The 10,000 Post thread V3

[astronelson 339]

3691.

 

I seem to recall a plan for Adelaide to move to desalination because of stress on the water supply. Any news on that front?

[Larks2242 251]

3692.

 

(

 

Also note that some foods naturally contain fluoride, so avoiding fluoridated water won't necessarily eliminate your exposure.

 

True, but natural and artifically added are two different things and different levels.

 

And eatting it while drinking it is double the exposure.

[Muck308 55]

3693

 

So the code to my radio was in my glove compartment the entire time. I found it today on my odometer reading disclosure.

[Duke87 1,070]

(3694)

 

natural and artifically added are two different things

 

How? A fluorine atom with an extra electron is the same thing regardless of where it came from. There is nothing special about "natural" fluoride that makes it have different effects on your body.

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

3695

I seem to remember the fluoride debate from several hundred pages ago.  I looked into and came away unimpressed by the conspiracy.  Shouldn't there be more people dying of bone cancer if it was true?

[Larks2242 251]

3696.

 

(3694)

 

natural and artifically added are two different things

 

How? A fluorine atom with an extra electron is the same thing regardless of where it came from. There is nothing special about "natural" fluoride that makes it have different effects on your body.

 

No, but I brush my teeth, I rinse my mouth, I eat the food, so why should I have to drink it too?

 

It is overexposure I don't need it in my water too, at least with teeth cleaning it is never intended to be consumed.

 

This picture speaks volumes.

 

[Duke87 1,070]

(3697)

 

Yes, let's all conclude that something which is poisonous in highly concentrated form is also poisonous when present in trace amounts. That only describes every medication you've ever taken, and some ingredient in just about every item on the shelves in your average grocery store. It also describes plenty of things in water other than fluoride, including things in "natural spring" water.

 

 

At any rate, it is a fair and real debate whether adding fluoride to water is something worth doing. But to avoid drinking tap water like the plague because it's fluoridated is just being ridiculously paranoid.

[Muck308 55]

3698

 

As they say at Kruger Industrial Smoothing, "I'm not too worried about it."

[Larks2242 251]

3699.

 

 

(

But to avoid drinking tap water like the plague because it's fluoridated is just being ridiculously paranoid.

 

Luckly in this country I have the right to be paranoid if I so choose to be.

[simcity1999 34]

3700

 

Or try drinking tap water in third world african countries.

[Duke87 1,070]

(3701)

 

This discussion has dragged on for a while now. Maybe it's something in the water.

[Larks2242 251]

3702.

 

Well isn't that cute.

[timmie 988]

3703

 

Tomorrow is election day in Belgium, exciting (probably the most important elections for our country since long)! I will be voting six times (three elections, Flemish, Belgian and European, plus I'll be voting for my mother who is in Spain at the moment). And from 5PM, I'll be in the audience of the Election Show in the Flemish Parliament by our public broadcaster. Live results! Journalists! Political Scientists! Politicians! Did I mention I really like elections?

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

3704

 

I'm happy for you that you're able to take such joy in it.  I'm missing the American midterm elections this year, and when I go back they're gonna be gearing up for the presidential primaries and I think I'd rather go in for a root canal and fillings every day than sit through everything those things entails.  To say I'm less than enthusiastic is understating it a bit.

 

You have said they are important for the first time in a long time.  Care to elaborate on this for us?

[astronelson 339]

3705.

 

There are mutterings of the possibility of a Double Dissolution down here if the budget doesn't go through (which is likely given what's in it), which has a full election associated with it (both the House of Representatives and the entire Senate). We will have to wait and see.

[timmie 988]

3706

 

You have said they are important for the first time in a long time.  Care to elaborate on this for us?

 

Sure. As you might know, Belgium is a federal state with two important regions: Dutch-speaking Flanders and French-Speaking Wallonia (there's also Brussels, but here it is less important). Our parties are also split, just like the media (which means that the public opinion is also different): there are two socialist parties, two liberal, etc. This means that it is usually difficult to form a government, it usually needs 4 to 6 parties.

 

The last elections in 2010 (called after negotiations about a controversial electoral district failed, seen as a major confrontation of Flemish and French-speaking Belgians) saw the sudden rise of a radical nationalist party in Flanders, they became the biggest party with 28% of the votes in Flanders, and were necessary to form a stable government. The so-called traditional parties (liberal, social-democrat and christian-democrat) lost the elections and didn't have a majority in Flanders. Negotiations for a government and an important reform of the structures (in other words: more money and power for the regions, less for the nation) failed and the nationalists left the table. Finally after 541 days, a government was formed with 6 parties: 2x liberals, 2x socialists and 2x christian-democrats. The prime minister became a Walloon (it was ages ago that the prime minister was not Flemish). This government did not have a majority in Flanders (not necessary, says the Constitution).

 

The nationalist opposition used this opportunity to complain about how Flanders is abused by Wallonia (the poorer part of Belgium), about a 'Walloon socialist tax-government', about the jobless (mostly Walloon, in their eyes), etc. In polls they climbed towards 35% (of the Flemish votes). The question is: how will they score, and will the government parties be able to form a majority government without them. This defines the future of our country. If they enter a government, it is probable there will be major cuts in social security (more neo-liberal policies), and probably a first step towards an independent Flanders, the last point being the most controversial.

 

Essentially, there is a huge left-right conflict, and a conflict between people who want independence, and those who disagree with the diagnosis that Belgium should disappear.

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

3707

 

By nationalist, do you mean Vlaams Belang?  I don't personally have a very rosy picture of them, and I hope that they are not rising in power and stature in your country...

[ROFLyoshi 1,760]

3705.

 

There are mutterings of the possibility of a Double Dissolution down here if the budget doesn't go through (which is likely given what's in it), which has a full election associated with it (both the House of Representatives and the entire Senate). We will have to wait and see.

3708: I bloody hope so. Watching Joe Hockey on Q&A tonight made me sick.

[Muck308 55]

3709

 

Last week I had 2 people tell me I should run for office. I have no intention to do so. None.

[astronelson 339]

3710.

 

 

3705.

 

There are mutterings of the possibility of a Double Dissolution down here if the budget doesn't go through (which is likely given what's in it), which has a full election associated with it (both the House of Representatives and the entire Senate). We will have to wait and see.

3708: I bloody hope so. Watching Joe Hockey on Q&A tonight made me sick.

 

 

I do too - this budget is terrible in general and will prove bad for me if I can't land a job straight out of uni.

 

It's been noticed that one of the few groups that benefit from the budget (the Australian Ballet School, to the tune of 1 million dollars) has Sarah Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch's daughter-in-law, as its deputy chair.

[timmie 988]

3711

 

By nationalist, do you mean Vlaams Belang?  I don't personally have a very rosy picture of them, and I hope that they are not rising in power and stature in your country...

 

Luckily not. This is the N-VA, a conservative nationalist (and democratic!) party. Since the 1990's, there has been a 'cordon sanitaire', which means that all important parties agreed not to make agreements or coalitions with the Vlaams Belang. Around 2004, they were the biggest party of Flanders, but today they have become more or less irrelevant, and I'm very glad about that. They are racists, plain and simple, and yet no-one dares to bring them to court (because they fear people will perceive it as a political process). Their latest disgusting remark was that the problem of this country is not that the population was becoming grey ('vergrijzing' meaning an ageing population) but that the population was becoming brown ('verbruining').

[Larks2242 251]

3712.

 

3709

 

Last week I had 2 people tell me I should run for office. I have no intention to do so. None.

 

Oh? Maybe in the future? Would be nice to see you on Capital hill in a few years.

 

We could co sponser bills!

[Duke87 1,070]

(3713)

Personally I think rather than holding office you'd be better suited to raking Muck.

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

3714

 

Personally I think rather than holding office you'd be better suited to raking Muck.

 

[metarvo 710]

3715

 

If ST had some representation in the government, I can't help but think things would be much better. 

[astronelson 339]

3716.

 

Today I learned how to pronounce Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

 

I didn't learn how to spell it though, so that's copy-pasted.

[Mr Saturn64 742]

3717

On Friday night, as I was on my way to the shore (what we call the beach), ask was going over a bridge, and off in the distance there was lightning in the clouds, like giant flashes of light that don't go down but emit light to the ground. There are no words for that.

[Larks2242 251]

3718.

 

 

(3713)

Personally I think rather than holding office you'd be better suited to raking Muck.

 

I'd like to know the intention behind this statement.

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

3719

 

Today I learned how to pronounce Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

 

I didn't learn how to spell it though, so that's copy-pasted.

 

Did you do better than this guy?

[Duke87 1,070]

(3720)

Larks: google "muckraking"