W_L

I was looking up some stuff and I came across an interesting urban legend about the original Japanese version of the Gameboy games causing suicides. Sounds sort of like a horror movie, but I was intrigued by the possibility (not to mention even an idea for a future story). Lavendar town as most of us guys in the 90's who played the game and watched the show knows is the town where the Pokemon ghosts and graveyard is. It's already really creepy and scary, but it's the background music that makes this even more eerie. I mean, yeah, it's creepy, but would it drive kids to commit suicide. Anyway thought this would be an interesting gamer topic and the music was a bit creepy.

I was itching to re-watch some old fashioned campy 90's action shows, so only one name came to my mind, Xena Yes, that show was definitely made to be utter cheese, but I really tried to pay attention to all the lesbian hints in the show that I missed as I was growing up. I watched it as a kid in the 90's, but never really thought of it with sexual overtones, just that Lucy Lawless kicked ass! Now, I realize how much subtle romantic and love interest there was between Xena and Gabriel, which seems cute in retrospect. Now after little bit of cheese, I thought why not go back even further to what started Xena off, Hercules: the Legendary Journey. Then, I started seeing the same pattern of subtext between Hercules and Iolaus, which it turns out is truer to the old myth of Hercules than just modern fiction. According ot the old stories in Greek mythology, they were lovers, so it doesn't seem that out of place. Then, I flipped to find another show from that era's fantasy genre, another name came to my head, Beastmaster, based on the old 1982 movie. The show was as full of subtext between Dar and Tao, but there was a strange couple feel the two as well as they traveled and had their adventures. Now, I wondered if modern fantasy stories shared that same type of coupling dynamic. I don't really see it in modern fantasy as much. True I can see some stuff in shows like Supernatural, which still remains my favorite in the genre modern form, but in shows like "once Upon a Time" and "Grimm" can anyone see the same things. In Supernatural, it is really obvious and even the writers joke about how "gay" two brothers fighting evil on the open road and sleeping in the same bed can be (Watch some of the episodes with self-parody, you'll see what I mean) Is it me or is GLBT subtext just more apparent in retrospect than in modern fantasy shows?

There's too much gay radiation in Boston, my gaydar cannot be trusted to identify a metro fashionista and a flaming art school student

Happy Birthday Lugh! Enjoy the oncoming symptoms of age: sleeplessness, paranoia, and anger over kids getting on your green lawn in the summer

You mean the one snapped in half by lord "you know" Sounds like a penis envy to me.

From foreign policy to theology, I have been bouncing around in my blog. Now I want to get back to my own skills, Finance: An inverted debt pyramid is a modern concept in finance, not fully realized in most circumstances beyond the text theories with examples only becoming common in the last few years. Let me start off with some basic ideas: A person has $50,000 that he wants to invest in an asset that is worth $200,000, so he borrows $150,000 to make up the difference from 1st bank. Simple enough right, so the person has a leverage to equity ratio of 4:1, which is pretty good. The 1st bank eying the objective of investing in an asset worth $800,000, borrows $600,000 from another bank, which is again a 4:1 ratio. The individual original stake is still 4:1, but the bank has freed up its capital by borrowing against the client's loan to increase its ability to make more money through investing. Then,the "other bank" wanting to invest in an asset worth $3.2 million, they borrow $2.4 million from yet another bank. Again to this bank, it is only a 4:1 ratio again. From an original cash equity $50,000, you have helped to create a series of building blocks that build a pyramid of debt and financing for a chain of investments. So what if the value of the $3.2 million asset decreases to $2 million. In most circumstances, it means nothing as values change day to day, so it might rebound later. However, creditors for the bank may get a little scared on the value of the banks asset, so they make a margin call, demanding equity to reflect 4:1. This means "other bank" must put up another $500,000. The bank cannot come up with the money, so sells the asset at $2 million dollars, pushing prices down by 37.5%. Anxious to recuperate cash, "other bank" demands the 1st bank add more cash to adjust against its own equity to 4:1 after the value has fallen to $500,000. The adjustment is an additional $300,000. 1st Bank has no choice, except to sell. A new bank raises interest on the investment loan of the investor to 15% as the market conditions has changed and the investment values has fallen. The Investor is forced to sell his asset at 125,000 to cover the staggering bills. The investor has lost his $50,000 equity and an additional $(25,000). This vicious cycle has cascaded down a long chain of institutions and groups with total losses equal: $1.575 million Not only is equity annihilated, but everyone is carrying a large amount of unsustainable debt as well. Ironically, this concept proves that "trickle down" does exist in economics, however the realistic application of them is far different in this case than the virtuous cycle of Friedman. Instead I would point that debt applied in such a manner would be vicious and destructive cycle as equity is destroyed on the individual level and more debt is added, people will hire less, economic activity stall, and cash is frozen. Just some food for thought.....

WB, Great to hear you back to your prime

Maybe all the guys you know are afraid of comparisons How big is their house, car, or personal possessions? It could be a Freudian inferiority complex

Ha! Someone give the Gorn an ice pack It seems Shatner can still seduce green creatures, Why didn't they ever show the gorn again in TNG or later series? I'd like to see a guy in a faux-godzilla outfit. As for the game, I've seen other trailers, it looks like crap, but I might consider it if they have a star ship mode and the kobyashi maru mission.

Krista! <Gets some masking tape and a dirty sock> Now, let's hope queen of bracket killers will not create another upset.

Yes, I freely admit it; I probably am a heretic I like the story, but I think the book's plot was stronger than the story writing behind it. However, I also felt captivated by the story. The book if read with Angels and Demons serves not only as an interesting conspiracy story on the secrets of our past defining the present, but it also serves as a warning not to be used for our future. The novels greatest appeal is the story of the well known historical/biblical figure, Mary Magdeline, not the Prostitute of the Bible, but the wife of Jesus and the mother of his children. It made me want to read Holy Blood and Holy Grail, just because I want to know the conspiracy story behind the conspiracy story. It's an interesting hypothesis and one that most Christians would not entertain without a fear of eternal damnation. Of Course, I am not afraid of eternal damnation as I believe that it is the strength of our character, not our beliefs alone that define us. Those who use belief as a catch all concept to spread hate, authorize murder, and even destroy entire groups should have no place in any type of paradise. On the flip side, those who seek knowledge and truth despite what belief tells them is far more deserving in my view. Contextually, I've been thinking on this concept of Knowledge beyond belief: Did Jesus not counter the established Jewish "Beliefs" of his time by fighting usury and other problems in Judaism? If anything shouldn't that denote that belief as a moral basis is the incorrect concept to choose for humanity, but rather an individual search and journey for knowledge be what mankind needs? That is the premise of the conspiracy theory and the idea of Jesus' teaching being contradictory to orthodoxy. Everything else is somewhat predictable, except the British historians betrayal, but that was a plot twist out of left field. ___________________________ Let me bring this back to Easter and the concept of Jesus' resurrection and faith. The holiest holiday in Christianity is the rebirth of Jesus, because it is the proof of his divinity to the followers of Christianity, over a billion people. What if someone were to discover the body of Jesus Christ or proof that he had not died at the Cross, but lived? Would that destroy faith or his teachings? In some Christian traditions, Jesus is two figures, Jesus of Nazareth, and Jesus Christ. Here's a heretical thought, what if Jesus who died, reborn, and ascended to heaven was separate from the mortal Jesus. I am playing around with a Catholic/Protestant concept of Consubstantiation/Transubstantiation usually alluding to the bread and Wine concepts of Body and Blood of Christ. What if the nature of Jesus is similar in the way that on one hand the divine could exist in human form, but upon rebirth must give in to the mortal self? In that way, you can have your cake and eat it too or Bread You can have a "Divine" entity in a man and a man, who lives through a near death experience. When he is alive again, it proves that the Divine exists, but the man having served his purpose is no longer part of the divine. Of course for people that don't believe this is a moot point, but I just thought it would be an interesting theological idea.

No way, then that would screw up my bracket!

It looks like a split decision based on what I am reading and interpreting from the transcript. 1st. Based on what is in front of the Supreme Court, I don't know if I'd overturn Proposition 8. The argument are meaningful and very honestly argued, carry a very deep problem to the concept of laws and observations in the traditional constitutionalist's concept. Proposition 8 was decided by California voters through plurality against gay marriage without legally breaking up "Civil commitments" or "Civil Unions" in the message of the Proposition. The legal text was: Sexual Orientation is not a protected class of "persons" under the 14th Amendment; although it could be argued that technically all Americans should be equally treated under the law. However, as the old cases of Segregation like Plessy v. Ferguson has shown (even if legally Brown v. Board had overturned it due to the lack of equal protection or equal facilities from Segregation as a practice, but conceptually "equal and separate" were never overturned), "Civil Unions" can still be equally matched up in state law to traditional "marriage" as they are legal terms, not fundamental or physical differences as long as there is no privilege of marriage that "civil union" is excluded from. In this case, Marriage can be one man and one woman, but the last part of "is valid" should be struck down. To differentiate one class of privilege versus another does violate individual rights, however to affirm marriage to one class as a term without privilege does not. If I were to offer a conservative opinion, I'd give Christians their pound of flesh, but also take what is equally owed back for GLBT proponents, including myself. Partially Affirmed, with a change in wording, but this one I put as a toss up as Roberts is hard to read on this issue. 2. DOMA....Should be struck down easily. Few of the conservative justices really wanted to defend it. It went against the concept of constitutional observances, it overreached on legislative powers over states, and above all, Congress took upon itself to create separate groups of Americans in violation of Individual rights. There's a reason why no one wanted to speak on this from the conservative side of the justices, it was a bad law on many levels. Too heavy handed and overreached to the level of allowing the Federal government to mandate moral supremacy. ________________________ Marriage is a word, not the concept of love or relationship. If the "word" is what religious people want to preserve for their own beliefs and creeds, then it is their right to defend the concept on their own definition of "marriage". However, no one should separate group with one side holding privilege and another being held as un-privilege due to precedent, let alone the Federal Government.

Why can't you make a skin-like Condom that is 100% organic and is equally disliked by certain religions like...foreskins Want to have a "Banana Split" ?

Was looking at this for the last few days and thought I'd chime in on my blog. Kim jung un is reeling for a confrontation: testing nukes, tearing the armistice, and now threatening to cut diplomatic contact. If war was to be fought against the North Korean military using their nuclear arms, should and can the US honor its 60 year old scenario of nuclear retaliation? What about the impact to the Pacific Rim? Also what many don't see is the thousand pound elephant in the room, China, remains quiet. The Chinese has much to lose if a Nuclear regional war were to break near China's strategic reserves of Coal in Northeastern China. Currently, a large proportion of Chinese industrial power consumption is based off coal plants. If the region is irradiated, imagine what would happen to industrial capacity. China also has one other trump card in its hands, Kim Jung Il older son and former heir apparent to North Korea, who left his country after his younger brother's ascension. In the annals of history, including Chinese political history on foreign dynastic claims, fratricide for power is very common as a foreign policy move for China. (Not to say China might attempt that, but I do wonder why they would accept the older brother into the country. ) Beyond the potential cloak and dagger world of intrigue, we may see an end to the old Korean Standoff finally after 60 years, one way or another.

11 out of 16 My final four is: Louisville, Kansas, Indiana, and **** Gonzaga (Bad pick, damn it)

It's a random generator, I think. Tourists don't come to your city every day, which is as true to life as it is to Simcity. I miss subways and other transportation options (I never used overland railroads in older Simcity games, but Simcity 4 made me a convert of the monorail)

Games like stories can be based on realistic aspects of life or escapists aspects of fantasy. The question for the gamer like the reader is what do you feel like playing. And to tie this back to GA, Do you prefer the same type of things in your video as you would in the stories you read? I just got this idea today about the movement towards more social interactions in games recently. However, sometimes I want play games that are more fantasy based on Dragon Age without being tied in with anyone else.

Maybe Picard just wants to get "engaged" again and it will fall through due bad puns and kirk directing the wedding planners to have "row row your boat" as the wedding song

Delayed awkward Renee I hope you can get through this and find peace with everything

It turns out the game did not even need to be "Online-only" EA is playing a dangerous game here if they are lying to gamers about Simcity like this. Why is the offline mode unavailable without a hack? Why is EA telling everyone it would be difficult to do an offline mode and reduce the burden on their servers with an "always on" approach? Something is foul at EA games and this is turning into the "Watergate/Lewinsky scandal" of the gaming world. EA has a lot to answer for.

Well if you are a good boy, I might consider it @Fishie, I agree his early stuff was a bit bratty, I didn't like the new Charlie in the Chocolate factory for good reasons. However, he is a decent actor and he's improved over time. I read some of the early reviews, according to the reviewers, the show has promise, but it might come off a little too urban for its location.

Yes, it was real event. Yes, I am like that in real life. I wanted to write reality and just show you guys a piece of my life and piece of who I am with a recent experience. As some of you know, my tenant is an ex-Catholic priest, who had been convicted of child abuse during the early 2000's. I discovered that fact more than a year ago and you can even find that detail in my old postings, if you find that too incredible to believe. He is a registered sex offender of the highest grade, but to everyone who doesn't look on the sex offender registry, he is a decent guy. He paid his debt to society with several years in Prison already. I am not a hero in any sense of the word, nor am I a crusader. I did not want him to be harmed out of kindness and my own personal sense of honor. Maybe, I am wrong to hold such beliefs in honor and integrity on personal level based on the facts, but I just can't allow it. As for my characterization, I am weird analytical guy in real life. Q, Cassie, and Intune are probably the only people on GA, who have met me. Only Cassie has actually spent time with me long enough to get a few glimpses at that part of me. I am nice and honest person in real life, but I am also very direct. I know I am very imperfect in the way I act. If the guy had been more pissed off with me after revealing his own inner most thoughts and desires rather than being scared and shocked at me, I'd probably be in the hospital rather than writing this story in the best scenario. I was overreaching and I knew it. Part of me just wanted to keep him talking and maybe throw him off his quest. I don't know what I was doing exactly, but I know my purpose was to minimize the harm as much as I could to myself and the old man. Just wanted to add some detail... In the Cold

Finn is hat your way of asking me out

Wait...you said I could have a few milky bones and hugs Thank you for publishing so many stories