rnpoole

Well the requirements only call for 512 but I believe game publishers give you the absolute minimum on the requirements to increase sales. I could be wrong. I don't think the thing is released in the U.S. until the 20th of this month. Anybody know any different?

Joe, Do you still just have 512 of memory as your profile says?

I believe there will be only two parties that use nuclear weapons in the future. The first one will be a nation like Iran or North Korea. The second party (the rest of the nuclear powers perhaps) will absolutely destroy the first nation's government totally and for all time. After that maybe we'll all wise up some. I certainly hope it doesn't come to something like that. BOOM! BOOM! Out go the lights!

So the only way to play will be to pay ~$10 a month? I imagine you have good reasons for doing this but to tell you the honest truth, I personally don't care to have another 'subscription' to pay.

"We did NOT lose Vietnam militarily, and if you actually STUDY it, you might understand this, we lost the propaganda war, and the people of the US were beaten with it until they cried Uncle." As I pointed out above, the propaganda war was perpetrated by the Johnson Administration and not some naive actress, the enemy, or the public. In Major H.R. McMaster's book titled Dereliction of Duty he discuses how LBJ limited the use of force without supplying them with strategic goals and objectives. In an interview for PBS Frontline* he said the following: "The process of determining the means to employ must begin with a clearly stated policy goal or objective. Senior military advisers and commanders should then develop a military strategy that contributes to or achieves that goal or objective. Then, military commanders determine the level of force necessary to carry out that strategy. During the Vietnam War, Lyndon Johnson and his advisers did precisely the opposite. LBJ determined what level of military force was politically palatable in the short term, made it available to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and told them to do the best they could with what they got. That is why we had lots of military activity in Vietnam (bombing North Vietnam and killing the enemy in South Vietnam)without a clear idea of how that activity represented progress. That is also why many brave, patriotic men took risks and made sacrifices without knowing how those risks and sacrifices were contributing toward an end of the war. That is why, along with the recognition that they had been lied to for years, many Americans lost faith in the effort." We have a repeat of this situation in Iraq. Ignoring protests from the military the Bush administration took a militarily unsound strategy from the beginning and no end-game strategy. The military strategy employed in this war was used despite the protests of generals and advisers who knew better. Militarily the war in Iraq and the so-called "war on terror" cannot be won because of the lack of visible, obtainable goals. You have to ask yourself why an administration would not use sound doctrine in conducting war. You have to ask yourself why an administration would want to set itself up a "perpetual war" that has no foreseeable end? Are they stupid, clever, or nefarious? The Islamic Jihad has been going on since the inception of Islam. You cannot kill an idea. It will only stop when no one believes the superstitious supernatural nonsense that drive them. Also, I would like to point out that the publics disenchantment with the Vietnam and Iraq wars were due to the wars poor execution and cannot be blamed on the public pointing that fact(poor execution)out itself. That is, the war is not in trouble because of public opinion, it is in trouble because of the way it is run. Could we destroy Iraq and Vietnam? Certainly, we have weapons that could turn them both into glass wastelands where no one could live for 100s of years. So would that be winning? I really don't think so. Crowing that we could have won militarily seems meaningless and a forgone conclusion. Of course we would have if the administration's strategy would have been to win at all costs, to wage Total War. What was or is their strategy? It wasn't the lack of public will, it was lack of leadership that lost the Vietnam War and we are seeing the same situation now in Iraq. All of this is a matter of public record. When peace becomes more profitable than war then the 'the gnomes of Zurich' will stop conducting them. Until then ... *http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/military/etc/lessons.html

What books have you been reading Jag? Give me some references. You are an arrogant asshat to say the least. LBJ got us into Vietnam illegally by staging a non-existent attack on a navel vessel. That was an illegal war any way you look at it. Anyone who protested the illegality of the war was right. Warmongering asshats were wrong. Bush has us in a perpetual state of war without a clear enemy or a clear victory scenario ...all illegally. And he is walking all over the Constitution like he's the King of England or something. He is not interested in upholding the Constitution at all. I tell you, I fail to understand why anyone would support this maniacal administration or its policies at this point. You rarely find warmongers amongst solders who have seen combat, its usually someone in the comfort of their home, sitting in an armchair and watching Bill O'Reilly who is all 'gung-ho' and 'get'sum.' Liberal amounts of bullets, blood, and scattered gray-matter on the battlefield would correct the glorified romantic notions of war that are in their warmongering heads. However the trick is getting people to realize the truth about war is 'before' you've scattered bullets, brains, and blood about the landscape.

"...and in the process losing in Iraq, as we did in Vietnam, EVEN THOUGH we are winning, and WERE winning, then that is what they will do." What revisionist history have you been reading?

The Bush Administration was predetermined to invade Iraq regardless of Saddam's response. The war was started under fraudulent means and it is as undeniable as it is indefensible. The Secret Downing Street Memo "...C reported on his recent talks in Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. The NSC had no patience with the UN route, and no enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime's record. There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action." http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1593607,00.html

ÔÇØDid he lie? Or was it US Intelligence, or was it Russian intelligence, or was it British intelligence. Hell, the whole world thought he was amassing weapons of mass distruction. ÔÇ£ Well, unfortunately he did, and as far as the everyone else saying the same thing, that really wasn't the case, the whole world didn't think that. ÔÇØ In other words, US citizens are the only ones that matter when people die. Anyone else that dies, well they don't count, they're not really "Human Beings", they're more like animals. ÔÇ£ My point is more people are getting killed now, I wasn't trying to make a distinction between the two. But now that you mention it, yes I am saying as an American taxpayer and citizen I believe that my interests, the interests of my fellow Americans, and the interests of my country come before any foreign citizens interests, i.e. New Orleans vs Baghdad. If the damn Iraqis wanted to be shed of Saddam they should have stepped up to the plate and dealt with him themselves. This was not about saving Iraqi lives or making the lives of Iraqis any better. It was based on the lies about Saddam and his intentions towards the United States. The Bush Administration has tried to rewrite the history of this war several times now. Stop buying into the Orwellian nonsense.

This is a good piece of film on the Iraqi training situation. The Iraqis aren't going to really deal with anything until they absolutely have to. Any further assistance on our part is just enabling behavior that is determinable to the Iraqis' future. http://www.guardian.co.uk/video/page/0,,1927660,00.html

" Trust me, this war would end in twenty four hours if the military was allowed to do it's job" I'm really interested. What do you think could be done militarily to win the war in 24 hrs?

"terrorist training camps IN Iraq." Yeah, thanks for reminding me of that. It does appear something was going on there, just what, you have to wonder. "This represents an extraordinarily troubling dysfunctionality at the top levels of our intelligence apparatus. Even with the most technologically sophisticated satellites and signals intercept equipment known to man, our ÔÇ£analystsÔÇØ at the CIA were still unable to uncover a training program from which 2,000 hardened jihadists graduated every year. Could they have been blind to this danger because of stupidity? Or was there something more at work here? ...Are we to believe that trained professionals were unable to spot these terrorist sites? Someone at the CIA has some explaining to do." He suggests that the CIA kept this from the administration as part of their struggle with one another in their desire not to usurp Saddam. Who know for sure? No one at the moment. There need to be congressional investigations. If it turns out the CIA holds all the blame then so be it, I'll eat my hat, but I doubt I'll need to.

e, I'm with you. You need to do it right. It isn't something that should be done like the start of the war was, we should actually have a sound military plan and execute it by the numbers this time. I say this not only in a concern for our people over there, but for the citizens of those countries in the region as well. But lets be real here, it is going to be unstable with or without us. Sometimes problems are better left alone least you make them worse as in the case of the Middle East, American intervention has never brought any stability to it and never can. It is a local issue that will have to be solved by the locals. However, in the long run, I really do not think that we can or should take upon ourselves the responsibility of ensuring stability in that part of the world. It isn't our region. We have instability in LA county we need to worry about first. As far as an entire region being thrown into chaos ... it never has gotten out of a state of chaos to begin with has it?

Good Grief! That woman could sell matches in hell. Get her on the 3000AD sales team! WhooHooo! You know, I think we tend to forget the number of uneducated and sometimes willingly ignorant people that we have in this country and the extent of their credulity sometimes. Also, there is the distinct possibility that due to age or illness the victims were suffering from a diminished mental capacity. I mean look at it this way. We have among the most highly educated in this country, many of whom are leaders, people that still look to bronze-age superstition for guiding principles on dealing with the modern world. People who were raised to believe and trust authority without question seldom question those they somehow perceive as their "betters" whether they are or not. Besides, I would bet you an OTS missile that although the saleswoman was in her thirties, her victims were much older. Elder abuse in the way of scams is wide spread. It happened to my folks. Someone sold them $5000 worth of something they had no use for and could have gotten for free. It took a year but I finally got their money back. If you are ever in need of a scooter of some kind stay clear of Rascal Scooters, they aren't as particular in hiring sales folks as they should be.

ÔÇØif we pull out, they'll just follow us back here. You do remember what happened on Sept. 11th don't you? ÔÇ£ Oh good grief man, Iraq had nothing to do with 911. Tell me, what nationalities were the 911 high-jackers? If this is about keeping them from ÔÇ£following us back hereÔÇØ why didn't we attack those countries? And in case you haven't noticed. They are already here preaching Jihad in the mosques every day. ÔÇØYou really think this is all about Oil? Please, the US has spent FAR MORE on this problem than any savings or whatever to be reaped from Oil. This was about letting someone like Saddam thumb his nose at us, while he had billions in petro-dollars to do whatever he wanted to do. He gassed his own population to control them, how soon before he would be doing the same to his other enemies in the region, and more importantly, how would the US be seen if we allowed him to stay in power. ÔÇ£ So it isn't about Oil its about Saddam insulting America and being a bad-guy in the region? Well then we need to impeach the President, he lied to us about why he wanted to go to war. Also, what was the kill-rate during Saddam's reign? Does it come anywhere near the kill-rate occurring now? I'm talking Iraq's killing other Iraq's not American's killing Iraqis. Is the region any more stable than if we would have attacked the right country? What do you think? I think if we'd actually went after the governments responsible for allowing this to happen we would have attacked someone other than Iraq. I'm not so sure anyone knows what this war is really all about. In the end I think it comes down to radical Islam vs. the free world. But how that is being responded to, in the way of the Bush Administration's ill conceived war in Iraq, is another matter entirely.

"it is to hit them at the top of the line where it will spread down in a sort of chain reaction. This whole thing reminds me a lot of the Terror of the French revolution" Every time we kill one of the bastards another one steps up. Watch "The Battle Of Algiers", which more closely resembles Iraq than France I think. These people operate in cells and are religious fanatics, not your normal politically motivated greed based criminals we're used to in the western world working through traditional command and control. The real guys we need to find and eliminate are the ones who are preaching Jihad in the mosques and streets of this country! It is happening every day and we're ignoring it. "Impeach Bush, get a grip on reality," When Presidents commit crimes they should be prosecuted. If they don't have the balls to hold him responsible now I hope that there will at least be congressional investigations into his administration when he leaves office. "Our sons and daughters are dying for nothing?" Jag, when someone in command fails to plan properly, fails to correct their mistakes, and continues to ignore sound military advice and yet is allowed to continue to send men and women to die as a result of their commander's incompetence, just what in the hell do you think they are dying for? " Yeah, right, that's why they keep VOLUNTEERING to go back over there." They just keep volunteering huh? I bet you're not familiar with the terms "stop-loss policy" and "Extended Tours" are you Jaq? Look 'em up in 'current events'. Here is something from the Boston Globe that outlines the situation: "Stipulate for the sake of argument that President Bush is correct in saying that failure in Iraq is not an option. Then why limit the "surge" to a measly 21,500 additional troops? Why not 50,000? With the population of the United States having now surpassed 300 million, why not send 100,000 reinforcements to Iraq? The question answers itself: There are not an additional 100,000 Americans willing to commit their lives to the cause. Even offering up 21,500 finds the Pentagon scraping the bottom of the barrel, extending the tours of soldiers already in the combat zone while accelerating the deployment of those heading back for a second or third tour of duty." The Boston Globe. January 21, 2007 "I am abandoning this thread " Jaq, your inability to make much conversation on the subject beyond one liners and insulting those who hold opposing viewpoints to yours makes your departure from the discussion not likely to be missed by many.

The real answer is neutron-beam weapons on space platforms. Neutron radiation is highly economical. It destroys living tissue while leaving valuable assets intact for future occupation, thus saving billions in reconstruction costs. No messy rubble! Several large nuclear powered neutron-beam projectors in low earth orbit could be used to 'pacify' everything from a nasty crowd to entire nations lickity split. Maybe it would just take large microwave weapons like the army's 'pain ray' instead of neutron radiation. That would drastically shorten the time an area would be uninhabitable I would think. Of course that would be immoral and in violation of several treaties. Hmmm, I wonder how long before they do that?

"Come on, this isn't about Bin Laden, never has been." Any "War on Terror" that the US might engage in has to be on Bin Laden and his thugs first, sympathizing bastards second. We let the scum get away and now we're digging ourselves a hole in a country that didn't have squat to do with 9/11. You have to ask yourself why? We screwed up and attacked the wrong damn country for a reason, what is it? Big Oil? If so Bush is a criminal and needs to stand trial. Was it about WMDs? No, there is plenty of evidence that they knew there weren't any WMDs to begin with, that was a rouse. It wasn't Al Queda because its been shown Saddam had nothing to do with them, that was a fall back excuse. Stupid? Was the administration so stupid as to put America into a war for no good reason and lie to us about it? The war in Iraq isn't about stopping terrorism. What the hell is it about then? Stabilizing the Middle East through projection of American power by establishing a democracy in the region? Good god I hope not, if so then they are more out of touch with reality than I thought. This is a Keystone Cops war of screw-ups and mistakes made by the Bush administration for whatever reasons they may have had. I don't think that we have the right or the means to go around the world spreading democracy through force. Indigence populations have to rise up and establish it themselves for it to work. However, punishing governments for using nuclear weapons by destroying them and a good part of their country via remote control and then not cleaning up the mess, I can see. If an Islamic state gets nuclear weapons they will use them at the first opportunity. You can bet your life on it. If Iran gets a nuclear weapon WWIII will be in full bloom before you know what's happened. I think we're going to wind up making war on Iran and its allies before long. That's when the draft kicks in. This isn't about left and right or democrats or republicans, its about doing what is right for this country. Ben Franklin said, 'If we don't hang together, we will all hang separately.' We need to think about that and the current division about this war we are experiencing in this country. There is way too much passion and far too little skull work going on.

ÔÇØThey volunteered, they took an oath, they respect that oath and are doing their duty, to the country and the constitution.ÔÇØ It is with great respect for them and their oaths that I say they should not be dieing in the streets of Iraq. There are plenty who will argue, and with good cause, that the war is unconstitutional. The fact is th war on Iraq was initiated based on something that turned out not to be true. It does nothing to help us in our ÔÇ£war on terrorismÔÇØ. Why? Sound military advise was ignored by the administration. Our invasion of Afghanistan is another story entirely and although ÔÇ£justÔÇØ it was poorly executed, again because our civilian administration over-rode sound military strategy proposed by the generals who know better. We should have Ben-Ladens head on pike by now but we don't. Why? Is it a military or a management problem? Management. They need to be held accountable. Oh, and you can be sure that the draft is not far down the road, they won't be volunteers then. ÔÇØnot a lot I can do for ya. ÔÇ£ You've made that quite obvious by your devastatingly well thought out rebuttals to my posts Offensive Advisor Jaguar. ÔÇØAnother big mistake in Iraq has been to undervalue how deeply entreched are sectarian and ethnic influences. Almost every country with relatively artificial borders which englobe distinct communities need to reach a high level of civilization before being able to live in peace under a democratic regime. Until then, the only way for said countries to evolve is under a dictatorship. It's maybe sad, but it's like that.ÔÇØ This is the central reality of the situation that few seem to grasp . They have to ÔÇ£reach a high [enough] level of civilizationÔÇØ before they can embrace a democratic system rather than one based on superstition and thugs. Ignorance of their culture has bitten us in the rear since day one. ÔÇØYou can't expect a peaceful islam when you allow saudi's billions of petrodollars spreading wahhabism. But in order to achieve this, you must do it in a way muslims believe that the change is internal and free of foreign intervention. Any other approach will only unite radicals further and turn against us. ÔÇ£ You have hit the nail on the head! ÔÇØI think the solution would be getting the entire region to fall into internal conflict and monitor the whole situation from a distance ÔÇ£ Somebody else who gets it. Exactly. America should withdraw and allow the region to equalize, whatever the outcome. That means no more propping up countries in the region with aid of any kind. That means brutal civil war and all that comes with it. Someone once said that it is useless to beat a man if he loves the whip. Somehow their society has to come to a point where it does not love the sting of the whip. Thousands of years of war and turmoil seem to suggest it will continue until Islam reforms greatly, Islam is outlawed like Nazism and eradicated, or Islam wins and we all live under Islamic laws. Even then we would be in turmoil and war over sectarian differences just like Islam has had from day one. Trends. You just have to ask yourself what are the trends and patterns of the history of the region are to see where it is leading. They will fight until they develop means to eradicate their enemies and in doing so will most likely destroy themselves. Nuclear Weapons in the hands of insane Wahhabi Muslim governments will mean the destruction of Israel and a good bit of everything else if their past enthusiasm for killing for Allah is any indication. We should get the hell out of there and let them kill on themselves until someone pulls out a nuke. We immediately destroy whatever government used or tried to use the nuke by any means necessary and tell the rest of them to look for the same if they want to toss that crap around too. We don't go in and rebuild the damn place like we did Japan! We cannot depend on those yahoos getting their shit together ... ever. We must come up with solutions to our energy and oil problems that do not hinge on the intelligent behavior of Middle Eastern governments and their general populations. We're eternally screwed if we do not disengage from them. That's my humble opinion anyway. Screw the bastards! Who needs 'em! We'll come up with something that will make their oil obsolete and they can all go back to riding camels and living in mud-huts when the money dries up. Take the money we've spent on this war and put in hard research and I guarantee you we will have a dozen solutions to the energy/oil problem. The war was ill conceived (they'll welcome us with flowers) and improperly executed (shock and awe, minimal troops) and will go down as the biggest mistake this country has ever made. Those who argue otherwise are choosing to ignore the facts of the matter. Also, I would like to point out, I have yet to see a viable plan for military victory coming from anyone who wants us there. There is trouble even defining what constitutes military victory in this situation. What is it? How do we get there? For Pete's sake "Kill 'em all" just isn't practical. [ 01-22-2007, 01:16 PM: Message edited by: Frozen Ghost ]

Actually B is the joke. If we did that we would not "win" anything. We would still be in the same fix trying to hand off responsibility to the Iraqi's. I don't care to send anymore American's to die for those ungrateful bastards, not a single one. We should tell them to get their shit together post haste and get everyone back home. We need to stop pouring money into this fruitless exercise. I say screw them. If they want to live like bronze age morons let them. They can kill on each other for Allah all they freak'n want. If we had put the money we wasted on this nonsense into research, we could have already found an alternative to letting OPEC pull our strings. I have yet to even hear a plan that provides a military victory from gun-ho yahoos who want to send someone else's sons and daughters to die in a war based on a lie.

I have yet to hear a viable military solution to Iraq. Putting more troops in and kicking down more doors won't solve the problem. The fact is there simply is no military solution to the problem unless you really tear the place up and the people with it. The religious fanatics want an Islamic government operating under Islamic law. Islamic law violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They will toss away any chance of a democratic government to set up a theocratic one. I happen to have plans for solving all the worlds problems on Post-It notes stuck around on the consoles in the bridge here. Let me see ...Oh! Here it is. Solving the problem of "Iraq". Plan A: 1. Impeach Bush immediately and begin congressional investigations into the Bush administrations actions. 2. Admit that we have made a grave mistake in Iraqi and become determined to correct it. 3. Tell the Iraqi government and military to prepare for our imminent departure. 4. Have the Pentagon draw up plans to begin the safe and timely withdrawal of our troops and advisers. If they say that it must be done slowly then we'd do it slowly. We wouldn't over-ride the professionals as the Bush administration has continued to do. Plan B: 1. Advise all militias in Iraq to come forward and disarm immediately within 48 hours. 2. After 48 hours advise the civilian population to flee the cities controlled by militias. 3. Bomb, burn, and test experimental weapons until said cities are rubble. 4. Advise the world that any Jihadi terrorist attack on US assets anywhere in the world will result in immediate and unannounced destruction of Mecca and surrounding area. Disarm radical Islam by demonstrating the inability of "Allah" to protect them. Plan B has a few problems that need to be worked out I admit. I prefer the, "Get your shit together because we're leaving." approach myself. "Nuke 'em from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."

Stingray, Yes, if it did work Jessica Alba would be spinning in my lap right now. The fact that she is not is a source of constant frustration for me and another confirmation that we live in a hostile and uncaring universe. The Ancient Secret, known to all of the successful people in history is this: "You have to get the other guy to give you his money while keeping yours." Now go out into the world and prosper using the knowledge of the Ancients! Void where prohibited, contents may settle, sold by atomic weight not by volume.

quote:Originally posted by BC_Vet: Sorry but this seems pretty plausable to me. Are you saying that your mind (how you think), doesn't control how you react to the outside world, thereby creating conditions and circumstances along that train of thought? No, like I said above, quote:I think it has more to do with your psychological makeup than it does your thoughts affecting something outside of your head. Quantum Physics pseudoscience something on the order of "What the Bleep do we know?" I really don't see how the chemical reactions that constitute my thoughts in that 3 pounds of meat in my skull has any effect whatsoever on the outside world beyond their influence on my actions. The Secret is a rehash of the 'create your day' mumbo-jumbo they were babbling about in "What the Bleep..." It is one thing to recognize that mental focus and concentration can have dramatic results on outcomes but it is another to attach some quantum pseudo-science to the otherwise prosaic result that discipline produces. It's silly.

If you watch the "Larry King Live" segment you'll see that J.Z. Knight (claims to channel a 3000 year old warrior called Ramtha) is part of this "Secret". J.Z. Knight was behind "What the Bleep do we Know". She is a fraud and con-artist. Avoid this crap like the plague.

From the film- The Secret is The Law of Attraction. You attract to you what you think about most. Thoughts become things. Thoughts send out signals that draw the parallel to you. Sounds like rehashed Napolian Hill. I think it has more to do with your psychological makeup than it does your thoughts affecting something outside of your head. Quantum Physics pseudoscience something on the order of "What the Bleep do we know?"