manu

I'm not familiar with these kind of prices, but them seem quite high, especially considering the wrecked state of US economy and the location of the place. Xith an average of 100 Ed the intercourse, the potential audience is limited.

I admit that when you compare these rates to those of drugs it's notthat exepsnve, but we all know that CP's dug prices are totally off mark.

Quote (Strawberry-Cream @ April 22 2003,15:52)

Just luck those weapons are taken for the style while forged with contemporary skills, as the superiority of a japanese sword is nothing but myth . Sure, they look nice and elegant (a big pro ^^), but japanese steel was crappy and their techniques... well, no comparison to a blade forged in Damascus or later Toledo.

Depends of the quality of the katana involved - the best one don't pale in comparison with toledo or damascus blades and can even be better - off course these were almost artworks, taking loads of time and skill to get crafted.

The average european sword wasn't especially good (and did not had to be, since it was used to chop lightly armored peasant into bits or beat armored nobles into ransom...)

Kariba shut off his phone, pesting about those damn crapyy phones who break your coms right in the middle.

She calls back to let a message on Dwight's message box "either you or me should invest in a better phone someday. Well, forget the ride, I'll find my way to Dolmenico's, and begin the show there. Oh well, if you don't show up, your percentage's going to drop dwightie dear, so you'd better hurry up"

She takes some cab to Dolemnico's making sure she'll be there about 1/4h eraly, and checks with the barman for a backroom, asking to send there the few guys who are going to ask for Dwight. Oh well, and Dwight too if he shows up  

I admit that I'm impressed - I also liked the nigger king style throne. Saddam's only redeeming feature seems to be a more secure taste for drinks than for housing.

Although they're quite small they will step on Infocomp's shoes if they wan to grow further - so they shall keep an eye on thme (and maybe cut a deal).

they can already be an Infocomp subsidiary, shich will give the mthe ability to use the parent corp's ressources if the need arise (and send the promising customers to the right office for that special request)

Just keep this in mind : most 'businesse'-oriented peoples will notce that you're packing 'something' under your coat - they might be fooled about it's real size and won't knwo what it is, but odds are they'll notice.

You can also wear it in the terminator I fashion - fxw a loop to the buttstock, wear the loop over the right shoulder and let the gun hang at your side. Open the threnchoat, grab the gun, and put it into action. Just make the loop long enough to point the gun.

considering the bulk of the thing as well as the electrical complication, all this for a rather low sustained rate fo fire, you'll probably be better off with a larger caliber regular machinegun.

I'd wait for a while for the info to be confirmed before buying that one - no WMD was found to date and the anounced trails quickly turned cold. Wait and see.

Note on US politics :

In France we don't have businessmen inserting themselves within the political structure and public offices - the highers up tend to work among public offices (state-run companies being the most liked) to build up skills and connections, then go private.

Not such a difference here, but one can expect the US declination to give them better management skills. As far as moral go, it's about the same.

(Ooc : around, alive and glad to see that things get started - Kariba had no way to know someone was coming for the job so I waited for a starter.)

"Nice from Flash to remember us. Let's see who he found this time. I'd like a pick up, this would let us set the tune we'll play to them, 'cause I don't know for you, but I'm a bit low on cash. Fast-talking them into working free is ruled out. We'll need to associate them to the annex income, and we'd better speak with one voice on it"

Quote (Thumper @ April 10 2003,01:07)

Well the first quarter is almost over and once again the US has shown that they can quickly and efficiently kill lots of people and military equipment, now the hard part is soon to begin. Can the US restore order and keep the country from disolving into disorder?  Can they install a government that will allow all the groups of citizens equal say?  Will the US have to stay for extended period of time to keep some of it's neighboring countries from invading like Iran, Syria, and even Turkey? yep the hard part is just begining!

<Cynical mode on>

this is quite easy - use the large piles of light weapons hanging around and the remnants of the system (all those military guys that rushed out of uniforms are certainly still around) to generate a Pinochet. Order will be restored and everyone will be equal under the boot.

Since the heavy military stuff is mostly destroyed, let a strong detterent force until the new management proves loyal and stable and has used oil money to replenish his military giemos to be safe from his neighbors.

Basically, doing Saddam without Saddam - hey it worked 30+ years long, a new version doing the same can hold on as long as the oil....

<Cynical mode off>

Well, this is a worst case scenario that has only a very small chance to happen. But the past records of supporting anything opposed to communism no matter how nasty don't totally rule it out.

But the cleanup and stabilization of Irak will definitively not be a cakewalk. And I'm somwhat dubious about the training of US troops to handle such matters - they should take lessons with the brits who have played this kind of game for years in northern Ireland.

Let's wait and see whatwill happen in the month to come.

I'm a bit sckeptical about that one - as far as I know it's an oil company, they're not specializid in draining marshes. This reminds me of the railroad build with forced labor rumor in Birmany.

Elf isn't the cleanest oil company around, but it was mostly involved in large scale palm-greasing in Africa (where it was almost normal procedure)

Was there a date for this supposed contract ?

The backflow of gaz into the tank requires some pumping - a nice source of power for said pump would be a thermocouple-powered battery drawing some heat from the tank when the battery goes too low.

Looking at the design, using an out-of-date polonium cell don't means the individual beam will be any less powerful - the gaz reserve will take more time to reach full heat and pressure, and it's restoration will be slower - the decrease will be in the sustainable rate of fire.

Of course a sustained fire means that the gaz reserve will tend to cool off, which translates as less powerful shots. This will have no effect on the opening salvo.

Yes that one - One things that makes wonder is radiation hazards : the Po210 istopoe allegedly sends away only easily stopped alpha radiation, but I'm dubious about the isotopes resulting from the decay.

But if that things kind live up to the expectations, this could be a very neat weapon.

Quote (Strawberry-Cream @ April 02 2003,22:43)

Anyway, I think the Happy Tree Friends are cute . Soooo fuzzy ^^.

Yes, so nice, cute and definitively wraped in good taste all the way long... I like them

Hre is a link I found about a project of laser weapons (I don't know when the thing is expected to be working, but it looks promising acoding to the paper)

http://www.defensereview.com/modules....sid=304" target="_blank">http://www.defensereview.com/modules....RL=http

As far as space mêlee combat go, in my opinion you'd better stick with slashing weapons, scimitar or katana-style - moncorys of course.

chopping weapons and thrusting weapons both require bracing that would be difficult to get in 0G.

the most efective tactic will probably be o engage in grapling and use a one handed thrust/cut blade, because you can put all your strength behind the blade.

The main problem will be if the recoil isn't lined up with the body's mass center - this will generate a torque effort that's likely to get the happy user spinning. Full auto would be very bad heren especially with the difficulty to get some bracing.

Leightweight/high speed ammo would be favorites, since they tend to have lower recoil.

from the look of these masks, I'd say that normal goggles are ruled out with them. Keep that in mind too.

Butwhen you come at a demonstration wearing a gaz mask, the odds for seeing the business end of a nighstick this also rule out goggles, no sweat here.

I wonder what's the lower age limit for this one ?

This (censored) sites keeps bumping me to the homepage as soon as I connect to it - where is the picture inside (I suppose in 'pictures', but i could not find it there)

Note about trade with Irak during the embargo : don't forget that this was a limited embargo. The oil vs food enabled ome perfectly legit trade to take place under UN supervision.

If those transactions included bypassing UN regulations or such I'm entirely right that it's a serious case for getting pissed, otherwise don't pin the blame on french trade for having used an UN-approved trade.

Also don't forget that half the money to buy stuff from french companies came from the USA, who where the main buyers of iraki oil during the embargo. Nobody can say he's clean in this whole affair.

An I would not be that surprised if some even turn out to be of US origin (black market being what it is) - but info on these might never surface  

well, until this is totally confirmed, I'd rather take it with some doubt - from what I heard, the 'chemical weapon plant' allegedly font yesterday might turn out as something else. And violating UN resolutions on conventional hardware don't prove a WMD program (it only give crednece to the fact that it might exist)

It looks like the Us communication experts rabidly pounce on anything suspicious to ocmpensate the media impact of the US prisonners - at the risk of being dumbfounded when the trail turns cold.

In my opinion, they'd better secure the location of those finds and ship there the UN inspection teams left iddle by the war. This would give a chance for an opinion less likely to be thought as biased by third parties.