Tale

Oh sure, be nice and say "sorry." How am I supposed to stay angsty and unreasonable against that?! I knew that's probably what was going on. You probably have this kind of debate a lot and come to expect it. But at the same time I like being an ass and working against people's expected patterns.

Modern: Microsoft Historically: Carnegie Steel Tale and Sand, you both have an unreasonable fear of coporations and an unreasonable trust in the fidelity and abilities of the government. First of all, no one is calling for the repeal of the Sherman Act (the US anti-trust law) and both the companies you name have been called down under that statute. Big companies seem to draw a lot of ire as being a "big greedy evil profit mongering" monsters. I've never understood this irrational fear or loathing of corporations many of you exhibit. A comapny cannot take anything away from you that you do not give up freely. They cannot confiscate your house and property, they cannot seize your assets, and they cannot throw in in prison. The government can though. If you sue a company and your complaint is justified you will have a good expectation of success. If you need to go to court against the government the deck is so stacked against you that justice and fact are often not enough to prevail. And you have an unreasonable fear of actually paying attention to what people are saying. You say "unfettered capitalism is an anathema to most of you. But it really does work well, and the only time it does not is when government gets involved. " You then go on to praise competition. All I did was tell you that "unfettered capitalism" does not always mean competition. You go on to say that "no one is calling for the repeal of the Sherman Act." Here's a tidbit for you. The presence of the Sherman Act alone prevents unfettered capitalism. The sole thing I'm speaking against. I'm not speaking against big corporations. Not claiming extensive corporate greed. I'm speaking exclusively against the type of capitalism that you now say you're not asking for. Yet you praise in your other posts. I'm kind of curious as to how I can make two short posts that both speak against monopolies and you suddenly think I've gone wholely socialist. People in power who have the same mindset you do. "If anyone disagrees with me even a little, they must be on the complete opposite side of the spectrum from me."

It totally is not. Do you see Darth vader go "Abra-kadabra simsalabimsaladusalim!" when he forcechokes someone? Do you see Luke Skywalker collecting batwings to brew a force-potion? Does Obi-Wan kenobi need a wand to forcepush people? No, they dont, the force is quasi-philosophy mixed with extra-sensory perception and telekinesis... and the occasional force lighting Let's face it, magic is totally and utterly gay. I mean, Ms. Marvel threw a damn cat at The Traveller in order to defat him, what does that say about the coolness of magic? The Punisher is a thousand times more wickid than Dr. Strange and all he has is guns. Are you saying that the definition of magic requires it to have a verbal or material component? There are ways to eliminate even that in D&D. Does it become superpowers then? Or just psychic powers? I guess they're using superpowers in the majority of final fantasy games when they cast Thundara. Heck, Final Fantasy VII meets that quasi-philosophy component as well. It's not "magic" it's the spirits of the dead! It's all the same thing. In D&D, much of the "magic" is gifts granted by the gods. In fact, that's a very much traditional origin of magic. In Star Wars, the gods have become "the force" and the powers the Jedi wield are the gifts of that. Same thing, different setting.

but... Zatanna! Its still gay. Magic is for elves and other sissies. Not a Star Wars fan? The force is tiny bacteria in your blood, not magic. Phh.... I don't think the point of midichlorians was meant so that they were themselves the force. Instead, they were probably meant to establish the link between people and manipulating the force. Either way, it's still magic.

Modern: Microsoft Historically: Carnegie Steel

Unfettered capitalism doesn't always mean competition, though. There are several historical and modern examples of that.

Saw Live Free or Die Hard today. I really enjoyed it. It was probably the most over the top of the series, but it was good fun.

I lean more towards fascism.

How is it so far?

The shame model works oh so much better than the medical one for combating addiction.

All those icons are gained gradually over the course of the now-70 levels. The floating text is just character names.

I knew some people that would call me Tails. KNEW. I stopped talking to those idiots.

Which is why it would be so easy. 5 other people? That's more social contact than I usually get in a year. Now that I think about it, that might be too much for me.

I didn't notice any deceitful lies in the documentary. He is talking to real people with real problems. He is going to real countries asking people for their real opinions. What makes this documentary exaggerated? The selection. If I were to go into the worst Ghettos of America, imagine the picture I could paint. Now imagine I go into the most affluent neighborhoods. He performs a selection bias. I haven't seen this movie and am kind of curious as to how him visiting other countries can paint a picture of the US medical system, so I can't speak to this movie directly. However, that is how a bias can be presented using real situations.

I once read that "Michael Moore is not the type of person to let the facts get in the way of a story." By that, the man meant that Michael Moore has a valid overall point, but his support and degree is exaggerated. There is a problem with the US healthcare, but it's not as bad as he wants it to be.

but... Zatanna! Its still gay. Magic is for elves and other sissies. Not a Star Wars fan?

Gambling addiction is different because gambling has a risk component. Videogames don't have the risk component. They lack the excitement that comes with that.

They have magic in almost every popular sci-fi. And Farscape is one of the more fantasy styled sci-fis out there. There's even a villain who popped up twice that is quite literally an evil sorceror.

Galactic Civilizations II does it very well. You still have new technologies and ships to build. Heck, when it gets to that point in Civ4, it feels like my civilizations have barely reached the 1900s most of the time. There's still so many wars to declare (read: have declared against me, I don't declare war ever) and technologies to acquire.

When I get home, they're nowhere centrally anymore since I dropped my website.

I never had a problem managing my pet skills. Especially once you get a rythym down. The only one that's really distracting is using the Felhunter because his abilities often require the most improvisation. I can't play that game as anything other than a Warlock. Simply the ability to go around yelling "DOOM!" and screaming that my masters from the Burning Legion will harvest their souls when the time of reckoning comes or some other nonsense. I even made a 2 issue web-comic of my homicidal, yet oh so incompetent, Gnome Warlock that I was going to develop into a full story arc before I quit. He was starting the quest to get some class item ring from a dungeon. He was going to go in, find out the quest giver was a hot night elf, and when she gives him the ring, he was going to mistake it for a marriage proposal. It would have featured drastic differences between his fantasy (with him as a tall handsome human that all women adore who can't be bogged down with just one woman) and reality (with him as an ugly short balding Gnome who is completely desperate).

What do you have against bicycles? I bought a very nice $100 bicycle from Wal-Mart. As soon as I get my broken pedal fixed I'm going to start riding it again.

*high five*

I hope it's good. But, I'm really having too many Super Mario RPG flashbacks just thinking about it. It won't be anything like that collaboration between Square and Nintendo.

And I think your ramblings are too melodramatic.