Walsingham

I can't work out if this Red Orchestra chap is confused about which gun is out of ammo, or simply depressed by the horrors of war.

Thought: Cooperation is the name of the game in L4D. Instead of simply fire cooperation, which is fundamentally limited in scope as an FPS*, why not have other cooperative tasks. For example, um, the players are on a truck, loaded with their stash, and very comfy but the road ahead is blocked. They must use Valve-ish physics engine thinking to clear the road. They must also sometimes work in tandem in order to get enough weight onto some objects, or operate certain machinery. Ditto the obvious one of getting into or out of a secure military facility. *You don't want to hear about my plan for an artillery support version where players have to do the differential calculus.

Nettle flowers. That's what i was thinking of. Veeeery subtle sweet flavour. Used to eat them when I was a kid. I think. Unless being stung by all those nettle leaves drove me mad.

I've been trying to think of something you could use as a starter. Some sort of salad? Maybe salt crusted hibiscus and cucumber. Or I'm going mad. Probably the latter.

Personally I love the idea. BUt that's all it is. Unless you'd care to make a mod for NWN2.

I agree that we should have a recipe section. I seem to remember lots of recipes cropping up in the Black Isle games. However, in general I think you should ALSO plan yourslef a delicious meaty meal to have a reward for the day after. Plenty of moo cow and flossy the lamb.

It does seem very harsh. In particular, the way Air France are blaming the Brazilian air traffic control. EDIT: I just reread the article. I'm talking rot. The BBC implied it, not Air France.

He means boobs. I'm always getting the two confused. That's why I can't go shopping.

I'm not anti-pills, but I found three things helped my insomnia 1. A bit of gentle exercise 2. Drink slightly less 3. Think about nice things before you go to sleep. I mean simple nice things, like a pillow, or an orange.

Since I

Someobdy once told me it costs about 20 million pounds to set up a good medium sized hospital. Instead this money gets spent on an issue that should be bleeding obvious. *sigh*

I noticed that too. My reaction was torn between mystary andsatisfaction that at least someone might get to use those water landing features.

Quoting is getting cumbersome, so excuse me if I dispense with it for a spell. Defensive wars: You deftly bat aside the example of world war 2, but it is the only example of industrialised total war. In it, despite Germany being wholly outnumbered and technically deficient, she managed to put most of Europe under her thumb in a matter of months. Only a tiny strip of green-grey water kept this island safe. Germany then went on to inflict staggering losses on Soviet Russia, which only Stalin could have weathered. I make no reference to the political aspect. I am simply saying that with the extension of weapon effects range, we are living in an age where strategically defensive thinking is redundant. The political dimension in war: You mention the cost of war, which is fair. Wars are fought using people, and amongst people. The essence of conflict is to destroy the system of your opponent. If he has a human system then humans will be overcome, and (because it's the most simple way of doing so) injured or destroyed. But wars are also fought FOR people. Wars arise from, and end in politics. You say you acknowledge this, but at the same time tell us that war is not a force for political change. How can this be? Did Soviet annexation of Eastern Europe have no effect? Did the Khmer Rouge's military victories have no impact on the daily lives of Cambodians? Has the invasion of Iraq not changed its government and resulted in two free elections? Morality: You mention the cost of war. You imply that the cost of fighting Hitler was greater for the World than the cost of the holocaust. Even supposing that such a tally really represented the cost in lives of each option, it is a nonsense because it does not take into account the cost in living. Dying, it must be said, is a foregone conclusion. How one lives before one dies is not. One can certainly fight wars to minimise the eventual casualties as I said at the outset. But the really important wars are the ones where you maximise living. The ones where military action is oriented on destroying a malevolent system to permit the political creation of a better one. ~~ I have set out my philosophy. Force destroys systems. At the strategic level such destruction permits the creation through political means of new better systems. At the tactical level, due to the technical changes in weaponry, such destruction is threatened to any system which is purely defensive. I assert that it is pointless and dangerous to deny this. It is physically dangerous because we may be destroyed as people and as a system of society. But it is also morally dangerous because to keep our hands 'clean' we abandon the final abiter of change and of progress, thereby surrendering it to our enemies. I know I'm being terribly pompous, but it's the only way I could challenge you effectively to say precisely what YOUR philosophy is. So far all I hear is a lot of hand-wringing and cynical eyebrow pointing.

Win. :rofl:

I should be a bit more clear about the white sauce. The emphasis is on the ricotta and mascarpone, not the parmesan. Unless she's some sort of cheese freak, in which case we should probably start over. Enoch is right about the pasta boiling. Incidentally, we were discussing at the weekend whether there would be any merit in a savoury cheesecake, with white stilton and dried fruit, on a savoury oatmeal base. Thoughts?

Yes, I responded with Germany attacked first. Because they did. That's what separates Germany from most other countries. To say that warfare is a valid, moral means of achieving your political agenda implies that the declaration, the starting of warfare is such. If I say that shooting someone is a valid, moral means to stop them from dating your sister, it's more-or-less assumed that I'm not talking in self-defense. When you start a war, it is quite a different thing than when your opponent starts a war. There is always the possibility of political compromise outside of warfare. Even the most ideologically opposed and rivaling countries can compromise and even totally politically convert via nonviolent, economic means: see the USSR more-or-less adopting the US' political ideology. Show me where I said you can't exact political change via violent means? I have no illusions about that. I have a firm, grounded belief that political change by starting violence is immoral, and is also ineffective in comparison to other methods. 1. A doctrine of only defensive war means only waging war when your enemy wants to fight you. Which means you must have pretty awesome faith in your ability to defend yourself or you're going to lose. 2. I devote a large part of my tiem to helping resolve conflicts without violence. But I also know from all sorts of experience, and written history, that reason only goes so far. I'm not just atlking war. Consider the police. Do you think they should carry a blackboard and chalk rather than a baton? 3. Waffling while people die in their hundreds of thousands or even millions is not moral just because you're not shooting _if you have the capacity to intervene and chose not to_. Balkans, Rwanda, Iraq, Afghanistan. Korea is an example of successful intervention for the South who would otherwise be 'north korean'.

I think they're usually too busy shouting and firing boltguns. Wankers. Guard all the way.

I agree. It was like getting a variety box of cream crackers.

Was just filling in form to buy Red Alert 3 then remembered EA are DRM bastards. Cancelled order.

Up betimes, and to the Red Orchestra servers. Joined my unit in hangoverkrieg. Had most annoying day yesterday. Admin took far too much time, and then got throughly riled by one of my friends who decided what I really need right about now is to be told I'm an idiot. I mean, I know I'm an idiot, but its the weekend. I want a break from reality, dammit.

Firstly, answering the question 'what about WW2 stopping Nazism?' with 'Germany attacked first', isn't an answer. Unless you are suggesting some mechanism I don't understand which means that you have to be attacked first in order to make a go of the political dimension in warfare. I don't believe war is the correct option with Venezuela for the very simple reason that we're already engaged in one elsewhere. I do, however, believe you can exact political chaneg by violent means because um... the whole entire history of mankind backs me up. We could agree to disagree on this point, but I think a far more pithy and effective rejoinder by me would be to find you and stick a fork in your head. We can debate reason versus force while I waggle it about.

lasagne. This always works, and is pretty easy. Red Sauce: In order of adding to a large saucepan, starting on a high heat and gradually getting cooler until it is JUST simmering good olive oil, a good slathering thereof crushed almonds toast until brown. This is vital because it flavours the oil and takes some of the sharpness out of the sauce. Most veggie tomato sauces are too acid and lack depth. 2 x Caramelised red onions (do it yourself, it's not hard) garlic to taste soy sauce fresh black pepper a tiny quantity of chilli pepper tinned tomatoes fresh chopped basil leaves Good chestnut mushrooms Courgettes a teaspoon or so of molasses or dark brown sugar; molasses if at all possible Leave this cooking while you prep everything else. At least 40 mins. Pasta: I prefer green sheet pasta for this, because it looks better. But it's cosmetic. You may or may not have to pre-cook it. Check the label. White sauce: For special wooing, DO NOT USE normal white sauce. In a bowl, mix a large quantity of ricotta, mascarpone, and grated parmesan cheese. If you want to be a wuss you can thin it slightly with milk, but do not make it runny. Construction: Very simply, and starting with red sauce, layer red sauce, pasta, white sauce, until you have used everything up or run out of pan. Grate more parmesan on the top layer, add a little more black pepper, and bake until delicious looking. Serve with a clean dry white, or a rich chocolatey red. Goes well with bitter chocolate and coffee for dessert.

I hope you realise you're all making me cry.

I finally took the time to look up neo-con. Apparently it means someone who think the USA should use its considerable power to help bring democracy and individual rights and so on to other countries. Which means I am a neo-con, along with plenty of my hippy friends, who say they should have been doing so for years.

Say your girlfriend insists you need to be around to meet her parents. Girlfriends can't be reasoned with, so he has no comeback.