>> ^kevingrr:

As Huxley said, "It is possible to make people contented with their servitude. I think this can be done. I think it has been done in the past, but then I think it could be done even more effectively now because you can provide them with breads and circuses and you can provide them with endless distractions and propaganda."
@StukaFox
Your comment is as clever as it is simpleminded. You can worship the elephant or the donkey and I'll disagree with you based on the zeal you have for one and the disdain for the other. The world is a complicated place and whats best isn't found in one camp or the other.
Look at Huxley's last novel Island. He merges 'East and West'. He takes what he feels is best from both.


I upvoted because my reaction to this is that we've ended up in a world a lot closer to Aldous Huxley's shiny, distracted, and soul suckingly disconnected dystopia than we have 1984's drab, brutal, overtly totalitarian one. Our dystopia is much harder to break out of, because on the surface it seems open, free, and filled with prosperity, until you scratch the surface, and see the rot festering underneath.

I could've just as easily have downvoted for the stupidity of your pox upon both their houses view of modern politics though. I don't really get the sense much of anyone on the left is filled with some sort of "zeal" for the "donkey" -- and the disdain for the Republicans largely stems from the way they seem to be functionally identical to the Inner Party members from 1984. They can shamelessly go from lauding an individual mandate as the "personal responsibility principle that's essential to bring costs down" and then when the party's needs change, decry the same policy as somehow being a violation of everything that Americans hold sacred. All this while demanding they still be treated as if they were serious people of conviction and principle, and painting those who dare to point out their hypocrisy as some sort of dishonest partisan hack.

The fact that one side, and only one side has fully committed to this level of partisan loyalty should make even the most cynical, above the fray, non-partisan person sit up and take notice. Maybe it's time to stop pretending this is politics as usual, and see it for what it really is: a battle to stop a group of committed fanatics without a shred of human empathy from pushing out the last vestiges of the flawed, inept, but well-meaning opposition standing in their way.

If Obama's got the bully pulpit, why doesn't he, once and for all, tactfully address these outright lies on the part of the opposition Right and the Faux Noise corporation, so as to, at the very least, reveal that he's hip to the charade?

Surely, some of those hypnotized Faux Noise viewers in the middle of the country would break out of their trance temporarily and perhaps wake-up to the bullshit that's being fed to them...

Or does that "stoop" the dignity of the Office?
Seems to me, letting his words get twisted like this is just asking to get trounced in November.

>> ^Payback:

>> ^chingalera:
Is this a PSA, because I've done this?

I've taken the person's keys, tossed them in the car, locked it, then bitch slapped him.


That's the way! Then, wait till they are sleeping it off and break out the magic markers!!

Any reason for cops to play soldier and break out the new post-9/11 toys...

Have to agree, it looked like he did that on purpose up until he lost his shit and hurdled his door.

Plus that's a good example of why you don't want to park super close to gas pumps, so you have room to easily open and close your door to get to the fire extinguisher and avoid the fire that just broke out without climbing your car. Some places put the pumps too close IMO, fire breaks out and someone panics, expect whole pumps to be going wherever they decide to drive their car.

It is a spatial awareness problem indeed. I see many drivers do this thing where they reverse to pull out and then begin re-turning the wheel mid way, then are baffled when they move forward and find they haven't turned the car enough to clear the obstacle. So they reverse back the other way, un-doing the majority they had turned and then they'll perform that same micro movement a few times until they finally manage to clear it. The "omigods" are the ones that don't make enough of a micro movement and end up stuck in a loop. That's also super common with parallel parking.

The other problem is people hate being told how to drive, I tried to kindly correct this a few times but I always get barked at, so I've stopped trying. Some people are also just supremely unconfident with their ability and it is difficult for them to break out of that, especially when each failure only increases the pressure.

>> ^NetRunner:

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Fox Propaganda machine, their website announces this with the headline "Obama Flip Flops, Declares War on Marriage"
Keep it classy, Fox.


If it's a war they want, it's a war they're get. LOAD UP THE CANONS! We'll give those boys at Fox a Buttload of Homosexuality!

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Fox Propaganda machine, their website announces this with the headline "Obama Flip Flops, Declares War on Marriage"

Keep it classy, Fox.

>> ^GeeSussFreeK:

>> ^ant:
Make a taller fence?

Or a fatter Corgi!


That'll work until they get soo large they'll lean against the fence and break it.

>> ^ant:

Make a taller fence?


Or a fatter Corgi!

>> ^UsesProzac:

Huh, I was a single girl on WoW and then I was a taken girl on WoW. Never experienced any of that except for perhaps a little unwanted attention both when single and not. Most of the time gender didn't even come up. There were sometimes jokes about making sandwiches and the like over vent during raids, but that wasn't the drama that usually happened. "Don't stand in fire you fucking idiot." <- That was.
It all depends on the person. It hurts me to see you make sweeping generalities like that.
I met my partner on WoW and now we have a child. I was a troll rogue and then I was a troll priest, just in case anyone was wondering. I didn't do much in the way of alts, spent way too much time on my main, which was the priest. Good luck finding a constant spot in a raid as a melee dps.
I used to raid five days a week and arena the other two. Oh, WoW. I'm glad I have a life outside of it, now!
>> ^Porksandwich:
My experience with women who play WoW, purely from in-game. Most of them pretend to be men, you will rarely find out they are female until you hear their voice and they can't pull off the teen boy. These are usually single and have been creeped on in the past so they don't want cyber stalkers.
OR
They proudly declare they are a woman, but they also happen to be married or at least near-married. They won't inform people of this until it gets weird. Seen it happen many times in guilds where there's a woman whose overly flirty with other members and they think she likes them "in that way" only to find out that after they've helped her do a bunch of a shit..she's married and doesn't appreciate blah blah. Then the guild falls apart because people take sides.
Hell in one guild, a girl pretending to be guy was like dating one of the married men in the guild who was married to one of the women who was flirting around and getting "unwanted" attention after she got what she wanted from people.
I gave up on guilds after this one, because I would rather not be mid-raid and have drama break out over vent/ts due to this stuff. Enough other crap happens with people competing for loot/high scores/etc.



Not meant to be generalities, they are the experiences I had with the game. I think there were 4 women in the guild that I knew of. Could have been more, but I only knew the raiders or longer term members.

One was married to the guild leader, she used to ask for help to complete things and keep us waiting a good hour or two before she showed up. I didn't like her simply because she tried to treat the guild as her errand runners asking for help and having us wait so she could keep constantly busy. She got involved with a guy in the guild (not her husband) and that kicked off some events.

Next was young, and took a lot of the "sandwich" stuff you are talking about. She got involved with the married guild leader, that kicked off another bunch of stuff....probably 10-15 years difference. This is the husband of the one above....they had kids together and it basically split the guild right down the middle. The young girl involved with him had other admirers and tried to play a guy for the longest time only talking during certain raids. She was called all sorts of names once it came to light that she was dating the husband....no one really mentioned the wife doing the same thing. There was one guy she led on for a long time, they were friends and he thought it was more until he found out she was after the married guy. That started another ripple of problems...she left the guild for awhile to try to get him back as a friend, etc. As much stuff happened involving her, I think she did a lot of intentionally or was younger than she claimed. I generally liked her, but I had to wonder with as much stuff that cropped up around her as to what was going on there.

Another "involved" woman, who was either newly married or soon to be married to another guy in the guild was involved with the guy who was involved with the wife of the guild leader...the first woman I mentioned. That guy told me she was sending him pictures, and then she lost it when she found out he was involved with the other woman. Her husband/soon-to-be never suspected afaik. She was nice enough, but I was friends with her husband and I couldn't stand to hang around him anymore knowing all of this and him being in the dark.

Fourth woman was friends with a couple younger guys in the guild. Who used their vault access to steal a bunch of stuff from the vault and switch servers during a free move. She switched with them once it came to light they had stolen. Then renamed herself and came back, trying to hide her identity. She also tried to hide that she was female to the majority of the guild for a long time as well....she'd type most of her replies. Rarely spoke unless it was a tougher raid. I don't know if she had unwanted attention, or just made like she had unwanted attention from a few...because she moved with the guys she complained about on that free server move. The switch and hiding her identity was probably the worst of it involving her, and really she hadn't done anything wrong that anyone could see but she looked guilty as hell doing what she did. Then she defended those guy's actions who stole tabs and tabs of stuff from the vault before they left.

And yeah they all probably stick out because it was a lot of hub-bub involving them, and all the guys and gals involved were all culpable for their actions. But it was one guild that had more than 1 married woman in it and it failed spectacularly... Other guys in the guild would come hang out with me or solo play instead of doing guild stuff because it was toxic to be around most people in the guild with how everyone was supporting one or the other in just overall poor choices and questionable actions.

I am not saying all women in games are like this, but with this one experience with it made me want to stick to non-voice stuff so I couldn't identify the sex of anyone involved. And yeah I'd like to find a female who games.......but I'd actually like to continue enjoying games heh.

>> ^UsesProzac:

Huh, I was a single girl on WoW and then I was a taken girl on WoW. Never experienced any of that except for perhaps a little unwanted attention both when single and not. Most of the time gender didn't even come up. There were sometimes jokes about making sandwiches and the like over vent during raids, but that wasn't the drama that usually happened. "Don't stand in fire you fucking idiot." <- That was.
It all depends on the person. It hurts me to see you make sweeping generalities like that.
I met my partner on WoW and now we have a child. I was a troll rogue and then I was a troll priest, just in case anyone was wondering. I didn't do much in the way of alts, spent way too much time on my main, which was the priest. Good luck finding a constant spot in a raid as a melee dps.
I used to raid five days a week and arena the other two. Oh, WoW. I'm glad I have a life outside of it, now!
>> ^Porksandwich:
My experience with women who play WoW, purely from in-game. Most of them pretend to be men, you will rarely find out they are female until you hear their voice and they can't pull off the teen boy. These are usually single and have been creeped on in the past so they don't want cyber stalkers.
OR
They proudly declare they are a woman, but they also happen to be married or at least near-married. They won't inform people of this until it gets weird. Seen it happen many times in guilds where there's a woman whose overly flirty with other members and they think she likes them "in that way" only to find out that after they've helped her do a bunch of a shit..she's married and doesn't appreciate blah blah. Then the guild falls apart because people take sides.
Hell in one guild, a girl pretending to be guy was like dating one of the married men in the guild who was married to one of the women who was flirting around and getting "unwanted" attention after she got what she wanted from people.
I gave up on guilds after this one, because I would rather not be mid-raid and have drama break out over vent/ts due to this stuff. Enough other crap happens with people competing for loot/high scores/etc.



Can you explain the appeal of the game? I've seen clips and it looks a bit ropey. Is it all the rpg elements combining to create an addictive experience as you'd expect or something more?

Huh, I was a single girl on WoW and then I was a taken girl on WoW. Never experienced any of that except for perhaps a little unwanted attention both when single and not. Most of the time gender didn't even come up. There were sometimes jokes about making sandwiches and the like over vent during raids, but that wasn't the drama that usually happened. "Don't stand in fire you fucking idiot." <- That was.
It all depends on the person. It hurts me to see you make sweeping generalities like that.

I met my partner on WoW and now we have a child. I was a troll rogue and then I was a troll priest, just in case anyone was wondering. I didn't do much in the way of alts, spent way too much time on my main, which was the priest. Good luck finding a constant spot in a raid as a melee dps.

I used to raid five days a week and arena the other two. Oh, WoW. I'm glad I have a life outside of it, now!

>> ^Porksandwich:

My experience with women who play WoW, purely from in-game. Most of them pretend to be men, you will rarely find out they are female until you hear their voice and they can't pull off the teen boy. These are usually single and have been creeped on in the past so they don't want cyber stalkers.
OR
They proudly declare they are a woman, but they also happen to be married or at least near-married. They won't inform people of this until it gets weird. Seen it happen many times in guilds where there's a woman whose overly flirty with other members and they think she likes them "in that way" only to find out that after they've helped her do a bunch of a shit..she's married and doesn't appreciate blah blah. Then the guild falls apart because people take sides.
Hell in one guild, a girl pretending to be guy was like dating one of the married men in the guild who was married to one of the women who was flirting around and getting "unwanted" attention after she got what she wanted from people.
I gave up on guilds after this one, because I would rather not be mid-raid and have drama break out over vent/ts due to this stuff. Enough other crap happens with people competing for loot/high scores/etc.

My experience with women who play WoW, purely from in-game. Most of them pretend to be men, you will rarely find out they are female until you hear their voice and they can't pull off the teen boy. These are usually single and have been creeped on in the past so they don't want cyber stalkers.

OR

They proudly declare they are a woman, but they also happen to be married or at least near-married. They won't inform people of this until it gets weird. Seen it happen many times in guilds where there's a woman whose overly flirty with other members and they think she likes them "in that way" only to find out that after they've helped her do a bunch of a shit..she's married and doesn't appreciate blah blah. Then the guild falls apart because people take sides.

Hell in one guild, a girl pretending to be guy was like dating one of the married men in the guild who was married to one of the women who was flirting around and getting "unwanted" attention after she got what she wanted from people.

I gave up on guilds after this one, because I would rather not be mid-raid and have drama break out over vent/ts due to this stuff. Enough other crap happens with people competing for loot/high scores/etc.

Apparently, people are posting on here without realizing that MANY facts about this case are released, due to the fact that NO ONE was EVER detained and arrested.

We have witnesses, facts released by the police and witnesses. We have a 911 audio call (that not only shows a fairly strong semi-racist mindset, but more importantly what got Martin killed: the voice of a paranoid vigilante looking for a fight) -- the call almost completely tells the story of what happened afterward if there was a scuffle at all. Zimmerman chased him down, pulled his gun, and did EVERYTHING the 911 dispatcher told him NOT to do. Martin on his phone call had already told his girlfriend that he thought he was being followed and that he was afraid -- with good reason. IF...IF, a fight did break out it was because Martin was terrified for his life and we now know that he was right to do so...

If you can't bother to listen to the facts that are already here then don't bother posting. There is GREAT reason why so many are angered by this incident. There is a reason why the police chief HAD TO step down. There is a reason the Feds are getting involved...

Step into reality and get off your Republican or racist high-horse; no those two are not the same thing, but it is awfully strange at which times these two decide to become bedfellows. This could be said for the police as well, but to be honest we don't know why they are going to such extremes to protect him (although the mayor is pissed the hell off; atleast in the last interview I saw with him, he didn't understand why Zimmerman wasn't arrested either -- this is probably why you saw the police chief step down...).

I'm glad atleast many on the Sift do stay caught up on these events if they decide to post (many on the Sift are fairly knowledgeable, with the trolling at a fairly low occurrence). But, much like Glenn Beck and his cronies it only requires a few or one bad apple(s) to create misinformation (just like Fox News) and then anger is created aimed in the opposite direction, yet based entirely on lies. But, that anger is just as potent and in my experience it turns into even more racism...

/My two cents and one cent on the house...