Mmmm... he mentioned Evil Genius and then said nothing more. That and Dungeon Keeper are probably the best of the "dickishness" games.

>> ^gtjwkq:
Banks are given money voluntarily , that means they'll tend to receive less money if they're careless with it (reputation?). You might ask, "So why would banks be careless with money given by govt? Don't they know that govt might not give them more money if they're careless too?".

It's not really about the usual libertarian focus on voluntary vs. authority, it's about accountability. No one in government gets their job without either being elected, or being employed by someone who was elected. If tax money is misspent, you can elect someone else.

But I also think there are plenty of people who excel at their profession because they like to be good at what they do, not because they think their ass is on the line if they screw up.

I also question whether people who're primarily motivated by bonuses given for high short-term investment returns have the right kind of incentives.

But I have no control over that at a bank.

Well, just look at the bailouts. Govt gave these banks billions even after they lost copious amounts of it. Either these banks are evil geniuses or, at the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, I'd say there is some collusion between govt and big investment banks, wouldn't you agree?

I'd say a little of both. I doubt the big asset bubble was a plan that the banks and government colluded on. I think the banks screwed up, and I think the strength of their lobbying arm made sure government gave them money with no strings attached, rather than following a more progressive path (temporarily nationalizing them FDIC-style, or folding the same volume of money into the social safety net and letting them fail, or just giving the money to single-home homeowners to bail them out, and by proxy bail out their banks).

I'm in a wait-and-see mode with the bank bailout. Government spent it all to get stock in these banks, which it will later sell. It may wind up being that the way they did it will actually bring more money in than it spent initially, like what happened with the S&L crisis.

Profit is not something strictly selfish (well, actually it is, but profit is usually obtained by providing services to others, which is where the "selfless" magic behind profit lies), a growing economy eventually allows itself to have longer and longer-term goals while still being bound by a profit-seeking mentality, even if we're talking highways or space exploration.

I understand the free market theory, and I actually see that kind of virtuous business cycle as being a goal I share. I just don't think it's possible to have a market that is both unregulated and beneficent to ordinary people.

I also don't think we can count on charities to take on the problems of the poor adequately, especially not in economic downturns that's tightening everyone's budget. People are too selfish to really worry about it.

You said, regarding the Fed's expansion of the money supply:

Austrians say it will cause hyperinflation, keynesians will either say "yay, it worked!" or "hyperinflation only happened because the Fed didn't expand the money supply enough and didn't save enough failing banks".

Actually, unless something drastic changes, Keynesians will say "holy shit, how did we get inflation?"

I'll be writing off Keynesians as being quacks if we wind up in a situation with high unemployment and high inflation, unless we have some sort of supply shock (e.g. OPEC decides to stop selling oil to us), or we wind up scaring the world into dumping the dollar before we recover.

Supply shocks aren't really predictable, but there are ways to measure the international community's confidence in the dollar, and there aren't any warning signs at this point.

If employment comes roaring back, and GDP reverts to trend, then we'll be calling for the Fed to contract the money supply to stave off inflation.

Inflation produces easy money for the govt at the expense of everyone's wealth denominated in that currency. It's the ultimate stealth taxing tool: The govt/Fed just prints money and we all get poorer, and they get to give that money to those who are politically connected.
It's like an upside-down redistribution of wealth, everyone gets slowly robbed (the poor getting hit the hardest for having less resources) and usually the ones at the top get the most benefit first, specially if they're in bed with govt.

I agree with this assessment of the issues that can and do crop up. I disagree that the Fed intentionally causes periods of high inflation in order to explicitly to benefit their well-connected friends.

Govt, as always, gets a free pass and points its finger at capitalism, business owners, the market, banks, foreign lenders, ANYTHING and people will buy it if they're keynesian, statist or stupid enough.

Slurs against people like myself aside, I think you misunderstand our position. It's not that government gets a free pass, it's that a corrupt government happens because of businesses influence.

Peter Schiff has used the analogy that the crisis was like a teacher leaving kids alone with a bunch of candy, and then later comes back and finds the kids have made themselves sick. I agree with the analogy -- business is like a bunch of misbehaved kids, and the government, like the teacher, is supposed to be the responsible adult who keeps them in check. The cure isn't to fire the teacher and let the kids have the keys to the candy supply, the cure is to fire the teacher and hire a responsible one.

I guess what I don't understand is why you would trust government with nuclear missiles, police, courts, etc. but not control of currency.

I want to end fraud, corruption, and abuse, but I don't think big business is somehow immune to it, and I don't see how telling government to generally take a hike would cure it.

I think it's a symptom of human nature itself that people are always going to be seeking advantage, fair or not, by any means necessary. I want to empower altruistic people who represent the people's interests, and aren't afraid to push back against corporate interests to make sure people are treated fairly.

I cringe at the entire conservative "we must make policy about maximizing business growth, period" philosophy of governance. Mine is "we must make business growth beneficial to society".

This recession has been long in the making, but the housing bubble, in a nutshell, was caused by the moral hazards generated by federal institutions taking an interest in the real estate market and the Fed keeping artificially low interest rates for so long. Everything else you mentioned is mostly a consequence.

I hear this a lot from Austro-libertarians. If this were true, banks should never work right, either. The people making the investment choices, and choices about loans are not the people who own the banks.

I can't tell whether you're terrible at making analogies or very good at making terrible analogies.

Banks are given money *voluntarily*, that means they'll tend to receive less money if they're careless with it (reputation?). You might ask, "So why would banks be careless with money given by govt? Don't they know that govt might not give them more money if they're careless too?".

Well, just look at the bailouts. Govt gave these banks billions even after they lost copious amounts of it. Either these banks are evil geniuses or, at the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, I'd say there is some collusion between govt and big investment banks, wouldn't you agree?

The most risk they have to bear is getting fired, and often they get lavish severance packages even when they are fired, and are almost immediately rehired by another bank.

I agree, your accusations about the banking sector being inefficient are very plausible. Like I said, they're in bed together, govt and banks, it's probably the most highly regulated sector of the economy. The more regulated a sector of the economy is, the higher its costs, the bigger its potential for corruption and the worse its services are going to be.

I also think government spending is best directed at things that are unlikely to turn a direct profit, but are useful for humanitarian purposes, or a general positive impact on the economy (e.g. infrastructure).

I understand where you're coming from, but I still think govt should mostly stay out of that too. Most people are led to consider profit a bad thing, when concern with profit is what's actually more humanitarian than pursuing anything with alleged "humanitarian" goals and taxpayer money. Profit is not something strictly selfish (well, actually it is, but profit is usually obtained by providing services to others, which is where the "selfless" magic behind profit lies), a growing economy eventually allows itself to have longer and longer-term goals while still being bound by a profit-seeking mentality, even if we're talking highways or space exploration.

What Bernanke believes is that the Fed should have known better and reacted by massively expanding the money supply to stave off deflation, and rescuing the failing banks.

I know. Even though he acknowledged that the Fed helped cause it, he gathered the wrong conclusion: That the Fed didn't do enough. Well, he's been putting those beliefs in action so we'll all get to see how that works out real soon.

Austrians say it will cause hyperinflation, keynesians will either say "yay, it worked!" or "hyperinflation only happened because the Fed didn't expand the money supply enough and didn't save enough failing banks".

We won't solve the Austrian-keynesian blame game over the Great Depression here, specially if you're saying Austrians caused it, so I'd like to move on.

What if we bring inflation into this discussion, because it best illustrates a basic disagreement we probably have. Keynesians embrace inflation as a tool, which is why I consider keynesianism an ideological tool of the state. The govt loves inflation and it will never openly admit to that love, or admit to using it A LOT, because people obviously don't like inflation.

Inflation can only be effectively used when the govt has a monopoly over the currency, which, to me, explains why you're so in favor of central banks and opposed to parallel currencies: So people can't flee from inflation.

Inflation produces easy money for the govt at the expense of everyone's wealth denominated in that currency. It's the ultimate stealth taxing tool: The govt/Fed just prints money and we all get poorer, and they get to give that money to those who are politically connected.

It's like an upside-down redistribution of wealth, everyone gets slowly robbed (the poor getting hit the hardest for having less resources) and usually the ones at the top get the most benefit first, specially if they're in bed with govt.

Govt, as always, gets a free pass and points its finger at capitalism, business owners, the market, banks, foreign lenders, ANYTHING and people will buy it if they're keynesian, statist or stupid enough.

Excerpt of Bryan's never-delivered closing argument...

Outmaneuvered by Clarence Darrow, William Jennings Bryan never got to deliver his closing argument in the Scopes trial. But soon after the trial -- and Bryan's subsequent death -- the entire text of Bryan's 15,000-word argument was published as Bryan's last speech. Here are a few excerpts:

Science is a magnificent force, but it is not a teacher of morals. It can perfect machinery, but it adds no moral restraints to protect society from the misuse of the machine. It can also build gigantic intellectual ships, but it constructs no moral rudders for the control of storm tossed human vessel. It not only fails to supply the spiritual element needed but some of its unproven hypotheses rob the ship of its compass and thus endangers its cargo. In war, science has proven itself an evil genius; it has made war more terrible than it ever was before. Man used to be content to slaughter his fellowmen on a single plane -- the earth's surface. Science has taught him to go down into the water and shoot up from below and to go up into the clouds and shoot down from above, thus making the battlefield three times a bloody as it was before; but science does not teach brotherly love. Science has made war so hellish that civilization was about to commit suicide; and now we are told that newly discovered instruments of destruction will make the cruelties of the late war seem trivial in comparison with the cruelties of wars that may come in the future. If civilization is to be saved from the wreckage threatened by intelligence not consecrated by love, it must be saved by the moral code of the meek and lowly Nazarene....

It is for the jury to determine whether this attack upon the Christian religion shall be permitted in the public schools of Tennessee by teachers employed by the state and paid out of the public treasury. This case is no longer local, the defendant ceases to play an important part. The case has assumed the proportions of a battle-royal between unbelief that attempts to speak through so-called science and the defenders of the Christian faith, speaking through the legislators of Tennessee. It is again a choice between God and Baal; it is also a renewal of the issue in Pilate's court....

...Your answer will be heard throughout the world; it is eagerly awaited by a praying multitude. If the law is nullified, there will be rejoicing wherever God is repudiated, the savior scoffed at and the Bible ridiculed. Every unbeliever of every kind and degree will be happy. If, on the other hand, the law is upheld and the religion of the school children protected, millions of Christians will call you blessed and, with hearts full of gratitude to God, will sing again that grand old song of triumph: "Faith of our fathers, living still, In spite of dungeon, fire and sword; O how our hearts beat high with joy, Whene'er we hear that glorious word -- Faith of our fathers -- Holy faith; We will be true to thee till death!

Excerpts from Bryan, William Jennings. Bryan's Last Speech: Undelivered Speech to the Jury in the Scopes Trial. Oklahoma City: Sunlight Publishing Society, 1925.

http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Video-Games-Evil-Genius/dp/0071497528

I bought this... it was sitting alone on a shelf in a borders... there was classical music band upstairs at the coffee shop.

It might have been a match made in heaven.

I learn code by re digesting it and typing it out. I know that sounds bad, but when it comes to code structure and practice that's how I get it.

So.... we just need Evil Genius 2: Henchman for Hire. Where you are the top henchman working for the evil genius of your choice and running around in direct 3rd person.

So how about it Elixir Studios? Oh, you were working on it? But you went under and all your IP got bought by Rebellion Developments who only makes crap games and crappier ports (except maybe Rogue Trooper). Darn it all.

>> ^Lolthien:
Just FYI, his little rant at the beginning about a game where you play a batman villain and do all that stuff has actually already been done. Evil Genius for the PC. Very fun little game.


Wellll... Yes and no. That was an RTS and it was very fun, but it was base-building of the highest order. Take that idea in an open city? Third person? Sign me up for the one Yahtzee's peddling.

Just FYI, his little rant at the beginning about a game where you play a batman villain and do all that stuff has actually already been done. Evil Genius for the PC. Very fun little game.

Yeah the defending goalie wasn't terrible. In addition to his defenders' responsibilities, he was expecting the striker to play the ball but he didn't. I can't tell if he just missed it, if he was just too far out of position, or if he's some kind of evil genius and left it.

ooohh....dead shit and down votes, to the king....an shit-
maybe start wiff' diss random list, and make yer way through them.....zifffy's lazy like that....
http://www.videosift.com/video/Top-Gear-Soccer-With-Cars-Toyota-vs-Volkswagen
http://www.videosift.com/video/SCTV-Bob-and-Doug-McKenzie-Mouse-in-the-Bottle
http://www.videosift.com/video/Nine-Inch-Nails-Head-Like-A-Hole
http://www.videosift.com/video/Scorpions-Rock-You-Like-A-Hurricane
http://www.videosift.com/video/Thank-You-For-Smoking-How-To-Argue
http://www.videosift.com/video/Intel-Inside-Homer

just knows knows some a these are alive....
http://www.videosift.com/video/Don-Cherry-Meets-a-Gay-Man
http://www.videosift.com/video/Nine-Inch-Nails-Hurt-Live
http://www.videosift.com/video/Oceans-Eleven-Trailer
http://www.videosift.com/video/Austin-Powers-Fights-Mini-Me
http://www.videosift.com/video/Garbage-Only-Happy-When-It-Rains
http://www.videosift.com/video/ADAA-approved-Dodgeball-Rules
http://www.videosift.com/video/The-Hunt-For-Red-October-Trailer
http://www.videosift.com/video/Youre-Gonna-Need-A-Bigger-Boat
http://www.videosift.com/video/Juuust-a-bit-outside
http://www.videosift.com/video/Braveheart-William-Wallaces-Battle-of-Stirling-Speech
http://www.videosift.com/video/Theres-Something-About-Mary-Dogfight
http://www.videosift.com/video/Weird-Al-Yankovic-Jurassic-Park
http://www.videosift.com/video/Rowan-Atkinsons-Guide-to-Dating
http://www.videosift.com/video/Queen-One-Vision-Extended-Version
http://www.videosift.com/video/Rodney-McCray-Runs-Through-a-Wall
http://www.videosift.com/video/Time-Bandits-Evil-Genius
http://www.videosift.com/video/Garbage-Push-It
http://www.videosift.com/video/Henderson-has-scored-for-Canada

This game will be sweet... and it'll probably make me finally purchase Half-Life 2.

I love the character design, but I can't help that it reminds me of Evil Genius (greatly underrated game by the way).

Bah, he's not a terrorist, he's an evil genius and such.

Hmm. Or maybe you're right.

I love the silent "walk on treadmill, then stand on walkway" gag. So good!

There's some talk about what Empire said, but to the best of my knowledge intelligence and/or artistic ability have not been correlated with the ability to draw really good circles.

Cold, calculating, evil genius ability, on the other hand, HAS been found to have a Pearson product-moment correlation of 1 when compared to freehand-circle-drawing ability. So the guy in the video? Totally evil. Right after this video, he killed a puppy. True story.

No-one show this to Steve Ballmer! If he learns how easy it is to bypass Google security...

He's probably in his underground lair right now, cooking up 1000 pizzas laced with ricin, cackling like an evil genius.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/05/chair_chucking/

I think they took HUGE styling cues from the awesome RTS-Sim kinda game Evil Genius ( http://howevilareyou.com/us/ )

But TeamFortress still rocks... maybe I'll finally get Half-Life 2 now.