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Of course this then means that we must ask if Neptune is a planet because it has not cleared Pluto from it's orbit.Give it time. Pluto crosses its orbit so seldomly, Neptune hasn't had much chance to clear it. How many times in 5 billion years have the orbits crossed and the two bodies been anywhere near one another? Not at all, yet, I'd wager.
To bring this back to gaming, one of the new planets that were proposed and eventually became dwarf planets is named Orcus.
Also, I apologize for the snarky remark I made to you. I shouldn't have said that.
No offense taken. I was born in Germany; I don't know that I'd rate their health care system as markedly inferior to ours (both seem better than Britain's, from what I've heard), and it's certainly a lot more affordable -- although taxes are of course a lot higher there. Overall, we seem to have shorter life spans in the U.S., and are more often over-medicated and under-provided with preventitive care -- but we have far better specialists here in the U.S. as well. It's all a trade-off.
Also, I apologize for the snarky remark I made to you. I shouldn't have said that.No offense taken. I was born in Germany; I don't know that I'd rate their health care system as markedly inferior to ours (both seem better than Britain's, from what I've heard), and it's certainly a lot more affordable -- although taxes are of course a lot higher there. Overall, we seem to have shorter life spans in the U.S., and are more often over-medicated and under-provided with preventitive care -- but we have far better specialists here in the U.S. as well. It's all a trade-off.
I think our lifespan has a lot to do with our lifestyles. Look how overweight we are as a nation. I know I could lose a little.
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I think our lifespan has a lot to do with our lifestyles. Look how overweight we are as a nation. I know I could lose a little.Also, I apologize for the snarky remark I made to you. I shouldn't have said that.No offense taken. I was born in Germany; I don't know that I'd rate their health care system as markedly inferior to ours (both seem better than Britain's, from what I've heard), and it's certainly a lot more affordable -- although taxes are of course a lot higher there. Overall, we seem to have shorter life spans in the U.S., and are more often over-medicated and under-provided with preventitive care -- but we have far better specialists here in the U.S. as well. It's all a trade-off.
I could too. I went from a trim 186 when I was in the military to about 300 when I lived in Alabama. I was biking everywhere, everyday; but you know how those southerners love their fried food.
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Also, I apologize for the snarky remark I made to you. I shouldn't have said that.No offense taken. I was born in Germany; I don't know that I'd rate their health care system as markedly inferior to ours (both seem better than Britain's, from what I've heard), and it's certainly a lot more affordable -- although taxes are of course a lot higher there. Overall, we seem to have shorter life spans in the U.S., and are more often over-medicated and under-provided with preventitive care -- but we have far better specialists here in the U.S. as well. It's all a trade-off.
My wife has a friend who moved here from England. Her father has been waiting for over a year for a hernia operation and there is no hope on the horizon for him to get it. She also told us that doctor's won't see pregnant women unless they are a high risk pregnancy so they have to see a midwife. Her husband just had an MRI consult with the Orthopedic doctor and she was shocked that they copuld get in in a few weeks instead of a few months. She says she would never want to see the United States adopt the British style of health care, for what it's worth.
I think our lifespan has a lot to do with our lifestyles. Look how overweight we are as a nation. I know I could lose a little.
I think you're right on the money about life span. Then again, if we had high taxes and fuel costs comparable to those in Europe, we would likely have a working public transportation system: I could take a train around town and walk to/from the terminals, instead of riding in a truck from door to door. Maybe we'd all be as skinny as those mutant "Americans" in NYC! Instead, the west side of Houston is as hostile to pedestrians as a mine field -- few sidewalks, no yielding in crosswalks, signals that are either absent or last a second or two at most.
Her husband just had an MRI consult with the Orthopedic doctor and she was shocked that they copuld get in in a few weeks instead of a few months.
Availability and wait times for MRI scans is one of the factors keeping my wife and I from moving to Canada to pursue opportunities there.
Socialized medicine means longer wait times for scans, less equipment, and (generally) less-qualified specialists. It also means that a person who falls ill while in a "gap period" for insurance coverage isn't bankrupted... and that there's no need to fight with insurance companies, through 3+ rounds of appeals, in order to reduce the patient out-of-pocket cost for a cut finger to below $5,000 (as happened to my wife in Houston last year).
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Sorry for the interruption, people. I'm starting a PbP based with Red Hand of Doom and Pathfinder Beta and I would like Kirth to join. I'm not sure if he cares for PbP, but I think he could make it a fine one.
See here for details.
To make this post more worthwhile, I can comment that in my family, our experience with socialized medicine in Canada has been worthwhile - my father had cancer in his eardrum and it was removed within several months of diagnosis. The MRI wait was a bit of a bother, but not enough that my father would want to pay to hurry the process. It depends on what you need done with the MRI - it is like a grand-scale triage.
. Not to mention that we KNOW that human activity has increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a rate unheard of in the geological record.Every time I hear someone say we KNOW something I think of this line, "Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow." Cheers.
Fifteen hundred years ago, religious dogma prevented people from using empirical evidence lest they be branded as heretics. More than two-thousand years ago, people using empirical evidence figured out that, indeed, the world was not the center of the universe. So what happened is that something we knew became something we couldn't talk about because it didn't fit the intellectual prejudices of the people in power.
As for me, if the data suggest the earth is warming and seem to be attributable to human activity, I'm not at all inclined to dismiss them out of hand because it's merely a theory. Nor does the presence of previous cycles of warming assuage my concern. Theory also suggests that the behavior of microorganisms has so radically changed the environment that mass extinctions were the result (think of anaerobic bacteria that produced oxygen as a waste product). So the idea of lifeforms screwing up the planet, alongside geological cycles, is quite live and well. What makes you so certain we aren't seeing that again?
My wife has a friend who moved here from England. Her father has been waiting for over a year for a hernia operation and there is no hope on the horizon for him to get it. She also told us that doctor's won't see pregnant women unless they are a high risk pregnancy so they have to see a midwife. Her husband just had an MRI consult with the Orthopedic doctor and she was shocked that they copuld get in in a few weeks instead of a few months. She says she would never want to see the United States adopt the British style of health care, for what it's worth.Also, I apologize for the snarky remark I made to you. I shouldn't have said that.No offense taken. I was born in Germany; I don't know that I'd rate their health care system as markedly inferior to ours (both seem better than Britain's, from what I've heard), and it's certainly a lot more affordable -- although taxes are of course a lot higher there. Overall, we seem to have shorter life spans in the U.S., and are more often over-medicated and under-provided with preventitive care -- but we have far better specialists here in the U.S. as well. It's all a trade-off.
Horror stories like that are a dime a dozen in Europe. I have severe health problems myself and I have to see my specialist every month. I'm so glad that I'm not in a nation that has socialized medicine.
Her husband just had an MRI consult with the Orthopedic doctor and she was shocked that they copuld get in in a few weeks instead of a few months.Availability and wait times for MRI scans is one of the factors keeping my wife and I from moving to Canada to pursue opportunities there.
Socialized medicine means longer wait times for scans, less equipment, and (generally) less-qualified specialists. It also means that a person who falls ill while in a "gap period" for insurance coverage isn't bankrupted... and that there's no need to fight with insurance companies, through 3+ rounds of appeals, in order to reduce the patient out-of-pocket cost for a cut finger to below $5,000 (as happened to my wife in Houston last year).
Socialized medical care systems keep costs down, in part, by being more tight fisted with respect to technology and high tech investments. Systems like in the US, where the sky is ultimately the limit, don't have any brakes on investment in expensive diagnostic tools and experimental technology. It's also a major contributing factor why health care is so much more expensive in the US for the same general results across the population.
Look how overweight we are as a nation. I know I could lose a little.Tell me about it. Since I quit smoking I've put on about 15 pounds. I'm a whopping 142 lbs, give or take!!! I had to buy new pants!!!
You were 127 pounds before the weight gain? How tall are you?
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I never said that. I just don't understand when people always assume scientists are always right. History has proven them to be wrong on several occasions.
True, scientists, like any other person can be wrong. But in issues like this, I prefer to err on the side of caution. I guess I'm just a tad conservative in that respect. ;)
I never said that. I just don't understand when people always assume scientists are always right. History has proven them to be wrong on several occasions.True, scientists, like any other person can be wrong. But in issues like this, I prefer to err on the side of caution. I guess I'm just a tad conservative in that respect. ;)
Of course, there's nothing wrong with reasonable precautions. If I'm wrong and man made global warming is real, we will have to make changes.
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We're on year three of a series of massive huricanes predicted post Katrina for global warming. Wait, no we're not.Houston narrowly dodged one already this year, with Gustav on the way, and possibly 1-3 more after that...
um, we narrowly dodged a weak tropical storm. just for the record. we usually get one TS every couple of years.
now, if you know the hurricane history of houston, this is the LONGEST we've ever gone since houston has existed as a community without being hit by a hurricane. alesia was the last (in 83) to hit us dead on, before that, we had been hit by one every five to seven years (hugo barely brushed us in '89 before heading back to louisiana). we're due, frankly, so don't read too much into one hitting us now...
We're on year three of a series of massive huricanes predicted post Katrina for global warming. Wait, no we're not.Houston narrowly dodged one already this year, with Gustav on the way, and possibly 1-3 more after that...um, we narrowly dodged a weak tropical storm. just for the record. we usually get one TS every couple of years.
now, if you know the hurricane history of houston, this is the LONGEST we've ever gone since houston has existed as a community without being hit by a hurricane. alesia was the last (in 83) to hit us dead on, before that, we had been hit by one every five to seven years (hugo barely brushed us in '89 before heading back to louisiana). we're due, frankly, so don't read too much into one hitting us now...
I remember Alicia. I remember that our house was luckily on higher ground than some of the other homes around.
I also remember the really bad flooding of I-10 West in 1992. That was in April or May!
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I also remember the really bad flooding of I-10 West in 1992. That was in April or May!
yeah! the underpass on the beltway at harwin was completely flooded (about 20 feet deep!). remember the towtruck drivers who were arrested for towing all the cars on I-10 and not telling the owners where they went (in order to increase the lot fees)?
driving around that day was insane...
yeah! the underpass on the beltway at harwin was completely flooded (about 20 feet deep!).
Swell... that puts me underwater; I'm only a couple blocks north of there!
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yeah! the underpass on the beltway at harwin was completely flooded (about 20 feet deep!).Swell... that puts me underwater; I'm only a couple blocks north of there!
nah, it was JUST the underpass, everything along side the tollroad was ok. they may have redone that section of the tollway since i've been on it last (it has been a LONG time) with the westpark tollroad and all, but you're actually in decent shape on most of the west side of h-town, flood-wise...
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I've always lived in the dry, dry west, so I have little experience with hurricanes, but I do know that when my father lived in New Orleans, he had to canoe to the local 7-11 to pick up beer for his roommates. :D
As for socialized medicine, maybe just because I have to take so much medication, I'm for it. I really hate having to deal with insurance, and I hate watching people get turned down whenever I go to pick up my meds at the hospital. I think the options should be explored and researched. I'm not advocating Britain's or Canada's or Germany's or France's system, but maybe a nice synthesis. Take what works and run with it. Considering the sheer size of our government, I doubt nationalizing health insurance would decrease the quality of doctors we've got already or decrease their pay by a significant amount.
And I'm glad we've managed to keep this debate (relatively) civilized! :D Yay for understanding!
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Man go for a day and two pages popped up so I just have a couple of things
I thought Pluto was disqualified due to the fact that we discovered several other heavenly bodies that were = to or greater in size that also had orbital paths.
Hurricane predictions are crap, I live in FL the year after Katrina was supposed to be even worse, the next year the same thing was said. Yes we had a bad TS and Gustav this year, but then we tend to get bad seasons every few years, the forcast is always amazingly enough "forcasters predict this hurricane season will be the worst yet, stay tuned to find out what you can do to prepare should we get hit by the big one" The path of a huricane can only be predicted with about a 75% acuracy, but the prediction on how bad the season will be is always B.S.
Finally out of curiosity since it relates to Palin, how many years was clinton governor of Arkensas?
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Man go for a day and two pages popped up so I just have a couple of things
I thought Pluto was disqualified due to the fact that we discovered several other heavenly bodies that were = to or greater in size that also had orbital paths.
Hurricane predictions are crap, I live in FL the year after Katrina was supposed to be even worse, the next year the same thing was said. Yes we had a bad TS and Gustav this year, but then we tend to get bad seasons every few years, the forcast is always amazingly enough "forcasters predict this hurricane season will be the worst yet, stay tuned to find out what you can do to prepare should we get hit by the big one" The path of a huricane can only be predicted with about a 75% acuracy, but the prediction on how bad the season will be is always B.S.
Finally out of curiosity since it relates to Palin, how many years was clinton governor of Arkensas?
re: gustav.
well, this went from a TS to cat: 4 in less than 24 hours, and is just hitting the gulf's "hot spot", so this sucker's gonna hurt. and it's 100% gonna hit someplace between houston and gulfport mississippi, so someone is going to have their labor day royally screwed up...
(i agree with your assessment of the "macro" predictions, btw, i'm just saying this gustav sucker is bad news...)
clinton was governor for twelve years: a two year term from '78 to '80, then five terms from '82 - '92, so twelve years total executive experience.
I've always lived in the dry, dry west, so I have little experience with hurricanes, but I do know that when my father lived in New Orleans, he had to canoe to the local 7-11 to pick up beer for his roommates. :D
As for socialized medicine, maybe just because I have to take so much medication, I'm for it. I really hate having to deal with insurance, and I hate watching people get turned down whenever I go to pick up my meds at the hospital. I think the options should be explored and researched. I'm not advocating Britain's or Canada's or Germany's or France's system, but maybe a nice synthesis. Take what works and run with it. Considering the sheer size of our government, I doubt nationalizing health insurance would decrease the quality of doctors we've got already or decrease their pay by a significant amount.
And I'm glad we've managed to keep this debate (relatively) civilized! :D Yay for understanding!
I know the feeling about taking medicine. I take about $800 worth of medicine every month myself. We do need to improve our health system, not overhaul it. Getting the government involved isn't the answer.
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RPG Superstar 2013
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What is it we have against intelligent design? Her exact position is "debate is so important, teach them both."
Heck, for all we know, she might not care one way or the other and just prefer kids learn to look at different sides of things before deciding.
Also, multiple theories should be taught until one is a fact, right?
Anyway...my intention isn't to sound hostile. There are good people who mistake ID for "teaching your kids to be southern baptists", which I am totally against - let parents, and the kids themselves, work that one out. But teaching kids that there IS no ID is just as wrong. Hard for them to form their own ideas about science and religion when we start to tell them early that one idea is not worth teaching, and one idea - though equally unprovable - is pretty much accepted as fact.
It's as flawed as teaching global warming. Either way you are representing and influencing religion.
I am cautiously optimistic about my new Veep andidate. I don't know much about her (I see a lot of blogs from some who claim they've never liked her. I guess they've kept a running track of her career for a long time now. Not.), but at first and second blush, she's a stronger conservative than McCain is.
I could never be excited about McCain - why would you ever feed that 'tax cuts for the rich' lie? But if she can steal a few votes and get us a credible national conversation going on tax reform and immigration - and, just maybe, dumb waste-of-money bills (still peeved at Alaska over that highway bill), then she's the right person for the job.
And I'm not too worried about experience. She has executive experience. She's never adopted the wisdom of others as her own. She won her elections fair and square. She shows up to work and intends to get things donw. Obama touts that he is a rookie senator with a committee chair, but his committee hasn't met once since he entered office. He's worked 120 days, and hardly ever votes. Can't stand that guy. Plus, governors make more effective presidents. They're responsible for managing things. Generally, senators only know how to talk pretty and posture themselves.
As far as I can tell - though I admit it's early - Gov Palin is more qualified than any of the other three on the tickets. Not an ideal choice for president to me, but not as far off.
Too bad it's too late for Thompson-Palin, or Romney-Palin.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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On the other hand, it is statistically possible for my truck to be put in drive and random influences get it all the way to work without hitting anything. I'd be more comfortable with a driver though.What if there were influences that made it more likely to stay on the road, and unlikely to veer off of it? You'd still have no control over which way it would go at a fork in the road, but it wouldn't crash into buildings. And the deal would be, whatever building you ended up at, you'd have a job there. That's a (very slightly) better analogy -- natural selection is NOT "random."
Ok. I understand your modifications to my example. *shrug* It's something we're not going to come to agreement on. If I understand the scientific process (which is at the heart of why ID isn't 'science') you can't prove a negative eg. you can't prove the Divine doesn't exist, and I can't even start to prove the Divine does. I just *know* He does.
So I'll just be bitter and cling to my religion. ;-)
you can't prove the Divine doesn't exist, and I can't even start to prove the Divine does. So I'll just be bitter and cling to my religion. ;-)
Nor would I want to disprove the Divine: that would make for a pretty dull world. But that's just the thing: there's no reason you can't have both. As long as you're willing to allow that God might use natural selection as a means to His end, there is no conflict whatsoever. The problems creep in when you insist on interpreting every word of the Bible as inerrant fact, in English no less, with no possibility of flexibility in interpretation. And that makes for a pretty crazy scripture!
What is it we have against intelligent design? Her exact position is "debate is so important, teach them both." Also, multiple theories should be taught until one is a fact, right?
Sure! But the problem with ID is that it's not a theory, in the same way that Hindu or old Norse or Native American creation mythologies are not theories. Should we teach all theories AND all other explanations (myths, sacred writings, etc.)? There's not enough time in the year, if we start with Ginnungegap and maybe get to Eden sometime in March.
So, for science class anyway, we cut out all the ones that have no physical evidence supporting them. Unfortunately, that leaves only one theory. I'd like for there to be more, but there just aren't.
kirth, on the off chance gustav decides to visit us here, what's your plan? chi and i will probably head to odessa for a couple of days, i'm sure we could accomodate y'all, needs be...
Dunno. We're on the 3rd floor and have plenty of canned food, water, and liquor. We'll probably hole up for the storm, and then leave after the flood waters recede and wait in a nice hotel somewhere for the power to come back on and the gas stations to open again...
Then again, if a category 5 storm is gonna hit us dead-on, I'd hope to be long gone. I know a nice little motel in Colorado City... but Odessa's not that much further, come to think of it.
My blood runs cold at how easily Americans rationalise living in a theocracy. The red peril and the yellow peril are nowhere near as scary as the fundamentalist christian peril, for it is a cancer of the mind that is ruining your fabulous country from within.
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kirth, on the off chance gustav decides to visit us here, what's your plan? chi and i will probably head to odessa for a couple of days, i'm sure we could accomodate y'all, needs be...Dunno. We're on the 3rd floor and have plenty of canned food, water, and liquor. We'll probably hole up for the storm, and then leave after the flood waters recede and wait in a nice hotel somewhere for the power to come back on and the gas stations to open again...
Then again, if a category 5 storm is gonna hit us dead-on, I'd hope to be long gone. I know a nice little motel in Colorado City... but Odessa's not that much further, come to think of it.
she's also considering her uncle's place in moulton (it's a bar as well, lots o' beer!) and closer, so that's a plan too...
she's also considering her uncle's place in moulton (it's a bar as well, lots o' beer!) and closer, so that's a plan too...
That'll work unless I-10 becomes a parking lot...
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re: gustav.
well, this went from a TS to cat: 4 in less than 24 hours, and is just hitting the gulf's "hot spot", so this sucker's gonna hurt. and it's 100% gonna hit someplace between houston and gulfport mississippi, so someone is going to have their labor day royally screwed up...
Being a Floridian, I'm concerned what Hanna's going to look like in the coming days.
My blood runs cold at how easily Americans rationalise living in a theocracy. The red peril and the yellow peril are nowhere near as scary as the fundamentalist christian peril, for it is a cancer of the mind that is ruining your fabulous country from within.
...waiting for someone to get offended.
Tell me about it. Since I quit smoking I've put on about 15 pounds. I'm a whopping 142 lbs, give or take!!! I had to buy new pants!!!
You were 127 pounds before the weight gain? How tall are you?
He's 4'8"... same as Gary Coleman.
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My blood runs cold at how easily Americans rationalise living in a theocracy. The red peril and the yellow peril are nowhere near as scary as the fundamentalist christian peril, for it is a cancer of the mind that is ruining your fabulous country from within....waiting for someone to get offended.
I'm deeply offended.
We're clearly living in a plutocracy.|
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My blood runs cold at how easily Americans rationalise living in a theocracy. The red peril and the yellow peril are nowhere near as scary as the fundamentalist christian peril, for it is a cancer of the mind that is ruining your fabulous country from within....waiting for someone to get offended.I'm deeply offended.
We're clearly living in a plutocracy.
i thought we lived in a beer commercial. or is that just me?
*sips a cold negro modelo (thanks, kirth!) while watching the sexy blonde throw the sexy brunette into the jello pool...*
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i'm watching CNN right now. wow...just WOW...
after MONTHS of pretending the issue didn't exist, they are
FINALLY exploring the connection between obama and rezco...it must be general election season, the press is actually starting to do their job...
Are they saying anything new, or they just hopping on old news.
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Are they saying anything new, or they just hopping on old news.i'm watching CNN right now. wow...just WOW...
after MONTHS of pretending the issue didn't exist, they are
FINALLY exploring the connection between obama and rezco...it must be general election season, the press is actually starting to do their job...
the amazing part isn't the news (anyone who's been paying attention has known about the "chosen one's" sorted past for a long time now), the amazing part is that CNN, wo has been pretty much ignoring a lot of this is actually featuring these stories now...
well, she is kinda cute :)
hehe
Libido Vale :>
McCain picks a woman as his running mate. I have nothing against women. But this sooooooo smacks of "me too, me too, look at me!"
Matthew, I studied Evolutionary Anthropology in college and graduate school. It is admirable of you to admit that you struggle with the fact of evolution because you would rather believe something else. One of the biggest stumbling blocks to widespread acceptance of the fact of evolution is that people, for various (and compelling) reasons, don't want to believe it. I recommend to people like you, who are open-minded but not convinced, talkorigins.org. It is probably the best evolution website I have found, particularly for the educated, curious layman. It lays out all the facts, discusses arguments of evolutionists and creationists.
Regarding arguments about apparently inexplicable biological complexity, as many have said before me: ID's whole case rests on the conclusion that there's no way such and such could have evolved, because we can't imagine how. But, nature is not limited by the poverty of our imagination, nor by our lack of understanding of how it works. Also, at this point we have so much data supporting the fact of evolution (including that we watch it happen) that gaps in our understanding must be viewed as such, not as serious challenges to the face of evolution.
Are you sure it's not a form of timocracy? ;)
I'm deeply offended.
We're clearly living in a plutocracy.
You both have it wrong. We're clearly living in a gynocracy.
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I thought Pluto was disqualified due to the fact that we discovered several other heavenly bodies that were = to or greater in size that also had orbital paths.
Well that was partially it. You see, according the Nova, the discovery of these other bodies prompted the IAU to develop the definition that I gave to Kith earlier. Then they declared that Pluto did not meet the dfinition as was no longer a planet.
The only hurricane I was ever in was in 1977, when I was 4 years old. I was living in Pensecola at the time and I kept asking my dad when the wind was going to stop and the hurricane was going get to our house. It also snowed there that year.
