Quoi_Tu

The fact that until my senior year of high school I didn't pay much attention to grades should tell you something. Of course, I did get into a good college I suppose. I'm also probably headed for graduate school, so it's generally more important to remember to enjoy yourself in high school. Don't be a complete slacker, but grades aren't everything. Our APs(and we had a lot of them) were on a 4 point scale + 2. So, yes, you could get an A++.

By inducing a coma? Always worked for me.

Damn, beat me to it. However, I will go one better. Deep fried turducken!

Asheville truly is a wonderful place. I walk downtown almost every week to buy coffee beans and bread. My parents are rather average, although they did let my brother and I grow up somewhat independently, which I'm very thankful of. I could go into more detail, but it just feels a little strange on an interweb forum and all. :shock: Asheville ftw, i ride my bike to downtown and back sometimes, I probably have seen your face lol Small world, eh? :P

Asheville truly is a wonderful place. I walk downtown almost every week to buy coffee beans and bread. My parents are rather average, although they did let my brother and I grow up somewhat independently, which I'm very thankful of. I could go into more detail, but it just feels a little strange on an interweb forum and all.

They might rethink that mentality if they have to sit in the corner all day, or go with out any source of fun for a day. I'd almost rather be hit a few times and allowed to go about my day than have to spend time bored in a corner. I noticed the same thing in highschool with regard towards freshmen height. Each year, the class above freshmen, sophomores and higher usually, would say that this freshmen class was the shortest they had seen. They did this every year I was there without fail, seeming not to realize that they were the ones getting taller.

Since no one's posted it: [hide=The Who]People try to put us d-down (talkin bout my generation) People try to put us d-down (talkin bout my generation) Just because we get around (talkin bout my generation) Just because we get around (talkin bout my generation) Things they do look awful c-c-cold (talkin bout my generation) Things they do look awful c-c-cold (talkin bout my generation) I hope I die before I get old (talkin bout my generation) I hope I die before I get old (talkin bout my generation) This is my generation This is my generation This is my generation, baby This is my generation, baby Why dont you all f-fade away (talkin bout my generation) Why dont you all f-fade away (talkin bout my generation) And dont try to dig what we all s-s-say (talkin bout my generation) And dont try to dig what we all s-s-say (talkin bout my generation) Im not trying to cause a big s-s-sensation (talkin bout my generation) Im not trying to cause a big s-s-sensation (talkin bout my generation) Im just talkin bout my g-g-g-generation (talkin bout my generation) Im just talkin bout my g-g-g-generation (talkin bout my generation) This is my generation This is my generation This is my generation, baby This is my generation, baby Why dont you all f-fade away (talkin bout my generation) Why dont you all f-fade away (talkin bout my generation) And dont try to d-dig what we all s-s-say (talkin bout my generation) And dont try to d-dig what we all s-s-say (talkin bout my generation) Im not trying to cause a b-big s-s-sensation (talkin bout my generation) Im not trying to cause a b-big s-s-sensation (talkin bout my generation) Im just talkin bout my g-g-generation (talkin bout my generation) Im just talkin bout my g-g-generation (talkin bout my generation) This is my generation This is my generation This is my generation, baby This is my generation, baby People try to put us d-down (talkin bout my generation) People try to put us d-down (talkin bout my generation) Just because we g-g-get around (talkin bout my generation) Just because we g-g-get around (talkin bout my generation) Things they do look awful c-c-cold (talkin bout my generation) Things they do look awful c-c-cold (talkin bout my generation) Yeah, I hope I die before I get old (talkin bout my generation) Yeah, I hope I die before I get old (talkin bout my generation) This is my generation This is my generation This is my generation, baby This is my generation, baby[/hide] You don't teach kids by hitting them. It does work, but it also creates fear and hate associated with the hitting and eventually with the one hitting. By hitting them you can also unknowingly be teaching them that if someone does something bad, you hit them. Parents can yell at their kids though and then as punishment for whatever they did, deprive them of something they like, such as computer games. If a kid knows that he won't be able to play computer games for a 5 days if he stays out late, then he will stay out late less often.

I'm sorry, I dont understand your idea of god not needing to explain, this is not a happy and peaceful world, full of content people with no problems. If there is a god he has a *LOT* of explaining to do. Why does he have to explain for what we've done? Shouldn't we be responsible for ourselves?

I would think it fair to say that the same applies to god as to any parent. Parenting is generally accepted to bring responsibilities, creating a universe of sentient beings should bring the same responsibilities as creating a child. I am, I will willingly admit always fazed by the idea of things without a reason and am quite dubious about the existence of such things. I dont deny their existence but I've yet to find anything I'm convinced is actually without reason. However, I dont think that would count as sentient, if he has reasons I cannot understand, that is one thing but I think without reason is without choice and without choice is without sentience. Does that make sense? A choice can be made without reason, but that would be more along the lines of chance then. I guess I'm thinking along the lines of God's actions not needing explantion, not needing a reason behind them. God could just act upon the universe apathetic towards the consequences of his actions (he ramains unaffected no matter what he does). There could easily be no reason for this action other than because God could. I think the whole "God works in mysterious ways" comes into play here.

Me too. I say we keep posting on it, expressing our dislike of seeing it bumped.

This is not an opinion I like to state a lot, but I hate the hip-hop culture. There's the usual arguements of how it idolizes crime, violence, women as objects, money, and excessive materialism. However, it also makes kids think they can make it big without school. A little tangental, but whenever I tell people I'm going to major in math, the most common reply is, "wow! You must be smart." No, I just happen to be majoring math. So many people approach math and science classes with the idea that they will be either impossible to understand or they won't need it in the future. It's mathphobia and it's irrational.

No because you are offering no constructive critisism, not joining the debate and basically just being rude. No its under the assumption that you should only WORSHIP a god who is benevolent and fair. If God is unbenevolent and unfair he should be fought just like any other dictator. That's under the assumption God must be unbenevolent and unfair if he is not benevolent and fair. What if God is apathetic or random? What if he cannot be personified by man as so many people do? My point is you're assuming humanlike characteristics of a nonhuman being. You also seek a reason for what God does, when surely he can be without reason. [/hide] Well I was just going with the most obvious possibility. An apathetic or random god shouldnt be worshipped, and even then I'd suggest we fight against it, whats the phrase, with great power comes great responsibility - if a god is not living up to its responsibiity then we should go out and set that god straight. I'm assuming sentient characteristics rather than human ones, because if god isnt sentient at least vaguely then he doesnt really fall under the definition of god (I think - this point could make for an interesting debate if youd like). This kinda correlates to him being with reason, if god is without reason then i dont think hed count as sentient. I'm kinda using sentient to mean able to make choices, in case it needs defining for the sake of the debate. Really, the bolded sentence is what caught my eye because you are claiming that if God does not live up to a responsibility we put on it, then it should not be worshipped. What right do humans have to put such responsibilities on God unless of course, humans created such a God. Unless God is selfish or needy, he does not care whether he is worshipped or fought against. Assuming God is a timeless being, he is also unchanged, so he has no reason to help us. God surely is sentient, but that doesn't mean his actions need reason. (That was what I meant by saying he is without reason)

This I can very much agree with. It saddens me to see the state in which some schools are in. What's worse is when I meet people in college who have trasfered over this "learning's for losers or overachievers" attitude that developed in middle and high school. Personally, I wouldn't mind paying slightly higher taxes if I knew it would go to education reform on the lower levels. Specifically, middle school, where not a lot is learned nor taught.

No its under the assumption that you should only WORSHIP a god who is benevolent and fair. If God is unbenevolent and unfair he should be fought just like any other dictator. That's under the assumption God must be unbenevolent and unfair if he is not benevolent and fair. What if God is apathetic or random? What if he cannot be personified by man as so many people do? My point is you're assuming humanlike characteristics of a nonhuman being. You also seek a reason for what God does, when surely he can be without reason.

It's obviously terrible for those individual families concerned, and I hope there's adequate cover for them without a source of income, but it's not actually that bad. I know that sounds stupid, but it's not. In the 1980s/early 1990s here it was like hundreds of jobs each and every day, and the economic crisis then was far more placid than this one. Yeah, this economic crisis isn't as bad (yet) as the one we had in the 1980s ('82 I think, I'm drawing a blank right now) or the one we had in the 1940s right after the war. Of course, no one ever hears about the terrible recession we went into after the war because war is good. :thumbup:

I think it disappeared from the avatar update, so I thought I'd give Clint Eastwood a turn. Don't worry though, the schizoid face will be back!

I used to be like that back in Middle School... the teachers always made me go get a string from the office and tie it around my pants to keep them up. Now it's one of my pet peeves to see that. :) It's now illegal in Detroit (I'm pretty sure).

Are you really going to try to tell me that car companies in the 21st century that have been around for nearly 100 years don't have the technology to make an engine that doesn't get 50mpg? Honda Insight is good one that gets over that. However, the fact that they have the technology is different than using it. First, they want to sell cars people will buy. Many Americans don't want "those tiny European tin cans" that get better mileage (although Ford is currently working on a marketing plan for bringing their European models over to the US). In other words, they want to make cars that meet demand. Second, if they did an entire switch to only 50 mpg cars, they would have to refit their factories entirely. It would cost them money that they don't have and are consequently asking for. So what I'm saying is that they currently don't have the money to completely change their line-up. It should be noted that as much as I love Honda and Toyota, they make some pretty inefficient cars as well, yet, they are always over looked. For example, Honda's staple in compact fuel efficiency, the Civic, has been constantly getting bigger since the early 1990's. It's almost the same size as the Accord now!

That depends completely on your major, and your location. That option was not available to me as an engineering major because I needed to go to a 4 year school right away, or else it would take me forever to graduate. It's already going to take 5 years, and if I went to a community college for the first 2 years it would take 6, 7, or possibly even 8. Why? Because I have to take classes not offered at community college that I must take, I must take pre-requisites to take others, and some classes are only offered one semester. Lastly, given the current financial turmoil, I can't get a loan next semester even with a co-signer that has paid off their house. It's true that it doesn't work for every major, but it works for the majority of majors. Most majors aren't as rigorous as engineering especially if you count an engineering major from, say, VT or UVA. I'm not saying the system allows for equal opprotunity (it clearly does not); I am saying that it is possible to move up socio-economic classes. This financial turmoil is putting everyone through a crisis and we're not constantly in a financial turmoil, so it's irrelevent. Yes, it may set some people back. Some people may be seeing their retirement fund or college fund dwindling, but that doesn't happen most of the time. It's like you're incapable of reading or something. Quoi just said that, I posted a rebuttal, and you repeat the same talking point with no new analysis? 1.) No it's not 2.) I like how you said "most", meaning there are some states where it is expensive 3.) I have a new rebuttal on top of the one I previously made: I already go to class for 15 hours a week, which is pretty small compared to my usual semesters. In order to graduate on time, I need to take on average 16 hours every semester. 16 hours. My teacher believes for every credit hour you have, you should work 3 hours outside of class each week for that hour. So, 16*3 = 48 hours of course work each week outside of class. 48+16 = 64 hours. Where would I find time to work when I'm already working 64 hours to begin with? Granted, it's possible to do, but my grades would be much lower...and there's more to life than "working", especially in college. College should be a time where your financial responsibilities are lower to find out who you are as a person, not a place to get a piece of paper and a job. There's a lot more learning to be had than just in the classroom, and busing tables. You know that's not a realistic amount of time or hours for the average college student. We have majors here you can graduate with only taking an average 15 hours a semester and doing ~15 hours outside of class and graduate with a 3.0 or better. That's 30 hours a week and graduating at above average. Then someone can do a work study here for 10 hours a week where they can spend most of that time working on their homework. The average college student has time to work, whether they do or not is different.

It's not so much a matter of explaining why god does things, as explaining why he doesnt. You cant claim its god mending your friends foot if he doesnt do it for every devout christian, what sort of a god would that make him? One who chooses favourites? I'm sorry but the sort of god who intervenes in one persons life and refuses to do so for others is an abomination. That's under the assumption that God is benevolent and fair.

I've always loved playing tennis and have recently become interested in boxing. Although, I have quite a bit of muscle to put on before I can spar with anyone and have a chance.

#-o I like how congress focused on this fact because they had nothing else to talk about. I found it quite unproductive of them, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised about that. That efficiency goal is a good one, but not so soon. No US company has or is any where near meeting that goal. Not to mention, trucks will not meet those goals. In other words, they're unrealistic and will put unneeded burden on companies that are already circling the drain. Note: Mergers cost money. Why should they bring back jobs from overseas? It would be costly and put people overseas out of work.

It's easy, huh? Social experiment: when you're 18, I want you to go to college and refuse any help from your parents. I want you to deny their money, deny their signatures for loans (given your political beliefs I can safely say that they have the cash just waiting for you anyway), and go to college without any help. Let's see you last, because I can bet you wouldn't even last a year. Frankly, you wouldn't last 5 minutes because you couldn't even go to school without a person that has good credit co-signing your loan. Tell me how they can break out of poverty, and how it is "easy". I'd love to know. Solution to that is go to community college for 2 years while working, then transfer to college. You'll get into the college easier and have a credit history to get a loan on. I don't know about other states, but community college is almost free in NC. I have a friend who is doing exactly that (his parents kicked him out at 18), not to mention another who's using the Air Force to pay for his college. I'm not saying it's easy, but it's not impossible.

I knew you'd like it. The ladies can't get enough of it; they just love that hat.

What a horrible, horrible site. Erase it from your brain, it serves no purpose here! Seriously, the guy who took "IQ" was measuring what appears to be education level. And it should be noted that there were lower "IQ" scores in countries like Angola and Nigeria, which should make you think it is because not many people there receive a proper education. Nothing on that site can be correlated. Sounds like somebody just got their Jimmy whipped... And by an extremely angry Godzilla too. I swear, one night, and it's rrarrr this laser beam that.