Jenksismyhero

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Aug 28, 2013 -> 03:55 PM) It's a newsletter published by conservative Harvard students. It's not something published by Harvard University and it's not a reputable independent journal. Published in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy.

Did that peer review discredit the nugget I posted? And that article is from 2007 while the other ones you cited were much older. I'd say that's kind of important since gun ownership is going up as crime is going down. Edit: though i guess by the same logic the facts they are using are even older. Crap in, crap out.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Aug 28, 2013 -> 03:02 PM) 1) That article is several years old, not new. 2) It's published in a self-described "Tri-annual student law review for conservative and libertarian legal scholarship." It's not a peer-reviewed research paper, it's an article by two anti-gun control lawyers. 3) They got Luxembourg's murder rate wrong by a factor of 10. This is notable because they repeatedly hold up Luxembourg in the text as an example of why gun control is so wrong. 4) Their other main comparison is Russia. As we all know, Russia is a pretty f***ed place for many, many reasons. A simple correlation of gun control and murder rates isn't particularly useful. 5) There are numerous, actually-peer-reviewed papers that have come to the exact opposite conclusion. e.g. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hicrc/firearms...guns-and-death/ So apparently Harvard ISN'T reputable.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Aug 28, 2013 -> 03:03 PM) EA really does need competition. The exclusive deal has made them complacent. Hell, I would be happy with a non NFL football game with made up teams and such. some of those games were really fun when I was growing up. They made one like 2 years ago that was going to revolutionize football games. But it didn't sell. You want to play the Bears (or whatever team you root for) not random football teams/players.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 28, 2013 -> 02:45 PM) What's stupid about Madden is that they don't even push any limits anymore. Last year's game was like "oh let's make you level up players individually" which jesus that doesn't make me want to play, that makes me want to shoot myself. Or there were whatever other modes you could play in, as just the one player or whatever. Perhaps allowing you to create custom plays, or multiple hot route sets, or multiple audibles, or making defenses respect the pump fake more. OR BRINGING GUS JOHNSON BACK. I will say, last year's engine was quite a bit different than previous iterations. I hated it. My thing from last years game was that they still refuse to fix the f***ing blocking. I'll have a wonderful counter play to the outside with one defensive back on the outside and the full back in front of me. Everyone else is blocked. So what's the fullback do? He goes to help block a linebacker and I get nailed behind the line of scrimmage. I think it was either joytiq or kotaku that did a review and they have a video of the exact same thing happening in this current version. How is that still happening literally 25 years after the start of the franchise?

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Aug 28, 2013 -> 02:44 PM) I've only been with them since January or so. Ah, that's why, you didn't get a full season (if any) when you first signed up.

New study (by Harvard, are they reputable?) finds that fewer guns and more regulations =/= less gun deaths and that more guns and less regulation =/= more gun deaths, at least when discussing and comparing other nations. http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/j...auseronline.pdf Interesting nugget:

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Aug 28, 2013 -> 02:24 PM) Same game. If that's all they're hanging their hat on, that's sad. New animations and rosters aren't worth $60 a year. I guarantee you if EA didn't have the exclusive license Madden would be a much better, more polished game.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Aug 28, 2013 -> 02:22 PM) Only on your tablet, phone, and pc. Sure you can run the HDMI, though. I just called DirecTV and said "gimme" and they gave me. Were you out of contract? I still have a month left and they keep telling me I have no more deals available but to call back next month. I'm going to ask for the moon - genie, sunday ticket, hbo/showtime free or reduced, etc.

Everyone should get the Amazon exclusive Madden - $100 bucks that includes Sunday Ticket and RedZone for "free" (or $40 instead of the $200+ it'll cost you if you're a DirecTV subscriber. I might not even play the game and still be happy with that purchase. Edit: Most of the reviews - IGN's boner for EA titles aside - are pretty harsh (Gamespot 6.0/10), mainly for being the same as last year. I really have to wonder how in the hell these reviewers have given any good scores for that game. It's been a reboot since 2000.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 28, 2013 -> 09:56 AM) "The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation." - Sen. B. Obama He's changed his mind for a good cause so it's totally a-OK.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Aug 27, 2013 -> 02:26 PM) Its not that hard to guess at what China/Russia are doing. They want to be counter-balances to the United States. Thus they take positions against the United States, even if there is not a direct benefit as there are potential indirect benefits. And you cant really guess at civilian death tolls and what would have happened without intervention. Intervention generally comes at a time when the war is escalating, therefore it makes sense that casualties are going to be higher. What it does not (and what no one can do) is show how many people would have died if there was no intervention. The US getting into another World's Police Force situation is to our detriment, so Russia and China should be all about it. We waste money and weapons AND continue to look like terrible people for bombing another country.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Aug 27, 2013 -> 03:43 PM) Greg, let's just skip to the important question. Would you hit that? That is, Hilary Clinton.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Aug 27, 2013 -> 01:19 PM) OK, I get that Iran is crazy, but what do Russia and China have to gain by pushing back so hard in defense of a country that just used chemical weapons on its own civilians? I think Russia is making money because they're providing Assad with weapons. Not sure about China. Probably oil.

So warplanes are on the move. NK caught trying to smuggle in gas masks and weapons. Russia and China order us not to attack and Iran threatens to attack Israel first if Syria is hit. This will be "fun."

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 27, 2013 -> 12:43 PM) Yeah, I mean that is nuts. I know the tendency is to overreact and not want to take any risks whatsoever, but what kind of a life is that? Jenks, I appreciate your desire to protect your son, but you can't protect him from everything. Kids are made pretty sturdy at that age for a reason- because they fall down and bang into things. I know you're a bit traumatized by what you just saw happen to your friend, but there just isn't much you can do about things like that. No I know, it's just on my mind so I freak out more than I did before. When he falls off things and hits his head I have an actual worst-case-scenario to refer to.

QUOTE (GoodAsGould @ Aug 26, 2013 -> 07:50 PM) He dived head first into 3 feet of water or just jumped in? Sorry wasn't clear on it but if the later is true now I'm going to think about it every time I debate jumping into water. No, he tried to surface dive from a somewhat level position at the edge of the water on the beach. I guess he just put his head down farther than he should have because his arms were apparently out in front of him. I know i've down the same thing a thousand times, but maybe i just never dip my head down as far, or do more of a dive/belly flop style jump on the top of the water. In either case, he clearly f***ed up. I spoke to his wife last night and he was able to feel a little more of his stomach/abdomen than he did before his surgery. He was also able to feel a little in one of his feet. That's all a really good sign as things might continue to get better as the swelling goes down. I'm sure it's still a 99% chance he never controls anything below his chest again, but at least there are a few positive signs.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Aug 26, 2013 -> 04:54 PM) Wow, that is terrible. And yeah, puts some things in perspective like you said. We've all done some stupid/risky stuff in our lives, most haven't had any major injuries to show for it. Just shows you that things can, and do, in fact happen, and I'm sure you realize that now more than ever. For me, I've been done taking any physical "risks" for years. Well, at least the ones I can control. Playing hockey is a risk, and something could happen. But I'm not running around without a helmet on or a facemask on, etc. But jumping off things/climbing things etc, things that just aren't necessary at all, are a thing of the past. For example, honeymoon in Hawaii a couple years ago - there's quite a few places you can jump off cliffs, go to the edge by the ocean and take crazy photos, etc. I told my wife I'm not trying to win a Darwin award, taking the picture here instead of 100 feet further is fine. Same things with the guys jumping off cliffs - I'm sure it's great, but not for me. I'm not saying what your friend did is equivalent to jumping off a cliff into water, but it's something we all know carries some seemingly unnecessary risk. For me, just not worth it at this point, and it's a definite transformation. High School me thought I was invincible. Anyone else do things along these lines? I hope your friend recovers as well as he can. He was that guy that jumped off clips, sky dived; all the crazy stuff, and he never was seriously hurt. That's what makes it so odd that he was hurt in 3 feet of water. But yeah, i'm hoping at the very least he'll be able to regain some control of his abdomen so he can be that much more independent. But I dunno, scrolling through the internet for the last day and a half I just don't read as many positive stories as I would have liked. Spinal cords injuries are sort of "it is what it is" injuries. But yeah, I'm with you. I never did anything super crazy before, but I did a lot of dumb things in my day. I certainly stay away from it now that I'm a dad. This whole thing really put his life in perspective for me. He's 14 months so he's been walking and trying to climb on things the last couple of weeks. Had you asked me Friday i would have told you that i was semi-ok with him falling because that's how he learns. Now I watch him like a hawk thinking that he might hit his head just right and end up really hurting himself.

I agree with the N-word part of his rant. It's pretty stupid that the media censors itself like that, especially when you're talking about racist remarks.

So I had a pretty f***ed up weekend. Rented a lake house in Wisconsin with about 24 other friends. Partied our asses off Friday night and had a great time. Saturday afternoon I went golfing with some buddies and got a call that another friend of mine hurt his neck in the lake and couldn't feel his legs. Didn't really think anything of it as he tends to always get injured (not seriously) doing something on these trips. An hour later I got a text saying he was being airlifted to the Univ. of Madison hospital for emergency surgery. Find out later that night he broke his C7 and severely damaged his spinal cord. He'll most likely never walk again. He was "lucky" in that he broke the C7 and not anything above that. He can breathe on his own, use his arms and seems to be able to use his hands ok. But he's basically paralyzed from the chest down with little hope of recovery. Anything higher and he'd most likely be a quad, if not dead. All because he tried to surface dive from the edge of the water into thigh high water (not off a dock). Not the smartest thing to do, but I've done it before, as has everyone else probably at some point in their life. The worst part was he and his wife had just bought their dream home - 2 floors of a brand new 2 flat - and moved in 2 weeks ago. Now they'll have to find something more wheelchair accessible. And they were days away from trying to start having kids. Definitely put my "problems" in life into perspective (i.e., they're not really problems at all) and made me very appreciative of what kind of life I have.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Aug 26, 2013 -> 12:25 PM) It's amazing how short your memory is. Remind me who was it created the Patriot Act? Drone strikes on American citizens is just an expansion of that policy created by your side. And yet all the people b****ing and whining about it ( ) have continued and ENLARGED the policy. But keep up with the "It's George Bush's fault." It'll work 50 years now too i'm sure.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Aug 26, 2013 -> 12:24 PM) so back to Hillary.... Yeah, sorry. Didn't mean to hijack the thread. Hillary is a b****! Rabble, rabble, rabble!

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Aug 26, 2013 -> 12:08 PM) Jenks. Ive never said people cant own guns. Ive said multiple times that it should be up to each state to determine what their gun policy is. If Texas wants to allow rocket launchers, go for it. Abortion. Im sorry but I cant protect something that is not alive. It would require completely changing science and law, which seems unreasonable. As soon as something is "born" it is alive and it has rights. Until then, it should not. It may be cold, it may be harsh, but it is fair. But unlike the people fighting gay marriage, I am willing to agree to an alternative that would give the potential life protection, if it could be done in a way that does not infringe on the the person who is alive and has rights. If science can find a way that instead of an abortion the fetus is saved, Id have no problem with that. But as of now, that option is not available. In comparison, the option of allowing gay people the right to marry, is very much available. It in no way hurts anyone else. Its like arguing that Christians getting married hurts Jews. It just doesnt. So there is legitimately no argument against gay marriage except for bigotry. And to compare a legitimate argument like gun rights and abortion to gay marriage, just shows that you dont really care about freedom, you just care about yourself. Ive been pro-life, but it just does not make sense to give rights to an non-living entity. Its to speculative and does not reflect the actual state of the issue, which is prior to a X days/weeks/months, its not a live and therefore should not be protected by the law. My point is you can't keep claiming "freedom is the most important thing" when you know damn well every political party ever has drawn a line for whatever reason infringing on freedoms. Party A has priority X. Party Y has priority Z. That's the way it always works. It's simply wrong to point out that one party does this while the other is simply preserving freedom. Taxes and dictating how people spend their money or how much of their money they should keep is infringing on a freedom. Any sort of restriction whatsoever on gun ownership is infringing on a freedom. Limiting abortions to the 1st trimester and not allowing it later is still infringing on the freedom of a woman and her body. And how is be being against abortion caring about myself and not freedom? That makes no sense.

It infuriates me that people consider Mad Men a better show. Mad Men is great, but not nearly as enjoyable to watch week-to-week. I can tune out of Mad Men for 10 minutes and not really care what I'm missing. You simply can't do that with Breaking Bad.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Aug 26, 2013 -> 11:51 AM) No I see the direction this country is heading. You just cant see that your side is very willing to hand over those rights. The Patriot Act was signed in 2001... Perhaps it would be wise to take a historical look at what party Jim Sensenbrenner belongs too. Gay marriage has nothing to do with it. This was started a long time ago by fear mongers. IMMIGRANTS BAD TERRORISTS BAD NEED MORE LAWS AND GOVT POWER TO STOP BAD Those are the facts, you can either accept them and perhaps try and fix the issue, or you can keep ragging on gay rights which has nothing to do with govt taking our freedoms away. But this isnt about "true freedom" its about "select freedom", in that if you are a good white god follower, you deserve to be free, if you are anything else, you dont deserve the same rights. Its the same old tired argument. But weve won before, we won in the Revolutionary War, we won in the Civil War, we won in World War II and we will win again. Its just a question of how high the cost will be before the bigots relent. Lol, you are so full of it. There are two sides to every coin. You talk about freedom in an absolute sense and yet you're perfectly fine defining "life" as you see fit and allowing abortions. You're fine taking the freedom of gun owners away. There are all sorts of freedoms you would take away from people based on X belief of yours and conservatives are no different. At the end of the day the line drawn in the sand between acceptable and not acceptable is arbitrary. To pretend like one side chooses that line based on the right things while the other does not is a joke.