Saffire

I didn't think he was cute until I saw him in "Wanted". He's shirtless in it. :wink3: That's a great movie, btw.

Yeah you're right, I think most women are attracted to the thin-guy look. Men who bulk up are usually doing it either because: A. They just think bodybuilding is fun. B. They are insecure about their masculinity and think it's still high school when they're 28. In truth excessive weight lifting is just bad for your joints. So is running, but that's another story. Here's a picture of James Mcavoy to make this post worthwhile:

lol I can't wait to see your Perv Unit sign, Mel! Paste all the hottest pics on it and include a list of every member's name!

I like you, Hotplay! I think you're witty and cute and nice. And you're sort of a Republican which makes you even cooler in my book (even if I don't agree with you on everything). Let's be friends!

No, the cause of war is a desire for power (or the security dilemma, but that's another story). Politicians historically have justified wars by framing them in religious language, because that's most convenient for uniting the country behind a singular cause. Religion is harmless in my view, as long as it is humble (not tied to government). Government's job should just be to ensure everyone's rights are being defended - it's the right of a baby to not be circumcised without his consent...it's the right of a woman to not have to wear a burka all her life... etc etc.

Semy, looking at the pics of you in the other threads, I would never have guessed you were part Muslim! I agree on the fasting thing. Christians often say "your body is God's temple" and I agree with this - we should respect our bodies and be as healthy as we can. That's why it sort of bugs me when people go and get tattoos or get drunk or high or fat... or even look at the sun too long. So fasting... makes zero sense. You're hurting an amazing piece of equipment, the most valuable thing you've got in the whole world. And then there's circumcision, which is an absolute disaster - it's basically acceptable genital mutilation. The thing in Genesis about the "Garden of Eden" and our being banished from it... that strikes me as bunk. Look around you, what we have available to us. Look at what life was like in the Middle Ages. It sucked. Life on Earth continues to get better and better. I think one day there will be peace on Earth, and it won't be achieved through any manmade religion, but through science and reason. And that's the closest we can come to being with God here.

And by Peter Pan you mean JD? I've totally got a crush on him and he knows it. He says he's got a girlfriend but he'll come around sooner or later :wink3:

Let me use this post to editorialize a little bit: ATTENTION LADIES: Lift weights. I know, I know, you're afraid you'll look like a man if you do. But trust me, you won't. Your muscles are shaped differently from ours and you don't have nearly enough testosterone to grow as big as we do. Plus, the more muscle you build, the easier it is to burn fat. You can take that to the bank. Do plenty of squats with a barbell and curls, and bench, and overhead press, and pullups. Just lots of compound movements. You'll look like Beyonce after a couple months of weight training. I promise.

I've met people like this, and I respect them. But I think that God has a different purpose for different people. Don't envy her faith because it comes from an emotional core rather than an intellectual core (as your's does). As I said before, God is both Love and Logic. Two sides of the same coin, Truth.

Hm, I think I'm between slender and toned... but I need to work out more to hit "toned". I think super muscular guys just end up being fat when they get older, which sucks for them. But in the meantime they get all the girls ;)

In my view the best check against big businesses (like Wal-Mart or whatever) is to have zero government interference. The big corporations LOVE government, because it allows them to make it difficult, if not impossible, for their small competitors to interfere with their userbase. Capitalism is by it's nature a diversifying force. Look at the rise of Target, a more middle-class version of Wal-Mart. That company has survived and thrived by being a quality alternative to the crime-ridden, cruddy megastores that came before it! So competition IS still possible. So we criticize Wal Mart for being a provider of cheap consumer goods, but look at another ubiquitous company (that I mentioned earlier): Starbucks. They have had massive success by doing just the opposite - selling an OVERPRICED consumer good, coffee. My point here is that if government does anything related to business at all, it should be to encourage diversification and competition - not by punishing big companies (which are owned by ordinary Americans in their stock portfolios anyway) but by making the process of starting a new company easier and cheaper. I'm more than happy to try new stores, brands, whatever. And when I find a new brand of something I like, I immediately let my friends know, because I'm a geek.

Smart man. Alcohol is overrated. Plus it's carcinogenic, but that's another story. :P

I'm sort of a Deist. I think God exists, I think he built the universe (possibly for us?), and I think he loves us. Some aspects of Christianity make a lot of sense to me, but not the whole thing - I think a lot of it is just human culture and editing. I think God is a healthy mix of love and logic. The problem I see with a lot of religions these days is they operate on guilt and oppression. God gave us a free will for a reason - so we could decide whether we believe in him or not, and act accordingly. Guilt is illogical, especially when it relates to "original sin". I refuse to feel guilty for merely being a man. God would not have made me imperfect, so I think it is possible (but difficult) to become perfect - or very close to perfect. In conclusion, I'm a weirdo.

I feel really good. I just found out this cute girl has a crush on me, and later tonight I'm going to meet some new people and hang out with them (friends of friends).

lol yeah I can see why you think that's weird, but her daughter wasn't even there, she slept in. I've only met this girl once in my whole life and it was a few months ago (and I only talked to her a few minutes) so I must have made quite a good impression... :P

Er... yeah, a church! Southern Baptist, too. Is that a bad thing?

:o I might watch some Olympics after all.

lol that was awesome. So in church today my mom's friend passed her a note saying that her daughter thinks I'm hot. :wink3:

Wal-Mart is one of the greatest things to ever happen to poor people. First off, it provides millions of jobs to people who otherwise couldn't get work. Yeah, it's minimum wage, but it's better than nothing. (For the record, I'm against even minimum wage - it makes the low end of the job market smaller than it could be). Wal-Mart's size allows it to force suppliers into giving it the lowest prices on products, which is another plus for the poor. And their profit margin is extremely thin - just 3.33% in the last quarter. For every dollar you put in Wal-Mart, you get back just $1.03! It's as close to a charity as you can find in the business world. If you're looking to create a base for consumerism, you build Wal-Marts. Later on, when people start to make more money, you can bring in higher quality goods and open Targets or mom-and-pop shops, and god forbid... Starbucks (aka world's biggest ripoff caffeine fix). One solution to the problem of money leaving to go to China would be to open a Wal Mart and just make it fully-owned by the African people. You could do like the Soviets did when they privatized their oil companies and give and equal number of shares to each citizen. That way, profits are shared, and if people want to sell their shares to other citizens, they're free to do so.

You are skating on thin ice, mister! :D

Ahh I have nostalgia for the 1950's too even though I wasn't even born until the 80's. Cary Grant FTW!

Okay, so here's what I would do if I were crowned King of Africa (or any other third world area) in order chronologically - 1. Set up a new banking system, with a new currency. One currency for the whole continent. Hell make it simple and peg it to the US dollar or the Euro. 2. We would need a way to make people want to own the new currency, rather than the old one. So we'd begin by petitioning western states for loans to build infrastructure - paved roads, water, electricity, etc. We would encourage long term investment by international business so our unskilled workers could begin the process of earning paychecks in the new currency. Collateral for these loans could be uranium or rare earth metals mining rights. If we don't have those rare elements, we could just lie and claim we do. Tricking inspectors might not be that difficult. It's unethical, but we're desperate! ;) 3. Get Wal-Mart to open stores here. Workers need to be able to spend their money somewhere that has a wide selection of consumer goods. 4. Renounce my kingship and split states along cultural lines, then recommend they adopt the US constitution and British common law. It would take a few decades, but I think you could see a leap forward to 1950's America quality of life in Africa by 2030 if there were a concerted effort like this.

Anchorman was one of the stupidest movies ever made, but for some reason I still think certain scenes are freaking hilarious.

True, there are accountability issues. But the alternative, just giving someone money, does nothing for long-term economic growth. Loans have to be paid back at some point, that's true. But this incentivizes the borrower to figure out a way to use the cash to turn a profit. I've read stories about women in Africa who made their own shirts for a living, and sold them to people in their village. Then along comes the UN or some aid group and drops four huge crates of American-made shirts in the village, effectively making their work worthless. There is no "neoliberal rule" over countries when there is no sense of "white man's burden" - when you give someone responsibility, they gain independence. That's more valuable than just handing them money. EDIT - Not to beat a dead horse, but this really goes back to what I was saying in the Bush thread about government reallocating wealth. The fact is, moving huge sums of money around can actually cause that money to become worth less! I gave a few examples in the other thread.

I'm not so big on the idea of "fair trade", but I do love microfinance. Check out the site http://www.kiva.org/ for an example of microfinance. Basically you make small loans to entrepreneurs in third world countries, and they use the money to build their business. This is the most effective form of philanthropy in my view because it focuses on creating a self-sustaining economy, rather than one that's dependent on continual western help. Also, I love charities that aim to bring internet and computers to the poor. The more connected our world is, the better. The biggest impediment to prosperity across the world, in my opinion, are recalcitrant governments. Africa is a particularly good example of what can happen when you've got corrupt people in charge. But the US government isn't responsible for these peoples' welfare... so in the meantime we have to consider the other options. Maybe dealing in arms (for self defense, of course) wouldn't be such a bad alternative to overt intervention (as we had with Iraq). Imagine if the victims of African militias suddenly had the capacity to put up a fight! <-- Is further to the right than the National Review on some issues.