>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

Railing against the concept of government is basically railing against civilization.
Government is a blank canvas capable of both good and bad, depending on who is holding the brush.


Says you. There's no proof of this. You know, you always ask me to give you a real world historic example of a free market society, and so I'll charge you with a similar request. Show me one government in the history of mankind that has been incorruptible and has worked as flawlessly as the utopia you seem to spin here for us.

Railing against the concept of government is basically railing against civilization.

Government is a blank canvas capable of both good and bad, depending on who is holding the brush. Big business has been holding the brush for 3+ decades now. They've painted our canvas with Reaganism, Thatcherism, trickle down economics, globalization, world banks, uneven trade with countries that exploit and pollute, deregulation, easing of campaign finance laws, media consolidation, privatization of much of the economic sector, etc.

Big business dominates our politics and policy, and even after scoring a huge victory last month, they still crave more handouts, tax giveaways and the end of social services that don't directly benefit them. Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians all operate on corporate cash. Step out of line and face the wrath of business might, as Obama experienced when he tried to create a health care system.

We can continue to attempt to treat these numerous symptoms as they pop up, but it's not going to stop until we wise up. If we the people were in charge, we'd have never allowed these machines in the first place.

*backup=[...snipped...]

Is it really Bob Ross?

Or is it our deity, PROVING intelligent design?!??!!?
>> ^Stingray:

I used to watch Bob Ross on PBS when I was a kid. I was always intrigued how he made a blank canvas come to life.



Look: Proof! The canvas was inanimate, then it was born into life!

>> ^Winstonfield_Pennypacker:

To this day I still record Bob Ross every week on the TIVO and take a nice Sunday nap by falling asleep to his voice. His soothing speech, the tap of the brush on the canvas... Bob Ross is like Saruman - he can say anything and it sounds good.


For me it's when he busts out with the knife.. instant -_- zZ zZ zZ zZ

To this day I still record Bob Ross every week on the TIVO and take a nice Sunday nap by falling asleep to his voice. His soothing speech, the tap of the brush on the canvas... Bob Ross is like Saruman - he can say anything and it sounds good.

>> ^Stingray:

I used to watch Bob Ross on PBS when I was a kid. I was always intrigued how he made a blank canvas come to life.


Me too. My mom recommended I watch it. Haha!

I used to watch Bob Ross on PBS when I was a kid. I was always intrigued how he made a blank canvas come to life.

I don't know why you guys are freaking out over this, Pride was around for 11 years. To say their rules are sadistic is coming from ignorance of the nature of their fights. Imo, the more you limit the fighters the more repetitive and narrow the fights become.

From the wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_Fighting_Championships#Match_conduct

Differences from the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts

Some states' athletic commissions require mixed martial arts events to modify rules to match the Mixed Martial Arts Unified Rules of Combat, as introduced by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, and adopted by the Nevada State Athletic Commission in order to receive state sanctioning.[19][20]

Pride's rules differed from the Unified Rules of Combat in the following ways:

* Pride allows kicking and kneeing the head of a downed opponent. This is considered a foul in the Unified Rules, which only allows kicks and knees to the head of a standing opponent.
* Pride allows a fighter to stomp the head of a downed opponent. This is considered a foul in the Unified Rules.
* Pride allows a fighter to spike (piledriver) an opponent onto the canvas on his head or neck. This is considered a foul in the Unified Rules.
* Pride does not allow elbow strikes to the head of an opponent. The Unified rules allows elbows provided they are not striking directly down with the point of the elbow.
* Pride's matches include a ten minute first round, with two minute rest periods. The Unified rules allow rounds no longer than five minutes, with rest periods not exceeding one minute.
* Pride's matches are not judged on the ten point must system, rather judges score the whole fight. The Unified rules call for all matches to be judged using the ten point must system.

At the announcement on March 27, 2007 that the Fertittas are purchasing Pride, it was stated that all future Pride events (after Pride 34) would be held under Unified Rules, eliminating 10 minute opening rounds, ground knees, stomps and more, though there were no more Pride events held to use these rules.[21]

>> ^volumptuous:

Ubuntu?
Yeah, I'll just do that. Because you know, I don't need things like Adobe CS4/5, Logic Audio, Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Max/MSP, Final Cut, Color, Motion, Lightroom and basically every other piece of software I use for my professional and fun purposes.
After scanning around some Ubuntu forums and finding out just what a nightmare it is to run any of my required software, I called a friend @ JPL, and one at Oracle to ask if my summation was correct, and they said "for what you need, Ubuntu makes zero sense". Yep, there you go campion.
Why are we talking about Ubuntu? Oh right, to show that we don't need sweatshops to live our wetern lifestyles. Which for me, (aside from about 1/2 the tech I own) is absolutely true.
I work from home, my GF takes mass transit. We have a massive garden where we get most of our food from. We buy all other food from locally grown, sustainable sources (mostly south central farmers market). We make all of our own cleaning agents, use soap nuts for washing clothes, recycle all water, harvest rainwater, solar dry food, hardly ever use a heater, have no A/C or central air. We use canvas bags to shop with, compost 100% of all food waste, recycle or reuse all plastic/paper/glass etc. Our combined trash for a full month is 1/2 of a normal small plastic bag.
I DO NOT buy Nike products, have never bought anything from WalMart, don't buy fastfood (aside from the ocassional In-n-Out) and we both study the source where all of our merch is made. In this ugly web of global corporate confusion, it's not always easy to find out where every piece of every camera or MIDI controller or PS3 you buy comes from.
It is very easy to "vote with my wallet" although I am not so naive to think it makes a dent on the big picture. But a lot of people would rather just scream "just buy Ubuntu and the world is saved" that's a load of bullshit.


Ubuntu. If you need it, write it. That's how Linux works.

I know I could google, and I will, but what are your tips for making your own cleaning products as I'm quite interested in doing that.

In reply to this comment by volumptuous:
Ubuntu?

Yeah, I'll just do that. Because you know, I don't need things like Adobe CS4/5, Logic Audio, Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Max/MSP, Final Cut, Color, Motion, Lightroom and basically every other piece of software I use for my professional and fun purposes.

After scanning around some Ubuntu forums and finding out just what a nightmare it is to run any of my required software, I called a friend @ JPL, and one at Oracle to ask if my summation was correct, and they said "for what you need, Ubuntu makes zero sense". Yep, there you go campion.

Why are we talking about Ubuntu? Oh right, to show that we don't need sweatshops to live our wetern lifestyles. Which for me, (aside from about 1/2 the tech I own) is absolutely true.

I work from home, my GF takes mass transit. We have a massive garden where we get most of our food from. We buy all other food from locally grown, sustainable sources (mostly south central farmers market). We make all of our own cleaning agents, use soap nuts for washing clothes, recycle all water, harvest rainwater, solar dry food, hardly ever use a heater, have no A/C or central air. We use canvas bags to shop with, compost 100% of all food waste, recycle or reuse all plastic/paper/glass etc. Our combined trash for a full month is 1/2 of a normal small plastic bag.

I DO NOT buy Nike products, have never bought anything from WalMart, don't buy fastfood (aside from the ocassional In-n-Out) and we both study the source where all of our merch is made. In this ugly web of global corporate confusion, it's not always easy to find out where every piece of every camera or MIDI controller or PS3 you buy comes from.

It is very easy to "vote with my wallet" although I am not so naive to think it makes a dent on the big picture. But a lot of people would rather just scream "just buy Ubuntu and the world is saved" that's a load of bullshit.

Ubuntu?

Yeah, I'll just do that. Because you know, I don't need things like Adobe CS4/5, Logic Audio, Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Max/MSP, Final Cut, Color, Motion, Lightroom and basically every other piece of software I use for my professional and fun purposes.

After scanning around some Ubuntu forums and finding out just what a nightmare it is to run any of my required software, I called a friend @ JPL, and one at Oracle to ask if my summation was correct, and they said "for what you need, Ubuntu makes zero sense". Yep, there you go campion.

Why are we talking about Ubuntu? Oh right, to show that we don't need sweatshops to live our wetern lifestyles. Which for me, (aside from about 1/2 the tech I own) is absolutely true.

I work from home, my GF takes mass transit. We have a massive garden where we get most of our food from. We buy all other food from locally grown, sustainable sources (mostly south central farmers market). We make all of our own cleaning agents, use soap nuts for washing clothes, recycle all water, harvest rainwater, solar dry food, hardly ever use a heater, have no A/C or central air. We use canvas bags to shop with, compost 100% of all food waste, recycle or reuse all plastic/paper/glass etc. Our combined trash for a full month is 1/2 of a normal small plastic bag.

I DO NOT buy Nike products, have never bought anything from WalMart, don't buy fastfood (aside from the ocassional In-n-Out) and we both study the source where all of our merch is made. In this ugly web of global corporate confusion, it's not always easy to find out where every piece of every camera or MIDI controller or PS3 you buy comes from.

It is very easy to "vote with my wallet" although I am not so naive to think it makes a dent on the big picture. But a lot of people would rather just scream "just buy Ubuntu and the world is saved" that's a load of bullshit.

*backup=[...snipped...]

FUCK!
worked last night now it won't



Anyone??

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Good reading Enoch - I may not agree with a good portion of what you are writing about- but I think I can see where you're coming from.

I do believe that all life is connected in that we share a common experience of being alive. Beyond that I'm less than certain. I have qualms about the notion of a "spirit". It's a nebulous concept that leads to terms like "energy transfer", "harmonics" and just about anything else found in a Deepak Chopra book.

Being alive is enough for me - I don't feel the need for divinity in my life- and I hope someday the rest of the human race feels the same. >> ^enoch:

ok..
i'll chime in.
this is usually a discussion i save for something more..i dont know..in the same room type of deal.
and try to avoid internet discussions (context gets lost and the discussion has..by design..a polemic frame to it).
as some of you know i am a minister yet a can assume (with mild amusement i must add) that my comments and some of my posts may have you wondering..minister of what exactly?
well..dont get yer panties in a bunch,i am not going to do any preaching here.
all i am going to do is point out something that i find most atheists struggle with.
spirit,divinity,soul,chai,doktow,connection to the godhead..
whatever you wish to use as an adjective to define your own divinity.
what has EVERY religion,all 4500 on the planet,have in common?
that we have a soul,a spirit,a direct link to the cosmic consciousness.
argue all day on doctrine and dogma,translation but that remains the constant.
atheists do not believe in the spirit.that is their choice and they may change their mind or they may never change it.
now..
if one is an atheist they rely on science and not religious doctrine to make choices,decisions and judgements.
not a bad way to be,science has given us much.
but dag pointed out the fundamental breakdown between an atheist and someone who is aware of their true self..or spirit if you like.
he does not understand how such advanced civilizations would even bother with a race so obviously low on the civilization scale.
to study us..sure..but WHY else?
and there my friends is the disconnect.
the WHY.
the atheist..by his own belief system is literally pure ego.now i do not mean that in a derogatory way,just pointing out a fact.the ego is mind..a creation of not who we actually ARE but who we THINK we are.
so you can still be a kick ass person and still be pure ego.takes discipline though and an agile mind but it has and can be done.
the person who has become aware of their true selves ignores the ego and listens to their true self.
i am not saying one is greater or better than the other just pointing out the differences and their basic mechanics.
so..establishing the inherent differences let me explain my point.
dag does not understand because to him..we would be only a mild curiosity,but to the spiritually aware person we realize that all life is connected..especially sentient life and we are sentient but not all of us are awake.
it is this connection that all life recognizes on one level or another...even atheists.
i am no greater nor more important than a blade of grass.to you this may seem silly and even dimwitted but i assure you it is not that way and it is the more freeing than you can imagine.
no fear..no hate..no shame nor guilt.
how is that possible?
because i am aware of who i truly am and who you are and i make my choices accordingly.
so if we look at these "aliens" as not simply studying as us ants but rather as seeing us as little brothers and sisters struggling to take our first steps.then maybe we can take it a step further and look into the construct of time...lay it out like a canvas and ask..why the fuck are we even here?
are we ants to be studied?a populace to be controlled so we can buy more useless crap? on a never -ending treadmill of debt,fear and uncertainty?
or maybe the universe is far more wonderous and un-imaginable than we can even attempt to comprehend today?
maybe the universe is not so big after all?we just dont know it yet...but we will.
and im betting science will tell us how it works too!
now i dont know if aliens are here to help us walk.i dont know if they have been studying us for future food harvesting.i dont even know if they exist.
but there is a lot of information...and more and more people coming forward to tell their stories.
so a sit and watch with fascination and wonder and ask..is what they are saying true?
i dont know.i have not seen an alien nor have i been abducted but i HAVE seen some of the most extrordinary events that defy all description and laws of nature.
so just because i have not seen nor touched it i cant rule out somebody elses experience and so i sit,like dag and others,skeptical.
but i also wont rule anything out because "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."WS
but if you add the spirit element and that we are all connected.
each and every lifeform in the universe is connected.
aliens coming to help us in our next stage of evolution may not make more sense but it sure does feel/seem/sound better.
reality is the illusion gentlemen.
it is thought and consciousness that is real.