ants with nukes

seems like you're under-exaggerating the difference between "whoring for votes" and "spending their time better on something else". the war on child porn, the war on drugs, and the war on terror are all examples of what i would consider legitimate "whoring for votes."

The majority of your post is good, however the first part is quite wrong.

The metric you seek is anything that measures the average, absolute value of the sound signal amplitude (average loudness). Among other equally apt solutions offered in this thread, as frank_adrian314159 says in reply to you, average sound energy would be a good choice.

hrm yeah, just like how a hot fart smells is subjective. weird how most people still know it smells bad.

So there's no point in regulating profanity on TV because deaf people can't hear it? (CC aside)

Basically from this point on I agree with you. Another example of annoying-ass advertising is the "secondary event" shit at the bottom of the screen. Very distracting.

...bitches!

Can you recommend a good model/setup? Also for my information, what country/state are you in and who is your tv provider?

Ixquick deletes logged data within 48 hours and does not record your IP address.

I also found this link interesting (from 2007).

In Blizzard's defense, I assume they are trying to keep the game fair, so that your character's progress, eq and abilities are based on merit (i.e. time spent playing) instead of RL money. It is certainly a noble goal, if difficult to achieve.

I see some potential in your statement. If I may (changes in bold):

No one needs war.

I hope you used email rather than snail mail. Yes, a physical letter (especially handwritten) carries more weight, however nowadays it typically takes 3 months for a snail mail to reach the president. Thus for best results, use email :)

I have no idea why you got modded up and GP down. He was obviously referring only to Somalia with his remark about laissez faire capitalism. There are FAIAP /no/ laws there.

I am also confused by your last sentence, which seems to imply that the UN has direct influence on Somalian law and/or government.

Jesus, pessimist much? Campaign finance is imho the single biggest problem with American government today and it would be best for starters if people had a more positive attitude in working toward solutions. It's frustrating when I see a lot of people just say "god our system/government/president sucks", throw their arms up and walk away.

Important to note however is our one key advantage over the entrenched powers that be: strength in numbers. We can out-petition them, out-protest them. Make our voice strong. We can out-muscle them if it came to that. But most importantly we can out-vote them. All we have to do (admittedly probably not simple nor easy) is unify and organize ourselves, and change will come.

Why do you say that? If anything I think it is the opposite. But the reason it might appear that way when converting from the American political scale to the European version is that Americans, particularly conservatives, do not realize how much space there is to the left of what they consider the "left". So in actuality it is not the world moving to the right, but the space to the left opening up in the minds of Americans.

Then how about a Beowulf cluster of meter maids? (with walkie talkies of course)

You, sir, are a fool and a contributor to the worrisome trend in this country of increasing powerlessness. That you conclude that no political/economic philosophy can work in practice is deeply saddening. To me it is on par with a suicidal person saying "life's not worth living."

Our government here in the U.S. really isn't all the bad (or at least could be worse, jokes aside) but could make huge strides toward its ideal form with, for example, the following three simple yet groundbreaking reforms:

1.) Ban corporate contributions to political campaigns. This places power over campaigns where it belongs - to individual Citizens. (Note: must close loopholes for "personal" donations from CEOs, etc.)

2.) Eliminate the current "winner-take-all" electoral voting system. Replace with a Congressional District Method or something similar. This would allow 3rd parties to actually have a chance at getting even a small number of representatives on Congress, which is practically impossible under the current duopoly.

3.) Legalize all drugs. "A 2008 study by Harvard economist Jeffrey A. Miron has estimated that legalizing drugs would inject $76.8 billion a year into the U.S. economy." It would also dramatically reduce or eliminate gang/cartel-related violence by allowing these people to settle disputes and report crimes through legal means, e.g. the courts.

The most important thing to remember is we are the only ones who can take the power back from the corporations and political groups who took it from us.

You are the first person I have seen to ever use the term "Biblical morality" in a negative sense. Seriously, bravo.