Starstriker1

Reply to Don't underestimate Iran. in International Stardock Forums

It's really a shame how the history taught to us in schools rarely deals with anything outside our own sphere of influence. My own knowledge of history was pretty much relegated to Canadian history, as well as wherever it intersected the history of others (as in the world wars, and even then I had no knowledge of Iranian involvement!). My first contact with history about more distant cultures didn't come until my second year, where I got into a history class that went over much of the early p

Reply to Iran: The World Would Change in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

...and yeah, checking the official results shows it to be completely inaccurate. I take it that was meant to be taken as a joke? That's a shame... would've been funnier if it was true!

Reply to Iran: The World Would Change in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

@ Leauki: I don't get my news from BBC or Reuters, it would seem. Looking into my local newspaper, the Edmonton Journal, it's affiliated with Canwest. Dunno if they've got their own biases or not, but there you have it. I've got to wonder about all the things we're not seeing. There's little support going to the Iranian opposition in public (though the French President just today called the whole thing a fraud... good on 'im) though I can't help but wonder what's going on behi

Reply to Don't underestimate Iran. in International JoeUser Forums

It really has been in the center of everything, hasn't it?

Reply to Iran: The World Would Change in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

@Leauki: The reports I saw said stuff along the lines of "Ahmedinejad has been declared the winner by the state, with more than 50% of the vote (meaning no runoff election)". These are facts about the regimes actions and statements, not anecdotal or unverifiable. ...and yeah, nobody started questioning the results until people started raising allegations of misconduct. I don't recall the stories containing that on the day of, but reports on Iran in subsequent days seemed to ma

Reply to Iran: The World Would Change in War on Terror Stardock Forums

Holy crap. Leauki, I usually don't see the biases you see in the media (maybe Canadian papers are better about it, or maybe I'm just blind), and I'd seen lots of coverage of the Iranian election. I knew it was getting ugly over there, and that Ahmedinejad looked like he had stolen the election (I could have bought it if he had won the first round, but a >50% landslide? Bullshit!). I didn't have any idea just HOW ugly it was getting. I'd heard all this stuff was happening to some ext

Reply to If I Owned a News Paper or Television Network... in The Media JoeUser Forums

[quote who="Leauki" comment="8"]While it isn't a vast conspiracy, it is pretty clear that the people who run the big news organisations (Reuters, AP etc.) have an agenda. Ignorance can only explain so much. [/quote] I'm either more or less cynical than you, I can't figure out which: I find there's very little human stupidity CAN'T explain. I'm inclined to think that the media is easily manipulated and prone to group think rather than outright malicious,

Reply to The Arabs Are Giving Up??? in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

I think you have taken me far more seriously than I have ANY right to be. :P I am talking about ridiculously outlandish hypotheticals. I GET that you'd never be able to verify that however many billion pople are primed and ready to hold hands around a campfire and sing kumbayah. I GET that claims of peaceful intentions from that crowd are rarely meant earnestly. Hence the use of the phrase "bizarro fantasyland situation". Stop taking me seriously damnit! On a

Reply to The Arabs Are Giving Up??? in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

Oh, I agree absolutely. Appeasement wouldn't work, and with the people at the other end of the bargaining table no such deal would be satisfactory. I can't forsee the other side being willing to make an offer tantalizing enough to put Jerusalem onto the bargaining table. If it isn't obvious by this point, I'm not making some kind of practical argument, heavens no! I'm not arguing for a compromise or that Israel SHOULD give up Jerusalem in whole or in part. I'm just saying tha

Reply to The Arabs Are Giving Up??? in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

I was speaking strictly in hypotheticals. I'm well aware that the practical possibility of that actually guaranteeing any sort of peace or justice is basically nill. But in a (strictly imaginary) world in which giving up Jerusalem meant that no more Arab states would declare war, no more rockets would be sent into Israeli kindergartens, and all that could be guaranteed in the long term... yeah, the terms of the question are pretty much impossible, but if giving up control of a single

Reply to What Evolution Is And Isn't in Biology JoeUser Forums

Hrmm. How's THAT for a confusing analogy, huh? :P ...I think I understand what you're getting at there...

Reply to The Arabs Are Giving Up??? in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

He has a point, though. Hypothetically speaking, if turning Jerusalem (or even just the holy sites) into an independent political entity was the price of peace in the middle east, would that not be an acceptable tradeoff? Of course, we all know that that'd never be the case.... it would not be the only demand nor would it actually result in peace, but at least on a theoretical level "Jerusalem at any price" is an insane political position.

Reply to What Evolution Is And Isn't in Biology JoeUser Forums

The moment science is able to deal with the possibility of a "supernatural being", whatever being that is will cease to be considered supernatural. Supernatural and science are by definition non-intersecting spheres of influence. It's impossible because BY DEFINITION it's impossible, not just because we're unable to concieve of a solution that would reconcile the two. The moment science begins to consider things that are beyond verification, falsifiability, or empirical evidence, it is n

Reply to The Arabs Are Giving Up??? in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

I've got to admit, the blog is entertaining! Very snarky, I like it! :D

Reply to What Evolution Is And Isn't in Biology JoeUser Forums

I'd point out that the evidence for or against the existence of god are philosophical in nature, not empirical, where they'd need to be to be the subject of scientific inquiry.

Reply to What Evolution Is And Isn't in Biology JoeUser Forums

[quote]There is no other explanation that science is willing to accept. That doesn't mean that there won't be one found in the future or that there isn't other possibilities.[/quote] ...I don't think many scientists would disagree with you there. Anyone who claims that the [i]theory[/i] of evolution is fact is incorrect... the data that supports it is, but evolution is both "theory and fact" in that the fact of evolution (the changes we can demonstrate have and do occur) and t

Reply to The Arabs Are Giving Up??? in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

Holy crap! Where did all this come from and why haven't I read any of this!?! In all honesty, the Canadian media hasn't reported ANYTHING on Israel in the last week to my recollection, let alone major peace overtures by Arab states. If this is for real, then holy crap. The mention of 12-18 months before another conflict between "Arabs or Muslims and Israel" is interesting. In fact, that seems remarkably optimistic. Leauki, what do you recommend so far as news sources t

Reply to Creativity - Best Trait in the Game? in Twilight of the Arnor GalCiv2 Forums

I'd say luck is most certainly the best trait in the game. For one point, you get occasionally awesome random events, substantially more lucrative asteroid bonuses, and your shots do 25%-100% damage instead of 0%-100%... essentially equal to a 25% weapons bonus. Play the altarians with the universalist political party ( I think? The one with the luck bonus) and you've got a 75% bonus to weapons. Utterly ridiculous!

Reply to No longer "Enemy Combatants" in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

[quote who="taltamir" comment="6"]enemy combatants = prisoners of war.[/quote] It might be APPLIED to the same people, but it doesn't have the same legal ramifications. I can't help but notice that the treatment afforded to "enemy combatants" at Guatanamo Bay wouldn't be permissable on "prisoners of war", to the best of my knowledge.

Reply to Starbase range? in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

The upgrades that make the host planet invulnerable to being captured that at least the TEC faction has is certainly a significant boost, forcing the enemy to engage the starbase in order to do much of anything with the planet. Enemy bombers can be effectively countered by anti-fighter ships or structures... putting a bunch of TEC hangers around a starbase gives it flak cover AND additional fighters. Couple a defense upgraded starbase with other tactical structures like

Reply to No longer "Enemy Combatants" in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

Or, I don't know, Prisoners of War . Just throwing that out there.

Reply to Republicans 40% hypocritical, 20% less than Democrats in Blogging JoeUser Forums

Your article title is a little misleading: in this case, the republican representatives are engaging in pork spending as the democrats at 2/3s the magnitude. It'd be more accurate to say that they are 66% as hypocritical as the democrats. ;)

Reply to Creationism and Linguistics in Biology Stardock Forums

All a degree is is a piece of paper that says you've listened to what a set of professors had to say for four years and you didn't flunk too many tests. Hell, my own degree is proving to be far less valuable than the time I spent programming in high school in my spare time. If you've covered the stuff in your own time, there's very little your typical professor will offer that can top that... you really need exceptional profs for university level study to outdo self-directed learning.

Reply to When the Going Gets Tough..... in Democrat Stardock Forums

Okay, I think I'm missing your point here. You're bashing Liberalism (a term which can mean everything from free market champions to tree-huggers these days) based on the examples of Venezuala's radically far left ideology and the current political thought in Russia... which is pretty much centerist politically. Russia and Venezuala's activities in these instances seem to have more to do with their authoritarian tendencies than any social or economic ideologies on their part.</

Reply to Creationism and Linguistics in Biology Stardock Forums

Very good analogy, Leauki, certainly helped clarify my own thinking on evolution. I'll admit, when warreni rolled out the multisyllabic biology terminology my own eyes glazed over a bit! And here I was thinking that my computing science degree would make me IMPERVIOUS to specialist lingo. ...apparently that only works on my own specialist lingo. Oops?