1. According to www.m-w.com,
Murder is: the crime of unlawfully killing a person especially with malice aforethought
Killing is: to deprive of life.
Thus, all murder is by definition killing, but all killing is not murder.
Even the Bible recognizes the right to lawfully kill people. (To head off at the pass anyone who wants to weigh in on this, I do not believe that it is appropriate to stone people for committing adultery. As a Christian I am not bound by the requirements of the Jewish laws.) If the killing takes place within the boundaries of the law it is not murder. Technically speaking, this means that abortion is not murder, even though it definitely ends a human life. I believe that we should value human life more highly than we do in our culture, but that is a different issue.
2. Why can't you accept that? A 1 second old has those rights. When does that first second begin? Human gestation takes 38-42 weeks, but babies removed from the womb prior to the "normal" gestation period are granted human rights privileges as soon as they leave the womb. Today our technology is such that babies born before 24 weeks have very poor odds of surviving, but that's a technology issue. It used to be that it was babies born before 30 weeks, and before that it was 35 weeks.... Technology and medical capability determine that today. When will human rights begin once our technology is sufficiently advanced that conception to "birth" can occur outside the mother's body? It's a slippery slope. I submit to you that human rights should be conferred at conception.
3. Hitler intentionally committed crimes against humanity. He could have been put to death because he was a criminal. Unborn babies have not harmed anyone - at least not intentionally. I disagree with your interpretation of the Bible. Could you elaborate?
4. That's not very tolerant of you.:-)
BTW - Do you ask trolls to stop trolling? I am not trolling here, but simply following the command of my God. "Go into all the world and make disciples"
There's a difference between people who claim to be Christians and those who ARE Christians.
If I claimed to be a vegan, but you saw me having steak and eggs for breakfast each day, it would be hard to believe me when I said I was a vegan.
Jesus said
"By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35
If people behave in a way that is not loving - consistently angry or hateful, it's doubtful that they are really Christians.
Please don't think that Christianity is Jerry Falwell. There's a lot more to it than a dusty irrelevant book and a charicature.
Please let me know if you'd like to know more about this topic. (If not, I won't chase after you.)
"Whether something is right or wrong is not boolean"
I submit to you that if there is a creator who made all of us, then He has the right to determine as a boolean what is right or wrong. If there is a transcendant God, He and only He can definitively say what is good or what is bad.
In the scheme of things, if there is a God, it really doesn't matter what I think, or for that matter what you think. There is only one standard - His.
If there is not God, then you are free to do as you please.
I also believe that you have stumbled into a logical fallacy. Killing is not forbidden by my "religion." Murder is forbidden.
WRT "Thou Shalt Not Kill" - The Bible was written in Hebrew, and as I understand it, a direct translation would be "murder not shall you" (Hebrew is read right to left)
The Bible has been translated, and that does mean that it is difficult to clearly interpret the precise meaning of every passage, but that does not make the Bible impossible to understand.
When I don't fully understand the meaning of a passage, I'll look at multiple translations (word for word, and thought for thought) as well as reading some history to better understand the context of the passage.
Saying that the Bible wasn't written in English and is not therefore reliable is a dodge by people who don't want to follow the Bible's teachings.
(BTW - the 10 commandments says not to use God's name improperly - without reverence and respect, and yet people seem to think that murder is somehow worse than abusing God's name.)
I'm not a vegan. The Bible doesn't suggest that I should be.
Suicide? A bad idea. God gave you life and thinks that you should keep living until He decides that you shouldn't
If God wanted to force you to worship Him, He would and could in a moment.
I do not worship a God I do not know - I have a personal relationship with Christ - He changed my life.
BTW - I'm not "after you" - I'm just doing what you are doing - hanging out in a portal where some interesting discussions happen. You're the one who wrote to me - I was simply posting in a discussion.
If you would like to know more about why I believe that there's a God and about His love for you, please write me at tom_cooper at bigfoot dot com
I am a Christian who strongly opposes abortion.
What these people are doing is definitely wrong. God would not support their efforts.
I do understand their line of thinking - even though they are wrong in what they are doing.
Here's what they are probably thinking:
a) Abortion=murder
b) murder=wrong
c) this murderer kills dozens of babies
d) the law protects the doctor - and the doctor makes a profit.
e) The doctor should be stopped because murdering the doctor means fewer overall murders.
I agree with the first statement - because life begins at conception.
This idea used to be shot down by the theory that we evolve in the womb.
Now we know that all of the necessary genetic information that makes you "you" and me "me" is present and complete when the sperm enters the egg.
As such, science supports the idea of life beginning at conception.
(didja ever notice that planned parenthood never mentions the idea of 'baby' when they run their ads? Their latest campaign only mentions 'choice' and 'rights.' They don't want to mention 'baby' because it undermines their position to acknowledge the personhood of the one being sucked into a sink.)
The second statement is supported by the "top 10" (10 commandments)
Where they get all fuzzy is that they try to justify stopping a person from doing more evil acts.
This really demonstrates a low view of God.
The God I worship promises that He will ensure justice. (Not the kind of lame, weak, inequitable so-called justice we find in the courts; but rather completely equitable justice.)
When God judges, the punishment fits the crime. Perfectly.
When people do evil things and seem to get away with it (for example, many believe that OJ killed two people) God knows and will respond in a truly just fashion. If OJ did that, I believe that God will make sure that he is held accountable for what he did.
And that I am held completely accountable for the things that I have done. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"
I am thankful that
"God demonstrates His love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" -
"believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved"
Abortion is killing of developing humans. Those human's rights should be protected by our government. Today they are not. I hope that someday in the future the government will extend human rights to developing humans. It's sad that they don't do that today.
Regards,
Anomaly
BTW - God loves you and longs for relationship with you. IF you would like to know more about this, please contact me at tom_cooper at bigfoot dot com
WRT to compatibility, it's mostly there, but not completely there.
From my perspective, it's good enough software (my fastest machine at home is a Cyrix MII 300 and it runs fine on that. The AMD 233 is a bit slower but that's mostly related to a lack of memry. (SO takes a minimum of 50MB.)
The biggest problems are layout/typeface issues, and views. If I'm using Type 1 fonts on my Linux box, then move my doc to Office, the fonts probably don't translate well. Layout is affected.
If I edit a powerpoint presentation in SO, I have the same layout issues and also have things like the outline view appear different when I open it again in Powerpoint.
HOWEVER - it's good enough for schools and home! My wife uses SO exclusively for documents and presentations and finds it to be VERY helpful. If you're not bouncing back and forth between platforms it works extremely well.
If you do need to preserve layout, there's always ps2pdf which allows you to lock down the layout in pdf format.
When I was in junior high (many many moons ago) our school had a subscription to Sports Illustrated. When the swimsuit edition came out (and this was in the days when they actually wore swimsuits - just to tell you how long ago that was) our librarian would remove it from the shelves.
Being the obnoxious youngster that I was, I made a point of insisting that she return it to the shelves because it was censorship.
She basically told me (and rightly so) that I was a snotty little kid who didn't need to have access to this sort of thing.
I cried CENSORSHIP! and she told me to buzz off.
I had no reason to be reading that sort of material - certainly not in a government funded library.
On top of that, I was a student, and a minor - both mean that I had fewer rights in our society than someone who has attained adulthood.
Children are developmentally different from adults and need help making information and media choices. If you choose to raise your kids on a diet of pr0n and violent TV/Movies/video games, that is your choice, but don't ask me to fund it.
If you want to get your jollies looking at women/animals/men/explosives/automobiles, I really don't care, but don't ask me to subsidize your entertainment.
As a practical matter, librarians act as censors all of the time. Even thought the ALA publically decries censorship, most libraries have very limited funds and must choose carefully what materials that they make available. They choose not to procure the items that serve only the smallest number of people.
Bandwidth is not free, and ideas have consequences.
Download what you will in your own home when you're paying for it. I can't control what you put in your head. I don't want to. You're accountable for the consequenses of viewing that garbage - but don't look in my wallet to fund your jollies!!
Filtering software is imperfect. Get over it.
I don't want my son exposed to pr0n. If this means that when he's at school or at the library he can't get to some material which may benefit him educationally, he can work with me at home to surf the net where I can help him find apppropriate material, and potentially protect him from damaging material.
I know what spending lots of time with pr0n did to my world view and to my brain. Victimless? Not hardly! If I can pass on that for him, I will.
I want filters in the libraries and schools, thank you very much!
Respectfully,
Anomaly
PS - God loves you and longs for relationship with you. If you would like more information about this, please contact me at tom_cooper at bigfoot dot com
I saw a PBS interview with Lucas where he claimed to have embraced the mystical belief systems of multiple religions so that he could appeal to the deeply ingrained sociological need for mysticism/spirituality (or something like that - it HAS been a while since I saw the show.)
At any rate, even though GL says it's just a fantasy thing, is sounds an awful lot like the currently popular so-called "New Age" spirituality.
Right now the New Age label describes an interest in relaxed lifestyles, spiritual exploration, holistic health, advanced technologies, multiculturalism, environmental consciousness, global peace, and an unearthing of the ancient mysteries. What it will be in the future, who knows?
Let's look at that list for a minute and compare it to StarWars: Spiritual exploration (The "Force") and Ben Kenobi as a spirit-guide Advanced technologies - Death Star, AT ATs, X-wings, Personal Robots, Land Speeders, Light Sabres, robotic appendages Multiculturalism - how much more multicultural can you get than the Galactic Senate?
and Speaking of the Galactic Senate - Global (universal) peace it's the home of 'just government and freedom for thousands of years' ancient mysteries - What do you call Yoda and the whole study process to become a Jedi?
As far as
'religion' is concerned: (I'll admit that it's definition #4), but that says:
"A cause, a principle, or an activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion."
Star Wars embraces new age philosophy, and "Jedi" seems to meet the criteria for a reliigon (in my opinion, anyway.)
So, if you want to report your religion as Jedi, go ahead.
Regards,
Anomaly
BTW - there is a real, personal God, and He longs for relationship with you. If you want to know more about Him, please contact me at tom_cooper at bigfoot dot com
HP's response to an open source request
on
HP Ending OpenMail
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· Score: 2
-----Original Message-----
From: openmail@hp.com
To: tom_cooper@bigfoot.com
Sent: 3/2/01 5:54 AM
Subject: RE: If you're discontinuing this product, might you Open Source it?
Hello Tom,
Thanks for getting on touch. This is something that everyone is asking
for at the moment. Any news that we have will get posted on our website.
Kind Regards
OpenMail Helpdesk
-----Original Message-----
From: tom.cooper [mailto:tom_cooper@bigfoot.com]
Sent: 01 March 2001 16:37
To: HELPDESK OPENMAIL
Subject: If you're discontinuing this product, might you Open Source it?
Name: Tom Cooper
Email: tom_cooper@bigfoot.com
Phone: (301)380-7057
State: MD
Country: USA
Comment:
If this is the last release of this product, would you consider open
sourcing it? I am a technology professional who likes to see options
- we're stuck with Exchange because of the proprietary MAPI protocols.
Would it be possible to GPL this code (or a similar license) so that we
could be free from the MS back end?
I'm involved peripherally with an open source effort to create an open
groupware product, and I think that this product could help with that
and many other efforts.
Thanks for taking the time to read this message. I'm interested to
hear what you have to say about this possibility.
I saw this posting, and thought that, if nothing else, the MAPI code might benefit the open source community in general, or the OGS project specifically.
I followed the link in the story to the OpenMail home page, and then the OpenMail contact us link.
I asked them to consider Open Sourcing the product at end of life. I asked them nicely. (If you do this, please ask nicely, too.)
I explained that there are projects that could benefit from their work, and asked them to consider that as a possibility.
Here's the automated response I got from them. I'm looking forward to a 'real' answer, too.
Re: If you're discontinuing this product, might you Open Source it?
Thank you for your enquiry.
As stated on our Assistance web page, we are pleased to respond to anything to do with HP OpenMail. Allowing for time differences around the world, we aim to respond to messages within 48 hours. If a full response is likely to take longer than this, or the volume of mail exceeds our expectations, we will still get back to you within 48 hours to tell you when you might expect a full response. (Please note that we can only provide responses to inquiries composed in English.)
If you have submitted an inquiry that is not related to HP OpenMail, we will forward your inquiry to the appropriate HP organization. Because different HP organizations provide different product support options, you should consult the Assistance page related to your inquiry to understand what type of support you can expect. To help find the appropriate on-line Assistance page, please use the Assistance directory page.
Thank you again for contacting us
The HP OpenMail team
Regards,
Anomaly
PS - God loves you and longs for relationship with you. If you would like to know more about this, please contact me at tom_cooper at bigfoot dot com
Re:The real sexism: Where are the woman CEO's?
on
HP Ending OpenMail
·
· Score: 2
There are lots of reasons for lesser representation by women within technology fields, but I'd like to address one portion of your comment specifically.
"50% of our population is not represented in our boardroom"
I believe that in the US, women make up about 51% of the population. Regardless, your logic is flawed.
If women are equal to men (I tend to feel that they are generally superior to men) then they should have the right to make choices about their careers and lives.
If they are allowed to make any choice they want, some will choose NOT to go into business.
I have several friends who have chosen to devote their efforts specifically to the task of raising children, charity work, and managing household responsibilities. I refer to this as category "A"
My wife has a master's degree in information systems and was quite successful in her business pursuits before our first child was born. She has chosen to step away from work outside the home so that she can raise our kids. I admire her for that. She will likely return to the workforce in a few years - after our youngest child enters high school or so.... I'll call this category "B"
Many women fall into a third category "C"
These women choose to remain in the workforce in addition to having children. Many of these women choose jobs that give them flexibility to take leave when their kids are sick, or to have shorter work hours, fewer work days, etc. Speaking practically, these women are choosing not to climb the corporate ladder as quickly because they value something other than $$ - their kids!
As a result of women in all three categories, there is less than ~50% representation in the boardroom.
Women who exercise their right to choose category A will never be represented in business. Women who choose categories B and C will be in business, but as a result of taking years off from work, or simply working less than their male counterparts, will not climb the ladder to the same heights as men.
Sure the 'glass ceiling' exists in some places. And there are bigoted jerks who discriminate against and abuse women, but there are GOOD reasons sociologically why women don't make up 50% of the space in the boardroom.
Don't invalidate the choices of women who value their legacy to the next generation by spending time with them instead of trying to be able to spend more money on them.
Thanks for reading my post.
Regards,
Anomaly
PS - God loves you and longs for relationship with you. If you would like to know more about this, please email me at tom_cooper at bigfoot dot com
And a fat lot of good it did. The folks promoting this bad legislation did a good job of schmoozing the local reps here.
"Do you want lots of great Tech jobs in your state? Vote for UCITA and your constituents will love you."
Bah! - I explained to my reps that the rights granted by UCITA would actually be harmful to businesses that buy software - I don't think they "got it."
Sometimes politics makes me nuts.
Write letters to your reps RIGHT NOW - before the lobbyists make more headway in your state - it's too late for us in MD!
Anomaly
God loves you and longs for relationship with you. If you want to know more about this, please contact me at Tom_Cooper at bigfoot dot com
Discovery of the components of life does not imply that life is plentiful.
If I had all the components of a car (not assembled) I would not have a car until they were placed in the right order, with the right alignment, and the right torque applied to them.
Simply discovering car parts (and what has been discovered is the raw material of car parts, not the parts themselves) does not indicate that we should find 'cars' in the universe.
It's possible - and even more likely than if those parts didn't exist - BUT there's more required than what has been found.
Stanley Miller's experiments proved that having the right component materials in 'ideal' circumstances doesn't even give the building blocks of life.
(Dang chirality!)
I'm not saying that life like ours doesn't exist elsewhere in the universe, just that it this discovery doesn't mean that it does.
Life is hard. Creating life is REALLY hard.
--Anomaly
Now comes the part where I lose credibility with those of my readers who are closed-minded.
God loves you and longs for relationship with you. If you want to know more about this, please contact me at tom_cooper at bigfoot dot com
But the 'scientific community' is not always all that much of a community. WRT evolution, there are many differing viewpoints - Dawkins, Gould, Lewontin, and others who have VERY different opinions about what the 'correct' version of the facts is.
This doesn't even go near the people who believe that evolution as the origin of species is not demonstrable - these are all people who believe that evolution is the explanation for creation of species! This is disagreement within the 'evolutionary community' a small pocket of the so-called 'scientific community'
Additionally, what is 'common knowledge' in the 'scientific community' can change rapidly and frequently. Case in point being the cosmology theories disrupted when a new solar system was discovered with Jupiter-sized planets. This discovery turned planetary-formation theories on their collective ear.
Scientists are people. People are biased. Scientists have bias, whether you can admit it or not.
I've been doing business with a CLEC for almost two years. Sure, they're slow to respond to service requests, and their staff is not particularly knowledgeable, but the up side is that their customer support tracking system stinks!
Aside from those frustrations, I have cable/internet/voice services from a non-RBOC!
None of my data goes on their network, because the CLEC here built it's own infrastructure - including the COs. Verizon doesn't get a penny of my money, or a bit of my data!
(I suppose the power company has enough money to do that.) They even pulled new wires from the CO to my house.
I have high-speed cable access at home. As I write this, my wife and I are both sitting on the sofa with laptops connected to my home LAN. This comment is passing through my linux NAT box to the ISP - nothin' but 'net baby!
I pay less than the CLEC charges for any services, and I don't have to pay Comcast (the incumbent cable company) a nickel.
I put up with what are essentially minor hassles for the privilege of low-cost high quality services from a non-monopoly provider.
Competition is GOOD!
Tell me again why I should do business with the incumbents?
Do your part! Take $$ away from the lousy service incumbents by doing business with their competitors!
My worst service from my current provider is no worse than with the incumbents.
"The great mass of people will more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a small one." Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), German dictator. Mein Kampf, vol. 1, ch. 10 (1925)
People will believe what they choose to believe, regardless of what is rational, or demonstrated by the facts.
Of course we went to the moon. To believe otherwise is nonsense.
I know that the following will be considered a troll by some moderators, but I urge you to consider that I mean this, and am not simply searching for a vitriolic response.
As a Christian, I am frequently amazed that people reject the teachings and historical evidence supporting the claims of the historic Christian faith. People simply choose to believe what they decide they want to believe.
Jesus did die so that you could have relationship with God the father. If you would like to know more about this, please contact me at tom_cooper at bigfoot dot com.
I believe that I'm using this product today. I'd like to talk with you about your experiences with it. Please email me at tom_cooper at bigfoot dot com so that I can get more information.
> Well, I obviously didn't know about the National Day of
> Prayer every year. But that doesn't diminish the argument
The fact that this occurs every year for the last 49 years without a successful constitutional challenge indicates to me that the argument is not as compelling
as you believe it to be.
> atheism asserts that there is no god. Atheism as a whole just denies certain beliefs, and as such, has no beliefs.
In denying beliefs, it is asserting other beliefs. Claiming the non-existence of a God is by definition promoting the belief that there is no God.
> Life's beginning is arbitrary because the difference between life and non-life is a matter of definition.
> As there is really no consistent definition of life, then the choice between life
> begining at conception, and life begining at birth is arbitrary.
The definition of the difference between life and non-life is somthing I believe you would say is absolute, at least when it comes to whether you are alive or dead.
In my circumstance, it is most certainly not arbitrary!
Interesting (to me) page at http://www.lifeuk.org/lifepg4.htm
> WRT your statistics about drug programs, please post some impartial statistics.
I made the point in my last post that there are no objective standards for measuring the effectiveness of drug treatment programs. This make 'impartial
statistics' something which is simply not available.
> Don't make blanket statements.
With all due respect, isn't the statement that there is no God a blanket statement?
> I am an atheist, as well as many of my friends.
> I do not know a single person that considers narcotics anonymous a religious program.
Isn't this a blanket statement, too? Have you polled them? All of them?
BTW - I read the assertion that narcotics anonymous was religious on http://www.positiveatheism.org, and in legal proceedings that
indicate that it's a violation of church and state to force convicted drug users to participate in narcotics anonymous because in the 12 steps it calls on a
'higher power' (see google for more references)
Finally, there is still only your assertion that Mr. Ashcroft lied.
Do you have evidence of this, or simply an opinion? Apparently it's just an opinion.
Slashdot Mirror
1. According to www.m-w.com,
:-)
Murder is: the crime of unlawfully killing a person especially with malice aforethought
Killing is: to deprive of life.
Thus, all murder is by definition killing, but all killing is not murder.
Even the Bible recognizes the right to lawfully kill people. (To head off at the pass anyone who wants to weigh in on this, I do not believe that it is appropriate to stone people for committing adultery. As a Christian I am not bound by the requirements of the Jewish laws.) If the killing takes place within the boundaries of the law it is not murder. Technically speaking, this means that abortion is not murder, even though it definitely ends a human life. I believe that we should value human life more highly than we do in our culture, but that is a different issue.
2. Why can't you accept that? A 1 second old has those rights. When does that first second begin? Human gestation takes 38-42 weeks, but babies removed from the womb prior to the "normal" gestation period are granted human rights privileges as soon as they leave the womb. Today our technology is such that babies born before 24 weeks have very poor odds of surviving, but that's a technology issue. It used to be that it was babies born before 30 weeks, and before that it was 35 weeks.... Technology and medical capability determine that today. When will human rights begin once our technology is sufficiently advanced that conception to "birth" can occur outside the mother's body? It's a slippery slope. I submit to you that human rights should be conferred at conception.
3. Hitler intentionally committed crimes against humanity. He could have been put to death because he was a criminal. Unborn babies have not harmed anyone - at least not intentionally. I disagree with your interpretation of the Bible. Could you elaborate?
4. That's not very tolerant of you.
BTW - Do you ask trolls to stop trolling? I am not trolling here, but simply following the command of my God. "Go into all the world and make disciples"
There's a difference between people who claim to be Christians and those who ARE Christians.
If I claimed to be a vegan, but you saw me having steak and eggs for breakfast each day, it would be hard to believe me when I said I was a vegan.
Jesus said
"By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35
If people behave in a way that is not loving - consistently angry or hateful, it's doubtful that they are really Christians.
Please don't think that Christianity is Jerry Falwell. There's a lot more to it than a dusty irrelevant book and a charicature.
Please let me know if you'd like to know more about this topic. (If not, I won't chase after you.)
"Whether something is right or wrong is not boolean"
I submit to you that if there is a creator who made all of us, then He has the right to determine as a boolean what is right or wrong. If there is a transcendant God, He and only He can definitively say what is good or what is bad.
In the scheme of things, if there is a God, it really doesn't matter what I think, or for that matter what you think. There is only one standard - His.
If there is not God, then you are free to do as you please.
I also believe that you have stumbled into a logical fallacy. Killing is not forbidden by my "religion." Murder is forbidden.
WRT "Thou Shalt Not Kill" - The Bible was written in Hebrew, and as I understand it, a direct translation would be "murder not shall you" (Hebrew is read right to left)
The Bible has been translated, and that does mean that it is difficult to clearly interpret the precise meaning of every passage, but that does not make the Bible impossible to understand.
When I don't fully understand the meaning of a passage, I'll look at multiple translations (word for word, and thought for thought) as well as reading some history to better understand the context of the passage.
Saying that the Bible wasn't written in English and is not therefore reliable is a dodge by people who don't want to follow the Bible's teachings.
(BTW - the 10 commandments says not to use God's name improperly - without reverence and respect, and yet people seem to think that murder is somehow worse than abusing God's name.)
I'm not a vegan. The Bible doesn't suggest that I should be.
Suicide? A bad idea. God gave you life and thinks that you should keep living until He decides that you shouldn't
If God wanted to force you to worship Him, He would and could in a moment.
I do not worship a God I do not know - I have a personal relationship with Christ - He changed my life.
BTW - I'm not "after you" - I'm just doing what you are doing - hanging out in a portal where some interesting discussions happen. You're the one who wrote to me - I was simply posting in a discussion.
If you would like to know more about why I believe that there's a God and about His love for you, please write me at tom_cooper at bigfoot dot com
Why are you so angry about this?
Why are you so angry at God?
He loves you and wants to have a relationship with you.
There's a large difference between Hitler and an unborn child.
The Biblical position is against murder, not a total rejection of all killing.
I have no issue with putting criminals in prison.
It is not wrong for people to defend themselves.
I am a Christian who strongly opposes abortion.
What these people are doing is definitely wrong. God would not support their efforts.
I do understand their line of thinking - even though they are wrong in what they are doing.
Here's what they are probably thinking:
a) Abortion=murder
b) murder=wrong
c) this murderer kills dozens of babies
d) the law protects the doctor - and the doctor makes a profit.
e) The doctor should be stopped because murdering the doctor means fewer overall murders.
I agree with the first statement - because life begins at conception.
This idea used to be shot down by the theory that we evolve in the womb.
Now we know that all of the necessary genetic information that makes you "you" and me "me" is present and complete when the sperm enters the egg.
As such, science supports the idea of life beginning at conception.
(didja ever notice that planned parenthood never mentions the idea of 'baby' when they run their ads? Their latest campaign only mentions 'choice' and 'rights.' They don't want to mention 'baby' because it undermines their position to acknowledge the personhood of the one being sucked into a sink.)
The second statement is supported by the "top 10" (10 commandments)
Where they get all fuzzy is that they try to justify stopping a person from doing more evil acts.
This really demonstrates a low view of God.
The God I worship promises that He will ensure justice. (Not the kind of lame, weak, inequitable so-called justice we find in the courts; but rather completely equitable justice.)
When God judges, the punishment fits the crime. Perfectly.
When people do evil things and seem to get away with it (for example, many believe that OJ killed two people) God knows and will respond in a truly just fashion. If OJ did that, I believe that God will make sure that he is held accountable for what he did.
And that I am held completely accountable for the things that I have done. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"
I am thankful that
"God demonstrates His love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" -
"believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved"
Abortion is killing of developing humans. Those human's rights should be protected by our government. Today they are not. I hope that someday in the future the government will extend human rights to developing humans. It's sad that they don't do that today.
Regards,
Anomaly
BTW - God loves you and longs for relationship with you. IF you would like to know more about this, please contact me at tom_cooper at bigfoot dot com
I'm not a big MLB fan, so I'm probably less concerned about this than I would be if it was a different issue, but let's be realistic.
This is entertainment, and people will pay a large amount of money for entertainment. MLB is in business to make money while entertaining.
If people want MLB coverage, and it's offered for a fee, then they can pay the fee or not get the entertainment.
In many ways this is analagous to cable carrying local TV stations. "Why would I pay for what I can get for free?"
Because picture quality and signal strength are much better, that's why. Don't like it? Get out the rabbit ears.
So, WRT MLB for a fee...Don't want to pay? Find free entertainment.
Free MLB is not a right guaranteed by the constitution. Deal with it.
Regards,
Anomaly
PS - God loves you and longs for relationship with you.
If you would like to know more about this, please email me at tom_cooper at bigfoot dot com.
I use SOffice at home and in general I like it.
.02
WRT to compatibility, it's mostly there, but not completely there.
From my perspective, it's good enough software (my fastest machine at home is a Cyrix MII 300 and it runs fine on that. The AMD 233 is a bit slower but that's mostly related to a lack of memry.
(SO takes a minimum of 50MB.)
The biggest problems are layout/typeface issues, and views.
If I'm using Type 1 fonts on my Linux box, then move my doc to Office, the fonts probably don't translate well. Layout is affected.
If I edit a powerpoint presentation in SO, I have the same layout issues and also have things like the outline view appear different when I open it again in Powerpoint.
HOWEVER - it's good enough for schools and home! My wife uses SO exclusively for documents and presentations and finds it to be VERY helpful. If you're not bouncing back and forth between platforms it works extremely well.
If you do need to preserve layout, there's always ps2pdf which allows you to lock down the layout in pdf format.
Works for me. Just my
When I was in junior high (many many moons ago) our school had a subscription to Sports Illustrated.
When the swimsuit edition came out (and this was in the days when they actually wore swimsuits - just to tell you how long ago that was)
our librarian would remove it from the shelves.
Being the obnoxious youngster that I was, I made a point of insisting that she return it to the shelves because it was censorship.
She basically told me (and rightly so) that I was a snotty little kid who didn't need to have access to this sort of thing.
I cried CENSORSHIP! and she told me to buzz off.
I had no reason to be reading that sort of material - certainly not in a government funded library.
On top of that, I was a student, and a minor - both mean that I had fewer rights in our society than someone who has attained adulthood.
Children are developmentally different from adults and need help making information and media choices. If you choose to raise your kids on a diet of pr0n and violent TV/Movies/video games, that is your choice, but don't ask me to fund it.
If you want to get your jollies looking at women/animals/men/explosives/automobiles, I really don't care, but don't ask me to subsidize your entertainment.
As a practical matter, librarians act as censors all of the time. Even thought the ALA publically decries censorship, most libraries have very limited funds and must choose carefully what materials that they make available. They choose not to procure the items that serve only the smallest number of people.
Bandwidth is not free, and ideas have consequences.
Download what you will in your own home when you're paying for it.
I can't control what you put in your head. I don't want to.
You're accountable for the consequenses of viewing that garbage - but don't look in my wallet to fund your jollies!!
Filtering software is imperfect.
Get over it.
I don't want my son exposed to pr0n. If this means that when he's at school or at the library he can't get to some material which may benefit him educationally, he can work with me at home to surf the net where I can help him find apppropriate material, and potentially protect him from damaging material.
I know what spending lots of time with pr0n did to my world view and to my brain. Victimless? Not hardly!
If I can pass on that for him, I will.
I want filters in the libraries and schools, thank you very much!
Respectfully,
Anomaly
PS - God loves you and longs for relationship with you.
If you would like more information about this, please contact me at tom_cooper at bigfoot dot com
Facetious? Absolutely not!
God loved the world so much that He sent His son to come and die for all the sins of mankind.
At any rate, even though GL says it's just a fantasy thing, is sounds an awful lot like the currently popular so-called "New Age" spirituality.
From about.com
Let's look at that list for a minute and compare it to StarWars:
Spiritual exploration (The "Force") and Ben Kenobi as a spirit-guide
Advanced technologies - Death Star, AT ATs, X-wings, Personal Robots, Land Speeders, Light Sabres, robotic appendages
Multiculturalism - how much more multicultural can you get than the Galactic Senate?
and Speaking of the Galactic Senate - Global (universal) peace it's the home of 'just government and freedom for thousands of years'
ancient mysteries - What do you call Yoda and the whole study process to become a Jedi?
As far as 'religion' is concerned:
(I'll admit that it's definition #4), but that says: "A cause, a principle, or an activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion."
Star Wars embraces new age philosophy, and "Jedi" seems to meet the criteria for a reliigon (in my opinion, anyway.)
So, if you want to report your religion as Jedi, go ahead.
Regards,
Anomaly
BTW - there is a real, personal God, and He longs for relationship with you.
If you want to know more about Him, please contact me at tom_cooper at bigfoot dot com
-----Original Message-----
From: openmail@hp.com
To: tom_cooper@bigfoot.com
Sent: 3/2/01 5:54 AM
Subject: RE: If you're discontinuing this product, might you Open Source it?
Hello Tom,
Thanks for getting on touch. This is something that everyone is asking
for at the moment. Any news that we have will get posted on our website.
Kind Regards
OpenMail Helpdesk
-----Original Message-----
From: tom.cooper [mailto:tom_cooper@bigfoot.com]
Sent: 01 March 2001 16:37
To: HELPDESK OPENMAIL
Subject: If you're discontinuing this product, might you Open Source it?
Name: Tom Cooper
Email: tom_cooper@bigfoot.com
Phone: (301)380-7057
State: MD
Country: USA
Comment:
If this is the last release of this product, would you consider open
sourcing it? I am a technology professional who likes to see options
- we're stuck with Exchange because of the proprietary MAPI protocols.
Would it be possible to GPL this code (or a similar license) so that we
could be free from the MS back end?
I'm involved peripherally with an open source effort to create an open
groupware product, and I think that this product could help with that
and many other efforts.
Thanks for taking the time to read this message. I'm interested to
hear what you have to say about this possibility.
Regards,
Tom Cooper
I saw this posting, and thought that, if nothing else, the MAPI code might benefit the open source community in general, or the OGS project specifically.
I followed the link in the story to the OpenMail home page, and then the OpenMail contact us link.
I asked them to consider Open Sourcing the product at end of life. I asked them nicely. (If you do this, please ask nicely, too.)
I explained that there are projects that could benefit from their work, and asked them to consider that as a possibility.
Here's the automated response I got from them. I'm looking forward to a 'real' answer, too.
Re: If you're discontinuing this product, might you Open Source it?
Thank you for your enquiry.
As stated on our Assistance web page, we are pleased to respond to anything to do with HP OpenMail. Allowing for time differences around the world, we aim to respond to messages within 48 hours. If a full response is likely to take longer than this, or the volume of mail exceeds our expectations, we will still get back to you within 48 hours to tell you when you might expect a full response. (Please note that we can only provide responses to inquiries composed in English.)
If you have submitted an inquiry that is not related to HP OpenMail, we will forward your inquiry to the appropriate HP organization. Because different HP organizations provide different product support options, you should consult the Assistance page related to your inquiry to understand what type of support you can expect. To help find the appropriate on-line Assistance page, please use the Assistance directory page.
Thank you again for contacting us
The HP OpenMail team
Regards,
Anomaly
PS - God loves you and longs for relationship with you. If you would like to know more about this, please contact me at tom_cooper at bigfoot dot com
There are lots of reasons for lesser representation by women within technology fields, but I'd like to address one portion of your comment specifically.
"50% of our population is not represented in our boardroom"
I believe that in the US, women make up about 51% of the population. Regardless, your logic is flawed.
If women are equal to men (I tend to feel that they are generally superior to men) then they should have the right to make choices about their careers and lives.
If they are allowed to make any choice they want, some will choose NOT to go into business.
I have several friends who have chosen to devote their efforts specifically to the task of raising children, charity work, and managing household responsibilities. I refer to this as category "A"
My wife has a master's degree in information systems and was quite successful in her business pursuits before our first child was born. She has chosen to step away from work outside the home so that she can raise our kids. I admire her for that. She will likely return to the workforce in a few years - after our youngest child enters high school or so.... I'll call this category "B"
Many women fall into a third category "C"
These women choose to remain in the workforce in addition to having children. Many of these women choose jobs that give them flexibility to take leave when their kids are sick, or to have shorter work hours, fewer work days, etc. Speaking practically, these women are choosing not to climb the corporate ladder as quickly because they value something other than $$ - their kids!
As a result of women in all three categories, there is less than ~50% representation in the boardroom.
Women who exercise their right to choose category A will never be represented in business. Women who choose categories B and C will be in business, but as a result of taking years off from work, or simply working less than their male counterparts, will not climb the ladder to the same heights as men.
Sure the 'glass ceiling' exists in some places. And there are bigoted jerks who discriminate against and abuse women, but there are GOOD reasons sociologically why women don't make up 50% of the space in the boardroom.
Don't invalidate the choices of women who value their legacy to the next generation by spending time with them instead of trying to be able to spend more money on them.
Thanks for reading my post.
Regards,
Anomaly
PS - God loves you and longs for relationship with you. If you would like to know more about this, please email me at tom_cooper at bigfoot dot com
And a fat lot of good it did. The folks promoting this bad legislation did a good job of schmoozing the local reps here.
"Do you want lots of great Tech jobs in your state? Vote for UCITA and your constituents will love you."
Bah! - I explained to my reps that the rights granted by UCITA would actually be harmful to businesses that buy software - I don't think they "got it."
Sometimes politics makes me nuts.
Write letters to your reps RIGHT NOW - before the lobbyists make more headway in your state - it's too late for us in MD!
Anomaly
God loves you and longs for relationship with you. If you want to know more about this, please contact me at Tom_Cooper at bigfoot dot com
Discovery of the components of life does not imply that life is plentiful.
If I had all the components of a car (not assembled) I would not have a car until they were placed in the right order, with the right alignment, and the right torque applied to them.
Simply discovering car parts (and what has been discovered is the raw material of car parts, not the parts themselves) does not indicate that we should find 'cars' in the universe.
It's possible - and even more likely than if those parts didn't exist - BUT there's more required than what has been found.
Stanley Miller's experiments proved that having the right component materials in 'ideal' circumstances doesn't even give the building blocks of life.
(Dang chirality!)
I'm not saying that life like ours doesn't exist elsewhere in the universe, just that it this discovery doesn't mean that it does.
Life is hard. Creating life is REALLY hard.
--Anomaly
Now comes the part where I lose credibility with those of my readers who are closed-minded.
God loves you and longs for relationship with you. If you want to know more about this, please contact me at tom_cooper at bigfoot dot com
But the 'scientific community' is not always all that much of a community. WRT evolution, there are many differing viewpoints - Dawkins, Gould, Lewontin, and others who have VERY different opinions about what the 'correct' version of the facts is.
This doesn't even go near the people who believe that evolution as the origin of species is not demonstrable - these are all people who believe that evolution is the explanation for creation of species! This is disagreement within the 'evolutionary community' a small pocket of the so-called 'scientific community'
Additionally, what is 'common knowledge' in the 'scientific community' can change rapidly and frequently. Case in point being the cosmology theories disrupted when a new solar system was discovered with Jupiter-sized planets. This discovery turned planetary-formation theories on their collective ear.
Scientists are people. People are biased. Scientists have bias, whether you can admit it or not.
I'd give Starpower a call and see when they're planning to get your area on line.
(I have no vested interest in this other than to help people get better and less expensive connectivity.)
I'll be glad to continue this discussion if you're willing to not be an AC.
Email me at tom_cooper at bigfoot dot com for more information.
Regards,
Anomaly
Suburban Washington DC.
The power company got in bed with a networking company to provide ISP services as well as voice services.
I pay about
$35/month for cable modem acess,
$32/month for 'basic' cable (~70 channels) and
5% less than tarriffs for phone services
The company is starpower.net (RCN and Pepco)
I've been doing business with a CLEC for almost two years. Sure, they're slow to respond to service requests, and their staff is not particularly knowledgeable, but the up side is that their customer support tracking system stinks!
Aside from those frustrations, I have cable/internet/voice services from a non-RBOC!
None of my data goes on their network, because the CLEC here built it's own infrastructure - including the COs. Verizon doesn't get a penny of my money, or a bit of my data!
(I suppose the power company has enough money to do that.) They even pulled new wires from the CO to my house.
I have high-speed cable access at home. As I write this, my wife and I are both sitting on the sofa with laptops connected to my home LAN. This comment is passing through my linux NAT box to the ISP - nothin' but 'net baby!
I pay less than the CLEC charges for any services, and I don't have to pay Comcast (the incumbent cable company) a nickel.
I put up with what are essentially minor hassles for the privilege of low-cost high quality services from a non-monopoly provider.
Competition is GOOD!
Tell me again why I should do business with the incumbents?
Do your part! Take $$ away from the lousy service incumbents by doing business with their competitors!
My worst service from my current provider is no worse than with the incumbents.
According to whom? There's lots of evidence of intelligent design in the universe.
Would you reject the concept of a designer because it conflicts with your philosophy or preconceived notions?
Have you looked at the facts yourself, or do you simply cast aspursions on those who have?
"The great mass of people will more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a small one." Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), German dictator. Mein Kampf, vol. 1, ch. 10 (1925)
People will believe what they choose to believe, regardless of what is rational, or demonstrated by the facts.
Of course we went to the moon. To believe otherwise is nonsense.
I know that the following will be considered a troll by some moderators, but I urge you to consider that I mean this, and am not simply searching for a vitriolic response.
As a Christian, I am frequently amazed that people reject the teachings and historical evidence supporting the claims of the historic Christian faith. People simply choose to believe what they decide they want to believe.
Jesus did die so that you could have relationship with God the father. If you would like to know more about this, please contact me at tom_cooper at bigfoot dot com.
Anomaly
I believe that I'm using this product today. I'd like to talk with you about your experiences with it. Please email me at tom_cooper at bigfoot dot com so that I can get more information.
Thanks!
Regards,
Tom Cooper
> Well, I obviously didn't know about the National Day of
> Prayer every year. But that doesn't diminish the argument
The fact that this occurs every year for the last 49 years without a successful constitutional challenge indicates to me that the argument is not as compelling
as you believe it to be.
> atheism asserts that there is no god. Atheism as a whole just denies certain beliefs, and as such, has no beliefs.
In denying beliefs, it is asserting other beliefs. Claiming the non-existence of a God is by definition promoting the belief that there is no God.
> Life's beginning is arbitrary because the difference between life and non-life is a matter of definition.
> As there is really no consistent definition of life, then the choice between life
> begining at conception, and life begining at birth is arbitrary.
The definition of the difference between life and non-life is somthing I believe you would say is absolute, at least when it comes to whether you are alive or dead.
In my circumstance, it is most certainly not arbitrary!
Interesting (to me) page at http://www.lifeuk.org/lifepg4.htm
> WRT your statistics about drug programs, please post some impartial statistics.
I made the point in my last post that there are no objective standards for measuring the effectiveness of drug treatment programs. This make 'impartial
statistics' something which is simply not available.
> Don't make blanket statements.
With all due respect, isn't the statement that there is no God a blanket statement?
> I am an atheist, as well as many of my friends.
> I do not know a single person that considers narcotics anonymous a religious program.
Isn't this a blanket statement, too? Have you polled them? All of them?
BTW - I read the assertion that narcotics anonymous was religious on http://www.positiveatheism.org, and in legal proceedings that
indicate that it's a violation of church and state to force convicted drug users to participate in narcotics anonymous because in the 12 steps it calls on a
'higher power' (see google for more references)
Finally, there is still only your assertion that Mr. Ashcroft lied.
Do you have evidence of this, or simply an opinion? Apparently it's just an opinion.