^Haha. I misread thinker's post and now I look like a jackass.

@berti, what? Did I say something awful again? Yeah, I do that from time to time.

Ahh, I can't be bothered doing my answers inline this time

I meant not so much the police protecting you from physical harm, it's not something that crosses my mind much really. It's more them finding and prosecuting people who break the law by stealing or breaking property etc. I've never felt the need to have a deadly weapon in my house... I just don't feel threatened as that guy obviously seems to feel.

You're coming from the mindset of fear, fear that the worst is bound to happen. I'm coming from the mindset of no fear, and as such live a happier, less stressful and worried life. And if it came to being broken into by an armed assailant, the chances of you getting to your gun and loading it (you don't keep it loaded do you, with any children around?) before they're on you is unlikely. So all you're really doing is housing a very deadly weapon in your house and creating more danger.

And taking issue on the fuel tax but ignoring the public transport system or social security dodges the cases where user pays does not, and can not work.

And I have no issue with a government being large. If it's a large government doing works that are generally considered to be of good worth and employs a large number of people to do so... then good. That's giving people work, they pay their taxes, consume, spend their money, keep the economy going and have created things that are of worth to the community as a whole.

Different governments get different things right and wrong, they can't always be right. But I'd rather not leave it all up to private companies who's sole aim is to make money, that's not the way forward for a country to have solid building blocks to have happy, healthy, housed and educated people.

>> ^blankfist:
spoco2,
There was a time before gasoline tax and someone came up with the bright idea to tax the gasoline to pay for infrastructure, so surely someone would do the same when bio vehicles become the norm. I think that's a moot point.

"It's entirely different levels from having a police force who you can call on to uphold the laws of the land when need be vs. always carrying a loaded, deadly weapon with you."
Obviously the only reason you'd carry a firearm is for self protection, correct? So when you say "call on [police] to uphold the laws" I imagine you mean "call on [police] to protect" as a replacement for carrying a firearm, correct? So, if I'm ever in a position where I need to protect myself and my fists are inadequate, I will need to find a phone and call the police and hope they arrive before something awful happens to me or my family.
That doesn't sound like a very good system.
Your idea of the police protecting us is illogical, because unless they're everywhere at all times, then you have no real protection. The only persons who will be where a crime goes down every single time is the aggressor and the victim. The victim requires a way to protect themselves, therefore carrying a weapon is the only real option.

"The idea is that you lobby and protest and vote in people that spend the money in a way that you think will better the country, not just remove all money going to the government."
I never said remove all money going to government. I'm a minarchist so I believe in a government albeit limited and small. I agree with paying some money to infrastructure and police, but the way in which we pay should be voluntary, hence the gas tax example I already mentioned which is only one example of many. A government can raise a lot of money through voluntary taxes, and income tax only makes up something like a third of the government's revenue, anyway. You mean to tell me we can't cut the government budget by a third? Come on.

spoco2,

There was a time before gasoline tax and someone came up with the bright idea to tax the gasoline to pay for infrastructure, so surely someone would do the same when bio vehicles become the norm. I think that's a moot point.


"It's entirely different levels from having a police force who you can call on to uphold the laws of the land when need be vs. always carrying a loaded, deadly weapon with you."

Obviously the only reason you'd carry a firearm is for self protection, correct? So when you say "call on [police] to uphold the laws" I imagine you mean "call on [police] to protect" as a replacement for carrying a firearm, correct? So, if I'm ever in a position where I need to protect myself and my fists are inadequate, I will need to find a phone and call the police and hope they arrive before something awful happens to me or my family.

That doesn't sound like a very good system.

Your idea of the police protecting us is illogical, because unless they're everywhere at all times, then you have no real protection. The only persons who will be where a crime goes down every single time is the aggressor and the victim. The victim requires a way to protect themselves, therefore carrying a weapon is the only real option.


"The idea is that you lobby and protest and vote in people that spend the money in a way that you think will better the country, not just remove all money going to the government."

I never said remove all money going to government. I'm a minarchist so I believe in a government albeit limited and small. I agree with paying some money to infrastructure and police, but the way in which we pay should be voluntary, hence the gas tax example I already mentioned which is only one example of many. A government can raise a lot of money through voluntary taxes, and income tax only makes up something like a third of the government's revenue, anyway. You mean to tell me we can't cut the government budget by a third? Come on.

you're talking about winston or the certificate

>> ^Kaigen:
Actually, word is that this is an elaborate troll on the Free Republic originating from the Something Awful forums. The birthers weren't responsible for this, they just bought into an elaborate prank hook, line and sinker.
Hilarious.

Actually, word is that this is an elaborate troll on the Free Republic originating from the Something Awful forums. The birthers weren't responsible for this, they just bought into an elaborate prank hook, line and sinker.

Hilarious.

very awesome of you revted,
and thanks for making some clarifications and also adding a personal touch concerning your practice.
my family is in the medical field and they have stated similar dilemma's as you have here.on one side you have responsible doctors such as yourself and on the other you have inscrutable practitioners who are just there for the quick cash.
instead of going through a whole diatribe on addiction let me just state a quick anecdote.
a former student of mine,bright and quick-witted,a stellar student heading to graduate school.in one year she was in two car wrecks and damaged her back something awful.she was over-prescribed pain meds and within a few months this brilliant young woman went from a casual pot smoker to a pill head.here is the tragic part:she never realized until too late.she was taking her meds as prescribed but when the insurance ran out she found herself host to a myriad of problems that she could not understand i.e:fever,nausea,cold sweats,horrific nightmares,insomnia and her back was worse than ever.not understanding withdrawal symptoms from pain meds she bought off the street some painkillers and LO and BEHOLD..she felt better.

sadly it was i who informed her that she may be an addict and in her rage and disgust at me for even suggesting such tripe has discontinued our friendship,leaving me impotent to offer any assistance at all.now my dear friend,with her infant daughter,has a full time job of aquiring pills everyday just so that she can feel normal.graduate school....a memory.car....sold.boyfriend...left.
i worry about her very,very much and pray for every day but until she is ready to face what she has to there is naught i can do.
what many people do not realize is that coming clean from narcotics is one the most incredibly hard things to do.it is a body addiction and if you try to stop cold turkey your body makes you pay..in spades.

i cannot relay just how personal this is to me.i have a young woman in my home right now who i am helping detox because the local drug rehabilitation center will not accept her(her fault)and she has no money,lost her kids,her business and ..well..everything.my success with her is not written in stone,but i have had success in these cases.

on a side note.
i give you incredible credit reverendted.the fact the you are aware of the dangers and hence your responsibility speaks volumes to your character.the only consolation i can offer concerning those that abuse the system due to their addiction is that you have no control over that.your patients are lucky to have such a doctor as you.
i salute you my friend.

>> ^burdturgler:
.. all I heard was:
"Cause nort is actually now ... iscuzofthebellyrub".

That made me lol something awfully.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'lolz, something, awful, goons' to 'lolz, something awful, goons, david thorpe' - edited by xxovercastxx

Something Awful has some really quality stuff, like their Photoshop Fridays.

Still, I don't go there anymore because it seems like the place always has links to shit that has viruses.

The other thing that always confused me was the way they ran their forums... really strict and yet all sorts of depraved stuff...

http://www.evilbore.com/forum/index.php?topic=22499.0

HEY THERE CHTHULHU
lyrics copyright © 2008 by Eben Brooks and Allison Lonsdale

Hey there Chthulhu down there in your sunken city
You're a billion light-years distant and the stars look very pretty
From R'lyeh
So close and yet so far away. Ia Iay.

Chthulhu fuh-TAH-gun, or is that Chthulhu fuh-TINE?
I can never quite remember 'cause I'm not in my right minds
Since I met you
No one corrupts the way you do. You know it's true

(Chorus)
Oh, it's what you'll do to me
Oh, and all humanity
Oh, you'll rise up from the sea
Oh, kill everyone slowly
Except the one's like me

Hey there Chthulhu, I've been studying your gospel
The Necronomicon, it gives me nightmares something awful
Where I see
The death of all reality. It fills me with glee

So when the stars are right, you'll come and do your worst
But that's okay because I know you'll eat the cultists like me first
When you get here
I know that day is drawing near. I have no fear

(Chorus)

A billion light-years seems so far
Below the sea, beyond the stars
Of these humans' putrid souls you'll drink your fill
The fools will all make fun of me
But I'll just laugh maniacally
'Cause no one's ever suffered like they will
Chthulhu, I can promise you
That by the time this cult gets through
The world will never ever be the same!
Praise your dark name!

Phn'glui mglw'nafh Chthulhu R'lyeh wagn'nagl fhtagn
Boy, that's really quite a mouthful, can't quite cram it in my noggin
Not today
I try to say it anyway
I feel my soul being to fray
Still I await that frabjous day
Chthulhu calay!

(Chorus)
Oh, kill everyone but me
Everyone but me

So the essential argument being presented here by Boehner is "No U!!"

Oh yeah, quote of the interview "They have normalised something awful".

>> ^Mekanikal:
I chipped in $25 and haven't gotten my little donor icon.


Yeah, the chip-in function isn't automatically associated with the donor icon thing. I was hoping for that too but as I understand what dag explained, they'll have to manually fix up those associations.

Wouldn't hurt to start slapping on some golden sift icons on the donors, eh?

Also, this should not be overlooked:


>> ^Farhad2000:
I really advocate a imposition of a buy in for being a member of VS along the lines of Something Awful and Meta Filter. It was $10 bucks for those sites.
But the exact level of restriction would have to be played around with i.e. what is public (Top15 maybe first 5 pages of content) and what is restricted (unsifted, search, video thumbs, top of all channels and other functions). It seems to have worked well for both examples I mentioned in maintaining a community for the long run.
The traffic will continue to grow. I think this donation drive while admirable, is a band aid solution for a longer term problem.


Seriously - this is important.

If you want the Sift to grow, you want the new joiners to have encouragement to make some contribution for "beyond basic" access.

At somethingawful the search is disabled for non-registered/paying.

Since one of the reasons for search is to find dupes, makes sense to make that something registered users only have access to (besides, google search is pretty good at finding our content anyway).

Old URLs wouldn't be locked, but people wouldn't casually barnstorm through the whole sift without at least a picture of dag (or Charms? ) politely inviting the visitor to join up if they like what they see...

We need a poll on which prominent Sifter would be the best 'endorsement' for such "join us" ads....

I really advocate a imposition of a buy in for being a member of VS along the lines of Something Awful and Meta Filter. It was $10 bucks for those sites.

But the exact level of restriction would have to be played around with i.e. what is public (Top15 maybe first 5 pages of content) and what is restricted (unsifted, search, video thumbs, top of all channels and other functions). It seems to have worked well for both examples I mentioned in maintaining a community for the long run.

The traffic will continue to grow. I think this donation drive while admirable, is a band aid solution for a longer term problem.

I'm gonna dupeof that asshole on the ukulele video into something awful.

Link to the full Something Awful review. You'd do well to read it (or the Wikipedia entry) before googling for other videos - if only to just be prepared.