Leferd

I'm hoping Admiral Akbar comes back and re-affirms his superior situational awareness.

http://youtu.be/vYyx3CBSO_0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKXGA-AU50w&feature=youtu.be Dubya entering the race.

24-58 is now a real possibility.

That game was no joke and the Celtics are for real. They are sneaky good. No star players but they're overloaded with above average rotation players and have the best +/- in the East. They play at a fast pace, yet are a dominant defensive team, and they share the rock. Sound familiar? Brad Stevens is an elite coach.

Welp. 24-0. Almost a quarter of the way there.

I was planning on going to the Cavaliers v. Warriors Christmas Day game. But then some shmuck charitable, loyal, and very wealthy Warriors fans actually bought my tickets at a 600%+ markup. I guess I'll be at home instead watching hoops on TV all day... ...while counting the benjamins.

http://www.businessinsider.com/swanluv-fund-wedding-refund-divorce-2015-12 So the premise is that they'll pay for your wedding but if you end up divorcing, you'll have to pay them back + interest. Me not being shy around a good wager --for this to be a good bet, you don't have to think your marriage will never die, just that this startup'll die first!

Gah. This makes too much sense...but I wants it!

I have to be honest that is another thing I have never heard of. looks cool I started a new detail assignment a few weeks back and apparently this office doesn't do the white elephant. Rats.

Applying game theory to win the White Elephant. http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/white-elephant-yankee-swap-game-theory/ You're welcome.

Best pr0n plot ever. http://youtu.be/MlBA1AEDGkI

Bruce, why do you call it Xmas?

Can I play a chick who gets ambushed and shot in ghe head by thugs only to get plastic surgery and wake up with the face of a mulleted David Hasselhoff?

Cool. So is Turbo Boost a level one talent, or is it along a prescribed upgrade path? At what level can I obtain Super Pursuit Mode?

Unless the American voting majority goes full on bonkers, there's no way Trump wins the Presidency. A segment of Republican voters are already crazy, so him winning the nomination -although remote- is still very possible.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-calls-for-total-and-complete-shutdown-of-muslims-entering-u-s/ Well good thing Trump's dead money at 7 to 1 right? Right?

Well, so far FIG hasn't been a very successful enterprise. Their first project barely got funded by the skin of their teeth. The second project flopped miserably -only hit 20% of their funding.

For those who missed President Obama's address to the nation. Starts at 28:50.

Schafer knows how to appeal to the masses, I'll give him that. I thought the thing with his games was that they don't appeal to the masses.

https://twitter.com/jesawyer/status/673303517881229313 and more...

Well if anything, Double Fine's pitch videos have been pretty good compared to most other crowd-sourced games.

The Paddypower bookmakers still has Clinton as the heavy favorite to win the Presidency. Hillary Clinton - 8/11 Marco Rubio - 7/2 Donald Trump - 7/1 Ted Cruz - 14/1 Jeb Bush - 16/1 Bernie Sanders - 18/1 Ben Carson - 66/1 Carly Fiorina - 80/1 Hibernian conspiracy? Aside from Trump at 7/1, those are pretty good money lines. I'd still take Clinton over the field. Bush isn't down and out yet, but I could conceivably take a flyer at a 16 to 1 value *bet. *I wouldn't though since betting on U.S. elections in this country is highly illegal.

I don't think he needed that much convincing. He did go to Saudi Arabia to find a wife. So, totally not another Islamic terror attack huh? >BUT LETS NOT CONDEMN AN ENTIRE GROUP OVER Does it seem reasonable to condemn nearly 2 billion people every time there is an Islamic terror attack? Is that going to solve any problems within Islam? Is that going to stop Islamic terror attacks? Spoiler alert, it won't help. islam does have a problem. is not as if other religions is free o' terrorists and extremists, but in 2015, it requires a special kinda obtuseness to ignore how much more common extremism is in islam compared to the world's other major religions. in Gromnir's opinion, blame muslims as a whole is a mistake, but there is a correlation worthy o' inspection. our personal opinion is that poverty, lack o' education, denial o' basic human freedoms and geography is the primary causes o' prevalence o' extremism, but when the terrorists is quoting from their holy book as justifications for their murders and rapes, it is understandable that people will be seeing a connection. there IS a correlation. point out branch davidians in texas or jonestown in guyana as examples o' christian nutters willing to shed copious blood in the name o' religion only highlights the problem that islam has. christian extremism is far more rare, and people is being reasonable when they question why is so much more common with islam. what makes matters worse is when we hear from s'posed moderate muslims and we is confronted with their ignorance. ignorant regarding personal freedoms in the west. spout anti-semitic nonsense while decrying misunderstandings o' islam. link to conspiracy nutters as sources o' proof o' western evils or angelic islam? many o' the stereotypes we is told don't actual exist and is creations o' the media is validated for us, so... am thinking it is right to not blame islam, 'cause actual problems is far more simple, but more pervasive and insidious. however, am thinking we does a disservice to truth if we do not at least question the obvious and disproportionate correlation 'tween islam and violence when compared to other major religions. the discussion should occur, but far too often in the west o' 2015, issues o' race and religion and even sex is too sensitive to be having frank and open discussions. inability to discuss like rational folks for fear o' causing "disharmony" results in further polarization o' beliefs. so, what happens now? on almost same day obama tells folks that there is no credible threat from isis to americans in america, we got a mass shooting wherein at least one killer is posting her allegiance to isis via social media. do we have open discussions and try to figure out why this tragedy happened in southern ca as 'posed to southern beirut, or do we refuse debate, thereby contributing to increased polarization and distrust? a week ago, a muslim in so cal shouting 'bout US support o' israel or continued presence o' american troops in the middle east woulda' gotten little reaction from most listeners. today? if even 5% o' listeners is more suspicious o' their muslim neighbors, that is a huge number given total populations we is talking 'bout. hurl is a teacher o' middle school students, so am not expecting him to look for deep insights from his young students, but we has seen recent that it is difficult for teachers to have open discussions with students regarding matters o' race, sex and religion. teachers need be extreme careful not to offend. hurl is aware o' the student teacher who were chastised recently for asking students to create propaganda posters that support terror? virtual every news agency and pundit opined that it were a bad idea to do such a thing. am understanding why doing such a thing in this political climate is bad, but were the lesson bad? teacher wrong? show kids propoganda posters from ww1 and ww2 and a dozen other conflicts. have discussions 'bout the power and dangers o' propaganda. ask students to write a paper on propaganda following a lesson on such would raise no eyebrows, 'but 'cause young teacher tries a more creative exercise, he/she were chastised publicly... nationally. so, we stay silent. in effort not to offend, we ironically increase polarization o' belief. in an effort to protect women and native americans and sikhs (is sikhs plural o' sikh... doesn't sound right) we discourage folks to speak that which might offend. those compelled to stay silent 'cause o' social stigma are deprived o' the opportunity to change. "Those who won our independence by revolution were not cowards. They did not fear political change. They did not exalt order at the cost of liberty. To courageous, self-reliant men, with confidence in the power of free and fearless reasoning applied through the processes of popular government, no danger flowing from speech can be deemed clear and present, unless the incidence of the evil apprehended is so imminent that it may befall before there is opportunity for full discussion. If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence." we got real free speech here in the US. however, the social pressures we willingly impose on ourselves is a far more immediate threat to truth and education than is the legal burdens. admitted, those social limits is not necessarily a bad thing. is the guys aspergers who cannot self censor, yes? even so, the current political and social climate is such that far too many topics is functional verboten. so, yeah, we agree that islam is not at fault, but we do believe that the frequent (not necessarily hurl) knee-jerk defense o' every religious and ethnic group is equal harmful. far too often the suggestion that islam or the arab world has a problem is met with accusations o' racism or bigotry. there is a correlation. discuss. if we don't educate now, we will only increase fear and polarization. HA! Good Fun! Thank you Gromnir. We share the same feelings on the matter but you put it in a far more clever and nuanced manner than I would even begin to try.

Qistina, the last time I was in Singapore I picked up this little book on a whim just to get a little insight on how a Malaysian woman transplanted to the USA with her family perceived their new life in Texas. I found it fascinating enough that it took me two sittings to finish it. Maybe it'll give you a better understanding of American...or atleast Texas culture, from the perspective of your countrywoman. To be fair, the family is upper class, educated, and are peranaken, so the culture shock wouldn't be as pronounced as it would be for the typical Malaysian. But nevertheless, I'd encourage you to pick it up if you get a chance. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6261209-a-nyonya-in-texas