http://www.fta-gods.com/forums/ en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:27:22 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.fta-gods.com/forums/redbar/misc/rss.jpg http://www.fta-gods.com/forums/ http://www.fta-gods.com/forums/f86/you-superstitious-about-friday-13th-15849.html Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:42:23 GMT Image: http://z.about.com/d/urbanlegends/1/G/q/w/friday_the_13th.jpg The sixth day of the week and the number 13 both have foreboding reputations...

The sixth day of the week and the number 13 both have foreboding reputations said to date from ancient times, and their inevitable conjunction from one to three times a year (there happen to be three such occurrences in 2009, two of them right in a row) portends more misfortune than some credulous minds can bear. According to some sources it's the most widespread superstition in the United States today. Some people refuse to go to work on Friday the 13th; some won't eat in restaurants; many wouldn't think of setting a wedding on the date.

How many Americans at the turn of the new millennium actually suffer from this condition? According to Dr. Donald Dossey, a psychotherapist specializing in the treatment of phobias (and coiner of the term paraskevidekatriaphobia, also spelled paraskavedekatriaphobia), the figure may be as high as 21 million. If he's right, at least eight percent of Americans are still in the grips of a very old superstition.

Exactly how old is difficult to say, because determining the origins of superstitions is an inexact science, at best. In fact, it's mostly guesswork.

It has been proposed, for example, that fears surrounding the number 13 are as ancient as the act of counting. Primitive man had only his 10 fingers and two feet to represent units, this explanation goes, so he could count no higher than 12. What lay beyond that — 13 — was an impenetrable mystery to our prehistoric forebears, hence an object of superstition.

Which has an edifying ring to it, but one is left wondering: did primitive man not have toes?

Life and death

Despite whatever terrors the numerical unknown held for their hunter-gatherer ancestors, ancient civilizations weren't unanimous in their dread of 13. The Chinese regarded the number as lucky, some commentators note, as did the Egyptians in the time of the pharaohs.

To the ancient Egyptians, these sources tell us, life was a quest for spiritual ascension which unfolded in stages — twelve in this life and a thirteenth beyond, thought to be the eternal afterlife. The number 13 therefore symbolized death, not in terms of dust and decay but as a glorious and desirable transformation. Though Egyptian civilization perished, the symbolism conferred on the number 13 by its priesthood survived, we may speculate, only to be corrupted by subsequent cultures who came to associate 13 with a fear of death instead of a reverence for the afterlife.

Anathema

Still other sources speculate that the number 13 may have been purposely vilified by the founders of patriarchal religions in the early days of western civilization because it represented femininity. Thirteen had been revered in prehistoric goddess-worshiping cultures, we are told, because it corresponded to the number of lunar (menstrual) cycles in a year (13 x 28 = 364 days). The "Earth Mother of Laussel," for example — a 27,000-year-old carving found near the Lascaux caves in France often cited as an icon of matriarchal spirituality — depicts a female figure holding a cresent-shaped horn bearing 13 notches. As the solar calendar triumphed over the lunar with the rise of male-dominated civilization, it is surmised, so did the "perfect" number 12 over the "imperfect" number 13, thereafter considered anathema.

On the other hand, one of the earliest concrete taboos associated with the number 13 — a taboo still observed by some superstitious folks today, apparently — is said to have originated in the East with the Hindus, who believed, for reasons I haven't been able to ascertain, that it is always unlucky for 13 people to gather in one place — say, at dinner. Interestingly enough, precisely the same superstition has been attributed to the ancient Vikings (though I have also been told, for what it's worth, that this and the accompanying mythographical explanation are apocryphal). The story has been laid down as follows:

And Loki makes thirteen. . .

Twelve gods were invited to a banquet at Valhalla. Loki, the Evil One, god of mischief, had been left off the guest list but crashed the party, bringing the total number of attendees to 13. True to character, Loki raised hell by inciting Hod, the blind god of winter, to attack Balder the Good, who was a favorite of the gods. Hod took a spear of mistletoe offered by Loki and obediently hurled it at Balder, killing him instantly. All Valhalla grieved. And although one might take the moral of this story to be "Beware of uninvited guests bearing mistletoe," the Norse themselves apparently concluded that 13 people at a dinner party is just plain bad luck.

As if to prove the point, the Bible tells us there were exactly 13 present at the Last Supper. One of the dinner guests — er, disciples — betrayed Jesus Christ, setting the stage for the Crucifixion.

Did I mention the Crucifixion took place on a Friday?

LEGEND HAS IT: Never change your bed on Friday; it will bring bad dreams. Don't start a trip on Friday or you will have misfortune. If you cut your nails on Friday, you cut them for sorrow. Ships that set sail on a Friday will have bad luck – as in the tale of H.M.S. Friday ... One hundred years ago, the British government sought to quell once and for all the widespread superstition among seamen that setting sail on Fridays was unlucky. A special ship was commissioned, named "H.M.S. Friday." They laid her keel on a Friday, launched her on a Friday, selected her crew on a Friday and hired a man named Jim Friday to be her captain. To top it off, H.M.S. Friday embarked on her maiden voyage on a Friday, and was never seen or heard from again.

Some say Friday's bad reputation goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. It was on a Friday, supposedly, that Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit. Adam bit, as we all learned in Sunday School, and they were both ejected from Paradise. Tradition also holds that the Great Flood began on a Friday; God tongue-tied the builders of the Tower of Babel on a Friday; the Temple of Solomon was destroyed on a Friday; and, of course, Friday was the day of the week on which Christ was crucified. It is therefore a day of penance for Christians.

In pagan Rome, Friday was execution day (later Hangman's Day in Britain), but in other pre-Christian cultures it was the sabbath, a day of worship, so those who indulged in secular or self-interested activities on that day could not expect to receive blessings from the gods — which may explain the lingering taboo on embarking on journeys or starting important projects on Fridays.

To complicate matters, these pagan associations were not lost on the early Church, which went to great lengths to suppress them. If Friday was a holy day for heathens, the Church fathers felt, it must not be so for Christians — thus it became known in the Middle Ages as the "Witches' Sabbath," and thereby hangs another tale. ]]> Voting Polls robby3333 http://www.fta-gods.com/forums/f86/you-superstitious-about-friday-13th-15849.html http://www.fta-gods.com/forums/f86/have-you-learned-anything-reading-rumors-15824.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:09:17 GMT POLL: Have You Learned Anything From Reading Rumors? We all know that a lot of rumors have been posted including unsubstantiated reports about the... POLL: Have You Learned Anything From Reading Rumors?
We all know that a lot of rumors have been posted including unsubstantiated reports about the future of FTA testing and other things.

Have you learned anything from these rumors? The history of FTA, a little insight into how encryption works, what is "plastic", how fixes are made, the risks of IKS, using someone else's WIFI, who is TDG, thebroken, Fred Raud ETC?


Feel free to post the details. ]]> Voting Polls robby3333 http://www.fta-gods.com/forums/f86/have-you-learned-anything-reading-rumors-15824.html http://www.fta-gods.com/forums/f86/high-court-look-life-prison-juveniles-15788.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:46:07 GMT Supreme Court to decide if penalty is cruel, unusual and — unconstitutional WASHINGTON - Joe Sullivan was sent away for life for raping an... Supreme Court to decide if penalty is cruel, unusual and — unconstitutional


WASHINGTON - Joe Sullivan was sent away for life for raping an elderly woman and judged incorrigible though he was only 13 at the time of the attack.Terrance Graham, implicated in armed robberies when he was 16 and 17, was given a life sentence by a judge who told the teenager he threw his life away.
They didn't kill anyone, but they effectively were sentenced to die in prison.
Life sentences with no chance of parole are rare and harsh for juveniles tried as adults and convicted of crimes less serious than killing. Just over 100 prison inmates in the United States are serving those terms, according to data compiled by opponents of the sentences.Now the Supreme Court is being asked to say that locking up juveniles and throwing away the key is cruel and unusual — and thus, unconstitutional. Other than in death penalty cases, the justices never before have found that a penalty crossed the cruel and unusual line. They will hear arguments Monday.
Graham, now 22, and Sullivan, now 33, are in Florida prisons, which hold more than 70 percent of juvenile defendants locked up for life for nonhomicide crimes. Although their lawyers deny their clients are guilty, the court will consider only whether the sentences are permitted by the Constitution.
‘Lesser culpability of the juvenile offender’
The Supreme Court's latest look at how to punish young criminals flows directly from its 4-year-old decision to rule out the death penalty for anyone younger than 18.
In that 2005 case decided by a 5-4 vote, Justice Anthony Kennedy's majority opinion talked about "the lesser culpability of the juvenile offender."
"From a moral standpoint it would be misguided to equate the failings of a minor with those of an adult, for a greater possibility exists that a minor's character deficiencies will be reformed," Kennedy said.
Yet Kennedy also acknowledged the possibility that for the worst crimes and the worst offenders, "the punishment of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole is itself a severe sanction, in particular for a young person."
Both sides point to the same basic facts — the rare imposition of Draconian prison terms on people so young — to make their point.
The state of Florida, backed by 19 other states, argues it should retain flexibility in sentencing so that "particularly heinous acts that stop short of causing death" can be punished vigorously.
Life without parole "is appropriately rare and reserved only for the worst of the worst offenders," crime victims' groups said in court papers.
Most victims of juvenile violence also are young, the victims groups said, citing Justice Department statistics. "Softening sentences for juvenile offenders puts actual children in harm's way — innocent ones, not those who have committed violent crimes," the victims' groups said.
No other country allows life sentences
Opponents of such sentences said, however, that most states have in practice rejected life terms for juveniles when no one was killed. The 109 juveniles serving terms of life without parole are in Florida and seven other states — California, Delaware, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska and South Carolina — according to a Florida State University study. More than 2,000 other juveniles are serving life without parole for killing someone.
Only 9 people in the country are serving life sentences for crimes committed when they were 13. The number rises to 73 when 14-year-olds are added in.
No other country allows life sentences for young offenders, opponents say.
Beyond the infrequency of such punishment, lawyers for Graham and Sullivan argue that it is a bad idea to render a final judgment about people so young.
"They are unfinished products, works-in-progress," said Bryan Stevenson, who will argue Sullivan's case at the high court
Actor Charles Dutton, former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson and others who committed crimes as teenagers have weighed in against life without parole sentences. Corrections officials, psychologists, educators and even some victims also have taken Graham's and Sullivan's side."The crimes that these guys committed were grotesque," Simpson said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "I'm sure people will say Simpson's gone soft in the head."
Senator had problems as a teen
The Wyoming Republican served 18 years in the Senate, but as a teenager, he pleaded guilty to setting fire to an abandoned building on federal property and later spent a night in jail for slugging a police officer.Simpson said he sees no good argument for refusing even to review their sentences after the passage of time.
"When they get to be 30 or 40 and they been in the clink for 20 years or 30 or 40 and they have learned how to read and how to do things, why not?"
If a prisoner shows he is not fit to be released, "throw him back in," he said. "That's better than saying 'Sorry, we can't look at that file because you were sent here for life.'"As their cases come to the court, Sullivan's and Graham's interests are not strictly aligned. The justices could, for example, decide that life sentences may be inappropriate for 13-year-olds, but allow them for older teenagers.
Such a decision could help Sullivan and another Florida inmate, Ian Manuel, who wounded a woman in a shooting when he was 13. But it could leave Graham with his sentence unchanged.
The cases are Sullivan v. Florida, 08-7621, and Graham v. Florida, 08-7412. ]]> Voting Polls robby3333 http://www.fta-gods.com/forums/f86/high-court-look-life-prison-juveniles-15788.html http://www.fta-gods.com/forums/f86/what-sections-fta-gods-do-you-15506.html Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:26:30 GMT Image: http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:oi_alYUDsXVNzM:http://darnellinternational.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/guy-at-computer.jpg *Aside...


Aside from checking out the FTA Receiver area for any new Updates
what other area's of Fta Gods do you visit/enjoy ?

Please Take The Poll And Let Us Know
Poll is multiple choice:

What's Going On? ...Adults Only ... OUT OF TOPIC CHAT ...FTA-GODS.COM TRUE FREE TO AIR ....FTA-GODS.COM Worlds Technologies .....FTA-GODS.COM Hardware Discussion ......FTA-GODS.COM IKS SECTION ......FTA-GODS.COM FTA Discussions By Brands ......FTA-GODS.COM Free To Air General Discussions ......... FTA-GODS.COM V.I.P. Section ......Fta-Gods.Com Community ....... ]]> Voting Polls robby3333 http://www.fta-gods.com/forums/f86/what-sections-fta-gods-do-you-15506.html http://www.fta-gods.com/forums/f86/where-would-you-rather-live-15371.html Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:54:16 GMT *Where Would You Rather Live? * If you had the choice to live in Canada, the USA, or somwhere else: Where Would You Rather Live? If you... Where Would You Rather Live?



If you had the choice to live in Canada, the USA, or somwhere else:

Where Would You Rather Live?

If you chose other, please explain. ]]> Voting Polls robby3333 http://www.fta-gods.com/forums/f86/where-would-you-rather-live-15371.html