News that makes us laugh, cry, or both

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Fri May 07, 2010 4:45 am

K wrote:
FrankTrollman wrote:
CatharzGodfoot wrote: Well, in the end BP is going to pay for their mess, right? It's not like we're going to have to Superfund it. Right?
Well, BP says that they will pay all "lawful" damage claims. Which as I understand it means that they will wait for people to fucking sue them and then pay whatever they are forced at gun point to pay by the courts of the United States after they are dragged kicking and screaming through the halls of justice.

-Username17
After ten years of litigation. Don't forget that part.

They apparently forced traumatized workers under armed guard to sign waivers before releasing them. No off to a great start...

Gelare · Post by **Gelare** » Fri May 07, 2010 5:03 am

CatharzGodfoot wrote:They apparently forced traumatized workers under armed guard to sign waivers before releasing them. No off to a great start...

You can rest easy knowing that those waivers would never, ever hold up in court. They've got all the best parts of undue influence and being form documents. Whoever came up with that plan can use those waivers to wipe their ass, because they're not good for anything else.

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Fri May 07, 2010 10:26 am

It doesn't matter that they wouldn't hold up to scrutiny; not even the vatican has enough money to match them in court.

-Crissa

mean_liar · Post by **mean_liar** » Fri May 07, 2010 12:14 pm

Here, have a good downer to start your day.

http://www.chinasmack.com/2010/pictures ... jiang.html

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Fri May 07, 2010 3:35 pm

Gelare wrote:
CatharzGodfoot wrote:They apparently forced traumatized workers under armed guard to sign waivers before releasing them. No off to a great start...
You can rest easy knowing that those waivers would never, ever hold up in court. They've got all the best parts of undue influence and being form documents. Whoever came up with that plan can use those waivers to wipe their ass, because they're not good for anything else.

Gelare: the problem isn't that they wouldn't hold up in court. It is, one, that this was actually done and, two, many workers aren't going to have the means or the wherewithal to fight these waivers. it takes resources to go to court.

Gelare · Post by **Gelare** » Fri May 07, 2010 6:28 pm

Cynic wrote:Gelare: the problem isn't that they wouldn't hold up in court. It is, one, that this was actually done and, two, many workers aren't going to have the means or the wherewithal to fight these waivers. it takes resources to go to court.

You're right, of course; it boggles my mind that it can take years or decades for cases to go through the legal system. And that's with more than 90% of cases getting settled or resolved out of court. I do wonder how that can be fixed.

Neeeek · Post by **Neeeek** » Sat May 08, 2010 1:53 am

K wrote:
FrankTrollman wrote:
CatharzGodfoot wrote: Well, in the end BP is going to pay for their mess, right? It's not like we're going to have to Superfund it. Right?
Well, BP says that they will pay all "lawful" damage claims. Which as I understand it means that they will wait for people to fucking sue them and then pay whatever they are forced at gun point to pay by the courts of the United States after they are dragged kicking and screaming through the halls of justice.

-Username17
After ten years of litigation. Don't forget that part.

Nah. This won't be in litigation for 10 years. Probably more like 5, 7 tops.

The appeals, on the other hand, will probably exceed 15 years.

Surgo · Post by **Surgo** » Sun May 09, 2010 2:17 am

Lifting luggage the new euphemism for gay sex.

Kaelik · Post by **Kaelik** » Sun May 09, 2010 2:50 am

Surgo wrote:Lifting luggage the new euphemism for gay sex.

Epically ninjaed 3/4ths of the way down page 108 by me linking to Urban Dictionary.

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Sun May 09, 2010 3:44 am

Kaelik wrote:
Surgo wrote:Lifting luggage the new euphemism for gay sex.
Epically ninjaed 3/4ths of the way down page 108 by me linking to Urban Dictionary.

I've heard that 'tooting your own horn' can be a euphemism too.

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Sun May 09, 2010 6:14 am

Yeah, that Onion piece from 12 years ago just gets less out-there all the time.

-Username17

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Tue May 11, 2010 6:54 am

Ooo, a hopeful ruling in federal court, that human genes are information, not intellectual property.

This could allow competitive study of genetics, but it will chill investment. Over all, it's a win, here's finger crossed the ruling sticks.

-Crissa

Neeeek · Post by **Neeeek** » Tue May 11, 2010 7:00 am

Crissa wrote:Ooo, a hopeful ruling in federal court, that human genes are information, not intellectual property.

This could allow competitive study of genetics, but it will chill investment. Over all, it's a win, here's finger crossed the ruling sticks.

-Crissa

Considering it's already well-established law that you don't own your own genetic code, no matter how unique it happens to be, this shouldn't be a hard case.

Arijkos · Post by **Arijkos** » Tue May 11, 2010 9:15 am

Thread on ENWorld. Perhaps a relief?

Looks like work on D&D Essentials is done, no?

Arijkos · Post by **Arijkos** » Tue May 11, 2010 9:16 am

EDIT: Sry, doublepost.

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Tue May 11, 2010 9:36 am

What's with the Bruce Cordell worship?

-Crissa

Meikle641 · Post by **Meikle641** » Tue May 11, 2010 9:45 am

Hell yeah I'd sign up for this. Closest I'd ever get to being an astronaut.

More on the Mars experiments.

Internet running out of addresses with IPv4

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Tue May 11, 2010 9:58 am

Arijkos wrote:Thread on ENWorld. Perhaps a relief? Looks like work on D&D Essentials is done, no?

No. Work on the Players Essentials classes began last month and is supposed to last for the next couple of months, at least according to Greg Bilsland explaining why he wouldn't have time for other things on Twitter.

Crissa wrote:What's with the Bruce Cordell worship?

No idea. Seriously, I can't recall him being involved in any sourcebook that was even in the upper 50th percentile of books for its period. The Sunless Citadel was a pretty good adventure, he did that. But seriously he polished such turds as the ELH and Psionic Handbook.

I seriously can't even imagine people being his fans for his 4th edition work. Open Grave? Draconomicon I: Chromatic Dragons? 4SRSLY?

-Username17

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Tue May 11, 2010 4:27 pm

Bruce Cordell was also responsible for the fiasco that was 4E Forgotten Realms, which pretty much killed the setting off for this edition.

I'm amazed at how badly they managed to fuck it up. In 3E they published Forgotten Realms books out the ass. There were seriously 8 WotC-sponsored FR sourcebooks, which made it a cash-cow setting.

While him still getting work after the ELH and XPH is stupid, it's still understandable because the fanbois still liked that stuff. But no one likes 4E Forgotten Realms and he managed to kill off a product line to boot. Why does this fucker still have a job?

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Tue May 11, 2010 5:32 pm

Even more loss: Me and several other people just around here are disliking the latest Drizzt books. Salvatore is about the best Forgotten Realms writer (what's that say about the rest). If people won't even bother to keep up with his stuff, the Forgotten Realms novels are screwed.

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Tue May 11, 2010 6:32 pm

Bruce Cordell was also responsible for the Class Acts that was so bad that Andy Collins had to apologize for it, too.

While his article honestly wasn't that bad, what he wrote showed a clear misunderstanding of 4E design principles. For example, he wrote a utility power that dealt damage (a huge no-no for some reason), a utility power that granted a basic attack, and he wrote another 7th-level encounter attack power that allowed two attacks on an immediate interrupt.

The 4E design principles are stupid but him not understanding that makes me extremely skeptical of his ability to write anything. ... if it weren't for his earlier fuckups on top of that, that is.

erik · Post by **erik** » Tue May 11, 2010 7:22 pm

Meikle641 wrote: Hell yeah I'd sign up for this. Closest I'd ever get to being an astronaut.

More on the Mars experiments.

Back when I was single, I would have happily done that. Hell, I could've done it solitary. I like being around people, but I do not require it. That's changed now that I'm married with kid(s) though. That would make me very unhappy.

I would hate being weightless for any lengthy duration though. I'd hope that if we do send people to mars then we would use a rotating habitation ring to give some sensation of gravity. I don't think we have the resolve to make such crafts yet though.

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Tue May 11, 2010 7:28 pm

Acceleration is acceleration. As soon as we get those controlled fusion reactions going, we can just accelerate the ship at 9.8 m/s^2. Then you'd have full Earth gravity without spinning shit. Down would simply be the back of the ship. Which coincidentally would have been down on Earth too (since it would have blasted off straight up and down).

-Username17

erik · Post by **erik** » Tue May 11, 2010 7:34 pm

FrankTrollman wrote:Acceleration is acceleration. As soon as we get those controlled fusion reactions going, we can just accelerate the ship at 9.8 m/s^2. Then you'd have full Earth gravity without spinning shit. Down would simply be the back of the ship. Which coincidentally would have been down on Earth too (since it would have blasted off straight up and down).

-Username17

That would be spiffy too. But again, something that we don't quite have on the table yet =-(

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Tue May 11, 2010 9:59 pm

Republicans go off the deep end again.

*sigh*

-Crissa

The Gaming Den

News that makes us laugh, cry, or both

Andy Collins not with WotC anymore?

Andy Collins not with WotC anymore?

Re: Andy Collins not with WotC anymore?