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Mole

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Everything posted by Mole

  1. Since the topic of retaliation and responding to bad behavior has come, Jesus may have had an opinion, even for the fake world that is online. Also, the Christ-followers thread seems sorely lacking in Christ’s words. Matthew 5: 38 You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’[h] 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. Love for Enemies 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[i] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?Are not even the tax collectors doing that?47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
  2. The life cycle of a shaggy/surly faith-based thread. 1. Discussion centered around faith, the personal challenges of life, and persisting through a difficult world. 2. Everyone hates each other as we “discuss” the latest culture war issue. We are currently here. 3. A 3 post, 37 page discussion of ontology. There’s a bonus stage that happens during stage two if we lose to OU where drunken death threats are exchanged. Pray to god of your understanding that we cover the spread on Saturday. If stage two is upsetting to you, know that we’ll soon be engrossed in a discussion of the nature of being that none of us really understand. Let your heart not be troubled; dissension will eventually yield to confusion.
  3. The argument about Hans’ ascent is that: 1. It was late relatively speaking. According to the report, elite chess players reach GM at a younger age than Hans did. They essentially claim that if you haven’t made GM by early teenage years, you won’t reach the very top. 2. It was uneven, with several plateaus. According to the report, other rising elite players show a smoother ascent without the plateaus. I don’t know enough about chess to assess the veracity of the claim, but it doesn’t really align with other fields. Many/most elite athletes were dominant as youngsters, but there are many examples of late bloomers. I work in music; there are many elite musicians who were child prodigies, but there are also many late bloomers working at a high level. It makes sense to me that if Hans became as obsessed as he claimed and worked as hard as he says, he may have made the leap. I don’t see why chess would be so different than any other field to make such growth so implausible. That said, there’s a lot of smoke and now it looks like they’re scanning for anal beads, so what do I know.
  4. Regarding “hate the sin, love the sinner,” even my good deeds are filled with selfishness and sin. Isaiah 64:6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. Regarding some sins being “inherent,” they all are. Romans 7:18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
  5. Nonplussed means bewildered or surprised and confused so much that someone is unsure how to react. The “non” in it is not a negation of “plussed.” “Plussed” isn’t a thing to negate. In more recent years some Americans that should know better, including Obama and the New York Times, have used the word to mean something like unsurprised, making it something of a contronym. Using nonplussed to mean unsurprised leaves those of us who know the word nonplussed.
  6. The way the “clobber verses” — and much of the Bible in general — are commonly dealt with often seem backwards to me. It misses the entire point. Paul describes the brokenness of humanity, points to a laundry list of sins and failings, and then eventually presents the answer in Jesus. Jesus preached the same thing with a slightly different laundry list but the same answer. We, the Church, then create laws and rules based on those lists of sins — the evidence of the problem, not the problem itself — as though “solving” those sins would solve the core problem. It’s a little like an alcoholic white knuckling sobriety (the dry drunk); the evidence of the problem isn’t there right now, but the problem is still there. Of course, the point of Paul’s message is to lead us to the question: who can save me from this body of death? This doesn’t give enough credit to the amazing body of centuries of scholarship.
  7. The thing that’s so vexing to non-lawyers isn’t the delay, it’s the absurdity of treating such preposterous claims as serious issues to discuss. Hearing things about “uncharted legal waters,” or “open legal question” when it comes to things that are on their face moronic is akin to having an existential crisis. The vanity of pretending that this fatuousness requires some somber, legal analysis and explanation is just too much for the non-legal mind to fathom. Whatever the final result, it feels like it’s already baked in and we’re just watching it play out. All of the legal reasoning is just trying to come up with some pretext to justify however this all plays out. I get that it’s necessary, but it’s necessary like the coordinator search will be in a few months. It’s meaningless; all is vanity.
  8. Rather than toying with playing card-based witchcraft, some of us prefer to keep up with latest in Bluetooth-enabled vibrating anal bead designs; different strokes for different folks.
  9. Here’s the highlights of the video. Of course the details really matter if it will hold up.
  10. Right after the part where Hikaru repeats himself 4 times in rapid succession.
  11. My understanding is that Hans was a late addition to the St. Louis event after someone else pulled out. That latest Hikaru video is a beating to watch, but it brings up some interesting points. Assuming that data is legit, it’s pretty compelling. At least the parts I could stay awake for. I’m leaning more and more towards Stockfish anal implants.
  12. 1. The early church was pretty messed up as well. It’s to be expected. 2. Jesus warned about it as well. 3. That shouldn’t excuse it - a little leaven and all. It’s destroying any semblance of witness for the Gospel. 4. In recent years, I’ve struggled with this reality: the unbelieving world — or at least in America — sees the Gospel as a message of hatred rather than a desperately needed life preserver. American unbelievers aren’t deceived by Satan or their flesh as TV preachers like to shout; unbelievers are correctly reflecting back what we — the royal we, the Church — are presenting as the Gospel with our lives. 5. This should be treated with grave concern and repentance. Galatians 1:8 seems somewhat applicable. What is the Church actually preaching with our lives? 6. With as fractured as the Church is, I’m not sure if there’s a practical/non-supernatural solution. 7. Revival begins with repentance.
  13. It’s worth missing the first 30 seconds of the game for that.
  14. For a movement that is nothing more than an endless series of contrived temper tantrums, this one is perplexing and vexing. It’s also politically brilliant. It checks all of the dumbest grievances, helps no one, and lines someone’s pockets with that sweet taxpayer cash. Win, win, win. My son tries to pull stunts like this and we shut it down. I blame poor GOP parenting for DeSantis’ outburst — probably those absentee fathers again.
  15. ‘Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.’ Then all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ Deuteronomy 27:19
  16. Not saying Hans cheated using Stockfish enabled anal beads, but I saw a chat with Hikaru — who’s been stirring stuff up during all this — where he claimed that Magnus said if he knew the best engine move at just one or two critical points in a game, he’d never lose. The margins are so thin at that level.
  17. The article left out Hans’ dramatic rise in rating over the past few years as well as changing accent, which was fun too. While the game that Hans claimed the Magnus used that opening in the bizarre post match interview didn’t happen, I saw some claims that Magnus used it in some random blitz game at some point. Hans then claimed it was a transposition. The YouTube GMs seem a bit dubious of his claims. They also claim that over-the-board cheating is possible and does happen, although it’s much harder with higher security. If he wasn’t cheating, possibly the greatest moment of his professional life turned into a nightmare. It’s quite a ride either way.
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