AK_Thug AMish
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Posts posted by AK_Thug AMish
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I've read that in the banlieus around Paris there is a big problem with Muslim immigrants (I don't want to say the people are problems, more so the situation). For example, the full weight of Islamic law could go down on a woman who was raped. I suppose the problem can be traced back to religious fundamentalism.
Surely the Europeans can withdraw their support from social programs that they do not agree with? I'm no expert on EU politics, but it seems to me that there is an increasingly large extreme-right political reaction, especially to immigration (which is bordering-racist), while in the US the right isn't quite as extreme, but much more mainstream.
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klubbingman - welcome to the club (mat silver remix)
via Digitally Imported
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Sunday Bloody Sunday - U2
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They basically fast forwarded through most of the beginning of Alexander's conquests, straight to Gaugamela. The pace of the movie was pretty slow.
But then again, one could make a 10-movie series on Alexander
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More Than a Feeling - Boston
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Blue Monday - New Order
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Theories like Relativity may not have seemed useful at the time, but today many things such as satellites depend on it to communicate back to earth. Useful, practical application follows theory.
Adequately funded scientific programs, whether it be public or private, is crucial for any social advance.
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If budget cuts are going to be made anywhere, it should be in the military. The US is maintaining a Cold War era military size, even though the USSR is long gone. I am somewhat happy to see that people don't seem so united against NASA funding any more
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I think Science and space exploration are examples of mankind's inherent need for exploration. Although the benefits of space exploration are not immediately obvious, I believe they are fulfilling at a very deep level, i.e. the top level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs "Self-actualization".
Plus, there are many more mundane benefits from a space program that perhaps you were unaware of. Here is a snippit from the above site:
Out of a $2.4 trillion budget, less than 0.8% is spent on the entire space program! That's less than 1 penny for every dollar spent. The average American spends more of their budget on their cable bill, eating out or entertainment than this yet the benefits of space flight are remarkable. It has been conservatively estimated by U.S. space experts that for every dollar the U.S. spends on R and D in the space program, it receives $7 back in the form of corporate and personal income taxes from increased jobs and economic growth. Besides the obvious jobs created in the aerospace industry, thousands more are created by many other companies applying NASA technology in nonspace related areas that affect us daily. One cannot even begin to place a dollar value on the lives saved and improved lifestyles of the less fortunate. Space technology benefits everyone and a rising technological tide does raise all boats. -
Life of Brian is my personally favorite Python film...
There are many people (like myself a few years ago) who think Holy Grail is all Python has to offer. This is not true! Life of Brian is much better (it actually has a message), Meaning of Life is so-so, and the Flying Circus series is excellent.
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I watched 'Attack of the Giant Slugs' from Mystery Science Theatre 3000.
If you like extremely horrible movies, that was the show to watch
I've heard 'Manos Hands of Fate' is the absolute worst film of all, but I haven't had the pleasure to see it myself yet...
It seems the film is actually "Manos" the Hands of Fate
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Jeopardy - Greg Kinh Band
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School, Rome: Total War, go for a run, eat, sleep.
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I'm no big fan of Bush, but I do not believe this is entirely his fault. Hubble was supposed to go down long ago, IIRC. Hubble is, despite a rocky start, one of the few really big successes for NASA. It does require many missions to maintain itself. We can't keep it forever
One gripe I do have about Bush's NASA strategy is his focus. He has increased NASA's overall budget, but manned spaceflight is now the main mission (his SOTU last year?). I feel that manned spaceflight is too flashy, expensive, and wholly unnecessary since we can send cheaper robots to do the same things.
Plus, the local NASA research lab (Glenn Research Facility in Cleveland) is getting its budget cut, since they generally research airplane engines. The first A in NASA is Aeronautics, after all...
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I was really disappointed with this film, maybe because my expectations were high. I just thought the potential was there for many battles, but there were only a few.
Some battles I would have liked to have seen include the reunification of Greece (with Phillip II, who was downplayed as a general), the battle of the Granicus River, and the siege of Tyre (they really could have gone all out on that). I'm sure there are more interesting battles too.
I also thought the plot was extremely confusing. Had I not watched the Alexander special on Discovery channel before, which I thought was more interesting, I would have been completely lost.
Overall I thought this movie dragged on way too long. It had its moments, but could have been much more.
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4.2 right now, but only because I've learned how to exploit the GPA system at my school. I have, though, had (or earned) several B's over the years.
If I graduated last year, I would have been 1 of ~16 valedictorians. But, alas, they changed the system this year so there is only one. Bof.
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Evil Empire-
Without a Face [album version]
Rage Against the Machine
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I find the SAT completely worthless, and I'm glad I got my goal scores the first time I tried the test. I would hate to waste another three hours of my life sitting in a classroom on a Saturday filling in bubbles. Good luck to anyone taking the new one this year--that must suck
On NPR's 'Fresh Air' yesterday they had some guy (I completely forget his name) who talked the whole time about marijauna. He did say life was better straight, but sometimes one can hear the strangest stuff on 89.7!
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Yay my book came in
Anyways, I'll just post some observations tonight that aren't mine . I hate to just copy and paste, but I'm really tired right now from a hard run. Anyways, this essay was written by George Orwell, titled 'A Hanging': A HangingFrom my book, The Death Penalty: a Debate
The burden of proof must be on him to show that a punishment so grave and so irrevocable should be retained. The factors that argue so powerfully against CP in this country have been suggested by the great legal philospher H. L. A. Hart, and I will restate them here as follows:1. To take any life is to impose suffering not only on the criminal but also on many others. That is an evil to be justified only if some good end is achieved thereby that could not be achieved by any other means.
2. Although the danger is small, the death penalty cannot be expunged if it is discovered that an innocent man has been executed. This possibility is an intolerable risk.
3. The nature of the death penalty distorts teh entire criminal justice system. Trials become interminable and in spite of all precautions, elaborate appellate processes preoccupy the courts at vast expense not only of money but also of public confidence in the judicial process. The inevitable protracted waiting for death mocks the fundamental purpose of justice, the swift and sure imposition of the penalty for a crime. The procedures of American justice require inordinate delays in the punishment of any criminal, but where the death penalty is demanded, the delay is interminable.
Death Penalty Information Center- I just stumbled upon this sight, and found some interesting facts on their 'fact sheet':
Persons Executed for Interracial Murders:White def./ Black victim- 12
Black def./ White Victim- 192
(Since 1976?)
Since 1973, over 100 people have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence.
As of Oct. 2004, there are 72 people on death row sentenced as a juveniles, 2% of total death row population. 38% of those are in Texas.
So it seems that the government can send me to war, prevent me from drinking alcohal, and execute me. Seems a little inconsistent.
<-using this emoticon too much. -
I listen to NPR on my drive to school and home (about 20-30 minutes total) every day
Shame on those other 16% !
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First, let me add that I wasn't trying to say that CP (as it's now being called) is the same issue, or similar to, euthanasia or abortion. I was just noting that they all deal with social morality of death that is non-existant today.
With the legal system, it is important to remember that DNA evidence has not been around long (~20 years?), and even fingerprinting was not used a century ago. Who knows what type of evidence overlooked today could unlock a cold case? If you imprison a convicted criminal for life, then with new evidence you could at least release the guy. There are also cases where a legally insane person is given capital punishment, which I find wrong.
Obviously, there are cases where the defendant is guilty beyond any doubt. But does it do any good to end their life anyways? As I hinted at in my opening post, I believe that most murders are committed without any concern over the death penalty. Either the criminal a) is a messed-up individual who would not care (like many serial killers),
commits a crime of passion or some other type of murder w/o any thought, or c) plans on not getting caught in the first place.I'll add more when I pick up my book at the library tomorrow.
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The next debate at my school deals with the death penalty. Last summer I read a great book titled The death penalty : a debate by Van de Haag and Conrad. Since that was awhile ago, I figured I need to refresh my stance with some good old-fashion debate
Here are some key points to focus on:Morality
-Does capital punishment violate moral standards of a civilized society? If one innocent man is killed, is it still worth it? or,
-It is perfectly acceptable to kill a man who has murdered many other people. The deterrence for other crimes is worth the price if an innocent man is killed.
Deterrence
-Does capital punishment deter other criminals from murdering? Is it used frequently enough to be effective? or,
-It is only a myth that it does; insane people, crimes of passion, etc occur whether or not capital punishment exists in that area.
Cost
-Are the endless appeals worth the cost, even if capital punishment is effective? or,
-We should streamline the system!
There are many facets to this issue. I think the US (and the world to a degree) is still in the process of developing a consistant philosphy/morality of death. Things like euthanasia, abortion, and capital punishment are all fiercely contested today. Those are topics for other threads though.
IIRC, capital punishment is abolished in the EU, and most other countries for that matter. For you people, just pretend that you have capital punishment in your country.
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I have been looking into social security a bit more: here is one article that presents a viewpoint opposite Bush, Social Security: Bush's Lies vs. Reality
(yeah I know it's biased, there is some discussion on this thread)
Some problems, like increasing life expectancy, can be easily changed by raising the retiring age. Other problems, like the income discrepancy, are deeper. There is a cap on taxable income for social security at $90,000. So if I'm LeBron and rake in $50 mil (I don't know exactly what he makes but it's ridiculous) I only pay SS on the first $90,000, which may be like .0001% or something, while most of us pay ~8% (I believe). Sorry about the hyperbole
Maybe raising the limit would be a good idea. To me it seems that privatizing SS would be really expensive (some say $1-$2 trillion) and it seems too risky, since one would need to take out riskier investments if they want to have a decent nest egg.
Today I put $1,000 I earned this summer into a Roth IRA, which hopefully will acrue a billion non-taxable dollars when I am 59.5 years old.
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The war in Iraq ended up weakening our position in the 'War on Terror'. There were no links between Sadam and al-quaeda, no weapons of mass-distruction, no support for international terrorism, and no threat to the US. And just in case anybody forgot: Osama is still at large. I feel that in the context of the 'War on Terror', Iraq is just a distraction. Humanitarian mission, maybe; but Sadam was isolated and weak, no threat to the US.
Perhaps the greatest consequence of the war was the drift from our allies. Even 'Don't forget' Poland is having doubts about the pretext for war. Whether we like it or not, we are going to need the assistance of every free nation if we want any chance of stopping terrorism at the core (which will take more than nuclear bunker-busting bombs as Rumsfeld seems to believe)
Just because there were few attacks on election day doesn't mean the terrorists (insurgents, freedom fighters, whatever you call them) have just given up.
Hannibal somewhat on track
in Arts and Entertainment
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IIRC only one elephant survived the trek!
Hannible was a brilliant general, they had some of his battles played out with the Rome: Total War engine on the History Channel. Wasn't it Cannae where he surrounded the Romans despite being outnumbered?