sherpa

As an ex Catholic through high school. I have intentionally studied that faith and rejected it, so any claim of papal authority is lost on me. Judas betrayed Jesus to the Jews, not the Romans. They tried him, against their own rules, then pleaded with Pilate to have him killed, which he ultimately agreed to. It isn't complicated.

In my humble view, better than either parties candidates.

Merit has made this country stronger. That is why the business world and the financial system has worked so well.

I doubt it, but your post to God's ear, as the saying goes.

I am not going to get into a broader discussion of the Bible with you. I have spent hundreds of hours on it, and still do so weekly. I am simply sticking to the issue. The Jewish church officials, who were incredibly powerful during that time, persuaded a reluctant Pilate to have Jesus executed. They wanted him gone prior, but once he became a financial/ideological threat to them, they played their hand. Judas betrayed Jesus to the Jewish authorities. They arrested him. They tried him, against all Jewish trial rules. The Romans did not precipitate this. Pilate did it to appease the Jewish authorities because he feared a backlash from Rome if any trouble occurred in his area of responsibility.

I have absolutely no interest in defending the accuracy of the Bible with you, nor "blaming" anyone. There is uniformity in the three synoptic gospels regarding the events of Holy Week, which is when the Jewish authorities decided that Jesus had to go, and made their case to a initially reluctant Pilate, who was in Jerusalem solely because of concern over a potential Passover insurrection. They had wanted this done for some time, as Biblical records clearly indicate. Once Jesus seemed to be getting into their wallets, they could wait no longer. He gave Caiaphas what he wanted in order to prevent a schism with the Jewish religious authority.

Your claim is in conflict with the Bible, both in prophesy and the gospels. The Romans had a history of allowing occupied lands to keep their traditions, as long as it didn't disrupt Pax Romana or threaten the emperor. Jesus' ministry was upsetting to the Jewish leadership at the time. The Pharisees despised him and repeatedly tried to get him. The Sanhedrin ultimately decided he needed to be killed. It started slowly, but when he trashed the Temple money schemes, that was the last straw for them. There was a relationship between them, specifically Caiaphas, and the Roman occupation forces. Caiaphas convinced the Romans that Jesus' presence during the Passover, which meant thousands of additional Jews were in Jerusalem, represented a threat. They had to do this becasue under Roman law, they had no authority to execute, and they expressly stated they wanted him dead. Thus the fake "trial" by the Jews, completely at odds with their own laws, and the fake sedition charge, which was created by stating he claimed to be king, over Caesar. The Romans didn't care a whit about him. Never attended any gatherings etc. Only the Jewish authorities did.

Leave God out of this. Absurd.

And some people believe the earth is flat. In a forum of preposterous posts, claiming the right believes God has anything to do with Trump is idiotic, noteworthy and deserves response.

No. That is a dumb post.

I don't have a clue about this woman, and I certainly don't blame this event on the Secret Service. But.....It is undeniable that this administration has submitted appointee candidates based on identity politics rather than best qualified. Some have been so incompetent they have not survived hearings and gotten to a vote. Some have. Some have gotten through and been approved. But, there is no doubt that best candidates have not been selected because they weren't quota types.

This is not an accurate claim. The Jewish Sanhedrin did not have the authority to have people executed. Only the occupying Romans did. The Romans didn't care about blasphemy, but they did care about sedition, and that was a capital offense. The Sanhedrin wanted him killed and held a "trial." During that, they concluded that he needed to be killed, so they presented the issue to the Roman authority with the demand that he be killed as he was guilty of sedition, and Pilate authorized it. Matthew 26: 65-66 "He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? Now[o] you have heard the blasphemy! What is your verdict?”[p] They[q] answered, “He is guilty and deserves[r] death.”

The Churchill War Rooms, aka the Cabinet War Rooms is well worth a visit. Cabinet War Rooms It is where Churchill and staff ran the war from. Evidently they just walked out after WWII, and the rooms are exactly as they were then. In the Whitehall District, I believe under the Treasury Building. Very easy to get to.

He has never "looked good." Sometimes he's just bad, like last night. Sometimes he's frighteningly disassociated.

What happens makes sense. The IRS audits those whose returns are either wrong or suspicious. If you misstate earnings, they send you a notice of payment due with a penalty. The chances are that lower income returns are not professionally done, and would be more likely to contain errors, or have the return prepared by someone not well versed in tax law, thus they get noticed. Higher income folks have their returns professionally prepared, and are much less likely to have obvious errors. They don't audit just for fun, they do it when they think they are going to get a return on their time.

Another plus in London is the quality and selection in the ready to eat sections of their large grocery stores. If you don't have time or not in the mood to sit at a restaurant, Sainsbury's and Waitrose have great stuff and good wine selections to take back to your hotel, or eat while walking. That was my standard lunch while walking in the daytime.

Robert James at cornerback is an absolute lock for any all Bills team.

Regarding restaurants, Churchills Arms Pub in Kensington is good. It's a famous old pub but serves very good Thai food. The menu is very descriptive, so no risk of getting something you don't like. My wife always insists we go there whenever we were in London. 119 Kensington Church St.

Not to quibble, because Trump did trigger an increase in spending. The real thing that caused countries to address the reality was looking at a snapshot of non US/UK NATO capability when Russia invaded the Ukraine, against the "funding agreements," which were grossly neglected. The reality was shocking.

The performance of most NATO countries prior to the reality of Russia's invasion of Ukraine was negligent. We should not have to provide a grossly disproportionate capability to that of our allies. Germany had no real functioning Air Force. Canada either, for that matter. NATO is an alliance. The US taxpayer and the US military should not have to bear a such a grossly unfair proportion of cost and mission capability. That mission capability would cause a equally disproportionate amount of US lives. It was a completely screwed up alliance that needed someone to shake it up. It was pathetic. No offense, but not possible. The technology and capability of the US military, and the reality of us choosing to support it, makes that situation impossible.

You didn't show me anything. I am very familiar with the process. The President is presented a list of potential candidates for these positions. He usually is unfamiliar with the various candidates and usually, he chooses the candidate from among those that the services recommend. To go rogue as the president would be a very stupid thing to do. Funny coincidence, but Biden did not chooses the recommended 3 star to serve as Chief of Naval Operations. The recommendation from the Navy, and agreed to by SecDef Austin was ADM Paparo, head of the Pacific Fleet. Instead, Biden chose ADM Lisa Franchetti, no doubt becasue she is a woman. Qualified. but not the best candidate, as has been Biden's history of appointments. Still, very unusual, and not a thing that makes you a popular president to the military.

There's a bit more to the market and politics than what has been reported. Things change, but I saw a graph last week that showed the last few months of the S&P over a graph of Trump's chances of winning. Quite interesting. They had a striking, matching trajectory.

Does anybody care about the US hostages being held in the Gaza and in Russia? I don't see any acknowledgement of them. Just wondering.

I'll take a shot. To deter war and protect the nation's security.

Remember this little exchange? From "Convicted felon Donald Trump stole top secret nuc docs" thread page 88. Prescience Feb 9 2024 Sherpa: "The difference is that Biden is now absolutely done. Last night was fatal." A few minutes later, same day. BILLStime, in clear disagreement of my claim: "We will save this for posterity." Well, BILLStime, I did save it for posterity.