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What Are You? in General
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Member # 4233
Profile #61
I'm a whitey, but if you dig deeper, you'll find English, German, Irish, and Serbian, which all combine to form a rather ethnically non-descript Western European-looking person. Dressed correctly, I've been asked by locals for directions in Ireland *and* Italy. Strange.

I think Americans are interested in this stuff because our nation is so young, and so has no real cultural identity of its own. I'd also add that I've spent a fair amount of time living in the Midwest, the South, and the Atlantic Coast, and in all those regions people get along fairly well across ethnic lines. Not perfectly, mind you, and there's always a bit of black-white tension, though that also has to do with socio-economic factors. But it's not too bad, all in all, especially compared to places like Northern Ireland, Israel/Palestine, and India, but then, those places have religion mixed into their situations, which makes everything much, much worse in my opinion.

[ Wednesday, June 02, 2004 11:48: Message edited by: Andrew Miller ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
The profound sigh... in General
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Member # 4233
Profile #9
Hey dude - it's just a forum, and "general" seems to do the job, so no worries! IMAGE(smile000.gif) Que sera, sera, sunrise, sunset, etc.

For what it's worth, I'm happy to have joined this community here, religio-political disagreements aside. IMAGE(wink0000.gif)

Word.

[ Wednesday, May 26, 2004 07:40: Message edited by: Andrew Miller ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Good games for the Mac in General
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Member # 4233
Profile #9
Thanks for the suggestions! I'll check out Pangea and Ambrosia. I do like WC3, though its speed, performance-wise, on my G3 iBook leaves a bit to be desired. Maybe I'll try out on-line community games one of these days as well. The hard part is that the only time I have on-line generally is at work, where I can't take *too* much time... IMAGE(wink0000.gif)
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Good games for the Mac in General
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Member # 4233
Profile #0
Originally, I purchased my iBook because of its functionality, as well as a way to avoid getting sucked into games as I always have on the PC.

Unsurprisingly, I find myself wanting to play games again, so I'd really appreciate any recommendations you longtime Mac users may have for a relatively recent convert (other than Spiderweb Games, which I know are great!).

What games do you like, and why?
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Question for all in General
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Member # 4233
Profile #22
March of this year, when I searched for Mac shareware games on download.com.
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Happy Beltane! in General
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Member # 4233
Profile #91
I thought hypocrisy was "not practicing what you preach."

-----------------------

Q: What did the pirate say to his woman in the echo chamber?
A: "Yo, ho! (ho)

[ Friday, May 14, 2004 10:08: Message edited by: Andrew Miller ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Happy Beltane! in General
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Member # 4233
Profile #89
"well, I wouldn't be bothering except for AM being a self-righteous prig."

Guilty as charged, but generally in relation only to what you post. I've posited what I believe, and not just arguing on behalf of something I don't believe. That's hypocrisy.

---------------------------

Q: Where does a pirate like to get his grog?
A: In a b-ARGH!!!

Q: How does he get there?
A: In a c-ARGH!!!

Q: What does he drink it from?
A: A j-ARGH!!!

Q: Who is a pirate's favorite scientist?
A: Max Planck. IMAGE(biggrin2.gif)

[ Friday, May 14, 2004 08:22: Message edited by: Andrew Miller ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Koala Cull in General
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Member # 4233
Profile #107
Nuclear materials are generally very well secured and, perhaps more importantly, very difficult to work with. It's far easier and way cheaper (and therefore, much more likely) for terrorists to build a fertilizer-based truck bomb, with which they still get a dramatic explosive effect that could rival anything they'd accomplish by less conventional means.

I personally think that far too much time and effort have been spent on the bigger, unlikely WMD problems, and not enough on the basics, like better immigration technology and port security.
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Koala Cull in General
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Member # 4233
Profile #99
It is possible that Americans could start conserving, but it's pretty much a pure function of price - when commodities start costing more, people conserve. It was the case with oil in the late 70s - the oil crisis caused Americans to use less oil generally, and the rate of consumption only returned to similar levels in 1997 - and also I believe with the more recent California power crisis.

In defense of Americans and their air conditioners, the climate in America is a bit less hospitable in the summer than in Great Britain, to be certain. Twenty days + in a row of 34 C + temperatures takes its toll. In fact, wasn't it the case last year that a heatwave of temperatures comparable to regular US summer temperatures struck Europe and caused hundreds of deaths?

[ Monday, May 10, 2004 10:20: Message edited by: Andrew Miller ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Happy Beltane! in General
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Member # 4233
Profile #82
FBM: you ended up in the position of defending anarchy by attacking my initial opinion ineffectively. Fortunately for you, a fair amount of intelligent discourse ensued.

Oh, and I don't believe you have never pirated software.

[ Monday, May 10, 2004 05:40: Message edited by: Andrew Miller ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Happy Beltane! in General
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Member # 4233
Profile #63
"You overgeneralize that community anarchy will only work on the small scale. ie. you can only get so many to agree."

I wouldn't call it an over-generalization. For anything to be accomplished on a large scale, individuals have to give up some personal freedom and become responsible and accountable. Otherwise, there is no guarantee that anyone will live up to their end of the bargain, because everyone wants to get more for less, and everyone wants to freeload when possible. It's not a pretty picture of humanity, but I think it's accurate. I bet you've pirated software before, and justified your action by saying that "its creators charged too much for it," but it's still freeloading. Welcome to humanity.

"You sir, are a barbarian."

Perhaps I am. I guess it's a good thing you have your government in place to protect you from me! IMAGE(smile001.gif)

"There are such things as people agreeing with each other. Not trying to kill each other. There are such things as territorial equivilents of mergers."

True, but there is also greed and exploitation. The republican system of government acknowledges their existence and is based on keeping them in check as best possible. In the definition of anarchism laid down in the link above, this problem seems to be side-stepped.

Anarchism sounds a little too enlightened to work, ever. I don't claim to be enlightened, and I would hazard a guess that no one else on this board really is either, let alone the wider world population. What it seems to require more than anything else is trust, and if you don't trust people now in a system designed to keep anyone from hurting you too much, how will you ever trust them without those laws?

[ Thursday, May 06, 2004 12:20: Message edited by: Andrew Miller ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Happy Beltane! in General
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #59
EDIT: Okay, bearing in mind a definition of anarchism as support for community-based government...

I still don't believe it could work. The city-states of the Italian peninsula back in the day when Rome was founded fit this definition, and they still eventually allied together or were forced under one government. The fact is that communities expand, and as they do, they require more resources. It's inevitable that communities will come into conflict in disputes over resources. When that happens, war occurs, which to me is not a good thing.

Does anyone disagree?

[ Thursday, May 06, 2004 10:18: Message edited by: Andrew Miller ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Happy Beltane! in General
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Member # 4233
Profile #57
EDIT: Rethinking...

[ Thursday, May 06, 2004 10:08: Message edited by: Andrew Miller ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Happy Beltane! in General
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Member # 4233
Profile #54
Sounds to me as though you're talking about libertarianism as opposed to anarchy.

anarchy - \An"arch*y\, n. [Gr. ?: cf. F. anarchie. See Anarch.] 1. Absence of government; the state of society where there is no law or supreme power; a state of lawlessness; political confusion.

Spread anarchy and terror all around. --Cowper.

2. Hence, confusion or disorder, in general.

There being then . . . an anarchy, as I may term it, in authors and their re?koning of years. --Fuller.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

I still don't believe it would work. Communities grow and expand. As they do, they run low on their own resources (e.g. a farmer's land can only be split among his sons so many ways before the divisions are useless) and so start eyeballing other communities' stuff. Without wider regulation, this arrangement will lead to conflict. Native American tribes, for example, went to war all the time over territory. It's also not economically efficient, and would promote an incredibly low standard of living and health, because none of the communities would be able to specialize to the degree that society can now for industries to form that produce neat things like cancer medications and anime. IMAGE(smile001.gif)

I think it may be the case that a lot of the pro-anarchy points on this board come from people who are still dependent on their parents. It's easy to make an argument that a system of no rules is better when all one's needs are provided for by someone else. I'm willing to bet though that once you are out on your own supporting yourself, paying off your own car, house, etc. you'll have a greater appreciation for the protections modern government provides. This certainly has been the case for me!
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Happy Beltane! in General
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Member # 4233
Profile #52
Anarchy has been tried before throughout the course of history - every time a government has collapsed. The outcome? People quickly form a new government because it's *safer.*

Russia's popular democracy will corrupt to mobocracy, but it's still distinct from anarchy. It's certainly not Putin's or the Duma's goal to achieve anarchy through their governance.

Anarchy is the absolute lack of government, and that cannot be good. Think about it. In absolute anarchy, no one has any authority over anyone else beyond what they can force another to do. Might Makes Right, or to quote the Athenians in Thucydides' "History of the Peloponnesian War": "[T]he strong do as they like, while the weak suffer what they must." Doesn't sound like a good deal to me. Are people inherantly better than that? I don't think so.

Think about how kids treat one another when there's no authority around. Ever been bullied? "Yeah, but kids grow out of that." Why? Because they learn that there are consequences for their actions *if they are caught*. In a state of anarchy, there is no *being caught*, unless someone stronger than them decides he doesn't like the cut of their jib, so to speak.

I'm not an atheist; that being said, it doesn't strike me that God takes a very active role in regulating us down on Earth. Whether we will all be judged after we die according to our actions now, that doesn't seem to be a very strong incentive for people to behave absent a governing force other than God, and no one seems to be behaving anyway. To believe that anarchy could work is to exercise in utopian illusion.
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
I am now.. in General
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Member # 4233
Profile #22
My cell phone is my only phone line. It has been very convenient to me over the last two years as I've moved from Indianapolis to Lexington, KY for my grad program, and now up to DC for work. I've kept the same number since I moved to Lexington, and so haven't had to worry about contacting everyone I know regarding a number change. Since just about everyone I talk to has a cell phone with free long distance anyway, the strange Lexington area code doesn't bother them.

My rate plan is about $40 a month. I would pay about the same price for a land line with comparable services (voice mail, call waiting, caller ID, etc.), but I would lose the advantage of mobility, which is a convenience most of the time and arguably vital in the case of an emergency, and I'd still have to pay six cents a minute or whatever for long distance. I can't dial in on my computer with the cell phone, but I get tons of time on-line at work, and someone somewhere in my apartment building has a non-password-protected wireless router anyway. If I don't want to receive calls, I turn it off. It's easy!
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Koala Cull in General
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Member # 4233
Profile #56
An interesting factoid about Australia is that the top of the food chain is actually occupied by small creatures that are just very, very deadly. *Ten out of ten* of the world's most poisonous snakes are found in Australia, and the spiders, such as the bird-killing and funnel web varieties, are a whole other matter. These predators help keep other larger mammal populations on the mainland in check.

Kangaroo Island, on the other hand, would seem to be lacking these species, which wasn't a problem until a foreign specie, the koalas, was introduced, disrupting the balance. With no predators, there is nothing to prevent them from thriving. The same thing happened when rabbits were introduced to Australia for hunting purposes, and also when the wolf population in the U.S. was decimated, allowing the deer population similarly to thrive and starve.

It's unfortunate, but the koala population needs to be culled. While sterilization would be more humane, the reality is that there are very limited resources to deal with the problem, and one bullet is cheaper than trapping a koala, taking it to a veterinary facility and performing an operation, then releasing the animal. Not to mention the fact that the sheer size of the population, even were all the animals sterilized, would still place an incredible burden on the ecosystem.

[ Wednesday, May 05, 2004 09:09: Message edited by: Andrew Miller ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Happy Beltane! in General
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #44
Anarchy is not the logical goal of democracy. And the U.S. is also not a democracy - it's a republic, which is designed to balance elements of monarchy (via the president), aristocracy (via the Congress), and democracy (via popular elections on a national and local level), all with the goal of preventing the system from succumbing to corruption, which will eventually lead to a period of anarchy before another form of order asserts itself. The American system is quite clever in this regard, and seems to be holding up rather well, I think, despite the best efforts of the current administration to eliminate checks and balances and considering that one party controls two of the three branches.
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Happy Beltane! in General
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #37
You may encounter Thomas Hobbes if you go to college.

A part of forming one's own opinions involves listening to others - it's called becoming educated and informed. Otherwise you'll just busy yourself reinventing the proverbial wheel, while others fly by in proverbial jet aircraft. Don't get me wrong - it's always good to question. But I'm a bit more willing to heed the advice of an author who's work has lasted for a few hundred years than yours.

Did you even read the quote? While not everyone will agree with Thomas Hobbes (especially those who like Rousseau or are inclined to believe in a higher power that judges everyone, or karma), I tend to believe he's correct. In the absence of any authority (i.e., anarchy) there is no guaranteed protection. Thus, any sort of effort one makes to improve one's life could be taken away in an instant by someone stronger/smarter/whatever, significantly reducing the victim's incentive to pursue those things (why put in the effort if someone will just take it away?), therefore reducing one's standard of living, not to mention one's chance of living, period.

"Yeah, but people could band together!" Then you wouldn't have an anarchy anymore, would you? You'd have a small community - a social contract - with others, complete with its own "understanding," i.e. laws.

[ Tuesday, May 04, 2004 13:23: Message edited by: Andrew Miller ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Happy Beltane! in General
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #35
Anarchy does not work. From Hobbes' "Leviathan" (a state of war being the equivalent of anarchy):

"Whatsoever therefore is consequent to a time of war, where every man is enemy to every man, the same consequent to the time wherein men live without other security than what their own strength and their own invention shall furnish them withal. In such condition there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain: and consequently no culture of the earth; no navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by sea; no commodious building; no instruments of moving and removing such things as require much force; no knowledge of the face of the earth; no account of time; no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."

- Passage from CHAPTER XIII OF THE NATURAL CONDITION OF MANKIND AS CONCERNING THEIR FELICITY AND MISERY (http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/texts/hobbes/leviathan-c.html)

You can have anarchy - I don't want it, and I'm willing to bet that most everyone else with a brain in their head wouldn't either.
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Over my rather deceased cadaver. Rrrrrrr. in General
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Member # 4233
Profile #51
Maybe if you say something substantive instead of flaming everyone, you'll get something out of it. IMAGE(biggrin2.gif)
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Over my rather deceased cadaver. Rrrrrrr. in General
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Member # 4233
Profile #49
FBM - if you don't like what groups accomplish for themselves, then why don't you form a group to stop them?

Groups are an infinitely useful device to get what you want - it's called collective action. Examples abound: In the U.S., the Jewish community is quite adept at pushing a pro-Israel policy; the Cuban community in Miami is able to lobby the government to keep the embargo; the steel industry and workers use their collective influence to insure (frankly) incredible amounts of international trade protection, considering its size (less than 800,000 workers).

Groups work because they usually have a lot more at stake in policy decisions that effect them than the average citizen. Take the steel industry example: lower steel tariffs = big decrease in profits for the steel industry + slight to almost negligible price reduction for products incorporating steel for consumers. Sure, the wider populace would benefit much more on the whole because of reduced prices, but the difference is not as important to a person saving $100 on a car as it is to Joe Steelworker losing his job. The steel worker has much greater incentive to get his buddies together and make noise, and in government, where the squeeky wheel (read: sources of money and votes) gets the grease, they're heard.

A somewhat shoddy explanation of collective action, but I think I'm on the mark. Those interested should check out Mancur Olson's "Power and Prosperity" - it's good stuff.
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Happy Beltane! in General
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Member # 4233
Profile #29
FBM:

Where is my grammar incorrect? Can you fix it? And what bold threats! Why don't you take some time to learn about the government instead of reacting to the media and blaming problems on Jewish people (who's biased here?), and then come back to talk? The rationale behind US foreign policy is *far* more complicated than your "it's the Jews, stupid!" argument.

Bear in mind also that your very ability not to conform is a direct product of the privilege greater Western society creates and Western government protects *for you*. If you were anywhere else, then you'd likely either be put down by your government for seditious activities or would make a great suicide bomber candidate.

[ Monday, May 03, 2004 11:28: Message edited by: Andrew Miller ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Happy Beltane! in General
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Member # 4233
Profile #28
TNLIV:

"Some degree of cohesion is necessary, or we go back to that lovely state of nature and short, violent, brutish lives, but religion usually provides order with excess ideological baggage. Government comes closer, although setting up a good government is an extremely tricky task."

I agree 100%. But I reckon religion at least was a part of the means used to generate the U.S. "social contract," which is reasonably decent. Believe me, I do have my own bones to pick with particular beliefs stemming from fundamentalist communities - go separation of church and state!

OT: I will be interested to see what the Supreme Court decides on the pledge case.

[ Monday, May 03, 2004 11:25: Message edited by: Andrew Miller ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00
Happy Beltane! in General
By Committee
Member # 4233
Profile #25
FBM:

"AM: Okay, you have a biased viewpoint."

No kidding - it's my impression, which is why I stated as much. It isn't necessarily better or worse than anyone else's (though I'm inclined to believe it's better, seeing as it's mine, and I'm me). You are free to try to convince me otherwise.

"You also have a sentence structuring which... needs help, let alone the grammar. 'stand on its own legs absent the mainstream religions', 'foster social mores.'. Hmm..."

Sure, I could've put a comma between "legs" and "absent," but I'm pretty sure it's grammatically correct. As for the word you might not know:

mores - \Mo"res\ (m[=o]"r[=e]z), n. pl.; sing. Mos (m[=o]s). [L.] Customs; habits; esp., customs conformity to which is more or less obligatory; customary law.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

Even if my grammar were bad, that's a pretty nit-picky point to make on an on-line forum. I hope you feel bigger for it.

"'A part of the role of religion in society is to create standards of community and order' really? And I thought all this time it was eating waffles! But does it really do that? Nooooo."

Yes it does. If you go to a Christian church, you'll recognize that the *congregation* fosters a community, as well as expectations that its members will *follow* Christ. And what about American society? A lot of it is based on ancient Greek and Roman tradition, true, but religion makes a *large* impact on the national mentality. Why do you think abortion is such a hot political issue? Gay marriage/unions? Cloning and stem cell research? Conflict in/with the Middle East? Why is "under God" in the pledge and "In God We Trust" on our currency? Religion.

Also, I do agree with the role the government plays in my life and I gladly pay taxes, even though I don't necessarily agree with every bill that's passed or a particular administration. The government is necessary, and is what enables you and I to enjoy the privileges we have, free from fears much of the rest of the world faces. Read Hobbes' "Leviathan" to find out why you need government.

[ Monday, May 03, 2004 10:42: Message edited by: Andrew Miller ]
Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00

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