Doom Shepherd

*Dynamites a dike* Happy now? The day's just not complete without a genocide. Human: it's what's for dinner!

Since there's two launches left on the schedule, and they just rolled Endeavor out to the pad, (to launch April 19) I don't believe you. The decision to retire the shuttles was made back in 2003, after Columbia burnt up on re-entry. Did you know, the first probe to orbit Mercury JUST sent back its first batch of pictures yesterday? Link to website: MESSENGER Did you know there is a lake of Methane on Saturn's moon Titan the size of Lake Superior? Yes, I am a space geek. I even take two weeks in the summer to teach a bunch of 8-12 year olds all about space. I have a neat slideshow Grand Tour of all major bodies in the solar system.

*Dynamites a dike* Happy now?

I enjoy both franchises, but I am a trekkie. However... for true, awesome storytelling... Babylon 5. Also, Firefly.

(Dewey Decimal) Code Monkey Like Fritos. Also Doritos, and BBQ Herr's potato chips.

There's a really good scene in Kevin Smith's "Dogma" about the difference between having a belief and having an idea. I don't mind religious people. My family is full of them, and most of them are extremely decent people. (We do have on eor two nutters, though.) I, myself, am not paricularly religious. On a bad day, I'm an Atheist. On a good day, I'm a Deist, like some of the Founding Fathers. (On a silly day, I'm a follower of the Native American god Coyote.) I've run into a lot of atheists and irreligious people, though, who are smug douchebags about it. (Bill Maher.) I'm trying real hard not to be... which I admit is difficult because I am a raging egomaniac.

Oh, is THAT what that's for? *Wonders how he got 2* I think I'm gonna stay away from that button. Unless somebody says something awesome.

I really liked this Diet Cherry-Vanilla Pepsi cola that was out for a while... but it seems to have vanished off the shelves, and I drank my last remaining can a few days ago. I'm told that Pepsi "Throwback" uses no artificial sweetener, and is a lot more tasty than regular Pepsi, but I've never had any. Diabeetus took most of the fun out of drinking colas.

I tend to violate Rule #1 just by existing. But I'm trying to be a good monkey. I hardly ever throw my poop anymore. ...well, I hardly throw FIRST, anymore. ...well, I'm eating more fiber in my diet.

It's true humans don't like to change. They usually have to be forced into doing something. But hey, that's why I'm running for Dictator. You'd be amazed what people can accomplish in one night when the alternative is a firing squad in the morning. Bwa-ha-ha haa.

I pretty much lost the ability to play games when the "joystick with one button" went out of vogue. I just don't have the coordination for these game consoles with two triggers and a half-dozen buttons, anymore.

You're not a douche. But what you say plays in to my point. There ARE other comics creators, other NBA players, and other writers, and they generally DO make better critics than your average "Neverdone Jack," because they at least can demonstrate that they know what they are talking about. Harlan Ellison said it best: "You do NOT have a right to an opinion. You have a right to an informed opinion." Quote frankly, everyone else should have to add a disclaimer, like "Your Mileage May Vary." People who state their opinions as though they were absolute fact (like SOME critics do) are douches. Well, you know, MOST successful movies and plays have been adaptations. And almost no directors write their own movies (Kevin Smith excepted.) But that's just my opinion. It's possible I could be talking out of my butt.

Well, we can always mine the asteroids, which have no environments to ruin, use them for raw materials, and get infinite energy for the next 5 billion years from the sun. That is, if we get up off our butts and actually start doing something instead of sitting on our hands cwying about it.

First off, I've been to college. In fact, I have a Master's Degree. So watch your snarky tongue or I will be happy to remove it without benefit of anesthesia. Second, I have heard the "mathematically unlikely" argument before, and it is pure weapons-grade bolognium. It is already widely known as Hoyle's FALLACY. And has been thoroughly debunked. (See underlined link.) To buy that argument, you must actually IGNORE fundamental aspects of mathematics. In fact, it immediately becomes obvious that the "spontaneous" existence of GOD (which is supposed by the believers to be of an infinitely higher and more complex order than any life form) must, using the same "theory" of statistical analysis, be FAR MORE improbable than evolution. If your argument is true, your "designer" can't exist.

Humans should be presumed Chaotic Evil until proven otherwise. Although Women tend more towards Chaotic Neutral. Maybe that's why I like them so much more.

I tend to agree with Heinlein that the "best" form of government is actually a Benevolent Tyranny. The problem lies mostly in finding a benevolent tyrant. I would tend to nominate myself. I don't know anybody better. I don't believe that you can successfully ban the initiation of force, because people are jerks. And really, that's the problem with ALL these idealistic societies. They work GREAT, so long as everybody follows the rules. But hello, Humans. When has this ever happened in our long history? I don't see that changing any time soon. Get back to me once we've all become programmable droids.

Betcha they still find sufficient funds for the football team. Priorities, don'cha know. I grew up in one of the poorest counties in Pennsylvania, both my parents were teachers and I've been around the blook a few times, and I think I can safely say that when it comes to education, money is helpful, but it's really considerably less important than mnotivation. My father would say "you can have the best schools, best teachers, best materials, and most money in the world... and it won't make any difference if you're trying to teach a lump of protoplasm that does not want to learn." (I don't think I need to point out how that particular group seems to have grown in recent history...) On the other side of the scale, a motivated mind can make up for a lot of lacking resources. Ideally, yes, you want both... but the world is rarely ideal.

Forgive me if this point has already been covered: Creationism is not, and never can be, science. Creationism is not, and can never be, a Theory. Creationism does not even qualigy as a hypothesis. All these things require the evaluation of observable phenomena. Creationism, postulating as it does the existence of a Creator which CANNOT be observed, measured, or studied in any way, cannot possess this quality. Therefore it should in no way be taught in a class dealing with science. It is better left in a class about comparative religion, where it can be compared and contrasted with the belief that Raven crapped out the Earth (Native American), or that Gods dredged up the land from beneath the sea, (Maori) that a great Cow licked the first man out of the ice (Norse) or that the Great Green Arklesiezure sneezed out the universe during a bout of hay fever (42), all of which beliefs have equal evidence in support of them, that is: NONE.

The various Mind channels, jimathers, RoosterTeeth, DasBoSchitt, RayKoefoed

This is one of the reasons I disposed of mine some time ago.

Last night I dreamed I was the mage in a party of adventurers. This is odd, because I usually play warriors. My party and I fended off a swarm of goblins that actually looked more like the imps from DOOM. Then we ran to a villiage where we were pursued by Darth Vader and a cadre of stormtroopers. While wiping out a pursuing platoon of troopers with a storm of ice meteors, I was hit in the back by a stray blaster shot. A whispered spell (in parseltongue) hid us from our pursuers, while we sought refuge in a massage parlor run by Lucy Liu, where Amy Pond from "Doctor Who" worked on my back using ancient healing arts and took liberties that should not be mentioned in a forum children may read. Conclusion: I watch far too much Sci-fi, and should not eat Doritos before bedtime while suffering from the flu.

I have a rule about listening to critics. That rule is "If you know so much, where's the awesome movie that you made?" That said, I expect this movie to be a guilty pleasure, like Transformers. (Plot? PLOT?? Are you kidding me? I came here to see Giant Fighting Robots. Plot is secondary. Tertiary, if I get to see Megan Fox bent over an engine of some kind.)

I seem to get it more often if I hit the "back" button.

Johnny Cash - "God's Gonna Cut You Down." SO badass.

I have a lot of very vivid dreams, and I can usually remember them. Years back, I even started to be able to realize when I was dreaming, and intentionally alter my dream. So I'll share an odd one with you... one that is especially odd because I had the same dream several times. It starts out I'm at my parents' house. And I can fly, in short jumps. So I fly over a nearby hll, and drop into a valley. Everything in the valley seems to be tinged grey. The only things there are a stream running through, a dirt road, an old cabin-like house, and the remains of an antique car from around the 1940's. It looks as though the place has been deserted for a very long time. However, all my senses are on edge. I am not alone in this valley, there is something else there. Something old, and powerful, and evil. And at the same time I realize this, I realize something else. I am not afraid of it. I am a champion, and I am here to KILL it. I look down at my hands, and they are growing larger. My skin turns a stony slate color. My fingers are talons. Bone spurs are forming on my knuckles, and a large one juts out of my elbow. I run my tongue over my teeth, and they are larger, sharp and pointed. Something is happening to my back. I feel a pressure, and a tearing, which I just know is the birth of a pair of large, leathery wings. The evil is behind me. I whirl, snarling a challenge... ...and wake up. How's that?