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Thomas Jode said..February 11th, 2010, 10:18 am
To Our Founding Truth:
Killing a baby, let alone a stem cell, is neither against the Laws of Nature or the Law of Life. This is a Human Cultural-Moral issue that we as a culture must come to terms with.>
The Founding Fathers wrote that it is against the laws of nature, hence, it is a spiritual and moral issue.
John P said..Our Founding Truth: Nature kills babies all the time, it’s a human moral that preserves the sanctity of children.>
Nature is different than the will of man.
@KMH
Degrees Celsius= 5/9 F-32?
@Jeanie I am crazy about really smart red-heads. As to "because we want to play nice", I wish it was that simple. That only explains it for some people. I think all of us have grown to accept dishonesty too easily and without imposing shame. Shame works! and it is an appropriate sanction in most cases. It is also very effective when applied fairly, even unfairly. Remember your adolescent days and how terrifying public opinion could be for most people? Personal reputations used to mean more to people. I think that was a good thing. Integrity should be valued more in our society. A strict adherence to high standards for rational truth and intellectual honesty
is foundational not only to Mankind's physical survival but it's spiritual growth.
Without truth, nothing can be counted on. I fear we all have grown to casual about dishonesty. Evil depends on good people remaining silent or numb.
p.s. Carrie really bugs me. Stupid is very unattractive, especially when united with a motor mouth.
I agree with Jeremiah. That's the problem with Democrats, though. We want to explain things logically and use science and technical terms and nuance. And we lose.
@harry ashburn - yeah, that sounds better.
I would think that putting unqualified women (or men) in positions they are not qualified for probably isn't a good idea. Why do conservatives think that quotas of any kind mean that the majority of those who fill them will be unqualified? Even when you put qualified people in certain positions, they fail (look at CEOs). To me, all it means is opening a door to groups that may not have the opportunity. You still need to prove yourself.
@mathboy - thanks for the correction! I should know better than to attempt math! LOL
Thanks to you all! I love a good conversation and I learned something new today!
I wanted to point out that we will have no success in the stem cell/abortion debate if we use scientific arguments or scientific terminology. Most voters are ignorant of science, and if you use a word like blastocyst, you will lose them.
There are 3 elements of effective messaging to keep in mind:
1. Use emotional, not intellectual arguments.
2. Keep them small enough to fit on a bumper sticker.
3. Repeat them over and over.
So how can we use these principals to win public support?
Show a picture or a video of a dying child and say, "Save this child. Support stem cell research."
Here's another one: "Stem cell research could save YOUR life or YOUR child's life."
We need talking points that we take the focus off other children and get people to focus on their own lives and their own children.
@Wendy: so, I THINK mathboy is saying 1 degree celsius = almost 2 degrees farenheit.
1 Celsius degree is 1.8 Fahrenheit degrees. Do not be confused by the fact that the zeros for the scales are at different temperatures. Convert two temperatures that differ by 1 degree in the same scale, and see what the difference is in the other scale.
Around here only a fool can dispute climate change.
I live in Toledo Ohio, where we have seen substantial change in the local climate. literally. Our climatic "hardiness zone" for growing plants has changed from zone 5 to zone 6, which the is equivalent of moving 400 miles closer to the equator. http://www.arborday.org/media/mapchanges.cfm
We haven't seen a real spring thaw in over a decade - they used to cause high rivers and flooding every March as the winter snow melted away all at once. We no longer have snow that lasts through the winter.
Even this winter has been warmer than usual, temps have never fallen below the teens and is mostly moving just a few degrees above and below freezing. - we used to regularly have entire months near zero.
Meanwhile Kudzo is now invading Ohio, no longer limited to the south by harsh winters.
The Laws of Thermodynamics:
1. Energy (including heat) is conserved.
2. The entropy in a closed system cannot decrease. (Creationists like to ignore the word "closed" and insist that entropy in an open system cannot decrease without the influence of God. Oops, I mean 'Intelligence'. *wink*)
3. There is a universal minimum temperature: absolute zero.
If Obama doesn"t see what corporations are doing as "guerilla enemy at war against the American people", then Obama speaks "populist rhetoric", but doesn"t back it up and is merely the passive side of the corporate party.(Republicans being the aggresiive side of the corporate party.
Obama understands what needs to be done in the face of the enemy simply refer to Obama"s Nobel Peace prize speech. Obama understands the "enemy terrorists" need sanctions, but Obama doesn't classify "Health Insurance corporations(who murder people by saying that operation is too expensive, recision, etc...) or Defense contractors (fraudulent contracting, negligent work murders our own soldiers, etc...) and Banksters (who rob the American people's treasury, etc...)(the list goes on) as the enemy of the American people.
We see Obama's "outreach" to Neocons but where is Obama's sanction of Neocon obstructionism? Where is Obama "seeking justice" for the majority will of the American people who spoke in November 2008?
Simply read Obama's speech( http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34360743/ns/politics-white_house/ ). He understands how to fight the enemy in a "just war" scenario, but Obama is completely failing the will of the American people.
I say that with deep regret and disappointment.
It is not enough to be placated with populist rhetoric. THAT is Obama slapping the left in the face, when Obama does not ACT on that rhetoric. If Obama does not act on that "populist rhetoric" then Obam is intentionally irresponsible and leading us to defeat in 2010 and 12. Obama is not fighting the enemy with sanctions and also outreach. So far ir appears to be outreach only with no standing up for the justice of the populist rhetoric. This seems to be a manipulation of the stock market on one level. Because Obama will make the populist speech and "let" insurance companies "win" the law making So? insurance stocks skyrocket when things such as the public option are removed. Therefore? Manipulation of the stock market and the American people for gambling and insiders know ahead of time where to place thier bets before Obama or Baucus speak.
Maybe I am wrong. Hopefully I am. But I do not think so. Obama could have stood his ground and appointed recess appointments but he did not. Bush would have and being raised in a Neocon family I know one thing you do not cower to Neocons because you just encourage them to run you over.
@Wendy: no, you got it wrong. the correct answer will appear any minute, I'm sure.
@Ruffian: I always heard it: "Those who can't do....consult."
@KMH - consider yourself validated my friend! =) You've given me another arrow in my arsenal against my conservative family members who consider ME the family crazy.
1C = 33.8F
So our summer temps here hover around 80F. If there is a 1 degree C change, my 80F summer just became 113.8F!! YIKES! Consider states like Florida where the average summer temp is in the 90's F!
Remember, in the 80's, when it was popular to trash teachers in favor of business men? We would say, THose who can do and those who can't teach. Well, i went to the bank and they are so bad, i want a revision. Those who can do and those who can't become Banksters.
One of the worst problems that Environmentalists/Scientist created for themselves is originally labeling it "Global Warming" when they should have called from the start "Global Climate Change" as they are trying to rename it now.
Please help them make this correction. Call it what it is, "Climate Change"; drop the "Global Warming" label it's misleading and only helping the deniers.
@Wendy-
Dang, I wish we could delete our faux pas. I keep typing too fast this morning. I need to get that Dragon software.
When I say 'when I see this' I mean when I see the mass media report that we will only see one degree of temperature change.
@Wendy Thank YOU. I go crazy when I see this in the mass media. In fact, its gotten to the point where I could use some validation myself!
What GW deniers don't get is that it's called global warming, instead of global heating for a reason. It's not about a huge temperature change, it's about secondary effects from a slight temperature change.
@KMH - thanks for posting that link. Didn't know that. Kinda changes things, doesn't it?
I've been listening to the discussion during the first hour about when life begins, and Thom - you're right. The question is not so much when "life" begins, it is fundamentally when "personhood" begins.
And in light of the Citizens United case, there is now only one answer to that question: Personhood begins when the incorporation papers are filed.
Where is Captain Cupcake when you need him? Probably hanging out with all the other Ding Dong's running this country! Just thought I would post something fun and meaningless. Sometimes the world issues get to me and I have to say something that makes me laugh!!!
Now let me get this straight about global warming. We message it as one degree increase in Celsius. Do Americans know what this converts to in Fahrenheit?
http://www.unitconversion.org/unit_converter/temperature.html