Bimmerman

I got two things recently. First: I bought a set of Beyerdynamic DT990 600ohm cans last week, and have been rocking on them since I bought them (and as I write this). Oh god, these are good. They're not the most neutral headphone, so if you like finding flaws in your recordings or playing studio engineer, these probably aren't for you. They are amazingly fun to listen to though. Nice tightly controlled bass that never seems to be too much, clear mids, and clear highs. I've only got ~8-10 hours on the headphones, but they sound astonishingly good with my amp. Show spoiler (hidden content - requires Javascript to show) Without the amp they're usable too. despite the really high impedance rating, they get to be louder than I like to listen to when the phone is at max volume. Much below max phone volume and the headphones are super quiet. Yay impedance. They don't provide much noise isolation though, so they are best used in a rather quiet area. They're not super portable either since they don't fold up (I have the Sony 7506s for that), but for listening to music or watching tv, or xbox-ing at home, they're awesome. These are my favorite headphones yet. Still saving for an HD650 tho. Amazon has an amazing price on these (and all Beyerdynamics), and they carry the 32/250 ohm versions as well. Pic: Second: it was time to replace my 5yr old computer, and so I went overboard and bought myself an i7-950/HD5870/much more system (yay newegg black friday deals). That should get me through grad school without messing with the computer for another five years.

There's a Tesla Dealership where I live, and there are quite a few of them driving around here. However, your post has a blatant inaccuracy-- the car has a 250mi RANGE. Its top speed is ~125mph. It's a great car, but it can't reach 250mph with a single gear, horrid aerodynamics, low power, and skinny tires. Nor is it quoted as going that fast, it's engine limited to 125mph or thereabouts. Also, it cracks me up how the car comes with Yokohama R-Compound (aka track rubber) tires, but people drive the car in ~50degree weather. These tires Do Not Work at low temperatures, meaning that the car's ability to use the tires for braking, grip, and acceleration in cold/chilly weather is worse than the ability of a Prius to do the same. Cold race tires + panic braking = Very Bad Idea + Crash. Warm race tires + panic braking = Zomgz I see stars the car brakes so quick. Cliffnotes: Tesla goes 250miles/charge, has max speed of ~125mph, and is a danger to others on the road in cold or chilly weather on the original tires.

So..... I'm the special kind of crazy (and very broke) college student that daily drives a 95 BMW M3 race car. I'm the kind of person who doesn't care at all for luxury, I want MOAR FASTS AND TURNS NAO. This is my kind of thread. My dream cars that I could potentially own soon: 94 Euro 850CSi aka M8 1988-91 BMW M3 aka the Winningest Touring Car of All Time (actually true) aka the Real M3 The regular 88-91 M3 goes for ~$20k nowadays, the Sport Evo 2-3x that. It's the most hardcore and badass BMW ever built, and widely regarded by the journalists and car rags to be one of the best cars of all time. I need one. I very well might buy one after I graduate. My absolute dream car: 2010 Porsche GT3 RS. I WILL own one, mark my words.

Trombone Shorty -- One Night Only (This BBCode requires its accompanying plugin to work properly.)

All facts, all true, and all irrelevant. Not only are they way the hell away, but constantly worrying about what they might/might not/are/are not doing just gives them credibility. Ignoring them and not giving a crap about them is a better strategy-- you can't fight philosophy. If the mosque is built there, you suggest they will view that as a victory. WHO CARES?!? The only way they can possibly win their idea of a war is to get the US to kowtow to their wishes by making it PC to tiptoe around any Muslim-sensitive subject. They don't have the ability to wage all-out war. All they are capable of is terrorism, which is their ability to cause others to fear them. They've succeeded in your case- you're so afraid of what they may think or do that you're willing to trample all over your own civil rights just to appease them. That is the only way they can possibly win. Building a mosque two blocks away.....who cares if they view it as a symbolic victory? It's absolutely meaningless. No. The point of the Constitution is to protect the rights of the few against the demands of the many. That principle has been enshrined in that document and our legal system since, well, 1789. The Constitution applies even when a significant number of Americans want something else to be true. Take the civil rights struggle from 1865 to the present. The Constitution was amended to prevent slavery, give blacks the right to vote, and to give anyone born on US soil citizenship (originally designed to keep pissed off Southerners from keeping Blacks from voting). This is an example of how the Constitution protects the rights of the few from the masses. Same with freedom of religion-- do you worship Hitler? That's messed up, but your legal right. Same with free speech-- do you think Obama is a Muslim born in Indonesia? Well, you're a giant idiot, but such is your right. Same with the right to bear arms-- do you like guns? Congrats, you can own them to arm yourself. Do I need to go on? (NB-- this is the same reason Prop 8 just got overturned.) Just because a significant proportion of Americans mate with vegetables and think the Mosque is the worst idea since Sarah Palin does not mean the Constitution is invalid and paranoia wins over civil rights. The people wanting to build a Mosque have every right to, and even if I don't agree I'll defend their right to the end. That is the principle this country was founded on, not "Majority Rules Alwayz, Screw the Little Guy." I seriously wonder what the hell is being taught in schools these days, how can people be so unbelievably uneducated in our Government, Legal System, and Civics? I'm not that old, dammit!

American here. I don't give two $*#* about where the Mosque is. I don't care if it's at Ground Zero. I don't care if it's a million miles away. Our country's values are such that anyone has the right to express their religious views, without persecution, wherever they damn well please. Building a Mosque at the former WTC site is a good thing since it shows that we as a people can move on and still adhere to our original principles instead of blatant fearmongering. I say build it. @LOH- I find your argument....inconsistent. You claim you don't have any problem with Muslims being Muslim, yet you say building a Mosque near GZ is letting the terrorists win. You do realize that there are American citizens who are Muslim who want to practice their religion as is their right under our Constitution, don't you? You do realize that non-Muslims may want to check the Mosque out to gain an appreciation of a different and oft-slandered culture, yes? How does allowing private citizens to buy space and build a Mosque, as is their right, let the terrorists win? (also, who gives a crap whether they do or don't, the threat has been blown seriously out of proportion) By NOT allowing the Mosque to be built there, not only is that blatantly illegal and unconstitutional, but you are essentially telling a not-insignificant section of our citizenry that the majority of the country fears them, hates them, doesn't want to see them, and wants nothing to do with them. That is letting the terrorists win, by depriving fellow citizens of their rights under the Constitution out of baseless fear. Hate begets hate. Treating American Muslims as second class citizens only breeds hatred and resentment, which lead a few misguided idiots to become terrorists. The First Amendment reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." It does not read "Congress shall make.....grievances, unless they are of Middle Eastern descent, are brown, and/or are followers of Islam." Treating the First Amendment as if it does read as such is letting the terrorists win. I don't consider a handful of pissed off Muslims to be a threat to our nation. That would be the Fundamentalist Evangelical Christians, since they actually vote in elections. Build the Mosque, give ignorant idiots the finger.

In the spirit of being an American, I and a few good friends are going to the range to go sight in a few rifles, then go to the park to grill burgers, drink beer, and watch fireworks. Then probably go to the bars. Eff yea. Happy Independence Day to all fellow Americans!

I don't believe in hell/heaven/afterlife etc. Although if there was one, it would be group projects ad nauseam with incompetent fools.

This movement is what happens when your grandmother is your sister.

Just because they're allowed to discriminate doesn't mean they do everywhere, all the time. Very few kids in my troop were religious. I can count on one hand then ones who were. Neither were our troop leaders. Scouts was fun. I don't remember how I got around the religious signature line, if there was one. I probably just sent it in without any signature, and got the rank. Yes. This. It's been a long time since I've looked at the form, hence my foggy memory. All they want is recommendations from people who know your character well. If that doesn't include a religious reference, it doesn't include a religious reference. Scouts is about more than that.

Unrelated, but I feel it's an important point-- you don't need a signature from a religious leader to get an Eagle Scout. I'm an Eagle, and I've always been an atheistic heathen. Didn't prevent me from earning the rank, nor was there a signature line my lack of faith prevented me from getting signed. Might have changed between your time and mine, but I sure didn't need one as far as I can remember. I'm 99.9% sure of it in fact.

"I like your Christ. I do not like your christians, they are so unlike your christ." -- Mahatma Ghandi. There is a big difference between believing in God and adhering to an organized religion. If you truly have faith in your God, and follow the teachings that truly matter to the best of your ability in the pursuit of self-betterment and improvement, I don't think that would be held against you. Organized religion has a lot of empty rituals and symbolism to create a sense of community among the followers. Very little has anything to do with personal faith. I think it's completely reasonable to be a believer in God but not a follower of christianity. Look for God's beauty in the surrounding world, not the pages of a too-often translated book or in empty words and rituals in a musty building. That's my take, such as it is.

I have many issues with Palin, first and foremost her utter lack of qualifications for the VP/P job. That, and she's a complete idiot. I'm a registered republican but voted for Obama because I did not want Palin anywhere near the metaphorical throne. The GOP's recent shift towards the ultra-right wing and their philosophy of bigotry, hatred, and super-Jesus have made me seriously question which is worse- Obama in charge for another year or any Republican. Sarah Palin is the symbol of the visible GOP, and is also the symbol for all that is wrong with it. I'm socially very liberal (who gives a crap if gays can marry? Let them be as miserable as the rest of us), but financially very conservative. I'm also not a christian. I'm a gun owner but very much in favor of gun control. Blah blah blah, talking points. What I'm getting at is that I am one of the hated and despised independents who actually decide elections. 40% of the country can each be divided into R or D, but that leaves 20% left to actually decide elections. Candidates cannot be ideologues or extremists for centrists like me to vote for. Independents don't like torture, nor do we like the rampant Jesus-said-so nonsense. We also don't like financial idocy and pissing away MY money. The GOP, it seems, is intentionally moving so far to the right as to alienate voters like me. I can't vote for the democrats in good conscience due to their utter incompetence in financial areas, but I will never vote for the republicans so long as they maintain their bigotry-masquerading-as-religion (as pertains to social matters) and unquestioned support for torture. Only recently has the GOP embraced the latter philosophies so utterly and completely, and Sarah Palin is the symbol for that abrupt change in many minds. This rapid (and visible) devolution into fear mongering and encouraged bigotry happened about the same time that everyone else realized she's an idiot. As she became better known on the national stage, and as her incompetence did as well, the GOP decided that they needed to be more conservative in order to win votes, and well, the tea party happened. This brilliant idea came about because when Palin got the VP nod, McCain's numbers started falling off even more than they had been. The correct analysis of the election cycle is that people did not want to take the risk of having a completely unqualified fool in office. The incorrect analysis is that McCain wasn't conservative enough, and that people ran away or weren't interested in his presidential ambitions (him selling out is a side issue). Not only did the tea partidiots happen, but the GOP is actively NOT supporting moderate candidates with any hope of getting bipartisan support or the votes of independents. The GOP has basically given up on the idea of governing a country for short term ideological purity. Palin is famous and adored among the inbred idiots because she is so ideologically pure. The same ideology that endears her (and similar candidates) to them also hampers any ability she will have at governing a divided country and congress. That, and her "i'm just a lil' ol' american hockey mom from alaska" and "pit bull in lipstick" schtick makes me want to gouge my eyes and ears out. I sincerely wish our populace weren't so dumb as to love that crap. But they are, and as a result, she's a contender for the Presidency. Cliffs for the lazy: Palin is the figurehead for the extreme right wing faction of the GOP that gets all the press. The extreme right wing are a bunch of lunatics. People don't want lunatics governing them. Palin gets hated on. She's too dumb to realize this, and whines about media bias or some crap. Inbred idiots come to her rescue. Everyone else laughs at them. Life goes on. And yes, I know there are people like Palin on the left, and they're equally scary.

That was in reference to the Sept 11 justification for taking away our rights, not necessarily the IDs. My question is why do you need to be identified all the time? With a new fancy ID.......so what? It's not going to do anything to stop terrorism. You have medical records for a reason, you take them to your new doctor. They aren't coded to your ID. IDs are very fakeable, what's to stop a new one from being so as well? What possible benefit is there to yet more bureaucracy and stupidity? They won't do anything to combat anything, just provide the same thing a driver's license does. A national ID isn't needed.

I fail to see why real is worse than fakies. I think they're going a bit overboard with the testing and whatnot, but real >>>>> fakes even on screen. The casting call is prejudicial, sure...... but on the whole....... I'm really having a hard time trying to care one way or another.