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Topics - Falconer02

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Debate & Discuss / Religious People with (present day) Political Power
« on: March 25, 2012, 05:05:40 pm »Message ID: 510163
Before I begin, let me just say that this thread isn't necessarily to go on a tirade against people who are religious. This is primarily to discuss beliefs coupled into politics and how they can be beneficial and dangerous. The reason for this thread came from me watching a bit of the republican candidates speaking about their faiths and (to me) how goofy it sounded coupled with an interview with Penn Jilette on youtube. If these people want political power yet willingly preach their beliefs which encompass things like ghosts, afterlives, magic, but most importantly the end of the world, should they have political power? For instance, do you believe Mitt Romney is well-equipped to deal with this country when he devoutly believes that a 19th century conman saw angels and formed the 'correct' religion? Do you believe Rick Santorum should have control over any form of scientific education considering he's a devout creationist and has been pushing for Intelligent Design for years?

I know some will say that it's not these types of things that one should be worried about as their are many more technical aspects to these politician's merit (for instance Mitt Romney being a smart businessman). To that I say- how can you trust someone whose fundamental grasp on reality is so skewed? How can you trust someone who goes against American principles and willingly tries to blur the line between church and state? Granted people have every right to believe what they want to believe, when you boast and throw these types of things on the table (as these candidates have), how can these be positive things when viewed rationally- something that should be encouraged during an election?

This goes well beyond just the current candidates though as it's constantly being brought up in politics in the past (Bush telling people that god wanted him to go to war, the IL governor who quoted the bible when the topic of global warming was brought up, Sarah Palin and her infinite religious spurts, etc. etc.). What do you think? Is this just a dirty tactic to sway voters with the most-popular religion in this country (as I believe Obama did) or do you think these types of people are actually this delusional? Or is this topic have no weight and really does not even matter?

Personally I wish people would ask these politicians basic religious conundrums rather than blunt questions about their faith. And I'd wish for them to just say "Yeah, my religion is psychotically crazy at times, but I'm not." Unfortunately this is rarely the case.

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Debate & Discuss / I can't throw my *bleep* on the beach!?
« on: February 10, 2012, 12:01:06 pm »Message ID: 488559
Yeah, admit it. You probably read the title with a dirty mind. But onward to the main story! If you haven't already heard, LA county is now enforcing a law subjecting people to hefty fines if you're caught throwing any ball on its beaches. It's surprisingly making headlines all over the US.

http://cbsla.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/la-county-updates-ordinance-on-ball-frisbee-throwing-at-beaches/

According to Lucy Kim, from the LA County Department of Beaches and Harbors, a first-time offender will have to pay a $100 fine. For a second offense, beach-goers will face a $200 fine. Three or more infractions within one year will result in a $500 fine, Kim said.

I actually read this yesterday and I believe they updated the article as it originally said a 1000$ fine. My opinion-- California is obviously in terrible financial shape. If this isn't a grab for cash, I dunno what is. Granted ignoring a lifeguard over safety issues is dumb, I'm fairly certain if I think I'm in danger of getting hit, I'll speak up to the throwers or I'll knife the ball myself. Another reason to not move to CA for me. Complete overkill.

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Off-Topic / LET'S LET CONGRESS KILL THE INTERNET! ((SOPA/PIPA post. Please read))
« on: January 17, 2012, 10:13:22 pm »Message ID: 476908
If you haven't noticed, Google, Reddit, WordPress, Wikipedia and a few other major sites have or will be purposely going down or showing strange "blocked" images for the next 24 hrs. Google is currently the most basic of the bunch-



This is because of SOPA-- the Stop Online Piracy Act and PIPA-- Protect IP Act that is trying to be passed in the house. To sum it up, I'll quote what Wiki and Google has already written (because I'm tired)-

If passed, this legislation will harm the free and open Internet and inhibit people's access to information online. Why? SOPA and PIPA put the burden on website owners to police user-contributed material and call for the unnecessary blocking of entire sites. Small sites won't have sufficient resources to defend themselves. Big media companies may seek to cut off funding sources for their foreign competitors, even if copyright isn't being infringed. Foreign sites will be blacklisted, which means they won't show up in major search engines. SOPA and PIPA build a framework for future restrictions and suppression.

Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business. Millions of Internet users and entrepreneurs already oppose SOPA and PIPA.

Now there's nothing wrong with trying to stop piracy, but these acts are terribly written to give businesses and gov't an unfair use of power.

Fellow FC users, this is extremely important if you use the internet at all since this is literally one of those "Big businesses trying to undermine your freedom" events. Contact your state representative and tell them you'll vote them out if they intentionally shackle something that should remain free and open. These guys and girls only care about one thing, and thats keeping their power. If they legitmately believe they'll be voted out for taking a position, they'll switch in a heartbeat. Do that or atleast sign one of the many petitions going around the internet.
Google probably has the easiest to fill out-

https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/
(Click the picture)

I'll update this post if anything more relevant is posted here or elsewhere. Thanks for taking the time to read this! You're truly an Amurrikan!

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Debate & Discuss / "Kepler 22b" More Goldilocks Planet info available!
« on: December 06, 2011, 07:31:12 pm »Message ID: 457572
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/8939138/Kepler-22b-the-new-Earth-could-have-oceans-and-continents-scientists-claim.html

"The new planet was discovered by Nasa’s Kepler space telescope two years ago but new research has identified it as the most similar to our own yet discovered. Kepler 22b is about twice the size of Earth and has temperatures which average around 72 degrees (22 Celsius). It also contains the right atmosphere to potentially support life. However, there is a downside: it is 600 light years from Earth."


(3d image-- not real)

Cool stuff! We're one step closer to possibly finding life out in the universe. It's times like this that I think maybe there is primitive life out there that's at a much earlier stage of evolution than we currently are. Or maybe there's life out there that's already exploring solar systems. Or maybe there are civilizations that are already extinct? When you see planets out there that could support life and then you look at the vastness and seemingly endless amount of space in the universe, it's fun and interesting to speculate. Share your thoughts if you wish.

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Debate & Discuss / Republican + Christian = ???
« on: September 28, 2011, 01:32:22 pm »Message ID: 423496
Before I go into this, let me just say that I am NOT trying to push a political agenda here nor am I really trying to bash on religion. I post this just because I find this to be a very blunt contradiction with plenty of possibilities to promote debate and discussions. To sum it up-



An example would be the healthcare issues in the country and how the Tea Partiers are constantly bashing on the proposed reform. Thoughts/opinions plz.

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Debate & Discuss / THE END OF THE WORLD THREAD #3,567
« on: May 20, 2011, 10:30:32 pm »Message ID: 356333
I'm getting really annoyed by all the people hoping/speculating that the world is going to end soon. Do you know how depressing that sounds? And, of course, I need to point a finger at the religious out there because 99% of the posts with these threads contain religious aspects. My bro sent me a message tonight and I'm not sure where he got it from, but it had me laughing so I thought I'd share it here-

"The rapture (and similar things in non-christian religions) is like the saddest thing ever in christian religion. It's like the biblical version of that strange boy everyone knew back in school who lied about an uncle who was an ex navy seal and worked for Nintendo, and when you'd poke fun at him for his obvious lies, he'd tell you that his uncle would bring him the 'Super Nintendo II' with all the awesome games in the coming weekend and then you're gonna be sorry you ever poked fun at him. That's basically the rapture for these nutcases. I'm sorry dudes, Jesus wont show up and save you from all these smug normal people who enjoyed their lives while they where living."

"Macho Man Randy Savage died for our sins. It is only through his benevolent sacrifice that the judgement day has been postponed. Thank you Macho Man, thank you for saving us all."

Really think about the above. I don't know about all of you wishing the world will end, but do us realistic people a favor and be quiet about it. No reasonable person wants to hear your depressing proofless garbage. If you're going to say you know the precise date, you're an idiot and a false prophet. If you say you don't know and/or your religion states that the date is unknown, why even bring it up?  Do you people get off on cursing and condeming people? Oh, you think you're warning them? You're not-- it's just a fear tactic to subscribe someone to your beliefs and you're absurdly naive to realize it. That's sad to even bring up if you've really got nothing to work with but irrational fears.  So let's all enjoy our saturday together. Go out, enjoy the weather if it's nice, try to make a positive difference, and forget about all the earthquakes brewing in the Pacific- http://i.imgur.com/KbM01.png

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Debate & Discuss / "Breast Etiquette" - a question for the ladies...
« on: December 29, 2010, 12:33:32 am »Message ID: 291060
POST PIX OF YER *bleep*! *Ahem* Hello, fine ladies, girls, maddams, and etc. this is a slightly odd thread but seeing how I haven't made one in quite a while...

So I was in a small situation over a month ago when I was walking near a library. About 40-50 ft from me was this lone middle-aged woman who had a blouse on and she apparently forgot to button 1 or 2 of the top buttons. That, and her bra must have been awkwardly fit because one of her *bleep* was exposed.

Now there were a few people walking around the area, but I didn't want to either shout to her or run up to her lightening fast to let her know. I just hope she felt a temp change when she entered thru the door, but needless to say I still felt really bad for not helping her out of a possibly embarrassing situation.

I talked to my friend about it and he said he actually did help a woman in a similar situation, and she actually got angry at him and stomped off. He told me I made a decent choice out of the situation, but I still disagree to an extent.

Serious or funny, the point of this thread is to just hear your opinion on the matter-- do woman usually appreciate this type of a "heads up" or do they get mad most of the time? And no, it's not just for ladies to answer if you have a story of your own. I just noticed there are more woman than men on this part of the forum.

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Debate & Discuss / Post your good/bad customer or employee stories!
« on: October 31, 2010, 09:56:42 pm »Message ID: 262095
I'm sure we all have had some awful (or great) things happen to us while being or working in a retail store. ...or hearing things or dealing with customer service at some place. The rules are simple for this thread-- share your stories!

---THE BAD---

I worked at Target for 2 years during college and I had some pretty bad things happen- psycho moms not understanding that we were out of a certain item, people not leaving after the store closed, a 2 yr. old walking while he was urinating on the floor, etc.  One story that stands out to me was when this old woman on one of those scooters comes up and asks if we have these freezer bags for vacuums. I told her I had never heard of them. Regardless of that, I took her over to the vacuums to show her of the proof. She started getting angry as she had been told differently. I asked if she wanted to talk to the person incharge of the area, but she declined. I apologized for the inconvenience and she scooted off.

I was walking to the back talking on the radio with a fellow employee when I suddenly heard "THEY'RE RIGHT HERE, GODDAMN IT! YOU TOLD ME THEY WEREN'T HERE! LIAR!!!" it just echoed all through the store. Not wanting to deal with this woman after hearing that, I kept walking to the back to help the backroom people for a little bit. Before I went through the doors, I glanced back quickly to see that she was actually following me. So I kind of hid in back for a while not wanting to return to the floor.

Later that night, my friend who worked there came up to me and said he had to deal with that same psycho woman and that she was badmouthing me as he helped her with finding another item. He told me what she was actually looking for- I didn't understand that she was not wording it correctly-- she was looking for those bags that freeze and hold a vacuum seal to keep food fresh. She didn't mention food at all though, so whose fault is that? My friend agreed that she was off her rocker. Yikesssss.

---THE GOOD---

I signed up for a free trial for something on amazon and didn't read the 3,000 page contract it came with. I bought something for 25$ and got free shipping with this sign-up thing. 30 days later, I get a charge for 80$ on my credit card for being a new member as the trial had expired and I had unknowingly agreed to sign up for it. I wrote them a angry-but-professional email saying if this wasn't taken off, I wouldn't shop at amazon anymore. A day later an employee emailed me back and took it off of my cc-- no fees or anything for doing it. Awesome service.

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Debate & Discuss / DAMNED HUMAN RACE
« on: August 30, 2010, 09:53:43 pm »Message ID: 229448
DAMN YOU ALL!!!

Lawl jk. Actually the thread title is the name of a famous writing of one of my favorite (fake-named) authors- Mark Twain. I'm sure most of us are familiar with atleast one of his works, but in college I practically worshipped this guy and I still feel I do time to time. His history is so fascinating and gutsy that whenever I think deeply into his stories, I always point to one that was a sort of enlightenment in my mind. If I remember correctly, he wrote this a bit after his daughter died so he was very depressed. The only reason I share this with you is because I notice there are too many arguments on such topics of religion, evolution, morals, etc. and we seem to keep spiralling in circles in many cases. I thought this writing would bash us all down a peg as the whole context of the writing is to show that we are the inferior species on this planet when it comes to placing labels such as "higher animals" on ourselves. It's as funny as it is pessimistic. So be a little humble and check it out--

http://www.skeptically.org/logicalthreads/id14.html
(it's a short read and it is totally worth it!)

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Debate & Discuss / The Mosque near Ground Zero
« on: August 22, 2010, 12:25:30 am »Message ID: 224382
I'm sure most of you have heard of the situation in NY where they are building a mosque community center near the 9/11 incident and was curious to know your opinions on it. If you haven't, here is a basic article of the whole situation.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/editorials/view.bg?articleid=1272814&srvc=rss

Here are a few of the points people tend to leave out of their argument-

The mosque will not be built AT the site. It will be built 2-3 blocks from it.
The site will include an area near the center where people of all faiths are free to pray.
The 1st amendment.
From what I've heard, there is a catholic church right down the road from where they are going to build it.
Muslims died in the 9/11 attack too. This was a terrorist attack. If you think all muslims are terrorists, gtfo of this thread.

My opinion? When I first heard about it, I thought it was rather rude to build in a place where islamic terrorists killed so many. And with things like the muhammad cartoon stirring so much violence, I thought muslims just shot themselves in the foot when it came to trying to respect whatever thing they're trying to acheive. I also heard a lot of families who had members die in the 9/11 attack were against it, so surely their opinions held more weight. I did not understand why so many political officials were supporting it until I really sat down and thought about separation of church and state and how this is a decent test to show if history will cool down. Right now I'm alright with the idea after I did some research. I will admit this could have done with a bit more tact, but how far away does it have to be until everyone agrees that it's okay to build?

I also read a funny metaphor for the situation which holds a little weight-
"The unabomber lived in a shack in a forest while he did his deeds. Therefore we cannot build shacks of any type in or near forests."

Edit: I will add any valid points to this post whether it be for or against the idea as I'm sure I've left plenty out. I also wrote this at 2 am so I may edit the wording later.

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Debate & Discuss / The MILSIM thread! Hooah!
« on: April 13, 2010, 07:37:56 pm »Message ID: 162414
MilSim is an abbreviation of Military Simulation, and refers to military simulations conducted by civilians for entertainment purposes. There are several forms of MilSim: airsoft games, paintball games, and video games simulating military scenarios and tactics. Weapons used in MilSim are commonly airsoft or paintball guns. Airsoft guns are used more often in MilSim than paintball guns due to their availability as replica weapons without any modification. Paintball guns commonly require modification to be considered a replica; the basic components of paintball guns often inhibit the ability to convert them to replica weapons such as the hopper or gas tank. These components can be hidden or modified such that they do not interfere with the appearance of the gun.

This thread is here to discuss what types of milsims you like to play with your friends. Post about scenarios, your guns, gear, prices, maintainence tips, game locations, debates on what's the best game to play, etc.  This includes paintballing, airsofting, to even laser tag. If there's some milsim not listed that we should try playing, post it!

Post pics of your guns! Stories! Injuries! Anything goes!

For the ones that aren't too familiar with any of these, here are a basic description of the 2 most played sports--



Airsoft is a primarily recreational activity where replica firearms shooting plastic rounds are used for personal collection, gaming (similar to Paintball), or professional training purposes (Military Simulations and Police training exercises). A primary difference between airsoft firearms and BB guns is that airsoft uses 6mm or 8mm plastic pellets and have muzzle velocities of less than 700 feet per second (FPS), which is generally considered safe when used in a controlled environment, while BB guns utilize metal ammunition and shoot at higher velocities (up to and over 1000 FPS), making them unsuitable for gaming and training purposes.


The guns come in many forms, but the common 3 are automatic-electric-gun (AEG-mainly rifles), gas-blow-back (GBB-- mainly pistols), and spring (pistols and rifles).



Paintball is a game in which players compete, in teams or individually, to eliminate opponents by hitting them with capsules containing paint (referred to as a paintball) from a special gun called a paintball marker. The game is regularly played at a sporting level with worldwide leagues, tournaments, professional teams and players, but is also used by armies to supplement military training.

Depending on the venue, games are played on either indoor or outdoor fields of varying size. A game field is scattered with natural or artificial terrain, which players use for strategic play. Rules for playing paintball vary, but can include capture the flag, elimination, defending or attacking a particular point or area, or capturing objects of interest hidden in the playing area. Depending on the variant played, games can last from seconds to hours or even days in scenario play.


I'll personally post a little later on this, so post away. If you want me to add anything to this original post, please say so.

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Off-Topic / TIPS for Every Day Life!
« on: January 23, 2010, 12:03:39 pm »Message ID: 132584
The purpose of this thread is to post tips and tricks that may help you out in everyday life-- how to make a good soup, extend the life of your car, job-hunting tactics that worked for you, meeting people, etc. Anything goes as long as it's helpful! Don't post a huge list in one post-- just post 2-3 tips max as most people don't want to read 50 paragraphs. Keep it simple! If someone posts something that is flawed, you may correct it. Don't be a too much of a jerk though.

Mine--
In winter months, let your clothes dry in your basement if you have one. This helps save energy (as opposed to drying them in a dryer which is usually the 2nd most energy-draining source in your home) and helps humidify your home.

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Off-Topic / Religious threads...
« on: December 26, 2009, 12:05:19 am »Message ID: 123114
We have 5 of them on the first page last time I checked. Now 6 due to mine. I would highly suggest either keeping it to one thread or have all of you crazy religious extremists stop posting things that don't exist in the realm of reality.

If an admin would like to delete this thread, please do so if you see fit.

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Off-Topic / Post your favorite ACTION SCENES! *KABOOM*
« on: August 07, 2009, 12:46:30 pm »Message ID: 77865
Tell us what your favorite action scene is and why you love it so much! You can post more than one if you want.

Me? I'd say the truck chase in Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark. Why? No cg effects or anything-- just done with raw talent and very few stunt doubles. The action just intensifies as it goes on and the good ol' John Williams music blaring in the background was great too.

Runner up to that? The finale in Mad Max: The Road Warrior.

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