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[Veras]

I don't think this really fits anywhere else, and I don't think it warrants its own thread, but I want to bitch about it, so here it is.  I'm teaching a Grade 6 Western Civilization class.  The textbook includes this line when talking about colonization and the Colombian Exchange.

The Age of Exploration changed both Europe and the lands it colonized.  Colonized lands did benefit from these changes.  However, in general, Europe gained the most.  During this time, goods, plants, animals, and even diseases were exchanged between Europe and the Americas.

So the lands benefited from the decimation of a group of people and the near total destruction of their culture?

[Random Gal]

I suppose getting horses could count as a benefit, but that's about the only good thing to come out of it for the Native Americans.

[chitoryu12]

The colonized lands also gained new technologies, though everyone just remembers guns, germs, and steel.

The problem with the colonization wasn't the transfer of culture, but the tendency for the colonists to shoot and stab everything in their path and treat the natives no better than foreign invaders when they were done.

[Witchyjoshy]

So I go to the video games section of memebase every day now and then and I've noticed for a long time that people have been complaining about X-Box One's resolution and about how the PS4 is awesome (and then the "pc master race" idjits pretending they're above the squabbling console wars when, really, they're right there doing the same stupid shit)

PS4 is out before the X-Box One and, in its hurry to get out the gate, tripped and got a concussion.

And the PC version of Call of Duty: Ghosts?  Well... aside from the common problems with Call of Duty (killing you if you try to step outside of the linear path, invisible walls, etc. etc.) there's also the fact that, apparently, on the lowest settings, it's worse looking than Skyrim on the lowest settings.  To add insult to injury?  A lot of the effects look like they belong in Doom.  The original one.  We're talking 2D fires that are obviously 2D sprites.

Then again, Call of Duty Ghosts got a 3.0 rating from gamers on this one site (the average of 127 reviews) so it probably has problems even with the graphics turned up.

Why am I talking about this?

'CAUSE THIS IS THRILLER

THRILLER NIIIIIGHT

[Ghoti]

I love watching the pointless hate war still raging between the Halo fanboys and CoD fanboys. It's like watching a dog chase his tail: you know it's not going anywhere, but it's almost impossible to stop laughing.

[SpaceProg]

I just want to play games I've bought before without having to buy them again.  If there's backwards compatibility, I'm a happy gamer.  If not... They lose me for this generation too.

[chitoryu12]

So I go to the video games section of memebase every day now and then and I've noticed for a long time that people have been complaining about X-Box One's resolution and about how the PS4 is awesome (and then the "pc master race" idjits pretending they're above the squabbling console wars when, really, they're right there doing the same stupid shit)

PS4 is out before the X-Box One and, in its hurry to get out the gate, tripped and got a concussion.

And the PC version of Call of Duty: Ghosts?  Well... aside from the common problems with Call of Duty (killing you if you try to step outside of the linear path, invisible walls, etc. etc.) there's also the fact that, apparently, on the lowest settings, it's worse looking than Skyrim on the lowest settings.  To add insult to injury?  A lot of the effects look like they belong in Doom.  The original one.  We're talking 2D fires that are obviously 2D sprites.

Then again, Call of Duty Ghosts got a 3.0 rating from gamers on this one site (the average of 127 reviews) so it probably has problems even with the graphics turned up.

Why am I talking about this?

'CAUSE THIS IS THRILLER

THRILLER NIIIIIGHT

Well, it's barely any different from previous games; despite ostensibly receiving a setting update through the "post-apocalyptic" change, it's actually got essentially zero post-apocalyptic content (the United States is simply dropped down to an exceedingly advanced third-world country, rather than being even close to wiped off the map) and the gameplay is mostly identical apart from two chapters taking place in space. It's nothing more than Modern Warfare 3 with desaturated graphics, a lower frame rate, and a higher emphasis on top-of-the-line tech and guns.

Also, the PC port is a disaster in more than just graphics: it uses 6 gigs of RAM even though gamers looking at it found that it actually only requires 2 or 3, it suffers bad frame rate drop, and it has an unusually narrow field of view with no possibility of changing it. To make matters worse, a fan made a fix for the field of view.....and Activision had it removed on copyright grounds.

[Shane for Wax]

"Justin Bieber has outraged fans in Argentina by kicking their national flag while on stage.

Videos from a Buenos Aires concert show fans throwing two Argentine flags onto the stage, both of which land near the singer’s feet.

Most musicians on world tours would be expected to hold up the flags as a mark of respect to their fans.

However, the footage shows Bieber trying to remove them from the stage by first kicking at them on the floor with his shoes.

The pop star then uses his microphone stand to sweep them off stage, one after the other, before jumping in the air and smiling.

Insulting Argentina’s flag is a crime punishable in the country by up to four years in prison."

Can he go to jail now and leave the public eye forever?

[Random Gal]

"Justin Bieber has outraged fans in Argentina by kicking their national flag while on stage.

Videos from a Buenos Aires concert show fans throwing two Argentine flags onto the stage, both of which land near the singer’s feet.

Most musicians on world tours would be expected to hold up the flags as a mark of respect to their fans.

However, the footage shows Bieber trying to remove them from the stage by first kicking at them on the floor with his shoes.

The pop star then uses his microphone stand to sweep them off stage, one after the other, before jumping in the air and smiling.

Insulting Argentina’s flag is a crime punishable in the country by up to four years in prison."

Can he go to jail now and leave the public eye forever?

Please, somebody make this happen.

[QueenofHearts]

I'd like to see someone arrest the Biebs. He'd probably knock them out and pee on them. That kid is a 21st century American badass.

[Flying Mint Bunny!]

Justin Bieber really has become an arsehole.

Bit off topic, but I think it's a bit unfair that Miley Cyrus receives the same sort of hate level as Justin Bieber, when she (as far as I know) hasn't done anything malicious in the same way that he has.

[Witchyjoshy]

Yeah I don't get it.  Yeah, her music video's a little.... off-putting, but seriously, she's been repressed by Disney for years to fit their clean, wholesome, family-friendly image... never allowed to express herself up until that point.

[Sigmaleph]

"Justin Bieber has outraged fans in Argentina by kicking their national flag while on stage.

Videos from a Buenos Aires concert show fans throwing two Argentine flags onto the stage, both of which land near the singer’s feet.

Most musicians on world tours would be expected to hold up the flags as a mark of respect to their fans.

However, the footage shows Bieber trying to remove them from the stage by first kicking at them on the floor with his shoes.

The pop star then uses his microphone stand to sweep them off stage, one after the other, before jumping in the air and smiling.

Insulting Argentina’s flag is a crime punishable in the country by up to four years in prison."

Can he go to jail now and leave the public eye forever?

Please, somebody make this happen.

There's a lawsuit against him, but I don't think it's gonna go anywhere.

[Witchyjoshy]

Doncha just love it how some people are too famous and/or too rich to be arrested?

[chitoryu12]

Yeah I don't get it.  Yeah, her music video's a little.... off-putting, but seriously, she's been repressed by Disney for years to fit their clean, wholesome, family-friendly image... never allowed to express herself up until that point.

I'm not entirely sure if she's truly expressing HERSELF. The very sudden switch to blatant sexuality and public drug usage (coupled with lyrics that essentially brag about it) seems less like she's finally getting to "break free and be herself" and more like she's rebelliously acting out. Pretty much her entire image is focused on said sexuality and drug usage, and her actions at concerts (like the infamous VMA segment or publicly pulling out a joint in Amsterdam on stage) seem like they're based around getting attention.

I don't think the current Miley Cyrus is actually her "true self". It feels like she's trying to break free of her squeaky clean past however she can, and she's overcompensating by going straight for in-your-face adult content. It's like a teenager who smokes and wears black leather and too much eyeliner just to piss off her parents.