TheMadCap

aren't my eyes all sparkly and dreamy?

sure you would. You (and I) would expect to get blown out in three straight games. Duh!

ah, the good ol' "but it would have been worse" excuse. Love it!

Please don't suck. Please?

Chan and Wanny will both be here next year...

Sounds like grounds for termination from the People's Party, Comrade. I'll be ratting you out via the White House's tattle line directly...

bout God damn time!

Depends on who you ask and what plan they use. They can go essentially two ways: The giant Battlestar spacecraft that will take astronauts, food, water, fuel, lander, etc etc, there and back, or they can do the smaller launches over time and send the materials piecemeal to Mars. Check out Mars Direct for details on the latter option. It is, IMO, the best way to go...

I have always, and will always, continue to agrue that the entire point of having manned space flight is to actually go somewhere. There is simply no reason to place humans in space unless we are going to another world. Zero. The space shuttle and its bastard child, the Space Station, were completely dependent on the existence of the other. While NASA had grand plans for post-Apollo Mars missions, congress was never going to give them the funds necessary. We beat the Russians, mission accomplished, time to move on. So they settled for what they could get, the Space Shuttle. Unfortunately, instead of having a clear idea of the shuttle's purpose and applications, they tried to market it as all things to all parties and ended up with the flawed machine it was...

exactly my point, no way they go there. No way...

Credibility perhaps? Come on Tom. You can't criticize writing like this: "It's the trees! We've got to stay ahead of the wind"!!!!!! That's Gold Tommy, GOLD!!!

Thinking the cute blondie is Janice Rand? Any thoughts? I do not think Cumberbatch is either Khan or Gary Mitchell. Khan would be way to controversial and hacky for JJ to pull out of the hat, and Gary Mitchell? What the hell kind of villian is named Gary Mitchell? Doesn't exactly strike fear in the hearts of your enemies...

I thought Kelly was calling the plays...

even more strange is that Gailey was responsible for drafting him, it's not as though he was a left over from Limp Richard's tenure...

Stop it. There is no way he said that. You are joking, right?

Actually, I was thinking North Korea for his next (last) performance...

Once again, thanks for stating in a clearer manner than I can. This is exactly my point, which I feel authors such as Bennett do not properly consider when they view the situation in 1850 vs. 1970...

Nank, perhaps you refer to the suggestion (pre-1862 I believe) of the discussion around voluntary relocation? Lincoln never tried to persuade congress to deport anyone from the US, although I do think he discussed setting up a black only colony. I do not remember where it was supposed to be. However, it was most certainly not as Mr. Bennett and others imply, that he was a white supremacist; rather, he was more worried about the best way to integrate the former slaves and their former master together as free men. The fact that we still have somewhat of a racial divide present in America today simply demonstrates the difficulty that Lincoln imagined would be much harder than the act of emancipation...

Look forward to the discussion Task! It's refreshing to have an actual conversation on PPP without the usual fisticuffs...

Well stated. It should also be pointed out Lincoln did not have constitutional authority to outlaw slavery by a declaration in the States still part of the union, only in those that were in uprising agains the US. This is important to refute the claim that he purposly did not include border states in the Emancipation Proclomation, when in fact, he could NOT include them, since they were not directly involved in rebellion. As far as the criticisms that Lincoln was not a complete abolitionist, he was very strongly concerned with his authority given by the constitution. If slavery was "legal", as it was in parts of the US prior to his election, he felt that it was improper to force his opinion (of which historical evidence is strongly supportive) that slavery was wrong and should be outlawed. However, his main focus was to keep the country together, if the US would have lost the war, then it wouldn't have mattered if he physically freed slaves or not...

what would you have had him do differently? Dr. Bennett does not seem to offer any alternatives for actively freeing the slaves in teh South, although, I suppose he implies that it would have taken military force to do so. Which is essentially what happened as the US forces marched south...

been reading some Lerone Bennett have we?

and it took him what, 3.5 years to figure this out?

surefire way to improve - play music with other musicians, especially guitarists that are way better than you. They can teach you stuff, and will challenge you to play better. Also, I have to say listening to older blues musicians helped me out greatly. The other big thing is know your limitations. For example, I know that I will never be able to shred like Malmsteen, but I might be able to play some Warren Haynes if I practice enough. You must, MUST, MUST set realistic goals.

I believe that if I were in that situation, I am quite sure that logical thinking would be rapidly short circuted by instincts and desire to neutralize the threat. I completely understand your point, Section. However, I would never be able to sleep again knowing that one day the creep who broke into my house might get out of jail one day and come back for me. I would rather take my chances in court...