SOCL

It's the same as when Iran's president (and not the Iranian people or even the Ayatolla) held the conference to debate the existence of the Holocaust. Iran's President has seriously messed the country and its image up and I can't wait until the next general elections when they boot him out--he and his party have become quite unpopular in Iran, even with the Ayatolla. Good news, though: North Korea agreed to stop their nuclear programme.

I take it you understand the allusion, Tex? It is good to converse with you fellows again.

...and they will live in the former subway. Some will have three arms, some a cyclops-eye and at least one will have a body that looks like one single leg. I thought they were going to be able to communicate via telepathy and worship a nuke, which they would use against the "enemies on the surface". And they can remove their face to reveal their true face...

Oh, gosh... Okay, okay, you guys win.

We Grand Imperators have our means... It's an old trick I learned from Trej, God Rest His Soul (if he's dead...)

On that, Rob, I truly agree with you. Throughout history, people have only united when there is a reason to unite, and in those instances, the most successful unifications have been those under threat from an outside force of some sort. Harry Turtledove, known for his alternative history novels, wrote a series of novels called "World War" about aliens invading Earth in the middle of World War II. It chronicles how the war ends and the nations of Earth (including the Third Reich) unite to fight the common enemy. Peculiar, but interesting, and the man writes quite well.

He he... What's so funny?

I think the situation though is that the United Nations is not and was never meant to be an international governing body. Rather, it was established to be a medium by which to mediate and resolve disputes among all the countries of the world, democracy, dictatorship, or otherwise. It's an investment of hope in human nature and was never meant to dictate international policy. All the criticism people throw at the Secretary-General, for instance, I believe is unfair as the he is not a President or PM and is not afforded any of those powers. Better put, he is more a Chief Dispute Counselor who, by means if diplomacy, tries to resolve issues, which is a description that applies to the UN as a whole. NATO is another instance where people expect too much. Unlike a government or the United Nations, NATO is a military alliance designed to combat the spread of Soviet expansion. It has never dictated policy and, like the UN, was never meant to govern those nations under its charter. The UN and NATO are to associations of nations formed in the hope that nations would cooperate, which most nations have proven they refuse to do, from the typified enemies of Iraq and Iran to permanent members of the Security Council and founders like the United States and the People's Republic of China. It's a matter of honor, something that cannot be trusted to happen among humans, especially on such a large scale. In truth, the United Nations serves its purpose as long as everyone agrees to play nice and fair. Since no one seems to want to do that any more, then the UN falters. One more time: the UN's success is based on the cooperation and positive participation of its member states, not any decision-making body. This is why the United Nations is not a government and why each country only has one vote instead of more votes in accordance with population, as would be expected in a democratically-founded governing body. It was never meant to govern policy or direct nations around like the Federal Government of the United States can do to its States. Cooperation or bust is the motto, all based on everyone's willingness to play along. If everyone decides not to, then that's that.

I'd like to throw in my few cents, albeit late to the conversation. I believe that there is a God. Why bad things happen and humans in general are actually pretty evil things is beyond me, though I have confidence that the Old Man has something of a reason...a damn good one, at that. Even so, God ain't such a bad fellow, he just doesn't send me emails as often as I'd like...for that matter, never. We talk and at times I feel inspiration, but God is something more of a way to describe the sum of good things, rather how people refer to Satan as the epitome of evil. In any event, given that I don't believe in Satan or a devil or even a hell. I mean, damn, if there's something worse than how life treats some of us on a daily basis...then I'm not too sure about God. So in the end, God is what I invest my hope and trust in and whether he exists or not is hard for me to actually decide. From the perspective of a historian who can go back and study the development of religion and such, it's hard to believe anything besides this, all that is around us, exists, but then, it feels good to believe that the Old Man is there when I need Him, eh? In that sense, my belief in God is a personal matter. And that was rather pointless...

By what I understand, advances in nuclear energy may, in fact, herald in the rebirth if clean nuclear energy following the radiation scare of the 1960s and 1970s. In truth, it seems to be quite efficient and safe to the point that its use is feasible for more large-scale operations. Sadly, the scare still exists in much of the United States and it will take a very long time to get over the stigma nuclear energy carries, but recent advances make me feel good about its possible reintroduction into general usage. Oh, and Tofu: It's Muslims. Not Muslems and certainly not the archaic Moslems.It's nice to BEAK again.

At first I thought someone had hacked the site and was going to start the manhunt of a the century. Then I read the homepage and smiled. Kudos go out to LaForge on the design! I absolutely love the cartoon R2 and the image of the Star Destroyer and X-Wing through the viewport on the right. Not sure about the Jedi, though, simply because I don't know what or who it is... Nice to see some new life breathed into the old place!

Not at all. Just not quite the way I read the documents, nor the way I've seen them interpreted. The mere fact that a plan existed in case the situation resolved itself outside complete independence explicitly shows an general unwillingness to fight at the onset of the rebellion, as it were. This is not to say that the general feeling did not change, nor does this have to do with the facts of the matter concerning the British perspective on it. What I wrote was based on a few documents I read in Collins and Smith (those are the authors, though I don't remember the texts' names...) from a few years back concerning the onset of the war and the general feelings, not the evolution of the thought as a whole.

I say yes, though I wouldn't say English rule per se was the actual reason so much as it was the lack of true representation in the decision-making process concerning the American Colonies. This isn't to say there weren't some rabble about the colonies doing their very damnedest to spark rebellion against English rule out of spite--there certainly were those--but the primary documentation seems to indicate the American Revolution as a militant act of rebellion for the sake of independence was only conducted after a long and thoroughly thought-out process. I can remember reading documents written by Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington which alluded to their not wanting to rebel. In fact, there was already a plan drawn out in the situation that Parliament gave the Colonies a few MPs, in which case all military actions would have been ceased and the Colonies would have returned to British control, likely attaining a place in the British Empire somewhat similar to that of India later on and until relatively recently. Then there were the rather hawkish, if not sometimes colourful characters like Hamilton (and in general the Federalists) who pushed for all but an invasion of the British Isles. I must confess, despite sometimes going off the deep end, Alexander Hamilton is one of my favourite characters in the American colonial drama. For instance, there's an episode related to us of him getting fed up with the Continental Congress: you see, the Congress at the time was trying to decide what sort of powers should be bestowed upon the chief executive of the Congress--the President--with the Anti-Federalists arguing against a powerful federal government and, thus, against a powerful executive, while the Federalists argued for a stronger federal government and stronger President (rather what the Presidency has become since the administration of Theodore Roosevelt at the start of the last century). Well, in any event, he finally grows tired of the arguing, stands up and declares that all power should be invested in the President to do as he wish and kill any members of Congress he so desires. He was, of course, not serious--merely tired of the bickering over how long the Presidential term should be and such. But I digress...

Maybe we're just opposites at everything, Tofu. It's actually mention of the Katana fleet and Karrde which made me want to puke on my copies of the novels. Why? I don't think Stackpole captured the idea and character, especially concerning Karrde, how he had originally been envisioned. And I got tired of Stackpole's cliche line of "I'm not officially here" bit--it just got old. We get: smugglers don't always work with the Republic/Alliance, but when the do (and that's every time we see them in any bit of Star Wars), they sympathize, and yet don't want that known, only to turn around and join the Republic. Booster, Karrde, Han Solo, the Smuggler's Alliance, Mara Jade--we get it! Maybe I'm just bitter at Star Wars novels in general, especially since how good Republic Commando: Hard Contact was and the vomit of an ending Triple Zero had. Novels suggestions? First, I suggest shopping at Borders... Nothing noble about a barn. -Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy: Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command -Kevin J. Anderson's Jedi Academy trilogy: Jedi Search, Dark Apprentice, Champions of the Force -Timothy Zahn's Hand of Thrawn duology: Specter of the Past, Vision of the Future -Karen Traviss: Republic Commando: Hard Contact

I completely disagree with you, Tofu. The very fact one of the character's deaths actually hurts (and it did!) shows that Allston had better character development. In fact, I would say you have it backwards, Tofu: Stackpole, if anything, lacked character development compared with Allston's Wraith Squadron books. You look at characters like Corran Horn and Wedge Antilles and they literally do not change in any way from Rogue Squadron to whatever is the fourth novel. Perhaps Horn did discover his Jedi origin and such, but this in no way changes his behavior or attitude. Rather, the rogue just act the same. Damnit, read the last few pages of Bacta War: it's like some bad 1970s/1980s sitcom: Wedge: I'm going back to the Republic! Who's with me? Rogue: I am! Rogue: I am! Rogue: Count me in! Rogue: You can bet on me! [one of the rogues doesn't say anything--let's pretend his name is Josh) All Rogues: Josh!... Josh: Okay, okay. I'm in! All: YAY! Please! It's the worst writing in all of Star Wars! Granted Stackpole gets better and in I, Jedi his characters actually change and evolve, thus character development. But this isn't a part of the X-Wing series of novels... As for Allston: just take "Face" Loran! You have him come in as a nobody who is really not interested in trying to advance his career, but then you have the death of his best friend, his attempt to keep humour up as his squad-mates are killed off--by the end of the series, though he may be the same joker concerning humour, he is far more serious when it comes to operations and combat-actions. Further, unlike most other Star Wars characters that somehow, over the period of what is nearly two decades, remain at the same rank in nearly the same posting, "Face" is actually promoted and gets responsibility of his own. What makes Allston's books better: they're not a sordid mess of characters trying to do too many things at once without a coherent plot and without enemies who are bumbling fools! Zsinj was nothing but formidable, especially compared to the antics of Ysanne Isard as depicted in the Stackpole novels.

23-July to 03-August.

Avatar is quite well. Thanks!

Welcome, Ikelae and OldFan! OldFan, maybe you could get us some awesome pictures of your collection? Both action figures and novels? I would certainly be interested in seeing them!

Welcome back, Ikelae! I'm going to go ahead and direct to the New Members introduction thread. I realize you're not quite a new member, but that thread was created for the explicit purpose of introducing new members and reintroducing those members who have been a way for a some time. No offense, but it's some form of order.

No worries. As long as it's your hide on the line and not the site.

Illicit drug use, Tofu, that's all you have to know. PM Mad if you want the pic because discussing it after the fact isn't exactly...good form. But maybe I'm just being too much of a hard-ass about it...

I quit my job at the bookstore--too bad, though, because it means I have to pay...normal prices. I haven't done that in near two years! I suppose I'll get along. Next I plan on quiting my receptionist job.

Oh, my, Tex made a funny. Okay, so I deserved that one. It's the reason I edited it out. Seriously, though, my mother good oatmeal-raisin cookies.

I voted the last one, but then changed my mind, so I'll say it here: No. I don't see a point to having to name anything a World Wonder, much less the number seven. In any event, if anyone is interesting, there are numerous categories of World Wonders: Natural-World, Man-Made, Ancient, Western Civilization (Western), Modern-World, etc. Nothing truly significant to this, or at least I believe...

Just for the record: I was NOT complaining and NOT offended by Mad's post. Also, I apologize for my poor joke at Mad's expense if anyone was upset. No worries, Tex, that was not made based on what you said--just general policy. It falls under the same basic rules wherein we don't discuss illegal materials like burning copies of games and such. It's a liability issue for the site. If users want to joke and discuss illicit drugs--we've let that go and sometimes even joined in the past, but what was posted is too much of a liability for the site.