Hurlshort

Yeah they are kind of pricks :D I'm not really in touch with them, they cut off contact because they don't like my wife's personality, but they still send stupid cards for birthdays.

I can verify the late 30's woman thing that Sargy was talking about. Stuff is way better now than it was in our 20's. Today we had a bit of a surprise birthday dinner for me, even though my 35th isn't until Friday. My wife and I were stuck in the city a bit later than usual, so we went to dinner and I had a couple really good beers. Then when I got home I opened my mailbox, noticed a card from my parents, and still being a bit buzzed, managed to toss it a good distance into the field next to us. My kids thought this was a fantastic idea and began tossing all the junk mail around as well. It was good fun

I had a blast using the editor, even though my mod was pretty short and simple. I put a lot of hours into it. That being said, I'd say the campaign was well worth the relatively inexpensive price of the game.

Dungeon Keeper on a tablet or phone actually makes a lot of sense.

Probably time travel. Johnny Gat riding a dinosaur duking it out with cavemen and time police.

I prefer your rap name, RPGMaster Boo.

Volo made a great joke in that avatar thread from 2004, so it was some time after that I suppose.

I couldn't resist, and I have a birthday coming up, so my wife bought this for me. I bought it on Steam. First off, it does make you use Uplay. It made me update it and was super annoying, but it runs like every other Ubisoft game in that regard. Bummer. Secondly, this is a pre-release release, which is pretty weird. Basically you are paying early and getting a beta version which only covers about 20% of the game and 4 classes. It is kind of odd because the game isn't scheduled to be released in full for another 6 months or so, but they are charging you full price. I was more upset about only getting 4 classes than the limited portion of the game. I'm also guessing my saves will not be any good when it comes out, but I could be wrong. So those are the big drawbacks, but I do have some good news. 1. The game looks good. It isn't bleeding edge technology, but it looks better than Grimrock and has a lot of personality. It should get even better as they polish it. 2. Movement is great, plus you can look around freely with the mouse. The change from day to night was cool too. 3. When nightime hit my characters all got tired, and so I went to an inn and slept. They also consumed a food resource. That is very cool. 4. Writing is decent. There were some average conversations and one really good one about how the inn got its name. So far I'm pleased. 5. Voice acting for the PC's is very good, it's just a few little lines but they are fun. 6. Early access will get me the expansion and the toolset down the road. I'm curious to see how easy the toolset will be to use. Anyway I only played an hour and I didn't get into combat yet. I'll give some more feedback as I go.

This is a hilarious thread. I swear I did one of these years ago, but this particular one was before my time. Hurlshot was a name I came up with playing Wing Commander and looking for a cal sign. I wanted something to do with hockey, but Slapshot was a movie, Snapshot sounded lame and wristshot sounded worse. Somehow I came up with Hurlshot. A few weeks later Wayne's World came out and made me realize that hurl was less about moving with force and more about vomiting. I decided to stay committed to it. My avatar is Brenden Shanahan, the greatest power forward to ever play the game of hockey. Someone was nice enough to turn it into an AP avatar for me.

What's with the granny panties?

I already explained to you exactly how it works. I'm not sure why you are confused. The law says they have access to the facilities. It does not say they have to access them while other students are using them. None of the transgender students my wife has had would even want to be in the girls locker room at the same time as other students. They just want a place they can feel comfortable, that doesn't mean it needs to make all the other students uncomfortable. You do understand that before this, legally, if a transgender boy who identifies as a girl went into a female restroom, even when unoccupied, they could face major consequences? This protects them from that. edit: Also no one showers anymore, except in swimming, and most kids are so self conscious they do so in their suits. Plus most remodeled locker rooms have private stalls rather than communal showers.

Hurlie two points: 1) If you have to ask the government for it's permission to enjoy a right is it really a right? 2) Despite that I'd still be in favor of universal background checks if, AND ONLY IF, no government state, local, or federal. would be involved in the process. You would not be dealing with an honest partner. I'd be in favor of background checks if it were really about keeping guns out of the hands of criminals. But, it's just not about that at all. See my previous comment. Would you be ok with it was state or local instead of federal? I'm asking because it makes me think of the DMV. While they have their bureaucratic BS like everything else, I don't really see them as some evil entity under the control of the white house. I'd be worried about a private company running those background checks for a lot reasons too. It's not really a situation with an easy answer. But I will tell you this, I had little interest in gun control until Sandy Hook, so events really do have a bearing on this discussion.

Whelp, thanks for letting me know that. The largest school district in California already has this policy, by the way. This was their official statement about it: Here is another comment: Look, you've clearly fallen prey to some media hysteria here. I am giving you legitimate information from people involved in education, and you are ignoring it. That's not healthy. Do your news sources even talk to anyone involved in the California education system?

If the athletes are staying silent, that is a pretty solid indicator. It would be super easy to just say it was congratulatory.

Being married doesnt really exclude you from making gestures that support gay rights. But in this case the best bet would be to simply ask the athletes about their intentions. It does sound a bit overblown by the western media

WoD I am not giving you my interpretation, I am telling you how schools are implementing it. You are correct that it was already possible before the law, that is why I keep saying most schools have already implemented it. What it does is force any teachers or administrators who were not willing to accomodate transgender students into doing so.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say universal background checks for guns is a much smaller step than the Patriot Act.

The idea that a pre-teen who is dealing with puberty would claim to be a different gender for "social advantages or fulfilling sexual fetishes" seems pretty far-fetched. I've already mentioned that there are a lot of steps taken to ensure this isn't just a stage a child is going through. Unless we are now talking about adults who decide to change genders. In that case I'd simply say it doesn't affect me in any way so I don't see any reason to have an issue with it. All of these identity issues, whether it is gender or sexuality, are pretty simple for me. It requires no effort on my part to be a male, or to be attracted to women. These things are effortless. So when I hear that someone is struggling with their identity, I know that I have no way of understanding what they are going through. So the best thing I can do for them is to be tolerant and not judge.

Fine, since you're such an expert, are you denying that the new law allows any boy who claims he feels like a girl to use the girl's locker room? I wonder whose clever idea was to turn this into an issue in school for christ's sake. Why don't they just let the person him/her self sort his own issues post-schooling? With free counseling, surgery, drugs, whatever just not in school among other kids. As I mentioned, the attempted suicide rate among transgender individuals was terribly high before they started addressing this at a younger age. Post-schooling is simply too late. Also I'm not sure why we need to shelter other kids from people that are different, that sounds like a bad way to develop a tolerant society.

Exactly, they have the right to use the facilities. That does not mean they have the right to use the facilities as they are occupied. There is a big difference. As I said, many schools open up a third location, such as a visiting team girls locker room. Or they can simply wait until the girls are finished getting dressed and have left the facility before the transgender individual uses them. Teachers make accommodations for individuals every day. There is no good reason not to do so for transgender students. Edit: Under the accommodations I am listing, the girls are not impacted at all. And this is what many schools are already doing.

Fine, since you're such an expert, are you denying that the new law allows any boy who claims he feels like a girl to use the girl's locker room? Most of my knowledge comes from the education side, since that is my background. I am no expert on the medical side. But to answer your question directly: no, it allows a transgender student to use the locker room of the gender they identify with. It reads as follows: Now that sounds rather vague, and it is easy to understand why some people might think that means boys will be jumping in the showers with girls on a regular basis. But there are a couple of reasons that will not happen. 1. Becoming a legitimate transgender student is a difficult process. This isn't Bosom Buddies, these kids go through years of counselling and, as I said, my wife who has been teaching for a decade has only had 3 students who actually meet this definition. 2. It doesn't say anywhere that the student needs to share showers or changing rooms with others. There are simply a ton of ways to accommodate everyone in these situations. As I already mentioned, my wife opens up a third locker room. I fail to see how it is a better solution to stick a transgender boy who identifies as a girl in a locker room full of teenage boys. That seems like the worst idea ever.

Most schools have already implemented what the law legally requires. In terms of bathrooms, that means legally you are required to provide a transgender student with a place to change. My wife has had two transgender boys over the years, and she provided them with a third bathroom where they would be more comfortable getting ready. As you can imagine, a boy who feels like a girl and is taking hormones to physically change their body is not going to do very well in a crowded boys locker room. The way it's been reported they're required to be allowed to use the same facilities, not separate facilities (which I don't think anyone would object to). http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/08/13/california-gov-brown-signs-transgender-student-bill/ Also I didn't realize they do sex changes on children now. I would be careful with how certain news outlets report anything that has to do with education. My wife has taught PE for the last decade and sits on the board of the California Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. It is pretty much a non-issue for most schools, as they already accommodate students dealing with gender identity issues. It is legally compelling any schools that still allow an atmosphere of gender discrimination to fall in line.

The video is very important, as it is pretty hard to deny that child is anything other than a girl when you watch her interview. The parents are also very clearly not forcing this decision on her.

Transgender boys and girls face their most difficult time when they hit puberty. The attempted suicide rates for transgender teens was estimated between 33%-50% in the past, in recent years with the aid of hormone blockers and hormone therapy that has dropped tremendously. If you guys have questions or concerns about this whole thing, your best bet is to listen to an actual transgender individual discuss what they go through. This isn't a stage they are going through, most of them know from a very early age that their physical gender does not match their mental identity. When they hit puberty it creates a huge crisis for them. Now it is possible for people to go through stages of gender identity issues, and that is why it is strongly recommended that transgender individuals start with years of therapy, then move to hormone treatment, and use surgery as a last step in a long process. Here's a helpful guide that is not political: http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/talk/transgender.html

Yeah I just read about Tejada. What an odd story that guy has. I didn't even realize he was still playing until a few weeks ago.