It seems that we're doomed to hear the same arguments being recycled.

Saying "prove to me that god created the universe", is the same as saying "prove to me where all the matter in the universe came from".

Unfortunately no one will be able to win this debate until they die...

If you die and go to heaven or hell, then the god side wins.
If you die and there is nothing, then the science side wins.

In either case, the person debating who found the answer no longer cares about winning the debate. It's purely a faith based argument on both sides, it just depends on where you place your faith.

Well, since I'm not an American Citizen and my post is purely from the perspective of a casual observer - I'm sure my comments will get flamed.

If you want to restore America to it's past glory:

1) Stop whoring out your industry to 3rd world countries so you can save $3 when you go shopping

Reason: America was at it's peak when it was a truly industrialized nation and it lead the world in industry, technology and financial matters. Now the major American corporations are outsourcing everything to "developing nations", which is destroying your economy.

2) Get rid of 90% of the Unions and stop being so damn greedy.

Reason: The average UAW worker with 10+ years of service made more than a typical doctor. Even American car company executives didn't have to geniuses to realize that in order to recover the money being paid out on ridiculous operating costs, they would have to have their parts made in developing countries where autoworkers are making $17 a day and they're damn happy to have such a high paying job. I used car manufacturers as an example but the same can be said of pretty much all of your major industries.

3) Stop the self segregation - I don't mean that those damn white people are at it again, I mean feeling the need to identify and alienate yourselves by insisting that you are referred to as "African American", "Asian American", "Muslim American", "Jewish American"....why can't you just be "American"?

You can blame every other racial, religious, political, gender or sexuality based group that you want for feeling that you're not being treated fairly but until people can stop self segregating there will always be a battle to demand more rights and freedoms then the other guys.

4) Stop "Americanizing", everything in your education system.

Reason: If todays youth learned anything in school that actually promoted other cultures and nations who have either assisted the United States or that the US has learned lessons from that they have adapted into their culture, there would be much more racial and religious tolerance which means less discrimination/fear/hatred.

5) Hold your government accountable and force them to admit when they screwed something up.

That pretty much speaks for itself...since the civil war, the government has supremely screwed many things up and has either provoked or alienated many many other nations yet both the government and the citizenship usually seems hellbent on justifying their actions and placing blame on everyone else involved. I'm not saying that every American citizen does it every time but the attitude of "supreme overlord of the world", often seems pretty ingrained in the vast majority of Americans.

Okay, I'm done - let the flaming begin. I might check back in a week or so to see when I should expect the lynch mob at my door :)

Meh....personally, I'd much rather that a woman lays it on the line and says exactly what she is looking for instead of posting some little blurb and saying to message her if you want to know more.

I have to agree, I try to go to Maine and Mass at least once a year but that is based more on my close proximity (I'm in Nova Scotia), and that I have numerous relatives living in both states.

I'm not sure if someone has already mentioned this...the proposal for mandatory worldwide identification and regulation of the internet was actually pitched to the governments of America and the EU by Eugene Kapersky, the co-founder and CEO of Kaspersky Lab.

Ironic that the idea of worldwide regulation and mandatory identification would come from someone who has made millions selling security and privacy software keeping people from tracking your usage.

It's not an entirely bad idea, but it's a double edged sword. It would give lawmakers the basis to strip away privacy rights allowing immediate access to usage logs without the need for suspicion which would be a huge step in stopping major problems like kiddie porn but it would also open the possibility of unauthorized 3rd parties accessing your information and opening the door for massive identity theft.

My main argument is that a probability doesn't exist without a prior event mitigating other factors which would even make the probability that there will be an observer to influence an event a direct result of a prior event making it fatalistic.

To say :

would actually give scientific credence to the existence of a god or gods. Something would have had to existed to observe and record to memory events prior to the existence of cognitive life on earth.
By your own word there could not have been an initial action without the presence of god which would imply one of two probabilities:
1)nothing exists and we are not actually debating this
2)we have been predestined to follow a path of development

As we are both observing this conversation it would imply that there has been an initial action that spawned a chain of events ergo even the possibility of seemingly random acts are still fatalistic in nature.

The earths wobble stopped in January of 2006 yet we're still here...

The basic concept is this:

The sun rotates at a slight angle, just like earth does.
As it wobbles it tilts the sleeves, causing them to clash with each other and disrupt the surface which leads to sun spots and solar flares. The last solar cycle was in 2001. Each solar cycle has a period when the flares are the strongest which usually happens near the solar equator, called the solar maximum. We are due to have one on or around December 21, 2012 but because the earth has stopped, a very small minority has developed the theory that we are going to see more dramatic climate changes, earthquakes, and volcanoes erupting.

The Mayan calendar stops in 2012 but the Mayan prophecy doesn't say that the world as it is known will come to an end, it does predict that we will experience major natural events much like the current theory regarding the solar maximum. To offer a "doomsday", prediction based on the potentially increased possibility that we will experience increased environmental unrest based on the earth being aligned with the center of the universe is ludicrous considering that every particle of matter is aligned with the center of the universe and in a constant state of expansion.

It is true that there is research being conducted because of the completion of the earths wobble but the research is purely to calculate the probability and severity of the impact to the environment. In a nutshell, they want to figure out IF the lack of wobble will make any difference or if it will remain relatively the same.

Wanna make a film huh...guess you should probably start here:
Indiefilm Resources

The Motorleague - Hymn For The Newly Departed

I think race is behind the criticisms. Not against Obama for being (black), but because of the appearance that most of his supporters are only supporting him because he's a "black man".

Personally I think Obama is in over his head and would have done much better if he took office in about 8 years giving him a little more time to put some more international experience under his belt.

On the grand scale of things I think America made the best choice given their options which is truly a shame that he was their best option...I guess over the past 8 years it has become obvious that the days of having strong leadership are over and nations will be forced to pick "the best of the worst".

David Eddings or RA Salvatore

Yeah, but by time you get into the list of what god isn't - you're already dead and have found the answer out for yourself.
1) God isn't a Platypus
2)God isn't a potato
3)God isn't rain
4)God isn't a Buick

etc.

Pretty much anything other then physical representations can't be proved or disproved.
Saying to a religious person that they did not "feel", gods presence is like telling an amputee that they did not feel a phantom pain or telling a smiling person that they don't feel happy. The person who is "feeling", has no physical way to prove to others what they felt but it doesn't necessarily mean that it's psychosomatic and not real to at least that person.

Definitely 4974, she's a hottie and since I spend a lot of time in a truck - having a massage therapist around would be sweeeeeeeeeeet :)

LOL, yup.

Everyone has their own individual representation of who/what god is and no one will ever be able prove or disprove god's existence until they die and either go to be with their god or not.

I have to admit though that it is kind of fun watching the philosophical debate constantly degrade into personal attacks :)

Give up? Heck no!

I've met more people on here in the past 5 days then I've met in the past year between being on the road for work (other end of the country) or relaxing at home :)
I already have one date made for my next trip to Alberta in 2 weeks :)

She may not be "the one", but at this point in time to me - friendships are far more important then finding Ms. Right.

The only problem I see is in the majority of these countries, there are so many different sects of the same religion and so many sub-governments and feudal warlords, even if you take out the government - who are you going to replace them with that will manage to bring all of the subcultures together?

When their societies have been immersed deeply in religion and ritual for thousands of years before America existed, why would they want to even consider adopting any of the moral, ethical or legal ideals of a fledgling nation that has had very little success handling their own problems?

Could it be that the constant outside interference from other "free", nations is whats causing the constant global conflict?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to bash the United States. Lets just look at the liberation track record and wonder why no one has learned the lesson yet...
Cuba - Bay of Pigs
Vietnam
North Korea (and almost China if McArthur didn't have his butt handed to him)
Iraq parts 1 and 2

If a nation is dysfunctional and the citizens are abused a civil war isn't far away, if another country tries to force their ideals on the citizens - they band together to repel the antagonist which is exactly what we're seeing in Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Palestine and Afghanistan.

Iceland, Norway, Peru, Austria, Chile, Belize in that order :)

I have a lot of family in Northern Spain. I went to a reunion in Euskadi and toured some of the big cities - I hated the cities, they were crowded and smelled really bad, the country side and villages in the Pyrenees were nice though.

Awesome :)

I guess after showing her penchant for aggression in the Congo, Obama must have realized that she makes a far better weapon then a SoS.

Clinton in Congo

Looks like I'm going to have to go sit next to nvkikigirl since we're the only ones who laugh at those commercials :)

Car keys and emergency kit (insurance papers / titles and deeds / medications)