Music has been in decline for good while, it was completely commercialised, but it may turn around soon. We hear that the internet is killing the music industry, whereas really it's allowing artists to make, produce and circulate their music outside of the control of the record industry. The people who are about music can now make music for the love of it, without censorship, and without making people like Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh rich. Remember when albums were over €20? Only a few cents were going to the bands. There's so many brilliant artists out there now, you just look for them online.
Paranormal activity definitely exists, the debate really is to what extent and in what forms. With advances in science and information, an arrogant attitude has developed in people towards many areas of study that may have some basis in fact. Personally, I don't believe in ghosts in the traditional sense. If that were true there would be billions of ghosts everywhere right now with f all to do.
There's alot about the energy of the Earth that we don't understand, but in a real way we are all connected to it and part of it, and someday we must return to it.
If you think about our senses, they are all tuned to perceive our surroundings within a very limited range. There are sounds we can't hear and spectrums we can't see, but they are still there. We are like radios tuned to one station. If we could change the station, or alter our ability to perceive, we would be able to interpret more.
Some people believe that our spiritual ability and senses have declined, that earlier civilisations were far more tuned than we are now. Like a muscle we no longer use, that area of our brains has gone into atrophy.
Another question is: Would we be able to interpret and understand things that are beyond our range, if we did perceive them?
Sorry, I'm a European and an Environmentalist. Guess we won't get on. You're also far, far smarter than me. You're smart enough to run for president yourself!!
gardenhackle: Why? You called our ex-president an idiot. And not because you're a genius, but because you don't like him. Don't talk to me about out of line. Who we elected isn't your bloody business. Out of line.... cheeky bloke, aint ya?!
Bit of a 180 there. Mixed signal. Are we allowed our opinion or not boss?
Welfare families? Do you mean only poor Americans didn't like him? It's amazing the damage that one person can do to a country's reputation. Can you rephrase the last part of your statement, the run of words has escaped my limited Irish grasp.
There was some talk about questionable election tactics and doubts about the final count. I didn't want to mention that here because alot of Americans seem to take it up the wrong way.
The drink culture has changed here a bit recently.
During the boom years, it used to be Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The government did away with late opening in bars on Thursday to counteract loss of manpower and work on Friday.
Many businesses started investigating sick claims in work to make sure they weren't drink related.
A public smoking ban was introduced which has hurt the pubs badly. Many closed down. A lot of smokers drink at home instead now.
The recession has reduced the amount of money people have, so the big night is now Saturday in a few of the big towns. The other nights are quieter.
Many people in their 20's drink at home and get a taxi straight to a nightclub around midnight to save money. Almost all students in my town do this.
Alot of Irish typically binge drink, we can hack that better than most. Drinking a little bit over the day is more a mainland European idea. Alot of us don't do it, because once we drink one or two drinks we end up out for the night and wrecked for work the next day.
Just read the paper from yesterday: "Target Sellafield". Apparently AQ threatened a nuclear attack in the event of OBLs death (US source, Guantanamo Interrogations) 5 suspects were arrested near the Sellafield plant taking photos, over 400km from home.
For any people who haven't heard of Sellafield, it's a nuclear reprocessing plant in Britain, 80km from Ireland. A few years ago when the War on Terrorism kicked off, Sellafield was named as a potential target. Every household in Ireland was issued with a booklet detailing nuclear shockwave radii and after affects. People in our capital, Dublin, would die quickly, people die further out in about 8 hours, and beyond that people die in a few days. The rest get cancer. About two thirds of the country die, rough guess, maybe half best case. We were also issued with Iodine tablets, every household in Ireland. As long as they counteract death by severe nuclear burns, we're fine.
Seriously though, we're still mystified over the Iodine tablets.
Ha ha, not quite. There are two prevailing theories on climate change. One states that it's man-made, i.e. Carbon emissions. The other states that it's a natural cycle of the Earth. The fact is that it's happening already. Unless anyone wants to deny that all the freak weather, earthquakes, hurricanes and floods aren't happening. Resources are running out. Countries are going to war to scrape up what's left. The global economy is. . . well. You must know what that's like if you read a paper. Climate change has happened before. Empires have fallen before. What effect did this have in the past?
Some people join forums just to mock others. They think it's funny when people try to justify their point of view. They don't really add anything substantial, it's just a form of entertainment for them. So please, if you disagree with me, come up with something better than emoticons and movie references. That little dancing man. He is for you. ;)
I hope the same. I believe that we are at a pivotal point in human history, and that very soon humanity may be forced to re-examine it's values and change for the better. Unfortunately, this could happen initially through global destabilisation, climate change, and shortage of resources.
But then, they say: "Out of the darkness must come the light". ;)
Thank you for the link, just read it there. Hopefully Pakistan and America can get on, being that they're both nuclear powers. Remember reading a projective report on a nuclear war between India and Pakistan, even with their small arsenal, they've enough firepower to block out the rays of the sun.
Except that Saddam was given those weapons in the 80's. America first invaded Iraq in the 90's. After that America placed a trade embargo on Iraq, they couldn't even import steel and medical equipment in sufficient quantities, let alone weapons.
Hi. The chemical weapons Saddam had were given to him by Europe and America, and that's not theory. He was installed in power by the Americans, part of British and American Foreign policy is to back or install a foreign government that will support Coalition interests in that region. Usually oil, sometimes other resources. This is documented and has been done several times before Saddam, most notably in Iran in the 50's. Sometimes the US backs a rebel faction, or insurgency to overthrow a "corrupt regime", which is happening right now in Libya. This is socially acceptable to most, but it is worth mentioning that the people that Europe and the US are backing in Libya are by US terms "terrorists", because they oppose their country's government and are bearing arms against it. It's clear enough why the US installed Saddam, but why on earth did they, and Europe, give him chemical weapons in the first place? Regarding the Kurds, I don't think they can be defined as Iraqi, as they are nomadic. They have had a rough time of it in other parts of the world too, the Russians practiced ethnic cleansing on them and other minorities a few decades ago, though that is not as well publicised as the Iraqi incidents. Colin Powell did not believe that Iraq had WMDs, and even if they did, they lacked the delivery method to launch any against the US, that is, they didn't have the missile technology to do it. The scud launchers were supposedly a threat in the first Iraq war, but that was just hype. The missiles often went off target by 50 miles, sometimes landing in Iraq. The technology used is little better than WW2 era, laughable by today's standards.
Speaking from a personal point of view, I'd say he was long dead. That's why there's no body, time of death can't be proven. Liver failure requires a transplant and follow up procedures in a good hospital. Kidney failure requires dialysis, and there's a short list of hospitals with those facilities. OBL's phantom was kept going as long it was needed by the US. Once again, that's a personal opinion.
Just up now they're saying they have a new, final audio cassette from OBL. The last video I can find is from 2007, and there's some doubts about it's authenticity. The Oct 2010 audio cassette seems to be about the Pakistan floods, there may be more about France. There also saying now he was in that house in Pakistan for 5 years+?
Looking over Powell's career and judging by his actions after the 2nd Iraqi war, I'd have to say that he looks like a decent guy. That's purely opinion, you can only really judge people by their actions ultimately.
Anyone got an American opinion on Cheney? Is he as bad as he looks to the rest of us?
dantes85 Forum Posts (363)
That little dancing man. He is for you. ;)
RE: Real Music
Music has been in decline for good while, it was completely commercialised, but it may turn around soon. We hear that the internet is killing the music industry, whereas really it's allowing artists to make, produce and circulate their music outside of the control of the record industry. The people who are about music can now make music for the love of it, without censorship, and without making people like Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh rich. Remember when albums were over €20? Only a few cents were going to the bands. There's so many brilliant artists out there now, you just look for them online.