Augustus-Illuminati

I’m sure it must be possible; I just haven’t been able to figure it out. I’m running Windows Vista (sigh) and the Windows Media Player version is whatever the latest one that came with the computer. I have a mess of music files and I’m trying to convert some of them to MP3. Have any of you tried to do this? Can you tell me how it’s done?

Thanks

By that I mean what music group did you first get into as a child that you weren’t previously exposed to by a parent, brother or sister? For example: my parents enjoyed Pink Floyd which I eventually ended up enjoying too and soon found myself owning several albums of, but when I got into high school I started listening to...? (I won’t tell you until later because I’ll be dating myself and I’m slightly embarrassed)

What was it that you most related to or enjoyed most about the album (was it the cover art or some song you heard)? Did you buy it because of peer pressure from your friends? What memories do you associate with it now if/when you happen to hear it again?

Are you the type who takes the time to honestly put an effort into giving an answer only to have the person asking the question put it to a vote? I know some people just want the two points while others actually put some time and thought into it. Which do you think is best though, a volume of empty answers and witticisms or a handful of solid facts? I admit that I can occasionally be flippant and silly as well as serious in my responses but I was just wondering how other people make their determinations. Which approach do you use more often?

Let me elaborate what I mean a little. Many years ago we lived in a society where the power of words had sway of whole populations of people which would ultimately catalyze them into doing great things. People would hear the words of intelligent and enlightened reason and would act upon it Speakers like Thomas Jefferson, Franklin D Roosevelt or Dr. Martin Luther King could polarize a nation. But today the press is corporately owned and therefore in large part controlled by those who want to maintain the status quo. Today you’d need a lot of money to truly be heard and it’s very rare that someone with a lot of money would have anything revolutionary to say. The inception of intellectual fervor is rarely allowed to manifest itself within a population unheeded as much as it used to be. Today there are too many controls and too few people willing to speak out against “popular” opinion because they’re afraid of being punished or branded as a traitor or worse (terrorist).

I know what I’m about to ask may sound stupid on the surface but I can’t help wondering about it, especially in light of how our current administration seems to have a bulletproof method of dodging laws and policies currently in place since the founding of our constitution. Also I know that the question I’m about to ask is long, I’m sorry and I admit it but I’d like to hear your opinion (aside from labeling me a crackpot or conspiracy nutcase) as I’m honestly not prone to buying most conspiratorial views and especially after that nut ball got tazered on Tuesday.

I know this might be a difficult question to have answered without some form of anger or overly religious piety but isn’t that like saying you can’t be Christian and open minded? Isn’t one’s spiritual belief founded on the principals of what is right for one’s self and is it the right of the majority to judge what that spiritual belief should be for the individual? Radical Islamic fundamentalists and Muslim extremists judge their fellow man in this fashion and are decried as evil or wrong, how is Christianity any better when they do it? Scripture set aside, don’t we as a people have the power in our beliefs to let our vision of God do the judging for us while we merely work on living with one another regardless of ideology?

I use the term ‘spirituality’ because the issue of ‘choice’ has become a spiritual issue with regards to the “taking of a life”, but why doesn't that apply to the taking of all life? Maybe the correct motto should be “you can’t be Christian and for the war”.

I can understand why the US wouldn’t ratify such an accord, just look at who they have in office, but I don’t understand why Australia won’t. It just seems contrary to the interests of the Australian people, especially John Howard’s interests with Federal Elections approaching so soon.

I’m sure they have some sort of value to ‘teen’s everywhere’ but I can’t help to notice that these pageants also seem to promote vapid morals and the same shallow message without any real inspiration. I mean what can a perfectly sculpted teenage debutant from Beverly Hills know about the struggles a teenage mother from the inner city of Detroit might have? I understand the potential value such a show could have if it weren’t so obviously geared towards physical beauty as being the criteria for personal self worth (and making a genuine humanitarian like Donald Trump wealthier), but do shows like this honestly fill that need?

My daughters used to watch it on occasion and all they did was get outraged at the fallacy of it all.

Also, am I correct in noticing that there’s not one minority contestant either?

I’ve been trying to figure out if there are any all female Heavy Metal groups out there and I can’t really think of any. Do you know of any? Are they any good?

And how do you see them impacting the world governments?

I’m seriously looking for something escapist tonight and since not many people wanted to respond to my last question I decided to be a little more specific with my questioning.

Here’s a chance to wax rhapsodic, get downright sci-fi or exercise a measure of soapbox Orwellian nightmare. The question is simple but interesting to contemplate (if you’re into this type of thing); what do you think the future of the human race will be as the eons pass? To make this easy for you I decided to divide this into 5 eons, what I want is for you to tell me what you think the human race will be like during these times or if they will even exist any more. The ages are:

2100 AD

5000 AD

10,000 AD

50,000 AD

1,000,000 AD

If you feel like just summarizing it all up that’ll be fine or if you want to divide it up into smaller parts that’ll be good too.

I’m off of work for the next two days and I need a diversion from packing boxes for my move near the end of August.

I keep being told that I should get an account on myspace because of… Well that’s just it, nobody tells me why exactly except that it’s cool. I’m the type of person who likes to know a little more about why I should do something other than that it’s cool. Is there anyone out there who can give me some straight information about what’s so good about it? Also if you could tell me why this site isn’t so ‘cool’ I’d greatly appreciate it.

Thanks

I have long hair and my fiancé keeps saying that she like’s it, but she never tells me why except that I always get this dirty, sheepish grin. I’m not asking for premarital advice or in depth information into the ways of a woman’s heart anything, but I don’t know what to think about her expression or what she finds to be so interesting. I’m part Native American and it's customary that many of the men in the tribe wear their hair long. My fiancé is from Australia and knows nothing about Indians or their culture except that they like to have ‘long hair’, I guess.

And if so who do you think will be playing the fiddle if and or when it burns down?

I’ve heard people make that comparison before; I’m just interested in what you think. Are we getting too powerful and just wantonly taking control of everything by Eminent Domain in other countries or do we have a duty to reform these backward countries so they think and act more like we do? Is this wrong?

Do you think we will win or will it result in nuclear warfare? If nuclear warfare develops, will other countries get involved too and use theirs?

How long do you think it’ll be before it’s revealed that someone with high level government clearance was involved in the fabrication of Osama’s constant re-emergence in the press? I’m having a difficult time believing that Bin Laden isn’t already dead. Part of that is due to the dubious nature of the war we’re fighting, it’s hard to know who to trust anymore. The White House scolds the press for leaks about the government investigating the “flow of cash” to various terrorist organizations, but it’ll allow coverage of anytime Osama picks his nose. Why? And often it seems that he shows up a few weeks after some sort of uncomfortable story of political incompetence happens to air. In short I’m finding it difficult to trust the media or the government and I’m wondering how long before we finally get the straight story on anything and how will I know it’s the truth. I really don’t want to believe in conspiracies but this presidency is making me far too uneasy with what they’re saying.

In light of recent issues about global warming, would you say that the responsibility for the environment is a problem that is due in large part to those that produce the most emissions, that of corporations? Yes we all use our fair share of the energy pie, corporations taking the biggest chunk of all; yet we’re told that we need to drive more efficient cars, use less electricity and travel less, while corporations are constantly looking for methods of expansion and resource exploitation and paying to have studies done that show that they’re not to blame for the current environmental problems

The president says we have to have all the facts in before we can act on global warming, but should someone in Iraq fart hard, all he needs is a flimsy report to say that he’s a terrorist and we’re off to war. Plus when we look at the division of the wealth, the largest is found in the smallest portion of the population, that being of the rich who happen to sit at the head of many corporations.

I just finished reading a question posted here asking: Anyone want to see the white cloud of Jesus Presence? It got me wondering how some of these religious groups come upon the conclusions that they do. For example: most people explain what they've seen by just describing it to another person in simply straightforward terms (A large organic carrot), or if it has some strange features they’ll use some creative descriptions about it (a monkey with a Jimmy Durante style nose), but when it comes to certain religious groups all objectivity is swept aside and the total interpretation is instantly revealed with 3000% certainty and no room for outside interpretation (it’s the divine hand of Christ potato chip). I’ve even seen some of these ‘miraculous images’ and I’ve not been impressed because these images never stand under any form of scrutiny, nor are they open to other interpretations.

And yes I believe in god and go to church, so please don’t bring my faith into question.

Thank you

I answered a question a few days ago regarding this topic and one response said that she was too young and he was a pervert, whereas she was the one presenting the question and nowhere in it did she mention that he was even interested in pursuing a relationship with her. Actually overall most people objected to it because of the age difference, but mainly because she was younger than him. Whereas when I was in my early 20’s I dated a woman 16 years my senior and we were together for several years, and although I’ve moved on since then, we still keep in contact and we still value what we once had. The one thing I’ve noticed though is that many of my friends that live overseas tell me that age differences of this sort are not uncommon in married couples. One reason is because the older one lends an element of maturity to it, which in turn is generally translated as stability.

Please do view this as a personal attack on your religious beliefs; my intentions are actually quite sincere. Also please bear with me as although this may be a longwinded question, I’m trying to avoid sounding hostile or accusatory, this is because of the delicacy of the nature of my question.

I’ve been listening to a lot of what people say on this website and I’m constantly dismayed when I hear someone ask earnest but pointed questions about Christianity and Islamic religions, only to be greeted by hostility from the respondents. It tells me that the art of intelligent discussion is dead, But one of the most interesting arguments that I’ve seen used in response to asking people to consider Christianity is the supposition of “what if it were all true?” That is to say, what if the Christian religious belief of what the hereafter is were all true, I guess the question I would have to ask is what if it weren’t?