ErikMesa

Well the 9th US Appeals Court has issued a temporary stay prohibiting marriages until the court can review the decision. This was expected honestly and they have indicated they'll do an expedited review. The judge who made the initial verdict did an incredible job framing his entire ruling around constitutional issues that it's going to be very difficult to overturn his decision. I have to believe the 9th Appeals Court will rule in their favor and the case will go to the Supreme Court (SCOTUS). Once at SCOTUS we have to assume the vote will be 4-4 with Justice Kennedy being the swing vote. I believe he'll vote to affirm the lower court verdict and we'll have legalized gay marriage in the United States. From a purely constitutional standpoint the judge did an incredible job with his ruling and when it all comes down to it it's unconstitutional to deny equal protection under the law. Who knows I could even see Chief Justice Roberts voting for gay marriage in this case as I think he's the most liberal of the four conservatives. In theory this could be a 6-3 vote. I remember reading about Brown vs. Topeka (the school segregation case in the 50's) there were a couple of justices who wanted to vote no. Chief Justice Berger was able to persuade them and the verdict 9-0 made it very clear what the courts ruling was. While I can't picture Justice Scalia or Justice Thomas voting to legalize gay marriage even Justice Alito might find it legal on constitutional grounds. It's really up in the air. I think the fact Massachusettes hasn't fallen into the sea or burst into flames like hell indicates alot of these alarmist right wingers are simply stoking fears and nothing else. It would be nice to see SCOTUS finally put an end to this. ErikMesa

The equal protection clause of the constitution is very clear and the supreme court has frequently ruled unless something meets a legitimate public purpose they're not usually willing to toss aside constitutional protections. From desegregating schools to interracial marriage we've seen the courts toss out "laws" passed by politicians and citizens because they violate the constitution. Because the sole claim by opponents of gay marriage is it damages "the traditional definition of marriage" there really is no "legitimate public purpose" claim to be made here. Denying equal rights to protect a "definition" of a word isn't constitutional. Even during the court hearings before the judge the Prop 8 supporter attorney couldn't describe any way that gay marriage would hurt his own heterosexual marriage. Another argument I've seen raised is "children do better in a traditional family with a mother and father" but again gay marriage has nothing to do with this. It's about two adults spending their lives together. Do we deny marriage licenses to everyone who isn't a parent and can't procreate? Until the "right" decides to ban divorce and ban unwed people from having children they basically are nothing but hypocrites on this issue. Amusingly enough there is an individual in California who is trying to get a constitutional ban on divorce on the ballet in California. http://rescuemarriage.org/ I wonder how many of the 52% who voted for Prop 8 would vote for this? It's alot easier to vote to deny someone else rights than it is yourself. In the end this entire issue is about equal protection rights under the constitution. What the public wants to vote for really doesn't matter when the constitution says EQUAL... EQUAL is what you get. ErikMesa

I have a nice computer that runs SC4K well but the DVD-CD-ROM drive is starting to go on it. I've managed to save the entire Rush Hour CD onto my computer HD and I'm wondering if there is any way to just run it off that versus having to have the CD in the drive (which isn't working well). I'm going to replace the DVD-CD-ROM drive eventually but don't want to stop playing SC4K for a couple weeks until I have time to do it. Thanks! ErikMesa

There are two seperate issues here.... Marriage and Legal Rights. I personally believe marriage today is a religious union. If that was the end of it I have no problem with churches only marrying people who believe what they believe. The problem is there are over 1000+ special "rights" that married couples have that non-married individuals don't. Personally I'd like to see the government grant "civil union licenses" that bestow the legal rights and get out of the marriage business completely. Churches can marry who they want that's part of the Constitution and I would defend the right of any church to NOT marry gay couples or anyone else who is against their religious beliefs. Likewise though I wholely defend the equal protection clause of the constitution and believe everyone has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as mentioned in the Declaration of Independence. As for the people in Iowa and every other state who would "vote" on equal rights and who feel people should decide a "definition of marriage" I'd ask a couple of questions.... 1. Do you think the citizens of Topeka, Kansas would've voted to keep segregated schools in 1952? Recall the US Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education striking down the seperate but equal policy of segregation. 2. Do you think the people of Virginia would've voted to allow interracial marriage in 1967? Recall the US Supreme Court ruled 9-0 to overturn a Viriginia State Law prohibiting interracial marriage (Racial Integrity Act of 1924). 3. Do you think the people of Alabama would've voted to integrate their schools at all in 1963? Recall George Wallace and US Marshalls escorting a handful of black students to the school. There are many who would claim homosexuality is a choice and thus not equal to race. There are those who would say "you can change being gay but you can't change being black". I've heard people claim homosexuality occurs because our society allows it yet that hardly explains then why places like Iran have homosexuals (they sure don't accept it there). More recently I've heard even some religious people say "well it's not a choice HOWEVER the act is a sin" in their justification to outlaw acts and marriage and anything else. Is it American to deny people equal rights because of who they are? Freedom of Religion... Freedom FROM Religion. Religions are free to preach what they want and include or exclude who they want. They aren't allowed to force their religious beliefs on non-believers of their doctrine. While they claim courts are "forcing them to accept homosexuality" that's totally untrue. Allowing gay people to marry in no way affects a heterosexual married couple. They're not losing any rights, they're not losing "status", they're not losing anything. Denying a gay couple the equal right to marry DOES cost alot. Rights, taxes, survivor benefits, social security.... on and on for the 1000+ special rights married couples get. Equal Protection.... Unanimous from the Iowa Supreme Court as well.... Equal.... what a concept. ErikMesa

OK I tried to use the optimizer but got this error message when trying to install it. "Error 1721. There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program required for this install to complete could not be run. Contact your support personnel or package vendor. Action: InstTool, location: C:\Windows\...\MSI632F.tmp, command:" Any ideas? Is there another place to download this? Thanks, Erik

Virtual Memory is at 4095 already. I'll try the optimizer. I have read a few places that SC4K isn't compatible with the 32-bit vista but is with 64-bit. I've got a new 64-bit dual core pentium computer on order. Any ideas on that? It's supposed to be for work but I guess I could "borrow" it for SC4K. This is life and death after all!!! ErikMesa

Here is the exception report: Exception time: 12/02/2007, at 10:52:24. Exception code: 0xC0000005 (-1073741819) ACCESS_VIOLATION. Current thread ID: 3348 (0x00000d14). Version information: Application/module path: C:\Program Files\Maxis\SimCity 4\Apps\SimCity 4.exe Application/module version name: SimCity 4 Application/module version: 1.1.640.0 System version: Windows NT 6.0 System memory: 2048 Megabytes total, 900 Megabytes free. Exception module: C:\Program Files\Maxis\SimCity 4\Apps\SimCity 4.exe. Exception address: 0x006b10bc. Sectionffset: 0x01:0x002aa0bc. Registers EAX: 00002021 EBX: 00000000 ECX: 4b400039 EDX: 000000f9 ESI: 0b5e5de8 EDI: 1775c214 CS:EIP: 001b:006b10bc SS:ESP: 0023:0012fc04 EBP:11019e44 DS:0023 ES:0023 FS:003b GS:0000 Flags: 00210246 Loaded Modules Address Size Module Path ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0x00400000 8187904 SimCity 4.exe C:\Program Files\Maxis\SimCity 4\Apps\SimCity 4.exe 0x772e0000 1171456 ntdll.dll C:\Windows\system32\ntdll.dll 0x75f80000 884736 kernel32.dll C:\Windows\system32\kernel32.dll 0x76b30000 647168 USER32.dll C:\Windows\system32\USER32.dll 0x76f60000 307200 GDI32.dll C:\Windows\system32\GDI32.dll 0x75bb0000 782336 ADVAPI32.dll C:\Windows\system32\ADVAPI32.dll 0x75de0000 798720 RPCRT4.dll C:\Windows\system32\RPCRT4.dll 0x73eb0000 28672 WSOCK32.dll C:\Windows\system32\WSOCK32.dll 0x77410000 184320 WS2_32.dll C:\Windows\system32\WS2_32.dll 0x76c50000 696320 msvcrt.dll C:\Windows\system32\msvcrt.dll 0x75ba0000 24576 NSI.dll C:\Windows\system32\NSI.dll 0x76e90000 847872 WININET.dll C:\Windows\system32\WININET.dll 0x76d00000 348160 SHLWAPI.dll C:\Windows\system32\SHLWAPI.dll 0x77400000 12288 Normaliz.dll C:\Windows\system32\Normaliz.dll 0x774d0000 282624 iertutil.dll C:\Windows\system32\iertutil.dll 0x76060000 11329536 SHELL32.dll C:\Windows\system32\SHELL32.dll 0x6fda0000 462848 DSOUND.dll C:\Windows\system32\DSOUND.dll 0x77000000 1327104 ole32.dll C:\Windows\system32\ole32.dll 0x746d0000 208896 WINMM.dll C:\Windows\system32\WINMM.dll 0x75c70000 573440 OLEAUT32.dll C:\Windows\system32\OLEAUT32.dll 0x74690000 229376 OLEACC.dll C:\Windows\system32\OLEACC.dll 0x74ef0000 106496 POWRPROF.dll C:\Windows\system32\POWRPROF.dll 0x752a0000 32768 VERSION.dll C:\Windows\system32\VERSION.dll 0x6cba0000 831488 OPENGL32.dll C:\Windows\system32\OPENGL32.dll 0x74050000 143360 GLU32.dll C:\Windows\system32\GLU32.dll 0x6d350000 942080 DDRAW.dll C:\Windows\system32\DDRAW.dll 0x6db20000 24576 DCIMAN32.dll C:\Windows\system32\DCIMAN32.dll 0x77150000 1605632 SETUPAPI.dll C:\Windows\system32\SETUPAPI.dll 0x70bd0000 49152 dwmapi.dll C:\Windows\system32\dwmapi.dll 0x71cc0000 143360 MSVFW32.dll C:\Windows\system32\MSVFW32.dll 0x73580000 548864 COMCTL32.dll C:\Windows\WinSxS\x86_microsoft.windows.common-controls_6595b64144ccf1df_5.82.6000.16386_none_87e0cb09378714f1\COMCTL32.dll 0x75dc0000 122880 IMM32.dll C:\Windows\system32\IMM32.dll 0x75eb0000 815104 MSCTF.dll C:\Windows\system32\MSCTF.dll 0x74b90000 122880 ShimEng.dll C:\Windows\system32\ShimEng.dll 0x759d0000 180224 apphelp.dll C:\Windows\system32\apphelp.dll 0x6b730000 2162688 AcGenral.DLL C:\Windows\AppPatch\AcGenral.DLL 0x74c40000 258048 UxTheme.dll C:\Windows\system32\UxTheme.dll 0x758a0000 434176 NETAPI32.dll C:\Windows\system32\NETAPI32.dll 0x75b00000 28672 PSAPI.DLL C:\Windows\system32\PSAPI.DLL 0x73dd0000 86016 MSACM32.dll C:\Windows\system32\MSACM32.dll 0x70ba0000 20480 sfc.dll C:\Windows\system32\sfc.dll 0x74be0000 53248 sfc_os.DLL C:\Windows\system32\sfc_os.DLL 0x75a50000 122880 USE

Here is the dxdiag file report: ------------------ System Information ------------------ Time of this report: 12/2/2007, 10:53:13 Machine name: MEDCODE-PC Operating System: Windows Vistatm Home Premium (6.0, Build 6000) (6000.vista_gdr.070828-1515) Language: English (Regional Setting: English) System Manufacturer: HP-Pavilion System Model: RK573AA-ABA a1710n BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+ (2 CPUs), ~2.2GHz Memory: 2046MB RAM Page File: 1000MB used, 5073MB available Windows Dir: C:\Windows DirectX Version: DirectX 10 DX Setup Parameters: Not found DxDiag Version: 6.00.6000.16386 32bit Unicode ------------ DxDiag Notes ------------ Display Tab 1: No problems found. Sound Tab 1: No problems found. Sound Tab 2: No problems found. Input Tab: No problems found. -------------------- DirectX Debug Levels -------------------- Direct3D: 0/4 (retail) DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail) DirectInput: 0/5 (retail) DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail) DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail) DirectSound: 0/5 (retail) DirectShow: 0/6 (retail) --------------- Display Devices --------------- Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT Manufacturer: NVIDIA Chip type: GeForce 7300 GT DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0393&SUBSYS_0393196E&REV_A1 Display Memory: 1016 MB Dedicated Memory: 248 MB Shared Memory: 767 MB Current Mode: 1280 x 960 (32 bit) (60Hz) Monitor: Generic PnP Monitor Driver Name: nvd3dum.dll,nvwgf2um.dll Driver Version: 7.15.0011.6375 (English) DDI Version: 9Ex Driver Attributes: Final Retail Driver Date/Size: 10/4/2007 17:14:00, 4993024 bytes WHQL Logo'd: Yes WHQL Date Stamp: Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-40D3-11CF-3962-982301C2CA35} Vendor ID: 0x10DE Device ID: 0x0393 SubSys ID: 0x0393196E Revision ID: 0x00A1 Revision ID: 0x00A1 Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_A ModeMPEG2_C ModeVC1_B ModeWMV9_B ModeVC1_A ModeWMV9_A Deinterlace Caps: {6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY {B338D50D-A64A-4790-AC01-475B64252A78}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch {6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch {5A54A0C9-C7EC-4BD9-8EDE-F3C75DC4393B}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB

I've actually been able to play SC4K on Vista a bit but the crashes to desktop are very frequent and it's very upsetting. Below are my dxdiag files and the exception message that keeps logging on that SC file. - All my drivers are up to date. - I'm running SC version 640 (with the BAT update - tried 638 no difference still crashes). I've got a very organized plugins folder so no duplicates and I've gone as far as removing all the plugins from the game and it's still crashing! I've scoured the forums and have tried everything even going fresh install and I've tried running on one core. Nothing is working. ErikMesa

Fantastic work. Now to design a city size airport!! ErikMesa

The whole point of the law is that he doesn't have to intend to cause the death. It only states that if a death occurs during the commission of the felony thats enough. It doesn't specify he even has to cause the death just that it occured. Another example. What if a police officer was speeding with red lights and siren a few miles away to join the chase and someone was killed because they ran a red light and hit the police car. Technically thats all it would take because the officer was responding to the felony and the death occurred as a result. I agree its very vague and I also believe it'll be dropped to manslaughter however I do also believe looking at the fact that those copters wouldn't have been there at all if this guy hadn't done this brings the level of guilt required by the statute. The law reads if the person intended to cause the death of a police officer or knew their actions would cause the death. But thats solely in the case of a police officer dealing with one of the felonies and isn't used for a random accident. The key word in that clause is "intend" to cause the death of the police officer. Note though there is no "intent" clause in the rest of the statute only a specification that a death occurs. I agree fully ski. I'd like to see a state law passed that probits the "chasing" of high speed chases by news helicopters. I'm sure the media would claim it violates freedom of the press or whatever but there are alot of things we don't allow to be filmed "like executions" and the courts rule in favor of that type of censorship. ErikMesa

Under the Arizona Felony Murder rule this vehicle thief can be charged with first degree murder. Whether in the Phoenix area, or anywhere in Arizona, per ARS §13-1105 "First Degree Murder" occurs when a person who is intending (or knowing) that his conduct will cause the death of another person, actually does cause the death of another person with premeditation. In addition, First Degree Murder can be charged when a death occurs during the commission of certain felonies. These felonies include: Sexual Assault; Child Molestation; Terrorism; certain Marijuana and Dangerous Drugs offenses which exceed the statutory threshold amounts and involve the use of minors; Burglary; Arson; Robbery; certain types of Escape; Child Abuse; and Unlawful Flight from a Pursuing Law Enforcement Vehicle while in the course of and in furtherance of a felony. In addition, a crime will always be charged as First Degree Murder if a person intended or knew that their conduct would cause the death of a police officer, and they in fact, caused the death of a police officer who was in the line of duty. Theft of a vehicle is a felony in Arizona. Whether in the Phoenix area, or anywhere in Arizona, per A.R.S. §13-1814 "Theft of Means of Transportation" or "Auto Theft" occurs when a person controls somebody else's vehicle with the intent to "permanently" deprive the person of that vehicle. This can occur when a person borrows somebody else's car for a certain amount of time, but then fails to return it within the agreed upon time period. Also, it can occur when somebody give a material misrepresentation in order to get permission to use somebody's vehicle. In addition, it can occur when somebody else's vehicle is lost or mis-delivered to a person, and that person does not use reasonable efforts to notify the true owner. Lastly, it occurs when somebody knows or has reason to know that the car they are driving was, in fact, stolen in the first place. Theft of Means of Transportation is a class three (3) felony and carries varying levels of punishment. A first offense class three (3) felony carries a range of punishment of probation with zero (0) days in jail up to one (1) year in jail; or prison of two (2) years to eight and three quarters (8.75) years of incarceration. If the person has one (1) allegeable historical prior conviction, then the range of "prison only" punishment goes from three and one half (3.5) years to sixteen and one quarter (16.25) years of incarceration. If the person has two (2) allegeable historical prior convictions, then the range of "prison only" punishment is from seven and one half (7.5) years to twenty-five (25) years of incarceration. These quotes are from a lawyers website who practices in Phoenix (I lost the URL - sorry). This guy could be convicted of first degree murder technically. The felony murder law was designed to allow people to be charged with murder who commit crimes that lead to the death of another. Example if this guy had hit someone on the road and killed them its the same thing. The reality is the crash of these helicopters are directly attributable to them being in this location because of this car chase. If this person had not committed this felony they wouldn't have been there. Indirectly he led to their deaths regardless of the actions of the pilots. Another example would be imagine this guy got on the freeway and a car swerved to get out of his way and accidently hit another car and killed someone in that car. This car thief didnt contact that car that hit the other one yet he could be charge with the death because the car swerved because of him. Laws like this are good as far as I'm concerned because they allow for people to be punished for unintended consequences. It's like a drunk driver who kills someone then begs for mercy in court saying "I never meant to kill anyone". I'm sure the guy who stole this truck didn't intend for those four people to die. Nonetheless they did and he's indirectly responsible. Realistically as this guy has a criminal record (I believe I heard that) I expect a plea bargin to manslaughter and a 5-10 year prison sentence. While they may charge him with murder I do believe the lessor charge will be offered and he'll either plea or a jury will convict him of the lessor. While I'd like to see him locked up for the rest of his life (just becasue he's a career criminal and contributes in no way to society) I don't believe they can convict him of first degree murder realistically. ErikMesa

I live in Mesa, AZ and work about 3 blocks from the VA hospital (next to where the copters went down). It's sad because I've never really thought about it but I recognize these guys names. I watched them on TV, saw them on the morning news doing traffic, Rick Krolak was a household name and Scott Bowerback was also known as a veteran pilot. Todays Arizona Republic paper had that terrible picture on the front with the headline "Copters Crash... City Gasps". http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/0728helicopter0728.html This article is about the witnesses to the accident and there are alot of links on the right side to other stories. Personally I'd like to see the FAA regulate these news copters in these cases. I can recall times I've walked out on my patio and seen 4-5 of them hovering nearby over some news story. Stationary it isn't a problem but having so many cover a chase live where they're moving is just asking for trouble. I don't believe there has been an accident like this before yet it's amazing when you think of it. While they're skilled pilots I have to believe its possible to get caught up in the moment and make a tragic mistake. Another issue is police chases in general don't need to be glamorized with live TV coverage. The public doesn't need this type of activity plastered on five TV stations at once. There was also a police helicopter in the area but it was flying above the TV copters (as is usual) and they should have priority. I know in other cases they've ordered news copters away from crime scenes and accident scenes when they're a hazard to rescue helicopters. Those are stationary events and they're a hazard. They don't need to chase down these people. The park where they went down is next door to the VA hospital and is bordered on the other side by Central Avenue which is a main throughfare through downtown. Imagine those copters coming down on the VA hospital and exploding or on Central Avenue where buses constantly run and people work in highrises. This could've been a huge disaster with a huge loss of life. There's just no need for it. We can read about it in the morning news we don't need live action video of some idiot. ErikMesa