Posts made by ZimZaxZeo

Sure, you just need an energetic literary agent – and an audience with the Pope!

Comparing the drunk driving death stats to deaths by terrorism, ey?
Want to ponder an even more sobering statistic?
11 million is about 1.8 percent of 6 billion.
Know what I’m working back towards?
A statistic I heard quoted a while ago.

I wanted to check it out for myself, in round numbers, so I “did the math.”
The statistical statement was along the lines of… 3,000 people were killed in the 9/11 terrorist attack – yet, every day around the world, 30,000 children die of disease, starvation, war, etc. Not one day out of the year. Every day.

So I did the simple math, to gauge whether it seemed to make sense: 30,000 x 365 is approx. 11 million annually. And that’s a bit under 2 percent of the six billion world population, which seems roughly what it might be. Indeed, even if the number is way off, and it’s “only” 15,000 a day, or 5.5 million a year, it seems accurate. And while I have not looked up World Health Org or UN stats to check, I would venture to say that the number one killer is certainly mosquito-borne malaria, followed by several other major bacterial and viral strains. Think of that! The flimsy little mosquito, which rarely lives for more than a couple of days, is the most consistent, lethal assassin of youth on our planet.

It’s the poverty, the ignorance, the greed, the fear… that keep us as a species from besting these challenges. Like you all said above, this macabre entertainment of overhyped terrorism and religion-warped strife will certainly take on “sideshow” status in the long, historical view of our presumed “progress.” Poor kids.

This is pretty amazing. Nice job by the BBC. Not extensive, but very real. Includes newly released aerial recon of Omaha Beach, 59 years ago today!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/uk/03/d_day_iphoto/html/default.stm

I’m interested in anyone’s comments.

Funny hahha. Where’s the one for our 51st state, Iraq.

Welcome to Iraq: the Babaganoush State!
Ride the Tigris this summer!!

OK, but it’ll have to wait until we get past the middle of June – I’m tied up with “real life” stuff.
Then we could do the game play via aaemc (I think I’m still registered there).

On third thought, I say Caucasus is a distraction to the German effort – which must be directed straight at Moscow. Alexander the Great won many a battle by driving heart-on into the center of a numerically superior enemy – and breaking into the headquarters tent of the field marshal or whatever, fracturing resistance, routing the stragglers, etc. (Go, Alex!)

That maniac stooge of evil Hitler should have let Guderian & co. run the war their way. Thank goodness he didn’t, or we’d all be wearing lederhosen today instead of velour jogging suits!

Cool. Please keep us posted.
Thanks!

Ho-hum. This is like below WWF in entertainment value, once you’ve seen the first ten minutes.

Yet the outcomes affect everyone’s life – especially those in the middle class and below. Interesting how my sister despises Hillary on supposed moral grounds, while my mother admires her as a woman of achievement.

Certainly she has “brass tubes” that workaholic blonde lawyer – and without a doubt she has plunged into Senatorhood with her eyes on the White House… she has the highest negatives of any woman in politics, for sure - - and so did Eleanor Roosevelt!

In a sense, she ought to incorporate herself as a licensed money-printing machine for both parties! She is a polarizer. At least she’s not made out of oatmeal.

Now, t h a t s family values!!

Hmm. Monopoly as military game.

Howabout: Baghdad or Broke.
The value of Water Works & Electric Company would have to be increased tenfold – and Park Place and Boardwalk remain the most expensive properties, but are renamed Halliburton Place and Fort Bechtel.

The element of luck is emphasized through the cards you pick up at Community Chest & Chance, which are rebranded Cheney’s Bunker & France. And the role of Uncle Moneybucks will be lovingly portrayed by Uncle Rummyguns.

House rule fanatics can argue over whether you get extra moolah for landing on Free Parking, or if it’s simply a place to rest – and get your American butt shot at by martyrs on motorbikes.

And one true-to-life option is replicating square #4 (Income Tax) so that it is placed in every other square around all four sides of the board!

Ouch!!
No doubt the Democratic party is in disarray, and no doubt there be factions that would wish to dilute the potency of a Sharpton… still I don’t think that anyone had to coerce Mosely-Braun into running!

By the way, I’ve met the former Dem NY governor candidate (Carl McColl) and he’s all right – but – the party just didn’t see the upside in writing a major check for TV commercials in what was already a failed campaign! Pataki (the then and current governor) had it sewn up. Naturally, this being politics, and NY politics at that, there was plenty of screaming and yelling and accusations of betrayal etc. (sometimes referred to as "a candid and open discussion of the issues).

So what’s the handicapping look like now? My personal feeling is that Kerry, as front runner, could pick Graham for VP to help win Florida in Nov04. Or pick a California moderate as running mate – although California is probably one of the ((few)) “theirs to lose” states for the Dems.

A friend of mine says root for Vermont governor Howard Dean – on the theory that if you’re going to lose anyway, might as well go down in flames having made the case for the higher principles – as for example, the universal healthcare program that Dean launched in VT a couple of years ago.

The rest are mainly running now for name recognition with an eye on '08 (Edwards) or because they’ve learned that you can earn major influence and $$$ by running for president (Lieberman), making it one of the more rewarding things you can do with your clothes on ((or in Clinton’s case, otherwise)).

Inxduk,
I checked out your game #1588
Thank goodness Hitler never saw your plan!!
Thank goodness he was more fixated on one-upping Napoleon, rather than William the Conqueror!
Now you’ve got me pondering how the Allies can whup such a plan.
I find the game relatively well balanced, and think the 3x12 ipc idea would sink Germany’s chances more than somewhat.

This is intriguing, GeZe – will you be repeating such a session with a class in the future?

I find it fascinating how different people are attuned to different types of game play. For example, mat picks “Sorry” as a lousy game. And when I read his post, I flashed on some amazing interplay with Sorry as a young kid – tons of reversals of fortune, quick pace, etc., almost as much fast action as shooting craps. A group adrenaline rush disguised as a board game.

Now, I realize by the reaction of mat – this is not everyone’s cup of tea. So, how do you determine what goes into a “good” boardgame, besides its success at lasting over time and generations of players – and perhaps its ability to morph into a family of games?

I used to love to beat the take-Australia-first guys – like my uncle, who swore by it – by taking North America: 3 borders, 9 territories and 5 bonus. If you got lucky, you could take NA after 3 or 4 turns, before the Australian champ had much power to unleash.

I remember one Risk game played with 3 or 4 cousins where we somehow stalemated in a huge north-to-south line through Europe & Africa. There were so many armies on the board we actually built huge walls out of them (this was in the ancient game format where they made the army pieces out of wood – yes, wood!! – most were cubes, and the 5s were these plasmoid shapes). So, we stacked up these walls, like four bricks high and three deep, since nobody wanted to “risk” attacking the masses of defenders. Finally there was one giant apocalyptic dice orgy! What a riot. We were all in a stupor by then.

Anyway, RISK is a cool excuse to shoot dice for a couple of hours, and as many have noted, to trade insults and doublecrosses!!

@TM:

My dice rolls are not that good! :x Otherwise, so many who have served under my command, that faithfully and blindly followed my orders, and asked for nothing more would not perish in vain :( On the fields of France, the skies of Germany, and watery graves in the Atlantic. So many would never see the liberation of liberty or the freedoms held dear :cry:

Sheesh! We are in the presence of that rare combination: a commander-in-chief with the soul of a poet!!

Zauriel,

the Risk 2210 rule book sez you may buy up to 4 command cards per turn.

It’s easy to miss this rule – just a one-liner somewhere near the front of the rule book.

So, that pretty much limits you. You can certainly end up with a pile of cards by turn 5, if you save em… also on each turn you can add a free card (along with a free chip) by virtue taking three territories by combat (doesn’t count if the territory was unoccupied) – but only one such chip-and-card can be earned per turn, regardless of how much turf you overrun.

Also, I can’t recall, but it seems to me that unlike in Risk, in this futuristic update the elimination of an opponent does not yield his cards to your deck. Instead, his cards are eliminated right along with him!

… happy nuking!!

So, Kurt3892,

how did the latest edition work out?

Sounds like a hoot – when do you think the next one will take place – and is northern VA the likely locale?

Y’all may find some interesting facts, figures, points of view in the new book “Reefer Madness” by investigative reporter Eric Schlosser. In it, he examines the War on Drugs, the business boom in pornography, and how the US produce market is built on the serf-like abuse of illegal aliens.

Schlosser is the guy who wrote “Fast Food Nation,” another research tour-de-force that boasts a wealth of fascinating stories – and which will make you think twice the next time you order that burger on the go!

Scrubland: where the medical interns (scrubs) live and do their thang.
Didn’t I read that you recently accomplished some type of gravitation within the realm of applied human healthcare management (long ago known as “medicine”) ?

cc,
you are a noble philosopher,
and a shrewd humorist…
by the way, CONGRATULATIONS on your recent release from Scrubland!!