Cantousent

That's more of a legend. Kind of like Washington is always portrayed as gentle. Hey, I think Washington is probably the greatest American we've ever had, but better to see our legendary figures for what they were than what folks think they should have been. If we still love and revere them when we see them without their clothes, then they're all that much more remarkable. I've always been a great admirer of Perikles, but he wasn't superhuman. he was human, and that made everything he did much more meaningful. ...But, yeah, I tend to prefer straight fiction or historical fiction that doesn't rely on historical events coming out differently. When I talk about counterfactual arguments, I'm pretty much strictly speaking about folks arguing about the events rather than the personalities. For example, the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. There are modern ideological arguments that require arguing that the events could have happened differently and should have happened differently. From a philosophical standpoint, that may be true, but from a historical standpoint, the events did happen a certain way. We can guess how they might have happened otherwise, but we cannot prove the idea. It's when folks try to prove counterfactual theories that I balk.

lol Funny post of the day, Gorth, you ol' trickster you. As for you, Fio, I'm from the Aberjahamistan embassy and I have millions of dollars tied up at our consolate in Canada. I don't ask you send money, just a six pack of beer and some hotwings and you'll be repayed in kind... in either this life or the next.

The thing is that the U.S. military is the most powerful, trained, and effective force we've had on the planet to date but it is still in kind with Civil War militaries from either the north or the south. Yes, it's an uneven comparison, but any group that rises above the level of a mob will have certain characteristics in common with other such groups. I didn't see your earlier suggestion, GD, but using your experience with modern military as a reason to discard the idea might be premature. ...And, having served at a variety of combined commands, including combined commands with other miliatries as well as US Army and Marine commands while I was in some twenty years ago, I can tell you that no military, even ours, is the 'well oiled machine' that folks envision. Hell, I haven't known anyone in any branch who hasn't seen their share of snafus arising out of our shabby ol' humanity coming into play. Of course, you say your idea is more or less cliched, which might be a good reason to dump it. I'm just playing the other side on the military front because I always like to see folks try to find new ways of telling old stories. If something is truly 'cliched' then I'm sure you should throw it over. On the other hand, if it's an old idea with something of yourself thrown in to make it interesting, why not try it? On the third hand, I've never much cared for counterfactual histories. I know they're popular and I understand why folks like them, but I've just never gotten into the concept because I've seen it bleed into academic work where I loathe people using counterfactual arguments to support claims about real world historical events. ...But, what the hell, I don't like 'what ifs' but I think it's a solid prospect for a story, even if it's not my cuppa.

Having been in the Navy, dont you get the monthly spam from the Navy Federal Credit Union? They've almost broken me down. The latest offering was life insurance from $10,000 to $350,000 with the prices being very reasonable with no medical check required and you cant be denied as long as you didnt receive a other than honorable discharge. I got a good laugh while reading the fine print. Apparently we are broken down into percentages. For example, you lose a hand? That gets you 25% of your policy. An eyeball? Well thats only worth like 10%. Total Comedy. No, I haven't seen anything like that. Now, my wife actually does the mail thing, so she might have seen something and not told me, but I've said I'd like to up my insurance without spending a small fortune to do it. I figure if something had come with my insurance she would see it. Maybe she just doesn't agree that we need more. Frankly, other than a weird recruitment letter from the Marines I received a long time ago, I haven't gotten much from the navy... except for the GI bill paying a pretty damned good chunk of my schooling.

I get your point, Trulez. I had a "what the hell" moment when I heard about the panda thing. I still don't know if I believe it, but it won't matter to me anyhow. As for you, Cal, I wouldn't mind getting on the same realm (or whatever TOR calls servers) as you. You know that I tend to go MIA for long stretches, but I would join up to see how the game shakes out. I think it ships before the Holidays, right? After the first, I'm probably screwed. Thanksgiving week and Christmas are my best bets. Thanks for the write ups, Hurlshot.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiege...,405232,00.html I guess that ban means a little more for imported beer than the domestic stuff in Pakistan.

So you're going to switch from WoW? Frankly, I'm just not excited about the game, but I am curious about it. The way I see it, why ditch one MMORPG for another? Nonetheless, I can see why folks might like the Star Wars Universe. I might wait to see if there's some sort of trial promotion when it ships and then give it a long weekend during Christmas break.

I wish I could get 500k for 35 bucks a month. :Cant's jealous icon: Even when I was younger and in better health I had things that made it hard, such as asthma. Now that I'm older and have 'conditions,' it's brutal to try to get more insurance and the premiums are brutal. ...And I don't have any condition I think will actually do me in. Yeah, maybe shave a few years off the total, but it's not like I'm going to keel over tomorrow from any of the ones they know. It actually pisses me off. If it weren't for a couple of insurance policies I picked up long before I got married, my wife wouldn't get anything. Two things that make it a lot easier on me, though. First of all, it won't really matter if I die. My wife has a small (as in not big enough for folks to think we're wealthy) inheritance. We outright own our condominium and cars. We don't spend all that much money on stuff. Put it all together, and it's not a huge worry. However, if it got to the point where she'd lose everything on heroic measures to keep me alive, I'd pull the plug myself. Toward that end, I signed a DNR when I went to the hospital for the heart tests they did. I don't want to die, and I'm sure as hell not suicidal, but I'm not going to let my wife be poor in order to eek out one miserable month of existence only to die anyhow. You're a long way away from all that, tarna, as you've had good news coming and hopefully this is all the sort of message board talk that you can laugh about later when you're an old ****er.

I've barely scratched the surface of the game, but it has quite a bit of New Vegas feel to it already. I don't think that's a bad thing, though. I like the way they've taken some of the interface ideas from both FO3 and NV and improved on the Elder Scroll ideas. I still prefer the skill system in Fallout, but I enjoy the way TES work also. The only thing is that it's so much of a sandbox, getting started and making real headway in skills such as alchemy and enchanting and the like can be quite daunting.

I feel you on that one. I mean, I wonder what I would do if it would bankrupt my wife to try to keep me alive with truly minimal chances of success. That just sounds terrifying to me. My thinking has been along the same lines as yours, but it has been entirely conjecture seeing as how I have never had to seriously worry about it. I also have about 75k in insurance. A large chunk of that is from waaaaay back in the navy where I took out a policy courtesy of the DoD. The payments are truly miniscule and so I've kept it up over the years. Geez, you get sick and you can't just worry about getting better, you have to worry about contingencies for your loved ones. Ain't it grand? :Cant's rueful smile icon:

So, I had this dream last night. It was quite disturbing, but it wasn

Heading out to Mass and then to lunch.

Do they celebrate Christmas in Australia? Yes, at Christmas. I laughed out loud. Some of those questions weren't really all that silly. I mean, you could take the question about cutlery in the context of customs and security. ie Can I bring knives in my checked luggage or should I ship it? Of course, how special does your cutlery have to be that you have to bring it with you on vacation? Makes me think of Locke on LOST. Oh, damn, on topic, the regulation is completely retarded, wrongminded, tyrannical, and even destructive inasmuch as it is indicative of over-regulation in an area that needs to spur growth at the moment.

No defeatist talk, my friend. Live long and well and happily. As for a lengthy discussion, it's been long overdue. :Cant's huge grin icon:

Yeah, I haven't spoken to most of my family in years, literally. Still, hopefully you have reason for happier thoughts in the future... and a long future at that. I had a friend a few years ago who died of an infection while being treated for breast cancer. The good news for you is that she went quickly when the infection hit. If you're still fighting it off, brother, then it's a good sign that you have hope. Have to live long enough to see that Roger Waters concert. My favorite Pink Floyd Album is the Final Cut, which a lot of folks think of as Roger Waters first 'solo album.' It's good to hear from you, man. Keep us posted. I recently went to look at some authentic forged claymores and thought of you. lol

Live, tarna, you tough glorious bastard! You've earned your Roger Waters tickets, man.

I played a bit of the game. Probably an hour and a half over the weekend. I did the tutorial and then the dungeon associated with some golden claw quest. Not too bad. I created a high elf mage who is specializing in destructive magic at the moment. I don't really care about summoning creatures or controlling undead. If, like Morrowind, we can actually fly, I'll do whatever it takes to learn flying spells. If not, I'll probably go a destruction/restoration hybrid until those are specialized and then get into some real crafting and enchanting.

Talk about a regulatory body in search of new and exciting things to regulate. How credulous do you have to be in order to take for granted that bottled water will hydrate you better than fountain or tap water? The number of people who might actually be fooled into such a belief is probably pretty minor, but some bureaucrat manages to stroke himself for a while, patting himself on the back thinking of how he's 'saved' the public from a statement that is not, on its face, fraudulent. The ban itself aims at the implication of the statement, not the literal veracity of it. How stupid can you get? I mean, I'm used to laughing at what a lot of folks around here post, but the number of otherwise reasonable people defending the regulation is real comedy. Don't get me wrong about the claim itself. It

Yikes, a wake. Hope it's not yours. :Cant's goofy grin icon: Seriously, though, condolances, Fio.

Went to see one of our friend's kid's soccer game. he's been chosen for the all star team and he was pretty excited we got to see him play a game in the regular season. Afterwards we grabbed a bit to eat at IHOP. mmmMMMMmmm breakfast for lunch. yum.

I wish we had a little snow here every now and then. I will definitely share my thoughts on Skyrim when I get to play it.

I bought Skyrim last night and it downloaded over the course of the evening. I will probably poke around for a half hour or so tonight when I get the chance. I'm bound and determined to finish PS:T with the wife before I really get into any new game. I've managed to get to the Clerk's ward in my attempt to catch us up to where we were. It shouldn't be too long. Probably get there next week and we can continue. She's harping on me because she wants to find out what happens.

You're a poet, Mesh. Beautiful performance, too.

I bought Skyrim last night and it downloaded over the course of the evening. I will probably poke around for a half hour or so tonight when I get the chance.

Good Lord, Jesus with a Tommy gun. Total comedy. As for you, Morgoth, I think you're a nutter. I don't hold it against you. Just sayin'.