Sip

I dislike to repeat myself too. How come after you do all that, it is God that says it's time to go. But when God sends a virus to kill you, you try to protect yourself with a vaccine? Why when God says it's time to die when you have a brain tumor, you go and have a surgery to remove it? Oh yah I forgot ... it's because your purpose is not done. SUUUUUUURE. That's why Azat called you a hypocrite. You say God decides when you die but at the same time, you try to do EVERYTHING to delay death.

Yah lot of things are "said to be" but that doesn't necessarily make it so.

THEN WHY DO YOU GO TO ALL THESE LENGTHS TO DELAY IT? Why don't you let God decide when it is time for you to go? sSebB, OBVIOUSLY you are CHOOSING to delay your death. So the time is somewhat your CHOICE.

That's what Azat is saying. You say that now but then you go to the doctor and get vaccinated, put on your seatbelt on the way there, and basically find every which way to delay "it"'s arrival. Why is that?

I just read this on arstechnica.com and I thought it was pretty funny ... "The day may come when Lakehead University is blanketed with WiFi, and it may be sooner rather than later, if the president of the school finds the evidence that there is no risk to be conclusive. Until that time, students and faculty will have be old school when it comes to going online. Unless someone points out the strangulation risk from improper use of Cat5e cables."

hahahahah ... Yeprem e ...

@ Azat ... and Anahit, that's great about China ... wow. Glad to see the government lets you view hyeforum! Note to self: They are watching us now

Well it depends ... what kind of vehicle is it ... how long have you had it ... what is the maintenence record on it, and what was the problem as diagnosed? But sorry to hear about the $1800 ... an engine rebuild is always very costly. Sometimes it's cheaper just to find a second hand or replacement engine and swap it or even get a whole new engine than to rebuild an old one. But all that takes time and effort so sometimes you just have to pay and get it fixed. Ed, about the brakes, $140 sounds like a reasonable deal. I recently did all 4 brakes (disk) on my Jeep myself. I paid about $60 for the rears and maybe $65 for the front pads ... all high quality semi metalic raybestos stuff. I pulled the rotors and had a local Checker turn them for me ... I think it was about $30 total to do that. But I didn't pay myself labor What I like about doing it myself is that I know I did it correctly. I usually spray everything clean with compressed air and then brake cleaner. I grease all the moving parts completely with caliper grease and use anti-chatter compound behind the disks etc. All those little things that are not hard, but take time and care and people at shops won't usually bother with them. It's also a good time to get in there and inspect all the different wheel bearing, ball joint, axle seals, springs, shocks etc for potential problems.... essentially, it's a good time to bond with the vehicle

You had me at "deposited"!

1. I guess it's the professor in me But to extend your point here, yes, I am affected by what others around me think. I think that is valid because after all, we do live in societies (and not just on islands by ourselves). On the other hand, many religious are affected by what they think God thinks. So which one is better? 2. Why not? I think ANY human is capable of innovation... even one at a very early age. At the very least, the training of the mind to innovate should start even before that! 3. Assuming the masses are morons that need to be reformed, yes. But why religion? Don't sociatal laws and fundamental moral teachings accomplish the same? Why must there necessarily be a religion to achieve reform? I agree that it is ONE way but it is certainly not the only way. As a very simple example, I am absolutely sure those who have never read the Bible can figure out on their own that lying and killing are bad things. Why pretend God made those rules up? But again I think we have come to a fundamental difference of opinion here. My "ego", "id", whims, emotions, desires, wishes, etc ARE me. Those are what make me who I am and those are what make me unique. I think those are faaaar more attributes of a "soul" than other abstract and more "pure" things inside me that we may come up with. In other words, those are REAL attributes of me. So of course I do not want to see those things trivialized and ignored as mere side-effects of existence.

Wow ... I'm honored you left the Lord's work for a few seconds and did what I asked! ... and I'm not kidding either.

Read them again

Isn't that what I said? Maybe you don't want to call it being His slaves but aren't you doing what he wants you to do?

If the purpose of your life is only to achieve salvation of God, then yes. Because all you do is to follow His Recipe to please Him. Ironically both the sheep and the wolves are absolutely convinced they are on the Righteous Path. In the end, as you have told us many times, you are basically doing what He wants, not what You want. You have become a slave of His wishes.

I think the most exhilirating experience in Azat's life was when he traveled all the way to Green Bay to go to a packer game against the bears and was witness to the WORST game they have ever played :lol2: ... Sorry Azat I just had to get that in! As far as PhD and brilliance ... I don't know if those two are necessarily correlated. PhD usually indicates depth of knowledge in a very very specific domain. In many cases, it might also indicate a certain disciplined mind that may be able to communicate better than average. But all that really says usually is that someone stayed at school for at least a decade after highschool

Actually quite the opposite. All it really takes is a little bit of independent thought and effort. If I see someone trying (or at least struggling) then that makes me happy. Not because I enjoy seeing others suffer, but because I enjoy watching humans trying to better themselves as opposed to rehashing the same old thought patterns, supersitions, and dogma that have plauged us for millenia The reason I was unhappy above is because in either case, the sheep and the wolf both seem to follow the pack. I don't think we will ever have any progress if we all stuck to the pack. Of course I am NOT saying the pack is always wrong either ... just saying that neither a harmless follower nor a mad fanatic be

I don't know which one is worse ... do I want to be surrounded by sheep or wolves.

It was the day my little brother called me to tell me he had successfuly filed my PhD thesis at UCLA, got it approved by the library and the graduate division (must be done on the same day), and had the certificate of completion in his hand.

Can I get an Amen!

!!! I liked the blonder one with the nice tatas a LOT more!!!!! Goes to show you ... take the same singer, same level of talent, and slap on long blond hair and some boobs and all of a sudden the singer becomes soooooo much more bearable! By the way, I like the Top Ten of Rabiz version of this song much more. I think it's the first song on their 4th album (IV).

Sasun, I love you man! Edit: Oh yah, you too Vava.

No.

And to clarify, it is not just "whatever reason" ... sometimes there are VALID reasons.

I'm glad you asked that Sasun (again!). Instead of trying to answer it myself, I will just quote from Bill Maher as I think he said it better than I can: "What's so hard about saying I DON'T KNOW? Of course there are questions that plague all of us. How did we get here? What happens when we die? Is there a heaven? Am I on the list? Who let the dogs out?" "The values of western civilization are better... Rule of law is better than theocracy and autocracy. Equality of the sexes, better. Protection of minorities, better. Free speech, better. Free elections, better. Free appliances with a large purchase, better." "Don't get so tolerant that you tolerate intolerance. -- Bill Maher" ---- We have had these discussions about art, music, and other disciplines ... what constitues art? What is art? What makes good art? Why is some art valued more than other art? Why doesn't the crap a dog leaves on the side of the street usually qualify as art? Well ... the same answers can also be extended to matters of faith. Why shouldn't certain things be tolerated? Because there are things that are clearly BETTER. You seem to be advocating that ANYTHING should be accepted as valid. Of course that is not how it is in real life. And I know what your next question will be ... who gets to decide

Sasun, before we go back into the loop of you telling me I am being intolerant, I am NOT the one who shows up claiming I know all the answers.