WordWolf

By now, either Johniam is unable to see those points no matter how often they are articulated, or he knows darn well he's standing up a squad of strawmen and is doing it deliberately. Yes, he should be called on it each and every time, but don't expect him to get it at any point. (The response is necessary, but not for him.) I suspect that Johniam thinks THAT end justifies ANY means- providing that HE doesn't have to sacrifice the means. So, meaningless, casual sex to get a Green Card signed, for a student for "the class"? Sure-so long as it's not John or anyone he lays claim to who has to provide it. So long as someone else is volunteered to prostitute themself for it, that's fine, although he's hoping nobody's caught that he's supported that across this page.

PULP FICTION. And frankly, I think we all thought that guy deserved to get shot at that point. I think he reminded EVERYBODY of at least one moment from work at some point.

Dr Christian Szell Dr Totenkopf Ezra Lieberman

Taking a swing here... "Kingsman"? I thought of that before, but not with any confidence.

....What?......OW!!!!

It reminds me of "At The Hop", but I don't think that IS the song.

....What?...

The rule of thumb I heard was to double the attendance# of any ROA to get the total# of adherents at that time. I heard the largest ROA had an attendance of 14,000, which doubles to 28,000, which is about 30,000 adherents "standing" at that time, and that was the apex of attendance. (Numbers went up to that # for 1 year, and fell thereafter starting the next year.)

Depends on your perspective, and place and time. vpw used to claim 100,000 members. That was based on a supposed number of 100,000 total who ever signed up for pfal. That neglects that some who signed up for pfal never showed up for Session 1. That neglects that some who showed up for Session 1 never showed up for Session 12. That neglects that some who showed up for Session 12 weren't around within 3 months of completion. When I took it, IIRC, there were 7 signed up, and 3 of us finished it, although all of us stuck around. (Me, the wife of a coordinator, and the son of a coordinator.) The times of the greatest growth were also the times of greatest attrition- not counting the exodi- because we had a lot of "member churn." People showed up, stayed a while, then left. If my class was any indication, and my experience later supports that- then many people showed up for a month or a year and were gone within 6 months or 2-3 years. So, the numbers of new faces was often high, and the numbers of old faces were less than 1/2 the room. Nowadays, that's totally changed. ANY new faces is news, or the result of staging an 'event', dragging in every body within miles, then saying "see-we can fill a room when we want to".

At this point, almost everyone who "CAN" leave has already left. There are people who think it is "impossible" to leave, if only because they can't hold down a real job and their "contribution" to Social Security was miniscule. The membership ranks are puny. They are bringing in almost nobody new- they're raising a few kids in the group, and some of those are leaving and some are staying. Evey year, there's still members leaving through death if by no other reason (the membership is aging every day, and younger members are not replacing them.) So, the membership numbers dwindle. And the kids, no matter what they think, can't rescue twi and "show the old folks what they should have done" because twi is irrelevant and outdated, and they don't have what they THINK they have. So, they have nothing to make outsiders go "wow" like the kids THINK would happen. And even if they DID somehow, rfr would shut them down because ANY kid who could do that would be a SERIOUS threat to rfr, and could take over the whole enchilada overnight, de facto even if rfr had the titles. So, the members leaving now tend to TRICKLE because the numbers who COULD get shocked already left, and there has been no influx of new, clueless members who had no idea felonies were committed. For that, thank everyone who's blown the whistle on them, through those who sued, through Waydale, and through the GSC (and others everywhere they did it.)

There was a disconnect, mostly because vpw didn't care. (Other than in how to manipulate people, vpw wasn't really smart, and didn't work hard to understand things not related to that.) Concerning Dave A, vpw would certainly treat him well because he was bringing gold into the coffers, and didn't otherwise care about what concerned Dave, like how he got the money he gave twi. Concerning D&D, that had nothing to do with Dave and had everything to do with tinfoil-hat conspiracies. vpw kept putting forth he learned all sorts of esoteric things because he had a special connection with God. However, he just had a lot of information sources of tinfoil-hat conspiracies and other nonsense. Naturally, when the D&D panic came around, vpw ran with it. The panic was that supposedly it promoted demons and suicide and all sorts of harmful things for teenagers. The only thing about demons it had was that the game included demons and devils (2 different, but similar, things in AD&D) as villains so that the heroes (the player characters) could destroy them or otherwise beat them up or foil their plans. (If you want to play a hero, there needs to be a villain. And a demon or a devil is a villain you don't have to worry is "misunderstood"-you can just kaboom them and that's it.) But the real panic started up as the result of 2 teenagers. One was under immense pressure at home and ran off. He tried to commit suicide by taking pills, but he woke up later and ran to a friend's house to hide out because the town was looking for him. A detective found traces of him having stayed in the steam tunnels under his school (where he had tried to commit suicide.) When asked about what he found, the detective, instead of just saying that, said that he probably went down there to play Dungeons and Dragons. (By himself? Impossible. The minimum required# of people is 2, and 5-7 is preferred. But 1 person can't play any RPG of any type without a 2nd person.) The newspapers ran with it. When the kid turned up again, the parents (who were the reason the kid ran off) begged the detective to keep hush about the real reason for the disappearance, so he stayed with the "played D&D by himself" story. That was later turned into a movie, "Mazes and Monsters", with Tom Hanks playing a kid who loses his identity and thinks he's his character, wandering around a modern world. (I read the novelization-it was awful. And there were idiots who thought the thing was real. I found it ironic that people who were unable to separate fiction from reality accused RPG players of being unable to separate fiction from reality, based entirely on their own inabilities to separate fiction from reality.) Then there was another kid who succeeded in committing suicide. His mother insisted it was due to D&D, which he played at SOME point but he was not a regular player. So, she crusaded against D&D, quoting the most ridiculous, made-up stuff and scaring other parents into believing RPGs were a real threat to their teens. Meanwhile, actual Psychologists have said that D&D/AD&D was actually HEALTHY for people. It was a social activity, it required interaction to play. So, we had people who normally aren't very social-who all got together on a regular basis and socialized for a few hours while playing a game and drinking Mountain Dew. The socialization was good for them. So, statistically, playing RPG's actually DECREASED the risk of teen suicides. A teen who was at risk of suicide tends to isolate himself- and social activities tend to act to suppress suicidal urges. (No one feels suicidal when they're having a good time and their friends are glad to see them.) So, I would have said, if you've got kids at risk of suicide, start getting them into some RPG groups that are run by competent GameMasters. (The person running a game can make a big difference- an immature one can ruin the experience for everyone by making it about HIM rather than about the PLAYERS. His role is to provide the setting, the supporting characters, the conflicts, and the goals to shoot for.) Anyway, we had scared parents, and people making claims about a game promoting witchcraft and promoting Satanism and suicide. Conmen like vpw can always use an existing panic quite successfully, and will invent one if they can't find an existing one. So, this panic was something he could use. If vpw was everything his hype was, he'd have seen right through this panic, and presented things of actual substance rather than promote the spirit of fear. He used this instead because he had no substance, just this.

For those who want to know about Dave Arneson, the quotes and links are on his Memorial thread from when he passed away. Myself, I was familiar with AD&D but not with Arneson until someone brought his name up here and got me looking.

Unless one of them was playing the role of a pastry, that would have to be someone portraying John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

http://www.inspirationpeak.com/cgi-bin/poetry.cgi?record=110 I'd Rather See A Sermon Edgar A. Guest I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day; I'd rather one should walk with me than merely tell the way. The eye's a better pupil and more willing than the ear, Fine counsel is confusing, but example's always clear; And the best of all preachers are the men who live their creeds, For to see good put in action is what everybody needs. I soon can learn to do it if you'll let me see it done; I can watch your hands in action, but your tongue too fast may run. And the lecture you deliver may be very wise and true, But I'd rather get my lessons by observing what you do; For I might misunderstand you and the high advice you give, But there's no misunderstanding how you act and how you live.

Was that "Doctor Kildare"?

"Diagnosis Murder"?

That's what this is. The newer Casino Royale was a reboot of the 007 series, with Daniel Craig beginning James Bond's career as an MI-6 agent. The older Casino Royale was a spoof, where the original James Bond was brought out of retirement, and we see that there's been at least 1 JB since, and the original renames the remaining MI-6 and any new talent they tap AS "James Bond" to confuse the bad guys. Ultimately, it was that James Bond's last case. With all the new "James Bonds" running around, adding Daniel Craig into the mix actually makes sense. Hey, if Peter Sellers as a baccarat master made sense, a new actual agent makes more sense.

*wild swing* "Jake and the Fatman"?

Paw made it clear that all political discussions are "Off-Topic" for all of the GSC now. That was after it became clear that there was no successful way to allow them here and keep any sense of civility. So, for the sake of the rest of the board, they left. There are plenty of other places online to have political discussions, and interested posters are always free to make one of their own- again. As for the Bataan Death March, I meant no disrespect, obviously, and I'm fine with not mentioning it out-of-context, out of respect. I'd appreciate, however, if you have a substitute handy since it will be faster to change my phraseology if I can swap in a different phrase for the excluded one.

Ok, I will once again be very sneaky when doing a movie round. A British secret agent is lured out of retirement. (His successor and "namesake" was ineffective.) He is placed in charge of MI6 partly because of horrible attrition as agents are killed all over the world. He then orders that ALL surviving MI-6 agents in the field will be assigned the same name and will all be namesakes. We follow the story of a NEW agent who is assigned with all the others, first in Miami, then in Montenegro. In the Montenegro operation, he crosses paths with one of the other agents, playing poker while the other agent plays baccarat. Stars include: Ursula Andress, Peter Sellers, Orson Wells, David Niven, Woody Allen, David Prowse, Peter O'Toole, George Raft, and Daniel Craig.

Welcome back. And Happy belated Birthday, GSC. You've done so much for so many, and all with the power of words and the voices of people.

Ok, I will once again be very sneaky when doing a movie round. A British secret agent is lured out of retirement. (His successor and "namesake" was ineffective.) He is placed in charge of MI6 partly because of horrible attrition as agents are killed all over the world. He then orders that ALL surviving MI-6 agents in the field will be assigned the same name and will all be namesakes. We follow the story of a NEW agent who is assigned with all the others, first in Miami, then in Montenegro.

That explains a lot right there. vpw ws deficient in ALL THREE. Good moral conduct and honesty? Do I really need to rehash the failings of that alcoholic, chain-smoking, plagiarising, raping pervert? (Or is that a good summary?) Leadership by example? The man had to know how to lead first. He knew how to bark orders and expect people to carry them out, and to read his mind when he failed to explain things. That's testimony more to his days as a bully than as any kind of "leader." He never "led by example" except to want people to imitate him-like when he gave lcm a motorcycle. As for telling people to do things he wouldn't do, that was his standard policy. lcm recounted an example-where lcm didn't want to go out onstage in rain. vpw PUSHED him out, saying if the people get wet, he does, too. When I read that, my first response was that I would have stepped out into the rain and introduced lcm, and invited him to join me on the stage. vpw was really into telling others to do it all. As for administrative ability, that was severely lacking, also. vpw was notoriously cheap for the organization. (When others were expected to cover expenses, he asked for expensive stuff, and he bought lots of alcohol and cigarettes for himself, but the organization's stuff was always done as cheaply as possible.) This made a certain sense when they were first setting up and needed things like chairs for empty rooms and so on, but there was no sensible investment on INFRASTRUCTURE. Where it was sensible to get durable things for the group, vpw got the cheapest and tasked others to maintain it rather than ever just get new. And, when he did "greenlight" expenses, he did it in ways that most sensible people would have avoided. There are houses on-grounds that were made with his favorite woods- that were completely unsuitable for Ohio weather and the wood rotted rather quickly, resulting in lots of maintenance hours and expenses wasted. But he didn't care how many hours of slave labor was lost. And as sensible as it was to have a facility on-grounds for seating people for teachings and presentations, that GARISH VEGAS SHOWCASE was a waste of funds. So, vpw would have been a poor leader in the military no matter what his delusions were. I also remember a friend studying for Officers' Candidacy School. He mentioned his thinking that a failure of the group he led would mean a failure in himself as the group leader, since his responsibility was to make sure they did not fail, and to make sure they all performed well, responsibility always ended with him. vpw always said the opposite- whenever something bothered him, he yelled at others and called them failures and so on. Actually, I used that type of exercise as an illustration of responsibility and trust. I designated someone I trusted to catch me, explained, blindfolded myself to prevent myself from interfering, and a few seconds later, fell back (and was caught safely, thanks, Raf!). I was making a point about the trusting one having the EASY part, where it was easy for me to fall when I trusted the other person, and so on. I was NOT making a point about responsibility. I wouldn't have used that another way, certainly without demonstrating it myself first, and I wouldn't have done it with people moving and making it easy to miss catching the person.

Most likely "Iron Man of Steel". ("Iron", of course, being more of a name or a descriptive word and not a technically accurate one. As was pointed out at the end of the movie "Iron Man", the armor was a titanium alloy but the name sounds better as "iron".) Actually, the concept here reminds me of the Amalgam character "Iron Lantern." Hal Stark found the crashed spaceship of an alien, and used the Power Battery to power an armor that saved his life and could form energy constructs when he focused his will.