TMA_1

I agree that it legitimizes through force the leadership of Iran. Nobody will think of doing to them what was done to Iraq.I also believe that the soon to be built nuclear weapons have a slim chance of being used. I just know from personal experience that narrow-minded religious views can and do delude people into doing pretty crazy things. I feel that people do not take this kind of thing as seriously as they should. We have know idea what the Iranians will do with their refined uranium, and the possibilities are endless. This kind of nuclear confrontation is different in a few ways from any other nuclear confrontation we have ever seen. Take the anxiety between the nuclear buildup of Pakistan and India, and elevate it a few times. The religious scruples of the leaders of Iran are pretty intense. It could even get worse. Many of these folks believe that they are the generation that will witness the coming of the Mahdi. It almost seems that this kind of thing isn't taken seriously.

The famous quote by Marshall McLuhan-- paraphrased; "Violence is a quest for identity" It is a gem, and to me seems fairly obvious. I have listened to many folks say that it is Iran's sovereign right to refine nuclear ore, even to a weapons grade product. I have heard that Iran only wishes to have nuclear weapons capability so that it will give other nations pause before attempting invasion, remembering the "coalition of the willing" in Iraq and Afghanistan, and recently the international air strikes and support in stripping tyranny from Libya. I have heard people say that Iran probably will not preemptively strike another nation with nuclear weapons... All of these ideas seem to a greater or lesser extant probable. One thing that alarms me though is that people seem to connect the stalemate of the Soviet Union with NATO and other powers as an analogy with Israel and Iran. What concerns me is that Iran's leadership has a spiritual doctrine that bridges the mystical with the physical. There are even those of the extremely devout in Iran that wish to push along world events to cause an apocalypse, believing the twelfth imam is already physically alive with us. I feel that Israel does have a point in fearing from a nuclear Iran. When nuclear weapons are backed not even by extreme political positions, but further it with religious ones, than the danger multiplies. what do ou guys think?

Hmm I think it is hard to say if one is more important than the other.

Did any of you see the Daily Show skit they had on OWS? It was pretty awesome.

You could be right athanasios, and I believe that though the scientific community always needs to keep a critical eye at these sorts of things, I also believe that too much cynicism can lead to downright arrogance. So we will see... only time will tell if this device will work.

http://www.theeestory.com/topics/7700?page=1 I just picked this site out for the sake of brevity. Many other sites have talked about Andrea Rossi's dubious past, and it all seems true. With this kind of background, I honestly cannot trust what this guy has to say or offer. On top of this, the use of Calorimeters in reported cold fusion devices has been around since the late eighties, and though I believe there might... and I mean MIGHT be a chance for this kind of "cold" fusion to work, I have to honestly say that I believe it most probably wont.

looks interesting. From what I can see it is about life, from the smallest to largest scale, and the sort of butterfly effect concept that we are "ripples" in "the holy ocean of eternity".

There are a few interesting concepts in proper fusion technology these days, and one in a sort of "cold fusion" that could maybe have a potential future, but as Dante said, Ill believe it when I see it.

What Lord J said pretty much. It definitely has influences, since the cultures in Dune derive from cultures from ancient earth. They have evolved to such an extant that it is hard to truly separate and designate which cultures truly came from which. It is a mish mash, really. Lots of allusions to his day and age, not to mention the fact that you can read and feel how dated his concepts are throughout.

functioning sociopaths I believe can become very successful, though generally close interpersonal relationships tend to suffer because of the specific behavior that is noted in sociopaths/psychopaths. I believe that there is a spectrum of those who are born sociopaths. It can range from cold blooded killers, to serial liars. Ever read any Oliver Sacks? If you are interested in the neurological aspects of human behavior, you should check him out.

I really want to get more involved in paper roleplay games, are you guys talking about these types of games done online? That would be neat to do. Is Shadowrun played online?

Marvin Gaye "After The Dance"and Elis Regina & Tom Jobim "Aguas De Marco"

I actually don't know much about the film ,or it's director. I saw a preview of it from the Caan film festival, and it really piqued my interest. Does anybody know anything about the film, or when it might be released to DVD? Anybody have some info on the film or the director? If anybody has any info, I would be much obliged. Also, what films have you guys watched lately? Regards: Titus

I have heard this talked about, and have seen people mention it and I have thought about it as well. Do any of you guys think Dune would be a great medium for an anime? I honestly think that it could work very well. I think it could allow for a very deep exploration of the Dune universe and overcome so many of the hurtles that a traditional filming would entail. What do you guys think about Dune as anime?

It is no use to flail these people with attacks... that is just too easy a thing to do. Why is there such a reaction taking place in the vaguely labeled "west"? People here see that changes are taking place at such a blinding pace that it frightens them... it frightens me. This huge paradigm shift we see happening in the world is occurring without any real control. Those who are actually in control are setting themselves upon a path in which they will see the greatest benefit. Those who are living in the "developing" countries are indeed seeing great benefits, but are also still suffering from those who only see money as their highest motive. What's worse is that those in the west are tied up or are directly involved in the wage slavery and cultural destruction of untold millions throughout these developing countries. It is assumed that we in the west have at least partially learned from our past, and treat workers in a much kinder fashion, but this is not the case. Look at China, where the districts open to manufacture for companies in the developed world like Apple and Microsoft are pumping out millions of products in conditions which would NEVER be allowed in a place like America or Germany. Those people in china are indeed making more than they ever have, but at what cost? It is destroying lives, entire families and communities over there. And here, we are seeing the complete destruction of a viable working class. It is an almost complete service economy, and the middle class is a phantasm which politicians always seem to discuss here. Not only economically, but culturally we are seeing entire shifts in the way we think, the way we act and react with everybody else and it is horrifying to be stuck in this grinding mill controlled by thousands with no ears and eyes set to the spectrum of mammon. There is no real great villain in this world that we can blame. It is interesting that Reinhold Niebuhr said something to the effect that individually, people tend to listen to their conscience much more than when those individuals lay within a group. Packs generally do greater evil than individuals. If an individual is tied up on a road and he sees that a car is approaching at high speed, it is fairly easy for him to untie himself and step out of the road in time. Now if say it is a group of people who are tied together and are unable to get off the road until they untie themselves, it will obviously take much longer because of the need for cooperation and communication with one another. I believe we are seeing the need to begin and act extremely fast in working together to solve some of the greatest problems we have ever faced as a human race. The increasing instability of the global economy, the hanging specter of global climate change and many other challenges are coming towards us faster and faster each day. Though these groups are in my opinion very mistaken in how to handle many of our problems these days, it is obvious that they sense the dangers that are coming to us. They seem to me like canaries in a coal mine. I am in agreement that these groups, when manipulated by specific individuals and groups tend to go down the road of fascism. We have to be extremely careful with this and it is just another danger that we may potentially face. I do not think though that denigrating these groups helps though. In fact I think it just toughens their resolve and makes these groups more extreme. They are not yet "nazis" or anything of the sort, though they could very well develop into a similar form if the west is not careful. I think we should see how the middle east is evolving, we should look at how the populist groups will evolve over the coming years and see if groups like the muslim brotherhood will get their complete hold on the governments that are newly popping up in the middle east. we should watch and see if we can apply anything we see over there with our situation, though it is in so many ways totally different than our own situation. I hope that in the democratic countries, as things get worse, that this might get all us citizens more involved in a positive way in actually changing our countries for the better. Where we can shove off what is old and irrelevant and keep what is good. I am afraid though that there is not much time. I am also afraid that things could go sour in so many different ways. Do you guys think that we have enough time to make the changes needed for a much smoother transitioning in our global economy? How about politics on a global scale? Do any of you guys think that things might be able to get smoothed out without the need for bloodshed and divisiveness through all these fast transitions? What do you guys think of climate change in the midst of all these issues? Sorry if these questions are a bit off topic. If they are than nevermind. haha Regards: Titus