Phi for All

Why is that? I've always wondered why we write blank checks to our covert agencies and then hear (after a big failure) that our intelligence was faulty, that the agency wasn't prepared and that our training and procedures were outdated.

You have six hours to edit and that should be plenty. As yourdadonapogos pointed out, we've been burned in the past. The six hour limit is a happy medium. And as YT pointed out, you can always ask a Staff member to perform an edit after time has elapsed. The very idea of changing someone else's posts against their will gives me the heebie-jeebies. I can see why you mention it but I wanted to go on record that the mere mention of it offends me greatly. Btw, if any Staff member edit any post (even their own after five minutes) the edit is stamped at the bottom and requests a reason for the edit. There are no exceptions.

KFC has burgers?! That's just... wrong! Are chickens sacred in Pakistan? And I agree, who in their right mind would pass up a well-made curry for a soggy franchise garbage burger? And Pakistani curries generally use more meat than Indian curries as well. This makes me very hungry.

Thank you. Believe me, the media in the US could never convince me to judge the entire population of a country by a few of it's more extreme citizens. Every country has extremists that make them look bad. The majority are usually normal and peace-loving and dislike aggression. The only bad thing I know to be true about Pakistani teenagers is they use too much text-speak while posting here. I h8 that! See, I'm joking again. In a way.

I was about to say, "You can't ban ME!" but then I remembered how resourceful you are. I wouldn't put it past you to be able to light my hair on fire over my internet connection.

People discuss things better when the topic is focused and narrow. The longer a thread lasts the more tangent topics are introduced. Note the peak oil threads that go off on GW or the threads talking about terrorism that get mired in discussing the Bush administration. Some tangent talk is good and may lead to new insights and co-relationships but mostly people tend to fall into old comfortable arguments that can go on forever. Thanks for understanding.

The other option is to PM Pangloss directly. He is a reasonable guy who has taken on the task of moderating the most opinion-filled sub-forum at SFN. He'll probably explain how Staff abuse is difficult seeing as how we're all reading the same posts and discussing problems in the Mod forums. We actually have protocols and processes we follow when good members have problems with Staff decisions. That's why they pay us the big bucks.

I apologize if I've given any offense. When you stated in the OP that: ... I thought I could joke a bit with you. I won't make that mistake again. Of course I knew it wasn't done deliberately. Some mistakes happen to lend themselves to my sense of humor so please forgive me if it seemed like I was making fun of you. That was NOT my intention. Truce? All the research I could do wouldn't tell me a fraction of what I'd learn if I came to stay with you for a week. I work with many people in Kolkata and Hyderabad in India and may get a chance to visit before the year is over. I would love to visit Pakistan and meet some people. I warn you though, like YT2095, I love Pakistani cuisine as well so I hope you have a good cook. I believe this as well. It is the same everywhere, leaders take a certain stance that may further the interests of their country, but the people just want to get along well with their neighbors. I hope you can influence the way your leaders think so the whole world will benefit from new friendships.

Are you talking about the money the US gave Afghanistan in May of 2001 to help curb heroin production or are you implying that the US Mafia had something to do with bombing the Taliban?

Sure. If it's a Moderator you need to report then PM one of the four Administrators. If it's one of the Administrators you wish to report then PM a different Admin.

The two we're most concerned with are ad hominem and Strawman. Circular logic happens but usually gets jumped on by the person it's used on. Ad homs are usually in the form of Flaming, which most boards don't tolerate. Strawman just causes too many side arguments and weird thread tangents when used persistently. For the most part people stop when it's pointed out that they are basing their arguments on faulty, fallacious logic. It's only when they ignore everyone and keep up the fallacious tactics that we'll start giving out warnings with points toward a temporary ban (usually a week for the first, I believe). We all love discussion and even a good all-out argument can be productive. When someone has their back against the wall, doesn't have the grace to capitulate (or even admit the other person has a good point or a right to their opinion), and ends up trying to switch to questionable logic, it wastes everyone's time. And no one wants to just drop the matter and lend tacit support to an argument based on fallacies. It's *not* all about being the perfect debater but having the courtesy to not waste everyone's time with junk reasoning. We're not going to be Fallacy Nazis but when both sides are making good cases it often comes down to who is going to cave and start reaching for the weak stuff. Do it persistently and you'll get a warning.

Logical fallacies are only applicable for arguments. I made none. I simply pointed out what the report says at the end. You know, for those who are tired of reading every reference and have begun to just accept a lot of links as evidence. But it does tell me a lot about how quickly you're jumping, Cap'n. Since I know where you stand this new momentum information may help me remove any uncertainty.

I'm kind of surprised MoveOn didn't mention the lame, "perhaps affected by cold medicine" excuse. Probably because it's unsure whether that mitigating bit came from McCain's office or was thoughtfully supplied by Fox News. I wouldn't fault McCain for playing to the crowd he was addressing, it's what pols do. The cold meds excuse was completely unnecessary, imo. They should have left it at "get a life".

They made my current favorite shirt, like YT2095 I also don't like countries with rival neighbors who want the bomb, and I would really like to stay with a Pakistani family for a week before making any kind of judgment about its people. ... and the Spelling Mistake of the Week Award goes to ChemSiddiqui for unintentionally implied devil worship.

And if you have any questions about the "independent" Energy Watch Group or their report, the report asks you to contact Dr. Werner Zittel at Ludwig Bölkow Systemtechnik, a consulting firm pioneering alternative energy solutions. LBST's website offers no solutions that involve coal.

Since you're thinking about electrical engineering how about "reverse engineering" your decision? Check out a company you'd love to work for in a place you'd like to live. Contact them and ask them what they like to see in potential new employees. There are mentor programs within some of the larger companies. It's even possible they may like you enough to arrange summer internships and other yummy opportunities for young people interested enough to folow through.

woelen has some excellent videos of chem experiments on his site. Find one of his posts, click his name and go to his website and enjoy.

smart, our former top poster , was all about posting links to video lectures. While these could be valuable smart was not interested in discussion. Agendas which don't promote discussion and lead members away are not appreciated so his posts were removed. Somehow this caused an integer overflow and his post count soared. I thought it was funny that his profile listed him with a 63,046,280.52 posts-per-day average, which we know is impossible unless you're ecoli.

Your profile says you live in Mx which I assume is Mexico? Do you want to stay in-country? Is being near your family important to you? Have you decided what you want to study (majors, minors, etc)? Do you have a career in mind? Are you looking for intensive studies or do you want a good mix of social activities as well (not *just* partying). Will you have to work while you attend classes? My niece is taking some specialized courses at a school that is perfect but it's in an area where the economy precludes her getting even the most menial job (many locals are unemployed). Can you tell us what you'd like to get out of college?

I remember reading about reptile fossils about the same time I heard about finding plant remains indicative of a tropical climate at some distant point in time. The book was talking about shifts in the earth's lithosphere. I will see if I still have it but I suspect I got it from the library.

Moved to Homework Help. Do you have any of the six types of cells? How far along are you with this work? Have you studied or at least googled the intestinal structures or are you asking for help in relating them to their function?

Klaudio, I don't normally allow first-time posters to lead us to their websites. Too much of a chance the members get caught up in some kind of scam. But, like Rocket Man, I liked all the research and documentation you've put forth. Try to stay away from the fringe and you'll have more science-types interested (and still talking to you). This is a discussion board, however, so unless you come back and post some replies your thread will be removed and used to feed the hamster that powers our server.

I think Reid needs some lessons in diplomacy. His implication with the Vietnam / Johnson analogy was pretty clear. There was no reason to actually say, "...this war is lost..." There is an art to such things.

LOLCSOOMN*, I'd like to see a spinning gold star that wasn't gaudy. I'm glad the big blue stars are gone though. I think it needs to be lighter to contrast better but I agree, the green is nice and friendly. * Laughing out loud, coffee shooting out of my nose.

What do China and Russia get from Sudan? Diction lessons take time. "Darfur" is tough to say with a Texas twang. Bush certainly has good people around him to listen to regarding the Sudan situation and it sounds like he is listening. I'm certainly happy about that.