Gideon MacLeish

Reply to When Gays get Married, Who does it Really Bother? in Blogging JoeUser Forums

[quote]Marriage is NOT a religious institution, not in the slightest.[/quote] Yes, and no. While marriage IS a religious institution for many faiths, usually the civil recognition is what is all important. So, it is both, depending on how you look at it. To those who think it is not a social institution, where do you go to get divorced? Unless you're Catholic, you usually go to civil authorities, rather than to your pastor. As a religious institution, though, it bears

Reply to When Gays get Married, Who does it Really Bother? in Blogging JoeUser Forums

One other issue to consider: if homosexual marriage is eventually considered a "civil" right, then churches can and will face censure for teaching against homosexuality, or even for refusing to perform marriages for homosexual couples. Don't believe me? Try to find out what happens if a "recognized" church refuses to marry an interracial couple now! While I think the stance against interracial marriage is stupid, narrow minded, and bigoted, I also realize that allowing freedom of speech and free

Movie Review: Expelled in Movies & TV & Books JoeUser Forums

I finally got a chance to see Ben Stein's controversial movie Expelled, last night. I've read a number of reviews on the film, and was eager to view it for myself. Please note, my review is based on the movie itself, and not on a careful vetting of the accusations it presents. I do intend to spend some time looking into the assertions made by the movie, but have not as of yet done so. The first thing that hit me was not covered in any movie reviews for or against the

They Don't MAKE Green Vehicles for Much of the Market. in Current Events JoeUser Forums

I drive a 1999 Chevy Suburban. For the uninitiated, these vehicles (2WD) top out at just over 20MPG. As most of my miles are higway mileage, that's a fair average. Of course, I push for the extra miles by coasting downhill, staying at 55MPH, keeping my tires inflated, etc, etc. I decided to do a little research into what it would take to buy a "greener" vehicle. As I live in a rural area, there's a lot of open country in which I drive. As I checked out the stats, I quickly realized my

Reply to Obama - Another Environmental Wacko Socialist in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]You know how much gas an SUV guzzles? Too much![/quote] Do YOU know how much an SUV guzzles? I'd think not. For the record, some models, if driven responsibly, consume no more gasoline than your average minivan. I own a Chevy Suburban and I get just slightly upwards of 20mpg on the highway with no special additives or gimmicks. Yes there are 8mpg SUVs. But all SUVs are not created equal.

Reply to Obama - Another Environmental Wacko Socialist in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]I just implore anyone who doesn't truly understand science past "science is what the lab guys do to figure stuff out" to please stop having scientific debate.[/quote] (yawn!) Here's the deal. I'm not disputing that global temperatures have warmed in recent years. I am disputing that we are the cause. I do not, to answer your question, hold an advanced degree in science, but I have studied weather patterns most of my life (literally...when I was in early grade school, my

Why Don't Secularists Set Up More Charities? in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Several years ago, my brother manned a suicide hotline. In the course of doing this, he would often refer troubled callers to the Covenant House for help. About the same time, I was seriously considering giving a year's service to the Covenant House. I had received the paperwork and was looking it over and it was a topic of discussion among us (we were sharing a place at the time). One of the requirements of the Covenant House is that its volunteers must spend a specified amount of ti

Reply to Harkin: Military Service Makes for an Unfit President in Politics JoeUser Forums

Harkin would have been even more dangerous had he succeeded in being elected as the view through one's rectum is even more limited. Yeesh. What a maroon.

Reply to High oil profits. in Politics JoeUser Forums

You're right, Jesus. I don't need to purchase gas. I can WALK the ten miles to town every day, and right now, when I'm working about 100 miles away from home, I can simply start out on Friday night and walk the distance. Man, you're a genius!

Reply to A few reasons why I'll never use Windows Vista again... in Personal Computing JoeUser Forums

[quote]wow! another vista-bashing thread by someone whose machine can't run it! 512 megs of ram, huh? vista needs 2 gig just to be happy.[/quote] Actually, while I intend to upgrade as soon as I have the extra cash, I have suffered no performance problems on 1GB. And this is Vista Ultimate. Of course, I've tweaked it for performance, but they're tweaks anyone can google if they have any level of tech skills whatsoever. My specs: AMD 3500+ dual core proc, 1GB DDR2 RAM,

Reply to Obama - Another Environmental Wacko Socialist in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]We are already suffering from global warming (New Orleans, for instance.) and all three major candidates in this election made global warming as one of major issues here.[/quote] Wow, you taught me something I didn't know. So hurricanes didn't exist before the last century? Interesting. Come on, honestly, you can do better than that.

Reply to Obama - Another Environmental Wacko Socialist in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]The global warming is not illusion. It is proven, and it is coming to you whether you accept or deny the fact. :/[/quote] The fact that global temperatures saw an increase over a certain period of time was proven, yes. You are right on that point. The theory that the temperature increase was not cyclical, and more to the point, was man made, was not proven, and would seem to be undermined by events such as the warming on other planets in the solar system over the same ti

Reply to Obama - Another Environmental Wacko Socialist in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]Gee, another rightwinger arguing that your own inability to comprehend the facts prevents the facts existence. How do you suggest I prove it to someone who has argued that they refuse to believe it regardless of the information provided?[/quote] TP, One, I'm not a rightwinger. While I lean conservative, I have my own mind to use, thank you very flipping much. Two, I have never (read NEVER, spelled N-E-V-E-R) stated that I refuse to believe it. I asked you for a

Reply to Religious Linux in Misc JoeUser Forums

[quote]I wonder what would happen if you installed all of these on the same machine? A digital holy war?[/quote] I think Microsoft (aka Ubuntu Borg edition) has answered those questions for us. LOL

Reply to A few reasons why I'll never use Windows Vista again... in Personal Computing JoeUser Forums

[quote]Anyhoo, Vista is the next [B]bug[/B] OS[/quote] Freudian slip?

Reply to Salie Mae / student loans. The devil and you. in Blogging JoeUser Forums

Yeah, the first time through, it took me awhile to clear out my student loans. This time through, I took student loans because we had few other options, but I have a better understanding of how they're going to get paid back. Still, that was a pretty crass response from those yo-yo's....good answer.

Reply to Mods are the gestapo of most forums. in Internet JoeUser Forums

Godwin's law invoked in the TITLE of the article? I dare say, that's a record!

Reply to Obama - Another Environmental Wacko Socialist in Politics JoeUser Forums

TP, You have NEVER proven the assertion that Bush had people arrested for sporting Kerry bumper stickers. You have dodged it every time you've been asked.

Reply to Obama - Another Environmental Wacko Socialist in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]Oh no, there is NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO correlation between 8 mpg SUV's driven by desperately overcompensating small dicked losers like yourself and the massive increase in oil consumption.[/quote] That's funny...my SUV gets about 20 MPG...about the same mileage as a supposedly more efficient and definitely less safe minivan would. And in case you missed it, there aren't many passenger cars that seat 8! But that's ok...stereotypes are all good, as long as it's liberals perpetuat

Reply to "You Don't Trust Us Enough to Raise Your Children" in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Marcie, Raising a child is more than just teaching them ethics and values. Ethics and values belong in a classroom, yes, but there are so many intangibles in raising them that go beyond that. Do you really want to be your classroom children's first call at 9 o'clock at night when their best friend just called them a "booger-head"? Do you really want to be the one to handle every childhood crisis, every skinned knee? Frankly, that's more than anyone can bear for a classroom that size, ye

OLPC Teams with Microsoft in Industry JoeUser Forums

The organization "One Laptop per Child" has officially teamed with Microsoft in its laptop development. At this point, laptops with Windows installed will cost $18 to $20 extra, but the long term vision is a dual-boot system with boith Linux and Windows. As I am exploring doing work with OLPC, my feelings about this are somewhat mixed. I'm encouraged that Microsoft's involvement will bring about the kind of high profile partnerships that will make this project work, but somewhat disap

Reply to Bush right about policy of appeasement. in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]I think the real question is, how do help the people in these dire situations get out of them and as such cut off support for fundementalisim? Why can't Mr Bush ask these questions, or indeed other Western Leaders? I think then we'd see less attacks on the West.[/quote] Really? This goes against history, Scotteh. Want proof? Let's start with one of your oen examples: In the 1980's, we provided aid to a faction in Afghanistan to assist them in gaining sovereignty

Carbon Credits and the Smoker's Compromise in Current Events JoeUser Forums

I've finally found the political compromise that will end the smoking debate once and for all. And I actually have Al Gore to thank for it. It will also add the benefit of helping to solve our national health care issues in the process. So it's a win for everyone. The plan is modelled after Gore's "Carbon Credits" plan. The idea of the carbon credits, for the uninitiated, is that you pay for the pollution you create. It's kind of a special indulgence for the new millenium (if

Reply to "You Don't Trust Us Enough to Raise Your Children" in Current Events JoeUser Forums

[quote]live as 1 race and not from what part of the world you are from, we should all care about the children that will be the ones running the country when we're gone.[/quote] 1. The world of "Imagine" will never happen on this world, Charles. Not unless we are willing to undertake the most massive genocidal effort ever seen on the planet. People will find reasons to divide because we live in an imperfect world. And there's nothing wrong with that division, really. It's not when we hol

Reply to "You Don't Trust Us Enough to Raise Your Children" in Current Events JoeUser Forums

[quote]This really pisses me off.[/quote] That's why I said if some teachers would get over their bloated egoes, Marcie. I realize not every teacher is this way. In fact, the wife of the guy who said that isn't that way, which made it an interesting comment. I was just commenting on the point of view. [quote]If you want ME to do my job--teach, you need to convince fellow parents that THEY need to step up and teach their children appropriate behavior at home.[/quote] Ca