Hurlshort

Again, that is a very naive view of how employer-employee relationships work. We have centuries of historical precedent showing that the employer will abuse the relationship if checks are not put into place. The working class has very little leverage here. You've already struck down the idea of them unionizing, and now you want to take away government restrictions. I'm actually not a fan of big government, and I am very leery of unions, but they play a necessary role in balancing worker's rights versus economic progress. The key is to have a balance of power between business, the government, and the working class. Now you can argue that we are currently imbalanced, and I will support you in that (although I think each side has a case for getting the short stick.)

Employer should be able to do neither more nor less than what both sides (employer and employee) agreed to in employment contract. That is all there should be. Unfortunately the government and some organizations (like unions) constantly try to butt in between the people that actually made some agreements between them. You sure have a lot of confidence in corporations doing the right thing at the negotiating table with employees. When you have a large labor pool, you are basically giving the employer the power to enslave their workforce. Can't survive off your wage? Want benefits? The company will just fire you and move on to the next poor sap. Man, the naive trust some of you have for big business is astounding.

As bad as the A's have been, if Lester shuts down the Royals tomorrow, the Cespedes trade is suddenly justified. It will be interesting.

Yeah, that's never led to any problems ever. Fewer problems than government regulation designed to combat said problems, most of which are imaginary, hypothetical, or really just no one's business except the employer and employee. Ah, it's as if the Gilded Age never happened. Such a paradise we live in.

Yeah, that's never led to any problems ever.

Whatever document translator you are using is atrocious.

That Fallout 3 lunchbox was fantastic. I still have my kids use it on occassion.

Hey, that was the last physical game I bought as well! After my son broke our Mario Kart 8 copy, I briefly thought about throwing in the towel with physical console games, but I think the benefit of getting a few trade in bucks outweighs the risk of breaking or losing a physical copy. The only physical PC games I buy are special ones like PoE. They are simply too hard to find in stores most of the time, and I hate to pre-order. I think Mass Effect 3 was the last PC game I got physically.

What crimes have they been charged with by the FBI, the courts, or the US Government? They are on an unindicted contact list for a charity that is linked to Hamas, that's hardly a smoking gun. But hey, maybe they are just a front for the big bad wolf. So what on their website is meant to corrupt the youth (or whatever their seedy agenda is)? It's funny that you accuse me of being politically correct when you seem very quick to jump on the anti-muslim bandwagon without hesitation. Attacking Islam and the 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide is a much more popular choice in the US than engaging different cultures and having an open dialogue about differences.

Given that they faced adversity for much of the second part of the season, it will be interesting to see if the A's can turn that around and finally get a decent playoff run. But honestly I don't consider anybody a playoff team until they have more than one game guaranteed. I do like my Giant's chances of beating the Pirates, Wednesday will be exciting.

It did not look like it was going to turn out well at the start. I guess the key is to be behind in the second half, not ahead.

Do you really think a website called jihadwatch is interested in presenting a reasonably moderate and impartial view of Islam? He's got an agenda he is pushing, he has books to sell, etc. I don't think he is a conspiracy theorist, I think people who buy into everything he is saying are. Every one of your sources is making a profit off inciting fear. I don't fault them for that, free press is a beautiful part of our society, but it is a one-sided news source. Keep an open mind, listen to alternative opinions, and weigh evidence against common sense. tl;dr - yes, your sources are garbage.

Why do you type like that? It is unreadable.

Wonderful, cherry pick paragraphs that fit your opinion on the matter. Leave out the ones like this: See that's really the whole problem with your conspiracy theory. It's a conspiracy theory. It isn't fact, the evidence is lacking, and CAIR certainly hasn't been charged with any crimes. I know it's against conspiracy theorists nature to take things at face value, so I'll give up now.

Wait, so a large organization with chapters spread throughout North America possibly has ties to shady characters? *gasp* That sounds like every large organization ever to exist anywhere. As I said, my local chapter has done a great job of building ties in the community. Also, every one of your sources is pushing an agenda. Try reading a legitimate news source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/the-king-hearings-is-cair-a-terrorist-organization/2011/03/10/AB3AdTQ_blog.html or http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/us/politics/12muslims.html?_r=0 They don't clear CAIR of anything, they simply present facts in a reasonable manner and try to avoid hyperbole. You know, what good journalists are supposed to do. Also you shouldn't talk to the FBI without a lawyer present. Any Lawyer in the world will tell you that, and CAIR is, above all else, a legal advocacy group. edit: Read the NY Times article at least, it's very well written.

Amen to that. It's the same if you reverse the genders too. These people should not be allowed anywhere near a classroom.

Video games should do whatever the hell they want. I disagree. This is a business, they are trying to sell a product. They should do whatever their consumers want. Indie developers have a lot more leeway, but they still have to think is terms of marketability at some point. Otherwise making games is just a hobby.

Significant Other. Ah, much cleaner than what I was thinking.

Longknife, do you really feel that coercion is the proper word here? Even after reading the definition? Because if so, I'd imagine we are at an impasse and it's best to agree to disagree.

I'm still trying to puzzle out what SO means. Also my daughter carved a heart into my wife's car. It's a bit of a debacle.

So what's the buzzword for people that overuse terms like SJW and straw man?

Nobody in this thread has a problem with criticism. But coercion is something different. Heh, when you say coercion I think of how the mafia spread its influence across America in the previous century. I think about political lobbyists. Video games and coercion, not so much.

This is the cost of living in a digital world. We have so much information and media at our fingertips, it's amazing. We get so much immediately. But we also have to deal with the immediacy of criticism and blowback. You can't have one without the other, this platform goes both ways. Also, Spider-Woman looked ridiculous and I thought it was awesome how quickly they had to backpedal on her cover art. Again, we get so much entertainment from this digital world!

Thanks Monte, I figured you were just in a mood. Even my unicorn-dancing-on-a-rainbow rear gets a bit pissy from time to time. More so as I get older and more cranky! I keep hearing about things like Gamergate, and this Zoe Quinn, and this Anita character, and every once in awhile I try to read through the threads about them, but I have a hard time getting any of it. Are these issues in the real world? I do get that video game journalism sucks. But that's hardly newsworthy. It's also not any worse than entertainment news and sports reporting is barely any better. Maybe I just need to go back to the other threads.