Agiel

It's not going to last... like the other half-dozen before it... Apparently with the arrival of Russian troops on vacation with their T-72s and SA-22 Greyhound "rental vehicles" (I suppose for the latter some are incapable of learning lessons), there has been a crackdown of on rebel militias that were wont to act on their own, particularly the ones who were most active during the previous "cease fire", with a number of the leaders being captured or killed. Some were also killed by pro-Kiev artillery, with them blaming the Russian leadership for deliberately pushing them into "firetraps" in an effort to put the kibosh on their efforts to act independently in the future (not entirely dissimilar to when the Red Army on entering Ukraine in 1944 leaving the anti-German partisans to the devices of the NKVD or using them as cannon fodder). The reason is obvious. Putin wants a deal that lasts. He expected Donbass to go the way of Crimea, but in this he gravely miscalculated and he got a conflict lasting the better part of a year and thousands killed (including nearly 300 innocent people on a Triple Seven) instead. Putin may enjoy record approval ratings now in spite of the onset of a severe recession, but even that may prove fleeting without any effort to change gears (recall the fever pitch support behind Bush in the aftermath of 9/11). And as Rostere has said so many times before, the economic penalties would severely compromise Russia's ability to modernise its conventional military forces. Sure Russia has a credible nuclear deterrent (and spends ample effort in reminding the world of that fact, most notably the recent Tu-95 transit to the English Channel), but nuclear weapons are politically inflexible weapons, and there's zero evidence out there that suggests there are things outside of Russia's borders that Putin is willing to blow up the whole world up for.

The flight path of the bombers were even in cases of live exercises, unlike reconnaissance flights that have the potential to yield useful intelligence, totally unnecessary for the purpose of practicing nuclear bombing runs given that the Russian Air Force already has a myriad of ways of delivering "instant sunshine" from well outside of the area they had flown through (to say nothing of the Delta SSBNs holed up in strategic bastions in Kola and the Sea of Japan or the land-based missiles in silos and on mobile TELs hidden from satellites in "the Lungs of Europe"). It was a flight merely for the purpose of strutting their stuff, and in doing so for the reasons I mentioned put themselves, their country, and thousands of people who are likely totally disinterested or even ignorant to the travails in Ukraine.

Difference being this is through among the world's busiest airspace, not responding to civilian ATC, transponders off so they wouldn't have shown up on TCAS, with aircraft probably equipped with nuclear warheads, flown by pilots and aircrew who meet the bare minimum flight hours to qualified aviators, and the airframes not being the most well-maintained in the world. A recipe for a disaster with casualties potentially in the thousands.

"Oh, I feel pretty! Oh, so pretty!" My consolation after they nerfed Nova hard. Then there's my 3 Forma'd death machine:

The current Flaming Cliffs 3 modules for DCS have more simplified controls and avionics than the full-on "study sims" like the A-10C and the upcoming F/A-18C, making them substantially easier to learn. A third-party developer for DCS: World are investigating the possibility of bringing the F-15C to the study sim level (meaning near 1:1 fidelity "to the switch").

Quite obviously it is Shai-Hulud, the Great Maker, the Grandfather of the Desert, the Worm Who Is God.

Steven Wright is great too: But Mitch's "Saved by the Buoyancy of Citrus" is a classic: http://youtu.be/ZC-4tWx5Gv4

For once oby says something almost sensible. People can think *their* side to be in the right all they like. That shouldn't give *their* side license to indulge in unnecessary barbarity.

Same. I met Alex Grey once, long ago at the MCA La Jolla, hosting an exhibition. During a brief speech to those gathered, Alex acknowledged a beneficial influence to his work from LSD. I clapped appreciatively until I realized I was the only one. To the original topic. If how realistic a game looked really mattered to me, then one of my most played games of recent times wouldn't be one that looked like a Google Maps app. Hell. I put a ton of hours into Mount and Blade, which has looks only a mother could love on payday. At the time Battlefield 3 came out, I said I didn't care if the best looking game for the next five years looked as good as it did (and could still run well on the same hardware). But all in all, yes, for most games (that aren't high-fidelity simulators) *artistic vision* matters infinitely more than graphical fidelity. I mean, this... ...evokes more pathos out of me than this:

One's skull must be as thick as an Ogryn's if he hasn't stopped to think what the Imperium's attitudes towards Xenos and mutants was inspired by. Why do you think the Imperium has been called "Catholic Space Nazis"?

Yeah, absolutely nothing in that word choice that does not in any way, shape, or form evokes a sense of racial superiority over a group of supposed subhumans. In other news: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31067977 This has Ryugyong Hotel written all over it.

I think in my playthrough I made Artyom out to be the Metro's most prolific mugger rather than badass Ranger of Sparta, knocking out every single commie, fascist, and bandit with the brass knuckles of the trench knife. I hope they managed to save enough MRI machines from the nuclear apocalypse because those poor f***ers are going to need them.

Visitin' Nellis and goin' down the "Long 15" of the Mojave... ...in an F-15C Eagle: Pre-release footage showcasing the new Nevada Test and Training Range environment and EDGE 2.0 terrain rendering for Digital Combat Simulator.

Having come from a Chinese household, you begin to tire of the cuisine and even local takes on it wear on you, to the point that for me what seems completely banal to my friends (meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and peas) seems totally exotic to my palette. Thankfully sushi, teppanyaki, and Korean barbecue are still foreign enough for me that it's a joy to go out and eat.

Playing a C: MANO scenario modeled after the brawl in the Indian Ocean from "The War that Never Was". A dastardly regiment of Tu-16 Badgers lobbed a boatload of AS-6 Kingfishes at my Surface Action Group centered on the USS Hue City (CG-66) in the Gulf of Aden. "Vampires inbound! Birds affirm and away!" "Good hits! Engage for second round!" "Cutting it close! All hands, brace for impact!" EASY! Unfortunately, the Hue City is down to a mere 40 missiles with a dangerous Soviet SAG still out there. Though more exciting stuff was going on in the Persian Gulf, with 2 Tu-95 Bear MPAs and four Tu-16s from the Caucasus ABs bearing down on a FFG-7 with a mechanically scanned array radar and arthritic SM-1s as compared to the Hue City's SPY-1 phased arrays and SM-2MRs and an LPH carrier escorting a convoy of tankers. Thinking that the convoy was f***ed, I lifted off the LPH's complement of Harriers to ferry them to the Nimitz battle group in the Indian Ocean, but that FFG-7 crew earned its pay. Four Kingfishes intercepted by the SM-1s, two of them spoofed by the SRBOC chaff salvos, and the remaining two vampires nailed by the Phalanx. That crew is getting the Navy Cross!

The real "Master Interrogator".

Going back to The Witcher 3's announced system requirements, there was this comic from Penny Arcade: Maybe it's Gromnir's new avatar, but I can't help but imagine Cevat Yarli channeling General Buck Turgidson in EA's war-room: "Mr Probst! We must not alloooooww... a system requirements gap!"

There was a "50 NAKED FIGHTING MEN! SKYRIM" video on Youtube I hesitated to post here. I guess I still kind of do. But put the phrase in quotes into the search bar and you'll find it just fine.

Obviously he didn't. http://youtu.be/JqDE76JjK7o

Required reading for Falcon BMS. https://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/docs/16v5.pdf "Come on, Mav! Learn some of that pilot s***!"