TorilMUD Forums

avak

Oh, by the way, this is what Dale Carnegie has to say about it in How to Make Friends and Influence people: I was attending a banquet one night given in Sir Ross's honor; and during the dinner, the man sitting next to me told a humorous story which hinged on the quotation "There's a divinity t...

avak

The EPA also said in its statement: "The individual in question is not a scientist and was not part of the working group dealing with this issue. Nevertheless the document he submitted was reviewed by his peers and agency scientists, and information from that report was submitted by his manage...

avak

God, I feel left out. I guess I need to post more.

I wanted to suggest pot legalization as an issue that hasn't been discussed here much. My only hesitation is that it isn't controversial enough. In that case, I would suggest the Bush Doctrine.

avak

I thought the same thing Corth.... Sanford has since admitted to numerous 'indiscretions' with other women where he was just 'blowing off steam with the guys.' Of course, he still feels he is fit to govern and that his wife should let him work this out. What an ass! How arrogant can you be to still ...

avak

According to the Ethnographic Atlas Codebook, of the 1231 societies noted, 186 were monogamous. 453 had occasional polygyny, 588 had more frequent polygyny, and 4 had polyandry. The difference between hypocritical liberals and hypocritical conservatives is that the cons are actively preaching from ...

avak

I think the fair response would be: abortions terminate a non-viable life and do not harm the mother (in most cases). However, in most states, even abortions require the consent of the parent. I think US law has a fairly consistent treatment of the maturity of minors. Exceptions would probably inclu...

avak

Two up and coming Repubs in a week admit to extramarital affairs. Sanford even skipped Father's Day to be with his special lady friend. Both Ensign and Sanford voted for Clinton's impeachment. Both oppose gay marriage because it threatens the institute of traditional marriage. Wow, when the cons der...

avak

Uh yeah. Remember that polygamist cult bust in Texas a year or so ago? Extremely young kids were entering in to "spiritual marriages" with much, much older men. The general consensus was that the kids were fine with it because they had been indoctrinated from birth to see that practice as ...

avak

The point is that he is a minor and therefore unable to make decisions of this magnitude for himself. Or do you think his parents have taken a hands off approach and the 13 year old is calling the shots? Since this seems to be a theme...imagine an infant in a hospital...two years old. Her parents wa...

avak

No. The government should not be able to force 'you' to seek treatment. The government should, however, continue to be involved in the welfare of our youth. Therefore, demanding treatment is tantamount to the welfare of this child. The alternative would be to remove him from his biological parents a...

avak

the Bible is full of shit that doesn't fly in our modern society How well do you know the Bible, Avak, by your own admission? Like many, I have tried to read it from front to back. I obviously don't believe in it, but in a pursuit of intellectual honesty I have to acknowledge its role in our cultur...

avak

You're absolutely right...hiring a hitman to kill your wife is not the same as you killing her yourself. Unfortunately, the law views that a little differently because in reality it is essentially the same thing. Make a god your hitman...that's even worse, imo.

avak

You missed my point, Kiryan. In fact, you essentially reinforce it. My point was that this whack job (fringe? maybe) is using scripture to legitimize this crazy imprecatory prayer nonsense. Again, this goes back to a central issue...the Bible is full of shit that doesn't fly in our modern society. H...

avak

I've only skimmed the last 3 pages of this thread, but I wanted to just throw this in the mix: Drake, former SBC officer, says he's praying for Obama to die (updated) NEW YORK (ABP) -- A former Southern Baptist Convention officer who on June 2 called the death of abortion provider George Tiller an a...

avak

It really boils down to a few fundamental points that I believe lead to the high level of frustration. 1 - It is essentially an open source game...many people have dedicated thousands upon thousands of hours to the development of the environment (players and coders/admins alike). Just because one pa...

avak

Yeah, that makes a -ton- of sense.

Thanks for clarifying. Passages in Matthew and Luke say the old law is still valid, but whatever...I probably just don't get it.

avak

Yeah, I really don't intend to ridicule christianity despite the fact that I clearly am. I'm just making a roundabout point.

So, explain to a noob why the old testament (written by God?) "doesn't count"?

avak

What I love about the bible is that it is the perfectly crafted propaganda tool. You can interpret it any way you want; claiming crap like 'intent', 'modernism', 'old testament vs new' etc etc (eg. slavery and women as property). But then you can always pull the untouchable card: 'the Bible says so'...

avak

Violent scripture may increase aggression-study DALLAS, March 6 (Reuters Life!) - Violent passages in religious texts can increase aggressive behavior in people, especially if they are true believers and the violence is sanctioned by God, according to a new U.S. and Dutch study. article For both gro...

avak

Well, to be honest, I was just trying to incite you because I know what you meant. However, negotiation and diplomatic talks are certainly vastly more in vogue than they were four years ago, no? The US considers countries like Iran a 'sponsor of terrorism' which is nuanced enough for me to get a hea...

avak

Wait a second! I want to hear from the people that said negotiation was "stupid and naive" and "defeat".

http://www.torilmud.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=16443

avak

The future of Kim Il Sung's Korea is firmly guaranteed under the wise guidance of Kim Jong Il who adopted Kim Il Sung Constitution on holding him in high esteem as the eternal President of the DPRK, carried forward his idea and exploits 100 percent and carried on all state affairs including the Part...

avak

Long gone are the days of, "we'll never negotiate with terrorists!" The mocking that Obama took for proposing he would talk to nations like Syria and Iran is ancient history. Analysts Cite Obama Effect in Lebanese Election BEIRUT, Lebanon — There were many domestic reasons why voters hande...

avak

Property taxes are a tax for services. That is why they are vastly more expensive in town than out in the middle of the country...more services. Start your house on fire and see who comes...regardless of whether you own or rent, have 0% equity or 100%...believe in abortion bans or evolution. Everyon...

avak

Perhaps he was injured chasing the cheese with his fully sick boys. Chk Chk boom!

avak

Well Teflor, I -am- a farmer. Small scale and part-time, but I am immersed in farm issues. My dad is a full-time farmer, conventional and niche, and has two farms separated by about 60 miles. I know -exactly- how much it costs to transport equipment. Things are probably a little different in PA than...

avak

Any chance you have a teleporter device that will make their combines and tractors appear magically in a disjointed piece of land possibly miles away? http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/7329/73650dsc0268.jpg Farms with completely contiguous land are more rare than people that know everything about ev...

avak

Hmmm, so he points out rural versus urban? Not exactly breakthrough research. Certainly slanted presentation. Here's a couple of interesting points though: "Population of counties won by: Democrats: 127 million Republicans: 143 million" - apparently repubs don't vote. Hemline is either an ...

avak

Emo frogs....staring at their feet.

I also like how they have their tongues in the girls' pants.

Classy photo.

avak

The craziest part of the deal is that they say they need 2,200 acres!!! Uh, nearly four square miles?!?

The whole matter still has to be heard in court though.

avak

Eminent domain is also a leverage tool for the government. Put yourself in the shoes of a private land owner. The gov't comes in and wants the land for this memorial...okay, the gov't has -a lot- of money, so you play hardball. Say you ask for triple what the market rate is. In the business world, t...

avak

I wonder what percent of same sex marriages are officiated by 'amateurs' so to speak. I have officiated three weddings by way of the infamous online ordination. I really love doing it because hardly anyone I know wants some religious browbeating ceremony these days. The ordination literally took me ...

avak

So are you saying that we request special polar bear ninjas on all ships?

And I read this after posting...pretty interesting information:
http://ask.metafilter.com/107509/how-do-pirates-hijack-a-supertanker

avak

Obviously the morning news was that the American captain was rescued in dramatic fashion. That news was quickly followed by news that the pirates are going to make us (America) pay. And then the consequent back and forth over how to protect ourselves and stop this piracy madness. So, I just wanted t...

avak

I especially like you can go the pr0n route after you see a little blood and guts. Best of web.

avak

This cause for concern really mystifies me. It isn't very hard to sort through the modest number of posts on General Discussion. Don't read the political ones if you don't want to! It would appear to me that the front page of general discussion covers an entire month of posts. I mean, really? It's n...

avak

Facebook is actually massively superior because it allows for so many privacy options. It isn't true that you have to sign up to look at pages if the person with the page has a completely public profile. AFAIK myspace allows you to either be entirely public or entirely private....with just a couple ...

avak

OKay fine, serious response. Making off the cuff jokes like the one he made is pretty standard fare. Pointed insults become part of the common, watered down vernacular and people stop thinking about the meaning. Think about all of the crazy slang that is out there...some examples: chick, babe, tit, ...

avak

Pardon my party foul for those of you with your active ignore lists...I'll be quoting Teflor now. ---- Am I supposed to take this seriously or pee my pants laughing? Unlike Obama, I believe in "the weak." I believe in the ability of an individual from third class to move themselves to firs...

avak

Irony that you subtly associate the Special Olympics athletes and "the weak?"

That is the only interesting thing about the post.

"Most Americans Agree"

avak

Simple winter soup. I usually make this (sometimes double recipe) for cold, miserable winter days like today. While deceptively simple, if you use the best ingredients you can get you will be really happy. Can be made as thin or thick as desired, depending on simmer times. 1 qt canned heirloom tomat...

avak

Yeah, I remember in high school some of us hid the textbook from the American History teacher and for -days- we did nothing...essentially a study hall...until someone gave him his book back. He was helpless without it. I think the conservatives (a lot of them anyway) will find some reason to be skep...

avak

Obama takes on teachers' unions
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20090310/pl_politico/19824

I just had to bump this because Obama is a policy maniac. It is truly impressive how ambitious his administration is.

avak

So the solution is that the unions should start being 'reasonable' about their expectations? In other words, they should not negotiate as hard as they can? lol Guess what corporations do with windfall profits? They go to executive bonuses and shareholders. That is the reward for exceptional strategi...

avak

One of my new favorites involves a cast iron pan. Put the pan in the oven on broil for 30 mins. It will get hot as hell. So hot that you need a leather glove and a pot holder to grab it. It will also smoke a lot, depending on how well seasoned it is. Then put the pan on a gas eye at high for another...

avak

Fair enough, Corth, but do they have to have the same rights as people to be effective?

This coming from someone perfectly happy to use the corporate veil in my business life.

avak

Man Corth, you need to get hooked up with some local farmers. I suppose that is a major challenge in your part of the world though. I'm raising my first set of grassfed, grain-finished cattle this year...which steak snobs might argue is too lean. Have you tried any kobe beef? That stuff is wild. But...

avak

There's also no health care in there Corth.

And what in the hell are you buying that costs $700/month for food?

avak

Pril wrote:I wear a Micky Mouse watch with a plastic band. Does that attract girls?

Yes, wrong thread though.

avak

I do have a few female friends, however it doesn't seem like they have any single friends! In fact, I have a long track record of meeting women I find interesting only to find they already have a boyfriend, fiance or husband. Well, not that long... but it makes a good percentage of the women I've m...

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