The Truth

The media doesn't seem to be able to tell the truth about George W. They know that he flat-out lied about the WMDs, but will you find the word "lie" anywhere in the mainstream media, in any connection with the Liar-In-Chief? Haliburton forfend!

I'm used to pretty much deciphering the truth automatically from the news, but once in a while I get the urge to write something about it. For example, CNN's story "U.S. to seek support in Iraq".

The truth: the Bush people are unable to avoid the stark reality that the US occupation of Iraq is going to cost hundreds of billions of dollars (a percentage of which is going straight into the pockets of Cheney-Bush associates and political supporters in Haliburton et alia). They won't tell the American people about that cost, and the media wouldn't dream of making it an issue (they know who calls the shots), but they also can't avoid paying the bill. There's also the (to them) minor inconvenience of American soldiers being killed; not that all 300+ dead soldiers is worth a single stock option to BushCo, but it's politically inconvenient to have all these dead subhumanoid grunts (and you know that's how they think of them, if they bother to think of them at all) cluttering up the news - even though only slightly.

So they want the UN to "help". UN, if you weren't aware of it, here's what that means:

• You will use the tax dollars of your citizens to pay for US war costs. Much of that money will be funneled to Bush/Cheney cronies.
  


• You may expend the lives of your worthless subhumanoid grunts (i.e. soldiers) in place of US SGs.
  


• In exchange, George W. Bush may say one or two nice things about your country. *
  


• The US and Haliburton et alia will relinquish absolutely no control over Iraqi oil, the profits from that oil, or anything else whatsoever profitable which can be found in that country.

In other words, you can pay through the nose and sacrifice the lives of your soldiers to give George W. and the GOP a political boost for the 2004 elections, but in return all you will get is the pleasure of having been royally - or rather, Imperially - screwed. Shut up and take it. Or else you're next.

---

* Note that if politically convenient, however, Bush reserves the right to condemn you, encourage a right-wing boycott of your goods, levy unfair trade barriers against you, encourage local right-wing death squads (aka "freedom fighters") to kill your citizens, invade you, and/or execute your leaders, all while expressing the smarmiest holier-than-thou sentiments with a determined smirk.

The Truth

The media doesn't seem to be able to tell the truth about George W. They know that he flat-out lied about the WMDs, but will you find the word "lie" anywhere in the mainstream media, in any connection with the Liar-In-Chief? Haliburton forfend!

I'm used to pretty much deciphering the truth automatically from the news, but once in a while I get the urge to write something about it. For example, CNN's story "U.S. to seek support in Iraq".

The truth: the Bush people are unable to avoid the stark reality that the US occupation of Iraq is going to cost hundreds of billions of dollars (a percentage of which is going straight into the pockets of Cheney-Bush associates and political supporters in Haliburton et alia). They won't tell the American people about that cost, and the media wouldn't dream of making it an issue (they know who calls the shots), but they also can't avoid paying the bill. There's also the (to them) minor inconvenience of American soldiers being killed; not that all 300+ dead soldiers is worth a single stock option to BushCo, but it's politically inconvenient to have all these dead subhumanoid grunts (and you know that's how they think of them, if they bother to think of them at all) cluttering up the news - even though only slightly.

So they want the UN to "help". UN, if you weren't aware of it, here's what that means:

• You will use the tax dollars of your citizens to pay for US war costs. Much of that money will be funneled to Bush/Cheney cronies.
  


• You may expend the lives of your worthless subhumanoid grunts (i.e. soldiers) in place of US SGs.
  


• In exchange, George W. Bush may say one or two nice things about your country. *
  


• The US and Haliburton et alia will relinquish absolutely no control over Iraqi oil, the profits from that oil, or anything else whatsoever profitable which can be found in that country.

In other words, you can pay through the nose and sacrifice the lives of your soldiers to give George W. and the GOP a political boost for the 2004 elections, but in return all you will get is the pleasure of having been royally - or rather, Imperially - screwed. Shut up and take it. Or else you're next.

---

* Note that if politically convenient, however, Bush reserves the right to condemn you, encourage a right-wing boycott of your goods, levy unfair trade barriers against you, encourage local right-wing death squads (aka "freedom fighters") to kill your citizens, invade you, and/or execute your leaders, all while expressing the smarmiest holier-than-thou sentiments with a determined smirk.

Diablo & Cleglaw

For the first time ever in Diablo (D2, that is) I've actually acquired more than one item in a set. In fact, I've picked up three items in a three-item set - and yet I haven't completed it.

How? Well, my barbarian found Cleglaw's Pincers (gauntlets) sometime around level 20, and found them pretty useful (they slow and knockback melee opponents). Then sometime in Hell I found Cleglaw's Tooth - okay, wait a minute, I probably should explain some of this.

There are a number of different kinds of magic items in D2; if you want to read all about them, go here. But the short version is that some of the better items come in sets. They share a name, and (usually) a theme; and when you have more than one, you get extra benefits. The complete set gives still more benefits.

Anyway, I hadn't realized that I'd found more than one item in the set called Cleglaw's Brace. I'd found the sword (Cleglaw's Tooth) at some point, and it was interesting enough that I'd kept it in my inventory; I didn't actually use it, though, because I had a couple of good crystal swords that added one each to my barbarian masteries skill category.

But at some point I was having trouble (I died a few times), and equipped myself with Cleglaw's Tooth in order to win my body (and all the equipment) back. The Tooth isn't a bad weapon; the damage is a bit low (3-19), but it has a 50% chance of deadly strike and a 30% bonus to the chance to hit.

But when I got my body I automatically re-equipped the Pincers, and suddenly I was huge. My attack chance went up by about 400 points, to over 1,000, and my damage went from approximately 60 maximum to over 150. Even with the loss of the additional mastery level it was an enormous improvement.

So later, when I found yet another Cleglaw's Tooth, I naturally used that as well. Barbarians can wield a weapon in each hand, you see, so now I'm using two Cleglaw's Tooths plus the Pincers - not a godlike combination, but a very very powerful one. I'll dig up a character snapshot and put it here soon.

Oh, I've killed Diablo in Normal; it wasn't easy, but not that hard. I died four or five times at most. So now I'm in the Frigid Highlands, having just killed Shenk the Overseer. I plan to go back to the Bloody Foothills and level up though; I'm pretty close to level 30, at which point I'll be able to put a point each into Natural Resistance and Whirlwind (I'd saved my skill point from level 29). Should be fun.

Diablo & Cleglaw

For the first time ever in Diablo (D2, that is) I've actually acquired more than one item in a set. In fact, I've picked up three items in a three-item set - and yet I haven't completed it.

How? Well, my barbarian found Cleglaw's Pincers (gauntlets) sometime around level 20, and found them pretty useful (they slow and knockback melee opponents). Then sometime in Hell I found Cleglaw's Tooth - okay, wait a minute, I probably should explain some of this.

There are a number of different kinds of magic items in D2; if you want to read all about them, go here. But the short version is that some of the better items come in sets. They share a name, and (usually) a theme; and when you have more than one, you get extra benefits. The complete set gives still more benefits.

Anyway, I hadn't realized that I'd found more than one item in the set called Cleglaw's Brace. I'd found the sword (Cleglaw's Tooth) at some point, and it was interesting enough that I'd kept it in my inventory; I didn't actually use it, though, because I had a couple of good crystal swords that added one each to my barbarian masteries skill category.

But at some point I was having trouble (I died a few times), and equipped myself with Cleglaw's Tooth in order to win my body (and all the equipment) back. The Tooth isn't a bad weapon; the damage is a bit low (3-19), but it has a 50% chance of deadly strike and a 30% bonus to the chance to hit.

But when I got my body I automatically re-equipped the Pincers, and suddenly I was huge. My attack chance went up by about 400 points, to over 1,000, and my damage went from approximately 60 maximum to over 150. Even with the loss of the additional mastery level it was an enormous improvement.

So later, when I found yet another Cleglaw's Tooth, I naturally used that as well. Barbarians can wield a weapon in each hand, you see, so now I'm using two Cleglaw's Tooths plus the Pincers - not a godlike combination, but a very very powerful one. I'll dig up a character snapshot and put it here soon.

Oh, I've killed Diablo in Normal; it wasn't easy, but not that hard. I died four or five times at most. So now I'm in the Frigid Highlands, having just killed Shenk the Overseer. I plan to go back to the Bloody Foothills and level up though; I'm pretty close to level 30, at which point I'll be able to put a point each into Natural Resistance and Whirlwind (I'd saved my skill point from level 29). Should be fun.