Moonlapse

Thanks for sharing this. It speaks for itself!

http://books.google.com/ Lots of obscure 19th century stuff... nice!

No problem

Are you using IE?

If you were a guy, I'd recommend a hair clipper set from WalMart. You can't beat several years worth of buzz cuts for $12.

WOOOO!!!! Welcome and enjoy.

Uuuugh, insurance... I hope everything gets taken care of with a minimal amount of hassle.

Modern Ukraine encompasses much of what was the Bosporan Kingdom, Chersonesus and Hylaia. I'd say that its very likely that the ruins are Greek and located in modern Crimea. Edit: Here you go... http://www.mt.crimea.com/hiking_tours/4days.html

We've had four blizzards in as many weeks and the temperature has been very cold. Last winter was mild.

I can hit Jew with potato from 50 meters! High five!

What is privacy? http://www.reason.com/news/show/117074.html Also, I picked up a hardcover of Steven Pressfield's 'The Virtues of War' for $6!! Woooo!

My best friend in high school had a foreign exchange student from Spain living with him. He had none of the modesty or reservations that we had. He was an absolute blast to hang out with because normal everyday situations would usually turn hilarious. For instance, if he had to change his clothes, he wouldn't think twice about stripping down in public.

You can be a little bit securer and safer if you chose not to really live, or prevent others from really living. "Nearly all creators of Utopia have resembled the man who has toothache, and therefore thinks happiness consists in not having toothache." - George Orwell Indeed, but thats not the point. The issue is using the governments monopoly of force to make an owner of private property do so whether or not he agrees to. Precedents always have a way of leading to more of the same. How do you think behaviorists train pigeons to bowl? They first teach them to do something vaguely similar, perhaps pecking at a ball. They don't just put a miniature bowling lane in front of them and expect that the pigeon will want to roll a ball down the lane in order to knock over pins. If you teach society that private property rights are really not rights, then whats the next 'harmless' step? What's the eventual result? According to whom? A lot can be accomplished through cooperation and without the use of legal force. It should always be an absolute last resort to make a law.

A little bit of trivia: The 56 heaviest-seeded wild grasses make up less than 1% of all grasses. 32 of these are native to the Mediterranean zone. The next highest concentration is East Asia with 6. Blumler, M. (1992) Seed Weight and Environment in Mediterranean-Type Grasslands in California and Israel

The Celts dug pits in the ground that were small at the top and wide at the bottom. Once filled with grain a large clay cap was placed over the hole, also covering the area around the hole, in order to seal out air, light and excess moisture. The grain that contacts the soil will germinate, use up existing oxygen, produce carbon dioxide and form a barrier around the rest of the grain. The CO2 puts the stored grain into hibernation. This method could conceivably store grain for several years. This isn't absolutely verified though, afaik.

The free version is limited to a certain total resolution for the terrain map, which is still quite large.

Nice! Have you ever heard of a program called Terragen? It's free and it can render photorealistic landscapes which are completely controllable and designable. There's even addons to render a fly through video, etc.

Yeah, I hear that. I'll regain a little more faith in our system if people are really held accountable when its all said and done.

Indeed! http://www.deepthoughtsbyjackhandy.com/

I said the CIA was incompetent at the highest levels on the issue of WMD. Tenet endorsed the WMD in Iraq theory himself, Bob Woodward publically reported as much in "Plan of Attack" and it's also echoed in "Cobra II" and "Fiasco". The later being the book I consider the most reliable recording of the first two years of the war at the theater level. I don't believe it to be manipulation but probably negligent selective favoring of information supported by intel from some NATO assets. I have other first and second-hand knowledge I'd rather not go into, but that's my position. I don't believe I said that. I said it was incompetent on the issue of WMD. One would have to ask why the 'manipulator' would then send over special assets, different services and Fed agencies send search teams and CENTCOM divert whole companies of soldiers, Marines, Seabees and EOD to search for what they knew was non-existent. Thanks. Sorry for the misunderstanding on my part. I have not had the chance to read "Fiasco". I just find it suspicious that the CIA analyst 'Joe' provided his report on the aluminum tubes less than three months after Bush supposedly told members of his administration to find him a way to remove Saddam. Or that there were were warnings from the CIA about Curveball's information, and requests not to use it. Why would the CIA wrestle away al-Libi from the FBI in order to use interrogation techniques that the CIA itself says produces what detainee thinks you want to hear, in order to establish a link between Al Qaeda and Iraq? What about the Downing street memo commenting that intelligence and fact were being fixed around the policy of military action in Iraq? What about when Cheney and Libby started meeting directly with CIA analysts and subsequent CIA resistance to back weak intelligence? I'm just finding it hard to accept that it was all just incompetence and no manipulation. I appreciate your opinions on the subject.

Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, "It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver." -- Jack Handy If you ever reach total enlightenment while drinking beer, I bet it makes beer shoot out your nose. -- Jack Handy

I wish now that I had when I was your age. Go for it. It will be almost essential anyways, later on.

Thanks for the extravagant correction, Cato. Pardon my incorrect approach at trying to find out why Virgil does not believe that the highest levels of the CIA cannot be manipulated. Let me rephrase. Virgil, how do you know that the CIA is honestly incompetent, if only at the highest levels?

Believe it. The intel community, specifically the CIA, was that incompetent if only at the highest levels on this issue. There are a lot of stories of high-priority wild-goose chases to track the stuff down in 2003 and it remained high on everyone's list when I left in early '04. Is that what you consider honest mistakes? If the incompetence is at the highest levels, then whats to say that it can't be manipulated or is due to manipulation? A pretext assumes some sort of competent planning on the Bush administration's part. They shouldn't get that sort of credit as the post-invasion scenario they were warned about by both the Army Chief of Staff and State Department reports shows. Assuming that the Bush Administration actually wanted immediate peace, you have a point. I think it all depends on what they were really trying to accomplish.

That is besides the point for the countries that are distrustful of the USA. I certainly don't think that the intelligence community is so incompetent that it would honestly make that kind of mistake. I do know that there were plans to take down Saddam long before the events of 2001. WMD really was the most effective pretext for invasion, and its hard to dispute the benevolence of spreading democracy. But, of course Saddam had WMD. He used them in the 80's. As far as Saddam creating WMD and giving it to terrorists who are completely outside his control or using it against the US, I am positive that he was not that stupid.