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A few weeks back, I was lucky enough to be able to visit Piedra Herrada, one of the sites of the monarch butterfly migration here in Mexico. It was a long walk up a steep path that started at around 10,000 ft in elevation. As we made our way up higher, the butterflies started circling around and becoming more active, with thousands of them flying in all directions. And then when we stopped, we could see tens of thousands more resting in the trees, like in this picture. Monarch butterflies fly south every year from Canada and the US down to Mexico and it's not the same butterflies that start the trip as end it as they only live a month or two at most. What I found particularly interesting though is that even though it's never the same butterflies returning, they always migrate back to the same sites.

All losses are sad. I say John McCain, a man who was a fellow vet, a fighter pilot in Vietnam. he had his plane go down and was captured and tortured by the Vietnamese, who later came home and went in to politics and had some arguably great moments (and some bad ones), and ultimately succumbed to brain cancer... where at the end he literally said "I'm ready to die"... it shows the power of cancer to take out a man like him who would stand up to anyone. That's sad in my book.

Keep the pics coming guys, saves me the bother of going outside

In part because @RedFive trolled me in the RL picture thread, and in part because I like the image, I'm sharing this one from my 2018 Winter Adventure. This was the first morning of the weekend up north. We were hoping to catch a nice sunrise over Lake Superior. Winter sunrises are often much better than summer sunrises because the snow and ice reacts in a very different way than... well... when there isn't snow and ice. Unfortunately this morning, the skies were completely clear. That meant two things; no great color at sunrise (soft, predawn yellowish glow, maybe) and really cold temps. It was -10F or cooler at sunrise. After a sketchy hike down a snow covered embankment, and an ill-advised jump down a small cliff (was not sure we could get back up safely...), we made it to a nice secluded rocky beach at the lake shore. The photo from the RL picture thread was taken just after sunrise when the sun started hitting the shore. It lead to a nice warm light for that portrait which turned out great. My buddy (and winter adventure compatriot) took that photo. But my favorite image from that morning was actually just before sunrise when the sky was still lightening and mostly purple in color. The old, rundown boathouse on the shore of the lake made for a nice focal point to capture the rock, snow, and ice embracing Lake Superior. As an aside, the moon was actually still up, in the sky above the boat house, just out of the frame.

Sorry for the drought lately. RL... This photo was taken in the northern suburbs of Chicago at a regional park preserve. A really nice area with beautiful walking trails, streams, ponds/lakes. Plenty of wildlife (my nephews chased around a flock of geese for a while, that was fun...). But on one of the trails, we had crossed a bridge and come to a crossing in the trail. While my sister (the local) figured out which direction we were going to go, I snapped this photo of the trail we ended up taking.

No tablet of any kind. Maybe never will get it as I'm already too old for "new technology"..... I use two other things instead of tablets; I have a laptop for work purposes that I also use for P&W and the forums. I have a cellphone for some work purposes, calls, texting, sexting with @Sargun, and a few choice games. I may never need a tablet, who needs a bigger screen? Wait... bigger screen... sexting... ... ... ...I should get a tablet...

There is a replica of the Statue of Liberty on the artifical island of Odaiba in the Bay of Tokyo. Naturally the replica is much smaller than the actual Statue of Liberty (I speak from experience as I have stood next to both) but the statue is actually not there because of the one in New York. There is a replica of the Statue of Liberty in Paris on Île aux Cygnes. This replica was borrowed for a year in 1998 to Japan to celebrate Franco-Japanese relations. It was put on Odaiba where it turned out to be so popular that the city decided to make a replica of the replica in Paris and put it on Odaiba permanently.

The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge (明石海峡大橋) is a suspension bridge that connects the city of Kobe with Awaji Island about four kilometers away from the land. According to the guides it has the "longest central span of any suspension bridge in the world" which I think means the main span of the suspension parts. It was completed in 1998 and is almost exactly 4000 meters long. Before the bridge was built, ferries would carry people from Kobe to Awaji Island or the other way round. However, the narrow part between both sides is dangerous and tormented by many storms. In the 1950s, two ferries sank in the waters between Awaji and Kobe, killing over 160 people. Therefore, plans were made for a bridge. Originally, the two towers were exactly 1990 meters apart. However, when only the towers had been built but not the rest of the bridge, the Hanshin Awaji Earthquake (more commonly known as Kobe Earthquake) occured in 1995. It killed over 5000 people and caused massive destruction in the city. The earthquake also moved the two towers about one meter apart so that there are now about 1991 meters between them. Taken on March 14th, 2019.

hmph... another young person poll it appears...

I thought isekai anime was an anime where the MC was either in their world or was teleported to another and is just really over powered to the point where it could be boring. But fantasy wise well, i just really like anime (and games) that are set in a fantasy world that is based in the dark ages with lords and knights and has magic and monsters. I just like it. The saga of tanya the evil was amazing, i love it def a 9/10 simply because im not sure how i felt about a psychotic 11 year oldgoing around slaughtering people while serving in the german army.... yes i knew immediately what world and time period the anime was set in. The countries had different names but the year, time period and world map made it obvious. But it did progress through 3-4 years so tanya is getting older and i like how it had a connection to both world wars, the biplanes, trench warfare, ww1 era weapons as well as ww2 era tanks and bombers along with bombers. I watched grimgar and it wasnt really all that great in my opinion, the art was ok but i just couldnt get into the story. Goblinslay was actually good, i liked it, probably because they show you just how violent, vicious and evil goblins really are where as other anime with goblins just shows them once or twice and thats it. And the MC actually says more then one line but could definitely be improved. I also watched re zero: life in another world. It was actually good, i liked the story, characters, art, graphics and how the character ended up in a fantasy world. The character also wasnt overpowered.... actually he isnt even strong even though he learns how to use magic but has no idea how to use it. The only thing i didnt like was his curse that allows him to come back to life. It was a good concept where when he dies time stops flowing and rewinds back to a previous point earlier in the day and he gets to keep his memories but everyone else loses theirs. Just i didnt like how many times he died and had to repeat the same day over again. The anime is 25 episodes long but only lasts a day or two short of a full week when it ends because of the number of times he had to repeat the same day over again and can only progress to the next day if he survives the day or night. Ya i was keeping track of the number of days he was in the fantasy world and he was only there for like 5 days but gives you the feeling he was there longer due to the number of times he had to repeat a day over again. O was also happy he killed petelguess because god i hated that villian.... he was just very annoying and very lame.

I would like to dedicate my 1000th rep point to the fearless leader of the Forum Fighters. Without her help and guidance I would never have had the opportunity to coup Lordship, reign as TKR's first Forum Fighting Monarch, or supplant myself with another Forum Fighter. All hail Micchan! o7

I use this thread to say MY NATION IS 1000 DAYS OLD!!!

Winnie Mandela was a total shit, I doubt her children even miss her.

Question is would the USA be happy to have laws imposed upon it's legislature or have Federal law subserviant to a foreign court?

Terrible decision for Britain. Those who voted for it were promised to see slightly lower taxes that was previously necessary to facilitate remaining in the E.U. and was often the point the proponents for Brexit pointed to, but many/most who voted for Brexit didn't understand the full set of consequences they would incur in addition to those tax reductions. They neglected to consider the higher costs to buy and lower profits to sell British goods to the E.U. countries given that being apart of the E.U. previously allowed free trade. Thus, overall the GDP should come done some as well as most peoples individual incomes while seeing some increases in costs for the British people. This is the reason why some British politicians are now saying "we should undo what the voters wanted because in essence we have come to learn that this was a bad idea"... Anyway, any time you impede on peoples rights to deal with others and have "free commerce", you snuff the fire on what they can make, what you can tax, and how the country is overall. It's why a libertarian approach to governance is important to meeting the nation potential. at least, that is the way I see it.

Son of a bitch, there's no option for "I never played it"

I have played them all. Enjoyed the ones as a kid with the horrid graphics. I think some of the more recent ones are too complicated and take away from the enjoyment of the game overall.

Played 2000, 3000, 4 Some year ago I played again and I still have the screenshot of the city I created Nothing special, was pretty much to try some mods More recently I played Cities Skylines

I don't have a tablet and never had one. I never thought it was worth it from my position.

A lot of of people in my class uses a tablet to take lecture notes. And here I am using the original tablet called "pen and paper" On a more serious note, tablet feels like a device that can't decide whether it want to be a smartphone or a laptop. Since I already have to carry both to classes, I don't really see a use for it

The next poll should really be "What type of phone do you have?" Over age 40 House phone; Corded: 20 foot or longer House phone; Corded: 10-20 foot House phone; Corded: Less than 10 feet House phone; Cordless: I'm fancy, bitch! Under age 40 Cell phone; Apple Cell phone; Samsung Cell phone; other Comment what type of cell phone you have in the comments.

has anyone ever thought of making a video guide for the game, showing what each button does, and showing what is the better strategy for building from the start? something visual for people who cant get the reading down. some, like me, takes to video help better than written.

This is picture is SO MUCH better than that other one... *snickers to myself*

I've never in my life visited Twitch nor been curious what is on there, let alone share my own.

Chapter Six: The Second Wave (Winter 1944-1945) “Plug that gap now!” What looked like a full company of enemy soldiers were pouring through the breach in American lines. They had flat ground in front of them and ample opportunity to flank American positions on the left and right. There weren’t enough to overrun the Americans… yet. “I’ve got a company on the way, T.” “How soon?” “Two minutes.” “Not quick enough. The enemy is moving too fast. Do you have the guns set up yet, M?” “No, T. This terrain is tricky, I need a few more minutes.” Another company appeared in the breach. The enemy had deployed smoke up the middle and the Americans’ operational machine guns were firing blindly into it. There was enough ammunition for the guns to get away with it, for now, but the results were bound to be less than optimal. “Fire the rockets, M.” “These are our last rockets. Are you sure, T?” “Yes!” Moments later, streaks of fire and smoke appeared from the horizon behind the American lines, from behind the hills they were so desperately defending against the enemy onslaught. “Come on, come on, come on! Stop these Frenchies!” The friendly artillery couldn’t fire quickly enough for the forces on the ground. A third French company appeared out of the smoke into the breach, and then a fourth. This had to be the beginning of the main thrust of the French attack. Intel on just how many units the French had left was shaky but this attack represented at least a third of their remaining force, maybe more. Just then, R Force appeared and slowed the French advance. They were heavily outnumbered, but they didn’t need to beat them, they just needed to hold them until… “TEANNA!” A short black teenager with braided black hair spins around in her chair and finds her mother, standing in the doorway with her arms crossed. “Oh… jeez… just a minute, hold on, Mom.” “What’s that, T? “Nothing, keep up the attack.” Out of the corner of her eye, Teanna saw yellow streaks zipping over the blotchy green terrain, evaporating the tiny sprites in a violent explosion of brown and orange pixels. The little tricolors blipping off the minimap meant one thing: the French spearhead was getting crushed. “Teanna, I am not going to sit here raising my voice for no reason. Pause the game.” The diminutive American commander flicks the mute switch on her microphone so her subordinates don’t hear her being scolded by her mother. “Mom, I can’t pause the game, it’s online. Can I just get a few more minutes? I’m almost done.” “Your grandfather is waiting.” “He was supposed to come tomorrow!” “Do you want me to tell a 74-year-old man to come back tomorrow because his granddaughter is too busy playing Shootymans?” “It’s called World at W- never mind. Please, mom, we’re about to win. This is an important match.” “You have three minutes.” The American commander, no longer mysteriously indisposed, returned to find that control of the situation was slipping through her fingers. The smoke had partially cleared, and the French and American lines were now perilously close. Some units were engaged in hand-to-hand combat. “Did you guys do a frontal charge? Dam- uh, darn it.” “No, T, their reserves charged out of the woods as the smoke cleared. Is your mom yelling at you again? Tell her to make more cookies.” “My dad makes the cookies, not my mom. And stay focused!” Artillery was out of the question. The close quarters combat created too much risk of friendly fire. But now that the blocky gray smoke sprites were dissipating, the commander could more clearly see the array of French forces. They didn’t have enough infantry to see this attack through. So why had they done it? “M, get the guns out of there now!” “You got it, T.” Madeleine got two thirds of her guns out before French counter-battery fire raked the hill she had occupied. That had been the French gambit: push forward enough to get a bead on Madeleine’s position, then obliterate her guns and give the French supremacy in artillery. Not a bad plan, but not good enough to beat Teanna’s squad. The French infantry pulled back towards the woods after their commanders realized the ploy had failed. Robert’s forces had taken losses but held their position, and critically, most of the machine gun positions on the left and right of the American line had survived, meaning that the French running back across the clearing were running into their field of fire without smoke to cover them. With dozens of their soldiers falling dead in a manner of seconds, La Mafia Québécoise finally raised the white flag. They didn’t have the forces to stop Robert and Teanna’s infantry from chasing down their surviving artillery. The Atlanta All-Stars won the day. Teanna had figured they were finished as soon as they did the worst thing a team playing France could do: they’d gotten their armor killed early. Still, LMQ had proven to a be resourceful opponent. Not as resourceful as the All-Stars though. Teanna, Robert and Madeleine would move on to Round 4 against Murder Death Kill. MDK was using Qing this tournament. Teanna hated fighting Qing. Especially as America. “Yes!!! Okay, good job guys, gotta go!” Teanna exited the game with a few swift clicks, and bolted to her feet, spinning around to find her mother with her arms crossed in the doorway. “See, mom? Under three minutes!” “It was four and a half. But I’ll let it slide. I’m not really sure what was going on there, but you sounded like quite the leader.” “I get it from you.” Teanna smiled a disarming smile at her. Her mother shook her head at this, but couldn’t stop a slight smile from appearing on her face. “Come on. Your grandfather is waiting.” Teanna did feel bad that she had made her grandfather wait, so she edged ahead of her mom in the hallway and stomped down the stairs. Her grandfather was sitting patiently at the kitchen table, keeping his hands pressed up against his warm coffee cup. He heard the commotion of Teanna’s heavy footfalls and looked over to see his granddaughter running down the stairs. “Good Lord, how does a girl that tiny make so much noise?” He began to slowly and deliberately brace himself to stand up out of his chair. “Oh, Grandpa, please don’t stand, you don’t have to stand.” Like many a proud old man would, he continued trying to stand anyway but Teanna’s arms were wrapped around him soon enough. Finally, he settled back into his chair and returned the hug. “How are things, child? How was your New Year’s?” “Good! Mom and Ashley and I went to the fireworks at the Spartakiade Grounds. How about you?” “Oh, that’s fun. I called your Uncle Gerald and then turned in at nine. Exciting, huh?” He laughed his raspy laugh. Smoking for all those years had done a number on his throat. Teanna’s mother spoke up from the stairs as she descended. “Teanna, you were so wrapped up by that computer game of yours, you forgot the whole reason Grandpa is here.” Her mother waved a photograph in the air, one that she had taken from Teanna’s desk. “Oh, duh!” Teanna sprang up, slid across the hardwood floor and plucked the photograph from her mother’s hands. “So, Grandpa, I have this, like, family history project at school? So, I went through the old pictures we have upstairs and found this one with you and all these guys. Nobody knows who they are.” She flipped the picture over and then placed it down in front of her grandfather, who squinted at it and then grabbed his reading glasses from his shirt pocket. He put them on and then lifted the photograph closer to his face, finally recognizing the four young black men smiling and standing in front of a large lake. “Oh, wow. Oh, wow.” ~*~*~ From: ahaskins@atl.filmmakers.synd To: all@atl.filmmakers.synd Sent: 5:55 AM April 22, 2010 Subject: ALL HANDS ON DECK: The PAF&G is coming to Atlanta! Body: The news hasn’t been made public yet, but the mayor’s office told me that the Pan-African Congress has chosen Atlanta for the next Pan-African Festival and Games. This is a really big deal for the city because it’s the first time the event is coming to America. The Pan-African Film Festival is also coming which means that the host nation will be able to choose the films it wants to headline. Let me be clear on one thing: I REFUSE TO LET THE LOS ANGELES BUREAU HEADLINE AT A FESTIVAL IN ATLANTA. IT WILL NOT HAPPEN. NOT UNDER MY WATCH. With that being said, we must begin our journey to headlining the first ever Pan-African Film Festival in America TODAY. And we’re going to need everybody we got to make it happen. So here it is: I need every one of you, no matter what your position or how long you’ve been with us, to submit any film ideas you have. Even if you think they have nothing to do with the theme of the diaspora, submit them anyway. We need the best ideas we have if want to come out ahead in this. And that idea might be yours! Andrea Haskins Bureau Chief Atlanta Filmmaker’s Bureau ~*~*~ From: tcarter@atl.filmmakers.synd To: creativecommittee@atl.filmmakers.synd Sent: 11:26 PM April 22, 2010 Subject: PAFG Submission Hey guys, Very exciting news about the Festival! It got me thinking about a paper I wrote in school about my grandfather, who told me a story about when he was living in Chicago and him and three of his friends saw a movie about an American fighting in Mittelafrika and then made a pact together that they would go to Africa to help finish the African revolutions. I’ve attached a scan of the photograph they took that night and of the paper I wrote. Be warned that I was thirteen when I wrote it so it might be a bit confusing to read. Hit me up if you have any questions about it. Thanks, Teanna Carter Apprentice Special Effects Engineer Atlanta Filmmaker’s Bureau [ATTACHMENT 1] GrandpaAndHisFriends.png 4.35 MB [IMAGE PREVIEW UNAVAILABLE] [ATTACHMENT 2] Familyhistoryassignment.rtf 34 KB ~*~*~ Teanna Carter Personal History Paper Mrs. Gargano January 2, 2001 72/100 Good concept but it looks like you rushed it and it seems pretty obvious to me that you didn’t even attempt to revise it. I know you’re better than this, Teanna. I found this photo of my grandfather and three of his friends in an old box. It doesn’t have a date or names on it, but my grandfather said it was taken in 1944 in Chicago. He said he and his friends had watched a movie about an American soldier doing heroic things fighting in West Africa on a big screen they had put up for the Third Congress. Who’s they? My grandfather and his friends had been apprentices for Chamber delegates. But their time was running out and they were going to have to go back to factories to work. Don’t start a sentence this way. My grandfather said he thought he had the ability to do something other than factory work that was also important. Read these sentences out loud. If they’re awkward, rewrite them. He thought maybe he could be a scientist and work on some kind of secret project. But when the British Civil War happened, he thought that maybe things weren’t as good in the world as he had thought. Socialist countries had been united but now things were tense between them. Different socialist nations were starting to do things in different ways that they didn’t agree about. When he saw the movie, his friend Marvin said that they should go to Africa to help the rest of Africa defeat the colonialists. They all went to the Foreign Ministry office and signed up to volunteer the next day. My grandfather said he went to Namibia and helped the Army there fix up the railroads to the other countries so that fighters and supplies could be moved around to different countries where they helped the fight. This sentence runs on. His friend Marvin died over there. Over where? Be specific. His other friend Leon fought in Angola. His other friend Joshua fought in South Africa. This is important to my family history because it’s how my grandfather decided he wanted to work for the Foreign Development Agency. If not for that, he might not have met my grandmother, who is Igbo and from Benikongo. You need to elaborate more with this final paragraph for it to be a suitable conclusion. You clearly did the work to research this, but your write-up needs a lot of work. Come talk to me after class. ~*~*~ From: ijohnson2@chi.filmmakers.synd To: ahaskins@atl.filmmakers.synd Sent: 1:56 PM May 19, 2010 Subject: RE: Archives Request Body: This concept sounds very interesting, so please feel free to contact us for any more assistance you may need. As you requested, I went through the archives and pinned down the records for the four men in the photograph. Robert Carter, your associate’s grandfather, did indeed serve with the Volunteer Brigades in a support role in Windhoek, Namibia. His records show very little of note during the time in question. There were no special merits or demerits. Leon Thomas, Jr. is the man to the right of Robert. Something you should know right away is that he is the Thomas in Pryor-Thomas, meaning he’s her father, so that’s an interesting wrinkle given how Pryor-Thomas feels about having anything about her personal life in the media. Thomas served in the Angolan detachment of the Volunteer Brigades as a medic. He was awarded the Medal of Military Merit by the Angolan government for his efforts in a battle near what is listed as Sá da Bandeira, today known as Lubango. Promising, but we don’t know any details about his heroism. Marvin Harris III is the man to the left of Robert. He served in the Mozambican expedition as an infantryman. He was killed in action in that debacle. The man to the left of Marvin is Joshua Brown. He served in South Africa as a “specialist.” What that means is undefined. There’s no information listed about his service at all, which is unusual. I would suggest getting into contact with the South African archives to see if they have records of his service. By the way… you sounded like you were going to start sending bombs to the LA bureau. Nobody wants a bureau from another city to headline in theirs but you’re gonna burn yourself out if you let yourself stay so mad about it. Isabel Johnson Lead Researcher Chicago Filmmaker’s Bureau ~*~*~ From: jmartinez@nyc.filmmakers.synd To: ahaskins@atl.filmmakers.synd Sent: 9:18 AM June 8, 2010 Subject: RE: Angola??? Hey Andrea, it was great to hear from you! When are you coming up to New York again?! We need to have lunch. I love the idea, and I think the judges will go for it. I’m sure it’s better than whatever Los Angeles is doing, I don’t think you need to be so worried about them. Anyway, we do have people in Angola working on some nature shit for the Ministry of Education. I’ve been sorting through footage of aardvarks fucking for weeks and helping you with this would be a welcome change of pace. I forwarded everything in your email to our team there and I’ll let you know as soon as I hear back. Joel Martinez Lead Producer New York Filmmaker’s Bureau ~*~*~ From: ahaskins@atl.filmmakers.synd To: all@atl.filmmakers.synd Sent: 10:24 AM June 14, 2010 Subject: SOMEBODY TOLD Body: Los Angeles knows about the Angola proposal and has their own people on the ground already, and they’re definitely trying to steal OUR idea. I’m gonna figure out which one of you decided to blab on some dumb fucking forum which I’ve TOLD YOU: LA IS ALWAYS WATCHING THOSE FORUMS. When I do figure it out, you’ll be making STI prevention PSAs for the rest of your fucking life. Get your shit together!!! Andrea Haskins Bureau Chief Atlanta Filmmaker’s Bureau ~*~*~ From: ahaskins@atl.filmmakers.synd To: all@atl.filmmakers.synd Sent: 10:29 AM June 14, 2010 Subject: Regarding my last email Body: I apologize for the severity of my last email. It was unprofessional and unbecoming. Please refer to bureau bylaw 715.6A regarding keeping production information confidential. Furthermore, I am aware and always willing to abide by our participatory disciplinary process. Thank you. Andrea Haskins Bureau Chief Atlanta Filmmaker’s Bureau ~*~*~ From: jmartinez@nyc.filmmakers.synd To: ahaskins@atl.filmmakers.synd Sent: 5:56 PM June 26, 2010 Subject: Re: Angola research Body: Apparently the Angola archives fucked up and gave the information my guys requested to somebody from the L.A. bureau who is also in Luanda. They were perfectly nice about it and dropped it off at the studio we’re working out of here. Anyway, the nature bullshit is held up because some baboons (literal baboons) wrecked our camera. Since my Director of Photography is an obnoxious perfectionist, the camera that got wrecked needs some ridiculously specific part that is only made in Vietnam. The shit we put up with for our craft! That means my guys don’t have shit to do so I had them digitize all the documents the defense ministry handed over about the foreign volunteers. And they handed over a lot, way more than what you asked for. The records include details of ALL foreign support efforts of the Angolan revolution, even what nations who didn’t send fighters did. It’s a massive file so they’ll send it over through FTP when they can. Joel Martinez Lead Producer New York Filmmaker’s Bureau ~*~*~ From: jjefferson@atl.filmmakers.synd To: creativecommittee@atl.filmmakers.synd Sent: 2:56 PM August 6, 2010 Subject: Done with the Angola files We’re preparing a full presentation of what’s in the Angola files, but I wanted to get a brief summary of the key points to everybody before the weekend. Leon Thomas Jr. does appear in Angola’s service records, and his service record is just about as vague as the American record that Isabel found for us. The Leon Thomas Jr. story according to the Angolan and American records is that he was a medic and he was heroic enough in Lubango to get a medal. What was that heroism? Nobody bothered to write it down. Leon, as a semi-public figure, has mentioned getting a medal in Angola, but doesn’t really discuss what he did to earn it. Not an uncommon trait amongst war heroes, but something that I think arouses suspicion combined with something else we learned. Who’s going to clear this up for us? The British, of course! Unlike the American Red Army, who seemed content to vomit volunteers and equipment into Africa without ever following up to see what those men and materiel were being used for, the Republican Army organized and sent their own units with British commanders. And they kept records of what they did. This is pretty typical of the time. British military intelligence had long standing connections with African socialist groups and provided support to their favored factions within the broader Angolan Revolution. Compared to the French and British, American intelligence networks in Africa were embryonic. The American Red Army went from having no contacts in these colonies to managing large-scale war efforts in a matter of months. So, the Angolan revolutionaries figured out that they could goad America into sending more troops by showering honors upon the volunteers. The American government, in their amateurish lust for good will and good press, totally took the bait and threw troops and equipment at any group that could sing even the first line of The Internationale and would pin a medal on an American. The same flattery tactics didn’t work on the British. The British command was deciding how many people it would send to Angola and so Angolan coaxing for more support took place at higher levels. Thus, the Angolans were more likely to be honest about what the British fighters were doing. An American fighter in Angola was six times more likely to be awarded a medal than a British fighter. So, in order to get a more accurate picture of what actually went down in the Angolan Revolution, we dive into the British records. The British kept records of all engagements they had knowledge of, even ones with no direct British involvement. They do show one engagement near Lubango, where an Angolan militia (which included 75 American volunteers) surrounded and captured a Portuguese unit in the dead of night, inflicting “about 150” casualties on the enemy with only 2 Angolans suffering “minor injuries.” Leon has always been vague about what happened in Lubango. He says he earned his medal for being a “good medic.” How many opportunities are there to be a good medic when there are two minor injuries in your entire force? I’ll let you all draw your own conclusions about that. Jamie Jefferson Researcher & Archivist Atlanta Filmmaker’s Bureau ~*~*~ From: ahaskins@atl.filmmakers.synd To: creativecommittee@atl.filmmakers.synd CC: tcarter@atl.filmmakers.synd Sent: 4:24 PM September 9, 2010 Subject: Focusing the Project Body: If you missed the meeting today, then here’s a quick catch up on what we decided. We can’t possibly fit the stories of all four men into one movie. Robert’s story is too uneventful, and Leon’s is far too unreliable. So that leaves Marvin in Mozambique and Joshua in South Africa. We don’t know enough about Joshua yet but many of you have made interesting cases to center the project around Marvin. We decided not to do that. Here’s why. France refused to help the Mozambican socialists because of a petty disagreement between the negotiators. This is really a pretty shameful thing we’d have to contend with for a story with Mozambique and I just don’t think it would make for the type of film that the festival judges would choose as a headliner. It’s important for the film to center the fact that the Africans liberated Africa, with our assistance. While we can make an American the central character, we must also center the story of what they learned from and how they supported the local population. However, the campaign in Mozambique was disjointed from the start. The locals and Americans didn’t communicate effectively, so I don’t know if this is the kind of story we want to tell either. And so, the climax of the Marvin story would be as follows: Marvin lands with the rest of the Americans. Because the Portuguese knew they were coming, they were massacred. The Mozambican Revolution fails. I don’t know about you, but I’m not brimming with Afro-American pride because of this endeavor. It was a disaster, and while I’m interested by a film that deals with the frustrations when international socialist solidarity fails, I don’t think its appropriate for the Festival. Marvin is a hero, but not the hero for the story we need to be telling. The paucity of film about the first Mozambican Revolution was a good point in favor of centering Marvin. However, South Africa’s revolution gets more attention for a reason, because it was longer, more fruitful and more intricate. On the other hand, it dominates French film about Africa because the French love to play up their alliance with the RSA. If you ask me, it’s because they’re ashamed of how they failed other African states. From what I remember from to the judges at the Lagos festival, they were fairly negative about how French submissions so often center white French heroes in the South African Revolution. However, we are not France. Black America is part of the pan-African community and, in my opinion, we are not being obnoxious or colonial by telling the story of a black American who fought to liberate black Africans. It’s different, and we have the experience and insight to do this kind of story the right way. Provided we can get the information we need about Joshua’s service, I think this could be a very promising subject. Andrea Haskins Bureau Chief Atlanta Filmmaker’s Bureau ~*~*~ From: ahaskins@atl.filmmakers.synd To: creativecommittee@atl.filmmakers.synd CC: tcarter@atl.filmmakers.synd Sent: 12:42 PM October 2, 2010 Subject: Re: The South Africa Project Body: We heard from the archives and they can’t give us the files about Joshua’s service until the Ministry of Defence there approves their declassification. I am told that this is a formality and that there’s no reason not to declassify them. This will make it very public what we’re looking into. Luckily, I have it on good authority that Los Angeles has chosen their concept. I’m told that it’s basically Hamlet but the characters are all lions in the savanna. It sounds moronic. In the meantime, we did get some previously declassified information about a woman connected to Joshua. And it’s real good stuff. Joshua married a woman named Unathi Masuku, and she was an instrumental figure in orchestrating the initial wave of urban uprisings which marked the beginning of the end for the white regime. She earned three separate medals for heroism in the battle of Mbabane. Two of the medals mention bravery in hand to hand combat. Unathi was the REAL DEAL. We’re sending a team over and they’re going to track down her descendants immediately. Even if we don’t find anything about Joshua, we could probably just make the whole movie about her. Andrea Haskins Bureau Chief Atlanta Filmmaker’s Bureau ~*~*~ From: jjefferson@atl.filmmakers.synd To: creativecommittee@atl.filmmakers.synd Sent: 2:48 AM October 9, 2010 Subject: Unathi’s Family Body: Teanna and I talked to some Joshua and Unathi’s children today. They had some real interesting stories to pass down from their parents. They had quite the story about some British guy named Roger. Apparently, he was Unathi’s first squeeze, as Unathi and her ANC cell had been paired with Roger’s British special operations unit, doing some real high stakes sabotage operations. One day, they are headed to meet a French team for some big operation, and they all get ambushed. Roger gets wounded and Ubathi has to leave him behind in order to get the rest of her people out alive. She figures that Roger has been captured and wants to find out where he’s being kept so her people can attempt a rescue. A few days later, Ubathi gets word that her childhood home has been burnt down and that Roger’s head was left amidst the ruins, stuck on a bayonet. The regime forces had executed him and targeted Ubathi’s family for reprisal. It was supposed to intimidate her. Naturally, it ended up infuriating her instead. Lo and behold, this happens to the exact same day that Joshua arrives in the town. He was supposed to be a regular infantryman but Ubathi picked him at random out of the new arrivals and conscripted him for her special operations squad. The children are insistent that this was destiny. They didn’t have much to say about what Joshua and Ubathi got up to, so hopefully we can find out more about that. But they do mention that the family house outside Bulawayo is the house where Ubathi killed Roger’s murderer. Not really sure what the story is there but that region saw a lot of counter-revolutionary activity, so it would follow that his murderer would seek refuge there after the cities to the south fell to the ANC. I’ll look into it more. Jamie Jefferson Researcher & Archivist Atlanta Filmmaker’s Bureau ~*~*~ From: ahaskins@atl.filmmakers.synd To: all@atl.filmmakers.synd Sent: 8:56 AM October 30, 2010 Subject: We Have Our Film! Body: We spent all weekend going over the material provided to us by the South African Ministry of Defence and goddamn, we have our movie! Here’s the basic outline: Ubathi Masuku, tough young lady, is fighting to liberate South Africa with a dashing Brit who she has feelings for. They get ambushed! The Brit is captured! Oh no! Ubathi resolves to rescue her comrade, but tragedy strikes when regime forces burn down her mother’s house and leave the Brit’s head as a warning! She’s not intimidated by this, she’s mad as hell! So, she picks out of a group of new arrivals a handsome young man who made a vow that he would help free Africa the way his father fought to free America. Joshua Brown is in the squad and they have a mission: Find everybody responsible for terrorizing her family and executing their people. They all have to pay! As Ubathi, Joshua and the squad work to bring justice to the murderers, Joshua and Ubathi bond and fall in love! It’s got it all! Loss! Love! Action! We don’t have to make up too many things! This is our movie! I can’t wait to make it happen with all of you. Andrea Haskins Bureau Chief Atlanta Filmmaker’s Bureau ~*~*~ From: ahaskins@atl.filmmakers.synd To: tcarter@atl.filmmakers.synd Sent: 10:56 PM April 26, 2012 Subject: just for you Body: I wanted you to be the first person in the bureau to know this because this all started with you. We did it. Gold Medal. Headliner of the Pan-African Film Festival. In our own city. On our own terms. Those smug bastards in Los Angeles can eat our WHOLE ASS, and it all started with you not being too embarrassed to show your terribly written middle school paper to all your comrades. Thank you so much. Andrea Haskins Bureau Chief Atlanta Filmmaker’s Bureau ~*~*~ From: jyang@lax.filmmakers.synd To: ahaskins@atl.filmmakers.synd Sent: 6:45 PM May 5, 2012 Subject: Loved the movie! Heya Andrea! Just wanted to pass along congratulations on the big honor! Masuku’s Marauders, The Atlanta Bureau’s first headliner of a major film festival! Who would have thought when we were roommates at Haywood that we’d both have major headliners! I did see the film and I have to say the ending was masterful! Joshua avoiding talking to Ubathi about what he’ll do after the war the whole film. And then he finally says he wants to stay! I. Was. SOBBING!! Where’d you find these actors?! They really made it all work. The whole final scene where they go to the manor of Colonel Van Onselen was so great. They’re not just walking happily into the sunset, no that’s way too simplistic. Instead they find this quiet idyllic manor, and after every terrible thing that has happened, they are in this peaceful quaint little place removed from it all. Every bit of peace and pleasantness Van Onselen had in his life was gained from the cruelty he inflicted on others. And after all of that, Ubathi had taken it from him. That’s what she’s experiencing when she sits on his furniture and just sobs because she’s SO TIRED. That catharsis… I felt that. Does the revolutionary exult in their glory so much as they struggle to gain the opportunity to have that kind of catharsis and healing in peace and under their own sovereignty? Rhetorical question, of course. We should get together and chat about our different angles on it. Just like the old days in our dorm. Love and miss you, Jenny Yang Bureau Chief Los Angeles Filmmaker’s Bureau

@Har1s Yeah i don't think i could do it again

o7 TCL, o7 Micchan All hail the Forum Fighters

When you read fellow viet and you are a bit confused

Avicii hit me hard. Partially because of how it happened and partially because of how generous of a person he was. His music was great but he donated millions of dollars to hunger relief around the world.

Clearly we should do this like 3 to 4 hours earlier so the Europeans can also attend AND blackie can not. This is a jeanious idea if I have ever come up with one... :trollface:

@legoboyvdlp - can you set up some European movie nights?

I once played openTTD but didn't really stick with it

I play roblox, beat dat. There is a rollercoaster tycoon game on that afaik.

I had Zoo Tycoon. Close enough?

I only played RCT2 but that one a lot.

I played a bit on the early versions, but definitely not anything recently.

I played the original back in the day

I Played SimCity 2000, Sim City 3000 and SimCity 4 + the Rush Hour expansion LOVED IT! But I never played the later games they didn't look good.

So in my prior role at work, I had the opportunity to do a fair amount of international travel. I'm not personally too much of a fan of the logistics and headaches of travel, but I do enjoy the change in pace, getting to see the sights, and getting to know the people in a new place. I always found South Korea to be very comfortable and familiar. The fashion is very western in style. The cars drive on the right (and the correct) side of the road. I can't read a damn thing and only know/knew a few words in Korean but I had the fortune of traveling with our local sales manager who could help keep me out of trouble and enjoying the sights. One night, after a long day visiting customers and suppliers, we got dropped off at the hotel and I stopped into my hotel room to change clothes and grab my camera. I was in the Pangyo Techno Valley, a highly commercial area that was rapidly growing. New construction with cranes were everywhere. But I found a nice park to walk through, some nice trails that made their way into the hills, and eventually found a really nice pavilion overlooking the new construction in the Valley. It was all wood construction with ornate and very vibrant painting inside. The contrast between the old style architecture and the new construction was striking. I spent a long time hanging out up here, enjoying the sights and taking photos. This image was my favorite and very technically challenging to create. Given that it was night time with lots of bring lights from the Valley, the shadows were deep and the highlights white. In order to get the perspective I wanted (not having a fisheye lens), I knew I had to take a two panoramic image (think two rows of images). Each image that was stitched together was a composite of 3 images at different exposure levels to account for the dynamic range I was trying to capture. The final image is a whopping 14,309 x 5,813 pixels or 83MP. The largest image I've ever made. I am so happy with how the image turned out. Not only because of the time I spent to take the several dozen images that went into the final render, but also because it actually captured the feel of the place. Look up and you're in a different time. Ornate painting, handmade craftsmanship. Look out, and you're in the boom of a modern city. I went back to the hotel happy. Refreshed from the walk. Energized by what I had seen. And ready to prepare for the next day with a good night of sleep.

I heard both grimgar and tanya are good, so im starting with tanya and grimgar after, guess i will find out if goblin slayer is good when i get to it. God blessing on this wonderful world is konosuba and is said to come out in fall/winter 2019.

Haven't watch Grimgar before so can't comment on it but Tanya the evil is not too bad, and God blessing on this wonerful world (im assuming you mean Konosuba) is a very good comedy show. imo, Goblin Slayer is a show where people either like or don't like it, been hearing that the anime somewhat butchered the LN/manga

I thought a lot of stuff i watched was good, but atleast a decent amount was considered average. Looks like we have different taste in anime but tonight i will be giving the saga of tanya the evil a go then check out grimgar: ashes and illusions then give goblin slayer a go. Also waiting for fall/winter to watch gods blessing on this wonderful world.

Dear Robert E Lee and leading members of The Knights Radiant, For too long have you controlled the world of Orbis, ruling through totalitarianism, corruption, and censorship. Direct democracy? Nope. Self-determination or expression? Practically outlawed. Making a joke about declaring war on a hated and weak alliance? Punished by removal from alliance. For those of you who do not know, I was accepted into The Knights Radiant earlier today after starting a brand-new nation. I have had slight Politics and War experience before, but had not gone through the process of entering such a renowned, formal alliance. I jumped from the University of Alabama of the Politics and War world to the Harvard. Only certain words -- ecstatic, overjoyed, etc. -- could describe my reaction. Then imagine my reaction when I uncovered that Robert E Lee had removed me from the alliance. Why?, I questioned. The only thing that it could be traced back to was a mere joke that I posted on a random subform -- one that was neither crude nor inappropriate. I suggested that the Knights Radiant should declare war on Fark, an alliance which I compared to the "Duke basketball of Politics and War . . . everyone hates them . . . except that they are not as good." Less than an hour later (before I even had time to apologize for the joke if some found it offensive or ignorant), I discover that my membership to the alliance has been taken away. I strongly recommend a punishment for or at least a review of Robert E Lee's actions before he continues as Herald of Internal Affairs. It seems to me that actions like these are an everyday occurrence for him, that he regularly abuses his power as Herald to make damaging decisions that barely breach his (unspecified) standards of forum and in-game behavior. He not only provided me no personal response to a question I sent him on application, but also provided no explanation as to who removed me from the alliance and why. A review of Robert E Lee's actions would prevent these overreaches from occurring in the future. The remarks I have written today are not only to address my personal situation with Robert E Lee and quick removal from The Knights Radiant, but rather to address the timely political struggles between censorship and self-expression. In the current environment perpetrated by the leaders of Orbis alliances, free speech and direct democracy are not encouraged, but rather discouraged so that Robert E Lee and other officials of top alliances can retain the vast amount of power that they possess. Any revolutions or disagreement with these officials leave nations of the lower and middle-classes rejected by their own alliance. This sense of totalitarianism and cronyism is perpetrated by two main authoritarian methods: undemocratic government and censorship. Top alliance officials have just assumed power due to a myriad of factors, and will continue to control the masses of nations below them forever unless a democratic system of election(s) is implemented. But under the current system, we will never achieve a democratic system of government. Most (but not all) alliance officials stay in touch with the world of Orbis, eliminating any tension between them and lower-class nations through censorship. Criticism, differing suggestions, or even mild disagreement with alliance policy can result in severe repercussions -- such as removal from the alliance (as in my case). Instead, we should advocate for a world based on the values of self-determination (the process of a people democratically electing and trusting in their own government), self-expression, and direct democracy. Let us do our best to combat strong totalitarianism throughout the Orbis world. I hope that The Knights Radiant will address the two aforementioned threats of anti-democracy and censorship appropriately, firstly by reviewing the actions of Robert E Lee. And finally, the last section of my final remarks consists of a list of challenges that I ask of different members of the Knights Radiant. Failure to address these challenges will result in a continued reputation of anti-democratic and censorist policy. I challenge Robert E Lee and other officials of The Knights Radiant to refrain from deleting and/or censoring this post. I challenge the government of The Knights Radiant to conduct a review into the actions of Robert E Lee, and to promote a culture of self-expression and democracy I challenge the government of The Knights Radiant to reconsider the removal of my nation, the United States of Carolina, from the alliance I challenge the non-government members of The Knights Radiant to instigate a revolution and leave The Knights Radiant if self-expression and democracy continue to be infringed upon (e.g. if this post is deleted) I challenge the non-government members of The Knights Radiant to also create a new alliance if self-expression and democracy continue to be infringed upon I hope you will consider my remarks greatly, and wish all the best for The Knights Radiant in the future. Long live democracy, J------- C------- President of the United States of Carolina -- Postscript: I would like to recognize the actions of Bhuto to welcome me to the Knights Radiant, which were helpful and completely effective in every way. I strongly encourage and endorse Bhuto for a position in internal affairs.

The leaders of Knights Radiant have taken this discussion about a review of their invasion of free speech and self-expression, and have since turned it into a political discussion. The point here is that Knights Radiant removed a member from the alliance for no apparent reason, and has promoted a culture of authoritarianism and censorship. Anyone who is repulsed by the actions of these leaders should come join me at Avansies (temporarily). Don't come after my nation, which is protected by the New Pacific Order. And my final words on this forum: The Knights Radiant will cease to exist in a very short time period. Just wait and see. Now, let's leave our readers with some interesting quotes from this discussion: Most Honorable Alliance, my butt. A Post-Script: Robert E Lee did not clarify why I was removed from the alliance after being accepted. After being removed almost immediately after posting the comment about Fark, it was easy to realize that the comment was the reason for my removal. For anyone who is reading this -- revolt! Why should you continue on the path of censorship and nations being controlled by Robert E Lee? It's called federalism and republicanism. By dear God, retain some of it.

I would have been retarded to give you information regarding the state of your failing alliance without any retribution. Just like Obama, with the U.S. funding the majority of NATO's projects even though there are 28 other nations in it! Who do you think I am: Obama?

So you don't want to read your own posts? You are therefore conceding to the fact that your posts are sh*t.

Okay, great, you are a dictator. I am not looking for an all-out assault on authoritarianism, but rather an ... explanation as to why I was removed. I recommend becoming less authoritarian, though. Many members of TKR are frustrated with you and some of the other princes and heralds. ... It's interesting that you post a picture of Trump, the candidate that I supported in the general election. Trump advocates for the originalist idea of the Constitution, which guarantees the right of free speech! He also is not a crony politician/official who appeals to special interests and bureaucracy, such as yourself and Hillary! In contrast, Trump appeals to the "forgotten man and woman." These forgotten people are those who staunchly oppose your cronyism and censorship, and who will soon revolt. Okay. I'm just advocating for a little more free speech and democratic ideas. I am also not the one who has standards of forum or in-game behavior -- that, sir, is Robert E Lee, who removes me from the alliance due to a joke! Yes, I was. I received a message from Robert E Lee that I had been accepted into the alliance, and went to take the entrance exam. After posting the comment about Fark, I returned to the forum to find all of my contributions deleted and to PW itself to find I had been removed from the alliance. Thanks for the compliment. You're in the same boat as Bhuto. I'll give you some advice up front: revolt! So this (an excerpt from a previous thread isn't sh*t posting? Please. -- "I've read hentai you people wouldn't believe. Tentacles raping lolis in all the holes, ALL THE HOLES. I watched dicks giving a birh. All those moments will be lost in time, like sperms in a sea of cum. Time to fap." -- J------- C------- President of the United States of Carolina