Calax

And I'm out of school for the semester... 40 hours a week of dealing with idiots HERE I COME

Different Calls of Duty, played some of the original, and am at the mission with the Brits where you attack a dam Some of World at War and some of Modern Warfare 3. Playing them side by side by side like this is kind of... boggling really. You get to see how the level designs have changed, and the health system. CoD's health system is... schitzo. When they flipped to regenerating health everyone grumbled, but really that was just because they tuned it to easy. You hide for two seconds and your fine. With Modern Warfare it was well built so you could get your hp back and still be in danger during all firefights. World at War feels like it went to far in the other way, you get taken down really easy, and then stay low for a MUCH longer time. Modern Warfare 3 is closer to MW1 but is a slight bit tougher on damage taken.

Yeah? And when you stabalize a mood instead of going :_( you go :-l I understand what a mood stabilizer does. I chuckled when I saw that a mood stabilizer has a side effect of not stabilizing your mood, but rather changing it. Eh, The way I look at it, it's more a change to the baseline. So far it's stabalized my mood, but I'm also generally happier while on it. On a side note, I think a lot of the lists compiled for perscription meds have laundry lists of drugs because they begin to attribute EVERY change they see in a person to the drug itself. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sertraline Was on that one for a while, gave me... digestive problems. The list of side effects however is startling http://www.drugs.com/sfx/sertraline-side-effects.html and any anti-depression med is forced to list increased suicide risk as a side effect by the FDA

Ginsburg has an opinion. Holding opinions in no way is treason, unless you want to enter 1984 thought police territory for everyone who doesn't constantly have "'Murica is the best nation on the planet" screaming through their heads. And why should somebody look at the Articles of Confederation? Those were so screwed up they put a stranglehold on Jersey and had to be changed as soon as the rich whities could get around to it. If you have no problem with Scalia's argument, then you can't go off on a random diatribe against the court. He was the majority opinion of the Heller case, which you're decrying. So either you have a problem and don't like the situation that he set the legal precedent for (Guns are ok, but there should be controls on the types available and how readily they're available), Or you're fine with it and your AK47 is not protected by the second amendment. Um, if you're talking about the discussion on mandates, the government already has those skippy, and has for a loong long time. Vaccinations for school, Drivers Licenses, Social Security... even on the local level of HOA fees. It's just that this particular mandate is more obvious. And for the record, I'm not going to take some random "Some people say" quote. Give it a source or say it yourself, don't just say "Some guy I know said that ______________"

Yeah? And when you stabalize a mood instead of going :_( you go :-l

Given we're on the subject of parents and other family members health... Currently in my life I'm being terminated academically (for a semester max, and I'm appealing) so at least for this week I'm out of insurance. If it sticks I'm out of insurance for 5 months (and will probably end up on the piddly mcd's plan created due to the mandate). So that's... fun. Meanwhile my grandparents, were hit by sandy, lost power four times, lived with an aunt and uncle for about 3 weeks overall. Then when they got back to their house they had a week or two to get ready for Christmas. BUT my grandmother has hit hardcore Alzheimers, and forgot (TWICE) that she sent our family gifts already so I ended up getting two checks PLUS gifts from her/on her behalf. Something you'd laugh off normally, but then she got the flu or something similar, and has been in the hospital since Christmas. My mom and her sisters decided that their parents couldn't live alone any more and are working to put them into assisted living. They keep telling my grandmother what they're doing and she promptly forgets 6 hours later. Currently she's in quarantine, and my mom has to head back to California to prep for classes. Dad (retired) is staying there to help with the transition. Both have been very adamant over the past 6-12 months that I shouldn't expect to have them around beyond 5 more years.

Interesting article... "In essence, it appears that millions of voters on both sides exist in their own echo chambers where the information loop is closed and outside influences — new ideas, a different way of looking at the world — are not only suspect but actively discouraged." Sort of sums it up nicely (and applies to most people, not just in the US). MASS MEDIA! *shakes fist*

What the... Dude, it actually kicked my depressions ass rather than just making it so I didn't go manic all over the walls.

Reason number 6 I am not currently dead via suicide

To be fair the bloody thing is originally written in Russian, so a bit might have been lost in translation.

Liar. ARs and other semi-autos make great ranch rifles, target rifles, and hunting rifles. Even Field & Stream is in on this trend. Give it a rest, already. You have no credibility when you issue asinine statements like the one I quoted. You're the one who stated that the guns in question had less stopping power and were worse for hunting than pistols and rifles. Which is what I was getting at, and even the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court agrees with me (see the tiff with gromnir a few pages back over his decision in DC v Heller) Having the current chief justice of the Supreme Court agree with you is not something I'd advertise. The man is evil and corrupt to the core. He is not an authority on law, he bends the law to the wills of the people who bought and paid for him. So much so that he's redefined words to mean things they've never before meant in the history of English. Nevermind Ginsburg's 60+ pages of near gibberish (seriously, go read what this woman wrote and be amazed such intellect is on the Supreme Court let alone any court), Roberts opinion was the very dangerous one, that sets a precedent to give the Federal government the legal power to take any freedom it wishes away via 'tax' and 'mandate' (words Roberts redefined). Ginsburg, is a woman by the way that thinks the South African Constitution is better than the Constitution of the U.S., something that should have seen her impeached on grounds of treason (go read the tripe of a document that is the South African Constitution and realize just what traitors we have in the SCOTUS). 100 years ago she would have, but these days our legislative branch is so full of incompetents as well as it's own bunch of traitors and the American people so polarized that such a thing as holding someone accountable to their oath of office isn't even on the radar. Ok, A) You can't be a traitor for saying something from another country is better than what we have. The Constitution of the USA isn't some sacred document that should be unchanged and worshipped as the be all end all of the government systems. B) It doesn't matter if you think that the courts are right or wrong. The reasoning behind Scalias argument is pretty sound (at least in terms of AR's, he needed a better one for handguns), in that in a home invasion or "on the street" protection issue, most people won't be grabbing an M16 out of the gun case. Or in the case of being on the street, walking around with the damn thing slung over their shoulder (which is illegal). What on earth does Obamacare have to do with anything? The fact that you hate the Justices for doing their jobs? Look, in terms of that, all I'm gonna say that it's the JOB of the federal government to enact laws to protect it's citizens from enemies. Be they foreign powers, home grown terrorists, price fixing and gouging, or a company outright refusing to pay out for what they're supposed to. One of the things I think will happen from the system is that you'll find the prices will still increase due to inflation, but it'll be at a FAR lower rate, and the people who are on the insurance will be better served by their company. Wow, that's... a very bias news source. You're right on the last paragraph, but there's also the question of how would working to prevent AK's and M16's and the .223 that he used from getting into the hands of those who would perpetrate this sort of thing bad? I've heard in this thread, "Oh, hand guns are more lethal!" when the fact that AR's are designed for the only purpose of killing other people. Ok then, how are they better at home defense other than the fact that you can spit out 200 rounds a minute (that could also fly across the street and hit your neighbor in freak incidents). On the subject of hunting, they're brought up as somehow being good for it. It boggles me that you'd want to hunt at the shorter ranges it provides, and riddle whatever animal you're hunting with 10-30 bullets (depending on accuracy). There are shotguns for larger animals, and hunting rifles for longer range. And for the record, the exact same model of assault rifle (Bushmaster xm-15 .223) was purchased legally, given a bipod and reflex site, and used to kill 9, wounding 3, over the course of October in 2002. It was used more as a sniper rifle than a mass shooter, but it was still that particular weapon. None of the shots were longer than 175 meters.

Yeah, but it's built for a better challenge later in the game than Gauls, Spanish, Brit's and the other "Barbarian" factions.

Rome TW Vanilla. Started a few days ago, but if you care to hear about the campaign. Playing Julii. Started fighting the Gauls as usual, but ended up in a VERY long war with the Spanish. FINALLY finished that up, after beating army after magically conjured army. Finished the last Gaul settlement, they'd been devoured by first the Germans, and then the Brits who'd devoured the Germans. Moved my capital a tiny bit to the west (French Rivera) to deal with unrest issues in Spain. Meanwhile my options for further expansion were limited. Basically the Brits were the only target available, but Rome had kept them on good terms. Ended up positioning two Legions (personal tic, one Legion is a full stack) at brit towns. While another was stripped from Spain (along with my military commanders that finished that campaign), and a fourth formed in northern Italy. British/German campaign is going well. Took several settlements, although there is a SIGNIFICANT change to fighting style between half my legions and the other half. Mainly because 2 of the legions are mostly formed out of weaker or obselete units (everything from Principes to Legionary Cohorts), while the other two are just flat out buzz saws that plow through everything with Urban Cohorts, archers, and a few Arcani thrown in for good measure. Annoying thing about this whole schtick is that because of who I'm fighting, they've never got Stone walls or very powerful soldiers for my tech level. Means that I'm gonna feel like I just hit a brick wall when I either pop into Egypt (the other strongest/most advanced faction) or make my move on the other Italian states.

Liar. ARs and other semi-autos make great ranch rifles, target rifles, and hunting rifles. Even Field & Stream is in on this trend. Give it a rest, already. You have no credibility when you issue asinine statements like the one I quoted. You're the one who stated that the guns in question had less stopping power and were worse for hunting than pistols and rifles. Which is what I was getting at, and even the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court agrees with me (see the tiff with gromnir a few pages back over his decision in DC v Heller)

Depends. They can still undergo full bankruptcy proceedings and restructure themselves. If they manage to rebuild their business model from the idiocy of "terrible movie tie in schlock" and start working on new IP's and keeping successful ones going, they'd be able to survive pretty well. They have some VERY talented teams under their banner, and are TRYING to rebuild themselves around that, which is good. It's just that they're going to need to sell some properties and liquidate some assets as well as find backers to keep going

It's a game that doesn't understand it's own initial appeal. I thinks that it's a shooter with RPG elements and "your choices matter" but what people were sold on was the your choices matter first and the RPG second (with the shooter being sort of window dressing). The story doesn't feel to cohesive, there are four major "acts" each with WORLD SHATTERING IMPLICATIONS! that have a culmination. However these stories don't really overlap that much, and once each one is done, the only change in the universe that the player interacts with, is a random guy in your CIC. The Journal is TERRIBLE, giving only the most bare bones information. Characters from ME 1 seemingly are more important to the writers than those of ME 2, even though you spent far more time learning about your ME2 companions than you ever did for your ME1 pals. Over use of "manipulation" to try to tug at the players heart. New character that's built in to help people get up to speed on the universe, but you still won't be caught up with him and he's fairly one dimensional. ..... Wouldn't it have been awesome if the Virmire survivior was the one killed on earth at the start rather than some little dork? Would certainly make for a better reason to have PTSD.

According to Roomie, much of what she gets (in norway) is very pro-Palestine. It's never actively against Israel, but it does Love it some Palestine.

See ya later GD. I hope we don't get rusty without the sparring

But if you're not attaching your Xbox to the internets, then what?

Maybe, maybe not... Chris Christi certainly took them to school.

Oh My... Kotor 1 and 2 are on sale for 2.50 each

Priest? Also I'm going stabby and will be able to unlock.

Oby... why are there Austrians in there? That's an entire world away.

Three things A) The market declares you wrong, with all benchmarks and indexes on the rise with the news. (Although it's not infallible it's pretty good as a sort of crowd barometer) B) I think it's 450K not 50K http://money.cnn.com/2012/12/31/news/economy/fiscal-cliff-rich/index.html C) I'm actually happy for this for two reasons. It shows a changing tenor in the discussions in washington, with the "NO NEW TAXES ONLY CUTS AND LOOPHOLES!" nutjobs being ejected or forced aside by the parties. Republicans are also working to rebrand themselves into something more palatable to the average person, and ensure that they aren't seen as totally obstructive even in the face of crisis. The other reason is more analytical, by kicking things out for 3 months with the tax hike, it gives both sides time to examine, evaluate, and figure out exactly what effects are being seen after the measures put in play now. But it's not far out enough that they can just laugh and ignore it, as they're also getting glared at by their constituents because the same thing happened in August of last year.

OWA is certainly one of the most recognizable tracks of any video game. Both because of the game it's attached to, and because of Advent Children. Didn't get the penetration of Baba Yetu, but even if you haven't played FFVII you know somebody who has, and have heard it. Even if you're of a younger generation. Also http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiAxiGZKpGQ