On September 11, 2010, the extremist evangelical Dove World Church ? whose pastor, Terry Jones, has written a book called ?Islam Is Of The Devil? ? plans to host ?International Burn a Quran Day,? when it will burn Islam’s sacred text and encourage others across the world to do so as well. Church member Wayne Sapp has even posted an instructional video that explains how and why to burn the Quran.

But today the Wall Street Journal reports that Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said the planned burning of Qurans “could put the lives of American troops in danger and damage the war effort“:

Petraeus said the Taliban would exploit the demonstration for propaganda purposes, drumming up anger toward the U.S. and making it harder for allied troops to carry out their mission of protecting Afghan civilians.

“It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort,” Gen. Petraeus said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here [in Afghanistan], but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community.”

The first week of September brought about a bunch of new PC game announcements, including the news that a certain title 13 years in the making may finally be coming out after all. Let's look back at the past seven days:

Exclusive features

• Reviews: We give our final verdicts for the crime action game Mafia 2 and the puzzle title Tidalis.
• Boot Disk: Our retro games column takes a look back at the hacker-themed classic Uplink.

Downloads

• Amnesia: The Dark Descent demo: Try out this sample of the upcoming horror-themed first person adventure game.
• Lost Horizon demo: Its a small taste of the PC adventure game.
• Company of Heroes Online Install Client: Relic is letting folks try out its upcoming WWII-themed persistent RTS game for free.
• Blood Good Time trailer: Check out the first glimpse of this over-the-top multiplayer action game.
• Firefall trailers: Check out this cinematic trailer and this long gameplay walkthrough for this just announced online shooter.

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: August 30 - September 5

The Best of Big Download: August 30 - September 5 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 05 Sep 2010 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just because you didn't attend PAX this year doesn't mean you can't tell your friends and loved ones that you totally did. Just click through our gallery and memorize every nook and cranny of the expansive show floor. Then you'll be ready when your friends and family try to test your story. "Ricky, when you were at PAX, did you see a giant dinosaur statue, Phoenix Wright cosplayers and Jonathan Blow working on a laptop?" You bet your sweet ass I did, grandma.

But enough with the words, let the images commence!

PAX 2010: A visual tour originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 05 Sep 2010 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just two days after revealing its stewardship of the Duke Nukem Forever title at PAX, Gearbox Software just revealed that it has actually purchased the Duke Nukem brand. Gearbox president Randy Pitchford told an audience at PAX this afternoon that they're not just making sure Duke Nukem Forever makes it to store shelves, but they've actually purchased the entire Duke Nukem IP. "We actually bought the brand," Pitchford told fans. "We bought Duke Nukem."

A press release timed to go out with the announcement has some more information. Here's the big picture quote: "Gearbox Software announced today that it has acquired the full intellectual property rights of the 'Duke Nukem' brand including Duke Nukem Forever and all future projects in a cooperative deal made with 3D Realms." Even more interesting: "The first product to be available under the Duke Nukem brand will be the long awaited Duke Nukem Forever." Naturally, if they're buying the brand you can imagine DNF won't be the last game to feature the Duke.

Pitchford made a point to say that Alan Blum, the creator of the Duke Nukem franchise, is now with Gearbox. "He's on the 10th floor with his team," he said. He also wanted to explain that this franchise couldn't simply have been purchased by anyone. "I didn't buy it from [3D Realms]," Pitchford said. "They sold it to me." In the press release, 3D Realms' Scott Miller said, "Gearbox was handpicked as the new home for Duke Nukem because of their continued passion, commitment and long-time heritage with the brand and 3D Realms."

Continue reading 'We bought Duke Nukem.' Franchise rights transferred from 3D Realms to Gearbox

'We bought Duke Nukem.' Franchise rights transferred from 3D Realms to Gearbox originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 05 Sep 2010 19:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Somewhere there's an alternate dimension where monster games like Rampage and War of the Monsters are not oddities but rather fine examples of a whole "monsters destroying crap" genre. Eat Them!, which I played recently at PAX 2010, is a game directly from that dimension.

In Fluffy Logic's (Savage Moon) upcoming PSN release, you play as a monster that you've customized every slimy, scaly inch of, from his shoulder rockets to his tentacle legs. Then ... well, you destroy shit.

Continue reading Eat Them! preview: War of the Rampage

Eat Them! preview: War of the Rampage originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 05 Sep 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A new, bug-free version of Crackdown 2's "Toy Box" DLC pack was released yesterday morning on Xbox Live Marketplace, according to Ruffian Games. Unfortunately, rather than a patch, the DLC has been re-issued, meaning that folks who downloaded the content will need to delete it and redownload. The new version fixes issues ranging from "crash on loading" to issues with the narrator's voice and Achievement problems, which we reported on earlier this week.

Ruffian says that the glitches were "caused by problems mastering the DLC package," thus the reissue rather than a patch. The developer assures players that "all will be fine" after the download, which was available publicly as of yesterday morning. We've yet to hear of any issues with the re-release, but feel free to let us know if you find any.

Crackdown 2 'Toy Box' DLC crashing issues resolved by reissue originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 05 Sep 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Since Congress passed its health care legislation expanding health insurance to tens of millions of Americans earlier this year, leading conservatives have debated about the best way to oppose it. Some have advocated for simply repealing the entire bill wholesale, while others have argued for a “repeal and replace” strategy that would replace the legislation with a yet-to-be-determined conservative plan for health care.

Scott Tipton, the Republican candidate for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, is advocating for a third option: rather than repealing the legislation or replacing it with something else, he wants to “choke off funding” for the legislation, effectively stifling its effectiveness without doing anything to improve the U.S. health care system:

The Republican candidate for the 3rd Congressional District called for reductions in the size of the federal government and said he would vote to ?choke off funding? for health-care legislation passed by the current Congress. Scott Tipton spoke to about 110 people, most of them supporters, Thursday night in a town-hall meeting in the Grand Junction City Council chambers. [...]

Health-care legislation will cost $2.2 trillion over the next 10 years, Tipton said, and the only way to bring those costs under control is to cut them in the House, which controls the nation?s purse strings.

Tipton’s desire to “defund” health reform has previously been floated by Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) and Newt Gingrich.

Purely on the facts, Tipton is wrong to imply that cutting off funding for the recently passed health care bill would rein in the deficit. The bill already serves to cut the deficit, and repealing certain provisions or denying them the funds to be utilized would only end up costing the country more in the long run.

Putting deficit concerns aside, a far greater cost to denying funding for the legislation would be borne by the 3rd District Coloradans that Tipton is running to represent. As of estimates made in 2009, a quarter of the people in the district lacked any sort of health care coverage whatsoever. Hospitals in the district who have to care for these uninsured residents without compensation have calculated that they’ve paid “$94 million in annual uncompensated care costs in recent years.” When a surgery center in the district offered free care to residents one day late last year, people were so desperate to be able to be one of the few the center was able to take care of that some of them slept in its parking lot (less than half were actually offered care).

Thanks to Congress’s recently passed bill, an additional 106,000 district residents will be able to get insured and hospitals will be able to reduce the funds they spend on uninsured residents by $84 million annually. That is, if the legislation is fully funded. If Tipton gets his way, more than a hundred thousand people in his district will be unable to get health insurance, and hospitals will continue to expend countless tens of millions of dollars on caring for the uninsured.

In their quest to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest two percent of Americans, many leading Republicans have invented a fantasy world in which tax cuts always pay for themselves through increased economic growth. Extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich would cost $830 billion in lost revenue over the next ten years, but nonetheless, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) claimed, “You should never have to offset cost” of tax cuts, while Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) said, “tax cuts should not have to be offset.? Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) went a step further, falsely claiming that the Bush tax cuts have actually “increased revenue.”

But on CNBC today, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), the ranking GOP member on the House Budget Committee, splashed some cold water on that delusion, saying dismissively, “I?m not one of these people who says that say that all tax cuts pay for themselves”:

ZANDI: Congressman, the president has proposed allowing the tax rates for upper income individuals to rise back to where they were in the 1990s, the CBO says that?s going to cost $700 billion over the next ten years. Do you those estimates are correct?

RYAN: I actually, I don?t think they’re correct. … But the CBO just gave us a report, Mark, the other day, that said that if we allow these top tax rates to expire, it?s going to cost us 1.25 million jobs next year, it?s going to shave off a full percentage point off of GDP, and it?s going to slow down the economy.

QUICK: But Paul, you just quoted the CBO on those numbers, but disagreed with them on the others. Where did CBO get it wrong on the other numbers?

RYAN: Well, on the revenues, because I believe you?ll get faster economic growth. Look, I?m not one of these people who says that all tax cuts pay for themselves, but tax cuts on the margins is where the growth occurs. And that does make a difference.

Watch it:

Ryan has received tremendous praise from his GOP colleagues for his supposed policy knowledge and economic smarts. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin called Ryan “sharp,” while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich labeled him “extraordinarily formidable,” and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) touted that Republicans, “led by Congressman Paul Ryan, have already identified $1.3 trillion in specific spending cuts.” Indeed, Paul is absolutely correct that tax cuts don’t always pay for themselves.

However, his smarts didn’t stop him from contradicting himself seconds before that moment of lucidity in the CNBC interview. As host Becky Quick pointed out, Ryan quoted the Congressional Budget Office approvingly when their numbers supported his argument, but questioned their estimates moments earlier when they did not fit his narrative.

Two weeks ago, Amanda Terkel signed off for the last time as deputy editor at ThinkProgress. You may have already seen some of her articles at the Huffington Post, where she is now a senior politics reporter. After approximately six years at the Center for American Progress, Amanda was ready to tackle a new challenge. While it?s sad not having her around the office, we?re excited to see her incredible creative talents being put towards a good cause.

Amanda was the most prolific blogger in ThinkProgress history, authoring literally thousands of posts for us. She started as a junior researcher on the team over five years ago, and worked her way up to become one of the top progressive bloggers on the web ? in addition to being one of its leading female writers.

Though small in stature, Amanda had a towering presence that we’ve all looked up to throughout the years. Around the office, Amanda was a close friend and mentor to both staff and interns. She always had a smile on her face, a story to tell, and a blog post idea to write up. Here?s a sampling of our favorite Amanda posts (though our long-time readers will probably have others to share in the comments section):

I Was Followed, Harassed, And Ambushed By Bill O?Reilly?s Producer [Link]

O?Reilly Attacks Me As A ?Villain? For Highlighting His Rape Comments [Link]

Taking Advantage Of Citizens United, Dirty Coal Groups Form 527 To Elect Industry-Friendly Republicans [Link]

Cantor Says Federal Spending Doesn?t ?Create Jobs? ? At Job Fair With Companies Funded By The Stimulus [Link]

State Rep: In Oklahoma, There?s A ?Feeling That Women Aren?t Capable Of Making Reproductive Decisions? [Link]

Right-Wing Radio Host On NY Mosque: ?I Hope Somebody Blows It Up? [Link]

Bush wipes his hand on Clinton?s shirt after shaking hands with Haitian residents. [Link]

Malkin On Detainee Suicides: ?Boo-Freakin-Hoo? [Link]

Pimp My Congressional Office [Link]

No Mention Of Iraq In Bush?s Presidential Library Bio [Link]

NBC Censors Sexual Orientation Of Openly Gay Gold Medalist Diver [Link]

Bush Stimulates The Porn Industry With His Economic Package [Link]

DC Madam Customer David Vitter Is Outraged By The ACORN Prostitution Scandal [Link]

Hannity?s Hypocrisy: Criticizing Colleges For Taking Money From Saudi Prince Who Funds Fox [Link]

Why The ?Professional Left? Continues To Hold Obama Accountable [Link]

Did Palin write the answers to Tea Party Convention questions on her hand? [Link]

Texas lawmaker: Asians should change their names to make them ?easier for Americans to deal with.? [Link]

Though she’ll kill us for revealing that she shed a few tears during her goodbye, we’re pretty sure we miss her more. We?ll be rooting for your success, Amanda! Best wishes.

If you’d like to send Amanda a goodbye note, drop her a line at byebyeamanda@gmail.com.

At a meeting with “well-heeled” Republicans at the GOP Lincoln Club in Irvine, CA yesterday, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) promoted his book, “Give Us Liberty – A Tea Party Manifesto,” and outlined many of his familiar political arguments. But he also shared an odd conspiracy theory:

Armey bashed Barack Obama and Democrats even harder – the former economics professor said the president was “economically ignorant” and accusing Democrats of widespread voter fraud, saying it bad votes accounted for 3 percent of elections.

“I’m tired of people being Republican all their lives and then changing parties when they die,” quipped Armey, 70.

The idea that dead people are voting Democratic is even more of a reach than popular and well-debunked ACORN conspiracy theories. While it’s true that many states have dead people on their voter rolls, it’s simply an administrative problem that is easily resolved by checking voter rolls against the Social Security Administration’s national death list. While some far-right outlets like CNS News scare-monger over supposed “zombie voters” being used in fraud schemes, there has been no evidence of any widespread practice of voters pretending to be dead people.

Armey seems to believe that not only does this happen, but that it accounts for 3 percent of votes cast during elections. In the 2008 general election, 132,645,504 people cast a vote, which means that if Armey’s theory is correct, almost 3.8 million of them were dead.

It’s hard to imagine how Armey came up with this conspiracy. Perhaps he took the title of Jason Mattera’s recent anti-Obama screed literally.