Kevin Trotter

Please Steve lets end this myth of the "liberal Media" crap it is a lie and its getting old. I think I have a better idea of what liberalism than you do and I cant find any on mainstream media. There is no major media outlet that is as openly Leftist as Fox is vociferously right wing. Turned on a radio lately? If so you'll notice the complete lack of anything remotely centrist let alone liberal. This administration has had a free pass with the media despite some huge gaffs. I gues if you dont agree the emperor has lovely new clothes you are a liberal. No Steve that's just calling a spade a spade. I WISH some of these so called liberal mdeia outlets would come out swinging, but every since Reagan, it has become increasingly rare that they do.

Just watch how THEY clean this up, and split meaning, play semantics and try to justify a reprehensible decietful action. Stuff like this is more evidence that like the Nixon Regime, present day Republican leadership is more concerned with politics than the lives of everyday people. THESE are the people who lay claim to the moral high ground? On what basis? Dark days ahead for Americans folks, dark days indeed.

SC is right it is still a Ford, but the so is the new T-Bird. A Yellow convertible pulled up next to me this summer and I bout wrecked my car. I 'd rather have one of those than two Mustangs. BTW has anyone seen the new Mazda RX8? If I ever get divorced (God forbid) That will be my first purchase.

Just once I would like to see SOMEONE display some leadership imstead of kowtowing to thier own special interests and insuring thier reelection. I watched that speech HOPING to be stirred, wishing I've been wrong about Bush and all I got is more of the same. No ability to build coalitions, no sense that he and his ilk are even interested in mending the tremendous politcal, social and economic rifts that divides us. As a liberal I am not enamored by much of what the Democrats have to say either. The only one with the balls to speak of his convictions is too much of a space cadet to pose a threat to Bush and the others (Kerry, Gephardt, Lieberman) are all Bush lite ie. centrists who offer little different than appearance and temparment. Only Clark and Edwards even spark a bit of interest. Has our country come to the point that the best we can do in the way of Presidential timber is Bush and these jokers? If it is we are truly f**ked.

I love micro brews. One of the best things to happen to american beer ever. There is a brew house here in Pgh that follows the German purity law (Rheigsbot?) and uses no rice, corn etc.Only barler water and hops. Penn Brewery makes a great wheat beer( Penn Wiezen) Pilsener (Penn Pilsener) and a very tasty variety known as Penn Gold. The best thing is since they are handcrafted locally they are always FRESH! As to Grolsch's I think they taste different since thay stopped putting the ceramic stoppers in the top and replaced them with conventional caps.

Kal Iused a lightbulb smilie cause I want to enlighten you. I am not trying to convince you of the evil of the Republican party. I am asking that you entertain an idea that differs from your own personal philosophy. I mean no disrespect but my guess is you are pretty young and while that explains a lot it is certainly no crime. It is my opinion that if you have never agreed with a so called liberal on anything, you havent looked at things very closely. I'l bet Joe Lieberman is more conservative than a third of the senatorin the Republican majority. Arlen Spector R-PA is more moderate than Liberman on a lot of issues. You should resist adhering to labels and look a little deeper. For example, I still feel that we attacked Iraq to advance a major shift in american foriegn policy called preemption. As I've stated earlier in quoting a source at Stratfor.com(a global intelleigence web site that is decidely NOT liberal) We sought to go from being viewed as hated and powerless in that region to hated and feared. You should read some stuff on Paul Wolfowitz , Bill Cristol and the other hawks who drafted this policy during the first Bush Admin. Bush senior didnt go for it for reasons of his own. I hate Fox news but watch it faithfully because I want to see the whole picture. Not just waht the Democratic leadership wants us to see. You my boy should try and do the same. If nothing else it will broaden your horizon.

A buddy of my came over to console me on my recent loss of employment and play some of my new vid games. Fortunately for him he wasnt empty handed. He had two of the strangest six packs I have ever seen. None of the bottles matched and he actually bragged that the two sixers cost him quite a pretty penny. One had a Red Stripe from Jamaica,one Samuel Smith Oatmeal stout, one Pilsoner Urquell, one Anchor Steam, some Canadian beer with a picture of the devil(11% alcohol..whoo boy) and a Belgian Trappist ale of some type(really tasty)the Canadian one had sedimentation in the bottom that looked nasty but was Heaven in a mug. The other was more conventional. A Tartan black and tan, Guiness draft(in the bottle unfortunately)Harp lager,St Pauli dark, Yuengling black and tan and a Penn Wiezen (wheat beer which I usually detest). He bought it at a shop in town that allows mixing and matching. It was quite an afternnon and evening much to my wifes consternation. However it got me to thinking what is my favorite beer? If I had to pick one I'd have to go with Sam Adams Boston lager followed closely (now) by that canadian stuff with Guiness a close third. My everyday beer however is Yuengling Black and Tan. It is complex dark creamy and at 16.00$ a case has great bang for the buck. What about you guys(and girls of course) You can also vote for worst beer ever as well. My vote goes to Old German, which also has sedimentation but I dont think it is supposed to. Love to hear your responses.

SC if you are gonna start these things and sit back at least share the beer, Let me know what brand and i'll draw a pint for myself.

Yes Kalshion you have made a fool of yourself. If you truly beleive that one party has a moral highground the other one lacks you are dangerously mistaken. As a liberal I have learned a few things reading a lot posts in this community. One of which being that there is no room for growth in a closed mind. I feel bad that your dad would leave the country he loves if the election doesnt go his way, but if that is the limit of his paitriotism I wish him a safe trip. I agree that Clinton was personally immoral, lied to his country and should not be let off easily, but he is no more a traitor than Nixon or Bush is. Bush amd his administration mislead people into beliveing a direct link existed between Saddam and 9-11. This is a lie. I understand why he did it and beleve he did what he did not because he is EVIL , but because in his mind it was the right thing to do for his country. Nixon subverted the political system because he was so convinced that if he wasnt reelected the country would be at great risk under democratic control. I dont think he was evil either, just misguided. This demonizing of the opposition will destroy our country. We both do it and it is dangerous. Our Constitution has stood up to challenges before and will always do so if we all remember we are all AMERICANS! Clinton doesnt have 666 on his head and niether does Bush. I honestly used to think most conservatives were racist. I used to beleieve that was the litmus test for being one. Then I got the chance to debate and exchange ideas with people in this thread and came to realize how wrong I was. I bet Jaguar and I have only agreed on something one or two times, but though I may never meet him I consider him a friend. I never got the opportunity to discuss these things before because I was too busy demonizing the opposition to hear the other persons point of view. When Bush won(?) the election I felt as your dad did. But instead I went out the next year and worked on the campaign of a local candidate. That felt good and reaffirmed my belief that with all its faults this is my country and home and for me there is no place better. Son you should read some history. Read about Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt they were democrats and you might learn something as I did reading about my own personal hero Dwight D Eisenhower a (gasp) Republican. Read Kennedy's Profiles in Courage which is not limited to one party or the other. Then get back to me.

I'd buy one in a New york minute! Look I think PC games are great, but honestly for people who don't live on gigabytes and RAMs they are a bit diificult to manage. I am an admitted PC dolt and have really learned a lot from ny buddies in this community ( Fox, Jag, Greg etc..)but I'm still yearrs away from being able to manage it to play all the games i want to. I had my current PC built just to play BCM and I raely can get through a two hour session without a crash. I KNOW IT IS MY IGNORANCE and not THE GAME! It's the same thing with MW4 and hell I just got Call to Duty and can't get it to play. I have spent countless hours downloading and applying patches, updating directX to make sure I have the right version, added memeory and a new vid cards and still cant play all the games i'd like. I know if I knew more about pc's i'd do better but frankly I'd rather spend that time playing games than cursing at the monitor. As the resident old fart whose first computer experience was with a modem hooked up to a mainframe that took up a whole room and required punch cards and long typed commands, I would welcome a console that would allow me to PLAY not repair and program, PC games. i would think that developers would jump at the chance to tap a heretofore untapped source of revenue. Then again that's just me...

The only thing more popular than taking potshots at Derek Smart is the so called expert who slams a universally accepted awesome game. I can understand someone who doesnt like MOH but to suggest they all suck is infantile. Its just the like the people who call Halo the most overrated game ever then spend 50 hours a month playing on line RPG's camping out on spawn points and shooting fish in a barrel. I for one do not like RPG's and RTS games. I find them boring but that is a personal preference,not an indictment of any individual game.

Despite my recent troubles Santa was good to me, I got what I wanted not what folks thought I needed: 1. Crimson Skies with the Saitek joystick for the XBox. I have since spent about twelve hours in the dungeon. 2. Enter the Matrix for XBox/ 3. Call of Duty/ PC 4. Mechassault( I already had it but foolishly traded for another game. My wife paid attention and got it for me again.) 5. Most importanatly I got to se the look on my daughters face as she opened her gifts Christmas morning. God is truly good. Oh yeah and my wife got me clothes as usual, didnt mind this year since she got me all those video games.

I liked both, but to me there is no comparison B5 was the best pure sci fi series I've seen. I love Star Trek in all its incarnations, but B5 fits together to tell a more epic saga than anything save DS9, which I think benefited from being in competetion with B5. Farscape was imaginiative and intelligently written but not as accessible as B5. It also didnt have the same quality of actors as B5. The actors who portrayed G'kar and Londo were worth seeing by themselves.

I'd give it a 1.5. No real gore ala Kill Bill. Just a few capitation scenes tastefully done almost off camera. Plenty of swords through people but nothing even approaching real gore ie.. flying body parts, exposed body cavities. All in all could have been a pg-13

I was pissed to see that when my wife and I got the theater ROTK was sold out and I was forced to choose between Last Samuari and Mona lisa Smile.. guess which one WE saw. Not a big Tom Cruise fan but I really enjoyed this film and was pleasently suprised by his performance. Thumbs up 8/10

I have stayed out of these debates as of late as they tend to be devisive and I like Jag and Steve too much to get into pissing contests with them. But I have learned a few things that I feel shed some light on this subject. Granted these are only my opinions but check em out anyway. 1. Bush did lie about the real reason we went to war. I feel he realized the public would not buy his real argument or thought the public too dumb to understand or worse didnt give a shit. 2. We went to war with Iraq to establish a beachead in a hostile unstable part of the world. A recent breifing from Stratfor.com implied the US wished to go from being viewed as hated and impotent to being hated and feared by Islamic fundamentalists. Though I disagree with that policy it is clear by Khadafi's action we were successful. 3. The oil was a secondary concern in this effort. It is the Republican way to make profit but in this case it was simply an ancillary benefit. Again the US felt it had to exert some control over this region as it has been the staging ground for terrorist attacks for years. 4. This new policy of preemption has been around for years and the White House finally decided to sign on after 9/11. Bush had been resistant to this policy that was long supported by Paul Wolfowitz and the SECDEF. While I dont think much of Bush as a leader it appears this wasnt a premeditated move but a reactionary one. 5. As a true dyed in the wool liberal this is really hard to say but if Libiya's capitulation is any indication this may have some level of success. However this will not pay immediate benefits in ending terrorist attacks, will be prohibitively expensive and cost a number of american lives. The White House obviously anticipated those eventualities and find them acceptable. 6. Finally I still think Bush is vulnerable and beatable in 2004, but not if Democrats drop the ball and attempt to run on Iraq. The appalling domestic situation is more than enough but they will have to give credit where it is due and attack the Pres. on the issues he is most vulnerable. Then again that's just me....

I have stayed out of these debates as of late as they tend to be devisive and I like Jag and Steve too much to get into pissing contests with them. But I have learned a few things that I feel shed some light on this subject. Granted these are only my opinions but check em out anyway. 1. Bush did lie about the real reason we went to war. I feel he realized the public would not buy his real argument or thought the public too dumb to understand or worse didnt give a shit. 2. We went to war with Iraq to establish a beachead in a hostile unstable part of the world. A recent breifing from Stratfor.com implied the US wished to go from being viewed as hated and impotent to being hated and feared by Islamic fundamentalists. Though I disagree with that policy it is clear by Khadafi's action we were successful. 3. The oil was a secondary concern in this effort. It is the Republican way to make profit but in this case it was simply an ancillary benefit. Again the US felt it had to exert some control over this region as it has been the staging ground for terrorist attacks for years. 4. This new policy of preemption has been around for years and the White House finally decided to sign on after 9/11. Bush had been resistant to this policy that was long supported by Paul Wolfowitz and the SECDEF. While I dont think much of Bush as a leader it appears this wasnt a premeditated move but a reactionary one. 5. As a true dyed in the wool liberal this is really hard to say but if Libiya's capitulation is any indication this may have some level of success. However this will not pay immediate benefits in ending terrorist attacks, will be prohibitively expensive and cost a number of american lives. The White House obviously anticipated those eventualities and find them acceptable. 6. Finally I still think Bush is vulnerable and beatable in 2004, but not if Democrats drop the ball and attempt to run on Iraq. The appalling domestic situation is more than enough but they will have to give credit where it is due and attack the Pres. on the issues he is most vulnerable. Then again that's just me....

Went into Gamestop today and Lo and Behold the PC section again has a wall of its own in the FRONT of the store. When I asked they said they were told by a district mgr. to change it back. He sai it was probably due to Half-Life 2 and the othernew titles coming out in '04. BTW what in the hell is American McGEE's Alice?

I'm going monday seeing as I have no job now, BTW has anyone heard anything about Peter Jackson directing a remake of the Hobbit?

This is just so bad. I want to give it a chance, but with all the special effects Hollywood has at it's disposal I was hoping for something better.If a studio had any sense they would see this as a potential franchise that could be a cash cow , instead we get Jim Carrey. Lord love a duck.

$ilk you are so right about our little community. You guys have really given me a boost in a time that really tries one's faith. My only regert is that we cant sit face to face sometime over a cold one. Thanks all! Good luck with the new job Dan knock em dead!

Spent yesterday afternoon rolling my pension over into a Roth IRA, Boy I was tempted to take a distribution but came to my senses and left well enough alone. However now I'll have to do something crazy like sell my Steel Battallion set up to the highest bidder (choke). Thanks for all the kind words of encouragement,you have no idea how much they mean to me.

Anyway to buy advance seats NOW?

Well after 12 years of dedicated service, a number of awards and accolades and who knows how many job opportunities I've turned down, I am out of a job. Turns out the last years of hard work in school were all in vain. The State of PA which regulates Drug alcohol and Mental health counseling has in thier wisdom decided that I lack the education to continue to do my job. You see my Degree is in Human Resource Management and the state does not recognize it as a clinical field and told my agency I could no longer practice. They in turn told me due to budget cuts they can't transfer me back to my old department (Drug and Alcohol Prevention) even thogh I am the ONLY state certified prevention specialist in the agency and am third on the seniority list. In other words thank you Merry Christmas and you're fired. This sucks on so many levels I cant even start to discuss them. Today for the first time I sat and watch my wife and kid go off to school and work with the prospect of trying to find a job two weeks before Christmas. I don't even have a resume. So I am truly starting over and at 43 that ain't real cool.

I,ve already started seeing this. I was in Gamestop the other day looking for MOH: Breakthrough and lo and behold the wall dedicated to PC games was gone. In it's place was a discount area with old Dreamcast PSOne games etc.. When I asked where the PC games were I was directed to a small two sided rack with no endcaps in the BACK OF THE STORE! This rack also included strat guides and periphreals, all told the pc area was a 3" by 3" area. The Sega Genesis area has roughly the same amount of space. I wonder if all our Amazon and Ebay shopping is having some effect on all this. Either way this is BAD.