Search found 10834 matches

by fgalkin
2018-01-23 06:12pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Ursula Le Guin is dead
Replies: 3
Views: 2580

Ursula Le Guin is dead

:( Link Ursula K. Le Guin, the immensely popular author who brought literary depth and a tough-minded feminist sensibility to science fiction and fantasy with books like “The Left Hand of Darkness” and the Earthsea series, died on Monday at her home in Portland, Ore. She was 88. Her son, Theo Downes...
by fgalkin
2017-03-08 04:33am
Forum: Off-Topic
Topic: The One Where arthurtuxedo Fixes Income Inequality
Replies: 27
Views: 13160

Re: The One Where arthurtuxedo Fixes Income Inequality

Or, if the subsidy is included in the gross income, you get the same issue, but with $54,887 (base) + $18,113 (subsidy)= $73,000. Every dollar above that is either subtracted from the subsidy, or pushes the total above $73k, making it taxable. Thus, it makes no sense to earn anything above $54,887 a...
by fgalkin
2017-03-08 04:15am
Forum: Off-Topic
Topic: The One Where arthurtuxedo Fixes Income Inequality
Replies: 27
Views: 13160

Re: The One Where arthurtuxedo Fixes Income Inequality

Huh? Why are you discounting the subsidy, again?

$72,999 (starting income) + $24,090 (-33% tax)= $97,089
$73,000 (starting income) + $0 (0% tax)= $73,000
$73,001 (starting income) - $0.60 (60% tax)= $73,000.40

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin
by fgalkin
2017-03-04 06:50pm
Forum: Off-Topic
Topic: The One Where arthurtuxedo Fixes Income Inequality
Replies: 27
Views: 13160

Re: The One Where arthurtuxedo Fixes Income Inequality

Sorry, meant to say if you make $73,001.67, you owe $1. So, why would anyone bother to make more, if 60% of the money you make is taken away? The law of diminishing returns would kill your plan dead. Have a very nice day. -fgalkin Why would they choose to make less? If they're an employee, are they...
by fgalkin
2017-03-04 04:16pm
Forum: Off-Topic
Topic: The One Where arthurtuxedo Fixes Income Inequality
Replies: 27
Views: 13160

Re: The One Where arthurtuxedo Fixes Income Inequality

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:Sorry, meant to say if you make $73,001.67, you owe $1.
So, why would anyone bother to make more, if 60% of the money you make is taken away? The law of diminishing returns would kill your plan dead.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin
by fgalkin
2017-03-04 02:47pm
Forum: Off-Topic
Topic: The One Where arthurtuxedo Fixes Income Inequality
Replies: 27
Views: 13160

Re: The One Where arthurtuxedo Fixes Income Inequality

So, when everyone quits their job to become unskilled labor to stop the government from taking their money, where will the money for the subsidies come from?

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin
by fgalkin
2017-03-01 03:27am
Forum: Gaming, Electronics and Computers
Topic: Torment: Tides of Numenera
Replies: 0
Views: 5124

Torment: Tides of Numenera

Anyone else playing this? I've sank something like 9 hours into the game so far, and I'm quite enjoying it. They seem to have captured the weirdness and beauty of the original quite well. The NPCs seem a bit meh, except for the one created by Pat Rothfuss, though. Makes me miss Grace and Dak'kon. Ha...
by fgalkin
2016-07-28 02:50pm
Forum: Fantasy
Topic: The Memoirs of Lady Trent (Recomendation)
Replies: 8
Views: 3987

Re: The Memoirs of Lady Trent (Recomendation)

Just finished reading the 4th one this weekend. I am enjoying the series quite a bit. But you have to read them in order, or the earlier books will be spoiled by the later ones.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin
by fgalkin
2016-06-30 08:31pm
Forum: Fantasy
Topic: Game of Thrones Season 6 [Discussion of most-recently aired episodes]
Replies: 578
Views: 115894

Re: Game of Thrones Season 6 [Discussion of most-recently aired episodes]

Also, upon checking the wiki (http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline) it seems that 1 season= 1 year, so it has, in fact, been 6 years since the war began.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin
by fgalkin
2016-06-30 08:29pm
Forum: Fantasy
Topic: Game of Thrones Season 6 [Discussion of most-recently aired episodes]
Replies: 578
Views: 115894

Re: Game of Thrones Season 6 [Discussion of most-recently aired episodes]

In a realistic world the fact that Lannisters are bankrupt+they have defaulted on the Iron Bank would mean that they are in deep shit when it comes to maintaining an army.

However, this is GOT we are talking about, so nevermind.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin
by fgalkin
2016-06-30 07:29pm
Forum: Fantasy
Topic: Game of Thrones Season 6 [Discussion of most-recently aired episodes]
Replies: 578
Views: 115894

Re: Game of Thrones Season 6 [Discussion of most-recently aired episodes]

Martin is not particularly well read in anything but historical novels set during the War of the Roses. This is why he managed to create Fantasy England, but the further away one moves from it, the sillier things get.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin
by fgalkin
2016-06-30 06:49pm
Forum: Fantasy
Topic: Game of Thrones Season 6 [Discussion of most-recently aired episodes]
Replies: 578
Views: 115894

Re: Game of Thrones Season 6 [Discussion of most-recently aired episodes]

Words cannot describe how stupid Dany is for bringing 100k Dothraki to Westeros. She doesn't need an army to conquer Westeros- Aegon managed it with 1600 men and three dragons. Her Unsullied should be more than enough. What she needs is an occupying force loyal to her to hold the territory she conqu...
by fgalkin
2016-06-06 04:30pm
Forum: Fantasy
Topic: How to portray time control in pre-clock/hourglass eras?
Replies: 25
Views: 5600

Re: How to portray time control in pre-clock/hourglass eras?

Batman wrote:Only works for time manipulation upwards of a few hours or so. How do you depict time manipulation on the minute/second level?
Counting heartbeats. That's how it used to be done.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin
by fgalkin
2016-01-08 10:41pm
Forum: Pure Star Wars
Topic: Ep7 Reviews (Spoilers)
Replies: 1204
Views: 247336

Re: Ep7 Reviews (Spoilers)

I personally enjoyed a lot of TPM tracks - Duel of the Fates, The Droid Invasion, The Flag Parade, Anakin's theme, Shmi's theme, Qui-Gon's Funeral. AotC had the love theme, mentioned already, as well as nice development of some TPM themes, and RotS was simply quite on par with OT films themselves, ...
by fgalkin
2015-12-16 10:23pm
Forum: Pure Star Wars
Topic: Ep7 Reviews (Spoilers)
Replies: 1204
Views: 247336

Re: Ep7 Reviews (Spoilers)

Other thoughts: Harrison Ford got his wish at last. I was expecting it, of course, but still sad to see Han go. At least, he got a good exit. It was nice to see the villain get saddled with the angst for a change. Conversely, the complete absence of angst in Rey and Finn was refreshing. Kylo Ren was...
by fgalkin
2015-12-16 09:48pm
Forum: Pure Star Wars
Topic: Ep7 Reviews (Spoilers)
Replies: 1204
Views: 247336

Re: Ep7 Reviews (Spoilers)

Holy shit, just how powerful is Rey? I mean, nothing untrained Luke or even padawan Anakin did even remotely compares to what comes naturally to her. With the First Order being as incompetent as they were, it really looked like watching a leveled-up KOTOR character at times. Have a very nice day. -f...
by fgalkin
2015-12-16 09:28pm
Forum: Pure Star Wars
Topic: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens
Replies: 1584
Views: 317446

Re: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

Ok, quick and spoiler-free observations. It has gotten rid of Lucas's crap, but replaced it with JJ's crap. JJ is a better director than Lucas, and this is his best movie, but his minimalism is jarring. I fear we might miss the days of Travis as a kind of golden age. Despite that, it captures the fe...
by fgalkin
2015-12-09 06:20pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: European refugee crisis thread
Replies: 1141
Views: 146026

Re: European refugee crisis thread

It was on the news, so no article. They are claiming that since many muslims hate Jews (true) their numbers need to be limited to limit dangers to Jewish citizens. Their concerns are definitely legitimate. But I don't think they have a leg to stand on since the vast majority of current German news ...
by fgalkin
2015-10-25 09:06pm
Forum: Fantasy
Topic: Equestria vs. Warhammer 40K
Replies: 20
Views: 6335

Re: Equestria vs. Warhammer 40K

This exists:

http://www.fimfiction.net/story/148048/the-dark-ones

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin
by fgalkin
2015-10-25 09:02pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Russia launching airstrikes in Syria
Replies: 39
Views: 7501

Re: Russia launching airstrikes in Syria

Except Russia doesn't really carry out double-tap strikes, that's more of a US thing. Have a very nice day. -fgalkin Except obviously they did. For one thing, don't double-tap attacks require drones hovering in position, waiting for rescue personnel to arrive? Kinda hard to do that with a plane, no...
by fgalkin
2015-10-24 11:22pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: Russia launching airstrikes in Syria
Replies: 39
Views: 7501

Re: Russia launching airstrikes in Syria

Except Russia doesn't really carry out double-tap strikes, that's more of a US thing.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin
by fgalkin
2015-10-18 04:55pm
Forum: News and Politics
Topic: The 2015 Nobel Prizes Thread
Replies: 7
Views: 2262

Re: The 2015 Nobel Prizes Thread

Svetlana Alexievich was given the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature, "for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time." First Russian language author to win since Joseph Brodsky in 1987. Not sure how to feel about this pick. By all accounts, "Voices in Chern...
by fgalkin
2015-08-26 08:50pm
Forum: Off-Topic
Topic: Zorro reboot to take place in post-apocalyptic world
Replies: 89
Views: 19164

Re: Zorro reboot to take place in post-apocalyptic world

What I was getting at is that Firefly was artistically well received- it was a flop in terms of viewership numbers for a variety of reasons, but relatively few people who've watched the series consider it bad art . So the potential is there for counterintuitive combinations of theme and setting to ...
by fgalkin
2015-06-30 06:57pm
Forum: Fantasy
Topic: Game of Thrones Season 6 casting news (spoilers)
Replies: 22
Views: 6010

Re: Game of Thrones Season 6 casting news (spoilers)

…are you forgetting that every Lord Paramount except Doran Martell has called his banners, so every knight and minor lord in the realm outside of Dorne would have been involved in the fighting?

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin
by fgalkin
2015-06-29 08:35pm
Forum: Science Fiction
Topic: So I've started reading Gaunts Ghost Omnibus
Replies: 7
Views: 4026

Re: So I've started reading Gaunts Ghost Omnibus

Because frankly, Gaunt's Ghosts are an acquired taste. Pew-pew lasers are not Abnett's strong suit- intrigue is. Read his Inquisition stuff- Eisenhorn and Ravenor, to see where he truly shines. That said, the series does get better eventually. Ghostmaker is just a collection of short stories that pr...