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I understand your reasoning and even accept that it is the current political reality. It even makes sense that the Tea Party has attached itself to the Republicans, I still don't have to like it. The logic also makes an even stronger case for my argument that we need a third and even fourth and fifth major party. Every problem, even most problems, are not amenable to a 50% solution set. I want more than an A or B choice, it seems like every election I have to grit my teeth and vote for someone I don't like because they represent the lesser of two evils.I am constantly reminded of the joke about 100,000 lawyers at the bottom of the sea being a good start except in my mind I substitute politicians for lawyers. I have an innate distrust of the political class as a whole and experience has tended to show me that I am correct in my distrust.
100,000 politicians at the bottom of the sea? That would be probably cause a bigger slick than BP's well; they would have reporters out on the beach counting the washed up sleaze balls. ;DMore parties seem to survive in other governments that have Parliaments and Prime Ministers. Is it a difference in the culture of the US or the structure of our government that has us basically down to two?
They added male names. Except for the Outer Banks, Earl has been almost a non event here in NC. I am tempted to call and see how cheap I can pick up a cancellation at Atlantic Beach…
Doubly interesting is that they discovered it was built slowly; it took about 150 years to complete but seemed to be following a master plan across generations. There were also roads to it from outlying settlements and more crudely built dwellings outside the walls but nearby. They construed this to infer a class structure and that it was a small city that was the “capital” of their region. Evidence of any sort of government is thin at best though. They interviewed some Native Americans that seemed a little frustrated with the limited input they were asked to give in the past. One in particular said a lot of it is explained in their oral traditions and then that was the end of his sound bite. I would like to know what he would have said if they asked him to expound on that.
Well, I sometimes take it for granted that the researchers on History Channel shows make accurate statements; they often have wild theories but identify them as such. In fact on that show, they had a few really wild ones for possible reasons for the Anasizi disappearance. But the weather theory seemed to make the most sense to me. Anyway, an archeologist on the show stated that about the size.You are also right about the religious aspect. Interestingly enough, some of the theories about why Chaco was built and why it was later abandoned revolved around religion. There may have been some influence from tribes up from what is now Mexico also; they found some teeth that were chipped the way the tribes from that area chipped their teeth in some ritual.
And remember -- English is a Germanic (Angle-Saxon-Norse) language with a Latin grammar (death penalty aka F if you split an infinitive which is impossible in Latin) with added Celtic Norman-French vocabulary -- and in the USA more words mainstreamed by immmigrants and technology. Americanese has 650,000+ words, whereas other major languages are in the 150s+ such as Spanish.There are changes the meaning of slang too. Some become obsolete. Others have meanings changed. One example from when I was in grade school: a pud-wacker was a maturbator -- decades later pud became a synonym for a fool, AH, drip, nerd, etc. Food for another never-ending topic.
You're right; it's best to never split infinitives... ;DI have heard it said that English now has Latin roots for 75% of the words. I wish we had the conjugation rules that were less flexible.
The better question is why arent they running as Independents? I think I can answer this one. They are not running as independents because we have heard for the past twenty years that a candidate is not electable if they are not affiliated with one of the two major parties. I have even heard it called the Ross Perot effect. I voted for Ross Perot too, so I guess I am to blame for Clinton's first election huh? I would vote for him again, in a heartbeat.I stand by my previous assertion, I will not vote for an incumbent this election cycle, I will vote straight Libertarian first. And I actually like my Congressman.
I don't think it is just the elect-ability of the independent but the unfortunate reality that an independent candidate with a significant following is likely to be a contributing factor in getting the candidate at the other end of the spectrum elected. And here is a more practical reason - if you can't slug it out with one of the other candidates head to head in a primary, then you really don't have much chance of being anything but a spoiler in the general election. If you really want to get into office and not just make a statement in the upcoming election (this may change someday, but I am talking today's reality), you need to accept that there are really only two seats at the table. You have to take one of the "big boys" out. Obviously, you should choose the party whose members are most likely to find your platform appealing and for the tea party, that is the GOP.
The common stories of the spiritual traditions of different cultures are what really give me the most pause. Simple shapes that occur in nature (circle = sun, spiral = snail, etc) could easily have been created in multiple places and look very similar. Common species can be explained away as well; swollen rivers pushing accidental arks of tangled trees into the sea, birds, land bridge migration before civilization, etc. But birds can't carry ideas or detailed stories (well, if you believe some of those stories, maybe they can 😉 ) and many of the stories share some very detailed similarities. I am not sure how we will ever know where they originated and the evidence that they are the same is not solid (lots of oral tradition, conflicting accounts of history and it treads into that dangerous territory of discussion).
Re-opening an old thread, I know, but an interesting tidbit I just picked up seems to belong here and I will throw in a couple of other thoughts.Until a large apartment complex was built in NYC in the 1880s, the largest structure ever built in what is now the US was in Chaco Canyon, NM. It was a 5 story (in places) free standing "fort/castle" built of sandstone around 1000 AD and abandoned before 1200 AD. There are several different theories as to why it was abandoned, but I think the weather theory makes the most sense. It had a couple of centuries of unusually wet weather and what was before and is again desert could be farmed. From about 1175-1200, there was a drought.I think there were a couple of things that limited the size of their structures. One was their history. Many tribes were nomadic, following herds or searching for more abundant forage. The other was lack of need. Why do you make large buildings? If you don't have much room to expand. If you want fortifications. They had plenty of room and without canons, siege engines or cavalry the justification for the effort involved in walling a fortress is not that strong.
I didn't mean to generate too much of a tangent, but my point was that they may have influenced other civilizations by making multi-day sea voyages somewhat routinely. Whether they were influenced by some other civilization in that respect is another question, though.
Well, the DEA is looking for an Ebonics expert.
I thought about mentioning that, but I think it never got serious consideration because of other political and social baggage. There are places in the Caribbean where it is truly difficult to communicate with locals who speak a form of English that really has evolved away from what we speak in the US, UK and Australia. They struggle with speaking mainstream English, rather than choosing to speak a cultural variant among themselves, which is more the case with Ebonics speakers.
Some of the best evidence is biological:http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/transcripts/?id=154
You probably know where I am headed with this as I do have a fascination with pre-Columbian crossings…I am not so much proposing that maybe the Greeks did that as that from early days there was experience with living aboard for days at a time with no land in sight. I think that gets over dramatized in many accounts of Columbus era crossings and sea travel. I think many, if not most, sailors believed there was a far shore when uncharted water went beyond the horizon.
Do you know the routes they typically took? Were they comfortable being out of sight of land for days at a time?
I find it amusing that I am being attacked for wanting the Tea Party to stick to principles and not settle for allying themselves with the Republicans just to get into office. Allying themselves will only lead to a watering down of the same principles that make the Tea Party popular. Watch, and remember, I said it here first.
I am more concerned about the encumbrance of the conservative stance on social issues than the dilution of the stance on sound fiscal policy. Even the tea party's stance (from what I gather from articles by organizers of rallies) on individual responsibility is a bit too conservative for my tastes. The more like a party it becomes, the more people it alienates.BTW, in hopes of fending off a tangential argument, what concerns me about the stance on individual responsibility is that what I have heard and read leads me to believe they are pretty much against providing any services to those who cannot afford them, leaving that in the hands of the private sector. I don't think that will work. I am willing to feed a few lazy layabouts to keep innocent children from starving. I understand that some people do think the private sector would provide for those who truly need help and/or that while unfortunate, the suffering of innocents due to the actions of those responsible for them is a consequence of the actions (or lack thereof) of the individual who should be responsible and society as a whole has no obligation. I think the current system spends way too much money providing services and provides more than are necessary, but I am for cutting back, not eliminating.
This video:http://www.history.com/shows/clash-of-the-gods/videos#land-of-odysseusand the one that comes right after it about his ship, are probably of interest if you are following the thread.I am beginning to wonder if Homer wrote any fiction. 😀
