Ashoka the Great

[quote name='memoryproblems' timestamp='1314092065' post='2786750'] Also, I appreciate your being impressed, It means a great deal coming from you. I daresay that it is deserved seeing as we are further advanced then most all alliances with sizes comparable to our own (yours included) in several areas many consider to be most vital. [/quote] I wasn't aware that one could measure hubris. Regardless, Vanilla Napalm expressed it far better than I could. Beyond adding a 'What the hell are you on about?' or perhaps a 'Slayer did it better' there's not much to be said in response. Clearly I've somehow startled you by suggesting your pony pals were worthy of nothing but contempt. Nothing else can explain your desire to swoop in and declare that you will save an alliance that....well....no one is actually threatening. It brings a tear to me eye. Truly, it does. And so I apologize for your hurt widdle feewings, and hope you will take this opportunity to reflect on the fact that the craptastic herd you call a protectorate came up as a completely incidental point in a much more interesting discussion, and that you and your equine pals are about as menacing as Arm Fall Off Boy teamed up with the Wonder Pets. This entire episode has left me so sad that I must cloister myself in Nature's loving embrace for a period of no less than four days. [OOC]I'm going camping in about seven hours.[/OOC] Five if the beer holds out. And the beer never holds out.

[quote name='memoryproblems' timestamp='1314063207' post='2786482'] But why, why shouldn't they exist? Because you dislike the theme? People dislike it, but at the end of the day, every alliance's theme is at the least, a little dumb. I'll put it on record that anybody who wishes to go after said alliance should not be expecting to be able do it painlessly. [/quote] If you think anyone is serious about taking them out, then you're really quite clueless. But please, don't let that stop you from doing a bit of public flexing to show how big and scary you are. We're all really quite impressed.

I was simply going to express my support for completely groan-worthy puns, but then I did a bit of reading and saw that we had somehow derailed this thread without even being present in it. We're just that good, apparently. Anyway, GATO are good folks and INT is mostly-OK, so congratulations all around.

[quote name='SpacingOutMan' timestamp='1314056455' post='2786428']Relevance: does anything stated in most of the last twenty or so posts have anything to do with the OP?[/quote] I think so, since the alliance I am a part of is frequently mentioned as having some kind of longstanding hate-on for alliances in SF or as a core conspirator in others' fantasies. About the other arguments? No, not really. That's just HoT being his usual five-watt self, interepreting "Your alliance shouldn't exist" as "They're coming to get you, Barbara!" followed by a whole lot of chatter about yet another one of his statements that's in poor taste.

I feel as if I should preface every statement I make by saying: [indent][indent][indent]"....the following is my own personal point of view. Yes, I helped to re-form Nordreich and, for a short time, led the alliance as Kaiser. However, apart from a couple of short-term government appointments, I have held no position of authority within the alliance for more than two years. My signature appears on treaties as a courtesy extended by virtue of my former position. All former Kaisers enjoy this privilege. If I forget to raise my hand and say 'aye' my signature is omitted, but this omission is no indication at all in terms of whether or not I approve of said treaty. I continue to enjoy the confidence of Nordreich's government and I have access to high-level discussions. I occasionally take part in said discussions, but in a purely consultative way. I do not possess any kind of 'vote' (even a notional one) on any matter affecting the alliance. I make no claim to speak for the alliance as a whole, but I believe that I can at the very least provide some kind of insight into our thinking, at least from my vantage point. Therefore...." (return to the first line and read repeatedly) [/indent][/indent][/indent] Anyway, with that as a caveat: [quote name='Omniscient1' timestamp='1314048376' post='2786335'] Although I'm sure you're right that people would be shocked and appalled by a preemptive strike by SF, an attack on SF by a coalition that appears to have enough power to win would also cause those sitting on the fence to move to the other side or do nothing. Just saying.[/quote] And my statement was intended to imply just that. Kudos on catching it. [quote]Also you must have completely missed the Ardus post if you don't think that there is a group of people working to roll SF. I mean holy !@#$ not even MK is denying it. (anyone remember the "lol we don't hate Polar. We just want to roll Poland) So pretending that such a movement doesn't exist just makes you look pretty retarded.[/quote] People say a lot of things in public that don't necessarily provide a complete picture. I am only qualified to relate things I've been told or have seen personally as a result of my access to various private areas. (My psychic powers aren't what they used to be.) I've seen a lot of "lol SF" sentiment. I have not seen a "let's sit down and work out their destruction" sentiment. Although, paradoxically, I suppose I can see how my pointing this out could help expedite such a discussion. [quote]If you believe someone deserves to be rolled just come out and say it. (not saying that they necessarily don't) It's pretty childish and immature to be poking someone and then going "I didn't do it!" though. [/quote] I have made public statements with respect to GOD, CSN and Fark in the past. Perhaps I should update them and put them all in one place: GOD: The obstacle to a normalization of relations is and has been Xiphosis, plain and simple. He is obsessed with things that happened five years ago, and flat-out lies in relating details of those events. He has displayed an incredible amount of paranoia with respect to the alliance I once led, and he has yet to provide any kind of adequate explanation for this paranoia. I tried to reach an accommodation with him on several occasions, and each time he either lied, made threats or laughed at me. Sometimes all three. Those from other alliances who dealt with me during my tenure as Kaiser know that under most circumstances I have an exceptionally long fuse, but I have washed my hands of Xiphosis and his alliance. I am quite certain that I was the last person in Nordreich to reach that point. Their fate does not interest me in the slightest. Let them live, let them die. I don't care and I will not pretend to care. CSN: They did a pretty crappy thing to one of NoR's allies, DT. Several CSN government members have said that, in retrospect, they ought to have done things differently. I agree, and I've put that behind me. But then again, I'm not in The Dark Templar so 'forgiveness' isn't really mine to grant. Fark: They put up what ultimately became one of the more tasteless statements seen by many who frequent this place; a thread that was populated by clowns who tripped over each other to see who could make the most offensive joke. If they and their friends believe that Nordreich was the only alliance offended by this, they are gravely mistaken. However, a representative of Fark recently visited our board in an attempt to smooth this over; an action that, regardless of its consequences, took an incredible amount of guts on his part. (Something we admire, btw.) This is no 'grudging respect'. Anyway, I believe we've each made our positions clear and have moved on. With regard to other SF/XX alliances, I believe I can provide some insight into Nordreich's general line of thought with respect to all of them. R&R - We have fought against them and beside them. Either way, they're a pretty classy bunch and I think many within NoR hoped that after fighting on the same side we would develop closer relations. I certainly hoped that would be the case. They didn't seem all that interested. MHA - Beats me. I honestly have no opinion about them whatsoever beyond not liking anything written by the man who inspired their theme. That's hardly an indictment of them as an alliance, however. Sparta - Our relationship hit a few ruts during the last conflict, but we've each said our piece, patched things up and moved on. RIA - Beyond finding them unfunny, I have no opinion.

[quote name='Vol Navy' timestamp='1314048624' post='2786337'] I feel that if they make a strike that it won't change at all how the treaty web would unfold against them.[/quote] Maybe yes, maybe no. It's the uncertainty of it that would give most people pause. [quote]It certainly didn't hurt Doomhouse at all to pull their true preemptive strike against someone who was never going to fire a shot against them. Hell, it even appears that you guys rushed out of your Polaris front to run and join them in their attacks.[/quote] I don't know if it hurt tem or not. I wasn't especially fond of the first-strike idea, and said so on a number of occasions. As to our 'rushing out of our Polaris front', our being prevented from 'rushing' is a matter of public record. Furthermore, we entered in support of FAN and no one else. At the time I don't believe we had a single DH tie. [quote]Whatever guns that are aligned against SF/XX right now are still pointed at their heads and will be regardless of their approach to the first shot being fired. I could see a couple of XX members using it as an excuse to duck and run but it would be a hollow excuse on their part.[/quote] My point was that as a former leader of my alliance, someone who still enjoys access to private discussion areas, I have not seen this mentioned. There's no 'timeline for war' or a discussion about crafting an appropriate CB or anything like that. Right now Nordreich's most frequent intra-alliance discussion topic is tech deals and how to make them operate a bit more efficiently. This thread has come up in inter-alliance discussions, but primarily in a "What the hell is this supposed to accomplish?" kind of way. [quote]Because they way it looks to me the cold war on SF/XX has already started through isolationist actions being performed by MK and no doubt many others who haven't had their discussions leaked. [/quote] Here I believe we can almost agree, albeit with a reservation or three on my part. To my knowledge we have never included any kind of "if you sign with us you must drop GOD" (or any other alliance) provision in our negotiations with other alliances. I know for a fact that it never came up in our discussions with Ragnarok, who at the time of our treaty signing were part of SF. If anything, I'd say there's considerably more evidence that it is GOD who has made this kind of demand from their allies. Is someone trying to intentionally isolate SF/XX? Beats me. I know we aren't, and I don't know of anyone who is. It may be that you're correct; maybe there really are groups out there operating in secret to do this or that to isolate SF/XX. If so, I've never heard of it. There's a considerable difference between sentiments prefaced by "I wish that...." and "Let's sit down and plan...." The former is something one hears all the time. The latter is not. I think that what's happened is that certain SF/XX alliances have gradually alienated those who considered themselves to be close friends. This thread is part of a damage control effort to fix that. It's really that simple.

[quote name='Vol Navy' timestamp='1314046473' post='2786315'] Well, it's nice to know that yet another war against us is being discussed before the SF/XX rolling that comes down the pike.[/quote] Lighten up. The discussions are far from serious. More of a communal "Oh dear God what the hell is that" and much facepalming. Add in many justified statements about a certain individual's leadership skills, or complete lack thereof, and you'll get a very real sense of what the discussions are like. I should also mention that the discussions I've seen in this regard have not been on our forum, the Mj forum or those of any of its member alliances. [quote]Though I am not sure why it wouldn't be wise for SF/XX to do as General Lee suggested because of that. [/quote] I didn't intend to relate the two in that way. What I'm saying is that if SF/XX believe there's some kind of active conspiracy against them and decide to act first, it might have the unintended consequence of causing the many alliances tied to both sides to either support those who were attacked or to sit there and do nothing. Thus it would be unwise. As to the existence of said conspiracy, I believe I've said that if one exists then I've yet to be informed of it. I have been given no reason to change that statement.

[quote name='WarriorConcept' timestamp='1314037458' post='2786242'] Aren't you tough. [/quote] See, now this is funny coming from a guy who has aligned himself with the dominant side in each geopolitical reorganization. It was even funnier when you were a Pacifican shill. [quote name='HeroofTime55' timestamp='1314041621' post='2786265'] I'd have to laugh at the idea of a German Nationalist alliance discussing wiping people out just because of who they are. Especially the part about herding them off to an industrialized place of mass killing. I'm not sure why I find that so funny, but I do. There's a hint of irony here that I can't quite put my finger on. Oh well, it's probably nothing. [/quote] The idea didn't originate with us, actually. Oddly enough, we're much more 'live and let live' than most people -- including yourself, apparently -- naturally assume. Thanks for the thinly-veiled name-calling, too. You continue to set the bar higher for the rest of us.

[quote name='Lord Curzon' timestamp='1313894712' post='2785410'] Do you believe MJ or MK will attack you? If so, are you considering the preemptive attack strategy? [/quote] [quote name='Gen Lee' timestamp='1313906255' post='2785475'] 1. yes 2. yes [/quote] That wouldn't be a particularly wise thing to do, especially since most of the recent discussions (I'm privy to) have involved expressing various degrees of horror at one particular new alliance and whether or not someone should give them a one-way ticket to the glue factory. Let me be clear, though, that I don't really expect anything to happen. At this point we're just taking turns saying, "Ewwwwwww!" However, once we've recovered from the feelings of shock and disgust, I'm sure we'll be pleased to give you all the attention we gave you before this group of equine neophytes made an appearance. Namely....none.

So, tonight was one of those rare nights when the missus and I actually went out without children in tow. We went to a movie (Fright Night -- don't bother) and then off to a local pub for some karaoke. When we got to the pub, the karaoke host seemed rather excited by our arrival. He rushed over and told us that, as per our request, he had recently acquired several Jonathan Coulton songs. And so of course that's what we sang. At one point while the missus was off visiting with friends, the largest, most muscular, most shaved-headed (is that a word? well it is now) guy in the place walked up to me. You know the type. Six-foot-five, white t-shirt that seems to be three sizes too small, biceps the size of most folks' thighs.... Anyway, he said he really enjoyed my song, and followed that up with the words that normally send ice flowing through many a man's veins.... "Y'know, I'm not gay but...." Now, not being the sort to experience the 'chill', I responded with a paraphrase from Stripes. "But willing to learn, right?" I asked. Well, as it turned out, he was there with his wife and daughter, and his daughter said she wouldn't sing unless he walked over and gave 'that guy in the Hawaiian shirt' a kiss on the cheek. So of course I responded as any red-blooded man would: "Plant one on me, buster." A few minutes later, a beer arrived at my table. It was from him. I blew him a kiss and winked. I thought he was going to dissolve into a puddle. It was quite funny. So there was my good deed for the night. It reminded me, though, of the night a few weeks ack when my 18-year-old daughter was visiting from Vancouver. Making sure that it was OK in advance -- there are rules in Ontario about the circumstances under which an underaged person can be in a bar -- we took her to the same pub. She didn't sing, but I decided to make her night memorable by singing Adam Sandler's ' '. (For the record....yes, I can actually carry a tune.)She looked like she wanted to die. Mission accomplished. Or, as I said to her later, "Hey, it's not like I'll have to pay for your therapist." Her retort? "Well, at least you didn't dedicate to me." (I need to try harder. The kids aren't fazed by me anymore....) Anyway, tonight I sang and . And thus I managed to re-confirm what all of my kids (ages 6-21) say: "You're not like my friends' dads."They say it like they're mortified, but every now and then one of them will add in a mumbled "Thank God."

Not to be contrary or anything, but NoR's warchest requirements are by far the highest I have ever seen in any alliance that I've belonged to.

If I understand correctly, nearly all NEW members live in the same time zone. Ignoring all other factors, this can be a tremendous advantage. In my experience, in even fights the winner is the one who strikes first. So it would depend.... Called it a draw just be annoying.

[quote name='Schattenmann' timestamp='1313362214' post='2780867']The Vox graduating class has done quite well for itself....[/quote] For a group of disgruntled has-beens and never-weres....yeah, we've done OK. [quote name='ChairmanHal' timestamp='1313432240' post='2781428'] Vox had a mission: bring down NPO, even if they had to make a deal with the Devil to do it. What they didn't have was a real plan for what followed, just this fantasy about how we'd all be rewarded from each according to his ability, to each according to his need, something something the trains will run on time. [/quote] I think you missed the point completely, Hal. Vox put the idea of a world without Pacifican domination into the minds of the NPO's detractors, NPO's allies and, most importantly, into the minds of the NPO membership. Considering that Vox was founded near the start of the noCB war -- when it was already clear who would win -- this effort was an uphill battle from the very start. Vox made it clear that if this hegemony were ever overthrown, the world that followed would be in the hands of those who remained. There was no thought of dictating what could or could not follow. The point of the exercise was freedom; if people decided to throw it away, they would have no one to blame but themselves.

[quote name='supercoolyellow' timestamp='1313417279' post='2781306'] Stud finder =/= stud Do you realize what you just said [/quote] Yup.

[quote name='Vanilla Napalm' timestamp='1313336867' post='2780592'] The juxtaposition of anything Kingzog-related and the term "stud finder" is unsettling, and I'm going to need you to avoid it in future posts. [/quote] Indeed. Less talking about how I spend Saturday nights when the wife's out of town, please.

[quote name='Merrie Melodies' timestamp='1313361927' post='2780853'] Well, these ponies are like preteen valley girls and GOONS are like the 72 year old man who lives down the road and creep stares them all day. You decide. [/quote] You been reading my diary?

[quote name='Delta1212' timestamp='1313218424' post='2779397'] I'm bookmarking this thread because I can already tell it's going to be one of those one's that is [I]hilarious[/I] to read two years after the fact. [/quote] You're actually going to check up on things in two years' time to see if you can squeeze some kind of 'gotcha!' from this discussion? There's this magical place I'd like to tell you about. It's called 'outside'. [quote name='Schattenmann' timestamp='1313305527' post='2780410'] If Mjolnir is fine being marginalized, I think it says more about Mjolnir than about the people that take objection to it. [/quote] You've taken an extremely contextual quote and wrangled it into some kind of vague insult? Schatt, I don't know that I've ever had cause to say this about one of your musings, but this is quite simply stupid. [quote name='Feanor Noldorin' timestamp='1313303291' post='2780379'] To all those people wearing those new "nominal" sigs about MJ: How does it feel wearing that sig when no one in MJ takes offense to that post which is "suppose" to be offensive? [/quote] [quote name='James Dahl' timestamp='1313305565' post='2780412'] That's actually part of the joke, Feanor... [/quote] And like just about every joke uttered by RIA, it's funny for about half a second. Oh well. So much for every thread being about Polaris, Pacifica, the GOD-DT reps thing or anything else that might be remotely contentious. From this point forward, every thread is about Mj and its marginalization. We are going to spend thread upon thread talking about this bloc's marginalization, and all the while we will be completely unaware of the irony of doing this. Thanks for the sig, btw.

[quote name='The Pansy' timestamp='1313279892' post='2780093'] Me too, Zog, I have a nuke with your name on it now. [/quote] If it helps at all, putting that up there made me die a little inside. I neglected to mention, though... [quote name='Bacon God' timestamp='1313278020' post='2780060'] I will miss the NSO, I loved the whole star trek theme. And I will miss it dearly. Here is one of my favorite quotes from the show. [IMG]http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i410/cbreaker/1312676056732.jpg[/IMG] [/quote] I rather enjoyed this.

Was never a huge fan of UINE, but this is unsurprising. The countdown to dissolution began the moment you let another alliance tell you who could or could not be in your government.

[quote name='Merrie Melodies' timestamp='1313277730' post='2780055'] I swear, if I see a pony in a Vader helmet............................. [/quote] You'll what....go rogue on this abomination? [img]http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs31/f/2008/210/7/0/My_Little_Darth_Vader_by_Spippo.jpg[/img]

I'm honored to have played a small part in bringing our alliances together. o/ MK o/ NoR

Good times.

What the $%&@ is this !@#$?

[quote name='Duke Nukem' timestamp='1313160769' post='2778576'] Brb telling TLR to cancel on NG. I can't be indirectly allied to NoR! [/quote] Well played, sir.

[quote name='Vol Navy' timestamp='1313134804' post='2778494'] After seeing DH/PB/CnG and company use for gain and then eat up so many alliances over the past 3 years I really can't see how it seems to be a good idea to help them out if you aren't in one of the blocs Ardus mentioned securing power for in the OP. [/quote] I see that somebody is looking ahead to the next WPE Competition. You're off to a marvelous start.