Four more years!

@ pokermind:

yeah. but someone at some point has to make the hard decisions, or they will never be made. and thanks for the red pen thing. i have been in the middle of a several thousand word essay at the moment, and had three days to do it, as it was assigned to be handed in right after exams, so a bit sleepless and crazy at the moment.


@darman: agreed on the loans thing. but hopefully after the loans are repaid, the EU will have learned to keep debt under control for at least the next few years, and in the meantime, its the Germans money, so its up to them what strings are attached to the loan.


@ daryl: I've heard the comments like that as well, and I'm guessing that its either supposed to be Austria or they hope if enough come down south that they can elect a prime minister to their liking. will take a mighty lot f them though, and I don't think Australia could withstand that many aspiring comedians in the meantime.



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its not paranoia if its justified....
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pokermind wrote:Hi Spacekiwi.

Doing the right thing is neither easy, nor popular, sigh. That's why we lionize those who do.

Poker

PS. Sorry I reverted to Professor mode, and brought out the red pencil I probably took English prior to your birth too <G>

Spacekiwi wrote:
[Snip other quotes]

Not everyone feels that way though. look at all the riots in Greece over the austerity measures that are needed to keep the country afloat, Romney as just one of many with a no more taxes pledge, people whaling on the Germans for insisting on strings being attached to the loans, to ensure repayment, and too many more to list. I expect to not being able to retire until 67 to 70, and I doubt the world will be too much better off then then it is now.
Democracy is great, except for the part where those who promise more get elected more. Whomever said that democracy is not the best form of government, only the least worst of those discovered is surely correct.




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its not paranoia if its justified...
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@ Spcekiwi

Just a thousand words, sounds like one of runsforcelery's posts that he dashes off in a few minuets <G> between writing 10,000 words of fiction a day, sighing with envy.

Poker

pokermind wrote:@ Spcekiwi

Just a thousand words, sounds like one of runsforcelery's posts that he dashes off in a few minuets <G> between writing 10,000 words of fiction a day, sighing with envy.

Poker

I wish i could write as fast as he does. i've still got another 1500 odd words to add to it before i can start polishing it or even think about handing it in, and its an annoying 15% of my courses. oh well. if i didn't like crazy deadlines, i shouldn't have signed up to become a scientist.

My engineer friends have been laughing at me recently as their projects are group practicals, so they dont have to say why it works, they only have to show that it does, which makes them like the wedge on the HH starships. Itsa unkown as to how it works, their answer is that it does.... =D




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its not paranoia if its justified....
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Daryl wrote:What I find amusing are the twitters and blogs from aggrieved Republicans saying that they will emigrate to Australia rather than stay in Obama's socialist US. One blonde girl says she's coming here because we have a christian male president who has the right policies. Sorry blondie, but our atheist female prime minister (who lives with her boyfriend) leads a country with universal health care, full welfare net, religions kept from any political power, no guns, and lots of other stuff that is way left of Obama.

Daryl, we see the same thing from liberals when a Republician wins the presidency. Unfortunatly, none of these people, left and right, leave their citizenship at the boarder when they leave and always come back.

Unfortunatly, both sides of the aisle have forgotten the art of compromise and the the fence-sitters have been run out of politics. I can actually remember campaigns without the bittet rhetoric and nasty insults. Of course, that was two or three generations of people and five or six generations of politicians ago. The current Congress has forgotten that sometimes you have to give the other side something they want to get something you want. The current attitude of "I wants what I wants and to hell with what you want" is simply tearing the country apart.

As the grandson of immigrants, I cannot understand the present aversion to immigrants. Immigrants literally built this country. One example right off the top of my head is the Transcontinental railroad. Another is the Burlington Northern RR (my grandfather came weat with that crew). One grandmother, who spoke no English when she arrived, kept working to get her citizenship until she was in her 70's before finally getting it.

As the "global village" shrinks the size of the world, it would behoove us to remember that as long as we represent hope to the rest of the world, they will try to join us. The US would be better off trying to integrate these people rather than pushing them aside. We do not need to return to the time of the civil rights movement. There is no need for another rise of the KKK.

for those of you in other countries, remember that there are those who do realize that there is a great deal of worth in your opinions and the people who seek to join us. Do not judge all of us by the bs that the fear-mongers shouting at the top of their lungs that the sky is falling. Keep sending us your best and brightest. They may find a way to usher us into a realistic copy of the Honorverse.

Hi all,

I remember from my college days many foreign students were perplexed by the American love of guns. As a gun nut I'll try to help your understanding.

1) Our revolution against England was sparked when the British regulars were sent from Boston to confiscate the Militia powder stores. Thus the right to keep and bear arms to protect our freedoms from repressive government is a revered cultural myth. Yah, I know if the Spanish and French had not distracted the English we would have lost the war. Not to mention what happened to the Confederate States Of America in the Civil War.

2) Out west here hunting to put meat in the freezer in important to people's diet.

3) Self defense, in areas with strict gun control only the criminals have guns. One Islamic Extremest discovered that pulling a gun and shooting people concealed weapon state like Utah gets you killed quick.

I hope this helps your understanding of us here.

Poker

PS. There are news reports of panic gun and ammo buying following Obama's re-election

The same thing happened after he was elected last time. It was a pain in the a** to find any reloading supplies for months.

There's all these people that just panicked when he was first elected, they were sure that he was going to take their guns just like Clinton did. And he didn't.

pokermind wrote:PS. There are news reports of panic gun and ammo buying following Obama's re-election

As a non american i dont really understand the us love for guns, but as you point out, there are legitimate reasons. however someone once told me that the wording of the constitution was that Americans had the right to arms, not guns, and the restriction of guns was constitutional as the government wasnt limiting ownership of non projectile weapons. can someone clue me up on this?



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its not paranoia if its justified...
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pokermind wrote:Hi all,

I remember from my college days many foreign students were perplexed by the American love of guns. As a gun nut I'll try to help your understanding.

1) Our revolution against England was sparked when the British regulars were sent from Boston to confiscate the Militia powder stores. Thus the right to keep and bear arms to protect our freedoms from repressive government is a revered cultural myth. Yah, I know if the Spanish and French had not distracted the English we would have lost the war. Not to mention what happened to the Confederate States Of America in the Civil War.

2) Out west here hunting to put meat in the freezer in important to people's diet.

3) Self defense, in areas with strict gun control only the criminals have guns. One Islamic Extremest discovered that pulling a gun and shooting people concealed weapon state like Utah gets you killed quick.

I hope this helps your understanding of us here.

Poker

PS. There are news reports of panic gun and ammo buying following Obama's re-election

Spacekiwi wrote:As a non american i dont really understand the us love for guns, but as you point out, there are legitimate reasons. however someone once told me that the wording of the constitution was that Americans had the right to arms, not guns, and the restriction of guns was constitutional as the government wasnt limiting ownership of non projectile weapons. can someone clue me up on this?

That is a *very* unique and special interpretation of the Constitution, especially in light of the District of Columbia vs. Heller Supreme Court trial in 2008. The Supreme Court made it a point to note that handguns are 'arms' under the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution, putting them in the same category as rifles. The Court also decided that there was a right to bear arms AND the right to form a militia, not that people had the right to bear arms within a militia (usually the National Guard).

I do have a question. While the Supreme Court has affirmed the right to have guns, what about bullets? Are bullets covered under the 2nd amendment or could bullet sales just be banned?

RandomGraysuit wrote:

Spacekiwi wrote:As a non american i dont really understand the us love for guns, but as you point out, there are legitimate reasons. however someone once told me that the wording of the constitution was that Americans had the right to arms, not guns, and the restriction of guns was constitutional as the government wasnt limiting ownership of non projectile weapons. can someone clue me up on this?

That is a *very* unique and special interpretation of the Constitution, especially in light of the District of Columbia vs. Heller Supreme Court trial in 2008. The Supreme Court made it a point to note that handguns are 'arms' under the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution, putting them in the same category as rifles. The Court also decided that there was a right to bear arms AND the right to form a militia, not that people had the right to bear arms within a militia (usually the National Guard).