Gromnir

... hyperbole, right? that better be hyperbole. *shrug* as we stated earlier, we think that based on the video and released reports, the actions o' the university cop in question were over-the-top. we don't have enough info to be confident in our pov, but that is our impression. that being said, we thinks some folks in this thread is being ridiculous. hypothetical based on initial true facts: a bunch o' folks in Gromnir's neighborhood discover that we is representing some high-profile gang members in a first amendment case. the concerned parents gets organized and actually hold a protest on the street in front o' our home. high point o' our career. shoulda' taken more pictures. (end of reality) ok, now imagine that the protesters decide to camp out on our front lawn. hmmmm. is not as funny no more... trampling our lawn and breaking sprinkler heads? *grumble* nevertheless, we figure that the protesters is gonna eventual leave when they get tired. unexpected turn of events: the protesters set up Camp in our yard. they pitch tents, and have campfires and use our water. huh? even so, Gromnir endures for some time... days... weeks. unfortunately, the protester/squatters is hardly organized. bad things begin to happen with more regularity. some fights occasional break out in our yard as drunk protesters fight over nothing. we find used condoms and garbage in our rose bushes and agapanthus. oh, and btw, the protesters is NOT walking all the way to the nearest public restroom whenever they needs to relieve themselves. the protesters is a nuisance, and they is creating a growing health and safety concern. and guess what, since the occupiers is being open and notorious in their squatting, Gromnir may eventual be subject to multiple civil suits. (the above examples is the ennumerated reasons for ejecting the ucd protesters... though no mention o' roses and agapanthus.) what to do? we call the cops and ask for help. we says, "please remove the protesters from our property." unfortunately, when the cops arrive, the protesters refuse to leave. the protesters sit outside our door and dare the cops to move'em. what to do? should cops throw up hands and leave? is not a good choice from Gromnir's pov. ... would we want the cops to spray a dozen seated protesters to encourage them to leave? would we want to be demonized on tv for demanding the expulsion o' the filth on our lawn? no. wait til 2:00 am when fewer folks is 'round and then dismantle the makeshift camp. if the few protesters who is in our yard at that time still refuse to move, then single out the mostest mouthy bastard and spray him. one example gets as much mileage as twelve. spray is less likely to result in injury to the cop or the protester, so we got no problem with using spray, but use reasonable and rational. nep's weapon distinction is not particular compelling. cops is more likely to injure protesters by physically moving 'em and cuffing 'em. cops is more likely to get injured if they put hands on protesters. so, what is the difference 'tween ucd and Gromnir's hypothetical? the fact that ucd is a big organization and that Gromnir is a private citizen makes no difference, Nor Should It. Gromnir deserves no more protection than UCD just 'cause we is small-time. how 'bout public v. private property? nope. is loads o' cases that show that "public property" is not some kinda open area for protest. can't set up a table outside a post office on a sidewalk, so why should you gets to set up a camp on campus. that being said, parks and streets does gets gets special first amendment consideration for protesting. at ucd the locale were a quad at a public university, so maybe you got "public forum"... but even a public forum does not necessarily give protesters free reign to camp out indefinitely... 'specially when the protesters is creating genuine health and safety problems. we has seen a number o' people serious injured when being restrained and cuffed. as we noted in another thread, we were admonished when we worked corrections 'cause we preferred to lay-on-hands as 'posed to using spray. the reason the supervisors criticized us is 'cause they believed that we was creating an unnecessary danger to self, residents and other staff. spray were believed to be a much safer alternative... safer for everybody involved. we not got specific numbers to back up other than those provided in our links above (am wondering if anybody actual read the doj report), but spray is widely accepted as safer. spray IS safer, but our problem with spray is probable resulting from the fact that it is so much safer. some folks is too comfortable using spray. spray is NOT particularly dangerous compared to any kind o' grappling and is far less likely to result in officer discipline, so some officers is less restrained when using spray. fear is not always a bad thing. fear keeps people from doing stoopid stuff... or it should. HA! Good Fun!

first given the misinformation in the article, we would be very suspicious o' the coughing up blood claim. how the heck does that even happen unless the guy already has a bleeding ulcer or some such? having worked corrections, we is sad to admit that we has seen literally dozens (if not hundreds) of people pepper sprayed, and we never saw no coughing of blood. sounds like bs *shrug* we already admitted that this one guy appeared to be going over-the-top with the spray, but recall your original comment, "Wow. I didn't know pepper spray was that common in America. Kind of tragic. Your cops are pretty ****ed up." you is taking way too much for granted from one clear inaccurate article. anecdote from corrections... just for fun. 'bout 30 minutes before the end o' our night shift we is doing a room check. while residents is locked down you gotta peek in each room every 10 minutes, plus one random, per hour. is our last room check o' the night before going home and getting some sleep. do some paperwork, fill-in next shift, then drive home and sleep the sleep o' the dead. anywho, we peeks in one room and see *aison standing over his sink, rubbing something on his face. what the *uck? "hey *aison, what the *uck are you doing?" *aison slowly, creepy slow, turns his head and just kinda smiles at us. now just so you understand, *aison is a very large fellow, at least 300 lbs, and he stinks. Gromnir is no push-over, but particularly with so little time left o' our shift, we do not wanna have to deal with *aison. we had been forced to "dip" *aison in the past when he attacked some peckerwood in the showers. was not our favorite memory. wrestling an angry (and possibly insane) fat, wet, naked, black behemoth in a shower... protecting some 105 lb skinhead from getting killed? not again. even worse, Gromnir would needs to author an incident report if *aison caused a ruckus before we left the unit, and that would take us at least an additional 30 minutes. *groan* "look, I am serious. what the *uck are you doing?" *aison lifts his right hand and shows us the pulpy remains o' a crushed orange gripped in his meaty fist. with a deep, raspy voice, *aison says, "Rub it in your eyes... makes the spray hurt less." our jaw probable drops... not sure. whatever. "I don't care what you have planned, but you are going to stow that $hit for at least thirty minutes. You got that?" *aison smiles again and then finally gives us a brief nod before going back to his bunk. Gromnir returns to the bubble and informs our co-staff 'bout *aison. we then go home and sleep unconcerned. three days pass and then Gromnir is back at work. sure enough *aison went ape and attacked multiple residents and staff at breakfast not long after we had left him sitting in his room rubbing orange remains into his eyes. we gave him extra pop-tarts that eve. HA! Good Fun!

as stated below, we ain't a proponent o' pepper spray, but krez should be a bit more discerning when looking for factual evidence via the web. in fact, the doj report cited in the article linked actual breaks down the ~70 (actual number = 73) reported cases o' pepper spray-related deaths as follows: 10 cases excluded as no pepper spray was actually used. in all remaining cases, save 5, pepper spray were complete excluded as a possible cause o' death. "For pepper spray to cause death, it would have to make breathing difficult by closing or narrowing the bronchial tubes. The subject would have to struggle to both inhale and exhale. These effects would be noticeable shortly after the application of pepper spray. Yet, except for the two cases in which the subjects were classified as asthmatics, comments regarding breathing (other than

again, who are you talking to? you really hate scarecrows, no? you must, 'cause the way you beat on those strawmen is kinda spooky. as for "selling out to foreigners" as an excuse... HA! free speech is meaningless if you censor ideas and words due to popularity. again, look at the Chinese reasoning for censoring... sounds much like wal excuses. keep a harmonious society? bah. all minority opinions is unpopular... is the reason why they is MINORITY opinions. and the fact that you used perceived government legitimacy as a justifiable reason to limit Individual Liberties is a wonderfully illustrative example o' the hypocrisy we noted earlier. individual liberty rights exist to protect people from the government, not the other way around. sheesh. HA! Good Fun!

There's a slight difference between acts committed by people in white hoods and those with stars on their uniforms walk into any mall or bank in the US and you will see folks with stars on uniforms. doesn't mean as much as you suggest. in alabama and mississippi, the guys with white hoods often also have stars on their uniforms. *shrug* and no, there really isn't much of a distinction, unless you can somehow show that the action of the University cop in question was actually the result of some sort of state-sponsored policy or directive. one college campus cop with pepper-spray does not a policy make. having worked in a correctional facility at the time when pepper-spray was first becoming popular, am gonna say that we was disturbed by how quickly security personnel grabbed for the spray. we were originally trained in MAB (managing aggressive behavior) and Pain Compliance. both mab and pain compliance inevitably result in having to lay hands on a "resident." as soon as you put hands on a resident, bad and unexpected things can happen. an arm-bar with a circle down to a prone position Should be simple, but it frequent is not. too much pressure, or dealing with a particular resistant resident, and you gots to explain a sprained wrist, broken arm or snapped collar bone. pepper spray, on the other hand, typical results in little serious damage. yeah, it looks nasty, but is usually less dangerous than MAB or PC techniques. still, am gonna concede that we thinks that the availability o' pepper spray were a negative in the long run. some folks who woulda' talked their way outta a conflict before the advent o' spray now simply reach for their canister as soon as somebody fails the "attitude test." ... we were actual warned to quit using major outer-reap throws. we never actual serious injured anybody, but we were questioned why we did not use pepper spray in such situations. residents would get aggressive or wanna fight, and Gromnir would end problem asap. we hated spray, particularly in confined areas. even so, we were very resistant to ever lay hands on a person. spray availability removes the natural reluctance o' sane people to avoid altercations. HA! Good Fun!

am assuming the aforementioned is just random, non-sequitur gibberish, 'cause nobody we seen has suggested that "all thoughts are innocuous." ideas can be terrible and powerful, but no legit government is afraid o' the free exchange o' ideas. there is many options for dealing with dark thoughts 'mongst the populace, but censorship of thoughts is antithetical to the liberty notions embraced in most free societies. HA! Good Fun! snip is a funny picture... just not relevant. the uc davis cops were enforcing University policies and not some kinda state-sanctioned violence. supposedly the cops were surrounded and felt threatened, but we don't see it in the videos. regardless, is just a funny photoshop bit. go ahead and show us a picture o' a cross-burning in alabama or missisipi. is hardly some kinda proof that the US supports or embraces kkk activities. HA! Good Fun! ps removed the pic from the quote to reduce clutter

am assuming the aforementioned is just random, non-sequitur gibberish, 'cause nobody we seen has suggested that "all thoughts are innocuous." ideas can be terrible and powerful, but no legit government is afraid o' the free exchange o' ideas. there is many options for dealing with dark thoughts 'mongst the populace, but censorship of thoughts is antithetical to the liberty notions embraced in most free societies. HA! Good Fun!

legitimate governments have nothing to fear from the free exchange of ideas, regardless o' whether or not those ideas could possibly disrupt a "harmonious" society. 'course, before all the europeans nod agreement, keeps in mind that virtual all western nations (save for one or two notable exceptions) has laws that criminalize speech that has a tendency to offend identifiable religious, ethnic, or cultural groups. the argument for limiting rude speech is 'cause o' the tendency to disrupt harmonious society, no? yeah, the degree to which pakistan and china tends to censor is greater than in the average eu state, but am thinking that a looksee in the mirror might be necessary to be avoiding some blatant hypocrisy. HA! Good Fun!

the world you live in must be a strange and frightening place. HA! Good Fun!

about morgoth being a nutter? is possible. hasn't he written near 50 books, and lord knows how many short stories? eventually he is gonna have no choice but to write 'bout morgoth. HA! Good Fun!

cheap food? is many inexpensive options that is tasting good, BUT you gotta be careful if you is also wanting to stay healthy. cheapest chicken parts is legs and thighs... avoid boneless and skinless options and you can gets drumsticks and thighs for extreme cheap. pollo asado is a good option although it does require some citrus to makes complete. chop up a tomato, a bunch o' cilantro, onion and serve in tortillas. if you wann splurge, add a smidge o' cheese. most roasting and soup/boil options for chicken will be cheap. 'course legs and thighs is dark meat and less healthy than breast meat. pork shoulder and butt roasts can be providing enough meat to feed a small army. apples is cheap at the moment as it is fall, so you can easy find braising recipes that include apples and pork resulting in a very cheap and delicious meal... but pork is fatty. red meats is typical more expensive than chicken and pork, but the tougher cuts can be relative inexpensive. is not hard to find chuck roast on sale for costs equal to boneless chicken breast meat. is few things as tasty as a well-crafted pot roast... use cross-rib/shoulder cut and you can either braise (pot roast) or dry roast for roast beef that is Christmas Diner worthy. 'course, the tougher cuts o' red meat is hardly lean. meatloaf is only cheap if you is using loads o' stuff that ain't actual meat. two keys for meatloaf: 1) grate your onion as it will makes the loaf more moist, 2) cook on a broiling pan to allow grease to drip away-- hand-form the loaf. genuine cheap and healthy? go with lentil recipes. lentils gots almost all the proteins a person needs to stay healthy-- effective meat substitute. can makes lentil chili, soups and monk/monastery lentils. http://www.food.com/recipe/monastery-lentils-41384. use classic french proportions o' onion, celery and carrot 2:1:1 as well as 2qts homemade chicken stock (cheap) and a lb of green lentils for the start o' a very good soup... salt, pepper, and cumin to taste. unlike other "beans" lentils does not require an over-night soaking. green and yellow peas works great for soups and dal. cheap, but some folks hate peas. black beans, red beans and kidney beans is also a good cornerstone ingredient. a lb o' dry beans is cheap and may be used in any number o' filling and tasty dishes. red beans and rice typical includes sausage or some other kinda meat, but the meat is not necessary. rice is dangerous if you is avoiding carbs in your diet, but is cheap. combine wild and brown rice for a healthy alternative to white rice... but wild rice is not as cheap (or as tasty) as white rice options. you can end up looking like a sumo wrestler by eating nothing but fish, green leafy veggies, and white rice, so beware. is easy to eat cheap and tasty, but eat cheap, tasty, and healthy is a bit more difficult. HA! Good Fun! ps since austerity were mentioned, we will also note that in the unrelated "deserted island" scenario, we would wanna have a big bag o' lentils and booze. neither is gonna be immediate perishable, and booze is high carbs and lentils is high protein. can live for a good long time on nothing but booze and lentils.

"pathetic"? am thinking the correct word is "surreal." you give us feedback regarding the site maintenance o' the game you got a needs to announce indifference regarding? Bwahhhhaaaahhhaaahhh! keep posting. please. HA! Good Fun!

coming from the guy who feels need to post at obsidian his indifference 'bout a beta invite to a bioware game he volunteered to be testing? first pretends as if sign-up were accidental before doing some silly and unnecessary backpedaling? rrrrriiiiiiigggghhhhhtttttt. am perhaps slandering vol by placing you in a similar category. HA! Good Fun! ps have fun in your beta weekend. anybody wanna take bets as to whether or not morg joins the beta... whether he admits or not?

more strawman. blow outta proportion by noting silliness and linking bugs bunny? *chuckle* and now you can recall checking box And your feelings at the time? you have convenient powers o' recollection. whatever. maroon. HA! Good Fun!

beat that strawman a bit harder. where did anybody claim you were a fanboy? and is no "oops." those things is pretty clear marked. you volunteered. you registered at forums AND volunteered for testing. now you gonna come to obsidian and announce indifference? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_Kh7nLplWo HA! Good Fun!

to be selected you must needs have volunteered/applied. after having volunteered AND been selected, you then comes to an unrelated game developer's board to announce your indifference via a snarky post? ... you has clearly surpassed vol standards o' irrationality. HA! Good Fun! ps (edited) no need for us to repeat raithe.

Bioware are unable to do dark, only insane or duchy is not "can't." ... perspective can be useful. am recalling the thread on the da:o thread on the bio boards in which we pushed hard for the biowarins to explain their definition o' "dark." the thread were predictable chaos. you see, is pretty much impossible to find a definition o' "dark" that any sizable % o' people is gonna agree 'pon. even worse, the thread made it patently obvious that a very significant % o' bio-board posters didn't want anything that genuine smacked o' dark. a great many bio fans were quite clear that they were wanting traditional (which ain't genuine traditional) heroes, villains and situations in which they could affect "perfect" happily-ever-after resolutions. those demanding cotton candy and sunshine were numerous, and they were including more than a few vocal and respected community members. Gromnir were genuinely surprised at the resistance to "dark" even w/o a clear defined definition o' dark. bio response: da:o will be "dark, but not too dark." that is an actual quote. honest. hope for bio dark pretty much died that day. ask self how it is possible to write dark characters and scenario w/o those characters and scenario being too dark for the candylanders looking for happily ever afters for all. if you is genuine trying to satisfy the sunshine brigade's demands, you cannot possibly write dark... regardless o' your definition o' dark. is not that bio can't write dark, but they is making a conscious effort to keeps the happily-ever-after contingent satisfied. were quite possible the most disheartening game-board thread we ever read. HA! Good Fun!

Funnily enough all I smell is a man who hasn't mastered the arcane art of getting people to do things because they are fun and challenging. It's perfectly possible. _You_ simply can't do it. Which begs the question why you're so proud of that fact. Although it does explain why you are so hostile to the suggestion that it's easy. again with the nonsense. random guy at a skate park trying to tell us what is fun is bad enough, but suggesting that we should or would Buy random-guy suggestions? if you knew anything 'bout coaching, you would know that it ain't as easy as it looks, and getting kids to buy-in right from the start is extreme important. even then, telling us that you could get a bunch o' skater kids to purchase your challenge suggestions is so utter ridiculous that we not take any pride in being able to see through your nonsense. sure, if tony hawk (is tony hawk too old... we do not know current skater pantheon) showed up to a skate park and made suggestions, we bet kids would be falling all over themselves to complete suggested challenges, but even tony hawk would have a hard time Selling the challenges. Buy My Book of Challenge Suggestions. utter ridiculous. btw, am guessing you ain't tony hawk. lord knows we hope you ain't suggesting that you doing josh challenges is akin to skater kid wanting to impress tony hawk. well, at least wal has mastered the arcane art o' the absurd. btw, the game itself is 'posed to be the thing that is fun and challenging. takes a serious paucity o' creativity to needs pay somebody extra to give you challenges to makes a $50 fun. HA! Good Fun!

Unfortunately for you, my dried husk of a human, I am a former sports coach and teacher. you is nuts. Gromnir has also coached (american football and rugby) and so we can again smell your crappola. at least tale suggests adding the medal/trophy/token aspect to makes more plausible. and yeah, we is fully aware that gamers does indeed pursue and takes pride in such nonsense. that were the point. identifying challenge fascination as a highwater mark o' gamer absurdity would be pointless if gamers did not actual exhibit the behavior you indicate. duh. HA! Good Fun!

is tough to tell if people is serious when they is speaking absurd. costs millions o' dollars and loads o' man hours from highly skilled individuals to makes a modern video game, movie, tv show or other form o' entertainment. is not possible for Gromnir, or the average gamer, to makes an aaa game. we pay for obsidian skills. we get entertained... usually. so, what skillz is we paying for when we get challenges and achievements? why is an achievement or challenge developed by obsidian any more significant than a vol or gorth created achievement? if mk cannot see a difference, then we will be happy to set up a paypal account so you may subsidize Gromnir's new cottage industry: independent achievements. for a nominal fee, we will create a list o' challenges and appropriate rewards for your eventual success in completing. send you little signed certificates... maybe even some gold stars. isn't that swell? any yutz can create challenges and achievements for a game that already exists. pay some yutz for the right feel warm and fuzzy 'cause we overcame a game computer game challenge? so, the question remains: are you serious? HA! Good Fun!

clarification: keep in mind that wal and tale is coming at this challenge thing from two different directions. wal thinks the challenges is kewl. the fact that josh asks you to do X amount o' damage with a bozar is kewl. tale, on the other hand, suggests that the digital trophy is the lure. ... we don't get either pov, but is worth noting that you is talking different aspects. if gaider had suggested that we should play bg2 w/o using any healing spells, the game would not have been more worthy o' purchase... and if we had actual bothered to complete bg2 w/o use o' healing spells and our interplay/black isle message board account sudden became emblazoned with something likes a military ribbon bar, we woulda' been more embarrassed than proud. we don't get it... and we suspect that most non-gamers don't get it either. HA! Good Fun!

Yes, but not all that many empires actually brought their name to be the common reference for sneaky, intricate, complicated maneuverings - ie; Byzantine we wouldn't read too much into the etymology of a single word in the english language. HA! Good Fun!

eh? what planet are you from? rewards for competition is very real... is why children is taught to seek the Win at early ages. is a primitive and real drive to compete for food, sex, shelter, etc. winner lives. more "advanced" cultures has not genuine changed. the guy with the best test scores and grades gets to go to the best schools. there can be very real and tangible rewards for excelling at sports, and winning in competition is a mark o' excellence. we still compete and gets rewarded daily. maybe is not tooth and nail competition for base survival, but we still compete for sex and money... even in those backwards socialist countries. is just plain sad if completionist trophies is the gamer's substitute for the rational and real rewards o' competition. HA! Good Fun! ps keep in mind that Gromnir is not advocating some kinda ulta-competitive mentality. is extreme unhealthy when everything in a person's life is competition. nevertheless, we thinks it would be a bit myopic to suggest that rewards for competition is irrational.

The Byzantines had a mass of political maneuverings, infighting, backstabbing and general fun and games going on. The Imperial Court, the Bureaucracy, the Nobility, the Soldiers, and that's only keeping to what was happening within the Empire. Take in the efforts of the Persians as neighbours... They also had the cold war and on/off border skirmishes and outright short wars over a few centuries. Something that the Sith Inquisitor should have a good handle on. So therefore, someone with knowledge of how that sort of stuff actually happens.. is more likely to produce an interesting setup then someone who has no clue at all. is tough to recollect an empire that didn't have "a mass of political maneuverings, infighting, backstabbing and general fun and games going on." dunno. Gromnir has almost no knowledge o' star wars old republic lore beyond the bioware and obsidian games, so am not sure how much byzantium parallels the sith. *shrug* IF rebecca is a competent writer, then real life historical influences is unlikely to hurt. she gots a source o' inspiration that might not be available to the average game writer. HA! Good Fun!

Now let's try exchanging the word challenge for trophy, medal, ring, ribbon, or belt. Not only will people pay to try for those things, other people will pay to watch them try. am not certain that this an accurate parallel, is it? use skate park analogy again. try to sell completion medals to kids at the local skate park. you is not giving out medals or trophies for competition, but for completion o' arbitrary tricks. if you pay a fee, you gets a little medal for each verified trick completed. am s'posing this might sell... for 'bout ten seconds. medals and trophies don't mean a heck o' a lot to anybody 'less they is won and exclusive. if everybody gets, then where is the thrill? am s'posing it takes a gamer to see the thrill in wal examples. we beat Joliet Catholic for the sectional championship is a bit different than a digital token for completing an arbitrary game challenge... a challenge created by some developer schnook. HA! Good Fun.