Wijitmaker
-
Posts
9.663 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
9
Posts posted by Wijitmaker
-
-
Svede asked me to post my thoughts here in his topic so I will.
To me, the whole premise behind welfare in the US and the conflicts behind it is based on what we view as the role of government. Do we want the government to take care of its citizens directly or do we want government to create an environment for citizens to capably care form themselves? I guess you could look at it as Socialism vs. Capitalism.
Here yet again… we have a common goal (none of us want people to suffer), but we have two apposing views how to achieve the end of that suffering.
The socialism view takes the position that the government is the hand that feeds the week and the heavy laden. How is the government capable of performing this duty? Well it usually redistributes wealth by taking money from those who have excess and giving it to those who have little. This is usually done in the form of taxes and social programs.
The capitalistic approach is that the government does not directly involve itself with supporting citizens. Instead it creates laws and channels trade gives people the opportunity and tools to equip them selves for a self sustaining life. How does that old saying go? Something about how teaching a man to fish is better than giving the man a fish? Something like that
There is a time and a place where people just can’t take care of themselves – were IMHO welfare is acceptable. Old people, orphans or foster children, and the handicapped. I believe that the government also has a responsibility for the welfare of their employees just like any business does. I also don’t view unemployment checks as a bad thing either – I myself was very glad for them a few years ago.
The problem is that the welfare system in America was terribly abused before the reforms were made in the late 90’s. You had deadbeat workers with no ambition or drive to get a job. Why would you when you could sit on your butt in front of a TV while your sucking on the udders of the government. You also had women who would have children, lots of them, just so they could get more money from their welfare checks.
I believe that the religious and charitable institutions in America should also have a large role in charitable actions. Which is why I’m glad that Bush is trying to support this. There are people and groups out there that want to help their fellow citizens!
However, again… as I alluded to this in the Bush thread. If I had my way, I would move all the welfare programs to the state level, and get the federal government out of it. This would also give people more options in terms of how they want to live. If they wanted to live in a socialistic state they would move to California or New York. If they wanted to live in a capitalistic state they would move to Montana or Idaho. Give citizens a choice.
-
Here check out this thread ZeZar
http://forums.wildfiregames.com/0ad/index....p?showtopic=187
-
Ok, I think I got you fixed
Tell me if it works for ya!
-
15!
Congrats man!
-
Just a fun little survey I was thinking of as I was watching the LOTR special on primetime last night.
If I could live anywhere in the world, I would say New Zealand. Even though I don't really know anything about the weather, economics or politics in the nation, its just so beautiful!
Where would you want to live?
-
I think the font is the same size as all the other history article fonts isn't it?
BTW its a great article, everyone should read it
-
Da Vinci's Flyer Comes to Life
Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20031...1/leonardo.html
Dec. 2, 2003 — A flying machine sketched by Leonardo da Vinci 500 years ago, flew gracefully last week, proving that the Renaissance genius could have made flight history long before the Wright brothers.
Angelo D'Arrigo, a former world champion hang glider, made Leonardo's dreams on manned flight come true as he flew the "Piuma" (feather), a flying machine conceived by the Florentine visionary during his studies on ornithopters — planes with bird-like flapping wings.
Sketched in 1510 in a folio of the Madrid manuscripts that was unearthed by chance in 1996, the Piuma bears an extraordinary resemblance to a modern hang-glider.
"Indeed, Leonardo's machine relies on pure gliding. To pilot it, you need to shift centers of gravity and weight. That's exactly what modern hang glider pilots do," D'Arrigo told Discovery News.
The model, faithfully reproduced from Leonardo's drawings, was realized with the scholarly support of the Museo Ideale in Vinci, the Tuscan town where the genius was born in 1452.
For Leonardo's invention to take to the air, present day designers and technicians had to give some help. Instead of wood and canvas, they used light and modern materials such as aluminum tubes for the main structure and dacron, a synthetic fiber, for the covering.
"We ended up with a glider that looked like the skeleton of some giant pterodactyl, " D'Arrigo said.
Despite the total lack of a wing profile, the Piuma had no problems flying in the "wind tunnel" of the car company FIAT, where the aircraft's capacity for flight was tested and measured.
"At [almost 22 miles] per hour I took off and flew. The weight of my body was totally carried by the Piuma. The test flight lasted two hours, and it has been really exciting. We were able to show that the lack of a proper, light material was the only reason why Leonardo's machine did not fly. His Piuma would have weighed about [220 pounds], our model weighed only [50 pounds]," D'Arrigo said.
Scholars are amazed.
"Leonardo's world is made of art, science, technology and, most of all, dreams. I had no doubt the Piuma could fly, but the idea of his great dream finally coming true really touched me," Leonardo scholar Alessandro Vezzosi told Discovery News.
-
Yeah Matei, its something wrong with your group mask. Its not installed on the other forums, and only on this one. I'll see if I can figure out what the problem is and fix it. Tim is out of commission for a while because his monitor is broken.
-
I'm sorry guys, I don't have any time to continue this discussion. I'm right in the middle of wrapping up lectures and going into finals next week. After that I really want to get some stuff for the game completed.
There is just so much material to cover in this forum... it would take me forever to keep that up
If you guys start seperate threads of discussion on these different issues, I'll pop in every once in a while when I can. Good discussion though guys! I hope to have lots more time to discuss these sort of things with you when 0 A.D. is finshed
-
Welcome to the forums TKRA_FAiDiT
Actually allot of those old game details have been changed. Some of that information was over a year old. So it isn't accurate to the game we are currently making. We probably won't ever put that information up. The best way to find out about the game at its current state it to ask in the forums and to read the website FAQ.
-
Yeah sorry guys, my words failed me there. I didn't mean to imply that americans are lazy. Which I, looking at it now, appears to be my intention in the sentence. What I'm trying to say is that america is loosing jobs to people who want to do them more than some americans. For instance, the immagrant workers comming out of Mexico every harvest to pick fruit... or the programming and tech jobs we are loosing to indians who are willing to do the job at a cheaper cost. Much of this is attributed to capitalism at work. Its not a bad thing, I just view that as one of the reasons our unemployment was up for the past few years.
We lost allot of 'white collar' jobs in this 'recession' we had and many of those 'white collar' workers a still waiting to get their old job back instead of possibly starting over with a 'blue collar' job.
Like you guys say... Americans are an industrious people, we take the fewest vacations and work the many hours... almost to a point to where its a detriment to our health.
Thanks for the calling me on that guys
Oh, BTW thats quite an interesting theory about Bush's spending Adam, I hadn't looked at it from that angle before. Yeah and I'm on your small government bandwagon too, the only areas I think the federal goverment should be in is: defence, security, courts, and civil law. I think all the rest of the responsabilities should be passed to states or privatized.
-
Ok here we go!
Now, when you say you like or dislike a president in the US… you aren’t really able to point to just one ‘person’. The presidency is also about political policy and their administration.
The job of a president can be broken down to the following areas:
Foreign Policy
World Diplomacy
War on Terrorism
Economic Policy
Taxes
Jobs
Deficit - Budget
Domestic Policy
Social Security
Medicare
Education
Environmental
Security
Homeland
Agencies
Military
Leadership
Moral/Ethics
So I’ll just go through these one by one
Foreign Policy – World Diplomacy
To be honest, I don’t Bush is doing to well in this area. What we are doing right now points to that fact. There aren’t many people outside the US who like this administration. I think that is attributed to:
1) Not caving to the demands of foreign countries
2) Doing what he thinks would be in the best interest for the US (not the UN)
3) His personality is that of a Texan ‘cowboy’ who is bucking the system
Prior to the September 11th attacks, I don’t think he had this problem. But after his “you are with us, or you are against us” speech, I think this turned off many of our ‘allies’. So, right now we are really finding out who is our friend and who was just posing as our friend. Britan (whether you Brits like it or not) reaffirmed their bond, while some others (France, Germany) pulled back. At this level, I view world politics as a pissing match. Frankly I think people are just tired of the US always winning. So, how do I think Bush could improve on the stage of world diplomacy better? I don’t think he should change any of his actions, but I do think he should attempt to reach out to not just world leaders to explain his ideology, but also explain to the people of the world, why we do what we do.
If you would like to debate certain issues like the Kyoto (which Russia just also rejected BTW), International Courts, Missile Defense program, Trade Tariffs, US/UN problems… I’ll try to clarify Bushes position. But, believe me – we are doing what we are doing for a reason. It isn’t just to piss off the entire world. Allot of those issues point back to the most basis of philosophy like human nature, and the roles of government in society. I do believe we fundamentally all want the same things… we just have different ideas on how to get there.
Grade: B
War on Terrorism – World Diplomacy
I do believe this is an area in which the Bush is the strongest. There are some relevant facts:
1) There are people out there who want to destroy western civilization (especially the US)
2) You cannot reason with them
I do believe that we are in a more dangerous position now in the world with the emerging threats of terrorism than at any point in our history as a human race. This is more dangerous that the threat of ‘THE’ nuclear war at the height of the ‘cold war’. The main thing is that we as a civilized world are facing a people with the capabilities to acquire weapons that could cause serious damage. That could be in a form of a ‘dirty bomb’, a ‘chemical weapon’, or a ‘biological weapon’. In the cold war it was at least two rational enemies. Right now, we are fighting an irrational enemy.
Our initial strike against the Taliban was successful. Many of the terrorist camps were taken out, and on the plus side we liberated and are setting up democracy in an oppressed society. Is the rebuilding process as fast as we would like? No. Is it as stable of a region as we would like? No. I’m sure we all would like it to be a perfect country the instant the war is over… But these things take time. Could we as the world community put more effort into it? Yes. But, the world isn’t. The US isn’t getting much help. Why? Because I do believe that the world wants the US to fail to justify their reasons for not helping and protesting the US foreign policies. If we fail then the world can say “see I told you so”. This theory isn’t just for Afghanistan, but also for Iraq.
Ok, so Iraq! I do believe Bush did the right thing. How many UN resolutions did Iraq fail to meet? ( http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/11/08/...ain528675.shtml )How easy would it have been to stop giving UN inspectors the run around and let them do their job? How easy would it have been for Iraq to simply write up a report of their current weapon status? Why did they expel the inspectors? Why wouldn’t the UN enforce their resolutions the first time they were imposed? There were many steps that lead to the US invasion of Iraq. The problems leading up to the invasion of Iraq didn’t happen in just 6 months.
Was invading Iraq the right thing to do? With the information we had in our possession I do believe so. Am I disappointed that we haven’t found more weapons of mass destruction (because they have found some, just not the huge stashes they expected)? Yes, I am. Does this mean that we won’t find their weapons of mass destruction in the future? No. Even if Sadam destroyed the weapons of mass destruction, was the liberation of the Iraq people worth it? I do believe so.
I’m frankly tired of people being so short sighted. This ‘war on terrorism’ isn’t a war that will be solved in 6 months, a year, 2 years, it could last for a decade maybe a score. That remains to be seen.
Grade: A-
Taxes – Economic Policy
I think Bush did the right thing with his tax cut. If fact, some say we are just now starting to see the fruits of that act. I am actually quite surprised that it happened so early. Any economic policy that is enacted by a president in the US, usually takes 4 years to have any effect positive or negative. Tax refunds in the US have always had a benefit. Presidents have done it in the past, such as JFK and Regan. Bush’s tax cuts to the wealthy are blown way out of proportion. At the time I was working during the time the tax cut was given. I was receiving $18 an hour. This, after taxes, as a single male gave me an annual income of about $18,000 a year with the hours I was working. Hardly enough to be considered ‘wealthy’ class, at least in what I call ‘wealthy’. However, I received the largest tax refund possible from that tax break. It was only $400, and that was less than a weeks worth of salary. There were people who made less money that received the same $400. The main portion of the tax cut was targeted to the ‘lower class’, because we in the lower class are the only ones dumb enough to put the money back into the economy. If the upper class got the money they would usually invest it in some form (real-estate, business, stocks, bonds). But, that two would have a good effect, just not as quick – “trickle down economics”. What tax cuts do is get the money out of the grubs of the government and back to the people, which have a much better track record of handling finances.
Grade: A-
Jobs – Economic Policy
I really don’t have anything good or bad to say about Bush and his policies in this area. Jobs are down since the Clinton years, but I attribute that more to the US economy than any policies or lack of policies that Bush made. The economy was on the way down before Bush even got into office so I can’t blame the lack of jobs on him either. The economic hit of Sept. 11th and the war on terrorism didn’t help the economy much either. I am disappointed at all the US jobs going oversees, but I blame that more on Americans poor work ethic and their lack of ambition to do any hard labor.
Grade: B
Deficit/Budget – Economic Policy
I think this is probably my biggest gripe against Bush. I hate government spending, especially because the government is so wasteful with it. I don’t like the fact that our perceived government profits from the Clinton years are now gone (who likes to see red?). I don’t like all the social programs that Bush is OKing that are very “Democrat Looking”. This doesn’t mean I hate old people, kids, and unemployed workers – it just means that I think there are better ways of solving the problems instead of just continually feeding money into programs. One plus side to Bush’s democratic social issues is that he is taking the issues away from the Democrats so we won’t have to hear them continually whine about how the republicans “blocked this” or “blocked that”. They had 8 years to get something done and complained when it didn’t happen. Now, they have nothing to complain about, and now they have the appearance of ‘blocking’ the issues.
Grade: C-
Social Security – Domestic Issues
I really don’t have much to say on this issue. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the program, it’s basically a government retirement program. I have realized that I won’t get anything from this program (baby boomers will suck it dry) and I shouldn’t depend on the government for my long term care after retirement. I could do it more effectively on my own if I saved money myself. I think Bush and the Congress have to great of a rift to settle this issue. Bush wants to privatize is and the Democrats in congress just want to feed it more money.
Grade: B
Healthcare/Medicare – Domestic Issues
Again, I really don’t have much to say about this, it’s not really relevant to me. Medicare is a government health care plan for old people. I think the US has serious problems with heath care. But, I view that more as a problem of the gluttony of the pharmaceutical industry and retarded lawsuits that people are doing against insurance companies and doctors. Again, I think Bush and Congress are at to great of odds to solve this problem. We need a heavy republican majority to fix this – Bush can’t do it alone.
Grade: B
Education – Domestic Issues
Personally I don’t think this should even be a federal issue, but rather a state issue. I do believe that Bush’s testing standards are good though. It gives some accountability to the public schools and to the teachers. I also like his stance on school vouchers so students if they desired wanted to get out of a failing public school could target their money to a private school.
Grade: B+
Environment – Domestic Issues
I think we are doing just fine with this issue. Just so you know, I’m not a tree hugger. I am however a farmer. Farmers were the environmentalists. You cannot dump toxic chemicals, allow soil erosion, and have poor farming techniques. If you do, you pay for it in terms of yields. The lumber and oil industry is the same way. The trick is to balance jobs/industry/economy with the environment. You have to be responsible. If you go to far with one you hurt the other. I think Bush views this the same way, and I believe his policies so far enforce that. I like Bush’s plans for clean coal, and they encouragement for hydro fuel cells in automobiles. I do with he would lift the ban for testing for oil at ANWR. I’m not saying to drill there yet, but I would at least like us to know what is up there.
Grade: B+
Homeland – Security
I think Bush is doing a fair job in this area. I think the war on terrorism was the best defense we could do for the security of the homeland. I’d rather fight a war against terrorists on Iraqis soil than the US soil. Of course I’m frustrated like everyone else when it comes to airport security. I do think they are doing a good job, just because we haven’t heard much about threats lately. The less we hear the better it is. Who knows how much stuff they have countered that we haven’t heard about? As far as the patriot act goes… I have absolutely no problems with it at its current state. Civil Liberties vs. Security is another one of those balancing acts. Have my civil liberties been infringed upon since it was enacted? I haven’t noticed one single thing. I don’t find the government any more offensive than the daily barrage of spammers and telemarketers building up files on me. Do I feel that the changes in civil liberties are appropriate for the given situation? Yes I think its helping more than its hurting.
Grade: B+
Agencies – Security
Even though Bush does not have a direct hand in this, I am very pleased with the improvements that the Bush administration has made in this area. There is now more teamwork between agencies (FBI, CIA, ATF, Border Patrol, etc…). They now have funding and tools they used to have before Clinton handicapped them. The patriot act also gave them a boost in their ability to find possible problems and monitor them.
Grade: A-
Military – Security
I am also very pleased in this area. The Bush administration has improved wages and conditions for many of the soldiers. They have assured them that they will give them the best tools they can to do their job – greater funding. The moral of our armed forces is way up. I like the changes that Rumsfield is making in the arms. He is working for a transition from powerful coldwar arms to small, tactical, surgical strike forces. I think the war in Iraq is a good example of how good our military is doing. Is it perfect? No, no war is perfect – never will be (part of the definition of what war is).
Grade: A
Leadership
I’m half and half on this issue. I think he is doing a great job in terms of leadership with the people of the US and the world leaders. He isn’t doing so great with the US government and the people of the world (but then again, that’s not really in his job description). I think he does a great job with connecting to the people of the US – this is typical for most presidents though. I think he does do well with communication with world leaders. I don’t think he is doing a very good job with congress, he lets those democrats (in the minority) work around issues such as judge nominations, judicial rulings, he also takes to long to get is side of the story out to the media. Overall though I think he is doing a good job.
Grade: B+
Morals/Ethics
I think Bush is very strong in this area – but this is a totally individual basis. I’m glad he signed the bill to ban partial birth abortion, I’m glad he is pushing for federal funding to help out religious social programs. I’m also glad he does not support gay marriages. I’m just happy to see someone in office who makes decisions that are based on his own moral foundations and what he views is best for the US, and not on the whims and wishes of the polls or media. I’m very glad for his honesty and the higher level of class that has been brought to the DC area since he attained office after the scandalous Clinton years.
Grade: A
--------------------------------------------------------------------Ok, now.. I will attempt to answer some of the questions, and a few random comments:
for me (personally) he's just a puppet whose strings are pulled by the people behind him. seems like all the friends of his father (Bush Sr.) gather round him and push him in the direction they want.Must be the presentation you get from your media. That is not the information we receive here in the states from credible media (occasionally we get this impression from comic satire like SNL and comics).
and just to look at his cabinet ... i picked two ppl in Bush Jr's immediate surrounding:Bush purposely drew leaders from the previous republican admistrations. Why? Because they were qualified AND experienced. Bush’s goal was to surround himself with the best and the brightest, which is what every good leader does – its what I try to do here at WFG. True Cheney has connection to big business, but does that make him unqualified for office? If he did any illegal activity, he wouldn’t be in office. If this is the closest thing that critics of the bush administration can come up with for a scandal, then I’m not worried in the slightest. Look at the Clinton administration! In case you haven’t noticed, success isn’t frowned upon in America. I’ll leave it at that before I start on a rant
About Rumsfeld and chemical weapons – how does the saying go? Hindsight is 20/20 my friend.one thing i don't understand - it's that blind loyality to the president. don't you ever question the things he does ? or are you constantly brainwashed by the media ?is the media in the U.S. reporting at all on the daily deaths in Iraq ? What about the wounded that return home? Is there any coverage on that ?
Blind loyalty? No, I wouldn’t call it that, look at my post above. Media bias? That’s another big topic. I’d guess you could say it is doing a pretty good job, because every night I watch the network news I complain about the same thing, except I think it has a libral twist. Every night we get our daily reports of what US soldiers died and where, and how… we rarely ever hear about all the positive progress that is being made with the rebuilding of the country that is constantly going on.
The only things that are revealed is that he makes many childish mistakes regarding his intellectual abilities. We also know he doesn't write his speaches himself. But I have to admit Bush isn't the first one in this case. But there are enough proves to show Bush is not an intellectual person.This is quite embarrassing… he has done it, and probably always will do it. Its just that way with some people. I do it all the time, especially when I’m talking to an attractive girl
I believe his words don’t accurately reflect his thoughts. I guess we’ll have to wait for his autobiography to come out in 10 years before we know. I think what bush doesn’t have in intelligence he makes up for with his great management skills. Again, this goes back to surrounding yourself with the best and the brightest.Just look at what's happening internationally. More and more there are quarels between Europe and the US, more and more people come on the streets. You can't ignore these things, you can't ignore the simple facts that there is again more and more hatred. And we all know when that turning point was. Not 9/11, it was when Bush became president (eg. Kyoto, International Court and the space defence system, all pre 9/11 diplomatic problems).Ah... the mobs in Europe
You guys like to mob don’t you. I think the hatred that is now shown towards America is because of a lack of information. They don’t know the facts behind the American policies; they are just fed from the hand of the media. Not just out of America either… most Americans are ignorant of they ‘why’ behind Bush. I don’t think your right Klaas, but then again, I don’t live outside of America. I don’t think there was a hatred towards Bush till after 9/11, you could probably even bump that back farther to this time last year. People may have been disappointed, but not hatred? But, then again, I don’t know from this side of the ocean, so you would have to tell me.Another fact is that the deregulation of energy markets in fact cost the american consumer MORE money than it should help them save. i think i won't have to remind you of the constant brown-outs in California back then ?The rolling black and brown outs were a direct connection to the policies of the governor of California – Gray Davis and his government in Sacramento.
i'm merely wanting to make you aware that there is a game being played behind closed doors that gives a sh%$ about your personal freedom (say hello to the Patriot Act) and only furthers the liberties for those in power to remain there.The patriot act isn’t behind ‘closed doors’ in America. I probably hear commentary or a reference to it 2+ times a week on radio and television.
yeah - but why is that? is it because Bush & Co tried to convince you that Saddam was behind 9/11? or that Saddam had ties w/ Al Quaida ? that Al Quaida got WoMD from Saddam ?That is such a cliché comment. Bush never once said that Saddam was directly behind the 9/11 attacks. We all know that was Al Quaida. The jury is still out on if Saddam was linked in some way. The objective behind the invasion of Iraq was to enforce the UN resolutions that the UN wouldn’t enforce. A side benefit was that a maniacal dictatorship was removed. Again, this isn’t something new, its something we all knew. Here is a nice little speech you could read: - and no, its not Bush
'Saddam will use these weapons again'The international community had good reason to set this requirement. Other countries possess weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles. With Saddam, there is one big difference: He has used them. Not once, but repeatedly: Unleashing chemical weapons against Iranian troops during a decade-long war, not only against soldiers, but against civilians; firing Scud missiles at the citizens of Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Iran; and not only against a foreign enemy, but even against his own people, gassing Kurdish civilians in Northern Iraq.
The international community had little doubt then, and I have no doubt today, that left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will use these terrible weapons again.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/crisis_i...ipts/236858.stm
Do you think things just ‘magically’ got better after that speech was made without any UN inspectors, with nobody to hold Saddam accountable? I don’t, maybe I’m just pessimistic.
I'd hate to say this, because I'm American, but most Americans distrust "intellectuals," hence, the popularity of Bush. Interesting, huh?Bush isn’t popular because he is stupid, Bush is ‘popular’ because the majority of Americans believe he is doing a good job as president.
CO, ever saw the images after one of the many attacks on US soldiers? I also see many Iraqis dancing around. The Iraqis never asked the US to free their country from Saddam.The media only shows you what they want you to see, whether it is good or bad. If they didn’t ask for help does that make it any better or worse that we lifted a regime off of a peoples shoulders who didn’t know there was any other alternative?
And not for oil and influence in the region.Oil? I am continually amazed at the people who still think we went in there for oil. I won’t believe it till we actually get some oil out of Iraq, and neither should you. Its pure speculation till it happens. Just because that’s what countries would have done in the past, doesn’t mean the US will do it now. Influence, now there is something we can agree on. I don’t think influence in that region is a bad thing. Did you know that any country with a mcdonalds in it has never gone to war with another country with mcdonalds in it? That’s because democracies don’t attack democracies. If we could plant the seed of democracy in the region, I believe that the wheat seed of democracy will choke out the weed of terrorism. The rest of the world moved on from dictatorships, its high time the Mid east did too.
And btw, why not North-Korea? Isn't that country a bigger threat than Iraq was.Who says we aren’t going to go there
Actually I think the Bush administration believe that the North Koreans are either 1) capable of bargaining or 2) to volatile at this moment to risk an attack that would wipe S. Korea off the map.Or why not many of the African nations? Aren't people there suffering a lot more than the Iraqis did?That’s one of the reasons bush set up a bill for AID help in Africa. In fact he is getting allot of flack this last week for helping African aids victims, but not American aids victims. Also Africa is not a thread to American security.
As far as Bush is concerned, I think he acts on the feelings of the public too much.Actually its quite the contrary.
If the war was so important, then why did it take a decade to start it? Why couldn't it wait until the UN passed it. That would also have made the war legal, which right now it isn't.The only reason this war had to be fought again was because of the negligence on the part of the UN. The UN proved itself to be an ineffectual body. It continues to do so to this day, and it always will do so until it starts enforcing its own resolutions. The invasion of Iraq is legal under referendum 1441, 678, and 687. This was supported by Bush administration lawyers, Britain’s attorney general and Australia’s attorney general. You want to read more about it, read here: http://www.hrcr.org/hottopics/Iraq.html
I think Afghanistan also deserves some recognition here. After bombing the country back to the stoneage, the military failed to find Osama. On top of that, it's not like the country is doing any better now than before the war. Rebuilding is the key.Not better than before? What are you basing that statement on? Could it be better? Yes. I’m disappointed we haven’t found Osama, but there is no doubt that he was/is severely set back. The more time he spends hiding the less time he has to plan attacks.
Anyone noticed how, when the Afghanistan war was over, the Iraqi war was almost being scheduled already? Whatever happened to finishing what you started?The war in Iraq never would have happened if Sadam would have complied to the demands made on him by the UN.
There is an extreme amount of anti-right media around right now, and when the next democratic president is elected, it will turn around.I don’t know… I think the media has been pretty consistent in their liberal bias. However, I do think they are moving more towards the middle now that they have a news channel to keep them accountable – Fox News.
I do not believe that Bush lied when he said that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. I believe that they did, and whether or not they still have them, I don't know.Ah that’s a refreshing comment! Bush and the administration were doing the best they could with the info they had from American and British intelligence. Saddam wasn’t giving anyone any reason to believe that he didn’t have any weapons. The barraged the UN with thousands of pages of false documents, they were constantly impeding inspectors, and their media of information was making threats of chemical and biological attacks if we invaded.
n fact, I loath (perhaps to strong of a word) the Democratic party here in America, which feeds on anti-bush rhetoric because it can no longer grow its own food, its own unique policies.Yeah its pretty sad isn’t it… if they don’t fix this situation, they won’t have a prayer.
But I realize that even if he did lie about certain things to get us into Iraq, it's in the interests of the USA to go there. And that's the job of the President of the United States. He's not Kofi Annan, he's not the President of the World. He's the president of a large faction and another large faction directly opposes us and threatens us both economically and defensively.Good point, I alluded to that above somewhere
When it all comes down to it, I think we all as humans want the same thing. We just have different ideas of how to get there. Don’t hate someone just for that.
Ok, I’ll stop now… you see this is why I don’t post on stuff like this! I get carried away, I could write papers on this stuff man
This right here is 11 pages in word Think of how many textures I could have made!
-
Ok, I'll do it after I have a meeting with the texture guys
-
Discussion seems one sided at the moment. Would you all like to hear the conservative american's viewpoint on Bush? If so, I'll spend an hour or two and type something up. If not, I won't waste my time.
-
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/01/internat...&partner=GOOGLE
For the Iraqis, a Missile Deal That Went Sour
By DAVID E. SANGER and THOM SHANKER
Published: December 1, 2003
WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 — It was Saddam Hussein's last weapons deal — and it did not go exactly as he and his generals had imagined.
For two years before the American invasion of Iraq, Mr. Hussein's sons, generals and front companies were engaged in lengthy negotiations with North Korea, according to computer files discovered by international inspectors and the accounts of Bush administration officials.
The officials now say they believe that those negotiations — mostly conducted in neighboring Syria, apparently with the knowledge of the Syrian government — were not merely to buy a few North Korean missiles.
Instead, the goal was to obtain a full production line to manufacture, under an Iraqi flag, the North Korean missile system, which would be capable of hitting American allies and bases around the region, according to the Bush administration officials.
As war with the United States approached, though, the Iraqi files show that Mr. Hussein discovered what American officials say they have known for nearly a decade now: that Kim Jong Il, the North Korean leader, is less than a fully reliable negotiating partner.
In return for a $10 million down payment, Mr. Hussein appears to have gotten nothing.
The trail that investigators have uncovered, partly from reading computer hard drives found in Baghdad and partly from interviews with captured members of Mr. Hussein's inner circle, shows that a month before the American invasion, Iraqi officials traveled to Syria to demand that North Korea refund $1.9 million because it had failed to meet deadlines for delivering its first shipment of goods.
North Korea deflected the request, telling Mr. Hussein's representatives, in the words of one investigator, that "things were too hot" to begin delivering missile technology through Syria.
The transaction provides an interesting glimpse into the last days of the Hussein government, and what administration officials say were Iraq's desires for a long-term business deal for missiles and a missile production plant.
Bush administration officials have seized on the attempted purchase of the missiles, known as the Rodong, and a missile assembly line to buttress their case that Mr. Hussein was violating United Nations resolutions, which clearly prohibited missiles of the range of the Rodong.
It also establishes that Syria was a major arms-trading bazaar for the Hussein government, in this case hiding an Iraqi effort to obtain missiles, they say. Investigators say Syria had probably offered its ports and territory as the surreptitious transit route for the North Korea-Iraq missile deal, although it remains unclear what demands the government in Damascus might have made in return. Further, according to United States government officials and international investigators, the Iraqi official who brokered the deal, Munir Awad, is now in Syria, apparently living under government protection.
If it served as a middleman in this deal, as the documents suggest, Syria was acting in violation of Security Council resolutions even as it served on the Council and voted with the United States on the most important resolution before the war.
In an interview in Damascus on Sunday with The New York Times, Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, was asked about the deal described in the Iraqi computer files and said, "This is the first time I have heard this story."
He said Mr. Hussein "was never able to trust Syria, and he never tried and we never tried to make any relation between him and any other country because he did not trust us in the first place." For all its complaints about arms smuggling across the Syrian-Iraq border, Mr. Assad said, the United States had never cited specific cases, adding, "I told the Americans if you have any evidence that there is smuggling of weapons into Iraq, please let us know."
International inspectors note that the missile deal gone bad appears to be the most serious violation that has been found so far.
For the rest of the article read here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/01/internat...&partner=GOOGLE
-
*hates calculas with a passion*
Actually I'm in the last 2 weeks I'll ever have to take of it for the rest of my life (I hope)... it was a long journey (4 quarters) from epsilon delta proofs to vector field line integrals.
*does the dance of joy*
If anyone is doing calc right now, you have my deepest sympathies. But, I have heard there are a few people out there who do actually enjoy it!
This might help too:
-
-
Yeah sorry, our new 0 A.D. page doesn't have many of our old artwork up because practically none of it will be used in the game. We initially planned to do a 2D/3D hybrid game engine, but now we are going full 3D. So lots of our old work now goes in the circular file.
I found our old news page here:
http://wildfiregames.com/0ad/nphp/archive.txt
You can see some more of a few of the old renderings. If you pick one you like, I could search my HD for the max file and show you a wire view of it - if I still have it. 'hi-poly' means anything that doesn't fit in a low poly game
So, for buildings that would mean over 500 polys. Those buildings probably ranged from 2,000 to 25,000 polys. Way to many for a real-time 3D game. -
No, George Bush is just an idiot. He's probally the dumbest person ever to live in the white house.
chichigrande,
To echo Tim's comments... If your going to make such a statement or a personal attack on anyone - president or not... please back your statements up with an arguement like Tonto_Icy_Tripod. WFG does not look kindly apon unintelligent slander.
-
ah... muchos betteros liste!
From the list above I would have to vote Ashley Judd
-
Benji, is the first one I remember seeing in a theatre... We did see some at a drive in theatre, the oldest in that type of theatre was a double feature of "Honey I Shrunk The Kids" and also, Jungle Book!
-
-
yeah but it never changed
-
I want to watch the lions eat people in the Colessum.
Help Converting Biped Animation
in Computer Desk
Posted
Hmm, Ex...
I'm not really sure what you guys have going. I'm sure you probably know all this, but CS is a system for animating humanoids. Biped is like... a quick... boning tool for these humanoid charecters. The .bip is a special format that is only recognized if you have the CS plugin. It contains all the rotational, scaling, and translational data for the skeliton.
Now your maxscript tool that you made... I don't have a clue how its working. I don't even know if your animations are bone or vertex based. I have a feeling that it sounds like just need your scripts modified so that they can use the animations you created with the CS plugin.
We are using premade exporting tools (from a FPS game) and then taking that data and importing and exporting it from a tool that Poya made.
lol I don't think I helped you much. If I knew more, I might be able to help more