Contradictions in Society

[Que Saudade 284]

Continued from another thread as I did not want to derail the OP's main topic.

Don't forget the death penalty and gun ownership. Down here all the pro lifers approve of that too, and yes, they are all christian.

I didn't want to ramble too much. You are correct.

Listen, I get the emotional issue of abortion. I think it is sad for women to continuously get abortions for convenience. I would vote for "habitual offenders" of abortions get birth control implants and have to undergo counseling to come off of them to start a family. No unwanted children, no rug rats running the streets, no little criminals or system abusers...... No having to pay taxes to support them..!

Our society is vocal about hand outs to the poor, underprivileged etc..... Another contradiction.

I am for protecting our freedoms here in America. Bring our men and women home and protect our borders.

In all honesty, there are 2 main reasons we are in the middle east. #1- Oil... Americans are SUPER addicted to oil, never mind a heroine addiction, cocaine addiction, we can't break the Oil addiction. I am in the scientific research community. It is absolutely amazing how propaganda from people who have vested interests in making money off of oil can quell the results and advancement of technology (until they figure out how to make tons of money off of it) that would lead to Fossil fuels becoming a Fossil themselves.

We are capable. But Americans are too lazy and greedy.

The next time anyone is in a car and driving listening to the radio... remember this.. Someone DIED for you to put gas in that car and it was NOT an accident.

I wonder what would happen if we put 100 Billion dollars into our society?

My top categories...

#1- Primary education through ONE shot at college. I think everyone should be financially afforded a "Fair" shot at education.

Primary teachers are important. Good solid primary education.

Secondary education, the onus on the parents and the kids. You don't pass high school, you don't get the "afforded" chance at college.

College

No not everyone deserves to be a doctor. If you can not meet the rigid educational requirements, then consider another line of work. Do not cry discrimination. But then, $$$ should not get in the way of a financially poor, yet brilliant student. If you make the grades, great. If you fail a class, then you have one shot to prove yourself. You fail again, figure it out...

#2- Research within the Sciences... How are we going to make advancements without research? Fund the good science.... Unfortunately, astronomy and mars is not on my list. The money spent on the rover should have done something better.

#3- Infrastructure within America.. our roads and bridges are degrading at a rapid rate. Get the frigging red tape out. No gouging on prices, common people on oversight committees..... Our water pipes are in horrible shape. Arguably the number 1 advancement in healthcare over the centuries has been the advancement of CLEAN water.

#4- Arts.. Throughout history, when Arts and Sciences flourished, so did society. We need culture. We need history. We need Art.

Other rants I have.

No salary increases for politicians. In fact, salaries for elected officials at the state and federal level should be decreased.

If you want to serve the public... Do just that, SERVE US.... stop taking advantage of us.

Hold elected officials publicly accountable. Stop the MADNESS regarding getting off the topic. If you ask Rep Joe Blow what he specifically is going to do to increase jobs, as soon as he starts responding with.. "Now my opponent wants toXXXXXXXXXXX" Buzz him like America's Got Talent... What part of the question did you not understand.. What are YOU GOING TO DO SPECIFICALLY....? Place officials under oath every time they give an interview so if they lie, they will now be held accountable in a court of law with charges of perjury. We scrutinize athletes more than we scrutinize politicians. It is time to stop the history of crooked politicians. Become re-sensitized to the bullshit.

If you commit murder in America.... Anywhere... and there are 2 or more credible witnesses to the killing, you get a speedy trial as to NOT waste the taxpayers money. You have essentially declared yourself forfeit of your rights.

Go to a special jail.. in a solitary cell.. No TV.. no recreation... 3000 calories a day... clean water and a toilet. No suicide watch, if you want to kill yourself, don't mess it up!

Prisoners.. if you have been convicted of a crime, you will repay society for giving you room and board by cleaning roads, digging ditches, sweeping streets, etc.... You will wear a GPS locating device inside of the black box for airplanes so that you can't destroy it. If you try to escape... you go to the special jail.

Stop complete handouts. Un-employment benefits.. very temporary. If no job after awhile, then have programs in place that allows work for minimum wage(Street sweeping, public work, so many things can come to mind..), until one can find a replacement job.

Hollywood.... No more news from Hollywood.. EVER... It is purposeful propaganda to keep "average" minds occupied with non-important issues. If I can keep you busy wondering what antics of Lindsey Lohan today, you sure aren't going to pay attention to what is going on in Afghanistan and why we are really there.

Leads me to Music industry.... The problem here is that there is a "fantasy world" portrayed to common people who believes that it actually does exist. A very bad side effect of capitalism.

Professional athletes.. I love sports. I love the competition. But I do NOT idolize athletes. They are paid too much.. PERIOD. I know they risk injury, but it is there choice. They choose to risk injury to play a game. Why don't we just go ahead and build yet another coliseum?

I could go on and on but I digress as I need a cup of coffee....

[Que Saudade 284]

I should have added the thread I continued from.....here it is

[^_^ 5,021]

Infrastructure within America.. our roads and bridges are degrading at a rapid rate. Get the frigging red tape out.

Environmental impact studies take forever and cost a ####-ton of cash. They are the single largest cause of red tape when it comes to infra projects. Are you suggesting we not do that anymore?

[infrastructure within America] ... No gouging on prices

So... no more union labor?

If you commit murder in America.... Anywhere... and there are 2 or more credible witnesses to the killing, you get a speedy trial as to NOT waste the taxpayers money. You have essentially declared yourself forfeit of your rights.

Sounds like a north american version of Sharia law. Witnesses lie. Credibility is very difficult to gauge with any certainty.

No more news from Hollywood.. EVER... It is purposeful propaganda to keep "average" minds occupied with non-important issues. If I can keep you busy wondering what antics of Lindsey Lohan today, you sure aren't going to pay attention to what is going on in Afghanistan and why we are really there.

First Amendment. Sorry.

[Rattlehead 69]

#4- Arts.. Throughout history, when Arts and Sciences flourished, so did society. We need culture. We need history. We need Art.

Just food for thought - did society flourish as a result of art and science, or did art and science flourish because society had stabilized and prospered to the point where society could afford to make them a priority?

[Que Saudade 284]

Environmental impact studies take forever and cost a ####-ton of cash. They are the single largest cause of red tape when it comes to infra projects. Are you suggesting we not do that anymore?

I am talking about repairs on the existing bridges that can be repaired. Repair of existing roads.

Environmental impact studies.. I laugh at the concept. If we had a TRUE environmental impact study, I can not even venture a guess on how many factories would close down, all coal burning plants without a scrubber would have to stop burning coal, we would mandate higher emission controls, we would be concerned with farm pesticide and herbicide applications that run-off into the surrounding eco-system, we would not be trying to drill for Oil offshore, fracking would have to stop, I can go on.... Environmental impact studies have become nothing more than a bureaucracy.

So... no more union labor?

Not necessarily, but not out of the question. I am speaking of the relationships between the administrators and the contractors regarding tax dollars. Certain relationships get awarded the contracts simply based on comraderie rather than skill of the work. Other reasons are the stipulations regarding the contractor's to put up ridiculous amounts of performance bonds. This is a huge hurdle to overcome for smaller companies and independent contractors who may have competitive bids.

Sounds like a north american version of Sharia law. Witnesses lie.

Sharia law is

basically a way of arriving at decisions on how to live life by studying religious texts to determine divine will. Sharia law is also not just a legal system…it’s also a moral system, a structure for living life as a devout Muslim.

I guess by your analogy, all law is a north american version of Sharia law.

Credibility is very difficult to gauge with any certainty.

Absolutely... Case in mind... The recent shootings in Colorado.... I don't think tax dollars should be wasted on this guy. His case is going to tie up the legal system. I wasn't there, but I am pretty sure he did it. GUILTY.... A very short court case is all he deserves. He walks in, evidence provided from eyewitness testimonies, from victims shot, and any digital media that has any recordings of him at the scene. Hammer slap time.... Guilty, do not pass go, do not collect $200...

First Amendment. Sorry.

Agreed....

[Que Saudade 284]

Just food for thought - did society flourish as a result of art and science, or did art and science flourish because society had stabilized and prospered to the point where society could afford to make them a priority?

This is indeed is a causality dilemma. Not near as difficult as the "hen before the egg" dilemma though.

I would like to think that the two are in a symbiotic relationship.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

People who support things such as minimum wage, Family and Medical Leave Act, medicare, social security, vacations, overtime, laws against child labor, laws preventing sexual harassment...and then look the other way when employers hire illegal aliens to avoid the cost of complying with all that.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Just food for thought - did society flourish as a result of art and science, or did art and science flourish because society had stabilized and prospered to the point where society could afford to make them a priority?

Neither. It was because of firearms...guns.

The end of the middle ages occurred with the advent of the practical handheld firearm. The reduction in men needed for armies because of the more efficient weapons resulted in more people having the time for arts and sciences rather than just survival and war. The trend has continued with our military now making up the lowest percent of the population it ever has. Huge advances in society can be directly linked to advances in weapons technology for centuries. Many of the technologies you use today were developed by the weapons industry or the by product of war.

[rocks 494]

Listen, I get the emotional issue of abortion. I think it is sad for women to continuously get abortions for convenience. I would vote for "habitual offenders" of abortions get birth control implants and have to undergo counseling to come off of them to start a family. No unwanted children, no rug rats running the streets, no little criminals or system abusers...... No having to pay taxes to support them..!

Abortion is a personal decision. It is not an enjoyable experience by any means. I don't think I could have one but I am not here to make choices for others. Abortion rights seem to be tied into anti-contraception arguments, and that is very scary. Contraception should definitely not be restricted. Where I'm from, the contraceptive pill is available for free. Why? Because if you don't want to have a child, the government will help you out with that. It saves them a lot of money in the long run, it would save money here too.

Our society is vocal about hand outs to the poor, underprivileged etc..... Another contradiction.

Those people are mostly uninformed and ignorant. Unfortunately there seem to be more and more of them. I know of someone on disability who hasn't worked in more than a decade. They are racist and support the republican party because they know rich people at church. I've tried to explain to them but it goes in one ear and out the other.

I am for protecting our freedoms here in America. Bring our men and women home and protect our borders.

In all honesty, there are 2 main reasons we are in the middle east. #1- Oil... Americans are SUPER addicted to oil, never mind a heroine addiction, cocaine addiction, we can't break the Oil addiction. I am in the scientific research community. It is absolutely amazing how propaganda from people who have vested interests in making money off of oil can quell the results and advancement of technology (until they figure out how to make tons of money off of it) that would lead to Fossil fuels becoming a Fossil themselves.

We are capable. But Americans are too lazy and greedy.

The next time anyone is in a car and driving listening to the radio... remember this.. Someone DIED for you to put gas in that car and it was NOT an accident.

You should have heard the governor of Mississippi after the deep water horizon disaster. He was a lobbyist and heavily involved with oil companies.

Mississippi's Haley Barbour, a well-connected former Washington lobbyist, has calmly said the oil slick looming offshore is just a sheen in most places and there's no reason for people to panic.

Barbour has said the oil spill is "not Armageddon," but he believes news coverage has hurt tourism in his state.

"Come on down here and play golf, enjoy the beach, catch a fish and pay a little sales tax while you're here,"

Oil has not started washing up on shore in any large quantities, and Barbour likened much of the spill to the gasoline sheen commonly found around ski boats.

"We don't wash our face in it, but it doesn't stop us from jumping off the boat to ski," Barbour said.

He stuck to this story the whole way. Didn't address the dead animals. In fact, BP went around paying off (or tried to and failed, which is how we found out) local colleges to do research into the oil spill. They offered vast amounts of money but in exchange for research, under the condition that none of the findings were to be released to the public. Meanwhile, dead dolphins and turtles and black crabs turn up all over the place. They tested our seafood by smelling it. Apparently that is good enough. Barbour didn't seem the slightest bit interested in how this affected the shrimping/fishing industry here as they did in other states. Bare in mind that these people were still trying to recover after Katrina 5 years previously.

"This oil literally threatens our way of life," Jindal said. "Here in Louisiana, we're going to do everything we can do. We're going to do what it takes to protect our way of life."

Both republican, very different responses though.

[Boiler 45,657]

The only problem with that is that the introduction of firearms increased army sizes. Much easier to train a peasant to operate a firearm than say a longbow.

Edited August 25, 2012 by Boiler

[Rattlehead 69]

Neither. It was because of firearms...guns.

The end of the middle ages occurred with the advent of the practical handheld firearm. The reduction in men needed for armies because of the more efficient weapons resulted in more people having the time for arts and sciences rather than just survival and war. The trend has continued with our military now making up the lowest percent of the population it ever has. Huge advances in society can be directly linked to advances in weapons technology for centuries. Many of the technologies you use today were developed by the weapons industry or the by product of war.

Much like the space race...

I didn't go into detail as to which was which; just pointing out that the correlation between the two doesn't mean that we should start drawing causal lines and making decisions based on unsupported inference.

[Que Saudade 284]

Abortion is a personal decision.

Absolutely agree....

Those people are mostly uninformed and ignorant. Unfortunately there seem to be more and more of them. I know of someone on disability who hasn't worked in more than a decade. They are racist and support the republican party because they know rich people at church. I've tried to explain to them but it goes in one ear and out the other.

This had me actually laughing as I have relatives that think they are rich.... But they're not.....

I do not understand how anyone can look at the Oil disaster in the Gulf and think the risks are worth it. My mind does not work that way.

[Que Saudade 284]

Much like the space race...

I didn't go into detail as to which was which; just pointing out that the correlation between the two doesn't mean that we should start drawing causal lines and making decisions based on unsupported inference.

Absolutely.. Correlation does not mean causality. But, tell me how you can refute that science isn't a necessary part of a thriving society?

[Que Saudade 284]

Huge advances in society can be directly linked to advances in weapons technology for centuries.

No credits given to advancement of medical practices to save all the people from gunshot wounds?

Joseph Lister comes to mind. Discoveries of antibiotics.

[Que Saudade 284]

Much like the space race...

I didn't go into detail as to which was which; just pointing out that the correlation between the two doesn't mean that we should start drawing causal lines and making decisions based on unsupported inference.

I would venture that during Aristotle's time, which was before firearms, that society benefited from the arts and sciences. There is enough evidence to support this claim.