A friend of mine flat-out refuses to take his son to see this movie because he (and his son) don't agree with what he sees as pro-leftist agenda. I keep telling him to just turn his brain off and go but I doubt he ever will. He's a stubborn ol' bastard.
- Akiva Moskovitz
The Washington Post ran a story today about those who say Avatar was a racist flick. Tarzan idea--white guy goes to the jungle, finds the natives, becomes kind of the natives. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...
- Andrew Leyden
I don't see it as serving a leftist agenda any more than Aliens; nefarious individual in a murky corporation makes bad choices.
- RAPatton
from iPhone
RAP, I agree and I tried to explain that to him but when he's made up his mind on something, there's no budging him.
- Akiva Moskovitz
Andrew, it's like anything else: if you look hard enough at something, you'll find what you're looking for. Reminds me of some comedian who had a joke about racism, about how his grandfather saw racism in everything: 'Why are the green olives in a glass jar and the black olives in a can? Why do they black olives gotta be all shut up in a dark can while the green olives get the nice glass jar?' [paraphrased, of course]
- Akiva Moskovitz
Really, it was essentially the same as District 9 in that a diabolical employee of shady company tries to exploit alien resources. Standard Sci-Fi. The wasn't a heavy Gaia angle, and a single evil company or individual doesn't make it leftist. In a free society, you will have individuals with flaws. I'd have preferred a little more character development for the mercenary villain, and...
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- RAPatton
I think what might be at issue here is that characters were developed more subtlety. Jake Sully's the main character so that's a gimme for all. Colonel Quaritch, however, is nearly just as deep: when he's introduced, it's made clear that he wants revenge for what happened to him the first day he landed (and that he blames the whole planet for it). He grows to actually like Sully after...
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- Akiva Moskovitz
And you right, just because its script isn't perfect doesn't make it a good film. It is good, and I think the best sci-fi action film in the last decade. I think the early part of the film works better than some of the middle later parts, including that time with Colonel Quaritch. The drop the waking dream metaphor and then it returns at the end. I'd like to have seen the planet as a...
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- RAPatton
A friend of mine has seen it twice and he claims that you actually get a lot more out of the movie itself the second time around because you're not spending so much time being overwhelmed by the visuals. He said it's jam-packed full of things he missed the first time around. I'm taking Rochelle to see it in a couple of weeks after the crowds die down so I'll find out for myself then. Personally, I don't expect it to make that much of a difference but we'll see.
- Akiva Moskovitz
I really thought it was more a commentary on what America did to Native Americans in the 19th century than a leftist green treehugger film. Sure, they're attacking trees, but all the visuals and plot is centered around a displaced people. The primary concern for the hero and his sidekicks isn't the trees, it's the tribe; that they have just as much a right to their land, if not moreso, than the humans. The premise is definitely much more than Fern Gully, although not much more than Dances with Wolves.
- Mark Trapp
I can't claim to be intuitive about the hidden statements in fiction (I ignore what they say about The Hobbit), but I did get that it seemed to be about more than just a greedy company. As with Alien, the greedy company had military support, which implies federal avarice and murderousness. It makes me wonder if my government has a history of helping private corporations stomp over...uh, nm.
- MiniMage TKDteacher of FF
I reshare this to Ideas & Inspiration room :) These are so realistic!
- Kristian Salonen
I'm sorry but this is unbelievable:) I'll give credit to the artist upon more convincing proof! The photogenic look of the tiger and lion really helps the artist's case though:)
- Roney Smith
I'm with Roney... I find this hard to believe... or maybe I'm just jealous that I can't even get stick people right!
- Jasmin Smith
you cannot win on the interwebs. draw some crap it doesn't get noticed. draw something amazing in pencil and people say it's not real.
- Joe Breen
I'm really happy everyone liked these. They're my most liked entry to date, Thanks! There also seems to be some question about whether these are actually Pencil Drawings.I can assure you that they are.When I get home, I should have the links. I have more drawings, too.
- Michael Fidler
from fftogo
Thanks Enrique, I'll post some more soon. They are a little more obvious than these ones. As Luke points out; without being able to look closely it's impossible to tell. He's right; but up close it's more obvious. I'll upload the originals to Picasa later, and then you'll be able to zoom in with any photo viewer and see for yourselves. I can't believe how many people liked these. A few people have reposted them already. Thanks!
- Michael Fidler
Absolutely awesome, Michael. You are extremely talented. Everyone should repost these pix and help to make you famous. You should be doing this full time - you obviously have some passion for this. Bravo.
- Chris Loft
These are really beautiful, Michael. Do you sell them?
- Shannon Jiménez
Chris, I would love to say they're mine, but it's not true. I've had them for a while, but I'll find the artists names. It will just require a little backtracking. Besides, they deserve the credit; all I did was find them:-)
- Michael Fidler
Cut the bullshit! :) Photos are very good.
- Burçak Çubukçu
I draw alot in pencil, but they are amazing, the best for me is the girl, that is the most photo-like one. :o)
- Rob Sellen :o)
I agree Rob, the girl is amazing. My favorite by far! Wait until you see it close up! It's really had to tell, even up close!
- Michael Fidler
Burçak Çubukçu If these were photographs, they would be very good. As Pencil Drawings,(which they are), they're amazing.
- Michael Fidler
@Burçak Çubukçu I can't tell if your serious now or just kidding around. I hope your just having fun! If you are serious, I've never given you a reason to question my integrity, nor do I ever intend to. However, the second set is up now, so judge them for yourself, but don't judge me! http://ff.im/1BJh5 BTW, I messed up and reposted the shot of the women again. Oh well. Hope you like them:-)
- Michael Fidler
@Michael: try deviantART, not Picasa, to submit your artworks
- LouCypher
WOW "I can't believe it's in pencil"
- sofarsoShawn
LouCypher, I know it well, but I don't see why I would want to do that. I hope everyone knows by now that they're not mine? I'm sorry, but I can't say it any clearer than that.
- Michael Fidler
nah, i don't believe it is done in pencil. i am sure it is photoshopped :)
- hasin hayder
I'm finding this both interesting and humorous at the same time. There's a separate message board where this post is being discussed and it has another forty comments on it already. I think its great how this has created some lively discussion, considering that when I posted this I was doubtful if anyone would even like it. When I went to sleep last night there was only had 3 or 4 likes...
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- Michael Fidler
Very interesting. I would like to see them up close and in person...just to make sure. Bill said it's real and possible. Your 2nd set of picts look like pencil. Nice work in finding these!
- LaFern Cusack
Kol, I can't thank you enough! Kol found another post which helps to prove that these are done in pencil. I had my doubts about a few of them because I collected them from several different sites over time, but the site Kol found has done a great job pulling together an impressive collection of these drawings and more. Take a look - http://www.flickzzz.com/2009...
- Michael Fidler
Actually there are more than what this site shows. There's an entire set with the cats(little cats), which I have, and there's a new portrait set.
- Michael Fidler
Found your post here, Michael. :-) I tried my best to find the artists.
- Kol Tregaskes
Amazing and very very very good.... Very impressive ...
- Linda Zeek-Bobinski
Yeah we know, thanks though, James. :-)
- Kol Tregaskes
Excellent pictures - how long did it take you to scan the photographs into Photoshop and then edit them? The only pencil that has come into contact with these "drawings" is the Photoshop pencil. A tip - stop trying to fool people into thinking you are a "real" artist, because all you are doing is cheapening proper artist's works whom have spent hours creating real pictures as opposed to a few minutes on a graphics editing package.
- The Wimp
A bell does ring here. And I am remembering why I was so attracted to the tiger...and the lion for that matter. These are exact replicas of prints I had in our bedroom when I lived in Dallas. I had bought the prints (in color) at a department store,
- Melanie Reed
Actually, I have learned quite a bit about these drawing since I made this post. Not only have I discovered all of the artists, but I've learned more about how they are created. They are always copied from a photograph or painting, but usually a photograph. It is extremely time consuming and detail orientated work. There are many other artists besides the ones featured here who practice...
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- Michael Fidler
Most of them have portfolio's on deviantart.com and their work is truly amazing even if they are copies of other artists work. I suppose with this level of detail, they have to start with something. Nevertheless, I'm still in awe of their talent. Melanie, the animal prints you refer to are from a very well renowned photographer. The originals are B&W I'll look it up later but I do have...
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- Michael Fidler
"Outside Egypt's capital, in the shadow of the Pyramids and tucked in the mountains of Mokattam, is an incredible city that literally survives on trash. Garbage City, as it's known, is home to 30,000 Zabaleens-- Coptic Christians from southern Egypt --who, each day, enter Cairo and collect its waste. 60 percent of the trash produced in Cairo passes through Garbage City to be recycled. It is an amazing sight, awash in refuse. Recently, photographers Bas Princen, Klavs Bo Christensen and Alexander Heilner visited Garbage City and returned with some captivating images that depict the close, day-to-day relationship between the Zabaleens and the garbage. Piles of the stuff are virtually everywhere, a fact that these recyclers-by-trade seem none too concerned with. The garbage collecting process is so organized, Cairo has had no need to create a government sponsored program, relying fully upon the residents of Garbage City to collect their trash. Just a single pair of Zabaleens, working...
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- Jason Wehmhoener
from Bookmarklet
I actually found that "feature" a few months ago and was going to use it to make a fun friendfeed toy. Friendfeed's future being uncertain has that project in limbo at the moment (may still do it).
- mikepk
Mike, yeah - if they're going to keep it there are some cool uses for it, but my guess is they probably don't want to keep it. Thought I'd bring it into the open regardless just to see what the official word actually is (and maybe finally get rid of that pesky Tweetmeme button that keeps appearing in my posts)
- Jesse Stay
Feature. Tweetmeme's image is no more out of place here than it is on your blog.
- Bruce Lewis
from fftogo
maybe I should slap the toy together before they close it. :) I think people on friendfeed would enjoy what I'm thinking about building (those that are left :) ).
- mikepk
I definitely am interested/curious, mikepk.
- Itachi
Like Tweetmeme, Bruce is trying to inflate his increment count ;) EDIT: oh, Bruce deleted the dup - fun is over :)
- Micah Wittman
This is clearly not my cat. If this was my cat he's have one arm shoved down into the printer trying to tear up all the internal whirling bits with his bare claws.
- Soup
Too Funny! Reminds me of the San Mateo Cat Shelter where one of the cats loves to sleep on top of the laster printer where the paper comes out...
- Greg Lato
1600+ to beat the FFundercats live chat thread. I think with this real time now on all threads we're going to see some truly epic comment numbers.
- Simon Wicks
Ivan, no the picture speaks for itself. ;-)
- Kol Tregaskes
Petr, I have no idea what you mean, but thank you. :-)
- Kol Tregaskes
@Kol .. :] that, partially, might have been the purpose.... I don't know it exactly either. :] .. was I reflecting on a cat under the fax, and that it is hard to fax that way ... /?:] ... "underfaxing at its worst" ..
- Petr Buben
there ya have me ! :] .... see, to be honest with you, i saw this pic couple days ago, but i let it go, without posting it ..... what does that make me? :]
- Petr Buben
even a flat cat... faxes just can't handle the hair. You'd have to shave the cat first, else the hair will burn and stick to the drum... a mess! (I am extrapolating from transparencies, mind, i don't have access to a cat to test)
- Joelle Nebbe (iphigenie)
Hehe, Joelle. This is now tied for the 'likes' top stop. One more then, hehe. :-)
- Kol Tregaskes
Hehe, Greg. Blimey! Erm, is that not far from 500 likes now? ;-)
- Kol Tregaskes
Bloody marvelous, Kol. Wish I could like it again... too cute (and help u to 500 likes).
- Roberto Bonini
I couldn't believe it when I logged on from the morning over posting it and saw it was at something 200 likes! You all have a strange fetish with cats and fax machines, hehe. ;-)
- Kol Tregaskes
Am I the only one who saw this and their first thought was - My goodness did someone break that cats neck? It still freaks me out a little
- Steve C
Steve, it does look a little out of place, but cats are pretty bendy. ;-)
- Kol Tregaskes
They fax much better if you flatten them first. What?
- Kevin Pedraja
So we can put this post to rest now. :-) 505 likes final count, wow! :-D Good night all!
- Kol Tregaskes
My like is the last one so far :) - 509 afaik
- getalifejerk
did 3 people really un-like this? now at 506. wtf (edit: uh, oh, yeah, me and 2 + 506 others makes 509. dammit, jim, i'm an artist, not a mathematician)
- ɐ ɯıʞ sıɹɥɔ
One of the best funny cat pictures I've seen! :-)
- John Collis
Kristian, it appears to be. Hehe, John.
- Kol Tregaskes
ای بابا این پیشول بی خیال نمی شود، بابا پاشو برو دنبال یه بازی دیگه ، از هفته پیش تا حالا تو فکس ولو شدی حوصله ات سر نرفته، پاشو اقلا بپر رو کیبوردی چیزی
- Maryaminaa
It's really only social convention which regards it as inappropriate, same with Xeroxing it, like one does with their b__tocks. Wait are we still talking about cats cats here or...
- sofarsoShawn
OMGosh 700+ likes now!! LOL. Thank you all 702 of you. :-)
- Kol Tregaskes
I did that, but I was heading vertical, school had a vaulted ceiling and I went running, stepped on a chair right were it dropped, on impact both shoes fell off, one hit a guy in the face.
- Jimminy Fuller
wonder if that kid had aspirations of being a stunt guy... "dignity, always with dignity" ;)
- alphaxion
If I weren't afraid of going right through the wall, I'd probably still try that. I know I would have done that (and did similar things quite often) when I was much younger.
- Curtiss Grymala
This is still superb this morning after. :-)
- Kol Tregaskes
Defining the line between brave and stupid?
- Eoghann Irving
If I did that, first the wall would collapse, and then the floor. (So, you see, it's not that I *couldn't*... I just choose not to, for the protection of others.)
- Mark "DerBingle" J
You're right. I don't have the guts...and I'm proud of that.
- Tammy Marshall
Hurl makes HTTP requests. Enter a URL, set some headers, view the response, then share it with others. Perfect for demoing and debugging APIs. [via Leah Culver http://blog.leahculver.com/2009...]
- LouCypher
from Bookmarklet
"The data supports the notion that younger people are more supportive of gay marriage than older people. I also think it’s interesting that, even in states that we normally consider quite hostile to gay rights (the ones at the bottom of the table), there is still a significant age difference: 18-29 year-olds in Alabama, for example, are more supportive of gay marriage than people 65 and older in Massachusetts. So, while we like to think about states as “liberal” or “conservative,” spreading out the data by age tells a much more complicated story."
- Jim Norris
from Bookmarklet
It'd be interesting to find out if preferences for the *same set* of people change as they age. If no, then all we have to do to improve same-sex rights is wait for a generation or two to snuff it. If yes, then it's a little harder.
- Aaron D'Souza
Would like to see a graph with "has internet" (do younger people more frequently use/ more regularly access the internet?)
- Philipp Lenssen
Waiting a "generation or two" isn't going to do a whole lot for the gay community now. This is particularly true for elderly gay and lesbian individuals who are facing mortality and unable to secure inheritances etc for their partners.
- Soup
My guess is that open-mindedness comes with actually knowing people who are gay/lesbian/etc. and realizing that it's an inescapable part of who they are and just a different manifestation of the same powerful feelings of love and commitment that everyone feels. It also probably has to do with marriage being defined as a romantic notion these days rather than a more economic and social framework in the past. As evidence for this, I have nothing.
- Jim Norris
And I may not be the strongest gay-marriage supporter out there by any means... I mean, I'm ok with it and think it should be allowed, but only as long as I don't have to get gay married myself.
- Jim Norris
Ah, so Jim, you support "weak" gay marriage, not "strong" gay marriage.
- Stephen Mack
Interesting. So even if attitudes by age remain constant, in 20 years, the 18 states from Pennsylvania up will be strongly pro gay-marriage, but the 22 states from Wyoming on down will remain opposed, even 40 years hence.
- j1m
And of course, the prediction is that attitudes by age will be far from remaining constant. Indeed attitudes toward gays seem to have made almost all of their progress in the last 15 years, afaict.
- j1m
So are you guys for or against censorship from Apple? I can't justify *not* making a book available to people. And seriously "swach sticker?"
- Dustin Sallings
MVB nails it. They allow this app, yet another book app with the word iPhone in it is not allowed. A Google Voice app is not allowed. These are the kind of things that make me think Apple is messed up.
- Itachi
Maxamad, I totally agree an inconsistent censorship policy is bad. Any censorship policy is bad. Banning books -- even those nobody agrees with is bad. That's the irony here: http://wiki.answers.com/Q...
- Dustin Sallings
NO way! can we boycott that app?! damn Apples is messed up!!
- Susan Beebe
Susanbeebe, absolutely! Don't buy it, don't publicize it (this thread probably sold more copies than would've otherwise been sold). Don't make it sound like super-powerful forbidden knowledge that will give someone power that everyone else should fear because the reader will magically transform into the next Hitler and kill us all. Most importantly, let's not encourage organizations to hide information from us that some of us disagree with.
- Dustin Sallings
I suppose preventing gays from marrying helps Americans feel less bad about their failing marriages. Or something...
- Jon, the Chilled Beartato
Americans? which ones? certainly not me. my marriage is pretty healthy and i don't understand why two people who love each other can't marry, whatever their respective genders.
- Joe Silence
"But gays already have the right to marry, just not someone of the same sex."
- Jim Norris
Jim: just change "gays" to "negroes" and "same sex" to "different race" and I wonder how many people, today, would vote the same way?
- Bren -- feeling merry
discrimination is discrimination, and the people who vote against gay marriage and gay rights are bigots. it's really quite simple.
- Bren -- feeling merry
I think some people just believe that without rules to enforce a certain kind of conduct in society, everything will devolve into chaos and decadence.
- Jim Norris
"certain kind of conduct"? what does that mean, Jim? that gay people are misbehaving? that they are somehow outside of the bounds of polite society? edit: I'll just stick with my original statement: the people who vote against gay rights and gay marriage are bigots, same as the people who have resisted civil rights for minorities throughout history.
- Bren -- feeling merry
Bren: I personally believe that gay marriage should be legal; I'm just trying to articulate the opposing argument. If you really believe that homosexual conduct is a sin, for example, it wouldn't make sense for the state to sanction it.
- Jim Norris
Actually, Jim, in our system of governance it would not be appropriate for the state to take into account whether something was a sin to some religious group or not. No one is saying that churches would have to sanctify gay marriage if their doctrine prohibited it. I know the arguments, and they do nothing to abrogate my belief that the people who make the arguments are bigots. I...
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- Bren -- feeling merry
Yeah it's hard to play devil's advocate with this.
- Jim Norris
The problem is that there is no rational argument against it. The only option is to use religious doctrine. I just wonder if, for example, those of the Judeo-Christian persuasion were in the minority in this country and the atheist-majority decided that religious marriage should be illegal what they would think? Then again, one of the things I have always liked least about "religious"...
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- Bren -- feeling merry
The problem is that everyone here agrees, but obviously millions of people in the country don't, and if we can't appreciate their perspective without disparaging it we can't understand what needs to be done to win over those people and enact real change.
- Jim Norris
Funny that many of those who most violently object to gay marriage are the first to assert that they have a RIGHT to THEIR religious beliefs, to own a gun, to freedom of speech.
- Jeff P. Henderson
Hypocrisy is a necessity to the closed minded.
- Simon Curran
Jim: I can tell you what needs to be done - during the civil-rights movement in the '60s the Federal government (Supreme Court, Nat'l Guard, etc) stepped in and said "state's rights are fine, but you all are not going to continue to practice segregation and de jure discrimination based on race is no longer going to be tolerated. We, as a country, do not need to appreciate the bigoted,...
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- Bren -- feeling merry
Jim, for many people, their closed minds and adherence to outdated or extreme religious beliefs define their perspective. I do not know of a simple way to counter either if these forces. Federal legislation as Bren pointed out, is probably one of the only ways to affect change.
- Jeff P. Henderson
devalue the legality of marriage. fine, if people want to have some ceremony in a church where their imaginary friend approves. HOWEVER - make the same legal ceremony where M/F, F/F, M/M can be partners for life and have the same rights as everyone else together in the world.
- Terry O'Fee
i'm not saying i agree, but unfortunately marriage throughout history is tied to religion. so therefore these fundies can scream bashing their work of fiction saying "it's not right!"
- Terry O'Fee
Bren, that to me is one of the strongest arguments for separating church marriage from state marriage. I support gay marriage on a personal level because I believe in love and in families, but I also believe in equal rights under state law because I don't want someone telling me that I can't have my religious marriage because my religion is no longer the dominant religion. Your religion doesn't have to recognize things equally; the government does. For the benefit of all of us.
- joey
I think that is the real problem, the concept of marriage is both linked to religion as well as to rights of partnerships. Really if there was a way that all people can have a civil ceremony that gives them the rights of partnerships then what does the religious crowd have a problem with? I could see if churches etc were forced to allow weddings of gay couples in their churches as being...
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- Travis Koger
I think the experience of seeing gay couples (or mixed-race couples) being married and relating to one another in real, mature relationships with mutual sacrifice and emotional support is the thing that kills the abstract arguments about the historical definition of marriage. On the one hand, there are these official marriages that may or may not involve any form of love; that may be...
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- Jim Norris
Travis, in WA state we voted on domestic partnerships rather than marriage today. The only religious people I personally know that spoke out against this (and I know several who are against marriage because of the word but are for domestic partnerships) claimed that it was the state sanctioning sin and condoning the gay lifestyle. That was the only argument I heard other than that it would lead to gay marriage.
- joey
@Bren, re the Athiest Majority comment above. The problem then is that by saying the religious marriage is outlawed, then the government is undertaking religious persecution. There are far too many 'special' exceptions for religion that make it outlandish. Example, criminals are allowed to 'confess' to a priest, but that confession cannot be used against them. WTF? Religion gets away...
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- Travis Koger
@Joey, the whole state sanctioning sin argument is ridiculous isn't it? It is only sin in *their* religion, funny though that sin only really exists in their religion also. Sin as opposed to morals I mean, something the church do not believe can exist outside of religion and faith.
- Travis Koger
Travis, I'm a person of faith, for the record. There is no one 'church' controlling anything. I have religious acquaintances ranging from evangelical Biblical literalists into prosperity theology to Mormons to Catholics to Anglicans to Lutherans (just for some Christian examples) to Jews to Muslims who all have different views on sin and morality and all interpret scripture and life...
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- joey
But yes, that argument is ridiculous. The state should be neutral. Your sin (and I very specifically mean that to say your business, not the business of others) is between you and G-d and whatever intermediary you choose or don't choose.
- joey
Exactly. I think gay marriage represents the triumph of Marriage As Experience over Marriage As Ideology.
- Jim Norris
Travis: what is a good criteria to determine when confidential discussion should be legally protected? there are some cases such as a doctor and patient, or a news source and reporter, that seem beneficial to preserve
- Mike Chelen
I'm all for separating secular and religious marriage. I find it baffling that Guatemala, an essentially Catholic country, will not allow religious figures to perform legal marriages, but the US not only allows it, they are so much the norm people can't imagine it another way. Religious Guatemalans have two marriage ceremonies: a civil ceremony performed by a lawyer or city official and...
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- Shannon Jiménez
Shannon, many countries in Europe do this as well. It makes sense to me. Though we still have the issue of arguing semantics in the US. Does the state issue 'marriages' to all or domestic partnerships to all? Anyway, I actually wanted to have a separate civil and religious ceremony but it is a pain to do that here (I wanted to have a religious ceremony without a legal marriage yet but here clergy cannot do that; they are required to to fill out the paperwork as well).
- joey
Joey, maybe that varies from place to place. My husband and I were legally married in Guatemala and had a Catholic ceremony here in the US (in Nevada). We never applied for a license or anything here and the priest was happy to give us a "religious" marriage certificate without signing any legal paperwork when we showed him the proof we were already married.
- Shannon Jiménez
Oops, just saw that you weren't married yet (misread it). So yes, I think it is a requirement to be married legally or be going to get married legally.
- Shannon Jiménez
@Mike, confidential discussion by criminals should never be legally protected, particularly when they are about confessing to a crime (More than happy about confidential discussion to legal representatives about a case etc, but I understand that even if a client confesses to a crime to a lawyer they are required to report the crime also. Might be wrong on that though). As for doctor and...
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- Travis Koger
@Joey, refreshing to hear from a person of faith that also believes that a person can have morals outside of faith. ;) Personally I don't hear that type of talk very often.
- Travis Koger
@Mike, a little further on the legal protection of conversations, I have a clear difference here in that I believe that anything that relates to a criminal act (ie confession of a crime or evidence of a crime) should NEVER be protected. Also, I hate that there are these exceptions, as you point out, doctors, journalists etc. Why would it be different if say I spoke confidentially to a...
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- Travis Koger
I guess the discussion of protected conversations is not really on topic though. Sorry for hijacking Alex.
- Travis Koger
tl;dr but yeah this to me shows that religion and govt are too mixed up together. If marriage is a religious thing than why is it part of the govt in the first place? If you want to protect the church the very last thing you should do is mix it with a democracy since any majority can redefine what certain ideas mean. Now marriage has been mutated and no longer carries the same christian...
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- rei yano
my friend had a marriage a couple of years ago. it was outside, the lady was licensed etc, everything was legit but not once in the entire cermony did she mention god/religion at all. (he's buddist, she didn't care either way). one day in the far future i'd like to do something similar, if the gf approves...
- Terry O'Fee
another thing that I know they must be afraid of is the possibility that pastors will be forced to marry gay people which is against their beliefs and they feel it would be sinful for them to marry a gay couple. the fact is that these pastors and their churches get tax exempt status. if they want to write their own rules then it needs to be a private entity completely free of govt ties.
- rei yano
Preach, brother Alex. Actually, preach everyone in this thread.
- Derrick
Yet again I'm left shaking my head at my Christian brethren. This is yet another fight/debate based upon ignorance. I have never understood how anybody could think that allowing a gay person to marry another gay person has any affect on the marriage of a non-gay person. It makes no sense to me and in the grand scheme of things I think God could care less.
- Give 'Em DBizness
I pretty much think that people of a certain worldview see it as an assault against their Norman Rockwell vision of America. I imagine that they feel otherwise powerless to stop the tide of progress and these ballot measures give them some measure of power.
- Alex Scoble
from IM
DB: wouldn't any god worth following rejoice in the love between two people?
- Mike Chelen
this is so sad ! people have posted full blown guides on how to ...and I dont have an account YET - can someone plse take me out of my misery?
- viki saigal
With Google running and relying on MySQL, I doubt it will go away (as an open-source project, it can't actually just go away). If Oracle drops it, maybe it will become a Google project (GooSQL anyone?).
- Curtiss Grymala
Amazon must think differently as they just released cloud based mysql
- Anthony Feint
"Conclusion Like it or not, 3D is coming and just like HD before it, there will be plenty of technology pundits predicting its demise. The problem right now is very few have had the chance to check out the technology and if you have been lucky enough to see it, it is hard to convey how cool it is to others. On top of this, 3D has a long road ahead because most people think they have seen it because they've tried the anaglyph glasses during a Super Bowl Commercial. The other big hurdle is the whole stupid looking glasses argument -- which doesn't make that much sense since you'll be wearing them in the privacy of your own home. Now we know that the same technology lovers who read Engadget would never hate on any new technology without experiencing it first hand, but tell your friends and family that something new is coming, and no it isn't like anything else they've seen."
- Richard Lawler
from Bookmarklet
love it scoble, lol. Also, have you actually seen the panasonic demo?
- Richard Lawler
Nope...haven't seen the TV technology, but I've seen the stuff in the theaters and it's OK...doesn't really add anything to the experience, IMO. It's cool, but not worth spending more money on TV and transport. I'd rather put the extra money in to a better subwoofer or speakers.
- Alex Scoble
Didn't I actually comment on this somewhere?
- Alex Scoble
I'm missing the comment Alex made before Richard said "love it scoble, lol"
- Cristo
I think I made it on another thread
- Alex Scoble
from IM
I saw Nightmare Before Christmas and Toy Story 1 & 2 in 3D today and the technology has come so far. Not just stuff poking you in the face. They showed the trailer for Burton's Alice in Wonderland, and the depth in the way the composition is presented is amazing.
- Derrick
Alright, all I'll say is, reserve judgement till you actually see it.I watched the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony in HD, and when I saw it in 3D on the plasmas Panasonic is bringing out, it blew my mind all over again. Also, watching the national championship game in 3D was an appreciably different and improved experience over just HD watching. Having everything in focus is a...
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- Richard Lawler
THANKS Ms. CUTIE PA-TUTIE! Just what I need too, one of them darned Social Media Epertistes seems one can never find on around these day with all the Twittering & Snickering goingz on. Everyone all aboard and let's follow the Pied Piper of Facebook CHOOO-CHOOOOooooOOOOO WHeeeeEEEEEEEeeeeeee
- sofarsoShawn