I didn't say he knew all the foreign policy answers, but even his ignorance is better than Obama apologizing for everything. One can learn to not be ignorant...it's a far more difficult task to unlearn appeasement and unnecessary apologies.

I'm in a similar position, though I don't ever call myself a Republican, Democrat or any other affiliated party -- I just go with fiscal conservatism, military strength and a stern foreign policy.

I foresaw the lack of good GOP candidates over a year and a half ago. Called it just like it went down; Romney got the (R) nod and lost in the end to the incumbent. Nothing really surprising at all. I believe Romney had the economic know-how to help get the economy back on track, and the desire to see an America not weakened by diluted foreign policy and appeasement of others. I don't believe it's too much to ask to have a government who doesn't stifle business and doesn't let other nations step all over us.

The bottom line is that the GOP shot themselves in their collective feet. Obama ran a decent campaign, but Romney and the Republican Party showed just how behind-the-times they really are.

I'm in a suburban district of Fairfax County, VA. Voted at a local elementary school, where there was practically no line at all - maybe a total of 40 voters between currently selecting and waiting in line to select. Showed official gov't issued picture ID, the volunteers verified my address and full name, etc. No problem whatsoever.

I did most of my research regarding the Presidential election, so I failed to do my share of homework for local/state issues -- I considered the roughly $150 million within the bonds section and was split somewhere in the middle of that spending. I'm fairly conservative, but I also understand the need to spend money on roadways and infrastructure -- especially in a busy area like DC/MD/VA.

I also elected to use the paper AccuTron ballot, rather than the digital one. It was just a faster approach, and I felt like I could take more time to read over the options and make a less-impulsive selection.

...can never be stopped by boundaries of "That's a silly idea" or "That'll never work".

Thank you nerds, techies, geeks and other misanthropic, misunderstood outcasts!
Even though this project may just be a game, this type of devotion to science and technological innovation is how we have advanced as a species.

There's a difference between taking out a mortgage and running a government budget. You factor in costs of the mortgage, insurance, possible maintenance and repairs when you buy a home (if you are smart). I have a home, I have a budget which is balanced, I have savings and retirement plans for myself and my wife. Save times when I've held a car loan or mortgage, I have never been in debt; those loans were also planned and budgeted properly to ensure I didn't go upside down.

The government has contracts, most recently which are paid through short-term, performance-based metrics. They also have to account for maintenance and emergency services, just like a household. They've got bills to pay on a regular basis as well. The problem with government budgeting is that they say "We've got $xxx to spend. We need to spend every dollar, or we might have a reduced budget next year." This is the opposite mentality of businesses which have the mindset of "If we make $xxx but only spend half of that, we just made a profit."

If you believe managing a budget and not overspending over the long-term is not a viable economic practice, I'd hate to see your balance book. And to call that idea liberal is way off the mark -- you might want to check history before you go flouting shit you don't understand.

"Government budget crisis"? When governments excessively spend money they don't have, it is inevitably creating an "economic crisis" down the line. Proper budgeting means you don't spend more money than the sum of your tax revenue. If you DO happen to need that extra coverage, you effectively "IOU" the people and spend less during the next fiscal period to compensate. The numbers may be massive, the figures vast and more complex than your average checkbook, but math is still math.

My statement was in relevance to the last sentence of the article summary. The damage has already been done by the Greek government. Even if they did now seek to prosecute the tax evaders, they would still be in a financial mess; the white-collar criminals would merely be the next scapegoat in the line. In a nutshell, I'm pointing the finger at the Greek gov't for mismanaging the money that they did take in, rather than being responsible and accountable with the funds of their people.

Revenue of some form or another is a must for any government. We can't expect a large country to have all volunteers, can we? However, effectively taking the majority of any population's money is ludicrous and irresponsible -- what function(s) could rationally use that much money?
Many of the people with the most money in America are not investing and creating jobs like they would be during better times. Corporate taxes are mind-bogglingly expensive. Government regulation stepped in to try to correct a problem -- and they did to some extent -- but came out with bigger ones. When 50-60% of your startup funds for a new company go straight into overhead, fees and taxes, you're not going to be as likely to start a new venture. You can just sit on that money, put it into less risky investments, etc. Or you take that money overseas and build a business elsewhere. Many people who work regular jobs for a living and are more or less "check to check" don't understand how overregulation and overtaxation can stifle growth.

Taxing your way out of an economic crisis is only feasible in the [very] short term.

Poor economic choices on the part of the Greek gov't are to blame here...but they're too busy screwing over their people to accept responsibility and make progress toward actual corrections.

Mommy and daddy don't have a clear understanding about money or economics any more than congresscritters or teachers do. If they did, they'd teach their children that formal and informal educations combined are the only way they'll really have a successful future beyond a "pawn's mate".

There are multi-level failures within the American education system. It starts with parents ultimately not understanding how to really help their children succeed and it is further exacerbated by poor management of money from local agencies all the way up through the federal Department of Education. There are also societal values at the lower- and middle-classes which can cause education which is received to be ineffective; take for example the middle-class priority of being good at a sport and getting scouted for a team in high school over academic and economic educations, or in poorer neighborhoods the priority on being tough or able to survive on the streets instead of learning something in school which might elevate them out of that cesspool.

If your family can't teach you, your teachers can't teach you, and the gov't can't teach you...then how do you learn? Vicious cycle, if you ask me.

It started when I was learning code as a teenager and just stuck. I don't code much anymore, as I'm more of a hands-on guy these days, but I suppose it's habit now.

There are vast differences between different types of gaming. You have MMOs, which generally require a dedicated computer and not a massive amount of processing or graphical power. Modern FPSs such as the Crysis series are extremely taxing, and therefore more likely to be played on a system that costs more from a manufacturer/distributor or was custom-built by the user.
Then there are your Call of Duty style games which are FAR more popular on consoles simply because the buy-in and hookup is easier than PC-side -- you don't need TeamSpeak, matchmaking clients, dedicated servers, etc., to have a fun time. You only need to "plug and play" and hop online; the game itself will cost you $10 or 20 more than its non-console counterpart, but the hardware on which its running is at most half the price of a good gaming rig...and you probably already own an HDTV so that's not extra cost out of your pocket just to play.
Then we consider mobile or tablet gaming. Angry Birds and Words With Friends don't need all that real-estate, even though an iPhone or iPad (or equivalent device) may cost as much or more than a console. You play them anywhere, any time...and that's great for someone who can't or won't commit the time to a 45 minute MOBA match, a 2+ hour MMO raid, or dozens of hours on a single-player RPG or hack-and-slasher.

The TLDR is this: whether consoles have hit their "high point" and are on the decline is irrelevant. They're still going to be around because they are geared toward a different type of gamer than many other platforms. They'll change shapes, sizes, capacities and functions...but they'll continue to exist in one form or another.

I've always preferred to use tabs over spaces for indentation, 2 breaks in between major sections or functions, and clearly named vars or functions. The kind of code most people can drop into and say "Oh, I see where this is going" and immediately begin to understand and therefore modify.

I can't stand opening up any type of code, even web pages, and finding ugly difficult-to-follow lines which seemingly make no sense. Then again, it's all a matter of preference and perspective, isn't it?

Good times! Thanks for coordinating the meetup and the t-shirts.

The Blue Line ended up getting delayed a bit on my way home as they had tapered down to single rails at points, but nothing catastrophic happened.

I wish I had noticed this snippet a few weeks ago. I looked up Birdemic tonight...from work...and realized that I'd probably be leaving work and driving by my local theater just in time for movie-goers to be walking to their cars.
Oh well. Hopefully someone will pirate it and put it up on the interblag :)

I might take the Blue Line in from Franconia/Springfield. In case I decide not to metro in, how's the parking in that general area on a Friday night?
TBH I usually just hoof it when I'm in DC, or come into the city at off-times where parking is more readily available.