actually, speculators are at fault for our soaring gas prices. their speculations determine 50% of the price of oil, and when they "see" growth, the price goes up. of COURSE they're gonna see growth, they wanna get paid more money. as soon as stories about it got through the news, gas prices went down. they're starting to creep back up, but miscellaneous stories keep popping up about their impact, and they're holding off. that's why gas prices have leveled off for the last few weeks.
and i have to say orjan, there is only so much we can do when almost everything our corporations and government buy is made of petroleum: roads, plastics, make-ups, packaging, automobiles, AND in the form of gas. the distribution/service industry accommodates for the majority of our oil consumption, not every-day consumers. we can only do so much to reduce our addiction to foreign oil, and we can thank what grasp of a "free-market" we actually have for that. it is very much the responsibility of our corporations to change their ways.
this tower is an abomination, and a complete waste of money. i really think man-kind lost its interest in global penis contest a long time ago, but some politicians are still going strong. they can thank the big pharm companies for supplying them with viagra, because now they can go on into their 90s. hooray for huge sky-scrapers.
thanks, moon. what can i say-- i like cake, even though it's a lie.
the eyes were weird, yes. if you're a gamer, this video gives you chills. i don't know where you guys are getting that this was anything but from-scratch animation. regardless of whether they used an actual actress or not, it's still REALLY neato, wouldn't you say? it just presents so much opportunity for future gaming, and ooohhh it's pretty. GTA5 is going to be absolutely breathtaking.
no license, sorry. you don't get a card congratulating you that you're an adult. you get a new ID, but woopty-doo. you carry that thing with you the rest of your life. hooray for adulthood!
the drinking age should definitely be lowered, though. if you get a DWI when you're under-age, you get slapped with a much larger penalty than if you're of age. also, your blood alcohol level has to be less than 0.01, so you're screwed if you rinse with f*cking listerine. when you're of age, you'll get slapped with a fine, get your license revoked for a while, have to serve probation (the same as if you're underage), but your blood alcohol level has to be below 0.08. my buddy got f-ed the other day, of course it was his fault for driving like a dick and drinking, but he had like A beer and they took him in under false pretenses. if the drinking age is lowered, i think some teenagers will avoid the binge drinking and learn some discipline before they get slapped with a huge legal liability. i don't know, it makes more sense. i think the more you limit someone from doing something the more they just want to do it.
i respect oprah as a person, but there is just something wrong with the picture of her going to shanty towns 70 miles west of her hometown of Chicago to interview people about how shitty their lives are without running water and money. and we say oprah is worth $2.5billion? i mean, i don't know.. one of her paychecks could probably replenish these towns with indoor plumbing and clean drinking water. i'm not saying she should just give these people hand-outs, i'm asking-- where is her charity money going? oh, education. education IS important, but i want to punch her in the face and tell her to stop taunting the poor folk with her $2.5billion unless she's gonna share. anyone?
there are definitely salads available in [most] schools, but the selection is disappointing. they also had fruit cups, but were usually expensive for the little amount of actual fruit you got. i went to a pretty nice school and even though we had a lot of money being pumped into it, they still felt it necessary to serve pizza, mozerella cheese sticks with dipping sauce, nachos/pretzels with cheese dipping sauce, large baskets of french fries, over-processed "side-items" like chips, cookies, candy, entire racks of ho-hos and zebra cakes... i mean the selection of crap food was endless. but of course, healthy eating is a lifestyle and self discipline. kids are supposed to have discipline instilled by their parents. if they're good parents, the kids will likely be good too. habits flourish, you just have to make sure you know which is the right one to continue. keep in mind, 70% of the adult population in this country is considered "obese." the kids are obese because their parents are obese. none of us have to worry about it, really, if we're good parents and teach the right lessons. eating is one of the most important things to survival. if you don't eat right, you won't survive the way you're supposed to.
but cafeteria food is terrible. i gained a lot of weight when i was in junior high because i thought (for some reason) french fries and soda weren't bad for me. pffffhhh.. they were so tasty though. i didn't learn until college that the reason all this commercial food tastes so good is because of all of the fake sugars (HIGH-FRUCTOSE corn syrup. regular corn syrup is fine because it's real and that's what your body was made to process), partially-hydrogenated oils (sunflower, safflower, canola, soybean.. they're bad because those who figured out the chemical equation figured out that they could make a cheap, flavor-enhancing oil by NOT completing the chemical composition, hence "partially". your body doesn't process "partial" anything. FULLY-hydrogenated oils aren't as bad though, because their process is complete), other preservatives, artificial flavors, some colors, amidst so many other additives. the only reason they're bad for you and there is such a problem with them is because they are in absolutely everything that is mass-produced.
'they' are only worried about pumping orders out the door and making money, and they can sell it at a cheap price because they don't use real ingredients. that's why organic and all-natural foods are more expensive. but they're healthier not because they're low-fat or low-calorie (both of which are ALSO bad because when you take something away, you have to add something else. in this case with food, calories and fat are naturally occurring ingredients), but because "healthy" food doesn't mean anything until you relate it to how your body processes it. food isn't just this thing you stuff in the hole on your face that tastes yummy.. it's an important staple in your life. eat the right stuff and it will treat you right. but anyway.. i always get into food health stuff when it comes up.
aww moonpie.. that's cute. just remember-- my dumb cancerous country was built by europeans.
anyway, neatoramawontsendmeapassword-- preaching to the choir here. i know that, you know that.. and actually, that GM plant i spoke of is shifting it's production from trucks/SUVs to sedans and smaller vehicles. this doesn't solve the problem, obviously, but they are making some changes. they should have pumped more money into their R&D department a decade ago and thought about how the market was going to shift. then they could have jumped into the new market ahead of the curve, and could have made a lot of money. instead, they maintained their agenda and now we're absolutely saturated with vehicles with nowhere to put them. but honestly, i'm glad they're failing. though i just bitched that it's destroying our local economy, it still brings a sinister smile to my face. all we can really say is 'i told you so.'
i agree with AJ, here. it's definitely preaching to the choir. i am very anti-consumerism, so the sticker speaks to me and gets me to do that "hell yea!" thing while punching my fist in the air. but those people who actually ENJOY buying needless crap, they have every right to do so. it's their money. the only time i am willing to step in and say something is when that needless consumerism effects me, like this whole mortgage crisis. although i know it's the fault of the banks here, had people actually thought about what their money was paying for (interest, mostly) we may not have this huge of a problem. people are smart enough to say 'no' to credit cards, and they are smart enough to say 'no' to needless crap. but some aren't, and we have to hold their hands-- THAT is when it is bullshit.
oh Jonn R.. good conversation and credible sources NEVER start with "if you think 'this' you're just ignorant."
and Darragh.. don't fuel the fire.
in any rate, i don't really know what's going on over there. honestly, i don't care that much (yes, people are dying and it's terrible. i get it). what i DO care about though, is whether or not our fantastic government is gonna make it our problem too-- THEN i will care. because i don't know about you guys, but condi seems to be fired up about all those people she doesn't know, and i'll be damned if we go into another unwarranted war against people we're not even fighting with.
and i have to say orjan, there is only so much we can do when almost everything our corporations and government buy is made of petroleum: roads, plastics, make-ups, packaging, automobiles, AND in the form of gas. the distribution/service industry accommodates for the majority of our oil consumption, not every-day consumers. we can only do so much to reduce our addiction to foreign oil, and we can thank what grasp of a "free-market" we actually have for that. it is very much the responsibility of our corporations to change their ways.
this tower is an abomination, and a complete waste of money. i really think man-kind lost its interest in global penis contest a long time ago, but some politicians are still going strong. they can thank the big pharm companies for supplying them with viagra, because now they can go on into their 90s. hooray for huge sky-scrapers.
the eyes were weird, yes. if you're a gamer, this video gives you chills. i don't know where you guys are getting that this was anything but from-scratch animation. regardless of whether they used an actual actress or not, it's still REALLY neato, wouldn't you say? it just presents so much opportunity for future gaming, and ooohhh it's pretty. GTA5 is going to be absolutely breathtaking.
the drinking age should definitely be lowered, though. if you get a DWI when you're under-age, you get slapped with a much larger penalty than if you're of age. also, your blood alcohol level has to be less than 0.01, so you're screwed if you rinse with f*cking listerine. when you're of age, you'll get slapped with a fine, get your license revoked for a while, have to serve probation (the same as if you're underage), but your blood alcohol level has to be below 0.08. my buddy got f-ed the other day, of course it was his fault for driving like a dick and drinking, but he had like A beer and they took him in under false pretenses. if the drinking age is lowered, i think some teenagers will avoid the binge drinking and learn some discipline before they get slapped with a huge legal liability. i don't know, it makes more sense. i think the more you limit someone from doing something the more they just want to do it.
but cafeteria food is terrible. i gained a lot of weight when i was in junior high because i thought (for some reason) french fries and soda weren't bad for me. pffffhhh.. they were so tasty though. i didn't learn until college that the reason all this commercial food tastes so good is because of all of the fake sugars (HIGH-FRUCTOSE corn syrup. regular corn syrup is fine because it's real and that's what your body was made to process), partially-hydrogenated oils (sunflower, safflower, canola, soybean.. they're bad because those who figured out the chemical equation figured out that they could make a cheap, flavor-enhancing oil by NOT completing the chemical composition, hence "partially". your body doesn't process "partial" anything. FULLY-hydrogenated oils aren't as bad though, because their process is complete), other preservatives, artificial flavors, some colors, amidst so many other additives. the only reason they're bad for you and there is such a problem with them is because they are in absolutely everything that is mass-produced.
'they' are only worried about pumping orders out the door and making money, and they can sell it at a cheap price because they don't use real ingredients. that's why organic and all-natural foods are more expensive. but they're healthier not because they're low-fat or low-calorie (both of which are ALSO bad because when you take something away, you have to add something else. in this case with food, calories and fat are naturally occurring ingredients), but because "healthy" food doesn't mean anything until you relate it to how your body processes it. food isn't just this thing you stuff in the hole on your face that tastes yummy.. it's an important staple in your life. eat the right stuff and it will treat you right. but anyway.. i always get into food health stuff when it comes up.
give it time.
anyway, neatoramawontsendmeapassword-- preaching to the choir here. i know that, you know that.. and actually, that GM plant i spoke of is shifting it's production from trucks/SUVs to sedans and smaller vehicles. this doesn't solve the problem, obviously, but they are making some changes. they should have pumped more money into their R&D department a decade ago and thought about how the market was going to shift. then they could have jumped into the new market ahead of the curve, and could have made a lot of money. instead, they maintained their agenda and now we're absolutely saturated with vehicles with nowhere to put them. but honestly, i'm glad they're failing. though i just bitched that it's destroying our local economy, it still brings a sinister smile to my face. all we can really say is 'i told you so.'
and Darragh.. don't fuel the fire.
in any rate, i don't really know what's going on over there. honestly, i don't care that much (yes, people are dying and it's terrible. i get it). what i DO care about though, is whether or not our fantastic government is gonna make it our problem too-- THEN i will care. because i don't know about you guys, but condi seems to be fired up about all those people she doesn't know, and i'll be damned if we go into another unwarranted war against people we're not even fighting with.