Lafleur

[QUOTE] Alex has said pretty much everything I was going to say, proper order and stability need to be established in Iraq before any thoughts of leaving, if America and it's allies in the war were to pull out now the situation in the country would deteriorate to a echelon much worse than that under Saddam Hussein. Chances are it would become a breeding ground for hardline anti-American terrorists like Al Qaeda , stirring up hatred among the Iraqis for what could be perceived as America?s cowardly withdrawal before the country was properly stabilised. [/QUOTE] [COLOR=DarkRed] Actualy, a much more likely scenario is that the country of Iraq would simply cease to be. It would more or less splinter into religious states that would be absorbed by the neighboring Middle Eastern countries, which would actualy, after the initial bloodshed (And there WILL be blood shed in any scenario) probably be better from the Iraqis. Countries like Iran could move in a pick up the pieces, because they are always looking for more territory and, even though Iran and Turkey and the like are pretty bad, the people of Iraq would end up better than they are now. Any number of things could happen if the US pulls out; frankly, many of them would be better than if the US stayed. All of them would be worse than when the US arrived, though. A bad democracy (And trust me on this, a democracy in a country as religiously divided as Iraq is would be a complete disaster in less than a decade) is worse than a dictatorship, because at least a dictatorship keeps the country united, even if its by fear. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=DarkRed]Did he go there by choice or by "choice?" Because somtimes people have no choice but to join the millitary, and once your there you have no choice but to go to Iraq (See: People crossing over to Canada to avoid the war) Maybe he was just there to get an education and than, ta-da, Bush goes and createst his magical little war and he gets killed. Hey, I'd be pretty ******* pissed at Bush (Moreso than I already am) if that happened to me or my relatives. I don't think her goal is to risk imprisonment. Her goal is to either, a, get an audience with Bushie, or, b, show just how much of a dick he really is. I don't even think that's legally possible, being sent to jail for no reason. And if she does go to jail, it's just another victory for us leftists; Bushie's approval rating is already a mere 39%, imagine how much further it would drop if he started sending innocent people to Gitmo? (Exaggeration) Hey, who knows, this could be the beggining of the end for Bushie and his Neo-Con buttbuddies. We'll have to wait and see... Every death, be it in cold blood or in war, is a tragedy. No death should be written off as just another casuality. It's sickening. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=DarkRed]Gas is re-goddamn-diculus in Quebec. Ultramar hit 1.25 a leiter, over 3.50$/gallon USD. It's completely ******. Some places it's cheaper, in some of the more secluded Towns in the area it's only about 75cents for some stupid reason. In Alberta and Saskatchewan it's cheaper, and a bit cheaper in Manitoba, but Quebec and the Marintimes got completely reamed with the Gas prices. If it ever hits 2/leiter (Likley, at this rate) I'm going to have to start stealing gas again... Stupid Bush starting dumbass goddamn wars without thinking is costing the Western World to goddamn much :animeangr [/COLOR] [QUOTE] Please, PLEASE, tell me you're joking... It's topped, thus far, in Milwaukee, WI at about $2.70 for regular. And Europe is worse than any area in the US. [/QUOTE] [COLOR=DarkRed] I think Silent Security meant per lieter, and there is approximitaly 3 leiters in a gallon, so there ya go...[/COLOR]

[COLOR=DarkRed]I tried to use a song name on every line, and except for the ones with Geddy, Alex, and Neil I succeeded. It helps when you have thirty years worth of song names to chose from and a very um.. offbeat band making them. Thanks for the compliments :D I'm sort of new to this poetic thing, so any criticizm is welcomed wholeheartedly.[/COLOR]

I thought of this in another thread, and I decided to expand on it. When I think of more Odes than I'll post them here to. This is an ode to the band Rush, one of my favourites. Enjoy. [COLOR=DarkRed] [CENTER] On Bastille Day, they gather at Lakeside Park Shapes of Things not-quite-human flittered through The Trees to meet The Priests of Syrinx, Geddy, Alex, and Neil Even Cygnus X-1 stirs, saying Farewell to his King the denzines of La Villa Strangiato even By-Tor and the Snowdog everyone runs the Marathon all of them on a Mission only Tom Sawyer didn't come, he's still under Lock and Key, for trying to get Somthing for Nothing. And the Overture was played and in the Limelight the Priests of Syrinx rocked spreading Mystic Rythms and Time Stood Still at Lakeside Park and the Priests of Syrinx, Geddy, Alex, and Neil, Flew by Night, to Xanadu, Closer to the Heart.[/CENTER][/COLOR] I only really expect Rush Fans to get it, but whatever.

[COLOR=DarkRed][CENTER]Tiger the Lion and The Dark Canuck came to see me under the bridge By-Tor and The Snow Dog followed suit Thompson Girl came slowly, an Inch an Hour General Hand Grenade was Raising a Little Hell Emperor Penguin wasn't there; he'd been All Tore Up by The Dire Wolf The Poets came late, complaining they were So Hard Done By Fireworks exploaded in the distence and the Travlin' Man was Throwing Glass from the Silver Jet as his Vapour Trails tore up the sky We were spending One Night in Copenhegan it was A Beutiful Thing[/CENTER] [SIZE=4] [CENTER] An Ode to Canadian Rock N' Roll[/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR=DarkRed]Sounds like horse ****. You can't get a bunch of seventh-graders to go to Gym unless you offer them somthing sweet, let alone force them to praise a god that the ever-ignorant-teenager probably hates. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=DarkRed]Ah hell... where the begin... Well, probably the most common creep I get is when I've been reading for a few hours, usually around 3 AM or somthing, and I have my headphones on. When I read I usually hold my book up it usually blocks the door from my sight. Barely. So now I'm blind, deaf, and oblivous. Than (Probably due to sleep deprevation) I get this thingling in my spine, and than this fear grips me that, if I ever move the book, there will be some unspeakable creature (My most vivid ones are incredibly creepy aliens :/) will be standing in the doorway. So I don't move the book. I once stayed up all night because of that... Another one only started happening once I beat Resident Evil on Super Hard mode during a thunderstorm in the middle of the night (Go figure) My bed is up agints the wall, running parrallel from the doorway. The lightswitch is just to right of the doorway, right above the foot of my bed. So instead of getting up to get the light, I just move to the end of the bed and smack it off. But there is a second switch beside it which controles the flow of electricity to the outlets in my room, and that turns off my fan. So now it's dark, I'm back in bed, the fan is off, it's hot, and this creeping feeling comes over me. "No you fool! People in horror movies ALWAYS die when they go back for somthing!" the voice in my head dictates, but I still get up every night to turn it back on. I get the feeling every time that when I turn the light back on, I'm going to be surrounded by moaning, shambling zombies or somthing of that nature. ******. Up. Stuff.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=DarkRed]This spontaneus poetic thing is neat... The winter blows in, a deep freeze engulfs the world's Gunga Din but he can't complain, fore when the water freezes and the children gather on the frozen ponds we grab our sticks, hit the chicks deke the protection and score, overtime win. The crowd cheers, the Russians jeer, the Swedes take our beer, the Czechs steal the puck when it's all done but the world's Gunga Din take home Lord Stanley And what of the Americans? They, as they say, just can't play. [/COLOR]

[QUOTE] However, I'm the only one here (to my knowledge) who is 100% Finnish. I'ts actually pretty odd to read how you Americans are half-this, quarter-that etc. Finland's a pretty inbred country, there's rather few immigrants in proportion to natives.[/QUOTE] [COLOR=DarkRed] It's not all that odd when you think about it. When people first came over to the new world, it was like this new and exciting new frontier that people from all over the world wanted to travel to, kind of like it's everyone's dream to go into Space or somthing like that. When you've got thousands of people coming over seas, all from different races and countries and the like, the tend to get intertwined, and the Native's threw a whole new wrench into the monkey... Or monkey wrench into the engine... You get the point. Finland is, genetically speaking, very similar to it's neighbors, so even cross-country breeding sprees only make people Scandenavian, instead of 50% Finnish and 50% Swedeish or somthing to that effect. By the by, I take offense to being called 'You Americans' >.>[/COLOR]

[COLOR=DarkRed]Erm... Not much a poet, but here goes. What's life... all about? Why are we... here? Because we are? Did Lady Luck dance a sorrowful waltz and curse this Earth, or are we just playthings for beings we cannot comprehend? Dancing on their strings, like puppets in a play? Maybe we were not meant to be an afterthought in a perfect universe and maybe we're alone and maybe, just maybe, we must make our own path in this amazing and expanding universe. [/COLOR]

[QUOTE]There was one instance where they found the skeleten of a gorrila. (I think I may have mentioned this in this thread, but meh.) It looked slightly more upright than a normal gorrila. Other than that, it had no mutations of any kind. Just the fact that it was slightly more upright. This is to date the most evidence for the theory of evolution. Sad, isn't it, that so many Evolutionists have told me personally that my theory is wrong fand supported another theory that is just as scientifically wrong? Maybe more? I think so. In fact, that is why I study the theories side by side almost daily. [/QUOTE] [COLOR=DarkRed] One fossil? One fossil? Lucy (I believe this is the one your referring to) is one of the few complete sekeletons. It is not by any means the only evidence of our ancestors. [URL=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/specimen.html#erectus]*Caugh*[/URL] [/COLOR] [QUOTE] And I'm not against the theory that we evolved at all! I'm just trying to let Evolutionists realize that, (to believe in the theory of evolution without merely just hearing someone say it's true and beleiveing them) it is just as much of a 'Faith in your theory' as Christains do. And (In this thread alone) Christians have been riddiculed for having blind faith. You would have to have blind faith to support a theory with absolutely no true evidence.[/QUOTE] [COLOR=DarkRed] No true evidence? How to you explain the evolution that is taking place around us as I write this? What about the Amazon Rain Forest? Around the Amazon River, the forest is known as the Floated Forest because the Amazon floods year round. Now the trees here, related to the trees outside of the Floated Forest, they look the same, but they use the flooded river to spread their seeds; their germanation methods EVOLVED because they were unable to cope with the flood. [/COLOR] [QUOTE] 2- If we evolved, wouldn't you think that the number of alliels in DNA would slowly become higher and higher as creatures get more complex? Well, that's not how it happened. In fact, Humans are the furthest number away from apes, and the closest to yeast! So... Apes turned to yeast and then humans? Really, now?[/QUOTE][COLOR=DarkRed] Humans share, literally, 99.9% of our DNA with Chimpanzees. [/COLOR] [QUOTE] Fossil records are against evolution. DNA is against evolution. Micro-organisms are against evolution. The mere fact that everything exists so perfectly in the world right now goes against evolution. Explaination? Sure. I know much more about this subject than I probably should ~_^[/QUOTE] [COLOR=DarkRed] Everything is so perfect in this world DUE to evolution. Millions upon millions upon millions of years is a lot of time to smooth out the bumbs. I dont believe in macro evolution, but Micro Evolution, over millions upon millions of years, can change little things. Than these little things, due to micro evolution, can themeselves change. So on and so forth, and, a few hundred million years later, you have the ecosystem. Evolution is extremely IMPROBABLE, not impossible. There was probably a 1 in 2 Billion chance of it turning out this way, probably even higher. But there are trillions upon trillions of worlds in the universe; it was bound to happen.Why did it happen on earth? Well, that's the way Lady Luck dances.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=DarkRed]Ya, downloading is wrong. Ya, it's going to eventually send the world of the media down the drain. And ya, I'm addicted to free stuff. I'm so addicted that not even my 44.4k internet connection can stop me from downloading illegal stuff. It's like crack. You can't sniff just one! Or was that Lays? Bah, the point stands. Where I live you cant just go out and buy a new CD or Anime or any of that stuff, the only alternative is to download illegally or go without. I, unfortunatly, cannot go without. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=DarkRed]Hey, this might be a bit of an odd request for people used to doing anime or anime-related photoshop jobs, but I was wondering if anyone could wip up a Montreal Canadiens Banner/avi with some pictures I have lying around. I'm not sure if they'll work, but here goes... [URL=http://www.canadiens.com/_static/webUpload/525/28735_1.jpg]Pic One (Saku Koivu)[/URL] [URL=http://www.canadiens.com/_static/webUpload/525/28789_1.jpg]Pic Two (Jose Theodore)[/URL] [URL=http://www.canadiens.com/_static/webUpload/525/29727_1.jpg]Pic Three (Alex Kovalev)[/URL] [URL=http://www.canadiens.com/_static/webUpload/525/28753_1.jpg]Pic Four (Mike Ribeiro)[/URL] [URL=http://www.canadiens.com/_static/webUpload/525/28774_1.jpg]Pic Five (Richard Zednik)[/URL] If the pictures don't work let me know, and you can make them smaller if you want, like crop them or whatever it is you photo-shop people do. Just try to include the faces best you can. Also, because I'm just that inept, could somone resize [URL=http://www.onlinesports.com/images/frp-16545.gif]this[/URL] picture for me so that it fits? By the way, for banner text, you can write "With this team? Try and stop us." in whatever font type you feel looks best. Thanks alot, Illium[/COLOR]

[COLOR=DarkRed]Let's see... Recent reads... Man, I read a lot of stuff... Here goes. Illium/Olympos - A story that is based in the future (Basically) in which Quantum holes have punched through different realities and really stirred shit up. Basically, it stresses on the theory that the human mind is a quantum existence, that the human conciousness exists on a quantum level. Extremely, extremely, extremely intellegent or creative minds can create, basically, a new quantum universe. Homer, who's epic Illium is the center for much of the story, is one, also Shakespear (Prospero and Caliban from the Tempest are main villan/middlemen, as well as Setebos and Sycorax) Proust and a few others are the main ones emphasises in the story. Now, beings called Post-Humans (Who literally manipulated their own genes to change their... well, change them completely) have been mucking about in quantum space. Than these robot-humaniods (Launched in the late 25th century) that exist independently in Jupiter Space were afraid that all these quantum holes would tear the universe apart on every leve. So Orphu of Io (My favourite character) Mahnmut of Europe, Ri Po, and Koros III were sent to fix everything. It's really, really, complicated and I cant explain it all now, but it does involve Greek Gods, laser rifles, Moravecs, and the Illiad. Dune Preludes - A bit of a prelude to the amazing Dune series, they were written by Brian Herbert, Frank Herbet's son, and pretty much fill you in on all the details leading up to Dune. Amazing read on a political level, lots of neat plot elements... s'all good. [/COLOR]

[QUOTE=sakurasuka][CENTER][SIZE=1]Just because Evolution makes the most theoretical sense [I]in theory[/I] doesn't mean that the hypothysis is true. If a creature were to morph so much it changed it's genetic code, then it would have to adjust the number of alliels in its DNA. You can argue until you're blue in the face, but you can't ignore the fact that it is SCIENTIFICALLY IMPOSSIBLE to alter genetic makeup of a creature in such a way. (It would litterally be more scientifically correct to argue that we just poped into existance one day.) If you are trying to argue that science is in favor of the theory of Evolution, you are DEAD wrong. Even science is on the side of Creation. Alas, there is no proof that the theory of Creation is true, either. Do you want to know why, my friend? Because God wants us to rely on our faith, not numbers and genetic codes. He wants us to do what we want to do and believe in whatever we wish, be it faith in him or otherwise. That is also why he gave us free will ~_^[/SIZE][/CENTER][/QUOTE] [COLOR=DarkRed] Theoretically impossible, not scientifically impossible. There is no evidence that it can happen, but remember, we've only been studying genes for the past few centuries, and we only have about one thousand years of information to go on. Over the course of Millions upon Millions of years, ****, literally, does happen. By the by, saying 'Accept me as thy father or thee shall be cast down to Hell' isn't exactly the definition of Free Will.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=DarkRed]DragonLance... That takes me back... *Acid Flashback* I read a lot of them, I was quite in love with them a time ago, when I was a newbie at fantasy I loved them. I read most of the main books but I missed out on most of the side-stories. Tanis was always one of my favourites, because I loved the torn-backround story-type-thing. I also liked Tika because... well... Comon, who doesn't like barmaids? Never liked Sturm because he was to high-and-mighty for my taste, but he did die really well... I never liked Tas or Rast, because, well, one was annoying (Take your guess) and the other was to serious, and also to needy... But my all time favourite... Flint! Comon, I love dwarves! I liked him because he was annoying, but comically so, but not TO commiically like Tas. I hated how he died though... Heart attack! What a jip! No one dies from heart attacks in Fantasy Novels...[/COLOR]

[COLOR=DarkRed]Real Name: James-Alexander Kilpatrick Baillie (I like to pronounce it Bi-ee, but thats just the French-Canadian in me) I usually just got by Alexander or Alex, because James is such a common name and I hated the idea of having to first ones. I don't really think theres anything special about it, James- has always been a bit of a family tradition. My dad is James-Douglas and my grandfather was James-Peter and so on and so forth. Nickname: My close friends call me Baillie because I feel special when people call me by my last name. I also go by Hoser or Hosehead, because I looked the Canadianism 'Hoser' on the internet and, lo and behold, I am a perfect description of a Hoser, what with the beer and the hockey and the general kicking ***. I've also been called 'Shithead' and 'Dumbass' but I'm not to fond of those nicknames... Aliases: On CS:S I go by the name Poutine (Pronounced Putsin, I really wish people could get it right) because I'm in a clan called f00d, I like poutine, and I'm in Quebec. Made sense to me. I go by The Hoser/Hosehead on a few other forums, also I've tried out The Dark Canuck and probably a host of others I can't remember right now. [/COLOR]

[quote name='Gavin][SIZE=1]I had to laugh reading that, seeing as how before I gave you the name's translation you thought it referred to someone who had killed someone named Patrick. Now thinking it refers to a gentleman's privates however is far funnier, though as an Irish person I'm wondering if I should stop chuckling and take offence as the Partick your name comes from is our Patron Saint. [/SIZE'] [/quote] [COLOR=DarkRed] Well, erm... Sorry if I offended you in any way, shape or form. I know that in my country if you insulted St.Richard (The Rocket Richard, that is) you'd be torn from crotch to crown and your guts would be used to hang your assorted body parts around the neighborhood. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=DarkRed]In the past 5 hours... The Tragically Hip - Album: Up To Here Rush - Album: Rush in Rio [Live] Trooper - Album: Hot Shots The Tragically Hip - Album: In Between Evolution Rush - Album: 2112 Gordon Lightfoot - Album: Gord's Gold Gordon Downie - Album: Battle of the Nudes[/COLOR]

[COLOR=DarkRed]As far as I know, I'm Irish-Scottish-Dutch-Canadian, although my ancestry traces back to ancient Hungary and possibly even to Mongolia (I guess they came to Hungary during the Golden Horde era) But right now I'd just come off as your typical white Canadian with an oddly-stereotypical accent, nothing to special... My history is sort of vague, but one of my grandfathers wen't looking on my fathers side of the family for interesting heritage. and one of my great relatives was a consort of Mary Queen of Socts. Ya, I know, seems kind of pitiful if the greatest achievment in your families history was some guy who banged Queen Mary. Meh, good enough for me. Baillie is Scottish, as far as I know, and Kilpatrick is Irish, but my mom's family (Kilpatrick) came over to Ireland from Holland so that makes me more Dutch than Irish. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=DarkRed]I don't understand how people can't swim... Is it a pschological thing? It should come natural to human beings, at least being able to float anyway. I'm just asking a question here, what is it about swimming that some people find difficult? (This is aimed generally at people who, well, can't swim.) [/COLOR]

[QUOTE] Besides, anyone who claims that we can explain ?explain everything or at least study them? probably has a lot to learn?[/QUOTE] [COLOR=DarkRed] I meant that now when we see somthing we can't explain we don't just right it off as an act of God, we can adaquitly explain most things or at least do somthing to try and find out. Religion was created to explain the then-unexplainable and is more or less usless in this day and age. [/COLOR] [QUOTE]I think the more one actually examines the evolutionary processes and the irreducibly complex biochemical systems that exist, it begins to seem like your arguments are walking on water. [/QUOTE] [COLOR=DarkRed] I don't understand what you mean, I've studied a lot about evolution and it makes a hell of a lot more sense that humans just... were. Human Evolution probably makes the most sense. How life came to be is considerably more complicated, I don't fully understand it, but the basics make sense. As for the argument about faith, well, I just find it fun. Argueing about fairy-tales always makes me feel like a scholar.[/COLOR]

[quote name='Xander Harris']What is your definition of 'properly recorded'?[/quote] By that I mean not recorded in a book that, for all anyone knows, was nothing but a work of fiction. There is absolutly no proof any of these so-called Miracles occured outside of the Bible. If it happened today we would have tonnes of proof, video cameras and news stations, the entire world would have defintive proof. But all we have to go on is some 2,000 year old book that is most likely just a work of fiction. [QUOTE] Excuse me? People back then couldn't tell if someone was dead or not? Come now. Credit our ancestors with some modicum of intelligence.[/QUOTE] [COLOR=DarkRed] Or perhaps it just never happened and was made up on the spot.[/COLOR]

[QUOTE=Xander Harris]The problem with this idea is that the kinds of things reported as miracles in the Bible are still things that would be considered miracles today. They were not natural pheonomena. People can't walk on water (unless it's frozen water lol) People can't turn water to wine. People can't be suddenly cured of years of blindness by having mud and spit put on their eyes. Pillars of fire do not come out of the sky and lead people around the desert. Seas do not instantaneously part to allow people to walk through them on dry land. People do not rise from the dead. That is why these things are called miracles. Because a miracle is a violation of the natural laws, not a supernatural explanation for a scientific fact. Unless you think any of the things above are explainable by science, then the idea that Christianity is a belief system designed to explain natural phenomena is ludicrous. The question is whether or not the miracles occured.[/QUOTE] [COLOR=DarkRed] Which leads me to my second point, which is that all these supposed miracles occured during a time they could not be properly recorded. If God wanted everyone to believe all he's have to do is halt Niagra Falls or fill the Gran Canyon. [/COLOR]