cactoblasta

Reply to Too Little, Too Late Obama in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]es, but the election will be won by moderates and independents who are now disgusted by Obama's refusal to condemn 'Pastor' Wright.[/quote] Operative word, now. The Democrats have followed the lead of our lady of dirt, Clinton and are airing each others' dirty laundry now. McCain is still relatively clean, but his turn will come closer to the election than the Democrats'. Will the voting public remember the dirt of the Democrat campaign, or will they think more often of

Reply to Future House Series: Goals in Building a home JoeUser Forums

I like the idea of a two-storey library. Just don't forget the balcony so you can look down over the stacks. [quote]Because you will have a massive basement, is there a practical way to move the air from the basement through the house? Since ground temperatures are fairly constant, I was thinking this might be a way to slightly reduce heating/cooling costs by using natural means.[/quote] High ceilings, good insulation and broad eaves to east and west will ward against heat in t

Reply to My idea of an environmentally safe Dream House in Blogging JoeUser Forums

If you're looking for green ideas about design etcetera, you should check out your local equivalent of HEAT (http://www.heat.net.au/topics.html). Maybe your area doesn't have it yet but speaking to energy efficiency auditors before you build is a good move. Pretty much the biggest things you can do though is to make sure the main living areas face north and that you have proper heavy curtains for your windows. (I knew there would be an upshot to being stuck doing property pages

Reply to Obama: Connecting the dots in Republican JoeUser Forums

[quote]I am saying that I am not in going to support a candidate who thinks that the United States is fundamentally flawed. [/quote] Okay then. I thought you were trying to go further than just expressing your stance, but I guess not.

Reply to And They Built Bonfires to Beat Back the Darkness in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Interesting perspective. A recession in this century is most likely the result of a crisis of confidence, right? With the international economy basing the value of currencies on their holdings of other currencies it's a bit of a shell game, so all Americans should need to do is persuade themselves and others there's no problem and things will fall into place again.

Reply to Obama: Connecting the dots in Republican JoeUser Forums

So you consider democracy a good thing only when it achieves the aims you personally believe in? I'm surprised to hear this kind of talk from you. You always write like a small-d democrat. I'd agree with you, of course - the people aren't fit to rule. But the alternatives are pretty horrible. If fundamental changes are what the people want though, that's what you're going to get. Who knows - maybe they'll arrest the economic decline, make wars a success again and reinv

Reply to Thoughts on Character in Misc JoeUser Forums

[quote]I can see that this is not going to be an article that attracts many comments. Why is that? It deals in issues that are of absolute relevance to us all. We all die. Many of us are subject to the temptatation to kill - and many of us succumb to that temptation. Yet without understanding what character is, none of us can make sense of why we kil, or why we do not kill.[/quote] I think you may be a little guilty here of assuming your own experience and perspective is universal.

Reply to Obama: Connecting the dots in Republican JoeUser Forums

[quote]Personally, I don't think the man likes the United States at all. I think he is like a significant percentage of the Democratic left that thinks the US is fundamentally flawed and wants to "Change" it to reflect the values they think it should have.[/quote] Isn't that a good thing? I'm not too sure about McCain's politics, but if he's much of a conservative the American people will have a choice between changing and staying much the same. Which way they vote (if they bother at al

Reply to Only in Spain . . . in Sex & Romance JoeUser Forums

In one particular way I'm glad you end the narrative there, but I do hope that ending was faked for the good of your family's reputation (in a very old-school traditional way). An Amazonian princess and you don't let her take advantage of you? You're a man of linguistic science, right? Think of all the discoveries you could have made! If it's for religious reasons I guess I can understand, but still!

Reply to Rights vs privileges in US Domestic JoeUser Forums

[quote]You only have a right to healthcare if you are able to provide it to yourself, like stich up your own wounds. Otherwise, you have to convince someone else that they should provide you with the care. It's not an automatic thing. We just have a system set up that gives the allusion of the right to healthcare. You can't force people to become doctors and if there are no doctors, then how could you exercise your right to healthcare?[/quote] This is true in the American system, bu

Reply to On Being almost 50 in Misc JoeUser Forums

[quote]As I said, turning first 30 and then forty caused me only minor reflection, and even a faint sense of self-congratulation at having so easily escaped the supposedly unavoidable traumas associated with these chronological milestones.[/quote] From the stories you've told here, you had all your traumas in your youth. Good luck reaching the big 5-0.

Reply to More SECULAR PROGRESSIVE Garbage in Current Events JoeUser Forums

[quote]Cacto when I was eight years old all I could think of was playing "army, cowboys and Indians and Ball" I had no idea of sexuality, nor does any eight year old have a gender ideentity crisis IMO.[/quote] Something tells me this kid plays with the girls rather more than he does with the boys. I don't know what his school/parents have said to him, but really there are two fair approaches - tell him he doesn't have to be a girl to play with dolls and be effeminate, or let him wear gi

Reply to About Stardock Design in OS Customization JoeUser Forums

If I was you I'd drop the picture of the building. It's not a very interesting building. There's no particularly spectacular architecture and it's a fairly dull grass and trees setting. Anything could be in that building - a law firm, a tax accountancy, a school. People have an expectation of high-quality design firms which you don't match with that photo. Where's the striking colour palette? The bold design? If you want to be taken seriously as designers at first glance, you n

Reply to Freedom Of The Press? in Current Events JoeUser Forums

[quote]You see her folly with this though. In trying to quash news stories that make her look bad, she made herself the story.[/quote] That's certainly true. I just sometimes wish news was more regularly more than just what government/businesses want people to know about.

Reply to Freedom Of The Press? in Current Events JoeUser Forums

They can report whatever they like, but nowhere does it say they have a right to be spoonfed information (ie receive press releases). I'd like to see more of this. It'll force journalists to actually make contacts and break stories rather than simply regurgitating the releases they get every day. I've always been jealous of the journos who can simply take in a press conference or press release and publish on the basis of provided info. That'd be much easier than what I've had

Reply to More SECULAR PROGRESSIVE Garbage in Current Events JoeUser Forums

[quote]I blame the 8 year old parents for this one, allowing him to dictate what he will or will not do ... at eight?[/quote] I don't see any advantage in blaming the parents. The kid will either grow out of it or he won't. If he doesn't, he'll live a much happier life having had the support of his parents in his personal choices than if he'd had to hide it from everyone. And don't tell me 8-year-olds don't know exactly what they want to do. They may not understand all the cons

Reply to Part Two - "La casa vidriera" in Dating JoeUser Forums

The way I see it you have two choices from here - you can sever things entirely, which is probably the best move, or you can wait for her to come back and then try and enter into what would most likely be an overly complicated and awkward three-sided (in)formal relationship, where your chances of getting exactly what you want are limited but not necessarily impossible. My advice is to let it go now - you don't seem like the sort of man who can avoid feeling guilty for dating another man

Reply to Religion of War Update 2008 in International JoeUser Forums

[quote]Try to remember that when they are cutting your head off screaming "allah akbar".[/quote] Thanks for the tip! I agree, it is very hard to remember that words matter less than actions, but if it ever comes to that situation I'll remember to follow your good advice and dissociate a clearly political action from the unifying religious trappings that are used in an attempt to legitimise my ritualistic murder. [quote]And the deeds of the religious body speak of acceptance of

Reply to Religion of War Update 2008 in International JoeUser Forums

[quote]How do you survey almost a half a million people a day? Not disagreeing with your point here it's just that seems highly unlikely.[/quote] My guess is that news.com.au made a mistake - it's most likely a statistical sample rather than an interview with every single living Muslim. [quote]How do you survey almost a half a million people a day? Not disagreeing with your point here it's just that seems highly unlikely.[/quote] We've covered this gr

Reply to It's Definitely Global Cooling in Current Events JoeUser Forums

[quote]You are pretty sure? I have stated many times that the change is happening and there is nothing you can do about it.[/quote] There are a few things. Cleaning up the air and water in and around cities through reducing pollution will make life easier, longer and more enjoyable for everyone, but you're right, it won't stop climate change. What we can do is put together contingency plans for the fallout of climate change. Our current models are hopelessly incompetent at pred

Reply to JU is a micro society in action in Blogging JoeUser Forums

[quote]Not sure who you are, though it seems some know you already, but I'll tell you this much, there is no better honor to have than to stand up for what you believe in regardless who you standing up too.[/quote] The cause of humanity has no greater champion than you, Chuck. Fight the power!

Reply to Darfur, Afghanistan and the failure of the Bush Policy in Current Events JoeUser Forums

I think part of the reason Europe is so leery about staying in Afghanistan is that every part of their history suggests the area is hopelessly impossible to control. The Brits couldn't hold it, the Soviets couldn't do it, and now the West can't do it. There's something about the politics of the region and the terrain that makes it too tough a nut for outsiders to crack.

Religion of War Update 2008 in International JoeUser Forums

So a few weeks back one of the world's foremost studies on attitudes to war, peace and apathy in Islam was released to the media (but not the public). I was waiting for Brad to post it up, as demographic surveys of Muslim countries are one of his regular topics. But he hasn’t yet, so I thought I’d mention it and throw it up to JU. Looking at the handful of figures that are out right now, I think everyone can probably find something to point to and

Reply to The JoeUser Suggestion Thread in Personal Computing JoeUser Forums

[quote]We do not support Apple browsers on any of our sites yet. This is not likely to change in the near future. We're trying to spend our time and resources hitting the 90%+ portion of the market that uses IE/Firefox. Once we have those nailed, then we'll move on to the more popular alternative browsers such as Safari and Opera.[/quote] That's a pain. I'm guessing that means there are some big differences between Firefox for Mac and Firefox for PC then. If you ever do get around to

Reply to The JoeUser Suggestion Thread in Personal Computing JoeUser Forums

I just had another go at posting an article, and one thing stood out at me - it would take a half a second or so for each letter I typed to appear on the screen, with considerable lag if I typed a whole sentence. Could the issue be that an iBook with a 1.2ghz pre-core2duo processor just can't handle the load of the new JU? It doesn't seem to struggle with any other website, but is there some uber-complex script at work that would be making it chug and time-out? On the spell che