Commissar

That paralel just doesn't stand...as a state leader you can't go around saying things like that and then expected to be respected and have credibility, because as a statesment your every word has a possible reprocussion. And as for your 'question' - Iniuriam qui facturus est, iam fecit. :D Read the article more carefully..... So? ......what does that have to do with the accusation....like we have such a freedom of press in Iraq and so many journalits in Iraq so lets go bomb some we don't like, well Bush keeps forgetting the rest of the world isn't excatly like Texas " ...although it's good to know that some in the Bush admin. still have brains, if not I wouldn't be suprised if they bombed them. If the coalition had nothing to hide on this matter then they would publish that pice of the memo and be done with it, not threaten to legally pursue if somebody does so. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> We have an airbase literally right next to the building in question. What are you suggesting, that the pilots actually walk to do their battle damage assessment? Take off, turn around, weapons release, land next to the crater? Come on.

(w00t) AWESOME! WAY TO GO CAT! (w00t) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Why? The guy's an animal control officer trying to find the cat a home so they're not obliged to eventually kill it. Dumb animal likely did indeed escape, and doubtlessly died of rabies a couple of weeks later, if it didn't starve to death first. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> My, you're a cheerful one today. " <{POST_SNAPBACK}> There are several feral cat colonies around town where I live. I know what a problem they are.

Well, heading into DC for the Caps - Lightning game in a couple of hours. I'm hoping attendance is crap due to Thanksgiving, 'cause we went with cheap $35 seats, and I'd prefer to be able to mosey on down to center ice. I'm also realizing the massive mistake of trying to get anywhere the day before Thanksgiving, which is why we're heading in so ridiculously early, and just going to hang around drinking Labatt Blue until 7:00.

Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

(w00t) AWESOME! WAY TO GO CAT! (w00t) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Why? The guy's an animal control officer trying to find the cat a home so they're not obliged to eventually kill it. Dumb animal likely did indeed escape, and doubtlessly died of rabies a couple of weeks later, if it didn't starve to death first.

I would've said, "Avoid Goth chicks."

I remember one of the best games I ever played was Myst. I wasn't into it initially at first, since it came out when I was a young'un, but my uncle got hardcore involved. He's not even remotely a gamer - and I suppose I really can't claim that title myself anymore - but we'd swap notes on our progress during family get-togethers and the like. I remember trading all sorts of cryptic scribbles back and forth - he was more musically inclined, so he'd record all of the noises made by puzzles involving sound, looking for patterns, and he literally filled up half a notebook with various observations. Good times. That kind of gaming just won't survive in the modern market. Hell, I haven't touched any of the Myst sequels myself, so I suppose I can't really complain.

They play to different strengths. The console market will inevitably outsell the PC market simply because there's more demand. There's more demand because consoles are accessible to more people. Console gaming has, by and large, garnered mainstream acceptance, whereas PC gaming is still considered rather nerdly. If it's a sports game, I want a console. A platformer, I obviously want a console. Just about everything else, though, I'd prefer a PC. You can't have a sim on a console, but on the other hand, no one's making sims anymore. A mouse and keyboard setup is my preference for a shooter. I can't stand console RPGs, mostly because they're dumbed-down drek. It's undeniable that, at the moment, PCs offer more depth, while consoles offer more variety. Graphics, in my opinion, is a null issue, since both contenders keep up in their own way. The death of PC gaming? I don't know. Isn't Obsidian's Project New Jersey a console game? Even my dogs at Creative Assembly caved in, following up Rome: Total War with some console action crap. I think we'll be seeing more and more developers focusing on both platforms, with the eventual intention of making a full move to consoles.

Didn't I already come in and lay down the law on this particular topic once? As far as the whole friendship thing goes... http://www.intellectualwhores.com/masterladder.html

Only if one of them dies. And by "one of them," I mean the Canadian one.

I'm going to throw my hat into the ring here, because I finally started playing this game - and I mean like last week. Wife's out of town, I have plenty of free time, so I figured I might as well give it a shot. I should also note that I've never played its predecessor. Nor have I yet beaten II, though I get the impression that I'm pretty close. Here are my observations for a potential sequel: 1. The scale of the story. It just feels like familiar territory from the movies and other games in the genre that I've played. I don't, as a rule, like "epic" sorts of adventure. I think there is plenty of drama and plenty of good fun to be had in a much less...consequential storyline. I'm no expert on this, but it's my understanding that both the character from this game, as well as from I, entered Star Wars Extended Universe canon as fairly major figures. I don't like that, at all. Not every plot has to involve the epic hero and his motley crew of unlikely friends saving the galaxy and having significant historical impact...though as I haven't finished the game yet, I can't say for sure that's what happens. But it seems pretty likely. Actually, this ties in to my next point... 2. Character. Along the same lines as the scale of the story itself, I question why every computer roleplaying game these days, especially the two set in the Star Wars universe, focus on a protagonist who's super-special. The reason I always preferred the Icewind Dale series to the Baldur's Gate series is because I could never get on board with the whole "half-son of a god" deal or whatever it was with BG. Plot writers need to get off of the whole "destined for greatness" aspect of writing. For one thing, it greatly limits personal conception of the character you're playing; it's essentially pre-packaging the most important part of the character, who he or she really is, while letting you fiddle around with the comparatively minor stuff like his stats and skills. They have a history that's already written, and you basically just get to take control of them at an important point and walk them through points A, B, and C, in order to get them to the inevitable conclusion. Which, in a way, brings us to... 3. Jedi. I agree that they're an important part of Knights of the Old Republic, since the title, obviously, refers to them. However, I can also understand the desire to play something else; I dabbled with Star Wars: Galaxies for a very brief time during a similar period of time-filling on leave, and had to shake my head at everybody grinding to get their Jedi slot. For the period in which SWG was set, having hundreds of Jedi running around was just a basic violation of the entire story, and I didn't like it. The setting here is much different, however, so I really don't see a problem with keeping them the focus, but also allowing people to play other classes at their will - without having to "fudge" it by still being forced to acquire Force powers and the like, and simply wearing armor and carrying a blaster and never actually using a lightsaber or Force choke. 4. Jedi, part deux. If you're going to go the Jedi route, however, I think it's time to stop the whole, "I was memory wiped/cut off from the Force, and now I'm slowly learning how to use it again," bit. I didn't play KOTOR I, as stated, but I understand that this device was also used in that game. It has its uses, sure; several times during my current game I was pretty damn sure I was going to finally acquire a lightsaber - most notably when the blind chick attacked me on the ship - and I'd get mighty frustrated when it didn't happen. When it finally did, I seriously sat there grinning like an idiot. At the same time, however, it has its disadvantages. For one, it ties into the whole pre-packaged character rant from Point 2, and also imparts a sense of going through the motions for the first half of the game. I knew that my guy was eventually going to get a light stick, so the entire preamble beforehand with having to use blasters or regular weapons felt like precisely that: a preamble to the "real" game. It's time for the device to die. My two cents. I'm sure I'll have more by the time I'm actually done with the game. Also, it does seem a little bit too easy.

Jodo? I must have missed that. One I have class. Two I have a funny wit when I post. Three I can have an evil mean streak when I get pushed around and I am not afraid to show it. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> But all of those things are rather subjective.

I've decided I'm going to write a screenplay. It's going to be completely original, except I'm going to throw in a character named Silver Surfer, and title it Casablanca. I'd be willing to bet all of you that it'll get picked up, since it plays to Hollywood's only two sources right now: movies that have already been made, and comic books.

Chrissy Moran.

The reverse is true as well, by which I mean, I'm absolutely astounded that any human is so arrogant as to presume that, if God exists, he or she is fully competent of understanding God's will.

Gabs is hot? Since when? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> They are both equally depressed and cynical, a match made in heaven... or some goth club. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> "My hate for the world is a flowing river of hate-filled hate! Look on my tragedy and weep, for I am of the kindred! Woe, woe, woe be'st me!"

I mean <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Jodo (w00t) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You guys basically drove the kid off of the board, from what I understand. Something to be proud of. You managed to browbeat a Star Wars enthusiast into departure. I'd hate to run into you lot in a dark alley, that's for sure.

You guys don't have a lick of sense.

just plain middle class, actually. i've surpassed my parents, however, but there are many reasons for that. actually, i paid for most of my own college. oh goody. you don't mind a raise in taxes even though you're in the highest tax bracket. what about the rest of us that suddenly have to cut back? huh? i don't get exemptions and i certainly don't have enough money not to care. rather than think about yourself, why not think about the 20% of us that are paying all the bills. 30% of my income goes out the door to uncle sam. most people pay next to nothing. uh, how is that ironic? like i have control over that? btw, it is the bureaucracy that causes over expenditures. laws and red-tape that cause the bog-down. i love how people that have no idea what they're talking about just love to criticize the system. well, you and the rest of your do-good friends that refuse to let the government conduct business made sure that the regulations were so stiff that even legit companies can't function without violating some sort of law. sarbannes-oxley? what a joke. just more red-tape and another class i have to go through because the left thinks big bad corporate america has to justify EVERYTHING it does, on paper, even if it is ludicrously obvious. in triplicate, too. $700 toilet seat? how about 50 cent toilet seats that 20 people had to sign off on before approving it for use. that doesn't count the ridiculous amount of testing that goes into it... government accounting practices (uh, GAPP, i think) make sure that i bill out at $200/hour. if i touch something for two hours to make sure it works, it is immediately a $400 item, even if i can buy it for under a buck at walmart. while i love your ironic story, please try to understand what you are talking about first, commissar, when talking about government contracting. taks <{POST_SNAPBACK}> First of all, if you think I'm filthy rich...I'm not. Sorry, couldn't think of something caustic and sarcastic to finish that off with. I still don't see how you can say no to universal healthcare for children, but what the hell. And I've got two family members on LM's payroll, so my information isn't firsthand, but it's pretty close. Besides, it's not like the contractors aren't aware of the rules...why can't you guys just figure out what it's likely to cost, knowing all the bureaucratic crap that's involved, and go from there?

On the contrary I am being quite helpful to you. I'm helping you to become a better poster on the forums, to think before you hit the Add Reply button. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> A maxim that you always follow, I've noticed.

Alright, Steve, I'm going to do you a favor and clue you in on the way things work in America. First of all, anybody who's poor? Yeah, they want to be poor. I'm not kidding. They just prefer not to work and collect those massive welfare and medicaid checks instead, secreting all of the funds in numbered Swiss accounts that they'll use for their retirement from being poor. Most yacht sales in the US are made to citizens who were living in a box on the street not two weeks previously. How do I know? I know because no one, and I mean no one in America was born into the middle class. Taks, for example? I have no doubt he was born a poor black child in the worst ghetto imaginable. He worked hard all his life, facing adversity you and I couldn't possibly imagine. He wasn't "lower middle class," and he damn sure wasn't "comfortable." His parents didn't send him to college. In fact, I bet he doesn't have parents at all - he was left on the side of the road and raised by ghetto rats. Ghetto rats who couldn't teach him to read, and stole what money he managed to earn by demonstrating the value of clean living and self-reliance to others. But he made it. He didn't even have bootstraps to pull himself up by, so you know what he did? He made bootstraps out of his own flesh. And everyone else who favors cutting all social spending? Yeah, exact same story, right down to the illiterate ghetto rats. None of them saw the suburbs until they moved there themselves. And I bet each and every one of them broke down crying because they managed to beat the odds, like everyone else. Now, me? I can advocate national healthcare coverage for children under the age of 18 because I'm filthy rich. I don't care about a 1% hike in taxes, because A) I know that as long as the conservatives are in power, I'm going to be exempt from it, anyway; they rely on me to stimulate the economy through mansion purchases, and B) I have enough money not to care. P.S. No one, and I mean no one, better bring up the irony of a guy who works for a defense contractor complaining about a government spending program going overbudget.

Do we need to have the same debate every four days? The Dover case will be decided in court relatively soon, and we'll all have something to say then, I'm sure. But to answer the question, you don't proove intelligent design. If you're an intelligent design proponent, proof is what you fear most. Proof could mean that you should've paid attention to the "these are the reasons you can stone/burn/strangle your family/friends" stuff instead of the Jesus stuff, rather than the way it is now. Proof could mean that the Muslims are right. Proof could mean any number of things, many of them not good, and consequently ID wants to keep us in the dark as long as possible.

you're a moron, but don't even know it... it's sad. the welfare state works perfectly in scandinavia. problem is with you liberalistic ****, is that you are selfish and don't care about others. don't suger coat it with economic bull****. economics isn't a real science. say what you really mean; you hate poor people, end off. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I imagine you're going to want to rethink your language there. Taks and I fundamentally disagree on a whole host of issues, but it's rarely, if ever, because he's uninformed, and never because he's a moron. I know his, "Go do your research, whelp!" style can be annoying, but it's actually pleasant once you get used to it. If you think he's wrong, prove it, but this seems like a really stupid topic to start flinging mud over.

exactly who is going to pay for it if everyone that can afford their own, better, health coverage opts out? remember, those that can "opt out" are those that are paying the taxes. universal health care is nothing more than a handout for those that can't afford insurance. get the government out of business, and these people won't have as much of a problem paying. taks <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I didn't mean they wouldn't have to stop paying taxes for universal health care. I just meant they're more than welcome to choose their own doctors. And you're right, it is a handout for those that can't afford insurance. So what? Until you come up with a plan to get us to 0% unemployment, there are going to be handouts.

and most of those countries with universal healthcare cannot afford it, and, what they do provide, is substandard compared to US provisions. canadians that can afford better healthcare come the US and pay for it out of pocket (they aren't allowed to do that there...). socializing healthcare will ruin it. there will be no incentives for medical professionals, no competition, and the quality of care will bottom out. HMOs have already damaged the level of care we get now. the medicaid drug benefit, IMO, is the second worst travesty ever inflicted on the people of the US. first is social security. taks <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Why not mix the two systems? Allow people to opt out of universal healthcare coverage if they choose to. Good doctors will attract the clients who can afford them, and we won't have people attempting to fix the black death with half a capsule of Nyquil because they can't afford to see a doctor.