sevfiv

The Iowa Supreme Court just unanimously approved same-sex marriage, overturning the 1998 law against it.

Iowa became the first state in the Midwest to approve same-sex marriage on Friday, after the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously decided that a 1998 law limiting marriage to a man and a woman was unconstitutional.

The decision was the culmination of a four-year legal battle that began with a suit filed on behalf of six same-sex couples in the lower courts.

The Supreme Court said same-sex marriages could begin in Iowa in as soon as 21 days, making Iowa only the third state in the nation, along with Massachusetts and Connecticut, to legalize gay marriage. While the same-sex marriage debate has played out on both coasts, the Midwest — where no states had permitted same-sex marriage — was seen as entirely different. In the past, at least six states in the Midwest were among those around the country that adopted amendments to their state constitutions banning same-sex marriage.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/04/us/04iow...rss&emc=rss

Wow, a lot to catch up on here.

I know I have a lot of reading to do, but the initial aspects of major presumptuousness and evangelism of Christianity are the utmost turn-offs. I won't let that stop me from at least learning more about the history, though.

And what about the timeline of religious texts? Where does the writing/compilation of the bible fit in with others? What about similarities between them?

For the above post by Orikal, though, option 1 does seem to be most logical, even in its oddity.

Like John Burroughs said, "Man is, and always has been, a maker of gods. It has been the most serious and significant occupation of his sojourn in the world."

Folks, let's keep this topic from dwindling in to a bickering match.

There's plenty of evidence that the bible is true. The bible and salvation must be accepted by faith (but it's not blind).

What is your definition of blind faith?

This world revolves around the fact that there is a God.

Am I taking this out of some other context, or are you serious?

I've also learned that we use such a small portion of our brains today. I wouldn't be surprised if they used much more of theirs back then.

Seriously? I'd be interested in more information about that..

Also, we do not know how the pyramids were made. We could never duplicate them today if we tried to do it their way; but that doesn't mean they weren't built. We have no explanation. Just because there's not an explanation doesn't mean something is not true.

Disagree - well, what Niche said.

Why not just drive with the flow?

The usual MO for driving, it seems, is to be hurried and impatient. And often obnoxious?

Nooo! That's the fireplace you were looking to get rid of/sell?!

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...showtopic=19798

And God will come back to judge those who do not repent. Revelation is full of the righteous wrath that God has been holding back in patience. The OT teaches plenty of love and forgiveness as well.

The bible teaches to love even your enemies. Christians are redeemed sinners too. Plus, there is no commandment to do that.

Caveat - I don't mean any offense to anyone or lockmat (and he's the one of the only ones so far that has come out and stated his religiousness to a greater degree than others).

I have an incredibly difficult time grasping all of this. Yeah, it's mostly because I wasn't enculturated in to it growing up, but still. No part of my being can look at religion and understand it or its followers in any logical, rational way. Do I need to toss out the logical and rational?

As a help, I've started reading the Bible (so many versions!) with some annotations. I can't honestly say I trust the translations or annotations fully, though.

^Ah yes..

And how could I forget the rodeo traffic...aaaaarrrggghhhh! But that's only a couple weeks a year

Like TheNiche, I'm in 77054 now and it is mainly populated with people tied to the medical center (students, patients). I would definitely start by looking at HAR or Craigslist before apartment complexes, though. I think when I was looking, the range for decent one bedroom apartments was barely right at or above your budget. The crimes also seem to be mainly vehicular. I would also advise to stay east of the Astrodome and west of 288.

For groceries, there's a Kroger at Cambridge St. and Old Spanish Trail, a larger one at Kirby and Main, and a Fiesta at Kirby just south of OST. There's easy access to 610, 288, and of course the red line rail. There is also a park on El Paseo between Knight Rd. and Cambridge St.

As someone who grew up without much exposure to religion, the OP's example would yes, in the DSM-IV, probably come up with something near a 297.1 (delusional psychotic episode sorta thing).

Of course, as I started seeing more of the world, I realized there were WAY more religious people out there than I could have ever imagined, and it scared me.

All I know is that religion (I'm talking organized religion, not individual spirituality) is a learned thing, people subscribe to it, and I don't personally get it. But if it is a therapeutic and meditative exercise for people, then that's great.

Yeah, clever having the return and sending email as the president's email.

Too bad the VP for Public Affairs spoiled the joke about an hour later...

------

edit - Jax posted that email

Doing a tiny amount of searching in Google maps help, all I found was "We license map data from a network of data providers around the world."

I wonder which "data provider" of theirs provided those non-existent (or existent for a short time but never realized) streets..

Ha, no but I am a big fan of Gretsch instruments (guitars, drums).

The guitar on the right *almost* looks like a blue Gretsch White Falcon hollow-body bass (minus a winged head)..

I'm not a huge fan of the buildings' looks, but does anyone know the general condition it is in?

^That's for sure!

A house like this (empty!) and a price like that would make Pasadena a faint consideration for me - but does anyone know what the neighborhood is like?

Yep, it's covered once again:

You can disagree and whatnot, but let's please not resort to that..

Thanks for the vote update, infinite_jim.

Geez that was close! Final vote tomorrow...

The State Board of Education is set to vote by Friday on science curriculum standards (evolution/creationism in the classroom issues):

Protesters and activists gathered nearby, fervently arguing their sides of the debate.

"My grandfather was not a monkey!" one woman shouted at a crowd before the meeting began.

Most mainstream scientists agree that weaknesses in the theory of evolution are flimsy at best. But proponents of retaining the rule complain that the standard will apply to all scientific theory while the political debate is focused on evolution.

"I'm very concerned that some of the State Board of Education members will weaken every discipline of science if they remove the strengths and weaknesses language," said Don McCall, an engineer and president of the Leander school board. "This is not about a narrow issue but about every discipline of science and engineering."

A panel of science teachers had recommended that the language be dropped. Board members are expected to propose amendments to try to change the proposal before they vote on Thursday.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/articl...WijT9AD975LCDG0

“Religious belief is fine. Evolution and God get along fine, but it doesn't belong in the classroom,” said Claire Wuellner from the Center for Inquiry.

The board is expected to vote by Friday and it could have implications reaching far beyond the state of Texas.

This is because Texas is a vast market for textbooks, and the publishers of those textbooks tend to write to Texas standards. If Texas changes the way it looks at the issue, other states will likely follow.

If it doesn't, Kirsten Matthews, who is a fellow for Science and Technology Policy at Rice University, says it could still have an impact on the science community.

“I think it will be hard to recruit researchers in Biology and the bio medical sciences at the Texas Medical Center, especially if we have a reputation for being anti-science,” said Matthews.

It isn't a case of religion having no place in our schools she says, just not in the science classroom.

http://www.khou.com/news/local/education/s...m.6ef9670c.html

Traffic stories - my daily is pretty much the same.

Same out-of-towners trying to find their way around the medical center (and MetroRail).

Same d-bags in lanes that end or are turn-only zipping in front.

Same weirdos who think that stopping their vehicle on a MetroRail train track isn't really stopping on a train track

And oh yeah, same 3-4 mile commute that takes thirty minutes on a good day. That's living in the big city for ya...alas!

There was a building that was torn down to make way for Toyota Center that had a Brutalist look similar to the downtown library. Don't know what it was though.

This one;

For some reason, I think that building had something to do with the water or electric company.

Yeah, that was the Houston Lighting and Power Company's Energy Control Center (built 1972) designed by Caudill, Rowlett, and Scott.

I guess the main thing now is to explore areas out of the loop/beltway. I (and about zero people I know) are familiar with Pearland, Friendswood, or anything near/in between.

Maybe the AT&T/SWBell building on Fannin just north of OST (built around 1972)..

This is a low-quality streetview image, but the bell is still on the front of the building. It has been covered/filled in now.

Two different local live map images show it during and after the bell cover-up:

This topic is closed for now since Tricon01 (who claims to be a Tricon representative) and Houston56 (who claims to be a Tricon homeowner) appear to be duplicate accounts or something around those lines.

That's unfortunate for Tricon..