The RPG Duelling League
Social Forums => General Chat => Topic started by: Grefter on December 19, 2007, 11:08:55 PM
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Well it is fitting that I start this up since I am the one that spams it.
http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=937312&topic=40207129
More waaaah they changed FFT translation. It is no longer God but Gods!!!!!!!!! Because you cannot represent the Catholic Church with a Polytheistic religion at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Edit - This thing that flags your posts with things going over the page is very nice. Edit - Dang it is just standard edit icon, my bad.
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http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/2007/12/19/scotland_rape/index.html (http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/2007/12/19/scotland_rape/index.html)
Goooo Scotland! Build that bridge to the 20th century!
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http://www.criminaljustice.state.ny.us/missing/i_safety/videoaddiction/violence_hi.wmv
"So I find a prostitute and they're super hard to kill..."
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http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/gentopic.php?board=584586
Bionic Breakthrough. It has a silly and soon to be purged RI topic from 2001 where a rather funny poster named The One Truth did a RI topic about Scum. I posted in it then, had some fun with it, and popped in over the years to make sure the topic survived.
Naturally some idiot found it, linked to it on CE, and it got flooded. While this is stupid enough, the people in morning over a topic that existed years before they had an inkling about Gamefaqs is even stupider. It sucks all around and everyone involved needs a bat to the face.
I should actually invite TOT to the DL. He's pretty funny.
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How the hell did it get 506 replies? There's a couple of minutes between message 500 and the last one.
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http://www.truthism.com/
Oh, where to begin.
Women are ultra-impressionable beings, and therefore are easily controlled by aliens and the elite. The main purpose of women on Earth (that is, what aliens have programmed them to do) is to enslave men via relationships. Women are obsessed with relationships and love (due to alien programming), and don't care about anything else in life. They would have men believe that being in a relationship is one of the most important things in existence, not realizing that men couldn't care less about being in a relationship--and rightfully so. Furthermore, women force men to waste their precious time and resources on the pursuit, acquisition, and retainment of them. This demonic game has gone on for far too long and has no end in sight. So, you can blame women for the downfall and utter hopelessness of humanity.
Another thing that makes women insufferable is the fact that they are, essentially, babies. That is, they possess the emotional maturity of a 4-year-old boy. Women cry, throw fits, and need men to take care of them. Um, an adult shouldn't need someone else to take care of them.
All in all, women promote the enslavement, rather than the liberation, of humanity.
Damn you, women! You and your lack of emotional maturity and being a slave to the alien masters who give us the illusion of the Earth! I think we found someone less likely to get laid than Zenthor.
Also, bright letters on pure black background. Eeeeeeew.
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http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2007/12/29/burglary_suspect_robbed_at_gunpoint/ (http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2007/12/29/burglary_suspect_robbed_at_gunpoint/)
I'm a winner!
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http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=929240&topic=40463596
Ahahhahaha. Rogue Galaxy has some problems. Graphics is not freaking one of them.
Grats on being superficial.
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http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=196820&topic=40263290 (Brig related)
We have a winner. This fine gent does such things as completely ignore the relative value of stats and characters, the number of characters a character has, *AND* breaks out the 'this game has no challenge' argument after trying to make a lengthy failure objective argument for someone's in game value. Trashing Cador and then hyping Shred is all kinds of psyduck to start with, before you ignore the completely idiotic attempts at justification of the logic. Winning quotes:
You don't have to defend your borders. You could let people take over. A country's starting position has nothing to do with the usefullness of it's knights.
YES, SURELY YOU DON'T NEED TO ACTUALLY DEFEND BORDERS WHICH IS IN FACT ONE OF THE CENTRAL GAMEPLAY POINTS.
Shred is good, just not in Rune Power. That's never an issue for me, because I greatly restrict the monsters I can use anyway everytime I play anymore. I really didn't even notice Shred's terrible RP.
To quote Notti: The thing is... there are many players (for many games) where the supporters for certain fighters/characters often say "Mr.Wimp requires skillz!" (implies: "You just don't own like I do."). That often be scrub talk.
There is no challenge in playing Brigandine, period. No matter what country.
We have a winner.
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http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=554041&topic=40383540
People fail.
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http://www.emo-corner.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1075&sid=b6a8a5355bec229d7dc50fe96f1011ce
I guess this is where all the stereotypes of emo kids come from. I think this is the first time I've ever heard "Nobody can understand me" in an unironical sense. Or maybe the whole site is nothing but one big giant piss-take. That's what I'm hoping for anyway.
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http://www.cnsnews.com/news/viewstory.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200801/CUL20080111a.html
Mass Effect has explicit sex scenes in it and even homosexual relationships!!!!!!!!!!!
Bob Waliszewki, media specialist with Focus on the Family, told Cybercast News Service, "We never shy away from sexuality in the media. It's just a question of how is that sexuality portrayed. One can use the media to portray some very healthy forms of sexuality. And when done wisely with taste and age-appropriateness, it can be done well."
"Unfortunately," he said, "Mass Effect doesn't do that and even goes so far as to allow homosexuality to be on par with heterosexuality and heterosexuality outside of its proper context of marriage."
Actually you see a butt cheek and you can potentially have sex with an alien (who's species only has one sex if you want to get down to the nitty gritty). Butt cheeks were not explicit the last time I looked. The scene is maybe on par with Titanic at worst? The game is rated the way it is anyway because of the violence.
Fuck the media.
Edit - So hey there is another one linked to on Penny Arcade that is just as fucking stupid.
http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/KevinMcCullough/2008/01/13/the_sex-box_race_for_president?page=full&comments=true
Now if I have trouble with my son taking his James Bond 007 games a little too emotionally, imagine the powerful effect that hormones add to the mix when the player's own character is copulating like jack rabbits with super-models, actresses, and anyone else they can spend the patience to create, name, and "put into play."
THERE IS ONE SCENE IN THE WHOLE GAME
Edit - Wait I am wrong, apparently there was some more in even more out of the way places than I did when I completed the game and all of it's side quests.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvj6D3HnN_s
There it is in all of it's amazing HARDCORE glory.
This all fails.
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http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/KevinMcCullough/2008/01/13/the_sex-box_race_for_president?page=full&comments=true
Now if I have trouble with my son taking his James Bond 007 games a little too emotionally, imagine the powerful effect that hormones add to the mix when the player's own character is copulating like jack rabbits with super-models, actresses, and anyone else they can spend the patience to create, name, and "put into play."
THERE IS ONE SCENE IN THE WHOLE GAME
Edit - Wait I am wrong, apparently there was some more in even more out of the way places than I did when I completed the game and all of it's side quests.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvj6D3HnN_s
There it is in all of it's amazing HARDCORE glory.
This all fails.
http://kevinmccullough.townhall.com/blog/g/ad4fece3-3a1e-42bd-8546-295599024191
Part 2 where he lies more and says "Gamer-Nerds".
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http://www.rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=22371
This is full of stupid.
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...yeah, that thread... <_<;;
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(http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/5638/idiothv0.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
Promise me you'll never resort to this, Gref.
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Guy that posted that shit is a douche even by NMA standards and everyone there knows it and distance themselves from him. I like a large portion of the human population distance myself from NMA forum regulars who are only slightly above the SA forums on the feeding chain by virtue of SA forumites being completely and totally irrational on the subject of Fallout fans.
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I probably should be more irritated by the guy hitting his girlfriend, but for some reason the guy he's quoting bugs me more. So what, you're warning people not to like the game or else you won't be their friend anymore? The fuck is your problem, asshole?
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Yeah, people can like shit all they want and I don't care since if I give two shits about them they have some redeeming qualities other than their taste.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/01/25/wcyclist125.xml
MURGHLE FURGHLE A;LDKAGH;ASLGKHA;
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I...have no words, none.
Well, no, I can say one thing:
Trips, I think you may have already won the IotY award. Topping that doesn't seem likely.
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...I think I'm going to be sick. That's...ugh.
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Wow, that is the kind of thing you expect to hear about in Russia, not so much western Europe...
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Kinda compelled to post this:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080204/od_afp/britainpeoplehistoryoffbeat
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http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2008/pdf/history/HB/HB0282.xml
Fat in Mississippi? Then no food for you.
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old news, but worth repeating. he lost his case, by the way.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/14/us/14pants.html?scp=1&sq=dry+cleaner+sue+judge%27&st=nyt (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/14/us/14pants.html?scp=1&sq=dry+cleaner+sue+judge%27&st=nyt)
“Without regard to the law, as a human being, as a person, don’t you think it makes sense to interpret merchant signage in a reasonable way?” Mr. Manning said.
Mr. Pearson, who is representing himself, eventually responded, “No.”
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http://www.rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=22627
"Why don't people use calculators to determine random chance instead of Dice in Pen and Paper? It is far more evenly distributed over the ranges" "Because game systems are designed with the normal curve taken into account, the tactile human response of dice, the simplicity of dice rolls and the fact that you know IT IS A GAME THAT IS FOR FUN NOT A FUCKING JOB."
"You guys suck :( "
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Eh, using a calculator instead of dice works, really. Not saying its BETTER, but its a fine enough substitute should you lack the necessary objects there.
Granted, haven't read the article, so it could be something else entirely that makes him IotD worthy (like how he presents it and responds to counter points or something)
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http://www.dsfanboy.com/2008/01/30/girl-gamer-magazine-thinks-its-still-the-1950s/
Hey there gamer gurrrrrrls, now you get a magazine that caters to your interests, which of course includes pink DS's and learning how to cook.
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http://blog.peta.org/archives/2008/02/suggestion_for.php
Turns out Britney Spears is just crazy because she likes ice cream guys veganism is the cure problem solved
http://www.tampabays10.com/video/16x9/?aid=55786&sid=73747
Quadraplegic gets arrested, cop thinks he's lying and dumps him out of the chair, breaking some ribs. Note the deputy laughing away at the guy.
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Cop deserves to get fired and then get hit by a car, thus being confined to a wheelchair.
Cop B deserves to laugh at someones misfortune while eating a meal, thus choking to death on his food.
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http://www.ktvu.com/news/15310750/detail.html
Serial 911 caller makes over 27000 prank calls. Why? "Because it's free."
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Augh Trips' link that is........ awful.
Gate's is just really ridiculous as well, but nothing really beats DUMPING A QUADRAPLEGIC OUT OF THEIR WHEELCHAIR.
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Damn, should have linked the video Tal linked to in chat when I had the chance!
to sum it up: Kid burns down Church and School, tells GFAQs he did it, and provides pictures to prove it...and gets arrested as a result.
And...geez, what the hell is wrong with some of these people? Gate's link is just -_-
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Damn, should have linked the video Tal linked to in chat when I had the chance!
to sum it up: Kid burns down Church and School, tells GFAQs he did it, and provides pictures to prove it...and gets arrested as a result.
Like my grandma always used to say, if you want a box hurled into the Sun, you have to do it yourself.
http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=25044
Also, mass quantities of ellipses to both Gate's and AAA's second link.
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http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=932312&topic=41535520
Sadly, the topic creator is not trolling. He's really that stupid.
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Nah, his OMG J00 ARE ALL FANBOYS!!1 constant calling makes it sound like he hated the game to start with.
I suspect it's a mix of both. That happens.
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http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23279510-1248,00.html
This whole thing is fucking stupid and only highlights more of the flaws in a flawed system. A kid going to Ormiston College (a private school here in Brisbane) was not allowed to wear his turban to school. Well yeah because it is a fucking Catholic school. This is what happens when you let religious bodies run your education systems. There is cries of all children should be allowed to have access to the same kind of education. Well guess what? He fucking does, if he went to a public school it wouldn't be a goddamned issue. OH WAIT BUT THEN THERE WOULD BE CRIES OF HIM NOT BEING ALLOWED TO GO TO A PRIVATE SCHOOL WITH THEIR INHERINTLY BETTAR EDUCATION!!!!!
OH WAIT THAT WOULD JUST BE HIGHLIGHTING THE FACT THAT THE LOWER CLASSES DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO EQUAL LEVELS OF EDUCATION OH GODS THE HYPOCRISY PARADOX IS TWIRLING AROUND AND ROUND SUCKING IN ALL INTELLECTUAL HONESTY NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Grefter you forget... you can talk about inequality in race and religion, but not in money.
Not letting someone go to a school due to skin color is bad
Not letting someone go to a school due to religion is bad
Not letting someone go to a school due to lack of money is perfectly okay!!!
That said, is there no private school that isn't Catholic in the area? If there is, he needs to go there. If there isn't, then tough shit he has to make sacrafices. Choose either to not wear a turban for a few hours a day, or to not go to the school he wants. Shit, I like to study naked, but you don't see me bitching at my school for not letting me.
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I'm confused, Gref. You say it's Catholic, the article says it's Non-denominational. In any case it's ignorant to the brink of racism for the principal to say "We're certainly not asking the family or the boy to turn their back on their religion," when any idiot knows forcing him to cut his hair is exactly that. Does the school take public funding at all? Dunno if it's the same in Australia, but in the US, an institution that banned religious observance like that wouldn't be eligible for government grants, though the Bush administration has been trying very hard to change that.
It's worth noting that in other countries there are public institutions that have similar restrictions, notably elementary schools in France. Turkey just lifted a ban on wearing head scarves in colleges that for a long time has ensured that religious Muslim women couldn't get higher education (this was done by the newly elected religious liberal Muslim party. Yeah, Turkey's weird.) So this is an issue of global importance, and I can't say the parents were wrong for calling attention to it in this way (assuming this isn't, as you say, an explicitly Catholic school). I mean, if Christians dominate the institutions in an area that folks can actually get a good education at, and they're not letting in Sikhs, that's a problem for them, and they should deal with it in some way, whether that be setting up their own institutions, or embarrassing the existing ones into changing their rules. Again, I dunno if this all fits with the situation as it actually stands, but it's worth thinking about.
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Private schools do get government funding here (which is a parallel to the problem).
Mmmm yes apparently it is non-denominational, but you know, non-denominational still is a Christian College by very definition of the term. You cough up the money to go to these institutions and you abide by a certain set of rules, they have strict uniform policies (which involves special -hats- even), you don't have to be of the religion to go, but it is still a Christian College, if they say to take off your non-Christian attire and stick with the dress code. Sorry you don't get any fucking sympathy from me. You could wear it at a public school, if you want that kind of freedom, go to a free school, you will still have to wear a uniform, but policy won't be nearly as strict and you are free to express any religion you want.
Private schools are just that, private institutions and how they govern themselves is going to be according to their private rules, which so long as they do not break the law (which having a dress code is not doing) then they can do whatever the shit they want. The schools are open to any religious background, don't make you convert or anything and will take anyone that can pay. If the rules and restrictions violate your degree of faith, sorry out of luck.
Asking everyone at the institution to abide by those rules is not racism of any kind. It is just rules and they are there to create the whole mystique of the private school environment, to reinforce certain constructs about power (both towards authority figures and for the students attending). This is part of what private schools are and how they work. They are not rules without a purpose. They are not rules to prevent people from attending (the bill is what that is for).
I agree anyone should be able to express their religious beliefs at a school. I also believe strongly in public education. This is not the former and so the latter part does not matter, privately owned land, privately owned standards, privately owned business.
Half the problem there is the bullshit surrounding the "better" and "Decent" education. Public school systems here in Australia aren't that bad, you get a thorough education through them, they get boned for funding (because a larger percentage of the funding goes to private schools), but they function and are just like any other school, you only get so much out of them as the student takes from it. The biggest funding difference gets diverted to extra curricular fields, sports, music and whatnot. The biggest benefit you take out of a private education is the ability to say you were privately educated and the networking that comes with that.
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Private schools are just that, private institutions and how they govern themselves is going to be according to their private rules, which so long as they do not break the law (which having a dress code is not doing) then they can do whatever the shit they want.
Just to nitpick, if Australian law is anything akin to US law in the matter, the dress code requiring the kid to violate his religious beliefs would be breaking the law.
Though obviously the idea of "private school, they can enforce their own beliefs, live by the rules or go somewhere else" is sound and forcing the issue is missing the point.
Of course, I tend to find the idea of dress codes amounting to anything more restrictive than "be actually dressed, don't have anything overtly profane" retarded anyway, but that's me.
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A) See what I said about the reason behind a uniform policy. There IS a reason private schools use them (there is a reason public schools use them as well, they are a safety mechanism) and it is a very obvious one.
B) Private school, private rules. You have the option to go to another school. The law has no place there unless you can prove it is discriminatory, which it is not.
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It really feels to me like the parents who enrolled their kid were doing so for the explicit purpose of making a statement: that this private Christian institution in practice bans Sikhs from entry even though they don't in theory. I think that's a statement worth making. Australia is a much happier and PC and foreigner-loving place than I think it is if they seriously thought going in that their religion wouldn't be an issue.
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Wait what? What part of allowing any religious background in did you fail to comprehend? They will absolutely let ANYONE in so long as they are prepared to follow the rules. You think they are going to specifically pinpoint Sikhs to exclude when they will let Buddhists, Taoists, Shinto and any other handfuls of people enroll, with 50 year old rules which is to say well before the big bad Islam gomez threat tm?
No, it fucking isn't that.
What it is, is about power. Exactly in the ways that Foucault would point it out. It is the classic school institute. It is a way of reducing individuality of students, enforcing respect for power figures giving them a way to assert the power over the students and in turn make the students feel empowered and special by being a part of the institution, especially as they raise in the year levels.
This is a basic function of the classical education system which private schools still very closely model themselves after. You could say it is exclusionist because of that, but this comes with all aspects of a western European dominated culture.
What it is a case of someone going "I want to wear this" "No you can't it breaks uniform policy" "You hate me because I am *Blank* you are *Blank*ist."
Sometimes it actually is not the man and the system out to screw someone over and tie them down and fuck them to death. Sometimes if you sit back and actually apply the good old Functionalist or Structuralist perspective these things are capable of being seen.
This is coming from someone who HATES this education system and everything within it. In this case, it is not the system to blame, it is the consumer to blame for burning themselves on hot coffee and suing the coffee company for selling hot coffe.
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Oh, don't get me wrong. I believe the institution barred him for the reasons you say (even with the principal's religiously tone-deaf response), not because they're explicitly racist. and I'm not saying they're wrong for doing so, it being a private institution. That said, practicing Sikhs still can't get in, period. So if you're a Sikh, you do what you can to change their status quo. You pressure them to make an exception. You put it out in the public sphere and hope the public sides with you.
This reminds me of PGA v. Casey Martin, in which the PGA was sued by a handicapped guy for the right to use a golf cart between holes since he couldn't walk the distance. The PGA's rule, which they fought strenuously to uphold: no golf carts, period. You could be a fuckin' double amputee, but no golf cart for you. Martin won the case, incidentally. I'm sure you can guess what the public thought about it, too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PGA_Tour%2C_Inc._v._Martin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PGA_Tour%2C_Inc._v._Martin)
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Being a golf pro is a job. Private education systems are a consumer product. The difference is miles apart.
And yeah the rules will exclude practicing Sikhs, that bites, it is a large social problem there. You fix that kind of thing by supporting places that give you the option and ability to practice religious freedom however you want. IE, go to public schools, support the public education system and campaign for the fair dispensation of government money for them. What you don't do is send you kid of a private school then piss and moan because society is broken and stupid and the institutions are built upon these facets of society. It is akin to purchasing piping hot toxic sludge, spilling it and getting pissy cause you burnt yourself on the boiling sludge. Case in point, you are not Matter Eater Lad and shouldn't have fucking bought toxic sludge to eat anyway and should have supported your local human food chains.
Edit - Also requisite, last time I looked public approval counted for dick.
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Oh, public approval counts for a lot. Not directly, mind you, but if the voters raise a stink about something, that has a tendency of putting money in the pockets of politicians to shut them up, one way or the other. Now, public approval ain't gonna do a damn thing for, say, rules concerning how politicians' yearly raises are determined, but in a area like education funding, which I'm assuming is a battleground in Australia 'cause god knows it is everywhere else, making your issue heard is like throwing down another ammo pack to a Quake map (requisite video game reference: check).
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It is all kinds of wrong when I am the one making comics references and you are the one making game references.
Education actually oddly hasn't come up big on the Federal elections in the last few ones. There has been some in the lead ups to it and there was a bit of policy surrounding it and the government that recently got in, but I don't think they pulled a large body of voters with those policies (they were also far more universal rules than public/private stuff). It has mostly been taxation and unemployment, taxation again, GOM ILLEGAL IMMAGRANTS and then "Not being the other guy and hey check me out I am pretty freaking slick" over the last decade and a half that I can think of. I bit of gun law thrown around 12 years ago as well, but that wasn't such a huge factor compared to the taxation debate.
The education debate is mostly people within the public school system going "WHAT THE FUCK WHY DO WE NOT GET ALL THE MONEY?" and the middle classes and upwards ignoring them and wasting public resources by sending their retarded brain dead fucks for children to private schools to get a "good" education which they come out of just as ignorant and stupid as they were before.
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The education debate is mostly people within the public school system going "WHAT THE FUCK WHY DO WE NOT GET ALL THE MONEY?" and the middle classes and upwards ignoring them and wasting public resources by sending their retarded brain dead fucks for children to private schools to get a "good" education which they come out of just as ignorant and stupid as they were before.
You ok, Gref? I'm sure what you meant to say was stupider and more ignorant.
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The Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell, January 27:
"Concern about keeping women as newspaper readers has been an issue for many years"
"Post editors are concerned that young women with children are not becoming Post readers as they get older."
"A Post task force is looking at the problem and will make recommendations."
The Washington Post, March 2:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/29/AR2008022902992.html (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/29/AR2008022902992.html)
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Ha-ha. Misogyny. Though it seemed like a fair admonishment of morons screaming and fainting overa political candidate at first, it just got ridiculous toward the end.
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Meh that sounds like valid critique to me. Since when has anyone found trusting someone with such an obvious cult of personality surrounding him in politics?
Obama sounds like he has good policies, but responses like that are not motivated by politics.
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The critique is valid enough, it's just the extended rant that men really were far the better sex and deserve power of women that's mind-numbing. Also ignores the fact that all of politics is not really any better despite the lack of fangirlish fainting, but that's excusable in the face of what is presumably satirical (rant is still a little excessive by those standards though.)
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Look at what has become of the results of the second wave of Feminism and ask yourself if any modern Feminist can help be anything but a little bit cynical and divulge into depressed satirical ranting sometimes.
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Seconding Grefter on the rant/critique being valid. All the psychological principles behind it are correct. It's a bit over the top, but that's what makes it funner to read.
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To me, this feels like someone who's always known to her very core that her personal failings are due to her gender, and here come some swooning girls and an ugly old cow who thinks she's good enough to stand with the men to make her case. It's almost embarrassing to read, it seems to be such a personal reflection of inferiority (and her line about how she knows this because she's a dumb woman too is about as Uncle Tom as it gets). Her screed about Clinton is what really gets me, though. Worst, stupidest campaign ever? Has she never heard of Giuliani, Thompson, or Kerry? Bad debater for presenting details to health care proposals that are the only major difference between her and Obama's policy platforms? These are things that can only be seen in reality via a misogynistic lens.
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http://www.rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=23101
Developer of Titan Quest blames piracy of TQ from getting them the funding to make a new game. Let me just go on the record for saying even with the retail version, the original release of TQ was fairly buggy, unintersting Diablo clone that had way less polish than D2 did at release (D2 being a game that had a patch before it even reached Australian soil, which was a whopping 3 days after US sales I believe).
Now to give a good Codex quote.
TQ actualy did make money
They were closed down because they couldn't find the publisher for their multiplatform RPG , but somehow they did manage to secure funding for the three PC projects they've made. OMG! It;s all PC's fault we couldn't find funding for our console project
Everything written by Section 8 is gold and probably worthy of a misc link instead of IotD.
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http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/15513835/detail.html
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That's not really that stupid. It seems like he wasn't drinking--from the sounds of the article, the breathalyser clocked in that high either due to mouthwash or cough syrup. From personal experience, I can tell you that mouthwash on the breath easily fucks up a breathalyser, and cough syrup would skew the results also, I'd imagine, given the nature of the stuff. Additionally, he passed all the field sobriety tests, which... hell, at ~.2? is almost impossible. Breathalysers aren't infallible.
I wonder if you even read the article or just saw the headline and threw it here.
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http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/06/us.olympics.ap/index.html?eref=rss_latest
US Congressman from Virginia (in other words, this is Super's fault) wants to ban government officials from attending the Olympics because they're in China. He doesn't want to stand in the way of any trade agreements or increased debt or anything else that actually affects anything, mind, just the Olympics, which he terms "the genocide Olympics of 2008." And as a twofer, the president would be exempt from the bill, not because he accepts the necessity of the head of state putting in an appearance but because Bush is the Commander-in-Chief and therefore above puny mortal laws.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080307/ap_on_go_ot/dear_taxpayer (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080307/ap_on_go_ot/dear_taxpayer)
Budget deficit? What's that?
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And as a twofer, the president would be exempt from the bill
we call this the preemptive signing statement.
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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,336593,00.html
Idiot of the day? Nay. Month? Perhaps. Year? Sounds right. Scroll down to the Brett Favre part.
Ingraham: "Lol Favre isn't manly for crying at his press conference". Naturally O'Realiy, alwasy a bastion of complete and utter fucking idiocy, agreed. And naturally said that -he- wouldn't cry when his Fox TV show got canceled.
How -dare- you have the gall to say this:
What happened to John Wayne and Ronald Reagan and Lou Gehrig and this idea of, you know, leaving the stage gracefully, you know, maybe having a little tear in your eye? But I mean, the sobs, they just never stopped, and it was kind of funny. Sorry. It was amusing.
O'REILLY: Not all of us will cry upon retirement, Laura.
INGRAHAM: Bill, when the last "Talking Points" is done, if that happens, heaven forbid, will you be weeping uncontrollably? Will that happen?
O'REILLY: There is, to quote Tom Hanks, there's no crying in the No Spin Zone, at least not on the host's part. The guests, they cry.
I am left without words. Wait, no! You fucking idiots is a start. How dare you mock a man who spent a decade and a half giving his heart and soul to his job, who helped turn around an entire -state-, let alone the Packers franchise. Who played with a badly sprained ankle, broken bones in his body, and the million other things he did. You dare to mock and degrade him and all he did because he cried a bit? BECAUSE CRYING IS APPARENTLY SO UNMANLY IT DESERVES MOCKING SOMEONE ON NATIONAL TV!! YES!!
A few tears makes him a better man (and woman) than you two rabble rousing hate spewing pieces of human trash will ever be. I'm not even touching how utterly fucking wrong and fucked up it is to mock any person for crying. You're going to base the definition of manly off an ideal that never fucking existed? You goddamned tunnel visioned failures are a fucking embarassment to your country, party, and probably your mothers.
PS: O'Reailly, kill yourself for acting like such a high handed asshole, and Ingraham, however many dicks you sucked for that new nose it wasn't enough. Go take a bat to your face and start over, because it looks like a bear shit on your face and dipped your hair in bleach.
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It at least invalidates the Clinton sob controversy. "A man wouldn't be criticized/laughed at for his tears."
O'Reilly totally fucked that Feminist BS up. O'Reilly 1, Feminists 0.
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Elliot Spitzer.
Just...what the fuck. What the fucking fuck.
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I just take comfort in the fact that people will remember Favre as a good football player, and more importantly, a good man long after O'Reilly is dead and gone and his stupid show along with him. Have a laugh while you can, Bill. It's all you'll ever have as far as Favre and his legacy is concerned.
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The man liked his hookers, Shale. Give him that.
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He did. In which case he maybe shouldn't have made prosecuting them part of his public image.
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http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-stspit0311,0,2330333.story Good link about the story.
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http://www.wtvq.com/content/midatlantic/tvq/video.apx.-content-articles-TVQ-2008-03-05-0011.html
To complete the trifecta of political figures being retarded.
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Really? Of all the foul, moronic things O'Rielly has said? Of all the ill informed verbal diatribes that have passed through that cock-goblin's lips, him making fun of some sports icon crying is what earns him idiot of the year?
I've heard a lot of stupid things said regarding sports, but Super, that takes the fuckin' cake. It's football. Nobody should give that much of a shit in the first place.
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The entire rant about 'manhood' and his ideal of it is incredibly fucking stupid on every level and fails to grasp at even a basic level what actually being a man or caring about something is.
Belitting -anyone's- life's work for a normal human reaction is just mind boggling. It's more than usual political stupidity which he excels at.
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A hard left crazy bigot on Fox News turns out to be a misogynist with unrealistic concepts of masculinity? I am truely shocked. I was certain he was in touch with his feminine side and wore frilly pink underwear like Brett Favre clearly does because he cried like a complete and total pussy girly man, or as they say in his (private) parts, a mangina.
Waaahhhhh I played my game well and with greivous body injuries. I will have you know that real men run away from confrontational arguments and turn off guest's microphones while calling them Nazi Communists who are the cause for all that is wrong in the world.
Bill O'Reilly's Meat Spin Zone is sadly going to be more famous than a good football player thanks to the Internet and the Meat Spin Zone getting mocked on the international stage.
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I'm not saying it's not stupid. I'm just saying that far stupider has been said by that man and most people are way past the outrage stage when hearing about Billy's rants. Getting all pissy about them now, when he's spewing out tripe about some football player, when he's consistently said far worse of far, far more meaningful matters for the past 6-7 years, is pretty dumb.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi42d3dKDsE
Uh yeah like this being a Rape toy is fun stuff.
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Ugh. Now shit like THAT. THAT earns him IotDecade status.
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doesn't he have, like emeritus idiot status by now? is there a hall of fame we can induct him into?
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His induction speech can be given by Orion, the only idiot I've ever met that truly rivals someone like O'Reilly.
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Today, I bring you Tedius Zanarukando. On Wikipedia, he made a long, rambling page detailing every single facet of his life, from his preferences for food to his hatred of Jenova's Witnesses(his parents), to his belief in male empowerment (read: WOMEN!!!!!!! *shakes fist, jerks off to Fire Emblem*). After getting kicked out of Wiki for being a total misogynist shit, he made a blog:
http://tediuszanarukando.blogspot.com/
Among the other things he's bitching about:
Super Smash Bros. Brawl will go on sale tomorrow in North America, where I live. It was developed by Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo. It has been the most anticipated next generation game of all time among established Nintendo fans.
However, I have decided to reject the game for the following reasons:
Lack of female newcomers
Lyndis as an Assist Trophy
Little Mac as an Assist Trophy
Isaac as an Assist Trophy
Lack of representation of Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu
Lack of downloadable content feature
Not enough Fire Emblem characters in the playable roster
Overall bad roster
He really, really likes that Fire Emblem game and Super Smash Brothers.
He also hates feminism and women wearing pants:
I disapprove of women in trousers (or pants in the U.S.). I believe that it is wrong for women to wear trousers or for any employer or institution to require them to do so. Trousers hurt femininity, hence masculinizing. Women should wear skirts or dresses (whether long or short), with tights in the winter and bare legs in the summer.
Fucking bitches don't know whats good for them I tells ya
Not only are there are many people today who lack pride in their appearance, but there are also many people, especially women, who deliberately try to look as unattractive as possible. How embarrassing. That prevalence will soon end. Also, women should no longer be employed in manufacturing.
Vapid cunts in my manufacturing no way Jose
Women no longer care about pleasing men, and many women only care about pleasing themselves. This is a tenet of radical feminist dogma, but it is certainly not the way to attract or charm men. This behavior has led to high rates of divorce in the western world. Women are deliberating violating the normal desire to please. They are deliberately going the way that is opposite to what men like, and rushing like lemmings on a sartorial cliff, but that is hostile behavior. That flies against common sense. Most importantly that goes against one of the basic elements of civilization, that is, always trying to look one's best. I have a dream that one day, women will stop wearing trousers for good.
Keep reaching for that rainbow, champ.
And so on, and so forth. I bet this guy voted for Ron Paul. Assuming he's not like 13 years old, of course.
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He really, really likes that Fire Emblem game
That's all I need for IotD.
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Lack of downloadable content feature
WHY WILL THEY NOT GIVE ME UNFINISHED GAMES SO THAT I MAY PURCHASE THE REST OF THE GAME AT A LATER DATE?? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!???!?????????????????????
Alternately
WHY CAN I NOT HAVE THE PLEASURE OF HAVING A HALF FINISHED GAME THAT I MUST SPEND MULTIPLE HOURS OVER SEVERAL MONTHS OF DOWNLOADING TO HAVE COMPLETE?!!!!!?????
I fucking hate people that act like this shit is a fucking privelidge in the current format most of it is in.
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Wait what.
How can you people only be hearing about Tedius NOW. He's been around for eons. (http://www.journalfen.net/community/fandom_wank/219124.html) It's a freaking shame that most of his more completely bizarre stuff that I know of has been purged/deleted/disappeared in the time since.
His forum (http://z2.invisionfree.com/TZ_VG_Coalition/) appears to still be online, don't know whether that was linked to in the original link or not. Nice to see it's been improved a tad since the last time I saw it; the images aren't trying to load off the C drive now. I remember him doing things like banning people for not sharing his opinions on which was the best FF games or some such but god only knows where that is on there. I'm pretty sure he's banned from most of the sites he's got listed as his affiliates at the bottom of the board there too >_>
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http://www.slate.com/id/2186203/
Blah blah blah Gary Gygax wasn't a visionary he was a talentless hack!!11 The base concepts that are built upon his old war game that were fleshed out into a Role Playing experience are all antiquitated and worthlesss RARRR EXPEIRNECE POINTS AN KILLING THINGs.
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Wait what.
How can you people only be hearing about Tedius NOW. He's been around for eons. (http://www.journalfen.net/community/fandom_wank/219124.html) It's a freaking shame that most of his more completely bizarre stuff that I know of has been purged/deleted/disappeared in the time since.
His forum (http://z2.invisionfree.com/TZ_VG_Coalition/) appears to still be online, don't know whether that was linked to in the original link or not. Nice to see it's been improved a tad since the last time I saw it; the images aren't trying to load off the C drive now. I remember him doing things like banning people for not sharing his opinions on which was the best FF games or some such but god only knows where that is on there. I'm pretty sure he's banned from most of the sites he's got listed as his affiliates at the bottom of the board there too >_>
I knew of him for some time, but I didn't really pay any mind since being a serious Wiki junkie is a sure sign of mental problems, but then I found his blog and there you go. Also I didn't link to his forum, mostly because I thought it'd be boring RPG discussion trash, but I guess not.
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http://www.slate.com/id/2186203/
Blah blah blah Gary Gygax wasn't a visionary he was a talentless hack!!11 The base concepts that are built upon his old war game that were fleshed out into a Role Playing experience are all antiquitated and worthlesss RARRR EXPEIRNECE POINTS AN KILLING THINGs.
Wow, that fails pretty badly, Gref.
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http://www.rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=23297
Bethesda stupidity. Oooooh yeah the Fallout 3 shit is floating back up guys.
So apparently because some people are fucking shit at role playing and game the system and try to play a genius with 5 Int in D&D that makes it perfectly cool to flaunt and first person shooter with tons of player based skill rather than character based skill as the best possible CRPG evar.
This is coming from someone working on Fallout 3. Keep the spirit of the prequels guys. Because they never restricted player actions by statistics there.
Edit - Here is some more of the same.
http://www.rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=23266
What is the difference between the new Fallout 3 Real Time with Pause mode? IT HAS BULLET TIME! For serious, that is what they say with spin of OMG THIS IS NOTHING LIKE ANY OTHER GAEM EVAR.
One key distinction between VATS and RTwP is that VATS provides a tactical view, complete with chance-to-hit percentages, much like the aimed shot display from the original Fallout, presented in the actual game view as a HUD overlay. This isn’t just eye candy; the percentages are exactly reflecting what’s going to happen “behind the scenes.” That’s quite unlike any RTwP system I’m familiar with.
An even more fundamental distinction between VATS and a real-time-with-pause system is what happens when you leave the “pause” mode and the action resume.
In a RTwP system, when the action starts again, you’re simply back to real-time.
In VATS, when the action starts again, you’re not back to real-time. Rather, you’re in a mode where your character acts quickly, while the rest of the world is heavily slowed down. Again, the results of your actions are purely statistics-driven, based on the percentage chances that were presented in the tactical view. And again, that’s different from any RTwP system that I’m aware of.
So... the game is unique in that it has tooltips for hit percentages! Um kay, that is like... what in every decent combat system I can think of and super prevalent in TB stuff? Cool, go it for uniqueness. Then you unpause the game and it continues to play out actions based on your commands which is unique and nothing like Real Time with Pause combat systems (What the fuck. That is like the fucking DEFINITION of real time with pause). Oh but it also has BULLET TIME. UNIQUE!
I have no fuckign idea what kind of bullshit argument this is. It is praising anaction RPG for being unique and having basic RPG fundamentals that are not normally in action games. Then saying how unique this is in an RPG. This is retarded.
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... this in an otherwise point and shoot system, no less. Visual displays of how accurate your shot is going to be in an FPS? Gee, how original, that sure hasn't been done before in Deus Ex or virtually any modern shooter.
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The pause part of it is going to be statistic driven a bit more than regular though. The point still stands though. It is total bullshit hype.
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http://gamepolitics.com/2008/03/17/massachusetts-will-consider-video-game-legislation-this-week/
Apparently, videogames are porn.
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So its the usual "Rar! Video Games are evil! WE MUST DESTROY THEM ALL! THEY ARE HARMING OUR YOUTH!"
...when the reasons they gave are done in MEDIA IN ALL SHAPES AND FORMS. Ok, when it comes to reading or something, that's not as bad since its not visual, so there's an argument there. but there's not getting around the fact that TV does the same shit all the damn time.
Hate idiotic tunnel vision logic in this sense.
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My God, I hate that Jack Thompson buffoon. Doesn't he have anything better to do, after all the repeated failures?
It's times this where it makes me especially glad I live in Canada, and only have to hear about his bullshit and not actually deal with it.
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http://gamepolitics.com/2008/03/17/massachusetts-will-consider-video-game-legislation-this-week/
Apparently, videogames are porn.
Your psyduck moment of the day. "It failed in two other courts and was authored by someone that objectively is a lunatic, or at least a negative-publicity monger whose influence upon our bill will surely shed bad light on it by this point.... Let's try it anyways! Oh and let's make it harder to purchase any video game than it is to get a copy of Total Recall or Terminator 2."
There must be some broken synapses in there. Emotions aren't linking up to logic or reason. (They tend to not, but I mean completely.)
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My God, I hate that Jack Thompson buffoon. Doesn't he have anything better to do, after all the repeated failures?
It's times this where it makes me especially glad I live in Canada, and only have to hear about his bullshit and not actually deal with it.
It's not like we united statesicans have to "deal with it"; his crusades never have any actual effect. At this point, he's just an endearingly incompetent loon for us to laugh at whenever he throws a tantrum.
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http://www.rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=23394
This just in from the Bethesda: New ideas are scary and disturbing with no chance to sell. Down with innovation.
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Well I, for one, take the comfort of knowing that Fallout will have the Badass Seductive Space Marine Sorceress (hopefullly with a chainmail bikini so hawt) so I don't have to worry about getting something new and weird.
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http://www.kpho.com/news/15511792/detail.html?digg
Wow.
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...Wow.
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Can't say that's IotD material, unless you're counting the parents. When somebody tells you your kid is suicidal, fucking take them seriously. We'll lock up the guns! Let's take away access to his friends, who are the only ones talking him out of killing himself! Yeah, brilliant parenting.
As someone who has been suicidal in the past, it pisses me off when I see loved ones ignoring blatantly obvious warning signs. If a person is talking about suicide, even in a joking matter, they are willing to go through with it at some point. You need to treat them as a threat to themselves and others and get them some fucking help.
And that's One to Grow On!
</serious Captain K.>
<regular goofy Captain K.>
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It's not so much the suicidalness. It's the obvious premeditation, arbitrary way of deciding how and when and disconnect in thinking, then he turns around and says "I miss my Dad."
Not to mention that every time, he was convinced out of suicide by friends. He calls his friend AFTER KILLING HIS FATHER, but before killing himself. It's just... what the fuck?
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"Police said they told Schlicker's mother about the threats; she allegedly told them she wasn't worried and promised to lock up any guns in the house."
"At one point during the day, Schlicker said, he went to the garage to get a drink and found his father's shotgun and ammunition lying on the counter."
That is the IotD.
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http://www.worstpreviews.com/headline.php?id=8039&count=0
Epic fail. I can't count the money they'll lose.
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Man, I sneak into movies now because $10 dollars a ticket is too much sometimes. $35? Hah.
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If I'm paying 35 bucks for a movie it better come with a free BJ or something.
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I thought that was implied.
This might make money. If I was better-off I know I would be willing to pay more money for food service and not being crammed into a theater box like a bunch of rats.
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Heh. used to go to a similar establishment once, the beloved Chunky's Cinema in Windham, ME. Good food, reclining seats (all repurposed from old Chevys, I kid you not), good times. 'Course, the movies cost $5, so that helped. God, I saw the first American Pie there, and Farenheit 9/11 later. Time sure does fly.
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I thought that was implied.
This might make money. If I was better-off I know I would be willing to pay more money for food service and not being crammed into a theater box like a bunch of rats.
It would be nice if food and drinks were free, but according to the article, all food is extra. I think the waiters would be more distracting to people to me than being in a crowded theater.
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I thought that was implied.
This might make money. If I was better-off I know I would be willing to pay more money for food service and not being crammed into a theater box like a bunch of rats.
It would be nice if food and drinks were free, but according to the article, all food is extra. I think the waiters would be more distracting to people to me than being in a crowded theater.
Yeah, agreed. Though if they took all orders before hand, and served them later it wouldn't be as bad. But for 35 dollars, I'd think a nice little meal would be included. Hell, I'd rather just sneak McDonalds in with me into a normal theater and save about 20 bucks, and probably enjoy the movie more knowing I spent that much less to, ultimately, see the exact same movie.
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If I was better-off I know I would be willing to pay more money for food service and not being crammed into a theater box like a bunch of rats.
Most theatres aren't really crowded unelss you insist on seeing a Blockbuster on opening weekend. Even then if you get there before 5 it's not usually too bad. (Biggest city I see movies in has 100k people, so this might be different in an actual city.)
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Wait what, you guys don't have things like that in the states? It is a common enough thing here. One or two cinemas out of twenty isn't a big deal. It isn't like converting all cinemas to it or something. It gives people the opportunity to a slightly more comfortable alcohol license venue to see movies at. It is extra money for extra service options, I fail to see how that is a bad thing in the eyes of you retarded capitalist troglodytes.
I have been and didn't really see the fuss, but it wasn't like it is a niche without a market. If they had some kind of SHUT THE FUCK UP AND TURN YOUR PHONE OFF FOR REAL policy then I can see figures only rising.
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We have one of those style of movie theaters/food service places here, but they just play older movies at (cheaper) prices and offer food. It's a nice place to catch a film at.
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That was me that said that by the way.
And I live in a tiny town so crowding isn't an issue, but the seats are really close together and don't recline, not to mention they're often sticky. It's not like I weigh 300 pounds or anything, but you can't deny they try and cram as many people as physically possible into one space and I resent that.
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That sounds an aweful lot like a regular cinema there. You don't spend that much money on tickets to get crammed into tiny places. You pay less, expect less service.
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Tickets are 10 bucks anyway, I think that's enough to warrant not having to take a yoga class to fit into a seat.
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http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/3003_nazi_orgy.shtml
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3654740.ece
"
Both links are somewhat not work safe.
I have no other words.
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That is BDSM, what did people expect? The really hard stuff is pretty fucked up. I strongly doubt it is because the guy is a Nazi but more the whole Taboo factor being ramped up to 11 and you can add a dash of Freudian analysis of the relationship between the son and the father if you want.
It is just sex. Things done with sex fantasies even less represent how people feel than the shit they say when they are drunk. I would be more bothered if he had a history of spouting out anti-semitic garbage every weekend where I am sure he is off his face at the races.
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http://news.aol.com/story/_a/graduation-rates-a-catastrophe-in-cities/20080401064409990001
Less than 25% of Detroit students graduate high school. America's biggest city is at 45%. We win!
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http://otakukin.atspace.com/
Remember that group of people who thought they were really dragons and werewolves and vampires and stuff? Well this is is the same thing except they think they're really anime characters. I'm not sure which one is more pathetic.
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that depends. If they're, like, reborn from Sailor Moon that would totally suck, because they're all like, "I attack you with my pretty makeup!" But then again that'd mean they wear short skirts a lot, which is cool, but not as cool as if they're from a cool anime like DBZ!! Son Goku could totally kick your butt! It'd be awesome to be him! Not some hairy werewolf or some shit. Yeah!
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I am the reincarnation of Gohan lol except this time he's a ninja zombie robot.
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Who in god's name made a robot that horny?
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Kevin and Shion. (Hey, thanks to XS3 that joke works on two levels. Hooray!)
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http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=197339&topic=42497660
What in FFT desperately needs a new FAQ all to itself because there's so much to talk about? The blood sword...apparently.
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Oh, he's a troll from the FF6 board. Ignore em.
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http://www.newsweek.com/id/124098 (http://www.newsweek.com/id/124098)
there are no words.
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..Okay, now THAT deserves the full wrath of the morality police. Fucking idiots, and I do mean fucking.
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The only problem I see there is the fact that a lack of good sexual education and safe sex practices look like it will jumpstart an epidemic of STDs if they aren't careful; from the article it sounds like it's largely oral sex so pregnancy, though a worry, is less so of one than STDs. Other than that, who cares. Let 'em fuck, and for gods sake somebody should teach them to do it safely. I really don't see the source of the outrage ("Deserves the full wrath of the morality police?").
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..... -_-; There really are no words for that.
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it's so strange on the face of it, but looking at a society that recently came into considerable wealth and was traditionally very conservative, is it that shocking? I figure these kids fit neatly between hippies and contemporary college hookup culture. I think if the internet had existed and the Vietnam war hadn't, the hippies would've turned out very much like these kids. maybe.
The fact that conservative parents and society has led to blissful ignorance of the dangers of STDs certainly helps, too (and also extends the hippie similarities).
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Don't tell Ditto there's a Pokemon orgy going on in Chile. It'll get a giant psuedopod boner.
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What Jim said. This is what happens when you compulsively slam down hard on anything to do with sex for a long time. They are just a new wave of hippies.
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I wonder what you can make of the fact that they combine being hippies with the most obnoxiously vapid consumerism this side of the '80s? I don't care much about the orgies (though I'm sure if I were a parent of a young child living in the area I would), but the incredible, incredible narcissism of this movement is pretty offensive to me.
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That I think has more to do with the age and affluence of the movement. It's really no different from the Emo trends here in the states. Hell, at least they aren't whiney about it.
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The only problem I see there is the fact that a lack of good sexual education and safe sex practices look like it will jumpstart an epidemic of STDs if they aren't careful; from the article it sounds like it's largely oral sex so pregnancy, though a worry, is less so of one than STDs. Other than that, who cares. Let 'em fuck, and for gods sake somebody should teach them to do it safely. I really don't see the source of the outrage ("Deserves the full wrath of the morality police?").
This is pretty much my thoughts on the issue as well. In fact I'm sitting here trying to think of something else to add, but I can't. Zenny covered this quite well. It's just sex, nothing to get up in arms about, but they certainly do need to be taught how to have it safely.
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That I think has more to do with the age and affluence of the movement. It's really no different from the Emo trends here in the states. Hell, at least they aren't whiney about it.
And the emo trend really is no different than any other youth trend ever. Young people do shit. The offensive part of the emo trend isn't that they're kids trying to do something distinctly different from what kids did previously, it's that they cut themselves and whine and cry about how horrible their lives are because their upper middle class white parents disciplined them lightly or something like that. "It's no different than emo", sure, in one way, but not in the way that should generate as much shit as the emo trend does.
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Emotive apparently hardcore would be much more awesome music if it was about pokemon orgies.
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I'm unable to disagree.
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http://kotaku.com/379613/hot-chicks-in-stupid-game+related-clips
I lack words.
(NSFW, probably).
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t2CC4_TYxE&e
Interesting people, Europeans.
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Well now I'm aroused.
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(http://wonkette.com/assets/resources/2008/04/pope_nyt.jpg)
God bless the New York Times.
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http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthread.php?t=484
Idiot UFC fans never cease to amaze me.
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http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthread.php?t=484
Idiot UFC fans never cease to amaze me.
"This certainly begs the question of how many five year olds would it take to defeat a chimp?" is the best quote from the topic.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/washington/06cnd-inquire.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/washington/06cnd-inquire.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin)
WASHINGTON — The office of the official responsible for protecting federal workers from political interference was raided by F.B.I. agents on Tuesday as part of an investigation into whether he himself mixed politics with official business.
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http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/04/jack-thompson-p.html
I guess he's just dropped the whole 'lawsuit' thing and has moved onto full-blown harassment or something. I suppose if I was this guy's mom I'd just mail back a picture of the O RLY? owl or something uncreative like that.
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http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=84662&in_page_id=2
'I thought a fetish was a worry, like worrying about backing the right horse.'
I'm sure he was worried about 'backing' the right horse.
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http://www.local6.com/news/16169506/detail.html?rss=orlpn&psp=news (http://www.local6.com/news/16169506/detail.html?rss=orlpn&psp=news)
Remember folks, parlour tricks are ruining the children of America!
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Muggles are always hatin'.
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And, in a follow up of the previous one, how's about we have a crazy teacher.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120995103004666569.html (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120995103004666569.html)
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http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/07/america/tree.php (http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/07/america/tree.php)
When a liberal like me starts thinking, "oooh, so this is what they mean by Nanny State..." yeah, not so good.
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"Scientific advancement only supports the patriarchy and leaves women behind." And the student was the irrational one...
I'd be more amused if I didn't know 3 people that exhibit similarly retarded views; at least they're students, and not professors, though.
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http://forums.gametrailers.com/showthread.php?t=412076
An "iotd" thread on another forum.
-
On that topic IotD for quoting "Better graphics don't make a better game" as IotD material.
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http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=931113&topic=43535167
Gee, I wonder why he's bored with the game?
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"Wrong number I'm level 18"
I confuse 53 and 18 a lot as well. It used to get really confusing when trying to tell people my age.
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http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=929668&topic=43443610
TSE's Suikoden 5 log gets trolled...horribly.
To his credit, TSE didn't fall bait to the trolls, but Darth took all TSE's fans/followers to the cleaners.
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Asmodean also slapped around people in the last 30 posts or so. I have to day Darth's posts were fucking vicious in a good way. Nice work there on his part.
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That was hilarious. I like TSE, but this is the crappiest log (pun intended?) of his I've read. DarthMordechai's story is much better.
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http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=2000121&topic=43669228
A topic about CG Britannia vs. The Real US. Failure ahoy!
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Fuck GameFAQs mods and fuck Darth. After all I've been warned/suspended for, Darth better get fucking map axed for those posts just for consistency's sake. GameFAQs has gone to shit and I fucking resent Darth for catching a lucky break and avoiding getting fucked over. That had better change.
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I like how after a few years of the stupid shit there is still mouth people that follow him around and get all huffy when people say they couldn't give a shit and find blogging about a game on a game specific board a bit narcisistic.
I don't remember the last time I've seen a board be this hostile.
Hahaha BoF IV board ripped into him pretty hard, at least 1/3 of the board went berko. Of course there was only 3 of us that frequented the board, but the point stands.
Edit - Have I mentioned that he sucks at playing games in the most efficient manner possible by default due to failing to research the game mechanics prior to playing them? Going into a game blind and being the most efficient possible at the same time is impossible by very definition unless you luck out incredibly.
Edit 2 - Oh and also from memory, Vagrant Story board pretty much told him to get fucked as well. Considering VS is a game begging for plot discussion and an indepth analysis during play and once again all he did was the same old boring as fuck dry recap I would say he earned it there. Not to mention that describing the gameplay of Vagrant story would be limited to "I walked through a door into a room and killed things then walked into a nother door and pushed blocks. Then I walked through another door and killed things and pushed blocks afterwards."
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(http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/3149/gm080617ty5.gif) (http://imageshack.us)
Edit-BREAKING NEWS
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25211398/
Man gets arrested for robbery...of a little girl's Lemonade stand.
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A topic about CG Britannia vs. The Real US. Failure ahoy!
Ahhh, the utter lack of knowledge Giant Mech Fanboys(TM) have regarding basic physics, let alone modern military technology, never fails to amuse me.
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http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1815845,00.html?fark
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http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/53249
gj Atari
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http://www.yourdailymedia.com/media/1214819528/King_DoucheBag
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http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,26278,23957289-5016681,00.html
This is retarded that this is even news.
Generic dating game show of harem meets man who wants to marry. One of the harem members did some porn. OH MY GOD PORNOGRAPHY!!!!!!!
Australian Family Association national spokeswoman Angela Conway said casting agencies needed to take more responsibility.
Australian Family Association members should all go find a comb and then saw their own fucking heads off with them. First up A) she is not doing porn on the show B) The fact that she ever did porn is not likely to have made mention on the show C) It is a fucking reality TV show, someone with a proven history of willingness to get their kit off in front of the camera isn't going to be goddamned camera shy. Seems like a winner to me you moronic fucks.
A former model who did not want to be named said Monique had boasted about her star turn on the program.
"She said she wasn't really into (farmer Nick) but he was rich, so worth having a go at,'' the model said.
As if that isn't the entire premises of the show you dumb fucks. You see a picture of a guy, know he has a million dollars or some shit. Anything else in the equation here you have nothing to go on. Or if it is after meeting him once, you have met him on camera in not exactly isolated conditions. Congratulations retards, you have outed someone that went on a dating show to be shallow. Cocktards.
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http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=945462&topic=44108926
Logic mode ON
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I don't know what's worse; That little exchange or the fact that he either has a tatoo of the Rune of Torment or is lying about it.
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oh noez reality tv integrity
*shakes head at Gref's link*
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Maaaaannnnnn. So hard not to just troll gamefaqs these days. I don't want to get banned though and my last post got deleted for trolling. Mostly cause to told someone to just die, but they deserved it.
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Guess who's probably going to get permanently disbarred? (http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/07/09/we-have-judge039s-report-recommending-permanent-disbarment-jack-thompson)
I guess he can still make a nuisance of himself, but if this happens he's no longer a threat, no matter how minor.
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http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=212&topic=44160665
I love this board.
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I'm just glad somebody might actually get prosecuted for criminal stupidity.
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Wow. OH HEY GUYS I BLATANTLY SEXUALLY HARRASSED SOMEONE AND AM FACING THE CONSEQUENCES.
OGMZ DUDE! PPLZ NEED TO CHILLD TEH FKCU OUT!!!!!
Errrr while I wouldn't have given a shit and find the joke vaguely funny in a make fun of someone for actually saying it kind of way. There is shit you don't say at work.
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http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=930659&topic=43940627
Topics in this Diablo 3 board thread include racial slurs, rants about the racism and 'white devils', 'black' vs 'African-American', disputes over D2 Paladin's skin color, slavery and who does or does not deserve blame for it, and Ron Paul. Proper punctuation and grammar is another matter, though.
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I wonder if the Ron Paul supporter is just too lazy to change his sig or buys into the whole 'SECRET SUPERMAJORITY THAT WILL OVERCOME MCCAIN AT THE CONVENTION' theory that the die-hards have developed.
-
A year ago I'd have responded to that topic with
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WykQlIGoSTQ
I'm so tired of getting banned from GF though, I'm running out of monkey related names.
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GameFAQs: Why do you assholes still even go there?
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Because we're assholes.
http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=945462&topic=4410892
Good grief, it got even worse.
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http://www.911twenty.com/?page=index
Tragedy Industries, who has done things like this before, is selling a 'limited-edition authentic silver-plated 20 dollar piece of Liberian currency' as a tribute to 9/11. The commercial says it's being sold for face-value (20 dollars). Which is good...unless you already picked up on that it's Liberian currency. As in Liberia, the country. And how much does 20 Liberian dollars go for when converted? 32 US cents.
Fuck these people.
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Oh... this is just priceless. There's many great "FFXIII confirmed for 360 I'm a dumbass but I'm going to fake anger" posts on message boards (and I'm trying to track down my favorite, which I saw in a YTMND, on GameFAQs but that's like scuba diving in a cesspool) but this one is exceptionally awesome.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=11960243#post11960243 (http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=11960243#post11960243)
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http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=930659&topic=43940627
Topics in this Diablo 3 board thread include racial slurs, rants about the racism and 'white devils', 'black' vs 'African-American', disputes over D2 Paladin's skin color, slavery and who does or does not deserve blame for it, and Ron Paul. Proper punctuation and grammar is another matter, though.
Wow... just wow. You know, it really plagues my mind that I used to visit that place on somewhat of a daily basis. The only reason I still go on GameFAQs is the original reason it was founded... Game-related FAQs. -_-
HAR HAR HAR!!!
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From the topic Rob linked...
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?s=7a4f19d69e500bbe95e177fc23cdefec&p=11960243&postcount=1766
This is the funniest post
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/top10/1282.html
I know, I know, Top 10 lists are easy fodder, but the number 1 pick...I just...every time I try to read it I start twitching. It's just...mrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhh
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Lejes? ALBEL?! Good fucking god.
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I'd say that list was clearly compiled by OK if it weren't for the fact that Bowman is only #4.
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......bwhahahahahaha, so damn funny.
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I stopped reading at Lejes. Ick. Anyone think this person will soon do a most attactive females in RPGs...and have Brahne topping the list?
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I liked the part about female non-mains getting more screen time than males, that was a funny one.
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http://wcbstv.com/local/Subway.Sandwich.Knife.2.772212.html
Guy finds a knife in his Subway sandwich. Not so dumb... until you realize after he took the knife out HE STILL ATE THE SANDWICH.
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WHY DIDN't YOU LINK THIS HERE LAGGY?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-page/hhs-moves-to-define-contr_b_112887.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-page/hhs-moves-to-define-contr_b_112887.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-page/hhs-moves-to-define-contr_b_112887.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-page/hhs-moves-to-define-contr_b_112887.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-page/hhs-moves-to-define-contr_b_112887.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-page/hhs-moves-to-define-contr_b_112887.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-page/hhs-moves-to-define-contr_b_112887.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-page/hhs-moves-to-define-contr_b_112887.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-page/hhs-moves-to-define-contr_b_112887.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-page/hhs-moves-to-define-contr_b_112887.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-page/hhs-moves-to-define-contr_b_112887.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-page/hhs-moves-to-define-contr_b_112887.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-page/hhs-moves-to-define-contr_b_112887.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-page/hhs-moves-to-define-contr_b_112887.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-page/hhs-moves-to-define-contr_b_112887.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-page/hhs-moves-to-define-contr_b_112887.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-page/hhs-moves-to-define-contr_b_112887.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-page/hhs-moves-to-define-contr_b_112887.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-page/hhs-moves-to-define-contr_b_112887.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-page/hhs-moves-to-define-contr_b_112887.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-page/hhs-moves-to-define-contr_b_112887.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-page/hhs-moves-to-define-contr_b_112887.html
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asfgfh.
That's the only sound I could produce in response to that.
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That.... scares me. Just... why. Whaaat.
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That link depressed me beyond the point of remembering IotD existed.
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NO WE DON'T NEED SILLY THINGS LIKE COURTS TO PASS LAWS LETS DO IT BY FIAT NO WE WON'T BE MAKING HORRIBLY HYPOCRITICAL LAWS THAT PASS MORAL JUDGEMENT ON SOMETHING THAT ALMOST ASSUREDLY SHOULD BE A FAMILY'S OWN CHOICE TO START WITH WHAT DO YOU MEAN.
To boot I hate the base argument just because I've never gotten what horrible suffering it's supposed to be to a "child" who consists of a cell to die. There's nothing in there to suffer!
The only people that even have a remote religious issue there, or should, are Catholics because damned if the Catholics didn't doctrine up frigging Limbo! Then again without that, they'd probably go with OMG THEY'RE ALL DAMNED ANYWAYS! Because they're retards who have to overthink this crap even though there's no basis anywhere for any of their religious theorums! But that doesn't matter because THEY CAN MAKE THEIR OWN DAMNED CHOICES TO START WITH WITHOUT FORCING THEM ON THOSE THAT DISAGREE ANYWAYS.
...
No, this doesn't annoy me or anything.
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The scary part is it wasn't headlines everywhere. I know the New York Times at least reported it, Washington Post too, I think, but not as a big deal. which of course it is.
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Damn it I hate when one religion tries to enforce its views on everyone. If you want to practice a religion, regardless if it consists of you praying at an altar, becoming a miko, believing in Vishnu, it's perfectly fine. If you wish to live by your morals, die by your morals, that's OK. Just don't throw your beliefs on other people who don't want them. There's a reason they don't want them, and that's because they love living how they are. Once again, if you find peace, redemption, and/or love and hope in religion, I don't mind at all. Just don't force me into it. I have my beliefs, I have my reasons, and I have my gods and goddesses, and you have yours. Keep it that way.
And now you're telling us contraception is abortion. Next thing you know, they're going to claim that obstinance pledges (like they work anyway) and simply not making love are abortion processes.
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Inb4 this proposal falls flat on its face and we never hear about this again
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I somehow doubt that given that that is, in fact, the option they want people to take. The goal is to try and wean people away from earthly pleasures so that they can properly focus on spiritual pleasures and the Kingdom of God. So, encouraging people not to have sex for any reason aside from making more good little Catholic/Protestant (I'm pretty sure the South isn't that Catholic, though that could be changing with the increased Spanish/Mexican presence) babies in the proper confines of wedlock and with no thoughts at all about pleasure or enjoyment or, God forbid, recreation.
So, abstinance pledges and avoiding extramarital sex are never going to be condemned by the faithful because that is the goal they're aiming for.
Now, what I'm worried about is when they try and move from the Pill and other chemical options to physical barriers such as condoms. Hell, Condoms are already pretty close to being on the line due to spermicidal gels used to coat them, which... yeah.
Now, the interesting thing will be to see if this is actually quashed or not, and the reasons given for why that decision was reached.
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Monkey, it doesn't matter if the thing gets through or not. The fact that it even came this far AND IS COMING THROUGH FROM A FEDERAL FUCKING GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT is something you should be worried about.
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http://blog.washingtonpost.com/sleuth/2008/07/conservative_rep_sessions_star.html (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/sleuth/2008/07/conservative_rep_sessions_star.html)
enjoy. I'm sure rep. Sessions did.
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http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110006747
Just to balance out Notmiki's IotD post to show that both sides of the political spectrum are infested with morons!
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I think we're all down with that statement. Fucking ALCU. Go sue Bush or something.
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Ok, deep breaths.
http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:NvMRKH7NHYYJ:www.thesunrunner.com/Stories/Faith_Under_Fire_in_the_Desert/faith_under_fire_in_the_desert.html+Frank+Buono+aclu&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=us&client=firefox-a (http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:NvMRKH7NHYYJ:www.thesunrunner.com/Stories/Faith_Under_Fire_in_the_Desert/faith_under_fire_in_the_desert.html+Frank+Buono+aclu&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=us&client=firefox-a)
Here's a balanced (and by that I mean balanced, not raving liberal) take on this.
Here are some excerpts that contradict some of what the WSJ insinuates:
“The way the law works is that certain kinds of suits, if they prevail, the law is that the lawyers are entitled to get reasonable attorneys fees... [in cases against the federal government] the rates are capped by the federal government, and in cases vs. the U.S. government, you have to prove their position is not substantially justified—that it’s a clear loser for them.”
“If we cherry picked our cases [just to make a profit], we would never sue the federal government to make money, we’d sue state and local governments [who lack fee caps],” Eliasberg explained."
yes, the plaintiffs in this case were the federal government,which is immune to bullying based on expensive legal fees, so when the WSJ say the ACLU "use the specter of massive attorney fees to force their secularist agenda on small school districts, cash-strapped municipalities and, now, veterans' memorials" you should be careful to note that they never in their article tell you the federal government is the defendant.
They also neglect to tell you that the park service, previous to the ACLU taking the case, was planning on removing the cross. Or that the cross was not the original cross that was on the site. Or that congressman Jerry Lewis earmarked $10,000 of that same taxpayer money that pays legal fees to attempt to put the cross on the national register of historic places, which it had been considered for but denied because it wasn't the original cross, among other reasons.
EDIT: all that said, I don't think the ACLU should have taken the case. not a great decision on their part, but it wasn't a money grab like the WSJ insinuates, either.
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Link too long (http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0808/House_Dems_turn_out_out_the_light_but_GOP_keep_talking.html?showall)
What the fuck
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God DAMN it. Why do assholes think that opening new drilling sites will do anything in the long run? Regardless of how much oil there may be, even if there is enough to sustain us for a few more years it'll run out eventually. Opening offshore drilling is a short term solution for a problem that needs a long term one. The sheer level of how juvenile the representatives acted is shocking enough, but the fact that the gallery was cheering while this went on is just a slap in the face. What the fuck is this, a scene out of Idiocracy? The House of Representin'?
I OBJECT, HE INTERRUPTED ME WHILE I WAS WATCHING "OW MY BALLS!"
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Because global warming and oil shortages are fabrications of the liberal media. Duh.
-
We do need to drill more even as we wean ourselves off of oil as a whole. Domestic drilling has dropped massively since the oil crisis of the 70's.
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Having more oil to inject into the market would ideally stablize prices and prevent any panics during the transition, but that really depends on how long it would take to get the new pumps up and running and how much it would sap resources away from developing other energy sources. Haven't done enough research to really say much there though.
That there may or may not have been good cause doesn't make this less hilarious though.
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"He then said, "I am a Democrat, and here is my energy plan" and he held up a picture of an old VW Bug with a sail attached to it. He paraded around the House floor with the sign while the crowd cheered."
WITTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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What the fuck is this, a scene out of Idiocracy? The House of Representin'?
SOUTH CAROLINA, REPRESENT!
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Oil is far too politicized for politicians on either side of the aisle to act rationally about it. Think the Democrats would sign a drilling bill that would likely mean more gov't money going to Halliburton and KBR in an election year? Dream on. Likewise, Senate Republicans killed the yearly bill assigning gov't grant money to solar power and alternative energy research because it was going to be paid for by reducing a tax credit for domestic oil companies.
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Link too long (http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0808/House_Dems_turn_out_out_the_light_but_GOP_keep_talking.html?showall)
What the fuck
Just want to toss out here that there are 68 million acres of approved land for drilling, so I have no idea wtf some people are on these days.
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You'd think, right? A lot of that land would cost more to drill from than the oil is worth because of the way the oil is stored. Which begs the question of why the oil companies still have the leases on the land, of course.
Really, given that the estimate for getting any oil out of new wells is 10 years from now, the best solution is to stall until after the election, then compromise on a plan that makes sense. Democrats would see any bill signed before an election as a compromise, and given Bush & Cheney's oil ties, they're not about to be convinced that the Republicans are right to want to drill; they see it as a land grab, pure and simple. Of course, since making a deal will have zero effect on the current crisis, it really IS a land grab. Doesn't mean it's not a good idea to drill more, just that the current circumstances aren't right for the government to make a good long term decision (not that they ever really are, but currently they're wronger than usual).
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http://www.angelfire.com/anime6/freiheit/fanfic/episode209.html
My eyes.
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Hahahahaha no fucking way
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http://www.kristv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8824012
Pay attention to the first place he broke into.
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http://www.asylum.com/2008/08/11/man-humps-bench-gets-stuck/
The URL says it all.
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http://petfoodalpha.com/?p=1055
FFXI guild attempts to fight uber-boss, loses after 18 hours of nonstop gameplay. People were passing out and puking and shit.
What the fuck?
What kind of mental illness do these people have that they spend 18 hours fighting a single boss in a videogame?
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Meh, I'm less on the case of the people playing it, as I am annoyed by the guy who's on the comments board calling the group whining pussies for daring to complain about this boss that apparently needs 25 hours of play to beat. Oh, and the real idiot here is Squenix for even making a boss like that. I mean, that thing takes longer to beat than some RPGs.
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http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=73276
Good old racism; was wondering when this would start showing up.
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WND is about as valid a political site as the new internationalist.
Edit: Fuck off and die MC, that reminded of NI and I then read a couple stories there. augh
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I tried reading that thing. I stopped when the writer began using black slang that was outdated in the '70s to make a point. uuuuuuurgh
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http://consumerist.com/5043005/whos-smiling-now-enzyte-scammer-gets-25-years-in-prison (http://consumerist.com/5043005/whos-smiling-now-enzyte-scammer-gets-25-years-in-prison)
I'd like to express how this makes me feel, but it's mostly humorous clown sound effects.
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Warshak's 75-year-old mother was also sentenced to jail time, but it's unlikely that she will serve it because she's 75 and has cancer. Meanwhile, Warshak has 30 days to report to prison.
Pussies.
But yeah I was wondering where that image at the top of that came from, had seen someone using it as an avatar on a forum somewhere. Now I know.
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=932312&topic=45132567 (http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=932312&topic=45132567)
Guy talks about how playing P3 has made him "super-angsty, like Ichigo Kurosaki."
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I like the advice there. Maybe you to should find a rape sim Jesus surrogate to get over how pathetic you are.
-
Speaking of Jesus simulators and rape, I was very disappointed that I couldn't create tentacle sex beasts to impregnate my enemy races' females.
-
I read that as tentacle sex breasts to impregnate your enemy races' females and thought hentai had reached new heights of weird for a second, but no, just normal levels of meh.
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http://www.yourdailymedia.com/media/1220876189/Hippies_Wail_for_Dead_Trees
See how long you can last. I managed to get about 30 seconds into it before I punched out my computer screen.
-
http://antispore.com/
What do you guys think? Joke-site or not?
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/11/washington/11royalty.html
No idea what to say about this.
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http://antispore.com/
What do you guys think? Joke-site or not?
I say Troll. The Jack Thompson post clinches it.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/11/washington/11royalty.html
No idea what to say about this.
I do. Go back to Russia. Learn to do it properly. Seriously, your secretary? Fuck that. A real Oligarch would be fucking a different hooker each night and be shot with his wife by hitmen who were hired to kill one of them by the other and then just fucking shot them both for their wallets.
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http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2008/09/11/gianulias.virginity.for.sale.kovr
No matter how you slice it, whoring is still whoring.
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http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/09/13/man_driving_friend_to_dwi_hearing_charged_with_dwi_1221313259/ (http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/09/13/man_driving_friend_to_dwi_hearing_charged_with_dwi_1221313259/)
title says it all, really
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http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0721051gold1.html
Moron goes to dollar store to buy spray paint to huff, is arrested because he forgot to wash the paint he was already huffing off his face and hands first.
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http://community.livejournal.com/deviantartsnark/1929637.html
Person is crazy on the internet? Common.
Person pretends to have a disease to get sympathy? Still, pretty common.
Person makes up fake disease to get sympathy? Somewhat common.
Person, when someone points out their disease doesn't exist, forges a page on Wikipedia to try and prove their point that they really have "Love Sickness Syndrome"?
Pricelessly dumb.
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Cookie points for "it's a rare disease, like lieukemia and ebola". An extra cookie point for misspelling "leukemia" as well.
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Ow. I think my retinas detached themselves just from reading that.
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http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/09/24/wptz.ben.jerry.breast.milk.wptz
PETA petitions Ben & Jerry's to use breast milk instead of cow's milk in their ice cream. They just continue to top themselves.
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Hey guys! Do you know what time it is?
That's right, it's Banned Books Week 2008! (http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/bannedbooksweek/challengedbanned/frequentlychallengedbooks.cfm)
The link above takes you to the most challenged/banned books list and convientently explains why it was challenged or banned.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was banned for Racism.
Yep. Racism.
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The number one most challenged book was banned for homosexuality, huh? I guess that's the hot topic of contention these days among the book-banning circles. Interesting is that none of the other top 10 list homosexuality as a reason for challenge.
-Djinn
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At least 2 other books there list homosexuality.
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*blinks* Ah, so they do! My mistake.
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The Golden Compass for religious viewpoint? The religious viewpoint is almost nonexistant in the first book. It's not until the second and third books that they start laying it on thick.
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Reasons: Sex Education
WHAT THE FUCK!?
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Go Go Gadget Puritan Culture, I guess.
EDIT: And, really, it's not that surprising that dumbasses tried to get the Golden Compass banned; it had a movie made of it, which the rest of the trilogy has not. I wouldn't be surprised at all if none of the people who tried to get it banned had no idea that there WERE any books following it up.
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http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=336983
In which hardcore graphics whores mass panic at the prospect of PS4 possibly not causing Sony to lose hundreds of dollars per system.
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If that holds, the PS4 could end up being released, what, a year after the PS2 finally dies (the odd Madden game not withstanding)? Maybe a bit more? Hilarious.
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I couldn't hear anything over the sounds of "AAAAAAAAAAAH THE PS4 WON'T HAVE SHINY GRAPHIX BAAAAAAAAAAW BAAAAAAAAAAW BAAAAAAAAAAAW" blowing through the forum.
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I particularly liked the "1080p isn't even the standard for next-gen yet, so OBVIOUSLY 1440p or 2180p is going to be the standard in the next few years!"
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I couldn't hear anything over the sounds of "AAAAAAAAAAAH THE PS4 WILL ONLY HAVE TWICE THE SHINY GRAPHIX OF PS3BAAAAAAAAAAW BAAAAAAAAAAW BAAAAAAAAAAAW" blowing through the forum.
Fixed for true idiocy.
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Sony's biggest issue all along was getting the price down to reasonable levels. And while they've made strides to improve the situation, it is still nowhere near where they need to be for mainstream consumers. What advantage would releasin the PS4 early have, outside of creating yet another hardware cycle to support, splintering the current Playstation userbase, and ushering in only marginal performance results?
That stuff is just gold. Why would they want to release a cheaper affordable alternative system on the market when they still have a massively overpriced console with no fucking games on it??!??!?!?? DOES NOT COMPUTE! OH WAIT, that is the fucking solution.
Edit - Not to say it isn't a Sega move, but you know, whatever yeah?
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http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2008/10/03/PH2008100301390.jpg
If you're confused, look to the right and see who they're quoting.
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Dan Balz is a pretty awesome name for a reporter.
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http://helpbubba.synthasite.com/
"A pet psychic said my kitty is transgendered; give me money."
EDIT: And, yes. Dan Balz is an awesome name. I don't think anyone will refute this.
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http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=337742
In which a bunch of hardcore gamers (or possibly trolls, it's impossible to tell at times on Neogaf) actively root on possible attempts by the videogame industry to add restrictive DRM to future console games to make it impossible to sell games used/trade games/play games on more than one system. Some of them also directly equate buying used games with piracy.
In fairness, some people in the thread have their heads screwed on straight.
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Stop acting like this is some kind of moral stance. People bringing up yard sales and shit are completely missing the point. Its quite simple. Publishers get mad because one of their biggest customers (Gamestop) is also essentially undercutting them and eating into their sales. They aren't trying to make it illegal. They aren't trying to send the secret police after you if you decide to sell your old NES games at a yardsale, or put last year's copy of NBA Live up on Ebay. Ebay and shit like Craigslist operate on a completely different market. Its fucking simple to understand really.
That thread is something else.
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Your rights as a consumer do not go beyond your right to give us your money and shut the fuck up! Buy a new computer? Better fucking by a new copy of that game bitch. You only licensed the rights to one installation.
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Ah, yes, this argument. It's really, really common in crowds that like indie PC games such as Mount & Blade, GalCiv2, Dominions 3, and such, for some reason. In the case of the former game even the developers and the forum mods like to get in on it.
It doesn't rage me as much as you might think because it'll never work. Someone always shows up to help people steal the work of people who pull this shit, and I'm happy to do it and brag about it to the face of these idiots, which makes them foam at the mouth.
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Yeah when I buy an indie game and go through purely digital system I don't do it because I think it is great, I do it because it is what they have on offer. If I could get indie on physical medium I would totally get it that way instead.
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http://i35.tinypic.com/3goy.jpg
YOU CAN HAVE ALL OF THESE THINGS IF YOU DON'T UNDERAGE DRINK
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008231428_reservist06m.html
""This is a contract. I don't like the way his property looks. This clown gets to do what he wants, and I'm as mad as hell," he said."
Said "clown" is a member of the military who was called in to serve a tour of duty in Kuwait. Go go gadget douchebag.
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Yeah, I'm sure that legal action will go over really well! That may be our IotM.
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http://i35.tinypic.com/3goy.jpg
YOU CAN HAVE ALL OF THESE THINGS IF YOU DON'T UNDERAGE DRINK
Ah, if only I didn't underage drink, I could have had that Van Hellsing DVD! And puppies, apparently.
Looks like a 4chan meme... who made it?
-Djinn
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The Student/Teacher Anti-drug council of Coral Springs Charter Highschool.
Such things can only ever be designed by comittee and be that bad.
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All that pizza would really make me thirsty for a beverage of some sort...
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That's why you also get SODA CANS
---
EDIT: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=YInuTc3C3jM
This is why nobody listens to you anymore you stupid twats (Fox News, that is).
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EDIT: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=YInuTc3C3jM
This is why nobody listens to you anymore you stupid twats (Fox News, that is).
Impressive.
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http://bloggerinterrupted.com/2008/10/video-the-mccain-palin-mob-in-strongsville-ohio
Whee!
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I can see the game now.
Terrorist: Bloodlines
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My parents actually say similar things to some snippets of that.
This is why I despise politics in my house with the rage of a sun.
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warning: political
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/09/AR2008100902328.html (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/09/AR2008100902328.html)
Krauthammer bashes Obama for Wright, then has this to say:
"Racism is treating people differently and invidiously on the basis of race. Had any white presidential candidate had a close 20-year association with a white preacher overtly spreading race hatred from the pulpit, that candidate would have been not just universally denounced and deemed unfit for office but written out of polite society entirely."
I, uh, guess he's never heard of Pat Robertson?
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=941521&topic=45960938 Sweet and simple stupid. I start playing a game, I feel the need to check things. I encounter stupid on forums. Not as bad as some of the above though.
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Ah, the good ol' furry+lolicon one-two. Good to know GFAQs keeps on giving.
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http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/14/muslim.dvd/index.html
Hate, now with your Sunday paper. Where do I suscribe?
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http://www.lex18.com/Global/story.asp?S=2989614
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
HEADDESKHEADDESKHEADDESKHEADDESKHEADDESKHEADDESKHEADDESKHEADDESK
Man, this one touches me in a special place, and not the same place Father O'Flarety touched me. Honestly? One of the first things I ever wrote was about my Middle School being overrun by zombies. Holy CRAP am I glad I didn't write that in Kentucky.
Fuck this is so god damn stupid.
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...
So glad I'm not living in the states.
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Good thing the police caught him before he could advance the insidious, freedom-hating schemes of the zombie Jihad.
That sounds just idiotic.
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/me looks at everything he's ever written involving a college, plants it on Zenthor, to put it in IRCspeak.
...
Wait, the forums have a Me function?!
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You maniacs! You blew it up!
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That makes me want to fucking destroy something. Jesus on a stick.
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...
What...?
I... I don't even know anymore. My world is crumbling around me the stupid is too much for me to bear.
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Doesn't something like that happen every 6 months or so?
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What, people discovering a new function on the boards?
(In all seriousness, this country has issues.)
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http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=339201
Videogame gets delayed due to two verses from the Koran being found in one of the music tracks, or something like that. Topic instantly explodes with politics and religion, everybody's two favorite internet topics.
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"So, you can't say the same sentances that can be found in the Qur'an? Is it a copyright issue?"
Awesome.
Also, way too many people bawwing about having no games to play.
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=941521&topic=45952949
Sonic board provides again.
Just in case people stop before it peaks
"When Rare gets to make a Sonic game. They'll give her the Krystal treatment."
I may not speak for everyone, but I'm pretty sure when I speak everyone else when I say this: I'd rather wait until Tecmo makes a Sonic game, and give most of the Sonic girls the Dead Or Alive threatment. XD
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I can only facepalm to this. ._.
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Whoa, a creepy furry Sonic fan.
*monocle pops off*
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*Monocle.*
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It was more that someone wants Tecmo to make a game ever again.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081023/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_avatar_murder
I... don't even know where to start.
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That is pretty IotD worthy.
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In virtual worlds, players often abandon their inhibitions, engaging in activity online that they would never do in the real world. For instance, sex with strangers is a common activity.
what
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Failfailfail, there are incredibly high chances that he gave her his password. That is not hacking.
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=943695&topic=46131848
WARNING: Gamefaqs FE board.
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/me monocle.
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Failfailfail, there are incredibly high chances that he gave her his password. That is not hacking.
Knowing Maple, thats exactly what happened.
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Just 11 more days until the election is over just 11 more days until the election is over just 11 more days until the election is over just 11 more days until the election is over
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That won't stop the endless stream of whining and bitching afterwards, trips. Sadly ._.
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MAYBE IT WILL IF YOU'LL JUST VOTE FOR BARACK OBAMA GOD
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Wait... so the reason we need to pay more for instruction booklets in French is because we voted in Stephen Harper?! DUDE! The world makes so much more sense now!
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Wait... so the reason we need to pay more for instruction booklets in French is because we voted in Stephen Harper?! DUDE! The world makes so much more sense now!
Fuck you and your French, I get them in Italian as well. German is a bonus for it being awesome.
Now for quotes from the epic FE stupid, I will ignore the usual FE stupid of OMG IMPROVED DESIGN IS MAEKING GAEM EASY LAEMLAMELAEM GODLIKERESMAKESTHEGAMETOEASYIMUST EQUIPSALTYRAGEFORAUTOSHELL/AUTOPROTECTSOTHATICANAVOIDLETHALLOGICDAMAGE and go with the haha Americans.
ok, apparently you and BB (why am I not surprised?) don't get it
if we elect McCain, the rest of the world WILL think we are stupid (or rather, the few remaining that don't think we're stupid after we re-elected George Bush)
You know what? After Bush I can honestly see electing McCain, he is better than Bush was the second time by many times over as far as I am concerned on the international stage. Sure he is part of the same group as Bush Sr and Jr of people I wouldn't want in charge of a cache of weapons capable of destroying civilisation, but hey, we have lived through 16 years of that in the last quarter of a decade, so whatever. He still has that crazy thing for Russia and has the stupid other crap that everyone knows. Still better candidate than Bush during his second term from an international perspective. So the trolling fails anyway. Edit - This is to say, I don't think anyone else is going to magically be convinced that Americans are stupid if they vote in McCain.
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Yeah. From what I've seen, there are other factors at work and by the time politics come into the conversation people were already convinced that the guy was retarded before he said he was going to be voting for McCain.
And by "Other Factors" I mean the guy got really, really drunk and got into an argument with a muslim woman for being a muslim. Whee, when Southern Baptists get passports!
EDIT: Not that all Southern Baptists are jackasses, but the guy was a S.B. and I couldn't really think of another thing to say. Regardless the guy is a jackass but not all blah blah blah whatever whatever don't care I'm not generalizing but this guy is a douchefucker
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=942422&topic=46126041
The only downside of a DW4 remake: Shitty trolls attempting to argue with some of Gamefaqs's finest.
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Our idiot of the day is a charitable organization.
http://www.giantitp.com/index.html#MZvsP18xmNXpVDwvCRQ
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/3283463/Japanese-launch-campaign-to-marry-comic-book-characters.html
.....................................................................................What. God damn it Japan.
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Well, really, this is just a poor man's Real Doll
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Our idiot of the day is a charitable organization.
http://www.giantitp.com/index.html#MZvsP18xmNXpVDwvCRQ
Woooow.
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Well, really, this is just a poor man's Real Doll
At least a Realdoll will induce an orgasm and let you pretend that you're not just jerking off with plastic. This, though? Exactly what benefit comes from marrying an anime character?
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Your eyes immediately swell to the size of teacups
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Well, really, this is just a poor man's Real Doll
At least a Realdoll will induce an orgasm and let you pretend that you're not just jerking off with plastic. This, though? Exactly what benefit comes from marrying an anime character?
No unplanned pregnancies?
People that marry anime characters won't reproduce. OR if they do, it's technically adultery!
I'm now amused by the implications of this.
The newspost makes a big deal of the fact that 1000 people signed the petition... honestly... if there's only 1000 of these weirdos in Japan's enormous population, I'd say the country's in better shape than I imagined.
-Djinn
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http://www.wavy.com/global/story.asp?s=9287341&srvc=leadstory I'm not normally a 'fuck the police' kind of guy, but what the christ is this shit?
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Ooooh that is one of the better stories of overreaction with force I have seen for years. The escalation from noise complaint to being assaulted with a deadly weapon is a pretty huge one even just ignoring the whole disability. Again I really have to wonder what fucking school of thought people are having when they train officers to taze suspects and demand a physical response afterwards with threats of more debilitating them unless they conform.
WE SHOOT YOU WITH THING DESIGNED TO STOP YOU RESPONDING WHY DO YOU NOT RESPOND WITH OUR DEMANDS.
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The kid who was tasered 19 times because he wouldn't get up (http://rawstory.com//news/2008/Missouri_Police_taser_injured_boy_19_0726.html) after breaking his back trumps that, I think.
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Yeahhhhhhhhhhhh.
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...Woooooooooooow.
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http://www.closeronline.co.uk/RealLife/Reallifestories/teen-wedding.aspx?dateonline=Monday+27+October+2008
Dearly beloved...
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http://www.wtkr.com/Global/story.asp?S=9293830 *Snort*
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This is priceless. Stupid question, stupid spelling mistake, and beating Iseria Queen is just as important as his faith in Jesus, apparently.
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=931113&topic=46507851
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This is priceless. Stupid question, stupid spelling mistake, and beating Iseria Queen is just as important as his faith in Jesus, apparently.
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=931113&topic=46507851
I'd like to think that English isn't his native language. ..or better yet, that he was actually making some kind of pun... like Seraphic + erotic = Sephirotic in some strange land where all portmanteaus neccessarily include references to Final Fantasy villains or Middle Eastern religions...
But the sig is just so telling of his level of intelligence...
To be fair, I'd qualify beating Iselia Queen as a religious experience... >.>;;
Thanks for sharing, CK. I smiled.
-Djinn
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To be fair, I'd qualify beating Iselia Queen as a religious experience... >.>;;
Just no for VP1 Iselia Queen. Most other iterations, sure, you normally work for that. VP1 is just no though.
Edit - I also like the missing an S off the end of Kill all Heartless, turning the cliche undead hordes of Kingdom Hearts series into a bunch of Care Bear knock offs.
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http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2008/11/10/%E2%80%9Csecond-hand%E2%80%9D-nagi-provokes-otaku-storm/
(Site NSFW)
This is one of those cases where 2ch earns its reputation.
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Ahahahaha. This exact same topic came up on GameFAQs when the chapter first came out. It was funny then, and it's funny now.
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http://www.sexinchrist.com/fist.html (http://www.sexinchrist.com/fist.html)
"But is it appropriate for a Christian couple to engage in Fisting?"
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122669909279629451.html
Professor studies history behind his religion. Comes to the conclusion that Muhammed might not have existed. You know, thinks about his religion and questions it. Re evaluates his perspective on it. Thinks critically, instead of taking things for granted.
Response? Germany's Muslim Coordinating Council refuses to be associated with him. Some worry that this audacity to question will make it hard for German scholars to work in Muslim lands. Oh, religion. Sigh.
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What time of year is it? END OF YEAR TIME! Time for the incessant "BEST GAEM EVER/OFYEAR" stream of bullshit again, so if I feel like reading tripe expect a few more gems like this.
http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/207777/the-26-best-rpgs/
Lets get the 2 big face palms out of the way
Deeper, bigger, and better than ever, Fallout 3 may be recent but has already carved out its niche in RPG history.
No matter how not shit FO3 is. No. Just no.
WoW got Number 2 RPG Evar! Meh tired old bullshit. Warhammer MMO got on there as well. What the fuck at that as well.
So deep was the customization and maintenance required for your Gear, and so rewarding were the results of adding parts and upgrades, the combat of Xenogears was almost another game within a game.
GEAR COMBAT IS DEEP AND INTERESTING IN XENOGEARS GUYS. DIRECT NUMERICAL UPGRADES ARE DIVERSE AND INTERESTING ALMOST LIKE A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT GAME THAT WE HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE.
Grandia 1? Do I need to cover this? Sooooooo not the best in its series by far.
Another list that piles all the Ultima games in together and just gives them a token nod. Whatever, just an aside stupid on top of the other crap.
Ultimately, it is a drawn up list that tries to appeal to everyone SHINY GRAFFPICZ, some minor cult hits from a random smattering of systems and then drop the FF7!!!!!!!! bomb at the end. Stinks like the market generated piece of shit article that it is.
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Also liked how the only other FF on there was FF12, the one that is pretty much universally hated.
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Also liked how the only other FF on there was FF12, the one that is pretty much universally hated.
You wish. A lot of people actually like FF12.
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Nevertheless, FF 12 is probably also the most hated in FF. At least 24 of 26 actually are RPGs! At least, only the Zelda games aren't that I know of.
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Deus Ex is a first person shooter.
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Deus Ex, from my understanding, is more RPG than other FPSes so I can at least understand the confusion there. doesn't make the list less fail though.
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It would make sense if there wasn't RPGs that used first person perspective, but they have some of them on the list anyway. Namely, Fallout 3.
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http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/11/21/in-a-fit-of-irony-iphone-pirating-app-gets-pirated
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...frgj;srdngs ahahaha oh wow. that is good.
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http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RrWSx46NlI4
...Well. At least he's committed to the act?
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=992946&rss
...
...
...
...
...
What the hell. Seriously. What the fuck. CF only affects white people? That... that's not even true in the slightest. What the fuck.
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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/21/more_hp_packaging/ (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/21/more_hp_packaging/)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/23/enormouse/ (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/23/enormouse/)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/18/hp_packaging/ (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/18/hp_packaging/)
Just to show how eco friendly our friends at HP are! I applaud their shift towards saving the planet! </sarcasm>
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/02/MNB414BF0O.DTL&tsp=1
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/02/MNB414BF0O.DTL&tsp=1
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Wow, that's pretty horrifying. Objectively, I have trouble understanding why it bothers me so much. You hear stories about Con Artists and Thieves all the time... but stealing money from a terminal cancer patient? Especially one that you spend a lot of time with? Ugh. It makes me feel kind of sick.
-Djinn
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http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RrWSx46NlI4
...Well. At least he's committed to the act?
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=992946&rss
...
...
...
...
...
What the hell. Seriously. What the fuck. CF only affects white people? That... that's not even true in the slightest. What the fuck.
Yeah, our school does the Shinerama program too. We've been livid since we heard what happened in Ontario and protesting and the such. I've never heard such stupid comments about a disease, ever.
Also, stealing like that from cancer patient??? What the fuck people.
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Eh, it's Carlton. They're kinda infamous for political correct idiocy. Really, the best you can hope is that whatever they're up to doesn't make the news.
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Eh, it's Carlton. They're kinda infamous for political correct idiocy. Really, the best you can hope is that whatever they're up to doesn't make the news.
Touché... Silly Ontario universities...
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/03/MN1514DSB4.DTL
Absolutely repulsive. A woman is murdered by a person she'd never met, while working. Store's insurance denies the claim for her death benefits for her 11 year old son. Why? Because she was African-American, and the murder was racially motivated- and apparently being killed on the job for your race is "Personal" and not "Work Related".
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http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=344392
I realize Neogaf's system war fanboys merit Idiot of the Eternity, but 33 pages in less than 12 hours is still rediculous.
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http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2008/11/10/%E2%80%9Csecond-hand%E2%80%9D-nagi-provokes-otaku-storm/
(Site NSFW)
This is one of those cases where 2ch earns its reputation.
In related news!
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-12-05/kannagi-manga-reportedly-on-hiatus-due-to-creator-health
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This just in: Valkyria Chronicles is TEH GAY.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-handel/video-games-with-gay-cont_b_148903.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-handel/video-games-with-gay-cont_b_148903.html)
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VC has Jann, a flaming queer that puts Joachim to shame, and it's his entire character. How is including it on such a list IoTD-worthy?
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It's not the content of the list, but the list itself. Kinda like the whole 'Harry Potter leads to Satan worship' thing.
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I suppose that's true. I just object to you using VC as a shining example of why the list is retarded, when in actual fact it's one of the few media such a complaint can legitly be leveled against.
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More that it flaunts these games as having gay content while giving absolutely no clue as to what that content is.
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From the watchdog list:
Army of Two:
Homosexual Themes: Although never spoken of, undertones of homosexuality are present. Weaponry in the game can be decorated to be anything from diamond encrusted to gold plated. You share a parachute with your partner, and the riot shield system allows one player to use a shield or car door as portable cover while the other cuddles up close behind and dispenses “lead” from his “iron”.
Damn, we are in trouble - decorative weaponry is the first step to homosexuality! And apparently even the act of standing too close to another male is enough to merit "Homosexual Themes"...
-Djinn
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Be fair, Army of Two is gayyyyyyyyyy. It just wasn't intended to be.
The list is still stupid though because OH NOES SAEV CHILDREN FROM UNDERSTANDING THAT PEOPLE PUT PENISES IN MENS ANUS.
Edit - Oh yeah IotD just for their webdesign. EWWW at embedding PDFs in whatever neater tech replaced frames.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSWAT01061220081209
Elliot Spitzer takes one look at this guy and shakes his head at the raw stupid involved. Selling the President's former senate seat? Really?
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Selling the President's former senate seat on your office phone, when a special prosecutor has almost certainly tapped your phone line.
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A little insight here:
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/247380.php
"My sister works in the legislative and advocacy circles in Illinois and she's said for a long time that Blago is simply not a bright guy. People in Chicago have repeatedly saud that he's like George W. Bush but not as bright."
And to corroborate the aforementioned stupidity thing, check out this little gem:
http://clusterstock.alleyinsider.com/2008/12/alleged-blago-hoped-to-shake-down-warren-buffett
Later in the conversation, ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated that if he appoints Senate Candidate 4 to the Senate seat and, thereafter, it appears that ROD BLAGOJEVICH might get impeached, he could “count on [Senate Candidate 4], if things got hot, to give [the Senate seat] up and let me parachute over there.”
Yeah, once you appoint someone to the Senate, they're totally gonna take the bullet for you, not only by protecting you with their power, but also by giving you their seat. yeah.
EDIT:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-12-09/who-allegedly-said-it/
Wonderful.
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The fact that the previous Governor is ALSO in jail for federal corruption charges just makes this all the more rediculous. Not to mention the fact that his own party threatened to impeach him.
Urk. Chicago politics make Washington and the rest of the US look squeaky clean by comparison.
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Oh Chicago politics...
Illinois: Home of the Daly Family.
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Hey! Only 5 of the last 15 governors of Illinois have been indicted! And one of them was even acquitted!
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http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/805585.html
Teen suspended for cyber-bullying her teacher! Calling a teacher the worst teacher you've ever met is totally worthy of a three day suspension plus being booted from all your AP classes! I'm shocked they didn't just expel the bitch!
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Speaking as someone in the education system, schools take cyber-bullying very seriously these days. The fact that the student made a web page and with it, 'sought comments from other students to express their ''feelings of hatred'' toward the teacher' was and should be treated seriously by the school - the suspension sounds about right. Now, granted, I can't see how being removed from any AP class except the one with the teacher she threatened is at all addressing her offence, so yeah, that's either just stupid or we don't know the full story there, i.e. the article is phrasing the situation poorly (doesn't look like they attempted to find the school's side).
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It's true the article may not be presenting the school's side fairly, but if no serious fact is omitted, I'm deeply troubled by the idea that a student venting anger in a non-school setting who made nothing even close to an explicit threat could be punished for it. I think calling what she wrote cyber-bullying is an extreme overreaction. In high school I've said things at least as bad about my teachers; I doubt there are many (or any) who could say they haven't. I wouldn't classify that as 'bullying' and I'm not gonna call it 'cyber-bullying' just because it was written online.
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Regardless, there is a horrible tendancy in the manditory education systems to overpunish or punish poorly. This sort of display is something that needs addressing, sure, but even suspension is a bit harsh, if all she did was say he was the worst teacher she'd had. If no threats of violence or even threats of nonviolent action were made, this is highly unwarranted and impunes on the student's right to free speech. I agree completely with Miki--this is fucking retarded. The school may have a side that shines some light on it but I'll place my money on it not justifying the actions in the least.
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To lazy to read the article. I will say though that I remember as a student the feeling of absolute powerlessness over having to deal with a poor quality teacher was one of the most frustrating things I dealt with in the education system as you know the people that it actually mattered about. Removing the ability to even discuss that is a disgusting piece of oppression in an already massively over pressured and repressed portion of the population which is starting to dawn on the fact that they have no power and have power just in reach.
Shit like this is one of the factors that leads to actual violent outbreaks. If not with that student, maybe from another that is effected by the story or the implied threat. Edit - Implied threat of the people in power, not the powerless student that can't even talk about quality your instructors.
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There's a bit of a difference between saying you can't stand a teacher or think he or she is bad at teaching (the right to which nobody is trying to take away, so don't try to paint this as FIRST AMMENDMENT RIGHTS!!!) and creating a web site dedicated to your hate of that person and encouraging others to join in. The word "hatred" + inciting others towards it? I would indeed consider the latter to be bullying; if you don't, then it shows you're pretty out of touch with what bullying is and how it's defined these days. And spare me any whining about that definition when the studies are pretty clear that shit like this is tremendously damaging to the people who are the victims of it.
Now, yes, I'd expect most teachers to be more thick-skinned than most students and not be too bothered by this, but schools have to set a standard and not allow it, period - you can't tailor the punishment to how badly the person is affected.
The school may have a side that shines some light on it but I'll place my money on it not justifying the actions in the least.
The article gives no impression it even went to the other side or even did any real research into the situation. It's reporting just the contents of the lawsuit, which if you know anything about lawsuits, you should realise are going to be a very coloured version of events.
Also,
She was not removed from her AP classes (plural), just the class (singular) taught by the teacher she hated (her words).
From one of the comments in the thread. No source on this, granted, but I'd wager it's the truth.
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There's a bit of a difference between saying you can't stand a teacher or think he or she is bad at teaching (the right to which nobody is trying to take away, so don't try to paint this as FIRST AMMENDMENT RIGHTS!!!) and creating a web site dedicated to your hate of that person and encouraging others to join in. The word "hatred" + inciting others towards it? I would indeed consider the latter to be bullying; if you don't, then it shows you're pretty out of touch with what bullying is and how it's defined these days. And spare me any whining about that definition when the studies are pretty clear that shit like this is tremendously damaging to the people who are the victims of it.
Now, yes, I'd expect most teachers to be more thick-skinned than most students and not be too bothered by this, but schools have to set a standard and not allow it, period - you can't tailor the punishment to how badly the person is affected.
The school may have a side that shines some light on it but I'll place my money on it not justifying the actions in the least.
The article gives no impression it even went to the other side or even did any real research into the situation. It's reporting just the contents of the lawsuit, which if you know anything about lawsuits, you should realise are going to be a very coloured version of events.
Also,
She was not removed from her AP classes (plural), just the class (singular) taught by the teacher she hated (her words).
From one of the comments in the thread. No source on this, granted, but I'd wager it's the truth.
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HAHAHAHA. Oh, man. Wow. Either you're really unfamiliar with facebook or joking.
The drama began in November 2007 when Evans, a senior at the school, created a Facebook page that criticized her Advanced Placement English teacher, Sarah Phelps, as ``the worst teacher I've ever met.''
This isn't saying that she underwent the task of creating a webpage from scratch simply to bully the teacher. This itself is vague--the action itself could range from her posting a blog-like message whining about the teacher (in which case it very much IS WHOAMG FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS) or to spending 3 seconds essentially creating a messageboard about the topic. Either way, it's a harmless expression of free speech.
I'm not saying that the standard should be adjusted for her. There shouldn't be a standard for this kind of shit at all. If this crap classifies as harassment to you then you're probably the kind of twat who would scream sexual harassment if someone touched you on the shoulder.
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Zenny your hands are classed as sex organs by law. You touching someone on the shoulder is a felony.
That said, these days creating a webpage to go "Wow this person is a bitch I can't stand her shit" is about as hard as it is to talk about it with your friends at lunch.
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Oh come on, Zenny, you quote that sentence and then ignore the very next line which I had already clearly referred to as the source of my complaints:
Evans, who also posted a yearbook photo of Phelps, sought comments from other students to express their ''feelings of hatred'' toward the teacher.
This is what you can not do. Chances are the school had rules in place clearly saying this type of behaviour is not tolerated; I know my own school does.
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This is the thing though, society is expecting people in the lolhi2u gaiz i liek to pet teh KITTENZ school of communication. Eloquence is not their high point. This shit pisses me off, here is why and how I am irritated by it becomes "feelings of hatred".
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I think the moral of the story is: "If you write an angry blog, don't let your teacher see it!"
Seriously, kids get in trouble for trash-talking their teachers where they can hear them... it's a little similar. I mean, how did the kid expect her teacher to react?
The fact that she got suspended and not something like detention just sounds like the difference between -saying- bad things about a person and -writing- bad things about a person. The written word leaves a more lasting record and tends to be dealt with harshly in my experience. I really don't see why this is so surprising.
It sounds like someone is trying to make a WHOAMG FREE SPEECH argument out of something that really isn't there. Paranoia on the idea that "if THIS student can be suspended for blogging, then ANYONE can!" I honestly don't think this is going to become some kind of precedent for teachers to start hunting down students who blog about them. Though if it does, I imagine more students will blog more creatively so that it will be harder for teachers to find the blogs. ...which would really solve the problem in the first place - not letting the teacher see your angry blog!
To be fair... depending on how misconstrued the account becomes, it COULD become a precedent for teachers hunting down blogs to suspend kids...
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I don't think the real heart of the issue is OMG FREE SPEECH so much as the reaction is so completely and totally out of scale and petty.
Cause you know what? If you hear a student talking smack about how bad a teacher you are and your reaction is to boot them out of the fucking class then you fucking fail as a teacher. Harden the fuck up and try to find out what is wrong. Students can in fact tell if you are a shit teacher or not beecauuuuuse they are fucking learning from you.
Sure I could just assume that she is a problem student that doesn't want to be there and do the ultra defensive adult thing, but frankly that shit was overplayed in 2000 bc. Lets get over this shit and approach the problem without assuming that all teenagers are the absolute scum of the earth and just think back to how school actually works. Kids don't have fun there, but you know you turn up, you like to at least have a decent teacher that you can relate to and has a decent teaching method. You have the teachers that you hate unless you are exceptionally unlucky. It might be the boring one who teaches purely from the text book or the one that pointlessly gets riled up over stupid shit. Whatever. You still fucking hate them anyway and don't learn well from them.
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I think the moral of the story is: "If you write an angry blog, don't let your teacher see it!"
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say the school was probably notified by a student who saw the page. Unless the teacher in question is a stalker.
Also, gonna have to disagree with VSM on two points. First, the comparative severity of writing a web page vs. simply saying something over the phone. Kids these days communicate with each other via the web; there's nothing about a facebook page that says to me anything was going on here beyond a little blowing off of steam.
Second and more importantly is your statement that you can't tailor the punishment to how badly the person is affected. When you're talking about bullying, you should ALWAYS take into account how much the person is affected, because bullying isn't about what words are used but the intended consequence of those words.
If your school punishes people for specifically using certain words, that's their prerogative, but as a first amendment issue, punishment of that sort can only be meted out for things students say in school.
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And yeah Jim touched on the things I missed saying in that post. It is just a new forum that things are discussed. How much you dislike specific bad teacher A and how much better specific teacher B is will be discussed there.
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Ah, but don't forget. Minors have no rights. So protected speech is impossible anyway.
That said, I'm willing to go out on a limb and say that a kid in multiple AP classes? Was venting legitimate frustration at a bad teacher. Highschool kids use words like hate and love pretty loosely, so reading so much into it and their seeing if others agree is somewhat over the top. *reads article* Ah, there's the distinction. Posting a picture of the teacher, even an outdated one, was a stupid move, but while it makes the actions of the school somewhat more justified it doesn't negate the general point that it's not exactly telling kids to egg her house, let alone anything more overtly bullying.
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If your school punishes people for specifically using certain words, that's their prerogative, but as a first amendment issue, punishment of that sort can only be meted out for things students say in school.
Again, sorry, but you're just wrong on this one. Whether you like it or not, schools not only have a right to prevent bullying (which this is) outside of school, they have a responsibility. Do you have any idea how much shit a school would be in if a student made a web page dedicated to their hate of another student and encouraging others to share in that hate, the school did nothing, and then the student went to the press, or worse, committed suicide over it? Because the answer is "a lot".
This has actually happened, by the way.
Second and more importantly is your statement that you can't tailor the punishment to how badly the person is affected.
Perhaps I misspoke; this particular part of the issue is indeed a bit grey. It wasn't entirely correct of me to say that how the person is affected is irrelevant.
Rephrasing what's important, then, rather than get sidetracked: If you're trying to create an environment where hatred is not tolerated, then you have to punish any overt acts of hatred, whether or not the victim is deeply affected by them or not. Otherwise it sends the message that these acts are okay.
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Again, sorry, but you're just wrong on this one. Whether you like it or not, schools not only have a right to prevent bullying (which this is) outside of school, they have a responsibility. Do you have any idea how much shit a school would be in if a student made a web page dedicated to their hate of another student and encouraging others to share in that hate, the school did nothing, and then the student went to the press, or worse, committed suicide over it? Because the answer is "a lot".
Edit: Actually, this is kind of pointless. If they did withdraw her from the classes they're going to have a hard time defending it in court though.
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If your school punishes people for specifically using certain words, that's their prerogative, but as a first amendment issue, punishment of that sort can only be meted out for things students say in school.
Again, sorry, but you're just wrong on this one. Whether you like it or not, schools not only have a right to prevent bullying (which this is) outside of school, they have a responsibility. Do you have any idea how much shit a school would be in if a student made a web page dedicated to their hate of another student and encouraging others to share in that hate, the school did nothing, and then the student went to the press, or worse, committed suicide over it? Because the answer is "a lot".
This has actually happened, by the way.
I don't mean to imply schools can't punish people for things said outside of school, only that if they do so they must firmly establish that what is going on is 'bullying.' Speech is protected unless there's a reason for it not to be (the difference between shouting 'fire' in a theatre and doing so in your basement) The school should have the authority to intervene if they legitimately believe that 'bullying' is going on, but I'm extremely skeptical that they can make that connection in this case. If the page were dedicated to another student rather than a teacher I might change my mind.
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I don't see how you can blame the school for adopting a policy of "if it's not okay to do to other students, it's not okay to do to teachers, either".
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I don't see how you can blame the school for adopting a policy of "if it's not okay to do to other students, it's not okay to do to teachers, either".
Well that's an easy one. Students' peers are other students. Teachers are in a position of authority over them. Teachers can use their discretionary authority to make students' lives very difficult if they so choose. Students have no such recourse.
Even if you don't like your neighbors, you can't just picket outside their house. They'd call the police on you in no time. You can, however, do so outside your local politician's office.
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You can't, however, do so outside your local politician's house. Nor can you picket your local politican because he's black. (EDIT: that's probably too charged an example. You can't picket him because he wears pink shirts, either. You get my point, anyway, I hope.)
If your complaint isn't strictly professional in nature (and to me the article doesn't make it look like it was, though it's unclear) then you lose that protection. If it's personal, the attack is treated the same whoever it's aimed at.
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http://forum.objectivismonline.net/index.php?s=1af591c4ce608a96a76b17dfd02539c0&showforum=87 I stumbled across this joy when looking for information about Elantris online.
http://forum.objectivismonline.net/index.php?showtopic=1636 About what you would expect here. Sanderson? Jordan? Trash. BRING ON THE GOODKIND!!
http://forum.objectivismonline.net/index.php?showtopic=4265 "Hay this is a WoT topic, let's talk about how great faith of the fallen is!!"
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You can't, however, do so outside your local politician's house. Nor can you picket your local politican because he's black. (EDIT: that's probably too charged an example. You can't picket him because he wears pink shirts, either. You get my point, anyway, I hope.)
If your complaint isn't strictly professional in nature (and to me the article doesn't make it look like it was, though it's unclear) then you lose that protection. If it's personal, the attack is treated the same whoever it's aimed at.
Unless there's a lot more going on here than is stated, the teacher only interacts with the student as a teacher. Unless they've been meeting outside of classes and for strictly personal reasons, professional contact is the only kind the student and teacher ever have. It's not too much of a leap to assume the student doesn't like the teacher because of how the class is conducted. And your house analogy doesn't fit this situation because there was nothing personal to the teacher involved in the online posting (i.e. it wasn't the teacher's facebook page) and the teacher was, I assume, never intended to see it.
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If you want to make fun of Objectivists there's so much better things to point at than their taste in books (horrible as it is)
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=937406&topic=46787413
Left 4 Dead has a kind of buggy thing you can do to melee attack super fast. It isn't a huge deal. This being Gamefaqs though it turns into a fucking Smash Shit Fuckers argument about Wave Dashing. I hate you all and everyone that plays that flaming pile of shit game for ruining actually fun fucking games with this crap. Fuck you.
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That shit doesn't exist in the 360 version. Fucking PC loving douchebags. >_>
Anyways, isn't the whole point of L4D the co-op multiplayer? Aren't console scripts better for the whole team?
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Stuff like that is why I only hung out on the Gamefaqs boards for a couple months before moving on to better places. That was four years ago, before it was bought out by Gamespot.
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Gamefaqs is barely worthwhile, but meh. It is good for making fun of stupid.
Console scripts are better for the team, but meh.
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There is a versus mode. I've seen people use this glitch before, and I would place it in the slight advantage category. Bigger issues in versus are the various closets and hold out points that the entire team can group in with relative impunity to easy-clear some of the harder events. The only thing speed-swinging helps against is frontal pounces from Hunters, and well, you shouldn't do that as a Hunter anyway.
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Yeah, there is Vs mode, but if the opposition is using it, no reason you shouldn't either.
That said, Vs mode is less about winning so much as ganking the opposition harder as Zombie. Well coordinated specials should probably pretty much always win methinks.
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Exactly. I'm hard-pressed to think of a specific situation where being a bad player with console speed-melee will save you that a good player without it wouldn't survive as well.
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http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/12/the_worst_ballot_challenge_of.php (http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/12/the_worst_ballot_challenge_of.php)
New depths in the Minnesota recount.
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Ugh, yeah. That reminds me of this one time I was scrutineering for an election. Basically, being the eyes for the party I was volunteering for to ensure a fair and even count. One of the rules was that only the neutral guy not affiliated with any party is allowed to touch the ballots. Fair enough. Anyways, during the count one of the piles of votes starts to fall over towards me, and I instinctively place my hand such that it props itself up against it. Neutral guy then puts everything back in place. During the whole thing, my fingers remained straight, and everyone saw that nothing happened. In the end, my guy got trounced.
But, the thing that stuck with me, was after everything was said and done, one of the higher ranking folk for the campaign said they had some things they could do. And then he thanked me for touching the ballots, because that meant they could petition to have the whole stack thrown out.
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yeah, dipping your hands in jars labeled 'anthrax' beforehand probably wasn't your best move.
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It would have been better if you had done it before distributing ballot slips.
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=931113&topic=47219137
Bear in mind that gitales has never actually gotten the A ending - he's tried twice and screwed up.
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=937406&topic=46787413
Left 4 Dead has a kind of buggy thing you can do to melee attack super fast. It isn't a huge deal. This being Gamefaqs though it turns into a fucking Smash Shit Fuckers argument about Wave Dashing. I hate you all and everyone that plays that flaming pile of shit game for ruining actually fun fucking games with this crap. Fuck you.
Okay perspective for a moment: it doesn't strike me as fair to be angry at everyone who plays SSBM. Lots of people play the game and never get into an argument about wavedashing. I'm not even really convinced that people who get into wavedashing arguments have played the game for more than 30 minutes.
What I don't understand is why wavedashing in particular is such a big deal. Why do we not see this kind of unholy anger over bunny hopping? Over skiing in Tribes (something you can't even do without a script)? Over gamesharking in Pokemon? Over collision glitching in Starcraft? Even sticking within SSBM, Wavedashing isn't that big of a deal--it's basically a different form of rolling (or even just running) with a few more options. Why don't people whine about wavelanding, SHL, JC-grab, DD-Smash length, YYG, etc? These arguably take the game further from the original vision; some of them are easier to pull off, some of them are harder.
It's like wavedashing in particular holds some kind of perverted symbolism for people that's pretty detached from its actual gameplay value. I mean, I like wavedashing; I can also totally see not liking wavedashing, but I don't see why such concerns are worthy of more than about ten posts of debate. (This from the person who has had individual responses spanning five GameFAQs 4k-char-limit posts in FFT discussions).
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Over gamesharking in Pokemon?
Go to the Pokemon Pearl board and look for any topic with JeffMaz in it. Just be prepared for Orion-level fail.
Note that I'm not actually recommending this, just making you aware that these arguments exist.
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I'll do the same thing for bunny hopping (you're referring to CS right?)
If you haven't seen unholy anger over that, you haven't been reading the right boards.
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There is some anger expressed with Bunny Hopping (in most FPS that had it, but CS is the poster child for it), but it isn't nearly as prevalent as Smash Brothers stuff. Bunny HOpping is kind of iconic of CS matches, but bitching about wavedashing/being hyper technical competetive about it is more iconic of smash than the actual gameplay elements of wavedashing (Fox No Items crap).
Okay perspective for a moment: it doesn't strike me as fair to be angry at everyone who plays SSBM. Lots of people play the game and never get into an argument about wavedashing. I'm not even really convinced that people who get into wavedashing arguments have played the game for more than 30 minutes.
You know by now I am exagerating the sentiment (But seriously I wish people that chuck hissy fits about it would shut the fuck up. A sequel is out that doesn't have it. Get the fuck over it)
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081222/ap_on_re_us/ny_times_hoax
Can you claim to be duped if you were just ridiculously lazy to check some fairly critical information?
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Shock and suprise, apparently reputable media outlets are once again pure fail and horrible at journalism.
Edit - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzmFMOS8Qtg
I was tempted to post this in misc links at first. Japanese little girls singing Dschingis Khan, which is kind of funny. Then you read the comments and it is guys having massive boners for 14 year olds and it reminds me to stockpile enough ammunition to have a bullet for everyone else on the planet.
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Oh. Hello! Project. Yeah, that's pretty much par for the course for the fanbase.
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It's more to do with cultural conversion than age conversion. For many decades Japanese imported songs on the basis of melody which sits well with them, then translated the lyrics to fit their culture which makes it mellow and sentimental. There are MANY examples of this sort of translation. Generally when translated into Japanese the lyrics lose their "edge" because the original cynicism doesn't work very well there.
This makes me laugh. Not just because the concept that Japanese can feel no cynicism (BECAUSE THEY ONLY BELIVE IN TEH KAWAIIIIIIIII!!!! ^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^__^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^), but because they are talking about freaking Dschingis Khan.
Edit - Of course there is this
In some parts sounds like "Koi no Dance Site" by Morning Musume... the "uu haa" part xD
Because it isn't a cover of a 30 year old song.
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It's more to do with cultural conversion than age conversion. For many decades Japanese imported songs on the basis of melody which sits well with them, then translated the lyrics to fit their culture which makes it mellow and sentimental. There are MANY examples of this sort of translation. Generally when translated into Japanese the lyrics lose their "edge" because the original cynicism doesn't work very well there.
This makes me laugh. Not just because the concept that Japanese can feel no cynicism (BECAUSE THEY ONLY BELIVE IN TEH KAWAIIIIIIIII!!!! ^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^__^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^), but because they are talking about freaking Dschingis Khan.
Edit - Of course there is this
In some parts sounds like "Koi no Dance Site" by Morning Musume... the "uu haa" part xD
Because it isn't a cover of a 30 year old song.
Out of curiosity and because I wasn't alive 30 years ago, please explain what Dschingis Khan is about (or its significance) that makes it so amusing?
Although, just judging from the melody, I can guess that it isn't a particularly deep song...
-Djinn
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Dschingis Khan is a hilariously cheesy '70s song that is about as bubbly and nonsensical as you'd expect from '70s disco, only also scandinavian. You can infer the rest from there. >_>
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Shock and suprise, apparently reputable media outlets are once again pure fail and horrible at journalism.
Edit - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzmFMOS8Qtg
I was tempted to post this in misc links at first. Japanese little girls singing Dschingis Khan, which is kind of funny. Then you read the comments and it is guys having massive boners for 14 year olds and it reminds me to stockpile enough ammunition to have a bullet for everyone else on the planet.
I either have much better luck than Grefter, or have a tendency to focus more on positives, but the comments seem...not at all like what Grefter was describing
Never in a million years would I have imagined that I would hear a cover for Dschninghis Khan! This is great!
Well, this fits my impression of Genghis Khan perfectly.
(Granted, I assume this is sarcasm; can't really imagine it being anything else, but it's youtube so I instinctively question myself)
her name is Risako sugaya.
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thank you very much.
Holy crap: people on Youtube being helpful! And polite!
in japan, they mix english into their dialogue, in music (some words aren't even in japanese so they use english) they stuck english in for these reasons, and it's cool ^_^
i got this cd!!
i love it;D
People on youtube with no life: this is less surprising.
Wow, this put a smile on my face : )
A group of japanese girls singing Dschinghis Khan? Now I've seen it all. This is both completely insane and completely awesome at the same time.
Generally friendly, well-written comments.
I dunno; I mean it is Youtube, but I feel like the average IQ of these comments is at least double the last time I put myself through the torture of reading Youtube comments.
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Dig deeper. >_>
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omg they are all sooo pretty! O:
whew... it was like a heart-stopper when you see sugaya at 00:37:D
i don't know why but it looks like miyabi lost a lost of weight and she looks pretty. Actually, all of them look good ( especially when they were younger. Kawii!).
Reply
Yea!!! I really like them when they're younger!!
i know look how much they have grow alot hmm
i know there is a another version i like this one casue of them hmmm momoko really shine hmm natsuyaki still my cute girl hahas jun
i've been a fan of risako since they started... but i think chinami stands out the most in this video... her "hoo haa" shots were just too cute... :)
No, they're not outright saying "lol I want 2 hav sex with tem" (partly, I imagine, because that's a good way to get authorities watching your cyber activities), but it's still just fucking pathetic.
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I either have much better luck than Grefter, or have a tendency to focus more on positives
The latter obviously. I mean, it is the difference between you and I looking at things here >_>
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Dig deeper. >_>
See, this is how people get turned into Utena season 2 duelists.
"I...I just hate those youtube commentators! They make me crazy with their perverse and various ways!"
*Snow surreptitiously slips a black ring on your finger.
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If Zenny's going to put on epaulets and challenge Eric Schmidt to a swordfight, I want pictures.
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http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/12/29/microsoft.metered.computing/index.html?iref=24hours
Posted in chat, but I felt it deserved this position.
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http://www.atlus.com/myworldmyway/pshome.php
What the fuck.
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That's either a parody game or crack aided marketing by Atlus. Maybe both!
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It's a parody game.
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It doesn't matter if it is a parody game it still looks horrible.
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... I don't see the horror? What's wrong with it?
Apart from the fact that it looks very girly and Japanese... but then, so is Rhapsody and people seem to find that good in its own way?
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"This Stuff looks complicated! Explain."
"Less Text, more pictures."
"I can't wait to tell my friends"
Fucking
"Earn Pout Points that let you control the enemies and terrain"
This shit would have been embarrassing in the 1980s. It is beneath the industry to put that kind of insulting shit out now. This is like buying your 26 year old sister Barbie's Play House for Christmas because she is a girl and it is a girls game.
Quite frankly the whole thing is like this.
(http://lotteflodin.sprayblog.se/upload/paris-hilton-digging.jpg)
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Pfffffffffffft. I've already got this on pre-order.
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"This Stuff looks complicated! Explain."
"Less Text, more pictures."
"I can't wait to tell my friends"
Fucking
"Earn Pout Points that let you control the enemies and terrain"
This shit would have been embarrassing in the 1980s. It is beneath the industry to put that kind of insulting shit out now. This is like buying your 26 year old sister Barbie's Play House for Christmas because she is a girl and it is a girls game.
Quite frankly the whole thing is like this.
The picture was unnecessary... >.>;; I would have preferred your usual endearing Grefter-ranting.
Still haven't read anything about the game beyond the first page, but at a glance it appears to be your typical RPG fare. It might even be a decent (if cut-and-paste) monster-catching game under all the pink fluff. There's obviously a market for pink fluff, so Atlus is advertising for it. If you don't like pink fluff (and I don't blame you), fine. But getting mad at pink fluff for being pink fluff seems pointless. It's like getting mad at Mortal Kombat for being ridiculously bloody...
-Djinn
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Yeah, lighten up, Grefter. Really not worth throwing a fit over. Don't think it's going to set the women's rights movement back - Paris Hilton covers that department herself.
Saw this in a magazine recently and thought it was a pretty good concept. The going on adventures because you're the HERO OF JUSTICE!!! thing has gotten more than cliche. Why not go on adventures because you're a spoiled bitch who wants everything she sees? At least it's something different.
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I will lighten up when 50% of the games made with females as a specific target audience aren't insulting them or for 7 year olds.
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1) I'm honestly not convinced that this is targetted at females, rather than male fanboys who like Libby (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheLibby)/Tsundere (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Tsundere) type females in their anime/video games. It's such a blatant example of taking a stock character to extremes parody-style I really don't think it was meant to be taken serious.
2) What exactly qualifies as "made with females as a specific target audience", aside from stuff with obviously girly artwork like Rhapsody? Does Personal Trainer Cooking count if Nintendo (I think it's a Nintendo product) advertises it all the time on Food Network and the like? Does Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts count when Nomura starts blatantly pandering to the female/yaoi audience with the character designs? Does Harvest Moon or The Sims count for being lifestyle sim type games instead of something centered around violence like the average FPS/platformer/RPG/action/etc. game?
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(http://www.vgcats.com/comics/images/080211.jpg)
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2) What exactly qualifies as "made with females as a specific target audience", aside from stuff with obviously girly artwork like Rhapsody? Does Personal Trainer Cooking count if Nintendo (I think it's a Nintendo product) advertises it all the time on Food Network and the like? Does Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts count when Nomura starts blatantly pandering to the female/yaoi audience with the character designs? Does Harvest Moon or The Sims count for being lifestyle sim type games instead of something centered around violence like the average FPS/platformer/RPG/action/etc. game?
That is just the thing, the good games mentioned there were just made to be -games-, not specifically targetting a female audience, they are a casual audience target (which may or may not be predominatly female) what is tends to just be Barbies Play House (or maybe Hello Kitty). It is way easier to find games more specifically targetted at males.
Going back to the first point though, if it isn't targetted at females it is even more insulting as this is saying this is a way men relate to women or see them as relating to us. Which is even worse and quite frankly an even bigger shining symbol of failure in the industry. Shit like that can go fuck off and die in a fire.
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That is just the thing, the good games mentioned there were just made to be -games-, not specifically targetting a female audience, they are a casual audience target (which may or may not be predominatly female) what is tends to just be Barbies Play House (or maybe Hello Kitty). It is way easier to find games more specifically targetted at males.
On the flipside, just what exactly qualifies a game to be "specifically targetted at males"? Historically videogames have been targetted at boys for various reasons, but if we aren't going to call Harvest Moon or the Sims female-targetted because of their social focus, is it fair to call even FPS games - traditionally one of the most "macho" genres, overwhelming targetted at males age 14-35 or so - male-targetted because of the violence? There are certainly females who do enjoy shooter games, some purely because they enjoy the gameplay mechanics and some who really do like the violent trappings.
The most unquestionably indication of targetting males would presumably be scantily clad females used as fanservice purposes, but you've just dismissed games that blatantly pander to female fans with the male character designs as being female-targetted - so where exactly do you draw the line then? Clearly DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball jumped as far across that line as physically possible without the slightest sense of shame or decency, but there's a whole spectrum of fanservice of various levels of tastelessness, and by the definitions you've already made we can't toss all of them into the male-targetted bin.
Going back to the first point though, if it isn't targetted at females it is even more insulting as this is saying this is a way men relate to women or see them as relating to us. Which is even worse and quite frankly an even bigger shining symbol of failure in the industry. Shit like that can go fuck off and die in a fire.
I don't think the game's meant to say anything about gender relations - just to take one stock character type (rich stuck up bratty female) that's normally a supporting role and making her the main instead. As someone who doesn't care for that particular stock character this feels more like a case of game developers taking a lame trope and not doing a good job giving it a worthwhile spin.
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Warning, tired disjointed post.
I didn't throw out that it was targetted at females, you did.
1) I'm honestly not convinced that this is targetted at females, rather than male fanboys who like Libby/Tsundere type females in their anime/video games.
I don't even care WHO it is targeted at, it is insulting either goddamned way.
Saying Sims and other simulation/minigame centric games are not female targetted but are casual gamer targetted doesn't preclude your stock FPS (Not all are, but lets go with your UTs and your Quakes here) is targetted at males. Simulations and mini games still are not inherently (or predominantly even) targetted at females, it is going for a casual gamer market that just happens to have a larger portion of females in it (beecauuuuuuuse there are more male hardcore gamers than there is casual! SHOCK, with the more even mix up of male:female gamer ratio these days they have to go somewhere). Sure there might be some, but something like Bejeweled? You seriously want to put something as generic as that in a targets females column? No. Where as on the other hand a game chock full of the ultraviolence is pretty blatantly pandering to a (young) male audience.
Sims is more about the simulation and it doesn't really have a great deal of actual GAME elements to it. Casual games tend to be far more pure game elements (as in more in touch with traditional card games or board games). Neither of these factors are inherently female while disembowling an alien horde one by one and then having sex with 8 hot women at once is far more clearly male targeted.
So yeah I would reject that stance. It isn't one I took. What I am saying is that it is much harder to find a game that is specifically targetting a female audience the same way you can clearly say that stock FPS target males. Super Princess Peach is the kind of thing I am talking here. Casual games don't cut it because they are just targetted at everyone in general and quite frankly they work fairly often quite well at that (Either by the whatever makes Sims apealling to like fucking everyone or just being pure gameplay things like Peggle). Like lets just go with the big guns here, if you are saying casual games are targeted at females there you are saying that Tetris is specifically targeted at a female audience.
The game might not be meant to be saying shit about gender relations. It doesn't have to mean to say shit to be a flaming pile of it either. Ar Tonelico might not mean to be about as many rape allegories as you can fit into a 20 hour game, doesn't stop the game from being creepy as fuck and packed full of it by association with the number of LOL COCKS GO IN VAGINA jokes it has in it.
The fact that it is a shitty trope that they can't even be fucked to flesh out into a decent character as a parody is what is insulting . It is as if this stupid idea of women can't progress any further than the already insulting 2 dimensional shit that it started with. If it is a parody it is an incredibly shallow one that is a worthless waste of time.
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You know, I'm thinking about this topic and I walk into the other room and what should be on TV but a hearing aid ad. In it, an old lady misses a number playing bingo so she doesn't win. Hearing aids are good for all your bingo playing since you're an old lady and old ladies love them some bingo. But I digress.
Anyway, you want non-insulting games aimed at women, good luck. Games that are single-gender targeted are always insulting, because differences in taste between genders, and there are differences of course, are always insulting. (and don't tell me you know a dude who just loves reading Twilight books because I already know he's out there, but he's in a severe minority, and targeting is all about generalities.)
The best you're going to get when gender-targeting is involved is dual-targeting, things like the Vision of Escaflowne anime, which are formulated to hit both male and female audiences for different reasons. (Escaflowne is a particularly interesting case, because most of what they did between the manga and anime to make it more appealing to women was to take out the part where whenever Hitomi uses her powers she transforms into a magical girl with bigger tits. But I digress). There is an example of this in RPGs, by the way: FF8. Chew on that for a while.
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Saying Sims and other simulation/minigame centric games are not female targetted but are casual gamer targetted doesn't preclude your stock FPS (Not all are, but lets go with your UTs and your Quakes here) is targetted at males. Simulations and mini games still are not inherently (or predominantly even) targetted at females, it is going for a casual gamer market that just happens to have a larger portion of females in it (beecauuuuuuuse there are more male hardcore gamers than there is casual! SHOCK, with the more even mix up of male:female gamer ratio these days they have to go somewhere). Sure there might be some, but something like Bejeweled? You seriously want to put something as generic as that in a targets females column? No. Where as on the other hand a game chock full of the ultraviolence is pretty blatantly pandering to a (young) male audience.
Thing is, I get the impression you are being insanely restrictive on what counts as a game that is 'female-targetted' while being much more liberal on what counts as 'male-targetted'. Traditional marketerspeak with movies is that movies focused on violence are targetted at males and movies focused on relationships are targetted at females - which you'll notice I never refuted, because it's not an unreasonable position. But you refuse to label the games that actually are focused on building relationships as female-centric unless there are princesses and lollipops and frilly dresses involved, while seemingly happy to label entire genres 'male-targetted' simply having their gameplay focus on violence of some sort.
This strikes me as a double-standard, blindly swallowing half of Hollywood's demographic stereotyping while rejecting the other half. Is it really inherently masculine to enjoy a videogame built on violent but not gratuitous gameplay mechanics? Does this mean we should shun females who do enjoy violent gameplay as freaks? Or should we instead assume that traditionally 'masculine' virtues are the most desirable ones and that the most desirable females in fiction are basically male action heroes with breasts like Xena?
Quite frankly the labels that you are using and implying in this topic make it impossible by definition for the gaming industry to not have more games that are male-targetted. Any game that tries to build on more traditionally 'feminine' goals like relationship building are casual and thus not targetting females, but anything built on action and adrenaline is inherently male-targetted. At this point any company that tries to develop anything but casual games, RPGs, or Nintendo-style family friendly aesthetics is inherently doomed to be labelled as male-centric in a condescending voice.
The game might not be meant to be saying shit about gender relations. It doesn't have to mean to say shit to be a flaming pile of it either. Ar Tonelico might not mean to be about as many rape allegories as you can fit into a 20 hour game, doesn't stop the game from being creepy as fuck and packed full of it by association with the number of LOL COCKS GO IN VAGINA jokes it has in it.
Considering Ar Tonelico is based on harem anime tropes, I wouldn't be so quick to say that the rape allegories aren't intentional!
The fact that it is a shitty trope that they can't even be fucked to flesh out into a decent character as a parody is what is insulting . It is as if this stupid idea of women can't progress any further than the already insulting 2 dimensional shit that it started with. If it is a parody it is an incredibly shallow one that is a worthless waste of time.
Thing is, when it's shitty trope usage that's annoying you, you shouldn't be biting peoples' heads off about sexism. That sort of attitude doesn't cause people to stop using shitty tropes, it causes them to not female characters unless they're Mary Sue style perfect - after all, the male shitty tropes aren't causing such outrage, so clearly the gender is the problem here.
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I thought he was just upset about the advertising that Atlus was doing for the game on the website?
That's what he pointed out in his initial posts anyway. Though honestly, while it's certainly not ground-breaking humour; I found "This stuff looks complicated! Explain!" to be a slightly more interesting menu button choice than "Gameplay" - and really sounds like Atlus' usual style of advertising. It focuses on being a bit more quirky and Japanese, since that's what its fanbase likes. Seems pretty suitable to me.
And the idea that there are no guys who like this kind of 'pink fluff' game aesthetic is amusing. While it's certainly more prevalent in Japan, America has its share of otaku guys who like cute things (and I'm not even trying to imply that there's anything wrong with this, though there are certainly creepy guys who take it to a sexual extreme).
Really, the game itself just looks like it's going for a 'cute factor' appeal all-around, which has certainly worked in the past (and is one of the tried-and-true marketing formulas of Japan). And who knows, with a decent localization, the main character might even be funny or entertaining in some way.
While that may be overly hopeful, and I still don't really like this kind of 'pink fluff' aesthetic personally, Grefter's rage still seems pretty misplaced. Or rather, he seems to have singled out one example among far too many examples to rage about...
-Djinn
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You know what I am doing right now? Bashing my fucking head into my desk.
Talking about generalised stereotypes from a marketting approach doesn't mean they are things I believe. I know there are guys that will play big pink fluffy games for fucks sake. I take issues with this because it is insulting as fuck, that it is built off of a retarded trope is just an added bonus, because you see THE ORIGINAL TROPE IS AN OFFENSIVE RETARDED SOCIAL CONSTRUCT ABOUT FEMALES YOU GODDAMNED MORONS.
You do realise what this is saying if you target it at men right? It is a game for guys to laugh at and go Ohohohohohohoh women are SO TOTALLY LIKE THAT. Which you know, they aren't because they generally have a brain and feelings enough that they aren't going to go "Oh my I am apparently supernaturally appealling and capable of changing peoples minds by throwing a tantrum. OH DEAR THIS GENTLEMAN I WANT TO FUCK WANTS ME TO DO SOMETHING TO PROVE MY WORTH. INSTEAD OF USING MY APPARENTLY ESTABLISH SUPERNATURAL FEMININE WHILES I WILL GO OUT AND BE A STUPID BITCH TO THE WORLD BECAUSE THE MALE DEMANDS IT." ohohohoh womans are so totally like that.
If you target it at females, well the apparently strong female lead is going out into the world being a giant Paris Hiltonesque bitch entirely on the whim of a man. Again insulting.
For it being misaimed, you know what? I saw something that offends me as a feminist, I post it. yes there is more fucked up shit out there like this. This however is right fucking here and I can string it up as an example of how our industry is doing it wrong.
Everyone that has argued that this shit isn't primo fucked up, go take a Feminism class for fucks sake please. You are generally far to intelligent to let this kind of shit slide and yet almost everyone else who has commented has.
And Jim yeah that shit is pretty retarded as well.
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You do realise what this is saying if you target it at men right? It is a game for guys to laugh at and go Ohohohohohohoh women are SO TOTALLY LIKE THAT. Which you know, they aren't because they generally have a brain and feelings enough that they aren't going to go "Oh my I am apparently supernaturally appealling and capable of changing peoples minds by throwing a tantrum. OH DEAR THIS GENTLEMAN I WANT TO FUCK WANTS ME TO DO SOMETHING TO PROVE MY WORTH. INSTEAD OF USING MY APPARENTLY ESTABLISH SUPERNATURAL FEMININE WHILES I WILL GO OUT AND BE A STUPID BITCH TO THE WORLD BECAUSE THE MALE DEMANDS IT." ohohohoh womans are so totally like that.
If you target it at females, well the apparently strong female lead is going out into the world being a giant Paris Hiltonesque bitch entirely on the whim of a man. Again insulting.
I don't know anything about the story, but I imagine if they are presenting such an obviously flawed character as the heroine, she will undergo a predictable and inevitable change/redemption by the end of the game. Doesn't that kind of undermine the idea that the game is anti-feminist?
Sorry that I misinterpreted your posts and took it to mean that you didn't like the marketing and/or aesthetic of the game - you weren't exactly very clear at first.
-Djinn
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I don't know anything about the story, but I imagine if they are presenting such an obviously flawed character as the heroine, she will undergo a predictable and inevitable change/redemption by the end of the game. Doesn't that kind of undermine the idea that the game is anti-feminist?
I don't think a game that uses Pout Points as a mechanic is ever gonna project much of a feminist message. (Besides, the main is already clearly empowered <_<)
I'm still not sure what to make of this. It's a parody of the 'mario saves the princess' passivity of girls in fantasy video games, which is fine, but that makes it more broadly a parody of girls, which is not fine. I don't find it personally offensive because I have a the background for the former, but it's easy to see why it's not appropriate in general consumption.
Pretty similar to the RNC mess with 'Barack the Magic Negro,' which is a parody song of Al Sharpton singing about how Barack isn't black enough but those white liberals are going to elect him out of racial guilt anyway.
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Frankly, Grefter, I get the sense from your posts here that nothing a videogame company can possibly do to make a game targetted at women that isn't aimed at 7 year old girls and/or condescending. If it's built on traditionally masculine elements it's aimed at males, if it's built on traditionally feminine elements it's casual and thus aimed at everyone in general and thus doesn't count, if it's pink and sparkly it's a thinly veiled insult at any female who's not in still in the Barbie and My Little Pony phase, and if it involves yaoi and bishies it's just pandering to the fujoshi.
At this point, the message that anyone gets is that it's completely impossible to make a "feminist approved female targetted" game, so the only options are to either stop making games entirely, forget about any attempts at being female friendly since that's evidently impossible and just make games that are even more overtly male targetted since they're evidently the only sex that can be targetted without aiming for little kids, or just ignore you completely and keep on doing whatever they're currently doing since you are evidently impossible to please so why even bother.
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All I see here is that it's taking a couple of different stereotypes (female video game characters and games for girls in general), mashing them together and then pushing them to 11 for comic value. Japan's done waaaaaay more offensive stuff, probably in the past week.
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I don't think a game that uses Pout Points as a mechanic is ever gonna project much of a feminist message. (Besides, the main is already clearly empowered <_<)
I never thought a game where the main goal is to conquer the Netherworld would revolve around the theme of self-sacrifice, but Disgaea sure showed me.
It's a JRPG story, no matter how flawed your main character, it's their JOB to become perfect heroes (often in a bland, two-dimensional hand wave scene where something traumatic happens to them - but regardless, they always get there). If she starts out as such a horrible person like what I'm seeing Grefter describing, then no amount of "Rule of Funny" will save her from becoming a perfect Mary Sue by the end of the game. It's just kind of how the formula tends to work... Pout Points or whatever game mechanic be damned.
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Frankly, Grefter, I get the sense from your posts here that nothing a videogame company can possibly do to make a game targetted at women that isn't aimed at 7 year old girls and/or condescending. If it's built on traditionally masculine elements it's aimed at males, if it's built on traditionally feminine elements it's casual and thus aimed at everyone in general and thus doesn't count, if it's pink and sparkly it's a thinly veiled insult at any female who's not in still in the Barbie and My Little Pony phase, and if it involves yaoi and bishies it's just pandering to the fujoshi.
At this point, the message that anyone gets is that it's completely impossible to make a "feminist approved female targetted" game, so the only options are to either stop making games entirely, forget about any attempts at being female friendly since that's evidently impossible and just make games that are even more overtly male targetted since they're evidently the only sex that can be targetted without aiming for little kids, or just ignore you completely and keep on doing whatever they're currently doing since you are evidently impossible to please so why even bother.
Nonsense. There are games out there that are targeted to males that should not be offensive to feminists. Take Suikoden 3.
Or take Baldur's Gate. I'm not remembering it well, but during character creation, when you choose genders the descriptions are something like this: Male: Men are well-rounded and capable/ Female: Women are every bit the equal of men, and capable of anything a man might do.
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Frankly, Grefter, I get the sense from your posts here that nothing a videogame company can possibly do to make a game targetted at women that isn't aimed at 7 year old girls and/or condescending. If it's built on traditionally masculine elements it's aimed at males, if it's built on traditionally feminine elements it's casual and thus aimed at everyone in general and thus doesn't count, if it's pink and sparkly it's a thinly veiled insult at any female who's not in still in the Barbie and My Little Pony phase, and if it involves yaoi and bishies it's just pandering to the fujoshi.
At this point, the message that anyone gets is that it's completely impossible to make a "feminist approved female targetted" game, so the only options are to either stop making games entirely, forget about any attempts at being female friendly since that's evidently impossible and just make games that are even more overtly male targetted since they're evidently the only sex that can be targetted without aiming for little kids, or just ignore you completely and keep on doing whatever they're currently doing since you are evidently impossible to please so why even bother.
Except that you know, they do exist. Super Princess Peach -actually- does this pretty well. Sure she is girly, but Feminism doesn't have a problem with Girly. There are other games that do it as well I am sure. What Feminism has problems with isn't Girly itself, it is Girly being portrayed as the only thing women have/being what makes them female and the way it is usually portrayed in a negative light. It can be a part of the character but it shouldn't be the character in it's entirety.
You know what? I give up. This shit is just a Simpsons Rerun of the Stacey doll episode.
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Now Ciato can get us all big bowls of strawberry ice cream?
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http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2009/01/05/edgy_snowboard_graphics_test_liberal_vermont/
"More than 100 protesters marched in front of Burton's Burlington headquarters in October to protest the boards and urge consumers to boycott the company's products, according to the Burlington Free Press."
They presumably had just finished picketing local supermarkets who carry Maxim, since the snowboards in question are about as offensive as Maxim covers, and if there's anything that is more of a family-oriented event than snowboarding, going to the supermarket is it. Because, y'know, doing one but not the other would be silly.
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I'd be in favor of picking Maxim magazine for being so completely worthless.
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This sounds like another case of impotent public protest.
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I'd be in favor of picking Maxim magazine for being so completely worthless.
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http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/ I'm not sure specifically who to IotD here, but the stupid and sheer gall of this request is pretty bad. (The Flynt bailout request.)
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the stupid and sheer gall of this request is pretty bad.
Yeah, I mean, porn's plenty profitable. What's next? Oil?
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Meh, welcome to our respective cultures Super. The request is just as valid as any other luxury product industry.
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Speaking of respective cultures...take him back!
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2009/01/06/blair_house_mystery_solved_its.html?hpid=topnews
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http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=6182
sometimes I wish I knew Japanese just so I could avoid reading one or two sentence synopses of new anime. This is usually canceled out by my desire to know as little as possible about a culture capable of producing something like this. Worst anime ever? Not that I've watched this one, but there are certainly 4 or 5 I can think of that are at least as bad.
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Boy, we just keep getting winners, don't we.
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http://omg.yahoo.com/news/biggest-loser-star-busted-for-throwing-flour-in-tenants-face/17330?nc
I guess being on a diet gives you strange ideas about what is and is not a weapon.
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http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2009/01/06/magna-carta-to-live-on-with-xbox-360-sequel
"More Xbox 360 JRPG love: Magna Carta sequel inbound"
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http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2009/01/06/magna-carta-to-live-on-with-xbox-360-sequel
"More Xbox 360 JRPG love: Magna Carta sequel inbound"
Another Magna Carta hardly seems like 'love'...
Oddly enough, most of the gamers I've met in Japan do own 360s... Though, about 80% of all people that I've ever mentioned video games to in Japan have owned Wii's, so I suppose the 360 is definitely doing far worse comparatively. I still don't know anyone with a PS3... in Japan OR America.
The blog seems to completely forget that the Wii and PS3 have had a few JRPGs, too (Disgaea 3 and Fire Emblem 10 come to mind). Though the 360 does have a slight number more, it's not in the same vein as previous generations... yet.
-Djinn
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360 at least has had 1 more than 1 or 2 decent ones that only just came out in the last couple of months though.
Edit - Not that I like this. Fuck you again Nintendo.
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=939394&topic=47532127
Typical flame war over at Dissidia board, but I got extremely amused when I see people summoning Meeple for matters over FF9.
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http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2009/01/06/magna-carta-to-live-on-with-xbox-360-sequel
"More Xbox 360 JRPG love: Magna Carta sequel inbound"
Another Magna Carta hardly seems like 'love'...
Oddly enough, most of the gamers I've met in Japan do own 360s... Though, about 80% of all people that I've ever mentioned video games to in Japan have owned Wii's, so I suppose the 360 is definitely doing far worse comparatively. I still don't know anyone with a PS3... in Japan OR America.
The blog seems to completely forget that the Wii and PS3 have had a few JRPGs, too (Disgaea 3 and Fire Emblem 10 come to mind). Though the 360 does have a slight number more, it's not in the same vein as previous generations... yet.
-Djinn
I know one guy with a PS3. He's your typical started-in-the-32-bit-era dipshit. Claims to love Final Fantasy but has only played the ones on PS, likes to ask where the FMVs in games are, adores all-flash, five-hour games, and so on.
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This is why I lack a next-gen console and stick with my compy to play most newer games, and just stick with my good ol' PS2. Personally, I haven't seen or heard of many games that make me go "Damn, I wish I had that console". Notable exceptions being Metal Gear Solid 4, Lost Odyssey, and the newer sports games. Maybe a couple of shooters here and there that they make for X360 and PS3, I'm really not willing to shell out a crap load of money just for that though.
What really good RPG's are there for the PS3/X360/Wii??? I've heard nothing as of yet from anyone, which disappoints me. Damn you developers! Pick up the slack!
Also, I'm a weirder sort of gamer. I started with the 8-bit in 91/92, and then skipped the 16-bit era all together and got a PlayStation in '98. Hell, I barely knew of the Super Nintendo/Genesis. I grew up playing nothing but my NES until I was 9 years old.
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http://www.okcupid.com/forum?low=1&tid=7223997838631196585
NSFW. Internet date turns bad, girl baws online about it and gets pwned by pretty much everyone in the comments.
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There isn't a great deal of must have jRPGs on XBox, but there is enough that if you have the system I reccomend picking them up. Blue Dragon is oddly decent and Enchanted Arms is definitely worth playing. Not stand out amazing, either game but servicable and Enchanted Arms is quite possibly the best "First RPG on console!!!!" ever. Obviously the competition for that title are amazingly bad.
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Tales of Vesperia (X360) and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (Wii) are about the only good RPGs on next gen systems that I know of. Disgaea 3 (if you like Disgaea anyways) and Valkyria Chronicles are supposedly good (both on PS3) but I can't say since I haven't played them yet.
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http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/944/944828p3.html
Some of these aren't terrible, but the one on female leads... oh god.
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What the fuck?
If they'd wanted to attack the design of female characters in games, okay, that would be a more than valid complaint. However, the article... pretty clearly treats female main characters, or even just strong female characters IN GENERAL, as some sort of distracting quirk, the only purpose of which is to be edgy and pander to new markets (how dare they try to attract more women gamers; gaming is a MAN's passtime).
With comments like that it's no wonder the game industry has some trouble being taken seriously.
The bitching about casual gaming was pretty bad too (so you don't like Brain Training; how the fuck does its existence hurt you?), but it had nothing on the above.
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The bitching about casual gaming was pretty bad too (so you don't like Brain Training; how the fuck does its existence hurt you?), but it had nothing on the above.
More people putting effort into Brain Training games means less people putting effort into other games! Clearly!
I also liked the one about the Wii having the most releases and the most games rated under 4.0 (according to IGN)!
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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/15/ubuntu_cant_access_net/
aahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
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The Final Fantasy series has had its share of strong female characters, like Yuna in X-2 and now XIII. Again, it's a deliberate move (particularly X-2, which aimed at a female market with fashion-based equipment and magic-slotting).
Other examples of stupid.
Lesson learned: there are few things as needlessly arrogant as announcing a trilogy before the first game is out the door. Too Human, Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, Gears of War and Half-Life 2 Episodes, we're looking straight at you. Speaking frankly, look – there's nothing wrong with ambition. You want to make an epic, sprawling universe? That's totally fine. But start with getting the first game right and then let the market decide if it actually wants a sequel, let alone a trilogy. If your team is stuck under the thumb of three games in a row, you're looking at potentially between five and ten years of development time – which means you might be spanning two console generations – or more.
Building needless anticipation of an epic series also causes disappointment if eager adopters never get the final chapters. Shenmue, anyone? If the first game doesn't shift the units, then you've effectively shot yourself in the foot by creating a game that never ties up its storylines and leaves gamers disappointed and unsatisfied. Never announce a trilogy before you've proven yourself in the marketplace – or, do so at your own peril and at the expense of credibility and the potential loss of major dollars.
Worst Recent Offenders:
Too Human
Mass Effect
Assassin's Creed
Better way of putting it you retard, unoriginal IPs being spewed out again and again. These are far worse than people trying to establish NEW FUCKING IPS YOU GODDAMNED MORONIC GUTTER SHIT. Don't release a series until you have established yourself in the fucking market? Bioware have no market presence? EPIC HAS NO MARKET PRESENCE? Say what you like about Gears of War, it has some serious pedigree. Edit 2 - Oh yeah and there was totally no proven market for the Halflife 2 episodic content.
Follow that up with affordable production costs focusing on gameplay over your moronic Crysis style bump mapped penis engine and OH MY GOD THE DEMISE OF GAMING.
Edit - Wait I was wrong, they do say rampant sequels are bad and then go on to quote simulations and underwhelming series without taking a shit on their dumbarse downs syndrome posterchildren. Where is the knocking of Crysis, Farcry 2, Halo 3, Fallout 3, Resident Evil 5, Silent Hill 5 and so on.
Edit 2 - Oh yeah and GOM THEY ALL USE UNREAL ENGINE complaint can go fuck itself as well. As if that shit isn't old and played out. It is part of the industry and having everyone code their own engines (when a lot of people aren't good at it!) is a bad thing. Licensing an engine is a good thing.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE
One of those "interview a bunch of people on the streets and take the worst quotes" video clips, which is totally cheating, but...wow at some of these.
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Grefter is underselling the stupidity of that piece, which is impressive in and of itself.
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http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17506.html (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17506.html)
...or maybe he's using it because it's just his fucking middle name. just, k'now. maybe.
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The Chasers fairly commonly pick the best of the best for acted out stupidity. Not certain on some of the clips though. Most of the map ones should be loaded though....
For Jim's I really like that last paragraph. Yep, there is some real double standards coming out from some areas on this. Oh wait he wasn't referring to himself and saying that Obama shouldn't be like the only President to use him middle name?
Edit - http://exiledonline.com/das-boot-the-unsinkable-neocon-warmonger/all/1/
Exile on Max Boot, yeah, stupid crap. Good article, but the stuff is so dumb it doesn't get Misc Links.
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http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2009/01/pro-life_group_up_in_arms_over.php
See, if the article was about "pro-life group up in arms over continued violence in the Middle East" or "pro-life group up in arms over continuing AIDS epidemic" I'd actually be happy.
But there's a reason this is IotD.
god in heaven above, people are just demented.
EDIT:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,479932,00.html
okay it's probably just something in the water. still.
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http://www.peta.org/sea_kittens/
Fun fact: I've been meaning to post this for the last week or so, but I think my brain keeps on blocking it out because I always forget.
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You mean your brain just blocked out the idiocy.
But yeah, that's just as bloody bad.
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http://www.wga.org/content/default.aspx?id=3444
The nominees of creative writing are very suspect to say the least. On a positive note, I can't say I've ever heard of WGAW so hopefully that's because few gives a damn about them.
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Edit - Oh yeah the Abortion donuts. The comments section has some real gold in it.
if they were abortion donuts, i don't think i'd want one. i assume they'd be taking them out of the oven way too early.
Hahahaha.
"For all their cries of inclusion and openness, there are few groups out there more intolerant and hateful than the gay community."
REMEMBAR THE GAY LYNCH SQUADS OF 86. NEVAR FORGET ;( Ooooh right we aren't meant to ENTIRELY MAKE SHIT UP anymore are we. Whoops. That one was a real winner Tai. "We are okay with people being gay, we just worry that they will be gay in public and behind closed doors" "OH MY GOD THERE WILL BE GAY PEOPLE IN A HOTEL HAVING SEX. HOW WILL STRAIGHT PEOPLE EVER HAVE EXTREME BONDAGE PARTIES AT THIS VENUE ANYMORE".
A University of Edinburgh study found that sea kittens can retain information that they learned up to 11 months earlier, which makes them cuter and smarter than the president of the United States!
OHSNAP
Hopefully Dangerous Highschool Girls in Trouble wins the writing thing because wow at that competition.
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Yeah, I just went "...nrgwner what WHAT what" at that one. I just... sheeeeeeesh.
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... This topic has been very successful today.
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=580758&topic=47707444
Epic adventures in translation patching.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090117/ap_on_fe_st/odd_shoplifter_hit
Worst. Heist. Ever.
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1113305/Robber-stabbed-death-sushi-knife-seven-angry-waiters-stealing-tips.html?Der
I'm not sure which party is the IotD, honestly.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090117/ap_on_fe_st/odd_shoplifter_hit
Worst. Heist. Ever.
From article: A T.J. Maxx security guard told police she saw a woman stuff six designer Dooney & Bourke purses into her pants Tuesday morning and walk out of the store.
How the hell do you fit six purses in your pants?!
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Not all things that output with a .bin format necessarily output a .cue file to go with it, so that isn't a big problem, RTFM still applies however and understanding how .bin and .cue files isn't any harder than a quick wikipedia search will explain.
Edit - If you have a specific file format you want it to output though you might want to mention a freeware/shareware program that does it in the instructions, not that I have checked if you have done so, but just a heads up.
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It only got to IotD level when he copied the .bin file and renamed it .cue, hoping that that would make it work.
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Yeah really that is laughable, he should have looked up what the different file types meant.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LUtNway9x4
A day old, but hey, whatever, it's Wallace.
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John Roberts can't help messing up his lines - he's a Bush appointee.
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I suppose this is more like idiots of the day.
http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=2180031&postcount=1 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=2180031&postcount=1)
AnimeSuki's 2008 users choice award.
What did their users nominate for best storyline? Code Geass R2.
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I suppose this is more like idiots of the day.
http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=2180031&postcount=1 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=2180031&postcount=1)
AnimeSuki's 2008 users choice award.
What did their users nominate for best storyline? Code Geass R2.
The hell? 00 isn't for best story? /Kanon
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Oh, and R2 is currently winning the best storyline category with 8 votes, Kaiba and Spice+Wolf tied for 2nd with 5 each.
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Wow what the fuck is with that list.
//edit: I mean I don't watch THAT much anime but even I can tell that some of the nominations are retarded.
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Oh, and R2 is currently winning the best storyline category with 8 votes, Kaiba and Spice+Wolf tied for 2nd with 5 each.
8 votes? 5 votes? Such a statistically significant scale...
Is it really -that- surprising that there are 8 people on ANIMESUKI that think Code Geass R2 is the best thing since sliced bread?
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Well, voting began earlier today!
And no, it's not that surprising, but it doesn't make them not-idiots. :v
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It just makes them not worth really caring about. 2/10 would not click again.
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I suppose this is more like idiots of the day.
http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=2180031&postcount=1 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=2180031&postcount=1)
AnimeSuki's 2008 users choice award.
What did their users nominate for best storyline? Code Geass R2.
This is more a laugh riot than anything.
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(http://ve3dmedia.ign.com/ve3d/image/article/804/804768/brand-new-fallout-3-screenshots-20070713092116462.jpg)
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Hey, man, I was using that head. Dick.
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Hey, man, I was using that head. Dick.
Yeahhhhh... Bloody Mess perk ;)
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http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080325011942AAlTR7b
Probability of being fake: >= 50%. Still, spit-take worthy.
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http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/strange_news/offbeat_wthi_terrehaute_islam_is_the_light_nintendo_0126200921532177991
Shamelessly ripped from Penny Arcade, but fuck this shit is retarded.
Mother: toy says 'Islam is the light' ......
The Nintendo game has an "E" rating, which means it's suitable for any age.
Because Islam existing is R rated am I right? It is something we should deny existing to our youth before it infects their precious little minds!
Jones said she's angry this is the second toy she's had to take from her children.
"Not just my daughters' toys, but we have a son too," said Jones. "Now I feel like I need to listen to all of his little toys to make sure they're not saying it."
DAMN YOU NINTENDO I HAVE TO SUPERVISE MY CHILDREN. LOOK AT WHAT YOU ARE DOING. NOW I MIGHT ACTUALLY HAVE TO RAISE THEM MYSELF. IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT? MORE PEOPLE LIKE ME???!????
Nintendo's representatives said the game is manufactured by a third party, so they're not responsible for the content, but the game's packaging clearly states the game is licensed by Nintendo.
Breaking news, we don't know how to research how business fucking works. Nintendo charge these chumps a premium to even be able to put dick out on their systems. They license the right to PUBLISH the shit, nothing fucking else.
Fail reporting.
Edit - And of course there is the other link which is http://urbanlegends.about.com/b/2008/10/10/talking-doll-allegedly-says-islam-is-the-light.htm which just says that isn't what the stuff says, but that isn't as fun.
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Nintendo's representatives said the game is manufactured by a third party, so they're not responsible for the content, but the game's packaging clearly states the game is licensed by Nintendo.
Breaking news, we don't know how to research how business fucking works. Nintendo charge these chumps a premium to even be able to put dick out on their systems. They license the right to PUBLISH the shit, nothing fucking else.
Fail reporting.
Publishers need to meet specific guidelines for Nintendo to put their seal on a game, so it's a fair point. Of course, talking to the manufacturer would make more sense, but we're talking about anti-Muslim paranoiacs here, so we should content ourselves that they're not drooling (probably; drool causes typos).
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Today's idiot of the day? America!
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1105/darwin-debate-religion-evolution
I need to start getting news from somewhere other than Yahoo!
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http://exiledonline.com/
It isn't a good source, but it is at least funnier VSM. Or you can just do google news if you want easy to digest news.
Edit - Exile links you to great stuff like this.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090211/ap_on_re_us/courthouse_kickbacks
Yay! Sentencing minors to Juvie for money!
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http://exiledonline.com/christopher-blubber-jaw-hitchens-picks-a-three-against-one-fight-with-a-syrian-nerd-and-still-gets-his-ass-stomped/
More exile yay! Christopher Hitches does more dumb shit, yay!
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So about a week ago, Rush Limbaugh said he'd have an editorial in the WSJ today urging the president not to go through with a revival of the 'fairness doctrine' which mandates that radio stations present ideologically opposing views (and which was killed by Reagan and has never been revived). Ok, that's fine. Of course, Obama said last summer that he opposed a fairness doctrine revival, so it's not really an issue, but presidents don't always live up to their campaign promises, so we'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
On wednesday, the White House released its official stance:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/02/18/white-house-opposes-fairness-doctrine/
No fairness doctrine. Clear enough. Guess we won't be seeing that column frida--
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123508978035028163.html
Oh.
If you were ever in school, wrote a paper, and had to redo your thesis but felt kinda lazy about it, it might turn out like this. Gone is the fairness doctrine, replaced with a variety of "contrivances, such as 'local content,' 'diversity of ownership,' and 'public interest' rules," which Rush is very concerned the president will use to kill AM radio. One might expect that any of those three terms would be defined.
One might also suspect that when Limbaugh mentions a "new effort at regulating speech is not about diversity but conformity" championed by "a chorus of advocates for government control over radio content" that he may be able to, y'know, name one. Bill Clinton, who is mentioned in the article, doesn't count, if all he did was complain about radio's content.
Limbaugh ends on this note: "We in talk radio await your answer. What will it be? Government-imposed censorship disguised as "fairness" and "balance"? Or will the arena of ideas remain a free market?"
Guess he forgot to revise that last sentence from his original article about the fairness doctrine. Woulda been a real zinger in the original, I suppose.
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I'm not really trying to pick on right-wing media figures, but this (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/18/sean-hannity-allen-stanfo_n_168024.html)...too good.
"Stanford Coins & Bullion, a member of the Stanford Financial Group, their name as good as gold,
That would be Stanford as in R. Allen Stanford (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/19/AR2009021903111.html).
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http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1027496846&play=1.
Fail CNBC. You get 2 economic theorists on your show, like actual high class fucking intellectuals here, not business whores, actual smart people who called this shit years ago and what do they ask? "Where would you invest?" You can see the shock in their faces in "Are you serious? I am saying we need to completely restructure our economy and you want to know what to invest in?" Dumbest fucking questions I have seen in ages. It is essentially a pure embodiment of everything that lead to the business sector causing the economic crisis in the first place.
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http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1027496846&play=1.
Fail CNBC. You get 2 economic theorists on your show, like actual high class fucking intellectuals here, not business whores, actual smart people who called this shit years ago and what do they ask? "Where would you invest?" You can see the shock in their faces in "Are you serious? I am saying we need to completely restructure our economy and you want to know what to invest in?" Dumbest fucking questions I have seen in ages. It is essentially a pure embodiment of everything that lead to the business sector causing the economic crisis in the first place.
-Sigh.- God damn the media is a joke. "What one metric should we look at to gauge the health of the economy?" "There is no one metric, it is way more complex than that." "Well, what do you look at?" "<Intelligent commentary on the crisis, ignoring the stupid question.>" "Ha ha, you silly European with your silly accent."
"Where do I invest?" "That is a stupid question. We need to eliminate our dependency on debt, we need to eliminate this system of asymmetric bonuses, and-" "NO BONUSES AREN'T THE PROBLEM BONUSES AREN'T THE PROBLEM IT IS A SMALL PART OF WHAT WE'VE LOST!!!!!!!" "That's not the issue, the issue is how can we trust-" "Well how do we act? Where do we invest?!!?"
These people need to be first against the wall, I swear to fucking god.
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Can we put them up with the politicians simultaneously, get a 2-for-1 deal?
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=946860&topic=48320039 (http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=946860&topic=48320039)
Just... the last poster.
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Can we put them up with the politicians simultaneously, get a 2-for-1 deal?
Oh, Bankers, too. So the politicians are first, then the bankers second, then the media fuckheads third.
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http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1027496846&play=1.
Fail CNBC. You get 2 economic theorists on your show, like actual high class fucking intellectuals here, not business whores, actual smart people who called this shit years ago and what do they ask? "Where would you invest?" You can see the shock in their faces in "Are you serious? I am saying we need to completely restructure our economy and you want to know what to invest in?" Dumbest fucking questions I have seen in ages. It is essentially a pure embodiment of everything that lead to the business sector causing the economic crisis in the first place.
-Sigh.- God damn the media is a joke. "What one metric should we look at to gauge the health of the economy?" "There is no one metric, it is way more complex than that." "Well, what do you look at?" "<Intelligent commentary on the crisis, ignoring the stupid question.>" "Ha ha, you silly European with your silly accent."
"Where do I invest?" "That is a stupid question. We need to eliminate our dependency on debt, we need to eliminate this system of asymmetric bonuses, and-" "NO BONUSES AREN'T THE PROBLEM BONUSES AREN'T THE PROBLEM IT IS A SMALL PART OF WHAT WE'VE LOST!!!!!!!" "That's not the issue, the issue is how can we trust-" "Well how do we act? Where do we invest?!!?"
These people need to be first against the wall, I swear to fucking god.
What fucktards the media were there. The two guests come to intelligently discuss the problems and answer their questions. All the media does is ignore them, continuously cut them off when they're trying to explain just what is wrong with the economy and the questions they're asking, and what needs to be done to save the damn world. Then the media proceeds to ask what that has to do with the questions they asked and want investment advice. "I just spent the last 10 minutes explaining why you SHOULDN'T be investing... what the hell is wrong with you people?"
I would've walked off the show right then and there. But then again, NBC and companies like that wouldn't want the system to change so maybe they had those retarded questions prepped for if the guests actually tried to tell the public what needs to be done. I mean NBC would have to change the way everything is done if people knew about and supported the changes that have to be done, and what money-hungry, powerful corporation wants that?
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I doubt it is anything sinister there. They usually just have the kind of market mouth whores on there that are the type that caused the financial collapse. They just can't really adapt to the changing environment where you need to get people with 2 neurons firing answering questions instead of "Oh look this marketting strategy is QUITE bullish ohohohohohohohoh by war bonds." Don't look for anything sinister when criminal stupidity will suffice.
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http://consumerist.com/5160187/identifying-yourself-as-a-lesbian-gets-you-banned-on-xbox-live?skyline=true&s=i
Woman banned from Xbox live for identifying herself as lesbian.
http://consumerist.com/5010527/microsoft-confirms-gaywood-is-an-offensive-surname-mr-gaywood-responds
Man told that he can't use his actual surname on Xbox live because it is offensive (his name contains the word gay).
http://kotaku.com/5160595/xbox-live-sadly-no-place-for-lesbian-gamers
Presumably to cover themselves against lawsuits, Microsoft makes it a bannable offense to be straight, too!
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http://consumerist.com/5010527/microsoft-confirms-gaywood-is-an-offensive-surname-mr-gaywood-responds
Man told that he can't use his actual surname on Xbox live because it is offensive (his name contains the word gay).
That is retarded. Just, straight up unnecessary. It's his NAME FFS, and it wouldn't take much for him to prove that either.
The others though, it does mention in the TOS that you can't put anything of a sexual nature, or even hint things involving sex and sexuality in your gamertag/profile. Gay or straight. Don't get me wrong, I still think its stupid what M$ did, but they did put it in their Terms of Service, so you can't really fight that.
Though I've seen far more offensive crap in tags and profiles before... >_> (Clan tags that look like dicks, and etc) so I can't believe that they're only hitting this part of the issue.
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The others though, it does mention in the TOS that you can't put anything of a sexual nature, or even hint things involving sex and sexuality in your gamertag/profile. Gay or straight. Don't get me wrong, I still think its stupid what M$ did, but they did put it in their Terms of Service, so you can't really fight that.
Though I've seen far more offensive crap in tags and profiles before... >_> (Clan tags that look like dicks, and etc) so I can't believe that they're only hitting this part of the issue.
The whole thing is really offensive all around. The idea that I could be banned for something like... listing my gender as 'male' and then stating that 'I like Ivy from Soul Calibur because she's hot'... is really annoying on a low level, but it becomes really offensive when I think that an already-persecuted sector of gamers can be punished because they aren't hiding their sexuality well enough.
I'd stumbled across the whole debate on slashdot yesterday, but at this point, everyplace I see it come up again, it's the same argument between one faction who says that mentioning your sexuality makes you an attention-seeking drama queen crusader and the other faction which essentially calls that group 'homophobes in denial spouting off Bill O'Reilly rhetoric'. And then there's this third group of idiots who spend all their time arguing about the definition of 'profile' and what should go on one...
-Djinn
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A Profile is a type of picture and posting your picture on the internet is pretty gay, so they should ban all X-Box Live members.
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http://exiledonline.com/astroturf-revolution-dispatch-koch-activists-teabag-media/
If anyone caught this bit of conservative propaganda astroturf lately here it is reported by Exile. Rick Santelli and his new Boston Tea Party thing over the government bailout package (Because giving money to people other than the mega corporations is like taxing people who have no representatives in government).
It was now 9:35 am and Katz was finishing, right on schedule. He invited people to throw their tea bags into a pot of water (throwing tea bags into the ocean would be littering and illegal) and yell out their anti-tax demands. The whole thing was pathetic and over very quickly, thankfully.
YES! YOU MAKE A GIANT POT OF TEA! FIGHT THE POWER! TRUE TEA PARTY SPIRIT. MAKE THE STRONGEST POT OF TEA EVER MADE! IN YOUR FACE OBAMA OR MORE LIKE OTHEMAN! IT IS A PUN, A PLAY ON WORDS.
Edit - Also AIG continues to be a fucking embarassment to you capitalists.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-tue-aigmar03,0,4851941.story
HOW TO EARN MONEY AS WORLDS LARGEST INSURANCE COMPANY?!??!?!?!??!???!?!??!?
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http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2009/03/the_watchmen_li.html
Hardcore conservative reviews Watchmen.
Gets better in the comments.
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This really isn't a superhero movie at all. In fact, there was little "superheroing" until after the second hour of this nearly three-hour exercise on defining deviancy down.
OH SNAP THE CURTAIN HAS BEEN LIFTED FROM MY EYES. WATCHMEN WASN'T ABOUT SUPERHEROES.
Edit - I have no concept of your "Speculative fiction" that you speak of. "World building" is for wankers and degenerates.
And of course MOVIE RATED R. I STRONGLY RECCOMEND YOU DO NOT TAKE YOUR CHILDREN TO THIS MOVIE. Thanks for showing us the light there hard right!
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Wait, Dr. Manhattan's penis is computer-generated? Fuck it, I'm not seeing the movie now. I had my hopes up to see a real penis swinging around for the whole movie.
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I think the best part is when she says that having Nixon be president in the 1980s is "getting dates wrong."
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All hail Molech.
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This is why conservatives have a tough problem today. The pop culture undermines faith, family and freedom.
Okay, I agree with the complaints about faith--Watchmen is a story of cynicism, which is the opposite of faith. Family...well certainly the movie is not "family friendly".
Freedom, though? The entire article was "I don't want movies to display X, Y, Z, W, P, Q, or R". Movies can display whatever they want--this is freedom of speech. For that matter, objecting to lesbians is objecting to personal freedom. Superheroes hurling obscenities? Sounds like they're expressing their freedom to use whatever words they want.
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The word "Freedom" for the right-wing has nothing to do with the actual definition.
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You are Canadian, you have no concept of Freedom.
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Freedom (Fuh-ree-dum) n: A term expressing the inalienable rightness and awesomeness of a bald eagle shitting upon all who doubt the ineffable rightness and awesomeness of Americans. Also know as the right of Americans to do whatever they feel like and maintain moral superiority whilst the rest of the world can go and suck it up.
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Well what do you know, Gref was wrong.
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I think this is how she sees the Watchmen marketing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT6KpsJs1Io
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I think this is how she sees the Watchmen marketing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT6KpsJs1Io
Dead video... mirror plz?
-Djinn
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Not it but I imagine similarly worth noting.
(http://thenerdofher.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/watchmen-babies.jpg)
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The Simpsons of course being an expert on the subject of pointlessly dragging things out.
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=946860&topic=48479298
Gamefaqs never fails to produce.
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=946860&topic=48479298
Gamefaqs never fails to produce.
*gags uncontrollably*
Seriously? Good lord.
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It is pretty tame for Gamefaqs, but I have high hopes for it to degenerate further into the NO ONE SHOULD EVER HAVE OPINIONS ON ANYTHING HOW DARE YOU QUESITON MY OPINION MY MUM SAYS I AM SPECIAL zone pretty quickly.
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Mmm, nerd rage
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Glad to see that even among trolls the KISS principle applies.
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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/06/illinois_pluto/
Yay! Fuck your science, we must ignore you and argue against your point with logical fallacies in the name of local pride!
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Hah! Given that the reclassification of Pluto as not a planet was essentially the governing scientific board creating a new definition as opposed to finding Pluto to not be in accordance to an old one, I say if they want it to be a planet, let 'em.
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I fail to see how reclassification of Pluto changes how imporant and great a discovery was anyway. I say they should go fuck themselves with a stick wrapped in barbed wire.
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I say they should go fuck themselves with a stick wrapped in barbed wire.
Only if it's American-made.
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And Miki shows that he completely missed the point of the article.
I say they should go fuck themselves with a stick wrapped in barbed wire.
Only if it's Illinois-made.
Fixed.
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It is pretty tame for Gamefaqs, but I have high hopes for it to degenerate further into the NO ONE SHOULD EVER HAVE OPINIONS ON ANYTHING HOW DARE YOU QUESITON MY OPINION MY MUM SAYS I AM SPECIAL zone pretty quickly.
I always get this general depressing feeling when I see threads like this. People are so sensitive about opinions and having dissenting opinions. Obviously, on one end 'people shouldn't be so sensitive'. But the other end of the spectrum is that people really do throw the weapon around carelessly. Having an opinion on something, or even liking something in general opens a person up to having criticism hurled at them for it. Even if a person likes something for a logical reason or because of differing values.
It just saddens me that this kind of discussion -does- always seem to degrade into the NOSEHOOAHDYQMOMMSIAS zone so quickly.
-Djinn
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/06/illinois_pluto/
Yay! Fuck your science, we must ignore you and argue against your point with logical fallacies in the name of local pride!
Better reading of that article: Excuse for making a 'Pluto Day'.
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Hah! Given that the reclassification of Pluto as not a planet was essentially the governing scientific board creating a new definition as opposed to finding Pluto to not be in accordance to an old one, I say if they want it to be a planet, let 'em.
Thing is, there was no definition of a planet beforehand, just nine celestial bodies that were arbitrarily tagged with that label instead of asteroid or whatever else. There is simply no scientific justification whatsoever for calling Pluto a planet while excluding the many similar sized objects in the same viscinity, such as Eris which is actually larger than Pluto. The International Astronomy Union simply opted for a more exclusive definition of a planet rather than a more inclusive one, which had been proposed earlier and had plenty of detractors.
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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/06/illinois_pluto/
Yay! Fuck your science, we must ignore you and argue against your point with logical fallacies in the name of local pride!
I better get a holiday out of this at least.
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http://www.charleston.net/news/2009/mar/07/its_big_guy_vs_little_guy74198/
...
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The bright side of that article is that the poll results highlight nicely what a PR gaffe this is for Re/Max. Good job, guys.
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Oh wow. I am happy to be among 15,762 (98%) other votes agreeing that this is bullshit. Way to go there, guys.
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You know you've failed when your point of view is less popular than Tanner.
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Defense Attorny: Your honor, I present exhibit A. This comparison of the two logos. ...really, I rest my case.
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Well, yeah. The point of the lawsuit is to bury the start-up company in legal fees they can't afford. The actual case is a technicality.
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=2000121&topic=48538496
The greatest case of canon denial ever continues, complete with hilariously bad attempts at nitpicking a foreign language by someone who clearly doesn't know a single lick about it (against who *does*).
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=2000121&topic=48538496
The greatest case of canon denial ever continues, complete with hilariously bad attempts at nitpicking a foreign language by someone who clearly doesn't know a single lick about it (against who *does*).
Oh OT, your fail never ceases to amaze.
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http://www.watchmencomicmovie.com/030909-watchmen-movie-top-ten.php
The worst part of comic books are the fans.
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Hardly the worst of the bunch, that link. I don't even really see what's so bad about it.
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Perhaps you should work on your English grammar before dictating to others about Japanese grammar.
I like how totally relevant those facts are. HEY GUYS YOU DON'T SPEAK ENGLISH VERY WELL THAT ENTIRELY INVALIDATES YOUR LANGUAGE SKILLS WITH A LANGUAGE THAT USES COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SYNTAX BASE FOR ITS GRAMMAR.
Edit - Again, it's just your opinion that his words mean lelouche is dead.
Thank you and goodnight.
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I dunno, I think I prefer his rebuttal of "So? He's just one of the authors. Just because he thinks that's what happened doesn't mean it did."
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I dunno, I think I prefer his rebuttal of "So? He's just one of the authors. Just because he thinks that's what happened doesn't mean it did."
If this were professional art, that would be a valid argument (because artists can be coy or cagey about what their art means). It still is, kinda. Whenever you have a situation where you have a collaborative work, there is a possibility that creators may disagree. If the show, the actual content we're talking about, left something vague, I say leave it at that.
People take out of media what they believe based on what's apparent. You don't even have to believe Dumbledore's gay if you really don't want to. Not like it was ever clear in the book.
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Sure, but this is more along the lines of "Rowling just meant he was happy!"
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art
Code Geass.
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Sure, but this is more along the lines of "Rowling just meant he was happy!"
Oh yeah, this is just theoretical. I don't bother reading gamefaqs idiocy, but I'll take your word for it he's an idiot.
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art
Code Geass.
Oh, Code Geass is some kind of art alright... There's got to be some merit involved in creating something that infuriating yet somehow watchable...
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art
Code Geass.
Oh, Code Geass is some kind of art alright... There's got to be some merit involved in creating something that infuriating yet somehow watchable...
Or so you'd like to think. Still, character designs are by CLAMP, and they are undoubtedly artists, and I would argue they're good ones (not for Code Geass, mind, but Clover, X, Cardcaptor Sakura manga are all quality) so I guess it qualifies.
EDIT: Art quality. Not touching plot, so set down the torches. (though in the 3 I mentioned, I wouldn't think there'd be much objectionable about the plot either, as long as you consider that other shows you might think are using that stale old plotline are ripoffs of X. Anyway. God, I'm equivocal.)
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I'm sure everyone has heard tales from Jim and I about a kid named Seth we went to college with. He was THAT GUY.
Well, if you were really wondering what Seth was like, watch this video.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5065474003958956052
Basically, thats Seth in all his self-deluded glory, minus the being full blown psychotic and adding over the top patheticness and perversion with social ineptitude. The stuff about being a samurai could honestly have come straight from Seth's mouth though.
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I'm not watching that.
I'm just not fucking watching that.
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Thats not actually Seth, mind.
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I CAN'T HEAR YOU! THE SILENT HELICOPTERS DIRECTLY OVERHEAD ARE TOO LOUD!
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http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0318091dog1.html
...
Woman asks police to search her laptop because she suspected her ex-boyfriend had been searching for child pornography on it. Police find pornography, all right: 2 videos of her having sex with her dog.
You can't make that shit up.
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"Cops believe that the dog in question, Toby, is a beagle."
LOL
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http://rightsoup.com/rep-michelle-bachmann-grills-timmy-and-ben/
I'm trying not to be too overtly political in IotD, but Rep. Michelle Bachmann leaves me no choice.
As this blogger notes, Bachmann had some tough questions today for Bernanke and Geithner that they never gave a proper answer to: "where," as the blogger puts it, "in the Constitution did they get the power to rape the American taxpayer as they did, and continue to do?"
And boy were they evasive, pointing to all those laws Congress wrote that granted them authority, but ultimately skirting the question of where congress gets the authority to do so. C'mon, dudes. Article one.
...she knows that, right? I mean, she's just playing dumb. right?
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She must have taken the same HS Government class Sarah Palin "The First Amendment means you can't criticize me" took.
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Stupidity or genuinely adorable? (http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/World/Story/STIStory_355356.html)
I'm not quite sure. Yes, it's three days old, sue me, but I had totally forgotten about this for a while. Man, 12-year-olds impregnating 14-year-olds would've been shocking news, I'm glad it's only been changed to 13- or 16-year-olds impregnating 14-year-olds!
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http://www.gamespot.com/news/blogs/sidebar/909182374/26390271/wii-fit-tells-10-year-old-shes-fat.html
Everyone is stupid.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/colombia/5072089/FARC-guerillas-fail-in-bid-to-kill-defence-minister-after-spelling-mistake.html
Apparently there are downsides to spending all your time in the jungle.
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http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/03/30/pension_insurer_shifted_to_stocks/
ugh.
careful. this one's unquestionably stupid, but also depressing.
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http://forcechange.com/2009/04/04/congressman-god-decides-when-the-earth-will-end/
Exactly like it says. I'm not a dedicated global warming enthusiast or anything like that, but this made me bang my head against my desk.
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Commenting on the keep-the-Times alive movement, Keller said: "Saving the New York Times now ranks with saving Darfur as a high-minded cause."
http://www.politico.com/blogs/michaelcalderone/0409/Keller_Times_will_be_left_standing_after_the_deluge_.html?showall
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To be fair, he meant in terms of how people have reacted to it. He's not implying he personally believes there's an equivalence in importance.
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Which lessens him being an insufferable twat not at all, the comment was both painfully out of touch and extremely arrogant. It's made even better by his 'attempt' at an apology.
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Yeah, what Super said. I'm not exactly impartial about the newspaper industry, but equating it to the deaths of thousands is really, really, really, really stupid.
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http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/04/sexting-hysteri.html?
tl;dr: School administrator asked to investigate rumors that students were passing around nude pictures of each other (taken, mind you, by their own damn selves). Administrator does his job. Finds a picture, reports it to his principal. Parent of the student in possession of the picture is not told about it, finds out anyway, throws a hissy fit and goes to the police. Overzealous prosecutors try and charge administrator with possession of Child Pornography.
...
Yeah. The good news is that the judge here wasn't a total dumbfuck and threw the case out. The bad news is that this isn't the first such case, just the first such one lobbied at an administrator.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28679588/
In this one, the girls who took pictures of themselves are being prosecuted as child pornographers.
It's been happening a lot, recently, that students (all of whom are age<18) who had been sent the pictures, the girls who took the pictures, and in one case ( though I cannot find the news story for the life of me) someone who had been sent the picture and even deleted it are being tried as child pornographers and face the very real possibility of being labeled as sex offenders.
This is fucking ludicrous, and highlights a huge weakness in our legal system: seeking to keep their jobs via election, the prosecutors try and assure the public that they are hard on crime and pursue these retarded cases at the expense of ruining the lives of some children. Further, the label of Child Pornographer is quickly becoming an overused tool: I recognize the need to protect young children from exploitation, but the fact that it is being used against teenagers experimenting with people their own fucking age (hur hur hur) says the system needs re-evaluation.
So stupid. So fucking stupid.
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It's completely unforgivable. What those prosecutors are doing is completely unconscionable. Child pornography carries harsh sentences (and rightly so) specifically because it promotes actual child abuse. Anyone found guilty of it would be ruined for life. To prosecute for child pornography when it's apparent there was no abuse, because the girls took their own photos, is a miscarriage of justice at best, and completely sick.
EDIT: anyway, today's idiot: The Government of North Korea:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/06/world/asia/06korea.html?_r=1&hp
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On Google and other news aggregators: "If you're inclined to trust Google as your source for news -- Google yourself.
Apparently I am not news worthy. Clearly this is a good argument that isn't 100% strawman. I now trust NY Times implicitly and disregard everything google says. Now where is my cover picture bitches?
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I can't believe I'm explaining this. It's a fine argument because, as is well documented, Google picks up everything that is written on a subject (like you, say) despite the newsworthiness or accuracy of the source (see: Strago re Grefter). Newspapers tend to see themselves as filters that provide news that is not only timely but also accurate. Y'know, 3 reliable sources and all that.
It's kinda like this. Michelle Bachmann wants to introduce an amendment forbidding the president from replacing the dollar with an internationally created currency. Google will tell you so. Go look it up. What Google won't tell you is whether or not Obama plans to move away from the dollar (he doesn't). Unless, of course, you Google a newspaper article about it (Washington Times editorials don't count).
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Jokes go here Jim.
I don't doubt the usefulness of honest to gods news articles. However I wouldn't discount the value of Google as a part of the news service.
http://news.google.com/
This exists after all. It IS a good way to get info about shit and it IS relying on Google for your news and it does give a far broader range than buying just the Times does (for example), because as we all know certain papers are more noted for certain stances (Which don't get me wrong, is the good thing for them and about them! The worst thing the Economist ever does is step outside of economics because gods knows it is having a hard time doing a good fucking job of that! And Vanity Fair isn't any good when it is being something other than vain). This doesn't translate to "You shouldn't trust Google" or "You should save the NY Times specifically because it is completely surrounded by wank", it just means that papers need to outlive the actual PHYSICAL print medium and continue to do a good job of covering big topics in their focused areas of expertise (whatever they may be).
Evolve or die, the NY Times isn't anything special in this case. Deal with the fact that there is far greater meta filters than your chief editor/Human resources department these days and attract audiences by being good at what you do (ie, write good news). If you are exceptional as a news source then you just might find people going directly to you frequently, but you are far less likely to be the sole source any more and you shouldn't try to be anymore.
Edit - And where was Strago in this? Did he have a vanishing reply? If so you make me sad you foul actor. You are becoming as bad as that Duck we used to know.
Edit 2 - Oh and I would take the NY Times stance on this whole thing if they could write a fucking webpage that didn't make non-IE browsers crash. (Edit 3 - Note that the joke started back up here) Fuckers, you do realize coding in the sloppy MS viable but not up to industry standards language is fucking shit right? Fuck you NY Times and fuck your website and it's stupid fucking title text that crashes shit (Or is it their ads? I don't fucking care anymore.) Fuck them and their opinion on the internet. Dog fuckers, Luddites and arse monglers.
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PETA is at it again, this time on WoW. Though, there is one thing here that I do applaud them for. They took the high road and did not mock the Newfie/Canadian accent.
http://kotaku.com/5201889/peta-protests-baby-seal-clubbing-in-world-of-warcraft
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Edit 2 - Oh and I would take the NY Times stance on this whole thing if they could write a fucking webpage that didn't make non-IE browsers crash. (Edit 3 - Note that the joke started back up here) Fuckers, you do realize coding in the sloppy MS viable but not up to industry standards language is fucking shit right? Fuck you NY Times and fuck your website and it's stupid fucking title text that crashes shit (Or is it their ads? I don't fucking care anymore.) Fuck them and their opinion on the internet. Dog fuckers, Luddites and arse monglers.
Huh. works fine for me. Boston Globe's Boston.com has loading issues, though.
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http://kissingsuzykolber.uproxx.com/2009/04/the-single-most-douchetastic-email-you%E2%80%99ll-ever-read.html#more-13646
Just read the link, it's pretty entertaining.
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090411.wcowente11/BNStory/National/home (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090411.wcowente11/BNStory/National/home)
Faith in humanity -9476346. This should maybe go in Misc Links or Politics but here seems best.
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This does present a nasty, tricky issue. Not that I think there's much doubt in the case at hand, although it seems perverse to me to punish someone for murder in this circumstance (if you shoot someone, and 3 years later they die from an infection probably caused by the bullet, are you tried for murder? I don't believe so). It seems likely that if the law does punish people who transmit aids ONLY if they knowingly do so, you're gonna find a lot of people simply unwilling to go get tested, even if they suspect. People are awful like that.
The benefits of a law like this seem pretty obvious, but there are some very major downsides. Are people who get HIV going to be able to subpoena the medical records of their exes? Are we going to be allowing victims to finger the people who infect them, then use that as evidence after they die? If you do tell them you have AIDS, are you culpable for anything? Will their family be able to press charges for assisting in their suicide if they later die from it? That's the rational extension of all this.
If you go to work with a nasty cough, what happens if your coworker gets bronchitis?
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Miki, I can kind of see your point, but there's no slippery slope argument here. The issue here is with people who have a highly infectious, untreatable, and terminal disease, and then engaging in mutually consensual behaviour that their partner would not consent to if they knew the risks they'd be taking if they did.
This is especially important due to the fact that when this law was implemented, there was a case in Calgary about a man who had contracted HIV, and then deciding that if he was going to die, he wasn't going to die alone, and went about purposefully trying to spread the disease. This law is partially there simply to give the government the ability to easily lock such folks up so that they can't continue with such behaviour.
Alex, just curious, but which particular part of that article did you think was worthy of IotD?
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Tricky issue.
The Calgary man... well, it seems like there's some actual (confessed) intent there, so charging that person makes sense. But what if the intent isn't there; is it a case of negligence then? If so, do you extend the same thing to going to a retirement home while you have the flu, and infecting somewhere there causing them to die?
You can also argue pretty reasonably that when you have unprotected sex with someone, you're pretty much agreeing to share any diseases they have; I dunno how much specific liability an infected person should carry here. Only punishing those who know their condition encourages people to not get tested which is very bad. Punishing those who don't know is stupid - law requires that you form an intent for any crime you commit, and it can't really be seen as negligent to not get tested for HIV every few months. So basically you can probably only punish those who have a provable intent to harm another, is the conclusion I am arriving at. Which happen to include the cases that get people most up in arms, here... so that works.
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Well in the face of that I am going to go with some simple stupid. It isn't anything big and amazing, but I can't help but think I have focused so much on the monumental stupid this year to forget to bring you the regular every day stupid surrounding us.
So here we have Youtube comments for a quick petty stupidity fix. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxCCYBKXn44&feature=related Q Lazarus - Goodbye Horses clip.
indiantaco32 (1 day ago)
its from the movie clerks 2
gokarej (1 day ago)
this sing in gta iv ....
monkeeeeeeeeeeee (1 day ago)
its also on youtube
Whiiiiiich if you aren't familiar with this stuff, is culturally noteworthy as pointed out by the next worthwhile post!
chimpvanze (17 hours ago)
It's actually originaly from Silence of the Lambs, but Jay is copying Buffalo Bill's dance.
Which while poorly phrased does highlight where the song is originally fairly noteworthy.
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I have no idea what Grefter's post is about, but now I have this absurd mental image of Grefter all but draping himself over Alex's shoulder and cooing into his ear, "and what i want to know is how do you like your blue-eyed boy Mister Death?"
To which Alex distractedly responds that he's a shikigami, not a shinigami.
Does this put me in the running for IotD?
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Tai, see http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheSilenceOfTheLambs?from=Main.SilenceOfTheLambs or, why Anthony Hopkins is the Tim Curry equivalent the areas of Creepy that Curry has cornered on ridiculously sexy.
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Vaguely helps but it doesn't remove the mental image.
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It is actually a fairly fitting image. I just wanted to bring up the fact that Tim Curry is a sexy man god.
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To perhaps the one member of the DL that'd have no appreciation of that fact? Or were you enlightening the unwashed masses?
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Just saying in general since it hasn't come up lately and it needs to be stated within certain timeframes or the world explodes.
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To perhaps the one member of the DL that'd have no appreciation of that fact? Or were you enlightening the unwashed masses?
Hey! I wash...
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It is actually a fairly fitting image. I just wanted to bring up the fact that Tim Curry is a sexy man god.
Damn straight.
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Alex, just curious, but which particular part of that article did you think was worthy of IotD?
The part where lobbyists are arguing that the guy should be acquitted/pardoned and trying to turn it into a gay rights issue, mainly. This is exactly the sort of idiocy that gets that movement set back by decades.
I also disagree rather strongly with some of the views that have come up in this topic, but don't want to derail it into a debate, so... mrf.
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Which is why it likely should have been in politics. The debate looks like it could at least be interesting.
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This is exactly the sort of idiocy that gets that movement set back by decades.
Bwahaha, no, see, the problem with "sets the movement back by decades" when referring to the gay rights movement, is that three decades ago it was considered a mental illness that should have people locked up. Two decades ago, there really wasn't an understanding of "you can't teach someone to not be gay"--there was research at the time that this wasn't a choice people could make, and that no known drug treatment flipped orientation, but this wasn't mainstream knowledge yet.
You might be able to get away with "sets the movement back by years", but it's too young a movement for "back by decades" to actually make sense.
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Weeeelllll, that depends entirely on the kind of stupid. WBC for example would be setting the movement back a little more than a couple of decades.
Edit - Being relevant and having any pull whatsoever I mean.
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You might be able to get away with "sets the movement back by years", but it's too young a movement for "back by decades" to actually make sense.
speaking of such problems...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/13/foxs-cavuto-claims-networ_n_186156.html
as for setting the movement back, rights movements come in two phases. the vanguard is insular, and concerned with bettering the condition of the group. The second is inclusive and works toward equality and normalization. There's always an overlap, and the two can end up working at cross purposes. This is something we're now seeing with gay rights issues. Idiocy is idiotic, but with huge recent gains in equality, marriage and nondiscrimination, it's not going to be the consensus of the movement going forward.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3qFdbUEq5s&feature=channel
Fantastic.
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/me facepalms.
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no, seriously guys, what's in it?
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...
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Now I'm gonna have nightmares about oozing rainbows for sure. I don't think it's any coincidence that this comes in the wake of the "gay rights" movement.
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as for setting the movement back, rights movements come in two phases. the vanguard is insular, and concerned with bettering the condition of the group. The second is inclusive and works toward equality and normalization.
That's a bit of an overgeneralization, and not true at all for some civil rights pushes. For instance, the first wave of feminism (pre-1950) was about getting women equal rights, but the second wave (1960-early 1980s or so) was about anything but being all inclusive; most feminist academics of the time wrote emphasizing gender differences and lambasted anything they could even tangently relate to the "phallocentric patriarchy (among other terms they used that described anything other than female)".
You could argue that they argued for equal standing because they argued for the abolition of the social structures that created the inequality in the first place, but their ideas were largely off base and attacked phantoms they created themselves (differences in woman's language as opposed to man's, for instance. Agh so stupid) instead of actually addressing the problem, so it can hardly be called arguing for equality.
Anyway, my point is I don't think that the generalization made about civil rights movements necessarily holds true upon examination. But I could just being nitpicky so whatever.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3qFdbUEq5s&feature=channel
Fantastic.
OH SHI- Dihydrogen monoxide (http://www.dhmo.org/) strikes again!
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Oh god, that stuff? I can't believe it's so heavily regulated by the government and still causes so much devastation. I hear Hurricane Katrina wouldn't have been anywhere near as bad if the clouds hadn't been filled with it.
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as for setting the movement back, rights movements come in two phases. the vanguard is insular, and concerned with bettering the condition of the group. The second is inclusive and works toward equality and normalization.
That's a bit of an overgeneralization, and not true at all for some civil rights pushes. For instance, the first wave of feminism (pre-1950) was about getting women equal rights, but the second wave (1960-early 1980s or so) was about anything but being all inclusive; most feminist academics of the time wrote emphasizing gender differences and lambasted anything they could even tangently relate to the "phallocentric patriarchy (among other terms they used that described anything other than female)".
You could argue that they argued for equal standing because they argued for the abolition of the social structures that created the inequality in the first place, but their ideas were largely off base and attacked phantoms they created themselves (differences in woman's language as opposed to man's, for instance. Agh so stupid) instead of actually addressing the problem, so it can hardly be called arguing for equality.
Anyway, my point is I don't think that the generalization made about civil rights movements necessarily holds true upon examination. But I could just being nitpicky so whatever.
It does tend to apply to a lot of movements though. See the IRA, the movement to make India a sovereign nation again, Slavery and Racism just for a few examples. I wouldn't be too adverse to pondering the Feminist movements odd formation being due to the fact that it is fairly strongly placed either side of the Modernity/Post Modernity line, like split straight in half by it.
I find it weird that of all people it is Zenny and I that both have University education backgrounds that touched on Feminism though (I know a few others do but you don't chatter about it as much as I and damn, Zenny has a good showing of knowing the history and theory there).
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Feminisim didn't start in the 50s, though. I mean, Women Sufferage was like...1920. The idea of women venturing into non-typical feminine jobs was cemented during the world wars in a lot of cases (my grandmother built ammunition shells).
For that matter, I'm not sure I buy extremist insular movements always being the starting point. For instance, Black Panthers didn't exist until 1966, about a decade after the civil rights movement and long after the abolition of slavery.
The LGBT movement...never seen a violent "we're superior to straight people movement" from there. I've seen internal discrimination in there, sure (LG citing superiority over B; LGB citing superiority over T; T citing superiority over other T; L and G didn't get along that well 30 years ago before forming the alliance).
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At least one class I've taken every semester for the past two years has exposed me to this kind of stuff. First one was a Gender in Japan class that exposed me to Judith Butler. Second one was a Critical Theory class that got me to read all of Gender Trouble, and exposed me to more feminist critiques. Now I'm taking a class on women in Medieval literature, and that's where I'm really seeing the crazies. Holy shit Dworkin and that other person I can't recall right now who said all heterosexual intercourse is rape.
The 70s wasn't a very strong decade for the feminist movement.
Also, MC. Read. "pre-1950." As in, before 1950. As in, where 1920 lies chronologically.
And I've entirely forgotten why I started writing this post in the first place. Explaining why I know the little I do on the subject? Whatever, something like that.
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http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/publisher-please-give-us-back-our-illegal-weapons/1304911
EA decides it would be a good idea to include some promotional items in the reviewer copy of Godfather II. Cigar, Brass Knuckles, hankerchief, etc. Problem is, posession of brass knuckles is a crime in several states, instantly turning several reviewers into criminals. Awesome.
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Anyway, my point is I don't think that the generalization made about civil rights movements necessarily holds true upon examination. But I could just being nitpicky so whatever.
No, you're right. Generalizations are almost always wrong, especially when you want to take something like a bunch of concurrent events concerning a single subject and claim it as a movement. I think what I laid out is a good model for what happens over the course of a few decades, starting with a radical impetus, but isn't useful for looking at a longer period. If it applies to feminism and women's rights, you could take the '70s as the vanguard, and present-day feminism, self-conscious, pragmatic, and wary of early feminists, as that second wave.
On women's suffrage, it's worth noting, however, that the League of Women Voters didn't allow men as members until...the 1970s.
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Is always interesting to see where people get exposed to the theory Zenny. Mine were in Gender studies classes and a couple of out and out Feminism classes, so meh.
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/detail.php?board=8&topic=49102760&message=538017678
Conversly Doom set the standard for the FPS genre until Halo came along which was a good 15 years.
I count at least four issues with this sentence:
#1: 2001 - 1993 =/= 15 years.
#2: Quake, Goldeneye, Half-Life, Counter-Strike, etc....
#3: Since when did Halo set the industry standard for the FPS genre?
#4: Needs more commas.
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Halo set the standards by lowering the bar.
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http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/04/023349.php
"This is the sort of citizen activism the Left would like to inspire, but hasn’t for a very long time."
He... hee hee hee... hehhheheheh... Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Oooooh, yes. The left has had trouble rallying numbers for protests for so long. Tremble at the might of the 100000 people nationwide Tea Bag protest.
Wait. What's that?
http://www.hanlonsrazor.org/2009/04/17/powerline-and-a-hilarious-lack-of-historical-perspective/
Oh. Yeah. Reality.
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With the "Ann Coulter - Free!" thing at the bottom I would think it was a joke website if I didn't know better.
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That's an advertisement for her weekly web column. Unless you're implying that nobody takes Ann Coulter seriously? (If only...).
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No, she's implying she wishes nobody did.
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http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090419/NEWS02/304199926
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Jesus Christ are you fucking kidding me.
tl;dr: Off duty cop at a bar mocks homicide victim and his grieving mother. Someone at the bar videotapes it, puts it on YouTube. Police department begins an investigation.
One of the people assigned to the investigation... is the cop in question. He proceeds to search the city for the person who uploaded the video and bring him up on charges of illegal wiretapping.
... Fuck the Police Fuck the Police Fuck the Police...
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Well, MC, if I was making a joke website mocking teabaggers it would definitely have Ann Coulter on it.
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Jesus Christ are you fucking kidding me.
On the plus side, the DA repudiated the cops when they wanted to bring the wiretapping charges and get the video taken down from youtube. So at least someone is acting properly.
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True, but the fact that such a situation could even arise pisses me off to no end. I suppose the fact that it stopped when it did should offer some comfort, but it really doesn't.
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http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/21/harman/
Turs out, what's good for the goose is good for Rep. Jane Harman. Well, not good, exactly, because she's apparently been blackballed for agreeing to try to intervene in an ongoing investigation on behalf of the defendants, AIPAC lobbyists accused of giving state secrets to Israel, in exchange for them getting her the chair of the House Intelligence Committee by pressuring Pelosi. oops.
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No IotD in nearly a week? C'mon, guys, the world ain't gettin' any smarter.
Case in point.
http://www.slate.com/id/2216714/?GT1=38001
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http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/04/27/2009-04-27_plane_stupid_mayor_bloomberg_outraged_over_military_photoop_involving_lowflying_.html
Triple post for institutional stupid.
Things to keep secret: Air Force One itinerary.
Things not to keep secret: Air Force One itinerary that involves 3 LOW-FLYING SWEEPS OVER LOWER MANHATTAN WHILE TRAILED BY A FIGHTER JET.
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No IotD in nearly a week? C'mon, guys, the world ain't gettin' any smarter.
Maybe we're becoming thicker-skinned.
Or complacent... or jaded. Too much of seeing the same kind of stupid, perhaps?
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Too much of seeing the same kind of stupid, perhaps?
"I cheated on my wife while sleepwalking." is the same old stupid? good lord you ARE jaded.
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Or busy. For many of us it is that time of year where we actually have to do work instead of browsing the internet for tardations.
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Not major, but something on the swine flu, seeing as there's been nothing yet. Was reading a BBC News article about it earlier, with one quote sticking out in particular:
"Britons are being advised to consider leaving Mexico."
Oh, yeah, nice going there. Let's tell them all to leave as opposed to, y'know, containing this potential pandemic. ¬_¬
(Article link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8022103.stm )
Edit: Oh, another epic quote from that article.
"Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said tests were being carried out on nine people who came into close contact with the pair and who also have "mild cold-like" symptoms."
Expect a lot of uninformed fools to start saying "I'm getting a cold - is it swine flu?!" (Yesterday's Xkcd comic sums this up brilliantly.)
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I'm fully expecting this Swine flu thing to blow over like West SARS Nile did.
It should be noted that, although the swath of deaths in Mexico seems high, seasonal Influenza kills thousands of people a year. I'm not saying that we shouldn't take steps to contain the outbreak (which is, admittedly, largely WHY SARS and West Nile Virus didn't do more damage), but the whole panic is just stupid.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwDigWvNBTA
Standard failblog fare, but still pretty amusing.
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http://www.worldsuperheroregistry.com/world_superhero_registry_gallery.htm?
........ Way to miss the point of the book?
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20090427/ml-odd-israel-kosher-flu/
Israeli health official: the term Swine Flu is offensive. Let's rename it Mexican Flu!
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http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/05/the_fatal_attraction_method_of_debt_collection.php
Coulda sworn April Fools Day was last month...
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/06/flu-fear-afghanistan-quar_n_197680.html
Afghanistan: saving the population from swine flu the easy way.
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=8&topic=49315819
Aw yeah, TAing first year psychology.
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http://elitistjerks.com/f15/t57729-public_discussion_banhammer_infraction_seresthepriest_especially_idiotic/
Wow, this is fucking amazing. EJ is pretty much THE place for WoW theorycraft. This has nothing to do with that. This is a shining example for how they go above and beyond to keep the retarded out of their forums and as a general rule to mock it mercilessly. They blow all previous mockery out of the water here by stickying this in public discussion instead of just tucking it away in the archive of shit.
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/05/06/financial/f152756D57.DTL
Guess what guys. AIG lied. They gave away four times as much money as they claimed (last time they got caught lying).
Edit - http://www.mosnews.com/weird/2009/05/06/drunkenminister/
Also for some more generic IotD
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http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/celtics_blog/2009/05/magic_fan_angry.html
the incident in question is at 1:20 on the video. yep, I bet the kid's seriously embarassed right now, but I don't think it was the push that did it.
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http://www.wyseguys.com/shittyroomate.asp
Worst roommate ever?
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http://www.1010wins.com/Ex-Student-Says-NJ-Medical-School-Discriminated/4374417
White guy says he's a white African American. People get pissed off, vandalize his car and harass him, university eventually gets offended and suspends him. Sounds like you can see why they got pissed, he's a white guy saying he's African American.
Oh, wait. He's white. He was born in Mozambique. And he later became a US citizen. So... he's a white African American.
...
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http://www.1010wins.com/Ex-Student-Says-NJ-Medical-School-Discriminated/4374417
White guy says he's a white African American. People get pissed off, vandalize his car and harass him, university eventually gets offended and suspends him. Sounds like you can see why they got pissed, he's a white guy saying he's African American.
Oh, wait. He's white. He was born in Mozambique. And he later became a US citizen. So... he's a white African American.
...
This is a terminology problem for America: we have no way of distinguishing people who have been here a while with people who are just off the boat. Obviously he doesn't fit the traditional definition of African-American, because it doesn't imply having ever lived in Africa at all. Asian-American is probably even murkier as a category.
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That case is more an idiocy problem than a terminology problem. The university had no right to suspend there in any case. If the lawsuit's true as claimed, they deserve idiot of the year.
Edit: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601127&sid=aHaGN9r0F698 I like the part about him trying to claim disability so he can collect his pension early.
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lifelong annual pension of $174,000.
O_O. That pension is higher than most people ever get in salary.
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That number does seem really wrong.
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White African American isn't so bad, my friend is an Indian (India, not Native American variety) born in Africa.
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I wonder if there's a check box for "statistical anomaly"
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African American always struck me as a poor choice for a race name, anyhow. You're naming yourself after...a continent and a country? What about black people who move to Canada--do they cease being African Americans? What about native Australians (who, while technically not the same race, have similarly dark skin so most people wouldn't know the difference)--would they be African American if they moved to America?
I mean, the politically correct sequence went something like...
Negro->Black->African American
What was the problem with Black that made it necessary to changed a second time?
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Because they're not black, they're dark brown!!! Granted this doesn't seem to apply to "Whites", although they do often get the "Caucasian" label (which has inherent problems of its own).
And then you have "Hispanic", which is not even a race - it's an ethnicity.
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Color-coding has the central problem that colors stand for more than just racial categories. Black is still within spitting distance of acceptability because it's fairly commonly used, but Yellow? Red? Not helping. All of those three colors stand rather prominently for negative characteristics in common use that have nothing to do with race.
I don't get the sense that Americans are particularly concerned about the many seams and cracks in the prominent racial categories we use. The idea of the country as a melting pot really does shape our racial perceptions. We have it in our heads that the natural and correct progression of immigrants is assimilation. The idea of subdividing our existing racial categories for the sake of accuracy is a step backward in our minds. Each category represents a possibility for friction, so the fewer categories the better. Italians, English, and Germans have certainly gotten along better in the US since they all started being plain old Caucasians, after all.
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=554041&topic=49507455 (http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=554041&topic=49507455)
The topic itself is innocent enough (Though calling Queen Zeal hard as hell...well, I couldn't help but respond to that <.<)...but one of the first responses deserves this. At first it looks like a typical "call the game by its actual name!" asstacular response, but...well, you'll see <_<
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The topic itself is innocent enough (Though calling Queen Zeal hard as hell...well, I couldn't help but respond to that <.<)
I found Queen Zeal rather hard. Mostly because I went through the Black Obelisk probably earlier than I was supposed to (before getting Crono back) and had no revival left by the time I got to her.
Though labelling her as an "optional superboss" right next to Emerald Weapon is...what? Seriously, what?
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She is optional, so half credit?
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The topic itself is innocent enough (Though calling Queen Zeal hard as hell...well, I couldn't help but respond to that <.<)
I found Queen Zeal rather hard. Mostly because I went through the Black Obelisk probably earlier than I was supposed to (before getting Crono back) and had no revival left by the time I got to her.
Though labelling her as an "optional superboss" right next to Emerald Weapon is...what? Seriously, what?
Well, ok, I'll grant fighting Zeal ASAP (like before you get Crono back) WOULD make her an actual fight, but she's clearly scaled to be faced after the rest of the fated hour (Black Omen is obviously geared to be the final dungeon, despite being optional. The fact that it leads DIRECTLY TO LAVOS makes that clear. Admittedly, you wouldn't know that it leads to Lavos until you revived Crono, where Gaspar out and out states this fact); this would in turn make your equipment clearly subpar and remove a lot of levels you'd normally have, thereby neutering your team in all ways.
Though, yeah, can't see her being Emerald Weapon level unless you did an LLG Minimalist run...which you tehcnically can't face Zeal in anyway...
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The last post on that topic, about the guy's sig, is absolutely epic. Nothin' better than pointing out the idiocy of, er, idiots.
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Dachimostu is either the biggest weaboo I've seen the past few months, or a killer troll.
I'm neither. I just can't stand it when people address things incorrectly. It's like naming your dog "Cat".
So he is a Weeaboo. I also don't think he understands what Sarcasm is.
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http://www.vanguardparty.com/articles/starcraft.html
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http://www.vanguardparty.com/articles/starcraft.html
My brain hurts.
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That's what happen if people learn just a little bit of theory and don't really understand it but try to apply it to things anyway.
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http://www.vanguardparty.com/articles/starcraft.html
Funniest thing I've read in a long time.
I dunno how seriously we're supposed to take it (I mean, yeah, I too would prefer if Zerg units had quotes in spoken English...beyond infested terran/overmind. I also thought the vilification of the Zerg in the plotline was a bit weird when Zerg were by far Blizzard's best race idea...like...ever. So I can definitely relate to "Blizzard is trying to make us hate the zerg :(" complaints. But then there's arguments where Starcraft gameplay gets compared to orgasms...and then this orgasmic gameplay is used as supporting evidence to try and vilify Starcraft. I can't read that as anything but humor).
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http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/superman.htm
An article about how Superman = Jesus. While the concept itself is fine, this author's first piece of evidence "Divine Paternity" fails hard. He essentially presents the idea that because Superman has a father, it's obviously meant to show that Superman is Jesus.
David Bruce considered the infant Kal-El (Lee Quigley) to be the only begotten son of Jor-El (Marlon Brando), thus forming the second member of the Holy trinity (Matt. 28:19).12 Kal-El was the son of Jor-El just as Jesus was �the Son of God� (Mark 1:1; Heb. 10:29; 1 John 4:15). Indeed, in Superman II (hereafter S2), Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) described Superman (Christopher Reeve) as �the son of Jor El� thereby mimicking the biblical form. To further establish the paternity of the Jor-El/Kal-El, God/Jesus, Father/Son relationship, the holographic Jor-El in the newly constructed Fortress of Solitude specifically referred to Kal-El as �my son� and to himself as �your father.� Their indissoluble genetic link was further indicated by their respective hairstyles. The stately Jor-El, the teenage Clark Kent (Jeff East) and the adult Superman (but not the adult Clark Kent) had cute forelocks dangling upon their foreheads. This biological fact resonated with Jesus�s identity claim that: �if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also� (John 14:7).
I stopped reading after this, maybe it gets better... >.>;;
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Eh. "Jor-el sent his only son to earth" then his son did some crazy shit is vaguely biblical. It's not that much fail.
http://www.vanguardparty.com/articles/starcraft.html
Funniest thing I've read in a long time.
I dunno how seriously we're supposed to take it (I mean, yeah, I too would prefer if Zerg units had quotes in spoken English...beyond infested terran/overmind. I also thought the vilification of the Zerg in the plotline was a bit weird when Zerg were by far Blizzard's best race idea...like...ever. So I can definitely relate to "Blizzard is trying to make us hate the zerg :(" complaints. But then there's arguments where Starcraft gameplay gets compared to orgasms...and then this orgasmic gameplay is used as supporting evidence to try and vilify Starcraft. I can't read that as anything but humor).
You obviously need to read more 1970s Feminist Literary Criticism. They compared EVERYTHING to orgasms. Serious article is sadly probably serious.
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http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20090518/ARTICLES/905189928/-1/SPORTS0101?Title=Student-shoots-himself-in-head-after-attempting-to-shoot-teacher
what the fuck who listens to Marilyn Manson in 2009
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"If girls realized the consequences of sex, nobody would be having sex," Palin says firmly. "Trust me. Nobody."
Apparently girls don't know that the consequences of sex include babies. Go figure.
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Apparently that class discovered the most effective way to deal with a shooter: ignore everything he says until he kills himself. Good job!
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"If girls realized the consequences of sex, nobody would be having sex," Palin says firmly. "Trust me. Nobody."
Apparently girls don't know that the consequences of sex include babies. Go figure.
To be clear, that's Bristol Palin, the one who had the teen pregnancy last year (or the year before? I'm blocking out as much of that as I can.). So she's not just assuming how stupid kids are these days - she's saying she really didn't know this.
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"If girls realized the consequences of sex, nobody would be having sex," Palin says firmly. "Trust me. Nobody."
Apparently girls don't know that the consequences of sex include babies. Go figure.
To be clear, that's Bristol Palin, the one who had the teen pregnancy last year (or the year before? I'm blocking out as much of that as I can.). So she's not just assuming how stupid kids are these days - she's saying she really didn't know this.
Guess I coulda clarified that it was here. Regardless, is she seriously trying to say that she didn't know she could get pregnant if she had sex? I'm at a loss here.
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I initially assumed it was Sarah Palin, because it would be more than dumb enough coming from her, but the truth is even more hilarious/depressing/disturbing.
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http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20090518/ARTICLES/905189928/-1/SPORTS0101?Title=Student-shoots-himself-in-head-after-attempting-to-shoot-teacher
what the fuck who listens to Marilyn Manson in 2009
I liked this article because it was kind of nice to see the reactions to a school shooting being something other than "he was such a -nice- boy, I'd never have expected it."
Apparently his friends were more like "Well, we always knew he was kinda crazy about Hitler, but we never thought he'd actually -do- it!"
Sidenote: AAA's reaction was the best inappropriate punchline.
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Retired archbishop (http://freethinker.co.uk/2009/05/21/%E2%80%98we-did-not-know-that-child-abuse-was-a-crime%E2%80%99-says-retired-catholic-archbishop/): "Wait, it's illegal to molest children? Since when?"
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The Church follows the laws of God, not those of man. And God is eternal and unchanging. Hence, if it was A-OK back in 426AD when the Synod of whatever said God was down with it, then why wouldn't it be fine and dandy now?
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I initially assumed it was Sarah Palin, because it would be more than dumb enough coming from her, but the truth is even more hilarious/depressing/disturbing.
It would be pretty ironic coming from Sarah Palin because she advocates abstinence-only education--the form of sex education where all you tell kids is "don't have sex" without going into any of the details or precautions you can take.
It makes all kinds of sense coming from Bristol. Kind of "what the hell mom! You could have told me!"
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I'm assuming she was just referring to the pain of childbirth being far greater than she had ever imagined?
I'm sure she was aware sex = babies. To imply otherwise is probably disingenuous and honestly we shouldn't be harping on the teenage mother who is only famous because her mom ran for vice-president.
Let's all celebrate this instead: http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/05/conservative-radio-hosts-waterboarded
A person with an idiotic stance graduates to a non-idiotic stance. Experience is the best teacher.
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Well I can't beat those, but hey Gamefaqs still provides.
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=929518&topic=49298397
Yea, I played through the first Mission and 1/2 of the second then quit. I said I didn't like it, but people who like patience and stuff might.
Thank you Splinter Cell for bringing stealth game play to retards and giving us this kind of topic.
On to other people's stupid!
"Mancow," in fact, lasted just six or seven seconds before crying foul.
Lastted less time than Christopher Hitchens! Go him!
Excal handled the priest mockery well enough.
It would be pretty ironic coming from Sarah Palin because she advocates abstinence-only education--the form of sex education where all you tell kids is "don't have sex" without going into any of the details or precautions you can take.
Which Bristol also supports and is a spokesperson for.
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http://www.google.com/patents?id=aAuzAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&dq=exalted&as_psra=1&as_psra=1#PPA21,M1
There is so much concentrated crazy here that I don't even know where to begin.
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http://www.google.com/patents?id=aAuzAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&dq=exalted&as_psra=1&as_psra=1#PPA21,M1
There is so much concentrated crazy here that I don't even know where to begin.
That is pretty wholly crazy. I like how all the good endings neccessarily involve converting someone to Christianit- I mean 'classical ideas' OR Shooting the opposing idea. And how ignoring someone who holds a different viewpoint than the Hero inevitably ends in the 'bad ideal' person shooting you...
I did notice that if he took all the loaded vocabulary out of his flow charts and replaced them with more general terms like 'good/bad' or 'light/dark', he has accurate flowcharts of most archetypal game stories, though. Of course, going through his flowcharts, it's pretty obvious that this person thinks 'anything typically conservative' = 'good/light' and 'anything typically liberal = 'bad/dark'. This is the nicest way I can describe this person's thinking.
EDIT: How did you stumble across this madness?
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Zero: What am I fighting for?
Prompt:
A) The communists / Matrix / regime / Sauron / Scottish nobles
B) The Rebels / freedom fighters/ truth
A is quite possibly the most awesome teamup ever.
Well he's quite obviously a confused Christian libertarian, since the "right" answer is not really consistent (Shoot the woman who suddenly starts collectivizing property in front of your eyes is good, but turn the other cheek is also good? And ODYSSEUS turns the other cheek, who tricks and kills hordes of enemies in his path?). Djinn, by classical ideals, since he invokes the Greeks a bunch he's clearly referring to, well, a classics education with that. Not real common today, but this used to be tied into Christianity a bunch more. (Isn't there an RPGDLer who goes / went to St. John's College, anyway? Wouldn't be surprised if the writer was an unusually crazed Johnnie...) So... yeah. On second thought AAA was correct that there's so much stuff to address here it's hard to know where to begin.
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Comes up a bit more in Quaker colleges education. Check out Otter's curriculum sometime.
World falls to serfdom.
I like how absolutely little concept of Communism he has. How someone TALKING ABOUT COMMUNISM causes the global collapse of social structure everywhere. How the only way to respond to communism is the American founding Father's and violence.
I mean seriously every other country in the world is fucked because we didn't study our American History properly. No wonder Cuba fell. NEVAR FORGET.
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Isn't there an RPGDLer who goes / went to St. John's College, anyway?
I'm going to St. John's University School of Law this fall, if that's what you mean.
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Nah, Otter was who I was thinking of, see Grefter.
The guy has a website for his fanficcy book which gets referenced in the patent a bunch ( http://autumnrangers.com/ ) which mentions "Great Books" and "Discuss Great Books" and the St. Johns program is the "Great Books program," so I thought there might be something to it. On second thought this seems unlikely, as apparently Dr. E has a Ph.D in Physics, and is just one of those eccentric guys who is completely crazy elsewhere. A Johnnie education isn't really the best grounds for going into physics later, though it's possible, I guess. (My cousin graduated from St. Johns College two weekends ago, so fairly familiar with the school, actually.)
Also while everyone should read the patent application everyone should read his book description too.
Ranger invented APRIL--an AI biocomputer which was stolen by Silicon Virtue Inc. and turned against him while he was flying missions over Afghanistan. Silicon Virtue is using APRIL to serve the bottom line instead of the higher ideals, building WMDs and sending ever-more-sinister RoboClones to hunt Ranger and Autumn down. Ranger wears the Ring that can save APRIL by unlocking an encrypted moral operating system named Beatrice, named after Ranger's first summer love who passed away when they were fourteen.
Together Autumn and Ranger have to make it from Charleston to LA on backroads before the bombs APRIL built for terrorists detonate in NY and LA, and before APRIL's RoboClones kill them.
And so it is that two Romantics find themselves on the run from RoboClone agents and Sheriffs of Irony who enforce a context of decline and persecute the honest and true. Autumn and Ranger become partners in crime and partners in rhyme. They become Classic American Outlaws running west in a '69 Stingray Corvette, building the Renaissance against all odds. They become Autumn Rangers. And by the time Ranger discovers Autumn's deep secret, it's too late--he's in love.
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http://www.ktul.com/news/stories/0509/626636.html
State trooper tickets a driver for failure to yield to a police car with lights flashing. Driver tells him he's full of crap, a fight ensues where the officer is caught on tape choking the driver.
Oh, did I mention the vehicle they pulled over was an ambulance that was carrying a patient to the hospital, and the officer was attacking a uniformed EMT? Thank you, Oklahoma.
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I was reading an article about the GM bailout online, and I ventured to the comments section. Most were about OBAMA BEING MARXIST and such, but I found one that made me want to barf.
This is another symptom of America's decline and decay as the racial make up of the country slides from White to nonwhite, like so many past civilizations. When Whites were 95% of the US and we controlled our government and industries, we had more jobs than we knew what to do with. Our prosperity was unrivaled. Then we foolishly let the Jews in, then the blacks got "equal rights," then the rest of the third world, and now the White race has declined to 65% (probably more like 55%) and it's no coincidence that every facet of our society - the economy, the educational system, and the social structure - all of which were unrivaled just a generation ago, are now all in steep decline paralleling the rise of the nonwhite population.
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I was reading an article about the GM bailout online, and I ventured to the comments section.
Stop right there.
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If only you were here four hours earlier.
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http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=759074&page=13
Viz79 manages to make a complete tool out of himself based off of Left 4 Dead plot arguments. Truly a master of the the written word.
Edit: The hits keep on coming!
about the playtesters thing, I also agree, they should have a more wide variety of playtesters. not trying to be mean, but most Americans are too "softened" now with such ridicoulous things ( Like being hable to sue anyone for almost nosense and win millions... ) or stupid things like "ohh, we think we shoudl eliminate the 0 to 100 scores, because the kids feel bad, ohh, also the red, because its a MEAN and FIERCE color, we dont want our kids to be scared!" ( they changed to purple btw... )
AMERICANS ARE TOO SOFT AND STUPID TO PLAYTEST GAMES
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That reminds me of the time one of my friends was talking about his time on Xbox Live. One of his friends suddenly stopped playing Call of Duty 3, complaining that it was "such a shit game, total waste of time, no idea why I even fucking played it in the first place". When they asked him what was wrong with it, one of his actual arguments was: "The storyline's too predictable". In a World War game.
I mean, seriously, what did you fucking expect? The Germans to win? >.>
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Yesterday: Telltale Games announced that they would be making a new Monkey Island game. Just the existence of this game is pretty much the holy friggin' grail for adventure game fans, never mind that it had the original lead actors, one of the main writers for Secret of Monkey Island is overseeing the project (something not even the LucasArts sequels had after the second one), the guy who made Day of the Tentacle is directing, etc. etc.
Time for people to start bitching about the graphics (http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8627) and saying the series has been ruined by those bastard console gamers and their evil control pads (http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8575): four hours.
I can't say I didn't see this coming, but just once I'd like to be wrong. Please?
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Cause the console release totally killed Sam and Max not to MENTION Strongbad....
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Time for people to start bitching about the graphics (http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8627) and saying the series has been ruined by those bastard console gamers and their evil control pads (http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8575): four hours.
I can't say I didn't see this coming, but just once I'd like to be wrong. Please?
Elitist losers with their heads deeply ingrained in their asses bitching about everything just because it exists? Why, I never.
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They aren't elitist, they are just retards.
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When you're whining about consoles ruining the PC experience of a freaking point-and-click text game that exists to be read, I generally turn "elitist" into a synonym for "your mom slammed your head into a wall repeatedly when you were a kid".
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But it's not point and click anymore, because the developers (who made Day of the Tentacle and Sam and Max, you fucktards) think an interface designed for pure 2D might not be the best one for navigating a 3D world! THE SKY IS FALLING.
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So, it's a bunch of legally retarded people complaining about a design decision guided by common sense? Welp, there goes the internets.
EDIT: Furthermore, if someone's complaining about getting something more player-friendly and nuanced than oldschool point-click, the kindergarteners who take the short bus have the holy right to toss rotten tomatos at the person for being hopelessly braindamaged.
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The best part is that you still use the mouse to do all your interactions with characters and objects, so they completely dodge what made LucasArts' attempt at the scheme suck so much (you had to walk up to something to even see if it was selectable, and being in range of multiple objects at once was clunky as hell). The only thing the button control does is move the character from point A to point B.
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http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.117080
So some kids go joyriding and decide to find out if the manufacturer was telling the truth about how fast their car could go, with predictably bad results. Somehow they come out unhurt and with only a slap on the wrist from the cops... until the cops find their Youtube video from before the crash and slap the driver with a four figure fine.
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CSI: YouTube Division?
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http://www.thenewstribune.com/topstories/story/765250.html
He'd better get a damn good grade on that paper.
That belongs in IotD, not Misc links.
yep.
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http://kotaku.com/5281374/l4d-sequel-met-with-much-more-than-indifference
Ladies and Gentleman, I present to you RETARDED L4D1 FANBOYS who have been spoiled by Valve over the years.
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http://kotaku.com/5281374/l4d-sequel-met-with-much-more-than-indifference
Ladies and Gentleman, I present to you RETARDED L4D1 FANBOYS who have been spoiled by Valve over the years.
Actually? Most of these complaints are valid.
• Significant content for L4D1 was promised, and never delivered
L4D2 looks a lot like a huge expansion pack for L4D. Why did they make it a second game that people will probably have to pay $40 for?
• Valve put little faith in L4D1 since they almost certainly started working on L4D2 right after release
Obviously; L4D came out a little less than a year ago, so either they started production right away or or as stated previously, L4D2 is a large expansion pack. If the latter, why the hell isn't it being released as such?
• The fact that L4D2 is nearly identical to L4D1 will decimate the community for both games
Obvious, related to the other two complaints.
• The announced date is not nearly enough time to polish content or make significant gameplay changes
Eh. Really, it's a different take on complaint #1 and #2.
• The new character designs seem bland and unappealing so far
Okay, this is stupid.
• L4D2 is too bright to fit in with L4D1's visual aesthetic
...This too...
• The fiddle-based horde music is extremely disliked, though the differently orchestrated music is otherwise welcome
My argument is losing validity...
• L4D2's release will result in a drop in quality and frequency for L4D1 content, even compared to before
Well, obviously, but the question brings to mind the complaints of #1 and #2, so it isn't completely retarded.
• The community has lost faith in Valve's former reputation for commitment to their games post-release.
This is pretty stupid, but does recall #1.
OK, so I guess it's really only two or three of the complaints that are valid; however, these two-three are so enormous that Valve needs to be beaten for deciding to release the game. L4D2 is probably the worst decision they've made. Barring a massive (and unlikely) total gameplay overhaul, the game being released as a new game for a new game price instead of as an expansion to the original game is wholly unwarranted.
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There are arguements, but I find that it's just not worth complaining about so much. Surely what Valve is doing here isn't nearly as bad as some of the other companies and their franchises.
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More to the point, the completely over the top fan response from some quarters is mockable and deserves enshrining in the IotD Thread.
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And I really, really disagree; the "overreacting" fanbase is reacting to an incredibly retarded move by Valve that is little more than an attempt to extract more money from its customers without putting out any more work into it. I highly doubt that anything we will see in L4D2 will be anything revolutionary. It'll be more of the same, in the same engine, with the same gameplay, only there will be OMG MELEE WEAPONS and also different character models. Your quick acquiescence to this absolute retardation is what belongs in IOTD, not... ... well, a lot of those complaints belong here too. That is not the fucking point; it's all god damn stupid. \
EDIT: And before either of you brings up the "But The HL2 Episodes!!!!11!" thing, at least those games are coming out for ~15 USD. Left 4 Dead 2, as a "complete" sequel, will probably be for anywhere between 30-50 bucks. Not at all the same thing.
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• Significant content for L4D1 was promised, and never delivered
L4D2 looks a lot like a huge expansion pack for L4D. Why did they make it a second game that people will probably have to pay $40 for?
• Valve put little faith in L4D1 since they almost certainly started working on L4D2 right after release
Obviously; L4D came out a little less than a year ago, so either they started production right away or or as stated previously, L4D2 is a large expansion pack. If the latter, why the hell isn't it being released as such?
• The fact that L4D2 is nearly identical to L4D1 will decimate the community for both games
Obvious, related to the other two complaints.
Game's not out yet so you can't complain about it's quality/differences and the community gets decimated by every sequel and often other major FPSes getting released.
Game is not out yet, cannot peg price, although you're right that it will probably cost more. So what, it's a game company, if they actually make something with enough differences to be worth the money, it's worth the money. Too early to call.
Even trailers, etc., just don't say anything yet because there's too much potential that a game will get delayed for higher polish. Possibly because people are complaining.
Either way, people whining about a sequel to the game they like for any reason, before it's out and before they see any conceptual problems with it, merely because it will exist and will be coming out really fast seems like it belongs in IotD, just conceptually. It sounds bad, but people can wait until the drat game is actually not an improvement before they say it's not an improvement.
Pessimism can be reasonable but that level of it is really dumb. It's like whining about someone waving a knife around stabbing you before you get stabbed. The actual, reasonable reaction is mild peeve and then you get pissed when the person doesn't listen to you and stab you. Same thing here.
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Either way, people whining about a sequel to the game they like for any reason, before it's out and before they see any conceptual problems with it, merely because it will exist and will be coming out really fast seems like it belongs in IotD, just conceptually. It sounds bad, but people can wait until the drat game is actually not an improvement before they say it's not an improvement.
You said it yourself, though: community always gets cannibalized/split from Sequels, so this is a reasonable complaint. If they wait for the actual release before complaining, it will be too late to fix the problem.
There are arguements, but I find that it's just not worth complaining about so much. Surely what Valve is doing here isn't nearly as bad as some of the other companies and their franchises.
Well sure, but we expect better from Valve, and reward their good behavior with our wallets. If L4D hadn't been a Valve game, I probably wouldn't have bought it.
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There's also the factor that, when you buy a pure-online game like L4D or TF2, you expect to keep playing it for a while. Putting out a full sequel a year later means even the people who don't buy it are suddenly part of a much smaller community than they bargained for.
Plus the fact that this is the exact opposite of what Valve did with TF2, so if nothing else it's extremely jarring.
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Doing and has continued to do. How many TF2 class updates have they done in 2009? Three?
I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining seeing as I care about TF2 updates a lot, and don't care about L4D updates really at all. However I can see how L4D fans might be miffed >_>
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Am I the only person who thinks the title of the spurned game makes this whole situation completely hilarious?
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Game's not out yet so you can't complain about it's quality/differences and the community gets decimated by every sequel and often other major FPSes getting released.
Purely online game = Keeping the player base whole is priority. You can very damn well complain about nobody playing L4D1 because they released the same damn game but with a few more features and levels on a new game that plays on different servers.
Game is not out yet, cannot peg price, although you're right that it will probably cost more. So what, it's a game company, if they actually make something with enough differences to be worth the money, it's worth the money. Too early to call.
Yes, the price may not be a full priced game. I doubt that, since the release of L4D2 will probably mean nobody plays L4D1 anymore, so they wouldn't want to miss out on that money. And this "too early to call" shit is pure BS; unless they've been in a fucking time machine, I highly doubt they've done much to completely revamp the system in one fucking year.
Even trailers, etc., just don't say anything yet because there's too much potential that a game will get delayed for higher polish. Possibly because people are complaining.
Either way, people whining about a sequel to the game they like for any reason, before it's out and before they see any conceptual problems with it, merely because it will exist and will be coming out really fast seems like it belongs in IotD, just conceptually. It sounds bad, but people can wait until the drat game is actually not an improvement before they say it's not an improvement.
"YUO CANT COMPLEIN UNTIL U SEE IT" is stupid. No, we don't know exactly what the game will be like. Given it's announcement less than a full year after the original release of the game, combined with its release date being set STILL less than a full year after the original release, we can damn well predict that not much has changed. We don't know details but we can make educated guesses, and all signs point to stupid.
Pessimism can be reasonable but that level of it is really dumb. It's like whining about someone waving a knife around stabbing you before you get stabbed. The actual, reasonable reaction is mild peeve and then you get pissed when the person doesn't listen to you and stab you. Same thing here.
Fair enough, I suppose, but it's an inaccurate metaphor. There's a lot that one can extrapolate given the details we have, and none of it really justifies the game being released as a full game. A lot of the arguments bashing the game are stupid, yes, but almost all of the counterarguments against those that are valid boil down to "JUST W8 AND SEE." Given that my money may be spent on something like this, that is fucking bullshit. Valve has done better before, and I damn well expect better of them now.
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Not to say I question the frequency of release here, but the argument is still pretty retarded. If they started developing the sequel straight away (or prior to release even more so), that means they had a lot of faith in the game. More faith they probably should have as a business. It has panned out as expected though (because the game is fucking awesome).
Also for the change in art direction, well the change in art direction is actually one of the reasons I don't mind it being a completely separate game. Melee weapons in L4D would have been kind of shit. This was a grim, dark, brutal have to work as a team to survive style Romero zombie flick homage. L4D2 on the other hand is a splatter flick homage. Braindead and the like. Melee weapons are king. What I want is for there to be traps involving running power tools so you can push the enemies into over turned lawnmowers and such. Shit like that is pure Zombie flick shtick but has no place in the original L4D.
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Doing and has continued to do. How many TF2 class updates have they done in 2009? Three?
Sure, for the PC. I'm really annoyed that we haven't gotten anything for 360. Granted, I understand the concerns that Valve has with the system/memory capabilities for the class changes and new game styles (and it does make logical sense that they'd wait for all the class updates to be done), but not even one or two new maps for the current modes? I want a new Capture the Flag and Attack/Defend map that I can play with the 360 without spending lots of money to upgrade my computer. :(
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Mm. Now there's a fair point; I suppose a huge stylistic change could justify the game's release as a separate game... at least partially. And Doma does remind me of another fair point: this is a much kinder system for 360 owners; the TF2 updates are perfect for PC but as far as I know adding much of anything to the 360 will take up large amounts of space.
But that point does just remind the PC community that Valve's reverting to the same old bullshit console players have been dealing with for years and shouldn't have to deal with, especially since they've proven with their little TF2 experiment that it's possible. Not to mention that one really shouldn't be splitting the audience for an online-only game mere months after its release. And I'm also not entirely sure why the updates can't just be saved onto and accessed through the 360's hard drive. Further, the fact that a stylistic change is as of yet the best argument for releasing it as a new game strikes me as pretty damn fail.
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Oh I still agree whole wholehearted that the timing is really shitty. They aren't really doing themselves any favours, they were never going to with a release like this though. If they put it off to long then it would get the same response Diablo 3 did with the art direction (Not dark anymore! All cartoony!) and they would have been accused of making a sequel that is nothing like the original. Double edged sword to release similar sequel with some fundamentals changed.
Sooooo... we are left with the fact that the game will have to be pretty fucking good to garner positive response, but that is how it should be anyway. The game shouldn't get a free pass just because it is the sequel to a good game or because Valve make it.
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You said it yourself, though: community always gets cannibalized/split from Sequels, so this is a reasonable complaint. If they wait for the actual release before complaining, it will be too late to fix the problem.
Mmmm. I...suppose, but I really have my doubts that there's a fix that's not incredibly unreasonable amounts of effort.
Although, Valve might actually be weird enough to put in some kind of L4D vs L4D2 mode potential(although obviously that would have to be limited), so I suppose it's a valid point on that. I don't know if it's reasonable to be annoyed if they do not, though. Eh.
Also, ironically, the very thing that would make L4D vs L4D2 fights even possible would be the same thing that would make people ticked about L4D2; That is, them ending up very similar. Otherwise it just wouldn't be reasonably feasible.
I'd remark on Zenny's counters, but really, Grefter made better points for a sequel actually existing than I ever could have, barring the one point that is basically answered by the above, so.
Seriously, though, I would like to point out that you can do an awful lot if you're not retooling the engine, etc., in a year. It's as much about how much money goes into a game over that span.
I mean, yeah, it's only a year, but FFX-2 was only 18 months or so and was not in development when the original was(At least, not that I ever heard of.). Yes, FFX-2 had it's issues, but that was mostly the basic concepts they went after with it(WOO GIRLZ RUNNING AROUND SPIRA GURL POWA), not the timeframe; The game felt notably different from the original in some very fundamental ways, and polished.
I suppose sports games could argue the other way, but most of the notable ones are made by EA. EA is not a shining beacon of enlightened gaming development here.
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Seriously, though, I would like to point out that you can do an awful lot if you're not retooling the engine, etc., in a year. It's as much about how much money goes into a game over that span.
I mean, yeah, it's only a year, but FFX-2 was only 18 months or so and was not in development when the original was(At least, not that I ever heard of.).
As someone who has done the 12 month development cycle on an already existing engine, there is a huge, huge difference between 12 months and 18 months. You basically can't revamp any core systems in 12 months, and generally your game will slip in quality every iteration (see: Tony Hawk) unless you go from a crappy dev team to a competent dev team (see THAW -> THP8). The only real way to pull off quality once a year is to have two development teams each doing a two-year development cycle.
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Or to have a game series that is relatively simplistic and unchanged on the gameplay side but changes with each iteration (Guitar Hero)
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Or to have a game series that is relatively simplistic and unchanged on the gameplay side but changes with each iteration (Guitar Hero)
ugh, don't get me started. DDR:X, the latest PS2 entry, needs a second to load the sample loops of music in the selection screen every time you switch tracks. Wasn't like that in previous versions, and is frankly unforgivable from a design perspective.
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Yeah, GH4 has the same damn problem, and the load times for everything else are horrendous. The thing is that the PS2 is, like it or not, a 4-year-out-of-current-gen system so devs have all but stopped putting games out for it. And porting PS3/360/Wii games to a system with weaker hardware inevitably produces terrible ports.
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Or to have a game series that is relatively simplistic and unchanged on the gameplay side but changes with each iteration (Guitar Hero)
Well, sure, the Guitar Hero series is basically expansion packs at this point; that's how Activision is releasing like...five of them a year. Granted, they are using parallel studios for this.
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“If you look back at previous lifecycles, like PS2 versus N64 [sic], we have lots of data that suggests that lots of people bought into N64 as their entry level gaming device, and were happy to upgrade to a more powerful machine later in the lifecycle when the price point was right for them,” the executive told Official PlayStation Magazine in an interview published today.
http://www.edge-online.com/news/scee-wii-owners-will-upgrade-to-ps3
I'm beginning to think the problem with Sony is that it lets its employees drink heavily while on the job.
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http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2009/06/12/crazy_bond_story/index.html
oops.
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http://exiledonline.com/elmer-fudd-nation-angelo-mozilo-his-300-million-slapstick-foils/
Go you Bank of America! *Salute*
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/17/peta-wishes-obama-hadnt-s_n_217162.html
Warning: PETA
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The link name is misleading...
I read it as
PETA "wishes Obama hadn't"s. As if there was a list of things that PETA wished he hadn't done. (And I'm sure there is somewhere.) I'm somewhat disappointed that this was only -one- example of PETA's over-reactions.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/nyregion/24albany.html?ref=nyregion
62 reasons I'm more than happy to take the time to sign petitions to get non-incumbents on ballots.
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You should be proud of your governor, at least, for making them do this in public. Whatever shames these douchbags is good for humanity.
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That this whole mess makes governor Paterson look good is the really ironic part. His approval rating previous to this mess was LOWER than Spitzer's EVER was, up to and including the point at which Spitzer resigned in shame.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/24/berlusconi-ive-never-paid_n_220003.html
Ah, Berlusconi.
Someone ought to tell him that while
"I've never paid a woman. I never understood where the satisfaction is when you're missing the pleasure of conquest."
is a good defense when you're accused of soliciting a prostitute, it's not that great when you're also in divorce proceedings with your wife, whom you swear you've never cheated on.
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http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/offbeat/dpgo_Club_Sues_14_Year_Old_Stripper_fc_20090622_2598210
Hahahahahahaahahaa
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I'd be inclined to believe men who view women as conquests are the type who are more likely to frequent prostitutes, anyway. What a delightful comment.
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Eh, except that paying someone isn't a conquest at all. I suppose if your pride is in the fact that you can make people dance to your tune with obscene amounts of money, sure. But if it's more that you're just so damned sexy or there's some other quality about yourself that let's you gain these conquests, then you should be able to gain a 'conquest' whenever desired without any need to pay.
It's not a flattering view of women, sure. But to say that if that statement is truth that he's more likely to frequent prostitutes ignores the type of pride and sense of self that's being professed.
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http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/offbeat/dpgo_Club_Sues_14_Year_Old_Stripper_fc_20090622_2598210
Hahahahahahaahahaa
The transcendentally stupid icing on the already-moronic cake is the part where they sue the girl's parents for letting her get kidnapped.
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Berlusconi, in addition to being the prime minister, is also a media-owning billionaire. Think Bloomberg, minus the morals. He once tried to pass a law that prohibited the prime minister from being sued...because he was the prime minister and someone was suing him. Is he paying women for sex? I don't know, but I don't think it really matters, either. He's exceedingly rich, he likes to invite sexy young women to his lavish parties, and he's been known to back starlets as political candidates. Whether or not he's directly paying for sex, there's heavy inference of a quid pro quo.
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http://newsok.com/oklahoma-city-woman-trades-sex-for-case-of-potato-chips/article/3380255?custom_click=rss
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...Wait, who's the idiot in that Oklahoma story?
From all I've heard prostitutes have had to work cheaper as there's fewer clients and more competition in the midst of the economic crisis. $30 worth of chips, if you eat and enjoy chips regularly, is worth about $30 (there's a lot of preservatives in those; they won't go bad). The frito guy can most likely get those chips from warehouse for less than $30; good deal for him. (Or, more likely, he was just stealing the chips from the company). The undercover cop caught on to the situation pretty fast.
Although...I guess it's kinda messed up that the Frito guy didn't get arrested, seeing as there's decent odds he was stealing those chips from the company (in addition to the fact that he admitted he had been cruising for a prostitute).
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He probably had more than one crate with him, or actually had some cash, and managed to bribe the cop.
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She came (into the club) with 6-inch stiletto heels and a miniskirt and looked just like a model from a Miss America's contest
This says way more about your culture than you want it to. The not so obvious one that what the fuck someone that young can walk convincingly in 6 inch stilettos.
Edit - Upon reflection, the fact that someone can trawl for hookers with a box of potato chips and pull it off also says more about your culture than you want it to. But I won't hold that against places that aren't Oklahoma.
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Upon reflection, the fact that someone can trawl for hookers with a box of potato chips and pull it off also says more about your culture than you want it to.
You're just jealous of our Yankee ingenuity!
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The not so obvious one that what the fuck someone that young can walk convincingly in 6 inch stilettos.
On the one hand, girls in their early teens typically want to feel sexy and want to feel like grownups; getting their hands on heels and trying to walk in heels is usually par for the course; same with experimenting with makeup; lots of girls wear training bras long before they have any need for them too. When you're 13 this stuff is exciting. (By contrast, when you're 35 it's "fuck heels, fuck makeup, fuck bras, I'm tired of this shit.") You can question why office women are expected to wear heels and makeup, but the fact that 13-year-olds want to feel like grownups is pretty universal and natural.
On the other hand...6 inches? 6? Good god, how does that even work--ballerina toe walking or something?
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Pretty much and very fucked up feet afterwards. A large platform sole on the front portion also is probably necessary for ones that high..
I can understand someone of that age being interested in heels (because people fucking fail), but lots of people can't walk in them well at all even as an adult no matter how long or how often they wear them (Pro tip, this is probably a good sign that your body is rebelling against the very horrible things you are doing to it).
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A large platform sole on the front portion also is probably necessary for ones that high..
IIRC heel height is measured as the difference between the heel and the toe. Platform shoes where the heel is 6 inches but the toe is 4 inches would still count as a 2 inch heel.
but lots of people can't walk in them well at all even as an adult no matter how long or how often they wear them
Ehh...depends on the heel. Smaller heels I was able to learn to walk in in about a day (like...2-inch or 3-inch). I mean, my feet hurt, but I could walk in them just fine.
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http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2009/06/30/2009-06-30_24yearold_burglar_.html
2 punches! that's just embarrassing.
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Yeah, the New York senate is worth a double-post.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/06/26/2009-06-26_albany_follies_continue.html
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/judge-orders-all-senators-to-convene/
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/state-senate-convenes-and-then-adjourns/#more-53345
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/coke-or-coffee-adds-to-albany-confusion/
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I'm in favor of a good Stalin style purging of the New york senate. Idiocy doesn't begin to describe them.
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At the very least, the re-election rate of these fools is probably going to be extremely low.
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http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/53/celebrity-09_The-Celebrity-100_Rank.html
I dunno, this just amuses the hell out of me that Angelina Jolie is the most powerful celebrity while THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES is 49th. What the heck were they thinking...?
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/30/reporter-steve-ryan-slaps_n_223585.html
love the expression on the anchors' faces. wonder if that's a personal testament that the street reporter is someone you wouldn't want to get involved with.
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http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/53/celebrity-09_The-Celebrity-100_Rank.html
I dunno, this just amuses the hell out of me that Angelina Jolie is the most powerful celebrity while THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES is 49th. What the heck were they thinking...?
Doing a bit of digging...apparently this:
Barack Obama joins the list as the first sitting head of state to land on the Celebrity 100. The President's historic election last year helped him sell millions of books. He debuts on this year's list at No. 49, with book earnings of $2.5 million for the 12-month period.
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http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/53/celebrity-09_The-Celebrity-100_Rank.html
I dunno, this just amuses the hell out of me that Angelina Jolie is the most powerful celebrity while THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES is 49th. What the heck were they thinking...?
Doing a bit of digging...apparently this:
Barack Obama joins the list as the first sitting head of state to land on the Celebrity 100. The President's historic election last year helped him sell millions of books. He debuts on this year's list at No. 49, with book earnings of $2.5 million for the 12-month period.
How much money you make is VERY IMPORTANT to determining how powerful you are apparently.
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The one modifier on that list is that it's a celebrity list. At least it makes far more sense than putting Angelina Jolie ahead on a powerful person list (And well, within even the terms of how one might define a celebrity, it's certainly justifiable, as we often tend to disassociate celebrities from politicians).
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I think I'd be more fine with it if it didn't have Obama on it, since that is just silly.
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I think I'd be more fine with it if it didn't have Obama on it, since that is just silly.
Well no previous list has had a politician. Obama has enough independent celebrity status to have big book sales, and people making T-shirts in his likeness even well after the election, so I think they are trying to measure that half of him in isolation.
It's also clear that the amount of money you've drawn in as a celebrity is one of the bigger factors in this list--they note that JKRowling was big on the list last year, but hasn't had an HP book this year so fell out of the top 100. I doubt this means that she's not a celebrity anymore.
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No developments on the impasse in the NY state senate.
No paychecks for them, either.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/07/08/2009-07-08_no_paychecks_for_donothing_albany_senators_dinapoli_order_to_hold_paychecks_take.html
Thank you state comptroller. Probably not legal for him to be withholding the money, but the senate probably needs to resume existence to do anything about it.
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http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Pool-Boots-Kids-Who-Might-Change-the-Complexion.html
nothing to say.
edit: also for the wince: http://www.wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1703910
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http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Pool-Boots-Kids-Who-Might-Change-the-Complexion.html
nothing to say.
This is what makes local media outlets great: the ability to shine a light on this kind of crap and get something done about it. Public opinion is a powerful force, and I'd bet my last dollar it'll do some good here.
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http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/07/09/specter-sestak-a-flagrant-hypocrite/
Warning: Specter
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/090709/world/us_prison_obama_s_books_1
He's a socialist, you know.
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http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Pool-Boots-Kids-Who-Might-Change-the-Complexion.html
nothing to say.
This is what makes local media outlets great: the ability to shine a light on this kind of crap and get something done about it. Public opinion is a powerful force, and I'd bet my last dollar it'll do some good here.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/10/AR2009071003512_2.html?hpid=artslot
What'd I tell you. Lest you feel any pity for the club, I've worked for summer camps, and believe me, the first thing a facilty like a pool is going to do when it makes a contract is set limits on how many people you can bring to the facility at a time. For them to say the ratio of lifeguards to swimmers was off because they didn't know how many kids were coming is not remotely believable.
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Lest you feel any pity for the club, I've worked for summer camps, and believe me, the first thing a facilty like a pool is going to do when it makes a contract is set limits on how many people you can bring to the facility at a time. For them to say the ratio of lifeguards to swimmers was off because they didn't know how many kids were coming is not remotely believable.
Good point, hadn't thought of that.
Actually, now that you mention it there are better solutions to the problem. Like "Lifeguard blows whistle, yells 'Too many people in the pool', divides the kids into two groups, and rotates out groups every 10 minutes."
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Yeah, I worked for a lifeguard when I was a teen, and a large group of children that can't swim is your worst nightmare. Ideally there should be a mechanism in place that limits how many people can be in different areas of the pool. I can see a pool canceling a contract because of the reasons they stated; I just can't see them getting into one in the first place.
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http://www.l4dmods.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=170:zoey-gets-a-make-over&catid=2:news&Itemid=13 The commentary on this is about as good as you'd expect.
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NWS warning on super's link.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bil-browning/steele-gop-woos-blacks-wi_b_231534.html
Warning: Steele
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/15/lithuania-anti-gay-law-pr_n_233654.html
Warning: Gays *sticks fingers in ears* LALALALALA!!! CAN'T HEAR YOU!! NO GAYS HERE!!!
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http://www.l4dmods.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1283&f=27#p13228
Short version: scroll down to the picture. Idiot ahoy.
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Once again, the US Government gets today's IotD.
http://cfcamerica.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=358:woman-charged-with-possession-of-child-pornography-for-taking-photos-of-herself-breastfeeding&catid=3:news&Itemid=96
And you thought the sexting nonsense was bad enough....
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This quote seems to sum up the article pretty well:
"I think the police department and the DA's office select people to prosecute who have the least ability to defend themselves," says Chatham, who says he took the case on principle. "If these pictures were on their way back to some big home in Highland Park, they would have turned around and left. They were going after easy marks."
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Gj Texas.
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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/15/tall_photographers/
They are here to protect you from the terrible secrets of space.
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Hey, that guy was one inch above average, police were perfectly justified in that situation.
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http://mediamattersaction.org/blog/200907220004
she then pledged not to cry 'wolf' just because there was a wolf.
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Can we declare a state of emergency whenever Marsha Blackburn opens her mouth?
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Still not as terrible a representative as Michelle Bachman.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/23/marsha-blackburn-apologiz_n_243471.html
and apparently she knows when to fold 'em.
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,1859513,00.html
Top 10 Unfortunate Political One-Liners
see how many you can guess in advance! I got 5. they're listed in decreasing severity (something that becomes obvious after quote 1, of course).
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http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,1859513,00.html
Top 10 Unfortunate Political One-Liners
see how many you can guess in advance! I got 5. they're listed in decreasing severity (something that becomes obvious after quote 1, of course).
Seriously lacks "You People".
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Said by whom? "You People" is a little less specific and the mistake is made by a lot more people than the quotes that made it to the list.
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Said by whom?
You people.
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Sassy.
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Said by whom?
Ross Perot.
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Uh. Yeah. No. See that was probably bad but for that to be a huge enough deal to get on the list, the person who said it had to be some type of elected official. And Ross Perot, being a 3rd party candidate, never had a real chance at that. Notice how on the list the two people who weren't president were congressmen? One of whom ran for president in a party with a real shot at it?
Yeah, Ross Perot is hardly a blip on the radar.
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Ross Perot was a school principal, though!!!111
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Ross Perot is hardly a blip on the radar.
He's a third-party candidate we actually remember after well over a decade. Counts for something.
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Well, yes. He's definitely on the same plane as Ralph Nader. I'm just saying that doesn't qualify him for any list except maybe that one or some cracked.com list.
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http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jun/17/business/fi-rescind17
Pyro posted this in chat. Just fucking disgusting.
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Well, yes. He's definitely on the same plane as Ralph Nader. I'm just saying that doesn't qualify him for any list except maybe that one or some cracked.com list.
Are you kidding? He's miles above Nader, he was actually a serious competitor.
"At one point in June [1992], Perot led the polls with 39% (versus 31% for Bush and 25% for Clinton)."
"Bill Clinton won the election to be the 42nd President of the United States by a wide margin in the U.S. Electoral College, receiving 43 percent of the popular vote in the three man race against Bush's 37 percent and Perot's 19%."
Saying he's on the same level as Nader is an absolute Joke
Nader 1996: 0.71% of the popular vote
Nader 2000: 2.74 percent of the popular vote
Nader 2004: 0.38% of the popular vote.
Nader 2008: 0.56 percent of the popular vote
Seriously, if these were results from Canadian Elections, the Ross Perot party would be a major opposition force, while Nader would be nothing (less noteworthy than the Green Party of Canada that can't win a single seat).
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Having said that, the "You people" thing was ridiculously overblown. That's a common phrase in Perot's native Texas, and not the least bit derogatory. Seriously, blacks don't want to be identified as people? What are they, animate carbon rods?
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I dunno, while it's pretty unlikely that there was any racist intent behind the comment, if you think about it "you people" is really, really easy to interperate that way. Since essentially it's a statement cutting the speaker off from the listener, or in other words viewing them as part of two distinct groups. Which really is the core of racism, so reading negative connatations (say, thinking it means you look down on other groupings) is probably a natural reaction for anyone not familiar with the idiom.
Not that this means it wasn't overblown.
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http://mashable.com/2009/07/26/report-att-blocking-4chan/
Both for AT&T, and preemptively for most of /b/.
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He's miles above Nader; he was actually a serious competitor.
Perot and Nader both accomplished the same thing in the end: being the difference between a win and a loss for the two major party candidates. As of today, Perot's popular success hasn't translated into third-party candidates having a legitimate shot, so it's fair to compare them even if Perot was much more successful at the time.
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http://mashable.com/2009/07/26/report-att-blocking-4chan/
Both for AT&T, and preemptively for most of /b/.
That is more disturbing than IotD material. Though I'm always down with 4chan in IotD.
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FYI the reason for the block is because their bandwidth was being raped by the DDoS attacks being launched on /b/.
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Ah. So people DDoSing /b/ got it blocked. That is pretty funny.
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Might wanna put something soft on your desk before you read on...
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/why-americans-hate-single-payer-insurance/
At a recent town-hall meeting in suburban Simpsonville, a man stood up and told Rep. Robert Inglis (R-S.C.) to “keep your government hands off my Medicare.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wires/2009/07/27/michelle-bachmann-blocks-_ws_245888.html
Michelle Bachmann Blocks Bill Declaring Hawaii Obama's Birthplace
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Old people need to hurry up and die so we can make some goddamn progress in this country. Also, the south needs to re-secede.
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Old people need to hurry up and die so we can make some goddamn progress in this country. Also, the south needs to re-secede.
The state that needs to scede from the union is California, if anything. Federal taxes flow straight out of the state and don't come back. If the south were to scede now, they'd be largely screwing themselves over (except Texas; Texas could stand on its own).
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You say that like there's something wrong with the south screwing itself over.
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Old people need to hurry up and die so we can make some goddamn progress in this country. Also, the south needs to re-secede.
The state that needs to scede from the union is California, if anything. Federal taxes flow straight out of the state and don't come back. If the south were to scede now, they'd be largely screwing themselves over (except Texas; Texas could stand on its own).
Because California has already shown itself very capable of handling it's own affairs with regards to taxes?
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Old people need to hurry up and die so we can make some goddamn progress in this country. Also, the south needs to re-secede.
The state that needs to scede from the union is California, if anything. Federal taxes flow straight out of the state and don't come back. If the south were to scede now, they'd be largely screwing themselves over (except Texas; Texas could stand on its own).
Because California has already shown itself very capable of handling it's own affairs with regards to taxes?
Incompetent taxation is better than having it flow away completely. I mean, maybe an incompetent government will make a museum about something stupid, or add bridges we don't need. That's a poor use of taxes, but at least you're giving jobs to Californians, and maybe providing a service that some Californians will appreciate.
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*Waves an American flag over the topic. While drinking Coors, with a rifle in my other hand. As a bald eagle soars overhead.*
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Ah, so that's why you're living in the States. You publically spoke out against equalization payments and Ottawa showed you the door. Frankly, the idea of having the richer parts of the country partially subsidize the poorer makes a certain amount of sense in order to help those poorer parts retool or simply hang in there when their economic niche fails. Not to mention it's something that does a good deal to help national cohesion which is also something federal governments like to, and ought to, promote.
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I would also like for California to leave the union, if only so it makes it harder for those fuckasses to come up north and try and ruin my state like they did their own. Bunch of locusts.
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Ah, so that's why you're living in the States. You publically spoke out against equalization payments and Ottawa showed you the door. Frankly, the idea of having the richer parts of the country partially subsidize the poorer makes a certain amount of sense in order to help those poorer parts retool or simply hang in there when their economic niche fails. Not to mention it's something that does a good deal to help national cohesion which is also something federal governments like to, and ought to, promote.
As a principle, I agree, but there is a question of scale.
In my immediate city, I'd like to have the homeless people get checked for diseases and given a place to wash. Because y'know what, I ride the bus with them. Similarly, I don't want there to be a ghetto. People right on my doorstep who resent me due to a large economic disparity, and around whom more crime centers than it would if the city didn't have a ghetto is...not ideal.
However, the effect gets less and less noticeable the further afield you go. First thing I do when moving is find a safe, clean neighborhood, much moreso than a safe, clean city. Is it important that surrounding cities be also safe and clean? Yeah, because there's going to be some trickle-over effect from other cities (but they're not as important as the places I live and work). Is it important to me that cities further afield are clean? Sure, I do some business trips outside of the city in which I live; usually not more than a 40 minute flight. Does it affect me for Alabama to be modernized. Well...maybe. If they do pick up steam and become a modern mecha, it broadens my options for places to live, and may attract investment into the country, which would benefit me. Does it benefit me that Iraq has changed to a probably better regime? Not much at all.
Don't get me wrong, I like the concept of redistribution of wealth and all that, but the value of it becomes less and less obvious the wider you draw your sphere of influence.
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So it's more like what you're arguing for is for smaller nations. Namely, break up these insanely large North American juggernaughts and China, and keep the EU from forming up. Because that's the nature of how the governments need to work. They need to not just focus on keeping the parts of the nation that are productive happy, but they also need to find ways to keep the lesser parts of the nation going and try to improve them if at all possible. And while that does mean that the individual in the affluent parts of the nation kinda gets screwed over for what's near and dear to him, it's still over all good for the nation.
However, I do have to admit, the real reason I'm chiming in here is because there are few people I find it more amusing to logically pull out the main argument of an Albertan Secessionist.
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So it's more like what you're arguing for is for smaller nations.
To a degree, sure. California if it separated would be the 8th largest economy in the world; not exactly a small nation.
However, I do have to admit, the real reason I'm chiming in here is because there are few people I find it more amusing to logically pull out the main argument of an Albertan Secessionist.
Albera Secession makes remarkably little sense by comparison....
#1 Alberta is not a large economy--it would be like San Francisco seceding to form its own country, except even dumber. (SF being a larger economy than Alberta).
#2 Alberta is not a stable economy--it rises and falls wildly with the price of oil.
#3 Alberta secession causes all sorts of problems geographically. Trucking routes through Canada now need to cross two borders; this raises shipping prices for everyone in both countries.
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Old people need to hurry up and die so we can make some goddamn progress in this country. Also, the south needs to re-secede.
The state that needs to scede from the union is California, if anything. Federal taxes flow straight out of the state and don't come back. If the south were to scede now, they'd be largely screwing themselves over (except Texas; Texas could stand on its own).
In fairness, I'm pretty sure he meant that the South should secede for the good of the rest of the country!
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Old people need to hurry up and die so we can make some goddamn progress in this country. Also, the south needs to re-secede.
The state that needs to scede from the union is California, if anything. Federal taxes flow straight out of the state and don't come back. If the south were to scede now, they'd be largely screwing themselves over (except Texas; Texas could stand on its own).
In fairness, I'm pretty sure he meant that the South should secede for the good of the rest of the country!
I did indeed. It's a big weight around our necks.
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MC, I said you arrived at that argument via logic, I never said the Albertans did. Just that it's the same.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/29/disorderly-conduct-conver_n_246794.html
I.O.T.D.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/12/paris-pool-denies-muslim_n_257311.html
France, to Muslim woman: "Burqas are a sign of debasement, now show us some skin."
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Ouch it was even with the burqinis which were praised for their forward movement towards women's rights in Muslim culture (which as you can see in the pictures shares very little to do with the Bikini other than the pun and I guess it does come in 2 pieces). Fail france, fail.
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It's France.
Unfortunately people love France.
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Also note the part where they're trying to outlaw the burqua entirely. Because that's a great way to show Muslims they're equal citizens.
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I'd say something about -missing the point entirely about the issue at hand- there, but it's honestly self-defeating. gj, France.
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/file/198456/21095 (http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/file/198456/21095)
I think this might be the greatest RE2 fact ever. It introduced me to words like "fuckside." Here's the beginning of the FAQ, to whet your appetite.
RACOON CITY STREETS
Come on, we started it! Dont stay there like deaf-dumb! Get your knife in hand
and dodge these bastards! But be careful! Dont bump in em!3-4 hits and you'll be
watching cool "YOU DIED" movie.Get to the Gun Shop Kendo. There, speak bullshit and
collect 2xh.g.b. Movie plays and zombies get in. Ready and handgun the undeads fast.
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I like to think this is the same guy who wrote Half-Life: Full Life Consequences after he discovered cursing.
This is a good thing to have my 900th post with.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/19/italy-burqini-ban-controv_n_263165.html
Apparently Italy isn't willing to let France outdo them.
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/me facepalms.
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http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local-beat/Womans-House-Mistakenly-Auctioned-by-Bank-53583357.html?yhp=1
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Panzarini told AKI that some of their swimming instructors wear full body suits, but he was concerned about the hygiene of a burqini.
GUYS, WET SUITS ARE TOTALLY PRONE TO CAUSING CHRONIC ILLNESS.
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http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local-beat/Womans-House-Mistakenly-Auctioned-by-Bank-53583357.html?yhp=1
Any wonder WaMu went belly up first?
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Maybe this should go under the Politics thread, but:
http://supremecourtus.gov/opinions/08pdf/08-1443Scalia.pdf
The important part?
Scalia wrote: “This Court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who has had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is ‘actually’ innocent.”
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On a somewhat light note:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WybeLYArlXQ&feature=popular
the video steadily gets better as it goes on.
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On a somewhat light note:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WybeLYArlXQ&feature=popular
the video steadily gets better as it goes on.
oh god what
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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=9rfn9781lbibmapy5jdizkzd&page=1
Our old friend Cosmeteor's at it again.
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Have I mentioned how awesome it is that Cosmetor is banned from here? Because it is.
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I like how the argument is that you shouldn't have the article because all things generally have some level of retarded fan. It clearly isn't a trope if it is that wide spread right?
HOW DARE YOU INSULT PEOPLE THAT ARE BEING IRRATIONAL AND RETARDED BY SAYING PEOPLE IN GENERAL ARE CAPABLE OF ACTING IRRATIONAL AND RETARDED SOMETIMES!
Seriously, maybe we should start a Cosmeteor hug box drive.
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Hey looking up JCVH on IMDB late at night gives up some gold.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0311361/board/nest/10709762
This starts off with Truly Awful - minor spoilers
by BigWillieStiles (Thu Aug 5 2004 19:40:41)
Ignore this User | Report Abuse Reply
I rented this movie thinking it would become a new favorite. I mean it has a great title, great plot, and even a great DVD menu. Then I started the movie. Man what a gigantic let down! After twenty minutes I was squirming in my seat hoping it would be over soon. What were they thinking?!? The story made no sense, the acting was beyond bad (even if they were going for cheesy) and worst of all they made Jesus not look like Jesus! One of the best things the movie had going for it was the novelty of getting to see Jesus kicking ass but for some reason they decided to completely change his look ten minutes into the movie. What the hell?!?
I'm sorry, I know a lot of you really like this movie but I think they just wasted a lot of potential. It could of been great but instead it is unwatchable. 1/10
Fair enough, someone doesn't like a movie.
6th post in.
Re: Truly Awful - minor spoilers
by Bladerunner• (Sun Feb 12 2006 02:57:23)
Ignore this User | Report Abuse Reply
There are no true atheists, just levels of agnostics. The level of arrogance it would take for an insignificant human (in the scheme of the universe) to claim to *know* there is no possibility of a god would be so massive as to boggle the mind. No sophisticated, intelligent person would ever be so supercilious to assert that a finite being can know things outside their realm of existence, or that the infinite is impossible. The philosophical reality is that no one can know *for sure* that there is no God. It is a logical (and empirical) impossibility. Therefore, there can be no true atheist, only those who ironically *believe* in their non-belief, ergo a system of faith in the unknown, which is nothing other than a religion of the "rational". Even Bertrand Russell admitted this truism, and late in life questioned the usefulness of such a “belief”. Anyway, no disrespect meant, and any self-respecting rationalist will understand that.
I have to agree with the other poster, the inherent humor of this film is the *iconic* image of Jesus, the comedy is rooted in the absurdity of the traditional Jesus getting buck-wild on bloodsuckers. Eliminating those elements that stereo-typically define Jesus as such is actually negating the very root of the humor. In other words, not just dumb, but *perfectly* dumb or perfectly wrong... a very unfunny oxymoron.
"...nothing is left of me, each time I see her..." - Catullus
Thank you internet and good night.
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Not to stir up shit (because fuck if we haven't had the argument before, and fuck if it got anyone anywhere), but I mean, it's not like I haven't heard similar nonsense spouted by some individuals from a group whose opinions I otherwise generally respect. Not to the degree that douchebag takes it, of course, but the point is, I remain unshocked.
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It isn't really the content of the post I am knocking, it is the fact that a movie about a shitty (awesome) B-Movie turns into BURN THE ATHEISTS in 6 fucking posts.
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Once again, I remain unshocked.
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Not to stir up shit (because fuck if we haven't had the argument before, and fuck if it got anyone anywhere), but I mean, it's not like I haven't heard similar nonsense spouted by some individuals from a group whose opinions I otherwise generally respect. Not to the degree that douchebag takes it, of course, but the point is, I remain unshocked.
Even ignoring the fact that the argument is in the wrong place, no it's pretty stupid anyway. People will believe anything; why couldn't they believe "there is no god"? In the grand scheme of absurdity, it's far from the most absurd thing a person has ever believed.
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http://bit.ly/14zHdJ - "Father's fury over children's 'pornographic' sweet wrappers"
I mean... wow. Me and friends used to joke about FRUIT PORN and stuff related to this, but.. for this guy to actually take the whole thing way too seriously?
He said: 'I demanded to see the shop manager and, during a heated exchange, my wife became quite distressed and had to sit down in the car park.'
Distressed. Over a sweet wrapper. And FRUIT PORN. ...Wow.
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Not to stir up shit (because fuck if we haven't had the argument before, and fuck if it got anyone anywhere), but I mean, it's not like I haven't heard similar nonsense spouted by some individuals from a group whose opinions I otherwise generally respect. Not to the degree that douchebag takes it, of course, but the point is, I remain unshocked.
Even ignoring the fact that the argument is in the wrong place, no it's pretty stupid anyway. People will believe anything; why couldn't they believe "there is no god"? In the grand scheme of absurdity, it's far from the most absurd thing a person has ever believed.
Uh, is this a direct response to my quote or a quote-for-truth sort of deal? If the former, I don't understand your objection since it seems like we're 100% on the same page here. If it's the latter, I'll blame lack of sleep for misunderstanding.
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Get some sleep Zenny!
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And now, a rare case of videogame fanboy stupidity found through Neogaf forums but not actually on it.
http://forums.n4g.com/Cross-game-chat-and-why-its-currently-MIA-m700070.aspx
Someone makes a rumor post that EA is preventing the implementation of cross-game voice chat and previously did so for custom soundtracks. There might be some idiots in that thread, I don't know since I haven't looked given the huge-ass size. What I *do* know is that the EA forums are in full meltdown mode:
http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/forums/show/3607.page
Here's a screenshot if the mods just end up deleting all the posts: http://i29.tinypic.com/jfgsn9.jpg
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/27/france-woman-wearing-hija_n_270436.html
Warning: France again.
best way to liberate women: make sure they can't control their own money.
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God, I hate myself for using this turn of phrase, but there's just no better way to put it.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/08/pastor_of_gun-toter_at_obama_event_day_before_even.php
Christianity - ur doing it wrong
EDIT: also, http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/08/guess_that_didnt_go_over_so_well.php?ref=fpblg
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y helo that NY Times.
http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/08/will_it_never_end_mccaughey_v.php
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weird. that kinda goes directly against the gist of this front-page NYT article that I mentioned at the time was particularly bold of them.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/14/health/policy/14panel.html?scp=4&sq=Betsy%20McCaughey&st=cse
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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=9rfn9781lbibmapy5jdizkzd&page=1
Our old friend Cosmeteor's at it again.
Deleted. What did I miss?
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Wanted to change the title of Fandumb because it was insulting.
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Today's IotD is me, for not realizing I had my computer's case fans installed blowing in the wrong directions for four years. (I had the back top one intaking and the front bottom exhausting.)
Why, something like that going on for so long might even lead to motherboard failures. Like the one I had in April.
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http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/08/31/missing.girl.officers/index.html A cold case is cracked out of the blue. Guy kidnaps a girl, fathers two girls by her and keeps her locked up in a shed for nearly 20 years. His response at being caught (Note: registered sex offender/rapist):
In a jailhouse interview Thursday with CNN affiliate KCRA, Garrido would not discuss the abduction, but said he had "completely turned" his life around in the past several years.
"You're going to find the most powerful story coming from the witness, from the victim," he promised. "If you take this a step at a time, you're going to fall over backward, and in the end you're going to find the most powerful, heartwarming story."
While prison violence should be generally unacceptable, this asshole deserves the literal skullfucking he is about to get.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/01/maria-bartiromo-presses-4_n_274024.html
Ah, the healthcare debate. So very, very well-informed. Just watch the video.
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http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10594014
Seriously. Doesn't she know you're not supposed to use all capitals?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/02/bofas-thumbprint-rule-irk_n_275646.html
Seriously. Doesn't he know handicapped people shouldn't participate in society?
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While I certainly can't top anything Jim has posted for the past while...
http://kotaku.com/5351629/gundam-creator-video-games-are-evil
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present Yoshiyuki Tomino; hypocrite extraordinaire.
Edit: Double feature!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090903/us_time/08599191991600
Floridian state government sure is something, huh guys?
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"The Washington Redskins routinely works out payment plans and alternate arrangements with hundreds of ticket holders every year," Donovan said. "For every one we sue, I would guess we work out a deal with half a dozen."
Warm and fuzzy.
Edit - Whoops forgot which topic Shale's Misc link was in, cause you see I thought something that retarded was IotD.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtmgQ2W3lhM
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090903/ap_on_re_us/us_shot_in_court
Fire Chief Don Payne didn't hesitate to tell the judge what he thought of the police and their speed traps.
The response from cops? They shot him. Right there in court.
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.........
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I like how Jo'ou needed to edit his "........." post. Not enough dots? Dots not large enough?
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I couldn't remember how to add the size, and I tend to use Quick Reply. I added a dot for symmetry as well.
EDIT: I also just edit my posts a lot. >_>
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What I like about that article is how there seems to be no forthcoming repercussions for the person who shot somebody while in court. Indeed, the fact that the person most likely to get punished in all of this is the guy who got shot. Though, given that City Hall in this case seems to be wholly corrupt and in the process of covering their own asses, they may not decide to stick around to deal with that poor Fire Chief.
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What I like about that article is how there seems to be no forthcoming repercussions for the person who shot somebody while in court. Indeed, the fact that the person most likely to get punished in all of this is the guy who got shot. Though, given that City Hall in this case seems to be wholly corrupt and in the process of covering their own asses, they may not decide to stick around to deal with that poor Fire Chief.
I wouldn't read so negatively into the article. AP focuses on getting reliable news out fast, and they don't tend to slow down to speculate what will happen. I guarantee you something will happen to the cop in question.
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Haha...haahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaa....heh.
Sure it will. Does getting suspended with pay count as "something happening"?
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You really think a cop can shoot another federal employee in front of a judge and get away with it when there's a freaking national news article about it? Suit yourself. I'll eat my hat if we don't see a follow-up article with consequences by a week from now.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/04/AR2009090403912.html?hpid=topnews
Redskins do something smart in a dumb way. Take it as you will.
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You really think a cop can shoot another federal employee in front of a judge and get away with it when there's a freaking national news article about it? Suit yourself. I'll eat my hat if we don't see a follow-up article with consequences by a week from now.
He shot the guy in a courtroom, in front of witnesses, including six other police officers, a judge, a prosecutor and the mayor, and walked away a free man. If that doesn't get him arrested on the spot, he's not getting arrested.
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Yeah, what Shale said. It becomes especially doubtful when you realise that the judge and mayor in question seem to have gotten the hell out of dodge as well. Though, like I said, good for the fire chief, since it sounds like if this become a major thing then he was about to get the mother of all scapegoating.
Note that despite being shot by people he had been dragged to court twice by for what seem to be spurious reasons he wasn't interested in pressing charges. I doubt that's simply because he has little interest in going to court needlessly.
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Obama is going to talk to schoolchildren. Fox News goes berserk and accuses him of being like Hitler and Kim-Jong-il! An interesting summary of events:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQheP7Bp-zc
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God damn it. God damn it. God damn it. I am fucking getting sick of the whole Obama=Hitler or Obama=Fascist or whatever retarded shit is being spouted by the right. Yes, some whackjobs on the Left called Bush Hitler, and said his policies were Fascist. But they at least verged on it; spying on Americans and torture sounds pretty damn Fascist, so there's at least some reason for it. The level of political discourse is so rock-bottom today that it makes me want to go all Oldboy on someone's teeth.
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Callling Obama a socialist isn't totally off base really. While I don't doubt he's conservative in a global perspective, the policies he's suggested are definitely a sharp move in that direction from an American perspective.
The Hitler thing is just inane and the sort of thing that makes you wish killing people for being stupid was legal. Good lord is this propaganda good at making them seem like empty-headed bigots.
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Some things are best expressed visually:
(http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Third_Party_Graphic/2009/09/04/0904nadcropped__1252076743_3469.jpg)
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The sad thing is, those are the key Right Wing values in the Obama panel. It's bad when the major proponents of the movement argue against their core ideas because it comes in a package they disagree with.
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Callling Obama a socialist isn't totally off base really. While I don't doubt he's conservative in a global perspective, the policies he's suggested are definitely a sharp move in that direction from an American perspective.
The Hitler thing is just inane and the sort of thing that makes you wish killing people for being stupid was legal. Good lord is this propaganda good at making them seem like empty-headed bigots.
It's not the claims of socialism that really bother me (fixed my post on that point). It's... not at all true, or even close to true, and damn do I wish it were true, but the rationale is there. Calling Fascist, though? Seriously? Do these jackasses even fucking know what that word means (No)? God.
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Is there any point to political discussion in this country anymore? I really don't think there is. I would be down for the country breaking up Crimson Skies-style. Not only do we no longer have the South weighing us down, we finally get to go to war with California like I've always wanted.
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The sad thing is, those are the key Right Wing values in the Obama panel. It's bad when the major proponents of the movement argue against their core ideas because it comes in a package they disagree with.
That's just American politics in the modern age. Frankly I often agree with Rob on the matter, aside from the California thing.
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http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/09/best_quote_of_the_day_maybe_the_week.php?ref=fpblg
I don't know if this is idiotic or brazenly awesome. Guy goes the wrong way on a one-way street, gets in an accident with a motorcycle. He's asked about the motorcyclist he hit, and what does he say? "First of all, the motorcycle hit me."
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http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/09/gop_lawmakers_graphic_sex-bragging_caught_on_tape.php?ref=fpblg
Good god. Despite it being a TPM link, this is good old fashioned idiocy. HAY LET ME BRAG ABOUT MY SEX LIFE WITH MY MISTRESS wait this mike is on oh shit
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Mistresses. Including the one the first mistress didn't know about until the tape went public. Even better.
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Ah yes, my fault. This isn't quite as good as Spiter nailing call girls, but good lord it is fucking hilarious in a headdesk way. Enjoy the lynch mob Duvall, you've earned it.
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6831574.ece
Is there a corollary of Godwin's Law that concerns the mafia? I mean, it's Italy, yes, but "The mafia made our party leader sleep with a prostitute?" C'mon, you can do better than that. Maybe blame the Nazis?
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Follow-up to the courtroom shooting:
http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story/Jericho-Fire-Chief-Shot-by-Officers-in-Court-will/b3tknfNSx0aqnYxn6iNlQw.cspx
The fireman will be charged with battery. The officer who shot him still has not been named or charged.
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Follow-up to the courtroom shooting:
http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story/Jericho-Fire-Chief-Shot-by-Officers-in-Court-will/b3tknfNSx0aqnYxn6iNlQw.cspx
The fireman will be charged with battery. The officer who shot him still has not been named or charged.
I was just beginning to believe there was a little sense in the world. Not a lot, but maybe enough to get by on. Why do you hate me, Shale?
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He's sparing you from building up your hopes with chicanery and illusions.
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At a guess, he's either insanely jealous of your power to rock the beard or, as a member of the media, has an ancient blood-feud with all Lawyer-kind.
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an ancient blood-feud with all Lawyer-kind.
So how's that distinguish him from the rest of humanity, exactly?
Maybe you're on to something with the beard thing, though. Not a look that would suit Shale.
Also, less painful because it is thankfully fictional. (http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1333)
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Media hounds know they can actually get away with it, at least occasionally.
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Actually, I think he just wanted to see Miki eat his hat like he said he would. Wait... no, he just said he'd do that if there were no consequences, not if the consequences were not as he predicted.
Dangit, there goes my evening entertainment.
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What can I say? I like spreading cynicism.
Speaking of which, I hate the world and everyone in it. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6173399/Charles-Darwin-film-too-controversial-for-religious-America.html)
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What is wrong with you people.
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Yeah, slowly coming to the conclusion that once I'm done with Uni and have some sort of plan, I'm out of the US. This place isn't worth my time.
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The film has sparked fierce debate on US Christian websites, with a typical comment dismissing evolution as "a silly theory with a serious lack of evidence to support it despite over a century of trying".
... Do they even realise how damn ironic such a statement is?
I feel for you. To live in such a country.
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Oh, that one's good, Bard. I personally like this quote as well:
Movieguide.org, an influential site which reviews films from a Christian perspective, described Darwin as the father of eugenics and denounced him as "a racist, a bigot and an 1800s naturalist whose legacy is mass murder". His "half-baked theory" directly influenced Adolf Hitler and led to "atrocities, crimes against humanity, cloning and genetic engineering", the site stated.
That's right. He is, in fact, bigoted and racist. Now let's not say anything about the bible belt of America, 'kay?
And I'm fairly sure Darwin didn't really influence Hitler so much... >.> I mean, at the very worst, it'd be an excuse. I somehow can't see anyone who's perfectly fine in the head going directly from "People evolved from animals" to "Entire races must die."
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It's generally not a priority for people who object to the theory so strenuously to actually understand what it is that they're objecting to. I could rant here, but I'll keep it in check. Darwin would've been aghast at Nazi eugenics had he lived to see it; blaming him for the worst excesses of humanity is as intellectually sound as saying that Jesus was a dick because the crusades happened.
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Darwin would've been aghast at Nazi eugenics had he lived to see it; blaming him for the worst excesses of humanity is as intellectually sound as saying that Jesus was a dick because the crusades happened.
I kind of want to say this to people at church on Sunday.
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What can I say? I like spreading cynicism.
Speaking of which, I hate the world and everyone in it. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6173399/Charles-Darwin-film-too-controversial-for-religious-America.html)
*Headdesk*
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http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/864502/male-card-shark-cleans-up-at-womens-event
A male card shark enters a woman-only poker tourney, and beats a women who has breast cancer. And yes, he knew that ahead of time.
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2009/09/heres-why-left-4-dead-2-was-banned-in-australia/
Also Australia is a shithole.
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Fail at everything Australia.
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Wierd, you'd have figured that there wouldn't be any loopholes that would be able to get around a fairly simple "If you have a dick, you cannot play in this tournament". So I guess the idiot in that story is whoever left a loophole in the rules that would let a man enter a woman's tournament.
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/me refrains from commenting about this guy sticking his dick in a loophole.
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Hooray, maybe now we can support the making of Wolf Creek 2 or something instead of playing video games.
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http://www.news9.com/global/story.asp?s=11141949
Oklahoma = not up on its civics, apparently.
Ciato, is it really this bad?
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Wierd, you'd have figured that there wouldn't be any loopholes that would be able to get around a fairly simple "If you have a dick, you cannot play in this tournament". So I guess the idiot in that story is whoever left a loophole in the rules that would let a man enter a woman's tournament.
To be fair, there are problems with using that as your yardstick. This isn't the Olympics where people with mixed physiology need to be disqualified.
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I don't really associate with really stupid people, but I seriously doubt that it is really that bad. I'd guess closer to 50% which is bad enough. >_>
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To be fair, there are problems with using that as your yardstick.
like this (http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1507#comic), you mean?
EDIT:
I don't really associate with really stupid people, but I seriously doubt that it is really that bad. I'd guess closer to 50% which is bad enough. >_>
Yeah, you have to look at the results of surveys you get from high schoolers through the prism of how many people you think bothered to answer honestly.
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Maybe we don't need a high school exit exam, maybe we need a high school citizenship reaffirmation exam. I'm joking, but only because has a million things that are too impractical to implement about it.
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There's an idea. Spring a citizenship test on the bottom 50% of high school gradating classes. If they fail, they get deported to Mexico.
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Like Mexico would want them either! That said, at least the graduating high schoolers finished; the test would be better sprung on those who don't want to finish.
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Hey, we already take Mexico's poorest citizens, they can take our dumbest.
And that's a fair point. I guess we'd have to hold it Freshman year, when the kids are almost certainly under 16 and thus can't legally drop out.
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Unfortunately, given regional drop out rates up to 75% in some parts of the country, I have a feeling that Mexico would soon be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers.
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Nah, they wouldn't last two weeks in Mexico. Granted, the stink of the corpses might become a bit much.
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http://whythefuckdoyouhaveakid.com/
warning: nsfw
warning to people featured: nsfdss
that would be Not safe for Dept. of Social Services.
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Maybe we don't need a high school exit exam, maybe we need a high school citizenship reaffirmation exam.
What kind of commie talk is this? It's the right of every proud American to be completely ignorant about things and still act as if they're an authority.
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http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2009/09/dumbass_picture_of_the_day.php#more
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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/world/africa/20cairo.html?hp
today's lucky winner: the Egyptian government.
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Level 317.25 gj there.
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Quick, somebody name the next big-scare disease "moron flu."
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That's what the last three scare diseases were called, though.
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Quick, somebody name the next big-scare disease "moron flu."
My goodness Shale! Are you advocating intelligence-based eugenics?
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Look, I'm just saying, if there happens to be a wave of well-intentioned suicides among Egypt's ruling class, it might end up for the best.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/20/carter-chavez-becoming-au_n_292697.html
I suppose when I link something someone says in IotD it should be, at the very least, wrong. I'll make an exception in this case.
Carter: Hugo Chavez becoming "Increasingly authoritarian."
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The art of downsizing retardation is not a subtle one.
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If it was that easy do you think I would still be here? Idiots.
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http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/10105188/Redskins-rookie-apologizes-for-'dim-wits'-tweet?GT1=39002
This could belong in the football thread as well, but it's stupid enough to deserve mention in this thread.
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http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/09/21/hood_case/
I hate to say it because I know some of you are from there, but...
Warning: Texas.
This one's kind of a downer, so be forewarned.
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blog.peta.org
Not anything Peta's posted in particular, though I'm sure all of it belongs here. Just... the name. Did they even bother saying it aloud before choosing it?
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http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=442602
Wait, something advertised as being random is really random? No way!
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http://www.mmo-champion.com/general-discussion/best-gaming-console-ever!/
Ladies and gentleman. MMO-Champion forums finally spat out something generically retarded enough to link here instead of normal WoW fail.
It gives you guys like this
OFC The Microsoft fanboys are in here trolling, and voting 360
With the PS3 Sony skipped a generation, eventually Microsoft will be forced to make their own blu-ray console to match the PS3. That's when the PS3 is going to pwn just about everything.
Sure it is just NEOGaf shit, but whatever.
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http://www.mmo-champion.com/general-discussion/best-gaming-console-ever!/
Ladies and gentleman. MMO-Champion forums finally spat out something generically retarded enough to link here instead of normal WoW fail.
It gives you guys like this
OFC The Microsoft fanboys are in here trolling, and voting 360
With the PS3 Sony skipped a generation, eventually Microsoft will be forced to make their own blu-ray console to match the PS3. That's when the PS3 is going to pwn just about everything.
Sure it is just NEOGaf shit, but whatever.
...No, that's all kinds of special above the level that console wars usually get.
When it comes to pure strength, the PS3 wins out on everything.
It's much much much more powerful than the Xbox 360. The reason why it doesn't look as amazing for most games is because Microsoft has this policy of forcing game developers to make PS3 and Xbox 360 games equal in graphics, because their weak console can't handle the kind of graphics the PS3 can.
Let's ignore for the moment the "PS3 is more powerful" stuff. Lots of people get that wrong.
"Microsoft made them do it", though, is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read. Since when has any console manufacture had control over the content of a multiplatform game on a rival system? Does Microsoft have this kind of power over Sony first-party studios too?
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Follow up on "Are Oklahoma students completely brain-dead:" Quite possibly not. Nate Silver of '08 election fame thinks that the pollster who did that poll basically isn't really a polling outfit but rather people who make up plausible-sounding numbers (since they never release polling methodology or deeper results or anything). Strategic Vision, LLC was in fact the people that did the Oklahoma poll.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/09/are-oklahoma-students-really-this-dumb.html
Basically, the killer: While I could conceivably imagine that Oklahoma schools critically fail and perhaps only 23% of students know that George Washington was the first president... the fact that *no one*, 0 students, got 8 or more questions right? Nobody who had good parents, or read from a book? These questions were not exactly hard.... there should be at least a few nerds in Oklahoma who know this basic stuff by *high school*.
So there's still an idiot of the day, just a new one: Strategic Vision. (See Silver's earlier posts for why he thinks they're cooking the books and saving valuable money by cutting out the "polling" part of polling.)
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Follow up on "Are Oklahoma students completely brain-dead:" Quite possibly not. Nate Silver of '08 election fame thinks that the pollster who did that poll basically isn't really a polling outfit but rather people who make up plausible-sounding numbers (since they never release polling methodology or deeper results or anything). Strategic Vision, LLC was in fact the people that did the Oklahoma poll.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/09/are-oklahoma-students-really-this-dumb.html
Basically, the killer: While I could conceivably imagine that Oklahoma schools critically fail and perhaps only 23% of students know that George Washington was the first president... the fact that *no one*, 0 students, got 8 or more questions right? Nobody who had good parents, or read from a book? These questions were not exactly hard.... there should be at least a few nerds in Oklahoma who know this basic stuff by *high school*.
So there's still an idiot of the day, just a new one: Strategic Vision. (See Silver's earlier posts for why he thinks they're cooking the books and saving valuable money by cutting out the "polling" part of polling.)
Nice catch.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE58O3BK20090925
I'll be rich I tell you! Rich!
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http://www.newsmax.com/john_perry/obama_military_coup/2009/09/29/266012.html
To paraphrase Jon Stewart, not getting your way in a democracy isn't called tyranny, it's called losing. Get over it.
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Jesus fucking Christ. I couldn't read farther than the second bullet point before fleeing in complete disgust. Now, I know nothing about the site in question here. Is it always this idiotic, or was that just a random opinion piece?
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It's that idiotic.
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I read the first phrase and my mind broke down. Seriously, a military coup? Use topical creams for butthurt.
Also, what are the constitutional amends being trampled here?
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what are the constitutional amends being trampled here?
ALL OF THEM!!!!!
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Also, what are the constitutional amends being trampled here?
Apparently not the right to Idiotic Speech.
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what are the constitutional amends being trampled here?
ALL OF THEM!!!!!
... right, I forget this is idiot logic.
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Also, what are the constitutional amends being trampled here?
Apparently not the right to Idiotic Speech.
depends whether you think being interviewed by the Secret Service counts as infringement, I'd wager.
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Also, what are the constitutional amends being trampled here?
None. Fucking none of them. I'm so goddamn tired of people wanting a REVOLUTION just because their team lost the last popularity contest. Seriously, grow the fuck up, people.
Right, I'm going to stop looking at this thread for a good, long time.
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John Perry, a prize-winning newspaper editor and writer who served on White House staffs of two presidents, is a regular columnist for Newsmax.com.
And also sullying the name of a badass fictional character (the shaman John Perry from The Subtle Knife). Shame on him!
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Zimbabwe dude... just fucking Zimbabwe. That is the kind of shit that is inviting a military fucking coup. Not reforming fucking health care. Fucking isolationist closed minded retards.
Edit - Military intervention is what Obama’s exponentially accelerating agenda for “fundamental change” toward a Marxist state is inviting upon America.
Cause Marx taught us that it is absolutely IMPERATIVE that we have banks. Lots and lots of banks. Marx was all about the money lenders.
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Cause Marx taught us that it is absolutely IMPERATIVE that we have banks. Lots and lots of banks. Marx was all about the money lenders.
Oh wow, I hadn't even thought of that.
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That entire site is hilariously awful by the way.
(The idiocy of said person linked doesn't need to be questioned.)
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You guys seriously haven't heard of Newsmax before?
I envy you so much. Just run away now while there's still time.
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http://crooksandliars.com/logan-murphy/cowards-newsmax-scrubs-perrys-militar
Follow-up on Perry's seditious call-to-arms. Apparently even Newsmax has a line?
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By the way, check on the comments list and get fresh perspective on how both spectrums of the bipartisanship manage to fail it up spectacularly.
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Apparently even Newsmax has a line?
Newsmax's line: John who? Oh, that guy's just an unpaid blogger, not a former senior editor and a weekly columnist for the last 10 years.
http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/09/coup-columnist-perrys-long-history-with-newsmax.php?ref=fpa
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http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2009/10/conservatizing-the-bible.html
Kinda shooting fish in a barrel here, but... damn
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http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2009/10/conservatizing-the-bible.html
Kinda shooting fish in a barrel here, but... damn
Damn! you beat me to it.
Anyway, my consolation prize:
Egypt: Fake Hymen Kit May Be Banned
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/05/egypt-fake-hymen-kit-may-_n_309737.html
There's so much wrong with this I don't really know where to begin.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_nobel_peace
I just... really?
EDIT: If you need clarification for its place here... guy hasn't been in office for a year. I... think that he'll deserve it down the line, sure, but right now...
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As I am apparently the sole defender of President Obama's Peace Prize on the internet, I feel inclined to point you to the interview with a member of the Prize Committee: http://nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/index.php?id=1174
He may have only been in office for less than a year, but:
1) The prize is INTENDED to reward things done within the year
2) He has been campaigning under similar principals for much longer
3) What Obama has "done" is not as concrete as a treaty, but does indeed closely follow Nobel's will in that his actions and plans have done much to promote an international community
4) The Nobel Prize Committee says itself that part of their choice is in giving Obama a public token of support in the hopes that it will aid him in continuing along the path upon which he has set
EDIT: The President gets it! Quote: "I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments. But rather as an affirmation of American leadership. ... I will accept this award as a call to action."
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So it's like giving Eli Manning the Super Bowl MVP, to torture an analogy.
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May I ask why?
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In football, when you want to give an award to an entire team, but you can't because the award doesn't work like that, you give it to the quarterback by default.
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Ah. That -is- a tortured analogy. ;)
In a sense, though, that is kind of what Obama is saying in his speech. But if you get at what the awarding committee said for an explanation, they're giving it to Obama because he has inspired, talked to, encouraged and facilitated international community. With that in mind, Obama's speech was a bit demurring. "Oh, yes, thank you, but I can't do it without you all." Of course he can't -- the award was given because what he did was get everyone to work on it together. His award for doing so, the world's award for being encouraged to do so by him. Does that make sense?
In other words, to further slice up your analogy, Obama was the quarterback, but it was -definitely- what he did that earned him the award, not what his people did -- even though he couldn't have won it unless the people responded as he directed/wished/hoped/planned.
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Probably Greg Mortenson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Mortenson).
That said, I largely agree that people going balls crazy over Obama getting it just baffles me. The president getting the Nobel Peace Prize is not something that warrants criticism of him.
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Probably Greg Mortenson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Mortenson).
That said, I largely agree that people going balls crazy over Obama getting it just baffles me. The president getting the Nobel Peace Prize is not something that warrants criticism of him.
Obama doesn't deserve flak for it. It wasn't his call to make. I don't think he a good choice but if you want to blame anyone, blame the Nobel committee. It's going to make good fodder for the next few days, but there's no helping it.
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There's a valid argument to be made that they've made his job harder (since while it rallies the international community around him - which, really, he already had and didn't need more of, it polarizes his detractors even more, and that's not what he needs right now.)
So... yeah, :psyduck: is about the general feeling there.
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There's a valid argument to be made that they've made his job harder (since while it rallies the international community around him - which, really, he already had and didn't need more of, it polarizes his detractors even more, and that's not what he needs right now.)
So... yeah, :psyduck: is about the general feeling there.
Basically. I already heard someone call it 'European socialists giving an American communist a wankoff' with a totally straight face. It's not going to do much but hurt him a touch at home.
Also, as an aside, I find this interesting: The nomination deadline of February 1 was less than two weeks after Obama's inauguration as the President. That's going to go over real well when people pick up on it.
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Obama doesn't deserve flak for it. It wasn't his call to make. I don't think he a good choice but if you want to blame anyone, blame the Nobel committee. It's going to make good fodder for the next few days, but there's no helping it.
Also, as an aside, I find this interesting: The nomination deadline of February 1 was less than two weeks after Obama's inauguration as the President. That's going to go over real well when people pick up on it.
There's a valid argument to be made that they've made his job harder (since while it rallies the international community around him - which, really, he already had and didn't need more of, it polarizes his detractors even more, and that's not what he needs right now.)
So... yeah, :psyduck: is about the general feeling there.
I'll further clarify that yeah, I'm referring to the committee going out of their way for this. Obama himself... nothing IotD material yet.
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On the note about nominations: Yes, it was shortly after his inauguration. But recall that the President had to get elected, and he ran on the same platform he's running now. He's in a position to do something about what he's been talking about now, but the award is partially in honor of the efforts and his vision, both of which he has gotten huge, international response from. He's been doing that since his campaign really gathered steam.
And I'll point out the nominations may come in that early, but the discussion on whom to choose goes right up into October. So.
(And also, plenty of people have picked up on it. Believe me. Detractors are milking that for all it's worth.)
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This is especially not a big deal, because if you think about it, all it means is a bunch of Europeans like Obama.
HOLY SHIT WHAT.
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This is especially not a big deal, because if you think about it, all it means is a bunch of Europeans like Obama.
So this is like his consolation prize for the Olympics?
Also, the hits just keep on coming!
NHL Awards Lady Byng Trophy to Obama
http://open.salon.com/blog/con_chapman/2009/10/09/nhl_awards_lady_byng_trophy_to_obama/
Traditionalists groused that Obama should not receive the award because he doesn't know the basic but somewhat complicated rules of the game, such as icing, but Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel disagreed. "Let me give you two good reasons why the President deserves this trophy," he said. "First, nobody understands icing, and second, blow it out your shorts."
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They have a point. Who the fuck understands icing?
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Pastry chefs?
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Not on average, sadly.
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My favorite line of the article is:
It is considered the hockey equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize, and past winners have included Stan Mikita of the Chicago Blackhawks, Obama's home team, and Henry Kissinger of the Washington Capitals.
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Basically. I already heard someone call it 'European socialists giving an American communist a wankoff' with a totally straight face. It's not going to do much but hurt him a touch at home.
There is something very wrong with your people if shit like that gets done without a sense of irony. LD covered everything pretty well. Is no worse than Henry Kissinger getting it. HENRY. FUCKING. KISSINGER. As much as I love the man, a positive agent for peace all the world over the man is not. (He may bring peace, but it is a final one).
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Changing IotD to the Peace Prize in general now?
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More like to the people throwing a massive hissy fit about it.
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Nonono, the thing is, the year Kissinger got the award he totally deserved it and while his methods are brutally effective, Kissinger is fairly positive overall with what seem to be his goals.
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Simple, plain stupidity, just to break away from the whole political thing.
http://20.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_krd41peOjB1qzpwi0o1_500.png
As the person who linked me to this put it: "Proof that Yahoo! Answers is the second dumbest place on the internet. With YouTube comments taking first."
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That response is great.
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Oops... (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1218651/Thugs-attack-men-dresses--turn-cage-fighters.html)
Basically: two dumbarses mess with the wrong crossdressers. Facepalmed so hard. The video at the bottom is... Ow.
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I'm just confused about how two random drunk guys managed to run into two cross-dressing cage-fighters and a guy in a Spider-Man outfit in one night.
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It's England.
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Fair point.
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...In which case, I'm now wondering why I've never seen someone dressed as Spider-Man or cross-dressing cage fighters.
...I'm also pretty disappointed that I haven't...
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They run in fear from you.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/education/12discipline.html?no_interstitial
Another case of a child suffering from a stupid stupid zero tolerance policy.
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"God made the Idiot for practice, and then He made the School Board. - Mark Twain
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The law was introduced after a third-grade girl was expelled for a year because her grandmother had sent a birthday cake to school, along with a knife to cut it. The teacher called the principal — but not before using the knife to cut and serve the cake.
Holy shit.
Charles P. Ewing, a professor of law and psychology at the University at Buffalo Law School who has written about school safety issues, said he favored a strict zero-tolerance approach.
“There are still serious threats every day in schools,” Dr. Ewing said, adding that giving school officials discretion holds the potential for discrimination and requires the kind of threat assessments that only law enforcement is equipped to make.
Ok, fuck you, Charles P. Ewing. You think the specter of discrimination is a good reason for a zero tolerance policy? There's a group of people, some of them are innocent and some of them are guilty, and you think we should just punish ALL of them without trying to figure out which is which...because telling the difference is hard? I guess if you think people need special police training to know what a knife for cutting cake is for, maybe. Asshole probably thinks Harrison Bergeron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Bergeron) is an uplifting story about the victory of the ideal society.
EDIT: speaking of kids and mindless suffering, breastfeeding 4-month-old baby denied health care coverage because of his preexisting condition: obseity.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/12/alex-lange-denied-health_n_317337.html
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It's stories like these that make me glad to be alive...
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Same, Magetastic. Every time I -think- I'm having a good day, all I have to do is visit this topic, and everything is all better.
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http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/10/12/health.care/index.html
Heh. So, new report put out by a health insurance industry trade group today. Can you guess what it says?
I gotta hand it to them, it's pretty ballsy to lie so baldfacedly instead of getting lobbyists to get congressmen to do it for them.
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Personally stories like that just tell me the world is beyond saving and, barring Godlike powers with which to kill the wicked, we're doomed.
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Holy shit I didn't even read Miki's link. I... Ar... ugh....
I mean, holy crap. What the hell does Pre-Existing Condition even fucking MEAN when it's a god damn BABY?!
Incidentally, this may be a good time to start only using thin babies in advertising so the babies have a positive body-image to aspire to and get anorexia for.
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Charles P. Ewing. Asshole.
Paul Krugman had a good take (http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/11/mathematics-and-economics/) on what's wrong with people like Charles P. Ewing.
What I objected to in the mag article was the tendency to identify good math with good work. CAPM is a beautiful model; that doesn’t mean it’s right. The math of real business cycle models is much more elegant than that of New Keynesian models, let alone the kind of models that make room for crises like the one we’re in; that makes RBC models seductive, but it doesn’t make them any less silly.
This analysis is doubly true for zero tolerance enthusiasts. They're convinced that there's a right answer, a single solution that can solve a vexing problem. They love the simplicity, that they have a policy that makes discrimination impossible. Well, congratulations, Charles P. Ewing, the operation was a success, but the patient died.
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Charles P. Ewing. Asshole.
Paul Krugman had a good take (http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/11/mathematics-and-economics/) on what's wrong with people like Charles P. Ewing.
Not that Krugman doesn't have a point, but you were more succinct about it.
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Ok, fuck you, Charles P. Ewing. You think the specter of discrimination is a good reason for a zero tolerance policy? There's a group of people, some of them are innocent and some of them are guilty, and you think we should just punish ALL of them without trying to figure out which is which...because telling the difference is hard? I guess if you think people need special police training to know what a knife for cutting cake is for, maybe. Asshole probably thinks Harrison Bergeron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Bergeron) is an uplifting story about the victory of the ideal society.
First of all, I'm not saying that zero tolerance is the answer with this. However, when you consider the amount of potential for 'abuse of power' that is suddenly thrust into the hands of the school board, who may or may not use their discretion judiciously (imagine if this were to happen to a black kid in Alabama), you have to wonder if leaving it up personal judgment is always the best idea.
This is especially vexing because while the child is young, his parents either allowed or were unaware that he was bringing a knife to school. This is NOT esoteric knowledge that knives of any sort are not allowed in schools. Schools go crazy over kids bringing things like Screwdrivers or even Particularly Sharp Mechanical Pencils to school... and these people think it's okay to let him bring a pocket knife to school?
Really, the rules are pretty clear, and while I agree he shouldn't be expelled, the idea of him getting off without some kind of punishment doesn't send a good message here.
It would be nice if there were room for discretion, but I can definitely understand the strict policy on something like this... And honestly, the kid is getting 3 months out of school in 2nd grade at worst. Imagine if he were the aforementioned black kid in Alabama. That's exercising discretion right there.
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First of all, I'm not saying that zero tolerance is the answer with this. However, when you consider the amount of potential for 'abuse of power' that is suddenly thrust into the hands of the school board, who may or may not use their discretion judiciously (imagine if this were to happen to a black kid in Alabama), you have to wonder if leaving it up personal judgment is always the best idea.
While a wise thing to question in most circumstances, in this case it's silly; we're taking out the potential for abuse of power by... automatically inflicing the strictest punishment possible (well, second I guess... as I read it it was 'mandatory three months and transfer to prison-school with serious consideration of expulsion'. I suppose technically they might otherwise automatically expel students they don't like! Except something of that nature could be appealed pretty easily...)
The rest I'm not confident enough to get into in depth (I don't really want to drag up relevant pyschological research), but to my mind such overreactions to everything with the slightest potential for harm treads dangerously close to "treating students like prisoners, but with less rights" territory.
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I brought in a decorative knife when I was in kindergarten, and I was punished for it. The principal called me to his office and called my mother and made sure I didn't bring it in again. I was devastated. Left quite an impression on me because, you see, I was 5. Do you think I knew there was a rule against bringing in knives? of course not! I was 5! I didn't read the fucking rulebook, because I could barely read! And you think that suspending a kid for 45 days for something like that could ever be just? Why? because his fucking parents didn't know the rules? You want to punish a five year old kid for his parents making a technical mistake when nothing bad even came of it? Gimme a fucking break!
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This is of course assuming that the parents were fully aware he was bringing it anyways. I'm assuming that he was just liked the item and so decided to bring to school on his own.
I certainly understand that the system could be abused if there could be case by case exceptions, but that would be obviously better when it is an obvious case where it was harmless and if someone can claim racial discrimination, that's actually a bonus since then you can possibly uncover an administrator's racist tendencies, which can certainly affect a lot of other things where they do actually have some jurisprudence.
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First of all, I'm not saying that zero tolerance is the answer with this. However, when you consider the amount of potential for 'abuse of power' that is suddenly thrust into the hands of the school board, who may or may not use their discretion judiciously (imagine if this were to happen to a black kid in Alabama), you have to wonder if leaving it up personal judgment is always the best idea.
Hilariously, it's been shown that zero tolerance punishments are handed out unfairly often to minorities, specifically blacks. In theory they might be blind, but in practice they aren't implemented that way. Also, in practice, all they do is keep kids out of school, which, incidentally, leads to them going down the wrong path that suspension is supposed to prevent.
Anyway, I agree with Djinn that yes, the kid broke a rule and there should be consequences. To me, however, the logical consequences are pretty much exactly along the lines of what happened to NotMiki (as he notes, at age 5, a chat with the principal is punishment enough!). Suspension would go too far. Expulsion deserves nothing but derision. Unnecessarily harsh penalties accomplish nothing good in terms of discipline or building a positive school culture.
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First of all, I'm not saying that zero tolerance is the answer with this. However, when you consider the amount of potential for 'abuse of power' that is suddenly thrust into the hands of the school board, who may or may not use their discretion judiciously (imagine if this were to happen to a black kid in Alabama), you have to wonder if leaving it up personal judgment is always the best idea.
Hilariously, it's been shown that zero tolerance punishments are handed out unfairly often to minorities, specifically blacks. In theory they might be blind, but in practice they aren't implemented that way. Also, in practice, all they do is keep kids out of school, which, incidentally, leads to them going down the wrong path that suspension is supposed to prevent.
Anyway, I agree with Djinn that yes, the kid broke a rule and there should be consequences. To me, however, the logical consequences are pretty much exactly along the lines of what happened to NotMiki (as he notes, at age 5, a chat with the principal is punishment enough!). Suspension would go too far. Expulsion deserves nothing but derision. Unnecessarily harsh penalties accomplish nothing good in terms of discipline or building a positive school culture.
In a stunning turn of events, I agree with everything Elfboy said here. Zero tolerance=zero thought. They're the worst trend in education in the past 20 years.
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I brought in a decorative knife when I was in kindergarten, and I was punished for it. The principal called me to his office and called my mother and made sure I didn't bring it in again. I was devastated. Left quite an impression on me because, you see, I was 5. Do you think I knew there was a rule against bringing in knives? of course not! I was 5! I didn't read the fucking rulebook, because I could barely read! And you think that suspending a kid for 45 days for something like that could ever be just? Why? because his fucking parents didn't know the rules? You want to punish a five year old kid for his parents making a technical mistake when nothing bad even came of it? Gimme a fucking break!
Oh cry me a river. I work with 5-year-olds all day. As adorable and innocent as they are, they are more aware of the rules than you're admitting. And they -know- when they're doing something wrong, and more often than not, they can figure out if something's questionable, even if by their 5-year-old logic, they eventually decide it's okay.
The fact that he got this utensil knife from the boyscouts is pretty telling to me. I'd be shocked if they didn't hand them out along with a warning to specifically NOT bring them to school. Especially since something like that is often given out as a badge of responsibility...
The kid is young and not malicious from what I can tell, but he's more culpable than you're implying.
Personally, I would have just confiscated the item and called his parents. Depending on what they said, I'd have suspended him for, at most, a week.
But indeed, I'm still of the opinion that some kind of punishment was necessary, though the degree of the punishment is where I think discretion could have come into play. Preferably by more than one individual to ensure 'fairness'. And that would solve all my problems with the issue.
Still, there seems to be some dissonance in this topic in particular on whether or not to trust people with this kind of power. It's been shown pretty clearly that people abuse discretion when it's given to them, but when someone tries to equalize things, then suddenly there's an uproar of 'but common discretion should prevail!'.
Can we have it both ways? ...It'd be nice, but I'm not sure I trust people enough for that.
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*shrug* As noted, it's not the automated punishment per se, it's the severity. For someone that age, a three month suspension is pretty much irreperable damage to their schoolastic career if their parents don't have the means to hire private tutors.
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Djinn, we can have it both ways, but as CK said, this is just too much of a punishment. I strenuously object to a zero tolerance policy for what I'd term a procedural offense. Keeping knives out of the hands of kids is a deterrence measure, and people who support a mandatory, severe punishment for it are mistaking the means of deterrence for the thing they want to deter. We keep knives out of the hands of kids not to prevent kids from having knives but to prevent kids from injuring one another. I refuse to accept any rule that exists not to prevent some injury or injustice but merely to prevent rule-breaking.
The idea of getting rid of discrimination by getting rid of discretion is misguided at best. It's the height of injustice to punish someone for something for fear that giving them a lighter sentence would appear discriminatory, and that's exactly what a zero tolerance policy does (unless you truly believe that the policy deters exactly what it punishes, like a zero tolerance policy for murder, for example).
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I didn't do Cub Scouts (can't imagine that he's old enough for boyscouts), but they may not have had any particular warning. I'm assuming that if someone responsible gave a 5 year old a knife, it's probably quite dull. And certainly, it's conjecture either way, as nowhere in the article does it assume that he was or wasn't told. If he wasn't, it's really not a leap at all that he would assume it was okay for school.
It's telling that you say that if you were in the position of authority there, you would have done something completely different than what the school did anyways!
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I'm reading the Harrison Bergeron summary on Wikipedia, and I got to this part:
"Harrison Bergeron, the protagonist of the story, has exceptional intelligence, strength, and beauty, and thus has to bear enormous handicaps."
And I think, "That sucks. I mean, the guy's fucking name is Harrison Bergeron. That's handicap enough."
EDIT
And Scout knives are BADASS. They're sharper than all fuck. I was in cub scouts for a few years, and after I had to leave, the knife I'd had for it was used as my dad's primary pocket knife for YEARS afterward. Thing was swiss army. Highest quality of conventional knife.
EDIT 2
Even weirder, we were definitely allowed to have them with us in school, because we had to have all of our stuff ready for scouts BEFOREHAND. Every day the scouts met up, we all had on our gear, and we had all of our things like our handbooks and our knives and whatever with us or we'd get in trouble for it. The world's changed a lot in just a few short years.
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It's telling that you say that if you were in the position of authority there, you would have done something completely different than what the school did anyways!
Well, yeah, because I don't agree with zero tolerance. But because I don't have faith in administrative discretion to catch dangerous cases, I lean towards stricter punishments for this sort of thing. It's more because I have faith in the intelligence of children to know not to break certain rules than any sort of real fear of six-year-old assassins. Now, 10-year-old assassins, those are seriously worrisome. I wish I was joking.
I think the problem in this case lies in the lack of flexibility in the rule itself. The rule should take into account the kind of knife and how (if at all) the object was used while in its owner's possession. And yeah, intent should matter, too, so it'd be nice if the student got something along the lines of a character assessment. But by and large, there really has to be some sort of set punishment for possession of potential weapons at school. Considering how it's possible to kill someone with the aforementioned particularly sharp mechanical pencils, the schools really do have a hard enough time just keeping less questionably weapon-shaped objects (like knives of any sort) out of schools.
I don't think immediate expulsion is this punishment. Three months suspension is also pretty harsh, depending on the age of the child and type of 'weapon'. Personally, I think the punishment in general could be lowered across the board, but allow for increasing it depending on the child's age, the type of weapon, and what actions were taken with the weapon.
This still gives some room for discretion. And whether it helps or hinders discrimination would probably depend on how closely a case was looked at, and by how many people, since there's more stages to the process where abuse can be noted.
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I'm almost ready to be scavenging for stimpaks and 5.56mm NATO rounds at this point. Then we won't have this shit. If you have a problem, you'll solve it in the Thunderdome.
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Stuff
Seriously man, you think three months in grade 2 is a little excessive? I would say 3 months out of school for ANY kid is fucking excessive if you want this kid to succeed properly at school. 3 months may not sound like much, but 3 months in an education system is a whole term we are talking here in the PRIME point of education for a kid. This kid is likely going to miss out on some incredibly important fundamentals in this time. Grade 2 there he is probably just going to be starting to touch on Multiplication or Division which leads on to important shit like Fractions and whatnot. Excessive is way to fucking small a word for this shit. That is JUST the Math portion
This makes the Developmental Psychologist in me fucking furious far more than it does my normal disgust with this shit. 3 months at 7 years old is fucking huge! The kid is going to be having to catch up for more than 3 months to be up to scratch with the rest of the class.
Zero Tolerance is retarded shit for retards who don't want to be authority figures and want to white wash everything with "Law" and "Justice" and "Anal Fisting". It is simple stupid bullshit that doesn't do much other than fuck everyone over and lets people pretend to be good people because they were following procedure. I think we all know what happened last time we had a big movement of just doing what you were told. That is right, everyone got in line and gave me a blow job.
Edit - http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=929343&topic=51718432
This isn't nearly the level of stupid of other stuff, but it still makes me want to invent a time machine and punch everyone's mother in the uterus.
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I'm going to second VSM in the "that kind of stuff would have been fine at my school" thing. I may have brought an Army Swiss knife to school before. I thought they were badass, and I didn't really think of the consequences. I just thought it was cool.
Zero tolerance policy is a giant joke. I think that 3 months of forcing any student, child or adolescent, out of school is really harmful to them and any school who chooses to do this is ridiculous. Yay structure.
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I'm going to second VSM in the "that kind of stuff would have been fine at my school" thing. I may have brought an Army Swiss knife to school before. I thought they were badass, and I didn't really think of the consequences. I just thought it was cool.
Zero tolerance policy is a giant joke. I think that 3 months of forcing any student, child or adolescent, out of school is really harmful to them and any school who chooses to do this is ridiculous. Yay structure.
More or less my thoughts. Heck, we brought homemade stilettos to school in order to sharpen pencils back then and we never had a case of stabbing either when I was a kid (heck, even when I was a teenager). I guess we do live in different times, but there's a lot of hysteria and absolutely no common sense in this debacle.
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Yeah, just to chime in, but when I was in middle school I had a pocket knife that I'd use to sharpen my pencils with because the ones the school had were useless.
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I'll mostly echo everyone else about the actual retardation of this. Zero tolerance policies are the worst.
Related note, I didn't even think children that young could be legally head accountable for violent actions.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091014/ap_on_re_us/us_zero_tolerance_boy
Well, I guess at least they're not idiots of the year or anything.
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http://www.artlurker.com/2009/09/the-rape-tunnel-by-sheila-zareno/ (http://www.artlurker.com/2009/09/the-rape-tunnel-by-sheila-zareno/)
The artist plans to place himself in a room, the only entrance or exit being a 22 ft long plywood tunnel constructed by Whitehurst himself. Then he says that for the duration of the gallery’s opening (from 7:00 p.m. to midnight) he will rape anyone who travels through the tunnel into that room.
This is considered art, apparently. My favorite statement comes from the Q&A section:
Maybe I won’t be able to rape everyone who crawls through the tunnel, but the door is open for all kinds of scenarios
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I started to think differently about my work. In 2007 at the Seward Projects Space in Columbus, I had my first breakthrough with an installation that was to be the prototype for this current one. It was called THE PUNCH-YOU-IN-THE-FACE TUNNEL. It was the same set-up as THE RAPE TUNNEL except at the end of the tunnel I’d punch the subject in the face instead of raping him or her. The impetus was completely reactionary to the current state of art, and motivated by pure frustration.
As it turns out, I ended up breaking the nose of the third person to crawl through the tunnel, an aspiring model. She went to the hospital and eventually sued me. Her modeling career was put on hold. The civil case was long and drawn out and the matter still hasn’t been resolved. To this day she still has unpaid medical bills. The point of this long aside is that all this took place two years ago, and I’m still having an impact on this young lady’s life, something not many other artists could claim about their work.
Rape seemed like the next logical step.
Obviously.
(Trolling or an actual, real-life troll in a tunnel?)
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/me reads article, headdesks.
Goddamn, fuck postmodernist "art" in the eye.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091014/ap_on_re_us/us_zero_tolerance_boy
Well, I guess at least they're not idiots of the year or anything.
*thumbs up* Good good.
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What? The Rape Tunnel is hilarious and awesome. The only idiocy comes from anyone who actually WENT INTO THE TUNNEL.
Their own god damn fault if they did. It's not like what's actually going to happen isn't advertised.
EDIT: From the blurb when Jacques announced the possibility of the "Yaoi Zone" shirt...
People...people actually want "YAOI ZONE" t-shirts. My mind is blown.
Y'know, it's nice to know that there are corners of the internet where Niu isn't the norm. >_>
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It's awesome in a schadenfreude sense. But then the artiste starts taking his work seriously and then I feel the urge to pummel middle-aged salesmen with a 2x4.
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Please tell me you can get arrested for that crap.
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Why? Your own damn fault for going into the tunnel. You've given consent right there.
Sure, the artist is a tool (aren't they all?), but hell he's basically BEGGING to get tazed if anyone with a hint of forethought actually goes into the tunnel. Can't really work up the energy to get mad over that.
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I'd say that announcing out loud the intent to wantonly, potentially perenially, harm people at a public event would qualify as something that can get you behind bars, semantics be damned. I'd be shocked if he couldn't get sexual assault attempt charges dropped on his head for that shit. It's like the Beagle Brothers paying a two-minute ad announcing they're going to rob Wall Street at 3PM with tommy guns, only done by someone who somehow couldn't find a better method of getting laid.
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It's like the Beagle Brothers paying a two-minute ad announcing they're going to rob Wall Street at 3PM with tommy guns, only done by someone who somehow couldn't find a better method of getting laid.
Except not at all. For this exhibit, in order for him to actually RAPE anyone, they have to GO THROUGH THE GOD DAMN TUNNEL.
It's more like the whatever brothers announcing that they're going to murder someone, but only if they let them. The act of WALKING THROUGH A LONG TUNNEL THAT GETS SMALLER AS YOU GO IN, while KNOWING DAMN WELL THAT YOU WILL BE SEXUALLY ASSAULTED, requires volition. A will! A desire to go down the tunnel, and get raped. It's not even a semantics argument.
Now, if someone was forced down the tunnel by someone else, the question is more interesting: Who is the rapist, the one who committed the assault or the one who forced the victim down the tunnel?
EDIT: I realize now that I did not make myself clear. I do not think he should be arrested for the announcement, or the exhibit itself. If he actually goes through with it and rapes someone, however, him getting arrested and taken to court is 100% reasonable, and the artist damn well be prepared for a lengthy court battle. The argument of whether or not it is rape is something that should be decided in court anyway.
EDIT 2: On an even more inappropriate note, that court case would be the first in recent memory where the "They was ASKING for it" defense could be taken even remotely seriously.
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I'd say that announcing out loud the intent to wantonly, potentially perenially, harm people at a public event would qualify as something that can get you behind bars, semantics be damned. I'd be shocked if he couldn't get sexual assault attempt charges dropped on his head for that shit. It's like the Beagle Brothers paying a two-minute ad announcing they're going to rob Wall Street at 3PM with tommy guns, only done by someone who somehow couldn't find a better method of getting laid.
Well...no, that's not exactly parallel.
It would be like "the robbery tunnel--go into this tunnel, and we will take your wallet." There's clearly consent involved at some point (and particularly with sex, consent is usually the difference between rape and not-rape). Where legality comes into play in the robbery tunnel is that I don't think it's legal to hold on to someone else's credit cards and drivers licences if they request they be returned. Similarly, rape can cause all kinds of stuff that can't be undone, like broken hymens, pregnancy, STDs, psychological damage, physical tearing (note: ctrl-F for Condom on that article produces no results). And, well, people with rape fantasies do exist, so it's not inconceivable that someone would go into that tunnel to fulfill a fantasy, and come out with more than they bargained for. So...frankly yeah, I doubt this is legal, or if it goes forward I doubt it will end with him outside of jail.
If nothing else, it could probably be called prostitution. Presumably he's being paid for his museum display, or gaining attention as an artist, so there's an economic benefit, and he's offering sex.
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Why? Your own damn fault for going into the tunnel. You've given consent right there.
I don't know what exactly the law is in wherever place the rape tunnel is to be made, but chance is sexual consent can be retracted at any time.
Anyway, I suggest tossing in tear gas.
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http://www.geversaircraft.com/wt/wt5x7.htm
...I'm pretty sure the announcement is the ACTUAL art.
As in, he's not even building a tunnel - he's trying to get a reaction and then say "lolItrollu"
So uh, artistic trolling wut.
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It may depress you to know that there is a real artist, well-respected, who is the clear inspiration here. Pioneer in the performance art field. He had an exhibit once that consisted of him lying underneath the floorboards of a gallery and masturbating while talking about the people there to see his show. That was back in the early '70s, when performance art was in its heyday. I wish I were making this up. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vito_Acconci)
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Performance art is fucking terrible, one. And two, I bet he would probably like to do some raping.
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Yeah, it's hard to call it rape if you go down the rape tunnel, at least to me.
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In that sense, probably. On the other hand, there is something unsettling about even creating a "device" of that nature, and in a way that I struggle to see as indubitably legal.
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Yeah, it's hard to call it rape if you go down the rape tunnel, at least to me.
I believe once the person has decided they have had enough rape, it becomes actual rape.
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Which can be after the fact when you think "Hmm, I wonder how much money I can get out of this clown."
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Considering he's a performing artist, I'd wager they'd probably have more luck extracting sea water from a snow globe.
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http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/gop_uses_work_of_intern_spy_to_accuse_muslim_group.php
Cross-pollinating from Misc. Links: see, having a beard can help you get a job...spying on Muslim political groups!
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Which can be after the fact when you think "Hmm, I wonder how much money I can get out of this clown."
Holy shit no woman has ever done that before.
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In that sense, probably. On the other hand, there is something unsettling about even creating a "device" of that nature, and in a way that I struggle to see as indubitably legal.
Well, in one sense of the word, he's actually just created a really elaborate sex toy to entice strangers.
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Man, people make sex toys to insert into your penis and then electrocute it. This Rape Tunnel isn't even remotely shocking in terms of a sex toy (It is overly elaborate hard but generic bondage there). It is retarded and stupid as performance in the same way Iggy Pop getting his guitarist from the Stooges to dress up in one of his SS uniforms and whip him with a strip of garden hose was. Not really a good piece of performance art. The guy wanking in public had potential though.
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What? The Rape Tunnel is hilarious and awesome. The only idiocy comes from anyone who actually WENT INTO THE TUNNEL.
Their own god damn fault if they did. It's not like what's actually going to happen isn't advertised.
EDIT: From the blurb when Jacques announced the possibility of the "Yaoi Zone" shirt...
People...people actually want "YAOI ZONE" t-shirts. My mind is blown.
Y'know, it's nice to know that there are corners of the internet where Niu isn't the norm. >_>
When this story first broke, I read that someone who went into the HITYOUINTHEFACETUNNEL sued him...for hitting her in the face. So yeah, it's stupid as art, but that's just this art style! The real idiots are the ones who enter the tunnel.
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Which can be after the fact when you think "Hmm, I wonder how much money I can get out of this clown."
Holy shit no woman has ever done that before.
And those women need to be kicked in the face no less for creating the image that rape victims are liars. >_>
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http://failblog.org/2009/10/11/burglary-fail/
more fun with facebook.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/15/jon-stewart-takes-on-30-r_n_321985.html
and speaking of rape victims, here's an amendment that should've been unanimous. Keep in mind that the victim was prevented from suing the rapists because contractors in Iraq at the time fell into a legal black hole.
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Yeah, the fact that there was anyone who seriously voted against denying defense contracts to contractors who make it mandatory that you accept arbitration in situations like these? 1000x more sickening and depressing than any rape tunnel nonsense.
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Can't argue that.
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http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/10/interracial_couple_denied_marriage_license_in_la.php?ref=fpblg
Seeing as it's burning so nicely already, time to stoke the fires of righteous anger.
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.......-_- for the love of all that is...
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Were you trained to sniff these trainwrecks through the world wide web or you just pick those things up by instinct, Jim?
Regardless, um, wow. That's not the kind of discrimination I'd expect to see so blatantly in 2009.
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Well. I'm not surprised at seeing it, I'm surprised he holds a position of power. Wait, no I'm not.
Regardless, considering the shit I hear in liberal fart-pixie-dust-out-of-your-ass Kalamazoo? Not surprised.
EDIT: The upper part is primarily brought up for the unerring, uncrushable optimism the Democrats have here. Something I've never understood.
Granted, they almost always vote Republican locally, which isn't something I'm crying over too much as there's only one competent Democrat around, and he tried and failed to kick the pretty much cemented-into-his-seat Republican Houseperson out.
EDIT 2: Which all just goes to say that people are racist assholes all around and it doesn't surprise me in the end to hear this, as painful as it is.
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Is this as bad as the religious sect of our House of Representatives trying to pass forward a law that'd institute medical help for homosexuals... for them to get cured of homogayness? It sounds at least that retarded.
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Yours is worse if only because it's on a more national level. This is pretty local, even if about as stupid on a base level.
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Hey, at least the law got shot down pretty fast! Regardless, that is pretty um.
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At least there's a very very high chance this won't last. That's something I guess?
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Were you trained to sniff these trainwrecks through the world wide web or you just pick those things up by instinct, Jim?
Regardless, um, wow. That's not the kind of discrimination I'd expect to see so blatantly in 2009.
I dunno, all the stuff I've had recently has been from the same sites I'm always on. Let's just chalk it up to the world having a bad week and hope the next one's better. I say, as it's 45 degrees and raining here, and will be through Monday. c'est la vie.
For me, it's depressing that so much awful stuff goes on, but it's genuinely heartening that, when bad shit happens, people care. I mean, we don't know this poor couple just trying to get married, but we can at least spare them a little of our sympathy and outrage. That's a good sign for humanity.
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I tend to remind myself that people invented guns so they can end themselves quickly. That's a good sign for humanity.
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Louisiana: Making Alabama look slightly less awful since 2005.
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Worst (best?) part of the link Jim posted:
"I try to treat everyone equally," he said.
Yeah, fucking looks like it. >.>
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Worst (best?) part of the link Jim posted:
"I try to treat everyone equally," he said.
Yeah, fucking looks like it. >.>
What are you talking about? Everyone has the same right to marry someone of the opposite gender, same race, and same Indian-social-caste. Totally egalitarian.
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http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/china-and-its-neighbors/091016/china-kingdom-dwarves-kunming
Keep it classy, China.
EDIT: intersting point, mc, the plaintiffs trying to establish gay marriage have made the following argument (among others): that heterosexual marriage is discrimination on the basis of sex because it allows men ONLY to marry women and vice versa. That argument has been shot down by, I believe, every court that's heard it, including the ones that have mandated gay marriage. Same argument has successfully been used to quash laws forbidding interracial marriage, however.
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China: same place that attempted to create a sex-themed amusement park. I confess that this isn't too surprising, though I bet the pay is shittier than even my initial gutshot gave it.
EDIT: This being said, I will vouch that this is probably a far more welcoming place for them than, uh, most the rest of China. At least, from all the impressions I got up in Beijing.
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China: same place that attempted to create a sex-themed amusement park. I confess that this isn't too surprising, though I bet the pay is shittier than even my initial gutshot gave it.
It mentions the pay in the article:
"Performers earn between $120 and $175 per month, depending on their role. It’s about as much as a factory worker earns, and more than most could make back home. More importantly, the little people here say they have found camaraderie and respect they don’t often get in the outside world."
To be honest, it actually sounds like a fairly good deal for some of these people due to the social mistreatment they get back home. Although the fact that they face social mistreatment for being short is pretty *headdesk* worthy.
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Yeah, wrote that part before getting there, and yeah, I actually gutshotted lower.
Granted. Factory jobs have (or had) taken such a grip over there because even city wages can sometimes be worse. 120*6=... 720 yuan? Yeah, that's pretty decent over there, all things considered; I know for a fair few restaurants around my end of town, the wage for the waitresses and waiters could range from $150 on the high end, to $25-50 on the low.
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Groundbreaking study (http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/10/20/treating.with.heroin/index.html?eref=rss_topstories): Symptoms of heroin addiction can be treated with regular injections of heroin.
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how do you even entertain that thought.
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I'm sure it's groundbreaking in the sense that people are realizing that providing the fix at medical clinic curbs violent crime and gave addicts an easier time reintegrating with society.
o w8
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Changes of heart are good, but the fact that addicts stop committing crimes to get drugs when they're being given drugs for free is not a momentous discovery.
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Speaking of idiots, Mr Farrakhan opens his mouth, is stupid and racist. No one shocked.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2009/10/19/Farrakhan-suspicious-of-H1N1-vaccine/UPI-63931256011008/
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/me rubs temples.
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I...I'm not sure. Is this more or less stupid than Egypt's "Kill all the pigs" plan?
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I'm pretty sure Farrakhan would implement a "kill all the people I'm racist towards" anti-swine flu plan if that's any indication.
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Least shocking news to come out regarding a vaccine ever. That stuff is as old as vaccination itself.
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Let's not let the pedigree of a stupid idea detract from the stupidity.
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http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/new-poll-48-of-republicans-say-obama-does-not-love-america----27-say-he-does.php
What, do they think he just had "become President of the US" on his to do list or something?
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http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/new-poll-48-of-republicans-say-obama-does-not-love-america----27-say-he-does.php
What, do they think he just had "become President of the US" on his to do list or something?
Being president doesn't automatically guarantee that, to be fair. Consider Sarah Palin. By most reports she had...let's say a 5%-10% chance to become President. And yet she has some ties to the Alaska Independence Party ("I am not American, I am Alaskan" and all that) and when interviewed about the VP pick before it happened, said that she was most interested in whether the VP pick would be good for Alaska. When she was campaigning in the midwest, she imitated a midwest accent (which she did not have before or after the campaign).
In short, she seems like a bit of a phony, who doesn't have sincere love for the US unless it blossomed very fast.
Now here's where things get complicated: throughout the election an argument I encountered was that Sarah Palin was no less sincere than the other candidates, but she had less preparation time, and much less political rhetorical training and practice, so she was merely worse at covering her tracks. Being very skilled at rhetoric and using it to say "I love my country" doesn't automatically mean the emotion is false, mind you, but it does mean the audience can't tell.
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It's tough to tell from candidates what they really feel about the country, but being president isn't easy. I don't think anyone could accuse Obama of not working his ass off, whether they agree with him or not. The proof is in the pudding, as they say.
As much as I despise him, I'd never deny Dick Cheney loves his country. I hate his vision for the country, but he worked hard to make that vision a reality, and he wouldn't have bothered if he didn't care deeply for the sake of the country.
What makes it tough to judge Palin isn't her phoniness, I mean, she's a politician after all, but that she had no national presence, and seemingly no national vision previous to becoming a VP candidate.
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Well yeah, and unlike others I don't get the impression she worked hard to get where she did.
She may have worked hard to become the mayor of Wasilla--that I don't know. Alaska, however, the Republican party came to her and started grooming her for the position while she was still Mayor of Wasilla. And certainly I don't get the impression it was Palin working hard to get into the National presidency race. There are several conservative bloggers who probably did more on that front than she did.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/us/27plane.html?hp
ever look up from the computer and realize you've lost a few hours? Rhetorical question, of course. (We both know it was more than a few.) Anyway! Looks like you're not alone.
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*facepalm*
Still... that's probably the least worrying IotD material I've seen in this topic.
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http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2147862
If you want to break into the UN, I guess they give points for creativity.
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The more entertaining part is the complete PR meltdown the UN is having after the whole affair.
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Whoa, wait. KFC is selling grilled chicken now?!
This is a joyous day.
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... couldn't you get grilled chicken on a normal restaurant?
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Japan has normal anything?
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Why would a KFC be an exception to that?
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The Japanese idea of 'grilled' and the American idea of 'grilled' are very different. If I can get even a reasonable facsimile of American grilled chicken, I would be happy.
And KFC is all over freakin' Japan, so hopefully this isn't just an American trend.
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All that sounds vaguely foreign to me anyway, but I actually do enjoy oriental food a lot more than the food that's available over here in a regular basis.
(Although I honestly wonder how would any of you maniacs react to Brazilian food anyhow.)
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What kind of food is 'Brazilian food?'
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Um, the food I have over here? >_>
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I meant what is it? What's in it? What's it called? That kinda stuff.
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There are about billions of dishes that fit under that category, and that just dividing by regional appeal (seriously, it's like each region has a completely unique and bizarre cuisine over here). You're asking a bit much there. >_>
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Isn't Brazilian food highly meat-intensive?
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Isn't Brazilian food highly meat-intensive?
Yes, it is. It's also very spice-intensive in certain regions, although there is also a very vast variety of sweets and we do some... ah, interesting things with dairy products.
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well, put it another way. If you went down to the nearest 'home cooking' place, what'd they serve?
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Depends -entirely- on the region.
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You. Specifically. In your town. Dammit!
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This is the country's capital and a manufactured city. I can go for "home cooking restaurants" from all regions from here, but it doesn't have a cooking tradition on its own. >_>
However, in my home state, a typical home cooking restaurant would have... hmmm. Feijoada is pretty country-wide, so that doesn't count, but we have special varieties of bean-based dishes (somewhat like a puree, but with a few particular spice veggies), traditional barbecue, specially prepared meats, rice prepared with certain kinds of legumes, dishes involving especially prepared flour with meats, eggs and vegetables and a vast variety of pastries and sweets (both having many varieties of dairy-based goods, others being very heavy on the fruit content).
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You are the most difficult human being ever.
= )
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I think he's just the most contrary and evasive.
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Snow if you were any more evasive I'd call you Florina. Give a direct response you whore.
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Feijoada?
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This is the country's capital and a manufactured city. I can go for "home cooking restaurants" from all regions from here, but it doesn't have a cooking tradition on its own. >_>
However, in my home state, a typical home cooking restaurant would have... hmmm. Feijoada is pretty country-wide, so that doesn't count, but we have special varieties of bean-based dishes (somewhat like a puree, but with a few particular spice veggies), traditional barbecue, specially prepared meats, rice prepared with certain kinds of legumes, dishes involving especially prepared flour with meats, eggs and vegetables and a vast variety of pastries and sweets (both having many varieties of dairy-based goods, others being very heavy on the fruit content).
So... like Mexican food but with more meat?
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feijoada
Also, I forgot to mention, we also have some pretty neat chicken-based stews and pot-cooked chicken dishes. Not bad.
This is the country's capital and a manufactured city. I can go for "home cooking restaurants" from all regions from here, but it doesn't have a cooking tradition on its own. >_>
However, in my home state, a typical home cooking restaurant would have... hmmm. Feijoada is pretty country-wide, so that doesn't count, but we have special varieties of bean-based dishes (somewhat like a puree, but with a few particular spice veggies), traditional barbecue, specially prepared meats, rice prepared with certain kinds of legumes, dishes involving especially prepared flour with meats, eggs and vegetables and a vast variety of pastries and sweets (both having many varieties of dairy-based goods, others being very heavy on the fruit content).
So... like Mexican food but with more meat?
And without the disgusting flatulence-inducing madness. Also, no guacamole. Not having guacamole makes -anything- better.
EDIT: Also, it's hard to give a direct response when just about 230% of the stuff I'd have to describe is untranslatable to English anyway.
EDIT 2: While it's still wikipedia, thus unreliable: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_cuisine
Southeast cuisine is what I was mainly raised on, particularly Minas Gerais (my home state). Hope this is elucidative enough.
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Not having guacamole makes -anything- better.
You're dead to me.
Also, dammit, now I want meat and beans.
(Side note: I live in a heavily Jewish neighborhood. What with the kosher butcher shops and grocery store you'd think there'd be a bagel place worth a damn. What the hell, Holliswood?)
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Not having guacamole makes -anything- better.
You're dead to me.
For the fifth time in the last two weeks, I think. I'm setting up a record.
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The dead are speaking through the internet. This can only mean one thing.
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Talking about Snow's meat-intensive regions
Having worked at KFC in my youth, I can tell you there is nothing grilled at KFC. It is deepfried. I don't care what it is. It is deepfried.
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Talking about Snow's meat-intensive regions
Having worked at KFC in my youth, I can tell you there is nothing grilled at KFC. It is deepfried. I don't care what it is. It is deepfried.
...mashed potatoes?
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Yes.
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And without the disgusting flatulence-inducing madness. Also, no guacamole. Not having guacamole makes -anything- better.
Thumbs up.
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Not having guacamole makes -anything- better.
You're dead to me.
Also, dammit, now I want meat and beans.
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That all sounds pretty delicious, actually.
...dammit, now I'm wanting meat and beans too.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/28/under-attack-credit-rater_n_337712.html
maybe less 'Idiot of the day' and more 'go fuck yourself' but this is pretty headdesk worthy.
EDIT: (omigod, I used headdesk like it was a word or something...)
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/stupid-criminals-burglars_n_338258.html
OK, here's something a little more traditional.
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Raspberry Trophy-worthy.
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http://new.music.yahoo.com/u2/news/outrage-over-wall-blocking-free-u2-berlin-concert--61995930
Concert promoters build a wall around the concert area to prevent people without tickets from watching a free concert. The reason for the concert? Collapse of the Berlin Wall.
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http://new.music.yahoo.com/u2/news/outrage-over-wall-blocking-free-u2-berlin-concert--61995930
Concert promoters build a wall around the concert area to prevent people without tickets from watching a free concert. The reason for the concert? Collapse of the Berlin Wall.
...
...
...
...
Smnk. nnnnnnnnnkkr. hnnkkkkkkkrrr.
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For an extra layer of delicious irony, it's a U2 concert. Let's save the world indeed.
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=920605&topic=51707583
Mostly a what the fuck you spammers made this go onto the second page, but still stupid.
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http://new.music.yahoo.com/u2/news/outrage-over-wall-blocking-free-u2-berlin-concert--61995930
Concert promoters build a wall around the concert area to prevent people without tickets from watching a free concert. The reason for the concert? Collapse of the Berlin Wall.
I love that MTV unironically defends their case by suggesting it was for the safety of the ticketholders and local residents.
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http://new.music.yahoo.com/u2/news/outrage-over-wall-blocking-free-u2-berlin-concert--61995930
Concert promoters build a wall around the concert area to prevent people without tickets from watching a free concert. The reason for the concert? Collapse of the Berlin Wall.
I love that MTV unironically defends their case by suggesting it was for the safety of the ticketholders and local residents.
*mouth drops*
I'm seriously having trouble believing this level of stupid.
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http://new.music.yahoo.com/u2/news/outrage-over-wall-blocking-free-u2-berlin-concert--61995930
Concert promoters build a wall around the concert area to prevent people without tickets from watching a free concert. The reason for the concert? Collapse of the Berlin Wall.
I love that MTV unironically defends their case by suggesting it was for the safety of the ticketholders and local residents.
*mouth drops*
I'm seriously having trouble believing this level of stupid.
I'm actually sorta underwhelmed. It's pretty typical for corporate brilliance to completely miss a point. Bonus points if it's a really relevant, acute historical point.
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IotD more of the eyerolling sort, but:
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/weird_news/20091112_ap_massprincipalbansstudentsfromsayingmeep.html
Way to use your authority authoritatively.
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I personally wholly support and endorse this brave Principals stand against Meeplelard and his corruption of our school system.
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On a related note (not an IotD link):
http://theodoramichaels.com/articles/meep.php
You know, I think we should spread this article around. Get a bunch of people to do this. Make it viral. It takes literally 5 seconds, maybe more if you suck at copy and paste.
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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/79112.html
When the Lone Star state amended their constitution to ban teh gay marriage, they stopped the state from "recogniz[ing] any legal status identical or similar to marriage." Yes, the plain meaning of constitutional amendment prevents the state from recognizing marriage at all. gj Texas.
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Nice. I can kick the wife out and she can't have any of my stuffs! Oh wait, the car's in her name. :(
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Does she clonk you in the head too hard when she reads your posts?
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God damn I hate Texas.
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I dunno, I can't help but smile at how extremely basic a mistake this is, particularly considering how it merrily undermines their sanctimonious intent. Sorta subtly nudges towards the fact they don't really have any idea of what they're aiming for, nor why they're aiming against what they are.
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Well, they know WHY they're aiming against what they are, they just don't know how to do it without coming off like a pack of mangy bigots. So when they try to, they fail, and hard.
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I guess "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH HOMOGAY KOOTIES" and "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH SELECTIVE BIBLE MISINTERPRETATION" count as reasons.
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*shrugs* For roughly 4 centuries, they have.
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And I reiterate: if the South would secede we could make some progress. It would certainly raise our education standards and HDI.
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And I reiterate: if the South would secede we could make some progress. It would certainly raise our education standards and HDI.
Depends on what you define as 'The South'. Florida doesn't count, while dropping Texas alone would be a -huuuge- boon. Of course, then we'd probably have to step in when Texas starts their war against Mexico.
Border states like Virginia, Oklahoma would be iffy, too. Not sure which of them really count as 'The South'.
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I consider the south every state that is not either on the west or east coast.
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New Mexico wants a word with you, son.
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New Mexico is none of these things. It's just Mexico pretending to be the US *nodnod*
(Of course, my base assumption is that your average hispanic is approximately as biggoted as the thumpers of the bible belt. Deeply rooted catholicism and all *cough* *maimed*)
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http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2009/11/09/alan-moore-destroyer-of-librarians/
Librarians censoring libraries. Fuck these two.
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Objection, a library worker is not a librarian. You do in fact tend to need a degree to be a full proper librarian. I don't expect someone that works service desk at a library to be especially passionate about freedom of information compared to someone that has done an entire degree on Information Science (I love that term). A librarian will be payed way more and will tend to actually earn it to boot.
You know how totally cool databases are? Yeah that is what Librarians do. But they design them with -books-. Library Science is fucking cool.
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Shale's done the Library tech thing, so he probably knows.
The picture of the two fuckups is perfect. Ladies, you'd be an embarrassment in 1909, let alone now. Enjoy never being hired again!
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One of them was a full-time staffer of seven years, which means she's close enough to being a librarian to she'd know damn well you don't censor your fucking collection.
Also, just personal experience, but some of the best co-workers I had at the library didn't have MLSes.
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Library staff are normally great people, this says nothing about them. You can work at a library for 7 years without picking up that kind of thing very well. For some people working in the library can just be about looking after the books on the shelf and giving them to people (what the fuck that is totally not libraries are all about [thatwasajoke]). Some library staff certainly do pick up on that kind of thing and can be quite passionate about it (my mother has done that very same role of varying degrees for 20 years now or so), but it isn't something I would assume they would do compared to someone who has studied it professionally.
But of course you do restrict your collection where it is relevant to the library, but you do this by not buying the damned book or not cataloging it because it does not fit the scope of your library. If a book is in your collection than someone more qualified than your desk staff has determined that it fits the collection, where it belongs and whatnot (which leads to some of them being hilariously wrong. My sister does cataloging for a local library and there is some amazingly out of place tags done for some of the music which leads to good times when she is inputting new stuff to the collection there).
Dunno exactly what I am trying to say here, but don't assume that desk staff give a fuck about your precious library science? For some of them it just might be closer to retail than it is to a library (taking the video rental approach ugh).
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Dunno exactly what I am trying to say here, but don't assume that desk staff give a fuck about your precious library science? For some of them it just might be closer to retail than it is to a library (taking the video rental approach ugh).
I just figure they work at a library for a reason. It's not like you're rolling in cash, especially without the MLS.
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If you are doing the service desk work it is relatively easy work (for the pay scale, it is less manual labor than many of those even though shelving is a slut) which commonly has flexible hours, you work with people and like you said, the people there usually are nice. That is all it can be to some people.
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Dunno exactly what I am trying to say here, but don't assume that desk staff give a fuck about your precious library science? For some of them it just might be closer to retail than it is to a library (taking the video rental approach ugh).
I just figure they work at a library for a reason. It's not like you're rolling in cash, especially without the MLS.
The reason could be seething hatred for the idea of letting people read and learn and be possibly ingrained by filthy liberal germs.
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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/girl-10-tasered-by-police-with-mothers-permission-1823510.html
Monthly "Fuck the Police." Voila.
If the woman had tasered the child herself, there would be no question that she's an abusive mother and her child would be taken away. The woman let a cop do it and there needs to be a special investigation as to whether or not it was inappropriate.
Fucking god damn it.
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Today's winner is the British government and their new
Internet Fascism Act Digital Economy Bill!
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/11/20/britains-new-interne.html
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http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/man-marries-a-videogame/1376577
Japan
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Well, if this is legal, I wonder what their position on gay marriage is?
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That is a hell of a IotD combo. We have a horrifying bill that is RIAA fanfiction level bad. On the other hand, someone marrying a video game.
Dear god.
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Well, if this is legal, I wonder what their position on gay marriage is?
From what I've read, homosexuality as an actual real life matter is frowned upon in Japan. If many female liberation-related matters are even less resolved than in the western continent over there, you can't expect something like homosexuality to fare any better.
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So yes, it's more acceptable for a guy to marry a computer program than another guy. In case anybody was reading WGAYP and wondered what level of fucked-upness produced Endless Frontier, that would be it.
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EF is even the low-end of the insanity. Skimming through the dating sim market in Japan brings up a few... um... glaring gems. But even so, the particularly bizarre split between what's accepted in media and media/people interactions is just a pebble in the crass idyosincrasies that plague Japan's cultural mindset.
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This is a country that has produced actual rape simulators so lets not follow this line of discussion.
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So did the guy actually get this 'marriage' registered with government officials, or even make an attempt to do so? Or did he just go and hold a ceremony as a publicity stunt, with whatever friends/family members who weren't embarassed enough to shun him attending?
I know there was some online petition to allow marriages to fictional people that got circulated through the web for mocking, but I really can't imagine the Japanese government ever paying any attention to them because it would look completely humiliating, and I *know* Japanese culture values looking respectable a good deal.
Also, my understanding is that Japan has been really slow to pick up on the whole concept of sexual harassment, in its various forms. Aside from harassment of individuals (and a quick Google search brought up plenty of results there), I get the impression that they often don't get why women might be offended or made uncomfortable by the sight of lewd, sexualized imagery in public venues, even in mainstream culture, let alone the often creepy pandering otaku subculture.
EDIT: Holy hell, this "Love Plus" game that the 2d girl came from is pretty damn creepy in its own right.
As you grow closer, you'll need to take your new fake girlfriend out on dates -- in real time, no less -- and start planning your future together. Eventually she might ask for a kiss, which requires touching her on the lips. Or perhaps she'll ask you to whisper sweet nothings in her ear, which requires babbling pleasantries into the DS microphone (and a serious lack of shame).
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Well, if this is legal, I wonder what their position on gay marriage is?
From what I've read, homosexuality as an actual real life matter is frowned upon in Japan. If many female liberation-related matters are even less resolved than in the western continent over there, you can't expect something like homosexuality to fare any better.
Oh, I'm living right in the middle of this, I'm well aware of Japan's varying attitudes towards homosexuality. There's an amusing amount of equality to it.
Hinode's hit on the major point - Japan likes everything to have a pretty face. So in public, everyone has their outward front. Japan is rigidly traditional in the idea that everyone is supposed to grow up, get a job, get married, have kids, and take care of their parents when they get old. And so you do all these things like it's your job.
However, it's also practically expected extremely common for adultery to happen. It's entirely normal for men and women to have extra-marital relationships. Of course, you don't -talk- about them, but they happen far more frequently in Japan than in the West. Think of how porn has become acceptable in the West and that's what Adultery is like in Japan. It's just part of life.
So... the same holds true for homosexual couples. Japanese gay men are expected to grow up, get married, and have children and all that. Who they decide to commit adultery with is no one's business but their own. I assume the same holds true for Japanese lesbians, but I haven't asked. In general, female adultery is a little less common, but the numbers are getting more equal in modern times thanks to the internet. Mixi (sort of like Japanese facebook, you have to have a Japanese cell phone to register) in particular is home to a ton of Japanese housewives who are only there to find an adultery partner... >.>;;
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Huh. I recall reading an article from a book that said something to a similar effect: Japanese homosexuals didn't presume that their sexual identity determined their "identity." Who they had sex with was just what it was and not a topic for polite conversation. Many of the subjects interviewed, IIRC, were married, too--only one of them was "openly" homosexual. I'm just vaguely surprised that the information was that accurate.
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http://cambridgetab.co.uk/news/cusu-condoms-sabotaged/
This infuriates me. There's having a good time at other people's expense and then just being a cockwaffle. I'm not too sure that the Christian Union mentioned is to blame (though I'd bet money that it was someone influenced by them), but the accusation that the manufacturer is to blame is stupid since you can tell that the hole was made in the bloody packaging. The REAL IotD here is the university for not keeping that shit on lockdown.
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Just because the hole was made in the packaging doesn't mean it wasn't the manufacturer (or more precisely, some asshole who works in one of their factories) who did it. More likely it happened at the university, and even if it didn't they have no one to blame but themselves for putting themselves in this position.
I wouldn't be too quick to jump on the Christian Union either. As their representative pointed out, you would have to be pretty stupid not to think that more unplanned pregnancies = more abortions. I mean, it's not impossible. Idiots and activist religious groups are not, to put it lightly, mutually exclusive, but it seems to me there's also a good chance that the perpetrator is just a class-A asshole.
Personally, I think it was Jack Rivlin.
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http://www.9news.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=128199&catid=222 (http://www.9news.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=128199&catid=222)
University of Colorado, where my cousin attends college, decided recently to treat Nerf guns as real guns. That means if you possess a Nerf gun, they will arrest you, expel you, and lock the whole campus of 30,000 down.
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http://kotaku.com/5419382/brazilian-senator-seeks-violent-game-ban
Snow's fault, clearly.
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Ah, Brazil. Home of the most beautiful bodies this side of Sweden, and the ugliest people.
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In fairness, I don't think I've ever seen a woman with that face outside a freak show. Also, that law is bound to see as much action as the laws against discrimination. We're a bunch of lazy shits.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts1022 Warning: contains Glenn Beck.
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I dunno, investing in gold is a fairly mainstream libertarian-type position. The fact that he's promoting a pro-gold position on TV and that he advertises for a specific gold company on the radio isn't all that bad to me. If he were promoting a product that was more specific and was the spokesman of the biggest company that made it there would be a better case for a serious conflict of interest.
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Yeah it is not like he is selling people something he knows is going to blow up in their face, leave them penniless, and cause the global economy to teeter close to collapse.
On the other hand, that strategy apparently makes you filthy stinking rich so hey, I guess it still wouldn't belong in Idiot of the Day.
Speaking of which: http://trueslant.com/matttaibbi/2009/12/03/the-ultimate-vanity-plate/
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34316756/ns/business-consumer_news/
Hay guys let's use slurs to describe people, this surely won't blow up in our faces.
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Speaking of which: http://trueslant.com/matttaibbi/2009/12/03/the-ultimate-vanity-plate/
This shit is the reason why I really wouldn't mind rounding up everyone who makes more than a certain amount of money, tying them down and then whacking them in the nuts with an improvised chinese hammer for a few hours (see: Casino Royale) before skinning them and seeing what amphetamines keep them awake the longest through the process (see: psychopathy).
When the class war happens I'm going to do some weird fucking science to some rich cunts.
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34316756/ns/business-consumer_news/
Hay guys let's use slurs to describe people, this surely won't blow up in our faces.
Totally legal in Florida, which has no protections for any of the LGBT letters.
I am always amused, however, by how inaccurate the slurs usually are in these news stories. "faggot" is meant to be gay male, not lesbians or TS--there's "dyke" and "tranny" for those.
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From where I'm standing, "faggot" seems even more offensive, since it completely denies Bellamy's femininity. I doubt it's accidental.
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From where I'm standing, "faggot" seems even more offensive, since it completely denies Bellamy's femininity. I doubt it's accidental.
Well...right, but there was the story a while back of someone on XBox live using the tag "Lesbian Gamer" and getting hate mail that called her faggot, so I'm not at all sure people know the difference.
One thing strikes me as odd about this, though--she's been living as female for six years so...since the age of 11, and yet "He began to laugh at me once he saw me". How the hell did he react so quickly to her appearance? The average medical doctor literally can't distinguish between someone who starts female hormone treatment at age 11, and an actual female born with an xy chromosome.
There has to be more to this story; either the manager knows her already, or maybe she's not on hormones.
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I figured the latter. If nothing else, as minor she'd have to get parental consent on any medical procedure.
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So... if you've been "living as female for six years" but haven't had any medical procedures or anything, doesn't that mean you're just a really committed cross-dresser? If you're not even willing to go under the knife, I'm still going to count you as a dude.
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Meh, there's a world of difference between someone who actually lives as a female and, say, Eddie Izzard. Plus, as mentioned, it might not be her call to not have surgery.
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From where I'm standing, "faggot" seems even more offensive, since it completely denies Bellamy's femininity. I doubt it's accidental.
Well...right, but there was the story a while back of someone on XBox live using the tag "Lesbian Gamer" and getting hate mail that called her faggot, so I'm not at all sure people know the difference.
One thing strikes me as odd about this, though--she's been living as female for six years so...since the age of 11, and yet "He began to laugh at me once he saw me". How the hell did he react so quickly to her appearance? The average medical doctor literally can't distinguish between someone who starts female hormone treatment at age 11, and an actual female born with an xy chromosome.
There has to be more to this story; either the manager knows her already, or maybe she's not on hormones.
It is X-Box Live. Faggot means hello.
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So... if you've been "living as female for six years" but haven't had any medical procedures or anything, doesn't that mean you're just a really committed cross-dresser? If you're not even willing to go under the knife, I'm still going to count you as a dude.
No, the term 'cross-dresser' implies tranvestism. This is a person who enjoys simply dressing as the opposite gender for whatever psychological highs it gives them. They still self-identify as their birth gender.
Someone who has been 'living as female', is transgendered. They feel that they have been born into the wrong physical body. And some studies show that this is entirely true. A female brain and a male brain have some pretty clear physiological differences and respond differently to the sex hormones. So, if this transgender girl feels she is female, then her female brain is most likely reacting pretty poorly to the constant stream of testosterone in her system.
The fact that this particular transgender girl is underage and unable to undergo surgery is, as Shale stated, another pretty strong reason not to be so judgmental of her situation. You dick.
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At 17, if you feel that strongly about it, get emancipated and then you can go see a doctor. You can do that as early as 14 in some states. Commit to something and follow through on it. Until someone is willing to use the options that they have available to them, rather than relying on legal scapegoating, I'm going to continue being judgmental of the situation.
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If she's applying for a job at McDonalds, I highly doubt she has the resources available to survive in your hypothetical situation. My issue isn't so much with the idea that can't think of her as female because of her body, a lot of people have that problem. It's more than you're carelessly tossing her into the category of 'cross-dresser', which many transgendered people strongly dislike.
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If you want something, take it. If you're not willing to take what you want, it must not matter that much. If I want to be King, I'm going to knock over some third world shithole and put myself in charge, not go around wearing a crown and a robe and expect people to address me as Your Highness. And sure, the first is more difficult than the second, but that's how things are. You don't get what you want unless you are willing to rip it out of someone else's hands.
No shit fully committing to something is hard. And there's usually no going back.
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Easy to say. Whether you become King or not isn't vital to your health. Someone whose brain is receiving the wrong kind of hormones is subject to intense feelings of depression and nondescript pain. Most transgenders who do not go through with hormone therapy end up commiting suicide.
Your close-mindedness is pretty astounding despite being unaware of these innate differences.
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Better get on with that hormone therapy, then. You know, committing to medical procedures? Commit to something. Follow through.
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Well, she's trying to a get a job to -pay- for it. Can't fault the lady for not trying.
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The fact that this particular transgender girl is underage and unable to undergo surgery is, as Shale stated, another pretty strong reason not to be so judgmental of her situation. You dick.
I don't think she's stopped from surgery by age--some girl in England did it at something like 12 or 13 not too long ago (although most of the doctors in the field were like "WTF, the brain's not done developing its gender by then"). Youngest I'm aware of in the US is somewhere around 15 or 16. That said, in the US it's a pretty blatant "your parents have to cough up $20,000 for this, because insurance companies don't cover anything."
Better get on with that hormone therapy, then. You know, committing to medical procedures? Commit to something. Follow through.
Dressing and living as the opposite gender every single day for 6 years is not a commitment? Good god Rob, I'd like to see you pull that off.
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Actual gender reassignment is a long and involved process that has a shitton of steps, one of which is living as the opposite gender prior to surgery. Skipping all the prior steps, like hormone therapy and psychological consultation, smacks of self-medication, more than anything. Given that she lives in Orlando and hasn't had to get a job until she was 17, I also doubt she's searching the couch for two pennies to rub together.
Dressing and living as the opposite gender every single day for 6 years is not a commitment? Good god Rob, I'd like to see you pull that off.
And one you could quit doing the next day, if you wanted.
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If you want something, take it. If you're not willing to take what you want, it must not matter that much. If I want to be King, I'm going to knock over some third world shithole and put myself in charge, not go around wearing a crown and a robe and expect people to address me as Your Highness. And sure, the first is more difficult than the second, but that's how things are. You don't get what you want unless you are willing to rip it out of someone else's hands.
No shit fully committing to something is hard. And there's usually no going back.
The poor are just lazy. If they weren't so lazy they'd have money.
FTFY
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If you want something, take it. If you're not willing to take what you want, it must not matter that much. If I want to be King, I'm going to knock over some third world shithole and put myself in charge, not go around wearing a crown and a robe and expect people to address me as Your Highness. And sure, the first is more difficult than the second, but that's how things are. You don't get what you want unless you are willing to rip it out of someone else's hands.
No shit fully committing to something is hard. And there's usually no going back.
this is America, man. not caring enough to take proper care of our bodies is like a national passtime.
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Dressing and living as the opposite gender every single day for 6 years is not a commitment? Good god Rob, I'd like to see you pull that off.
And one you could quit doing the next day, if you wanted.
Oh I doubt that.
You'd have no appropriate clothing. You'd enter the wrong washroom instinctively. You'd respond to the wrong name. You'd respond to "maam" rather than "sir". Being highschool, your friends would be strongly trended towards female (and might be accepting of you if you identify as female, but may not be so warm and sympathetic if you start calling yourself male). Your speech patterns would be noticeably different. Your way of sitting (i.e. knees together, cross your legs) might still stand out.
So...no, just because you haven't modified your body doesn't mean you haven't modified everything else (habits, friends, wardrobe).
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The fact that this particular transgender girl is underage and unable to undergo surgery is, as Shale stated, another pretty strong reason not to be so judgmental of her situation. You dick.
I don't think she's stopped from surgery by age--some girl in England did it at something like 12 or 13 not too long ago (although most of the doctors in the field were like "WTF, the brain's not done developing its gender by then"). Youngest I'm aware of in the US is somewhere around 15 or 16. That said, in the US it's a pretty blatant "your parents have to cough up $20,000 for this, because insurance companies don't cover anything."
I said this under the assumption that her parents either weren't supportive of her decision or were incapable of aiding her financially.
Actual gender reassignment is a long and involved process that has a shitton of steps, one of which is living as the opposite gender prior to surgery. Skipping all the prior steps, like hormone therapy and psychological consultation, smacks of self-medication, more than anything. Given that she lives in Orlando and hasn't had to get a job until she was 17, I also doubt she's searching the couch for two pennies to rub together.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that just because her parents are able to provide her enough financial support to stay in school such that she doesn't have to get a job until she's 17 does -not- imply that she nor her family are well-to-do. Especially in Orlando, have you ever -been- to Orlando? It's got upscale parts, yes, but so does Miami, and New York. You know, places famous for having slums, too.
Even assuming that her family IS well-to-do, it does not imply that they are supportive of her decision and would pay for the hormones, surgery, or even psychological counseling (though if they're crazy enough, they might throw her into Christian camp to scare it out of her.)
Seriously, there's no doubt in my mind that if she's self-identifying as female, she's doing it because she's serious about her gender identity. It's such a hard process to go through, I can't imagine any reason she'd have for doing it if she wasn't genuinely transgender.
Also...If you want something, take it. If you're not willing to take what you want, it must not matter that much. If I want to be King, I'm going to knock over some third world shithole and put myself in charge, not go around wearing a crown and a robe and expect people to address me as Your Highness. And sure, the first is more difficult than the second, but that's how things are. You don't get what you want unless you are willing to rip it out of someone else's hands.
No shit fully committing to something is hard. And there's usually no going back.
The poor are just lazy. If they weren't so lazy they'd have money.
FTFY
Yeah. It's clear you have more closed viewpoint problems than ones just directed at transgender people. That's pretty horrifying, to be honest.
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I'm a little surprised she was able to identify as transgendered at 11 in the state of florida. I mean, I don't get the impression that it's something you can work out without quite a lot of information on the subject.
Nevermind that you'd think in those parts that'd be a one-way ticket to callin' an exorcist {/token "Florida is full of hicks" comment}
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Well, the area of Florida she's in doesn't have quite as many hicks as say... Tallahassee. And I'd imagine it's one of the few 'mental disorders' that it doesn't take much to make a self-diagnosis. Much like how when 'being gay' was still considered a mental disorder, I'm pretty sure it didn't take long after puberty to figure it out. Note that despite recent advances, 'gender identity disorder' is still considered a mental disorder in the current DSM-IV.
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That... might not be wholly a bad thing. Unlike simply being gay, a transgendered person really needs medical assistance to get their life around, ie change to their real gender. If you class it as a 'psychological disorder', then the drugs used to treat it (hormones) can, with a little creative wording, be skewed into being covered by insurance and the like. I dunno that this is on purpose, but it can't hurt.
And... I dunno. When it comes to gender identity, I really have to think that realizing you're living in the wrong one isn't a natural conclusion. A person is raised acording to their sex their entire lives, pretty much the whole of life experience to that point has specific treatment based on gender. I'm not sure how a person at that age even has the right tools to assign words to what they would feel is wrong in their lives.
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... how about "I wanna be a girl"? >.>;;
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Well, the area of Florida she's in doesn't have quite as many hicks as say... Tallahassee. And I'd imagine it's one of the few 'mental disorders' that it doesn't take much to make a self-diagnosis. Much like how when 'being gay' was still considered a mental disorder, I'm pretty sure it didn't take long after puberty to figure it out.
And yet I know a shocking number of non-bi lesbians who used to be married to a man. (Including quite a few butches and at least one former butch now transman).
The whole subject of pre-pubescent transgenderism is interesting, though. Yeah, you can get extreme cases where, say, an 8-year-old boy will want to wear nothing but pink, refuse to play with anything but barbie, etc.--the kind of stuff that adults simply can not miss. About 30% of these early-childhood cases stop being transgender when they hit puberty. Conversely, a lot of people who showed little or no signs of transgenderism pre-puberty can suddenly have it hardcore once they hit puberty (like...age 13-15 or so). If she's been full time since age 11, it's pretty much guaranteed she was an early childhood case.
Note that despite recent advances, 'gender identity disorder' is still considered a mental disorder in the current DSM-IV.
I'm of two minds of this. On the one hand, branding people with a mental disorder on their record when they are perfectly functional human beings is definitely troubling. On the other hand, it's a condition whose "cure" includes psychotherapy, medication, and surgery, and which left untreated can lead to suicide--that sounds similar to some genuine mental disorders. Of course, there's always the reverse perspective on this--that it's not a mental condition at all, but a purely physical condition--the body needs to be fixed. Given current treatment approaches to transgenderism, this is probably the most logical choice, just because the nature of the treatment is pretty much entirely physical (the psychologist is basically just there to make sure you're not making a terrible mistake).
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... how about "I wanna be a girl"? >.>;;
That doesn't really cut it. For example, there are an awful lot of tomboy girls (it's actually a known and potentially diagnosable psychological state). It would not be unreasonable for them to say "I wanna be a boy"--even expected. If a parent concluded from that statement alone that their child was transgender, then frankly that's a poor parent. Maybe 1% of tomboys are transgender.
Granted, it's a bit more of an understandable conclusion in the other direction, probably, as I feel like there's a lot more social stigma against saying "I wanna be a girl" so it's a bigger plunge to take. At the same time it's probably still the wrong response to, just based on that statement, be like "oh, okay my daughter, let's buy you some girlie clothes and have you go full time." Even with lots of similar small evidence, a lot of parents will conclude "oh it's just a phase, don't worry about it."
When push comes to shove, someone has to understand and recognize transgenderism. There's three solid possibilities here: the child finds it on the internet (I'd believe an 11 year old capable of that, but most wouldn't). The parent finds it on the internet. Or a psychologist diagnoses the child.
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Well, that is certainly a much more thoughtful way of explaining how it could happen.
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Tell me this, could you tell me what you wanted to be doing at the age of 60 when you were 12? Is it still the same thing? Were you dead sure that is what you wanted to do when you were 12?
There is a reason this stuff is incredibly strongly recommended people wait until they are past the age of consent for before comitting to, maybe even the age of majority for most cases. Yes you can do it earlier in extreme cases of something people are dead set on, people that have the monetary backing AND have parental consent. It does happen. It certainly isn't common practice and there is a damn good reason for it. I think it is fantastic for anyone that has followed it through and is happy with it, but in every single case this is something that you approach with utmost caution as a professional.
Just because someone wants to do something doesn't make it good for them at the time and that is what you are going for as a mental health practitioner and you are not getting that kind of surgery without a Psychologist/Psychiatrists okay. When you have someone who is 17 or so and has been doing it dry for years? Yeah I would probably suggest they tough it out through puberty before fucking around with their hormones.
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The huge difference here is that once gender has developed in the brain, it tends not to change, and if the body doesn't match, then it causes extreme physical and mental discomfort. And the longer it continues, the harder it becomes to reverse the effects of the wrong hormones on a body. Secondary sex characteristics are very difficult to 'fix', and it becomes harder as time goes on.
I personally agree that age 11 or whatever is far too soon to know if one has GID, but by age 17, it should be clear in a majority of GID cases.
Regardless, this particular individual clearly -does- believe she is a case of GID, and it's pretty offensive to imply that she is somehow 'not serious' about it because she hasn't gone through with hormones or surgery at age 17, even assuming that her parents were supportive and reasonably well-off.
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She may have it, that doesn't mean you treat it (any more than living in the gender you identify with already does which is the best treatment I could suggest).
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Just because someone wants to do something doesn't make it good for them at the time and that is what you are going for as a mental health practitioner and you are not getting that kind of surgery without a Psychologist/Psychiatrists okay. When you have someone who is 17 or so and has been doing it dry for years? Yeah I would probably suggest they tough it out through puberty before fucking around with their hormones.
And the longer it continues, the harder it becomes to reverse the effects of the wrong hormones on a body. Secondary sex characteristics are very difficult to 'fix', and it becomes harder as time goes on.
These two reasons combined are why they typically give the child puberty blockers at around this age time. It prevents onset of gender characteristics from the wrong gender.
There are still physiological disadvantages to not doing target-gender hormones as well. A lot of your bone structure (in the case of a transwoman, wide hips, for instance) is determined through core puberty years (11-16) and to the best of my knowledge, puberty blockers don't push those seven years forward--merely turn off hormones for...well in most treatment case around half of those years.
At the same time, even years where no treatment or blocking has taken place are hardly 100% time lost for bone structure. The body will actively undo some of its bone changes if they were made very recently (for instance, a lot of teenage transwomen report losing a couple inches of height). The same can be said for blocking puberty in people born female--breast growth from the past year or so will disappear. The one I don't know about (which seems like it would be the important one for transwomen) is voice, and I -suspect- it works similarly. But voice is also often the first thing to change so that's a nasty clock right there.
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Still fucking around with the hormones a lot. A Psychiatrist may take a different view on this than I would with my Psychology background (Psychiatry being far more medical based than Psychology) though, so take that as you will. I am always erring on the side of avoiding using such things until the person's body (and mind) are stable. You see how strong my distaste for anti-depressants and mood stabilizers are and those are bread and butter in the industry, get me into hormones and I just don't want to even go there until I know it is safe. Edit - This is me admitting that this may be a lack of professional application of the degree and being far more theory based than practical application of the knowledge. My favouring of Psychoanalysis and Gestalt therapy both kind of suggest that I like to think of working with patients for a while and the real world applications obviously are something quite different.
Others quite clearly disagree with this though (there being some very strong benefits you have outlined here). I still question the effects the use of pubert blockers has on the subject in this case the mind is going to be doing some very strange things in that kind of case (And not in a transgender kind of "strange" I mean just in a basic developmental way compared to most. Puberty kind of sucks, but some of it is a crucible that does form a part of your mental development and plenty of it stems from the parts of puberty that go beyond Estrogen and testosterone).
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Still fucking around with the hormones a lot. A Psychiatrist may take a different view on this than I would with my Psychology background (Psychiatry being far more medical based than Psychology) though, so take that as you will. I am always erring on the side of avoiding using such things until the person's body (and mind) are stable. You see how strong my distaste for anti-depressants and mood stabilizers are and those are bread and butter in the industry, get me into hormones and I just don't want to even go there until I know it is safe. Edit - This is me admitting that this may be a lack of professional application of the degree and being far more theory based than practical application of the knowledge. My favouring of Psychoanalysis and Gestalt therapy both kind of suggest that I like to think of working with patients for a while and the real world applications obviously are something quite different.
I agree with the general rallying against anti-depressants (as do most people I know who've been on anti depressants). In general you need to fix the source of the problem--if there's something in your life that's making you unhappy you have to deal with it (anti-depressants should only be a short term "keep me functioning through this" when you can see the light at the end of the tunnel and just need to hold it together until you get there). Or that's the explanation I've read anyway--never actually been depressed >_>
Here's the problem, though: being trapped in the wrong body MAKES a lot of people depressed. You can't cure the core problem WITHOUT prescribing hormones. On the other hand, there's a double-edged sword here--putting people on hormones essentially throws them into puberty (regardless of their current age), and puberty is an emotionally unstable time for...basically everyone. For this reason it's dangerous to put an extremely depressed person on hormones.
And as far as talking it out before starting hormones? Yeah, that's generally actually required (for different regions I've heard numbers from 3 months to 2 years of therapy required before starting hormones, and generally the therapist can decide to not write the patient a letter of reference if he or she doesn't think the patient is ready). So...no, this doesn't sound like a rapid "oh well I'll just write you a hormone prescription then." I would consider 6 months of therapy for anything to be pretty long, and a sign of serious problems.
I still question the effects the use of pubert blockers has on the subject in this case the mind is going to be doing some very strange things in that kind of case (And not in a transgender kind of "strange" I mean just in a basic developmental way compared to most. Puberty kind of sucks, but some of it is a crucible that does form a part of your mental development and plenty of it stems from the parts of puberty that go beyond Estrogen and testosterone).
I'll be honest, I couldn't tell you specifics of how puberty blockers affect the brain. I don't even know if they're necessarily legal in America, even, or what the actual drugs are (I was reading about some school of transgender children in Europe, which is where I came across the concept, but it would not surprise me at all if America was more draconian).
As far as psychological social development, though, that can shut down in transgender cases (they do not want to grow as their original gender, so they basically put their personality in cold storage). That said, someone who is living as the target gender may not actually have these developmental issues, as they may be getting the teenagerhood they want, and thus not be putting on the mental brakes.
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Yeah that is pretty much all that I was getting at. Psychiatry vs Psychology point for me is more I can see a Psychiatrist using the hormones as a form of treatment to get to the theart of the matter first while a Psychologist is more likely to spend more time trying to find more mental channels to try and calm things down. Which of these is better in general is going to be up for debate (and would differ on a case by case situation anyway and of course if you found somoene who obviously needed them straight away you would probably go for it). If you had someone approach you about it and after 3 months they were stable, certainly go right ahead.
And yeah the Hormones making things all over the place mentally is exactly why I would avoid them on someone who is unstable at the time, I would think people tend to have a more violent rejection of the process then since things were already hard for them and then you just go and make it harder? The last thing I want is for someone to start the basics of a sex change and regret it. Obviously the feeling of being in the wrong body for you is going to perpetuate some depression, but someone who has a goal they are aiming for who cannot overcome that depression has issues with dealing with conflict resolution and just general patience for a lengthy process. There may be some self esteem issues to work on there as well (There is ... so much more to yourself than the flesh). They need to work on that before I will give them hormones. A big step to working on some of these is going to be living as the gender they want for some period. Doing so would also help a great deal with regards to mental development also.
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And yeah the Hormones making things all over the place mentally is exactly why I would avoid them on someone who is unstable at the time, I would think people tend to have a more violent rejection of the process then since things were already hard for them and then you just go and make it harder? The last thing I want is for someone to start the basics of a sex change and regret it. Obviously the feeling of being in the wrong body for you is going to perpetuate some depression, but someone who has a goal they are aiming for who cannot overcome that depression has issues with dealing with conflict resolution and just general patience for a lengthy process. There may be some self esteem issues to work on there as well (There is ... so much more to yourself than the flesh). They need to work on that before I will give them hormones.
Here's the interesting thing about hormones, though, and I realize this could very well be a placebo effect. Most TSs report a feeling of rightness when on hormones; a calm and a feeling that their emotions are behaving the way they should. In people who aren't TS, the wrong hormones generally makes them feel very wrong. Again, I suspect placebo here--although the story of Alan Turing (the mathematician) jumps to mind; gay man--government tried to cure "teh gay" by giving him lots of Estrogen. He grew boobs and killed himself.
Though, as an interesting note, using hormones to "test" for TS (based on brain reaction) may be more reasonable than it sounds. Boobs, for instance, won't be permanent flesh unless the tissue remains for over a year (which is why pregnant women often shrink back to nearly their old cupsize). A year is a really long time with lots of opportunities to say "okay, no, I don't like this and want to stop." A year is much longer than people get for deciding whether or not to have an abortion. Granted, some of the changes that transmen undergo might be permanent in a shorter timeframe than a year--I don't really have a good example of a short-term testosterone spike. (The main thing I'd be worried about here is voice and moster-sized clitoris--facial hair doesn't grow until late in puberty anyway).
A big step to working on some of these is going to be living as the gender they want for some period. Doing so would also help a great deal with regards to mental development also.
As far as living in the role first before hormones--actually a non-negligible number of cases do it completely in the reverse. Start hormones, but continue to live in the old gender for a while. The advantage here is that when they do start living full time they will have a much easier time fitting in, and face less BS. And...frankly, causing less turmoil in people's lives makes this a route that psychologists shouldn't just ignore. Not everyone will even want to take this route, but....
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How many cases do you know that we are talking about here started them when they were in a healthy frame of mind and over the age of 18 though? I am not saying you should put off the process for a long time, but I am saying doing it at 14 is a bit extreme or doing it at 16 when you have been living transgender 6 years that maybe chilling for 2 or 3 more years is probably the safer option.
And... for doing the hormones first, that is equally fine I am sure, but again you are talking about a case where the person is comfortable, is in control and take the time for it. When you are mentally well enough that you are in a situation that you can take stock of how things are in your life and approach things from the way that works best, well yeah you are in the perfect position to start hormone therapy, which is pretty much the point.
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Fuck you, North Carolina. (http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/12/14/does-nc-city-councilmans-avowed-atheism-bar-him-from-office/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wsj%2Flaw%2Ffeed+%28WSJ.com%3A+Law+Blog%29)
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One opponent, H. K. Edgerton, is threatening to file suit against the city to challenge Mr. Bothwell’s swearing in. “My father was a Baptist minister,” Edgerton said. “I’m a Christian man. I have problems with people who don’t believe in God.”
And that means because you don't like atheists that them being in office should be unlawful. Uh... huh.
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The guy's a Unitarian Universalist, and is actively involved in his church, too (it says so in another article).
This kind of nonsense is why obsolete laws really should be taken off the books. See Mitt Romney invoking racist marriage laws to disallow gay couples from out of state from getting licenses in MA. Those laws had not been enforced for the better part of a century at the time he brought them back buy hey, still on the books.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8416667.stm
The mother claims to know nothing. Uh huh.
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Yeah, I read that before going to work today.
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34483145/?GT1=43001
This whole thing is stupid on both sides.
"No one deserves to see it, certainly not a young child," Birnbaum said.
Good gods lady it is just a penis, sure it isn't pretty but I can be dead certain your kid has seen their father's dick most likely as well, it won't destroy their little mind since there is a 50% chance they have their own and have seen that anyway.
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Grefter, I would just like to point out that the quote in question is by someone named Marc, and therefore likely male. This makes it even more amusing, as I now have images of him refusing to look at what he's doing when he washes his dick in the shower. Though, it could also be representative of the belief in some males that one should never have to look at a dick that is not your own.
Another, alternate interpretation, since I'm having fun now, is that the perpetrator's dick is of such massive proportions that one must be worthy in order to lay eyes upon the divine member. That he feels it is wrong that the owner of this organ should free it to public viewing when such a creature of legend should be properly rationed only for the please of the worthy, the deserving, the prosecuting elite.
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Man, woman, whatever they are they have a half a ton of sand in their vagina.
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I just wanted to point out that I cry every time I see my penis. Take that as you will!
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As a testament to the stupidity of Gamefaqs boards for newly released games, especially ones that were only just released in Japan, I present:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=928790&topic=52731876
Not because it's particularly egregious example of the board or anything, but because it's the most recent thread I've opened yet demonstrates what the board has degenerated to perfectly. And because it contains this gem of a response:
we need to play something in order to judge it? really? if a bunch of people told me your girlfriend sleeps around and has std, you have to do it first to believe them huh...
damn i feel sorry for you
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While I do want to defend the whole concept of being able to predict if shit tastes bad before you put it in your mouth we do have an epic barrel of fail there.
Square forgot to put everything besides battles and story in.
DAMN YOU SQUARE YOU PUT IN GOOD PLOT AND GAMEPLAY BUT FORGOT THE WANK! WE NEED THE WANK OR IT ISN'T FINAL FANTASY.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/us/politics/10reidweb.html?hp
warning: Reid.
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That was stupider than I was expecting, even for Reid. Good work dumbass.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/us/politics/10reidweb.html?hp
warning: Reid.
Well he's kinda right. It's painfully undiplomatic of him to actually voice that, mind, and as a politician he should be more competent at diplomacy than that....
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Any professional politician who thinks it's a good idea to talk about someone's "Negro dialect" or lack thereof in this day and age should be given the Old Yeller treatment. Time to end their suffering.
I can't help but be reminded of Trent Lott, who fell precipitously from grace and power for saying he wished Strom Thurmond (who ran on a segregationist platform) had won the presidency. I may be wrong, but I expect this to have a serious impact on Reid's future.
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Reid is already in some trouble, as he's up for reelection and has not polled well in the state. This is not what he needed.
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Any professional politician who thinks it's a good idea to talk about someone's "Negro dialect" or lack thereof in this day and age should be given the Old Yeller treatment. Time to end their suffering.
Time to end our suffering. Reid's suffering should be eternal.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/fashion/10caveman.html?pagewanted=all
Because if there's one thing that we know, it's that cavemen lived long, healthy lives.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/11/AR2010011103338.html
Steele attacks Reid for his racial remarks. Could the republicans have possibly found a worse person to express their righteous indignation?
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Steele is so unpopular that the national fucking review trashes him on a weekly basis. I mean, damn. (I stand by my snotty 'fire both of them' post from the start of 2009.)
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/fashion/10caveman.html?pagewanted=all
Because if there's one thing that we know, it's that cavemen lived long, healthy lives.
That's actually pretty reasonable. We've known for a long time that the diets we eat aren't really healthy for us. A study years ago pretty much showed that the average pet eating scientifically formulated diets of standard dog food/cat food was eating healthier for their species than pretty much every human alive. There's also some previously known results behind some of what they're saying. For instance, a workout followed by a big meal...well it's definitely known that the meal you eat after you work out is the most important for building muscles. The concept that modern nutritionists could be horribly wrong is also pretty easy to believe. Remember when Margarine was healthy and Butter was unhealthy? Yeah...well we discovered trans fats (Margarine baaaaaad) and Omega-3s (Butter gooooood). (And we discovered this within the last 10 years, too).
Not only that but they're taking a scientific anthropological approach to it. Theorizing that "our stomachs evolved for this kind of diet, so we might be more healthy if we approximate such a diet." It's an interesting theory, and definitely worth testing. I'm skeptical about some of their stuff, though (like fasting for 36 hours--your body thinks it's starving and goes into "panic and store fat" mode if you haven't eaten for like...three hours. Then again, I don't want to immediately dismiss fasting, as maybe there's health benefit to your body switching metabolic modes).
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If there is, I'll be surprised. Everything in your body is geared towards maintaining steady homeostasis, not rotating between multiple metabolic cycles.
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These would be the logical fallacies in this
The caveman lifestyle, in Mr. Durant’s interpretation, involves eating large quantities of meat
These urban cavemen also choose exercise routines focused on sprinting and jumping
His followers believe that he too is capable of fearsome feats. When Mr. Durant told a gathering of New York cavemen that he had seen Mr. De Vany at a seminar in Las Vegas, Matthew Sanocki, 34, asked if Mr. De Vany looked as muscular in the flesh as in pictures on his blog.
“He looks great,” Mr. Durant said. “You feel like he could, at a moment’s notice, charge at you and trample you.”
None of which means he is super healthy. Not denying that he is, but that doesn't mean that he is either.
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What about the part of the caveman lifestyle where you have gigantic fucking eagles flying down and cracking open your skull with their beaks so they can tear out chunks of nutritious brain and feed them to their young? I don't see anything about them trying to dodge eagles.
(Apparently, lots of human ancestor skeletons had these weird triangular holes in the skull, and nobody could figure out why for the longest time until they found giant fucking cave-eagles.)
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I figured I could get a job leaping off of buildings and attempting to skewer their skulls with a spear. After all, that's a niche they haven't covered yet!
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<_< You know, they pretty much say it's just a diet/exercise program, not a desire to live just like Cavemen. (Hence why they're happy to live in New York).
These would be the logical fallacies in this
The caveman lifestyle, in Mr. Durant’s interpretation, involves eating large quantities of meat
These urban cavemen also choose exercise routines focused on sprinting and jumping
His followers believe that he too is capable of fearsome feats. When Mr. Durant told a gathering of New York cavemen that he had seen Mr. De Vany at a seminar in Las Vegas, Matthew Sanocki, 34, asked if Mr. De Vany looked as muscular in the flesh as in pictures on his blog.
“He looks great,” Mr. Durant said. “You feel like he could, at a moment’s notice, charge at you and trample you.”
None of which means he is super healthy. Not denying that he is, but that doesn't mean that he is either.
Well, yes. The problem with early adoption like this is that it's so self-selecting. I'm betting that the people who go on this diet are already pretty health-conscious and athletic. Furthermore, these people are ferverent believers in the diet and thus have psychosomatics helping the results.
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Remember when Margarine was healthy and Butter was unhealthy? Yeah...well we discovered trans fats (Margarine baaaaaad) and Omega-3s (Butter gooooood). (And we discovered this within the last 10 years, too).
You may want to avoid getting your nutritional information filtered through the dairy farmers of America. <_< Just checked the margarine in my fridge and it has Omega-3s but no trans fat.
Also, while trans fats are indeed bad, they're only about as bad as saturated fats, which are unavoidable in butter. Although to be fair, the margarines that have them (usually the ones trying to imitate butter) are indeed shit.
Nutrition is actually brutally uncomplicated according to most people in medicine I've talked to. We know very well what people need more of (fruits/vegetables, fibre in general) and less of (saturated fat, refined sugar, sodium) compared to the average North American diet. We've known it for years and it has been backed up repeatedly by scientific study. I find all the distracting fad diets immensely frustrating, as such; by contrast they are usually based on little to no scientific evidence (such as the one Trips linked) and often flaunt what evidence we do have. And the publication of such diets is distracting for people who honestly want to live healthier and will usually key onto such diets over the things they don't want to hear (sorry, that sweet/salty food you love is actually bad for you and should only be eaten once a week).
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Remember when Margarine was healthy and Butter was unhealthy? Yeah...well we discovered trans fats (Margarine baaaaaad) and Omega-3s (Butter gooooood). (And we discovered this within the last 10 years, too).
You may want to avoid getting your nutritional information filtered through the dairy farmers of America. <_< Just checked the margarine in my fridge and it has Omega-3s but no trans fat.
Also, while trans fats are indeed bad, they're only about as bad as saturated fats, which are unavoidable in butter. Although to be fair, the margarines that have them (usually the ones trying to imitate butter) are indeed shit.
Hm, Margarine's improved since the last time I looked at it, then.
Or at least my patchwork understanding of nutrition history is that in the 60s it was mostly hydrogenated vegetable oils (hydrogenation generally causing trans fats) and it was advertised as more healthy than butter specifically because it avoided certain kinds of fats they thought were good to avoid (including Omega-3s).
According to wikipedia, Margarine these days is a mixture of milk and vegetable oil. So...yes: anything with milk in it is going to have some of the same stuff as butter; and naturally, now that we know Omega-3s are good, you can do "added omega-3s" if desired (the same way my orange juice has added Vitamin-D...which is good because I'm a vampire and avoid sunlight).
Nutrition is actually brutally uncomplicated according to most people in medicine I've talked to. We know very well what people need more of (fruits/vegetables, fibre in general) and less of (saturated fat, refined sugar, sodium) compared to the average North American diet.
Hm, good to know. Probably should work on my sodium....
I find all the distracting fad diets immensely frustrating, as such; by contrast they are usually based on little to no scientific evidence (such as the one Trips linked) and often flaunt what evidence we do have. And the publication of such diets is distracting for people who honestly want to live healthier and will usually key onto such diets over the things they don't want to hear (sorry, that sweet/salty food you love is actually bad for you and should only be eaten once a week).
In defence of seemingly stupid oddball diets...my parents did the Atkins diet, which I thought was stupid at the time. They said that because they did this diet they were eating a lot more vegetables (the kind of carbohydrates the plan does allow) and fewer things like crackers and cookies (the kind of carbohydrates the plan does not allow). The actual protein intake the Atkin diet is known for? ...Well they still ate exactly the same meat dishes (which already met Atkins requirements), just surrounded them with vegetables instead of their old choices. From all I've read this is...actually a significant dietary improvement. And indeed their health did improve. So...sure, a plan that advertises itself as "remove carbohydrates" sounds completely retarded, but it actually knew what it was talking about...mostly.
As for the caveman diet...I bet their refined sugar and sodium intake is very low. It was clear from the article that they do eat vegetables. Saturated fats...depends on what kind of animal they eat, and how they prepare it (you can cut away fat). Notably, organ meat (which they eat) is probably fairly light on fat (since fat tends to lay right below the skin as a layer of insulation, not inside the organs). So...in all likelihood it's actually a relatively healthy diet (outside of fasting...).
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Nutrition is actually brutally uncomplicated according to most people in medicine I've talked to. We know very well what people need more of (fruits/vegetables, fibre in general) and less of (saturated fat, refined sugar, sodium) compared to the average North American diet. We've known it for years and it has been backed up repeatedly by scientific study. I find all the distracting fad diets immensely frustrating, as such; by contrast they are usually based on little to no scientific evidence (such as the one Trips linked) and often flaunt what evidence we do have. And the publication of such diets is distracting for people who honestly want to live healthier and will usually key onto such diets over the things they don't want to hear (sorry, that sweet/salty food you love is actually bad for you and should only be eaten once a week).
This, pretty much. Add in extra fire for fad diets that promise quick results. Your body doens't work that way.
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http://www.mynewpinkbutton.com/ (http://www.mynewpinkbutton.com/)
To all you ladies out there: did you just get done bleaching your asshole and are now unsatisfied with the pigmentation of your labia? There's hope for you! It even comes in four distinct shades.
And to the dudes out there: you can use it to touch up the coloration on your dong, too! Use it to make those veins really pop!
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Discussion on Paleolithic/Caveman diets
As far as what is eaten in the general paleo diet, you can't do much better. You eat lean meats, vegetables, fruit, and dairy if you aren't lactose intolerant; nothing more. All you're doing is replacing grains and processed food with the above types of food. This gives you all the benefits of grains without all the negative effects they can have on you.
Now stuff like the fasting is just silly. There's a point where you take the lifestyle too far. Just because cavemen had to go 24 hours at a time without food doesn't mean its healthy. What you need to do is take the good points of what they did (eat very basic, very healthy food) and mix it with the good points of modern diets (easily available food at the grocery store).
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You're also going to be more alert and productive if you eat on a regular schedule. If you eat at random intervals so that your system never knows when it's going to get more nourishment, it throttles back your metabolism a lot so it can hang on to whatever it gets. As a result you're tired all the damn time.
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Pat Robertson being Pat Robertson.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/white-house-advisor-valerie-jarrett-speechless-pat-robertson/story?id=9555714
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/me facepalms.
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Someone seriously tried to use "True story" unironically?
Honestly. I had to double-check the URL to see if this wasn't The Onion.
/me doubles the facepalm.
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http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10013/1027885-100.stm?cmpid=latest.xml (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10013/1027885-100.stm?cmpid=latest.xml)
Hairdresser shoots dissatisfied client twice in the back with a .38 snub. She's attempting to argue it shouldn't count as assault with a deadly weapon because the first round didn't even knock the person down.
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http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2010/01/dantes-inferno-reprint/
Ugh. Just ugh.
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Eh. Worse on the page is the Wuthering Heights disguised as Twilight. My brain hurts thinking of which is the step down there.
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http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/01/doh_17.php?ref=fpblg
FBI releases a photo of what Bin Laden would look like today. Kinda.
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It doesn't even look like they changed his features any... just applied the graying tool to his beard...
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It doesn't even look like they changed his features any... just applied the graying tool to his beard...
Nah, the nose and the eyebrows are noticeably changed (nose is longer, and the bridge line continues between the eyes. eyebrows are more widely separated, and more clean shaven). Also, maybe I was just looking for it, but I really feel like I can see a hint of Spanish in the modified features.
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http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/01/whites_only_basketball_league.html
No jumping allowed!
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http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/01/whites_only_basketball_league.html
No jumping allowed!
Wow, you know you've got a winner when I forget where I was linked from, and start thinking "oh my god I have to link this in IotD right now."
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/23/all-white-basketball-leag_n_434065.html
Jones: "How in the world is it not racist if you don't allow anybody to play but white Americans? It's segregated."
Lewis: "It's the same as a private club."
Jones: "But that would be segregated also."
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And they're running it in "12 Southern cities." WHAT A SURPRISE.
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I'm shocked. SHOCKED, I say.
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http://abovethelaw.com/2010/01/7th_circuit_rules_dungeons_dra.php
I just don't know what to say.
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I have the vague suspicion the law system takes its knowledge of DnD from Jack Chick tracts.
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Nah I think they covered it quite concisely with this being about punishment. They cannot form groups of people that talk on a regular basis (Unless it is Church), they are in prison and therefore must be marginalised, compartmentalised and not allowed to discuss anything with anyone other than themselves, those that tend their cages and the people keeping them there.
This would be so much eaiser if we just built those damned panopticons already.
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I have the vague suspicion the law system takes its knowledge of DnD from Jack Chick tracts.
Pretty sure Satan worship is covered by freedom of religion, though.
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If you find me a group of Satanists in the prison system that are allowed to practice and are not threatened with similar stuff I would be amazed.
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Adding this to my "California is almost as big a cesspool as the South" file:
http://www.swrnn.com/southwest-riverside/2010-01-24/local-county-news/menifee-usd-pulls-dictionaries-due-to-explicit-word (http://www.swrnn.com/southwest-riverside/2010-01-24/local-county-news/menifee-usd-pulls-dictionaries-due-to-explicit-word)
Dictionaries banned from a school because kids can look up dirty language in them. Nowadays I'd be fucking psyched if my kids were looking up curse words in the dictionary, because it means they know how to use one.
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... Do they even know that UrbanDictionary.com exists?
I'll bet the kids who were reading those dictionaries do now. Where else are they going to turn but the internet? >.>;;
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That's why I always keep my guns in a shoulder, belt or boot holster instead of locked up. If your kids can't get it from you, they'll get it from someone else.
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... Do they even know that UrbanDictionary.com exists?
I'll bet the kids who were reading those dictionaries do now. Where else are they going to turn but the internet? >.>;;
Umm yep. Third result from the top for "Dictionary" in Google. And the real kicker? Their January 26 word-of-the-day is "Oral Sex".
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That's why I always keep my guns in a shoulder, belt or boot holster instead of locked up. If your kids can't get it from you, they'll get it from someone else.
It sounds like you're implying that you agree with locking up dictionaries... Information and Guns are not the same thing... >.>;;
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Erm... what? He's equating dictionaries and guns sure, but he's pretty clearly stating that he does not lock up guns because if he's going to have kids around, he's going to make sure they get their knowledge of what guns are from him so that he knows what they know. So... yeah, it's information about guns he kinda indirectly talking about here.
I'm... not sure where you get the support for locking up dictionaries there.
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Because he sounds like he's being sarcastic.
Guns are something you probably -should- keep locked up and away from children. And more than likely, other people -aren't- going to give someone's child a gun.
Completely the opposite of what you should do with a dictionary/information.
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He's saying that if his kid's determined to get something (gun, information you don't want them to have) badly enough they're going to get it anyway, so it's no use even bothering to try and keep it from them. It's not a good metaphor but it's pretty simple. It is a good thing you are teaching English as a language and not as a literature. Yeesh.
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You say it's a bad metaphor, but somehow -I'm- the one that has a problem with English?
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What he's saying is that you managed to not catch even the bad metaphor. Rob is bad at using the subtleties of English, you're bad at deciphering them, is the message.
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*Shrugs* I think the comparison was just so inappropriate that I felt it had to be sarcasm, so I interpreted in the opposite manner.
If he's saying 'there's no point in locking up guns because his children will definitely get them, so why try?' seriously, then we have some moral dissonance going on. I seriously don't agree that we shouldn't even -try- to keep guns away from children. Obviously, no one feels that way.
If he's saying this -ironically-, then he obviously thinks guns -should- be locked up, and he's comparing it to information... so he's implying that people -should- try to lock up dictionaries for the children's safety or whatever.
I considered both meanings and they're both terrible. Guns =/= Information, the magnitude of the metaphor really invalidates whatever he was trying to say.
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You guys are still going on about this?
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Here instead debate whether the UK or Australia is descending into the Dark Ages faster.
http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2010/01/28/australia-bans-small-breasts-as-child-pornography/
EDIT: Oh yeah that site is of questionable content/NSFW, didn't realize it as I was linked it. Nothing explicit but disclaimer.
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I feel I should note that most of the site laggy linked there is NSFW. Doesn't detract from the stupid of the story though.
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Australia, please send your small breasted women to me. I will take good care of them.
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You guys are still going on about this?
/me coughs, points to his sig.
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"This just in from Austrailia, only men with B cup breasts or larger may act in their porn now as well."
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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583588,00.html
Hugo Chavez (or a mouthpiece rather) claims Haiti was struck by an American superweapon that can cause earthquakes (tested there so we can prepare for its use on Iran), so that we can militarily occupy the island.
Yep.
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Wait, he's accusing us of being Christopher Walken in A View To A Kill?
That's just insulting. He couldn't pick a Connery movie at least?
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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583588,00.html
Hugo Chavez (or a mouthpiece rather) claims Haiti was struck by an American superweapon that can cause earthquakes (tested there so we can prepare for its use on Iran), so that we can militarily occupy the island.
Yep.
Pretty old, actually. My theory is that his country finally got Under Siege 2: Dark Territory and he got paranoid. S'what you get for watching movies while coked out at 3AM.
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THERE IS NOTHING INSULTING ABOUT BEING COMPARED TO CHRISTOPHER WALKEN YOU TAKE THAT BACK SHALE YOU FUCKING HEATHEN.
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*Shrugs* I think the comparison was just so inappropriate that I felt it had to be sarcasm, so I interpreted in the opposite manner.
If he's saying 'there's no point in locking up guns because his children will definitely get them, so why try?' seriously, then we have some moral dissonance going on. I seriously don't agree that we shouldn't even -try- to keep guns away from children. Obviously, no one feels that way.
If he's saying this -ironically-, then he obviously thinks guns -should- be locked up, and he's comparing it to information... so he's implying that people -should- try to lock up dictionaries for the children's safety or whatever.
I considered both meanings and they're both terrible. Guns =/= Information, the magnitude of the metaphor really invalidates whatever he was trying to say.
Okay, I'm just going to step in for a moment here.
I am a proponent of teaching kids about firearms, most specifically the primary rules- respect it and don't ever point it at anything that you don't want dead or blown to pieces. However, some people would rather try and cover things up rather than talk to their children about them. Rather than deal with the fact that, yes, there are some things out there in the world, they'd ignore them entirely.
If kids want to get their hands on something, they usually will, be it information, liquor or deadly weapons. The difference is whether or not they are able to approach it in an informed manner or as a bunch of dumbass kids who found a Callahan Full-Bore Autolock underneath a pile of old porno magazines. Deciding to avoid dealing with something is never, ever an appropriate way to deal with it.
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Oh sure, I'm all for giving children Information about guns, especially if they've already expressed an interest. That is probably the best way to handle things.
It doesn't mean that you shouldn't lock up your guns.
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It also doesn't mean that you shouldn't ignore the issue completely by pretending it's not there, which was kinda the point. More simply: silly extremist responses are silly, you dig?
(I, incidentally, own a 3/4 ton safe for my armaments, but that's mostly to protect myself from legal ramifications).
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If you are going to own a gun I certainly see it as only beneificial that your child understand it and how to handle it properly.
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THERE IS NOTHING INSULTING ABOUT BEING COMPARED TO CHRISTOPHER WALKEN YOU TAKE THAT BACK SHALE YOU FUCKING HEATHEN.
Being associated with that piece of crap movie was in insult to him too.
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He has done way worse movies than a Bond flick. This does not matter, he is Walken.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/us/politics/04conservative.html?hp
I haven't read the article, and I don't intend to. Just wanted to share with you...IotD: Headline Edition!
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http://www.mmo-champion.com/news-2/ensidia-suspended-for-72-hours/
Stupid fucking drama. Trust me on it and don't try to read this shit. Just retarded. Fuck I hate this game some days.
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I like how they claim they didn't know it was happening when they had already beaten it on 10-man.
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I like how the whole thing is fucking stupid and that people even give a fuck. I am all for an interest in who got the world first just as a point of interest. The whole "Race" bullshit and OMG THIS GUILD ON ANOTHER SERVER THAT I DO NOTHIGN WITH TOTALLY GOT BANNED OMGOGMOGMOGMOMGOMGOMG F U BLIZLILELARLRLDL.
Fuck.
That.
Shit.
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http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/80005-tancredo-tells-tea-partiers-literacy-test-would-have-stopped-obama
"People who could not even spell the word 'vote' or say it in English put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House,"
Tancredo also said Obama won because "we do not have a civics, literacy test before people can vote."
Tancredo is apparently not aware that naturalized immigrants are the only segment of the population who are guaranteed to have passed a civics test.
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but but but ILLEGAAAAALLLLLLS
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http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/facebook_wants_to_be_your_one_true_login.php (http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/facebook_wants_to_be_your_one_true_login.php)
Oh my, this is a good one. So some blog posts about how AOL (or, excuse me, it's Aol. now) is going to integrate with Facebook. Everything is fine until idiots manage to get their computers turned on and can't remember the address for Facebook. So they google "Facebook login" and click the first link, which is this blog entry. And since they can't seem to figure out how to log in to this page that is not Facebook, they leave angry comments in the comments section about how they hate the new layout and can't even find out how to log in.
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...Oh wow. I... I knew comments sections were usually a bit 'special', but that's taking the piss.
Seriously, do people go on Google for everything? Googling Facebook to find Facebook.com seems slightly pointless and stupid.
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Okay, I found my favorite quote:
"all I want to do is lon in to y home page"
OR
"Seams like all of the comets i read agree with me you people messed up royal i was enjoying facebook now i am thinking of getting rid of it all"
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In fairness, from the looks of things the majority of people making dumbasses of themselves are over 40. Now I don't know about you but if I think about my parents using the internet it is not beyond the realms of possibility that they would get confused and write something like that.
Holy crap old people don't know how to use the internet. Surprise.
EDIT: Right after typing this post I kept reading comments and found one by someone clearly over 70 that just said "HELP!!!!!". That made me laugh.
Old people are so terrible at the internet.
/me eyes Hal and CK.
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Seriously, do people go on Google for everything? Googling Facebook to find Facebook.com seems slightly pointless and stupid.
*shrug* done that for a lot of sites like that. If I click around the site a little and can't find something that should be easy to find, I'll google an appropriate question, usually finding something on Yahoo answers or whatever. Granted, it works because I only use it when I'm having trouble locating an operation that I've never used before, have made an honest effort to find through normal navigation, and know the website has the operation.
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it's good for when you were looking for something under .com and the real one is .net or has a - or between words or whatnot. facebook, though...yeah.
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Yeah, like hell I can remember which major sites are .com and which are .net (as well as scattered .org's, .ca's, .uk's, .jp's, and so on) beyond a few ones I use regularly. Google gives the answer nicely. Don't see anything wrong with using it.
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My mother thinks every website is just "name of the business.com" If it was anything BUT facebook.com it would make sense to me, but that's the one ending that I expect people to remember.
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It doesn't really bother me that some people google a website name to find the address. That is OK. But apparently most of the (40+) people couldn't read anything more than the headline, and were apparently incapable of recognizing that what they were looking for may be the second or *gasp* THIRD result of their query.
That is what there is to appreciate about this: We are better at computers than old people. Hooray?
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http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/02/missouri-gop-congressional-candidate-having-gay-soldiers-would-offend-muslim-countries.php
That is all.
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Link too long (http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700006356/Utah-Legislature-Buttars-proposes-cutting-12th-grade-high-school-busing.html)
Utah
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So basically no kid from Utah public schools would ever get admitted to college again.
I'm trying to decide if that's a good idea or not.
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So basically no kid from Utah public schools would ever get admitted to college again.
I'm trying to decide if that's a good idea or not.
I'd be more worried about the kids who went to a Mormon private school than those who went to a non-denominational public school. So...I'm thinking "bad idea".
But uhh, yeah: grade 12 is a really bad year to cut. If anything, cut some random middle grade; let the 13-year-olds have a year off, or something; nobody likes teaching them anyway (rebellious puberty-stricken whippersnappers!)
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That one has IotY potential.
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*shrug* It's not that bad of an idea. Many 12th graders only go to school half a day anyway because they've already finished their core curriculum in the previous three years.
Gives the kids who want to get a job and get in the workforce the opportunity to do so. And if you want to expand your education more prior to attending "real" college, take classes at a community college instead. They'd probably learn more there than in a high-school environment anyway.
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*shrug* It's not that bad of an idea. Many 12th graders only go to school half a day anyway because they've already finished their core curriculum in the previous three years.
Gives the kids who want to get a job and get in the workforce the opportunity to do so. And if you want to expand your education more prior to attending "real" college, take classes at a community college instead. They'd probably learn more there than in a high-school environment anyway.
I can also see where the idea is coming from, but I still think it's a bad idea. I know that at my high school the only state credits you needed that you didn''t get before your senior year was a 4th year of english and I don't think situations like that are uncommon. However, I think that it would produce less well rounded students overall especially in the subjects of science, social studies, and fine arts. It would also be particularly bad for students who struggle with math because they wouldn't have that extra year to catch up.
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I really like the idea, myself. Or at least the intention behind it. The secondary general-education portion of school goes on for too long anyway. However, this is symptomatic of a problem with the American education system that won't be resolved without sweeping reforms.
I think that the way the British education system works is a far better way of implementing things (in theory anyway). Primary education is similar to ours, then secondary general education is finished up by 16. After that, if you want to enter the workforce, you do. If you want to continue your education, you go to college, which seems to be a lot like the "core curriculum" my university forces upon Freshmen/Sophomores, and then University is more akin to the last few semesters of an American undergraduate degree.
Theoretically, it is a much sounder system--kids are educated faster, less money is spent because only a percentage of kids keep going to school past 16. Now, in practice I recognize that this system has its own flaws that I'm not all that familiar with, but I think it indicates that it is possible to cut a few years out of the curriculum with some proper planning. Now, they're doing it entirely at the wrong end (I remember bits and pieces of my education throughout high school. I don't remember ANYTHING I learned in Middle school), but their hearts are in the right place. The American education system is in serious need of reform and we need to stop holding the K-12 curriculums sacrosanct, but it's a matter that needs to be given more thought than "Fuck it give the kids a year off."
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Now, in practice I recognize that this system has its own flaws that I'm not all that familiar with.
The big difference as I understand it, and I consider this a problem though your mileage may vary: you better know early in the process what you want to do with your life, because your education is much more targeted than general.
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Not strictly true. I had no clue what I wanted to do last year, so I finished the college courses I was doing and started on another.
College isn't one-time only, so it allows for some changes if you aren't sure what to do, and some courses are vague enough to apply in a variety of industries.
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Now, in practice I recognize that this system has its own flaws that I'm not all that familiar with.
The big difference as I understand it, and I consider this a problem though your mileage may vary: you better know early in the process what you want to do with your life, because your education is much more targeted than general.
I agree. I think I would advocate, after finishing "college" or whatever, a manditory 2-year internship in whatever field a student thinks they would be going to university to study. This would give them some experience in the field, so they can get a taste of it and realize "oh wait maybe I don't want to do this until I retire" and rethink things. But I have no ideas on how to practically implement that, nor am I really sure that it would help that much. It might be a viable option given enough thought.
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The big difference as I understand it, and I consider this a problem though your mileage may vary: you better know early in the process what you want to do with your life, because your education is much more targeted than general.
The current US system doesn't have that? I remember vividly being a Freshman (so 15 years old) and being hounded relentlessly that if I didn't take the right electives and figure out what I wanted to do I'd be SOL come college time.
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I never got that. I remember being hounded to take impressive-looking electives so college admissions officials wouldn't laugh uproariously at my application before setting it on fire, but nobody told me I had to know for certain what I wanted to do with my life before entering college.
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So basically no kid from Utah public schools would ever get admitted to college again.
I'm trying to decide if that's a good idea or not.
Their public schools are already rated second-worst in the country. I lived there when I went to middle school; you know how many kids were in my Geometry class? Sixty-five.
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The big difference as I understand it, and I consider this a problem though your mileage may vary: you better know early in the process what you want to do with your life, because your education is much more targeted than general.
The current US system doesn't have that? I remember vividly being a Freshman (so 15 years old) and being hounded relentlessly that if I didn't take the right electives and figure out what I wanted to do I'd be SOL come college time.
Well they do a shit job preparing you for it if that is the thing. Too much time is spent on generalized/foundation knowledge and too little on more specialization. Sure there are some AP classes that help (particularly in the sciences) but not really.
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Are people really holding up the British system as a paragon of educational excellence? 20% of Brits think the sun rotates around the earth once a month. Say what you will, but allowing a 12-year-old kid to specialize in art and never take another Science course again doesn't sit well with me. A friend of mine did a British exchange year, and she roundly trashed British education for yet different reasons (she complained that creative thinking was considered beneath British education).
Basically, I can see how Brits make their education shorter--by cutting out all the "frivolous" stuff. I just happen to feel that it's very non-frivolous. For instance, say you specialize in Science, you should still have enough social studies to be able to critically disect an election campaign ad including having a reasonable idea of what to call BS on. You should still be able to write a five paragraph essay. And on the arts side, you should still know enough math to know when a bank is screwing you. You should still know enough Science to not have the woll easily pulled over your eyes by corporations and email spammers.
Just thinking of what was taught where I live up through age 12 (wouldn't cover any of that stuff) compared to up through age 17 (covers all of that provided you're paying attention) yeah, I'd say it's worth it to add a year or two to the education system in exchange for not specializing early.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/education/18educ.html?hp
kinda off-topic for iotd, but since we're on the subject of alternate school plans, here's something else more sensible afoot in the US. Not sure about the specifics, but I think something that gives high school education a definite sense of purpose could do a lot of good.
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http://rawstory.com/2010/02/south-carolinas-subversive-activities-registration-act-force/
Oh South Carolina you so funny.
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Are people really holding up the British system as a paragon of educational excellence? 20% of Brits think the sun rotates around the earth once a month. Say what you will, but allowing a 12-year-old kid to specialize in art and never take another Science course again doesn't sit well with me.
I... what. What what what.
Where are you getting that number from? Because, uhh, I've never heard anyone be quite that retarded.
And no, you do not pick courses at 12. English, Maths and Science are all mandatory up until 16. You pick specialist courses then - like Art, History, Geography, etc - but English, Maths and Biology/Chemistry/Physics are compulsory GCSEs.
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http://rawstory.com/2010/02/south-carolinas-subversive-activities-registration-act-force/
Oh South Carolina you so funny.
The federal government enacted a similar law forcing you to register as an illegal gambler if you did any illegal gambling, and declare your earnings, back in the '20s. Why? Because they wanted to regulate gambling but it wasn't constitutional to pass such a regulation, so they passed it as a tax instead, kinda an end run around the constitutional limits of congressional power (because of later constitutional interpretation of the commerce clause, congress has no trouble directly regulating gambling these days).
The most charitable thing you could say about SC's law is that it might serve some useful purpose and be obtusely worded for some reason like that. Raise your hand if you give SC that much credit.
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I'm raising something, but it's more of a finger than a hand.
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I... what. What what what.
Where are you getting that number from?
The 20% number is from Richard Dawkin's Book "The Greatest Show on Earth" quoting a survey that had been conducted a few years earlier (can't remember every place he quotes it, but it's definitely in the final chapter where he's basically just quoting survey results for various countries on Science knowledge. Obviously he focuses on evolution survey questions, but he's got this one as well).
On the other hand, I have no reliable source whatsoever for anything I said about age 12 specializations. (I listened in to some teachers ranting who may or may not actually know a damn thing about the UK system).
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http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202443844888&School_District_Accused_of_Spying_on_Students_via_Home_Webcams
bad idea on so, so many levels.
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Why the fuck would you ever even think that is a good idea, let alone fund it, implement it or fucking SELL that software to a school for this shit? What the fucking fuck.
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http://deadspin.com/5476701/oregon-p...ry-eyes-update
Comical IotDs are the best IotDs.
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Having lived in Oregon for most of my life I can safely say I am not shocked.
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http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nba/news/story?id=4945104 (http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nba/news/story?id=4945104)
The NBA is taking a stand against the destructive behavior of straw-chewing, everyone.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/education/18educ.html?hp
kinda off-topic for iotd, but since we're on the subject of alternate school plans, here's something else more sensible afoot in the US. Not sure about the specifics, but I think something that gives high school education a definite sense of purpose could do a lot of good.
It's good that some districts are actually trying *new* ideas now. In this area the high schools are doing the same things wrong that they've been doing for ages.
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http://deadspin.com/5476701/oregon-p...ry-eyes-update
Comical IotDs are the best IotDs.
Obviously we're all just racist here in Oregon. When our white players... ahem... Steals from his classmates, chokes his girlfriend, drives severely drunk, or punches someone in the face we just let it slide. (Okay Southern Oregon and Eastern Oregon might be... but the Eugene area is probably one of the least racist in the country.)
High school athletes that are 3 star recruits or better should really have to take some kind of class teaching them that THEY ARE NOT GODS. Seriously... these dumbshits have actually been taught their whole lives that they are better than everyone else. Of course they think they're above the law. They're better than us normal people!
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Comical IotDs are the best IotDs.
True, but I still have to post this.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/27/us/27race.html?hp
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=2000121&topic=53624120: Nick Simmons copy/pastas Bleach to make his comic? OT plays the role of 4chan to the rescue.
Is the man a dirty cheat? You be the judge. http://community.livejournal.com/bleachness/446299.html
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Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. One of the things you look at when you're learning to be an artist is...art you admire. Copying it is one of the ways you develop a style you like. It's always embarrassing to have your hand caught so deep in the creative cookie jar, but unless he's making people pay for his work, I don't think we should care. Unless there's money changing hands, whether people want to read something that's in some ways blatantly copied from something else is up to them, I say.
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C'mon, dude. We had this conversation in IRC a couple nights ago. Originality is a farce; every "creative" work is just a combination of the author's/artist's/musician's influences. Being original is less important than being unoriginal in a new way.
For reference, I don't read manga, and could vaguely tell the difference between the two comics, and see how one influenced the other, but couldn't at all see where the artist had done a "direct trace" like one of the commenters said.
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Miki: He is charging for it.
Zenny: The livejournal blog shows a lot of meh ones that could well get away with the inspiration/borrowing argument and be fine, which is a shame, since it nulls their point. Some of those are really, really close to direct traces though. The first one is the best example, really, as are the two hand-to-head panels.
Honestly, examples like those aside, I would have been more than happy to just write it off as someone who needed to put a little more of their own spin on something. Combining that with some of these really, really, really close panel layouts/designs/poses and the apparent frequency though, and we start getting into more questionable territory. But hey, that's why I said you be the judge!
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Miki: He is charging for it.
Laaaaaaame.
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Some of those aren't so bad, but others are basically identical... the first Zaraki one being the most obvious. The fact that some of the text is identical is also pretty sketch. It's one thing to have extremely similar plots and what not... like someone said nothing is original anymore. It's a whole different issue when you have word for word copies of other words though.
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As an artist, specifically of anime-style artwork, I have to say that some of those are going too far with the blatant copying. Not just with the pose, but with the whole panel layout and character design, too. It's notable that people found a whole host of other manga that he copied panels from, so he's not just plagiarizing Bleach, though Bleach is the one where he copies most directly from. He needs to stop copying Bleach panels for his official works, but using a bit of inspiration from here and there is generally fine, and pretty common for the medium. I've seen a bunch of not-quite-copied panels in a bunch of the less famous manga I've picked up.
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Comical IotDs are the best IotDs.
True, but I still have to post this.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/27/us/27race.html?hp
The worst part of that article (And all of that was pretty bad) was the 40% termination figure on black pregancies. There are good reasons for the figure, but those reasons (Lack of education/birth control access/abuse) is bad enough in of itself.
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On the other hand, this is a guy approaching it more from a Comic Book side.
There you have things like this http://www.comicvine.com/homage-covers/12-43734/ (which are obviously ... much more tasteful), but you also have cool things like Deadpool/Deathstroke, any number of absolutely blatant complete and total unequivocal rip offs of famous characters in the industry (see any number of Wolverine/Spiderman/Superman or Batman rip offs with Spiderman himself being something of a Batman rip off initiallly).
Not to say this is really forgivable, but he is coming from an industry that direct rip offs are no unheard of and are far from subtle.
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It also doesn't help that every anime style looks a helluva lot like every other damn anime style ever. Though the live journal post did put up some more convincing pieces of evidence since the first time I got linked that earlier yesterday.
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American comic books, the general rules are: homages = ok, parodies = ok, copying character designs otherwise = poor taste. The Deadpool/Deathstroke thing is on reason (among many) Rob Liefeld has a reputation as a hack in the industry.
Panel-for-panel copying isn't something you'd see much of in US comics, or at least notice or care about, because panel-to-panel movements are much more abbreviated, so there's not as much to copy. (Go read Understanding Comics, it has a great breakdown of the different ways panels are treated in Asian as opposed to American/European comics.) Anyway, the panel-stealing is blatant enough to notice, and that's baaaad.
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It also doesn't help that every anime style looks a helluva lot like every other damn anime style ever. Though the live journal post did put up some more convincing pieces of evidence since the first time I got linked that earlier yesterday.
That's half the point of the style.
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http://ten.com.au/video-player.htm?channel=News+Daily&clipid=2683_news-violence-010310&bitrate=300&format=flash
Experts show that children are exposed to at least a hundred million thousand million thousand hundred thousand million hundred violent crimes against babies before the age of 2 because of violent video games like this GAME THAT IS FUCKING RATED 15+ and there is going to be a movement for harsher ratings for violent video games WHEN WE HAVE NO FUCKING R RATING FOR VIDEO GAMES.
Fuck you Australian media. Fuck you in the eyes.
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The thing that gets me is the "expert" who says the link is stronger than the link to smoking.
I tend to keep relatively up to date with the research, and there's no particular proven link, beyond the link of "anything violent from TV shows to movies to Cartoons to games causes a short-term increase in aggression right after watching it, but not any long-term effect."
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http://ten.com.au/video-player.htm?channel=News+Daily&clipid=2683_news-violence-010310&bitrate=300&format=flash
Experts show that children are exposed to at least a hundred million thousand million thousand hundred thousand million hundred violent crimes against babies before the age of 2 because of violent video games like this GAME THAT IS FUCKING RATED 15+ and there is going to be a movement for harsher ratings for violent video games WHEN WE HAVE NO FUCKING R RATING FOR VIDEO GAMES.
Fuck you Australian media. Fuck you in the eyes.
Well, we've just got to tough it out until the Boomers start dying off, and then games will just be another form of media. Unfortunately with the unstoppable advance of geriatric science and the fact they've squeezed everything they can out of the system and will continue to do so means that it will take a very long time.
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Oh there is so much more. That shop at the start of the video? Yeah that really looks open for business WHILE THERE IS COPS OUT THE FRONT.
The attack Angry Anderson mentions has had so much more wrong with it than violent video games.
And the expert is talking about violent media in general, not just video games, but that is all they ever fucking talk about. Oh and PLANNING an attack on civilians they mention. They are trying to be smart and avoiding noting that you can actively not take part in that mission with the terrorist plot where you are an undercover agent trying take down the organisation, you can skip the sequence, you can not shoot anyone, pretty sure you can even actively try to hinder it. So hey not wanting to be called on that bullshit you ROMG HELP PLAN THE ATTACK (which you know, you have no fucking input into in the game) and the act of planning things is not violent. The execution of the plan is, but planning it is not violent.
So again, fuck you media, fuck you.
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The thing that gets me is the "expert" who says the link is stronger than the link to smoking.
You get lung cancer from video games, not smoking. Duh?
EDIT: Bejeweled = low tar?
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The thing that gets me is the "expert" who says the link is stronger than the link to smoking.
You get lung cancer from video games, not smoking. Duh?
EDIT: Bejeweled = low tar?
The problem is, Bejeweled is very similar to meth.
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http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/03/02/brooklyn.babies.in.bars/index.html?hpt=C1
"As a stay-at-home dad, it can be kind of isolating. Bars, as much as they're places to drink, they're places to socialize and meet people," said Gross, 35, a freelance writer, an editor for the blog DadWagon and the columnist behind the Frugal Traveler in The New York Times. "I long for adult contact. ... I don't want to be excluded from the adult world."
Get out of the gene pool, you failure. Bringing a small child to a bar is the height of bad parenting.
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Get out of the gene pool, you failure. Bringing a small child to a bar is the height of bad parenting.
As a former resident of the neighborhood he lives in (where you visited me in New York, super) I can say that there exist bars in the area tame enough to make visiting one with a kid understandable.
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http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/03/02/brooklyn.babies.in.bars/index.html?hpt=C1
"As a stay-at-home dad, it can be kind of isolating. Bars, as much as they're places to drink, they're places to socialize and meet people," said Gross, 35, a freelance writer, an editor for the blog DadWagon and the columnist behind the Frugal Traveler in The New York Times. "I long for adult contact. ... I don't want to be excluded from the adult world."
Get out of the gene pool, you failure. Bringing a small child to a bar is the height of bad parenting.
I wouldn't bring a small child to a bar after seven (mostly because in Oregon, that is illegal) but plenty of them are no different than taking a small child to a Applebee's if you go during the afternoon, except that the drinks aren't watered and the food isn't awful.
This is, of course, a statement on Oregon, where it's illegal to serve drinks without food and thus, basically every bar serves at least dinner, if not lunch and breakfast.
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I have to agree with NotMiki here, Super. Just having a kid in a bar isn't a huge deal depending on the bar, the parent, and the people that frequent it. You can't really make a blanket statement here.
Edit: Apparently also with Rob.
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I'm more disappointed in the other people they interviewed. "OMG I can't drink a beer with a KID IN TEH BAR!!!!"
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People are disturbingly repressed. OMG CAN'T SMOKE IN FRONT OF A CHILD!!!!! Fuck that shit. Agreeing with NotJim and Rob here as well. In the middle of the day at lunch or shit even an early dinner? Yeah I would totally be fine with that at plenty of pubs since anywhere worth even thinking about at the times you would be out and about with a child are really tame dining places that sell beer. We aren't talking about going to one at 9 at night where it is full of people trying to fuck each other, it is people going to get a beer and steak at lunch/dinner or the like. Pubs are honestly pretty much just another cheap diner most of the day.
I also applaud stay at home parents going out and doing anything to get some kind of contact with another human being that is over the age of 16. You have no idea just how badly most stay at home parents need it.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/04/nyregion/04paterson.html?hp?hp
Governor Paterson went from 'running for reelection' last week to 'probably won't resign,' and that was BEFORE this latest hit. Way to replace Spitzer, dude.
EDIT: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/opinion/03wed1.html?ref=opinion
The Times is calling for his resignation. This editorial highlights the more serious stuff involving the coverup for his aide, not the minor (though totally inexcusable in the sense that there's absolutely no way he didn't know he was violating the ethics laws) ticket payment stuff.
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People are disturbingly repressed. OMG CAN'T SMOKE IN FRONT OF A CHILD!!!!! Fuck that shit. Agreeing with NotJim and Rob here as well. In the middle of the day at lunch or shit even an early dinner? Yeah I would totally be fine with that at plenty of pubs since anywhere worth even thinking about at the times you would be out and about with a child are really tame dining places that sell beer. We aren't talking about going to one at 9 at night where it is full of people trying to fuck each other, it is people going to get a beer and steak at lunch/dinner or the like. Pubs are honestly pretty much just another cheap diner most of the day.
Yes. There's a huge difference between bar & grill or restaurant with a bar and the club. Hell even a proper bar wouldn't be that bad. A little odd, but nobody would let the gits drink and you can't smoke inside bars anymore, so at worst it's really noisy and you're exposing the kid to some shit music.
Now, if someone (or some couple) brought a kid into a bar, and then proceded to leave them unsupervised by getting incoherently drunk, then you have some room to be swingin' 'round the judg'ment st'ck.
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So again, fuck you media, fuck you.
http://www.news.com.au/technology/video-game-cancer-group-funded-by-atkinson/story-e6frfro0-1225837330811
To follow up on that story! The piece of propaganda about how video games are the satan? Research funded for by one of the chief opponents to video game classification issues we have here in Australia, one Michael Atkinson (this being a man who fought against and succeeded in us not having an R 18+ rating on video games).
Dodgey dodgey dodgey. I am shocked at this revelation.
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It's like Australia is becoming all the worst stereotypes about America. You're already fatter than us.
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This guy is trumped by the fact that video game players make better surgeons. What's wrong with a little violence if you go to work and save someone's life?
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http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/flashback_anti_gay_roy_ashburn_history.php?ref=fpblg
for teh children.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/05/couple-let-baby-starve-to_n_487287.html
fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck
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Just another entry on my list of reasons that I am extremely racist against Koreans.
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http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/flashback_anti_gay_roy_ashburn_history.php?ref=fpblg
for teh children.
From the comments:
"Those who are down on homosexuals in public have been down on homosexuals in private."
Just from personal experience, this has been true so many times, it's not even funny.
Well, okay, it's a little funny.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/opinion/03wed1.html
http://www.newyorkpost.com/rw/nypost/2010/03/05/covers/front030510.jpg
How you know you're in trouble: both the New York Times and New York Post think it's time for you to go. I didn't even know those papers could agree.
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http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/massa_to_aide_what_i_really_ought_to_be_doing_is_fracking.php?ref=fpa
I'm beginning to suspect congress is like that city of women in Slayers NEXT. I'm eagerly anticipating the climax if that is indeed the case. Someone in the DL needs to run on a platform of being, like, the straightest person ever so they can investigate.
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I'm confused about whether the shameful revelation is that he's gay or that he's a BSG fan.
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The shocking allegation is that he is into homosexual robot sex because if there is one thing I know from BSG commercials is that everyone is having sex with hot chicks and all the hot chicks are alien robots and I know that it is a scientific FACT that all alien robots have penises.
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Let's continue with this theme shall we.
http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2010/03/proposed_law_would_deny_tax_br.php (http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2010/03/proposed_law_would_deny_tax_br.php)
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downside: ludicrously discriminatory.
upside: no more remakes of The Birdcage!
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http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/black-market_cosmetic_surgerie.html (http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/black-market_cosmetic_surgerie.html)
Six women from Jersey are hospitalized due to complications from what can only be described as "back alley ass surgery." This is why ass surgery needs to be kept legal!
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Or why being from New Jersey should be punishable by law.
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Or why being from New Jersey should be punishable by law.
Exhibit B: Meeple.
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Or why being from New Jersey should be punishable by law.
Nah, underground ass surgery happens in California too.
...Don't ask me why I know this >_>
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http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/black-market_cosmetic_surgerie.html (http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/black-market_cosmetic_surgerie.html)
Six women from Jersey are hospitalized due to complications from what can only be described as "back alley ass surgery." This is why ass surgery needs to be kept legal!
It's really hard to read that article without going through all the jokes about caulk and asses I can think of.
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http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/parents-win-bid-to-sterilise-daughter-20100309-ptlf.html
This should have been obvious.
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http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/black-market_cosmetic_surgerie.html (http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/black-market_cosmetic_surgerie.html)
Six women from Jersey are hospitalized due to complications from what can only be described as "back alley ass surgery." This is why ass surgery needs to be kept legal!
It's really hard to read that article without going through all the jokes about caulk and asses I can think of.
I think I made the best one in the OP: "back alley ass surgery."
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http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20100311/NEWS/3110346/Gay%20student%20alleges%20retaliation%20in%20nixed%20prom?GID=O/e4If5A8z8yukimKn3sJAXT1NXyMW0cTantJtLHpL0%3D
siiiiiiiiigh
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This makes me want to kick a redneck.
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The comments are great. So many logical fallacies in so little space! From slippery slope (if we let teh gayz do it, eventually we'll have to let NAMBLA do it too!) to ad hominem rhetorical questions (why does a high school prom make you think of perverted sex?)... this is great.
Well, except for the part where there are people seriously arguing that this is a slippery slope and there are people drawing "girl brings girl date and wears tux" to "perverted homo sex should be outlawed again." Oh, people.
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(why does a high school prom make you think of perverted sex?)
No comment.
Of course, saying that not having a prom keeps kids from committing sodomy is about as logical as a two year old who thinks that when you play peek-a-boo you disappear when your eyes are closed.
This kind of bullshit is why I support the ACLU.
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http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/local_news/new_york_state/chefs-call-proposed-new-york-salt-ban-absurd-20100310-akd
Dirty as I feel linking to Fox News....seriously, what the flying fuck, New York?
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There do not exist words pejorative enough to express my feelings on this matter.
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Aside from the inanity of that law, I should point out that you linked to a local Fox affiliate's website, not Fox News.
-
http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/local_news/new_york_state/chefs-call-proposed-new-york-salt-ban-absurd-20100310-akd
Dirty as I feel linking to Fox News....seriously, what the flying fuck, New York?
SALT IS TEH EVIL DESTROYER OF MEN! MUST BE STOPPED AT ALL COSTS.
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It's not even worth mentioning that the earlier you add salt in the cooking process, the less salt you need to produce the same effect.
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It'd be nice to see some sort of law that puts a cap on the amount of salt that can be put into restaurant food (it's quite easy to get 200-300% of recommended sodium intake from a single food item, which is frankly unacceptable) but a full ban deserves the respect it is getting.
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It'd be nice to see some sort of law that puts a cap on the amount of salt that can be put into restaurant food (it's quite easy to get 200-300% of recommended sodium intake from a single food item, which is frankly unacceptable) but a full ban deserves the respect it is getting.
I'd love to see the same thing on frozen food. I mean there's other stuff wrong with it healthwise, but the dealbreaker for me is usually the 90-120% of DV of sodium.
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Frankly, I don't want to see any regulation of salt until the need is absolutely verified. For frozen foods, the high sodium is, if I'm not mistaken, because of preservatives. I don't know that I'd want to force companies to go find something else to keep their food unspoiled, because god only knows what they might come up with.
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Frankly, I don't want to see any regulation of salt until the need is absolutely verified. For frozen foods, the high sodium is, if I'm not mistaken, because of preservatives. I don't know that I'd want to force companies to go find something else to keep their food unspoiled, because god only knows what they might come up with.
The number of actually effective preservatives are much lower than I expected when a friend and I researched it a while back.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_preservation
Various forms of packaging tricks, and....Salt, Sugar, Acid, Base, Alcohol. That's...pretty much it for stuff that you can add to food and stop all major bacteria.
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=928790&topic=53880974
Straight from the horses mouth. FF13 is a rip off of XS3.
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http://ps3.ign.com/articles/107/1079019p1.html
Good news, guys! The noble folks at EA have graciously decided to let you, yes YOU, beta test their games for a nominal fee. Now instead of free demos of mostly complete games, you too can play buggy, half finished beta versions for 15 dollars!
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In other good news you can choose to pay $15 to trial out games when they are at their shittiest and pan them out of hand and never play the full version! This is a clear strategy with amazing vision.
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http://www.comicsalliance.com/2010/03/23/marvel-announces-marvelman-classic-reprints/
A year after purchasing the rights to Miracleman, Marvel has announced the reprints that everyone was waiting for! Yes, the classic run by Mick Anglo, who created the character as a thinly-veiled ripoff of Captain Marvel and has nothing to do with the Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman stories that made the character famous again....wait, what the hell?
Edit: Oh, and they're also still insisting on calling him Marvelman. Because.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/23/jayson-williams-i-was-jus_n_509703.html
if there's a hall of fame of shitty excuses, I have a nominee.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/23/jayson-williams-i-was-jus_n_509703.html
if there's a hall of fame of shitty excuses, I have a nominee.
In fairness, I had a friend who took off drunk from a bar and disappeared. We found out he found a wrecked car and slept in it for the night! It can happen.
Now... I doubt it happened here since you know... they have surveillance of it. This is also the guy who made Dick Cheney's shotgun accident look mild.
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http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20100311/NEWS/3110346/Gay%20student%20alleges%20retaliation%20in%20nixed%20prom?GID=O/e4If5A8z8yukimKn3sJAXT1NXyMW0cTantJtLHpL0%3D
siiiiiiiiigh
http://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/court-rules-mississippi-school-violated-first-amendment-rights-lesbian-student
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http://abcnews.go.com/US/funeral-home-sends-dead-relatives-brain-family/story?id=9502105&page=2
we like to call this 'Negligent infliction of severe emotional distress'
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I love how they mention it would be too morbid for Stephen King. This sort of disturbing coincidence usually forms the basis of his novels.
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They are right on the fact that King couldn't write it, because something that awesome and win is beyond his scope (and Lovecraft wrote about brain in jars, not bags).
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They are right on the fact that King couldn't write it, because something that awesome and win is beyond his scope (and Lovecraft wrote about brain in jars, not bags).
Yes, well, you have to get with the times.
100 years ago, Canada had milk in jars. Now Canada has milk in bags. I don't see why brains should be any different!
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http://www.mylifeistwilight.com/
It's like the "fml" website, except with twilight fans. Quite a few of them are over the top stupid....
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check out this pic I'm so dark just like this site.
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Now Canada has milk in bags.
We do?
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Now Canada has milk in bags.
We do?
Most of Canada does, at any rate. BC may not, but Ontario certainly does. Better for the environment, etc.
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I think the operable word here is had. At least, I haven't seen milk in bags in years. It's all jugs and cartons these days.
I miss my milk in bags...
Then again, that could also just be a BC thing, which is another reason why BC needs to be more like the rest of the country. Now, as soon as I perfect my ray to make it snow here in the winter...
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Everyone knows that milk should come in jugs. >.> <.< >.>
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I think the operable word here is had. At least, I haven't seen milk in bags in years. It's all jugs and cartons these days.
I miss my milk in bags...
Then again, that could also just be a BC thing, which is another reason why BC needs to be more like the rest of the country. Now, as soon as I perfect my ray to make it snow here in the winter...
I saw milk in bags last christmas (which I spent in Ottawa) so....
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I think the operable word here is had. At least, I haven't seen milk in bags in years. It's all jugs and cartons these days.
I miss my milk in bags...
Then again, that could also just be a BC thing, which is another reason why BC needs to be more like the rest of the country. Now, as soon as I perfect my ray to make it snow here in the winter...
I saw milk in bags last christmas (which I spent in Ottawa) so....
I had milk in bags with my elementary school lunches in Texas. Does that make Texas just weird or Canadian?
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/26/drunk-man-arrested-for-tr_n_515276.html
Drunk man tries to revive opossum. Fortunately for him, it wasn't just playing dead.
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I think the operable word here is had. At least, I haven't seen milk in bags in years. It's all jugs and cartons these days.
I miss my milk in bags...
Then again, that could also just be a BC thing, which is another reason why BC needs to be more like the rest of the country. Now, as soon as I perfect my ray to make it snow here in the winter...
I saw milk in bags last christmas (which I spent in Ottawa) so....
I had milk in bags with my elementary school lunches in Texas. Does that make Texas just weird or Canadian?
Just weird. After all, it's obviously missing a good chunk of Canada's more awesome features.
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I think the operable word here is had. At least, I haven't seen milk in bags in years. It's all jugs and cartons these days.
I miss my milk in bags...
Then again, that could also just be a BC thing, which is another reason why BC needs to be more like the rest of the country. Now, as soon as I perfect my ray to make it snow here in the winter...
I saw milk in bags last christmas (which I spent in Ottawa) so....
I had milk in bags with my elementary school lunches in Texas. Does that make Texas just weird or Canadian?
More proof that Texas can't do anything right except execute people, actually.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/27/nick-levasseur-apology-an_n_516058.html
put that on the list of things you don't say once you take office.
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<_________________< I laughed.
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Disgusting.
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Tasteless but as he is not a National politician I don't think this should receive much attention regardless.
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I thought it was funny. Hah.
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I think we should just be happy enough that the population has aged far enough that we can have someone represent the people at any level of government who is aware of what the fuck Anime even is.
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I think we should just be happy enough that the population has aged far enough that we can have someone represent the people at any level of government who is aware of what the fuck Anime even is.
Meh, all you need is a kid between the ages of 10 and 25. Hell, Obama probably knows what Anime is.
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Found the comment rather funny... but probably a joke that would best be made around close friends only.
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That. Seriously, it could've come right out of #dl.
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http://dailycaller.com/2010/03/29/high-flyer-rnc-chairman-steele-suggested-buying-private-jet-with-gop-funds/
Once on the ground, FEC filings suggest, Steele travels in style. A February RNC trip to California, for example, included a $9,099 stop at the Beverly Hills Hotel, $6,596 dropped at the nearby Four Seasons, and $1,620.71 spent [update: the amount is actually $1,946.25] at Voyeur West Hollywood, a bondage-themed nightclub featuring topless women dancers imitating lesbian sex.
hahahahahahahahahaha
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http://dailycaller.com/2010/03/29/high-flyer-rnc-chairman-steele-suggested-buying-private-jet-with-gop-funds/
Once on the ground, FEC filings suggest, Steele travels in style. A February RNC trip to California, for example, included a $9,099 stop at the Beverly Hills Hotel, $6,596 dropped at the nearby Four Seasons, and $1,620.71 spent [update: the amount is actually $1,946.25] at Voyeur West Hollywood, a bondage-themed nightclub featuring topless women dancers imitating lesbian sex.
hahahahahahahahahaha
Paying that kind of money, they shouldn't be imitating anything. You should get the real fucking deal!
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And, really. Topless? Not even totally naked?
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And, really. Topless? Not even totally naked?
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/03/rnc_outreach_to_glbt_community.php?ref=fpblg
Best headline in relation to this:
RNC Outreach to GLBT Community?
Because the topless dancers would make out with each other, get it?
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And, really. Topless? Not even totally naked?
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/03/rnc_outreach_to_glbt_community.php?ref=fpblg
Best headline in relation to this:
RNC Outreach to GLBT Community?
Because the topless dancers would make out with each other, get it?
Well this is much better. Instead they're hiring staffers were are stupid/arrogant enough to think they can get away with spending 4 figures at this kind of club.
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http://www.oudaily.com/news/2010/mar/23/lawmaker-says-hate-crimes-bill-contains-error/
gay bashing: ur doing it wrong.
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“All crimes against another person have some level of hate in them, and people can be assured that our laws that protect people against crimes such as murder are sufficient to protect everyone.”
I couldn't help but to crack up in laughter at this. Hee. The law protects everyone equally. What world is that guy living in? Ha. Ha. Ha. ... ha. ... ha.
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Also "All crimes against another person have some level of hate in them" is the exact kind of hyperbole I make when I am being sarcastic. Just because there is some hate in most (ie not all, there is a level of hate in absolutely every instance of armed robbery? Bullshit. People commit Manslaughter or criminal negligence because they HATE YOU SO MUCH) crimes does not make every violent crime a hate crime.
And isn't the point of hate crime legislation there to add another variable on the levels of crime here since hate crimes are motivated by far more than your normal run of the mill murder and therefore more likely to repeat offend and whatnot?
Just bah.
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...I...what? What does this even accomplish.
I mean, making it legal to fire gays--that at least makes it easier for businesses by keeping them from getting sued. Sodomy laws--those at least could hypothetically reduce the transmission of AIDS and similar diseases. Anti Gay marriage laws--those...well...don't actually help anyone, but Gay Marriage is seen by some as an attack on religion in the same way that Evolution is seen by some as an attack on religion.
This, though? Who does this even benefit?
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People who want to commit some ethnic cleansings, duh.
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“All crimes against another person have some level of hate in them, and people can be assured that our laws that protect people against crimes such as murder are sufficient to protect everyone.”
I couldn't help but to crack up in laughter at this. Hee. The law protects everyone equally. What world is that guy living in? Ha. Ha. Ha. ... ha. ... ha.
"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal their bread."
- Anatole France
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1262250/Great-grandmother-tagged-selling-goldfish.html
'Let this conviction send out a message that we will not tolerate those who cause unnecessary suffering to animals. The council will always try to support pet and business owners so that they are able to care for their animals properly, but where they continually ignore the advice they are given, we will not hesitate to use our statutory powers.'
... excellent application of police resources, chaps.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXHV_pscgkI (video, language)
Whataburger is a chain hamburger restaurant in Texas and surrounding states. Note the size differential between the combatants.
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1262250/Great-grandmother-tagged-selling-goldfish.html
'Let this conviction send out a message that we will not tolerate those who cause unnecessary suffering to animals. The council will always try to support pet and business owners so that they are able to care for their animals properly, but where they continually ignore the advice they are given, we will not hesitate to use our statutory powers.'
... excellent application of police resources, chaps.
It doesn't get said enough even though we have some Brits here, so:
Don't take the Daily Mail seriously! They're like the retarded lovechild of the Weekly World News, The Hollywood Insider, and the Onion (if the Onion was written by a bunch of fucking monkeys).
Here is a helpful singalong: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eBT6OSr1TI
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXHV_pscgkI (video, language)
Whataburger is a chain hamburger restaurant in Texas and surrounding states. Note the size differential between the combatants.
The best part is in the background of the fight you hear a lady yell "order 44."
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1262250/Great-grandmother-tagged-selling-goldfish.html
'Let this conviction send out a message that we will not tolerate those who cause unnecessary suffering to animals. The council will always try to support pet and business owners so that they are able to care for their animals properly, but where they continually ignore the advice they are given, we will not hesitate to use our statutory powers.'
... excellent application of police resources, chaps.
It doesn't get said enough even though we have some Brits here, so:
Don't take the Daily Mail seriously! They're like the retarded lovechild of the Weekly World News, The Hollywood Insider, and the Onion (if the Onion was written by a bunch of fucking monkeys).
Here is a helpful singalong: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eBT6OSr1TI
Out of curiosity: is there a news source you take seriously? Because I assume they're all terrible in their own unique ways. The Onion is actually my primary source for news.
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This song is pretty cool.
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1262250/Great-grandmother-tagged-selling-goldfish.html
'Let this conviction send out a message that we will not tolerate those who cause unnecessary suffering to animals. The council will always try to support pet and business owners so that they are able to care for their animals properly, but where they continually ignore the advice they are given, we will not hesitate to use our statutory powers.'
... excellent application of police resources, chaps.
It doesn't get said enough even though we have some Brits here, so:
Don't take the Daily Mail seriously! They're like the retarded lovechild of the Weekly World News, The Hollywood Insider, and the Onion (if the Onion was written by a bunch of fucking monkeys).
Here is a helpful singalong: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eBT6OSr1TI
Out of curiosity: is there a news source you take seriously? Because I assume they're all terrible in their own unique ways. The Onion is actually my primary source for news.
BBC and Al Jazeera are both very good news outlets that manage to inform on meaningful events. The Daily Mail is a sensationalist rag that's reporting is only tangently related to reality.
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Yeah, just to comment there, the Daily Mail is pretty frequently referred to as the Daily Fail by... well, almost everyone. Including a lot of its readers. >.>
As far as reliable news goes? I tend to go with the BBC, yeah.
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A while ago (when the Abu Ghraib prison stuff was going on) I compared websites five major news sources: CNN, Fox News, Al Jazeera, BBC, and CBC.
CNN = BBC = Al Jazeera -- all pretty much the same stuff and the same tone.
CBC desensationalized things a little--while the above three went into explicit details on torture positions, CBC kept the gory details to a minimum and focused on the political fallout and implications.
Fox News had the same stuff as the first three, and in addition either had more information from military sources, or else they were the only ones who felt it was relevant to list by name every single Staff Seargeant who was being reprimanded over the incident.
If you specifically want to avoid sensationalism, I'd say CBC is your best bet. If you really want to understand a story, check multiple sources (and notably, check multiple sources that aren't just using the plain Associated Press feed--I know I've checked 10 smaller American news stations only to realize the story is word-for-word identical because they're just posting the Associated Press report). If you don't want to check the story in four places...there's several good news sources that all tend to report the same stuff (CNN, Al Jazeera etc).
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Eh. My problem with CNN is less sensationalism and more... focus, I guess? More times than I've cared to count I've checked CNN and the main news story they're promoting is something asinine like "WHAT THE AMERICAN IDOL JUDGES ARE REALLY SAYING" instead of something important. They HAVE stories on those issues most of the time, but it's only sometimes their headliner.
I will admit that that they're all fairly similar, though. Makes sense with Al Jazeera and the BBC, at least, since many of the initial staffers of Al Jazeera English were staff of a defunct BBC outlet. And when CNN reports on things people should give a shit about it is of a similar caliber.
Although CNN TV is nigh unwatchable nowadays. Their reporting of Michael Jackson's death really turned me off to them. After that happened the only "serious" programs seemed to be the hour of headlines and Fareed Zakaria's show. It may have cooled down again but eh. I don't have cable anymore.
EDIT: And even then it was still better than the Daily fucking Mail.
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And now for some Tea Party protesters who don't know how to spell.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pargon/sets/72157623594187379/
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/pargon/4468908929/in/set-72157623594187379/
Holy shit, that is some full blown Borat speak right there.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pargon/4469687240/in/set-72157623594187379/
ARGH WHAT WHAT NO. NO.
;fwejhf;ladsfasdf
THAT IS NOT WHAT WENT WRONG WITH GERMANY IN THE 30s ARKLSDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDdddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/pargon/4468908929/in/set-72157623594187379/
Holy shit, that is some full blown Borat speak right there.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pargon/4469687240/in/set-72157623594187379/
ARGH WHAT WHAT NO. NO.
;fwejhf;ladsfasdf
THAT IS NOT WHAT WENT WRONG WITH GERMANY IN THE 30s ARKLSDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDdddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd
Headslap.
I wonder if I could make money by editing signs for these people so they look less stupid on the air.
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http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20100311/NEWS/3110346/Gay%20student%20alleges%20retaliation%20in%20nixed%20prom?GID=O/e4If5A8z8yukimKn3sJAXT1NXyMW0cTantJtLHpL0%3D
siiiiiiiiigh
http://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/court-rules-mississippi-school-violated-first-amendment-rights-lesbian-student
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/04/05/ACLU_Investigating_Fake_Prom/
So the girls get to go to a private prom anyway right?
Yeah...and then the majority of the student body goes to another prom they didn't tell them about, leaving them all by themselves at this prom with a handful of other students, a few of which are 'learning disabled', whatever that means.
What an incredibly petty and childish thing to do.
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Well you know what they say, this is America and we firmly believe in the principle of Separate but Equal.
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BRB, kicking all of Mississippi in the testicles.
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http://forums.warhammeronline.com/warhammer/board/message?board.id=p2psupport&thread.id=15916&view=by_date_ascending&page=1
So this should be a pretty good documentation for the death of an MMO. Warhammer Online has had customers charged on days that are not their days of account renewal. They have been charged multiple times. So you have some people up to a couple of thousand dollars taken from their accounts in error. Naturally there is the expected drama from that and it is all pretty fail.
But this is the internet, so what we are looking at here is the trolling.
Nothing like claims like "If you couldn't afford this you should have been working a second job instead of playing a game", because if you can't plan to handle being robbed then YOU SUCK AT ECONOMICS AND DO NOT DESERVE TO LIVE. I also love the implication that working 70 hour weeks makes you a better person (Yes yes, I know that is what you should be doing in AMERICA. EARNING MONEY. WORKING HARD. DYING STUPIDLY). I just love it when people are blaming the victim. Especially when some of the people charged had cancelled their subscriptions for the game, so you know they were not paying to play a game.
OH and bonus points for people with severe cases of battered wife syndrome that have had this happened before and are still going to stick with the game. Also the ones that are pulling a "Mythic aren't at fault!!!!!" which doesn't change the situation at all and is blindly ignoring the fact that these people were customer's of Mythic/EA and they have been charged by an agent on behalf of Mythic/EA which pretty solidly places the blame on their shoulders.
Lots of fail here.
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Nothing like claims like "If you couldn't afford this you should have been working a second job instead of playing a game", because if you can't plan to handle being robbed then YOU SUCK AT ECONOMICS AND DO NOT DESERVE TO LIVE.
That's even easier to say when mommy and daddy are paying for your monthly subscription. But yeah, the base Adam Smith fellatio capitalist mindset ingrained there is entertaining, if only because it's so goddamn removed from practical reality.
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Nothing like claims like "If you couldn't afford this you should have been working a second job instead of playing a game",
Man, I work and apartment split and pay bills, and I'll say. A random, unexpected $600? Depending on the time of the month and expenses, that could easily overdraft me several times. So, to them I say a hearty, "Fuck you."
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I normally live pretty comfortabley, but an unexpected $600 out the arse would throw me off for a bit as well.
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Gref, you don't need to bother saying that. Even people who have the money may not have it in their checking account. Don't concern yourself with the irredeemably stupid of the internet; attention only makes them more likely to keep doing it.
on a sadly completely unrelated note from the real world (if Wisconsin counts), a WI District Attorney has sent teachers a letter saying they may be prosecuted for teaching high school students contraceptive use, despite the current state curriculum, recently approved by the governor, allowing teaching of contraceptive use if it's paired with advice to remain abstinent, etc. The charge, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, which he says is relevant because in WI it's a misdemeanor for kids under 18 to have sex at all. The DA swears this is unrelated to any potential run for higher office.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2010/04/11/wis_teachers_students_mystified_by_sex_education_warning/?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed1
But that's not the dumbest part, oh no! Feast your eyes on this, and try not to let the logic sting too bad.
In Wisconsin, children younger than 17 who have sex with each other can be prosecuted as juveniles. Seventeen-year-olds who have sex with each other can be convicted as adults of a misdemeanor.
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I think that gets them put on the sex offenders list too, which is a fantastic way to completely ruin their lives.
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http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/04/tea_party_gov_candidates_racist_sexually_graphic_e.php
the party of family values
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To any of the ladies I've offended, I apologize. I say this to the men out there who have never opened a graphic image on the Internet: Don't vote for me. For those who have, I welcome your vote.
So guys, you never are offended by sexist and racist remarks and women never are racist, look at pornography or forward each other inappropriate emails right?
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http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2010/04/shiv_and_let_shiv_making_peace.html
[The new Kick-Ass trailer] goes even deeper, showing Hit Girl murdering entire roomfuls of bad guys.
While swearing.
If you guessed that her swearing is the thing that upset parents' groups, you'd be right.
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To any of the ladies I've offended, I apologize. I say this to the men out there who have never opened a graphic image on the Internet: Don't vote for me. For those who have, I welcome your vote.
So guys, you never are offended by sexist and racist remarks and women never are racist, look at pornography or forward each other inappropriate emails right?
I know alot of repubs, including a fair number of my own damn family, who think that, yes. Men should never be offended by crude humor unless it's a *personal* insult and it's impossible for (white)women to be low-brow. They really fucking think this way. It makes me want to slam my head into a desk.
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To any of the ladies I've offended, I apologize. I say this to the men out there who have never opened a graphic image on the Internet: Don't vote for me. For those who have, I welcome your vote.
So guys, you never are offended by sexist and racist remarks and women never are racist, look at pornography or forward each other inappropriate emails right?
I know alot of repubs, including a fair number of my own damn family, who think that, yes. Men should never be offended by crude humor unless it's a *personal* insult and it's impossible for (white)women to be low-brow. They really fucking think this way. It makes me want to slam my head into a desk.
Wasn't there a whole episode of the UK Office about this?
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DEAR LORD, THIS YEAR YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE ACTOR, PATRICK SWAYZIE. YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE ACTRESS, FARAH FAWCETT. YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE SINGER, MICHAEL JACKSON. I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW, MY FAVORITE PRESIDENT IS BARACK OBAMA. AMEN.
Regardless of your opinion of the president, this Facebook group is full of disgraceful pieces of shit. Wishing someone was dead is just not cool. Some of my friends joined them and it makes me want to remove all of them. >_>
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There you go paying attention to people on the internet again. Regardless of what men and women should or should not be offended by on a fundamental level, I think we can all agree that, practically speaking, it's a waste of time to be offended by internet posts (present company excluded, of course).
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But they are my friends! Why are they doing this?! Despair.
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http://deadspin.com/5518968/milledgeville-officer-said-woman-was-making-up-her-rape-accusation The entire fiasco with roethlisberger is a sordid mess. I'm however singling out the police officer who took the report for stupid above and beyond the call of duty. Unshockingly the man 'resigned' from the police force after this hit the media.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8627335.stm <-- A bit of a screw-up! A pretty light-hearted Idiot of the Day.
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http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2010/04/18/elderly-california-gay-couple-forcibly-separated-abused-robbed-by-county-officials
I'll let the link speak for itself.
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DEAR LORD, THIS YEAR YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE ACTOR, PATRICK SWAYZIE. YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE ACTRESS, FARAH FAWCETT. YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE SINGER, MICHAEL JACKSON. I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW, MY FAVORITE PRESIDENT IS BARACK OBAMA. AMEN.
Regardless of your opinion of the president, this Facebook group is full of disgraceful pieces of shit. Wishing someone was dead is just not cool. Some of my friends joined them and it makes me want to remove all of them. >_>
Eh, we need a whole generation to die before any of us get to affect political change, so you might as well start wishing too.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8627335.stm <-- A bit of a screw-up! A pretty light-hearted Idiot of the Day.
Late, but suffice to say I am going to be looking around and seeing if I can find a copy of this.
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http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/04/23/sec.porn/index.html
gj SEC
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=945075&topic=54349986
Pretty much everyone in this topic could die overnight and humanity would be better for it.
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Anything involving "GameFAQs" and "a list" is destined to fail.
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http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/04/county-gop-get-democratic-rep-betty-sutton-out-of-the-house----and-back-in-the-kitchen.php
"I'm not sure that it was intended -- in fact I'm positive that it was not in intended to be sexist," said [County GOP chairman Bill Heck]. "In fact, it was speaking to the people of that district, and not intended to be a sexist comment."
Uh huh.
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lol
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-ml-iran-earthquakes-promiscuity,0,6333394.story (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-ml-iran-earthquakes-promiscuity,0,6333394.story)
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The only proper response. (http://www.blaghag.com/2010/04/in-name-of-science-i-offer-my-boobs.html)
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The only proper response to THAT. (http://knittingcrochet.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978198210&grpId=3659174697244816)
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Illegal url? >_>
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Fixed.
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Mm. Delicious, delicious irony~
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Or.. opportunity. More sluttiness! More earthquakes! WIPE THEM OFF THE MAP WITH YOUR MAMMARY POWERED TECTONIC SHIFTS! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/26/gay-dog-refused-entry-to_n_552543.html
The moral of this little tale: Grefter's people can't talk. But we knew that already.
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The truth comes out? The US' Earthquake Machine is actually our large, promiscuous female population?
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They thought it had been desexed to make it gay? Man how the hell does that thought process even work? To be fair, this was in SA, the state with the capital city that is the City of Churches and is notorious for being chock full of old people and being probably the most depressing capital we have (highest rate of youth gambling on poker machines in the country).
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http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AvXj1s5dOTxg4LqdhEgjFQpDubYF?slug=ms-trippintuesday042710
The best thing about this one is that there's several (http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/03/02/team-asks-mccoy-g-string-or-jock-strap/) other (http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/03/01/bucs-coach-tried-to-defuse-deserter-question-of-rolle/) links (http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=ArrakhZqgwy20F6bxNKLSqSr0op4?slug=ms-gerhartstereotype042010) to similar idiots.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6978779.html
*sigh* See...this is why I hate living in Texas...
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I find it interesting that the article seems written with the intent of vilifying the judge but gets the exact opposite reaction from the user comments.
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Must be from the folks who did show up.
To me, it goes both ways. Don't be a dick about jury duty, and try not to make potential jurors cry too hard.
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I'm actually on the fence about it. The girl SHOULD have pointed out she was a full-time student, but at the same time...chains weren't really all that necessary.
Plus, the town paper is kinda biased...
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Yeah, judges need to be a bit more thick-skinned than to get mad over something like this. How are we supposed to trust their judgment if they get so pissy about their personal authority?
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http://hamptonroads.com/2010/04/cuccinelli-opts-more-modest-state-seal
I was told that's not angering enough, so here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/30/arizona-ethnic-studies-cl_n_558731.html
And apparently that one's too sobering so...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/30/topless-protest-maine_n_559029.html
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=945075&topic=54349986
Pretty much everyone in this topic could die overnight and humanity would be better for it.
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=956857&topic=54196161
I need to stop checking Gamefaqs message boards for things I am playing.
Edit - ARGH
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=956857&topic=54230941
y22232
Posted 4/4/2010 8:34:48 PM
message detail
its because sadly i am the only DECENT person in this forum who is true to himself and others.
i am just angry because you are not for yourselves and not really true.
you are to please the companies.
i am not doing it. i dont go with flow.
i am my own person. i am not afraid.
its a good day to do what has to be done by me and help my brother to defeat the enemys
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HAH! God doesnt like this. and i'm sure he doesnt like them either
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sadly i am the only DECENT person in this forum who is true to himself and others.
i am just angry because you are not for yourselves and not really true.
you are to please the companies.
i am not doing it. i dont go with flow.
i am my own person. i am not afraid.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/03/man-dies-after-eel-is-ins_n_560842.html
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. . .
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It's all fun and games until someone gets a live sea creature shoved up their rectum.
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Yeah, had heard about that, considered posting it if only because my favorite part is "reportedly dies".
I mean, I feel sorry for the dude, but come on, you've either died or you haven't, or you're NEB. And as far as I know NEB doesn't go for eels.
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http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/05/01/2010-05-01_jury_acquits_accused_rapist_rules_womans_skinny_jeans_so_tight_she_must_have_hel.html
gj Australia.
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Dude, have you ever tried to take those things off? I'd believe it as a defense.
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Depends if we're talking "all the way off" or "enough off to access genitals". From my (albeit limited experience) with skinny jeans, it's the legs that are a huge pain to get out of, not the hips (which tend to be so low cut that they don't even narrow at the top).
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Man I think that may have almost ruined one of my favourite Powderfinger songs. Good thing it is about a person called Skinny Jean not actual skinny jeans. I also have no defense for my country or that kind of shit. What the fuck jury? If one person can put them on then sure as shit one person can get them off.
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Isn't that... I could swear I've heard of several cases like that.
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Another such case is noted in the article (from fucking KOREA, seriously jury, what the FUCK?), that doesn't stop it from being one more reason everyone needs to buy a gun and I need to be given world scaling mind control abilities.
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but dude I mean if she was wearing tight jeans she was just ASKING to get laid am i right guys i am right HIGH FIVE!
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/06/rolando-negrin-full-body_n_566465.html
...really, guys?
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Welp, I guess the separations processor who sits across from me has some comic relief coming in the form of this guy's termination letter.
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Hey at least he didn't go on a shooting spree, that shit is half of the key to what makes people do it.
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http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/why-the-state-legislature-failed-to-pass-a-law-banning-bestiality/1092905
to sum up: It's legal to fuck goats in Florida as long as you do it nicely, because the topic is too icky for the state legislature to talk about, much less criminalize.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/06/rolando-negrin-full-body_n_566465.html
...really, guys?
Those scanners need to go die in a fire. From what I heard, during testing of those scanners, they didn't force their female colleagues to get scanned because they didn't want to embarrass them. Seriously, shouldn't that have been a red flag right there?
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http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local-beat/Dirty_Dancing_Ban_at_Prom_Upsets_Students_Philadelphia.html
What? Seriously what?
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Dude, have you ever tried to take those things off? I'd believe it as a defense.
Reference: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Season 5 finale: "The Gang Reignites the Rivalry." They have to burn them off.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/28/us/28abortion.html?src=me&ref=general
so much for the idea that doctors aren't allowed to deceive patients
A second measure passed into law on Tuesday prevents women who have had a disabled baby from suing a doctor for withholding information about birth defects while the child was in the womb.
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BUT THEN THEY MIGHT GO AND GET ABORTIONS AND THAT IS ILLEGAL CIATO.
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“Maybe someday these babies will grow up to be police officers and arrest bad people, or will find a cure for cancer.”
Or maybe they will become bad people themselves, since their parents didn't want them in the first place and won't give them a proper upbringing.
Good attempt at the save by the governor at least.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/28/us/28abortion.html?src=me&ref=general
so much for the idea that doctors aren't allowed to deceive patients
A second measure passed into law on Tuesday prevents women who have had a disabled baby from suing a doctor for withholding information about birth defects while the child was in the womb.
Playing Devil's Advocate a bit here, but in certain cases I actually support something similar. I know there's high schools in Vancouver where the gender ratio is 62%-38%, because certain parents get an abortion if they have a girl. I also know that my cousin-in-law in Manitoba, the lab technician refused to tell her the gender of the baby during the ultrasound. Thinking on it: this measure was probably put into place in Manitoba precisely to prevent "abort all girls" strategies, and it seems like a remarkably elegant way to combat the problem.
That said, my sense of anti-discrimination doesn't cover, say, Down's Syndrome. I'm cool with laws to protect female fetuses, but not Down's Syndrome fetuses. I'm cool with laws to protect against gender discrimination in hiring, but I don't think that's realistic for Down's Syndrome hiring. I'm cool with scholarships for women in Science, but not so much for Down's Syndrome people in Science.
I guess I'm just not cool like Sarah Palin.
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I know there's high schools in Vancouver where the gender ratio is 62%-38%, because certain parents get an abortion if they have a girl.
Canada: The New China?
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(potentially contraversial views warning, I guess. Serious subject matter for IotD topic standards)
I know there's high schools in Vancouver where the gender ratio is 62%-38%
I'm highly skeptical of this claim, as I've taught at every high school in the city and haven't seen evidence of this. (And it's something I keep track of, because I notice the fact that there are more girls in the higher-level math classes and more boys in the lower-level, in general.) Can you PM me your source for this? I doubt anyone else cares about specific Vancouver high schools, so. <.<
Still, that's distracting from the main issue. I'm not sure how I feel about parents choosing to abort based on a child's gender but if you twisted my arm I'd say ultimately it's their decision (and if people are choosing not to have girls, maybe we should treat the problem rather than the symptom, that being the way girls are viewed in e.g. Chinese society). And regardless of how I feel, a doctor should not be able to lie to a patient out of his own beliefs or press his or her own beliefs on patients; my father (who is a doctor) and my brother (who is a few steps from being one) were both pretty much appalled at this thought. It's part of the profession. This would include, I think, the belief that abortions should not happen for (reason x). The law (Canadian law anyway) is pretty clear that justification isn't needed to be provided.
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The troublesome part of allowing people freedom is they don't always use it the way you'd like. I'm pro-choice, and to me that means I support people's ability to pick and choose which fetus they want to bring into the world on any criterion they see fit, whether I approve of their methods or not. And mc, there's a principled way to have laws that protect disability as well as gender: allow discrimination only if the disability or gender makes people unfit for the task (yes, there are jobs for which gender should be a legitimate consideration. think actors. or Hooters waitresses, I guess.)
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(potentially contraversial views warning, I guess. Serious subject matter for IotD topic standards)
I know there's high schools in Vancouver where the gender ratio is 62%-38%
I'm highly skeptical of this claim, as I've taught at every high school in the city and haven't seen evidence of this. (And it's something I keep track of, because I notice the fact that there are more girls in the higher-level math classes and more boys in the lower-level, in general.) Can you PM me your source for this? I doubt anyone else cares about specific Vancouver high schools, so. <.<
Still, that's distracting from the main issue. I'm not sure how I feel about parents choosing to abort based on a child's gender but if you twisted my arm I'd say ultimately it's their decision (and if people are choosing not to have girls, maybe we should treat the problem rather than the symptom, that being the way girls are viewed in e.g. Chinese society). And regardless of how I feel, a doctor should not be able to lie to a patient out of his own beliefs or press his or her own beliefs on patients; my father (who is a doctor) and my brother (who is a few steps from being one) were both pretty much appalled at this thought. It's part of the profession. This would include, I think, the belief that abortions should not happen for (reason x). The law (Canadian law anyway) is pretty clear that justification isn't needed to be provided.
Agree with this strongly. No matter what your role as a healthcare provider, you should not ever lie to your patient. This law fails from the economics side of it as well to me in a bad way (Ordering medically unneeded tests! Score!. The techs and machinery for tests like these are not cheap). You're creating a situation where an often desperate woman can't trust her doctor thanks to a law that isn't based on medical needs, but the author's own moral beliefs.
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(and if people are choosing not to have girls, maybe we should treat the problem rather than the symptom, that being the way girls are viewed in e.g. Chinese society)
Well sure, there's a lot of societal problems with how women are viewed in even western societies, even if most westerners will draw the line before abortion. I've had several female friends in managerial positions who had problems with underlings that assumed they were not competent, that would consequently go around the chain of command and talk to the supervisor and not her, even a case where the underlings thought she slept her way to the top (and she definitely didn't).
How exactly do you go about changing society's perception, though? We can legislate people not to discriminate, but we can't legislate how people feel.
And regardless of how I feel, a doctor should not be able to lie to a patient out of his own beliefs or press his or her own beliefs on patients
Sure, I'll agree. However, I'll note that there's a difference between the doctor lying based on personal judgment, and a doctor saying "we're legally not allowed to tell you the gender." The latter is not a lie, nor is it intentionally trying to deceive the patient the way saying nothing when there is something that could be said is a deception--since in the latter case the patient doesn't even know if there's an element they should be worried about.
This law fails from the economics side of it as well to me in a bad way (Ordering medically unneeded tests! Score!. The techs and machinery for tests like these are not cheap).
That I definitely agree with.
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Super raises an excellent point on the cost of the tests I hadn't even considered.
However, I'll note that there's a difference between the doctor lying based on personal judgment, and a doctor saying "we're legally not allowed to tell you the gender."
The Manitoba law that makes it illegal for doctors to tell a potential mother the sex of her child is... reasonable, though not one I would support personally. That's not what this is, though: it's effectively a law that makes it legal for the doctor to lie, e.g. telling the mother the child will be a boy when he or she knows it will actually be a girl. And I would find such a law appalling just as I do this.
How exactly do you go about changing society's perception, though? We can legislate people not to discriminate, but we can't legislate how people feel.
Well yeah if it were that easy we'd have done it already. Still, with anti-discrimination laws you have to decide to draw a line somewhere. In general, they aren't very effective at changing perceptions, just sometimes the symptoms are so egregious (e.g. a woman being passed over for a job for which she is more qualified just because she is female) that they need to be legislated against while the long-term fixes are slower in coming (but certainly are coming; as much as things now could be better, they're a hell of a lot better than a generation ago). On the other hand I don't feel parents choosing the gender of their child to be especially egregious.
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An ultrasound without health insurance costs 200~ dollars, with the figures I'm seeing quoted. It is a nasty monetary incentive to avoid abortion when you already consider that it is an option of last resort. The entire thing pretty much fails across the board to me, but the waste of resources here at a time when we are trying to improve our healthcare systems pisses me off royally. The Oklahoma law is worse, as it puts the doctor in the position of having to goddamn play morality police with his patient, who is trying to make an extremely difficult choice.
This isn't to say that abortion doesn't have a profound social impact, even ignoring the obvious morality questions. Look at Russia's not so awesome 45% abortion rate (Legal abortions only) and negative population growth. But I'm getting afield. This law is stupid.
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An ultrasound without health insurance costs 200~ dollars without insurance, with the figures I'm seeing quoted.
Hmm...*does some research* seems I've had some misconceptions: for some reason I'd thought Abortions costed $700 and there were laws against insurance companies covering them in the US. A quick google search clams more like $250-$500 for the cost of the abortion, and many states have laws requiring abortions to be covered. So...I was either wrong or out of date, and yeah an extra $200 is actually a pretty sizeable increase.
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This isn't to say that abortion doesn't have a profound social impact, even ignoring the obvious morality questions. Look at Russia's not so awesome 45% abortion rate (Legal abortions only) and negative population growth.
You say that like it is a bad thing.
And this isn't just them playing morality police. This is some straight up Ministry of Love shit right here.
Though other states have passed similar measures requiring women to have ultrasounds, Oklahoma’s law goes further, mandating that a doctor or technician set up the monitor so the woman can see it and describe the heart, limbs and organs of the fetus.
That isn't telling people how they should think or informing your patient. That is straight up emotional blackmail in a highly vulnerable point in a person's life. Fuck these people, fuck their rhetoric and fuck their propaganda. I am disgusted by the kinds of shit these people are willing to do to try and prove a point.
Also lawl small government.
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This isn't to say that abortion doesn't have a profound social impact, even ignoring the obvious morality questions. Look at Russia's not so awesome 45% abortion rate (Legal abortions only) and negative population growth.
You say that like it is a bad thing.
Considering the fertility rate in the country, it is a bad thing. Russia and the eastern bloc is already having serious problems thanks to this.
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If more old people would die, we wouldn't be screwed either way we go.
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http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20005157-504083.html
http://www.freep.com/article/20100517/NEWS01/100517037/1003/Fieger-The-shot-was-fired-from-outside-Aiyana-home
......
it's moments like this where i completely give up. I absolutely hate fucking society, period. this is the sort of shit that will be skimmed past after six months max, just like so many other tragedies just like it.
and "the gun went off"? really? pardon my ignorance of guns, but i thought you had about ten different safeguards to make sure a gun could not just "go off", and that a very decent amount of force and thus intent would have to go off to kill -a sleeping child-.
fuck humanity straight in their collective ass.
edit:
to step back from the immediate events is to see what happens in communities who internalize the corporate military worldview that some people are expendable. the way we function as an economy that places profit first is that it’s normal for people in uniform to throw bombs into the home of civilians and shoot children.
an economy that valued people first could never justify those tactics.
source: http://adriennemareebrown.net/blog/?p=1423
this is about all I have to say on this matter, or any of these matters. and yeah, I'm sorry, it does return to cost, it does return to economics, it does return to "most cost-effective results" and not "most human-effective results". so.
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If you want to say that accountability and perhaps punishment for the cop who shot her doesn't add up to justice, then there's no justice in this case, in the same way there never is when someone gets hurt or killed, because injury and death only go one way. In fact, if those don't add up to justice, then there is never justice, because justice doesn't turn back the clock, just tries its best to make it seem like it does.
I dunno. A lot of what we do is most effective in ways other than ones that preserve human life. Human life would best be preserved by all cars having limiters that prevented you from driving them at over 15 miles an hour. That'd definitely cut down on fatal accidents. Hell, the best way to preserve your life is to do your very best to never leave your house. Safer that way. But we value the quality of our lives over these risks of death both to ourselves and to others. At least, anyone who's ever driven over the speed limit does.
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The thing is, that punishment's never going to go beyond the hypothetical.
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Keep track of it, Shale. Find out for yourself. Maybe you're right, and either way it may take years to know, but if it's important to know, follow up on it.
I guess what I mean is, the way we look at this tragedy is through the lens of popular perception. Cops don't care about black people. Cops can get away with anything. America is a shoot-first culture. We're obsessed with our 15 minutes of fame, and when the cameras are on we do our best to be notices, and damn the consequences. We have all that rattling around in our heads, and when we see this tragedy, these are the thoughts we respond with. But if we never check, never bother to find out, in a sense we're giving in to that shallowness.
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Thanks to this site (http://www.theagitator.com/2006/11/25/context-for-kathryn-johnston/) getting me (morbidly) interested in the topic, I've been following stories on accidental police shootings for a few years now. I honestly can't remember a single case when a uniformed police officer shoots an innocent person - acting on official business or not, although that certainly doesn't hurt - and faces any discipline stronger than suspension without pay. I may be misremembering the "without pay" part. As a bonus, if police get shot under the exact same circumstances, the shooter will face the death penalty.
(Or, you can just refer to that story from last year where police shot an unarmed fireman in court and the only thing that happened was that the fireman was charged with battery)
Edit: No, that's not true. The shooters in the Kathryn Johnston case got jail time.
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Wow. Good for you.
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(And yes, obviously, I will be keeping track of it. Would be very happy to be wrong, don't expect it'll come up.)
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This is why I will never ever own a gun or be a cop, because if handling a gun is anything like, say, programming, eventually I'm going to have some ridiculous dumb-blond derp moment (like this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1_EoRZOVes)). Thing is, you can't just go quickly fix gun mistakes like you can quickly fix code.
The risk of stuff like this is why you couldn't pay me to be a cop. Having something like that eating at my conscience is just not worth the risk. As a result, I can somewhat understand cops who shoot people usually getting off somewhat light (like suspended without pay). I mean, the risk to moral conscience is one thing...but imagine being a parent of two kids--would you really do a job where if you get too jumpy once ever during your career that you'd get thrown in jail?
Perhaps some people would, actually--perhaps some people would be cocky enough to think they'll never screw up. But then again, is it a good idea to recruit super arrogant people who think they can't screw up?
Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying there aren't legitimate cases of police brutality. I'm just not sure "more punishment" is ideal considering the bigger picture.
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There's an enormous fucking difference between "more punishment" and "Any punishment at all". Suspension without pay for shooting an innocent when it's your fucking duty to protect and serve is not a proper reprimand. Perhaps if SOME trigger-happy/jumpy cops faced some consequences for their actions there'd be fewer cops. Fuck their kids--the system doesn't spare to any meaningful degree the kids of people that are mistakenly murdered, So your logic is utterly fucking flawed, MC.
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If you are going to look for a case of excessive force here you would be looking at throwing a flashbang into a building with multiple people in it when you are going after a single suspect.
That is all I am going to say on this matter.
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and "the gun went off"? really? pardon my ignorance of guns, but i thought you had about ten different safeguards to make sure a gun could not just "go off", and that a very decent amount of force and thus intent would have to go off to kill -a sleeping child-.
All guns sold in the United States have to pass drop-testing to make sure they can't just go off accidentally if you drop them. You know, like they do in movies but never in real life. The safety on the police-issue standard Beretta is a mechanism that blocks the pin from impacting the cartridge, making it impossible to fire with the safety on. You'd need to have decided to aim a loaded, prepared gun at something, which is the same decision as deciding to kill that thing.
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Say what you will about the man, but if there's anything I'm willing to trust Rob on, it's
bird law gun knowledge.
Also, holy shit actually READ the fucking link Tai posted. Jesus CHRIST, MC, you're advocating that punishment isn't the right course of action? Fuck that. You should damn well know the risks of what you do when you sign up for the job, and know the consequences of your fucking actions. The problem is that there AREN'T any goddamn consequences for police with itchy trigger fingers--maybe if these assholes had to face some goddamn jail time or a loss of their career when they kill someone they would BE LESS FUCKING INCLINED TO HAVE ITCHY TRIGGER FINGERS.
Can you tell that I don't like cops very much? And this stupid ass double standard applied to them is a good 75% of why.
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You'd need to have decided to aim a loaded, prepared gun at something, which is the same decision as deciding to kill that thing.
From the victims' testimony, he pointed the gun at the wall of an occupied house, which is...I'm pretty sure that breaks gun safety rules they don't even have yet.
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Cases like this, we need to differentiate between making choices that are wrong in hindsight and ones that are wrong at the time of their making because they create an unacceptable risk. Only the latter kind of mistake is what we should punish. Not every cop who shoots a 7-year-old girl deserves punishment. It's possible for that to happen without the cop doing anything morally wrong at all in some circumstances, and if they haven't done anything morally wrong, they don't deserve to be punished, no matter the consequences. But look at the facts in this case and it's clear as day this was a choice that was morally unacceptable, and the cops deserve severe punishment for it that reflects the gravity of their culpability.
In NY, by the way, killing someone by shooting at a house you know to be occupied for no justifiable reason is reckless homicide, which is Manslaughter in the 2nd Degree, a grade C felony with no minimum sentence and a maximum sentence of 15 years. Police have a special defense for the use of force while making an arrest, but it does not apply to reckless conduct that injures an innocent party. See NYPL 15.05(3), 125.15(1), 35.30(1)(a), 35.35(2) if you want the details.
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Cases like this, we need to differentiate between making choices that are wrong in hindsight and ones that are wrong at the time of their making because they create an unacceptable risk. Only the latter kind of mistake is what we should punish. Not every cop who shoots a 7-year-old girl deserves punishment. It's possible for that to happen without the cop doing anything morally wrong at all in some circumstances, and if they haven't done anything morally wrong, they don't deserve to be punished, no matter the consequences.
Sure, I'll agree with that.
But look at the facts in this case and it's clear as day this was a choice that was morally unacceptable, and the cops deserve severe punishment for it that reflects the gravity of their culpability.
And now we run across my mistrust of the media and news circus. The lawyer says he has a tape that proves the gunshot was fired from outside of the house. The police say they were investigating the tapes from the TV cameras to figure out what happened, and based on their surprise in their response to the lawyer's claim, they do not have a video that shows the moment of the shooting even though they have the film from the TV cameras that were rolling the whole time. Furthermore, you'd have to be pretty gutsy to try and falsify a claim of when the shot happened when you know everything was caught on camera--so if the cop did shoot from outside, why claim otherwise? Similarly, based on the first article, there were neighbors there trying to talk down the police, who reported on things the police did--and yet the quotes of said neighbors make no mention of the shooting outside the house (surely they would have noticed that?)
There's a lot of pieces of this story that aren't adding up right now. And there's perfectly good reason to expect a spin--the media, of course, sells more if they play up a police brutality story. And the lawyer in the case similarly has much to gain by making this sound as bad as possible. So...no, I don't feel I have enough information to judge exactly what happened in this case. And, while I'm sure I'll disappoint NotMiki and Shale by saying this, I also don't feel I want to go on an internet search to dredge up as many additional sources as possible--this just encourages the media by telling them "hey, police brutality sells--do more stories like that." I do, however, fully intend to boycott any reality TV police shows (although, to be fair, that's nothing new--even when I was young I felt a bit morally uneasy about the show COPS).
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I agree that the news media tends to fit these stories into simple narratives that people believe (as They Might be Giants once sang, "wrong ideas that appeal to you") and I try to resist that when I see it, but there's no version of this story, taking the facts as favorably to the police as possible, that doesn't add up to unjustifiably reckless behavior by the police. There was a flash-bang grenade used, a policeman's gun went off, accidentally or otherwise, and a girl died because it was pointed at her head.
You don't need to believe the girl's family's lawyer, and you don't need to believe the cops. Believe what those adversarial parties can agree on, though.
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And now we run across my mistrust of the media and news circus. The lawyer says he has a tape that proves the gunshot was fired from outside of the house.
So it's manslaughter and criminal negligence instead of outright murder, but the fact of the matter is you don't even put your finger on the trigger until you are ready to kill something with it, which is of course exactly what happened. Trigger guards are there to prevent people from accidentally firing because they were startled and holding a weapon, not just so you can spin it on your finger.
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The man speaks truth.
I have fired a gun on all of three occasions in my life, and my training is limited to what I learned at the local NRA-sponsored shooting range. It has still been drilled indelibly into my head that there are two things you point a gun at: One, something you plan to shoot at (and like Rob said, "shoot at" means "kill") and two, the ground. In the case of #2, you keep your finger off the trigger anyway, because why tempt fate?
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What Shale said basically, only replace "NRA-sponsored shooting range" with "Military training". Except that I've also been deer hunting, but the same thing applies. There are no circumstances where someone trained in firearms has a gun going off and killing someone that should be treated as an accident.
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The man speaks truth.
I have fired a gun on all of three occasions in my life, and my training is limited to what I learned at the local NRA-sponsored shooting range. It has still been drilled indelibly into my head that there are two things you point a gun at: One, something you plan to shoot at (and like Rob said, "shoot at" means "kill") and two, the ground. In the case of #2, you keep your finger off the trigger anyway, because why tempt fate?
And yet, if television is to be believed (who knows) then if you're a cop kicking down the door where you believe a murderer is hiding, then you keep the gun pointed in front of you as you sweep the room.
Now, maybe this is how police actually operate, or maybe it isn't. (In England I'd assume it's not, because last I checked cops aren't issued guns at all in England). And I'm definitely open to arguments that "guns out" SHOULDN'T be how cops are trained to deal with such a situation. But assuming this IS how cops are told to deal with such situations, as you just said, pointing a gun at something opens a serious risk of shooting (and thus killing). And if, as you said, it's reckless behavior to point a gun, then training police in reckless behavior strikes me as the bigger issue here.
But as I said, I haven't a clue how real-world Police are actually trained, so this may all be irrelevant.
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I'm curious, Yakko. Did they advocate being so careful when going into an area where you might very well be shot at, and have to shoot in return?
Honestly, Jim's got the right idea here for the standards to apply. I'm not sure if the actual shooting is deserving of punishment, since the only person claiming the shot came from outside is the lawyer (and while he should be aiming for the truth, I can also see him wanting to frame the debate in a favourable fashion) and I'd be shocked if the inside wasn't dark, noisy, and chaotic. Possible for someone who's hopped up on adrenaline to make a very bad call, that may have seemed right. That said, it's filmed, and very public in scope, so hopefully some truth will be determined here.
That said, I think we're all in agreement that the cause of the situation where the shooting happened was because the flashbang was a horrendously stupid idea.
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If he'd misidentified something in that area as a threat and shot at it, that would be one thing. But nobody, victims or police, is saying that this was anything but an accident. Note the police department's language - "the weapon discharged." Not "the officer saw something dangerous and fired." That's an accidental firing of the weapon. And accidental shootings should not happen.
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I'd be surprised if the department was going with anything besides the bare facts. Especially at a point where they'll have barely had time to get the guy properly debriefed and to have gone over the tapes, so the brass won't have much else to go on other than that one of their guys fired a gun, and hit something they shouldn't have.
I'd also argue that by focussing on the accidental aspect as opposed to bad judgement (which is a key source of accidents) gives the impression you're arguing their was some mechanical failure with the gun that caused it to go off, as opposed to a guy, for whatever reason, defensible or not, pulling a trigger he should not have.
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Excal, I was Navy. My training was basic firearms and repel boarders stuff. I wasn't trained for those types of situations because the part of the service I was in would not be in those types of situations.
That said, even in cases where we had a suspected infiltration attempt, until the other person very obviously meant harm to us or the ship we wouldn't even be permitted to draw our weapons if standing guard, and if we were in the ship we didn't carry sidearms during normal operation. So in basically the only situation that comes close to what you're asking, yes, we were supposed to be that careful.
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The man speaks truth.
I have fired a gun on all of three occasions in my life, and my training is limited to what I learned at the local NRA-sponsored shooting range. It has still been drilled indelibly into my head that there are two things you point a gun at: One, something you plan to shoot at (and like Rob said, "shoot at" means "kill") and two, the ground. In the case of #2, you keep your finger off the trigger anyway, because why tempt fate?
And yet, if television is to be believed (who knows) then if you're a cop kicking down the door where you believe a murderer is hiding, then you keep the gun pointed in front of you as you sweep the room.
You hold the gun at the ready as you enter a room, sure. You do not, however, keep your finger on the trigger as a general rule. You keep your finger NEAR the trigger, but not ON it. This is to prevent things like "I was coming in the room and another guy came in through the other door and startled me, so I accidentally shot him in the face."
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The man speaks truth.
I have fired a gun on all of three occasions in my life, and my training is limited to what I learned at the local NRA-sponsored shooting range. It has still been drilled indelibly into my head that there are two things you point a gun at: One, something you plan to shoot at (and like Rob said, "shoot at" means "kill") and two, the ground. In the case of #2, you keep your finger off the trigger anyway, because why tempt fate?
And yet, if television is to be believed (who knows) then if you're a cop kicking down the door where you believe a murderer is hiding, then you keep the gun pointed in front of you as you sweep the room.
You hold the gun at the ready as you enter a room, sure. You do not, however, keep your finger on the trigger as a general rule. You keep your finger NEAR the trigger, but not ON it. This is to prevent things like "I was coming in the room and another guy came in through the other door and startled me, so I accidentally shot him in the face."
I'd also argue that by focussing on the accidental aspect as opposed to bad judgement (which is a key source of accidents) gives the impression you're arguing their was some mechanical failure with the gun that caused it to go off, as opposed to a guy, for whatever reason, defensible or not, pulling a trigger he should not have.
Arguing mechanical failure in a modern police handgun is pretty ridiculous. The only accounts of mechanical failures causing serious injury with a Beretta 92 that I know of and can dig up involve the guy SHOOTING the gun getting hurt.
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Excal, I was Navy. My training was basic firearms and repel boarders stuff. I wasn't trained for those types of situations because the part of the service I was in would not be in those types of situations.
That said, even in cases where we had a suspected infiltration attempt, until the other person very obviously meant harm to us or the ship we wouldn't even be permitted to draw our weapons if standing guard, and if we were in the ship we didn't carry sidearms during normal operation. So in basically the only situation that comes close to what you're asking, yes, we were supposed to be that careful.
To be fair, it's possible that combat on a ship is treated a bit differently, in that I imagine it's not a good thing for the ship if, say, a pipe gets shot. Plus, theoretically everyone on the ship is an ally--which makes it much more likely that the dark shadow someone spotted moving was just a friend.
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Because when you are performing a no knock entry into a premesis as a policeman you should be assuming that all movement is likely hostile, right?
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And yet, if television is to be believed (who knows) ...
But as I said, I haven't a clue how real-world Police are actually trained, so this may all be irrelevant.
I'll just leave this here. It was just laying around... it... it's not like I like you guys am sick of one side of this discussion or anything like that.
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Excal, I was Navy. My training was basic firearms and repel boarders stuff. I wasn't trained for those types of situations because the part of the service I was in would not be in those types of situations.
That said, even in cases where we had a suspected infiltration attempt, until the other person very obviously meant harm to us or the ship we wouldn't even be permitted to draw our weapons if standing guard, and if we were in the ship we didn't carry sidearms during normal operation. So in basically the only situation that comes close to what you're asking, yes, we were supposed to be that careful.
To be fair, it's possible that combat on a ship is treated a bit differently, in that I imagine it's not a good thing for the ship if, say, a pipe gets shot. Plus, theoretically everyone on the ship is an ally--which makes it much more likely that the dark shadow someone spotted moving was just a friend.
Metroid, the only people who would be standing guard duty and handling firearms were the ones that were on deck, not inside the ship, so structural damage is not a concern. People you are guarding against are people that aren't already on the ship, so the water around it and the dock it's moored to, and believe me, the Navy doesn't leave their dock areas dark. These rules apply even if you see someone that looks suspicious and can tell isn't part of your crew, until they do something that makes them an overt threat.
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Excal, I was Navy. My training was basic firearms and repel boarders stuff. I wasn't trained for those types of situations because the part of the service I was in would not be in those types of situations.
That said, even in cases where we had a suspected infiltration attempt, until the other person very obviously meant harm to us or the ship we wouldn't even be permitted to draw our weapons if standing guard, and if we were in the ship we didn't carry sidearms during normal operation. So in basically the only situation that comes close to what you're asking, yes, we were supposed to be that careful.
To be fair, it's possible that combat on a ship is treated a bit differently, in that I imagine it's not a good thing for the ship if, say, a pipe gets shot. Plus, theoretically everyone on the ship is an ally--which makes it much more likely that the dark shadow someone spotted moving was just a friend.
Metroid, the only people who would be standing guard duty and handling firearms were the ones that were on deck, not inside the ship, so structural damage is not a concern. People you are guarding against are people that aren't already on the ship, so the water around it and the dock it's moored to, and believe me, the Navy doesn't leave their dock areas dark. These rules apply even if you see someone that looks suspicious and can tell isn't part of your crew, until they do something that makes them an overt threat.
Would you be using hollowpoints if you had boarders? Don't imagine those would do much damage to a bulkhead.
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While I'm sure that police training and military training are different, I'll admit that what Yakko had to say has certainly been a bit sobering. Also, given everything that's been said on the topic, I'm pretty happy with leaving him with the local expert on training for these things since he seems to be the only one to have gotten training that would include deciding when it's ok to aim at people. I know my training left it at a pretty blunt "never aim at anybody ever (unless it's self defense and odds are pretty good if that ever happens, you will not be armed)" and I'd be shocked if anyone else here got told differently.
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I wasn't told "never aim at anyone, ever" so much as "anyone you aim at, be sure you are okay with killing them."
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http://www.prosebeforehos.com/government_employee/04/29/fox-news-calls-mr-rogers-evil/?
Get off my lawn! Kids these days. They have either EVIL ADS and VIOLENT CARTOONS raising them on cable, and the responsible parents finds that PBS has become EVIL AND SECULAR. Not like the good ol' days of original Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers! Man, those shows taught people firm conservative values. Mr. Rogers was even a minister!
...wait. No, that's wrong, that's completely wrong. Did Fox News just attack Mr. Rogers?! W... T... F. And in classic Fox style they refer to "Experts now saying Mr. Rogers is harmful" when actually it's just one crazy guy who apparently thinks that people are dirt and should know it, damn it.
Does Fox has some kind of producer who is a troll and trying to see what he can get away with putting on the airwaves?
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Does Fox has some kind of producer who is a troll and trying to see what he can get away with putting on the airwaves?
No, this is their natural mode of thinking. These worthless Fox people belong to what I call the conservative voyeurs, just about the worst of humanity.
They believe life is a zero sum game, that there always have to be losers for there to be winners, and because they also believe in divine justice, they believe that success is the sign of virtue and lack thereof is the sign of vice. Ok, so far that's simplistic and misguided, but not terrible. But these bastards also believe that, as members of the haves, they're entitled to look down on the have nots, and they fucking get off on it. I don't know what more you can say than that: these people revel in the suffering of sinners, and judge lack of wealth to be the worst sin.
EDIT: I just coined the term 'conservative voyeurs' for this post. Haven't, like, actually been using the term until now. I like the 'voyeurs' part, but maybe the term needs a little more punch. Thoughts?
EDIT 2: Ugh, this bothers me so much.
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Divine Right of Oligarchs perhaps? Eh not the same impact you are going for. I really do like the line you are going down with Voyeurism, but I think you want something a bit more extreme than voyeurism, you need to really capture how perverted it is. Bondage, Domination, Slavery and Money? Eh too Anarchist. I can't quite work a bondage angle into it, but I think it is the right level of extreme sexual perversion you are after.
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I can't quite work a bondage angle into it, but I think it is the right level of extreme sexual perversion you are after.
Nah, voyeurism is definitely the right term. What you have here is people who look. They look down on the less fortunate, but more importantly they get a rise out of it.
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And they are getting off on the pain and suffering of others. They are far from mutually exclusive perversions.
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And they are getting off on the pain and suffering of others.
Not really. There's no pain or suffering. They're getting off on the perceived sinfunless and thus inferiority of others.
Power roles are well represented in fetishes, though. Dominatrixes. Age Play.
Actually, Age Play makes entirely too much sense. "Who's your daddy? Me! Me, me, me, me! I'm going to have to scold you for being a naughty girl, now...."
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these people revel in the suffering of sinners, and judge lack of wealth to be the worst sin.
<_< Just saying. Also when you tie it into the whole health care "You lost your leg because you are poor" thing, it is pretty extreme S&M at that. You are kind of spot on about the Age Play thing (Projecting?), but Age Play trends towards more of a Seduction of the Innocent and the pleasure of defiling the untainted. That is uh pretty far from the situation here though.
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Well...got two new stupid ones (wow...that's a first) off the Newsvine-
http://pwtenny.newsvine.com/_news/2010/05/25/4349541-virginia-school-hands-out-human-fetus-dolls-with-anti-choice-messages-to-grade-school-children-at-school (http://pwtenny.newsvine.com/_news/2010/05/25/4349541-virginia-school-hands-out-human-fetus-dolls-with-anti-choice-messages-to-grade-school-children-at-school)
http://susanduncan.newsvine.com/_news/2010/05/25/4349161-teacher-allows-students-to-dress-up-as-ku-klux-klan-as-they-ask-black-classmate-if-they-can-re-enact-a-lynching- (http://susanduncan.newsvine.com/_news/2010/05/25/4349161-teacher-allows-students-to-dress-up-as-ku-klux-klan-as-they-ask-black-classmate-if-they-can-re-enact-a-lynching-)
Read the articles then the comments.
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That first one is just sick. You don't do expose kids to that kind of shit. (PETA's done similar things, showing elementary school kids videos of slaughterhouses). Second one...poor judgment, but I'm not ready to say the teacher is awful. Definite possibility, but sometimes you just don't think things through. Nothing inherently objectionable about a video documentarty about the KKK, depending on the circumstances.
And now...
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/05/top_social_conservative.php?ref=fpi
Gay Nazis. But not funny like The Producers or anything.
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Shouldn't have read the comments. A guy claiming both Nazi concepts and American Liberal party concepts come from Hegel and Marx as well as other "Nihilist" authors. Here is a quick summary of the life work of Hegel for people that don't have a massive hard on for Philosophy from Wiki.
Hegel influenced writers of widely varying positions, including both his admirers (Bauer, Feuerbach, T. H. Green, Marx, Bradley, Dewey, Sartre, Küng, Kojève, Žižek, Brandom) and his detractors (Schelling, Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Stirner, Peirce, Popper, Russell). His influential conceptions are of speculative logic or "dialectic", "absolute idealism", "Spirit", negativity, sublation (Aufhebung in German), the "Master/Slave" dialectic, "ethical life" and the importance of history.
Which sounds you know, a whole lot of generic things that you can apply to any kind of politics. They are also pretty much the starting point for almost all kinds of idealist philosophy to come out for the next 200 years after he died. Almost any modern political theory at least has SOME roots from Hegel, even the stuff that is pretty distant from it like Real Politik is something of a response to it. That is like attacking McCain's run for president because he was just like that George Washington mother fucker. Edit 2 - Errr just realised hours later realised that this sentence might come off as an attack against McCain's run for president, where I am more meaning, this is 200 years after, so is just completely distant from the other source.
Also of note from the sentence before that, almost all of the Nihilists are on his list of detractors (Key points being Nietzche, Kierkegaard and Schopenhauer). So not only is the argument chock full of fallacy, but it is arguing that something is evil because it is related to one of the starting points of modern political philosophy.
Edit - Bad sentence fixing of making better good good good.
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That argument is quoting from this book (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_Fascism). It's a useful book to me in the sense that if I ever hear the author's name I know in advance that his arguments are worthless.
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Political discourse in this country is so pointless that I'm almost ready to go to neo-Feudalism. It works in the Inner Sphere.
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That first one is just sick. You don't do expose kids to that kind of shit. (PETA's done similar things, showing elementary school kids videos of slaughterhouses).
Eh, pretty sure I did study the stages of fetal development at some point during school. Grade 6 I remember being Flower reproductive organs and names, so...either grade 7 (which was still elementary school in Canada) or grade 8.
I don't remember any fetus dolls, granted, though I do remember plastic human guts models that show the internal organs and blood vessels. And...used properly, plastic fetus models could be OK--like...say you had 9 of them to show the different stages of development. Or, say, models of a number of different animal fetuses at an early stage of development (like at the stage in fetal growth where most animal fetuses look kinda fishlike and you can see the gills before they get morphed into other organs).
I mean, it really depends on the context; how old the kids were, whether it's early development fetus (which looks alien, slimy, and creepy) or a late development fetus (which looks like a baby). What the kids were told when given the dolls. And stuff like that.
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Eh, pretty sure I did study the stages of fetal development at some point during school. Grade 6 I remember being Flower reproductive organs and names, so...either grade 7 (which was still elementary school in Canada) or grade 8.
I don't remember any fetus dolls, granted, though I do remember plastic human guts models that show the internal organs and blood vessels. And...used properly, plastic fetus models could be OK--like...say you had 9 of them to show the different stages of development. Or, say, models of a number of different animal fetuses at an early stage of development (like at the stage in fetal growth where most animal fetuses look kinda fishlike and you can see the gills before they get morphed into other organs).
I mean, it really depends on the context; how old the kids were, whether it's early development fetus (which looks alien, slimy, and creepy) or a late development fetus (which looks like a baby). What the kids were told when given the dolls. And stuff like that.
I had to click through the article and a link to the second one to find out a bit more about it. According to the second article:
An Oakwood teacher told The Pilot that the "squooshy" dolls had been given to students in the third, fourth and fifth grades over several months. The teacher, who asked for anonymity to avoid retaliation from the school for speaking out, said several parents and staff were upset.
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/05/antiabortion-fetus-dolls-handed-out-norfolk-students (http://hamptonroads.com/2010/05/antiabortion-fetus-dolls-handed-out-norfolk-students)
The problem with teaching reproductive at that age steams from the fact many parents don't want their kids to learn about it yet. It's why when they wanted sex ed taught to younger ones (and I believe that I heard somewhere that in other countries, they do teach it early), they got really anal about it, even when the government wanted to try it. Personally, it is sick (because of how I was raised), but at the same time, it's sad that we can't expose our kids and wait until later on to teach it.
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That first one is just sick. You don't do expose kids to that kind of shit. (PETA's done similar things, showing elementary school kids videos of slaughterhouses).
Eh, pretty sure I did study the stages of fetal development at some point during school. Grade 6 I remember being Flower reproductive organs and names, so...either grade 7 (which was still elementary school in Canada) or grade 8.
I don't remember any fetus dolls, granted, though I do remember plastic human guts models that show the internal organs and blood vessels. And...used properly, plastic fetus models could be OK--like...say you had 9 of them to show the different stages of development. Or, say, models of a number of different animal fetuses at an early stage of development (like at the stage in fetal growth where most animal fetuses look kinda fishlike and you can see the gills before they get morphed into other organs).
I mean, it really depends on the context; how old the kids were, whether it's early development fetus (which looks alien, slimy, and creepy) or a late development fetus (which looks like a baby). What the kids were told when given the dolls. And stuff like that.
The children in the article are aged 9-11. I spent way too long studying those type of dolls in human anatomy class, and there is no benefit to handing those out to students without enough backround to understand the parts. They aren't even being used as teaching aids, just being handed out to students in a hamhanded attempt to try and influnce them.
In short, teachers/admins responsible for this are morons and deserve exactly what they get.
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http://thinkprogress.org/2010/06/02/barbour-oil-milkjug/
Dumb liberals reporting on even dumber conservatives. I think this story may create a singularity.
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http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/kelly/95748769_On_this_ground__zero_tolerance.html?page=all
After hearing that an old department store a few blocks from Ground Zero is going to be turned into a mosque, a crowd of morons plants itself at Ground Zero to protest this horrifying display of...er...something. Freedom of religion, I guess. Talk about un-American! I'm shocked that such a thing is going on in one of our nation's biggest cities.
Anyway, a pair of Middle Eastern men show up speaking Arabic, and the crowd turns somewhat ugly, yelling at them to "go home" and the like.
Predictable, if depressing, behavior toward a couple of innocent bystanders? Nah, funnier. First, the "Muslims" are actually Egyptian Christians. Second, they flew in from friggin' California to protest the same mosque. I'm sure they're just bursting with pride for their cause!
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http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20394174,00.html?hpt=Mid
Perez Hilton: Still a moron.
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Very light-hearted IotD, just made me laugh a little more than it should've.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/showbiz/2010/06/17/fury-as-top-psychic-derek-acorah-cancels-show-due-to-unforeseen-circumstances-86908-22339276/
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In case anyone's forgotten, here's some more evidence that G4 sucks.
http://www.dorkly.com/video/1847/olivia-munn-interviews-david-jaffe
I love how annoyed Jaffe gets with the stupid questions.
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HEY GUYS SHITTY CARS IS WHAT WE WANT TO TALK ABOUT RIET?
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In case anyone's forgotten, here's some more evidence that G4 sucks.
http://www.dorkly.com/video/1847/olivia-munn-interviews-david-jaffe
I love how annoyed Jaffe gets with the stupid questions.
Olivia Munn is an idiotic bitch and belongs in Idiot of the Year.
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http://www.personalliberty.com/chip-wood/the-scariest-picture-youll-ever-see/
80% OF THE LANDMASS OF THE U.S. VOTED REPUBLICAN THIS IS THE SCARIEST THING EVER THAT THE DEMOCRATS WON
no it just means that a lot of people live in cities and they vote democrat. breaking news.
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yeah news flash: Wyoming has 6.5% the population of New York City. Hell, Staten Island alone has almost the population of Wyoming, and Staten Island, as any New Yorker will tell you, doesn't even exist! Urban legend, that place. Check Snopes, you'll see.
I'm doubtful of the tax money giving/receiving numbers, too. While it may be true that more people in the red areas pay more than they receive (I have no idea if that's true or not, and there ain't any footnotes in the article), the biggest tax-money receiving states per capita tend to be red: Alaska, South Carolina, etc, and the states that pay the most most per capita are (if I'm not mistaken) New York and Massachusetts.
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Well it strongly seemed like he pulled that out of his ass, since he neither provided numbers nor a source.
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Don't forget the large, large corn-related farming subsidies!
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http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2004/09/red_states_feed.html <-- From 2004, but yeah. Makes the point.
EDIT: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/04/the_red_state_ripoff.html <-- Also!
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Don't forget the large, large corn-related farming subsidies!
Politically speaking, I've heard farm subsidies continue to exist despite their unpopularity because they're a political tradeoff for food stamps, which primarily benefit poor people in cities. Yes, that's perverse.
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Funny part is where, at the same time they subsidize farming, they also pay people with farmland to NOT farm the land.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBkbj_S3etY
Soccer - America's Path to Socialism.
This is fantastic.
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http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-07-02/b-gata-h-kei-studio-writers-get-multiple-threat-letters
Jesus Christ, guys...
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YOUR H-ANIME IS NOT TO MY TASTES CHANGE IT OR I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU </XboxLive>
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WHAT DO YOU MEAN MAI WAIFU IS NOT A PURE UNCORRUPTED VIRGIN? I KEEL YOU.
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http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=25626109041&sid=3000
Blizzard is tired of people trolling behind alt accounts. Their solution? Everyone posts with their real names!!!
Words fail me. Also: http://www.thenoobcomic.com/index.php?pos=378
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Blizzard is tired of people trolling behind alt accounts. Their solution? Everyone posts with their real names!!!
Honestly? Genius. The first part of anonymous internet dickwad is anonymous.
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Blizzard is tired of people trolling behind alt accounts. Their solution? Everyone posts with their real names!!!
Honestly? Genius. The first part of anonymous internet dickwad is anonymous.
Yeah, except terrible. When I was younger my parents were worried about internet stalkers even with anonymity--I doubt they would have let me participate in forums where I had to show my full name to the world. Lack of gender anonymity in particular is unreasonable; how many of us on this forum have "horny stalkers from GameFAQs" stories?
Also, lack of anonymity does not stop dickishness. I've seen dickishness over company email. Hell, dickishness can happen in-person.
Also--if they're trying to stop people alt-trolling, instead of having alts show the in-person name, why not have alts show the main-account name? That's just as good at consolidating opinions to one user.
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You're also putting private information out there for anyone to see. It's scary how quickly you can turn a little information to an address or something more.
14 year olds spewing shit is bad, but I also wouldn't want their personal names posted for everyone to see.
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When I was younger my parents were worried about internet stalkers even with anonymity--I doubt they would have let me participate in forums where I had to show my full name to the world. Lack of gender anonymity in particular is unreasonable; how many of us on this forum have "horny stalkers from GameFAQs" stories?
Depends on whether or not you're including both stalker and stalkee stories... ::)
And yes, I see this as a big problem and can't bring myself to support any company that would do this. Case in point:
I was following this thread on the WoW forums. One of the GM posters tried to lead by example and posted his real name. Within 15 minutes people on the forum had posted his home address, telephone number, facebook page, wife's name, and all sorts of other personal information.
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The issue to using your account name is that your login for WoW accounts is your email address. Soooo yeahhhhh. Also the fact that presenting your account name on every post in the forum is horrible for account security.
Trolling on WoW forums is pretty bad, there is entire subcultures of trolls built up around level 1 alts trolling, it is retarded and realm forums are completely and totally worthless pretty much because of them. Every thread has a level 1 troll alt in it.
That said the solution is amazingly horrible. Give each Real ID a display name is way wayyyyy better.
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This may be old news to other people, but Koichi Sugiyama (composer of the DQ series) is an asshole. (http://www.occidentalism.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/thefact.jpg)
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This moron really speaks for himself. I can't top the raw douchebaggery of Shale's link, but this one deserves enshrinement in IotD anyway.
MARTY PERETZ on Rhode Island, where state police report all illegal immigrants they encounter to federal immigration authorities: "This is a liberal state, including being indulgent toward ethnic crime."
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2010/07/crimes_against_grammar_and_worse
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Re: Blizzard's realid nonsense.
Kevin Smith covered this topic quite nicely a while back.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjWFZPJZTxU
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Re: Blizzard's realid nonsense.
/me uses a Robert Stack Voice
Update!
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=25968987278&sid=1&pageNo=1 (http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=25968987278&sid=1&pageNo=1)
Hello everyone,
I'd like to take some time to speak with all of you regarding our desire to make the Blizzard forums a better place for players to discuss our games. We've been constantly monitoring the feedback you've given us, as well as internally discussing your concerns about the use of real names on our forums. As a result of those discussions, we've decided at this time that real names will not be required for posting on official Blizzard forums.
It's important to note that we still remain committed to improving our forums. Our efforts are driven 100% by the desire to find ways to make our community areas more welcoming for players and encourage more constructive conversations about our games. We will still move forward with new forum features such as the ability to rate posts up or down, post highlighting based on rating, improved search functionality, and more. However, when we launch the new StarCraft II forums that include these new features, you will be posting by your StarCraft II Battle.net character name + character code, not your real name. The upgraded World of Warcraft forums with these new features will launch close to the release of Cataclysm, and also will not require your real name.
I want to make sure it's clear that our plans for the forums are completely separate from our plans for the optional in-game Real ID system now live with World of Warcraft and launching soon with StarCraft II. We believe that the powerful communications functionality enabled by Real ID, such as cross-game and cross-realm chat, make Battle.net a great place for players to stay connected to real-life friends and family while playing Blizzard games. And of course, you'll still be able to keep your relationships at the anonymous, character level if you so choose when you communicate with other players in game. Over time, we will continue to evolve Real ID on Battle.net to add new and exciting functionality within our games for players who decide to use the feature.
In closing, I want to point out that our connection with our community has always been and will always be extremely important to us. We strongly believe that Every Voice Matters, ( http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/about/mission.html ) and we feel fortunate to have a community that cares so passionately about our games. We will always appreciate the feedback and support of our players, which has been a key to Blizzard's success from the beginning.
Mike Morhaime
CEO & Cofounder
Blizzard Entertainment
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http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/07/shocking-poll-55-percent-of-voters-think-obamas-a-socialist.php?ref=fpa
sometimes we hurt the ones we love. I love you guys.
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http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/07/09/vatican-rules-ordaining-women-priests-a-crime-like-sex-abuse-of/
Ordaining a women priest nets you the same punishment as pedophilia as far as the Vatican is concerned.
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http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/07/09/vatican-rules-ordaining-women-priests-a-crime-like-sex-abuse-of/
Ordaining a women priest nets you the same punishment as pedophilia as far as the Vatican is concerned.
You mean you get shocked by force lightning?
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The Vatican has finally agreed to approve of women priests?!
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The Vatican has finally agreed to approve of women priests?!
Sounds like it, except if a female ordination ever gets attention from the press, they'll deny everything and help hide the paper trail.
Which begs the question: what will they do with their secret army of female preists? Also, when you're in the confessional booth, do you call her "Father"?
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Also, when you're in the confessional booth, do you call her "Father"?
And do the altar boys still call her "Daddy"? [/easyCatholicjoke]
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http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=11147438 <- um
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http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=11147438 <- um
Can someone fill me in on this? Why is a birth certificate authenticated by the state not enough? What are they hoping for here? "Hahah, just kidding, we totally made that up"? A nurse to come up and swear on the Bible that she was there at the birth? ... I just don't get where that's going.
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Apparently because it's not a photocopy of the exact birth certificate that was printed up on the day of his birth, and instead a modern certificate printed with the data on file (you know, like a state government gives anybody who asks for a new birth certificate) it's a communist Muslim liberal terrorist fake and therefore not worth mentioning. Also the kerning is wrong.
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This may be old news to other people, but Koichi Sugiyama (composer of the DQ series) is an asshole. (http://www.occidentalism.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/thefact.jpg)
The perverse thing is that as horrible as the comfort women were, they were not the worst thing the IJA did. What is the gain by denying THIS? Does that mean that Japan was okay in WWII? Or are they going to deny the whole "invading and killing everyone and taking their stuff" part too? (Don't answer that. I do know that the hard-right also denies the Rape of Nanking and a whole bunch of other atrocities basically on the grounds that the official Japanese press didn't talk about it, never mind that the official military records do.)
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You are doing propaganda wrong Snowfire. You don't even MENTION that shit. The less you mention it and the more you beat up bullshit about something that isn't even the fucking issue the more success you will have at getting Nanking ignored.
It is the exact same strategy used by mud slinging campaigns in western politics, so I can see why they would think it might be successful.
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This may be old news to other people, but Koichi Sugiyama (composer of the DQ series) is an asshole. (http://www.occidentalism.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/thefact.jpg)
His music sucks too, so I fail to care that he's personally into historical selective amnesia. </potshot at DQ-related-anything>
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So, I knew it was going to happen, but the No on Prop. 19 arguments have come out, and my are they retarded.
ARGUMENT AGAINST PROPOSITION 19
Even if you support legalization of recreational marijuana, you should vote “No” on Proposition 19.
Why? Because the authors made several huge mistakes in writing this initiative which will have severe, unintended consequences.
For example, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) strongly opposes Proposition 19 because it will prevent bus and trucking companies from requiring their drivers to be drug-free. Companies won’t be able to take action against a “stoned” driver until after he or she has a wreck, not before.
School districts may currently require school bus drivers to be drug-free, but if Proposition 19 passes, their hands will be tied – until after tragedy strikes. A school bus driver would be forbidden to smoke marijuana on schools grounds or while actually behind the wheel, but could arrive for work with marijuana in his or her system.
Public school superintendent John Snavely, Ed.D. warns that Proposition 19 could cost our K-12 schools as much as $9.4 billion in lost federal funding. Another error could potentially cost schools hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants for our colleges and universities. Our schools have already experienced severe budget cuts due to the state budget crisis.
The California Chamber of Commerce found that “if passed, this initiative could result in employers losing public contracts and grants because they could no longer effectively enforce the drug-free workplace requirements outlined by the federal government.”
Employers who permit employees to sell cosmetics or school candy bars to co-workers in the office, may now also be required to allow any employee with a “license” to sell marijuana in the office.
Under current law, if a worker shows up smelling of alcohol or marijuana, an employer may remove the employee from a dangerous or sensitive job, such as running medical lab tests in a hospital, or operating heavy equipment. But if Proposition 19 passes, the worker with marijuana in his or her system may not be removed from the job until after an accident occurs.
The California Police Chiefs Association opposes Proposition 19 because proponents “forgot” to include a standard for what constitutes “driving under the influence.” Under Proposition 19, a driver may legally drive even if a blood test shows they have marijuana in their system.
Gubernatorial candidates Republican Meg Whitman and Democrat Jerry Brown have both studied Proposition 19 and are urging all Californians to vote “No,” as are Democratic and Republican candidates for Attorney General, Kamala Harris and Steve Cooley.
Don’t be fooled. The proponents are hoping you will think Proposition 19 is about “medical” marijuana. It is not. Proposition 19 makes no changes either way in the medical marijuana laws.
Proposition 19 is simply a jumbled legal nightmare that will make our highways, our workplaces and our communities less safe. We strongly urge you to vote “No” on Prop 19.
Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator
Laura Dean-Mooney
National President, Mothers Against Drunk Driving
Yep, legal marijuana means everyone will show up to work stoned. *facepalm* This is full of logical fallacies and specifically chosen words to fear-monger, but this one was so special I had to point it out.
Under current law, if a worker shows up smelling of alcohol or marijuana, an employer may remove the employee from a dangerous or sensitive job, such as running medical lab tests in a hospital, or operating heavy equipment. But if Proposition 19 passes, the worker with marijuana in his or her system may not be removed from the job until after an accident occurs.
Yes, because marijuana stays in your system long after its intoxicating effects wear off. This says nothing about workers not being able to send workers home for smelling like pot or obviously being intoxicated (it's pretty damn easy to tell). Nice wording there, pro.
I'm not quite sure why I didn't expect an enormously stupid argument from the opposition to this proposition. Should have known better.
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Yeah, I mean, Alcohol is legal, and everybody doesn't just show up to work drunk, right?
And certainly Zenny never has!
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I like Blizzards idea... but it really should only be a last initial. Same with profiles in SC2.
It'd cut down on the insane amounts of alt trolling and trolling in general, but wouldn't release sensitive information to everyone. (Unless you have a name like Chapin!)
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So would 2 year bans that effected your entire real ID.
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So would 2 year bans that effected your entire real ID.
Except I don't trust people to hand out bans in a reasonable fashion when it comes to a judgment call like "how bad of an offense did this troll commit." If moderators are anything like cops then bans would depend more on their mood than the actual offense.
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Yeah, I mean, Alcohol is legal, and everybody doesn't just show up to work drunk, right?
And certainly Zenny never has!
Some people do, unfortunately. These people are either able to hide it or get fired. I can kind of see the argument that legalization is problematic since you can test if someone is intoxicated via breathalyser or some other test, which you cannot do with marijuana. However, I would argue that people showing up to work stoned enough to impair their ability to work are going to get caught through their incompetence. And it's kind of insulting to insinuate that a professional (surgeons, nurses, teachers, etc.) would show up to work impaired to begin with. There's a better argument for entry level employees but in 9 cases out of 10 they're going to be in a job where they'd only be a risk to themselves.
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Basically I think it's going to come to someone inventing a device to easily measure the amount of pot you've smoked (ala a Breathalyzer). Once that happens, legalization would. So... aspiring inventors and entrepreneurs... get to work! There's a ground floor to make a fortune.
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So would 2 year bans that effected your entire real ID.
Except I don't trust people to hand out bans in a reasonable fashion when it comes to a judgment call like "how bad of an offense did this troll commit." If moderators are anything like cops then bans would depend more on their mood than the actual offense.
I would care if it wasn't the WoW forums which just need to be nuked from orbit.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/7901025/Palestinian-jailed-for-rape-after-claiming-to-be-Jewish.html
What the hell is wrong with Israel when a man can't even tell a little white lie to get laid?
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Ugh, read about that. seriously fucked up. I mean, sorry, he gave her a false name, she assumed he was Jewish, and she slept with him more or less on the spot? Not rape. Not even close. Show me a scintilla of coercion and we'll talk. It's difficult to believe this would have even been prosecuted had the situation been anything but a Palestinian man and an Israeli woman.
US rape laws vary by state, but I doubt this would qualify in any of them. In the US, lying to induce sex tends to be punishable as a sex crime ONLY if there was a fiduciary relationship, in other words if the rapist owed some special duty to the victim. Doctor-patient, attorney-client, etc. Some states wouldn't punish lying to get sex as rape in any circumstance (unless there was some coercion as well, though it might be punishable as civil fraud).
EDIT:
some analysis of the legal issue. pretty interesting stuff if you ask me.
http://volokh.com/2010/07/21/an-interesting-rape-by-fraud-case-from-israel/
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If lying to a chick for sex is rape, I've raped like a dozen different women; probably I should try lying low in Mexico for a spell.
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http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/07/peter-schiff-ad-linda-mcmahons-liberal-positions-are-a-kick-in-the-video.php#more
Ok, so it's an attack ad against McMahon, but somehow I now feel compelled to vote for her...
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Well, she has my vote, or would if I was in that constituency.
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http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/07/peter-schiff-ad-linda-mcmahons-liberal-positions-are-a-kick-in-the-video.php#more
Ok, so it's an attack ad against McMahon, but somehow I now feel compelled to vote for her...
As well you should. Your other option is that the Undertaker shows up and kicks your ass.
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http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20100806/REAL_ESTATE/100809871
There's a joke in here somewhere...
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Not a very funny one.
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Has this topic been dead all month?
http://gawker.com/5623138/middle-school-segregates-class-elections-by-race
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Errrr why don't they do what every other school does and just rig the elections?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11096512
I can't IotD Greece's entire budget planning for the past generation, but this'll do in a pinch.
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hey! the dead are probably important constituents to the ruling party!
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no link, because I have yet to see this exact analysis, but...
so North Korea has been holding an American who crossed the border from China. Jimmy Carter goes over to negotiate his release. We get the guy back, and what do the North Koreans get? They get to show Jimmy Carter who's the boss by snubbing him. That's right, Kim Jong Il was too busy to meet with Carter because he was in China looking at schools for his grandson.
I love this. Kim Jong Il, who we all know is in terrible health, goes to the trouble of leaving the country JUST to have a pretext not to meet with Jimmy Carter. Yes, North Koreans think NOT having to sit through photo ops with the great leader is humiliating! I don't know how Carter will ever mend his reputation. Except that he just got an American out of an 11-year sentence in North Korean prison.
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38891939/ns/us_news?GT1=43001
Because funny IotDs are the best IotDs.
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To be fair, he did prove the legend correct!
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/xbox360/942955-mafia-ii/reviews/review-142840
Not the review itself, it is a little funny. The IotD is that Gamefaqs quality checking is that horrible.
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D+: The Drake University Advantage. (http://www.drake.edu/advantage/#panel-4)
There are really no words.
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I am assuming someone is a little jaded with the education system at the moment.
Going to university to break through the box though? I think that is a bit of a stretch. As if anyone who is going to put out in first year university is still a virgin.
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I like how they highlight the "you" in that line. It's like they're just insulting the reader. "Well, someone else could get better, but you? D+ at the best~"
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/937281-dragon-quest-ix-sentinels-of-the-starry-skies/56225424
This is full of stupid crap. The topic creator defends his point pretty poorly at times against hordes of fanboys. Hordes of fanboys go NOT BEING ABLE TO SEE YOUR EXP IN A LOGICAL MANNER IS AWESOME FUCK YOU THAT IS WHAT MAKES DQ LIKE IT IS and calling all of his arguments logical fallacies while piling on more and more bullshit themselves.
Things like this are why it should be illegal to play things you like overly much.
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I knew which topic that was before I clicked the link. :(
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Dragon Quest fans should just give me their money and I'll hand them back the same game with a new number. That's all they want.
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Now now, they want the same game with slightly recolored characters and touch-screen controls.
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Of course they want touch-screen controls! The least useful modernization in the RPG would be the one desired.
Did they sell this game for $85 in Japan?
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http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/09/knife-wielding_man_wearing_hal.html
Life not imitating fantasy...
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100929/us_yblog_upshot/state-attorney-launches-bizarre-internet-war-on-openly-gay-college-student
Calling it now: A few months down the road this guy's gonna be caught giving somebody a blowjob.
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Shirvell replied: "Chris Armstrong is a radical homosexual activist who got elected, partly funded by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, to promote a very deeply radical agenda. ... His biggest issue is gender-neutral housing."
HOW DARE ELECTED MEMBERS BE VOTED IN BASED ON POLICIES
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http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/37683770/ (http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/37683770/)
Sometimes I consider trying to work at Christian private schools. And then, sometimes I don't.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-11484322
Hint to moron: Insulting every single one of your potential voters is unwise.
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(http://i54.tinypic.com/11t98r7.jpg)
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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,311946,00.html
O'DONNELL: They are — they are doing that here in the United States. American scientific companies are cross-breeding humans and animals and coming up with mice with fully functioning human brains. So they're already into this experiment.
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Ciato just retconned the last fifteen minutes~
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I don't wanna talk about it!!
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/960099-pokemon-heartgold-version/56760418 This one is for the elves.
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http://www.betterparenting.com/10-halloween-costumes-you-should-never-let-your-kids-wear/
The Hitler costume is pretty badass though.
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Mein klein fuhrer?
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But most of them are hilarious...
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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/10/18/facebook_apps_privacy_breach/
HEY GUYS IT LOOKS LIKE THEY FINALLY WORKED OUT HOW FACEBOOK IS WORTH THE BILLIONS IT IS.
This just in, least shocking news ever.
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http://www.bluevirginia.us/diary/2026/virginia-beach-republican-committee-chair-forwards-racist-email
Note: he resigned this morning and vowed to 'clear his name'. Goooooood luck there.
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IOTD: Saudi Arabia edition.
EDIT: http://volokh.com/2010/10/19/murder-is-excusable-but-being-gay/
yeah...probably a link would help, yes.
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I look forward to the day that the US can give the Saudis the one finger salute.
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http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/10/woman-stomped-outside-rand-pau.html
I just don't get it. People in real life aren't this dumb, are they?
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http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2010-10-27/story/jacksonville-mom-shakes-baby-interrupting-farmville-pleads-guilty-murder
The replies are ridiculous. "What is this FARMVILLE?! I assume it is some violent game involving the farming of marijuana. The girl's addiction to the game is obviously what caused this. Facebook is supposed to be a safe place for kids and I don't think these violent games should be on there!"
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http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/10/woman-stomped-outside-rand-pau.html
I just don't get it. People in real life aren't this dumb, are they?
Your optimism never ceases to amaze me. And sadden me sometimes.
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http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/10/woman-stomped-outside-rand-pau.html
I just don't get it. People in real life aren't this dumb, are they?
Your optimism never ceases to amaze me. And sadden me sometimes.
http://www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/Paul_supporters_who_clashed_with_liberal_activist_speak_out_105833648.html
"She's a professional at what she does," Profitt said, referring to the MoveOn.org activist, "and I think when all the facts come out, I think people will see that she was the one that initiated the whole thing."
...
And when asked if he would apologize to Valle. "I would like for her to apologize to me to be honest with you," Profitt said.
A spokesperson for MoveOn.org says Lauren Valle has been released from the hospital and is recovering from injuries including a concussion and a sprained shoulder and arm.
Edit: Apparently NotMiki's article got updated to include this. Still, let's emphasize this one for the people who skim the topic, hmm?
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That's what I meant, yeah. Not only does he ask for an apology from the girl whose head he stomped while she was being held to the ground, he also blames the cops for...not stopping him, I guess? A real winner.
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That's what I meant, yeah. Not only does he ask for an apology from the girl whose head he stomped while she was being held to the ground, he also blames the cops for...not stopping him, I guess? A real winner.
From the first article, it sounded like he was blaming the cops because he asked them to stop her, and they said "that's not our job." So...he went and stepped on her head.
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(http://members.optusnet.com.au/grefter/headstomp.gif)
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That's what I meant, yeah. Not only does he ask for an apology from the girl whose head he stomped while she was being held to the ground, he also blames the cops for...not stopping him, I guess? A real winner.
Your optimism never ceases to amaze me. And sadden me sometimes.
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http://www.news.com.au/technology/mum-killed-baby-for-interrupting-farmville/story-e6frfro0-1225944586466
ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/937330-final-fantasy-tactics-a2-grimoire-of-the-rift/56624937
Thanks Gamefaqs, I am glad to see you can go from 0 to THAT IS JUST YOUR OPINION in 5 posts still.
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It took them that long?
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THAT IS JUST YOUR OPINION
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http://www.examiner.com/populist-in-national/oklahoma-voters-may-have-accidentally-outlawed-the-10-commandments
What are you doing, Ciato? >_>
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Ciato has shockingly fled! Who wouldn't want to live somewhere that easily passes non-sensical completely unwarranted religion/race-baiting laws!
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Oh Canada, my home and native land
True patriot love something something something sons' command
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Have some more beer, eh? It makes your singing better.
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Sooooooo why exactly would you take the 10 commandments into law making anyway exactly?
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well, they are some of the first formal laws ever used by human civilizations, probably good to be familiar with them for historical perspective.
The other reason of course is to remind sane people that there are still folks out there looking to make their country a christian theocracy one law at a time.
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I propose that all law makers brush up on their Epic of Gilgamesh if you are going to make that argument, far more relevant to law making in that they were like actual laws with set punishments and stuff instead of telling you that it is totally okay to have a boner for your hot teen neighbours.
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Works for me.
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Sooooooo why exactly would you take the 10 commandments into law making anyway exactly?
There are 3 reasons that judges would use foreign law to make decisions, two of which apply to the commandments.
#1, to decide the status of analogous status in the US. For example, if you need to decide the adoption status of a child in the US with a biological parent in Mexico, it may be relevant what the law of Mexico says about that parent's legal responsibilities. Not relevant to the 10 commandments, though.
#2, sentencing. US judges are free to use almost any source in making their sentencing decisions, except those that are explicitly discriminatory. I don't believe this is a violation of the establishment clause, but don't quote me on it. So a US judge could use the standards of the commandments to decide how bad a specific instance of a crime was. It would not be permissible to use the commandments to discriminate on the basis of sex or race, though, because that would violate the equal protection clause, and discriminating on the basis of religious status would, I imagine, violate the establishment clause. But it's certainly possible to consider the substance of the commandments without considering the status of the offender, of course.
#3, arbitration. A number of contracts have arbitration clauses that say that if there's a dispute about the terms of the contract that it be decided by an arbitrator instead of the court system. this allows parties to save the money and trouble that a full trial would demand. The decisions of arbitrators are subject to review by the courts, but the rules by which they make decisions are not. In other words, if an arbitration clause calls for a decision by an imam according to Sharia law, the only thing that courts can review is whether the imam ruled correctly (technically, reviewing the decision for "abuse of discretion" by the arbitrator) according to sharia, even if the code itself discriminates on the basis of sex or anything else (which it does, btw.) Same thing appplies if it calls for decision based on Canadian law, or any other countries'. Unclear what the OK law would mean for arbitration, but it's clear that a judge can't review an arbitration decision without understanding what the code the decision was made under means.
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Oh Canada, my home and native land
True patriot love something something something sons' command
Meh, French version is better. Less "sons' command" sexism, and more flowers!
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On the other hand, way the heck more random Catholic symbolism!
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Fair.
(To be honest, I only know like...the first three or four lines of the French version. I was just being silly).
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(As opposed to my deathly serious take on the subject.)
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Yay, now I know where to go to dump the bodies
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Yay, now I know where to go to dump the bodies
You're dumping the bodies in the French version of Oh Canada?
Well...I guess as long as you don't dump them in the first four lines I won't notice the difference. Also, stick them on a cross or something and you can pass them off as catholic symbolism.
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/57105783
Infinity is the largest number possible. That might not be easy to understand for you atheists, because infinity is god. The greatest thing possible. So dividing by zero = god. See David 3:58.
and if that wasn't excellent enough, he responded to "I can't divide by zero on my calculator" with
That is because calculators can't get up to infinity. Not enough room on the screen. You would need like a two mile long calculator for it to fit.
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I was actually looking up David 3:58 to see what it said about dividing by zero. Then I realized there is no Book of David.
*divides self by zero, gets answer of trolled*
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http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/16/alcohol.caffeine.drinks/index.html?hpt=T2
"Let these rulings serve as a warning to anyone who tried to peddle dangerous and toxic brews to our children. Do it and we will shut you down," Schumer, D-New York, said in the statement.
Political grandstanding at it's finest. Also, if you want to do something toxic brews, ban motherfucking mountain dew instead.
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*has MF6 flashbacks*
Mountain dew... the horror, the horror!
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http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/16/alcohol.caffeine.drinks/index.html?hpt=T2
"Let these rulings serve as a warning to anyone who tried to peddle dangerous and toxic brews to our children. Do it and we will shut you down," Schumer, D-New York, said in the statement.
Political grandstanding at it's finest. Also, if you want to do something toxic brews, ban motherfucking mountain dew instead.
To be fair, a few people had Four Loco around the office (I have some heavy drinkers for coworkers) and it was chaos, much moreso than regular alcohol.
Although honestly, I'm less worried about what people do to themselves, and more worried about what they can do to others. Most people know "don't drink Four Loco; it will **** you up". Everclear worries me more, as it's used in common date rape concoctions that are hard to detect by taste.
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I'm in favor of banning it because whenever my brother drinks it he turns in to a massive jackass who I can't stand.
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Man, if we could ban things on that criteria, then there would be a ban on the entire First-Person Shooter genre of games by now.
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Man, if we could ban things on that criteria, then there would be a ban on the entire First-Person Shooter genre of games by now.
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Man, if we could ban things on that criteria, then there would be a ban on the entire First-Person Shooter genre of games by now.
Portal doesn't make people act like Jackasses, it makes people sing about cake!
(And for a more typical shooter...TF2 people are pretty positive too).
Really, generalizing an entire genre like that is like claiming that everyone acts like jerks as soon as they're on internet forums. It's not 100% true >_>
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Portal doesn't make people act like Jackasses, it makes people sing about cake!
As anyone who has ever had the dubious pleasure of being around my family for a rendition of Happy Birthday can attest: Not. Mutually. Exclusive.
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Man, if we could ban things on that criteria, then there would be a ban on the entire First-Person Shooter genre of games by now.
Portal doesn't make people act like Jackasses, it makes people sing about cake!
(And for a more typical shooter...TF2 people are pretty positive too).
Really, generalizing an entire genre like that is like claiming that everyone acts like jerks as soon as they're on internet forums. It's not 100% true >_>
TF2 can piss people off quite well enough.
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I'm in favor of banning it because whenever my brother drinks it he turns in to a massive jackass who I can't stand.
Man, if we could ban things on that criteria, then there would be a ban on the entire First-Person Shooter genre of games by now.
Really, generalizing an entire genre like that is like claiming that everyone acts like jerks as soon as they're on internet forums. It's not 100% true >_>
But I wasn't generalizing at all... The criteria was specifying a person, which is about as non-generalized as you can get... >.>;;
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Really, generalizing an entire genre like that is like claiming that everyone acts like jerks as soon as they're on internet forums. It's not 100% true >_>
Fuck you! That's just your OPINION!
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http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/803673-Wotlk-a-Lotr-Ripoff
Thanks Internet, go fuck yourself as well.
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Thanks Internet, go fuck yourself as well.
Wow, I'm WTFing at the people saying every fantasy setting steals heavily from LotR because LotR did everything. Looking at Harry Potter or Song of Fire and Ice or His Dark Materials...I don't see much that feels lifted.
Warcraft, on the other hand...oh look, orcs and humans at war, and human height elves with magic. Of course it borrows from LotR.
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A Song of Ice and Fire a made-up world of roughly medieval technology who are fighting a centuries-long war against a non-human evil. It definitely focusses on certain things not in LotR past that, but at its base, its genre hook is clearly one paved by LotR. The slew of "fantasy = made-up medieval civilisation fighting evil" book series all are at least somewhat inspired by LotR. (ASoIaF also has some direct allusions to LotR, just in case you doubt that Martin is paying the books at least a little homage.) Whether or not you like LotR (and there's plenty to dislike) they're certainly pretty much responsible for the epic fantasy genre. It's to the point where Martin would probably have not wanted to set ASoIaF in a world with, say, 19th century technology just because fantasy fans would be less hooked in by it - they expect something a little more like Tolkien.
Harry Potter is not that style of epic fantasy, and it's not what is being talked about when people make comments like that. (And I'm not familiar with the third.)
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Of what Metroid Composite is talking about in terms of His Dark Materials, I believes he means the titles of The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. They are very good books.
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That's debatable.
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To be clear, I have heard of His Dark Materials, but haven't read them and know nothing about their setting.
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It's to the point where Martin would probably have not wanted to set ASoIaF in a world with, say, 19th century technology just because fantasy fans would be less hooked in by it - they expect something a little more like Tolkien.
It's more like Martin's just obsessed with the middle ages. (If you doubt this, witness his collection of toy knights! http://www.georgerrmartin.com/knights/index.html). He's also written science fiction, horror, superhero stories, TV shows, and other random stuff (including a book about vampires on a 19th century steamship). Sooo, doubting this was a marketing decision, just him being inspired by the same sources as a lot of other fantasy (including Tolkein, obviously. Once he wrote a book about a psychedelic rock band. They were called The Nazgul).
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A Song of Ice and Fire a made-up world of roughly medieval technology who are fighting a centuries-long war against a non-human evil. It definitely focusses on certain things not in LotR past that, but at its base, its genre hook is clearly one paved by LotR. The slew of "fantasy = made-up medieval civilisation fighting evil" book series all are at least somewhat inspired by LotR.
If by that you mean Norse myth is totally rocking then, yeah, pretty much. If you are going to do the reach back and pin all the origins to LotR for modern fantasy (instead of say pointing out the actual direct influences which for Warcraft is Warhammer, the original game was originally built to be an actual Warhammer game, but they didn't end up getting the license and thus a bastard legacy was born) LotR is incredibly important of course in almost all cases for at least popularising it, but is far from the source material for a great deal of fantasy. See Wheel of Time soooooooo very much which reaches back far more directly to the Norse references than indirectly reaching back to LotR.
Spot on about ASoIaF though, it is very very much Martin's love letter to Tolkein at some points. Right down to the politicing and back stabbing amongst the human who should really be focussing on the inevitable end of the world.
But none of that is why the links is particularly stupid. There is so much obsession over the LotR movies that it is frustrating beyond belief and so many people at making a big deal over simple homage that it is enough to want to reach through the internet and end someone.
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Thanks Internet, go fuck yourself as well.
Wow, I'm WTFing at the people saying every fantasy setting steals heavily from LotR because LotR did everything. Looking at Harry Potter or Song of Fire and Ice or His Dark Materials...I don't see much that feels lifted.
Warcraft, on the other hand...oh look, orcs and humans at war, and human height elves with magic. Of course it borrows from LotR.
The mind-bending stupid comes in when they start talking about art design and how that's ripped off from LotR. It's usually said by people who have only seen the movies, and the catch there is that I'm fairly sure WC3 came out either before or around the same time as the first film anyway.
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Saying the LotR movies OR Warcraft had original art is...true, but only if you get very. specific.
Frankly, I don't see what the big deal about derivative work is in the first place. If it's really similar to something else but it's GOOD, it's good. If it's nominally similar but bad enough (and well known enough) to reflect poorly on the original, then we have a problem.
What I'd love to know is how many 'derivative' designs for different works were actually done by the same dude. Like, did Blizzard hire a bunch of Warhammer 20k veterans to come up with concepts for Warcraft III? Wouldn't surprise me one bit if they did.
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Harry Potter is not that style of epic fantasy, and it's not what is being talked about when people make comments like that. (And I'm not familiar with the third.)
Harry Potter is...more in the model of the Chronicles of Narnia--which is to say, kids in a modern setting...travel to a secret medieval-like world with a centuries-long conflict between good and evil; usually with some non-human race that does not get along well with humans. Not exactly the same genre, no, but certainly a genre that could easily steal from LotR as there are a lot of thematic similarities.
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/605818-nba-jam/57251839/634831731
Edit - Lets quote it for posterity.
Regarding the buzzer beater, remember that it's a video game and everything can be calculated with math. The game probably calculates the effects of the rim physics so to the game's physics engine some shots are easily telegraphed so it can tell when it's going in or not.
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http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/highschool/news/story?id=5922843&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgxjZIN2PAE
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Saving for posterity the craziest post I have ever seen on a gamefaqs SRW board (and that's saying a lot):
(http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/695/crazygfaqsguy.png)
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I don't know what Fencedude did to bring that on, but it might be his proudest moment as a troll. I think he actually caused a psychotic break.
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It can be conclusively proven he sparked 19 karma loss, regardless.
I'm surprised 709 didn't get outright banned, must not have had a record.
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/960545-golden-sun-dark-dawn/57904712
I don't even know why I do this shit to myself.
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I stopped reading at the part where three games is enough to establish a pattern.
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Wait, GS3 made enough money that there's already talk of a GS4?
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Wait, God hates us enough that there's already talk of a GS4?
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Wait, Nintendo hates us enough that there's already talk of a GS4?
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Wait, Hammertime.
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C-c-c-combo Breaker!
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There isn't talk of it. There is blatant plot hooks layed out in the first few minutes of Dark Dawn. Yes this is another reason this game is terrible. I hate to use the standard response, but this is Camelot. They know it is easier to write if you assume there is going to be a sequel, you don't have to resolve anything at all and just have to say enough things until you decide you have made enough dungeons. Plot threads can be dropped and series can stop coming out whenever the money stops.
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The biggest sadness I have in seeing anyone play GS 3 is that you are giving them funds to keep building more GSes.
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http://www.digitalspy.com/odd/news/a300850/diddy-sued-for-causing-911-attack.html
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<Llewellyn> What can I say? There are no words...
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http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/02/ct-man-busted-for-calling-911-on-his-home-grown-pot-plant.php?ref=fpb
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http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/odd/news/a302448/rossellini-ducks-have-interesting-vaginas.html
My eyes. I read it, now I can't un-read it.
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and here I thought duck vaginas were merely corkscrew shaped. Shows what I know.
Side note: labyrinthine vagina: good band name?
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http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2011-02-07/fan-gets-3d-poke-ball-tattoos/subdermal-implants
I foresee no complications whatsoever with this procedure and I'm sure he'll be happy with it when he's 65 and can't move his arm.
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and here I thought duck vaginas were merely corkscrew shaped. Shows what I know.
Side note: labyrinthine vagina: good band name?
It is. So is Corkscrew Duck Penis.
Edit - Also the entire sentence "I can discombobulate the phallus - I can trick the phallus" is either a great band name, a great band name and album or great album name.
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More like their hit single~
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I'm gonna go for...
Band Name: evolved vaginal complexity
Song Name: My vaginal structure is a twisted tunnel
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"I can Trick the Phallus" is Labyrinthine Vagina's drummer's solo project
it wasn't very good
oh silly drummers
thinking they're real musicians
agrarian frog
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-12523144
The victim was attacked in Renfrew Lane, next to the Pavilion Theatre, by three men said to be of "Middle Eastern appearance".
The Sunday Herald later reported that Mr Aitken - a Glasgow MSP who is retiring from elected politics at the next election - apparently told one of its journalists that Renfrew Lane was "an area where a lot of the hookers take their clients", although he added: "Now, that may not have happened in this case."
Good lord.
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http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=422307
Anonymous contemplates hacking Westboro. Nothing out of the ordinary so far.
Westboro replies, and I quote, "BRING IT".
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Can I cheer against both sides there?
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I believe this is a "if the Nazis invaded Hell, you cheer on the Devil" scenario.
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Anonymous says they have no idea what WBC is talking about. ( http://anonnews.org/?p=press&a=item&i=494 ) If WBC was smart enough to concoct an "attack" from anonymous to raise their public profile, bravo, I wouldn't have thought them that canny.
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Then you haven't been paying enough attention to WBC to realise that they do in fact do that kind of shit. If you can't get someone to attack you like they try to do then you just lie about it. Works just as well.
Now you should go back to not paying enough attention to WBC because that is the best thing to do to them.
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Now you should go back to not paying enough attention to WBC because that is the best thing to do to them.
I agree, but the other week a group putting on the Laremie Project actively tried to get WBC to picket their show so they could get some free publicity. That's also probably a pretty good way to handle them.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/science/01qna.html?_r=1&ref=science
an article debunking the 5-second rule. take a look at the data they use to support their proposition.
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People actually believe the 5-second rule? I mean, there's a morsel of truth to it in that if something lies on the ground for longer, it increases the chance someone will step on it and transfer bacteria to it that way, but otherwise...
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Haven't they debunked the 3-second rule like 100 times already? I feel like I've seen this same article in like 3 separate places throughout my life.
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If they wanted to debunk the 5-second rule, they probably should have included a study that included times less than 5 seconds.
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Tests of 5 seconds clearly debunk the 5-second rule. They don't debunk a hypothetical 3-second rule, say, but they establish that by 5 seconds the food is already at maximum contamination, when the rule claims that anything up to 5 is safe. Unless you believe there are no bacteria on the food at 4.9 seconds and it magically jumps to maximum contamination at 5.0, but then you fail science forever.
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I always heard "3-second rule" growing up. But I know that's been specifically debunked too. IIRC, I think they -did- detect that something like 0.9 seconds or less actually has a notably low amount of contamination, though.
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you're right. I was thinking of the 5-second rule as 'safer if picked up within 5 seconds,' not 'safe if picked up within 5 seconds.'
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110302/ap_on_re_us/us_teacher_table_rattling
The girl or the school. I have to wonder who the bigger idiots are.
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The girl.
The school has to be stupidly careful about incidents because, well, getting the school sued is a big deal. Just as there's a girl who will call 911 over something so trivial, there is a parent who will sue the district because a teacher had the police called on them and nothing happened. And if that teacher later on went to assault a student? And someone found out that the cops had been called on him before, but nothing happened? Oh boy.
The girl is going to grow up to be that parent.
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Or, hopefully, not any kind of parent.
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Darwin is never that kind.
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The school probably has a mandatory policy for placing employees on leave when police are involved. That makes sense to me. Look at it this way: if the school has to make a choice and they choose not to put the teacher on leave, they may get sued or get in a lot of trouble from parents by leaving a potentially dangerous person in school. On the other hand, if they choose to suspend the teacher and the teacher is later exonerated, they may be looking at a lawsuit from the teacher or the union for defamation, discrimination, you name it. If the school lacks the discretion not to suspend the teacher, though, they can't be sued for anything like that because they're not taking a potentially problematic action. No teacher is going to be able to say, "you put me on leave based on my race/sex/whatever," or "you irreparably and unjustly damaged my reputation by choosing to put me on leave." The real test for the school is how quickly they can resolve this mess and get the teacher back into the classroom.
Side note, but education-related: just read a case (http://www.counsel.nysed.gov/Decisions/volume32/d12954.htm) where a student appealed a suspension based on their First Amendment right to wear, get this, Big Johnson (http://www.itst-shirttime.com/product_images/i/953/TST10_%28A%29__86416_zoom.JPG) t-shirts. Thank you, early nineties.
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I don't normally post op-eds here. But.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/opinion/02friedman.html?_r=1
I'll just quote the person who sent ME the link. "I don't know how to interpret this except to conclude that Friedman was smoking some really powerful hash while he was here in Egypt, and I should write to ask him who his dealer is. Unless it turns out he got these insights by wandering out into the desert without water or head-covering, then smoking his own mustache until the visions came."
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/561316-tales-of-symphonia/58283099
Pretty much everything in here is retarded and could die with fire and make the world a better place.
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If someone spends as much as 800 hours playing a crappy Tales game, they may as well jump off a bridge.
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Hey guys, what do you think is better? Pancakes or the color purple?
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If someone spends as much as 800 hours playing any RPG, they may as well jump off a bridge.
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Hey guys, what do you think is better? Pancakes or the color purple?
Pancakes.
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If someone doesn't spend as much as 800 hours playing SC2, they may as well jump off a bridge.
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Hey guys, what do you think is better? Pancakes or the color purple?
Pancakes.
If they're my pancakes, pancakes.
hm, I should go make some pancakes.
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Hey guys, what do you think is better? Pancakes or the color purple?
Pancakes.
If they're my pancakes, pancakes.
hm, I should go make some pancakes.
Well, it is Shrove/Pancake Tuesday today, so go ahead.
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Pancakes is by the better 'word that starts with p'. Yes, I realize that's not what you were asking, but I have eaten over 800 pancakes in my lifetime, so that's how I'm going to interpret your question to drag this meaningless topic out even longer.
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If someone spends as much as 800 hours playing any RPG, they may as well jump off a bridge.
You've just condemned most of Warcraft's players. Which is fair enough.
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If someone spends as much as 800 hours playing any RPG, they may as well jump off a bridge.
You've just condemned most of Warcraft's players. Which is fair enough.
You've also possibly condemned some FFT players.
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If someone spends as much as 800 hours playing any RPG, they may as well jump off a bridge.
You've just condemned most of Warcraft's players. Which is fair enough.
You've also possibly condemned some FFT players.
:) No offense, but entirely intentional.
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If they jump off a bridge and don't have Fly equipped first, they deserve what they get.
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Look, FFT Players don't jump off of bridges, they teleport. Remember, it doesn't count as movement if it's vertical.
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http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/03/08/oregon.intruder.911/index.html?hpt=C1
man bites dog. not really.
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http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/03/08/oregon.intruder.911/index.html?hpt=C1
man bites dog. not really.
Dammit, I wanna know what part of town that happened in. Seems like a Westside thing.
e: called it. Dude lives in Southwest Portland. Arlington Heights to be exact.
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can't speak for what neighborhood it was in, but this kind of thing has 'Only in America' plastered all over it.
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This is a great example of what frustrates me about the American legal system:
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2011/03/18/what-is-a-copy-machine-presenting-a-deposition-for-the-ages/?mod=WSJBlog
How well can YOU define a photocopier for the court?
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I can't guarantee you'll like the answer any better, but the reason this exchange happened the way it did is not because lawyers are incapable of understanding simple concepts. It's because the guy being deposed and his lawyer are doing their very best to be absolute pains in the asses to the lawyer asking the questions (to the extent that they can without a judge reprimanding them).
Backing up a little bit, why is this guy being deposed? A literal answer might be to say he's being deposed so that the lawyer asking questions can find out about his office setup. The better answer would be that he's being deposed because someone sued his office to try to force them to do something they don't want to do. The more forthright this guy is, the worse things turn out for the office he works for. So he's resisting tooth and nail. It ain't pretty, but it ain't hard to see why he does it, either.
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I know. That's exactly the problem.
ETA: To clarify, I wasn't denigrating the speaker's intelligence. I just find it absolutely absurd that this kind of "Can you clarify that?" dodging is not only acceptable, but necessary.
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http://booksandpals.blogspot.com/2011/03/greek-seaman-jacqueline-howett.html
tl;dr version: Someone posted a negative review of a book and the author goes apeshit.
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http://booksandpals.blogspot.com/2011/03/greek-seaman-jacqueline-howett.html
tl;dr version: Someone posted a negative review of a book and the author goes apeshit.
Fuck off, her writing is just fine!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vl_QNa-bCKc
Apparently DUI laws ruin a way of life, and hurt small business owners!
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I literally choked on my dinner thanks to that. Shut up, Montana. You're killing people just by -suggesting- that.... >.>;;
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Hahaha the perfect argument against public transport right there.
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That said, I think he happens to be right in a way. Tightening up drunk driving laws doesn't really seem to have any positive benefit aside from increasing state cash flow and making poor people poorer. That is, they're already deterring anyone they're going to deter, and added penalties are more or less punitive.
A better approach might be to lower the drinking age. Say, not having one. right now drunk driving is more or less a product of culture, so creating a culture with a better grasp of how to approach alcohol might work.
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If you're expecting American culture to handle anything responsibily at this point you may be wasting your time
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CK: I dunno, drunk driving has dropped by a huge amount over the past few decades thanks to the tougher (i.e. existant) penalties applied to it. You can argue we've reached the point where further punishment accomplishes little, though, yes. I don't feel well-informed enough to make any broad statements there.
US drinking age is probably a bit high (21 just seems weird to me, you can't drink until your fourth year of college? I'm sure that actually happens in real life) but I dunno about "no drinking age at all", it is provably quite bad for people in their mid teenage years.
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Yeah, pretty much what I'm saying. Having people to enforce drunk driving laws: useful! taking away the license of anyone who ever drove drunk forever: so we just have a bunch of unlicensed drivers to take to jail now. Just what we needed.
I remember looking into it once, and basically the UK doesn't have drinking ages. You have to be 16 to buy it, but beyond that it seems to be "folks are going to let their kids have wine sometimes, it's no big thing" which is the sort of attitude that might help. Drinking isn't some big event, so you're more likely to approach it casually rather than say "Hells yeah lets get CRUNK!!"
In theory.
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The UK has a tremendous problem with alcoholism, and it's trending younger as well. Drinking age should be 18 though, it being 21 is all kinds of retarded.
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Yeah, pretty much what I'm saying. Having people to enforce drunk driving laws: useful! taking away the license of anyone who ever drove drunk forever: so we just have a bunch of unlicensed drivers to take to jail now. Just what we needed.
I remember looking into it once, and basically the UK doesn't have drinking ages. You have to be 16 to buy it, but beyond that it seems to be "folks are going to let their kids have wine sometimes, it's no big thing" which is the sort of attitude that might help. Drinking isn't some big event, so you're more likely to approach it casually rather than say "Hells yeah lets get CRUNK!!"
In theory.
That's how it worked for me. My parents offered us small amounts of wine frequently. Haven't drunk since I was 13.
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The drinking age over here is 6. Age to buy alcohol is 18, though, and that's essentially causing the same problems - people see drinking as this big deal because you can't do it (easily) until 18 and so teenagers are making an effort to get alcohol earlier.
For a more normal example, let's look at somewhere like Germany. I know their legal drinking age is a lot lower (14, IIRC?), but no idea what the figures are like on alcoholism over there.
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Hm. maybe the US 21 drinking age DOES make sense. We save most of our underage drinking for after high school.
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And then never grow out of it~
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Honestly, I feel like places like England and Japan can get away with strict DUI laws because they have the awesome public transportation in place. The US is just on such a different scale due to how spread out everything in the country is.
Like... I once tried to explain to my Japanese co-workers about Designated Drivers and they were like "If it was such a big deal, why didn't you all just walk home?"
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The drinking age over here is 6. Age to buy alcohol is 18, though, and that's essentially causing the same problems - people see drinking as this big deal because you can't do it (easily) until 18 and so teenagers are making an effort to get alcohol earlier.
For a more normal example, let's look at somewhere like Germany. I know their legal drinking age is a lot lower (14, IIRC?), but no idea what the figures are like on alcoholism over there.
There's so many factors involved in alcoholism that you can't pin it on just a drinking age. There's a lot of factors with regards to population too. Places with high Native American populations, for example, will have higher alcoholism rates, because a fairly common gene in that population makes you predisposed to it.
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Hm. maybe the US 21 drinking age DOES make sense. We save most of our underage drinking for after high school.
The flip side is that high schoolers end up doing illegal drugs since they are easier to purchase than alcohol.
Between alcohol and meth for high schoolers, I'd much prefer alcohol.
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Im highly skeptical that lower alcohol availability leads to significantly higher usage rates of meth, or other drugs (many of which are less harmful than alcohol in the hands of young drivers anyway!). That strikes me as an incredibly poor argument for lowering the drinking age.
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Im highly skeptical that lower alcohol availability leads to significantly higher usage rates of meth, or other drugs (many of which are less harmful than alcohol in the hands of young drivers anyway!). That strikes me as an incredibly poor argument for lowering the drinking age.
I know I've seen a study on this; let's see what google finds...
http://blog.norml.org/2009/08/28/study-says-its-easier-for-teens-to-buy-marijuana-than-beer/
Hm, ok yeah, pot's pretty harmless compared to...everything else. Not sure how easy it is for teens to get meth. I just had the impression meth was inexpensive, so I presume therefore easy to obtain. Hold on...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20842489/ns/health-addictions/
So...somewhat easy, but use is dropping due to anti-meth campaigns.
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Meth has also been around long enough that teens will probably have some casual way of getting access to the information of what doing a hard drug like that will do to you. Whether it be from informational ads, popping up somewhere online, or just having a friend who does the stuff. Culture does play a tremendous part in these kinds of things, however.
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http://kevinunderhill.typepad.com/Documents/Court_Orders/Baby%20Continuance%20Granted.pdf
warning: lawyers.
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http://kevinunderhill.typepad.com/Documents/Court_Orders/Baby%20Continuance%20Granted.pdf
warning: lawyers.
The Ermans are CONGRATULATED. IT IS SO ORDERED.
For some reason, there are a lot more cool judges than cool lawyers.
Definite sigh on the part of the Plaintiffs' attorneys.
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http://tv.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/arts/television/game-of-thrones-begins-sunday-on-hbo-review.html?smid=tw-nytimes&seid=auto
Fantasy is icky and only boys like it. Luckily women like lots of sex so that's clearly why the TV show has sex in it (never mind that it's, uh, based on a pre-existing book.). This is theoretically a "review" of A Game of Thrones but it doesn't actually review anything or say anything relevant to the show.
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http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-april-13-2011/toemageddon-2011---this-little-piggy-went-to-hell
Right wing to parents: If your sons like anything less manly than watching football while drinking beer and firing assault weapons, supporting their interests is tantamount to child abuse.
(Okay, slightly exaggerated for effect.)
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http://tv.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/arts/television/game-of-thrones-begins-sunday-on-hbo-review.html?smid=tw-nytimes&seid=auto
Fantasy is icky and only boys like it. Luckily women like lots of sex so that's clearly why the TV show has sex in it (never mind that it's, uh, based on a pre-existing book.). This is theoretically a "review" of A Game of Thrones but it doesn't actually review anything or say anything relevant to the show.
Yeah, saw that a few days ago. Response article! "Why would men ever want to watch game of thrones" (http://io9.com/#!5792574/really-why-would-men-ever-want-to-watch-game-of-thrones)
Also: Martin himself was kinda like "wait, really?": http://grrm.livejournal.com/210874.html
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Yeah, saw that a few days ago. Response article! "Why would men ever want to watch game of thrones" (http://io9.com/#!5792574/really-why-would-men-ever-want-to-watch-game-of-thrones)
That was just the right level of snark.
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Also, response from the author.
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/pull-up-a-throne-and-lets-talk/
Who still doesn't get it. If she'd written a negative review that included a "blargh I don't get fantasy" it'd be annoying but whatever. It's that she wrote a terrible incoherent non-review. With blatant misunderstandings of what the plot was even trying to do in the brief sections she addressed the plot, like, for example, mentioning "dwarves" off hand as if these were drinking and mining dwarves rather than, uh, actual dwarves. Who exist and are not fantasy creatures.
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http://www.clickorlando.com/family/27381829/detail.html
All in the name of protecting the children.
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http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2011/05/opinions-of-pencil-necked-weasel-thief.html
Gaiman gets paid to speak at a library in Minnesota, donates the money to charity after. A Minnesota politican goes and calls him.. .well, see the title. Gaiman then promptly shreds his arguments without saying a single negative word about Matt Dean, noted moron.
Seriously, what the fuck to this.
BONUS! http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/polinaut/archive/2011/05/dean_apologizes.shtml Dean apologies because mommy told him to do so! Sort of.
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BONUS! http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/polinaut/archive/2011/05/dean_apologizes.shtml Dean apologies because mommy told him to do so! Sort of.
My favorite part is the implication: Dean should not be left unsupervised.
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That or he has to get his poon from somewhere.
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http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_ec169697-a19e-525f-a532-81b3df229697.html
Illinois Supreme Court rules that the fourth amendment doesn't entitle you to physically resist if police try to enter your home illegally.
On the one hand, this doesn't change much practically; trying to physically hold off police officers has never been a good way to stay healthy and/or alive. On the other hand, what the fuck?
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Here's some of the choice bits of argument:
http://volokh.com/2011/05/13/no-right-to-assault-police-officer-entering-home-even-if-entrance-is-unlawful-indiana-supreme-court-holds/
Basically they're saying that because any evidence found during an unlawful entry is going to be suppressed, and because people have the right to sue police officers who violate their civil rights already, that there's no reason to allow people to do something that is normally illegal (assaulting a police officer) just because the police officer happens to be violating the law. They're not saying it's now legal for police to bust into people's houses. They're saying the remedy for that unlawful act shouldn't include a defense to violence. That makes sense to me when you're talking about police actions in public and a civilian's rights to the space around them are on equal footing to a police officer's, but it doesn't make sense when you talk about a place, the home, where the civilian holds the lawful authority to determine who has a right to be there.
Strange case for such a rule to come out of, because the police entry in the case doesn't seem to have been unlawful (though it's on the borderline). Police responded to a domestic violence call, the guy involved met them outside his house. When the woman showed up at the door, the guy slammed the door on them and refused to let them in, but they could hear her through the door screaming at him to let them in. So they busted the door down and tased him when he attacked them. Police can lawfully enter if they have probable cause to believe that something dangerous is happening, and it seems like there was enough there for their entry to be legal in the first place. (The trial court jury bought that argument and convicted him, incidentally.)
I wouldn't be surprised if the supreme court heard the case and overturned it. The conservatives on the court are quite protective of peoples' right against police intrusion into their home.
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Or named Scalia.
But yeah, they could easily have ruled that there were prima facie exigent circumstances and left it at that. It's just a weird time to make a weirder decision.
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Reading up a bit, the Indiana Supreme Court was ruling on the jury instructions, so I don't think they would have considered anything but whether, assuming police were there illegally, that was relevant to a potential defense.
I don't think they would necessarily have wanted to make a blanket rule about whether exigent circumstances existed in a case like this in any case, because whether two people arguing rises to the level of something dangerous going on is something it's tough to generalize about.
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What I meant to write before I left for dinner but didn't have time to type:
In general, if somebody breaks into your home, you can still seek a remedy in court and get them penalized and your property put back - but that doesn't mean you can't also fight back during the commission of the crime. Defending your home against intruders is such an accepted defense against assault that the principle is only controversial when deadly force is involved. But if police officers are doing the breaking-and-entering, this ruling suddenly throws that defense out the window, even if they and the homeowner both know that they're breaking the law. Even if you know that for a fact, you're supposed to either depend on the court taking a defendant's word over police officers' on whatever probable cause/exigent circumstances they claim in order to provide an after-the-fact remedy, or end up convicted of what will doubtless be a felony assault charge.
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http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20063676-503544.html
Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum on Tuesday accused Sen. John McCain of not understanding "how enhanced interrogation works," despite the fact that McCain, a former war prisoner in North Vietnam, was repeatedly subjected to torture during his 5 ½ years in captivity.
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I mean, you break somebody, and after they're broken, they become cooperative.
Haha stupid.
According to a first-person account of his experience as a POW in Vietnam, McCain was repeatedly subjected to physical and psychological abuse during his imprisonment, which lasted for more than five years. He has also McCain described giving false information to his interrogators in response to the harsh tactics.
Haha Editors for professional publications..
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Fox News attacks the NEA for supporting artistic non-profit video games by showing Call of Duty clips.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e80_1305997846
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That clip makes me angry for several reasons. Notably, they're framing it as a funding issue and it's...not. The NEA has a fixed amount of funding to divvy up how they see fit. They have now added games to the list of art mediums that could apply for (not "will receive") a grant. It's quite probable that no game will get past the grant application process this year, and thus no game will get funding.
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What the fuck is this bullshit. (http://www.slate.com/id/2296054/)
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Motherfucker wrote that article probably eats pizza with a fork. (http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-june-1-2011/me-lover-s-pizza-with-crazy-broad)
A humorous aphorism attributed to E. B. White:
To foreigners, a Yankee is an American.
To Americans, a Yankee is a Northerner.
To Northerners, a Yankee is an Easterner.
To Easterners, a Yankee is a New Englander.
To New Englanders, a Yankee is a Vermonter.
And in Vermont, a Yankee is somebody who eats pie for breakfast.
and a "Yankee breakfast" as we call it is absolutely delicious, especially if you put a hunk of cheddar on your apple pie.
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What the fuck is he even talking about? Did that article have a point?
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Pastry racism.
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Damn now I'm hungry for pie.
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I just picked up some lemon meringue.
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Funny, I just had a slice of YOUR MOM and apple pie.
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Jim does better/10.
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I think the joke would flow a little better if it was "I had a piece of your MOM'S apple pie. Last night!"
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My mom, swear to god, makes the best apple pie I've ever had and ever will.
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I think the joke would flow a little better if it was "I had a piece of your MOM'S apple pie. Last night!"
Flow be damned, I'm an American. If having your mom and apple pie for breakfast is wrong, I don't want to be right.
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Can we, as a society, have a mature discussion about an important topic? Sex and food. Don't. Go. Together. Put that can of whipped cream away ferchrissakes. Save the chocolate syrup for ice cream.
...
Ok, great idea: market minifridges to nonsmokers so after sex they can have a nice relaxing sundae. Hey, they just burned a lotta calories and they deserve a little reward!
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IMPORTANT QUESTION FOR JIM.
Does Ice could as part of this categorisation?
Edit - And can we find someone in this world that eats nipple clamps for breakfast if we mandate this?
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can we find someone in this world that eats nipple clamps for breakfast if we mandate this?
I never want to know the answer to that question. Unless the answer is no. Which it probably won't be.
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Jim takes a hard pro-nipple clamp stance.
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Can we, as a society, have a mature discussion about an important topic? Sex and food. Don't. Go. Together. Put that can of whipped cream away ferchrissakes. Save the chocolate syrup for ice cream.
If eating my dinner off a naked woman is wrong, I don't want to be right.
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Why the fuck would you want to do that? If service is slow, you'll get blueballs before your main course!
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I would think she'd be more worried I'd finish before she does, say "you're welcome" and then fall asleep.
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Sex and Food go perfectly fine together. You just have to make sure that you don't have sex someplace that's hard to clean, because chocolate syrup is annoying to get out of mattresses.
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I just don't understand you people. Sex and food is like a hot cup of tea and a rock concert.
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Sounds like you either have bad sex or bland food. Either way you lose.
So, a new entry from the "South Florida is shady as fuck" file: you can kill people and buy your way out of prison.
http://www.suntimes.com/opinions/5805234-474/editorial-suburban-brat-gets-rich-mans-justice.html (http://www.suntimes.com/opinions/5805234-474/editorial-suburban-brat-gets-rich-mans-justice.html)
From the presiding judge: "The need for restitution does outweigh the need for prison."
That's the kind of shit you say if you're talking about petty crimes like vandalism, not mowing two people down with your car.
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There is a particularly damaging rule of professional responsibility for lawyers: they're not allowed to lend money to their clients, even when those clients are good credit risks: poor but have a very high chance of winning a case worth a lot of money in the near future. That enables rich defendants to pressure poor plaintiffs to accept settlements at worse terms than they otherwise would; it's the easiest thing in the world to delay the resolution of a civil suit. The family of the decedents requested a lenient sentence because the family of the defendant promised to settle their wrongful death civil suit immediately. If lawyers could lend clients money, you bet your ass the family of the decedents would have been clamoring for jail time, not leniency.
Here's the tougher situation. Same deal, but the defendant has no money on hand, but has a rich career ahead of him. If you let the defendant out of prison, he can make money, and that money can then go to the family of the decedent via the wrongful death suit. If he stays in prison they never see a dime. Criminal cases are supposed to vindicate the rights of society, but it's tough to say you're doing that when you leave the victim of a criminal act in a worse position than they otherwise would be.
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What's worse for society: Putting the victims' families in a worse financial situation, or turning loose a repeat offender who's killed two people?
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What's worse for society: Putting the victims' families in a worse financial situation, or turning loose a repeat offender who's killed two people?
Alternatively, throw him in jail AND force him to pay punitive damages to the victims' families. He's going to do this again; he's already injured three people doing this shit, and now he's killed two.
Hopefully Illinois comes down on him when he gets back. This piece of shit is not going to learn, so he needs to be removed from society.
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The judge in the criminal case had no authority to force the guy to pay damages to the victim. The fact that the guy was found guilty in the criminal case means the defendant would (more or less) automatically lose his civil case, but neither of those facts could force him to pay before the civil case concluded (the civil case would be about how much he had to pay).
What's worse for society: Putting the victims' families in a worse financial situation, or turning loose a repeat offender who's killed two people?
In this case, turning the guy loose is worse. But that's a matter of balancing interests. There are going to be situations where leaving the victims in a worse condition would be the greater injustice.
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There is a particularly damaging rule of professional responsibility for lawyers: they're not allowed to lend money to their clients, even when those clients are good credit risks: poor but have a very high chance of winning a case worth a lot of money in the near future. That enables rich defendants to pressure poor plaintiffs to accept settlements at worse terms than they otherwise would; it's the easiest thing in the world to delay the resolution of a civil suit. The family of the decedents requested a lenient sentence because the family of the defendant promised to settle their wrongful death civil suit immediately. If lawyers could lend clients money, you bet your ass the family of the decedents would have been clamoring for jail time, not leniency.
Why can't a bank lend money to a good credit risk, though? A lawyer can't make the loan him/herself, but there's no ethical conflict in assisting a client in finding a bank that will take them on, is there?
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No, there's no ethical conflict in that. There's a growing business in lending for lawsuits (both to clients and to lawyers), as a matter of fact.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/15/business/15lawsuit.html
And even setting that all aside lawyers can and often do work on contingency or do work before being paid. So layers can loan clients the value of their services. they just can't give clients cash for, y'know, groceries and rent.
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I just don't understand you people. Sex and food is like a hot cup of tea and a rock concert.
Tea in a rock concert is superbly posh, you're just a freak.
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Sex and Food go perfectly fine together. You just have to make sure that you don't have sex someplace that's hard to clean, because chocolate syrup is annoying to get out of mattresses.
To be fair, it's harder to get mattresses out of chocolate syrup.
Don't ask me how I know this.
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I just don't understand you people. Sex and food is like a hot cup of tea and a rock concert.
Tea in a rock concert is superbly posh, you're just a freak.
I need one hand for the lighter and the other hand to keep the monocle on.
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If you can't hold a lighter and a teacup on the same hand, you're not my badass friend anymore.
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I just don't understand you people. Sex and food is like a hot cup of tea and a rock concert.
Tea in a rock concert is superbly posh, you're just a freak.
I need one hand for the lighter and the other hand to keep the monocle on.
Wait what? You need to use a hand to keep your monocle on? Lrn2monocle.
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Maybe it's constantly popping out due to frequent shocking twists?
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Maybe it's constantly popping out due to frequent shocking twists?
Good point, but when your monocle pops out, it should really be popping out into your cup of tea!
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I'm not sure if it was Dan Didio or Jim Lee or Bob Harras, but somebody is responsible for giving Rob Liefeld money in exchange for drawing things. (http://www.blogcdn.com/www.comicsalliance.com/media/2011/06/hkdvcv1r3ign84sdmd.jpg)
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To be fair to the dude. That IS much better than a lot of his older stuff.
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Agreed. Those vaguely resemble human bodies.
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He kind of drew a foot.
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If you can't hold a lighter and a teacup on the same hand, you're not my badass friend anymore.
People with monocles don't have friends. They have peers.
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Speaking of "DC goes to the 90s", those of you with taste may remember Harley Quinn from Batman: The Animated Series.
This is what she's going to look like now. (http://www.blogcdn.com/www.comicsalliance.com/media/2011/06/suicidesquadcover02.jpg)
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...what.
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I think that'd bother me more if she didn't look like a ripoff of (homage to?) Yoko from Gurren Lagann
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Speaking of "DC goes to the 90s", those of you with taste may remember Harley Quinn from Batman: The Animated Series.
This is what she's going to look like now. (http://www.blogcdn.com/www.comicsalliance.com/media/2011/06/suicidesquadcover02.jpg)
... why did Jim Lee barf over Harley Quinn.
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Speaking of "DC goes to the 90s", those of you with taste may remember Harley Quinn from Batman: The Animated Series.
This is what she's going to look like now. (http://www.blogcdn.com/www.comicsalliance.com/media/2011/06/suicidesquadcover02.jpg)
I'm sad now.
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I think that'd bother me more if she didn't look like a ripoff of (homage to?) Yoko from Gurren Lagann
I didn't think it could have been worse and then you say this.
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That is incredibly depressing.
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Also who the fuck is that manshark?
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The Manshark is the one thing I am okay with. I am, however, even more bothered now that I realize I saw that exact outfit on a stripper last summer. I don't want to think he and I hung out at the same nudie bar.
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Maybe the artist was just big into suicide girls and decided to pay homage to them with that abortion of a character design?
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(http://images.wikia.com/batman/images/7/7d/Harley-quinn-arkham-asylum.jpg)
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that someone told him to make a 'sexier' version of the Arkham Asylum Harley.
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(http://images.wikia.com/batman/images/7/7d/Harley-quinn-arkham-asylum.jpg)
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that someone told him to make a 'sexier' version of the Arkham Asylum Harley.
"You have to get out of here! Your vagina is haunted!"
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...wow. making the new design look good by comparison should not be that easy.
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Arkham Asylum apparently went to the Real is Brown school of gritty realism, so everything looks like 20 years of degraded horror film footage, at least in screenshots. On the plus side, she, Joker, and Batman himself are at least voiced by their real VAs, so that's good. Maybe I should play it.
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...wow. making the new design look good by comparison should not be that easy.
Eh, I don't especially like the Arkham Asylum version, but at least it's recognizeable as Harley Quinn. And...hell, I can see people wearing something like that to a costume party--I've known girls like that >_>. (The costume also gets bonus points for having platform shoes instead of heels).
The new design on the other hand is WTF, just...WTF. She's...wearing a corset but not a bra, except the corset seems to be completely elastic and mould to the shape of her boob; like seriously, is that corset made out of freaking spandex? It sure doesn't seem to be functioning as a corset.
Also, a cape? Seriously, a cape?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNUbPRj9TGM
Also: who the hell wears a cape when they are going strapless?
And what is up with her face? I mean, Harley has always been "crazy girl in makeup." And...I though they figured out from The Dark Knight that crazy person wearing makeup was the popular direction to go with Joker and family. But the face on the redesign...doesn't look human, and the makeup job doesn't look like it would pass for clown makeup--the style seems more goth, or maybe furry (I'm assuming there's contact lenses being used to make her have white pupils).
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doesn't look human
Your entire argument was rendered superfluous when the words "Rob Liefeld" entered the equation. This is some of his better work, too.
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Oh, this one isn't Liefeld. That's....Marco Rudy, whom I've never heard of before in my life.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110609/ap_on_hi_te/us_computer_peeper
Well, at least he was creative in his desperation to spy on naked women.
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Oh, this one isn't Liefeld. That's....Marco Rudy, whom I've never heard of before in my life.
you can tell because she doesn't have ripped abs in quantities not anatomically possible.
say what you will about liefeld, but his women look like they hit the gym on the way back from the plastic surgeon.
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The chick in the Liefeld drawing looks like she was getting plastic surgery while working out at the gym. That or the boob job is really terrible in that the nipples are like in line with the middle of their shoulder.
It could be an insanely tailored costume that is both figure hugging to cling to the under side of the breast while attempting to restrict movement by pulling them in the general direction of under her armpits, which I imagine is both incredibly good at stopping them from jiggling and hurts like hell.
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Probably not any more uncomfortable than the standard pushup bra that pushes them up and together to make cleavage. In fact, at a glance I don't think it's that far from a non-bra rest position on some women.
Granted, this doesn't answer the impracticality of form-hugging costumes, or why you wouldn't just wear a sports bra when you'll be accelerating with ridiculous force.
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accelerating with ridiculous force.
That is also another possible explanation. No bra and flying quickly.
Edit - Oh gods I thought about what that would be like when you decelerated. Ouch.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVpm-NRbnB4
Clockwork Elves are using drugs to make the Elite build the large hadron colider and open the gate to another dimension!
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http://irishexaminer.ie/ireland/man-masturbated-while-rape-victim-testified-in-court-159524.html#ixzz1Qw8VsKws (http://irishexaminer.ie/ireland/man-masturbated-while-rape-victim-testified-in-court-159524.html#ixzz1Qw8VsKws)
So, this guy was on trial for rape. When the woman he was accused of raping went on the stand, his response was to rub one out to her testimony.
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... That one is special.
http://deadspin.com/5817771/helmet-would-have-saved-motorcyclist-who-crashed-during-anti+helmet-protest-ride
This one is less horrifying and more 'what a total goddamn fucking moron'.
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Also it's actual irony, not Alanis Morisette irony.
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http://www.thinkatheist.com/profiles/blogs/bill-nye-bood-in-texas-for
Uh... Okay...
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bill-nye-bood
DEATH IS TOO GOOD FOR THEM
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Wow. It's one thing to deny shaky science; I'm a-ok with people who dispute Big Bang theory or Abiogenesis, because frankly even scientists aren't sure about those. But that link is on the level of trying to argue that the world is flat. We've been to the moon, for crying out loud!
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I really don't think that's true. There are a lot of rumors about all those crazy southerners up here, and most of them are false anyway.
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Site with an obvious agenda + a mysterious lack of link to any sources for this event = probably a hoax, yeah.
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Site with an obvious agenda + a mysterious lack of link to any sources for this event = probably a hoax, yeah.
http://web.archive.org/web/20090427074510/http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2006/04/06/04062006wacbillnye.html
Is this what you were talking about?
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Site with an obvious agenda + a mysterious lack of link to any sources for this event = probably a hoax, yeah.
I was skeptical about it myself first but I believe Magic has posted something on the matter so I wouldn't have had to do it myself.
Still, uh, what.
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Magic: Thanks for finding the article. Although, reading it, it seems to me that the objections of the boo-birds were not to the suggestion that the moon did not emit its own light, but what they perceived (rightly or wrongly) as an attack on their religion. Which is not neary as IotD-worthy, especially depending on the specific wording Nye used, which is unreported.
(Lest anyone get the wrong idea, I think Bill Nye is super-awesome.)
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That article is way less condemning than the article posted originally though!
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Ok, so first Mark Halperin calls Obama a dick on teevee. Then he gets suspended indefinitely for it. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/who-had-the-worst-week-in-washington-times-mark-halperin/2011/06/30/AGPB66tH_story.html) Then this guy (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/halperins-comment-unclear-to-some/2011/07/01/AGxiWutH_blog.html) admits he didn't even understand what Halperin meant by "dick." But he doesn't use the word in his column because apparently "dick" is a word that not only cannot be uttered but also may not see print.
This all fills me with despair but also makes me feel oddly young.
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Magic: Thanks for finding the article. Although, reading it, it seems to me that the objections of the boo-birds were not to the suggestion that the moon did not emit its own light, but what they perceived (rightly or wrongly) as an attack on their religion. Which is not neary as IotD-worthy, especially depending on the specific wording Nye used, which is unreported.
Hard to really say for sure, actually. One could perceive said thinking that the statement was an attack on their religion as the disbelief of the scientific fact in question.
That's another matter for another time, though.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/klu-klux-klan-protests-westboro-baptist-church-video/2011/05/31/AGgoiPFH_blog.html?fb_ref=NetworkNews
Do you enjoy debating who was a worse guy, Hitler or Stalin? Then do I have a link for you...
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I'm rooting for the KKK.
(Though, really, when the KKK protests a church comprised of 100% white people, none of whom have been in an interracial or gay marriage, you can probably take them seriously).
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Phelps has long been an enemy of the KKK; he was a lawyer for black clients in the 60's and helped oppose Jim Crow. That said, I vote fora meteor to land on both sides.
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... the hell is this thread doing on page 2? You people are slacking! Honestly.
--
http://biggovernment.com/bmccarty/2011/08/11/anonymous-call-to-new-animal-abuse-hotline-leads-to-raid-on-colorado-womans-rabbit-farm/
The policemen take on the BIG BAD animal horders and their deplorable conditions to SAVE THE BUNNIES.
... except, oh wait. The bunnies are part of a 25-year-old breeding program for show rabbits. And the 4-H club. And some of the bunnies are also meat animals. And they donate deceased rabbits to the zoo to feed their raptors. And all this takes place on an ag-approved parcel of land.
To see just how horribly mistreated these poor animals are, take a look at the news report:
http://denver.cbslocal.com/top-video/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=6077385
Goddamned good thing that we have dedicated law enforcement officials ready to tramp all over inconvenient laws and procedures in the name of the bunnies.
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This type of stupid is how anti government types get started. That link is stupid on so many levels.
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And Today's idiot is...Richard Dawkins!
(1:26:20 PM) Mumei: Okay, in this scenario, a young woman has gone to an atheists / skeptics conference in Dublin
(1:26:32 PM) Mumei: She's an American and a single woman.
(1:27:01 PM) Mumei: She was a panel member, and she talked some about some of the sexism she'd experienced both in and out of the community.
(1:27:21 PM) mc: The aethiest communit?
(1:27:24 PM) Mumei: After the conference, she was at the hotel bar with other people, and she talked until about 4 in the morning
(1:27:24 PM) Mumei: Yes.
(1:28:01 PM) Mumei: While they were talking, there was another man at a different table who was not a part of the discussion, but had been watching her for some time.
(1:28:15 PM) Mumei: At 4, she said to the group that it was really late, she was tired, and she was going to bed.
(1:28:26 PM) Mumei: She went to the elevator and the man followed her
(1:28:37 PM) mc: Ok, this is getting frightening.
(1:28:55 PM) Mumei: And when they were on the elevator, the man said, "Now don't take this the wrong way, but I find you pretty interesting. Would you like to come to my room for coffee."
(1:29:11 PM) Mumei: Now this is four in the morning, after she had just expressed an interest in going to bed.
(1:29:18 PM) Mumei: She said no and got off on the next floor
(1:29:36 PM) Mumei: And after describing the scenario, she said this:
(1:29:45 PM) Mumei: Just a word to the wise here, guys. Don't do that. I don't know how else to explain how this makes me very uncomfortable, but I'll just sort of lay it out: I was a single women in foreign country in a hotel elevator with you, just you, and I—don't invite me back to your hotel room right after I finish talking about how it creeps me out and makes me uncomfortable when men sexualize me in that manner.
(1:30:04 PM) Mumei: Which is perfectly reasonable, of course.
(1:30:11 PM) mc: Yeah.
(1:30:14 PM) Mumei: From a woman's perspective, that encounter had the potential to be dangerous.
(1:30:25 PM) mc: Alarm bells were going off in my head as you were telling that story.
(1:30:30 PM) mc: I was scared she was going to get raped.
(1:30:33 PM) Mumei: And even if he was a perfectly nice, if socially inept, guy, she has no way of knowing that
(1:31:08 PM) Mumei: Because the fact is that one in six women is sexually assaulted in their life time.
(1:31:33 PM) Mumei: And therefore that means that women have good reason to be cautious around just about every man that they are with.
(1:31:50 PM) Mumei: And that you, a complete stranger, should keep that in mind and not corner her alone in that manner
(1:31:56 PM) Mumei: There was a bit of an uproar.
(1:32:20 PM) mc: http://kateharding.net/2009/10/08/guest-blogger-starling-schrodinger%E2%80%99s-rapist-or-a-guy%E2%80%99s-guide-to-approaching-strange-women-without-being-maced/
(1:32:27 PM) Mumei: She was getting messages calling her a cunt, telling her she deserved to get raped, commentary generally about how feminists were ruining atheism.
(1:32:29 PM) Mumei: I have indeed read that!
(1:32:40 PM) Mumei: I actually linked to it during my discussion, since it is quite handy.
(1:32:42 PM) mc: Wait, what the fuck?
(1:32:51 PM) mc: Comments on her blog?
(1:33:02 PM) Mumei: E-mail, Youtube comments
(1:33:34 PM) Mumei: She also gets them from men's rights people about issues on male vs female circumcision, because she aptly notes that female circumcision is worse.
(1:33:55 PM) mc: Oh my god.
(1:34:23 PM) mc: Remind me never to go anywhere near the active aethiest movements; I do way more feminist stuff than what you're describing.
(1:34:54 PM) Mumei: Now I was following this on the Pharyngula blog
(1:35:02 PM) Mumei: and Richard Dawkins commented in the comments section
(1:35:10 PM) Mumei: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/files/2011/07/dawkins_watson1.gif
(1:35:25 PM) Mumei: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/files/2011/07/dawkins_watson2.gif
(1:35:31 PM) Mumei: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/files/2011/07/dawkins_watson3.gif
(1:35:42 PM) Mumei: Just read those three; it's an exercise in staggering male privilege.
(1:35:48 PM) mc: This is the real Richard Dawkins? Seriously?
(1:35:54 PM) Mumei: Yes.
(1:35:55 PM) mc: Not like...an internet imp?
(1:36:02 PM) Mumei: It was confirmed by the guy running Pharyngula
(1:36:23 PM) Mumei: And Pharyngula is run by a college professor who has been on a panel / discussion thing with Dawkins before
(1:36:39 PM) Mumei: And who invited Dawkins as his guest to go see Expelled, etc.
(1:36:42 PM) Mumei: It's him
(1:37:19 PM) Mumei: There were many people - perhaps most - who were defending Dawkins' comments.
(1:37:53 PM) mc: Wow, what the hell. Comparing the woman to the Catholic Church?
(1:37:58 PM) Mumei: I think it is a problem of perspective.
(1:38:05 PM) Mumei: He has never in his life had to worry about being raped.
(1:38:13 PM) Mumei: And has never seriously considered how that issue might affect someone else.
(1:38:29 PM) Mumei: So for him, this scenario is just some guy getting on the elevator and asking her to coffee and a conversation.
(1:38:32 PM) Mumei: And nothing more.
(1:38:48 PM) Mumei: He fails to see that for a woman the scenario necessarily means something different.
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So Dawkins is an insensitive tool. Is this news? The guy's made a career out of telling atheists not only that they're right, but that they don't have to respect people who disagree with them. Maybe someone should impress on Dawkins the evolutionary importance of empathy.
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He might get it if he lived in a society where abject sociopathy was not the path to success.
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So Dawkins is an insensitive tool. Is this news? The guy's made a career out of telling atheists not only that they're right, but that they don't have to respect people who disagree with them. Maybe someone should impress on Dawkins the evolutionary importance of empathy.
Famous person expects people to have sex with him by default. Oh my what a surprise. Dawkins considers himself the leader of the Atheist movement, so he thinks anyone involved will give him whatever he wants in the same way musicians see their fans.
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So Dawkins is an insensitive tool. Is this news? The guy's made a career out of telling atheists not only that they're right, but that they don't have to respect people who disagree with them. Maybe someone should impress on Dawkins the evolutionary importance of empathy.
Famous person expects people to have sex with him by default. Oh my what a surprise. Dawkins considers himself the leader of the Atheist movement, so he thinks anyone involved will give him whatever he wants in the same way musicians see their fans.
It wasn't Dawkins who asked the woman for sex. It was some random person this woman didn't know, who had never talked to her, but had been watching her for hours from the corner of a room.
So Dawkins is an insensitive tool. Is this news? The guy's made a career out of telling atheists not only that they're right, but that they don't have to respect people who disagree with them. Maybe someone should impress on Dawkins the evolutionary importance of empathy.
Well, right, Dawkins plays off of basic social identity theory:
http://www.psychologyofgames.com/2010/01/11/how-social-identity-theory-predicted-the-console-wars-of-07/
"Our tribe is awesome. Their tribe is less than human, and clearly inferior." Easy way to make a living by preying off of well known psychological traps. He seems to be smart enough in the books of his I've read, and knows his evolutionary psychology; he probably knows exactly what he's doing.
But now he's attacking and alienating people within his own tribe. Which is just...stupid.
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Nah, I don't think it's stupid. He's trying to frame everything in his "us vs. them" paradigm. To him, women's rights itself is a great springboard for his belief that atheism rules and religions drool; after all, mistreatment of women is intertwined with religious orthodoxy in some cases (which he draws attention to).
I actually don't think "idiot" really applies here (and I have no love for him); the guy is just insensitive AND bent on pushing his own agenda. Won't be the first, won't be the last.
Now, of course, these folks as in ("She was getting messages calling her a cunt, telling her she deserved to get raped, commentary generally about how feminists were ruining atheism.") get some IotD hellfire from me. "You were scared, possibly more than I think you should have been... THEREFORE YOU DESERVE RAPE" and "feminism ruins atheism!" just get "....... what" reactions from me, combined with contemplating how best to dunk these people in acid.
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Hmm...yeah, I think I see now. Basically you're saying that his approach is:
"You want sexism? Look at the horrible things that happen to women in muslim countries, those uncivilized religious savages! This thing that an atheist did? Don't be absurd--that wasn't sexist or disrespectful in the slightest."
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Bingo. The more ills he can claim are derived entirely from religion, the stronger his thesis appears.
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In short, Dawkins is still an asshole.
Now let's move on from militant athiest assholes to my personal favorite idiot: School systems run by the terminally inept.
http://www.kens5.com/news/Blanco-ISD-boy-faces-ISS-for-wearing-hair-too-long-128430243.html
ISS for long hair!
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This just makes me furious.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/members-congress-paid-enough-165641960.html
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Congress: The idiotic gift that keeps on giving. Seriously, WTF.
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Hm. There's 1 reason I'm never upset to see congresspeople suggest they're not paid enough: New Jersey. You might recall that mass arrest of 40+ NJ politicians for corruption a couple years ago. That didn't come out of the blue. There's a culture of petty corruption in NJ, "you pay me $10k and you'll get that building permit" kinds of stuff. One big reason why is that NJ pays its politicians a pittance, as low as $15k for some mayors of small towns if I recall correctly. NJ treats politicians as part-timers, and it gets what it pays for. It's been suggested that significantly higher base salaries for congresspeople could reduce the influence of lobbyists in Washington. I don't know if I buy that, but it's worth considering.
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Politics as a profession disturbs me.
Saying "I don't make enough" when practically guaranteed six figures and excellent benefits as a contractor for a job you ran for that is public service strikes me as being so very out of touch. Nevermind, too, that salary is public knowledge, so they damn well knew what they were signing up for.
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Agree pretty strongly there. At worst, you're willing to give up income for influence and power.
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They'd complain even if we gave them more money. Just give 'em a little time to spend whatever extra they have on more expensive cars/houses and get right back in the woeful "paycheck to paycheck" dilemma they're in now.
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Yeah, honestly, even NFL stars often end up going bankrupt, because they have no financial skills. And those people make even more money than congress. If you give lots of money to people without a lot of education or financial skills, they're not going to manage it well.
The solution is to get smart people with passable financial management skills in congress.
And the fact that this isn't the case already is honestly kind-of frightening. >_>
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Before leaving the US I made 27K a year. I made steady payments off of my loans, drank a ludicrous amount of alcohol, and STILL managed to save up a fair deal of money on that salary.
Those congressmen (read: assholes) can go fuck themselves (read: chop off their cocks and stick them in their own assholes). We'd be better off if they weren't in charge anyway. And while I did not have to support a family, well, I know people.
I know people supporting families.
I know people supporting families and paying off mortgages.
These people make 60-70K a year, and in one case that's with the parents' combined incomes. Yeah, these assholes get no sympathy from me.
EDIT: Drunk, rage.
Especially when these FUCKING SHITHEADS are the kinds of people WHO ARE WILLING TO NEGOTIATE THE MINIMUM WAGE to bring back jobs to the US. ($7.50 in New Mexico *40 = $300/wk = ~$1200/mo = ~$14400/yr. NM is a in a state with a minimum wage higher than the federal minimum.)
This article makes me want to fly back to Washington DC and go Oldboy style on some motherfuckers.
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http://www.avclub.com/chicago/articles/billy-corgan-gets-in-a-nasty-internet-fight-with-a,60967/
Smashing Pumpkins frontman lets all his old fans know he's actually a hateful bigot.
From there Billy sent out a series of now-deleted tweets about Ever’s “piece of shit” pedals, her business ethics, and her character. As if the childish fight-picking wasn’t enough, Corgan continually referred to Ever as him/her and he/she for being a transgender woman, and he commented on her appearance—as if calling someone an “ugly pig” is ever a relevant retort.
Found via this response (http://kathleenjacques.com/sketchbook/308/a-rant-from-the-disappointment-department) at BvB (http://kathleenjacques.com/sketchbook/bandvsband).
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http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/09/primeministerfail-berlusconi-calls-italy-a-shty-country-he-plans-to-leave.php?ref=fpb
IotD: Italian Edition.
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The worst part is that I don't think that makes Berlusconi seem any worse than he already did. It just enforces that opinion amongst his people, I guess, but the guy was already pretty clearly a terrible leader and needs out as soon as possible.
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http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/09/investors-knock-sp-for-giving-subprime-bonds-higher-rating-than-us-debt-4.php?ref=fpblg
Gee, these new mortgage-backed securities seem like a great investment?
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Those agencies should basically be abolished if only there was an easily feasible idea of what to replace them with (Non-profits wouldn't have the funds to keep the people with needed skillset, lol government expansion right now).
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http://www.raintaxi.com/online/2011summer/card.shtml (http://www.raintaxi.com/online/2011summer/card.shtml)
Orson Scott Card has decided to take it upon himself to rewrite Hamlet to make it "accessible." Also to change shit around to reflect his personal (and by "his personal" I mean "the one the Mormon Church dictates he has") worldview.
New additions include!!!!
-Awesome new dialogue like:
Horatio brought him his sword. "Laertes is looking for you," he said.
"I don't have time for Laertes. He must know I didn't mean to kill his father," Hamlet said.
"It's not his father," said Horatio. "It's his sister."
"Ophelia? I didn't touch her."
"She killed herself. Walked out into the sea, dressed in her heaviest gown. A funeral gown. Two soldiers went in after her, and a boat was launched, but when they brought her body back, she was dead."
"And for that he wants to kill me?"
Yes, that's when he first learns that Ophelia is dead. WAY TO HAVE YOUR CHARACTERS EMOTE.
-Any musings about the nature of what happens after we die is now gone, because Hamlet should already know, because it's in the Bible, duh.
-Rather than suggesting nothing is good or bad, but rather that we make it so, he instead claims "Some actions are always good, and some are always bad."
-Hamlet's father is revealed to have become a Ghost because he was evil. Why was he evil? Well, obviously because he was gay. And gay people will fuck ANYTHING, so Hamlet's dad wants to bone Hamlet.
For someone who hates gay people so much, Card sure does write a whole lot about supple young naked boys, though.
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Also, Hamlet's dad raped Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, which is why they're totally gay now.
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So the message here is that gay people are evil rapists, and Gay is an STD?
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That... certainly lines up with how the hardcore religious seem to view homosexuality. Inherently is rape, inherently is evil, and is transmitted by contact with another man's junk.
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http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2011/09/09/315628/gop-legislator-homosexuality-is-more-dangerous-than-terrorist-attacks-because-we-have-to-deal-with-it-every-day/
kdjsgldjflsdsds
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This is your fault.
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qpwejalkfhdhujuqywiqughasdlfmk
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http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/09/rick-santorum-explains-how-gop-can-attract-illegal----i-mean-latino----voters-video.php
IotD: GOP debate edition.
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Those fish in that barrel were really enjoying life before you came along with a Gatling Gun, Miki.
-
low-hanging fruit tastes just as sweet.
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Usually sweeter. It hangs low because it's so ripe.
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So for the people who read comics, this is what Amanda Waller looks like as of this week. (http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/8851/84891804.jpg)
Somebody needs a stabbin'.
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So for the people who read comics, this is what Amanda Waller looks like as of this week. (http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/8851/84891804.jpg)
Somebody needs a stabbin'.
For people like me who don't read comics, and looked at this and were like "huh?", here's what she's supposed to look like:
http://images.wikia.com/marvel_dc/images/b/b5/Amanda_Waller_Public_Enemies_1.jpg
http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/main/wp-content/uploads/2008_7/AmandaWaller.jpg
Yeah, stabbing seems appropriate.
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Lest anyone accuse me of not being Fair and Balanced™:
http://volokh.com/2011/09/14/irony/
IotD: Liberal Academia edition
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Yeah, stabbing seems appropriate.
Definitely. What obese black women need are positive role models like villains who take pleasure in the deaths of thousands of innocent people.
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Without having read the issue I can't say if that stadium full of people was innocent. It could be Raiders Stadium.
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Touche.
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Yeah, stabbing seems appropriate.
Definitely. What obese black women need are positive role models like villains who take pleasure in the deaths of thousands of innocent people.
Ehh...this quote seems appropriate; it's about female characters, not obese people, but the same logic applies:
http://maxbarry.com/2011/07/08/news.html
"Because I don’t want only positive female role models. I want the spectrum. Angry girls, happy girls, mean girls. Lazy girls. Girls who lie and girls who hit people and do the wrong thing sometimes. [...] An elephant whose primary story purpose is to steal some berries does not have to be male. Not every time. Characters can be girls just because they happen to be girls."
I mean, imagine this the other way around. Imagine if an obese male character from comics, say Kingpin or Blob, was suddenly made skinny and fanservice-y, showing off perfect sixpack abs. The correct response is to cry blasphemy. Or, back to females, imagine if in one of the later seasons of Rosanne, they replaced Rosanne's actress with Pamela Anderson with dyed black hair, showing some cleavage. The correct response is "what the fuck, no." Or hey, imagine if in the Harry Potter movies, they swapped Hagrid's actor out with a shirtless Hugh Jackmann (http://yeeeah.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/hugh-jackman-six-pack-beach.jpg). There would be pitchforks.
None of these are exactly role-model characters; that's not the point.
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So for the people who read comics, this is what Amanda Waller looks like as of this week. (http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/8851/84891804.jpg)
Somebody needs a stabbin'.
As a fan of the original Ostrander run of Suicide Squad that introduced and featured the character, I would be interested to know who I need to stab for this.
I also can't decide whether I'm bothered more by the new design or that she's apparently a gleeful mass murderer now.
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That picture's from the new Suicide Squad, which makes it the same "creative" team that gave us Harley Quinn as a Juggalo hooker. So nobody that didn't already need stabbing, come to think of it.
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So for the people who read comics, this is what Amanda Waller looks like as of this week. (http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/8851/84891804.jpg)
Somebody needs a stabbin'.
As a fan of the original Ostrander run of Suicide Squad that introduced and featured the character, I would be interested to know who I need to stab for this.
I also can't decide whether I'm bothered more by the new design or that she's apparently a gleeful mass murderer now.
This nicely sums up my opinion here.
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http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/09/judge_blocks_florida_law_that_restricts_doctors_fr.php?ref=fpb
IotD: NRA edition.
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44547904/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
Guys, Weekend at Bernie's was funny. That doesn't mean you should actually re-enact the movie.
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But you know the corpse was cool with it! He had to type in his PIN number after all.
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http://news.yahoo.com/peta-plans-porn-website-promote-message-171544732.html
Because people didn't think PETA was crazy enough yet.
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As dumb as it is, every majour media outlet knocking them for using porn to get their message out there can go fuck themselves in hell as hypocrites.
Also lol at oh noes moral outrage at pornography! You will turn people against you with porn! No one at all looks at porn! it is disgusting and something that only a fringe fraction of the population looks at and they are all filthy filthy deviants.
Bullshit, get your heads out of your arses, it is just people being people. It is just dicks for fucks sake, get over it.
Edit 2 - For the record, I think offering up a free clean porn website to teens early twenty year olds is a pretty effective way to win over the hearts and minds of a generation. PETA aren't exactly targetting middle aged white people with moral qualms about vaginas and penises here. They know who they are going for and marketting it pretty damned effectively if they carry through on the above. Of course their message is batshit insane, but that doesn't stop their basic campaign outline from being a pretty smart idea. Better than throwing paint on rich people's clothing.
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I think it's a target audience mismatch, actually.
I don't know what PETA's demographics are, but when I imagine a PETA supporter, I imagine a vegan, probably female, probably militant feminist in her spare time.
By comparison, the target audience for visual pornography tends to be men (whereas women tend to be more into romance novels). And militant feminists if they're more second wave-style feminism, tend to be pretty strongly anti-pornography (there's definitely a branch of feminism that claims pornography is always degrading to women--it's a branch that has largely been outdated by third wave feminism, but PETA supporters don't strike me as the types to take a half-way opinion on an issue).
So...yeah, they probably will alienate a section of their existing audience with porn. Maybe they'll pick up a different crowd of supporters to make up for that?
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They aren't exactly targetting to preach to the choir with it certainly.
Given PETA's whole damned point in general? I don't exactly see someone giving up on them and starting to harm animals or start eating meat just because they start making some porn. Even if they cut all ties from the core PETA group they still have someone following their message. You lose and advocate, but aim to gain more.
They are a pretty extreme group, they most likely see no real loss to lose some members who disagree in unrelated philosophical issues as long as they stick by their central concepts after they have moved on if it gains them access to a whole new range of impressionable young minds.
Sadly, second wave feminists are getting on in years. PETA either has the ones they will have or not at this point. It is a bridge they can likely afford to burn at this point unfortunately.
Ignoring all this of course there is always just the PETA is kind of fucking crazy anyway argument. So who knows what members will put up with that conflicts their other beliefs if it gets them a soapbox to work from.
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Honestly, I am far more curious about the content of this site. I mean, is this going to be porn with a PETA banner at the top? Or is this going to be porn based around PETA's messages?
"Being a vegetarian is proving to be so hard but I love all the animals so much. I'm just really craving some meat right now..."
"I think I've got something that can help you with that."
"Ahn~ <3"
I mean, inquiring minds need to know.
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http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/09/20/fox-sports-admits-they-fabricated-newspaper-headlines/related/
Fox Sports: Every bit as trustworthy as Fox News.
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Fortunately Fox Sports is far too classy to claim "Cutler? More like Cuntler!" was a headline, not just a forum post on the Internet.
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Honestly, I am far more curious about the content of this site. I mean, is this going to be porn with a PETA banner at the top? Or is this going to be porn based around PETA's messages?
"Being a vegetarian is proving to be so hard but I love all the animals so much. I'm just really craving some meat right now..."
"I think I've got something that can help you with that."
"Ahn~ <3"
I mean, inquiring minds need to know.
Is this where I make a joke about nuts being an alternate source of protien? Or perhaps about non-dairy creamer?
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http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/09/28/philly-reporters-mix-it-up/
Only in Philly.
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Kind of an old link but still vaguely interesting for Orson Scott Card's steady descent into madness.
http://www.raintaxi.com/online/2011summer/card.shtml
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Yeah, that was posted a couple pages back, I think (or in misc. links). It is indeed a pretty epic act of stupid.
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Not only is it crazy, it's REALLY poorly written.
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http://yfrog.com/hs7q2jscj
This one speaks for itself.
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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/10/06/steve_jobs_funeral_picket/
Pot, that kettle is fully dissing you yo.
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what really
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If you're going to work in PR, you should probably know how to R with P. Unlike this guy: http://thebloggess.com/2011/10/and-then-the-pr-guy-called-me-a-fucking-bitch-i-cant-even-make-this-shit-up/
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/conservative-journalist-says-he-infiltrated-escalated-dc-museum-protest/2011/10/09/gIQAIKxCYL_blog.html
IotD: Definition of Journalism Edition
I mean, the guy works for American Spectator. Could you make this stuff up?
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http://gawker.com/5847970/woman-files-lawsuit-over-misleading-trailer-for-drive
If only she'd seen Bridge to Terabithia. That suit I would have helped with.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/31/9-11-children-colouring-book-muslims?intcmp=239
Let's print a colouring book that say "Radical Muslims hate us because we are FREE and they hate FREEDOM", and then call said book completely factual.
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http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1003707-If-Pandaren-are-the-new-Hero-Class-then-how-come-Humans-can-be-one
This is my favourite thing of today.
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http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1020129-Porn-Legend-Sasha-Grey-reading-to-1st-graders-right-or-wrong
This is full of retarded in the first few posts. Then somehow WoW forumites manage to be better human beings than the school and parents involved.
OH NO SOMEONE WORKED IN PORN THEY MUST DEPRIVE THEMSELVES OF ALL HUMAN INTERACTION EVER AGAIN!!!!!!
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People who have sex should never be allowed near children.
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http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidewalt/2011/11/14/peta-attacks-mario-for-wearing-tanooki-fur/?partner=yahootix
Yeah, I know: PETA is cheating. Still, though!
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http://www.windsorstar.com/life/Global+warming/5747606/story.html
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http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/ny_assemblyman_accused_of_soliciting_bribes_to_pay.php?ref=fpnewsfeed
Just cleared of bribery charges? TIME TO START TAKING KICKBACKS!
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http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1033214-CNN-Fires-all-their-Photographers-and-Photo-Editors-What-do-you-guys-thin
We have no right to criticise or comment on a business running itself poorly guys. The Free Market will sort it all out.
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http://popwatch.ew.com/2011/12/05/is-the-muppets-a-communist-trojan-horse/#disqus_thread
"I hate that I can no longer distinguish satire from straight talk."
Read the article (satire) now watch the Fox News clip.
EDIT: and the Twitter response:
https://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23GOPMuppethearings
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http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/santorum-science-should-get-out-of-politics.php?ref=fpnewsfeed
Santorum: "Science Should Get Out Of Politics"
Siiiiiiiigh.
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How is he even still a thing?
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Spite.
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http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2011/12/09/hill-staffers-plan-to-party-their-way-through-december-thwarted-due-to-public-tweets/
Hay guys, let's post on twitter about drinking on the job!!! PS: we work for a congressman.
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http://www.kotaku.com.au/2011/12/star-wars-the-old-republic-and-the-grace-period-fiasco/
EA. WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU.
They do this. FOr a subscription based game. That you already have a key for. That a whole part of the deal was that you could download the client early.
WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU.
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Amazon just announced they'll ship all Pre-orders on the 15th, Gref.
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That doesn't help everyone that picked slow shipping because lol dont need discs bro.
Think about it this way. Even if you bought it digitally from Origin, there is still a code that you need to get and put in. You have already given them your money and established that you have purchased it. But hey, got to input a second code just cause.
There is a ton more moving parts to this process than their needs to be.
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http://www.nomblog.com/?doing_wp_cron
Trumpeting Newt 'scum' Gingrich as a defender of marriage. There is so much combined idiocy there that I properly lack the words or middle fingers to express it.
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"Many of Ron Paul's supporters in Iowa believe that he is on their side when it comes to preserving traditional marriage, but he isn't," Brown said. "While Paul says he personally believes in traditional marriage, he has refused to sign our pledge and, worse, has said that marriage is strictly a private affair and that government has no role in regulating marriage. This is a dangerous position with profound consequences for society."
I can't believe Ron Paul would act like a libertarian. This is totally shocking and out of character.
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Meanwhile, Jon Huntsman remains the only candidate that I consider both sane and credible. (Refused to sign the NOM pledge, reiterated that he felt it was a states rights issue, and even explicitly said that he's ok with same sex marriage in New York and Iowa).
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Unfortunately his numbers are such that the article can get away with completely ignoring him. :(
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http://www.xbox360achievements.org/news/news-10438-Guns-to-Be-Removed-From-Avatar-Marketplace-Including-Gears--Lancer-and-Hammerburst.html
Microsoft has had a long-standing policy about no guns for avatars on Xbox Live. Mind you, this is from the system whose main claim to fame is shooting games. Anyway, when Gears of War 3 came out, suddenly you could buy gun props. Now they're taking them away from the marketplace, but not until January 1 (cha-ching! $$$). And you'll be able to keep them if you already have them. Face=palm.
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i dont have a link i just wanted to be cool
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http://jezebel.com/judge-rules-that-no-means-yes-1501069204
i have literally no words
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I have a few.
Ok, to begin with, the judge is saying that Sweden's rape law is formulated like so: in order for a defendant to be guilty of rape...
The defendant must intend to have sex with the victim.
The defendant must have sex with the victim.
The victim must not consent to the sex.
The defendant must intend the sex to be non-consensual.
In the US rape laws are formulated a lot of different ways, but here is what I would say is standard:
The defendant must intend to have sex with the victim.
The defendant must have sex with the victim.
The victim must not consent to the sex.
The defendant must intend the sex to be non-consensual.
Despite the victim's lack of actual consent, the defendant may raise an affirmative defense of 'mistake of fact' where the defendant alleges that based on the circumstances of the sex, the defendant honestly believed the sex to be consensual. But only if that honest belief is objectively reasonable.
I don't know if Swedish criminal law actually operates like that judge says it operates, but in the US, it would not fly. And let's be honest, the acquittal in Sweden relied on the judge's credibility determination - the judge decided that the defendant was being honest when the defendant asserted that he thought the victim consented. Who knows, maybe the judge is right. Seems pretty damn unlikely, though.
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Even if the judge followed the technical rule of law in Sweeden, that means the law is stupid and should be changed. There's definitely stupidity somewhere in this equation.
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As far as I know, there is no requirement that the defendant must have intended for the sex to be non-consentual in Swedish law. No sources I've checked says anything about it. It looks to me like the judge just made something up. This is also not the worst case I've read about in Sweden. There was one case where a girl was raped by six guys. The judge concluded that the guys did have sex with her and that she didn't consent. However, he still didn't consider it rape and cited a bogus claim about "girl sex" as reason.
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That's astoundingly awful.
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http://gawker.com/florida-man-files-motion-asking-his-sex-tapes-be-played-1507797910
Oh Florida man.
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http://toucharcade.com/2014/01/27/tales-of-phantasia-review/
There's a mobile port of Tales of Phantasia! It doesn't have the high price tag Square's been throwing on its mobile ports!
Instead they locked the difficulty at Mania, removed mid-dungeon save points, and charge two dollars for an in-battle resurrection when you die. Classy.
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So not only did they re-release ToP for the like 23rd time (give or take), they made sure they were absolutely asinine about it as well? Lovely.
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The political environment re: women in office. (http://wilwheaton.tumblr.com/post/74782259611/four-things-ive-learned-from-conservatives-about)