Calax

If the cold war returns to "status quo" it's not going to be between Russia and the west... it'll be China on one end.

They have put one of the most over the top games on the planet on sale for 5 bucks today on steam. Just Cause 2.

I'm watching Steven Fry travel through America and he just got done with a pair of hippies who live in a former nuke bunker.

Mmyeah, it's not linked to just the 70s, and using the US as an example, (IIRC, again not in a position to check references) Hell's Angels were founded by returning WW2 veterans. Notice, I didn't say the "gangs started" I said "the gangs took off". That's a fairly significant thing, particularly considering that some of the more "traditional" gangs are like Al Capone's crew, which were most prominent in the 30's. It's just that the looser organizations like the Crips, Bloods, Mexican Mafia, Tongo Blasters, Aryan Brotherhood, or any of that around. That all started after Vietnam and the rise of the drug trade. Yeah, slave labour which costs about 45000 a year to maintain (not violent offenders, who cost more). Then does an unreliable menial job which a machine could do better and cheaper. I don't think slaves have been an economic option outside mining for about 200 years! Meh, those people would cost the society a lot more if not incarcerated. Of course this from the liberal nordic prison systems, where you have to be a major pain in the ass to ever go near a prison. Well, the Nordic system also has the lowest recitivism rate. MUCH lower than the USA's recitivism rate. Simply because they actually have the resources and will to try for rehabilitation rather than providing what is effectively a holding tank for cons of all kinds to hang out in.

Monroe Doctrine?

One of the sad things about all of this is that the US acts like it has a bottomless pit of manpower it can call upon for these fights, but ends up scraping the very bottom of the barrel to get soldirs who do their term and take off. I've heard it suggested that one of the reasons gangs took off in the 70's (the first major gangs anyway) was because of the returning GI's knowing how to fight/kill and having connections. These guys come back, and start teaching their neighbors how to murder people, and use the viet connections to start drugs moving all over. As to the SS photo... these guys obviously weren't awake in history class. I mean that SS is a pretty stylish thing, and they were trying to create their own little community badge thing, but seriously? What's next, "We are the 33rd infantry, THE SWASTIKAS!"

Today was **** for me.... I screwed up in a friendship and so am in the doghouse and beating myself up for that . Then saw the Nostalgia Critic Patch Adems review just now... and that stirred up some BAAAD memories.

Admittedly I only own two games via origin, BF3 and TOR, but the system hasn't impressed me. Although that might be because BF3 also requires you to basically do everything OUTSIDE the game except actually play (pick your server, check your stats, choose if it's multi-or single... ALL done in a browser system rather than an in game UI). Makes me want to strangle whoever came up with the system (well, the whole "EA LOG!" system anyway). http://bf3blog.com/battlelog/ That and it's other forms (Autlog whatever) are just Bull.

I'm thinking I'm gonna cut my sub for a bit. I like the game but it just... it's to samey and I don't like the Guardian I made. And I ended up going back to Rift v.v

You took that wrong Oro... I'm happy he's alive, and pissed at myself for saying he wasn't.

Condolences. Ahhh ****... He's not dead... he got released and apparently has a hole in his heart >.< Have NO idea what I was saying

Sometimes my parents are really annoying. Apparently my grandfather was hospitalized with a stroke, and nobody told me till after he'd died.

And now Santorum is leading the charge, sweeping three states. Good lord, that guy will KILL any chance the republicans have of winning the election (google his name, I DARE you!)

Basically, the "old folks" are the personages upon which the idea of "gods" came from. They ran humanity and then (among other things) 2 human slaves (a man and a woman) managed to get away with one of the Pieces of Eden (the Apple, which is where the biblical eden story got it's start). Then a solar flare went off, and basically wiped out a lot of the life on the planet, leaving humanity to become the dominant species. Then the story just goes all Deus Ex and splits things down the middle with "control" and "Freedom" as the two sides. The unfortunate thing is that, as they work on the plot, it becomes more and more and more out there. The first was good, mostly stuck inside it's territory, and didn't go flying off the handle with sci-fi/magic.... the second had more magic, brotherhood was more, and finally Revelations just decided "you know what? F-it, let's just make it ALL technology!"

Basically he thinks that most federal agencies should be replaced by a state counterpart, with the Feds just being there to provide security and basic monetary systems.

The guy wants to seriously demolish the goverment (wipe out several agencies, go to gold standard, and make everything that can be privatized, privatized), which runs counter to most republicans "We need a massive government to regulate peoples personal lives and shoot stuff", and the liberal "we need government regulation so we don't end up being killed by people selling stuff to us". Among agencies he wants gone are the EPA, Department of Transportation, FDA, the Federal Reserve and the National Bank.

Thank god you're not a Warrior/Guardian. I haven't been able to pass a planet by, and am going to have to turn around and do a bonus series or two so that I don't keep getting crushed on Belsavis. Until then I've been messing around on 3 other characters, two inquisitors and a Soldier.

Well... Saturday I signed the lease for a townhouse that sets me up to move in May 1. And today i learned that my current store manager is quitting. Not sure who's taking his place.

I've found that it doesn't always work... it works on the first quest in the chain, but 2nd or third? you're boned.

Or a Master of Ceremonies pervert.

I don't know... it seems like the Republicans are still sucking on the fact that the Tea Party was one gigantic cluster**** that was piggy backing on them. Tea Party, and the public opinion of the government in general, is so low it's kinda scary. Add onto that the fact that right now the republicans are blowing themselves up (to the point PAT ROBERTSON said "tone it down guys, seriously!"), and you don't really see much viability. Right now, they only look viable in comparison because they infighting. It'd be interesting to see turnout of voters in primary states during the primaries, and then again during the actual election itself, I get the feeling most voters are a bit tuned out right now, waiting to see who wins the primary before deciding who to vote for. Obama has some momentum still, and he has had successes in his tenure as president (more than Bush pre-2004). That, plus the fact that he actually seems to listen to the population (seriously, in a google+ video interview he asked for one of the housewives to send a Resume to the WHITE HOUSE for her husband) is sliding heavily in his favor. But the fact that many of the things he put through have either been neutered, or DOA means that he doesn't seem to have a lot of respect for being able to get stuff done. If the republicans want to win now, and in the future, they're gonna need to stop pandering. No more Tea Party debates where they're trying to discuss what to do with granny who broke a hip but has no insurance, and the crowd is screaming "LET HER DIE" and cheering somebodies execution record. No more "Build an electric fense! With Alligators! And autocannons!" because as this keeps happening (as it's good TV), they promptly alienate the people they really want to swing over, the Moderates/independant vote who don't want to see Granny get killed because she doens't have insurance, and don't want to see such zany things as condo's on the moon, or electric aligator fences. And on the longer view, stop acting like every single piece of legislation is now a part of their party platform. Also, make it look like you're doing something sensible for the MAJORITY of the population, not the minority. For example, nearly driving the government into bankrupcy over a political **** waving contest... while at the same time "affirming the unofficial motto of the United States is "IN god we trust" " Doesn't play well. Nor does killing the 6th amendment. Or blocking affordible health care Or giving massive tax breaks to the highest class, saying it'll create jobs... to the point where I'd pay more taxes per capita than Romney.... ................................ [/rant] Sorry, got a bit off base. But I could see how they could win, but it'd require alienating their money flow (Corps) and they don't want to endanger that, except that by buddying up that tightly with the Super-Pac's and so on, they're angering the voters which won't end well. I do suspect that the 2012 elections will see some serious upsets again as voters show their opinion of how things are in washington.

Cee Lo And I'm pretty sure that Madonna was pretty much lip synching the entire thing as she never deviated from the initial recordings at ALL, and never gave a more personal thing. The way the friends I saw it with viewed it was "mediocre until LMFAO appeared on stage, then it went down hill, with Cee Lo bringing it up a bit". Biggest annoyance is you have Cee Lo (who has one of the biggest pop songs EVER in "F*** You") and you don't use that at all, instead giving things to LMFAO (who are honestly a giant joke) and those two.... females.

I'm having a crisis of myself... Given this is a no point thread, can we turn it into a forum game?

Actually, I kinda like arguing with somebody who doesn't get all gasbaggy "NYah nyah nyah! I'm better than you" (you know, the Gromnir method) becuase it often forces you to examine the same set of data, from a different point. And I don't know who you're voting for beyond the giant red elephant. I'm assuming it's not captain Crazy (sorry, but Gingrich is just getting scary... condos on the moon? SOPA being a LIBERAL tool? WTF?) so the only other viable option is Romney. That said... no offense but the Republican's have about as much of a chance of winning the election as Palin had getting good reviews on her movie that came out last year. (This one) The two guys who are vying for the republican side of the ticket are A) The architect of attack politics, cheater extrodinare, Over the top big government, rich, insider, and all around jerk Gingrich and B) Mormon, unrelatable, rich-and-known-for-it, inconsistant, and about as conniving as my plastic knife Romney. (although when his gloves come off he can shred people, as seen in florida against gingrich) But either way, they've both been murdering each other so much that the american public makes a mockery of them both while Obama actually tries to be personal and raises HUGE amounts of cash. Oh, and Santorum is still around... and declared that abortions are linked to cancer.