livendive

Intelligence, integrity, respect for others, and an open mind are crucial. Unfortunately, most politicians are lacking at least two or three of them, and many are lacking all four. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Not the only cross-gendered troll, and you're right...those ones were funny. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

All of those were pretty funny. Not quite a troll, but similarly funny, was adamjenner (I think...the guy who managed pro wrestlers) Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Apparently he did well with CNN.com readers. Check out the responses in the right hand column. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Mario and Maggie never had any problems running around outside as long as they were either supervised or had the protection of their canine sisters Ally and Gracie. Mario has since died of old age, but "da girls" still watch out for Maggie. A hutch to secure them in is a nice option for extended periods of time. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

That's what he says out one side of his mouth. The other side supports legislation that defines life as beginning at conception. I'm reviewing his voting record on the subject now, but so far it seems staunchly anti-choice. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I like Obama and Paul, the former because he strikes me as intelligent and less dishonest than most politicians, the latter because he thinks states should do most of our governing and the people should enjoy more freedom (except with regard to the medical decisions of pregnant women). Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

How and why do you think that electing the President on the basis of 50 small races versus one big race constitutes the entire basis of our government? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Why does every state allow its people to vote in Presidential elections? Blues, Dave What else would you propose? I propose that we give the people the vote and let every one of them count. We, as a nation, have layers of government: federal, state, county (or parrish), and city. I propose that we elect our politicians in similar layers. The framework is already there. Within cities, we generally elect our own mayors and city councilmen (and perhaps DA's, coroners, etc). In counties, we elect sheriffs, judges, county commissioners, etc. In states, we usually elect governors and a couple of legislative branches, and in at least some cases, state supreme court justices. At the federal level, small areas (congressional districts) elect US Representatives, larger areas (states) elect US Senators, and the largest area (nation) supposedly elects the President. But we do so in a convoluted manner that defers the election back to the "states", disregards all minority voters, and leaves the final ballot in the hands of unelected officials. If we would simply follow the pattern, each level of represented population, from smallest to largest, would have an election they could call their own, with the largest (national) only voting collectively in one election. The Republicans in California and the Democrats in Wyoming would have their voices heard, and one branch of our federal government would represent "We, the people", rather than "We, the states". The electoral college was necessary in the environment of the founding fathers. Advances in infrastructure, technology, and literacy have rendered it obsolete. As things stand, a Republican in California shouldn't even bother voting in the Presidential election, as his vote will not be counted. The Republican in Texas...well, his vote will count, but not as much as the Democrat's in Hawaii. The doom and gloom is all fine and dandy, but in reality, how many Presidential elections would have a different outcome using the people's votes rather than the electoral votes? Two in the last couple centuries? I'm just thinking that philosophically, there ought to be one election in which we are considered collectively rather than divided on the basis of which state we live in. If Congress and the Supreme Court would do their jobs and quit conceding more and more power from the states and legislature to the executive branch, it wouldn't even be that significant of a difference. The primary function of the President should be matters of foreign relation. He shouldn't be declaring domestic wars on drugs, poverty, etc...that should be states' domain. He shouldn't be issuing (many) substantive executive orders...legislature should be the domain of congress. Despite your and my political differences, he should be representing both of us internationally in matters of state, commerce, war, etc. Given that, he should be elected by both of us, regardless of which color state we live in. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Why does every state allow its people to vote in Presidential elections? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Why? And what does that even mean? If all the country is not considered and only populas areas are looked at. Canidates will only work to get policies that support large population centers so they can get elected or re-elected. The fly over states would be ingored. How long do you think those states should have to put up with that? Look at how you keep mentioning places rather than people. Places shouldn't be electing our President, people should. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

If we got rid of the Federal Income Tax, SOMETHING would have to take its place. In any case it would simply be a redistribution of the tax burden and in doing so, there would be some winners and a lot of losers. My "guess" is that if you let the wealthy people write the laws, you know who those people are going to end up being and the rest of us will end up being the other kind. You mean the "wealthy" people who own homes would screw the poor who don't? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

The electoral college does just that. It, in essence, gives the people in flyover country a say in it. Look at the 2000 election. Bush BARELY eked out an electoral win despite carrying 3/5 of the states, because the more populous states get a bigger share of the electoral pie. For example, Gore took California - 54 votes. Bush taking AZ (8), NV (4), ID (4), MT (3), WY (3), UT (5), CO (8), NDAK (3), SDAK (3), NB (5), and KS (6) STILL did not match California's 54 votes. Take half the damn country, and California alone can balance it. Thus, we see how People are a HUGE amount of it. But there is some balance with regard to the number of people whose votes are spread out. Check out Wyoming. WHo the hell cares about Wyoming, right? When was the last time a politician on a national scale ever thought anything about it. Ah, but those three electoral votes could come in CRUCIAL in an election under the electoral college versus general election. Wyoming is the LEAST populous state in the country. How little is that population? Fresno, California has a population twice that of Wyoming. In a popular election, do you think a candidate would give a rat's ass about it? No way. If given the choice of swinging Fresno or Wyoming, they'd take Fresno. But an electoral college FORCES that candidate to appeal to Wyoming. I don't think Fresno OR Wyoming should have a vote in our Presidential election. I think each person in Fresno and in Wyoming should have a vote of exactly equal weight. Additionally, each person within any particular state should have their voice be heard, rather than the majority/plurality of each state getting 100% of their state's vote. Most elections should be dealt with on a state by state basis, and each state should select its own senators and representatives, but when the individuals who comprise our nation are voting in someone to represent all of us, I don't think any of those individual votes should be silenced, dampened, or amplified. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

That's basically what I thought immediately upon reading the subject of this thread. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Uh, I know most of the first part and know that TIG is tungsten inert gas. I learned how to do that in about a day and it took about another day to become very proficient at it. I think I had two days of training before TIG welding overpacks on a few capsules containing ~8 lbs of cesium (Cs-137) chloride each. I wouldn't say that I was "very proficient" at it, but I was good enough. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Comparing that map to the national vote, it's clear that Bush won more acres and Gore won more people. "Places and areas" shouldn't get votes, only people should, and each person's vote should be worth exactly as much as any other person's. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Personally, I think body hair is kind of masculine and I wouldn't want my woman to be more "masculine" than me. Plus I hate getting it stuck in my teeth or in the back of my mouth. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I think the electoral college has outlived its utility and would like to see it abolished in favor of a popular vote. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

If the mortage interest deduction is removed, the price of houses will go down, and substantially. People would be able to afford ~30% less for their monthly carrying costs. Removal of the deduction is only being discussed because you can't keep the deduction in the absence of the tax to which it applies. I don't think anybody has proposed remoding the deduction without also removing the tax it's deducted from. If this year I charge you $1000 dollars per month rent on an office, minus whatever you pay for utilities, and next year I stop charging you rent, is the loss of the utility deduction going to break your bank? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Drink. Fall. Get back up. Drink. Nurse sore muscles. Repeat. Whatever edge is closest to whatever direction you're going should be at least very slightly elevated. Failure to do so will result in "catching an edge". "Catching an edge" will result in you being promptly deposited on either your tailbone or your face. The speed with which such deposition will occur is directly related to how fast you were going when you decided to catch said edge. Oh, and don't break both fucking wrists at the same time. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I've been through three surgeries on my left shoulder, including one arthroscopic and two open, one of them involving harvesting bone from my hip and bolting it into my shoulder. I feel for you over the next few days. What're ya getting fixed? Deodorant is relatively easy. If you've got a decent length stick of deodorant, you should have enough mobility in your sling to hold the deodorant in the hand of your bad arm and apply to your good arm. While you can't lift your bad arm, leaning forward and letting gravity pull it a little away from your torso will allow you to sneak in some deodorant under it. Once it's ok to shower without concern, the same method will work for washing that armpit. Note that before such time, you will still likely want to let gravity pull your arm away from your body a little and run a wipe through there. Otherwise, the warmth and humidity and general funk build-up can cause a rash. Just out of curiousity, is it your dominant hand or the lesser used one? Hopefully the latter! Some other tips here are very good. DEFINITELY go with baggy tops. I found baggy button-ups to be slightly easier than baggy sweatshirts, but they have to be big enough to move around and bring most of the buttons to your bad hand. Similarly, elastic band pants are worth wearing the first couple of days. Eating...I can cut a steak pretty easily, but I had to do so at the table/counter, where I could position my body in such a way that my bad hand was relatively close to the plate & could hold the fork. Tying shoes sucks....get some slip-on or velcro sneakers. Once you hit therapy, hit it hard. The finger-walking up the walls thing works wonders, but it really hurt at first. Same with the therapist working through your ROM. By the time you get to strengthening, it's not too bad. If you have any "coping" questions during your recovery, feel free to ask and I'll tell ya what I did. Blues, "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Sorry to hear that Mike, you and yours have my best possible wishes. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

It depends on what you mean by "dating." If you are going on a first date with someone tonight, you don't have to tell her about the other date you have set up for Friday night. But if you are repeatedly dating someone(s), neither/none of you should be confused about how each other sees the relationship. Juicy details are not required and are usually discouraged, but broad overviews are mandatory. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I don't think the average vote give a flying F if people in the IRS, lobbyists or lawyers lose their jobs. It would also be a HUGE change to the way people deal with HOUSING . . . THE American Dream. I think the average voter would be FAR more concerned about the usefulness of that tax deduction vs the horrible cost increase it would mean in home sales. That doesn't make any sense. In very simple terms, using some phantom numbers, if Joe Smith makes $100,000 per year and pays 33% income tax, he'll owe $33,000 in taxes. If he buys a $200,000 house and pays $15,000 in interest on his mortgage this year, his adjusted gross income will be $85,000, on which he'll pay $28,050 as income tax. That means he gets to keep 5% more of his money to apply toward his mortgage. Are you telling me he's going to throw a fit over the government offering him a 100% income tax deduction in favor of a 5% income tax reduction? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Hillary and the Shrub both grate on my nerves. Please explain how saying so indicates my bigotry for women but not men. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)