mnn2501

I frankly don’t believe that the scriptures were written with the level of deliberation/precision/stylistic consistency/linguistic consistency/narrative “tightness”, that would justify the sort of hyper-literalistic and hyper-legalistic approach that underlies the timelines most folks propose.

The books were much better. (Not to say they were good, because they weren't, at least not in any literary sense. But they were better than the movie.)

Perhaps appropriate for the time we live in, I enjoyed the TV mini-series The Stand (Stephen King). A virus wipes out 99% of the world, and the remaining 1% gravitate towards good or evil. It came out at a time when post-modernism was ascendant, and it was refreshing to see Hollywood promote a godly vs. ungodly story dynamic. Similarly, I really enjoyed Onward, Pixar's newest offering. Some have panned it for being predictable and for addressing over-familiar topics, but I found the story engaging, heart-tugging, and I loved the twist at the end.
BTW, shout-out to OP's Water World. Hey, any movie that makes cigarette-smokers the main antagonists has got to make us happy, no?

If your point is that the Republicans are liars and hypocrites, then I grant your point. The fact (and it is a fact) that the Democrats are far worse doesn't justify the Republican hypocrisy. But this is nothing beyond political gamesmanship. You can bet that the Democrats, in this position, would do exactly the same thing. Their pearl clutching on this matter is political theater, nothing more.
Consider: The Supreme Court has had a leftist majority for the entirety of our lifetimes. The political left sees a leftist Supreme Court as their inherent right. And that is what is really at stake here. Why shouldn't the Supreme Court take a conservative bend? The Left sees this as unacceptable and will thus do everything in their power to prohibit it. Meanwhile, the Republicans are 100% within their right to nominate and confirm the justice of their choosing. How does the Left respond? With a threat to burn the entire house down by packing the court under a Biden presidency.
Rail all you want against Republican hypocrisy. I might even join you. But don't lose sight of what's really going on here. As is almost always the case, the real, deep evil being done here is being done by the Democrats. The Republicans are mostly garden-variety fools and jackasses. The Democrats are something far more sinister.

Yes, (I smoked for 17 years) but after the first few months, the cravings get lighter and further in between. In my 17th year I might have gotten 1 craving all year. 

Fixing someone's suicidal thoughts with premarital sex?  Yeah, no, not the best idea.
"I tried everything else but nothing worked" - her problems are not yours to fix.  They are hers to fix.  
If I were you, I'd postpone the wedding, read a bunch of books on suicide, attend some premarital counseling sessions.  I would not marry someone with unresolved suicidal issues - it's not fair to either of you.

There are all sorts of situations in life and even biological aberrations that could cause us to feel  traumatized, depressed and even suicidal. I think my brain would light up too if I could do all the things my “natural woman” would like to do and be told I’m not breaking a commandment. But that’s just not how life works. That goes against the way the Lord has set this world up.  I believe it’s a fantasy that LGBT folks should expect to respond to their passions and not be breaking the most fundamental of God’s laws. 
I’m sorry for the hurt that so many feel. I’m sorry they get so despondent that life doesn’t seem worth living. But here's an observation.  I have several male friends from high school who are single. I don’t know if they are gay but they are active members of the church. They have never been married and at this point (we all turned 60 this year) and chances are getting slimmer every year that they would marry if they aren't gay.  But they find joy in just life itself. One of them is the most generous, happy persons I know. He has the means to travel extensively and goes to theater and extravagant dinners often. But it’s clear that his greatest joy is in giving to others and trying to bring happiness to his friends and family. He’s gone through lots of tragedy with several brothers dying of a genetic disease. And he gets in there, rolling up his sleeves at fundraisers to find a cure. He has found some things to live for that have nothing to do with his love  life or lack thereof. . 
I appreciate that mental health workers feel so much sympathy for LGBT people who are suicidal. But maybe instead of trying so hard to coddle them as well as convince society that we have somehow betrayed them,  and let them do their thing without judgment, their patients would be better served with a plan to get the focus off their sexual orientation, off of the way they think people are oppressing them and turn it around. They could enable them to find other sources of happiness,  find service opportunities for them, find ways for them to forget about themselves. We know that true generosity and losing ourselves in the service of others lights up the brain and warms the heart in the best way. 

IF you are using Nicotine gum (or the patch) to quit smoking I say Great, just know that it continues the actual addition it just gets rid of the habit of smoking.
In 1986 I quit smoking - cold turkey, it was one of the hardest things I have ever done, I did start going through at least 1 box of TicTacs a day for the first couple months (do they even still sell TicTacs?)
Just know that as long as you don't dwell on them the urges to smoke do go away and it gets less and less over time, however my doctor told me and he was correct, that for as long as I smoked, thats how many years I would still get cravings. (of course the longer it was the less frequest and strong they were).
 
Good Luck.

Community colleges tend to be very affordable.

Why is it "racist" to say that Baltimore is a disgusting, rat-infested swamp? From what I can tell, that's a true description.

So do you then believe that the Democrats are pushing for open borders because they're on the take and getting kickbacks from the drug lords? That's a leap of cynicism I'm not yet prepared to take. I find it much more believable that they're pushing for the destruction of the US because they want short-term money and power, not because they're on the take for drug money.

Seriously??? Simply not true. Why would you say something like that? This is exhibit A of what "Trump derangement syndrome'" looks like. That is a terrible thing to say, and I'm sorry you feel that way.

I don't think I understand what you mean?

Seriously; what's so unattractive about her that she can't find any prospects at all?  This really sounds like a smokescreen for her not wanting to be in a relationship, but wanting a baby anyway.

You should say "Great; now that we've identified this important underlying assumption, why don't guys like you and what can be done about that?"
I mean, come on, somebody knocked up Honey Boo Boo's mom the old fashioned way multiple times.  Even Hillary Clinton found a husband.

I have a yard with a lot of trees, and as such I need leaf raking a lot. It is impossible to find a neighborhood kid to do the job.  Everyone is a tree service, which is a shame because I would much rather give my money to a neighborhood kid than some company.

Antifa, like the Brown Shirts are a  bunch of kids who want to beat people up with no ramifications, the "enemy" is irrelevant, although it's being pushed by an anti-American, anti-Free Speech agenda.  But you need to find the head of the snake.  Trouble is, the snake includes the people who are meant to investigate such things. 

Believe me - it is much harder for me to believe it than it is for you.
 
The Traveler

Not a big consumer of Nike, but after this I will insure we never give them a dime of our money.

Yeah I noticed the recent nonsense from Nike. I suppose it was only a matter of time before some idiot claimed one of the first US flags was racist, but it still made me do a spit take at the computer this morning. I shouldn't be surprised by this kind of nonsense anymore, but sometimes it still gets to me.

Dear Nike,
I want to have a conversation about this hat. It's over 13 years old. I don't remember when I bought it exactly, I don't remember where I bought it. But what I do remember is why I wore it.
On August 10, 2005, I was a newlywed with two young sons. My husband Tim and I had toasted our one month anniversary the night before, and I was enjoying a rare evening to myself, catching up on reading and relishing the quiet. Until there was a knock on my door. I had no way of knowing that the small act of turning a knob was about to shatter my life into a million pieces. I sat numb and in sheer disbelief as I was told that my husband, while in a foot pursuit and subsequent struggle with a suspect that ended up in the road, had been struck and killed by an oncoming vehicle. He took his last breath lying in the middle of the street. What I lost in that moment is indescribable. I had to watch his mother be dealt the most agonizing blow a parent can face, and I couldn't comfort her because I was in my own hell. I had to find a way to gut my own children in the gentlest way possible, and tell them that this man they had come to love, who they looked up to, who cared for them as his own, would never walk through our door again.
I don't know if you've ever attended a police funeral, but watching grown men who've seen the absolute worst things a civilian can imagine, break down and sob over the casket of their brother is an image that never leaves you. The bagpipes haunt my dreams to this day, but it was the faces of my children, the innocence that abandoned them at such a tender age that brought me to my knees.
I had no choice but to move on. We trudged zombie-like through our days for weeks and weeks on end. I never left the house except to drive the boys to school, or buy food we barely touched. I realized that I had to do something. I had to move my body or I was going to crawl out of my own skin. So I put on the only cap I had and I went for a run. It was short, it hurt and it was ugly. But I felt, just for those few moments on that road, like a normal person. So I kept doing it. I put that hat on and I ran every day. Sometimes I had to stop and sit down because I was sobbing so hard. Sometimes I was so angry I ran until I thought I my heart would stop, sometimes I would just scream over and over again, but it still felt better than doing nothing.
That black cap became a symbol to me, it is sweat stained and it's shape is gone, the buckle in the back barely closes; but that hat represents my family's rise from the ashes. It stands for the strength and the sacrifice we made loving a man who had a job that we all knew could end his life, every time he walked out that door. And it did. And I accept that.
I still wear this hat, I wore it on my run this morning.
And then I heard about your new ad campaign.
Colin Kapernick has the absolute right to protest anything he damn well pleases. I don't dispute that for one second. My father, my husband and many, many friends have all served this country and were willing to fight for his right to kneel.
But that right goes both ways. I also have a right to express my disgust at your decision to portray him as some kind of hero. What, exactly has Colin Kapernick sacrificed? His multi million dollar paycheck...? Nope, you already gave him one of those. His reputation? No, he's been fawned over by celebrities and media alike. Funny, Tim Tebow was never called courageous when he knelt.
This man, whose contempt for law enforcement fits him like a...sock, has promoted an agenda that has been proven false time and time again, in study after study. But facts don't seem to matter anymore. This man has thrown his support behind divisive anti-police groups, and donated money directly to a fugitive from justice who escaped prison after killing a police officer. I question the judgement of anyone who would put someone this controversial and divisive at the head of an advertising campaign, but it isn't my company to run.
I don't know if I'll have he heart to ever get rid of this cap, but I will tell you this, I'll never purchase another Nike product as long as I live. You got this one wrong Nike, terribly, terribly wrong.
Sherry Graham-Potter, surviving spouse of Deputy Tim Graham
 
 

I'll look her up out of curiosity. Unless the Democratic party drastically changes it's beliefs in a few key areas overnight I won't be voting for them, but I hope they nominate someone at least slightly moderate in case they win in 2020. Can you imagine a President Sanders? Excuse me while I go shudder in a corner.

Pump the brakes, One relapse since full repentance over a year ago? I'd put this on the home repentance plan and not get super wound up about it. You are now an adult, if you can identify what led to the relapse and ensure there are no further issues I would get on my knees ask for forgiveness and go about my business.
However if you really feel like you need to confess in the flesh to a Bishop by all means please do so. 

JoJo, you are not meant to be anyone's doormat: you are a Child of God. I see no reason for you to apologize for anything based on what you have told us here. You don't need this relationship on these terms, leave things as they are. Perhaps someday they'll come around but as far as I'm concerned 'the ball is in their court'

If you filtered out all 8 seasons of Game of Thrones, you'd end up with about a 3 hour show.