pirana

Bastards did the exact same thing to me when I helped my brother move in Florida - Tampa area. Ended up doing the pod thing. It was much better. Rent a big box, they drop it in your driveway. Take your time loading it up, a few days if you like. Call them when you are ready and they drop it in your new driveway. Take your time unloading, call them when you are done. Great service. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Or maybe like bumper bowling? " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Same story on my wife's dad. Quart of Jack at a card party on a fishing trip. Her mom did it the slow way. 5th of Brandy every night for about 10 years. Same result. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Oh yeah, the OP. Kids should not be exposed to art. They might get . . . IDEAS!!!!! Same for adults. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Oh! Oh! Oh! Pick me! Pick me! " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

The Shriners have those cool little go-karts. And the Masons have some very cool buildings. My brother got married at the lodge in downtown Milwaukee. Very nifty building, an architectural masterpiece, complete with secret passageways, dungeons, a moat, drawbridge, etc. All true. OK, no moat or drawbridge. But the secret passageways have me convinced there hiding something. Maybe the short cuts to the can. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Sigh ... no wonder they feel about us the way they do. Personally, I prefer Christ's teaching to do unto them as I would have them do unto me. That is a noble approach, but the Islamic extremists, even knowing you have that sentiment, would kill you as quickly as they would Salman Rushdie - and really enjoy it. People are quick to say it is a small portion. Obviously not small enough, and with no counterpart in any of the other major religions. It is a problem. I do think it is unique to Islam, and based on the input from a couple friends who have read the Kaboom (I really like that), it is the nature of the teachings. Amazing though about the historical perspective. How did the people from the very cradle of civilization, and the early developers of math & astronomy, get to being the masters of terror? " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

I voted yes, but on one condition. That would be that priests and other church officials actually have to go to jail for fucking the little boys in their parish instead of just getting shuffled of to a new location. I wonder if they intentionally get caught when they get bored with the locals, as a way to move on to fresh meat. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

As an aside, could one of the legal beagles out there clue me in on the true nature of diplomatic immunity? Is it as broad as TV & Hollywood make it out to be? Could a diplomat just go out and kill somebody, then leave the country unscathed? " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Are you calling us "God damn . . . woofoo's?" Thems fighting words. DOH! But seriously, I think I see what you're saying now. And I think it is the nature of the beast, remnants of when being greedy was necessary for survival. That nature will need to change - to evolve. Civilization has not yet evolved to the point of letting go, or for the social Darwinists, we've not had enough people living easy long enough for the survive-by-being-greedy genes to lose their grip on our psyche. Most of the world still wants as much of the fixed pie as they can get, without consideration for what anybody else might or might not be getting. We justify it by citing things like work ethic, survival of the fittest (isn't that telling of our psyche - I can get more than I need, so I'll take more than I need), racial superiority, and so forth. So many people WANT way more, incredibly much more, than we NEED. Give it time. I mean civilization as we know it has been around for about 10K years, and on that timescale we are just barely past the point of feeling we have the right to own and enslave fellow humans. (And some still think it is OK). Humans will mature as a group, and then the outliers (like Hitler, that guy in the Congo that liked to eat people, and rap music producers) will have a much harder time convincing large groups of people that killing over insults, the price of oil, lines drawn on a map, etc is just plain ineffective behavior. Might take a while though. Evidence suggests that humans are very slowly evolving animals; not to mention that we have been slowly eliminating many of the threats that typically would pressure a species to adapt. Hmmmm, we just might be fucked after all. Humanity - it's a crapshoot. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Those are all just variations of fear. Fear that you won't have access to enough resources, fear that they'll attack first, fear that some need won't be met, fear of looking bad (or not looking good), fear of giving up a way of life, etc.. I can't think of any destructive or otherwise dysfunctional behavior that isn't bottom line driven by fear of unmet needs. Anger is in there too, as an outward manifestation of fear about some need that wasn't, isn't, or won't be met. It is perfectly rational (not in a makes sense sort of way, but in an understanding motives way), even though it doesn't solve the problem in the long term. It usually just plants the seeds for the next round of war. Anger resolves problems like a high speed fan resolves a pile of loose paper. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Context people, context. As in this goofy BS is sponsored by, bought into, and disseminated by the kind of folks who think the moon landings were faked, Planet X is overdue (it apparently made some sharp turns w/o tearing apart and exited the solar system for now, but will be back in 2012), the Illuminati rule, ghosts/poltergeists/etc, the lights of Marfa, alien kidnappings, Roswell/Area 51, and on and on and on. They want so badly to believe and be in on extraordinary stuff (a form of living vicariously by tying yourself to something that is over-the-top outrageous) that it is like arguing religion. Everybody gets to say their piece and express their feelings, and it never really produces anything. (Very much like what often goes on in any large bureacracy). " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Absolutely, look at the tough time even Pinky and the Brain have trying to unleash diabolical plan after diabolical plan after diabolical plan. With that really cool laboratory and all the resources they have, if they can't pull it off, no one can. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Is that the rumor I've heard called the Jew Flu? " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Oh no, not again! Or is this the same old thread and the world is really only going to end once? " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

They make a lot of user's feel good, short term. Their effect - short term perceived benefit, long term destructive powers, and the inability of the user to distinguish the transition or the difference between the two - is the very definition of addiction. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

I now believe HJ is real. There have been a couple posts where it appears he directly answered to a couple points in a way a machine could not. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Reminds me of a National Enquirer I saw at the grocers. It claimed Osama & Saddam were gay and had been secretly married. It was hilarious, especially since the head of Saddam was so obviously pasted on someone else wearing a brides dress. I guess Osama gets to be the boy in that relationship. So, as an aside for the conspiracy theorists, prove THAT didn't really happen. HAH! " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Are you saying the US has not turned out to be a viable entity? Partition is a pretty drastic measure, but could work. It's definitely what ought to be done in Sudan. The atrocities in Darfur make Iraq look like recess on the playground. And in Sudan there are very nicely corresponding geographical and cultural boundaries. Do the cultural boundaries in Iraq make for a clean physical split? " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

What's really amazing, as well as disappointing, is that 1/3rd of the votes are for a government conspiracy. As an aside, all of those voting for conspiracy must feel we should not be engaged in a war on terror, because it was our own government. Unless of course Al Queda and the Bush administration were in on it together. Yeah, . . . that's it, George W and Osama, planning world domination. Yeah, . . . and they will start by destroying their own countries, and then, and then, uh, they'll move on the Vatican, that's right, to join with the ousted Vatican astronomer and plan the 1st REAL moon landing, . . . in which they uh, uh, declare Barbara Bush Queen of Outer Space and give her the title of Minister of Alien Relations, so they can corner the market on uh, uh, mining other planets and sell all the ore to the uh, uh . . . Klingons. Yeah, that's it. Wow, a person really can make this stuff up at will. So go ahead and prove me wrong. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

And how do you know the color red you see is the same as the color red I see? Put down the elephant bong and smell the reality. It's called an overwhelming preponderance of evidence in support of what was (in case anybody forgot) caught on film AND witnessed by thousands of people. (They could of course ALL be government disinformation agents). Just so I get what page you might be on, do you also think the moon landing was faked, and that Planet X is going to crash into Earth in May 2003? (Never mind, I guess even the hardest core conspiracy theorists have had to give up on that one). Of course maybe that did happen and we are all living virtual lives in a Matrix type environment; and which way is which is just a matter of personal opinion. All opinions are not valid. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

I wouldn't call it mental illness. I'd say religions thrive because at least the simple majority of humans draw more on their emotions than their deductive abilities when it comes to making choices. Actually, I think it is much higher than that. I'd guess 90% of humans, when faced with a contradiction provided between their emotive and deductive processes, make choices based on their emotions. The remaining few percent of us are probably the result of a long ago attempt by alien species to interbreed with Earthlings. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Agreed. I think if there is going to be legislation related to body weight, the first move should be to outlaw the other extreme - morbid obesity (using something realistic, as opposed to the BMI). That being said, I also believe in free will, free markets, and the right of people to kill themselves (as long as they don't take out others while they are at it). " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

I think Christianity has matured and is no longer murderous; but Islam seems to not be growing up very well. It is like the bully of religions. Because of the weapons and tactics used nowadays, I fear they may never get the chance to mature the way mainstream Christianity has. And don't Christians come in all sizes? " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Because only by snatching drunken rednecks could an alien species definitively grasp the true nature of Earthlings. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley