Darth_Rob

I agree with Eagle, Tofu. If my threads about Sasquatch "bore" you, then what else would you like to discuss?

Now that is one way to scare the hell out of those kids @Tofu: I totally agree with you. As I said, I believe that those sex-ed videos are stupid and lame. I can vouch that the videos we watched were totally stupefying. New videos have to be made. Now as I also said, I dont believe any sex-ed will stop teens from doing what they want to do. Thats just how teens are, and if they want to have sex, then they will. Thats why the key to any sex-ed is to concentrate on promoting safe sex. What Im saying is that the kids should still have the whole spiel about "waiting until they are ready" and what not, but also have someone say, "and when you are ready, this is what you have to do". Its sort of meeting the teens half way, but it will be advantageous in the long run, as kids will at least be more likely to be safe when they decide to start having sex. But I also think Mads experience with a real-live AIDS patient in the room will do a lot of good too! Another good idea is to bring someone in with like herpes or something and then show the kids what it looks like in real life. Seeing the disease in real life would scare the hell out of anyone! All in all, interesting work Tofu. I highly suggest you do send this report off to Congress afterwards. Its an important issue that is not really being addressed as far as I can see.

That is a really neat find Scath! Im definitely gonna take a look at this site.

I believe that "safe sex" is the way to go. It is ridiculous to promote abstinence. By forbidding something that teens know (from friends and media) is going to be a good experience will only make them more curious. This is very similar to my view on gun safety with children. Rather than prohibiting it, educate them. If the curiosity is taken out in some way, it leads to people making more educated decisions. I had the stupid lame sex education class in school. This is necessary because some parents (as mine were) are not comfortable talking to their children about this. There is no way to force the parents to have "the birds and the bees" talk with their kids. Thus, the school has to step up in case the parents dont. Kids have to be educated on this subject, so that they dont make stupid mistakes that result in the ruining of their lives. However, it is important to give the parents the choice in this matter. Sex education in school cannot be mandatory, and if a parent does not want their child participating in this class, then the chances are that the parent will have the talk themselves. Bottom line: safe sex education is the only way to go. Teaching abstinence does not achieve anything because teens will do what they want regardless of what people say. At least this way they will make wiser choices if they do decide to do anything.

Nice finds Mad!

Ive tried to lower the cost of the Death Star when I played as the Empire, but never gave anything else such a low cost. But its an interesting theory Tex. From what you say, it sounds about right, seeing how you started a game with that many ships.

HAHAHA! In that case, I totally agree with you Tex. I guess I thought your senility was kicking in and you wanted a nuclear holocaust on the interstate... "Dr. Tex, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Atomic Car Bomb"

I think its always Tex who happens to remember GL's B-Day.

That is quite amazing! Great find Tex. Its only a matter of time now before we perfect the hover car.

Ahhh, in that case I cant help ya. Thats not my forte.

In that case, nuke the hippies! I know that once the Alaska pipeline was built in the 1980s it caused the decline in the price of oil. But I still think that the US society is too dependent on oil, where the loss of it would be catastrophic. As for ethanol, I still think it can be a convenient renewable resource. Some crops, especially switchgrass, are going to yield more energy than others like corn and sugar. Switchgrass is not something people can eat, so it will not cut into food production, and you will not have that feeling of wasting food. Sure, some farmers will stop growing food crops in order to shift to switchgrass, but the country has to much land that there is plenty of space for more farms to sprout up and be profitable. What it comes down to is that oil is just there, and when its gone its gone. Nuclear power is an interesting concept, but I dont think it would be a good source of power for personal vehicles. I just cant imagine a bunch of nuclear reactors driving down the road. Though I guess you can argue the same thing for hydrogen. And ethanol does have its problems in terms of its extensive production process. I just think that world governments have to start planning now for the future.

I completely agree with you there J. Those who keep talking about a withdrawal from Iraq now are insane. The U.S. started this mess in Iraq, and to just up and leave it now would be horrible. It would only increase the instability of the already fragile government in place there now. Unfortunately, the continued occupation of Iraq is for the best right now. What the government here needs to do is stop squabbling over the war in Iraq and to figure out a way to get over the energy crisis we are facing. The "Age of Oil' is coming to a close, I think, and the world needs to move on. The government should be looking more into alternative forms of energy like ethanol (not the best for the environment, but at least its renewable), electric, and hydrogen. The fact that the United States has such an interdependence in regards to fulfilling its energy needs is its greatest weakness, and rather than trying to lower oil prices, the concentration should be on starting to break away from that energy source.

Heh. I tried playing the PS2 online once. I had to buy a network adaptar, which is a big bulky box that screws into the back of the already heavy PS2. Then you simply plug the modem wire in from the wall to the PS2. I dont think the PS2 works wirelessly, so you gotta plug it in directly to the wall. Be warned, the PS2 is a pain to play online. Be prepared for some major lagging.

Im going to graduate school to get my masters in education with a concentration in social studies. Im going to be a teacher. Edit: Very disturbing...

I liked the old GTA games on the PS1, that were like the over-head helicopter view. Then I got a PS2, and of course snagged GTA3 when it came out. And I was very disappointed. I just couldn't get into it. I've avoided the franchise ever since.

Great news Rob! Are you going to get to keep your apartment and roomies? I hope you did well on your finals! You do know someday you're going to have to get a real job and join the rat race with the rest of us? The misses and me are gonna get a new apartment together. And trust me, I've had enough of school. I'll officially be done next December, and then I can finally start a career. Its been way too long...

I FINALLY put down my Wii and got around to catching up on my PS2 library. I forgot how much I loved the God of War franchise. I loved the first one, and I just started playing God of War II today. Now I really want a PS3 so that I will be able to snag the third one next year. Such a great story and the gameplay is superb.

Well, as of yesterday, I am officially going to grad school! I was very nervous because the program only had 15 seats left, and there were 40-50 students applying for it. Somehow I got in, and I am one happy pappy... Though Im a bit sad today. I have 3 finals in a row today at 8am, 11am, and 2pm. That stinks...

Is anyone else excited for The Incredible Hulk which comes out next week? I am. It looks really good, and Im happy to see there is an actual super-villain for him to fight, rather than just the U.S. Army.

Also got to see Iron Man. As Tofu said, it was great. The effects were awesome, and Robert Downey Jr played Stark perfectly. It reminded me of Fantastic 4, where I didn't have a real problem with anything. I like the implications of S.H.I.E.L.D. and War Machine for the next movie. Im just hoping that the sequel features Mandarin as the villain.

to the pimp hand

Heh. One mad night for Mad. Im a bit nervous. I have an interview for graduate school today...

Yah, I did Tsarist Russia starting with the early 1600s. The Tsar gave permission for the invasion of Siberia in 1558, and in 1600 he started issuing laws that protected the natives. Periodically, until the late 1800s, additional laws were issued to protect the natives. They were never forced to "Russify" until the the 1870s. The United States obviously started expanding after the American Revolution, and initially passed legislation that protected the Native Americans and stated that the U.S. Army would remove any Americans who encroached on Native land. The difference was that, while Russia enforced their laws, the U.S. did not. Thus, when Native Americans obviously fought back, the U.S. started warring with them and relocation them. Then in the 1890s the idea came about to start "Americanizing" them. Thus my paper spanned from initial contact of both nations with natives until the late 1800s, when both began to force their cultures upon them. There are two reasons I believe explain this difference in policies. The first is that the Russians expanded east for money. They wanted to open up trade routes, trap furs (sable in particular), and collect tribute from the natives. Thus the Russians only wanted to collect tribute from the natives, and not their land. Secondly, when Muscovy (before Russia was established) was conquered by Mongols, they were forced under similar policies. The Mongols never tried to "Mongolize" them, and only collected tribute from them. Thus, Russia was used to this concept already, and used it when they conquered peoples. As for the U.S., money wasn't the goal of expansion, but land for American settlers. The idea of manifest destiny and the Homestead Act encouraged Americans to move west and start farms. Thus, they would have to take Native American land, since land was their goal. So yeah, this was the general gist of my paper. Edit: I submitted my research paper from last semester on Gagarin into a scholarship contest for the History Department. I received second place (honorable mention), which unfortunately did not include any moneys...

Well, I finished up my research paper for this class. Basically, he wanted us to do research either proving or disproving a historians idea on nationalism. I did mine on Hans Kohn. Kohn believed that there was good and bad nationalism (this was during WWII mind you). Kohn said that good nationalism were from nations in Western Europe and the United States, and they were good because they were founded off the ideals of the Enlightenment. He then said that Eastern Nationalism (Germany, Russia, other Eastern Europe countries, and Asia) were bad nationalism, which rather than create new democratic nations, they remained authoritarian and kept their nations together based on ancient cultural ties and folk lore. Anywho, I wanted to disprove his idea of "good" and "bad" by comparing American and Russian expansion. Basically, I researched the history of American expansion west and Russian expansion east into Siberia. I then researched and compared the policies that both nations had towards the natives living there. From that perspective, it appeared that America's nationalistic policies in regard to the Americanization of Native Americans made it "bad", and Russias policies made it "good". Within a little more than 100 years, America went from protecting (though not enforcing) to relocating to killing to Americanizing the Native Americans. In Siberia, the natives were generally protected by Russian law for almost 300 years before they began getting Russified. So thats my story. It was a short paper, only 13 pages (supposed to be 10). Not as advanced as my last research paper last semester on Yuri Gagarin, but still good stuff. Im just glad its done, and I can enjoy the rest of my semester stress-free.

Im sick of all this GTA IV talk. I highly dislike the GTA series, and it really gets me mad to see so much hype for it. Grrr.