"So you'll pass on the LARGEST province in Canada"
Bush is from Texas. They still haven't gotten over the whole Alaska thing (mention it to a Texan and they usually say "Permafrost doesn't count!"). I don't think he'd be all that keen on accepting yet another state bigger than Texas.
Don't laugh. While things are probably drastically different now, back in August 2001 someone took a poll involving questions like "How do you feel about the US annexing Canada?" The vast majority in all the provinces was against it, but Quebec was the province that was most in favor it.
"I got sick of the ink game. I bought a HP Laserjet 4m+ (the last of the *REALLY* beefy HP printers) for 75$ used. "
Samsung has a small laser printer that's about the size of your typical inkjet that can be had for less than $100 or so. I got mine at a Sam's Club for ~$85.
Personally, I think this borders on cruelty, what with the guy repeatedly throwing the cat against the wall. Or was I the only one who noticed how fat the cat's tail looked?
"Where was bush? Where was runsfeld, perle, cheney and the rest of the war mongers?"
The current President Bush was in Austin as the Governor of Texas. The Supreme Court has interpreted the United States Constitution as barring states from getting involved in foreign policy in any way, shape or form. I disagree, but I am not a federal judge.
I don't know about Perle off the top of my head, but Cheney and Rumsfield, both former Secretaries of Defense, were cooling their heels in retirement after their respective presidents lost out to Democrats. I don't believe either man was asked to serve in President Clinton's cabinet.
President Clinton's administration did a few things to Baghdad above and beyond enforcing the No-Fly Zones, but most of the Iraq policy of the US for the decade preceeding 2001 involved fighting international pressure to repeal UN sanctions on Iraq, eventually settling on the so-called "Oil For Food" program.
"Now that you love the iraqis so much maybe you can learn to love other people was well. People in Uganda, sudan, haiti, iran, north korea, china, russia, chechnia, and palestine all need your love."
Haiti seems unhappy with our perceived role in "ousting" Aristide (I doubt his claims if for no other reason than I don't believe the US government actually gave a damn), I personally cannot condone the actions of the Palestinian resistance, and with DPRK I'd have to give deference to the immediate safety of the folks in South Korea (Seoul would be flattened in a matter of hours). In general, however, I would like to see the US take a more proactive role in fighting despotism around the world. But, as I'm sure you can see from around here, nobody would want us to.
For the past few centuries foreign policy around the world has been based on the idea that national sovereignty is sacred, and nobody can intervene on what happens within a foreign country's borders. You can comment, you can shake your head in dismay, but you can't actually do anything.
Everybody knows Sadam Hussein was a Bad Guy and did Bad Things to his people. But the only solution to the problem that everybody could agree on were some amorphous sanctions, and when it became clear that the sanctions were hurting the Iraqi people more than they hurt the Ba'ath regime, the solution proposed was not to remove Hussein by force of arms, but to repeal the sanctions. They may have had ulterior motives for pushing for this leniency (*cough*Chirac*cough*), but few people took the idea of overthrowing a national government seriously. Doing so would be the Twenty-First Century version of regicide and has been treated the same way our Eighteenth Century European ancestors treated it. (What would we have done with Hussein, send him to Elba? It worked so well before...)
And really, such a view on national sovereignty is very attractive: it all becomes "Somebody Else's Problem." It's so attractive that the only way, the absolute only way to convince people that It Needs To Be Done is not to place a smoking gun in the culprit's hand, but to point that smoking gun in our own direction. Claiming that Iraq had WMD was the only way you could convince Americans (whatever their political loyalties are) to do this is to make sure they personally feel threatened.
I won't be voting for Bush this election (mostly because of John Ashcroft, but not entirely), but if his motives were truly the well-being of the Iraqi people, I can't fault the guy for exaggurating the Iraqi threat to the US. I'm not sure I'd be able to do differently in his shoes, knowing full well it was the only way anything was going to happen about the situation.
I wonder how many Americans who were in favor of the war truly believed what President Bush was saying and how many were simply willing to be misled in that instance?
"Only if we had a president that was comitted to ending opression everywh
"I can hop on a plane at Stansted and be in Paris or spain for less than £1 (plus taxes) in a couple of hours."
Please tell me you missed a zero or two!
"They don't need one to visit Hawaii, Alaska,"
And you in the UK don't need a passport to visit Scotland or Wales, do you?
"Canada, Mexico, or various Carribean countries."
For Canada, Mexico, and certain Caribbean islands, you don't technically need a passport, but you do need a decent proof of US citizenship and state-issued driver's licesnes don't count all by themselves. Realisticly, if you don't want to carry around your birth certificate(!) or naturalization papers(!), you need a passport.
Besides, having a passport can make life easier even if you don't leave the country. To get a driver's license or a job you either need three or four different documents proving your citizenship and such (birth certificate, Social Security card, etc.), or you can just present your passport which shows that you've already proven to the Department of State that you already have all that stuff.
"My point is, companies like Nintendo and Sony are Japanese"
I think it's about time to give Nintendo the "honorary" designation as an "American company" as far as who's being targeted is concerned. Pretty much since Donkey Kong, North America has been Very Good to Nintendo, even better than Japan at times (think of the N64), and it seems they've realized this. It's almost as if their corporate headquarters in Japan is more for show than anything else, with Redmond calling more of the shots.
Think of the recent Nintendo games that have been released here first, even games that were developed and written in Japan. How many Japanese gamers will be importing their DS from here before the Japanese launch date?
Hell, they spun off their Canadian arm as a separate division. They still haven't split up their European unit.
"Or that people who already have a PS2 (which includes many, many people) for some strange reason see no need to own two PS2s?"
People that already had a GBA had no problem shelling out money for the GBA SP. Just how much of the GBA SP sales are you attributing to the frontlight?
"I mean, both sales figures are interesting, I guess, but the phrase "apples to oranges" comes to mind."
In other news, the GBA continues to bitch-slap the PS2 in sales...
"a nation that doesn't have radical Islamics running the nation,"
Radical Islamic terrorists are radical Islamic terrorists precisely because they aren't running a nation. Their governments are at a point where it seems blowing themselves up is the only way to effect change in their governments, those same governments which work to paint the US and Israel as their true enemies instead of their own government.
The only country where Islamic extremists really, truly took control is Iran; the Taliban only controlled pockets of Afghanistan even before October '01. And, while I know I'm going to get flamed for this, I'd say Iran is probably one of the best off in the region. Compared to Sadam's Iraq or Sauid Arabia, progress for democracy and civil liberties in the country seems downright Western, and I'm not sure today's Iran should be lumped together in the same group as Sadam's Iraq or Kim's North Korea. Hell, of the three, they're the only ones that seemed open do dialog.
Simply finding and punishing the terrorists won't solve anything until you bring about a fundamental change in the environment. Leaving despots like Sadam in power would only breed more terrorists that we'd eventually have to deal with.
"Like most of the people who voted for it, he said it was flawed, but it was more important to get something in place first, then they could backfix."
i. e. they wanted to look busy, which is bad. Personally, with something as noxious as the USA PATRIOT Act, I'd rather they, oh... read the damned thing before they vote on it?
It's rather fitting that this bill became law in much the same way people unwittingly install spyware by agreeing to the EULA.
"the majority of people who voted for the Patriot Act would like to revise it."
Seeing as how a majority of the people who voted for the USA PATRIOT Act is, in fact, a majority of the vote in both houses, where are these promised revisions? It's only been three years...
"So while Kerry wouldn't say anything in support, he would happily sit by while activist judges (of the sort he would be appointing) rammed it down our throats."
So you're going not by what he says, but what you think he means? It sounds like you're using some of the same tactics that those "activist judges" you complain about are using.
"Bush on the other hand came out in support of taking the issue away from the courts and sends up strict constructionists who don't legislate from the bench."
Democrats, Republicans... about the only people the Supreme Court is working to empower are themselves. And as for that "strict constructionist" viewpoint, politicians only use that line when it suits them.
"As for oil, what else CAN we do."
Kick the habit? Encourage a movement away from oil by putting obnoxious tariffs on imported stuff? Throw money at alternative fuel sources? Build more nuke plants to produce more hydrogen? Hell, shifting to cars powered by pulverized coal would be an improvement over the status quo, at least as far as American independence and not throwing money at terrorists is concerned.
If anybody wins this round it will be the Game Boy, just like it's been for, what, 15 years now? I suspect a lot of the initial DS sales will be because of its backwards compatability (I know I'll buy it if for no other reason than it looks more comfortable to hold than an SP) and it will probably ride on the wave of GB popularity, at least initially.
At this point I don't think even Nintendo could dream up a Game Boy killer.
"Older gamers don't need sex in advertisements because they can have real sex any time."
You must be new here.
At any rate...
"Such childish references to sex can only appeal precisely to kids."
You're forgetting that the average adult in this world still acts like they're in high school, and tend to make purchases that way. Just because they can legally buy pr0n and alchohol doesn't mean they're suddenly beyond the "Mmm... Sex..." phase (if they ever would be).
Let's face it: including the press, the only people that have a problem with a lack of so-called "mature" games on Nintendo hardware are 13 years old, mentally if not necessarily physically. They're more worried about looking like an adult than being one.
That's because nobody believes they actually have the games available for the system (if it even exists). Whoever doubts that Nintendo has games to offer (and good games at that) has been living under a rock since the 1970's.
For all we know, there will be an iQue type of service for the DS when it launches. The hardware can handle N64 games and there is supposed to be a heavy online presence for the handheld, so all it would need is a blank cartridge like the iQue has...
"I know nintendo 3rd party support hasn't been that great lately, but comm'on !"
They're SNES and N64 games (or is it just N64 games?). It's not a matter of seeking developers as much as getting the right to offer third-party games in such a format to a market that is known to be very pirate-friendly. I'd bet the iQue will have to demonstrate how locked-down the device and the network is before they get permission to distribute, say, Gauntlet Legends appear for the device.
Besides, it could be worse: their Pokemon Mini only had 4 cartridges.
Slashdot Mirror
"So you'll pass on the LARGEST province in Canada"
Bush is from Texas. They still haven't gotten over the whole Alaska thing (mention it to a Texan and they usually say "Permafrost doesn't count!"). I don't think he'd be all that keen on accepting yet another state bigger than Texas.
Don't laugh. While things are probably drastically different now, back in August 2001 someone took a poll involving questions like "How do you feel about the US annexing Canada?" The vast majority in all the provinces was against it, but Quebec was the province that was most in favor it.
"I got sick of the ink game. I bought a HP Laserjet 4m+ (the last of the *REALLY* beefy HP printers) for 75$ used. "
Samsung has a small laser printer that's about the size of your typical inkjet that can be had for less than $100 or so. I got mine at a Sam's Club for ~$85.
"Its performance test (LINPACK) result of 42.7 teraflops easily outclasses the previous mark set by Japan's Earth Simulator of 35.86 teraflops"
Yes, but what is that in bogomips?
Exactly! Why would anybody want to bother hiding those things behind panels and such, anyway?
Yes, but would I be able to use the same extension cord for my PSP?
Personally, I think this borders on cruelty, what with the guy repeatedly throwing the cat against the wall. Or was I the only one who noticed how fat the cat's tail looked?
Too bad that hasn't happened to a certain city that lies on the Potomac...
Maybe if you included promises of free iPods...
First off, I'm not the grandparent.
"Where was bush? Where was runsfeld, perle, cheney and the rest of the war mongers?"
The current President Bush was in Austin as the Governor of Texas. The Supreme Court has interpreted the United States Constitution as barring states from getting involved in foreign policy in any way, shape or form. I disagree, but I am not a federal judge.
I don't know about Perle off the top of my head, but Cheney and Rumsfield, both former Secretaries of Defense, were cooling their heels in retirement after their respective presidents lost out to Democrats. I don't believe either man was asked to serve in President Clinton's cabinet.
President Clinton's administration did a few things to Baghdad above and beyond enforcing the No-Fly Zones, but most of the Iraq policy of the US for the decade preceeding 2001 involved fighting international pressure to repeal UN sanctions on Iraq, eventually settling on the so-called "Oil For Food" program.
"Now that you love the iraqis so much maybe you can learn to love other people was well. People in Uganda, sudan, haiti, iran, north korea, china, russia, chechnia, and palestine all need your love."
Haiti seems unhappy with our perceived role in "ousting" Aristide (I doubt his claims if for no other reason than I don't believe the US government actually gave a damn), I personally cannot condone the actions of the Palestinian resistance, and with DPRK I'd have to give deference to the immediate safety of the folks in South Korea (Seoul would be flattened in a matter of hours). In general, however, I would like to see the US take a more proactive role in fighting despotism around the world. But, as I'm sure you can see from around here, nobody would want us to.
For the past few centuries foreign policy around the world has been based on the idea that national sovereignty is sacred, and nobody can intervene on what happens within a foreign country's borders. You can comment, you can shake your head in dismay, but you can't actually do anything.
Everybody knows Sadam Hussein was a Bad Guy and did Bad Things to his people. But the only solution to the problem that everybody could agree on were some amorphous sanctions, and when it became clear that the sanctions were hurting the Iraqi people more than they hurt the Ba'ath regime, the solution proposed was not to remove Hussein by force of arms, but to repeal the sanctions. They may have had ulterior motives for pushing for this leniency (*cough*Chirac*cough*), but few people took the idea of overthrowing a national government seriously. Doing so would be the Twenty-First Century version of regicide and has been treated the same way our Eighteenth Century European ancestors treated it. (What would we have done with Hussein, send him to Elba? It worked so well before...)
And really, such a view on national sovereignty is very attractive: it all becomes "Somebody Else's Problem." It's so attractive that the only way, the absolute only way to convince people that It Needs To Be Done is not to place a smoking gun in the culprit's hand, but to point that smoking gun in our own direction. Claiming that Iraq had WMD was the only way you could convince Americans (whatever their political loyalties are) to do this is to make sure they personally feel threatened.
I won't be voting for Bush this election (mostly because of John Ashcroft, but not entirely), but if his motives were truly the well-being of the Iraqi people, I can't fault the guy for exaggurating the Iraqi threat to the US. I'm not sure I'd be able to do differently in his shoes, knowing full well it was the only way anything was going to happen about the situation.
I wonder how many Americans who were in favor of the war truly believed what President Bush was saying and how many were simply willing to be misled in that instance?
"Only if we had a president that was comitted to ending opression everywh
"Most Canadians like the American automobiles and American movies"
:)
Think about where those "American" cars were built and those "American" movies were filmed.
"I can hop on a plane at Stansted and be in Paris or spain for less than £1 (plus taxes) in a couple of hours."
Please tell me you missed a zero or two!
"They don't need one to visit Hawaii, Alaska,"
And you in the UK don't need a passport to visit Scotland or Wales, do you?
"Canada, Mexico, or various Carribean countries."
For Canada, Mexico, and certain Caribbean islands, you don't technically need a passport, but you do need a decent proof of US citizenship and state-issued driver's licesnes don't count all by themselves. Realisticly, if you don't want to carry around your birth certificate(!) or naturalization papers(!), you need a passport.
Besides, having a passport can make life easier even if you don't leave the country. To get a driver's license or a job you either need three or four different documents proving your citizenship and such (birth certificate, Social Security card, etc.), or you can just present your passport which shows that you've already proven to the Department of State that you already have all that stuff.
"My point is, companies like Nintendo and Sony are Japanese"
I think it's about time to give Nintendo the "honorary" designation as an "American company" as far as who's being targeted is concerned. Pretty much since Donkey Kong, North America has been Very Good to Nintendo, even better than Japan at times (think of the N64), and it seems they've realized this. It's almost as if their corporate headquarters in Japan is more for show than anything else, with Redmond calling more of the shots.
Think of the recent Nintendo games that have been released here first, even games that were developed and written in Japan. How many Japanese gamers will be importing their DS from here before the Japanese launch date?
Hell, they spun off their Canadian arm as a separate division. They still haven't split up their European unit.
Your mom.
"Or that people who already have a PS2 (which includes many, many people) for some strange reason see no need to own two PS2s?"
People that already had a GBA had no problem shelling out money for the GBA SP. Just how much of the GBA SP sales are you attributing to the frontlight?
"I mean, both sales figures are interesting, I guess, but the phrase "apples to oranges" comes to mind."
In other news, the GBA continues to bitch-slap the PS2 in sales...
"a nation that doesn't have radical Islamics running the nation,"
Radical Islamic terrorists are radical Islamic terrorists precisely because they aren't running a nation. Their governments are at a point where it seems blowing themselves up is the only way to effect change in their governments, those same governments which work to paint the US and Israel as their true enemies instead of their own government.
The only country where Islamic extremists really, truly took control is Iran; the Taliban only controlled pockets of Afghanistan even before October '01. And, while I know I'm going to get flamed for this, I'd say Iran is probably one of the best off in the region. Compared to Sadam's Iraq or Sauid Arabia, progress for democracy and civil liberties in the country seems downright Western, and I'm not sure today's Iran should be lumped together in the same group as Sadam's Iraq or Kim's North Korea. Hell, of the three, they're the only ones that seemed open do dialog.
Simply finding and punishing the terrorists won't solve anything until you bring about a fundamental change in the environment. Leaving despots like Sadam in power would only breed more terrorists that we'd eventually have to deal with.
"Like most of the people who voted for it, he said it was flawed, but it was more important to get something in place first, then they could backfix."
i. e. they wanted to look busy, which is bad. Personally, with something as noxious as the USA PATRIOT Act, I'd rather they, oh... read the damned thing before they vote on it?
It's rather fitting that this bill became law in much the same way people unwittingly install spyware by agreeing to the EULA.
"the majority of people who voted for the Patriot Act would like to revise it."
Seeing as how a majority of the people who voted for the USA PATRIOT Act is, in fact, a majority of the vote in both houses, where are these promised revisions? It's only been three years...
"So while Kerry wouldn't say anything in support, he would happily sit by while activist judges (of the sort he would be appointing) rammed it down our throats."
So you're going not by what he says, but what you think he means? It sounds like you're using some of the same tactics that those "activist judges" you complain about are using.
"Bush on the other hand came out in support of taking the issue away from the courts and sends up strict constructionists who don't legislate from the bench."
Democrats, Republicans... about the only people the Supreme Court is working to empower are themselves. And as for that "strict constructionist" viewpoint, politicians only use that line when it suits them.
"As for oil, what else CAN we do."
Kick the habit? Encourage a movement away from oil by putting obnoxious tariffs on imported stuff? Throw money at alternative fuel sources? Build more nuke plants to produce more hydrogen? Hell, shifting to cars powered by pulverized coal would be an improvement over the status quo, at least as far as American independence and not throwing money at terrorists is concerned.
If anybody wins this round it will be the Game Boy, just like it's been for, what, 15 years now? I suspect a lot of the initial DS sales will be because of its backwards compatability (I know I'll buy it if for no other reason than it looks more comfortable to hold than an SP) and it will probably ride on the wave of GB popularity, at least initially.
At this point I don't think even Nintendo could dream up a Game Boy killer.
"Older gamers don't need sex in advertisements because they can have real sex any time."
You must be new here.
At any rate...
"Such childish references to sex can only appeal precisely to kids."
You're forgetting that the average adult in this world still acts like they're in high school, and tend to make purchases that way. Just because they can legally buy pr0n and alchohol doesn't mean they're suddenly beyond the "Mmm... Sex..." phase (if they ever would be).
Let's face it: including the press, the only people that have a problem with a lack of so-called "mature" games on Nintendo hardware are 13 years old, mentally if not necessarily physically. They're more worried about looking like an adult than being one.
Online Mario Kart goodness.
"Jesus Tapdancing Christ, you can't get wider policy differences than you have this year."
Bush on marriage: "Marriage should be a union between a man and a woman."
Kerry on marriage: "Marriage should be a union between an man and a woman."
Bush on the price of oil: "We need to talk to our friends and allies in OPEC."
Kerry on the price of oil: "We need to talk to our friends and allies in OPEC."
Really, the list goes on, including some of what they say about Iraq. The differences between the two are mostly of the Purple vs. Green variety.
That's because nobody believes they actually have the games available for the system (if it even exists). Whoever doubts that Nintendo has games to offer (and good games at that) has been living under a rock since the 1970's.
"But why not also release it here?"
For all we know, there will be an iQue type of service for the DS when it launches. The hardware can handle N64 games and there is supposed to be a heavy online presence for the handheld, so all it would need is a blank cartridge like the iQue has...
"I know nintendo 3rd party support hasn't been that great lately, but comm'on !"
They're SNES and N64 games (or is it just N64 games?). It's not a matter of seeking developers as much as getting the right to offer third-party games in such a format to a market that is known to be very pirate-friendly. I'd bet the iQue will have to demonstrate how locked-down the device and the network is before they get permission to distribute, say, Gauntlet Legends appear for the device.
Besides, it could be worse: their Pokemon Mini only had 4 cartridges.