the_blob23

As Brasil advances into the later rounds, how much more playing time will Ronaldo arguably get? There are younger, more athletic players on the Brasilian team, so when is he likely to be benched?

Uh, no. When matter and antimatter come into contact, they annihilate each other. They are unbalanced, or I wouldn't be typing this message right now.

God is 'feeding' the universe energy? But energy can't be created or destroyed. How would this work? It seems to violate the conservation law. Please explain it to me, because I fail to understand where you're coming from. Nothing exists outside of the universe, so if God were to actually exist, he would have to exist within the universe. If God existed within the universe, I don't see how it would be possible for him to be omnipresent, as space and time exist entirely within the universe. Could you explain this as well?

Driving is pretty much identical, the speed limit is usually 65 mph on interstate highways, 75 mph in some states and 85(!) now in some parts of Texas. Tax varies; the US has no VAT, there is a sales tax in most states (usually about 6%). Sales tax is not factored into the price, so you'll end up paying more than what you see. Everyone pays federal income tax and most people, but not all, pay state income tax depending on where they live. I wouldn't worry about the science classes. Even kids who take regular biology, chemistry and physics for one year each don't have that much specific knowledge of the subjects. Science and math instruction is unfortunately terrible here at the high school level. I'm sure you'll have a much better understanding of science and math than the vast majority of your peers.

You're right--the FIFA rankings had a large impact on perception of the US national team. I think that FIFA needs to restructure its system, because the ranking of 2 for the Czech Republic was off, too. I was hoping that the US team could advance farther than the group stage, but I guess I'll have to wait for South Africa 2010.

If you're any good at math or science, you'll find the high school education in these subjects in the US is not up to par for a developed nation. In fact, you'll probably find the instruction here a joke. Our colleges are excellent, however. If you're interested in maintaing your education, you should take some college courses. The US and Canada are very similar. Hockey and soccer aren't as big here. TV shows are likely to be the same, with the absence of a major government channel like the CBC. Your parents will have to pay for private health insurance in the US, or you can opt for no insurance at all. The US is a nice place to live. The only thing that really sucks is that the drinking age is 21 here, rather than the more sensible 18 in Canada. :D

Thank you very much, guys. That really helps me out.

But there's also no proof that it is real. Therefore, until there is proof, it's not real.

Hey, guys. Right now, I have 32 prayer, and as I was looking over some quest recommendations, 43 appears to be the acceptable level. Is there any way to quickly and cheaply level prayer to 43 (I'm P2P but dead broke)? Also, I'm a little confused about the Ectofunctus. Is it some machine that gives you 4 times the exp? I've done Priest in Peril and read the prayer guide here but I'm still a little confused. Any help would be great. :D

There are so many ways to make money on P2P--better training spots, more to merchant, pure essence, fletching, etc. The list goes on and on...

Exactly what the method was :D

I disagree. Until something is discovered to exist, and there is some manifestation of that object actually existing, it is completely logical to say that the object doesn't exist. Could dragons and unicorns exist? They could, but we have no evidence that they do. So we say that they don't exist. That seems like sound logic to me. That's why I continue to say that the believers must have some sort of evidence for God's existence, because the status quo favors the nonaffiliated. But that doesn't really answer the question of existence. To say that God exists and theology offers proof of that existence is a circular argument, because theology takes into accout God's existence as a given. It's almost as if the believers are claiming, "God exists because I say so." While that's enough for many people, I think that believers will have to do better than that to convince the skeptics. I'm not condemning theology; I have great respect for the ideas of Reinhold Niebuhr and several others, but theology doesn't offer any proof of God's existence.

As someone who started at 70 mining and is going for 85, I would suggest setting aside a certain amount of time per day to mine. You never know when unexpected competition for the ore can come up. Generally, you're going to have to mine for hours everyday if you want to be to 85 quickly. Even if you go like 4 hours per day, it will probably take 3 weeks to a month to get there. Also, if you're P2P, don't go for iron. There is a much faster method available. If you're F2P, however, start powermining as soon as possible.

Train agility like mad. It's the only skill that carries over to F2P, and it will give you huge advantages once you go back. If you don't plan on going back to P2P, I would sell your members items with the intention of making as much profit as possible.

If you're the argumentative type, I would suggest a book: "Everything Bad Is Good For You" by Steven Johnson. He includes a whole section on how video games (specifically RPGs) encourage the development of complex thought processes. Very useful tool to unleash on the parental units... :D

I saw X3. So does Magneto still have his powers, or is he just marginally inclined? Those last bits are always the most cryptic...

Thank you very much. I can see that you put a lot of work into this. It would be great to see this as a sticky... :D Very useful diagram.

The Agility Arena is definitely the most fun, but I think the Agility Pyramid offers better exp. You tend to fail more there, though, making the training spot a tough decision...

Your mining level is enough to get you into the guild. If you stay with it, you can mine a few thousand coal there and make some money to start merchanting, or in your case, expand your capital so you have more money to merchant with. :D

Ah, well then let me enlighten you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Kyoto_Protocol_signatories http://www.ipcc.ch/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26065-2004Dec25.html George W. Bush quotation sourced from Foreign Affairs, "The End of the Bush Revolution", Philip Gordon. Vol 85, No. 4. My statement stands. Please, do us all a favor: put away the flamethrower and come in from the schoolyard.

Anyone think that Ghana's stunning run will continue? Just for fun, what are the odds on the Brasil-Ghana match?

I have to disagree with you. Scientists aren't "scared" of creationism in any way (in fact it seems to me like it is often the other way around). However, many creationists have made statements that contradict the available scientific evidence. The Earth is around 4.5 billion years old, and the universe is about 15 billion years of age. To claim that the entire Earth was created in a week (which many, but not all, creationists do) is patently absurd. But, far more importantly, we have to consider your challenge to science to "disprove" God. This will never happen. It is impossible to disprove the existence of God, but it is also impossible to prove the existence of a deity. I must remind you that the burden of proof rests upon the believers and not the athiests. We don't have to prove anything. You do. I'll use the example of the now-famous Flying Spaghetti Monster. I can certainly say that Flying Spaghetti Monsters are floating around, but if I have no evidence to prove my statement, than it is perfectly acceptable and logical to say that these creatures do not exist. The same goes with God.

The fact is, nearly every major government and scientific organization has recognized that global warming is human induced, that it has and will significantly affect global temperatures, and that it is tied to the volume of CO2 emissions. Even George W. Bush was quoted at the most recent G-8 Summit as saying global climate change was "a serious, urgent, and largely man made problem." I respect the original poster's experience with science, but to be quite frank, a geologist does not have significant scientific expertise or credibility on climate change. Climate scientists have near universal accord over the matter. To the poster that disagreed with the term "climate change", I have to say that not all usages of the term are an attempt to lessen its severity. For example, the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) works with the UN on global warming. I for one, find the two terms synonymous and use both when I write about this very serious issue.

Freddie Adu is a great player, and I absolutely love the guy. He's modest, sportsmanlike and athletic. I like him much more than the overrated Landon Donovan. That being said, I don't think Adu and Pele even belong in the same sentence. Pele is the greatest ever, and for good reason. Adu has yet to play a significant international match. Maybe in 15 to 20 years we can assess Adu's performance. On a side note, never believe media hype until it's backed up. This is what happened to the US national team (cover of SI, etc) and most of it turned out to be hot air.

Franz Beckenbauer has complained about the amount of yellow cards in this World Cup. Unfortunately, the penalty kick shouldn't have happened, but it did. The US has to regain some composure and play for the win. This team hasn't lived up to expectations, especially when compared with 2002.