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Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 1:34 pm
by flashleg8
AlgyTaylor wrote:btw - are you from Larkhall (in Lanarkshire)? My ex-flatmate was from there ...
I am actually! (I just say Hall-of-the-Larks ‘cause it sounds fancier – Larkhall’s not got the best reputation!)
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 2:00 pm
by 2dimes
heavycola wrote:Well, I believe in the soul, the #cough#, the #ahem#, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days. Goodnight.
Fast and out of control, kind of like he pitches.
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 2:05 pm
by vtmarik
List? Meh, why not?
I don't care about homosexuality.
I don't care about abortion.
I am anti-Evangelism
I am a pacifist, but I understand the need for a military.
I don't care where you're from, if you can exploit the system then good for you.
In terms of minimum wage, I think that the lowest limit should at least be able to keep people above or at the poverty line.
I don't care about social programs
I am anti-monopoly.
I am pro-taxation, to the extent that I get to choose where my tax money goes.
I am anti-Politics
I am pro-school vouchers.
I don't care about corporations, as long as competition isn't stifled.
I am pro-trained, responsible gun ownership.
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 2:13 pm
by AlgyTaylor
flashleg8 wrote:I am actually! (I just say Hall-of-the-Larks ‘cause it sounds fancier – Larkhall’s not got the best reputation!)
No. I've heard ........ stories.

Funny and worrying in equal measure.
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 3:51 pm
by Genghis Khant
AlgyTaylor wrote:flashleg8 wrote:I am actually! (I just say Hall-of-the-Larks ‘cause it sounds fancier – Larkhall’s not got the best reputation!)
No. I've heard ........ stories.

Funny and worrying in equal measure.
Sounds like the Gurnos in Merthyr
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 3:58 pm
by Stopper
THis topic seemed too much like hard work on a work night to answer, but that list was a good idea. Here're my modifications:
I don't care about homosexuality. It's your/their choice.
I am pro womans right to do what she wants with her body, which includes abortion.
I am anti-Church - though people should be free to practice what they like, it'd be better for the world if religions died out altogether.
Very pro-State
Not a pacifist, but there hasn't been a just war since WWII
I am pro-Immigration.
I am pro-Illegal Immigration & Open Borders. People don't give up their homelands to come to the first world without a damn good reason. Much of the blame for the poor state of the third world can be put on the first world.
I am pro-Minimum wage and pro-Maximum wage. Differentials shouldn't be more than 5x.
I am pro-Social Programs.
The free market is an important generator of wealth, but it needs to be heavily controlled by public authorities, because it is most definitely NOT self-correcting!
I am anti-charity, generally. Charities are fine when they plug gaps that the State doesn't fill, but the State should then fill in these gaps. Ideally, charities shouldn't exist.
GMOs? Pretty much in favour. Much of the opposition is irrational fear of science. On the same tack, I'm also pro-nuclear power.
I'm sure there's more..., but I'm knackered just now and I can't think of anything else.
In real life, though, I'm a longtime Labour Party member, though I haven't been active for a while. If I was absolutely honest, I think the best outcome for the next UK election would be a hung parliament. Hopefully then some sort of PR would be negotiated, and I could support a proper socialist party, without feeling like I was wasting my votes and money.
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 4:22 pm
by unriggable
I am pro-homosexuality, as in I don't see why not.
I am pro-abortion(unless the baby will be born soon).
I am VERY pro-Seperation of Church & State.
I am anti-Afghanistan War.
I am anti-Iraq War.
I am pro-Immigration.
I am anti-Illegal Immigration, that being said the laws need to be relaxed.
I am pro-Higher Minimum Wage.
I am VERY pro-Many Social Programs.
I am pro-National Healthcare System.
I am anti-Nuclear Power.
I am anti-Nuclear Weapons(for stable nations)
I am anti-Giving Public Funding to Non-Public Schools.
I am anti-Giving Money to Private Broadcasting Companies.
I am anti-Bush.
I am pro-Hillary.
I am VERY pro-Obama.
I am pro-Edwards.
I am undecided on McCain(generally).
I am anti-Rudy.
I am pro-Almost all Stem Cell Research.
I am pro-drugs
EDIT I am pro-gun ownership IF the person has any training. However what guns are legal should be very strict.
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 4:32 pm
by Stopper
unriggable wrote:I am anti-Nuclear Power.
Why? Surely it's one of the best current options for reducing carbon dioxide emissions? France provides 80% of its electricity using nuclear power, which seems to me to mean that its trains are almost carbon dioxide-emission free.
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 5:06 pm
by areon
Trading carbon emissions for half-lifes is a bad long term investment. I haven't seen any problems out of France and Japan yet with the emphasis on nuclear power. Has anyone heard of any difficulties they are having converting certain uranium isotopes to pletonium?
GMOs are very dangerous not for scientific reasons but political ones. When they start to create plants with seeds that self destruct to prevent replanting, ethical problems arise. A lot of these companies have bad histories in pesticides and growth hormones as well.
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 5:37 pm
by Stopper
areon wrote:Trading carbon emissions for half-lifes is a bad long term investment.
If you mean storage of waste, I don't see why that can't be something that can be left to future generations - after all, they will benefit from the economic/scientific progress we make, so they can deal with the after-effects. As long as we can store waste for a century at a time, I don't see how it's a problem.
areon wrote:GMOs are very dangerous not for scientific reasons but political ones. When they start to create plants with seeds that self destruct to prevent replanting, ethical problems arise. A lot of these companies have bad histories in pesticides and growth hormones as well.
I've never heard of self-destructing seeds, (I assume that would be to ensure that purchasers would have to keep going back to the suppliers?), that sounds a little futuristic to me, but I ain't no biologist. I've got no illusions about the conduct of companies that produce GMOs - you'd hope there was proper regulation of GMOs. But it seems to me that, particularly in Europe, a lot of the opposition is just based on outright fear of anything new, rather than well-founded doubts.
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 5:39 pm
by btownmeggy
Stopper wrote:I've never heard of self-destructing seeds, (I assume that would be to ensure that purchasers would have to keep going back to the suppliers?), that sounds a little futuristic to me, but I ain't no biologist. I've got no illusions about the conduct of companies that produce GMOs - you'd hope there was proper regulation of GMOs. But it seems to me that, particularly in Europe, a lot of the opposition is just based on outright fear of anything new, rather than well-founded doubts.
Some companies sells seeds that turn into plants that won't produce their own seeds, so you have to keep buying them from the company.
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 5:42 pm
by Guiscard
Stopper wrote:In real life, though, I'm a longtime Labour Party member, though I haven't been active for a while. If I was absolutely honest, I think the best outcome for the next UK election would be a hung parliament. Hopefully then some sort of PR would be negotiated, and I could support a proper socialist party, without feeling like I was wasting my votes and money.
Pretty much what I think, to be honest (although I'm not convinced about PR, leeds to an unstable governemtn - look at Italy at the moment - and the scary thought of BNP members becoming MP for my hometown.)
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 5:49 pm
by flashleg8
btownmeggy wrote:Stopper wrote:I've never heard of self-destructing seeds, (I assume that would be to ensure that purchasers would have to keep going back to the suppliers?), that sounds a little futuristic to me, but I ain't no biologist. I've got no illusions about the conduct of companies that produce GMOs - you'd hope there was proper regulation of GMOs. But it seems to me that, particularly in Europe, a lot of the opposition is just based on outright fear of anything new, rather than well-founded doubts.
Some companies sells seeds that turn into plants that won't produce their own seeds, so you have to keep buying them from the company.
Yes that is unfortunately correct. The use of GM in North America is getting quite widespread and it is common practice for the producers to create hybrid plants which are sterile. One of the reasons they give for this is to stop the GM crop crossbreeding with wild crops (an indecently non customer neighboring farms) - but I think we all know the real reason is to allow repeat sales - as the previous posters pointed out.
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 6:00 pm
by Stopper
Guiscard wrote:Stopper wrote:In real life, though, I'm a longtime Labour Party member, though I haven't been active for a while. If I was absolutely honest, I think the best outcome for the next UK election would be a hung parliament. Hopefully then some sort of PR would be negotiated, and I could support a proper socialist party, without feeling like I was wasting my votes and money.
Pretty much what I think, to be honest (although I'm not convinced about PR, leeds to an unstable governemtn - look at Italy at the moment - and the scary thought of BNP members becoming MP for my hometown.)
I accept what you say about both disadvantages - "weaker" government and extremist parties, but First-past-the-post only
smooths over both these problems, it doesn't address them. Eg, areas where the BNP are on the rise are often areas Labour have neglected, because they're generally assured of the vote. The BNP should be properly tackled on a fair basis, not just because of the system - otherwise the poison they spread could just sit there and fester, while Labour MP after Labour MP just get re-elected.
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 6:10 pm
by Stopper
flashleg8 wrote:btownmeggy wrote:Some companies sells seeds that turn into plants that won't produce their own seeds, so you have to keep buying them from the company.
Yes that is unfortunately correct. The use of GM in North America is getting quite widespread and it is common practice for the producers to create hybrid plants which are sterile. One of the reasons they give for this is to stop the GM crop crossbreeding with wild crops (an indecently non customer neighboring farms) - but I think we all know the real reason is to allow repeat sales - as the previous posters pointed out.
Being controversial then, I can't immediately see a problem with the principle of selling these kinds of seeds (I just got stuck on the idea of self-destructing seeds, rather than plants that produce sterile offspring, for some reason.)
If I were honest, I have never thought the production of GMOs was ever really going to solve world hunger or anything like that.
That could be done in a heartbeat and without any technology whatsoever if the Western world wanted. Probably the main benefit of GMOs will be to make agriculture yet more efficient in countries that can afford them, thereby helping to increase economic growth.
Nevertheless, I still think the opposition to GMOs (in Europe, anyway), is generally based on anti-scientific and maybe anti-corporation feeling, but not for any rational reason.
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 6:16 pm
by heavycola
btownmeggy wrote:Stopper wrote:I've never heard of self-destructing seeds, (I assume that would be to ensure that purchasers would have to keep going back to the suppliers?), that sounds a little futuristic to me, but I ain't no biologist. I've got no illusions about the conduct of companies that produce GMOs - you'd hope there was proper regulation of GMOs. But it seems to me that, particularly in Europe, a lot of the opposition is just based on outright fear of anything new, rather than well-founded doubts.
Some companies sells seeds that turn into plants that won't produce their own seeds, so you have to keep buying them from the company.
Monsanto tried to screw over indian farmers - INDIAN farmers FFS - with their terminator seed technology. And they tried to sue a Canadian farmer because some of their Roundup Ready seeds blew into his field and got mixed in with his crop. GM could be wonderfully beneficial, but multinational biotech does not have anyone's interests at heart but their shareholders. Humankind has managed to grow its own organic food for thousands of years and i we should know what we are doing by now.
When peak oil happens we are going to have to relearn all that anyway. I can't wait.
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 6:38 pm
by unriggable
Stopper wrote:unriggable wrote:I am anti-Nuclear Power.
Why? Surely it's one of the best current options for reducing carbon dioxide emissions? France provides 80% of its electricity using nuclear power, which seems to me to mean that its trains are almost carbon dioxide-emission free.
Ooooooooooooooohhhh. I thought by nuclear power you meant like Soviet Russia or America... my Bad. I'm somewhat pro it, but much more in support of wind power and solar power.
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 6:40 pm
by boogiesadda
My views travel all along the political spectrum for example:
I do not believe in abortion except in the cases of rape or incest
Homosexuality does not bother me but marriage is between a man and a woman civil unions are fine.
I support stem cell research
I do not believe in unprovoked acts of war
I do not believe in the unconditional backing of Israel nor the war on Islam (otherwise known as the war on terror)
I am pro nuclear power but think we should spend our time on wind, solar and hydroelectric power
I am anti union simply for the fact that not everyone deserves a raise every year. Pay should be based on performance and nothing else!!!
I am conservative in finances
Political figures should only be allowed one term (there should be no such thing as a career politician)
I could go on and on.........
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 6:42 pm
by btownmeggy
boogiesadda wrote:marriage is between a man and a woman
Why?
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 6:42 pm
by unriggable
boogiesadda wrote:Political figures should only be allowed one term (there should be no such thing as a career politician)
Well political figures are meant to be people like Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama, and JFK, but then we end up with deuschebags like Dick Cheney and Tom DeLay. Politicians are a wierd type. I blame the lobbyists.
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 6:53 pm
by jay_a2j
Registered Republican
My views:
Pro-Life
Against death penalty
Pro securing our boarders and gradually sending illegals back home.
Pro military
Anti- overtaxation
Anti most social welfare programs
Anti ACLU
Anti Affirmative Action
Politically incorrect
to name a few.
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 7:05 pm
by flashleg8
jay_a2j wrote:My views:
Against death penalty
I'm surprised Jay (I agree completely). I would have had you pegged for pro on this (just shows you not to pigeon hole anyone I suppose).
Is this because of your Christian beliefs?
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 7:11 pm
by jay_a2j
flashleg8 wrote:jay_a2j wrote:My views:
Against death penalty
I'm surprised Jay (I agree completely). I would have had you pegged for pro on this (just shows you not to pigeon hole anyone I suppose).
Is this because of your Christian beliefs?
In part..... killing is killing. I have gone back and forth on this issue...but I always end up back here. Something about WWJD? Forgive them. Also I believe that only God has the right to take life.
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 7:15 pm
by vtmarik
jay_a2j wrote:Anti ACLU
Now why would any American be against an organization that is designed to preserve the US Constitution?
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 7:18 pm
by unriggable
What's ACLU?