Random Politics & Religion #00

When I was 7, I walked down to the convenience store all the time by myself (without my 6 year old sister) and there was never a problem (mind you, this was about 25 years ago).

There's a mob mentality going on that we must all be helicopter parents, and apparently these officers agree....

I remember once -- I couldn't have been more than 7 or 8, so pretty much exactly the same time frame as KN -- my friend and I walked what I would conjecture was about a mile and a half round trip to the corner store with a forged note from his sister -- pretending to be his mother -- and a fiver to buy her cigarettes, and we were allowed to keep the change and buy whatever candy or comics we wanted.

I don't know that it's more astounding we were able to buy cigarettes with a note from a "parent" or that there was enough money left over from a $5.00 bill to buy anything else.

I remember once -- I couldn't have been more than 7 or 8, so pretty much exactly the same time frame as KN -- my friend and I walked what I would conjecture was about a mile and a half round trip to the corner store with a forged note from his sister -- pretending to be his mother -- and a fiver to buy her cigarettes, and we were allowed to keep the change and buy whatever candy or comics we wanted.

I don't know that it's more astounding we were able to buy cigarettes with a note from a "parent" or that there was enough money left over from a $5.00 bill to buy anything else.

Now that's just silly. But you can't do that here in Texas today (at least). The fines/penalties for selling to minors are very harsh, and you will lose your ability to sell those items if caught.

I never back-read this thread.

But, you would miss out on the potatoes!

to atone, here's a story no one's seen yet.

Family fails their hero-dog.

5 is nothing... My brothers father in law has 17 brothers and sisters.

5 is nothing... My brothers father in law has 17 brothers and sisters.

I assume it was a farm house. it's pretty typical to crank out children specifically to help with farm work.

I assume it was a farm house. it's pretty typical to crank out children specifically to help with farm work.

I think, of our generation, the biggest I know personally is nine children, and I know of two instances of that. Both Catholic families (which probably goes without saying).

I said it was pretty typical, I didn't say it was a law of nature. your grandma must've been hot.

A friend of mine today explained how humanity is *** and we'll never be able to repair the earth; and when fossil fuels run out it'll be the end of our way of life completely.

I said no, the minute fossil fuels are gone (and likely decades before) all that money and energy will be focused on finding the next exploitable fuel source we can renew or come up with to make it lucridly profitable. Humanity will adapt and nothing will really change behaviour wise on a large scale; On that precipice we'll come up with amazing things to replace necessity.

Do you guys agree with him?

A 20-year-old Ohio man's Twitter posts sympathizing with Islamic terrorists led to an undercover FBI operation and the man's arrest on charges that he plotted to blow up the U.S. Capitol and kill government officials.

Christopher Lee Cornell, also known as Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah, told an FBI informant they should "wage jihad," and showed his plans for bombing the Capitol and shooting people, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Ohio Wednesday. The FBI said Cornell expressed his support for the Islamic State.

Cornell's arrest came only days after a grand jury indictment charged another Cincinnati-area resident with threatening to murder House Speaker John Boehner.

Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said in a statement Wednesday: "Once again, the entire Congress owes a debt of gratitude to the FBI and all those who keep us safe."

The complaint against Cornell charges him with attempting to kill officers and employees of the United States.

Cornell was arrested Wednesday after buying two semi-automatic rifles and about 600 rounds of ammunition, authorities said.

The public was never in danger, said John Barrios, acting special agent in charge of the FBI's Cincinnati division.

Messages were left Thursday for attorney Karen Savir, a federal public defender listed in court records as Cornell's attorney. A working phone number could not be found for Cornell's family.

His father, John Cornell, told The Cincinnati Enquirer in a story for Thursday's editions that his son was a "momma's boy who never left the house." He said his son endured frequent incidents of abuse as a practicing Muslim.

"Everything you're hearing in the media right now, they've already painted him as some kind of terrorist," John Cornell told the newspaper. ... "They've painted him as some kind of jihadist. ... (Christopher) is one of the most peace-loving people I know."

In a statement Thursday from Oak Hills High School, which Cornell attended, Principal John Stoddard said teachers were shocked at the 2012 graduate's alleged involvement in the plot. Stoddard said Cornell was a typical student, and teachers remember him as quiet but not overly reserved.

The complaint alleges that an FBI informant began supplying agents with information about Cornell last year. The informant and Cornell, who lives in Green Township, first began communicating through Twitter in August 2014 and then through an instant messaging platform separate from Twitter, according to the complaint.

"I believe we should meet up and make our own group in alliance with the Islamic State here and plan operations ourselves," Cornell wrote in an instant message, according to the court document.

The two met in October in Cincinnati and again in November, the complaint states. Cornell told the informant at the November meeting that he considered the members of Congress as enemies and that he intended to conduct an attack on the Capitol, according to the complaint. The document says Cornell discussed his plan for them to travel to Washington and conduct reconnaissance of the security of government buildings including the Capitol before executing "a plan of attack."

Cornell planned for the two to detonate pipe bombs at and near the Capitol and then shoot and kill employees and officials, and Cornell had saved money to fund the attack, according to the complaint.

On Tuesday, authorities had disclosed that Cincinnati-area bartender Michael R. Hoyt, who has a history of mental illness, had been charged with threatening to kill Boehner at a country club near his home with a gun or a poisoned drink. A grand jury indictment against Hoyt was filed in U.S. District Court in Ohio on Jan. 7.

Hoyt, 44, is being held for mental evaluation and treatment at a federal medical center in Massachusetts.