Fiery_penguin_of_doom Posts
Arizth wrote...
Hmm. I blame this on being small-minded, but I can't for the life of me imagine a universe where physics and chemistry are different from our own.You are trying to apply current reality to a possible one. Under that theory I mentioned, I assume the basic elements would be different. Their atomic structures would be changed, molecules would behave differently from what we expect. Water may not even be a possibility as the chemical reaction would not even be possible.
It is only a theory though but, an intriguing one to say the least.
Host countries don't always play well with us when we need them too. Look at Turkey during the initial invasion of Iraq. They restricted our use of airspace and movement within the country at the very beginning of the invasion.
Still a fine idea though
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military_law/1281531.html
mnx wrote...
I still believe my alternative is doable.http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military_law/1281531.html
mnx wrote...
I don't know the details about costs and such, but maintaining aircraft carriers and overseas base at the same time costs ya heavy tax. By stationing an aircraft carrier to act as an overseas base, you could cut the costs big time.The Ronald Reagan which is the latest Nimitz class carrier to be built cost upwards of 4 billion dollars just to build. A rough estimate is a Nimitz class costs about 1/2 million a day to run.
I can't find any information on how much is costs to build or operate a military base.
Happiness is a 80/20 split between purpose and money. Money can make you happy but, you will never stay happy with money. By that I mean materialism. Every time some shiny comes out you'd want it but, quickly get bored of it and want something else.
Now, money as in economic liberty? You can easily be satisfied with your life if you have enough money to acquire what you want but, you sacrifice the richness of living if you concentrate solely on money.
I'll give you all a little background story:
I come from a rich/upper middle class family. I was given everything I wanted in life because my parents knew what it was like to not have anything and they didn't want me growing up like they did as it was a miserable existence. My father was homeless and on his own at 15 after his home caught fire and his mom was severely burned (3rd degree over 80% of her body) also a majority of his family died in the fire as well. He worked hard, joined the military during Korean conflict, eventually opened not one but, two businesses (a mechanic shop for big rigs & a bar). My mother came from a large and completely dirt fucking poor family. Her mom worked two jobs, slept 4 hours a night for years while the older kids did housework and eventually worked to support the family.
Maybe I'm sentimental because my mom has always told me to be thankful for what I have instead of regretful for what I don't but, I think people can be truly happy
as long as people have enough money to fulfill their purpose in life.
Now, money as in economic liberty? You can easily be satisfied with your life if you have enough money to acquire what you want but, you sacrifice the richness of living if you concentrate solely on money.
I'll give you all a little background story:
I come from a rich/upper middle class family. I was given everything I wanted in life because my parents knew what it was like to not have anything and they didn't want me growing up like they did as it was a miserable existence. My father was homeless and on his own at 15 after his home caught fire and his mom was severely burned (3rd degree over 80% of her body) also a majority of his family died in the fire as well. He worked hard, joined the military during Korean conflict, eventually opened not one but, two businesses (a mechanic shop for big rigs & a bar). My mother came from a large and completely dirt fucking poor family. Her mom worked two jobs, slept 4 hours a night for years while the older kids did housework and eventually worked to support the family.
Maybe I'm sentimental because my mom has always told me to be thankful for what I have instead of regretful for what I don't but, I think people can be truly happy
as long as people have enough money to fulfill their purpose in life.
Tsurayu wrote...
I'm extremely isolationist in my views of the U.S. global presence. I think we (as in the United States) need to learn to keep to ourselves more. Dialogue, trade, etc... are all important, but sometimes I think we let it get to our head. We don't rule the world, and sometimes we need to stop butting into other global interests, but I suppose that doesn't exactly answer the question at hand, but suffice it to say I don't think the U.S. should.One of the former presidents made it a principal of the United states to be the law enforcement of the western Hemisphere. I'm not sure which one nor can I find it on google so I'll need somebody to back me up on that. Anyways, while the U.S. has many bases around the world the U.S. treats is like a police department in every part of the world. If you want the police to be effective at their jobs they can't be half a world away.
On the note of Japan. It is a standing military order that there is to be no less than one-two aircraft carriers near Japan accompanied by a minimum of two submarines. This is supplemented by the standing base on the country.
While mnx is correct that is it a bit of overkill but, C'mon, this is America! We turn our speakers to 11!
Arizth wrote...
I always saw it kind of like this, on the big bang matter question:
It's the leftovers from the last Universe that collapsed in it's own big crunch. I always saw that the universe was in a sort of loop, where it blows up, exists for a bit, collapses, and repeats.
Doesn't really explain anything, but it's fun to think about.
It is a possibility but, all it does is answer one question while creating another.
I really like the idea of a big crunch/bang but, I like the theory of (paraphrased) stars collapsing which turn into black holes and they eventually swallow up all matter in the universe which leads to the creation of a new universe where chemistry and physics don't work in the same way as they do here. I'm not sure of the name of that particular theory at the moment
ZiggyOtaku wrote...
I had been thinking about this for a little while, and I finally pieced it together after reading WhiteLion's suggestion about the rep system.I have found on some forums that there's a system where they have meters in the side columns under a persons avatar of a green bar with a percentage number.
They use this on people who break rules and are reported by users (via the report button) I think it's a good way (and more enforcing) for people to behave more on the forums.
If someone get's neg repped - oh well, they can still do it again.
The punishment for getting their warning bar to 0% would be an X amount of days banned from posting. I think that each time they get to 0% the X amount of days should be increased.
This would be helpful if there was also a section similar to how it is on your profile where you get -repped and +repped information as to where you got your warning.
If the person can see what post got them their warning bar decreased, they'll be inclined to stop.
There can even be an automatic message after the first warning of explaining of what will happen. If the person is truly confused, they can contact the admins or mods.
The bar can go up in % over time too. In case that person decides that they want to change their behavior.
I'm not saying the users can decrease their percentage, but can report a person, and the mods can decided if the report was valid enough to decrease their percentage.
This will not work for people you don't like, and for people who are new to the site, since that's often what negative repped is used for. It will simply be used for when rules are broken.
I endorse this product and or service.
While the system would probably be a nightmare for Jacob to design and implement I think the end result would be worth the effort. We have too many trouble makers running around trying to gain everybody's attention. If you neg them then their buddies will +rep them so not only does it negate your one -rep but, they actually go up in rep. That defeats the whole purpose of -rep to begin with. Plus, a valid point was already mentioned by gibbous, a lot of people don't use the -rep for the proper reasons.
The flaw in this system is the same as the flaw in the report system. People have to use it for it to work.
Pocru wrote...
...now, Im not a religious person by any definition. I get mad at most all of the catholic subbranches, Its getting harder and harder to view Islam impartially, and I just dont agree with all of the views of most every religion. There are contradictions and things that are unfair, and just plain ridiculous. ...but I'm not an atheist. I believe in god, but only for one reason, really. I've heard all of the atheist arguments, and none of them have ever addressed this, so Im curious if any of the many atheists on this site might have an idea.
The reason I'm not an atheist is because it had to start SOMEWHERE.
All of the theories behind man's creation, really...
like, for the big bang. What first created that atom that exploded to create all life? How did that thing just appear?
that's the biggest and only real convincing argument I have for the existence of god. I'd like to hear some people's theories opposing it.
thanks!
In a nutshell. Theists believe nothing existed (except God) then God created everything. Atheists (tend to) believe nothing existed except, a basketball size chunk of super dense, compacted matter which exploded. Congratulations, its the same except for the minor details which still leaves the questions "Where did God/whatever come from?" If God existed then where did God come from? If the super basketball existed where did the matter come from?
Welcome to the endless argument for a species that is still too young and ignorant to answer the question. One sides uses faith while the other side uses evidence. The methods of one group can't be used to persuade the other. This argument will go nowhere until a significant break through or event changes the status quo of information.
Theists can't convert a strong Atheist and Atheists can't covert a strong theist, so stop trying.
I always disliked that irresponsible people are never punished for their behavior and yet a potential life is created and ended before it ever has a chance to live.
There is no excuse for not using a condom or birth control in any method. If you choose to not use these during sex then you deserve to pay the consequences of your actions by being saddled with the responsibility of a child.
While some will argue that you are punishing the child into what may be a terrible life. Is it really any better to destroy that life before it comes into being? All the while the irresponsible parents can go about their lives without anything happening at all. Not even so much as a verbal scolding. I have met people who had abortions so casually and without care, it mimics any of us masturbating.
You fap, you cum, you clean up. All while they have sex, get pregnant, abort.
There is no excuse for not using a condom or birth control in any method. If you choose to not use these during sex then you deserve to pay the consequences of your actions by being saddled with the responsibility of a child.
While some will argue that you are punishing the child into what may be a terrible life. Is it really any better to destroy that life before it comes into being? All the while the irresponsible parents can go about their lives without anything happening at all. Not even so much as a verbal scolding. I have met people who had abortions so casually and without care, it mimics any of us masturbating.
You fap, you cum, you clean up. All while they have sex, get pregnant, abort.
ShaggyJebus wrote...
JediBreaker wrote...
so basically what im trying to say is if we had no freedom what would you do with your life? being told what to do all the time, even if its something you really dont want to do? basically how i look at it is without freedom we're just slaves or actually in a huge ass jail and if we go out of line we're dead.Playing devil's advocate:
We are constantly told what we can and cannot do. We constantly have to do things that we "really don't want to do." Best example - a job. How many people wish they didn't have to go to work? Sure, some people genuinely enjoy their jobs, but they are few and far between. Yet we cannot live without some sort of job. Often, we don't even get to choose what type of job we want to do. We have to take whatever is available.
Living in society, people give up all sorts of freedoms. Most of them are worth giving up, but the fact remains that we have to give them up. If I live in a suburb, I can't take a shit in my front yard. If I lived in the woods, I could. Better, less funny examples: listening to really loud music, never putting on pants, yelling obscenities despite the time of day, etc.
One could argue that society itself is like a jail that forces us to conform to other people's standards. But I never see anybody dying so that suburbs will stop being built.
Rather Anarchist of you Shaggy. Jericho has already stated most of the points but, I wanted to chip in with two cents.
Freedom doesn't mean you have to give up civility. Freedom has a meaning or a purpose behind it. Shitting on your front lawn "because I can" doesn't serve a purpose.
Is anime dying? No but, popularity is dwindling but, not plummeting. Anime was a fad for a while and now it's not. The true fans remain just like they always did. Once the true fans start to walk away then anime will be dying. Some of the factors that is leading to the decrease in popularity are:
English Dubs: They are hit or miss, sometimes you get wonderful stuff like Ghost in the Shell or horrid abominations like Sorcerer Hunters.
Subs- Quality varies greatly from one group to another. Some people are excellent at their jobs like Dattebayo while others are horrible translations or even completely wrong. Each group should be allowed to do it their way but, I suggest leaning towards groups that do a professional job and don't leave in "sacred" Japanese words. Unless you enjoy having Japanese words in your English subtitles.
Verdict: Do your homework. Buy products from companies that do good work and screw the rest. Just like any other market in the economy if a company does better work than its competition it'll get an edge in the market and other companies will follow in order to stay open.
As for stations not playing the stuff. Call your companies, don't whine or bitch just tell them "Hey, I want an anime station". If enough people push the idea then you could get a SHOWTIME/HBO type channel for anime. Uncensored but, not a typical station so it would be in the package stuff like SHOWTIME and HBO. This keeps it away from the kids and gives adults an opportunity to watch what they want without censorship.
As long as anime remains on channels that anybody can access then it will be subject to FCC standards and censorship.
English Dubs: They are hit or miss, sometimes you get wonderful stuff like Ghost in the Shell or horrid abominations like Sorcerer Hunters.
Subs- Quality varies greatly from one group to another. Some people are excellent at their jobs like Dattebayo while others are horrible translations or even completely wrong. Each group should be allowed to do it their way but, I suggest leaning towards groups that do a professional job and don't leave in "sacred" Japanese words. Unless you enjoy having Japanese words in your English subtitles.
Verdict: Do your homework. Buy products from companies that do good work and screw the rest. Just like any other market in the economy if a company does better work than its competition it'll get an edge in the market and other companies will follow in order to stay open.
As for stations not playing the stuff. Call your companies, don't whine or bitch just tell them "Hey, I want an anime station". If enough people push the idea then you could get a SHOWTIME/HBO type channel for anime. Uncensored but, not a typical station so it would be in the package stuff like SHOWTIME and HBO. This keeps it away from the kids and gives adults an opportunity to watch what they want without censorship.
As long as anime remains on channels that anybody can access then it will be subject to FCC standards and censorship.
gibbous wrote...
Well, catching fire? That is admittedly a new one.She has however worked the wonder of putting a frozen pizza in the oven, and upon taking it out, it tasted like petrol. Which is not even supposed to be possible, right?
Ever since, I don't let her in the kitchen anymore.
Not even near an open flame. just "Fwosh!" fire.
In all seriousness I only have recipes that I have never used. I am basically "from a box" type of cook. Though I can make some fucking awesome mashed potatoes if I do say so myself.
WhiteLion wrote...
[That seems a bit cynical. The line of argument was that it would be bad to lose more jobs during a recession. True, but I didn't think it justified the cost personally, or that GM would succeed post bailout. Still, the UAW has been forced to accept cuts to the ridiculously generous contract GM signed with them back in the good days.They donate millions dollars a year to the party's coffers. The members vote almost 90%-99.7% Democrat. If they didn't go to their aid not only would it be a slap to the face of the UAW but, as you said it would make them look like they didn't care about American workers.
Call it cynical or whatever you want. I see this as Trojan horse power and vote grab for the party. Party first, people second. Obama threatened Rick Wagoner* in order to get him to step down as Executive of GM. Has replaced at least six members of the board of directors**. Is handing one of the director spots to a Union Rep***. Obama can claim he doesn't want to run GM all he wants. His actions say otherwise and actions speak louder than words, no matter how well they are put.
I love my country, I try to buy American products only but, due to this I refuse to ever buy an American car again. Unless its a classic muscle car but, they don't get the money for that anyways.
*http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123836090755767077.html
**http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123844960840571093.html
***http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2009/06/19/uaw-adds-its-voice-to-new-general-motors-board-of-directors/
WhiteLion wrote...
Personally, I love to cook, so I'd want to do a large share of that regardless.I wanna learn how to cook but, she won't let me in the kitchen. Things seem to catch fire around me. I thought that happened to everyone but, apparently it's just me.
WhiteLion wrote...
In Alabama:It is legal to drive the wrong way down a one-way street if you have a lantern attached to the front of your automobile.
You may not have an ice cream cone in your back pocket at any time.
It is illegal to sell peanuts in Lee County after sundown on Wednesday.
Mind you these are blue laws but please, help me understand how these are essential. The government is full of idiots just like everywhere else, stupid laws DO happen.
In Ohio, it is illegal to throw a horseshoe within 1 mile of a public orator on decoration day.
In Pennsylvania, it is illegal to sleep on top of a refrigerator outdoors.
New Mexico has this: Law declares Pluto a PLanet
But these are either unenforced or basically irrelevant, so I don't think they are such a big deal.[/quote]
This is why every decade or so the states should have a spring cleaning of their law books. Useless, unenforceable or even asinine laws should be dismissed and removed from the records.
Also http://www.lawguru.com/weird/part01.html
Overall it's too early to call it a success or a failure but, his current actions are taking America down the road to the failed systems of Europe and Canada. At a time when Europe is shifting right as Obama is trying to ahove America to the left.
Bailouts: I have come to the conclusion that Obama bailed out the auto companies solely for political votes. The UAW donates large amounts of money to the Democratic campaign.
http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=d000000070
http://boortz.com/nealz_nuze/2009/05/those-disgusting-antiamerican.html
Also on this topic Obama has turned the law on its head when dealing with secured creditors. This put the U.A.W. at the head of the line when dealing with who gets their money. Normally, secured creditors are at the front of the line by legal agreement but, Obama has completely ignored how the law works. This among other things leads me to believe the bail out was less to save America and more for party gains.
Nomination of Sotomayor: To be frank about this. I see her as nothing more than a sexist and a racist. I point toward this quote
She believes that the circuit court is where policy is made instead of where policy is interpreted. I see her nomination as a slap in the face to anybody who believes that justice should be impartial and unbiased. One shouldn't use personal feelings to decide a case.
Blame Game: During the campaign trail he promises more accountability on behalf of politicians in Washington but, since the beginning of his administration he has never accepted responsibility for anything. Not even so much as a "This is the problem, I'll do my best to fix it". All we hear is "I inherited this" or "I inherited the worse..."
Healthcare reform: Current price tag is 600+ billion just for the down payment. A Congressional Budget Office preliminary analysis this week said portions of the Senate HELP committee bill it has reviewed would cost $1 trillion over the next 10 years while reducing the number of the uninsured — currently 46 million — by just 16 million.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/18/senate-committee-starts-revising-comprehensive-health-care-reform-proposal/
He is forcing the U.S. Health care system to mirror the failed systems in France, The U.K. and Canada. Where doctors are told what they will earn, what they can charge, what medicine they can use. All while telling patients which doctor to see. Canada is already the poster child of rationed health care. Apparently, people dying of cancer and other illnesses while waiting to get exams is acceptable as long as it's "free".
Government expansion: He has expanded government and consolidated more power in the hands of the executive branch of the government. He's appointed all these czars who don't answer to congress, only him. He has also forced unpopular bills through overnight. I point to the stimulus as my example. The congressmen who were supposed to vote on the bill were given less than twenty four hours to read nearly 100 pages which were posted late the night before the vote was to take place. This occurred after Obama claimed he would give at least a week for debate.
He doesn't seem to care about the economic impacts of his policies, so long as he gets what he gets what he wants.
Bailouts: I have come to the conclusion that Obama bailed out the auto companies solely for political votes. The UAW donates large amounts of money to the Democratic campaign.
http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=d000000070
http://boortz.com/nealz_nuze/2009/05/those-disgusting-antiamerican.html
Also on this topic Obama has turned the law on its head when dealing with secured creditors. This put the U.A.W. at the head of the line when dealing with who gets their money. Normally, secured creditors are at the front of the line by legal agreement but, Obama has completely ignored how the law works. This among other things leads me to believe the bail out was less to save America and more for party gains.
Nomination of Sotomayor: To be frank about this. I see her as nothing more than a sexist and a racist. I point toward this quote
“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”
She believes that the circuit court is where policy is made instead of where policy is interpreted. I see her nomination as a slap in the face to anybody who believes that justice should be impartial and unbiased. One shouldn't use personal feelings to decide a case.
Blame Game: During the campaign trail he promises more accountability on behalf of politicians in Washington but, since the beginning of his administration he has never accepted responsibility for anything. Not even so much as a "This is the problem, I'll do my best to fix it". All we hear is "I inherited this" or "I inherited the worse..."
Healthcare reform: Current price tag is 600+ billion just for the down payment. A Congressional Budget Office preliminary analysis this week said portions of the Senate HELP committee bill it has reviewed would cost $1 trillion over the next 10 years while reducing the number of the uninsured — currently 46 million — by just 16 million.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/18/senate-committee-starts-revising-comprehensive-health-care-reform-proposal/
He is forcing the U.S. Health care system to mirror the failed systems in France, The U.K. and Canada. Where doctors are told what they will earn, what they can charge, what medicine they can use. All while telling patients which doctor to see. Canada is already the poster child of rationed health care. Apparently, people dying of cancer and other illnesses while waiting to get exams is acceptable as long as it's "free".
Government expansion: He has expanded government and consolidated more power in the hands of the executive branch of the government. He's appointed all these czars who don't answer to congress, only him. He has also forced unpopular bills through overnight. I point to the stimulus as my example. The congressmen who were supposed to vote on the bill were given less than twenty four hours to read nearly 100 pages which were posted late the night before the vote was to take place. This occurred after Obama claimed he would give at least a week for debate.
He doesn't seem to care about the economic impacts of his policies, so long as he gets what he gets what he wants.
Nikon wrote...
I guess it's all in how you define convenience. I agree that people should have to live with whatever mistakes they make, but there's absolutely no reason that a life should have to be brought into the world where they have to suffer the consequences of their parent(s) poor decision-making. And even then, like I said, with the adoption/foster system as fucked up as it is and with the number of people that end up in terrible places (drugs, crime, etc) because of it, it's not really something you want to set someone up to live. Granted, there are good foster/adopted parents out there but overall it's just not a good system.Just my 2¢
Wouldn't the obvious solution be to encourage the foster system to change? The hoops people have to jump through in order to even adopt would give a glimpse that only those with good intentions would go through? The hoops are supposed to filter out all the less than desirable from acquiring a child. Now, you may be speaking of the orphanages and various other methods used to "hold" a child until they are adopted. Those could probably use a good sweep to clean up the mess.
If the foster system was revamped would you consider changing your stance?
Nikon wrote...
it's nothing more than a parasite feeding off of the host body until it can become self-aware. Which would be the point where aborting it would be downright wrong.Very Dr. House of you Nikon.
If I didn't see the world in Black/White then I would be inclined to agree with you. I still feel aborting for the sake of convenience isn't a good reason for it to begin with. The entire subject as Shaggy has stated is a large gray area which doesn't lend itself to my personal outlook. It is easier to just say no abortions due to personal principals regarding human rights.
