FlaSoxxJim

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 8, 2007 -> 03:19 PM) As if Wikipedia wasn't already misleading enough... And, wait, some explain this one to me... Christianity inspired the Renaissance? I'm really asking, not being facetious. That just goes against what I thought was the case. Short-hand answer, I'd agree that there was certainly a circular pattern of co-inspiration between Christianity and what was happening with the rest of the Renaissance, especially in Italy. More to the point perhaps, Christianity and Christiandom absolutely underwrote much of the Renaissance from a financial perspective, through patronage by the Vatican or by the very overtly Christian Medici family (who themselves produced a couple of popes). Another Christian inspiration of note - not meant to be facetious either - is that much of the scientific and mathematical advances that would be central components of the Renaissance were very much import products that Christian Europeans brought back from the Islamic world during and after the Crusades.

QUOTE(longshot7 @ Mar 8, 2007 -> 03:09 PM) What did Joe Wilson do? Figured out that the Niger yellowcake story was bunk.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Mar 8, 2007 -> 11:55 AM) . Starting on April 22, 1970, do you think we would have cleaned up the environment as much without stricter government laws and involvement? "We had neither the time nor resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated. That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It organized itself." -- Senator Gaylord Nelson, Earth Day founder With the subsequent passage in 1970 of the Clean Water Act, that was a big year. And no, the free market would not have regulated itself as well in the absence of federal involvement. Without the NAAQS standards set by law, the leaded gasoline phase-out probably would not have begun for another decade.

okay, then, now it seems I've fallen into much the same misinformation trap I've felt others have on the opposite side of the pro/con Gore debate. The piece I jumped on yesterday wit the $430/month total Gore utility bill was wrong, which is of course why it was so amazingly low. That is just the premium he pays to cover the cost of going green on his total consumption which is, alas, about $1200 per month much like previous reports have claimed. Egg on my face I'm quick to jump on people knowingly perpetuating misinformation, so I need to point out my own mistake in running with unconfirmed numbers. My apologies. Until last night I stayed away from this thread because while I do think Al Gore is far and away a net positive effect for change regarding human contributions to global climate change I also thought he could do with some consumption belt tightening like all of us. I agree with those that say the carbon offset business can be a shell game, but I also believe that when we take a global view to curbing emissions they play a role. Much like environmental mitigation projects designed to offset habitat loss to development, it can be done on the level or not. I still think there is some misunderstanding about Gore 'paying his own company' for the offsets. Gore and Blood's Generation Investment Management is a private socially responsible investment firm and not a company that sells offsets. If he is buying offsets form one of the companies in that portfolio then I agree with Tex, he's trying to practice what he preaches. Generation itself espouses a philosophy of "making investments only when we have high levels of conviction." The way I see it, Gore's investment in green energy and zero footprint offsets is evidence of his personal conviction.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Mar 8, 2007 -> 06:50 AM) Refinance, seriously. I didn't have enough credit to get my own loan for my Corvette for $30,000, but the dealer ship said they could probably get me 11%. I had my mom co-sign the loan with my credit union and by being a long time customer and using direct deposit, I have a 6.65%. My payment is $713 a month (4 years) but I keep paying off more than I need to. In fact yesterday I put $4500 towards it and I am now down to $16.7 k. Not too shabby considering I got the loan last April. Nice Car!! Sorry about your small penis. I Kid Because I Care®

Worst cereal giveaway ever. I swear the second guy on the right must have been one of the other guys' dad, and they let him into the band originally so they'd have a ride to the gigs.

QUOTE(knightni @ Mar 8, 2007 -> 12:52 AM) Capn's gonna be upset. La la la . . . Nope, Don't Care. . . La la la. . .

QUOTE(Texsox @ Mar 8, 2007 -> 12:41 AM) You do realize he's buying from his own companyn with real dollars that cost him real $$? It's like saying that EvilMonkey doesn't support the printing industry because he owns a printing company. Isn't owning a green company important? Not if you're trying to paint the guy as a hypocrite, silly.

QUOTE(Alpha Dog @ Mar 8, 2007 -> 12:28 AM) an AB Dick press ouch. [/11-year old sense of humor]

Meh, that rag hasn't been the same since they killed off Bucky Barnes during WWII while trying to thwart that dastardly Baron Zemo. BUCKY!!!

maybe mr_genius and EM will share their bills as well and we'll see how we all stack up against big ol' hypocritical Al. QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 7, 2007 -> 11:38 PM) About $15-$20 a month for 900 square feet here, if we're comparing. Those fluorescent bulbs work like freaking gangbusters, I swear. (And about $7 on average for gas, but I have very little heating needs) You may take the prize. I'm replacing bulbs with compact fluorescents a room at a time or as the incandescents blow. I'll probably have to get them all in and then compare the same months in consecutive years to see the savings. I also need to replace the cr@ppy old windows with energy efficient ones but they are crazy expensive to redo an entire house.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 7, 2007 -> 11:17 PM) What really happened is that he concocted an untrue story which he told investigators repeatedly in multiple separate interviews to cover up the inconvenient facts that the VP's office had attempted to use his wife's job at the CIA as a means of smearing her husband. That is why he was convicted. Saying "I don't know" would have been a lot better than the fabricated story he did tell them. But. . . but. . . Scooter's a nice guy and Joe Wilson's just a scumbag so cut him some slack.

Although nationally it was the falsely inflated electric bill of $1,300+ per month that got press, the Tennessean managed to clarify the matter a week-and-a-half ago. http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...NEWS01/70226055 That article didn't entirely explain whether the $432 a month was the entire bill or just a portion of it – the portion to let the Gore's ease their guilty consciences as some of you are insisting. But a representative from TVA Green Power Switch, the company Gore buys his electricity from, has confirmed that is the entire monthly electric bill – even when paying a premium for the green electricity. WARNING: DKos link not to be used by anybody hoping to perpetuate the Wasteful Hypocrite Gore mythology. I'd say the real story is that the Gores manage to live in 10K square feet and have an electric bill that is less than $500 even when the cost of premium green is figured in. My meager 1800 square feet costs me $150-200/month (though our house is electric heated which ups it in the winter), so I'd say the Gore's are doing pretty darn well. Maybe all the compact fluorescents and the newly installed solar panels on The Goracle's Castle Keep are really doing the trick after all, eh?

QUOTE(Alpha Dog @ Mar 7, 2007 -> 08:26 PM) I think Scooter should get the same punishment that Sandy Berger got. Hey now, community service is hard work. Not quite the same as hard time, but. . .

QUOTE(ExpatNYC @ Mar 7, 2007 -> 08:29 AM) Mac users are sheeot out of luck, though, since Windows Media Player for Mac is one of the buggiest programs ever written. And Mosaic requires OS X 4.5 to run. Incidentally, the 700K stream comes with the premium package ($120/year), but not the regular one ($90). Still, I'd much rather be able to kick back on my couch, flip on the Extra Innings channels, and watch some ball, rather than run wires from my computer to my TV and hope my Mactastic WMP doesn't freeze up ten minutes into the game. (Which it always does.) My sentiments exactly. But it's not going to happen if it means being forced to switch to DirectTV and having to go back to paying separately for all the services now bundled to my cable package.

Hope it's a good one.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Mar 7, 2007 -> 09:49 AM) This thread symbolizes what's wrong with people today. Bush and his people suck, therefore, do not give any of those people a chance. You really want a pick? How about Joe L.?? Jomentum!! It would be convenient enough to just skip down the hall at the White House to steal a kiss or two from the Prez at any rate.

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Mar 5, 2007 -> 10:38 AM) SEASICK STEVE RULES!!! www.seasicksteve.com Another prime example of how this country has it's head soooo far up its butt in the ways of music! Why the hell this stuff is not available in the US is beyond me! Good stuff that. love the reference to "3-String Chance Guitar" almost as much as I love the guitar itself. Mercy!

QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 11:13 PM) I will never understand people http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/c...ll=chi-news-hed Unreal and absolutely heartbreaking. Poor kid.

Such greedy-a$$ bull$hit. My phone, internet, and digital cable are all bundled and I get a good price and decent service. Switching to DirectTV would cost me at least $300 more a year if I had to unbundle those services. I've coughed up for Extra Innings for four years now, and certainly I now feel abandoned and beneath the concern of MLB. I've watched mlbTV games on my computer monitor and they are fine for what they are, but the quality was so marginal if you sent the signal out to your TV. maybe the increased bandwidth of the Pemier package will help some but it's not going to match even standard broadcast quality I'm sure. Selig's comments about being baffled as to why everybody doesn't just switch to DirectTV are more disingenuous than ignorant, because he really doesn't want everybody to do that. He wants scads of people to also sign up for mlbTV. I'd better seriously look into the slingbox option because the thought of rewarding MLB for screwing over every out of market fan who doesn't have or won't/can't switch to DirectTV by giving them more of my money to see the mlbTV broadcasts is nauseating.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 08:57 PM) The idea behind every line-item veto proposal I've seen at the national level, including the one Clinton had, was that it was to be used only on budgetary items, which as far as I can tell this is not. The the speculation is a moot point on multiple levels then. We'll just have to see what he says about the bill in his signing statement if/when he signs it.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 08:45 PM) The Senate has passed by a narrow majority a bill to enact the majority of the remaining 9/11 commission reccomendations. The bill is similar to one passed by the House in the Dems 100 hours burst. The fun part? President Bush has threatened to veto this bill, on the grounds that it gives the 45000 TSA screeners the same rights to unionize as other Federal workers. In other words, the Dems may have set Mr. Bush up to use his 2nd veto, and to have him use it on a bill reforming anti-terrorism efforts to be more in line with the 9/11 commission suggestions. This oughta be fun. This is where I wish the President did have his line item veto to see if the TSA screener portion was the only provision of the bill he objected to. Somehow, I highly doubt it.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 06:45 PM) So says the far left She would be voted in. It is unlikely Al Franken , or whoever your first choice is to be VP is, has any shot at being nominated by a Republican president. She might well be voted in. Rex merely made the assertion that there are plenty of legitimate reasons for her not to be, and I agree with that assertion. The Al Franken bit seemed to come out of nowhere, but, no I I don't think President Bush is about to give Al the nomination. Only slightly less realistic would be Franken actually accepting the nomination. QUOTE(mr_genius @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 07:21 PM) I was taking a cheap shot at FlaSoxxJim. Unless 'FlaSoxxJim' is Robert Novak's soxtalk handle, i wasn't saying Novak is far left. All will be revealed. . . QUOTE(Rex Kicka** @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 08:02 PM) our old buddy Pootie has all but declared a new cold war against the United States So, whadya know? Condi is relevant again for the first time in the last decade-and-a-half.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 06:30 PM) Really? What might those be? QUOTE(mr_genius @ Mar 6, 2007 -> 06:31 PM) not really. This is a good place to start. She has been astoundingly bad as both National Security Advisor and Secretary of State, and the chances that she'd do any beeter as VP are slim to none.