EL-DUDERINO

[quote]I think wind-generated power technology has tremendous potential to reduce fossil-fuel consumption, but only when that technology becomes scaled down, highly efficient & affordable enough to be like the satellite dish on your roof. Big 'wind farms' are highly inefficient, adding piddling amounts of power to the grid, and currently only exist thanks to subsidies. Powering individual homes with a combination of solar & wind (with backup from the 'grid') is another thing altogether & very mu

The problem with congress and politicians in general is they only look at the short term impacts and primarily the impact to their respective parties rather than the long term issues and the impact on the American people. We can all agree that we need to deal with this energy issue the problem is that congress is stuck trying to find ONE solution to the problem. The Dems argue that drilling won't have any short term impact and is therefore not a good solution, whereas windfall profits taxes wi

[quote]I said it before and I'll say it again. When people start arguing on how businesses create situations where they can make more money, I always question if given the chance, would they not try to make as much money as possible if an opportunity arises? I always have to wonder who is more foolish, the vendor who sells the product at much higher prices or the buyer who pays for those high prices? And I'm sure some will say "they have no choice", well with all the hybrids hitting the market,

Another point to make here is that a perfect, relatively clean (ie no carbon dioxide in the exhaust) to coal and oil based power plants in America is Nuclear. But why haven't we built a nuclear power plant in the past 30+ years? It's rather simply, no one wants one in their backyard. It's going to be the same for any wind or solar power plants, the only difference is that solar can be built in the sparsely populated desert areas in the southwest. Nuclear requires easy access to water which m

Let's have a little lesson in how the oil industry is set up. 1) OPEC (primarily made up of middle eastern nations) produces roughly 70% of the world's oil, we import most of what we use on a day to day basis from OPEC nations. 2) Due to point one the American oil companies are NOT the ones really profiting from the expensive oil prices, OPEC is. 3) The reason why more oil isn't being drilled from the currently alloted areas for drilling is because there is very little oil the

[quote]I agree with both parts of the statement. If the democrats (and to a lesser extent the republicans) are going to have any credibility in the future, they have to scale back the role of super delegates so that they can only matter in a deadlocked convention.[/quote] I couldn't agree with you more. The super delegates (or unpledged delegates for the republicans) should only get involved when there is an extremely close race. The whole idea that the super delegates could override

[quote]Hmm...well he must have forgot it. “I don't speak a foreign language. It's embarrassing!” Barack Obama exclaimed today at town hall meeting here. http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/07/11/politics/fromtheroad/entry4254480.shtml[/quote] He must have because according to an article in the New York Times back in March of 2007 (I think that was the time) he was said to speak fluent Indonesian due to part of his childhood being spent there.

[quote]An intelligent response. Perhaps we should say "Drop Dead" creditors in paraphrasing Ford's remark to New York in financial straits.[/quote] Not so much "drop dead" but rather "you made your bed now lie in it."

[quote]I am upset with the DNC about this issue. They needed to show some leadership but instead handed the nomination and four bonus delegates to Obama. In my opinion, he is not a valid nominee. He was not elected by the people but chosen by the party and the stupid superdelegate system and bogus caucuses. A popular vote, all I want is a popular vote. [/quote] I have news for you, no matter what the outcome of Florida and Michigan was going to be neither Ob

[quote]You're not? Obama doesn't speak any foreign languages in spite of his well-traveled youth. I have a problem with a presidential candidate always pointing out the flaws of the people he supposedly wants to lead. I think he should just go and be President of Germany. [/quote] Actually he speaks fluent Indonesian. He spent a few years there as a child and went to school there for a while. I'm not saying that qualifies him for president just that he does spe

To clarify the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is more at taxpayer expense than the bailout of Bear Stearns was. The reason for this is that the bailout of the two FMs was an act of congress to allow the treasury department (a government entity) to purchase stock in the two FMs amongst other things. Yes to do that the government will probably have to borrow money from foreign countries but it is the tax payer that will end up repaying that loan eventually so this bailout is directly at t

[quote]I still am holding a grudge since the primary. I think he treated Hillary horribly. I think he is sexist. It offended me that he tried to block re-votes in Florida and Michigan. (Yep, he really wants every vote to count if he thinks it will be for him - anyone in Florida and Michigan that votes for him is an idiot). I have a problem with his numerous present votes instead of actually representing his constituents. I DO not think he even comes close

Interesting. Thank you for the clue into what happened.

[quote]At least Obama offers the hope of change.[/quote] I hear this one all the time. Please define change. What does it mean in Obama's sense? Many supporters of Obama constantly say how he will bring about change yet I haven't heard of one person being able to actually define what that means, so please enlighten me. Need I remind you that when Bush was running for election in 2000 he ran on a platform of "change" as well. In fact if you look up his speech at the 2000 rep

Anyone know what happened to these as they are still missing?

[quote]Bob Barr is nothing more than a hypocrite. He is the author of the "Defense of Marriage Act" despite having been divorced three times himself. He wants to make government small....so small that it fits inside your bedroom. (Props to Stephen Colbert for that!) He also voted for the Patriot Act, though he latter said that he regretted that. The National Debt is expected to rise by $482 billion dollars next year, not counting $80 billion in war costs. (Forbes.) The debt is $9.5 tri

I don't like either major party candidate, Obama is going to bloat our government to levels never before seen and McCain seems to be Bush number 3. I prefer either Bob Barr (Libertarian Party) or Ralph Nader (ex-Green Party, now Independent). I am leaning towards Bob Barr more and more because of his stance of less government is better government, but his views on abortion bother me. If I were to vote today though I would probably vote for Barr. I highly recommend everyone ou

[quote]Insurance on Cars and Houses is NOT mandatory.[/quote] That is true in the case of Home owners insurance but in the case of car insurance it depends on the state that you live in. WV requires all drivers be insured. You have to provide proof of insurance to register your car with the state. That said I don't think that universal healthcare is the answer to our healthcare problems. Just look at how well the government runs the public educations system for how well they

What happened to the thread on birth control and the thread entitled "Immigration Charges - it's about fairness"? Both threads seem to be missing and I know they were here this morning since I posted to them.

I rarely if ever watch the Olympics anyway, but I am definitely going to avoid watching or reading any Olympics coverage this year.

[quote]Our country is based on God and Christianity. And God made Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve. I hate the idea of gay marriage but I think it will eventually be allowed because someone will eventually use the 3 Freedoms as an excuse to perform it[/quote] Our country is NOT based on God and Christianity. The notion that we are somehow a "Christian Nation" is just plain wrong. Go back and re-read our founding documents. Our founding fathers took great pains to make sure that our go

[quote who="Dr Guy"]You cannot debate a religion and that is what this is. It is not science, but the latest mysticism that the "nobless oblige" have taken up when they threw off the old gods.[/quote] Truer words have never been said on this topic.

As a friend of mine said today: "Pot meet kettle, kettle meet pot." She promised all kinds of things when she became speaker like bringing compassion and integrity back to congress through bipartisanship. She has done nothing of the sort. This has been one of the most partisan sessions of congress ever, and the previous 7 sessions of congress weren't exactly bi-partisan. It is just further proof that no one in congress deserves to be re-elected. Kick them all o

They get bonuses but you can easily see what they are. When you are selecting an opponent look at their stats. McCain has like a 7 or 8 staminia, Bush has like 8 or 9. This then gives them more than 10 stamina when the game starts (I think). They probably also have higher points in things like charisma and comeliness. Some of the pre-made candidates definitely have more points alloted than we can do but it makes the game challenging.

The thing most people forget is that nature and the weather is cyclical. There are periods of warming and cooling, who is to say that we are having any kind of effect at all. As George Carlin once said (I'm paraphrasing here) "The earth has been around for 4.5 billion years. Man has been around for a couple million. And we have only been in the industrial age for about a hundred years. I think the earth will be ok." That's not to say that we shouldn't be