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Darth InSidious

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Posts posted by Darth InSidious

    UK election thread

    in Way Off-Topic

    Posted

    An American's guide to the British election: http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-sto...e-british-vote/

    LOL, the "special relationship" only exists when America wants something from the UK. If Obama is "anti-Atlanticist" it's because he needs to be associated with a dour Scots incompetent like Brown (and by proxy his pack of useless, quangocratic twatterati) like he needs a hole in the head. And the loony-wing of the Republicans would latch onto any association with the monarchy that they deemed too cordial; just look at the attempt at rabble-rousing because he bowed to the Japanese emperor.

    Vatican 'sense of humor failure'

    in Way Off-Topic

    Posted

    That is both good and bad, isn't it? Those guys are supposed to be better than other people.

    Err, no, they aren't meant to be better than other people.

     

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donatism

     

    Apparently the Vatican are appalled because the email hasn't resulted ina sacking from the FO. Obviously they consider this email much more serious, than say serial child abuse.

    I'm curious where you get this from - it's not in your link, and the only comment from the Vatican I've seen has been effectively that the paper is irrelevant: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics...ys-Vatican.html

     

    To my knowledge, neither Damian Thompson nor Jack Valero, nor Tim Collard represent the Vatican.

     

    I had not looked at it in those terms [priests abuse at the same rate as the population as a whole]. I'd be hypocritical if I did, since I've argued many times that incidents of violent abuse in the Army are not higher than those in the general population. So, I concede the point.

     

    However, this is not just about incidents of abuse, it is about the way the Church has handled abusers. Specifically it has concealed their crimes both actively and passively, to a degree which suggests an institutional policy. That is, in the technical vernacular, totally ****ing mental.

    I don't think an institutional policy is very likely, TBH, quite apart from the lack of evidence. As Pidesco says, people have a tendency to cover up **** like this regardless of the organisation, creed, etc. Besides which, it all begins to sound a bit conspiracy theory-esque, and to fall into the same traps.

     

    Also, a lot of this was happening on the local level, in the diocesan offices. The Vatican is actually not in as much control as is often made out - the Pope is less like a CEO and more like a Prime Minister, around whom bishops are ministers, and dioceses function like departments of state. Sort of. It's an imperfect analogy, you get the idea of the organisational structure, and that does affect how things get done, and how much filters up toward the top, for better or worse. That's not to say it was all being quashed at a local level - some bishops were reporting cases further up the scale, but they were getting dragged out in the Roman Rota ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Rota ). That was until 2001, when the CDF took over the handling of abuse cases, and forced bishops to report them further up the chain (as well as, IIRC, re-issuing instructions for co-operation with the civil authorities, etc). Up until 2002-ish and the Boston case becoming widely known, decisions on cases like this were left to the local bishop. AFAIK that's no longer the case.

     

    The cover-up was also actually against the Church's code of practice - both the Comission to Inquire into Child Abuse in Ireland and one of the reports in the US (I forget which one, sorry - it's been a 36-hour day, and I really don't feel like looking it up) found that the Church had in these instances not been following the code of canon law on the subject. Finally, I'd point out that in the Kiesle case, the civil authorities were involved and he got off with what was frankly a mickey-mouse sentence.

     

    That's not intended to say the situation isn't horrifyingly awful, but it's differently awful from the way its been presented in some of the better-selling news-outlets.

     

    Sorry if that's not very coherent/readable; it's been a very long day.

    Quotes you remember...

    in Way Off-Topic

    Posted

    "The death of one is a tragedy, the death of a million is a statistic" -Josef Stalin

    "Nobody can map the imagination" -Pratchett

    "Your Job is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his" -Patton

     

    Reminds me of a bit from The Tenth Planet:

     

    Polly: Don't you care?!

    Cyberman: Care? No, why should I care?

    Polly: Because they're people and they're going to die!

    Cyberman: I do not understand you, there are people dying all over your world yet you do not care about them.

    <3 The Tenth Planet

     

    Here is what America is like in 2021

    in Way Off-Topic

    Posted

    With all of his nuttiness, one of the nations I can see rising from the US divided corpse would be a heavily socialistic nation.
    There will never be a "US divided corpse," we are one people and one nation. We might lose Alaska and Hawai'i simply to geo-political concerns, but the lower 48 will be forever united. There are many ethnic groups within our nation, but we are all Americans.

    ... And Queen Elizabeth I was the seventh trumpet from the Book of Revelation.

     

    Srsly.

    Delay and expectations

    in Alpha Protocol: General Discussion

    Posted

    I think Obs and Lionhead share a similar trait.

    So you're still sore over KotOR II. That's fine, but there's no need to insult Obsidian like that.

     

    That is they are capable of great AAA games, but always end up lacking in 1 particular aspect. For Lionhead and their Fable series, it was how Peter Molyneux never managed to get his amazing ideas work in game like how he wanted. And for Obs, I think its how the game always ended up lacking polish and final touches.

    Actually, the chief problem with the Fable series is that it's all gimmick, no substance.

     

    Bioware might have great writers and great ideas

    LOL. Might, but don't.

    MI5 cover up torture

    in Way Off-Topic

    Posted

    Anyway, I'm not arguing for the efficacy of brutality in winning wars, but let's not distort historical fact to make dubious points.

     

    Then what precisely are you waffling on about?

    His theme is oon,

    and alwey evere was:

    Radix malorem est caritas.

    Berlusconi idea

    in Way Off-Topic

    Posted · Edited by Darth InSidious

    How about just gold-plating the top of his head? It's utterly tasteless, insultingly ugly, and prohibitively expensive, not to mention probably quite dangerous and uncomfortable.

     

    The ultimate fashion statement.

    MI5 cover up torture

    in Way Off-Topic

    Posted

    Torture is wrong. It is immoral. Unarmed prisoners are not toys.

    First sane thing you've said.

     

    OMG, we made them listen to Metallica, OH THE HUMANITY!

    Well, certainly being forced to listen to pop music should be classed as cruel and unusual punishment...

    D&D: Potential Gateway to Gang Activity

    in Way Off-Topic

    Posted

    I still recall picking up a message in a bottle back in the eighties which turned out to contain a pamphlet saying DnD was evil, along with the World Council of Churches, for some reason that was never explained.

    It wasn't a small, oblong, black-and-white pamphlet/comic book with lots of 'helpful' info in the back about becoming a Christian, the importance of reading the KJV every day and joining a church where the Bible is at the centre of everything, was it? If so, that's Chick Publications at its finest.

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