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In several places in the Old Testament it is clear that the God of the Israelites was jealous of other Gods. He said "Thou shalt have no other Gods before me". He recognized that there were other Gods. In His jealousy, he wanted to be seen as the chief God.
As for evil, God specifically said that He creates evil.
Isaiah 45
6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
If the God of the Old Testament is so perfect, why does he create evil?
Also, it appears that He can feel jealously. He was certainly jealous of other Gods.
Exodus 34
13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:
14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God
We just had a 150% increase in our co-pay for a prescription. It has gone from $2 to $5. We are covered under my wife's plan at work which also has dental coverage.
so how much do you pay out of pocket for a standard prescription?
Generally, its a quality of life issue. For example, if you are a senior with bad knees that restrict your activities it may be annoying but not life threatening to wait for replacement surgery.
Some small amount of waiting time is probably good. If anyone could get whatever procedure they wanted immediately it would indicate overcapacity in the system.
If it is elective surgery then waiting shouldn't be a real problem...
Yup, I'm Canadian. In general, although we bitch and moan about it, we Canucks love our system. The most feared about any proposal to improve the system is the perception of an attempt to "Americanize" the system in any way.
In Canada it is illegal to pay for any medically necessary procedure out of your own pocket.
So far the system has worked fine for me and my family. I wait less than a month for a routine physical. Waiting for elective surgery is the main problem and I think that efforts to address the problem will eventually yield results.
Re: some canadians get some kind of prescription drug benefit, most do not.
More than half of Canadians get prescription coverage from employers. Even most of the smallest employers provide some drug benefits. Like the U.S., Canada has a national drug plan called Medicare that provides drug benefits to seniors 65 and over. Provinces also provide some drug benefits to low-income residents. About 5 percent of Canadians have no drug coverage.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/business/content/business/epaper/2004/09/26/a5f_canadamyths_0926.html
A couple of points about the Canadian system:
in canada health insurance does not cover the cost of prescriptions so canadians pay full boat, even when insured
Every Canadian is "insured" as he or she is covered by Canada's single payer system for health care. This includes drugs required while in hospital and drugs for seniors. It is true that drugs are not yet covered outside of hospital but it appears that the Canadian system will eventually add Pharmacare as well. In the meantime most working Canadians are covered by a company drug plan.
As you note, the biggest complaint in Canada is wait times for elective surgery. The Federal gov't has just significantly increased the amount it spends on Health care and the provinces have vowed to address waiting times. However, until standardized methods are put in place for measuring and reporting waiting times the problem will remain.
Zeev, your basic point is correct but you exaggerate the difference in health care costs. The latest OECD figures (2002) show U.S. spending 14.6% of GDP with Canada at 9.6%.
On a per capita level, in US$, the U.S spends $5267 while Canada spends $2931. Pharmaceutical spending (per capita) is $673 in U.S. compared to $485 in Canada.
See: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/3/62/31938359.pdf
EDIT: The U.S. also has much worse child mortality rates than other OECD countries.
Re: Imagine, we did this without beheading anyone...
Someone is forgetting about;
Exodus 32
26 Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD's side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.
27 And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.
28 And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.
also Deuteronomy 20
15 Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.
16 But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:
17 But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee:
Joshua 8
24 And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness wherein they chased them, and when they were all fallen on the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned unto Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword.
25 And so it was, that all that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai.
In Joshua 10 we read how Joshua destroyed the Amorites
38 And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir; and fought against it:
39 And he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining: as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to the king thereof; as he had done also to Libnah, and to her king.
40 So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded.
1 Samuel 15 - Saul kills all of the Amalekites
7 And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt.
8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
There is much more, but you get the point. Lots of slaughter including women and children.
Zeev, FWIW the Bank Credit Analyst seems to agree with your prediction:
http://www.profutures.com/print.php/179/
BCA believes that the US economy will recover to a 3-4% annual growth rate in GDP by the end of the year. BCA cites the Index of Leading Economic Indicators which has risen for the last four months, as well as other indicators. BCA believes the economy will continue to recover due to four primary factors:
1. Low rates & aggressive monetary policy;
2. Record deficit spending in Washington;
3. President Bush’s latest tax cuts; and
4. The falling US dollar.
BCA believes these factors, and others, will ensure that the economy recovers for at least the next 12-18 months.
However:
BCA believes that because of the massive effort being made to reflate the economy now, the Fed and policymakers in Washington will have little ammunition to pull us out of the next recession. They say:
“The dark side of current reflationary efforts is that they are leading to increased financial imbalances that will cause problems down the road. Consumers are taking on more leverage, government finances are deteriorating dramatically and the bloated current account deficit is continuing to increase. None of these trends are sustainable over the long term.
There have been recurring but misplaced concerns about excessive consumer debt throughout most of the post-WWII period. Nonetheless, this does not mean that debt can outpace income growth indefinitely. Currently, consumer balance sheets are in reasonable shape but that may not be the case in the next economic downturn, especially if housing takes a hit.
There has been a fairly regular four to five-year business cycle in the U.S. in recent decades. This suggests that the next economic downturn could occur in 2005 or 2006. The problem is that the authorities may have limited ammunition in their policy arsenal with which to try and rekindle growth.
Fiscal options will be limited given current trends in the deficit, the dollar will have already fallen significantly, and interest rates may still be below equilibrium levels. Thus, the threat of a debt deflation will be even greater in the next recession than it is today.
With limited policy levers at their disposal, there will be tremendous pressure to try and devalue debt burdens via increased inflation. That, of course, would create even more instability in the dollar and could trigger turmoil in the bond and stock markets.
Whether the 50-year supercycle of debt and illiquidity will come to a traumatic end in the next recession remains to be seen. It is always possible that the economy will continue to benefit from positive supply-side developments, allowing it to sustain rising financial imbalances for several more years. However, the U.S. cannot postpone its financial adjustments indefinitely.”
Thanks to Les on the S.I. "links" thread.
Re: Sure, you are not allowed to spill your seed in vain (thus masturbation is forbidden)
Genesis 38:8-10 reads
8 And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.
9 And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.
10 And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also.
The church has taught that this was a prohibition against masturbation.
It seems that a more reasonable interpretation was that Onan's sin was not the act of spilling his seed but the fact that he failed in his duty as a brother-in-law to produce an offspring for his brother.
Are you aware of other Old Testament passages which teach that masturbation is a sin?
Please have this board shut down at once before it gets popular. I am already wasting far too much time on SI trying to keep up with the FADG thread over there.
Re: best months. Jan looks best followed by Dec then Nov. Very strong seasonal uptrend for these three months.
http://www.vtoreport.com/nasdaq/nasdaq-month.htm
also; http://www.vtoreport.com/nasdaq/nasdaq-3month.htm
Hello Zeev, strange action on SFD. Was trading around 16.40 to 16.45 until the close. After 4:00 dropped to $16.10. I had a bid in of 16.10 most of the day and wass filled at 4:03. Any thoughts? Should I be happy with my fill?
Now Bernard, be kind to Joe. He must be feeling pretty bad about being so spectacularly wrong on IFTA. It must really hurt to be down so much money. He and the longs should have listened to Janice Shell. She sure called this one right; the massive dilution, the reverse split and the huge decline in share price. On the RB thread many of the longs are now saying how they wished that they had listened to her. Some people learn from these debacles. Others just look for someone to blame for their own greed and stupidity.
Re: Infotopia Files Lawsuit Against Raging Bull, Lycos Network and Several Message Board Posters; The Company Seeks Preliminary Injunctions Business/Technology Editors
This another complete waste of shareholders money. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act ("CDA") Subsection 230(c)(1) provides that "no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider."
Court decisions interpreting subsection 230(c) have broadened its ambit far beyond merely protecting "Good
Samaritan" editorial control. As interpreted, section 230 gives ISPs complete immunity from liability for defamatory content initiated by third parties, even if the ISP consciously decides to republish the defamatory content. The practical effect of these interpretations of section 230 of the CDA is to leave Internet defamation victims with no deep pocket to sue. The defamed plaintiff can no longer sue the intermediary who republished a defamatory communication. If Clinton Smith, (General Counsel and Director for Infotopia) has done even minimal research he should be aware that the case against Raging Bull and Lycos will be dismissed.
If the Company is complaining about untrue postings on Raging Bull, they should look first to the postings of their CEO, Dan Hoyng. He has posted more misinformation than any of the so-called bashers. The only damage to the name and share price of Infotopia results from actions by the officers and directors of the company.
There is almost no chance that this suit will see a courtroom. It is an attempt by he company to divert away from the egregious actions of corporate insiders and to intimidate its critics. The company should realize that there is a significant downside to filing a frivolous lawsuit aimed at chilling protected speech.
O.T. - If you hate banner ads such as those on R.B. etc., try;
http://www.adsubtract.com/
As well as banner ads it blocks cookies from doubleclick and four other sites that you specify. It won't block the text ads that IHUB is now using. Also, its free!
Not sure what gave you the idea that I was a Bob "crony" or that I was a member of any "posse" or want to overthrow IHUB. Your assumptions are incorrect.
My apologies, Bard. I did indeed overlook the "OR" in the listing requirements. I can only attribute it to early onset dementia.
Re: NAZ listing
Looks to me like this is a long way off. They need another $7,000,000 in net tangible assets for a NASDAQ Smallcap initial listing.
The last 10Q shows the company with a book value of negative $1,826,803. Included in their assets is goodwill of $1,262,776. Net tangible assets is therefore negative $,3089,579. Add the $4,000,000 required by NASDAQ and you get over $7,000,000 in additional equity required.
http://www.nasdaq.com/about/scm.stm
Francois, the point is that short selling on the OTCBB is not regulated. Rule 3350 does not apply. You seem to be saying that NASDAQ rules apply to the OTCBB. That is not the case, the OTCBB is separate from the NASDAQ. It is only a quotation medium and does not have the same obligations as the NASDAQ for Market Makers. Also, there are no SEC regulations covering shorting of OTCBB securities.
However, if you have any evidence of misconduct by a market maker you should contact NASD Regulation at:
http://www.nasdr.com/2170.htm
I would appreciate it if you could direct me to the rule or regulation that states that stocks under $5.00 can't be shorted. I have seen this stated quite often but can't find the rule anywhere. It is probably just an urban legend.
Francois, I clicked on the following link to your post on S.I.;
http://www.siliconinvestor.com/stocktalk/msg.gsp?msgid=15763903
It appears that you do not understand that Rule IM-3350, the Short Sale Rule, applies only to Nasdaq National Market securities and does not apply to OTCBB securities. I am sure that you will want to correct the misleading impression that you have created.
Joe, you may wish to correct your "DD" post to which I am replying.
You stated that IFTP "reported earnings of over $2 million for the first quarter of 2001." However the company states that earnings were $1.6 million. http://www.infotopia.tv/quarterlyresults.html
It is interesting to note that on April 6 (after the quarter had ended) that the company reported earnings of $3.4 million see: http://www.infotopia.tv/04-06-01.html
Now they report less than 1/2 of that.
Also, the company states that they earned 1 cent per share. It should be noted that based on the current number of O/S shares they actually earned about 1/3 of a cent per share.
I am curious as to your rationale for stating:"It is anticipated that the post-merger stock would begin trading at about $9 per share (equivalent to about 19 cents per share of the pre-merger stock, more than triple the current price)."
This would acutally be about six times the current price. What would cause the sudden rise in price?
Joe, are you deliberately being disingeuous or do you really know that little about the company?
Company website: http://www.infotopia.tv/companyprofile.html
Authorized Shares: 500 million shares
O/S Shares: 229,996,005
Float: 227,402,381
As you probably know, the recent SB-2/A shows that they have registered for sale another 272,990,055 common shares.
Bob, thanks for your reply. It and your following two posts remove any doubts I may of had about your sincerity and commitment. I hope that you can continue to follow through and achieve your goals. If you can, the site may succeed. I will be watching with interest.
I hope the separate bull/bear thread idea quickly dies.
Bob, The idea of separate bull/bear threads is anathema if you are trying to build a high quality site. You stated that you were here because you thought that investorshub could be what S.I. was in the beginning (or better). Sadly, it is not shaping up that way. Separate threads and allowing CoBs to delete critical posts completely destroys your idea of a high quality site. Already we see stock touts on this thread stating that posts countering their hype will be deleted. It appears to me that this site will be dominated by tout threads trying to suck in new buyers for OTCBB garbage. The threads will be worse than useless for anyone (particularly beginning investors) trying to make a purchase decision. All I see is another place for OTCBB touts to unload their garbage on unsophisticated newbies. Sad.
The concept of threads free of critical discussion dooms this site to failure.