revtimothybland

My wife stole my keyboard: To begin, I have read all 5 pages of this particular forum. I've watched as the discussion went from "Should we look down upon others?" to "We should" and then, "Well, no, we really shouldn't (in this case)" to "You're a lazy POS!" and others along the same vein. I'm an incredibly lucky woman. I was able to work, though it wasn't at the same job, and I did spend a few (cumulative) years unable to find a job, but I was able to work for the minimum amount of time required to qualify for a program called SSDI, where I actually will get back the money I paid in taxes to the Social Security Administration. It's not much, but it helps pay the rent, and my husband works a full-time job. While most people assume that working a full-time job indicates that you have plenty of money, that is not the case by far. Because of the new healthcare law, my husband's paychecks (one every 2 weeks) gross nearly double his net (take-home) pay. We never see that money. Just under $300 every 2 weeks is removed from his paycheck before he gets it. We can't afford to actually use the insurance, because the co-pay is ridiculous. I grant we have options, but the new healthcare law limits us in so many ways that we'd be better off not having insurance & paying out-of-pocket for everything. We don't qualify for Food Stamps, or SNAP Benefits, or anything else for that matter, because my husband grosses over $1000 a month. That brings our combined total to just over the "qualifying" amount. We have just enough to pay bills. Not really enough to buy groceries. We live in an apartment, so we can't have a garden. We can't afford a gun (not even a handgun) so getting a hunting license is redundant. We used to get food stamps. We celebrated the day we no longer qualified. We had no idea that we'd be struggling so much to just barely make it by without them, but we're not destitute yet. Now, as to the rest: Atwater Vitki, My husband speaks highly of you. You're not a total idiot. You seem to have a good general grasp of how the world works, and how broken the system is. I appreciate your insights, and your refusal to commit fraud. (I've been on the other side of that, where people have offered me money in exchange for the food stamps we had to hoard or starve, & I saw how angry they were when I refused.) You do seem to have a biased opinion of people who get public assistance, and you're entitled to that. You've probably seen a lot of people who abuse the system. It can make a non-judgemental person somewhat biased. BP, You're in a home you "own". Therefore, you cannot qualify for any public assistance programs. Grow a garden, get a few rabbits & chickens & put them in cages, and ask anyone who is willing to assist you to do so, in exchange for a portion of the harvest. Learn how to can & put up your harvest. Because, dude, you're so mired right now. All because you're living the "American Dream" of owning your own home. Lordie, Get an education. If your manner of speech is anything like your writng style, then, child, you need to learn English. You write like an undereducated high-school dropout. Now before you get all upset, let me help you with that. I'M A HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT. Not because I was undereducated, but because the curriculum didn't meet my needs & was preventing me from going to college. I started college the very next semester. If you have the option, go back to school. It will help you a lot in the short & long terms. You don't even have to go to a physical school. There are many options for going to school online that will assist you. And if you have a library card, you can go to your local library for classes. Your tale of woe is one I have heard many times. "It's not my fault." "I didn't cause this." Yeah, you didn't see the situation for what it was, either. You may not have put yourself into this, but you haven't done enough to get out of it. Youch, you're acting like one of those people who maintains a keg just south of his chest and gets paid $25 an hour to yell at people. We're not here to be condemned, nor are we here to be vindicated, condoned, or ordered around. We're here to share our views, air our opinions, and generally add to the raucous. (That's pronounced ruckus) I understand your need to generally gripe and complain about all "those people" who "take your money" and do whatever the hell they wish with it, but they've been doing that since the day you started paying taxes to a corrupted system anyway, so you can't really logically complain about it without giving credence to the corrupt system you keep feeding, now can you? Chew on that while you formulate a reply. ClericThomas, your attitude is the reason you've had so many people up in arms about your situation. Nobody likes a loafer. You have a legitimate medical problem that prevents you from having a "regular" job or being employed by the majority of employers. If you truly didn't like to work, you'd never get out of bed. It's not easy to crawl out of bed. Most people do it every day. Apparently, even you do. So to say you don't like to work is actually untrue. You crawled out of bed & got dressed this morning, didn't you? Remember this statement a wise man once made: If have a job you love, you'll never work a day in your life. Panpareil, Brother Kaman, Jonathan H. B. Lobl, Kevin James, you all have aspects of the situation in the right perspective. Now the four of you need to sit down & talk. Kokigami, there aren't very many people in this world at whom I can point & say "HE GETS IT!" You are one of those people. Thank you. Now, To reiterate: I am not Reverend Timothy Bland. I am his wife. (High Priestess Cat Bland) So please do not direct your comments to my husband. He's not going to happy with me as it is. Let him know first and foremost it is I you are directing your comments to. I have had fibromyalgia since I was a child. I was first diagnosed at the age of 14 by a nurse, who was told by a doctor that (popular belief at the time, ruled Medical Fact) it didn't affect any female under the age of 40. When I was 18, another nurse, and the doctor she was associated with, ruled out any possible causes of my symptoms except fibromyalgia, but (again, popular belief, commonly called Medical Fact) it didn't affect anyone as young as I. When I was 27, the pain got so bad, so unbearable, that I went to a doctor and begged for an end of the torment. He said, "Oh, it's normal. Lots of women your age and younger have fibromyalgia." I continued to work when, and for as long as, I could. I concentrated on my hobbies when I couldn't work. I have a lot of hobbies. I have a lot of "useless skills" that don't make me specifically "employable" but I do have a lot of fun things to do when my legs won't work, or my back feels as if I've been run over by a steamroller, or my body simply refuses to comply with what my mind is telling it to do. I can do many things. I can't do them all perfectly, nor can I claim to be the fastest hobbyist on the planet, but I know how to teach as well as how to use my skills. I don't have a lot of money, and I doubt I ever will have. I don't really care. Money's overrated. It's like skin color. You either have it, or you don't, and those that have it get certain benefits from it. Oh well. Oh, yeah, and I fought a corrupt system that based my disability determination on my age and previous work history without asking me or my doctors anything about my condition. They sent me to their doctors, who were paid to give a biased (aka false) opinion of the situation. I won after FIVE years. I can walk a mile. I won't be able to walk more than a tenth of that for the next day or two, but I can walk a mile. I wasn't yet 30 when I first applied and was denied several times due to my age. I was 33 when I finally was able to be seen by an arbiter, who saw me, pain and all. That was the only time that I spoke to a live human being who was not paid to deny the truth about the situation. No, I don't use the system. I don't condemn those who need it. I don't condone those who abuse it. I don't care what their skin color, age, or level of education is. Need is not want, & abuse is a crime. Before I go, I would like each and every one of you to check out this link. It's a solid line in the sand, if you will.

That's a possibilty. I know that some of my control over my own abilities went haywire after I was in the hospital for Diabetic Keto-Acidosis. I'm only just now starting to regain a measure of control. Good luck, sir, and tell your wife I said the same.

From a scientific point of view, the reason behind such an ability is a sensetivity to the earth's EM field. That's why the stones you were using were starting to help. The paizio-electric effect of quartz and similar crystaline structures would make things easier. If you could get a hold of those magnetic necklaces and bracelets, that might help as well. Also, any other advice anyone else gives you here is worth heeding.

I believe you are right, Kingfisher. At least here in Texas it's like that. (I looked it up as part of research for a story I'm working on.) My advice to anyone who wants to know better is to seek proper legal counsel, as you said King. Just becasuse I looked it up doesn't mean it's the same everywhere, nor that my testimony should be construed as legal advice. I'm not that smart.

An' no self-respectin' Irishman better be caught drinking Green Beer today. It's Guinness or nothin', lads!!!!!! (Or perhaps some of me own sainted mother's smooth Irish Whiskey)

I'll make it simple, youch. My viewpoint is that free thinking and individualism are good things. However, our government, religious institutions, and other controlling factors don't seem to agree with that sentiment. THEY encourage it on one hand then turn right around and degrade people for actually doing it. It's hypocritical and wrong. Does that make sense to you now?

Youch, reread my post. I said that, I quote, "Except that those who think outside the box are often viewed with disdain. On one hand it's encouraged, but as soon as it appears, it's suddenly "wrong" and "misguided" and "liberal." Where in this do I say that I am one who thinks this way? The whole post reads " Ordinarily I'd agree. Except that those who think outside the box are often viewed with disdain. On one hand it's encouraged, but as soon as it appears, it's suddenly "wrong" and "misguided" and "liberal." I would agree with you ONLY when it actually becomes an achievement, IE: when the world finally gets off its duff and admits that free thinking and individualism is the best way to go. (IMHO, btw, I believe it IS the best way to go.) In other words, None of what I said in this post indicates that I personally believe it to be "Liberal". So what would we have to debate? If you tell me that free thinking and individualism is the way we should be, I would agree, and cite my own post as an example as to WHY I agree that it is the way to go. I just don't believe it is our greatest achievement due to the fact that the MAJORITY OF THE WORLD STILL VIEWS IT AS WRONG AND MISGUIDED AND LIBERAL. When we can finally admit as a society that it is the best way to go, then it WILL be our greatest achievement.

Ordinarily I'd agree. Except that those who think outside the box are often viewed with disdain. On one hand it's encouraged, but as soon as it appears, it's suddenly "wrong" and "misguided" and "liberal." I would agree with you ONLY when it actually becomes an achievement, IE: when the world finally gets off its duff and admits that free thinking and individualism is the best way to go. (IMHO, btw, I believe it IS the best way to go.)

True enough. Though I would also point out that it doesn't disprove the existence of Angels. Of course, nothing truly proves it either. Thus, how you interpret your views is unique to you.

Fair enough.

The use of the female Hemp Plant for a myriad of uses. Clothes, Ceramics that are 100 times lighter then steel and 1000 times stronger, rope, fuel, medicines that actually work and don't give you thousands of side effects, and of course a calm that can be used to bring peace in our turbulent times. Did you know that Colorado's crime rate has actually dropped since legalizing pot for recreational use? It's true.

Any evidence found at the scene of a crime. If you recognize the mud on someone's boot as coming from a certain area, and is fresh, but they just told you they were not there recently, you know them to be lying. Obviously, that's an extreme example of what I mean. A more mundane example would be knowing when someone is lying to you. You don't just know, you know. You pick up on certain clues. The way they shift their eyes, or the way they make a point of looking directly in your eyes, as if they are actively trying to prove truth by not shifting. When your mind makes the connection, it's not supernatural.

Right on. Right on.

More of an external stimulus, really. Obviously, any connection you make will be internal. Most of the time, people attribute it to either purely internal, or outside supernatural help. It could be as simple as just making the right connection when confronted with the right stimuli. Detectives in stories do it all the time, by simply "using their eyes and brains" as Sherlock Holmes would have put it.

I believe so, yes.

I do believe it is possible to see POSSIBLE events. However, once you know, it changes simply because you know. And the outcome can always be changed, thus, you create your own reality. All you have to do is open your mind and project the preferred outcome. As for the Polar Vortex, all I have to say is that reality is often how you perceive it to be. Thus the weather might not change, but your perception of it can, thus ensuring your survival.

To be honest, I'm unsure. Washington, IMHO, was a bit of a sell-out. The Atlanta Compromise he brokered may have done SOME good for the African American community, but it set dangerous precedent for civil rights that didn't begin to get corrected until the '70s (and even then we didn't see any real progress until recently). DuBois, on the other hand, vehemently opposed the Compromise, and he wasn't the only one, either. Beyond that, they both fought for African American Civil Rights, so the only major difference is tactics. So the real question is WHOSE TACTICS WERE BETTER? And, to answer that, I'm inclined to say DuBois, but there's no denying the fact that Washington achieved results, regardless of continued danger the Compromise set up. I suppose it's a case of "Potato, Rutabaga.".

And it's a good opinion. I'm not discounting that. I'm just simply stating that the opinion can go either way, and there's no way to prove one or t'other. IMO, it can come from without OR within. Possibly even from both at once.

I don't think it really matters. If it feels right, then you COULD call it Angels. Or Spirits. Or even just Good Luck. If it feels not quite right, you COULD call it Demons. Or Bad Spirits. Or just plain Bad Luck. Awakener found good in his Synchronicity. Not everyone does. And I believe he researched the correct way. He let the inspiration come to him and found something that fit, made sense, and is perfectly sound in reasoning. I believe that we are all capable of Divine Inspiration, if we just open our minds to the possibility and let our guides (be them Angels, Spirits, or long dead relatives) do their jobs. It manifests as something we can process, like Numerology. Or, in Awakener's case, a direct line to certain Biblical Passages. Mine manifests more as kind of nudge of insight. When I get a feeling about someone, good or bad, I'm almost never wrong. (Admittedly, I have been proven wrong before. Pleasantly in some cases, but I was shocked in others.)

And I agree

Not a religious text, Youch. Though I do agree, and believe that NONE of the Bill of Rights should be messed with.

The Celtic Arthurian Legends. They contain the most original of all the King Arthur tales, and include elements of both Celtic (Irish and Welsh to be specific) and Christian Myths. Merlin himself is said to have learned from Queen Mab, Lugh the Shining One, and The Morrigan.

You make a well-thought-out point, Youch: Except that none of that, by definition, is logical. Spiritual matters by their nature are abstract, and tend to defy logic, whereas Science is the opposite; pure logic. As a result, I feel that we need BOTH in order to fully understand the world. Just because there is SCIENTIFIC evidence of one thing and not another, doesn't meant that the un-evidenced doesn't exist. Thinking in an abstract manner helps us quantify it. And I wouldn't have lumped politics into this at all. Just because they worship the Almighty Dollar as if it were God, doesn't mean anything.

If you could please explain, Youch, I'd like to understand a little better.

I agree with you whole-heartedly, Atwater.