Mrebo

I sense something; a presence I've not felt since...

Good news about hair. I don't think I can grow a respectable beard. After many weeks I can have a passable goatee, but otherwise I'd just be scruffy-looking. I do have thick hair atop my head and I don't anticipate baldness in my future.

On the sports betting, I agree it's not right for some states to have exemptions; I didn't even know that was the case. I imagine the rationale for federal regulation is the Commerce Clause. If marijuana growing/selling counts as interstate commerce, why not sports betting? So I'm afraid the 10th Amendment would have little power. You're right, Warbs, that it can be argued, but we'd have to argue the very difficult proposition that it isn't interstate commerce.

I'm skeptical of regulatory bodies exercising expansive powers. And I'm glad you see a difference between criminal organizations and Donald Trump ;)

Perhaps it is the lacking testosterone which impedes my facial that also makes me so oblivious to sports, but I think the NCAA should focus on their sport, not on the laws of NJ.

timdiggerm said:

Tyrphanax said:

Pat Man may, or may not be Pat Man.

The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle applies here.

Easily solvable through observation; the uncertainty collapses regularly.

I'd been a fan of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle...but it seems someone is always saying it's less exciting than it's made out to be.

I'd prefer to think of it in terms of Schrödinger's cat.

Stumbled into reddit posting, but here is original source.

Something so alluring...

That is an astute question.

Good to hear, sincerely.

Monolithium's post is a good example of how some argue these issues. They take a superficially powerful assertion and they say it over and over and over. Because if someone disagrees with it they're obviously bad, so there can be no debate.

You're right, Mono, that we basically have our minds made up on this issue. But Warbler very quickly identifies the error you're making: there is the matter of what the choice is. It's not even just a matter of what is right and wrong in some personal sense, but a belief that the fetus is a human life.

walkingdork is right that calling abortion murder is not consistent with allowing exceptions for rape.

If we're going to be technical, I think many pro-life people see abortion more as manslaughter. Intent plays a big part in defining the culpability. I think many of us have a sense of the intent involved if a raped woman seeks an abortion vs a woman who had unprotected sex and doesn't want a baby right now.

I agree with walkingdork's term "potential child." Though I think the potentiality is understated by those on the pro-choice side - which I went into at length on page 2 (where I keep getting a weird offsite pw popup, btw). My position is that the embryo/fetus is undeniably a human life, though not a person. As a form of human life and a potential child that will become an actual child without some intervening event, it deserves legal protection. To me, the exceptions for rape, incest, life of the mother are about balancing other valid interests (which include physical autonomy).

We won't necessarily share moral and ethical values but at the very least, I think we can recognize and tackle what the other side is saying. What I see in Mono's post is that the life of a fetus, at best, has subjective value and at worse, is simply irrelevant. To me that is a cold and foreign view. And certainly doesn't lend itself to being challenged. I think that is the frightening part of his view, to answer his question. And to the extent that a majority accepts his view, it will prevail. However, most people do see a non-subjective worth in the life of a fetus.

darth_ender said:

Well, now you should jump into my Enderverse thread and read my reviews (skipping the spoiler sections of course).  They're all very different books, but they are all interesting takes on the characters.  I'd love to read a review from someone else, as it gets a bit lonely in that thread *cricket chirps*

FYI: Ender's a stud.  That's why I am he :)

I had a sneaking suspicion there was a relation there, couldn't remember if I read you saying so before. And there are more books?? Hm, when I finish, I will get to your thread more! Interesting cast there though. Hopefully they do make it sufficiently gritty.

Tyrphanax said:

Basic Writings of Nietzsche

By, well, Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche.

This is something I've been reading since last year. Because of school and the reading requirements therein, I find it hard to do any reading for pleasure because all of my will to read is just sapped by the time I put down my textbooks, and I want to do anything but.

That said, this has been a supremely interesting collection of his essays, and I look forward to wanting to read more.

Good luck. For Intro to Philosophy I was supposed to have read some of his writing.

A friend pulled a book of the shelf and said I should read it. Ender's Game. Fast read so far, very good book.

Bingo may be an ichthyologist, but I would think he would be good at riddles, given his posts in Politics.

Bingowings said:

But fish breath.

Some are warm and they never drink.

Bingowings said:

Enders one was scientifically inaccurate and this one seems to have as many correct answers as an IQ Test.

I feel compelled to defend the riddle's integrity!

If breathing is the inhalation of air, fish don't "breathe", unless my middle school knowledge of fish is floundering.

And since fish are cold-blooded, shouldn't their body temperature be the same as death (ie temperature of surroundings)?

And if drinking is the ingestion of water, why not call it drinking? Unless you have other beverages in mind, in which case I would probably agree.

Wocka Wocka!

What is pat man?

darth_ender said:

Mrebo has it and wins $10 thousand dollars, which I'll be sure to give him the next time I see him.  You were quite close, Bingowings ;)  Anyone want to take a stab at riddling the rest of us?

Sweet! I was so sure I was wrong. I'll be boarding the plane shortly to collect my prize! I could use some warmer weather.

A fish?

I like the prominent Nellith character, would like to see where she goes.

I've, um, read up on her talents - the articles, ya know.

Who is she? She's beautiful.

Ever naughty Bingo.

Good thought on topic change.

Is there such a thing?

1) What Bingo said.

SW Wiki purports to explain:

A misconception exists that rather than being indicators, midi-chlorians actually are the Force or create it; there is no canonical basis for this belief.

Firstly, if that has ever been much of a misconception, it's not much worse than the truth.

Also, it makes them sound more like parasites than symbiotes. They're simply indicators, gathering in a Force-strong individual...

The rationale for midichlorians undermines itself as the Wiki also says:

When present in sufficient numbers, they could allow their symbiont to detect the pervasive energy field known as the Force.

So...they are indicators of strength in the Force...but without midichlorians...the person may not (can't?) be able to detect the Force. So we're still left with the question of what makes a person strong in the Force that causes Midichlorians to gather...and if the person is already strong in the Force, why do we need Midichlorians? Like Bingo says, "unnecessary badly thought out piece of pseudo-science." They add nothing but were supposed to push along the symbiotic narrative of TPM (which I thought fell flat on all levels).

On this background, the answers to your questions are...whatever reasons Lucasfilm wants to give you because it really isn't coherent.

2) What Bingo said: Anakin's a git. There were the bits about him not appreciating democracy, of wanting the (absolute) power to change things, but it was so offhand and poorly integrated that I agree it didn't seem like a motivator.

3) What Bingo said: bad pun.

I don't want you to think we are just PT haters - though a fair share of us are - but we've gone through the necessary stages of grief and decided that as much as we love Star Wars, there are some things we just can't abide. So ultimately everything that Bingo and Frink said.

Cool behind the scenes photos from Raiders.

Very promising...