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CA renter
Participant[quote=scaredyclassic]It’s pretty obvious that G-d doesn’t exist. It’s not a particularly interesting question. If you really think there’s some supernatural creature in the sky who is actually interested in you, well, come on , you really probably already know in your bones that it’s not true. the louder people profess their faith, the more i think, yeah, well, you wouldnt need to sound so conviinced if you were convinced.
On the other hand, i think religion is a useful andgood thing, and that it’s worthwhile to try to have people, particularly young people, participate in it and to get some of them to believe for at least as long as we can. It has some good effects. it’s calming. It kind of gives a sense of meaning and purpose. it explains reality for people in interesting, layered, resonant stories.. it specializes in boundaries. it lays down rules. it provides tradition, ritual and fellowship. it’s GOOD….i like em all. muslims, christians, jews, mormons, miscellany, whatever ya got…
but, really, in reality, in real reality, i assure you, no one out there,no supernatural being cares about you in particular. i think we all deep down know that, , from just looking around the globe, and at history, that we are pretty much on our own down here….the louder people protest that basic truth, the more you know they don’t believe it themselves. That wouldnt act like such greedy boors if they really did…[/quote]
IMO, there’s a big difference between a god who takes a personal interest in individuals and a “higher power” or energy or life force or whatever you want to call it. Do we just go blank when we die, forever switched off, or does our energy continue beyond that which we can see, feel, hear, and smell, etc?
We know for a fact that we can only see, hear, smell, sense an infinitesimally small portion of what exists. (We also know that some people and animals can sense things along the various spectra that others cannot.) Why in the world would anyone think that we know all there is to know about the energies (or whatever we want to call it) in the universe? How can anyone possible make any claims to know that something does or does not exist for a fact?
Participant[quote=spdrun]
I would hate to live in your world, spdrun. We agree about many things, including our distaste for the militarization of police departments, the Patriot Act, police action against political protesters, pot smokers, etc. But you come across as someone who has had no experience with violent criminals, either as a victim or law enforcement.
Personally, I’ve had experience with violent criminals, and I have ZERO compassion for them.
A tourist standing on a sidewalk looking at houses isn’t a violent criminal. Someone who attacks said tourist and BREAKS HIS NECK is a violent criminal.
I’ve been victimized by violent criminals before. Beaten up pretty bad once, carjacked another time. This does NOT in any way excuse police acting with excessive brutality in my book.
Screw that cop. Hope he rots in prison and comes out a broken man. Chances are, this isn’t the first time when he’s exceeded his authority and the bounds of reasonable force.[/quote]
Correct, what he was doing did not constitute a violent crime, but you have to understand that many criminals DO walk around looking into houses/garages when they are casing a location.
The cops don’t know he’s a tourist who is simply looking at houses (and there’s no saying he wasn’t casing houses, BTW). That’s what they were trying to ascertain when they were questioning him. The fact that he apparently kept walking away/resisting them is what caused them to put him on the ground.
Understand that what the caller and the cops were probably trying to do here was to prevent a crime from being committed in the first place. So, I have to ask: What do you think a criminal looks like before he is about to commit a crime? Do you think citizens and cops should try to prevent crimes from occurring in the first place, or should they just take notes after the fact?
Participantscaredy, clearly your knowledge about a person’s right to walk away from cops when they are being questioned is far greater than mine. I will defer to you on that.
But if that’s the case, what’s to stop anyone from walking away from a cop when they are being questioned? What’s to stop a mass murderer from walking away when a cop stops them? That makes no sense at all.
And I think that a misdemeanor assault charge is fairly reasonable (my guess is that this is for political cover, as many people would say that even this charge would be unjustified), but nothing beyond that.
ParticipantI would hate to live in your world, spdrun. We agree about many things, including our distaste for the militarization of police departments, the Patriot Act, police action against political protesters, pot smokers, etc. But you come across as someone who has had no experience with violent criminals, either as a victim or law enforcement.
Personally, I’ve had experience with violent criminals, and I have ZERO compassion for them.
Participant[quote=FlyerInHi]… And when it comes to abuse by cop, CAr’s advocacy for victims is out the window.
Focus on the injured, not the one who’s left whole.[/quote]
First off, to whom are you speaking? I’m right here, so you can address me directly. You’ve done this a few times, and it comes across as creepy and slanderous instead of being genuinely interested in having an intellectual conversation about current events/topics.
Secondly, why are you making claims about me that are completely untrue — both this and your anti-union rhetoric?
Participant[quote=spdrun]CA Renter —
(a) he wasn’t doing anything illegal. Walking on the street, looking at houses is not cause for arrest, even while “brown.”
(b) he was giving them information (phone # and “no English”) as best he could. Had they acted on that information (calling his son), violence could have been averted. Instead, they chose to resort to violence instead of investigating first.
(c) the force used was clearly excessive.Hope they go to prison for 10 years, watch their kids grow up through a reinforced glass window, and get out with a few nasty VDs. It would serve as an example to other cops of what NOT to do. Screw those cops, hope they rot in hell.[/quote]
Right, looking at houses from the sidewalk is not illegal, but going onto people’s property and looking into their garages is questionable, if not illegal. That’s what the cops were called about. The notion that they treated him in any particular way because he was “brown” is exactly part of the problem. That is YOUR hangup, not theirs. I saw nothing at all in this video that would indicate any kind of racism or unjust treatment because of a person’s nationality or the color of their skin. They wouldn’t have treated a white many any differently.
Yes, the language barrier (and probably a cultural barrier as the man was not accustomed to dealing with U.S. law enforcement) was a problem, but it looked like a sergeant or some kind of superior officers was arriving on scene at the end (in the white car), so it’s likely that that they had called in for assistance. On the audio, you can hear one of the officers saying that the man was Indian and didn’t speak English, my guess is that he was describing this to a dispatcher so they could get help from a translator.
While I agree that the throw-down was probably rougher than necessary, they did warn the man not to resist, pull away, or walk away. He might have been lighter than they had expected, or he might have made a move at the end that amplified (not sure about the right word) the trajectory/movement of the cop and victim. Ultimately, it was bad luck that caused the man to land in the wrong way and become injured. It happens on playgrounds, football fields, gyms, etc. on a regular basis, but nobody is calling for 10-year sentences for kids/adults who accidentally injure someone in these places.
I saw absolutely no evidence of malicious intent or a desire on the part of the cops to injure the man because “he was brown.” If you can find something to the contrary, please point it out. Under no circumstances would the evidence in this video warrant a 10-year sentence, IMO.
I agree with Russ/Blogstar. People are acting hysterically and they are putting cops in a position where they will no longer be able to do their jobs. If I have to choose between living in a safe society where a few criminals get hurt when they resist arrest or assault cops, or in an society where criminals run the streets (but don’t get hurt), then it’s obvious I would choose the former, as would most people.
April 23, 2015 at 5:48 PM in reply to: The cost of an Ivy League undergrad degree next year…. #785211Participant[quote=scaredyclassic]”If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters? 27″Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 28″But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith![/quote]
That’s a great one, scaredy. I’m going to add more from that chapter because it really hits the nail on the head.
Luke 12:24-26
…24″Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! 25″And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span? 26″If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?…
—–
As a fellow worrier, I’ve always admired those people who seem to just coast through life without any worries. We have friends who will just pick up and travel the world with their families without any care for money or health insurance, etc. It works out almost 100% of the time, and they have such a great time. These types of people end up at the same place as we do in their latter years, but have a much more relaxing and enjoyable ride on the way there. There’s something to be said for that.
Participant[quote=zk]
Show me where I insisted that there is absolutely no god or higher power, CA renter. You can’t do it, because I’ve never said it. In fact, I’ve said many times, even on this blog, that no one can be absolutely certain of anything. I’ve also said that we need a new word in English to describe people who don’t “believe” in god, but who aren’t absolutely certain there’s no god only because they understand that they don’t know enough about the universe to be absolutely certain, but who see, based on what they do know of the universe, that the likelihood of god is so infinitesimal as to be easily and completely dismissed from consideration. If I hold a clump of dirt in my hand, could it really be gold? Yes. Some trick of the universe (or Goldie) could be making it look and feel like dirt to me, and it could really be gold. Am I going to mortgage my house and buy a new Maserati and hope to pay for it with this gold? No. Am I going to accuse anybody who does that of wishful thinking? Yes. If the existence of god is as likely as that clump of dirt actually being gold, am I going to base my life on belief in god? No. Am I going to believe in god? Only if I trick myself into it. Which I can’t/won’t do. Is somebody who believes in god intellectually inferior to me? Depends what you mean by “intellectually.” Are they inferior in their ability to see reality as the evidence presents it rather than how they want to see it? Yes, I think they are.[/quote]I think that agnosticism covers that definition with the understanding that this would include a spectrum of beliefs that range from “I don’t know anything for a fact but believe strongly that there could be a god/higher power” to “I don’t know anything for a fact but am strongly convinced there is no god/higher power.”
And there are many people who were/are not having delusions or seeing hallucinations, either. You can’t claim to know about what you haven’t seen/experienced yourself. What many have seen/experienced is no less real than what you’ve seen or experienced. (Just so you know, I’m not talking about seeing Jesus Christ in a potato chip or a rainbow.)
And, no, having spiritual beliefs does not make someone intellectually inferior to their atheist peers. Science has never proven that god or a higher power doesn’t exist, so I’m not sure why you think that it has. If anything, it has only shown us how little we know about the universe.
I think this would be an interesting read. I’ve not read it yet, but based on the description, it describes how I feel about the divide between skeptics and believers.
ParticipantHaving said all of that, I came across an article by Jimmy Carter who announced that he was pulling away from the Southern Baptist Convention. If there is an ugly side to religion, this — the discrimination against and oppression of females — is certainly a big part of that.
IMO, this is why our economic system is set up the way it is, where “women’s work” officially has little to no monetary value, leading to women’s lack of political or social power.
Anyway, interesting read.
http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/losing-my-religion-for-equality-20090714-dk0v.html?stb=fb
Participant[quote=zk][quote=Blogstar]Go Madison Wisconsin! Just say yes to those who say no to G-D.
I want to post this on my face book page but I have deleted everyone who posts blatant pro- religious or political stuff so that would be hypocritical on my part.https://news.yahoo.com/america-beginning-accept-atheists-214209363.html%5B/quote%5D
The title of that article is:
“Is America beginning to accept atheists?”
Sad that our nation (and our species in general) is reluctant to accept people because they don’t live their life according to a fantasy. A fantasy that originated before humans had the ability to explain the sun and the moon, but which has persisted among the unable-to-accept-reality crowd (most humans) since. A fantasy which most christians (and probably lots of other religious people) only favor their particular flavor of because a hundred and fifty or a thousand or two thousand years ago somebody coerced or tricked or forced their ancestors to at least pretend they favored that flavor. A fantasy that, while it generally claims to be informed by an omnipotent being, does, in most cases, change over time.
There must have been some evolutionary advantage to believing what you want to believe, rather than believing what the evidence tells you. And there was a rather obvious evolutionary advantage to not accepting people different from you. Add those two up, and I guess you get modern humans. Religious, and not willing to accept the non-religious. But just because that’s the way humans are, doesn’t mean it’s good.[/quote]
Your tone regarding religious people sounds a lot like how religious people talk about the non-religious.
There are many people who would swear on their firstborns’ lives that they have seen evidence of reincarnation or some sort of miracle that justifies their beliefs, too. Some things cannot be explained by science as we know it.
Many physicists, astronomers, and other scientists are religious or believe in some kind of higher power, too. How would you explain that? Are they just fools who are intellectually inferior to atheists?
Let’s just accept that none of us knows anything for a fact, especially regarding the afterlife and all of the possibilities of the universe. Insisting that there is absolutely no god or higher power is every bit as nonsensical as insisting that there is a god. We simply don’t know…none of us will know until after we are dead, if even then.
Participant[quote=SD Realtor]Agreed 100% with you FLU. Cash buyers are not needed just because the home doesn’t appraise.
Every case is unique and to make blanket statements without understanding or seeing the actual home and comparing it comps in the area is ridiculous.[/quote]
I never said that cash buyers were needed, only that if the house was in an area that attracted either cash buyers or buyers who would be willing to put down more than 20%, then it would be more difficult to negotiate than if the house/neighborhood were in an area where these buyers weren’t very common.
Again, please correct me if I’m wrong, but the point was that the buyer would have to make up the difference between the appraised price and the list price, and this would be in addition to the 20% (assuming conforming mortgage) that they are putting down.. It’s unlikely that the lender would increase the amount that they’re willing to lend.
Participant[quote=zk][quote=CA renter]
Also, what did you use to replace the UC Verde, zk?[/quote]
We replaced it with regular old fescue. I made the lawn lower than the surrounding concrete and very level, and capped the drains. Therefore there’s zero runoff. Which helps a bit. Still more water then the buffalo grass. But it’s green in the winter, doesn’t shed runners, and it’s softer. It feels softer to me anyway.[/quote]
That’s why I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the Eco-lawn product. It’s composed of a variety of fescue grasses, and it’s supposed to be about as drought tolerant as the UC Verde.
Is your grass fairly drought tolerant relative to the UC Verde, or might there be different types of fescue grasses that are specifically selected for drought tolerance?
Sorry to bother you with these questions. We’re just trying to figure out what to do with our grass as well.
Also, did you DIY, or hire a contractor? We would prefer to go the contractor route if/when we change it out because our DIY lawn just doesn’t look anywhere near as nice as the lawns that were installed professionally.
April 23, 2015 at 1:04 AM in reply to: The cost of an Ivy League undergrad degree next year…. #785173Participant[quote=scaredyclassic]LIST OF THINGS THAT GIVE REAL MEANING TO MY LIFE
1. having children.
2. supporting them.
3. access to reading what I want to read.
4. having a wife who loves me.shoot. not much of it has to do with lots of cash now that i think about it. just provides a better setting.[/quote]
Totally agree with everything this list, BUT would include safety and security — including healthcare, shelter, food, a safe environment, etc. — for the family on this list, too. Knowing that if one of your family members gets sick, you won’t lose every single thing the family has ever worked for in your lives is key to feeling safe and secure. That’s where the money comes in.
Participant[quote=scaredyclassic]http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/02/11/alabama-cops-leave-a-grandfather-partially-paralyzed-after-frisk-goes-awry/
I think it’s not uncommon for police to see potential suspects as not fully human equals.
That is bad.
That video of the police taking down and paralyzing the 57 y.o. Indian gramps is actually pretty freaky. Are these “bad cops” acting outrageously?
Sure seems so to me and probably any normal person on the planet, but I doubt the cops thought so because they had their dash cam on the whole time.
Cops there were trying initially to blame the victim for failing to instantly submit. Without the camera of course the narrative from the police absolutely would be different.
Land of the free…
if that were my grampa, I would not be satisfied with anything less than a 10 year prison sentence for those cops…yet I’m confident those police officers thought at the time they were acting completely reasonably. Am I being hysterical? Perhaps. Perhaps these cops are part of a vanishingly small subset of police who would consider acting this way.[/quote]
Have to disagree with you, scaredy. Clearly, these cops were trying to deal with the man in a civil, respectful way. They perceived that he was resisting them (and you know better than I if he had a right to resist), and they threw him on the ground in order to cuff him (my guess). The probably used a bit too much force, and that, combined with bad luck regarding the way he hit the ground, is what caused the problem.
Do they need to learn different techniques to take someone down? Perhaps. Did they possibly use too much force? Also possible. Was this a criminal act deserving of 10 years in jail? No, absolutely not, IMHO.
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