Sous la Mer

While I was surfing I found this flickr photo-stream(NSFW). Hebert, I think you especially will enjoy this set.

Various quotes gleaned from the anonymous internet.

"Those were traditional wars, "real" wars, wars against a specific enemy, declared by congress and with a specific way to tell when the war is over and an expectation that things would return to "normal" when that happened."

"This is an undeclared, open-ended "war" with no specific enemy or goal, a war which even the Bush administration openly says will never end."

"We should be ever vigilant when it comes to the leadership of our country."

"So the real litmus test is, do you worship the power of the state, or do you stand for human rights and respect for the individual?"

"This isn't a Left vs. Right issue. This is a Power vs. Liberty issue."

"I think we still have a window of opportunity to end this before it gets unstoppable."

"If not, within three years, I predict that Americans will be fighting Americans on American soil."

"Do you really imagine that as a possibility? Actual fighting? As in "with guns"?"

"I could not imagine in 1990 that Yugoslavs would take up guns. In 1991, they did."

Someone please...

refresh my memory. With Battle Star Galactica starting up soon (Oct. 6) I would love it if one of you jogged my memory. I've been watching the "Resistance" webisodes on Scifi.com, and I was wondering this: Where the hell is the Galactica? Is it floating in space around the Cylon controlled planet the humans are eking civilization on? Or did it make a FTL jump out of there? I can't remember. It's been so damn long since I saw the last episode and I'm not in the mood to go hunt it down on torrents or download it from the itunes music store. So, has anyone got the answer for me?

Where the hell did the Galactica go?

Hah. Never been compared to Cato before.

In relation to, An American Monarcy: What would our Founders say?

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posted by SupaFupa (+25 diggs)
My biggest worry is the precedent that George W. Bush is setting. If a clown with a weak grasp on the English language can send us to war on false pretenses, turn most of the world against us, spy on us without merit, basically do away with anything that stands in his way, and not be held accountable for one iota of it, there is no reason for the next president to do anything differently.

posted by cobaltgrc (+9 diggs)
Agreed, before Ceasar there was Sulla.

posted by sonicdevo (+1 digg)
bah... comparing Bush to Sulla is dubious at best. Sulla was a ruthless military man. One who shed a LOT of blood of Roman politicians so that he could institute what he thought were much needed reforms to Roman government.

And Caesar... call me a blasphemer, but we'd only be so lucky to have someone like Caesar usurp our government. I mean, just look at what he did for Rome... and the title that the public gave to his selected heir: IMPERATOR CAESAR DIVI FILIVS AVGVSTVS (Emperor Caesar Augustus Divine Son of God). That tells you how much the public loved him.

posted by nxtwrld (+4 diggs)
You can't really judge a tyrant by his popularity. As with many tyrants, they tend to generate their own popularity - just look at the current president of Turkmenistan.

Hitler was enourmously popular in Germany.

Stalin was a beloved leader during the WWII...soon after almost the whole nation loved him, as he managed to kill anyone, that did not share this view (or at least sent them to Siberia to freeze to death while beating some labor out of them before they passed.)

Nevertheless I can see what is so attractive about a wise tyrant. He is wise and he can actually enforce some positive changes (rather then just use the for campaigning). But what will happend should he be not so wise, or perhaps shoudl he have a son that is not so wise. You then have a huge problem getting rid off such a tyrant.

posted by sonicdevo (+5 diggs)
Well, sure... that's the way it is with dictators. When it's good, it's GREAT. But when it's bad, it's AWFUL.

You don't have to go too far from Octavius to find Nero and company. But at that point in history, the Roman political system was _messed up_.... in many ways like the American system is today. (Career politicians instead of citizen statesmen is the real problem - for us today, and for the Romans back then.)

posted by cobaltgrc (+2 diggs)
Wow dude, wow. As you wish, You are a blasphemer. You do not love liberty. You only seem to love fancy titles. Bravo.

Let me set it straight: I was not directly comparing Bush to Sulla (a foolish thing to even consider). I was simply pointing out what can be learned from History. That in a representative Republic it takes precedent to transform it into one ruled by an Emperor. Bush, much like Sulla, is setting dangerous precedent.

Don't scoff at the lessons we can learn from History. You obviously have done some study, now apply that knowledge, and help us create a better world.

posted by sonicdevo (+1 digg)
I see where you're coming from cobalt, but I have to disagree. The average Roman enjoyed more liberty under Julius and Octavian than they ever did under the Republic (And admittedly more horrors under Nero, etc as well). I think it is inevitable that prosperous Republics become apathetic and corrupt, and will collapse if not held together by some authoritarian ruler. If there were more people like us, who cared about the direction of our republic, and reviled government corruption, maybe our republic would have a hope.
Your position is like that of Cato. Which is very admirable, but ultimately (IMO) a losing proposition.

Who is this girl?

I've kinda been on a YouTube kick lately. Please forgive me.

How Star Wars IV Should Have Ended

How The Lord Of The Rings should have ended

Read the first issue... for free!

Hey boys and girls,

You've seen me talk about "the Walking Dead" as a wonderful comic book for anyone who loves zombies, well guess what? You can read the first issue, online, completely free of charge. So what the hell are you waiting for? Give it a peruse, the zombies demand it.

-gErk, mmm brainz..

Why podcasts are awesome.

Way back in August I sent the guys of Geekdrome this e-mail:

I found geekdrome a few weeks ago, I was like "what the fuck is this
shit?" So I started watching it and now I'm hooked. You guys are
bastards, but thanks for the great entertainment, maybe I'll buy a t-
shirt.

This is why you are fucks: your "Comics for people who don't like
comics" bit. I've never liked comic books, but Danny T suggested
'DMZ' and it sounded cool so I decided to check it out. Well guess
what? It fucking rules, so now I guess I like comic books.. Thanks a
lot for another geek hobby that I shouldn't be wasting my time and
money on. Thanks a lot, you fucks.

My friend suggested "Walking Dead", a zombie comic book. I'm reading
that now. I can't remember if you talked about it on your show, but
it seems like a good comic for people who don't like comics.

Keep up the good work, and thanks for making me into more of a geek.

-cobalt'gerk'

..."back to comics!"

I wanted to tell them how much I enjoyed their video podcast, but it also occured to me to tell them how much I had been enjoying "The Walking Dead" (thanks to Eric). That night they sent me this e-mail in return:

Hahaha!

No problem! That's our job. I LOVE the Walking Dead. It's SO good. We'll talk about it one of these weeks.

Now go fuck yourself too! We'll fuck everything that moves!

-Jonny LeDrome III

Well sweet. I didn't expect to get a return e-mail, and I surely didn't think they would ever get around to talking about "The Walking Dead". Well guess what? In yesterday's episode they did! In their section 'COMICS FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T LIKE COMICS' they talking about "the Walking Dead". Awesome!

Now let me tell you why this form of media is awesome.

1. It's indie, free, and fun. It talks about issues and subjects that I'm interested in. Unlike a bullshit morning show or cable talk show it actually has content that is worth my time. Who'd have though media could be like that?
2. A close relationship between the hosts and the fans. I can e-mail these dudes, they will respond, and they will actually TAKE my suggestion into consideration. Instead of getting a crap forum letter I get real human contact. Amazing.
   
3. Less intrusive ads. Sure, there are one or two ads in Geekdrome, but they've got them at the begining and the end. I'm cool with that, these dudes should be making some money off of their self-produced content. I don't feel it takes away from their great entertainment, unlike the ads found on TV.
   

So what have I learned? Podcasting is awesome and broadcast TV sucks so keep downloading your favorite television show off of torrents. Oh and go download this video podcast! Mr T. says so.

Also, if I haven't mentioned it before check out the PC gamer podcast.

-gErk, completely jacked in.

dCreep News

Howdy,

I just wanted to give you guys an update on how Dungeon Creep is coming along. I've added some stuff to the main page, a user login and a weblog, it might not look like much but it took me a while to figure out the ASP/VBscript I needed to know so I could create it. All that weblog text actually exists in a database on my web server and the main site is calling it so that it can display it. Pretty cool stuff.

In terms of the actual inner workings of the site... well, I'm still designing all of that on paper. I'm drawing box graphs, jotting down notes, and reading books on how to code so I can create all that I want to create with Dungeon Creep. Big fun learning process.

One thing I did do recently is take down my blog at dungeoncreep.com. I didn't think it would get much use and the reason why I created to begin with is to see that I could actually do it. Having conquered that I have created something new with my free linux webserver. A Dungeon Creep messageboard. I hope you guys like it. Please feel free to post on it and let me know if you want me to add anything to it, like another forum area or something. Right now I've kept it slim. Use the crap out of it.

Well that's the news for now. I hope to see you on the forum! Later all,

-gErk.