Cantousent

It's fitting in your case, Enoch. You're probably the most cerebral person around this joint.

Damn, that reminds me. I need to post a picture. If only I can remember how to upload a picture onto the board... Soon.

The Pachelbel Canon. Beautiful piece even to untrained ears such as mine.

A quick note. I've been closing threads at 20 pages because it that was the routine limit at the IP fora. I'll check with Fio and see if maybe the server can handle more pages. What I don't want are the problems that plagued long threads at the BIS and IP fora. Ugh, that was bad. We don't have a lot of traffic on these boards just yet, but it doesn't hurt to get into good habits in regards to this sort of stuff. So, for the time being, if you get to 20 pages, I close the thread, start a new thread, and give you kudos for creating a lasting topic on the forum! What could be better? Now, rather than destroy poor Darkside's thread, I'll take PMs from folks. Gladly even.

I thought Tom Cruise was the heartthrob from The Last Samurai.

Eldar

No, while I might be infatuated with myself, I can't claim that I'm my own Fangirl. I'll stick with Galadriel (since we decided that the object of fanboyism can be a literary figure), Bullock, Kidman, and maybe Liv Tyler.

Unless you're an Eldar Fangirl... no. If you are an Eldar Fangirl, please post a hot picture of me immediately!

Kudos to Darkside for being inducted into the 20+ page thread hall of fame. His (her?) thread has gone on for a full 20 pages of consistent and on-topic off-topic goodness. Let's hope for another 20 pages! Now I will retire his thread and re-open this one to continue the Fangirl/boy goodness that can be found in the original, here: 1 <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Eldar Electronic Lifeform Designed for Assassination and Repair.

[moderator voice]I would appreciate it if we could keep from personal attacks. Address the issue and not the posters, if you please.[/moderator voice] Now, I have a question regarding the "powerful hardware" concept. Is processing and graphics speed the only thing that makes for performance. The way it looks on paper, the PS3 is simply superior from a hardware standpoint. I don't care about which has better games. I want to know what factors will make one better than the other. These factors include hardware reliability. A better machine isn't better if it breaks down every two months. What about optical sound for surround sound? What about better picture for DVDs? What about storage capacity? Some of these things I can gather on my own. Some of them I simply don't understand very well.

In homage to Titosros most excellent thread, I'm going to enshrine it in the "20 page hall of fame." As is the custom, I will close threads at 20 pages and open a brand new thread in honor of the originator. Please see Titosros' original here which, while shifting and shading, has remained remarkably on topic. 1 <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Creed albums 1,2,&3 Jeanne Cotter After the Rain

I could. I didn't always see them very easily, but I could always find them.

We've actually managed to derail and come back ontrack. Amazing, these Muggles! Anyhow, that moving picture thing creeps me out also. I wan't too terribly impressed with the first set of optical illussions, but I thought the 3rd looked really cool. It worked for me the first try. I think the second one is the most impressive.

I wasn't trying to bait you, Hilde. I was just joking around. I had honestly thought that you were joking. I dunno... there are more things between heaven and earth, I suppose?

I'm a recent vampire who is reconciling his need to feed on humans with his ideals and attitudes from his previous life. If that's lame or "chipper," I simply don't care. What's going to be tough are my feeding restrictions, which have already exhibited a change in my outlook. Still, as I understand it, there is no need to actually kill to feed. If that's the case, then I'm not yet a murderer, although I am most certainly a killer. Certain ideals have gone by the wayside as I continue to understand my kindred nature, but I still have the highest ideals, even if I cannot live by them perfectly. To be honest, I did not live by them perfectly in life and continue to struggle with them in death. Still, I'm going to try to be a hero as best I can. When I need to be a monster, I will be.

A good point... and yet I believe that humans are, at heart, good natured. We live in societies that could not exist if we did not, for one reason or another, adhere by rules. Is it fear that keeps us in line? I don't think so. Fear, over the centuries, has been a very poor motivator to the criminally minded. The United States, far more often than folks around here concede, acts because it believes in the righteousness of its cause. Sometimes it is misguided, that is true. Moreover, the United States has been far more benevolent than any of its predecessors, although there is a strong case to be made for our friend, the United Kingdom. The world has been full of powerful civilizations. By comparison, the United States weilds greater power with more restraint.

Whatever you think of the United States, we don't keep a military for prestige. We keep a military because we see enemies. Sometimes, those enemies might not be real, but sometimes they are. Moreover, if the western Europeans and the US didn't have a strong military, all sorts of unsavories would be coming out of the woodwork. I agree that disarmament might work, but I don't have a rosy picture of it. Anyhow. disarmament sounds related to the topic under discussion as it is.

This is where we disagree. At some point, other countries prosper with a military precisely because the United States has one. The question is degree. How large does our military need to be to face challenges today? I'll take, for instance, Sweden, which is a rich nation judged by a variety of criteria. It has managed to well without the need for excessive military spending. However, it did benefit from the shelter provided by the military of others. Furthermore, if the United States didn't have a large military, then other nations, perhaps even Sweden, would feel compelled to ratchet up the percentage they spend on their militaries.

It might not be either/or, though, Steve.

Even if you disagree with the premise, there's something to be said for, at the very least, entertaining the idea. I'm as proud an American as the next guy and considerably moreso than most. Still, we do have a strong compulsion in the United States to maintain a military edge. Is it good national policy? Maybe it is. On the other hand, it might not. No matter what, it can't hurt to keep looking at the issue. Should we keep vigilance against those who threaten our nation? Most certainly. Should we apply equal vigilance when assessing ourselves? Yes. At any rate, these are legitimate policy questions.

Oingo Boingo's Greatest hits, disk 2