Grizzle

Wouldn't it be better for the mother to lobby for changes to the privacy laws regarding mental illness when it comes to purchasing weapons? Misguided and inappropriate if you ask me. Though I suppose she'll get something out of Wal-Mart for the shear guilt factor. I suppose even grief has a price.

I have an X45 but since the drivers are so fubar'd I never use it. Though I do think it adds more t the experience to have two handles to grasp with all those buttons. In spite of that it's mouse control all the way, much more precise and since 99% of the other games I play (minus FS2004) are mouse based it's an easier way to go.

While I agree the whole uproar is ridiculous, that post has nothing to do with the ACLU.

Well when everyone was busy praising the success and expediency of the initial invasion, the issue of a "gutted military" never came out of the Reppy's mouths. So which is it, a strong army able to swiftly defeat the Iraqi's (thanks Dems!) or a gutted military that is to be blamed on the Dems when things go bad? Military budget when Clinton assumed office was 312.1 billion. When he left it was 305.4 billion. More like a 2% to 3% cut. You can't blame the reduction of enlisted on Clinton, maybe people saw better possibilities than enlisting in the services or maybe the recruitment didn't receive as much attention as it should have.

What constitutes being anti-American in your minds? Besides the Christian issues you've listed (are you equating Christianity with Americanism?) what other anti-American things are they guilty of? Maybe the constitution does not specifically state 'separation of church and state' but neither does it specifically state Christianity anywhere. It talks about God, which is a very generic term that applies to any religion worshiping a creator/higher power. So if you will allow interpretation of God to mean Christianity then you should also allow the concept of 'making no laws regarding the establishment of religion' to mean the separation of Church (any church) from that of the public (Governmental) arena.

quote:Originally posted by jamotto: To a casino? I can hear the pitch now. Come to our casino, where you don't need lady luck b/c we have the Virgin Mary instead! My thoughts too jamotto. Casino + Symbol of Christianity = more visitors. What's wrong with this picture? Seriously though, I swear thats Bette Davis.

Apparently it's been sold for $28,000 to a casino that will use it as a marketing tool. This gives me an idea (runs to the store to buy bread, cheese and butter). If only PT Barnum knew how right he was!

Steve, another good post. I wonder, are you or have you ever considered teaching? Jag, I'm not entirely clear on which rules are being changed, but both the House and Senate have ethics rules that govern both parties, so the point is kind of moot. Now, if the Republicans have their own rules on top of those already in place then I would wonder why on earth they do. Maybe it's to further their notion of superiority by self-imposing even more rules sort of like "yeah there are ethics rules, but we're 110% ethical, so there" In any event it's pointless to pile on self-imposed rules if you are going to change them on a whim. Perhaps their first self-imposed rule should be, "We shall not change the rules to protect one of our own." Now I wonder if the House and Senate ethics commitees are the final word on ethics violations and if so does having self-imposed rules matter at all?

LOL, that's not the Virgin Mary, it's a young Bette Davis.

Nice post Steve. Just goes to show how political cronyism is blind to party affiliation. The question then becomes whether this an intrinsic part of political process or something that we the people can cure with our votes. I think the best solution would be to have a viable third party to act as a moderating force, but I'd also be concerned that with such entrenched political idealogy a third party would be forced to succumb to the same corrupt practices.

Come on Jag, Delay is far from respectable. The whole thing started long before the election. Is this the type of 'moral values' we can expect from the Republican party now? Come on, admit it, if the roles were reversed you be screaming corruption too. There's a downside to every victory and now the Reppy's will have their feet held to the fire and their motives scrutinized even more than before. They'd better walk the talk or they'll be in one big heap-o-trouble.

This is my fvorite line... "This takes the power away from any partisan crackpot district attorney who may want to indict party leaders and make a name for himself, Bonilla said." Who do they think they're fooling? This is nothing more than an selfish attempt to retain power. It's political corruption, plain and simple. If Delay does get indicted I sure hope the good folks in Texas don't re-elect him (they won't if they have an ounce of decency left.)

That's some pretty heavy company you keep there Derek! No matter what happens, you've made your mark! P.S. What the hell is up with that Roberta Williams pic?!? ewwwww.

Woohooo!!!! Over four hours of LOTR greatness.... I can't wait! Looks like Xmas day will be a marathon for all three extended editions back to back to back.

The 'rise Lord Vader' (or whatever) line is a bit Frankenstein-ish and as a result a bit cheesy. I'll forego the theater release and get it on DVD like all the other prequels, but if EP1 and 2 are any indication I'm expecting it to be so-so.

Unlockers are bogus, I've got the preload and can wait until it's officially unlocked. In the meantime, I also have EQ2 to play around with and I'm enjoying it so far, but I can't find any octopi to kill for a quest I have .

quote:Originally posted by Kalshion: .... You're kidding Grizzle... Yep Just a bit astounded at all the hype surrounding this game. I played the first Halo for a bit and didnt think it measured up to all the praise it had gotten. I hope you all enjoy the new one, but I'm not buying.

Um, what's Halo 2?

quote:Originally posted by XOR: i think my solution is better although forcing spammers to eat spam would be poetic justice hehe heck why not do BOTH! b-b-b-but Spam is GOOD! Cooked over a camp fire and slathered in mustard.. yum! Just make them eat the slimy goo it comes packaged in.

quote:Originally posted by Jaguar: BY carumba, look at this map.... This counts all the counties and marks them in red and blue. Red for Bush, Blue for Kerry... I'd like to have a larger copy of that. If any one comes across one in their net wanderings please let me know.

quote:Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr: Bush's plan: ROFL... oh my. For the first time in my life I have given thought to the idea of leaving this country for another, I'm not terribly serious, but if the current trends hold out that may be the best option.

quote:Originally posted by Ockham: quote:Originally posted by Grizzle: Show me one church that allows women to rise to the highest position of power in it's ranks. umm... ok How about the The Episcopal Church? United Methodist Church? Congregationalists? Presbyterian Church? United Church of Canada? United Church of Christ? Lutheran Church? (The list goes on...) Or I could talk about how the clergy in the Unitarian Universalist(UU) Church is over 30% female... Even though women are discriminated against in almost all mainstream churches there are many churches today that allow women to be ordained(see above). Out of those churches that allow women to be ordained I don't believe any of them have specific laws that restrict them from rising in power. References: Hartford Institute for Religion Research http://hirr.hartsem.edu/default.html Alright, I'll concede your point on those specifics. However, some of those Churches I have never heard of. The first women ordained in the Episcopal Church was in 1989 and the Unitarian church is suspect at best, having been called a 'cult' rather than a true religious following. The underlying point is that the Church has long held women to a lesser position and despite the fact some churches are making strides to accept them more equally, thousands of years of oppression is not resolved through the appointment of a handful of women. The problem isn't necessarily with a Churches specific 'laws' but rather the teachings of the Bible itself. The mistreatment of women goes back a long long way and the Church is to be held accountable in totality for perpetuating such antiquated beliefs. How many of the 'evangelicals' that turned out for Bush or the devout believers all throughout this country do you think are prepared to vote for a woman as President? It's a big problem and the influence of religion is a large part of it.

Kery said nothing about going on defense, he said he would build a stonger coalition (and let's face it, he would be much better at diplomacy than Bush) and work harder to resolve the war in Iraq. You can continue to lump Iraq in with the war on terror, but they are two distinctly different things. Iraq was never the hub of terrorism as a whole but has been made more so by the war. All this war has done is gotten us mired in an untenable situation and allowed Bin Laden to escape and continue to operate freely. Bin Laden is only laying low for now, but don't be fooled into thinking that renders him ineffectual. The only way to do that is to capture him and bring an end to his ability to spawn more terrorists. Unfortunately as is the nature of terrorism he will be replaced by some other and the cycle will continue.

The electoral college will change at some point and hopefully it will be through the abolishment of it. It wouldn't have made a difference in this election since Bush won the clear majority. And we are fortunate that it hasn't been a hindrance to the popular vote more than a few times, but I think that will change as our country continues to grow. As for protecting the states with lesser population, it's a noble idea but one who's time has expired. Using terrorism as an example, which states are more at risk? The most populous like New York, California etc.. in essence the 'blue states'. Which states contribute more to our economy and overall success of our country? Again the 'blue states' and those that have large cities and the population to support large companies and financial institutions. Removing the electoral college will not automatically make us a true democracy and would only serve the interests of the majority as it should be. All it does now is invalidate the choice and will of half of our population and provide clear strategic choices for those campaigning for office of the President. It allows and forces political campaigns to focus on the select few states that have the potential to sway an election in the interest of a given party. Kind of defeats the whole idea of equal representation doesn't it? The political system in our country is broken and needs to be fixed and we should start with the electoral college.

Bin Laden WANTS Bush as President. He knows what hes is doing. Whether or not he bankrupts the US, he has guaranteed that the world will continue to be reluctant to join in the fight and/or that Bush continues his poor attempts at fighting a war that CANNOT be won. He knows the middle east and its people a hell of a lot better than we do. What a big mistake it was to divert attention from capturing him to invading Iraq.