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Tue, Sep. 19th, 2006, 09:42 am
We're kind of being trained to be warriors, only in a much funner way! America, there's something wrong with you when you're sending kids to be taught by a woman who wants them to commit suicide. I have no doubt a lot of this movie is misrepresentation but... jeezus. At one time it was legal for kids to take LSD They're monsters, you can see the lust for death in their eyes. Actually, another funny about the war on drugs - it seems that enough redneck meth labs have been shut down in the USA now that the mexican drug cartels are moving in to fill the void with cheaper mexican meth. Another victory. I thought they did this stuff all the time already: Either the best or worst science ever - recreating big bangs, opening doorways to other dimensions. I for one welcome our new Xen overlords. At least long enough for me to find my crowbar. Finally, Michael McDowell has decided (link needs registration) that after years and years of not caring about it that he is really opposed to the stamp duty. It has been so long since stamp duty was a political issue I had to look it up because I couldn't remember what type they were talking about. They're talking about houses. You know, when a guy suddenly takes interest in something new to impress a girl he's considered a bit of a loser but somehow in politics it is a "tactic".
Tue, Sep. 19th, 2006 10:05 am (UTC)
 ulaire_daidoji
I love the whole * They estimate the possibility of accidentally destroying the planet as extremely low. * The risk is calculated at about 10 to the minus 40 - a 1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,0 00,000,000,000 chance. I'm reminded of the scientists testing on the Manhattan Preoject who were unsure if a chain reaction would burn off the atmosphere of the Earth but thought "sod it anyway , let's give it a go! " Now assuming that space-time is infinite then many (in fact, to be pedantic about it, an infinite number of...) Black holes have been creating by civilisations doing these experiments.
Tue, Sep. 19th, 2006 10:13 am (UTC)
mr_wombat
Part of me really really wants to put a euro in Paddy Power's on the earth being destroyed. Just for shits and giggles.
Tue, Sep. 19th, 2006 10:08 am (UTC)
ulaire_daidoji
Oh and on the stamp duty... all that's doing is removing money from government coffers and putting it in the pockets of property developers. Ahh the laws of supply and demand, is there nothing they can't do?
Tue, Sep. 19th, 2006 10:13 am (UTC)
mr_wombat
Yeah, anyone dumb enough to think that abolishing the duty will make houses cheaper is in dire need of some plank re-education.
Tue, Sep. 19th, 2006 10:16 am (UTC)
ulaire_daidoji
The ONLY thing that will make house prices drop appreciably is when people stop paying ludicrous prices for them. As long as some pillock is willing to pay 400k for a 2 bedroom terraced house then there'll be some cute hooer who'll charge them that much for it.
Tue, Sep. 19th, 2006 10:32 am (UTC)
mr_wombat
I have a twin philosophy regarding this *First* - we're one of the few countries in europe, nay the world, where it is considered almost socially unacceptable to rent all your life. I however am not overly concerned with what other people think and am perfectly content to rent for as long as it takes for either house prices to drop and resume sanity because *second* - if I got a mortgage now I would be lucky to have paid it off by the time I was in a coffin. This is not to say I would not one day like to own my own place but not while doing so robs me of my freedom and condemns me to a lifetime of commuting for hours per day. I can walk to work in half an hour right now, and when I walk out my front door I have two parks, a river and every shop I could ever want within half an hour on the bus. That is a quality of life I value much more.
Tue, Sep. 19th, 2006 10:12 am (UTC)
bastun_ie
"* They estimate the possibility of accidentally destroying the planet as extremely low."
Ah, well that's all right then.
Tue, Sep. 19th, 2006 10:14 am (UTC)
mr_wombat
Y'know, maybe this is the hippy in me talking, or just the humanist or just the tiny spark inside that knows there is hope for humanity in general but if you ask me, if you can't actually say "There is categorically absolutely no chance whatsoever of us destroying the planet" then maybe you shouldn't be doing it.
Tue, Sep. 19th, 2006 10:18 am (UTC)
ulaire_daidoji
Every action you take could possibly destroy the planet. Yarr, quantum mechanics, be there anythin' it cain't do Jim-lad?
Tue, Sep. 19th, 2006 10:26 am (UTC)
mr_wombat
I generally avoid trying to do anything at or above the speed of light or in boxes marked "property of Erwin Schrödinger".
Tue, Sep. 19th, 2006 03:18 pm (UTC)
(Anonymous)
Somehow the combination of
"For the first time in many decades we have built a machine that exceeds our powers of prediction. New processes are bound to be discovered. We are truly journeying into unknown territory."
With
"The probability [of destroying the Earth] is at the level of 10 to the minus 40,"
does not put me at my ease.
I wonder if I can find out the exact date he plans to end the known universe so that I can make sure to say my prayers and huddle into the foetal position.
Tg
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