BruceVC

With bit editing that would be is excellent phrase to put in t-shirts that support atheism. That's brilliant, how would you word it for a shirt? I want to get one made

Only that's not at all what's being suggested in this thread. I'm curious, why do people insist on putting stock on what official and mainstream sources say, by default, without any sort of critical review or personal fact checking, when said sources have been known to stretch the truth, misrepresent, make mistakes and outright lie in the past. I suspect this is related to the theorised innate psychological vulnerability of people to authority figures, but there has to be more to it than that. The argument is not "believe every conspiracy theory because otherwise you are sheep", and turning it into that is very much strawmanning. The argument is, "when there is conflicting evidence and expert opinions, why do you choose to believe one version over the other?" Heh, the link I posted a few pages ago questioned even whether this is an actual choice at all, and this is reinforced by the cognitive dissonance videos Valsuelm posted. Arguably, there is no difference between the conspiracy crackpot that takes every word that comes out of Alex Jones' mouth as gospel, and the honest-to-god upstanding citizen that believes it's his duty to trust every press release by an alphabet agency—both have renounced their ability to form their own opinions, relying on others to provide prefabricated ones instead. So why the selective derision? So unfortunately as usual you are basing your argument on a spurious premise. You say "why do you choose to believe one version over the other". Lets take 9/11, Al-Qaeda perpetuated 9/11. This is not the view of one source or one country. In summary Every Western international news channel has the same story, 9/11 was committed by Al-Qaeda Al-Jazeera and other non-Western news channels have the same story Al-Qaeda has admitted planning and committing 9/11 There are numerous interviews with Al-Qaeda members and other people where they discuss and share why AQ planned 9/11 There are whole organizations and security companies that were and are dedicated to 9/11 and the causes of 9/11. Surly you cannot think that if 9/11 was some sort of conspiracy we wouldn't have some sort of proof by now Individuals like Julian Assange and Edward Snowden have made it there goal in life to expose the USA for all its "skulduggery and dishonesty". If there was this great secret how come there have been NO credible examples of it that these people would have loved to bring to the worlds attention. Especially with Snowden who had access to the NSA information So a dismissal of a conspiracy theory is not based on one story or view. Its a combination of the facts and reality of a situation

... *sigh* you got offended when nep suggested that IE were a mess... you said he were ignorant and couldn't know anything 'bout programming to make such claims. nep were not only wrong, but insulting. Gromnir observed that the black isle developers made similar claims about the IE... more than once. do you know what a red herring is? is clear not what you think it to be, that is for sure. regardless, you has somehow volourn'd yourself into a kinda infinite repeating loop. the black isle developers who worked 'pon Planescape, then iwd, heart of winter... and trials of the luremaster and icewind dale 2 is, one would assume, meeting the subjective threshold o' programming knowledge and personal familiarity with the infinity engine you found wanting in nep. sure, you can ignore the other folks in this thread who seems to have programming knowledge and disagree with you, but suggesting that Black Isle comments on the exact point 'bout which you and nep disagreed is nothing more than red herring is not so much curious as they is clear obtuse. HA! Good Fun! ps please, say something new... anything. really. " something new" There I said it on behalf of Hiro

Ouch! Those three words at the end of your sentence don't sit well in this context. I never knew you were a little aspiring comedian

No I don't think you are, just the fact that you have a sense of humour (as in the joke you played ) confirms this. Personally I find those types of jokes funny, especially if those people tend to complain a lot

No for me its about the symbolic significance of the video, it may not change the plight of women and girls in Pakistan tomorrow but it raises awareness and that's important

9/11 nutters? Please do explain. That's an event for which there is indeed ample evidence in the public domain to support a number of theories and facts. Vals, please take the time to read what I am about to post and then absorb it Al-Qaeda perpetuated 9/11, they admitted it. There is NO other theory, there is only the truth. If you doubt what I am saying please download or watch on Discovery channel "Inside 9/11", it debunks every, and I mean every, conspiracy theory about 9/11

Oh, wow. I somehow missed this gem. So it's "nothing personal", but you go out of your way to single someone out and belittle him in your usual holier-than-thou, fake ass amicable and thoroughly revolting condescending tone? LOL @ 2133 I was about to dismiss your comment with the usual and utter irreverence and disdain I have for most of what you say but then I realized...you are right on this occasion. Seriously, no jokes @ Sarex I'm sorry for calling you those things, I apologize. Some of it was unfair and uncalled for.

If you don't think conspiracies happen you're an exceptionally naive person. Though I'll wager you just suffer from cognitive dissonance as I'm sure you'll readily accept the conspiracy theory of the infamous Reichstag Fire or the official conspiracy theory of what happened on 9/11. Here's a video you should watch, it deals specifically with the latter, but really is applicable for anyone who would ever deride a 'conspiracy theory' solely on the basis that it's a 'conspiracy theory'. Please tell me you are joking, please tell me that you are not going to sit there and tell me that you don't believe Al-Qaeda committed 9/11 ?

Be advised that this mod currently costs $60 up front and another $15/month. There is a very real chance this mod will be free in the near future. I like you guys, you funny

This link is bizarre, what is it really telling us? Here are the relevant question, is Russia massing troops on the Ukrainian border? Yes Would this make Ukrainian understandably nervous? Yes Why is Russia massing troops on the Ukrainian border? Maybe you Russian apologists can explain that one Then the article blatantly mentions how Ukrainian government buildings have been seized by protesters, as if this is normal and the fact that the Ukrainian government isn't going to accept this makes them belligerent. No this article isn't slanted towards a pro-Russian perspective at all

Just because Russia has the power of vetoing UNSC decisions that does not make it powerful or a great nation, it just means there is a fundamental problem with how the UN operates. Look at the Syria crisis, this is a direct result of the power of the veto. And can people please stop suggesting that Russia "beat" the USA when they vetoed military action in Syria. There is a clause around the UNSC veto and voting system that still allows military intervention in the interests of human rights that the USA could have used if they really wanted to intervene in Syria. But of course the succession around Assad is unclear now so why would the USA really want to get involved, there is no defined end goal to any intervention if you remove Assad Now I want to be clear, I don't know if there is a better system than what we have got at the moment around the UNSC. I get frustrated at times with Russia and China but it goes both ways and the other members can veto military action by China or Russia that they want UN support for.

I am about to play Skyrim for the first time and I always use Mods with Bethesda games. What Mods did you use to make it more challenging?

Damn, I was hoping that since your regal return to the forums that you would stay out of political discussions There is a fellow Serb who is active in these political debates, Sarex. But he is an extremist, very jingoistic and very anti-western. He's not a bad person, he is just misinformed because he believes in conspiracy theories And remember these debates are nothing personal, its just global politics

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/08/world/europe/ukraine-donetsk-protesters-walsh/index.html So this is another surreptitious strategy by Russia and pro-Russian supporters in areas of eastern Ukraine to annex parts of Ukraine. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. In summary pro-Russian supporters have basically stormed and occupied Ukrainian government buildings in areas like Donetsk. At the same time we have tens of thousands of Russian troops massed on the eastern Ukrainian border. The Ukrainian government needs to remove these protesters but due to the volatile situation there will probably be loss of life as the pro-Russian supporters are removed I can see the response from Putin now " Russian speaking Ukrainians have been killed, we need to protect them" and the Russian troops on the eastern border move in to "protect" Russian speaking Ukrainians and annex parts of eastern Ukraine. Despite the fact no government in this world would allow occupation of its government buildings by protesters for extended periods of time. Interesting development to watch

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/04/09/the-evil-within-trailer/#more-200413 Guys take a look at this trailer for "The Evil Within" As usual I think it looks excellent

Sorry to hear that

Sorry, but no. Russia has great potential considering it's strategic resources but that's pretty much it. If anything I'd personally say Russia is currently a second-rate world power (but that of course depends on how you classify a "world power"). That analysis is based solely on the size of their economy, which is the basis for every kind of power, whether economic or military. During the Cold War, Russia was the leader of an important political movement, which made it the second most powerful country on earth. Today, Russia is the leader of pretty much nothing at all. And if you consider Russia by itself it's not very big (except geographically), or very important in any sense. It's just you being ignorant when you see the size of Russia on a map or reminisce about the Cold War days. Secondly, it's certainly not important due to it's leadership, I'd rather say despite it. Saying otherwise is completely and utterly ridiculous. Putin has shown us time and time again that he is more keen on keeping hopeless dictators in place, or adding more unimportant places on the world map to Russia. He's like a newbie kid playing Europa Universalis, only interested in these banal issues and not in more important but more difficult questions such as developing the economy. Idiots reading the news will think that "Ooo, Putin stopped Obama's plans in Syria, that must mean Russia is very powerful". They don't take into consideration at all what would have happened if China, or Japan, or Germany, or even France, the UK or Brazil would have spazzed out instead of Russia. The big problem with Russia is that despite their current post-Cold War relative obscurity, they still retain their seat on the UNSC. So it's free for them to turn the UNSC into their own kindergarten which is kind of why countries such as Syria came under their wing in the first place. Now, the more political capital Putin expends on idiotic foreign policy adventures, the less stability and long term growth there will be for the Russian economy. Meanwhile, stupid commentators will continue to talk about how "powerful" he is. Just look at PNAC in the US. They had pretty much the same jingoist goals for the US as the current Russian leadership has for Russia. But they still ended up shooting themselves in the foot - because long-term power does not follow from bellicose politics, posturing and buffoonery. Buffoonery and jingoism gives the impression of power at the expense of building trust and stability, which is so much more important in economy and foreign politics. (As I said before, I believe Crimea should be independent or a part of Russia rather than the Ukraine, but I think that Putin's current politics of confrontation is deeply harmful to Russia) That's an excellent post Ros, very erudite

Hi Drowsie darling Where have you been? I meant to say hello earlier but I kept forgetting. Anyway good to see you back on the forums

While I share your dislike of FF X-2 (that game, for me, marks the moment where the Final Fantasy series fell off a cliff, quality wise), what exactly makes western RPGs any more "legitimate" than Japanese RPGs? I have never played a Japanese RPG before but I'm going to attempt to answer this one. JRPG have no Romance in them....that's what makes them a pseudo-RPG You apparently don't realize that Final Fantasy X (which X2 is a sequel to) is about Tidus and Yuna's relationship (and to a lesser degree, Wakka and Lulu's) and Final Fantasy X-2 involves Yuna after the events of FFX seperates her and Tidus (which happens shortly after Yuna proclaims her love for Tidus, IIRC). Or you're trying to be funny. Anyhow, I enjoyed X-2, so... I thought it was quite funny considering the topic and the reality

While I share your dislike of FF X-2 (that game, for me, marks the moment where the Final Fantasy series fell off a cliff, quality wise), what exactly makes western RPGs any more "legitimate" than Japanese RPGs? I have never played a Japanese RPG before but I'm going to attempt to answer this one. JRPG have no Romance in them....that's what makes them a pseudo-RPG

To be fair these weren't professional killers, just people who were prepared to kill someone for £1500. And yes you would find people prepared to do it in SA for that price, not many but some but they won't be very efficient or thoughtful about the job. As you can see from this murder

Yeah she was hot, very hot. But you have asked a good question..."why did he do it" ? So there are some theories, the one that makes the most sense is he needed a way out of the marriage but he also needed her considerable wealth. But of course this is speculation. We may never know the truth

Romance? Did someone mention Romance...excellent idea. Who is keen for another Romance thread and a discussion of the importance of Romance in RPG? Who is with me !!!!

No you right, the planning of the murder seems almost clichéd. If he is found guilty, and all the evidence indicates that, he will probably end up in a mental asylum for criminals. But you never know he may make a miraculous recovery around his mental state and end up in a normal prison. But either way incarceration in South Africa isn't a picnic.