taks

Is that the one where he is a demon that can transfer from person to person at will? If so, the ending was superb. I loved Se7en. Its one of my all time favorites. The ending stunned me with the genius of how it wrapped up. Hell, even the alternate ending Pope lists are good! yeah, that's the one. yes, these were all good endings, but the kind that make you a little queasy thinking about them. taks

ah, good deal then. as for jacob's ladder, i must admit that overall the movie bothered me a bit. not scary so much as disturbing, particularly the ending. there's always a movie here or there that does that to me. the ending of fallen (with denzel washington) and seven did as well. the more i think about my past, the less surprised i am that i now require anti-depressants. taks

once you cross into the QM world, philosophy and science become serious bed-mates, if not indistinguishable from one another. i find interest in the comments regarding lack of media understanding w.r.t. this topic. the average journalist has what, an 8th grade math/science background? taks

oh, i thought there were limits on how many you got to view each month. if you have to sacrifice something else in favor of the RE movies, i'd not recommend it. taks

spend, spend, spend. reduced spending since bush is actually wielding the veto pen now. wow, that's almost moronic, but not quite as well thought out. it will be the same spend, spend, spend, but with additional taxes. the whole point of "learning from the past" is to actually really learn from it. one party in control has almost always equated to a spend-fest. taks

they aren't that bad, but they aren't really that good, either. corny, but mildly entertaining. i'm not sure if i'd pay to rent them, however. taks

exactly. btw, now that i'm on zoloft, i forget just about everything, even when i've only had a small amount (relatively speaking) to drink. it is very weird. ^samm: "but now it is happening now." arrrrrggggghhhhh!!!! taks

ooh, i got one: baddies that automatically level with the player ala those moronic bethesda games. i can understand sizing the main battles accordingly, but man, a 20th level goblin is taking things a bit too far. what's the point of having levels if all battles are equally difficult? at best it discourages progression. at worst it discourages future purchases. taks

agreed. it also saves development time giving them the option to either a) release a game earlier or b) spend more time developing other aspects of the game. taks

Last I heard it was still a theory with a lot that supports it exactly. it will be difficult, and probably impossible, to prove, but the evidence is pretty one-sided to date. what i find interesting is that this chick is getting death threats over the issue. regardless of whether her views or opinions are right or wrong, such responses are pretty ridiculous. indeed, they indicate an almost faith-like belief system in the culprit(s) as well, with an equal level of intolerance. "believe in me or you deserve to die!" what a joke. some people simply take themselves too seriously (this chick included). taks

in defense of D&D "gotchas," many of the crpg gimps are actually useful in pnp, but that usefulness gets lost in the translation to the computer due to limitations of the engine (and a lack of true roleplaying ability). ^meshugger: i agree, it is extremely annoying. this is done as a trade for decent AI/scripting. just give the boss powers that he shouldn't have and you don't have to put any thought into how he uses the powers he's supposed to have. taks

in futurama they are called the brain spawn. taks

jacob's ladder was pretty intense. it was on the other day and i caught the last 15 minutes or so (on a non-HD channel so it sort of sucked visually on my LCD tv). yes, i get the ending, btw. i watched jumper the other day and rather liked it. i don't care a whole lot about some of the deeper aspects of movies (i just want to be entertained, my life is deep enough) though the way they ended it with his mother irked me. i wanted her dead when the movie officially revealed her connection. she was neither a mother nor a devotee to the faith. taks

i'm thinking it will run for a while then suddenly, without notice, take down australia because gorth jinxed 'em. taks

solo rogue through bg2. i'm not cheating much, either. well, i set it up so my guy (swashbuckler) had all the experience from bg1+tosc as well as all the tomes to increase his stats, and he started out with a total of 92 to begin with. i've got some strange mod in the game that has thrown in a few tomes, too, so i have upped my CON, STR and DEX by one each again. i'm holding back on CTRL+R heals, however. it's rather tough, actually, and in spite of being level 16 in the first chapter i die often. since i don't have the "use magic device" HLA yet, i don't have a lot of the protections that i will ultimately need, which includes immunity to level drain from the amulet of power (fight a vamp and it's over quickly) or one of the weapons that confers that protection. apparently scrolls will become a necessity, too, particularly when going up against dragoons. taks

i like matt damon's ability to act too much to allow myself to watch any of his liberal rants. ugh, hollywood. taks

No argument, my only point is that 'it can work only under certain conditions' is very different to 'it doesn't work at all'. well, if the "certain conditions" are "very small country with an abundance of resources and a fairly free market in which to sell/exploit" then it sort of works, but not really. it is still less efficient, i.e., it does not create as much wealth, and ultimately will bankrupt itself. to say something "works" just because it has been around for some relatively short period of time is a bit disingenuous at best (it took the better part of a century for the USSR to collapse, for example). those that claim it "works," too, seem to always be saying so from the inside, with very little knowledge of other (more free) systems. taks

still irrelevant. with a democratic congress, a republican president, palin or mccain, is powerless no matter what happens. they are at that point nothing more than mouthpieces wielding a veto pen. at least then nothing would get done. besides, presidents have an unbelievable number of advisers of all sorts (funny how they don't count now, but everybody gripes that they're the ones actually in charge in other instances... double standards abound when ideology is in play). taks

a good conspiracy is always a fun read. taks

actually, most of you euroweenies don't really create a stink. many are simply searching for information since, as you note, there are only a few tiny channels through which you can get information. it is the privileged few that think they know what's best for us. they know because they are superior. they should be in control of the reigns. they are entitled to it, of course. taks

indeed, health insurance is a major problem in the US, not health care. companies, btw, used to only provide major medical, i.e., insurance against catastrophe. unfortunately, we've grown into an entitlement society in which we feel that everything should be provided for by someone else. insurance is expected to cover everything. nobody wants to pay for the services they've received, they should be "rights." of course, these "rights" ultimately translate into those that have paying for those that don't. tyranny of the masses, something the constitution was attempting to avoid, ensures this. it is easy to vote into law a means by which the many individually have more (or more important) rights than the few. the only reason i favor conservatives/republicans in such debates is that they tend to understand this, at least on the surface. in practice, however, when either party has total control, individual rights are sidelined. i couldn't care less about palin's religious beliefs since they mean squat when it comes to what happens with the nation as a whole. no matter how much the left wants to scream about heading towards a theocracy, or whatever, it just can't happen. a move towards socialism, however, can happen, mostly because people (read: the masses) aren't educated enough about economics to understand why it is such a bad thing. ^samm, my comment was not directed towards all europeans, just those that delight in telling us in the US why we are so bad for the world, and how we should run our country. those are the "euro-snobs" so to speak. in the end, they are probably either envious, or jealous of what we have. they are educated and feel a sense of entitlement, too. "why do those greedy Americans have so much" i suppose. oh well. the fact that palin is only going to be a VP is lost in the debate, too. those on the left only use her as a scapegoat, i.e., an excuse to not vote for mccain. they wouldn't anyway. i don't understand why they're mad about her as a choice since they were voting democrat anyway. it's all bluster, nay, nonsense. taks

define "very well." it is a subjective term. ultimately, privatized systems will outperform any government run system simply due to efficiency afforded by competition, i.e., for less cost you can get the same, usually better, performance. ah, there's the morality clause, "humane," thrown in for good effect again. it is never humane to force someone to give up their liberty for another, no matter how well intended. you have taken the authority upon yourself (in general, anyone that agrees with such a notion) to say one person has rights that trump the rights of another. good for you. no kidding, waiting lists... i don't have to wait, why should you? my health care ultimately costs less than yours, too, in spite of all the rising costs over here. so wait a minute... it works very well in your above comments, and all the other euro-snobs seem to agree, but now you admit private health care offers better service? which is it? it's like you all know it is a poor substitution, but you're afraid to admit it because you don't know anything else. sheesh. taks

ask a few canadians that have the money to pay for their own health care and you'll get a different answer: they come to the US. "supposedly" and "from what I've heard" is code for "as reported in the media." because it doesn't, and your "experience" is not only anecdotal, but apparently oblivious to the facts. taks

actually, according to relativity, that's already happening. we are unaware of the stretching because light is bending too. now, how that works on the other side of an event horizon is another matter. taks

excuse me? the private sector is already running health care in the US (mostly), and it's better here than anywhere else. public education sucks, which is why charter schools are becoming so popular (and private schools already perform the same or better for less overall cost than public schools). private anything (mostly) is simply more efficient, providing the same or better solution for less cost. it's not just convincing evidence, it is overwhelming. what, you're saying it is moral to take from those that have and give to those that don't? violating one person's rights to favor another's? where do you get your morals from? rights are not rights if they favor one person over another. my only "responsibility" is to not infringe upon the rights of another. that is the only "moral" position, as any other creates exceptions that give more rights to the many while sacrificing the rights of the few. "there's more of us so we're in the right!" taks