rrpearso.. as you so inelegantly put it.. there are alternative enrgy sources.. however, they are not, as yet anywhere near their useful stage.. ethanol dreivatives from corn and other vegetable matter costs more in energy to produce than to use as a supply [ this will be overcome, no doubt.. but..when? ] solar energy is still too limiting as viosible light is the main source tapped which one doesn't always get every day and, of course, storage batteries are bulky and limiting.....maybe when science can tap into the infrared spectrum things will improve and , if they find a way to control the dissipation factor [ lose 9 to 12 percent of energy in solar collection at present ]..

what's left? junior atomic piles al a Back to the Future's Mr. fusion?.. Hydrogen? Fuel Cells?...

nope.. oil and its derivatives power too much of the economies [ how much plastic is petroleum based? ] so there will be a general collapse or more wars of control before things settle down some...can't wait til when the US sucks alaska dry and turns it into a tropical paradise with global warming.. think of all that new beachfront property coming onto the market...midnight suntans...I'm bidding on the walrus burger franchises and caribou steak concessions...

You just proved my point, there is no energy source as good as oil and that will force people to modify the way they live we will no longer be able to live in lavish excess driving behemouth SUV's when you work as a school teacher. Once Alaska oil is gone I will be dead but when it is gone, this state will likely go back to the natives, sure you will still have downtown anchorage but only as a tourist site. The problem is everyone in the world wants to live like americans and there is not enought resources to do that, that means there are to many people, most americans should not be living like they are living, the credit system is way over the top and it enables americans to live way beyond there income. The way you force people back into living within there income is with economics (ie more stringint requirements for credit and higher energy costs) because lets face it who wants to spend 5 or 6$ on a gallon of gas if you do not really really need to go somewhere. Then I wont have to see people on the road driving ford excursions to go to the mall to buy ear rings because economics will drive that sort of behavior into the past. And china can slide back into second world status because a barral of oil will be to expensive to continue there massive lavish consumption of energy to try to bring there billion people to first world status. Thats like saying one plus one should equal 5. Its about quality of life not quantity, so if they want to have a billion people then they can all cram into mud huts and pray that oil does not go to 100$ a barrel, because guess what lumber takes land to grow and drywall energy to make, concrete is expensive so they cant honesty think that all one billion of them are going to be living in an american sized house with all the amenitys. Americans cant even afford to live in the 3,000 sq ft house with a yard and an acer of property because economics are driving out that type of life style to all thoes but the ones that can actually afford to do it. The people with the most forthought and intellegance in there life will have the ammenitys to show for it. The way you live and not what you say says the most about you. Someone calling me a poophead does not change the fact that I am climbing a ladder to a stable platform comfortably above the assholes to elbows masses of americans, becasue of the decisions I make in my life and the areas that I choose to focus my energy and work towards. Military service is fruitless labor when a war is being fought out of convience rather than nessisity. Also the rewards do not outweight the risk and toleration of a degraded lifestyle. Any investor knows that in order to take on more risk there must be the potential for greater return otherwise its a foolish investment. But im a dishonorable poophead even though I am fast approching the standard of living at 25 yrs old what it took some of you until you were 40, 50 and 60 yrs old to attain. When the focus in your life is not your own you will not be succesful.

What I am recognizing on this forum is stubborn arrogance. The whole I served and tolerated a foolish downgrad in lifestyle and I justify it by calling myself honorable instead of admiting a foolish mistake and moving on. Thoes that choose to cut out that foolish mistake and move on I will ridicule because I went through it so damn it so are you, so that way it will take both of us until our 40s to be able to enjoy financial independance.

?

when oil/energy prices go up - lavish lifestyles of low wage earners goes down.

High energy prices will seperate thoes that can actaully afford the quality of life they are in and thoes that are living way above there income.

The military imposes on its members far more than it gives back.
Military: high risk and low quality of life for a low return
Good investments: high risk for a high quality of life and high return on that investment (investment being your time and energy)

Most of America chooses to make poor investment decisions which is why you are seeing a greater spread between rich and poor. And the poor will always call the rich poop heads (or some other explative)

Thanks quakebuttock.

Awww, gee whiz rrpearso... you were almost there.. you almost strung together a coherent and logical argument/debate, on topic and rational.. then you just fell off the rails into the crapola you've been spouting since you got here.

shame really...
still 'bout what I suspected would come from a nutbar..

and that's MR. Poophead to you... I earned my Commission!!

I know how laughable it is when you say you earned your commission, having been there myself. You got some dirt kicked in your face and talked down to by some TAC sgts and officers. You may have stood in front of a formation and given some commands for a few mins before the TAC sgts chewed you out and kicked more dirt in your face. I think it is funny that you want to toote the fact that you earned your commission, when all earning your commission comes down to is tolerating hazing and belitlement.

Its also not my fault that I had to put my discussion in elementry school terms for horsemen to understand. Otherwise my rant would have been right on topic.

A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices. -- William James

oh, rrpearso, you walnetto, you..

just when I think you can't dig yourself a hole any deeper, you find more fuel for the backhoe and down you go..

.I was going to type a nice little bit about the concept of standing at attention as a metaphor for PAYING attention focussing on details, thinking evaluating and determining a coursec of action under durerss and adverse conditions..

but then I realized who I was ' talking to ' and I figured it was all beyond your comprehension.. no fault of yours, of course, I blame it on your mother drinking during her pregnancy..

hazing, denigration, abuse, mental debilitation, violation of civil liberties.. oh, yeah...its all there in the sgt's manual on how to train recruits with a special section on how to put uppity officer wannabees in their place...

could I see your copy of the code of military conduct and the underlined sections of the training manuals that cover these items? I want to make sure I was given the full treatment..i might have missed out on a short sheeting and wedgie along the way...



.

The military is the only place I know that can get away with hazing because they line it out in little books so it makes it ok. How about if fraternitys write codes of conduct for initiation, so when someone gets hurt or drinks themselves into a hospital they can say oh it was in the manual so everything is ok now.

so,rrpearso...
quote chapter and verse please..

I'd like to see the part where it says drill sgts can rag rrpearso mercilessly and deny him his ' rights' as a person of some importance in the great scheme of the military...

I should not have to quote anything unless you disagree that drills have a manual of conduct, so if they have a code of conduct that enables them to put people through what they do in basic it stands to reason that an insitution (I used a fraternity as an example) should be able to write up a code of conduct and be exempt from the law. Because yelling in someones ear is assult and depriving someone of sleep is harasment, they are real charges but not for drills because they have a code of conduct that allows them to dabble outside of the law.

well, it's taken hundreds of posts but, poor dense me, I think I finally got it..

You're all upset, rrpearso, and ready to sue Uncle Sam for lost weeks of quality of life because the drill sgts treated you exactly like they treated everyone else on the training course.. yelling and ' harrassing ' you to try and make you think while under duress or bored with routine instead of letting you ' be and find yourself' and bring along your own fluffy bunny pillow instead of putting up with the scratchy, crusty army issue one...

where on your ' university degree ' did it say that you were exempt from being treated the same as everyone else?

And, if things were so horrific and violated so many laws, civil and military, didn't you organize a class action suit among your fellow trainees and sue Uncle Sam for a huge settlement and redress? I'm sure a Johnny Cochrane-come-lately could have been found to take the case.." If they can't do the time..you must pay the dime.." You're not suggesting that you were singled out for this pain and torture and the rest of your intake got to sleep in and got softer blankies and better food than you?.. That would have been grounds for major compensation and you could be retired now on a fat government payout..[ missed your chance on that, didn't you? ] for sure!