peelingchrome

Thanks for the heads-up, I knew next-to-nothing about him.

I'll agree that things look like he was hiding something or just felt really bad about a lot of things. Maybe this is totally unrelated to work. Maybe his SigOther was cheating on him or something. And (just to steal some loony thunder) maybe this was a plot by those who are mad about the bailouts and are trying to frame someone. I dunno, anything's possible at this point. I like what-ifs, though - they keep the mind sharp. No fantasy is ever as strange as reality, so I see it as a good mental workout. Any other ideas?

http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/22/news/Fredd...sion=2009042211 Causes? Effects? Implications?

Sure they can be tough, when someone threatens to take away some of their tax-paying population. Gotta have those taxes for those nanny programs...

HAH! I forgot about that one... awesome! Umm... Europe got along ok for centuries with the same sort of thing. If by American Union plan, you are referring to the Bilderberg Group plan, (while I'm not yet convinced they even exist) then I think it takes said plan back a few hundred years. I'm ok with that.

I did, just not in any public forums. I was afraid of governmental persecution. Now that the government is going so far as to persecute people who own flags that our forefathers once did, or people who don't completely agree with what's going on in government, or people who actually read our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Not only that, but they are illegally invading privacy to find these people for persecution. I'm afraid for what they'll try to do next, but not so afraid that I'll hide under the bed and wait for the boogey man to go away. One of my favorite books, Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, details the sociological aspect of this pretty well: the author shows (among many other points) that if you give in to a bully you will continue to get bullied, but if you stand up once and for all you will not be bullied anymore. We are so generationally distant from our Founding Fathers that everyone seems to have forgotten personal liberties and community pride, so much so that the asshats in our oligarchical regime political system are trying to bully us once more into submission. I just wonder if the common people of our country today have as much spine as our Founding Fathers had. I'm not saying that I want a bloody revolution, just that I'm sick of being stepped on; I want change as peaceably possible. Our Founding Fathers tried for years to change the system from within the system until they reached a point where they decided that they needed more progress than they were getting. I don't want our government to push their citizens that far, I want the change to come legally and bloodlessly. If there are states that feel they aren't getting the respect they deserve, let them secede legally and bloodlessly and let the rest of us have that option in case we choose to exercise it in the future. If our government starts loosing states (and the taxes those states contribute) they may think twice about shitting on us in the future. That's just my opinion.

I recently started a thread that, I think relates to this... it's about cycles of solar minimums and maximums. From what I've read and heard, we're RIGHT on target for global temperature estimates from a solar cycle point of view. I'll see if I can find that other article... (wish me luck!)

HEY! I'm not a moderator or any other form of demigod, but damn guys! Why not try to keep personal shit personal, eh? Last I remembered this was a PUBLIC THREAD, not a private pissing match. If ya'll have beef with each other, send a PM or something and let the rest of us discuss the topic at hand.

My thoughts exactly.

I seem to remember from somewhere that the term 'state' (other than in the USofA) refers to a sovereign country. With that in mind, and from the little I know about individual state charters, it seems logical that states should be able to secede from the Union. From that point on, what they do with their borders and what takes place within their borders should be their own business. Granted, I feel that most (if not all) of the states in this country are nowhere near viable as independent sovereign entities from an economic point of view. Any state that wishes to secede is going to need to increase their population's economic confidence if they hope to have a chance of surviving such a transition, much less having a chance at long-term viability. I support each state's rights to do what they will within the rights given to them. Whether that's a good idea in the big picture or not, I don't know.

Gotta agree with that! It doesn't seem to be a prioritized list...

Good point. I didn't see Bruce Willis up there, either.

I can agree with most of the awesome shown there, with the minor exception of the penguins... not quite as awesome as attack helicopters. Or Mt. Dew.

I can agree with this statement fully, except for the part about reserving judgment. In my mind actions speak louder than words. I cannot even reserve judgment on candidates before they're elected, as their conduct carries a lot of meaning for me. That being said, past drug use matters little to me. My privacy matters a LOT to me. While Bush started the issue, Obama has GREATLY expanded and protected it, and I am pretty disappointed in the man who offered so much change. Like someone in this thread previously metaphorized, I believe he is stepping on the gas of the oligarchic machine that he seems to be heading. I cannot have faith in a man who takes away my CONSTITUTIONALLY DEFENDED RIGHT TO PRIVACY. (Primarily Amendments 4 and 9, but also partly Amendments 1-3 and 5; Amendments 2, 3, and 5 refer to other aspects of privacy) My personal communications are mine, and I refuse to accept that they can be snooped into. Nuff said.

lol

I've been sitting on the sidelines of this topic for too long now. I'm not going to say that I always agree with Gaf. He can be inflammatory and occasionally argumentative. I've done some fact-checking on his statements as I've had time, however, and can say that most (if not all) of his statements have a very large kernel of truth to them (with the exception of his opinions because they are opinions and not facts). That being said, I have to disagree with the part of your statement that I've quoted. I'll approach them in an item by item manner. 1. A quarter of a million people showed up to Tax Day Tea Parties, and that's just in the first 3 months of the current political regime. I'm confident that the movement will parallel the greed of the government (i.e. increased movement numbers will follow increased governmental greed). It's true that I cannot see the future, but it should be pretty obvious. 2. I disagree with your opinion that these protests are astroturfed. For those that are unfamiliar with the term, it relates to an artificially generated "grassroots" movement. I'll admit that not all of the protests were true grassroots movements, but (from what I've read) most were. Furthermore, the true movements were not allowing elected officials to speak at the gatherings. For one example click here. The reasons behind this were twofold: the protests were a way for the people to talk and for the elected officials to shut up and listen (the opposite of everyday life currently), and to keep the movements clean from astroturfer agendas. 3. That's part of the reason for the protests. The logic is simple: get a bunch of people pissed off enough to protest and then have educated people (usually the organizers) educate the protesters on the deeper causes of the issues they're protesting. The information is out there and the movement is about being informed enough to be upset followed by doing something to change what upset them in the first place. 4. Once again, I disagree with this statement. The whole point is to remove the regulatory structure that allows the system to be manipulated. I'm not saying I have a good idea what to replace the current system with, but there has to be something better out there. I'm pretty sure that most people would agree with me, once they learned how money really works in our country. Personally, I'm against any private institution that has unchecked governmental power, especially with regard to the flow of money. This is very similar to how I feel about Congress's ability to vote themselves raises. By the way, what did the FED do with all of that bailout money? I'd like to wrap this up by saying that I agree with your posts at least half the time. I have, in the past, nodded along while reading many of your posts. As I have shown here, I cannot agree with everything you post however. As a complete aside, I would fear for the power mongers that run our country if you and Gaf could combine forces and take them head-on. THAT would be a movement I could get behind!

http://www.reason.com/terroristquiz/

I'm with you on this 100%. This is not the first conspiracy propaganda movie by this group that I've seen, but it's a bit more believable. Whether or not there's some conspiracy group behind his decisions, he's making a bunch of BAD decisions. I haven't checked all of the "facts" presented in the movie, but I've looked into a few and they pan out. My questions are these: How many more lies are we going to let him tell? How many more of our rights and civil liberties are we going to let him defile? How much deeper of a hole are we going to let him dig us into? When does it end? What can we do to REALLY be heard? I want to stop getting the short end of the stick from MY government. I'm a peaceful person. I'm a rational person. I don't see how mailing teabags to congresspeople or standing around holding a sign on April 15th is really going to help the situation. I'd like to make one thing clear: this movie has not "gotten me all fired up". It has simply brought my frustrations to the front of my thoughts. What can I do to actually be heard by my government? Which of those things WON'T get me on some list with the government somewhere? Why is it that honest, thinking, peaceful citizens are afraid to speak loud enough to be heard by THEIR OWN GOVERNMENT? I should stop this here before I get all bent out of shape and say something that I'll regret. Seriously, I'd greatly appreciate anyone with valid answers to the questions I've posted above letting me know. Reply to this post or pm me, or email me at peelingchrome@gmail.com.

Thanks for pitching in, everyone! Let's keep this good momentum going!

Here's another from a local (SE Michigan) blog: Has anyone seen this place or anything similar? I think it'd be great to have stuff like this posted somewhere centralized to help all of those in need.

I'm starting this thread to give us something positive to think about. There's been so much negativity and arguing lately that (for a while) I thought about just leaving the board for a month or three, but I don't want to give up that easily. Please feel free to reference anything positive, be it the stock market or a friendly neighbor. Here, I'll even give everyone a start: Found out that this is in Hawaii. Glad to see that some people are willing to get their hands dirty and do their own work instead of whining to the government for handouts. I'm also glad to see people putting in work to help maintain a state park (even if it's for their bottom line). Bravo! I just hope they don't get sued over some stupid environmental issue...

The realm of science fiction has predicted many things that now exist in one form or another; it has also come up with a whole bunch of lunatic ramblings. That being said, there is scientific and historic precedent for a relatively stable cycle of solar flares. We just don't know if it'll be in our direction this next time. I should have mentioned something before, so I'll do it now: 2012. Yeah, it could happen in that year and it could be aimed at us. There, I said it. Others have said things, too. Like stuff about Yosemite and how it's overdue to blow. Whatever. If you wanna talk 2012 stuff, put it in another thread. Science is neat.

Check this out. The article states that these events happen within a year of the solar maximum. Now for the creepy stuff: The majority of people in this country live in fear: of the president, terrorists, and/or the economy... the list goes on and on. When a large group of fearful people experience a tragedy of great magnitude they tend to get violent. History has proven this. As Leon Trotsky once pointed out, “Any society is only three square meals away from revolution.” Let's just hope that sucker is pointed in the other direction again.

I will be there, unless in the case of death or hospitalization of myself or those close to me. And I have a bit of extra equipment if anyone needs... no extra tent though. Anyone interested in sharing a lot or equipment should pm me. You know who you are: DO IT!

Despondent.