BigSqwert

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Mar 3, 2006 -> 11:04 AM) http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/02/catholic.town.ap/index.html I mentioned this in the pizza thread and received nothing but yawns.

Sledgehammer Get a Life

QUOTE(iWiN4PreP @ Feb 28, 2006 -> 03:31 PM) 15 wins outta every start would be a hell of a feat . The winning team is only awarded one win per game.

QUOTE(samclemens @ Feb 27, 2006 -> 08:26 PM) objectively, what has barack done to deserve the reputation as the up and coming democrat politician? The key phrase is 'up and coming'. He hasn't done anything to allow him to aspire to greater office. He needs to pay his dues first. He's got a lot of charisma. People like him because he has a presence about him. He isn't a guy who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and he's done some noble things in his life, such as spending a good part of it working as a community activist when he could have easily taken a posh job in corporate America.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Feb 27, 2006 -> 08:10 PM) i don't like is speaking style Yeah I prefer GW's stumbling and bumbling use of the English language. Much more polished than an articulate ex-editor of the Harvard Law Review.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Feb 27, 2006 -> 07:42 PM) well, this is one we'll have to "agree to disagree". IMO, the guy isn't that talented or worthy of all the accolaides he recieves in the media as "a political superstar on the rise!". Care to give some insight as to why you feel this way? Other than you hate Democrats.

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Feb 27, 2006 -> 05:18 PM) check out 'The Way of the Gun'. Highly entertaining.

Link At first sight it looks like a regular cell phone — same size, same shape, same overall appearance. But beneath the digital face lies a .22-caliber pistol, a phone gun capable of firing four rounds in quick succession with a touch of the otherwise standard keypad. The US Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are aware of the device and have instructed baggage screeners to be on the lookout for suspicious mobile phones. This is especially after 9/11. European law enforcement officials — stunned by the discovery of these deadly decoys — say phone guns are changing the rules of engagement in Europe. Airport authorities across Europe are implementing systems to X-ray all cell phones “We find it very, very alarming,” says Wolfgang Dicke of the German Police union. “It means police will have to draw their weapons whenever a person being checked reaches for their mobile phone.” The FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the U.S. Customs Service say they’ve been briefed on the new weapons. “This criminal invention represents a potentially serious threat to law enforcement and the public,” said U.S. Customs Service Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly. “We received word about these guns last month. We have since alerted our field personnel to be on the lookout for ‘cell phone guns’ at U.S. ports of entry.” Guns on the Move These new covert guns were first discovered in October when Dutch police stumbled on a cache during a drug raid in Amsterdam. In another recent incident a Croatian gun dealer was caught attempting to smuggle a shipment through Slovenia into Western Europe. Police say both shipments are believed to have originated in Yugoslavia. Interpol sent out a warning to law enforcement agencies around the world. European border police and customs officers are at a heightened state of alert at all ports, airports and border crossings.Realistic Appearance ‘If you didn’t know they were guns, you wouldn’t suspect anything,” said Ari Zandbergen, spokesman for the Amsterdam police. “Only when you have one in your hand do you realize that they are heavier,” says Birgit Heib of the German Federal Criminal Investigation Agency. The guns are loaded by twisting the phone in half. The .22-caliber rounds fit into the top of the phone under the screen. The lower half, under the keyboard, holds the firing pins. The bullets fire through the antenna by pressing the keypad from numbers five to eight. Amsterdam police says they are very sophisticated machines constructed inside gutted cell phones which do not light up or operate as real phones. “These are very difficult to make. We believe experts are involved,” says Zandbergen. U.S. authorities, including the FBI, ATF, Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Customs Service Authority have been supplied detailed information and pictures of these new weapons. “They’ve been given a heads up,” said Jim Crandall, ATF spokesman. To date no phone guns have been discovered either in the United States or in the process of being smuggled in, authorities say. But they know it’s only a matter of time. FAA spokeswoman Rebecca Trexler said airport security officers had been trained to deal with this new threat. “We don’t want to tell the bad guys exactly what we’re looking for,” she says, “We are trying to stay one step ahead.”Will Affect Travelers Airport authorities across Europe are implementing systems to X-ray all cell phones, those procedures will likely be followed by airports around the world. “This is just one more item that we need to pay special attention to because nowadays, of course just about every passenger carries a mobile phone,” says the spokesman for Frankfurt airport security. Customs officials in the U.S. say their safety procedure has normally been to require travelers to turn their phones on, however that may no longer be enough. Cell phone users will have to be made aware that reaching for their phones in some circumstances could be misinterpreted as a threat by authorities.

Happy Birthday!!!

This is the kind of thing we are seeing everyday. So when someone question's my negativity it's really hard to see the positive side of things when these are the daily headlines... At least 29 die in weekend violence in Iraq Three U.S. soldiers among dead; mortar rounds hit Baghdad neighborhoods BAGHDAD, Iraq - Violence killed at least 29 people Sunday, including three American soldiers, and mortar fire rumbled through the heart of Baghdad after sundown despite stringent security measures imposed after an explosion of sectarian violence. A 24-hour vehicular ban on driving in Baghdad and its suburbs helped prevent major attacks during daylight Sunday, but after nightfall explosions thundered through the city as mortar shells slammed into a Shiite quarter in southwestern Baghdad, killing 16 people and wounding 53, police said. Mortar fire also hit a Shiite area on the capital’s east side, killing three people and injuring six, police reported. For rest of story go to link--> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11491483/

Finally watched Hustle and Flow. Great movie.

Really no point speculating 2 years into the future. Who knows what events will take place until then.

I have just completed a new hip hop mix. A collection of artists ranging from MF Doom to Tribe Called Quest. 74min mix in mp3 format. Disclaimer: not kid-friendly PM me if you'd like a copy. Edit: Added a track listing

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Feb 26, 2006 -> 01:30 PM) The problem is he hasnt. You obvisoulsy haven't either.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Feb 26, 2006 -> 01:28 PM) I really dont lose sleep over anything in sports, but I still care.... When asking me why? Because he has turned into a delusional prick that is taking unnecessary shots at the team I love. Meh. Doesn't bother me. I'll just remember that he was the best hitter in the long history of our team and move on.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Feb 26, 2006 -> 01:25 PM) Me? Why? Are you really going to lose sleep over what he says?

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Feb 26, 2006 -> 01:10 PM) Now I just hope he embarrasses himself in Oakland and fades out of baseball. f*** you, Frank Thomas. Just shut your mouth and hurt yourself again already. Wow...after all that Frank did for this team with his bat and yet you have a Herbert Perry memorial in your sig. :headshake Who cares if Frank has a big mouth?

QUOTE(BobDylan @ Feb 25, 2006 -> 07:41 PM) I've done it with Domino's (being a poor college kid) and it works well. You get the pick the time you want your food and everything. It's a pretty cool thing. Speaking of Domino's has anyone heards about this story? Halfway to Heaven A Catholic millionaire's dream town draws fire. By Susannah Meadows Newsweek Feb. 27, 2006 issue - The 5,000-acre tomato field in southwestern Florida sure doesn't look like heaven. Bulldozers scrape the land flat while clusters of Porta Pottis signal an undeniable earthiness. But soon a massive cathedral will rise from this barren spot. Reaching 100 feet in the air behind a 65-foot crucifix, the Oratory will anchor Ave Maria, a whole new town and Roman Catholic university 30 miles east of Naples. Ground was officially broken last week, and the plan is to build 11,000 homes—likely drawing families who already hold the church at the center of their lives. For Tom Monaghan, the devout Catholic who founded Domino's Pizza and is now bankrolling most of the initial $400 million cost of the project, Ave Maria is the culmination of a lifetime devoted to spreading his own strict interpretation of Catholicism. Though he says nonbelievers are welcome, Monaghan clearly wants the community to embody his conservative values. He controls all the commercial real estate in town (along with his developing partner, Barron Collier Cos.) and is asking pharmacies not to carry contraceptives. If forced to choose between two otherwise comparable drugstores, Barron Collier would favor the one that honored that request, says its president and CEO, Paul Marinelli. Discussing his life as a millionaire Catholic who puts his money where his faith is, Monaghan says: "I believe all of history is just one big battle between good and evil. I don't want to be on the sidelines." The ACLU of Florida is worried about how he's playing the game. "It is completely naive to think this first attempt [to restrict access to contraception] will be their last," says executive director Howard Simon. Armed with a 1946 Supreme Court opinion that "ownership [of a town] does not always mean absolute dominion," Simon will be watching Ave Maria for any signs of Monaghan's request's becoming a demand. Planned Parenthood is similarly alarmed. So far, Naples Community Hospital, which plans to open a clinic in Ave Maria Town, says it will not prescribe any birth control to students. Will others be able to get the pill? "For the general public, the answer is probably yes, but not definitely yes," says hospital point man Edgardo Tenreiro. The Florida attorney general's office says the issue of limiting access will likely have to be worked out in court. Barron Collier and Monaghan say they're following Florida law. Raised by nuns in orphanages, Monaghan, 68, has tried to franchise his religious views in the past, creating elementary schools, a small college, Catholic radio stations and, in 2000, a Catholic law school. While many of his initiatives have foundered, the law school, with 88 percent of its most recent class passing the Michigan bar, is off to a strong start. Early signs suggest the new Ave Maria complex, his final and most ambitious project, might also work out. The developers are close to leasing 60 percent of the commercial space (no pharmacists yet), says project manager Blake Gable, and they have received some 7,000 inquiries from people interested in buying homes, which will go for less than the half-million median price in nearby Naples. In an area of strip malls and bad traffic, Ave Maria's communal design—with shops within walking distance to the homes—has civic appeal. "The general buzz is that the university and town are going to be a spark plug for massive development in that area," says Michael Reagen, president of the Naples Chamber of Commerce. Even the pope is interested. When Ave Maria Provost Father Joseph Fessio saw Benedict XVI, the first thing out of the new pontiff's mouth, according to Fessio, was, "How's Ave Maria?" He's not the only one awaiting the answer.

QUOTE(EvilMonkey @ Feb 25, 2006 -> 05:29 PM) why is the entire country not doing everything it can for us to win this conflict, so we can come home? What exactly have liberals done to prevent a winnable situation?

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Feb 25, 2006 -> 12:29 PM) True or untrue, why do you feel this way? Why the negativity? True or untrue?? What does that mean? No country invaded America and made us change to a democracy. Turning Iraq into a democracy was the 5th or 6th rationale for invading after the previous reasons turned out to be false.

Kobe Bryant Named As 2008 Olympic Basketball Team February 23, 2006 | Onion Sports PHOENIX—In a press conference Wednesday, USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo announced that Kobe Bryant has been selected as the 2008 men's Olympic basketball team. "When they put me in charge of the selection process, I promised the committee that I would not assemble a collection of selfish, self-centered superstars with no team concept," said Colangelo, referring to the every-man-for-himself Olympic team that finished an embarrassing third place in Athens two years ago. "I am confident that, with a team comprised entirely of Kobe Bryant, the infighting, ego-clashing, and divisiveness that plagued the 2004 team will not be a problem." Dubbing Bryant the "Dream Individual," Colangelo said that, by eliminating such weaknesses as the presence of coaches and other players, Bryant will be able to reach his full potential. "Kobe has already been working hard during the regular season to get accustomed to being the sole contributor of a basketball team," Colangelo said. "If he, and USA basketball, want any chance of winning the gold in Beijing, he's going to have to play the game as if he's the only one on the court. Anyone who knows basketball will tell you it will be an easy adjustment." During the press conference, Bryant told members of the media that he was "honored" and "not surprised" to be chosen as the Olympic team. "I have to tell you, I'm not in any way humbled by this moment—this is what I've been working towards my whole career, from entering the NBA draft right out of high school to getting Shaq traded away to my 81-point game," Bryant said. "I'm used to it. I know that if I don't bring my A-game on any given night during the regular season, the Lakers will be in trouble. The same applies to the U.S. Olympic squad, where I am, more so than ever, the most indispensable player on the team." Bryant added that he is also working on a special new kind of jump shot that is "indefensible and can only be done by me." Commissioner David Stern applauded the decision to select "only one greedy, self-serving, ball-hogging, stat-padding superstar instead of the usual 20," saying that Bryant's behavior both on and off the court is an accurate reflection of the current state of American basketball. "Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest individual talents in the game, and we're proud to have him represent our country, our sport, and the 28 or so other deserving individual talents who were vying for a spot on the roster," Stern said. "Kobe may not be a great team player, but we think he will be a great team." "Besides, 81 points beats a lot of teams, especially foreign ones," Stern added. Bryant was scheduled to begin training with personal coaches Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Karl Malone this week, but, in the true spirit of his new role as Olympic team captain, head coach, and lone member, he has opted to prepare for the tournament on his own time without anyone's assistance. Starting at the end of the 2005-2006 NBA season, Bryant will practice tip-offs, work on fundamental self-inbound passes, learn how to play defense, and draw up several play formations, each of which he will be responsible for calling during the games. Although the general response among fans has been complete indifference, many players around the league have objected to the decision, saying that it is unfair to others who have worked just as hard as Bryant. "Kobe Bryant shouldn't be the only one allowed to represent our country at the Summer Games," Sixers point guard Allen Iverson said. "I should be the only one allowed to represent our country at the Summer Games." LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Vince Carter, Jermaine O'Neal, Tracy McGrady and Tim Duncan all expressed identical reactions.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Feb 25, 2006 -> 10:59 AM) In 1780, it didn't look like a free and democratic society would succeed here either. But last time I checked, it did. We choose to be free and democratic. We didn't have another country invade us and force us to do that.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Feb 25, 2006 -> 10:50 AM) As opposed to pure pessimism. When I have blindy stated that Iraq is not winnable? There has been very little news out there that shows that this campaign will be successful. Facts are facts.

QUOTE(samclemens @ Feb 25, 2006 -> 08:44 AM) regardless of how long it takes, yes we will. its called nation-building, and it's a tradition in this country. embrace it, dont hate! Gotta love blind optimism.

QUOTE(WilliamTell @ Feb 24, 2006 -> 06:45 PM) I love how so many people hate O'Reilly but yet talk about him so much. Who?