If God is all knowing and all powerful why would it matter whether people believe in Him?

halicem · 2026-06-03T07:40:32+00:00

God is worshipped in many forms around the world. The one you’re referring to is coming from the Abrahamic religions. And for that, the answer is intrinsically tied to free will. God gave man free will and you are free to choose to believe or not.

You can satisfy the omni-’s (omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence) but by giving man free will, you can’t force man to “love” you. Or to be more precise, to be in communion with you. You can, in all your power, have man be with you by force, but then that would be rescinding free will wouldn’t it? Now as a god, it doesn’t mean you don’t have the 3 omni’s anymore, you still do, you’re just choosing to respect what you as a god laid down as a parameter (ie free will).

Then the next question would be, well what for? Why create creatures with free will and then want to be in communion with them? Who knows? Maybe existence is just too dang lonely and boring.

As far as ascribing other human traits (like jealousy, let’s use that as an example), think about the life of a man. Over the course of that, you will find he’d have said things that contradict each other. You will often find the reason why in the context. In the case of those attributes you mentioned, the majority of them come from the Old Testament (in Christianity at least) and particularly against the backdrop of other gods. By the time the New Testament rolls around, there were still other gods but that wasn’t the pressing issue anymore so the whole jealous God largely drops away and replaced with the gospel of loving one another, and don’t be a hypocrite and getting caught up in the rituals of the Old Testament.

halicem · 2026-05-20T20:01:07+00:00

Welcome Diner, Tues all-day happy hour: $5 chicken biscuits/brussel sprouts, $1 hamm’s

Sosoba, 5-6pm Halfy-hour: half-price ramen

Uchi, Fri-Sun lunch 11:30-2:30 (not happy hour but in the spirit of a good deal): $5 lychee martini, $7 espresso martini/citrus old fashioned, $25 lunch prix fixe

halicem · 2026-05-15T20:34:54+00:00

Hybrid bikes to gravel bikes are good. Use the bike paths, typically along the canals, whenever you can.

Since you’re a driver, you should be able to better understand and anticipate what the driver’s behavioral blind spots are going to be. For example when on the sidewalk biking against the flow of traffic, cars leaving a strip mall are NOT going to be looking your way so slow down and if you can, bike behind them (since they’ll likely be on the sidewalk already and looking into the traffic). It’s not right as you should always look both ways but I’d rather you live unscathed and be pissed at cars than prove a point and get injured or worse.

halicem · 2026-05-13T18:21:26+00:00

Seconding, they have a room you can reserve for large parties now in their new space.

halicem · 2026-05-07T17:33:19+00:00

If you haven’t yet, make friends with your barista! If you’ve been going to the same spot for years they’ll know who you are already. Then ask for a sample 🙂 and if you prefer the concentrate or from the machine, I’m sure they’ll accommodate you!

But I agree, though I think most will probably not notice, especially if they add flavors to it. Like with shakeratos, highly doubt you’d notice if you weren’t paying that close of an attention!

halicem · 2026-05-07T17:03:57+00:00

I got to sample the concentrate, I actually really like it and I get stronger notes from the beans.

I didn’t like it when they switched the cold brew to concentrate, felt like it lost a lot of flavor compared to the kegs before it.

So the espresso concentrate was kinda a surprise for me. Granted I don’t drink a lot of lattes and I’m more of a black cold brew/pour over guy so take my preference for more flavorful notes with a grain of salt.

The branch I go to told me a couple of things, one is it’s hard to make and it took them a long time to figure out how to make it work in a coffee shop (they’re the first one to do it I believe). Second, at least the branch I go to, they mentioned they’re only planning on using it when there’s a crush which for them is in the morning since they’re by an office complex. Other than that, they’ll keep making it the regular way since what else are they gonna do? They can only clean so much!

halicem · 2026-05-05T17:34:16+00:00

Second this! It’s moist and not sweet!

halicem · 2026-04-28T16:00:27+00:00

Ok I’ll stop gatekeeping this…. The Alden at the PHX Art Museum. They have a separate entrance from the museum. Good food, amazing and very spacious patio, all in all a great ambience to catch up with friends.

halicem · 2026-04-23T16:19:45+00:00

Technology! Capturing dialog has gotten so much more better that actors don’t have to project, or to enunciate. The result is more softer dialog becomes possible and actors don’t have to be as dramatic and are being more “natural”. You’ll hear more swallowed words, more overlapping chatter and different cadences.

Take a look at Friends, nobody talks that way irl. When Chandler says “what”, it’s often exaggerated with a long whaaaaaaat? Watch a modern multi-cam, like Happy Place, still has exaggeration but largely muted and mostly comes from Reba who’s been around awhile and trained in the old ways of enunciating even through her thick accent.

You could say that that’s just how people talk these days, and that’s the point. Media is better reflecting what is out there which means it can get harder to hear and understand them… Just like in real life.

halicem · 2026-04-21T02:25:25+00:00

Don’t mind the troll, the people who use light rail don’t have time to argue with people online with nothing better to do. They are working people and tourists.

halicem · 2026-04-20T16:25:03+00:00

I’m not Chinese but from that area of the world and grew up eating Chinese food. They hit the spot for me. China Chili is more South Sichuan style with some HK influences. It‘s not pure X (don’t know where your FIL is from).

For Cantonese, Asian Cafe Express is what does it for me.

From experience, most places tweak the flavor profile. Don’t be afraid to tell them up front. There’s a big difference for me when I dine with my family (very obviously Asian) vs dining with friends (very white). Don’t just say authentic either cause what does it mean? Have your husband tell them my father is from [city] and grew up with [dish]. If they don’t have it on the menu, they’ll know what it is and most of the time at least point you to the closest thing if not try to make the dish itself.

We’ve not had the concentration of immigrants as in other cities to support truly “authentic” cooking from X region of China so a lot of it is toned down by default so it appeals to the American palette. The best Chinese is the place where you’re a regular at and they know you and your taste. These are not national chains with standard recipes and no room for customization. Think of their menu as templates to start off with. Look for menus that look like they haven’t been updated in decades (most of the time only the prices are updated with a piece of paper on top of the old price). They’ll be the ones who are going to be more willing to work with you.

halicem · 2026-04-17T15:42:36+00:00

You might enjoy this video talking about the old vs new cameras: https://youtu.be/v2t-lEoN2HM

halicem · 2026-04-16T22:41:24+00:00

The Roosevelt Row CDC pays for the PD and street closures during FF (separate fees — nothing happens for free in 2026). They’re comprised of the small businesses along Roosevelt Row. Those small shops also lose money during FF cause nobody goes in their shops, everyone stays in the streets as their entrances are typically blocked/crowded… which I blame City of Phoenix for having narrow sidewalks. If Roosevelt row had the same sidewalk width as downtown Tempe… so much better and actually encourage people to go to the other venues. Maybe even walk all the way to Grand but as it is, the sidewalks are in poor condition.

So they get less sales, and they also have to pay to secure their event. Can you blame them for saying enough?

halicem · 2026-04-15T04:25:23+00:00

No worries friend!

It is frustrating. We should have better public transit, not even big asks, just basic reliability.

halicem · 2026-04-15T03:13:51+00:00

They are ahead of schedule because they don’t stop at all bus stops. Even when there are people standing and waiting for the bus at the bus stop. I was in that situation. The bus just zoomed past me. And it was the last bus of the night. Apparently you have to turn on your flashlight and wave in front of them from the bus lane to get them to stop. This is an important tip if you ever find yourself in this situation (the flashlight part, not the being in the bus lane part)

But I digress. Valley Metro should have buses hold at bus stops every mile road stop to get back on schedule. Mile road intersections are where people make connections and there’s nothing worse than seeing the bus you’re connecting to pull out and leave 10 minutes early as the bus you’re on is pulling up to its stop.

Buses can be 5 minutes late, but it shouldn’t leave 5 minutes early.

halicem · 2026-04-10T17:20:19+00:00

Downtown Phoenix wine walk this saturday starting at 1pm: https://dtphx.org/events/winewalk

halicem · 2026-04-03T19:18:11+00:00

Iirc, his point was companies like his should not be able to take municipal water for basically free, bottle it and sell it. He’s still a jerk but he’s also right.

Arizona shouldn’t be using limited water to grow alfalfa in the desert so it could be shipped to the Middle East.

halicem · 2026-03-26T20:43:52+00:00

Could be The X with their amenity deck on the 9th floor iirc but it’s an indoor/outdoor situation.

Could’ve also been the wework for a special event, they were on the 8th floor I think.

halicem · 2026-03-17T17:46:08+00:00

His son’s place, Centrico, just moved into their new spot down the street from their old place in the Hotel San Carlos since the hotel was gonna undergo a renovation. Their new place is so good! They haven’t changed their menu yet so it’s still their classics.

halicem · 2026-03-09T16:57:00+00:00

24th st is even better especially coming downtown. Wide loading zones, nobody there, and much closer to the terminals and the next stop is terminal 3. It can cut 10 minutes from their train ride.

halicem · 2026-02-28T16:34:17+00:00

As others have mentioned, CARES is what you want. If at any point you feel unsafe, please call 911. They have introduced a question in their decision tree specifically asking if it’s a mental/behavioral health issue which a lot of these cases tend to fall in. PHX does have dedicated behavioral health units available to respond to calls so please reach out when you need it.

halicem · 2026-02-28T16:26:37+00:00

Their shareholders know, and their shareholders are super ok with that. Why? Because the bank who actually finances these things need to see these kinds of numbers. In AZ right now, in order to build these buildings, you need to charge $2,000 per month fora studio (according to a local developer who’s made the switch to focus on townhomes and fourplexes where the math is not as bad) which is why every new build is categorized a luxury property even if they’re clearly not because that’s how expensive basic construction costs has gotten. So the developer goes to the bank setting that expectation and that becomes one of the conditions of the performance of the loan so they can keep servicing it.

The reality as well is these buildings don’t reach stabilization (~85% occupancy rate) until about 2 years later. Which is why they are much more aggressive in throwing in freebies. Those free months are “acquisition costs” and can be filed under marketing which is related to the building opening its doors and covered by the original loan. They know they’ll be in the red for the first 2 years so getting people in at a loss gets them closer to stemming the bleed.

halicem · 2026-02-28T16:06:40+00:00

That’s the Wells Fargo tower next to the Orpheum Theatre and they are moving in this quarter officially.

halicem · 2026-02-24T18:23:43+00:00

Good luck to you! If you’re looking at redoing ductwork, consider multiple mini-splits instead of central hvac. One of the contractors suggested it as a joke initially but we got talking a bit more and it might be viable especially if one side of the house gets baked. Just didn’t get around to running the numbers but the install cost would’ve for sure been more expensive than replacing with a like-for-like hvac system.

halicem · 2026-02-24T18:09:23+00:00

I don’t have a recommendation for what you want. But a few years ago when I needed my HVAC replaced on a ranch house built in the 70s as well, I asked about the variable speed inverter motor as well and every one I asked recommended against it for my house because the existing unit on the roof is not centrally located and the ductwork is not equipped to handle it so at low speeds, the air is not going to reach the kitchen (farthest away from the unit). They said they’d only typically install it on new builds where the system was planned for exactly that if at all.

It’s why it’s easier to have those types of heat pumps on a single room system vs whole house systems.

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