FLEE ON SUICIDE WATCH

Nah, maybe if this was tennis or some sport I actually watched, but not football.

They brought back that woman? Jesus fucking christ, she is terrible.

Also, does Skyrim remaster include all DLC?

THERE'S A NEW QUAKE? Jesus fucking christ why did not none of you wake me up to let me know right away?

God damnit people. 50+ people just died because some idiot with a gun decided he didn't like gay people.
And you all are acting like fucking politicians trying to push your agenda of MOAR GUN CONTROLZ or GIT RID OF ALL DA MUSLIMS.
Honestly, stop and mourn for the people who just died and pray/cross your fingers for the people who are critically injured from this. Even if you don't fucking know them.

In my defence, I'm not pushing any policies. I didn't start anything, I'm just addressing inaccuracies.

Quote from: Flee on June 12, 2016, 02:48:49 PM

Quote from: Casper on June 12, 2016, 01:02:29 PM

Totally a gun problem

I don't think anyone is saying this was just a gun problem. People are saying that the easy and legal access to firearms doesn't exactly help this stuff.

It was also a gun-free zone, but it didn't stop him.

Well yeah... Who would've thought that giving people such easy access to guns and then telling them "oh but don't take it in there" doesn't stop mass shootings. You don't put a wooden knee-high fence around a restricted area and then conclude that fences are ineffective at stopping people getting into places when people just step over them with ease.

Quote from: Flee on June 12, 2016, 12:31:22 PM

Quote from: The Hån on June 12, 2016, 12:23:11 PM

we just had raghead to shoot up a place and yall can say is "take the guns away"

because surely banning guns is gonna keep those types of people from having them.

Ehm, not a single person in this thread even suggested anything like that. Berzerk just noted that the US has a gun problem, which it kind of does.

which is exactly what i'm mocking. Also we don't have a gun problem we have a minority and crazy people problem.

I'm not going to shit this thread up by turning it into a gun control debate this shortly after the shooting, but the US demonstrably has a gun problem. You can argue that it's a necessary side-effect from a right to bear arms and that the benefits of having guns outweigh those downsides, but even some of the pro-gun people I know admit that there's definitely problems related to it.

Was just about to make a thread on this myself. Domestic terrorism seems likely.

All your friends are okay, Icy?

It teaches us valuable skills, helps us learn, allows us to teach others and reach a generally higher level of understanding of certain things.

Quote from: Flee on June 11, 2016, 04:59:16 PM

Quote from: Verbatim on June 11, 2016, 04:54:02 PM

um, i was banned immediately for insulting challenger the last time

Well it's late and I'm exhausted, sick, on mobile and really not in the mood to discuss this with other mods or go through ban / warning histories. If another mod feels one of them deserves a ban, sure, but I'm gonna get some rest. But if I sign on tomorrow and see this continued, I'm not even going to try and be nice to anyone involved.

Um, what? I haven't personally insulted him once here, I'm trying to have a conversation. He's the one freaking out on me. In what world would I deserve a ban?

If you don't insult him, you won't get a ban. This conversation can continue, but without the personal attacks. If you haven't done any of that and won't start now, you won't get a ban. I'm just generally warning everyone part of it, including Deci, Challenger and whoever else might feel the need to get involved.

Easy on the insults, please. You can go to Flood for that. Next person to cross the line will get slapped.

 I'll respond to you some time soon, Challenger, but I agree with most of what you said.

Quote from: Flee on June 11, 2016, 03:13:32 PM

Quote from: ねこ on June 11, 2016, 01:45:21 PM

Quake Live

This. Too bad it doesn't get nearly the attention it deserves.

Just wait until I get it Flee, your going to lose to your own game

I haven't played in like half a year and my laptop has started to get terrible screen tearing last I played, so that's very possible.

How is healthcare related to freedom? I'm the first one to criticize America's atrocious healthcare system, but how is it relevant to actual freedom?

Not that I fully agree, but you earlier said that human rights and freedoms are the same thing. And if you go by that, the right to health (care) is considered one of the most important second generation human rights. It's recognized by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Constitution of the World Health Organisation, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the European Social Charter, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and some other international declarations and treaties on human rights.

You can disagree with that and argue that it shouldn't be a human right, as some scholars have done, but even then I still think it is a form of freedom. More specifically, it's a freedom which enables the exercise and enjoyment of other freedoms. The liberty to take yourself or your family to a doctor or hospital and retain your health without unduly burdening yourself. Through my girlfriend and time in the US, I have seen first hand how something like an injury or illness can bankrupt people's entire family. It can make them lose their job, savings, car and home just to afford treatment. Accessible and adequate health care implies being free of a lot of those worries. It's a freedom of security, knowing that no matter what you and your family can rely on medical services without it potentially ruining your life. It's being free to do a job you want to do, not because it just happens to give good benefits. Or taking a sick kid to the doctor knowing that it won't mean having to work overtime for the next month to still make ends meet.

You can say it isn't a "genuine" or natural and fundamental freedom or human right, sure. But it is a kind of freedom, having that security and access to proper health services without excessively burdening yourself. And that, in turn, enables the better exercise and enjoyment of a lot of other liberties which people might otherwise not have. Not that she needs any of it, but my girlfriend, for example, could now for the first time in years have dental work done and actually be able to justify it. She got lucky and never had any issues with her teeth, but not many American insurances cover it. A simple check-up? $300. A cavity, filling and tooth that needs pulling? Add another $500. Braces or corrective surgery? How about $5000. Or maybe it could have had to do with, for example, mental issues or other physical complaints. People ignore issues with their health because of the cost. They are in pain and deterioriating but can't do anything because they know that it would cost them half a month's wage if the insurance doesn't cover it.

In the event that she had any of those complaints but never had them looked at because of that exact reason, she now would actually be able to. A doctor's consultation for €6. A dentist visit and basic work done for €30. Braces and / or surgery for not even a tenth of what it would've costed. You can say that in your eyes, this doesn't constitute as a freedom. But to me and many others, being able to do that and actually look after yourself without it potentially having serious consequences most definitely is a kind of freedom, albeit not as fundamental of one as for example speech.

Enemy combatants, if allowed to retain their rights, does nothing but fuck us over. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to let you defend the failure and incompetency of the intelligence organizations of France and Belgium (not trying to get personal) and criticize America for removing the red tape and getting the job done. You can't try these people in court. They need to be eliminated quickly and efficiently. They're enemy combatants, the opposing force in a war, and they have engaged us. We need to defend ourselves at all costs.

I can't make it any more clear than I did in my last post. I never said I (dis)agreed with either practice. I simply said that in that aspect, objectively speaking, the country which treats terrorists like human beings with rights cares more about human rights than the country which doesn't. That is all. Does that mean that giving them their rights is the best choice of action? Perhaps not. But it does mean that it cares more about human rights, which goes against your very first claim of the US being practically the only country respecting these rights. I personally agree with you to some extent and do believe that situations exist in which their rights can and should be limited, but that is not really relevant to my point.

Quote from: Flee on June 10, 2016, 05:11:02 PM

Quote from: Azumarill on June 10, 2016, 05:00:46 PM

Quote from: Flee on June 10, 2016, 04:49:33 PM

What's this game like on the different platforms? Thinking of buying it once my exams are over, but I've been playing on my PC less and less and don't know how well my laptop could run it.

PC is the superior platform because of KB+M. Some champs are clunkier on consoles than they are on PC because of controllers. Game isn't too terribly intensive, peep these links- second one will tell you if you can run it by running a .exe file.

https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/7636

http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/requirements/overwatch/12955

It's multiplayer only, right? I've seen some footage of it and been a life long FPS player, so some more information would be nice.

Its not like I wrote a review about the game or anything.

Well fuck. Link me.

Quote from: Flee on June 10, 2016, 04:05:01 PM

Quote from: Ginger on June 10, 2016, 02:16:51 PM

Quote from: challengerX on June 10, 2016, 02:14:49 PM

Quote from: Ginger on June 10, 2016, 02:13:03 PM

Quote from: challengerX on June 10, 2016, 01:48:09 PM

Quote from: Ginger on June 10, 2016, 01:14:37 PM

Quote from: Luciana on June 10, 2016, 12:36:25 PM

Quote from: Ginger on June 10, 2016, 10:43:27 AM

Quote from: PsygnI on June 10, 2016, 09:12:12 AM

I don't understand why people don't abstain from the vote. Go register, and if you don't agree with either of the choices, abstain.

People say abstaining is retarded, but it's far better alternative to voting for your polar opposite. At least if there's a majority of abstentions, it shows the parties that frankly, the public don't like either of them and need to get their act together.

Not voting is lazy, emotionally charged voting/spite-voting is retarded; Abstaining shows you are unhappy with the system, and want a new one.

I do not vote. I am not even registered to vote. I chose to never register because I disagree with the two-party system. I thought that was a pretty good option. My not-voting isn't out of laziness, but as a matter of opposition to the current system. If someone is registered to vote already, then I agree with abstaining.

Wouldn't making your voice heard be more effective if you voted Libertarian in the year they probably have the biggest chance to make an impact? Hearing what Das said about it was pretty powerful.

The problem is that I don't think the system actually works for the people, and I no longer follow American politics enough to make an educated assessment. It really is a non-issue as of this point since I no longer reside in the US, but when I gain citizenship here, I will have to vote.

You see the American system as bad but you think it's better in Belgium?

It has more party options than the American system. But again, I don't follow Belgian politics either, so making an assessment of better or worse would be baseless. Voting is mandatory in Belgium, so when I become a citizen, I will have to participate. When that time nears, I will become more well versed in the political system here. At that point, I will give you my assessment, so...give or take 5 years.

Most Americans seem to have this romanticized view of democracy in Europe, that's why I asked.

There's really only 2 parties that are worth voting for in most every country. Not sure about Belgium because politicos here is a shitshow.

Things are a bit different over here. It is illegal to make donations to political campaigns and stuff in Belgium, which is totes different from the US. I'm not sure how it works elsewhere, so I don't know much more about thesystem than that.

It's actually still possible to donate to political parties. It's just restricted to a certain amount for private natural persons and companies to avoid massive contributions from certain actors looking to "buy" politicians' support if they get elected. I think it's too strict the way it is now, but the country does not really have a culture of people donating to politics (most prefer to just become a member of a party and pay membership fees) so I doubt much would change if this were changed. Still, it's a pretty good safeguard against politics being too influenced by money.

Something must not be working than. lol

https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.php?cid=N00000019&cycle=Career

https://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/contrib.php?id=N00000019

http://occupydemocrats.com/2015/12/31/new-princeton-study-confirms-u-s-is-no-longer-a-democracy-is-now-an-oligarchy/

But we were talking about Belgian politics, not American ones.