Hurlshort

On edit 1, I'm not sure how it can get more socially accepted. You have popular movies based completely around their use (from Cheech and Chong to Harold and Kumar.) Because it is something that can be grown rather easily, you already have a lot of kids doing it (data is hard to track down, but around 50% of Americans have tried it.) It is already a societal problem. It may create more need for rehab centers, but it will cut down on the criminal element. I've also spent a bit of time at rehab centers, per my sister who went through a rough few years. I don't believe anyone was actually in rehab for marijuana. It is a major gateway drug, but as an actual destroyer of lives, it is limited. You hear the term angry drunk a lot more than angry stoner. On edit2, I agree completely. This is the real kicker, exactly what is moderate pot usage? I think a joint a day is probably a lot more unhealthy than a beer or a glass of wine a day.

Really? I thought it was awful. Revenge thrillers should be visceral and sharp - for all their faults Taken and Man on Fire are examples of the genre worth watching. I agree that it is nowhere near those two in power or entertainment. I am not familiar with State of Play, and to be honest I thought the Ray Winstone character was underutilized in the movie. It is likely that would change my experience dramatically. As for Mel Gibson, it was not his strongest performance, but I didn't think he was weak in it. I guess when I say a movie is solid, it is kind of a half-hearted compliment. It doesn't blow me away, but I found it watchable.

I grew up in Santa Cruz, where drug use is fairly rampant. I had a few friends who were very bright, I mean considerably smarter than myself. In High School they got into pot and shrooms, and now they have pretty much fallen off the map. I know two of them live up in Humboldt in a trailer growing their own stuff and working odd jobs. These are guys that could have done quite well in college, probably could have excelled in any career they chose. But they choose to live in a trailer and get high. Now maybe they never had they desire or drive necessary to excel, drugs or not, but I find that hard to believe. This has nothing to do with legality, I don't mind if it is legal. Alcohol is legal and can ruin lives just as easily. But lets not go nuts over the wonders of marijuana.

From Paris with Love - The story and characters were a bit of a mess, and John Travolta's partner wasn't really very good (John Rhys-Davies?). The action scenes were good at least.

It's a pretty big jump to say drugs = brilliance. I don't remember any quotes by prominent scientists that sounded like "I was totally stumped on this complex problem, but then I got totally wasted, and I solved it!"

Facebook is very useful for disseminating information to all of your friends at once. For example, the birth of my child, I can post a picture with vitals and then I'm done. But I don't put anything on there that I wouldn't want the whole world to know. I'm really not concerned about my feelings about the local sports teams getting released to the general public.

You know, out in the real world, I give out my name quite frequently. I don't walk around giving people a fake name, or showing a fake ID when I buy stuff. When people's names become widespread on the internet, I really just think it is going to become a non-issue. Sure, there will always be the chance for abuse, but those same chances exist outside the internet.

Good to hear from you GD. Awesome that you finished your book!

I'm doing traffic school as I type this. The online option is pretty nice.

American tourists can go to Nevada for that though.

There are plenty of successful MMO's on the market, you don't have to topple WoW to turn a profit. We also haven't really seen anything about TOR. They haven't even begun the beta.

This could be a terrible blow to the tourism industry in Amsterdam.

Krez is a little high strung for a stoner.

After a bit of effort, it is actually really hard to find myself on the internet. The problem is there are just too many people that have my name. I tried to narrow it down to no avail. I'm not even on that Spokeo thing.

A couple things that strike me: That mod who got his info. posted apparently has an open facebook account. You can pretty much expect that sort of thing when you put all your information in an easy to find place. I'm sure someone here could do some decent research and come away with my vitals, but it wouldn't be a one step process. Also, are folks aware that the mod probably doesn't make any money doing that job? Maybe Blizzard is the exception and they pay, but moderators on forums typically get nada. I see this also as a case of eventually being too much information to really be a problem. If we know the real name of everyone, it no longer becomes all that powerful. For example, I deal with bad drivers on the road all the time. I could follow them home or to work and create problem for them, but that is insane. Right now it is a novelty, but that will wear off and most folks will realize what a waste of time it is and how it isn't worth tracking down every internet bad driver. Except for the few psychos, they will have a field day with this.

Is Alan Smithee the canuck version of John Smith? That's weird.

It wouldn't bother me here or there, honestly. I would love to ditch the name hurlshot, but I've just been using it too long.

Edge of Darkness - Very solid revenge flick. It was pretty predictable, but there was a bit of a surprise at the end that I appreciated. The Crazies - I loved it. It was a great zombie movie, even though it wasn't technically one. Sure, there was some fairly silly moments, but there are those in every George Romero vehicle. The sheriff is the guy from Justified, and he is quickly becoming my favorite actor.

Well, Jagged Alliance 2 is a given. If you haven't played that, you haven't lived.

So for the folks that believe Troika would have done Fallout right, have you played Arcanum? Because that is basically what a Troika Fallout would have looked like, minus the dwarves and elves. For the record, I love Arcanum. But I don't hear a lot of folks clamoring for a sequel to it like you hear for Fallout.

You know, if you aren't cheating, you aren't really trying. This isn't a friendly match between buddies, it's the biggest stage in the world.

This whole smuggling across the border stuff doesn't represent the largest group of illegal immigrants. People just cross the border on a visa and then overstay the length. I imagine that is the majority of the 12-20 million illegal immigrants, at least those coming from Mexico. It isn't a closed border, and it will never become one as long as we are doing $300 Billion in trade a year. My aunt lives in Rosarito, Mexico, and she used to work in San Diego, California. Every day she would cross the border to go to work. It was basically a 30-mile commute that took about 3 hours to cover.

It is expected in hockey that if a guy is in front of your net with the puck, you take him down by any means necessary. I can't even wrap my head around a different mentality. Is futbol really that different from other sports that you just concede goals?

I don't believe anyone has called you a racist Di, and I'm sorry if my responses have come across as snide. I do think you are being a bit abrasive and jumping to certain conclusions. For example, I started this entire thread because I believe something does need to be done about immigration. I know it is a problem and it continues to grow. So we do agree on that. We are disagreeing on the solution to the immigration problem. You and Wrath seem to favor a more militant border solution and a serious deportation movement. I have made my arguments against that and also presented what I think are better alternatives. I see this similar to removing a troublesome tree. Currently we are trimming branches and promising that this will solve the tree problem, even though it has proved fruitless. Tightening up the border is like cutting the tree down, it is effective, but you still have a large stump and a network of roots underground. I would like to try and get to the root of the problem first, and that is only going to be achieved by working directly with Mexico.

And I'm sure California taxpayers are deeply grateful to you for using their hard earned money to educate Mexican children. Uh, you are aware that I am a California taxpayer, right? As I've tried to explain a few times already, your approach to this issue is one I consider counterproductive. Believe it or not, we do have public healthcare for the poor, and the illegals have no compunction about using it. The hospitals aren't allowed to ask about their immigration status either. So you want hospitals turning hurt people away if they can't produce citizenship papers? It is counterproductive because all you are doing is creating friction and ill will, and you aren't accomplishing your goals. It would be one thing if the end justified the means, but so far clamping down on immigration has been a failure. I am saying it is time to change course. Drop the 'us versus them' mentality and create a better partnership with Mexico and Mexican workers.