Walsingham

Sorry, Reveilled, I guess I misunderstood your post slightly. I thought you were advocating total direct referendum on issues. I apologise for being sloppy. Your proposal is better, agreed, but I'll have to think about it before recommending it to the secret Cabal.

BBC reported three mortar rounds fired at the crowd early on. Rumour went round that the explosions had been suicide bombers, or there were suicide bombers in the crowd. More deaths were caused when pilgrims drank poisoned fruit juice being given out. Don't forget the insurgents are freedom fighters, people. *disgust*

It certainly does suck. I hope I didn't give the impression my thoughts weren't with the little critters. However, I do have to ask if it is such a smart place to have a city.

No dice, Meta. Incidentally, I just downloaded the Lilarcor mod. He was the talking sword from BG2. I won't spoil the surprise, but it is a lot better than you'd expect. I have begun fiddling with the mod engine. No idea how to get it to work yet.

No disrespect intended, but by comparison I read this morning that the Indonesian state of Aceh lost 160,000 people in the tsunami last year. 160,000. Jeez. More importantly I'm perturbed by the fact that 20% of residents didn't leave when issued a compulsory evacuation order. Makes rather a mockery of planning for other mass disasters. Could we expect 20% disobedience if a quarantine were established, for example?

I think we are missing something wrt Amerika and that is that we all love to bash some dirty foreigner, and right now we are only allowed to get up on chairs and bash Americans. I've said it before. We'd go purple at the gills if we sat about debating how ignorant and arrogant Nigerians are. But yankees... sure go right ahead. If Commisar is concerned that ignorant flag waving yahoos give a bad impression of his country he may wnat to looka round and realise we've all got 'em. in fact in the Uk they've almost been adopted as the uniform of the twit. I personally object to this, and think all use of the flag should have to be sanctioned by the queen since people are essentially claiming the endorsement of the state when they have no right to. Anyway, on the more interesting topic of democracy, I fear your direct involvement may be missing something, Reveilled. Namely that large systems have interconnecting parts. You can't run a country using pick-and-mix strategies with anything like the effectiveness of joined up policies. This is how manifestoes are supposed to work. It is also why we vote in a government, because how things get implemented is as important as what is on the table. In any event, are any of us really qualified to vote in detail on every policy the government enacts? I certainly am not. I know very little about agriculture, for example, or economics. ~ calax said: "I think one has to be either a bush cronie or a Iraqi power player to actually suggest things." You mean like having a +10 sword of partisan smiting?

I think the important thing for us to keep in mind is that whatever they decide, provided they do so democratically we have to put on a brave face and welcome it. Personally, though I think a federal Iraq is a neat idea. There are distinct differences, and I think a loose federation is the best way to allows for slow acclimatisation to a shared future. Afghanistan should be paying attention.

Think Kotor 2 characters, then get back to me on that one. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I can't afford a graphics card to play Kotor 2. *sniffles*

Just in case you think I'm not English I'd like to self-deprecate and point out that in our last general election the International observers were 'deeply troubled' by the levels of ballot fraud. God help us if we move to fully electronic. Meta: "... I have a touch of your condition. That cannot bear the accent of reproof!" Richard the Third.

I think I would play it again. But not for a while. And I'm going to cheat and use foreknowledge of the travel network. Probably go completely the other way and be a monk or something. Not having any armour or weapons should be amusing. Incidentally, a great way to boost your armour skill is to find a mage who is only fighting with his fists and just stand around while he batters you.

We're really getting off topic, but maybe not... A big difference between Saddam and Hitler is that the SS/SD/etc etc died fighting us. Huge swathes of the guys who might have caused trouble later were dead. The only problem with Shock and Awe is that you win without killing many people. Once the dust settles some people start yelling 'Best out of three!'

Have you ever dated a German soldier called Anton?

Firestoker ale reminds me of Arcanum. Bad air-conditioning reminds me of NWN.

Don't get me wrong. The level of attacks is certainly beyond anything remotely approximating livable. But my present understanding is that the level of activity is only being sustained because of a) A limitless supply of munitions from old Saddam-era supply caches. b) A healthy influx of foreign fighters from all over the Middle-east and central Asia. It is no coincidence that activity in Afghanistan and Israel has dropped off dramatically in the last year. Insurgency in Iraq is more pleasant than in the mountains of Afghanistan, and safer than going up against the Israelis. The former is going to have to be dealt with by military intelligence and the infantry. The latter is going to have to be dealt with by public opinion. Or the Iraqis will just get sick of the foreigners tearing up their country and tell everyone (us and them) to pod off.

I remember it pretty much as you describe - I was listening to the BBC World Service and Rageh Omar's commentary. No-one really disputes that it was an action taken by one soldier which was quickly reversed - either by his mates on the ground or by a call from his superiors. But it was a spectacular blunder, one that augured ill (and correctly so) for the whole occupation. No surprise that the media focused on it. My recollection of the radio broadcast was that they did repeat the comments of the intelligent and respectful marines, as well as descriptions of the flag incident. If one sticks in the mind more than the other, that only highlights what a blunder it was. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Glad I remembered correctly. I'm ashamed to say I was a little teary-eyed. For me the moment ranked alongside seeing Mandela released. I'm also glad the other comments got aired, but I'm afraid the impact of those was minimal on the general public. The sad fact was that the US flag hanging was more iconic, so it got played. Incidentally, the beeb interviewed the chap responsible, and I have tos ay I forgave him. he was clearly a numbskull of the first order, and wouldn't have thought there was anything wrong with puttting up the flag if you sat him down and made him think about it. I think he was just a happy moron. Bless him.

I hate to say this, both of you, but you need to re-read your history. The French resistance were significantly more dangerous than the Iraqis are. This is possibly because we are not doing things like indiscriminately slaughtering civilians in revenge attacks, depriving them of all democratic rights and freedoms, and trying to keep the people in a permanent state of terror. You know, like the Nazis did in France, or Saddam Hussein did in Iraq. The way he would still be doing right now, if we hadn't invaded.

It never ceases to amaze me how the media managed to twist this incident with the flag draping, and the statue felling. I took the day off work so I could watch the unedited live feed on the BBC, and saw what actually happened. 1. The US Marines roll up to the hotel the press are in. The press decide this means the Capital has been taken. The government sector, where various ministries are, as well as accomodation for Republican Guards and fedayeen has not yet been taken, and overlooks the area. The statue is in the area. 2. The marines fan out, and leave the statue well enough alone. Journalists, including the BBc's Rageh Omar descend on the marines. The marines produce a number of emotional but intelligent comments on the import of the moment and how this moment is really for the Iraqi people. None of them are banging on about America being the best, and inventors of the frankfurter, etc. 3. A crowd of Iraqis turn up. It is not a large crowd, and anti-invasioneers later claim this is because the Iraqis did not like what was happening. In fact, any Iraqis turning up at all was surprising, given a lack of power meant there was no way for news of the marines' arrival to spread other than word of mouth. These Iraqis gather at the statue and mill around, hugging marines and hurling abuse at the statue. 4. Shots are fired at the crowd from a nearby towerblock. This causes many to run for cover, as you do. The footage of the statue now shows an even smaller number of folks around it. No further shots are fired. 5. For more than half an hour (possibly much longer) the poor b****rs try desperately to topple this thing. They use their fist and shoes to begin with. One marine tells rageh Omar that they are deliberately notgetting involved because this is a moment for the Iraqis. Eventually, however, the locals beg/borrow a sledge hammer from some sappers, and set to with that. 6. This continues until finally it is clear that the Iraqis cannot topple saddam's statue on their own. So the marines and the Iraqis collaborate to loop first a rope and then a steel cable around the statue. 7. While this is happening _one_ marine decides to whip a US flag out of his pocket and put it over the statue's face. His mates immediately start yelling at him to take it off. It is clear that they think he is an idiot. 8. In the wake of this, there is some confusion, as the marines try to make it up to the Iraqis. They put up an Iraqi flag, but then someone points out it is the Saddam Iraqi flag, and they take that off too. 9. The world media gives none of the soundbites of the marines who are respectful and intelligent. None of teh soundbites of the Iraqis crying and thanking the jarheads for being there in the first place. They show ONE picture of triumphalism, and the moment is branded as kakka.

Right, finished the main arc this evening. A bit 'meh', really.

Women who smoke can't tell if you've been eating onions. This is especially important if, like me, you date escaped mental patients who kill people who eat onions.

Panzer General. The first one. Endlessly amusing. "Your first mission in operation Fall Weiss, the conquest of Poland, will be the capture of the twin cities of Kutno and Lodz before September 10th..."

I didn't get bothered that much by all the walking, especially now I have my Traq'ee bottoms. I DID have to bring a book to the desk, but I got to catch up on some reading. Besides there was always the chance you'd run into something cool. I do object to such a huge missed opportunity, and to them not having anything substantive to reward me when I got the the locations. Most of them I just had to turn up and they were on side. Meaning the only test involved was being able to withstand tedium!

Or find and bribe a techie. They get whisky. You don't have to waste ages clicking boxes.

...Because it's not as if people will do something esle that is bad for them when smoking goes away, and we will all live for ever in brotherly harmony? I'd be in favour of devoting all smoking taxes to the space race. We have to get off this doomed rock, people.

Damn good point, sir. Anyway, I'd return to one of Meta's points, in that the defining characteristic for the good private schools is not just cash, but a reasonable character and good grades. Doing particularly well in either will get you into a school somewhere on scholarship grants. I mention it in case anyone considers sending their kids to one but is afraid of the cost.