Kevin Trotter

I'm confused. Didnt the video industry as a whole do like three times the revenue of the movie business? I read a lot but I would guess that I'm in the minority. Is it not profitable enough for them? I dont get it.I can't believe Simon and Shuster is making so much selling books they can afford to dump the video business. So one help me out here.

BC3000ad gave me fits and crashed, BCM still gives me fits and crashes. I dont give a shit. When I've been able to play these games the experience is unlike any other gaming experience I've ever had. I consider myself to be a pretty Smart fellow (pun)and I don't think I've been hoodwinked, hornswoggled or hoo-dooed. BC3000 introduced me to computer gaming.Everytime I buy a new game I hope it gives me as much joy as I got from Derek's games. Each time(with the exeception of MW4) I have been disappointed. These guys at Gamespy remind me of the literary reviewers who trash books written by great novelists because they are incapapble of creating art. I dont even read game reviews anymore. As I recall the last one I read told me to buy Timesplitters 2 because it was comparable to Halo. I did see some similarities after I bought that piece of excrement..they both came in a big green box. So much for Gamespy

Serondal makes a number of very good points, one of which is the existence of the extreme animosity between both liberals(progressives as I like to call em) and conservatives. It is this animosity which in many cases stultifies any political progress and further deepens partisan politics. The losers are the American people who are often used as bargaining chips and rarely benefit from such frippery.

Who's in it? Whats it about? You're slippin old man

Hey SC how bout a spoiler warning next time.. you just ruined my saturday date night with the wife!!!

I hope that both of you guys will notice that statement was made to illustrate a point I disagree with. The agency I work with recieves significant funding from philanthropists whose desire to give isn't curbed by a disagreement with government. Not giving for that reason goes against true philanthropy. The situational philanthropy you refer to is just that, situational. If thats the way they feel let'em keep thier damn money.

Marvins explanation is an example of both oversimplification and stereotype. To indicate that so called rich liberals came by thier money without effort is an example of the worst kind of thinking. If I were to pursue that line of reasonong in analyzing the "without guilt" conservative, I might posit they are without guilt because they are without conscience.It is for that reason they can acquire so much wealth at the expense of others misfortune or thier greed. That too is an oversimplification that is inaccurate. Too often some of my conservo buddies are too quick to find a simple answer to a complex problem/situation. Marvin has done that here. It also explains in part our short sided foreign policy and as a result we now must go hat in hand to the very people we were deriding and marginalizing several months ago.(France and Germany)

Hey SC we got a spare room up here in Pittsburgh. All you have to worry about here is perpetual traffic cones and 67 sunny days a year..woo hoo!

Ditto,BTW has anyone seen the trailer for "Underworld"? Looks pretty interesting. It concerns a war between vampires and werewolves and Kate Beckinsale looks pretty hot in it.

I actually bought the plans for this project at an internet website and as soon as I finish grad school in December, I will be building it. Anyone interested should PM me and I'll let you take a gander at the blueprints. The problem Lost In Space talked about should be covered in constructing the projecter housing.

I saw it on tv last night and if I ever hit the lottery will have one in the drive way. Those wacky brits! What will they think of next? At a quarter of a million American I don't know how big a seller it would be.

I would like to add that I appreciate the tone of this debate. We can agree to disagree and so far this thread has demonstrated this admirably> Though I rarely agree with some of my conservative brethren on this board I am always anxious to hear what they have to say on an issue and welcome the chance to discuss it without being insulted. Again thanks for the civility.

Yes I know the way you vote and I do not beleive you have a racist bone in your body. I do think you have an idealized vision of what your party stands for. I draw a disticnt line between what is progressive political thought(what some of you call liberalism) and the Democratic party. I too feel that given a fair chance the individual can succede on there own Jag. However I am less optimistic than you are about what some people consider a fair chance. For example women and minorities had been shut out of the old boys network and regardless of education, as recently as the early 60's were denied the opportunity for jobs in corporate america. The glass ceiling is not a myth. Oil executives just a few years back sitting in a board meeting telling nigger jokes, some of whom who probably have great influence in hiring. A recent study done by Harvard B school that indicated applicants with African_American sounding names had a fifty percent lower chance of being contacted for an interview, than applicants with anglisized names. To me all these things point to an uneven playing field. Now any attempt to even the playing field is attacked as unfair. I say where were all these defenders of fairness when women and minorties werw getting the shaft? It is an oversimplification to say that liberals beleive "we" can't do it for ourselves. It is our recognition that left to thier own devices their those who would continue the same hiring practices that preceded the Bakke case.

I could be wrong but RANDOM's aren't real and this thing is. If we are lucky we can keep this thing in the realm of science fiction. Unfortunately the NASA projects that track these things can only scan less than 3% of the sky. There appears to be little money for tracking them and no realistic plan of action if we actually identify a five or above on the Tarino scale. SC your'e a Smart guy, ever consider a career change? Your country may need you.

To Lost in Space: If I were to walk into Bensonhurst and refer to my Italian friend as a dumb Dago a riot would ensue. If he were to refer to his brother the same way nothing would happen . The difference is intent. To Jag: I agree that the conservatives of that era were social libertarians and advocated racial harmony. However that type of conservative; the Rockefeller, Goldwater type who were fiscally conservative and socially progressive is rare these days. The stripe of the strongest wing of conservatism seems more like the dixiecrats you try to pass off as liberal. They comprise a large amount of the most conservative wing. The very people you refer to left the democratic party and now comprise the religious right, the Pat Robertson < Jerry Falwell types who I am sure have no love for any minorities. To imply that liberals were against the Civil rights act, the voting rights act etc.. and that it was championed by conservatives is interesting to say the least.

smart man, smart vote.

quote: ...Life was quiet under Eisenhower.. Yes perhaps it was quiet in some places or perhaps many voices were hushed and bowed under the repression that reighned in that time. However I will agree with Ike's competence and greatness he has always been a personal hero. The "calm" that most people felt was the absence of voice blacks , women and other minorities. Sometimes I get the feeling that a lot of conservatives would like t turn back the clock to those halcyon days when women were subservient and bath rooms were separate but equal. I hope you'll pardon me if I dont look fondly back on those days.

That is really cool, however if I was him or that guy in Philadelphia who can make crude oil out of garbage, I'd hire someone to start my car and upgrade my security system. Those two ideas could separate a lot of rich folks from thier loot.

Good come back you really got me there. that is indicative of some sharp critical thinking.

I think Jag's advice is pretty good and I might add that Fox's reference to State employment websites is a good place to start. I think checking out municipal and county websites and personnel offices is a good choice too. Even with this shitty economy, cities and counties are still hiring. The key is an almost maniac like persistence. Call an update applications send thank you notes repeatedly. Also ask your friends and relatives who work in midsized or large businesses to check the internal postings at thier jobs. Rather than simply listing references, ask each reference to write or sign a prewritten letter of reference. If you have as many turndowns as you say you have, make sure you check to see how previous employers are verifying your employement. It seems as though someone has given you a less than sterling reference. If you had to leave a job under bad circumstances ask a coworker or manager to write a personal reference for you. This is not a professional recommendation but it can show that someone of authority thinks highly of you. If you cant do that ask if the personnel director can refrain from doing anything but verifying dates of employment. By law that is all are legally required to do, however some Human resource directors ask coded questions like " would you rehire this person to work for you?" If you suspect this is the case you might want to suggest you are hiring a lawyer to investigate possible defamation. I know this sounds drastic, but if someone is giving you a bad reference it is going to be very very hard to get a new job. Lastly, if you have professional placement agency in town check it out. i know they charge a fee for finding you a job but it might be worth a shot. Don't get down on yourself. The most important thing you can do is remember that no matter how many no's you get there is a yes out there waiting. Don't let the negativity get to you. When I first moved to Pgh I went seven months without a job, ate in a soup kitchen and cut grass for a living. If I learned one thing it was stay positive no matter what.Employers can smell the scent of desperation a mile away. Good luck and keep your head up.

Look on the bright side SC, You now have a good weekend project to look forward to on a rainy day.

Tremors just completed thier run for this season and will be back!

That is rich..there is no one like the Fox

I have a wonderful idea! The economy has gone to shit and cities are laying off firemen, policemen and paramedics, we are spending 70 million a month in Afghanistan and Iraq, 44 states are operating at budget deficit and the president' approval rating is in the crapper, lets PICK ON THE LIBERALS! Cant pick on the French since we now need them to help in Iraq, so liberals are easy targets. They care for causes that are easily marginalized , most of them aren't " Real Americans" anyway. We should do this because as all Conservatives know it is more important to appear right than to be right. At a time when our country needs us most, the "Big Brained" conservatives are preparing for thier most important battle! No not in Iraq, or North Korea. We are preparing for ... REELECTION! Cause I must agree, conservatives know how to stea.. ah., win an election. It helps that they can usually outspend thier liberal opponents 2-1 but with all that rich folks money its no wonder. I wish I could sit here and make sweeping generalizations regarding conservatives, I really do. But in good conscience I cannot. You see I don't KNOW most conservatives and if I attempted to base it on generalization it would be unfair. I could say that most conservatives don't give a rats ass about the environment, or that most of them are racist and or that they are war mongers, ot that they profit from the sweat of the working man while holding such people in the lowest esteem, but that would simply not be the case. We are facing a critical time and making light of someone elses political beliefs is small minded and mean spirited. Worse it is a waste of intellectual capital. It is an example of partisan politics at its worst. Based on whats going on in Iraq, I could have had a field day taking potshots at the Administration. I declined because as much as disdain as I have for Bush, those are MY countrymen dying over there and I pray that we can find a solution. If I were to counter the premise of the original post I might say , How to be a good conservative..make fun of those who dont think as you do.

Bannon reporting as ordered sir. Just returning from a long classified deep space probe mission, involving the completion of a master's thesis..(voice cracks..)it's good to be back.