Zennie

I haven't seen it yet, though I want to. I've read reviews and I hear a lot of comparisons with Blade Runner... among other flicks. Then I also read someone saying that the movie stayed true to the 3 directives that the robots were programmed for. Of course that got me thinking a number of things. I hope it takes some turns that I'm not expecting, because if the directives are always followed, the answers are pretty clear. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

That's one of the funniest things I've read in a long time. Check out Dave Chappelle's show sometime. GOD that guy is funny! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I read this and just about threw up... "When asked how she (Martha Stewart) would handle prison food, fellow inmates and strip searches, she said, "I could do it … I'm a really good camper. I can sleep on the ground.… If it is looming ahead of me, I'm going to have to face it, and take it and do it and get it over with. And there's many other people that have gone to prison. Look at Nelson Mandela."" So poor little Martha likens herself to Nelson Mandela. Forget that she only has to be confined 10 months... 5 of which are in her HOUSE.... as opposed to Mandela's 20 YEARS behind bars. The whole crybaby interview is here. Make sure to have a bucket handy to puke in. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Since when were you designated the approving body of a person's Libertarian credentials? Would you like to see my card? Yes, I support a person's right to bear arms. I personally own 4 guns... or is that not enough to make me a REAL Libertarian in your eyes? I think the AWB is stupid and misguided. I don't have a problem with background checks. And since when does ONE issue make or break a person's political affiliation? I'm pro-life. The official Libertarian platform is pro-choice. I am also opposed to the death penalty... same as the LP platform. So one has to walk 100% lockstep with a party's platform in order to be a member of that party now? Good Lord (which may or may not exist).... - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

True, but the force that the canopy (via the suspension & steering lines) exerts on the slider is going to be more lateral than downward isn't it? So would the addition of resistance to downward motion have a significant impact of the lateral force necessary to free it from the stows? I don't know the answer... just thinking out loud. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I was wondering the same thing when I saw it. The sequence of events has passed, murder didn't happen. If he was gonna do it again, the precogs would catch it and he'd just be "detained" all over again. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

What if... The "Minority Report" scenario really existed? What if we could have a Department of Pre-Crime, whose purpose is to detect murders BEFORE they occur, so that the pre-perpetrator can be arrested and detained before the murder actually occurred? What if a safety mechanism was built in, such that any disagreement between the three clairvoyants would result in a "minority report", and no preventative action would take place. Only if all three agree could a person be detained under the system. Naturally, murder would include acts of terrorism, so terrorism could effectively be eliminated, if not dramatically reduced? Wouldn't this be the ultimate tool necessary to prevent acts of terrorism, or any other sort of murder? Wouldn't our nation, heck, the world, be a much safer place with it than without it? So, whaddaya think? If such a department were possible, would you be in favor of, or opposed to it? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Silly question, but can anyone explain how banning marriage protects it? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Now that I've read the article, which by the way I personally think should be published much more widespread as a public service notice, a couple of thoughts come to mind. I think it's fair to say that whatever these guys were doing, they were up to no good. I'm no bomb/explosives expert, but with the new screening machines out there could actual explosive material even make it past security checkpoints? A bomb isn't any good without the explosive component. I'm guessing these guys were doing a dry run... casing people's reactions and seeing how long/easy it would be to perform the component "assembly". By bring real instruments, if they were actually accosted in-flight, they could show the instruments and get righteously indignant. Seems to me their casing mission was a success. Nobody got up and confronted them. My guess is if they had been assembling a real bomb it would have been completed and at that point, marshalls would have been powerless to stop anything. Patriot Acts, Departments of Homeland Security and the like can give some folks warm fuzzies, but in my mind it just demonstrates how ineffectual they really are. People determined to do something will always find a way. I'm kind of on the fence with profiling. It's a known fact that Customs profiles drug smugglers. So why should terrorists be any different? I don't think every person of Arabic descent should automatically be given a full cavity search, but if we're talking 14 guys carrying passports and various little packages walks up? Seems to me it would be prudent to check them. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Amen... couldn't have said it better myself. I will not be a slave to fear. And by doing so I will not let my government enslave me through fear-mongering. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Late in on this one... I really wish that people would realize that not ALL of us who oppose Bush are: 1. Democrats (or to use the popular dismissive perjorative as of late "liberals"); and/or 2. Have a double-standard. Clinton awards Halliburton no-bid contract in Yugoslavia - bad... Bush awards Halliburton no-bid contract in Iraq - bad. Clinton spends 77 billion on war in Serbia - bad...Bush spends 87 billion in Iraq - bad. Clinton imposes regime change in Serbia - bad... Bush imposes regime change in Iraq - bad. Clinton bombs Christian Serbs on behalf of Muslim Albanian terrorists - bad... Bush liberates 25 million from a genocidal dictator - bad (though the phrasing here suggests those who opposed the wars enjoyed the fact that the people of Iraq & Serbia were oppressed). Clinton bombs Chinese embassy - bad (man I forgot about that one... how colossally stupid... though some think that the embassy contained the stolen Los Alamos hard drives)... Bush bombs terrorist camps - good. Clinton commits felonies while in office - impeachable (to wit... perjury)... Bush lands on aircraft carrier in jumpsuit - no biggie, kinda cool actually. Stock market crashes in 2000 under Clinton - bad (c'mon, nobody said that the recession was good)... Recession under Bush - bad. Clinton refuses to take custody of Bin Laden - bad (REFUSES? again, c'mon, failed to act, sure)... World Trade Centers fall under Bush - Bad. Clinton calls for regime change in Iraq - good (but he didn't call for an INVASION, big difference)... Bush imposes regime change in Iraq - bad. Clinton denounces terrorist training in Afghanistan - good... Bush destroys training camps in Afghanistan - good. No mass graves found in Serbia - bad (though actually, I believe mass graves were found)... No WMD found Iraq - bad. Milosevic not yet convicted - bad (though he will be)... Saddam in custody - good (now that the damage has been done). - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

If they do succeed in postponing elections (which I don't think they will... and it would be a colossal political blunder on their part if they did) I think the more appropriate term would be not "Mr. President", but rather "El Presidente". - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Sure... so long as it doesn't involve postponing them. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I've put probably close to 120 jumps on my Ace... everything from terminal to go & throw... and I've never found the openings to be particularly hard. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I think it started with the end of the Cold War, when the intelligence community began downplaying the necessity of quality human intel once the Red Threat was gone. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

True, but it does have a 21 round magazine. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I think I'll get myself one of these. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I'll be there. Maybe Brit, Jenn & I will commandeer a balloon. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

For many people, and at least in my observation, self-esteem is gauged by how they measure up with other people. There are two ways of elevating one's self-esteem in such a case: 1. Knock down those who you perceive (sometimes subconsciously) to be a step "above"; 2. Become ultra-competetive and try to surpass them in whatever it is that you feel "behind" in. What's interesting is that, at least with females, the more "feminine" types seem to be more prone to measuring self-esteem this way, whereas the "tomboy" types seem more comfortable in their own skin (though may be somewhat competetive in sports or other activities). I've always been partial to tomboys myself. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

If the govenment went truly rogue? One thing's for sure, I wouldn't just grab my gun and go waltzing into Washington. I'd do what most of the true "gun nuts" (who, given this prospect, don't seem quite as nutty as they did before) have already done... go into the hills and organize. My guess is it wouldn't come to that though. The Eastern Bloc fell without a shot being fired. If the Administration tried a power grab, I think you'd have demonstrations that would ultimately force them to relent. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Well, he *did* look like some of our streetcorner panhandlers when we captured him. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

You going to the /forum rather than /forum_new? He switched it back to /forum when everything was in place. If you are, what version of IE are you running? I'm running IE 6 on Windoze XP and it's working fine for me. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Hey... my treat. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Hey Kev, if I ever get up to Philly I wanna share a cheesesteak with ya. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Yes. We are equal opportunity offenders. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon