vbnautilus

ah, charity....

First, it's a pretty annoying format. There's really no discussion in it; half the time RD barely responds to the substance of the issue, and when he makes really horrible arguments they just move on to the next subject instead of holding each other to task. I find this Douthat guy to be super arrogant and dense. He's dousing his dogma with the scent of intellectualism by pretty language, but at the core all he seems to want is that you not pry christian ideology from his cold, dead hands. As to the message of his book, surely christianity is off the rails, but going back to orthodoxy is

If you tell us what kind of degree it is, that would help. As it stands, it sounds like you're getting scammed somehow.

#4 is obviously the weak point. There might be some relationship between land use and wealth, but that doesn't mean land use is the best metric for wealth. A company like Facebook can amass half the world's wealth while renting a small office, and pay no taxes. They would just have incentive to never buy any office space of their own.

A free online degree should set you up nicely in your new career.

Why not?

not buying it

you don't go around doing stuff yourself all the time do you? lol

That's the same guy.

I know you say this a lot as one of your "trolls that you really believe", but...This has been quite an active topic in moral psychology over the last few years, and there is now pretty good evidence: both liberals and conservatives base their political decisions on feelings -- deep intuitions that they cannot explain except by referring to "their gut". However, different feelings are important to conservatives vs. liberals. Jon Haidt's TED talk is worth watching about this: http://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_on...moral_mind.html

Yeah, but research has shown.

Just imagine how unhealthy he'd be if he didn't believe in god.

That was good, except don't call yourself Napa.

[Nathan] Handwerker, a Polish Jew, immigrated to the United States in 1912. Handwerker decided to call his hot dog stand Nathan's Famous in 1921 after hearing the song, "Nathan, Nathan Why You Waitin?" by Sophie Tucker playing from a nearby restaurant. The food stand developed into the fast food chain Nathan's Famous, spearhead by his son, Murray Handwerker.

Randy's son must just be a really, really bad lawyer.

Who? haha

I mean, isn't this exactly why people don't want to mix business and personal stuff? I dunno Randy, if she isn't gonna pick him the best thing you can do is try not to take it personally. I don't see any reason why this needs to lead to animosity. You say you are worried about it causing a rift, but you seem to be contributing to that rift rather than healing it. If she's really not going to change her mind, I would be encouraging everyone not to take this personally and to forget about it.

By "in really good" you mean "firmly planted on the friends ladder"?

I probably wouldn't hire someone who really needed the experience for the sake of his career.

Rando, The fact that you have such a vested interest in your son taking the case, and feel so strongly emotional about, makes your opinion about his ability to handle the case inherently biased and suspect. It's common to be wary in general of mixing family and business -- if it doesn't work out great, that will be a very uncomfortable position for your son and wife. I can see why she would not want to get mixed up in all that, especially given how personal you are already making it.

anonymous note on post-itedit: no, no, just stick of deodorant with a bow on it left on his desk

Seriously, under no circumstances should you tell her how you feel. What good could possibly come from that? She is going to leave her serious boyfriend for you? You will a) totally ruin the relationship and b) throw all the power into her hands. Terrible, terrible idea. Only works in romantic comedies.

definitely don't ask that. if this i the girl in the relationship she will never openly admit wanting you even if she does. if you ask that it makes it very hard for her to keep talking to you. if you want to keep her in your back pocket, keep in touch with her. but honestly this seems like a very longshot.