taks

it is also reasonable to assume they would have a difficult time communicating with us due to their level of advancement. akin to humans trying to communicate with an ant, for example. perhaps we're sooooo far behind that they could never properly get their point across. taks

uh, actually, i think the problem the biblical teachings have with alien lifeforms isn't really "there is NO intelligent life other than here" since that is not directly stated. the problem is twofold, actually... 1. if there is life elsewhere, particularly intelligent, suddenly we aren't unique and what was god doing? timeshare? 2. if there is life elsewhere, particularly more advanced than us, the possibility that said life put us here intentionally increases. their current presence would possibly indicate a case of "lab-rat analysis" so to speak. this pretty much shoots the whole god thing in the foot, btw, as said alien life woulld actually be our "god." i typically lean toward the latter explanation of what's going on, btw... taks

computer science is not software engineering is not science. computer science is mostly related to database and programming structures. software engineering is a term created to describe the engineers that program micro-chips of some sort to solve engineering problems (normally comm or signal processing apps... networking and such included). i.e. software engineers tend to be other types of engineers that use software solutions to solve their problems. i have actually filled the role as a software engineer on many occasions and actually have degrees in electrical engineering (most software engineers i've worked with are electrical, btw). none of these is a true "science" in the strictest sense of the word. science is more about discovering the secrets of our world whereas engineering tends to be more about making things work within our world. i.e. engineering is considered an inexact science (if it works, don't dork with it). computer science in particular seems to have a very odd moniker since it is even less "sciencey" than many other engineering disciplines... oh well. do what you like. take a few classes for review only then decide. i mention the comm/signal processing EE thing above since that is extremely math intensive and more closely related to higher level math than any other discipline i've encountered. that and i'm a career EE working on a phd in comm/signal processing taks

not true... many engineering disciplines have the same. particularly electrical and even more particularly communications/signal processing. btw, there are also many more engineering jobs than physics jobs out there. they tend to pay better on average, too. taks

i disagree that some proof is not showable, though i do not doubt there are forces that would attempt to discredit potential evidence for various reasons. usually, however, the discrediting is a direct result of national security. namely, said UFO "proof" is often a secret demonstration of technology that exists within our own confines. the really "cool" high-tech stuff the government is working on now might not be publicly acknowledged for 20 years (or more). a good example is the numerous reports of the SR-71 Blackbird "UFO" sightings... the darned thing was under development and operational for over 20 years before the public knew it existed. given the splits in the world (political in particular), although unfortunate, it has to be mentioned that some things cannot be publicly admitted. taks

definitive means irrefutable, PoTC. just because some people believe in circumstantial or otherwise suspect evidence does not make it definitive. put any existing evidence up to peer review by experts of a wide range of fields and you'll be left with a gaping hole in the "proof" department. granted, i fully believe there are aliens and i don't doubt they have been here (or are here)... i've just not seen anything produced so far that amounts to proof. no secret either, that counter to those that want things to remain unknown, lie those that would distort the truth or fabricate evidence in order to make something "known." two sides to the coin, here... taks

you're right, PoTC, 97% of your political threads DO get locked... ahem taks

i know... i can't even begin to understand the pain and agony of those directly involved. i can only relate how this has affected me... oh the horror! taks

*sniff* this has marked me permanently. taks

because to date, there have never been any cases of definitive proof of the existence of extraterrestrial beings on earth. the media tend to ignore these stories because 99.99% of them are nothing other than some "wolf" cry. i.e. there's so much fake crap out there that even if something real occurs, nobody cares. oh, and yes, there was significant coverage of the incidents when they happened. not sure why you didn't hear about it, but i sure did. taks

what does any of this have to do with memogate? taks

sounds morrowindish to me... taks

i like that last line MC... very poignant. taks

you're right, he only got us out of double digit inflation, reduced taxes and helped to win the cold war... damn what a sucky president. taks

hehe, you're probably still too young to make even that statement. taks

a point i never disagreed with, btw... taks

we aren't trying to spread "democracy," PoTC, we're trying to spread democratically elected governments. which is what ours is... true democracy suffers the same as any ideal governmental system. as soon as the mob realizes it can vote itself the keys to the treasury, it will. the result is anarchy and, likely, some totalitarian rule... taks

well, it is true in some sense, not the collusion part. burkett has admitted the documents were not official. apparently he has also admitted he met with one of kerry's advisors (not sure which) but kerry's camp has denied any involvement. i don't think they even knew it was going down. so far, i've seen nothing to implicate kerry and even less to implicate bush. hence my "kerry is more likely involved" statement, but that's like comparing a snowball's chance in hell vs. a snowflake's chance in hell... neither is really probable at this moment. taks

we don't have a democracy by design, PoTC. we have a republic. that's not some big secret or anything... taks

actually, the burkett guy (whatever his name is) is a die-hard democrat that has been griping about bush for years. he was also consulted by the kerry campaign just prior to the release of the story though they deny any involvement. it is more likely kerry's campaign had something to do with this than bush's. taks

the no smoking ban ain't gonna happen in colorado springs. oh, but yes, pool. i didn't do as well as i had hoped last night. missed an easy shot on the 9 (9-ball that game) in the first rack and punished myself through the rest of the match (pool is a mental game...). i had to struggle back from a 6-3 deficit only to lose 7-6. dang. oh well, i got liquored up taks

time shoot some stick! oh, and drink a bunch, too. mark

this is not unusual, deganawida. campaigns ALWAYS budget for recall battles. however, until recently, such propositions didn't have the media attention as now. taks

that's the definition of a character attack, PoTC... so is the PoTC calling the kettle black? (hehe, punny). tsk, tsk. taks

the report i read had several positions filled... one guy was actually an enlisted man (sergeant i think) who was in iraq at the time... the others are spread about doing i don't know what. nothing unusual, typical jobs. a couple were officers, btw. either way, irrelevant, the post wasn't designed to argue against moore particularly, more of a subtle jab. politicians' children ARE shown preferential treatment, no doubt, but not all accept it. some see their duty as a duty and treat it accordingly. not everyone in the world is out for themselves, not even politicians' children. taks