The earth has been both drastically hotter and colder than it presently is.
The question is, will any of the proposed responses to global climate change have a positive impact on the stability and survivability of the human race if (when!) the earth returns to either of its historical temperature extremes?
An honest person will answer "no" to this question. Therefore, the next questions is, "Why the fuck are we wasting time aguing, increasing taxation policies, and allowing our governments to grab for more power when we should be dedicating our time to ensuring the survival of humanity in the face of real, drastic, inevitable global climate change?"
Drop the political football of AGW, walk off the field, and get down to the real work of making sure the only sentient species mankind has ever encountered in the universe has a better chance of surviving the next ice age or global heat wave.
Posit: 1) God exists 2) God created man with free will 3) God respects the free will of man
Conclusion: Any undeniable proof of God violates the free will of man. Therefore, if the above is true God will not provide undeniable proof of his existence in the observable universe.
Repercussions: Any faith is purely aesthetic. Those that claim logical, experiential, or physical proof of the existence of God are either internally inconsistent, delusional, or misguided.
I played WoW for about 2 hours before coming in to work today. That is 7AM to 9AM central time. I logged in as normal, played for 2 hours straight without glitches, getting kicked out of the game, etc.
I also had guildmates that had been on all night without a problem.
Apparently this expansion is much more stable than the last 2 were.
That the mere accusation is enough to convince many people that you've committed the crime
It is much more than the "mere accusation" as there is a warrant for his arrest. This raises another question though, as to the validity of the charging body and possible ulterior motives. However, you also have to deal with the fact that he has not, and probably will not, present himself to the proper authorities and go through the proper legal channels to resolve this issue.
Again, "mere acusation" would not include an arrest warrant, multiple judicial reviews upholding the warrant, and his flight from justice (which mnakes him look guilty.) What is really scary is that you consider all of those things "mere accusation."
"Truly independent?" You need to tighten down your tinfoil hat my friend.
The US government is currently experimenting with unprecedented ways of circumventing the constitution, isolating themselves from the governed, and manipulating the monetary system and national business structure in ways that could be comfortably called proto-fascist. This leak of documents provides the US government (and other governments) with every plausible reason imaginable to increase restrictions to government information, further inhibiting the populace's ability to properly evaluate and criticise their governing body.
Now I'm not saying that this is the case. However, when your governing body commonly uses phrases like "never waste a good crisis," is it too far fetched to think that they could create a crisis or two to further their goals?
AHA! Another soul who has correctly identified the sign of the times.
I noticed this years ago when someone first informed me we are living in the "Information Age."
I took a quick survey of the so-called "information" that was being shoveled about so forcefully, all of it possessing varying degrees of irrelevance, meritless vacuosity, and untruth, and decided this was the "Bullshit Age."
MINI is releasing a new system on their cars called "MINI Connected" that will make distractions and diversions like the ones you mention less detrimental to the driving experience.
You can read recent Facebook and Twitter posts, in a limited display format, or see your whole profile displayed while stopped. In addition, text-to-speech will read you the content of the pages while you drive. You can even update our status while driving from a set of premade responses that include specific information like outside temperature, vehicle speed, and even your location and destination if you have the GPS system. They might look something like "I am driving South on Kirby Dr to Mi Luna Restaurant at 45mph. The sunroof is open and it is 85 degrees out!"
Another neat feature is the ability to have SRS news feeds posted on the screen, again in a limited fashion while driving, but unrestriced while stoppped. Text-to-speech is also included with the SRS function so when you run across an interesting news headline you can have the MINI read you the news story in its entirety. There is even some talk of combining speech-to-text with text-to-speech for sending text messages while driving without having to take your eyes off the road.
Other neat features are included like web radio, Google local search, and the MINIMALISM Analyzer which uses its in depth knowledge of the car's real-time performace data to make suggestions designed to optimize fuel efficiency.
One of the best parts about MINI Connected is that the functionality is entirely controlled by the app on the iPhone. As new features are developed they are updated to the software in the phone and work immediately in the car without hardware upgrades or even a trip to the service shop. Even better is the thought of reverse engineering the interface and creating custom apps that will allow the owner to get exactly what they want from the system.
Blackberry and Droid apps are supposedly in the works as well. Personally, I can't wait to see it in action.
Which is exactly the same reason why NASA is on the chopping block. NASA's main employment areas are Texas and Florida. Both states are in the Democrat's designated shithouse and are therefore in the crosshairs for drastic cuts.
Everyone likes stability. Changing taxes, increased and uncertain employer medical costs, and unintended or unknown future fallout from sweeping legislation causes a paralytic effect on business development.
Government gridlock and inaction allows businesses and individuals time to grow accustomed to the current laws and make long term plans without the spectre of drastic and unforseen changes coming in and ruining their prospects.
This is a Roman Catholic doctrine that is not supported in the bible. It is an interesting data point in the constellation of Roman Catholic prejudices because it violates doctrinal prinicpiles mentioned throughout the Bible, contradicts the spoken and written words of the prophets, and invalidates, to some degree, the stated mission and objective of Christ's trip to earth. It also belies a heavy handed attempt by the RCC to, as it is oft accused, manipulate the text and meaning of the Bible to denigrate women in general.
The mechanics of Original Sin do not require Mary to be free from sin to conceive Christ. Original Sin was created by Adam, as he knew exactly what he was doing when he ate of the fruit of the forbidden tree. He chose the woman, and disobedience, over God, and in doing so abidcated his authority over the woman and his responsibilies to her and for her. Since then Original Sin has been transmitted to all humanity from our seminal father, Adam, and is continually passed on through the male. The premise that Christ was born from a woman without a human genetic father frees Him from the inheritance of Original Sin and allows Him to live a sinless existence on Earth.
Elevating Mary to a sinless state implies that women bear an additional burden of sin that the text does not state. Consistency in the Bible is maintained without the additional papal decree of MAry's Immaculate Conception. One can only guess at the motivations of the RCC for adding this point, however many view it as an attempt to, once again, lay blame at the feet of Eve for Original Sin thereby imputing an illegitimate guilt debt to women that can be exploited by the church.
I absolutely loved that game. There were so many details that allowed you to get ahead of your competitors. My favorite was automation through the internal macro system in the laptop. With a little forethought you could change the exp grind into a 1 or 2 button facerolling contest. And the way it was implemented was like the game author modded his own game through a computer he wrote into the game! It seems all very tongue in cheek.
Even something that seemed like a bug, like teleporting onto an impassible forest map tile, had hidden benefits if you had the right equipment on you.
So all the negative externalities we see in statist countries are a result of...sorry what exactly? If this is solely a problem resulting from capitalism then you would not have non-capitalist countries exihibiting similar symptoms. Unfortunately, the evidence is not in your favor on this one.
I think you are blaming capitalism for a fundamental flaw in humans. That is, given the opportunity and without repercussions of significantly dire impact, some humans will mercilessly fuck the skulls of premature babies through their eyesockets.
"Its nothing more than a capitalistic response to a fear based environment."
Why should our current administration be the only ones to profit from their mantra of "Never waste a good crisis?" If its good enough for the president and his appointees its good enough for business!
I have found a few, and by this I mean a very small few, athiests that have done thier research properly about religions. Generally they condemn either 1) the actions of people who profess faith or 2) selected verses from a religious text (generally mistranslated, out of context, or deliberately twisted to mean something they were never meant to mean.) What I find distasteful is that many self-proclaimed athiests will also perpetuate and advertise misinformation about religious texts, relevant historical events, and central figures of religions. Many, if not all, will continue to proselytize these slanderous and intellectually dishonest ideas in spite of accurate, verifiable, and copious evidence to the contraty.
Now, I can understand completely the reasons why someone would be circumspect about the existence of an unproven entity with the characteristics of diety. I can also understand the logic behind denying the existence of a God, or Gods. What I cannot understand is the motivation to undermine religions or their theological underpinnings through duplicity and dishonest vituperation. In my mind, the merits of philosophical atheism are abundantly self sufficient and, therefore, should be represented honestly and with logic, resaon, and passion by those who believe them. The last thing atheists should be doing is persistently fostering unfounded attacks against religions and their believers. Those believers who are educated and intelligent enough to spot the atheists' innacuracies are those who, when faced with the proper arguments and rational explanations, could most easily be converted to atheism. Unfortunately, there are too many atheists who completely destroy their position and credibility by doggedly regurgitating dusty and debunked catechisms of atheism on anyone who will listen.
So they get caught and they go to prison. They get an attorney, a free room, and three squares a day (all paid for by you-know-who) for a few years until its time to go back out into the real world. Not only that, but in the meantime they can make new contacts, gain street cred, and receive instruction in the finer points of criminality from their peers while incarcerated.
Again my tax dollars used to foster and foment criminality.
People on SSI are still well below the article's threshold of $75K, so the motivation to find happiness throuigh increased income is still there. However, if they get a regular wage earning job they will lose their SSI benefits. Thus, any "off the books" dollars they earn can be kept right along with their gubermint check. Therefore, legimate employment is not as attractive to them as employment as a prostitute, illicit drug merchant, thief, burgular, etc.
So the way I see it, my tax dollars go toward making more criminals.
I seem to remember various and sundry stories at many times over the last 20 years in respectable science journals and online publications speculating that the speed of light has changed at times during the unfolding of our universe.
If I remember correctly some postulated a "phase change" analogy, others spoke about the curvature of space, and still others about the density of matter, and I seem to remember some mentioning other fundamental constants fluctuating as well. Please feel free to comment about how this might be proved or disproved as I am at once woefully under-educated in this area of science and yet terribly, terribly curious.
"introducing and integrating new groups has not destroyed the things that made Australia great."
Introducing and integrating is great. The US, for one, is a country where the introduction and integration of new groups has led to adaptability, resilience, and strength far beyond many ethnically monolithic nations. However, what the poster above was referring to is when outside groups do not integrate and what he fears is if and when they fundamentally change those things that make a country great.
IMO, this is the crux of the current illegal immigration debate in the US, though it is frequently couched in other terms. Australia assuredly has fewer problems with this as they are surrounded by water. Furthermore, they do not share a porous land border with, for instance, an underdeveloped and corrupt nation where the kidnapping, torture, and murder of travelers, citizens, police, military personnel, journalists, and even public officials is a daily occurrence. In addition, I do not think the Australian government is actively assisting in the isolation of those immigrant groups by inhibiting their assimilation the way the US government has done and still is doing.
The US and many other countries have done an excellent job of integrating their immigrant populations in the past. However, there are new issues to contend with. Unprecedented levels of illegal immigrants are pushing for isolation within their new borders, whether geographically or through language segregation, and even receive assistance from vote hungry politicians. Those politicians are catering to non-citizens and in doing so are not only ignoring and violating established laws with impunity but are also endangering their true citizens' lives, their property, current and future financial prospects, and even the national economy. Furthermore, wide and growing support for subversive political ideas, like the "Reconquista" of the southwestern US, give a glimpse into the radical departure from the norm that new immigration problems have taken.
In short, immigration is nothing new to the US and many other countries. However, the motivations and subsequent interactions of immigrants with their new government and their new neighbors have radically changed. Don't make the mistake of equating similar situations, especially in light of glaring evidence that the circumstances and results are fundamentally different from your past experience.
Slashdot Mirror
The earth has been both drastically hotter and colder than it presently is.
The question is, will any of the proposed responses to global climate change have a positive impact on the stability and survivability of the human race if (when!) the earth returns to either of its historical temperature extremes?
An honest person will answer "no" to this question. Therefore, the next questions is, "Why the fuck are we wasting time aguing, increasing taxation policies, and allowing our governments to grab for more power when we should be dedicating our time to ensuring the survival of humanity in the face of real, drastic, inevitable global climate change?"
Drop the political football of AGW, walk off the field, and get down to the real work of making sure the only sentient species mankind has ever encountered in the universe has a better chance of surviving the next ice age or global heat wave.
Posit:
1) God exists
2) God created man with free will
3) God respects the free will of man
Conclusion:
Any undeniable proof of God violates the free will of man. Therefore, if the above is true God will not provide undeniable proof of his existence in the observable universe.
Repercussions:
Any faith is purely aesthetic. Those that claim logical, experiential, or physical proof of the existence of God are either internally inconsistent, delusional, or misguided.
I played WoW for about 2 hours before coming in to work today. That is 7AM to 9AM central time. I logged in as normal, played for 2 hours straight without glitches, getting kicked out of the game, etc.
I also had guildmates that had been on all night without a problem.
Apparently this expansion is much more stable than the last 2 were.
That the mere accusation is enough to convince many people that you've committed the crime
It is much more than the "mere accusation" as there is a warrant for his arrest. This raises another question though, as to the validity of the charging body and possible ulterior motives. However, you also have to deal with the fact that he has not, and probably will not, present himself to the proper authorities and go through the proper legal channels to resolve this issue.
Again, "mere acusation" would not include an arrest warrant, multiple judicial reviews upholding the warrant, and his flight from justice (which mnakes him look guilty.) What is really scary is that you consider all of those things "mere accusation."
"Truly independent?" You need to tighten down your tinfoil hat my friend.
The US government is currently experimenting with unprecedented ways of circumventing the constitution, isolating themselves from the governed, and manipulating the monetary system and national business structure in ways that could be comfortably called proto-fascist. This leak of documents provides the US government (and other governments) with every plausible reason imaginable to increase restrictions to government information, further inhibiting the populace's ability to properly evaluate and criticise their governing body.
Now I'm not saying that this is the case. However, when your governing body commonly uses phrases like "never waste a good crisis," is it too far fetched to think that they could create a crisis or two to further their goals?
AHA! Another soul who has correctly identified the sign of the times.
I noticed this years ago when someone first informed me we are living in the "Information Age."
I took a quick survey of the so-called "information" that was being shoveled about so forcefully, all of it possessing varying degrees of irrelevance, meritless vacuosity, and untruth, and decided this was the "Bullshit Age."
MINI is releasing a new system on their cars called "MINI Connected" that will make distractions and diversions like the ones you mention less detrimental to the driving experience.
You can read recent Facebook and Twitter posts, in a limited display format, or see your whole profile displayed while stopped. In addition, text-to-speech will read you the content of the pages while you drive. You can even update our status while driving from a set of premade responses that include specific information like outside temperature, vehicle speed, and even your location and destination if you have the GPS system. They might look something like "I am driving South on Kirby Dr to Mi Luna Restaurant at 45mph. The sunroof is open and it is 85 degrees out!"
Another neat feature is the ability to have SRS news feeds posted on the screen, again in a limited fashion while driving, but unrestriced while stoppped. Text-to-speech is also included with the SRS function so when you run across an interesting news headline you can have the MINI read you the news story in its entirety. There is even some talk of combining speech-to-text with text-to-speech for sending text messages while driving without having to take your eyes off the road.
Other neat features are included like web radio, Google local search, and the MINIMALISM Analyzer which uses its in depth knowledge of the car's real-time performace data to make suggestions designed to optimize fuel efficiency.
One of the best parts about MINI Connected is that the functionality is entirely controlled by the app on the iPhone. As new features are developed they are updated to the software in the phone and work immediately in the car without hardware upgrades or even a trip to the service shop. Even better is the thought of reverse engineering the interface and creating custom apps that will allow the owner to get exactly what they want from the system.
Blackberry and Droid apps are supposedly in the works as well. Personally, I can't wait to see it in action.
Queue the terrifying "anti-dihydrogen monoxide" FUD posts in 3...2...1...
Which is exactly the same reason why NASA is on the chopping block. NASA's main employment areas are Texas and Florida. Both states are in the Democrat's designated shithouse and are therefore in the crosshairs for drastic cuts.
Everyone likes stability. Changing taxes, increased and uncertain employer medical costs, and unintended or unknown future fallout from sweeping legislation causes a paralytic effect on business development.
Government gridlock and inaction allows businesses and individuals time to grow accustomed to the current laws and make long term plans without the spectre of drastic and unforseen changes coming in and ruining their prospects.
This is a Roman Catholic doctrine that is not supported in the bible. It is an interesting data point in the constellation of Roman Catholic prejudices because it violates doctrinal prinicpiles mentioned throughout the Bible, contradicts the spoken and written words of the prophets, and invalidates, to some degree, the stated mission and objective of Christ's trip to earth. It also belies a heavy handed attempt by the RCC to, as it is oft accused, manipulate the text and meaning of the Bible to denigrate women in general.
The mechanics of Original Sin do not require Mary to be free from sin to conceive Christ. Original Sin was created by Adam, as he knew exactly what he was doing when he ate of the fruit of the forbidden tree. He chose the woman, and disobedience, over God, and in doing so abidcated his authority over the woman and his responsibilies to her and for her. Since then Original Sin has been transmitted to all humanity from our seminal father, Adam, and is continually passed on through the male. The premise that Christ was born from a woman without a human genetic father frees Him from the inheritance of Original Sin and allows Him to live a sinless existence on Earth.
Elevating Mary to a sinless state implies that women bear an additional burden of sin that the text does not state. Consistency in the Bible is maintained without the additional papal decree of MAry's Immaculate Conception. One can only guess at the motivations of the RCC for adding this point, however many view it as an attempt to, once again, lay blame at the feet of Eve for Original Sin thereby imputing an illegitimate guilt debt to women that can be exploited by the church.
If you are going to abuse the law, then you don't deserve its protection.
Ahhh if only this applied to police and politicians!
I absolutely loved that game. There were so many details that allowed you to get ahead of your competitors. My favorite was automation through the internal macro system in the laptop. With a little forethought you could change the exp grind into a 1 or 2 button facerolling contest. And the way it was implemented was like the game author modded his own game through a computer he wrote into the game! It seems all very tongue in cheek.
Even something that seemed like a bug, like teleporting onto an impassible forest map tile, had hidden benefits if you had the right equipment on you.
I think I am going to go play it now.
So all the negative externalities we see in statist countries are a result of...sorry what exactly? If this is solely a problem resulting from capitalism then you would not have non-capitalist countries exihibiting similar symptoms. Unfortunately, the evidence is not in your favor on this one.
I think you are blaming capitalism for a fundamental flaw in humans. That is, given the opportunity and without repercussions of significantly dire impact, some humans will mercilessly fuck the skulls of premature babies through their eyesockets.
"Its nothing more than a capitalistic response to a fear based environment."
Why should our current administration be the only ones to profit from their mantra of "Never waste a good crisis?" If its good enough for the president and his appointees its good enough for business!
Never attribute to testosterone what can be adequately explained by lack of experience and wisdom.
I have found a few, and by this I mean a very small few, athiests that have done thier research properly about religions. Generally they condemn either 1) the actions of people who profess faith or 2) selected verses from a religious text (generally mistranslated, out of context, or deliberately twisted to mean something they were never meant to mean.) What I find distasteful is that many self-proclaimed athiests will also perpetuate and advertise misinformation about religious texts, relevant historical events, and central figures of religions. Many, if not all, will continue to proselytize these slanderous and intellectually dishonest ideas in spite of accurate, verifiable, and copious evidence to the contraty.
Now, I can understand completely the reasons why someone would be circumspect about the existence of an unproven entity with the characteristics of diety. I can also understand the logic behind denying the existence of a God, or Gods. What I cannot understand is the motivation to undermine religions or their theological underpinnings through duplicity and dishonest vituperation. In my mind, the merits of philosophical atheism are abundantly self sufficient and, therefore, should be represented honestly and with logic, resaon, and passion by those who believe them. The last thing atheists should be doing is persistently fostering unfounded attacks against religions and their believers. Those believers who are educated and intelligent enough to spot the atheists' innacuracies are those who, when faced with the proper arguments and rational explanations, could most easily be converted to atheism. Unfortunately, there are too many atheists who completely destroy their position and credibility by doggedly regurgitating dusty and debunked catechisms of atheism on anyone who will listen.
So they get caught and they go to prison. They get an attorney, a free room, and three squares a day (all paid for by you-know-who) for a few years until its time to go back out into the real world. Not only that, but in the meantime they can make new contacts, gain street cred, and receive instruction in the finer points of criminality from their peers while incarcerated.
Again my tax dollars used to foster and foment criminality.
People on SSI are still well below the article's threshold of $75K, so the motivation to find happiness throuigh increased income is still there. However, if they get a regular wage earning job they will lose their SSI benefits. Thus, any "off the books" dollars they earn can be kept right along with their gubermint check. Therefore, legimate employment is not as attractive to them as employment as a prostitute, illicit drug merchant, thief, burgular, etc.
So the way I see it, my tax dollars go toward making more criminals.
And I am still pissed about that! It totally screwed up the allegorical symetry of the story which was, ostensibly, a reason why he wrote the books.
I seem to remember various and sundry stories at many times over the last 20 years in respectable science journals and online publications speculating that the speed of light has changed at times during the unfolding of our universe.
If I remember correctly some postulated a "phase change" analogy, others spoke about the curvature of space, and still others about the density of matter, and I seem to remember some mentioning other fundamental constants fluctuating as well. Please feel free to comment about how this might be proved or disproved as I am at once woefully under-educated in this area of science and yet terribly, terribly curious.
"introducing and integrating new groups has not destroyed the things that made Australia great."
Introducing and integrating is great. The US, for one, is a country where the introduction and integration of new groups has led to adaptability, resilience, and strength far beyond many ethnically monolithic nations. However, what the poster above was referring to is when outside groups do not integrate and what he fears is if and when they fundamentally change those things that make a country great.
IMO, this is the crux of the current illegal immigration debate in the US, though it is frequently couched in other terms. Australia assuredly has fewer problems with this as they are surrounded by water. Furthermore, they do not share a porous land border with, for instance, an underdeveloped and corrupt nation where the kidnapping, torture, and murder of travelers, citizens, police, military personnel, journalists, and even public officials is a daily occurrence. In addition, I do not think the Australian government is actively assisting in the isolation of those immigrant groups by inhibiting their assimilation the way the US government has done and still is doing.
The US and many other countries have done an excellent job of integrating their immigrant populations in the past. However, there are new issues to contend with. Unprecedented levels of illegal immigrants are pushing for isolation within their new borders, whether geographically or through language segregation, and even receive assistance from vote hungry politicians. Those politicians are catering to non-citizens and in doing so are not only ignoring and violating established laws with impunity but are also endangering their true citizens' lives, their property, current and future financial prospects, and even the national economy. Furthermore, wide and growing support for subversive political ideas, like the "Reconquista" of the southwestern US, give a glimpse into the radical departure from the norm that new immigration problems have taken.
In short, immigration is nothing new to the US and many other countries. However, the motivations and subsequent interactions of immigrants with their new government and their new neighbors have radically changed. Don't make the mistake of equating similar situations, especially in light of glaring evidence that the circumstances and results are fundamentally different from your past experience.
Not that I don't believe you, but I need some more evidence. Please name or cite studies that show this as true.
Does this finally justify the inexplicable popularity of videos of humans "mating" with blow up dolphins, orcas, and whales?
Did he just say "Fuck Occam and his rusty ass razor?" Sounded just like it...