taks

they'd like you to think they are, but they aren't. they are the high priestesses of government subsidy, blowing their way to regulations that make them (and the government) richer and the rest of us poorer. btw, you wouldn't have to take away a soldier's benefits to make him quit smoking. simply pay them a stipend and let them get their own insurance (which would eliminate much of the military "medical care" expense, too). next, let insurance companies compete, and the result is that those who partake in risky behavior, the military included, will pay a higher price. taks

considering renting push tonight. knowing is also out, but from what i've read, it is a tossup in quality with next, but a stupider concept (if that can be believed). next was entertaining, though mostly because i like cage and adore biel's ass. anyway, hollywood strikes again with the craptacular lineup coming on to cable from last summer... yay. taks

um, it is quite easy and inexpensive to test for. this is already done for life insurance. taks

watched 88 minutes today. not too bad. i sort of figured it out, at least, figured out who was behind everything shortly after beginning the flick. not for any particular reason, just a hunch based on some... odd scenes. the actual story of what went on turned out to be rather convoluted and ultimately, it didn't end the way i think it should have. taks

got me. retarded is the word that repeatedly pops into my mind. taks

i'm guessing on your day 6 i was less than 100 miles from you, but deep enough into the wilderness that there was not hope of hooking up for a beer. we started up squaw creek trail monday, july 6, and returned down weminuche creek trail thursday, july 9. cut it a day short because we determined (after the second day) the full trip would have taken more days than we had food or fuel. one of the guys on the trip was suffering altitude sickness, too (we topped out at 12,800 feet). sorry you couldn't find any of the beer. hope the ska stuff was good, however. taks

eh... i don't know. witcher had lots of little stuff that you collect that has some use, but ultimately is not a necessity. began to remind me of elder scrolls for this reason, and i ended up simply getting tired of the game. you may like it. i did, in the beginning. i'm in the same boat, btw. nothing to play and lots of time to play it (nothing, that is). taks

nothing wrong with that at all. taks

only when i'm drinking is this true for me. i hate(d) it every other time. in fact, i was just at my buddy's house and his wife offered me a smoke... turned it down. i'm finally going to stop cheating while drinking, too! taks

ah, ok. personally, the "best," and likely only truly effective remedy, is to a) make insurance truly competitive which leads to b) insurance companies make it too expensive for people to justify smoking as a personal choice. taks

personal choice? at what point should the government be required to stop saving us from ourselves (even if it is only part of the military)? taks

wouldn't that be hypocritical, not ironic? nanny-state to the rescue! taks

hehe, you ought to try fly-fishing. only losing 5 flies is a good hour. taks

i didn't even list my true favorite: trinity brewing. not so much because their beer is good (it is, really, really good), but because it's this cool hippy place that also serves cool hippy food along with their cool hippy beer. i almost fit in there, other than the fact that i'm probably politically as far on the other end of the spectrum as possible from all the hippies that work there! they're nice people, though, hehe. oh, just about every pissant town in colorado has its own micro-brew. silverton has a really good one that i hope to visit this week. we 4-wheel over stony pass and hang out for the day, then 4-wheel back with a buzz. a shot of whiskey at the bottom of timber hill caps it off (the name is a misnomer, search for pics of me and the jeep on the hill 3 years ago). grand junction, which is off 70 right near the border with utah, is also where all the colorado wines are... uh, crafted, i guess. i haven't tasted many so i cannot advise there. taks

coincidence, i suppose, that i just now chose to see what you were up to. first, we are taking off on our trip tomorrow around 1:00 or so. didn't you say you'd be up near hwy 70, however? we'll be down near creede, for what it's worth, and either in creede or silverton on the 4th. anyway, i just got done getting my backpack filled up. 28 lbs. without water and i'm sure i'll find a few other things before i'm ready to take off on that part (begins monday) of the trip. now, as for beer... CO is 2nd only to oregon in terms of micro-brews per capita. lots to drink out here. get used to scotch/scottish ales if you want to listen to my advice. my favorites, which you may not be able to find everywhere (particurlaly the first) are as follows: scottish ales 1) laughing lab, by bristol brewing company here in COS. this is my favorite. 2) 90 schilling. by odell's. tough to say i don't like this as well as laughing lab. porters 1) cutthroat porter, by odell's again. very nice. a regular national award winner apparently. 2) vanilla porter, breckenridge brewery. mmmm... you won't find this many places as they only do 3600 barrels per year (the entire brewery). 3) ten pin porter, ska brewing. miscellaneous 1) 1554, a black ale by new belgium. much better than fat tire, IMO. breweries that i would buy more than one beer from bristol odell's left hand flying dog breckenridge new belgium ska brewing dam brewery in dillon (near the ski resorts, they don't sell package) any rock bottom restaurant taks

just got done watching that quote on tv. gbII is on now. took a break since the wifey-pooh fell asleep. taks

walsausages? you didn't have any of his creamy salty balls, did you? ewww. taks

indeed. we liked it. taks

i won't, but it dissed me in a bad way. ahem... taks

i have done next to nothing today. talked to one of the guys i'll be backpacking with (next week), ate some lunch. i think john and i are going to play catch in the backyard shortly... gotta poo, first (thanks, shryke). oh, actually, i did manage to get the fedora 11 live CD burned. in the process i discovered that i have a failing primary drive, so i need to get a few DVDs and begin the backup process. actually, since i have two drives, i suppose i can just copy a ghost image onto the other one (which is several years older and, oddly, in perfect health). hmmm... taks

i think posting on the web makes you retarded, win or lose. i can feel my IQ dropping as i tap the keys. taks

nope, just an insult. ad hominem literally means "to the man," which is somewhat meaningless, so "ad hominem" and insult aren't really synonymous, though i do realize the phrase is short for the argumentum ad hominem fallacy. however, calling an insult an ad hominem (or even argumentum ad hominem) is actually an ad hominem fallacy fallacy, i.e., insults such as these are not even argumentum ad hominem fallacies. here's a good description of the whole thing. now, some rewording and reorganizing to "you are wrong because you are an arrogant trolling sob," and it would have been an argumentum ad hominem. taks

The Sims 24: The Black Hound Has Fleas! taks

super glue was always rumored to have been used for surgery initially, though the official invention came in the 40s in an attempt to create clear gun sights. at the very least, i've been hearing about their use in surgery for closing wounds since super glue was advertised on the tube with the dude hanging from a hard hat attached to a steel i-beam. early 70s maybe? digging around yields information regarding the use of cyanoacrylates in vietnam for wound closure, perhaps they're more popular now because they've improved the formula? dunno... taks

uh, not sure how to read this. i would think, by default, if he decides he does have reverence to a higher power, then he can stay if he wants. if he sides with me (doubtful until he's in his teens, IMO*), then he's sort of morally obligated to admit as such, and withdraw from the program. i'll put no restrictions on him one way or another, however. he's not required to believe as i do, either (michele is catholic, btw). the trip was fun. the kids were a hoot and so were the rest of the parents. i got along with several of them quite well. john got his fishing belt loop and earned his soccer belt loop (they didn't actually have the latter yet). he also got some campfire patch. he was quite happy when they handed him his first awards and everyone was clapping. brilliantly, we did not have a camera on hand, hehe. taks *personally, i think the concept of a higher power is beyond the capacity of a child, particularly grade school or younger children. i "believed" because i was afraid not to. did that make it a sincere, honest belief? certainly not. it was not till my teens that i began to see "the other side," so to speak.