Gromnir

james cox. who the hell is james cox? well, arguably the worst elected President o' the US were warren harding. is possible andrew johnson or calvin coolidge were worse, but they stepped in from the vice presidency. there is some other candidates for worst President, but harding makes virtual every top five list. most folks who went to university in the US, even if they don't know 'bout harding's presidency, they will likely recognize harding name as having been a president. harding ran against cox. Gromnir had to look up that fact. we can't tell you squat about james cox w/o doing some research. history will not measure obama against mcain or romney. is pretty silly to do so in any event as is much difficult to predict Presidential success or even Presidential action before a person becomes President. after all, we didn't know that obama would go native regarding so many NSA directives and and the handling o' guantanamo detainees. who did know? is fun to go down list o' presidential campaign promises and see how Presidents do in keeping such... or how they fail at doing so. Presidency changes folks. is why we don't measure them against hypothetical standards... 'cept for fun. obama a better or worse president than animal from the muppets? am betting that today we would get more than a few votes for animal. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/07/23/darth-vader-is-polling-higher-than-all-potential-2016-presidential-candidates/ darth vader, for example, has a good lead over obama. history, for the most part, will not measure obama against romney. is another situation where history gets it right. HA! Good Fun! ps animal for president in 2016

Actually... *that* would be funny It should be a talent. our knee-jerk were to chuckle, but am wondering if obsidian would consider actual doing such a thing. after all, bloody mess were a fallout trait, yes? given josh's weird notions o' funny and the belief that funny should be optional, perhaps one could make HaHa content available via a trait/talent. HA! Good Fun!

MURICA!!! I sure wish we would develop orbital weaponry. Just imagine the jet fuel savings! Finally. A green argument for orbital death lasers. Now we'll get them. Nah, that requires a power source. I prefer Rods from God. Has a nice ring to it too. am thinking our first exposure to such weapons were via sci-fi of heinlein. heinlein may have been a bit o' an odd bird, but 'tween starship troopers and the moon is a harsh mistress, you got a couple sci-fi novels that actually showed up in US military reading lists... starship troopers being the first such sci-fi book to do so. the moon is a harsh mistress also taught us about terrorist cell organization. and before there were hal, there were mike. HA! Good Fun!

they is only gonna get roles as long as they is alternatively hot (fox) and cute (vampire chick... honestly, we forget her name.) but how many years they got available to improve before their more obvious talents degrade? that being said, we agree with you that mere fact that they get so much work should result in improved craft. world's worst carpenter should become at least decent at making a chair if all he does for 10 years is make chairs. directors ain't asking much o' these actresses, so how tough is it to learn to play their one role relative well? am not an actor, so perhaps we is underestimating the skill it takes to play, "chick in denim shorts." HA! Good Fun!

your reply/quote nonsense is... nonsense first o' all, history is indeed useful at times. the US methods were, in the long run, very successful. nuke 2 cities "into oblivion" were less than would have occurred if the US had to invade. in point o' fact, the deaths caused by 2 nukes were far less than casualties that woulda resulted from enough conventional bombings to get japan to eventually capitulate. bombing o' tokyo weren't enough. btw, RUSSIA had plans to invade hokkaido as early as august 1945-- they clear weren't interested in a japanese surrender. you really should read some o' the links or sources provided. Japan is a modern, democratic, and peaceful nation, is impossible to say what woulda' become o' japan without the bombings, but we know they has things pretty good as of august 9, 2014. historty wins, for once. what does korea and ussr have to do with anything? you is mindblowing obtuse. the post ww2 situation were mighty freaking tense. to leave two angry military powers largely in tact were foolish beyond reason. the US, at the end o' ww2 were already planning on how they were gonna need deal with the soviet and other threats. add a constant threat o' reemerging japan in the pacific and germany in europe would' been insane, but we suspect we is talking to the wind at this point. am suspecting you is kinda alone in the notion that the allies shoulda' stopped before crossing into germany, and situation in japan were actual more clear as japan had near 700,000 in china alone in 1945. ww1 ends when germany gets pushed back beyond the hindenburg line... pretty much they way you wanted ww 2 to end. again, look how that worked out for the europeans. "I said "you don't need unconditional surrender". That does not mean "ro reparations or conditions"." *chuckle* and making it obvious that you won't invade is strengthening or weakening your bargaining position? germany had been crushed after ww1, but there weren't near enough oversight o' german industry to be making sure that they didn't rebuild their military industrial complex. ask japanese and germans after ww2 to demilitarize 'cause it is the right thing to do would no doubt be very effective. "Bombing the living s*** doesn't change that. It just costs more lives" strategic bombing did indeed cost many lives. the two nukes AND the threat o' soviet invasion, soviets who wanted to carve out chunks o' asia, saved many lives. japanese had many millions o' ill-equipped soldiers, but a delay woulda' given substantial time to re-equip those troops. japanese navy would take years to rebuild, but by july 1945, the japanese had more than 10,000 aircaft they were reading in anticipation o' kamikaze attacks-- they believed they could increase their hit ratio to 1:6 from previous 1:9 kamikaze numbers. japanese were hoping to delay so that US would need wait out the typhoon season before making an amphibious assault. japanese plans for "peace" were all predicated on hurting invaders hard enough during initial stages o' an invasion so that the imperial army generals could avoid war crimes tribunals and so that japanese could retain lands captured lands in various parts o' asia. your childish notions o' right woulda' cost many lives and woulda' probable seen soviet in control o' hokkaido, at the very least. oh, and it woulda' had US and europeans making the exact same mistake they made after ww1. good idea. HA! Good Fun!

Wolf of Wall Street The Lego Movie I'd suggest both are extremely good at what they do, and will stand the test of time. am thinking Gromnir might finally have to admit that he likes leonardo dicaprio as an actor. we disliked him for years, but somehow we likes most o' his recent body o' work. when actors we dislike sudden become watchable, our world makes just a bit less sense. the fact that matthew mcconaughey was also in Wolf almost caused us to have a brain aneurysm as we disliked mr. mcconaughey near as much as we disliked dicaprio. our opinion o' the stoned and naked bongo frat boy's acting has recent improved as well. if megan fox or that mouth breather from the vampire movies becomes a good actress we may need give up on watching movies altogether. lego movie were just a bit too much like the cat poster it were joking about. will ferrel character mighta' ruined it for us as he were too much. HA! Good Fun!

you are kidding right? obama said the syrians had crossed a line in syria with gas attacks, but then he did virtual nothing. you may think such action were justified, but to say it don't appear weak to many voters in US or fighters in mideast is silly. the way obama handled libya were to be keeping distance, which made voters and westerners very happy... right up until things started falling apart in libya again. nevertheless, actions o' the US in libya sends a message that the US is unwilling to get their hands dirty. and again, it ain't as if obama woke up two days ago and realized that isis/is were a potential problem. the perception is that he left iraq in a state o' political shambles, creating a situation whereby IS could walk in and grab more territory than any islamic terrorist organization in history has managed to hold (they is printing freaking license plates for chrissakes,) capture US heavy armour such as m-1 tanks, and the damn in mosul that could flood the most populous river valley in iraq which could result in the depths o' up to 500,000 people. that crap didn't happen overnight. etc. and is not about a president being able to resolve the situation in israel. duh. that being said, obama distanced himself from the israelis and the arabs. the arabs don't believe the US will get involved, but they see the US inextricably linked to israel. the israelis don't trust obama specifically given comments he has made about israel and netanyahu. the US has less influence with israel and the palestininas than any president we can care to mention. ... you is being a bit silly. am not saying you should blame obama. review our post. we noted that you saying you hasn't heard obama being blamed is shocking to us. obama is taking much heat in the US press, and we do not find such blame to be at all surprising. Presidents always take heat when things go bad, and things is very freaking bad. pretend that obama doesn't deserve some blame is boardering on obtuse, but that ain't the issue. issue is you claim you has never heard obama being blamed, and you act perplexed that any could blame. is nothing shocking in obama getting blame. only thing shocking is that obama ain't getting more heat outside the US. he will eventually. is from a cnn article we just read today. cnn... not fox "That is not the first time the administration has been criticized for lacking a strategic vision for countering ISIS. Republicans on Capitol Hill have repeatedly criticized Obama for undermining American influence globally by not acting decisively enough on Iraq and Syria -- among other global crises." and "Many have also criticized Obama's inaction in Syria as contributing to ISIS' growth by failing to bolster the moderate rebel forces. "Without sufficient financial and military support, moderate rebel factions have dwindled as some fighters and entire groups opted to join ISIS and other Islamist factions fighting against government forces. The hands-off approach in Syria even prompted the American ambassador to the country, Robert Ford, to resign recently because he could no longer defend the policy, he told CNN in June. ""Had there been more military assistance ... the opposition would have probably been able to gain ground a couple years ago more quickly," Ford said. " (And) the ability of al Qaeda and Islamist extremist groups to recruit away from the moderates would have been less." "And aside from the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal, Ford said there is "nothing we can point to that has been very successful in our policy." "Ford and others have called ISIS a national security threat to the United States and fears are growing that its fighters could return to Europe or the United States and carry out terrorist attacks. ""To stand back and do nothing is to simply see this cancer metastasize further," Ford said." etc. HA! Good Fun!

josh didn't like bg game humor. he Really didn't like bg game humor. he likes big heads though. ... humor doesn't travel well and seems to be highly personal. am all in favor o' there being humor in PoE, but is gonna be interesting to see how obsidian handles. gonna make a humor toggle for dialogues? that seems doubtful. HA! Good Fun!

Oooh. I love a good counter-factual. As you know, GD, I share a many of your libertarian values, albeit from a different cultural tradition. Nonetheless, I utterly understand where you are coming from and am [broadly] sympathetic. The biggest problem with libertarianism, as someone attracted to it, is it's Utopianism. All utopian ideologies are inherently dangerous, as they offer easy solutions to intractable problems. I'd throw some Hobbes into my libertarianism, some gnarly realism that went against the grain. For me, this means that America has an unenviable but inevitable role to play in preserving liberty beyond it's shores. It's a bitter pill, but one best swallowed. 2003. GW Bush leaves Iraq alone. What happens next? Gadaffi remains in power. North Korea puffs outs it's chest, as does Iran, and now has nukes with a far-extended range. The Arab spring happens anyway, but ISIS analogues take over Egypt? I dunno. The world is a mess now, but given the realities of the Middle East and the thirty-year war within Islam (i.e. Shia versus Sunni) it was going to be a mess anyway. Sometimes having the mess that suits you best is the most you can hope for. The biggest mistake George W Bush made was paving the way for Obama. He is completely unsuited to the challenges your country faces. He is a sunny-skies president in stormy times. Like most leftists, he hasn't a clue what to do when there's no tax money to foist on client voters, and views foreign affairs as a distraction from consolidating party political power. I look at it like this - whatever space the America vacates leaves room for either (a) Islamists (b) Russians or (c ) The Chinese. Furthermore, your southern borders are hostile, and will become increasingly so as Latin America eyes you ever-more warily. As for A,B & C, as a Briton, there are not people I wish to see in the ascendant. If Europe falls, the West falls. America is the bulwark of Western values. We're in this together, this strange, fractured post-Cold War. So I understand why Isolationist values might appeal, but in the long-term they will do America little good. honesty doesn't sell well. tell American voters that going into iraq or libya or elsewhere in middle east is necessary for long-range stability o' the region, but that doing so is gonna require a +20 year commitment o' troops/police/ and wholesale infrastructure overhauling is not going to make folks happy. is different options for a half-arsed but politically viable approach, but regardless, is death by a thousand cuts. go in with troops but never fully commit (RAND studies showed that american troops in iraq were not even 1/3 what they needed to be to be acting as a viable police force) or pretend as if the locals, who is divided by religious and tribal divisions that make cooperation impossible, can magically fix their own problems as long as US supplies drone strikes, intelligence, and glorified care packages? both options is fail. necessary? dunno. am not gonna say we is certain how things in mideast play out if US is complete uninvolved. is also possible that some unrest in the mideast may be part of The Plan. one o' these days those folks is gonna realize that a couple o' decades o' peace and infrastructure building supported by oil revenues could bring about wholesale alterations o' their economies. the west is dependent on oil, but that dependence is nothing compared to middle east dependence on the west for near everything but oil. keep the arabs fighting may 'cause short-term instability in the region, but peace might actual be viewed as a greater long term threat... but that is just our natural cynicism getting off the leash again. regardless, honesty sucks. western nations don't like honesty anymore than does US voters. we don't complete blame politicians 'cause they can't make any positive changes unless they is in office, and is no way to stay in office if you is honest about short and long-term costs o' fixing problems in places such as iraq. "Wow so the problems in the ME are all Obamas fault, that's a new spin if I ever heard one" really? is a common criticism and it is gaining much popularity. US influence in the region has been waning for years. obama's handling (non-handling) o' the syria situation were making him look weak and impotent, but recent problems in libya, israel and iraq has all called obama leadership into question. libya were touted as the big success, until recently. now it is looking to some folks like just another example o' obama fail. kerry gets no respect amongst the palestinians or israelis, so the egyptians, who is outspoken enemies o' the muslim brotherhood, gets called into to mediate 'tween israel and hamas? wtf? am not even needing to bring up recent arguments o' obama fail regarding isis/is in iraq. ​am not saying all the criticism is fair, but that you ain't heard obama being blamed is shocking. Presidents typical get disproportionate blame. the notion that media sources outside the US is going easy on obama is striking us as a bit odd. HA! Good Fun!

somebody needs some alone time with the penguin. HA! Good Fun!

is noteworthy that US reconstruction efforts in japan appear to have worked very well as japan is now a peaceful trade partner and the third largest economy in the world. no radicalized extremist government. no hot-bed o' world terrorism. no crippling and endemic poverty. etc. that being said, nothing comes without a price. is the world a better place with j-pop, hentai, and tasteless japanese tv commercials? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCjxzpSrFP4 HA! Good Fun!

if the japanese current and FUTURE threat was as small as you suggest, the estimates of casualties for an invasion o' japan would not have been in the millions. also, as already stated, in 1945 the "crushed" japanese were killing chinese at a rate of 100k a month. and again, the situation were similar in germany, so, distinguish. in point o' fact, germany were far less o' a threat when allies crossed the rhine. you genuine suggesting that the allies should stopped? "The military and industrial powerhouse that is US looking over their shoulder? HA!" damn straight. what year were war in korea? US also were very much aware that the soviet union would be a post war threat. if germany and japan had been allowed to maintain their military industrial complex 'cause naive candyland kids like trash thinks it were mean-spirited to invade, we can't even imagine what the world map would be looking like today. germany want from a shattered ww1 loser to arguably the single most capable military power in the world in a very short period o' time. the europeans and the US were not gonna make the same mistakes with post ww2 germany... and to think that the US would treat japan special 'cause they were only capable o' killing large numbers o' asians as o' summer o' 1945? and again, the japanese didn't genuine want to surrender. the russians had no intention o' mediating a surrender. you didn't bother looking at links provided. am doubting you has read Frank's Downfall. but hey, am betting any number o' wannabee dictators and warlords would love your childish worldview. imagine if any invader could invade neighbors with impunity knowing that worst case scenario is that they is gonna be forced to return to their pre-war boarders. good on you for coming up with a wonderful new method for dealing with military aggression. HA! Good Fun!

well, as an example, the last time we were in ny we were staying at the penta hotel, or rather the hotel pennsylvania--they has changed the name o' that place a few times. we like the penta for one simple reason: it is across the street from msg. anywho, one night we hail a cab. am having our hair cut business style and were wearing a suit with a navy london fog trench coat. we get in cab and ask to be taken to the UN (long story.) the cabbie, who were eastern european, yells at us to get out o' the cab... we caught "puerto rican" in there somewhere. we have had girlfriends that says we look mediterranean. east coast we gets "puerto rican." west coast and chicago we get "mexican," alot. am well-tanned, at the very least. is not like we wear buckskins and feathers... no "free leonard peltier" t-shirts neither. HA! Good Fun!

But the thought you may get ripped off using a taxi shouldn't be a reason not to use one or negate the fact a taxi is more convenient that is the main reason we don't use a taxi when we go to NY. other reasons include but isn't limited to the following: rude cabbies racist cabbies who don't pick-up minority fares exorbitant cost seats with mysterious foreign substances heck, in the literal thousands o' trips we has made to the bay area, we has only used a cab two times. use bart instead. we were not wealthy the last time we were in london, so we didn't use cabs much, but while they is better than NY cabs at avoiding the aforementioned shortcomings, your tale o' tourist fleecing does suggest that london cabs ain't flawless... and we suspect they is still as expensive as we recall. convenience typical has a cost. HA! Good Fun!

Main reason being convenience, if you have been walking for 4 hours and the streets are really busy the taxi option makes loads of sense. Trust me ... Underground... so why go to the busy underground when we can walk 20 meters from a particular tourist attraction and get into a taxi? ... 'cause you paid ~$40 for the taxi? HA! Good Fun! Yes but as I mentioned we were ripped off, the taxi driver took us on an intentionally long route and thought we wouldn't notice which wouldn't happen on the underground. HA! Good Fun!

Main reason being convenience, if you have been walking for 4 hours and the streets are really busy the taxi option makes loads of sense. Trust me ... Underground... so why go to the busy underground when we can walk 20 meters from a particular tourist attraction and get into a taxi? ... 'cause you paid ~$40 for the taxi? HA! Good Fun!

gemma is cute, but we saw too many o' her early movies to immediate think "class" when we see her. grace stands alone, but gong li and kate winslet deserve mention. HA! Good Fun!

home invasion example is perhaps your dumbest example ever. once german troops were pushed back to 1939 boarders, allied troops were s'posed to just stop, yes? but hey, those germans were beaten and would pose no serious threat to europe and the rest o' the world for at least 5 years. am not actual sure where you is from... candyland perhaps? if a man breaks into Gromnir's home, destroys our property and kills our family, once we chase that villain from our home, we has the option o' calling on the police for justice and for protection from future attacks by that bastard. no such option were existing for victims o' japanese aggression and no such option exists in the power politics model. driving japan off US soil did not diminish their future threat. driving japan back would result in US needing be looking over their proverbial shoulder indefinitely. oh, and that son of a b*#@% that broke into our home were also breaking into other folks' homes, destroying their property, killing their family and raping their wives and daughters. but hey, the fact that the japanese were killing ~100,000 chinese a month in 1945 is something we should pretend never happened. as for noam, he is a bright guy, and if he were voicing his opinion on development o' grammar in childrens' brains, we would listen with much attention. hey, you like myopic videos. HA! Good Fun!

did we mention that we don't like rats? we grew up in extreme rural sw south dakota, then moved to south chicago. we lived near the skyway not far from CVS, but we were east o' the skyway. went from having nearest neighbor be ~1 mile away to having most o' neighbors being rats, literally. no joke, the place where we lived had more rat residents than people. *shudder* woke up during hour o' the wolf one morning in december to find a rat, bold as you please, eating a corner of our blanket- the blanket which were on Gromnir at the time. later that day, we convinced our family that it were time to buy a cat regardless o' landlord's pet policy. is not that Gromnir has a fear o' rats, but we don't like'em, and we do notice them. HA! Good Fun!

apologies if already posted... and our gardener is named armondo s****. HA! Good Fun!

am recalling the last time we had to raise a puppy. it took over two freaking months to get that beast house trained. it were very frustrating. HA! Good Fun!

“[T]he most severe impact of a dam failure would be [for] the City of Mosul, located 50 kilometers [31 miles] downstream of the dam,” Petraeus’ and Crocker’s 2007 letter says. “Assuming a worse [sic] case scenario, an instantaneous failure of Mosul Dam filled to its maximum operating level could result in a flood wave over 20 meters [65 feet] deep at the City of Mosul, which would result in a significant loss of life and property.” Mosul alone is estimated to be home to more than 1.5 million people. Flood waters, albeit at a lower level, could reach all the way to Baghdad, more than 200 miles further down the Tigris, depending on the performance of another smaller dam further downriver. A 2011 report written by a USACE official and published in Water Power magazine estimated failure “could lead to as many as 500,000 civilian deaths.” https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/mosul-dam-control-terrifying-dam-iraq-life-death/story?id=24878057 perspective. the bomb at hiroshima were ultimately responsible for ~120k-135k deaths. isis now has the capacity to kill 3x as many people. we can all hope that such a thing does not occur, but that damn is in a near constant state o' collapse as it were pretty much built on sand and soil. all that needs happen is for isis to fail to adequate maintain the facility.

we will agree that in a perfect world history shouldn't be a popularity contest, but am thinking val misses the obvious reality that more than sixty years o' scholarship has resulted in the existence o' differing opinions on japanese willingness to surrender. the revisionist case is "in ruins," but even if it weren't, sixty years has hardly made the scenario as clear as trash would like it to be. truman didn't have those sixty years o' scholarship. if waters is muddy today (and they ain't as muddy as would be needed to benefit val or trash,) then how clear were they back at the end o' ww2? "They charge quite a bit, as the goals of all anthropomorphic-animal Jews is to make money and kill Palestinians." well seeing as how hamas is firing roockets into israel again, perhaps the "Frog-Jews of aeiouuaeioaeuioaueioaeiu 85" were successful. am suspecting that once again, palestinians will be dying in gaza. clearly more tinfoil is needed. HA! Good Fun!

a d20 roll will determine which will be more appropriate in any given situation. "oh, sorry. i know you need medical supplies and food, but john kerry rolled a 5, so we will be sending an ac-130 gunship your way in about five minutes. just be happy he didn't get a natural 1." HA! Good Fun!

Gromnir would like to buy a vowel. kinda funny, but even silent reading such words makes our brain... lurch. is no phonemes we should be struggling with, but it were like hitting a speed bump. most curious. HA! Good Fun!