Comments:

1. itspast on April 29th, 2011 at 13:30:

   Divine right to rule the air ways? Seriously, people that want to suck up to the royals amaze me. Do you think they already here when the monkeys started walking on their feet or did god just add them later?

2. Desiato on April 29th, 2011 at 13:36:

   Et tu, John? There is no wedding-free zone to be had today.

3. Desiato on April 29th, 2011 at 13:36:

   Oops, forgot to check who posted. Should be “Et tu, Paul”.

4. Sue W on April 29th, 2011 at 16:13:

   Ah…isn’t that nice…tens of thousands of old ladies of both genders having orgasms for the first time in a long while.

   There’s the circus, now where’s the bread?

Comments:

1. Steffen on April 29th, 2011 at 22:48:

   Not even Creationism, it’s more than ironic that Religion itself it subject to evolution (cultural evolution).

   Were religion “intelligently designed”, then it would be completely different today. Martin Luther never wanted a new denomination. He wanted to reform the catholic church. But religion isn’t intelligently designed , something completely different happened: Luthers 95 theses were the crucial “mutation”, and a new “species” formed, which was better adapted to changed cultural circumstances in certain areas than catholicism.

   And this process goes on and on. Until today, and it will never stop. We have now Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, etc… someone once counted all christian denominations. The result was more than 30000 different denominations. Quite a diverse eco-system, isn’t it?

   Evolution in its finest form. And so much for the alleged “eternal, unchanged truth of religion”.

Comments:

1. Desiato on April 29th, 2011 at 9:46:

   Apparently Exxon-Mobil announced first quarter earnings of $10.7 billion, up 69 percent.

2. Desiato on April 29th, 2011 at 13:14:

   P.S. Apple’s cash & stock of $65B is more than twice Dell’s $30B market cap. I wonder what they’re going to end up buying with it. (Obviously not Dell.)

   P.P.S. Back in 1997, Microsoft’s $150mln was a valuable cash injection for Apple… and if they’d held on, Msft would own >$5B worth of Apple stock now. Things change…

Comments:

1. John Sinteur on April 29th, 2011 at 21:40:

   [Quote]:
   

   I think what’s being overlooked here is the nature of the economy in the Empire, as opposed to the more peaceful Republic that preceded it. In order to facilitate his rise to power, Papltine manufactured a war and in so doing created a vast military-industrial complex that I believe came to be the true power behind the throne.

   The MI complex, in order to ensure that it continues to be funded, wanted the Death Star – a massive, complex, and costly project. Note that construction of the first Death Star is begun at the end of RotS – a full twenty years before it becomes operational. There is no efficiency here – just a bunch of contractors over-promising and under-delivering for years and years on a new weapon system, all in the pursuit of more and more lucrative contracts. The Emperor has no choice – to continue his hold on power, he needs the backing of the MI complex, and so it continues. The Emperor needs a strong military to keep control, and the military needs the government to keep funding it.

   As for the design flaw – the small thermal exhaust port right below the main port – I believe it to be deliberate. In order to continue justifying the expenditures on the military, there has to be a credible threat somewhere…and let’s face it, the Rebels, able to field an attack force of some twenty stunt fighters at the Battle of Yavin, isn’t really a threat in the face of the Empire vast military might – but the design "flaw" (once leaked) allows the Rebels to win an amazing victory, destroying this amazing weapon. It’s a huge win for the Rebels, and a massive propaganda gain for the Empire – look at how dangerous the Rebels are! We need to build more ships! More stormtroopers! Another Death Star! The enemies are real and out there!

   If the Empire had truly wanted to destroy the Rebel base at Yavin, they would have brought about a dozen Star Destroyers, blockaded the moon, and landed several thousand stoomtroopers to clean up after a bombardment both from orbit and from TIE fighters.

   The Emperor and his backers in the MI complex need the Rebels to keep the level of fear and threat high, to justify the continued expenditures on a large military presence. The destruction of Alderaan is small potatoes in comparison to ensuring the continuation of the power structure that has emerged in the wake of Papltine’s rise to the throne.