New Posts

A2SG · 2025-12-01T22:38:20-0600

RileyG said:
Of those I know, many had other mental illnesses, or grew up with no father, or were bullied, and sometimes lacked social skills or acted socially inappropriate/attention seeking.

It’s very much a mental health issue.

I know a bunch of christians who have mental health issues, does that mean there's a correlation between religion and mental health disorders?

Lots of people have mental health issues, not all of them are related to their gender identity or any other single aspect of their personality.

-- A2SG, people deal with their personal struggles in a wide variety of ways....

Lady Bug · 2025-12-01T22:37:12-0600

mourningdove~ said:
I'm not going to attempt to analyze your situation, but I will share that thru the years I've heard numerous successful comedians talk about this very same thing ... how they can make us all laugh ... and be the funniest person in the room ... but inside they are feeling the things that you've described. IRL, they personally deal with depression, loneliness, etc.

(Some that easily come to mind are former Saturday Nite Live cast members.)

I don't know what it all means, but I share this just to say that I don't think your experience is unique to just you.

Yup, the fact that I already knew this before making this post, makes me perplexed that this applies to me, too.

Ellesmere · 2025-12-01T22:31:23-0600

Productivity–Pay Tracker

Change 1979q4–2025q2:

Productivity

+87.3%

Hourly pay

+32.7%

Productivity has grown 2.7x as much as pay

The graph indicates that from 1948 until 1973 hourly wages and worker productivity operated largely in tandem!

starting in 1974, however, this link began to unravel - hourly compensation flat-lined while productivity continued with its upward trajectory!

Between 1979 and 2025 productivity increased by 87.3% while wages increased by a modest 32.7%!

That translates into an average increase of 1.4% per year in productivity versus 0,6% average increase in wages

Even !he advantage of a 2.7X factor in favor of productivity wasn't enough to satisfy some corporations transfer their manufacturing to off-shore locations - meanwhile citing high labor costs in America as the underlying justification!

Fast forward to 2025 with the Trump Administration with massive cuts being made to fund massive tax cuts for the wealthy
- federal s of Nov 18, 211,000 government employees have left the workforce
- insisting on stringent rules for the 42 million SNAP recipients,
- dispensing with financial support for Obamacare that translates into 10 million losing their healthcare insurance -a projected 15 million by 2034
- insisting that prices are decreasing despite evidence confirming the contrary

The wealthiest 50% of Americans own 98% of America's wealth, those at the very bottom of the other 50% with a combined 2% of the wealth and receiving government assistance have become the designated target by the rest of society!-

Meanwhile the top 0,1% which control 13.8% of the nation's wealth and benefited most from the productivity/wage gap since 1979 are waiting at the front of the line because they are deserving of yet another tax-cut - adding to the national debt that becomes the responsibility of all Americans

"According to a 2021 White House study, the wealthiest 400 billionaire families in the U.S. paid an average federal individual tax rate of just 8.2 percent. For comparison, the average American taxpayer in the same year paid 13 percent."
-
"The US government is estimated to have lost around $135 billion in revenue due to corporate tax avoidance in 2017. In contrast, corporate philanthropy has amounted to less than $20 billion a year.""

"Corporations shifted nearly $1 trillion in global profits to tax havens in 2022—depriving countries all over the world of desperately needed tax revenue.

According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, 23 of the largest and most profitable companies in the US paid no federal corporate income taxes from 2018-2022. And 109 corporations paid zero federal tax in at least one of those years."

The wealthiest members in American society are waiting in the wings while the poorer segments are fighting over "THE SCRAPS" - denouncing each other for taking advantage of the system! while the real culprits get a "FREE PASS!"

https://www.cbpp.org/research/health/by-the-numbers-harmful-republican-megabill-will-take-health-coverage-away-from

Do the rich pay their fair share?

Billionaire wealth and corporate profits have surged. New Trump administration proposals will affect both. Are they paying their fair share?

www.oxfamamerica.org

Oompa Loompa · 2025-12-01T22:16:35-0600

Say it aint so said:
In other words, just like the OP article and claims made by poster's here, the allegations have no proof.

No proof that has been released by the DOJ.

HARK! · 2025-12-01T22:15:30-0600

Hans Blaster said:
What is important about inflation in the price of silver?

Gold is the primary monetary metal.

Silver is the second.

In general terms, it is not that the value of these metals that increases. It's that the buying power of the fiat currency decreases.

If one compares the historic pricing of gold and oil in fiat US dollars; a inversely proportional trend will appear.

In 1900. a silver dollar would buy you a steak dinner. Today, that same silver dollar will still buy you a steak dinner.

another_lost_guy · 2025-12-01T22:13:20-0600

BCP1928 said:
Why not? What do you come here for?

I can tell you that I don't come here to enjoy jabbing. There are other places on the internet for that.

essentialsaltes · 2025-12-01T22:12:06-0600

essentialsaltes said:
And while you're at it, maybe stop firing them and making the problem worse.

Trump fires more immigration judges in what some suspect is a move to bend courts to his will
The Executive Office for Immigration Review, or EOIR, which runs the immigration court system, fired at least two dozen more immigration judges and supervising judges ... [And now 8 more. And a baker's dozen of probationary judges.]

Immigration judge fired by Trump administration files lawsuit claiming discrimination

Tania Nemer is one of scores of immigration judges that have been dismissed.

Nemer was "abruptly fired" in the middle of her probationary period despite receiving "the highest possible performance," the lawsuit alleges.

The former Cleveland judge is among the more than 100 immigration judges who have been fired, resigned through the Department of Government Efficiency's "Fork in the Road" offer, or transferred out of immigration adjudication, according to the union representing immigration judges.

The lawyers called the DOJ's position that it can fire federal employees without a reason -- despite civil rights statutes -- a "breathtaking assault on a landmark federal statute."

GodAndChocolateVanilla · 2025-12-01T22:09:40-0600

A new Hobby of mine right now is painting Rocks!! ^w^

I love painting and I love Rocks!!

I also like collecting Rocks and Crystals. ^w^

wing2000 · 2025-12-01T21:59:43-0600

essentialsaltes said:
Trump ‘Wouldn’t Have Wanted’ Second Strike on Venezuela Boat
["Hegseth] said he didn’t do it, so I don’t have to make that decision,” Trump said, adding when pressed yet again about the legality of the strikes: "I wouldn't have wanted that - a second strike. The first strike was very lethal. It was fine."

“Pete said he did not order the death of those men,” Trump said when asked again about a second strike on the boat, and avoided answering whether he would have been okay with a second strike if Hegseth had ordered one.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, acknowledged Monday that Hegseth had authorized Bradley to conduct the strikes on Sept. 2. Bradley, she added, “worked well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed.”

Her scripted remarks at a news briefing elicited a furious backlash within the Defense Department, where officials described feeling angry at the uncertainty over whether Hegseth would take responsibility for his alleged role in the operation — or leave the military and civilian staff under him to face the consequences.

“This is ‘protect Pete’ bulls---,” one military official, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal conversations, told The Post.

Leavitt’s statement “left it up to interpretation” who was responsible for the second strike that killed the two survivors, a separate military official said, imploring the White House to provide clarity on the issue.

One official said of Leavitt’s statement, “It’s throwing us, the service members, under the bus.” Another person said some of Hegseth’s top civilian staff appeared deeply alarmed about the revelations and were contemplating whether to leave the administration.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/12/01/hegseth-caine-boat-strikes-caribbean/

Multifavs · 2025-12-01T21:50:24-0600

I put up most of the Christmas decorations today. Tomorrow I'll take care of the tree.

BCP1928 · 2025-12-01T21:47:53-0600

RDKirk said:
I said that earlier myself.

Maybe they'll find a way to let him weasel out. It depends on how bipartisan the Congressional complaints get. All it does is feed fuel to the fire of troops being sure not to obey illegal orders, particularly if the lower ranking people catch heat.

He wouldn't have had to say anything, simply not do it. The survivors of the later boat were rescued alive.

Guess what? They weren't all Venezuelan.

Stopped_lurking · 2025-12-01T21:47:15-0600

stevevw said:
We can map out all the neural correlations of conscious experiences and know exactly what brain parts and wiring lights up. But none of this tells us anything about the nature of the experiences coming out of those firing mechanism. You cannot see the golden sunset in those brain activities. You have to ask the experiencer directly.

It is only the experiencer who is directly having that experience and gaining that knowledge from it. Like colorblind Mary. She could know everything about the brain activity but none of that gave her any experience or knowledge of colors. It was only when she could then see the color Red that she experienced it and gained new knowledge.

This is not necessarily true, see my earlier objection. There are many philosophers that disagree with the Mary thought experiment.

Yarddog · 2025-12-01T21:46:29-0600

BPPLEE said:
Knowing the motive behind this will not prevent it from happening again

That's not really true. There more information that officials have on why this occurred can help identity those capable of doing this and they can be flagged and prevented from entering the country.

Delvianna · 2025-12-01T21:46:27-0600

If you can toss out all the laws written in the old testament, including the 10 commandments and claim being saved by Jesus justifies you, then what is the point of tribulation period?

Revelation 9:21 - And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Repent isn't just asking for forgiveness, the word literally means to change your mind. So you are supposed to change your mind about sin in general, meaning to look at sin with "abhorrence". Then we have some of the commandments listed: 6, 2 (pharmakeia which is linked to idolatry), 7 (porneia also linked to adultery) and 8. If the 10 commandments don't apply anymore, it's interesting then that it's still being quoted here.

Now, you can say "but Jesus forgave me and we are no longer under the law due to him". So then my question is, people who aren't saved are under the law? That makes no sense... because follow me for a second:
If the tribulation period is because of sin (sin = breaking the law 1 John 3:4) but being saved means there is no law, then God is punishing people for the hell of it? What would the point be? You're essentially saying, "You will be judged until you follow me, then you can sin and it doesn't matter".

The reason I bring this up is because keeping the sabbath is apart of the 10 commandments and if the 10 commandments are brought up in Revelation during something that is still in the future, then there has to be something more to it then that, right?

It's not being legalistic, I think that word is being abused and tossed around unjustifiably. Being legalistic means that you believe that following the law makes you saved without Christ. It's saying I can get to heaven on my own by just following God's rules and thats not the case at all. Obedience and Christ work hand in hand. It's the one thing God tried to teach the Israelites time and time again and the one reason why God punished them, time and time again. This is entirely why you will know a brother vs a false brother by their fruit because obedience = righteousness/godly fruit (love, joy, peace, etc) and disobedience produces bad fruit (hatred, depression, anxiety etc).

It's not legalistic to say God expects obedience and judges disobedience. The trib is proof of that. So since keeping the sabbath is commandment number 4, God still expects us to honor it.

1 More point, what did God say about Abraham before the law was written down and given to Moses?

Genesis 26:5 "because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

What Laws are those? What statutes are those? What commandments are those? Gods laws never change and they're never done away with, the only difference between before Christ and after Christ, is that God was trying to teach humanity that we need HIM in order to be cleansed of unrighteousness, we can't do it alone. Hence the point of the Holy Spirit, to guide us as we try to walk in righteousness (which is obedience to God's law).

Lady Bug · 2025-12-01T21:42:58-0600

Michie said:
I too feel that ketchup is an abomination on a hotdog. We have a Pope that does not know how to eat a hotdog!

I don't know if it's the ketchup being an abomination, but the hotdog ^_^

RocksInMyHead · 2025-12-01T21:27:36-0600

Servus said:
So what crimes are acceptable for a president to pardon?

In theory, any crime is eligible to be pardoned, because pardons are primarily about the person, not the crime. Generally speaking, I'm not opposed to pardons in cases where there appears to be a miscarriage of justice or where the law has changed such that what the person was convicted of is no longer a crime (or is a much less serious crime - e.g. a misdemeanor instead of a felony). Commutations make sense in cases where the person has been a model prisoner, has served a significant chunk of their sentence, and has shown an effort to reform and give back to the community. But that's really about it.

childeye 2 · 2025-12-01T21:23:30-0600

CoreyD said:
Well, I'm glad to hear you admit you are not addressing the OP, but only an argument that exists in your head, because the OP is proving free will exists in man. Nothing else.
Since you do not have anything against this information,

The Bible says, at Hosea 14:4, in part...

The Hebrew expression nedabah (נְדָבָה) is rendered freewill offering, freely, plentiful, voluntary, offering, willingly, offering.
This Hebrew word comes from the Hebrew word nadab, of which Topical Lexicon says...
The verb נָדַב consistently underlines a movement of the heart that is neither coerced nor merely dutiful. It describes people stirred from within to give, serve, or step forward because they have first been moved by God. Throughout Scripture this spirit of readiness is linked to worship, stewardship, civic responsibility, and warfare, revealing a multifaceted biblical theology of voluntary devotion.

At 1 Corinthians 9:16-18, verse 17 says,

Paul uses the Greek word hekón: Willing, Voluntary. Which means of one's own free will.
According to Thayer's Greek Lexicon...
STRONGS NT 1635: ἑκών
ἑκών, ἑκοῦσα, ἑκον, unforced, voluntary, willing, of one's own will, of one's own accord: Romans 8:20; 1 Corinthians 9:17. (From Homer down.)

At Philemon 1:14, Paul says...

The Greek word hekousios - meaning free will, is the neuter of a derivative from hekon; voluntariness -- willingly, which is (an adjective, a primitive term) – properly, willing; "unforced, of one's own will, voluntary" (J. Thayer), i.e. acting on one's own accord. The root (hek-) emphasizes intentional, deliberate action (choice), i.e. "of free-will" (J. Thayer).
voluntary

adjective
Done or undertaken of one's own free will.
a voluntary decision to leave the job.
Acting or done willingly and without constraint or expectation of reward.
a voluntary hostage; voluntary community work.
Normally controlled by or subject to individual volition.
volition
The act of willing or choosing; the act of forming a purpose; the exercise of the will.
The result of an act or exercise of choosing or willing; a state of choice.
The power of willing or determining; will.

As well as this information
Adjective
▲
Voluntarily imposed upon oneself
voluntary

freewill

uncoerced

unforced

willing

willful

intended

deliberate

conscious

ungrudging

willingly given

intentional

free-willed

Then we have nothing else to talk about.
Freewill; Free will; Free-willed decisions are indeed a reality.
That is my point.

Do you realize that these terms you've listed are neutral terms in the moral/immoral context? Therefore, in the moral/immoral context, you still have not proven Adam was not persuaded by the woman who was deceived, and you still haven't proven people can be good apart from God's Spirit.

Jipsah · 2025-12-01T21:20:49-0600

essentialsaltes said:
I rolled boxcars, the Flat Earthers are destroyed.

View attachment 373879

Cthulhu fhtagn!

Job 33:6 · 2025-12-01T21:20:10-0600

2PhiloVoid said:
Actually, language has at least a little to do with the contexts that affect how something is written, being that language is always used in tandem with the background culture and traditions of the peoples or peoples who developed the specific language used for a particular rhetorical moment or a piece of writing............even one that comes by way of a not completely known process of communication from God in ancient times.

Yea this is exactly right.

It's like in America how we have phrases like "it's raining cats and dogs". A non-american might be confused by a statement like that. But language and culture are quite entwined in many ways that I think most people are so accustomed to, that they don't even notice.

Man that job was a piece of cake!

Hey don't spill the beans, it's a secret!

Hey, stop pulling my leg!

Wow, he really hit the nail on the head.

Well, that only happens once in a blue moon.

And on and on. And every language and culture is entwined. But of course in the Bible we miss all of this because we simply have English translations.

Login to view embedded media
It's not as though God has a long nose and instructed Moses to call him "long of nose" in the Bible. It's just part of the Hebrew culture.

Adam, the Hebrew word for "humanity". Before it was even a name, it was simply a Hebrew word. Hebrew, a language invented by people that didn't even exist when Adam would have lived.

linux.poet · 2025-12-01T20:59:07-0600

MOD HAT ON

This thread is permanently closed for flaming and goading.

Starting a thread to goad and flame those who believe differently than you is not allowed. Nor is responding to flaming and goading with more flaming and goading.

If you are flamed, do not respond in-kind. Alert staff to the situation by utilizing the report button.

Next thread over this disagreement needs to be more fair to the people on both sides of the debate instead of stating that differences of opinion on the subject are the protect of spiritual or experiential or intellectual deficiencies.

MOD HAT OFF

bbbbbbb · 2025-12-01T20:56:16-0600

Today we returned to the dark, gloomy weather with a fine, misty snow which gradually accumulated on the 10+ inches on the ground.

another_lost_guy · 2025-12-01T20:56:06-0600

I know we're not supposed to talk about fasting but I hope we can discuss it here without bragging. Have any of you attempted a 40 day fast? Did Jesus drink water during His 40 day fast or no? What happens when you complete the 40 day fast?

A Devil's Advocate · 2025-12-01T20:54:05-0600

Guojing said:
When you are using the phrase "age to come", you must have taken it from Paul.

If that is the case, then he actually specify three ages to understand scripture

Time past-Before Paul was saved
But now -Present age
Age to come-future

The present age is the age we are in now, before Christ's return. The age to come is after Christ's return when the heavens and earth are renewed and God's kingdom is now on earth. There is no longer any death.

timothyu · 2025-12-01T20:53:54-0600

Mark Quayle said:
What you just said is theology.

We made an institution out of it, not God

New Posts

New Posts

Productivity–Pay Tracker​

Change 1979q4–2025q2:​

Productivity​

+87.3%​

Hourly pay​

+32.7%​

Productivity has grown 2.7x as much as pay​

Trump fires more immigration judges in what some suspect is a move to bend courts to his will​

Immigration judge fired by Trump administration files lawsuit claiming discrimination​

Trump ‘Wouldn’t Have Wanted’ Second Strike on Venezuela Boat​

MOD HAT ON​

This thread is permanently closed for flaming and goading.​

MOD HAT OFF​

Filter

Forum statistics

Share this page

Productivity–Pay Tracker

Change 1979q4–2025q2:

Productivity

+87.3%

Hourly pay

+32.7%

Productivity has grown 2.7x as much as pay

Trump fires more immigration judges in what some suspect is a move to bend courts to his will

Immigration judge fired by Trump administration files lawsuit claiming discrimination

Trump ‘Wouldn’t Have Wanted’ Second Strike on Venezuela Boat

MOD HAT ON

This thread is permanently closed for flaming and goading.

MOD HAT OFF