Solitair

Reply to Altarian Propecy Status Report #2 in Software Development JoeUser Forums

excellent!

Reply to What Do I Do? in Personal Relationships JoeUser Forums

Standard problem. I've lived in many countries and I fild differences to this between cultures. For me, if a girl is Irish, American, or French then telling them works well as dating close is something they're comfortable with. English or German seem to be the opposite though. Most of my English friends shudder at the very thought of dating a friend. It's just not done. May just be my friends though <img src="../images/smiles/joke.gif" border=0 ALIGN="

Reply to A few number before the state of union speech. in Politics JoeUser Forums

No Brad, you don't play with facts. You play with your conclusions. Very important different. Assuming your facts are correct, CO2 emissions and drug use among teenager have both have decreased under Bush. These are facts and good things. Whether Bush is associated with them or not, does not change their impact or relevance. If you had claimed that Bush's polices caused these then someone may disagree, but even then the fac

Reply to A few number before the state of union speech. in Politics JoeUser Forums

Lunaticus, I agree with much of what you said. Not all though. It could be interesting to compare the American approach (as described by you) versus the British approach. In the UK the government choose to support the US and send troops to Iraq. As a nation we discussed and debated the decision but once made, the country was 100% behind the troops. The government however is a different issue. It has the right to make decisions and if we

Reply to Was - IS Iraq a threat to US security in Politics JoeUser Forums

Bit harsh on America. It's not that bad. To bring the thread back to topic... I believe Iraq did pose a threat to the US but indirectly. UK advisors informed the government that any Iraqi WDM were unlkikely to ever be used except in self defense (which the gov then omitted in it's public dossier, ops). I'm sure the US must have had the same info. Therefore they were NOT a threat. They were also beginning to comply w

Reply to Outlook frustration, media guides, etc. in Work Reports JoeUser Forums

Galciv expansion beta due today. I'm so excited!!!! Don't push too hard though, I'd rather wait till tomorrow than for you or the team to have a nervous breakdown! Paul.

Reply to Gal Civ 2 Graphics in Work Reports JoeUser Forums

Wow. Looks impressive. Paul.

Reply to Galactic Civilizations: Altarian Prophecy Status report in Work Reports JoeUser Forums

Sounds excellent. Keep up the great work! Why do I get the impression that Cari is chuffed with fixing the invisible ship bug? Anyone else here ever fixed an annoying problem and then wanted to tell the world just to make sue they're appreciated? Well done Cari! We appreciate it big time!! Pau

Reply to Did Bush manipulate public opinion for the war in Iraq? in Politics JoeUser Forums

Politicans ALWAYS manipulate public opinion. That's their job! There's a fine line between spin and lies though. A fine line that often moves around. People expect spin, they get upset when they are told lies. Just look at Nixon or Clinton for examples. Paul.

Reply to A few number before the state of union speech. in Politics JoeUser Forums

Lunaticus, please do post your opinions. Just because you believe they won't change peoples minds is not a good reason to withhold them. This forum is all about people posting their oppinions. Whether others agree or not doesn't matter, the topic in always enhanced by more views. as for statistics, they are extremely useful. They are facts, but not necessarily the whole truth. The more facts you have the bigger the picture you see. If

Reply to repeatability in Political Machine JoeUser Forums

While I would also love a game that could be easily extended beyond the US, that would require lots more research and work, so I don't expect it. The more randomisation / scenarios the better for me though. I would love to try winning old contests based on the public opinions at the time. Imaging taking a current political figure and seeing if they could have won an election in 1950! Randomisation though is the key. I don't want to start the game every

Reply to Did Bush manipulate public opinion for the war in Iraq? in Politics JoeUser Forums

Netstarman, the issue isn't whether Bush was right to invade Iraq, but whether he duped the American people. I supported the need to remove Saddam. What many people had a problem with was that they felt they were lied to about why Iraq was being attacked. You may have no problem with that, but many other people have, Paul.

Reply to Don't misunderstand the American character in Politics JoeUser Forums

Bit over the top. Laywers receiving death threats for defending people others hate is nothing new. Happens in most countries. Whether they defend bank robbers, terrorists, child molesters or abortionists doesn't matter. Soimeone will always take offense. Part of the job really. Look at places like northern Ireland where there have been a number of lawyers murdered. Sometimes with the collusions of the police forces. Doesn't stop many others

Reply to repeatability in Political Machine JoeUser Forums

Sounds excellent!!!!! Paul.

Reply to A few number before the state of union speech. in Politics JoeUser Forums

'facts' are always so interesting. Always easy to provide just the facts that make your point though. As a non US citizen the only facts above that are of interest to me are 13: Number of meetings between Bush and Tony Blair since he became President - I think this is fairly high and would be quite happy to think that Britian is important to the US. 2: Number of nations that Bush has attacked and taken over since coming into the

repeatability in Political Machine JoeUser Forums

Brad, One of the questions I have is whether this game will always feel the same due to preset issues and polls. Can issues and polls be randomised or will the population always start off the same? What I would love is the historical campaign (2004) and then either new scenarios or a completely random population, with different hopes, dreams, desires, ideals, and issues for you to discover and use in your election. Paul.

Reply to Don't misunderstand the American character in Politics JoeUser Forums

Nice post Travis, I agree with most of your points. America's involvement in Afganistan was directly related to 9/11 and a perfect response to an attack against it. America's invasion of Iraq is not as clear cut however. I do believe Saddam needed to be removed, it's just a pity the US wasn't more honest about it's reasons. Remember that France, Germany and Russia refused to support the US invasion because they disagreed about WDM. Perhaps things would

Reply to Americans are humans in Politics JoeUser Forums

Just to correct a few small inaccuracies, Iraq is not the first war the US entered in this manner. American history is littered with examples of it flexing it's might despite international opposition and condemnation. Everything from Mexico, to Panama, to Grenada. And for the record (before someone looks foolish trying to shoot me down on this), I did support the American invasion of Iraq. I was just not stupid/gullible enough to believe it wa

Reply to Racism in Belfast in Politics JoeUser Forums

Africanus, I'm very saddened by your experiences and can only hope that a long way of f comes soon. As an interesting aside let me post this article from the BBC on Irelands newer attitude to emigration. "Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister Mary Harney has said she expects most of her country's labour needs will be met by workers from new EU member states. She said they will be treated like any other EU nationals, not need permits and have mi

Reply to Is there alien intelligent life in the universe? in Pure Technology JoeUser Forums

Speaking of giant insects ... I used to love films and TV programs when I was a kid with gigantic scorpions, ants, crabs, monsters. Then I became a scientist and learnt about scaling factors, and pressure and materials. Simple matematics can prove that giant insects cannot exist in their basic states, as bones would be too weak, organs unable to function, heating / cooling systems inadequate, etc. I'm not saying it's impossible for giant insec

Reply to Insider tells of fear and comfort food in Politics JoeUser Forums

Interesting article. Bit of a harsh, factually empty response GemCityJoe. He may be a babbling idiot (though his career and financial record would suggest otherwise) and he may be a vindictive back stabber (definitely looks like he has some revenge and anger issues). Neither of these points negate the view he presents (in most cases backed with official documents). To ignore information he presents because you dislike him or ha

Reply to How materialism has changed the American way of life in Home & Family JoeUser Forums

Living in England rather than the US will have some differences but in general I agree with a lot of what you're saying. I agree with the general point that we are now far more demanding in our desires and therefore require more money to satisfy those desires. I do think that house price inflation has shot totally out of control though. You comment that wages are roughly stagnant when adjusted for inflation, but house prices have increased many times above inflation. Even allowing for the fact t

Reply to Sinn Fein and the DUP - Separated at Birth? in Politics JoeUser Forums

Nice article. Pretty well sums up the two parties. Paul.

Reply to Don't misunderstand the American character in Politics JoeUser Forums

Sorry Brad, I didn't mean to suggest that you approved of instant revenge based reactions. I just meant to use your analogy to highlight the difference between applying a reaction against the perperator and everyone you associate with the perpetrator. Again, not suggesting you advocate this, just pointing out that for many people that is what America's attack on Iraq is similar to. Damouse70, agai

Reply to Don't misunderstand the American character in Politics JoeUser Forums

Damouse70, thanks for posting that interesting article on the Baath party. I fail to understand your first sentence though. What article are you talking about. My previous post doesn't refer to any? Reading your second post, I think you've missed the whole point of my comment. History is NOT the problem. There will always be the occasional nutter who tries to use history to justify their actions. What matters is the here and now. The s