213374U

How does it feel, living in constant terror?

At both national and personal levels, the "I'm dirty too" approach means taking no action ever, and gradually subsiding into a puddle. Fortunately, after a bazillion arguments with you guys I've simply decided I'm British. I have a partisan national perspective. I don't pretend I'm a world citizen and am bestest friends with every half-educated funtwit out there. Now all I have to do is work out what to do with all the half-educated funtwits over here. That's a comfy perspective to settle into. It works for as long as you are on the winning side. When that changes (and it will), you'll be wishing that those who take over were a bit more morally conscious about their own actions, and a bit less about those of others. Hell, this is a perfect example of what I'm saying. If reports are true, Russia has occupied Crimea without firing a shot and the whole of the "free world" has basically soiled its collective pants. Nobody willing to actually do anything other than vigorously shake their fists. What actions are being taken? This is nothing but the latest move in the Great Game, and we just hate losing. Stop pretending it's anything else.

Fair enough although the 1 bn$ figure came from Forbes, not Jerry Brewer. That doesn't mean it is correct. I tried finding the Forbes note from where that came. Either it doesn't exist, has been taken down, or my Google-fu is weak. *shrug*

Nah, that's one of those internets myths. The original source of the "report": http://www.cjiausa.org/ http://es.scribd.com/doc/118772161/Hugo-Chavez%E2%80%99s-Mortality-and-Cuba%E2%80%99s-Deception Don't get me wrong, corruption may be a serious problem in Venezuela and Chávez may not be innocent, but the $1-2bn figures floating around just aren't supported.

Well, sure. Different strokes and stuff. I guess I just like being torn between choices. As for APEX, though:

^ That's what I was referring to. The tone of the setting is rather superficial and doesn't really reflect how quests are resolved. For instance: Again, I don't know if that's how the narrative usually goes in the Shadowrun canon, but it seems like a waste to have a setting like that and reduce storytelling within to a feel good trip.

In other news, the ECB recipe for austerity (read: economic slavery) is proceeding at full speed in Ukraine, political crisis or no. At this rate, the whole of Ukraine will be begging to join Russia by year's end. smh

That's probably easier for Canada than pretty much anyone else, given Canada's ginormous natural reserves of fossil fuels. I have no idea what % of the economy is owned by Russian capital, though. It's interesting in the article too that for some reason 10 days is not "enough" for a referendum to be "valid". Regardless, a referendum under the present circumstances is going to be a hard sell as far as legitimacy goes. They really should let int'l observers monitor that, if they are dead set on seeing it through. Also, reminder that under the agreement that allows Russia to deploy troops in Crimea, the ceiling is set at 25,000 servicemen. Last reported figure on the ground was 16,000...

I haven't actually read any of the books. My knowledge of the setting is limited to what I've read online and stuff, so I may be wrong (*GASP!*) about the general tone.

Okay. What happens if they don't leave within 24 hours? Are they declared to be illegally occupying Canada too? A pity for those who were learning Russian, though. Take your paternalistic bull**** elsewhere, m'kay? We're all grownups here, we can make up our minds without your "help". Find a way to get off that doesn't involve telling people what to think. Go read a book, for a change.

You can guess how well Lofwyr reacted to that I need to try that in my next game. I was kinda bummed out to find out that I mean, it makes perfect sense within the setting, but it was also a bit too convenient... maybe I'm just disappointed in myself for not seeing it coming. I also was under the impression that Shadowrun is supposed to be dark and gloomy and stuff. Yet for the most part, you can get relatively happy endings for pretty much everything, side missions and MQ. Kinda jarring. I'm surprised the absolutely fantastic music isn't getting more comments. This goes for the base game too.

The other thread was closed, so I figured, what better excuse to bring it back than some juicy propaganda and conspiracy theories? Estonian foreign minister and EU foreign affairs rep Catherine Ashton discuss the possibility that Kiev snipers were provocateurs Oh, wait. The call has been confirmed as genuine and it ties back to something one of our members (clearly a FSB stooge like myself) posted in the other thread: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/65164-ukraine-burns/?p=1425350

Lol, those are awesome. George Broussard's take on the Presidential portraits?

I don't know. Back in the day, journalists had a responsibility not only to convey facts, but also as a sort of cultural beacon people could look at for honest assessment and guidance. If she really believes RT is a propaganda outlet for the Kremlin and this is incompatible with her dignity as a journalist, she did the right thing by making her resignation a public matter, in my eyes. Impossible to know whether she has something better lined up (which would diminish the value of the act) or if the real reasons are what she stated, but no reason to assume they are not. I wish this sort of thing happened more often, to be honest. Right. So maybe I should clarify, too. The irony I was remarking on is that a Pole was whitewashing an organization that was created to carry out the ethnic cleansing of... Poles. And I felt this irony was worth pointing out because the sole reason for this defense is a pig-headed adherence to a manichaean, Europe-vs-Russia view of the issue, from page one. I'm not too sure if this is the same Polish involvement you are talking about. And to make it perfectly clear: I am not bragging or otherwise using war crimes to take a moral high ground. But are you suggesting that we should sweep the past under the rug because things are rough in Ukraine and extend moral blank checks to anyone that stands up to Putin? Sorry but I can't do that. I'd be partaking in the same double standards I've been raising hell about. Agree to disagree and all that.

If you have only read that post, I guess it would be easy to misunderstand my position. But so far, I have not taken sides. I have not defended Russia sending troops in. I have not defended Yanukovych. I have not even accused Maidan protesters of being neo-nazis, because those who have usurped power do not necessarily constitute a representative sample of the Ukrainian citizenry. I am not on the FSB payroll (if only!). But if there is to be any measure of understanding, we have to begin by calling a spade a spade—just pretending that everyone on the opposing side of the guys we don't like are bleeding heart pacifists facing off against tyranny doesn't leave much room for debate. You cannot expect one side to honor a deal if the other side doesn't. The cornerstone of my arguments is always the same: Western double standards. Yes, Russia also plays that game (any major player does), but it's not Putin you hear all the time touting the importance of abiding by the law and generally playing nice.

Is... is that Ronald Reagan? And why is he armed with a RPG-7?

Ideally, I'd like a full-length campaign that also supports MP (à la Borderlands). Not every FPS is Battlefield. But for games that are designed and balanced around the MP, a lack of a campaign is no biggie for me. I know what I'm getting into, after all. The DLC campaign idea is terrible. Please do not go work for EA!

That has a lot to do with a general lack of research. Kind of like with people dismissing UPA as a collaborationist militia, ignoring the historical complexities of the region and the fact that UPA was pursuing a doctrine trying to carve out an independent Ukraine between the Nazis and the Soviets. It didn't work out too well. Keep trying. With practice, you may be good for comic relief. Because, as far as facticity is concerned, you just aren't making the cut. As the armed wing of the OUN—an organization that collaborated closely with and was financed by the German Abwehr, and whose leaders aimed to throw the Bolsheviks from Ukraine "under the banner of Adolf Hitler" (p.338) until the tide turned at Stalingrad and they figured that they had been jerked around enough by the Germans—UPA was formed to push an agenda of ethnic cleansing on western Ukraine (of Poles, ironically enough—still feeling sympathetic to these dregs?) as well as to fight any foreign powers in Ukraine: Germans, Soviets, Poles, Czechoslovaks. OUN encouraged the recruitment of more than 80,000 Ukrainians into the Waffen-SS and was operationally in charge of the Abwehr-organized Nachtigall and Roland spec ops battallions. But please, show me this "research" that I'm missing that gives nuance to the issue of Ukrainian fascists and fully explores the "complexities of the region", instead of just throwing a few weasel words around to cover your woefully one-sided view of the matter. I'd love to read it!

Have you met any skinhead or other "foot soldier" types? They aren't exactly the sharpest tools in the shed. You don't understand what they are using that flag for, because they don't understand it themselves. All part of the job description, I guess. I assumed that the association of the Keltenkreuz with neo-nazi groups was well known, but I guess peeps living on the other side of the pond aren't much aware of Euro neo-nazi symbologies. TIL...

Anyone who thinks that the Confederate flag is only associated with racism these days is mistaken. Is it one of those "take it back" types of movements, because as an outsider I typically find use of the Confederate Flag to be a contentious and misguided thing, going back to the the "Slavery Issue" that was such a catalyst in provoking the CSA to rebel. I'm of the opinion that anyone who thinks using the Confederate Flag to represent anything other than slavery is going to immediately undermine their position enough that it's almost meaningless. Thanks for all the links numbers. I'll have to read all those later just due to quantity. Somehow, everyone focused on the CSA flag and managed to miss homeskillet there trying to plant a celtic cross AND also the flag of the Nazi collaborationist militia UPA. That is Kiev city hall, by the way. They are indeed neat, though hardly supporting the notion of a neo-fascist Ukraine wanting to kill all the juice. Incidentally, fascists. No, they obviously don't support your poorly built strawmen. But I'm not really surprised that you keep putting those up as anything you make resembling an actual argument doesn't really hold up under scrutiny, heh.

I had to go back a few pages to dig up some links. Others are readily available in the net if you know what to look for. http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/yefremov-complains-to-ashton-his-faction-mps-working-at-gunpoint-337587.html http://www.kyivpost.com/content/politics/thirteen-more-party-of-regions-members-leave-parliamentary-faction-337356.html http://en.ria.ru/world/20140224/187857643/Ukraine-Parliament-Sacks-Constitutional-Court-Judges.html http://www.thenation.com/article/178013/ukrainian-nationalism-heart-euromaidan http://en.itar-tass.com/russia/721610 http://www.ibtimes.com/euromaidan-dark-shadows-far-right-ukraine-protests-1556654 https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/437746044529430529 http://www.timothyeastman.com/uncategorized/an-interview-with-mira-andrei-and-sascha-of-antifascist-action-ukraine/ http://hnn.us/article/122778 http://www.channel4.com/news/svoboda-ministers-ukraine-new-government-far-right I could go on, and on and on... but you get the picture. You are a big boy, you can make up your own mind. It's telling albeit unsurprising how even the most fervent defenders of democracy, freedom, human rights and all that fluffy stuff here have systematically glossed over the fact that it's neo-fascists that have usurped power in Ukraine after Yanukovych fled. There isn't even a serious PR effort to dispel this; the strategy instead is to focus on Putin's reactions—painting him as an admirer of Stalin with Hitler's foreign policy handbook to guide him is sure to draw the short attention span of the average news consumer, not to mention much more palatable than the notion that the EU and US are supporting a coup d'état by extreme right groups.

Looks like you haven't been reading the thread, either. Color me surprised!

Just finished Dragonfall. Much better than DMS but STILL NO PARTY INVENTORY MANAGEMENT. Seriously. How hard can it be? I finished the game with ~10k left because there was literally nothing to buy. Some of the spells/guns looted in certain runs that I couldn't use were only good to sell for more money that I couldn't spend anyway. Bah. Atmosphere was pretty good (as in DMS) but I wish the ending sequence was more reactive. And I'm kinda butthurt that They fixed deckers being basically useless which is good, but Matrix sequences are still soul crushingly boring, which is not so good. Other than that, it's the best game I've played all year. If they can keep the progression up, the next campaign should be nothing short of a classic.