Texsox

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 5, 2008 -> 12:38 PM) No, it's not. Child porn involves the video taping of sexual acts with a minor. GTA IV involves pushing buttons and watching a television. The comparison could not be further off and is ridiculous. Using child porn as an argument in any way against GTA IV is a goddamned joke. Do you believe there could be a video game created that should be banned?

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ May 5, 2008 -> 11:25 AM) So are you comparing video games to child porn? No. You asked who should decide and where the line should be drawn. I was offering some obvious areas that most people agree should be banned, where we do censor. You don't want to go there, and that's fine. Again, we elect people who also appoint people, and we do go there. We draw lines and declare things illegal. I think there could be games that push the boundaries to a point where they should not be available to adults as well. I doubt anyone would argue that any and all games, no matter the topic, should be allowed. So you too would agree there is a line. It's just who draws the line, and where.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ May 5, 2008 -> 10:01 AM) It's the parents job to make sure kids aren't playing the game. Jack Thompson isn't saying that though. He's saying that these games should be banned from the country. Saying that the makers of the game are responsible for murder. He wants everyone to follow his conservative Christian moral code. He's scum. Interesting no mention of tactics in this post.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ May 5, 2008 -> 11:02 AM) Where do you stop and who's to judge? Maybe if this game wasn't here, maybe if this record wasn't made, maybe if this book wasn't written. It's opening a door to a place I don't wanna go. We decide that children porn isn't healthy, so it is banned. Who judged that? We decided that nudity during after school viewing isn't good, so we banned that. You might not want to go there, but fortunately we elect people and appoint people to go there.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ May 5, 2008 -> 10:01 AM) It's the parents job to make sure kids aren't playing the game. Jack Thompson isn't saying that though. He's saying that these games should be banned from the country. Saying that the makers of the game are responsible for murder. He wants everyone to follow his conservative Christian moral code. He's scum. A system of beliefs, add whatever label you want, is the basis for laws. Why is it illegal to kill your neighbors cat, but not a mouse in your house? Why is it illegal for a 30 year old to have sex with a 16 year old? These are all about morality and someone wants others to follow this moral code. Your comment is insulting to over a billion humans on this planet.

Like many things in our society, this does not benefit society, or the people who play the game. Nobody will say, I owe this promotion, or I'm a better person, because I play GTA. But, we tolerate it because we are a reasonably free society. At best, we try our best to limit the exposure to certain segments of society. And a very slight defense for parents, As a society we bombard our kids with positive messages about negative things, then blame the parents when kids are drawn to them. You cannot leave your kids locked up and blind from TV, radio, etc. You also cannot watch them 24/7. When will parents get a little help from society? I dislike using this as an example, because we will end up debating the merits of the game, but if this game was never produced, then parents would not need to try and make certain their kids never play it. Imagine the parent that asks does Johnny have GTA? Does his parents lock it up when they are not home? Sorry, you can no longer go to his house. Does that really seem plausable?

I have not posted early in a game thread, so I'm going to break with tradition and offer a hearty good luck, cause Noobie, sometimes that's the difference between having the patient that lives and having the patient who dies.

QUOTE (rangercal @ May 5, 2008 -> 09:49 AM) when did they change the schedule to 191 games? We're going all the way baby

QUOTE (Felix @ May 5, 2008 -> 09:16 AM) 14 posts too late, sir. Another beer based beverage that fits that category. My gf enjoyed it, but I was disappointed because I was expecting more of a straight up weiss beer. I drank it later, and found it to be an enjoyable beverage.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ May 4, 2008 -> 08:50 PM) I'm not quite sure I follow what you are saying in the first part. Come on, I slept since I wrote that. I believe my point was, just because they "help" doesn't mean we should automatically give them a pass. For the most part, everyone "helps" in a community. When we start using that criteria, number of employees, service to the community, we become resource rich and cash poor. I firmly believe we should all pay a fair share, and we should have balanced budgets.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ May 5, 2008 -> 09:10 AM) A dedicated and knowledgeable beer purist would not agree that "tastes like beer" is even an appropriate phrase, given the vast array of global arrays styles, subcategories and flavors. Then again, I have a hard time believing that a squirt of lime juice would turn Bud Light into anything I'd go out of my way to try. Thinking this Cinco de Mayo is going to be dominated by Negro Modelo and a margarita here and there. Damn, is it 5:00 yet? More than a squirt of lime. And all natural lime juice, which surprised me. The full story. He is a beer snob in the worst way. Likes to closely guard any secrets and show off his knowledge. We stopped at our favorite beach side bar before hitting the surf at the jetties so they could take a couple beers out of the cooler, because too much chillin' destroys the beer flavor. I of course asked them to bury a BL Lime on ice because after surfing I would be too tired to actually squirt the lime in myself. Now he goes into convulsions, making funny faces, gagging noises, the who works. I figure I can choke down one of those before moving up. I was actually planning on a Land Shark. Which would still produce gasps of pain from him, but something I could at least enjoy. I was very surprised that the lime was dominate without being nasty. Much different then squirting a fresh lime into the beer. Very crisp without being too sharp. No aftertaste. If you are in the mood for a beer, probably stay away, you will be disappointed. As far as mainline Mexico beers, Sol tops my list for general quaffing.

QUOTE (knightni @ May 5, 2008 -> 09:57 AM) He started arguing that a ball was foul instead of fair. And we were batting . . .

QUOTE (greasywheels121 @ May 5, 2008 -> 08:44 AM) I had a personal finance course in my second to last semester that got me insanely motivated to invest for retirement and the such (that sounds funny, being that I haven't started yet), but I definitely plan and intend to be as proactive/smart as I possibly can with my finances and investments. I had friends in my twenties and thirties who drove older cars, lived in smaller homes, bought less expensive suits, took cheaper vacations, played public courses, who now live in paid off homes, have a better portfolio, will retire earlier, and send their kids to college easier. I'm probably middle of the road, I saved about average for Americans. Just a couple year head start makes such a huge difference. But it falls on mostly deaf ears.

QUOTE (shipps @ May 5, 2008 -> 08:45 AM) The only problem with buying one of the cheaper cables is that you keep thinking if I had bought the one that was $10 more would my picture be even better. If I was selling those cables, that's about what I would say. You bought a $1,000 TV and now you worry about $30? The peace of mind alone should be worth $50. Watching a friend's TV and wondering if his picture is better because he bought the better cables. I know the guys here who install this stuff, buy the better cables, because they see hundreds of installs and they believe there is a difference. Plus half of that cost is my commission. We get paid big bucks on over priced accessories.

BTW, every thousand dollars you put away in your early twenties will be worth about $100,000 at retirement. Using 10% as an average rate of return for the stock market.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 4, 2008 -> 05:36 PM) This is the same Scott Podsednik that most of Soxtalk wanted to give a blindfold and a cigarette to, right? There haven't been, like, any new Scott Podsednik's created and put into the world of professional baseball, right? Just checking ahead of time Wrong Wrong WRONG! No one wanted to waste a cigarette and blindfold . . . Shall we also look at C-Lee's stats

damn, wrong bust

Jas signaled for a lefty out of the pen bvut he didn't have one warming up, so we had to close the thread.

BTW, I liked the Bud Light Lime the other day. Iced very cold, hanging out at the beach after doing a little surfing. As I explained to a beer purist that was with me, not everything has to taste like a beer. If I drink ice tea, I don't want it tasting like a beer, when I am in the mood for that particular taste, I'd order it again. Same as I jump around the beer aisle with different styles. Hell, I even drink michiladas, boiler makers, etc.

QUOTE (knightni @ May 3, 2008 -> 07:56 AM) There's a theater here that restricts sales to anyone under 13. They have only PG-13 or R rated movies there. No children under 13 are allowed in the theater. Even with parents. The "kids" theater is in another part of town. They charge like, 2 bucks more, but have nice surround sound and comfy chairs. So, the only annoyance is the occasional cell phone going off. Grow the f*** up. Y'all need to do movies the Texas way.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ May 4, 2008 -> 03:40 PM) good, you finally agree with me that rich people are paying the most taxes. glad you finally saw the light. I've always said that. It's the only way we can afford the roads, our military, our public education system, homeland security and everything else we have.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ May 4, 2008 -> 01:15 PM) So, the money the students spend in the community doesn't help at all? The increased value of housing due to the presence of the universtiy doesn't help at all? The local housing purchased by teachers doesn't help? Alumni returning for athletic events spending boatloads of money of food, booze, restaurants, lodging, etc don't help? While I think the scholls should use some of that money to maybe lower tuition a bit, a lot of it was given to the schools with stipulations that they be used in certain ways. But as I mentioned earlier, if you go for the schools, can the 'foundations' be next? By that logic, they should. Who should pay taxes? Not a grocery store who helps the community by offering lower prices, and a closer to shop alternative. Not school teachers because they contribute to better schools and increase housing values. Not the local hotels because of the boatload of money the people who stay there spend on food, booze, etc. Not a local facory who employs people and increases the property values. And maybe you would be excited to be paying higher property taxes for having a university nearby, others are not. The higher values are not always a blessing.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ May 4, 2008 -> 03:30 PM) i only like the idea because it shows these liberal goofs how bad all their socialist and wealth redistribution schemes are. obviously i'm not for the government just grabbing loot out of peoples savings accounts. BTW, unless you want to live in a country that only the poorest among us can afford to pay for, we will always have the wealthier people, those with greater resources, paying more in taxes. So that redistribution comment, while a nice sound bite, doesn't work in reality.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ May 4, 2008 -> 01:15 PM) So, the money the students spend in the community doesn't help at all? The increased value of housing due to the presence of the universtiy doesn't help at all? The local housing purchased by teachers doesn't help? Alumni returning for athletic events spending boatloads of money of food, booze, restaurants, lodging, etc don't help? While I think the scholls should use some of that money to maybe lower tuition a bit, a lot of it was given to the schools with stipulations that they be used in certain ways. But as I mentioned earlier, if you go for the schools, can the 'foundations' be next? By that logic, they should. Yes it helps, but perhaps they could pay all the costs, not just help?

The local Universities have to work within their local areas, there just is not excuse for it. They take resources from the city, county, and state. Same reason I would consider changes in the tax laws concerning Churches. But at least with Churches, typically it is local tax payers supporting a local Church. With colleges, you have tax[ayers in other areas sending their students there, and they do go off campus and need services. What they should do is cut taxes 50% and send rebate checks, then they wouldn't have these budget crisis.