Hurlshort

I've said it time and time again, organized religion is flawed. But it is a major part of humanity. It has positive and negative influences. It's also not going away anytime soon. Personally I think the only thing scarier than a world with religion is a world without religion. That would be a world where the unfortunate have no reason to hope. There really are two separate conversations here. One deals with belief, and one deals with religion. PS sorry about getting the name wrong, I'm rushing a bit because I'm at work "

Shadowknight seems pretty dismissive with religion. You compare it to a blanky that the modern man should discard because he is above previous generations. I don't think we are so far ahead as that. This is still a violent and often harsh world. The basic tenants of the major world religions are still very important. I don't know all of you very well, but I assume you don't commit random acts of violence, take whatever you want, and treat women like objects.

Religion and humanity have gone hand in hand since prehistory. Stating that the world would be better off without religion seems terribly arrogant to me. I've already stated my problems with organized religion, but I think a belief in something greater has been crucial for mankind. But without religion, does God cease to exist? When I tell you I see evidence of something greater all around me, it is difficult to put into words. It's like describing love, or the pride I feel when I do something positive. It's not tangible, but I just don't see how everything around me came about randomly. I'm not saying there is an ultimate plan, but there does seem to be a point to all this. I'm pretty sure it's 42.

Well, there are very few Atheistic Crusades in History. That's a good thing. I didn't know Darwin was agnostic, as I'm far from an expert on him or any scientist. I also don't understand why people always bring up the problems with organized religion. We've been discussing whether or not God exists. The Bible, Qur'an, and Tora are not necessary to support a belief in a higher power. I've already stated that my belief comes from simply looking around. I do not see how this is random.

I also think that the reason many scientist don't believe in a higher power has little to do with experiments they have done. All people enter into a situation with pre-concieved notions. Many people who pursue science already have a disdain for religion. Darwin is a perfect example. He was raised Catholic and rebelled at an early age. He hated the church. I'm not an expert on him at all, but that does influence a person. Religion is also not infallible. Again, religion is a construct of man.

Science doesn't have anything to do with faith? Are you serious? Does that mean science has never changed because it's always 100% accurate? Science attempts to prove stuff with experiments, but that doesn't mean it is infallible. Scientists make leaps of faith all the time.

We all use faith here. Athiests have faith in science. I have faith in a Higher Power. Maybe that's all that will matter in the end.

I believe in a Higher Power. I look around every day, and I just don't see how this could be random. I'm not sure why I would want to believe in that. I have HUGE issues with organized religions. Religion is, for the most part, a product of man. It's been used to great good throughout human history, but it's also wreaked terrible havok. But all monotheistic religions share one major point. Faith. I support that. People may call it blind faith, but again, I look around and it seems pretty obvious. I'm not saying we all have some divine purpose here, but I do see life as a gift from something greater than myself.

I've gotta agree with Volourn on that one. The Hull story is pretty messed up. Besides, he's a loose cannon with a big mouth...seems like a better fit for Team USA than Team Canada.

Kariya is a heck of a player. He's also a great leader, and I think Nashville will really benefit from his presence. They've got a solid club that should make the playoffs, but I don't know how well they'll do there.

I try not to enjoy unhealthy things. I don't love drinking, I hate smoking, eating is cool but overeating sucks... I enjoy healthy stuff like sex and hockey...and I do them as often as I can. Not together...the ice is kind of cold.

Isn't Tommy Salo a Swedish Elite Demi-god? Since Salo is (was?) only an above average goaltender in the NHL, Kipper being good there isn't saying much. Let it just be known that I predicted Kipper would not be stellar at the start of the season. I do believe that he will improve as the year goes on, as long as the Flames don't try and play him through slumps.

It's just a very inaccurate technology right now. It's expensive to do it well, and it will never be as responsive as a keyboard and mouse...or even a gamepad. FIREBALL!

I actually bought an extra battery because I heard they were short. Each one will last 3 hours, and I can't really stare at anything for longer than 6 hours. It's pretty easy because I just keep them charged in my bag, and on my trip I just recharched it at the hotel at night. They are about $25 I believe.

I have a PSP as well, and it survived a DC trip with a bunch of 8th graders. There are some decent movies on it, but I'm not ready to fork over $20-30 to watch them on the small screen. It will be better if they lower the costs a bit. Also, I haven't spent $100 to get a 1 gig memory stick, and that has limited my usage of it. The big problem is there are barely any good games on it. I also don't want a Playstation game ported over, I want games made for the tiny screen. Nintendo knows how to make full use of a tiny screen, but Sony and the developers keep trying to cram too much onto it.

Pronger is well-known for losing his cool. He gets heckled at the Shark Tank every game also. He'll take a few dumb penalties if you yell at him long enough. :D

Can't hate a guy for being a cheerleader. We all need a passion. Maybe he'll tone down a bit with everyone jumping on this. I say "no"

That's very sad to hear, but Brett Hull isn't the kind of guy to be a role-player. He's a goal scorer, plain and simple. He was one of the greatest snipers to play the game. If he doesn't feel he can score, he probably isn't enjoying the game. It's a big loss, but I think he'll stick around. He might go into management with the Coyotes or some other team. Hopefully he won't disappear, because other than Roenick, he's one of the only vocal guys in the NHL.

I have a question for Epiphany... When do you get your soul back from Bill Gates?

I'm not up on all the techno mumbo jumbo of the next two consoles. I have a groundbreaking piece of technology called a PC. If it gets slow, I can open it up and tinker with it. Just based on the graphics and the demos I've seen, the Xbox360 will not surpass a high-end PC. The PS3 seems to be a bit beyond the current PC, but again, I'm not big on the tech stuff.

The Xbox360 is coming out in a couple months, but the PS3 is still quite a ways off. Of course there are a lot more titles announced for it. They seem like two very different platforms. The Xbox is a minor step forward, while the PS3 is a risky attempt at changing the status quo. It may seem strange now, but Sony has a pretty good gambling record.

What does that investment cover? Do they mean developers just aren't ready to create for this technology? This is a very vague article. We don't even know how much the PS3 is going to be for retail. I've heard around $500 due to the graphics tech., but most say that's too high. The platform is still a long ways away from being released, so this just sounds like aimless gossip.

That's a pretty heartwarming move by a group of fans. I'm still struggling to convince my wife that we NEED to go see it again on Saturday, but I haven't given up yet. Buffy was definitely a niche product. It managed 7 seasons because it was very well done, but also because it was on the WB and UPN. Buffy pulled in great rating for those networks, but if you put it on ABC it probably wouldn't have lasted. Not because it didn't have a decent qaudience, but because it doesn't compete with CSI and Law & Order. Remember that Angel struggled on Fox with basically the same audience. I loved Buffy, but it was a difficult show to sell to the mainstream. Serenity is easier to sell, but not if you piggyback it with Buffy.

The problem is that nerdiness has become so huge, it has split into separate factions. Star Wars and LotR are mainstream nerdiness. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Serenity have only reached a niche in the nerd community.

I think it should be. There are great WoT onversations going on. Post count is often used to measure a person's participation within the community. We might not remember every active person in the community, but we can look at post counts and see whether they are serious about being here or just dropping in to start crap.