NeuroTypical

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Everything posted by NeuroTypical

  1. My wife homeschools our kids and goes to college. She still manages to collect interesting stories, but the most melodramatic ones come from her interesting teen years.
  2. A common misconception about courts, is that they find someone innocent. They do no such thing. They merely determine that there is not sufficient evidence to find someone guilty. So no, the fact that Joseph was found not guilty, does not mean he didn't pratice polygamy.
  3. I'm the hubby of someone interesting. She once got between two armed gang members and talked them out of killing each other. She once told Marilyn Manson, at his own back stage party, that she didn't like his music. I work in an office and type on a keyboard.
  4. Two interesting experiences I've had: 1- I inherited an old book published by the church in the early 1900's. On the subject of the claims made by those who thought Joseph Smith III should be the new prophet. It presented ten or fifteen of the restored church's claims, and gave what sounded like a well-reasoned and relevant reply to why it was hogwash. 2- I got to talk online to a member of the RLDS church who tried to convince me JS III was the real successor. I pulled out the book, and was utterly surprised to find this guy was making the exact same points that my book had addressed. So without knowing much about the issue, I was able to just type a few highlights of my church's response that left the guy totally without any response. LM
  5. Looks like Deseret is either LDS or latin, and kolob is either LDS or german or french. Although there is that one instance of an 1824 usage of kolob as community leader from the Sinai. Interesting stuff.
  6. Hi CP, I don't know what it's like to be you - but we have a few folks in our ward with similar issues. Severe chemical sensitivities. We have a 'chemical free room' which they say rarely works. We are also set up to broadcast whatever is said into the chapel microphone on AM radio, so these folks are able to hear sacrament and gospel doctrine class from their cars. We take the sacrament out to them. They are sometimes able to show up in a breathing mask and sit next to an open door, when the air is ok. The trick is to have the bishop and a few other key folks aware of your situation. I don't know if your ward is set up to broadcast across AM, but it might be. Definitely talk to your Bishop about it.
  7. Hey NBFF - If you haven't read it yet, this is a great talk. Maybe print a few out and hand them to your 'home ward' bishop and SP, as you are telling them you're moving to the other ward?
  8. Agreed. There's lots of good info at avow. But as I mentioned above, anyone looking for ideas on how to better prepare themselves against the coming rainy days that President Hinckley so aptly warned us about, without the subscription fee and apostate false prophecying, give the Got Lamp Oil forums a try.
  9. churchsigngenerator.com - the reason the internet was invented.
  10. Looking forward to it. Atlas Shrugged had a major impact in my 180 degree swing from liberal to conservative back in the '80's. I am still amazed at how often I find someone arguing that A is not A.
  11. Well of course our prophets don't stop being fallible mortal people who can have incorrect opinions on things. Sounds like the folks you know, somehow were resting their tesimonies on the falsehood that our prophets are infallible, and that every word that issueth forth from their mouths are authored by God. Then they discovered that was a bunch of hogwash (which it is), and their 'testimonies' died. When folks figure our prophets are perfect and always right, they are 1- figuring stuff you can't find in scripture or doctrine, and are 2- heading for a rough learning curve. Access to divine inspiration doesn't make you never wrong. And seriously, dieublanc, 'teaching the philosophies of men mingled with scripture'? Are you honestly feeling forced into that statement, or are you just attempting to stir the pot? LM
  12. I have a very basic opinion about the whole matter. Should I die and kneel before my Master, and there learn that the world is 5742 years old and evolution was wrong, I plan on wetting my savior's feet with my tears. Should I die and kneel before my Master, and there learn that the world is millions years old and evolution and dinosaurs and all that happened, I still plan on wetting my saviors feet with my tears. Is there a reason why I should do otherwise?
  13. Thanks for clarifying, but you were saying just what I thought you were saying, and I'm thinking my reply really was spot on.Because I'm seeing it live in a real budget spreadsheet tracking such things at my work. No really: When developing a new product, we know we can have 4 US engineers do it in a month, or have 8 Asian engineers do it for 3 months, and 1 US engineer for a week to fix everything at the end. Yeah, the Asian folks make 20% of the US engineers, but factor all that other stuff in, an it's harder to gain lower production costs. No really: Today's "lower production cost" countries are getting 3X or 5X the raises the US gets. Again, when was the last time you heard of anyone outsourcing a call center or software development project to Japan? It's because Japan (lower production cost king of the '70's and '80's) now has salaries comprable to US counterparts. India, Singapore, Malaysia - every year that goes by, the lower production costs shrink. Are you sure my response is a non-sequitur?
  14. You can find judgemental jerks in any religion - ours is no different. And you can also find folks who say dumb things out of ignorance. But for the most part, I think LDS folks know how about harsh realities and tough decisions. There are no shortage of divorced mormons. I've had more than one bishop who was divorced. You should be fine.
  15. Whenever you can have a bloodless coup disguised as a voluntary release of power, I guess that's better than a bloody violent coup where lots of people die. We'll see if the military shares power with the civilian leadership. We'll see if they still allow the elections to go through like they promised. We'll see if they are elections, or "elections". We'll see if the military remains basically independent, or if it becomes a tool of the muslim brotherhood. We'll see if this isn't the precursor for "Ding Dong the Shaw is gone" redux. LM
  16. I guess I need a little more information on how you think outsourcing keeps prices down then. You specifically mentioned call centers (where people are paid to talk on phones) and software development (where people are paid to write software).What am I missing?
  17. Well, maybe. I work for a high-tech manufacturing firm. We have an R&D center here, and one in Asia. When we look at the budget, some things are very clear to us:* When developing a new product, we know we can have 4 US engineers do it in a month, or have 8 Asian engineers do it for 3 months, and 1 US engineer for a week to fix everything at the end. Yes, this amounts for maybe a 5-10% overall cost savings, because Asia is so dang cheap. * Asia gets 3X or 5X the raises we get. You notice how nobody outsources to Japan for cheap labor any more? It's because the Japanese engineers make as much as their US counterparts. India, Singapore, Malaysia - every year that goes by narrows the payment gap. LM
  18. Yep - my wife had the same thing happen to her when she worked at PetSmart. She didn't work on sunday. They scheduled her to work on Sunday. She didn't show up. They cut her hours and tried to give guilt trips about 'not being reliable' and whatnot. She refused the guilt trips, but couldn't really refuse the cut hours. Chick-fil-a respects the Sabbath, but they're one of the very few who do.
  19. Although it pains me to say this, I'm thinking that Hollywood hasn't become that much of a tool of satan that it actually can send demons into people's homes simply by watching their movies. (Not yet, anyway)Let's be clear about what we're exactly warned against. There is a heck of a lot of superstitious mormon cultural stuff (like how face cards can control your minds, and mormons shouldn't swim because satan controls the oceans, etc.) But we don't hear that taught across the pulpit - just some of us act like we did. The Aaronic Priesthood Manual 2 gives this instruction to teachers: The Gospel Principles manual says: LM
  20. Here is an Ensign article talking about why angelic visitations occur more often at certain times than others. Seems like the reasons given would also speak to demonic visitations.
  21. So, that's all fine and good, but tell us - how many happy and giggly divorced parents do you know?Are you under the impression that getting a divorce means you are no longer in a relationship with a former spouse? When there are kids involved, the ex-spouses continue to have a relationship (often a court mandated one) about visitation and whatnot. There's still all the work of raising the kids to do, except now everyone hates each other and your kids are hanging out with the wrong crowd because home life sucks. Doesn't really sound like the best choice for someone who is tired of being mean and grumpy.
  22. Now that sounds lovely. Unfortunately: See, that's totally against church policy and direction. It was against church policy and direction during zion's camp, as the saints traveled west, when they set up in Utah, and at every point thereafter. Blind obedience is not part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, nor is it ever asked of a disciple of Christ. There is no "follow without question" involved in faith. That little requirement right there, is what flags AVOW as an apostate organization. Full of good people with lots of preparadness info, yes. But set up and run by fallible humans only. (And on top of that, they've had to reset their 'impending callout' date at least twice now - which adds 'goofy' to the fallible human part.) LM
  23. I think my meager savings won't grow at 45% like they did in '09, or even 23% like they did last year. But I think they will continue to grow at maybe a more relaxed 15%. Squat inflation is over, but I don't see it going past 5%. A repeat of 1974 or 1980 may be on the horizon, but probably not this year. I predict a slow coming out of the recession for the US, and sort of a continued bottom-walk for everyone else. Unemployment will shrink, but very slowly. [All bets are off if the green ghostie thing at 1:18 of really is the fourth horseman of the apocalypse, and not just a fake or a lens flare.]LM (average individual)
  24. Wait - are you saying that you have kids? And that in having a family and in serving their needs, you've somehow 'wasted your life'?If there are kids involved, it's not about how good you feel about being married. It's about meeting the needs of the lives you've chosen to create. You accepted the duty of caring for them until they're up and out - you don't get to ditch that duty just because you're not feeling in love with your husband. Kids from split homes have higher chances of committing crimes, getting pregnant out of wedlock, and living in poverty. You will train them how to act in a marriage, by how you choose to deal with your current situation. Do you want them getting divorced when they're not happy, or do you want them sticking it out and making things work? Choose wisely.