Ack! None of the old skins work! And this one is so ugly! I dislike a lot the giant bar on top of the post with the name in it. Sidebar! Sidebar! And it's so big! And I love TC3.0... or any of the skins... and they don't work... bah. Stupid "upgrade".

Oh yeah, and in the 'new reply' area there's the box you type in then a complete page blank before the area ends and the post buttons are... and also the smilie box is broken, two rows and very long...

It just has big spaces between everything on the skin, and large boxes everywhere. Quite unpleasant. Conclusion is that it is bad.

I have no idea how to make the odd kind of thread that GR makes for his comics, so I'll just have to make a normal thread here for it.

Anyway...

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This is a story from a freind of a freind of mine,He had a cat named naked , It was one of those hairless cats with no fur at all.So as you may not have already guessed why he was named naked. One day my freind went out looking for his cat and said hi to his neighbor Roger who had a young son name steven who was 8 years old, The owners shouted out "Come here naked come here boy"! Calling out for his cat. Roger got steamed as he thought my freind was calling for his son , So he called the police and my freind got arrested for child abuse. All because he named his cat "Naked".

P.S the cat was found frozen like a Popsicle!

I'm at the moon, everybody! Come and join me!

Lame name, but I'm glad it's coming out so soon.

From IGN:

Quote:January 09, 2004 - The Xbox often gets left out when it comes to high-profile third-party games, though Konami has graced us with not only a Metal Gear game, but also a Silent Hill one. Unfortunately, we did miss out on the excellent Silent Hill 3. But things aren't as bad as they seem - we're officially getting Silent Hill 4.

This time around, the lead is male; Henry Townshend, to be more specific. He trapped inside his apartment that's been cursed by a deep, dark evil. To uncover the truth about cursed, Henry will have to travel through portals that lead him to alternate universes. Sounds cool - and scary.
From the screenshots, we can tell a couple of things. One, the game looks just as good if not better than Silent Hill 3. If you're one of the brave who played the last game, you'll know that is one of the most graphically-impressive games on any platform. The other thing we can tell is that the game's imagery will redefine what we gamers expect to see in a survival horror game. Other than that, we don't know much.

We'll have more on Silent Hill 4: The Room as Konami's Gamer Day 2004 commences. Don't forget to check the disturbing screenshots in the media page linked below.

Well, boy howdy y'all, looks like I'm right!
Bolded some parts for your viewing pleasure, rather, I would, but the whole thing would end up bolded. Great article.

http://truthnews.com/world/2002080105.htm

Quote: School Choice Ruling Sends Struggling Black Kids To The Head Of The Class

Mary Katherine Ascik, August 2002

Black Americans won a significant victory when the Supreme Court recently ruled that a Cleveland school vouchers program created to help children escape from substandard schools was constitutional.

The Ohio state legislature established the Ohio Pilot Scholarship Program in 1995 as a direct response to the failure of the Cleveland public school system. According to USA Today, public schools in Cleveland "fell short on every state standard for minimum acceptable performance in the mid-1990s." Students in the program receive scholarships to attend participating local private or suburban public schools. Parents can, alternatively, keep their children in local public schools but receive a grant for tutoring.

Cleveland's voucher program gives priority to students from low-income families who have no other choice than public schools. Sixty percent of current scholarship recipients are African-American.

Parent see school vouchers as a welcome alternative. Cleveland parent Joyce Thompson, whose daughter receives vouchers, explains: "I went to Cleveland public schools. My mom had no choice... My baby sister went to [private school]... Then she went to college. Now she's a school teacher. I want that kind of future for my own daughter."

Ms. Thompson is not alone in her support. A poll commissioned by the Cincinnati Enquirer found that 77 percent of African-Americans in Ohio support the Cleveland voucher program. Nationwide, a 1999 poll conducted by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies found 60 percent of blacks support school vouchers, up from 48 percent in 1998.

It's not hard to discover why vouchers are so popular. Black students are being left behind by our public educational system. According to statistics on black achievement from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 62 percent of black fourth graders, 68 percent of black eighth graders and 70 percent of black twelfth graders in public schools performed below a "basic" level in math in 2000. Just five percent of black fourth and eighth graders and two percent of black twelfth graders in public schools performed at or above a "proficient" level in math, and no black students performed at an "advanced" level.

Similarly, black public school students in the fourth, eighth, and twelfth grades have average national scores in math, science and U.S. history scores that are below the "basic" level for each grade. Seventy percent of black twelfth graders perform below a "basic" level in mathematics; 79 percent perform below a "basic" level in science and 81 percent perform below a "basic" level in U.S. history. These statistics are disgraceful, and they show that our society is failing black children.

Vouchers are providing children with a way out of failing public schools by giving parents the opportunity to send their kids to private schools where student achievement is higher. Private school students consistently outscore their public school counterparts in reading, writing, mathematics, science, U.S. history, geography and civics.

Providing black children who are trapped in substandard inner-city public schools with an alternative is having a profound impact. Cato Institute Director of Education and Child Policy Darcy Olsen notes: "If black students across the nation had the same scores as black students in private schools, the national black/white achievement gap would shrink from 33 points to 13 points." Her claim is backed up by results. Black students enrolled in a New York City voucher program for at least a year had average test scores 7.6 percentile points higher than counterparts who had never attended private school. Children in Milwaukee's voucher program, in which 62.4 percent of scholarship recipients are African-American, gained "11 normal curve equivalent (NCE) points in math and six NCE points in reading over a four year period," according to Manhattan Institute senior fellow Jay P. Greene.

Our children have been left behind by failing public schools for long enough. The Supreme Court's decision removes the blockade that members of the powerful public education establishment have erected, and gives parents the opportunity to give their children the quality education they ought to be receiving.

Quote: From the Commanding Officer at MWSS-171 to his Marines.

Marines and Sailors,

As we approach the end of the year I think it is important
to share a few thoughts about what you've accomplished directly,
in some cases, and indirectly in many others. I am speaking about
what the Bush Administration and each of you has contributed by wearing
the uniform, because the fact that you wear the uniform contributes
100% to the capability of the nation to send a few onto the field to
execute national policy. As you read about these achievements you are
a part of I would call your attention to two things:

1. This is good news that hasn't been fit to print or report on TV.

2. It is much easier to point out the errors a man makes when he makes
the tough decisions, rarely is the positive as aggressively pursued.

Since President Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1...

....... the first battalion of the new Iraqi Army has graduated and is on
active duty.

....... over 60,000 Iraqis now provide security to their fellow citizens.

....... nearly all of Iraq's 400 courts are functioning.

....... the Iraqi judiciary is fully independent.

....... on Monday, October 6 power generation hit 4,518 megawatts-exceeding
the prewar average.

....... all 22 universities and 43 technical institutes and colleges are
open, as are nearly all primary and secondary schools.

....... by October 1, Coalition forces had rehabed over 1,500 schools - 500
more than scheduled.

....... teachers earn from 12 to 25 times their former salaries.

....... all 240 hospitals and more than 1200 clinics are open.

....... doctors salaries are at least eight times what they were under
Saddam.

....... pharmaceutical distribution has gone from essentially nothing to 700
tons in May to a current total of 12,000 tons.

....... the Coalition has helped administer over 22 million vaccinations to
Iraq's children.

....... a Coalition program has cleared over 14,000 kilometers of Iraq's
27,000 kilometers of weed-choked canals which now irrigate tens of thousands
of
farms. This project has created jobs for more than 100,000 Iraqi men and
women.

....... we have restored over three-quarters of prewar telephone services
and over two-thirds of the potable water production.

....... there are 4,900 full-service telephone connections. We expect 50,000
by year-end.

....... the wheels of commerce are turning. From bicycles to satellite
dishes to cars and trucks, businesses are coming to life in all major cities
and towns.

....... 95 percent of all prewar bank customers have service and first-time
customers are opening accounts daily.

....... Iraqi banks are making loans to finance businesses.

....... the central bank is fully independent.

....... Iraq has one of the worlds most growth-oriented investment and
banking laws.

....... Iraq has a single, unified currency for the first time in 15 years.

....... satellite TV dishes are legal.

....... foreign journalists aren't on 10-day visas paying mandatory and
extortionate fees to the Ministry of Information for "minders" and other
government spies.

....... there is no Ministry of Information.

....... there are more than 170 newspapers.

....... you can buy satellite dishes on what seems like every street corner.

....... foreign journalists (and everyone else) are free to come and go.

....... a nation that had not one single element - legislative, judicial or
executive - of a representative government, now does.

....... in Baghdad alone residents have selected 88 advisory councils.
Baghdad's first democratic transfer of power in 35 years happened when
the city council elected its new chairman.

....... today in Iraq chambers of commerce, business, school and
professional organizations are electing their leaders all over the country.

....... 25 ministers, selected by the most representative governing body in
Iraq's history, run the day-to-day business of government.

....... the Iraqi government regularly participates in international events.

Since July the Iraqi government has been represented in over two dozen
international meetings, including those of the UN General Assembly, the
Arab League, the World Bank and IMF and, today, the Islamic Conference
Summit.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs today announced that it is reopening
over 30 Iraqi embassies around the world.

....... Shia religious festivals that were all but banned, aren't.

....... for the first time in 35 years, in Karbala thousands of Shiites
celebrate the pilgrimage of the 12th Imam.

....... the Coalition has completed over 13,000 reconstruction projects,
large and small, as part of a strategic plan for the reconstruction of Iraq.

....... Uday and Queasy are dead - and no longer feeding innocent Iraqis to
the zoo lions, raping the young daughters of local leaders to force
cooperation, torturing Iraq's soccer players for losing games, or murdering
critics.

....... children aren't imprisoned or murdered when their parents disagree
with the government.

....... political opponents aren't imprisoned, tortured, executed, maimed,
or are forced to watch their families die for disagreeing with Saddam.

....... millions of long suffering Iraqis no longer live in perpetual terror.

....... Saudis will hold municipal elections.

....... Qatar is reforming education to give more choices to parents.

....... Jordan is accelerating market economic reforms.

....... the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded for the first time to an Iranian
-- a Muslim woman who speaks out with courage for human rights, for
democracy
and for peace.

....... Saddam is gone.

....... Iraq is free.

....... President Bush has not faltered or failed.

....... Yet, little or none of this information has been published by the
Press corps that prides itself on bringing you all the news that's
important.

Iraq under US lead control has come further in six months than Germany
did in seven years or Japan did in nine years following WWII. Military
deaths from fanatic Nazi's, and Japanese numbered in the thousands and
continued for over three years after WWII victory was declared.

It took the US over four months to clear away the twin tower debris, let
alone attempt to build something else in its place.

Now, take into account that Congress fought President Bush on every
aspect of his handling of this country's war and the post-war
reconstruction;
and that they continue to claim on a daily basis on national TV that this
conflict has been a failure.

Taking everything into consideration, even the unfortunate loss of our
brothers and sisters in this conflict, do you think anyone else in the world
could have accomplished as much as the United States and the Bush
administration in so short a period of time?

These are things worth writing about. Get the word out. Write to someone
you think may be able to influence our Congress or the press to tell the
story.

Above all, be proud that you are a part of this historical precedent.

God Bless you all and God Bless America.

From the Commanding Officer at MWSS-171 to his Marines.

It's a debate that ABF, DJ, and I are running through. DJ doesn't understand why people like one team and hate others. ABF and myself say that it relates to pride in your regional team, but DJ says that you shouldn't feel pride in the team because you are not physically part of the team. DJ states that you should applaud good plays and boo bad plays no matter the team.

I though it might be more interesting to have the debate here instead on MSN. Much easier that way.

Extremely funny stuff.