Gary Gygax is Dead?

Ace is going to be devastated if this is true.  For those that don't know, Gary Gygax is a famous tabletop game designer...you may know him as the co-inventor of Dungeons and Dragons.

I will say, the D&D system is a popular one to use in a lot of computer and console RPG's.  I know that the Knights of the Old Republic series uses it, as does the Neverwinter Nights series and Jade Empire.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 12:56 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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More Brawling at Chuck-E-Cheese

This time, two mothers got into a scrap.  They're gonna have to do way better than this next time if they're gonna win the title for Best Chuck-E-Cheese Fight Evah!  They aren't even close here.  (h/t The Moron-in-Chief himself)

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 05:27 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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New TRON Movie in the Works?

Ain't it Cool News is saying there may be a new one in the works, it would likely be released in early 2011, and that it'll be in 3d.  So, possible news for all you TRON fans. 

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 04:32 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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British Nanny Staters Begin to Fix Their Sights on Alcohol

S. Weasel caught it before I did, but with her 'shop skills comments on it in a way I never could.  I wondered when the Brit Nanny movement and the media over there would start to move against alcohol.  The piece tries to show a middle class, middle age woman the "ravages" of alcohol on her face over the next 25 years.  I'll make you click over to Weasel's to get the link to the article.

It was only a matter of time, efforts to refuse health care to the obese and smokers started years ago, and the policy is now pretty much a national one.  It was accepted, instead of rallying around their fellow citizens, they accepted their government's domination, of course the elite and government officials are going to get ambitious and seek to expand control over people's lives and lifestyles.  Beyond that, destroying British drinking culture would be pretty destructive to the social culture there, I have to imagine.  Which from the Nanny perspective is ideal, because it gives them the opportunity to rebuild society according to their wants and ideologies.

The Brits pretty much allowed their government to push smoking patrons out of their bars, and into the streets, and when the bar owners put out patio heaters to keep their patrons from freezing when they went out for a quick smoke, those are on the verge of getting banned too.

I'm not terribly surprised by the Daily Mail's willingness to go along with the new PR campaign to start fraying the edges of British drinking culture, in fact, I'm not even surprised by the stupid pics they used. 

After all, this is the same paper I wrote about a few weeks ago that had a long piece actually arguing for mass sterilization of teenage girls.  Morally speaking, it is absolutely vile that this is even suggested, but if you click over and look at the comments on that story, that is even more disturbing.  Not only were the commenters not disgusted, they were mostly in full agreement, if not enthusiastically supportive of forced mass sterilization of teenage girls in the UK. 

As for the dumb pics they use?  Look at the Daily Mail piece on forced sterilization, they have a big pic of some model dressed up in chav style, hair tied back tight, tank top, hoop earrings, lit cig in hand, baby in lap, as a demonstration of the delinquent teen as mother.  Except, when you look at the caption...its a model, not some random pic they snapped in the park.

So again, I'm not terribly surprised by the fact that the drumbeat against Britain's drinking culture has started, I've been waiting for the first pieces to start for a while now.  I don't take any pleasure in this, but we need to be aware that this can be our future in the United States if we get too comfortable with our government dictating our lifestyles.  I hope the Brits, and the Continent for that matter, can turn this around before its too late.

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Panzers for Sale

Bulgaria was allied with Germany for most of WWII, but did no real fighting beyond occupying parts of Greece.  In 1944, the Soviets invaded and put Bulgarian communists in control, and the Bulgarians joined the Soviets against the Nazis. 

While the Bulgarians were allied with the Axis powers, Hitler sent the Bulgarians a number of tanks and materiel support.  Some of those tanks were scrapped, and others were cemented into barriers, their guns were used as part of a now abandoned defense system along the Bulgarian border with Turkey.  A number of these tanks are in decent shape, and the Bulgarians are going to offer the nicer ones up to museums, but after that?  The Panzers start at 100,000 Euros.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 01:57 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Interesting Story on Gibsonton, Florida, Home for Carnies

I had heard about a town where circus people went to live, I remember the X-Files episode, "Humbug" where they did a show about killings a circus community, I'm guessing they shot it in Gibsonton?  Its one of the best episodes of that entire series.  If you get a chance to watch it, be sure to do so. 

In any case, the article is an interesting piece about Gibsonton, which is where carnies and circus employees crash during the off-season and sometimes retire. and the changes it has seen over the years, both the town and the carny and circus culture as the older carnival workers retire and pass on.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 01:07 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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USAID Forced to Make Drastic Cutbacks in Food Supplies to Starving Peoples so Progressive Environmentalist Douchebags Can Feel Good About Themselves

Small brewers were just the tip of the iceberg.  The price of grain has skyrocketed because huge amounts of it are going into the money sink and farce known as ethanol production.  USAID, which many of the world's poorest people rely on for sustenance is having to cut back on the number of countries and people they give food aid to as a result of a 41% spike in grain costs.  USAID is projected to go $200 million overbudget already, but they aren't even going to be able to get as much done as they did in the past.

This story doesn't cite ethanol production as the reason for the price spike, but we know that's what it is, because that was cited as a reason for spikes in operating costs for small brewers in the US, its the same commodity.  But hey, out there somewhere, some progressive environmentalist is feeling great about doing their part to fight Global Warming.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 09:06 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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