The very many questions-not-worth-their-own-thread question thread XXIII

[aimeeandbeatles]

Well that's alarming,

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Only if you have kids.

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

Nowadays, in the naughty parts of the interwebz, it's mainly thrown around a lot, and is used to describe any woman who looks older than 40, even if she doesn't actually have her own offspring.

 

[Cutlass]

It's mainly used for those mothers who are good looking. Kate Beckinsdale and Jessica Alba are mothers, after all.

 

[bhsup]

As is Kathy Ireland!!! *drool drool drool*

In fact, I'd say Kathy is the poster mom of the MILF movement.

 

[metatron]

Reagrding the murder question, bear in mind that unless it is a federal crime being committed, there is no such thing as "American system." Each State, while most are very similar, does it their own way, so there's 50 different systems.

Yeah, i'm aware of that. But compared to continental European civil law they are reasonably close to form a class in my view, the imprecision not withstanding.

Very true. Just for pedantic clarity: the premeditation required for the most major counts of murder is a little slippery and variable. Some states/districts require pretty clear planning to kill. Some classify the act of reaching for a gun and aiming it as enough to satisfy premeditation. Almost all(?) districts classify being in the act of committing a felony sufficient premeditation to satisfy "premeditated murder" even if the killing itself is accidental.

So...
...the guys finding premeditated murder believe she planned the whole thing the way it happened from A to Z but and the ones who found "premeditated felony murder" believe she did go there with some undefined violent intention and whatever she planned gets upgraded to murder, cause that's the way things turned out at the end?

Example: you mug somebody and they have a non-apparent heart condition, suffer a heart attack from the stress, and die. Now you're all the way up into felony(premeditated) murder. Another example, you are a getaway driver for a bank robbery. Your cohort shoots somebody inside, who dies, while you are in the car. You are also guilty of felony(premeditated) murder. Another example: you are a getaway driver for a bank robbery. A cop shoots and kills your accomplice. You are guilty of the felony(premeditated) murder of your accomplice.

Hmm, most of that wouldn't work like that here. Generally (for any crime) you have to have continuous intent here. I.e. if you shoot a shopkeeper during a robbery you could very well get away with a manslaughter conviction (which in that case would be of little help - this is exactly the thing that may be upgraded to manslaughter with a special degree of guilt, which could get you things way outside the maximum sentence for ordinary manslaughter (up to and including life)).
Actually if you are really lucky you could get away with robbery, assault and negligent homicide.
A guy in a gettaway car could in most cases have excellent chances to get away with the maximum sentence for armed robbery.

Anywho, in the concrete case the structure of the verdict could hardly be more foreign to me. Here the whole thing would work very differently. For a killing to qualify as murder one of several criteria has to be met. There are the "big" criteria, which mostly revolve around the intent of the perp (so called "low motives" like sex, greed etc. - these are typically interpreted very conservatively (think necrophilia, or killing to inherit)) and "small" criteria, that are largely modal.
Arias - afaict - could only qualify for one of all of these. That would be cruelty. Here 90% of the trial would have focussed on whether she killed him in this particular fashion on purpose or if that was merely a result of incompetence (i.e. her relative lack of physical strength etc.).
In a restrained court that would not have been unduly impressed with the crime scene photos she might have gotten away with manslaughter and a special degree of guilt. Tough sell, but quite possible.

You probably didn't want to know this. I am merely trying to justify my confusion here.

 

[Farm Boy]

I don't blame you for the confusion. It's confusing! Usually we're big on the mens rea of the perpetrator but the rise of felony murder statutes halfway breaks that foundation of criminal common law by stipulating that the mental state that satisfies the base felony committed satisfies the mens rea required for murder in any resultant deaths even if unforseen.

 

[Radio Noer]

Is there any way to change linear spring constant to torsional/helical spring constant?

 

[madviking]

post that in the science questions thread...

 

[Synobun]

I'm interested in playing some RTS/building games that are somewhat old as my laptop can't run games that have been made post-2008. Something along the lines of Stronghold, or Rise of Nations, or Rise of Legends, or Red Alert 2. Any ideas? Any genre is acceptable.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

The Impressions City Building series of games (Caesar, Pharaoh, Master of Olympus: Zeus, Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom). They are all historical city building games, with Zeus being based more on mythology. They have a focus on building an economy to provide goods for your city's inhabitants.

 

[madviking]

I'm interested in playing some RTS/building games that are somewhat old as my laptop can't run games that have been made post-2008. Something along the lines of Stronghold, or Rise of Nations, or Rise of Legends, or Red Alert 2. Any ideas? Any genre is acceptable.

aoe: aok

 

[anyoldguy]

I'm a big fan of the original Empire Earth. Warcraft 3 and the Frozen Throne expansion are also good calls.

 

[Synobun]

The Impressions City Building series of games (Caesar, Pharaoh, Master of Olympus: Zeus, Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom). They are all historical city building games, with Zeus being based more on mythology. They have a focus on building an economy to provide goods for your city's inhabitants.

I used to play Caesar as a small child, and honestly I've forgotten about the series it comes from. I will need to check it out, thank you!

aoe: aok

I'm a big fan of the "Age of ____" series! Definitely a fan of that resource + build system.

I'm a big fan of the original Empire Earth. Warcraft 3 and the Frozen Throne expansion are also good calls.

Empire Earth is pretty fun, but my laptop runs 2 rather poorly and 3 not at all. I've honestly always thought Warcraft was World of Warcraft so I suppose I'll need to be checking that one out.

 

[Traitorfish]

aoe: aok

Seconded. Holds up very well for a game made in a time now-indistinguishable from the Medieval world it depicts.

 

[madviking]

you might also be able to get aom running. dunno exactly how processor heavy it is though.

 

[Quackers]

Seconded. Holds up very well for a game made in a time now-indistinguishable from the Medieval world it depicts.

My friends found this to be the best AOE, I always preferred the first AOE and the third one. The buildings and size of everything always felt a little off; it is still a fantastic game though.

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

I've noticed that in works of fiction in the fantasy genre, someone will say something like "a fell wraith" or "a fell voice being heard". What exactly does the word "fell" mean in these contexts?

 

[MagisterCultuum]

The adjective "fell" means "strong and cruel nature; eagre and unsparing; grim; fierce; ruthless; savage."

In common speech these days, we rarely hear the word outside of crystallized phrases like "one fell swoop." However, it seems to have been the favorite adjective of J.R.R. Tolkien. He uses it a lot in The Lord of the Rings (not only for things like the monsters the Ring Wraiths rode, but also for Gandalf), which may have inspired other fantasy writers to do likewise.

 

[Glassfan]

Blatter attacks 'unacceptable' Roma racism fine

FIFA President Sepp Blatter is protesting to the Italian football authorities over a decision to only fine Roma (EURO)50,000 ($64,865) after their fans racially abused AC Milan players.
Play was stopped for almost two minutes during the second half of Sunday's game when visiting Roma supporters would not stop chanting at Milan players Mario Balotelli and Kevin-Prince Boateng.

Warnings issued over the stadium speaker system went unheeded, leading to a Serie A match being suspended due to racism for the first time.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter has put renewed vigor into the fight against racism since Milan midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng led his teammates off the pitch when he was racially abused during a friendly against an Italian fourth-tier side in January.