Soxy

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Nov 9, 2005 -> 07:55 PM) Soxy. Invoking religon into this isin't the greatest idea. If there were liberals as we know em today around during the days of the Old Testament you'd want to put God on trial for war crimes. Im not the biggest bible scholar out there but I know that in the Old Testament God did a whole lot of really nasty stuff to people who didn't worship him properly. Stuff that makes stress positions, sleep deprivation and loud music pale in comparison. Eh, they did put God up on charges in Job as we all may remember. Anyone, anyone, anyone? Needless to say the bastard walked. I just thought it was an interesting article. And didnt' want to start a whole new thread. Just a little bit of food for thought.

I got this from Sojourners, I heart that magazine. Who would Jesus torture? by David Batstone Christians of strong religious faith and sound moral conscience often end up in disagreement. Human affairs are a messy business, unfortunately, and even at the best of times we only see through a glass, darkly. It is hard for that reason to call Christians to a universal standard of behavior. At this moment, however, we cannot afford to dilute the message of Jesus into meaningless ambiguity. There are certain acts that a follower of Jesus simply cannot accept. Here is one: A Christian cannot justify the torture of a human being. The practice of torture by American soldiers is a hot topic at the Pentagon, in the Congress, and in the White House at the moment. The U.S. Senate already has passed 90-9 a bill that prohibits "cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment" of prisoners in U.S. custody. The lead advocate of the bill, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), was tortured by his captors during the Vietnam War. According to The New York Times, the Pentagon adopted a policy last Thursday to rein in interrogation techniques. The new policy uses much of the same language as the McCain amendment - drawn in large part from the Geneva Convention - to adopt standards for handling terror suspects. Remarkably, the White House opposes the Pentagon initiative, and threatens to veto any legislation to which the McCain bill gets attached. Vice President Dick Cheney has urged Republican senators to allow CIA counterterrorism operations internationally to be exempt from the ban on mistreatment of prisoners, major newspapers reported. On Nov. 3, Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff for then-Secretary of State Colin Powell, said during an interview on NPR's "Morning Edition" that memos from Cheney's office practically encouraged abuse of Iraqi prisoners. Though in "carefully couched terms" that would allow for deniability, the message from Cheney's office conveyed the sentiment that interrogations of Iraqi prisoners were not providing the needed intelligence. Wilkerson said soldiers in the field would have concluded that to garner better intelligence they could resort to interrogation techniques that "were not in accordance with the spirit of the Geneva Conventions and the law of war." Republican senators are among the strongest voices in the growing chorus of criticism. Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) said, "I think the administration is making a terrible mistake in opposing John McCain's amendment on detainees and torture." And Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and co-sponsor of McCain's measure, agreed: "I firmly believe that it's in the best interest of the Department of Defense, the men and women of the United States military that this manual be their guide." When the existence of secret CIA detention centers became public this week, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) called for investigations - not about whether they violate laws governing human rights - but about how the information was leaked. But members of their own party are keeping the focus where it belongs. The Washington Post quoted Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) as saying, "Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees. The real story is those jails." Admittedly, Christians of good faith part paths when political conflict leads us to consider what constitutes a just and righteous war - or if any war can be just. Though we may not consent on the means, we do consent on the need to confront the spread of evil in the world. Yet we can all affirm scripture when it says, "Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.... Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:17, 21). When we confront evil with its own means, those means mark our own character. In that regard, the practice of torture so fully embraces evil it dehumanizes both the torturer and its victim. No just cause can be won if it relies on torture to succeed. Democracy and freedom cannot result from a war fueled by torture, which is why so many Americans were shocked and angered by the disturbing incidents that took place at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. All the more so, Christians must oppose torture under any circumstances. Consider this: Who would Jesus torture? I cannot imagine Jesus finding a single "exemption" that would justify such an abuse of any individual made in God's image. Though I bristle whenever I hear someone refer to the United States as a Christian nation - it is such a loaded phrase - many in the Muslim world see us as such. How tragic it would be for Muslims to identify the message and mission of Jesus with torture and terror. We must not allow that to happen. Action alert: "Do not repay evil for evil...." (1 Peter 3:9).

QUOTE(bmags @ Nov 9, 2005 -> 06:15 PM) about 1% seriously thou, i feel this is a battle that if the science community is going to lose, that they don't lose outright, and still have evolution taught...although they shouldn't lose. See, here's the thing. I don't tell Doctors how best to heal people. I don't tell my mechanic how to fix my car. I don't tell my grocery cashiers how to bag my groceries. Why? Because that's not my job. My training is not in those areas. I want my medical advice from a licensed doctor. I was my car fixed by a trained mechanic. And I want my science from people trained in science. The question isn't oh, well, at least evolution will still be taught. The question is: why are we ignoring the people with the most training in this area and choosing to listen to people with far less experience/knowledge about the topic. As a nation, if we continue to allow our children's education to be compromised by theologians and religious zealots who are ignorant to the scientific method, we are committing (in my mind) a grave crime against those children, future generations, and ourselves. This debate has been laid to rest in mainline (and any respectable) scientific theories and deserves to be treated as any other refuted theory.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Nov 9, 2005 -> 04:12 PM) My Brother called me for help on a problem for his Differential Equations class. I told him to write that DifEQ was too complicated to done by mortals. Clearly a higher being had something to do with these equations. /My new excuse for everything. OMG! I am so using that next time I get asked a questionin Learning and Evolutionary Psych. BRILLIANT!!!!

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Nov 9, 2005 -> 03:58 PM) I always wonder how people can rationalize to themselves that they wont get caught doing something like this. I always wonder how people rationalize abusing/raping someone.

Well, between this and the Kansas science debacle, I'm at a loss for words. Way to go America (too sad for green).

I heart my Toyota Corolla!!!!!! (Although it really isn't that small. . .)

Christmas music My Name is Earl dry cheerios tea (I would say, conservatively, that I drink 5-6 cups a day)

Didn't she say a couple of years ago that she, during friends, had a borderline eating disorder? Or at least some disordered eating? Her weight kind of yo-yos, and she looked good for a while, but yikes! I hope someone talks to her (of course Courtney Cox is no better. . .)

QUOTE(Texsox @ Nov 8, 2005 -> 12:02 AM) Really? So they both are just abusing the kid? I thought in most of these cases, especially when the bio-mom allows the step dad to abuse, the mom is also a victim of abuse. I guess you give parents more credit than me.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Nov 7, 2005 -> 11:32 PM) Cut off their thumbs, Vegas style Damn Nuke, we agree again. Pretty soon we'll be picking out china patterns together The mom has some serious problems. She basically picked the new loser step dad over her daughter. BTW, no way she isn't getting abused herself. I would be soooooo shocked, to learn that asshole guy isn't abusing mom as well. I see it as a very distinct possiblity she isn't being abused.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Nov 7, 2005 -> 05:34 PM) Of course, the counterpoint to this is the question...how do you know that their time in prison won't rehabilitate them, to the point where they could actually build a normal life for a kid? Who's going to rehabilitate the kid's life? They don't get a second chance at a childhood.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Nov 7, 2005 -> 01:41 PM) Ya, I hear everyone on the epidural, and if I'm a betting man, after 4 hours, the wife will want it. But she's got that fear factor from the spinal tap - I guess those HURT. My mom had both my sister and I without any pain meds. By the end they had to strap her down so she wouldn't hurt my dad, but you know, she did it. . .

QUOTE(Steff @ Nov 7, 2005 -> 12:41 PM) http://abcnews.go.com/US/LegalCenter/story?id=1209672&page=1 His arrest came after an employee at the girl's elementary school noticed marks on the girl's thigh and contacted police and social services. The girl, investigators say, told them that her stepfather said she was lucky he did not set the collar to "6," a level he uses for the dog, and that he threatened to shoot her pet rabbit while she was at school because she does not take care of it. Mom Calls Daughter a 'Chronic Liar' First paragraph: I'm shocked the school caught this. My hunch: the abuse has been going on for a very long time and they've only just caught the bastards leaving marks. Second: Typical. So typical. I hate people so much. I really f***ing hate people. Seriously.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Nov 7, 2005 -> 12:11 PM) That would be cool for you. Who's the new poster, named Soxy? I figured it would help me be taken more seriously. . . Now I just have to get Noam to list that restraining order. . .

Rumor has it a certain linguist idol of mine will be coming to Binghamton this spring. . .

I didn't like him until I took a class with a guy who's a Milton expert. It's really beautiful.

QUOTE(SnB @ Nov 7, 2005 -> 10:34 AM) greasy's uncle is marc summers. i'm so jealous. I've heard Marc Summers has a serious case of OCD. . .

QUOTE(3 BeWareTheNewSox 5 @ Nov 7, 2005 -> 12:05 AM) This has to do with some type of experiment doesn't it? Nope, I'm not that kind of psychologist. Just wanted to check in with my favorite internet friends. My weekend was surprisingly good. My Fridays are always awful--and this one was about 10000000000000x worse than usual. But then my friend took me out to dinner to our fave place (it's a southern style place--mmmm, fried okra = instant feel good). Then we watched Field of Dreams. I cried. Then we went to our "favorite" bar, met up with some others and had a lot of fun. The rest of my weekend was nice and really low key. But it was surprisingly good considering the s***tiness of Friday. Glad that most people had good ones--and those that didn't: I hope this week is better!

Any further details on this? I'm trying to make up my Christmas list for Santa. . .

Just thought I'd ask. . .

The old flip through card catalogues. I know they were a pain in the ass, but it's something I associate my most pleasant childhood memories with. . .

We're having a really bad thunderstorm/strong winds. My secret confession: Ever since the plainfield tornado I'm terrified of both. . .

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Nov 6, 2005 -> 05:34 AM) If they are being treated so badly in France then let them go back where they came from. Nobody forced those people to move there in the 1st place. There is no excuse for this behavior whatsoever but the French......being the French.......are letting it spin out of control and tear the country apart. A lot of them are from french colonies. So, to be honest, "going back to where they came from" wouldn't really help a lot.

QUOTE(Soxguy @ Nov 5, 2005 -> 05:48 PM) anyone ever do this? My provider is cingular and long story short, my phones dead and isnt under warranty and isnt insured. i i have 11 months left off my contract so i need a phone. what do i need to look for? How do i know if it will work with cingular? I hear talk of locked and unlocked phones and it just confused me. anyone got any advice? I don't know how long you've been with Cingular, but if you signed a two year contract you're eligible for a free phone after (I think 19 months). Sorry, never tried the e-bay thing.