Mark H.

That's basically a safe play call. You'll either get a first down with YAC or punt it away.

Bloody shame, considering what you paid for it. High temp paint can be bought in spray cans. If you can find someone to sandblast it, you can do the repainting yourself.

Agreed. Even the most recent books (the gospels) were written with a great deal of metaphor. Anyone who thinks the Bible is meant to be taken literally - has not spent enough time reading it. What it does have are certain enduring truths that can be found if one is sincerely looking for them. The core of the message, if you will. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but myself and many of my friends in the teaching profession have seen the results of bad relationships first hand. I'm sure most of you are aware that there is a demand for male elementary teachers, and I would venture to guess you can connect the dots and figure out why.

The bolded part: I used to believe that, but I'm not so sure any more. I've already given my reasons for that. Same sex marriage aside, the real concern should be the decrease of monogamous relationships in today's society. #1 it isn't safe, #2 is doesn't build strong families. You can poke fun at this very old book as much you like, but the fact is its got some pretty good advice on things like adultery and faithfulness.

Not sure what that means. You would prefer they were "entrenched" in a communist system? It doesn't matter what system you are entrenched in if your people don't want to pay income taxes, and the government can't be bothered to collect them, or enforce income tax laws. It also doesn't matter what system you are in when your people decide they want everything for nothing, and think they are entitled to it. You are pretty much screwed at that point. Have a look at the Roman Empire at its peak. Why did it fail? Because everyone stopped working for a living, and just had a big party, and they became so soft that they were easy prey for other warring nations that just tore the entire empire apart. If you want some insight into the Greek mind, just look at how other countries have planned for and built infrastructure for the Olympics. They always build with a future plan to use the infrastructure, or move it somewhere else. They have a plan. Greece didn't have a plan for their 2004 Olypmics. They just built these massive stadiums with hundreds of millions of borrowed euros, and now they are all just rotting, unused. Typical Greek planning. That's why that country is so screwed. They have become the welfare case of Europe. I'm too lazy to go looking for the link - but the problem of unused and rotting Olympics infrastructure isn't unique to Greece.

Don't forget the Christians killing non-Christians. Something called the Crusades. Absolutely.

Christians were killed for many years before they became powerful....and the want to kill them never went away.Christians have more than other ways, spread their beliefs through their own blood. Unlike some other religions I can name that spread it mostly by the sword. love them or hate them, the Christian faith has kept the west alive and 'free' for hundreds of years. And if you religious or not, they still want the west dead...or cowed. We're all in this together. I only say this because we're a target more than ever and this thread's topic is just one other thing that angers our enemies. I'm not blaming homosexuals, jut saying. They're allowed to live free here but are still imprisoned and killed in many nations. We're all lucky to live here. And in the grand scheme of things, I believe gay marriage is a footnote in a world where we have much bigger problems. The truth is there were Gentile Christians and Jewish Christians in the early church (c. 100 CE). The persecution was almost entirely these two groups persecuting each other. The governing authorities had little if anything to do with it. Roman tolerance of Christianity is mostly a positive story. During the middle ages (dark ages) you had church and state intertwined and very corrupt. When people started to speak up about this, they were persecuted by the Catholic Church and by governing authorities. My own ancestors were among these groups and were in fact considered radicals during that era. In short, it's mostly a history of Christians persecuting each other because of differing beliefs.

The church during the Middle Ages was manipulative, but not the early church. Contrary to popular belief, the Romans actually supported the Early Church created by the Apostles. Things were quite peaceful until Constantine decided church and state should be one and the same. That's when all the trouble and all the wars started; the idea of a 'just war' finds its roots in the amalgamation of church and state.

people should be able to marry regardless of religious beliefs Given that marriage has traditionally been a religious institution, perhaps a dividing line would have been the best way to resolve this. In other words, call it something else for people who are not religious. After all, why would anyone who is not religious want to be associated with something that was inherently religious for centuries? But alas, that opportunity has come and gone. Now we're left arguing over something that's mostly a matter of semantics.

Absolutely. Within reason. If someone's religious believes are that being gay is "wrong", "immoral", "abomination", then thats not much of a religion. One can believe anything they want. There are people who believe women are lesser than men, or that black people are inferior. They have the right to that opinion. But they're still wrong. Well, I find things like public nudity immoral. With all due respect to anyone who believes otherwise, I feel that it's my right to believe that.

I'm quite willing to live and let live, but I've also been told to park my religious beliefs at the door. I had not said or done anything harmful or hateful. Tolerance is a two way street.

I would ask - retail ain't what it used to be

Walmart firepits usually aren't properly galvanized and/or finished with fireproof paint. If you're going to pay that kind of money, better make sure the thing is properly finished.

Mark - I've toured factories (known as "sweat shops" to guilt-laden liberals) in Egypt, Myanmar and Cambodia. I can tell you this - if it wasn't for us horrible North Americans buying up goods manufactured by these "working poor" from these countries, they wouldn't be "working poor", they'd be dead and starving poor. When it comes down to options for these people, it's work in these factories, or sell their bodies. It's that basic. When I was in Myanmar, I asked what the skilled ladies running the machines were making, and they told me $5 a day, which of course, given the North American mindset, made me recoil in horror. But then they told me that these ladies were really well-paid, given the cost of living was low enough that they had money left over to help support their families. My guide in Myanmar told me he could feed his whole family, including wife, parents and kids, on $50 a month. So I gave him a tip of $50 US so he could feed them all for a month. He showed me his house, which was by North American standards just plain awful - no electricity, bamboo walls etc. but he and his wife were happy. Could it be better? Yup. But that's the thing. We'd be hurting these people much much more by boycotting their products then by continuing to buy them. They are extremely happy to have jobs, which wouldn't exist, without us horrible exploitive evil North Americans. It's a process, and it takes time. The reality is, it's not possible for everyone to live the way most North Americans do. I realizes it will take time, but we actually need to be happy with less so they can have a little more. 20% of the world's population consumes 80% of the resources.

Okay, broader discussion is painful. Cool then

Yeah, I specifically meant today's Canada. Hard work in 1917 Russia wouldn't get you much lol. The problem still exists. But it's a across the ocean so we can pretend it doesn't. A large chuck of North American prosperity is on the backs of working poor in other countries.

Working hard will in many situations not help you advance in life. Just ask the working class of the 19th and early 20th century. They worked harder then any of us do, and had very little to show for it. There plenty of countries around the world where this is still the case. As some have already said, Canada seems to strike a nice balance.

That would be a mistake cause Portis stinks. Six of one, half-dozen of the other. Both aren't good at sneaking either, their likely role this season, but lethal on the zone reads and option plays. I really would like to see a guy who looks like he has potential to be a CFL QB in town if we stick with 4 QB's. We don't need two guys like Marve and Portis around. Willy is the starter, Brohm is the backup but is pushing 30, the other two can't pass to save their lives. Some work to be done at QB IMO. Tons of work to be done at QB. Meanwhile, we hold our collective breaths and hope Willy stays upright.

Except when he swore at Bob Irving on air. That too, was classic

I expect dandelion wine from you, my friend! That'll cure whatever ails you...

Kicker eh. I'll stick to serving Gatorade

Party at Mark's house!!! sleeping in the barn? I've got our shittiest cow shed prepared.

Due to FIFA, hotels are mostly booked up in Winnipeg and the surrounding area. Thought some of the out of towners might want to know.

Yes, let's all congratulate the Christians for keeping their stupid, dumb,backwards mouths shut for once, so we don't need to tell them how intolerant they are! Oh yes, huge pounding slaps on the back and crushing handshakes all around. It's ironic that tolerance does not seem to be a two way street. And somehow it's assumed that certain people will be intolerant.

It would be nice if could just be allowed to play football - without outraging anyone.