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Reply to The horror of our debt. in Politics JoeUser Forums

Madine: The Education Department that Ronald Reagan campaigned he would eliminate in 1980! It is worthless and a depository for a lot of congressional pork. Then I would revamp the IRS with it's 7.000,000 page code that noone, even they understand. How about the Rural Electrification Administration? Know any place in the country without electricity? How about hiring a buyer for government services who actually is not interested in paying

Reply to There Ought to Be a Law... in Politics JoeUser Forums

sandy2: First, the re-election of incumbents is done at a rate that approaches 85% regardless of the incumbent's records. Second, the government may have been wrong in World War I but it was done and could be done nonetheless. The point I am trying to make is that government only answers to the voters if they care enough to find out what government is doing AND then act coherently to replace those that don't represent their interes

Reply to The horror of our debt. in Politics JoeUser Forums

sandy2: The situation is even more desperate than just the debt and it's relationship to the cost of government. First, we are continuing into debt with a 440 billion dollar deficit this year and projections for next range from 400 to 600 billion more depending on the source. Second, when the government borrows money at the rate that this one is, it causes the GDP to drop and ties the hands of the Federal Reserve who can't raise borrowi

Reply to There Ought to Be a Law... in Politics JoeUser Forums

sandy2: I never suggested that what we say to God is anyone's problem but our own and the point I was trying to make with Gideon (not yourself) is that if you are a believer in God and feel that the church is valuable then you ultimately should be prepared to tell God why you did what you did on Earth, even if you will be forgiven for it. People of faith can differ in opinion and still be brothers in Christ. I have no problem that

Reply to The Possible Shape of Things to Come... in Current Events JoeUser Forums

kingbee: Well, undervalued is a relative term and at the current price of $6.85/oz is rising alongside gold. It's been as high as about $8.50 but gold has been higher also. I don't dabble in metals because most of the demand is Asian and it tends to move according to conditions that I can't track. Hope this helped.

Reply to The Possible Shape of Things to Come... in Current Events JoeUser Forums

web_poet: No, I worked in financial planning until November of 2003 when I retired. I manage money for myself and about 10 others. By manage that means I trade at most once per day, but an average of 70 times per year. So not a day trader per se, but an active trader.

The Possible Shape of Things to Come... in Current Events JoeUser Forums

The Nasdaq finished the day down 26 points to finish at 943 as more investors fled to the sidelines after yesterday's 8 point rally. Volume was considered light as less than 1.2 billion shares traded. The Dow finished down 75 to 7224 and the S&P was down 7 to 648. Volume on the New York Exchange was 930 million shares. The Kerry administration said agai

Reply to Unbelievable! in Current Events JoeUser Forums

stevendedalus: Ah, more good publicity for the church. Yes, there are many examples of how the church acts incoherently because as an institution it is incapable of discerning the "good" from the inappropriate. What would the media's reaction have been if they had served communion with gluten-free wafers? Probably the press would not have reported the story. But now, the church is attacked once more for something small and inane. <b

Reply to There Ought to Be a Law... in Politics JoeUser Forums

Gideon: I am not asking for mandatory anything in terms of religion. But if you consider the extension of the argument that government should not have any say in what we do with our time as many have suggested then it is obvious that businesses will see Sunday as more of an opportunity to do business each day and eliminate the position that the church has held in society by de-emphasizing the idea that church services (which are currently th

Reply to Sorry, But Government Won't Leave You Alone! in Politics JoeUser Forums

Lord Shitzu: There is always a concern over the disconnect between morality and ethics and the operations of society. Even if you don't choose to believe in God some basis for ethical decisions must be formed. Otherwise, what's the point of society? Govenments without ethics will act expediently only, leading to Nazi "final solutions" to every question. What would be the point of an ethical decision? It is interesting that the

Reply to There Ought to Be a Law... in Politics JoeUser Forums

To everyone (in no particular order): I appreciate everyone's comments and indeed, many are wotrthwhile. However, you seem to forget a few important points. First, setting aside time on Sunday mornings is not an invasion of your privacy nor does it require you to do anything. Second, you have 168 hours in a week and everything has some controls. Think of the activities that are limited and tell me why this is "so outrageous" unless it

Reply to Sorry, But Government Won't Leave You Alone! in Politics JoeUser Forums

Lord Shitzu: I guess the important thing is the actual operation of the separation. Recent years have seen rulings like no Christmas decorations on government property (strict interpretation) and no ten commandments monument (strict interpretation) but no challenge at all to the faith based initiatives of the Bush administration (loose interpretation). I think conservatives are more concerned with the how separation issues effect society a

Reply to The science of mastering chess in Pure Technology JoeUser Forums

Ravenblack: A rank amateur chess player once beat a grandmaster in a tournament. It prompted the grandmaster to be very angry. So, when a reporter asked him "how many moves do you look ahead?" he replied "20". So then the reporter asked the amateur the same question and he replied "1, but the right 1!" Thanks for the link.

Reply to I have a three-legged dog in Humor JoeUser Forums

chiprj: Cute pics. I had a 3 legged cat (lost it in a traffic accident, but you should have seen the damage to the car!) Best jumping cat I ever saw. The Russian judge gave him 9.883!

Reply to Right to Free Speech in Politics JoeUser Forums

Gideon: Nice job. It's interesting that one of Jefferson's most quoted phrases is "better a free press than a free government." Jefferson, the ultimate free thinker amongst the framers of the declaration (in more ways than one) always saw change as a positive in society and the press as the ultimate vehicle of change. Then, of course, Rupert Murdoch and Ted Turner came along and made it the ultimate vehicle of commercialism. Won

Reply to Sorry, But Government Won't Leave You Alone! in Politics JoeUser Forums

Lord Shitzu: Separation of church and state as defined by whom? Well, government, actually. The founding fathers wanted to create a government not free from influence of religion (a good thing by their reckoning) but rather free from domination of one religion (a bad thing by their reckoning). There were several possibilities that they were worried about including Puritan New England, Catholic Mid-Atlantic and the Anglican tradition in th

Reply to Sorry, But Government Won't Leave You Alone! in Politics JoeUser Forums

chiprj: If the number of governmental laws regarding crime were removed from the code of law of the United States it would reduce the code by less than half. More code and regulation is written to encourage, support and guide. Consider for example the marriage controversy. No one is suggesting that we simply throw out the law, period and get government out of the marriage situation as a violation of the "separation of church and state" con

Reply to Sorry, But Government Won't Leave You Alone! in Politics JoeUser Forums

Gideon: I'm not trying to carry on the debate here about the proposal in the previous article. I think the response that I got was pretty convincing to me of the kind of reaction such a proposal would get. I am not a proponent of government getting involved in the practice of religion. I do favor government backing off of social legislation whenever possible especially when it empowers police to enter areas of our private lives. <BR

Sorry, But Government Won't Leave You Alone! in Politics JoeUser Forums

(I wrote an article "There Ought to Be a Law" to express the opinion that I felt that maybe our society should pull back a bit on making sports such a central feature of our kids life and provide a level playing field for maybe (if their parents chose) getting them involved in Sunday Schools by making Sunday mornings sports free. Many respondents (and I appreciate

Reply to There Ought to Be a Law... in Politics JoeUser Forums

Lord Shitzu: For the most part parents drop off their kids (much as the same as Sunday School). The idea is to get away from the kids, not spend time with them. They attend some games but even then they are observers of the games, not Johnny or Jane. As for the pace of life, I don't hear many people say it is too slow...

Reply to There Ought to Be a Law... in Politics JoeUser Forums

Gideon: Well, there are 2 questions in play here. One is whether you can promote a slower pace of life by limiting sports activities for kids on Sunday morning? The second one is what the kids and parents would do with the free time. I'm just looking for a level playing field where the choice for the kids is something other than sports that seems to be "round the clock" anyway by taking a timeout for something else. I believ

Reply to There Ought to Be a Law... in Politics JoeUser Forums

Aaron Shepard: Government does impose a set of morals on society. Sometimes it does this by making certain acts illegal. So, theft is considered wrong by government and outlawed. Sometimes it encourages with the law. Join the army, the government helps pay for your education. The incentive to "serve" your country (considered a good thing) is moral and considered "good". Put money in a 401(k) at work and the government rewards you by not

Reply to There Ought to Be a Law... in Politics JoeUser Forums

Aaron Shepard: I'm not sure I could make a point to you. You think government should make no laws. Control pornography? Not for you. Control alcohol consumption? Not for you. Control immoral behavior? Not for you. Believe it or not, I support your right to say that and call me all sorts of names even though you don't have a clue about who I am or what I represent. Why? Because freedom of speech doesn't mean just freedom f

Reply to There Ought to Be a Law... in Politics JoeUser Forums

Aaron Shepard: I appreciate that you have and express a viewpoint different from mine. It proves in a sense that the discussion is meaningful and worthwhile. But I really think you missed the point of what I am trying to say. Go to church or not, that is your choice. Have faith or don't, no problem. Personal responsibility means just that, freedom to choose your own path.

Reply to There Ought to Be a Law... in Politics JoeUser Forums

little_whip: Wow, a defender... (And a fellow Baptist to boot, hehehe). Thanks.... They will be withdrawing the tanks from around my house any day now, hehehe.