Mr. GOH!

A statment assumed by your belief in evolutionary theory. Nonsense. If I remember my theology, the majority of Christian philosophers, theologians and clergy believe that morality exists outside of religion and man, but not outside of God. Edit: A completely materialistic or empirical understanding of the world is more likely to result in beliefs that morality is contingent, relative or a fabrication. Is not the Word eternal?

Debbie Stabenow is Michigan Senator up for re-election and Hoekstra is indeed the man in that commercial and is running against her. The ad is not surprising, considering the GOP has been a racist institution since the 70's.

Komen has always been awful. The amount they spend on administration and suing other non-profits is indefensible. Also this from that execrable National Review article: "Look, the beauty of free speech is that, if you’re inclined to do so, you can write a check to PP in an act of solidarity, or write a check to Komen as an expression of moral approval." But talking about your disapproval of Komen is bad? FUCK THAT. Speech is free. If you think the only or best way to exercise the right of free speech is through money, you're an asshole and missing the point. Hell, if you think transfers of money are speech, you're an asshole.

From the Mass Effect thread. Not to pick on WaS, cause I know I'm taking this comment completely out of context, but it just made me think of the attitude that I think is a huge problem in American politics; people act like the majority should be catered to at the expense of all others. Tyranny by majority is still tyranny, and the whole reason we have things like the first amendment is to protect the minority from the majority. Just because most people like one thing doesn't mean we should force it down the throats of everyone else. Again, specific comment taken entirely out of context, so don't take this as me attacking you WaS. Carolene Products, Footnote 4. Edit: Oh my. I've missed a lot. First, re: taxes. A consumption tax is an awfully regressive tax. It'll eat into the bottom lines of those least able to afford it. Also, the rich benefit more from the laws than the poor because it is the law that structures the the groundwork for doing business. The law is a creature of government. They benefit disproportionately from a creature of the government, therefore it is fair that, as income rises, one pays in progressively more. Personally, I don't care about fairness. I just think it's more economically efficient for the rich to be taxed more than the poor, but ideologues who worship von Mises's fever dreams of a perfect free market aren't gonna buy it. Second re: Planned Parenthood. PP is always going to be under investigation because conservatives hate it. The rule also ONLY affects Komen's relationship with PP. The rule was made to cut out PP. Fine. They should have been open about it. They should have expected a huge backlash. I support the backlash and will cease supporting Komen (which is also notorious for suing other similar organizations on ridiculous trademark issues, wasting everyone's money) and support a different breast cancer diagnosis support charity. The abortion issue is not resolvable between the two sides because we simply cannot agree upon when life begins; any objective measurement chosen would be arbitrary. On abortion, I am pro-choice but also pro-life. I do not think it is my decision to make for a woman or couple up to a point, but I would, if asked, urge people not to abort. Re: adoption. I have no idea what bureaucratic hurdles you refer to, Yantelope. I'd be interested in hearing about them because it's a complaint I hear often but don't know much about.

No doubt. I value a college education, but it ain't for everyone. I went to a high school with excellent vocational training and it took me going to college *and* law school to earn a higher salary than some of them do. But they also get 40 weeks plus overtime. Strong vocational training programs are important in high schools, and should be emphasized.

My immediate thought was that Kotaku Core is for readers who don't want to hear about gender and race issues in video gaming, since those articles get lots and lots of hate in the comments. I'm a fan, personally, because the articles, while imperfect, engage very real issues in gaming and video game culture. I just thought folks who don't wanna read Ashcraft's night shift Orientalist tomfoolery could easily avoid it. I think debating about what Kotaku claims to be or should be is uninteresting and pointless. It's obvious what kind of site it actually is after a few minutes of reading it, so what does it matter what it says it is? Would folks be satisfied if they added " and lots of other stuff!" to the site description? There are lots of other aspects of Kotaku that make me shake my head and mutter "Fucking Kotaku"; the types of articles hasn't really ever been one of them, though.

Mike Rowe is right. But the problem isn't just perception and valuing laborers as people, it's that a lot of the skilled jobs are nonetheless low-paying or not secure because they represent temporary projects and labor needs.

Absolutely. It is just more frightening to me that perhaps a majority of the electorate would support such madness.

This is part of the reason why I don't like politics. If you want to have any hope of being elected by your party, you have to subvert your personal beliefs to the majority's popular opinion. Jon Huntsman can say whatever he wants because he has never had a chance in this race. Those who are neck-and-neck, they've got to monitor themselves so as not to say anything detrimental to the voters. This is also why you'll hear "flip-flopper" flung around during political campaigns. Everyone running does it, but some candidates are more noticeable because it can seem like they've flipped a metaphorical "politics" switch. The real problem isn't that politicians pander to or perhaps even represent the beliefs of their party, it's that such ridiculous beliefs are the core of one of the major parties of one of the most powerful nations in history. Edit: Ooh, that's a very cool app, Dean. I'm just saying a year from now the most effective use will be by the far right. I hope I'm wrong.

The most effective use of these apps will be by the far right, you know. To boycott businesses that sell menorahs or wish people happy holidays or who employ Muslims or who are environmentally friendly or who support gay marriage. Edit: Fun article, Dean, though the idea that the GOP has turned its back on empirical sciences is nothing new. Even the free marketeer Austrian Economics the GOP bases its social science upon reject empiricism in preference for reasoning from first principles (which never get examined vis a vis reality because empiricism is so rough and tumble). The Bible thing is even more infuriating because the main point isn't that the Old Testament is an accurate recounting of natural history, but that we should all be nice to each other.

Looks good to me. I think you'd be fine with an i5-2500k unless you're using this rig for non-gaming CPU-intensive programs. I also have a gaming build-related question: I plan on building a PC to serve as an entertainment hub and plan to game on a TV from my couch. I have a gamepad, but I'd prefer to have the option of using a keyboard and mouse to game comfortably while I'm sitting back on my couch. Does anyone have any recommendations as far as lapstands or the like go? Should I just resign myself to hunching forward and using a TV tray as a stand?

Oh, I also really dug it because it was unexpected. I got it to read on an airplane back to New York from my mom's house in Northwest Iowa. The first scene in the book is a man going to his family reunion for Thanksgiving in Northwest Iowa. So it had me from the beginning, but it is still some great reading for fun.

Welcome Allan.S!

Four years ago Iowa gave the most votes to a man who hates his own country and his own people. I'm fairly certain Huckabee likes white rich guys. I dunno about whether he loves America as it is, or if he just loves his fantasy of an American theocracy.

I am about halfway through REAMDE [sic] by Neal Stephenson. I am enjoying it. It's gaming related in that the plot gets rolling due to a data-ransoming scam using an MMO designed for gold farming. But it's a sprawling fun adventure/action/heist/spy/thriller/sci fi tale so far and makes for great episodic reading.

I like Joel as an editor; as a writer and a commenter-interactor, he's alienating. But I loved a lot of the articles he brought to Kotaku on gender and it's problematic place in nerd culture. I think a Kotaku/io9 examination of such would be pretty interesting. But Crecente, oh Crecente! Not my favorite guy. My interest is certainly piqued by the curious total lack of information regarding Crecente's future. That makes me think somebody, somewhere, got fucked by the deal. Part of me wonders if Crecente moved to NY from CO earlier in 2011 only to be fired by Denton at the end of the year. Perhaps Crecente is in talks about a new job, but can't disclose anything because nothing has been finalized. Bottom line: it has me wondering.

I don't think you can assume either way. I would not be surprised if it kept charging banned players. I would also not be surprised if it doesn't.

My current case is a big black steel antec box, but I need a new one for my next build. I want something that won't scare away folks who possess two X chromosomes since this new PC will be chilling in my living room. But I also want something sleeker than my current case, and I hear new cases have all sorts of amenities, like breakaway panels for easy access and cable solutions of all kinds. Edit: MasterDex, anything with a handle on top is OTT IMHO. At least it seems female-repellent.

Not sure whether the 7950 will be worth it, yet. I'd wait to see how it performs. I'm a longtime ATI/AMD customer, but it sometimes feels like I miss out on some nice nVidia-only features like PhysX. So much so, that I'm getting a GTX 570 for my next build. I may be believing the hype when I should heed the wise man who said not to believe the hype, though. Have you looked into getting a small TV instead of a monitor? Might be cheaper, and your card will doubtlessly have HDMI out. I dunno for sure, just spitballin', here.

That Thor is a sexy case. Nerd sexy, that is. I was eyeballing it yesterday while planning my next build, but its aggressive geekiness was too much for me (and I'm typing this post on an Alienware m11x). Looks compatible to me. What GPU you looking at? Also, what monitor you plan on using? And what sorta soundsystem? Edit: Fuckin' apostrophes, man. Fuck 'em.

My thanks to Frosted Mini Wheats, who got me GOTY contender Portal 2! Now all I need to do is to find someone who hasn't already played the co-op puzzles for some unspoiled puzzle-solving MP! I bought for Dean and I hope our fearless administrator enjoys his gift! Also thanks to P4 for running this square dance!

FBD: If you hate this conversation, why are you having it?

Oooh, the hipster argument: If you care about it, it's no longer cool. Seeing it applied to the Zelda storyline is delicious.