Random Thoughts! v2.0

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Re: Random Thoughts! v2.0

Postby MiTT3NZ » Sat Dec 08, 2012 11:06 am

No doubt the Facebook hippies'll come up with a conspiracy theory about this...

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Re: Random Thoughts! v2.0

Postby Spokane » Sat Dec 08, 2012 2:26 pm

Takumi wrote:
Spokane wrote: Kind of funny tomorrow both Illinois and Illinois State will be here. Illinois men's basketball team who are number 13 I think in the nation now to play Gonzaga who are number 10 right now and Illinois State football team to play Eastern Washington in the playoffs of Division II NCAA (the round of 8 teams, so next one up is sort of like the NFL equivalent of the conference championship to get to the big game).

Be awesome if Eastern gets another championship after winning it in 2010. I will never forget they beat Delaware by 1 point for it in 2010, Joe Biden's home state and maybe alma mater, in front of him. Eat that Joe Biden.


Too bad Eastern Washington sucks for everything else.


Still better or up to par with Washington State in most of those sports. :P

Thank god we have Gonzaga for basketball though. And Eastern for football.

Still can't believe the Cougars won the Apple Cup. :lol:
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Re: Random Thoughts! v2.0

Postby Yokosuka Martian » Sat Dec 08, 2012 2:37 pm

Got the Sonic All stars transformed game for the 360. hit me up if you ever want to play that (or other games)
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Re: Random Thoughts! v2.0

Postby Takumi » Sat Dec 08, 2012 2:52 pm

Spokane wrote:
Takumi wrote:
Spokane wrote: Kind of funny tomorrow both Illinois and Illinois State will be here. Illinois men's basketball team who are number 13 I think in the nation now to play Gonzaga who are number 10 right now and Illinois State football team to play Eastern Washington in the playoffs of Division II NCAA (the round of 8 teams, so next one up is sort of like the NFL equivalent of the conference championship to get to the big game).

Be awesome if Eastern gets another championship after winning it in 2010. I will never forget they beat Delaware by 1 point for it in 2010, Joe Biden's home state and maybe alma mater, in front of him. Eat that Joe Biden.


Too bad Eastern Washington sucks for everything else.


Still better or up to par with Washington State in most of those sports. :P

Thank god we have Gonzaga for basketball though. And Eastern for football.

Still can't believe the Cougars won the Apple Cup. :lol:


Haha, yea. I'm only kidding as I don't know much about sports in WA outside of the apple cup. Even then, I don't watch American football so it's of little interest to me.
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Re: Random Thoughts! v2.0

Postby Bluecast » Sat Dec 08, 2012 7:14 pm

http://imgur.com/gallery/ffGdg

Amazing yet depressing

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Re: Random Thoughts! v2.0

Postby Jeff » Sat Dec 08, 2012 7:48 pm

I finally learned why Japan seems to have much nicer and better maintained roads. It's because their are toll's everywhere that scan your car and charge your bank account while you drive around. The average driver over there pays about $300 a month on these tolls! I'd rather go by the US system and drive around for free on pot hole ridden roads.

@Ryudo, that is depressing. Something has gone quite wrong with America. That's one thing I know for sure. I believe we as a culture created our problems, disregarding manufacturing in this country as well as a lazy population who would rather shop at large corporation entities that take the money out of the communities rather than support their neighbors for convenience and price. At least that's my hypothesis.

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Re: Random Thoughts! v2.0

Postby Sonikku » Sat Dec 08, 2012 8:09 pm

America hates taxes so bad they would rather make every city into Detroit than pay something towards upkeep of the nations infrastructure.
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Re: Random Thoughts! v2.0

Postby Bluecast » Sat Dec 08, 2012 8:10 pm

Japan should tax the plates so the earth quakes stop
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Re: Random Thoughts! v2.0

Postby St. Elmo's Fire » Sat Dec 08, 2012 8:18 pm

Jeff wrote: I finally learned why Japan seems to have much nicer and better maintained roads. It's because their are toll's everywhere that scan your car and charge your bank account while you drive around. The average driver over there pays about $300 a month on these tolls! I'd rather go by the US system and drive around for free on pot hole ridden roads.

@Ryudo, that is depressing. Something has gone quite wrong with America. That's one thing I know for sure. I believe we as a culture created our problems, disregarding manufacturing in this country as well as a lazy population who would rather shop at large corporation entities that take the money out of the communities rather than support their neighbors for convenience and price. At least that's my hypothesis.


That's the whole world that's been changing, not just America...
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Re: Random Thoughts! v2.0

Postby Jeff » Sat Dec 08, 2012 8:45 pm

Sonikku wrote: America hates taxes so bad they would rather make every city into Detroit than pay something towards upkeep of the nations infrastructure.


This nation's foundation was based on anti-tax sentiment. It's a part of our national DNA. Plus history has always shown, at least in this nation, taxation never fixed a problem, ever. Point to one example where it worked.

What I knew before, and what was confirmed to me with Hurricane Sandy was that the best governance is local control. Who were out the next day? The local forces? Where were the national forces? Weeks later and with subpar performance. Let States take care of States and let communities take care of their communities. If that were the case with the responsibility of utilities like the power grid it would have went up alot faster. There is a town on Long Island called Freeport that was different than the other towns because it took care and ran it's own power system and grid. They are a costal town that suffered much damage. They were far more efficient in getting their town back up and running while others ask when someone would come and help them.

That's what the founders intended, they wanted the states to worry about themselves and do their own thing, with a list of 10 rights known as the constitution that the states agreed to. The job of the federal government was primarily to provide a united defense and trade. That's it. What has been the original United States has become a Frankenstein nation of what was originally devised.
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Re: Random Thoughts! v2.0

Postby Bluecast » Sat Dec 08, 2012 9:02 pm

The founders also lit thier own farts and took in slaves..and were templars. They still thought leeches were cure for all. Can't live in the 1700's forever. Things change and evolve. Can't hang on to every out of date idea.

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Re: Random Thoughts! v2.0

Postby Sonikku » Sat Dec 08, 2012 9:23 pm

Jeff wrote:
Sonikku wrote: America hates taxes so bad they would rather make every city into Detroit than pay something towards upkeep of the nations infrastructure.


This nation's foundation was based on anti-tax sentiment. It's a part of our national DNA. Plus history has always shown, at least in this nation, taxation never fixed a problem, ever. Point to one example where it worked.


That's not true though. The nation wasn't founded out of a simple unwillingness to pay any kind of tax for any reason in any shape or form, the cause for the revolution was Taxation without representation. The two are not entirely the same. The colonies were willing to pay the tax if they had a few meager seats in the government they were paying taxes to. But they would not even give us that much, hence the revolution. I'm not sure how you can argue taxes have never worked to provide essential things to Americans. Never mind potholes, if the US government born out of the Revolution had never taxed anybody ever there would not be roads. Highways weren't laid down connecting the states together during the 20th century for free by the mystical Capitalism fairy that magically fixes everything when the system needs straightening out, it happened because taxes collected little by little by millions of different people covered the cost.

Property taxes are the same way. I understand whole heatedly why you might not give a shit for the kids that rely upon public schools if your family had the wealth to extend to you every opportunity in a private school, but public schools are funded from those taxes and without them, America would have an even worse problem with lacking skills in the work place than they do today. It is the same with public libraries and the police departments. The only thing you succeed in in privatizing everything is putting all the power of the country in the pockets of the corporations. Sometimes though, unfortunately, they do not always have the nations best interests at heart. (Is it really in our interests to trust a police force that is obligated to pledge fealty to the elite as the sole means of paying the bills?)

As for Sandy, Obama has called on Congress for 60 billion dollars to help the victims rebuild their lives. I'm unsure if any one state has that kind of cabbage just laying around, not without everyone paying something into the pot. The question is, do you regard that as just more wasteful spending by Democrats that should be cast to the way side? (Too bad, so sad New Jersey, I hate taxes) Or do we attempt to come together to help each other as Americans when tragedy strikes that is out of our control and the hardship is too much for any one state to absorb? We are the United States, not the every man for himself states and as annoying as it is to see anything ever taken out of our paychecks, taxes are sometimes a necessary thing in life.
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Re: Random Thoughts! v2.0

Postby Jeff » Sat Dec 08, 2012 9:43 pm

Sonikku,

Your thoughts are valid, but not thought out to completion.

First off the constitution stated that the only roads they were responsible for is roads to each postal office. If you really dig into the text you'll find it, most people don't know that. I'll get to in a second of what should be done.

The rest of your statements can be answered by a simple point. Where does this federal money come from? You, me, and every person who pays taxes. So lets say instead of dump a ton of income towards one federal entity, you pay for a defense fee and instead the roads, schools, libraries, police, etc was controlled and run by the states? Do you think the states would be more efficient with your tax dollars? Do you think they would know where the funds are most needed than the feds? To me that would help the poor better than the current system. Notice we have a war on poverty? It's been going on since the late 60's. Why haven't we won that yet? It's because the federal government is incapable of solving the problem. It's an example of why control needs to be put in the hands of communities and states. Let them make their own laws, and if you don't like their laws your free to move to a different state.

It's not Obama's job to be Santa Clause with federal funds, though he enjoy's the role. What does the presidential oath state? To defend against enemies foreign and domestic and to defend the constitution. That's it! That's his job!

@Ryudo, liberty, freedom, and individualism is something that doesn't become outdated or obsolete.
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Re: Random Thoughts! v2.0

Postby Sonikku » Sat Dec 08, 2012 11:40 pm

Regardless of what the original constitution said on roads only going to post offices in the early days, I don't think the founding fathers had tractor trailers loaded with goods to deliver or cars that could drive vast distances across the country in mind when they wrote it. Times change. Technology changes. And I don't even think the founding fathers thought the constitution stipulations were so timeless that they would always be relevant without need for amending. Some things like rights are timeless. But other things like infrastructure are not. But all of this is beside the point. I'm not for all government being run by the federal level, but I still recognize it has it's place in some situations.

The 20th century came. The founding fathers had no idea the kind of shoes the world would rely on America to fill. Jews being massacred, entire nations like France and Britain poised to be ruled from Germany. I don't believe the Allies could have singled highhandedly conquered their foes on their enemies own home turfs without America behind them with the biggest war machine in history. That could not have been made possible by dozens of separate states all fighting their own war their own way individually. It was only when ALL of the States of America pooled their combined resources, came together as one and coordinated as a single unstoppable unit that America was able to stand with the kind of needle like focus necessary to stop one or the worst tyrannies the world had ever known and play a crucial role in liberating an entire continent.

The founding fathers never could have imagined us ever doing any of these things. In another life, maybe America just always stayed in it's little corner of the world with every state going in their own separate directions under a banner of neutrality when the powerless were pulverized by a fanatic or over grown bully. But whether they would have liked it or not, America became a world force in a way they never imagined and we had to adapt accordingly. That sometimes means having a Federal government, to offer a single, coordinated voice for some things, not all, that we all invest a portion of our pay checks into. Some things no one state can accomplish alone.

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Re: Random Thoughts! v2.0

Postby Jeff » Sat Dec 08, 2012 11:49 pm

Sonikku, I think you totally missed what I said about a military force. Once again the federal governments purpose is to support a national military. So according to the constitution, if your representatives (congress and senate) agree that action must be taken against NAZI Germany, then they would vote to declare war and the President serves as Commander in Chief. It's not a hard concept to understand. I also don't think the changes of the 20th century has any relevance on the role of the Federal Government. i guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.
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