The Old Hack

Good about the brain zaps; bad about the twitches. Please keep us posted about how you are doing and I hope they start tapering off soon.

The Moderator: Less of the sarcasm, please. And yes, we have right wing posters here who do indeed object to these policies.

I am very sorry, but if I ever happen across one of these and it is hungry, I am going to slowly back away and then leave.

From Dan's Twitter: Friday's story comic put off till Monday due to Dan having a serious cold. Posting this here so the forum readers have a heads up. ~tOH.

The Moderator: That is enough of that. I understand that there is a good deal of bitterness and anger aimed at certain politicians and parties. But bitterness and anger do not belong in this thread. This thread is meant for dispassionately (or as near thereto as is practical) discussing political issues, ideally without name-calling, accusations and otherwise depriving the opposing view of its dignity and right to exist. It is perfectly proper to state the opinion that a political stance is hostile to a given population group. Less so to name a whole party ideologically corrupt. ANY party may at times hold corruption or have its leadership consist of questionable individuals but the assumption that an entire party is rotten from top to bottom is unfair to its membership and destructive of any form of discussion. Therefore, please end this particular argument. I do not wish to have to lock the thread, but if it persists, I will.

Arrrrggghhhhh! I had by now forced memory of the never-to-be-sufficiently-damned floppies away from my mind. At least I had the one consolation that my first ever Win 95 machine had a CD-ROM which made installation of new programs a somewhat less nerve wracking procedure.

Give her my best regards and tell her that we are thankful for her efforts in keeping you healthy. The community appreciates your presence so we are indebted to her

Ah, 1997. I remember I had the job of replacing all the computers at the office where I worked. When I managed to install Win 95 on all the machines without Clippy, my boss gave me a raise on the spot. A small one, admittedly -- but still! The poor man was so happy.

No it's not. France is a big blue cheese. Since she is dealing with what for her would be the effective destruction of years of work and the loss of so many things that have helped her turn her life around, any nonzero chance of it happening is a cause of significant worry. Even if it is only a one percent chance, the consequences will remain ruinous. And the chances of magic change happening are currently significantly larger than nonzero.

Ideally by Hans Zimmer or Howard Shore. Jerry Goldsmith or John Williams would both be good, too, but they tend to be more action-y.

Actually I recall boot camp as being pretty tough. Mind you, in retrospect it was one of the best experiences of my life.

Maybe it is scrolling text. >.>

You are not alone.

Oh indeed. And this is what happened in my life as well, fortunately. And just as with Justin and Melissa, an important part of why it happened was through the intervention of other people I cared about -- and who cared about me. But it can take years. Even with Justin and Melissa, it took years. And the process is scarcely painless. Then again, it was well worthwhile.

This sounds absolutely horrible. I am keeping you in my thoughts. My wife has sciatica, too, and she sends her best wishes.

He most likely mainly relied on Visa, being European. He probably has a Platinum card.

The problem here is not what Mr. Verres is. It is what Tedd perceives him as. And from where she is currently sitting, he isn't looking good. I know this from experience. Had I fully understood my father's position -- or my brother's, for that matter -- I wouldn't have spent decades of my life resenting or even hating them. They did not deserve it. I resented them anyway. Currently when considering Tedd's position I am thinking of an old Beatles tune. I hope it is not an omen. Wednesday morning at 5 o'clock as the day begins silently closing her bedroom door, leaving the note that she hoped would say more she goes downstairs to the kitchen clutching her handkerchief quietly turning the backdoor key, stepping outside she is free She (we gave her most of our lives) is leaving (sacrificed most of our lives) home (we gave her everything money could buy) she's leaving home after living alone for so many years...

As long as it isn't the East Front. I don't like the looks of that munitions stockpile Marshal Zhukov is lugging along.

Crow. It tastes foul, but strangely enough I always feel better after finally getting it down.

Dollar bills. Immortal consultations ain't cheap.

Oh, I agree with that. The problem is that that anticipation may become a very bad thing indeed and may even block the conversation from happening altogether, or alternately twist its possible avenues so much that they may lead to further misunderstandings rather than resolutions. I have examples of this from my own life, which is why it took me twenty years to find peace with my father and nearly that long to find it with my brother. I consider it to be an unmitigated blessing that I had finally managed to reach at least the beginnings of a peace with my brother when he needed me the most. It allowed me to help him unreservedly and with no bitterness or anger poisoning the act. What frightens me in retrospect is how near a thing it was.

It would not, certainly not automatically. And I have in fact seen both good games and good webcomics in which sexual crimes and offenders played a part. What is important is how the subject matter is treated. If it is treated with respect for the victims and with a careful examination of possible causes and consequences, it can actually be a good thing. Mind you, it should probably feature an advance notice and taken in manageable doses. The problem arises when a serious and potentially life-destroying topic is treated with unironic levity and disdain for the victims, as a mere source of entertainment or worse yet as something good to be emulated. And yes, you could certainly call out games that feature mounting hills of corpses for falling into that category. It does depend on how it is treated, mind. I will agree that most MMOs and the like I have seen have a somewhat disturbing tendency to feature the killing of enemies as at most an occasion for a climbing kill counter.

Oh dear Lord. I just thought of something. If Tedd is angry at the unfairness of the world and Magic in general, how must she be feeling about her father right now. Mr. Verres' transphobia has already served to drive a wedge between the two of them, and now the fact that he has turned out to be right about magic all along (if for the wrong reasons) must make it even harder for Tedd to deal with him. I am not looking forward to their next meeting.

Just beneath my apartment lies a store owned by a gentleman with the unhappy initials of B. S. He decided to name his business after himself in such a way that it is known as BS Furniture Polishing. I can only assume that the poor man is not really au fait with Internet lingo. Or possibly he is, and this is his way of giving it the middle finger.

Maybe it would introduce a system change there if someone managed to develop a monopoly. "Screw this noise. I am puncturing your bloody balloon."