Enoch

Julian "Cannonball" Adderley -- One for Daddy-O

That is one of the more reasonable female Shepards I've seen-- she actually looks like she is ready to, you know, engage in combat. Although I must say that I don't get the fascination with the weird lipstick colors.

Things like this always remind me that I have no familiarity whatever with the majority of famous games.

This thread has gone from weird to stupid at and alarmingly rapid pace.

It's an interesting situation. Arming the crew doesn't help keep the pirates off the ship. They get on by pulling out an RPG, pointing it at the hull, and intimidating their way on. Small arms aren't going to stop the pirates from being able to threaten irreparable damage to the ship once they get into RPG range. Arming the crew might help repel the boarders once they're on, though. Also, I agree with MC. Although sea-based deterrence might be more cost-effective in the short-term, eliminate the land-based safe havens for the pirates, and you eliminate the piracy. Of the regional players, you'd think that Egypt would be most interested in getting something done. Piracy in the Sea of Aden leads to shipping companies going around the Cape of Good Hope instead of through the Suez Canal (which earns Egypt a healthy toll).

I love how we're all acting as if free internet dictionaries can provide quick, definitive answers to centuries-old questions of political theory.

I'm a L&O traditionalist. Yeah, the original is formulaic, but it's very good at varying things enough within that formula to keep it interesting and pretty consistently entertaining. SVU was interesting in the early seasons, but it quickly became a laughable exercise in "guess which cast member is going to get way too emotionally involved in the case this week." CI never interested me much-- it was pretty much the D'Onofrio "gotcha" show from the beginning, with each episode predictably ending with him pulling a clever trick on whichever suspect has been most irritating to him over the course of the episode. It's about 1 step removed from Matlock's witness-breaking-down-and-confessing-on-the-stand-every-damn-week.

It's hardly surprising that people who demand their sources of information be pre-screened to elimate ideas that may be contrary to their ideological biases are a bit light in the IQ department. I would expect the same to be true of any "Progressipedia" or whatever that people on the other side of the spectrum might come up with.

Mmmm... Fried Cthulu...

Here's one:

Beginner's squid: Go to an Italian restaurant and order the fried calamari. General rule when cooking cephalopods: Either apply very high heat for 30 seconds (see above), or rather low heat for 2+ hours. Anything in between, and it's like chewing on a bicycle tire.

Bob Dylan -- It Ain't Me, Babe

Hooray for reference spam!

Link

OK. To the extent that demanding concessions from an employee because he shot himself with an illegal firearm while in a public place and was thereafter criminally indicted for his conduct (a crime carrying no less than a 3.5 year mandatory minimum prison sentence) is a "betrayal," the Giants "betrayed" Plaxico.

Wow. Go overboard much? Sure, there should be criminal liability for an employer who docks the pay of an employee after he destroyed his ability to work for the employer by shooting himself with his own illegal handgun... It was a dispute over the terms of an employment contract and how it related to the collective bargaining agreement. Both sides had a reasonable argument under the terms of the governing documents, and the arbitrator (not a judge) sided with the union, which was representing Burress. Things like that happen all the time in labor-management relations. The team is paying the money back, almost certainly with interest, and the union covered Plax's legal costs, so he's not out one dime.

I did our taxes yesterday. It really is a pain when you've moved from one state to another, while continually working in a third-- if it weren't for that little fiasco, I'd have been done in under 2 hours. Anyhow, I'm happy to report that, all told, the Feds, VA, and MD have been giving the wife and I a no-interest loan of almost $2000. Of course, that loan is now due, which is somewhat less happy news. But it's pretty much what I expected, which is why I put it off for so long.

Beatles -- Blue Jay Way

Hooray for government work! The various bailouts and fiscal stimuli are actually giving me more work to do. But the legal profession in general in the States is really hurting. Private law firms are firing attorneys and support staff at frightening rates, and most of those attorneys being fired are the younger crowd, recently out of law school and carrying very heavy student loan debts. My brother-in-law is one of the victims of said cutbacks, and he has been having a very tough time finding a new job. (And this is a guy who formerly worked at one of the top-20 firms in the country, with a degree from one of the top-3 law schools in the country.) I suppose that, when looking to cut costs, one of the first places firms examine is expensive outsourced professional services like legal advice-- I've heard similar reports about how terrible the market is for many accountants and consultants.

Whether the money was "stolen" or not depends on the wording of his contract, which nobody here has read. The arbitration panel will decide that issue (by reading the actual contract) sometime in the next few weeks. And do you seriously think that Plax could have come back and performed at a high level in a contact sport mere weeks after a bullet passed through the flesh of his thigh? His 2008 season was done the minute he pulled the trigger-- the only place the suspension is relevant is in his bank account.

More info on the offer the team made to Burress:

Reading between the lines on the timing of this move, I'd guess that the team got wind of how Burress' plea negotiations were going, and the news wasn't good. NYC gun laws are serious, and the fact that his illegal handgun was negligently discharged in a crowded nightclub certainly doesn't help his case. He'll plea down from the 3.5 year min sentence associated with the offense he was indicted for, but I'd bet money that he'll get enough jail time to kill any chance that he plays in '09. (Anything more than 4 months would probably do it.) Either that, or something else is in the works. There were whispers of the Giants exploring the trade market for a WR in February. Things like that have a way of getting revived as the draft approaches. Formally cutting ties to Burress is odd, though, because you'd think that it would hurt the Giants' negotiating position. Maybe a deal-in-principle is already in place... Edit: Alternate explanation: The Giants were angry at him for his agent leaking that Burress was available in a trade, and decided to let him go when he refused to re-negotiate his contract to settle the bonus dispute they have going on. (Per Mike Garafolo).

Oof. Condolences. "Evacuations," as you say, are seldom pleasant. I've been dealing with a sinus thing lately-- congestion, pressure, headaches, etc. But Advil Cold & Sinus is some awesome stuff, so it's not really bothering me all that much, so long as I keep popping two of those suckers every 6-ish hours.

The Giants have cut Plaxico Burress.

I'm not normally a particularly bloodthisrty player in RPGs, but an 80s-obsessed boss character is getting a shotgun to the face from me. Seriously, he's just asking for it. I'm thinking some Huey Lewis. The rights have gotta be pretty cheap to get by now...