Help us fix old issues

[The United Kingdoms of Christ]

I don't believe it's appropriate to use the name of a religion in the name of a person in an issue.

Tough. It's humorous.

Furthermore, the Catholic Church opposes the death penalty.

See above answer. Additionally, it's not like the Catholic church has never put anyone to death.

Also, no one ever addressed this concern:
*snip stuff about Norma Roe*

Again - funny. You can't expect to wipe everything that goes against the Catholic church from the issues.

Your concern wasn't addressed because it wasn't viewed as something to be concerned about. I haven't replied to all the suggestions here - though when I next work on a list of fixes, I'll review all the posts. However, the suggestions you've made will not be incorporated - they're neither necessary nor desirable. End.

You are right. It's humorous... to those who show like showing their bias and bigotry toward someone's particular religion and is obviously comfortable misrepresenting them through generalizations to make their own personal cheap shots. I'd be very interested to know if you think it would be funny to use Islamic names for names of characters advocating terrorism and violence, to use Darwinian names for characters who advocate racism, to use Jewish names for bankers or hollywood producers, or how about Nazi names for those who support abortion and fetal cell research. Might there be plenty of people who think those would very funny too? My sincere apologies if I take a condescending tone. I'm sure this is just a fluke oversight and that no real bias or hypocrisy is intended on your part.

[Sedgistan]

You're getting offended over the use of a religion in a name (ridiculous, given that the name "Christian" is common - both as a first and second name - are you offended by Yusuf Islam too?), that an individual with the @@FAITH@@ surname is supporting the death penalty (when @@FAITH@@ is whatever you put in the field - and most religions, Catholic church included, have executed people at various times), and because there's a reference to the name of an individual against abortion.

We're asking for people to identify which issues need fixing, not who needs their sense of humour fixing.

[Central Lothian]

I got the "Is our children learning?" issue with our fascist alterego Midlothian today. And I noticed this:

4. <snip> You can't make omelets without breaking a few eggs.

Unless it's spelled differently in America, I think the word you're looking for is "omelettes".

[Luna Amore]

Both omelets and omelettes are correct.

[Meon]

I don't know if this in the right place, but:

Following new legislation in Meon, a fashion designer has been arrested for inciting hatred after claiming redheads couldn't pull off vermillion.

This really annoys me because I never outlawed anything like this. When the issue came to me, it asked me if I wanted to ban someone inciting genocide. So I ban incitement to genocide, and now someone is arrested for something conpletely different. Word issues properly.

[Sedgistan]

You need to read them properly:

1. "I can't believe we're even debating this," says @@RANDOMNAME@@, who was present at the infamous speech. "Doesn't it worry you that a man, who would obviously be happier if we all died horrible, painful deaths, is allowed to walk around in public? Let him continue and he'll cause a riot! Free speech is supposed to protect people! But talking about genocide and killing, well... that doesn't help anyone. It breaks society. It drives us apart. Hate speech is a very serious crime, @@LEADER@@. You can't just ignore it."

...as well as the FAQs:

Why is my nation so weird?

Everything is exaggerated a little. Well, okay, a lot. Your decisions affect your nation very strongly, so your country might seem like a more extreme version of what you were aiming for. Unless you have radical politics. In which case you probably think nothing's wrong.

My decision had unintended consequences!

Yep, that'll happen. For one thing, see "Why is my nation so weird?" above. For another, pretty much every decision you make will involve a trade-off of some kind. It's kind of an exercise in choosing the best of a bunch of bad options. You might find this frustrating, especially if you're the kind of person who thinks the solutions to all the world's problems are obvious.

[The United Kingdoms of Christ]

You're getting offended over the use of a religion in a name (ridiculous, given that the name "Christian" is common - both as a first and second name - are you offended by Yusuf Islam too?), that an individual with the @@FAITH@@ surname is supporting the death penalty (when @@FAITH@@ is whatever you put in the field - and most religions, Catholic church included, have executed people at various times), and because there's a reference to the name of an individual against abortion.

We're asking for people to identify which issues need fixing, not who needs their sense of humour fixing.

I'm not even Roman Catholic. I just dont agree with misrepresenting someone else's viewpoint. There is a huge difference between what the catholic church practiced centuries ago in its darkest days of corruption and what the they do now. They have gone through exstensive reforms and changes in the last few centuries if you hadnt noticed, and their teaching on the death penalty today is not ambiguous in the least. If you dont care, fine. But how can it be funny if its not even accurate. It makes about as much sense as Joe Buddhist says eat more beef. If you want to make fun of catholicism at least make fun of things they might actually stand for like banning birth control or papal infallibility. Just a thought.

[Sedgistan]

It isn't saying anything about the Catholic church. Read again. It uses the @@FAITH@@ macro for the surname, which uses whatever a player has set as their national religion. That could be Islam, Pastafarianism, Atheism, Ponyism, Bieberism. To repeat - it's not saying anything about the Catholic church.

[Steel and Fire]

This is more "fixing new issues" but...

Issue 276:
"Kill them! Kill them all! Or… you know, just ban them",
"Banning clowns is a little extreme, if you ask me",
"It's not always about the kids",

Issue 267:
"THIS IS A DISGRACE",
"I don't see what the problem is",

Sedge & Maurepas—punctuation goes inside quotation marks in dialogue. Geez. :P

[Imperialist Monarchy]

Power Problems Need Bright Solution

The comma in this sentence should be removed:

We must switch power production to forms of renewable energy, that will never run out.

[Nation of Quebec]

Found a typo in issue #303, Digital Revolution Requires Re-evaluation.

"You folks are missin' your best bet," celebrity race car driver Hope Bronte whispers in your ear, while wearing a jumpsuit covered in product logos. "Us racers have lead the way towards makin' product placement the must-have advertising choice. Ain't no need to ban content they cain't stand. All you gotta do is hide the action behind a Microcosm computer or hold an Eckie-Ecola in front of the naughty bits, and nobody gets hurt. Them internet fellas done figured out how to throw ad banners in front of the stuff you want to see; just do the same thing on the teevee sets. Everybody wins!"

Unless this is intentional, there's an i where it shouldn't be in can't.

[Frisbeeteria]

Unless this is intentional, there's an i where it shouldn't be in can't.

It's intentional. I reckon y'all don't spend a lotta time lissenin' to NASCAR driver interviews.

[Nation of Quebec]

Unless this is intentional, there's an i where it shouldn't be in can't.

It's intentional. I reckon y'all don't spend a lotta time lissenin' to NASCAR driver interviews.

Nope, although I thought that this was probably a character quirk. Wanted to make sure.

[Frisbeeteria]

It's actually the same derivation as "ain't" = "are not" :: "cain't" = "can not". Believe it or not, it's enshrined in the works of Rodgers and Hammerstein as I Cain't Say No from Oklahoma. Perfectly legitimate southern argot.

[Christian Democrats]

ISSUE 225: Prayer In Public Schools?

2. "Hey now, if there's going to be compulsory school prayer then there ought to be an opt-out system," says Ali Suzuki, a concerned parent. "I don't want my boy to be an part of this collective worship nonsense."

Option #2 ought to say "a part."

[Solanum-Blaatone]

I found a typo in the issue "Public Loudspeakers Shrill With Controversy". In suggestion #2, the word "miniature" is spelled "minature", missing an "I".

[The Amyclae]

These suggestions are by no means definitive! I'm an idiot at grammar but I thought I might as well proffer up some suggestions.

#305

---

"In fact, we should tighten regulations on robber barons to ensure they put our workers first. And make them pay a little more in taxes to help support @@NAME@@'s hard-working people as well! Sure, the businesses may not like it, but it will help out the common man. Help the 99%!"

'Ensure' likely needs a 'that' after it ("...robber barons to ensure that they put our workers first.")


#304

---

"Offering different lengths of parental leave based on sex is discrimination!" yells well-known egalitarian @@RANDOMNAME@@, pounding on your desk. "And it also disadvantages gay couples. Why shouldn't a lesbian mother have time off when her partner gives birth? I say we offer both parents six months' fully paid leave, regardless of sex. It's pricey, but it's the only way to be fair. Oh, and parents who've just adopted can have it too."

I don't believe disadvantages is a word though I can see its allure. I suggest that it be replaced with 'discriminates against,' 'singles out' or something similar.



#303

---

"Advances in the state of the art of television recording devices"

I think that the definitive article 'the' used above could be removed. Also, the 'of' could be removed. I'm terrible at hyphenation but I believe 'state of the art' should be 'state-of-the-art.'

"I caught my kid watching a DVR recorded from a late-night cartoon"

I believe 'recorded' should be 'recording.'


#302

---

"If you banned cars from our roads and focused on bikes and mass transit, we'd all be safer, and our environment would be cleaner, too."

I'm absolutely terrible at punctuation but I think it would be better if we changed the commas around. Also, three uses of 'and' is at least one too many. My suggestion is "If you banned cars from our roads, focused on bikes and mass transit, we'd be safer and the environment would be cleaner."

On a related note: "And the pizza industry will probably take a hit too, since it'll be harder to deliver the pizzas. But that doesn't matter: our safety and the planet's future do!"

I don't think there is anything horrible about starting two successive sentences with an 'and' or 'but,' yet in this case the fix seems easy enough. "The pizza industry will take a hit too, since it'll be harder to deliver the pizzas, but that doesn't matter. Our safety and the planet's future does!"

"Well, my laboratory's been developing this compact flying courier robot..."

I think we could nix laboratory's for a the sensible 'laboratory has.'

Anyhow, that's it for now.

[Frisbeeteria]

The Amyclae, all of your suggestions reflect idiomatic choices rather than mistakes. In some cases, the author and editors chose to deliberately make the speaker's grammar less than perfect. In others, you're reading something into a sentence that wasn't intended. For instance, "Advances in the state of the art of television recording devices" is referring to advances in the technology, not the device itself, and is thus formed correctly.

If you have strong opinions on such topics, you should participate in the drafting debates elsewhere in this subforum. I encourage that, in fact, as many posters could benefit from alternate phrasing suggestions. As for ex-post-facto changes, we're not going to make them unless there is an obvious error that affects clarity and understanding of the issue.

[Chinese Regions]

"I agree," chimes in Johann Catholicism, an anti-drug campaigner, waving a banner which reads 'Don't Be a Fool, Drugs Aren't Cool'. "Did you ever stop to think that our foreign neighbours might have the right idea? A zero-tolerance attitude to the drugs issue is what this country needs! Death to the dealers!"

I don't believe it's appropriate to use the name of a religion in the name of a person in an issue. Furthermore, the Catholic Church opposes the death penalty. According to paragraph 2267 of the Catechism:

Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.

If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.

Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm - without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity "are very rare, if not practically non-existent."

Also, no one ever addressed this concern:

On a completely different note, the use of the name "Norma Roe" in option 2 of Issue #268 annoys me. It's obviously a real-life reference to Norma McCorvey ("Jane Roe" from the 1973 case Roe v. Wade), who's now a pro-life activist. McCorvey doesn't support "the right to choose" as depicted in the issue. There normally aren't real-life references as explicit as this in issues, and I think it's in bad taste. In my opinion, "Norma Roe" should be changed to @@RANDOMNAME@@; or the reference to the real-life abortion controversy in the United States should be made less explicit (e.g. the name "Doe Bolton" would be better because it refers to a case name instead of a person).

I remember a issue with a Christian preacher who had the name "A. Jedi"

[The Amyclae]

The Amyclae, all of your suggestions reflect idiomatic choices rather than mistakes. In some cases, the author and editors chose to deliberately make the speaker's grammar less than perfect. In others, you're reading something into a sentence that wasn't intended. For instance, "Advances in the state of the art of television recording devices" is referring to advances in the technology, not the device itself, and is thus formed correctly.

If you have strong opinions on such topics, you should participate in the drafting debates elsewhere in this subforum. I encourage that, in fact, as many posters could benefit from alternate phrasing suggestions. As for ex-post-facto changes, we're not going to make them unless there is an obvious error that affects clarity and understanding of the issue.

Haha, no, I don't have strong feelings at all! I just remember seeing one of the issues and being like "ew." Some of them I'm still a bit unsure of, I don't know anyone who walks around throwing three and's in a sentence (except for thirteen-year-old girls: "and then I was like 'yay,' and then I was like 'woh,' and finally I was like 'I fucking love Justin Bieber! Tee-hee-hee.") but idioms, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder... Or, in this case, the mod.

[Ballotonia]

Option 3 of "#312 The Empire Strikes First?": "seen mad" -> "seem mad".
Option 2 of "#313 Conscientious Objectors Want You... To Let Them Abstain": "all sorts threats" -> "all sort of threats".
Option 3 of "#313 Conscientious Objectors Want You... To Let Them Abstain": "in military" -> "in the military".
Option 1 of "#314 An Affair to Remember?": duplication in text, "turning to turning to".

Ballotonia

[Frisbeeteria]

Option 3 of "#312 The Empire Strikes First?": "seen mad" -> "seem mad".
Option 2 of "#313 Conscientious Objectors Want You... To Let Them Abstain": "all sorts threats" -> "all sort of threats".
Option 3 of "#313 Conscientious Objectors Want You... To Let Them Abstain": "in military" -> "in the military".
Option 1 of "#314 An Affair to Remember?": duplication in text, "turning to turning to".

Ballotonia

Oops. *Blames Sedgistan*

[Ballotonia]

The twice single quote issue ( ' ' instead of " ) shows up in option 1 and 2 of "#309: Guerrilla Grandparents".

Option 1 of "#309: Guerrilla Grandparents": Either use a "." instead of a "," or a lowercase d within "Do" in: "...as Logan, ''Do you..."
Same for option 3: "Minister of Finance, "But we ..."

Ballotonia

[Ballotonia]

Option 1 of "#310: Too Little Talk?", "weathiest" -> "wealthiest".

Ballotonia

[Besaida]

In the question "The Empire Strikes First", there is an error in choice number three.

3."If these countries don't respect international law, why would they respect international agencies?" wonders political analyst Miranda Sanchez. "Our neighbours are acquiring these weapons for a reason - because no one wants to pick a fight with a country that has weapons of mass destruction. The solution is simple - if we have WMDs of our own, they won't dare to strike at us. It may seen mad, but in this crazy world, it's the sanest thing we could do."


It should either be "It may seem mad" or "It may be seen as mad".

I just figured I should point this out, and I think this is the correct forum to do so.