While I'm all for progressive taxes, it would be nice if this presentation had just 1 graph that was absolute dollars paid in taxes, not always having the Y-axis a "% of total income" ... then we'd see that those rich people are paying hundreds to thousands of times more than the poor folks.

It would also be nice if individuals could choose what projects/departments/agencies their tax money (above some per-person baseline) went to, rather than budgets being proposed by executive branch and approved by congress. But if you hate political ads now, such a system would flood all channels of advertisement with "choose XYZ before April 15th!"

Sometimes I'm very glad that I live in a country that generally doesn't give a f@$% about US Copyright and Intellectual Property.

Since that is the case, and because I also happen to derive some schadenfreude-esque pleasure from the "Streisand effect", I have decided to download and seed for the foreseeable future the 6GB worth of files for the last version of Stage 9 before the shutdown, including Windows, Linux, and VR variants.

Anyone interested in following suit can use this magnet link, although there is potential for ISP strikes/warnings if you live in the US or other places where they have a less laissez-faire approach to these things than in Thailand (where I live).

Fair use needs protection. When that fails, at least one can assist with unfettered use, even if the powers that be claim that use is illegitimate.

You cannot assault people - not unless you are protecting yourself or another from immediate physical harm. And if it's not immediate, call the appropriate authority and let them handle it. THE END.

If you are so offended that you feel like you need to intervene, then politely ask why he is a nazi, and explain to him why it's wrong, challenge his views in a non-confrontional manner. It's as easy as saying "I don't agree with Nazi ideology because of XYZ" He's clearly in the wrong, so it shouldn't be hard to explain to him why.

Anything else means you are OK with living in a society where punching each other is an acceptable form of communication - leaving yourself and your loved ones open to the same treatment next time someone disagrees with one of your views.

Given the amount of influence that Valérian and Laureline comics had on the Star Wars movies, with many scenes ripped right out of them, and many other sci-fi movies, it is probably long overdue. Of course too many people may go, "oh, that's a rip off of xyz", when it is actually the other way.

They are available to read online, though not sure how black/grey market those are, so I won't directly link to its sources on Read Comic Books Online or others...

Science "works" when scientists bother to actually try to replicate claims, no matter how bizarre they may be. And as this video and my comment shows, that's not happening in a number of scientific fields. Which is really, really bad for human knowledge and society in general, as billions of dollars and countless work-hours get wasted since researchers base future research on what turn out to be unreliable past claims.

The "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" flies in the face of everything the scientific method espouses. Evidence is evidence. It is not supposed to matter who finds the evidence. Someone who is famous in the field should not be given more benefit of the doubt than someone who is not, yet that is exactly what happened in Shectman's case. He was removed from his lab and an actual expert in the field, Linus Pauling, verbally abused him for literally decades.

That's not how science is supposed to work at all. If someone finds evidence of something that contradicts current theory, you're supposed to look at their methodology for flaws. If you can't find any flaws, then the scientific method demands you attempt to replicate the experiment to validate it. You're not supposed to dismiss evidence out of hand because the person who found it isn't a leading expert in the field. In Shectman's case, other labs replicated his results and the "experts" still wouldn't budge... to this day in fact Pauling refuses to admit he was wrong.

Conversely, there are too many papers out there now with shoddy methodology that shouldn't even be published, yet because the author is a name in the field they somehow make it into top-tier journals and get cited constantly despite the dubious nature of the research. Again, that's not how science is supposed to work.

"Spurious bullshit," as you called it, is not being weeded out. Rather it is being foisted on others as "fact" because Dr. XYZ who is renowned in the field did the experiment and no one looked closely enough at it or bothered to try to replicate it. The spurious bullshit should be getting weeded out by actual scientific testing (like the studies in the video that were found to be unreliable) and not by mob mentality.

Haven't read the books, only seen a couple of the movies and I doubt I've even seen them in order. Have no idea who Cho Chang might be, etc.

But it's pretty rare to find an author/writer who can portray a character in a non-stereotypical believable manner when it's a nationality, culture, gender, etc different than theirs.

You'll notice a lot of American characters are based on the "cowboy" attitude when it's set elsewhere in the world. Doctor Who has a bit of this at times.

And male writers who do female characters in books, I often find they spend a lot of time thinking about the lead male character, love, hate, etc. If the lead is a "bad guy" the female is usually very subservient, and if the lead is a "nice guy" the female is "an equal" which they go to great lengths to make clear.

Female writers who do male character perspectives spend a lot of time either belittling the lead female character, being a potential love interest, or are "nice guys" who the female lead has no interest in but they obviously keep trying.

They main character tends to be a similar nationality and race as the author...or values similar to what would be standard for their upbringing. And they often pick hair colors they have.......and similar backgrounds to theirs if it's a more modern book. Lawyer, doctor, martial arts, military, areas they grew up in and or live in, etc.

I mean at this point, I find it funny that as soon as XYZ nationality or "age group" person dies in The Walking Dead they find a replacement usually before 2-3 episodes pass. Killed off annoying old dude who had two "daughter like figures", find a new annoying old dude who has two daughters...situation.

So.... given Rowling's popularity....she's probably doing a bit more than the common author/writers are to keep people interested...because the stuff I wrote above is like 75% of the authors. I'm sure a lot of Chinese writers aren't producing a lot of white guy main character books.....probably should make that black guy instead because they can get offended.

The thumbnail image for this video has been updated - thumbnail added by eric3579.

The thing is though, the way it's described in this video. Unless I am totally off in LaLa land concerning electronics and how they hook together. There's just no way his power grid section is going to work with 4 connectors. Let's assume 4 connectors is all anything needs, then how do you swap out pieces and re-arrange them to your desire and still have the connections end up to where they hook up properly to others without replacing the grid backing?

So if you need a grid backing for each arrangement, you're not helping your cause.

He's basically saying the grid back is your motherboard, which needs a bare minimum of things to function and it designed for them to hook up in certain ways with a myriad of different pin configurations. And you think of how many things in the PC market aren't QUITE compatible, like they do hokey things even though standards wise they should be compatible....so you have to look at the MFG sites to see if they have tested it with XYZ....

I mean hell anything PC is kind of throwaway as it is now, they cycle in new standards so fast. The only main difference is you can build it like you want it, so you're less likely to replace it soon....and if most things break you can replace them to keep from throwing everything else out...within some period of time usually 5-6 years would be a good "hope" for things like motherboards, cpu if you're right on the cutting edge. 1-3 if you buy them later in their life cycle.

So, maybe instead of a blok style phone, they need a design where shops could essentially build you a phone around a core module for each phone carrier. Then you wouldn't have 8 bazillion phones being manufactured each year and being tossed. You'd have 20 bazillion parts that could be used as needed within a few years to fit someone's needs/wants.

But, it won't happen. And they'll say it's because they are keeping costs down by doing it how they do it now....you know...not because it helps maintain bigger profit margins or anything.........never.

Good point, but you have to draw a line in the sand somewhere.

I think the problem in this case is an age old one. If a police officer asks a citizen innocent of any crime "do you mind if I search your xyz?" and the citizen rightfully says "yes I mind, and no you may not search my xyz" then the police officer says "what have you got to hide?" and immediately and incorrectly forms a reasonable suspicion that they are about to commit, committing, or going to commit a crime.

This is tempered by the fact that the police officer deals with people all day long who are in fact guilty and will lie about their crime. This does not give the police officer a right to treat people like they are guilty before the fact.

It's good that this has happened because people are talking about it and hopefully this will change things (through law) to be fairer for everyone.

If you are truly curious I hope you'll read everything.

TLDR Post Inc:

It's basically pragmatism and the slippery slope. You're making a registry of all the citizens who own guns. I mean have you ever applied for your firearms license before? Have you ever purchased a handgun? It's pretty crazy.

I wanted to purchase a handgun about 10 years ago after I got held up. It took me over 6 months to get my permit. Then it took me about another month to be able to purchase a handgun.

The Process:
In order to get your firearms id card you have to apply for it. Part of the process involved me having a sit down "evaluation" with a detective that was basically an interrogation for about 30 minutes.

Then once that detective says "this guys not crazy" He takes his form and all my information and mails it to the FBI. Then I had to wait about six months for the FBI to say "this guys not crazy and/or a terrorist.

When I have my Firearms ID card I can buy a shotgun or a rifle if I want that's no problem. But if I want to buy a handgun (which I did) I have to go back to get a handgun permit. Luckily since I was applying for my firearms permit they also gave me one (read one) permit to buy a handgun. I could buy one handgun; If I wanted more I had to apply for ANOTHER permit. Not another Firearms ID Card just another Handgun permit.

So I take my permit and I purchase said gun. I can't purchase the gun after 5:00 PM because the NIC office over at the FBI closes and they have to call it in. Even AFTER they call it in I still had to wait like 6 days before I could pick it up.

I receive a copy of the permit (and a receipt) , the dealer gets a copy, and the last part gets sent to the FBI. Once the FBI confirms they have a copy of the permit (which includes the serial # that is on multiple parts of the gun) then and only then am I allowed to pickup my firearm.

So even if I sold it to someone everyone would know know who it belonged to beforehand.

I'm not sure how much more gun control you can have. The "gun" that needs the most "control" are handguns because they are used in almost all gun related crimes if you look at the stats.

I wont' get into hypothetical situations about how citizens could perform those checks or whatever. I just want to show how regulated things are already. The idea that I could purchase like 10 handguns and then re-sell them all to someone else and NEVER have it traced back to me seems almost impossible. Heck I doubt I could even get approved to own that many handguns!

Also:

I'm not a "giant conspiracy" kind of person. But I feel like with the way government has been going with Guantanamo, stop and frisk, not really enforcing a lot of anti-trust laws, not really prosecuting some of the big banks responsible for what happened, etc etc etc I just feel like there really an upward swing for government control and collusion with protecting their own interests and not the interests of the people.

I don't see the government as an instrument of the people anymore it just seems to be wealthy people patting each other on the back.

What happened in Boston really upset me where people were just pulled out of there houses at gunpoint because there "could be" a terrorist nearby.

I believe that Obama has a good reason for trying to put these tools in place and he has no motive behind it he is just trying to protect the American People in his own way. But I don't believe gun control will help at all and all it will do is put more of a hindrance on law abiding citizens. I'd equate these laws to Anti-Piracy solutions? Ala Sims3 and Diablo etc etc. It just punishes the actual customer NOT the criminal.

If you told me there was a way to ensure program the registry of gun owners could only be searched if the striations from a bullet were scanned that was used in a crime or something like that I'd be fine with it. But there really is no way to do that.

Sorry it was long but it's not really something I can just say something short.

I'm sure people will says "Well what are your guns going to do against tanks and helicopters and xyz xyz". First I'll point to Iraq and Afghanistan and how well those "wars" went. Everyone can agree it was a disaster and we probably made a lot of terrorists by just killing people innocent or not. The same thing would happen here in America.

Would the government actually TRY to take over? I don't' believe so because it's not in our best financial interests. Everyone wants to stay wealthy and some sort of civil war would be horrible for our economy. But I believe over time constantly just eroding our rights will just lead to that. People got pulled out of their homes at gunpoint and screamed at by police in boston and they were just like "Well the police are just trying to keep us safe!" I just find that creepy.

There's a saying blah blah blah doesn't go out with a bang it happens with a whimper. I'm not going to make myself look smart by googling the quote.

Anyway that's my whole post sorry if it's long but I'm tired. I would have put it in the discussion section but I'm not at the appropriate star level.

TBH I kind of sympathize with Dennis Rodman. Look he's not a diplomat he was sent over there to open up the door. Dennis isn't going to be politically correct and he's not the most intelligent person in the world don't ask him to articulate everything he is saying.

George "So you agree with how he puts 200,000 people in prison labor camps?"
Dennis "Well it's amazing how we do the same thing here in the US"

Now most of the super liberal people on this site I imagine would agree with Dennis there. Locking up the poor, black people, unfair trials, the patriot act, etc. But everyone is looking past that because he is saying he love Kim Jong Un?

Dennis Rodman knows he's right he just has a hard time saying it.

If he came back to America and was like "that kids a punk bitch and I told him to stop xyz" we would be right back to square one.

Whoever sent Dennis there knows what he is doing.

>> ^mentality:

@Fletch
"You'll have to stop barking first."
Classy. Nice tone you set for the rest of the discussion.
"Not surprised that you have nothing to say about this, as it is, probably, the primary reason so many former Diablo players won't be playing D3.
How many is so many? Did you do a survey? Diablo's core audience, many of whom continue to play D2 to this day, are those who played D2 on BNET. That's where the meat of the game is, and that's where the community is built around. Who do you think Blizzard keeps on patching and adding new content for, more than a decade after D2's release?
" Nothing in D2 required you to go to "sketchy websites" and spend money. [...] Sure, you still don't have to, but both drops and crafting have been nerfed in order to encourage spending."
Did you know that D2 had a huge online item black market? It has basically the same effect as an auction house, except people had to go to 3rd party vendors for it. But guess what? This kind of stuff only matters if you're playing on the ladder. Want to have a nice quiet solo game, or run through the game with a few friends? Who the hell cares if you have elite gear? Play the beta - they definitely did NOT nerf drops and crafting.
The rest of your post is nonsense. D3's stash size is 10x7, larger than the one in D2. And blizzard manipulating drop rates for players depending on their auction house usage? That's just pure bullshit.
Have you even played D2 or kept up with all the interface "streamlining" in D3 at all? Those pets I mentioned above don't do anything except pick up your gold. Talk about "dumbed-down". This game is headed for consoles.
Those pets were removed from the game due to player feedback. "Streamlining" - have you even played the beta? The additional skill slots make this game LESS console friendly than D2. Face it, D2 was already perfect for consoles. And Torchlight? ALREADY on consoles.
SOME randomized dungeons, last I read. Although, if I'm wrong, it doesn't really matter. I said "linear", not "non-random". One does not mean the other. I have little hope you can understand the difference. I'll try to use them both in a sentence for you later.
I said randomized dungeons and quests. If the first time you play the game you get quests ABC, and the second time you play the game you get quests XYZ instead, is that NON-LINEAR enough for you? It looks like you're the kind of person who, rather than play a game, justs makes up bullshit instead and then bitch about it.
Oh, please. The textures look like they shot primary-colored paint balls onto an easel and captured it through a shear stocking.
Like I said, people seem to forget D2's graphics. In D2 you were fighting against red, green, blue, yellow colored monsters while your character was decked out in purple. D2 was cartoony. D3 is less. You complain about D3 being cartoony, then you talk about playing Torchlight? Are you fucking kidding me?
It's Blizzard's loss, not mine. I don't get too emotionally attached to "things". With Torchlight2, Grim Dawn, Path of Exile, and even Legend of Grimrock in the works, I won't miss D3 one bit.
With D3's sales, I doubt Blizzard will miss you one bit. And the Diablo community won't miss you one bit. One less whiny brat to clog up the BNET forums.


Ugh...

Ok, you win, Fanboy. Have fun. I hope it lives up to all your dreams.

@Fletch

"You'll have to stop barking first."

Classy. Nice tone you set for the rest of the discussion.

"Not surprised that you have nothing to say about this, as it is, probably, the primary reason so many former Diablo players won't be playing D3.

How many is so many? Did you do a survey? Diablo's core audience, many of whom continue to play D2 to this day, are those who played D2 on BNET. That's where the meat of the game is, and that's where the community is built around. Who do you think Blizzard keeps on patching and adding new content for, more than a decade after D2's release?

" Nothing in D2 required you to go to "sketchy websites" and spend money. [...] Sure, you still don't have to, but both drops and crafting have been nerfed in order to encourage spending."

Did you know that D2 had a huge online item black market? It has basically the same effect as an auction house, except people had to go to 3rd party vendors for it. But guess what? This kind of stuff only matters if you're playing on the ladder. Want to have a nice quiet solo game, or run through the game with a few friends? Who the hell cares if you have elite gear? Play the beta - they definitely did NOT nerf drops and crafting.

The rest of your post is nonsense. D3's stash size is 10x7, larger than the one in D2. And blizzard manipulating drop rates for players depending on their auction house usage? That's just pure bullshit.

Have you even played D2 or kept up with all the interface "streamlining" in D3 at all? Those pets I mentioned above don't do anything except pick up your gold. Talk about "dumbed-down". This game is headed for consoles.

Those pets were removed from the game due to player feedback. "Streamlining" - have you even played the beta? The additional skill slots make this game LESS console friendly than D2. Face it, D2 was already perfect for consoles. And Torchlight? ALREADY on consoles.

SOME randomized dungeons, last I read. Although, if I'm wrong, it doesn't really matter. I said "linear", not "non-random". One does not mean the other. I have little hope you can understand the difference. I'll try to use them both in a sentence for you later.

I said randomized dungeons and quests. If the first time you play the game you get quests ABC, and the second time you play the game you get quests XYZ instead, is that NON-LINEAR enough for you? It looks like you're the kind of person who, rather than play a game, justs makes up bullshit instead and then bitch about it.

Oh, please. The textures look like they shot primary-colored paint balls onto an easel and captured it through a shear stocking.

Like I said, people seem to forget D2's graphics. In D2 you were fighting against red, green, blue, yellow colored monsters while your character was decked out in purple. D2 was cartoony. D3 is less. You complain about D3 being cartoony, then you talk about playing Torchlight? Are you fucking kidding me?

It's Blizzard's loss, not mine. I don't get too emotionally attached to "things". With Torchlight2, Grim Dawn, Path of Exile, and even Legend of Grimrock in the works, I won't miss D3 one bit.

With D3's sales, I doubt Blizzard will miss you one bit. And the Diablo community won't miss you one bit. One less whiny brat to clog up the BNET forums.

I look at this video as these companies being fearful of "XYZ" happening, so they made it happen on their own terms, creating the scenario they needed to get enough fervor to push through their agenda.

Many politicians in Washington want us to live in constant fear of "what ifs", because it justifies their budgets and pet projects in those budgets. It gets people to say yes a lot to them, because if you don't <bad guy/thing> will win!

So their tipping point happens with 911, which is why so many people still believe there's a conspiracy to it. After then, all this crazy shit got passed through because we didn't want <bad guy/thing> to win, or they'd murder/rape our women and children and kick our dogs. And they STILL put forward these crazy ideas of what people could do. Like the pilot might pack a bomb on so he needs to be scanned, like he couldn't nose dive the plane while he's steering it. Or liquids, when clearly many small bottles of liquid just as easily be used to create a chemical bomb.

They want people up in arms and outraged and they do that by constantly berating you with the things they want you outraged on. On some forums you can't even go a day without a piracy discussion and how people are scum and ABC developer has to put draconian DRM in just to make a small profit, and how you should buy it with crazy DRM despite not liking the game or the DRM otherwise you're a pirate and should be in jail.


They keep you so pissed at each other and afraid of what other people are doing to you directly or indirectly, that you don't bother to suspect something more to it.

Because your neighbor is probably a terrorist who is pirating software to take control of the nukes to cause global warming so he can get free healthcare and live like a king on welfare.

Not sure what other hot button topics I could throw in there to make it look anymore crazy, but Im sure there are more.


Additional point, they are saying Youtube, megaupload, etc are piracy/copyright infringement tools. If they didn't own the companies outright when they did it, they BOUGHT companies who promoted the very thing are now slapping everyone for. How does it make sense that they can absolve themselves of distributing the tools people use, and punish others for providing similar tools? And my answer to that is, they aren't making money off other people doing it.....so Profit.

And now, other people are doing exactly what they themselves or companies they owned did 10 years ago, but they are making money via ads. So they are taking their previous "customers" by providing better tools, and those customers are making them money via ad placement hits. So in essence, they are already attacking the competition, but want SOPA to make it easier. You will essentially have to kiss their ass and police your network to great cost to yourself to keep from being shutdown by one stray byte of copyrighted stuff.