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Mitt Romney Answers Tech Questions
DesScorp sends a link to a TechCrunch interview in which GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney answers questions of interest to techies. Included are questions on H-1B visas, Internet taxation, venture capital taxation, alternative energy, and carbon emissions. Finally, we learn that Romney is a PC guy, and get a summary of what's on his iPod.
At least Romney hasn't advertised he'll put Steve Ballmer on his cabinet like McCain has. Gak! You think we have it bad NOW?
Most of the stuff on
Really? I'm trying real hard, but I don't see how "freedom requires religion" could in any way be considered secular.
We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
Could it be that he *gasp* ripped one of his CDs and loaded the songs onto his iPod?
Creative Demolition
94% to 79% - Willing to vote for an African American
92% to 72% - Willing to vote for a woman
72% to 38% - Willing to vote for a Morman
Actually, Jefferson wanted to include in the constitution a mandate that the people hold a Constitutional Convention every 20 years.
He used European life expectancy tables to determine that, roughly every 19 years or so, half of the existing population would have died and been replenished by a new generation. His opinion was that every generation is equally as free to chose their own destiny as those that have come before.
Unfortunately, Jefferson was the ambassador to France at the time and he wasn't a participant in the second constiutional convention. He did, however, correspond regularly with Franklin (his predecessor in the Paris Embassy) and his intentions have been made clear in letters that today are held in the national archives.
I hate Huckabee as much as everyone else, I'm just saying, his crime is not that he wants to change the constitution. His crime is HOW he wants to change it.
About 200,000, actually.
but they don't seem to *do* anything but wander around in suits on hot days (when everyone else is in t-shirts), carrying bibles the size of house bricks and shouting at the tops of their voices at anyone who wanders too close. I can't imagine anyone actually giving them money, but then someone has to pay for all those suits...You're talking about missionaries, not regular members of the church, and they are unpaid volunteers who pay all of their own travel and living expenses -- including buying their own suits.
And as for what the church does, it does quite a bit to help people who need assistance, but doesn't advertise the fact. There was a time about 10-15 years ago where the LDS church began issuing press releases about some of the larger welfare projects, but accusations of self-aggrandizement made that short-lived. Now, some highlights are on the church web sites for those who care to look (I notice on lds.org.uk that the church apparently did quite a bit to help with some flooding last fall in Sheffield).
Some numbers for you: the church welfare program collects about $50M per *month* in charitable donations and distributes about $60M per month to needy people around the world. They can distribute more than they collect because much of the food they distribute is grown on church-owned farms worked by volunteers and packaged in church-owned factories worked by volunteers. There is zero administrative overhead, because most of the administration is done by volunteers (many of whom are full-time "welfare missionaries") and the small paid staff is funded from other sources. I know people who are not Mormon but donate to the LDS Church because it's one of the most effective charities in existence.
This, of course, is in addition to all the church does for members, who tend to live longer, happier lives than average and be more educated and wealthier than average. Then there's also the whole issue of salvation which is the real point, but probably of less interest to you.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
One more thing:
:)
Most people don't realize how young Thomas Jefferson was. He was just 33 when he wrote the Declaration of Independence. He was very good friends with Franklin, nearly 40 years his senior.
In fact, Jefferson wrote the first draft of the Declaration and sent it to Franklin with a request that he suggest revisions such that his age and experience compel, or something along those lines.
He made a change of just a few syllables, but with an enormous magnitude far beyond his years. He read Jefferson's line, "We hold these truths to be scared and undeniable" and he was worried that the word "scared" might be misused in future generations to justify religious dogmas. (Most people fond of saying that this country was founded on Judeo-Christian beliefs look over the fact that most our founding fathers were agnostic.)
So he put a few slashes thru the words and penned in their place, perhaps the most succinctly written statement of purpose in all of human history: "We hold these truths to be self-evident." What seems like just a small change was, in reality, a massively different statement. It is undeniable that 2+2 = 4. It is undeniable that the opposite of True is False. But a select few truths in this world are Self-Evident. At that time, the list was even smaller: The world in which we live and that we are being.
After 7/4/1776, that list became: The world in which we live, that we are being, and that we are free and that all men are created equal.
Simple as it sounds, it's the first time anybody thought to actually write it down.
And herein ends the history lesson for today
As I have patiently explained many times, America does not lead the world in most areas of science and technology. Or free speech. Or social mobility. Or even per capita wealth. The only thing the US leads the world in is military power, and as Iraq has shown that doesn't seem to help you much anyway.
If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?