Bay 12 Games Forum

(v), move cursor over dwarf, (p), (z), (k).  If there isn't something saying "K: View kills" at the bottom of their personal owned objects and holdings menu (the above 'z') it means they've never killed anything.

Things are getting really bad in this country.  Conservatives and liberals (I use these terms because there's not any better ones, not because they're terribly accurate) live in totally different worlds.  Words mean different things, history isn't the same, and basic facts cannot be agreed on.  Worst of all, each side has absolutely no trust in the sources the other side finds credible.

There's only two commonalities, as far as I can tell.  Both have low opinions of most of the politicians currently in office, and both are convinced that someone, somewhere, is fucking them.  Sort of a strange consensus for what arguably remains the most powerful nation in the history of the world, when you think about it.

Really RPG now refers to two entirely different types of game.
1. JRPGs, focused mainly on plot, character development is usually nothing more than level-ups and equipment. Also extremely linear in most cases.

2. WRPGs, focused on character development, often with an open-ended plot that is not as epic as that in JRPGs, but allows the player more freedom.

Exactly.  I'm not remotely interested in playing J-style RPGs now, but when I was younger I used to really like them.  Linear storylines aren't "bad," just different.

Also unfamiliariality {no red line!}. I remember the first time I saw a bong lying around I associated it with skegs (jocks I think you call 'em?). Most people didn't grow up very familiar with it. Most police become pretty familiar with it's users, while some just sit in offices and send out surgical style drug missions.

Also yellow journalism protecting wood-based paper interests from hemp, and institutional pressure from government agencies who depend on drug prohibition like the ODCP and the DEA with help from non-public entities like the drug testing industry and privatized prisons (which is internationalized when the US pressures other countries to toe the same line).  Doesn't hurt that that it makes it easier to toss liberal hippies in jail.

edit:

The problem there is that the more the government steps in, the more people will be effected by tobacco smoke significantly, degenerating into 'coughing fits' around smoke and the like. It's plain as day how psychological it can be having read this entire thread. It's like aqizzar's example of Arlington, what's exhaling more carcinogens, the smoker or the exhaust pipe? Think about it. Yet people don't fall over and DIE at the sight of the exhaust pipe. I'm not revisiting old material here, my point is psychosomatics, not the hypocrisy.

If you toss in the hygiene hypothesis (granted it's just a hypothesis, particularly in relation to non-living agents), the reinforcement here can be more than just psychological--the more we sanitize our environments, particularly in childhood, the more easily irritated our various membranes and immune reactions may become.

Not like that's a good argument for smoking carcinogens in children's faces, just food for thought.

I was hoping the Democrat part would be brought up.  Here's the funny thing - Texas isn't as rabidly Republican as George Bush made it look.  Yes, Texas has the image of the super-right reactionary culture and so forth, but is becoming more cosmopolitan all the time.  In addition to the like 30%ish Hispanic population, as the only part of the country where the economy isn't in the toilet, Texas attracts business-class immigrants from around the world.  DFW and Austin are among of the most diverse cities after New York, including large populations of Arabs and Muslim Africans.  But enough brochure crap.

Heh, I don't mind being the hook for your spiel because there's a lot of international folks here who might have found it interesting/informative, but for the record I wasn't saying that a Democrat can't win in Texas.  A Palestinian immigrant Democrat, on the other hand...  When I googled him one of the first hits was a FreeRepublic thread where everyone talked about how evil Muslims are--I don't even know if he is Muslim, but I know it doesn't matter.  People think Barry's a Muslim and he's been (famously) going to church for 20 years, this guy doesn't stand a chance.

None of this would apply if he was a Republican and Christian--there are very, very few Americans bigoted enough to be prejudiced against the people on their "side."

Quote from: anyar on December 02, 2009, 06:07:11 pm

IMO, if you're bothered by tobacco smoke, you probably chose to be (going to a bar or restaurant and sitting in the smoking section), or you live in a very crowded place and it's your own (or your parents) fault that you are forced to be in proximity to the smoke. It seems to me that most anti-smokers are just self-righteous assholes that are bothered by other people liking something they don't.

"Smoking sections" in restaurants don't magically contain the smoke. People who are sensitive to it and seated elsewhere might still have issues.

Seriously, you're just passing the buck here. If you smoke where the smoke affects other people, it's your own fault and you're being rather rude and inconsiderate, or else ignorant of the fact that it does.

How would you feel about a regulation/incentive program that resulted in, say, 75 percent of establishments being smoke-free?  That would make it very easy for those who are bothered by smoke to avoid it without the downsides of an outright ban.

I certainly couldnt care less if you smoke in the street or in your house.

That's not quiet the case for everyone in this thread.  More importantly, there's the question of what constitutes public space; a lot of people would have smokers stay x number of feet away from doorways, which can get excessive very quickly.

....doing something that is completely unnecessary and provides no benefit, like habitual smoking.

Here's where your argument breaks down.  That smoking harms your health is without question, but that that is has no benefits whatsoever is your opinion, and an easily contested one at that.  Lots of people claim to enjoy smoking. I may not be a habitual smoker, but I myself enjoy a cigarette occasionally; as long as you don't inhale too much it can be a pretty pleasant little stimulant. 

edit: Not that I really want to defend the car analogy, unless someone is arguing for a sidewalk cigarette ban (which I don't think you are, right?).  Something you need to get a job is in a different category than optional vices like cigarettes and MMORPGs.

I am not sure if it's hard to read, looks ok to me... Probably because I've made it .

Well we are dwarf fortress players.  We could probably get along fine if the game was translated to ancient Sanskrit as long as there was good wiki support. 

best of luck!