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SteveThaiBinh

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Everything posted by SteveThaiBinh

  1. Well, the problems with the Cuban economy are more to do with the US embargo than anything. And did you know that Cuba's education system is better than that of the US? I suppose it depends on what you consider important. Most of the old USSR is not socialist either, that's the problem. When communism fell, all these Western experts came in and said "Market economy. Privatise everything. Capitalism will solve all your problems." So everything was sold off and there was no regulation, so a handful of wealthy elites took control over the economy, leaving many people worse off than they had been under communism. I'm glad for you and your family that you've made it out of the poverty trap. But tell me honestly if you don't know anyone in the US who's worked equally hard and is still desperately poor?
  2. You are, of course, entitled to believe that. And if you are female, I'm sure that no-one would wish that you were forced to have abortion. That's your decision, about your body. However, for a society to work, it has to be the coming together of people with different beliefs and opinions. Among those will be people who don't believe in souls or in God. Are you proposing to impose your beliefs on them? Why should they accept that?
  3. And who are you to set conditions on what a woman can or can't do with her body? How would feel to have something growing inside you and be told that you can't have it removed? It's astonishing that in the 21st. century men still think that women's bodies are public property.
  4. A great many people in Iraq do want democracy, as we saw when they turned out, at great personal risk, to vote in the elections. However, democracy can take many forms, the Iraqis have had democracy imposed on them top-down, so it will be very weak for a long time. It takes time for local democracy and civil society to develop. What we'll have in the meantime will be corrupt, only moderately representative and very unstable. Nothing wrong with advocating democracy, but imposing it is a contradiction in terms. It doesn't work. The bigger problem is the 100,000+ dead people who were killed in Bush's war. The ends do not justify the means.
  5. I don't believe in psychics.. ..but if you are one, could you please summon forth Britney Spears cell phone number for me? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Money first.
  6. Ohno. Don't get me started on that new unannounced project again. Please! (But I hope you're right about the reason for the forum change) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Oooh, I'm psychic! Think of all the money I can make!
  7. You're not wrong. There will probably be an announcement about it soon. Makes a lot of sense to kill off some of those forums that were hardly ever used. Maybe this is clearing up space for forums dedicated to the new project?
  8. Well, what an interesting review. I only read the non-spoilers version, as I'm looking forward to the movie a lot. He complains that a lot of material has been cut to make the movie. That happens with every movie based on a book. Otherwise it would be four hours long. He's unhappy that the most memorable lines aren't there. Well, I would be unhappy if there was nothing in the movie that I hadn't already read or heard before. And the Hitchhiker's Guide changed with every incarnation, from the original radio series to the books to the TV series to the game. None of these is 'canon' - Douglas Adams was far too smart to use such a thing. Alas, when he says the dialogue isn't up to Adams' standards, he may be right. Unfortunately, Douglas Adams is dead and therefore unavailable to work on the script. So why hold the film up to a standard it has no hope of reaching? Having said all that, the film may indeed be crap, or it may be great. I think I'll go see it for myself.
  9. Oh dear, the globalisation juggernaut strikes again. I'll bet there are lots of British and American publishers lining up to sell expensive textbooks to every school. Is English actually useful in Romania? I mean for getting a job or in working life, not just for understanding computer games.
  10. That's not a polite word. Why would you just insult someone you don't even know? Why?
  11. English speakers tend to rank German as the hardest of the four European languages commonly studied in the UK, followed by French, Italian, and the easiest, Spanish. This may not be the same for a native Chinese-speaker. But the advantage of Spanish is that it's written the same way it sounds. I've never studied German, but I've hard that people have trouble with long compound words.
  12. No, I don't think his real name was ever released. And I'm not sure that we know what 'Jaq' was intended to be - his nickname, his alias, his real name? Definitely cut though. The problem is that we don't even know if his story is true or not. Depending on your influence with him, he has different conversations with Kreia after his confession, one telling Kreia that he told you the truth, the other implying that the whole story was a lie he and Kreia had cooked up between them.
  13. Syberia I is excellent, great story, funny dialogue, a few odd puzzles but mostly very good. Bit short though, especially if you're comparing it with The Longest Journey, or even the average adventure. Syberia II isn't as good, either in terms of story or puzzles. I read a good review which went something like this: "Syberia was the story of one young woman's personal awakening; Syberia 2 was the story of an old man's descent into madness". I found it rather pointless and depressing. Very pretty, though.
  14. That is stealing. Why don't you call the software pirates' tech-support line?
  15. Fine by me. Attitudes and language change over time. That's probably a good thing. Well, 'Japanese' seems to be fairly stable, so it's best just to use that. A Japanese person might be able to explain better why 'Jap' is considered offensive. A friend once explained it to me, but I can't remember offhand. All words come with baggage attached, even where it's largely been forgotten. That is also part of the context of their use.
  16. Kangaroo-flavoured waffles?
  17. I believe so. I think it comes from the 19th century pseudo-scientists who were trying to classify the 'races' in order to show that whites were superior. If I'm right, then black people would probably see it as disparaging.
  18. This is a serious problem. What is a 'fair' tax? There's no neutral, objective way to answer that. For example, the Thatcher government introduced the Poll Tax, where everyone paid exactly the same, no matter how rich or poor they were. Many people refused to pay because they thought it was unfair and that the government was breaking the social contract by doing this. Some people were sent to prison for it. But none of the major political parties, except maybe the Greens, supported breaking the law in this way. The practical point is that you may think it's 'wrong' to take money off certain people, but there's no consensus over what tax levels should be. It's contested, and when you have issues that are fundamentally contested, the only way of resolving that is through the political process and elections. Ultimately, there has to be one system, one law for everyone. Without that, you can't hope to construct a decent system. It's galling at first to realise that the state has such power over you just because you happened to be born within its territory. But I don't know of a viable alternative.
  19. You can probably find out with a quick search on the Spoiler forum.
  20. Because the politicians who are elected state clearly that they will collect taxes to pay for government services. If they also introduce taxes they did not promise, the voters can fire them at the next election if they want. Again, if you're not happy to pay taxes, you have to work to get a low tax government elected. Democratically elected governments are basically legitimate and can make laws within the bounds of the constitution. Without that, nations can't really hold together.
  21. It's not without permission. It's by a legitimate and democratically elected government. If you don't agree, you can vote for a party which wants to cut taxes, or stand for election yourself. It's called the social contract. The government provides services that people want, and people pay for it with taxes. European countries have higher taxes than the US because we have a different contract with out states, and expect more services.
  22. It will be a calculated risk to go see Episode III in the cinemas, as Jar Jar might speak suddenly before you can get your fingers in your ears. Those without lightning reflexes are advised to wait for the DVD and watch it through silently, bookmarking any dangerous moments.
  23. Not necessarily hereditary, I agree. The most powerful force user could suddenly spring from a family with no history of force-sensitivity. That doesn't preclude the possibility that strong force-users tend to have strong force-user children. Since so few Jedi have children, there's little evidence either way. But I thought I remembered Kreia saying something along these lines...
  24. Pretty much. You choose Jedi Watchman for the skill points, mostly, not for this ability.
  25. The influence system is interesting and a nice idea. It does allow you to discover more about your companions' histories. But yes, it's biggest weakness is that it claims to be having a tremendous impact on NPCs, as seen by their changing alignment, but this is not reflected consistently in how they speak or behave. It's counter-intuitive and confusing. Hopefully Obsidian will take the idea and develop it further in future games.
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