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Damn. I am out of beer. Why doesn't off licenses do home deliveries? Or how about an ice cream truck, only for adults going round with hard beverages? Hah! Imagine trying to get a business permit for that one.

I have never before considered sex as a way of exercising a demonic entity.

I thought the part about the alien cyborg ninjas gave it away that it was just a story. :bouncegiggle:

Exercising?  Ask any succubus/incubus.
Exorcising?  Apparently not.

Kristi needed a Popeye figure so the battle could've been over in a five-second theme song. Little spinning tornado of fists, Germans flying everywhere.

When you were a child, did you ever dream about being a hero? Saving the world? For myself, I tended to prefer anti-heroes. Six year old me thought Quint from Jaws was way better than Superman.

Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because now you have your chance to fulfil those childhood fantasies and tick it off your bucket list.

All you have to do is nothing. Stay at home / socially isolate and you'll never know how many lives you might have saved, but you'll have contributed to saving them nonetheless. Even if you are not at risk, you might save the lives of people who are.

Maniacs of the second world war.

Otto Skorzeny.

After the 1939 invasion of Poland, Skorzeny, then working as a civil engineer, volunteered for service in the German Air Force (the Luftwaffe), but was turned down because he was considered too tall at 1.92 metres (6 ft 4 in) and too old (31 years in 1939) for aircrew training.He then joined Hitler's bodyguard regiment, the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH).

Skorzeny took part in the invasion of the Soviet Union with the SS Division Das Reich and subsequently fought in several battles on the Eastern Front. In October 1941, he was in charge of a "technical section" of the German forces during the Battle of Moscow. His mission was to seize important buildings of the Communist Party, including the NKVD headquarters at Lubyanka, and the central telegraph office and other high priority facilities before they could be destroyed. He was also ordered to capture the sluices of the Moscow-Volga Canal because Hitler wanted to turn Moscow into a huge artificial lake by opening them. The missions were cancelled as the German forces failed to capture the Soviet capital.

In December 1942, Skorzeny was hit in the back of the head by shrapnel; he was evacuated to the rear for treatment. He was awarded the Iron Cross. While recuperating from his injuries he was given a staff role in Berlin, where he developed his ideas on unconventional commando warfare. Skorzeny's proposals were to develop units specialized in such warfare, including partisan-like fighting deep behind enemy lines, fighting in enemy uniform, sabotage attacks, etc. In April 1943 Skorzeny's name was put forward by Ernst Kaltenbrunner, the new head of the RSHA, and Skorzeny met with Walter Schellenberg, head of Amt VI, Ausland-SD (the SS foreign intelligence service department of the RSHA). Schellenberg charged Skorzeny with command of the schools organized to train operatives in sabotage, espionage, and paramilitary techniques. Skorzeny was appointed commander of the recently created Waffen Sonderverband z.b.V. Friedenthal stationed near Berlin (the unit was later renamed SS Jagdverband 502, and in November 1944 again to SS Combat Unit "Center", expanding ultimately to five battalions).

The unit's first mission was in mid-1943, Operation François. Skorzeny sent a group by parachute into Iran to make contact with the dissident mountain tribes to encourage them to sabotage Allied supplies of material being sent to the Soviet Union via the Trans-Iranian Railway. However, commitment among the rebel tribes was suspect, and Operation François was deemed a failure.

On the night between 24 and 25 July 1943, a few weeks after the Allied invasion of Sicily and bombing of Rome, the Italian Grand Council of Fascism voted a motion of no confidence (Ordine del Giorno Grandi) against Mussolini. On the same day, the king replaced him with Marshal Pietro Badoglio and had him arrested.

Hitler's common procedure was to give similar orders to competing organisations within the German military. So he ordered Skorzeny to track Mussolini, and simultaneously ordered the paratroop General Kurt Student to execute the liberation.

Mussolini was being transported around Italy by his captors (first to Ponza, then to La Maddalena, both small islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea). Intercepting a coded Italian radio message, Skorzeny used the reconnaissance provided by the agents and informants (counterfeit British bank notes with a face value of £100,000 forged under Operation Bernhard were used to help obtain information) of SS-Obersturmbannführer Herbert Kappler to determine that Mussolini was being imprisoned at Campo Imperatore Hotel, a ski resort at Campo Imperatore in Italy's Gran Sasso massif, high in the Apennine Mountains.

On 12 September 1943, Skorzeny and 16 SS troopers joined the Fallschirmjäger to rescue Mussolini in a high-risk glider mission. Ten DFS 230 gliders, each carrying nine soldiers and a pilot, towed by Henschel Hs 126 planes started between 13:05 and 13:10 from the Pratica di Mare Air Base near Rome. The leader of the airborne operation, paratrooper-Oberleutnant Georg Freiherr von Berlepsch entered the first glider, Skorzeny and his SS troopers sat in the fourth and fifth glider. To gain height before crossing the close by Alban Hills the leading three glider-towing plane units flew an additional loop. All following units considered this manoeuvre unnecessary and preferred not to endanger the given time of arrival at the target. This led to the situation that Skozeny's two units arrived first over the target. Meanwhile, the valley station of the funicular railway leading to the Campo Imperatore was captured at 14:00 in a ground attack by two paratrooper companies led by Major Otto-Harald Mors, who was commander-in-chief of the whole raid. They also cut all telephone lines. At 14:05 the airborne commandos landed their ten DFS 230 gliders on the mountain near the hotel; only one crashed, causing injuries. The Fallschirmjäger and Skorzeny's special troopers overwhelmed Mussolini's captors (200 well-equipped Carabinieri guards) without a single shot being fired; this was also due to the fact that General Fernando Soleti [it] of the Polizia dell' Africa Italiana, who flew in with Skorzeny, told them to stand down. Skorzeny attacked the radio operator and his equipment and stormed into the hotel, being followed by his SS troopers and the paratroopers. Ten minutes after the beginning of the raid, Mussolini left the hotel, accompanied by the German soldiers. At 14:45 Major Mors accessed the Hotel via the funicular railway and introduced himself to Mussolini.

Subsequently, Mussolini was to be flown out by a meanwhile arrived Fieseler Fi 156 STOL plane. Although under the given circumstances the small plane was overloaded, Skorzeny insisted to accompany Mussolini, thus endangering the success of the mission. After an extremely dangerous but successful lift-off, they flew to Pratica di Mare. There they continued immediately, flying in a Heinkel He 111 to Vienna, where Mussolini stayed overnight at the Hotel Imperial. The next day he was flown to Munich and on September 14 he met Hitler at the Wolf's Lair Führer Headquarters near Rastenburg.

The landing at Campo Imperatore was in fact led by First Lieutenant Georg Freiherr von Berlepsch, commanded by Major Otto-Harald Mors and under orders from General Kurt Student, all Fallschirmjäger (German air force paratroop) officers; but Skorzeny stewarded the Italian leader right in front of the cameras. After a pro-SS propaganda coup at the behest of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler and propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, Skorzeny and his Special Forces (SS-Sonderverband z. b. V. "Friedenthal") of the Waffen-SS were granted the majority of the credit for the operation.

"Operation Long Jump" was the alleged codename given to a plot to assassinate the "Big Three" (Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin Roosevelt) at the 1943 Tehran Conference. Hitler supposedly gave the command of the operation to Ernst Kaltenbrunner, chief of the RSHA, who, in turn, ceded the mission to Skorzeny. Knowledge of the whole scheme was presented to the Western Allies by Stalin's NKVD at the Tehran conference. The Soviets said they had learned about its existence from counter-espionage activities against German intelligence. Their agents had found out the Nazis knew the time and place of this meeting because they had cracked a US naval code. According to the NKVD, the assassination plot was foiled after they identified the German spies in Iran forcing Skorzeny to call off the mission due to inadequate intelligence.

Following Tehran, the story was treated with incredulity by the British and Americans who dismissed it as Soviet propaganda. Skorzeny supported this view by stating in his post-war memoirs that no such operation ever existed. He said the story about the plans being leaked to Soviet spy Nikolai Kuznetsov by an SS Sturmbannführer named Hans Ulrich von Ortel was a complete Soviet invention; Hans Ulrich von Ortel never existed. Skorzeny claimed his name was used only to add credibility to the story because the NKVD knew his renowned record as an SS commando would make the existence of such an operation more plausible.

In early 1944, Sonderverband z.b.V. Friedenthal was re-designated SS-Jäger-Bataillon 502 with Skorzeny staying on as commander. They were assigned to Operation Rösselsprung, known subsequently as the Raid on Drvar. Rösselsprung was a commando operation meant to capture the Yugoslav commander-in-chief, Marshal Josip Broz Tito, who had also recently been recognized by the Allies as the Yugoslav prime minister. Marshal Tito led the Yugoslav Partisan resistance army from his headquarters near the Bosnian town of Drvar, in the centre of a large area held by the Partisans.

Hitler knew Tito was receiving Allied support and was aware that either British or American troops might land in Dalmatia along the Adriatic coastline with support from the Partisans. Killing or capturing Tito would not only hinder this, it would give a badly needed boost to the morale of Axis forces engaged in occupied Yugoslavia. Skorzeny was involved in planning Rösselsprung and was intended to command it. However, he argued against implementation after he visited Zagreb and discovered that the operation had been compromised through the carelessness of German agents in the Nazi-affiliated Independent State of Croatia in occupied Yugoslav territory.

Rösselsprung was put into action nonetheless, but it was a complete disaster. The first wave of paratroopers, following heavy bombardment by the Luftwaffe, jumped between Tito's hideout in a cave and the town of Drvar; they landed on open ground and many were promptly shot by members of the Tito Escort Battalion, a unit numbering fewer than a hundred soldiers. The second wave of paratroopers missed their target and landed several miles out of town. Tito was gone long before paratroopers reached the cave; a trail at the back of the cave led to the railway tracks where Tito boarded a train that took him safely to Jajce. In the meantime, the Partisan 1st Brigade, from the 6th Lika Partisan Division, arrived after a twelve-mile (nineteen-kilometre) forced march and attacked the Waffen-SS paratroopers, inflicting heavy casualties.

n October 1944, Hitler sent Skorzeny to Hungary after receiving word that the Regent of Hungary, Admiral Miklós Horthy, was secretly negotiating with the Red Army. The surrender of Hungary would have cut off the million German troops still fighting in the Balkan peninsula.

Skorzeny, in a daring "snatch" codenamed Operation Panzerfaust (known as Operation Eisenfaust in Germany), kidnapped Horthy's son Miklós Horthy Jr. and forced his father to resign as head of state. A pro-Nazi government under dictator Ferenc Szálasi was then installed in Hungary. In April 1945, after German and Hungarian forces had already been driven out of Hungary, Szálasi and his Arrow Cross Party-based forces continued the fight in Austria and Slovakia. The success of the operation earned Skorzeny promotion to Obersturmbannführer.

As part of the German Ardennes offensive in late 1944 (Battle of the Bulge), Skorzeny's English-speaking troops were charged with infiltrating American lines disguised in American uniforms in order to produce confusion to support the German attack. For the campaign, Skorzeny was the commander of a composite unit, the 150th SS Panzer Brigade. As planned by Skorzeny, Operation Greif involved about two dozen German soldiers, most of them in captured American Jeeps and disguised in American uniforms, who would penetrate American lines in the early hours of the Battle of the Bulge to cause disorder and confusion. Skorzeny was well aware that under the Hague Convention of 1907, any of his men captured while wearing U.S. uniforms would be executed as spies and this possibility caused much discussion with Generaloberst Jodl and Field Marshal von Rundstedt.

A handful of his men were captured and spread a rumour that Skorzeny personally was leading a raid on Paris to kill or capture General Eisenhower, who was not amused by having to spend Christmas 1944 isolated for security reasons. Eisenhower retaliated by ordering an all-out manhunt for Skorzeny, with "Wanted" posters distributed throughout Allied-controlled territories featuring a detailed description and a photograph. In all, twenty-three of Skorzeny's men were captured behind American lines and eighteen were executed as spies for contravening the rules of war by wearing enemy uniforms.

Skorzeny spent January and February 1945 commanding regular troops as an acting major general, taking part in the defence of the German provinces of East Prussia and Pomerania, and at the Defence of Schwedt Bridgehead. On 17 March, he received orders to sabotage the last remaining intact bridge across the Rhine at Remagen following its capture by the Allies, but the bridge collapsed that same day, and the naval demolitions squad prepared instead unsuccessfully attacked a nearby Allied pontoon bridge between Kripp and Linz. Hitler awarded him one of Germany's highest military honours, the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross.

Skorzeny was interned for two years before being tried as a war criminal at the Dachau trials in 1947 for allegedly violating the laws of war during the Battle of the Bulge. He and nine officers of the Panzerbrigade 150 were tried before a US Military Tribunal in Dachau on 18 August 1947. They faced charges of improper use of US military insignia, theft of US uniforms, and theft of Red Cross parcels from U.S. POWs. The trial lasted over three weeks. The charge of stealing Red Cross parcels was dropped for lack of evidence. Skorzeny admitted to ordering his men to wear US uniforms, but his defence argued that as long as enemy uniforms were discarded before combat started, such a tactic was a legitimate ruse de guerre.

On the final day of the trial, 9 September, F. F. E. Yeo-Thomas, a former British SOE agent, testified that he and his operatives wore German uniforms behind enemy lines; the Tribunal acquitted the ten defendants. The Tribunal drew a distinction between using enemy uniforms during combat and for other purposes including deception and were unable to prove that Skorzeny had given any orders to actually fight in U.S. uniforms.

Skorzeny was detained in an internment camp at Darmstadt awaiting the decision of a denazification court. On 27 July 1948 he escaped from the camp with the help of three former SS officers dressed in US Military Police uniforms who entered the camp and claimed that they had been ordered to take Skorzeny to Nuremberg for a legal hearing. Skorzeny afterwards maintained that the US authorities had aided his escape, and had supplied the uniform.

Skorzeny hid out at a farm in Bavaria which had been rented by Countess Ilse Lüthje, the niece of Hjalmar Schacht (Hitler's former finance minister), for around 18 months, during which time he was in contact with Reinhard Gehlen, and together with Hartmann Lauterbacher (former deputy head of the Hitler Youth) recruited for the Gehlen Organization. Skorzeny was photographed at a café on the Champs Elysées in Paris on 13 February 1950. The photo appeared in the French press the next day, causing him to move to Salzburg, where he met up with German veterans and also filed for divorce so that he could marry Ilse Lüthje.

Shortly afterwards, with the help of a Nansen passport issued by the Spanish government, he moved to Madrid, where he set up a small engineering business. On April 1950 the publication of Skorzeny's memoirs by the French newspaper Le Figaro caused 1500 communists to riot outside the journal's headquarters.

In 1952 Egypt was taken over by General Mohammed Naguib. Skorzeny was sent to Egypt the following year by former General Reinhard Gehlen (who was now working indirectly for the CIA) to act as Naguib's military advisor. Skorzeny recruited a staff made up of former SS and Wehrmacht officers to train the Egyptian army. Among these officers were former Wehrmacht generals Wilhelm Fahrmbacher and Oskar Munzel; the head of the Gestapo Department for Jewish Affairs in Poland Leopold Gleim; and Joachim Daemling, former chief of the Gestapo in Düsseldorf. In addition to training the army, Skorzeny also trained Arab volunteers in commando tactics for possible use against British troops stationed in the Suez Canal zone. Several Palestinian refugees also received commando training, and Skorzeny planned their raids into Israel via the Gaza Strip in 1953-1954. One of these Palestinians was Yasser Arafat.

He stayed on to serve as an adviser to Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

The Israeli security and intelligence magazine Matara published an article in 1989 claiming that Skorzeny had been recruited by Mossad in 1963 to obtain information on German scientists who were working on an Egyptian project to develop rockets to be used against Israel. Reporting on the Matara story, the major Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronot said that it had confirmed the story from their own senior Mossad source. Former Mossad head Isser Harel confirmed the story that former Nazis were recruited to provide intelligence on Arab countries.

Unnamed sources asserted Skorzeny was recruited after Mossad visited his home in Spain, where he expected that he would be assassinated. After undergoing instruction and training in the Mossad's facilities in Israel, the rumoured work for Mossad included assassinating German rocket scientist Heinz Krug who was working for the Egyptian government and mailing a letter bomb which killed five Egyptians at the Egyptian military rocket site Factory 333. He also allegedly supplied the names and addresses of German scientists working for Egypt and the names of European front companies supplying military hardware to Egypt.

No confirmed source can explain Skorzeny's motives for working with Israel, but he may have craved adventure and intrigue and feared assassination by Mossad. An article featured in Der Spiegel on 22 January 2018 raised doubts as to the involvement of Skorzeny in Krug's death, stating that Mossad boss Isser Harel ordered the murder.

I say mostly useless, but I could actually fill some socks with all those coins and use them to cosh anyone who tried to raid my supplies

Maniacs of World War 2.

Sgt Audie Murphy.

Murphy had always wanted to be a soldier. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he tried to enlist, but the Army, Navy and Marine Corps all turned him down for being underweight and underage. After his sister provided an affidavit that falsified his birth date by a year, he was accepted by the U.S. Army on 30 June 1942.After basic training at Camp Wolters, he was sent to Fort Meade for advanced infantry training. During basic training, he earned the Marksman Badge with Rifle Component Bar and Expert Badge with Bayonet Component Bar.

Murphy participated in the September 1943 mainland Salerno landing at Battipaglia. While on a scouting party along the Volturno River, he and two other soldiers were ambushed; German machine gun fire killed one soldier. Murphy and the other survivor responded by killing five Germans with hand grenades and machine gun fire. While taking part in the October Allied assault on the Volturno Line, near Mignano Monte Lungo Hill 193, he and his company repelled an attack by seven German soldiers, killing three and taking four prisoner. Murphy was promoted to sergeant on 13 December

He returned with the 3rd Division to Anzio, where they remained four months. Taking shelter from the weather in an abandoned farmhouse on 2 March, Murphy and his platoon killed the crew of a passing German tank. He then crawled out alone close enough to destroy the tank with rifle grenades, for which he received the Bronze Star with "V" device.

fter landing on Yellow Beach near Ramatuelle, Murphy's platoon was making its way through a vineyard when the men were attacked by German soldiers. He retrieved a machine gun that had been detached from the squad and returned fire at the German soldiers, killing two and wounding one. Two Germans exited a house about 100 yards (91 m) away and appeared to surrender; when Murphy's best friend responded, they shot and killed him. Murphy advanced alone on the house under direct fire. He killed six, wounded two and took 11 prisoner.

Murphy's first Purple Heart was for a heel wound received in a mortar shell blast on 15 September 1944 in northeastern France. His first Silver Star came after he killed four and wounded three at a German machine gun position on 2 October at L'Omet quarry in the Cleurie river valley. Three days later, Murphy crawled alone towards the Germans at L'Omet, carrying an SCR-536 radio and directing his men for an hour while the Germans fired directly at him. When his men finally took the hill, 15 Germans had been killed and 35 wounded. Murphy's actions earned him a Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster for his Silver Star. He was awarded a battlefield commission to second lieutenant on 14 October, which elevated him to platoon leader.[59] While en route to Brouvelieures on 26 October, the 3rd Platoon of Company B was attacked by a German sniper group. Murphy captured two before being shot in the hip by a sniper; he returned fire and shot the sniper between the eyes. At the 3rd General Hospital at Aix-en-Provence, the removal of gangrene from the wound caused partial loss of his hip muscle and kept him out of combat until January. Murphy received his first Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster for his Purple Heart for this injury.

The Colmar Pocket, 850 square miles (2,200 km2) in the Vosges Mountains, had been held by German troops since November 1944. On 14 January 1945, Murphy rejoined his platoon, which had been moved to the Colmar area in December. He moved with the 3rd Division on 24 January to the town of Holtzwihr, where they faced a strong German counterattack. He was wounded in both legs, for which he received a second Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster for his Purple Heart. As the company awaited reinforcements on 26 January, he was made commander of Company B.

The Germans scored a direct hit on an M10 tank destroyer, setting it alight, forcing the crew to abandon it. Murphy ordered his men to retreat to positions in the woods, remaining alone at his post, shooting his M1 carbine and directing artillery fire via his field radio while the Germans aimed fire directly at his position. Murphy mounted the abandoned, burning tank destroyer and began firing its .50 caliber machine gun at the advancing Germans, killing a squad crawling through a ditch towards him. For an hour, Murphy stood on the flaming tank destroyer returning German fire from foot soldiers and advancing tanks, killing or wounding 50 Germans. He sustained a leg wound during his stand, and stopped only after he ran out of ammunition. Murphy rejoined his men, disregarding his own injury, and led them back to repel the Germans. He insisted on remaining with his men while his wounds were treated.

Murphy would go on to have a successful acting career but was troubled with post-traumatic mental health issues. Despite this, he did try and get assigned to a combat post during the Korean war.

Maniacs of World War 2

Simo Häyhä - The White Death.

Simo Häyhä's involvement in the Winter War was very extraordinary. With his Mosin-Nagant M91 rifle, he would dress in white winter camouflage, and carry with him only a day’s worth of supplies and ammunition. While hiding out in the snow, he would then take out any Russian who entered his killing zone. Hayha preferred to use iron sights on his gun instead of scopes, as scopes had a tendency to glare in the sunlight and reveal his position. He would put snow in his mouth to hide his breath from being seen in the cold air. While he may sound like an ordinary sniper, this was far from the case: over the course of 100 days during the winter he racked up over 500 kills, earning him the nickname “The White Death”. The Soviets feared him so much that they mounted numerous counter-sniper and artillery attacks to get rid of him, all of which failed miserably. However, on March 6th, 1940, he was hit in the jaw by an explosive round from a counter-sniper. He fell into an 11-day coma, awakening on the day that the war ended.

Simo's kills were believed to have been split roughly evenly between those from his sniper rifle and his submachine gun. Estimates place his total number of kills at 542, although he himself said it was somewhere around 500. On one day he managed 25 kills, his highest total for a single day.

Maniacs of WW2

Lauri Törni (Larry Thorne).

During the battles at Lake Ladoga, Törni took part in the destruction of the encircled Soviet divisions in Lemetti.

His performance during these engagements was noticed by his commanders, and toward the end of the war, he was assigned to officer training where he was commissioned a Vänrikki (2nd lieutenant) in the reserves. After the Winter War, in June 1941, Törni went to Vienna, Austria for seven weeks of training with the Waffen-SS, and returned to Finland in July; as a Finnish officer, the Germans recognized him as an Untersturmführer. Most of Törni's reputation was based on his successful actions in the Continuation War (1941–44) between the Soviet Union and Finland. In 1943 a unit informally named Detachment Törni was created under his command. This was an infantry unit that penetrated deep behind enemy lines and soon enjoyed a reputation on both sides of the front for its combat effectiveness. One of Törni's men was future President of Finland Mauno Koivisto. Koivisto served in a reconnaissance company under Törni's command during the Battle of Ilomantsi, which was the final Finnish-Soviet engagement of the Continuation War during July and August 1944. Törni's unit inflicted such heavy casualties on Soviet units that the Soviet Army placed a bounty on his head of 3,000,000 Finnish marks. He was decorated with the Mannerheim Cross on 9 July 1944.

The September 1944 Moscow Armistice required Finland to remove German troops from its territory, resulting in the Lapland War; during this period, much of the Finnish Army was demobilized, including Törni, leaving him unemployed in November 1944. In January 1945, he was recruited by a pro-German resistance movement in Finland and left for saboteur training in Germany, and to organize resistance in case Finland was occupied by the Soviet Union. The training was prematurely ended in March, but as Törni could not secure transportation to Finland, he joined a German unit to fight Soviet troops near Schwerin, Germany. He surrendered to British troops in the last stages of World War II and eventually returned to Finland in June 1945 after escaping a British POW camp in Lübeck, Germany.

As his family had been evacuated from Karelia, Törni sought to rejoin them in Helsinki but was arrested by Valpo, the Finnish state police. After escaping, he was arrested a second time in April 1946, and tried for treason for having joined the German Army. After a trial from October to November, he received a 6-year sentence in January 1947. Imprisoned at the Turku provincial prison, Törni escaped in June, but was recaptured and sent to the Riihimäki State Prison. Finnish President Juho Paasikivi granted him a pardon in December 1948.

Törni then travelled on board a Swedish cargo ship as one of the crew. While it was in the Gulf of Mexico he jumped overboard and swam to shore, claiming political asylum. He was granted a permit of residence.

Törni joined the US Army in 1954 under the provisions of the Lodge-Philbin Act and adopted the name Larry Thorne. In the US Army, he was befriended by a group of Finnish-American officers who came to be known as "Marttinen's Men" (Marttisen miehet).

With their support, Thorne joined the US Army Special Forces. While in the Special Forces, he taught skiing, survival, mountaineering, and guerrilla tactics. In turn, he attended airborne school, and advanced in rank; attending Officer Candidate School, he was commissioned as a 1st lieutenant in the Signal Corps in 1957.[20] He later received a commission and a promotion to captain in 1960. From 1958–1962 he served in the 10th Special Forces Group in West Germany at Bad Tölz, where he was second in command of a search and recovery mission high in the Zagros Mountains of Iran, which gained him a notable reputation.[21] When he was in Germany, he borrowed a car and briefly visited his relatives in Finland. In an episode of The Big Picture released in 1962 and composed of footage filmed in 1959, Thorne is shown as a lieutenant with the 10th Special Forces Group in the United States Army.

Deploying to South Vietnam in November 1963 to support Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) forces in the Vietnam War, Thorne and Special Forces Detachment A-734 were stationed in the Tịnh Biên District and assigned to operate Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG) encampments at Châu Lăng and later Tịnh Biên.

During a fierce attack on the CIDG camp in Tịnh Biên, he received two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star Medal for valor during the battle. This attack would later be described by author Robin Moore in his book The Green Berets.

Thorne's second tour in Vietnam began in February 1965 with 5th Special Forces Group; he then transferred to Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group (MACV–SOG), a classified US special operations unit focusing on unconventional warfare in Vietnam, as a military advisor.

On 18 October 1965, as part of the operation Shining Brass, Thorne was supervising the first clandestine mission to locate Viet Cong turnaround points along the Ho Chi Minh trail and destroy them with airstrikes. Two Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) CH-34 helicopters launched from Kham Duc Special Forces Camp and rendezvoused with a United States Air Force Cessna O-1 Bird Dog Forward Air Controller in inclement weather in a mountainous area of Phước Sơn District, Quảng Nam Province, Vietnam, 25 miles (40 km) from Da Nang. While one CH-34 descended through a gap in the weather to drop off the 6-man team, the command CH-34 carrying Thorne and the O-1 loitered nearby, when the drop helicopter returned above the cloud cover both the CH-34 and the O-1 had disappeared. Rescue teams were unable to locate the crash site. Shortly after his disappearance, Thorne was promoted to the rank of major and posthumously awarded the Legion of Merit and Distinguished Flying Cross.

In 1999, Thorne's remains were found by a Finnish and Joint Task Force-Full Accounting team and repatriated to the United States following a Hanoi Noi Bai International Airport ceremony that included Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Ambassador Pete Peterson.

Formally identified in 2003, his remains were buried on 26 June 2003 at Arlington National Cemetery, section 60, tombstone 8136, along with the RVNAF casualties of the mission recovered at the crash site. He was memorialized on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Panel 02E, Line 126. He was survived only by his fiancée, Marja Kops, who later married another man.

Well, Boris has been really playing up his time with Covid-19. He's been saying how the doctors were giving him a 50/50 chance and so on. Can't help but think he is playing it up for the publicity since while he was sick it was made clear that he didn't require a ventilator. Not a medical expert though so I'll confess I could be, being harsh there. His government has been putting a spin on the numbers of PPE equipment delivered though. They were claiming a billion assets have been delivered, but they've started counting things like cleaning sprays, and individual gloves rather than pairs.

Decided to order to new desktop last night. The laptop I've been using really doesn't cut it for what I need it to do. Next month I can look at adding a 3D printer.

Have you seen the Lego-style video the Chinese have put out criticising the US governments Covid response? Read a bit about it, but I haven't bothered watching it.

Ended up getting a free Indian meal tonight. One of the local restaurants has been making free meals for people struggling with money. Normally they give a day or two's notice and that gives the team distributing the food time to assign it to the correct people, but today they just turned up with 50 meals and the volunteers couldn't find enough people to give the food to at short notice, so we ended up being given three of them. If it wasn't for the fact the food would have been binned I'd feel bad about it.

Ok, I am lying there, I wouldn't feel bad at all, but I'd be aware that I should.

A slightly late present arrived today, including a photo of me with slightly more hair.


(https://i.imgur.com/57geZU3.jpg)

Now I can listen to 'Diggy Diggy Hole' on my record player. Today was my first day back in work since getting my move confirmed. No date yet, but I expect around August, although I am happy enough to wave my 90 days notice. It isn't like I am going to have to move down to England (although I will have to do a 3 month course down at Coningsby at some point).

YES!!  We love Diggy Diggy Hole in this house!

Do you have a preferred version? I think Wind Rose's is fantastic, especially if you watch it with the video.

HEY! WATCH THE GIANT HEAD REMARKS!   :thumbdown: there's a reason i call curtis punkinhead, you know!!  :tongueout:

Maniacs of World War 2: Simone Segouin.

In 1944, when she was only 18 years old, she joined the Francs-Tireurs et Partisans – a combat group made up of militant communists and French nationalists. Her father served in the Great War and he was a great inspiration for her to join the resistance. She was known by her nom de guerre Nicole Minet.

She was given a new name and false identity papers; this was supposed to protect her family if she was captured by the Germans. Now, “Nicole Minet” was from Channel port of Dunkirk. The Germans bombed the port at the beginning of the war, so it was hard for them to check her details.

Soon, she was trained to use weapons and participated in more dangerous missions than stealing a bike from the Germans. It didn’t take long for her to start blowing up bridges and even assisting in capturing German soldiers. She was involved in armed actions against enemy convoys and trains, attacks against enemy detachments, and other acts of sabotage.

She fell in love with Roland Boursier, who was commander of the Thivars Operation. They met in the countryside of her village. Roland asked her to be a runner for him, taking messages back to the Resistance group.

Later, he asked her to join them, and she said that she would be happy to do it.

The French newspaper Independent Eure-et-Loir described her as  “one of the purest fighters of heroic French Resistance who prepared the way for the Liberation”.

They spotted her eating a baguette smeared with jam, her machine gun by her side, wearing an FTP armband. She said to the journalists that she was there in order to provide security for De Gaulle.

She helped to liberate Chartres, and then she linked up with France’s 2nd Armoured division, which was headed to Paris in order to liberate it. Paris was still a battle zone and Simone became part of it.

Simone killed two Germans in the fighting and also had assisted in capturing 25 German prisoners of war during the fall of Chartres.

When the war was over, she was awarded the prestigious Croix de Guerre and she was promoted to lieutenant. Women made up just 10% of The Resistance, but their presence helped force a shift in the way their gender was treated. For example, women voted for the first time in France in the local elections in 1945, and later in the national elections too.

Simone went on to become a paediatric nurse in Chartres, where her wartime exploits made her hugely popular. A street in Courville-sur-Eure was named for her.

The traditional form of the tank, including the unique suspension system with multiple small road wheels has been faithfully reproduced. In addition, the kit comes with figures which depict a commander, gunner, driver, and a farmer.

 


Introduction.  

The ancient empire of Byantus has stood as a bulwark of civilisation for over 800 years. Once its legions trod the earth, conquering all foes. Now, it is its merchants and diplomats who increase its holdings. By trading with other nations and making ever stronger alliances until a political union is formed, they have welcomed as many new nations as provinces with open arms as they did by main force. Such unions also have the benefit of not having to rebuild shattered nations after a lengthy war.  

The secret to the success of Byantus has been its adaptability. As new cultures have joined (even those defeated in wars), they have been allowed to keep their own distinctive identity, rather than trying to force them to adopt the ways of the empire. As a result, it is a hodgepodge of many faiths and cultural practices. Over time they tend to blend into the Imperial culture anyway. The rulers of Byantus are patient and content to let these things happen gradually, having learned painful lessons in a number of rebellions and civil wars. It is these internal conflicts that have done more to shape the modern nation than any other single factor.  

The Empire once had an Emperor and a hereditary line of rulers; however, their increase of power grew in locked step with cruelty, decadence and incompetence. This was the driving force between the nearly 50 years of civil wars that threatened to destroy the empire between the second and third centuries of its existence. It emerged in its current state following the death of the last claimant to the throne in a battle that saw the original capital reduced to rubble. A triumvirate of leaders led the victorious side, and thus it has been ever since. Three people (the empire does not discriminate between male and female, there have been many leaders from both genders), chosen by popular vote serve. Proconsul Militant is primarily responsible for the security of the empire, while the Proconsul Spiritual has in their portfolio the care of the Empires people, be that religiously, medically or whatever. Finally, the Proconsul Temporal is responsible for the treasury and foreign relations. Each of the Proconsuls has a secondary responsibility for their fellow's portfolio, should one fall ill or otherwise be unable to fulfil their duties, until such time as a replacement can be organised. The Proconsul Militant is the back up for the Proconsul Temporal, Temporal is the stand in for the Spiritual, and Spiritual would take Militant’s place.  

In theory any citizen of the empire (of good standing), can become a Proconsul. However, in practice it takes a lot of money and influence to win an election and successful candidates to tend to come from a comparatively small pool of wealthy families. There have however been exceptions over the centuries. Individuals who have rose to meet some challenge and been swept into power on a wave of popular acclaim.  

The capital city of Byantus is a wonder of the world. It is not the original capital, instead having been constructed specifically for the purpose of governing the empire. The original capital city was destroyed during the last battles of the civil wars that ended the line of emperors and empresses that had ruled or misruled the empire for its first three hundred years. It is however regarded as a holy site and its remains are a common pilgrimage site as it was here that the first empress is said to have transcended her human origins and took her rightful place amongst the gods.  

Byantus has reached its peak as an empire. Its remaining neighbours to the north and south are too powerful and independent to be conquered easily, and to attack one would invite invasion from the other. Therefore, an uneasy peace exists. Sytheria (its northern neighbour), and Parthi (its southern neighbour) hate each other quite passionately and would gladly go to war with each other (or Byantus itself), but to do so requires marching through its territory.

 In recent years the empire had been suffering financially. The costs of maintaining its standing armies, not to mention the costs of retaining the Honourable Guild of Sell Swords, Mercenaries & Free Lances was rapidly draining the Imperial treasury and without fresh conquests to bring in more wealth the empire had started to stagnate. The soldiers were growing dangerously bored with no campaigns being fought (and no loot from defeated enemies). The decision was taken to stand down the land forces of the empire and instead require each city to raise and equip a militia out of its citizens who would be trained and deployed as a purely defensive force. Every city would become a fortified holdout designed to withstand a siege while mercenaries and adventurers from the Guild would strike at the enemy armies in hit and run attacks designed to drain their strength. Wither this plan will work in practice is yet to be tested, but it has allowed the finances of the empire to recover and rebuild. This plan is known as Manius Reforms after the Proconsul who proposed them.

  

Proconsuls and voting.  

The leaders of the empire are the Proconsuls. These are elected positions and held for 10 years. Two of these positions, the Proconsul Militant and Proconsul Spiritual rarely change hands outside of the death or retirement of the current incumbent. A Proconsul Militant who is losing a war will normally step down (sometimes with a helping, or even pushing hand), but the Proconsul Spiritual tends to be able to hold their position regardless of popularity. The position as being anointed by the gods carried a lot of weight with the generally religious population of the empire and a vote against such a person is to take a stand against the gods themselves.  

In theory all members of the empire are able to vote. In practice though, as proof of identity is required to vote it is limited to those who hold lands, possess a trade or are noble born. The majority of the population who work on farms owned by nobles and rich merchants have no such luxuries. This situation has never been addressed more out of a lack of understanding that most people simply do not possess any of the requirements to prove they can vote rather than anything out of malice or a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise the many. Still, while it has its faults it is still a more representative form of government that many of its contempories.  

The Proconsul’s themselves are normally addressed by the second part of their title, Militant, Spiritual or Temporal occasionally with the appellation Lord or Lady, with the full title only being used for formal business.  

Each of the Proconsuls has a uniform. Once elected to their position they are never seen in public in any other guise. The ceremonial costumes are however rarely worn for day to day business, a gradual change from the original days of the founding of the Triumvirate when once elected, the holder would only ever wear his outfit and their true face would  

The Proconsul Militant wears the silver scale armour and black tabard worn by the city militia, although with a red stripe along the edge to indicate his rank. A heavy iron mask said to be the image of the founder of the empire. Both items are of course enchanted. The armour's purpose is functional, dating back to when the Proconsul would lead his armies on the battlefield. The mask however is more designed with increasing the authority of the wearer (Charisma bonus, increases the range the speaker can be heard from, gives people within range a morale bonus similar to Bless spell or Heroism? Picturing something along the lines of a Greek actors mask here). The Proconsul Militant normally comes from one of the human merchant families, although they are often younger sons and daughters who made their names as adventurers, rather than those who inherited wealth (and are better suited to the role of Proconsul or occasionally one of the Dwarven clans who supply the rest of the empire with much of its higher quality weapons, armour and other sundry equipment. The Mask itself is the original one, passed from Proconsul to Proconsul. In theory the armour is also the original artefact, however it has been repaired many times, altered to fit the body shape of the office holder and even altered to fit in with fashions and technological advancements. The current holder is Layonx Manius, a veteran adventurer who was originally a member of the Honourable Guild of Sell Swords, Mercenaries & Free Lances. He led the defence of the northern city of Calaxtos when it came under siege from the barbarian tribes of Orcs common to the mountains and was instrumental in the disbanding of the Imperial army, replacing it with the Citizen Militia, backed up by the Guild. He is a tall, muscular man in his 50’s who still trains regularly and inspects the Militia on a regular basis. Those who meet him unmasked are often surprised by his youthful appearance and intelligence. He has dark hair, kept cut short and a well-trimmed beard and stands around 180cm tall.  

The Proconsul Spiritual as befits the figurehead of all (recognised) faiths wears the costume of a high priest/priestess, with an exquisitely carved ivory face mask. The outfit contains elements from most of the major religions present throughout the empire and has been altered as gods rise and fall in the pantheon. Unlike the Proconsul Militant, this outfit has been remade and replaced an uncountable amount of times. At times, this has left the official outfit looking quite bizarre. Designing and creating one is a hotly contested honour amongst the capital's tailors and seamstresses with some candidates going as far as murdering the competition. The current outfit is a glittering, silvery affair and emits a aura of serene calm. As with the Militant’s mask, the Spiritual’s one is enchanted to increase the charisma of the wearer.  

  

The empire has a very open policy towards other faiths, as long as they cause no harm or threat to the empire. The power the Proconsul Spiritual wields is subtle, and this often causes it to be overlooked but it is power nonetheless. The Elf’s in particular appreciate this kind of position and the majority of Proconsul Spirituals have come from them. The current holder, the Lady Athanasia Kerularia is believed by all to be an Elf belonging to one of the medium sized houses, however unknown to even her fellow Proconsul’s she is in truth a Silver dragon. Her motives in infiltrating the empire in this way are for the GM to decide. She appears as a female elf of average height with long silver hair showing the first signs of aging, but still attractive and a face of serene wisdom. She is famed for her insights into even the most complicated situation and her understanding of the citizens of the empire. While her fellow Proconsuls tend to be respected, feared or hated depending on your views, the Lady as she is commonly called is more adored and venerated by the populace. It would surprise most of the empire if they were aware of this Proconsul’s harder edge. She is responsible for the persecution of any prescribed cults (especially the followers of Titan) and is the driving force behind the Imperial witch hunters who hunt down the followers of the darker gods. She is also responsible for the continued secret funding of the empires secret police, something her co-rulers believe disbanded many decades ago. While she has curbed the worst excesses of both groups and attempted to focus them against certain groups, innocent people along with the guilty still go missing in the middle of the night without trial to face torture and execution.  

The final Proconsul primarily represents the wealthy merchants that are the lifeblood of the empire. The Proconsul Temporal, while he has other responsibilities is the front man for the trading houses and spends more time arguing against any form of taxes and looking after the interests of himself and the wealthy elite of the empire than the other areas of his duty. Fortunately for the empire, he is good at his job and when finances are required for some expensive project, his fellow Proconsuls are able to outvote him when they overlap portfolios, such as funds for the training of the Citizen Militia. This position has never been occupied by anyone who isn’t either human or dwarven. The Elf’s have little interest in direct matters of making money, preferring to keep such matters at arm’s length, while the financial muscle of the trading houses is more than sufficient to keep any upstarts from the other races from taking the position. Little unites the individual Trading Houses, but a direct threat to their position from an outsider, or even a potential threat does like nothing else. The Proconsul Temporal supplies their own outfit (normally very expensive clothes and jewellery), but as with the other two positions there is a face mask, made of gold and inlayed with jewels. The current Lord Temporal, Craasus of House Terrigan is a portly man who tends to wear clothes designed to make him look larger. Dark furs are a particular favourite (picturing something along the lines of Henry the 8th here). His mask, rather than increasing the personal appeal of the wearer, works instead to make anyone hearing the speaker more gullible and agreeable to what they hear (temporary penalty to Wisdom on a failed Will roll). If a Lord Temporal dies in office, he is buried with his mask of office and new one is cast.  

  

  

The Gods.  

  

The empire itself has a fairly small pantheon of gods, which expands and contracts over time. New gods have been added and slowly absorbed into the worship of others or taken positions as minor deities under the central core of gods.  

  

  

Rumanious – Lawful Good. The Ruler. The central goddess of the empire, Rumanious was the queen who carved her way through her neighbours and became the first empress. Following her death, she was elevated to the position of patron goddess of the empire. While the man himself was something of a brutal warlord who subjugated many other countries and enslaved their peoples, in the long years since his death he has come to represent a more idealised paragon who brought the light of civilisation to the savage nations that surrounded and threatened his kingdom. A temple to her exists in every settlement of any size in the empire and most homes have at the very least small shrine dedicated to her. She is the most popular god for paladins to follow, as well as magistrates and teachers as he is seen as having been a righteous woman who fought for right as well as bringing justice and learning to those she defeated. Initially her title was The Empress, but with the fall of the Imperial family this was changed and an emphasis was put on her two brothers who served as generals to present the image that the empire has always been ruled by a trio. The brothers, Regen and Ataxus occupy a position roughly to the holy ghost in Christianity, often mentioned but not worshipped directly as such. His temples are imposing buildings, meant to impress and intimidate. They often serve multiple purposes being courthouses, libraries and even barracks in some places.  

  

Carolious - Neutral Good. The Nurse. Caroliousian followers are the healers of the empire. They are beloved and harming one is met with the severest punishments the local magistrate can think of. She is in particular the patron of expectant mothers. Her temples are hospices where anyone, rich or poor can come and seek care. Branches of the faith also operate poor houses, orphanages as well as care homes for the elderly. There are always more in need than the faithful can attend to, but they do their best. Carolious was originally an Elvish deity, but her worship has spread across racial boundaries to all races of the empire.  

  

Dice - Chaotic Good. The Gambler, The Laughing Rogue. Dice is the lord of fate and chance. All those who live by their luck tend to pray to him, but it is usual to make some form of devotion to him before starting any risky endeavour. He is a somewhat rakish figure. No two statues of him ever depict exactly the same features, but he normally wears stylish clothes and a cloak and is always smiling. The main element in many games of chance take their name from him. He is an especial favourite of all manner of rogue types and bards. Thieves Guilds tend to have their own private temples to him, hidden away from public eyes and entirely separate from the official clergy. Dice's portfolio does not include sending people bad luck, that is more Bal’s domain.

  

Tirris - Lawful Evil. The Dark Lord, Tirris is the single most powerful of the evil gods. His followers are expected to follow a code of unbending loyalty. The core belief of his faith is that the strong rule the weak and might makes right. Worshipers are expected to work hard and work their way up any organisation they are a member of. Several times followers of Tirris have occupied the Lord Militant’s position. Such occasions have been marked by an increased militarism within the empire and wars to expand its borders. Interestingly worship of Tirris is not proscribed and he has many fortress-like temples in cities throughout the empire. His followers' discipline is viewed as helpful to the empire and cult maintains a private army that has on more than one occasion brought victory to Byantiusan forces and even saved the empire from destruction. There is a schism between the followers of Tirris within the empire, and the main sect in the northern neighbouring state

  

Titan. Chaotic Evil. Not actually a single god, but instead a horde of demonic entities of varying strength from no more powerful than a mortal up to demi-god status. The Titan are beings dedicated to mindless destruction. A world ruled by the Titan would be one of endless slaughter. They fight against each other as much as they seek to take over the mortal world. Such beings are said to have ruled the cosmos before the coming of the true gods and were banished to the realm of Dis where they rage and plot their return. The mortal realm lives in dread of one of them gathering enough power and followers to lead them on an unholy campaign against the mortal realm. The main efforts of the internal intelligence agents and witch hunters of the empire are directed at rooting out cults of Titan followers, of which there are a surprising number. The more powerful Titan are able to grant power to their followers in return for their efforts in helping them return. Cults dedicated to the Titan tend to be short lived. The sudden rash of murders in an area is a sure sign that one has arisen and tend to bring Imperial retribution down very quickly. The few that do manage to last any length of time though  

  

Lurgh. Neutral Good. The Sky Father. Lurgh is an imported god. One of the first obstacles to Rumanious’s plans of conquest were the western hill tribes, and even after they were defeated in open battle, they continued to plague the occupiers with guerrilla attacks. It took many decades to pacify the region and part of the later efforts to achieve this involved the empire adopting the gods of the hill tribes. Lurgh is one of those who survives in regular worship. His purvey is everything that can see the sky and his blessings touch all good creatures. Many of his followers believe that as a logical extension of this, creatures who dwell in darkness and avoid his blessing must be evil and thus seek to exterminate all such creatures.

  

Daen. Neutral Good. The Earth Mother. The wife of Lurgh, she is prayed to by farmers and those who make their living off the land. Her worship is closely tied to that of Lurgh and the pair share most of their temples.

  

Bal. Neutral Evil. Bal is the god of murderers and assassins. He sends curses and ill-fortune to plague the world and revels in the suffering of mortals. Warlocks of an evil inclination often have him as their patron and evil doers of an independent mind will follow him rather than the binding worship of Tirris. His worship is outlawed, but as his followers are more subtle than those of the Titan, they are harder to root out.

 

Mithran. Neutral. The war god. Mithran watches over professional soldiers. His is the purview of strategy and tactics. He appreciates that war must happen but is against unnecessary suffering or prolonging conflict any more than is needed. Those who wantonly engage in torture or kill innocents are not welcome in his temples.

 

Other gods are worshipped in specific areas of the empire, but followers of these gods can be found everywhere within its borders, and in some cases outside of them too.

 

Locations of note.

Captial. The administrative centre of the empire, Capital is a bustling city of around 150,000 people. It is the largest city in the known world, something only possible due to the excellent roads the empire has and its organisation. Food, tribute and trade goods flow here from all over Byantus. Much of the city reflects the wealth that brings, and a deliberate attempt has been made to avoid the overcrowding and unhealthy conditions that exist in so many other cities, however peasants thinking to make their fortune find their way to Captial and get no further than the deprived area known locally as Scurvytown. Still the city fathers do their best. Clean water is supplied by a network of fountains throughout the city limits and when the shanties grow too close together the city watch is sent in to clear the worst of it, pulling down buildings to prevent any fires from ravaging the city, or the sorts of conditions that can see a plague spread like wildfire. Such actions doubtless seem harsh to those evicted from their rude dwellings but are viewed as vital to prevent a much worse tragedy.

 

When Capital was first planned out, it was foreseen that the city would grow rapidly and unusually no plan was made to build a wall around the entire city. Only the core (which is now referred to as Old Town) is protected in such a manner. Since the dissolution of the standing armies that had been bankrupting the empire and the formation of the Citizen Militia, it was planned that the city would now have a wall built around it that the militia could man in times of war. The Proconsul Temporal however has demurred and resisted any attempts to raise any additional funds for this. Having been relieved of the burden of paying taxes to maintain the army, he is in no hurry to restore any costs. The Lady Spiritual could step in and break the tie but for her own reasons has remained silent on the matter.

 

Old Town.

 

The heart of the empire, this contains all the major administrative buildings that govern the wide swathe of territory that makes up Byantus. The whole of Old Town is protected by a mighty wall. In previous times a full garrison was stationed in each of the towers situated around the walls. Every tower was designed to be an impenetrable fortress in its own right. A second, smaller wall surrounds the three palaces of the Proconsuls. The vast majority of Imperial citizens never get to see any of Old Town. One must have a good reason to pass through its gates. PC’s are unlikely to see inside this area unless they find themselves accused of treason or facing some other charge that would require a trial in front of the Senate rather than facing justice at the Hall of Justice elsewhere in the city, or are very well connected. Even foreign dignitaries are not generally allowed to see the Old Town as the Triumvirate are loathe to let outsiders gauge its defences.

 

Of especial note is the Senate building (number 1 on the map), where the day to day running of the empire is organised. The Senate itself does not make many major decisions, these instead falling to the Proconsuls, but they arrange the practicalities and details of any commandment issued from the Proconsuls. Each of the Proconsuls has their own palace as an official residence. Building 2 is the Temporal Palace, Building 3 is the God House where the Lady Spiritual holds court and finally, the fortress-like building 4 is the seat of the Lord Militant. Should both the outer and inner walls be breached, this is designed to be a last holdout and is simply referred to as The Keep. Houses in this area belong to the nobles and wealthiest men and dwarves of the empire and each seeks to outdo his neighbour in its splendour. Elf’s tend more to stick clannishly to the Eastern District or Elftown as it is known throughout the rest of the city. I imagine most of the building here being constructed very much in a classical Greek / Roman style, lots of statues and columns.

 

Merchant Town.

 

The buildings here are only slightly less impressive than those of the Old Town. This is not so much a residential area, but is instead devoted to the business of well, business. The Merchant Houses have their headquarters here, as well as the more powerful guilds including the Honourable Guild of Sell Swords, Mercenaries & Free Lances (building 3) and the Fraternal Brotherhood of Arcane Mastery (the wizards guild to the common folks, building 6). Both these organisations may be of interest to a group of adventurers and are presented in more detail later. The Merchants supply their own watch, which is paid more than the regular watch (a point of some contention between the two groups) and is often accused by the common folk of turning a blind eye to certain business practices. With the warehouse and dock areas nearby rumour has it that many smuggled goods find their way here for storage until their buyer comes to collect. Such tales are dismissed as the envy of the poor against their betters by the rich and the city fathers turn a blind eye to a certain level of smuggling rather than risk going against the powerful Merchant Houses. Indeed, many of the city fathers are members of a Merchant House. PC’s with a taste for operating in the grayer areas of the law, are liable to find plenty of work here and find themselves abandoned by their patrons should they be caught. Merchant town’s buildings are very much an imitation of Old Town, but often with exotic twists from far off lands that very much give it, its own unique character.

 

Temple District.

 

Each of the (acceptable) major gods has a temple here as well as ones to various minor gods throughout the empire. The largest temple to Rumanious is of course here, constructed from stones taken from the ruined remains of the old Imperial Palace. Unofficially, no temple is allowed to be larger than the one to Rumanious and mysterious accidents, including fires or the collapse of entire buildings have prevented any attempt to outdo her temple. Some say this is the wrath of the patron deity of the empire, others suspect a more mundane cause. There is no single architectural style or theme to this part of town. Each temple will very much have its own design based on its god and the region it originated from.  

The shared temple (Building 1) to Lurgh and Daen for example is a massive wood and earth hall, very much in the style of the ancient hill tribes even though their modern descendants have otherwise abandoned such designs in favour of more modern buildings.  

Building 2 is possibly the temple to Dice, depending on who you ask. Some people consider it nothing more than a gambling and bawdy house. Still, for those with money to burn it is always open and always welcoming. The clerics are supposed to make sure that the games and the... escorts are clean, although the house wins more often than it loses. If anyone asks about this the priests tend to simply shrug their shoulders and point out they do follow the god of luck afterall. Imagine this place as a medieval Las Vegas.

Sitting (or more accurately looming) opposite each other are the fortress-like temples to Mithran and Tirris (Buildings 3 & 8 respectively), both of whom serve as walled garrisons as well as places of worship. Both religions are somewhat resentful and suspicious of the other and are always on the lookout for ways to diminish the worship of the other. Groups of adventurers often make handy catspaws in these plans, with or without their knowledge.

I checked my to-do list for today. At the very top, it said "Torment Barri."


Now here is my question, surely the police in the States have some similar training? Don't get me wrong, it isn't the exact same rules every time. They are tailored to where we are being sent, what the threat level is, local laws, the laws of armed conflict and so on, but I can't imagine the police get taught these lessons any less than we do in any modern, first world country.

Maniacs of WW2.

Frankly, I enjoyed the war. The totally crazy story of Victoria Cross hero who tore off his own fingers, lost an eye, was shot in the head & still went back for more


Some men are just born for war and are never truly happy outside of it.

Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart is one such person. Born in Belgium, he shuttled back and forth between there and England. He attended boarding school in England. From there, he went on to college, although not for long. On October 11, 1899, ongoing tensions between the Dutch and the British in South Africa exploded with the Second Boer War.

Although barely 20, Wiart dropped out of school to join the British Army. He claimed to be 25 and enlisted under the name “Trooper Carton.” He was shot in the stomach and groin and sent back to England. That was when his family found out he had become a dropout, and his father was not happy.

Wiart held no grudge against the Dutch. He claimed if the British had not taken him, he would have fought for the other side.

He later joined the Second Imperial Light Horse and was sent back to South Africa. By September 1901 he was a second lieutenant in the 4th Dragoon Guards. With the Dutch defeat in May 1902, Wiart spent some time in India before he was sent back to South Africa in 1904. Two years later, he became a naturalized British subject.

Wiart held no grudge against the Dutch. He claimed if the British had not taken him, he would have fought for the other side.

He later joined the Second Imperial Light Horse and was sent back to South Africa. By September 1901 he was a second lieutenant in the 4th Dragoon Guards. With the Dutch defeat in May 1902, Wiart spent some time in India before he was sent back to South Africa in 1904. Two years later, he became a naturalized British subject.

During the Second Battle of Ypres (April to May 1915), his left hand was mangled by an artillery barrage. The doctor insisted he could save some of it, but Wiart could not wait – two fingers gave him so much pain he bit them off. Bowing to the inevitable, doctors at Shield’s amputated the entire hand.

It was during the Battle of the Somme he got the Victoria Cross; Britain’s highest military award. Wiart was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the 4th Dragoon Guards, Gloucestershire Regiment at La Boiselle. From July 2 to 3, 1916, he held his ground despite the loss of three other battalion commanders; as well as part of his skull and ankle.

It did not end there. He was also shot in the hip at the Battle of Passchendaele (July to November 1917).  What remained of his left ear was shot of at the Battle of Arras (April to May 1917), and he was shot in the leg at the Battle of Cambrai (November to December 1918).

Despite everything, he later said, “Frankly, I enjoyed the war.”

He then became second-in-command of the British-Poland Military Mission. One of his jobs was to broker peace between the Poles and everyone else during the Polish-Soviet War, the Polish-Ukrainian War, Polish-Lithuanian War, and the Czech-Polish Border Conflicts.

The Mission failed. Worse, his plane crashed in Lithuania where he became a guest at one of their prisons. Later released, he pleaded with Churchill (then Secretary of State for War) to help the Poles.

In August 1920, he was returning to Warsaw when his train was attacked by the Red Russian cavalry, resulting in a gun battle. Although he fell off the train, he did get back on again with no serious injuries, so Shield’s must have missed him.

Wiart retired from the military as a Major General in December 1922 to a country estate in Poland close to the Soviet border. Until WWII broke out.

The joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland forced him to lead the Mission he had retired from to neutral Romania. Along the way, a German plane killed one of his staff; leaving him miraculously unscathed.

Romania was not safe either, so he returned to Britain and active service, becoming an Acting Major-General in November 1939. In April 1940, he led an Anglo-French attack on the Norwegian town of Nasmos where his plane was shot at by a German aircraft. Their ultimate goal was Trondheim, but they had to retreat.

He was sent to Northern Ireland to prepare for a German attack on May 5, 1940 – his 60th birthday. It was only then it was realized he was too old. He was made the head of the British-Yugoslavian Military Mission on April 5, 1941, but never made it.

His plane crashed, and instead, he became a guest of the Italians. He tried escaping several times and got away once before they caught him eight days later. He was finally released in August 1943 when the Italians switched sides to join the Allies.

By October, he had become Churchill’s personal representative to China where he met Mao; whom he did not like. He much preferred Chiang Kai-shek who offered him a job with his government. Wiart was now 66, so he finally retired in October 1947 as a Lieutenant-General.

On his way back to Britain, he stopped by Rangoon, Burma where he fell and broke his back. During the operation, Shield’s doctors took out some shrapnel that had been there from previous skirmishes.

Typically, he survived and spent his remaining years in Ireland where he truly retired on June 5, 1963, at the age of 83.

Over the past few days and weeks, I've been checking in on various friends from around the world, making sure they are all ok yadda, yadda. The ones from the US have mentioned the exact same phrase, that they were embarrassed to be American.

I'm not ashamed to be an American, but I am ashamed of many Americans.

Roger and his wife Shelly came round tonight to make up their characters. Roger's dad used to work for the diplomatic core, and his kids were born in Zimbabwe. They've just moved to the area recently.

Anyway, Roger has went for a Halfling Rogue and Shelly a Half-Elven Cleric of one of the nature deities. Garry has decided he doesn't want to play an evil cleric anymore, so I am expecting a Swashbuckler type fighter from him now.

The Westminster government has decided to fine people who fail to safe isolate when required up to £10,000 (or people who prevent others from self-isolating) along with financial help for those who have to isolate. I think they should go more along the lines of Indonesia. Don't think the virus is real? Fine, you can help deal with the bodies. After all, if it isn't a thing you have nothing to worry about.

I see someone tried mailing Ricin to trump. Not that I like the guy, but I really don't think that is the way to go. Too high a chance of getting the wrong person, and besides, I know a few presidents have been assassinated, but I am sure all his mail will be checked long before it gets anywhere near him.

On a side note, I find it interesting that only one serving British PM has ever been assassinated. Given the whole empire thing, the IRA and various other things, I'd have expected that to be higher. The one that was killed, was by some businessman who blamed the government for his debt.

Randomly started thinking about women from my past, I guess brought on from a comment in another thread. I've slept with girls from Scotland (only the one from my native country), Ireland, England (never managed Wales although I did try with one Welsh girl, she just wasn't interested, and there was a Welsh girl who was interested in me, but I failed to pick up on this. I did at least have sex with a girl in Wales, even if she wasn't Welsh), Germany, Denmark, one I am not sure if she was Swedish or Norwegian, a girl from Trans-Moldovia (so I am not sure if that counts as Moldovia or Russian. She was pro-Russia. Hmm thinking about it, she might have been Ukrainian and the Trans-Moldavian was a different girl who I didn't sleep with), China, Brazil and the USA. Apologies to the ghostly memories of any other nationalities I've either forgotten about or even not known what country they were from. Or the ones whose names I never found out.

Of all of them though, roughly half the women were English. I lived in England for less than 3 years, and the only girl I slept with during that time was Irish. Almost none of these initial encounters took place in the home country of any of the women involved, and none of them were older than me (unless they lied about their ages, which is possible, but wouldn't bother me as this isn't something that was ever deliberate). I did miss out on adding Canada to that list (didn't realise she was coming on to me), definately Norway (I'd just got involved with Kristi and she was married to a friend so a double no there), Finland (actually a man rather than a woman. He even tried proposing to me. I said I'd think about it and never got back to him).

There have been all sorts of shapes, sizes and colours and a wide assortment of what each of them prefer in the bedroom. Two I would rate as having been boring (fairs fair though, they might have thought the same of me). Both of them were told this (one during the act itself, I hadn't particularly wanted to be with her, it was kind of hate/hate sex which looking back is odd, even if it made sense at the time, the other during an arguement after we'd split up. She started a fight one night and did her level best to hurt my feelings. The more she tried, the more I laughed and the angrier she got until eventually, having ran out of things to say, she switched to just obscenities and screamed "F you". I smiled and replied "Been there, done that and honey, you ain't that good". Had we had this arguement the night before or the night after, I would have just let her rant and rave, but she happened to pick the night inbetween that caught me in exactly the wrong mood). Only one girl I found was substantially different in any notable way to all the others (strangely, the one mentioned above about the arguement).

That I know of, I've failed to realise a girl from Canada, four from England, one from Scotland were coming on to me as well as maybe a dozen others whose country of origin I genuinely have no idea of. I've had 3 gay men come on to me (including the one who proposed), and although I've been complimented, I've not been interested. There was of course the one lesbian (who it took me until after midnight to realise she was wanting sex).

Although I've only really used the internet in the last 15 years, around half the girls I've mentioned above were originally met online and none on any kind of dating app (all from gaming). I did try a dating app for a few months when I decided to get back into relationships, but didn't find anyone who was interested in me and I would be interested in, in return. Besides, I then met Kristi so I cancelled it. Hopefully I deleted my profile. Hmm, that's something I should check if I can remember the name of the website. Or if not hopefully its been removed since I haven't logged into it, in what 10 years I guess. It was supposed to be one that catered to people who like the same music as me, but I found it was just the sort of people I guess you'd find on any such website. Mind you, I guess the chances of bumping into someone in the street who starts to berate me for not replying to their messages is fairly low.

Of all these ladies, I have only kept in touch with two of them. There is one more I wish I had kept in touch with, and two that I often wonder what they are doing now, and they are both the ones I found boring.

What all this makes me consider, is just how small the world has become, even before the net.

The Westminster government has decided to fine people who fail to safe isolate when required up to £10,000 (or people who prevent others from self-isolating) along with financial help for those who have to isolate. I think they should go more along the lines of Indonesia. Don't think the virus is real? Fine, you can help deal with the bodies. After all, if it isn't a thing you have nothing to worry about.

I see someone tried mailing Ricin to trump. Not that I like the guy, but I really don't think that is the way to go. Too high a chance of getting the wrong person, and besides, I know a few presidents have been assassinated, but I am sure all his mail will be checked long before it gets anywhere near him.

On a side note, I find it interesting that only one serving British PM has ever been assassinated. Given the whole empire thing, the IRA and various other things, I'd have expected that to be higher. The one that was killed, was by some businessman who blamed the government for his debt.

Randomly started thinking about women from my past, I guess brought on from a comment in another thread. I've slept with girls from Scotland (only the one from my native country), Ireland, England (never managed Wales although I did try with one Welsh girl, she just wasn't interested, and there was a Welsh girl who was interested in me, but I failed to pick up on this. I did at least have sex with a girl in Wales, even if she wasn't Welsh), Germany, Denmark, one I am not sure if she was Swedish or Norwegian, a girl from Trans-Moldovia (so I am not sure if that counts as Moldovia or Russian. She was pro-Russia. Hmm thinking about it, she might have been Ukrainian and the Trans-Moldavian was a different girl who I didn't sleep with), China, Brazil and the USA. Apologies to the ghostly memories of any other nationalities I've either forgotten about or even not known what country they were from. Or the ones whose names I never found out.

Of all of them though, roughly half the women were English. I lived in England for less than 3 years, and the only girl I slept with during that time was Irish. Almost none of these initial encounters took place in the home country of any of the women involved, and none of them were older than me (unless they lied about their ages, which is possible, but wouldn't bother me as this isn't something that was ever deliberate). I did miss out on adding Canada to that list (didn't realise she was coming on to me), definately Norway (I'd just got involved with Kristi and she was married to a friend so a double no there), Finland (actually a man rather than a woman. He even tried proposing to me. I said I'd think about it and never got back to him).

There have been all sorts of shapes, sizes and colours and a wide assortment of what each of them prefer in the bedroom. Two I would rate as having been boring (fairs fair though, they might have thought the same of me). Both of them were told this (one during the act itself, I hadn't particularly wanted to be with her, it was kind of hate/hate sex which looking back is odd, even if it made sense at the time, the other during an arguement after we'd split up. She started a fight one night and did her level best to hurt my feelings. The more she tried, the more I laughed and the angrier she got until eventually, having ran out of things to say, she switched to just obscenities and screamed "F you". I smiled and replied "Been there, done that and honey, you ain't that good". Had we had this arguement the night before or the night after, I would have just let her rant and rave, but she happened to pick the night inbetween that caught me in exactly the wrong mood). Only one girl I found was substantially different in any notable way to all the others (strangely, the one mentioned above about the arguement).

That I know of, I've failed to realise a girl from Canada, four from England, one from Scotland were coming on to me as well as maybe a dozen others whose country of origin I genuinely have no idea of. I've had 3 gay men come on to me (including the one who proposed), and although I've been complimented, I've not been interested. There was of course the one lesbian (who it took me until after midnight to realise she was wanting sex).

Although I've only really used the internet in the last 15 years, around half the girls I've mentioned above were originally met online and none on any kind of dating app (all from gaming). I did try a dating app for a few months when I decided to get back into relationships, but didn't find anyone who was interested in me and I would be interested in, in return. Besides, I then met Kristi so I cancelled it. Hopefully I deleted my profile. Hmm, that's something I should check if I can remember the name of the website. Or if not hopefully its been removed since I haven't logged into it, in what 10 years I guess. It was supposed to be one that catered to people who like the same music as me, but I found it was just the sort of people I guess you'd find on any such website. Mind you, I guess the chances of bumping into someone in the street who starts to berate me for not replying to their messages is fairly low.

Of all these ladies, I have only kept in touch with two of them. There is one more I wish I had kept in touch with, and two that I often wonder what they are doing now, and they are both the ones I found boring.

What all this makes me consider, is just how small the world has become, even before the net.

The joy of work being over and done with for another week.

I might even do a happy dance.

you're a really good hubby, as well as a good dad, alex. and a good friend, even if you do torture me any chance you get.  :cheers:

Oh, Alex, don't let her sideswipe be misunderstood, she's just kidding with you.  She has written sideswipes to me often, pretending she was kidding.  Strangely, though, I thought she felt this forum was "...no longer worth much time to me anymore..." 

Oh, I know. I do torture her a lot. I believe Barri did say that she'd only be coming here for my posts on this thread though if I recall.

If trump loses (and I have no idea if he has, hasn’t or if spontaneous combustion has taken the lot of them), will people spent the next 150 odd years displaying trump2020 flags. I mean the confederacy only lasted 4 years...

i can understand that, little rocketboy IS built like you, lol!
  the cursed movie thing, is it on tubi? there's a bunch of short things on youtube, but i'd like to see a full doc on it. i agree with you, though, it's not the movie.

China is sending a mission to the moon today. I wonder when any other countries are going to try and compete with them or if space is meekly going to be given over to them? I know several other nations have space programs and that both the US and the old Soviet Union have done more than China, but with the rate they are achieving things I can see them moving into the lead there. I wonder if a base on the moon or man landing on Mars will happen first. Wouldn't that be something to see, someone actually landing on another planet.

Just don't send Matt Damon. Pretty sure the cost of rescuing him in his various films would have bankrupted several nations.  :bouncegiggle:

From what I am hearing Barri, it sounds like trump is starting to realise he has lost the fight and is accepting that a transistion of power needs to begin. Maybe his hand is being forced by events outside of his control. I would imagine since no evidence of the large scale electoral fraud he claimed has been presented that he is pinning his hopes on the electorial college doing something.

Back home Boris is facing a rebellion within his own party who are tiring of the restrictions. Seeing him struggle to do the right thing and facing people fighting against that is sort of funny in a karmic way. If it wasn't for the people who will die as a result I would be happy to see him squirm in this situation. Looks like they are going to loosen the rules over the festive period, mostly because they fear people will just ignore the rules anyway.

Funny how the less I am at work, the more onerous the time I do have to spend there feels. Oh well, I should get to it and remember it is only four hours.

Congrats and enjoy it, even if Playstations are clearly the superior product.  :bouncegiggle:

My only regret is Ghost of Tsushima.  Otherwise, no f**ks given.  :)   

Sure gonna suck if the next Elder Scrolls game goes Xbox-exclusive; I hope they don't do that.

Only 71% of the med staff (includes MA's, support staff, non-doctors) said that they definitely would take the vaccine on the survey.  f**king blows my mind.  Probably the number that will take it is going to be higher than 71%, so perhaps I just need to abide.

Agreed, you'd think the wealthiest country in the world could take care of its children. Adults, whatever, but children? There ought to be funding for that. It's a disgrace. I wonder if the US cut all foreign aid that'd pay the health insurance of those under eighteen?

Considering that foreign aid is less than 1% of the Federal budget, I doubt it.  

Trying to avoid being called into work today (either you know the reason why I want to not work today or you don't, its not really important though). Yeah, so far I've been in twice..

Waiting on my new laptop arriving. Shame my old one is completely kaput or I'd have sent it to Trevor just as a backup since his computers seem to burn out on a regular basis.

Aww, thanks.

Henry Cavill and Tom Cruise borrowed my last one to use in Mission Impossible: Fallout and we all know what that PC was used for  :buggedout: :wink:

Lol I haven't actually watched that one.

Finally managed to get to see the Ray Harryhausen exhibition today. Here are a few photos from it.

(https://i.imgur.com/gZHdpFM.jpg)

I was listening to some Midnight Oil today. They were singing a song about white men coming and taking everything from the natives.

The irony of a bunch of white guys singing from the perspective of the natives about white guys taking everything from people of a different skin tone was not lost on me. You'd think they'd have some sort of representation on the band from the minority they are supporting.

Maybe it's just me and I don't understand the modern world.

I felt like being mean and cruel to someone, so I told them that under no circumstances should they ever watch the Dungeons & Dragons movie. He downloaded it last night.

Someone once asked me how I manage to keep my friends for so long. I told him keeping the bodies cool and well-salted is essential.

“Opening the door, you find yourself entering a room seemingly designed with some sort of ritual in mind. Arcane symbols cover the walls, and a large circle has been drawn on the floor. Blood and gore are splashed all over the floor and walls. In the middle of the room, you can see what was once a living creature. It lies in a pool of its own blood and vital fluids. Much of the lower chest has been eaten away below the ribs. Guts spill out of the holes and lie strewn over the ground. The lower jaw has been ripped off and only a stub of the tongue remains. One of the eyes has been ripped out of the socket and the left arm has been chewed down to the bone. With a shock, you recognise Xora’s robes. Then a greater shock hits you as the terrible remains cough, bubbles of blood erupting from the ruined throat. He lifts one hand shakily, reaching for you. The one good eye flicks open, staring at you, pleading for something he can no longer use words to articulate.”

Someone once asked me how I manage to keep my friends for so long. I told him keeping the bodies cool and well-salted is essential.

 Vinegar is more fun because it makes the bones rubbery!

. I've been filing the base off the Krampus to fit into the street scene I'd prepared and my desk has so much white powder piled on it, it looks like it belongs to Tony Montoya.

So Kristi was not impressed by me telling her I found her more inspiring than an '80s training montage from an action movie.

Seriously, what is wrong with women?

I've stayed in a lot of hotels over the years and so far they've all fitted into one of two categories, either they are ok, or they are s**t.

So in last weeks D&D, the 600lb Half-Orc fighter was knocked off the top of a tower by the dragon he was fighting, fell 50 feet and smacked into the hard stone floor. He took enough damage to ensure that he wasn't getting back up from that, and the party decided rather than carry his body back, they would just bury him in the swamp.

My mind keeps wanting to work out what force he'd have hit the ground at, and what his velocity would have been. Tonight they squared off against a semi home-brewed monster. I put them up against a giant Amphisbaena. The party didn't only have to deal with it attacking with two heads, but also with the fact it had encircled them and its coils were tightening, forcing them into a smaller and smaller area to fight against it. Luckily for the group, they managed to kill it before they ran out of room and started getting crushed.

I've been unable to speak to my family as we had no cell phone reception where I was before, so catching up with them while typing this. Working tomorrow (from the roster it seems I am going to be in charge of the shift  :buggedout:).

I'm also working from a roster which sometimes makes me think  :buggedout:.

You work for a full Monday to Friday week and for the next two weeks you're at work twice a week and then go back to work for another full week. This means if I have clients or need to make deliveries to the lab, I have to arrange a week in advance. Oy.  :buggedout:

Just had a flashback to when I was trying to find some black and white movies online and instead of just searching for BW movies, I accidentally hit the 'B' key twice and didn't notice before hitting enter.

 :teddyr: :teddyr: :teddyr:

So I got a message off one of the players in a 3.5 campaign I am running. He has asked if he can play an evil character next, if his current character dies. Generally speaking I have no problems with that. Not every evil character is out to screw over the party, and they are experienced enough to deal with anyone who is quite easily.
The particular character he wants to play though is a cannibalistic necromancer. There is some vague stuff covering it in The Book of Vile Darkness, so I think I am going to allow it (granted, more from the BBEG side of things) but I've also told him to have a backup character because that one most likely won't survive very long.
If he makes it to the end of his first session I'll be impressed, especially since we have a paladin in tbe group 
I've also suggested he speaks to a therapist.
Anyway, the image I can't get out of my head is of him being confronted by the rest of the group as an undead horde trundles past and him saying "But it isn't an undead army, it's my mobile snack shack!"

Well, Kristi has spent the day in pain. We got her a doctors appointment and she is now passed out on some painkillers. If she is still sore tomorrow I guess we won't be doing much for our anniversary, but at least we are together. I think she has maybe been out of bed for an hour today.

The pain meds have just knocked her out. Doesn't make me hopeful for tomorrow, but we shall see.

What happened? Did I miss something, or is she suddenly in acute pain out of nowhere?

Gall bladder problems. She's had them before but has to lose weight before they will give her an operation. She has a meeting with a surgeon next week to review her progress.

. Not going in full costume though. Bit cold out for a basque and tights.

The show was really good and a lot of fun. You could tell the guy who was playing Brad was there for his name value and wasn't really a stage actor, but he could sing well enough. The guy doing Frank was great too, but wow does it show just how note-perfect Tim Curry's performance in the movie is. Bought a tee-shirt and a few other bits and pieces. I was surprised at how few people were in costume for it, although one guy who I am guessing was in costume as Riff-Raff managed to look more like The Man Who Laughs. The theatre was I'd guess 98-99% sold out. I would definitely go again to see it.

 :teddyr:

I'll never forget the fact that the movie was banned in SA after one person complained to the Publications Control Board, saying that the film was offensive due to the scene where people eat the body and drink the blood of a person, "making a nonsense of the rite of Communion"  :buggedout:

This working for living sucks. Prepping for Ash's fourth birthday on Wednesday.

Wow, four years already I've been a father. Over 9 years a husband, 20.67 years a soldier (I have that figure because our computer system just told me that while I was looking for some other info). Sometimes I really wonder "Wow, is any of that really me or am I just having some weird dream?". I am happy with my life, don't get me wrong. I just often find myself not quite 100% sure how I managed to achieve it all.

For anyone who isn't having as quite a good day as me, well just remember this song:

Error 404 (Not Found)!!1 ([url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWMPVn1kgIQ&list=LL&index=50#[/url])

Certainly cheers me up when I am having a crap day.

We picked him up a big present each just before the show on Saturday, but he has a doctors appointment tomorrow, so we are going to get him a few smaller things. I've been more organised about Yule presents this year than I have birthday ones by a big margin. Then again, since I bought one of Kristi's presents for this year 2 years ago (it should arrive around October), it would be hard to beat that.

That song reminds me of another thing I don't have  :wink:

Its the four cavemen riding a dinosaur right? Yeah, I don't have one of them either.

I used to believe several things about the 21st century that Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and Donald Trump’s election in 2016 have shown me are false. I assumed:
Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in the Oval Office in 2017.
Trump thought US troops were in Ukraine in 2017, ex-ambassador says in book
Read more

Nationalism is disappearing.

I expected globalization would blur borders, create economic interdependence among nations and regions and extend a modern consumer and artistic culture worldwide.

I was wrong. Both Putin and Trump have exploited xenophobic nationalism to build their power. (Putin’s aggression has also ignited an inspiring patriotism in Ukraine.)

Nations can no longer control what their citizens know.

I assumed that emerging digital technologies, including the internet, would make it impossible to control worldwide flows of information and knowledge. Tyrants could no longer keep their people in the dark or hoodwink them with propaganda.

Wrong again. Trump filled the media with lies, as has Putin. Putin has also cut off Russian citizens from the truth about what’s occurring in Ukraine.

Advanced nations will no longer war over geographic territory.

    I bought the conventional wisdom that nuclear war was unthinkable. I fear I was wrong

I thought that in the “new economy”, land was becoming less valuable than technological knowhow and innovation. Competition among nations would therefore be over the development of cutting-edge inventions.

I was only partly right. While skills and innovation are critical, land still provides access to critical raw materials and buffers against potential foreign aggressors.

Major nuclear powers will never risk war against each other because of the certainty of “mutually assured destruction”.

I bought the conventional wisdom that nuclear war was unthinkable.

I fear I was wrong. Putin is now resorting to dangerous nuclear brinksmanship.

Civilization will never again be held hostage by crazy isolated men with the power to wreak havoc.

I assumed this was a phenomenon of the 20th century and that 21st-century governments, even totalitarian ones, would constrain tyrants.

Trump and Putin have convinced me I was mistaken.

Advances in warfare, such as cyber-warfare and precision weapons, will minimize civilian casualties.

I was persuaded by specialists in defense strategy that it no longer made sense for sophisticated powers to target civilians.

Utterly wrong. Civilian casualties in Ukraine are mounting.

Democracy is inevitable.

I formed this belief in the early 1990s, when the Soviet Union had imploded and China was still poor. It seemed to me that totalitarian regimes didn’t stand a chance in the new technologically driven, globalized world. Sure, petty dictatorships would remain in some retrograde regions of the world. But modernity came with democracy, and democracy with modernity.

Both Trump and Putin have shown how wrong I was on this, too.

Meanwhile, Ukrainians are showing that Trump’s and Putin’s efforts to turn back the clock on the 21st century can only be addressed with a democracy powerful enough to counteract autocrats like them.

They are also displaying with inspiring clarity that democracy cannot be taken for granted. Democracy is not a spectator sport. It’s not what governments do. Democracy is what people do.

Ukrainians are reminding us that democracy survives only if people are willing to sacrifice for it. Some sacrifices are smaller than others. You may have to stand in line for hours to vote, as did tens of thousands of Black people in America’s 2020 election. You may have to march and protest and even risk your life so others may vote, as did iconic civil rights leaders like the late John Lewis and Martin Luther King.

You may have to knock on hundreds of doors to get out the vote. Or organize thousands to make your voices heard. And stand up against the powerful who don’t want your voices heard.
The statue of Abraham Lincoln is illuminated at sunrise as a visitor walks through the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.
Lincoln and the fight for peace: John Avlon on a president in the shadow of new war
Read more

You may have to fight a war to protect democracy from those who would destroy it.

The people of Ukraine are also reminding us that democracy is the single most important legacy we have inherited from previous generations who strengthened it and who risked their lives to preserve it. It will be the most significant legacy we leave to future generations – unless we allow it to be suppressed by those who fear it, or we become too complacent to care.

Putin and Trump have convinced me I was wrong about how far we had come in the 21st century. Technology, globalization and modern systems of governance haven’t altered the ways of tyranny. But I, like millions of others around the world, have been inspired by the Ukrainian people – who are reteaching us lessons we once knew.

Except for having Bono in it anyway. f**k Bono.

An owlbear’s coat ranges in color from brown-black to yellowish brown; its beak is a dull ivory color. A full-grown male can stand as tall as 8 feet and weigh up to 1,500 pounds. Adventurers who have survived encounters with the creature often speak of the bestial madness they glimpsed in its red-rimmed eyes.

COMBAT

Owlbears attack prey—any creature bigger than a mouse—on sight, always fighting to the death. They slash with claws and beak, trying to grab their prey and rip it apart.

Feeling like crap today. I started feeling ill last night and I am now all sore all over.

Cheers for waiting until the weekend before giving me your virus Ash. He was throwing up in his bed this morning, I'd to run in and grab him out of his bed, then get him in the shower with Kristi coming along behind me cleaning up his vomit. He'd also pooped himself (something he hasn't done before since we moved him out of nappies).

Two of my D&D players had an in-game argument last night that became a real one. One of them threw his teddy out of the pram and stormed off. I chatted to his son a bit, the son chatted to the father, and then the father asked if he could chat with me. I really wasn't feeling well last night, but I sat up as long as I could talking things over with him. He's having a lot of stress in his real life and I think things just spilled over a bit. I told him if he needs to take a break and come back to the game later, that is fine, or if he wants to stop playing that is also fine. Anyway, he's apologised for his behaviour, sent a message to the other guy in the argument and hopefully, things will be fine next week. He did sound better once he'd let things out and got stuff off his chest.

Not just your friendly local Dungeon Master, but also an amateur therapist.

Feeling somewhat better thanks. As far as I can tell, everyone else is doing better too.

My knee seems swollen for some reason, but I should be fit enough to do my biannual check that I can shoot things, carry out basic battlefield first aid and all that s**t.

All else being equal it should be the last time I need to do it before retiring.

Retiring. I like the sound of that word.

Even if I still work afterwards, it will be under different terms and conditions and if I don't like what is happening I can say f**k you and quit.

I've got Ash watching The Rescuers. He really seems to like them.

Ultimately the reason for me leaving might not make a difference to the world at large, but it feels good to me that I am leaving on my own terms and when I want to.

I just want to say, tonight my family and I watched NOAH'S SHARK on your recommendation.
So if you get near my wife or daughters, you might want to keep your Kevlar handy.

I just want to say, tonight my family and I watched NOAH'S SHARK on your recommendation.
So if you get near my wife or daughters, you might want to keep your Kevlar handy.

Dark Alex — Today at 9:41 PM
And I need actual answers there, not just "Go with whatever the rest of the group wants." (edited)

Zayel — Today at 9:42 PM
Can we combine A&C? With the option of finding Bellaq down after

Dark Alex — Today at 9:53 PM
All these options involve going different places. Blind Bob's trail will take you out of the city in one direction. The trading company another direction. Freeing Baldur's Gate keeps you there and Bellaq will take you to the Moonshae Isles.

Two hours later, the group had decided how to get over the wall.
I felt like banging my head off the wall by the end of it. Perhaps they could have climbed through the hole I'd have made?