Greased_Lightning

How are you supposed to prove that they didnt overspend? Make them bring in receipts? That won't work. I like the volunteer idea though.

*enters shop, then realizes I'M NAKED!!!! and then wakes up in a cold sweat*

Wow three words sum this up: Spoiled...Rich...Kids Oh but we still get a 4-day trip to Disney World... Wow. Spending thousands on prom? What are these kids buying, gold encrusted tuxes? I spent something like 100 bucks for my tux rental and tickets to prom. I don't know what the girls spend on their prom dresses but I don't think its $1000+. I think this school made a good call, even though the students won't learn anything from it thanks to their overindulgent parents. $10,000-20,000 on one party in high school that no one will care about once they leave their prissy pampered lives and enter the real world. I wish I had parents that just gave me a jet black infiniti, I'd trade it in for something useful like tuition and a cheaper car. Actually, scratch that, I'm more glad that I don't. You can't put a price tag on character and responsibility. Kids these days... they just don't get it.

Manus if you include my character in the book I expect a royalty ... or at least a hand job. Failing that, I get to see what my character does in your book. That's my FINAL offer!

"Actually Hitler was much more of a moderate when it came to the economy, but hes somewhat more authoritarian." except the part with the jews and the death penalty for having foreign currency on you or taking their currency to another country... real progressive guy that Hitler.

oxytocin (17th4eva)

Cmdr. Jake Rease, agent of the Terran Defense Initiative (TDI) TDI is an ultra-secret military intelligence/operations organization charged with maintaining the status quo of the area lest large scale war develope. TDI agents are authorized to use any and all means necessary to complete their missions, using legal and extralegal channels. Violations of the Terran League Cons!@#$%^&*ution and Intergalactic Rights Treaty by agents are quietly ignored. Rease has yielded high-value information on military technology and unit locations of various groups. Rease is equipped with a less invasive design of the cybernetic implant that allows storage of information and moderate scanning technology but lacks the overall horsepower of the conventional model. Due to long periods of time undercover, he is under covert surveillance by other TDI agents to ensure that prolonged uncover work has not blurred the lines regarding his loyalty or who he thinks he really is. Often !@#$%^&*umes iden!@#$%^&*y of weapons dealer 'Tern Magnil' whose reputation is one of playing any side for the right price and brutally repays any double-cross. Other aliases are suspected for past operations but those files are sealed.

Something just came to my mind when I was reading this and decided to pose the question: In a case of a medical decision (like a surgery or a Do Not Resuscitate (sp?) order), which party has the power to make a decision: The person's immediate family (parents, siblings, etc) or their homosexual partner? That could really get dicey in the case of different laws in different states as to who has power of attorney or whatever its called. Im interested to hear what your opinions are... as for me, that's a real toughie and it depends on the definition of the "marriage". Even though I don't support it, I would say that the "partner" has the higher legal right. Discuss.

I don't support gay marriage but I don't think we need a cons!@#$%^&*utional ammendment absolutely prohibiting it. Several states recently passed laws restricting gay marriages so I think it should be left up to the states as long as those couples realize that what may be legal in one state may not be recognized at all in another. As for same sex couples adopting children I am in agreement with Monte that a standard heterosexual family is better for a child's development. Tax breaks same deal since a same sex couple should not be allowed to adopt children (in my opinion) and biologically cannot reproduce, they should not be en!@#$%^&*iled to tax breaks introduced to ease the burden on families with children. If, however, a same sex couple is allowed to adopt a child, they should receive the same tax break as would a heterosexual couple. My personal opinion of homosexuality is that it is unnatural and wrong and that it stems from either a biological error in the brain or some sort of issue in personality development (abuse or something).

*walks up to paine* License and Registration...CHICKEN!@#$%^&*ER!!! HA HA HA!!! *shoots some people with some guns, does the pirate chicks, ninja chicks, etc. takes pirate chicks, ninja chicks back to his own village and creates a new civilization of Pirjas or Ninates not sure yet*

thousands of people die from car accidents or being run over each year... same goes for alcohol related deaths, cigarrettes, french fries but no one says we should ban these. People are killed each year by knives but you dont tell people they cant use a steak knife anymore. I can use a length of steel pipe and kill a person with that, do we make steel pipes a controlled item? It's like the simpsons episode where they get rid of their guns and the aliens take over with a slingshot and a club Thank God for people with a nail in a board

Fewer guns in citizen joe's hands means less of a deterrent for the criminal joes who get guns illegally guns are a part of the heritage of our country, gives a certain amount of self reliance which is a highly valued trait in our culture when you get the french to give up their wine, the italians to give up their spaghetti, the british their tea, then maybe you can try, because its just part of the culture in many areas

I'm only going to talk about a couple things because to be honest, I didn't feel like reading all of that... maybe tomorrow I will... anyways... The thing about Osama getting through Tora Bora... That region of Afghanistan is right smack next to Pakistan. It might not have been a really good idea to have a bunch of troops (US, but especially Northern Alliance) rushing towards the Pakistan border. Could have easily been confusion if forces approached the border, either saw or thought they saw hostiles who may in fact have been friendlies. Such a situation like that could get a little out of hand resulting in friendly casualties before things could be sorted out. I saw moores farenheit 911 and the thing that really pissed me off is how he hammered on the fact that GW didn't leave that school immediately upon hearing about the attack. Seriously, what's he going to do in front of a bunch of kids, leap up and say "HOLY !@#$%^&* WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" and run out of the room causing panic? I went to school that morning and had study hall 1st period so I went into another room to bull!@#$%^&* with some friends and they said a plane crashed into the WTC and they were watching on TV. I didn't think much of it so I said have fun and went back and took a nap. Next period the buildings fell and the Pentagon got hit, then I kinda thought Hmmmm this isn't good. Lastly... not really germane to this discussion, but in my opinion, I think a terrorist strike on a small town would but more fear into people than would another 9/11 type attack. Imagine a well planned terrorist strike on a rural town of, say, 1000-2000 people that kills somewhere between 500-1000... thats 20-50% of the entire town. Local emergency responders would be overwhelmed and due to distances between rural areas, outside help could be several hours from coming. (This would be easy in towns near me that have tanks of anhydrous ammonia on the edge of town, anhydrous ammonia being used as fertilizer...if wind is from a certain direction, an explosion from a tank would go through the town and kill many as the gas hangs for a long time... OR, since this is transported via railroad, derailing such a shipment would be easy as happened near Minot, North Dakota a few years back) A strike on a target as large as New York is hard to defend against, therefore more is spent on defending that than DinkyTown Montana because the people of DinkyTown feel secure in their anonymity, hence making it a perfect target to put real fear into people that no one is secure. Edit: Rural towns of 1000-2000 are actually big for their area, so an attack on a smaller town of 500 or less would be even more devastating and would scare people even more. An entire town wiped out. Think about it. Anyways, I kinda rambled on there for a second, sorry about that, maybe I'll read more tomorrow and think up more pointless stories about DinkyTown.

Okay I didnt hear about the bulky coat on a summer's day, so yeah, the cops made the right call.

I agree with Aileron on some of this. The incident where British police killed someone not !@#$%^&*ociated with the bombings was an overreaction on their part in that situation, although I haven't heard anything about whether this guy was running from police or if he tried attacking either a policeman or someone else. If he was running from police (and I would think that's a given considering they felt they needed to open fire), then he must have had a reason to, like a past criminal record. Still, was an overreaction if he wasn't actually threatening people at that time. Making statements condoning terrorism illegal doesn't sit well with me even though I find the statements appalling. Edit: Just thought I'd throw this out there to illustrate...There was a Marine from my state killed in Iraq who was buried last week. A church group from Kansas drove up and protested at the funeral with signs saying things like "God Hates Gays" and "He Got What He Deserved". Now, this Marine wasn't a homosexual, but their rationalization is that since their church was bombed by something like an IED some years ago, the IEDs in Iraq are God's punishment. Things like that remind me that some people lack compassion and decency. Anyways, Edit complete. Just SAYING that you condone the attacks is not the same as being an accomplice. While on the one hand I think it's a good idea to keep close tabs on those who are saying those things, I don't think you should make the act of saying them illegal. I'm sure as the shock factor wears off, there will be more disapproval of that as happened in the US. For the ins!@#$%^&*utions that condone these attacks, be they private organizations, religous groups, or what have you, the same thing should apply. If they only SAY they condone the attacks, just keep a close eye on them. But if they contribute even one penny to someone who had even the slightest connection, then you come down on them like the hand of God. Terrorism is for cowards who target the weak and innocent and those who commit these acts should be targeted with the same regard. However, you can't target those who have nothing to do with it even if they say they support it because that isn't justice. What they say may be unpopular and sound treasonous, but they have the right to say it as much as we hate it. The IRA said they would stop attacks now didn't they? Kinda weird to be making the traditional left argument but I guess it shows I'm at least somewhat of a moderate.

^Banned> *spies the humorless Manus and turns ray gun on him and-* ^Banned left arena

*pulls out a death ray and blows up the dojo, then turns it on-* Greased_Lightning left arena ^Banned entered arena

Wrong, I would definitely support it but then again, I've disliked California for a long time. I don't dislike democrats except for the annoying ones they get on the "news" channels. If I didn't why would I have voted democrats for my state? My BB gun thing was in reference to China's having 20 ICBMs in range of the US compared to our thousands, not to mention the ease with which the US can place short range payloads off their coast as well as using gravity bombs on stealth or cruise missile platforms. Capabilities that are currently beyond the PRC. They could hurt the US badly, but they would be wiped off the map in return...not an attractive option. Not that I'm advocating that at all of course, I don't make policy, and I don't think it will happen. Just clarifying that position. I had a feeling the Civil War comparison would come up but there are some major differences between the two. In the US Civil War, the South's system of government was to be nearly the same as was already in place. Not the fact at all with PRC v Taiwan. Also, while you could argue that the South was rebelling against an oppressive gov't, there is no argument that PRC IS an oppressive government that has a history of the m!@#$%^&* murder of millions of its own citizens and even today blatant disregard for human life and rights. Finally, unless you think slavery is a good thing, the South's reasons for rebelling (even if you only use supposed abuse by the governments in the northern states) were tainted by their support of that ins!@#$%^&*ution. Taiwan has a democratic government, they support human rights, they don't have slaves, they don't murder citizens for speaking out against the government. In my eyes, their country is more valid than the PRC and thus should be recognized and protected from invasion. Last thing, as for that Chinese general...If a US general said that, you KNOW that there would be an outcry for him to be fired. China would raise a royal !@#$%^&* fit about how the barbarian Americans are threatening the world, yet... when they do it, we're supposed to say, "Oh they don't REALLY mean that." Someone in the state department probably said the same thing about Hitler, Stalin, and Mao.

"We firmly believe it is in the interests of both China and the United States... to oppose the 'Taiwan independence' " Why again is it in our interests to oppose the free determination of a people? Oh that's right, cuz China said so, and they are a beacon of civility and human rights, thanks Mao. I have a suggestion for the Chinese gov't: Don't threaten with a BB gun a guy with an Uzi.

Saw this in my paper this morning so looked it up on the internet: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4688471.stm I sure hope that general isn't representative of their senior military. All I wanted to see in that article after that was something like: "While China has the ability to launch approximately 20 ICBMs that could strike the continental US, if they did, they would find themselves living in a smoking parking lot an hour later." (http://www.thebulletin.org/article.php?art_ofn=mj05lewis#1 for some info on China's nuclear arsenal) Yeah... let's just get REAL friendly with these guys. Oh, and I liked how that article ended... "We hope the United States will fulfil its commitments with concrete actions and join efforts with China to maintain the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," But if we invade, don't help a democratic government or we'll launch nukes at you. Seriously, what the !@#$%^&* are they smoking?

I suppose the lines are going to be clogged quite a bit. Hope your family is all okay.

Didn't hear anything about this until about 10 a.m. (Central)... Words don't do justice. Thank God it wasn't worse but this is plenty bad.

Regarding the Guantanamo detainees, the gov't needs to !@#$%^&* or get of the pot. That's all I have to say.

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[walks in after only reading the last post] [gets his post edited by Manus] [funk music starts]