3. Jobs program for the hundreds of thousands of leeches^H^H^H^H^H^Hbookkeepers, accountants, and IRS agents who will no longer take 30-40% of total tax revenue, off the top.
Errr, what jobs program? If we move the US to a Fair Tax system and we combine that with the current rate of outsourcing IT and other jobs to India, China, and other developing nations, why not send *cough*burden*cough* those same nations with people whose job it is to either a) obfuscate taxes (and tax systems) or b) wade through the obfuscation created by "a" and find the loopholes? I mean, it only seems fair that those people who will lose their careers in the USA continue on in their jobs - even if it is on foreign soil. Just imagine the tax breaks they'll get for working in a foreign country! Oh, wait.....;-)
The carriers are either insane or greedy. I vote the for the latter.
I think you should step back, look at the situation, and then vote with me: BOTH answers are correct! No, I'm not joking. These assholes are so greedy for cash flow that they're willing to fuck the "consumer" over AND themselves in the bargain. Maybe they think their high-priced lawyers will prevail over the thousands upon thousands of lawsuits that I can feel being lined up, but I doubt it. They'll be fighting so many battles on so many fronts that this brilliant (said with tongue-in-cheek and the Guiness in a bottle style) idea of theirs will likely sink them.
I, for one, am hoping that it does not go through at all. But.... If it does go though, I hope every religious organization, mother and father, nutcase, wanna-be, Tom, Dick, AND Harry with a chip on their shoulder and money for lawsuits (or lawyers greedy enough to find those people) come out of the woodwork and nuke the hell out of all top-tier ISPs (Bellsouth, Verizon, Comcast, Mediacomm, etc.) with thousands of lawsuits -- or MASSIVE class-action lawsuits with thousands and thousands of people piling on. The end result will be either an unusable two-tiered system since everything and every port will be blocked OR we'll have those insanely greedy ISPs that are now flat frigging broke and decide to open the system wide open again in hopes of regaining common carrier status and customers. Well, there is a third option - we wind up with an even more open internet with a lot more ISPs to choose from since ISPs like Speakeasy and others that understand their customer base DID NOT follow along with the two-tier plan and did everything they could to remain competitive and please their customers at the same time they opposed the two-tier system. This could lead to MORE choices in ISPs (one would hope).
You know, all of the people posting on Slashdot about how "Digg is the future" are completely full of shit (not just singling you out Bombadier Beetle). What you seem to fail to realize (or, more likely, do realize and ignore in the hopes of someone responding to your troll [congrats! I'm responding:)]) is that the two sites serve genereally opposite purposes even though they are, technically, both tech-related sites. Slashdot is about having an in-depth conversation with peers and a chance to hear others take on the matter at hand. Digg is about seeing what hits the front page with high diggs and deciding "Do I want to read this story or not?" with, basically, no discussion.
Now please go troll somewhere else - Slashdot has enough of them as it is. I hear that Digg is looking for more so go play in their yard.
PS - I have Digg as one of my home pages on Firefox so I do check/read both sites so please no flames about "You don't know what you're talking about since you obviously don't dig Digg!"
...but there have been some genuine righteous triumphs as well.
Oooh, yeah, you see even though I am a religious person (and I agree with what you were saying about South Korea and Kuwait) I have strong objections to placing the word "righteous" in that sentence for the simple fact that, usually, that word pertains directly to _religious_ or religiously moral victories. It does not normally apply to strictly moral or ethical victories. My personal opinion is that the world (and _many_ Americans) has had enough of the religious rhetoric coming from the Whitehouse without other people using words that can imply religious overtones to our past triumphs of helping other nations.
I may be completely wrong in my interpretation of your statement above and, if so, my apologies. It is just that every time I see that word used it is almost in a religious context - Christian, Muslim, Jewish, choose your religion. I believe it can be summed up like this: What is the difference between Bush saying "God told me to invade" (or "God told me *blah*") versus the Muslim extremist saying "Allah told us to destroy you"? Answer: Nothing at all.
get a link that DOESN'T include frigging flash ads as part of the deal? My system as set up will not continue on to the article itself and, yeah, some of us actually RTFA;-)
Let them falsely pull out 10 people on a hundred person flight for an extensive search.
Yeah, that's bullshit. Here is what is going to happen by human nature alone: I am on for an 8 hour shift of sitting there manning the "truth" station. I have (random number here for the sake of arguement) 30 flights I will have to sit through today. On each flight there are 150 people. Using your figure of 10 per 100 I will be pulling 15 people per flight to "question" further (read as intimidate). By the end of the day I will have pulled 450 people out to "put to the question" as it were. I have to do this 5 times a week which works out to be 2250 people per week.
Regardless of if I'm the one doing the "questioning" or my team of, let's say, 5 people are doing it this number of FALSE positives will eventually lead to one thing (just by human nature alone) - I'll start waving more and more people who test 'positive' through the system because both I and my team of "interrogators" are tired of asking Moms and Dads about their "suspicious" answers only to find out that they were in Vegas for the weekend and cheated on their spouse with Cindy. FIFTEEN people out of 150 is ludicrous to have to "question" because they generated a false positive on the system due to being extremely nervous ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE. No terrorism intended. So, since the system generates 15 false positives per 150 people I and my team decided to say "Fuck this" and start letting more and more people through due to the huge waste of time the FALSE positives generate.
This will lead, of course, to ONE "terrorist" getting on board a plane to hijack it to go to a non-extradition country (or, perhaps, something more nefarious) eventually. Of course, it will only happen after weeks and weeks of the system NOT WORKING due to the high number of false positives it generates. Human nature takes over and most people walk through the system even if the generate a "hit" on the I'm-up-to-no-good-o-meter. Why the hell do I want to hear about Cindy again? Unless that hot MILF was the one who did Cindy of course...;-)
In the Old Game, I had to keep most of the graphics choices cranked to Zero to get consistent Frames Per Second performance, regardless of where I went. Even then, highly populated areas totally blew that down the tubes and gave me almost no FPS.
In the NGE, I have been able to crank everything back up near the top again and I am obtaining VERY consistent FPS, regardless of where I am and how many people are in a given area.
Emphasis added.
Yeah, the reason is THERE ARE NO MORE HIGHLY POPULATED AREAS. Period. Coronet - dead. Theed - dead. Dant Mining Outpost - almost dead. I'm on Intrepid which is one of the suggested started servers with what was a damn good player base and active population. I came back right before the NGE went into effect so I could test the changes live. They suck ass for a MMORPG. They're not bad for a First Person Shooter style game. Unfortunately, SWG was supposed to be a MMORPG with a complex story and background and *d'oh!* a complex game to go with it. Not a dumbed down, 8-year-old's wet dream FPS game. The overwhelming response to both the Combat Upgrade and now the NGE is negative.
SOE knows the players are leaving in droves and have been since the CU. This is the death spiral of a once cool game (pre-CU and definitely pre-NGE). Everything has been dumbed down (especially crafting) and you now have no choice in creating a "unique" character. Period. A jedi is a jedi is a jedi. A smuggler is a smuggler is a smuggler. And so on right down the line of, what was it?, "Nine iconic 'professions'". Pleaaaaaaase. Smedley and SOE need an icon up their ass for destroying the entire SWG: An Empire Divided experience.
I started shortly after they introduced vehicles and played for a LONG time due to the diversity and not being stuck playing a single class/function/profession. It was pretty good and would have been great IF SOE HAD FIXED THE DAMN BUGS and then ACTUALLY BALANCED THE CLASSES. Hmm, make it so every profession could not wear composite armor. Oh, yeah, and one little easy fix - let everyone be able to heal mind to some extent.
The parent poster has a really good timeline and grasp on the situation so please mod them up. The game was pretty good right up until the first Combat Upgrade (downgrade). Since then? Shit. I played for a little bit after the CU -- shit. I came back before the NGE so I could be active during the upgrade (downgrade again) and test it once it hit. Once more it is shit. A FPS in a MMORPG wrapper with no soul.
...a place where illegal communication (filesharing/hacking talk/speaking badly of the US president)...
Well, out of all the things you listed the only thing NOT (technically) illegal is speaking badly of the President of the United States. It is guaranteed under freedom of speech. The thing you can, but should not do unless you wish to visit with the Secret Service and FBI for a while, is say something to the effect that you are going to (or want to) KILL the President. That is a basic no-no and "they" will be in contact with you asking questions.
Ummm, let me see how to respond to a smart ass comment... Oh, yeah, with the truth: I had three accounts, I canceled three accounts. The only reason I had three was, and here again it was in my previous post, for storing resources since crafting was a resource whore and you needed tons of good resources to make good (insert product here). LucasArts wasn't who we were paying anyway - it was SOE. Money may have wound up in LAs hands but it wasn't direct from the players, otherwise LA would damn sure know the first CU was an utter fucking failure and SOE was NOT listening to the player base that had been with them since Beta/Initial release. It probably went more like this:
LucasArts: "Holy shit! SOE, how many people have canceled their accounts since the CU?? It looks like 33% or more!" SOE: "Err, no, no. There was only 3%. Yeah, just 3%. The rest will come back. We promise. You know how good our customer service is!:)" LucasArts: "We're fucked."
Keep the parent modded up. I know for a fact that SOE lost TONS of players when the first Combat Upgrade (combat downgrade more like it), Armor crafting nerf, and Weapons crafting nerf went into place. I personally canceled three acounts (hey, I needed the storage and lots for crafting:-p), multiple friends cancled theirs, their friends canceled and so on. I can say with confidence that at least 5000 friends and friend of friends left around the same time I did. That doesn't include all of THEIR friends and friends of friends who left as well. The Combat Upgrade and nerfing that SOE did garnered a Mass Exodus(tm) from the long-term player base and the only thing that kept SWG going was the influx of n00b players wanting to play Rage of the Wookies that was advertised during EpII. From what some friends, who drifted back to check out the ongoing Mass Exodus(tm) and slow demise of SWG, have said is that the Mass Exodus(tm) is ongoing and that the long-term players who had managed to hang around after the CU nerfage and further patches have now begun to leave in droves with some of the current changes announced (the NEW Combat Upgrade and class nerf, the fact that you MUST log on and pay maintenance for your house(s), factories, etc. at least once in a 3 month period or they go *poof* along with everything in them [this is JUST to keep players in the game or coming back for one month every 3 months since you can pay months or YEARS of maintenance into a house just so you DIDN'T have to worry about this crap], more crafting nerfage, etc.) to the game.
Sony Online Entertainment fucked the duck with Star Wars from the get-go. Those of us who played beta (LOL) or started shortly after the game went live were basically STILL playing beta even a year into the game. There were hundreds of minor things that needed fixing that were simple code fixes that would have completed content already in the game and made it playable. The Combat Upgrade was completely useless as the only thing people wanted was the classes balanced a little better -- not a shiny new WTH do these Everquest icons mean? interface and whiz-bang graphics when you hit someone with your blaster (since when is THAT Star Wars??).
My personal opinion is that SOE wanted to fuck Star Wars Galaxies any way they could because they did not OWN the world and licenses for it outright. I firmly believe that if LucasArts had held off on the game and brought in the talent to operate and run their own server farms and related works for SWG then the game would have been 300% better than it was initially and THEY would have listened to the player base. Possibly. At least more than SOE did.
As much as I loved the original version of SWG, the intricate crafting, the thrill of finding a new "uber" resource, the great fun in both PvE and PvP (yeah, some folks had 't3h uberest' template and were a pain in PvP), and the loads of friends I had there I hope SWG dies a violent death and takes part of SOE and their frigging no-help customer service and non-listening devs and management team with it to a vivid MMORPG death.
Then, from the ashes, LucasArts takes the feedback SOE tried to quash about the CU and goes back to SWG version 1, fixes what was wrong with it, and then puts out their own version, hosted by them, feedback directly to them, good customer service, and helpful in-game CS too and all is right with the SWG universe. Of couse, I also want the impossible - my toons from the current SWG converted to LucasArts improved SWG1 game with all my resources, weapons, armor, houses, and credits intact. *heh*
Here is my idea to keep porn, cigarettes, alcohol and ANYTHING else that should be kept out of children's hands out of children's hands: BE A RESPONSIBLE PARENT.
Yes, I know, as a parent you cannot be with your child 24/7. You *CAN* instill in them your values and beliefs and rulesets and then *gasp* actually PUNISH them (spare the rod, spoil the child) when they disobey you. I'm not talking about beating a child to a bloody mess but I am talking physical and other appropriate discipline when needed. Teach your child you mean what you say (whether that means spankings or selling off their PS2 or standing them in the corner for an hour or whatever way your child ACTUALLY responds to and does NOT get their way in the end) and don't be one of these parents I see all the time telling their child "No, no, no, no, no" over and frigging over again until finally the parent says "Ok, you can have "X" but you have to keep quiet then (or whatever deal you're making with your child)". As a parent you did not just teach your child that when Mom and Dad says no we mean NO (no way, no how, not gonna happen) you just taught them that what Mom and Dad mean when we say No is that you, our child, can keep pitching your little temper tantrum, screaming fit, or endless "But I want iiiiiiiiit" whines and, eventually, Mom and Dad will give in. The rest of the world thanks you for creating another spoiled, I don't have to follow the rules and I always get my way so fuck you child/young adult/teenager.
Basically, the Government has NO business helping you raise your child in this manner. You can decide what is right and what is not right for your own child yourself. If you need the government to raise the child for you, you chould have reconsidered being a parent. You had the child, you raise the child. Before someone jumps the gun and gets all pissy and such, I am not talking about the government helping families out - I am not talking about WIC and other programs that help families meet their day-to-day needs and fill in where your regular paycheck(s) do not. I am talking about all of these people whining about rating movies, rating videogames, rating TV, rating books (it can happen), or anything else along those lines FOR THE CHILDREN. Children have a built-in rating system - Mom and Dad (or, in this day and age just Mom or just Dad). I say let Mom and Dad do the job they chose to create and let the government do theirs.
Not to mention that movies and games already have ratings systems - if the movie/game studios and the stores/theaters themselves don't help to enforce the rating system (through fines/delayed release of product to stores/delayed first run movies/etc) then get pissed at them and let them know through your DOLLARS and your LETTERS that you, as a parent, will not be supporting their business anymore since clerk X sold your child an M rated game or usher Y let your child in to see an R rated movie when clearly your child was not of age to do said activity AND let them know that you will be passing along this information to the PTA or your church group or your large circle of friends who are parents and you will be urging them to NOT SUPPORT said store/theater either until they tighten up their clerks/ushers/etc. Dollars speak louder than anything else.
Created by Penny Arcade, no "Administrative Fees" or other nonsense is collected; all gifts and donations go directly to the hospitals for distribution to sick kids.
Sheesh, at least click on the link for the charity and do some reading before asking inflammatory questions. I know that there are a lot of scammers preying on the "for the children" line for charities (not to mention politics) but Gabe and Tycho have never numbered among them.
since the American people subsidized them through TAXES and SURCHARGES WE FUCKING PAID. How about we, The People, take back the part of those pipes WE paid for and then you, "the corporations"*, can pay The People for using OUR pipes that you're making money off of. That way we, The People, can choose who WE want to be in control of the pipes. Just so long as Google stamps out an iron-clad privacy policy where they don't frigging data mine everything on the pipes I'd give all my pipes to them in exchange for fast access (something along the lines of 10mb/10mb would be nice) and the ability to host my own servers.
*Please note that corporations are lower-case and should be treated as such. They should not hold the same status legally as The People (we're mentioned in the Constitution, not them). Period. I'm all for the "American Dream" but not at the total expense of We, The People.
If, for some reason, the U.N. did try and tax the internet and/or e-mail my suggestion would be simple: revolt. Create alternate DNS servers that are not under the control of the U.N. and use them. Then use civil disobedience and tell them to stuff their fucking bill for my "taxes" on the 'net up their collective ass. If the U.N. wants to collect taxes from me, let them invade the United States and collect it from me. Have fun with that!
Look, I may not like a lot of the things my government has done lately but the one thing I have never really complained about was control of the DNS/Internet/etc. since ICANN is strictly HANDS OFF, completely laissez-faire (hey! the French should side with us on that point alone:-p) and it has worked - for the most part. There are wide-ranging bastions of free speech on the web, adult websites doing thriving businesses, Nazis, neo-Nazis, devout Christians, Islamists, Hindus, and many, many others out there on the web saying what they want to say to anyone who will read their site. Generally without restrictions. Isn't that one of the major reasons for the web today?
I agree with you that in this day and age it sometimes takes more than just Mom and Dad to take care of everything with raising a child(ren) - especially when Mom and Dad are sick or just down. As I said in my response to Kombat above: Far from being a zealot I believe there are many areas that can be explored as far as raising children are concerned (including the extended family where Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, and perhaps close Aunts and Uncles help out within rules defined by the child(ren)'s mother and father -- still not advocating the whole "takes a village" method though)
With a close-knit neighborhood (and especially in small town America), I could see this extending to very close neighbors and the like but still with the caveat that Mom and Dad set the rules. My thinking on the "takes a village" is a hyper-extended network beyond what you or I have discussed (along the lines of what Hillary was advoating). Thanks for the "Amen brutha":) and good luck mate!
The problem with people like you, however, is that you so quickly flip-flop when the parents do try and monitor/control their kids behaviour. It's people like you who scream "1984!" at any suggestion of a GPS-enabled cell phone that parents can track, or RFID school passes that make sure kids are in class, or any other tools created to help parents do exactly what you (at least for now) are demanding parents do.
Allow me to retort: I have never flip-flopped on my stance that parents should take responsibility for their children. I don't mind a cell phone with optional GPS enabled that a parent can track - what I DO mind is all cell phones being GPS-enabled that would allow ANYONE to track my personal whereabouts without my explicit consent -- this includes the government. See, no flip-flop since they are two different discussions. As far as RFID schools passes - no problem there either. Issue them to a student and have them disabled once the student leaves school grounds. As for your "demanding" rhetoric - I'm not demanding anything at all. I'm EXPECTING parents to do what they should be doing anyway - take responsibility for their child(ren). Period. No demands necessary since it is their responsibility in the first place - they had the child(ren), they are responsible for the child(ren) and their actions until the child(ren) reaches the age of 18.
This happens every single time a thread like this comes up on Slashdot. If it's a story about video games making kids violent, or snack food making kids fat, people like you cry for the parents to step up and do something. But if it's a story about schools banning snack foods, or cyber-cafes banning GTA, then the same people come out screaming for liberty for the 12 year olds, and demanding that the parents butt-out.
Allow me to retort: Yes, I agree, responses like mine appear every time a thread like this appears on Slashdot. Why? Many, many people are sick and tired of people wanting the government to run their lives for them and their child(ren). That is not what the government is for. If you don't want the responsibility, pay the money and have yourself fixed. Period. No more problems with responsibility for the child(ren). As far as schools banning snack food there is a simeple solution there too - forbid your child from eating snack food at school. IF they disobey then discipline them. Spare the rod, spoil the child. I say bring back the rod! It worked for thousands of years and I know people in my generation were spanked (NOT beaten by any measure, just spanked/disciplined) and we turned out fine, upstanding people. I am definitely not among the people who say "liberty for 12 year olds". I say parents butt-in and be involved and responsible in your child(ren)'s life. Take back what is yours to begin with - the raising of your child. If you don't then you only have yourself to blame for what they become (in general).
Make up your damn minds. You can't have it both ways. Do you think perhaps that the real solution isn't quite as black-and-white as the zealots portray it to be? That maybe there's some sort of middle ground that's not being explored here?
Once more, allow me to retort: My mind has always been made up. I, too my knowledge, have never waivered in my belief that it is the PARENTS responsibility for their children. Not mine, not the governments, not Mother Goose. Theirs. I don't want it both ways - I want parents to have the time away from their job(s) to take care of their children. To be involved in their child(ren)'s life and to take responsibility for their child(ren)'s well-being and actions in and out of the home. Far from being a zealot I believe there are many areas that can be explored as far as raising children are concerned (including the extended family where Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, and perhaps close Aunts and Uncles help out within rules defined by the child(ren)'s mother and father -- still not advocating the whole "takes a village" method though). As for other middle grou
since it goes with Shit. This basically sums up Jack Thompson's entire knowledge of the video game industry he has set out to try and destroy.
No, I don't think very young people should be playing violent videogames all day, every day but it is not Jack's problem. It is not the government's problem. It is a PARENTAL problem and should be dealt with as such. Parents should take fracking responsibility for raising their children and when their children become delusional, homicidal maniacs they should CONTINUE to take responsibility since it was THEIR parenting techniques that helped little Johnny become what he is today. It takes all of 5 to 15 minutes out of your hectic day to check in on what your child is playing, watching, or reading and if he/she is constantly going over to Billy's or Sandy's house then, as a parent, you had better damn well trust that Billy's Mom and Dad are raising their child like you are raising yours so that your philosophies match (ie. so that little Johhny doesn't run over to Billy's house to play GTA: San Andreas every day because Billy's parents don't give a shit what Billy plays).
Sorry for the rant but I'm past the point of believing the crap about it takes a village to raise a child. How about it takes a concerned parent (single or plural) to raise a child. If your job takes away too much of your parenting time then perhaps you should do without the new BMW and Lexus in the driveway and spend more time with your child, less with your paycheck -- eh?
More than likely this link will not work since it is SOOOO long but you can go to Neiman Marcus and click on The Christmas Book has arrived! link and then click on the link for Fantasy Gifts.
Of course, cursing is not a sign of an educated person...
Errr, I am a very well educated and well read person and all I can say to this snippet is WTF? Are you saying that "educated" people do NOT curse? Or that they don't curse as much as uneducated people? Or is it that "educated" people simply use curses when it is fucking appropriate?
No, I am not trolling here. I know PHDs that swear more than sailors on leave in a whorehouse and saying that because you curse you are uneducated is a fallacy and a complete load of bull manure. Or complete bullshit depending on your education level.;-)
Slashdot Mirror
Errr, what jobs program? If we move the US to a Fair Tax system and we combine that with the current rate of outsourcing IT and other jobs to India, China, and other developing nations, why not send *cough*burden*cough* those same nations with people whose job it is to either a) obfuscate taxes (and tax systems) or b) wade through the obfuscation created by "a" and find the loopholes? I mean, it only seems fair that those people who will lose their careers in the USA continue on in their jobs - even if it is on foreign soil. Just imagine the tax breaks they'll get for working in a foreign country! Oh, wait..... ;-)
I think you should step back, look at the situation, and then vote with me: BOTH answers are correct! No, I'm not joking. These assholes are so greedy for cash flow that they're willing to fuck the "consumer" over AND themselves in the bargain. Maybe they think their high-priced lawyers will prevail over the thousands upon thousands of lawsuits that I can feel being lined up, but I doubt it. They'll be fighting so many battles on so many fronts that this brilliant (said with tongue-in-cheek and the Guiness in a bottle style) idea of theirs will likely sink them.
I, for one, am hoping that it does not go through at all. But.... If it does go though, I hope every religious organization, mother and father, nutcase, wanna-be, Tom, Dick, AND Harry with a chip on their shoulder and money for lawsuits (or lawyers greedy enough to find those people) come out of the woodwork and nuke the hell out of all top-tier ISPs (Bellsouth, Verizon, Comcast, Mediacomm, etc.) with thousands of lawsuits -- or MASSIVE class-action lawsuits with thousands and thousands of people piling on. The end result will be either an unusable two-tiered system since everything and every port will be blocked OR we'll have those insanely greedy ISPs that are now flat frigging broke and decide to open the system wide open again in hopes of regaining common carrier status and customers. Well, there is a third option - we wind up with an even more open internet with a lot more ISPs to choose from since ISPs like Speakeasy and others that understand their customer base DID NOT follow along with the two-tier plan and did everything they could to remain competitive and please their customers at the same time they opposed the two-tier system. This could lead to MORE choices in ISPs (one would hope).
I was under the impression that a lot of errors were attributed to ID10Ts? ;-)
You know, all of the people posting on Slashdot about how "Digg is the future" are completely full of shit (not just singling you out Bombadier Beetle). What you seem to fail to realize (or, more likely, do realize and ignore in the hopes of someone responding to your troll [congrats! I'm responding :)]) is that the two sites serve genereally opposite purposes even though they are, technically, both tech-related sites. Slashdot is about having an in-depth conversation with peers and a chance to hear others take on the matter at hand. Digg is about seeing what hits the front page with high diggs and deciding "Do I want to read this story or not?" with, basically, no discussion.
Now please go troll somewhere else - Slashdot has enough of them as it is. I hear that Digg is looking for more so go play in their yard.
PS - I have Digg as one of my home pages on Firefox so I do check/read both sites so please no flames about "You don't know what you're talking about since you obviously don't dig Digg!"
Oooh, yeah, you see even though I am a religious person (and I agree with what you were saying about South Korea and Kuwait) I have strong objections to placing the word "righteous" in that sentence for the simple fact that, usually, that word pertains directly to _religious_ or religiously moral victories. It does not normally apply to strictly moral or ethical victories. My personal opinion is that the world (and _many_ Americans) has had enough of the religious rhetoric coming from the Whitehouse without other people using words that can imply religious overtones to our past triumphs of helping other nations.
I may be completely wrong in my interpretation of your statement above and, if so, my apologies. It is just that every time I see that word used it is almost in a religious context - Christian, Muslim, Jewish, choose your religion. I believe it can be summed up like this: What is the difference between Bush saying "God told me to invade" (or "God told me *blah*") versus the Muslim extremist saying "Allah told us to destroy you"? Answer: Nothing at all.
Nevermind. Here you go everyone: IGN link with no frigging ads
get a link that DOESN'T include frigging flash ads as part of the deal? My system as set up will not continue on to the article itself and, yeah, some of us actually RTFA ;-)
Yeah, that's bullshit. Here is what is going to happen by human nature alone: I am on for an 8 hour shift of sitting there manning the "truth" station. I have (random number here for the sake of arguement) 30 flights I will have to sit through today. On each flight there are 150 people. Using your figure of 10 per 100 I will be pulling 15 people per flight to "question" further (read as intimidate). By the end of the day I will have pulled 450 people out to "put to the question" as it were. I have to do this 5 times a week which works out to be 2250 people per week.
Regardless of if I'm the one doing the "questioning" or my team of, let's say, 5 people are doing it this number of FALSE positives will eventually lead to one thing (just by human nature alone) - I'll start waving more and more people who test 'positive' through the system because both I and my team of "interrogators" are tired of asking Moms and Dads about their "suspicious" answers only to find out that they were in Vegas for the weekend and cheated on their spouse with Cindy. FIFTEEN people out of 150 is ludicrous to have to "question" because they generated a false positive on the system due to being extremely nervous ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE. No terrorism intended. So, since the system generates 15 false positives per 150 people I and my team decided to say "Fuck this" and start letting more and more people through due to the huge waste of time the FALSE positives generate.
This will lead, of course, to ONE "terrorist" getting on board a plane to hijack it to go to a non-extradition country (or, perhaps, something more nefarious) eventually. Of course, it will only happen after weeks and weeks of the system NOT WORKING due to the high number of false positives it generates. Human nature takes over and most people walk through the system even if the generate a "hit" on the I'm-up-to-no-good-o-meter. Why the hell do I want to hear about Cindy again? Unless that hot MILF was the one who did Cindy of course... ;-)
Yeah, the reason is THERE ARE NO MORE HIGHLY POPULATED AREAS. Period. Coronet - dead. Theed - dead. Dant Mining Outpost - almost dead. I'm on Intrepid which is one of the suggested started servers with what was a damn good player base and active population. I came back right before the NGE went into effect so I could test the changes live. They suck ass for a MMORPG. They're not bad for a First Person Shooter style game. Unfortunately, SWG was supposed to be a MMORPG with a complex story and background and *d'oh!* a complex game to go with it. Not a dumbed down, 8-year-old's wet dream FPS game. The overwhelming response to both the Combat Upgrade and now the NGE is negative.
SOE knows the players are leaving in droves and have been since the CU. This is the death spiral of a once cool game (pre-CU and definitely pre-NGE). Everything has been dumbed down (especially crafting) and you now have no choice in creating a "unique" character. Period. A jedi is a jedi is a jedi. A smuggler is a smuggler is a smuggler. And so on right down the line of, what was it?, "Nine iconic 'professions'". Pleaaaaaaase. Smedley and SOE need an icon up their ass for destroying the entire SWG: An Empire Divided experience.
I started shortly after they introduced vehicles and played for a LONG time due to the diversity and not being stuck playing a single class/function/profession. It was pretty good and would have been great IF SOE HAD FIXED THE DAMN BUGS and then ACTUALLY BALANCED THE CLASSES. Hmm, make it so every profession could not wear composite armor. Oh, yeah, and one little easy fix - let everyone be able to heal mind to some extent.
The parent poster has a really good timeline and grasp on the situation so please mod them up. The game was pretty good right up until the first Combat Upgrade (downgrade). Since then? Shit. I played for a little bit after the CU -- shit. I came back before the NGE so I could be active during the upgrade (downgrade again) and test it once it hit. Once more it is shit. A FPS in a MMORPG wrapper with no soul.
Well, out of all the things you listed the only thing NOT (technically) illegal is speaking badly of the President of the United States. It is guaranteed under freedom of speech. The thing you can, but should not do unless you wish to visit with the Secret Service and FBI for a while, is say something to the effect that you are going to (or want to) KILL the President. That is a basic no-no and "they" will be in contact with you asking questions.
Thanks for your question! In response to your query the answer is: NO.
Sincerely,
John Smedley
Ummm, let me see how to respond to a smart ass comment... Oh, yeah, with the truth: I had three accounts, I canceled three accounts. The only reason I had three was, and here again it was in my previous post, for storing resources since crafting was a resource whore and you needed tons of good resources to make good (insert product here). LucasArts wasn't who we were paying anyway - it was SOE. Money may have wound up in LAs hands but it wasn't direct from the players, otherwise LA would damn sure know the first CU was an utter fucking failure and SOE was NOT listening to the player base that had been with them since Beta/Initial release. It probably went more like this:
:)"
LucasArts: "Holy shit! SOE, how many people have canceled their accounts since the CU?? It looks like 33% or more!"
SOE: "Err, no, no. There was only 3%. Yeah, just 3%. The rest will come back. We promise. You know how good our customer service is!
LucasArts: "We're fucked."
Keep the parent modded up. I know for a fact that SOE lost TONS of players when the first Combat Upgrade (combat downgrade more like it), Armor crafting nerf, and Weapons crafting nerf went into place. I personally canceled three acounts (hey, I needed the storage and lots for crafting :-p), multiple friends cancled theirs, their friends canceled and so on. I can say with confidence that at least 5000 friends and friend of friends left around the same time I did. That doesn't include all of THEIR friends and friends of friends who left as well. The Combat Upgrade and nerfing that SOE did garnered a Mass Exodus(tm) from the long-term player base and the only thing that kept SWG going was the influx of n00b players wanting to play Rage of the Wookies that was advertised during EpII. From what some friends, who drifted back to check out the ongoing Mass Exodus(tm) and slow demise of SWG, have said is that the Mass Exodus(tm) is ongoing and that the long-term players who had managed to hang around after the CU nerfage and further patches have now begun to leave in droves with some of the current changes announced (the NEW Combat Upgrade and class nerf, the fact that you MUST log on and pay maintenance for your house(s), factories, etc. at least once in a 3 month period or they go *poof* along with everything in them [this is JUST to keep players in the game or coming back for one month every 3 months since you can pay months or YEARS of maintenance into a house just so you DIDN'T have to worry about this crap], more crafting nerfage, etc.) to the game.
Sony Online Entertainment fucked the duck with Star Wars from the get-go. Those of us who played beta (LOL) or started shortly after the game went live were basically STILL playing beta even a year into the game. There were hundreds of minor things that needed fixing that were simple code fixes that would have completed content already in the game and made it playable. The Combat Upgrade was completely useless as the only thing people wanted was the classes balanced a little better -- not a shiny new WTH do these Everquest icons mean? interface and whiz-bang graphics when you hit someone with your blaster (since when is THAT Star Wars??).
My personal opinion is that SOE wanted to fuck Star Wars Galaxies any way they could because they did not OWN the world and licenses for it outright. I firmly believe that if LucasArts had held off on the game and brought in the talent to operate and run their own server farms and related works for SWG then the game would have been 300% better than it was initially and THEY would have listened to the player base. Possibly. At least more than SOE did.
As much as I loved the original version of SWG, the intricate crafting, the thrill of finding a new "uber" resource, the great fun in both PvE and PvP (yeah, some folks had 't3h uberest' template and were a pain in PvP), and the loads of friends I had there I hope SWG dies a violent death and takes part of SOE and their frigging no-help customer service and non-listening devs and management team with it to a vivid MMORPG death.
Then, from the ashes, LucasArts takes the feedback SOE tried to quash about the CU and goes back to SWG version 1, fixes what was wrong with it, and then puts out their own version, hosted by them, feedback directly to them, good customer service, and helpful in-game CS too and all is right with the SWG universe. Of couse, I also want the impossible - my toons from the current SWG converted to LucasArts improved SWG1 game with all my resources, weapons, armor, houses, and credits intact. *heh*
Here is my idea to keep porn, cigarettes, alcohol and ANYTHING else that should be kept out of children's hands out of children's hands: BE A RESPONSIBLE PARENT.
Yes, I know, as a parent you cannot be with your child 24/7. You *CAN* instill in them your values and beliefs and rulesets and then *gasp* actually PUNISH them (spare the rod, spoil the child) when they disobey you. I'm not talking about beating a child to a bloody mess but I am talking physical and other appropriate discipline when needed. Teach your child you mean what you say (whether that means spankings or selling off their PS2 or standing them in the corner for an hour or whatever way your child ACTUALLY responds to and does NOT get their way in the end) and don't be one of these parents I see all the time telling their child "No, no, no, no, no" over and frigging over again until finally the parent says "Ok, you can have "X" but you have to keep quiet then (or whatever deal you're making with your child)". As a parent you did not just teach your child that when Mom and Dad says no we mean NO (no way, no how, not gonna happen) you just taught them that what Mom and Dad mean when we say No is that you, our child, can keep pitching your little temper tantrum, screaming fit, or endless "But I want iiiiiiiiit" whines and, eventually, Mom and Dad will give in. The rest of the world thanks you for creating another spoiled, I don't have to follow the rules and I always get my way so fuck you child/young adult/teenager.
Basically, the Government has NO business helping you raise your child in this manner. You can decide what is right and what is not right for your own child yourself. If you need the government to raise the child for you, you chould have reconsidered being a parent. You had the child, you raise the child. Before someone jumps the gun and gets all pissy and such, I am not talking about the government helping families out - I am not talking about WIC and other programs that help families meet their day-to-day needs and fill in where your regular paycheck(s) do not. I am talking about all of these people whining about rating movies, rating videogames, rating TV, rating books (it can happen), or anything else along those lines FOR THE CHILDREN. Children have a built-in rating system - Mom and Dad (or, in this day and age just Mom or just Dad). I say let Mom and Dad do the job they chose to create and let the government do theirs.
Not to mention that movies and games already have ratings systems - if the movie/game studios and the stores/theaters themselves don't help to enforce the rating system (through fines/delayed release of product to stores/delayed first run movies/etc) then get pissed at them and let them know through your DOLLARS and your LETTERS that you, as a parent, will not be supporting their business anymore since clerk X sold your child an M rated game or usher Y let your child in to see an R rated movie when clearly your child was not of age to do said activity AND let them know that you will be passing along this information to the PTA or your church group or your large circle of friends who are parents and you will be urging them to NOT SUPPORT said store/theater either until they tighten up their clerks/ushers/etc. Dollars speak louder than anything else.
Whew.. my apologies if I ranted on a bit.
Sheesh, at least click on the link for the charity and do some reading before asking inflammatory questions. I know that there are a lot of scammers preying on the "for the children" line for charities (not to mention politics) but Gabe and Tycho have never numbered among them.
since the American people subsidized them through TAXES and SURCHARGES WE FUCKING PAID. How about we, The People, take back the part of those pipes WE paid for and then you, "the corporations"*, can pay The People for using OUR pipes that you're making money off of. That way we, The People, can choose who WE want to be in control of the pipes. Just so long as Google stamps out an iron-clad privacy policy where they don't frigging data mine everything on the pipes I'd give all my pipes to them in exchange for fast access (something along the lines of 10mb/10mb would be nice) and the ability to host my own servers.
*Please note that corporations are lower-case and should be treated as such. They should not hold the same status legally as The People (we're mentioned in the Constitution, not them). Period. I'm all for the "American Dream" but not at the total expense of We, The People.
If, for some reason, the U.N. did try and tax the internet and/or e-mail my suggestion would be simple: revolt. Create alternate DNS servers that are not under the control of the U.N. and use them. Then use civil disobedience and tell them to stuff their fucking bill for my "taxes" on the 'net up their collective ass. If the U.N. wants to collect taxes from me, let them invade the United States and collect it from me. Have fun with that!
:-p) and it has worked - for the most part. There are wide-ranging bastions of free speech on the web, adult websites doing thriving businesses, Nazis, neo-Nazis, devout Christians, Islamists, Hindus, and many, many others out there on the web saying what they want to say to anyone who will read their site. Generally without restrictions. Isn't that one of the major reasons for the web today?
Look, I may not like a lot of the things my government has done lately but the one thing I have never really complained about was control of the DNS/Internet/etc. since ICANN is strictly HANDS OFF, completely laissez-faire (hey! the French should side with us on that point alone
With a close-knit neighborhood (and especially in small town America), I could see this extending to very close neighbors and the like but still with the caveat that Mom and Dad set the rules. My thinking on the "takes a village" is a hyper-extended network beyond what you or I have discussed (along the lines of what Hillary was advoating). Thanks for the "Amen brutha" :) and good luck mate!
Allow me to retort: I have never flip-flopped on my stance that parents should take responsibility for their children. I don't mind a cell phone with optional GPS enabled that a parent can track - what I DO mind is all cell phones being GPS-enabled that would allow ANYONE to track my personal whereabouts without my explicit consent -- this includes the government. See, no flip-flop since they are two different discussions. As far as RFID schools passes - no problem there either. Issue them to a student and have them disabled once the student leaves school grounds. As for your "demanding" rhetoric - I'm not demanding anything at all. I'm EXPECTING parents to do what they should be doing anyway - take responsibility for their child(ren). Period. No demands necessary since it is their responsibility in the first place - they had the child(ren), they are responsible for the child(ren) and their actions until the child(ren) reaches the age of 18.
This happens every single time a thread like this comes up on Slashdot. If it's a story about video games making kids violent, or snack food making kids fat, people like you cry for the parents to step up and do something. But if it's a story about schools banning snack foods, or cyber-cafes banning GTA, then the same people come out screaming for liberty for the 12 year olds, and demanding that the parents butt-out.
Allow me to retort: Yes, I agree, responses like mine appear every time a thread like this appears on Slashdot. Why? Many, many people are sick and tired of people wanting the government to run their lives for them and their child(ren). That is not what the government is for. If you don't want the responsibility, pay the money and have yourself fixed. Period. No more problems with responsibility for the child(ren). As far as schools banning snack food there is a simeple solution there too - forbid your child from eating snack food at school. IF they disobey then discipline them. Spare the rod, spoil the child. I say bring back the rod! It worked for thousands of years and I know people in my generation were spanked (NOT beaten by any measure, just spanked/disciplined) and we turned out fine, upstanding people. I am definitely not among the people who say "liberty for 12 year olds". I say parents butt-in and be involved and responsible in your child(ren)'s life. Take back what is yours to begin with - the raising of your child. If you don't then you only have yourself to blame for what they become (in general).
Make up your damn minds. You can't have it both ways. Do you think perhaps that the real solution isn't quite as black-and-white as the zealots portray it to be? That maybe there's some sort of middle ground that's not being explored here?
Once more, allow me to retort: My mind has always been made up. I, too my knowledge, have never waivered in my belief that it is the PARENTS responsibility for their children. Not mine, not the governments, not Mother Goose. Theirs. I don't want it both ways - I want parents to have the time away from their job(s) to take care of their children. To be involved in their child(ren)'s life and to take responsibility for their child(ren)'s well-being and actions in and out of the home. Far from being a zealot I believe there are many areas that can be explored as far as raising children are concerned (including the extended family where Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, and perhaps close Aunts and Uncles help out within rules defined by the child(ren)'s mother and father -- still not advocating the whole "takes a village" method though). As for other middle grou
since it goes with Shit. This basically sums up Jack Thompson's entire knowledge of the video game industry he has set out to try and destroy.
No, I don't think very young people should be playing violent videogames all day, every day but it is not Jack's problem. It is not the government's problem. It is a PARENTAL problem and should be dealt with as such. Parents should take fracking responsibility for raising their children and when their children become delusional, homicidal maniacs they should CONTINUE to take responsibility since it was THEIR parenting techniques that helped little Johnny become what he is today. It takes all of 5 to 15 minutes out of your hectic day to check in on what your child is playing, watching, or reading and if he/she is constantly going over to Billy's or Sandy's house then, as a parent, you had better damn well trust that Billy's Mom and Dad are raising their child like you are raising yours so that your philosophies match (ie. so that little Johhny doesn't run over to Billy's house to play GTA: San Andreas every day because Billy's parents don't give a shit what Billy plays).
Sorry for the rant but I'm past the point of believing the crap about it takes a village to raise a child. How about it takes a concerned parent (single or plural) to raise a child. If your job takes away too much of your parenting time then perhaps you should do without the new BMW and Lexus in the driveway and spend more time with your child, less with your paycheck -- eh?
More than likely this link will not work since it is SOOOO long but you can go to Neiman Marcus and click on The Christmas Book has arrived! link and then click on the link for Fantasy Gifts.
Enjoy!
Umm, isn't this the same ratio for successfully navigating an asteroid field? Thought so... and I thought I had already told you:
NEVER tell me the odds!
To which Beagle II responds "Woof!" and then happily hikes his leg and pees all over the newly discovered Martian ruins. And your pants leg. Sorry.
Errr, I am a very well educated and well read person and all I can say to this snippet is WTF? Are you saying that "educated" people do NOT curse? Or that they don't curse as much as uneducated people? Or is it that "educated" people simply use curses when it is fucking appropriate?
No, I am not trolling here. I know PHDs that swear more than sailors on leave in a whorehouse and saying that because you curse you are uneducated is a fallacy and a complete load of bull manure. Or complete bullshit depending on your education level. ;-)