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Raven

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Everything posted by Raven

  1. Oh dear, this is just lovely. Nice quotes Menchise, a pleasant change to see you post something I like even if I can't agree with all of it. LBM, what can I say, I don't know much about England, but I'm not sure I agree with some of your sentiments. There is nothing immoral about abortion; it's much better then having another unwanted child who is going to turn into a dysfunctional adult. Think of it as preemptive execution. As for contraception to school children, it's better then if they need it and don't have it. We don't need more useless people (except maybe to increase property prices, but that's something else entirely). As for taxes, well, whatever works. Just make sure you don't get in trouble and that the effort to avoid paying taxes is worth the money saved.
  2. Develop a taste for extremely spicy food that you can only eat a very small amount of. It works, at least most of the time. I eat jalape├▒o peppers out of the jar, though I might have to get something a bit hotter soon.
  3. I wouldn't get another saitek. I've never had one myself, but I have been told by numerous different people that they break down real easy like, and even if you can use two joysticks at once I don't know of any games that support that (though I can see the use). I got myself a Gravis Eliminator Precision Pre a while back (shortly after I got BCM as I recall) and it's a wonderful choice (especially considering it was only $15). It has twist, a throttle, an 8 way hat switch, something that resembles a mousewheel, and 8 other buttons.
  4. quote: YouÔÇÖre just wrong. Income does not facility vertical mobility, wealth does. So unless youÔÇÖre in the upper 40% you can expect to little to no wealth generation. Well darling, wealth certainly doesn't hurt, but you hardly need to be in the upper 40% to save money, it's just that so many people would rather buy what they want now then save for the future. I don't mind though, makes it easier for those of use with intelligence. Furthermore, wealth is not the only thing that facilitates vertical mobility, ambition, intelligence, and a good education (which is easy enough to get if you have ambition and intelligence) are big factors as well. quote: you always seem to have facts that are inaccurate or do not address fundamental issues. And you're the master of accurate and unbiased information presented in such a manner so as not to appear to be other then what it is? I think not. quote: One day you may realize that there are just not enough jobs for everyone and that the majority of poor people are guiltily of nothing save the accident of birth. Darling, the majority of the people are guilty of failure, incompetence, bovine stupidity, and poor economic decisions. Of course how much money you're born to makes a difference, but plenty of people manage without being rich to begin with, and plenty of others go down the tube no matter what. quote: Technology is voiding more jobs than it is creating. But it's also advancing our standard of living. If you're so object to technology then I'm sure you can find a cave somewhere to live. quote: Capital migration (jobs) is moving over seas to remain competitive. That's blue collar and white collar....what is cheaper? Paying for a computer scientist to come live in America or just take the jobs to them? Well darling, what can I say; it's often a better economic decision to move to other countries, though I believe this is more for cheap labor then anything else. The government likes to regulate, and to control, and to make things difficult to do business. That's peachy, because companies no longer have to put up with that if there is a better regulatory environment elsewhere. It's what Jaguar would call voting with your feet. quote: The Republicans will continue to pass laws that funnel wealth back into the hands of the wealthy and keep labor disorganized. Polarize wealth, eviscerate the middle class, and generally destabilize society....they can't help it, that's the nature of fat cat politics. Yes darling, they're polarizing wealth and eviscerating the middle class, which is why your lovely statistics show that even the bottom 20% economically are making more money now then they were in the past, after inflation. At least try and appear consistent. quote: When the majority of people who are used to being consumers fall off the tread mill they will take a very hard look at what they believe and who is telling them to believe it.... Bah! Nonsense, I believe we have already covered that humans are complacent, bovine, and not all that hard to shove around. It's repulsive, but it's the truth for the majority of our population.
  5. Yea, that is pathetic, I have to go with Jaguar, that fool has no business being a majority leader. Besides, affirmative action is complete nonsense and a little disgusting.
  6. Please darling, don't bother, the last thing I need is your pity. It we're going to be talking about rude, however, you may want to note that not all of us use flagrant amounts of insults in our arguments and suggesting that we do is mildly offensive. Now, that said, Jaguar is in a perfectly understandable position. Some of the leftists on this forum are communists (namely Menchise), and most of the leftist ideas seam naïve and at times inane. It's easy to switch over from amused to disgusted, especially if everything is getting heated. Besides, it's not just the rights that do this, you leftist types do that as well. My advice is that if you can't handle it don't get involved. It's easy and it works.
  7. Well, it's about time. Unfortunately that article is rather blatantly biased. They say how the poor pay more of there income in sales tax, well sure, that's because they buy more taxable items, and let me assure you that the wealthy pay a much larger amount of sales tax, just not a larger percent of there income. Yet somehow this is unfair, because after all, taxes should always favor the poor. Now, maybe I'm missing something here, but wealthy people pay property taxes (bleh!), disgustingly tiered income taxes that are enough to make you weep, they pay more money total in just about every single tax no matter what the percentage is, and yet the poor are the ones who need tax breaks. Its rubbish, just because someone makes a dreadfully small amount of money doesn't free them from paying there fair share of taxes. I'm not expecting this kind of taxing to generate any considerable amount of income, that's just not going to happen, but the principle of the matter stands. Poor people pay to little taxes, especially income taxes, and it's about time it changed. By the way, have a look at some of the other stuff this Dionne Jr. character has written of late, it's simply repulsive, not to mention wildly inaccurate and blatantly leftist propaganda. Seriously bleh! [ 12-16-2002, 10:54 AM: Message edited by: Dragon Lady ]
  8. Oh dear, what a pity, we're going seriously consider that Die Another Day is slanderous to Korea when they're producing that filth about use. "The root cause of all disasters and misfortunes of the Korean nation", give me a break!
  9. Commander Raven of the Violon GMV Dragon's Daughter reporting all systems and personnel combat ready. We are currently in orbit around Zelana in the Lanix V system.
  10. Oh dear, I knew this was going to happen
  11. quote: The word "circle" in the Hebrew text meaning sphere. So a sphere hanging upon nothing is a very accurate discription of our earth, don't you think? So if they wanted to say circle (as in a disk, not a sphere), what did they say, tetrahedron? If they meant sphere, then why in the name of all that's unholy was it translated as circle?
  12. Well I have faith in science. It is not, however, blind faith. Inductive reasoning can't give 100% proof, but it can be very good at predicting outcomes and that counts for something. Consider, if you will, technology. Now, it's possible that you're curled up in the fetal position in the corner of some cave amidst a race of extremely primitive humans that have less tool-using capability then apes and imagining this whole thing, or even that this world as you know it doesn't exist. I guess it's a risk you're going to have to take, whether or not to believe in science, reality as your senses interpret it, and all of that. I have faith in science because it works. Not total, nor blind faith, but faith none the less. It provides a way for us to prove things to the best of our abilities, and it's worked so far. That counts for a lot.
  13. Just a thought, but it seams to me that traversing the bottom of a sea would be pretty slow, especially with children and wagons. I'm not an expert on underwater terrain, but I would think it's pretty rough and not at all easy to cross, if it would even be possible to cross at all (allowing, of course, for the waters having been parted). [ 12-14-2002, 08:28 AM: Message edited by: Dragon Lady ]
  14. Well, for those of you who use Netscape, there is a new version out. Read about it here, download it here. Oh, and please, I don't want to hear about how Netscape sucks and IE is so supreme, or vice versa, we've heard all that before. [ 12-14-2002, 02:40 AM: Message edited by: Dragon Lady ]
  15. Oh no, I think we're going to be assimilated by the GalBorg
  16. quote: So if I went on a killing spree, it's not really my fault, right? I'm just following the effects of the physics around me. That takes away any accountability. Well yes, but you're also who you are and thus responsible for what you do. It's kind of hard to explain, but I rather keep accountability. quote: I see what you're saying, but just cuz a lot of self-proclaimed Christians act that way doesn't mean it's a Christian way to act. That's a bit close to an insult. Well darling, I apologies, I didn't mean it as an insult. Again, our dispute is on nomenclature, and I don't see any reason to argue that. Besides, doesn't it make you feel important when someone goes out of there way to insult you? [ 12-13-2002, 12:22 AM: Message edited by: Dragon Lady ]
  17. Sorry Jag, but that was horrible.
  18. quote: Still, proof denies faith. But one with enough faith can move mountains, or so they say. But science promised us flying cars by the year 2000, scheduled trips to the moon, and a moonbase and a base station on Mars. Fell short of that mark... Bah! You mean science fiction, not science. As for moving mountains with faith, darling, the only things that move mountains are the convection currents in the lithosphere. quote: Logic kills faith, yet faith disproves logic when applied. Which is right? That depends only on what you believe. First of all, logic doesnÔÇÖt kill faith, that's the problem with it, faith doesn't accept logical refutation. Similarly, faith isn't very good at disproving much. quote: Oh, what a wonderful web we're weaving -- I just don't want to be the male as the female tarantula decides she's hungry.... I don't know darling, I thing that arachnid mating practices are rather fascinating, not to mention sensible. quote: Assume there is a God. Then everything you just typed and everything I type is a result of His control and we are merely puppets, right? Every time I scratch my head it's because He made me? Every game I play and enjoy is because He's making me do it? Not exactly. Assuming the existence of god, and assuming he isn't actively interfering, then it isn't so much that he is making you do stuff as he made you (or I should say caused the events that ultimately resulted in your birth) in such a manner as you would do various things at various points throughout your life. Now, if he is interfering, the point remains, it simply means that the progression of events is changed from time to time. quote: Ok, assume there's not a God. Then what? Everything we think, do, say, type, play, watch is just a chain-reaction result of the big bang? The whole universe and all it's elements are just snowballing and have since the beginning? Pretty much, though I don't know if there was a big bang or something else. quote: Like horoscopes? Exactly. quote: On both the last two points I agree completely. That's where personal experience comes in. It's hard for me to explain, especially now when I'm struggling with my own faith (for reasons unrelated to this thread). But I know it as truth. Not think, not believe, know. I don't want to sound pushy, but that's how I feel about my faith. Take it for what it's worth. Actually, that's called believing, not knowing. Changing the nomenclature changes nothing. quote: If they ask me my beliefs, I'll tell them. If they ask me what I think of their beliefs, I'll tell them. But I won't be rude about it and I won't insult them for it, after all, that's un-Christian. Actually it's very Christian; it just isn't very Christ-like, go figure. quote: The primary problem with science is that there are infinite different results to the same experiment. Particle physics hinges on the probability that something may happen. Which means that not all of the outcomes are equally probable, which means science is in fact a valid method to predict events. Furthermore, probability is used not because the results are random, but because they are impossible to predict with 100% certainty due to unknowns. quote: The scientific method is flawed in the sense that identical results are impossible. And how, pray tell, is this a flaw? Science uses inductive reasoning, which means that it will never provide 100% answers the way that math does, which means that there will always be some margin for error. Also, the problem with experiments is simply that not all of the variables can be controlled tightly enough. In an absolutely controlled environment results would be absolute identical, problem is it's impossible to control all variables to this level. quote: If one derives his truth from religion or science both are equally questionable. Rather they are both questionable, but not equally so. Religion is highly questionable, but while the theories science pumps out are at times questionable, this is part of the scientific process, and science itself is pretty hard to question in a rational manner. quote: The Newtonian laws of the universe are not infallible predictors of the universe. You merely need to drop a ball out a window to see that it will not always perform the same way. Of course it will react differently; again, this is not because the world is chaotic and unpredictable, but rather because there is a huge mass of missing information that is necessary for accurate predictions (wind currents at various levels, the exact momentum of the ball at point of release, etc.
  19. Well darling, what can I say; I don't see how it's that big of a deal. If indeed he hasn't supported any racist policies then a slip of the tongue like that (which could still mean a couple of different things) shouldn't be held against him. If he is indeed racist, which seems unlikely, then I would say that it doesn't matter so long as his policies are not racist. It's not what he feels that matters, it's what he does. Everyone has there own prejudices (myself being no exception) and they are often hard to get rid of, but if you can operate fairly in spite of them I don't see a problem. Now, admittedly I couldn't care less about racism, I'm not racist myself, but it isn't something that means much to me one way or the other (what's that old line about "I'm not racist, I despise everyone equally"). To be fair I'm not a big proponent of women's equality either, those of us who can manage will do just fine and I don't have any compassion for those who can't.
  20. quote: Luck and random occurance are totally seperate entities (for lack of a better word). A random occurance is just that, random. Luck on the other hand would alter that random occurance to either benefit (good luck) or hurt (bad luck) the person or people involved. That's like saying that every time you flip a coin, God directs the outcome. He doesn't have to, He set physics in place for a reason. And despite what my brother will tell you when he's playing a game, physics do not arbitrarily change for people.Well darling, I agree with you on this one, nothing up and changes the laws of physics in someone's favor, and people who are considered lucky at games of chance usually know how to cheat. However a random event is an event which has some level of uncertainty about its outcome (how the dice are going to land for example). Now, I would argue that there is no uncertainty, simply a lack of information. If you knew the starting trajectories of the dice, there mass, spin, the various properties of the surface they are colliding with, you could come up with a fairly good idea of how they are going to land. If you have every iota of data pertaining to the dice and all forces influencing them, then you can predict exactly how they will land because everything is based off of laws of physics and behaves in a manner exactly accordant with said laws. Now, that means that every natural event can be predicted by knowing the state of all matter and energy at any point in history (after all, it's like a recursive formula, start at any point and you'll always reach the same result). Now, you might ask what about people? We have free will, we are more then our physical components (well, actually we're not, but a lot of people seem to think we are). The answer is the same, our brains are chemical computers that react based on the laws of physics to produce reactions based on what is happening in the world around us (which we have already determined to be fixed and without random events). What about the soul? Don't we have souls that make us more then just a conglomeration of chemicals that tend to stay conglomerated? Well, actually no, but you probably believe otherwise, so let's operate under the assumption that we have souls. Now, ask yourself what is a soul. Most people would answer that it is some type of energy that inhabits our physical body and passes out of it when we die (presumably to go to haven, or hell, or purgatory, if that's your belief). Now, assuming the soul has some effect on the decision making process in our brain, let's think about how this is going to work. Either the soul operates under some logical procedures, the equivalent of laws of physics for souls, or else it is chaotic in an extreme way (I don't think the latter is even comprehensible, without the equivalent of laws of physics there would be nothing to keep the soul from dissipating, or from simply ceasing to exist, or from growing to insane proportions). Now, if the first scenario is correct, and souls are bound by some type of physical law, then it is no different then the brain in that it is still bound into the logical progression based on previous physical reactions. Now, if the latter is true I don't know what to say, your soul just might disappear tomorrow, it would be totally chaotic and illogical. If, however, it was only partially bound by physical laws, thus partially free from the equation that is carried over from one moment to another and determines all of what has happened and all of what will happen then we still don't have free will, rather we are guided by a random factor that would function unfettered by the world around us, physical or spiritual. Let me say it again, this is not free will; rather it is simply being guided by a truly random element. I still do not believe this is possible, however, as it goes against everything we understand about how the universe works. Thus there is no such thing as free will, and should there be an all knowing and all powerful deity then it is directly responsible for every single event that happens, every bit of misery and joy, everything. quote: Well, that depends on whether or not you accept the bible as fact or fiction. It is very hard to explain the bible to someone that doesn't believe a word of it. Well, I believe that parts of it are indeed based off of historical events (that there no doubt was a Jesus and other characters, at least in the new testament, though I can't say I know which characters truly existed and which didn't). But that aside, if you need to believe in the bible for the bible to make any sense, then it is circular. You can not prove the bible to be valid by using the information within the bible. quote: Here's my challenge to you Jaguar, get a bible and research the prophecies of the old testament, the prophecies that Christ made and the book of Revelations. Then research history from the time period of the old testament until today and prove to us that all the prophecies were wrong. First of all, I don't doubt that some of the prophecies can be construed as correct. After all, as I understand it they are worded vaguely and are generally taken symbolically, which leaves an incredible amount of room open for real events to fall at least mostly into place given enough time. Furthermore, it is not impossible for someone (or a group of someones) to try to fulfill a given prophecy. [ 12-12-2002, 04:16 PM: Message edited by: Dragon Lady ]
  21. [rp] Well we all know humans can't count past ten unless they take there shoes off, so I'm not worried. [/rp]
  22. Well, it's hard to argue with faith, not much you can say will change it (kind of like a brick wall in that respect, but I shan't go there). Here is an interesting little paradox though. If, as you suggest there is no such thing as luck, which basically means there is no such thing as random, then there are a few interesting implications. Denying a random factor means that there is no such thing as free will (I'll give you a detailed explanation if you like). This, in turn, means that every future event can be determined by the current state of the universe (of course absolute knowledge would be necessary for an accurate prediction) as there would be nothing left to chance. Thus an all knowing and all powerful entity who designed things to exist exactly how they are (and thus intended for everything to happened in the exact manner that it has) would bear complete responsibility for all events, natural and man made, that happened from the beginning of time until the end. Rather a heavy burden for anyone to carry on there conscience, even a god. Now, as for Amen-Ra, DraconisRex is correct, it means hidden king of the gods (or something of that sort). The origin of this is the fact that Amen is a sun god, and spends a good half of the time out of sight.
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