SteveThaiBinh

OK, I get it now. So what I'd say in response is that civilian casualties and Abu Ghraib have probably swelled the ranks of those who hate the coalition and are willing to oppose it actively. I can't offer any evidence for this, however I believe I've heard a senior British security person say on TV that recruitment for the IRA always used to go up whenever there was a shooting of a civilian by the police or British soldiers. Can't source it, though. So I agree that we started with a core of haters who were never going to be converted to another view.

So Bastilla runs around killing the Red Eclipse on her own? This is the kind of thing that worries me about Oblivion's 'Radiant AI' or whatever it's called. One little glitch appears, as glitches often do, but it doesn't fade away - instead it takes on a life of its own and starts shooting up the place and screwing up your quests. Still, funny though.

So Iraqi hearts and minds were unwinnable from the outset? Perhaps. You're suggesting that Iraqi public opinion neither affects nor is affected by the success of coalition troops in creating security for Iraqi civilians? I just want to check that's what you're saying before I respond if I can.

You might be right. The focus of the story was on western security contractors, though. How would you go about establishing that the events took place? Speak to witnesses? Hard to track down in a few days, especially since there's no date on the video and the road is notorious for attacks.

I know. I felt deeply ashamed just typing the question. I apologise to all reviewers everywhere. :'(

In the sense of being what it appears to be, rather than a hoax. The presenter made all the necessary caveats, about 'if this proves to be true' and so on. It's not unheard of for a major news network to be fooled by a hoax, but it's fairly rare. They clearly feel it's not, and I have no idea how they would establish that, but it's their reputation on the line, so they've clearly done enough to satisfy themselves.

Tomorrow's tabloid headline: Microsoft Screws Consumers For Profits Shock!

It does seem that buggy releases don't always get the same treatment by reviewers. Kotor 2 got good reviews which barely mentioned the bugs, Bloodlines (perhaps because of Troika's history) got worse reviews, in part because of the bugs. What accounts for this? Is it that some bugs are more apparent than others, or just that reviewers follow the hype?

It seems that people who like us are rather thin on the ground: Link. Do you think all the 82% of people who are 'strongly opposed' to the presence of coalition troops are active in the insurgency? Of course not. There are many complex opinions and many shades of grey. The world doesn't divide neatly into 'with us or against us'. Hildegard hinted that he might be leaving a few days ago. Who know what the reason may be? Whatever it is, I wish you luck.

With less reason, I suspect, than many in their former colonies.

This was the lead story on tonight's ITN news, a very mainstream and respectable news organisation, and not on a slow news day by any means. I guess they've had it checked by some people who know what they're talking about, and it checks out.

Me either, at least not without doing some serious research on the issue. I do get the feeling that the 'coalition' in Iraq has put its threshold somewhere lower than I would. First of all, I don't think many people would blame the squad for firing in self defense. I might blame the commanders for sending the squad into a situation if they knew it was likely that civilians would be killed, but not the squad itself. The problem is that not all situations are as clear cut as the one you mention. Is it so surprising that we hold our own soldiers to a higher standard than the terrorists? Also, there's a case that people are either edging toward or actively trying to build, and these incidents are important for that. It is that a combination of the wrongdoing that we hear of, plus the general lack of capability to pacify Iraq effectively, add up to our making matters worse by being there. We are told that we need to stay in Iraq long enough to finish the job, but if our troops are actually preventing the job from being done, then we need to withdraw them completely. In the past, I've believed that we should stay and at least try to fix the things we broke, but now I suspect that the sooner we leave, the better. If some of my workers had been taken hostage, I would be doing everything in my power to show that they are anti-war and anti-US, in order to increase their chances of being released. Most likely it won't work, as it didn't with Margaret Hassan, as the insurgents do not distinguish between military or civilians, westerners or Iraqis, but it's worth a try.

This law is a disgrace, and I'm surprised more isn't being made of it in the mainstream media. However, most countries don't need a law to glorify their dubious past deeds. In some countries, children learn nothing about history except how wonderful their country has always been.

This, too, shall pass away.

No, I thought so too. Then others on the forum said, with confidence if not with actual evidence, that he was male. So I thought about it, and decided I didn't really care. If he objected to being called a she, or she objected to being called a he, I'm sure he/she would have let us know.

On the one hand, we have the targetting of civilians with the intention of killing civilians, something we would all condemn. On the other hand, we have the targetting of enemy combatants, which results in the accidental deaths of civilians, something some find acceptable (though regrettable), and some find unacceptable. In between, we have a greyer area, of targetting enemy combatants while knowing full well that there are civilians in the way who will be killed by this action. Their deaths can hardly be called accidental, however much the military may regret them. But is this closer to the first example, or to the second?

Still not enough to make me read the NHL thread.

We get some snow. But mostly we get rain. Lots and lots of rain. Still, when global warming kicks in and the Gulf Stream fails, we should get many more snowy cold winters. :ph34r:

Now the Russian National Anthem, after its brief replacement by something rather less memorable by Glinka. I prefer the Marseillaise myself, and am a strong supporter of Billy Connolly's suggestion to replace ours with the theme from The Archers.

No, we didn't get any either. It's a shame, because it's always fun to watch the cats trying to pluck up the courage to go out in it. Here's hoping for a white Christmas.

So there are really two questions here: if Revan was good, why would she leave her friends, and if she was bad, why would she leave her friends? Neither make much sense to me, especially the bad. All bad guys need minions along for the ride, to serve as rancor-distractors/snacks for example.

I had problems one time because I think I installed too many mods - a new error happened that I hadn't seen before. I recommend being very selective - the Telos Academy one and the Handmaiden Cutscene one only. However, you might get lucky and have no trouble if you install everything available.

What exactly is Microsoft's 'certification'? Is it looking for bugs? Does it apply to PC games as well?

Happy Birthday. And thank you for not starting a 'Today is my Birthday' thread over on Way-Off Topic. I've noticed that Amazon.co.uk is getting very unreliable with their release dates. Sometimes a game gets put back, but Amazon takes weeks to update their site.

Fresh snow is beautiful, just after it's fallen. In the UK, you usually get a short cold spell with snow, then after a few days it warms up and the snow melts. In other places, the temperature stays below freezing for weeks, and without fresh snowfall the snow stays on the ground and turns black and horrible. Not pleasant at all. We're supposed to be getting power cuts this winter, but fortunately with the internet, we can all learn how to make an igloo. Apparently the air hole is important for some reason, not sure what.