Ooh politics!

They all suck.

Nah, j/k, we've had some really great presidents.  That said, ranking presidents from good to bad is actually incredibly difficult, due to the large amount of non-powerful power the president has.

Basically, the things we blame a president for, or ask a presidential hopeful about when they're running, have fuck all to do with what a president's actual jobs and responsibilities are.

The majority of things we get pissed at presidents for aren't even within the scope of the job title.  Employment rate, laws brought into existence (with the exception of vetoes), the financial health of the country, various hot-button topics...besides being the guy with a microphone stating his (or her) opinion about these things, they don't really have anything to do with the process.

You know what we should get pissed at presidents about, and judge them on? Appointment of individuals (committee leaders, supreme court nominees, etc.), executive actions, clemency decisions, bill vetoes, and encouragement of corruption.

That said, a large percentage of people who bash X president wouldn't even be able to begin naming their appointees, executive actions, clemency decisions, or what bills they vetoed.

Now yes, everyone who's bashed a recent president in this thread could go and look those things up now (since we're on the internet), and say, "No, I hate him because of X!"  But in reality, do you dislike the president in question because of those specific things they did, or do you dislike them because of what they and others say into microphones?

Case in point:  President Obama declares greater transparency, less cronyism, and free internet as big parts of his platform in campaigning.  During his second term he then appoints a longtime telecom lobbyist to the head of the FCC committee governing, among other things, the internet, who almost immediately comes out in favor of overturning net neutrality.

But if you ask the vast majority of rabid anti-obama people why they dislike him, they'll spout nonsense about him being bad for the economy, a supporter of communism(or socialism, or marxism...it's basically all the same thing as far as they're concerned), and a dirty anti-american muslim.  Honestly, none of these things would affect the country much even if they were true.

So yeah.  Fun thing to do next time you get into a debate with someone over politics and they bash a particular president.  Ask them which bill veto or personnel appointment they disagreed with most, and then see if they stumble all over themselves.

Currently 7 degrees here.  Makes training outside fun.

http://io9.com/behol...dium=socialflow

Apparently it was too good to be true  Just test footage that was formerly attached to a Deadpool movie that now appears to be off the table.

Mmmm beer.  I'm a craft beer guy.  LOVE it.  Also a fan of mead, and some fruit wines (not grape, so much, but I love raspberry wines).  Spirit of choice for shots would be vodka or rum, sipping spirit would be a good scotch, neat (cold scotch tastes weeeeird to me).  I actually got a bottle of 12 year Glenlivet waiting for an appropriate occasion downstairs...hmm...

>_>

You're not wrong...

Totally.  I am a whore for winter.

That's gorgeous!  I'm jealous =D

Holy crap that's awesome!  We're set to get like ten inches here tomorrow, and I thought that was a lot...

Mirror's Edge

Why don't more Frenchies speak English? I've been playing Payday with a chick from Paris for the last week or so and she speaks 0% English and my French is passiable at best. I know a dozer shows up when she starts yelling merdi over and over. It's kinda cute.

That is freaking cute.  XD

Anyhoo, hiya, welcome to the forum, and all that nonsense.  Your SHMUP looks like fun!

I love you, Spleen.

You're a little silly, aren't you?

Talos the mighty! Talos the unerring! Talos the unassailable! To you we give praise!

We are but maggots, writhing in the filth of our own corruption! While you have ascended from the dung of mortality, and now walk among the stars!

But you were once man! Aye! And as man, you said, "Let me show you the power of Talos Stormcrown, born of the North, where my breath is long winter. I breathe now, in royalty, and reshape this land which is mine. I do this for you, Red Legions, for I love you."

Aye, love. Love! Even as man, great Talos cherished us. For he saw in us, in each of us, the future of Skyrim! The future of Tamriel!

And there it is, friends! The ugly truth! We are the children of man! Talos is the true god of man! Ascended from flesh, to rule the realm of spirit!

The very idea is inconceivable to our Elven overlords! Sharing the heavens with us? With man? Ha! They can barely tolerate our presence on earth!

Today, they take away your faith. But what of tomorrow? Do the elves take your homes? Your businesses? Your children? Your very lives?

And what does the Empire do? Nothing! Nay, worse than nothing! The Imperial machine enforces the will of the Thalmor! Against its own people!

So rise up! Rise up, children of the Empire! Rise up, Stormcloaks! Embrace the word of mighty Talos, he who is both man and Divine!

For we are the children of man! And we shall inherit both the heavens and the earth! And we, not the Elves or their toadies, will rule Skyrim! Forever!

Terrible and powerful Talos! We, your unworthy servants, give praise! For only through your grace and benevolence may we truly reach enlightenment!

And deserve our praise you do, for we are one! Ere you ascended and the Eight became Nine, you walked among us, great Talos, not as god, but as man!

Trust in me, Whiterun! Trust in the words of Heimskr! For I am the chosen of Talos! I alone have been anointed by the Ninth to spread his holy word!

Solid supports are going to screw with the conservation of motion a bit, so the bounce duration will probably be shorter than a "normal" newton's cradle.  I'd advise using some extremely well-lubricated bearings to mount the support to eliminate as much friction as possible (I assume they'll be hinged in some way).

How you feel about current bitcoin prices?  If I recall correctly, I think you said you had 3 bitcoins in a wallet somewhere?  Gotta be worth around, what, $1800 now?  =D

fuuuuuuuuuu-

Hmm.  I could actually fly down and search spleen's house, find the wallet, and fly back home again, and still make a profit.

DOIN IT!

Hmm...true.  Wonder if I could find room in my budget for a bulletproof vest?  My instincts say yes...

Can I just recommend a tank

I think that would put me over budget.

Oh yeah, once I know their preferred term/moniker it's all good, but up until that point... >_>

The difference is that pansexual includes transgender or any variety of gender, while bisexual usually just includes cis (men born male and women born female.)

 

It is actually not that complicated, just can be hard to learn at first.

 

Honestly mostly what you NEED to know is that if they are a transwoman use female pronouns and if they are a transman use male pronouns. The rest is just to help people interested in a relationship understand where the other person stands.

Yeah, I'll try.  It's difficult, though.  Like, we had a person at my house who, basically, looked and dressed like a guy(maybe a gay guy), but a guy.  Pants, men's shirt, men's jacket, short hair, blah blah.  BUUUUT that person then got very offended when I referred to them as a him.  And I was like, What?  She(?) then said, "Don't you know, I'm trans?!"  And I was like...uh...sorry.  Maybe don't dress/talk/act like a dude who also forgot to shave...or at least don't get offended when I call you a he?

>_>

Have encountered overly fussy label people in real life, does happen.  I don't blame them, I'm sure they have plenty of shit to put up with living their lifestyles with the assholes in this world, but there are people that get pissy over rather insignificant label things sometimes.

I think one of the biggest problems is that not a lot of people even understand what being transgender is. Which is why you hear so many horror stories like them getting disowned by their families or just in general being made fun of.

 

DaRatmastah demonstrates this perfectly. I'm sure he knows what being gay/lesbian/bi is but he flat out says that once it starts coming to trans issues he is in the dark. I mean he even throws out insulting terms like shemale and heshe, obviously not on purpose but it just shows how little most people actually learn about the trans community. :/

This.

The astounding thing is, I have a lot of friends and am very connected to the non-hetero community.  Grew up involved in theater, very liberal parents, blah blah blah.  But there's just SO MANY LABELS TO KEEP TRACK OF.

Like, Gol~, just said "pan-sexual."  No offense to you, Gol~, but I honestly have no idea what that means.  Or how it differs from bisexuality (which, just going off the root of pan- I would say is the closest comparison?).  Plus people are like, "Well, there's your sex, and then there's your gender, and then there's your sexual preferences, and then your gender preferences..."

Seriously though, why can't we just love who we want, fuck who we want, and not be concerned with names?  I'm human.  In general, I find myself attracted to humans.  I possess a penis, and I enjoy using it.  I respect your desire to do with your genitalia, hair, and clothing what you will, as long as you're not forcing yourself upon anyone else or children.  Why does anyone else in the world have a problem with that kind of thing?  X__X

Yeah, I'd say that about fits me, then?  I dunno, I've only been with women before, wouldn't be opposed to men/other, though.

Calibrate and align ingoing and outgoing data ports while maintaining asynchronous transfer streams to all host processes on the local and wide area networks.