Hurlshort

Actually, at first I was a bit hesitant about blowing up gas stations and water tanks. I mean pulling down statues and blowing up military bases is one thing, but the other stuff seems a lot more terrorist-y. But then I realized I get cool giant numbers that flash across the screen as I blow stuff up, and my moral compunctions faded.

I've been laying waste to stuff all over the place. I blew up an oil rig today, it was phenomenal. This game is extremely impressive.

I felt like Dreamworks found their game with Kung Fu Panda. Glad to hear they are continuing to produce solid movies.

Both are sick, actually. There is a pretty big difference between a FPS or GTA style game and an actual realistic murder simulation.

The theme of Satan is a very old concept tracing back throughout history and predating modern religions. It is a very powerful part of human nature, the idea of evil or darkness. We aren't talking about a horned guy in a hot place, as most religions make it clear that the devil can take many shapes. As for Wals's point, I like Orogun's observation about Satan being a primarlily New Testament character to separate evil from God. From a theological standpoint it makes sense, as proselytizing someone with a vengeful God is going to be much harder than a compassionate one. It is odd then, that Satan receives no compassion, but perhaps his very existence is a mercy given by God.

Is Hoegaarden an Abbey beer?

I'm just glad Pronger is out of the Western Conference. Guy was always a killer against the Sharks. It will be pretty sad if Colorado misses the playoffs. They were expected to be the bottom of the whole division, and they have been a fun surprise this year.

I have been in Yosemite all week with my school, and I just now got a chance to stop at a wifi hotspot and check my emails. The world is pretty much the same. We did have a fright a couple days ago. We were hiking up a steep trail called yosemite falls. It was raining, and we were about 3 miles up. There was a rockfall, and two students were hit by softball sized rocks. Search and rescue came up and helped us get them back down. Luckily they were just scraped up and got back outside the next day with a few bruises.

Did you look at the list of units? I just plain run out of time. They will also get much more exposure to the Enlightenment in High School, whereas areas like West Africa, Japan, and the Middle East get very little attention after 7th grade according the the California state education standards.

The Men Who Stare at Goats - Very amusing. In fact I found most of the movie to be a pleasant surprise. I thought the ending was a bit of a letdown, but I can see that there wasn't really much room to go anywhere with it.

Picked up Just Cause 2. So far it's decent, I'm still learning the ropes of the grappling hook though.

Actually I teach religion in Social Science (which is a fancy term for History.) If you don't mind my asking Hurl, how closely do you have to teach to your text? Not closely at all, really. I have a co-worker who has pretty much written off our most recent textbooks as rubbish and uses the older sets as well more specialized supplemental material. We have to address certain standards. We are basically given a framework, for example I cover 11 different units in a year, starting with the Fall of the Roman Empire, the rise of Feudalism in Europe, the Rise of Islam, West Africa, 4 major Chinese dynasties, Feudal Japan, Meso-America, then back to Europe for the Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific Revolution, Age of Exploration, and if time permits (which it never does) I cover the Enlightenment. Now my textbook is designed to follow that path, but it is a very simplified version of the events. So I go through and expand on certain parts of the content. I know a lot of teachers, and very few do not do this. That is why I think this whole Texas school board stuff is a bit of a non-issue. A good teacher will cover the whole spectrum no matter what is in the text. I am more worried when school boards try to tell me what not to teach.

Probably not, since it is now a Disney property I believe.

Wait, your wife bears your child, cooks you meals, and brings in a paycheck? Yeah, you need to get over the lack of sex. Marriage is a long road, you will get plenty of opportunities to shag.

Actually I teach religion in Social Science (which is a fancy term for History.)

I'm not sure what this really has to do with the creationism argument, this is history curriculum. I don't know any history teachers that stick strictly to the textbook. History is about looking at as many sources of information as you can gather and then thinking critically about them. To be honest, this is the type of stuff we deal with in every state when it comes to textbook creation. That is why all decent teachers supplement lessons heavily with different sources. Textbooks are mediocre compendiums of curriculum, they help create a skeleton for a teacher to follow, but the teacher has to flesh it out themselves.

I don't want to give anyone the impression it is the greatest thing since sliced bread, but it is well worth the $15 I dropped on it.

This means very little to quality teachers.

I didn't realize Turbine was such a favorite over there. That's great. Also, DDO is not exactly there strongest property. Asheron's Call was a major player back in the day, and LotR Online is probably their cash cow.

Welcome back, it's good to hear you are still plugging away at school. There are a few new crazies here, but it's pretty much status quo.

That would produce pretty much zero response. Cartoonists lampoon presidents all the time.

Very nice slug

Wierd, I can't vote, even logged in.

No, small business owners are rightfully worried that it is going to be a cost that they can't take in an already fragile economy.

It's like the old expression "You don't have to attend meetings to be an alcoholic."