Ashoka the Great

The scars from the magnesium go very well with the various scars I have from trying to cut bagels while they were frozen. (Knife slips, blade skids across knuckle, and owie owie owie owie owie.) The most fun I've ever had with chemicals was building fertilizer bombs. (This was c. 1984, before Tim McVeigh added a certain stigma to it.) A friend and I mixed up the ingredients in a batch that we thought would be sufficient to blast a picnic table into splinters. Let's just say that our math was, er, 'off'.

What's especially fun is putting a lit strip of magnesium into an inverted glass of hydrogen. It's like watching a three-inch-long Hindenburg go up in flames in your fingers. *looks at hands* WARNING: May lead to permanent, circular scars on one or more index fingers, depending on how many times you do this and whether you decide to switch hands because one of them is already stinging quite badly.

[quote name='Rebel Virginia' timestamp='1315239423' post='2795303'] [color="#0000FF"]Well, what's stopping them?[/color] [/quote] One word: fear.

[quote name='WarriorConcept' timestamp='1315182457' post='2794961'] Want to bet tech on GOD getting something out of it? [/quote] Personally, I would encourage Olympus to tell GOD to take a hike when they come demanding reparations. I believe much hilarity would ensue. [quote name='Rebel Virginia' timestamp='1315205812' post='2795173'] [color="#0000FF"]Look, he doesn't even have the muscle to roll little ol' NSO. That's when you know you've [hit] rock bottom. Ha![/color] [/quote] The man has a point.

[quote name='TypoNinja' timestamp='1315089144' post='2793996'] I was just reading this topic full of hails aimed at nuclear rogues and thinking how far Standards have fallen over time. I remember when alliances would attack their own rogues as an unimpeachable gesture demonstrating they did not in fact approve of that behavior. Instead now a days people stand back and cheer. My opinion of many has lessened today.... [/quote] People have been cheering rogues for as long as I can remember. It has always depended on how well it's been done, however. Do I really have to remind you of Frans Josef? How about Diskord's guide to being a nuclear rogue? Both of these occurred more than four years ago. Many more have occurred since then. If your 'opinion of many has lessened' then it's because you have the memory of a goldfish.

[quote name='Emperor Marx' timestamp='1314944352' post='2792842'] Damsky is doing Nordreich's job for them. [/quote] And for free, too! So much for TANSTAAFL. [quote name='Nemhauser' timestamp='1314965936' post='2792908'] I like Article 3. [/quote] We could always put something similar in ours. [quote name='Imugran' timestamp='1314965514' post='2792906'] Well, I'll give you this much, FARCE, is a clever and fitting name. Good luck (sarcasm) recruiting allies to your alliance, although I am confident that you will fold in no time. Capitalism has become a religion where people happily sacrifice themselves. No large modern states have ever achieved true communism because they lacked the democracy that was crucial to their success. They became bureaucratic totalitarian states. The weight of bureaucracy also threatens capitalist countries, and I love how their proposals for addressing this often more closely reflect the ideas of anarchic communism. Of course to realize this they would have needed to study, and all pursuit of knowledge there is geared toward greed and amassing wealth. There's no room for real knowledge. Trotsky, both of them, is right. The hope for the world lies in true democratic communism. Still, as a supporter of freedom, I think that you are free to say, do, attack what and where you want. Just remember that every action has consequences. [/quote] Anyone else nod off while reading this? I'll say this for the Commies: their ideological rationalizations are more effective than Pentobarbitol. [quote name='Ayatollah Bromeini' timestamp='1314986428' post='2793048'] OOC: Pinochet would like to have a word with you OOC:[/quote] [OOC]Sadly, he left the job unfinished.[/OOC]

[quote name='Kzoppistan' timestamp='1315082314' post='2793905'] I was busy spending my money on hookers and blow.... [/quote] Atta boy.

Never expected to see this, frankly, but since it doesn't affect my alliance in anyway I can simply shrug, wish everyone the best, and move on.

Take care.

FYI the 'other person' was a computer-generated terrorist. I showed this screencap to all the other admins, and none of them had ever seen anything like it. Not that you're wrong. In fact, your guess is probably right. But....once the program says someone is dead, that's supposed to be it.

OK, so I've mentioned before that I'm an admin on a Raven Shield server. In all the time I've been doing this, only once have I taken a screencap of mid-game conversations. To this day I still have no idea how this is possible.

I always hated the old one. It was a real pig's breakfast of a design. Just horrible. This one is much nicer. That it also represents a part of the world I don't live in is merely a plus.

[quote name='Schattenmann' timestamp='1314734944' post='2791172'] Thak you for the clarification. I am dismayed to see that you still can't separate senate-sharing between alliances on the same team and using an ODOAP to attack GOONS in the last war from "believing the we've changed rhetoric." It is simply a matter of realism. NPO is no different from any alliance: They want to be on top, and there are certain things they might do to get there, and certain things they might do to stay there. If you think that your allies are any different from NPO, you're stupid, and moreso, you haven't been paying much attention to reality. Attacking an alliance for being too big is the same whether NPO or MK does it, and CoJ acted accordingly, just as Vox was catalyzed by the war on the evil Polaris. Just as Vox was attacking Continuum more than it was defending Poalris, CoJ attacked Doom House more than we defended NPO. I think your being party to that tyranny makes you look bad, you think my adhering to my principles even to help NPO makes me look bad. So, here we are, I need make no excuses or exceptions to explain CoJ's actions. Whether it is because they aren't capable or because they've changed, NPO hasn't done anything lately but pay reps and get beat on by you. There's nothing to believe or not believe, it's live.[/quote] Much of the above argument exists only in your head and does not represent what I've said at all. My 'take' on the most recent war is that we honored an agreement. Period. In more general terms, I was never particularly thrilled with the attack on the NPO, and have said so repeatedly. I can't address the rest of what you've said because it doesn't make a great deal of sense to me. I suspect there's a bit of 'talking at cross-purposes' going on, but this really isn't the place to sort that out.

[quote name='Schattenmann' timestamp='1314728118' post='2791111'] Dearest KingZog, if I'm your best pick for forum nemesis we're both getting dusty, but I'll bite, if half-heartedly: I find your assertion that NoR's assistance in the DH-NPO War had nothing to do with the pre-Karma past to be rather amusing considering that NoR's dimplomats have [url="http://pacificorder.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=122675&view=findpost&p=5278301"]already posted in NoR's NPO embassy that the operation was named "Fall Vergeltung"[/url] which of course literally means Case Retaliation, or, Operation Revenge. If not the "distant" pre-Karma past, then what does NoR have to get revenge from NPO for? And of course there are the [url="http://pacificorder.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=122675&view=findpost&p=5278303"]posts by Kaiser Nemhauser[/url]in NoR's NPO embassy which explicitly state that for many, the war was exactly about revenge for Norden Verein. Are NoR milcom or Kaiser Nemhauser just as foolish as you paint me for making the same claims that I make? It's rhetorical, you don't have to answer. [/quote] The sentence I wrote was the product of far too little sleep, and should have read something like, "No one besides Schattenmann believes the 'we've changed' rhetoric. (And no, I'm not trying to re-start something mere hours after a helpful exchange between the NPO and myself on our forum. Just clarifying.) Apart from a couple of very short stints in government, it's been more than two years since I've claimed to speak on behalf of Nordreich. If what I say does not jibe with what the alliance is saying, then it may well be that we are looking at a particular situation in two very different ways. These things do happen, after all. [quote name='NeCoHo' timestamp='1314729288' post='2791121'] I'd just like to take a moment and say that while things got off to a very rocky start between NoR and NPO recently on our boards, and we have admitted that and are willing to work to move past that, we opened ourselves up to you on your boards and I have had the pleasure of speaking to many members of Nordreich who are excellent. I have thanked them in the past for the civility that they brought to the conversation, and we have been nothing but civil since then until what we have all seen here. [/quote] In your embassy on our forum -- which, btw, can probably be viewed by anyone (I forget how the permissions work) -- we (by which I mean the NPO and me personally, not NoR) have each said all that needs to be said. We can now put it all behind us, on the understanding that I reserve the right to take a jaundiced view from time to time. [quote]EDIT: Many will agree, if we angered Methrage we are probably doing something right. [/quote] Yes. Probably.

[center][img]http://www.psycho-babble.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/good-news.jpg[/img][/center] The NPO and I made up. Why, we're practically snugglebunnies now. As a token of my determination to both maintain and foster civil discourse.... I would remove 'Fallout Shelters' from any list of desirable military Wonders. You get blasted by a nuke and yet you still have soldiers that may be attacked, leading to even greater losses of men, matériel and money. It is perhaps the silliest thing a nation can build.

(What the hell....I quoted myself and then posted it? Hmmm....) Anyway, someone doesn't seem to understand that in order to give a reacharound one must be doing the....you know....rhe 'deed'.

[quote name='Letum' timestamp='1314506199' post='2789751'] Despite your best efforts to portray us as such, the NPO is not some vengeful hate machine that will froth at the mouth at the sight of former enemies. If we were, we would not be making the diplomatic strides we have with Doomhouse, who were far more involved in our misfortune....[/quote] Good grief, a shining example of Pacifica just not getting it. If you wish to find the author of your misfortunes, perhaps a glance in a mirror might provide a clue. As to the 'diplomatic strides' you're making with Doomhouse....hang on, I'm the one who's delusional? You think anyone in that group of alliances will ever trust you again? Wow, impressive. About the rest, anyone who was witness to my attempt to get a discussion going with Pacifica knows the truth. I suggested we move past disagreements, while your members obsessed about them. You were as civil with us as you were with VE, and round about the same time, too. Let's try again, though. Let us resume the dialogue. I'll begin with an apology. *ahem* I'm sorry you're a liar in an alliance filled with liars. I'm also sorry that few people outside your own alliance believe anything you say.

[quote name='gonftw' timestamp='1314554039' post='2790039'] Could Nordreich possibly whore itself out anymore?[/quote] God I hope so. Fitting into these pumps was a nightmare that I really don't want to repeat.

Two years in a seminary and the subject of God's attitude toward browser games never even came up. I should ask for a refund.

[quote name='Sir Paul' timestamp='1314493980' post='2789634'] Unfortunately, we can never to forget the past, but we do know what happens if one does not forgive the past. The Foreign Affairs cadre has asked that I specifically recognize those who have worked to come and find out if Pacifica has taken the learning to heart: Of Non Grata: jgator, Hurricane, and Stewie Of GOONS: Mandozer and Sardonic Of Mostly Harmless Alliance: Gon Of R&R: DemonSpawn Of GATO: Letub, Timlee, Laserwold and Kublakhan Of LoSS: Andy2tk Of IRON: MCRABT and Mia Of Valhalla: Keshav Of FEAR: Razor and TheDon125 [/quote] Presumably you were more polite toward them than you were toward Nordreich. Our efforts to mend fences were met by lies, insults and derision. So understand that when we call you a pack of two-faced liars, no, we are not harking back to some distant, pre-Karma past. Not that anyone besides Schattenmann actually believes this....

I don't see porn.

This could end up being the 'One Great Thing' which unites all corners of the Cyberverse. We can make this happen, my friends.

[quote name='Skippy' timestamp='1314088842' post='2786739'] The thing is though, we didn't opt for cancellation, but it was an option should you not accept our offer/request for a downgrade. As nothing had been agreed on between our alliances, nothing itself had really changed. We still held an MDoAP, right up until you cancelled it. Hypothetically, should you have been attacked even one minute before you cancelled, we'd still be bound to defend you. Personally, I find it interesting that you jumped the gun to cancel on us, before we had come to an agreement on either downgrading, or us cancelling. I'll be honest here, it looks to me like you're trying to save some face. Yes, I'd like to retain friendships, but I can't say I like the way you've gone about this. [/quote] Look, I don't mean to quibble, but....oh who am I kidding? I live to quibble. You say cancellation was an 'option' if Polaris didn't accept the idea of a downgrade. Alright, then. What was the other option you presented them with? I ask because the word 'option' implies that there was more than one possible outcome if they didn't like changing the nature of your agreement. If no other 'option' was one the table, then Polaris' actions are completely understandable. Or, to put it another way.... TIO: "I don't think we should be a 'couple' anymore. More like 'friends with benefits'. But if you're not happy with this, I suppose we'll have to break up." NpO: "Well, I still like you, but when can you get your crap out of my bathroom? It doesn't need to be there now." TIO: "What do you mean?" NpO: "I mean what I just said. We're not a couple. Please get your tampons out of my medicine cabinet. I'm going to need that space for condoms and lube." TIO: "You're being so unreasonable. Why are you hurting me like this?"

[quote name='Omniscient1' timestamp='1314068011' post='2786548'] I'm glad you're willing to admit you wouldn't mind seeing SF get rolled. See now doesn't that feel better? [/quote] Saying "I don't care" is rather far from actively planning an attack. [quote]If you haven't seen those comments and discussion then you must be pretty inactive. [/quote] That discussion is not taking place within my alliance. If there is some kind of conspiracy to drag SF and/or XX into a war then its origins lie elsewhere. That is all I have ever maintained. Inactivity hasn't robbed me of my ability to find a thread with a title like 'Hey let's roll SF' in my alliance's most secure areas. It simply does not exist. Now, you are of course free to disbelieve this, but I think I have a pretty decent record with respect to being up-front. [quote]As for GOD, GOD is GOD. They've always been the same way and rolling them won't change that a bit. I didn't see any whining about how Xiph or GOD was when they were on our side so I don't understand why people are whining now. [/quote] You know, it wasn't all that long ago that I was hearing now-former friends of GOD saying the same thing. At the time, they didn't mean it in a bad way, either. As for 'our side' I cannot address a comment that makes no sense to me. I don't need to be an official spokesman to say quite categorically that we have never considered GOD to be on our side in any meaningful sense. (Or GATO or ODN or whatever alliance you'll be in next week, for that matter.) Xiphosis' own comments with respect to Nordreich should indicate why we think this way. As to whining, in private discussions with Xiphosis he has brought up events that took place more than five years ago and used those in an attempt to justify his swaggering, his attempted bullying and his intransigence. If you're looking for quality whining, I suggest you start with him. [quote name='memoryproblems' timestamp='1314099836' post='2786771'] I love kingzog so much that I'm going to stroke his ego continually by responding to everything he says, despite the fact that he's pointed out two or three times that this really isn't the place for a discussion about childrens' toys, but rather is a serious grown-up discussion about inter-alliance conflicts. I understand that as a fairly prominent member of an alliance that is suspected of taking part in plans to attack SF, he actually has a place in this discussion while I do not. But I love him so much that I just can't help myself. His replies give me a reason to live. He is the wind beneath this phoenix's wings. [/quote] That's how I read it, anyway. Others' readings may differ. Truly, The Phoenix Lingers. [quote name='Letum' timestamp='1314101019' post='2786776'] Perhaps they assume as such because the image of a "live and let live" alliance is at odds with the image of one that partakes in military aggression without any act of war involved. [/quote] An agreement was activated. Generally speaking, that is considered to be adequate reason for an alliance to take part in any military action. But I do like that you are the one who brought this up. You see, there is great irony in a leading member of Pacifica raising this point. Since I have explained our motivation, perhaps you would like to address the veritable shopping list of alliances Pacifica attacked without cause or those alliances (like Polaris) you arranged to have isolated and then attacked? Please, please, please argue that none of this ever happened. Show the masses just how little you've changed, how little you regret and what a pack of lying dogs you are. Surely it's time for the mask to come off.

[quote name='Rontastic' timestamp='1313819854' post='2784914'] Back off, Mogar. I've claimed her first. SHE'S MINE. Also... Perhaps check out TGE or Nordreich. They're German themed. Every day is Oktoberfest. [/quote] Some of us celebrate Scotchtoberfest. The booze is still amber-hued, but much more economical in terms of input/effect. Also, since many of our members have seen naked females in person without paying for the privilege or relying on the internet, we're less likely to obsess about the presence of someone possessing double-x chromosomes. At least that's what I tell women. Once they sign up I'm all "Show me your boobs! PM pics to me! You can trust me!" Wait....did I just say that out loud? Aw, crap. [quote name='JohnGulager' timestamp='1313980855' post='2785967'] So, if you're modeling your nation after the Third Reich, would it be fair to assume you're a racist? [/quote] I should certainly hope so. The place hasn't been the same since Normal Hale Gareth departed.