prev <-> next
[2013-11-05 21:21:14] - I'm also still looking for "that person" who geniunely believes in Mitt Romney. - mig
[2013-11-05 21:17:39] - mig: It's hard for me, since I really felt like the last presidential election was about as bad (for me, at least). I really couldn't see much of anything to vote for when it came to Romney or Obama (except, maybe gay marriage for Obama). -Paul
[2013-11-05 21:08:21] - paul: well this has been probably the most "anti-the-other-guy" election I've seen in a while. I'm hard pressed to find "that person" who genuinely supports either candidate. - mig
[2013-11-05 21:03:07] - http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/11/terry-mcauliffe-governor-virginia Even Mother Jones is uncomfortable with McAuliffe possibly becoming governor of VA. -Paul
[2013-11-05 20:45:51] - mig: So maybe the democrats are just a little more aggressive in handing out sample ballots? I don't know. -Paul
[2013-11-05 20:45:26] - mig: I had a similar situation. The democrat (older white male, if it matters) was the first on the walkway and offered me a ballot. I accepted. The republican (also older white male) was later on but didn't make a move to offer me one until he noticed me kinda looking at him, then he offered one. -Paul
[2013-11-05 20:30:32] - the republican sample ballot) didn't even bother to deal with me. I guess she just figured I was a lost cause. - mig
[2013-11-05 20:29:48] - oops. stupid enter, anyways amusing anecdote. As I arrived at the voting place there were the usually republican and democrat there outside handing out the "here's how you vote our party ballots". The democrat (an hispanic lady) immediately pounced on me to give me the sample ballot, to which i declined. the other older white lady (who i assume was handing out
[2013-11-05 20:27:27] - also amusing anecdote
[2013-11-05 20:17:31] - a: Did anybody say it was low? I thought it was high. -Paul
[2013-11-05 20:17:14] - so the expectation is that after a certain peak, you're not going to see much voting traffic. - mig
[2013-11-05 20:16:56] - a: i'm guessing because trendwise, people tend to vote earlier? - mig
[2013-11-05 20:13:35] - why do we think 37 is low? polls aren't even closed yet. ~a
[2013-11-05 20:05:35] - Xpovos: Really hoping that means crazy high turnout for Sarvis.
-Paul[2013-11-05 20:04:42] - mig: Grunt sucks. Wrex all the way! -Paul
[2013-11-05 20:01:55] - 37% turnout @ 3 -- Xpovos
[2013-11-05 19:59:45] - so, I decided to vote since the time cost was low this time around. Aside from the governor, I didn't really care much about the other positions so had some fun with write ins. My preferred Lt. Gov is Commander Shepard, Garrus Vakarian for AG, and Urdnot Grunt for sheriff. - mig
[2013-11-05 19:53:59] - a: the law's? I guess that's a person... -- Xpovos
[2013-11-05 19:20:57] - "proper" by somebodies definition i guess. ~a
[2013-11-05 19:20:21] - requiring id, proper. household voting info, improper. -- Xpovos
[2013-11-05 19:18:26] - google: fuck these guys. "Unfortunately we live in a world where all too often, laws are for the little people. Nobody at GCHQ or the NSA will ever stand before a judge and answer for this industrial-scale subversion of the judicial process." fitting this would come out of the fifth of november. ~a
[2013-11-05 19:16:16] - paul: nah, probably just a mistake. they obviously didn't mention audrey and didn't even mention how many people were in my household. ~a
[2013-11-05 18:43:51] - https://twitter.com/TJColonials/status/397786408565616640/photo/1 Picture of Sarvis apparently voting at TJ. -Paul
[2013-11-05 18:00:37] - paul: i figured that, since I think the only other *major* elections going on is the NYC mayor and NJ gov, neither of which are even remotely close. - mig
[2013-11-05 17:57:23] - I mean if McAuffile wins does it even mean any sort of seismic shift in policy towards something national like ACA in Virginia? The ship has kind of sailed on OK'ing a state exchange, and while I guess the medicaid expansion could be in play, is that something he could really go for unilaterally? (unsure of how the law works in that respect). - mig
[2013-11-05 17:55:12] - mig: I think it's because Virginia gubernatorial elections are often in off years, so there are no other elections to focus on. -Paul
[2013-11-05 17:52:48] - off election year? - mig
[2013-11-05 17:52:42] - So is there particular reason why this governor's election is being viewed as some sort of referendum on national policy (I assume it is, since some big players have been stumping for the candidates on both side)? Or is it the equivalent of a "slow news day", where because this is the only major election that is somewhat close, people need to rally for *something* in
[2013-11-05 17:33:03] - a: Practically a zero line for me too. That household comment is weird. Wonder why they made it. Also, why do you think they had incorrect information? Was Audrey marked as already having voted despite not having voted yet? That could be a problem... -Paul
[2013-11-05 17:32:01] - Xpovos: So higher than we expected, I guess. -Paul
[2013-11-05 16:29:19] - zero line at my voting place. i walked right up to a person who checked my id even after confirming i was who i said i was (grr) then told me that everybody in my household had voted (which is false). ~a
[2013-11-05 16:18:48] - precinct turnout, 27%+ before noon. --Xpovos
[2013-11-05 16:18:45] - precinct turnout, 27%+ before noon. --Xpovos
[2013-11-04 18:24:22] - title: thanks ~g
[2013-11-04 17:31:26] - mig: I got a Sharp LED tv earlier this year that I'm happy with. I think Panasonics plasma's are supposed to be really good if you are ok with plasma but are being discontinued b/c apparently not enough people are ok with plasma. -Daniel
[2013-11-04 16:42:06] - in a national context, sure, poor taste. but it was probably said in private, where it was probably not in poor taste. ~a
[2013-11-04 16:38:40] - a: yeah probably a joke, certainly would be interested in knowing the full context (of course they want you to buy the book to find that out), but still, I'm having hard time imagining any context where that wouldn't be in poor taste. - mig
[2013-11-04 16:21:48] - Paul: Not sure about Fairfax, but Prince William had a lot of hoopla over long line for the presidential... I've been following that closely since it affects me so closely. End result is that I got a promotion out of those long lines.
-- Xpovos[2013-11-04 16:19:23] - Xpovos: That would be nice. I'm a big fan of being able to walk in, vote, and leave in under 15 minutes. Also, lower voter turnout means a better chance of double digits for Sarvis. -Paul
[2013-11-04 16:12:58] - Virginia State Board of Elections chair says turnout could be as low as 30% of registered voters (or below). http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/q-a-with-charles-e-judd-chairman-of-the-state/article_801de1e7-8d76-5365-80f7-8145517833e1. -- Xpovos
[2013-11-04 15:18:25] - So far the only TVs I know I am going to actively avoided like the plague are any that feature 3D tech, since it's a feature I don't want and adds considerable expense to the TV. Thankfully 3D TV never really took off so it's not a standard feature I can't avoid. - mig
[2013-11-04 15:14:24] - mig: They are definitely cheaper, but they have pretty good ratings all around too. I wouldn't shy away just because of the brandname there. For keeping the ongoing energy price low, LED! We're not onto full LEDs yet, but an LED backlit LCD will be cheap on the electricity. -- Xpovos
[2013-11-04 15:10:09] - errr, less expensive, not more. - mig
[2013-11-04 15:09:57] - vizio i was noticing is noticably more expensive than most brands I'm looking at. Does that mean they're the Aristocrat fo TVs? - mig
[2013-11-04 15:09:11] - xpovos: longevity is probably a concern. I'm going to avoiding plasma this time, as I'm starting to get annoyed when I notice my tv usage on my energy bill. - mig
[2013-11-04 15:07:27] - paul: ps4 is listed as supporting optical S/PDIF audio, not sure if that's what typical A/V receivers use. - mig
[2013-11-04 14:10:08] - a: In theory (first problem is the TV in the basement is 10 years old and actually doesn't even have HDMI inputs). The other problem is that the surround sound speakers are connected to the A/V receiver so I need to sound to go there. Having trouble finding out if either console has digital audio out in addition to HDMI. -Paul
[2013-11-04 13:55:36] - a: http://aporter.org/pics/password/chr13/.thumb/img_5183-m.jpg well that's um that's very nice - aaron
[2013-11-04 12:59:13] - mig: Our Sony was overpriced but it's served us well.; I realize that's the opposite of what you asked for, but it's the only first hand experience I have. My in-laws have burned through a few, mostly "off"-brands like Vizio and LG. They seem to work just fine but may not have longevity. I'm pretty sure the plasma they killed (badly) was an LG. -- Xpovos
[2013-11-04 01:50:11] - any tv brands i should be looking to avoid? in the market for a new tv rather soonish - mig
[2013-11-03 20:59:12] - kinda sounds like something you'd say as a joke. ~a
[2013-11-03 19:52:23] - http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-said-hes-really-good-at-killing-people-2013-11 keyword is "reportadly". but um, wow, quite a brag for nobel peace prize winner if he indeed utter it. - mig
[2013-11-03 09:13:48] - http://aporter.org/pics/ a few pics. ~a
[2013-11-02 03:14:48] - mig: I take it you're recommending we kill monsters? -- Xpovos
[2013-11-01 22:53:06] - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0i88t0Kacs i guess this is a bit apropos given all the "lesser of 2 evils" talk we'll hear leading up to election tuesday. nsfw. - mig
[2013-11-01 22:39:30] - paul: a quick look indicates same deal for ps4. - mig
[2013-11-01 22:20:00] - you can't plug the hdmi into your tv? (i'm admitting some ignorance here, so be easy on me). ~a
[2013-11-01 21:44:34] - As far as I can tell, I only have one A/V receiver that supports HDMI, and that's currently being used in my living room. Neither the basement TV or receiver support HDMI (although both support component cables). -Paul
[2013-11-01 21:43:22] - I just realized the Xbox One appears to only support HDMI output (for both video and audio). Is the PS4 the same way? I'm surprised a bigger deal hasn't been made of this. I know HDMI is pretty widespread, but I am pretty sure it would require a hardware upgrade for me if I were to buy one. -Paul
[2013-11-01 21:29:45] - i think sarvis will hit double digits. I am, however, usually a naive optimist when it comes to these things. - mig
[2013-11-01 20:00:37] - Paul: I think you're in the ballpark. I'm thinking it'll be a bit closer, but still out of doubt. 46-43-9 with ugly-low turnout. Maybe as bad as 35. -- Xpovos
[2013-11-01 19:45:37] - Anybody care for any predictions? I have McAuliffe winning fairly easily (maybe 49% - 43%) with Sarvis falling short of the double digits (unfortunately) with 7%. -Paul
[2013-11-01 19:35:08] - Especially since the election isn't for another 4 days. Nobody can hold their breath for that long. -Paul
[2013-11-01 19:21:28] - xpovos: don't hold your breath. ~a
[2013-11-01 19:21:01] - yeah 2 digits is surprising. in recent presidential elections, third place has been getting around 1% of the vote. ~a
[2013-11-01 19:19:20] - Paul: I'm pulling for it. My miracle might happen yet. (Miracle = C wins and Sarvis pulls 15%+) -- Xpovos
[2013-11-01 19:11:29] - http://www.emersoncollegepollingsociety.com/VA_PRESS_RELEASE_11_1.pdf "According to a new poll, Democrat Terry McAuliffe’s lead over Republican Ken Cuccinelli has shrunk to 2 points in the Virginia gubernatorial race (42% to 40%, with Libertarian Robert Sarvis at 13%)." Crazy. Sarvis just might break double digits after all. -Paul
[2013-11-01 18:03:45] - silly (imo) reasons. - mig
[2013-11-01 18:03:27] - xpovos: ok let me amend that statement then. 1) Maybe, with enough convincing, that could change, but in my mind, there are more important issues for libertarians to spend effort on for ideal solutions. 2) I guess in the end, I don't *mind* all that much of the government role in marriage as it stands, aside from the fact they are discriminatory about it for
[2013-11-01 17:36:50] - mig: Why is that (cutting marriage benefits) 'never going to change'. It's such a Gordian solution. And as marriage gets more and more complicated because it no longer has a definition, trying to unravel the knot looks more like the hopeless cause to me. -- Xpovos
[2013-11-01 17:35:39] - xpovos: at the very least, he can reasonably claim that his administration would be the most transparent administration in the history of mankind. - mig
[2013-11-01 17:29:48] - a: Re: Snowden for prez... there have been worse candidates. -- Xpovos
[2013-11-01 17:09:37] -
~a[2013-11-01 16:55:34] - a: It's a nuanced view of a person who has expressed anti-gay remarks, so nothing you would be interested in reading.
-Paul[2013-11-01 16:48:27] - ah, thanks. ~a
[2013-11-01 16:46:23] - a: The author says he is going to see the movie. Its more all encompassing of Card than just anti Card which was interesting for me. -Daniel
[2013-11-01 16:38:40] - Daniel: I'm glad the article touched on all of Card's viewpoints, though (or at least more of them, I guess I should say). Like the article implied, I think his homophobia is getting a little too much attention and it's overshadowing the fact that he's kinda got crazy ideas about everything now. -paul
[2013-11-01 16:37:20] - Daniel: Yeah, that's been a long running theme for libertarians. At the risk of using too many negatives: Just because somebody doesn't think something should be illegal, it doesn't mean he thinks it's right for everybody (or even anybody) to do it. We shouldn't be legislating morality. -Paul
[2013-11-01 16:29:04] - daniel: tl/dr: is the summary that the author of ender's game is a horrible horrible person and we probably shouldn't go see the movie because of how horrible a person he is? ~a
[2013-11-01 16:08:52] - Doh, Link: http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9909314/ender-game-controversial-author-very-personal-history -Daniel
[2013-11-01 16:08:43] - Interesting article on Orson Scott Card and Enders Game. Small bit from it - I like his distinction b/w sin and crime re: legislation. -Daniel
[2013-11-01 16:04:22] - a: Also, unless I missed it, there wasn't much mention of the overall debt. Considering the massive debt we have, it's still crazy to me that we're running any deficit at all, instead of trying to pay off the debt with surpluses. -Paul
[2013-11-01 16:03:23] - a: I think the better argument to make is to take a longer term view of things. Sure, we might have the deficit falling fairly fast this year, but considering the perfect storm (economic recovery, sequestration, comparison to previous years with stimulus spending), it's probably more instructive to look back further and project out where it'll go in the future. -Paul
[2013-11-01 16:00:58] - lol, edward snowden for president. ~a
[2013-11-01 14:20:31] - a: true enough, which is why I'm pleasently surprised at the budget #s, and will certainly be encouraged if the trend continues next year. - mig
[2013-11-01 14:14:15] - "Deficits are, for now, falling fast. If anything, too fast" the 'conomy is big. so big it's hard to envision the whole thing. small changes are the ones you should like to see, even if the change is to remove poison (poisoned assets) from the economy. ~a
[2013-11-01 14:00:52] - paul: yeah I was kind of amused by that line too. - mig
[2013-11-01 13:55:43] - but having the graph here by itself makes the defict #s seem more important than they are. - mig
[2013-11-01 13:53:52] - I would have preferred though that maybe they have some visualation of total spending and total revenue, because honestly the deficit #s itself don't paint the whole picture. There's enough information in the article that either has the #s I want to see outright or lets me calculate them myself. - mig
[2013-11-01 13:50:38] - mig: "Deficits are, for now, falling fast. If anything, too fast." I winced when I read that line. I kinda understand what he's saying (not that I agree), but that still strikes me as a stupid thing to say. -Paul
[2013-11-01 13:48:11] - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/10/30/congratulations-america-your-deficit-fell-37-percent-in-2013/ some interesting stuff in here. I'll admit, I'm also a little surprised. Not at the deficit per se, but that spending overall was actually down in absolute #s (though only about 2% down from last year). - mig
[2013-11-01 13:26:35] - I guess this is one of those rare instance of libertarianism where the most ideal position/situation is not the most practical one. - mig
[2013-11-01 13:23:57] - As I said before, ideally, yes, government would be completely out of marriage. However, it is invovled, and that's probably never going to change. So if it's doling out the benefits, it cannot be discriminatory in doing so. - mig
[2013-11-01 13:21:56] - xpovos: provided you don't support government being in "traditional" marriage, then I would say yeah probably. - mig
[2013-11-01 12:16:10] - mig: Is it also acceptable for a libertarian to NOT support gay marriage? -- Xpovos
[2013-11-01 03:54:36] - And lastly, his little quibble about supporting gay marriage. Yes, ideally, Liberatarians would have the government out of marriage entirely, but until it's out of marriage, it's perfectly acceptable for liberatarians to support gay marriage. - mig
[2013-11-01 03:42:28] - And good lord, there's other schools of economic thought that fit in with liberatarian thought. He of course, neglects to mention Sarvis's positions on economic issues despite the fact they're easily researchable becuase if he does the bullshit premise of his article falls apart. - mig
[2013-11-01 03:39:17] - http://www.robertsarvis.com/issues This doesn't look like a progressive to me. - mig
[2013-11-01 03:36:26] - he nit-picked a few issues where a libretarian might not agree with and goes, "see, he's not really one of you, you guys are purists, right!". It's beyond lazy. - mig
[2013-11-01 03:29:05] - xpovos: the sarvis article was a big pile of idiotic drivel, but considering it's NRO, i'm not surprised. - mig
[2013-11-01 02:52:53] - Partisan, but I wonder how Democrats would legitimately respond to the seemingly valid accusations: http://washingtonexaminer.com/you-can-keep-your-health-plan-if-obama-likes-it/article/2538150 -- Xpovos
[2013-11-01 02:44:44] - Not sure I agree, but it's apropos of an ongoing conversation. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/362690/sarvis-libertarian-nope-charles-c-w-cooke/page/0/1 -- Xpovos
[2013-10-31 18:38:07] - We'll see about the touchpad. It's in an unintrusive spot, but I'll wonder if that means it'll be awkward to use it while simultaneously trying to manage other controls on the pad. - mig
[2013-10-31 18:35:36] - as for the controller itself, I like it. The change of angles for the handles feels nice, and the analog sticks seem to be constructed differently (changed from the usual mushroom-like shape to a more flat one with grooved raised edges), so it won't make my thumbs feel like they've been grinded on during some longer play sessions. - mig
[2013-10-31 18:33:01] - Annoyance about PS4 controller that arrived yesterday. Yes, you can use it with the PS3, but I currently cannot, becuase it doesn't come with a connector cable (and as such, I won't be able to sync it with the ps3), one co-worker told me I could just buy a micro-usb connector to get it worker, so I'll look into that. - mig
[2013-10-31 18:24:40] - graphical glitches can be amusing sometimes. - mig
[2013-10-31 18:18:07] - mig: He's misrepresenting the doctrinal position and it's an issue where he might be complicit in causing grave error. If that hasn't been mangled in translation (maybe he was badly attempting reductio ad absurdam?), I expect Francis will be calling him in for a chat. -- Xpovos
[2013-10-31 18:14:16] - xpovos: strangely enough with that quote that was one of the first things I thought of. Again, curious, you'd think a catholic official (an archbishop, no less) would be against all forms of assisted suicide, but well, here we are. - mig
[2013-10-31 18:05:13] - mig: That was the Terri Schiavo case. -- Xpovos
[2013-10-31 18:05:02] - again, i'm not totally sure of my own opinions on euthanasia, but if somebody told me that they were considering euthanasia for one of their family members, i'd hardly call that immoral without knowing the specifics. ~a
[2013-10-31 18:02:45] - xpovos: that is definitely a curious position to take. Quickly ending one's own life at their request is bad, but slowly starving them to death is .... ok? - mig
[2013-10-31 17:48:55] - This guy is not just an arch-bishop, but a primate. And he doesn't understand that it is ALWAYS immoral to withhold basic necessities like food? Grr. -- Xpovos
[2013-10-31 17:48:15] - It always upsets me when people don't know the basics of their faith. It angers me when a high ranking official doesn't know. http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/belgium-considering-unprecedented-law-to-grant-euthanasia-for-children-dementia-patients/2013/10/31/67fd55 -- Xpovos
[2013-10-31 17:33:53] - aaron: aaron: aaron! ~a ~a
[2013-10-31 16:54:07] - paul: xbox live (and particularly its FPSes) is notorious for prepubescent boys dominating the public chat channels with high-pitched profanity... especially if you ever played something like Halo, Call Of Duty, or Battlefield online - aaron - aaron
[2013-10-31 16:16:50] - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/clif-dickens/honest-slogans_b_4149655.html I thought some of these were good, although I don't get the Xbox Live one... -Paul
[2013-10-31 15:56:47] - http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/31/us/uss-zumwalt-capt-kirk/index.html?hpt=hp_t2 Finally, Capt. Kirk has his cloaking device. -Paul
[2013-10-31 15:49:24] - sorry if the message board acts weird today: apache major upgrade this morning caused some big configuration changes. ~a
[2013-10-31 10:03:57] - a: The surpreme court does have a jury, sort of: the justices. The only difference is that they don't require a unanimous consent to make a judgement. - mig
[2013-10-31 09:53:43] - "PS4 games no longer come on DVD?" Which PS3 games were on DVD? I'm pretty sure all of them were in the blu-ray format... - mig
[2013-10-31 09:39:44] - Paul: Wow, no audio CD capacity? It's probably just the fogey in me thinking that's a big deal, I mean, I remember Apple's similar faux pas. That has been largely forgotten by history. But then again, Apple didn't try to charge $10 a month to replace the feature... -- Xpovos
[2013-10-31 09:18:40] - http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/10/17-things-we-learned-from-sonys-massive-ps4-faq/#p3 Some additional info about the PS4 that you might not know about. I was surprised by some of the things listed under "the bad". -Paul
[2013-10-30 21:30:18] - a: Whether or not you can be forced to obey an oath is between you and the oathtaker; hence why most theist oaths involve God. I'm not saying either (true/false, on your query) because I'm coming at the question sideways. -- Xpovos
[2013-10-30 21:29:12] - a: The oath is that you will, to the best of your ability, see the trial to a fair deliverance, according to your link below. If that's the standard oath, it doesn't preclude jury nullification since "true deliverance" could be acquital even if the facts indicate guilt of the letter of the law, if the law is unreasonable. Hence the jury instructions... -- Xpovos
[2013-10-30 21:15:19] - a: short of admitting being bribed, I'm not sure you can be held criminally liabel for a verdict you reach, no matter what your reasoning. - mig
[2013-10-30 20:47:54] - mig: "you can't force a juror to do anything, really" i guess i believe you. but is ignoring the oath illegal? is ignoring the oath against some rule? is it discouraged by someone other than the DAs and the judges? would the supreme court (if they had a jury) tell their jury that nullification was improper? ~a
[2013-10-30 19:44:37] - a: you can't force a juror to do anything, really. That's why when something happens in a trial like the jury is presented inadmissable evidence, a mistrial is called most of the time. No matter how much the judge says, "you must disregard this evidence", it can't really be binding, because there's no way to "unsee" the evidence. - mig
[2013-10-30 19:17:07] - i don't think i understand your point: you cannot be forced to obey a "juror's oath". true (you cannot be forced) or false (you can be forced)? ~a
[2013-10-30 18:43:16] - The jury instructions are non-binding, because they're not part of the oath, no matter what the judge/prosecutor may want. -- Xpovos
[2013-10-30 18:42:51] - I find jury nullifaction to be an attractive idea, but one that should be limited in use by pragmatic reasoning. And personally it would come down to the oath administered in addition to any facts of the case. I.e. I could see myself participating in jury nullification if the case warranted it and the oath I swore was sufficiently broad as to allow it. -- Xpovos
[2013-10-30 17:43:28] - you cannot be forced to obey a "juror's oath". hmmm. is this true? some info on the oath. ~a
[2013-10-30 16:57:39] - cool. i'll probably grab a few of those, thanks! ~a
[2013-10-30 16:52:02] - a: Ah, sorry. Yeah, I don't know where one would purchase a single issue, although this website seems to sell single issues. -Paul
[2013-10-30 16:43:49] - ah, lame. i'm looking for december 2013 (which, for some reason, has been released already). i wonder if i stop by their washington dc office, i can buy a single issue. ~a
[2013-10-30 16:42:21] - a: I used to (got a free subscription, among other swag, when I gave them a small online donation). I haven't gotten a copy in over a year, I don't think. I've got some old copies, though. -Paul
[2013-10-30 16:41:03] - does anybody here (looking at you mig/xpovos/paul) get reason magazine in paper form? ~a
[2013-10-30 16:16:46] - a: It's politicians like that which makes me wonder why libertarians can't win elections. Seriously? There's something that libertarians believe that's worse than that? -Paul
[2013-10-30 16:13:36] - a: yes it appears the lt. gov race is even more dreadful than the gov race. - mig
[2013-10-30 16:09:00] - "The purpose of meditation is to empty oneself. ... [Satan] is happy to invade the empty vacuum of your soul and possess it. That is why people serve Satan without ever knowing it or deciding to" ~a
[2013-10-30 15:24:51] - better link that points to the first page ~a
[2013-10-30 15:18:18] - link ~a
[2013-10-30 15:18:13] - "leaked documents include a post-it note as part of an internal NSA presentation showing a diagram of Google network traffic, an arrow pointing to the Google front-end server with text reading, 'SSL Added and Removed Here' with a smiley face" "Two engineers with close ties to Google exploded in profanity when they saw the drawing. 'I hope you publish this,'" ~a
[2013-10-30 14:22:59] - As an aside, I found it a little amusing in thinking about the whole "why not just let insurance companies just sell insurance in any state they want to?" that the federal government ordering states to allow this would actually be an appropriate exercise of the interstate commerce clause (at least how i interpert the clause anyways). - mig
[2013-10-30 12:11:29] - Actually shit, that's almost two decades ago. - mig
[2013-10-30 12:10:52] - I know it's been brought up that the individual mandate was a "republican" idea since they proposed it back in like 1994 or something, but I think it's kind of silly to hold people in the R camp (especially people who weren't in congress back in 1994) to a policy position from well over a decade ago that they might have reconsidered as a bad idea. - mig
[2013-10-30 12:02:32] - seeing*, not saying. - mig
[2013-10-30 12:02:21] - Because from what I've been saying, anything that wasn't on the democrats idea wish list was just dismissed out of hand. - mig
[2013-10-30 12:00:47] - during this whole lawmaking process were supposadly open to conservative input, yet I have never heard of any democrat even attempting so much as consider any of these proposals or at least why they're batshit crazy ideas not worth considering. Am I right about that or am I mistaken? - mig
[2013-10-30 11:59:32] - so maybe now a question to the more liberal inclined: since daniel threw out the initial question of what have R's been proposing, and the mackey op-ed has put up some of what could be considered conservative proposals for reform (the proposal to open up insurance markets acorss state lines is one that came up A LOT as a talking point). I keep hearing that Dems ...
[2013-10-30 11:59:16] - mig: I read it pretty regularly, and maybe rumor is the wrong word... but I just wasn't 100% sure it was true. Can't believe everything you read on the internet, right?
-Paul[2013-10-30 11:55:52] - paul: if you read reason more regularly you'd know it wasn't just a rumour. - mig
[2013-10-30 11:54:26] - a: I dunno, Xpovos was looking at the exchanges (or trying to) and I know some other people who said they are going to look at them too, although I don't think they would be into this info. -Paul
[2013-10-30 11:53:28] - mig: I always thought it was more of a rumor than anything else. Now I've seen it in a mainstream media source. -Paul
[2013-10-30 11:50:59] - paul: spread the word with whom? don't we all get health insurance? ~a
[2013-10-30 11:49:00] - paul: this has been known for quite a while. If the evasion gets rampant I do wonder if they'll ever legislate people making "suspicious" changes to their withholding amounts. - mig
[2013-10-30 11:46:04] - http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/29/irs-hamstrung-on-collecting-health-law-penalties/3310355/ Spread the word! The IRS can't really collect the fee from you for not having health insurance unless you get a refund. -Paul
[2013-10-30 11:37:49] - So in some sense, yes they did "compromise" with republicans on that one, but I'm not sure it counts, if you do it because your own side can't agree on that issue either. - mig
[2013-10-30 11:35:52] - The public option was removed becuase not enough dems would support the law with it in. Sure republicans were all opposed to it, but at the time, their opinion didn't really matter. - mig
[2013-10-30 11:34:39] - a: not really, not all democrats in congress are on board with singlepayer (or any sort of public option). It's has always been a nonstarter, even back in 2009. - mig
[2013-10-30 11:32:51] - it sounds like they already did. no single-payer for the us. ~a
[2013-10-30 11:31:16] - a: and the clock was ticking on the supermajority (not just because of midterm elections, but also Ted Kennedy's ailing health) so that's why they were in such a mad rush pass it, becausae otherwise they might have to *gasp* compromise with republicans. - mig
[2013-10-30 11:20:16] - mig: ok, i guess i was wrong. back then Ds did have the supermajority+majority+executive. ~a
[2013-10-30 11:08:00] - a: And one thing that I think even the strongest supporters of European health care agree on is that there's often wait periods for certain operations, which just seems shocking to me when you're dealing with the health of people. -Paul
[2013-10-30 11:00:56] - a: And I've also read (although I have no idea how to quantify this) that more of the medical advances over the past few decades have come out of the US vs European countries. -Paul
[2013-10-30 11:00:08] - a: That's obviously an extreme example, but from what I've read the same thing is going on to a lesser extent with a lot of those European countries with the "best" healthcare. Sure, everybody gets the best care available in that country for "free", but they also have shortages of things like MRI machines that we take for granted as being commonplace here. -Paul
[2013-10-30 10:59:23] - As I stated before, the only compromises that were made to get the law passed (and in some cases, outright bribery) were made to get more conservative democrats on board. - mig
[2013-10-30 10:58:38] - a: Ok, but you're being a little vague about how other countries have the "best" and we have "worse". How do you define these things? Because I think that's important. I remember hearing that the heathcare system in Cuba was awesome because everything is paid for... but apparently there's a chronic shortage of stuff as simple as aspirin. -Paul
[2013-10-30 10:58:05] - nope. i remember it differently, but i'm looking that stuff up now. ~a
[2013-10-30 10:57:25] - a: you remember at the time democrats had a supermajority in the senate, majority in the house, and the presidency, right? ACA was passed with 0 republicans supporting it. - mig
[2013-10-30 10:56:00] - mig: i highly doubt that. republicans are super awesome at stalling stuff they don't like. if this was all one party having a field day with a bill, the republicans would have done what they're the best at. ~a
[2013-10-30 10:54:59] - a: i agree, but the healthcare situation is complicated as fuck. When ACA was being hashed out there needed to be a real exchange of ideas on how to fix things, which we didn't get. We got one party's wish list of reforms with no one to really have any input on whether such ideas made sense or not, hence why we have the current mess. - mig
[2013-10-30 10:54:42] - paul: the problem: that compared to france and italy, we get worse healthcare. iow, we're the best country in the world, right? (j/k sort of) shouldn't we get the best healthcare in the world? and have the best education system? or at least: shouldn't we not be like last place in both? ~a
[2013-10-30 10:52:46] - a: Devil's advocate, but what is the problem that we have with healthcare in the US? That not everybody can afford the very best healthcare? -Paul
[2013-10-30 10:49:21] - though, i think this case is a little different. we don't have a non-problem with healthcare in the US. we have an actual problem and the status-quo here is super lame. ~a
[2013-10-30 10:47:18] - mig: lots of times at work, back when i worked at raytheon: i had to remind people that doing-nothing was a valid strategy. often times people like to suggest plans that are unarguably far worse than status-quo. ~a
[2013-10-30 10:45:20] - daniel: also as an aside, i'm getting rather tired of the "would you rather do nothing" straw man that keeps getting thrown around when a specific policy is being criticized. Do-somehting-for-the-sake-of-doing-something politics driving policy is one of the highest forms of idiocy in my book. - mig
[2013-10-30 10:39:56] - a: I actually don't find that too strange. I obviously would not prefer single payer, but I think I would have to admit it might be better than the horrible system we have now (and probably LOTS better than Obamacare). -Paul
[2013-10-30 10:39:02] - a: Thanks. I'm always curious about the healthcare systems in Europe because there seems to be wildly divergent opinions on them. Lots of people swear by them and how they're so awesome and lots of people talk about how terrible they are with waits and rationed care. -Paul
[2013-10-30 10:38:59] - paul: ironically, i also like single payer. it's weird that my two ideas for better healthcare are like opposites of each-other. ~a
[2013-10-30 10:38:02] - Daniel: I can't speak for Republicans, but I Adrian and Miguel have basically the same idea that I think would work out best, and that's basically to make health insurance actually insurance for a catastrophic event instead of a system that pays for all health care. -Paul
[2013-10-30 10:37:13] - paul: here is the link i was reading. ~a
[2013-10-30 10:36:33] - paul: WHO ~a
[2013-10-30 10:36:02] - a: Honest question, but how do you know the top 5 healthcare systems are in Europe? Is there some ranking somewhere? What is it based off of? -Paul
[2013-10-30 10:35:10] - a: i dunno, you asked me for a potential con, i just put one up there on the top of my head. in the case of a young healthy person, i guess i don't see much downside. - mig
[2013-10-30 10:33:19] - mig: and why is that bad? i'll probably end up spending less . . . than if i had a regular insurance. i spend something like $8k/year on insurance (includes the amount my company spends). on an average year would i expend $8k worth of monies? maybe. alternatively, would i spend less than $8k/year on a premium+out of pocket costs on an HDHP? ~a
[2013-10-30 10:33:00] - let's add a government buffer by implementing this beurocratic exchanges. Choice may be better than before, but it is still restricted, and because of that prices may not be better because true open market competition is still not allowed. - mig
[2013-10-30 10:30:54] - The whole deal with the exchanges really drives me up the wall. Problem: Before the law, insurance companies basically carved out cartels with state laws enforcing that cartel, similar to how cable companies operate in localities, so there was a lack of choice among people looking for insurance. You'd think the obvious solution would be to loosen those laws, but no
[2013-10-30 10:27:56] - a: I guess if you end up spending just enough each year to not reach the deductible? - mig
[2013-10-30 10:20:57] - mig: high-deductible insurance seems like it would be a good idea: everybody gets a better idea of what healthcare costs, so healthcare providers don't easily mask the cost of things. it's a lot more open of a market. what are the downsides to high-deductible insurance (for those of us healthy guys that it makes sense for)? ~a
[2013-10-30 10:17:22] - weren't to placate republicans, but to placate people in their own party who were skittish (and probably right so) about the law. - mig
[2013-10-30 10:16:43] - There have certainly been suggestions made similar to this op-ed but they have always been dismissed out of hand. Rembember that this law was passed pretty much unilaterally by democrats when they had a supermajority in the senate, majority in the house and the presidency. They didn't seek republican input because they didn't have to. The compromises they made ...
[2013-10-30 10:14:09] - daniel: the idea that non-liberals have provided no ideas other than obstruction of the law is a bit of a myth. - mig
[2013-10-30 10:09:59] - The only way it works is if government in the US at all levels drastically reduces its spending in other areas. And you know what, if that happened, I might be willing to support singlepayer. - mig
[2013-10-30 10:08:00] - a: the tradeoff is of course the higher tax rates europeans generally pay as opposed to americans. As things stand now, I'm fairly certain americans wouldn't tolerate the level of taxation needed across the board to make singlepayer function. - mig
[2013-10-30 09:58:59] - europe has pretty awesome healthcare. the top 5 countries' healthcare systems are all in europe. we should all be looking at what france and italy do. ~a
[2013-10-30 09:48:08] - Do R's even have ideas on health care reform at this point? I genuinely can't think of any ideas that they have on how health care should work but that could be because I haven't looked enough. I'm not sure the ACA is great but I'm not sure doing nothing is great either. -Daniel
[2013-10-29 21:01:34] - http://www.nbcnews.com/business/brosurance-selling-obamacare-guys-8C11458946 i realize they have to market to the young'uns, but my god I can't believe this exists. - mig
[2013-10-29 16:31:16] - mig: Sure, against the Dems. Which was their point in my fictitious argument. "We'll be the bigger men here and take the heat for this is it's unpopular; but you should go along with it (even if it is unpopular) because it's for the best". -- Xpovos
[2013-10-29 16:29:48] - Xpovos: Completely ignoring the fact that the law is going to affect you whether you wanted it or not. -Paul
[2013-10-29 16:29:08] - Xpovos: I heard somebody rationalize it away as: "Republicans didn't want this law at all and now they're complaining that the website doesn't work." The implication, I guess, being that you can't criticize the government for screwing up something you didn't even want. -Paul
[2013-10-29 16:27:28] - Xpovos: What frustrates me is how so many people are just completely blinded by partisan shades. Even the most hardcore Democrat should be able to admit that the health care website has been a complete disaster, but so many people can't even do that. -Paul
[2013-10-29 16:27:25] - xpovos: correct me if I'm wrong, but there seemed to be definite political costs in the 2010 election to some supporters of the law, was there not? - mig
[2013-10-29 16:25:08] - the only way that's going to happen. - mig
[2013-10-29 16:25:03] - If outcome A happens, then well, ok, I'll admit I was wrong and the law's supporters were right. But I don't have much faith that outcome A will happen. So "rooting" for outcome C then becomes logical, because in the long run, the need for much more drastic change to the healthcare system will become obviously necessary, and at this point, the law failing hard is
[2013-10-29 16:24:12] - Paul: "Yes, it's the proper thing to do, don't you see? In the best interest of all those uninsured, and it costs nothing, not even politically, because we passed it for you--look, it even follows your precious 'free market' process!". I'm probably grabbing at straws here, because we're officially past my ability to reason like a Democrat. -- Xpovos
[2013-10-29 16:23:25] - Well the thing is I would consider outcome B, to be the worst case scenario, becuase it would mean the flaws of the law would be affecting people, but it would be difficult to change because politically there would be no impetus to, much like it took a rather herculan effort to get ACA passed in the first place ...
[2013-10-29 16:22:22] - Xpovos: Sure, and my response would be, "That's what you get when you pass such a massive law along partisan lines". Were the Republicans just supposed to suddenly drop all objections to the law once it got voted on? -Paul
[2013-10-29 16:18:57] - Paul: Playing my own devil's advocate here, the argument can be made that the law is failing not (just) because of inherent flaws but because of obstruction from the opposition, which also trickled down to rules writing delays, etc. IF the Republicans had just gone along after passage, the mess would not be as severe, if at all existent. -- Xpovos
[2013-10-29 16:17:05] - mig: So the critics getting vindicated in what they had been saying all along, and it's not like rooting against the law has anything to do with it. The law is failing because of it's inherent flaws. -Paul
[2013-10-29 16:15:04] - mig: I've heard that criticism a lot and don't quite understand it. Critics of the law pointed out a bunch of flaws with it and were consistent from the beginning about how unworkable it was and how it would just make things worse in addition to how wrong it was in principle. -Paul
[2013-10-29 16:14:42] - Paul: I really don't want to multi-system. There's enough clutter around my TV as it is, and that's one of the features of the ONE, it's supposed to reduce some of that clutter by being an all-in-one. I'm probably more upset by the BWC issue than most because my unplayed library is still huge. -- Xpovos
[2013-10-29 16:12:42] - Xpovos: Yeah, I don't know if I play older games as much as you do, but backwards compatibility isn't as big of a deal to me. For starters, I don't anticipate playing a bunch of older games (except possibly older XBLA games) once the new generation comes out, but even if I do want to play, I plan on keeping one of my 360s anyway. -Paul
[2013-10-29 16:10:55] - I don't care if it's gauche... I am absolutely rooting for the law to fail. I don't see how people can be upset with me (or Republicans in general [I am not a Republican]) for that. I/we were against the law from the start and did everything we could to stop it, even beyond what might be reasonable. How is rooting for it to fail somehow 'worse'? -- Xpovos
[2013-10-29 16:09:05] - There's 3 general outcomes here: A) the law works and uninsured gets affordable access to the care they need, B) nothing really changes, and we're stuck with this regulatory monstrosity that sort of works, but will be hard to change, or C) the law fails hard and we get a chance to reboot the system, beacuse it'll be necessary at that point. - mig
[2013-10-29 16:08:15] - Though... after I got my 360, I bought an original Xbox game that did have backwards compatability, and even though it was already a game I liked (PS2 version) I ended up dropping it pretty fast because the backwards comparability was broken and the game just lacked features I quickly came to expect. So I'm sure the BWC issue will fade with time for me. -- Xpovos
[2013-10-29 16:06:56] - I'm edging towards the One, for the NFL content and other integrations as well as a continuation of my 360 experience, since my 'account' will live on. The things holding me back are the complete lack of backwards compatability (or even an attempt at it) and the price. -- Xpovos
[2013-10-29 16:06:20] - I mean, it seems like it would be in poor taste to "root" for failure of the law, because if that does happen it'll be pretty messy and suck for a lot of people. But at the same time, if you believe based on principles that the current law is unworkable and don't have much faith that it'll somehow work, what else is there to do? - mig
[2013-10-29 16:02:52] - Going back to the whole healthcare bit, I'm seeing a running critique of the opponents of the law are treating the various bits of bad news (and it was also mentioned in the president's saleman gil-esques "please try our product" speech) as "rooting for the law to fail". In some sense, maybe they are. OTOH is that necessarily bad? - mig
[2013-10-29 15:55:33] - paul: Interestingly enough, many of the things that drew me to the PS3 are no longer true anymore. Exclusives honestly were a small part of it. But Blu-Ray support, no pay for multiplayer access, and the controller were much bigger factors. - mig
[2013-10-29 15:50:21] - paul: oops! yes, final fantasy XV is cross-platform. i was under the impression one of the upcoming final fantasy games was PS4-exclusive but i think i was wrong - aaron
[2013-10-29 15:46:36] - Paul: I'm on team PS4. Its possibly outdated but the Xbox generally seemed more FPS heavy to me which doesn't appeal to me and PS had more RPG's which do appeal to me. -Daniel
[2013-10-29 15:45:54] - Aaron: Oh, right. I'm an idiot. Forgot all about the Metal Gear series. Isn't Final Fantasy on both consoles now? -Paul
[2013-10-29 15:45:27] - aaron: I do inexplicably still enjoy going to Best Buy, even though I can't remember the last thing I bought there and still have like $100+ in gift cards. Does that mean I should get an Xbox One?
-Paul[2013-10-29 15:45:26] - paul: i know miguel likes the metal gear series for one, and maybe the new final fantasy games? - aaron
[2013-10-29 15:44:06] - mig: Hmmmm, so you thought the PS3 "lost"? If so, did you give any consideration to switching to Xbox One? I'm trying to think of any PS4 exclusives you might be attached to but can't think of any. -Paul
[2013-10-29 15:42:35] - a: in the playstation's case, in can be done by streaming updates. If you have to update the PS system OS, you literally cannot do anything while that's going on. - mig
[2013-10-29 15:42:13] - a: if i'm at work, and a new PS4 update comes out, my console will turn itself on, and automatically download/install the update so it's ready when i get home. even weirder, if i buy Diablo 3 from sony's web site, my console will turn on, download and install the game, including its latest updates, so i can play it right away when i get home. - aaron
[2013-10-29 15:37:55] - how do they improve on this? mandatory updates have become something i just expect from many devices. ~a
[2013-10-29 15:35:35] - paul: i also really hated how the PS3 handled updates. if you came over right now and wanted to download and play some LittleBigPlanet levels, I guarantee you the process would take at least 5 minutes just because of the mandatory updates. maybe much longer. i don't know if the 360 was as bad, but i know both next-gen consoles improve on this - aaron
[2013-10-29 15:34:00] - paul: I think the PS4 will probably have the better launch success, but where it goes from there will be up to how good Sony makes the online experience. Even though they've improved the PSN for PS3, it's still balls compared to XBox Live. - mig
[2013-10-29 15:30:55] - paul: if you like hanging out with your friends, checking out the new Harry Potter trailer, and going to Best Buy to buy an ethernet cable and some AA batteries, then the XBox 360 is great - aaron
[2013-10-29 15:30:01] - paul: i'm not sure about better exclusives, after all I bought my PS3 for LittleBigPlanet. but, i'd agree that XBox360 overall had better online service, as far as logging on and talking to your friends and stuff. but the PS3 had free online play, less intrusive advertising, out-of-the-box wireless support, rechargeable controllers, and stuff like that. - aaron
[2013-10-29 15:26:32] - paul: I don't think the PS3 even came close to "winnning", but I think over time it did somewhat catch up to the 360 after a horrific start. - mig
[2013-10-29 15:26:29] - paul: sorry, i mean the xbox one - aaron
[2013-10-29 15:26:21] - paul: well, for the short-term i can say that XBox 360 is going to have better dance-central-type games... and Tim and Dave will probably be able to play with you
- aaron[2013-10-29 15:25:37] - Aaron: I wish I paid more attention to my health insurance plans and whatnot, but it's just really not something that interests me. I've gone to the same doctor for the past 20 years or so and I guess I've just always lucked out that he's taken the health insurance that I had. -Paul
[2013-10-29 15:24:23] - Aaron: and while I think the Xbox 360 "won" and was the better console because it had better exclusives and functionality, I'm pretty sure anybody who bought a PS3 probably thinks the PS3 won and possibly for even the same reasons. -Paul
[2013-10-29 15:23:54] - paul: for my health insurance, it was always a matter of looking through a list of insurance-approved doctors anyways... it wasn't like i could just look up a doctor in the phone book and expect them to take my insurance. i think it all comes down to the specific numbers, how much fewer doctors are accepting these new health plans compared to Kaiser/etc? - aaron
[2013-10-29 15:23:18] - aaron: In theory, I would love to sit back and wait to see if either console has any significant pros or cons which would cause me to lean one way or the other, but I'm not sure if that'll happen. I mean, it's been 8 years since the previous generation has come out... -Paul
[2013-10-29 15:19:09] - paul: yeah i ended up getting a PS4. but for what it's worth Microsoft has undone a lot of their mistakes which made me avoid the Xbox One (no self-publishing, no offline play) and now that Sony eliminated the free online multiplayer which came with the PS3, it's a pretty level playing field - aaron
[2013-10-29 15:14:24] - http://reason.com/blog/2013/10/29/crappy-compensation-just-one-big-reason Apparently a lot of doctors won't be accepting the new health plans offered through Affordable Care Act exchanges. -Paul
[2013-10-29 14:53:50] - paul: aaron has his ps4 coming on launch day as well. - mig
[2013-10-29 14:53:41] - meh. you can discount my opinions, i haven't bought a console ever (unless you count a few n64s purchased well after the ps3 had been released). ~a
[2013-10-29 14:53:09] - actually correction, it's the "Ultimate Edition" of Injustice. I get so used to the GOTY moniker for releases like that I almost default to using it. - mig
[2013-10-29 14:52:11] - So, Miguel appears to have come down on the PS4 side for the coming generation. What about everybody else here? Sounds like Adrian and Daniel are leaning towards the PS4 side as well? -Paul
[2013-10-29 14:51:51] - k. ~a
[2013-10-29 14:51:30] - a: I never found anything that even hinted they were doing a next-gen release of GTAV, otherwise I would have waited before getting it. - mgi
[2013-10-29 14:49:17] - daniel: it was originally going to be Assassin's Creed 4 and Watch Dogs ... but Watch Dogs got pulled back to sometime in 2014. Mulling the GOTY version of Injustice, which while for me is a repurchase since I have the PS3 version, includes a lot of DLC i elected not to buy, will probably be a wash monetarily. - mig
[2013-10-29 14:39:18] - at least not in the immediate future anyways. - mig
[2013-10-29 14:38:51] - mig: What games are you getting for PS4 already? -Daniel
prev <-> next