Fatherpeteus

I hope you didn't think I was implying that? I'm a religious fanatic damnit, so I'm very careful with that particular accusation! I was refering in particular to naturopathic "cures" that cost gullible people like my senior mom thousands of dollars that she can't afford, because doctors and medical researchers despite their prodigous training don't have the public's trust. Those medical professionals may very well not deserve our trust as things stand, but if the human race were more trustworthy custodians of our knowledge they would be deserving, and we would be less vulnerable to every new fad diet claim or whatever. Religion would need a whole 'nother thread, and honestly I don't think it has anything to do with this issue. <3

As a scientist (by training), "Thank God I don't have faith in them" makes me sad for the human race (although I understand it!) We humans are always casting about seeking answers to the big questions in life. Because a few scientists in the medical and environmental science fields are on the take and paid to deceive people for profit, science as a whole is discredited - And people turn to charismatic snake-oil salespeople who have no real answers, but plenty of skill in profiting off of people's ignorance.

I am passionate about global warming, and environmental issues in general. What's sad about this particular debate is that so many people in positions of authority are lying to us about it. People with a vested interest in fossil fuel emissions hire scientists to sell us misleading propaganda... And Greenpeace and co can be just as bad, if arguably more well-intentioned. I have a simple challenge for anti "AGW" proponents (the No side) - Tell me what it would take for you to admit that man's emissions are causing global warming, and that it is dangerous? Yes arguments are more familiar and obvious, so I'll leave them to others to post. Some No arguments (from other forums where I've engaged in this same discussion): - CO2 does have a warming effect, but it's negligible compared to other factors such as atmospheric water vapour concentration; - "It's just a phase" (it's happened before). - All of the planets in our solar system are also warming at the same time as Earth is, suggesting solar cycles as the culprit. - We don't have the capacity to measure global temperature accurately enough to say if the globe is really warming. - The cost of dramatic emission reductions is much more clear and immediate than the cost of global warming. (This argument can be ver compelling for some, especially in the developing world where the perception is that Western nations have profited from exploiting the planet, and are now telling those who are trying to emulate us that it isn't right. They see hypocricy, I see progress, I guess.) Fact is, for some reason in a polarized debate like this people tend to go in with a bias, and then cling to that view and staunchly reject evidence from the other side. My dream job would be working for an internationally recognized think tank that had access to all of the raw, unvarnished data about pretty much everything, and the clout to go to George Bush, the public, and whoever and say "No, we have proven that you are wrong. The people who told you otherwise are lying, or idiots." Another unfortunate thing about human nature is that thinktanks like that actually exist, and governments do use them to answer tough questions - But then the same government filters the answers into pablum that the public will accept without tossing them out of office. Do you think gov'ts were ignorant of the health risks of cigarette smoking, say 20 years ago before there was any no-smoking legislation around? Of course not - They were just scared of being voted out by smokers (and still are!)... And of course they were on the take from tobacco company and farming lobbies. If I were the supreme lord-high mucky-muck of all, there would definitely be one monolithic thinktank processing and answering all of the important questions facing us all - And with bias completely forbidden there would simply be no reason to debate anything they presented as fact, because it would simply be the best answer currently available to mankind. Utopian? I dare to dream! Oh, and in my world - Fossil fuel prices would be high! The skyrocketing price of gas is driving real, fast improvement in people's mindsets wrt the demand for SUVs and solar panels. *Cheers*

OK, "Before" is better!

They all look like Iron Man - Creativity please! ^^

What's so butterface about Fergie and Nikki Cox? They're hot all over! <3 Fergie's music videos too

Interesting - Not a point of Int on their "L55 twink" set. I guess their spells must be mana-free (costing runic power or whatever instead)

Lots of amusing stuff, but not much in the way of a tanking spec... ?

Oh well, the geek who put that video up acheived his moment of fame!

iirc from the CNBC story yesterday, he's had his identity stolen ~14 times, and some of their clients are sueing (I guess for misleading advertising or marketing.)

I found a thread pointing to this on the Bliz technical forums, while fruitlessly trolling for solutions to the NVidea graphics issues arising from patch 2.4... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyVX4ARBMkM Hundreds of people had posted (in a day or so) that it worked for them. The post was taken down overnight - Not sure if it was by Blue or the OP. I've done it, and it seems to have made a dramatic difference in FPS for me. (Requires making one small addition to the Windows Registry - The video walks you through the process - Ezmode!)

Heh - "Mass recruiting" is no way to continue getting world first kills, that's for sure!

Interesting to see a bunch of new talents that emphasise crit for priests - Depending on balancing, they could make crit just as important for us as for pallies (and pretty much require re-itemization of our gear) Serendipity - "If your Greater Heal or Flash Heal spells heal the target for less than 50% of its intended effect, you have a $h% chance to be refunded the mana cost of the spell. This effect has a 10 second cooldown." Kindling Soul - "Your spell damage is increased by $s2% of your Spirit, and your spell criticals increase your Spirit by $47427s1% for 10 sec." (Probably in the shadow tree) Divine Aegis - "Critical heals create a protective shield on the target, absorbing $s1% of the amount healed. Lasts $47753d." (Hot in combination with group heals) (This will help us with our lacking crit I guess) Test of Faith - "Increases healing by $s1% and spell critical effect chance by $s2% on friendly targets at or below 50% health." Tanks Luv Us Even More! Grace - "Your Flash Heal, Greater Heal, and Penance spells bless the target with Grace, reducing damage done to the target by $47932s1%, and increasing healing done to the target by $47932s2%. This effect will stack up to 3 times." Mark of Divinity - "Marks the target with Divinity, causing 30% of all of your healing to also heal the target." We R R Own Mana Batteries Now Kthx! Rapture - Causes your party members to gain mana equal to ${$m1/2}.1% of the healing done by your Greater Heal, Flash Heal and Penance spells. Meh - If you want to do shadowy AOE, L2roll a Deathknight, amirite? Mind Sear - "Causes an explosion of shadow magic around the enemy target, causing $s1 Shadow damage every $f sec for $d to all targets within $49821a1 yards."

Let's get all of our priests and trees into that cloak over the next few weeks! Gratz Stang and everyone!

The article (once I read it) did make a good point that if the game uses BMI to judge "fattness", that's very flawed. With a little creative programming the Wii system should be able to make really meaningful measurements of fitness level (endurance, flexibility, etc) and provide feedback that would be useful. And of course, tact is always a plus. As an ex-teacher in the public system, I'm probably a little hypersensitive about the trend to ignore / sugarcoat kids' flaws for fear of hurting their feelings. IMO raising kids who think it's cool to be unhealthy doesn't do them any favours!

Sympathy... Lacking. If the truth hurts, perhaps it will encourage her (and her parents) to do something about it!

...And if another tank is there fighting to stay second on the agro list, he'll probably go flying too, or get chased off by the fires. Wierd - I wonder what they were thinking?

Ugh at further dumbing-down of raid group sizes, leading to yet more swarms of start-up guilds diluting the talent pool. : /