And? There's nothing wrong with killing someone to prevent them from killing you. Obviously, nobody WANTS to have to take someone's life. Which is why guns are so great, because 99% of the time you don't have to. You simply point it and it does it's job without even being fired.
In an ideal world nobody would ever have to protect themselves, because there would be no bad guys. But we don't live in an ideal world. If you are content to call the police and wait for them to arrive while your life is in jeopardy, have fun with that. I prefer to take responsibility for myself and carry a sidearm. My doing so harms nobody unless they try to harm me first, and my right to do so is non-negotiable.
The problem is that Saddam would never have come to power if it weren't for meddling by the U.S. We backed him to keep Iran in check, because our government didn't like them. The same thing happened with bin Laden. We trained and funded him because he was the enemy of our enemy. We do this kind of stuff and it always comes back to bite us in the ass.
The U.S. (and especially the CIA) need to mind their own business and everyone would be better off.
Automobile accidents kill TENS OF THOUSANDS of people every year. If no one had cars, no one would die because of them. Do you want to be part of the problem or the solution?
Everything kills people. Even "harmless" items like bicycles and buckets. You have to offset the harm with the usefulness and good that any item causes. As I said earlier, defensive gun uses (ie: preservation of life) happens far, far more times than deaths due to gun uses.
How is it bullshit? It's completely true. If you want freedom of speech, that means putting up with hate spewing KKK members. If you want freedom of the press, that means putting up Fox News and their "fair and balanced" reporting. If you want freedom of religion, that means tolerating other religions, even if you disagree with their beliefs. If you want freedom to protect your life, you have to allow others to have the same right.
As long as you don't harm others or their property or defame/defraud anyone, you should be allowed to do whatever the hell you want.
"need to be banned"...how very freedom loving of you.
I just downloaded the link in the first post (v.81). It works fine, as long as you start the server correctly to prevent it from getting stuck in Practice Mode.
I will NOT host my server on Demo mode. There are too many toolboxes out there running the demo that know how to get around IP bans. S2 users know that if they get banned they won't be able to come back again. Plus, I want to reward people who have paid Scavier for their hard work. Besides, who wants to drag race the XRG and XFG?
Pony up the money and buy the game. You won't regret it.
Your loud, anti-social neighbor has just as much right to defend his life as you do. There's a price to be paid for freedom, and people doing things you don't like is part of that price. Keep in mind that the 15 year old across the road may freak out and shoot you, but it's more likely that he would save your life or the life of someone you love. If you believe that most people are inherently good, then the likelihood is greater that someone will do good with their gun (or knife, club, pepper spray, etc), not evil. They would protect you from harm, rather than harm you.
Not as many as you think.
Virtually none. That is the same thing that people said before Florida enacted their Right-to-carry laws. "There streets will run with blood! People will shoot each other over parking spaces and road rage!". Didn't happen. In fact, crime and violent crime went down substantially. It's no coincidence that the places with the most gun control are the places with the highest crime rate, and that "gun free zones" are always the location of mass shootings.
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=1143&full=1
Again, very few. In the U.S. for 2001, there were 29,573 deaths from firearms, distributed as follows by mode of death: Suicide 16,869; Homicide 11,348; Accident 802; Legal Intervention 323; Undetermined 231 (CDC, 2004). As you can see, suicide makes up the large portion of gun deaths in the US. Research has shown that when guns are unavailable suicide rates remain static but that method of death changes (jumping off a bridge or slitting wrists instead, for instance). The small number of accidental deaths are far and away offset by the large number of lives saved each year through the use of a defensive weapon. The number is also miniscule compared to other forms of death such as motor vehicle, poisoning, falls, fire, etc.
http://www.anesi.com/accdeath.htm
I'd love to cite the statistics, but I'm at work and my research is at home. So, you'll either have to trust my memory or look up the data yourself. Suffice it to say that guns are used for self defense much more often than they are used in crimes. Approximately 99% of guns will never be used in a crime. Ever. Approximately 99% of defensive gun uses (which happen hundreds of thousands of times per year) do not involve firing a shot. Of the defensive gun uses that involve a shooting, in only about 1% of those cases is someone killed. Accidental shootings are touted in the news because they are sensational, but they rarely happen.
If you really examine the statistics you find that guns save more lives than they take by a significant margin. And the lives that are taken by guns are often the lives of career criminals who tried to prey upon someone who was armed and defended themselves.
If you are truly interested in this topic, I suggest checking the local library for "The Bias Against Guns" by John Lott, Jr. It's an excellent book that is fully cited with both government and independent data.
United States Constitution, Article VI:
"The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."
Also, the Bill of Rights (First ten amendments) is generally considered part of the Constitution since they expressly outline natural rights which the state cannot take away. I would certainly consider the Bill of Rights a major foundational US document (more important than the actual Constitution or Declaration, IMO).
The server is up, but it's running in S2 mode on the drag strip with the TBO cars enabled. If you want to join, I'm afraid you'll have to spring for S2.
Go ahead. You know you want to.
Seattle ISRM Drag
It's not always up since I host from my home computer, but it's been up pretty much the last two days straight.
It's not always up since I host from my home computer, but it's been up pretty much the last two days straight.
Thanks!
You'd like me then, as I generally don't conceal my firearm. Well, if it's cold out and I have to wear a thick coat I do. But otherwise it's right out in plain view on my hip.
You consider being mugged "harassment"? If someone threatens me with deadly bodily harm, they are doing a lot more than harassing me. I would never shoot or harm someone except in self defense. But if it comes down to life or death, him or me, I would not hesitate to defend myself. I would hope for your own sake you would do the same.
Take my wife as an example. Let's say she's walking to her car at night after work. Now, she's 5'1" and 105lbs - Any average sized man is going to easily be able to harm her without too much effort. But having and knowing how to use a firearm tilts the odds in her favor. Now she is just as -if not more- powerful than her attacker. The firearm is the great equalizer. It allows the physically weak, the elderly, and the disabled to be every bit as powerful as young, the physically strong, the thugs who would mean to do harm.
The solution is to address the cause, not the symptom. Violence is the symptom, we need to address the people that cause it and find out why they do and how to stop them. Disarming honest citizens is not a solution.
Don't be so sure. Given the number of people in the US who own and carry firearms, I would be shocked if you didn't meet several people who owned and used guns, and several who were armed. Unless you only visited New York and California, where only the criminals are armed.
Is it? You don't have an armed police force? You don't have armed forces (army/navy)? Places are no more safe without guns. People just use other weapons instead (assuming they can't actually get their hands on a gun, which they almost certainly can).
Don't look at me. I voted for the other guy. No...the OTHER other guy. Also, many of us haven't been standing idly by. We've been working to effect change from within. I fight tooth and nail to keep my rights from being eroded. It's sad that so few people bother.
Preaching to the choir here. I'd like to see Bush tried and imprisoned, myself. He's done enough that a conviction should be pretty straightforward.
I'm in total agreement with you. And that is precisely the reason why it's so important for citizens to own arms and know how to use them. I just cannot understand the mentality of people who only want the police and government to own firearms. Yeah, that's just what I want, Bush and his cronies armed to the teeth and me defenseless against them. That's a recipe for tyranny if ever there was one.
Many people voted for Democrats to turn things around and they haven't done jack-squat (I personally thought we'd get just what we've got now). They are going to have a very hard time keeping their seats when they come up for re-election.
You are very shortsighted if that's what you think. A gun is an object like any other. A gun is not good. A gun is not evil. It just IS. It's up to the user of the object to decide how it is to be used. Yes, it can be used to harm, but it can also be used to protect.
Also consider this, a gun is one of very few tools which is just as effective when it is not used. If someone tries to mug me, I don't have to shoot him to stop him. The very threat of being shot is enough. I'd like to see you slice a tomato without actually using that knife of yours.
The so-called "insurgents" seem to be doing pretty well.
I certainly wouldn't get very far if I had a defeatist attitude like that. Besides, the handgun is just a sidearm. Fighting the government is why man invented the rifle.
I can't speak for the rest of America, but it's mine, yes. If "the rest of the world" has a problem with American citizens arming and protecting themselves, tough cookies. History is riddled with tales of people who were disarmed and dominated by their governments or the forces of another nation. I don't plan to be one of those people.
You are born with the right to life. You are allowed to protect that life by any means necessary, whether it be your fists, a club, a knife, or a gun.
I have a gun to protect myself against criminals and the state, whichever would mean to do me harm. And since you have such great statistics handy, how about you share them here and cite a source? I'm also curious why you highlited "gun related crimes". If someone kills you, does it really matter if they used a gun or a knife to do it? A crime is a crime regardless of the tools used to carry it out.
No, it's based on history. When disasters, epidemics, and riots occur there is always violence as people try to secure provisions for themselves at the expense of others. To think otherwise is naive.
Again, if you think that the police can actually protect you, you are naive. The police rarely are there when you need protection. They only show up later to collect evidence and hopefully track down the person who wronged you. The police CAN'T protect you, even if you wanted them to. And in the United States the Supreme Court has ruled that the police are under no obligation to protect you at all (I'm sure it's the same for every other country since they CANNOT guarantee your safety).
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/28scotus.html
There are other similar rulings from lower courts as well. You want to be safe? Take responsibility for your own safety.
$55 Canadian? That's like $200 US.
Still worth it.
Still worth it.
I've had the same issues as well. It's not LFS, it's the ATI drivers. Thankfully, my machine has stayed AA/AF enabled for quite a while now, but the last driver version that I had installed would constantly revert to no AA/AF. I had to jump through hoops to get it working again.
My next video card will be an nVidia.
My next video card will be an nVidia.
The rest of the world can, frankly, go piss up a rope. If you all want to give up your natural rights then go right ahead. However, I am not about to. History has shown that an unarmed populace is one of the first steps towards tyrannical government.
And if there was ever a time when you need to defend yourself it is during an emergency such as a flood. When there are hundreds of people around with no food or fresh water, you can guarantee that people will try to use force to get what they need. A firearm guarantees that I can resist such uses of force against me or my family. The police cannot protect you, nor are they required to. I choose to take responsibility for my own safety. If you choose otherwise, so be it.
I fail to see the problem. In the event of a flood the first three things I'd save would be my family photos, important papers, and my guns. The third item guarantees that I can protect the first two (not to mention my life).
Ron Paul for the win. He and Kucinich are the only honest people in the race, but Kucinich's policies are a bit too socialist for my tastes.
I've been running this mod for the past couple days and LOVE it. Everyone that joins the server has a great time. But, for some reason, the competition mode won't work. It's always in Practice mode, no matter if it's selected in the menu or not. I've tried it on a graphical (local) server and on a dedicated server with the same results. I even re-extracted the mod, and installed a fresh dedicated server. Comp mode still won't work - only practice mode. I know that I'm connected as an admin, because I tried it both ways and I'm getting the yellow/white "practice" option in the menu.
Any ideas why it wouldn't work? Practice works great, but having to figure out who races who next can be a pain.
edit: I think I figured it out. If you don't do everything right when the server first starts, it doesn't work correctly. If it's stuck in practice mode you can /end, then restart the server and have everyone click "ready". That seems to do the trick. Also note that if you restart manually you might have to set laps=0 in the server or the regular LFS start lights interfere.
Any ideas why it wouldn't work? Practice works great, but having to figure out who races who next can be a pain.
edit: I think I figured it out. If you don't do everything right when the server first starts, it doesn't work correctly. If it's stuck in practice mode you can /end, then restart the server and have everyone click "ready". That seems to do the trick. Also note that if you restart manually you might have to set laps=0 in the server or the regular LFS start lights interfere.
Last edited by Cue-Ball, .
Improvement suggestions for the drag strip.
After spending a ton of time on the drag strip yesterday, there are several things that I think should be changed/fixed.
Firstly, the drag strip needs to work like a real drag strip. The cars need to be able to pre-stage, stage, do burnouts, etc. There's an InSim app to handle this right now, but LFS should really do this on its own since the InSim app doesn't seem to be 100% reliable.
The return road should be straight. Having to drive around those small hills of dirt is a pain in the butt, especially in a drag car that doesn't turn for squat.
We need some stands next to the track instead of just a dirt embankment. A timing tower would also be welcome. Right now it's like racing in the middle of a freeway, which just happens to have timing lights.
The two lane drag strip should really just be two lanes. Having multiple christmas trees and 8 lanes is just confusing, and it makes it feel very unrealistic. Also, there should be barriers on the outside of the lanes and wide area of paint to separate the two lanes from each other (right now it's just a single white line).
I'm not sure if LFS has the ability to assign different grip levels to different portions of tarmac, but it would be nice to have water boxes for the lanes, even if they're only cosmetic. Having a "groove" would also be welcome, but I don't think LFS supports that.
There's some sort of bug that prevents adding chalk marks to the start of the strip and parking area.
Firstly, the drag strip needs to work like a real drag strip. The cars need to be able to pre-stage, stage, do burnouts, etc. There's an InSim app to handle this right now, but LFS should really do this on its own since the InSim app doesn't seem to be 100% reliable.
The return road should be straight. Having to drive around those small hills of dirt is a pain in the butt, especially in a drag car that doesn't turn for squat.
We need some stands next to the track instead of just a dirt embankment. A timing tower would also be welcome. Right now it's like racing in the middle of a freeway, which just happens to have timing lights.
The two lane drag strip should really just be two lanes. Having multiple christmas trees and 8 lanes is just confusing, and it makes it feel very unrealistic. Also, there should be barriers on the outside of the lanes and wide area of paint to separate the two lanes from each other (right now it's just a single white line).
I'm not sure if LFS has the ability to assign different grip levels to different portions of tarmac, but it would be nice to have water boxes for the lanes, even if they're only cosmetic. Having a "groove" would also be welcome, but I don't think LFS supports that.
There's some sort of bug that prevents adding chalk marks to the start of the strip and parking area.
I posted this in one of the other "drag racing" improvement threads, but I think it could be useful here as well:
There is an InSim app out there that handles most of this stuff. It allows pre-staging, staging, and can run Pro or Sportsman lights. It would be better if LFS handled this itself, of course, but this add-on makes a HUGE difference in the realism of drag racing in LFS (along with the new clutch model, of course). And, because the lights in LFS are disregarded, you can do a burnout to warm the tires (and it does make a difference).
I ran a server with this app last night for about 6 hours and had lots of people join. It was great!
http://www.lfsforum.net/showth ... =28815&highlight=isrm
There is an InSim app out there that handles most of this stuff. It allows pre-staging, staging, and can run Pro or Sportsman lights. It would be better if LFS handled this itself, of course, but this add-on makes a HUGE difference in the realism of drag racing in LFS (along with the new clutch model, of course). And, because the lights in LFS are disregarded, you can do a burnout to warm the tires (and it does make a difference).
I ran a server with this app last night for about 6 hours and had lots of people join. It was great!
http://www.lfsforum.net/showth ... =28815&highlight=isrm
I just want to add to this thread that there is a new InSim app out there that handles most of this stuff. It allows pre-staging, staging, and can run Pro or Sportsman lights. It would be better if LFS handled this itself, of course, but this add-on makes a HUGE difference in the realism of drag racing in LFS (along with the new clutch model, of course). And, because the lights in LFS are disregarded, you can do a burnout to warm the tires (and it does make a difference).
I ran a server with this app last night for about 6 hours and had lots of people join. It was great!
http://www.lfsforum.net/showth ... =28815&highlight=isrm
I ran a server with this app last night for about 6 hours and had lots of people join. It was great!
http://www.lfsforum.net/showth ... =28815&highlight=isrm
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