marmot

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Posts by marmot

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  44

  I'm in a position to make a very difficult decision...

  by FreedomFrog in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ok, here's the thing.... i have a 2004 ford taurus.

  it's really nice with sun roof /power seats/heated side mirrors/the works and it's mine but with a payment of $310.

  i was just offered to take a 1995 saturn (still runs decent) for the taurus but with the '95 i will not have a payment though there will be more maintenance on it.. i love my taurus, it makes me feel like i'm still human but i'm very much strapped with finances.

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  marmot

  You're driving a Ford, which depreciates like a used condom. I'd say get out of it now and get the most basic form of transportation you can find.
  
  I now drive a car that I bought for $400 and pay under $20 a month for insurance. I do as much of my own maintenance as possible. It's a lot easier than it seems. You only need a few basic hand tools, a jack and some jack stands and you can then do your own oil changes, change your spark plugs, change your oil filter, battery, etc. by yourself instead of paying a mechanic $50 an hour to do the same.
  
  The rest of my money is going towards paying down debt from previous stupidity.
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  31

  Horrifying report on China/did anyone watch Planet in Peril last night?

  by restrangled in

  1. social
  2. current

  from the most digusting, filthy food growing conditions of which more and more of our own food is contaminated with to abuse and consumption of exotic animals, especially the endangered.

  they are the worlds biggest contributors to the decline of endangered animals and are creating more.

  750 large bears were shown in cages with huge metal tubes inserted into their stomachs to suction out bile every day for old chinese medicine recipes.

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  marmot

  Guess what, America and Britain used to be like that too. Okay, maybe they didn't have bears with drip-tubes, but think about the history of western culture. Entire species were almost wiped out during various stages of technological advancement and colonial expansion.
  
  Whales almost went extinct so that people could have lamp oil and corsets.
  
  Beavers were slaughtered by the millions to fuel a felt hat fashion trend that lasted more than a century and whose aftereffects shaped North America.
  
  Bison were pushed to the brink of extinction first to supply leather for drive belts during the industrial revolution, and then just as a big f**k you to the plains people to see if they could drive THEM to extinction also.
  
  Up until the early 20th century, the wealth of America was built on the back of child and slave labor.
  
  Industrialization, mass consumption, globalization and a disposable lifestyle has led to America becoming hated among many developing countries.
  
  Now the Chinese are in their own bratty child phase of development and the western world feels threatened.
  
  Karma's a bitch.
  (even though I don't believe in it)
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  66

  List Reasons Why YOU Would NEVER Go Back To The "Truth"

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i recently saw my jw brother and sil and listened to them talk about poor sister sick(o) who has been diagnosed with major mental problems.

  she went to the doctor's and the doctor supposedly began to berate her out of the blue because she is a jehovah's witness.

  now the family wants to have the doctor formally rebuked for his so called "discriminatory comments".

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  marmot

  To me, it's chiefly because of the condescending attitude towards anybody who is not one of them. There is a great divide between their professed adherence to the teachings of Jesus and the reality of their cold hearts and attitudes towards "the world".
  
  I mean for crying out loud, I don't even believe in the literal interpretation of the Bible or the biblical god, yet I find the life lessons contained in Jesus' teachings to be of immense value. JWs (my family especially) are incredibly selective in applying these teachings.
  
  I'm much happier as an atheist.
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  171

  Have you changed your mind about ABORTION?

  by nicolaou in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i'm not after a discussion on the rights or wrongs on abortion, what i'm asking is whether or not your views have evolved over time.. perhaps leaving the watchtower was enough to allow your true feelings on abortion to find expression.

  maybe abortion is one of those subjects where you still find yourself in agreement with your old jw self.

  did becoming a mother change your perspective in any way or solidify your views?.

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  marmot

  It's a toughie, for sure.
  
  I'm still morally opposed to it because I think it's a very selfish act (consequences of rapes and incest notwithstanding). I mean face it, sex is an act of procreation. If you don't want to deal with the consequences of that act then take the appropriate measures to prevent it by using birth control. If there IS a pregnancy despite all that, I still think that there are many people who would gladly take that child and give it a good home.
  
  Another tough moral call is the case of abortions following in-utero testing that shows congenital birth defects. Not only is such testing not 100% accurate, but people with disabilities are just as capable of leading full and productive lives as the rest of us.
  
  With advances in genetic testing, this form of pregnancy screening could very well lead to selection based on mere physical appearance or potential personality traits. Already in India and China there is rampant abortion of perfectly healthy female fetuses just because male children are more socially desirable.
  
  To sum up, no I do not personally agree with abortion but neither do I believe in imposing my views on others. If such actions are truly harmful to society, then the effects will manifest themselves with time and the problem will correct itself.
  
  In a sense we can already see these consequences. Much of the developed world is tipping into a population decline because of fewer births and later pregnancies in life. Immigrant populations are exploding because of much higher birth rates and lower numbers of abortions, which is changing the very fabric of western society.
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  19

  Any cigar smokers in here?

  by marmot in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  i don't like cigarettes all that much (even though i actually tried to take up the habit, i found out i don't have an addictive personality - same reason why i'm not a coffee person either) but i do enjoy a nice cigar.

  notice i said a nice cigar, not those nasty chemically-flavored things that taste like froot loops and smell like a crotch fire.

  i'm talking about a nice cuban monte cristo or a real leaf-wrapped cigarillo.

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  marmot

  I don't like cigarettes all that much (even though I actually TRIED to take up the habit, I found out I don't have an addictive personality - same reason why I'm not a coffee person either) but I do enjoy a nice cigar.
  
  Notice I said a NICE cigar, not those nasty chemically-flavored things that taste like froot loops and smell like a crotch fire. I'm talking about a nice cuban Monte Cristo or a real leaf-wrapped cigarillo.
  
  I enjoy the aroma and the ritual involved in smoking one, and the little bit of nicotine is relaxing especially if it's combined with a dram of single-malt scotch.
  
  Granted there are health concerns but I believe this is mitigated by simple moderation. If you think about it, a summer barbecue is a cancerous death-trap what with all the carcinogenic charcoal-seared fatty meat and UV radiation and cirrhosis-inducing cold beer, but you don't have a barbecue every single day. Same goes for cigars, IMHO.
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  21

  I'm giving the CO a "green-handshake" tonight! HELP!

  by MinisterAmos in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm planning on giving him t w o dollars!

  and i plan on making a h u g e deal of it as i secretly tickle his palm with the bills.

  any hints?

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  marmot

  Donate some of those novelty million dollar bills.
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  43

  HOW CLEAN IS YOUR HOUSE? (fluff test)

  by Mary in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ever see those two british women on tv that go into some slob's home that looks like something out of a stephen king novel?

  take their quiz to see if you're a neat-freak, or a sloth-in-waiting: http://www.bbcamerica.com/content/100/quiz.jsp.

  here's mine:.

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  marmot

  I'm normally pretty good about keeping a clean home but mood cycles tend to affect that. Right now I'm in a phase where I have NO clean dishes in the entire house and there are piles of dirty laundry all over the bathroom and bedroom.
  
  It's not like I have anyone to impress. The dog doesn't seem to mind, in fact he likes to make little beds out of dirty T-shirts.
  
  Bachelor life FTW.
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  3

  Ken Miller on human evolution

  by freefly in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi8ffmbyckk&mode=related&search=.

  do you believe we evolved from primates?

  what are your arguments against human evolution?.

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  marmot

  It kinda bugs me now when people make the claim that evolution is random. It isn't. It's life adapting to a changing environment.
  
  This youtube video shows it pretty well, except instead environmental factors used as a guide to determine an outcome, they assign images.
  
  It illustrates how highly improbable outcomes are possible with natural selection.
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2SVMKZhV2g&NR=1
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  20

  This is the argument my dad used to justify "new light"

  by marmot in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was talking with my dad the other week and i revealed my doubts (well, not doubts really, conviction) that noah's flood didn't cover the earth.

  he tried the usual, first he printed up all the stuff on the flood that he could find on the wt cd (even though i told him that i already read everything the society has ever written about the flood) and when that failed to convince me he brought out the ol' trust in jehovah(tm) line .

  plus, he said that since i was so enamored with science to disprove the flood i should consider how science doesn't have the same position on certain subjects compared to the past and that it's based on progressive understanding.

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  marmot

  I was talking with my dad the other week and I revealed my doubts (well, not doubts really, conviction) that Noah's flood didn't cover the earth.
  
  He tried the usual, first he printed up all the stuff on the flood that he could find on the WT CD (even though I told him that I already read everything the society has ever written about the flood) and when that failed to convince me he brought out the ol' Trust in Jehovah(tm) line
  
  Plus, he said that since I was so enamored with science to disprove the flood I should consider how science doesn't have the same position on certain subjects compared to the past and that it's based on progressive understanding.
  
  This stopped me in my tracks for a bit, but something didn't seem quite right about that line of reasoning. True, science clings tenaciously to views that may be thrown aside after a new discovery is made, but old scientific views aren't covered up and hidden away.
  
  Plus, science has a peer review process, unlike the "new light" system which relies only on the contributions of a self-serving isolated group of old men in an ivory tower in Brooklyn.
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  24

  Wow, it just clicked. I'm agnostic!

  by marmot in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i honestly don't think i've ever been this happy in my life.

  of course, i've got bipolar ii so i might just be edging on a bout of hypomania but i'm good at taking my med so this could very well be genuine!

  i'm so excited at the new look on life this has given me.

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  marmot

  Nope, no PMs yet. I don't quite think I'm exactly atheist, though. I think there's the possibility of something that initially kicked-started everything in our universe into motion, but I don't think there's any omnipotent accountant-executioner in the sky.
  
  If you read "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins I fall into his classification of agnostic.