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The Election in General
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #34
I'm quite comfortable here. I like the Wizard of Oz.
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Official Election Final Round Voting in General
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Member # 4233
Profile #2
Thuryl
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Regrettable But in General
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Member # 4233
Profile #1
A classy withdrawal. I salute you, sir!
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Human nature in General
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #41
Adverse side effects of these technologies are not remotely involved in this discussion, Salmon. My point is that they do solve a lot of the logistical problems involved in adequately representing a population many times the size of the original, responding to your assertion:

quote:
This is not what the founding fathers had planned for when they wrote the thing. It is impossible for a representative government of less than 1000 persons to represent 300 million.
These technologies, at least the communication-oriented ones, won't ever be uninvented (barring truly world-wide badness) - the genie is out of the bottle - so to ignore their very real impacts on government is myopic.

EDIT: Also, the comparison of the states to the nations composing the EU is useful, because it demonstrates the existence of incentives to be part of a larger, unified government, despite profound cultural differences. How in the world is that in any way insulting?

[ Thursday, July 14, 2005 11:17: Message edited by: Drew ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Human nature in General
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #39
The founding fathers also didn't envision mass, instant audio and video communication, highspeed transit via ground or air, and the internet. All of these technologies solve a great number of the problems you're putting forward.

As to creating what would essentially be fifty different nations, it would signify the death of the United States as we know it, much like separation into three states destroyed Charlemagne's empire. The whole key to the States' success is the United part of it. Why do you think Europe is struggling to unite despite profound cultural differences?

[ Thursday, July 14, 2005 10:20: Message edited by: Drew ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Human nature in General
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #37
TM, you spend a lot of time crapping on the status quo without suggesting a viable alternative. Ideals are great, but there's the matter of practical implementation, as well as the persistent, entropic force of corruption, a.k.a. the 800-pound gorilla you seem to be refusing to acknowledge. Throughout human history, corruption has consistently brought down every regime. To quote Thuryl from an earlier post, "[t]he breathless voice of Should drowns in the roaring torrent of Is and Will."

I agree that this is a reality that is depressing as all get out, and officially I'm not at all committed to maintaining it. Unofficially, what are you or I or anyone likely to do to make the necessary changes for the better? How about all those third world populations? Are you doing anything to help them? It's great to talk the talk. The trouble is everyone all of the sudden is either washing their hair, picking their toes, etc. when it comes time to walk, and this is because it's too inconvenient to them, even if the effort necessary is a jot above negligible.

[ Thursday, July 14, 2005 10:55: Message edited by: Drew ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Human nature in General
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #34
quote:
Originally written by Frankie Vallium:

Thanks for defending the status-quo, cracker child.

What about the impossibly destitute from birth onwards? What about the minorities and females? The latter of whom, statistically, leaves out housewives; let us also not forget that non-productive minorities can be jailed to prevent wasting dollars on dreaded welfare. (And those minorities can then be used in prison work schemes where they not only build whitey's monuments without being paid, they can also wear funny uniforms and be feared and hated!) What about the shrinking middle class, the increasing class divides, the corporate abuses across the board, etc?

Oh, and that pesky third world... Of whom, inevitably, we are the saving graces of- their union-free, six-feet-under salary jobs are provided by our graces, of course.

So yeah- the system holds together very well indeed. Efficient like a southern plantation.

The last I checked, the US government is responsible for governing its citizens alone (though it does now owe support to Iraq, but I'm not going into that now). As for multinational manufacturing in third world nations, the people take those jobs because the alternatives are worse. Better to be making a little money and be able to eat rice than to spend your entire day eating grass from the side of the road. Maybe you disagree.

TM, you've done a great job expounding on the faults of the US' system of government, but I ask you: what other system would solve or is solving those problems better?

No other system of government allows as much transparency, which is vital because it allows for better accountability to its citizens. Almost all the third world regimes are set up around dictatorships, and the lack of transparency that results allows the rulers the luxury of not giving a damn about their populations, provided there's still something worth exploiting there and that the rulers have the strength to stay in power. Aside from purely physical geographical reasons in some cases, this is the reason why much of the rest of the world is in such a state of squalor, not because the US/the Man is putting them down.

Nor is this state of third world-ness necessarily permanent - look at the success of the ASEAN nations over the last fifty years. Of all of these nations, one - Singapore - does not have some form of republican government, and this has more to do with it being a city-state than anything else. Nevertheless, their economic success has everything to do with greater transparency.

[ Thursday, July 14, 2005 05:38: Message edited by: Drew ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Human nature in General
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #27
Well, I would posit that the US government's system of checks and balances does a pretty fair job of leveling the playing field as much as it can be. The entire system is predicated on the ability to say "no" to anyone's particular ambitions. Unfortunately, this breaks down a bit when one party has complete control of much of the government (like now), but even so, the system holds together remarkably well, I reckon.
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Showering in General
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #17
It's going to be Hawaii for me. Just twenty-two days until I leave! :D
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Human nature in General
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #19
With regard to natural selection, I don't think the terms "fair," "right," "wrong," or "perfect" necessarily even apply. The first three don't apply because values don't exist in nature - they are completely fabricated by people. It's not fair, right, or wrong when a fox kills a rabbit, it just is what it is. The last doesn't apply because "perfect" is a completely relative notion when it comes to evolution.

[ Wednesday, July 13, 2005 10:57: Message edited by: Drew ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Lucien 'Thuryl' McMahon Is Naked in General
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #132
I don't think the members of your fan club here are particularly anonymous...
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Just say no in Richard White Games
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #43
Fair enough - I guess it was just the unqualified slight that got to me.

(Not that this topic didn't warrant locking to begin with - the moderating here has been a bit lenient recently, I reckon.)

Er, Richardus Whitus fugit!

[ Wednesday, July 13, 2005 10:08: Message edited by: Drew ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Ghostly Bracelet in Blades of Avernum
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #1
Why don't you just download Kel's High Level Party Maker? Compulsions aside, it would save you a bunch of time creating a party for higher-level scenarios.

[ Wednesday, July 13, 2005 09:51: Message edited by: Drew ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Showering in General
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #14
I love long camping trips! The problem these days is finding the time off - with two weeks of vacation a year, it just can't happen. :(
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Just say no in Richard White Games
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #41
What's your basis for saying that? From what I understand, the Mac OSX server software is much more efficient than the Windows 2003 server software, as well as much easier to admin. It can also be completely administered via command line. As a general OS, OSX is also much stabler, and from a single-user standpoint, much simpler and, I believe, more elegant.

I strongly suspect that you don't regularly use the Mac OS.

[ Wednesday, July 13, 2005 09:45: Message edited by: Drew ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Human nature in General
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #17
Adaptability and compensation do fit into natural selection though - after all, a person has to be able to acquire the means and knowledge to afford cosmetic surgery, and thus improve their desirability. The ultimate result is getting to the bed - it doesn't matter what the kids look like. :) Access to cosmetic surgery is just another way humans have adapted to their environment (i.e. the options available to them in the world) in order to thrive.

Note that selection doesn't have to make sense necessarily. Consider all the foot fetishists out there. In what way does their basis for finding women attractive help advance the gene pool?

[ Wednesday, July 13, 2005 09:25: Message edited by: Drew ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Election Primary Results/Vote Reassignment in General
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #111
Just overnight - basically, I arrived at O'Hare at 10:00 p.m. on a Thursday and immediately went out drinking at a local pub with some old college buddies, then headed up to Wisco for the five-year reunion the next morning. Maybe next time, though - I have a good friend who lives there that I visit from time to time.
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Human nature in General
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #13
The end of natural selection is, whether consciously or not, being the most desirable for a mate. Cosmetic surgury certainly doesn't change that.
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Showering in General
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #9
I wonder if an obsession with bathing is still considered an American trait, or if it's spread a bit further around the world? I think the most showers I've ever taken in a day was four, though at the time, I was trying to treat some pretty vicious poison ivy.
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
RPGs in General
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #29
quote:
Originally written by Unpleasantness for its Own Sake:

The Fallout games would have to be my favourite RPG series. Probably Icewind Dale would come next, but whilst I liked the setting and the engine, its over-reliance on combat instead of atmosphere hurt it in comparison to the Baldur's Gate games.
I agree with you on the atmosphere (or lack thereof) for Icewind Dale. I guess for me what made IWD I&II better was the fact that they didn't take themselves so seriously. Well, that, and the fact that Bioware is a bunch of wankers, but that has more to do with knowing some of the guys at the now-defunct Black Isle studios than anything else. Just remember - they're the ones who came up with Planescape: Torment!

[ Wednesday, July 13, 2005 05:28: Message edited by: Drew ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
If You Had A Billion Dollars... in General
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #27
quote:
Originally written by Jeros:

Um...interesting song. Well, if people want to express how they want to spend a billion dollars in a song, that's fine with me.

Quite creative I think.

It's also by the Barenaked Ladies, substituting "billion" for "million."
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
How many hours of sleep do you get per 24 hours, on average? in General
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Member # 4233
Profile #20
I get about seven hours of sleep on average during week nights, always intending to get to bed earlier. In order to feel rested, I generally need about eight-and-a-half. Whether I feel rested though seems to have little effect on how I function, with the exception of my running performance.
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Showering in General
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #3
Once every two months, whether I need it or not. :P

Seriously, it was a week for me, due to a camping expedition into the boundary waters in Minnesota. Normally, I average a little over one shower a day, sometimes taking two on account of afternoon workouts, and sometime skipping on Saturday or Sunday if I'm not planning on being presentable.
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Election Primary Results/Vote Reassignment in General
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #107
quote:
Originally written by Stugri-La:

quote:
Originally written by Drew:

quote:
Originally written by Stugri-La:

quote:
Originally written by Kelandon:

Racist.
White Supremacist. :eek:

Um, caste-ist.

Confederate!

FIB! :D

EDIT: By the by, I was in Oak Park a couple weeks ago. Quite lovely, really - I love the old apartment buildings and the overall pedestrian-friendliness.

[ Wednesday, July 13, 2005 05:30: Message edited by: Drew ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Harry Potter in General
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #140
Fair enough - I retract that statement. I will still assert, however, that the Bible is far more dangerous to society than the Harry Potter series.

[ Wednesday, July 13, 2005 04:37: Message edited by: Drew ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00

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