Eternal

I'm in my appartment, which is located in the US, which is a part of North America, which then lies on Earth, which is situated in the Solar System, which is part of the Milky Way, which is one of great many galaxies in our Universe. The way I think about the Universe right now, is that it started at one single point, and then exploded into what we have right now. I know there are different theories on what's going to happen (i.e. whether the Universe will keep expanding, or not). But that's not my question. What I can't wrap my mind around, is what was there, before there was nothing? What was out there 10000000000000000000000 years ago? How far back do you have to go, to reach the origin? Or is it even the right question to ask - because it almost seems like the concept time may not be an adequate way of looking at things of that proportion? And once you reach the origin, how do you explain the nothingness preceding it? How does one grasp this, without going crazy?

Most religions are just bad news for women, but Islam in particular: Before Islam: After Islam:

I have no doubt that China is US #1 enemy, and it's a threat that will only grow with time. I'm not worried about Russia, or even Belarus, because I know that as the old generations die, the young will push for democracy, and pro-West policy. And as racist as it may sound, it's also much harder to make an enemy out of someone that looks and thinks like you. The main problem with China is almost a billion of uneducated lower class farmers, controlled by the communist elite. Some may say that China's "free market" economy helps push it towards democracy, but in my opinion it just means more money for the high tech military. We are lucky that currently the most powerful nation in the world is a truly good country - the United States of America, but imagine living in the world where the shots are being called by the evil China? Imagine living in a world, where we can't retaliate against Iraninan terrorists, because China's buying oil from them? Or we are forced to look helplessly, as Taiwan, Japan, and other democracies are being invaded, because our military is no match for the Communist war machine. It may be a world our kids have to live in.

Personally of the three possible views, I'd be interested in hearing Mark's most. Not only that, I think that you'll have an easier time, narrating from Mark's perspective.

I'm glad you scored some victories. The only way to really learn chess is by losing (so you'll most likely end up learning a lot from me ). I found that playing somebody ranked 100-200 points higher is usually optimal, because you don't just get obliterated, and victory, though elusive, is always within a motivating grasp. I'll IM you through AOL, when I have some free time set aside.

No - but I can say 'stalker' (just kidding)

I for once, am happy this whole circus took place. It went a long way to disprove the whole "Islam is Peace" myth. The evidence was right there in the face of appologists, although it would carry much more weight if they did execute him. All is not lost though:

Perhaps PANICKED could blame the whole thing on the hospital switching the babies by accident (though the tests would still point to her as a mother, so it wouldn't be too good of an excuse). Besides - how can you not tell your kid doesn't look like you for 17 years?

I'll see you there. My nick is microprose.

Yup - they don't intend to thank their rescuers. I doubt this has anything to do with the Stockholm Syndrome. In this case it's more like the 'I-would-apologize-while-an-Islamofascist-puts-the-gun-to-my-head-and-pulls-the-trigger' Syndrome.

I used to play over there a lot, used to be in mid 1400 at that time. I haven't played in a year, but I'm sure I'm still pretty competent. Let me know when you're on, and we'll play a few.

Perhaps there's something to be said about Scientology and Islam then? There are some striking similarities between them. For example neither of the two religions likes Cartoons.

I don't think Italians are a good example - after all they're the guys that crucified the dude that started the whole Christianity thing, not to mention the diet of their lions.

I bet he's hoping for an activist judge, instead of a strict constructionalist...

I think the last one, was all the way back from Dec 2004 (250 users or so). It took a while, but here's the new one:

Check out the Three Stooges in the background - a true Mensa gathering if I ever saw one... (Rahman's holding a translated version of the Bible)

It says a lot about a religion that needs death penalty to prevent its followers from switching to another.

When trying to reply to another post, you can see the "+QUOTE" button in the lower right, right next to the "REPLY" button. When you press it it turns red and displays "-QUOTE". I always thought that it gives you an option of replying to another user's post with or without quoting them, but it seems to have no such effect (and even if it did it would be redundant, because that behavior can be achieved by pressing "AddReply" button on the bottom) Is there a real purpose to that button, or am I doing something wrong?

That pretty much sums up the major flaw of democracy.

Six years is sure a long time as a gf/bf, and sadly the pain of any break-up, is usually proportional to the duration of the relationship, so I truly sympathise with you. I know I don't have much to go by, and I'm sure you'll disagree with me, but in situations like these, there's usually little point in trying to mend things. One thing about your post, that's different from others I usually read, is that it's usually the guy spilling his heart out, because of being pushed away by a girl. They say that women usually go through the pain before the break-up, while the guys are left to suffer afterwards. Anyway, you can either cut your losses now and go through some serious pain, or stall hoping for a positive resolution and most likely experience even greater pain later. When it comes to heart matters, applying logic is usually easier said than done, so I'm very sceptical as to the possibility of you 'making him see' the rationality of your position, and the irrationality of his. If you really insist on it - put up enough fight, not to regret giving up too early, but at the same time remember that there are over 3 billion potential partners out there, and he's but one of them. The good news is, you're still young, and have plenty of time to find somebody who'll want you, the way you seem to be wanting him. I wish you good luck either way, it does get better eventually.

Well said, I couldn't agree with you more.

I'm not sure it's a good idea, to post you pass on here (even if temporary).

Actually, the main reason tv networks love reality shows, is because 'actors' do their 'acting' for free, while sponsors put up the money. It's almost pure gain, minus some money for camera crews, and editing. I used to occasionaly watch Survivor when it first came out, and the whole reality tv thing was still a novelty, but now I don't even do that anymore. Besides lack of depth, I find reality tv editing to be very manipulative, meant only to create an artificial twist. As far as the "Unanimous", mentioned by the original poster, I saw a few spots for it on TV. One of the rules states that the decision who gets the money must be unanimous (hence the title of the show I guess). If I was on the show, I'd always vote against the group (unless the group would be voting on me) - and I'm sure all the other people would do the same. So unless there are any other incentives/rules against doing so, I don't see how anyone's going to walk away with the money... No, I don't plan on watching the show.

You've got to love the onion. I like this article too. The sad thing is, that the stories, even though meant as satire, are not that far from truth.

I think it all depends on what one's native language is. To me, German sounds ugly, and unpleasant mainly because of its harshness. English has a very natural, melodic flow to it - there are no sharp breaks. There are no annoying consonant sounds that stand out either (like Spanish "rrr"). It's all nicely blended. I'd say English sounds somewhere between French and German. I enjoy listening to poetry being recited in English, but I just can't stand it in German. There's probably a big cultural component to this as well. When you're growing up and 99% of your movie heros speak English (thanks Hollywood), you just have to associate English with 'cool'. And by the same token, anything sounding like 'Big Borther' Russian automatically gets classified as 'un-cool'. By the way - one way you can try to approximate, how your language sounds to foreign speakers, is by making up meaningless English words, that are properly formed phonetically.