MigL

But the UN isn't standing on high moral ground either. Just look at the member nations appointed to Human Rights council. And that would make another interesting topic.

Russia, and to some extent Venezuela, used Cuba as a pawn in their conflict with the US. Cuban economy did not just "go south' recently along with the falling oil prices. It has been bad since the 70s, when Russia didn't need them anymore. The fact remains, iNow, that the US should be Cuba's biggest trading partner, because of their proximity, just like Canada and Mexico are. And you're absolutely right, the situation during the last 50 yrs of embargo were no better, but that's not what I said. I stated that I hope the situation does improve, but I have some doubts. It cannot be just a political change, it needs to be economic as well.

At one time I was gainfully employed as a pyramid builder, I was paid two meals a day and all the lashes of a whip that I wanted. I lost that job to new technology. I demand we return to those 'better times'. Other than the heavy sarcasm there are several points I'm making.

Just trying to restart this thread... Point I' trying to make is that there are crazies in all parts of society who take things to the extreme. They are there in the general population, whether black or white or in-between, as well as in the police forces. Officers are only human after all, some may be bad, some may make mistakes. This is no reason to assume or state that they are all bad. ( sorry this ties into my views about ' insane conservatives, see that thread ) Protests that degenerate into violence, or even name calling and obscenities rarely do any good. It has made police officers feel like they are under attack from all sides. If, on the other hand, the intent is a protest against the system, it is misguided as the best way is to change the system. Get out and vote for change, run for political office, or affect positive change in your community. Certainly don't destroy your neighbours' property, don't loot from them, and don't call them 'F**KIN' PIGS'. IIRC M.L. King's message was always one of inclusion, i.e. " treat us like people ". He never once attacked another group to say " that group is against us ".

So some nutbar, no doubt egged on by all the media reports and anger being expressed towards police, executed two New York police officers in broad daylight, after numerous online attacks, before committing suicide. Surely an unjust killing of two innocent officers. I wonder when the police are gonna start rioting all over the country, setting civilian's cars on fire and destroying property ?

I don't think the US has ever aspired to annex Cuba. It was the fact that it was 'off-shore', but nearby, which originally attracted US business interests ( and my countrymen, the Mob ), so that it became an eastern Las Vegas. That is what the strictest definition of the Monroe Doctrine would imply. As for asserting control over Cuba, and the rest of the Americas, is that really in question ? The US may not be the biggest producer nation in the world anymore ( not sure ), but they are still far-away, the biggest consumer nation. If the US stopped buying Chinese goods, China's economy would nose-dive. In effect, they control with their buying power, and not just the Americas. Castro shot himself in the foot. He nationalized US interests without compensation, but gained nothing. He should just have heavily taxed those ( and the Mob's ) interests, while still keeping his communism. Once he allied himself with Kruschev, and allowed Russian missiles off the coast of Florida, there was no turning back, and his people have suffered ever since. Did his failed baseball career really make him that mad at the US ? If all this does is supply cheap cigars and a cheap vacation getaway to Americans, with the proceeds going to the Cuban government, nothing will have changed for the Cuban people. I would like to see some foreign investment in the country which will provide better paying jobs and raise the standard of people's lives, and freedom of travel for Cubans. Cuba should be the richest of the Caribbean islands, but is far from it.

You would have no problem using 'acceleration' if you dropped a ball off the roof of your house. It would accelerate to the ground at 10m/s/s. How is an orbit any different ? Similarily, if you tie a 20 ft rope around a tree and around your waist, and then walk in a straight line , you'll find that there is a 'force' constraining you to walk an orbit around the tree. That 'force', is the rope, and we could call it gravity in case of the Earth or centripetal force in other cases. That force generates an acceleration towards the center which may not change your speed but changes your direction.

I would suggest an introductory level Cosmology textbook, or even a few Wiki searches related to Cosmology with added key words like expansion, big bang, inflation, etc. You have made several mis-statements in your post that bring into question your level of knowledge about the subject matter.

But if you consider each magnetic domain, xyzt, then each has a particular energy. They each have a particular energy whether aligned or not. So even though the spins of the individual domains may cancel, there is no negative energy. The total energy would still be the sum over all domains, and therefore equal for magnetized or non magnetized. Or am I missing something ?

Well, when the people in power ( or associated with ) live a certain lifestyle, while the rest seek to escape the country on inner tubes across 50 miles of shark infested waters to get to Florida... But seriously, point taken. I presented two possible options, as this is a discussion forum, maybe add a few others and lets discuss their likelihood. The fact that this Pope seems to be a sensible person who recognizes that the role of religion is to further peace, and the fact that neither Obama nor Castro can alienate their many religious citizens, is not in question, RobbityBob1. Neither is Canada's role.

I think ( opinion ) the point being made is that the term, while accurate, can be interpreted different ways, especially by those who are 'English challenged'. A lot of times it can be taken as an offensive insult, since offence is in 'the eye of the beholder' and not in the intent of the offender. We make similar allowances for words that are no longer 'fashionable' or whose meaning has evolved over the yrs. to be more negative. Surely we as a group, being ( or considering ourselves ) fairly intelligent, can come up with other words to convey the meaning 'ignorance of a subject', so as not to make matters worse by ( unknowingly ) insulting the poster.

What are your thoughts on the thawing of US-Cuba relations ? Will this mean the added influx of trade/tourism brings some benefit to the destitute Cuban people. Or will the corrupt Cuban system use it to strengthen and further its dictatorial hold on the country ?

It seems that since a few 'loony tunes' characters of the American Conservative party initiated the Tea Party movement, it has become fashionable in the media and amongst people who consider themselves 'intelligentsia' ( better than the unwashed masses ), to put down ALL conservatives based on the thinking of a few. Even though I would wager that quite a few of you have at least a few conservative traits. Like cradn727 has stated, its just a matter of degree. What is the cut-off point for considering someone insane John ? Is it when 40% of your group believe in something illogical ? Or is it 70% ? And who determines this cut-off point ? You ? ( I've read a lot of your posts over the last couple of yrs. and seen you get a little 'crazy' ) And thank you Overtone for proving my point. When you can't make a valid argument, just call the opposition a jackass, or the opposing political point of view insane. How 'morally high ground' of you !

Gave Sensei a +1. thought he was implying DevilSolution should get a job and not confuse himself with his own thoughts.

It is not that God can be proven or disproven by science. The 'realm' of God or deities in general, lies outside where one can reasonably apply science. It is more like the ( classical, pre-Einstein ) aether. Current science simply doesn't require it. In effect, there is no difference whether it actually exists or not. We simply apply Occam's razor and 'cut away' all that's not necessary. Similarly with God. The deity concept in not needed for our understanding of the workings of the universe. So science simply cuts Him out and has nothing to say about it. I, personally have no need for the aether concept ( neither does anyone else ), nor for the concept of a God ( and, in a few hundred yrs, neither might anyone else ). But, by all means, if God and your religion give you personal comfort, science should have nothing to say about that either .

How old are you guys ? ( immaturity, its what keeps us young )

What I would get worked up over , is the fact that overtone waits until I've left the discussion to attack points I made, not having had the ba*ls to it before like you Tenoz , and JohnC, While your political leanings are not a race that you are born into, do you doubt that as a group , black Americans have a certain set of beliefs based on their environment and upbringing ? And how exactly are you born into a religion ? Because your parents were ? What if your parents leaned towards certain politics ? And what of people who change religion ? Are you that obtuse, overtone, that you don't see these as groups or demographics with a large number of common shared beliefs ? Just like Right and Left are groups with a core of shared beliefs, and some that are not so universal, but more local or even singular. The examples you cited are my examples and I am neither conservative or American. But I do have integrity, unlike what you demonstrated. Next time address me directly in your post and I'll come back ( as I have ). No need to wait till I've announced my intentions of quitting the topic.

IIRC even on Star trek the transporter which 'destroyed every atom of the source body and then 're-created' it at the destination, needed a Heisenberg Compensator, to account for the uncertainties brought in by QM effects. If you cannot know the exact state of a system, you cannot recreate it.

Consider asking your friends to join our forum, CharonY. We would then have mods/experts.

My apologies for the mis-statement, Acme. The holidays ARE insane; people who take/observe them ARE NOT. See the difference ? Sorry again. I just couldn't resist one last poke.

No one gives a hoot about rep points, Vexen, because some people give them as 'punishment' for having an opposing viewpoint to theirs. Make the best posts you can and always back them with your thinking or evidence behind them. That will demonstrate much more than rep points do. I personally, have only given out one or two ( always positive ), since I joined and it was always for especially humorous posts.

Religion is simply like any other man initiated endeavor, imatfaal. It may have been initiated with good intentions, but soon enough, unscrupulous people start using it to take advantage of others. See atomic energy, the internet, communism, etc. Edit: Sorry spelled your name wrong.

The OP is putting the cart before the horse. Start a new topic to try to reach a common definition of alive ( life, human or otherwise ). Only then can you explicitly define the beginning of that state.

Oh, I see what you mean. Some conflicts are still too raw and could explode in our forum. I don't have a solution for that problem. But even a hundred yrs wouldn't help as I know we have some Brits, and I'm sure there must be some Irish.

The only part of your post which relates to my objections follows the word 'because' in the 4th line. In case you still don't understand my objections, this has nothing to do with right wing principles. You don't like them, and there's quite a few I don't like. So ATTACK THOSE PRINCIPLES, not the people by calling them names. Incidentally, this is the same principle the moderators always urge us to use ( attack the idea, not the person ), or are you gonna start calling everyone whose post gets moved to the Speculations Forum insane also. And this applies to you too, Tenoz, remember, an idea can only be right or wrong, only a person can be insane, So you are not labelling the idea, you are labelling the person, and I think that's wrong.. I will discuss right versus left ideology with anyone ( remember, I am Canadian, our Conservatives are more left wing than American Democrats), but did not read the book Acme wanted me to, because of the title which slights half the American population. Any time a discussion discends into name calling, it is an attempt to stifle further discussion by taking away the oppositin's right to have an opinion. That is my opinion, I hope you respect my opinion as much as I do yours, John, and I will not be saying anything further on the matter ( but I'll still check in on further developements in this thread, yes, I'm a masochist ).