BruceVC

One of my friends was arrested last night for DUI and I received a phone call early this morning, there were over 20 people in the same cell who were arrested for the same crime We should be able to pay his bail so hopefully he should get out this weekend

@ Dark_Ansem I read your whole initial post and I'm going to be completely honest Your issue is your communication skills and your need to feel you always have to have the last word. It reminds of people who have spent loads of time on the Internet and are quite skilled at forum responses but aren't that great at normal RL communication and etiquette. I see this a lot, it not a serious issue because many people share your problem but it does at times cause confusion and unnecessary consternation. for example like now where you think you are communication with that Dev in a normal and rationale way...but you not and you don't see it Sorry to sound harsh, but my input should be seen more as constructive and not critical

Hi Hurlshot Nice to see you posting again, I am of the opinion that when someone of your reasonable temperament and equanimity decides to leave these forums its an indictment on certain levels around the level of conversation I'm am hoping others realized it? So its good to hear from you again You come off as so amazingly prissy. Do you realize that? Why do you say that? Because I'm recognising that if someone like Hurlshot leaves the forum its a loss, I thought you were all about the truth...but you seem to have a problem when you hear it

This thread is really entertaining, excellent idea

Hi Hurlshot Nice to see you posting again, I am of the opinion that when someone of your reasonable temperament and equanimity decides to leave these forums its an indictment on certain levels around the level of conversation I'm am hoping others realized it? So its good to hear from you again

Nope, I don't believe you, You are in looooooooooooove .....don't be embarrassed..nothing to be ashamed about

That's sweet, I like to see people develop a little Romance crush on characters in a RPG Welcome to my world Volo, the world of Romance where you are never truly alone

Normally I am very supportive of international news channels like CNN but I'm a little concerned about how they are covering this story Its does seem a little biased against the Police, for example they have Michael Browns parents in an interview and the journalist is asking questions like " do you think your son would argue or tell a Police officer to f***k off " And obviously you have these two very sober parents responding like " no, our son would never do that. We don't believe a word of what Officer Wilson say " In seems in the interests of creating a balanced story you inadvertently polarize the debate because you will have people watching this interview who already think the Police are completely wrong and these types of comments just harden the resolve of people who are already think the Police are murderers So all the evidence that Brown wasn't completely innocent gets ignored

Sure. But please make sure you use the proper spoiler tags so others don't accidently read what you say

I have heard from several commentators that the reason the National Guard wasn't brought out was that they didn't want to be seen to be heavy handed and then provoke the protestors...not that it made much of a difference because the looting and damage to property still happened

I can empathize with the pain in this cartoon And my credit card will testify to my suffering in case there is any doubt to the veracity of my comment

Are you asking me why I like Romance or are you telling me why I like Romance The reality is I have explained why I like Romance many times, but I'm happy to explain again Simply put an RPG for me should be as realistic as possible in a fantasy context. Since most RPG offer interaction with party members it is completely reasonable that physical relationships would also develop. Also I can really imagine my character on this hectic quest to save the world, face death on a daily basis but also have a Romantic interest with someone in the party who my character is attracted to and is prepared to die for me. I can't think of a closer emotional bond, someone who is prepared to die for you on some epic quest. So Romance is just the expected outcome on your typical RPG journey and Romance adds to the immersive factor of the overall RPG experience Hope this clears up why I like Romance

I imagine various things make a debate exciting and its subjective as we all have different interests But I know what doesn't make a debate exciting...anything related to GG ( I couldn't resist, sorry )

This is an excellent and logical post, if most societies were going to legalize drugs this would have to be way the process and implementation would work

(From the pretty ladies thread) ...But if we have fake people on the forum, how are the arguments real? Good point but I suppose you can still make a valid argument but lie about who you really are? A point a person makes doesn't necessarily need the person making the point to be who they say they are?

Many of the liberals on MSNBC want to see the Drug War end. Libertarians on Fox News like John Stossel want to see the drug war end. This video only addresses the gang side of the Drug War, but heck I'll find more evidence later if you insist. I find looking for evidence online tedious. I know about this issue on a more personal basis. Remember, the area I live in is mostly black people, but at the same time I don't any drugs of any kind. It gives me a decent amount of clarity on the matter. That's an excellent video and very hard to dispute the message, I like the comparison to prohibition and how it actually increased organised crime and homicide. We can see the same parallels in the modern war on drugs throughout the world

So? Why is that important to you? Why does it matter to you that you remember them? Are you just saying you have really enjoyed romance in the context of roleplaying so much that it has been extremely memorable for you? Thats cool, now WHY did you enjoy romance in these RPGs? Emotions? What emotions did it cause in you? Butterflys in your stomach? Or what? What are the good emotions and what exactly is it about romance in RPGs that emulates real romance so well that gives you those good emotions? Yes in a way when I think of BG2 I think of Viconia, I really enjoyed the Romance arc with her I don't think its emotions, not in the real sense because an RPG doesn't really have that type of significant real world impact on me. Its just a form of entertainment, like reading a book or watching a movie. Its not life changing, but in the context of gaming it is significant?

Yes I agree 100 % that Romance makes your RPG experience more memorable and for me more immersive Also I find I remember the people I have Romanced in the various RPG I have played through the years almost immediately....but I can barley recall the other party members

There are many ways to end the drug war; here is what I feel is the most realistic: 1) Officially declare the campaign over. This won't do much practically speaking, but I feel it will help Americans understand why things got better. 2) Remove the financial incentives for law enforcement to make drug arrests. This will change the way law enforcement deals with drugs. Instead of looking for people to arrest for drug offences; they will arrest people when their drug abuse is actually causing some one a problem. 3) Change the focus of trying to scare people away from drugs with harsh punishments for using them (this approach simply does not work). Instead they should be sent to a rehabilitation center where they can be treated and receive help to get off drugs. Also, there should be no crime added to their criminal record IF they cooperate with their rehabilitation. 4) Simply legalize weed. It's basically harmless; heck, junk food is a bigger risk to society. Keeping this one illegal is a bigger problem then the drug itself by a lot. That would pretty much do it. Without the financial incentives arrest people for no good reason police won't be scouring black neighborhoods looking for black people who are easily convicted. Instead; they'll only show up when there's actually a problem. This will do wonders in mending the relationship between law enforcement and the black community. Cops won't be seen as predators looking to arrest them with any excuse they can muster, but friends who keep the peace. With the focus on treatment; black kids who are arrested won't come out a hardened criminal, but rather a rehabilitated citizen; heck his/her family will probably be grateful for the assistance helping their family member readjust to society. Also, arrests will be easier since the cops sending you to rehab isn't as scary as cop letting you get raped in prison; only for you to come out branded for life as a criminal. Legalizing weed would just be good economics, and a good PR move. I like the logic behind this idea of the insidious nature of this drug war but I have one major problem with how valid it is I haven't seen a single commentator on any news channel say that is the reason why minorities are targeted by the police, or even that its a major contributing factor. I'm not saying you wrong but I've seen some very pro-Brown supporters and analysts and not one of them have brought this whole drug war campaign into the debate? Not sure if you have some links to support this idea ?

More importantly is that he doesn't tell them what they can do about it. He doesn't say; the relationship between the black community and law enforcement could be mended if the drug war were ended. He just says, "Well, use this anger for something positive." - Not a direct quote, but the jist of what he said. He needs to be more bold and actually name things that should change. Obama is a politician. As such he is far more interested in exploiting problems than fixing them. Politically they need black community to be in a constant state of rage and mistrust. That way they can run ads that say it's all the Republicans fault during the election cycles. Demagoguery does not work when folks are reasonably happy. That's the worst part of this I think. They whip these folks into a rage and then set them loose for very cynical and selfish reasons. If all racism, real or perceived, were to end tomorrow do you know who would be out of a job? Al Sharpton & Co. Makes you think every time you see him show up at a place where he can cry "racism". To be fair to Obama he has been publically criticising the damage to property that the protestors have done, he has said it is criminal and doesn't help to destroy areas you live in. I don't see how this exploiting the situation?

And about this "statistics aren't rocket science", there is a reason why sensible sociologists, historians and political scientists are often wary about drawing immediate conclusions from statistics. Think about it — is the fact that more blacks are convicted a consequence of blacks actually committing more crimes, or is the statistic of crimes committed by blacks higher due to more blacks being convicted? edit: beaten to the punch This is an interesting point raised. I did bring this up earlier, Rudy Giuliani alluded to the fact that police officers arrest more black people in the USA because crime is more prevalent in there communities. So in other words the police go where the crime is But now I'm not so sure, Namutree's idea of the whole drug war also makes me question these statistics but I also read this link which basically debunks what Giuliani was saying http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/11/24/what-rudy-giuliani-gets-wrong-about-the-deaths-of-young-black-men/

The reason to involve race is the fact that when the police shoot and kill an unarmed man in the USA that person is disproportionately black. Like 21 times more than whites. Ok, I should just make a funny comment about person being disproportionately black and leave it at that. Instead I just ask: was those shootings unjustified? Because if they were not then the race doesn't matter and the police should answer for unjustified shooting. And if they were justified then sorry, but you are defending criminals. Also, according to statistics black people commit crimes 21 times more than whites, so the proportion of shooting white crimnals to black criminals is anything but disproportionate. Looking at isolated cases is very different from looking at patterns. Each case might look OK in isolation, but when taken in context there definitely is a problem. You're insistence that race shouldn't be an issue is ignoring the pattern. I can understand that you think there is no problem, i can't understand that you think there isn't even anything to discuss. Defending criminals is a totally OK thing to, they are people too. It's crime and criminal behaviour which is the problem. There is no pattern. If more black people commit crime then more black people get shot during police intervention. If it was other way around then we could say about pattern or intentional shooting of black people. Right now the police is simply doing their job. What do you propose, they shouldn't catch black criminals? - There is a shooting on Elm Street - Copy that, we are on our way - No, sorry false alarm. The criminal is black we passed the limit on black people, we need to catch 2 more white criminals before we catch another black. This is what you advocating for? Also, defending criminals from police is ok? Really? From the statistics I've seen it appears that there is more black on black violence in the USA that other groups, so this should also be a consideration around the question " are the Police only targeting black people " They aren't, they are going where the crime is and it can be more severe in some minority communities

Yeah, if you've got a chemical imbalance in your brain. ...Or if your grasp of the English language is really that limited. What you are describing is a crush. But that's not what we've been discussing for the past 28 pages of this thread. Sure, but can't a crush lead to deeper feelings? So its quite possible in a RPG perspective that you meet someone in the party who you immediately are attracted to and within a short amount of time you have a physical relationship and then the feelings develop to something deeper, like love? Hell that happens to me in RL so I can't see why that's not possible in a fantasy RPG? No it doesn happen in RL like that. That was not real love. It was just a deeper crush or affection. If you want to feel like getting a crush on vrtiual characters thats fine though I think. I personally dont however since I dont find crushes very exciting or meaningful at all. Okay but who said we need to achieve true love in your RPG journey, maybe deep feelings and a crush is fine? And considering the fact we are talking about a fantasy world with magic and dragons this is probably realistic ? So once again the whole implementation of Romance in your RPG journey makes sense because we aren't trying to necessarily achieve true love just a deep and satisfying emotional and physical bond

Why not? But i am not sure my computer can handle it... My computer is AMD Athlon x2 260 processor 3.20 Ghz, 4 GB gaming RAM, ATI radeon HD 5450, ASUS motherboard, Win 7 32 bit... Can't even run it right? Probably not