Merrifield

This kind of fits into this thread. I was wondering if anyone has heard of the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP)? http://www.leap.cc Don't know much about it. I've been sporadically following it on Twitter for a couple of months. I would appreciate any thoughts on the organization.

I quote what I said earlier in hopes that you will re-read it and realize that you must have read it wrong before. I quote your response to point out the difference that I used the word "kids" and you kinda quoted me as saying "people". I would like to add that if I were talking to high school kids I would not take the same approach. On the other points you've raised, I appreciate your point of view and will follow up later with another post addressing both Carl's and your points.

I have spent a lot of time thinking about this same thing. I don't see anything as black and white. Maybe black and white is good for the masses. Maybe gray is to hard to see. That does not negate the fact that there is gray.Recently, with the frenzy over school shootings, I was assigned to an elementary school and a middle school for 30 minutes twice per day each. While in the schools I have a casual interaction with children grades K-4 and 5-8. I made it clear to the school administration I was not there to provide discipline to children or scare them and that my interaction would be casual unless a law was broken. The more I interacted with the children the more I thought about the impression I was leaving. I started asking myself this question. Not all cops are like me and if these kids start believing they are, what could be the consequences? Instead of answering each inquiry of "will you take me to jail?" with my usual "kids don't go to jail unless they do something very, very bad like killing someone." Should I add on that "some other cops might beat you up or shoot you if you run away"? When the kid comes back with "But my Mom says she's going to call the cops to take me away if I don't quit being bad." Remembering that these are young children and their impressions of the police are to a large degree created by the parents, sometimes I feel like I should re-enforce the parents version and other times I feel I should refute the parents version. This assignment is likely to become my full-time duty assignment and I feel need to resolve these issues in my mind and stop winging it.

kenshikenji, if you have come to these forums to present a case for "ego-utilitarianism" feel free to do so.

I don't know if you were trying to be funny but you made one hell of a point, the whole system is fraud and we're all complicit if we participate in the system.I'm curious how would you handle theft in general? Do you support the paying of restitution?

No

Welcome! Steph has lots of great podcasts on peaceful parenting. As in yours, our state still allows spanking but I'm not down with it. I take every oppurtunity I can to try and change a parents mind about this. It's frustrating to see the cycle of violence starting in the family. I'm offended by the level of hostility in this post and the resort to name calling. In the reality of the situation that we now live, cops are necessary. I've been a cop 24 years. I swore to uphold the constitution of the U.S. and of my state with no mention of any laws. If I am alone and put in a situation where someone has some weed or pills on there coffee table or the console of their car, I just ignore it. If there is another cop with me best (and most common) case scenario, either the same as above or the owner flushes it. Worst case someone gets arrested by the other guy. I tend not to get involved in victimless crimes drugs/gambling/prostitution. Driving offenses are handled with a stop and verbal warning. Always! I am a civil service employee which ultimately means I work for the citizen who is represented by the Police Civil Service Commission. The Chief of Police can't fire me. The City Manager can fire me but it is ultimately only a recommendation to the PCSC that I be fired and the PCSC still makes the final decision. I'm not going to shoot anybody just because someone tells me to. I'm not going to make an unlawful arrest just because someone tells me to. I'm not going to violate anybody's constitutional rights or allow someone else to do so under my eye. As far as changing the culture from within. I know I have, because the above is well known in our department and other departments I've come into contact with. I am also a certified training officer and I do see potential in some of the young ones but I also see others who have sociopathic tendencies and have been involved in keeping many out of our department. If I were talking to a teenager about wanting to be a cop and only had 5 minutes. I would try and assess his reasoning and either dissuade or persuade based on my first impression. If I had more time I would certainly be better informed which approach to take. There are some who have seen injustice and want to try right it. Something else I want to share to illustrate why I started this and why I stayed: It was on Mother's Day and I had stopped into a convenience store to pick something up. I was acquainted with the employee there and we were chatting about her new grand baby. A young mother approached the counter with toddler in tow. She said to me, " I know you. You saved my life. You probably don't remember me but you did. You saved my life." She looked vaguely familiar but I tried and couldn't recall ever having met her. While she was making her purchased I told her "No, I don't remember you" and asked her to "please, elaborate because I would wonder about it all day." She stated, her ex-boyfriend beat her, I intervened and convinced her to get an Order of Protection from the court. She went on to tell me that even though on a daily basis she persistently nagged me to drop the protective order between them, I refused to do so. She said, after about two weeks she woke up and realized she was better off without him. She thanked me again, I didn't get her name and still don't recall her. In my defense, the scenario happens frequently, so I don't expect to remember them all. I told her "happy Mother's Day" and said "goodbye". What she doesn't know and I didn't tell her, is that she could have dropped the protective order without my consent if she had just went to the Family Court Judge and made a simple request.

Yes, my research uncovered similar results. The problems begin when the free license period runs out and the companies who patent the seeds begin selling the seed and restrictinng the farmer from saving seed for next seasons planting. This has happened in the U.S. and Canada with GM corn. Any farmer caught with the genetics of the GM seed in their fields will wind up in civil court. This seems in line with a capitalist model, but as any farmer can tell you corn pollinates by wind, through the air, and pollination can happen from fields miles apart. When the polen from a GM corn field travels on the wind to a field of Non-GM corn, cross polination occurs and the genetic makeup of the Non-GM corn is changed to now contain the genetics of the patented corn. This has resulted in burdensome civil lawsuits against farmers through no fault of their own.

I have faith in things based on facts. Faith my house will be there when I get home. Faith in my dog to protect the chickens. These are based on things staying the same, while I know all the while that things can and do change. The house can burn down. The dog may run off.

Green banana, Monsanto company has developed and holds patents on golden rice.

Nice poster Matt. I sent it to my son and it spurred a discussion between us. He said "You can tell it was made by someone who is not religious because they left out faith." And that "Faith is an important virtue even if it is not faith in God" I've always associated faith with religion and quickly realized that I may be resisting or diminishing it somehow as a result. I've often thought of it as weakness. Thoughts?

I have not read the book but find it interesting to note that the project http://www.allowgoldenricenow.org that the author, Patrick Moore, is now involved with promotes genetically modified foods, which Greenpeace strongly opposes. This is quite a leap and given the association of his new venture with GM seed companies, I am suggesting that it is possible that he has sacrificed his principal for profit.

I think you're confusing truth (which is not an action or behavior) with the action of "telling the truth".

Steph has done the research and the shows. I can't remember the numbers but I'm sure you could find them. Maybe turn them on to those podcasts or videos. YouTube videos can be downloaded using free MP4 converters available online. Turn them on to FDR in general.

These guys seem to have the same or a similiar problem as those guys who get continuously stuck in the "friend zone".

Wait for it... Wait for it I made a big post but it's stuck in the glitch

Double post

I know nothing of the Russian culture, but regardless the girl is a child. The man, if he exists, could be a pedophile. If you want to get involved you either need to contact the parents or the authorities.I don't know if you've ever met the man and the reason I say "if he exists" is, there is a possibility the girl has invented the "boyfriend" to run a seduction on you. She invents him to open up the line of conversation with you and uses "his" jealousy to tell you she's into you. If this hypothetical is the case, you should be extremely cautious. Another hypothetical, what if he's her pimp? You may have the information to disprove these theories and I could be totally off on all of this. I'm just trying to watch your back.

I do believe the problem was with the device and not the link. Thanks anyway, MMD!

Thank you Patrick I have overcome the problem.

I've tried dowloading episode 2969 through itunes several times without success. At the same time, episode 2968 downloaded flawlessly making me think its a tech problem with that particular episode.

I agree that the glossing over of real problems is just a cover up or facade akin to political correctness and the name calling is over the top. People that act this way are refusing to deal with a truth maybe because they don't know how to deal with it. If the "positive Pauls" don't have truth in their life then their lives are miserable, though they probably don't have a clue as to why. If you find true happiness in your personal relationships, then your personal happiness is much less effected by the condition of society, the frightened minions of positivity, or the state.

I'm not the best to give advice (two ex-wives) but I'd like to ask both Huldra and NotDarkYet, is there love in your relationships?

Sorry, the last post took so long. I was having technical issues.

Thank you all replying. I hope this sheds more light and answers your questions. Ricardo, I don't feel obligated to make my son anything. I feel responsible to guide him and not indoctrinate him. I came to atheism as the consequence of studying the christian bible, similar to how Lens describes. Matthew, Atheism was new to me when the ex and I had the discussion which resulted in me agreeing to avoid the subject. I found it a difficult time, a time of debate with believers, and a time of ending relationships with friends. As a side, I also made a friend of an elderly atheist who hadn't had a relationship with his wife and daughter for 30 years as a result of his atheism. I did not want to have the fight with the ex and as I stated in OP as long as she wasn't pushing religion I could accept it. I have never actually told him I am an atheist. This is my regret, that I chose a pacifist route when it was important to have taken an activist route. I cannot undo what I've not done but I may be able to help him if I go about it right. Ricardo, I misspoke. I'm not certain it would drive a wedge between us. In the past, I have lost relationships because of the difference of opinion in regards to religion. What I should have said is: Although, I used to be fairly certain that I had equipped my son with critical thinking skills, I fear the possibility of it driving a wedge between us. I believe Ricardo and Patrick have gotten to the root. I have never felt the need to change myself to fit into a woman's mold and have tried to instill the same in him. I have seen it happen, but regarded those guys as shallow. By shallow, I mean a person whom, in the spirit of fitting in, is not committed to anything beyond outward appearance. I believe his mother to be pretty shallow and I am now pondering the possibility that he is taking a shallow approach to religion. He knows I am not religious and doesn't bring religion up around me, doesn't try to indoctrinate his younger siblings, and doesn't invite my wife and I to church. If he was changing his image to fit into her drug abuser lifestyle, her leftist lifestyle, or her vegan lifestyle I think this would be much simpler.