To Commit a Crime

In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Skyrim) (and probably other computer games in that title), depending on the situation, a certain action may or may not be considered a crime:

• Picking an item up may or may not be considered theft.
• Attacking an actor may or may not be considered assault.
• Killing an actor may or may not be considered murder.

Except in cases with bugs (such as livestock's being able to report crimes), is there any rhyme or reason as to when a crime is recognised? Considering real-life positive law, there may well be.

Law of nature vs. law of the people
In real-life jurisprudence, any given law may be given authority by any of two sources:

• Natural law, which is the law as set by nature and comprehended by reason and justice. If a given law does not possess the authority of natural law, it simply does not feel just or right for it to be enforced. Such a sense of unjustness is strong for people with a developed sense of ethics.
• Positive law, which is the law given authority by the institution of government. If a citizen violates a law with this authority, they can be punished by the government (e.g. fine, imprisonment); where a law does not possess this authority, the government will simply refuse to enforce it, even if a citizen violates such a law.

A Day in the Life of a Dead Dragon

I am sorry, Elder Dragon, for slaying you, but you were terrorising the village of Riverwood and there was not much else that I could do. With the right to self-defense I am allowed to deploy as much force as necessary, but who knew it would need to be of lethal quantity?

Will you forgive me, enslaver of all mortal races? 'No', you contest? How about I make it up to you; let me keep you company for a day. Hopefully you will find it in (what remains of) your heart to do so, if you are not as mortified of the incident as you are right now.

9am
You know what, dragon? No matter how hard I try, I cannot avoid absorbing a dragon's soul, and yours is no exception. Alas, you are stripped of what makes yourself you, and yes, I probably should apologise for that too...

What is this? You took out a Whiterun Guard? Shame on you, dragon; what did he ever do to you, besides attempting to bring you down himself? Perhaps my absorbing your very essence can serve as just punishment for such a heinous act of murder.

The village has started gathering, obviously transfixed by the sight of your skeleton. They have never seen a dragon before, and I cannot blame them; your kind has been absent from the face of Tamriel for centuries, after all. Perhaps you can spend your crippled days in a museum? That way, the citizens of Skyrim can afford their spectacle, and you enjoy the luxury of being polished. How is that for a deal?

My Computer and I: Spring Cleaning

I have bought a new(er) Dell Studio XPS 8100 and since retired my Dimension 8400. Despite a fresh system, sooner or later, problems will arise, often ones that are difficult to troubleshoot. That goes with any computer system, anyway.

I have no formal training in information technology, yet I try to troubleshoot computer problems myself. With that arises a somewhat crude scientific investigation, testing one component at a time until the problem disappears. So, what is the problem this time?

The problem:
Apparently randomly, the display's screen would go blank. Unlike last time, the problem would correct (temporarily) by pulling the plug and rebooting.

The Faction: The Wyrmrest charter [Interview Transcript]

The Hour of Twilight... was not meant to be, at least not yet. Yet, in their deepest despairs, the four Dragon Aspects managed to band together to neutralise a lesser, but nonetheless significant threat: Chromatus. Now, with newfound unity among them, us mortals can now hope, for a new day after the twilight, when Deathwing is finally defeated. Find out what happened to make them who they are today, and how mortal Thrall was of help to such grand beings, on The Faction, only on Critically Analyse.

19th day of 7(1) ES 39
N.B. Spoilers for World of Warcraft: Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects after the jump

Participants

• Deeve Spairs [Deeve]
• Kirygosa [Kiry]
• Aggra [Aggra]

Introduction
[Deeve] /say: Welcome to The Faction, where we will be talking about the charter of sorts forged between the four functioning Dragonflights: Red, Green, Blue and Bronze. Today we have two ladies with us, Kirygosa of the Blue Dragonflight and daughter of the past Malygos...
[Kiry] /yell: [:Draconic;ferocious] Hello.
[Deeve] /s: ...and Aggra, shaman and spouse of Thrall.
[Aggra] /s: [:Orcish;] Well met.

Doomsday: Inside Job

Earth is humanity’s cradle, but by no means can it completely harbour us from harm. Many risks threaten individual lives, but there are some catastrophic enough to wipe out entire species. Is it possible for the prolific human species to face extinction?

We knew the world would not be the same ... "Now I have become Death, the destroyer of worlds"...I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.

J. Robert Oppenheimer, director of the Manhattan Project

History
In 1933, Leó Szilárd proposed that free neutrons could be used to start a chain atomic reaction. In 1938, Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann found barium in a uranium solution bombarded with neutrons. The next year, World War II started, during which the United States undertakes the Manhattan Project. It produced the first working nuclear weapons (atomic bombs), one of which dropped on Hiroshima, Japan and another on Nagasaki (pictured above). These attacks caused Japan to surrender, ending the War.

GST on Gold Selling

As questionable it may be, gold selling is a way to make money. Like any other Australian business, a Australian gold seller may get taxed on their proceeds, and if they have not been declaring such income on their BAS (business activity statement), they may well be running up a tax debt...

Josh, as well as his friends Guy and Sandy, have dipped their toes into the grey market, and are now wondering if they will have to pay GST (Goods and Services Tax). Unfortunately, they find the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act) too daunting to find out themselves. Will you be able to help them?

This problem has been taken out of Understanding Taxation Law 2011 (see bibliography for full citation), and the GST Act as of 1 November 2010 has been referred to.

How to attract the tax collector
In the GST Act:

• s 7-1 says that "GST is payable on taxable supplies and taxable importations".
• s 9-5 says that a taxable supply is made if a supply is made for consideration in the course or furtherance of an enterprise carried on, if it is connected with Australia and the supplier is registered or required to be registered.

In defense of merchanting

Merchanting is the activity of buying items at a low price and selling them higher later. If done properly, the merchanter can make substantial amounts of profit. Given factors such as the non-production of items in the process and an apparent increase in price volatility, this kind of business is often stigmatised.

However, merchanting may serve a useful role in the economy. Such activity can actually help to keep prices more stable and, as a bonus, the merchanter will be rewarded for it.

Elastic supply and demand
Price elasticity is how much the quantity of an item in the market changes with a given change in price. The more elastic the price, the more quantity will change with a given price change. There are two types of elasticity: