Croc

As far as the afterlife question. What happened before you were born? As far as you perceived, there was nothingness because you did not yet exist. But we clearly have no memory of nothingness. I'd expect the same in death.

Are you saying you don't understand why fascism is the opposite of communism?Let's have a few assumptions/facts: Communism has never been done. True Marxist/Communist thought has never been achieved due to human greed. True Communism, the far left extreme, is (simplification) the people governing themselves and working for the common good on everything. Maybe think of this as Utopianism? Fascism: Totalitarian regime where one person/entity (dictator) rules everyone. The two are fundamental opposites...one is one person ruling all (fascism) and the other opposite extreme is no one ruling anyone, but everyone collectively working together (and agreeing on the common good--this is where what we know as Communism failed miserably...and why true Communism will never work in practice)

?? Google "political spectrum" and you'll see how...left is communism and right is fascism...by looking at the linear spectrum this makes sense, since fascism (and any totalitarian regime) is the opposite of true communism.

Agreed. I actively go on news sites to try to find out what is going on around the world, and I find I have to go to BBC.com because CNN and all the others have "Bald Britney: Spears Shaves Head" as the big featured story. WTF IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE!!

I didn't invent the political spectrum. Fascism is represented as extreme right. As for "correctly" acknowledging where rights come from...the biggest problem is that no sect can agree on exactly which rights we have...otherwise if everyone agreed then we wouldn't have differing sects/religions. Since you seem to be a man (or woman) of strong faith, if that works for you, great. Conviction is good. But remember that this nation does not endorse any particular religion or sect so it is difficult to definitively speak of "correctly" attributing rights to an entity in the legal sense. Which brings me to... While technically correct, it was an elaboration of the Establishment Clause, which reads as follows: As has been interpreted by the courts throughout the years, this simply means a government entity cannot show any favoritism. There are two ways of respecting this: being 100% inclusive of everything in government, or being 100% exclusive (as you said, "abolish" religion). Personally, I think the reason it has moved more toward the "exclusive" path is that legally and logistically...it's easier. It's easier for the government to stay out of something 100% than be into everything 100%. One recent issue (from the 90s) I remember studying was holiday decorations; the city had, on government property, erected a holiday display that was Christian-themed. The courts ruled that to keep the Christian-themed holiday display, the city had to allow all groups to erect displays--essentially maintain an "open forum." Well, this worked well when the Channukah display went up, and the Kwanzaa display...but then the Wiccans erected a display, and people complained. As a result, the city decided the Wiccan display was against public values and took it down...the Wiccans complained and of course the court ruled in their favor: maintain an open forum for all, or do not for anyone. No more religious-themed holiday displays.I know a lot of people disagree with the "persecution" of Christianity...but all the Establishment Clause (of the Constitution, by the way) means is essentially no favoritism. The only thing stopping Christian-themed holiday displays is (usually public) prejudice against non-Christian religions.

Haha when I checked weather.com so I could get dressed this morning I did a double take. Ahhhh I love weather like this!

Agreed. That post was disturbing to me too...nutjobs like her actually promote the opposite cause...hence my first post in this thread. If anything, Chris, you should be wanting her to continue to espouse hate in an increasingly extreme and outlandish way. Wishing for her murder is both hypocritical and disappointing. HAHA That would be hilarious!

any definitive word on US?

I have no idea, and the new ads are irrelevant to the point I was making...for several years they used this nasal guy on the voiceovers during much of the Led Zeppelin era of ads. A lot of people commented on the poor choice of VO both on here and in the marketing community.Another instance of bad branding comes to mind with the "Not Your Father's Oldsmobile" ads.

Agreed; GM's branding is pretty lacking. The best instance of this is the continual mis-use of that nasal-voiced guy for the Cadillac commercials. Sorry, but that voice-over voice might work for Pontiac, but it kills the Cadillac marketing message.

I never mentioned Christianity, nor did I use the word "conservative." When talking about the linear political spectrum, extreme left is communism and extreme right is a totalitarian regime similar to fascism. The GOP is center and the Democratic party is also Center...with GOP slightly right of the Democrats.I would say Coulter's politics (as she espouses them) are generally further right than most who associate with the GOP. Now, unless your views are essentially Nazi-ism, your views are not anywhere near "extreme right." As for your other questions, the attention/association goes to the people who scream the loudest. Same reason many GOPs associate democrats/liberals with Michael Moore...when most do not.

Bob, check wikipedia.

Very derivative and bland. Sterile. And GM only wishes its brand reps dressed in suits and it had random hot chicks by the custom rims displays...

Some people wonder if Coulter is really a hardcore liberal who attacks rightism through preaching the most extreme right $h! she can dream up.

Most cars look kinda scary from the vantage point of a toddler.

I just saw this post, otherwise I'd have responded sooner...You're right, all I know about Pontiac is what it has been since the late 80s. Here's the thing: most consumers don't remember any of the "heritage" anyway as consumer memory is relatively short. Pontiac built a name for itself as a performance brand for those on a budget. DeLorean did a great job by dropping those big engines in those generic, budget cars to bring Pontiac to life. But, those cars were relatively unassuming in appearance, the quintessential "sleeper" if you will. That's what Pontiac needs to be again. The biggest hurdle though is that GM has spent the last decade promoting the Chevrolet SS sub-brand. When the SS badge is alive and well, what's the point of having Pontiac as performance on a budget? There's only one way to differentiate Pontiac, and that's to offer more refinement (including RWD) and a more polished image than a Chevrolet. Pontiac needs to thread the needle between Chevrolet SS and Saturn. Can they do it? With a highly-focused lineup of RWD vehicles, maybe. But the boy-racer styling has to go. Leave that to Chevrolet SS. As for why not go to Acura (why you bring up Infiniti, Lexus or BMW I do not know--those are luxury brands) instead of Pontiac? Price and performance. Acuras really aren't about performance. Price Pontiacs along with mainstream brands, but have the performance to back it up. Smoke/blackout the headlamps. Have some side vents like the Solstice. Make rears like the G8 (smoked clear lenses with the colored light modules) the standard design vocabulary. And sure, add some curves instead of straight lines to the profile for the lower models. The G8 lines (straight) are fine for a vehicle in its class. The problem is that Pontiacs have a tendency to look cartoonish, especially the early-90s Grand AM, Grand Prix, and the 4th gen Firebird/Trans Am. I actually think styling like the G6 would be good for the brand, except make it appear less tall & narrow--like the original G6 show car. Solstice is a little too rounded for my tastes, but again, its overall cues are good (side vents being my favorite, but also the taillamp shape, rear fog lamps, and profile curves). If the front bumper of the Solstice were more angular, the headlight shape a little less "cute" and the rear bumper more angular, then it would be perfect. I still think the G8 will turn heads, something an Acura will not do. Of course, a lot of this debate is subjective, but honestly I think we should just wait until they hit the market this autumn. We will see who's right and who's not then, and if the market finds the G8 far too bland, then I will admit I was wrong and let you gloat. Deal?

Sucks to be a G6 owner.

Appearance plays a lot in it, but I really think confidence is the bigger determinant. Fraternity rush and Sorority rush are soooooo different though that I can only speak for the guys, but really, self-confidence has way more to do with recruitment potential than actual appearance.

Grading curves are the best thing ever, aren't they?

Well, considering as I mentioned in my first post that I've been good friends with one of the 23 since HS, I figured I'd share a national story involving one of my friends, especially since it involved a blatant case of discrimination. Other people share things on this site. No, it wasn't the kids doing it--it was the middle-aged women who run the organization out of Ohio. That's what's so noteworthy of this story: the girls were in the sorority, and their supposedly "adult" national organization went in and kicked out the ones they felt weren't attractive enough.

Clearly no one reads the NYT, or glanced at Monday's front page for that matter...

Ten bucks says I'm more stunned, especially if he followed in-laws.I liked growing up without the entire extended family in one town...it made for some great excuses to take vacations (Susan lives in Orlando...let's go to Disney! WWII Vet. Aunt Lucy lives in San Antonio...let's remember the Alamo), and they couldn't annoy the crap out of me more than once a year when they descend on our house like vultures for the holidays.

It would be neat for this to happen...finally, Canadians doing something ballsy. Props to Magna if this goes through.

That's BS. Sorry, but there is very little to support that. Adjust the college prices for inflation, and you will see they are largely similar. The only thing that HAS changed, is that the cheaper community colleges have improved a lot. Of course, with that cost reduction you lose brand recognition of your degree. College isn't just the classes--student life is a big part of it, and frankly $40,000 is a bargain for the lifelong friends I've made and the total blast I'm having.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/25/education/25sorority.html I'm sure most of y'all have heard about the big NYT story...but what you may not know is that one of my good friends from HS was one of the 23, and she just finished giving an interview with People today, which will be for sale this Thursday. I'd give more of what I know of the situation now, but I have an Urban & Regional Economics midterm tomorrow that I have to get back to studying for...boooo