Walsingham

I I can interject on your lofty superhuman debate. Most of us live by the principle of reasonable doubt. As in, beyond all reasonable doubt. Was Monty wrong to launch Operation Market Garden - good question. Debatable. Did the Japanese army kill 300,000 civilians in the nanking area? Not really debateable. They died. The Jap army almost certainly had something to do with it. Was such an act contrary to the established conventions of war at that time? Yes, and again not really debateable. On the other hand, the business with the PoWs is debateable. Many people have pointed to cultural diffs, which don't excuse IMO someone seeing aliving human being in front of them and stabbing them with a bayonet and seeing them writhing in agony. BUT things like the Bataan Death March (not a Goth dance move, in case you were wondering) can also be put down to lack of logistic planning for that many prisoners because the Japanese foolishly assumed the American general wouldn't abandon his entire field army in an untenable position. They never ever expected that many prisoners, and hence could not feed or look after hem. Their orders were to move them hundreds of miles, and so they obeyed those orders. Malice of poor flexibility, perhaps. I'm not saying I agree with the above. But it's not completely bonkers. Not beyond reasonable doubt. Ths thread should have died off a long while ago, though.

Anyone feel like getting bounty hunter licenses and hunting people who break these laws?

Bad refs do occasionally generate some good stories, when the players are fun. I still remember one ref who was frustrated that we weren't leaving the intruiging ruins we had arrived in. So he kept sending these crazy poison monkeys. We got annoyed as intended, but unfortunately our reaction was 'Where are all these goddamn monkeys coming from?' So we set out further into the ruins. After a few traps, collapsing buildings and so on, we happened across this crazy tree hung with skulls. The skulls distended to form skeletons and gradually fleshed out to form the poison monkeys. A never ending cycle was occurring as more and more of the animals popped out. I think it was supposed to be frightening. But we took one look and said "Free monkeys!" We built a cage around the tree, with a monkey run to release monkeys into a processing area. The campaign came to a halt because we became wholesale traders in monkey-fur, monkey-jerky, and live monkeys. We also sold the poison.

I recommend a combine harvester over a sycthe. Particularly if your religion attracts a lot of people.

Aponez: how come you didn't like allied general? I mean besides the fact that the Russians seemed to be fighting some wacky alternate reality campaign where they had less men than the Germans...

Mysoginistic fact Female mosquitos carry the horrible diseases, and bite you. Male mosquitos only drink fruit juice.

*raises hand* I did not know that. I assumed that the hagakure was one text that described the way of the warrior.

Do you speak for Walsingham? Or yourself? You wander into the discussion like a child and start replying to questions not directed to you. Btw, provocation =/ pissing contest. I just wanna see how well Wals actually applies Bushido to his life. I wrote a longer post on the last page, and the only reply I got was a two-liner from Wals, proclaiming that he'd rather practice the Way of the Samurai, because he wants to combat fear instead of sitting in some monestary. In the face of ignorance like this I can't help but provoke a little, not to ridicule, but to see how well the guy in question actually applies Bushido. Happy? Anything else you wanna know? N. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> And you could try reading some of Eldar's other posts before ridiculing him as a child. He always takes the trouble to read what people write, and try to respond in a measured way. I'd suggest that if you actually want a civil answer to your own questions you learn from him. You are, however, quite correct to want to know what I am actually doing about living in the way of the Samurai, and the answer is mixed. I do not believe that for the sake of a small insult I should run round to your house and cut your head off. I have chosen to apply the lessons of the samurai as they relate to service to others. My job involves running a number of risks, and a fair degree of thankless labour. The life of the samurai focusses on service up to and including death under similar conditions. I use their observations, and some of their outlook to give me the courage to take the risks, and the good humour to not look for thanks. As for overcoming a fear of death I'd suggest that nothing works quite so well as nearly dying! This has happened to me on several occasions, by assault, accident, insect, and microbe. I think that one must look on death with the emotional reaction of someone knowing it will rain. Needless to say such composure is not always possible, but I think it makes a good goal. Because, as I say, when you cease fearing death, then many other counter-prouctive and annoying behaviours fall away. I think to a great extent realising you can die, and will die, is the main reason why people freeze the first time they are threatened by death, whether under fire or mugging, or accidents. You get overwhelmed with all these thoughts and fear and regrets, and forget that you ought to be doing something about the problem. Realising and accepting it can happen in advance lets you get on with NOT doing it at any given moment.

If it was a party that would explain why we Brits didn't understand and tried to shut it down. You young hooligans with your stukas, and hand grenades! Some of us have work in the morning!

I train seals. And at weekends, seal trains.

Yeah.. that's what I thought too, 20 years ago when I was a teenage-mutant ninja turtle like the rest of you. There are many ways to achieve fearlessness, but I seriously doubdt some self-appointed US Sword teacher is gonna succeed in getting you there. Bushido might have been a way of life in medieval Japan - today it caters to spotty teens with self-esteem problems. Mostly. N. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Well, maybe so. But firstly, i'm no spotty teenager. Secondly, I recall being a spotty teenager, and needing every helping hand I could get! Seriously though, philosophy, any codified philosophy appeals to those who have lost their way to an extent. It give syou a compass, so to speak, and I think such things can be helpful. Going back to bushido, by accepting death, one of the concomitants is that by accepting the transience of the grossly physical things like wealth and status one raises the comparative importance of intangible things like honour. No bad thing, IMO.

I have no desire to impress people as a martial artist. Partly because most peopel aren't impressed! But fear of death is a part of many things we do, like worry about our appearance as we age. Worry about life decisions. Worry about what career to pursue. These things shrink when one accepts the inevitability of death and just gets on with it.

In English that is called a portmanteau, I think. Like in Lewis Carroll.

Good question, darth. I believe that to even if one decides we live without free will, and that free will is essential to meaning, then one should continue to exist and breed, because it is possible we will evolve to a form that has free will. (I'm a bit keen on humans, as you may have guessed)

I personally do not see how abstinence from worldly pleasure has to be a part of clarity. It is attachment and desire that are part of the bardo (if I recall correctly). And it is they that cause suffering. If one is able to enjoy life when it is enjoyable, and not become attached to the things that bring you joy, nor cry out when bad things happen, then you have achieved clarity. Part of this is the notion that it is fear that brings much suffering. However, turning away from the living world is in part fear, and causes you to miss much. Living without fear is the main objective in my life at present, hence my interest in the Way of the Samurai over monastic buddhism.

I don't know if we have any word sin the South for cool stuff. I can only think of stuff from the Noprtheast, like radgie-gadgie. Which is the desire to have a fight.

Most of my German comes from war Movies, and the Close Combat games. However, I do know how to suggest that in an emergency we can eat the lieutenant.

I don't need to imagine that bit. They never wear pants.

I now have this mental image of the moderators crouched behind a pile of sandbags with blue helmets on, nervously swatting away mosquitos. The faint chirruping of the servers the only noise in the hot darkness.

Spare a thought for poor junior officers. They may be a little overeager, but bear in mind they suffer ridiculously high casualties when people start shooting. Nartwak, the original quote along those lines is Gen. B.L. Montgomery. ('Monty')

I agree that the Germans have some very cool words. But the language is incredibly precise. It makes it very good for nitpicking philosophy and science. I have yet to find any German who understands, let alone has a word for 'fluffy'. Austrians seem to get it though. I love the original language version of 'The Longest Day', for its prolonged bouts of German shouting. Particularly the guy playing 'Pips' Priller. I'm not 100% on everything he says, but it sounds fantastic.

Dating? What? *slap* You're talking crazy. Or I'm listening crazy. One of us is going to the stockade, anyhow.

Interesting to hear about GalCiv. I've not played it, but I think I will make an effort to now. Fishboot: I may be being unfair since I'm not a programmer, but I do know a little about the design of expert systems. I really don't think you have to be that sophisticated to create smarter AIs. I take your point about thinking ahead, but ther are some clear stratagems that the AI uses, such as thos pointless one unit seaborne raids behind the lines, that could be bulked up to create serious problems. Feints, such as an apparent emphasis on one flank, followed by a massive push elsehwere woud also work. That kind of thing, would add spice. Atlower difficulties the Ai behaves a lot 'dumber', maybe. I was also thinking about the strategy I've been following towards the AI - i.e. kill them all, all the time. They simply don't make very good friends, whereas they help each other just fine. They never ever trade favourably with a human, and hardly ever trade tech at higher levels, yet swap such goodies between themselves with gleeful abandon. Bah. Humbug. And so forth.

That's just weird, Brain.

LOL! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You speak to most squaddies and they'd be grateful for an officer who doesn't go charging after promotions and medals. They want someone who gets the job done, and leaves it at that. No complications, no bullspit. Sound like you?