Cikomyr

Reply to Thinking About the Unthinkable: A U.S.-Iranian Deal in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] Their pell Mell effort to get the bomb, when there is no compelling reason for it (no one is threatening them - they are the biggest bully in their pond) indicates a detachment from reality that is mostly found in crazies[/quote] If it wasn't for that part of your argument, I would agree. But just look at Iran's situation for the moment. I strongly disagree that they have no reason to feel threatened. They are sorrounded by Israel, Turkey, Russia and Pakistan, and the american

Reply to Thinking About the Unthinkable: A U.S.-Iranian Deal in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]I do love these discussions with you. I would agree with you, in a normal place. But Iran is a theocracy[/quote] Religious leaders are very often the most pragmatic people in their religion. They have to manoeuver politics, charisma and establishments to be able to get into power. To be the Supreme Leader of Iran doesn't mean merely to be a "good religious man" (that's to be an Ayattolah). You gotta be put there by the clerical establishment, and.. well, many of these people ar

Reply to Thinking About the Unthinkable: A U.S.-Iranian Deal in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]So although it does give another option, I'd say it's possibly even worse than the alternatives (the first one, diplomacy, just hopes that they're not crazy)[/quote] So, you rate the three options: 1) Diplomatic/economical sanctions 2) Deal 3) Warfare In term of desirability, with open conflict rating lowest? I kinda agree to this. But the thing is, we still have to succeed on sanctions for work out. the USA can handle China on their own, but we

Reply to Thinking About the Unthinkable: A U.S.-Iranian Deal in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]It was crazy. As are they.[/quote] Stop demonizing and start thinking. You don't become leader of a country, specially not a totalitarian country with no royal families, by being a crazy irrational man. You don't reach high positions in these kind of administration by acting irrational. These people are clever, dangerous, and rational. They don't go and blow themselves up for the fun of it, not even for a freaking paradise. They have too much to loose.

Reply to Thinking About the Unthinkable: A U.S.-Iranian Deal in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]Yes. Almost every day. Grabbing an Iraqi Oil field? There is nothing rational about their leadership (the people are another matter). 72 virgins await the mad mullahs.[/quote] It was a deliberate and considered move. Stratfor wrote a piece about that very event.. let me pull it.. Here. [quote] A small number of Iranian troops entered Iraq , where they

Reply to Thinking About the Unthinkable: A U.S.-Iranian Deal in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]Both are totalitarian, but the chinese are not nutjobs.[/quote] Well, from STRATFOR's article, Mao did a good job making everybody believe they were. Seriously, "we do not fear Nuclear Warfare, we have hundreds of millions of spare people"? Doesn't even come close of Iranian President's declarations. And also, remember the point made about the difference between rethorics and actions. While Iran has made some provocative declarations in the past years (that's an

Reply to Thinking About the Unthinkable: A U.S.-Iranian Deal in Politics JoeUser Forums

The element that worries me the most is the one I mentionned in earlier discussion. The famous "Only Nixxon can go to China" paradox, where Hawk-like leaders have an easier time striking deals, and Dove-leaders have an easier time doing military actions.. Also, I wanted to link the result a battle simulation that occured in 2002, where a Marine General used asymetrical tactics to cripple the U.S. Navy's task force when he was playing as Iran, showing the vulnerability of the American

Thinking About the Unthinkable: A U.S.-Iranian Deal in Politics JoeUser Forums

Thinking About the Unthinkable: A U.S.-Iranian Deal March 1, 2010 | 1703 GMT <img src="http://www.stratfor.com/mmf/104168" alt="Graphic for Geopolitical Int

Reply to Why is it that everything with the word “reform” in it isn’t? in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]Is it just me or did you miss the point all together? It's not why it's called reform, it's why it's called reform when it isn't. You see, reform would indicate a change from bad to good but as we can all see today's use of the word reform is not for the better, otherwise Obama would not be offering to settle for a scaled back version of this Healthcare bill.[/quote] Well, you think it's not a change for the better, but that's because you are on your side of the political ideol

Reply to Why is it that everything with the word “reform” in it isn’t? in Politics JoeUser Forums

Because something's wrong, and they have to do something about it? Reform means a fundamental change in the general paradigm of a specific organisational sector. You effectively re-form the thing.

Reply to Scott Brown Wins in MA! in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]Typical, they lose so now their candidate is a loser. Gotta love the Left. They are like the bad guys in movies and cartoons, you fail and they throw you under the bus.[/quote] Nah. That candidate wasn't "my" candidate. I had no qualms initially for either sides, so until I started to see the behavior of the democrat candidate in the race. I am not surprise that MA voted for Brown. I am more surprised so many people voted for her! [e digicons]:omg:[/e] Do you think I'm

Reply to Haiti : Limbaugh, shut the F*** up! in Current Events JoeUser Forums

[quote]Take a good long look at what is happening in Massachusetts, the liberal heartland if you will, seems the shine has worn off this loser's "grand socialist experiment" (yes, it is about Obama). [/quote] I did. And what did I saw? I saw a stupid, arrogant, condescendant, lazy and incompetent democrat candidate, who blew her chance worse than Palin ever did. I saw that the ratings were +30 Democrats before the campaign started, and only when we saw (or rather, NOT

Reply to Scott Brown Wins in MA! in Politics JoeUser Forums

Congratulation for the Republican for this victory! It is one that was clearly earned [e digicons]:grin:[/e] He has done a very good campaign against a candidate who was so arrogant and condescendant, he (and the GoP) deserves that win so hard. I kinda hoped he'd win, even if I like Obama one many issues. Seriously, no politician should act like they already won, and his opponent was just incompetent. So, do you think/hope the 41 Republican Senators are going to act so

Reply to Tiny coincidences in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

[quote]I never expect to see real budget numbers posted in public; that's business stuff.[/quote] Yhea, but some other questions might be answered. Like "how do you choose how many music you have in a game?"

Reply to Tiny coincidences in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

May I ask what is the musical budget for a game like Elemental (or AoW)? Because, how many songs do you need? How many variance in soundtracks do you want? Will you make songs randomly chosen from a list based on the player's alignment, gameplay orientation? Questpath? And how much does each song costs for a video game? (You may or may not answer any of these questions. It's just elements (pun intended) that somewhat bugs me when I think about the VG business)

Reply to Haiti : Limbaugh, shut the F*** up! in Current Events JoeUser Forums

[quote]The difference is what side of the aisle you are on. I know what side you are (and respect you for it), but then we will never see eye to eye. Why are you not condemning Danny Glover for his outrageous and stupid statements? While he is not, usually, a social commentator, he does love to jump into the fray with his idiocy (Praising hugo Chavez, blaming global warming for earth quakes, etc.).[/quote] Do you know the difference between Danny Glover and Rush Limbaugh? 13 m

Reply to Haiti : Limbaugh, shut the F*** up! in Current Events JoeUser Forums

[quote]And that insult is what?[/quote] "If I was named envoy to Haiti, I'd quit government. Envoy to Haiti? You can't even pick up a prostitute down there without genuine fear of AIDS" That was classy, wasn't it?

Reply to Haiti : Limbaugh, shut the F*** up! in Current Events JoeUser Forums

[quote]not true! (But then I would not expect you to go to his site to find the truth). What he did say was giving through the government would result in only about 30 cents on the dollar getting to the relief effort, while giving to PRIVATE charities would see a much higher percentage.[/quote] "We've already donated to Haiti. It's called the U.S. income tax." In other words, if you pay taxes, you already did your part. He is an asshole who only care about ratings, not

Reply to Haiti : Limbaugh, shut the F*** up! in Current Events JoeUser Forums

[quote]not true! (But then I would not expect you to go to his site to find the truth). What he did say was giving through the government would result in only about 30 cents on the dollar getting to the relief effort, while giving to PRIVATE charities would see a much higher percentage.[/quote] It still warrants criticism of Obama based on the speed of his answer? Or the insult he made about appointing George W. Bush and Clinton as envoys? (A bipartisan appointment, if I ever

Haiti : Limbaugh, shut the F*** up! in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Is there no amount of decency left in that man, and the political ideology that man represents? That man criticized Obama for reacting immediatly to the Haitian catastrophic earthquake while taking 3 days to react to the attempted air bombing on christmas day. Seriously, he thinks an ATTEMPTED bombing, which failed and where the man has been arrested, warrants more attention and more immediate action on the part of the presidential power than a 100k-victim disaster that happ

Reply to Obama's Plan and the Key Battleground in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]Worked out great for South Vietnam. Wonder if Obama has the same hope for Afghanistan/Pakistan.[/quote] On paper, ARVN was the best fighting force. They always beaten the ennemy on engagements where a fight was properly happening. In reality, ARVN had huge intelligence leaks, and the North Vietnamese could outmanoeuver them quite easily, making sure that no fight would be properly happening. I wonder how much the afghan military is infiltrated by the insurgent s

Obama's Plan and the Key Battleground in Politics JoeUser Forums

"This report is republished with permission of STRATFOR " By George Friedman U.S. President Barack Obama announced the broad structure of his Afghanistan strategy in a <a href="http://www.stratfor.c

The U.S. Challenge in Afghanistan in Politics JoeUser Forums

"This report is republished with permission of STRATFOR " By George Friedman and Reva Bhalla The decision over whether to send more U.S. troops into Afghanistan may wait until the contested Afghan election is resolved, U.S. officials said Oct. 18. The announcement comes as <

Reply to Numbers and numbers with some numbers in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

Why not do both? You can have basic roads that are developped organically with basic trade routes between the cities, and artificial routes like the ones developped by the Romans (serving the purpore of highways) that you artificially create. Basic routes would develop along trade routes. When a trade route between you city A and B is set, it's inneficient at first. But you might want to set a small amount each gameyear to develop that road, so it's becoming more efficient over

Reply to Elemental Beta ideas discussed: October 2009 in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

Idea 1) Essence lost on death. Let's say you automatically loose 5 essence points to bring your sovereign back to life. He effectively wills himself back into reality (a la Dr. Manhattan). But you could also play with that concept. How about loosing more essence if you die in ennemy territory, and some of that extra essence goes into your ennemy's pool of essence? So if you die while attacking the ennemy's capital, you lose 2 essences to your ennemy, and you have still to spend 5