NoCalMike

Bush being re-elected in 2004 makes just about anything seem possible in our future, until proven otherwise.

To me though, I just don't understand how 21 is deemed some magical age where people are suddenly responsible enough to drink. I had plenty of beer & liquor before I was 21 and it resulted in harmless fun with friends, while at the same time plenty of people over 21 were getting DUIs and into fights etc etc etc. The problem with a law like this that it is not judging people on their individual merits as a person. Like I said, I just break it down to being a legal adult. Once you are a legal adult you should have the same privelages and penalties as any other adult no matter their age.

Well the question is, has anyone really had that hard a time getting alcohol/getting drunk before they were of legal age? Just like Marijuana, is there anyone you know that has actually really wanted to try it, but refused to merely because it was "illegal" ? Plenty of other countries have a lower drinking age and you don't see teenagers lining up to get drunk or passed out all over the place. I'd say the binge drinking culture of college has nothing to do with the age of the students and more to do with the lifestyle itself. If you are a legal adult at 18 then you should get all the luxuries and consequences of being an adult.

Ok, but if I have a TV that doesn't do 720p, what happens when I am dealing with channels broadcast in 720p? Or do all HD channels broadcast in 1080i now and/or does the HD-box upgrade the signal to 1080i......!?!

I like the game overall, but one glaring problem I still have a major gripe with is the fact that linebackers seem to make all sorts of acrobatic, split second, over-the-shoulder, diving, jumping etc etc etc interceptions while at the same time you can have your cornerback placed in perfect position to make an interception, and they drop at least four out of five of them whether you are controling them or the AI is controlling them. It gets frustrating when playing online.

Ok a couple of questions: 1) So networks are only broadcasting right now in either 720p or 1080i so not having a 1080p tv is not going to hurt anything as far as HD TELEVISION CHANNELS go, correct? How does the rare setting of 540p come into play? I have a Toshiba 46H84 and from everything I read it doesn't even work with 720p, the options are 1080i or 540p. How does 540p come into play here? 2) Was there any truth to the rumors that manufactuers were making tv models for Wal-Mart stores with cheaper internal parts that break down faster? I know that Wal Mart and Sams Club are the same, yet find it kind of odd that a couple of the same sets/models are $2-300 less at Wal Mart then they are at Sams Club.

Is this with pretty much the DLP technology itself, or just 1st-gen DLP, older DLP?????

Not a fan of "Manvil" or better yet the hype he is getting so early in his MMA career. All I have seen from the guy is the ability to take down other rooks, and basically lay on them and roll around, and then last week he gets KTFO by Emerson.

I remember a couple of years ago, DLP was all the rage and was like the "new thing" in HDTV....lately it has basically fallen back into the pack..... I saw a Sony 56" flat panel DLP 1080p advertised for $1499. Seems like a hell of a price. Can someone here knowlegable on the subject list the pros and cons of the DLP technology for me and the rest of us? The only time I've really seen a DLP in action besides in a store was at a friend of a friend's house. It looked really good, but it seemed to have laggy-ness when changing channels and when you turned the tv power on it took a good minute seemingly to start up. Of course this was a couple of years ago when the technology was newer.

Well the first question is, will the remake be more true to the original NOES, where Freddy barely talked, and wasn't throwing out one-liners before every kill, or is it going to take the NOES 3-6 approach where Freddy is part comedian and party serial killer. I am not to keen on Billy Bob as Freddy, but then again not many people were down with Ledger as Joker a couple of years ago......... I guess I am more disgusted with the thought of a NOES remake that, it kind of doesn't matter at this point who is in the cast. Until I see some footage or a trailer to convince me otherwise, I have a feeling this is going to be as over-glossed and polished and boring as the TCM & Halloween remake.

Personally, I like both fighters. I am a fan of both. I just think Penn doesn't get the respect he deserves as a fighter and for the skills he has. I think this is definately going to be one hell of a war and it could come down to who makes the first mistake. This is definately a super-fight and I can't fucking wait. (Do I need the banner in my sig for the next five months or was placing in this post enough to get me into the contest?)

I am picking the game up from Gamestop on the way home from the gym. I have a PS3, if anyone wants to play against me, hit me up later tonight if you see me online, PS3: Cryptkeeper666

File this one under "OMG Obama's going to raise taxes ahhhhhhhhhh" Cause, yeah if you aren't paying ANY taxes, then having to pay them period, would be considered a tax hike.... Most companies in US avoid federal income taxes http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080812/ap_on_...ions_income_tax WASHINGTON - Two-thirds of U.S. corporations paid no federal income taxes between 1998 and 2005, according to a new report from Congress. The study by the Government Accountability Office, expected to be released Tuesday, said about 68 percent of foreign companies doing business in the U.S. avoided corporate taxes over the same period. Collectively, the companies reported trillions of dollars in sales, according to GAO's estimate. "It's shameful that so many corporations make big profits and pay nothing to support our country," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who asked for the GAO study with Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. An outside tax expert, Chris Edwards of the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington, said increasing numbers of limited liability corporations and so-called "S" corporations pay taxes under individual tax codes. "Half of all business income in the United States now ends up going through the individual tax code," Edwards said. The GAO study did not investigate why corporations weren't paying federal income taxes or corporate taxes and it did not identify any corporations by name. It said companies may escape paying such taxes due to operating losses or because of tax credits. More than 38,000 foreign corporations had no tax liability in 2005 and 1.2 million U.S. companies paid no income tax, the GAO said. Combined, the companies had $2.5 trillion in sales. About 25 percent of the U.S. corporations not paying corporate taxes were considered large corporations, meaning they had at least $250 million in assets or $50 million in receipts. The GAO said it analyzed data from the Internal Revenue Service, examining samples of corporate returns for the years 1998 through 2005. For 2005, for example, it reviewed 110,003 tax returns from among more than 1.2 million corporations doing business in the U.S. Dorgan and Levin have complained about companies abusing transfer prices — amounts charged on transactions between companies in a group, such as a parent and subsidiary. In some cases, multinational companies can manipulate transfer prices to shift income from higher to lower tax jurisdictions, cutting their tax liabilities. The GAO did not suggest which companies might be doing this. "It's time for the big corporations to pay their fair share," Dorgan said.

That Penn would have taken GSP down, in that specific situation. No way is BJ going to have him shot & wrapped up and then proceed to allow GSP to hop around on one leg all the way across the Octagon. Fitch was a tough mutha, but he was very out-classed. BJ Penn in the same situation wouldn't be. This isn't to say BJ Penn would win or not, but in GSP's fight with Fitch, there were plenty of eye opening moments where it is conceivable that a better fighter would have better taken advantage of the situation.

I'd say at this stage in BJ Penn's career, the time is right to move up and take on the biggest money fights available. He isn't old, but by no means is a young gunner either. What else does BJ have to prove in his weight class? Hell, the bloated, "I don't take training seriously" Penn of 2 years ago could still beat most guys at 155.

So yeah I know these questions are getting redundunt, but I don't feel like searching the entire thread for an answer. So I have an older HDTV, just a 1080i and only one HDMI input. I enquired about Dish Networks HD programming and it would only cost me $10 more a month for the gold package(they finally got back to me). Now, since I only have one HDMI input and it is currently being used by my PS3, I could either a) buy an HDMI port from monoprice, or just hook up the Dish HD Box to the HD inputs(Component). Now, when I get back my tax return in Spring of 2009 I am getting a new TV that will have multiple HDMI inputs, however if I decide to go ahead and get the Dish HD stuff NOW, what is my best option? A) Go ahead and buy an HDMI port (HDMI is the best) or B) Just hook up the HD Dish Box to my Component hookups(which are labeled HD STream 1/2 on my TV) Is there a debate which offers the better picture? Or is the debate over and HDMI is preferred merely because it carries picture & sound?

Everytime Fitch tried to shoot in on GSP for the takedown and then I had to watch GSP hop around backwards on one foot to one side of the ring to the other, it just made me think that if that was BJ Penn in there it would have been a rather easy takedown. I can't wait to see GSP vs. Penn........

Ok Cool....I am usually either at work or out and about during the time the Skins preseason games come on since I live on the West Coast....if I happen to be home I can always use Sopcast!!!

So is NFL Network this preseason, still going to be doing the setup where they show mostly all the preseason games, just tape delayed and not live?

I don't think anyone in this thread, even Eric is arguing that a lot of business need the big gaz guzzling Trucks/SUVs. Fine. No one is griping about them. However, for every one of those legit needs, there is probably one to two people in suburbia buying similar vehicles for eye candy, people who have probably never placed more than a few items in that giant bed in the back of the truck, people who forgot that they do any "sporting" or "utility" driving. I would also say a large percentage are soccer moms who have been duped into the notion that these SUVs are safe because of their sheer size and have bought into the "Hey, as long as I am not the injured person on the road" sentiment when it comes to a car accident situation. Or even better the "This is America JACK, I can have it because I want it and no enviornmentalist is going to tell me otherwise" attitude

Anyone here work for or are familiar with Dish Network programming? They have this new TurboHD service, with about 100 HD channels currently and 150 by the end of the year. If I am reading the website promotions page correctly, then to get this package I would only be paying $10 then what I pay now, plus leasing the HD-DVR box but I pay a monthly fee to lease the SD-DVR box I do now so I am sure that $5 monthly charge is interchangable anyway. I have the everything pak which is listed as $95/mo, and then the same package, packaged with the HD Turbo Gold channels basically say "for $10 more...." So I am assuming I would be adding 100 HD Channels for $10 which seems like a hell of a deal. I just need to inquire with the company to make sure I am reading the promotion right and that the " for only $10 more...." thing is not just a promotional price.

So does the Madden IQ option render itself useless online when you are playing another person?

Basing your thoughts about California based on Van Nuys is a bad idea.

United States - By Tom Doggett WASHINGTON3 (Reuters) - While the U.S. oil industry want access to more federal lands to help reduce reliance on foreign suppliers, American-based companies are shipping record amounts of gasoline and diesel fuel to other countries. A record 1.6 million barrels a day in U.S. refined petroleum products were exported during the first four months of this year, up 33 percent from 1.2 million barrels a day over the same period in 2007. Shipments this February topped 1.8 million barrels a day for the first time during any month, according to final numbers from the Energy Department. The surge in exports appears to contradict the pleas from the U.S. oil industry and the Bush administration for Congress to open more offshore waters and Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. "We can help alleviate shortages by drilling for oil and gas in our own country," President Bush told reporters this week. "We have got the opportunity to find more crude oil here at home." "As a nation, we can have more control over our energy destiny by supplying more of the oil and natural gas we'll be consuming from resources here at home," Red Cavaney, president of the American Petroleum (otcbb: AMPE.OB - news - people ) Institute, said in a letter last week to U.S. lawmakers. But environmentalists and other opponents to expanding drilling areas could seize on the record exports to argue Congress should not open more acres if U.S. refineries are churning crude oil into petroleum products that are sent out of the American market. "It doesn't look good to say: 'We need more oil.' But then export the refined products that you're getting. It doesn't seem to be consistent," said Jim Presswood, energy lobbyist for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Well shit, my bad I didn't know that UFC 89 is free. Are you guys absolutely certain about this, has it been confirmed? If so, then I will be watching 89 regardless, and the real decision is between getting Affliction or UFC 90.