Best posts made by Ganymede

@Thenomain

This is the only time where motorboating a pussy might be acceptable.

@Arkandel said in Searching for Star Wars RPI:

It rubbed me the wrong way the other day when someone, after he asked and looked at one of our group's +sheets, gasped "What?! You took <talent>?!" over on a public channel.

I've never seen that happen on a WoD MU*.

There are some truly "meh" talents in SAGA. Almost all WoD benefits have some moderate usage and applications (except, say, the Autumn Court's C:tL initial Court boon), but the same can't be said about all SAGA Talents. Still, yeah, it's gauche as shit to blurt out the fact that you think someone's super-stupid.

I'd chalk it up to "moron." Or "immature" and "inconsiderate." We'll see if it soon becomes "douchebaggery." There's another SAGA game opening, so options may become available in the future.

@Ataru said in RL Anger:

FFS.... I can't remember the last time someone used the word 'oriental' to describe a person. I think most anyone under an age knows not to use the word. Its used for objects, period. And anyone who does use it incorrectly are easily corrected.

Last week it happened to me because I am Oriental -- I mean, Chinese.

Lemme guess .. you call white people white ALL THE TIME. Well fuck you for being so insensitive with your microaggression.

Microaggressions exist within a context of a power binary, in which the dominant side is the aggressor.

People need to fucking chill out and KNOW IN CONTEXT when a term being used to describe them is being used as an insult or not.

Others don't have the moral or actual authority to explain to me what I should and should not be insulted by.

@Kanye-Qwest said in Searching for Star Wars RPI:

If there are powers/merits/skills whatever that are actually useless and will actively KEEP players from being included in RP...why are they available?

Because they aren't totally and completely useless, or are prerequisites to other, better powers.

Take Tech Specialist as a Feat. Kind of okay. You need it for Superior Tech to upgrade shit hardcore. Or Starship Designer, which allows you to modify your ships.

I could have taken more useful feats, but I wanted to have the ability to upgrade my YT-1300. So, you give a little. Such is the nature of the SAGA edition -- and any other game built off of D&D.

Power attack? Kind of blows. Cleave? Much better.

@Ataru said in RL Anger:

You mean the term Oriental? When did I say this wasn't an offensive term?

You didn't. But you did say that people need to "fucking chill out and know in context when a term is being used to describe them is being used as an insult or not." And I said, in response, that other people don't get to tell me when something is or is not an insult. That means, to me, that I have the luxury (privilege?) of deeming whether the use of "oriental" in any context is insulting or not.

If you mean Asian ... that's not an antiquarian term (as in not out of date), nor has a history of being used in a derogatory manner and refers to region not ethnicity.

I meant neither. I meant, very specifically, that "whether I should or should be offended by an antiquated term leveled against me" is up to me. This is not always by choice -- sometimes, it occurs via visceral, unconscious feeling -- but it does happen, and I have to admit that it happens to me (rarely).

If you, as an Asian, want to be offended by it. Okay. Tell me what you want to be called, if anything. I won't call you Asian, but you're not going to convince me that it is a derogatory term period.

I'm actually not offended by it, but I know some people that are, genuinely. They are for very specific reasons, which are unique to them (or their small section of the population). The one thing I will say about the word, including "oriental," is something you've alluded to but haven't expressly stated: that whether something is or is not derogatory is both situational and experiential. Your Asian friends may not care if you use it, but some of my friends do, and, again, it is due to their experiences.

That's often my objection to the overuse of the term "microaggression," the white-washing of academia, and the problem with immature kids getting into academia. You and I can sit around and talk about the words "nigger" and "kyke" and "homo," and how these terms can hurt people, in a way that is neither offensive or derogatory to either one of us. That's what academia is about, and why people consciously or unconsciously give a pass when such terms are raised in the context of an academic discussion.

But students these days are, in a way, so fucking self-absorbed at times that they do not understand that they are walking into a literal battleground of ideas where they are going to be subjected to successively-more vicious traumas as they go along. This is, in a way, how education works: learning about the progressively smaller lies in chemistry is no less traumatic, objectively, than being at a lecture where Prof. Said is repeatedly using the word "oriental" when he's talking about his "orientalism" theories.

@Lithium said in Searching for Star Wars RPI:

I've run into a couple of systems that I really liked until they dropped something like, drawing cards out of the deck, onto the system

See, I like Castle Falkenstein's deck-o-cards system.

The problem with Fantasy Flight Games' engine is as @Misadventure describes. Plus, the dice are not ordinary, which may be problematic for coders.

So, as much as I despise d20s, I'll deal with the crunchiness of the SAGA edition.

@Paris said in RL Anger:

While she was abusing the policy, the law is clear that he can't ask her that, because of repeated violations of the ADA by private and public property owners. You can't decide whether it's a service dog.

I do not believe this is an accurate statement of the law. Federal regulations and DOJ publications have convinced courts generally that the ADA prohibits public accommodations from requiring proof that an animal is a service animal, but I have found nothing in the ADA or related federal regulations (e.g., 28 CFR s. 36.104 and 36.302(c)) that says that a public accommodation cannot inquire as to whether an animal companion is a service animal.

You are correct to point out that "stress dogs" can qualify as service animals, provided they have some specialized training. (E.g., Rose v. Springfield-Greene County Health Dep't, 668 F. Supp. 2d 1206 (W.D. Mo. 2009)).

Frankly, the only time I'd see a dog as being an issue in a public accommodation is a restaurant, hospital, or any other establishment that may be dinged for health code violations.

@Lisse24 said in Good writin'.:

Well then, now I know why I'm not popular and have no following.

I like you.

@Auspice

It had nothing to do with selling a giant bronze idol that investors worship to the investors. Not at all.

@Artemis said in Searching for Star Wars RPI:

I feel like this isn't fair to a bunch of the new MUs coming out now or recently as a result of Ares.

I can only speak to, and only speak from, my experience. I know that there are a lot of great new games coming out right now, but I also know that there have been a lot of older games that got taken over by shitty people.

I certainly hope these new games do well. They look like they have fun themes and settings!

@dontpanda said in RL Anger:

If Sharon refused to sell clothes to men (contra "I sell women's clothing"), would she be in violation of human rights laws?

Legally, yes. Be careful when you use the term "human rights laws," however. The laws at issue are anti-discrimination public accommodation laws. Very, very different.

If Amir refuses to bake a cake for a bar mitzvah, is that a violation?

It depends because religion is a thorny thing. Most anti-discrimination laws provide an exception for sincerely-held religious beliefs. There may be a genuine religious belief not to bake a cake for a bar mitzvah; I can't say I know Amir's religion well-enough to comment.

What I can say is that Colorado's state laws, under which Mullins v. Masterpiece Cakeshop was decided, do not have such an exception. So, no, you cannot refuse to bake a wedding cake because the couple is gay, if you conduct business in Colorado. And especially in light of the Obergefell v. Hodges decision.

@krmbm said in Hello MSBites! Grade your administrators.:

Sorry if you don't care to be lumped in with us plebs, but - like it or not - we are your catty, cliquish people. There may be a few good apples in the barrel, but numbers don't lie.

Man, karmabum, you've gotten cynical over the years.

I think if you actually look at the Hog Pit recently, there's only a select few that are sniping at each other harshly, but even they pale in comparison to the eloquence of our dear brother, HelloRaptor.

Mostly, it's about inappropriate GIFs that we snicker at childishly, and petty insults that we think are funny. All of that catty acrimony pales in comparison to some of the shit I see at the gay club where I'm at now.

@Coin said in RL things I love:

So you're saying you spend your mornings and evenings licking yourself.

And this is why I'm only on during business hours EST.

You're welcome.

@lithium said in Hello MSBites! Grade your administrators.:

I actually think the lack of downvotes has increased the amounts of dog piles and negativity.

This is entirely possible.

On the other end, though, I think people wanted downvotes turned off because it created the perception of silent witch-hunting. Some people just didn't like others, and allegedly used the downvote function just to point that out, without discussion or rhyme or reason.

It's not pleasant to see your "popularity" decrease with each post you make, just because a cadre of folks are on a campaign to pull down the rating. Even if you stay out of the Hog Pit. Even if you say nothing but positive things. That, to me, fits in the definition of bullying.

I realize that we can't stop bullying altogether or entirely, even if we were to shit-can dogpiling here entirely, and enact harsh penalties for it. I think we can try harder, though, to make this place just a little bit safer for everyone to put up their thoughts and (dare I say it?) feelings without a squad of people boot-heeling them in the virtual sidewalk.

@Coin said in RL Anger:

I'm pretty sure @Catsmeow was referring to who physically enforces it.

Unless issued in a pending criminal case, all restraining orders, either temporary or interlocutory, are issued in the context of a civil action, and such restraining orders are intended to be compensatory rather than punitive.

In this case, the order would not say "the police must leave you alone"; rather, it would probably say "the police shall not make any further attempts to prevent you from doing X." Should the police thereafter cite you or bar you from doing X, you can bring that incident to the Court, which, upon finding contempt, could issue compensatory and punitive damages for violation of the court order.

So, you call your lawyer, your lawyer files a motion for contempt, and you get damages that way.

You police the police.

@faraday said in Hello MSBites! Grade your administrators.:

But I think it's a tradeoff. No downvotes = no serial downvoting bullying. BUT with downvotes there's a way to register disagreement with a post without 10 people feeling the need to post saying: "Dude, you're an idiot".

@lithium said in Hello MSBites! Grade your administrators.:

And I am of the opinion that downvotes would do the same but against negative posts.
Which would we rather see reduced here? Me too support posts, or me too negative posts?

I'm quoting both because I want to respond to both at the same time.

I agree, Lithium, that putting downvotes back on probably would reduce the "me too" negative posts. But upvotes, in a way, reduces the same; if someone else voices their disagreement, and you support that disagreement, you could always upvote the dissenter. That is a way to register your agreement with that position -- however negative or ugly -- without spitting out a "me too" negative post.

Not that people will think that way if they are truly in the mood to grind someone down, though, right? I think that if people want to say something demeaning, pejorative, or nasty, they are going to go out and say it. And if people want to passive-aggressively do the same, they can hit that downvote button and thereby hurt someone, especially if they know that person is sensitive to their own reputation. We took out the downvote, I think, to address the latter problem, and the rest I think is a matter for the mods to handle.

It's a good suggestion, though. I also like the idea, if possible, of having different kinds of "likes," like what surreality's talking about.

@HelloProject

Find something else that can pay the big bucks, or learn to get motivated.

@faraday said in Hello MSBites! Grade your administrators.:

OK but the way it came across was Ark saying basically "This is what we are considering doing..." which has a very strong implication that you moderators had already discussed this amongst yourselves and come up with a joint solution. So to hear you and Auspice then saying completely different things is honestly a bit baffling.

I understand.

So, I'll say it for myself: I'm speaking from my mind right now. If I'm speaking as part of the group, I'll make that clearer.

Lots of thoughts here. I think we're going to meet and confer soon enough.

@Lisse24 said in Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff:

Going to add to this because I have PCOS and I know a few others here have mentioned the same thing. Research has tied weight-lifting to positive responses in PCOS patients, while cardio did not. If I'm remembering the studies correctly, weight lifting affects the insulin response in insulin resistant patients through some mechanism that is odd because your endocrine system is complicated, yo.

I think the research is inconclusive regarding the cardio v. strength training debate, as it applies to PCOS.

My anecdotal experience (I don't have PCOS) suggests that both are a good idea. Cardio, regardless of whether it will help you actually lose weight, does benefit your cardio-vascular system, allowing you to train for longer. Strength training is always beneficial, for the reasons mentioned.

My experience in strength training (for most of my adult life) tells me that low-rep / high-weight is fine if you're a practiced lifter, but not safe if you're just starting out. I'd start with circuit training, then mix that with bodyweight training, before hitting the bars and dumbs hard. Form is everything, and the best way to learn form is with a machine, and then practice it with high-rep / low-weight exercises.

@krmbm said in Hello MSBites! Grade your administrators.:

Why is this so hard?

Because shit in the Hog Pit overflows into the rest of the board.