Forum
A place to discuss topics/games with other webDiplomacy players.
Page 758 of 1419
FirstPreviousNextLast
Crazy Anglican (1067 D)
03 Feb 10 UTC
Word association thread
Post the first single word that comes to mind when you have read the last post.
14402 replies
Open
Tolstoy (1962 D)
18 Jun 11 UTC
Skeptics, atheists, Christians, and Anyone Else - please chime in
Make sure you watch both parts first:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EWwzFwUOxA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5965wcH2Kx0
196 replies
Open
12hr Mediterranean
12hrs/phase
Anon
Ancient Mediterranean
1 reply
Open
London198 (0 DX)
28 Jun 11 UTC
50 pt Anon WTA
hosting an Anonymous WTA 50 point buy in, 1 day phases starts in a day. Game ID = 62606
1 reply
Open
Maniac (189 D(B))
24 May 11 UTC
Diplomacy as a spectator sport
gameID=59681 follow the game here and discuss and comment as the game progresses; players will also contribute but as game is anonymous gunboat we don't know who is playing and who is shouting from the sidelines.
337 replies
Open
raphtown (151 D)
25 Jun 11 UTC
World Wide Web (of Diplomacy)
See inside for my proposal for a Classicist branch on webdip.
24 replies
Open
thatwasawkward (4690 D(B))
28 Jun 11 UTC
12-hour high stakes WTA gunboat?
Greetings all. I've set up a 12-hour per phase WTA classic gunboat with a password and was hoping to entice some of the more experienced Diplomacy veterans to join up for a high quality game. The entry fee is 333 D. Shoot me a PM if you want in. If you meet my moderately rigorous requirements (you've got some skill and don't make a habit of resigning games) I will send you the password. Thanks.

gameID=62629
1 reply
Open
President Eden (2750 D)
29 Jun 11 UTC
Might need a sitter for a live game soon.
PM for details. It's not going to be a terribly difficult commission.
10 replies
Open
President Eden (2750 D)
26 Jun 11 UTC
How do I play this game?
I want to build airplanes to bomb my opponent but they won't let me build anything but tanks and submarines. Where are the airports? And the nukes?

btw I'm 12 years old
53 replies
Open
apem8 (1295 D)
28 Jun 11 UTC
Live game in 1 hour
Join my live game 30 bet and starts in a hour.
2 replies
Open
joey1 (198 D)
28 Jun 11 UTC
Need a sitter for Canada/July 4th day weekend
Hello, I'm going to be at the family cottage with no internet from Afternoon of June 30th to Evening of July 4th. I'm in 5, 2 or 3 day/phase games (none are anon) that I would need a sitter to enter 1-2 sets of orders for if I don't get pauses. anyone willing to help with that? Please PM me.
1 reply
Open
Alderian (2425 D(S))
26 Jun 11 UTC
Trolling question
See inside...
19 replies
Open
President Eden (2750 D)
26 Jun 11 UTC
FEMA trailer camps -- really concentration camps???
Are they? See inside.
7 replies
Open
Sicarius (673 D)
21 Jun 11 UTC
9/11 and the Orwellian Redefinition of "Conspiracy Theory"
we had a discussion awhile ago here about this. I invite everyones opinions, but not ad hominem crap.
Page 1 of 6
FirstPreviousNextLast
 
Sicarius (673 D)
21 Jun 11 UTC
While we were not watching, conspiracy theory has undergone Orwellian redefinition.

A "conspiracy theory" no longer means an event explained by a conspiracy. Instead, it now means any explanation, or even a fact, that is out of step with the government's explanation and that of its media pimps.

For example, online news broadcasts of RT have been equated with conspiracy theories by the New York Times simply because RT reports news and opinions that the New York Times does not report and the US government does not endorse.

In other words, as truth becomes uncomfortable for government and its Ministry of Propaganda, truth is redefined as conspiracy theory, by which is meant an absurd and laughable explanation that we should ignore.

The purest example of how Americans are shielded from truth is the media's (including many Internet sites') response to the large number of professionals who find the official explanation of September 11, 2001, inconsistent with everything they, as experts, know about physics, chemistry, structural engineering, architecture, fires, structural damage, the piloting of airplanes, the security procedures of the United States, NORAD's capabilities, air traffic control, airport security, and other matters. These experts, numbering in the thousands, have been shouted down by know-nothings in the media who brand the experts as "conspiracy theorists."

This despite the fact that the official explanation endorsed by the official media is the most extravagant conspiracy theory in human history.

Let's take a minute to re-acquaint ourselves with the official explanation, which is not regarded as a conspiracy theory despite the fact that it comprises an amazing conspiracy. The official truth is that a handful of young Muslim Arabs who could not fly airplanes, mainly Saudi Arabians who came neither from Iraq nor from Afghanistan, outwitted not only the CIA and the FBI, but also all 16 US intelligence agencies and all intelligence agencies of US allies including Israel's Mossad, which is believed to have penetrated every terrorist organization and which carries out assassinations of those whom Mossad marks as terrorists.

In addition to outwitting every intelligence agency of the United States and its allies, the handful of young Saudi Arabians outwitted the National Security Council, the State Department, NORAD, airport security four times in the same hour on the same morning, air traffic control, caused the US Air Force to be unable to launch interceptor aircraft, and caused three well-built steel-structured buildings, including one not hit by an airplane, to fail suddenly in a few seconds as a result of limited structural damage and small, short-lived, low-temperature fires that burned on a few floors.

The Saudi terrorists were even able to confound the laws of physics and cause WTC building seven to collapse at free fall speed for several seconds, a physical impossibility in the absence of explosives used in controlled demolition.

The story that the government and the media have told us amounts to a gigantic conspiracy, really a script for a James Bond film. Yet, anyone who doubts this improbable conspiracy theory is defined into irrelevance by the obedient media.

Anyone who believes an architect, structural engineer, or demolition expert who says that the videos show that the buildings are blowing up, not falling down, anyone who believes a Ph.D. physicist who says that the official explanation is inconsistent with known laws of physics, anyone who believes expert pilots who testify that non-pilots or poorly-qualified pilots cannot fly airplanes in such maneuvers, anyone who believes the 100 or more first responders who testify that they not only heard explosions in the towers but personally experienced explosions, anyone who believes University of Copenhagen nano-chemist Niels Harrit who reports finding unreacted nano-thermite in dust samples from the WTC towers, anyone who is convinced by experts instead of by propaganda is dismissed as a kook.

In America today, and increasingly throughout the Western world, actual facts and true explanations have been relegated to the realm of kookiness. Only people who believe lies are socially approved and accepted as patriotic citizens.

Indeed, a writer or newscaster is not even permitted to report the findings of 9/11 skeptics. In other words, simply to report Professor Harrit's findings now means that you endorse them or agree with them. Everyone in the US print and TV media knows that he/she will be instantly fired if they report Harrit's findings, even with a laugh. Thus, although Harrit has reported his findings on European television and has lectured widely on his findings in Canadian universities, the fact that he and the international scientific research team that he led found unreacted nano-thermite in the WTC dust and have offered samples to other scientists to examine has to my knowledge never been reported in the American media.

The unwillingness or inability to entertain any view of 9/11 different from the official view dooms to impotence many Internet sites that are opposed to the wars and to the rise of the domestic US police state. These sites, for whatever the reasons, accept the government's explanation of 9/11; yet, they try to oppose the "war on terror" and the police state which are the consequences of accepting the government's explanation. Trying to oppose the consequences of an event whose explanation you accept is an impossible task.

If you believe that America was attacked by Muslim terrorists and is susceptible to future attacks, then a "war on terror" and a domestic police state to root out terrorists become necessary to make Americans safe. The idea that a domestic police state and open-ended war might be more dangerous threats to Americans than terrorists is an impermissible thought.

A country whose population has been trained to accept the government's word and to shun those who question it is a country without liberty in its future.
Invictus (240 D)
21 Jun 11 UTC
You're an idiot.
Thucydides (864 D(B))
22 Jun 11 UTC
^ lol.

what's RT?
Jack_Klein (897 D)
22 Jun 11 UTC
And not even a useful one.
Thucydides (864 D(B))
22 Jun 11 UTC
and sic though i must admit i didnt read the whole deal i assume i get the gist -

does it matter either way if i tell you that I reject this characterization that terrorism is such a big deal anyway? statistically youre more likely to die by falling out of bed or something. is this statement directed at me anyway?
Octavious (2701 D)
22 Jun 11 UTC
Before Sicarius I wasn't sure what a kook was. Now I know.
Putin33 (111 D)
22 Jun 11 UTC
RT is Russia Today. I'm saddened that Siccy is using it here because it's an excellent news channel.
Tettleton's Chew (0 DX)
22 Jun 11 UTC
Oh no. A 9-11 truther. Used car salesmen around the globe are waiting for this individual to walk on their lots because they know they can sell him anything.
orathaic (1009 D(B))
22 Jun 11 UTC
"This despite the fact that the official explanation endorsed by the official media is the most extravagant conspiracy theory in human history."

citation needed.
orathaic (1009 D(B))
22 Jun 11 UTC
@thucy: yes, i very much agree. The chances of dying of a preventable illness in the US due to lack of adequate medical insurance is a greater risk than terrorism.

Yet how much money is the US spending going to war with people hiding in caves or those who happened to live in a country which was not in anyway connected with Islamic extremism UNTIL the US removed the dictator who was so efficient at suppressing that Islamic extremism?

never mind my personal annoyance at having extra security when i want to fly...
obiwanobiwan (248 D)
22 Jun 11 UTC
Sicarius, are you familiar Occam's Razor?

The SIMPLEST explanation to a case is nearly always the best, ie, the correct one--the more complex the explanation, the more variables, and thus the greater chance for error.

As you so and your conspiracy theories so PERFECTLY exemplify.

Now, what is more likely, given Occam's Razor:

That there was an elaborate, multi-faceted, and ultimately non-sensical conspiracy on the part of the government to orchestrate an attack with a hundred variables and hundreds who would need to be involved in once capacity for another, and not ONE of these people accidentally or intentionally leaking this conspiracy to the press or to anyone else, and all goes perfectly and without a hitch and this elaborate hoax is perpetrated...

OR...

A group of fanaticals who disliked America for decades and had the means and motive for an attack and threatened an attack carried out said attack?



Call me small-minded and a myrmidon if you like...

But logic isn't small-minded, nor is it Republican, Democrat, Communist, Right Wing, Left Wing, Centrist, Anarchist, or otherwise biased...

Logic is FAIR.
fiedler (1293 D)
22 Jun 11 UTC
Occam's Razor is for simpletons, because simpletons like simplicity. Funny that.
obiwanobiwan (248 D)
22 Jun 11 UTC
1+1=2.

A simple explanation as to how that works...

Does that make the logic any less sound?

It's very easy to throw around words like "simpletons" and claim "you're all blind" and "you just don't get it" and "you like simple explanations."

Why, it's the simplest way to cover an ineffective point, in fact!

Ergo, it's the BEST way to cover up the fact that the alternative is potentially flawed in its logic, as there's very LITTLE logic in childish name-calling, is there?



I notice you didn't answer Occam's question, either...

Which scenario is more likely?

The convoluted consiracy or the attack by those who ahd the means, method, and motive?
Sicarius (673 D)
22 Jun 11 UTC
Wow, already I've been called a kook, conspiracy theorist, and idiot. Dont you see, you ARE proving me right. I didnt say one thing suggesting that the government is responsible for 9-11. 9-11 is not even close to central to my point, I was merely using it as an example, because it is prime for this purpose.
What is my point, if you would have read it, (and no thucy this post isnt directed at you, or at the least you in particular) Is that skepticism of government 'official truths' is no longer treated as skepticism, which I have always held is essential for liberty, but as a sign of some sort of mental defect.
Sometimes when you tell something something happened, even if it did, it is so absurd as to require proof. Bin ladens death is a good example, which is where this wacko-jacketing started. The government says they killed their prime target, then dumped his body in the ocean. have pictures but we cant see. have video but we cant see. I'm just saying the burden of proof is on them.
I'm trying to figure out how thinking for yourself and not believing everything you're told (jut because you were told it) has turned into some sort of disease like schizophrenia or tourrettes (sp).
Sicarius (673 D)
22 Jun 11 UTC
@thucy ya sorry I missef that point but orthaiac answered it succintly.
joey1 (198 D)
22 Jun 11 UTC
I agree, the conspiracy just seams too much. Too many people would have to have been involved. There may be another explanation.

This is something that we need to get "Mythbusters" to look into. That would be fun to see.
Sicarius (673 D)
22 Jun 11 UTC
oh a quick sidenote, did you know we have things like this now

http://www.disinfo.com/2011/06/the-terror-chess-set-taliban-and-world-trade-center-included/
Sicarius (673 D)
22 Jun 11 UTC
Holy F*ck
I'm not trying to tell/convince anyone that 9-11 was cheyney or bin laden is having a mojito somewhere right now. I'm saying we are increasingly living in an age where any theory or idea or even cold, hard, fuck you, evidence is put aside if it contradicts the governments version of events. Are you even reading my posts? at all?
orathaic (1009 D(B))
22 Jun 11 UTC
yes, people either agree or disagree.

there is no middle ground, those who dissent are considered radicals or idiots.

there was an article about it recently, no? or was that somewhere else?
Octavious (2701 D)
22 Jun 11 UTC
But Sicarius, old chap, your central point is almost as far from the truth as your ridiculous 9-11 example. In Britain (not sure how similar it is in the US, but I dare say it's not too different) distrust of the government is as natural as the sun rising in the morning. Crime figures have been falling for years, and the government has been trumpeting the fact, but you'd be hard pressed to find a Brit who believes it. Schools have also improved by staggering amounts, but despite the government's best efforts the average Brit is convinced that education is in decline.

If anything skepticism of the government is too strong.

Draugnar (0 DX)
22 Jun 11 UTC
@Sic - By presenting 9-11 so prominently and talking of these so called experts in their fields (most of whom have been "defrocked" as it were by other experts and simple logic, like the so called demolitions guys who claim the towers fell just like planned implosions but can't explain how the demolition munitions got in to an actively used building in such a short time and were put on non-exposed beams without somebody seeing or hearing the cutting going to expose the beams or seeing the attached munitions the next morning when they came into their offices), you present this as evidence that the government is unquestionable. But presenting outlandish theories as the government being unquestionable isn't evidence of anything of the sort. You need to present evidence of a *plausible* theory that can't be debunked so easily and say "but see people call this a conspiracy theory just because it goes against the official explanation." The tragedy at Waco would be a good example. The official government story doesn't explain everything and laid the blaim on Koresh's followers instead of trying to dig deeper and see what the real truth was in the munitions used by the ATF and the timing of the whole Mongolian cluster fuck the ATF called a "raid".
Sicarius (673 D)
22 Jun 11 UTC
Ok well then waco is a better example. I really have NO interest in who/what caused 9-11 or who is responsible, I am much more concerned with what has happened as a result of it. Endless war, police state, dissapearing rights/freedoms etc.
Draugnar (0 DX)
22 Jun 11 UTC
Freedom is an illusion granted by a "benevolent" authority. We have no real freedoms and haven't since mankind leanred that "might makes right" and the mighty formed governments to enforce their authority. Even in a democratic republic such as the USA, the freedoms we have are priviledges permitted by the authority. If it were not so, one couldn't have them taken away by the state when one goes to prison, is drafted into the armed forces, or is convicted of violating a law the majority of the people find unjust to begin with. We, the people, have just learned to live within the boundaries permitted by the authority over us and deceive ourselves into believing this is some kind of freedom.
manganese (100 D)
22 Jun 11 UTC
@Sic Boy: It is incredibly saddening that you ask for opinions instead of facts.

That, if anything, is the sort of mindset that is dragging us all down the crap chute.
Sicarius (673 D)
22 Jun 11 UTC
Well I think it would be hard to come up with "facts" when disscussing something as intangible as the shifting meaning of phrases and its geo-political consequences. But hey who knows, maybe I'll find the smoking gun, white-out in merriam-webster.
manganese (100 D)
22 Jun 11 UTC
My point exactly.
Mafialligator (239 D)
22 Jun 11 UTC
This sort of thing is completely typical of the kind of mindset that conspiracy theories are based on. For the record, conspiracy theory has always been a sarcastic and dismissive term, it's not something new. But the pattern of conspiracy theorists is always the same. Come up with paranoid alternate explanation. Claim to be the only person who can see the truth, claim brainwashing by the powers that be for everyone else, and then claim that you're being persecuted.

Let me make one thing absolutely, totally and irrevocably clear. Just because I don't believe in conspiracy theories, that doesn't mean I trust the government. I don't. It's not that I think they're too moral for the stuff of conspiracy theories. I just don't think that any conspiracy theory that has come to light is actually plausible. They're all just too fanciful, too farfetched. The truth is, the real world isn't like the movies.
Draugnar (0 DX)
22 Jun 11 UTC
Agreed Mafia. And it should be pointed out there is a difference between pointing to the holes (which any one can see) in establishes stories and presenting theories which are far too complex to explain away the holes. I only ask for (but will never get) full disclosure from my government. AFAIC 9-11 has been detailed out pretty well, but there are coverups in the past which have come to light (Nixon/Watergate, Iran-Contra, Blackwater, Abu Ghraib, etc) and I fully expect other incidents to eventually come to light as well, some of which we don't even know about yet.
Sicarius (673 D)
22 Jun 11 UTC
You misunderstand. I'm not saying the meaning of the word itself has changed (per se) rather the situations in which it would apply. things that would previously be seen as healthy skepticism are now seen as wacky.
You are all proving my point for me anyhow (not that any of you are actually reading my posts) because you are dissmissive of what I say, and you put words in my mouth, because you think I'm trying to convince you of something (of what I have no idea? no moon landing? 9-11 was the 'joos'? JFK was shot by an alien from area 51?). I'm not esposuing any conspiracy theory. I havnt put forth any theory at all! I dont have a 'paranoid alternate explanation' for any event. When it comes to specific topics, I only ever (as draugnaur is saying) point to holes. I dont know what you are arguing against. I have no complex theory to explain away holes in ANY story. And I am most certainly not presenting any now. god damn. Personally, I think conspiracy theories are stupid. I dont see the need to speculate about behind the scenes possibilities, when I can focus on the real consequences of the events being speculated about. Conspiracy theories being generally silly with no credibility is exactly the thing that shuts down intelligent discourse if it starts to just get thrown around as an insult or something, rather than a term describing a specific thing.

NOW.
If you're all done calling me stupid for conspiracy theories you all ASSUME I hold, we can get down to the disscussion that I made this thread for. Which is the shift in the usage of the term and what it means for the free flow of information.
Sicarius (673 D)
22 Jun 11 UTC
for the record I agree with most of what has been said here. now if we could frame it correctly......

Page 1 of 6
FirstPreviousNextLast
 

156 replies
jmo1121109 (3812 D)
28 Jun 11 UTC
Quick Variant Question
How come there are several disabled variant versions listed under the help section? Are these versions just unfinished?
1 reply
Open
Tettleton's Chew (0 DX)
26 Jun 11 UTC
Where to invest and in what?
Where is a good place to invest hard earned savings in today's volatile financial world?
29 replies
Open
Riphen (198 D)
26 Jun 11 UTC
How do you know if a Mod has read you email?
Will they respond?
14 replies
Open
☺ (1304 D)
25 Jun 11 UTC
☻☺☺☻
The most disgusting game I've ever played.

gameID=62416
78 replies
Open
Sicarius (673 D)
23 Jun 11 UTC
How to rescue childhood friend from cult?
need some advice, tips, ideas, suggestions.
bonus for those who have dealt w/ christian cults before.

details inside
56 replies
Open
rollerfiend (0 DX)
18 Jun 11 UTC
Rabbis 'condemn dog to death by stoning'
poor doggie.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13819764
26 replies
Open
LJ TYLER DURDEN (334 D)
27 Jun 11 UTC
How to rescue an online acquaintance from Bohemianism?
I wish he would stop occassionally living in foreclosed homes and "[being] a hobo." Then again, it could be worse, he could have become religious or something like that.
3 replies
Open
Putin33 (111 D)
25 Jun 11 UTC
Proud to be from New York: Legal Equality Wins
The hordes of reaction and anti-gay bigotry just had their Waterloo. At a time when politics at the state level around the country has been absolutely horrifying, this is great news.
62 replies
Open
obiwanobiwan (248 D)
23 Jun 11 UTC
This Time On Philosophy
In "The Odyssey" by Homer, Achilles, the elite hero of the Greeks, leads a large mass of unquestioning, robot-like followers, the Myrmidons, who are classically described as being "ant-people" in their nature. If we were asked which we'd rather be, a hero or a drone, most of us would choose the former, "drone" doesn't sound appealing...and yet, politically, we prefer the rule of masses over the few...so, which is preferable? Why? Elitists, Pluralists, ho! :)
81 replies
Open
jman777 (407 D)
30 Jun 09 UTC
LAST PERSON TO POST WINS!!!!!!!!
The title is self explanatory.
11532 replies
Open
Vaibhav Warden (100 D)
26 Jun 11 UTC
Barak Obama - American born?
Is he? look below?
41 replies
Open
fiedler (1293 D)
27 Jun 11 UTC
Trolling for suggestions for activity in New Caledonia
Bonjour, the fiedler has some time to kill in New Caledonia, especially Noumea. Anyone been or have recommendations of things to occupy here? Locations of buried treasure? Best kava bar?
Pourriez vous m'aider s'il vous plait?
Also, I think USA would beat China, socialism is humanism, and philosophy is nice. Discuss?
0 replies
Open
Cachimbo (1181 D)
25 Jun 11 UTC
Terminology help
I've seen this thread on SoW, and I'm interested (in that it seems to present the occasion for learning). I don't know what SoW means however. Nor what the PhP dip on facebook mean. Help? This thread could be use to disambiguate all these acronyms!
5 replies
Open
fabiobaq (444 D)
26 Jun 11 UTC
Ancient Mediterranean new game
So, as the last AncMed game I created was cancelled by lack of players, I'm here to announce another one: gameID=62442.
0 replies
Open
dipplayer2004 (1310 D)
26 Jun 11 UTC
Live game?
Bored on Sunday--join up!
0 replies
Open
Geofram (130 D(B))
14 Jun 11 UTC
The WebDip GuestMap
http://www.mapservices.org/myguestmap/map/webDiplomacy

Please read some guidelines inside, they are important.
154 replies
Open
Page 758 of 1419
FirstPreviousNextLast
Back to top