Phi for All

I knew there had to be an accomplice! It reminds me of how the Bush administration lowers taxes so the budget for the war forces cuts in public programs and the privatization of Social Security. We're looking at the nice tax cuts while the tax burdens are shifted onto our shoulders. Bait and switch. Wave one hand while the other gives the finger.

Milk and eggs are not a good example to use, since they are subsidized by the US government. I'd like to know what kind of cereal you can buy in NY for $1.69. Here in CO it runs about $4 a pound. The fact that the gas price you have for NY in $1.26 tells me these figures are pretty old. And the comparisons are all with Haiti. The US has totally screwed Haiti by unfairly protecting sugar and cotton imports from affecting our own farmers. I say unfair because the US has brought heavy pressure on Haiti to also import sugar and cotton from us, items which used to be their biggest exports. My experiences with offshoring are mostly with China, India and South America, involving a higher technology skill set. The workers I've done business with are all college educated, bilingual people who own their own homes. Their economy is such that paying them $5/hour works out to be a quite livable wage. I mentioned it because I've seen people in the US condemn offshoring the same way they condemn sweatshops. I still think the difference is the standard of living of the worker. Obviously, the kinds of examples given earlier of forced child labor is reprehensible. And I don't believe in the justification that these workers would otherwise be thrown on the dung-heap. This is a human rights violation and governments should work to stop such exploitation.

I had a sleepwalking episode when I was about ten-years-old, where I thought I was alone in my house. I went to my sister's house a block away, went in through an unlocked back door and woke her up, telling her mom and dad were gone. She said she could tell I wasn't awake and told me to lie down. A minute or two later, I woke up, wondering what the heck I was doing over there. I remembered dreaming about mom and dad not being home but I had no recollection of going to my sister's. I think it's entirely possible for this guy to text message in his sleep. Especially if it's something he would logically do in a given situation.

Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

A surgeon, an architect an a lawyer are having a heated barroom discussion concerning which of their professions is actually the oldest profession. The surgeon says: "Surgery IS the oldest profession. God took a rib from Adam to create Eve and you can't go back further than that." The architect says: "Hold on! In fact, God was the first architect when he created the world out of chaos in 7 days, and you can't go back any further than THAT!" The lawyer puffs his cigar and says: "Gentlemen, Gentlemen...who do you think created the CHAOS??!!"

Here's a little test to see if you have what it takes: have someone tie you to a chair and fold a road map the wrong way while you watch. If you start screaming uncontrollably, congratulations! you have the mind of an engineer! Welcome!

Hey, that's a good point. I assumed the guy was doing the same trick multiple times with the same person, but if he only does it once with each, MagicMoose's solution has some merit. You reminded me of a trick I used to do where you write four numbers on a small slip of paper and an instruction to circle one number, like this (no periods): 1.........2.........3.........4 (circle a number) On the back of the paper, you write: Why 3? Something like 80% of the people, iirc, will choose either 2 or 3, 1 being unimaginative and 4, well, no one likes to be in last place. If they choose a different number, you nod sagely and say, "Interesting...." If they pick 3, you ask them to turn the piece of paper over, making you seem like a mind reader.

It should be noted that there is a huge difference between child slave labor and using labor at a lower economic rate. The first is exploitation, the second is arbitrage. Many workers around the world are paid good money (in their economies) that enable them to attend college, buy their own homes, and enjoy a level of prosperity that makes the practice of "offshoring" very vital to their national economics. People in the US are slowly realizing that technological advances are making it possible for workers in other countries to take advantage of the economic differences. For too long we have been complaining about foreign workers "stealing our jobs", when it really boils down to clever people taking advantage of opportunities. The economic imbalance won't be around for long, but it is here now and we'll just have to deal with it. We can't export our stuff and then cry foul when those we export to need more money to buy our stuff.

Well, then, guess what? All day long we could sit here, you naming a movie, book or TV program with a liberal bias, and I could name a conservative one. You know what we'd probably end up with? A 50-50 split, just like the election, with the winning margin going slightly conservative. Then where would the bias be?

A two line bombshell from our resident chemistry genius doesn't cut it for me. You got my attention, but what about the people who raised you? Was it the state or were you lucky enough to have relatives? Your dad will then feel complete, and all his work was worth it.

Are you saying this is a defense mechanism? Do you think syntax252 asks questions so he doesn't have to commit to a stance? Do you feel he wants to appear superior by constantly turning the argument around on his opponent? Do you think he fears being caught in an outright statement, so he couches his feelings in the form of a question so he can never be pinned down? Does it make you feel like you're being constantly psychoanalyzed by someone you know nothing about?

Another effect that is even more insidious is the erosion of self-esteem due to advertising. Thousands of images of "You're too fat/smelly/poor/ugly, you need THIS!" type of ads make for a very poor image of ourselves. This type of thing might even make us pick on others to make ourselves feel better, or go invade a sovereign country or something. I also picture someone from Nike in a meeting unveiling a mock-up of a new cross-promotion ad for Colt showing an M-16A2 assault rifle with a swoosh on the stock and the caption, "Just do it." I think that was the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Wolfowitz motto for the invasion.

You mean they actually edit out advertising references in the UK shows? That's more refreshing than the drinks could ever be! Rule Britannia! *edit* In the US, when I was growing up, they would give away free T-shirts and logoed products to advertise. How they managed to get people to PAY EXTRA for the privelege of advertising for these huge corporations and even consider logoed merchandise as better than the plain stuff has me completely at a loss. I can't prove it, but with all the media attention a good war gets, I am certain some ad exec has approached the military with an offer to put logos on tanks and uniforms and rifles, oh my.

It's not just the news over here either. Our television shows are peppered with propoganda as well, with the main character in a shitcom getting a healthy applause from the "live audience" sound track when he makes a patriotic statement about going out and kickin' some ass. They also use the shows to hype products, not just with placements, like showing Donald trump drinking Pepsi on his show, but actually building products into the plot, like having Ross and Rachel buy identical apothecary tables from Pottery Barn on Friends. You can imagine how insidious this type of hype is. At least with the news, you can wiegh it against other outlets. Your guard is down when you're watching your favorite program.

My mom and dad were 16 and 17 when the Great Depression hit. They did pretty well for themselves, getting married about three years later in 1932 and eventually having 6 kids. Dad was an electrician at the Naval yards in LA during WWII and used to tell a story about having to shut the power off on a whole destroyer in drydock because the Coast Guard ordered a blackout and threatened to open fire on dad's ship if they didn't douse their lights. He'd shut down everything he could see but missed a spotlight that was pointing away from him out toward the harbor. Figuring the CG wasn't bluffing but baffled as to which light the CG was talking about, dad threw the master switch and plunged the entire ship into darkness with all the workers below decks. Man, they cussed him out. Mom was the glue for our family. I was the youngest, and she made sure my brothers and sisters and their families got together as often as possible, hosting huge dinner parties for everyone. She was one of those good cooks who would ask you if you wanted more and then gave you another ladle full when you said no. Our house was always full of joy and laughter when the families got together. We lost them both, mom slowly to cancer and dad quickly to a massive infection. Their is no good way to lose your parents. Dad died about two months before I got married, almost 12 years ago. I wish I could hug and kiss them both a few more times and tell them thanks for everything.

Holy user-options, Batman! You rock the cave!

It could be set up where members after a certain date had to have 12 characters or less. I know the avatar max has changed from 100 x 100 to 75 x 75. Older members can keep them, but if they change avatars, they must use new size restrictions. Have you considered Yummiredbat, or Yummigraybat? I know everyone would get a kick out of talking to the Yummiyumabat! Sorry, just trying to soften the blow if 12 is max.

Omnipotence is not mine. I have many phenomenal cosmic powers, but I can't change your user name. I have PM'd an Admin about this and He will respond. Did you want yummifruitbat capitalized, while we're at it?

So you want me to change it to yummifruitbar, right?

If you EVER get flamed in the Homework Help forum, don't hesitate to report the offending post using the little red triangle with the black ! in it at the lower left of the post. The staff fully realises that people stop asking questions if they are being made fun of. I can't guarantee your flaming safety for opinions expressed elsewhere in the forums, but here in Homework Help, bullies will get suspension.

I firmly believe in the existence of psychic powers, but whenever someone claims to have them, I immediately doubt them. I believe it's possible, but it's never reproduceable. As with anything supernatural, I'm a hopeful, yet skeptical believer. This will most likely turn out to be a parlor trick. I'll bet he can only do this with more than one witness, and one of them is the ringer.

If he can do it with just him and the pointer person, no accomplices, 100% of the time, anywhere, he's got to be psychic. I realize body language can be powerful, but if you knew that might be the key, you could affect it by holding perfectly still, not looking him in the eye, etc. If he is psychic, why's he just messing around with colored cups?

I guess the Mujahedeen are learning from Osama bin Laden, who got us to spend billions when he only spends enough to buy video tapes and flying lessons. The media is a bit jumpy, imo.