Zombie

thanks Eric - useful summary

How can "In God We Trust" be used to validate state law making? How can it not be a flagrant breach of the US Constitution which separated government and religion from the very beginning - for good reasons, as your founding fathers looked across the Atlantic at the religious mayhem in Europe? Time and again state governments willfully pass laws that feed into the legal industry, making fat lawyers even fatter, when - surprise, surprise - two sets of lawyers engage like rutting stags smelling more growth opportunities from yet another completely unnecessary and entirely avoidable - had there been any common sense - taxpayer-funded years-long spat. Which one set of lawyers will eventually lose - 50% of litigation lawyers are always wrong - until the next time... *wonders how many state elected politicians have got their fingers in lucrative legal pies* Religion and the state have always been and always will be in conflict. That's why studying history at school is so important - to learn from and avoid repeating the same stupid mistakes of the past. So when secular rights clash with religious "freedoms", as they always have done and always will, then if the state is a pluralistic democracy secular rights must always prevail. It's not difficult. Passing divisive laws like this is just a waste of your country's valuable human resources by tying itself into non-productive conflict.

ashamed to admit I watched BGT every week last year and I was so glad they won

OK, well here's one from the UK to give some global balance... bought a dozen free-range eggs on Saturday for £1.20... paid into an Honesty Box

He was sentenced to 40 years in 2000. 2000 + 40 = 2040. Any release prior to this date should be on the basis that he no longer poses a danger to the public on account of having been rehabilitated. In the UK this is a key factor in assessing early release. I'd guess the US has a similar process?

Often true. But not always. Sometimes at the end of a month dealers will offload a car at cost price to hit the volume target which is worth far more than the margin on a car. Then you also get the full warranty Trouble is you need to know all the tricks and have good negotiating skills to beat those pesky salesmen Something else you should always buy used are Strads. If you see a brand new one for sale make sure it comes with a full guarantee...

for anyone stumbling on this thread by accident and not understanding what it's about, these college guys are wrestling er, at least I think they are...

I don't fully understand the circumstances here but in answer to the more general question raised it is not appropriate for a business person to use their company or position within that company to express their personal view on a political matter that has no direct relevance to their business's operations or policy. It's unprofessional, unbusinesslike and an abuse of their office. I've no sympathy with individuals who do so and come a cropper.

Elements of Gladiator, the Borgias and fantasy are combined to create a rich world full of danger, scheming and intrigue. I hope Taranis will get to relax a little and maybe get some food inside him in the next chapter... if he survives the cliffhanger

The words are really about recognition. And once you have recognition you can have understanding ... or persecution

No, not satire. Satire uses humour to mock its target, this was a straight up hoax. Nor was it an April Fool as it was published March 29th and claimed a May 1 commencement. Britain has Private Eye - anything sourced to that magazine will be satirical

you've had a rough time simply trying help kids who need help I hope you make a full physical and mental recovery and can turn your bad experiences to advantage

I want him to be employed as a counselor for the Arachnophobia Society...

It's interesting that many "American" words are in fact old Middle English words that have been preserved on the west side of the pond, like "gotten" which was common in Shakespeare's time and is still used in some English dialects but has otherwise died out. Another one is diaper (used in England in the 16th century) which has now been replaced by nappy (the thing LBO wears ). There are plenty of booby traps for English learners to fall into. Fag is a good one, as already pointed out, and rubber is another It's interesting that those on the west side have great difficulty with "irony" - it's ironic that they almost always get it wrong Here's an example that should make it clear... Tom: Was the conference guest speaker any good? Jess: He was late. His flight was delayed. It's ironic, his subject was The Early Bird Catches The Worm...

Speaking for myself I have to say the body bits are fairly important too... But I agree that the labeling thing is simplistic. It's a crude attempt to pigeonhole people, and people are more complicated than that.

it's depressing that voters in a mature democracy choose to elect ignorant and dangerous child abusers into public office

John Coffey and his partner, Bernardo Marti, who live in Pimlico, central London, are booking a slot at one minute past midnight on Saturday 29 March with Westminster city council – the day gay marriages are recognised in law. They hope to make history twice by becoming not only the first same-sex couple to wed but also to do so in a double ceremony with friends who are straight. "We will be their witnesses, and they will be ours. In my mind, that will be a true symbol of equality – a straight wedding and a gay wedding at the same time," said Coffey. http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/dec/11/couple-plan-uk-gay-marriage-legal Here's to both happy couples If you want to make a comment other than just congratulations, or ask a question, please do so in a blog I've set up to avoid any problems with GA rules. Thanks. https://www.gayauthors.org/forums/blog/504/entry-14426-uk-first-gay-marriage-on-saturday/ .

Gay marriage becomes legal in Britain as from midnight tomorrow, 28/29 March. Here's a commentary from The Daily Telegraph: Why gay marriage deserves to quietly disappear Much has been written about the importance of this weekend and rightly so but once we have seen the inevitable ‘first couple’ on the news, this story deserves to quietly disappear. Whilst it has been wonderful to hear the positive debate, the debate has inevitably brought out the ugly and I for one will be glad not to have to listen to the well-rehearsed anti equality arguments anymore. There will come a day and I do not believe that day is very far off, when we won’t even be able to imagine that we had this debate. We baulk now when we remember those signs in the ‘60’s that read: ‘No Blacks, No Jews, No Irish’. Soon we will baulk at the fact that not so long ago gay couples did not have the right to formalise their love in the same way as everybody else. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/10727517/Gay-marriage-deserves-to-quietly-disappear-says-Alice-Arnold.html

signed it - dunno if it'll count, being an alien an' all anyway, the count is now 103,718

I want one is confused - Daddy's link calls it a 2015 Anniversary model - it was launched April 1964 and we're not yet through the first quarter 2014...

guess we'd all like one guardian angel let alone three

A truly vile man who spawned a mostly vile brood. No need for any afterlife Hell - he died in his very own Hell on Earth, alone and unloved, excommunicated from his own "church", hated by many of his own family whom he'd taught so well how to hate. To use a Biblical metaphor he would have known and understood, he reaped what he sowed. On the other hand there were some positive outcomes from his life: he helped bring down America's shameful and disgusting Jim Crow laws, and he has shown Americans and the World the face of hate: what hate means and what hate does. If it has made some think again about their own hateful beliefs then some good will have been done.

This is Japanese company AutoWay's latest commercial for selling its car tyres. It's an interesting idea, because a lot of its customers will have died from shock before they had a chance to buy the product...

For switching to Linux http://betanews.com/2014/01/30/windows-xp-home-users-should-upgrade-to-linux-not-windows-8-1/ Against switching to Linux http://betanews.com/2014/01/31/from-windows-xp-to-linux-youd-have-to-be-mad/ I'll probably stick with XP and avast for a while, but I like the idea that Linux has been around for years - has anyone here actually done the switch? And what about all the basic essential tools like printer drivers, router connection, Firefox and plugins?

blame the baby milk industry and their propaganda that breast milk is bad and bottled milk is good... good for their profits The switch to formula milk has been a disaster - culturally (what you've just seen on your ward), economically for families (good for those companies though...) and healthwise - studies have shown beyond doubt that breastfed babies are healthier babies. As if any reasonable person would expect otherwise...