Gorth

Lucky bastard I’ve had grey hair for so long that I’ve almost forgotten there was a time before it. I had noticeably grey hair at the age of 22 and friends at uni asked me if I used some kind of peroxide to create a particularly noticeable white, curly lock in middle of my forehead Other than the hair colour I’ve seen to maintain a “youthful” exterior though, people often estimating my age at early thirties. I guess I should just shave my head and remove the grey evidence of my advanced age

Peace in the middle east died in 1995 with the murder of Rabin by a right wing extremist and the (deliberate) efforts to sabotage the Oslo Accord in the years immediately after. Too much conservative resistance to the idea of peace and an independent Palestinian state in the late 90's. Edit: The conservatives were probably scared of what happened in the worlds only other apartheid state, South Africa, where it came to an end in 1991 and real, democratic elections happened in 1994. You can almost hear them thinking "Not on my watch!" in the Knesset and so the deal on offer got made continuously worse from 1995 to 2000 in true Darth Vader style (heavy breathing: Pray I don't change the deal anymore)

It was actually Jagged Alliance 2 that taught me the word. It's a trait you can pick for your main character and I had to look it up, not knowing what it meant. There is no word for it in my native language. There is a word for left handed (which roughly translates into "awkward handed"), but no word for ambidextrous. It stuck to my mind after that

First I thought it was a misspelling of Ambitious, but then I read the text underneath... (being ambidextrous in real life myself, I was a bit familiar with the word, but it's not one you come across often)

Don't get me started on haircuts... I currently have what can best be described as a "fro" although mine is part grey I did have an appointment with a hairdresser a while back, but then Brisbane got hit by a snap lockdown as it escaped the quarantine. Didn't really have time to try again until tomorrow. Need to get at least 10cm off! As for vaccinations... the situation in Australia is a complete mess (courtesy of our notoriously incompetent federal PM). Even BBC is making jokes about it now... I'm going to see my GP in a couple of weeks time to renew my prescription (for high blood pressure, otherwise I might just instantaneously explode in a shower of red goo), a good time I think to inquire about what the situation is regionally and when to expect/prepare for and what vaccine is/will be available. Would prefer Pfizer/Moderna over AZ/JJ anytime. Willing to wait a bit for it too.

In the end, it all boils down to: Does the story sell? Does the story need a bit of help for it to be sold? Who *really* has an interest in selling the story? Who owns the media? And who owns the owners of the media? Etc. I know, it's a rabbit hole, but welcome to my way of thinking

You're welcome. Just a heads up, it's only a prologue. Playable alright, but some areas appear "sparse" or unfinished. The characters, the writing and the conversations in particular though are just funny in an absurd way. Especially paired with some very effective facial animations. You're the only human (and a male one at that, such a discusting creature) stranded on a remote Island inhabited by elves, dragon girls, mermaids, android girls, all kinds of monster girls. The main game doesn't exist yet (and may never do so, although I hope it does happen some day). This part is free on Steam. Edit: Doesn't exist as in not released. Apparently the developer is torn between two Unity Engine versions and the result may be what is currently finished becomes a "Part 1" (because it's too hard to migrate to a new engine version, after all, it's a one man project) and what is still to do gets on a new version on Unity and becomes "Part 2"

Every now and then, I try out things on Steam that is free (because I couldn't see myself actually spending money on it). This time, the game was "Monster Girl Island: Prologue"... It's a "toon" style game. Annoyingly cute graphics and sexually explicit material at times. Sort of a dating sim (bed all the girls and get trophy pictures like the original Witcher game) and mystery adventure game all in one. I thought I would hate it. Much to my surprised, after the first few dialogues I was completely hooked on the game. It's been a very, very long time since I caught myself sitting and laughing out loud at game dialogue for all the right reasons. The humour was spot on for my tastes. The game mechanics are simple, no voice over, all dialogue is text only etc... but dang did I sit with a big stupid grin afterwards. It's sort a "early access" type of game (hence why it's free) while a full(er) version is in development. All of it literally done by one guy. He recently parted ways with Patreon because he didn't want to give in to the changes Patreon demanded, but I hope he finds a way to complete the game some day. I sure would buy it

It's sort of old news (1 week old), but that's a lot of expensive assets amassed in one place... looks kind of silly though, cut and pasting the same image 3 times into the same pic. Yes, heavily photoshopped picture as click bait. The footage is ok though.

Didn't see that one coming... https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57081142 "A US judge has dismissed a bankruptcy case involving the National Rifle Association (NRA), leaving it to face a lawsuit that could see the powerful organisation dissolved. In a written statement, the judge said gun-rights group did not file for bankruptcy in good faith."

Not a book per se, but an interview with one of the writers. Interesting (imho) Covering everything from the backstory on how the Horus Heresy came to be (back then they couldn't afford to create molds to an opposing titan army) and the naming of the Primarchs (when people hang out in pubs, trying to make up names)

From a different corner of the world, which we rarely hear about... maybe because there are so few (or no) French posters here https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/11/france-macron-govt-military-clash-over-civil-war-warning “We are not talking about extending your mandates or conquering others. We are talking about the survival of our country, the survival of your country,” said the latest letter, which was addressed to Macron and his cabinet. The authors described themselves as soldiers from the younger generation of the military, a so-called “generation of fire” that had seen active service." I first picked up on this story a few days ago on the BBC site, but apparently there is a growing conflict between the French army and the French government. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57055154 "French soldiers warn of civil war in new letter" "The letter to the government last month came from semi-retired generals. The minister in charge of the armed forces, Florence Parly, said they would be punished for defying a law that forbids reservists or serving members of the military from expressing opinions in public on religion and politics." I should stock of on Cognac while there is still peace in France...

Are you a @BruceVCalt?

I don't know if Putin personally orders each killing, but no doubt a lot of people got helped along with their "involuntary suicides" and "accidents" by someone with the power to order it, even if just because the decisions/directives coming from the top does not tolerate things that makes the top look bad... Edit: I think Putin is smarter than that, but clumsy and incompetent minions are just not good at covering their tracks when it comes to liquidations, successful as well as failed ones.

Obvious conclusion... the Russian strain of Covid induces a compulsory urge to jump from windows It probably looks better in the health statistics. Less people dying from Covid!

"For example, Nepomnyashchaya was on a conference call with a top Russian health official about plans for turning one of the buildings at her medical facility into a coronavirus treatment ward. She disagreed with the idea, and fell out of the window during the call, according to local media. " Not sure if there is really any mystery there?

Oh come on, RIcky Gervais was awesome last year when he took on HFPA at their own award show. If just to watch the grimaces and the cringing of the "celebrities" (including Apples Tim Cook and other) when he tells exactly what he think about Hollywood, FFPA and the movie industry. It's priceless Names referenced: Ronan Farrow: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronan_Farrow (investigative journalist who uncovered the sordid affairs of Hollywood and Harvey Weinstein) Harvey Weinstein: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Weinstein (in)famous movie producer and the "Boss" of Hollywood Jeffrey Epstein: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Epstein Influential financier

I predicted a major financial crash in 2020, but that was two years before Covid, that prediction will never be proven either or, as the world economy came tumbling down for other reasons. https://www.thebalance.com/inverted-yield-curve-3305856 I have no clue about the mechanics behind this curve, but the last time it hit the headlights was after the 2009 GFC. I *think* 2012 was the first time I heard about it and how it was a reliable indicated of major economic meltdowns. On a more funny level, an entirely anecdotal and unscientific herald of doom for me was, 2019 was only the second time ever a company I worked for offered employees to buy shares in the company. The first time it happened was in late 2008 (iirc). I rejected the offer back then and share prices plummeted to 30% of their original values within 6 months. I felt like I had just escaped a car accident by not getting part of my salary paid in shares. I also said no this time around and counted my blessings for doing so, but I was joking with colleagues in October 2019, that I think the world is going to end in 2020 because of the share offer True. A bit of laziness on my part. None of the websites popping up on my one and only google search showed the exact detail I was looking for (not in human readable, non tech English)... But I think the point is reasonably valid, countries with any sizeable currency reserve of USD could be at risk of a major write off.

Careful what you wish for (not that you wished for it, just an expression), if the USD implodes, the world economy and most western countries will follow suit as they us it as a currency reserve (rather than tangible assets like gold etc.) Edit: The figures for Poland https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/poland/foreign-exchange-reserves Approx $140bn currently. if the USD becomes toilet paper... sucks to be the Polish currency.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57050690 "The US government issued emergency legislation on Sunday after the largest fuel pipeline in the US was hit by a ransomware cyber-attack. The Colonial Pipeline carries 2.5 million barrels a day - 45% of the East Coast's supply of diesel, gasoline and jet fuel. It was completely knocked offline by a cyber-criminal gang on Friday and is still working to restore service." The Democrats will probably blame it on Russia. The Republicans will probably blame it on China. Iran will be laughing it's ass off in the meantime...

One of the side effects of global warming is the possibility to travel the waters of the northern arctics. After the Suez Canal scare, that is exactly what Japan is pondering the viability of... https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/9/japan-mulls-alternatives-to-the-suez-canal Who knows, Russia and Japan may suddenly become the new best friends (because it's profitable for both). Egypt might not like the idea. I've no idea how much of the traffic through the canal is made up by Japanese ships, at least one ship stood out in the news recently *cough*. Egypt is currently suing the Japanese owner for approx $1bn, having seized the ship, cargo and crew as collateral) "...Leaving aside the very long route around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, Japan has two potential alternatives, both of them reliant on Russia – the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Northern Sea Route. The giant Ever Given got wedged across the Suez Canal in March, stopping traffic in one of the world’s busiest trading routes for almost a week [File: Suez Canal via AFP] Indeed, Russian President Vladimir Putin has personally promoted these alternatives. At the time he was inaugurated for his fourth term as president in May 2018, Putin signed the “Executive Order on National Goals and Strategic Objectives of the Russian Federation through to 2024.” Among the goals were “reducing the time to ship containers by rail, in particular from the Russian Far East to Russia’s western border, down to seven days, and quadrupling the volume of transit container traffic by rail,” as well as “developing the Northern Sea Route and increasing its cargo traffic up to 80 million tonnes.”"

For some "CGI free" epicness (using 10000 soldiers as extras at a time where CGI didn't exist)... The movie was split into four parts because of it's length (7+ hours) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_and_Peace_(film_series) It was supposedly remade in 2019, but I have no idea if it ended up as a good or bad remake. I could imagine all the extras being replaced by CGI. The original is still worth watching for people with the time to spare (the same kind of people that has the LoTR extended version movies in their library)

Those crafty entrepreneurs.... "The first bottles of an "artisanal spirit" made using apples grown near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant have been seized by Ukrainian authorities. The Chernobyl Spirit Company said 1,500 bottles of Atomik alcoholic drink were confiscated on 19 March and taken to the Kyiv Prosecutor's office. Officers took the shipment from a truck at a distillery in the Carpathians." https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-57011695 "They are now awaiting the outcome of an investigation by the Ukrainian security services but say they have "no idea" why the shipment, which was destined for the UK, was seized." Oh come on, could have been fun watching a bunch of Britons running around at night, glowing in the dark Now I feel like playing Fallout again

Their claims are based on military conquest. It depends on whether you consider such claims legitimate? Tibet and China around 850ce. The Tibetan Empire fragmented into smaller realms, ruled by local Tibetan warlords. Tibet around 1931 during the Sino-Tibetan war, where Chiang Kaicheck waged a war of conquest against Tibet: https://omniatlas.com/maps/southern-asia/19310326/ The battle of Chamdo in 1950 where Chinese forces eventually overran Tibet and seized it (edit: and it has been held occupied since that, despite the occasional uprising and revolts against the occupation): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chamdo

Who needs drones when you've got 21 tonnes of space junk left to its own devices, which is going to hit a random place between New York and Canberra anytime within the next few hours Edit: Do you count the cultural genocide and the ethnic cleansing in Tibet an internal Chinese affair? I.e. do you accept China's claim that Tibet was always part of China? (if so, I would like to show you some old maps)