Think this little thing falls into the category of "So ugly, it's cute."

Awwww!

re: #1 Targetpractice

Think this little thing falls into the category of "So ugly, it's cute."

Image: 00498622.jpg

Wow, dat buggah es beeg!

Because there is no "Baby Aardvark Walk" song!

I suppose if you could take all the plates off a large armadillo it would look like that.

I don't find him or her cute. What's wrong with me? Doctor, will I live? :(

re: #7 Liberty Hedgehog (fka Freedom Alligator)

I don't find him or her cute. What's wrong with me? Doctor, will I live? :(

Negative.
/

Not pretty, but a nice little guy. AArdvarks don't bother people at all, and they make themselves useful eating ants and termites.

You all can't see cute when it's right in front of you!
:)

re: #10 Varek Raith

You all can't see cute when it's right in front of you!
:)

AWWW!

re: #11 Liberty Hedgehog (fka Freedom Alligator)

AWWW!

*ZZZAAAPPP*

re: #12 Varek Raith

*ZZZAAAPPP*

:P

re: #6 jaunte

I suppose if you could take all the plates off a large armadillo it would look like that.

Those are strange creatures. Part mammal and part dinosaur. Sometimes looking like bugs.

Image: armadillo.jpg

Image: pichi.jpg

re: #14 Gus

Those are strange creatures. Part mammal and part dinosaur. Sometimes looking like bugs.

Image: armadillo.jpg

Image: pichi.jpg

Pokemon!

Graphic Warning: the following presentation may include charts and graphs.

Oh look another update for Aurora.

I should mention something with the case of Trayvon Martin:

Not only that, but I get news from the horse's mouth. I was originally born in Florida. I lived in Apopka from Age 0-3, and in Debary until I was 7. Debary is roughly across the river (St. Johns River) from Sanford. My Grandparents live in Deltona, which is directly across the river from Sanford (Specifically, the part of the river known as Lake Monroe). My Uncle and his kids are still in the area too. So I remember this area from being a little one. It use to be more nature-y and more tree-y than today. I don't think I could go back there. It's all very bland cookie-cutter stuff now.

Also, I learned from Mother Jones that Sanford has a massive history of racism.

As an April Fool's prank, Fox News will switch to an all-truth format for the day.

— Andy Borowitz (@BorowitzReport) April 1, 2012

re: #19 jaunte

Round of applause for that one.

More face-palm moments from our creationist friends in Indiana:

Web letter by Christopher Geischen: Evolution denies God’s existence, mocks Christians as fools

As a member of the Concordia Lutheran High School science faculty, I wish to thank Rex Joyner for his kind words about the school’s effect on his life. That said, I must respond to some ideas he wrote in “Pastor mistaken on creationism,” which appeared March 18. Concordia’s science instruction holds to creation being true and evolution relegated only to doing small changes on living things within a very narrow range.

First, one cannot mix creationism with evolution. To do an apples-to-apples evaluation demands a creationism-to-evolution comparison or match creation alongside evolution. The former are ways of thinking and the latter are processes.

Point is, this is from a science teacher at the Lutheran H.S. ...

Second, the facts of nature are the same for both sides. The difference is the interpretation one puts on the facts. It is the worldview or philosophy of the interpreter which causes the facts to be seen as supporting creation or evolution being true. Creation interpretation will not hinder one doing any valuable-to-society science in the least. One of my former biology students, taught that creation is the better interpretation, is now an oncologist for a hospital. She stated that in her degree program evolution was not even mentioned at all. The truth is that evolution belief is only needed to become an evolutionary science teacher as it is useless to any other operational science field.

Wow, so this supposed former student of which he writes says that evolution "was not even mentioned at all" in her entire degree program? I find that hard to believe. And if she works in the oncology department of a hospital does she have a graduate degree?

Sadly, the evolution-based view says that God does not exist, the Bible is not the true word of God, and people do not rise from the dead as Jesus did that first Easter morning. Ultimately evolution says that there is no Judgment Day as the universe will end in either the big crunch or heat death, therefore a Christian’s faith is unnecessary and he is a fool for believing otherwise.

And there you have it, the whole point of being anti-evolution is that it is a direct threat to their religious beliefs. Now there are those self-declared Christians who maintain that evolution is compatible with Christianity (e.g., the Biologos crowd) but as my latest Page points out that position is a minority within the evangelical/conservative Christian community in America.

A very curious looking creature indeed.

Jesus was a zombie? Get the fook out!

re: #21 freetoken

Being mocked as fools by nonbelievers shouldn't matter if they're secure in the possession of their truth.

re: #21 freetoken

More face-palm moments from our creationist friends in Indiana:

Web letter by Christopher Geischen: Evolution denies God’s existence, mocks Christians as fools

Point is, this is from a science teacher at the Lutheran H.S. ...

Wow, so this supposed former student of which he writes says that evolution "was not even mentioned at all" in her entire degree program? I find that hard to believe. And if she works in the oncology department of a hospital does she have a graduate degree?

And there you have it, the whole point of being anti-evolution is that it is a direct threat to their religious beliefs. Now there are those self-declared Christians who maintain that evolution is compatible with Christianity (e.g., the Biologos crowd) but as my latest Page points out that position is a minority within the evangelical/conservative Christian community in America.

The obvious. The study of evolution does not include anything about religion, Christianity, negating a belief in God, etc. I uh. Well, this is kind of like responding to some kind of neurosis.

re: #24 jaunte

Being mocked as fools by nonbelievers shouldn't matter if they're secure in the possession of their truth.

Still isn't prudent or polite for the nonbelievers to do.

There but for the grace of God dumb fucking luck go I.

//

AIG on the Tennessee Creationism Bill

You all know that the Tennessee Creationism Bill Passed in the Legislature and is awaiting the Governor’s signature.

Now let’s see what they think of it at Answers in Genesis (AIG), one of the major sources of young-earth creationist wisdom. AIG is the online creationist ministry of Ken Ham (ol’ Hambo), the Australian entrepreneur who has become the ayatollah of Appalachia.

re: #26 Dark_Falcon

He may be imagining the mockery, or reading too much PZ Myers.

re: #21 freetoken

More face-palm moments from our creationist friends in Indiana:

Web letter by Christopher Geischen: Evolution denies God’s existence, mocks Christians as fools

Point is, this is from a science teacher at the Lutheran H.S. ...

Wow, so this supposed former student of which he writes says that evolution "was not even mentioned at all" in her entire degree program? I find that hard to believe. And if she works in the oncology department of a hospital does she have a graduate degree?

And there you have it, the whole point of being anti-evolution is that it is a direct threat to their religious beliefs. Now there are those self-declared Christians who maintain that evolution is compatible with Christianity (e.g., the Biologos crowd) but as my latest Page points out that position is a minority within the evangelical/conservative Christian community in America.

While MDs can be scientists most aren't so the study of evolution is not necessarily studied. In day to day treatment of cancer, evolution is irrelevant. However, in cancer research, as in bacteria/virus/retrovirus research, the study of evolution is a must because in order to develop treatments the processes within the cell/DNA/RNA have to be understood.

re: #28 jaunte

AIG on the Tennessee Creationism Bill

"Oh the pain." -- Dr. Smith

re: #28 jaunte

re: #28 jaunte

AIG is the online creationist ministry of Ken Ham (ol’ Hambo), the Australian entrepreneur who has become the ayatollah of Appalachia.

Hahaha that is brilliant.

re: #26 Dark_Falcon

Still isn't prudent or polite for the nonbelievers to do.

Mocking the believers isn't called for unless the believers are in position of authority (Fahlwell, Buchanan, Iranian Imams), but the inconsistencies and the foolish aspects of the belief itself are open to ridicule.

re: #33 Bee#

It tends to happen when the believers are trying to achieve some additional temporal power over the nonbelievers.

re: #33 Bee#

Mocking the believers isn't called for unless the believers are in position of authority (Fahlwell, Buchanan, Iranian Imams), but the inconsistencies and the foolish aspects of the belief itself are open to ridicule.

"See. That's why I chose atheism Bob. It's real easy."

//

re: #35 Gus

"See. That's why I chose atheism Bob. It's real easy."
//

NPR did a story a few days ago on the rise of Evangelical churches in Mexico; one of the points the people interviewed made about why they switched was that being Catholic was relatively so much more expensive.

re: #35 Gus

"See. That's why I chose atheism Bob. It's real easy."

//

As someone who has been terrified of death for most of my life, the easiest and the most comforting thing for me would be to become a believer.

Screech #Palin to host #GMA. I guess you could call this an April Fool's joke.

— Barracks O'Bama (@P0TUS) April 1, 2012

re: #26 Dark_Falcon

Still isn't prudent or polite for the nonbelievers to do.

Likewise, it's not prudent to cast judgement or 'save' atheists.

re: #37 Bee#

As someone who has been terrified of death for most of my life, the easiest and the most comforting thing for me would be to become a believer.

I know. When it all goes off for eternity. I just hope I'm not seeing it fade away when the time comes. It's a terrifying final task to be cogent of.

Good News: If things were going to go horrifically, I think the window has passed. She hasn't deleted me on FB.

Bad News: Someone I was talking to elsewise had their profile disappear for a minute. Then came back. I think FB is about to have a Total Eclipse of Derp.

re: #26 Dark_Falcon

Still isn't prudent or polite for the nonbelievers to do.

Earlier I was thinking that I never took it upon myself to talk someone into non-belief. Then I thought that as well that no one has really done the same for God. We must always assume that people will be polite regardless. The internet of course is an altogether different story on all counts. And always remember that dominant groups maintain dominant discord -- and accord.

re: #42 Gus

“It's not about your job. It's about some phony ideal, some phony theology,” Santorum said. "Oh, not a theology based on the Bible, a different theology. But no less a theology.”

Please stand by for April Fools Day.

re: #44 Gus

Looking at Twitter, apparently Toonami came back on Cartoon Network. Hopefully it isn't a April Fools Joke. I would it to be back. It would have to have my nostalgia bombs of Rurouni Kenshin and Yu Yu Hakusho in the Lineup though.

re: #43 jaunte

“It's not about your job. It's about some phony ideal, some phony theology,” Santorum said. "Oh, not a theology based on the Bible, a different theology. But no less a theology.”

Well to Santorum I would say no. There are plenty of Christian, scientists. People that believe in God and also study Darwin and evolution. I know too much about deism; even as an atheist can formulate a reasoning for believing in both.

re: #44 Gus

Please stand by for April Fools Day.

We should have a contest for the biggest fool!

re: #47 Floral Giraffe

We should have a contest for the biggest fool!

*sigh* But Kragar wins every year!!!

///

re: #47 Floral Giraffe

We should have a contest for the biggest fool!

I better behave myself then. //

re: #48 Targetpractice

*sigh* But Kragar wins every year!!!

///

Not this year. This year Buck can claim the prize.

re: #45 ProGunLiberal

Looking at Twitter, apparently Toonami came back on Cartoon Network. Hopefully it isn't a April Fools Joke. I would it to be back. It would have to have my nostalgia bombs of Rurouni Kenshin and Yu Yu Hakusho in the Lineup though.

Unfortunately, according to Wiki, it looks to be a one-time thing for April Fool's Day.

re: #48 Targetpractice

*sigh* But Kragar wins every year!!!

///

OMFG.
He does NOT!

re: #51 Targetpractice

Those cock-suckers at Cartoon Network.

Good night, all.

I'm glad RUSH sent that letter to Limbaugh.

02 - Red Barchetta - Rush - Moving Pictures

re: #53 ProGunLiberal

Those cock-suckers at Cartoon Network.

Yeah, I know, the network I remember as a kid is gone. But, then again, I'm still old enough to remember when MTV showed music videos.

re: #56 Targetpractice

I never watched MTV has a kid. So I have no idea what that was like.

re: #57 ProGunLiberal

I never watched MTV has a kid. So I have no idea what that was like.

re: #56 Targetpractice

A Flock of Seagulls... Dexy's Midnight Runners... Magic times.

Back when we used to be the shit.

re: #57 ProGunLiberal

I never watched MTV has a kid. So I have no idea what that was like.

It was good, for a time. Then the network execs apparently decided that the non-video segments were more popular than the videos, as well as jumping on the early days of the "reality TV" bandwagon. Ugh.

Sarah Palin Co-hosts TODAY on Tuesday

re: #62 Gus

"Ready to reveal a side you haven't seen before!"
How many sides can a one-dimensional person have?

re: #61 Targetpractice

It was good, for a time. Then the network execs apparently decided that the non-video segments were more popular than the videos, as well as jumping on the early days of the "reality TV" bandwagon. Ugh.

Remote Control, as good as it was, marked the beginning of the end (what happened to Marisol Massey anyway?) By the time I was an undergrad and the first Real World started airing you could see the trajectory clearly.

re: #63 jaunte

"Ready to reveal a side you haven't seen before!"
How many sides can a one-dimensional person have?

Tammany would have loved Sarah.

re: #53 ProGunLiberal

Those cock-suckers at Cartoon Network.

I was more pissed at Cartoon Network/Adult swim for the prank of playing "The Room", two years in a row.

re: #61 Targetpractice

I hate reality TV. I heard someone say that the Hunger Games plotline is basically showing the extreme end of Reality TV gone rampant, or something like that.

Any way, on the Trayvon Martin case, had anyone seen this before:

At an emergency homeowner’s association meeting on March 1, “one man was escorted out because he openly expressed his frustration because he had previously contacted the Sanford Police Department about Zimmerman approaching him and even coming to his home,” the resident wrote in an email to HuffPost. “It was also made known that there had been several complaints about George Zimmerman and his tactics" in his neighborhood watch captain role.

From HuffPo.

Also, this:

She and her friend say they heard the sounds from a few steps away, where they were inside beside an open window.

Seconds later, they dashed out to find a boy face down on the ground and a man standing over him, a foot on each side of the body on the ground, with his hands pinning the shooting victim down.

“I asked him, ‘What’s happening here? What’s going on?’" said Cutcher’s friend, Selma Mora Lamilla. “The third time, I was indignant, and he said, ‘just call the police.’ Then I saw him with his hands over his head in the universal sign of: ‘Oh man, I messed up.’"

The women, who were the first on the scene, said they saw Zimmerman pacing back and forth.

re: #66 boredtechindenver

I saw a Nostalgia Critic review of that. It was so damn painful to watch. The clips of the movie that is.

re: #68 ProGunLiberal

The only other time I had to take a break during a watching of a review from that site was during Nostalgia Chick's review of Milo and Otis. And that was for completely different reasons.

Mostly the horror of what was done to film it. I had to walk out of the room and walk around 3-4 times during that less than 15 minute video. I also felt said the rest of the day.

[Link: blip.tv...]

re: #64 goddamnedfrank

By the time I was an undergrad and the first Real World started airing you could see the trajectory clearly.

I believe that was the first "Reality Show" to air.

I watched a few episodes before deciding it was total crap. That was the beginning and the end of my interest in "Reality" tv.

re: #70 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks

I believe that was the first "Reality Show" to air.

I watched a few episodes before deciding it was total crap. That was the beginning and the end of my interest in "Reality" tv.

"Reality TV" is such a crock. If you honestly believe that those shows don't work off a script, then I got some beachfront property in Arizona I'm selling cheap.

This is fucking awesome.

Dierks Bentley & Del McCoury Band Rehearsing For Delfest

It looks like a giant shaved scrotum with eyes, ears and claws. Run for your lives!

Actually a killer aardvark might make a good movie monster.

re: #71 Targetpractice

I did try to give the "Reality" (pffft!) genre another chance with the very first episode of "Survivor". My interest lasted less than fifteen minutes.

In 2007 after a Stand Your Ground law was enacted in Texas a man called 911 to report two men breaking into and burglarizing his neighbor's home. Here is the 911 call, listen as he directly contradicts and argues with the operator who tells him that property isn't worth killing or dying over. The man says that "the laws have been changed in this country," insists on going out to confront the burglars with his shotgun and then kills them. Skip to 5 minutes and 10 seconds:

P.S. Charles, FYI Youtube seems to have changed their start code to &t=XmYs, the old &Start= code format isn't working for this video here and neither is the new code provided by Youtube.

So I've been playing the fan-made Wing Commander game that dropped last week, and had an unnecessarily frustrating time with the final mission in the prologue portion.

True to old-school WC form, many of the missions are multi-stage missions which force you to start over from the beginning of the mission if you fail at any stage, rather than picking up from the last completed stage.

Anyway, the final mission in the prologue has many stages, some challenging, and here is my list of epic fail before finally finishing it. Like anyone cares.

1. Failed to prevent torpedoes from reaching the carrier I was escorting. Four times.

2. Death by an epically lucky ("good" for the bogies, "bad" for me) spam of enemy missiles all reaching me simultaneously. One time.

3. Death by flying too close to an enemy cruiser just as it was blown up by allies. Two times.

4. Death by Mother Nature. Two times. It's been raining in my area today, and twice as I was nearing the end of the mission, the power went out.

Speaking of gaming, and getting back to a topic from this morning, seems Bioware got the hint:

BioWare to finally change the Mass Effect 3 ending in April

I'd heard that fans actually started up a charity to show their seriousness for wanting a change to the ending, donating the money to Child's Play Charity. Last count was something over $80K had been donated before they shut it down.

re: #75 goddamnedfrank

If you're watching a YouTube video, pause at the time you want to start at, then right click on the little circle on the video timer at the bottom of the vid. You will get an option to "Copy URL at current time".

It only works here when done as a link like this, but not when simply pasted into a comment like this...

re: #78 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks

It used to work here no problem, now it's not for some reason.

re: #75 goddamnedfrank

Follow up:

A Harris County grand jury on Monday ended the rancorous seven-month debate over Pasadena resident Joe Horn's decision to gun down two illegal immigrant burglars in his front yard, concluding the act was a justifiable use of deadly force and not murder.

The grand jury heard two weeks of testimony from witnesses, including Horn. They likely also heard his breathless 911 call, during which the increasingly frustrated retiree ignored a dispatcher's pleas to stay inside and out of harm's way. The Nov. 14 call ended with the sound of Horn racking a shell into his 12-gauge shotgun's chamber followed by three gunshots that killed Colombians Diego Ortiz, 30, and Hernando Riascos Torres, 38.

Each man was shot in the back. They had taken about $2,000 in the burglary.

Well, this is pretty cute, considering it was not a 200# doe that ran in front of me last night while I was going 55 mph (speed limit) after shooting a baseball game, and destroyed my Tacoma. Kid A is fine; the doe, not so much. Scary as hell, trust me.

re: #80 goddamnedfrank

We're back to the gunslinging days.

re: #82 freetoken

I'm really paranoid what happens when (I honestly think that, given conditions, Obama will win the election) Obama wins in November. I think, at least for the time being, other Liberals need to give up on Gun Control.

Working on the genealogy stuff... given a name, a supposed area of residence, and supposed area of origin, of a supposed grandparent.

Amazing what one can find online, but even more what one can't find. Extremely variable from state to state, from community to community.

Very disappointed in Orange County - seems to want lots of money for little info. And there are holes in the historical society/communities - I'm not sure they really care about recording the past. Same with Los Angeles County, save that the older localities in that area do have historical societies who care.

As for Oklahoma - one would think I was looking into Indian Territory or something. Oh... I am. Anyway, the early years of that state are a wasteland as far as records are concerned. Which is fitting, given that it was also a physical wasteland in that dust-bowl era.

re: #83 ProGunLiberal

I'm really paranoid what happens when (I honestly think that, given conditions, Obama will win the election) Obama wins in November. I think, at least for the time being, other Liberals need to give up on Gun Control.

If I thought the NRA would stop banging their drum, I might agree. But they're out there, telling all their membership and anybody who will listen that Obama's waiting til he's reelected to come for everybody's guns. So why keep quiet about something they're gonna scream regardless?

re: #77 Targetpractice

Dear BioWhere fansboys,

I watched every single fucking episode of LOST, including that shit pile of an ending. So suck it up Nancy, and move on.

On this...

So that's that then, we'll probably be getting some sort of complete ending, probably as a DLC, and bets are on that it's gonna be paid. Already there's conspiracy theories brewing across the internets that Bioware and EA have been slicing off actual content from the game to sell off as DLCs, which is plausible.

Since the dawn of video gaming, developers have had to cut content in order to meet their publisher's deadlines and budget restraints. Sometimes because said content was not fully finished, sometimes because the bugs weren't fully squashed.

Since the advent of paid DLC, publishers and developers have found a way to profit on the tidbits left on the cutting room floor that did not first meet the deadline or the budget.

To me, it's seems an awful lot like paying for a software patch, which is why I do not nor ever have participated in the paid DLC scam.

Of course, I exempt paid DLC expansion packs that add tons of more content and many more hours of gameplay. Although I don't pay for those separately either. I just wait for GOTY editions with all that shit bundled.

re: #81 Lord of Republicandoucheistan

Friend of mine had that happen. Deer ruined his front end and he nearly went off a cliff.

re: #83 ProGunLiberal

I am very disappointed with President Obama. Not that I expected much - I didn't vote for him. Yet I hope (in vain, it appears) that he would be more aggressive in using the bully pulpit to talk about our fetishes for guns and violence.

President Obama is not delivering the goods; blame the Republicans if you want - and they certainly deserve criticism and even condemnation - but it is the President's job to rally the country.

It's not written in the Constitution, but it has been in practice since Lincoln one of the most important roles for the office of the President - shaping the national dialogue of what the nation ought to be and ought to do.

re: #82 freetoken

We're back to the gunslinging days.

Shot.them.in.the.back!

Yeah, they came into his front yard, walking backwards. That happens.

I'm just like ... fucking Wow! And wondering how this is the first time I've heard of it.

The Grand Jury just flat out let this guy off on a double murder. I'm sure the fact that the two dead men were illegal aliens didn't unduly sway the deliberations at all.

re: #85 Targetpractice

At this point, I would just start buying guns too. Fortunately, If all goes to plan, I will be in the fairly Liberal North Denver-Fort Collins area by Election Time.

I honestly think there could be violence if Obama wins, with the way the Conservative movement seems to be losing grip of sanity.

re: #89 goddamnedfrank

When the shooting happened I recall it got a bit of attention here - but something like this gets taken off the top of the topic list by the next atrocity, which are many.

re: #86 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks

Dear BioWhere fansboys,

I watched every single fucking episode of LOST, including that shit pile of an ending. So suck it up Nancy, and move on.

If LOST were interactive, with every choice you'd made for 100+ hours being sold as relevant to the ending, I'd sympathize. But it wasn't, it was a scripted brain fart that ran longer than it should that most fans had figured out the ending in the first season.

On this...

Since the dawn of video gaming, developers have had to cut content in order to meet their publisher's deadlines and budget restraints. Sometimes because said content was not fully finished, sometimes because the bugs weren't fully squashed.

Since the advent of paid DLC, publishers and developers have found a way to profit on the tidbits left on the cutting room floor that did not first meet the deadline or the budget.

To me, it's seems an awful lot like paying for a software patch, which is why I do not nor ever have participated in the paid DLC scam.

Of course, I exempt paid DLC expansion packs that add tons of more content and many more hours of gameplay. Although I don't pay for those separately either. I just wait for GOTY editions with all that shit bundled.

Bioware doesn't release GOTY editions, at least not ones with the DLCs as part of the deal. You want the DLCs for their games, prepare to be bled dry.

re: #92 Targetpractice

Bioware doesn't release GOTY editions, at least not ones with the DLCs as part of the deal. You want the DLCs for their games, prepare to be bled dry.

Which is why I don't buy BioWhore games. Well, one of the reasons I don't, anyway.

re: #93 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks

Which is why I don't buy BioWhore games. Well, one of the reasons I don't, anyway.

To be fair, I'm not sure the decision not to sell GOTY versions with the DLCs included is solely Bioware's, considering who owns their asses these days.

re: #86 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks

Final Fantasy VII is the epitome of this.

It's a fantastic game, but it's has glitches all over the place, and a good many things were cut.

There is even stuff you can find through the Debug Room suggesting that, until very, very late in Development, that Aerith was supposed die at Northern Crater, not the City of the Ancients. It has even been fully translated.

Also, there is stuff in the game that goes unexplained. In contrast, only one thing in Final Fantasy VIII wan't fully explained. What exactly was at the bottom the Deep Sea Research Facility. Most everything else was fleshed out, but that was left hanging.

re: #94 Targetpractice

To be fair, I'm not sure the decision not to sell GOTY versions with the DLCs included is solely Bioware's, considering who owns their asses these days.

Oh, I'm sure you're right. In the gaming industry, publishers rule.

But, as I believe I've mentioned before, I've been an anti-fan of BioWhat since the late 90's.

underday time again overnight

re: #96 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks

Oh, I'm sure you're right. In the gaming industry, publishers rule.

But, as I believe I've mentioned before, I've been an anti-fan of BioWhat since the late 90's.

Back when they were still owned by Interplay?

re: #95 ProGunLiberal

Everyone have their rotten tomatoes and heads of lettuce ready?

I don't like JRPGs. In fact, I nearly despise them.

:ducks:

re: #90 ProGunLiberal

At this point, I would just start buying guns too. Fortunately, If all goes to plan, I will be in the fairly Liberal North Denver-Fort Collins area by Election Time.

I honestly think there could be violence if Obama wins, with the way the Conservative movement seems to be losing grip of sanity.

i would have thought so a few years ago but these days i think i sense that wingnuttia is resigned to defeat

mittens is to be the last sacrificial rino before the party splits fatally in two

re: #99 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks

Everyone have their rotten tomatoes and heads of lettuce ready?

I don't like JRPGs. In fact, I nearly despise them.

:ducks:

Yahtzee, is that you?

//

re: #98 Targetpractice

Yes. BioWhen was the dirty slut that IPLY cheated on Black Isle with, which eventually led to IPLY killing BI.

/glittering gem

re: #99 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks

:Chucks Brick instead:

I like playing through a story. Fallout's great and all, but sometimes I just want to follow a story.

Still, taking a closer look at what I mentioned before, it seems that the Northern Crater was, up until very late supposed to be where Aerith died. And you would have gotten there at the end of Disc 1, not the middle of Disc 2.

Trying to figure out the original scenario is a bit difficult.

re: #102 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks

Yes. BioWhen was the dirty slut that IPLY cheated on Black Isle with, which eventually led to IPLY killing BI.

/glittering gem

Ah, I see where you're coming from.

re: #101 Targetpractice

Interested in seeing the site? It's a bit hold, but everything still holds up.

re: #105 ProGunLiberal

Interested in seeing the site? It's a bit hold, but everything still holds up.

Sure.

re: #101 Targetpractice

Yahtzee, is that you?

//

That dude is hilarious, but he's got a hard on for the used game trade.

My opinion is, if he wants me to buy games brand new, he can fucking pay for 'em. Until then, I'll buy what ever the fuck I can afford.

re: #103 ProGunLiberal

I like playing through a story. Fallout's great and all, but sometimes I just want to follow a story.

You better be talking about shit from Fallout:Tactics and after, or I'll show you exactly what a "glittering gem of hatred" is!
///

re: #106 Targetpractice

It's in three parts, plus a conclusion, and note about a goof in visuals.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Conclusion

Sephiroth's Magical Gloves. Interest in question in Error #2

Also, another interesting point. If you hacked in Aerith into your party after her death, and she is present at the point the cutscene at Northern Crater starts, the game will hang and crash.

re: #109 ProGunLiberal

Also, not only that, looking at other errors in the game, apparently, Aerith's position during the kill scene shifts alot, seen as Error #7.

Indicating it was a last minute slap-on.

re: #103 ProGunLiberal

I like playing through a story.

Speaking of which, have you ever played this?

re: #109 ProGunLiberal

It's in three parts, plus a conclusion, and note about a goof in visuals.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Conclusion

Sephiroth's Magical Gloves. Interest in question in Error #2

Also, another interesting point. If you hacked in Aerith into your party after her death, and she is present at the point the cutscene at Northern Crater starts, the game will hang and crash.

Yeah, that's something you see in games a lot, characters who were scripted for earlier/later scenarios who disappear before those scenarios happen. Mass Effect 2 had two examples, one a character who had dialogue scripted before they decided to make his appearance a late-game affair. Another just cut out altogether until the DLC for her was eventually released. Thing was, they'd even gone ahead and recorded dialogue for her, and there was a placeholder model in the game for her.

Fallout 3 had an entire quest excised before it was released, along with various weapons and items that were put in the game's code but not implemented.

re: #111 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks

No, but it looks familiar. I think I once watched a friend play a game like that on his computer.

re: #112 Targetpractice

I think saw about a few of those of the FalloutWiki. I remember the Cryolater.

Of course, sometimes management will cut things from the game because they batshit insane and have no business there. For example, originally, Wild Wasteland perk in Fallout: New Vegas was supposed to have one more encounter:

Gojira. No I'm not kinding. 8000 HP, and a flame attack that did way over 1000hp per second.

re: #114 ProGunLiberal

I think saw about a few of those of the FalloutWiki. I remember the Cryolater.

Of course, sometimes management will cut things from the game because they batshit insane and have no business there. For example, originally, Wild Wasteland perk in Fallout: New Vegas was supposed to have one more encounter:

Gojira. No I'm not kinding. 8000 HP, and a flame attack that did way over 1000hp per second.

Yeah, I know. But apparently there was a quest between "The American Dream" and "Take It Back!" in FO3, that required you to hunt down a power source for Liberty Prime. It was supposed to at least partly take place in Rivet City, but what it involved and how it was supposed to go have been lost to the ages.

re: #113 ProGunLiberal

No

You lose three Internets, and are hereby banned from discussing or referencing the "story" of any CRPG for a period of no less than one year and thirteen days. Further, you will be progressively fined any time you discuss or reference JRPGS for the above mentioned time period.
/

re: #115 Targetpractice

I still wonder how anybody thought that the Gojira thing was a good idea. Even the best, most heavily built character would find it near impossible to defeat.

Unless you were given Nukes. But there were only 10-15 nukes in the Non-DLC vanilla version.

re: #117 ProGunLiberal

I still wonder how anybody thought that the Gojira thing was a good idea. Even the best, most heavily built character would find it near impossible to defeat.

Unless you were given Nukes. But there were only 10-15 nukes in the Non-DLC vanilla version.

I never really got into the use of the Fatman. After one too many times getting blown to bits because I'd misjudged the distance/angle of my shot, I tossed it in the locker and forgot about it.

re: #118 Targetpractice

In Fallout 3, on the recent playthough, I only used it 4-6 times.

3 of those where me vs. Behemoth. In fact in, the Capital Building, I used against Talon Company to prevent Charon from being nuked by their Fat Man, then turned it on a Behemoth.

The other time, I just had it in inventory, and a Super Mutant Overlord was on a Pain-in-the-Ass ledge. I stopped his behavior very quickly. I might have used it a few other times, but the Fat Man is generally my "Santorum Hits the Fan" weapon when stuff gets truly over the top.

In doing this genealogy stuff I'm impressed with the idea of how contingent our existence is... and why time travel would be so dangerous.

My ancestors all made decisions that in the very slightest of changes would have totally changed the course of their lives, and thus leading to me not being.

Even the most slightest, incidental, apparently unimportant changes can lead to the non-existence of what otherwise would happen - if one were able to travel back in time.

Many stories explore this idea. Yet working on one's own ancestors' stories makes it all seem so... real.

re: #119 ProGunLiberal

In Fallout 3, on the recent playthough, I only used it 4-6 times.

3 of those where me vs. Behemoth. In fact in, the Capital Building, I used against Talon Company to prevent Charon from being nuked by their Fat Man, then turned it on a Behemoth.

The other time, I just had it in inventory, and a Super Mutant Overlord was on a Pain-in-the-Ass ledge. I stopped his behavior very quickly. I might have used it a few other times, but the Fat Man is generally my "Santorum Hits the Fan" weapon when stuff gets truly over the top.

Yeah, I only ever used it against Behemoths. Everything else, I either used a sniper rifle or several grenades. Hell, didn't even really use grenades except for bartering and for sneak kills.

re: #118 Targetpractice

I never really got into the use of the Fatman.

A travesty of a concept, that nuclear wrist rocket.

Yu Yu Hakusho appeared on Toonami tonight. If Rurouni Kenshin appears, my Nostalgia Bomb becomes a Nostalgia Nuke.

re: #122 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks

And the US actually had this an idea.

The Davy Crokkett

re: #124 ProGunLiberal

And the US actually had this an idea.

The Davy Crokkett

Yeah, those they were at least smart enough to use a recoilless rifle, rather than a catapult. But they also had to deal with that little thing called radiation.

re: #123 ProGunLiberal

Apparently, Rurouni Kenshin did appear. :D

re: #121 Targetpractice

Yeah, I only ever used it against Behemoths.

I will punch you in the soul until you pee from your armpits!
/

re: #125 Targetpractice

Also, that entire concept is insane. Again, who thought this was a viable plan?

re: #128 ProGunLiberal

Also, that entire concept is insane. Again, who thought this was a viable plan?

The same guys who built nuclear artillery shells for both land and naval use, nuclear air-to-air missiles, and nuclear depth charges. The military suffered a serious nuclear fetish before they stopped and realized that the radiation wasn't short-lived or harmless.

re: #128 ProGunLiberal

Also, that entire concept is insane. Again, who thought this was a viable plan?

Apparently the Bethesda developers worked for the Pentagon back in the 50's.

re: #129 Targetpractice

Doing some research, apparently three nations still use Nuclear Artillery:

Pakistan, India, and China.

I see nothing that could go wrong here.

////

If one really wanted to screw around with Western civilization one could travel back in time and make sure Carthage won its wars with Rome.

Carthage would have remained in control of the Mediterranean sea, and the inhabitants of central Italy would never have become rich enough to unify most of Europe south of the norther forests.

There also likely would not have been a Roman Christian church and all that it wrought, but rather a Carthage dominated religious system. Israel would not have fallen under the rule of a Roman empire but a Carthaginian one, remotely at best and perhaps the Ptolemies/Herods/Seleucids descendants would have fought it out for control of the areas of the eastern part of the Mediterranean lands.

The empires of Europe would not have been as they were, and thus "we" wouldn't be here in North America.

A complex alternate history, but one which would see today as being much different.

re: #132 freetoken

I think Ancestry dot com was what my sister sucessfully used...

re: #132 freetoken

One of my favorite science fiction subgenres is alternative history. It's amazing sometimes to think that some of the greatest changes in history owe themselves to simple decisions, happenstances, or quarks of fate.

re: #133 Floral Giraffe

I think Ancestry dot com was what my sister sucessfully used...

To time travel back to Carthage?

Oh, you mean my genealogy - yes, we started with Ancestry.com (via the free trial) which recovered a handful of records. From there though I've had to go by online death certificates or grave records. The most important bits of data would come from the end of the line (the death of the unknown grandfather) in Orange county, but there are no online records but I will have to go up to Orange county to look at the death certificate(s) of possible leads. It is quite possible that the grandfather left no other descendants (the data indicates another daughter, but she disappears, thanks I suspect to our patriarchal system of women losing their last names at marriage.)

So stepping one generation back and looking at my great-uncle or great-aunt possibilities, for possible 3rd or 4th cousins, and now we get back to MO which fortunately kept better records and I've found some leads to a possible great-grandfather and family.

The only way to close the loop though will be by genetic testing, as my mother's birth cert. doesn't list the father's name.

re: #134 Targetpractice

One of my favorite science fiction subgenres is alternative history. It's amazing sometimes to think that some of the greatest changes in history owe themselves to simple decisions war, happenstances war, or quarks of fate war.

:P

re: #132 freetoken

Ever considered writing that kind of fiction? I think you'd be good at it.

/The Behemoth says, having no idea what Freetoken's actual occupation is.

re: #134 Targetpractice

One of my favorite science fiction subgenres is alternative history. It's amazing sometimes to think that some of the greatest changes in history owe themselves to simple decisions, happenstances, or quarks of fate.

That's one of the things I enjoy about Fringe.

re: #136 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks

:P

Hell, even in war, it was small things that turned the tide. Just a change in the weather could help or doom military campaigns.

re: #134 Targetpractice

Simple changes to the timeline any time-traveler could do with minimal effort:

(1) travel back to 1831 to Coles county Illinois and offer the young Abe Lincoln, so wanting to leave his family and travel the world, a free (ship) ticket to somewhere in the world (say, Europe.) Abe, wanting to leave (as he did) would have gone, and America would be different.

(2) Travel back to 9th century China, when they were already experimenting with gun powder and various weaponry, and show them how to make a rifle. They had made various crude weaponry with gun powder, but never perfected the projectile weapon. I suspect they were just missing the metal working instructions for making a barrel for the rifle.

(3) Show up in 3rd century BC Greece with a telescope, a microscope, and some eyeglasses. They would have figured out the rest. You might have instructed them to use lime to make better glass - that would have been quickest.

Simple stuff - you just need to make a time machine.

(3)

re: #139 Targetpractice

Hell, even in war, it was small things that turned the tide. Just a change in the weather could help or doom military campaigns.

And an otherwise trivial gesture, common and complementary in your culture, but seen as deliberately offensive in an alien one, could be the spark that starts said war.

To the audience. I found something on Wikiepedia and Blood Alcohol Content:

In 1995, a man in Wrocław, Poland, had a car accident. At the hospital, his BAC was determined to be 1.48%. Concerned that their equipment was malfunctioning, doctors also performed five separate lab tests, all of which confirmed the man's blood alcohol content. He died a few days later from wounds from the car accident. Police were baffled as to how an individual could attain such a high blood alcohol. Later, police discussions with his brother in-law revealed that he had "beer bonged" pure grain alcohol allegedly stolen from his place of work, a chemical plant.

In December 2004, a man was admitted to the hospital in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, after being struck by a car. After detecting a strong alcohol odor, doctors at a hospital conducted a breath test which displayed the man's blood alcohol content at 0.914. The man was treated for serious injuries sustained in the crash and survived.

In February 2005, French gendarmes from Bourg-en-Bresse, France, conducted a breath test on a man who had lost control of his car. He had an alcohol content of 0.976. He was not injured in the accident but was charged with a €150 fine and his driving license was canceled.

There have been reported cases of blood alcohol content higher than 1.00. In March 2009, a 45-year-old man was admitted to the hospital in Skierniewice, Poland, after being struck by a car. The blood test showed blood alcohol content at 1.23. The man survived but did not remember either the accident or the circumstances of his alcohol consumption. One such case was reported by O'Neil, and others in 1984. They report on a 30-year-old man who survived a blood alcohol concentration of 1,500 mg/100 ml blood after vigorous medical intervention.

In 1982, a 24-year-old woman was admitted to the UCLA emergency room with a serum alcohol concentration of 1.5 (1510 mg/dL). She was alert and oriented to person and place (reported in The Lancet, Dec 18, 1982, p. 1394). Serum Alcohol Concentration is not equal to nor calculated in the same way as Blood Alcohol Content. (By conversion using BAC=SAC/1.14, this would correspond to a BAC of 1.33)

In South Africa, a man driving a Mercedes-Benz Vito van containing 15 sheep, allegedly stolen from nearby farms was arrested on December 22, 2010, near Queenstown in Eastern Cape. His blood had an alcohol content of 1.6 g/100 ml. Also in the vehicle were five boys and a woman who were also arrested.

In Poland, a homeless man was found sleeping half-naked on January 28, 2011, in Cieszyn. His blood had an alcohol level of 1.024%. Despite the temperature of −10 °C and extremely high blood alcohol content the man survived.

I have questions. Namely about their livers.

re: #137 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks

At various times I've dabbled in creative writing. I've written stuff before, nonfiction - tiny circulation newspaper, etc.

Writing is a job that doesn't pay well, and with the collapse of the written media (newspapers, magazines) it now pays even less.

I've tried writing short stories before - I prefer them to longer works. Science fiction usually. I'd rather work on stories for film/tv though, but not fluffy stuff that occupies 99% of the industry. That industry is hard enough to break into, but being picky about what I would write would make it impossible. I don't write schlock.

re: #142 ProGunLiberal

I have questions. Namely about their livers.

Answer...

re: #143 freetoken

You strike me as a very intelligent and creative individual. I would not be surprised to hear of you selling a screenplay someday.

re: #144 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks

1% Alcohol Level seems...stunning to me.

I mean, blowing 1.6! Holy crap, that's 20 times over the US legal limit. And 32 times over the limit in South Africa, where it happened. In general, Europe has lower BAC level to get in trouble, for the record.

And how can you drink that much and not die. That South African who blew a 1.6 must be the Drunkest Driver in History.

re: #7 Liberty Hedgehog (fka Freedom Alligator)

I don't find him or her cute. What's wrong with me? Doctor, will I live? :(

You have no heart.

Actually, that thing, as I remarked before, looks like it should be playing at the Mos Eisley cantina.

But cute, in a hideous-baby-animal way.

re: #73 palomino

It looks like a giant shaved scrotum with eyes, ears and claws. Run for your lives!

Actually a killer aardvark might make a good movie monster.

Dude...scrotum?

That I do not see.

re: #82 freetoken

We're back to the gunslinging days.

Thing is, back in the actual gunslinging days, people were trying to impose law and order.

Now, it's like we don't want it any more.

re: #85 Targetpractice

If I thought the NRA would stop banging their drum, I might agree. But they're out there, telling all their membership and anybody who will listen that Obama's waiting til he's reelected to come for everybody's guns. So why keep quiet about something they're gonna scream regardless?

You'd think that they'd notice he didn't come for their guns last time, despite many assurances that he would.

re: #148 SanFranciscoZionist

Dude...scrotum?

That I do not see.

Your husband is still young-ish. You'll "see" it in about 20 or 30 years.

re: #148 SanFranciscoZionist

Dude...scrotum?

That I do not see.

Just tilt your head to the left, squint your eyes, oh and turn down the lights. Then you'll see it. Right on the snout between the eyes...

re: #150 SanFranciscoZionist

You'd think that they'd notice he didn't come for their guns last time, despite many assurances that he would.

Doesn't matter. The gun industry needs sales, dammit.

re: #87 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks

Friend of mine had that happen. Deer ruined his front end and he nearly went off a cliff.

There was the time my husband's uncle hit a deer, somewhere out on White Ark Road. (Deep in the heart of northeastern Lousiana.) Didn't kill it. He had some idea that they could salvage the meat, so he loaded the injured deer into the back of his car (not the back of his truck, please note, the back seat of a sedan). And drove like hell. The deer, presumably unclear on what the hell had just happened, met its maker somewhere on the back roads along the bayou.

My GMIL had to call it in, since it was out of hunting season. "No, no, I said it was HIT at White Ark up by the train tracks. It's not there now. It's in my front yard, in the back seat of Bobby's Corolla. Yes, I said my FRONT YARD...look, write me a ticket or something. I can't do anything about it now."

re: #151 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks

Your husband is still young-ish. You'll "see" it in about 20 or 30 years.

Thanks for the warning...

Comment from Zooborns: I am a baby aardvark and I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

re: #145 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks

Thank you, but I'm afraid at this stage of my life I have no more energy to undertake yet another career adventure. Sad but true, at a certain age one becomes unwilling to wildly venture forth anymore. I've tried my hand at several careers, sort of succeeded in one of them for a while, failed to certain degrees in the rest.

Here is the truth for you younger folk: make the most of your days. Don't hold back but go for whatever you desire, try to become whatever you can dream. The day will come soon enough when you will just sit back and watch the rest of the world go by - make each day count till then.

re: #156 SanFranciscoZionist

Comment from Zooborns: I am a baby aardvark and I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

I thought only humans had scary sex, particularly when involving one night stands, prostitutes, and/or uniquely specific fetishes.

New update: Hernandez can be an astronaut on the ballot.

[Link: blogs.sacbee.com...]

The suit notes that Hernandez reported to the clerk of the House of Representatives that he received $150,000 last year for serving as the "executive director for strategic operations" with MEI Technologies.

Connelly said the fact that Hernandez worked for NASA only two weeks in 2011 does not mean that he cannot be called an astronaut that year, which also included service at MEI technologies that drew upon his scientific and engineering background.

A key question is whether the ballot designation of "astronaut/scientist/engineer" is misleading as to the cumulative work performed by Hernandez during the 12-month period, according to Connelly.

"Given the scope of the work performed in 2011, the court does not believe it is (misleading)," Connelly said.

re: #158 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks

I thought only humans had scary sex, particularly when involving one night stands, prostitutes, and/or uniquely specific fetishes.

Ha! Reminds me of a bit at the hilarious blog STFUParents, where a woman comments that her toddler has been crying, grabbing her breasts, and hitting her with a wooden spoon all afternoon--and it reminds her of the night he was conceived.

re: #159 SanFranciscoZionist

New update: Hernandez can be an astronaut on the ballot.

[Link: blogs.sacbee.com...]

The suit notes that Hernandez reported to the clerk of the House of Representatives that he received $150,000 last year for serving as the "executive director for strategic operations" with MEI Technologies.

Connelly said the fact that Hernandez worked for NASA only two weeks in 2011 does not mean that he cannot be called an astronaut that year, which also included service at MEI technologies that drew upon his scientific and engineering background.

A key question is whether the ballot designation of "astronaut/scientist/engineer" is misleading as to the cumulative work performed by Hernandez during the 12-month period, according to Connelly.

"Given the scope of the work performed in 2011, the court does not believe it is (misleading)," Connelly said.

Then I can be a cowboy. I was ranch-sitting on six acres in Sedona, Arizona in 1981. The neighbor had some cattle grazing on the property. Sometimes they would jump the fence. I would phone the neighbor and tell hiim to come put the cows back.

But what does a coboy do? He watches over cattle. Therefore I can put "cowboy" on my job resume or ballot listing.

PS, I have never ever in my life, actively or passively, watched over sheep of any kind...

re: #139 Targetpractice

Hell, even in war, it was small things that turned the tide. Just a change in the weather could help or doom military campaigns.

But you'll still need Alien Space Bats to get Operation Sealion to work out.

re: #157 freetoken

I bet you still have something in you that could nail it down.

Here is the truth for you younger folk: make the most of your days. Don't hold back but go for whatever you desire, try to become whatever you can dream.

Do not fear broken bones or broken hearts.
Do not cower before hard stares or hard times.
Do not entertain YeahButs.
Do not be superstitious.
Do not say "No" when deep down inside you want to say "Yes".

re: #161 Expand Your Ground

Then I can be a cowboy. I was ranch-sitting on six acres in Sedona, Arizona in 1981. The neighbor had some cattle grazing on the property. Sometimes they would jump the fence. I would phone the neighbor and tell hiim to come put the cows back.

But what does a coboy do? He watches over cattle. Therefore I can put "cowboy" on my job resume or ballot listing.

PS, I have never ever in my life, actively or passively, watched over sheep of any kind...

This dude was actually up on the Discovery...just saying.

I can understand his opponent's concern, though. It's very hard to beat 'astronaut' for pure cool points.

Getting back to the genealogy - from the known portion of my maternal line (which would be the maternal maternal line), among the things which I have forgotten or overlooked:

It turns out I am a son of the Civil War, with one great grandparent definitely riding in the Union calvary - we've got his unit number and dates. (It is possible that the unknown maternal line was involved in the Confederacy, and that both lines fought each other directly.)

It also turns out I am a son of the Revolutionary War, with at least on ancestor involved, who was captured by the British and held prisoner.

Further back, one of by ancestors were colonials in the 1600's, part of the earliest communities in ME and western MA.

I guess all of that makes me about as American as apple pie. So next time someone accuses me of being an anti-American elitist I'll just whip out my pedigree and say I've inherited the right to judge my own ancestors.

Good morning Lizards from "it's always sunny in Philadelphia Koln".

A pleasant Sunday morning that finds me watching over computer programs at a chemical plant. O_o

A interesting place for discussing/reading alt history ideas is out on Usenet. soc.history.what-if

re: #164 SanFranciscoZionist

This dude was actually up on the Discovery...just saying.

I can understand his opponent's concern, though. It's very hard to beat 'astronaut' for pure cool points.

Well, I lived on a ranch. More than one, even. Just braggin'.

Start of today's political rhetoric.

Scott Walker is the "anti-Barack Obama".

[Link: firstread.msnbc.msn.com...]

O_o The Obama ads will write themselves once the general election starts.

re: #120 freetoken

If my ancestor in 1765 England had not stolen pigeons and mutton I would not be here.

re: #169 EdDantes

If my ancestor in 1765 England had not stolen pigeons and mutton I would not be here.

I didn't understand eating "squab" until I got over to Europe and realized that the pigeons are about 50% larger than the US versions.

re: #169 EdDantes

If my ancestor in 1765 England had not stolen pigeons and mutton I would not be here.

Thus showing that petty larceny is a grand thing.
XD

re: #170 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste

I didn't understand eating "squab" until I got over to Europe and realized that the pigeons are about 50% larger than the US versions.

I'd always considered Pigeons flying rats. But in 18th century England it was another source of protein.

re: #172 EdDantes

I'd always considered Pigeons flying rats. But in 18th century England it was another source of protein.

And even farther back. Dovecotes and all that. I have a picture somewhere of an old stone dovecote from Avebury in Wiltshire.

Plus it's a potential construction for manor improvement in the one RPG I play in. Makes sense. Free range birds that you can then harvest for meat and eggs. Sort of like building artificial mounds with the intent that the rabbits will come and settle there.

Good Morning.

This wasn't easy for me to decide, but, I'm voting for Romney.

re: #175 Varek Raith

This wasn't easy for me to decide, but, I'm voting for Romney.

Nice try.

Son of a...

re: #177 Varek Raith

Son of a...

Son of a ... amphisbaenian?

re: #178 freetoken

Son of a ... amphisbaenian?

Image: chestburster.jpg

Spooky.
/

re: #165 freetoken

On the paternal side I have two direct ancestors who were Union infantry. On the maternal side I have a Confederate cavalry/medical service ancestor. One confirmed Rev War vet on the maternal side. Plus one supposedly served with the Swamp Fox, but no proof. Non-direct relatives in the War of 1812 and one with Fannin with the Georgia troops. Plus one or two with the Brits in Rev War. Not looking too close at one or two well known feuds here in Texas.

re: #89 goddamnedfrank

Shot.them.in.the.back!

Yeah, they came into his front yard, walking backwards. That happens.

I'm just like ... fucking Wow! And wondering how this is the first time I've heard of it.

The Grand Jury just flat out let this guy off on a double murder. I'm sure the fact that the two dead men were illegal aliens didn't unduly sway the deliberations at all.

Don't worry. It's all OK. The system worked. Trust the authorities and your fellow citizens.//

re: #158 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks

I thought only humans had scary sex, particularly when involving one night stands, prostitutes, and/or uniquely specific fetishes.

Hedgehog sex is very scary.

Buck is a one-man shitbrick factory.

Well, I'm off to North Carolina for a week.
Later gators.
:)

re: #175 Varek Raith

This wasn't easy for me to decide, but, I'm voting for Romney.

My state won't primary for awhile yet, but I'm hoping Huntsman is on the ballot. If it's just between Romney and and Santorum, maybe I'll vote for a write-in.

Don't they eat ant hills?

re: #186 Dire Straits

Probably more they eat the ants, than the hills.

re: #187 Obdicut

They have a dinosaur type of look to them.

re: #180 dell*nix

On the paternal side I have two direct ancestors who were Union infantry. On the maternal side I have a Confederate cavalry/medical service ancestor. One confirmed Rev War vet on the maternal side. Plus one supposedly served with the Swamp Fox, but no proof. Non-direct relatives in the War of 1812 and one with Fannin with the Georgia troops. Plus one or two with the Brits in Rev War. Not looking too close at one or two well known feuds here in Texas.

IF they were with Fanin they were I am assuming massacred at the Goliad Massacre a few weeks after the Fall of the Alamo.

re: #190 Dire Straits

The relative with Fannin was in medical quarantine and not with the main force. He missed getting captured with the main troop. Several men managed to not get caught or managed to escape. A couple of Fannin's troops were saved by actions of Mexican Army troops who did not like the execution orders.

re: #191 dell*nix

Really a battle of the assholes. Texans fighting to preserve slavery vs. Mexicans executing POWs.

re: #192 Obdicut

Really a battle of the assholes. Texans fighting to preserve slavery vs. Mexicans executing POWs.

Though to the Mexican Army they were executing rebels trying to overthrow the legitimate government of the province.

That aardvark is uglier than a hairless cat, bt what the hell do I know. Good morning!

re: #193 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste

Sure, still, executing people is bad. Miss Manners is agin' it.

Anyone remember this case out of MO?

Missouri Property Searched After Claims of Horrific Sex Abuse, Murder
[Link: abcnews.go.com...]

and another link with more details:

Missouri Sex Abuse Case Gets Even More Grotesque
[Link: abcnews.go.com...]

I've been waiting for the trial for 2 years but a couple weeks ago they finally got around to dropping the charges:

Missouri prosecutor drops all charges in Mohler family sex case:

[Link: www.columbiamissourian.com...]

KANSAS CITY — A Missouri prosecutor said Wednesday she was dropping all charges against five men accused of sexually molesting young relatives on a western Missouri farm more than 20 years ago, saying she doubted she could convince a jury that the bizarre claims were true.

"Whether or not I believe the allegations is an independent question from whether or not I believe I can prove each and every element of the case beyond a reasonable doubt at trial," prosecutor Kellie Wingate Campbell said after notifying courts in three counties of her action.

re: #194 Tommy's cone of shame

That aardvark is uglier than a hairless cat, bt what the hell do I know.

Like me, you also have no heart. Fellow monstrous freak!

re: #196 RogueOne

Oh, seems like another fake memory/satanic panic incident.

re: #197 Liberty Hedgehog (fka Freedom Alligator)

I resemble that remark!
Currently my kids favorite channel is Animal Planet. A show called "Too Cute" documents puppies and kittens from birf to +/- 8 weeks. I'm currently watching a kitten getting sucked out of a drainpipe by a shop vac, hilarious! (especially since I have no heart)

re: #198 Liberty Hedgehog (fka Freedom Alligator)

Yeah, sounded straight out of the 80's. The story popped up right around the time of the Scott Brown/Martha Coakley race which is probably why my BS meter got pegged right away. Well, that and they never did find anything close to "evidence".

In case you don't know about the Coakley connection:
A very brief history...
[Link: www.politico.com...]

re: #199 Tommy's cone of shame

Puppies and kittens are cute especially when they investigate something new.

re: #199 Tommy's cone of shame

But kittens and puppies are fluffy! Unlike the monster above! /

re: #202 Liberty Hedgehog (fka Freedom Alligator)

Image: 1300410199_178426423_1-Pictures-of--Sphynx-Kittens-for-Sale.jpg

re: #203 Obdicut

Yeah, I know. But this is what inspired Giger:

[Link: www.zooborns.com...]

I have to head out, I hope everyone has a great day. Update on my hound dog Amedeus, my wife removed the cone of shame and he is very happy. The cone screwed with his vision, so he was kinda whacked out with it on. Now we just put him in my sons old toddler t-shirts to keep him from licking his wound. (He got bit by neighbor dog, twenty staples or so) My username pic will have to change.

re: #193 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste

Though to the Mexican Army they were executing rebels trying to overthrow the legitimate government of the province.

Any dictator who deos not allow slavery deserves to be overthrown...

re: #67 ProGunLiberal

I hate reality TV. I heard someone say that the Hunger Games plotline is basically showing the extreme end of Reality TV gone rampant, or something like that.

That's part of it, but it's not a new idea in science fiction; the idea of a death match as reality TV that is. It's been done before in Battle Royale, The Running Man, etc. The Hunger Games has another major element related to today's world that adds to its appeal, the growing gap between the rich and poor. The Capitol takes all the fruits of the 12 districts' labor and gives very little back. In the poorer districts the people are constantly battling starvation while the people of the Capitol indulge in excess.

***SPOILER ALERT***

It's also interesting how, when The Hunger Games moves outside the Arena to depict the rebellion against the Capitol, televised propaganda remains central to the plot. The rebels are aware of its power and use it even more effectively than the Capitol. The war itself, especially as it moves into the streets of the Capitol itself, makes you think of a video game, with the revel soldiers facing horrors conjured up by the same Gamemakers who prepare the Arenas for the tributes.

Teh digital mob is keeping the man down!

//

Cute aardvark...does it sound like Jackie Mason when it talks? "Hello ant. I'm going to eat you. Please don't run!"

Leaked Documents Reveal Flatland Institute Plan To Brainwash Toddlers With 'Baby Inhofe' Videos.... adf.ly/6v05H #SkyRSSNetwork

— Think Progess Feed (@ThinkProgressFD) April 1, 2012

re: #65 Gus

Tammany would have loved Sarah.

Not really. Tammany Hall ward bosses were expected to know what was going on in their wards. That required being observant and being able to learn, neither of which are qualities Sarah Palin possesses.

re: #193 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste

Though to the Mexican Army they were executing rebels trying to overthrow the legitimate government of the province.

And they acted in the name of a General who fancied himself a battle-winner of Napoleon's caliber (the Mexican lancers Santa Ana deployed at the Alamo were formed in direct imitation of the Polish Lancers who had fought as part of la Grande Armee), but proceeded to make deployment mistakes at San Jancino that Napoleon would never have made even on his worst day.

Interesting.

Militia Member Drugs and Kills Afghan Colleagues
By FAROOQ JAN MANGAL and MATTHEW ROSENBERG
Published: March 30, 2012

KHOST, Afghanistan — A member of a militia promoted by the American military to protect rural villages drugged his Afghan colleagues and killed at least nine of them as they slept on Friday, a police official said, in the third deadly episode involving the irregular guard force in March.

re: #209 darthstar

Cute aardvark...does it sound like Jackie Mason when it talks? "Hello ant. I'm going to eat you. Please don't run!"

:D

re: #213 Gus

Interesting.

Militia Member Drugs and Kills Afghan Colleagues
By FAROOQ JAN MANGAL and MATTHEW ROSENBERG
Published: March 30, 2012

That sounds more like the Taliban at work. I've been thinking about these incidents, and I think that in cases where Afghans perpetrate this sort of betrayal the Afghan government should execute them summarily. No trial should be held if the killer is caught red-handed. Instead the scumbag should be lead in chains before what remains of his unit, chained to a post, and then executed by shotgun fire; the idea of the last being to produce a mangled corpse as a warning without inflict torture on the terrorist while he is still living.

re: #214 Sonic the Hedgehog

Always loved that cartoon.

re: #213 Gus

Interesting.

Militia Member Drugs and Kills Afghan Colleagues
By FAROOQ JAN MANGAL and MATTHEW ROSENBERG
Published: March 30, 2012

Copycat.

re: #215 Dark_Falcon

That sounds more like the Taliban at work.

Except that it was someone we promoted ('we' being the good guys, America, fuck yeah!)
A member of a militia promoted by the American military to protect rural villages
That first line is tricky and easy to miss.

“What else has she done? Female, wounded veteran … ehhh,” he continued. “She is nothing more than a handpicked Washington bureaucrat. David Axelrod, Rahm Emanuel just picked her up and dropped her into this district.” -- Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL)

From Rep. Joe Walsh Is A Big Time A-Hole.

re: #215 Dark_Falcon

Advocating war crimes is always stupid.

re: #215 Dark_Falcon

That sounds more like the Taliban at work. I've been thinking about these incidents, and I think that in cases where Afghans perpetrate this sort of betrayal the Afghan government should execute them summarily. No trial should be held if the killer is caught red-handed. Instead the scumbag should be lead in chains before what remains of his unit, chained to a post, and then executed by shotgun fire; the idea of the last being to produce a mangled corpse as a warning without inflict torture on the terrorist while he is still living.

As long as you agree this should be done to American soldiers in similar circumstances. / not

re: #219 Gus

I really hope he gets his ass kicked in November. He has got to be the most colossal prick in American Politics since Preston Brooks.

re: #215 Dark_Falcon

Not to make a federal case out of this but that's a little over the top don't you think so DF?

re: #223 Gus

Not to make a federal case out of this but that's a little over the top don't you think so DF?

Life is just a fantasy.

BRB Going to make a page for Duckworth.

re: #222 ProGunLiberal

I really hope he gets his ass kicked in November. He has got to be the most colossal prick in American Politics since Preston Brooks.

you ain't kidding. I gave money to Peter Roskam when he ran against Duckworth, but that was a pro-Roskam action (Roskam does his job well). Walsh is a disgrace and the only Republican in Illinois I've specifically told my father not to give money to. I don't say this often, but 8th District is one of a very few cases in my life where I hope a Republican gets his ass kicked up between his shoulder blades.

re: #220 Obdicut

Advocating war crimes is always stupid.

If there is any doubt about guilt, then by all means I support a trial. And in sober point of fact I wouldn't advocate doing what I suggested more than once. But I feel that some kind of example has to be made of one of these dirtbags who kill their comrades, and the best sort of example in a case like this is to kill one of them publicly and brutally.

re: #227 Dark_Falcon

There is always doubt about guilt.

re: #227 Dark_Falcon

If there is any doubt about guilt, then by all means I support a trial. And in sober point of fact I wouldn't advocate doing what I suggested more than once. But I feel that some kind of example has to be made of one of these dirtbags who kill their comrades, and the best sort of example in a case like this is to kill one of them publicly and brutally.

So you support doing that to Bales, right?

re: #225 Gus

BRB Going to make a page for Duckworth.

she is pretty damn impressive....

re: #229 Liberty Hedgehog (fka Freedom Alligator)

So you support doing that to Bales, right?

Yes, absolutely. If he's convicted, then execute him by firing squad with shotguns. I'm fine with that idea.

re: #231 Dark_Falcon

Yes, absolutely. If he's convicted, then execute him by firing squad with shotguns. I'm fine with that idea.

Without trial, of course.

re: #227 Dark_Falcon

And in sober point of fact I wouldn't advocate doing what I suggested more than once.

Chaining a guy to a post in front of his comrades and shooting him with a shotgun a second time would be cruel.

Done

Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) Insults Service and Wounds of Double Amputee Iraq War Veteran

I'm sure someone already posted something but I add some color to the report.

re: #230 sagehen

she is pretty damn impressive...

...

Duckworth lost the lower part of both legs from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents. The explosion “almost completely destroyed her right arm, breaking it in three places and tearing tissue from the back side of it.” Duckworth received a Purple Heart on December 3 and was promoted to Major on December 21 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she was presented with an Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal.

re: #231 Dark_Falcon

Yes, absolutely. If he's convicted, then execute him by firing squad with shotguns. I'm fine with that idea.

Again with the shotguns? You do realize that firing squads have traditionally used rifles, don't you? Maybe we should execute people with RPGs...that'll REALLY teach 'em a lesson.

re: #232 Liberty Hedgehog (fka Freedom Alligator)

Without trial, of course.

No, that last was to be reserved for one killer caught in the act. And it was not a good idea. The shotgun part still stands, though.

re: #237 Dark_Falcon

No, that last was to be reserved for one killer caught in the act. And it was not a good idea. The shotgun part still stands, though.

OK, at least you acknowledge it was not a good idea.

re: #238 Liberty Hedgehog (fka Freedom Alligator)

OK, at least you acknowledge it was not a good idea.

Like PLL, sometimes I get very pissed off and my anger gets the better of me.

BBL I need to get going.

re: #237 Dark_Falcon

No, that last was to be reserved for one killer caught in the act. And it was not a good idea. The shotgun part still stands, though.

How close? Ten feet? That would pretty much guarantee pieces of skull flying off the guy's head. Or maybe 25 yards with bird shot...though that would be like hunting with Dick Cheney though and it would take several shots to bring the guy down. I'm guessing your fantasy is the big red splash of blood and guts...

Speaking of bad ideas:

A Crime to Use “Any Electronic or Digital Device” “And Use Any Obscene, Lewd or Profane Language” “With Intent to … Offend”?
[Link: volokh.com...]

That’s what Arizona HB 2549, which was just passed by both houses (though not yet signed by the Governor) provides, in relevant part:

It is unlawful for any person, with intent to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy or offend, to use a telephone ANY ELECTRONIC OR DIGITAL DEVICE and use any obscene, lewd or profane language or suggest any lewd or lascivious act, or threaten to inflict physical harm to the person or property of any person.

........
So, under the statute, posting a comment to a newspaper article — or a blog — saying that the article or post author is “fucking out of line” would be a crime: It’s said with intent to offend, it uses an electronic or digital device, and it uses what likely will be seen as profane language (see, e.g., City of Columbia Falls v. Bennett (Mont. 1991)). Likewise if a blog poster were to post the same in response to a commenter’s comment. Likewise if someone posts something in response to an e-mail on an e-mail-based discussion list, or in a chatroom, or wherever else. (Note that if “profane” is read to mean not vulgarly insulting, but instead religiously offensive, see City of Bellevue v. Lorang (Wash. 2000), then the statute would be unconstitutional as well.)

You folks in AZ better watch your fucking mouths, I'm easily offended.

re: #242 RogueOne

Conservatives strike again, huh.

re: #243 Liberty Hedgehog (fka Freedom Alligator)

Conservatives strike again, huh.

Patriots.

re: #244 Gus

_{*cue the Ds voted for it too excuse*}

re: #242 RogueOne

Arizona plan for success:

1. Pass hyperconservative law. This can either be in glibertarian or socon format, your choice.

2. Law is struck down with prejudice in court after you waste a lot of money dealing with it.

3. Blather about how the federal government is not allowing you/forcing you to do something you do/don't want.

4. Get campaign contributes, sell books, get speakers fees.

5. Profit!

It's a full underpants-gnome.

re: #245 Liberty Hedgehog (fka Freedom Alligator)

_{*cue the Ds voted for it too excuse*}

Roll out Tipper Gore man!

re: #247 Gus

She's the Sharpton-Jackson of old!

re: #243 Liberty Hedgehog (fka Freedom Alligator)

Conservatives strike again, huh.

It passed 58-1 and 30-0.......That annoys me. If they voted electronically I think I'm now entitled to sue.

re: #248 Liberty Hedgehog (fka Freedom Alligator)

She's the Sharpton-Jackson of old!

Handy like Robert Byrd!

re: #249 RogueOne

It passed 58-1 and 30-0...That annoys me. If they voted electronically I think I'm now entitled to sue.

Yeah, I said conservatives, not Republicans.

One of the friends who is advising me on the girl is herself engaged (got so back in October).

Her Wedding Date is December 21st, 2012. I am very happy she found her match in life. Also making me happy is the fact she is thumbing her nose at the Mayan Prophecy jagoffs.

Worst Album Covers of All Time

(few pics of boobs)

(hell, they're all boobs)