Gorth

It's no more than a couple of years ago the Pope paid the Morrison government $2million to get their head pedophile and former treasurer of The Vatican, Cardinal Pell, out of jail and put on a chartered plane to Rome... during the strictest phase of covid lock down, where people couldn't visit their dying closest relatives because of travel prohibitions. So yes, I consider him the head of that ring, still protecting the "priests", regardless of how many corpses of raped kids and destroyed lives they walk over in the process.

Well, depends on who you ask. For me, he's the leader of the worlds largest and best organized pedophile organization, so I wouldn't shed any tears if a bit of collateral damage happened. His importance may be overrated.

Russia isn't Catholic, so they would probably just not give a damn. If the Orthodox Patriarch were to show up... a very religious man like Putin may have second thoughts and shell the area around him instead?

Time for a new sequel...

Haven't heard about this game yet... cinematic trailer is well made though. I wish GW would create feature movies for us (well, me!) to consume. Continued from the original series...

Tensura Nikki... just watching a few of those "unessential" side story episodes, that takes place in parallel with season 1. Somebody points out The Emperor (Rimuru) isn't wearing any clothes

While I'm not generally in favour of testing drugs on animals, these tests were non lethal and somewhat amusing... Seems like humans are no the only species where the male prefer to drown their sorrow in alcohol if rejected by females

In the 584th year of the war in Ukraine, Putin declared victory for the 173th time at Mariupol (although the 68th “capture” of the city is still disputed, we’re the defenders actually driven out before they returned?)

For me Alpha Protocol will always be the text book example of a trillion permutations... sadly also at the expense of other game mechanics, which were not so good (a bad shooter with bad stealth, mediocre combat and the ultimate crime and joy killer: mini games). But story wise... it's probably unbeaten to this day regarding how many stories players can create for themselves.

Virtual people mate... virtual people

I loved the Gaunts Ghosts books (got all of them) as well as some of the very old Black Library books - Inquisitor, Harlequin and Chaos Child by Ian Watson On the Warhammer Fantasy side, I would nominate Felix and Gotrek by William King as my MVP books (a number of authors continued the story after King got sidetracked with other things), followed by the books about Grey Seer Thanquol - Grey Seer and Temple of The Serpent (Skaven are just hilarious in a sad and a burst out laughing kind of way) by C.L. Werner The games I've played so far, including the Mechanicus game does little to no justice to the setting. Censorship is a thing and they have to tone it down a LOT in order to be able to sell the games on platforms like Steam etc. No, I'm not going to post old rule book illustrations here, they are quite NSFW, not just because of nudity, but the gratuitous violence.... TV Tropes has a nice summary of the setting... (an old version, the new one is lame imho) Warhammer 40,000, known informally as "Warhammer 40k" or just plain "40k", is a miniatures-based tabletop strategy game by Games Workshop. Drawing heavily on their previous Warhammer Fantasy game, it began as "Warhammer In Space", but has over time grown distinct from (and far more popular than) its fantasy counterpart. Thirty-eight thousand years in the future, the mighty Imperium of Man has expanded across the galaxy... to discover that the galaxy is a hell that would make Hieronymous Bosch **** himself in terror, and that it has a hell. From without, the Imperium is assailed by alien monsters from the depths of space, nightmare death-machines and soulless daemons (as well as soulless death-machines and nightmare daemons, and the occasional soulless daemon in a nightmare death machine); from within, treachery, heresy, mindless incompetence and the festering taint of Chaos threaten to tear it apart. Warhammer 40,000 is not a very happy place. Rather than just being Darker And Edgier, it paints itself black and hurls itself over the edge. The Imperium of Man is an oppressive, stark, and downright miserable place to live in where, for far too many people, living isn't something to do till you die, but something to suffer through till something comes around and kills you in an unbelievably horrible way, while enslaving your soul and melting down your body for more biomass for its army - quite probably something on your own side. The Messiah has been locked up on life support for the past ten millennia, laid low by his most beloved son, and an incomprehensibly vast Church Militant commits hourly atrocities in his name. The problem is, as bad as the Imperium is, they're not quite as bad as many of the other factions. Death is about the best you can hope for against the vast majority of the other major players in the battlefields of the 41st Millennium. The basic premise of 40k, insofar as it can be summed up, is that of an eternal, impossibly vast conflict between a number of absurdly powerful genocidal, xenocidal, and (in one case) omnicidal factions, with every single weapon, ideology and creative piece of nastiness imaginable turned up to eleven. The standard-issue sidearm of a Space Marine is a fully automatic armour-piercing rocket-propelled grenade launcher. The Astronomican, a navigation aid has the souls of thousands of psychic humans sacrificed to it every day, dying by inches to feed the machine. The Faster Than Light Travel used by most factions carries with it a good chance of being eaten by daemons. There are also chainsaw swords, armored gloves that crush tanks, mountain-sized daemonic walking battle cathedrals, tanks the size of city blocks and warships that level continents, if not simply obliterating all life on an entire planet just to be sure. And sometimes even that doesn't work. There is no time for peace, no respite, no forgiveness; there is only war. And you are going to die. The 40k universe is a spectacularly brutal playground of tropes and horrible things taken to their absolute extreme, and in some cases, beyond. Entire planets with populations of billions are lost due to rounding errors in tax returns. Orders a million strong of capricious, fanatical, genetically engineered Super Soldier Knights Templar serve as the Imperium's special forces, while the trillions of soldiers in its regular armies take disregard for human life to new and interesting extremes. A futuristic space Inquisition ruthlessly hunts down anyone with even a hint of the taint of the heretic, the mutant, or the alien, and is backed up by legions of psychic daemonhunting elite super soldiers and fanatical pyromaniac power-armoured battle nuns. The ancient and mysterious manipulator-race contrive wars that see billions dead so that small handfuls of their own may survive, while their depraved cousins cannot endure the agony of a life not spent torturing numberless innocents to death in ingeniously horrific ways. There are several vast Bug Swarms trying to eat every organic thing in the galaxy as part of their natural life cycles, two light-years-wide holes in reality through which countless daemons and corrupted daemon-powered super-soldiers periodically attempt to destroy the universe, and an entire civilization of undying Omnicidal Maniacs serving their star-god masters' desire to exterminate all living creatures, down to the last bacterium. There's a genetically-engineered survivor warrior species infesting every corner of the galaxy and cheerfully trying to kill everything in the galaxy (including each other, if nothing better presents itself) because it's literally hard-wired into their genetic code to do so (and because it's fun). The closest thing to the "good guys" you can find in this setting is a tiny alien empire sandwiched between all the other factions, and they may or may not have a thing for forcing new subjects into their empire through orbital bombardment and concentration camps, but at least they'll offer you admittance into their club. So long as you don't mind being, as with most subjects in their faction, mind-controlled by a few benevolent elites. As well as the game itself and its rulebooks, faction-specific, setting-specific and campaign sourcebooks, 40k has spawned a range of spinoff games and publications. Over sixty 40k novels and short story anthologies, including the successful Gaunt's Ghosts, Eisenhorn, and Ciaphas Cain novels, are published by the Black Library, a subsidiary of Games Workshop, who also published the now out-of-print comic book Warhammer Monthly and short story magazine Inferno. Boom! Studios now publish comics set in the Warhammer 40K universe, in the form of various mini-series, rather than an ongoing title. There is even a full-length fan film, Damnatus, which was approved, made, banned over conflicts between British and German IP laws, then leaked online. Spinoff tabletop games include the space combat game Battlefleet Gothic, large-scale strategy Epic 40,000, gang-based Necromunda, all-Ork Gorkamorka, small scale Alien-influenced Space Hulk, RPG-influenced "narrative wargame" Inquisitor, and the more traditional RPGs Dark Heresy, Rogue Trader, and Deathwatch. A small but growing number of 40k videogames have also been made; early examples include the Space Hulk series and a slightly obscure isometric Genesis / Mega Drive game called Aspect Warrior. More recent are Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War and its sequel Dawn Of War II, a pair of Real Time Strategy games for the PC; Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior, a First Person Shooter; and Warhammer 40,000: Squad Command, a turn-based tactical game. Currently in development are a third-person shooter, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, and a MMORPG titled Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online. An official CGI movie, Ultramarines, was recently announced, following up on a number of live-action shorts shown at various Games Day events in the 90s. Before you start screaming about the former, consider that the script is written by Dan Abnett. In the meantime, you can watch the fan-film Damnatus, track down an old Games Workshop VHS release film called Inquisitor, or even watch Event Horizon (which has long been accepted as an unofficial prequel, since the creators seem to have accidentally matched the franchise's premise and style with remarkable exactitude, though not the time period).

Obsidian is now part of Microsoft and as such, has some responsibilities regarding the public image presented. Being home to a bunch of howling fanatics crying out for blood and campaigning for the killing of people (besides being low brow tasteless) doesn't really belong in of a gaming community. I would suggest people go find political fora for that.

Continued from old thread.... Just a reminder to keep it civil... and besides the usual forum guidelines, this is not a platform to start hate campaigns, encourage the killing of people nor "celebrating" the death of people (i.e keep it classy)...

More history in the making this way...

No sport in particular, just a video about sports fans...

Is Russian wheat export targeted by sanctions (asking because I don't know)? Just curious because you make it sound like Ukraine is the worlds only wheat producer. From Al Jazeera feb 2022 (pre-war info) https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/17/infographic-russia-ukraine-and-the-global-wheat-supply-interactive Russia, not Ukraine was the biggest supplier of wheat for a number of African nations... whereas Ukraine was a major supplier for countries like Israel, South Korea, Spain, Philippines etc.

No idea if they are popular. Didn't know light novels existed. The graphics are nice. I've seen other anime with better graphics though. Maybe it's because it provides a convenient way of disposing of existing conventions and settings for a protagonist? I'm sure there are people out there who wished they could leave the dreariness of their everyday life behind and be a "somebody" in a different world with different rules. Maybe everybody else just has better taste than you But seriously, I think the need for escapism is a factor in why most people seek to immerse themselves for a while in stories.

Canada… her big disappointment

Tensura Nikki episode 23.5 & 24... (all hail our new slime overlord) The end of episode 23 is sort of foreshadowing something or rather someone, observing Rimuru from afar, careful not to be seen. She looks like some kind of knight. Judging by her facial expression, she's no fan of slimes... or maybe Rimuru in particular. Episode 24 is a flashback episode, showing an encounter Shizu had in the past with a mysterious stranger... It begins with a desperate woman performing a summoning, seeking vengeance (I presumed at whoever killed her companions aka the corpses strewn around her). How does the saying go, careful what you wish for?... sacrificing her life and her soul, she enters a contract with the summoned demon... A quick location change and we follow Shizu, who is headed towards the capital of Filtwood, a realm neighbouring The Great Jura Forest (I saw a map in one episode, the world looks like a single, giant continent with Jura in the middle and various mountain ranges, swamps, kingdoms etc. surrounding it. A call has gone out for heroes to fight a demon that has recently been revived. She joins a large gathering of local heroes, fighters, adventurers etc. who all answered the summons. Of course it was a trap and the local army blocks all exits from the great hall. Claiming (falsely) that one or more of them are demons in disguise after killing one of them and putting on a big light show, making it look like the deceased was possessed by a demon, the lords of the place tells them, nobody can leave until all demons are killed. What nobody knew was, there was a real demon among them. The one summoned at the beginning of the episode... Shizu confronts him, suspecting he plans to kill everyone, guards, adventurers, servants, the lot, and wont have none of it. The demon doesn't really want to talk about himself... And Shizu doesn't really want to let him leave... After a bit of fighting, the demon loses his right arm. Deciding to call it a draw (yeah, sounds familiar), he turns into a black cloud and evaporates away. A bit of exposition follows with further flashbacks, Shizu thinking about some details the Demon Lord 'Leon' told her about the nature of different types of demons, including "Primogenitors" , known by their signature colours rather than names (Noir, Blanc and Rouge) Yeah, not suspicious at all... the king is sitting to the right, his advisor to the left... and mysterious guy who appeared as a simple lackey until now in the middle. Smells fishy... The guy in the middle is an arch demon. He proceeds to knock the stuffing out of Shizu and starts choking her Darth Vader style while telling her, she's going to be a sacrifice in a ritual. Rescue arrives from an unexpected side when the one armed demon from before returns... He pulps the brain of the advisor (splattering it out over his seat), by jamming a metal rod through his skull, then proceeds to remove the kings head and finally turns his attention to the arch demon... adding "A lower demon like you can't..." to the list of last words. The arch demon now gets to occupy the position formerly held by Shizu... being choked to death (and that by one armed demon) All's good that ends good or something... at least for now. Off to watch something else for a while

Yes, they do cherry pick a bit, no fun watching the 99 other people who just show their passport and walk on through without any raised eyebrows But the cases shown are real indeed. The worst airport "incident" I watched up close and personal myself, was in Wellington Airport (returning home to Wellington after a trip back to Denmark). A group of (very young) South African boy scouts, can't have been more than 11-12 years old, got pulled over, called out, put on display in the middle of the hall and publicly humiliated, because one of them had a bag of jellybeans he hadn't declared on the form (all food items and items made of materials like wood, leather etc. has to be declared). I did feel a bit sorry for the kids, who probably didn't think of jellybeans as "food" Edit: Yeah, Kiwi customs can be brutal too... Edit2: You sort of have to envision it, a group of tiny, intimidated looking school boys surrounded by a ring of big burly (and frankly scary looking) customs agents, looking like the the local rugby team about to kick butt

It’s very hard to completely avoid, because it was apparently the second most important event in the world (after the war in Ukraine). More important than what the Taliban is doing to women or starvation again becoming a thing in Ethiopia. Ironically I remember the couple from Australian headlines some years ago (2015 iirc) them being the couple of self entitled, unmitigated **** trying to smuggle their flea bags through customs, because bio security laws only applied to normal humans, not us. We’re celebrities after all. Since then, I’ve wished a pox upon both of them. No sympathy for whatever misery befalls either of them

You might be surprised how much hatred can unite people. Often faster and tighter than the love of anything. In the actual case, the Ukrainians are doing the dying, but it's not just Ukraine fighting against Russia. The US, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, are all *active* participants in the war. Claiming otherwise would be dishonest. What I'm trying to say is, it's not a nation against a nation, but an autocrat and his tools against several groups of people who either volunteer or gather and provide resources for those fighting at the front lines. The two words nobody has mentioned yet is 'social contract' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_contract "In moral and political philosophy, the social contract is a theory or model that originated during the Age of Enlightenment and usually concerns the legitimacy of the authority of the state over the individual. Social contract arguments typically are that individuals have consented, either explicitly or tacitly, to surrender some of their freedoms and submit to the authority (of the ruler, or to the decision of a majority) in exchange for protection of their remaining rights or maintenance of the social order" This is for me a much more powerful thing than people telling me I have to go fight for some colours on a piece of cloth or a nation state (which for me is something akin to the pinnacle of human idiocy). If you feel your ruler or the 'majority' you identify with is worth putting your life on the line for, then by all means do so. Question is, can you force other people to do the same? I served my time back in Denmark after getting drafted and I didn't mind. As it turned out, I ended up in the Civil Defense rather than the military, but that was the RNG involved in picking a ballot out of the bowl to see where you end up (which is way past the point of no return), so I was never conscientious objector or draft dodger myself.

Kill them with extreme prejudice of course... Not blaming Ukrainians for defending their home. Blaming people for starting wars for "their country". Defending your home and your family isn't quite the same (I think). Edit: I.e. I would wage war against Russia because of my hatred of what Putin is doing to other people, not because of some flag I'm supposed to feel somehow represents me. I.e. tangible reasons over symbolic reasons.

That time I got reincarnated as a slime (I think I might just stick with its shorter nickname Tensura Nikki) episode 22 & 23 (a "dual episode") Rimuru and his class of doomed kids travel to the "Dwelling of Spirits". Turns out the dwelling is more of a labyrinth than any obvious dwelling. They get met by a pink (yes, pink!) golem, which wants to fight them. After a hard fight, they dismantle the golem and gets introduced to Ramiris... aka Ramiris of the Labyrinth, one of the ten Demon Lords and former Queen of Spirits (from the background lore, I found out she was killed many times over and reincarnated in order to prevent Guy and Millim from blowing up the world when the two of them had a fight, which lasted seven days. Ramiris kept absorbing the enormous quantities of magic released, died and came back, over and over. Her current physical form is that of a diminutive looking fairy) Luckily she can be bribed with cookies She is however still feeling somewhat peevish because Rimuru destroyed her golem. It took a lot of effort and energy to build! Ramiris shares a bit of background info too about herself (how she was once the Queen of Spirits, who fell from grace and became a Demon Lord) and a fellow Demon Lord, 'Leon' (who was once a hero also fell from grace). Another subtle poke at Rimuru, pointing out humans can become Demon Lords, like Milim mentioned previously, asking him why he didn't want to be one. Leon was the Demon Lord that summoned Shizu to this world iirc. She does feel sympathy for the plight of the children and agrees to help, doing the summoning. The children will have to do the convincing of the spirits to merge with them until their bodies mature themselves however. Each of the kids ends up merging with a spirit of various aspects, fire, wind, space etc. Except Chloe... she ends up with a mysterious spirit from the future before anyone can stop it. Rimuru ends up somewhat red faced when Chloe says she loves him... wishing she would say that in eight... no, make that ten years time, instead Everybody is saved for now and Rimuru makes his way back to his captital, leaving the education of the kids to the school for now, knowing they are not going to explode from excess magical energy any moment. After a moment of reflection with the mask of Shizu in his hands, knowing the kids will be alright, the end credits start (in the middle of episode 23!) and a new story arch starts in the second half of the episode.... I'll take that together with episode 24 in a follow up post. Edit: This was also the first time Rimuru revealed to the kids (because he needed to show Ramiris) that he is not a human, but a slime

Nationalism brought us WWI... nationalism brought us WWII... nationalism brought us the Russian invasion of Ukraine... nationalism is overrated. Why was it again you wanted to take up arms and kill your neighbor because some politician said so?