Gamers' response to haters

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Saturday November 21, 2009 · 12:52 PM PST

2009/11/21 · 12:52

I've worked on and off in the game industry for years, and I was tickled to see the above design pop up from one of my gamer friends. I asked him for some commentary about it, and he sent me this note:

"Why'd my graphic designer Corey and I make the Play for Obama T-shirt? Well, mostly because the president is a geek like me, and he'd probably enjoy a few hours of D&D in between late-night health care negotiations.
. . .
{more below the fold}

Robespierrette

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Friday November 07, 2008 · 7:37 AM PST

2008/11/07 · 07:37

This is both an explanation of, and a condemnation of, Alan Greenspan's failed "worldview". I think it will be instructive to assess exactly how he was wrong, and how he got to be more and more wrong as time went on. Especially since we haven't shown many signs of actually addressing the things he was wrong about.

Our economic system is now chock-full of perverse incentives, and if we don't understand those incentives, and work actively to correct them, our economic system will continue to falter.

Perverse Incentive:

A perverse incentive is an incentive that has an unintended and undesirable effect, that is against the interest of the incentive makers. Perverse incentives by definition produce negative unintended consequences.

Plus, I really, really like the term "perverse incentives", and think everyone should get more conversant with the concept. Follow me below the fold for the three major perversities afflicting our system, and let's discuss how we can create positive incentives instead!

Robespierrette

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Tuesday October 28, 2008 · 8:29 AM PDT

2008/10/28 · 08:29

I would usually not call someone out like this, but I'm really wondering how many strait-jackets we're going to need November 5th, considering the bat-shit crazy stuff my poor, deluded sister has started coughing up. Lately, she taken to declaiming that "Obama's going to take away your 401(k)!" and "Kids for Obama is a despicable plot to turn kids against their parents, like the Nazis or the Communists!"

Mostly, she's said this stuff privately, but follow me after the fold for what she posted on my public journal.

And if you have any suggestions for ideas that might penetrate her skull (the woman has 4 college degrees - she isn't completely stupid. . . I hope), please share them!

Poll

198 votes Show Results

I should:

198 votes Vote Now!

I should:

Give up, she's a lost cause.

122 votes

Keep plugging, she might come around.

36 votes

Pie.

40 votes

WASHINGTON STATE ONLY - Voter hotline is up!

Robespierrette

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Monday October 20, 2008 · 1:16 PM PDT

2008/10/20 · 13:16

I'm trying to publicize the WA State Democrats' Voter Information Hotline. We've got it on various websites, and on some announcements, but we know there are a lot of folks out there with questions and concerns.

If you're in Washington State, or know people here, please pass along these numbers.

Toll-free: 1-877-WAChange (1-877-922-4264)
Seattle local: (206) 682-1544

I apologize for this being a fairly short diary, but we need to get this number in front of Washington State voters. Thanks!

Types of issues/questions we can help with below the fold:

Robespierrette

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Saturday February 09, 2008 · 3:51 PM PST

2008/02/09 · 15:51

I just got back from chairing my precinct caucus in NE Seattle. I had worries about how well my entirely white, predominantly upper-middle-class neighbors would turn out, and who they would be supporting.

The specifics on my precinct: Around 800 registered voters, half single-family houses, half townhomes & condos. In 2004, we had a record turnout of 37 people, who were half for Kerry and half for Dean.

And today? Look below the fold. . .

Robespierrette

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Thursday August 16, 2007 · 11:16 AM PDT

2007/08/16 · 11:16

It just might work.

I just finished re-reading The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell, one of my favorites. If you haven't read it, it's about social phenomenons like fads, but it also delves into what can cause sudden, large changes in the public space on everything from early literacy to crime and smoking. Gladwell talks about "The Law of the Few", who "Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen" are, and the translation that needs to occur between Early Adopters and Early to Late Majorities. The book is thought-provoking, and presents a challenge to readers: What change do you want to see, and what might cause that idea for change to "tip"?

Follow me below the fold for more.

Poll

144 votes Show Results

When do you mention that you're a Democrat?

144 votes Vote Now!

When do you mention that you're a Democrat?

Almost every time I meet someone new

32 votes

Once I've gotten to know someone a little better

84 votes

To long-term friends and acquaintances

11 votes

Only to my family

6 votes

Never. It's a deep, dark secret

5 votes

I disagree with your premise, and I'll tell you why! :)

6 votes

EU wants to know where those prisons were!

Robespierrette

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Thursday September 07, 2006 · 5:49 PM PDT

2006/09/07 · 17:49

If President Bush thought that he could simply announce that he'd closed the "CIA secret prisons", dust his hands, and forget about the whole matter - well, Europe has just a bit of a problem with that.

A little problem of international law.

CNN:Reveal secret prisons, EU tells U.S.
. . .The location of these prison camps must be made public," said German Socialist Wolfgang Kreissl-Doerfler, who sits on a special EU assembly committee investigating the CIA's alleged operation of secret prisons in Europe.
"We need to know if there has been any complicity in illegal acts by governments of EU countries or states seeking EU membership."

Robespierrette

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Friday June 30, 2006 · 1:26 PM PDT

2006/06/30 · 13:26

As a Precinct Committee Officer, I've canvassed the few blocks around my house once or twice a year for the last few years, and I'm just starting to kind of know a few of my neighbors. I'm in a nice neighborhood which, like many, rarely has anyone at home.

I do see one of my neighbors from time to time, and he knows that I'm a Democrat. He's a democratic voter, but like most folks, doesn't have a lot of time to follow what's going on in DC.

In talking to him recently, I realized something (and maybe it should have been obvious to me - I'm a little dense :). Follow me past the cut: Read More

Seattle Job-Hunt: Need Advice

Robespierrette

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Friday September 16, 2005 · 10:37 AM PDT

2005/09/16 · 10:37

I hate taking up bandwidth with something like this, but they say when you're looking for a job, it's important to pick the brains of your "network".

My dilemma is this: Five years ago, before I went on a "hiatus" (which I've spent helping my husband with his company, and having and raising a baby), I had my first decent "career job", which can best be described as "middle management" at a very fast growing game company. Prior to that, I had worked contract and temporary for years after college, waiting for the right thing to come along. So, I basically have only one big entry on my resume.

If you have the time, please look at my experience, and give me any advice you have on what type of position I might qualify for, what companies might be a good fit, or which recruiters are any good! Read More

Argentineans get it; Perhaps America should have one?

Robespierrette

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Sunday May 01, 2005 · 1:03 PM PDT

2005/05/01 · 13:03

OK, I admit it. This is a diary drawing attention to a news story. But it's got it all: questioning the wisdom of the IMF, moralizing about the dangers of foreign debt, and a good dose of humor.

This story is about the new Argentinean Museum of Foreign Debt.

The subject is heavy, but the museum's creators have tried to make the mood light and the displays accessible to everyone, especially schoolchildren.

In one corner, a pink, doll-size play kitchen represents the recipes of the International Monetary Fund, which Argentines blame for encouraging the heavy borrowing in the 1990s that led to the catastrophic economic collapse in late 2001.

"We chose a play kitchen because we are always so innocent and believe in magic recipes from abroad," said museum designer Eduardo Lopez. "Look, we open the freezer and the oven and there is no food."

If only American school-children could experience interactive displays about trade imbalances, current account deficits, and how the government "cooks" the budget by using the Social Security surplus to improve their numbers!

House of Lords standing up for Detainee Rights

Robespierrette

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Friday March 11, 2005 · 9:32 AM PST

2005/03/11 · 09:32

In Britain, the elected House of Commons is currently approving a measure to extend some parts of a larger "emergency powers" act that just expired - after having been ruled illegal by the British courts. The new measure will skirt the most egregious parts of the old one (while adding new ones), but the Blair government is claiming that there is still a need to place under indefinite house arrest and civil-liberties restriction those merely suspected of terrorism. Due process, anyone?

The unelected House of Lords is in opposition: Read More

Some spin from Plame journalists on NPR.

Robespierrette

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday February 25, 2005 · 10:06 AM PST

2005/02/25 · 10:06

Last night I listened to part of Fresh Air on NPR.

Terry Gross was speaking to Judith Miller, Matt Cooper and their lawyer (of course), about the contempt finding against them in the Plame investigation. The program talked a lot about legal precedents, and the issue of "journalistic privilege", to what extent public need of information outweighed First Amendment considerations, etc.

The part of the discussion that caught my ear, though, was when they tried to say that the current debate over protection for journalists wasn't a "left/right" issue. Read More

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Gamers' response to haters

Perverse Incentives

So my sister thinks I'm a Communist.

WASHINGTON STATE ONLY - Voter hotline is up!

WA Precinct Caucus Report: I am psyched!

Just say, "I'm a Democrat"

EU wants to know where those prisons were!

A Realization about "your average democratic voter"

Seattle Job-Hunt: Need Advice

Argentineans get it; Perhaps America should have one?

House of Lords standing up for Detainee Rights

Some spin from Plame journalists on NPR.