i fixed it. want to know how??????????!?!?!?!?!
i had to delete the comments from the beginning of the scripts, delete the php opener tag, retype it, and make sure i had code at the first line of each script i wanted to include.
WHY on earth, if its a tag issue, doesnt php5 generate an error for it!?!??!?!?
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR