Moonlapse

Well, prohibiting something always makes it more desirable and valuable. I'm the kind of person that thinks that trying to change people's minds by creating laws is absurd. Not wanting to contribute to someone's disease is much more gratifying when you guide your actions by your own principles. You do it because you respect life, not simply because you are required to. Too many laws like this eliminate the need for anyone to feel anything.

I don't think I've ever cried so much in a movie theater...

Get well soon, we feel for you.

$0.02 --> There's a very fine line here. For instance, I enjoy bowling as much as the next person, but I hate having a sore throat or a cough the next day from sitting in a smokey bowling alley for several hours. If there was such a thing as a smokeless bowling alley, I would go there. I also value individual rights, especially property rights. However, I do feel an aversion to giving superior individual rights to non-individual entities such as corporations. Ultimately, I agree with MPC.

Chuck Palahniuk rules.

My current job pays much more than the last and is far easier. However, it's a horrible fit for me, think about a situation like a redneck working as bartender in a gay club. Technically, I'm not supposed to talk too much about it, which should give you an idea of what it is... I see it as a challenge for me, to learn to deal with this kind of environment and not let it get to me. I meet so many people that seem to have matured to a certain point at which they became comfortable and I suppose felt that there was no use in developing themselves further or overcoming anything else. I guess this is why I feel that certain opportunities should be taken, not just for the superficial aspects but to sharpen yourself.

So you're not masochistic...

Because now it's humanitarian, and that's the noble specialty of the US. You know... like Colombia, Bosnia, Turkey, East Timor, Somalia...

If you get that type of opportunity again, I'd say do it. If you manage not to completely lose faith in the human race, you'll learn a lot about yourself and other people.

If you are vaguely referring to totalitarianism, I tend to appreciate the Orwellian idea that a monarchy would be far too impractical and outdated. The means to that end would need to be very finely spun and not be easily understandable as such by the majority. It would happen by progressive accumulation of precedents made by those who determine the pretexts for those actions.

I can understand your point. Singular static maps that try to encompass so many subtleties will necessarily be misleading without a copious amount of written explanation. The wall map, in addition to as much visual information as we could cram on it, still required several paragraphs of text in the legend to clarify some of the more important issues while leaving out numerous other minor ones. We do plan on a more interactive and accurate version to replace our province map. As Primus Pilus said, the wall map does address these issues already. In fact, the map indicates that much of Mesopotamia was not even annexed.

You know, there was a time when personal websites on webrings (when did that die out?) with goofy pictures of the owners trying to look ultra masculine and mysterious accompanying their idealized versions of their life provided me with much amusement. I find it amusing because I was 'that guy' once.

I'd say the U.S. is more hegemon than empire. I think that the traditional expanding empire became obsolete with nuclear technology and the cold war. The Roman Empire has more in common with the scores of other past empires than with the United States.

Here's another little excerpt gleaned from the Underground History of American Education, recounting the influence, in China, of the same prominent ideologues that influenced much of our educational system. From 'Education and the Philosophy of Experimentalism', John Childs - 1931

That would be doubleplusungood.

Any that I might be under.

What books does your school use for study?

Care to elaborate?

I'd like to echo Pantaganthus' comment on the Devotion piece. My creative work is the single most important source of happiness and satisfaction in my life. I don't follow a deity, but everything I do, I try to keep it in the context of the incredible realization that I am a conscious individual with a free will.

Here's some info http://www.unrv.com/moons/gaschart.png http://www.unrv.com/moons/gaschart3yr.png I have read that it's partly a reaction to the political power change in the House and thus changes in energy policy, but I personally wouldn't know.

My family (not extended) has been in similar situations a few times. It automatically creates a hierarchy that determines priority, usually age-based. People are naturally inclined to this type of thing. Living standards are completely relative to your peers, so it's probably hard for us to consider this type of thing during the time it was prevalent - most of human history.

Prices here jumped slightly last week, but are currently still dropping.

civil war - a war between factions or regions of the same country. It's already happening, don't let the euphemisms fool you.

http://www.banksy.co.uk/ I just looked through the whole site at one sitting, and thought that some people here might enjoy some of it. Actually, the thing that I found most interesting wasn't any of the imagery, but one of the email responses: Spoken like a 'true believer.' I might even be able to cut the irony with a knife.

Well, a lot of it will be free website stuff, but anyways I'm off-topic now.