AK_Thug AMish
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Posts posted by AK_Thug AMish
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Can you fix my 'rating' of < 0 ( ) 3 > ?
I find this very odd
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There has been much news coming from the Middle East lately, although the news seems to be concentrating more on Bush's Scaretactics...
Anyways, I see things as bad right now. A couple tons of explosives have been stolen, soldiers are still dying, Brits are being moved to more dangerous areas, 50 Iraqi police recruits were just massacred, another attack on Falluja... All this just in Iraq!
In Saudi Arabia, there are elections, but women can neither vote nor participate in a public office. Women cannot even drive or work without permission from their family!
There were also elections in Afghanistan, but it's still our man Karzai, and opium crops are popping up all over the place, amung other things.
Iran also seems to be more dangerous than 4 years ago, in terms of nuclear weapons.
and finally... what about Palestine/Isreal?
Sure, this is a bit one-sided, but are things really going well in the Middle East? Sometimes I just think we have royally screwed up, not just in the past 4 years (although I seem to be alone in thinking Bush's war is enough of a reason to boot him, even forgetting his many other problems), but in the past 100 years.
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(1)Or maybe not everyone considers gay marriage a right! (1.25) Or maybe people think that somehow a kid raised by two parents of the same sex would be missing something vital in their upbringing! (1.5) Or maybe people think homosexuality is not moral- and good for them- in America, you can vote for people no matter what they think and how crazy and stupid and wrong (or right) they are.
(2) Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (which back in the day, had a slightly different meaning. Locke always said "pursuit of property", but they decided to broaden it just a bit, for better or for worse). What if rights conflict though? What if I wanted to kill someone because my life would be easier if they were dead? I have a right to the pursuit of happiness, but they have a right to life. Which is more important? People can say what ever they want but thousands of actions everyday say it louder.
(3)Gun laws do little to help a society in which seventy percent of criminals obtain their guns illegally in the first place.
Sorry to bring this back on topic of the US constitution
(1)- gay marriage isn't about rights, as much as equal treatment. No one is really entitled to marriage I suppose... It's a strictly religious thing and should remain such. What is bad about civil unions for everyone? Why do we NOT do that
(1.25)- what do adopted kids miss out on? Loving, caring parents that will take care of them? Why is a diversity of sexual organs now a requirement for raising children?
(1,5) I believe this comment is over the line. Homosexuality is clearly not a choice, and it is about time for people to stop looking down at them for being who they are. Why would anyone choose to be gay in the homo-phobic society anyways? When someone says it's a choice, I always ask: Can you be gay? It's not a choice I can make, or anyone for that matter.
(2) at its most basic form, government's purpose is to make everyone's life better. I think you have just discovered one reason why Randian philosophy is rubish
(3) what is your solution, abolish all gun laws because they don't work? I think your statistics (not really important anyways), wherever you got them, point to the fact that government regulations and enforcement should be increased, not the other way around.
Sorry, but gay marriage is a issue that is really getting under my skin today. It's like America is way behind the rest of the (western) world...
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We (as in me and some friends) like to use connecting words such as "Nonetheless...", "Ergo...", Thus, Nevertheless, and other obscure ones, like 'whatnot' or 'vis à vis' (french words also sound good).
Adam is correct when you know what you're talking about. When you want to avoid a question, or just want to sound intelligent, use many of the above words
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I think the whole idea of citizens being able to 'rise up against the government' is an antiquated notion. Unless we, the citizenry, are able to legally aquire tanks, Apache attack helicopters, and other high tech weapons, I would think the government will have the upper hand in any people's revolution
Being able to have a tripod on that semi-automatic rifle isn't going to change much.There are other aspects of the gun control issue, though... I just don't believe that the 2nd Amendment really justifies completely unfettered gun ownership. We have free speech, but one cannot shout 'fire!' in a theater. The government should be able to regulate gun ownership, just like it regulates 'free' speech. I don't mind if a hunter has a gun (since that is necessary in Ohio, after we killed all the wolves
), but there is no reason why a criminal, or gasp, terrorist should have a gun. Anyone remember the Washington sniper? -
The whole constitutional amendment issue is really getting me angry. First of all, anyone who tells you that gay marriage is the most important issue (or let alone an important issue to begin with) has their priorities way off. The constitution is made to define the role of government, not to limit the rights of people.
If marriage is such a sacred thing (which I think it is not, but I let people hold onto their beliefs if they so choose), then why does the government control it? The govenment certainly shouldn't control baptisms or confirmations, so why religious marriages? If anything, we should abolish state 'marriage' and just have 'civil unions' for any partnership, with all the rights typical of marriage today. Then, the religious right will have their sacred marriage (no one is forcing a church to recognize any civil union), and the gay community can finally have legitimate relationships. This seems like too-simple a solution for our country, though
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Did you mean, "What role did Germany play in it?"
If so, it starts back with Otto von Bismark signing on Austria-Hungry and (later) Italy in the Triple Alliance. Then a few decades later, Germany sent the 'blank check' to Austria after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, and after that all of Europe descended into WWI.
I can also get into more detail about how Germany got America into the war later if you're interested
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I've been trying to use metric, but the celcius temperatures are just too weird for me to use. Farenheit is more useful I think, since the degrees are smaller (but definately not for physics).
Anyways, 50-70 is the best, especially in the fall, with no humidity, no bugs, and pretty foilage. Unfortunately fall just ended
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The whole seen when Team America was combatting the Film Actor's Guild was pretty funny, including the evil black housecat panthers
The songs are really the best part, from 'Everyone has AIDS!' (the musical lease, a play off rent if you didn't catch that) to my favorite 'And Pearl Harbor sucks... just a little more than I miss you.'
Team America, **** Yeah!
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On a different note, if you register with collegeboard.com, REMEMBER your password information... I didn't and had to go through a ton of junk to get it back when I wanted to send my scores to other schools.
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This whole contest has really made it dawn on me that there really aren't any truly great Canadians.
Don't worry, we still love our neighbors across the lake
And why isn't Pamala Anderson on that top 10 list? Isn't she Canadian?
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Well there is some sexual content...
I think the problem some critics have with it is that the film doesn't take a stance, they obviously make fun of 'team america' running around blowing things up without a worry (and then the world obviously getting ticked), but then they also ridicule the people trying to work for peace (the Film Actors Guild. The explanation of why team america does what it does at the end is priceless overview of neocon foreign policy, though
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You rated the Democratic stances 252. Democratic Platform
You rated the Green stances 266. Green Platform
You rated the Libertarian stances 127. Libertarian Platform.
You rated the Republican stances 215. Republican Platform.
Not too suprising.
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Private schools are generally $20,000 - $40,000 a year in total costs, before scholarships (compared with $15,000 - $25,000 for public schools out of state). Private universities are generally much better with financial aid though. I really don't like the state system in the US, since most of the state schools I'm applying to are out of state
It's a game unfortunately.@Klaas: most schools have an ID/debit card you can use at local shops, but no fantastic deals. Places like Case in Cleveland offer discounts to many cultural shows, but you still basically pay for everything like football games.
As far as the PSAT, I got some letter last week about being a 'commended scholar', something like the bottom half of the top 1% or something, not quite as good as Adam though. I took the SAT's once last year and got my goal score, and will probably take some SAT II's this year in physics/history/math or writing. So many tests!
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He is effectively another George Bush with a better grasp of english.
This is what you call a little bit of an exageration *wink*
(from the third debate haha)I disagree that Kerry=Bush, on just about every social issue from stem cell research to abortion and especially religion in gov't. I certainly do not care if a politition is Xian, I just think Bush is eroding the church/state wall...
I suppose the main problem, in america at least, is voter apathy. Especially in the youth, from my high-school observations. I definately do not care if people do not agree with me (if everyone did it wouldn't be very interesting)... but I do have problems with nobody taking these issues, like war, society, etc, seriously. That people care more about drinking and gambling (which I think is becoming a problem) than, more productive things I guess.
who knows where this country is going. -
I would disagree that Reagan was the 'best' president, even the past decades. His supply-side economics, rampant military spending, idea of 'star wars' that has lead to a $1 trillion waste of gov't money that doesn't even work, use of religion in politics... have lead this country in a bad direction.
Sure he was around for the end of the Cold War, but I would argue that the USSR was going down anyways, with glasnost, perestroika, bad economy, etc. That's all off topic though
Anyways, if I could vote, I would probably vote for Kerry, since as Adam said Nader is off the ballot in Ohio. Kerry is far from perfect, but I agree with him on many issues like stem cell research, abortion, and education. Any vote allowing Bush I think is bad, since he royally screwed this country over, to put it briefly.
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I agree that Mr. Meyers is not doing the moral thing, but isn't he (in America) constitutionally guaranteed the right to do what he's doing? Yes. Is Mr. Johnson? No. The case should be closed right there.
Hmm it depends how high a law you think the constitution is
This reminds me of the dilema posed by manufactures of the AIDS 'cocktail' drugs. It takes $$$ to sell them in America under brand names, the companies who actually created the drugs and hold patents or whatnot. However, companies in India are 'stealing' the formulas and created much cheaper, identical drugs. It helps thousands of victims of AIDS, but is it right?
I think issues like this are a little disadvantage of a pure capitalist system. A company has no motivation other than profits. Thus, he has no obligation under Adam Smith to help out the victims, since if he doesn't make a profit he doesn't have to give the victim the drug to help.
This is where the government can help. Since the government represents the general will of the people (social contract), the government can subsidize the manufacturing of these drugs that may not be profitable, but a great benefit to society.
Take that Libertarians!
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I saw this movie the day it came out... and it was the most outrageous film I think I have ever seen. There was so much egregious swearing, violence, swearing, puppet nudity, and swearing but for some reason I found it absolutely hilarious. There was so much stereotyping (the first scene takes place in Paris, 3,000 some miles away from America for instance
) and randomness that made it very memerable. One quote that was on a commercial ad for it: "A flying limo. I think I've seen Everything.""Have you seen a man eat his own head?"
"No."
"Then you haven't seen everything, and neither have we."
Pretty much all the other great quotes are not appropiate for this forum
I'm sure this film isn't for everyone, but I found it pretty good. If anyone else has seen it post your comments.
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Sorry I picked that song, I just remember trying to translate it in my head when I heard it once, for some reason I like trying to translate random things I hear. It's a good way to learn new vocabulary.
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Of course, those images juxtaposing BUsh and a chimp are all over the internet... quite a funny comparison I must say
Anyways, just to respond one political video with another, check out Will Ferrell playing dubya here. It's pretty funny when he's getting scared of the horse
And on flip-flopping, check out how Bush responds to this question:
When is it appropriate for a leader to change their opinion? Both sides have been accused of flip-flopping on important issues - President Bush on establishing the Dept. of Homeland Security and steel tariffs, Senator Kerry on the Iraq war. But changing opinion due to thoughtful reconsideration ought not to be derided as flip-flopping. Tell us about a time when you had an honest change of opinion on a topic of national importance.- Jeremy, 30, of WA
President Bush declined to answer this question.
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I think Kerry slightly won this time... although both candidates avoided some questions. I am very disappointed in the moderator though, no questions on stem cell research, not too much about job loss, and other important issues. (Bush dodge economy stuff with No Child Left behind multiple times anyways) Instead, we got about 1.5 on religion, 1 on the flu vaccine (exactly how much can you say about that?), and the last, horrible question on 'women in their lives'.
I would prefer debates that actually have the candidates be able to question each other, un-moderated blood baths in which both people actually debate their positions. Until then, this is the best we have. Maybe someday Ralph Nader can crawl through the ducts and descend onstage in a cape
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The third/last debate is starting right now, and Iraq made its way into the first question
First question: Homeland security. Bush goes slightly off topic and talks about elections in Afghanistan, with a smile.
Second question: flu vaccine. Kerry goes slightly off topic and talks about health insurence.
Third: How would the president pay for health care/war/etc. Kerry goes off topic talking about the bad economy, says he would raise taxes for the richest and corporations. Bush goes back to Kerry's record, says yet again how upper class includes small businesses (not really). And somehow this makes the middle class pay more
I'll stop there, right now I'm wondering how Bush is talking about how the gov't should help pay for college if he's such a big conservative... anyways he sounds much more intelligent than the first debate. I'm more interested in seeing daily show's post debate commentary right now.
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I use 'Il y a' all the time, it is a very useful phrase.
Now 'en' is what confuses me a bit.
Je ne peux pas croire les actualités aujourd'hui. Oh, je ne peux pas fermer mes yeux et le faire quitter... combien de heures... combiens de heures devons-nous le chanter? Les bouteilles cassé sous les pieds d'enfants; les corps ont jeté par terre partout. Mais je n'entende pas la crie de bataille, elle mets m'arriere, mets m'arriere au mur!Dimanche, dimanche sanglant. Dimanche, dimanche sanglant.
Et la bataille a commencé. Beaucoup a perdu mais, disez-moi: qui a gagné? La tranchée a bêché dans nos coeurs. Et les mères, les enfants, les frères, les soeurs ont séparé...
Dimanche, dimanche sanglant. Dimanche, dimanche sanglant.
That's all the translating I feel like doing for now, obviously U2's 'Bloody Sunday'. I'm sure I made some mistakes somewhere
Bush's Wmds
in Hall of Intellectuals
Posted
Yup, it's no fun living in a so called 'swing state' You don't matter if your a democrat in Texas or a Republican in New York, but if you live in Ohio watch out! The only fun part is shooting down Bush callers. "No! I do not support the shrub!"
The wolf ad is dispicable. Who do they think we are? Sheep?
Anyways, a new eminem video is out about going out to vote. I'm no fan of him, but it is certainly interesting