taks

the worst thing that could ever happen to the US would be a super-majority by either party. they'll pretty much be able to pass any legislation they want since the other party can't filibuster to prevent bad laws. taks

i think you need to go back and look at who was in charge of house/senate at the time of the presidency to make any judgments on "fiscal responsibility." to not do so is disingenuous at best, an outright lie at worst. the fact of the matter is that bush had a republican house/senate during his first 6 years, so nothing got vetoed. clinton did as well, and he vetoed everything. contrary to your opinion, a vote for democrats is a vote for a super-majority over the house, senate and presidency. i'm not sure if this has ever happened before. taks

we've actually got a proposition on our ballot to make it harder. we have a ridiculous number of amendments proposed every year. vote early, vote often, btw. taks

laws are set at the state level but voting is handled by county. at least, by county in CO. taks

land sharks are not imaginary. taks

yes and no. she could have voted on a provisional ballot, and checked the "i have a registration" box (which apparently guarantees the vote is counted... somehow), but she didn't realize that at the time and, more importantly, she didn't have time to wait in another line (which actually would have been very short). we think part of the problem is that our zip code changed in the last two years. taks ^hurlshot... yeah, that would make sense. paying someone to vote would be illegal.

i went to starbucks to get my free cup of joe, too, but opted for a more costly venti cinammon dolce latte. i had enough left on a gift card so it was sort of free anyway. now i'm drinking re-heated folgers that tastes kinda like crap. taks

she would have had to fill out a provisional ballot, but no, she did not. she's paid by the hour and didn't have another 2-3 hours to waste. taks

i second that. not exactly irrational, but the tiny ones they stick us with horrify me so i guess that is irrational. scariest scene in a movie... ever... saw II. chick jumps into a pit full of syringes. i almost passed out. taks

i voted. my experience is detailed in the elections thread. taks

technically, it would be first on enoch and second on you since that's where the claim originated. cycloneman was justified in asking. just saying you were seconding some elses' response doesn't absolve you of responsibility for making an otherwise unfounded claim. personally, i don't care either way. the government should completely get out of the marriage business. anyway, i voted. and i'm filing an official complaint with our county (el paso) for a) directing me to the wrong polling place and wasting over 3 hours of my morning (i'm holding the voter card that told me where to go... and it is wrong) and b) dropping my wife from the registration list. both of us have cards from the last election, with the wrong location, and neither of us got new cards. apparently this is a common problem today. i'm also going to file a second complaint for the ludicrous practice of having only ONE person per voting precinct checking names. they could easily have cut the list into 3 batches (alphabetical anyone?) and gotten us all through much quicker. the 3 hours i waited in line less than 100 people got to vote. taks

that's not irrational, either, hehe. you could even extend it to "politicians" or "teamsters" and maintain a rational position. ahem. taks

uh, not so much. his hair was just cut which helps, and the costume fills him out a bit. he's still weighted like a candy apple on a stick. not sure where mitch got the costume, but she ordered it online and it is waaaaay too big. he might be dark vader next year, too, in spite of the fact that he's growing like a weed (but eating like a bird... i don't get it). was yours hand-made, hurl? mitch made a few of john's early costumes, but now that she's working she doesn't have time for such endeavors. taks PS: in case anyone is wondering, "mitch" is my wife michele. a buddy used to call her mitch, and i picked up on it.

i wouldn't call that irrational, i'd call that typical. taks

ouch. but you're right, john's got a big un. tis cute hurl. here's mine. he was dark vader (yes, dark). i was already carrying his mask at this point (about 15 minutes into the trip), and shortly after this picture was taken i had his saber as well. i was carrying his loot pumpkin after 45 minutes, too. taks

oh yeah... i forgot about food fears. i once watched my brother gurf some peaches, so they're on my don't go near list and once we had some sort of bug in our creamed corn. neither of the two have touched my lips since. taks

anything around my neck. not totally irrational, however, as i did get choked by a jump-rope while playing on a swing when i was 6 or 7. it took me several years to get to where i could even wear a necklace, and it had to be extra long. ties are out except on very rare occasions and all of my shirts are loose fitting. taks

uncredited. i don't remember seeing him, however. i loved la story. it was strange, that i can't argue. taks

i got the witcher online from them. i paid an extra $3.99, too, so that i can go back and DL it any time for like 2 or 3 years. taks

uh, actually, that wouldn't blow evolution out, but it would definitely cause a refinement of theories surrounding evolution such as the age of the earth (which is only 4 billion years). certainly a 12 billion year old human would push back the beginning of evolution. taks

i guess we are getting SoZ before MoW? taks

i'm still trudging through the witcher enhanced. some things i really like about it, others not so much. my dude is like a lawful good whore now, btw, which seems... contradictory somehow. i've gotten through the first three levels of DMC4 on the PS3, too. cool action game. the cut-scenes are pretty awesome. my 5-year old son calls it the "most awesome game" ever. i probably shouldn't let him watch, but violence doesn't seem to bug him. taks

in general, the conditions in which abiogenesis originally occurred (assume for a second it is truth) have not existed for nearly 4 billion years on earth. yes, it is untestable in that sense. that doesn't mean someone can't someday figure out how to replicate it all. there's also a lot we can't (at least won't) ever know about the initial conditions, i.e., there may have been many factors that we cannot glean from geological records (among others) simply due to the amount of time since everything was thought to have occurred. i think finding primitive life on an alien planet would go a long way to helping out, but that's fraught with incredible technical challenges as well. heck, for all we know, some other life form figured this out 4 billion years ago and seeded the earth*, hehe. taks * i guess that would fall under the "directed exogenesis" concept. exogeneis is just as hard to test, unless of course it happens again (life on a meteorite that can be confirmed).

you're right, ideological views are much better to hold than those based on... well, facts and logic. i mean, isn't the truth simply a viewpoint? as well as a logical argument? what was i thinking? taks

i tell you what, this silly dell monitor i'm using at the office now, the 22" widescreen, makes no sense. i always though the proper view was head on. not so with this one. i'm actually getting the right gamma/contrast/whatever when i'm looking down. for example, the different colors on this board, varying levels of gray i suppose, are almost indistinguishable (other than the quote boxes) when i'm looking head on. looking down, perhaps from 10-15 degrees above level, they appear correctly. annoying since i'd rather slouch at my desk. taks