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Old 2011-01-11, 00:16   Link #11341
ZephyrLeanne
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Asuras View Post
Reagan-wannabe.

Well of course a governor needs cooperation from his/her own party. That's a little obvious, don't you think?
Problem was that Arnold Schwarzenegger was a Republican, and the legislature was Democrat-controlled.
Colorful veto letters emerged.

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Old 2011-01-11, 00:16   Link #11342
flying ^
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Asuras View Post
Reagan-wannabe.

Well of course a governor needs cooperation from his/her own party. That's a little obvious, don't you think?
but will demo-supermajority-led assembly and senate tolerate that Brown is taking (almost) the same stance as the governator when it comes to state spending?
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Old 2011-01-11, 00:17   Link #11343
SaintessHeart
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ganbaru View Post
Sorry to tell you this but, it's like that everywhere.It's just than the American might have more occasion to do it.
Agreed. If any Singaporean here remembers the previous GE with the PAP and SDP mud-slinging each other at rallies, it kinda makes the citizen feel if their compulsory "right" to vote is actually a lifetime liability that comes packaged with citizenship.

In Ancient Greece democracy is supposed to be a brilliant form of meritocracy and an epitome of fairness. Now is has degenerated into nothing more than a choice of the lesser evil to be heralded the leader of the land.

OTOH,

Knives out for conscription into Swiss army

Quote:
Switzerland's conscription army is facing an uncertain future, amid calls for compulsory military service to be abolished, and political pressure to keep defence costs down.

Neutral Switzerland requires every able-bodied man to serve in the army, starting with a five-month stint at age 19 or 20, with annual refresher courses lasting several weeks for the next 10 years, and more for officers.

This large army (currently 180,000 men for a population of 7.5 million) is designed solely to defend Switzerland. It will only ever be used in self-defence, and will never fight outside Swiss territory.

During World War II and the Cold War the military thinking was that, should an invasion happen, tens of thousands of infantry would sacrifice themselves defending Switzerland's borders, perhaps even only for a short time, while the rest would withdraw into vast bunkers in the Alps, from where they would fight on.

In the 21st Century, when Switzerland is on good terms with all its neighbours, such a strategy seems irrelevant and outdated to many young Swiss. Germany is already well on its way towards scrapping conscription.

Nevertheless, young men cannot avoid the call-up, and an estimated 8,000 began their first five-month stint this winter.

Reality check

Conditions can be quite a shock for those used to warm, single rooms, televisions and games consoles. New recruits often sleep 45 to a room, and each minute they are awake is planned for them.

A typical day might involve weapons training, target practice, field manoeuvres and first aid classes. All of it, including meals, takes place outside, whatever the temperature. Days are often rounded off with a 25km (15.5 miles) hike with full kit.

"I think a conscription army has a lot of benefits," said training officer Urs Halter. "They get physically fit here, we do a lot of sports. They learn to complete precise tasks within a given time frame.
Training officer Urs Halter Officer Urs Halter believes conscription has many benefits for recruits

But fitness training and bonding exercises do not add up to a military strategy, and this is not lost on the new recruits, who question the need to serve in the army.

"Like everyone else I'm only here because I have to be," said one young man. "I don't see a war for Switzerland, I don't like all this stuff, all this shooting, I don't think Switzerland needs an army."

"I don't like the gun," added another. "I don't think I'll ever shoot anyone, and if someone told me to do that I would run, and throw my gun away."

This is certainly not what their commanding officers want to hear, but the views of the recruits reflect a modern reality. A government cannot ask young people to give up months of their lives without providing a compelling reason for them to do so.

The Swiss government now faces a triple challenge: defining the threat to modern day Switzerland, persuading young men that serving in the military is worthwhile, and keeping the costs of national defence within reason.

The current budget is around 4.3bn Swiss francs ($4.5bn; £2.9bn) a year, and parliament has suggested it should not go any higher - a blow to the Swiss air force, which had been lobbying for new fighter jets.

Switzerland's militia army was regarded for decades by most Swiss as an untouchable national institution.

Requiring all men to serve was seen as fair and democratic, and as a useful way of uniting a country of three different cultures and languages.

Retired army officer Jean-Jacques Britt is one who has fond memories of those times.

"In the Swiss constitution it says every Swiss man has to go into the army," he explained.

"And it became like a social glue, everybody had something in common with the next man, the street sweeper with the bank director, everybody had been through the same school, and this is disappearing, this social glue, and a lot of people regret that," he said.

But the younger generation do not share those regrets. At Zurich University students in a hurry to find jobs in a difficult financial climate see military service as an unwelcome obstacle.

History student and anti-conscription campaigner Adrian Feller says his own spell in the army convinced him it was a thing of the past.

"We just hung around, we shot at targets, we were driven in tanks through the valleys, there was nothing useful for myself and nothing useful for my country."

Adrian and others are now trying to collect the 100,000 signatures needed to hold a nationwide referendum on abolishing conscription, and they think they have a good chance of success.

A recent opinion poll showed that compulsory military service is now supported by just 43% of the population, and among those under 40 the figure is even lower.

The Swiss government knows it must find alternatives, but changing such an enormous national institution will take time.
This is stupidity at its finest. Haven't they forgotten that "in peace, prepare for war"?

And this isn't just about national defence. War is no longer waged the way it was in full-scale battles. It is about asymmetric warfare and fighting unseen threats, something that is usually relegated to MPs, Intelligence and Base Defence units; hence it is important that the training has to shift towards how war has changed. Outside of the boys-to-men and loyalty to country bullshit, national service isn't that bad - it is the training syllabus and from time-to-time, the ranked asinine few who talk more than they can fight.

And that social glue part is quite true. I have met otakus, MILF-cons, lolicons, pettanko-cons, torpedo-tit-cons, soft guys, overaggressive guys, guidos, gosujins (rich kids), politicians, nerds, fitness freaks, gays, guys with OCD and MPD...the list goes on. And yet we all are forced to stick together and rely on each other during training despite our differences - and that experience makes a hell lot of difference in life.
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Last edited by SaintessHeart; 2011-01-11 at 00:45.
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Old 2011-01-11, 00:19   Link #11344
ZephyrLeanne
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SaintessHeart View Post
Agreed. If any Singaporean here remembers the previous GE with the PAP and SDP mud-slinging each other at rallies, it kinda makes the citizen feel if their compulsory "right" to vote is actually a lifetime liability that comes packaged with citizenship.
.
Vote-counters there tell me, the number of spoilt votes when SDP is in an electorate INCREASES exponentially.
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Old 2011-01-11, 01:36   Link #11345
Rising Dragon
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Knightrunner View Post
LOL. Every college Californian is suffering from this. I can't wait to get my college degree and be done with everything. Who knows I may live the New Jersey Shore lifestyle this summer after tuition and book payments kick my butt.

College is really going to be for the rich soon enough.
Yeah, and I already screwed myself by not taking enough of the art classes I need during all the general ed stuff, so I inadvertently prolonged the length of time I'll be spending in college. Lucky me.
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Old 2011-01-11, 02:38   Link #11346
Frenchie
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Blaming Jerry Brown for the cuts is so short sighted, he is not responsible for California's current predicament, he is responsible for rescuing it from its current predicament.
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Old 2011-01-11, 04:28   Link #11347
ZephyrLeanne
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Back to Arizona.

The silver lining: Giffords (D-AZ_8) is responsive to doctors.
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Old 2011-01-11, 05:57   Link #11348
ganbaru
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U.S.-Russian civilian nuclear deal enters force
http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNew...70A1SF20110111
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Old 2011-01-11, 06:02   Link #11349
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Improved relations and closer working ties between two nations that held resentments for each other for a greater part of modern history is all well and good. Now, to work on dismantling the nuclear warheads and using the nuclear material for energy if possible.
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Old 2011-01-11, 06:07   Link #11350
Tom Bombadil
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According to BBC, China test-flight the first stealth plane

Quote:
Leaked images of what was said to be China's J-20 fighter first appeared earlier this month during taxi tests at the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute.

On Tuesday, the plane took off and flew for about 15 minutes, according to eyewitness accounts published on unofficial Chinese web portals.

China says it expects the stealth plane to be operational some time between 2017 and 2019.
So it can fly.
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Old 2011-01-11, 06:11   Link #11351
Knightrunner
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Quote:
Originally Posted by flying ^ View Post
there's still a lot of options... grants, gov. backed loans

you can take private student loans but make sure you pick a major/degree that will land you a job right away
I wonder what kind of major can get you a job right away. It's true that there are many grants, but I don't see how students can pay it off in the future. I bet many students already used up all there grants and barely reach the half way mark in college.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rising Dragon View Post
Yeah, and I already screwed myself by not taking enough of the art classes I need during all the general ed stuff, so I inadvertently prolonged the length of time I'll be spending in college. Lucky me.
I guess we can only sing the Good-bye song until 12/21/2012 hits.
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Old 2011-01-11, 06:23   Link #11352
bladeofdarkness
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Bombadil View Post
According to BBC, China test-flight the first stealth plane



So it can fly.
maybe.
but the question is... can it run Crysis on full settings ?
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Old 2011-01-11, 07:43   Link #11353
ZephyrLeanne
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bladeofdarkness View Post
maybe.
but the question is... can it run Crysis on full settings ?
LOL. I don't think it can even operate StarCraft on 100% settings.

(Hey, South Koreans, here's a clue for you to defeat the Chinese: HACK 'EM and STARCRAFT 'em!)
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Old 2011-01-11, 08:08   Link #11354
Knightrunner
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Bombadil View Post
According to BBC, China test-flight the first stealth plane



So it can fly.
I learn something new everyday.
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Old 2011-01-11, 08:14   Link #11355
TinyRedLeaf
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Smallest planet outside solar system discovered
Quote:
Seattle (Jan 10, Mon): Astronomers have discovered the smallest planet outside our solar system, and the first that is undoubtedly rocky like Earth.

Measurements of unprecedented precision have shown that the planet, Kepler 10b, has a diameter 1.4 times that of Earth, and a mass 4.6 times higher.

However, because it orbits its host star so closely, the planet cannot harbour life. Still, the discovery has been hailed as "among the most profound in human history".

The result was announced at the 217th annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle by Nasa's Kepler space-telescope team.

BBC NEWS
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Old 2011-01-11, 08:49   Link #11356
Anh_Minh
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Frenchie View Post
Blaming Jerry Brown for the cuts is so short sighted, he is not responsible for California's current predicament, he is responsible for rescuing it from its current predicament.
Well, it's human to want the cuts to be somewhere that doesn't affect them.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Knightrunner View Post
I wonder what kind of major can get you a job right away.
Short of a major in "being the governor's nephew" or somesuch, I can't think of any.
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Old 2011-01-11, 09:00   Link #11357
ZephyrLeanne
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Anh_Minh View Post
Well, it's human to want the cuts to be somewhere that doesn't affect them.


Short of a major in "being the governor's nephew" or somesuch, I can't think of any.
POLITICAL SCIENCE.
Law used to cut it, but now only if you're in a place that does British law.
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Old 2011-01-11, 11:59   Link #11358
GundamFan0083
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More fish dying off.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/01/...ong-lakefront/
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Old 2011-01-11, 12:14   Link #11359
Mr_Paper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf View Post
Smallest planet outside solar system discovered
Quote:
Seattle (Jan 10, Mon): Astronomers have discovered the smallest planet outside our solar system, and the first that is undoubtedly rocky like Earth.

Measurements of unprecedented precision have shown that the planet, Kepler 10b, has a diameter 1.4 times that of Earth, and a mass 4.6 times higher.

However, because it orbits its host star so closely, the planet cannot harbour life. Still, the discovery has been hailed as "among the most profound in human history".

The result was announced at the 217th annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle by Nasa's Kepler space-telescope team.

BBC NEWS
When did finding a rock in space, uninhabitable and barren, become a discovery worthy of being called "amongst the most profound in human history"?

Move over Einstein, Galileo, and Newton, I found a rock!

I'm only mildly cynical today.
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Old 2011-01-11, 12:35   Link #11360
Ithekro
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Finding a lone grain of sand at 2,000 miles away with binoculars is probably about like finding an Earth sized planet in another star system. Space is vast you know and finding something using mainly just light over several light years distance is not easy. Especially when you have a large light source near the objects you are trying to find.
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