erik

This is absurd. Anything can be dangerous in a certain context. Lets get back to Global Warming. I think most of us can agree the climatology used to create the Kyoto treay was pretty suspect science. Certainly not anything to base any argument on. In fact I have yet to see any proof that warming is actually happening. They keep saying it is but global temperatures are not going up like they say they are. The timeline over thousands of years say its pretty stable overall in fact. I've also seen studies where an increase in CO2 would be good for human life. It is certainly good for plant life and since we eat plants there would be more food.

I just had a boy and he is 6 weeks old today. This is something I've been thinking about for a few years now. My hope is that they will at least have some kind of voucher system available by the time he is school age. Either that or we will home school. If for some reason my wife has to go back to work, as a last resort we will use the crappy public school system. I live in a state that has an atrocious public school system too, ranked in the bottom 10% of the nation. As far as rushing the kids through school you can do that in the public school system now. some kids can handle it fine. I took Algebra II with a kid 10th grade and by the time I taking AP Calculus 12th grade he was teaching it at the Junior College. Of course he was in remedial English classes so go figure. Why rush everyone though? Its not like its a race to see who can finish school the fastest. I didn't stop growing until I was 21 and didn't "fill out" until 25. I didn't really consider myself an adult until about 25 either. Physically or mentally. I say if anything start school later to give kids more time to play when they are young. 1st grade at 7 or 8 would be nice. Of course if you want to jam your kids through school early and fast you could but they will probably hate you for it.

I really should learn Chinese history. I know this is off-topic but anyone know any good history books on the subject? Anyway if its not blatant and its an overall good film I might give it a shot on DVD or something. I just don't want to pay for communist propaganda.

I read a review that said it promotes Chinese Communism. Is this true? The reviewer liked the movie but if its Communist Propaganda I want no part of it.

Jack, That was awesome!

Having just had a baby ( well my wife did ) I can say that its a very fulfilling experience to be part of the process from the very start. That is to include leading a healthy lifestyle before procreation and doing your very best to make a healthy baby. I am am not against adoption but it is more expensive, time-consuming, and not quite as fulfilling as having one of your own. Plus I know the genetic history of my baby so I know what problems to look out for and what they might be good at. For me I feel the chances of my child being objectivist are much higher than one I would adopt. Environment is big but genetics do play a role too.

I don't think the USA alone could colonize the Middle East. They have around 400 million in that region while the entire US population is $280 million. The #'s just don't add up and its doomed to fail. I think we need to get rid of the welfare state here and open up our borders. Only with a robust economy and a large population will this clash of cultures be won. With a large immigrant population and no welfare state/minimum wage manufacturing would not need to go oversees anymore and the entire economy will benefit from lower prices and more consumers. Its impossible to keep barbarians out as shown by history so closed borders is a bad idea doomed to fail. Security should not be dropped but the majority of people that want into the USA want to be here for a better life, not to be a terrorist. Keeping them out is a bad idea for the long term. As to the Middle East. What about a blockade. Wouldn't it be easier to put a security net around where the terror cells are and then send in strike teams to wipe them out? That puts us on the offensive instead of the defensive and keeps our troops out of danger until its time to battle. This nation building and other stuff is unnecessary. If you want to build nations I say nuke the heads of the government and then threaten to nuke em again until you get the government you want. The loss of life would be less and the point would be made much faster. Everyone over there thinks we are the "Great Satan" already what difference doe sit make if we use our "magic" on them a few times as a pre-emptive strike. What the heck are they doing with all of this dropping of food on the enemy too? Starve them out! Its war, stop feeding the enemy. With all of that said I think Bush and Co. are much more capable of the right plan than Kerry. Kerry will do nothing or he'll try to negotiate. It will be like Carter all over again because they will think we lost our nerve. End of War, we lose.

How is this thread steering you towards Kerry? What has George Bush done in the name of religion to scare you. Kerry is a Catholic and has said that he is a practicing catholic when questioned. Catholics are far more dogmatic than most protestants for the most part.

If you guys are worried about the Theocracy vote Democratic for Congress and leave Bush in for 4 more years of "American Cowboyism". He is kicking some ass I think and that is his one job other than the Veto. I agree Theocracy scares me but Congress makes the laws they are a bigger threat ( and the Judiciary ) than a President.

I've been following the presidential campaign for awhile now and the more I learn about Kerry the more I HAVE to vote for Bush. I was not going to vote at all a few months ago but now I feel I have to do my part to keep this turkey from becoming President. Here are some things that made me swing. 1. "All Americans have the right to free health care" 2. He always brings up his Purple Hearts and military service but all who served with him say his Purple Hearts are a sham and he came off as a scheming politician wannabe back then. In other words he arranged all of it for political gain. The doctor who treated the 1st injury said it was a scratch and he and his commander denied the purple heart request and thought it was rediculous. Kerry got someone outside his chain of command to approve of the Purple Heart and that got him out of Vietnam early. If this is any precurser on how he will defend us from terrorists I don't want him anywhere near the White House. 3. His wife. 4. The richest man to ever run for office ( by no merit of his own ) using class warfare/ soak the rich tactics to get elected. 5. John Edwards - hate that ambulance chaser 6. He's a waffler. He says exactly what you want to hear which reminds me so much of "Slick Willy". I happen to think the war in Iraq has done a good job of keeping the terror attacks over there. Al Queda has been using personnel and resources to attack our troops over there instead of our civilians over here. That is a good thing. We are taking the war to them. I persoannly would have done things a little differently but I don't think Kerry would do anything.

The reason why I ask is I just had a boy and debated long about getting him a SS#. It seems like they have made it so you have to have one to function which sucks.

My favoorite 2 hobbies are Snowboarding and Wakeboarding. I can't say which one I like better. For those of you who don't know what Wakeboarding is here goes. You get pulled behind a boat at about 20 mph on a board that looks like an oversized trick ski with bindings. Behind a good boat ( Mastercraft wakeboard boat ) you can use the wake as a two sided ramp to jump and do tricks on.

As far as Cancer goes. The US gov't subsidizes tobacco farmers, they then spend billions on an ad campaign to tell people not to smoke, then they spend money to cure lung Cancer. If they stopped all 3 the taxpayers would save money, less tobacco would be grown, and the private sector could do research on Cancer if they wished. It is in demand so it would get done. In a Capitalist Society everyone would be better off as a whole. Just like the average US citizen is better off than say the average Russian citizen ( a longtime communist country with no private property still ). Even though the USA is not entirely Capitalist, it is much closer than Russia and the citizens enjoy more freedom and a much higher standard of living.

Anyone know if you can get by in life without a Social Security # in the USA. Its optional but it seems like you have to have one to do a lot of different stuff. Any thoughts.

I've played drums, bass, and guitar but haven't touched one in a while. I don't think my strength is music making at all but I did enjoy it as a hobby in my 20's.

Last October I went to a convention there ( AES ). This Brazilian/Japanese restaraunt called Sushi Samba sticks out as being fantastic. Big bill but worth every penny. True art in food and great service. Its near Union Square and Grammercy Park area so you can go to the big B&N and go there for dinner. Its a big city and I find cool new stuff every time I go there. Make sure when you get back to let us know any good places WE should check out. Have fun.

Love Actually. Hate is probably too strong of a word for it. It wasn't terrible. Here is why I didn't care for it. Too many characters most of which were unappealing or unlikable to me. Unfunny ( to me ) romantic comedy. Neglects some of the characters to the point where they should have been left out. Could have been edited down to 1/2 hour shorter and less characters and been much better IMO. When I start looking at the clock and thinking about stuff I need to do a movie is bad to me. By the end I didn't care enough about anything that happened to the characters. Another bad sign for a movie. I'm pretty critical of movies though. I have a hard time justifying sitting for 2 hours, its a pretty big time investment and it better be worth it.

The driving thing doesn't bother me. They are just trying to stay away from parents. I was never home in HS by choice. Of course I did sports and stuff but not everyone is athletic. As to video games I play them ( Xbox, PC ). I enjoy playing game sin my free time as opposed to watching TV because I am interacting with something and not "vegging out". I do read a lot too. Too much video games is not good. When you start neglecting things that need to be done that can be a bad thing.

Hey if you put plot spoilers in your post please say so BOLDLY as I hate finding out what happens in a movie before I see it! Fight Club, I liked it because of the plot twist that actually worked. If you've read the entire thread everyone has spilled the beans already so don't bother watching it now. Now for a change here are some movies I've seen recently and hated. Duplex Love Actually

the provide for the general welfare clause and the commerce clause I agree are two things I would clarify or remove. Also the part where its says the gov't will provide roads and post offices and regulate the value of the money ( thats a big one ) Section 8 is the biggest problem actually.

I don't call video games crack for nothing. I do see it as entertainment though, interactive entertainment. I see video games and computer games as a higher form of entertainment than say watching TV or movies where all you do is zone out. At least in most video games you are doing something or solving problems. That in itself can actually be constructive. Problem solving and decision making are important things to get better at. I'm not sure I am familair with what a MUD is though. Could you link to an example ( I promise I won't become addicted ).

I sell high end recording and audio equipment for a living and here is my take. When "recording" music it doesn't seem like there is a right or wrong way to do anything. Part of producing and mixing is coming up with a certain sound. Whether the sound is accurate or not is not always what you want. Classical music wants accuracy while other forms do not. An electric guitar amp has lots of distortion and effects. The dry electric guitar signal really isn't used much. All genres have certain sounds people are accustomed to like Country=Twang, Metal=Heavy Guitars, Hop-Hop=808 Bass. So a country producer in order to sell more CD's wants it to appealing to as many Country fans as possible. For PA amps or high end home stereos the more accurate uncolored the signal the better. That way the original source music is reproduced as accurately as possible. Its amazing how much more nuance and fidelity can be heard when listening to music on a nice system.

I've read some quotes from him online but have not read any of his books. From what I have read he advocates a HIT ( high intensity training method ) combined with rest and not overworking yourself. I tried lowering to one set and maxing out and increased strength for sure. It also cuts the workout time down!

student, a little digging will find the entire speech by Peikoff on the nuke subject. Do some research on it and draw your own conclusions.

Everyone hates retail jobs. Clerks is a good movie to watch when you are in a bad mood. My favorite is when one of the guys spits water on a customer. When my wife would come home after working all night in a "mega" bookstore I'd always ask her if she spit water on anyone that night. MY advice is do the best job you can and have a good work ethic. Don't take crap from anyone though.