EL-DUDERINO

I could not agree more. The article I read about this annoyed the hell out of me.

That would be so nice. That would solve a large amount of our problems because seniority wouldn't mean much. Limit it to 2 or 3 terms and I think we'd be in much better shape. I also think it would be nice if actively sitting officials couldn't campaign for another office. So we wouldn't have current members of congress campaigning for President when they are supposed to be on Capital Hill doing their jobs.

[quote]you make one major assumption, you assume that the "government" is a magical entity and not a collection of people. If the president declares "war" on texas tommorow and orders all federal troops to attack it, many will refuse, others will "defect" to texas,some will attemp to arrest the preisdent, units will be split apart as each individual SOLDIER, people who fight to protect their country, will each go to whichever "side" they feel is right. To imagine that a single unified "federa

[quote]Not exactly, if the Texans become a nation then the Congress is the only branch that can declare war on another nation. If the United States does not recognize Texas as a nation then the Military can not enter Texas without the Governors permission. Whoever gave the order for the military to enter Texas without permission of the Governor would be in violation of the constitution and would be subject to arrest and or impeachment. The Posse Comitatus Act prevents US military from acting

[quote]Yes... because if texas seceeds than the other 49 states will all unilaterally band togather against it AND mexico will as well! NOT.[/quote] Sure some of the states won't want to commit their national guard troops to the battle but the US Military forces don't need to approval of the states to go in, just an order from the president. That alone would be an overwhelming force for Texas to handle. Mexico may take the opportunity to take Texas back from the US or the

[quote]Last I checked the National Guard was under the control of the Governor.[/quote] But who pays for the National Guard? Do the states or does the federal government? If it's the states then fine the national guard in Texas becomes the front lines of the texas militia. I still doubt they would stand much of a chance against the entire US military and the other 49 states National Guard units. Again even if they are the strongest military units they are sever

[quote]Are you saying that the national guard is that weak?[/quote] Not at all, and I'm not calling the Texas Militias weak either merely outmatched. Like if you were trying to play football and one team only had one player. He may be the strongest player on the field but he is no match for 11 other guys. Plus the national guard is part of the US Military not the Texan militias. Some might defect, as some in the rest of the US military would as wel

[quote]Think again, look how people were crying over the death of terrorists and imagin it happening right here in America. One kid gets caught in the crossfire and the president will be impeached for genocide.[/quote] Not when it was done quelling a rebellion. Plus I would imagine that the president would give standing orders to not fire until fired upon so then it would be the militias fault and not the presidents. Also I highly doubt there would be any exchange of fir

[quote]From the Texas perspective, you have to think about what would be lost. First and foremost, all military protection would cease. All assets would be pulled out, so there goes Fort Hood, Fort Bliss and the 8 Air Force bases in TX. Several areas of TX would be economically devastated by the closing of these bases. Of course with little homegrown military and scant technology, Texas would make a big, fat, juicy target for Mexico. I imagine it would take them all of a few months to mount a

[quote]what they really deserve they're not getting. They deserve to be booted out of office. The longer they stay in, the more corrupted they become. [/quote] I couldn't agree more. This is why I still have my self-made bumper sticker on my car that says "Take out the Trash, Vote Against Incumbents". Apparently it didn't work all that well in 2008 but I'm going to keep it on there and keep talking to anyone who will listen that they need to vote against the id

[quote]Another big issue here is how so many Americans are either falling for this, or supporting this. It's a shame.[/quote] What I find amusing, or depressing depending on your atitude, is that I have heard some reports that we are being accused of going down the wrong path by folks like France and China. How sad is that?

[quote]It was a NY Times Best Seller. Ever hear of it? [/quote] I've heard of the movie and the comic book "men in black" but never the book about the supreme court, should be an interesting read for you though.

[quote]But that's not where the debate lies because evolution doesn't say anything about the origins of life. It only refers to the origin of _species_, i.e. it explains where different species come from, not where life comes from.[/quote] Exactly.

[quote](Your sickle cell example is a bit too summarised. If I recall correctly it is actually the carriers of sickle cell anemia genes that have an advantage when it comes to malaria, while the rarer case of a person hit by the sickle cell anema condition is eventually killed by it. That's how the gene survives. It does not actually benefit from those that die from sickle cell anemia, only from those that carry the gene but don't get the condition. It's similar to type 2 diabetes in this reg

[quote]I agree. I think the Supreme Court has alot to answer for. They have made some very bad decisions and they are destroying America. They are the ones who are completly out of order. [/quote] They certainly had their role to play but I think it was mainly congress and the Presidency making power grabs that went unchecked (which violates the constitution by the way). Basically no one was looking out for the states rights, even the states seem reluctant to say anything, and n

[quote]So I could say to you that until you prove to me your love for your wife I won't believe it.[/quote] I've never asked you to believe that I love my wife or even that I'm married. I can prove that I'm married because we have a marriage license so all I want is for the government to recognize it I couldn't care less if anyone else does. I also don't care if anyone but my wife knows that I love her, it's a private matter between the two of us. You however are a

[quote]You think that's better? We're in trouble and we are going down.[/quote] I think the government needs to get its nose out of just about everything. Religion should be a private matter not one that is imposed by anyone including the government. [quote]but still what diff does it make to our debate?[/quote] A lot. I can speak somewhat about the US constitution because I have done some research on the matter, not extensive mind you but some. I can

[quote]An example of morality right there. While preventing murder+theft are necessary to maintain an ordered society, you don't have to have a society in which everyone is equal. People are generally accepted as equal and afforded roughly equal rights in many societies because it is deemed right (/moral) to do so.[/quote] Not so. For a truly ordered society everyone needs to be treated equally. Look what is happening with AIG right now as an example of this. People

[quote]No, I don't think you did your research. That's proved by your lack of knowing the scriptures and the other side of the debate. You couldn't have gone very deep at all into the other side. What you did was buy hook, line and sinker what only the secular side is telling you. Any information you got from the Christian side was from the "scientific" side. Be honest El-D. Otherwise you would have known much of what I've been telling you and you did not. [/quote] Stop making assumpt

[quote]What I found in my studies of this time period are amazing in that there is no way someone could make all this up. [/quote] And I guess this is an example where you have to accept the story on your faith, I do not accept your story but I could potentially accept Leauki's version of it because it is much more plausible. To add to the impossibility your version of the story, how would Noah have acquired any of the species of animals from Australia or the Americas?

[quote]"What if" terms are introducted to change the terms of the reality[/quote] No they aren't. "What if" questions are asked to get a full scope view of where people stand on an issue. I am merely asking if you would be ok with an abortion of a fetus that was destined to die in the womb anyway because of the medications that the woman is taking. That isn't changing the terms of reality, it is asking you to consider the reality of your stance on abortion. Thi

[quote]I hope that explains it.[/quote] I can certainly buy that story much more than the one I was sold when going through sunday school.

[quote]If a woman meant no ill will towards her unborn baby, and, if for some reason being pregnant was life threatening, then she would elect to have a procedure like cesearean section and try in every way to save the life of the baby.[/quote] But what if it was too early to take the baby out of the womb? What if nothing can be done to save the fetus? That's still abortion. What if the woman is on some rather heavy prescription medications to treat chronic illnesses

[quote]There's only ONE story of creation. It's found in Chap 1 and it's chronological, telling us what day each part of creation was made. Seven days and all was complete. Chap 2 focuses on just Adam and is considered a topical description of what was most important. The bible does this alot. Repeats itself to get the message across. It's like taking a picture and then taking another picture immediately after but zooming in on the subject matter.[/quote] There were two stories when I

[quote]rephrase that.....many English Kings "said" they were Christians. There's a diff between having a real faith and having a "said" faith. I'm hoping to blog soon on what it means to really "know" God. Stay tuned. [/quote] That doesn't change the fact that many wars were carried out in the name of Christ. [quote]it's not about motive. [/quote] You said Murder was about vengence or malice which implies that the motive must be considered to declare something as murde