Posts by Tawakalna

Rock´s doing Doom. Shoorly PJ will get someone else? I just don´t get the Halo thing. it´s an ordinary enough shooter with, for once, a 1/2 way decent story and some nice effects. everytiome I´ve played it Ive thought *yeh done this before* *zzzz* *its not as good as HL/Far Cry/RtCW* and when i actually saw that it was ripped from Ringworld, well I just longed for Ringworld. Am I missing something? what am I not appreciating here? why does veryone else love it including mini-Taw and I´m left cold thinking its a rip-off?

I have an excellent Raichu, but it took a while to evolve him. I also have high-lvl Gengar, Golduck, Golem, and a Staryu. All my other decent Pokémon I´ve either lost or given up with.

&quot;&quot;States´ rights.&quot;&quot; not that old chestnut. this keeps popping up in the US ever few decades or so, always by <i>revanchist </i> Southerners. ok. I know full well the Civil War wasn´t about slavery, not directly anyway. it was an inevitable clash between two economic blocs that had radically different modus operandi, and were developing along divergent paths - the North, industrialised and ruthlessy capitalistic, the South rural and agrarian and paternalistic, and subsidised by slavery. The Union didn´t embark on the War to end slavery, but to preserve the Union and a sa war aim destroy the economic base of the Confederate states. Lincolm was personally an abolitionist but he initially favoured a gradual process of emancipation and only issued the Declaration as a political <i>legerdemain </i> when it appeared that Britain might join with the Confederacy against the Union. Indeed, had he not had a *victory* of sorts (a draw really) he would not have had the political clout to declare Emancipation at all! Imagine what consequences that might have had! without slavery there couldn´t have been a Confederacy, it underpinned society and industry in every way. States Rights, in principle perfectly laudable, was a mask for slavery, an excuse. States Rights <i>de facto </i> meant the right to keep slaves, regardless of whatever pretext of autonomy was being justified. The South seceded precisely because they wanted to keep their slaves, because without slavery their economy would have been destroyed (as effectively as it was after the war anyway) however I will accept that over the years the myth of the War Against Slavery has overtaken much historical fact. The Union dressed itself up as the Great Emancipating Army and has enshrined the freeing of the slaves as a signal moment in US history - which of course it is, but let´s just take away some of the rosy tint. The Union freed the slaves because it was expedient to do so - it did the Union no real harm as most Northern industry was free labour, but dealt a death-blow to the South - internal revolts, desertions, no foreign intervention, supplies from Britain cut off because Britain could not be seen to be supporting a slave nation against a non-slave nation (even though the non-slave nation had slave-keeping states throughout the entire war) interestingly Robert E. Lee was also an abolitionist but chose his state as his loyalty.

it´s a necessary extension to fatherhood. I have numerous high-lvl Pokémon from various Leagues.

oh good-oh, i wouldn´t want anyone to think I listen to classical wallpaper &lt;shudders&gt; it´s Radio 3 for me, not Classic FM.

interesting comparison! the Cross of St George has indeed been appropriated by racist groups for their own purposes. There is even an organisation of that name which co-ordinates extreme right-wing activity in the UK and has links with neo-Nazis and the ultra-Right in Europe and the US, and was responsible for at least some of the street violence that accompanied the murder of Sarah Payne a few years ago (Sarah Payne was a little girl brutally murdered by a freed paedophile - however in the newspaper and tv inspired public withch hunt that followed, hospital paediatricians and single middle-aged and elderly men found themselves being attacked without provocation by ignorant mobs) However, this is a modern phenonemon. Before the War, ultra-rightists were often at pains to distinguish themselves from association with St George imagery, and the inspirational myth of St George was called upon frequently during the War against Hitler. St George´s Day was until relatively recent times a national holiday and was accompanied with festivals and fairs. It´s therefore very sad to see this traditionally English element of our culture, as distinct from British, be thus misused and almost as sad to see it becoming <i>anathema </i> as a result of its misuse. the Confederate flag is a different matter. it is intimately associated with a political and social culture that enshrined slavery as a central tenet and maintains a <i>revanche </i> influence via symbolism and association to this day that still holds back social and political development in those regions. Now its possible that I´m wrong, and if so I apologise in advance to anyone who I might offend with my next statement, but it seems to me that most of the people who take such pride in being sons or daughters of the Confederacy and display the flag with pride, or in secret, are in sympathy with and wholeheartedly support that history and symbolism and in many ways continue the pro-segregation/anti-integration attitudes that have remained in the South since the Civil War. it´s not an innocent symbol that got misused, it is by its very nature loaded with symbolism and a wounded perception of *national* pride.

even if a plaintiff does win a case in the defendants absence, there´s always appeals. if you haven´t had a chance to put your side of the story, any judgement can be overturned. for debt the process is different, esp as regards service of documents, but the principle os the same.many debt collectors and creditors back off when they know youre serious about going to court, because a/ they can´t harass you then, and b/ the judge will usually come to a fairer decision once he knows the defendants circumstances.

surpisingly I don´t think it needs compuetr control or electical activation of control surfaces. Japanese Okhas, Me 163s and other German rocket plane designs had no such luxuries, many test rocket aircraft since have been similarly sparsely equipped. The rocket engine itself is remarkably unsophisticated. as long as the airframe is light and strong and aerodynamically stable, in principle its not a big deal. be a bit scary to fly though, rather more of a challenge than micro-lighting! Mike:- theyre separated by GPSS auto-nav which will alert in case there´s damger of collision. Edited by - .Tawakalna on 10/5/2005 6:57:34 AM

94. why? however going back to the original topic, this is an increasingly disturbing trend amongst the PC crowd, because they seem to single out *english* imagery as distinct from any other. I wonder if anyone who wore a St.Andrew´s cross, or a St. David, would be similarly censured? I think perhaps not. And certainly, display of non-UK national imagery is seen as being fine. If such a rule is to be enforced then it must be enforced fairly. why does *englishness* get singled out? partially I think it´s a P.C. reaction to our colonial and imperial past (although that was British as distinct from English) and also there´s a perjoritative element in that the Cross of St. George is associated with football and thus by extension football violence and racism, which is ludicrous of course - that´s as stupid as saying every Moslem is a terrorist. the P.C. goons should keep their own houses in order. the perfectly politically correct Sir Iain Blair, Commisssioner of the Metropolitan Police, saint of the politically correct and hand-picked by President-of-the-World Blair himself, turned out to have misused his powers to hide the facts about the London Tube shooting of an innocent man and attempted to pass the blame onto more junior commanders in the field, resisted calls for an independent enquiry and still attempts to hide what happened under a blanket of national security and operational *intelligence* - although one might well question what sort of intelligence (if any) was in operation the day Jean Charles de Menezes was shot in the head. Sir Iain is very close to the Govt and to the Blairs (he´s no relation btw) because of his history of handling PC issues - how the Police investigate rape, sexism and racism in the Police and towards the public, the Lawrence enquiry, the Newbury bypass, and was seen by many as a new type of Police chief for a new type of Police force - however these days he seems to putting as much effort into whitewashing his own name and squirming out of any responsibility. funny isn´t how once upon a time public figures would resign over matters like this, now they just look for other to blame while mouthing mealy words of sympathy. how to public institutions go on about displayingt he Cross of St George as part of their insignia, as indeed many Police forces do? I wonder... Edited by - .Tawakalna on 10/5/2005 6:34:58 AM

someone actually paid? omg. that´s <i>terrible </i> and how stupid of them? who hands over 3K without asking *why?*

ask her yourself! <img src=smilies/icon_smile.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> she doesn´t bother as long as I don´t blow the house up. well, the Taw VII Rocket Plane moves ahead in design. I see why all those concept designs are canard/delta wing/winglets now. My intial idea wouldnt have worked as racer because it was intended for straight and level boost-flight, wheras these things will have to turn, which at high wing loading, which deltas handle very well. a canard-delta configuration with winglets also obviates the need for a tailplane/rudder and of course they´ll be built largely of composites such as carbon-fibre, but wood would do just as well. the rocket motor and the flying aren´t the hard part, in principle. its the taking off and landing thats tricky. straight-up or along a runway? ground take-off or air-towed like a glider? wheeled landing or skids? wheels are heavy and complex. manual controls, hydraulics or computer-controlled? I can cobble together hydraulics but fly-by-wire is a bit flash.

clearly he´s off the wagon. I often eat raw steak and fish, but poultry? I´m amazed he´s till alive..

I go to the Hallé in Manchester once every 3 months or so, or if they come to Stoke I go to the Victoria Hall, and I also occassionally go to the City of Birmingham Sym Orch which I´ve been a supporter of since I was a student in Brum and Simon Rattle took it over (he´s moved on since of course) On Saturday (12th) I´m going to the Hallé peformance of Glinka, Shostakovich, Borodin and Rachmaninov. The whole family will go for the Christmas Fantasia if I lived in London I´d be off to the concert halls and operas almost every night, but I don´t <img src=smilies/icon_smile_sad.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> Certain people who live in Manhattan have of course amongst the very finest pick of artistic venues on their doorstep, as it were.

I wouldn´t be surpised if I was the only person on these boards who´s actually been throught the criminal justice system. so maybe I can lend a somewhat different perspective. when you´re in gaol, you´re in gaol. it doesn´t matter if it´s a Category A maximum security establishment, or a Category D *open* prison, it´s still gaol, your life isnt your own and you are deprived of your liberty. You have nothing, no possessions, no value except what you can earn from the prison system and the value and respect you can command from your fellow prisoners. you get up at a set time, eat at set times, work at set times and go to bed at set times. while your in prison you can´t earn real money and your affairs are in effect on stop - help with outside matters is very difficult and most prisoners lose their homes and jobs, quite often all their possessions as well. So its very common to come out of even a short sentence, to nothing. if the purpose is indeed rehabilition, then if prisoners have no safety-net for when they come out of gaol, how are they expected <i>not </i> to re-offend? it may seem odd to provide prisoners with social security benefits whilst they are incarcerated, but the social and finacial cost of <i>not </i>[ doing so is even greater. this leads on to a further argument - what are people sent ot prison for? everyone says *punishment* but what do you mean by that? are people imprisoned <i><b>as </i> </b>punishment , or <i><b>for </i> </b>punishment? the two things are very different. I assure you, being deprived of your liberty and taken from everything you are familar with into the alien and hostile environment of even a *soft* prison is still pretty severe. Adding the harshness of the *short sharp shock* so favoured by reactionaries is merely a licence for sadism. I always wondered why people became prison officers, its quite often accompnaied by a desire to treat people like cr*p. Prison officers treat everyone except their *pets* like dirt and they do so because they know that the prisoners can say and do nothing about it. What happens in Abu Ghraib is daily repeated in many prisons across the so-called *civilised* West - I have witnessed prison officers <i>en masse </i> beating the living daylights out of people who just spoke up for themselves after weeks of provocation. The physical brutality is the final expression of a regime of humiliation and de-humanisation. All the myths that are told of gang-rape and drug ganmgs inside prison? forget them - other prisoners are fine with you (mostly) it´s the guards you have to watch out for. And they are almost all open to bribery - on their terms of course. it´s very simple. if people are treated like animals, they will behave like animals. Treat them with respect, you will get respect. The idea of prison <i>for </i> punishment and the imposition of a harsh if not brutal regime is a favourite of people who´ve never experienced it. it doesn´t do any good, btw. all it does is make fitter leaner criminals with even bigger chips on their shoulders.

<i>&quot;Despite making false representations to Ms. Andersen that they had evidence of infringement .... plaintiffs knew that they had no factual support for their claims.&quot; </i> it´s actually illegal to make false and frivolous law-suits, however in toiday´s litigious society people rarely get brought up for it. <i>&quot;The record companies knowingly represented materially false information to Ms. Andersen in an attempt to extort money from her.&quot; </i> that´s pretty serious. people can be jailed for that. I hope she goes all the way with them. I´m not supporting illegal file-sharing, that´s a debate for another time, but the actions taken against this lady and many other like her are corporate bullying and, with the absence of actual evidence and the underhand methods taken, are a form of extortion. even though it´s a civil matter, the harassment undertaken and the unauthorised access to computers could well have criminal consequences. Good for her, I wish her all the best.

whichever one Nintendo make so mini-Taw and I can play Pokémon.

it got lost in translation. @zazie - your knowledge of meat and butchery products is impressive. most people are fooled by *the bright red colour* which is often the result of chemical injections and *butcher´s lights* which make the meat look redder int he display. As you say, fresh lamb once its been exposed to the air, goes a dark purple/brown colour - thsi may look unsighly to people expecting to see bright red meat, but traditionally lamb is hung in the air -<i>Agnelli di Pasqua </i> anyone? many years ago when i was a bit hard up I worked in a supermarket butchery department for a while. i learnt a few things about what goes on, ie chemicals, *trick* lights etc. I also discovered never to touch supermarket mince - why? well, event he expensive supermarket mince is actually just the old meat they coiuldn´t sell minced up with some dye to make it look fresh. I have seen this for myself and it´s very common. And if that doesn´t sell, they´ll shove the next days non-sellers in there. it´ll gop eventually esp if offerd on 3 for the price of 1. never ever buy supermarket mince. buy fresh meat and mince it yourself.

hang on that was nearly 30 years ago when Percy Thrower´s Blue Peter garden got vandalised, and Johnny Noakes and Shep were wandering around aimlessly. I was on Blue Peter. I got a Blue Peter badge. so ner ner ner. I played in Atarah ben Tovin´s band cos she was a mate of me dad.

tough. stay and suffer. I can go though!

they were prototypes that blazed my way to the stars. fuel - solid fuel for me, matey, make it meself and store it safely. makes a hell of a mess though. liquid fuel is just too complex and dangerous for mucking about with at home. problem is that solid fuel won´t give me much of a lengthy burn, but it´ll serve to prove the engineering. some body with more money and resources can convert it to liquid fuel later on (quite feasible, I´m leaving that option open in the airframe)