[LakeMountD]

I am just torn by this election. There is no solid republican candidate, or actually I should just say conservative in general, which kills me. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I am a big supporter of that. This isn't a shot at anyone, but for me I could never vote for Obama.

The thing that is killing me about the liberals right now is how they advocate change. Change is fine in the general sense, when you compare it to GW who absolutely demolished the conservative side, with his not-so-conservative decisions in a lot of areas. Liberals say that the health care system is broken...I agree. They say that the war is being handled incorrectly...I agree. They say that people need an economic change...I agree.

HOWEVER, what I don't agree with is the insanely ridiculous ideas they have to correct these problems. To me the people running right now are taking problems and answering them the way a child would. How do we fix healthcare because it is too expensive? Make it free. How do we fix the war in Iraq? Just bring them home. These issues are not that simple. NOTHING is free in this world. Go to any economics teacher and ask them whether something is free and everyone single one of them will say there is no such thing as a free lunch, it is the staple of economics. There will always be some deadweight loss and inefficiency, but to what extent is the important part. It would be wonderful if it were as easy as getting healthcare for free, but frankly I am a training professional and if I am making over $100k a year, honestly I don't want to pay for anyone else's health care. I don't want my tax dollars to go towards their problems. This is more communist than anything else, taking money from the people that worked hard to get there (I am not talking about the super rich, just the ones that worked their butts off). This does not mean I agree with the way things are currently being run, but there is a happy medium in there somewhere and it needs to be found. Democrats will tell you that taxes will go up but not all that significantly. RIIIIIIGGGHHHTTT, they just hide the costs in other government programs. Unfortunately there are just two extreme sides to this whole situation and it sucks.

With Iraq, I don't like the way it is being handled, although it has gotten better recently. I feel more emphasis should have been put on Afganistan and that things need to be ramped up in Iraq and moved faster and I do not support a pull out.

With the border I am completely conservative. No offense but frankly if you don't come in legally GET OUT. Or more so get in line. Build the biggest fence you can and man them!

The most important thing to me right now is our dependence on oil. It baffles me how we have so few nuclear power plants. For what reason? Chernobyl? Three mile island? For one, Chernobyl was the result of a horrible reactor design and substandard regulations and other things. Three mile island was completely contained with no loss of of life. That was before we had all these advanced microprocessors and such, so we need to get back to this power source. As a scientists I do not believe in global warming, but I sort of don't say anything and let the green people keep saying what they say because at least they are pushing for new legislation and such. We need to pump more money into university research as well, there just aren't enough people interested in the subject because there is no money in it.

Lastly, big government. In California they are working towards things like thermostats with transmitters that allow the city to turn off your power when you have used too much. Are you kidding? I don't want bigger government and again I do not want to pay higher taxes to fund things like a $110 million bike trail in Minnesota that state taxes should be paying for and that was recently earmarked by democrats.

Don't get me wrong, I am not fully republican here, they have their issues too, but I really wish there was someone with more intelligence running and not so damn influenced by their parties.

Okay rant over lol.

[skunkman]

China has been having record breaking cold this year and it snowed in baghdad this year. Global warming? hahaha

Good post LakeMountD

[LakeMountD]

Originally Posted by skunkman

China has been having record breaking cold this year and it snowed in baghdad this year. Global warming? hahaha

Good post LakeMountD

LoL exactly, not to mention the fact if you go back thirty years there are videos of concerned scientists talking about the possibility of a coming ice age and what we can do to stop it. It is a cycle people. Everything and I mean everything cycles (including bodybuilders haha sorry I had to throw that in there). The economy, death of animals, seasons, EVERYTHING and it happens on small and grand scales. Even the universe cycles. One day it will condense back down and we will have another big bang. Do I think we are contributing "pollution"? Yes I do, however, the exaggerated notion of global warming is crazy. What I can't believe is how someone such as Al Gore can win a Nobel Peace prize. You are telling me that he deserves to be a laureate along with the likes of Albert Einstein, Paul Dirac, Max Planck? Yes I understand that was for chemistry and this is for peace, but it shouldn't change the fact that this was given based off of his research and afterwards his so called teachings of global warming. Did they not study the facts better? Hell even the creator of the weather channel is calling global warming bogus. But again I keep my mouth shut in hopes we one day have no dependence on foreign oil.

[dadream]

Nader is getting my vote. It seems as if he is the least corrupt candidate out there. He embodies many qualities that are desirable of a president. I think he would do everything in his power to make this country better and even help improve our image throughout the rest of the world. Some say that I'm just throwing my vote away but i'd rather him have my vote than any of the other corrupt senators. I just feel that he would bring back some of the power back to the people. But even if Nader did get the votes i wonder if the electoral college would vote in his favor as well? Out of the remaining candidates I'd say that I would be somewhat satisfied if Obama won.

[Dadof2]

Originally Posted by LakeMountD

I am just torn by this election. There is no solid republican candidate, or actually I should just say conservative in general, which kills me. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I am a big supporter of that. This isn't a shot at anyone, but for me I could never vote for Obama.

The thing that is killing me about the liberals right now is how they advocate change. Change is fine in the general sense, when you compare it to GW who absolutely demolished the conservative side, with his not-so-conservative decisions in a lot of areas. Liberals say that the health care system is broken...I agree. They say that the war is being handled incorrectly...I agree. They say that people need an economic change...I agree.

HOWEVER, what I don't agree with is the insanely ridiculous ideas they have to correct these problems. To me the people running right now are taking problems and answering them the way a child would. How do we fix healthcare because it is too expensive? Make it free. How do we fix the war in Iraq? Just bring them home. These issues are not that simple. NOTHING is free in this world. Go to any economics teacher and ask them whether something is free and everyone single one of them will say there is no such thing as a free lunch, it is the staple of economics. There will always be some deadweight loss and inefficiency, but to what extent is the important part. It would be wonderful if it were as easy as getting healthcare for free, but frankly I am a training professional and if I am making over $100k a year, honestly I don't want to pay for anyone else's health care. I don't want my tax dollars to go towards their problems. This is more communist than anything else, taking money from the people that worked hard to get there (I am not talking about the super rich, just the ones that worked their butts off). This does not mean I agree with the way things are currently being run, but there is a happy medium in there somewhere and it needs to be found. Democrats will tell you that taxes will go up but not all that significantly. RIIIIIIGGGHHHTTT, they just hide the costs in other government programs. Unfortunately there are just two extreme sides to this whole situation and it sucks.

With Iraq, I don't like the way it is being handled, although it has gotten better recently. I feel more emphasis should have been put on Afganistan and that things need to be ramped up in Iraq and moved faster and I do not support a pull out.

With the border I am completely conservative. No offense but frankly if you don't come in legally GET OUT. Or more so get in line. Build the biggest fence you can and man them!

The most important thing to me right now is our dependence on oil. It baffles me how we have so few nuclear power plants. For what reason? Chernobyl? Three mile island? For one, Chernobyl was the result of a horrible reactor design and substandard regulations and other things. Three mile island was completely contained with no loss of of life. That was before we had all these advanced microprocessors and such, so we need to get back to this power source. As a scientists I do not believe in global warming, but I sort of don't say anything and let the green people keep saying what they say because at least they are pushing for new legislation and such. We need to pump more money into university research as well, there just aren't enough people interested in the subject because there is no money in it.

Lastly, big government. In California they are working towards things like thermostats with transmitters that allow the city to turn off your power when you have used too much. Are you kidding? I don't want bigger government and again I do not want to pay higher taxes to fund things like a $110 million bike trail in Minnesota that state taxes should be paying for and that was recently earmarked by democrats.

Don't get me wrong, I am not fully republican here, they have their issues too, but I really wish there was someone with more intelligence running and not so damn influenced by their parties.

Okay rant over lol.

Great post.

Imo the public school bureaucracy has done its job and succeeded in dumbing down America. Far too many people are walking around completely clueless, and/or too caught up in their own little worlds to realize that everything around them is going to sh!t. All it takes for these people is to hear a politician promise change, free money, free food, and free healthcare, and bingo he has their votes. They don't have the intellectual capacity to understand even the fundamentals of economics or government, so just hearing the word "change" is good enough for them (besides like American Idol is on). And don't get me started on brainwashed republicans who cannot vote for someone unless Rush or Hannity approve. Anyone who votes based on who the tv or radio tells them to vote for immediately earns my contempt.

The only politician who was promising change, and explaining how and why he was going to change things was Ron Paul. He was our best shot at fixing the mess that we are in. Of course the media did a good job in convincing people that he was a crazy isolationist pacifist. God forbid people actually do some research for themselves, then it would be quite obvious that this guy was right on far more issues than he was wrong on.

At this rate the only person who I would consider voting for is Nader.

For those of you who are into politics I highly recommend reading "Liberal Fascism" by Jonah Goldberg. It should be recommended reading this election cycle, then perhaps people would know where Obama and Hillary are coming from.

[Kruger]

Originally Posted by wormwood

democrats want to relive the glory days of vietnam?

uh... if i remember correctly, that war was started by LBJ (a democrat), and ended by Nixon (a republican). where do you get the impression that democrats are gutless?

Because the fall of Saigon was a direct result of a Democratic Congress cutting off funding. This happened after Nixon left office.

As a result of us leaving, the NVA took over Saigon and the Khmer Rouge (who Nixon was secretly bombing before he left office) basically enslaved the Cambodian population. (ie, the Killing Fields)

[DBinMD]

Originally Posted by wormwood

democrats want to relive the glory days of vietnam?

uh... if i remember correctly, that war was started by LBJ (a democrat), and ended by Nixon (a republican). where do you get the impression that democrats are gutless?

All hyperbole aside, there’s some facts I’d like to point out.

Just to be clear, our involvement started after N. Vietnam invaded S. Vietnam, we didn’t start anything. Eisenhower and Kennedy had us involved to a limited extent before LBJ. Nixon only withdrew our troops, N. Vietnam ended the war by winning.

I lived thru Vietnam. I remember vividly the anti-war sentiment generated by the liberals. I’ve met many expatriates from S.E. Asia and I’ve heard their stories as recently as this week. To make a long story short, as far as I can tell, the “peace” after the fall of S. Vietnam made the war look like a walk in the park. It seems to always be missing from the anti-Viet war rhetoric that the North invaded the South, and used Laos and Cambodia at will. The communists were also extremely ruthless during the war as well as after. Somehow, they were the good guys, everything was our fault. Gutless was fighting a war half-hearted and finding excuses to leave innocent people to wolves. Jane Fonda should have been tried for treason after her photo ops in Hanoi and betraying prisoners trying to pass her messages.

I see the same thing with Iraq. We can debate whether we should be there, but the fact is, to not see this thru properly would be the easy thing for us to do, but would leave Iraq and the rest of the region a disaster. I don’t want to make excuses (Rumsfeld was clueless, and Bush’s loyalty to him was inexcusable), but ISTM our worst behavior pales in comparison to normal behavior by our enemies.

[DAdams91982]

NUFF SAID!!!

Adams

[LakeMountD]

Originally Posted by Dadof2

Great post.

Imo the public school bureaucracy has done its job and succeeded in dumbing down America. Far too many people are walking around completely clueless, and/or too caught up in their own little worlds to realize that everything around them is going to sh!t. All it takes for these people is to hear a politician promise change, free money, free food, and free healthcare, and bingo he has their votes. They don't have the intellectual capacity to understand even the fundamentals of economics or government, so just hearing the word "change" is good enough for them (besides like American Idol is on). And don't get me started on brainwashed republicans who cannot vote for someone unless Rush or Hannity approve. Anyone who votes based on who the tv or radio tells them to vote for immediately earns my contempt.

The only politician who was promising change, and explaining how and why he was going to change things was Ron Paul. He was our best shot at fixing the mess that we are in. Of course the media did a good job in convincing people that he was a crazy isolationist pacifist. God forbid people actually do some research for themselves, then it would be quite obvious that this guy was right on far more issues than he was wrong on.

At this rate the only person who I would consider voting for is Nader.

For those of you who are into politics I highly recommend reading "Liberal Fascism" by Jonah Goldberg. It should be recommended reading this election cycle, then perhaps people would know where Obama and Hillary are coming from.

Haha that brings up another point, the democrats are mad (and they mentioned this in the debate) because GW is failing all of today's kids with "that darn test". Well damn if they are that retarded that they can't pass the test then they SHOULDN'T BE PASSED. I have a BS in chemistry and am working towards a doctor of pharmacy. One of the things that pisses me off most is kids eeking their way through. The ones that slide through the cracks. I mean my lab partner a long time ago was an example of this. He was a senior chemistry student and we had a lab dealing with liquid nitrogen. He had his head right over the top of it because the cold gas that rises off of it. I told him the gas was toxic (jokingly lol, because air is over 70% nitrogen) and he yanked his head up and acted as though he was feeling sick lol.

[Reaper329]

Originally Posted by LakeMountD

Haha that brings up another point, the democrats are mad (and they mentioned this in the debate) because GW is failing all of today's kids with "that darn test". Well damn if they are that retarded that they can't pass the test then they SHOULDN'T BE PASSED. I have a BS in chemistry and am working towards a doctor of pharmacy. One of the things that pisses me off most is kids eeking their way through. The ones that slide through the cracks. I mean my lab partner a long time ago was an example of this. He was a senior chemistry student and we had a lab dealing with liquid nitrogen. He had his head right over the top of it because the cold gas that rises off of it. I told him the gas was toxic (jokingly lol, because air is over 70% nitrogen) and he yanked his head up and acted as though he was feeling sick lol.

As a teacher let me shed a little light on this. The issue starts first and foremost with the parents. We are in a generation of helicopter and lawnmower parents. They do not want their kids "facing any adverse situtations in school" nor do they want their kids ego being hurt.(the first school I taught at did not allow F's they were called E's and teachers could not grade in that harsh color of red, and yes this was a public school in NJ) With that influence, the school boards (district parents) are pushing for nonsensical techniques to be used which in turn inflates the grades. Once the board is involved, then in turn the school admin gets involved, from their the teachers get pushed into things they dont agree with.

I teach AP level history, and I gotta tell you I see it there as well. These kids (due in large part to their parents) have a sense of entitlement that is far worse than I have ever seen through my career, and it is only going to get worse. To see a change, we need to start with the parents. They need to understand that a kid working hard and getting a C is ok, if that is what they deserve. Not every student should get an A, especially an inflated one.

In terms of GW and the "tests", I think it is a silly thought to believe that standardized tests are a true test of a kids ability and intelligence. We all know that many study for the test then forget what it was after the test. There are other ways, and the key word here is balance in asessment.

[Reaper329]

Originally Posted by DAdams91982

NUFF SAID!!!

Adams

adding Mann Coulter doesnt help your argument here

[LakeMountD]

Originally Posted by Reaper329

As a teacher let me shed a little light on this. The issue starts first and foremost with the parents. We are in a generation of helicopter and lawnmower parents. They do not want their kids "facing any adverse situtations in school" nor do they want their kids ego being hurt.(the first school I taught at did not allow F's they were called E's and teachers could not grade in that harsh color of red, and yes this was a public school in NJ) With that influence, the school boards (district parents) are pushing for nonsensical techniques to be used which in turn inflates the grades. Once the board is involved, then in turn the school admin gets involved, from their the teachers get pushed into things they dont agree with.

I teach AP level history, and I gotta tell you I see it there as well. These kids (due in large part to their parents) have a sense of entitlement that is far worse than I have ever seen through my career, and it is only going to get worse. To see a change, we need to start with the parents. They need to understand that a kid working hard and getting a C is ok, if that is what they deserve. Not every student should get an A, especially an inflated one.

In terms of GW and the "tests", I think it is a silly thought to believe that standardized tests are a true test of a kids ability and intelligence. We all know that many study for the test then forget what it was after the test. There are other ways, and the key word here is balance in asessment.

Great post . I agree. I do agree that the tests are not perfect. HOWEVER, I do believe that if a kid cannot pass a simple math test and such that they do not deserve to move on. I agree that we need to work more on the parents as well. Obviously one of the problems is the pressure to get into a good college. I was accepted to UF pharmacy school and the average GPA was 3.7 or 3.75 and the average PCAT score (standardized pharmacy test) was a 88-90 percentile meaning you had to score better than 90% of the people. That puts a lot of pressure on people. I do realize that my example involves a professional level situation but it is the same with colleges.

Heck I can remember high school vividly. The half of the top 3% of our graduating class had never taken an honors or AP class and probably had no idea who to do a simple derivative. It is a broken system unfortunately and schools and colleges are putting too much emphasis on grades!!!