Gromnir

No, it was not. God damnit. What the hell is wrong with these guys? fallout were funny. what has always confused Gromnir is the # o' hardcore fans who never got the funny. is like the folks who not see the funny in kill bill movies. in any event, owb sounds as if it is kinda a joke on the peoples who never got the funny o' fo. am perhaps curious enough to play. HA! Good Fun!

you got all the "interviews" from the 90's, no? why don't you post numbers? ask for what you can't produce yourself? and as already noted, the Sixth Amendment protections is a pretty substantial fact rebutting your claims. in any event, am not sure what kinda numbers you is looking for, or how you want generated. of defendants accused o' same crime in same jurisdictions, what is % of convictions for persons who earn in top 10% v. bottom 50%... something like that? no doubt there is studies done on such. you got westlaw access? maybe old aba journal articles. is probable a sociologist study as 'posed to a legal one. our career started with the US Attorney's Office before we moved onto first amendment stuff so we got got some personal experience in the field... enough to be able to sniff out nonsense such as the suggestion that wealthy defendants attempt to lengthen the process, or that rich defendants got an edge 'cause they can better fight wire-tap admissibility. but if you want something concrete, we can rundown the top ten most common categories o' crimes committed in the US... makes obvious why wire-tap is pretty rare. *shrug* tv is extreme misleading, and am not knowing who you interviewed in the 90's, but they gave you a distorted view o' reality. oj and michael jackson is needing an answer? HA! Good Fun!

I guess we should point out the difference between rich and wealthy? But point is that corporations and those within can drag cases for years. E.G: the ruling on sexual harassment suits against Walmarts employees and Halliburton (KBR) try not to confuse civil with criminal... is complete different situations. *shrug* no doubt orogun and walsh has impressive expertise regarding the US criminal legal system. perhaps walsh is actual a supreme court judge in ny (ny supreme court is actual the original jurisdiction level.) maybe orgun is a criminal defense attorney? is curious where all the certainty is coming from, eh? HA! Good Fun!

Most importantly a rich client will spin out a case for years if possible, angling for mistrils and every other sort of shenanigan. showing your ignorance? civil trial lawyer motto = Delay, Delay, Delay. is NOT the goal/aim for criminal defense. sixth amendment grants rights to speedy trial in large part to protect defendants from the burdens that accompany a lengthy trial. defense needs to show good cause to drag delay, and all judges look at such efforts with a jaundiced eye. *shrug* as already noted, the US system is skewed in favor of defendants. and as we already observed, rich defendants is more able to make use o' the procedural advantages put in place to benefit all defendants... is a largely unavoidable consequence. nevertheless, there is a long and storied history o' rich folks getting their arse handed to them in US courts. also, while juries frequent go easy on celebrity, they can have a complete opposite reaction to defendants seen as wealthy, particularly in cases that can be presented as resulting from greed. in both civil and criminal trials, juries frequent seem to wanna punish rich folks. is more than a few situations wherein a rich defendant is not gonna wanna have a jury trial. the segment o' society most likely to get stuck with the fuzzy end o' the lollipop in regards to mounting a criminal defense is the middle class. guilt or innocence not alter the fact that being a criminal defendant is expensive. public defenders sometimes gets portrayed as hacks in the media, but the reality is far from the truth. the typical public defender is a competent true-believer who has almost unparalleled experience. sadly, with recent cutbacks due to budget issues, many public defenders offices is now handling ridiculous caseloads. even so, is the middle class that gets screwed more than the poor. a rich and high-profile defendant also typical gets the best effort from the da. looking like you rolled-over for a rich defendant does not look good in the press, eh? say what you will 'bout marcia clark, but she was a very competent prosecutor with a long list o' homicide convictions in her pocket before the oj trial started. heck, she had faced robert shapiro before the oj case, and had come out on top in that encounter. yeah, all things being equal, Gromnir would rather be wealthy and able to afford the best legal representation possible. even so, am thinking that you folks who know the American legal system only through tv shows and newspaper articles got a strange and twisted notion 'bout the degree to which money will grease the wheels o' justice. HA! Good Fun! ps wire-tapping? now that there is hardly any mob cases, the number o' criminal cases with relevant wire-tap evidence is very small. dueling experts, on the other hand, is a factor to consider.

And people were complaining about Mothership Zeta. the nma folks must be suffering collective apoplexy. HA! Good Fun!

aside: great gatsby is an excellent novel, but am much surprised by the fact that it is taught near universal in US high schools. the book does gots universal themes, but am personally not thinking that it ages well. gatsby, the character, is a product o' a unique time in American history. maybe if the novel were taught specific in conjunction with US history classes covering the 1920s... but as the 1920's is not showing up much on standardized tests... *groan* am guessing that is not easy to choose Great books that don't offend anybody... or is 'bout racism. am doubting that being forced to read popular high school fodder such as farewell to manzanar, native son, to kill a mockingbird, kite runner, and night, 'mongst others, has inspired any student to become racist, but am gonna concede that we were sick & tired o' the racism theme in lit by the time we graduated... and that were +20 years ago. seems as if even more novels focusing on racism has been added to the required reading lists since we graduated. tedious and tiresome. nevertheless, leave you with lord o' the flies, catcher in the rye, moby **** and great gatsby once all the racism themed books is removed? is hyperbole... but it seems to close to the truth for comfort. HA! Good Fun!

It's not as if US courts have a good track record of convicting rich people. Look at OJ and Jackson. Murdoch's fortune would hire literally a battalion of lawyers. wow. 2 examples? wanna bet that we can come up with more than 2 examples o' famous folks found guilty? *chuckle* in any event, the appropriate question is whether or not American courts is good at convicting the guilty. the thing is, they ain't. "better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer" walsh might wanna look up the origin o' that quote... might be surprised. in any event, the aforementioned words is a cornerstone o' American criminal jurisprudence, and am gonna suggest that the numbers is skewed much more in favor o' the defendant than 10:1. benjamin franklin suggested that 100:1 were more appropriate. the system is designed advantageous to the defendant. is rich folks more able to take advantage o' a system built to favor a defendant? sure they is. nevertheless, give two examples and draw a conclusion? HA! oh, and btw, oj were convicted in a criminal court in 2008... got something like 30 years. HA! Good Fun!

actually, morgoth sounds more "bonkers" than tarpley. you ain't helping your case with the little mini-rants. *shrug* even so, am thinking it is relevant to be mentioning tarpley's fringe views, no? you believe tarpley simply 'cause he says what you want to hear, but we suspect others here is a bit more discerning. oh, and US free speech protections is far more meaningful than in pretty much any country in europe, so perhaps you is confused 'bout what "God Emperor Obama" can do 'bout Americans who has opinions that seem "bonkers." HA! Good Fun!

morgoth's origin posts in this thread do not support your observation. btw, webster tarpley, the guy being interviewed in the first post, is a very bright man... who has spent the last decade trying to convince folks that 9/11 were actual perpetrated by a rogue intelligence group supported by the military industrial complex... and he thinks global warming is a hoax too. sooooooooooooo. HA! Good Fun!

"Lol, that's what you call reputable? " nope. we said that you, and anybody else, can find reputable sources using those keywords. am gonna leave up to you to maintain your ignorance... or not. is actual kinda telling as your reaction is kinda the norm 'ccording to historians such as bruce pauley and gerhad botz-- austrian willful ignorance o' antisemitism is typical. is not historians writing 'bout austria circa 1940, but rather austria from pre ww 1 to 2000+. "So you had some bad experiences in Europe, I see. Ohh, what country(s)?" we had good experiences in europe. however, as a minority we found the bigotry in europe no better than the US. HA! Good Fun! ps am gonna concede that prof. pauley were given some kinda award by austria in spite o' his harsh portrayal o' antisemitism in austria.... and we has only read excerpts from the books by botz, pelinka and safrian.

And what kind of "reputable sources" would that be? Names? I don't get it. Last time (I think 2 years ago) somebody bit off the finger of a Rabbi. It turned out to be an angry Muslim. Well, **** happens. Best bomb Austria from Orbit for this crime. Maybe some of the older generations in their 80s and 90s (and mostly Viennese) have a rude spout. But that breed is dying out eventually. We're heading into the right direction, while the US is going backwards. You still haven't adressed my remarks on Antisemitishm in the US. again, do your own search as we not wanna be the cause o' further problems. type in words such as: karl pfeifer, antisemitism, austria, musllim, women, headscarf, jorg haider, etc. as for US antisemitism? sure it exists... is lots o' racism in the United States. your point? heck, you already forget our Pine Ridge post? *snort* is relative. ethnic diversity is much less pronounced in austria... homogeneous. but again, you wanna start a Austria is Not Antisemitic Thread, then be our guest. can see this one spiraling outta control. as an obvious minority living in europe, we were able to see firsthand how peoples were treated compared to in the US. didn't surprise us that in most places were treated with polite animosity. what did surprise us were the kinda endemic sneer folks reserved for US... were a surprise 'cause somehow once folks got to know Gromnir, they seemed unable to shrug off preconceptions. Americans is fat and stoopid. we were neither, and yet they refused to accept that maybe their preconceptions were skewed. you likes to finger-point, but you not deal so well when the finger points back at you, eh? btw, we got no problem with europe... save for the element o' snot-nosed brats who seeming like to find American Evil under every rock. we got the same element here in the US, so don't act as if we is singling out euros or austrians. you is angry that we suggest that austria is a non-factor since ww 1? well, from a geopolitical, cultural and economic pov, austria is... marginal. not makes it a bad place to live for most citizens. not makes you evil. HA! Good Fun!

Austria was the first country officially acknowledging Islam in 1908 in any European country. Also, last time I checked, we don't have much trouble with Muslims in Austria. 6% of the total population, but quite well integrated apart from some Turkish gangs trying to show who's the boss here. We don't have those ugly things going on like in the UK, Sweden etc. Also what do you mean with disturbing "recent history" with Jews? Unless 1938 is recent to you? Again, Jews are a growing minority here, because they apparently like it here. Unlike in the US, which has a fastly growing Neo-Nazi movement and lot's of Antisemitism (those Jewish Bankers should all go into prison wha wha!). ... am not gonna turn this into an austria bashing thread. will simply suggest that anybody with an internet search engine can looks for antisemitism in austria and be struck with a deluge o' info from reputable sources... and am not even gonna touch your neo-nazi comments. our views is based on personal experience in europe as well as from dealing with free speech and freedom o' religion colleagues in europe. if you honestly think austria not gots a strong, lingering antisemitic streak, then we suggest you is as self-deluded 'but your own nation as you is 'bout the Evils o' the US in libya. on the lighter side, Gromnir most often sees springfield armory 1911 variations at shooting competitions and have been told that they is the bestest handgun available for such events. while we personally cannot accurately fire a handgun to save our life, it is kinda amazing to see that updated colt .45's is still the premiere competition sidearm. though admittedly, we loves our karabiner 98k and we always attract a circle o' admirers at the range. HA! Good Fun!

ray white, a us geneticist, is the guy credited with pioneering dna fingerprinting. hot dogs and hand guns? am surprised you not mention freud, or were that too long ago? *snort* you ain't really gonna try and deny the antisemitism stuff is you? not wanna turn this into a austria-bashing thread, but austria's recent history with jews and muslims is... disturbing. but yeah, you got hand guns and hot dogs. HA! Good Fun!

non- factor v. backwater? now you split hairs. haven't been relevant since the end o' ww1, and am not gonna get into austrian contributions during ww2. am suspecting that the only thing that austria leads europe or world in is antisemitism... though spain and switzerland may have you beat with the jew and muslim discrimination in europe. HA! Good Fun!

I'm not imagining the US as a "Big Bad". The US has produced some of the smartest heads and personally, the Europeans owe it America to help them out if they ever get in serious trouble, just like America saved Europe from the Nazi menace and helped propping up devastated countries, including Austria. I've a lot respect for the US' (past). But even you must see that something skewed goes on in Washington DC. And Wall Street. something skewed goes on everywhere... if you look hard. and you is doing a real good impersonation o' somebody who sees American evils everywhere... this thread being only the most recent example o' your typical American Paranoia. to krez we were implying that austria is a euro backwater, not the eu as a whole. but trying to lump all european nations together to rate education, economy, tech, etc., is silly, no? HA! Good Fun!

"Soon the US and UK will be bancrupt, and nobody will shed a tear. Good riddance." "Well, we shall find out sooner than later." am not gonna retread and explore the stoopidity o' such a statements... on multiple levels, but if "sooner" is 20+ years... *shrug* look, we understand that as an austrian you is particular sensitive 'bout being "bullied" by more powerful nations, but the envy/wishful thinking is making you seem more than a little irrational. am understanding your desire to see an imagined Big Bad becomes marginalized, but you shouldn't hold your breath waiting. you have, at the very least, Decades o' US supremacy to endure 'fore you get your wish. and if such a collapse were to occur, it would be felt with cries o' despair even in euro backwaters. oh, and the +40 million food stamp recipients is not the result o' more impoverished Americans, but rather the result o' the repeal o' welfare reform. is extreme cases o' millionares with no monthly income is collecting food stamps. HA! Good Fun! ps the "snot-nosed euros" is not ever gonna be the ones the US gotta endure as that were directed at you personal rather than euros in general.

O'RLY? http://theintelhub.com/2011/06/23/the-ugly...ato-war-crimes/ you use lindauer as a source? "former cia asset" lindauer? *groan* why can't people let that poor woman alone? she is extreme earnest, but her story is just... sad. is not fun, not fun at all.

am far from downplaying. we suggested that there is enormous negative implications to the debt cycle spending, and in the past we has noted that the situation is dire... critical even. in the long run it would be better if there were a small US financial collapse now, 'cause in 15 or 20 years the cataclysm will be many times worse... and not just worse for the US, but for the world. so no, we ain't downplaying. we thinks the problem is fast approaching a point-of-no-return and the long-term implications is staggering. 'course that don't change that morgoth is talking out his arse. 'cept in morgoth wet dreams there is no imminent collapse, and you is sadly stuck with US military and financial superpower status for a considerable number o' years. what this thread does reveal is that some folks has created such a boogie man out o' the US that you suffer from the same kinda endemic and self-conflicted stoopidity that the soviet embraced during +50 years following ww2: you see US EVIL everywhere, while at the same time you long/dream/anticipate an immediate US collapse. the US is taking a backseat in libya, but still morgoth sees the Evil Empire pulling the strings. *snort* and btw, let us try not to forget that Gromnir loathes many aspects o' the US, and actual has valid reasons for our hate. unlike some snot-nosed euro who reads 'bout American evils while enduring your delusional envy, Gromnir grew up at Pine Ridge. we learned to hunt before we could ride a bike 'cause we rare had enough to eat as a child. there were one month during the winter of 77 when the only thing our family had to eat were jiffy pop (recovered from a crate that had literal fallen off a truck) and ketchup... had ketchup soup more days than we can recall during that winter. lack o' needed heat during winters. intermittent running water during summers. insufficient medical care 'til we were in our teens. Pine Ridge, while not as bad today as it were in the 70's, has child mortality rates that is worse than many 3rd world countries, and you is unlikely to find worse numbers for alcoholism and suicide outside o' active war zones. so, you think we go out of our way to defend the US? bah. nevertheless, in spite o' our... problems with the US, we does not ignore its relative global power. also, having taught and traveled in europe, we has the advantage o' perspective. we has seen what is the alternatives. preachy little... HA! Good Fun!

you is complete ignoring the relative amounts being invested if you compare say hungary with US. china admits to purchasing good will in europe... relative cheap. is not anywhere near proportional to the mind-boggling billion US investment. even so, if we accept morgoth's ridiculous proposition regarding imminent US collapse as a given, then the chinese is throwing away billions of future dollars to be getting... what? am thinking you overestimate the impact of 10-year bond monies on US business and consumer purchases o' chinese product. some suggest that the chinese act criminal, but nobody suggests that they is as criminally stoopid as moroth would have us believe. "Either way, the US is in a lots of debt, and debtor nations don't have a lot to say, it's the creditor nations that will eventually make policy." rrrrrriiiiiightt. is now safe to ignore morgoth on all things monetary as well as political. yeah, there is enormous negative implications for nations such as US and Japan concerning debt. such debt should be viewed as critical, but you is being willful ignorant if you wanna marginalize the impact o' such nations. HA! Good Fun!

No, a war usually never makes sense. what a bunch o' piffle. wars Always make sense. to get large numbers of folks fight each other in deadly combat requires a reason. only the barest fraction o' empathy is required to make sense o' any war. now maybe morgoth's middle-class, socialist pretensions is giving him the kinda clarity whereby he can makes a judgement that wars is typical unnecessary, but that is a complete different issue. fight over religion or land or resources or 'cause o' fear is reasons that may seem unnecessary to somebody like morgoth, but even he should be able to recognize that there is always a reason for many persons to collectively and willingly engage in life and death struggles. HA! Good Fun! ps we see that morgoth still gots some weird notions 'bout the stability o' the US. *sigh* am gonna keep simple and suggest that morgoth looks to china investment in 10-year US treasury bonds. china is not investing heavily in eu or japan, and for good reason(s). on the other hand, china invests huge in US bonds. is no wacky conspiracy... is no chinese plot. china is literal banking on a decade o' US stability.

kotor 2 even recognizing just how clumsy the climax and denouement o' kotor 2 were handled, obsidian's first game is still our favorite... by no small margin. HA! Good Fun!

you don't get it, do you? it Must be the fault o' the US. the US is Evil, so if evil happens in the world, there is a good chance that the US is responsible. HA! morgoth is just being true to form. a US led war that were presented as some kinda quick stroll in the park? heck, he can simply go back to some o' the libya posts on this board to see links to Reputable sources that were predicting that the libya conflict would be long and bloody. some euros may see as ironic that it were the absence o' US command experience and resources that exacerbated the situation in libya, but truth-to-tell, the failure to have political goals match commitment o' resources were identified from the start as problematic. others, such as morgoth, simply find some way to convince self that the US is the Big Bad yet again. HA! Good Fun! ps am gonna once again reiterate that we will happily watch libya burn while other european nations take a majority o' the heat for the conflagration. the rebels and the loyalists hate the US already, so no matter who wins, the situation for the US will not change appreciably. is not as if the complete instability in libya will result in more terrorist activities directed at the US, 'least nopt for the next few years. let the tribal factions slaughter each other for a change, and when the dust finally settles, they can go back to hating the US... but by then they is gonna hate the french and uk with almost equal venom.

Ulysses is the reader moved? is the reader a better person for having read the work? great literature reveals to us truths 'bout the human condition we may not have recognized. 'course not all lit is meant to enlighten. some lit is mere meant to entertain. the books we likes best is both profound AND entertaining. our reading o' Ulysses were neither profound nor entertaining. were a tedious (as 'posed to challenging) read that made us long for it to end. ack. sure, joyce is is a fantastic writer. can even argue that he is the bestest writer o' english novels and short fiction with only a handful o' others making up a list o' viable challengers. am even willing to concede that Ulysses is well-written. 'course we still hate it. joyce intended to write a book so profound and dense that it would require scholars to be spending their entire careers to fully plumb its depths. *groan* am calling it self-indulgent piffle. we hate Ulysses, and we not mind admitting. HA! Good Fun!

well, you can feels justified in dismissing pidesco comments... if that makes you feel better. "I can enjoy the characters I empathized with in the show, and I can appreciate the sense of amoral political intrigue the plot creates, but it's still clumsy, mechanical and poorly suited for prose, really." this coming from somebody who lauds tolkien? while tolkien typically takes a beating in academia (outside o' a notable university in england,) his stories IS well-loved. but even amongst the scholars who adore tolkien (snort) you will see an admission that tolkien's prose is, at best, "clumsy" and "mechanical." nobody has outdone tolkien in building a complete and coherent english mythology. nevertheless, is general accepted that tolkien were only an adequate wordsmith. so, feel free to dismiss pidesco opine... 'cause am seeing an irredeemable conflict that effective undercuts pidesco judgement regarding fantasy lit. HA! Good Fun!

It's not really a good example if you haven't actually played it, ffs. sure it is. our point were not that arrival were bad dlc. the point were that in spite o' our reservations regarding arrival, we almost purchased solely 'cause it were presented as advancing core story aspects. HA! Good Fun!