SVreX wrote:motomoron wrote: There was no letting go of anything. It's all looked like science and physics and weather and geology and biology and what not since I was old enough to have conscious thoughts.wow. You were pretty smart when you were born. I had to be taught most of that stuff, and then choose whether to believe my teacher or not.
But, according to you, it's common to be "born religious"?
friedgreencorrado wrote: I think the actress who plays Flo is kinda hot when she's not wearing her Flo suit.
Her name is Stephanie Courtney, and yeah I think she's pretty cute too.
Wendy's girl > Progressive girl.
92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: Wendy's girl > Progressive girl.
I dunno....
That's not an advertising girl... FOUL PLAY!!!
In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac:
Well, it is from the part she played in 'Mad Men'... 
Curmudgeon wrote:friedgreencorrado wrote: I think the actress who plays Flo is kinda hot when she's not wearing her Flo suit.Her name is Stephanie Courtney, and yeah I think she's pretty cute too.
Agreed. The "Flo suit" is obviously designed to be a bit cartoonish. I bet she likes it that way since I'd guess few people recognize her on the street.
I've never seen her outside of the Progressive commercials, so I can't really compare her to the new Wendy's girl.
I'll take wendy's girl and flo for that matter, so I guess I'll be going with my answer as both, extremist mormon, E36 M3ty insurance, and W. 
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:Curmudgeon wrote: The hornets at your house are all scratching their hard little pointed heads, looking at each other through their multifaceted eyes and going 'WTF? This guy killed a bunch of us?'.There are no hornets at my house. It was a complete genocide. The mice are next. Right after the walls stop breathing.
I'm still on a genocide of those pesky little berkeleyers......thus far, they've eaten cheese off the traps(without triggering them), burrowed under my house proper, and have eaten nearly every poison bait I've left out.......last 2 I got by sitting in a lawn chair in the kitchen, drinking a beer, with a small block of cheese on the laundry room floor with the door open and a semi auto pellet rifle.....seems to work well. Just glad they haven't been able to get into the house proper from under it/laundry room....
In reply to yamaha:
Don't use cheese, use peanut butter. Works every time...well, almost every time. My record is 22 in one night from around my shop.
yamaha wrote: I'm still on a genocide of those pesky little berkeleyers......thus far, they've eaten cheese off the traps(without triggering them), burrowed under my house proper, and have eaten nearly every poison bait I've left out.......last 2 I got by sitting in a lawn chair in the kitchen, drinking a beer, with a small block of cheese on the laundry room floor with the door open and a semi auto pellet rifle.....seems to work well. Just glad they haven't been able to get into the house proper from under it/laundry room....
My dogs have killed dozens in the yard - but some of the berkeleyers still get in. They stay in the basement. They don't seem to ever come in the house proper but still... THEY MUST DIE. The traps didn't seem to be working so I put out about 7 units of that green poison that comes in packets all along the tops of the rafters in the basement. They ate almost all of it - I have not seen any new mouse E36 M3 in the cellar in a week but can't find bodies either. I need to put out some more until the weather completely changes - once it's really cold they stop coming in but summer into fall is crazy. I live on the edge of woods... and I guess I'm the first warm, dry place they come to when it's time to GTFO. The dogs can't climb walls or they would take care of it. I can't stand cats but that would work too. Poison is all I got.
MUST... NOT... MENTION... GLUE... TRAPS... 
Toyman01 wrote: In reply to yamaha: Don't use cheese, use peanut butter. Works every time...well, almost every time. My record is 22 in one night from around my shop.
hmm, do fellow mice stay away from said peanut butter if their initial comrades brains are spewed all over it? Pellet rifle does some gory work. Or should I just do glue traps surrounding the tasty peanut butter prize?
Genocide in my garage included cheese inside a stack of aluminum sho wheels.....they'd climb to the top, fall in, and couldn't get out.......there were 9 in there.
Curmudgeon wrote: MUST... NOT... MENTION... GLUE... TRAPS...
I wouldn't mind PETA protesting those around here:
yamaha wrote: Genocide in my garage included cheese inside a stack of aluminum sho wheels.....they'd climb to the top, fall in, and couldn't get out.......there were 9 in there.
This is not surprising. It's pretty easy to find ways to kill mice. A pail of antifreeze works http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/311/a-better-mousetrap
You style points for that one, though. :)
Beer Baron wrote: I wouldn't mind PETA protesting those around here:
That looks like a Rape Trap.
Henry should be around pretty much any moment now...
92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: Wendy's girl > Progressive girl.
berkeley that. The way they have her (Wendy's Girl) acting like a know it all player just makes me want to duct tape a sock in her mouth. Then MAYBE. No, I'll stop take the progressive girl.
It IS the retro headband. I love Flo.
Oh, yeah,... agnostic!
I tried to be agnostic for a while, and if you really press me I'll admit that something could be out there that we just can't perceive, but nothing else feels right other than atheism.
And if I'm really honest, I have to admit that I have less respect for believers. Call it a character flaw if you must, I just don't understand how anyone with any sort of modern education can look at the world around them and come to the conclusion that there are gods, certainly not personal gods that have the power to create universes but take interest in the affairs of humans to the point that they'll reward or torture you based on how you vote or if you have the hots for your neighbor's wife. It's just not something that I can understand a rational person being able to support.
I love the concept that there's some all-powerful being out there that has a plan for me, that has responsibility for my life, and that it's for the ultimate good, but deep down I know it's just not true. As Penn said, “If every trace of any single religion were wiped out and nothing were passed on, it would never be created exactly that way again. There might be some other nonsense in its place, but not that exact nonsense. If all of science were wiped out, it would still be true and someone would find a way to figure it all out again.”
When I imagine various future scenarios - I create the whole model universe where that scenario takes place in my mind, and let it play out. Our brains have evolved in a world where there is more than the 3 dimensions it presents to us. Perhaps we are all gods in the dimension that narrative of possible scenarios we imagine plays out. There is a chick dressed as Minnie Mouse in a glue trap that better hope at least one scenario I've created isn't being played out in another realm right now.
This concludes Episode 2 of the Pot-Talk Philosopher.
Curmudgeon wrote: In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac: Well, it is from the part she played in 'Mad Men'...
Hmm. Looks..uh, I mean, sounds like a show I should check out.
Repost for hot vintage look.
ReverendDexter wrote: I tried to be agnostic for a while, and if you really press me I'll admit that something could be out there that we just can't perceive, but nothing else feels right other than atheism.
I know Dawkins isn't the most popular guy around (even with some atheists these days), but I really like the 'sliding scale' he created in one of his books (I think most folks can guess which one 
). Someone even made an image for it.
I think a lot of people (atheist and theist alike) forget that these are actually two different (but related) concepts--the concept of belief, and the concept of knowledge. One can either believe or disbelieve, but is it actually possible to know? One of the disagreements I have with my theistic friends is that I often invoke Russell's Teapot when the question of gnosticism comes up. They respond by reminding me that if a being of such power exists, then the question of whether or not it exists is much more important than I personally consider it. And they make a good point when they say that! It's honestly one for which I've yet to find an answer that either one of us would consider thoughtful.
BTW: I'm #6 on that scale. IIRC Dawkins' TGD correctly, he claims to be a 6.9.
ReverendDexter wrote: And if I'm really honest, I have to admit that I have less respect for believers. Call it a character flaw if you must, I just don't understand how anyone with any sort of modern education can look at the world around them and come to the conclusion that there are gods, certainly not personal gods that have the power to create universes but take interest in the affairs of humans to the point that they'll reward or torture you based on how you vote or if you have the hots for your neighbor's wife. It's just not something that I can understand a rational person being able to support.
Dexter, I've done that too. I think my own problem was that I was talking to anonymous theists online, instead of hanging out with the ones I know in real life.
ReverendDexter wrote: I love the concept that there's some all-powerful being out there that has a plan for me, that has responsibility for my life, and that it's for the ultimate good, but deep down I know it's just not true. As Penn said, “If every trace of any single religion were wiped out and nothing were passed on, it would never be created exactly that way again. There might be some other nonsense in its place, but not that exact nonsense. If all of science were wiped out, it would still be true and someone would find a way to figure it all out again.”
The part I edited out of one of my first posts (maybe even my first?) on the thread was actually a reaction to seeing other atheists describe deconversion as a sad thing. For me, it was one of the greatest moments of my life, but every attempt I made to describe why sounded like a bash of religion.
If you'd like to hear the description of why, cut me a PM.
Meanwhile, here's Stephanie Courtney trying to sell you on a replacement for popcorn at the movies.
http://www.businessinsider.com/we-love-this-old-video-of-progressives-flo-auditioning-for-someone-elses-commercials-2012-2
friedgreencorrado wrote: I know Dawkins isn't the most popular guy around (even with some atheists these days)
Has he offended some more folks by speaking his mind? I can give 8 good reasons why I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
I haven't read his last two yet and I might have missed another in the there somewhere but... his ability to explain evolutionary biology to people who haven't studied it their whole lives is remarkable (everyone thinks they understand it... but probably as well as they understand how magnets work). His ability to make a solid argument with a full treatment of all sides is fantastic. I'll admit - he is much better in print than on camera... but that is because he is an Oxford professor in a tweed coat that speaks the queen's english. He always sounds like a know-it-all. He kinda actually is though.
For the folks who don't know who Dawkins is... start with the The Blind Watchmaker & The Ancestor's Tale. Then go to The God Delusion. Fill in the deep reading with the rest of his books. For the deeply religious, consider it reconnaissance. Know thy enemy. You might learn something really fascinating along the way.
I would say I am a 2. Question I have is... how can anyone be 1 or 7 without resorting to the "faith" cop-out. I'm not saying that faith isn't a great thing, just not as evidence to prove anything.
I'm very certain that a higher being exists but there is no proof. Therefore I'm a 2.
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