StrangeSox

I bought all of mine used on Amazon. Usually saved me $75-100 off the new cover price at the bookstore.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Aug 21, 2007 -> 04:21 PM) Wanna know what I hate? The Monday night football goons last night saying how Vick needs to donate thousands of dollars to PETA or the Humane Society to "make it right" with people and to "prove that he has love for animals." Is that what we have become? donate some money and its all good? STFU you retards. I think he has proven through his actions, electrocuting, hanging, murdering dogs at every whim, that he doesnt give a s*** about f***ing animals. He is a piece of crap and no amount of donations are going to change that you goons. +1

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Aug 21, 2007 -> 11:19 AM) I agree. But in deciding what should and should not be legal, you have to consider all the possible outcomes, not just the successful one. It's possible the hunter could injure the deer and not find it, leaving it to die in pain. Obviously, that's not the intent, but any attempt to legislate against cruelty should be aimed at the actual suffering that would result, not the small amount of suffering intended. (Again, I'm not advocating any sort of legislation against hunting, I'm just talking about what we seem willing to accept.) Here's the difference, in my eyes: hunting is a natural process. The predator doesn't always get the prey, so the prey may wander off to die somewhere due to its injuries. Pushing animals to fight and kill is not natural. Dogs (and their non-domesticated cousins) don't act like that towards one another unless trained to do so.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Aug 18, 2007 -> 11:35 AM) Rule thumb = put your money in, as much as they will match, and forget about it for 40 years. Oh, I'll be doing that with the 401k for sure. I meant that I'll have other money that I'll want to invest in mutual funds, CD's, money markets, etc., except that I have very limited knowledge when it comes to those sorts of things. I'm looking for a good source for information on the fundamentals of investing.

For someone who has limited knowledge of the stock market, what's the best place (books, websites, etc.) to begin understanding the fundamentals of investing? I'm aware of CD's, t-bills, mutual funds, and stocks, but I don't know too much beyond that and I really would like to start figuring this all out. My 401k starts in a few weeks, and now that I actually have a real job, I've got some money to start thinking about investing.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 16, 2007 -> 12:36 PM) That sucks. Sorry to hear that. I still recommend people go to court, if they can. Chances are good you'll help yourself out. If you just pay the fine, you have zero chance of getting a better outcome. I can agree with that 100%. I was pulled over for speeding when I was 16 (first and only ticket). The fine was $75, or I could pay $125 and go to traffic school to get it off my record. Instead, I went to court with my mom. The judge made me pay $75 and removed it from my record without traffic school.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 16, 2007 -> 07:38 AM) Did she go to court with proof? If so, I'd think they would have been lenient. But I guess you never know. I always tell people, you should go to court if you can on ANY traffic violation. There is a good chance that you will get off, or get a much lower penalty than you normally would have. Not always, but often. She went to court with proof of her hospitalization, but she didn't have proof that the construction zone was BS. They were not lenient at all.

QUOTE(Alpha Dog @ Aug 13, 2007 -> 10:03 PM) It's all about the money..... http://www.myfoxdc.com/myfox/pages/Home/De...mp;pageId=1.1.1 Glad that isn't here. Yet. Similar story happened to my mom's friend. She was going up 55 back towards Chicago from central Illinois. She passed through a mile long "construction zone" that was nothing but two signs saying "construction starts" and "construction ends." She had severe stomach pains and just wanted to get home and maybe to the doctor. She was pulled over by the police and ticketed for speeding in a construction zone (10 or 15 over the limit). She did end up going to the doctor and needed emergency surgery to remove her appendix. They still wouldn't throw the ticket out and she was forced to pay $500.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 15, 2007 -> 12:52 PM) Who? Is that the guy who started the southern version of White Castle or something? I butchered his name: Bill Kristol, editor of the "weekly standard." Very conservative. He was on the Daily Show the other day and said things were better (still not anywhere near good).

Billy Krystal was just there and he said that things are getting better!

QUOTE(AirScott @ Aug 10, 2007 -> 08:14 PM) They had an ESPN The Magazine article about him a few years back about him being a 240-pound receiver with speed, how corners would be scared to jam him at the line and how this was all due to an intense workout regimen and diet. I think there was a brief mention of the possibility of steroids, but of course he denied it. Steroids have discredited records, and now they've marginalized an old magazine article that I can barely remember. How far will this go? For some reason I remember that article.

QUOTE(FlaSoxxJim @ Aug 9, 2007 -> 05:38 PM) Faith in the slow but steady step-wise process fo scientific inquiry, sure, but no need for faith in the knowledge that there is some goal-oriented grand plan of Grand Planner. The "but what are the chances. . . " arguments often used (I'm not saying you are here) to suggest a need for a plan or a Planner is a logical fallacy. If we use a conservative estimate of 10^22 stars in the universe and allow that most of those stars have planet sassociated with them, then the number of times the universe has had to get the in the "exact right proportions, under the exact right conditions" is staggeringly large. Our planet is at least one of the pinpoints in the universe where the right conditions and elemental components converged and it seems so miraculous as to require a Planner. But the universe has had billions upon billions upon billions of chances to roll the dice and mix and match variables and that kind of replication obviates the need for divine explanations. That's an excellent point. People just see one of the few successes (Earth) and forget about the countless failures (every other known planet). Besides, doesn't evolution deal with everything after the creation of life? The origins of the universe and life itself are outside of the realm of evolution science.

How dare the science community not blindly agree to everything and never, ever change their minds in spite of new evidence! "That old evolutionary cartoon, while popular with the general public, is just too simple and keeps getting revised, said Bill Kimbel, who praised the latest findings. He is science director of the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University and wasn't part of the Leakey team. "The more we know, the more complex the story gets," he said. Scientists used to think Homo sapiens evolved from Neanderthals, he said. But now we know that both species lived during the same time period and that we did not come from Neanderthals." That's the basis of science. Hypothesize, Research, Revise.

QUOTE(Rex Kicka** @ Aug 8, 2007 -> 01:25 AM) Washington Post put it on the front page of Section C today (Wednesday). ABC News had a story on it. USA Today had a blog post on it. So, the answer to that question was yes?

QUOTE(knightni @ Aug 7, 2007 -> 01:47 PM) What concern of the consequences would there be if there was no fear of retribution? There are many consequences to crimes such as crime or murder that don't involve the afterlife.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Aug 7, 2007 -> 01:32 PM) No you don't. What is it about some people's values and moral basis that makes you sick? You are trying to push your values and morals on us, and want to be listened to, shouldn't you have the same respect to listen to others? Are yours more valid because you aren't Christian? Whoa, whoa, whoa! I wasn't the one saying "Christians make me sick" or that organized religion should be banned. Quite the opposite. I fully support an individual's rights to believe whatever they want to believe and to belong to any religion they want.

QUOTE(Beastly @ Aug 7, 2007 -> 12:22 AM) I'm quite nervous about college because I don't fit the stereotypical atmosphere. I'm more of a D&D and World of Warcraft guy than a partier. I don't have a problem with people partying but I don't see myself doing it because I just don't like that environment, I'm more of a stay-in and hang with people or my girlfriend kind of thing. I pretty much want to go to study, work out at the gym, start gaming with folks and meet new people, which sounds fine with me. I am going to go to EIU on August 16th, move all of my s*** in, and then go to GenCon in Indianapolis and come back Sunday afternoon/evening for school, which starts on Monday. My roommate hasn't called me back and I haven't even spoken to the guy, perhaps he's on vacation. It will be interesting to say the least. I will be majoring in business but I have a strong feeling I'm going to pursue a degree in secondary education and major in english. There's all types of people and things to do, not just the stereotypical atmosphere. You'll find a crowd you get along with. Good luck to everyone entering/ going back to college in the next several weeks.

I'll agree to that 100%.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Aug 7, 2007 -> 01:24 PM) So you do not have a value system? No core beliefs? No personal basis for what is right or wrong? I'll exit quickly here. You would feel too threatened to discuss this. Well, you don't need organized religion to have values and a moral basis...

QUOTE(GoSox05 @ Aug 7, 2007 -> 01:18 PM) all of them. I think organized religion should be ilegal. Christians make me sick. So you'll chastise people in one thread as racists, but openly admit bigotry and hatred towards another broad, diverse group in another thread? Sorry kap, amoebas have better logic than that.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Aug 7, 2007 -> 12:28 PM) It hasn't, but when it becomes "dangerous" is when it's for pure polictical fodder. That's my issue with it. I agree with the second half, but not the first. ANY indication of a candidate or politician changing their positions, even if its one vote 10 years ago, is harped on by his or her political opponents as a sign of weakness.

More on the Juarez murders... http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers.../ciudad_juarez/

GoSox, what's your solution?

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Aug 7, 2007 -> 12:51 PM) Not to sound insensitive about the deaths of 268 women but that isn't an alarming number of deaths in a span of 14 years. The murders in Juarez are particularly brutal, FWIW.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Aug 7, 2007 -> 12:22 PM) For those that voted in favor of the war, what does it say about someone who doesn't change their mind after not finding any WMD, after not experiencing anything the administration outlined? I do not see any virtue in not making a new decision once you discover you were wrong, for whatever reason. Blindly sticking by a decision you made years before, when so much new information is out there is wrong. Like most of politics, it's not clear-cut or black-and-white. Pandering to CNN's latest polls and never taking a true stance on issues is not an honorable trait. Neither is steadfastly sticking with a position that has been shown to be erroneous. I don't know why or when it became such a deplorable thing for people to change their minds when presented with new evidence.