JFSOCC

But what are the Palestinians to do when their counterpart is not interested in completing negotiations? After all, what they're doing is grabbing the Palestinians' land settlement by settlement while pretending to be willing to negotiate. As you probably guessed, the examples were in reality the policies of Israeli governments: "We do not seek an agreement with the Palestinians in order to secure the peace. Of course we regard peace as an essential thing. It is impossible to build up the country in a state of permanent warfare. But peace for us is a means, and not an end. Only for this reason do we need peace, and do we need an agreement."- David Ben-Gurion, former Prime Minister of Israel "The Israeli people have unchallengeable, eternal, historic right to the Land of Israel, the inheritance of their forefathers" - Menachem Begin, former Prime Minister of Israel The known terrorist leader who later became prime minister of Israel is of course extreme-right Yitzhak Shamir, who was responsible for ordering the assassination of the UN diplomat Count Folke Bernadotte while he was negotiating a return of Palestinian refugees. An ironic turn of events - the Count was also a Swedish diplomat during WW2 where he negotiated the release of 31000 concentration camp interns, some of which probably went to Israel and later voted for Shamir in Israeli elections. You can always force a standstill, while on the meantime you treat the base problem that's causing them to go to war. It won't solve everything immediately but once you cut off support you begin gaining gradually. One real obstacle here is the unconditional US military aid to Israel. During the last decade, Israel recieved about $27,000,000,000 of American taxpayer money in military aid, all this in spite of the massacres of Palestinian civilians conducted with American missiles in retaliation for Palestinian terrorist activity. Israel has such a military advantage that it is virtually unthreatened by any of it's neighbours - it has no reason to stop the construction of settlements and the destruction of Palestinian property at all, if somebody would just say they should. The only thing which could possibly change their mind would be if the US would threaten to withdraw their support, and that is not likely to happen anytime soon. Like a famous person once said (really, bear with me for having so many quotes in one post ): "No ruler will consider the peace process seriously so long as he is able to toy with the idea of achieving more by the way of violence." Switching the quotes was a dirty trick... well done.

'let's hope you are wrong. Let's never work under that assumption. I believe a peace is possible, one that benefits all.

Finished packaging santa's gifts for my sister, her significant other and my mother. I never had problems with anything from Ikea, I think it's a pretty good, if uninspiring store. Especially when you're on a budget.

well, what I heard (...) was that the mayans weren't really fearing for the end of the world as they though it would be the dawn of a new age, one which would be better. (you know, woodstock hippies and free love and all that crap)

I watching an engaging movie a waste of time? or reading a good book? Me, I don't think so.Now I was thinking with the topic, and I think there are positives to pets, but I didn't post that without reason. I too am a little ambiguous about pets in the game. If they are added, they have to add something to the experience.

Your father's letter was rather dismissive of your wife. When he said this I suspect this is more a response to the cold shoulder she gets from your family rather than the cause for grief. To me it sounds like both your family and your wife are proud people, which is never easy because it means you need to often give them validation and they don't take criticism well. (I should know, pride is one my character flaws too) For instance the wine expertise story, your wife wants to be respected and not be dismissed as ignorant. Your father (perhaps rightly so) wants the same kind of validation because he sees himself as more knowledgeable on the subject. The showgirl comment also shows how dismissive your father is of your wife's experiences. While he might (or might not) be right that your wife was trying to impress, (not that she was a showgirl, but rather that she has knowledge about a field that they might not know much about) that moment there shouldn't have bothered him so much. The fact that it does shows (I think, in my non-expert opinion) that by the time this even occurred he was already negatively biased against your wife. But then, 10 years might do that. and eventually you may be unable to see anything other than what you are looking for... in this case the negative interpretation of something which, lets face it was a rather mundane exchange. A resentment that has been built over 10 years can't be killed in a short period. it takes a good while before you can get rid of your old ideas, they might never completely go away. That doesn't mean it's impossible. But in order to have a healthy relationship between your wife and your family, these things need to be discussed, openly, and without resentment. The pus needs to be drained before the wound can be disinfected and heal cleanly. (Pro-tip! don't accuse, don't go, "you do" or "I think" but express how you feel. how you feel is never wrong. Make clear that you're nobody's enemy. After all you must love them very much if you're willing to work through a difficult problem) The end result might be that your family decides they want nothing to do with your wife. But they shouldn't make you choose between them. It's not their decision who you can and cannot love. That's the bottom line. Even if you talk things out, you can't force your family and your wife to like eachother, and they don't have to. But they should respect each other and your relationships with them.

Went to a public health centre today in the hopes I could get a declaration of urgency for council housing. (kind of like rent-controlled apartments for the poor) Doc basically said "You're not cripple, you're not alone and you got a roof over your head now. So no. Better luck next time." balls

I wouldn't want to limit possible playstyles by restricting summons. Hell, I'd be ok with being Ranger/Wizard/paladin so I could have an animal companion, a familiar, a noble steed, charm animal and some summoning spells. (Very Meta though) I think if you can manage to come up with a good swarm as a tactic, why not! If some of the summons are costly to lose (familiar/animal companion) that becomes a fair risk-benefit trade-off.

I'm ok with a mule if it takes a companion slot to use one. So you must trade off combat vs being a packrat hoarding tons of items for sale. Should be fairly defenceless too.

tense but I hope not every fight is tense, since I suspect there will be a lot of fights.

I stand by my preference. the second one is a case of horrible over acting. the first is a case of a bad mic and a little over acting.that said, I don't really like either of them.

Maybe a soul-sharing mechanic like "the Wit" from the farseer universe? (Robin Hobb) Where you can share experiences and senses and subtle emotions with your pet. For instance, you're in a tavern getting drunk, all of a suddn your pet becomes restless, POISON! This time it was just the alcohol, but good that he's paying attention This dog smells fear, this bird can scout without being seen, the rat can enter houses without opening locks and scout inside. this horse comes when called without me needing to direct it, because it knows I need it's presence. I know it's a fairly utilitarian look at pets, but why else would you bring them along, you're an adventurer after all.

day and night was done exceptionally well in Quest for glory 5 IMO. where the thieves guild was accessible during the night only, some houses could only be burglarized at night (and the bank) and you couldn't shop except during the day. on science island you'd have a different scientist (well...) based on the time of day.

I want my own headcrab called ramall

I feel exactly the other way about kaevee's voice acting, though the low quality mic was definitely noticeable. And yeah, genoharadan was a weak part, I agree. There was already a book that did that, though. The awfulness is in the details. Basically, you've got a Star Control situation: there has been a 'canon' sequel to KOTOR and KOTOR2, both in the book Revan and the game TOR, but that canon is pretty bad and in an ideal world would do well with being replaced with an Obsidian-made KOTOR3. It won't be, though, because TOR is ongoing and its canon stands. In short, a KOTOR3 that continues the Revan-Exile storyline is a lost cause. Better to accept that and move on, I think. How about they ignore the expanded universe canon for the horrible crap that it is.

isn't that the point of this thread though?How do you make sure that players can feel rich without it feeling hollow? I think the answer lies in gold-sinks, recurring costs (maintaining your stronghold staff, for instance) different kinds of currency, with different kind of uses. (gold for gear, gems for magic power, tokens for favours. favours for political power, something along those lines.)

I believe that: There should always be room for growth There should always remain things to challenge you So no on the XP cap, but the level advantage past a certain point should become ever more marginal.

I would enjoy it if your lore skill was build up by learning about things during the game. so someone who reads through every book has a higher lore skill. And it would only give you extra information, or call back information that you already have seen when it is relevant. I'd like my search to be separate. I'm tossing every barrel, looking at every inch of the wall, pressing loose rocks to see if there might be any way to budge them. I don't see how cartography would enter into that.

Ehm? TSLRCM? I used to be a beta-tester for the team gizka one. Unfortunately that one never got finished. a shame because it had gotten almost to the end. (only a little genoharadan piece had to be finished.) And the voice acting for Kaevee was so much better than the TSLRCM. most voice acting was better imo.

I don't think she's run of the mill at all, intonation is perfect. she doesn't read the text, she acts it. I've seen far far worse. (Star Wars the old republic MMO was atrocious imo, but then again, I only watched some developer vids)but then, there's no arguing over taste.

Doesn't seem like much of a starting point. Trying to talk down Hamas from that will involve what degree of capitulation from Israel ? I guess they could threaten brutal reprisal if Hamas reneges on a deal they win from that, but still can't see that as politically possible. if a truce can be negotiated then so can a peace.

Yesterday I went along with my mother to a meeting of young immigrants of whom the status is either in dispute, or who have been declared illegal. We have a law here in the Netherlands that immigrants are not allowed to work without a status, which means these kids are completely screwed over. I got to hear stories of 20 year old men who had to endure the horrors of war (having to scavenge for food, getting told by militia to drop what little tainted food you could find after days of hunger when you arrive at your doorstep. finding parents dead from eating poisoned grass because they had taken to eating the grass out of sheer desperation. Being forced into choosing recruitment with the bad guys and access to food, or starving. seeing family raped and tortured.) So out of desperation they find themselves fleeing, coming to the Netherlands without speaking the language, knowing anyone here. One kid only managed to find his way to a shelter after finding others who spoke farsi . Then you'd think the horrors end when they found their way into civilization. Well you'd be wrong. Dutch immigration imprisoned most of the people I spoke to, for several months, then dumped them outside without any means, a prohibition on doing work, no addresses for help. That's before their status is determined by the way. And when it is determined they're illegal. (because they couldn't prove that they were fleeing a war... however ridiculous that is, but that one afghan kid had left without much of anything, and didn't expect to be needing to prove it. So their choice is go back to a place they don;t know anymore, is torn apart, where they have no contact. Or stay in the Netherlands illegally, with no hope for work, a home, or education. These are people who want to contribute to society but are denied because they can't prove a negative: they can't prove that they didn't come here for economic reasons. That Afghan kid is sleeping in someone's shed. two others I spoke to were living on the streets. They have committed no crime, came from horror and have now fallen into horror again. It certainly put things in perspective for me. and there was a whole bunch of them. it was a small meeting in a church, with both priests and imams present, and there were about 30 kids there. If my government can't help these kids, then I have a serious problem with my government and their ****ed up immigration laws and standards. I haven't even yet mentioned half the abuse and racism these kids have endured from Dutch police, immigration, and even ordinary people. Let's just say it was an eye-opener.

You keep coming back to that argument. The only way forward is with negotiations. (unless you find genocide an acceptable alternative)Hamas has it in it's charter, when it was started up. So they'll have to come down from that. Not talking to them isn't going to make that happen. It's just such a perfect excuse to vilify the other side and use it as an excuse for measures that don't harm Hamas but all of Palestine.

That movie was sheer genius. It's the best John le Carré transliteration (I don't know a better world for book to film, anyone can help me out?) yet.And that is saying something after movies like The Constant Gardener. I watched the hobbit as wel yesterday. I liked it despite some of it's flaws. I like what Peter Jackson did with making it more of a prequel to the lord of the rings. Though there are some choices that he made which I wouldn't have. I watched it in 2D (Don't like 3D film so much, for practical reasons (glasses, tires the eyes) but with 48 frames. I did feel my eyes tire faster.

you win the thread.