xawery

I agree wholeheartedly about the "bombastic populist sound", but that's nothing new. She has always communicated in that way, regardless of the whole Hirshi Ali issue: during the whole Schiphol fire affair, the transfer of information about asylum seekers to the authorities in the home country etc. I find her way of speaking absolutely horrendous, especially the way she interrupts her sentences with a "Ja?", whenever she is questioned by professional journalists (like in NOVA). It gives the impression that she sees the audience as complete imbeciles and needs to check every now and then that they are capable of following her train of thought. HIGHLY annoying. Now for something completely different. We keep hearing about big bad muslims who are outraged about the most trivial things like cartoons and threaten the freedom of speech. Well, our dear countrymen are quite capable of the same nonsense. Religious idiots in Goeree Overfakkee, an island in Zeeland, have threatened Abel den Denker, a columnist whose writing has been published in a local paper, Regio Venster. In his columns, den Denker (a pseudonym) has mocked the the fusion of the local churches which has resulted in the Protestant Church in the Netherlands (PKN). He has also made fun of the whole prayerday in Goes, which was the reason for spreading the local elections over two seperate days. The paper has received several threats from a group called the Truthsayers (Waarheidszeggers). In these threats, the group offers Den Denker three options: leaving the island with his family; revealing his identity in the paper and apologising to the religious community; giving a substantial donation to the local churches. When the head editor went to the police station to make a statement about the threats, the police officers on duty told her they would kill Den Denker if they found out who he was. What is the meaning of this story? Religion = Idiocy, more often than not.

I really can't say what is so special about that clip. Stanley Cubrick managed to portray the same chaos, brutality and swearing in Full Metal Jacket. Over a quarter of a century ago.

I have to disagree. Though there is very little love lost between Verdonk and me, her course of action was nothing else but consistent. The rules are clear: if you lie about your name and age during your citizenship application, the citizenship has been granted to a non-existent person. This means that you have never been Dutch to begin with; there is no need to revoke your citizenship. This isn't some election stunt, but acting according to the jurisprudence. It was clear from the beginning that declaring Hirshi Ali's Dutch citizenship as void would be met with fierce resistance both from the parliament and the population. If Verdonk was after electoral gain, she would have left Hirshi Ali alone. But she didn't. She had very little choice. Numerous people have lost their citizenship for lesser reasons in the past. An example: an Iranian asylumseeker was granted asylum in 1994, and the Dutch nationality in 1998. Later on, his birth certificate was translated and according to the translation his first name wasn't Reza, but Alireza. Additionally, he appeared to be a year older than was stated in his application, because a civil servant made a mistake when converting the Iranian calendar to ours. This was enough for the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) to define this as fraud and declare the man's nationality as void. Naturally, the man appealed to the High Council, but the Council declared that the IND was right. In light of all this, how could Verdonk treat Hirshi Ali differently? Just because she's a member of parliament and a popular politician, we should disregard the ruling of the highest judicial authority in the country and just let her be? Of course not. I dislike Verdonk, but her decision was the right one and I commend her for that. I am also disgusted at the reaction of the parliament. If anyone is guilty of an electoral stunt, it's the entire Second Chamber, especially the VVD. They knowingly embraced Hirshi Ali, put her on the election list and turn a blind eye to the fact that she had lied. The entire party has done nothing but applaud Verdonk's policies, but now that these same policies are applied to one of their own, Verdonk is suddenly seen as unjust. Can anyone spell hypocrisy? Just for the record, I am not trying to absolve Verdonk. She knew fully well about Hirshi Ali's lies but chose to disregard them, seeing as Hirshi Ali was a fellow member of the VVD and shared some ideas with her. However, as the Zembla broadcast drew a lot of attention, she chose the electorally impopular, yet consistent path. From my side of the political spectrum, all these developments seem to be positive. Hirshi Ali, whom I deem to be little more than a counter-productive provocateur, leaves the country. Verdonk, the right-wing populist is damaged and less likely to win the internal VVD election. Nevertheless, I feel disappointed. Regardless of my opinions on her, a politician has made the right, but impopular decision, and she is being punished for it.

Well, he certainly tried his best to look amused... Failed, but tried.

Btw, has anyone played the other recent Massive game, Ground Control II? I just got it, and I must say it's great! It isn't overly realistic (i.e. it takes a good couple of shots to take a guy down), but it's a sci fi setting, so making statements about realism is rather useless. But the looks are... breathtaking. It's a 2004 game, but the engine is excellent. Having played Ground Control II, I must say that the WiC screenshots look very feasible. I'm off to play some more GCII:D

This may be an odd question, but don't you have a computer store in your area which lets you choose the individual components and assembles the computer for you? This is quite a common procedure here in the Netherlands... I got my pc this way and even after four years it's holding up.

The lead game designer says the following in a Gamespot interview: Later on he says that there is no base building involved: the player has a fixed resource pool and has to select the right units for the battle. Based on a briefing, I assume. I must say the game looks promising. I have to admit that the trailer didn't impress me very much, as it was obviously pre-rendered (as someone mentioned earlier). The screenshots however look verrry nice. This is just an assumption, but I'm inclined to believe that a developer who is hell-bent on historical accuracy (which has been explicitly stated by the lead developer) is quite likely to put some emphasis on realism. However, I find the following quote to be somewhat worrying: These 'superpowers' were only 'balanced' because they had enough nukes to destroy the planet ten times over. I certainly hope the designers are not going to interpret this 'balance' in a BF2 way... Or for that matter, BIS way.

Version 0.750 has been released! Just thought I'd let you all know The new version includes new face textures... They look amazing, haha. I have finally been able to make a copy of myself. Also, 0.750 includes voiceovers. Now the river pirates you so effortlessly slaughter are no longer mute. Quite the contrary - they seem to be more skilled in shouting abuse at you than fighting. Before I forget, the links: http://www.taleworlds.com/download/mountandblade_0750_setup.exe http://www.fenrisoft.com/storage/mountandblade_0750_setup.exe http://www.mbrepository.com/mountandblade_0750_setup.exe Have fun!

0.731 has been out for over a month... And yeah, savegame compatibility is a pain, but it's fairly easy to export/import your character. Just edit the txt and give yourself some extra shopping money to get your equipment up to par. Sadly, you'll still have to build your warband from scratch... BTW, should anyone get bored with vanilla M&B or the numerous mods, give the mod tools a try. These (community made! mod tools are so user friendly even I can use them. I've made a little WFRP mod for my own enjoyment

You're breaking your own rule with your avator now Anyway, on-topic again. Would it be a good cause to give a foreigner a job because he's a foreigner? I know that some employers won't give a job to someone from foreign decent because he's non-western. But wouldn't it be some kind of "double racist" than to say that when you're original dutch you have less chance of getting a job? It's not a cross, it's a plus symbol! Honest! The issue we're discussing is not a straight-forward one. What the PAN party effectively suggests is affirmative action, or positive discrimination as it is called in the Netherlands. In principle, I am against such policies. They do not promote equality, but simply turn the tables around. Two wrongs don't make a right... Additionally, they make it almost impossible for the group in question (in this case, the foreigners) to get rid of the victim-stigmata. In the case of affirmative action, the foreigners will still be looked upon as different, priviledged or what not. It will be difficult for them to receive recognition for their achievements - does the argument "he/she only got that promotion because he/she is a foreigner/black/a woman" sound familiar? There's a flipside to this coin. First of all, if you've spent months trying to get a job but were turned down every time because your first name is Mustafa, I doubt you'll care about receiving recognition. You just want a job, you just want to be able to support yourself and/or your family. Second, job discrimination against foreigners IS a big problem. Not only in the Netherlands, but also in other European countries. It is a potentially dangerous problem, because it leads to frustration, and frustration can turn into unrest. The problem needs to be tackled. Third, we all want foreigners to integrate into our society, right? Well, the workfloor is one of the best places to achieve that. If you work with other members of the society you have a way to break the social isolation. We really need to create job opportunities for foreigners if we want them to become true members of our society. Fourth, there may not be another solution. Ideally, companies should treat all applicants equally, and look only at their skills. The problem is, it is hard to detect racism or prejudice in this case. The company can very well say "sorry, you don't fit the job profile", while in reality they just don't feel like employing a Mahmut or Hakan. The only way to ensure the emancipation of a minority is to grant them a privileged status on the job market. The question is: do the benefits of such emancipation outweigh the inequality that results from affirmative action? There is no panacea, there is no easy answer.

You clearly didn't read much of what I presented to you. The difference between HonestReporting and AP is that HonestReporting doesn't have as much of an agenda as AP does. Yes, you're right. A website conjured up by 5 British students of Jewish origin with the explicit goal to "help Israel", certainly does strike me as more trustworthy and bias-free than an award-winning, 150 yr. old news agency dedicated to honest reporting. Hidden agenda... Why don't you accuse them of striving towards global communism while you're at it?

The two articles are quite different, but I can't say that the Fok article is biased or unbalanced. You can find the NRC article here. However, you will most likely have to be a subscriber to read it. I have mixed feelings about this party. I agree that the polarising politics of Wilders and similar 'elements' are hardly productive, and that a counter-balance is needed. I do wonder, however, how one hopes to promote the 'we'-feeling by giving it's party such a polarising name. Why in god's name do you call yourself the Foreigners' Party and then claim that your party is for all Dutchmen? Their idea's don't really appeal to me either. School uniforms? We're not living in the fifties... Headscarves everywhere? Nope, as far as I'm concerned, all display of religious symbols (of all religions) should be banned from the public domain... If you feel the need to believe in fairy tales, that's fine by me, but do it at home. And don't expect me to muster any extra respect for your irrational beliefs.

Global communism... Obviously the ultimate goal of all those who hold left-of-centre views. While we're discussing balanced political insight, why don't we dig up the global Zionist conspiracy? Incidentally, why do you deem it significant to mention that the 'leftist rant' came from someone of 'Germanic origin'? Imagine the havoc that would ensue if I dismissed your rant because you are Jewish... At least Donnervogel had the decency to recognise the one-sided nature of his little rant. Back on topic: some claim that the war in Iraq was not about oil. They point to the rising petrol prices as proof. The problem with this reasoning is that these people incorrectly assume that the consumers would be the beneficiaries of a war waged for oil. Not the people, but the oil companies are profiting. Incidentally, this is isn't the first time in history that the US government has favoured the oil industry, while leaving the bill in the taxpayers' mailbox. In the 70's, the oil import quotas were instituted, supposedly for reasons of national security. Who benefited? The oil industry, of course, while the consumers footed the 5 bn dollar bill in higher petrol prices. Why wouldn't the government be willing to do something similar now? (You can read more about the oil import quotas in this article: http://scholar.google.nl/url?sa=....&q=http

That's a shame. Wasn't the original Daggerfall one of the first games featuring mounted combat? I guess I'll stick to my 12 EUR Mount & Blade for the time being. Nothing is as gratifying as picking off a Dark Hunter who is trying to outmanoeuver you with your crossbow

I agree that the ticking sound is unrealistic and should be removed, but it did make for some tense moments when I was playing the Retaliation Campaign. At one point, you are charged with guarding a tank depot. This depot is then attacked (naturally) by swarms of spec ops. The only thing that gave them away was the ticking of their satchel charges. There I was, standing around a campfire with my squadmates, when this disturbing and almost alien-sounding ticking starts. Excellent stuff

What an awesome game. I recommed using the Storymod - the creator is a professional writer. The story is simply excellent... BTW - does anyone feel the need to create characters with ridiculous names? Mine is called Cecil the Contumacious...

That's great to hear, Q. I was rather sceptical about the earlier versions of WGL, but WGL5 in combination with the sound bug fix is the best thing since sliced bread! I thoroughly enjoyed playing through all the BIS SP missions. I can't really think of any specific missions I would like to see converted to WGL right now, but I would be very happy if you would release some more SP missions of your own making. My main gripe about WGL was that AI was not affected by the same 'wounded' scripts as the player. WGL5 has solved that, and now it's a charm to play. IMO, this is the best mod out there. Good job!

So, uhm... have you ever listened to the tracks by Seven?

How could we omit Mann Gegen Mann for those explosive conflict situations? /edit: by Rammstein of course...

'Tolerance' a muscular term? Watered down to 'respect'? If anything, 'tolerance' is a very negative concept. It implies concious coping with some undesirable circumstance. In this view, 'respect' is a much more 'muscular' term - it suggest accepting a different outlook on the world, instead of suffering it for the sake of societal cohesiveness. The term respect is often misinterpreted - many people assume that having respect for a certain concept means accepting its superiority. That is an incorrect interpratation. To respect something means to regard it with equal importance as one's own beliefs. To 'tolerate' something means quite the opposite - it assumes the superiority of one's own beliefs, but suggests the detached willingness to ignore the supposed inferiority of alien beliefs, for whatever reason... Hardly the optimal solution.

I believe it went more like this: Author: "Hi. There are no pictures of Muhammed. Can you help me, JP?" JP: "We will try to find cartoonists willing to portray Muhammed. We will give them the freedom to portray the Prophet in a way they find fitting the current events". Besides, you cannot deny that the terrorists ARE hiding behind a misinterpretation of the Koran to justify their actions. If anyone is insulting the Islam, it's the pseudo-devout extremists. Do you honestly think that? Don't you suppose it's equally plausible that they were simply scared shitless of what might happen if they did portray Muhammed? The frightening part is that they were actually right. To tell you the truth, it's not the reaction in Islamic countries that scares me the most, because quite frankly I couldn't care less. It's the lacklustre reaction of our governments that worries me. Freedom of speech is one of our fundamental rights and should be defended nail and tooth. JP did not violate any laws, as far as I know blasphemy is not illegal. Still, European leaders are behaving like scared dogs. When I heard an interview with Javier Solana, my stomach churned. He came across as timid, intimidated. Muslims have every right to feel insulted, but Europe must not allow itself to be intimidated into discounting one of the core concepts of democracy, the freedom of speech. This was such an outstanding opportunity to display European unity. Freedom of speech is a concept shared by all member states, so one would expect that it shouldn't be too difficult to form a single front on this matter. Alas, no such luck. But hey, the ME is a nice potential market, and the people there are willing to buy our cars and mobile phones... So let's swallow the remainders of our pride and renounce one of the defining aspects of our political culture in return for some profit. Yeah, that's the way to go.

Let's not start overreacting, shall we? First, The cartoons weren't published with the sole purpose to offend, but to actually see whether cartoonists would be willing to draw Mohammed. Don't you think it's utterly ridiculous that there were so few people willing to portray Mohammed (in any way) in the first place? In a secular country? Second, as Espectro has mentioned, the cartoons came with a commentary from the artists themselves. Most people seem to take the illustrations on face value, while it's completely wrong to take them out of context. Is it not true that the extremists see the Islam as a justification of their acts? If anything, the cartoon showed how extremists manage to corrupt a religion that is basically peaceful (millions of followers who DON'T torch embassies prove that everyday). 2nd, it IS legal and one's right to insult someone else. I agree, it is not wise and simply uncourtious to insult someone just for the sake of it, but that was not the purpose of the illustrations. The purpose was to see whether cartoonists would be willing to portray the prophet Mohammed (a very valid question in a situation where most refuse to do it), and how they would go about it. The purpose was not to insult an sich. 3rd, it IS ok to insult religion. Why should religion get a different treatment from everything else? Why does religion deserve a seperate mention in the constitution (at least the Dutch constitution...)? Sniperwolf, you state in your signature that "Freedom of speech is not excersised by dissing someones religion". 'Dissing' (what a nice, broad term) someone's religion is most certainly excersising freedom of speech. It has been done for decades, with the Catholic faith, Protestant faith, or what have you. And it should remain that way. Dissing (let's stick to this term) is very subjective. What one may experience as insulting another may see as valid criticism. Taboos should not be observed, because they stand in the way of critical evaluation. To cite an example: if you try to criticise the policies of the state of Israel, you are labelled an anti-semite. If you criticise the Islam (position of the women etc. etc.) you are insulting religious feelings. Bollocks!

Excellent missions! It's been a while since I've had so much fun with OFP. To me, these are the best WWII missions out there, and I've had the chance to play quite a few... I especially liked Mud and Blood. What atmosphere! There you are, cowering behind a fortification, your clothes soaked through... You can barely see beyond 50 m, the mist is so dense. It's awfully quiet, only the singing of a few lonely birds breaks the silence... Suddenly, the high-pitched shriek of a whistle cuts through the fog, followed by a blood-curling battlecry. "Sie sind hier!" Great stuff. The final stand-off with the MG-34 was great as well. At one point I genuinly panicked and ran off into the woods. I was the only one to reach the rear outpost... One question to SengirVampire: did you purposefully turn off the squad radio messages? I am asking because the first time I played the mission, the radio was disabled, but the second time around everything was back to 'normal'. I quite liked the lack of radio communication. Your teammate's shouting is a much more atmospheric way of giving orders The other mission I also enjoyed very much was Steel Tigers, incidentally also made by SengirVampire. The conversations between the crewmembers were outstanding, very immersive. They helped me forget that I was actually on Kolgujev. In this mission, the tank hit location system introduced by the Lib Mod really shone. "Dear lord, our driver is dead, our tracks are in pieces, and a KV-1 is advancing towards us! FEUER! We can't pierce it's armour!" The only thing that was missing was a burning script. Burning crewmembers trying to bail out would really have made my day In conclusion, great stuff, but... there is a but. The description of the mission pack claims that all you need is the Lib Mod and the editor update. As ade_mcc has already mentioned, some missions require the Saruago island. I've tried the link he posted, but even though the island shows nicely in the briefing, me and my squad begin the mission in the sea. As fun as simultaneous screams of agony may be, the mission remains unplayable... In addition, I get some weird mission addons messages when I try some of the other missions. For example, Fox Hunt claims it's missing an addon called "prim". Rodina is missing "BB_MilitaryObjects". Rescue is missing "storch". I am really at a loss here: the (correct) editorupdate is in the correct addons folder, I've removed a different version of the editorupdate from res/addons to prevent conflicts... and still no go. Any help? Regards, Xawery

To quote Nation States: "That's when crowds of flag-burning protesters tend to turn into crowds of burning protesters".

Lol, nice one Eizei. Yeah, the Jews pwn! /edit: God, an eight word sentence and still I manage to make a spelling error.