Some people seem to think the housing/finance bubble was purely due to greedy Wall Street investors and don't realize the role government played in helping create the issue. Excerpts: Beginning in 1992, Congress pushed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to increase their purchases of mortgages going to low and moderate income borrowers. For 1996, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (by PaulO - OT Board
This is still federal spending. Take out WWII and add in this year's proposed budget:by PaulO - OT Board
I couldn't find federal spending per capita anywhere, so I had to do it myself: Found federal outlays here and the population data a bunch of different places, like here.by PaulO - OT Board
What gives you the idea the size of government ebbs and flows? It grows. Edit: Finding new graph. Want to know where most of that money is going? The three biggest chunks are Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid.by PaulO - OT Board
I think he meant more like: -spamming skills is bad -command denying someone (e.g. bashing) that is outdamaging you is bad -caster without fly versus cheapshot thief is bad Stuff like that.by PaulO - Main Board
I spent a week there over 15 years ago, and have visited a couple times on cruises: 7 mile beach. Nice beach. Snorkeling at Stingray City is very cool. Lots of beautiful places to scuba dive if you're into that. There was a conversation about eating turtle on the OT board about a week ago, so if you're curious you'll have a chance to eat it as they serve it lots of places tby PaulO - OT Board
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I think it's possible Palin could get the nomination. Here are the 2005 results: "In 2005, Giuliani won the CPAC straw poll with 19 percent while Rice received 18 percent. Allen, McCain and Sen. Bill Frist (Tenn.) received 11 percent each." No matter what happens politically or to the country, the only way Obama will not get the Democratic nomination is if he becomes unaby PaulO - OT Board
Painted some posters for the rally today. Yay. Here's info on the NH one, and an interview by the guy who introduced it. He introduced it in September, before the Presidential election. It isn't aimed solely at Obama because for many reasons McCain would have been just as bad.by PaulO - OT Board
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QuoteBatmanFACTS: Health Consequences • Marijuana smoke contains 50 percent to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than does tobacco smoke.10 Using marijuana may promote cancer of the respiratory tract and disrupt the immune system. • Marijuana smokers have a heightened risk of lung infection. • Long-term use of marijuana may increase the risk of chronic cough, bronchitis, anby PaulO - OT Board
QuoteIsildurI don't have numbers, obviously, but I suspect that one "dose" of alcohol (one beer, one shot, one glass of wine) on a normal sized person who wasn't on a completely empty stomach would probably not cause significant impairment. Like, if you measured someone's reaction time, etc. I'm almost positive the effect of a single joint would be greater. Agby PaulO - OT Board
There are some people already headed down Loser Street before pot comes into the picture. Let me ask you this: Do you think they'd be more open to going out and hanging out with less shady people if marijuana was legal? And I have a friend who was an alcoholic and was likely much worse off than your pothead friend. Luckily he was able to pull out of it. I'm not saying marijuanaby PaulO - OT Board
For the record, I'm talking about marijuana here, not crack or cocaine. QuoteBatmanBeer is a legal beverage, which, |consumed in moderation, is consistent with a healthy lifestyle. In fact, a number of scientific studies have associated moderate beer consumption with healthy benefits, including a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease - an issue that deserves further study. Oby PaulO - OT Board
Driving while high is not the same as driving while drunk. It's more akin to driving while tipsy. When you're drunk, you're really struggling just to go straight and notice all the stop signs and stuff. This might sound odd, but when you're high* you're mostly struggling to maintain a good speed. It just seems like you're going a lot faster than you really are. Lby PaulO - OT Board
In my opinion if alcohol is legal, then marijuana should be legal too. First, let's get something straight: There are lots of ways to consume marijuana that don't involve breathing smoke. You can use a vaporizer, put it in food, a drink, take a pill, etc. Now, why was it outlawed in the first place? If you do some research (this and this would be good places to start) it appeby PaulO - OT Board
It would be really cool if gnome players could pick evil alignment as if the gnome society had shifted due to the popularity in the playerbase for gnome shifter killers inspiring future generations of NPCs. Maybe a group of aggressive shifter gnomes NPCs leave Hillcrest and go attack the Arial city and take over a section of it solidifying their evil nature in the game and giving a home for all tby PaulO - Main Board
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It had nothing to do with "going out of my way to make myself disturbing to the other members of my culture" or "intentionally segregate myself socially". Try to think of it in terms that don't involve society. The odd thing is, you talk about going out of my way to make myself "disturbing" when I was asking myself, "Why do I go out of my way to shave tby PaulO - OT Board
My intention was not to sabotage aspects of my social life. I did it for religious reasons. God > society. I never said I didn't care. I am saying what others think is less important to me than my personal beliefs, interests, etc, just as what others look like is less important to me than their beliefs, interests, etc.by PaulO - OT Board
1. Go to 2. Click "Choose File". Use the file selector pop-up to pick the pic from your computer. 3. After you have it picked, click the "Host It' button. It'll send you to a new page. 4. Scroll down. Copy and paste the text from "Hotlink for forums (1)" here. It should look something like: http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/4528/band2x.jpg|/URL] Hitby PaulO - OT Board
This... And that's before my beard and hair got really long. Like down to my belly-button. And this... I've dated several girls most hetero guys would call a 10. I'm much, much happier with my current girlfriend. It's really no comparison.by PaulO - OT Board
Doing good. Adjusting to the NH winters and taking advantage of all the winter stuff like skiing, sledding, skating, etc. Was going to see how I could do in the CAL league for Left4Dead but right now they're suspending all stuff. Shoot me an IM sometime, stranger.by PaulO - OT Board
We play video games together. Guild Wars, Team Fortress 2, Left4Dead, Street Fighter 4, etc. I still don't get what you're talking about. Teeth? Superior? What? And we're both overweight, so it's a good match. We're also a good match in terms of personality, temperament, and beliefs which is more important than what pop culture in the U.S. at this point in historyby PaulO - OT Board