padren

The question of negligence on the parent's part would involve the ease with which they gave him access to bring it to school. Parents hold a lot of responsibility but they are not foolproof protectors of their own assets. A kid getting into a school with a gun is the responsibility of everyone charged with protecting the kids in that school, and extends to those who enable the one kid to threaten their lives. Since the only way to ensure a kid can't take one of your guns to school is to not have any, then people would have to give up their right to bare arms if they want to do the "responsible thing" in that case - which I don't 100% agree with. If they were negligent with how the firearm was kept - then yes. But they'd be equally responsible (IMO) if their kid had talked about wanting to kill students and had brochures for gun shows lying around the kitchen table, and used a gun from outside the house. I think its a failure on many levels in this case, of the parents to see the condition of their child, of the school to recognize one of their students was so far gone he'd forefiet his future to kill his peers...and of his own peers for having no idea. You can't hold his fellow teens responsible of course (unless he told them explicitly) but there is a general wide range of failure in this case.

I can't help but to bet that if when the Powers That Be found the little information they did, had it been the most prominent democrat who was responsible, it would have been looked into years ago and everything would have turned up. The real question is if the original warning signs would have been enough to look into someone whom they were totally indifferent to. From the sounds of it so far, it seems like the reason for not digging into it was in difference to Foley and the effects it would have on this party, but we'll have to see the evidence (I am not 100% up on it so far).

I agree whole heartedly that better oversight is a positive thing. I think the best question we can ask is why are those we consider qualified are unwilling to enter government? I think it may be that it is that its hard to compete and accomplish anything through all the opportunists without becoming one. Right now its the sort of candidate we don't like that is best suited to survive in that environment, and we are trying to change the environment by inserting a different candidate that is best suited to survive in the environment we want to create. We need to change the environment and who we bring into it at the same time, but its incredibily hard when there is so much disagreement in politics. Its like having millions of heart surgeons who all disagree on the method trying to perform surgery on the same patient in realtime.

If the politicians don't want to be there but are forced to by law, what law do you think would be the first one they'd repeal?

Very cool site Bascule, I am going to have to recommend it a few clients that have been asking about this sort of service.

www.minipublish.com Its pretty much a system where you can create a book (that looks like in the demo link) which takes images you upload, crunches them on the server, and drops them into a dynamic flash presentation, a PDF document, and a zip archive that you can download to build auto-run CD-ROMs of the book. People also get a web address (not a domain name, but can choose their own minipublish.com/somenamehere type deal) and can copy/paste a line of <iframe> code to embed it in their own site if they have one. Its the first time either of us has built a national web based system that wasn't a by-the-hour contract deal for someone else, and I am really hoping we can transition from "contract labor" to "business system owners" (or whatever term you want to call it) Bourgeoisie transubstantiations are fun And if anyone has any comments on the site I really do appreciate the feedback, I've been living on 4 hrs sleep a night this week so I can't really tell what it looks like anymore.

Hey everyone, I am exceptionally excited right now - my business partner and I launched our first fully automated internet based service website Its for graphic designers and basically lets people build presentations online and CD-ROMs easily, and its really exciting but I don't want to post the URL in case I'd be breaking spam rules. I am not trying to push it here of course I just want to do a little happy-dance and share a really cool milestone that I got to experience. Would it be in bad taste to share the URL so people could look at it?

When someone cheats its good to really re-evaluate...but that isn't the same as throwing the person out. In fact, anytime someone throws you an unpleasant curve ball you need to reconcile your senses with the data. However, every situation is incredibly different. There are very few rules of thumb that can be match a situation based solely on what has been posted in a forum. Anyone in that situation should go with their instincts in either direction since they are in the best position to understand the details of the matter. I can respect ParanoiA's paranoia, but I don't think it can be universally applied by any means. It also depends on your goals: For me, success and failure are irrelevant - I don't consider someone successful in business better than someone who fails at it per se, it boils down to the chances you take that you can stand by. If I feel good about giving someone a second chance (I've had times going either way on that topic) I will do that and how they end up acting is largely irrelevant. If taking a given chance makes you feel like you'd be a dupe - than don't. If not taking that chance makes you feel like you are acting out of simple fear of looking bad if it happens again - then take it. Life is about taking the chances that speak to who you are...regardless of what side of the issue they may fall on or the eventual outcomes. (my 2 cents at least)

When you debate another person you hope (sometimes against hope) that they'll respect your position enough to carefully consider your statements. Its easy to be so jaded with religion that someone gives a religious minded person the feeling they are not here to debate, since there is no way they'll consider a religious argument with an iota of validity. Likewise, a rationalist may feel the same way about a religious person who is intractable for completely irrational reasons, but who tries to use rationality to debate in favor of their religious views. In the end its easy to feel the other side is entrenched enough to talk over your points and it makes you feel like the investment in the debate is worthless...which is where I think most of the vitriol comes from.

I'll try to throw in my 75 words or less: I believe science and logic are best for understanding the universe and I fear organized religion...but I don't think you have to be religious for a spiritual life. Whether created or accidental, the universe is a humblingly awesome thing to experience, macro to micro. I am constantly floored by the emotional significance life has to offer, if I am here "to be, to see, to turn to dust" I am infinitely grateful for it. 74 words.

If you are in the mode of feeling you ought to make a hard clean break - all I can say is its better to find out now than down the road. (not very comforting) If you are trying to figure out how you feel and should react, the best thing I can ask is whether this is an act within a general downward spiral or a seemingly isolated freak occurance during an overall ascent of a good relationship? Whether you decide its completely unforgivable or something that can be overcome, both are entirely valid responses - it really boils down to the specific situation. As far as stress relief goes, the best thing I can say is remind yourself often that how you feel is temporary, not unlike feeling like hell when down with the flu but a lot more painful...but still inevitably temporary. I find when I accept that any given pain will be bad for the moment despite my desire to change it but that it will pass, it makes it easier to endure during those moments. Best luck with it all, and whatever else comes thereafter.

Unless I am mistaken, Dawkins puts forth his views in a rational critical assesment of the effects of religion within society, and voices - at times loudly - that he finds the religious condition to be alarmingly harmful to society. Are people that cry alarm about the actions of tabacco producers "bigots" against those in the industry because the research they've done is unflattering upon them? To me, you have to make derogatory claims outside of the scope of your research due to personal bias before you are labeled a bigot. Personally I disagree with the notion that if you can't sustain your beliefs rationally that you should abandon them. We need a "safety valve" from reason so that we can go soley on what we feel when appropriate - we are very instinctive creatures and its helped us for a long time. What I dislike is when people try to rationalize their feelings by spinning mythical stories and the resulting pseudo-logic. I do feel that is harmful to society but at the same time telling people how they are allowed to think is also harmful to society - so what can you do? Before someone finds Dawkins' words insulting, I think it would be worth while isolating what words are insulting. If I was religious I'd have to admit I had no more rational basis for them than there are for believing in unicorns, and many other things that could make me look "dumb" on the whole. But if he's not creating those conditions - just pointing them out - what is there to argue with? There is nothing wrong with accepting that one's faith is completely unfounded from a rational perspective, so one's faith shouldn't feel threatened by it or any other demonstratable characteristic of one's faith.

Well damn I had a lexdisc moment and thought you said it "doesn't" feel good. Being a landowner is one thing to feel good about - in Boulder where god knows what % of the population commutes from Denver burbs to work because of the inflated housing costs (was last there 5 years ago, are they still way high?) - thats gotta feel pretty damn good. Congrats

You still put in hours, just in trade or property management etc...and if it has an exploitive angle then naturally it can be not so good. Of course its all wild speculation - and since we started wildly speculating, I'll bet the transubstantiation is the result of becoming some heiress's new pet.

Oh god that is very true - I had completely forgotten about that. Not only that but the dubbed versions are usually "americanized" to the point of being acceptable content to 12 year olds - huge plot elements can be cut out. By the tone of the voice actors, it sounds like they were given a script and just dubbed it after working on "scooby doo" or some other kid's cartoon...with no idea of the original emotion or tone of either the characters or the story. Glad you mentioned that because I'd be very confused why people may like it if I had only been exposed to dubs.

I can't help but to be amused by the fact you can see "transubstantiated" in the name of a thread on the main page and automatically know who started the OP. So whats the deal - do you no longer work for a living?

If you want to influence the world around you and resist the influences of others' mental powers try: http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Practice-Robert-B-Cialdini/dp/0321011473 A friend loaned me that and I've found it a very interesting read on psychology and influence...which outlines (scientifically) the real mental powers people use to influence us - understanding how we think.

A friend of mine harassed me until I watched Gundam Seed in its entirety. Never been an anime fan, but I was blown away by that series' plot and depth. Human nature and conflict was done so well it deeply impacted my thinking on topics of war and human nature. The most interesting element to me is that neither side of the war was "bad" or "good" but people locked in very human fears where each side of the war contained a mix of reasonable people and some zealots, in which the escalation of violence continually pushed each side towards the idealogy of the more intolerant individuals so much so that you could almost think you were watching a real life world scenario spin out of control. I'll enjoy any medium that can convey those sorts of complexities - assuming those complexities involve more than kids collecting animals and making them fight. Other series I've enjoyed would be Ghost in the Shell and Cowboy Bebop...though they are generally more candy and style with some interesting ideas than substantial plot.

IMM, just got to ask something: Take the slavery diamond mines in Africa where slaves are worked to death. If someone "liberated" such a camp by burning it down with all the slaves in it, thus "liberating" them to their deaths - would you make the same argument that hurting the profits of the diamond miners overshadows the negativity of those deaths? Its one thing if someone believes fishing is wrong but that fish have no moral imparative to life and thus it could be justified that the deaths are justifiable, but since you do believe killing fish are wrong - how does it differ if its human life vs. fish life? On the topic of terrorism: I think to a degree, lots of different activities get mixed up in one term, but to seperate: * Resistance/Guerilla fighting is one thing * Terrorist tactics (whether by a state, a militia, or other group) are another Resistance fighting is hard to call because either you agree with their cause or you don't - but there is no starwarsy clear cut good and evil most of the time from the perspective of observers. Terrorism is pretty simple - you don't attack on hurting your enemy's logistics but impacting the psychology of your enemy, and often those who are not your enemy (and civilians) to try and get what you want. If ALF started to initate say, savage beatings of random meat market officials and their families - thats terrorism all the way. From this example, it looks like they are trying to hurt their enemy's logistical capacities for profit...which is a lot harder than using terrorist tactics. I don't agree with their guerilla cause, but I can respect it while I hope for their arrest.

Okay, I had a wierd one last night. I was hanging out with Michael Palin from Monty Python's Flying Circus...and a bunch of other cast people and extras, who insisted I rehash all their old work with them like I had them memorized or something. Being a fan I knew some, but I was really foggy because it was a dream, and there was a lot of bizzaire visuals like their cartoon work etc. They were riding me pretty hard to get it right because for some reason they needed me to rehash it - like they couldn't - and I wasn't very effective. That wasn't the wierdest part of my night though, but the rest wasn't in dreams.

Good quote, hehe. I can't help but to wonder what they'd say about us though.

Another side note: Even if the whole microwaves bouncing back and forth deal worked - if your vessel did a 90 degree turn - wouldn't it loose all the stored energy? The direction of the boucing microwaves would no longer be between the two ends, but bouncing off the internal sides of the tube. New microwaves entering the system from the immiter would be right - but the ones he has bouncing around already wouldn't do anything good at all.

Sorry Bascule but you'll find almost everyone on the planet, no matter how messed up thinks they are both rational and have a healthy skeptical nature. The same people who think God sent a giant storm shaped like a fetus to hit New Orleans think they are the paragon of reason - its everyone else that can't see the obvious patterns.

The way it came across to me was "haha I am only joking that Canadians are a type of nigger - you guys are alright" which still implies by contrast he doesn't consider most "niggers" alright. Anyway IMM: Good horror stories and even better ending

No more than people that bark and chase cars are dogs...