Guard Dog

I wish I could agree with that. But after hundreds of years of bitter hatred there will only be peace when one or the other is wiped out.

Two other notes. If we were to walk away and allow the country to disintegrate then evey death over there was for nothing. I never believed the invasion was about WMDs. That was a pretext. It was about strategy. It was the US and UK taking a big picture view. Having Iraq Uzbekistan and Afghanistan united and allied against Iran would have surrounded them and made it impossible for them to resist an invasion. That would probably make them more agreeable and make an invasion less likely. The mistake they made was assuming Iran would not realize this or meekly allow it to happen. Instead they are arming and supporting Al Qaeda in Iraq. If I were in charge I'd have scores of OV-10 Broncoes patrolling the Iran Iraq border armed with heat sensors and rockets and on call artillery ready to fire on anything that moves across. But they don't because the do not want to piss someone else off. Sad mistake.

I have avoided Iraq threads because they tend to dissolve into partisan bickering about Bush, unlawful war, whose intelligence said what, who had WMDs etc. There are very few military veterans on this board and, of all of them, I think only one other (Giftd1) has served in a combat zone. Odds I will not convince anyone I'm right and I doubt anyone is going to convince me they are right because we have different perspectives. But Wals has hit on an important point here that I wonder why the coalition has not done more to exploit. The Al Qaeda fighters are not Iraqis. To them the lands and buildings are no more than lines on a map. Their desire is to hurt the enemy at any cost. The Sunni insurgency has a different goal, to seize total control of the country. But as Wals correctly points out it will be for naught if the country they seize is a smoking ruin. I agree completely. And it is foolish and reckless in the extreme for "leaders" like US Presidential candidates John Edwards and Barack Obama to suggest the war on terror is nothing but a political slogan. The democratic party would rather lose the war and win the next election than do what must be done now, right or wrong. Thank God Wendell Wilkie and the Republican Party did not behave this way in 1941. History would be very different for many of us. IMHO the war was brilliantly executed. Everything since has been a debacle. It has been that way because the coalition has been unable to accept the realities of the middle east. When the Soviet Union collapsed the counties of eastern Europe transitioned peacefully and enthusiastically to free, parliamentary republics for the most part. It was easy to do because by and large their borders not only marked limits of territory but in most cases encapsulated and separated unique cultures and ethnic identities. And where it did not the counties usually broke up like Czechoslovakia. Iraq did not exist as a country until after WWI when the LON combined three autonomous and culturally distinct regions Mosul, Baghdad, and Basra together. The only reason peace was kept so long is that the cultural hatreds were militarily suppressed by the controlling faction. First the British, then the Hashemites, finally Saddam. The US assumed that once Saddam was overthrown the country would pull itself up and revel in their freedom. We all know now what really happened was chaos as long suppressed ethnic hatred came boiling up. The biggest mistake we have made was to try to keep Iraq whole. It would have been wisest to break it up into three regions and separate these people who would rather die than live together. But we did not for fear of angering Turkey. The other option would be to militarily suppress the Sunnis and Shia's in the same heavy handed manner as past governments. But we did not for fear of angering the UN. Men like Al Sadr should have "disappeared" the moment they began stirring up trouble but they did not for fear of angering the Shia's. We cannot tiptoe through the middle east, being weak and indecisive for fear of pissing some one off. Doing what is right is going to anger someone and you cannot make an omelet without breaking eggs. That appears to be a lesson we are incapable of learning. That facts are, Al Qaeda is there now, a pseudo-civil war is beginning and we must either revisit one of the 3 options I laid out, or tell them all to go to hell and pull out. But before the coalition troops leave I say we give every Shia and Sunni man over 14 a rifle and a full clip. At least that way there will be a lot fewer of them when we have to go back and invade again 10 years from now. That is my $.02

I guess it can happen to anyone. You get so stressed out and crazy you just.... can't.....freaking .....take it any more!

That would be easy for YOU to role play!

Is it just me who has a feeling that there was more to the two Abishai in the bar than meets the eye? It is as if they are there for a different reason than just chit chat, I just never figured out what IIRC they knew TNO from one of his past incarnations. I believe he either talked them into deserting from the war, or helped in return for where to find a passage to Avernus. IIRC. It was something like that. Chris Avellone could answer that if he was willing. Hint Hint...

A sequel? No. That story arc was brought to a logical and satisfying conclusion. All questions asked were answered, there were no loose ends. To revive that story would do it a disservice. However I'd love to see more games in that setting. That will of course not happen. WotC owns the rights and they have retired the material. More is the pity. But if you want to get a little taste and if you own NWN1 check out these two mods on the vault: In The Footsteps of Dante, and The Nature of a Man. It says a lot about Torment that after nearly ten years we are still talking about it. And still wishing newer games would measure up to it. Chris, you should be proud of that!

no, but stupid CDMA phones will continually search for a network and burn themselves out in the process... grrr. razr = crap. taks You could not give me a Motorola phone

Sounds like Moron is using the wrong carrier. If he was with my company he would not need to repeat himself.

One other note. A GSM, TDMA, or AMPS phone sends a signal to it's controlling cell every 3 seconds while it is powered on. So you do not need to use the phone for it to be a potential interference. CDMA does not. But again, it is pretty unlikely it will be a problem.

No one likes walking in on two people having sex. Can you imagine walking in on several hundred drug crazed sex fiends with guns? And when they see you..... Retreat!

Hmmm. I sould be able to come up with at least a dozen funny or sarcastic quips here.... but I just can't come up with one. This is absurd enough it actually worries me that they thought this was possible. But suppose it was, would you want to be one of the first US soldiers on the scene after this baby went off....

Now here is a topic I can answer somewhat intelligently on. I am an RF Engineer for a major US based cellular company (hint: the biggest one) so this is a little up my alley. First of all, most US based cellular networks operate in the 800 MHz range. These phones/networks pose no danger to aviation systems, air traffic control systems or navigational systems. However, some networks in the US and many in Europe and other places operate in the 1900 MHz range. These devices may interfere with the TCAS (anti collision) systems in some types of air craft. Most TCAS systems operate around 1095 MHz but there are some that operate at 2085 MHz and there is a slight possibility of momentary interference from a 1900 phone. That said I have never heard of a single instance where that has happened. I agree with Meta, it always surprises me you can even get coverage in an airborne airplane. First of all, the cell sites generally do not have a high power output. In an urban area ERP is usually between 1 to 10 Watts max (30-40 dBm). Because there are usually a lot of cell sites you don't want any one handling traffic in the coverage area of another one. To further shrink the footprint of the cell we downtilt the antennas a few degrees so they are angled slightly towards the ground. This means that a handset in an airplane is receiving off the back lobe (reflection from the antenna rear) which in most antennas is less than 30% of the main lobe power. So if a cell has an ERP of 10 watts the back lobe will be at best 3 watts. Its no small feat for a 3 watt transmission to travel through 4 miles of air (which has clouds, several thermocline's, and other interference) to the airborne handset. Further, most handsets have a max power of 0.3 watts so it is even LESS likely the handset can get back to the cell. Because of the physics of radio wave propagation (I'll give a more detailed explanation if needed) an 850 MHz signal will travel farther than an 1900 MHz signal with the same ERP. So if your phone even works in a plane, it's probably an 800 MHz anyway so there is no need to worry.

Heroes of Might and Magic III. I found it while cleaning out my desk.

If you play as a male PC I'd reccomend the Saeralith mod. In a new romancable NPC that was really well done. Link below... Saeralith Dark Raven actually made the "Chosen of Mystra" mod I think. Never tried it but I'm sure she'll link it. It won't be long before she sees this thread.

Asteroids for the Atari 2600. Ah, i can hear it now....Duh Dum Duh Dum Duh Dum Duh Dum

I always thought the depth charge tasted like Dr. Pepper for some reason.

Okay, this thread is over! No one is topping that post! Kirottu, you are a close second though!

Glass of Guinness + (1/2 shot whiskey + 1/2 shot Bailey's) Drop the shot glass into the glass of Guinness and drink it all within 5 or so seconds. It's pretty good -- all you really end up tasting is the Bailey's. Make that same drink with Budweiser and bourbon and its called a boilermaker. Make it with any pilsner beer and Bacardi and it's called a Depth Charge. Make it with any ale and a scotch and its called a Highland Widowmaker. Heh. There are three things you will learn to do well in the USMC; drink, clean, and shoot. In that order.

Congrats Astr0, best of luck!

Holy crap, I thought I ran a little too far from the pub last night, but IOWA?!

I loved the Cania theme music Soule did for HotU. It captured that desolate feeling perfectly. I'm suprised so many mod makers never made use of it.

Rome TW Medevial II TW Icewind Dale In that order, hands down!