Profile for Talent in a Previous Life
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Displayed name | Talent in a Previous Life |
| Member number | 3098 |
| Title | This Side Towards Enemy |
| Postcount | 961 |
| Homepage | |
| Registered | Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
Recent posts
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| Author | Recent posts |
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| Free Will in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
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written Thursday, January 8 2004 08:41
Profile
Why should I care whether I have free will? Do I have enough to eat? Am I in a safe emotionally stable enviroment? Am I happy? Those are questions that matter. Arguing about the existence of free will is just an excuse to use circular reasoning. -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
| Here We Go Again (Political Compass) in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
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written Thursday, January 8 2004 08:36
Profile
-9.12 Economic -7.85 Social Which I consider slightly strange, since I'm essentially a moderate in that I consider that most radical approaches are bound to fail due to the breadth of opposition they obtain. The compass is not an entirely accurate guide. A score in the extreme southwest often just indicates consistently leftist answers rather than revolutionary fervour. -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
| What music (if any) are you listening to... in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
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written Tuesday, January 6 2004 10:38
Profile
Pixies- Monkey Gone to Heaven -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
| Why? in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
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written Tuesday, January 6 2004 10:34
Profile
Ever heard of free-range? Factory farming doesn't necessitate veganism. Many animals found in the farming industry depend on the farming industry for survival. Whilst cows and pigs might just about get by, with a lot of depredation from predators, sheep are unlikely to do too well without sheperds and wild chickens just result in fat foxes (studies show that the greatest cause of death amongst pheasants raised for shooting is from foxes.) If we stop eating meat, we cause the deaths of almost every animal in the industry (there being no economic imperative to keep them alive.) From a species point of view, the relationship between human and farm animal is symbiotic. We get an easy source of protein, they get a rather greater chance of surviving infancy than they would otherwise (I realise farming on a large scale kills the animals before this so as to retain a stable population.) To summarise, I see universal veganism as morally doubtful and since predators will eat anyway, I don't see that it makes sense for me to stop. And as an aside, I understand that the US reached Hubert's Peak in 1971, it's just that it hasn't happened to a few other parts of the world yet. Also, what would be your opinion of animal testing to find a cure for conditions such as Alzheimers? -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
| Why? in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
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written Monday, January 5 2004 10:42
Profile
Ah, but is cold-blooded murder wrong if it saves more lives than it ends? And can you equate all life to be of equal value, amongst humans or indeed amongst animals in general? -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
| What music (if any) are you listening to... in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
|
written Sunday, January 4 2004 14:35
Profile
Byron was a Lord, so I don't really see your point, Morgan. But I would say that the best Lost Consonant ever was 'Andrew Lloyd Webber produces another hit musical.' Screaming Trees- More or Less -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
| Why? in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
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written Sunday, January 4 2004 13:24
Profile
Question: how are we defining good and evil here? They're highly subjective concepts. Unless we're going to use Plato's frankly stupid idea that there is an ideal form of everything, we can't really consider that they do in fact exist except in our minds. Hence everybody will have a slightly different view of them. -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
| Okay, I still have to ask... in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
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written Sunday, January 4 2004 13:19
Profile
TM, you made Echoes. And Streila Spies. ADoS is just irritating. -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
| Shogun in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
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written Sunday, January 4 2004 13:14
Profile
Might be something here: http://www.michaelkelly.fsnet.co.uk/pass.htm Alternatively, you could just read it through until the small hours. I'm told it's quite a good book and it's not 19th century or existentialist philosophy so the going shouldn't be impossible. And towards the end, you can start skimming. Synopses are often weaker at the end due to lack of desire to do everything you can as a pose to doing two pages. So overdo the first part of the book, them cram everything in. Might make them think you worked really hard at it. -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
| The Mod Board in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
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written Saturday, January 3 2004 11:22
Profile
It's a shrine to depravity. Naturally. -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
| 999 posts! in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
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written Friday, January 2 2004 14:53
Profile
No, not too much. Speaking as his doppelganger, I declare him to be just the right size. -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
| Happy Hogmanay in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
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written Wednesday, December 31 2003 06:55
Profile
I miss the days when you used to lay siege to Newcastle then we'd butcher you and chuck you off cliffs. -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
| Why? in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
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written Tuesday, December 30 2003 10:02
Profile
It's only an insulting term if you think the elderly are lesser people, ADoS. I've never had much interest in the question. We're here and we can't change things so that we never were. So the question is what to do now that we're here. -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
| Merry Christmas/Kwanza in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
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written Wednesday, December 24 2003 13:44
Profile
Why don't Catholics celebrate Hanukkah? Since Hanukkah relates to the Maccabees and since Maccabees 1 and 2 are part of the Apocrypha, surely it should therefore be a Catholic festival. -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
| What are some of your favorite movies? in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
|
written Wednesday, December 24 2003 02:28
Profile
Aardman have been doing a few things, but most of their stuff is work in progress or made for Britihs TV. -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
| What are some of your favorite movies? in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
|
written Tuesday, December 23 2003 14:01
Profile
I think brachiosaurus height is probably a little excessive, though. Thing is, Theoden's lot did kill a few, when they had precious few bows and the oliphaunts had platoons of archers on top. My main point is that it's a suicidal thing to do, but Theoden isn't supposed to be that suicidal. -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
| Should there be a new competition at Spidweb? in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
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written Tuesday, December 23 2003 03:25
Profile
There is a competition at Spiderweb. -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
| What are some of your favorite movies? in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
|
written Tuesday, December 23 2003 03:23
Profile
It has to be said that one of the major reasons I didn't enjoy the RotK was to do with the book. Jackson's oliphaunts just weren't as good. They were too big, so you expected them to destroy whole cities individually and they got slaughtered by cavalry. Cavalry! About the only more stupid thing would be cavalry succeeding against camels, and that's doubtful. However, just because you've read the book, doesn't mean the film won't be better. Certain things just don't work on screen and sometimes the director clears up black spots in the books or reorganises things so they fit to gether better. -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
| Saddam Huu-What'shisface in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
|
written Tuesday, December 23 2003 03:14
Profile
Sharia just forbids charging interest. There are workarounds. Of course, western mercantilism didn't really get started until restrictions on usury were lifted and allowing outsiders to perform the profession just led to pogroms and it doesn't seem to me that Iraq might be any successful in that respect. David, it's hard to quantify corruption and decreased revenue is often due to the defeated party heading for Switzerland with half the nation's treasury. That's not to say that insurgents are saints, but it's by no means true that all of them are more corrupt than their predecessors. A popular revolution will (usually, Fiji is an example where this isn't completely true) be more interested in the welfare of the people that a military junta. Of course, they all too frequently tend to start caring for the poor and oppressed on the other side of their borders and escalate their defence budgets to levels that only the American economy can support, causing famine. David, I think you'd have just as many, if not more, problems if you made clear that America would be staying there for the forseeable future plus a decade. Wahhabism is strong across the middle east and the Shia lost any love for America when Bush Snr. didn't support their uprising and when every American government since the end of Gulf War I bombed their areas on a fairly regular basis. Iraq has communist, nationalist, monarchist, Islamicist militant and moderate, Sunni and Shi'ite parties and virtually every combination of those (including monarchist communists) and then it has those people who just want the electricity back, a good food supply, working schools and hospitals and not to have soldiers breaking down their doors at midnight and behaving in a threatening manner. The first group would never be satisfied with your suggestion and the second won't be until things reach at the very least the pre-invasion level and more likely a good deal above. -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
| What are some of your favorite movies? in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
|
written Sunday, December 21 2003 08:54
Profile
Jude Law can be good, but Enemy at the Gates was pretty terrible. I've got the book, which is non-fiction and covers a much wider scope than just Zaitsev on both sides. Enemy at the Gates is just too weak and somehow is more boring than the book or the reality. Incidentally, I read the book after I saw the film. Aside from the ones already named, I feel I ought to mention Cross of Iron. I also feel I really ought to get round to seeing more of Sam Peckinpah's work. -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
| Saddam Huu-What'shisface in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
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written Sunday, December 21 2003 07:56
Profile
Motrax, that's implying that the problem is with the people for being ruled by a dictator. The real problem is with the country for making dictatorship the most effective government system there. Just removing a dictator and hanging around for a few years changing policies is no use whatsoever. You need to build up the infrastructure, put in place an apolitical, accountable and honest bureaucracy and give the people a stake in the new government. And by a stake I don't just mean a vote. The problem with much of the third world is that few people own land and average income is pretty tiny with virtually no hard cash saved, so the government gets little revenue from tax. This means governments are not very accountable to their own people, depending instead on wealth from foreign businesses. This either means you get dictators of the friendly variety who we hear little about and almost never depose or the products of popular uprisings against the first type of dictator. Of course, these categories are not completely defined. Almost every dictator feels a need to grandstand to his people, no matter what his affiliation and innumerable Marxist guerillas have suddenly moved to the right when they occupied the presidential palace. Unless you're content to let two thirds of the world's population live in standards the other one third wouldn't allow to be used for a condemned prisoner, there are only two solutions. One is to engage in land reform, by force if financial solutions cannot be worked out. This road is likely to lead to a lot of international disapproval and spilt blood, but would eventually give such a state a good basis to work from. The troubles could be greatly reduced if there was international support and foreign nations were prepared to prevent any bloodshed by stepping in. The other is imperialism. Whilst the colonised nation has a much richer nation paying its bills, this would lead to innumerable problems. Firstly, since the colonised country would not have the vote, it would be the first thing to suffer a budget cut. Secondly, improvements in infrastructure would have to be balanced against the potential for human rights abuses, since no matter how much some might welcome it at first, chances are imperialism wouldn't be popular amongst the imperialised for long. Thirdly, you'd have the problem of a deliberate or accidental brain drain from the colonised nation to the coloniser. This wouldn't stop when the imperialism did. Fourthly, I don't believe that the imperialiser would give up the colony with everything pertaining to it easily, no matter how noble its intentions. Either approach might work if it was followed unflinchingly for three or four decades, but I doubt that any of the G8 nations would have the stomach to do so, and it's anyway unthinkable that any G8 nation with the possible exception of Russia and maybe Japan might have the same party in power for that long. -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
| What music (if any) are you listening to... in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
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written Sunday, December 21 2003 07:10
Profile
People curse under pressure. It's human nature. And music is intended to convey emotions. In certain cases cursing may not work, but in many cases, particularly towards the harder end of rock or in rap, it can be very effective. And provided it's not the focus of the song, I don't think you can say that swearing has no meaning. To say that overuse makes cursing meaningless is like saying that the word 'road' is now meaningless because there are many more than there once were. Inertiac Esp - The Mars Volta Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt - The Mars Volta [ Sunday, December 21, 2003 07:11: Message edited by: Distantly Bemused ] -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
| Saddam Huu-What'shisface in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
|
written Thursday, December 18 2003 09:56
Profile
I would say ythe Shariah law, but quite frankly large parts of the US would be quite happy to have it. Aside from which, if Turkey's a paragon of democracy I think it might be better to be a despotism. Nothing personal, but Ifind Turkey's repeated human rights violations and brutal police tactics somewhat disturbing. The resistance isn't, so far a I understand, just 'we hate America' types. Plenty of Iraqi's have been pushed in that direction because the infrastructure's collapsed or due to the lack of sensitivity displayed by some US troops. -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
| What are YOU doing for Christmas? in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
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written Thursday, December 18 2003 09:43
Profile
SD, Jame didn't say that he was talking about the Christian God in particular. He said that was Christ was not the son of a god and that there is indeed no god. It's not a proper noun, so it's perfectly acceptable. Aside from which, if he forgives everything else, I really don't think he damns you for incorrect capitalisation. -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |
| Artistic ambitions in General | |
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This Side Towards Enemy
Member # 3098
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written Thursday, December 18 2003 09:36
Profile
I write the occasional short article, around 500 words or so. The quality's low and the subject matter is treated in a tasteless manner, however. Aside from that, not much of note. -------------------- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned I'll tell you my story, man Though I wish I'd never been born I'm loose at the seams, I've broken my dreams And my hand it shakes the pen Come on, come on now baby, Let the good times roll again Posts: 961 | Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00 |