Oz the Great and Powerful

Our culture is probably sickening to most of the world I have also worked with some Kosovo refugees. An interesting point they made is that we assume that we are right, that the way we live our lives and govern ourselves is best. We look at our material success and point to that as proof that it is true. We really don't value differing viewpoints. But how can killing someone based on a minor difference in religious beliefs be a "differing viewp

our entire recorded history is pretty much made up of warfare and violence, sadness and misery. Well, it is. Our goal would be to move to a (oh, now I'll sound like a Democrat) more enlightened, benevolent society and I think we are doing that. We still have a long way to go, but we have come a long way. Our current difficulty is probably the same one that the Romans faced - how do you protect your (relatively) enlightened, peaceful society from the bar

Eight years under Clinton brought sustained prosperity and budget surpluses year after year, and there were no international incidents to speak of. The rest of the world thought favourably of the US for the most part and the American administration had no problems getting along with other foreign agencies Ahem. The Clinton administration was the benificiary of economic polices put into place by Bush Sr. Bill just had to sit in the chair and watc

Couldnt we have accomplished this without losing most of our Paciffic Battleships? why were they left in port? And dont tell me thats why out carriers were out on maneuvers. Beacuse, at that time, before the war, The abattle ship was still seen as the main offensive weapon. The explanation I favor is that the Purple decrypts, the codebreaking operation to read the Japanese Imperial naval communications, was running two weeks behind due to a lack of train

"truth" is a pseudo fiction that can be told in many different ways. This is why it is critical to keep informed and keep an open mind. Truth in it's purest sense is actual reality. But we do get our information through filtered sources, and the mass media is driven by ad revenues. Sensationalism sells. Be careful what you hold to be "true" - it changes as our information changes. Twenty years from now we might find out Stormbringer was right - I doubt i

When you define my fear in words of war and constitutional change that curtails my freedom then you have surely kidnapped my fear, whether real or manipulated, for your own ends. What does this mean? How can you define my fear? And what Constitutional change? PLEASE NO POLITICS I DON'T LIKE IT Sorry. I grew up in Chicago - politics is a sport.

steel could melt in a fire that just can't get hot enough for long enough to melt Steel doesn't have to melt. It looses 85% of its tensile strength at temperatures over 500 degrees. The Trade Centers were built with a load bearing exterior wall and a central elevator core so they would have large, open, uninterrupted interior spaces - trading floors - hence, Trade Center. When the exterior wall was damaged and the steel weakened the floors pancaked onto

Now realize that what, at least 60% of the truly 'wealthy' families have received their money the 'old fashioned' way, through illegal and deceitful activities of course and where does that leave I absolutely agree. Money breeds money, power breeds power, and it gets passed on through the generations. This isn't a truly free country - it is tilted towards those with money and power. But this is human nature, not an Illuminati conspiracy. The pro

Those who helped to broker this so called 'promised land' deal should have put Israel within their own borders, not the borders of the Palestinians. Sorry, meant to include this. Good point. How different would modern history be if Israel was in France? But the winners get to make those choices. All the more reason to pay attention to history.

Since then I began to research other history 'sources' and found many contradictions to what I'd been taught Good point. Most of what is taught as "history" in public schools is diluted and edited until it is meaningless. That results in kids who think history is boring who grow into adults who don't know anything that happened more than twenty years ago. Which is why accuracy is important. The south was in f

Get out more and broaden your mind. Actually, I had several Palestinian coworkers several years ago and we discussed terrorism and lack of opportunity and such. One of the things that stuck with me was the comment that we assume we will get a job, marry, have children and raise a family. Many of the young people in the Middle East expect to be killed, so they might as well die gloriously. What could be better that to die fighting against the Great Satan

What was the American Revolution about? Surely you don't believe it was just about not paying taxes to England, do you? There was more, underlying greed at work with that one. Or how about the Civil War? It wasn't about freeing slaves, as the South was well on the way to freeing them itself. No, it was because the North needed 'tax money' from the South, which happened to be a striving manufacturing 'area' in our young country vs. the North being 'banker land' and the

we owe it to our troops to pull them out and bring them home I agree. We couldn't nation-build in Vietnam, the Russians couldn't in Afganistan, and we can't in Iraq. We should know this by now. Those who don't learn from history... But I think we were right to remove Saddam. As I think we were right to bomb Qaddafhi (sp?) in Libya 20(?) years ago. We are in a world that is substantially different than the one we had 15 years ago. Now, as ev

We in the west have provoked and escalated this world disorder by governmental arrogance and hatred for different cultures. It is purely a power mad few desperate to enforce some global control. We in the West have tried to spread the idea that a free, open society which encourages new ideas and debate is ultimatly the best for the human condition. Anybody hear of "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"? We have been less than consistent in how we

we would have... hip thrusters? No, pelvic thrusts. "Let's do the Time Warp again!" -Rocky Horror Picture Show ...which leads to more propulsion ideas... you mean you would feel attracted to a Thalan female?! Clearly, you haven't met my wife...

The Sims (come on a game where I have to tell people to take a piss, I understand a lot of poeple loved this game but to me it was just silly) LOL!!! My 13yr old daughter is a Sims junkie, but I play games to escape my life (ask my wife), not wallow in it. A game where I need a job and have to set an alarm clock? Not for me. That's like a Twilight Zone episode. How about a Sim mini-game, where your Sim can play a game with Sims, too.... Oooo, no

Alright, since ToS Iceman doesn't like my grav compensator idea, how about this - the lonely all-male crews of the GalCiv starships are attracted to the women of different planets. This attraction acts like magnetism to move the ships, thus allowing a ship with no engines to move! "How much for the women? Your wife? The little girl? We want to buy them!" - The Blues Brothers

Hey, has anyone modded the green-skinned slave girl from Star Trek as a race portrait? That would be the ultimate GalCiv girl!

to get it to really work you'll need to research oars II. Paddle I Paddle II Paddle III Oar I Oar II Oar III HyperOar I... and so on. We all need more rewarding lives, IMHO!

When designing a ship, you choose a *hull*. Engines are not part of the hull, they're seperate entities. OK, try this. In order to counteract the enormous acceleration effects of the engines, all hulls are built with gravity compensators. A 23rd century Terran scientist modified the existing compensators and developed the first Hyperdrive. Since this equipment is in all hulls, all hulls have an integral hyperdrive capability which can be increased by add

Back to the topic, the fluctuation of the odds is exagerated. I disagree. As would the crew of HMS Hood, I believe. Luck is important, and sometimes is crucial. Have you heard the theory that Napoleon's hemorrhoids were acting up, so he didn't get on his horse for a clearer view of the battlefield at Waterloo, which cost him the battle and the empire? Luck can be very important.

Whats the difference between a homing mine and a missile? Clearly, the homing mine has a chain that connects it to the ocean floor and a missle doesn't. Oh, wait, we're in space..... Mines don't work in space - unless you are playing Space Empires. And then, yes, they are a micromanagement drag. You don't need mines - just more fighters!

I would try to ally, then try to culture flip them. Wow that sounds like extreme cheese. No, look at the American colonies in the revolutionary war. Much less powerful, much better economy. You could make the case that we "flipped" England. If you can't beat the superpower, beat everyone else! Don't fight the big boy, fight the runts. Then rebuild their worlds, straighten out your economy, and you will probably be in a position to make

looking forward during the workday to the evening, when the children are sleeping and I can play it Ah, yes - welcome to the Stardock Sleep Deprivation Club! Just wait until you try to use Tidal Disruptors on your drive home!

My first transport class was the Roger Young. The description read "shines the name..." I know I'm being an uber-geek, but it is "Rodger Young". Starship Troopers was the first SF novel I ever read, when I was 11. I cut my teeth reading the rest of Heinlein's stuff and I just bought a copy of "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" for my 15yr old son. My colonizers are always the "Heinlein" class.