In other news...

[Ranxerox]

12 hours ago, Michael Hopcroft said:

Maybe that means the next game in the series will be an Xbox exclusive.

 

The article that I read indicated that Bethesda would be making games for XBox and PC, with the decision on whether to make versions for other game consoles being made on a case by case basis.

[pinecone]

I heard that Microsoft purchased Bethesda...?

[archer]

Vatican comes out against young Asians.

 

https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2020/09/vatican-says-those-who-choose-euthanasia-cannot-receive-sacraments/

[Lord Liaden]

I do wish religious authorities/officials would stop raising the, "God decides the moment of death" argument. Our life-support technology took that out of the equation long ago.

 

Equating euthanasia with slavery also strikes me as a logical fallacy. Requesting to be made a slave means surrendering all control of one's life. Requesting help in dying means assisting in the ultimate expression of self-determination.

 

And the word "euthanasia" is itself problematic, since the agreement of the subject to end their life is not an inherent part of its definition. In Canada we've adopted the acronym, MAID, for "medical assistance in dying," and have pretty stiff definitions of the circumstances under which it's allowed.

[archer]

21 hours ago, Old Man said:

 

This is no longer sufficient.  There is already too much carbon in the atmosphere.  If it is not actively removed, all glaciers and ice caps will melt.  Greenland alone will be sufficient to raise sea levels by 24 feet.  Current projections are for 4 feet of sea level rise by 2100, and I expect this estimate to be too conservative, like all other climate projections so far. 

 

I mean, we do need to stop pumping carbon out of the ground and burning it.  Badly.  It's just that I don't think people realize how inexorable and dire the situation is.

 

China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, announced Tuesday it would seek to reach carbon neutrality by 2060...

 

China had previously only committed to having its emissions peak by 2030 under the accord. Now, in addition to its 2060 goal, Xi said the nation would try to hit peak emissions before the 2030 deadline.

 

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/517636-china-pledges-to-become-carbon-neutral-by-2060

[Ranxerox]

2 hours ago, pinecone said:

I heard that Microsoft purchased Bethesda...?

 

They did.  That is why all the future games are going to made for XBox and PC.

[Ternaugh]

1 minute ago, Ranxerox said:

 

They did.  That is why all the future games are going to made for XBox and PC.

 

And the new releases should also be available on XBox Game Pass for both platforms.

[Starlord]

1 hour ago, Lord Liaden said:

I do wish religious authorities/officials would stop raising the, "God decides the moment of death" argument. Our life-support technology took that out of the equation long ago.

 

Equating euthanasia with slavery also strikes me as a logical fallacy. Requesting to be made a slave means surrendering all control of one's life. Requesting help in dying means assisting in the ultimate expression of self-determination.

 

And the word "euthanasia" is itself problematic, since the agreement of the subject to end their life is not an inherent part of its definition. In Canada we've adopted the acronym, MAID, for "medical assistance in dying," and have pretty stiff definitions of the circumstances under which it's allowed.

 

I've always had more problems with, among other things, 'if God knows everything, doesn't he know before you were even created that you're going to get a debilitating disease and get yourself euthanized because of it?  He knew you never had a chance, just like he knew that guy over there in the corner was never going to believe in him.'

[Lord Liaden]

I won't pretend to aspire to the mental gymnastics theologians have attempted for millennia to try to reconcile the paradox of predetermination versus free will.

 

Besides, this is a forum for action/adventure RPG lovers. If it can't be solved by punching it, stabbing it, or shooting it, it's not a priority.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Come on, I want to Attack the Darkness!

 

These can mutate in a hurry, though. On the Geek, as starter topic on whether there was an afterlife/additional lives has gone through several mutations and is now about the nature of debate class and the perils of what it brings to the psychological table to be judged on your skill at argument as opposed to the validity of your point -- especially if the point is something vile like advocating for racism.

[unclevlad]

7 hours ago, Lord Liaden said:

I do wish religious authorities/officials would stop raising the, "God decides the moment of death" argument. Our life-support technology took that out of the equation long ago.

 

Equating euthanasia with slavery also strikes me as a logical fallacy. Requesting to be made a slave means surrendering all control of one's life. Requesting help in dying means assisting in the ultimate expression of self-determination.

 

And the word "euthanasia" is itself problematic, since the agreement of the subject to end their life is not an inherent part of its definition. In Canada we've adopted the acronym, MAID, for "medical assistance in dying," and have pretty stiff definitions of the circumstances under which it's allowed.

 

Back in HS, one of our dogs started developing seizures.  Things were OK for a while, but spiraled out of control in extremely short order.  She had to be...yes, euthanized.

 

The term for killing a horse after a broken leg (the legs are critical to a horse's circulation, I understand, so it's a much more serious injury than for most animals) is...euthanize.

So, no, consent of the subject is definitely not implicit in the term.

 

But hey, is it all that surprising?  It is conservative as heck;  it's cruel and unsympathetic.  That's ok with me, in that I think it will do nothing but lead more people to leave the Church.  It's not that I have objections to religion per se...but the institutions are far more problematic.

[Pariah]

I hadn't heard about this. I spent a lot of time reading his books back in the day. They gave me a lot to think about. RIP, Mr. Goodkind.

 

Fantasy and The Sword of Truth Author Terry Goodkind Has Died

[Starlord]

I really enjoyed the first few Sword of Truth books then the series got progressively more repetitive and pedantic.  RIP.

[DShomshak]

If anyone's interested, Scientific American has published articles on carbon removal techniques, theough the month and year numbers aren't in my sieve-like memory. You can probably search their web site.

 

IIRC, no single method of carbon removal and sequestration can possibly be scaled up to do the job at a necessary speed and reasonable cost. (The more people are willing to spend, the faster it goes, of course, but even given the substantial uncertainties of such estimates there are points at which even the greatest optimist must say, "No, we just can't do that.") Ergo, we must use multiple methods.

 

And last week or so, I think it was on an episode of Marketplace, it was claimed that in the previous five years climate-related disasters -- wildfires, hurricanes, floods, etc -- had cost the US $500 BILLION. The West Coast wildfires have already cost the country at least $10 billion. So for anyone who balks at the cost of decarbonizing, the cost of doing nothing has become large and immediate as well.

 

As in any case when one finds oneself in a deep hole, though, the first and most vital step is to stop digging.

 

Dean Shomshak

[Michael Hopcroft]

2 hours ago, DShomshak said:

As in any case when one finds oneself in a deep hole, though, the first and most vital step is to stop digging.

Little Donnie should not play around with backhoes.

[pinecone]

On 9/22/2020 at 4:06 PM, Lord Liaden said:

I won't pretend to aspire to the mental gymnastics theologians have attempted for millennia to try to reconcile the paradox of predetermination versus free will.

 

Besides, this is a forum for action/adventure RPG lovers. If it can't be solved by punching it, stabbing it, or shooting it, it's not a priority.

Sadly that Is how a lot of theology has been solved in history.......(Shooting, stabbing, etc...)

[pinecone]

2 hours ago, DShomshak said:

If anyone's interested, Scientific American has published articles on carbon removal techniques, theough the month and year numbers aren't in my sieve-like memory. You can probably search their web site.

 

IIRC, no single method of carbon removal and sequestration can possibly be scaled up to do the job at a necessary speed and reasonable cost. (The more people are willing to spend, the faster it goes, of course, but even given the substantial uncertainties of such estimates there are points at which even the greatest optimist must say, "No, we just can't do that.") Ergo, we must use multiple methods.

 

And last week or so, I think it was on an episode of Marketplace, it was claimed that in the previous five years climate-related disasters -- wildfires, hurricanes, floods, etc -- had cost the US $500 BILLION. The West Coast wildfires have already cost the country at least $10 billion. So for anyone who balks at the cost of decarbonizing, the cost of doing nothing has become large and immediate as well.

 

As in any case when one finds oneself in a deep hole, though, the first and most vital step is to stop digging.

 

Dean Shomshak

Well, to a large degree it is a political problem, more than an engineering one. Even as a teen I thought of building Nuclear plants just to run carbon scrubbers, and fixers...but building Nukes to save the environment? Madness!! Planting trees is at least a start, and a macro=project like green sahara could do human good, and help the environment. Time will tell.

[death tribble]

Eat a bag of liquorice a day and die. Only in America

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-54269144

[Pariah]

If you ever see me consuming black licorice, you may be certain that I have been abducted and replaced by an android, clone, or shape-shifting alien. Call Defender at once.

 

(Lady P loves the stuff, though.)

[death tribble]

On 9/22/2020 at 7:44 PM, pinecone said:

I heard that Microsoft purchased Bethesda...?

Why does Microsoft want to but a naval hospital ?

[Bazza]

On 9/23/2020 at 8:36 AM, Lord Liaden said:

I won't pretend to aspire to the mental gymnastics theologians have attempted for millennia to try to reconcile the paradox of predetermination versus free will.

 

 

 

Philosophy answered this over two thousand years ago, and again 800 years ago. I'm more familiar with the answer from 800 years ago.  

[Lord Liaden]

I'll take either one.

[Bazza]

Aristotle’s ethics & psychology. The other I’m more familiar with is Scholastic philosophy of nature. 

[Bazza]

On 9/23/2020 at 6:08 AM, Lord Liaden said:

I do wish religious authorities/officials would stop raising the, "God decides the moment of death" argument. Our life-support technology took that out of the equation long ago.

 

 

This has given me a bit to think about. First impression is that it is not an either/or situation and that religious people can find it compatible. Something to ponder for the day. 

[Duke Bushido]

On 9/22/2020 at 4:38 PM, Lord Liaden said:

I do wish religious authorities/officials would stop raising the, "God decides the moment of death" argument. Our life-support technology took that out of the equation long ago.

 

I'm not going to wade in deeply on this, because, while I really love you guys, I don't see any good coming from it.

 

However, I feel I need to clarify something here:

 

Anyone who tells you the argument against euthanasia is "God decides the moment of death" is either trying to save either you or himself from a prolonged conversation (as I am trying to do), or really has no clue and is parroting something he heard that sounded convincing enough to him.

 

Again, without going really deeply into this (as I get the general impression that no one here actually cares), the reason actual learned Christians are against suicide is far more simple than outsiders want it to be:

 

Your life is not your own.  You don't destroy that which isn't yours.

 

Versus animals?  Man was given dominion over animals; he may make that judgement.  Versus himself?  His life is not his own.  He is free to use it, of course, but not to selfish ends.

 

There are no mental gymnastics there.

 

 

Crud!

 

before someone gets to reading me then thousand things some nutjob has done in the name of Christianity, let me both emphasis _"learned"_, as in "I didn't just listen to someone else who said he was Christian," and add "practicing."  There are too many people who call themselves religious because they think they are supposed to be as opposed to actually having studied and pulled their own conclusions.

 

And-- before anyone adds "people who were just brought up to it," let me note that I was raised by staunch atheists.  If you're wondering, they still are.