HeyYou

No. There will never be peace there. And both sides are to blame. I don't know what the 'best' solution would be...... but, what we are doing now, (and have been for decades) sure isn't working. John Kerry seems to be more counter-productive than anything else. I read a quote in a newspaper article that stated something to the effect of: "John Kerry is now one up on Bush, he has actually prompted various parties in the middle east to unite.... against him....."

I hope no one is holding their breath waiting on Obama...... The reputed conversation between Obama, and Netanyahoo.... has been denied by both administrations. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if it weren't a paraphrased version of the actual convo.... But, of late, America seems to have a habit of taking the wrong side of various conflicts....

Did you get the stuff out of the My Games folder as well? (that is where the various ini files, and save games are stored.)

I suspect your processor is what is holding you back..... unfortunately, you are about at the top end for speed on that socket. You could conceivably replace the motherboard, and processor, with something a bit *meaner*, and re-use the rest of what you have. Or, buy a new system... depends on your budget. :D

Isn't that a violation of Sony's policies?

Trouble is, while what you say is completely true, Hamas still points at the civilian casualties, and cries to the world "Look what Israel is doing!" And there are enough bleeding hearts out there that public opinion starts to go against Israel. Doesn't seem to matter that it is common knowledge (from multiple sources, not all western media) that Hamas is indeed doing this on purpose. I think, if I were in Obama's place, I would make a public announcement that the US stands with Israel, and if Hamas wants to stop the civilian casualties, they can unconditionally surrender, and no one else needs to die.

Well, this certainly is a sticky situation.... Question becomes, who is right here? Or, at least, who is less wrong..... Given the current situation in Israel/Gaza, whom do you believe is mostly to blame for the CURRENT military action going on, and why? Do you think there should be a ceasefire, so that a 'path to peace' might be hammered out? Or, do you think that Israel should just tell the rest of the world to stuff it, continue with their current action, and FORCIBLY demilitarize Gaza? For my part, I am all for Israel in this particular instance. I don't believe there can EVER be peace, so long as Hamas exists as a viable military entity. I will grant you, that reducing them to something that is no longer a real threat, just isn't going to be easy, and, chances are real good there will be a great deal of civilian casualties. I lay that squarely at the feet of Hamas. They are the ones hiding behind civilians, discouraging them leaving conflict areas..... and in my opinion, for the express purpose of being killed by Israeli weapons, so the court of public opinion sees the large numbers, and basically coerces Israel into yet another 'agreement', that solves nothing, and pretty much only guarantees that we are going to go thru this song and dance again. I will grant that Israel is not totally blameless here either. Some of their policies are not what we would consider 'completely legal'. Chiefly, settlement building. Most of the world recognizes that a fair few of them are indeed illegal, and in direct violation of international law. Israels answer to that? Annex the land, and make it part of Israel, or, pass laws, that 'legitimize' said settlements. Of course, by international law, that really changes nothing, but, it gives the Israelis something to point at, and say: "This is perfectly legal by Israeli law." This is a situation the US has been poking at for decades, and the situation hasn't changed at all. (aside from Israel picking up some more land.) Personally, I don't think EITHER side wants peace, or, a two-state solution. Unfortunately, I don't think this will ever be fully resolved, until one side, or the other, are all dead...... Not a pretty picture.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/280x200q90/539/73c95e.jpg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8K16ZRt2zs One wonders why the obvious is so elusive to some. November cannot come quickly enough. Common sense isn't common. Patently obvious isn't obvious. I have come to expect nothing but stupidity from those within the beltway in DC.

@Granny: You have some very valid points. In all reality, I do not expect government to solve the problem, or even mitigate to an acceptable level. If, by some miracle...... they actually managed to accomplish what you suggest, (closing the border, deporting the illegals, etc.) there might actually BE expanded opportunities for folks that are here legally. Granted, not all of those opportunities are things that folks would like to picture themselves doing, not to mention that the absence of dirt cheap, stoop-laborers (read that: manual harvesting of various crops) would have an impact all its own. (prices for some foodstuffs would go up, due to labor costs going up.) So, there would always be some bad with the good.... but, everything in life has it's compromises. I think we could learn to live with that. Quality of education here in the states is an entirely separate issue, and deserves a thread all it's own. But, to briefly address that: We REALLY need to improve the quality of education here. We used to be number one. Now, I think, we are down to number 9, or, 35, depending on whose study you look at...... Think the first thing that needs to happen is get the federal government OUT of the education business. They seem to have the schmidas touch. (everything they touch turns to feces.) The decline of the american education system roughly coincides with the creation of the department of education...... I am also a firm believer that free trade agreements spelled the impending doom of the american middle class, that was built on the manufacturing industry. Most of our manufacturing is no longer on our shores. As those jobs went overseas, thanks to various moves by our beloved federal government...... (free trade agreements, tax breaks for 'creating jobs in developing nations', etc.) with them, went the middle class. All in the name of cheaper products. Which we didn't actually see. Corporations posted higher profits, but, americans did NOT see the lower prices promised by such moves. (why is it, a Dodge truck, made in mexico, by workers making 5 bucks an hour, costs the same as a Dodge truck made in the US, by workers making three or more times that?) In any event..... if you will notice, there is a common theme with ALL of these problems. To wit: Our federal government...... which is pretty much directly controlled by corporate money. Which is further aided by the supreme courts various rulings that corporations are people, etc, etc, etc. @Vagrant0: Yep, that would most certainly work, but, the liberals, and all of their assorted associations, would never let it happen. :D

First problem I see with this is: The government isn't in the business of 'solving' problems. More like "exploiting" them. Second problem I see is the belief that we still have "Government of the people, by the people, for the people." The supreme court destroyed that notion when they decided the corporations are people too, and there shouldn't be any limits on their "free speech". (I.E. campaign spending.) Giving people a basic education, so that they might take advantage of opportunities to better themselves, also implies that there ARE opportunities out there. Of late, that does not seem to be the case. Not to mention that our education system has been slowly sliding down the list of 'best countries for an education'..... The only thing government is good at, is spending money. Doesn't really seem to matter to them whether there is any return on the investment, just so long as it gives the appearance of 'doing something' about some problem or other.

Probably because someone makes some big bucks off of it Granny...... and passes it along to various and sundries so that they WILL turn a blind eye...... I suspect another reason this one doesn't get solved is, it makes a nice hot-button issue (like gay marriage, and gun control) to distract us from the larger idiotic things our government is doing.

Russia annexed Crimea, why cant the US annex Mexico? Would certainly solve a few problems.... (and create a few others....) I rather like your idea. :D

No tool that I am aware of. I think for the previous games, someone (or more than one...) just went thru and deleted everything..... Just leaving the landscape records.

I do believe one senator put forth that he could solve the current issues for less than 8 million dollars. Mostly to be spent on jet/bus fuel. Sure beats the snot out of 3.7 BILLION.

We already have hard and fast laws, it just seem that our government chooses not to enforce them, and corporate america buys new ones, for the cheap labor they can get.

Either that, or get Wrye Mash.....

I suspect that UK isn't going to be a member state for much longer....... We don't even have a "north american union", and our borders might just as well not even be patrolled, for all the good it does. Even when the feds CATCH illegals, 9 times out of 10 they are released again, and told to "show up for your hearing", which less than 25% do... the rest are still here..... The US needs to take a hard line on illegals, and start deporting them wholesale. No hearings, no catch and release, nada. Just a bus/plane ticket back to your country of origin.

Does that also apply to children of illegals in most countries?? Edit: Looked it up, about two dozen countries have unrestricted jus soli. A few more have restricted versions. (one parent must already be a citizen, or, at the very least, in the country LEGALLY) And India completely abolished it because of...... illegal immigration..... Imagine that.

Oh really? http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/466039/Illegal-Immigrant-Mohammed-Zulfiqar-fights-deportation-on-human-rights-grounds It seems that the UK does. It's a much used exploit in order to stay here in the UK and screw the benefits system. Ask Abu Hamza now that you have him over there...we're still paying his wife and kids. Wow. Another country with politicians as stupid as the US, I must say, I AM surprised....

have a look here.

No other country grants citizenship to babies born within their borders to illegal immigrants. We have tried amnesty in the past to 'solve' this particular problem, each time, the number of illegals coming into the country ROSE. We need to actually adequately control our borders, take a much harsher stance on illegals, those that hire them, and those that shelter them. If you are here illegal, and you get caught, you get deported. End of story. No welfare, no free health care, no drivers license, nothing. A bus ticket out. That's it.

Heheheeh. I would tend to agree with you, but, please note, I did NOT mention sex purely for pleasure. I don't think modern science has come up with an alternative for that yet. :D

With surrogate mothers, artificial insemination, and a host of other medical procedures, we can actually render sex for reproduction obsolete today......

Provided neither have it when they are married, they don't exhibit behavior conducive to contracting it, (unprotected sex outside of the marriage, intravenous drug use, etc.), and don't pick it up from a dirty needle in a doctors office, unscreened blood transfusion, etc. That would work. Of course, that goes for just about every STD......

Just because someone holds a high position, does not necessarily imply that you should take whatever they say as fact. Blind worship is just as much a fallacy as questioning everything, regardless of who is saying it. (of course, when it comes to politicians, you should ALWAYS fact check what they are trying to pass off.) comparing a dogs mouth, to a humans, is apples to oranges. Yeah, dogs do indeed have some truly disgusting habits...... but, they have a different set of bacteria in their mouths, with some overlap with humans. "Cleaner" is a relative term. :D In all reality, I would rather kiss my dog, than a fair few people I have met. Edit: Also, this is one of those 'hot button' topics that there are two distinct spheres of thought. Of course it is going to get emotional. Right up there with climate change, gun control, and creationism/evolution.