213374U

I will. I mean, why not? If it's a good game, i'll buy it, it's pretty simple... This was like, the best reply ever.

The entire music industry would agree to anything that would increase their benefits. I'm guessing they know a thing or two about business.

It's a common mistake to apply today's moral standards to someone that lived so long ago. Even if some of those things may seem horrible to us today, they were not back then. People are defined by the time they are born into, and those times were way more brutal and harsh than today. Maybe killing a few thousand would have helped with that... "

HA! Once again, you fail to produce any kind of support for your claims. Weak as it may be, even Jack's evidence is more solid than yours. Is it so difficult to follow the flow of conversation? You said you know lots of women in the UK that are free to choose whether or not to wear a headscarf. That doesn't mean their religion doesn't require them to do so, just like my religion (or the religion I was baptised into) requires me to go to church on sundays. The difference is that over here, our culture evolved to leave behind the trappings of religion, while theirs didn't. Our rulers no longer rule By The Grace Of God, and all that stuff. From Dictionary.com; "argue": To put forth reasons for or against; debate. It's not a black or white issue. It's not either religion or culture. In this instance, religion is effectively embedded into their culture, to the extent that women actually accept the inequalities, as they are pressured and indoctrinated to do so as soon as they are able to understand. "Islamic state" is not a random expression. Of course, you may claim that things are actually not as they seem, that broadly accepted perspectives are fabrications, and that your personal contact with and impressions gained from muslims here and in the ME actually prove it. But for all we know, you could have had contact only with atypical individuals. "I saw a pig fly" is just not good enough to revise current laws of physics to accomodate the possibility that pigs may actually fly. And yes, I'd actually like to broaden my views on this matter, but unfortunately I don't have the time to go on an investigative journey of Islam right now. I have a muslim friend that pretty much confirms what you say. But he was born here, not in the ME, and therefore he's not part of that culture, so he's not representative or relevant to the discussion. I suspect the examples you are using are very similar. Who said you aren't allowed to express your opinion? Don't assume that just because I'm attacking your views I'd like you to shut up. You addressed me to begin with, and made a blind assumption that does not mach reality, thus starting a debate with me. Also, that's how debates work, you see. It's not like you can state your opinion and then be on your merry way. Well, you can do that, but if you can't or don't care to defend your claims (especially ones so controversial such as these) don't expect anyone to take you seriously. And if you don't care whether or not you are taken seriously, why express your opinion to begin with?

No. That would imply that muslims have completely made up all of that, instead of it being a tenet of their religion. Is that what you are trying to say? And I don't go to Church in Sundays. So what? Whatever. I don't even know why I bother to argue with alts. Must be some pathological thing. A culture strongly influenced by and whose roots stem from Islamic tradition. A shame when people can't see the relation. You tell that to blind Afghan women. I'm still waiting for you to provide evidence to support your stance. Your claims are the most unconventional, and seem to contradict social reality in more than a few places. Your ludicrous claims require much more proof than my "mainstream" views to be accepted. Surely you don't expect me to change my views just because you say Islam is actually a wonderful thing and muslims are just misunderstood, right? Also, I already said I was arguing from prejudice. This is one of my many shortcomings in this matter. I'll gladly trade my current ideas for more enlightened ones, but I expect them to adhere to the conventional mechanisms of critical thought. No, it doesn't mean you are wrong, and I didn't say you are. However, history is full of people that were right, and yet, failed to present compelling evidence supporting their theories. I hope you don't expect me to believe you as an act of faith, because I'm fresh out.

Yep. Only now they can openly air their anti-semitism under the pretense of freedom of press. That must be the only freedom they are interested in expanding. Hooray for hipocrisy!

No need for that. I say we make a Muhammad cartoon contest ourselves!

As a matter of fact, I have. She was repressed, and always concerned of her family rejecting her if she stepped out of tradition by, for example, taking the veil off. Make no blind assumptions about me, and I won't assume you're trolling, m'kay? Aside from game design you are versed in ancient middle eastern languages? I'm impressed. How does that make any sense? Being repressed socially does not equal being repressed mentally. But, at any rate, you are right. In some places of the ME, or Afghanistan, lots of women are perfectly happy with their degradation. They are convinced it's the role assigned to them by God. That's called brainwashing. That's pretty rich. Lots of imams and people who have dedicated their lives to the study of that religion disagree with you. Also, you've got to be the first person I meet that claims men are more opressed by Islam than women. There's always got to be a first time for everything, I suppose.

Hmm. I really don't like to express opinions based on prejudice alone, but I find it difficult to find beauty in a religion that degrades women to the functional level of furniture or animals.

Yep, Speaker and Xenocide both have the piggies and Jane. It's quite a change of pace and focus in those two, from Ender's game. While that one seems to focus a great deal in the psychologic part of the plot, Speaker and Xenocide lean heavily toward metaphysics, philosophy, religion (especially Xenocide), and the author's particular cosmogony. I liked them, but I understand why Gromnir said they're only for real HC fans of Card. I'm looking for the last book, Children of the Mind, but there's not a great deal of bookshops that have it, for some reason. In the interim, David Anthony Durham's Pride of Carthage.

Given that I'm at 2/3 warnings already, I'll try to be soft. No, I'm not trying to encourage you. I just thought I'd remind you that some people are still trying to keep the thread on track, and would appreciate it if you didn't give the mods an excuse to lock it. If you can't take part in a serious debate, you can go sit in a corner, and watch your betters do it until you get the basics. Alternatively, you could go find a thread more suited to your tastes and capacities. Mind you, I do my fair share of spam and random imagery posting, but never before derailment is already underway. There is a thin line between humor and nonsense as well. Also, I try to keep a healthy balance between trolling and constructive posting. Well, I don't know about you, but I don't step into other people's conversations with random nonsensical comments. That's not so much a matter of inadequacy of content as much as it is a disruption of debate. Moose's cartoon isn't especially offensive to me, it's just out of place. Add to that that it was exactly him who gave the coup de grace to the thread this one originated from, and you'll understand what I'm talking about. Funny that you would bring this up. Self-censorship is one of the points we discussed in the debate about free speech in tarna's boards. Or was it elsewhere? Can't remember...

But not impossible. Killing an innocent is the kind of mistake you can't fix. The risk of killing a single innocent is enough to render the whole death penalty system contrary to the idea of "justice" it's supposed to be based on. Not only that, but an executed convict will never be able to experience the kind of pain that those close to a murder victim have to endure. Executing them is letting them off too easy. Random posting at its finest.

You got the other thread locked with the same kind of inane spam. One would think you have learned, but apparently that's too much to expect from you. If you want to post random imagery, go on and start a thread for that; I'll be sure to contribute. But don't kill an otherwise perfectly good thread just because you have nothing else to occupy your time with. PS. That was not funny. Just childish.

No, it's not stealing. You aren't taking anything, you are merely copying. No matter how many times you say it is, it's not going to become so, because the word defines an entirely different action. You might want to invent a new word for it. But then again, the entire thing would lose strength as it wouldn't have the attached stigma and you would no longer be able to call P2P'ers thieves. It's a clear appeal to emotions, and therein lies your fallacy. I know pointing you to a dictionary isn't necessary, as due to your profession you are well versed in semantics. But not everyone is, and I thought I'd expose this particular malicious misuse of language. Except for the stealing part, which I have already discussed, that is 100% true. But what can I say, I'd rather ignore the terms of use and make sure the entertainment I put my money into is worth it, than be absolutely legalistic and find out that whatever I bought blindly is crap. That wouldn't be so much of a problem if I could have my money back, but that's not an option either. Maybe you have the money to indulge yourself in that kind of blind consumerism, but I don't. I expect you to post figures, and to prove beyond any measure of doubt that P2P'ing is killing the movie, music, or video game industry. If you can't, you'll have to take those claims back. You seem to have missed the part where I said I believe in supporting the authors I like. If I don't enjoy the product, I'm not going to buy it, or otherwise keep using it. No damage done there. And if I do like it, I'll pay for it. So no, I'm not picking anyone's pockets. I have thought about it.

All the strength of your discourse, much like that of RIAA and MPAA lies in the fallacy that P2P'ing is stealing. Well, it's not. I am not taking anything from anyone when I download music. I'm not depriving anyone of a movie when I download it. I'm just copying it. As for the second part of the argument, that which assumes I'm causing economic losses because of that copying, it's debatable at best. Can you prove I'd actually purchase the music I download if I couldn't get it via P2P? I doubt it, as there's very little music that stays in my HD for long. And that which does, I end up buying eventually, as I believe in supporting the authors I like. Is P2P'ing copyrighted material illegal? Most certainly. But then again, it's also illegal to walk across the Minnesota-Wisconsin border with a duck on your head.

Agreed. I'm going to turn your argument around, though. If sailors had absolutely no reason to observe discipline, and still they did, that kinda speaks volumes in favor of the efficiency of physical punishment as a deterrent. Also, there aren't many good incentives for good behaviour when you are pulling exhausting and rather hazardous shifts for a laughable wage, with the only reward being a wheat "cookie" ridden with worms, and maybe, a jar of grog at the end of the day. Not to mention a large amount of the sailors had actually been forcibly drafted.

Yes, the same examples that pop up everytime. The difference is that those examples are part of the past. So distant a past, in fact, that nobody who participated in the crusades still lives. There are no Spanish Inquisitors still around. Those were other times, marked by different mindsets. Pretty much. I was thinking that Christian faith has evolved to be able to coexist with the modern conception of the secular state, while Islam has not. But that's actually not true. Lots of muslims live in secular states and are as open-minded as anyone else. And there are many Christian fundamentalists that would feel right at home in the Middle Ages. The Scriptures haven't been adapted to cope with the new times, and theferore, the doctrines remain unchanged. The only thing that has changed is how literally these scriptures are interpreted, and how much are they allowed to take precedence over other social and individual considerations. It all boils down to a lack of civic conscience in those countries, regardless of the religion they follow. Not every muslim is a barbarian, and not every barbarian is a muslim.

Happy lashings in exchange for happy slappings? Sounds like a fair deal to me. I guess it depends on how the whipping is conducted (ie, if the convict faints, he is removed until recovery ensures he can fully enjoy the whipping), and the severity. I'd say no less than 50 strokes. Let's not forget that this kind of punishment was widely used in European navies for a long time, and it worked great to keep aggressively disgruntled sailors in place. I figure it would have an even greater effect on that juvenile scum. The only thing I regret is that we no longer have such great things as lashings and forced labor over here, in the oh-so-humane West. I mean, sure, a $500 fine hurts like hell. But how many of you would pay $500 to avoid getting lashed?

Yes, that sucks, alright.

Because if you don't want to lose, you are forced to finish it before the AI does. Which is a forced, artificial endgame as soon as the technologies are discovered, as the AI goes for it even if it's painfully obvious they don't stand a chance. I don't much like space victory either. It keeps my industrial centers busy building useless crap when they could be building overwhelming amounts of stealth bombers... "

It's really great. Those of you that haven't watched it, do it now. To think that stuff this good got the shaft and other crap is still going strong makes me want to kill some TV exec. The show has some of the best lines ever, too. "Say, this "emergency" wouldn't happen to be taking place in someone's pants, would it?" Mal 4TW

Get out of my head! Okay.

Yeah, OK. It's just that whenever I hear something about a scientific theory that "postulates" things, I am reminded of Bohr's atomic model, which was, in a great measure, fine-tuning of other people's work, albeit very cleverly done. I'm not sure I'd like that. I'd be forced to comment on it, you see. I don't want my cover blown and everyone to find out I'm actually a science nerd. :ph34r:

Sounds like fine-tuning... "

You Rep?