Twilight Sparkle

Windows 7 is certainly an improvement over Vista, but there are some things that irritate me (It still just isn't quite as fast as XP was) and the new taskbar irritates me to no end. The new features are nice and it looks great, but XP still holds a special place in my hard drive (sorry, I had to say it).

Just a guess, but I think he goes for Freeman's Mind when he wants something to do, but he's in a "Fuck, too lazy to do CP right now" mood. At this point, he probably does it for the fans, because FM is just as popular as CP, if not more so.

Yeah. I was too lazy to look up their actual name.

Again, this issue should depend on the cultures. But, does anyone feel creeped out by the fact that all the african countries like Nigeria, Niger, Zimbabwe are not on any lists. Does the government hide the statistics....? If so, then our situation is much better than it appears to be, at least we are honest. Yeah I agree with you here. When it comes to crime (specifically the mafia) no one gets shit done like the Japanese Mafia. Those bastards don't even need guns, they half control the economy, supposedly. We certainly are luckier than some countries. We're arguing gun control when there are countries where people manufacture AK-47s in their garage to trade for a few cows.

1. http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/06/investigators_agree_center_poi.html 2. You certainly can. And I can do it better, since I have guns. 3. This doesn't really work. You can't use the 'level of crazyness' as an argument because that isn't the only reason people commit crimes. People commit crimes out of desperation, not always because they just want to kill someone. And the level of crazyness doesn't have anything to do with the weapon of choice. If they can afford a firearm, they will use a firearm. If all they have is a piece of sharp metal, that's what they will use. If you really wanted to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, you'd make them ridiculously expensive. Since that would piss a lot of people off and ruin a lot of things economically, the next best thing is to allow people to carry guns for their personal defense. 4. All this proves is that less developed countries have higher homicide rates than more developed countries. 5. You're right, here. I didn't even consider things like Copyright Infringement when I dug up that list. 6. What exactly does "Neo-European" mean in this context? Also, don't bring alcohol into it. Most people don't commit crimes while drunk (not pre-mediated ones, anyway). 7. It's served us well enough so far. Just imagine how the Fort Hood shooting would have ended if the soldiers on station had actually been carrying their weapons at the time.

Why mention gun crimes specifically? As far as I (And the ones that die) are concerned, it doesn't matter how you die, it matters if you were able to prevent it. The fact of the matter is, people are able to kill each other. Are you going to ban knives and fists too? What about cars? Anything heavy? If you want to stop crime, that's sure as shit what you're going to have to do, although that assumes you can get them away from the criminals in the first place. The nice thing about guns is that it levels the playing field. Do you think that if a man breaks into an old lady's house that she will be able to defend herself with some well-placed Taekwondo kicks? Or do you think she could scare him off with a $100 .38 Special snub-nose? What if two men with knives break into your house with the intent to rape your wife and daughter? If you have a gun, they're screwed. If not, your family is. If you're a criminal and you want to rob someone, are you going to rob the man with a Glock 17 on his hip, or the liberal home owner who is well known for not owning any guns? Guns don't punish crime, they prevent it from happening. Why do you think the police never get mugged? I don't need a chart to show you that. Also, I'd like to direct your attention to this. http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_tot_cri_percap-crime-total-crimes-per-capita Total crimes on a per capita basis, not just gun crimes. As you can see, the UK still ranks higher than the US in total crimes, despite much stricter gun laws. It doesn't matter if I'm getting shot or getting stabbed, I'm still going to die afterwards. The moral here isn't the cause of crime, it's how it can be prevented and what does not prevent it.

So, you believe that Mexico isn't a good example because of an overall failure in government? Alright, I'll bite. Let's look at a more successful country. What exactly do you consider to be 'decent' gun control? The fact that they have strict laws? The fact that many of the citizens don't have guns? Well let me explain something. The only reason gun control works ANYWHERE is because of a culture that teaches people they don't require them. Let's use Britain for an example. Their laws are a staple of gun control. Huge amounts of requirements and regulations to own anything as much as a hunting rifle. In Britain, there has ALWAYS been weapons control. In the days of the Absolute Monarchy, you couldn't use a cane for support without a permit because it could be used as a weapon. It could take years to get that permit, because the well-being of physically disabled people is less important than a ridiculously small risk to public safety, if there is even a risk at all. The fact of the matter is, the United States was created because of a need for guns. Britain never had a birth like that. Britain was already unified by the time guns came around. So most people in Britain agree that guns are bad. Even the police officers don't carry guns. So how does that work out for them? Well, in the last few years, their crime rate has surpassed the US on a per capita basis for almost all major crimes. Even worse, it has more crime than South Africa, widely considered one of the most dangerous countries on Earth. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1196941/The-violent-country-Europe-Britain-worse-South-Africa-U-S.html Is that what you call decent gun control? Even in a nation which prides itself on being civilized, there is more crime than the supposed "wild west culture on the other side of the Atlantic where every other car is carrying a gun." http://reason.com/archives/2002/11/01/gun-controls-twisted-outcome From that same source, here are some of Britain's many 'successes' with gun control, all of which took place within the span of a few days in the summer of 2001. Gun-toting men burst into an English court and freed two defendants. A shooting outside a London nightclub left five women and three men wounded. Two men were machine-gunned to death in a residential neighborhood of north London. A 19-year-old girl walking on a main street in east London was shot in the head by a thief who wanted her mobile phone. Despite the fact that the residents of Britain are supposedly happy with the performance of their police force, the London Police is now looking to New York City for advice. Handguns were banned in 1997. From then until 1999, handgun violence was up by 40%. 53% of burglaries occur while the occupants are at home, compared to 13% in the US. You are six times more likely to be robbed in London than in New York City. Burglars have admitted to fearing armed homeowners more than the Police. Should I go on, or is that enough? There are plenty more where that came from. I would not call Europe's gun control to be 'decent' by any means. It's not even acceptable, it's utterly counterproductive. Crime has been rising since the 1950s in Britain, similarly to the United States, and despite their pride in being civilized, their crime is higher than the US' even as they look at us with scorn for clinging to our guns. But hey, if they want to follow their government blindly and believe that gun control works even as they're getting robbed and assaulted, then that's fine with me. Just keep that bullshit out of the country that I live in.

He knows more or less what's been happening, but his perception of what happened and what he imagined earlier is a little mixed up.

I agree, that would be funny, but impossible because of the follower AI unless they were on a perfectly flat surface with helpful signposts.

As some of you may be aware, for quite a while now Mexico has been raging what is essentially a Civil War between the Government, and the numerous Drug Cartels. It's become a clusterfuck of epic proportions, and there is no end in sight. Supposedly, all Mexicans have the right to bear arms, similarly to the US. That was said in 1857, in their constitution, where it was clearly stated that any citizen had the right to carry guns for personal defense. Gradually, over the next century. It was slowly toned down because of a specific mention that the government could prohibit certain firearms with new laws. "Article 10: Every man has the right to have and to carry arms for his security and legitimate defense. The law will indicate which arms are prohibited and the penalty for those that will carry prohibited arms" Let's fast forward to 1917. "The inhabitants of the United Mexican States have the right to possess arms in their homes for their security and legitimate defense with the exception of those prohibited by federal law and of those reserved for the exclusive use of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and National Guard. Federal law shall determine the cases, conditions and place in which the inhabitants may be authorized to bear arms." Under the Mexican Constitution, you are guaranteed the right to own firearms, and yet at the same time it makes it quite clear that the Government has absolute control over them. That doesn't seem like much of a guarantee, really. Despite their supposed right, no Mexican citizen is permitted any military caliber handgun, or anything larger than a .38 special (as far as pistols are concerned). That pretty much limits their options to the .380, the .38 special, and the .22. That isn't a problem so much as the fact that a constitutional right to own guns for self defense has been twisted into gun laws that are punished with ridiculous prison sentences. You can get up to 30 years for illegal firearm possession, which according to Mexican Law is a 9mm firearm with a 10 round magazine. Say what you want to about using guns for self defense - If you're going to do it, you want a caliber that will actually drop the guy trying to rape/murder/rob you. And what's the problem with military calibers anyway? Doesn't the army and police get body armor? Isn't police Kevlar effective against any practical pistol round? Now for the kicker. There is one gun shop in Mexico. That's right. Just one. It is controlled by the army. They wear camouflage. They have assault rifles. The only source of legal weapons in Mexico is guarded like a King's Citadel. How many guns do you think are in Mexico? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/28/AR2010122803644.html The Mexican Government claims a total of 305,424 confiscated weapons, of all types, since the war began in 2006. There are more confiscated weapons in Mexico than there are soldiers in most of Europe's militaries. http://tucsoncitizen.com/morgue/2009/05/07/115945-mexico-s-weapons-cache-stymies-tracing/ How many are left? Well, I think the ongoing war speaks for itself. The Drug Cartels don't seem to be short on firepower. Mexico is a living example of why gun control doesn't work. One gun shop in the whole country, controlled by the army, and yet they still manage to confiscate thousands of illegal firearms each year from enemy combatants. Most of those guns come from the US. You know. Illegally. So that tells us that restricting legal sources of firearms isn't effective, because there will always be ILLEGAL ways of obtaining them. The Mexican Government is confiscating as fast as they can, but the Cartels aren't anywhere near being unarmed. They've done a damn fine job of making sure their citizens are unprotected in the midst of a civil war though. How can Mexico's 85,000 man army protect it's 112 million citizens from the 100,000 men that are estimated to be fighters for the Drug Cartels? And that number doesn't even account for the huge amount of corruption that infests both the army and the police force. How can you depend on an army and police force for protection when half of them are working for the criminals anyway? If someone breaks into your house and you call the police, you might be treated to the sight of a uniformed officer leaving the scene with a hundred bucks in his pocket and a murderer carefully selecting the knife he's going to use to remove your kidney. The reasons are obvious. The Mexican Leadership is terrified. It's in genuine danger of losing power. It's citizens are miserable and at constant risk. It's military is under-sized for the conflict and corrupted beyond hope. The enemy has an endless supply of weapons. They have to deter people from joining the Cartels. Ask yourself this. Would you go to war without a weapon? Neither would the Mexican Citizens. However, despite the government's best efforts, there are still plenty of weapons to arm the willing. Except for the good and innocent, of course.

For me, it's gotta be "FUCK YOU, FISH!" Short, simple, but amazingly epic. Another one is episode 0 when he mocks the scientist with "Please proceed to the next area." I thought it was the most hilarious lisp imitation ever.

I suppose we can't expect him to pump them out like an assembly line, but I definitely think they should be long enough to get him out of the current area quickly. Even on FM, that part of the game is boring.

My guess is it'd be more of a "Whoa, this suit has a slot for needles? Either I've got a friend in engineering that I forgot about, or there's a stoner who had input on the design process."

Maxburn...I hate you. So much. In so many ways.

I think that the healing pool will take care of it, provided that Freeman figures out what it does, as opposed to, y'know, not rubbing himself with an unidentified liquid he found on an alien world where the laws of physics that he's an expert on don't apply any longer. But if he does do that, I think he'll get high.

Valve themselves mentioned that the reason the Magnum is so effective against Hunters in Episode 2 is because many players to consider it to be the most powerful weapon in the game (And I agree, when I see one of those fuckers the first thing I do is whip out my Magnum. I don't even use it for anything other than Hunters). That said, it would be VERY disappointing if the Magnum didn't get some heavy use at some point during FM. My guess is that Ross is saving it for a good moment.

The reason he hasn't used it is in case he needs a "drop weapon" in case he shoots a civilian, and also because the Glock damage has been increased to the point where the extra power of the Magnum isn't really necessary against the enemies he is facing right now. In other words, he's not fixing what isn't broken. But Freeman walking around with a .357 would be epic, no doubt about that. I think that sooner or later he'll pick it up again (He'll have lost his weapons after the last episode) and try it out.

Though I seem to be in the minority here, I think that this is by far the funniest episode out of all of them. Two parts made me really laugh my ass off - when he mimics the scientist right after the first jumping obstacle (seriously that was freaking PERFECT, the way he did it) and, of course, the part about the ass wiping (his tone and the pauses made that amazing). Never laughed so hard at any other FM episode.

Alright, I'll be the one to say it. I WANT THE QUOTES BACK!!! /rage

I have to go with the moments in Episodes 6 and 13 where Freeman is freaking out over the aliens and soldiers, respectively. Freeman panicking and cursing and running around screaming is just hilarious to me. As far as non-crazy quotes, I have a few. "Feeling up dead people is how you get germs!" "Okay! Natural Selection! The dumb ones are all dead so the survivors are a little bit smarter!" "Well that was a learning experience, and no one got hurt!" "I wonder if the CEO just rubs himself with money." "GIMME SOME DORITOS!" Seriously I could write these all day, those are just a few lol. Freeman in general is just hilarious and memorable.

Lol, well I can certainly name the ones that I like and the ones that I hate. I like: Unforeseen Consequences, Office Complex, We've Got Hostiles, Questionable Ethics, Surface Tension, Forget About Freeman, Lambda Core, and the Xen levels. I hate: Black Mesa Inbound. It was nice at first, but eventually it gets dull and a waste of 10 minutes. I always have a saved game ready to skip it when I play through HL these days. Anomalous Materials for pretty much the same reason. I also hate Residue Processing and Apprehension. I want to shoot things, not do jumping puzzles. I would have been ok with these chapters if only there were more than a dozen enemies. Levels that are ok: Blast Pit, On a Rail, Power Up, and anything else I may not have mentioned.

Combine Destiny, Rock 24, and Minerva for me. Coastline to Atmosphere was also pretty nice for a while, but there were a few things that took away from it for me (like enemies just coming at you in waves, but without any ammo nearby) and the ending was just...weird (I won't spoil it for those who may want to play it), not to mention glitchy. Nevertheless CTA was a pretty sweet play through, and pretty long too, as it was just as long as Episode One and perhaps longer.

Gotta go with surface tension. Looks like I'm in the minority here, but I love watching the HECU and the Aliens duke it out. Much fun to mop up the survivors! Not to mention you get ready use of the rocket launcher and the Gauss Gun.

Haha true story there! All the good Symphonic Metal bands (With the exceptions of Kamelot, Epica, and Dark Moor of course) come from Scandinavia. Finland holds the high ground though IMO, after all it's the birthplace of Tarja Turunen.

Hmm, never heard of that one. But Ghost Love Score is an absolute epic IMO. Wish I had an Angel, 10th Man Down, She is my Sin, and the Kinslayer are definitely towards the top. Nice to meet another Nightwish fan, lol I don't see many of them around.