Drowsy Emperor

Btw a DnD 1st edition premium thingy with a box and and all the booklets is being released by Wizards in October or November this year. Talislanta is fantastic! I have the 4th edition I'm in awe of Steve Sechi's creativity. I actually found the guy on Facebook and had a nice conversation with him.

Nice. I rather enjoyed LoG. Don't know if I really want to play another grid based RPG, but its good that its being made in the first place.

I think those forums are hung up on technical questions which I have little desire to discuss. The stuff I'm interested in, like story and characters, and visual design is still pretty much an unknown.

I have to be patient with Nepenthe because he's a lawyer and they need ten pages and everything in triplicate just to say hello.

Yeah its the Bioware travelling circus all over again.

Because the movie industry has been around since forever and is a small clique of very wealthy and influential people that make a lot of money. A lot in this case means more than you can possibly imagine. Obviously they're tied to every other US elite. No one is going to dare to really prosecute them. If they weren't safe there wouldn't be a wikipedia article describing what they've been doing for decades. Its obviously acceptable on some level.

There are muslims in certain parts of Serbia, but they're not Serbs. They declare themselves as Bosniaks/Bosnians/of bosnian muslim origin and consider themselves a separate nation. Serbian nationality is tied to being Orthodox Chrisian, or at the very least an atheist/agnostic. This is so hilariously fascist I wish I had the energy to troll the **** out of it. Edit: to be somewhat less of a ****, I'm constantly amazed how for such an apparently smart guy you can both be so blind to your own bias and so full of nationalist serb propaganda. Nothing fascist about it - that's exactly what they would say to you if you asked them what nationality they are - even if they actually have a Serbian citizenship. Ask any muslim from former Yugoslavia if they're a Serb and I'll rather enjoy hearing what they tell you. Everyone who meets the conditions under the law can get the citizenship - and is free to declare their nationality. If they do (declare themselves a Serbian), even if they are of another religion they're likely to be welcomed with open arms as much as the next man. I'm not any more likely to discriminate against them than anyone else is. Its just that that's not what usually happens. The Serbian identity was formed by clinging to orthodox christian faith to escape assimilation during a very long and agonizing period of muslim, Turkish occupation. Its simply what the historical events are. The musims were the occupier = enemy and any Serb who became a muslim by extension, became a part of the occupying forces. Its not a little fascist club of "blut und boden" - it was literally hold to your faith and survive or assimilate and disappear. That's why the nationality and religious denomination are hard/impossible to separate. Which part of that don't you understand? PS: obviously there are some middle eastern nationals (or from other parts of the world) living and working in Serbia, just like everyone else.

Which one? You can find Corto Maltese English editions on ebay. I doubt there would be much interest in CM in the US. You have to know quite a bit of european/world history and literature to be able to appreciate it fully. Black and white art isn't in vogue either.

Damn! Well I wouldn't want either Paradox or Stardock taking the license. Both companies have never produced anything remotely close to the grandeur of Homeworld.

I agree, Chechen fighters were accusing the West of doing nothing to help the plight of the Chechen people. Also if the USA was actively helping the Chechens against the Russians and this was known the Russians would have raised this at the UN and made it very obvious. The war in Chechnya lasted nearly 20 years so why not bring it to the attention of the international community. I don't buy the story at all that the USA was supporting the Chechen's against the Russians, its factually incorrect @ Drowsy Are you not getting confused with the War in Afghanistan against the USSR in the 1980's where the USA used the CIA to help train the Mujahideen fighters? So you're dismissing the part about the pipeline as a lie? Or just picking sources to suit your theory? Since you're interested in the war here's an article: http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO409E.html I don't see the relevance around the pipeline and your point about the USA funding Chechen fighters against the Russians. I am not even sure if the pipeline even runs through Chechnya, I don't think it does? The pipline went through Dagestan, Chechnya, Russian territory. US goal was to disable/destroy it and replace it with the Baky-Ceyhan-Tbilisi US & UK conglomerate funded pipeline that doesn't go through Russian territory, thereby weakening Russia and allowing them to use draw oil from the Caspian sea. That's what happened. Read the article if you're interested.

I agree, Chechen fighters were accusing the West of doing nothing to help the plight of the Chechen people. Also if the USA was actively helping the Chechens against the Russians and this was known the Russians would have raised this at the UN and made it very obvious. The war in Chechnya lasted nearly 20 years so why not bring it to the attention of the international community. I don't buy the story at all that the USA was supporting the Chechen's against the Russians, its factually incorrect @ Drowsy Are you not getting confused with the War in Afghanistan against the USSR in the 1980's where the USA used the CIA to help train the Mujahideen fighters? So you're dismissing the part about the pipeline as a lie? Or just picking sources to suit your theory? Since you're interested in the war here's an article: http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO409E.html

There are muslims in certain parts of Serbia, but they're not Serbs. They declare themselves as Bosniaks/Bosnians/of bosnian muslim origin and consider themselves a separate nation. Serbian nationality is tied to being Orthodox Chrisian, or at the very least an atheist/agnostic. The article is a weak attempt at spinning the story which is a classic piece of Islamic terror. Albeit not very effective.

I see they caught the other one as well. Just a kid. The current theory is that they were so alienated (for not having american friends? seriously?) they adopted Jihadi tactics, strapped themselves up with bombs and went out to kill people. Full of holes, that theory is.

Its not legal, buy you can try suing them. But only if you're sitting on Uncle Scrooge's money.

Drowsy I am concerned that your understanding of the conflict in Chechnya, Beslan and the USA involvement is incorrect Can you explain why you think the USA funded the Checknyan extremists in any respect? The emergence of Islamic groups in adjacent regions of North Caucasus based on the Chechen model and their support from Chechnya to break from Russia led to the indirect involvement of the US and its allies. The latter’s involvement was covert but US was directly involved. In 1998 the US was exerting pressure on Geidar Aliyev who usurped power in Azerbaijan to accept the US proposed oil pipeline from the Caspian Sea to Turkey, bypassing Russia. At the time Aliyev was still dependent on Moscow and was reluctant to give in to US demands. There is evidence to suggest that Aliyev, backed by the US, actively aided Chechen militias to battle Russian forces in Dagestan. The motive was to eliminate the existing oil route through Russia which was severely damaged in the 1999 military activities in Dagestan. The American project succeeded; today the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline pumps oil out of the Caspian bypassing Russia, but economically drains the Azerbaijan Republic. And more: Not to mention open propaganda support (TIME magazine covers and all). The first one is, I believe, from The Crescent International Magazine, the second appears to be from The Middle East Quarterly. I'm not terribly familiar with either, so can't say what kind of sources they (or, the authors articles) are / have I'm not either but you don't need a degree in international relations (which I have, incidentally) to know that Chechens received support from the US. Even though certain parties cried crocodile tears over the impact the war was having on the fledgling Russian democracy. Regardless, the oil pipeline and its political impact is rather obvious: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baku%E2%80%93Tbilisi%E2%80%93Ceyhan_pipeline#Controversial_aspects As for the propaganda support I'm old enough to remember it myself. The Al-Qaeda-Chechen links are a pretty well known topic: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/04/19/ties-between-islamic-extremist-groups-and-chechnya-well-documented/ As is the dismissive attitude of the US administration towards the Russian involvement in the war, the overt support of Chechens as freedom fighters etc. Basically its the same story as Kosovo and Bosnia although the stakes were different. And the result was again, the same: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2012/0412/Albanian-pleads-guilty-in-terror-case-just-4-years-after-gaining-US-residency Going so far as to lie about the origin of the terrorists to cover up the links: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/u-s-embassy-bosnia-hezegovina-fire-serbian-terrorist-custody-shooting-article-1.967570 The second article is a flat out misinformation and lie. Notice: Regional media identified the shooter as 23-year-old Mevlid Jasarevic, a member of the conservative Wahhabi sect of Islam, the same order that rules U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, the Associated Press reported. He has a muslim name and is a member of a muslim sect. I don't know where he was born, meaning whose passport he's sporting (probably Bosnian - which doesn't say anything about his nationality), but there are no Serbs that are muslims, much less Wahhabi. Stings to say that your Bosnian muslim friends are shooting up your embassy just a few years after you fought a war on their behalf, doesn't it.

Drowsy I am concerned that your understanding of the conflict in Chechnya, Beslan and the USA involvement is incorrect Can you explain why you think the USA funded the Checknyan extremists in any respect? And more: Not to mention open propaganda support (TIME magazine covers and all).

Malcador explained it. And if you think there is no religious component in this you're mad. Chechens are among the most fanatical muslims in the world.

So give them all a free happy meal. Make them feel better.

That particular irony is SO 2003. How so? The mere passage of time implies what exactly? Absolution? Back then they were "courageous freedom fighters", for doing the same thing they're doing now. Now they're "terrorists that should be shot on sight" all of a sudden. Which is it?

Ah so the same people that the US financed and helped train to kill Russian soldiers and civilians are now killing US civilians. History indeed, has a sense of irony.

Corto Maltese. Literary and artistic peak of the comic book medium.

Of course, what they might actually be doing in between all the tears is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_accounting

From what I recall overall the ex Eidos part of Square Enix has had more duds than successes recently. During the 90's and early 00' Eidos was a company that published a lot of innovative and popular titles. After that it devolved to recycling of old material - and what new material there was, like "Kane & Lynch" - was generally abysmal. After so many years of mismanagement its hardly surprising that they're not that well off. And I'm not going to weep over their fate, there are only so many incarnations of TR, Hitman, Thief, Deus Ex etc. I can play without wondering when they're going to makes something new and worthwhile. For my opinion of Square, just replace Eidos with it in the text above.

The Russians weren't fighting for Stalin or even communism. They were fighting for their nation and out of genuine anti-fascism which is apparent from wartime posters calling for the defense of "mother russia" and soldier memoirs. Of course simply having to defend themselves and later the need for retribution are a big part of it too.

/delete