Hurlshort

Those subtitles were obnoxious and that girl is gorgeous.

I can answer one question, Tale is on crack.

Oh, I almost forgot about the weird dream I had. There was a zombie attack at a mall. I had to bring unaffected people to this shiny roulette wheel in order to end the infection. I had to bring 5 people there, but I could only successfully bring one person at a time. I made it with the last person just in time. I remember rescuing a former student and a homeless girl. I think I play too many video games. The fact that I had to bring one person at a time made it feel like a collection quest.

I went with an 80-20 loan, so I had nothing down. I had to refinance after two years because it was an ARM, but we didn't pay any prepayment penalty (we did take on another 5k in debt to cover the closing costs though.) It was a bad choice by us, compounded by the fact the market dropped after we bought. But I learned a lot, I can't be too upset about failing to predict the future, and I'm not in a situation where I can't make my payments. I'll know a lot more the next time I go to buy a house. It really is a very complex process. Right now I'm just waiting for the housing market in my area to return to normal. Nothing is selling in my area, even at drastically reduced prices. If I could break even on my property, I might try to do that and get into something bigger, but currently I'd probably take about a 25% (100k) loss if I tried to sell.

1964: Civil Rights Act of 1964 1964: Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 1964: Wilderness Act 1964: Nurse Training Act 1964: Food Stamp Act of 1964 1964: Economic Opportunity Act 1965: Higher Education Act of 1965 1965: Social Security Act of 1965 1965: Voting Rights Act 1965: Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965 1967: Age Discrimination in Employment Act 1967: Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 1968: Bilingual Education Act 1968: Fair housing Those are biggies. Other than Lincoln, no president has been anywhere near as important to the civil rights movement. He also passed a Highway Beautification act, which makes my long drive to work much nicer. 1982 Murray-Blessing survey of 846 historians - They ranked him 10 back then, but his stock has risen over the years, so he'd probably be a bit higher.

Wait, broke up? So this progressed to a physical relationship? I think the quotes mean that no, not a physical relationship. Probably the overly intimate friendship is what he is referring to.

I'm not a democrat or a republican, but I am a student of history, and this statement has no precedent. We've had some absolutely terrible presidents in our history, and nothing really horrible comes of it. That's the joy of the checks and balances system. The president isn't nearly as powerful as people think he is. It's also impossible to get a real read on a president until well after their terms. People blasted LBJ because of Vietnam when he was in office, but many historians now place him on a short list of the greatest presidents of all time. Lincoln and FDR forcibly seized power when they needed to. The worst case scenario is that Obama will be ineffective in the White House. And we've had plenty of presidents do that, yet our country still stands.

Hey, maybe if it didn't have DRM, it would have been available 10 days before release. Seriously though, this stuff is the reason DRM exists. I sure hope no one here is glorifying it.

After hearing your description of the husband, I don't really see him as a bad guy. He went into the marriage expecting a certain lifestyle. They both erred if they didn't communicate about that ahead of time. The kid issue really stuck out to me, how do you now discuss that before taking your vows? I'm really not one to blame you for anything here. A good relationship is built on trust. I know my wife is faithful to me. If she went behind my back, I would blame her. She would be breaking the trust. You don't have a vow to the husband.

I'm not sure why you take the gaming industry and the gaming press so seriously. It's a bit of a silly industry. Who is making serious games? Why do you expect serious reviews? Is Will Wright going to address the Holocaust now that Spore is out? These are games, every title that comes out is designed to be fun (even if they fail.) It just doesn't lend itself to serious review. Even an adult title like GTA4 doesn't take itself too seriously, and it spends most of its time ripping off movies.

Yes, but we don't pay for those websites, so I'm not much on criticizing them. I go to them to find out what features a game offers and that's about it.

Many people enjoyed Meet the Spartans? If that were true (which I doubt) then I don't see why it wouldn't get a 7 or an 8. I understand what you are trying to do here. You are comparing the gaming press to that of movies and books. The problem with that line of thinking is that there is no Godfather 2 in gaming, and gaming publications really don't have any choice but to accept the relationship with game publishers. Sure, it'd be wonderful if game journalists could get jobs at the NY Times and write reviews without worrying about ticking off publishers, but it's not realistic. Maybe down the line game reviews will become more credible, and game journalists will be professional journalists. But I don't blame the publications, I blame the games. Again, there is no Godfather 2, no Gone With the Wind, no Citizen Kane in the gaming industry. There are a few games that make attempts at being artistic, but until games find a way to appeal to EVERYONE, they are going to suffer from the fact that they alienate a good portion of the population.

Good point. It's the same scale used in most schools. It's also the content of the review that I see as important. The written words are worth a lot more than a number. Also, I don't pay much attention to a review of a genre I'm not interested in much, because I'm not the target audience.

So does this not lead to people opting to endure a chronic, treatable condition rather than face (or have their families face) expensive bills later? Sure. Again it isn't a perfect system. You really do need a health care plan, especially in your later years. Fortunately most companies offer these. Heck, even a minimum wage job and McDonalds can get you a health care plan. Also, debt is a tricky thing in the US. Your family will probably not have to pay much of your medical bills if you bite it. I'll write more later.

Um, what? Assassin's Creed is a very playable game, many people enjoyed it. It deserves a score somewhere between a 7 and an 8. Just because your opinion is different than a reviewers doesn't mean they were paid off. If that was the way the media worked then Daikatana would have gotten 9's and 10's.

It is inaccurate. Something like prostate cancer is going to be taken care of regardless of how much money you have or whether you have healthcare or not. You go into a hospital and they will treat you. Anything that is life threatening is dealt with in the US quickly enough. The complications in our health care system come from the more hazy health issues. Hip replacement surgery can be done is many different ways. If you want it done well, you are going to be paying a lot for it. Insurance might cover a percentage of that. On the other hand, if you are dirt poor, you will get the cheapest solution possible. But it isn't free, you will be paying whether it is life threatening or not. Except the bills come in after the service has been rendered. Hospitals can't legally refuse service to anyone. I don't blame the government or the insurance companies for the current state of the US health care system, I blame the dumbass citizens who sue whenever something doesn't go perfectly. That's why the costs in the US are so prohibitive.

Again, what did The Sims get in these magazines? Look, these types of games are very different than the standard RTS. They really aren't designed for a hardcore gaming audience. They are designed for a larger public. It doesn't surprise me that Spore is being called childish, I think that is a fantastic moniker. I hope the game will be accessible to my daughter and my wife. This is a continuation of The Sims concept, despite a dramatically different look.

Whatever, I'm sticking to my AOL browser

For those of you who dislike Spore, did you like The Sims? I just think that might be important for establishing personal tastes.

NHL 09 in 6 days...

These are politicians, people, they aren't going to come out and say what their true beliefs are. Palin, in many ways, was simply pandering to here majority with her stances on creationism and drilling. Her views on abortion and sex ed. are pretty clear though. That abstinence policy seems super effective ;-)

I can agree with that. I wish I had 20% when I got into my place. Like all investments, there is risk involved. Even if you pay 100%, if the market tanks, you are losing money.

Sweet, alanschu is like a homewrecker!

Where I live, 30% is like $150,000 for an average house. That's a bit tough to save up for. Also, while I'm saving there is a good chance that the price will rise, and I will get considerably less real estate for the same price. At least that's the way the market was for about a decade before it tanked recently.

The pop-ups really don' bother me, and they give me an extra chance at stopping my wife from causing mischief on my PC.