Darth InSidious

*Shrug* I find most gamers are about as dull as most "normal" people. Fixed that for you. It's called the Torchwood Effect.

So, let's get this straight: EU gravy-train votes itself luxury. ... This is news how?

LOL, the "special relationship" only exists when America wants something from the UK. If Obama is "anti-Atlanticist" it's because he needs to be associated with a dour Scots incompetent like Brown (and by proxy his pack of useless, quangocratic twatterati) like he needs a hole in the head. And the loony-wing of the Republicans would latch onto any association with the monarchy that they deemed too cordial; just look at the attempt at rabble-rousing because he bowed to the Japanese emperor.

Nah, it's us Britishers you need to be worried about.

The real worry isn't that Brown wins, it's what happens if he loses. Every time Peter Mandelson has been kicked out of government, he's come back with more power. If the Labour Party lose the election, we might well end up with Dictator For Life Mandelson...

Err, no, they aren't meant to be better than other people. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donatism I'm curious where you get this from - it's not in your link, and the only comment from the Vatican I've seen has been effectively that the paper is irrelevant: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics...ys-Vatican.html To my knowledge, neither Damian Thompson nor Jack Valero, nor Tim Collard represent the Vatican. I don't think an institutional policy is very likely, TBH, quite apart from the lack of evidence. As Pidesco says, people have a tendency to cover up **** like this regardless of the organisation, creed, etc. Besides which, it all begins to sound a bit conspiracy theory-esque, and to fall into the same traps. Also, a lot of this was happening on the local level, in the diocesan offices. The Vatican is actually not in as much control as is often made out - the Pope is less like a CEO and more like a Prime Minister, around whom bishops are ministers, and dioceses function like departments of state. Sort of. It's an imperfect analogy, you get the idea of the organisational structure, and that does affect how things get done, and how much filters up toward the top, for better or worse. That's not to say it was all being quashed at a local level - some bishops were reporting cases further up the scale, but they were getting dragged out in the Roman Rota ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Rota ). That was until 2001, when the CDF took over the handling of abuse cases, and forced bishops to report them further up the chain (as well as, IIRC, re-issuing instructions for co-operation with the civil authorities, etc). Up until 2002-ish and the Boston case becoming widely known, decisions on cases like this were left to the local bishop. AFAIK that's no longer the case. The cover-up was also actually against the Church's code of practice - both the Comission to Inquire into Child Abuse in Ireland and one of the reports in the US (I forget which one, sorry - it's been a 36-hour day, and I really don't feel like looking it up) found that the Church had in these instances not been following the code of canon law on the subject. Finally, I'd point out that in the Kiesle case, the civil authorities were involved and he got off with what was frankly a mickey-mouse sentence. That's not intended to say the situation isn't horrifyingly awful, but it's differently awful from the way its been presented in some of the better-selling news-outlets. Sorry if that's not very coherent/readable; it's been a very long day.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/236096 Will attempt to respond more fully later.

Reminds me of a bit from The Tenth Planet: Polly: Don't you care?! Cyberman: Care? No, why should I care? Polly: Because they're people and they're going to die! Cyberman: I do not understand you, there are people dying all over your world yet you do not care about them. <3 The Tenth Planet

"If, with the literate, I am Impelled to try an epigram, I never seek to take the credit; We all assume that Oscar said it." - Dorothy Parker.

There will never be a "US divided corpse," we are one people and one nation. We might lose Alaska and Hawai'i simply to geo-political concerns, but the lower 48 will be forever united. There are many ethnic groups within our nation, but we are all Americans. ... And Queen Elizabeth I was the seventh trumpet from the Book of Revelation. Srsly.

Champagne communism is more fun.

So you're still sore over KotOR II. That's fine, but there's no need to insult Obsidian like that. Actually, the chief problem with the Fable series is that it's all gimmick, no substance. LOL. Might, but don't.

Looks good. I liked the way the trailer was put together, but I would have kept the line "he's got more... and we want you to kill him" quiet, myself. It sounds a bit like "no, not the mind probe!"

Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed. The ability to complete a space station is as nothing compared to the... err... ****.

Then what precisely are you waffling on about? His theme is oon, and alwey evere was: Radix malorem est caritas.

How quaint.

How about just gold-plating the top of his head? It's utterly tasteless, insultingly ugly, and prohibitively expensive, not to mention probably quite dangerous and uncomfortable. The ultimate fashion statement.

A giant clusterf**k in the making. This. OE don't exactly have the best record with bugs, and couple that with a third party's (most probably crap) writing, it looks set to be an all-round disaster.

First sane thing you've said. Well, certainly being forced to listen to pop music should be classed as cruel and unusual punishment...

Yes.

... And they are propelled by?

It wasn't a small, oblong, black-and-white pamphlet/comic book with lots of 'helpful' info in the back about becoming a Christian, the importance of reading the KJV every day and joining a church where the Bible is at the centre of everything, was it? If so, that's Chick Publications at its finest.

The Jack Chick school of prison psychology?

Go read a book. Any book.

I'm not sure how you assess which is 'worse'. Both are ****ty ways to behave. Also, in before Rand or the Amerkin constitution gets quoted.