The Goat Pen

Actually, six months ago many of them complaining now were already providing birth control pills through their insurance. Stay out of commerce if you don't want to submit to commercial laws. Keep to your church and pray. Dial a prayer. Sell some condos. But you still need to follow building codes regardless of your religious beliefs.

Say what you want about church and God, the Judeo/Christian religion was exceedingly influential in the creation of judicial structure of Western civilization. I have to say that I'm more Crash than Cletus on this one.

I never thought I'd type that sentence in my lifetime.

I only go to church to check out the ladies.

"Say what you want about church and God, the Judeo/Christian religion was exceedingly influential in the creation of judicial structure of Western civilization."

I think you're putting the cart before the horse. People don't need a supernatural authority to have a sense of justice on the ground in their daily lives. But once you start putting systems in place to achieve that, it's not a huge leap to create some otherworldly authority to make it seem even more binding (and to give real, human rulers even more juice). It's all a power play, just like everything in life, pure and simple...

Owlman wrote:Actually, six months ago many of them complaining now were already providing birth control pills through their insurance. Stay out of commerce if you don't want to submit to commercial laws. Keep to your church and pray. Dial a prayer. Sell some condos. But you still need to follow building codes regardless of your religious beliefs.

as absurd as that sounds with the building code example, I don't think thats true - especially if your religious beliefs predate the laws in place which most of them are going to by hundreds of years. This country was created on religious freedom and you're talking mandates of the government against just that. I think you might want to reflect on that for a bit.

And this is coming from someone who thinks much this church stuff has done more harm against civilization than good.

If I can't eat peyote based on my religious beliefs, they shouldn't get to withhold birth control based on theirs...

hedge wrote:If I can't eat peyote based on my religious beliefs, they shouldn't get to withhold birth control based on theirs...

do you belong to a long established church that has a history of peyote consumption? and even if you belonged to a newly established church, I'd probably give it strong consideration

Yes...

then you should continue to do peyote and claim religious persecution. But you better be all jebusy 24/7 while you do it.

Jesus ate peyote. I mean, come on, you don't get like that without it...

eCat wrote:

hedge wrote:If I can't eat peyote based on my religious beliefs, they shouldn't get to withhold birth control based on theirs...

do you belong to a long established church that has a history of peyote consumption? and even if you belonged to a newly established church, I'd probably give it strong consideration

The peyote case was about a long-standing belief by a Native American group. Long-standing didn't matter as it turns out according to our Supreme Court. It was not allowed.

As for building codes which are state or locally imposed, clearly they have to follow those building codes. They also have to follow the laws when it comes to other commercial religious ventures (see Jim Bakker) who got in trouble for federal mail fraud for selling more timeshares than he had available.

good read on Camden New Jersey

Christie's budget cuts turned it into Mad Max for a couple of year until he was able to come in and break the police union.

Not sure what I think about it , especially the people that were allowed to die and suffer while politics was being played out but the future for Camden as a result looks brighter than it did before
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/new ... print=true

Building codes can be bought. I know this....

There is always a price. Of course, paying the price will not make it legal. And if picked up in an independent audit.....?

Bklyn wrote:

eCat wrote:did he just say that or was it back when he was running for office

He just said it...and he's actually been quite consistent with that line for years. It was one of the things many GOPers on the Hill broke with Reagan over in the 80s. Mitch McConnell led the fight, if I recall correctly.

He also said this: http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/10/opinion/g ... apartheid/

Yep

If you think the Earth is hot now, try wearing plate armor in the Middle Ages.

A Swedish study found that the planet was warmer in ancient Roman times and the Middle Ages than today, challenging the mainstream idea that man-made greenhouse gas emissions are the main drivers of global warming.The study, by scientist Leif Kullman, analyzed 455 "radiocarbon-dated mega-fossils" in the Scandes mountains and found that tree lines for different species of trees were higher during the Roman and Medieval times than they are today. Not only that, but the temperatures were higher as well.

"Historical tree line positions are viewed in relation to early 21st century equivalents, and indicate that tree line elevations attained during the past century and in association with modern climate warming are highly unusual, but not unique, phenomena from the perspective of the past 4,800 years," Kullman found. "Prior to that, the pine tree line (and summer temperatures) was consistently higher than present, as it was also during the Roman and Medieval periods." Kullman also wrote that "summer temperatures during the early Holocene thermal optimum may have been 2.3°C higher than present." The "Holocene thermal optimum was a warm period that occurred between 9,000 and 5,000 years ago. This warm period was followed by a gradual cooling period."


According to Kullman, the temperature spikes were during the Roman and Medieval warming periods "were succeeded by a distinct tree line/temperature dip, broadly corresponding to the Little Ice Age." For many years now, there was an alleged scientific consensus that the Earth was warming due to humans releasing greenhouse gases into the air ? primarily through burning fossil fuels. However, temperatures stopped rising after 1998, leaving scientists scrambling to find an explanation to the hiatus in warming.Increasingly, scientists are looking away from human causes and looking at solar activity and natural climate variability for explanations of why the planet warms and cools.

Denier!

the term "global warming" should have never been introduced into regular nomenclature, because this is easily the most frozen autumn I have experienced in a while

the whole "warming" thing allows deniers to call BS when there are ice storms in november/december