Christians have believed from early times that Jesus was not born on Christmas. And Easter, though named in the West after a pagan holiday, is tied directly to Passover.
Also, Constantine wielded rather less authority over the Church than most think. He supported Arius. Arius was anathematized at Nicaea.
@insomniac7809 said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:
no one's come up with a name for the decade that isn't just shit.
The TWENTY-Os. Part of your balanced geopolitical system breakfast.
...and between that and "zoomers" I feel like whoever picks these names just stopped giving a shit around the time they figured out GenX.
I feel so bad for Gen X and Gen Z. We got the cool, quasi-apocalyptic name, and y'all got... letters.
@nyctophiliac said in Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff:
Not at all what it was like when I was giving up benzos. Hooboy. That's some shit. My doctor has told me getting off of benzos is about like getting off of heroin in terms of difficulty. I did it cold turkey (had to used up all my supply and the government cracked down on it so I wasn't going to get any more from them) and the first 2 or 3 days I hallucinated and just... sweat and shook and slept. I still feel their siren's song though. Shit is powerful.
Christ. Benzos are worse than heroin. Heroin won't actually kill you if you go cold turkey. Benzodiazepine withdrawal can send you into a grand mal, or a coma. I'm glad you were okay.
Imagine taking a pill and literally your whole life was okay. Everything is just okay. Great, even. Amazing. That's a benzo.
lol I wish. My clonazepam gets me to "unhappy and functioning."
I'm picking what I want to talk about and arguing out of a comment, regardless of the remainder of the same.
@Ghost said in Good or New Movies Review:
If people want to tag their childhood as something that JJ Abrams can "rob" them of in 2019, then maybe they should revisit what defined their childhood and/or the level of importance this stuff has on their perspective of it.
QFT
Lawyers in Louisiana have to take 12.5 hours of continuing legal education each year.
My being myself, I went into yesterday with 8.5 hours left. 3 hours of online education later, I'm at a 5 hour CLE marathon today.
I've been livetweeting it, because the other alternative is some form of action that ends in -cide
It's the New Testament of the Bible annotated by Jewish scholars, among them Amy-Jill Levine, who is well known in biblical studies circles for being both a practicing Jew and one of the most pre-eminent New Testament scholars in the world.
As you can imagine, she had a relatively rough time getting to where she is now. One place forced her to teach OT, even though her specialty has always been NT.
Anyway, it's full of brilliant annotations that really help Christians understand the text better while making the New Testament accessible to non-Christians (especially Jewish people, but everyone) in a non-proselytizing way. And it has fantastic essays on the historical developments of Jewish thought regarding various aspects of Christianity.
It should be required reading for every Christian.
An hour of looking through old pleadings because someone told me I needed to find the appropriate language in order to request a subpoena against another attorney.
...the statue specifically exempts me from those requirements because I'm doing a case involving ineffective assistance of counsel.
Rinel you are a lawyer stop listening to other people and read the law first
The privilege of the vegan position is that it generally consists of white people of a very specific subsect of society seeking to divorce lower class groups from culturally meaningful foods while ignoring issues like food deserts.
My firm offers a certain number of combo days off. Sick, vacation, whatever. You get about 15 per year.
I've used two already this year. I've worked from home on both. I still feel guilty for using them.
Something is wrong with me. Seriously, deeply, frighteningly wrong.
@saosmash said in The Art of Lawyering:
The point is, no matter what someone has done, they're not beyond human caring.
Frame this shit and put it up in lights.
@Derp said in The Art of Lawyering:
Why you gotta be rebels, with your weird bar exam business and your parishes instead of counties?
Y'all make fun of us for the civil law but last I checked we have a United States CODE
@Derp said in Separating Art From Artist:
Despite may vocal voices to the contrary, there is not an objectively wrong belief or practice. For every argument against, there is almost always an equally valid argument for.
Ew. No. Good lord, no. Just because people disagree on morality doesn't make it subjective. Yech. This is how we get FGM apologia.
@Tinuviel said in Separating Art From Artist:
There is no absolute morality, therefore it has to be subjective.
Quite literally begging the question.
Your best argument here is the is-ought gap, and you're going with people disagreeing? Come the heck on. People disagree about observable phenomena (see, e.g., 9/11 truthers). Is reality subjective as well?
The answer is no. Things being difficult to ascertain does not make them subjective. It makes them topics about which a great many people are wrong.
Picard
Just watched Picard. I... I don't know what to say.
I never make noise when I watch stuff. But this? I made exclamations of glee, of delight, of shock. I literally said "oh, that is not good. Oh, holy shit, that is not good" at one point.
This is what being awestruck feels like. Oh my God. I'm in disbelief.
I don't have a lot to offer, but I can give legal advice to people who need it in Louisiana. Mostly, this will consist of referrals to attorneys I know and trust.
Otherwise, if you're in Louisiana and you seriously need help, let me know, and I'll find a way to get you what you need. I've been here a long time and have contacts in most parts of the state.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with finding good in all this horror, and I hope you and your family are untouched and joyful throughout it. 
