foeofthelance

Actually, they said they planned on "weaving" the Federal ID onto the State issued ID cards. So figure either a bar code or some SSN like tag added to your current license, with the likely option being SSN related. Honestly, I can understand it. The article quoted "there are more than 8,000 acceptable IDs" to allow entry. I can understand them trying to cut that number down by making a single ID form mandatory, with a few exceptions.

In the man's defense he was in fact mentally handicapped, and even his mother was saying that he needed some some serious help. She asked the authorities to keep an eye on him after they caught him, as he had gone off his medications before the attack.

I voted ninjas. Seriously, why be a pirate? You're hunted by everyone and their mother, you have to contend with scurvy, you go to bed praying you won't end up the chief's mate... Ok, some people here might volunteer for that last bit, but still! Look at the Ninja on the otherhand. Feared by everyone and their little dog too. You get spiffy looking black outfits. (Black goes with everything, even the blood of your enemies!) You get all sorts of training, can learn some sweet moves, even discounting the stuff made up for TV, and when the job is done you can go home to your sweetheart, no problems. Oh, and you always get paid if you did the job, because if you did the job you're too dangerous not to pay! Actually, they were just regular raiders, though rather hardcore ones. I don't think they had any particular focus on hitting caravans or even other ships, and actually preferred hitting land based targets. They just traveled by ship is all. Probably makes them the first Marines instead...

Note: The following letter has been added to the new story as well, for those who get lost on the way to the forum. Dear AFF Readers, Well, folks, it seems I have to eat my words (which, fortunately, taste great with barbecue sauce). When I originally finished writing The Cheerleaders over a year ago I had sworn never to touch the characters again, with the exception of the occasional reference here and there. My other stories are all associated with the Greenville Universe, as it became known in my head, with many of the characters being related to the characters who appeared there. The three soldiers in Dreams of Death are the grandfathers of the generation depicted in these stories, and Jason and Eileen from Trelkoara: Legend of the Serpent later became Greenville residents as well. But The Cheerleaders was a done deal. Admittedly, the Greenville Universe is a fun place for me to work. Three of the characters are already running around with exotic pets (Jason has a black panther named Shadow, Stef has a black bear named Kentai, and Jim has boa constrictor named Snake. He’s green though.) as well existing in a world were gods and ghosts walk amongst mortals. Heck, the school itself was a miracle of modern engineering, with not only a tower, but a swimming pool, bowling alley, and a nuclear bomb shelter all tucked away inside of it. So if a few aliens were to drop by, some people might accuse me of jumping the shark, but as far as I’m concerned that’s all normal business when you live near the Franklins. I also made some friends writing the story**. (Consider this a shout out Storyjunkie!) So why did I stop? Well, honestly it was because I was burned out when it came to the characters in question. They’d been kidnapped, drugged, mugged, and gone through just about every head ache I could throw at them. Worse, I’d made some stupid (in hindsight) promise to post a new chapter every week. That, more then anything, turned me off to the story. It was no longer about having fun in the playground in my head, it was about fulfilling some needless obligation to a group of people whom I had never met. Yes, I mean you, the readers. It stopped being fun, and it became a job. While I have no problem with the idea of writing for a living, that was not what The Cheerleaders was meant to become, and it did. So why am I back, writing these characters who I grew to loathe? Well, there are two reasons. First, I was asked to by my family. Yes, that’s right, my family. My mother has actually done some minor editing for the story, my sister had read it, and my brother and father actually sat down with me over lunch and pitched me ideas, resulting in the new characters of Payden and Kevin. The other reason is that I realized as I was writing this first chapter that I had been unfair to the characters when I had decided to abandon them. It wasn’t their fault, after all. There were a few issues with their personalities that we’ve agreed to work on fixing, but that’s not such a big deal. (Any author who doesn’t consider their characters to be real people is either a hack, faking it, or both. Or they’re running around playing with someone else’s characters in a way they shouldn’t be. I know this is a fanfic site, and that that involves using other people’s characters. The difference is that while any one can write a Mary Sue, it takes a real author to take what someone else made and make it their own.*) I’m also going to try and move away from the kinds of villains I used in the first season/novel. Phil, Danielle, and Andy were a bunch of malicious assholes. This time around, while they might still show up, I’m going to try writing more classic Evil Genius types. They are simply more fun, less likely to screw with the way other people operate, and can have a plan fail without turning the main character into a major creep along the way. I will also be employing the same bonus chapter rules, for those of you who remember them or wish to look them up, as well as using the same code phrase to indicate which chapters they are. So folks, the Greenville Gang is back again. I hope you enjoy The Cheerleaders Return as much as you liked the original. And if you haven’t read the first, well, I hope you just plain enjoy this one. As always, comments and criticisms are welcome. {*The above is my opinion. It is not a fact. I don’t care if you disagree. If you want to make some point to me, fine, send me an email. I might even reply. But I give fair warning right now that I’m a stubborn bastard and you’re really not going to change my mind, so why try?} ** We are abandoning the Myspace page however. Quite simply, no one was really interested. Though if the original owner of the Vote For Kentai shirt still has the picture, can they email it to me at Foeofthelance@yahoo.com? My laptop kind of got deleted between then and now, and I lost the photo. The new story can be found here: http://original.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600094629

You just know that there is some producer on Broadway looking at this as a way to cut expenses the next musical through. "Sir, shall we audition for the chorus now?" -"Nah, just call the Department of Justice in the Phillipines. Tell them we need thirty two armed robbers, three muggers and a serial killer." "But sir, those men are criminals!" -"Meh, this is New York. Who do you think would care?"

Pretty good actually. Most people I know prefer refilling from the tap rather then buying a new bottle.

All I will say is that the line, "Perhaps just one more, Master Harry, for luck?" has probably inspired hordes of yaoi obsessed fangirls world wide, single handedly. If you listen, you can hear them beating away at their keyboards...

Actually, this doesn't really surprise me. After dealing with all the so called classics in various English and Literature classes in school, I long ago reached the conclusion that most of the classics earned that honor simply by being long, wordy, and most importantly, old. Combined with a much less competetive field, and we accept things as classics simply because we're told they are such. On the reactions of the publishers, well, that really isn't all that surprising. The ones that ignored him might not have even opened his mail yet. I hang out at the Baen publishing site and they have a backlog of slush that's nearly a year and a half long at this point. Considering they're a rather small company, compared to the likes of Scholastic, Random House, and Simon and Shucster, who would be more likely to consider such and author as Austen, one expects the larger publishers to be facing similiar backlogs. This also raises the issue of type letters, and the fact they probably for the most part noticed he was plagiarizing (the article mentions no comments from the companies, nor attempts to garner such) and simply and properly dismissed him.

http://www.bidalaka.com/picofarad/pf9/last.html Found this on another forum. Enjoy.

Hmm, that explains it then. My family tends to have good luck, and this little episode managed to keep amused for the five hours left in my shift. Yipee!

Now, I work in a resturaunt. As such, I deal with all sorts of things. Thos one stands out from the crowd. Setup: The time: Yesterday, around 2:30 in the afternoon The place: A quiet little Italian resturaunt, frequented by many. The scene: A balding older gentleman departs into the kitchen, while a younger boy in a black apron (yours truly) sits down to lunch. He is accompanied by a rather rotund, beet faced man who is working his way through a Heineken and some slices drenched in cheese. Another young man is preparing to depart the premises. The young man preparing to leave is the busboy who works with me during Thursday lunches. Im the man in the apron sitting down to lunch (in case you missed that) and the balding gentleman is my boss, who is departing to deal with the latest screwed up bill. The rotund man is a customer. My busboy was heading home for the day when I recalled I had not yet paid him his tip so I call him back. At this point the rotund man cuts in and says, "You better pay him well, or else." I nod and say "Of course" and pull out my money and count it twice. Forty three dollars, round up, forty five dollars. Normally we pay the busfolks 15%, but I did four years as a busser so I slip him $9, or 20%. Not bad, more then he made for two hours work. No sooner does he depart, that the customer turns and accuses me of being a scumbag. I reply, "Now, I've been called a scumbag by many people for many reasons, so what did I do now?" He doesn't say word, merely scowls and finishes eating. I shrug off the incident, finish lunch, ring him up and go on with work. ah well. He doesn't seem to appreciate it when I sit down to read, so I just chalk it to him being an unfriendly fellow. Then today happens. Im coming back from my break, with a bag full of comics. I plop myself down in the backroom, which is both out of sight of customers and more importantly, air conditioned. I'm about half way through the latest issue of Witchblade when the all day waitress comes back and asks if I deal with a customer. Asking who it is, she tells me its the rotund man, as I mentioned the previous day's events. I politely decline, and go back to my comic. Thats about when yelling starts. Now, it wasn't apparent he was ranting about me until he called me out as "the bookworm" and "the twerp with glasses". He begins to go on about what an asshole I am, how I made my coworker beg for his money, how its not fair that I do it, only because he's black (actually, I think he's Puerto Rican) when all the poor kid wants is to do his job and get paid. Now, admittedly I didn't get the entire rant memorized, as at this point I was too busy chuckling. However, key phrases included: "He's an asshole." "How dare he try to torture a working man like that?" "Next time I see him, Im going to straighten him out!" "Commander Kelly told me to kill him." "Im going to tear out his heart with my bare hands!" Now, through out all of this my boss is egging him on, while the waitress is denying the whole thing ever happened. Which seemed to just inspire him to new heights of ranting. Me? Im too busy laughing out of sight. I didn't even get to finish Witchblade! Ah well. God grant me the patience to deal with fools, or at least a twelve gauge to speed up the process.

Hmm, slight difference as far as I can tell though: polio was transferable in a non-contact method. I admit I'm not an expert on polio, but if I recall correctly it was much more contagious then what ever Gladrasil is meant to cure, as the target of gladrasil seems to be a minor disease that can only be caught one way. Worse, polio was actually a threat to society, and so risking those with weak immune systems, if true, could be seen as reasonable. Gladrasil, on the other hand, seems to be an attempt to cure athlete's foot with a shot gun, with the added "bonus" of possibly sterilizing America.

Honestly, if someone in a government issued lab coat comes around trying to stick needles in my niece, they're going to see which has more range: their hypodermics or my swords. Personally my money is on my swords. Especially if they don't notice my brother behind them with his... My mind is my own, my body is my own. I don't mind a referee making sure we all get along and play nice together, but the ref only gets to enforce the rules, not write them. That's for the players to decide. If the ref tries to declare otherwise, well, there are many more players then there are refs. This whole 'Force the vaccine!' is a particulalry vile bit of stupidity, and I hope that not only is it never enforced but that it is quickly struck down as well. Polio vaccines were proven; small pox vaccines were proven; Gladrasil isn't proven. It doesn not fit, it is the weakest link, send it back and try again until you get it right. When the cure is worse then the disease, it is the disease, plain and simple.

So the Federal Bureau of Investigation has a system of computer databases that it uses to help investigate things. That doesn't seem to be all that surprising to me really. The source of the data is either from the government, or from public access records. So they're not hacking privately owned systems, just using what's already normally available to them. echtrae, I think you misread that. I read it as saying that the STAR database is a more recent addition, and that the other databases had simply been going for a longer period of time. I think they were trying to seperate it based on age, not on working capability. [sarcasm] Oh no! The FBI has figured out spreadsheets! There goes the neighborhood![/sarcasm] Seriously, is this news because the FBI is talking about how they use technology to investigate crimes, or because they're admitting that they use technology to investigate crimes?

Hahaha, actually, that's a better example of how much Americans find out. That entire story blew up out of the initial reports of the coins, before any conclusion had been reached about them. Now its nothing more then an urban legend, sort of like the anti-air missile equipped kangaroos. Seriously folks, why is it so surprising that the United States government is telling the people working on their secret projects to, well, make sure they keep it a secret? I mean, if they were doing this to every campus in the country, then yeah, I could see a reason to be upset. But if they were trying to do this to every department of every college in the U.S. people would be screaming bloody murder and waving pitchforks.

I'm officially calling shenanigans on this one folks. First, it was published through a Canadian source, second, trying to keep universities who are working on classified projects to keep those projects safe is nothing new, and third, I've not heard a thing about this from anywhere else. If the FBI was trying to enforce draconian laws on U.S. college campuses you can be sure that someone would be screaming bloody murder. Instead only a few schools were listed, and while they are rather prominent ones, they are also ones that the FBI would probably already have a presence on, simply because they do work on sensitive projects for the government. In return, the government helps fund top of the line labs. This is hardly news of any sort.

Eh, I figure I should apologize as well then. Taker wouldn't have anything to respond to if I wasn't posting replies back. Can't blame a fish if it takes the bait, after all. I just can't resist a good debate though! AS for the three questions, I answered the first two in my original post I believe, but in regards to using Homophobia in regards to those with a prejudice against homosexuals, I think that the term is rather acceptable. Why not? We have terms to identify just about any other interest group out there. My only objection is when it is applied to people who simply don't care, or those who only get aggressive when the matter is shoved in their faces. If someone wants to voice their opinion that is fine, but if someone is hounded for it, I would only expect them to be angry with the hounds.

Ok, first, the Obey me, I'm master thing was a joke, and is not meant in any other manner. I do have a few people who would willingly call me master, (no, SJ is not one of them...yet. 8) )but I also have people who call me God, out of respect for the abberant amount of random knowledge banging around my skull. Second, Sodom and Gamorah were special cases, much like the event of Noah's flood. Those places were not just cess pits infected with sin, they supposedly actively encouraged it, and were remoived in much the same way cancer was. Those were entire cities not individual people. Still, that does not disprove my point about some of the Bible's teachings being "Don't do what I did, do as God says." I accept the correction on Peter, as well as the correction in terminology. I don't see a difference, personally, but if you can spot one, it may be important enough to point out. I will point out there is slight logical flaw in "God intended man to lay with woman, and woman with man" as the Catholic church, as well as most of the Christian denominations, if I'm, correct, hold copulation to be the "original" sin. (Personally, I vote for knowledge in that respect. Sex seems to have nothing to do with it, from any angle that I can see.) Many of those proclamations tend to be interpreted by man, which has caused flaws. Prime examples being the Commandment against murder, and the burning of witches. Many places mistranslate Murder to Kill, which makes the entire affair untenable, as man must kill to survive. The burning of witches is another one. The bits concerning rooting out and burning witches is way of dealing with traitors, not mystics. Yet it has been used to attack so called pagan religions instead. Finally, I should probably have been a bit clearer on inheritance. I was referring to unwritten wills, in which property is normally handed over to a spouse in the event some one dies and does not have a written will. Part of being married includes being counted as next of kin. Until homosexuals are granted the same legal acknowledgements, if one half of a couple dies their estate passes back to blood relatives, instead of their significant other, either if that would not be the right thing to do. This was why I seperated civil unions from the sacrament of marriage.

Considering we now have warning labels such as "Warning: Do not attempt to stop chainsaw with genitals" I'm all for letting stupid people go the way of the Dodo. We put seatbelts in cars, use them. If its defective, then its the makers fault. If you didnt wear it, your brain is defective, and its your fault. Making the public aware of a danger is one thing, protecting them from it is another. But please, lets not let the idiots breed. I, personally, vote for the Dogbert solution. Have the president order everyone to stand under twelve feet of water for ten minutes. Those of us who surive divvy up whats left.

Well, homophobia is tricky, just as being racist can be tricky. (That said, I am truly neither. I am an equal oppurtunity bigot. If you're name is not Foeofthelance then you are inferior being who should just shut up and do as your master commands! Sheesh, enough with second guessing me already!) That said, to me homosexualphobia is a rather general term meaning a dislike, distrust, and active persecution of homosexuals, albeit possibly in minor ways. I object to the way some people go forth and say God may love homosexuals as his children, but is against them because of their nature. As an amatuer theologian (I was raised Roman Catholic, got Confirmation on a technicality, and then stopped going to church, yet I still take note of my religion. I cross in front of churches, donate regularly to various charities, etc.) this just rings false. First, Old Testament God gave forth Ten Commandments: 1) Thou shall not worship false gods 2) Thou shall not worship idols 3) Thou shall not take God's name in vain 4) Thou shall honor the sabbath 5) Thou shall respect thy mother and father 6) Thou shall not commit adultery 7) Thou shall not commit murder 8) Thou shall not steal 9) Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor 10) Thou shall not covet they neighbor's belongings Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but where does it say Thou shall not be a homosexual? Even in the new testament, I've never seen the like. I've seen stories where crowds of people riot over it, but then Solomon threatened to cut a kid in half, David got one of his soldiers killed so that he could bang the guy's wife, and John (?) denounced Chirst three times. Sometimes the point of Biblical stories is to not emulate what the folks in old times were doing. This becomes especially complicated when all of the translations are brought to bear. The most common Bible is the King James version, which was written by a bunch of guys translating from greeks and romans who had in turn translated it from aramaic and hebrew. I'm sure everyone here is familiar with the old joke where the abbot goes back and reviews the old texts, and discovers it Celebrate not Celebate, no? Now that that is said, time for me to be some what screwey. I think homosexuals should be granted all the full benefits of a civil union, as all other couples do. But whether they get married is up to the church. I think there may be some linguistic tying of knots because of the way things are typically done, but IIRC marriage is a sacrament of the church, which the government hung a few extra perks on to simplify a few things. Churches are public private organizations, are therefor allowed to limit their doings based on their beliefs. The government does not have the right to interfere there, on the grounds of seperationof Church and State. But yes, homosexuals should be able to enjoy all the benefits, such as inheritance, adoption, mutual healthcare coverage, etc. Now, on the grounds of Brokeback Mountain...who the fuck cares? I'm a straight heterosexual guy. It's hard enough to get me to go to the standard romantic dramas, people think because its a couple of gay guys Im suddenly going to be interested? How does my lack of interest translate to being homophobic? Hell, I've seen plenty of lesbian action around, and I'm all for that! I know plenty of girls who swooned over this, but who don't think they'd ever do girl on girl. Are they homophobes too, or is it just because I'm a guy? Or is it because I'm a conservative, semi-religious guy? (If that seems a bit personal, well, I've had similiar accusations laid against me in the past.) If someone wants to declare me or anyone as prejudice, they should probably see if I care about what ever it is their selling first. Ok, fine, fine, I admit it. I cheered when Crash won. But Brokeback Mountain was over hyped as much as the next Harry Potter book.

Honestly, I just considered it from the way Heinlein had his characters practice it. Polygamy as acted out by a group of people who mutually liked each other, and where interested in raising a family together. The sexual practices of the spouses were of no importance, so long as every one could get along. If someone had a problem with another person, they were entirely free to leave, so long as any child they had sired/birthed was being taken care of by someone willing to be responsible for it. Just seems the most practical way to work it.

I don't see much of a difference between this and couples who decide to swing, save for going all the way in a polygamous marriage might prove to be more expensive. Then again, it might not if all parties are allowed multiple spouses. If one man has three wives, and those three wives have another husband each, that's going to provide one hell of a support base for the family, (assuming all, or at least most, of the people involved are earning a paycheck) which i have no problem with. Persoanlly, as far as I can tell, the only reasons people object to polygamy is either, A) they can't handle it, they couldn't pull it off, and C) they try to cite the bible. The last one sort of seems silly to me, because several of the more prominent figures had multiple wives and concubines. When ever I hear someone use the bible as an excuse, I can't help but remember a story a friend of mine passed on. At a town meeting discussing the merits of adding a foreign language program to the school curriculum, one fine gentleman stood up and declared, "If English was good enough for Jesus, then its good enough for my kids!"

My new laptop finally arrived today! Ok, so its a stock Vista model ordered from Costco. Still, better to not have to deal with the randome error messages the older one has begun to pop out, let alone the 'missing' hardware issues. This one will be protected! No surifng naughty sites! No random file sharing! everything must first be vetted by the older one before being transferred! Though since it has all the stories the old one will probably still be used as a digital notebook. But now that I have my new one I don't have to worry about the old one possibly getting wrecked if I bring it to work with me.

Now quamp, what've I told you about exaggerating about me? I'm maybe, maybe 35% shit and 40% hot air. The rest is about 5% beef, 10% chicken, and 10% home brewed insanity. This message brought to you by your friendly neighborhood Conservative Republican.

I agree for the most part. I once spent several weeks advocating infanticide as a tool of a Paladin. It essentially came down to which was the better option, sin as savior, or let the world suffer for your pride? The cost either way was the child's life. So having done that, I prefer my shades of grey.