Smoothseas

Reply to What are your impressions on torture? in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

[quote who="BoobzTwo" reply="13" id="3036035"]Where was the moral compass I wonder? I know … plausible deniability[/quote] Their moral compass is akin to this.....I deserve these rights but you don't. Governments and those who control them use their power to dominate and control others. These things are done in sanctuary countries because the governments and laws of those countries allow for such things. It is the big stick philosophy but which utopian government rules

Reply to Fahrenheit 9/11 in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote who="lulapilgrim" reply="363" id="3036069"]The easiest way to dig into motive here is through an analysis of what happened as a result of 911.[/quote] And when you actually do that as well as dig into the history of many related things that transpired leading up to and well before 9/11 you may understand that there are people who actually confessed to the planning of the attacks. Maybe you should spend some time looking up names

Reply to Fahrenheit 9/11 in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote who="BoobzTwo" reply="357" id="3035712"]Smoothseas, anyone who mouths anything against the USG is immediately labeled a nut or a conspiracy theorist. [/quote] A nut is very different from a conspiracy theorist. If I point out someone as a conspiracy theorists, I don't label them as a nut because I do believe that governments are involved in all kinds of secret conspiracies all the time. She is an engineer and I have all kinds of regard for engineers since most of my college

Reply to The Politics of Green in The Environment JoeUser Forums

[quote who="BoobzTwo" reply="3" id="3035828"]Hahaha ... I missed your posts date, sorry, hehehe. I do not know of a viable answer at this point ... now that the politicians have had their way with things. If the academics were left to fend for themselves, this matter could have been resolved in short order ... peer review is the best way until the reviewers are bought and paid for. Now, I just do not know???[/quote] There is a lot of science out there to back things up. What is uncert

Reply to The skeptical environmentalist in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote who="BoobzTwo" reply="14" id="3035743"]Smoothseas, since the USA reached peak oil in the seventies, we have done little besides go deeper and deeper in debt to pay for more and more oil to help keep our throw away society eating high off the hog.[/quote] You are correct. We have "let the market take care of it", and since the politicians and ruling class are more interested in monetary gain than anything else the externalities have not been dealt with. [quote who="Boob

Reply to Go Newt! in Current Events JoeUser Forums

[quote who="lulapilgrim" reply="61" id="3035609"]He's out of the running, but not going away. [/quote] Why would he go away? He can still collect campaign contributions by suspending his campaign as opposed to dropping out. It will be interesting to see how much he is going to be able to legally pocket. Politics can be a very lucrative business.

Reply to Go Newt! in Current Events JoeUser Forums

[quote who="lulapilgrim" reply="59" id="3035570"]Because it is the right thing to do.[/quote] Then I guess you do not believe in the rule of law. You are so afraid of some fictitious world dictatorship yet not only choose to live your own life under a dictatorship, but advocate that others do it as well. Ooh the hypocrisy!

Reply to What are your impressions on torture? in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

[quote who="BoobzTwo" reply="9" id="3035465"]Well, I for one can and would use torture under the right (extreme) personal conditions[/quote] I assume you are thinking about revenge not the collection of intelligence? Things like revenge and fear are very good motivational tools often used to rally the masses but the ultimate goal of the situation we face is not to seek revenge. I think you already realize that, so don't take that as me thinking otherwise. I certainly want

Reply to Brief Note to the Atheist in Philosophy JoeUser Forums

[quote who="lulapilgrim" reply="45" id="3034932"]What Glenn Beck is doing is not ficticious. He' s very busy pushing Zionism [/quote] He's pushing an agenda that promotes his accumulation of personal wealth. Simply practicing capitalism and saying whatever he thinks will gain him an audience and advertisers. He is actually a really good example of a propagandist. His views of many things changed practically overnight as can be seen if you compare what he was "pushing" while he

Reply to The skeptical environmentalist in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote who="Daiwa" reply="11" id="3034574"]It's like everything else - if a Ferrari only cost $25k, I'd buy one. Instead, I own a Solstice.[/quote] Depends on one's situation. What you have upfront is certainly a restraint. Fuel Cell capacity available to suit ones needs is certainly another constraint. Then there are tax credits and if you generate a substantial amount of your own electricity then you are replacing a certain percentage of your fuel costs with a certain pe

Reply to The skeptical environmentalist in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote who="BoobzTwo" reply="8" id="3034459"]Mankind is aggravating the GW situation through the abusive use of fossil fuels and whatever else [/quote] Is it abusive? It definitely causes environmental and health problems. It does effect the GW equation. Fossil fuels are currently the engine of our economic system. We would not be where we are today without them. We might be in a somewhat similar situation to that which we faced before oil was discovered or similar to the various cond

Reply to The skeptical environmentalist in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote who="Daiwa" reply="7" id="3034332"]On the other hand, if I could get my hands on technology that would let me 'unhook' from the power grid at a reasonable cost, I'd go for it[/quote] It is difficult for those who are economically constrained from doing these things. They will be most effected by the problems at hand. Those who can afford moving forward need to lead the way. Particular in the area of electric cars. As the market for used electric cars grows this solu

Reply to The skeptical environmentalist in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote who="BoobzTwo" reply="8" id="3034459"]the modeling and re-remodeling are not in sink as they predict a continued or increased use of a commodity that will depreciate itself throughout the period in question[/quote] Their modeling does to some degree account for it. Also many people still don't understand the difference between production and overall supplies and that difference is very important in the scheme of things.Tar sand conversion and offshore sources are not includ

Reply to The skeptical environmentalist in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote who="Alstein" reply="5" id="3034212"]It's main purpose was, like most GA UN initiatives, to transfer wealth from developed to developing countries.[/quote] That is not it's main purpose. The countries who wrote it and many whose endorsement were necessary are mostly developed countries. It would have been bad for the US because we were faced with the largest burden to change our infrastructure at the time. This country faces a bigger transfer of wealth

Reply to The skeptical environmentalist in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote who="Alstein" reply="3" id="3034150"]Well, I do believe man is contributing to global warming, and economic factors are a big reason (simply put, if the US adopted Kyoto, the pollution would likely become worse, as it would move to less efficient places)[/quote] The vast majority of changes to meet Kyoto Standards lie within the countries power generation infrastructure. That is not something that "moves to less efficient places". The next big area of change is in transportatio

Reply to Another Fine Example of 'Neutral' Reporting in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote who="Daiwa" reply="40" id="3034098"]s for me becoming a mouthpiece, that would still seem to more appropriately apply to the AP.[/quote] The article is actually well balanced. The journalist outlines the story and includes not only the reported number but also shows why the figure went down (specifically the item you incorrectly stated as being omitted). Then there are four comments from the politicians. The administration spin was from the WH press briefing, the Democratic spi

Reply to Another Fine Example of 'Neutral' Reporting in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote who="Daiwa" reply="38" id="3033909"]Just the number, compared with last month's number. Not a word about the drop in participation rate which explains the number.[/quote] The AP article you mention did in fact mention the drop in the participation rate. It's in the 4th paragraph to be specific. And then mentioned again in the 15th paragraph. Did you actually read the article or just the headlines before you became a mouthpiece. As far as the administrations comm

Reply to Brief Note to the Atheist in Philosophy JoeUser Forums

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF1Ixo_faas&feature=related[/video]

Reply to Brief Note to the Atheist in Philosophy JoeUser Forums

[quote who="lulapilgrim" reply="41" id="3033978"]new world order[/quote] Which new world order are you taking about? The fictitious one espoused by Propagandists like Glenn Beck or The same old world order that is pulling the puppet strings of both major political parties as we speak. [quote who="lulapilgrim" reply="41" id="3033978"]Powerful as the Jewish and Catholic lobbies? Care to explain "powerful"?[/quote] A good example would be AIPAC.

Reply to Brief Note to the Atheist in Philosophy JoeUser Forums

[quote who="lulapilgrim" reply="37" id="3033911"]As far as the SAT scores, the combined Math and Verbal scores, check out any college entrance exam boards in the 50's. Then check them in the late 60s and onward, and you'll find that even on tests made easier they dropped. Just a couple weeks ago, we learned about the vast cheating scam going on. For teen suicide amongst the 15-19 year olds, check out the National Center for Health Statistics. In Maine, suicide is now the se

Reply to Brief Note to the Atheist in Philosophy JoeUser Forums

[quote who="lulapilgrim" reply="34" id="3033888"]faith in God shifted to faith in man, science and education.[/quote] That is correct. However, the problem is faith in God alone does not and never will solve most of the problems that have faced mankind throughout history. Problems are not solved and moral questions are not answered by submitting ones self to some supernatural being. Problem are solved through man's understanding of the reality that surrounds him. [quote wh

Reply to Brief Note to the Atheist in Philosophy JoeUser Forums

[quote who="lulapilgrim" reply="30" id="3033585"]Thus the War on Christmas continues. Those like Gov. Chafee don't like the fact that the Christmas tree is identified with the Christian faith.[/quote] Calling it a holiday tree sounds like tolerance to me not war. Personally I'd rather see my local tax dollars spent on things that truly benefit my local community however I (who you may choose to label as a morally corrupt atheist) am tolerant of the many religious folk in my co

Reply to Brief Note to the Atheist in Philosophy JoeUser Forums

[quote who="lulapilgrim" reply="29" id="3033583"]It seems to me that the secular and atheistic humanists are using the political sphere to drive the Church and Christianity out of the arenas of education, the public square and life in general. [/quote] No there are a few individuals , several politicians, media outlets etc. that manipulate issues to gain political power and/or monetary gain. The media in particular mani

Reply to Brief Note to the Atheist in Philosophy JoeUser Forums

[quote who="lulapilgrim" reply="27" id="3033558"]Ha, ha, ha. https://forums.joeuser.com/167151 Check out this blog from 2007! I connect the dots for you.[/quote] My point is lulu that you seem to think secular humanism has no system of values, morals, or ethics when in fact it does. The difference is that secular humanists do not form their ethical beliefs from a a single book or religious authority. Overall many of my values are exactly the same as yours and exa

Reply to The skeptical environmentalist in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]specifically people who are certain mankind is causing global warming and specifically it’s caused by CO2[/quote] I am sure there are some who claim that however I think many state things as mankind contributing to global warming and CO2 simply being one of several greenhouse gases contributing to global warming. CO2 however is put in the forefront since current science points to it as currently being the predominant greenhouse gas effect