Selfish means thinking of oneself. It does not in itself imply that you cannot ALSO think of others. It does not have to mean ONLY thinking of oneself. All I'm trying to say is that your needs are as valid as anyone else's, and no-one should have to make a sacrificial animal of themselves in order for others to get their needs.

No it isn't - evil is f***ing priests preaching that it's a sin to think of yourself - this leads to some very screwed up and unhappy people. The problems arise when you ONLY think of yourself. The goal we should be aiming for is one where everyone's best interests are met - human, animal, the planet.... The trick is to realise that these are not mutually exclusive aims. Not only do we not have to kill half the planet off for our own needs and desires, but we shouldn't either - it really isn't in our best interest to do so.

Well at least you tried - that's the most any of us can do. Unfortunately the majority of people have convinced themselves either that animals don't feel pain or that what they do isn't worth being concerned about. We (Whites) used to feel the same about Black people once, but we grew up, eventually. But just as then, our feelings are only a mask to cover our desire to have what we want without concern for anything other than ourselves. Nothing wrong with selfishness per se, but one day we'll come to realise that we can serve our own interests even better if we look outside of ourselves at the same time.

so what are you going on about not being able to log in for? Oh never mind - it's evidently lost on you.... is there anything outside of GW that you can take in? (That's a rhetorical question btw.) And also, just in passing, a joke and a hoax are not the same thing.

...but 9 inches is SO much bigger than 9 centimetres.... ;)

there are good rulers, and there are bad rulers...

It's not a hoax - it's a joke! A one-page send-up/spoof. Wake up...

Having watched a documentary recently about some of the (very) sad people who populate Second Life[^], I can across this[^] recently... :laugh: (Could well apply to one or two people who frequent this forum, I might add...)

Vasudevan Deepak K wrote:

I have three incidents to share

So what's number 3? It's all very sad, but only to be expected from the selfish animal that is humankind. One day we'll evolve beyond our base animal instincts and behaviour, but we sure ain't there yet. We may be smarter, but we are a long way off being better.

Vasudevan Deepak K wrote:

God alone should interfere and save our rich culture and these poor friends

Sorry, but He doesn't have a very good track record. He drowned them all last time, if I remember... (and it was supposedly for OUR faults as well...)

Oh dear... I don't think you've got much idea of what .NET is all about, have you? If you haven't got it already, I suggest you download either Webmatrix or Web Developer 2005 Express Edition (both are free) from here[^] and, if you can't get hold of a good book do some online research[^] and start from the beginning.... good luck

Le Centriste wrote:

one billion

Giving Bush his daily war briefing, Donald Rumsfeld ended by saying: 'Yesterday, three Brazilian soldiers were killed.' 'Oh no!', exclaimed Bush. 'That's terrible.' His staff were stunned by this display of emotion. Finally Bush raised his head from his hands and asked: 'OK, so how many is a Brazillion?'

what was that about monkeys and typewriters...? :-D

So did I.... Hardly a classic game, but it was a great last 10 minutes or so... you have to say the Giants deserved it, but likewise have to wonder why the Patriots almost seemed not to care. Still, the same thing can happen in any sport: any one / any team can sometimes let the occasion get the better of them - how often have we, in the UK, been subjected to a dismal FA Cup final, for example... ok this game wasn't that bad, but it was far from being a great one all the same. But you have to admire the Giants' determination, and some great play at the end - congrats to 'em.

Only from conversations with a relative who lives there... I'm no expert on American laws in this matter and may well have it wrong - but there is a battle (of whatever legal status) between the two cities/towns over the water under Pahrump, that much I do know. I know LV has been unsuccessful in it's attempts - whatever they want, they cannot do it without the good citizens of Pahrump agreeing, and so far they have not. Perhaps if they were in the same county, Pahrump would have less say in the matter.

They no doubt did - but I guess they figured it was worth while running the gauntlet of a few pissed off parents as a trade-off for a shed-load of free publicity.

"Any publicity is good publicity", so the saying goes - and Woolworths have just bagged themselves front page news in every paper in the UK. While some people will condemn them for it, most won't really give a damn, and I'd be willing to bet that their sales do not suffer one jot because of this.

Here you go Karl, here's a subject to (no doubt) boil the blood of any good Frenchman (uh... no, no, I mustn't... :laugh: ) Au revoir Mister Franglais[^] I must say though, people are always very unfair about the English when it comes to foreign languages. I suspect that the only reason we have a (sort of) phobia about it is because whenever we do speak in one, we get laughed at. For example, when a Frenchman speaks English with their native accent everyone thinks it's wonderful - but when a Brit speaks French with an English accent it is considered a subject fit for ridicule. No wonder we give up. But really, objectively, why is one more risible than the other?

I remember reading this sort of thing 20 years ago - but the cause then was put down to the huge demands for water by industry, agriculture (and the two combined, of course) and the general population at large. Even then they were predicting water-shortages here (and elsewhere) to be a major problem in this century. A minor example: Pahrump, western Nevada, is in a continuous battle with Las Vegas which wants to incorporate it - the reason being that Pahrump is sitting atop a huge aquifer - water which LV desperately, desperately needs. This is an unpleasant political battle which could get quite nasty in years to come... Still, as we all know ( :) take a deep breath FB...) it isn't "global warming" but "climate change"... so who knows, maybe the deserts and plains of the western and mid- US will see an increase in rain.... Personally, I see the whole thing as a case of "que sera, sera". Neither the scientists nor the politicians of the world are going to agree enough to do anything (even if they could), so I really can't be bothered getting excited about it in advance - we'll just have to deal with whatever happens, when it happens.

This may help: http://blogs.msdn.com/tmeston/archive/2003/07/24/10505.aspx[^]

hmm... maybe it's acultural thing... ...talking of which, as a good SouthAfrican, maybe you'll appreciate this one (if you haven't heard it alreday) Jacob Zuma while visiting a Primary School, visits one of the classrooms. The class are in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings. The teacher asks the new ANC leader if he would to lead the discussion on the word 'Tragedy'. So the leader asks the class for an example of a tragedy. Josiah stands up and offers: "If my friend, who lives on a farm, is playing in the field and a runaway tractor comes along and knocks him dead, that would be a tragedy". "No "says Zuma, "that would be an 'accident'." Beauty raises her hand: "If a school bus, carrying 50 children, drove over a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would be a tragedy." "I'm afraid not" explains Zuma, "That's what we would call a 'great loss'." The room goes silent. No other children volunteer. Jakob Zuma searches the room. "Isn't there someone here who can give me an example of a tragedy?" Finally at the back of the class Sipho raises his hand. In a quiet voice he says: "If a jet, carrying you, your wife and most of the ANC ministers, is struck by a missile and blown to smithereens, that would be a tragedy." "Fantastic!" exclaims Zuma, "that's right. Now can you tell me why that would be a tragedy?. "Well" says Sipho, "because it wouldn't be a great loss, and it probably wouldn't be an accident either."