"Alex, let's go with false assumptions for $1000."
Sorry buddy but you can't say equivically that our ancestors did not wage war on each other; there's no written or oral history to back it up. Doesn't mean they did either, just saying that as long as history has been recorded in some form or another homo sapiens have been waging war upon each other; so talking about anything before that is like talking about what happened the instant before the creation of the universe...we just don't know.
Star Wars is not science fiction it's fantasy. Just because you use swords does not make you fantasy and just because you have a gun does not make you science fiction; personally I'm partial to Phillip K. Dick's definition which I am only able to paraphrase at the moment so I doubt I'll be nearly as succient nor as accurate.
'The Shifting Reality of Phillip K. Dick' contain many different short stories and pieces of speeches he gave throughout his life; in one of those speeches Dick espouses his definition of science fiction which goes something like this: A science fiction story takes place in a world that is not our world, but could be. In other words, the story is grounded in some sort of reality that we know. Star Wars has no such grounding, unless someone knows where I can find me some Ewoks to enslave.
I have only played SWG, and the star wars franchise is the only one mentioned that I have knowledge of so I'll limit my critique to that but clearly it's just shitty fantasy. Star Wars has been shitty fantasy for a long time and has never been science fiction. It's childish and nonsensical......disagree all you want but I think I'll stick with PKD on this one.
PS: If you think I've just commited an act that merits hari kari, stand up from your desk walk outside and breath some fresh air...
At first I heard Keifer and was a little surprised but upon remembering Dark City, I can't think of any other mainstream actor who could pull it off (That being said, I'm sure there are plenty of Voice Actors out there that could put ole Keifer to shame but I bet he'll be better than Jada Pinkett Smith in "Princess Mononoke").
Also, if you take the time to look at *WHY* Chernobyl occured it becomes quickly apparent that it was a classic case of PEBKAC [Problems Exists Between Keyboard and Chair]. The russians knew the plant was getting a little sticky and they could have, at ANY time, dropped the reamining rods in to the reaction thus slowing things down..they didn't want to take a hit in energy production so they thought they could stick it out and then things would be gravy; by the time they realized that the reaction needed to be slowed down/stopped it was already too late...user error rocks!
Moreover, Nuclear Power Plants are being developed that have built in mechanisms to prevent run-a-way nuclear reactions; it is accomplished through very specific geomeotry in the raction chamber and probably a bunch of very technical things that I do not understand but my point remains the same:)
Uh have you looked at Africa lately? The entire continent is embroiled the war [ok so I'm using hyperbole] and the US played a significant role in it but so did the Dutch, the French, the English, the Germans and probably a few other European nations. Imperialism didn't start with the US; pretty sure England was the "first" imperial power.
I haven't read the article but last time I checked Europe is not immune to racism...except they put a shiny veneer on it and call it "hooliganism". No fan would get away with throwing bananas on a baseball field or football field; FIFA had to the use the threat of penality points being awarded to prevent ramapant nationalism.
Racism, as the parent states, is an issue of ignorance and no country is immune.
Actually, I was making a reference to a flash video that came out about five years ago making fun of Lars and Ulrich. I don't even remember the website, but it was fucking hilarious.
You should sign up because signing up makes you accountable. Slashdot users never like to be accountable for anything, and that is not a personal attack; I include myself in that subset. There is no philosophical dilemma here, you're just getting stuck in the groupthink of slashdot...SIGNS UP BAD...METALLICA GOOD!
They're as absurd to me as the archaeologists forever claiming every object they found was a religious icon. I swear, in the year 3000, they'll find dish cloths and decide there was a water cult.
You may be inclined to think it is absurd but is not without merit; religion and spirituality are very important for creating culture and cohesion in any civilization. Moreover, EVERY SINGLE CIVILIZATION has some sort of mythology underlying their beginning and the beginning of the universe as they know it. Even more importantly, you will find thematic links between these mythologies.
Early civilizations rarely had economies that went beyond simple barter-and-trade so the emphasis for goods creation was on things that served practical purpose; wait I know what you're thinking, I'm proving your point. Well religion and spirituality are VERY practical particularly to young civilizations. Once people have met their basic needs for material survival (food, water, shelter, clothes), the next step is to pursue epistemology; the natural outcome being the creation of a mythology which often has artifacts created to represent and to serve as trasncendental intermedians.
One unreasonable statement can not be disproved by another unreasonable statement: "Atheists killed far more people in the last century than religious zealots". C'mon now, that just isn't true.
Although the Nazi's were considered secular, Hitler was attempting to cleanse an aspect of himself plus many of the Nazi's were catholics. Moreover, the Catholic Church is porported to have been aware of what the Nazi's were doing to the Jews and in fact supported it. So this incident of Genocide cannot be relegated solely to athiests.
Move on to the Armenian Genocide at the turn of the century; you have Muslim-Turks exterminating Christian-Armenians for, SURVEY SAYS: Religious reasons!
Ethnic cleansing going on Iraq, SURVEY SAYS: Religious reasons!
Terrorism in Iraq, SURVEY SAYS: Ooops economics, oil but you can toss religion in there as well just to spice things up a bit.
Since the creation of an Isreali state there has been CONSTANT conflict in the middle east, SURVEY SAYS: RELIGION AGAIN.
These are just a few off the top of my head, and I know arguments can be made the same way for athiests killing people but here's my point: religion is simply not a factor in whether we kill people. We do it, we all do it; it's called survival. Get off the soapbox please.
I saw it happen to a buddy of mine with his Achiles tendon; we were playing some basketball and he went up for a rebound and comes down akwardly [he weighs 300+]. POP! His is calf rolled up along with the tendon; not too coo:-/
Well as terrified as I am about the "cancer gene" messing with the "soul gene", I'm willing to take the chance. Oh and last I checked, neurobiology has made some headway in cracking this whole "soul mystery" thing. Turns out that human individuality might actually be created by something called a "long interspersed nuclear element". A lot less handwaving than a "soul gene". LA Times has a rather extensive article on it and although the LINE is similar to a gene it's considered a precursor...
Assuming that this article isn't completely incorrect, I'd say it's pretty safe to say that we'll have trouble fucking it up. It exists in every mammal [including mice] and has existed for well over 600 Million years. Fun read on a fascinating topic.
Aye, two years ago I switched from Coke to Diet Coke. The first week it was terrible by the second week I actually liked diet coke more. I have upgraded to tea because its healthier but it's all about the baby steps...also not drinking all that beer I used to drink has helped quite a bit too! College weight: 205 lbs...two years out 152 lbs....
Hmmmmm I think I drank too much beer and ate too much pizza:)
From a health perspective, Gatorade really isn't that useful. Honestly, it's not much better than Soda. It has a ton of sugar in it and a fair amount of sodium as well. There are INSTANCES that it is useful but the fact of the matter is pedialyte is just as good at hydrating you as Gatorade is. If you're a professional athelete, Gatorade has its uses because the stress put in the body can be so extreme that important vitamins and minerals can be drained but you and I sitting in our cubicles all day do not have to worry about that.
Over the past eight years I've gone from 245 lbs to 152 lbs. It's been a very slow process of ups and downs, putting weight on and taking weight off but I've finally modified my relationship with food so that it is just fuel now. My diet is mostly made up of vegatables [lots and lots of spinach, the stuff cleans your system out like none other plus has a ton of really good thigns it...I highly recommend it], oatmeal and then for lunch I make sure to get something with protein like chicken, fish or turkey. I try and avoid burgers and the geeks best friend, Pizza, has become my worst nemesis. Two slices of pepporoni pizza and my stomach is upset for the rest of the day.
I never thought that I could change my body the way I have but through persistance and hard work I have; good luck with it man. It's well worth the pay off.
Why bring "the divine" in to this discussion? The only reason to do so is to attempt to propagate your beliefs. I think it's great that you have faith; I love the fact that you choose to live a life driven by external purpose. I just don't want to hear about it. I don't post messages about how I'm an athiest and I don't believe in God. That is my belief. Please let me have it; I let you have yours without bombarding you with mine.
You forget that the Gubbanator was not only insanely strong but also insanely smart! He must have studied Car Alarm Manuals for shits and giggles while chillin on his island; I know instruction manuals are on my leisure reading list!
O'Rourke is a laugh riot; you may not agree with everything he says but any person who puts on the cover of their book "I was tragically hip and I recovered! You can too!" along with snippets saying that he "Read Camus and Sarte", "Wrote Poetry that did not rhyme" and "Knew the Words to Folk Songs". The dude is hysterical; and he exposes the connection that often exists between youth and liberalism and age and conservatism. Worth a read and a good laugh:)
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"Alex, let's go with false assumptions for $1000."
Sorry buddy but you can't say equivically that our ancestors did not wage war on each other; there's no written or oral history to back it up. Doesn't mean they did either, just saying that as long as history has been recorded in some form or another homo sapiens have been waging war upon each other; so talking about anything before that is like talking about what happened the instant before the creation of the universe...we just don't know.
Star Wars is not science fiction it's fantasy. Just because you use swords does not make you fantasy and just because you have a gun does not make you science fiction; personally I'm partial to Phillip K. Dick's definition which I am only able to paraphrase at the moment so I doubt I'll be nearly as succient nor as accurate.
...disagree all you want but I think I'll stick with PKD on this one.
'The Shifting Reality of Phillip K. Dick' contain many different short stories and pieces of speeches he gave throughout his life; in one of those speeches Dick espouses his definition of science fiction which goes something like this: A science fiction story takes place in a world that is not our world, but could be. In other words, the story is grounded in some sort of reality that we know. Star Wars has no such grounding, unless someone knows where I can find me some Ewoks to enslave.
I have only played SWG, and the star wars franchise is the only one mentioned that I have knowledge of so I'll limit my critique to that but clearly it's just shitty fantasy. Star Wars has been shitty fantasy for a long time and has never been science fiction. It's childish and nonsensical...
PS: If you think I've just commited an act that merits hari kari, stand up from your desk walk outside and breath some fresh air...
At first I heard Keifer and was a little surprised but upon remembering Dark City, I can't think of any other mainstream actor who could pull it off (That being said, I'm sure there are plenty of Voice Actors out there that could put ole Keifer to shame but I bet he'll be better than Jada Pinkett Smith in "Princess Mononoke").
Oooooooooooo daddy likes....I'll have to use that next time.
Also, if you take the time to look at *WHY* Chernobyl occured it becomes quickly apparent that it was a classic case of PEBKAC [Problems Exists Between Keyboard and Chair]. The russians knew the plant was getting a little sticky and they could have, at ANY time, dropped the reamining rods in to the reaction thus slowing things down..they didn't want to take a hit in energy production so they thought they could stick it out and then things would be gravy; by the time they realized that the reaction needed to be slowed down/stopped it was already too late...user error rocks!
:)
Moreover, Nuclear Power Plants are being developed that have built in mechanisms to prevent run-a-way nuclear reactions; it is accomplished through very specific geomeotry in the raction chamber and probably a bunch of very technical things that I do not understand but my point remains the same
Shhhh! Don't apply common-sense economics on slashdot....the natives might get restless :-/
Uh have you looked at Africa lately? The entire continent is embroiled the war [ok so I'm using hyperbole] and the US played a significant role in it but so did the Dutch, the French, the English, the Germans and probably a few other European nations. Imperialism didn't start with the US; pretty sure England was the "first" imperial power.
I haven't read the article but last time I checked Europe is not immune to racism...except they put a shiny veneer on it and call it "hooliganism". No fan would get away with throwing bananas on a baseball field or football field; FIFA had to the use the threat of penality points being awarded to prevent ramapant nationalism.
Racism, as the parent states, is an issue of ignorance and no country is immune.
My favorite curse word is actually G-d. Seriously, what single word has caused more problems and brought more pain and misery to more people?
*Prepares to be flamed*
Actually, I was making a reference to a flash video that came out about five years ago making fun of Lars and Ulrich. I don't even remember the website, but it was fucking hilarious.
You should sign up because signing up makes you accountable. Slashdot users never like to be accountable for anything, and that is not a personal attack; I include myself in that subset. There is no philosophical dilemma here, you're just getting stuck in the groupthink of slashdot...SIGNS UP BAD...METALLICA GOOD!
You may be inclined to think it is absurd but is not without merit; religion and spirituality are very important for creating culture and cohesion in any civilization. Moreover, EVERY SINGLE CIVILIZATION has some sort of mythology underlying their beginning and the beginning of the universe as they know it. Even more importantly, you will find thematic links between these mythologies.
Early civilizations rarely had economies that went beyond simple barter-and-trade so the emphasis for goods creation was on things that served practical purpose; wait I know what you're thinking, I'm proving your point. Well religion and spirituality are VERY practical particularly to young civilizations. Once people have met their basic needs for material survival (food, water, shelter, clothes), the next step is to pursue epistemology; the natural outcome being the creation of a mythology which often has artifacts created to represent and to serve as trasncendental intermedians.
Just my two cents...
We Americans are really good at self-depricating humor...afterall look at who we elected president...
Whoa...
One unreasonable statement can not be disproved by another unreasonable statement: "Atheists killed far more people in the last century than religious zealots". C'mon now, that just isn't true.
Although the Nazi's were considered secular, Hitler was attempting to cleanse an aspect of himself plus many of the Nazi's were catholics. Moreover, the Catholic Church is porported to have been aware of what the Nazi's were doing to the Jews and in fact supported it. So this incident of Genocide cannot be relegated solely to athiests.
Move on to the Armenian Genocide at the turn of the century; you have Muslim-Turks exterminating Christian-Armenians for, SURVEY SAYS: Religious reasons!
Ethnic cleansing going on Iraq, SURVEY SAYS: Religious reasons!
Terrorism in Iraq, SURVEY SAYS: Ooops economics, oil but you can toss religion in there as well just to spice things up a bit.
Since the creation of an Isreali state there has been CONSTANT conflict in the middle east, SURVEY SAYS: RELIGION AGAIN.
These are just a few off the top of my head, and I know arguments can be made the same way for athiests killing people but here's my point: religion is simply not a factor in whether we kill people. We do it, we all do it; it's called survival. Get off the soapbox please.
Minor typo, it's actually a consequent and not a consequence. I've made the same mistake on many an occasion :)
The insightful comments are actually all insightful today...is this Slashdot or did someone take my favorite work distraction away from me! :-/
I saw it happen to a buddy of mine with his Achiles tendon; we were playing some basketball and he went up for a rebound and comes down akwardly [he weighs 300+]. POP! His is calf rolled up along with the tendon; not too coo :-/
Well as terrified as I am about the "cancer gene" messing with the "soul gene", I'm willing to take the chance. Oh and last I checked, neurobiology has made some headway in cracking this whole "soul mystery" thing. Turns out that human individuality might actually be created by something called a "long interspersed nuclear element". A lot less handwaving than a "soul gene". LA Times has a rather extensive article on it and although the LINE is similar to a gene it's considered a precursor...
Assuming that this article isn't completely incorrect, I'd say it's pretty safe to say that we'll have trouble fucking it up. It exists in every mammal [including mice] and has existed for well over 600 Million years. Fun read on a fascinating topic.
Aye, two years ago I switched from Coke to Diet Coke. The first week it was terrible by the second week I actually liked diet coke more. I have upgraded to tea because its healthier but it's all about the baby steps...also not drinking all that beer I used to drink has helped quite a bit too! College weight: 205 lbs...two years out 152 lbs....
:)
Hmmmmm I think I drank too much beer and ate too much pizza
From a health perspective, Gatorade really isn't that useful. Honestly, it's not much better than Soda. It has a ton of sugar in it and a fair amount of sodium as well. There are INSTANCES that it is useful but the fact of the matter is pedialyte is just as good at hydrating you as Gatorade is. If you're a professional athelete, Gatorade has its uses because the stress put in the body can be so extreme that important vitamins and minerals can be drained but you and I sitting in our cubicles all day do not have to worry about that.
Over the past eight years I've gone from 245 lbs to 152 lbs. It's been a very slow process of ups and downs, putting weight on and taking weight off but I've finally modified my relationship with food so that it is just fuel now. My diet is mostly made up of vegatables [lots and lots of spinach, the stuff cleans your system out like none other plus has a ton of really good thigns it...I highly recommend it], oatmeal and then for lunch I make sure to get something with protein like chicken, fish or turkey. I try and avoid burgers and the geeks best friend, Pizza, has become my worst nemesis. Two slices of pepporoni pizza and my stomach is upset for the rest of the day.
I never thought that I could change my body the way I have but through persistance and hard work I have; good luck with it man. It's well worth the pay off.
On topic, green tea has become my drink of choice. It's chalk full flavonoids which according to wikipedia "Flavonoids have been referred to as 'nature's biological response modifiers' because of strong experimental evidence of their ability to modify the body's reaction to allergens, viruses, and carcinogens. They show anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and anti-cancer activity. In addition, flavonoids act as powerful antioxidants, protecting against oxidative and free radical damage." According to my Lipton tea box there are 190mg of Flavonoid which besides Black Tea there's nothing even close to that. It also has no calories plus it gives you a nice pick-me-up but it's not like Coffee where you feel cracked out; it's quite mellow.
Why bring "the divine" in to this discussion? The only reason to do so is to attempt to propagate your beliefs. I think it's great that you have faith; I love the fact that you choose to live a life driven by external purpose. I just don't want to hear about it. I don't post messages about how I'm an athiest and I don't believe in God. That is my belief. Please let me have it; I let you have yours without bombarding you with mine.
You forget that the Gubbanator was not only insanely strong but also insanely smart! He must have studied Car Alarm Manuals for shits and giggles while chillin on his island; I know instruction manuals are on my leisure reading list!
O'Rourke is a laugh riot; you may not agree with everything he says but any person who puts on the cover of their book "I was tragically hip and I recovered! You can too!" along with snippets saying that he "Read Camus and Sarte", "Wrote Poetry that did not rhyme" and "Knew the Words to Folk Songs". The dude is hysterical; and he exposes the connection that often exists between youth and liberalism and age and conservatism. Worth a read and a good laugh :)