PacDragon

Reply to People say games encourage killing... in Console Games JoeUser Forums

I heard something similar from my grandmother when I was in high school. She had pretty bad dementia (it's like alzheimer's) and couldn't remember one moment to the next. When she was visiting, and I saw how shitty my parents were being to her, I decided to kidnap her for a few days. Took her to movies, parties, the arcade, got her high with my friends, etc. She had no ability to narc on me and seemed to be having the time of her life. Anyway, we were

Reply to What was I thinking? Is online dating worth the effort? in Dating JoeUser Forums

I don't know, I still got a lot of those feelings. The first time I saw my wife walking down the hallway of her apartment building for our blind date, I had a stomach full of butterflies. You're not going to get that same reaction looking at someone online, but that's only a very small part of it. When you actually meet that person face to face, all the emotional stuff is very present. Yes, you don't know who they /really/ are, but that's the

Reply to What was I thinking? Is online dating worth the effort? in Dating JoeUser Forums

I've had pretty good luck with personals, too. I met my wife on www.craigslist.org a few years ago. I found I had a lot of luck by just being totally honest about who I was and what I was looking for. You'll get more responses if you exaggerate, but if you're honest then the few people you do go out with will be a much better match. In the last ad I put up, I was very specific about what I was looking for. I got a smaller handful of responses for that

Reply to Guilty until proven innocent in Politics JoeUser Forums

Well, here's another way to look at the analogy. Let's compare it to a theoretical investigation of a pot grower: 1.) Police receive anonymous tip that an individual is growing pot. / Intelligence agencies around the world believe Iraq may have WMDs. 2.) Police acquire search warrant. / UN demands Iraq gives inspectors access to look for WMDs. 3.) Police arrive at suspects house, but suspect will not allow them into the back

Reply to Personal Ads and the Single Girl!!! in Sex & Romance JoeUser Forums

Heh, just for fun I dug up one of my old ads. This one got a lot of responses (mostly just telling me how funny it was). I liked to alternate serious ads with fun ones when I was posting: SUPERVILLIAN SEEKS EXOTIC ASSISTANT Supervillain seeks exotic assistant for planning and execution of diabolical schemes. Candidates must have strong desire to rule the world, a decent understanding of technology, good communication s

Reply to Personal Ads and the Single Girl!!! in Sex & Romance JoeUser Forums

Good ad. This doesn't totally apply to what you wrote, but something to keep in mind: stay away from the negatives. As in, focus on describing what you want instead of describing what you don't want. Also, it's best to be 100% honest. A lot of people tend to write ads that describe their perfect selves on their best day. I've found it's actually better to describe yourself as you normally are day to day (even omitting some of your best traits). Then wh

Reply to Bow Down Before Your New Masters in Entertainment JoeUser Forums

Ah, ok. My bad. I thought the point you were trying to make is that you find it offensive that celebrities are wealthy, while people with other talents (or no talent) are not. If your point is that movie studios that can't make money are doomed to fail, then I concede the argument. As for webcammers not driving around Lamborghinis, I didn't realize that was the end goal for anyone with sellable talent. Or were you saying that people w

Reply to Bow Down Before Your New Masters in Entertainment JoeUser Forums

"Hey Super Baby - If I have a unique talent for masturbation (i'm sure that can't be replaced by a machine) does that mean i can get to the top? Does the system work?" If it's a talent that someone is willing to pay to see, then yes. You deserve to make whatever money you generate for providing your service. That's what's so great about the system Sure, it sounds silly, but there's an entire webcam industry where people with that exact talent

Reply to Bow Down Before Your New Masters in Entertainment JoeUser Forums

No cameraman? Hire a new one. No sound technician? Hire a new one. No editors? Hire a new one. No writers? Heh, isn't that standard? No big name actor? You won't be generating the same kind of money. And /that's/ why they earn more money, because they generate more for the film and some are irreplaceable. (Can you imagine a retarded blockbuster romantic comedy abo

Reply to Bow Down Before Your New Masters in Entertainment JoeUser Forums

But why should people who aren't able to generate money be given access to luxury goods? Here in San Francisco, just $250 a week can get you a downtown apartment ($600/month), with money left over for food, BART tickets (the subway) and classes at the City College. It sounds like the lowest common denominators are able to get the basics that they need. What they don't have is cash left over for luxury goods, services, and nice houses. Our ance

Reply to Bow Down Before Your New Masters in Entertainment JoeUser Forums

But when people spend money on themselves, they /are/ redistributing the wealth. It doesn't go into some black hole, it's going directly to the people who are providing goods & services to the spender. Then /those/ people have money that they can spend. Bloody revolution only benefits the people who aren't receiving money through their own work. We don't live in a society that prevents people from generating their own wealth (many of us, anywa

Reply to Bow Down Before Your New Masters in Entertainment JoeUser Forums

But who is to judge what merits a high salary and what doesn't? The current system tends to give the best salaries to people who generate the most money. Any other system tends to break. Do you have an alternate econimic system in mind?

Reply to Bow Down Before Your New Masters in Entertainment JoeUser Forums

How /dare/ those bastards be rich and successful. Every dollar they make is one less dollar you could have had! Yes, we must crush the wealthy and divide up the spoils between the rest of us. Then life will be fair and we'll live in the EUtopia we've all dreamed of, with our rainbows & unicorns. *rolls eyes*

Reply to my father in law who never stops talking in Work JoeUser Forums

Ugh, I had a roommate who's boyfriend was just like like that. He would talk /endlessly/. I'm the kind of person who does like to talk, but also likes to relax in some silence every once in a while. But this guy would talk non stop. I'd try to watch TV, he talks all the way through. I'd put on a movie, I can't follow it because he won't shut up. I'd play a video game, and he might be quiet for a moment, but as soon as a plot related cut-scene pops up t

Reply to Disney block distribution of Michael Moores new movie in Politics JoeUser Forums

Moore has known for a year that Disney wasn't going to distribute this movie. Why is everyone crying censorship? One would think a studio is free to distribute /whatever they want/. I have a multi-player, text based, pirate game a couple friends and I wrote. Atari won't publish it, of course. They're censoring me! It must be a devious anti-pirate game conspiracy, to increase Sid Meir's profits when he releases his pirate game next year. Help,

Reply to Love Bites -- In Need of Advice in Personal Relationships JoeUser Forums

Well, let's look at your objectives. He gives you those fuzzy feelings, right? We won't call it love, if you like. But that he makes you all fuzzy is enough. What would you gain by leaving him now? It seems that you would definitely be hurt by it. The only thing you would get is the opportunity to meet someone else. But if you're already getting the fuzzies from this guy, why would you need someone new? It just seems like a lot you'd be giving

Reply to US Foreign Policy in International JoeUser Forums

The US uses more criteria to determine an ally than just whether they are democratic or not. Being democratic is a good thing, but it does not necessarily make a country one of the "good guys". Spain did indeed democratically vote in the socialists. It was not a failure in democracy, but just because a democratically elected government wants to pull out troops (possibly to the detriment of the Iraqi people) does not mean we have to be happy about it. W