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Post by Spaced Out Looney on Jul 1, 2008 7:16:39 GMT -5
I'm kinda worried that he's going to attack Iran before the inauguration. I'm not sure whether that is justified though. See the New Yorker. Totally justified, only I think "last week in October" is more likely. You can also hear about it on today's episode of Fresh Air. Ugh. And *sigh*.
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Post by Sue on Jul 1, 2008 14:19:36 GMT -5
IT's like Thrall. Spike:Brick Wall :: Obama:Oratory So, I'm flicking through TV stations to put something on in the background while I fold laundry when I hit live feed of Obama giving a speech on patriotism in Independence, Missouri. When he ended (20?, 30?) minutes later I was able to resume my daily activities. I've heard/read/even seen that he is perhaps not the greatest off the cuff speaker. But, all due respect to the Office of President, I am afraid I am one of those people who can not watch live video of George Bush speaking for more than 3 seconds. Obama is the other end of the spectrum. He might stand there and tell me little green men actually live on a moon made of cheese and I'd probably agree with him. Or maybe not. Because the enthrallment is in the incredible sense of the content. The speech was on Patriotism. Boy-howdy. Literally could not.look.away.
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Post by Spaced Out Looney on Jul 1, 2008 16:41:54 GMT -5
IT's like Thrall. Spike:Brick Wall :: Obama:Oratory So, I'm flicking through TV stations to put something on in the background while I fold laundry when I hit live feed of Obama giving a speech on patriotism in Independence, Missouri. When he ended (20?, 30?) minutes later I was able to resume my daily activities. I've heard/read/even seen that he is perhaps not the greatest off the cuff speaker. But, all due respect to the Office of President, I am afraid I am one of those people who can not watch live video of George Bush speaking for more than 3 seconds. Obama is the other end of the spectrum. He might stand there and tell me little green men actually live on a moon made of cheese and I'd probably agree with him. Or maybe not. Because the enthrallment is in the incredible sense of the content. The speech was on Patriotism. Boy-howdy. Literally could not.look.away. I like the way he explains things. Unfortunately, the vid cut off midsentence, and I couldn't find a part two or anything. Huh.
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Post by Spaced Out Looney on Jul 1, 2008 17:24:03 GMT -5
Parade magazine has the transcripts of both Obama's speech on patriotism as well as McCain's here.
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Post by Spaced Out Looney on Jul 1, 2008 18:31:26 GMT -5
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Post by Spaced Out Looney on Jul 4, 2008 11:06:30 GMT -5
I'm fighting with my dad over climate change. ARGH!!! I mean, I tried to keep out of this, because I know this is a complex issue and I don't have every single fact at my fingertips because it's not my specialty, but he keeps provoking me and provoking me. And the whole "controversy" offends me as a scientist, so it's like I can't help myself.
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Post by Rachael on Jul 4, 2008 14:11:36 GMT -5
I'm fighting with my dad over climate change. ARGH!!! I mean, I tried to keep out of this, because I know this is a complex issue and I don't have every single fact at my fingertips because it's not my specialty, but he keeps provoking me and provoking me. And the whole "controversy" offends me as a scientist, so it's like I can't help myself. Well...the biggest fact that should end the discussion, IMO, is that 99% of the climatologists in the world agree that it's real, and that we're the main cause of it. Just because the major television "news" outlets seem to think that "balanced coverage" means giving equal time to both sides, no matter how much more valid one viewpoint is relative to the other, doesn't mean that there's really a "controversy", as you say. The real trouble is that you want your father to still be willing to talk to you later. My Uncle Greg and I haven't spoken since he sent me an internet rumor about Nancy Pelosi, and I Snopes'd his ass. Because my response would eventually be, "Look, there IS no controversy. The only controversy exists in the minds of people who are willing to listen to the assholes at Fox news without thinking for themselves. Scientists, people who actually understand the data, are almost completely unified, and those who aren't are widely considered to be crackpots."
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Post by Julia, wrought iron-y on Jul 5, 2008 12:32:45 GMT -5
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Post by Spaced Out Looney on Jul 7, 2008 12:51:11 GMT -5
I'm fighting with my dad over climate change. ARGH!!! I mean, I tried to keep out of this, because I know this is a complex issue and I don't have every single fact at my fingertips because it's not my specialty, but he keeps provoking me and provoking me. And the whole "controversy" offends me as a scientist, so it's like I can't help myself. Well...the biggest fact that should end the discussion, IMO, is that 99% of the climatologists in the world agree that it's real, and that we're the main cause of it. Just because the major television "news" outlets seem to think that "balanced coverage" means giving equal time to both sides, no matter how much more valid one viewpoint is relative to the other, doesn't mean that there's really a "controversy", as you say. The real trouble is that you want your father to still be willing to talk to you later. My Uncle Greg and I haven't spoken since he sent me an internet rumor about Nancy Pelosi, and I Snopes'd his ass. Because my response would eventually be, "Look, there IS no controversy. The only controversy exists in the minds of people who are willing to listen to the assholes at Fox news without thinking for themselves. Scientists, people who actually understand the data, are almost completely unified, and those who aren't are widely considered to be crackpots." Yeah... my parents are regular watchers of Fox News. Apparently some one in charge of the Weather Channel is casting doubt too, and my dad is an avid watcher of the Weather Channel. According to him, the media is pushing the idea of climate change and environmentalists apparently want to destroy the world economy. I asked why they would want to do that, and that it was more likely that the oil companies and major corporations were resisting the idea and spinning things, because if they accepted it, it would mean that they would have to make changes to the way that they did business, which would cut into their profits. I also said that the media does not accurately reflect the consensus of the scientific community, and mentioned the quote mining and using papers that supported to climate change in arguments to refute it and so forth. And I also said to look really carefully at who is saying what and why and to try to go source when you can. My dad was all, "you're anti-corporation" and I said that I thought some companies were good and I'm not refuting that I've benefited greatly from the corporate industry, but there's a long history of horrific corporate business practices. I probably shouldn't try to convince him to see The Corporation, huh? Anyway, I find his beliefs and attitudes towards the issue disturbing, especially, considering that he's my dad and not just some random guy on the street. And quite frankly, he probably thinks the same about me. I'm not really aiming to change his mind exactly, but maybe some of what I said sinks in. That happens sometimes.
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Post by Spaced Out Looney on Jul 7, 2008 12:54:39 GMT -5
Wow. That explains a lot. I had no idea.
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Post by Karen on Jul 14, 2008 8:55:07 GMT -5
Didn't think I should post this link on the main board - but here is a photo of my two young revolutionists at the Ron Paul Revolution rally in DC this past Saturday. Lew and LeeThey drove out on Thursday night and back today sometime. The rally was a family affair, according to the boys. Paul has some really radical ideas that I've been starting to hear the mainstream people around the office starting to espouse - and I'm all like - geesh, what took you so long? Ron Paul has been saying that stuff for years....so....who knows? Maybe it is a revolution of sorts, the quiet kind that builds over time - and the powers that be are not going to like it one bit.
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Post by Michelle on Jul 14, 2008 9:22:27 GMT -5
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Post by Spaced Out Looney on Jul 14, 2008 10:10:37 GMT -5
Didn't think I should post this link on the main board - but here is a photo of my two young revolutionists at the Ron Paul Revolution rally in DC this past Saturday. Lew and LeeThey drove out on Thursday night and back today sometime. The rally was a family affair, according to the boys. Paul has some really radical ideas that I've been starting to hear the mainstream people around the office starting to espouse - and I'm all like - geesh, what took you so long? Ron Paul has been saying that stuff for years....so....who knows? Maybe it is a revolution of sorts, the quiet kind that builds over time - and the powers that be are not going to like it one bit. Cool. Though I don't agree with everything that he says and have doubts about if he were ever elected to be President that he would be able to make all the changes to the government that he was proposing, I have a lot of respect for him. And I vastly appreciated him keeping it real during the Republican debates.
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Post by Spaced Out Looney on Jul 14, 2008 10:18:14 GMT -5
Well... if it weren't for the fact that false rumors about Obama have persisted despite repeated debunking, I'd actually find it funny. After the fact, it's like we the public can laugh at ourselves for ever thinking such things. But at present, I feel that this is only going to fuel the imaginations of people who continue to believe the rumors, who will glance at the cover and interpret it as confirming these beliefs, rather than looking at it more closely and realizing that the cover is actually mocking those beliefs.
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Post by Rachael on Jul 14, 2008 11:20:55 GMT -5
Well... if it weren't for the fact that false rumors about Obama have persisted despite repeated debunking, I'd actually find it funny. After the fact, it's like we the public can laugh at ourselves for ever thinking such things. But at present, I feel that this is only going to fuel the imaginations of people who continue to believe the rumors, who will glance at the cover and interpret it as confirming these beliefs, rather than looking at it more closely and realizing that the cover is actually mocking those beliefs. What I find amusing, and also painful, is that the same person can think "Obama is a Muslim" and "Obama has a crazy preacher" and not realize that only one of those things can likely be true. Yet they manage to keep both "facts" in their brains and keep them from mingling....
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