and 'catch' him. The room mate comes in the door, sees him, and hangs his head as if to say 'not again Mike, my jaw's still tired from yesterday', and quietly turns away before he's roped into 'finishing' his room mate.
Then the knowing look near the end, as if to say ...'just wait until we get home, buddy. I'll let you 'catch' me tonight!'
Just too funny!
P.S. Is this what the "magic" underwear is about? Is it designed to make it hard (pun intended) to get your junk out and smack it around? I can't figure that one out, never having seen a pair.

Shhhhhhh, shhhh, hush now. Repeat the mantra of Proverbs 1:7: "The FEAR of THE LORD is the beginning of knowledge."

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

Fear God, Bible true, science bad, fear God. Therefore science bad.

And if it wasn't already clear that science and the modern Bible CANNOT exist side by side, repeat the mantra of 1 Timothy 6:20-21:

"Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith."

So it behooves the Christian NOT to involve oneself with documentaries which debate or discuss such matters, simply turn away and be content in your faith. Don't respond to my comment; don't argue; don't say anything. Jesus says walk away, son. Even if it's not printed in red, remember that Bible = Word of God = Word of Jesus Therefore Jesus says.

And so perfectly too! Therefore, again as it always has been, it is the Word and the Word is Law. So -- holy crap, man, THE LAW -- don't violate any of these thought crimes against God. Or you might suffer pain and all of that other stuff that death assigns to itself.

Hi voodooV..sorry it took me so long to reply.

you're committing another logical fallacy here. Argument from ignorance. just because you can't think of any other reason for morality doesn't prove god did it.

The fallacy you mentioned doesn't apply. The argument isn't for Gods existence, the argument is that atheism is incoherent because it has no foundation for morality, among other reasons. Ravi asked the question, without God what are the Ontic referrants for reality?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontic

To answer your question though. Survival...pure survival is pretty much the foundation of morality. what behavior ensures a long, prosperous and happy life? That's your morality right there. And it's all based on logic and reason, not an imaginary god.

is it better to be a dick to someone or is it better to work with other people. hrm...which ensures a higher probability of success in your endeavors.

is better in the long run to help or to hurt. Which ensures a greater likelyhood that people will be willing to help YOU out when you need it.

virtually everything that we consider moral today is the evolution (gasp) of instinctual rules we've learned over the millions (not thousands) of years that ensure a longer, happier life.

What you're talking about is pragmatism, which is to say that if it works then it is the best way to do things. Yet plenty of people have led long, prosperous and happy lives by exploiting other people for their gain. That's what works for them, so why shouldn't I emulate that standard of behavior instead of being self-sacrificing? Some of the most successful people who have ever lived got there by being terrible human beings. Basically, your standard of survival isn't about what is right, but what is right for me and that is entirely arbitrary. It also is an incoherent standard for morality.

Which is why only two of your commandments still hold up as secular laws.

I forget where I learned this but even biblical morality can be traced back to rules that made sense, at the time, that ensured survival. I think it has been shown that many of the biblical rules involving not eating certain foods can be traced back to diseases or some other logical reason, but hey, we didn't have an understanding of these pesky little things called bacteria and microorganisms back then so when you ate a certain food and died, that wasn't science, it was your imaginary sky god who was angry with you.

What's really interesting about that is that Moses was educated as an Egyptian prince, which was the most advanced country in the world at the time. He would have certainly been exposed to their medical knowledge, but you won't find a shred of that in the bible. The Egyptians were doing things like applying dung to peoples wounds, whereas the Laws of Moses detailed procedures for disease control, like hand washing and quarantine procedures, as well as public sanitation, and dietary laws which prevented the spread of parasites. They were thousands of years ahead of their time; we only started washing our hands to control disease in the past 200 years.

Even your fear and hatred of homosexuality and abortion can be easily explained by survival. When your village only numbered in the hundreds or maybe thousands and simple diseases and winters wiped out LOTS of people, discouraging homosexuality and abortion is actually a pretty good idea when the survival of your species is at stake. But when you've got advanced medicine and we've got the whole food and shelter thing dealt with and our population is now 7 billion. the whole "be fruitful and multiply" thing just isn't necessary anymore. In fact, it's becoming a problem. and Once again, survival will dictate our morality. If we do nothing to combat overpopulation and resources become an issue, I guarantee you that large families will eventually have a negative stigma attached to them until the situation is resolved.

You're talking to a former agnostic who once approved of homosexuality and abortion. I am not afraid of it, and I don't hate the people doing it. This is a clash of presuppositions; if there isn't a God then I couldn't give you an absolute reason why people cannot have homosexual relationships or murder their unborn children. If we're all just glorified apes contending for limited resources, then in that paradigm it may be necessary to cull the herd. I think the appropriate response though to someone contending we should eliminate vast swaths of the human populace to save the planet is, "you first".

But God is in control and this is His planet, and since He is still creating human beings, He will provide the resources to take care of them. It's the iniquity of mankind which is limiting the resources when the truth is that we have way more than enough to take care of everyone. Take for example the fact that over 30 thousand people starve to death every day. Is that because we don't have enough food? Actually, we have more than enough food yet we waste about 1/3 of the world food supply every year. The gross world product in 2012 was over 84 trillion dollars, more than enough to feed, clothe, house and vaccinate every single person on the planet. Those people die not because there isn't enough, but because the wickedness of man.

Don't ask me though, ask an anthropologist or sociologist. They've been studying this stuff for decades. I'm sure you could even find an anthropologist/sociologist that believes in god and they'd still say the same thing. our understanding of reality changes....as does morality. no one takes seriously the old biblical rules about stoning unruly kids, working the sabbath, and wearing clothing of two types of fabric anymore. So why should we listen other outdated biblical rules that don't apply anymore. As countless others of sifters have already informed you, you have the burden of proof and you haven't met it yet.

Call me when someone discovers a disease or some other problem that arises when you mix two fabrics and we'll revisit those rules k?

God has three kinds of laws, moral civil and cermonial. The rules you're referring to were civil and ceremonial laws for Israel and not for the rest of the world. They have no application today because they were connected to the Old Covenant God had with Israel. God has a New Covenant with the whole world that doesn't include those laws. The moral laws of God do not change with time, or ever. And although we fancy ourselves as more enlightened today, the reality of the world we live in tells us that human nature hasn't changed one bit. Human nature is every bit as ugly and self serving as it always has been. If you peel back the thin veneer of civility you will find a boiling pot of iniquity.

Stop committing basic logical fallacies and you might learn this stuff for yourself You haven't ever said anything that isn't easily invalidated by a simple logical fallacy or hasn't already been debunked long ago.

It's easy to speak in generalities; if I have committed a logical fallacy, then specifically point it out. The one that you detailed earlier did not apply.

Do you watch the Atheist Experience videos Shiny? because every time I watch one of the videos and listened to the same old tired theist "arguments" over and over again. I'm always reminded of you because you just aren't saying anything new. If you're serious about understanding why your ideas just don't pan out and you're not just trolling, you should seriously watch those.

I've watched the show, and again, I was a lifelong agnostic before becoming a Christian. I was pretty far left and would have probably fit in well with the lot of you not too many years ago. So, this is all to say that I understand where you're coming from and why you think and believe the way you do, because I used to think and believe in the same ways. Your mindset isn't a mystery to me. What I've learned about it is that God has to reveal Himself to a person before they will know anything about Him. Everyone gets some revelation and it is up to them to follow it. I received the revelation that there is a God and I pursued that for many years until He revealed Himself to me through His Son Jesus Christ. He has revealed Himself to you and everyone else on this website in some form or fashion. You would be shocked to hear some of the revelation people have received and turned away from, or rationalized away later. Statistics show that 10 percent of self professing atheists pray, and that is because they are unable to within themselves completely deny the revelation that they have received. I guarantee you there are atheists on this board who wrestle with all of this but since it isn't something atheists talk about (or would admit to publicly) you would never know it, that you're all keeping a lid on the truth.