Harehunter

What worries me is the coincidence of Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, and now Libya, all having uprisings at once. Or is it simply coincidence?

Thanks. I wear the moniker proudly.

Almarian Wine can definitely influence your outlook on love, especially at closing time.

Thanks. That was my perception as well. Just needed confirmation.

I don't know who assigned mine, but if the shoe fits, I'll wear it. I am diligently trying to finish the descriptive section on my Avernum 5 maps It's a slow go with only a few hours available here and there, but this hare is taking it on at tortoise speed.

Originally Posted By: Radix Malorum Est Cupiditas Originally Posted By: Karoka I thought China was communist. Yes, but it's the people's republic of chinese communism. What they call it is meaningless. East Germany proclaimed themselves the Democratic Republic of Germany, even though their "democracy" was a rigged process which denied its citizens any real control of the government. Anyway, is China a communist nation, or a socialist nation? Often times the two terms are used interchangeably, but I believe they have distinct meanings.

Originally Posted By: Skwish-E Originally Posted By: Tyranicus ...but nearly everyone was surprised when they couldn't find any WMD's. We weren't all surprised. I mean, we gave them plenty of time to move them, and plenty of warning that we were going to be looking. We didn't "give" them time. We requested permission to investigate a site, and Saddam's bureaucrats would delay granting permission for days or weeks. Were Saddam's people moving those WMD's during that time? Or was this delaying tactic designed to provide the illusion that he still possessed WMD's, thereby propping up the illusion of his power? At that time, I believed that as long as he did not use any WMD's then this shell-game could continue indefinitely, and that was fine by me. It accomplished its purpose

I stand (or rather sit) corrected. Crossbows did definitely pack enough of a punch, especially when using magical bolts.

I have heard it hypothesized that he felt that he needed to show that he was strong in order to retain power. Any sign of weakness might have started a revolution, similar to what we see now in nearby countries. The outcome of such a revolution could have turned the way of Iran back in the '80s. I hope the price we have paid in blood brings forth a less bitter fruit.

Have you shown the evidence from the slime caves and from the filth factory to Berra, in Fort Emergence? Having the evidence is not enough.

Originally Posted By: HOUSE of S ...the colors are not inverted... Nope, not inverted there either. Shifted down-spectrum, but definitely not inverted. The only thing I find disturbing is the new nomen. It sounds like a place that needs a serious cleaning.

Well let me put this way. When I first started working with computers 30+ years ago, the expected life-cycle of a computer was 10 years. Now the technology changes causes obsolescence in less than 1 year. Cell phones have advanced in speed, size and functionality at a rate that makes regular computers look like snails. I remember reading the old Dick Tracy comic strips, and all the gadgetry they used. Who would have guessed back then that before we died we would actually have a cell phone you could wear on your wrist? --------------------------------------- You make a valid distinction. The visible change in technology may be limited.

Thank you for setting that straight. I just remember that the main difference was that it was unblockable, making it infinitely useful. Weak damage, but better than nothing, and IMHO better than bows or thrown weapons. BTW, bows and thrown do improve in the Avernum games, but I was never fond of them. Must have the bad taste Exile gave me of them.

Nope, not inverted. A 90 degree offset is not inverted. Diverted maybe, but definitely not inverted.

I currently work for was established by two partners. It is still owned and operated by one founder, and the son of the other one. We have in ascendency the son of the currently active founder and the grandson of the other one. By that I mean that the ownership of the company will continue to be private. With that in mind, the outlook is that they will continue to grow the company including building our resume in other types of projects. It is a good company to work for. The number of people with long careers here is high; I have been here 20 years. Some people in our department have been here almost 30 years. And the owners and their sons continue to grow and expand the company creating more jobs every month. As for how technology may change in your lifetime, don't be so depressed. Not only has the qualitative nature of change over the past few decades been great, so too has the rate of that change has increased. It may slow down for a few years while the world economy is depressed, but when we get someone with a greater vision then it will pick up again.

Sadly, I agree.

True; compare the plains before the Ornotha Ziggurat in Exile II vs Avernum II. Same situation, fewer enemies.

As I recall, feel free to correct me, Wound caused physical damage whereas Smite is cold (magical) damage. NPC's would often have resistance to magical or cold damage, but were poorly armored, making physical damage attacks more effective.

You may be right. At least the internecine dispute among the factions was kept down. But at what cost in atrocities committed? Mass executions, use of chemical weapons on civilian populations. Separation was an option in the beginning, but turned down. The people of Iraq have formed a government for themselves; now it is up to them to make it work. I don't like the role of the U.S. being the world police. It makes us to be perceived as a bully. But when a bully takes over the school yard, someone must be there to intervene. In the world of international politics, that policeman must be the country with the biggest and most guns (refer back to a previous post, someone made the same comment). Right now, that means the U.S.A. I pray that our current interventions are just, and that they will result in a greater good in the world. There is so much injustice in the world, but I would not choose to intervene in all of them. That would result in this country becoming the thing we are trying to fight, the bully itself.

Let me cite an example from personal experience. When I met my wife, she worked at K-Mart. Mr. Kresge, who founded the company, was still in control. His policy was to take care of the employees, so they would be happy to work there. This would result in better customer service, resulting in greater patronage by those customers. More sales, more profits. More profits, more expansion. Etc, etc, etc. His focus was on building the corporation. When he retired and the company became a publicly held corporation, all this changed. Mr. Antonini was elected by the board to be Chief Executive, with the mission of providing greater profit to the share holders. That meant cutting costs. Fewer benefits for the employees; fewer employees tasked with the same amount of work as before but with a smaller staff; fewer full time employees who had a stake in the companies welfare; more part time employees who couldn't care less. This resulted in poorer customer service, fewer customers, less sales, and less profit. K-Mart had to file bankruptcy and reorganize. Sadly that meant the end of Builders Square. Walden Books was cut loose which was probably the best thing to happen to them. K-Mart lost so much image, that it had to close many stores; there is not a single K-Mart in Houston, the fourth largest city in the country. Public shareholders often don't think that far ahead, and the results will have their consequences. BTW, I have not nor will I buy BP stocks. I know too much of their safety record and I suspected a disaster like the deep water drill was inevitable. When AMOCO owned the refinery in Texas City, it has plans to replace the blow-down stack with a flare, an option which would not contribute to profits, but was safer. Their safety awareness programs were better as well. When BP bought them, they decided not to make that change. Safety awareness became slack in other areas. Then the explosion and 15 people died, with many more injured. Nope, I won't invest in a company like that.

Originally Posted By: Cairo Jim On the other hand, Iraq was a political disaster when America decided to flex it's muscle to get rid of Hussein. The Taliban still wants power, and everyone else either doesn't care or are easily corrupt on top of no national unity and identity. That was understood in the First Gulf War. Bush 41 made the right decision to end the conflict once their one and only one objective had been accomplished. At the time Bush 43 petitioned to attack and cause regime change, most of the world including France believed that Hussein had WMD's. Who would have thought that all Hussein's bluster and evasion was pure bluff? I felt back then as I do now; we had him contained and restrained like Gaddafi, keep him that way. Anything more would have and did result in the quagmire that has resulted. On the other hand, is the future of the people of Iraq better under an elected government, or would they have fared better under the dictatorship of Hussein?

That is why the U.S. is not a true democracy. It was not a viable option in 1787, when the fastest communication was measured in days. Nor is it a viable option today, with the size of our current population. That is why a republic was formed, where the people elect their representatives, and their chief executive, and empower them to make those decisions. But should those elected officials make policy that is not in the best interest of those people who elected them, they can be peaceably removed from office when their term expires. Sure beats having to have a revolution every two or four years.

Gaddafi was a bully. Tito was a bully. Sadam Hussein was a bully. The only thing to their credit was that they were able to keep disparate social groups from continual warfare. When Tito died, Yugoslavia broke into its various parts, with far too much blood shed in the process. Iraq has fallen upon a similar fate. I am concerned that the same may happen in Libya.

That is what I would consider the saddest part of many a revolution; removing one tyrant from power only to replace him with another one. All too often, the populace that incited and won their freedom to choose their own form of government put too much trust in the leaders of that revolution and grant them too much power. Only too late do they discover they have no more liberty than they did before, or worse, less liberty. A republic is not a perfect system, but it is the only form of government where the people who are governed have at least some control over those chosen to govern.

That was back in 1980. What we now know as the PC had not been born yet. The Intel 8080 microprocessor had just been invented and only a few computers used it. Apple and Radio Shack were the only systems that you would recognize as a personal computer. The first Personal Computer (PC) was first available in 1982. The first portable PC (1983) looked like this It was nowhere near being capable of handling the jobs that the 'mainframe' could do. The computer you are working on now is 500 times more powerful than the mainframe of that time, and the computers I work on now are at least 10 times more powerful than that. I have one database that is just shy of one terabyte in size; and that is tiny by comparison to many companies. Laptop computers are currently being used in the field, but these are models that have been 'ruggedized' to withstand a lot of beating around.