XBLA games confirmed to NOT be transferable.

This is getting ugly.

I've moved on to playing games almost exclusively on the PC, so if I pull the trigger on the new Xbox it will be for the multimedia capabilities. Five years ago, I never would have anticipated saying that.

Gotta go with Nixon. Fuckin' EPA!

I would simply put nothing by Obama. 

Redistribution remains core to most of his actions.

Redistribution has been happening for decades and continues under Obama (but not in the direction you fear):

Psychology professor. Teach and conduct research (mostly on autism)

You mean governing by soundbites might not be a viable long-term strategy?  I'm shocked. 

I dunno. Sounds pretty catchy to me:

I'm too lazy to check, but I assume Obama's point is that immediate austerity measures are a myopic response to the debt, and may even exacerbate it in the long run by further weakening the fragile economy. A more prudent solution to the long-term debt problem is to focus in the here and now on economic recovery, which sequestration and other reactionary spending cuts could damage. A bolstered economy would then generate more revenue for addressing the deficit, at which point revamping the entitlement programs and otherwise reducing spending could be accommodated without the same level of economic damage. So yeah, the debt is a serious issue, but focusing exclusively on it in the short-term may be counter-productive.

Oh man, so many. But here is one that just came up on random from my collection:

Whiskeytown - Factory Girl

season 2 aiming for Autumn 2014.

Damn, that's a long way away. We all might be devoured by zombies by then.

They say that MA will lose 60,000 private-sector jobs by the end of this year. As a medical and scientific hub, Boston gets more federal R&D money than just about anybody else does, especially from the NIH and the DoD.

Yep, I'm in this boat. I'm an assistant professor at a public state university and recently had my first large grant reviewed pretty favorably by NIH... not enough to get funded, but it scored well enough to give me a decent shot on the next round (you are allowed one resubmission). With current budgetary constraints, NIH was already funding only about 10-15% of submissions, but with sequestration threatening to cut NIH even deeper, the funding rate will drop even lower. These grants not only support important biomedical and mental health research, but they also fund student training opportunities and research assistant positions that are often the pipeline for developing the next generation of scientists. So there are long-term effects beyond the science that won't get done.

I'll be fine, though, as I'm salaried and don't depend on grant funding to stay employed. This is one of the main reasons my wife and I bailed on our previous positions in med schools, where you're screwed if you don't get grants, and headed back to the arts & sciences. We have to teach now and serve administrative functions so we have less time for research, but it's a small price to pay for getting off the federal teat treadmill. Still, it's disappointing that the grant proposal my research has been building toward for many years may go down in flames because of petty political pissing matches.

I used to run a science museum bookstore and arranged many author appearances by well-known scientists and astronauts. (Sold Stephen Hawking a book once.) The best was Apollo 13 Commander Jim Lovell, who'd written a book called Lost Moon that was being made into a movie starring Tom Hanks -- maybe you've heard of it. I hosted him (Lovell, not Hanks) for a whole day. He did a routine book signing outside the planetarium in the afternoon (and signed the back of a poster with a very kind, personal autograph for me, which is still on my wall today). In the evening he gave a sold-out multimedia presentation in the museum's largest auditorium and then did another book signing.

Like most academic institutions, the museum was heavily silo'd -- that is, divided into departments that competed with one another for turf and dollars and only cooperated under duress. Most employees viewed their main responsibility as deflecting work onto other departments. So arranging all of this was a huge achievement, especially for someone from the low-status museum store -- I got the theater people, the auditorium people, the planetarium people, the parking garage, the education department, and even marketing to work together to bring off a successful event that people remembered fondly for years afterward. I even introduced Lovell myself, which is the only time I've ever spoken before a large crowd (hundreds of people).

In between appearances, after the exhibit halls were closed, Lovell and I walked through the museum's small spaceflight exhibit where we had mockups of Apollo command and landing modules. He told me a bunch of personal anecdotes about the 13 mission that weren't in his book or the movie, growing more and more enthusiastic as he went on, and pointed out the LEM's targeting reticule that he'd used for seat-of-the-pants navigation. Before they cut the LEM loose he snapped that part off and pocketed it; it is displayed on his mantle as his personal souvenir of the mission.

That was the best day of my working life. In fact, I knew that I'd peaked, and I left my bookselling career within a year.

 

[Spoiler]

Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln were Republicans,  so let's not lump everyone into one big ball.  Every party has extremists. 

The fact that they were members of the Republican party is a different consideration.  The political parties are *constantly* adopting different ideological positions to win over voters.

Case in point: In 1936, FDR won over 97% of the vote in Mississippi.. Seems the deep South didn't always despise big government... 

Spoiler for Hiden:

... at least until it wasn't just for white people anymore. 

 

Definitely Lee from TWD.

Runner up is my brother Ralph-Wiggum in XCOM. He is one helluva master sniper. 

[The Walking Dead]

My GOTY hands down is The Walking Dead

Me too.

Runner up is XCOM.

[Spoiler]

Question for those who've completed it and watched through the credits:

Spoiler for Hiden:

So Clem is walking through the fields and sees two figures in the distance. Isn't that Omid and Christa? Why does Clem look terrified at the sight of them? Did I miss something? Just some nebulous setup for the next series?

yeah, that didn't make sense:

Spoiler for Hiden:

for fields like that she'd have to have gone way out of her way-  the beginning showed the train much closer to the city.

needless to say I finished up.  great story (definitely not my GOTY since I doubt I'd ever replay it), the comparison of decisions made at the end were screwed up though as they didn't specify what they were, they all said 'title description' or something like that.

Yeah, mine said that as well. The only flaw in an otherwise great conclusion. I'm guessing that the first decision was

Spoiler for Hiden:

Whether you chose to have your arm cut off

and the last one was

Spoiler for Hiden:

whether you chose to have Clem shoot you or leave you

.

As for the post-credit epilogue:

Spoiler for Hiden:

The fear Clem displayed must mean that the two people in the distance were not Christa and Omid. Perhaps it's a tease for the starting point of the next season of the game?

What is the evidence of the administration knowingly misled the public (i.e., a cover-up) versus simply communicating information that they later learned was incorrect? This whole thing strikes me as a desperate attempt for it to be the former, without much evidence. For the life of me I can't figure out what the administration would gain by lying about the reason for the attack.

So, is Patraeus a cheater, or just someone who engaged in cheating behavior? 

If she's not a racist, there are no racists.

But who gives a fuck... she's just some idiot douchebag. That such people exist in the world should not surprise anyone.

When did facebook status updates from some random moron become newsworthy?

Wow, these demographics are hugely telling.

The Republican Party, as it stands today, cannot win a national vote going forward.  Period.

http://www.cnn.com/election/2012/results/race/president#exit-polls

The Republican party just needs to figure out how to cater to the ever growing Latino population who, really, should be voting Republican but votes Democratic instead.

The problem is, there's a sizable segment of the base that prides itself on it's xenophobia, as seen by the relentless pandering of the candidates to this faction during the primaries. "Self-deportation" was only the start of it, but damning enough to cause Romney big problems once he got to the general. Anyone remember Herman Cain's electric fence? There's been a big degradation in this area for the GOP since W., who was a liberal on immigration in comparison to the status quo.

So that's the pickle for the GOP: it's hard to simultaneously court Hispanics and fans of alligator moats on the border.

I have it on good authority that Obama fathered two African-American children.

I would hope that one consequence of this election would be that the insular bubble of right-wing media got popped a bit, and that there was some accountability for how overwhelmingly incorrect they were in their predictions and outlook. I wish consumers who relied exclusively on it would realize that they had been being fed what they wanted to hear rather than what was really happening, and that math kind of works. The polls were right. No unskewing necessary. Maybe the math is also right on things like climate change. Just maybe.

Today, the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza has moved Ohio from "lean Obama" to "tossup." Yet the current margin in Ohio is Obama +3.0+/-0.5% (n=14 polls, Oct. 13-Nov. 1) and probably insuperable. What could be Cillizza's reason?

He writes: "...the absolute necessity for Romney to win the state if he wants to be president - leads us to move it back to the 'tossup' category." Now here is some problematic reasoning. Romney needs Ohio, so therefore it's a toss-up. Ah yes, the "let's not bicker about who killed who" argument.

Any thoughts? Or should I start a different thread on this one...

That reporter's reasoning might be the stupidest I've seen yet. By this logic, Texas is a toss-up. After all, Romney can't win without it.

If only we had some historical context for the purposes of implementing such tests.

Eco, here you can see the results of all the recent polls in Ohio:

http://polltracker.talkingpointsmemo.com/contests/oh-president-12

Spoiler alert: only one poll out of the last 20 shows Romney with a lead. And yes, it's the Rasmussen one you cited earlier.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade. Romney could squeak this out... but right now, the data show Obama is the favorite.

And yes, Rasmussen was pretty accurate in the national presidential spread in 2008-- though it was not the most accurate as you stated, but the 9th best out of all pollsters:

Rasmussen to be tied for 9th most accurate. Democracy Corps, Foxnews/Opinion Dynamic, CNN/Opinion Research, and Ipsos/McClatchy all predicted an accurate seven point spread.

And more relevant to the current discussion, Rasmussen was actually really bad in the state polls in 2008. It had Ohio tied on election eve, for example. Obama won it by over 4.5 points.

And since 2008, they've pretty much sucked, with an over-estimation of support for Republican candidates.

Colbert has issued a challenge to Trump in response:

   
Nation, I am so moved by this generous offer, that I have an offer of my own, right over here. Mr. Trump, I will write you a check for $1 million from Colbert super PAC - you know I’ve got it - to the charity of your choice, anything, save the children, feed the children, put the children on "Child Apprentice," whatever. One million actual dollars if you will let me dip my balls in your mouth.

    But, but, but, this dipping - and I hope you're listening very carefully, Mr. Trump - this dipping has to be to my, and more important, my balls' satisfaction. One caveat, my balls must be in your mouth no later than 5:00 p.m. Oct. 31. My balls have a thing that night.

    Nothing would make me happier than to write this check. And nothing would make America happier than to have something going into your mouth instead of coming out of it.

I love that man.

I'll definitely get the new King's Bounty game at some point.

I'm no worse, or "selective" than you...

Yes, you are. I'm looking at aggregate sites, which is the exact opposite of being selective.

There is an important difference between letting the data dictate your beliefs and letting your beliefs dictate the data you deem relevant.

Thoughts now?

Looks to me like Romney's momentum continues, and he has drawn even in Ohio.

In addition, his lead amongst independents cannot be denied.

I'm encouraged 😊

You are  bad at  reading polls.

Not to say things can't change, but right now the polling favors Obama. But if you want to cherry-picking polls that reinforce your pre-existing beliefs, knock yourself out.

Obama makes me wish I had a freaking punching bag next to my couch...  I truly cannot comprehend anyone in their right mind supporting him:

As a Republican, I would have thought that you'd also be angered by Romney coming out in favor of affirmative action for women, giving people more free money by expanding pell grants, arguing against tax cuts for "job creators", ensuring that every woman has access to contraception regardless of employer beliefs, favoring a pathway to citizenship for children of illegal immigrants, etc. The dude is morphing into a Democrat before our eyes. I guess Republicans are so intent on beating Obama that it doesn't matter, or they simply believe (with good reason) that he's such a shape-shifter that he doesn't really mean any of these things and will sift back further to the right once elected.

Except his history isn't too far right.  He talked a good game to get the nomination, but Romney's track record in MA is quite moderate.  He's the epitome of a RINO.

Which is exactly why I would expect the right-wing to protest more... and when they don't, it becomes clear that it's not specific policies that motivate their support of Romney but rather the removal of Obama that is their primary focus. This is likely a strong reason why Romney won the nomination in the first place, despite his moderate record. He convinced primary voters that he had the best chance to defeat Obama (which given his competition was undoubtedly true) and so it didn't matter as much that he wasn't a true believer. The only true belief that mattered was that he could win.

Obama makes me wish I had a freaking punching bag next to my couch...  I truly cannot comprehend anyone in their right mind supporting him:

As a Republican, I would have thought that you'd also be angered by Romney coming out in favor of affirmative action for women, giving people more free money by expanding pell grants, arguing against tax cuts for "job creators", ensuring that every woman has access to contraception regardless of employer beliefs, favoring a pathway to citizenship for children of illegal immigrants, etc. The dude is morphing into a Democrat before our eyes. I guess Republicans are so intent on beating Obama that it doesn't matter, or they simply believe (with good reason) that he's such a shape-shifter that he doesn't really mean any of these things and will sift back further to the right once elected.

[Spoiler]

Just finished playing it.

Spoiler for Hiden:

I'm so pissed that Kenny claims that I wasn't there for him when I actually made choices against my own judgment just because I thought Kenny was a decent enough guy and put some trust in him.  So now he'll be over on the boat while I'm trying to rescue Clementine.  I anticipated many of the surprises in this one, but it was still a good story.  I keep yelling at Lee to cut the infected part of his arm off as it seems to work in the comic book (assuming you survive the cut).  Of course, the doctor took off, so I guess there's not really anyone to take care of him if they went that route.

Spoiler for Hiden:

I left to search for Clem with only Kenny and Ben (who I obviously did not let fall to his demise). How does one get the couple Onid and his preggers lady to come with you as well? Do you have to reveal your bite? Because I didn't, and I was surprised to see that only 19% of other players made the same choice. 

[By Dick Morris]

In second term, Obama will allow UN to tax Americans

By Dick Morris

I stopped reading the linked article right there.

People believe some crazy shit. My BIL is posting on facebook DEFINITIVE PROOF that Obama is a Muslim, because apparently some pattern on his wedding ring looks like Arabic. Or something.

That's... insane.

Nice bounce for Romney it appears

Despite the manipulated jobs numbers...

Wait, I thought the polls were the ones that were manipulated? They must have stopped skewing them now to counteract the manipulated jobs numbers. They wouldn't want to be too obvious about it. Glad you're on to them, Eco.

Subjectively, I expect Obama to win the debate. I just vastly prefer his arguments.

Objectively... well, I don't know if it's possible to declare an "objective" winner (sans some egregious error by one of the candidates), but my expectation is that the media will lean skeptically on Obama and be more generous towards Romney. They love a horse-race and they love come-back stories. They gotta pump some more life back into this thing. There are eye-balls to grab.

Not that I think the debate will shift the dynamic much either way.

I'd never claim Romney has it in the bag, as there exist enough people that RELY on handouts to make that nearly impossible

Oh boy.

Agreed. Awesome game (thus far). Can't wait for Episode 3...

There is no Phish cover. The Gourds cover is the only one, and it has been mistakenly been attributed to Phish. The Gourds >>> Phish.