Gromnir

What's that famous quote attributed to Goebbles "If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself." Seriously, despite the fact that people keep repeating that there's no serious evidence to support it. The IDF on the other hand... (pic) That's a Palestinian child they're using btw. Actually Imperial Japan had already been negotiating a conditional surrender to the U.S.S.R (amusingly Stalin was the good cop to America's bad cop), unfortunately for the Japanese the Yanks wanted nothing less than an unconditional surrender to the U.S.A. can't believe we didn't see this till now. uhm, the ussr declared war on japan After the atomic bomb were dropped on hiroshima. you not see the problem? actually, is arguable that soviet deceleration o' war were as much contributing to japan surrender as were bomb droppings, and that until soviet declared war, japan had no intention o' surrendering. such is the opinion o' many historians such as Tsuyoshi Hasegawa and Richard Rhodes. the revisionist bs 'bout japan being ready to surrender is an extreme minority viewpoint nowadays and has been almost wholly discredited by reputable scholars... though am s'posing it still has some popularity 'mongst wikipedia "scholars." *insert gratuitous eye roll here* as for predicted deaths, dr. william shockley, the guy who would eventual win nobel prize in physics in 1956 for work on semiconductors, had been using math to better kill nazis and japaneses during ww2. "Shockley may have saved thousands of lives without leaving his desk. When war broke out, Morse was recruited to research munitions problems the Navy was having, mostly with its depth charges. Shockley volunteered to join Morse's office, the Anti-Submarine Warfare Operations Group. Under Morse's guidance, Shockley and his team solved the depth charge problem and successful attacks on German U-boats increased by a factor of five. Shockley's main weapon was the science of operations research, then largely ignored in the U.S., but already recruited for the war effort by the British. He then went about changing the way the Navy searched for submarines, again improving the kill-ratio. He devised tactics for the Atlantic convoys to evade German bombers after determining statistically – and without ever seeing either a convoy or a bomber – that the bombers did not carry radar. "Shockley eventually wound up in the Army Air Corps, helping train bomber crews in the European theater. He became one of the highest ranking civilian scientists outside Los Alamos, and was the keeper of some of America's most closely held secrets. He traveled all over the world. By the war's end, he had essentially designed the training of all American bomber crews and found ways of increasing their effectiveness even in bad weather. He won the National Medal of Merit." turns out that shockley were a bit o' a racist, but he were undeniably scary brilliant. his estimates for US casualties for an invasion o' japan were 1.4-4 million US GI casualties with 400-800k o' those being deaths. his prediction for japanese deaths were even more grim: as high as 10 MILLION japanese deaths. HA! Good Fun!

seals? am s'posing some o' the rats we recollect coulda' been mistaken for seals, or bunyip. is good to hear the thames is now clean. am remembering we saw a show on tv (it were a cooking show oddly enough) wherein folks in downtown pittsburgh were actual fishing in the allegheny and then eating their catch. such a thing were a bit shocking to us as we recall pittsburgh in the late 70s. we wouldn't have eaten fish from any o' the three rivers less we were paid a ridiculous amount o' money to do so... and as long as our inevitable hospital bills were covered. kinda shocking how relative quick a toxic waterway can be reclaimed. one of these days we will get back to london. all our overseas trips nowadays is to asia... not necessarily by choice. HA! Good Fun!

Yes they can. And yes they have. Trought history. Learn a bit, you'd be surprised. It's populat to use stereotypes and special/singular events and inflate them to over 9000, but that's not how the world works. Irocnically, often in the past people have been more tolerant than today. There are several Muslim countries where there are no conflicts. Like Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines But at the moment the Middle East is a particularly violent place, like New conflict in southern Lebanon Civil war in Syria ISIS fighting the Kurds, the Syrians and the currently elected Iraq government Ongoing extremist violence in Yemen Gaza conflict And this excludes the sectarian violence in Libya and Egypt In fact we don't often see this but Africa has less conflicts than the Middle East at the moment philipines is overwhelming catholic. malaysia... is maybe not as great an example as you think, even though it is probable the best example. http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/selected_judgements/lina_joy_v_majlis_agama_islam_wilayah_persekutuan_2_ors_2005_ca.html http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/ft-disaster-looms-amid-rising-religious-intolerance-in-malaysia-neighbours http://www.frontpagemag.com/2010/rich-trzupek/malaysia-and-the-myth-of-islamic-tolerance/ am admitting we know very little about indonesia. HA! Good Fun!

we like london very much, but your suggestion reminded us o' one o' our most vivid memories o' our time in london during the early 90s. rats. we has lived in cities such as chicago, so we got some familiarity with urban rodents, but the locals in london at that time had developed a kinda preternatural rat blindness that surprised us a bit. am recalling pointing out to our companion a tangle o' a dozen or more wet rats clinging to some girders under a bridge and it were as if we were pointing out the sun or sky. the thames seemed to belong to the rats as much as to the people o' london, but folks didn't even seem to notice all the rodents perched along concrete walls and piers and bridges. we don't have a rat phobia, but they creep us out more than does snakes or spiders or other critters. the thames were a bit o' a magnet for rats back then, so encouraging us to do a thames tour gives us a bit o' a spine shiver. rats. why did it have to be rats? HA! Good Fun!

some things is better on the rez today as 'posed to when Gromnir were a kid. it never got much play in the newspapers, but we lost many old people during the winters back in the 70s. many. you got ramshackle houses with little insulation and no electricity. as a kid, our nearest neighbor were over a mile distant and that weren't uncommon. we had no snow removal service and far fewer telephones than we got today. not need to be a genius to guess what happens to folks when blizzards hit in south dakota. http://www.blackhillsbadlands.com/resources/files/page_photos/000Photos/badlands/Badlands_prairieforeground_.jpg kinda pretty, yes? notice many trees? even those old folks spry enough to chop wood for their stove would need travel far to find enough such fuel, and they woulds need do so in deep snows and bitter cold weather. our grandfather were part o' the self-appointed group that would literal dig the dead out o' their snowed-in homes in spring each year. Many dead. they were just old folks, and they had US citizenship, so they could just leave, right? we would play in the snow as our grandfather and a small group o' volunteers dug the dead out o' their homes. the only surprising thing were the number o' dogs that managed to survive after their owners died. at least one o' the "rescue" party would carry a gun with them to put such be-damned critters down. most such beasts were in such bad shape that killing were a mercy. others had turned feral. regardless, is not as if we had a local spca shelter. the sound o' the gun going off never failed to startle us, even if we were expecting it. odd.

"A white-haired man, Hany Mahmoud el Harezen, stood on the roof of his collapsed two-story home. ""I am a wedding photographer, I have nothing to do with this war," he said. "Maybe if we had gotten some concessions, it would be worth it. But we got nothing."" am thinking the above may be the most significant observation we has seen since the recent hostilities started. the folks in gaza is going back to their shattered lives and it were seeming all for nothing. a few years from now this same sorry drama will inevitably play out almost the exact same way. perhaps it will be 2018 or 2020, but reporters will weep on camera and western pundits will howl for change and the jews and arabs in the former british mandate will play their same sorry roles. tragic.

Confronting us with a wiki link o’ crazy horse were… surreal. Did that seem like a good idea? We would call it a new low for you, but we will leave actual low-point for last. First, your confusion ‘bout US party system is understandable but not forgivable. Most Europeans don’t understand as they is typical seeing parliamentary system. Is easier to kick a US politician from the party precisely ‘cause the politician’s party is not near as significant as in parliamentary systems, in spite of media attempts to paint everything as a red v. blue scenario. Am wondering if Samm Nunn woulda’ even lost any constituents if he became the republican we all knew he longed to be. Martin Luther King Jr. (admittedly not an elected politician) were a republican too, as difficult as it is for some to imagine. More than one US politician has been kicked from a party for saying stooped. It will happen again. Parliamentary systems tend to create far more… drama. The Russian guy who called for his bodyguard to rape a reporter? http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/04/21/russian-politician-orders-aide-to-violently-rape-pregnant-journalist-on-live-tv/ Nobody suggested that his party were advocating the violent rape o’ all mouthy females. Duh. Some o’ the stuff we seen from asian parliamentary members is even more bizarre, and more than a few o’ those guys go back to work the next day as if nothing happened. American homogenized two-party system avoids most o’ the drama. "But sure, I agree the Jews also had a certain right to immigrate in an orderly fashion, but not to declare their own state. Ask any country which receives immigrants of they approve of immigrants declaring their own state on their territory." Funny. Israel declared own state after brits left... which were considerable after the UN resolution for partition. Israelis cheered partition. Arabs attacked. Jews attacked. shocking? 'Course not. Nevertheless, were the Arabs resisting partition. Again, your specious rendering o' history makes it difficult to take you serious. And yeah, the brits could determine immigration o' the british mandate. unscop report found that the brits were acting illegal in their limitations on jewish immigration. one o' these days you will actual read that report... or not. so, the brits had a white paper report that were basis o' their immigration limitation on jews, a report they themselves repudiated a year after authorship and did not actual follow their own guidelines for immigration regardless. so, the brits played pontious pilate and the UN stepped in to fill the void o' responsibility. the brits yielded to the UN, so that kinda left it up to the UN. you really need to read unscop report as you is posting blind. As to hamas and you staying vigilant and aware… we still see no polls. You ask for such but provide none. Shame face? No? hamas were on the ropes before this recent conflict started… we can show you polls for that. Their popularity were at a nadir. Am expecting that a segment o’ Gazans and Arab Palestinians has had their resolve galvanized, but such stuff tends to pale the first time your son or daughter need go to bed hungry or sick. Once the dust settles, we expect Gazans will blame Hamas as much as Israel for their plight. Btw, your sucky history has you already forgetting 2006. Israel went into southern Lebanon and bloodied the Hezbollah. Support for the Hezbollah in the Arab world were actual far greater than Hamas enjoys today, so were no surprise when Hezbollah got a temporary popularity shot in the arm… very temporary. Hezbollah in Lebanon has been quiet for years. No doubt the Israelis call that a win. History repeats. Your history about the second intifada is as bad as is Israeli-Arab conflict o’ 1947-49. Which to start with… George Keenan had advised Truman to back away from supporting a new Israeli state as he felt US intervention would be unavoidable ‘cause intelligence from US and every major world power thought Israel couldn’t stave off the arabs. It were not until the summer o’ 1948 that it appeared as if Israel could beat the arabs, and that were more a matter o’ survival that actual victory seeing as how US intelligence were predicting Israel had a two-year lifespan. http://www.mepc.org/journal/middle-east-policy-archives/us-policy-israel/palestine-1948?print https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths3/MF1948.html the Czech weapon supplies were arguably the greatest difference ‘tween Israeli extinction and their eventual success, but in 1947 virtual nobody gave Israel a chance. as for Yasser Arafat and the second intifada http://theweek.com/article/index/259597/sorry-there-is-no-solution-to-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict http://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/28/opinion/foreign-affairs-yasir-arafat-s-moment.html http://www.hnlr.org/2012/03/why-camp-david-ii-failed-a-negotiation-theory-perspective/ Yasser/Yasir/whatever, had a chance to secure a two-state solution and he pi$$ed it away ‘cause he thought he could get more, More, MORE! What is truly sad is that we suspect that the Arabs would likely jump at an opportunity such as they had handed to them in 2000/2001, but Arafat’s shenanigans made it so that no Israeli politician could go so far again- political suicide to be the idiot who gets fooled Twice. “Let me get this straight... Your point is that you are some kind of Indian and therefore entitled to tell me that ethnic cleansing can be justified?” Your penchant for strawman is cute. Does this approach actual work for you, or is simply a reflexive thing? You keep guessing and making assumptions ‘bout what Gromnir has faced and what advantages we got. Your arrogance is… puzzling. Have not seen any justification for such. *shrug* Am gonna avoid most of your Oglala responses as they reveal such a lack o’ understanding we scarce woulda’ predicted. Using a wiki link o’ crazy horse? For what purpose did you include that again? *chuckle* Two quick observations: ““It really saddens me that we’ve got some tribal members that want to accept the money and they don’t realize the harm they’re going to do; they don’t really understand why we say the Black Hills are sacred,” said former Oglala Sioux Tribe President Theresa Two Bulls. “Nonetheless, leaders say the effort to reclaim portions of the Black Hills is now both principled and pragmatic: they “understand that times have changed, that they cannot remove non-members of the tribe from these lands,” said Gonzalez, and are asking instead for some combination of federally owned, unused land and joint management or rental agreements. Excluded from the debate are landmarks like Mount Rushmore, Ellsworth Air Force Base and privately owned or residential land. ““We know that people are utilizing the Black Hills for their daily living, and it’s never been our intention to remove anybody,” Bordeaux said. “We have to coexist. But we would like to have some type of a co-management plan for certain parts of the Black Hills.”” Having you try and lecture us on what it must be like to be a disposed people is kinda fun, but am thinking you have even less notion what crazy horse or even current Oglala and Lakota would feel and with whom they would sympathize. That being said, as you should see from quoted material above, the Oglala is far more reasonable than the folks in gaza. you mighta' known this if you had actual read linkies. Second point: You Have No Freaking Idea. “In any case, by the mere virtue of your US citizenship, you've had more of a chance in life than these guys. You might be more miserable than me, but on a global scale, you're probably pretty well off with regards to opportunities.” *sigh* You didn’t bother reading the links we provided, did you? Makes us dubious that you will ever read unscop report… which one would think would be required for any kinda serious debate on these issues. In any event, child mortality rates is worse at Pine Ridge than in Gaza. Didn’t have much choice ‘bout moving during year 1, eh? Regardless the moving and US citizenship is clear bunk too. Let’s look at stats, shall we? Average lifespan of male in Gaza is +70.5 years. Male life span in Pine Ridge is 48 for males. Unemployment in Pine Ridge is 80%, which is worse than Gaza. Alcoholism is understandably worse at Pine Ridge given Muslim prohibitions regarding such intoxicants, but the suicide rate at pine ridge has, from time-to-time been higher than in any other place on earth. Population growth in Gaza is 3.5%... which is darn good considering they is ‘posed victims o’ genocide. 4% is the 10 year population growth for Pine Ridge. Literacy rates is better at Pine Ridge, but only by a fraction. Thanks to Arabs caring disproportionately less about the education of their women folk, Pine Ridge beat Gaza by .5% in the literacy category. Huzzah. Homes with electricity, telephone and running water is more likely in Gaza, or at least they were in June before hamas started throwing rockets at Israel. Now, try and actual think, if only for a sec. If it were so damned easy for an Oglala to improve their situation, then why has so few done so? Why is the numbers above making it clear that Pine Ridge is a less desirable and more lethal place to live than Gaza? Oh, and guess what, the ability for gazans to leave Gaza were effective imposed in 2006, when the Gazans elected a terrorist organization to leadership. so guess what, the gazans has their salvation in their own hands as much as does Pine Ridge folks, though as observed, the actual plight for Pine Ridge appears more grim. limit folks leaving gaza is indeed sad. hamas has closed travel to Israel. http://news.yahoo.com/hamas-closes-border-crossing-israel-100854071.html oh and if those is the only problems you see with the “Palestinian” myth, we cannot help but chuckle. “I guess I owe people like you some kind of thanks. Hundreds of years ago, when my ancestors and distant cousins were raping and killing your Indian ancestors and stealing their land, people like you made all of that possible.” I am hopeful that the above, and some o’ what followed, was the result of poorly considered knee-jerk posting. as to zor. we ain't pro israel. we is against injustice in any form. painting israel as the villains in this drama is unjust. we has noted many times that we don't believe that israel has been serious about peace since 2000/2001 and we also noted that the idf were clearly wanting to get into gaza. am hardly painting them as innocent lambs, but the Palestinian myth is... laughable. heck, we has infrequent defended even vol. HA! Good Fun!

Well, seems to be something else rather than a response to the quote. Though a Hamas guy is talking to Wolf Blitzer, wonderful journalist that he is, seems pointless to begin with for either party. Eh, I suppose stuff like this now isn't all that harmful, ones that will heed this are already well dyed. the actual bloody matzo quote were not delivered to wolf. osama hamdan were s'posed showing up on cnn to clarify and wolf were honestly surprised that no such clarification or rejection took place. *shrug* regardless, after the fighting that has occurred, am not surprised to hear stoopid utterances from either the Israelis or arabs... which is why we suggested muzzling for both peoples for the next few days. look at ros as an example. he takes an Israeli's right-wing manifesto as an indication o' pervasive State Dogma while ignoring similar nuttery from "palestinians." is best to keeps microphones away from people in our out o' gaza for the next few days. the media won't have any bodies or rocket blasts to report 'bout, so no doubt they will be trying to get Israeli and Hamas leaders to contribute news-worthy sound bites. all that needs happen is some yutz with a LAW to work himself into a frenzy over a news story and the temporary peace ends before it starts. HA! Good Fun!

http://www.redcloudschool.org/reservation http://www.4aihf.org/id40.html http://www.slate.com/blogs/behold/2014/02/20/aaron_huey_photographs_the_pine_ridge_reservation_in_south_dakota_in_his.html http://www.theguardian.com/global/2010/jan/11/native-americans-reservations-poverty-Obama http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/north_america-july-dec11-blackhills_08-23/ so tell us again 'bout how we live. oh, and again, there weren't some sudden influx o' jews who were just handed arab lands. there weren't an invading army. the jews started arriving at the end o' the 19th and start o' the 20th century and by 1946 they had bought a considerable amount o' land. such that they represented majority ownership and population in the UN envisioned partitions in the northern portion o' the mandate. the southern partition that the jews were allotted were the Negev Freaking Desert. your bedtime story is so far from real as to be laughable. HA! Good Fun!

"just imagine cabinet meetings..." you do that a lot. you imagine boogeymen. do you read your posts? right-wing and left winfg nutters says all kinda crazy stuff in the US. mere fact that they hasn't been expelled from the party is hardly dispositive. and your complete hypocrisy regarding the hamas charter is mindboggling. hamas was Voted into power. has that sunk in yet? so show us the poll of Israelis who is supporting Palestinian diaspora. you not think hamas charter suffices, but you do take one letter by a right-wing extremist during a time o' conflict and make that the Israeli pov. you is getting as bad as zor with the self contradictions and irrationality. you want us to show you a poll but you don't do so. on the other hand, we got the actual charter o' the folks in power in gaza... not just a letter from one guy. so, deal with it. no, serious, deal with it. either supply what you is asking for, or find a similar mission statement on behalf o' the dominant party in Israel. and sure, we will compare displaced arabs v. displaced jews before the end o' the british mandate. after that point, the arabs declared war and the jews, surprisingly, kicked the collective arses o' the arab world. you don't actual wanna count displaced arabs After they started a war o' extermination do you? is more hypocrisy if you do. cry us a river for the poor arabs who got their butts kicked by an outnumbered and undersupplied population o' refugees who were having just as much right to be in the lands o' the british mandate as was the arabs. in point o' fact, the UN had observed that the british expulsions o' jews in the mandate territories were illegal and had been so for decades. btw, go easy on strawman. while the arabs in gaza claim to be fighting a war to exterminate the jews, their capacity to do so is less than zero. nevertheless, even if we only start with end of the british mandate, we can name multiple times the arab nations has invaded with intent o' extermination, and even more times they exhorted their peoples to do so through terrorist actions. at least three times 'tween late 1940s and early 70s the Israelis were forced to defend themselves from unified arab aggression. perhaps you is too young to have a good grasp o' "frequent," but for a nation that has only been in existence since mid 1947, that is far too frequent. the last time the Israelis made a genuine gesture for a lasting peace, arabs took it as a sign o' weakness and launched the second intifada. so yeah, am thinking the Israeli paranoia is understandable even if it is ultimately counter-productive. oh, and how many times does we need to beat you with your ignorance before it sinks in? Gromnir is Oglala. we pointed this out to you multiple times now. am thinking we know very well 'bout the sufferings o' a displaced people. unemployment, infant mortality, life span and standard of living at Pine Ridge is equivalent to third world... worse than much of the third world. you telling us 'bout what displaced peoples must feels is insulting and ignorant and is galling as is multiple times we has tried to enlighten you 'bout our background and you refuse to listen. am not certain why you think the british guy's quote (a noted contrarian who managed to take potshots at mother teresa for chrissakes) is relevant other than that it represents the incredibly misguided notions many westerners has 'bout the jews and Israel. am not how the Palestinian bedtime story o' evil jewish colonization became so ingrained in the psyche o' some folks, but the myth is more colorful than the reality. the myth would have us believe that in the 1940s, a guilt-ridden Europe tooks all the displaced jews within their boarders and droped them in Palestine, displacing arab women and children and puppies. the jews, whose only connection to Palestine were a thousand years remote, then set about making the land a jewish state wherein poor Palestinians who had been living peacefully in the region for centuries would suffer as second-class citizens. well, dagnabbit, those freedom loving arabs weren't about to let the UN or the Israelis just take their homes without a fight, and so they fight back... like goodly patriots. how on earth did this bs tale ever take hold? why is some folks still reciting the myth as if it were a mantra? it were fiction in 1947 and is fiction today. and serious. read the unscop link above. clearly you hasn't or you wouldn't keep going on with the misrepresentations. am understanding it is long and dense, but it is a valuable resource and were penned by folks who were genuinely looking for a bestest solution for both arabs and jews in the british mandate. HA! Good Fun!

and anytime some nut-job republican or democrat in the US says something stoopid folks like ros pretend that it is the US saying the stoopid thing. *shakes head* fine. lets assume Israel wants a new diaspora. in light o' the hamas charter, which based on ros assbackwards reasoning is representative o' the "Palestinian" pov, and given the fact that since the early 1900s the jews in the lands o' the british mandate has been suffering terrorist attacks and frequent wars o' extermination, such a diaspora actually makes far more sense than a two-state solution. but guess what, as reasonable as turning gaza into the world's largest parking lot and finally ridding Israel once and for all of its internal arab problem, not even the Israeli majority wants such a thing. silliness. and your history sucks. near immediate after November 1947 un vote in favor o' partition, arab terrorists were attacking jewish settlements. wanna put a side-by-side list o' terrorist actions committed by Zionist jews and arabs? is not gonna look favorable for arabs, but we is game. oh, and while erez overstates wasteland, we can once again quote unscop report if you would like. *shrug* as of 1946-47, 50% o' the lands o' the british mandate were "uninhabitable," and the Israelis has indeed made very impressive improvements in the Negev DESERT and in other inhospitable portions o' the mandate territories. one reason unscop had pleaded in favor o' two-state partition is 'cause the jews were actual making infrastructure improvements in their communities, and those improvements were benefitting all those living in the mandate- arabs included. unscop observed that arab communities were requiring significant UN assistance and global charity if the disease ridden squalor that were the typical state o' arabs living in the mandate before the british arrival were to be prevented from becoming the norm once again. the presence o' the jews, according to the UN, had been a significant contributing factor to the improved the standard o' living for the arabs in the british mandate, and the unscop mistakenly believed that the arabs would benefit from a greater jewis-arab economic partnership. naïve fools. regardless, yeah, much o' what is now Israel were a wasteland, and it were the jews who were improving, not the arabs. now maybe you don't believe that the improvement o' desert and previously uninhabitable lands is significant, but the UN partition plan were adopted in large part 'cause o' the recognition that the arabs had neither the resources nor the inclination to make improvements to the wasteland. CHAPTER II THE ELEMENTS OF THE CONFLICT A. GEOGRAPHIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS Physical features 1. The total land area of Palestine is estimated to be about 26,000 square kilometres or a little over 10,000 square miles,40/ but about half of this area is uninhabitable desert. http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/07175DE9FA2DE563852568D3006E10F3 serious. the zombies who is repeating the palestinian tale o' woe should read the full report. the UN guys only had three months to come up with a plan, but they weren't idiots and they were very much aware o' the problems in the british mandate. unfortunately, the UN didn't have the perspective o' the brits who had been suffering terrorist insanity from jew and arab alike for decades. regardless, the inexplicable myopia and rhetoric spewing nonsense is not particular constructive. HA! Good Fun!

A more ideal solution would be for them to die horribly. But as for keeping quiet - http://www.timesofisrael.com/knesset-member-retake-gaza-put-civilians-in-tent-camps/ and yeah, the response was as follows: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/08/04/i-was-hoping-to-get-a-flat-denial-from-you-the-one-question-wolf-blitzer-couldnt-get-hamas-spokesman-to-answer/ the israeli right-wing nutters is being political at a time when their nuttery comes across as a viable alternative to a small segment o' the israeli population. after thousands o' rocket attacks and suicide bombers and hamas "fighters" riding in ambulances, etc., the inflammatory rhetoric is seeming almost justified... is exactly how a group like hamas could come to power in gaza. hamas doesn't come to power until situation gets dire. likewise, righty Zionists keep relative quiet until times such as these. is why we said they should both shut up. the letter nonsense were pre ceasefire. so were hamas politicians suggestion that it were fact that the jews used Christian blood to make their holy matzos. the media is being o' so helpful by stoking fires during ceasefire. both sides should keep their dogs muzzled for a few days. HA! Good Fun!

brokered by Egypt isn't helpful. idf pulling out of gaza during ceasefire IS cause for some measure o' optimism. ... the best thing that could happen is for the right-wing Zionists in israel and all hamas "politicians" to shut the heck up for a couple a days. HA! Good Fun!

Well actually you are reinforcing my point unintentionally, but I also didn't explain properly. Israel is isolated as far as the Middle East countries are concerned. But part of this support of Israel from the West is exactly because its not an Islamic country. There is an interesting part of history, that most people aren't aware of, that occurred in the 1970's where basically OPEC decided to create an oil embargo against most Western countries, this decision by OPEC could have had the most serious economic consequences for Western countries that they have ever faced because back then there was no real alternative to oil. This link provides a good summary of the dynamics of the situation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_oil_crisis the oil embargo ended up hurting the arab nations far more than the US. how many middle-eastern nations have made the transition from resource exporter to a manufacturing economy much less to a service economy? none. zip. zero. middle-eastern oil is a vital resource (perhaps less vital today than in 1973) but am thinking its strategic value is misunderstood. this ain't pandora, and oil ain't unobtanium. the blue monkeys didn't need or want Coca-Cola, or computers, or medical technology. the arab states ain't so lucky. israel is a constant in the middle-east. from a cynical perspective, all those billions o' dollars arab states wasted on futile attempts to eradicate Israel coulda' been invested in economic infrastructure that woulda' made them less dependent on the west. the endemic tribalism o' the middle-eastern states is an effective limitation on meaningful economic progress, but israel's unique existence has also served very well in keeping the middle-east from focusing on domestic improvements and self-sufficiency. btw, am not making a value judgment with our observations. "What's happening in Gaza is murder folks. Plain and simple murder. The goal is the eradication of the Palestinian peoples. If you think it is otherwise, you don't know your history, nor do you know the motives of those who run Israel, or how they view people who are not the 'chosen' in the eyes of their God." hogwash. ignoring for a moment the fact there never has been any palestinian people or palestine for that matter, the israelis has no need or desire to eradicate the arabs in gaza. doing so would be far too costly in terms o' resources and israeli blood. heck, am doubting israel even wants to complete destroy hamas, 'cause history in the region reveals that power vacuums is typical filled by more radical and extreme elements. hamas wanted this fight. hamas needed this fight. am not certain why the idf were so willing to oblige, but am guessing that in israel there is a kinda political inertia the builds after enough rockets is launched or tunnel attacks occur. allowing hamas to wither to a state o' complete impotence woulda' seemed to be a less costly strategy. 2013 saw the fewest rocket attacks from gaza (fiftyish) in over a decade, so perhaps the idf were underestimating hamas resources or willingness to go out in a blaze o' glory. we will concede that we don't believe israel has been interested in finding a lasting peaceful solution since yasser arafat gave ehud barak and bill clinton the proverbial middle finger at camp david in 2000 and set of the second intifada. barak committed political suicide by offering the plo leader a two-state solution that surprised many with how favorable it were to the arabs. the plo took the offer as a sign o' weakness rather than an opportunity. sadly, every time time the military arm o' hamas violates a ceasefire negotiated by their political leaders, it reinforces the notion that the arabs cannot be trusted. 'course the hamas don't have a genuine military or even a military leader, so is not surprising when some yahoo leaps out o' a tunnel during a ceasefire and blows himself up along with Israeli soldiers. regardless, the cycle o' stupidity is too predictable, but the nonsense about palestinian "eradication" is only funny 'cause it is kinda ironic. the stated goal o' hamas is the eradication o' israel, and for decades the arabs made numerous attempts to eliminate israel from world maps. no, it ain't practical for Israel to be eliminating the arabs in gaza, but is the worst kinda black humor and irony that given hamas' goals, their efforts has been far more successful in creating arab casualties and suffering than they has been in ending Israel as an autonomous nation. HA! Good Fun!

I also had the team implement Wild Wasteland in F:NV, an optional mode people could enable for wacky (including pop-culture) content. The common element is that they're optional. If you don't enable it, you'll never see it. I don't think you take most of the things I say take seriously, which is an unfortunate failure on my part, but hard to overcome. am thinking there is a typo in there, but am gonna guess you is saying that Gromnir fails to take you serious, yes? thank goodness for our impertinence. if we took you half as serious as you frequent take yourself, we would be needing to observe solemnity on par with a murder trial. quoted post being an illustrative example. *chuckle* am not certain if josh recognizes the irony o' his complaint given the subject matter o' the thread and the context o' our post. oh well. perhaps yet another reason to question the reflex on josh's funny bone. HA! Good Fun! ps rather than using all the head puns we shoulda indulged in ubiquitous emoticons. that is what the kids do nowadays, yes?

israel is an ally in the middle east with a stable and democratic government. that alone is worth much. israel government will be here tomorrow, and the day after. we can't even say the same about egyypt. US can also use influence with israel as a bargaining chip with other middle-eastern nations. no doubt the US military benefits from sharing info with a nation that is in a constant state o' war... bloodless (for USA) lessons learned from israel experiences with iron dome, fighting in gaza (densely populated urban settings,) fighting terrorist cells, etc. and yeah, votes matter. the arab nations in the middle east has, more than once, attempted to exterminate the Israel. to turn backs on Israel now would be striking most Americans as unjust and disloyal. btw, we saw a bunch o' headlines last week saying that Israel admitted that hamas weren't to blame for the killing o' the three Israeli teens that sorta started this whole recent chain o' events. o'course, when we read such stories we learned that it were a "lone hamas cell" that were responsible for the murders. we saw literal a dozen headlines claiming israeli admission o' hamas innocence being refuted by their own stories. don't the clowns in the media know what a terrorist cell is? ability to act independent o' a central command structure is kinda what makes a terrorist cell a terrorist Cell. duh. is so much better that israel has to deal with such nonsense instead o' the US... as terrible as that sounds. HA! Good Fun!

so, from the guy who got his shorts in a twist over bioware adding pop culture references to bg and has complained more than once 'bout humor in crpgs, we get bobblehead mode? ... *shrug* the next time josh complains 'bout stoopid humor in a game, we is thinking he maybe needs his head examined, or perhaps deserves a swift kick to the head. am of two minds on this. on the one hand, this is an obsidian game and they can put into the game whatever idea pops into their head if they so desire. on the other, there is a clear disconnect between what josh says and what is going on in his noggin. in any event, am having a hard time wrapping our head around this... feature. on a more serious note, it does make it difficult to take serious anything josh says about game humor. big heads? really? HA! Good Fun!

the world against Israel is a near constant... but this conflict is actual different. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/31/world/middleeast/fighting-political-islam-arab-states-find-themselves-allied-with-israel.html?_r=1 is more than a few nations in the middle east that agree with israel that hamas is a threat: egypt, saudi arabia, the united arab emirates, etc. hamas were isolated and were getting weaker. if your organization is predicated on fighting israel and eliminating it from world maps, then you best do your fighting when you is at your strongest. hamas weren't gonna get stronger. from their pov, they had no choice but to fight now.... and they need keep fighting 'cause they cannot win in any conventional sense. the only measure o' success hamas can hope to achieve is through a advantageous cease-fire agreement. they needed a conflict before they could get a cease-fire-- is axiomatic. well, they got the conflict, but the only leverage they has for generating more favorable cease-fire terms is if the US and local arab nations put pressure on Israel to do so. given that hamas were at a nadir in popularity before this newest conflict erupted, the only way to gets US and neighboring arab nations to pressure Israel were through media and propaganda. civilian deaths is the only leverage hamas has. at the start o' the idf operation, we believed that israeli deaths would be a factor in bringing about a cease-fire. am thinking that is no longer a factor. israel is fully committed. this is looking more like the 2006 conflict in south lebanon. israel paid a heavy price when the invaded lebanon. the world media were appalled by civilian casualties back then too. the main difference were that other arab nations condemned Israel in 2006, and this time they is silent. all the bloodshed in 2006 shocked folks living in europe and south america and in the US and canada. *shrug* this same drama has played out multiple times and the main difference this time is that Israel has greater support from its arab neighbors. israel bloodied the hezbollah quite severely in 2006. at the cost o' world condemnation, near 2000 civilian casualties and a considerable amount o' Israeli deaths, israel bought eight years o' hezbollah impotence. hamas needs enough casualties to broker favorable cease-fire terms and there is no point in keeping resources in reserve when they has no chance o' being resupplied by non-existent friendly neighbors. hamas has nothing to lose by fighting til they get what they want. israel, likewise, has little to lose. the US is their only dependable ally and while the state department might condemn civilian casualties, a few thousand dead arabs in gaza won't permanently harm US-Israeli relations any more than has the last half-dozen times this same kinda conflict has arisen in the former british mandate. also, much o' the arab world is staying silent as israel squeezes hamas. so until the idf finds a majority o' tunnels and destroys/exhausts most hamas weapon stockpiles, israel will keep fighting. israel, like hamas, has nothing to lose by fighting til they get what they want. HA! Good Fun!

dunno, but Gromnir were saying much the same stuff ad nauseum in this thread and elsewhere and were coming up a brick wall. http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/66430-i-feel-like-im-missing-something-here-related-to-souls-and-the-game-mechanics-in-this-game/ also, your faith, while not necessarily shared by the average poster in this thread, should be more in line with the norm o' the people in the PoE world. you have faith; you believe. the folks in PoE believe too 'cause they don't need faith. souls is not abstract in PoE. your pov ain't near as different as you believe... on multiple levels. HA! Good Fun!

getting closer to bg should not be a goal. baldur's gate xp were broken which is one reason PoE ain't gonna use same horrible system. obsidian is taking the good from bg, and not the bad. basilisk map could get you almost a full level? silly. encourage folks to mow every map to squeeze out every last bit o' xp? moronic. and bg didn't offer quite the same range o' skills and abilities that PoE will, so you probable didn't even notice how skewed towards combat rewards it were. bg and the ie game approach were flawed. let that aspect o' bg stay buried. and debating does serve a purpose if somebody says something new. nothing new is being said. honestly, check the old threads. heck, when bg3 and fo3 were being developed by black isle, these same threads were très chic. the black isle folks who were a bit less diplomatic in those days, roughed up the ad hoc proponents for their ignorance. is many o' the same developers on PoE... and clearly if there is any ad hoc proponents on staff at obsidian, they were won over or overwhelmed by the quest/objective based xp proponents. bah. finished. give it a shot when the next game is being developed. HA! Good Fun!

having not read the thread, am simply gonna observe that we thinks if obsidian misses holiday shopping season, then there ain't much reason to get the thing out in january, and we suspect that obsidian will miss christmas 2014. the gameplay demo were needing to be extreme scripted 'cause it weren't actual ready for public consumption. no looting corpses. no magic. no clicky o' priest, wizard or many other classes. no races save halloween and human. current build would seem to be rough. am suspecting that beta will raise many concerns obsidian hadn't considered. conversely, unlike wasteland 2 beta, there will be no additional money resulting from the beta. perhaps obsidian cannot go much past november/december. choices. first day o' spring in 2015 is 20 March 2015, yes? tuesday before that is 17 march 2015. last possible winter 2015 tuesday is 17 march 2015. oh well, am gonna go cautious. what is first tuesday o' the 3rd fiscal quarter? april 5, 2015? hmmm. our sense o' whimsy notices the proximity o' april fool's day-- too tempting. so, our guess is 1 April 2015. HA! Good Fun!

in tdkr, the reason batman fights superman is 'cause superman is a tool. ... regardless o' how you use "tool," the aforementioned still works. HA! Good Fun! ps am not a huge dc fan, but from our perspective, there is only two things keeping superman power in check: clark and bruce. lex, at times, believes he is fighting to prevent the unstoppable alien from dominating, but his efforts is largely impotent. the only two dependable checks on the potential tyranny or disaster that is superman is clark and bruce. clark is a good guy regardless o' what superman can/could do. and bruce, well, bruce is batman.

am not thinking there is a problem. as a developer, if you wanna control money, and you believe that such control is important, you may place the player on rails and offer negligible side-questing. players will necessarily have enough money to enjoy the game if the play nothing but the critical path. taking the aforementioned as a given, the more side-quests is available, the more money players will potentially be able to acquire money beyond what is necessary. if you is concerned 'bout balance rather than money, then as a developer you do not make purchasable items unbalancing. problem solved. developers can create innumerable ways for players to use money that don't impact relative power, but if balance is a concern, you simply don't makes unbalancing items purchasable. from our pov, this is another one o' those "nothing to see here" issues. HA! Good Fun!

our links addressed your question. that being said, the question itself is moot: quest based xp rewards will be utilized in PoE. ... am not honest curious enough to debate this point seeing as how it has already been settled, but am admitting that we find the ad hoc xp award argument to be wholly without merit. am getting the ADD impulse wherein some folks says they Need instant gratification. am also recognizing the somewhat weak appeal of the mirroring the broken ad hoc system that were used in the ie games... 'cause if it is broken, why fix it, yes? regardless, we don't understand how otherwise reasonable and rational can weigh costs v. benefits and come away believing ad hoc is superior to what will be in PoE. read links if you want an answer to your question, but this issue is, thankfully, pointless. HA! Good Fun!

is gauche to quote our self, but this is such a tired issue. http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/60641-xp-only-for-questing-some-observations/?p=1207218 http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/60641-xp-only-for-questing-some-observations/?p=1207720 http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/60641-xp-only-for-questing-some-observations/?p=1209376 http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/60641-xp-only-for-questing-some-observations/?p=1211354 am realizing some folks don't care 'bout balance, but the obsidian developers do. they has stressed that they want no bad PoE builds. xp awards for individual actions is making far more difficult to balance level progression o' different character builds. and again, individual awards for every actions is stoopid. HA! Good Fun!