Man, I just LOVE politics in forums. There's just something about politics that breeds contempt, shoves aside respectful discussion, and seemingly requires categorizing people under the liberal/conservative and left wing/right wing banner. In short, it makes for good times all around! Seriously, though... Our country is in a pretty ugly mess, right now. The Bush tax cuts didn't work, though it sounded like a good idea at the time, to some people. Then, instead of putting the social security surplus into interest-earning treasuries, which is what was supposed to happen, Bush put it into "special" treasuries which could essentially be liquidated at any time. Which he did do, and then used the funds to make his horrible tax plan look better by using the social security surplus to bolster his plan.

Now social security's a mess, welfare programs are becoming a problem, and defense spending is a little overzealous. I believe that if you're better off than someone else, you should help them out. So, yeah, I like welfare programs, but I've seen far too many people abuse them. I've been on unemployment. Hell, I've even been on food stamps, when I was younger. I used them when I was between jobs or during tough times. And I always stopped them, when I could go without it. The welfare programs need a major overhaul and need to make sure that if you're on them, that you're trying to become self-sufficient. If we had invested the social security surplus instead of using it to prop up a horrible tax plan, then it wouldn't be nearly the problem it is now, though it would still be an issue.

Before I say what I'm about to say next, I want to point something out. I know what it's like to be poor. I was raised by a poor single mother. I've went more than a couple of days without food. I've slept in a car and bathed in public restrooms. I've been there. And I know that an extra 1-2% income tax wouldn't have made a difference to our very poor family. And it definitely won't make a difference to the middle class families. Just like a 3-5% increase won't bother the top 2% income earners in this country. And that brings me to my last point.

This is what we need to do, in my opinion. We need to restructure welfare and medicare. We have to fix social security, because that's just not something we can "toss out." Taxes NEED to be raised. Maybe 1% for lower class, 3% for middle class, and 5% for upper class, or something to that generalized effect. As much as I love NASA, I think it's time that we stop funneling funds into it and many other non-essential programs. Maybe they should be privately funded or put on hold for 5 or 10 years, until our economy at least bounces back. Defense spending needs to be cut. It's around 20% of our budget. That's about the same as social security and a little less than medicare, but I think we could do without a lot of the defense spending. We're pretty much guaranteed military superiority for the next 10 years or so. Especially with that uber sexy F-22 Raptor!

I'm sure I left some things out, as I'm pretty tired, but that's my take on our current economic situation. If you read this entire post, give yourself a cookie, because I know it's long and boring, lol. Now, I gotta go try to catch a snake. It got in the house and I saw it a minute ago slither under my couch, lol.

No, no idea. I do have trouble putting any real validity into experiments done outside of a controlled environment, though. If these experiments are genuine, they're pretty impressive.

I agree with that one... There's a reason that public defenders make way less money and are at the bottom rung of the ladder...

LMAO! Good one...

Lol, I don't know why... But, I'm getting the feeling that you're somebody's wife... Don't know why, lol.

Woah boy... Calm down... Take a deep breath. That's good. In and out, slowly. Okay, now here's some water, just take this pill. It's okay, it'll help you relax...

I know right?!? The **** they manage to pull of these days would've got me a firm kick in the balls 7 or 8 years ago, lol.

Yeah, that's what I meant by hoping he doesn't get into our local prison. It's medium to maximum security and they only have a few actual "cells." Most of the beds are in big rooms with bunk beds in the center. Only the maximum security wing has cells and they're open for most of the day. Gotta love louisiana!

No, there is... Unfortunately, he could try to pull the old insanity or mental defect bit, which by his choice to defend himself, he's already got a good start. But, just for the record, I agree with you. But, the point's still valid, that if we made an exception in this case, it would lead to more exceptions in other cases and most likely get out of control. Just wait though... He'll get his in prison. It's strange that no matter what heinous act they did to get locked up in prison, whether it be murder, theft, rape, etc., all inmates HATE child molesters. He just better hope he doesn't get locked up in our prison... It's a joke, lol.

Gotta love the A-10... Been in service for decades and still does it's job admirably! I remember reading about one that took incredible damage and still made it back to base. I couldn't find that story, but I did find one almost as good. It's worth a read.

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Stories1/001-100/0016_A-10-battle-damage/story0016.htm

And...

Nope, never been in the service. I tried, but they told me to lose some weight first, so naturally I told them that they'd just have to lose the next war, since I wasn't gonna be there, lol.

Please, don't think I was trying to say that it was a bad poem. That's not what I meant, at all. What I meant, was that I tried to read it, but felt that reading that way, just wouldn't do it justice. I figured I'd wait for a edit by the poster, then read it. So no, I'm not saying it's a bad poem at all. From what I did read, it seems to be pretty good.

Very nice guys, very nice indeed!

lol, Thanks!

GRATS! It's nice to have a success story mixed in with all the dieting failures.

That's about right on the release of Akira, not sure and too lazy to look it up. But anime refers directly to animation. It's basically an abbreviation of the japanese word for animation. Originally, anime was much the same as early american cartoons and the first anime (if i'm not mistaken) came out around 1920. The style changed dramatically over the years to reach what most people accepts as the "definitive" anime style in the late 70s through the 80s. Since the early 90s, it's been moving more and more toward a younger audience. This is why I referred the decade.

The word for comic in japanese is manga. And since most anime became animation adaptations of manga, they used the common style of manga art at that time. So, they are two distinctive things, even though they share the same base. "How can I classify anime by which decade it was from?" Simple... I can. Watch one from each decade and tell me they're even remotely similar in a span of 10-20 years. In some cases, yes they can be slightly similar, but on anime as a whole, it's an ever evolving thing. And I, personally (I might add), feel that it's been evolving in the wrong direction. You're free to have your opinion, but I feel that the 80s and (in some cases) early 90s were the best years for anime.

And as for the comment on Trigun and Outlaw Star... I've never watched Outlaw Star and only a few episodes of Trigun. What I did see of it was okay, though I've never really gotten into the story.

Oh, I didn't know that they were too different series. I assume it's not the same "children's show" that I was thinking. And Akira wasn't a show. It was a manga that was turned into a full length movie. If you haven't seen it, I would really advise watching it... So, "these are still running" don't really apply to Akira. And Ghost in the Shell had a good run. A lot of great shows don't last forever. They last until they're not popular anymore. And since the vast majority of "anime" viewers these days are kids, well you get what I'm saying. Anime was like american cartoons once were. Made for grownups. Now, like just about everything else, they're marketed toward kids, lol. Ah, what I wouldn't give to go back to the 90s!

Is it sad? Yes. Should it be changed? No... It's horrible that certain people can do this, but it's a right that we can choose to defend ourselves. And you can't say that a defense lawyer can view the tapes and not the accused who have chosen to defend themselves. And a lot of people would say, "Don't let people like that defend themselves, then," but I don't know... If I were on trial and didn't have any money for a good lawyer, I just might choose to defend myself, rather than trust my life to the hands of a court appointed lawyer. Low pay (for the field) and not really giving a ****, do not a good lawyer make, lol. Hopefully, he's at least supervised while "reviewing" the tapes...

Nope... Been hurt by many unfair women... Does that count?

I can't tell... Poetry is half wording and half visuals. Some put more into one than the other, but when you put it all like that I have no idea where it begins and where it ends. I'm not saying that it has to follow the rules of stanzas, but you should try to break it up, so that the reader knows where and when you want him/her to change their focus.

For a good example of a poem that's ALL about visuals, well mostly...

http://livingpoetry.blogspot.com/2004/12/eecummings.html

One of my favorites, actually. It gets sadder the more you read it.

Uh... Guys... Talking about anime and haven't mentioned the best ones, yet?... What's wrong with you guys?!? And, Naruto is NOT anime... It wants to be anime, it tries really, really hard, but it fails! Come on, what about the shows that MADE anime? Like Akira or Ghost in the Shell? I mean, shows like bleach, naruto, dbz, and inuyasha (spelled wrong?) are okay shows, but when you watch Akira for the first time, you're like, "Wow... So THAT'S what anime is supposed to be..."

P.S. Then again, lol. I AM getting pretty old and I forget everyone's not the same age as me. Akira did come out in the 80s...