OT Ignornance

[v rainwater]

Right on, Pnut. Our proximity to Arkansas, this whitewater thing, and sharing such a cool common interest w/ such cool people is high on my list of blessings. That includes you also Fish, thanks for your wit and comic relief.
My family is certainly a blessing as well. I'm really proud of my son Brandon. He's 13 as of today and not a bad paddler, been running the Esses since he was 10. Thanks to the guidance of two wonderful women, Renee and Sabrina
Brandon came home from school yesterday a little concerned about an ethics multiple choice question he had to incorrectly answer (in his mind). The question was: Your friend tells you he has the answers to an upcoming test what do you do? Unless the "turn him in" option was your answer, you were wrong. Brandon thought the most ethical option would be to try to talk him into not using the stolen answers and if that failed, anonymously tip off the teacher about some students (no names) have the answers so she could change the test.
Check out this creepy public service ad that runs in the LA metroplex (minus the text). Why don't they just say, "I watch because I'm a fearful, paranoid, ignorant sheep incapable of independant thought completely unconcerned with personal liberty."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMz4b4hMIsI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Vernon RainH2O

[Prairie Tater]

Vernon, I have a good avatar for you. In case you don't recognize it, it is the logo from the movie: V For Vendetta. Very interesting movie which was based on a novel. Check it out if you haven't already.

[v rainwater]

I like that Praire Tater. Good relevant movie and yes it could happen here.

Naomi Wolf's "End of America" is an urgent, madatory wake-up call for those who don't realize just how fragile our democracy is. Penned in '06, it
focuses on the Bush cartel....but, Obama has done nothing in the way of change. She (Wolf) shows the parallels and similarities use by dictators worldwide to end democracys.

http://www.endofamericamovie.com/about- ... cietydwide" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; to crush freedom.

Here's an informative article connecting dots regarding the world financial mess from one of my favorite sites Global Research.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... &aid=17736" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Patriot V

[v rainwater]

Argentinians battle the IMF.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJgAXlRjb5Q" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Prairie Tater]

Picked this up from another board. Haven't verified all the stats, but I really don't see why they wouldn't be right. If anyone thinks gun control is a good idea, they should download this into their memory banks:

In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929
to 1953, about 20,000,000 dissidents, unable to defend
themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917,
1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were
rounded up and exterminated.

Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945,
a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend
themselves were rounded up and exterminated.

China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20
million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were
rounded up and exterminated

Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981,
100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were
rounded up and exterminated.

Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979,
300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded
up and exterminated

Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977,
one million educated people, unable to defend themselves,
were rounded up and exterminated.

Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th
Century because of gun control: 56,000,000!!!

It has now been 16 months since gun owners in Australia were
forced by new law to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be
destroyed by their own Government, a program costing
Australia taxpayers more than $500 million dollars. The first
year statistics are now in:

Australia-wide: Homicides are up 3.2 percent.
Australia-wide: Assaults are up 8.6 percent.
Australia-wide: Armed robberies are up 44 percent.
Victoria-wide: Homicides with firearms are now up 300 percent.
(Note that while the law-abiding citizens turned
them in, the criminals did not, so criminals still
possess their guns!)

While figures over the previous 25 years showed a steady
decrease in armed robbery with firearms, this has changed
drastically upward in the past 12 months, since criminals now
are guaranteed that their prey are unarmed.

There has also been a dramatic increase in break-ins and
assaults of the ELDERLY. Australian politicians are at a loss to
explain how public safety has decreased, after such
monumental effort, and expense was expended in successfully
ridding Australian society of guns. The Australian experience
and the other historical facts above prove it.

You won't see this data on the U.S. evening news,
or hear politicians disseminating this information.

Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property
and, yes, gun-control laws adversely affect only the law-abiding
citizens.

With guns, we are 'citizens.'
Without them, we are 'subjects'.

During WWII the Japanese decided not to invade America
because they knew most Americans were ARMED!

SWITZERLAND ISSUES EVERY HOUSEHOLD A GUN!
SWITZERLAND 'S GOVERNMENT TRAINS EVERY ADULT TO WHOM THEY
ISSUE A RIFLE. SWITZERLAND HAS THE LOWEST GUN-RELATED CRIME RATE
OF ANY CIVILIZED COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!!!

[Fish]

Oooh, ooh, check out my cool political-philosophical links too!

For a fascinating commentary on our position in the new world order and insight into thundercatism and neo-greyskullian philosophy, pay close attention to this link:
http://He-man.org

To get informed about the real problem facing our great nation - the rising threat of Skeletor and his evil (though really, really stupid) henchmen - I recommend this site:
http://castlegrayskull.org/

And for a series of short films that point out the futility of battling evil when evil never dies (no matter how hard you hit it with a magic sword), you won't want to miss this:
http://www.tv-links.cc/cartoon/He-Man-a ... iverse.htm

Go get the power! And happy paddling,
Fish :)