Enoch

Yeah, I might be optimistic in that regard. Nobody really knows anything right now. My guess is that, while it certainly has consequences (as you indicate), government actions to bailout/nationalize certain businesses are a marginally better option than doing nothing. The end result of the inflation that follows will be 5 years from now, when the dollar is worth $0.25, but everything else is worth $0.10. Doing nothing risks the opposite scenario (i.e., government inaction could lead to the dollar losing its position as the world's premier currency, which would really hurt our ability to sell Treasuries to the rest of the world).

Wow. If you don't understand the rather plain meaning of the statement after all that, I don't know how much clearer I can make it. I'll repost the operative part of quote, since it didn't make it over to this page of the thread (assuming default forum options): I can't help but picture you with your fingers in your ears, saying loudly "LALALALALA IT'S A NATIONAL POLICE FORCE! LALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU! LALALA!" Otherwise, I can't possibly imagine how you can come to the belief that those few sentences in a single campaign speech are indicative of a serious desire to start some kind of national police force that isn't mentioned in any other supporting speeches, proposals, or policy statements.

Also: INAUGURATION SCANDAL!!! The lovely little Ma/Perlman/Montero/McGill quartet performance on the steps of the Capitol? Pre-recorded!

Civilian = Non-military. National Security = Having to do with the safety of the country, often used to refer specifically to international relations. Force = A group of people or things dedicated to the acheivement of a common goal. When put in context of the preceding 2 sentences, it is fairly evident to those not wearing tinfoil hats that the phrase "civilian national security force" is merely a shorthand term encompassing both government employees working for the State department and private volunteers devoting their time to the Peace Corps or similar international service organization. Edit: Also, this was a singular speech on the campaign trail. If there were a serious proposal to back up your reading of this statement, wouldn't there be some other speeches, policy plans, proposed legislation, etc., to back it up? Or was this speech a slip-up in which Obama accidentially mentioned his sooper-seekrit proposal to crack down on all the just, freedom-loving dissidents once he's in office?

um, i'm not sure where you get that the civilian national security force has anything to do with america's relations abroad. he's pretty clear here that he's talking about something internal that is just as strong as the military: sorry, but he's pushing to make us spy on ourselves. we don't need an internal volunteer national security force. i don't understand why anyone would think we do. I'm sorry, but reading that and coming to any conclusion that spying is at all involved reeks of unthinking always-instantly-believe-the-worst-about-people-you've-already-decided-to-dislike paranoia. Keep in mind that this was a speech-- the breaking of the sentences into paragrapsh is rather arbitrary, and was probably done by some low-level campaign flunky responsible for posting the transcripts online. If you move the paragraph breaks by one sentence, that passage makes a lot more logical sense:

OK, I think I see your point a bit more clearly now. I was reading too much into the part where you said that the public wouldn't tolerate big spending plans. It is certainly the case that the Obama administration will have to use a lot of its political capital to address pressing economic issues. And, if things don't turn around within a year or so (which, as I said above, I doubt will happen even with the expected large federal fiscal stimulus), that political capital will probably dry up as Congress looks to cover its own ass with the midterm elections looming. As for the whole "civilian national security force," it's much ado about nothing. He was talking about encouraging and enabling civilian volunteers to improve America's relations abroad, not about some domestic police agency. Some right-wingers took a line out of context to make it look like he was calling for a new Gestapo. Here's what he actually said:

I suspect that the current economic climate will actually help Obama sell his policy prescriptions to the Congress and the people. The deficit is an abstraction to most people, and they only tend to worry about that kind of thing when times are good and there aren't other more personal concerns. If Obama and his team are successful in pitching their ideas as necessary to address the economic crisis, they'll get a lot of stuff passed that wouldn't fly in calmer times. (I also suspect that, economically, we haven't seen the bottom yet, and that it'll take until around 2011 to get the global economy back on its feet.)

Breaking news about the President's relationship with the First Lady: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neCIg0BiXbE

I always felt that Sorcerors made no sense at all. D&D magic was always strangely arbitrary, with the spells being so particular and heavy on little details like material components, casting times, durations, areas of effect, etc. I attributed this to magic being a force that nobody really understood, but that could be manipulated in particular ways only if one followed certain time-honored formulae exactly (i.e., spells). Conceptually, there is nothing wrong with intuitive spellcasting in this environment, but there is also no logic behind the manifestation of this intuitive spellcasting having the exact same effects as the arcane formulae that underly INT-based spellcasting. Sure, it makes sense that a Wizard, following a recipe devised ages ago, can only produce a Fireball that is exactly 30' in diameter-- no more or less-- because that's what that particular recipe does, and nobody really understands the underlying theory enough to modify it without major research and experimentation. But why should a spellcaster whose connection to the arcane is purely intuitive suffer the same limitation? IMO, on a conceptual level, the Warlock is a better model for an intuitive spellcasting class. (The song-based abilities of Bards, as well.)

That's the thing about appeasement. The price of taking a stand always seems too high, but the price of appeasement always turns out far, far higher. That's only true if you win the war. (And even then, it's no lock.) I'd say that the price the US would have paid for "appeasing" the communist interests in North Vietnam in the mid-1960s were considerably lower than the costs that were eventually expended to "stand up" to them. Anyhow, to get back to the Inauguration, the area around my office is apparently being used as the staging ground for the removal of the portable generators they used along the Mall and parade route. I walked out the door yesterday evening, and there were at least a dozen of them parked along the street. They were car-trailer sized, with a hitch in the front, but they were being loaded onto flatbed trucks for removal back to wherever they came from. Say what you will about the exorbitant cost of the Inauguration, but the funds were freely donated, and it really has been a nice boost to the DC-area economy.

Special award for political awesomeness: Theodore Roosevelt. His military career, his political career, and his leisure time were devoted almost entirely to kicking ass. Was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish-American War. Was permanently blinded in one eye in a boxing match, which he regularly held in state rooms at the White House. Personally shot about half of the animals in Africa. When campaigning for a return to the presidency in 1912, he was shot in the chest by a would-be assassin. Rather than do what a sane person would, he figured that so long as he wasn't coughing blood, there was no reason to interrupt his speech. So he went on to address the crowd for 90 minutes, with no microphone or amplification, with a bullet three inches deep in his chest and blood soaking through his shirt. Awesome. Oh, and just to show that he had other skills beyond badassery, he also founded the National Park System and won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Robert Johnson, . Awesome. Died at the age of 27. Records are sketchy, but the most supported theory is that the immediate cause of death was the consumption of poisoned whiskey. Awesome.

Go rent "Double Indemnity" and "The Big Sleep"The Maltese Falcon, too. That's set in San Francisco. Hammett tended towards San Fran and NYC as settings. James Elroy and Raymond Chandler used L.A. more often (or fictional cities that were clear stand-ins for L.A. and/or it's surrounding communities).

Yeah, the required oath is in Article II of the Constitution. Roberts botched it a bit, and the two of them stumbled to the end. I only watched for about a half-hour. I did go downtown on Monday, to have lunch with a friend who was in town for the big event, but that's as close as I wanted to get to all the crowds.

[Restrains urge to post picture of Richard Simmons]

Sometimes I think that half the reason Guinness is so successful is that the frothy head is so much fun to fiddle with when drunk.

Played some Wii MarioKart with the wife.

Yeah, the number of times you spend criss-crossing the Hive on a variety of fetch quests is one aspect of the game that hasn't aged particularly well. Still I haven't played it in ages, so I might give it a shot next time I have a gap in interesting games waiting for my attention.

Coldest day in 5 years here in the DC area. Was about 10F when I left the house this morning. The .75mi walk to the Metro has never felt longer.

Whoever it is, I'd suggest not shooting him. ... At length did cross an Albatross, Thorough the fog it came; As it had been a Christian soul, We hailed it in God's name. It ate the food it ne'er had eat, And round and round it flew. The ice did split with a thunder-fit; The helmsman steered us through! And a good south wind sprung up behind; The Albatross did follow, And every day, for food or play, Came to the mariner's hollo! In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud, It perched for vespers nine; Whiles all the night, through fog-smoke white, Glimmered the white moonshine." `God save thee, ancient Mariner, From the fiends that plague thee thus! - Why look'st thou so?' -"With my crossbow I shot the Albatross! "The sun now rose upon the right: Out of the sea came he, Still hid in mist, and on the left Went down into the sea. And the good south wind still blew behind, But no sweet bird did follow, Nor any day for food or play Came to the mariners' hollo! And I had done a hellish thing, And it would work 'em woe: For all averred, I had killed the bird That made the breeze to blow. Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay, That made the breeze to blow! Nor dim nor red, like God's own head, The glorious sun uprist: Then all averred, I had killed the bird That brought the fog and mist. 'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay, That bring the fog and mist. The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, The furrow followed free; We were the first that ever burst Into that silent sea. Down dropped the breeze, the sails dropped down, 'Twas sad as sad could be; And we did speak only to break The silence of the sea! All in a hot and copper sky, The bloody sun, at noon, Right up above the mast did stand, No bigger than the moon. Day after day, day after day, We stuck, nor breath nor motion; As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted ocean. Water, water, every where, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink. The very deep did rot: O Christ! That ever this should be! Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs Upon the slimy sea. About, about, in reel and rout The death-fires danced at night; The water, like a witch's oils, Burnt green, and blue, and white. And some in dreams assured were Of the Spirit that plagued us so; Nine fathom deep he had followed us From the land of mist and snow. And every tongue, through utter drought, Was withered at the root; We could not speak, no more than if We had been choked with soot. Ah! well-a-day! what evil looks Had I from old and young! Instead of the cross, the Albatross About my neck was hung." ...

I disagree. She changed her appearance, but there is no difference in her character or her goals before/after Dantooine. She was frustrated with the Jedi council, not with the Exile-- instead of seeing the evidence of their mistakes (i.e., the nature of the Exile) and admitting that they were wrong, they sought to destroy her. Kreia stepped in because she could not allow that to happen. In a way, she won. Her goal was to build up the strength and influence of the walking contradiction that is the Exile (via conflict as per Echani philosophy, eventually culminating in conflict with Kreia herself), to the point where she can overcome all Jedi and Sith. The story ends with the Exile seeking out the only remaining force user of any consequence-- Revan. (The Exiles trainees are really the only fly in her ointment.)

I despise them, but I have to admit that Philly is most likely going to wipe the floor with Arizona. The Cards have had a nice run, showing that they can convincingly beat teams that have a good running game, one great WR, and shaky QBing (an effective descriptor of both the ATL and CAR offenses). But there is every reason to believe that the run ends this weekend. The Eagles offense presents problems unlike those they saw in ATL and CAR. Also, the Cardinals' playoff victories to date have been predicated on the opposing offense turning the ball over a lot, and the Eagles are not particularly likely to do that. There's always the chance of an upset in the NFL, but the smart money's all on the Eagles. (I feel dirty just writing that.) BAL-PIT is another matter entirely. 8 quarters of play between these teams so far this season shows that these two are as close as teams get. Neither is perfect (PIT has OL issues in pass-blocking; BAL only has 1 decent receiver), but they're both very strong squads. The Steelers are at home, and looked more impressive last week (most of which is attributable to playing lesser opposition), but I'm taking Baltimore on a hunch that a Roethlisberger sack-fumble turns the game the Ravens' way.

That sounds a lot like what my wife has described to me as what she has done to stave off what feels to her like an oncoming seizure. Good thinking. To employers, bachelor's-level business degrees are code for "my math skills aren't strong enough to do serious econ/stats/accounting."

J.E. is prominent in our thoughts because he communicates a lot with the fanbase, but as I undestand Obsidz' setup, he's nowhere near a "co-leader." The corp has 5 founding officers (F.U., Monahan, and the Chrisses Parker, Avellone, and Jones) who I assume hold the bulk of the equity interest. Josh is an employee with some management responsibility (and good for him for not exploiting that responsibility by asking co-workers to help on his side-project), but he's still just an employee.

So far, Ken Wisenhunt and his staff in Arizona have really done a fantastic job this postseason. Their playcalling on offense and defense has been spot-on in how it attacks the weaknesses of the opposing squad. Go Big Blue!