but you still insist on talking about joe mccarthy in a positive light. i don't understand this in the least. hitler built the autobahn but i'm not going to laud him for civil engineering accomplishments. by the same token, you're not being responsible if you continue to talk about senator joe mccarthy as anything but a dangerous vile figure. he destroyed careers and lives because they "associated" with communists, whatever that means. he used fear and hysteria. this is a demagogue. this is a figure you should have nothing but contempt for, because such "leaders" are our road to ruin
please don't tell me you hold this man up as an example of anything except as a very dangerous demagogue
of course the corporate corruption of our democracy needs to be changed. but it will be a cold day in hell before you convince anyone joe mccarthy is an example of anything except an asshole
although, it is an interesting sign to me that his name should come up again. we are currently suffering a political movement in this country that doubts the president was born in hawaii and is a "secret muslim." classic joe mccarthy style smearmongering. and then there's that bill ayers guilt-by-association. heck if it works, bring back old joe as a hero, right?
"have you sir ever associated with any member of the communist party." lol old joe! yes, it makes sense now. bringing back 1950s style fear and hysteria. learning from the best, i guess. thanks, right wing assholes
absolutely true. but while this is a serious problem in the usa (and other industrialized countries), in japan, it is THE defining social problem of this era. the "gerokleptocracy" is exacerbated in japan by a lack of immigration. the usa complains about mexican immigration and europe complains about muslim immigration, but in japan, the problem is no nurses for a top heavy society age-wise. it puts some perspective on american and european complaints about immigration
if as a society you have fewer children and you live longer, you are going to have serious financial problems caring for your older generations. immigration is one way to ameliorate the problem, as japan better learn, and soon
1. many countries complain about the downside of immigration. but japan is one of the few countries that actually polices it obsessively, such that there is very little, and what little of it that there is, is strictly temporary and vigorously policed. as such, japan has a greying population and has to build robots, because they fear koreans or chinese or filipinos will somehow destroy their country. nonsense. there's nothing wrong with controlled immigration, but the japanese have a very weird hang up about it. still, considering their racial hang ups, you have to wonder what bothers the elderly more: a nonjapanese nurse or a robot?
japan is a "grey democracy," a gerokelptocracy (made up word): the elderly hoarde the power in corporations and in society's rules such that the young can't get a foothold. young workers are underpaid and overworked in companies purposefully to support the perks for older dead wood in the company. such that many young japanese now just want to leave the country. this of course exacerbates japan's serious problem of a top heavy age distribution: who is going to pay for the care of all of the older japanese?
so robots caring for the elderly might be a funny tech article, and us techies might think of the japanese trying to get robots in all these domestic situations as laudable. but its actually the sign of a social sickness. the whole subject matter really speaks of some very serious social problems japan has, that are only going to get worse, unless japan makes some difficult choices, and soon
again, it's only interesting that someone who loudly declares how they are divested of a subject matter feels such a stirring need to comment on it. currently you are confused and incoherent. but this is temporary
someday you'll care, and say you care
or you won't care, and say nothing
but your current state: voluminously explaining how much you don't care, only reveals that you care, a lot
shakespeare: "methinks the lady doth protest too much"
Just write legislation saying all cellphone signals to or from prisons are monitored. The legal precedent is easy: all prison mail is subject to inspection. Then you can not only catch idiots ordering hits or whatever, you can profile the guy behind bars: his contacts and associates. Useful information if he is a recidivist. Why jam useful criminal information?
It's the same problem with cracking down in child pornography: it doesn't actually stop it. Instead, let it flow freely. And now you have easy way to catch creators and distributors.
Real criminal investigation is not about cracking skulls, its about watching and learning. So you need a giant honeypot. So let the honeypot naturally grow, and catch the flies that fall in. Criminals are human, they make mistakes. Give them opportunities to make mistakes. If they freely use cell phones in prison, they will screw up, eventually, and maybe in subtle ways they don't even realize.
Real punishment is not about being tough on criminals, its about monitoring. If someone predisposed to criminal activity think they can get away with shit, they'll do it. Opportunity. But if someone is watching, they'll think twice. That's psychologically rehabilitative, right there.
A lot of us aren't criminals simply because we have a little voice in our head, from good parenting and empathy: "if you do that, someone will be badly hurt," or even more self-interested: "if you do that, they'll catch you." Criminals are usually just dumb, or people not dumb, but lacking that little voice in their head that makes them act responsibly. To rehabilitate such individuals, you need to provide that voice for them, not just sit on them in prison. So you monitor them, tell them when they are screwing up. Pretty soon, they'll get the knack, and develop their own little voice, if they are capable of being rehabilitated at all (and if not, by monitoring them, you have a good idea of where they might be when they screw up again: win-win).
i didn't read anything you wrote. because i respect your choice not to matter on the future of humanity by not breeding and not associating
it just continues to amaze me that someone who has chosen to not be part of the future of a system, continues to waste so much thought and so many words castigating it
which means you haven't fully made a choice. you're confused
i ask you for logical coherence, choose one:
1. if you choose not to associate and breed, as you say, then shut up on the subject matter
2. or, continue talking on a subject matter which obviously interests you. and then breed and associate
if you choose #2, your first step is to lose your lame derivative mindless pessimism. it's not intelligence, it is a replacement for intelligence. society is an EMERGENT PHENOMENON. meaning, it is not static, it is derived from the intent and purposes of those within the society. therefore, your opinions are not derived from the state of society. the reality is the reverse: the state of society is derived from the opinions of those in it. with such a realization, your first step at rehabilitation is to work on your piss poor teenager level attitude
or, as i said, choose #1: shut up and stop commenting on what you announce you are not a part of. you can't have it both ways and consider yourself to be logically coherent. your voluminous words betray your real confusion on the issues you say you choose not to be part of, but which obviously occupies a lot of your mental efforts
you don't have to like breeders. but you have to understand that without children, there is no humanity. no humanity, all of your bloviating has no meaning. and you're lecturing me on ignorance and failing logic?
i mean you are arguing with me. which means you care about something. whatever that something is, consider that without breeders, that something will cease to exist
unless of course, as i suspect, you care about your own ego, and little more. of course children are a taxation on that, so children must be explained away. in which case the universe begins and ends within your own little world (which will soon come to a mortal end). in such a sheltered universe, i understand how little the logic and reason of the real world can matter
so by all means, i apologize for piercing your personal mythology that allows you to believe in the superiority of your own views, within your own little universe. this is an argument i cannot win on those parameters
but please understand that if you openly choose to become a dead end, you are freely and openly choosing not to matter. and so i will respect your choice and believe, indeed, nothing you say matters
i didn't read your comment after your first sentence: if you don't breed, stop commenting on breeding. furthermore, you are associating with someone right now, on an internet forum. which means you are an absurdity to me, because you apparently don't have a grasp on the subject matter. you can't lucidly comment on survival skills and the gene pool if you have no interest in either. in short time, you will be nothing but dust, and your genes won't matter, by your own choice. which makes everything else you wrote above a farce
you don't matter. not because i say so, but because you choose not to matter. so what the hell do you think you are talking about? if i tell you i don't eat sushi and then proceed to try to lecture you on sushi, are you going to listen to me? if i tell you i don't speak spanish and then proceed to lecture you on spanish verb tenses, are you going to invest much value in my words? now you know what i think of you: you're absurd and deeply confused. not because of your choices, but because you think you have anything of value to say after the choices you have made. don't breed, don't associate. good for you. now stop thinking you therefore have anything useful to say on either subject
making fun of the dead and indicating zero empathy has only one meaning for me: you are loudly announcing that you have an inferior set of genes that should rightfully be removed from the population in order to improve humanity. no, i'm not talking eugenics, simple darwinian evolution has led to humans who function as a group during hard times and therefore have a survival advantage over arrogant loners with a god complex: immune from their own stupiditiy, immune from mistakes, immune from accidents that requires the aid of others. yeah, so superior. so its just a matter of time before your defective genes go by the wayside. moron
when i talk about lack of empathy and arrogant hubris, it helps not to come charging in and making yourself a poster child for exactly this sort of character defect
"There is no reason I should feel saddened at pointless death"
it's called empathy. it is the basis for all of human morality. that's the reason why you should feel saddened. other than that, a simple basic human respect for the dead is reason why you might tone down your i'm-so-smart-and-so-immune-to-simple-human-mistakes arrogant ignorance
"It doesn't make me any less human to not give a flying fuck about that dude."
actually, yes it does. if you lack basic human empathy you lack one the defining characteristics of what makes us human
simple human reciprocity means i respect you, you respect me. i feel for you. you feel for me. yet you come in with your stellar social skills making the pre-emptive statement: "feel nothing for me because i feel nothing for you". what a social genius
unless of course you believe you are immune from any need for aid or mutual support, that you are an infallible island that requires no support, even emergency, from your fellow man. then go ahead and preemptively announce your "i'm special" status. like i said, genius
this story haunts me. because i could have done this. any of us could
and for those of you assholes talking about the darwin awards or death by stupidity: i think arrogant hubris is a pretty good candidate gene for being weeded from the homo sapiens gene pool. when stories like these arise, there's two types of people: those who feel saddened at a pointless death, aka, human beings, and those who think that the occasion is an opportunity to trumpet how smart they are, aka, assholes with an ego problem and lacking empathy
you're so fucking smart and immune to tragedy, huh? until a tragedy happens to you or yours. try showing some basic simple respect for the dead, asswipes
One factor for the association with astrology was Zoroaster's name, or rather, what the Greeks made of it. Within the scheme of Greek thinking (which was always on the lookout for hidden significances and "real" meanings of words) his name was identified at first with star-worshiping (astrothytes "star sacrificer") and, with the Zo-, even as the living star. Later, an even more elaborate mytho-etymology evolved: Zoroaster died by the living (zo-) flux (-ro-) of fire from the star (-astr-) which he himself had invoked, and even, that the stars killed him in revenge for having been restrained by him. Similar ideas about Zoroaster also appear in early Christian literature, beginning with the Clementine Homilies 9.4-5, which identifies him with a parallel series of traditions about Nimrod having been the founder of astrology. In this account, Nimrod is killed by lightning and posthumously deified by the Persians as "Zoroaster, on account of the living (zosan) stream of the star (asteros) being poured upon him."[35] The second, and "more serious"[36] factor for the association with astrology was the notion that Zoroaster was a Babylonian. The alternate Greek name for Zoroaster was Zaratas/Zaradas/Zaratos (cf. Agathias 2.23-5, Clement Stromata I.15), which—so Cumont and Bidez—derived from a Semitic form of his name. The Pythagorean tradition considered the mathematician to have studied with Zoroaster in Babylonia (Porphyry Life of Pythagoras 12, Alexander Polyhistor apud Clement's Stromata I.15, Diodorus of Eritrea, Aristoxenus apud Hippolitus VI32.2). Lydus (On the Months II.4) attributes the creation of the seven-day week to "the Babylonians in the circle of Zoroaster and Hystaspes," and who did so because there were seven planets. The Suda's chapter on astronomia notes that the Babylonians learned their astrology from Zoroaster. Lucian of Samosata (Mennipus 6) decides to journey to Babylon "to ask one of the magi, Zoroaster's disciples and successors," for their opinion.
apparently, westerners going back to the ancient greeks thought zoroaster invented astrology. and maybe the truth is as you depict it: zoroaster was just the eastern face of astrology to western eyes, and thus the connection as creator was cemented
eventually, as their empire dwindled and islam rose, they fled persia for india, where zoroastrians became a wealthy, influential and rich minority, the parsis:
earth, fire, air, water... no i'm not talking about the last airbender, but in zoroastrianism, so as not to pollute the other elements, the dead can only go to the air, so their bodies must be put on pillars to eaten by vultures
this ruling is more about the power of an influential group in india, as so much in the world is
the russians don't mess around when it comes to snow removal. they take a klimov vk-1 jet engine from a mig-15 and strap it on a truck, amongst other eyebrow raising configurations:
The Earth was made as an Eden for us in God's image. There is no proof to dispute this statement. Theories, hopes and dreams do not equal proof. The Earth exists for the sole purpose to test humanity for sin.
-or-
The Earth is Flat
Look left and right: it's flat. There is no proof to dispute this statement. Theories, hopes and dreams do not equal proof. The flatness of the earth is as plain as my hand in front of my face.
etc.
The idea that there is only one Earth, knowing what we know about how the Earth was formed, is highly improbable, considering this same formation scenario can happen pretty much around any star.
considering the continued harm to marine organisms that drifting nylon nets and lines do, there is a case to be made to bring cotton lines back. or rather, some sort of synthetic substance that is as strong as nylon, for awhile, but then degrades in the environment
of course if they made corn produce methanol it won't be good for us. of course GM can be abused. but no one is talking about what you can do in the darkest corners of your imagination with GM, we're talking about simple, plainly obvious improvements in food like shelf life, yields, vitamin A in rice, salt resistance, low water resistance, etc. there is no rational reason to resist this sort of GM food improvements
but some people, like yourself, if you just say "GM food" its like i'm trying to put botulism in your bath water. enough with the irrational hysteria! GM food is good for the world, and if you thought about it, rather than react on emotional hysteria, you would agree with me
when it comes to our food, most of us, even the most flaming liberal, are paleolithic conservatives. look at the hoopla over GM crops: GM crops are of course, utterly harmless, and in fact do wonderful things: orange rice (vitamin A in rice), salt resistant crops, crops that can grow with less water etc. but talk to most people about GM crops, and they act like someone is trying to get them eat radioactive botulism. its completely irrational
likewise, this meat-from-a-vat is THE answer to food crises and vegetarian ethical problems with killing animals. and yet i have a sneaky sinking feeling people will react to it the same way they act to GM food. which, again, is irrational, but i am beginning to get the idea that people, when it comes to their food, are mostly reactionary conservatives
a lot of us have open minds, but most of us have closed stomachs
the usa is due for another sputnik moment. china is surpassing the usa economically, and soon technologically and politically unless we wake up from our complacency
or, in tea party speak: "the usa is number one! yeehah!"
the whole idea is to just make sure that the will of the people is adequately expressed, and for taking this brave step, i thank the people of new hampshire for doing this
no mere voting system can express the people's will 100%, but our current system, which seems to worship simplicity, represents the least approximate expression of voter will, and we suffer for that. the 2000 debacle, for instance, would not have happened with a slightly more complicated voting system like borda voting or approval voting
unfortunately, as others have noted, because a more copmlex voting system directly competes with the existence of politicla party, the parties will fight this tooth and nail. a good sign though is that independent voters are often becoming the largest single bloc in many areas: people are really beginning to understand what a stone around their neck the two party system is becoming on them, and maybe some of them will realize this two party system is actually a natural result of what you get with our current voting system
I think you're playing for the wrong team. Your spooked superstitious sense of impending doom fits right in with armageddeon style hysterical thinking on the feeble minded right.
OMG THE WORLD IS ENDING
Please get your adrenal glands checked out. Thanks.
you're very good at phrasing things hysterically, but not very good at understanding what is changing and what is not. that what you are complaining about is standard background noise, and will always be that way. you suffer from historical myopia: the false impression that something is changing, usually in some horrible dire direction, when nothing is changing at all
Slashdot Mirror
yes, small government, cut the dead wood
but you still insist on talking about joe mccarthy in a positive light. i don't understand this in the least. hitler built the autobahn but i'm not going to laud him for civil engineering accomplishments. by the same token, you're not being responsible if you continue to talk about senator joe mccarthy as anything but a dangerous vile figure. he destroyed careers and lives because they "associated" with communists, whatever that means. he used fear and hysteria. this is a demagogue. this is a figure you should have nothing but contempt for, because such "leaders" are our road to ruin
the smearmongering communist witch hunter?
please don't tell me you hold this man up as an example of anything except as a very dangerous demagogue
of course the corporate corruption of our democracy needs to be changed. but it will be a cold day in hell before you convince anyone joe mccarthy is an example of anything except an asshole
although, it is an interesting sign to me that his name should come up again. we are currently suffering a political movement in this country that doubts the president was born in hawaii and is a "secret muslim." classic joe mccarthy style smearmongering. and then there's that bill ayers guilt-by-association. heck if it works, bring back old joe as a hero, right?
"have you sir ever associated with any member of the communist party." lol old joe! yes, it makes sense now. bringing back 1950s style fear and hysteria. learning from the best, i guess. thanks, right wing assholes
absolutely true. but while this is a serious problem in the usa (and other industrialized countries), in japan, it is THE defining social problem of this era. the "gerokleptocracy" is exacerbated in japan by a lack of immigration. the usa complains about mexican immigration and europe complains about muslim immigration, but in japan, the problem is no nurses for a top heavy society age-wise. it puts some perspective on american and european complaints about immigration
if as a society you have fewer children and you live longer, you are going to have serious financial problems caring for your older generations. immigration is one way to ameliorate the problem, as japan better learn, and soon
1. many countries complain about the downside of immigration. but japan is one of the few countries that actually polices it obsessively, such that there is very little, and what little of it that there is, is strictly temporary and vigorously policed. as such, japan has a greying population and has to build robots, because they fear koreans or chinese or filipinos will somehow destroy their country. nonsense. there's nothing wrong with controlled immigration, but the japanese have a very weird hang up about it. still, considering their racial hang ups, you have to wonder what bothers the elderly more: a nonjapanese nurse or a robot?
2. finally, there's this story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/world/asia/28generation.html
japan is a "grey democracy," a gerokelptocracy (made up word): the elderly hoarde the power in corporations and in society's rules such that the young can't get a foothold. young workers are underpaid and overworked in companies purposefully to support the perks for older dead wood in the company. such that many young japanese now just want to leave the country. this of course exacerbates japan's serious problem of a top heavy age distribution: who is going to pay for the care of all of the older japanese?
so robots caring for the elderly might be a funny tech article, and us techies might think of the japanese trying to get robots in all these domestic situations as laudable. but its actually the sign of a social sickness. the whole subject matter really speaks of some very serious social problems japan has, that are only going to get worse, unless japan makes some difficult choices, and soon
again, it's only interesting that someone who loudly declares how they are divested of a subject matter feels such a stirring need to comment on it. currently you are confused and incoherent. but this is temporary
someday you'll care, and say you care
or you won't care, and say nothing
but your current state: voluminously explaining how much you don't care, only reveals that you care, a lot
shakespeare: "methinks the lady doth protest too much"
good luck on your trip back to coherence
Just write legislation saying all cellphone signals to or from prisons are monitored. The legal precedent is easy: all prison mail is subject to inspection. Then you can not only catch idiots ordering hits or whatever, you can profile the guy behind bars: his contacts and associates. Useful information if he is a recidivist. Why jam useful criminal information?
It's the same problem with cracking down in child pornography: it doesn't actually stop it. Instead, let it flow freely. And now you have easy way to catch creators and distributors.
Real criminal investigation is not about cracking skulls, its about watching and learning. So you need a giant honeypot. So let the honeypot naturally grow, and catch the flies that fall in. Criminals are human, they make mistakes. Give them opportunities to make mistakes. If they freely use cell phones in prison, they will screw up, eventually, and maybe in subtle ways they don't even realize.
Real punishment is not about being tough on criminals, its about monitoring. If someone predisposed to criminal activity think they can get away with shit, they'll do it. Opportunity. But if someone is watching, they'll think twice. That's psychologically rehabilitative, right there.
A lot of us aren't criminals simply because we have a little voice in our head, from good parenting and empathy: "if you do that, someone will be badly hurt," or even more self-interested: "if you do that, they'll catch you." Criminals are usually just dumb, or people not dumb, but lacking that little voice in their head that makes them act responsibly. To rehabilitate such individuals, you need to provide that voice for them, not just sit on them in prison. So you monitor them, tell them when they are screwing up. Pretty soon, they'll get the knack, and develop their own little voice, if they are capable of being rehabilitated at all (and if not, by monitoring them, you have a good idea of where they might be when they screw up again: win-win).
i didn't read anything you wrote. because i respect your choice not to matter on the future of humanity by not breeding and not associating
it just continues to amaze me that someone who has chosen to not be part of the future of a system, continues to waste so much thought and so many words castigating it
which means you haven't fully made a choice. you're confused
i ask you for logical coherence, choose one:
1. if you choose not to associate and breed, as you say, then shut up on the subject matter
2. or, continue talking on a subject matter which obviously interests you. and then breed and associate
if you choose #2, your first step is to lose your lame derivative mindless pessimism. it's not intelligence, it is a replacement for intelligence. society is an EMERGENT PHENOMENON. meaning, it is not static, it is derived from the intent and purposes of those within the society. therefore, your opinions are not derived from the state of society. the reality is the reverse: the state of society is derived from the opinions of those in it. with such a realization, your first step at rehabilitation is to work on your piss poor teenager level attitude
or, as i said, choose #1: shut up and stop commenting on what you announce you are not a part of. you can't have it both ways and consider yourself to be logically coherent. your voluminous words betray your real confusion on the issues you say you choose not to be part of, but which obviously occupies a lot of your mental efforts
you don't have to like breeders. but you have to understand that without children, there is no humanity. no humanity, all of your bloviating has no meaning. and you're lecturing me on ignorance and failing logic?
i mean you are arguing with me. which means you care about something. whatever that something is, consider that without breeders, that something will cease to exist
unless of course, as i suspect, you care about your own ego, and little more. of course children are a taxation on that, so children must be explained away. in which case the universe begins and ends within your own little world (which will soon come to a mortal end). in such a sheltered universe, i understand how little the logic and reason of the real world can matter
so by all means, i apologize for piercing your personal mythology that allows you to believe in the superiority of your own views, within your own little universe. this is an argument i cannot win on those parameters
but please understand that if you openly choose to become a dead end, you are freely and openly choosing not to matter. and so i will respect your choice and believe, indeed, nothing you say matters
i didn't read your comment after your first sentence: if you don't breed, stop commenting on breeding. furthermore, you are associating with someone right now, on an internet forum. which means you are an absurdity to me, because you apparently don't have a grasp on the subject matter. you can't lucidly comment on survival skills and the gene pool if you have no interest in either. in short time, you will be nothing but dust, and your genes won't matter, by your own choice. which makes everything else you wrote above a farce
you don't matter. not because i say so, but because you choose not to matter. so what the hell do you think you are talking about? if i tell you i don't eat sushi and then proceed to try to lecture you on sushi, are you going to listen to me? if i tell you i don't speak spanish and then proceed to lecture you on spanish verb tenses, are you going to invest much value in my words? now you know what i think of you: you're absurd and deeply confused. not because of your choices, but because you think you have anything of value to say after the choices you have made. don't breed, don't associate. good for you. now stop thinking you therefore have anything useful to say on either subject
making fun of the dead and indicating zero empathy has only one meaning for me: you are loudly announcing that you have an inferior set of genes that should rightfully be removed from the population in order to improve humanity. no, i'm not talking eugenics, simple darwinian evolution has led to humans who function as a group during hard times and therefore have a survival advantage over arrogant loners with a god complex: immune from their own stupiditiy, immune from mistakes, immune from accidents that requires the aid of others. yeah, so superior. so its just a matter of time before your defective genes go by the wayside. moron
when i talk about lack of empathy and arrogant hubris, it helps not to come charging in and making yourself a poster child for exactly this sort of character defect
"There is no reason I should feel saddened at pointless death"
it's called empathy. it is the basis for all of human morality. that's the reason why you should feel saddened. other than that, a simple basic human respect for the dead is reason why you might tone down your i'm-so-smart-and-so-immune-to-simple-human-mistakes arrogant ignorance
"It doesn't make me any less human to not give a flying fuck about that dude."
actually, yes it does. if you lack basic human empathy you lack one the defining characteristics of what makes us human
simple human reciprocity means i respect you, you respect me. i feel for you. you feel for me. yet you come in with your stellar social skills making the pre-emptive statement: "feel nothing for me because i feel nothing for you". what a social genius
unless of course you believe you are immune from any need for aid or mutual support, that you are an infallible island that requires no support, even emergency, from your fellow man. then go ahead and preemptively announce your "i'm special" status. like i said, genius
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Kim
this story haunts me. because i could have done this. any of us could
and for those of you assholes talking about the darwin awards or death by stupidity: i think arrogant hubris is a pretty good candidate gene for being weeded from the homo sapiens gene pool. when stories like these arise, there's two types of people: those who feel saddened at a pointless death, aka, human beings, and those who think that the occasion is an opportunity to trumpet how smart they are, aka, assholes with an ego problem and lacking empathy
you're so fucking smart and immune to tragedy, huh? until a tragedy happens to you or yours. try showing some basic simple respect for the dead, asswipes
i am apparently falling into a western misperception going all the way back to the ancient greeks:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroaster#Western_perceptions
you know what? i just might be falling into an ancient western pattern of thinking:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroaster#Western_perceptions
apparently, westerners going back to the ancient greeks thought zoroaster invented astrology. and maybe the truth is as you depict it: zoroaster was just the eastern face of astrology to western eyes, and thus the connection as creator was cemented
zoroastrians, the folks who actually started astrology, at one time had the largest empire in the world, the achaemenid empire:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire
eventually, as their empire dwindled and islam rose, they fled persia for india, where zoroastrians became a wealthy, influential and rich minority, the parsis:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsi
if you like the music of queen and freddie mercury: his background is parsi
another thing that always struck me about parsis, the towers of silence:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Silence
earth, fire, air, water... no i'm not talking about the last airbender, but in zoroastrianism, so as not to pollute the other elements, the dead can only go to the air, so their bodies must be put on pillars to eaten by vultures
this ruling is more about the power of an influential group in india, as so much in the world is
the russians don't mess around when it comes to snow removal. they take a klimov vk-1 jet engine from a mig-15 and strap it on a truck, amongst other eyebrow raising configurations:
http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2009/08/jet-engines-on-trucks-for-fun-and.html
i think i would step a little livelier if i saw a snow plow like that coming at me down the street
The Earth was made as an Eden for us in God's image. There is no proof to dispute this statement. Theories, hopes and dreams do not equal proof. The Earth exists for the sole purpose to test humanity for sin.
-or-
The Earth is Flat
Look left and right: it's flat. There is no proof to dispute this statement. Theories, hopes and dreams do not equal proof. The flatness of the earth is as plain as my hand in front of my face.
etc.
The idea that there is only one Earth, knowing what we know about how the Earth was formed, is highly improbable, considering this same formation scenario can happen pretty much around any star.
considering the continued harm to marine organisms that drifting nylon nets and lines do, there is a case to be made to bring cotton lines back. or rather, some sort of synthetic substance that is as strong as nylon, for awhile, but then degrades in the environment
what bullshit
of course if they made corn produce methanol it won't be good for us. of course GM can be abused. but no one is talking about what you can do in the darkest corners of your imagination with GM, we're talking about simple, plainly obvious improvements in food like shelf life, yields, vitamin A in rice, salt resistance, low water resistance, etc. there is no rational reason to resist this sort of GM food improvements
but some people, like yourself, if you just say "GM food" its like i'm trying to put botulism in your bath water. enough with the irrational hysteria! GM food is good for the world, and if you thought about it, rather than react on emotional hysteria, you would agree with me
when it comes to our food, most of us, even the most flaming liberal, are paleolithic conservatives. look at the hoopla over GM crops: GM crops are of course, utterly harmless, and in fact do wonderful things: orange rice (vitamin A in rice), salt resistant crops, crops that can grow with less water etc. but talk to most people about GM crops, and they act like someone is trying to get them eat radioactive botulism. its completely irrational
likewise, this meat-from-a-vat is THE answer to food crises and vegetarian ethical problems with killing animals. and yet i have a sneaky sinking feeling people will react to it the same way they act to GM food. which, again, is irrational, but i am beginning to get the idea that people, when it comes to their food, are mostly reactionary conservatives
a lot of us have open minds, but most of us have closed stomachs
that if we land on it or sample it or crash something into it, it will perturb the orbit just enough to hit us at some point
the usa is due for another sputnik moment. china is surpassing the usa economically, and soon technologically and politically unless we wake up from our complacency
or, in tea party speak: "the usa is number one! yeehah!"
or not, morons
borda voting would have been awesome too
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borda_count
the whole idea is to just make sure that the will of the people is adequately expressed, and for taking this brave step, i thank the people of new hampshire for doing this
no mere voting system can express the people's will 100%, but our current system, which seems to worship simplicity, represents the least approximate expression of voter will, and we suffer for that. the 2000 debacle, for instance, would not have happened with a slightly more complicated voting system like borda voting or approval voting
unfortunately, as others have noted, because a more copmlex voting system directly competes with the existence of politicla party, the parties will fight this tooth and nail. a good sign though is that independent voters are often becoming the largest single bloc in many areas: people are really beginning to understand what a stone around their neck the two party system is becoming on them, and maybe some of them will realize this two party system is actually a natural result of what you get with our current voting system
I think you're playing for the wrong team. Your spooked superstitious sense of impending doom fits right in with armageddeon style hysterical thinking on the feeble minded right.
OMG THE WORLD IS ENDING
Please get your adrenal glands checked out. Thanks.
you're very good at phrasing things hysterically, but not very good at understanding what is changing and what is not. that what you are complaining about is standard background noise, and will always be that way. you suffer from historical myopia: the false impression that something is changing, usually in some horrible dire direction, when nothing is changing at all