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This again? It was intentional. Intentional as in, one of the reasonably foreseeable consequences of collectivisation, a policy they implemented regardless. It's funny that you of all people would accuse anyone of intellectual dishonesty, mr. "any party but the CPSU is a reactionary bourgeois power clique". Why do you hate socialism?

Lol. The funny thing is that Sarko tried to pull this same stunt in 2009, but the courts shot him down. You know there's something seriously wrong when the French start teaching the Brits lessons on liberalism.

Which was my point. However, consensus plays a huge role in this and ultimately rules are made to reflect what the majority believe is moral (within reason). They are as qualified as anyone else. They are not campaigning for a censorship on the Internet as a whole. They are not imposing their morality on anyone that doesn't wish them to, and even then, it's arguable that they aren't as it's a conscious decision on the part of the customer to purchase a product which restricts access to certain contents -- so actually, it's the customer that's making the call.

Heh. It's funny this came up, as it's a very much real problem.

Because "censorship" usually carries a political overtone. And restricting free speech on political grounds is bad, what with universal human rights and all. Encroaching on free speech with a political agenda has been shown to lead invariably to generally undesirable results, so it's not a totally arbitrary rule. But then there's the censorship on moral grounds, and there the limits aren't quite so clear. Child porn is conceivably banned to protect children and by extension society as a whole. But outside of content that requires that people be harmed in its creation, your guess is as good as mine (provided that neither of us is a lawmaker, obviously). It's not possible to dismiss this sort of censorship out of hand, but I'm just thankful it's not my job to draw the lines. So I guess censorship is, like so many other things, neither good nor bad... just necessary. And oh so easy to abuse. But you said it yourself: they have a vision of what they want the iPhone to be; they are simply working to make it true. Let's not forget that Apple is a company. It's not invested of the same powers of the state and therefore it's not bound by the same rules. As long as they aren't breaking the law, I don't see why they shouldn't adopt a moralist stance and design their products accordingly. You are free to pay them no mind (and no money, hyuk hyuk).

In my experience, the people you play with is what makes or breaks an MMO. If you can find a group with similar interests and playstyle, you might as well write off the next few months of your social life. Otherwise, those games are boring as ****... or worse.

Um, well, yes. Censorship is bad and all, but people like their porn, too. It's not just a question of taking the high moral ground and proclaiming it's an attack on freedom... it's also a question of Apple cutting their customers off from what is certainly a wildly popular and very demanded portion of Internet content. I mean, if Apple said they weren't going to allow access to arXiv.org, how many people do you think would raise a stink about it? I'm not sure I understand where you're coming from -- in one sentence you seem to defend Apple's legitimacy in choosing contents, but in the next you say you see them "growing mad with power"...? I think Wals was spot on earlier with his bookstore example. If you really need or want it so bad, there are alternatives. There's nothing to suggest that Apple hasn't considered this.

Yeah, that. I never cease to be amazed at how people's sensibilities can be hurt by basic physiological functions. I mean, stop eating that sandwich, you're offending me! In other words, yes, they should. Grow a thicker skin/mind your own business etc. America, F*** yeah!

Yes, and I'm still not going to do it. I have no interest in holding your (or his) hand through this, and the sole suggestion of "winning" an argument on the internet is enough to make me want to log off right now. If you want to see how things are the way I'm saying, go look up the throw-weights for US and Soviet MIRVed ICBMs during the 70's, and how this relates to first-strike decisiveness. If not... that's your problem. I have no special desire to save you the time. Oh, and by the way, he hasn't provided any evidence for his arguments either. The "dead hand" system was intended to preserve retaliation potential for the Soviet Union in the event of suffering a first strike -- but this doesn't necessarily mean their strategy was defensive in nature, merely that it was a contingency they had accounted for. But somehow, you never demand that he supports his arguments adequately. That's not how you maintain a fa

Strawman. I didn't say they were planning to nuke the world. After all, a nuclear wasteland cannot be made into a worker's paradise, right? So can you try being less obnoxious or do we start flinging poo? It's pretty cool how you twist **** around. Where you say "have strong nukes", I say keep a nuclear arsenal that places an emphasis on the offense. Where you say "maintain military bases on allied countries", I say enforce Soviet interests by means of direct military occupation dating back to the "liberation" at the end of WWII. See DDR 1953, Hungary 1956, Czechoslovakia 1968, etc and how Tito kept his country out of Soviet control thanks to the fact that Yugoslavia was never "liberated" by the RKKA. So... what do I need to cite, exactly? The throw-weights for Satan and Peacekeeper rockets? The bomber-based to ICBM nuke proportions for US and Soviet arsenals? The number of Soviet troops deployed on DDR (~400,000 men in 5 motorized armies in '87, not counting air force)? Those are all in the public domain. Do your own research. You didn't answer the question: why do you hate socialism so?

I'd say fanon. Unless "vespaz" is a BIO employee. Which he could probably be, given his skills.

Hmm, no. The Soviet nuclear arsenal was part of a policy of stand-off with the West until they could attain a technological edge, that would nullify the threat that American, British and French nuclear weapons posed to the offensively deployed GSFG (the term "arms race" ring a bell?). So, in fact, it's the other way around. But nice try. Oh, wait. That's not even all of it, as it was the Soviets who in fact held the advantage with regards to first-strike capability, with their super-heavy MIRVed ICBMs and SLBMs. For a time at least. Yes, "rational self defense", as in "kill the fascist bourgeois pigs before they have a chance to blink". Now tell us, lof. Why do you hate socialism so?

Oooh, I know this one, I know this one! Let's see... perspective?

It's a political illusion.

Yes, it was a deciding and huge factor. But then again, so were Soviet numbers, the Lend-Lease agreements with the US, the need for Germany to fight on two fronts and the weakness of her allies, the German lack of preparation and planning for a long war, the crushing defeat of the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain, and so on and so forth. It was just another factor, sorry. In fact, I think that the Soviet deep operations doctrine (whose intellectual author was purged, mind you) was much more decisive than raw industrial output. That's irrelevant, anyway. You made a fallacious argument, and when called on it, you try changing topics. The difference is that, unlike yourself, he hasn't espoused the policies that led to any of those instances of massive loss of life.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc... And Soviet industry was only one of many factors.

Hehe. Why is porn "questionable"?

Tried Turbo or anything of the sort?

They did hire Jorge "Oscuro" Salgado to work on FO3. If I recall correctly, he's from Spain. Huh. Isn't that the guy that made that huge ass mod for Oblivion? "Convergence", was it called? I didn't know he'd been hired by Obs -- does he have a forum profile for us to stalk? Looks like there are some things I do not know. Unthinkable!

Yes. If I was a house robber, I would simply wait until you were out and then steal your guns. Hahaha. Sweet, sweet irony.

^ Exactly. You mentioned a normal rule of commercial life, but there's also a normal rule of people: they always want to have their cake and eat it, too. I don't think I've ever considered purchase of anything Apple, for many reasons, so it's not like I needed one more. But that's the beauty of supply and demand -- if people really want free unrestricted access to the internet in their phone, someone will provide a solution. Apple can do whatever they well damn please with their products... and I suspect they will do quite well anyway. Also, h4x.

Aren't most gun-related deaths in the US from small calibers, though? I'm not saying that a ban on .22 LR and unrestricted ownership for AAA platforms is the way to go, but come on, how concealable is a Browning .50 MG?

Finished reading this today (and I even skipped the CK parts!). This may very well be the best LP EVER -- the author has basically crafted a custom-made mod that encompasses several games just for the purpose of writing the LP. The mod is available for download, too, so I know what I'm going to be playing for the next few weeks. I didn't know of the SA policy of archiving threads after some time (and then charging for access to them), but it doesn't matter as the whole thing (minus goon interactions) is on the LP Archive: http://lparchive.org/LetsPlay/Hohenzollern/index.html

the harder question is which is the best adventure game for a kid to start on... Leisure Suit Larry, obviously. Seriously, the guy is a total buffoon, ugly as a sin, but in spite of this he has never been known to have needed to do any actual work, and scores regularly. What more could you ask for?

See, I have already done that in countless other threads -- he simply repeats himself time and time again, hoping the opposition will go away. Analysing and defeating his rhetoric in detail is a pretty sterile effort, even when there is something to analyse and it's not just tripe along the lines of "democracy is only good when you can only vote for the CPSU". Use the search function, if you don't believe me.