JGowans

Nah, I'd be all for cloning good looking women. Actually, I was satisfied when they started with sheep

I was just reading a newspaper from back home. I wonder what many fo you think of this... "SCOTLAND’S gun amnesty was given a boost yesterday when a judge gave a seven-year jail sentence to a man who "looked after" illegal weapons for a known criminal. Steven Paterson, 39, of High Street, Kingussie, Inverness-shire, was jailed after he admitted possessing a sawn-off shotgun and a "stun" gun. He claimed he had provided a safe house for the man, a former criminal associate whom he feared. The judge, Alexander Wilkinson, QC, said at the High Court in Edinburgh that offences involving prohibited firearms were of the "greatest seriousness". The Executive’s gun amnesty, due to run until the end of the month, aims to remove as many weapons as possible from circulation." The guy got 7 years hard time just for owning a gun!

Well, that'll teach me to spout my gums. Consider my gob shut henceforth for at least the next 15 seconds.

Just to be a total geek...most office computers don't have static IP addresses. They are dynamically assigned. Most of the time you just need to re-boot to get a different IP address without having to change PC. Of course, they are in a pre-determined range, so you could I suppose block the entire range of IP addresses but where's the fun in that? Home PCs are different though. Ok, enough geek speak.

This thread reminds me of the scene in "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" "What the fuck is the Internet? All you mutherfuckers will pay! You are the ball-lickers..."

superb amigo!

If he'll consider building me a house in Snoqualmie, I'll vote for him. He's that Habitat for Humanity dude right?

Whew that's a relief he's gone. I thought he might transmogrify himself through his screen into the land of routers and packets and aveil himself before me in my office as we speak. Whatever the case may be, this "punk ass bitch" is going to enter into the witness protection program just to be on the safe side. I used to be 6'1", slim, and well-trimmed. Consider me now 6'5" (I bought Elton John's fish tank platform boots at a yard sale and stuck copper river salmon in each), bearded (i grow gay excuse for stubble so i bought a fake beard from Archie McPhee's), and you'll see me pumping iron at VW wearing fluorescent green Euro lycra with matching pink leg warmers. (I try to be inconspicuous and fit in with the crowd)

Dude, I was ok at the summit of Rainier w/ my contacts. I've also lived through several Swedish winters at -30C with no problems.

Did I miss some fun & games? What's the scoop?

7/12...not bad for a foreign bastard like me

That's well put for sure. I wish you well mate, and for sure I'll strive to retain a sense of perspective. It is altruistic, but jaded bastards like me aren't right either. All the best. /jg.

life nowadays is good mate no question. but your frame of reference is the cushy life that your mum and dad worked hard to provide you with. there's tons of folks here in the U.S. that'd say life is shite...homeless, under-educated, mal-nourished. The system is failing them. Similarly, in Scotland, the system fails millions. Now, my mother wasn't shot by the government but there's an underclass that's forgotten, not considered worthy of education or decent housing and drugs, crime, and abject poverty prevails. Is that any less suffering than living in fear of a dictator? You may not think so, but a lifetime of not being able to see beyond your next meal isn't much fun. Glad you're having fun there dude

I'd say that you'd have to be mad not be genuinely happy for the average Iraqi. I am fearful of what the future holds for them. I will always maintain though that the path to this war was filled with deceit and arrogance.

Ok FS, I've tried to be polite but you really have no fucking clue. You are making light of centuries of ethnic cleansing that continues today in Scotland. Sure, they don't shoot us anymore or rape our women or prohibit us from speaking our own language (now that it's dead). No, it's much more insidious than that. I am not your average suburban U.S. kid on his first trip away from mommy and daddy mesmerised by the big bad world. As for what real suffering is...try living in the squalor of a Scottish housing estate where you're part of the underclass long forgotten by privileged bureaucrats of a foreign country. You have no clue mate. No clue.

FS, you are merely repeating my point exactly. I stated previously that rationalizing war to the point where it's unimaginable under any circumstances could well be a failing. Please read my previous post for clarification. I can see that you have a considerable amount of passion for the plight of the Albanians and empathise with the similar plight of the Iraqis, and that is admirable. However, the pretense for this war was never about averting a humanitarian disaster. The government has duped the masses into believing that. Also, please don't make assumptions as to what I have and have not seen in my life. You have no idea.

My frame of reference is somewhat different in that my country continues to be run by an oppressive foreign invader that takes our vast natural resources and distributes the proceeds in an unequal fashion. I still believe in the power of diplomacy though and would never advocate taking up arms against the English. Clearly, everyone has their own opinion and is entitled to retain that opinion whether others adjudge it right or wrong.

FS, I am NOT suggesting that empathy is a bad thing at all. I think our wires are being crossed somewhere because I think we're talking about the same thing here. I am trying to say that Western Euros have had 60 years to rationalize war to the point where they can't ever imagine participating in another. That could well be a failing because when the time comes that a war is necessary, it may be that we'll still be reluctant to go to war (not that I think this one was the right one but anyway...). The sense that we're enlightened and above all that crap could well be a failing (which I'll freely admit). For Albanians and other nations for whom democracy is relatively a new concept, war perhaps does not seem to be so unthinkable...

Btw, Albania has had a VERY significant amount of outside help and continues to receive outside help even today... Per the CIA site: "The economy is bolstered by remittances from abroad of $400-$600 million annually, mostly from Greece and Italy. " Given that Albania's annual budget is around $600M this aid amounts to 70%-95% of their annual budget. Moreover, their budget runs at a deficit of around $900M a year. I'm not trying to disparage Albanians. I am merely pointing out that it is one of the poorest nations in Europe.

Hold on FS. No way am I calling these people dumb. I thought I made myself clear earlier. You posed the question as to why I thought the Albanians that you knew were mostly supportive of this war. I offered you the answer that for most continental Europeans (I should have prefaced that by saying Western), they've had 60 years to contemplate the horrors of war, and consider themslves well beyond talk of wars. For Albanians on the other hand, their history of war is much more recent and as such, have not forgotten nor rationalized it with intellectualism. Hence, the feelings are more raw for them, and hence they feel a certain empathy for this current struggle in Iraq. When I talked about enlightenment, you'll remember that I prefaced that by stating "right or wrong, they...". I certainly do not consider Albanians any less intelligent that Western Europeans. I am merely proposing that they haven't had the luxury that we Western Europeans have had of 60 years of contemplation.

FS, I'll stand by my statement. It IS one of the poorest nations in Europe. No question. Those poor people are more concerned with their own survival than the musings of western politicians. When I said that they weren't enlightened, I meant that enlightenment is the last thing on their minds. That's for folks who have the luxury to contemplate such things. Here's a statement from your own CIA site: "In 1990 Albania ended 44 years of xenophobic communist rule and established a multiparty democracy. The transition has proven difficult as corrupt governments have tried to deal with high unemployment, a dilapidated infrastructure, widespread gangsterism, and disruptive political opponents. International observers judged local elections in 2001 to be acceptable and a step toward democratic development, but identified serious deficiencies which should be addressed through reforms in the Albanian electoral code." Btw, FS, you may be forgetting that I am a Euro myself and you're not the only one that's visited far off distant lands Btw, I'm glad to see that you are broadening your horizons over there in Lithuania. Too many folks are happy to spend their time in one place and never even consider anywhere else. My grandmother has never traveled further than 50 miles from her hometown in the N. of Scotland.

With all due respect FS, I wouldn't consider Albanians to be enlightened. That's one of the poorest nations in the world that hasn't had the luxury of 60 years to reflect on past mistakes. Not only that but their footie team is shite

Chris, If you're tired...ah forget it. I was going to offer up a mildly witty innuendo that has most likely been sprayed before. Hey, did oyu ever get up Hood this Winter?

Hard to say Fence Sitter. I will say though that most of continental Europe is run by pseudo-intellectual liberals that have experienced the horrors of war first hand whilst growing up during WWII, and are probably more reluctant than members of other non-Euro nations to endorse war. Citizens of continental Europe generally consider themselves to have moved beyond threats of war and like to think of themselves as somewhat sophisticted and enlightened. I'm not saying that's the case and nor am I making any veiled remarks against U.S. politicians, I'm just pointing out my own observations. I'd say that that's where most European U.N. delegates are coming from. I think that there does indeed need to be an overhaul with respect to the U.N's willingness to show its teeth. However, this definitely does need to be carefully balanced with diplomacy. If they cold only have harnessed the U.S. zeal for war coupled with the Euro zeal for diplomacy, perhaps we could have come to a peaceful conclusion. I doubt it though.

In all seriousness, I had my Rock Hopper stolen from my place in Queen Anne about 3 months ago. It's green. I stupidly locked the front wheel to the rack in a hurry. The bastards took the bike and left the wheel. Foolish me It's a great bike for sure.