Saffire

Stef mentioned something in one of his Youtube videos about swine flu being particularly lethal against people who don't get a lot of wheat (gluten) in their diet. Which is why it kills mostly Mexicans so far.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIfH0vY2ANA]YouTube - Newstopia explains the Reserve Bank[/ame]

My fear of the swine flu is directly correlated to the faith I have in politicians to make my life better!

Yah I think I read they were doing that in Egypt and the farmers there are rioting over it. When the foot is infected, they will cut off the leg.

Yah I think I read they were doing that in Egypt and the farmers there are rioting over it. When the foot is infected, they will cut off the leg.

Eh, it'll get scratched. And 500 gigs isn't that impressive. They should focus their efforts on solid-state memory. I want a little USB stick that can hold 10 terabytes with a data transfer rate that's aided by an optical interface.

Peter Thiel is a hero of mine. You may have heard of him, because he was integral in founding PayPal, which is used to make transactions over the internet. He was also one of the first venture capitalists to invest in Facebook, before it became very popular. So he's a brilliant guy. It just so happens he's also a libertarian. Possibly anarchist, if you interpret his latest essay that way: http://www.cato-unbound.org/2009/04/13/peter-thiel/the-education-of-a-libertarian/ I completely agree that politics is by its very nature illiberal. Therefore, libertarian ideas could never be institutionalized over the long haul - states will always eventually grow to become totalitarian. That's just the nature of reality. So Thiel's solution (rather than just moping around about it) is to discuss ways to escape politics entirely. The future could be in "seasteading", an effort to build platform city-states in the oceans which are governed in various ways (or even not at all). Here's a website about it: http://seasteading.org/learn-more/intro It's a fun read, even if you don't agree with the idea.

Politicians generally benefit from interesting narratives in the news because it increases a sense of community (read: collectivism) among their subjects. Think about events like white women being kidnapped, kids getting their dads' guns, hurricanes destroying families' homes, troops returning from war with illness, etc. The more they can generate a sense of "we" among many individuals with disparate interests, goals, fears, hopes, loves, etc. the more they can make us hate one another for the purposes of their campaigns.

I propose a new tax to deal with this swine flu!

Exactly, it's just a way for governments to look like they're busy doing something important.

That's funny, because I was planning a photo op where I'm aiming a sniper rifle at a high-ranking official's head. It's just as an advertisement for my gun shop, yeesh! :dozey:

I have a crush on a lot of people here. I think Ale is super cute. She has a type of humor that I appreciate. And I've always had a crush on Nick (MrNick), because he's handsome and very intelligent, and he shouldn't worry about his height. Oh and Melanie! She's a hottie. The whole perv unit thing was brilliant, and I love seeing pictures of her in her bikini and standing next to Jonny ;) And Chris (Tnspieler1012)... my Polish/Germanic bro. I love that he plays piano and appreciates some of the finer stuff in life. Got Cheese 2768 (Erick) - I think he's erratic and funny, and I have a fun time talking to him off here. So yeah, I've got a bunch of crushes on here. And needless to say, they're all very hot people!

Oh my gosh, lol. :P That's seriously not what I meant. And I would say something about you "putting words in my mouth" but that's just asking for it. :dozey:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/AP-Exclusive-Fed-tests-harder-apf-14989658.html?sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode= This is to be expected. America is a corporatist nation (aka Fascist), and therefore it is acceptable for the largest corporations to use government to force their competitors out of business. In this case, the regional banks would be the ones to benefit from non-interventionism. The big banks would go bankrupt (without the Fed acting as the lender of last resort) and the smaller banks would get all their old clients. But alas, we'll be stuck with the same big, crappy banks for the next hundred years, probably. And our kids will be paying for the continuation of nothing more than a brand-name.

No, you're just a dweeb.

Smile next time! Or do something interesting. PS: Nice lips. :sneaky:

Sounds real to me. Bring on the negativity! Bwahahaha! *Phantom of the Opera theme*

This would work better as a protest about prejudices people hold against mute people. I had a neighbor who had a mute wife, and she was the bomb. She could read our lips from across the street. Oh wait, that's deaf.

Nick, is that a Nieman Marcus advert in your avatar? lol, you dweeb! :D

lol Nick! Have I not flirted with you enough lately? Yeesh.

Your favorite person? Is this setting up for a Triumph the Insult Comic Dog "for me to poop on!" moment? :laugh3: I love that image of Krugman, though. It's like he was caught taking a dump in the corner of your local public library and he's going "Rrrrr?"

I don't know if you're lookin for romance or...

Going without sleeping is just torture. It wouldn't be fun for me, but pointing to a sign that says "I'm trying to see how long I can go without talking." is far more fun!

It's no more ludicrous/superficial than many of the other statements in this thread about a preference for taller guys.

This is an interesting thing... I wonder what the longest everyone has gone without talking? A few years ago I made it 9 days straight. The funny thing is, I didn't really miss it as much as I would have expected. I really don't talk too much in general.