On the other hand, Democrats have been the culprits driving a stake between voters resulting in the poisonous identity politics which first culminated in Obama's election and have muddied the waters so drastically that we're now forced to pick between two separate-but-equal, corrupt bastards of the party system. It seems apparent that a party's strength is little more than the leverage they hold to influence our democracy.

Quote from: TurkTurkBangBang on November 04, 2016, 03:37:09 PM

I think the Democrats', um...commitment to a singular goal (to put it nicely) and apparent strength, has helped them avoid fracturing like the Republicans.

I'd also disagree with this notion that Democrats are working toward a single goal (At least beyond electing Clinton)

Yeah, that's the goal that they're working towards and have clearly been doing so for quite some time.

The Republicans are definitely weaker, and have been on a slow collapse for over a decade, though I'd say they seem to have more democratic integrity than the Democratic party does currently. Their willingness to even allow a candidate like Trump to succeed vice the Democrats apparent fixing of the primary is evidence enough. I think the Democrats', um...commitment to a singular goal (to put it nicely) and apparent strength, has helped them avoid fracturing like the Republicans.

Quote from: TurkTurkBangBang on November 03, 2016, 12:55:27 PM

Morrowind: dice-roll combat that made it almost impossible to hit until you leveled the skill until around 30.

Morrowind's numerous game crashing bugs. I still haven't beat it because my save files kept deleting themselves.

Weird, I never ran into any real glitches on the Xbox version.

A fine way to declutter your desk, or a bitch slap in the face to your friends and family?

Because I have a stack of cards sitting here, just begging to be trashed.

Specs: good
Steam ID: see bio

Morrowind: dice-roll combat that made it almost impossible to hit until you leveled the skill until around 30.

Supposedly she's been under investigation by the FBI's white collar crime division for over a year, according to a few different sources.

I'm surprised such a controversial issue hasn't been discussed here yet, so I'm doing it now. Here is a rough description of events, but tl;dr version is that an oil pipeline has been constructed through the midwest and is approximately 60% complete. The final chokepoint lies near an Iowan Sioux reservation. Initially, the tribe was offered $15M to have the pipeline go directly through the reservation; they countered with an offer for $50M, and so it was decided that it should go through a nearby utility corridor located on private property and already contains numerous other utility lines including gas and eight oil pipelines.

The tribe claims this presents a threat to their water supply, despite the fact that pipelines are significantly safer than transportation by train, and this pipeline would drastically reduce the potential for spillage in the routed states. The tribe also claims this endangers important cultural sites, despite no evidence that this is true and the fact that numerous studies have been done for this pipeline, in addition to the numerous other utilities lines and pipelines going through the same corridor decades ago. In addition, protests have been far from peaceful, with barricades constructed of burning tires, National Guard vehicles burned, and journalists have been threatened.

Do you believe the protests have merit?

It's a solid show that I recently caught up with. It's a modern take on anthology series like Twilight Zone. When it's not beating you over the head with morals about overconsumption of social media and entertainment, it can be a compelling and original. My only complaint is that the endings of the episodes tend to be letdowns or predictable, and largely unsatisfying, but it's worth checking out on Netflix if you're not feeling particularly suicidal.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/october-web-only/speak-truth-to-trump.html?start=2

This past week, the latest (though surely not last) revelations from Trump’s past have caused many evangelical leaders to reconsider. This is heartening, but it comes awfully late. What Trump is, everyone has known and has been able to see for decades, let alone the last few months. The revelations of the past week of his vile and crude boasting about sexual conquest—indeed, sexual assault—might have been shocking, but they should have surprised no one.

Indeed, there is hardly any public person in America today who has more exemplified the “earthly nature” (“flesh” in the King James and the literal Greek) that Paul urges the Colossians to shed: “sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry” (3:5). This is an incredibly apt summary of Trump’s life to date. Idolatry, greed, and sexual immorality are intertwined in individual lives and whole societies. Sexuality is designed to be properly ordered within marriage, a relationship marked by covenant faithfulness and profound self-giving and sacrifice. To indulge in sexual immorality is to make oneself and one’s desires an idol. That Trump has been, his whole adult life, an idolater of this sort, and a singularly unrepentant one, should have been clear to everyone.

And therefore it is completely consistent that Trump is an idolater in many other ways. He has given no evidence of humility or dependence on others, let alone on God his Maker and Judge. He wantonly celebrates strongmen and takes every opportunity to humiliate and demean the vulnerable. He shows no curiosity or capacity to learn. He is, in short, the very embodiment of what the Bible calls a fool.

[...]

Most Christians who support Trump have done so with reluctant strategic calculation, largely based on the president’s power to appoint members of the Supreme Court. Important issues are indeed at stake, including the right of Christians and adherents of other religions to uphold their vision of sexual integrity and marriage even if they are in the cultural minority.

But there is a point at which strategy becomes its own form of idolatry—an attempt to manipulate the levers of history in favor of the causes we support. Strategy becomes idolatry, for ancient Israel and for us today, when we make alliances with those who seem to offer strength—the chariots of Egypt, the vassal kings of Rome—at the expense of our dependence on God who judges all nations, and in defiance of God’s manifest concern for the stranger, the widow, the orphan, and the oppressed. Strategy becomes idolatry when we betray our deepest values in pursuit of earthly influence. And because such strategy requires capitulating to idols and princes and denying the true God, it ultimately always fails.

Enthusiasm for a candidate like Trump gives our neighbors ample reason to doubt that we believe Jesus is Lord. They see that some of us are so self-interested, and so self-protective, that we will ally ourselves with someone who violates all that is sacred to us—in hope, almost certainly a vain hope given his mendacity and record of betrayal, that his rule will save us.

A solid article that anyone voting from an ethical standard can relate to, especially if they are considering voting for Trump to toe the party line. Personally, I can't accept the benefits of Supreme Court nominations and potentially superior foreign policy over supporting such a contemptible person that seems completely unprepared to lead and represent the country.

Quote

You're essentially trash binning a third of classical rhetorical. I know you don't understand how to use pathos, but don't mislead the OP into thinking it doesn't have value.

I know how to use pathos better than anybody on this forum. It has no place in academic writing.

You're one of the most ineffective and ignorant arguers on this forum. Don't kid yourself.

Quote from: TurkTurkBangBang on November 02, 2016, 03:02:28 PM

First of all, writing is not limited to formal arguments where pathetic writing is less effective

But that's what he's talking about.

According to what? He said he's in a college writing class, probably doing all sorts of essays and styles of writing. Even if he is participating in a formal debate, pathos is still a necessary component of an argument.

That's my point though, it's easy to assume it's during or between 2 & 3's but my point is it's so weird and obvious they didn't think of this, it just feels shoved in as an excuse to make another. Mentioning it in one trailer? Are there any other things?

Yeah I agree that it would have been really interesting to see this in the trilogy. At least they did Liara's time capsule, but a good segue could have been allowing your Shep to make the speech (with different choices) and have that uploaded to the new game. Bioware dug this hole for themselves, so I can't really sympathize about how awkward it is for them.