It does? "global warming" should be just that simple. but its not. "global warming" refers to anything which the current environmental crowd wants it to apply too. "Ban CFC's, they cause global warming". "Ban SUV's, they cause global warming". "Bush causes global warming". "Republicans cause global warming". "Global warming will kill us all!" "Global warming causes Hurricanes!" "Global warming will cause the seas to rise up and drown New York City" (not necessarily a bad thing to some of us Texans).
The problem is that "global warming" and "global cooling" and other climatary fluctuations have been going on since the Giant Tentacle Monster sneezed the Earth out of his right testical billions of years ago. And its not like, all of a sudden, the earth's temperature just jumped up by 5 degrees overnight causing huge super-hurricanes which prompted a new ice age (thanks Hollywood!).
To properly reply, the question has to be stated, "How do we know that the earths temperature has changed?" Your argument of four places warming by 1 degree and one place cools by 1 degree doesn't make sense. There are billions of square miles on the surface of the earth. Measureing the ground temperature, and temperature at varous altitudes of each of these places is impossible.
So, "prove" that the earth is warming. (I know, "you" aren't the one who's claiming that it is.)
eh? what do you mean? kidding about what? the analogy? or equating soldiers killing or terrorizing prisoners with marital infidelity? I wasn't trying to make any high moral judgements at all. I'm trying to make a more psychological point, instead of a philosophical point.
The point is that the US feels duty bound to protect the people they've given money too so it doesn't have to continue to do so. If they felt it would be a faster exit strategy to break Iraq up into 3 distinct states you'd be talking about Mesopotania (capital Al-Basrah), Iraq (capital Baghdad) and Kurd-land (capital Mosul). Or maybe that didn't occur to them.
You forget TANSTAAFL. You can't take the US's monetary largesse and expect her to simply ignore what you do with it.
The US annoints itself savior because that's how the world treats it.
Imagine that the world is the US's teenage kid. Sure you'll take the money, but play by her rules? No way! And so the world hates the US as a teenage kid "hates" his daddy. And woe betide daddy if he gets drunk and acts inappropriately (like getting into a fight with the neighbor over a political difference or making a pass at that horny widow who lives down the street). Now all of a sudden, its the kids chance to morally bitch-slap their father, for not living up to the standards that they had laid out for their kids....
Iranians develop nuclear weapons. Put nuclear weapon in big crate. Ship to Mazatlan. Put in truck. drive druck to Tijuana. Nuke San Diego and Orange county. Direct threat? sure. its called sponsoring terrorism. We would like Iran to stop sponsering terrorism. They don't want to do this, hence there is conflict between the US and Iran. Iran doesn't want the US to leave Iran. They DEMAND that the US leave Iraq, Saudia Arabia, Yemen, Bahrain, and if possible, could you please leave Diego Garcia. The US's reaction to that is, "NO. We'll leave Iraq when they stop killing each other (and us), and the other places actually want us there and of what business is it of Iran to force such a thing."
As far as not nuking Israel for fear of hurting the Palestinians, well...... Let me put it this way. Imagine that the Palistinians were the American Indians. But instead of the US beating on them, taking their homes, and generally destroying their culture, something else happened. Imagine the Canadian and Mexican instead told the Indians, "If you guys will just move aside for a bit, we'll toss those english/US invaders into the sea and they you can go home in peace. In the meantime, we'll set you up some temporary housing....." Iran could care less about the Palistinians, any more than the Egyptians, the Jordanians, or the Lebonese or Syrians. No one cares about the Palestinians except the Israelis, who have been made to care because of suicide bombers. (and of course the Americans, who care about everybody) No, Iran won't lose any sleep from killing Palistinians on their way to removing the "evil"* which is Israel from the map.
* Ever since 1947, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Saudia Arabia have been at war with Israel. Actual declared war. Until recently, Egypt was too. There were times when "Cease Fires" were in effect, but never Peace. Thats why there was no economic sanctions over the "unprovoked" assaults in 1967 by the Israeli's and in 1973 by Jordan, Syria, and Egypt. (nor 1956)
1) stop overpaying the UN
a) determine the average yearly contribution to the UN by the member countries (with US removed)
b) reduce the current payments to the UN and ALL of its functions (WHO, World Bank, etc) to that amount.
c) charge the UN rent on its nice Manhattan complex (that should cover those pesky UN payments)
2) make charitable donations to non-US based organizations no longer tax deductable.
3) create protectionist level import duties
4) annex Canada (after all, they're basically Americans anyway)
5) reduce all military support of UN efforts to the level of say, Antigua.
Then the world won't have anything to complain about.
does Grandma take the kids to R rated movies? no. why? because she knows that if she wants access to the kids that taking them to R rated movies is a no-no.
Is it that hard to see the big letter "M" on the side of the box and know that you shouldn't let the kids play it? its even usually larger than the big "R" on the video boxes.
If I'm letting my parents or in-laws watch my children for any length of time I provide the games. and if my parents (or in-laws) want to buy a game for my kids they clear it with me first.
My answer has alwasy been, "I'm too busy doing actual application development and working on projects to get certified, but if you wish to pay for it, I can pass any certification (computer related) that you need."
Personally, I have found some innovative sports games. for example, the Mario sports series (Mario Strikers, Mario all-star baseball) is alot of fun. First off, because you KNOW they aren't real people you are simulating, you don't really care about who's team they are on or whether they really retired (A-Rod a Mariner? when was that!!!) they can be flexible with rosters. plus, since its a bit cartoonish, they can play with the rules a bit. (monsters down the first and third base lines that will attack the fielders going for balls in the corners), being able to shoot lightning at the guy with the soccer ball to make him fall down so you can steal it, completely ignoring off-sides rules, etc.
I'd love to see them complete the series with Mario Hockey, Mario Football, and Mario Hoops. Has anyone played the Street ball? is that of any use?
The answer is, "every year" why? because when you buy NFL 2007 you'll get to play Reggie Bush as a New Orlands Saint. Which you can't do on NFL 2006. Even if NOTHING about the game changes, the fact that the personnel will change each year makes people plop down $50 for it. If they simply offered a $50 a year service to update their game with new players on the right teams each year, 99% of the sports gaming market would buy the service and stop buying new games.
You want scary? How about this. I meet you in a bar, find out your name and some other personal info, such as where you work or where you went to school. Then I go home, and google that name and find out your address. Then I call your former university posing as your current employer and convince them to give me your social security number. Now armed with your Name, address, and social security number I apply for credit cards in your name, use your identity to get a car loan, etc. As long as no act involves stealing more than $9,000 the US Secret service will not even pursue me. But your credit will be ruined forever, costing you government clearences, thousands on mortages and even be denied favorable bank accounts. All from meeting a dude in a bar. or a chick.
also note the arrogance of humans who delved too deep into the dark magiks. Plus the descent of the Dark Iron Dwarves who ended up creating the Blasted Lands. I could go on and on, but the point is that there's more to the story than Alliance Good, Horde Evil. And there's more to it than Alliance civilized, Horde barbarians. After all, who has zepplins? the Horde. Who has elevators? the Horde. Who has the favor of Blizzard in all things? you guessed it....
Chuck Norris does not need a MacBook. He uses the brains of those who oppose him to do his calculations for him. He doesn't use a keyboard either, he roundhouse kicks in morse code the letters we would normally type. And he does so at 100 wpm.
you are comparing HD cameras cost to SD cameras cost 10 years ago. what you should be comparing is HD cameras cost to SD cameras cost TODAY. When any dude with a pickup can make his own TV show, then the competition is higher. And contrary to popular belief, 300,000,000 Americans can actually produce a few decent TV shows without the 10 Network excutives deciding whether the show is good or not.
in fact I would go so far as saying that HDTV is not only a solution, but its a way of pushing certain "independent" channels off the air by making it more expensive to provide content. Producing TV shows has gotten ridiculously cheap nowadays, and with 200+ channels on cable and on satellite, its finally possible for people to have a choice of what to watch based on their own interests. So, bird-watchers can watch the bird-watching channel and science buffs can watch the science channel and the like. But HDTV pushes that back 20 years by making it too expensive to produce all these TV shows, so more people have to watch network broadcasts, thereby pushing more money into network broadcasts.
The only problem is that it doesn't work. TV's aren't breaking and people don't NEED to replace them with HDTV's. Until the ONLY TV's sold in stores are HD-ready, and have been so for at least a year, then and only then can they start to phase out normal television.
From the standpoint of gaming, well.... MMORPG's have started to catch up to adventure games for the console. Obviously the solution will be to put MMORPG's ON consoles, like FFXI on the 360. I'd buy a PS-3 if it played WOW, if I'm still playing it next year, and I have the money.
why is it that men can't answer these questions? Heck. Lie. tell the truth. those jeans make your ass look big honey. or, That dress makes you look frumpy. That bikini makes me want to carry you back into the dressing room and have sex with you, cameras be damned....
know your woman. know whether she's fishing for a compliment. ("Wow! those jeans make you look hot!") or wanting to know whether to sell munis for an outfit ("You and sequins should not be in the same room, baby.").
If you aren't paying attention, say something useless like, "You look sexy in anything" or corny like, "they'd look great piled up on the floor at the end of the bed". But be prepared to get hit for it. (playfully, of course).
Slashdot Mirror
It does? "global warming" should be just that simple. but its not. "global warming" refers to anything which the current environmental crowd wants it to apply too. "Ban CFC's, they cause global warming". "Ban SUV's, they cause global warming". "Bush causes global warming". "Republicans cause global warming". "Global warming will kill us all!" "Global warming causes Hurricanes!" "Global warming will cause the seas to rise up and drown New York City" (not necessarily a bad thing to some of us Texans).
The problem is that "global warming" and "global cooling" and other climatary fluctuations have been going on since the Giant Tentacle Monster sneezed the Earth out of his right testical billions of years ago. And its not like, all of a sudden, the earth's temperature just jumped up by 5 degrees overnight causing huge super-hurricanes which prompted a new ice age (thanks Hollywood!).
To properly reply, the question has to be stated, "How do we know that the earths temperature has changed?" Your argument of four places warming by 1 degree and one place cools by 1 degree doesn't make sense. There are billions of square miles on the surface of the earth. Measureing the ground temperature, and temperature at varous altitudes of each of these places is impossible.
So, "prove" that the earth is warming. (I know, "you" aren't the one who's claiming that it is.)
Ira
eh? what do you mean? kidding about what? the analogy? or equating soldiers killing or terrorizing prisoners with marital infidelity? I wasn't trying to make any high moral judgements at all. I'm trying to make a more psychological point, instead of a philosophical point.
The point is that the US feels duty bound to protect the people they've given money too so it doesn't have to continue to do so. If they felt it would be a faster exit strategy to break Iraq up into 3 distinct states you'd be talking about Mesopotania (capital Al-Basrah), Iraq (capital Baghdad) and Kurd-land (capital Mosul). Or maybe that didn't occur to them.
Ira
Mulgore == Cow level
(just had to say it.)
You forget TANSTAAFL.
You can't take the US's monetary largesse and expect her to simply ignore what you do with it.
The US annoints itself savior because that's how the world treats it.
Imagine that the world is the US's teenage kid. Sure you'll take the money, but play by her rules? No way! And so the world hates the US as a teenage kid "hates" his daddy. And woe betide daddy if he gets drunk and acts inappropriately (like getting into a fight with the neighbor over a political difference or making a pass at that horny widow who lives down the street). Now all of a sudden, its the kids chance to morally bitch-slap their father, for not living up to the standards that they had laid out for their kids....
Ira
horse pucky.
Iranians develop nuclear weapons. Put nuclear weapon in big crate. Ship to Mazatlan. Put in truck. drive druck to Tijuana. Nuke San Diego and Orange county. Direct threat? sure. its called sponsoring terrorism. We would like Iran to stop sponsering terrorism. They don't want to do this, hence there is conflict between the US and Iran. Iran doesn't want the US to leave Iran. They DEMAND that the US leave Iraq, Saudia Arabia, Yemen, Bahrain, and if possible, could you please leave Diego Garcia. The US's reaction to that is, "NO. We'll leave Iraq when they stop killing each other (and us), and the other places actually want us there and of what business is it of Iran to force such a thing."
As far as not nuking Israel for fear of hurting the Palestinians, well...... Let me put it this way. Imagine that the Palistinians were the American Indians. But instead of the US beating on them, taking their homes, and generally destroying their culture, something else happened. Imagine the Canadian and Mexican instead told the Indians, "If you guys will just move aside for a bit, we'll toss those english/US invaders into the sea and they you can go home in peace. In the meantime, we'll set you up some temporary housing....." Iran could care less about the Palistinians, any more than the Egyptians, the Jordanians, or the Lebonese or Syrians. No one cares about the Palestinians except the Israelis, who have been made to care because of suicide bombers. (and of course the Americans, who care about everybody) No, Iran won't lose any sleep from killing Palistinians on their way to removing the "evil"* which is Israel from the map.
* Ever since 1947, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Saudia Arabia have been at war with Israel. Actual declared war. Until recently, Egypt was too. There were times when "Cease Fires" were in effect, but never Peace. Thats why there was no economic sanctions over the "unprovoked" assaults in 1967 by the Israeli's and in 1973 by Jordan, Syria, and Egypt. (nor 1956)
Ira
I can think of a few ways the US can do that.
1) stop overpaying the UN
a) determine the average yearly contribution to the UN by the member countries (with US removed)
b) reduce the current payments to the UN and ALL of its functions (WHO, World Bank, etc) to that amount.
c) charge the UN rent on its nice Manhattan complex (that should cover those pesky UN payments)
2) make charitable donations to non-US based organizations no longer tax deductable.
3) create protectionist level import duties
4) annex Canada (after all, they're basically Americans anyway)
5) reduce all military support of UN efforts to the level of say, Antigua.
Then the world won't have anything to complain about.
Ira
I'd like a phone shaped like a gun. this would be great for the gangsta crowd. It would suck for police officers, though.
imagine this conversation:
robber: ok, hand over all the cash
bank teller: ok. but one thing.
robber: whats that?
bank teller: your gun is ringing.
Ira
The best reasoning I've ever heard for a man to create a female character was the following:
"If I'm gonna be looking at someones ass for hours on end, I want it to be cute and female."
Ira
Does this mean even cheaper macs are forthcoming?
Ira
sounds like the kid should hire jack Thompson and go for a "the video games made me do it, they made me insane" type defense.
Maybe that's what he's hoping for.
Ira
does Grandma take the kids to R rated movies? no. why? because she knows that if she wants access to the kids that taking them to R rated movies is a no-no.
:P
Is it that hard to see the big letter "M" on the side of the box and know that you shouldn't let the kids play it? its even usually larger than the big "R" on the video boxes.
If I'm letting my parents or in-laws watch my children for any length of time I provide the games. and if my parents (or in-laws) want to buy a game for my kids they clear it with me first.
so
Ira
Ira
My answer has alwasy been, "I'm too busy doing actual application development and working on projects to get certified, but if you wish to pay for it, I can pass any certification (computer related) that you need."
Ira
me, I'm just waiting for the cost of helium to drop so I can get cheaper balloons. Maybe Zepplins will come back into fashion....
Ira
Personally, I have found some innovative sports games. for example, the Mario sports series (Mario Strikers, Mario all-star baseball) is alot of fun. First off, because you KNOW they aren't real people you are simulating, you don't really care about who's team they are on or whether they really retired (A-Rod a Mariner? when was that!!!) they can be flexible with rosters. plus, since its a bit cartoonish, they can play with the rules a bit. (monsters down the first and third base lines that will attack the fielders going for balls in the corners), being able to shoot lightning at the guy with the soccer ball to make him fall down so you can steal it, completely ignoring off-sides rules, etc.
I'd love to see them complete the series with Mario Hockey, Mario Football, and Mario Hoops. Has anyone played the Street ball? is that of any use?
Ira
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Blood poring from my ears! make it stop!!!!!!!!
Ira
The answer is, "every year" why? because when you buy NFL 2007 you'll get to play Reggie Bush as a New Orlands Saint. Which you can't do on NFL 2006. Even if NOTHING about the game changes, the fact that the personnel will change each year makes people plop down $50 for it. If they simply offered a $50 a year service to update their game with new players on the right teams each year, 99% of the sports gaming market would buy the service and stop buying new games.
Ira
You want scary? How about this. I meet you in a bar, find out your name and some other personal info, such as where you work or where you went to school. Then I go home, and google that name and find out your address. Then I call your former university posing as your current employer and convince them to give me your social security number. Now armed with your Name, address, and social security number I apply for credit cards in your name, use your identity to get a car loan, etc. As long as no act involves stealing more than $9,000 the US Secret service will not even pursue me. But your credit will be ruined forever, costing you government clearences, thousands on mortages and even be denied favorable bank accounts. All from meeting a dude in a bar. or a chick.
Ira
also note the arrogance of humans who delved too deep into the dark magiks. Plus the descent of the Dark Iron Dwarves who ended up creating the Blasted Lands. I could go on and on, but the point is that there's more to the story than Alliance Good, Horde Evil. And there's more to it than Alliance civilized, Horde barbarians. After all, who has zepplins? the Horde. Who has elevators? the Horde. Who has the favor of Blizzard in all things? you guessed it....
Ira
ugh. I meant druid. night elf druid. bleh. Not played much WOW. damnit, I'm tired and working. My Gnome Warrior hit 59 last night. so there.
I hope they get Danny DeVito to play my Gnome Warrior. And think of Jennifer Connolly as a Night Elf Mage.
Ira
Chuck Norris does not need a MacBook. He uses the brains of those who oppose him to do his calculations for him. He doesn't use a keyboard either, he roundhouse kicks in morse code the letters we would normally type. And he does so at 100 wpm.
Ira
you are comparing HD cameras cost to SD cameras cost 10 years ago. what you should be comparing is HD cameras cost to SD cameras cost TODAY. When any dude with a pickup can make his own TV show, then the competition is higher. And contrary to popular belief, 300,000,000 Americans can actually produce a few decent TV shows without the 10 Network excutives deciding whether the show is good or not.
Ira
in fact I would go so far as saying that HDTV is not only a solution, but its a way of pushing certain "independent" channels off the air by making it more expensive to provide content. Producing TV shows has gotten ridiculously cheap nowadays, and with 200+ channels on cable and on satellite, its finally possible for people to have a choice of what to watch based on their own interests. So, bird-watchers can watch the bird-watching channel and science buffs can watch the science channel and the like. But HDTV pushes that back 20 years by making it too expensive to produce all these TV shows, so more people have to watch network broadcasts, thereby pushing more money into network broadcasts.
The only problem is that it doesn't work. TV's aren't breaking and people don't NEED to replace them with HDTV's. Until the ONLY TV's sold in stores are HD-ready, and have been so for at least a year, then and only then can they start to phase out normal television.
From the standpoint of gaming, well.... MMORPG's have started to catch up to adventure games for the console. Obviously the solution will be to put MMORPG's ON consoles, like FFXI on the 360. I'd buy a PS-3 if it played WOW, if I'm still playing it next year, and I have the money.
Ira
why is it that men can't answer these questions? Heck. Lie. tell the truth. those jeans make your ass look big honey. or, That dress makes you look frumpy. That bikini makes me want to carry you back into the dressing room and have sex with you, cameras be damned....
know your woman. know whether she's fishing for a compliment. ("Wow! those jeans make you look hot!") or wanting to know whether to sell munis for an outfit ("You and sequins should not be in the same room, baby.").
If you aren't paying attention, say something useless like, "You look sexy in anything" or corny like, "they'd look great piled up on the floor at the end of the bed". But be prepared to get hit for it. (playfully, of course).
Ira