Why Republicans don't know what they are on about... Aug 18, 2008 4:50 am 2009 Views You'll find that unless they change the constitution, the Democrats cannot redefine what is and isn't offensive. There is a reason why the Judiciary has independence from the President and Congress. Somehow I can't see them changing the constitution anytime soon for the sake of someones feelings. It was Bush and the Republicans who enacted the Patriot act whereby your simple speech is monitored and can get you labelled an enemy combatant and shipped off to Gitmo. Not the Democrats. So Republicans wanna dictate what consenting adults can do. Even to benign things such as a civil union? Pot? Kettle? Black? Taxes could always be lower. It is responsible spending that allows one to lower taxes...I'm sure the Democrats will be able to lower taxes a little once Republican George's massive military expenditures have been paid for. SInce when have personal hand guns been used (or even bought to be used) against terrorists? Or even the government? Neither. Their constitutional protection is no longer valid because the reason for which this right was granted is no longer relevant. Abortion is something that Obama has no control over. It is a matter of constitutional rights and protections and as such is decided by the independent Legislature. So the Democrats "thinking" on abortion is of no actual consequence. Ever considered that it is the very presence of the US military that is provoking the continued violence in Iraq? Obama has. McCain hasn't. Weather forecasting is not the same as long-term environmental predictions. Warmer seas are proven to increase the intensity and destruction of hurricanes. Scientists do not claim that changes do not ordinarily occur in the environment over millenia, but rather they make a very strong case that such changes can be ACCELERATED by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The earth cools and heats naturally, but the scientific evidence points to greenhouse gas emissions accelerating this cycle to a point where it could have massive consequences for everyone. But you can just keep ignoring that if you want. Oil companies are big and ugly enough to fight their own battles. I'm sur they have bought and sold enough (Republican) politicians and presidents to have a bit of cumuppance on the way. They are not purely competitive businesses and are able to collude to artificially increase prices so that consumers pay more, and more, and more, and more...There is defence for a monopoly business. It is at the mercy of the state. Always. Please find a large monopoly industry or business in the world that is not heavily regulated or monitored by the state(s). There are none. Because at the end of the day business is there to serve the people not the other way around. 8 Comments

I'm Back! And I have a question... Aug 13, 2008 12:40 am 2429 Views What are some common misconceptions about your country? This the topic for my students' next Student Newspaper issue. It lead to aninteresting discussion! Ok, me first. New Zealand? 1. We are the same as Australians (wrong!) 2. It is clean and green (wrong!) 3. It's part of Australia (wrong!) 4. It's safe (wrong!) New Zealand is a separate country and we are less competitive or pushy and more intelligent than Australians. OUr clean green image is just that - an image - and the reality is that we are no cleaner than anywhere else when it comes to espcially our lakes and waterways as an example. It is not much safer here than in other western countries so I tell my students to never go out walking at night alone. I wanna hear yours! Especialyl about Korea or Japan! 25 Comments

What's this Chatting business...? Jul 29, 2008 3:10 am 1860 Views I feel like I'm missing out or something. It's like not a day goes by that someone isn't crying into their blog that they were bitten on chat by someone bigger and uglier than they were... I just don't get it...I mean, it's just a chat room right? I don't use it but I have peeked in a couple of times to see it going along quite nicely... maybe if you try "chatting" without the drugs you might get less hallucinations and be able to enjoy yourself a bit more.... Sheesh!! 6 Comments

The Exercise Quiz!! Jul 17, 2008 1:13 am 2242 Views What do you do to keep fit? Jogging/Walking Go to the gym (e.g. weights, cardio, classes, rowing...) Yoga/pilates Swimming Cycling Adventure outdoor sports (e.g. rock climbing, surfing...) Team Sports The "Mick Jagger answer............s - e - x All of the above None of the above 7 Comments , 11 votes

All marriages are... Jul 15, 2008 2:01 am 1862 Views "All marriages are...mixed marriages." Chantal Saperstein, Professor, Academy of Arts University (AAU), San Francisco, USA "A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person." Mignon McLaughlin, American Journalist, 1919-1983 "The goal in marriage is not to think alike, but to think together." Robert C. Dodds, New York Cleric and Counselor,, 1910-1989 5 Comments

Why do some people think... Jul 5, 2008 9:36 pm 1941 Views ...that you are entitled to have friends. There is no law, no rule and no sacred human code the deems every person should have friends. Is there some set of rules that decides who lives and who dies? Not even Christians believe in that. So crying when you (think) you lost some or don't have some is just a waste of time really... ...because they were never your to begin with... Friends are only ever a priviledge. It can sometimes take weeks, months or years to find out that someone was never really a friend to you. So what? This happens all the time to everyone and it is partly what make the ones you do have worth that much more. Case closed^^ 4 Comments

What is Stupider? Jul 3, 2008 1:39 am 2067 Views What is Stupider? Asking a question 3 times? Asking a question 3 times? Asking a question 3 times? Just being a dick%#^d? 5 Comments , 5 votes

Stopping Boredom without Drama? Jul 1, 2008 10:27 am 2206 Views It's called M&*%@^#tion 5 Comments

KFF "Friend" function Jun 15, 2008 12:47 am 2344 Views Why do some people think that being in someone's network means that you are friends? Of course you could be friends, but it is more likely that you are aquaintances because you will often only know them on the Internet. Some people interact alot with those people on their friends list. Other people just have it ias a group of contacts of people that they wanna keep contact with... I know that KFF and other programmes like Facebook call them friends but I an many other people have "friends" on those websites that are simply classmates, or aquiantances rather than what would be considered friends in the real world. Rant over. 9 Comments

My favourite Quotes^^ Jun 10, 2008 12:46 am Mood: thoughtful, 2064 Views "Thinking is the hardest work there is - that is why so few engage in it" Henry Ford (American Industrialist) ‘The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.’ George Bernard Shaw, UK playwright (1856-1950) "When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist." (Dom Helda Camara, 1970) What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy? (Mahatma Gandhi, 1869 - 194 "When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader." (Plato, 347 B.C.) "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." (Mark Twain, 1835 - 1910) "Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money." (Chief Seattle, "Cree" North American Indian Tribe) "Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them." (Samuel Butler, 1835 - 1902) "To repeat what others have said requires education; to challenge it requires brains." (Mary Pettibone Poole, A Glass Eye at a Keyhole, 193 "Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed, and are right." (H.L. Mencken, US editor (1880 - 1956)) "The foolish and the dead alone never change their opinions." (James Russell Lowell,American - poet, critic, essayist, editor and diplomat; 1819-1891) "Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten." B. F. Skinner, New Scientist, May 21, 1964. US psychologist (1904 - 1990) "The truth is rarely pure and never simple." Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895, Act I, Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 - 1900) "A lie told often enough becomes the truth." Lenin, Russian Communist politician & revolutionary (1870 - 1924) "The only way to make a man trustworthy is to trust him." Henry Stimson, US politician (1867 - 1950) "Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself." (Chinese Proverb) "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." Benjamin Disraeli, British politician (1804 - 1881) "There are no such things as applied sciences, only applications of science." Louis Pasteur, French biologist & bacteriologist (1822 - 1895) "The structure of language determines not only thought, but reality itself." Noam Chomsky, US activist & linguist (1928 - ) "Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done."(Louis Dembitz Brandeis) 4 Comments

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