Colrom

OK, let me see. In one case I have skill of 7or11 and the lock has a difficulty of 25or30 and I roll d20 and succeed if I have d20+7or11>=25or30. In the other case I have a skill of 7or11 and the lock has a difficulty of 4or9 and I roll d20 and I succeed if d20<= 7or11-4or9. They seem mathematically the same to me. But the first case is easier to explain because everyone knows that bigger is better and if you are having trouble threading the needle it's clear that what you really need is a bigger hole not a smaller needle! :D

Good for you. My wife especially loves snow. She spent alot of time in Colorado - going to school or digging for gold or silver or somethin - or maybe just digging out of snowpiles. Anyway, she always sings about it and takes lots of pictures when it comes. We have gazillions of pictures of things in the snow. We have a Starwars SnowWalker or whatever that hangs out outside and poses alot in the snow. Also a Budda who gets dressed in snow capes (scapes?). And fences that get covered in snow. And it doesn't even snow that much here! Anyway-

You should stop fantasizing about such violence. It is not good for you. It is true that George is very very very bad. But he is definitely not a devil, like Chavez said. That was outrageous! (w00t) Maybe Chavez did smell sulfur though. Cause George probably is a disciple of Satan. Rather than just a mindless punk killer. Never the less you should forgive and lead by example. Make him the best hamburger and fries you can and tell him to have a good day. Just make sure he pays for the food. And vote Democratic as many times as it takes to clear that sour feeling you get from being nice to that monster out of your life.

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I like "House". He is definitely a flawed character. It series may actually invert the typical themes of situation comedys. Most situation comedy episodes run something like this: person tells lie (I Love Lucy) or makes mistake (Gracie and Allen) - person spends rest of episode telling lies (Lucy) or making more mistakes (Gracie) in effort to deal - lie/mistake is finally revealed - resolution. Kinda a plot about grieving - denial. House situation comedy seems to run something like this: House says something outrageously true - House and others spend rest of episode attempting to overcome or otherwise patch the truth - truth is finally revealed to be only partly correct - resolution. Kinda a plot about grieving - anger.

So, I preordered the LE at Gamestop (NJ, USA) and they told me nothing and gave me nothing other than a receipt. What should I do?

To really get in the spirit of things some of us may want to sing a song together. "575. Onward, Christian Soldiers Text: Sabine Baring-Gould, 1834-1924 Music: Arthur S. Sullivan, 1842-1900 Tune: ST. GERTRUDE, Meter: 65.65 D with Refrain -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before. Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe; forward into battle see his banners go! Refrain: Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before. 2. At the sign of triumph Satan's host doth flee; on then, Christian soldiers, on to victory! Hell's foundations quiver at the shout of praise; brothers, lift your voices, loud your anthems raise. (Refrain) 3. Like a mighty army moves the church of God; brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod. We are not divided, all one body we, one in hope and doctrine, one in charity. (Refrain) 4. Crowns and thrones may perish, kingdoms rise and wane, but the church of Jesus constant will remain. Gates of hell can never gainst that church prevail; we have Christ's own promise, and that cannot fail. (Refrain) 5. Onward then, ye people, join our happy throng, blend with ours your voices in the triumph song. Glory, laud, and honor unto Christ the King, this through countless ages men and angels sing. (Refrain) "

The problem is that when the Pope provides a characterization of Muslims as violent it is entirely predictable that that will be taken as a partial rationalization for violent action against Muslim nations, institutions, and people by many Catholics and other Christians. I imagine it is a very scarry thing for Muslims to hear the Pope say things about Islam that may inspire some Christians to think that killing Muslims might be good. I can see how Muslims would protest. What the Pope said has no good outcome and he ought to have known that. I am very disappointed in his leadership. This situation is completely different than the Mohammad cartoons. Those were done by little people who wanted to feel powerful who taunted and mocked Muslims to make them angry. I think it amused them to see the Muslims protesting and to watch the Muslim protests be dismissed as just more evidence of Muslim insanity. It was typical bully work. The Pope is a different matter. He is a powerful person. And this was not mockery. This was was damnation. His was the kind of speach that has proceeded Crusades in the past. I am sure the Muslims wonder where this will go now. And I do too.

Show me the Muslim armies invading Christian countries and destroying Christian cities and towns. Show me the vast forces of a Muslim armada gathered off the coast of a Christian country about to invade.

Chritians make fun of Mohammud to taunt and demean the Muslims. And then they make fun of the Muslims for getting all powerlessly furious. And then they make fun of them some more. And blame it all on them. Everything is their fault. We are doing it right here. And then we pretend to be afraid and we go and kill them. So how different is this from what we Christians did to the Jews? It seems the same to me. We should be ashamed.

The Pope has been quite reluctant to critcise Christian killing of Muslims or even torture or imprisonment without charge. He has said that Europe should remain Christian. and has discouraged the EU from including Turkey. Important officials in Denmark, Holland, Austria, France, the UK, Australia, and America and probably other countries too have made comments indicating their disregard for Muslims and their belief that Muslims must conform to local customs. keep in mind that many of these countries have Christian official state religions. They have also passed laws targeting muslim immigration, citizenship and religious practices. In many countries vast populations of Christians have made public hostile jokes mocking their minority muslim population. The kind of jokes the Germans and Austrians and such used to make about the Jews until they finally dragged them out of their houses and shops and beat them up and sent them off to work as slaves and to be killed. These behaviors are off base and wrong. They are continuations of the corrupt hostile attitudes that led to the atrocities of the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Hollacost and others as well. The Pope is way off base. He needs a dressing down.

Thanks Di. I needed that. I also enjoy rural living - with a well - a septic system - etc. Plus squirrels are trying to set up house in my attic. Arrrgh!

I think Di has got good points although I may have less regard for textbooks than she does. Wiki is good for finding out what sources the folks who dominate an entry think are important. You need to assume that there are other sources also. Those who dominate an entry will generally not cite sources that lead to differing viewpoints. You have to find them elsewhere. Now, there are some entries that are not notable - like the philips head screwdriver and the ALCO S2 diesel locomotive. The info in wiki on those topics is probably reliable and the cited sources may be very good too. Of course some loony may have gone and messed up those entries just to be a jerk. So maybe even those entries are cooked. I have a problem with textbooks. Although they provide recommendations for further reading they don't generally cite sources for the information they contain. Further, the information they contain is so generalized that it is usually heavily politically influenced. High School history textbooks books will generally not bother to mention some of the notable behaviors of Queen Elizabeth for example - presumably because it doesn't fit the story they are trying to tell. They will also not reference any serious books dealing with her. Textbooks on topics like history are not even good source guides. The more I think of them the more I believe wiki history may actually be better than textbooks on history.

It's not just wiki and it's not just the internet, print is just as messed up. So far as I can tell the history of the Barbary Pirates or Barbary Corsairs or whatever has been so political for so long that it is hard to find decent print sources (books) that are not pushing a political viewpoint. Even going back to the 1820s there was politics involved in the story - at least in America where slavery was an issue and stories of white slavery were popular amoung abolitionists. There's some connection with Spanish privateers going back to the 1600s and 1700s too. That gets you back to the Crusades. No politics there eh? So........ Maybe mostly info about philips head screwdrivers is kinda clean and fact based. But forget about info on number 2 grade lumber. That's completely corrupted. Now you know. More than you think of what you think you know is actually somebody's BS. By the way, that little bit "the truth is not notable" is wonderful! The only stuff I really trust on wiki is the stuff I believe (hope) is not notable! The rest of the stuff on wiki is certainly false - somewhere! But where?

The real problem is that some folks who lack experience are too inclined to believe what they read. Wiki is just like the rest. It should not be understood to be a popular encyclopedia. It is different however in that it is vigorously patrolled and controlled in real time by groups and individuals with agendas. You can't even get the straight story of the Barbary Pirates out of wiki because some folks want the story to serve as a backdrop to our current adventures in the middle east and want to edit away the Dutch privateer element. That's OK though because the 1909 Brittanica item on the Barbary Pirates is similarly political (I wonder if its content was influenced by British interests in the middle eastern oil - Anglo Persion Oil, now BP, was formed in 1909). That item is quoted widely on the web. I once tried to modify a wiki description of a US Catholic Group that made it seem like they were an official instrument of the Church - which they arn't. One of their people had a trigger set which detected changes as they were being made and they jumped in and changed most of my stuff right back to what they wanted the wiki to say while I was still editing. I never went back to that listing after that. It is not worth the effort to try to correct it. As long as you understand what wiki is it can be a good resource - or a good starting point in looking for other resources.

Piaf au Carnege Hall Her 1956 and 1957 performances. I never realized what a powerful voice she had. Wow! (w00t) Very Good!

For some people true .. but others would be a neurological mess if they embraced the reality of it .. so I agree and disagree! We shouldn't forget entirely, but neither should we dwell on such memories for too long.. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yeah. I agree. There are some memories about people and events that are horrible! Really, really, really horrible. Getting past them is probably a good idea. It's not like they can really be completely forgotten, anyway.

Blank said: "The ten commandments are not the only thing that matters in Christianity or Judaism. I'm not really sure what you are getting at when you said this. The bible discusses intentions a lot. You say your statement in a manner condemning of the ten commandments. Are they bad? If people were to obey them perfectly, would there not be a great change for the good?" Blank you misunderstand me. My manner of speaking reflects regret that the ten commandments are not accepted better. My point is precisely that folks regularly rationalize not following one or more of the ten commandments and instead preach rationalizations founded on Utility Theory. George's recent speach and many other of his speaches preach this New Gospel of Pride and Pragmatism. It proclaims, among other things, that: 1. what we see as good is good and what we see as bad is bad (we are the deciders), 2. our fears justify our deceits and preemptive violence (to be secure we must be deceptive about our methods strike before others can act), and 3. our envisioned ends justify our deceits and proactive violence (our lies, tortures, assassinations, and wars are for the better - would you prefer that Saddam was still in power?). His speach and all his speaches repeat this lesson or other lessons of a similar type. I don't appreciate this New Gospel of Pride and Pragmatism. I like the original Gospel better. Maybe we agree more than you think.

Exactly!

I am hating Baldur's Gate II Throne of Bhaal. Super high level D&D campaigns are such a royal pain!

Right On!

The souls thing is a separate topic. Just let it pass if it makes no sense to you, or, if you prefer, use some other idea instead.

There would be one less thug in the neighborhood. And we might save our souls.

I have no problem with folks accepting responsibility for what we have done in Iraq. I do have a problem with folks assuming authority to decide how things can be made better. Especially when there are many who will be involved who do not acknowledge that authority. So they fight about who will be "the decider" rather than doing something really worthwhile. It is interesting that the ten commandments don't focus on reasons but on actions. We need to learn the lessons of past mistakes, not in terms of mourning and yet still pursuing missed objectives, which is what many folks seem to want, but in terms of abandoning corrupt ways of thinking (such as "I am the decider") objectives and methods. We should just leave and pay for all the damage we have done. But our pride won't let us. It will seem imprudent in terms of our future reputation and possible military requirements. HooHaa. HooHaa. Blah, blah, blah. What a bunch of selve involved egocentric uncaring bastards we really are! We plan to buy our way to heaven by bombing those who oppose our vision into oblivion and making the world safe for democracy, whoo hah. I don't think so. Sorry for the rant but I am getting really sick of hearing about the good intentions of our 500, 1000, and 2000 pound bombs.