Its a distraction.

Liberate yourself from politics.

The human race will have to turn to other fuels like sunlight, hydrogen etc.

There are too many people on this planet. That is what the problem is. Burning fuel is fine until everyone starts to do it.

Also: LINK

But I imagne the human race will continue to dither and get caught up in irrelvant details til the end.

Eternal Yamcha wrote:

I mean this one time I saw a bus reverse into a 4WD ( I was there in person) and guess you got the only damage? It was the bus and it had a big dent on it, where as the 4WD had a few minor scratches on it.

How come I doubt this? Or am I misinformed in believing that 4WDs and Hummers (Not H2s, the original Hummers) are different? The standard SUV and 4WD, in America atleast, would not suffer little scratches from being hit by a bus, while the bus suffered a dent. Then again, I guess it does depend on how the bus backed into it and other factors, but it doesn't seem believable that a 4WD can take a hit from a bus. Now, to be specific, a Hummer might... Those things are real beasts.

I am not joking about that incident. The bus did suffer the worst of the damage and the car was a 4WD.

The bus was backing up to get out of the spot he was in. The 4WD was stationary when it got backed into.

Believe what you will but thats what I saw. :shock: :shock:

Eternal Yamcha wrote:I was almost a radical liberal.

Liberal/conservative doesn't really work as a dichotomy any more though -- would you say that you are a socialist? a civil libertarian? Just curious.

I feel the need to respond to this. Are you just saying that because Clinton had sexual affairs with a woman other than his wife? Please tell me you're not saying that. This part isn't directed at you, rather, I need to vent some pent up rage towards this...

Go ahead and vent, but that isn't what I said at all. I was referring to the direction Clinton took the Democratic party towards being the "moderate" party. This meant basically abandoning all ideals in favor of playing off of opinion polls on everything.

I don't know you, but I have a strong feeling that our principles are different. So how is your party the party of principle? Just vote for whoever you want.

They call themselves the party of principle because they feel that their platform is more ideologically coherent than anyone else's and contains fewer contradictions (for instance: Republicans want to be known as the party of small government but support farm subsidies and morality legislation). I don't agree with everything they do, but I think it's a much stronger position to vote on than any other party out there, much as true liberals should probably take a long, hard look at the Green Party.

I found this interesting. I was in a discussion with a friend about alt. energy resources we have. If I remember correctly, he said that to use hydrogen as a alt. energy resource, we'd still need to consume oil to mine the necessary components to use hydrogen. No, it's not as simple as filling your car tank with water.

Right, you have to break down that water into its components somehow, and the easiest way is to use electricity. Of course, that electric power has to come from somewhere, whether coal, gas, oil, or, my favorite, nuclear fission.

I heard something about vegetable oil. I hear restaurants want to get rid of huge quantities of the stuff for free, or they will pay you. All you need to do is get a modification to your engine, which people can do, to make it run off of vegetable oil as well.

Yeah, biodiesel is basically a fancy name for vegetable oil. Of course, as demand goes up for it, restaurants will stop giving the stuff away -- there's only a tiny supply of it there.

And, finally...
Today's grammar lesson!

Vulkurt wrote:Effect is a noun. Affect is a verb.

Actually, both can be used as either a noun or verb. They have different meanings in each context.

effect as a noun generally describes the consequences of an action, for instance, "the effect of the coffee was to wake him up."
As a verb, it means "to bring about." For instance, "the President effected a compromise by adjusting clauses A and C of the treaty."

affect as a noun describes the appearance someone takes on externally to show their emotions and isn't used very often anymore, sadly.
As a verb, it means something like "to create an effect." For instance, "this new ruling affects your business."

I hope that's clearer. Look it up in a dictionary if it isn't. I'd like to respond to your misunderstandings of the American federal electoral system, but I don't have time right now. Suffice it to say that the electoral college only applies to the executive branch, and you seem to be confusing it with gerrymandering in the legislative branch. The United States certainly isn't a democracy so much as it is a democratic republic.

Liberal/conservative doesn't really work as a dichotomy any more though -- would you say that you are a socialist? a civil libertarian? Just curious.

I always didn't like the word socialist. Not because of the polictical principles, but because the word is related to socializing with people. Personally? I don't know what I am. I took the tests, got my results and then acted on those results. Of course, I generally make sure to make as much of an unbiased opinion as I can, which can be hard nowadays. For now, I'll just go by Liberal and call it good since I really don't care what title I have applied to me... As long as it isn't something that I am not.

Anyways, back to Bush. Bush = Sucks. Not because just because of his policies, his handling of the impossible War on Terror, the war in Iraq, the gas problems, our economy etc. But because he handled Hurricane Katrina terribly. I mean, really really bad. He didn't even take an hour during his vacation to make a press conference. Instead, he let people suffer without making sure action was taken while he wanted to vacation. I don't like Bush for who he is basically... Okay, I shouldn't say that, but it really doesn't reflect well on him when he could have done more to help New Orleans out.

I find him a terrible president, one of the worst, he not only was a victim of chance, but he wasn't really that good to begin with and won the second election on petty insults.

Oh, yes, I find that the electoral college is insulting to Americans. It was established during the first presidency since there was no way for the candidates running to spread their word across the country easily, no form of widespread media press. Also, they established it because many Americans didn't know how to read or write. The fact that the Electoral College is still in place I find insulting, due to what the original meaning is.

And Oregon is a swing state, but we're not worth much which pisses me off. Every vote should count. The Electoral College makes votes seem less worthwhile.

Eternal Yamcha wrote:Okay, I shouldn't say that, but it really doesn't reflect well on him when he could have done more to help New Orleans out.

I really don't see how this relates to the person at the top of the pyramid so much as it does systemic failure. We had three governments, federal, state, and local, all out there without the proper planning and stuffed full of political appointees. You might as well put all the blame on Mayor Nagin for failing to move the city's school buses to higher ground where they could have been used for evacuation rather than letting them flood.

The fact that the Electoral College is still in place I find insulting, due to what the original meaning is.

Except that you have the original meaning all wrong (and I'm not sure you'll like the real meaning any more). The Electoral College is a remnant of the philosophy of federalism that was supposed to describe the bounds and use of the federal government. It is enshrined in the Constitution, which is why it's probably not going anywhere any time soon.

Basically, the Constitution was designed to form a meta-government, if you will, over the states and not over the people residing in those states. It makes sense, then, that the states were allowed to choose their electors for the office of President in any way they chose to; realistically, it was usually the state legislatures who did the job at first. Likewise, US Senators were not directly elected by the people of the several states before the mid-19th century -- that was in part was why the Senate was intended as a counterbalance to the more democratically elected House. Since the federal government's powers were in theory strictly limited to inter- or extra-state issues, this worked for quite a while.

Of course, federalism pretty much died with the New Deal. People like me, who think as much governing as possible should be done at the local level, and as little governing as possible done in general, are not as common any more.

Ah... You almost 'had' me, as I usually put it. But luckily, my memory served me correctly. Here is a post a made about a month ago on another forum in response to someone saying that the mayor screwed up.

Eternal Yamcha - How did the mayor fuck up? Not strengthen the levees? That was out of his jurisdiction and falls more so on the federal government. The one thing he didn't do correctly was forced mandatory evacuations, but how in the hell did he know that it was going to be as bad as it was? He messed up there, I'll admit... Also, he could have tried to acquisition some more transportation vehicles, more buses, but unfortunately... That is out of his hands and more or less in the hands of his superiors and the companies that own the buses.

The senate fucked up because we didn't pass a bill to strengthen the levees so if a major storm came, they would hold out better. Besides, the entire federal government, including Bush, didn't act quickly enough and didn't offer enough when they did.

Bush didn't give a speech when he should have... The day after the storm made landfall. That is also the day that he should have worked with the different government officials to send troops, money and supplies to those suffering in New Orleans. I sure feel safe now, knowing that Bush wont do a goddamn thing unless it's on HIS time. His delay of action, because like it or not, he can seriously influence the senate and the house, may have costed hundreds, maybe even thousands, of lives.

There, everyone fucked up... But some people in higher places fucked up more than others. Thank god we actually have kind hearted people and citizens who are willing, all over the nation, to provide relief to the people down there.

Though I wish I had known about the bus issue earlier. Also... Read the Katrina Timeline Here and tell me what you think. And before anyone goes off and says (because I heard it wayyyyy too often on that other forum I go to) that this is 'liberal media bull' I witnessed all this happen by watching the Weather Channel... Last time I checked, they're an unbiased source of weather... But do follow weather related news stories.

I'm so happy I don't need to think now... Wait still got the Electoral College to worry about. I'm going by what two of my old high school history teachers said, saying that it was based around the fact that candidates couldn't spread the news like they can now and many Americans couldn't read or write. And you're right, I don't like your explanation any better.

In my opinion, the Electoral College is outdated. Time to throw it out or fix it.

Enternal Yamcha wrote:One of the biggest attackes that Republicans, or Conservatives, have against Democrats is that Clinton had relation with a woman other than his wife.Yes, yes. I know this is bad, I know that it doesn't reflect well on America and the sanctity of marriage. Let me just say this... Marriage isn't nearly as sacred as it used to be. Face the fact. I HATE IT when right wings bitch about Cliton and they constantly throw the facts that he had relations with another woman other than his wife. It's old. It's tried. Get something new. Also, I'm sure America's high divorce rates reflect well on us.

Thank you Enternal Yamacha. I agree with you 100%. Yes I'm in the left wing, and yes I voted against Bush. I am too sick and tired of conservatives bitching about what happen in 1999. These ass*****, let me say that again These ass*****, runied America IMO. First they sick their noses where it doesn't belong. (Terri Shavo.) Second they talk about 'protecting life' is bullshit. (Stem cell research.) Third and final reason why I hate those bastards is their God (Christianity) is greater than other religion. That's why I stop going to church.

Back to the main topic at hand yeah I know Buch is stupid since day one of his presidentcy. And yes Ryo there are stupid people in America. Unfortunate those stupid people are those rich motherf**ker that is sending jobs to your contry IMO. (I maybe wrong about US jobs heading to Sweden.)

The Sandman wrote:And yes Ryo there are stupid people in America. Unfortunate those stupid people are those rich motherf**ker that is sending jobs to your contry IMO. (I maybe wrong about US jobs heading to Sweden.)

Well, that was something I hadn't heard about. What we hear over here nowdays are all the Swedish jobs that are heading to Estonia, Germany and China. US jobs heading to Sweden? Very unbelieveable, IMO.

drinian wrote:And, finally...
Today's grammar lesson!

Vulkurt wrote:Effect is a noun. Affect is a verb.

Actually, both can be used as either a noun or verb. They have different meanings in each context.

effect as a noun generally describes the consequences of an action, for instance, "the effect of the coffee was to wake him up."
As a verb, it means "to bring about." For instance, "the President effected a compromise by adjusting clauses A and C of the treaty."

affect as a noun describes the appearance someone takes on externally to show their emotions and isn't used very often anymore, sadly.
As a verb, it means something like "to create an effect." For instance, "this new ruling affects your business."

I hope that's clearer. Look it up in a dictionary if it isn't. I'd like to respond to your misunderstandings of the American federal electoral system, but I don't have time right now. Suffice it to say that the electoral college only applies to the executive branch, and you seem to be confusing it with gerrymandering in the legislative branch. The United States certainly isn't a democracy so much as it is a democratic republic.

Thank you, but I do not need a dictionary. It is indeed too bad that you are bemoaning that the noun form of affect is no longer in fashion, which is precisely the reason I made the distinction. Shall I go to the Oxford English Dictionary to look up the possible meanings for words that are no longer in fashion for my modern operational definitions? No, I do not think I have the time.

Also, I am not confused about what the electoral college's role is. I never said that the electoral college had any effect (noun form) on the election of members of the legislative branch of government. However, the legislative branch does affect (verb form) what happens in the electoral college, because electoral votes from a state coincide with the number of Democratic/Republican representatives in a given state. There have been rare instances when an elected representative went against his/her constituency and voted instead for party lines, but those are few in number. You refer to this as "gerrymandering" which it can be construed as, but to say that geographic representation of party support has absolutely no effect (noun form) on the election of presidents seems a touch naive. If you really want to look at a good example of what gerrymandering is truly about, review the 2004 election, when Texas Democrats (in May 2003) left the state to try to avoid redistricting the Texas Republicans wanted to effect (verb form), which would favor more Republican electoral votes for the 2004 election.

[url]http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0529/p09s01-coop.html[/url]

Yes, democratic republic is what the CIA Wold Factbook, along with other resources, defines our government as. However, my argument is that I disagree with that categorization, because I do not think what we practice is a reflection of that political structure.

drinian wrote:People like me, who think as much governing as possible should be done at the local level, and as little governing as possible done in general, are not as common any more.

Not common? Take heart! There is a large community out there that does feel the same way about keeping the power at local level and reducing the power federal government has:

[url]http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/today.guest.html[/url]

George W. Bush is basically the shittiest thing ever.

No, shit is the shittiest thing ever. George W. Bush is merely a living example of a bad situation.

You know what's terrible? Is that one of my friends commented that in the last two years (2004 and 2005) the Southeast has had to deal with more wild weather and disaster than the rest of the nation. He said that maybe god's telling us that somewhere and some how, the people of the Southeastern United States really effed up on something within the last two years.

It's kind of mean but it holds true, the last two years were some of the most active hurricane wise and was also some of the costliest of all time.

Eternal Yamcha wrote:You know what's terrible? Is that one of my friends commented that in the last two years (2004 and 2005) the Southeast has had to deal with more wild weather and disaster than the rest of the nation. He said that maybe god's telling us that somewhere and some how, the people of the Southeastern United States really effed up on something within the last two years.

It's kind of mean but it holds true, the last two years were some of the most active hurricane wise and was also some of the costliest of all time.

Most of the southeast got screwed over the southeastern coast of texas got lucky as hell. Rita just barely missed us, maybe god just likes Houston.

Politics is useless.... as is democracy....

Lets reform back into a dictatorship.....

Eternal Yamcha wrote:You know what's terrible? Is that one of my friends commented that in the last two years (2004 and 2005) the Southeast has had to deal with more wild weather and disaster than the rest of the nation.

This map says it all (sorry about the pop-ups on the site)

http://www.surfingtheapocalypse.net/cgi-bin/archive.cgi?read=15633