They are forced through the public analysis of their family dynamics and no matter how dark you paint their dad, these kids are still half him -- genetically and by his presence in their formative years. Mike Ellicott is smart, served Earn diploma at home his country, and made it to a good pilot job. His kids have many reasons to love him. They have many reasons to love their mom too. Flip comments about letting him "get it in jail" are hurtful. Yes, Mike will get justice in the courts. Pray that his kids get Distance learning diploma the healing that they need: loving male mentoring, loving encouragement as individuals that they each have a good future no matter what dynamics they come from, and a personal relationship with Our Heavenly Father who loves them very much. May God heal this family on every level. Please pray for the Ellicotts.

In this country chica you are guilty until proven innocent. Que Bueano...Por favor....

Do they really think that these post will help the pending case???? PEACE...OH i see Cal already deleted the unfolding made for T.V. Drama...

Such poor Spanish - Yikes!

First of all most of these psycho abuser satanic filled beasts end up killing the woman they are with.

You have been spared via - Fayette County justice system. Count your blessings and move on.

Your "man" using the term very loosely-- will have some serious physical and emotional damage after he is used as someones girlfriend in prison. No amount of plastic surgery will fix his southern region. He will have to wear depends for the rest of his life. Also he will be broke because no one in their right mind will ever give him a job again.

Wake up and find the next guy to mooch off of. This one is a violent LOSER!

Get an English dictionary and look that word up please because you are an adulterer. Stop trying to smear the wife and move on with your life. I believe the husband just needed a warm body for the moment, and you were there.

You were being used.

bye-bye

of a trashy uneducated bimbo. That was funny thanks for the laugh.

That sick beast could probably use some fishnet stockings where he is going. He will be a great girlfriend to men who don't take no for an answer.

No mercy!

Go on outside and explore something... As Forest would say... "Lifes just a box of chocolates." Que Pasa cumo cien muy bien, en este nedo ententes.... Are you afriaid of the Cookie Monster....GO Diego GO....PEACE..

Good chuckle from that one! That took a lot of effort. I can't decide if it is another Bonker/Dollar/Nit or maybe Git bringing back Prog Agg. That's a tough one. Funny as heck though.

Oh, yeah, the beatings. Ellicott's over and under actual time in the can is 5 years.

I'm going to go with the under.

I yam what I yam....Popeye

post.
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Caution - The Surgeon General has determined that constant blogging is an addiction that can cause a sedentary life style.

that was a wild post, "sandra"

Me don't thinkie dat you are dooin him any favors by posting dat!

Pretty darn inconsiderate to destroy the love of your husband and his girlfriend. What's this world coming to?

I yam what I yam....Popeye

If my husband wants to take a mistress, that's fine with me....but she has to do half the cooking and all the laundry. Oh, and she has to scrub the toilets!!!

"That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet."
- Emily Dickinson

Sounds like a deal to me, could you talk to Mrs. hutch for me? Stress how she can use the help around the house.

I yam what I yam....Popeye

Oh NO you didn't . . .

Where's that number I have for Mrs. H?

on the scale of interesting, I give it an 8 of a possible 10.

It's not easy being the carbonunit

The extension was off the time since he was arrested--not another incident! Why are you presuming so much?

The man IS INNOCENT until proven guilty---not Presumed Innocent!

If he is found guilty he should get some time for harming another person just like the people do at the Red Room when caught.

Until then, let us wait for the sworn trial.

on wickedness, has the fact that it is abnormal behavior rather than normal behavior been used as a validation for the existence of a loving and compassionate God? It is also the opinion of some that this potential exists in all of us, and is only held in check by the "Grace of God".

"I can't wait until tomorrow, because I become more lovable every day."

I've always pondered these questions and statements, regarding god. Is there a theist out there who can explain these??

1) If God can prevent evil, but doesn't, then He isn't all-loving.

2) If God intends to prevent evil, but cannot, then He isn't omnipotent.

3) If God both intends to prevent evil and is capable of doing so, then how can evil exist?

I would likely have missed this altogether had dawn not brought it back to the top with her reply.

I might first wish to observe that the suggestion that there is "evil" would seem to invoke some system of objective and non-relative values. I wonder how an atheist might propose to ground such values on a view that sees human life as just another arrangement of Big Bang debris. If there is genuine evil, then some things are not as they ought to be. But, on atheism, why suppose that any one state of affairs is better or worse than any other? But I'll save this for now.

The classical version of the problem of evil maintains that the theist is committed to a logically incompatible set of beliefs:

(1) God is omnipotent (all-powerful)
(2) God is omnibenevolent (perfectly good)
(3) There is evil

The claim is that a formal contradiction may be derived in just a few additional steps by drawing out the implications of (1) and (2). So...

(4) If God is omnipotent, then God is able to prevent evil.
(5) If God is perfectly good, then God will want to prevent evil.
(6) Therefore, God is able to prevent evil (from (1) and (4)).
(7) And God is willing to prevent evil (from (2) and (5)).
(8) If God is both willing and able to prevent evil, then there is no evil.
(9) God is both willing and able to prevent evil (from (6) and (7)).
(10) Therefore, there is no evil
(11) Therefore, there both is and is not evil (from (3) and (10)).

Anything that entails a contradiction is necessarily false. This set of essential theistic commitments entails a contradiction. Therefore, theism is false.

How shall the theist reply?

Consider a slightly different beginning set of propositions:

(1*) God is omnipotent.
(2*) God is omnibenevolent.
(3*) God has a morally sufficient reason for permitting evil.

This set--(1*) through (3*)--actually entails

(4*) There is evil.

This being so, it is simply false that (1*), (2*) and (4*) constitute a logically inconsistent set. Everything turns on our assessment of (3*). That is, the theist's reply succeeds in turning away this version of the problem of evil if (3*)--the suggestion that God has a morally sufficient reason for permitting evil--is so much as logically possible. And it is logically possible just so long as the proposition itself is neither contradictory nor entails a contradiction.

Is it logically possible that an omnipotent and omnibenevolent being might have a morally sufficient reason for permitting evil in the world? We should suppose otherwise only in the event that we have an argument for such a supposition. I am unaware of any argument that succeeds in this way.

Note that the theist's reply succeeds here simply on a point of logic. (3*) merely has to be logically possible in order to do the work of showing that the original set--(1) through (3)--is, in fact, logically consistent. At this juncture, the theist need not even have offered any account of what such a reason for God might look like.

As a matter of (recent) historical fact, this argument from evil has been all but abandoned by atheists, and it has been abandoned precisely because the reply that I offer above--which Alvin Plantinga called the "consistency strategy"--is widely thought to be a decisive and successful reply. Until, say, the 1950s or 1960s, academic philosophers--people like J.L. Mackie--could still be found urging the logical problem of evil against theism. Now, if it is found in use at all, it is likely from people who do not read philosophy.

These days one is much more likely to find atheist philosophers arguing that the existence and degree of certain kinds of evil counts somehow as evidence against the existence of God. The argument is thus not deductive but inductive or probabilistic. The idea is that the existence of evil reduces the probability that God exists.

An initial reply is that just about any belief that anyone has about anything is probable against some sets of background information and improbable against other information. Knowing only the proposition Muddle is an evangleical who teaches at an obscure Christian college in the south, one might assign a relatively high probablity to Muddle is a teetotaler. But given the additional information, Muddle is an analytic philosopher, one might instead give the likelihood to Muddle is a beer drinker. So, even if the theist were to allow that a probabilistic argument from evil, taken in isolation from other background information, decreases the probability of God exists,, she may insist that there is relevant background information that, when brought to one's attention, tip the scale in the favor of that proposition. For instance, the existence of conscious rational and moral agents who are capable of knowing moral truth, or the fine-tuning of the universe at its inception--facts such as these--might be thought to be better explained on the hypothesis that God does exist than that he does not.

But all such evidential arguments from evil, in one way or another, make the assumption, If we cannot think of a morally sufficient reason for the permission of evil, then, probably, there is no morally sufficient reason for it. (And, of course, if there isn't one, then God, if he existed, couldn't have one.) But what reason is there for thinking this is true?

Suppose you have been hiking in an area that is frequented by grizzlies. You return to camp and discover that you had left your tent open. You wonder, "Is there a grizzly in my tent?" Here, a quick look should be sufficient. If you look and fail to see a grizzly, then you may safely conclude that your tent is bear free. But suppose that, instead, you wonder whether there are any noseeums inside. You stand at the door and per inside. You don't see any. But, of course, you wouldn't see them if they were there. This is a part of their charm and the basis for their name.

Whether the evidential argument from evil is effective at all depends upon whether God's would-be reasons for permitting evil are like grizzlies or like noseeums. And, on the hypothesis that God exists and has all of those "omni" properties, the likelihood that we, upon a bit of reflection, would be in a position to discover and comprehend all of the ways of God would seem to be vanishingly small.
____________________

"Puddleglum" by Weatherwax (one of the Muddlings).

Jeeves to the Rescue

...for the philosophical explanation
*stares at muddle as eyes glaze over*

(I'll digest all this tonight when I get some quiet time...)

WHEREVER you look in the world, there is crime, hatred and trouble. Often it is the innocent who suffer. Some people blame God. They may say: ‘If there is a God, why does he permit all these terrible things to happen?’

Yet who are doing these wicked things to others? It is people, not God. God condemns wicked acts. In fact, much of the suffering on earth would be prevented if people obeyed God’s laws. He commands us to love. He forbids murder, stealing, fornication, greed, drunkenness and other acts of wrongdoing that cause humans to suffer. (Romans 13:9; Ephesians 5:3, 18) God made Adam and Eve with a marvelous brain and body and with the ability to enjoy life to the full. He never wanted them or their children to suffer or have trouble.

It was Satan the Devil who started wickedness on earth. But Adam and Eve were also to blame. They were not so weak that they could not have resisted when the Devil tempted them. They could have told Satan to “go away,” just as the perfect man Jesus later did. (Matthew 4:10) But they did not. As a result, they became imperfect. All their children, including us, have inherited that imperfection, which brought with it sickness, sorrow and death. (Romans 5:12) But why has God permitted suffering to go on?

The rebellion against God in the Garden of Eden raised an important issue or question. We need to examine it in order to understand why God has permitted wickedness. God told Adam not to eat from a certain tree in the garden. If Adam did, what would happen? God said: “You will positively die.” (Genesis 2:17) However, Satan said exactly the opposite. He told Adam’s wife, Eve, to go ahead and eat from the forbidden tree.

A person may at first think that there could be no reason great enough for God to allow all the human suffering that has been experienced over the centuries. Yet, is it right to reach that conclusion? Have not parents who truly love their children permitted them to undergo a painful operation to correct some problem? Yes, the permission of temporary suffering has often made it possible for children to enjoy better health later on in life. What good has been done by God’s permission of wickedness?

AN IMPORTANT ISSUE TO BE SETTLED

“You positively will not die,” Satan said. In fact, he went on to tell Eve: “For God knows that in the very day of your eating from it your eyes are bound to be opened and you are bound to be like God, knowing good and bad.”—Genesis 3:1-5.

Eve disobeyed God and ate. Why? Eve believed Satan. She selfishly thought that she would benefit by disobeying God. She reasoned that no longer would she or Adam need to answer to God. No longer would they have to submit to his laws. They could decide for themselves what is “good” and what is “bad.” Adam went along with Eve and also ate. Discussing man’s original sin against God, a footnote in The Jerusalem Bible says: “It is the power of deciding for himself what is good and what is evil and of acting
accordingly, a claim to complete moral independence. The first sin was an attack on God’s sovereignty.” That is, it was an attack on God’s right to be man’s absolute ruler or superior.

So by eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve withdrew themselves from under God’s rulership. They went out on their own, doing what was “good” or “bad” according to their own decisions. So the important issue or question raised was: Does God have the right to be the absolute ruler of humankind? In other words, is God the One to decide what is good or bad for humans? Is he the One to say what is right conduct and what is not? Can man do a better job of governing himself? Whose way of ruling is best? Can humans, under the invisible direction of Satan, rule successfully without Jehovah’s direction, or is God’s guidance needed in order to set up a righteous government that will bring lasting peace to the earth? All such questions were raised in this attack on God’s sovereignty, on his right to be the only and absolute ruler of humankind.

Of course, as soon as the rebellion happened God could have destroyed the three rebels. There was no question that he was stronger than Satan or Adam and Eve. But destroying them would not have settled matters in the best way. For example, it would not have answered the question of whether humans could successfully rule themselves without help from God. So God allowed time to settle the important issue that was raised.

SETTLING THE ISSUE

Now that time has passed, what has been the result? Well, what would you say? Have the past 6,000 years of history shown that humans have been successful in governing themselves with out God’s guidance? Have humans provided good government
for the blessing and happiness of all, or has the record of history shown that the prophet Jeremiah’s words are correct? “It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step”?—Jeremiah 10:23.

Throughout history all kinds of governments have been tried, but none have brought security and real happiness to all those living under their rule. Some persons may point to the signs of progress. But can a person speak of true progress when the bow and arrow have been replaced by the atomic bomb, and when the world now is in great fear of another world war? What kind of progress is it when men can walk on the moon hut cannot live together in peace on the earth? What good is it for men to build homes equipped with all kinds of modern conveniences when the families who live in them are torn apart by troubles? Are riots in the streets, the destruction of property and life, and the widespread lawlessness things of which to be proud? Not at all! But these are the results of humans trying to rule themselves apart from God.—Proverbs 19:3.

“The evidence should be clear to all. Man’s efforts to govern himself independently of God have been a terrible failure. They have resulted in great human suffering. “Man has dominated man to his injury,” the Bible explains. (Ecclesiastes 8:9) Clearly, humans need God’s guidance in governing their affairs. Just as God created man with the need to eat food and drink water, so man was made with the need to obey God’s laws. If man ignores God’s laws, he will come into difficulty, just as surely as he would suffer if he ignored his body’s need for food and water.—Proverbs 3:5, 6

WHY SO LONG?

However, a person might ask, ‘Why has God permitted so much time, about 6,000 years now, to settle this issue? Could it not have been settled in a satisfactory way long ago?’ Not really. If God had stepped in long ago, the charge could have been made that humans were not given enough time to experiment. As it is, humans have had plenty of time to develop a government that would satisfy the needs of all its subjects, as well as make scientific discoveries that could contribute to the prosperity of all. Over the centuries humans have tried nearly every form of government. And their progress in the field of science has been remarkable. They have harnessed the atom and traveled to the moon. What has been the result? Has it brought a grand new system for the blessing of humankind? Far from it! Instead, there is more unhappiness and trouble on earth than ever before. In fact, crime, pollution, war, family breakdown, and other problems have reached such a dangerous stage that scientists believe man’s very existence is threatened.

Yes, after about 6,000 years of experience in self-rule, and after reaching a peak in scientific “progress,” humankind is now facing self-destruction! How clear it is that humans cannot successfully govern themselves apart from God! Nor can anyone now complain that God did not allow enough time to settle this issue.

In Liberty,

DarthDubious

I have often wondered those very questions. What it all comes down to is, free will or God's will. Which one?

I am not atheist. I do believe in a higher power - a truth. I knew that the moment my first child was born. The realization that she was so much more than biology - more than just a sperm and an egg - she had a soul and I did not create that! Still, when I get home late at night, I go into my childrens rooms where they are sleeping and kiss their heads. I breath deeply, smelling their innocence, and can almost smell their soul (keep in mind that when they sleep they're not being flippant or sassy ).

Having said that, I am a theist, but not a Christian. I'm just not so sure that the bible is the 'gospel truth'.

I believe that good and evil reside in each of us. We chose our path. We can chose to lead a 'good' life or to follow the alternate course. I think that evil is a human concern. When a lion eats a zebra in the wild, he is not evil - only following basic instincts. We, as human, have overridden instinct with intellect and a grasping of abstract matters. In doing so, we have created society. Society has created laws, and laws lead to the concept of evil. When we, as a species, left behind the nomadic hand to mouth existence to form civilization (like Jericho), there was a need to set into place a system of laws to govern one another. With these laws came the criminal - the evil ones.

So, has evil been created by God? I don't think so. I think it was created by us, but now we cannot put the lid back on Pandora's box.

I was taught that 'darkness'is an illusion that disappears in the 'light'.

When one equates evil with darkness, and the understanding of God with light - then it has been my experience that once the 'light' is let in- darkness disappears. For me, the synonyms for God are Love, Life, Truth, Principle, Soul,Mind, Spirit. When these elements are absent, there is no 'light'.. .and darkness, evil appears real. More people need to let light into their lives.

Yes, when one lets in the light...there is no limit to what one can accomplish. For me, the 'light' came with the realization that I create my own destiny. There are no victims in this life - only those with a victim mentality.

You may remember a few months ago, when you and I had a discussion about something that had happened to me when I was 18. That incident occurred because I made a poor choice. In doing so, I assume partial responsibility; however, the three men that committed the crime were the darkness - the evil. For years I allowed the evilness of their actions to consume my life and fell into that 'victim' mentality. The result was years of deep depression and I honestly don't know how I survived the darkness of it all.

Then I met my husband. He was kind, compassionate, understanding, and eventually I came to trust him. Suddenly, the light was let in and I realized that I had been the only one holding me down. Once I let go of all the hate, bitterness, and depression I had left the darkness behind and was on my way to create a new reality for myself. Wow, the power that lies in knowing your self!

Positive energy attracts positive results. What you put out into the universe is what you will attract threefold - this is the Wiccan way and the Christian way.

"I will allow no man to degrade my soul by making me hate him." - Booker T. Washington

"The invariable mark of wisdom is the ability to see the miraculous in the common." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

The sun sets everyday all over the world - quite a common occurrence, yet I never cease to be amazed by the beauty of the sunset.

How I wish you could share this with so many young women that I know who have been devastated by 'darkness'. When are you going to write that book?

Just wanted to see if you got the email I sent you?

"How people treat you is their Karma, how you react is yours!"

Yes, I got the email. I really would love to go to the gathering but have to work Saturday night. I truly wish I could join you all, but you know how the grind is. I don't usually get out of work until after midnight and I'm sure that will be way too late to join the party. Hopefully I can attend the next gathering. I hope you have a good turnout, it really sucks when people commit to being somewhere and don't show. I'm sure you've put a lot of effort into hosting this party. I hope you all have a great time.

"That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet."
- Emily Dickinson

'm currently working on a new version with new features and clean/well commented code. ill publish the code/apk when im done.. in like... 3 month
online accredited degrees

1) We have been given the resources to prevent evil, and overcome it when encountered.

2)same as #1. Our evil is ours to deal with.

3)A Hindi story here: Darkness went to God and complained that every time that Light came around, he had to leave. God called Light to Him and asked about him about Darkness's complaint. Light said "Darkness? What Darkness?" When Love is around, what evil?

It's not easy being the carbonunit

I can handle those questions OK.

If God had his finger in every move that occurs, then what was the point of creation?

We have just got to suffer through our ignorance most of the time.

God did his job now we do ours.

thank you Free online diploma

That you have taken an early position on this case.

Am I to think that you also think that all of those people, including our Secretary of Defense and our Vice-President and of course others if these were involved, authorized torture by lunatics in foreign countries, and are they also "depraved?"

Or is it just your chivalry showing?

I wonder too, how a person ends up like this one apparently has . . . and he can't claim any excuse related to poverty, lack of education, etc. (Not that those are true excuses.)

I don't believe for a minute that people related to him or who have known him well were unaware that he had some serious issues! In cases like this, I always wish that we could see back into the childhood/formative years and learn just what took place that helped to lead to this. Where did he first go wrong . . . and did anyone try to get any therapy or otherwise try to steer him toward good and away from the direction he was headed?

I always appreciate your comments on things like this, Muddle, and I agree with you that this whole story is heartbreaking.

He may be, I don't know. All I know is what I read here in the paper. To my knowledge the law has not published a suspicion of total guilt.

I will just bet you that there are some among this hanging crowd, (Reminds me of The Incident At Medicine Bow, the Henry Fonda movie), that also said Gary Condit, the Congressman, killed Chandra Levy without a doubt. (The killer is in jail). After all he supposedly had "an affair" with her! (and so did many others).

He is in jail. Are you wanting to influence a jury without knowing anything except what you hear? That is bad.

Just kidding and stop punching my arm.

This sick bas+@^d needs to be taken out back and shot. There is no rehabing a sick predator like this at all. It appears he literally tortured this woman. There was day when predators like this were put under the jail.

Well, here's hoping for speedy recovery for this family and many years of peace and happiness to the survivors.... in spite of what they must overcome.

I was saddened to see that he is still alive. I was hoping one of his fellow cell mates would have done us a favor by now. Don't they make shives in jail anymore? What is the world coming to? Can't we even count on the usual inmate "disagreement" to help thin the herd?

Seriously if Delta let's this piece of worthless garbage fly again, I will never fly with them again.

I see that the pilot is to suffer the same fate, you hope, as the civilian prisoners we took and tortured before they had a trial even!

Torture are a gude thang!

Try the man in court! You don't know for sure squat about the exact details!

Sky, suggesting a jail shiv is inhumane. Certainly we don't believe he should lose his life over this.

What oughta happen is this guy ought to get sent down to one of our grim south Georgia prisons with a skirt and a wig on. And, oh yeah, a tee shirt with his own words--- "No Mercy".

Give Ole Judge Pappy credit for having the stones to deny bond. The bedwetters from here to Atlanta got to be screaming with outrage. Give Judge English credit---- he does not worry much about anything other than this community. Wish we had more like him. Actually that rancher in south Texas who rounds up the illegals would probably have a lot in common.

I think he has done a great job so far.

I wish our local jail wasn't so tame. Hopefully, he will get chance to go to a real prison where the guards don't care and things are anything but orderly.

I agree NO MERCY!!!

He is presumed innocent until proven guilty. You are right. First we will have a trial and then we'll have a hanging.

This is real life, folks and it happens every day. It is the worst call for cops. There is much of this happening all over. The only difference between now and 30 years ago is that men used to be able to tell people like Kenny Melear that it was a private, family matter ("it's my wife and my stove wood").

Guys like this are bullies. Why did the wife leave the 16 in the house? My guess is that she knew that Ellicott was too afraid of getting his butt kicked by his teenage son and she felt safe leaving him there.

I agree--- let him live by his own words--- "No Mercy". (That is, after the jury finishes its twelve seconds of deliberation.)

Real men don't feel the need to beat up women.

Sometimes justice is served.

You write a paragraph worse than a five year old.

It is not nice to poke fun at the uneducated, but it sure is easy. That was a grammatically horrid post. I had to read it three times to decipher it.

I couldn’t agree with you more PTCGOIL. I don’t care what a great coworker he was, or if he were a team player at work, or pilot of the year. After hearing what he had done to his wife, his children and their future, no way in hell would I have stepped up to defend his character! I am sorry, but their defending this repulsive monster who would have done half of what he is accused, makes me feel sick!!!! As to the employees of Delta Airlines, you know the old saying; a few bad apples can spoil the whole bunch. I’m sorry to say, but these employees act of defending this abuser casts a dark shadow upon their company!!!! I’ll pass on my Sky Miles and just look for another carrier.
I agree, with open records, who are these "defenders"?

You "heard" what he had done, huh?

She said herself that she banged her arms on the wall and cut herself with a steak knife---to make it look like he did it I suppose.

Until a jury hears the evidence from their doctor, kids, their friends, her lover, and a psychiatric report on both of them, I withhold my judgement.
Might be good to know if he also had road lovers, and whether they were into masochism!

Why must you all get so emotional from just what is written in the newspaper that "she said?"

Words can't express the sadness I feel for this woman and her children and what they have had to endure. May God wrap his loving arms around this woman and her children and bring them some peace and healing.

I guarantee his attorney had to have someone from Delta come and testify as to how long he has been employed there, whether he showed up for work on time etc... so he can show why he should be released to work. I doubt very highly anyone testified ON HIS BEHALF. Remember, this is the Citizen reporting - not always very accurate.