TED Community » Tom Nugent

More About Me

I'm passionate about

LIFE, Computers, Religion

An idea worth spreading

Their is a God, keep him always in the back of your mind and bring him/her forward once in awhile.

Comments

• TEDCred score: +0.50 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• A reply on Conversation: Solving gun violence in the US in today's insane political climate requires a solution that makes it painless for everyone.

  Feb 12 2013: I am sure that we as a country (USA or Canada) would not vote in a Tyrannical candidate. We would know long before this occurs. Come now you have gotten rid of two Presidents, Nixon for trying to steal election information and Clinton for getting his tool cleaned (Excuse the abuse of the English language there) and it was fairly easy to impeach them. So if there was a hint of a President going King on his country I dare say it would be caught very easily. Just the troops movements would have the people freaking out and there are a thousand other things that must be done before he would round up the troops, and he/she would be caught well before this occurred and that would end that attempt. Canada and Especially the USA has too many backups and the press to have a Prime Minister or a President sneaking around to form a coo. We are not in some backwards country where the President usually has the 3 or 4 newspapers and the one TV Station in his pocket compared to our thousands of newspapers, than there is the thousands of TV stations plus don't you think that NATO or other countries in the world would be screaming that there is a coo happening in the USA. Can't happen, not during these times and with the Internet it just would never get off the ground because we are TOO FREE and would catch a coo being created, let alone followed through. Never Happen!
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: Solving gun violence in the US in today's insane political climate requires a solution that makes it painless for everyone.

  Feb 10 2013: I had to reply to some other replies that you said and I did not have enough space to reply. I am not sure about the US but in Canada we have Reserve Stations across Canada that hold Weapons and Ammunition etc... put in place for such an emergency. So the non-military people would be told to report to these Stations and enrol and receive the necessary equipment and then some training to fulfill the problem with the thugs with machine guns and hand grenades.
  I already answered the "isn't enough police and Military to protect the whole country", where do you think the majority of your Military is, its not in Afghanistan for sure, it's in the US and standing by for any such needs as to keep the peace, and the Reserve Units will supply the volunteers with the proper equipment and weapons so I don't believe that we need to have one in our homes especially with children, I cannot and will not take the chance of having a weapon and ammunition around the house, I know split up but come on, it would be foolish to have them at each end of the house now wouldn't it. So most times the ammunition is within reaching distance to the rifles/pistols. You can buy a 30 mag round clip for a Glock (Sorry about the spelling) and with a file you can make it into a fully automatic killing machine.
  I believe hobbyist's and Gun collectors can have them but registered and hopefully with the new changes will not be able to sell it to someone without first a police check and then re-registering it to the new owner. That is not much to ask for. I am not totally against it being ex-Military but some people should not have a hand gun let alone an AK-47 or RP-15 (Not sure about the name of the American weapon) but that is everywhere. And I do not mean thugs and criminals but people who just does not respect the weapon and ends up a statistic on how many people were killed cleaning there weapons. So I hope this clears up my thoughts on the whole thing
  Tom
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: Solving gun violence in the US in today's insane political climate requires a solution that makes it painless for everyone.

  Feb 10 2013: I am sorry but I do not live in those Countries and we are not talking about those countries therefore it is not pertinent to the conversation. You are telling me that there is not enough American Military Rifles, or what is it 3000 tanks, not counting missile carriers, Jets, Bombers, Aircraft Carriers, there is not a nation that I know of that could compare your Carriers to there's. They are a laughing stock, the one China bought, the Russians didn't use it because it was necessary to protect their country, and it was an engineering nightmare from the beginning, no launch platform, run the jet full power and the full length of the ship and then shoot it off the Ramp, oh and you couldn't launch a jet if one was landing, in other words useless. So I do believe you have enough weapons and ammunition stockpiled to supply personnel when the time comes if anything close to Red Dawn came about, and where was Mexico and Canada during this movie, do you think that USA could not defend herself and than we don't have much but we would throw it in the pile to help because we do not want to be surrounded by the Red Army, and the Mexicans, they have so much practice killing themselves that they are prepared, so I think that discussion is futile when it comes to using Red Dawn as an example.
  We , USA and Canada have a Reserve force and then I am not sure but during WWII Canadians and Americans went to Britain to fight against Germany before they were actually in the war. So I think we have the manpower and the weapons stored to handle any country even thinking of attacking the USA. That is just foolhardy and really stupid on the attacker's part.
  I think we have enough manpower to handle any natural disaster that would happen in Canada or USA, Canada sent ships down to Florida and New Orleans to help rebuild schools (which was not really told by the press) but on the other hand we Canadians tend to not want our help put in the papers. Just do our bit & Leave.

• A comment on Conversation: Solving gun violence in the US in today's insane political climate requires a solution that makes it painless for everyone.

  Feb 10 2013: What about the people, you have to change their minds and attitudes towards guns. In Canada we have more weapons proportionally than in the USA but there is maybe 600 deaths compared to the thousands of Americans dying every year. Its the people here who think guns are dangerous, therefore they must be treated with respect and ideally the gun is not the answer to the problem.
  Until the people respect and do not use the gun to settle things, then that is the only time that change will come about. If the people do not get away from the 2nd amendment which was written when the British were invading, Indians were trying to keep their land and their way of living and so the amendment was put in so each person in the USA could carry a firearm to protect his Family, Land and if need be Protect his Country but that was over 200 years ago, times have changed and the 2nd amendment is outdated and no longer required. I am not saying get rid of weapons but why do you need an AK-47 or any other automatic weapon to protect your family or Land or your Country. It is just common sense that there is no need for such barbaric weaponry to protect your family. Ban these type of weapons from the Good guys and the Bad guys, the Military requires such weapons but only to DEFEND their Country for YOU. You are not needed any longer to protect the country so a pistol or hunting weapon should be more than efficient to protect your family, get food for hunting etc., But that should be more than enough to satisfy the needs of the people. That's my two cents worth and I hope something occurs because it cuts down on people wishing to visit your country.
  Tom Nugent CD1 Ret"d Military
• +1

  A reply on Conversation: Would you be willing to share silly, crazy ideas which pops into your head frequently?

  Apr 3 2012: Hello Anu:
  A couple of weeks ago I watched a Ted Talk on this very subject and an advertising President gave the lecture and he stated that he and other companies have a room where everone gets together to do this very thing. Google has a Dinasaur, Google in Switzerlant has a slide and a firemans pole, his company has all types of things to sit on and things to use to try to protray the idea the person is putting across and building a prototype right there using Plastercene, tape, lego's, all types of materials so that people to bring there point across more easily. But he stated was that you could have all the toys, pool tables, video games etcc .. you want but if the team does not trust each other in that no matter what they come up with, they know they can trust there fellow employees not to make fun, degrade the idea but either build or improve on it. That he said was the most important factor in this type of environment of tossing ideas around for a product. It may not work in a strict boardroom type of an affair but in places where people can act as children, think as children and bring their ideas out in a fun, happy way, TRUST is needed so that the person bringing out an outlandish idea will know that the team will say, well that is too far but they may see merit in it and than build on that and than find a solution much quicker than a team that does not trust each other. Sorry about the spelling and I hope this helps explain the Idea that I am trying to explain without the actual Ted talk in front of me. It was in one of the iTuneU programs and sent via You-Tube and for the life of me I cannot find it and show you, because he explains it so well and it was a good lecture in teambuilding requirenments for in the future. I hope this helps explain the idea of more trust in a team. Thanks for the reply,
  TTFN
  Tom
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: Would you be willing to share silly, crazy ideas which pops into your head frequently?

  Mar 27 2012: It would depend on the Enviroment, if it is a carefree, relaxed, trusting (Which I learned, Trusting, in one of the TED talks that it was a key to having a great sharing) place with lots of things to use to help show what you mean. I had seen where a Nurse using Plastercene (Spelling) built an iPad type of device and showed what she wanted on it and the controls etc... than a medical device that used a highlighter, elastsic bands, film container and a clothes pin to try to show what s/he wanted the instrument to look like and they showed the finished product and the parts that was used in the example could be seen in the final production piece. So again I say yes to sitting down and sharing silly, funny, happy go lucky, crazy ideas that someday may show up where you work and you will remember where and how it all started - that would be neat and cool.Thanks Tom Nugent

• A reply on Conversation: Should teachers be aware of their students’ religious beliefs, or should that be kept private and out of classroom discussions?

  Mar 27 2012: Yes but I am just suggesting that, I know it is a difficult decision for the student, either people will respond with what Religion are you and learn something or S/He will be ostercized for stepping out of a thing that the School has been doing since it opened and what makes S/He so special. I do not agree with the person stepping out because of this but I also would give the student the option, not restrict them in any way. Make it there choice not the Church or State. I apologize if you misunderstood me and thought I was in aggreance with stepping out, No I am the opposite in that I would give the student the option and if S/He stepped out and there were any questions than I would give that person the opportunity to explain her reasoning and hope that the other students understand why and leave it at that. But that is my wish and maybe even a dream because there is always one in the crowd that points things out rather harshly and that does not help the issue.
  Thanks for the reply.
  Tom Nugent

• A reply on Conversation: Should teachers be aware of their students’ religious beliefs, or should that be kept private and out of classroom discussions?

  Mar 20 2012: Church and State are seperate Identidies in a country. As an example Canada, USA have Church and state separete and there are many more. But as an example I used Islamic countries where Church and State are one, the Churches highest priest usually is also the leader of the Country and there is no line between Church and State. In Countries like Canada and USA there is a strong Church but they do not run the Country, yes they may have some influence but not enough to run a Country. But in these two Countries it was usual to have the National Anthem and a Prayer said before the beginning of the School day, now in my case it was Hail Mary and Our Father, and the majority of Religions (at the time there were not many different Religions like we have now) this was said in their Church so there was no real dealing with other youth from a different Religions (Hindu, Islamic for example) where the prayers said before class would cause any youth from saying that S/He had an issue with these prayers. I hope this clarifies any problems you had with the two sentences. Sorry about the spelling or any other errors in the reply, iPad and auto correct sometimes throws a loop where you didn't want it, and I should read my replies so there wouldn't be any need to clarify - Thanks

• A reply on Conversation: Should teachers be aware of their students’ religious beliefs, or should that be kept private and out of classroom discussions?

  Mar 13 2012: I disagree with your statement that children are not gooey clay pots, they are. And from an early stage they should be taught and shown exactly what you present and that will mold, hopefully, a well rounded, educated respected young adult. I stood up and listened and sang our National Anthem every morning and it instilled pride in my Country. i also stood up and listened to prayers and it did not do me any harm, it did not force me to think or say that this wass the only religion. The prayers were prayers that the majority of Religions use and now, today it is very different in that we have more religions coming into the mixing pot of our Country but I believe that the majority still is a religion that the prayer(s) would not create any issues. The student who comes from another Country with other religious beliefs can stand silently and say a prayer from his or her religion and it should not cause any interferance with any of the youth in the classroom. Stepping out would only cause a youth to be pointed out, they should stand with the other students and do as I said previously and say there own prayer. It was done like that for alot of people before and it has not hurt anyones beliefs and traditions that the people (as a Country) decided years ago to do in the classroom. It works, it has worked and why fix something that is not broken, remember that new immigrants come to this Country because it is better than the one they left, so they should not try to change something that has been happening in a Country that to them is better so they should stand silently, say a pray from their own religion, and than take the benefits of the new country and absorb them and they can keep their religion in their own home and institute that they pray in.

• A reply on Conversation: Should teachers be aware of their students’ religious beliefs, or should that be kept private and out of classroom discussions?

  Mar 13 2012: Your examples of bad traditions and practices are not in free and democratic countries. Your examples come from most countries where religion and state are one and the same and that is the problem. Countries where religion and state are seperate tend not to have bad traditions and practices.