Guard Dog

To follow up my comment on legislation being a blunt instrument, that is yet another reason my any governmental body should be restricted to clearly defined roles and never be allowed to get so big you couldn't drown it in a bucket.

Another thing, if Stannis was really dead the only person at the Wall who matters is Shireen. Selese has no value since her family is in Stannis's camp. Val is of no use to anyone, nor is Mance's son (even though it isn't even his son) or Melisandre. And aside from Selese & Shireen how would the Boltons know anything about any of them? But whoever wrote the letter asked for all of them. Whoever sent that letter had been at the Wall recently and had an interest in provoking Jon.

Everything seems easier to understand after a few drinks.

I thought that too but 1) How would Ramsay know Mance was executed? 2)Ramsay didn't behead prisoners, he flayed them. 3) Why would anyone from south of the wall refer to the NW as crows? Maybe I'm overthinking it.

Here are my predictions: World Series: Tigers defeat the Nationals in 6 AL East: Baltimore: Only team that did not get a complete upheaval or lose a major piece to injury Toronto: Decent pitching, good hitting and a weak division means a wild card game north of the border. Boston: They will make some noise but pitching depth will be a hindrance New York: Could easily finish 3rd but won't factor in the pennant race. Every position is either too old or too young. Tampa Bay: Gonna be a long year. My team was dead last in runs scored last year and nothing changed to improve that. Lot of other changes though. AL Central: Detroit: Offense? Check! Pitching? Check (1-4 in the rotation at least. 5 is iffy). Consistency in the clubhouse? Check. They are going all the way. Cleveland: Cluber leads a solid staff. But I'm not sold on the Tribe. Finishing second depends on what KC & the White Sox do more than what the Indians do. Kansas City: The team is more or less intact minus two key pieces from the World Series team. They can easily work their way into a WC game, Chicago: You have got to love this teams future. Sale is a Cy Young candidate and the line up is full of young talent. If they put it all together the can be a factor. But there will be growing pains. Next year is more likely. Twins: Can you name one player on this team not named Joe Mauer? Me neither. AL West: Los Angeles: The Angels are loaded in talent again. As they are every year but never seem to put it all together. But this year their division is in shambles. Seattle: They would be good in any division but with 19 games against the Astros, Rangers, & A's, a WC is not out of the question. Oakland: Leferd's boys had a disappointing end to 2014 and only went backwards during the offseason. Houston: Getting better, but will still battle the Rangers for "Worst Team In Texas" Texas: What a mess NL East: You know, I've picked them every year for the last three years and they have screwed me every time! No this year. They are going all the way. To Detroit anyway. Miami: Once again the Marlins have mortgaged their future for today. A good chunk of their farm system has been traded away. Lets see if it was worth it. New York: They were looking a lot better until Wheeler tore his UCL. They have the makings of a good club but are still a year away. Philadelphia: an object lesson in the folly of big contracts to old players. Atlanta: Even their GM is admitting this season is a throwaway. NL Central: Cardinals: This is the best division in baseball this year. And the Cards should be the best team in that division. Pirates: Still a one man show bur good enough to keep pressure on the Cardinals Cubs: New manager, same roster problems. Yeah they got Lester but they also have Edwin Jackson. But the future is bright and they will make noise. Milwaukee: Did they even sign anyone this off season? They will win 81 games and might come in third, but not much more. Cincinnati: Now here is a big bowl of vanilla pudding. NL West: San Diego: The new-look and loaded Padres will either win big or implode. I'm glad I don't have money on this pick. Los Angeles: If the Padres stumble they will be good enough to win. San Francisco: Sorry Hurlshot, it's an odd number year. they won't suck though. Arizona: Some new arms on the mound this year, but no new bats to compliment them. Colorado: Let's see. They have Tulowitzki, Gonzalez, and....

For folks who have read Dance of Dragons. Who wrote the letter to Jon at the end? I thought it was Ramsay Snow. Now I'm not so sure. Any thoughts?

I'd so love to wade into this. But I just don't have the time or mental energy. Let me sum up my position on it this way: Scenario 1) If a gay couple go to a bakery and order a gay themed wedding cake and the owner of the bakery refuses to make them one on religious grounds, that is fine. Scenario 2) If he refuses to make them ANY theme wedding cake, that is bad. Laws like this come into existence because in scenario 1 above the gay couple walk out, hire a lawyer and sue the baker out of existence. That is bad. In scenario 2 they might have case, but the way thing are going the court is not drawing a distinction between the two. So not the legislatures are here to correct this great wrong. The problem is legislation is a blunt instrument. It is ALWAYS too broad, to open to interpretation and seldom fully understood by the people who pass and sign it. Now the way all of this could have been avoided is if the gay couple in scenario 1 took their business elsewhere without a legal fuss. I am a Christian and I'm not gay but if I were the baker in scenario 1 and the aforementioned gay couple had a valid credit card, the only question I would ask them is "Whipped cream or butter cream"?

I got my PoE box today. I'll spend the next five minutes looking through it, the next five considering playing PoE for a it, but I won't. Then I'll spend the rest of the night with a bottle of 9 year old Knob Creek and two of my college textbooks relearning what a Spearman Correlation analysis is and trying to figure out how that applies to what I'm doing for work. The job is very interesting but I'm in over my head at the moment. This was like hiring an electrician to fix a plumbing problem. But there is no difficulty that cannot be worked through with diligence, hard effort, and a little premium quality whiskey.

There you go. Dissenting opinions will not be tolerated. And since you can't block selectively you are not interested in anything said by anyone on any topic if you don't agree with their politics. Good job.

Starting new job tomorrow. From reading some of the material they sent I think I'm wading into some deep water. Pun intended.

Someone made a thread about PoE in their forums. One of the developers replied:

Maybe Oby has a point. Did you guys ever play the first Medieval Total War game? For some reason the Rus generals always had 5-6 stars. Of course it didn't help because they were all wiped out by the Mongols in mid-game anyway. Much like in real life come to think of it!

We all know you only vote for the Communist Party USA, GD.

This is funny. MMORPG.com posted an interview with 2 of the dev team:

Supporting a 3rd party for it's own sake it all well and good. But it's not about finding the right candidate, it's if you can get behind what the right candidate is all about. I know the US Green Party gets a lot of love on these boards but I'm sure you guys can see why you will never get me to support or vote for something like that.

I do hope this will not be a "one and done" project. The world, the setting, the atmosphere and the level of detail and craft that went into it are outstanding. I hope you guys keep building on this IP.

I am not sure which one Wals is referring to, to be honest. We seem to have an abundance at this time. Always gets his shorts in a knot over oby, so that must be it. Yeah it must be Oby, Wals always use to take him far too seriously and get annoyed. Community standards create communities. Mod policy has confused simply having a rule with the messy confrontational business of actually enforcing it. Great pubs let anyone in but they also throw some people out. Encouraging a fictional racist on the forums isn't just wrong, it's ****ing weird. And on balance I'd rather go into any number of pubs and talk to an actual racist who has the courage to at least be offensive in person. Too busy chasing girls in bikinis

I forget who said this but "If you take the last Sunni and the last Shia, put them in a room together and tell them they are the last Muslims alive they would fight to the death". The whole regions is a bloody mess and the only reason anyone cares is oil. That's why in the US the government needs to get out of the way and let us exploit our own.

Bugs aside this is the best game I've played in years. The level of detail is amazing.

Oh and ktchong, I object to the inclusion of the libertarian tag on this post. This dude is no libertarian.

Val, the truth is a candidate that people like you & I would be enthusiastic about would have no chance of getting elected. The US might be shifting a small amount towards favoring a more libertarian political philosophy because of the excesses of the last 17+ years but folks are far from buying into a real libertarian government. Too many, far too many Americans want the government to be their mommy & daddy and take care of them. They don't pay attention to what the government is doing to them so they don't make informed decisions in the voting booth. A quote attributed to George Washington spells it out perfectly "Government is not reason, it is not eloquence. It is force. Like fire it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master, never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action."

Actually I disagree. The past few years, particularly in the political threads it's a LOT more civil than it once was. If you remember a few years back we had folks Like Krezack, Pop, Nur Ab Sal, I could name a few others who aren't around anymore. Guys like that got really angry and not just passive aggressive, plain aggressive when someone had the audacity to have a different opinion. Hell Krezak said he considered me to be sub-human for being Christian. Nothing like that going on these days. Even Oby for all his (admittedly soft-sold) racism has never been abusive or insulting that I remember reading. Lord of Flies and particularly Yushaa used to post 1000+ word posts about how he wished all Americans would die and stuff. I've said it may times here. Getting down on someone because their politics aren't your politics is the same as hating them because they cheer for a different sports team than you do. It doesn't make sense (unless they are Yankees fans). I think the debates around here have been a lot more entertaining and less of a bloodsport that a few years back. Just my $.02. Oh, and Mod team, don't try to pat yourself on the back for that. AFAIK only Fio and Ros ever did anything about any of that. I know Ros did because he got on MY case once!

A lot of work to do around the house today. Unfortunately I won't be around to do any of it. I'll be in Dyrwood as soon as the coffee maker is done. That line about "No sleep for the watchers".... that was pretty right on.

Wals! Welcome home my brother!

Admit it, you will all be so disappointed when he doesn't get nominated. The sad thing is if he gets nominated and the democrats run another condescending, heavy handed, freedom hating, constitution mocking, Obama clone I'm voting for Cruz. There is not a single democrat on the national stage I'd cast a vote for right now. But if they run someone who doesn't meet my description above, then I'll likely vote for the Libertarian candidate. The thing is, I don't vote FOR republicans. I vote AGAINST democrats.