[jdmartin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MC2', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('thuja', 'I') have to agree that you 4 in particular jumped into uber-jerk mode for little apparent reason, pissing BA off...

Personally I am much more interested in an insider's view of S.Africa and the rest of the continent than what you all have to say. Why are you making inflammatory accusations and insults? It is not adding to the discussion...

[Tyler_JC]

His IP address tracks to Cape Town, South Africa.

I think he's legit.

I just wish he'd talk more about his personal experience (at the very least, it would calm jdmartin down)

[Ferretlover]

re: dohboi: "New Orleans is no where near being rebuilt."

The thing I don't understand about rebuilding New Orleans.
Some or much of it is below sea level.
Katrina wasn't the first hurricane and won't be the last.
Yes, I have been to New Orleans-it is, in places, an interesting community with a great history.
But, where is the common sense?? Why rebuild in areas that are just going to get flooded out again (especially if predicted sea level rises occur), then, expect to be bailed out again?

As for the Africa comments-I, too, would like to hear some reality about Africa. Right now, when I hear "Africa" the first things that come to mind are all those scam letters from Nigeria, and Feed the Children infomercials......

[onequestionwonder]

Why is it Falconfury you stepped in with an editor's hand when someone used salty language?

Read this thread from beginning to end. You should have issued some warnings long ago.

And I want to ask you, do you think Big Arnie is lying when he says he is from South Africa?

And as for jdmartin, I continually see claims that the economy is doing great on network news (albeit I also see claims it is doing poorly on network news). They quote all kinds of numbers. I long ago quit believing a damn one of them. University of Michigan... blah, blah, blah...

I haven't seen an official statement of any kind of economic numbers that say US unemployment is 10% or greater.

My man on the street opinion is that it is greater than 10%.

Pull some numbers from the internet. Don't use anything on a goldbug site, or that says it is shadow statists. Use an official source like the CIA factbook or something. Tell me what they say about the economy and unemployment in the US.

Then tell me if you believe them.

Then I want you to talk to someone in South Africa. Pick them randomly and call them on the phone. Or call someone at a consulate somewhere, though I don't think they are the types to say anything that isn't sunny or spun. Tell them your googled numbers about their economy.

And see if they believe them.

Do you believe the USGS stats on energy resources? If you do not, why do you believe official sources on economic stats?

You've seen crime rates right? So you automatically die if you go to a majority black area, unless you are a cop and specially trained, as soon as you get out of the car. You will probably be robbed, raped, and sold drugs to within five minutes right?

Heck considering the numbers, it's just not possible anyone is living in a majority black neighborhood. They are probably all dead since they can't afford to live.

Or in appalachia.

It is possible Pretorian might be from South Africa, or is a Brit relative, and most likely more knowledgeable than an American about a lot of things. Mainly because he spells it that way, "Pretoria-> Pretorian." I'd expect someone from the US to spell it "Praetorian." That is just a hunch though. Of course, that is a thought that occurred to me, on a second look at my own post.

You other three, you jdmartin, NotMyBlood (what is the origin of that btw, something to do with violence, or something ... different?), and Zardoz (guess he is a fan of Sean and his scarlet panties) who I picture as being a Limbaugh fan of the Rand-y sort, well exactly what is your beef with Big Arnie?

Other than that he claimed to know what he was talking about, and it rubbed your privates the wrong way? (Yeah Falconfury, yeah. You are taking half my vocabulary, and a great deal of my emotional umph.)

And have any of you, including Pretorian been to South Africa? Lately? Past 5 years or so? Feel like you are qualified to explain exactly what is going on there?

I'll leave you with a quote from "The Watchmen."

"I'm not locked in here with you, you're locked in here with me."

btw, I thought about taking 2553 posts, and dividing them by 104 weeks to get a number of posts per week. And then extending that to some conclusions. Decided not too.

My battle board is always lit however, kudos to you if you know the source of that quote.

I'll help "Bolo."

[jdmartin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', 'H')is IP address tracks to Cape Town, South Africa.

I think he's legit.

I just wish he'd talk more about his personal experience (at the very least, it would calm jdmartin down)

[onequestionwonder]

No it was a short story by Keith Laumer in his Bolo/Retief universe.

Specifically it was from a short story called The Last Command.

"Should have known they couldn't hold down a Bolo Mark XXVIII!" The old man's eyes lit up. "Take more than a few million tons of rock to stop Lenny when his battle board was lit!"

And from a bit before that in the story:

"I come to awareness, sensing a residual oscillation traversing me from an arbitrarily designated heading of 035. From the damping rate I compute that the shock was of intensity 8.7, emanating from a source within the limits 72 meters/46 meters. I activate my primary screens, trigger a return salvo. There is no response. I engage reserve energy cells, bring my secondary battery to bear—futilely. It is apparent that I have been ranged by the Enemy and severely damaged.

My positional sensors indicate that I am resting at an angle of 13 degrees 14 seconds, deflected from a baseline at 21 points from median. I attempt to right myself, but encounter massive resistance. I activate my forward scanners, shunt power to my I-R microstrobes. Not a flicker illuminates my surroundings. I am encased in utter blackness.

Now a secondary shock wave approaches, rocks me with an intensity of 8.2. It is apparent that I must withdraw from my position—but my drive trains remain inert under full thrust. I shift to base emergency power, try again. Pressure mounts; I sense my awareness fading under the intolerable strain; then, abruptly, resistance falls off and I am in motion.

It is not the swift maneuvering of full drive, however; I inch forward, as if restrained by massive barriers. Again I attempt to penetrate the surrounding darkness and this time perceive great irregular outlines shot through with fracture planes. I probe cautiously, then more vigorously, encountering incredible densities.

I channel all available power to a single ranging pulse, direct it upward. The indication is so at variance with all experience that I repeat the test at a new angle. Now I must accept the fact: I am buried under 207.6 meters of solid rock!

I direct my attention to an effort to orient myself to my uniquely desperate situation. I run through an action-status checklist of thirty thousand items, feel dismay at the extent of power loss. My main cells are almost completely drained, my reserve units at no more than .4 charge. Thus my sluggishness is explained. I review the tactical situation, recall the triumphant announcement from my commander that the Enemy forces were annihilated, that all resistance had ceased. In memory, I review the formal procession; in company with my comrades of the Dinochrome Brigade, many of us deeply scarred by Enemy action, we parade before the Grand Commandant, then assemble on the depot ramp. At command, we bring our music storage cells into phase and display our Battle Anthem. The nearby star radiates over a full spectrum unfiltered by atmospheric haze. It is a moment of glorious triumph. Then the final command is given—

The rest is darkness. But it is apparent that the victory celebration was premature. The Enemy has counterattacked with a force that has come near to immobilizing me. The realization is shocking, but the .1 second of leisurely introspection has clarified my position. At once, I broadcast a call on Brigade Action wave length:

"Unit LNE to Command, requesting permission to file VSR."

I wait, sense no response, call again, using full power. I sweep the enclosing volume of rock with an emergency alert warning. I tune to the all-units band, await the replies of my comrades of the Brigade. None answer. Now I must face the reality: I alone have survived the assault.

I channel my remaining power to my drive and detect a channel of reduced density. I press for it and the broken rock around me yields reluctantly. Slowly, I move forward and upward. My pain circuitry shocks my awareness center with emergency signals; I am doing irreparable damage to my overloaded neural systems, but my duty is clear: I must seek out and engage the Enemy. "

[anthem]

This has nothing to do with affording energy, but I just wanted to point out that posting an IP address does not mean that one comes from the location to which the IP address points. It is very easy to find an IP address from whatever location one wishes.

Now, let me assert that I am posting from Kabul, Afghanistan. Here is my IP address:

121.100.48.20

Look it up and you'll find it is in Kabul. Let me tell you, as a "native Afghan", things are not pretty here. You know nothing about Afghanistan. I could be murdered in the street. I know you think that Afghans ar idiots, but we are actually superior to you. I enjoy American slang and use it frequently, dude. I have better command of English that you American imperialists. Blah Blah Blah.

What? You don't believe me? Are you calling me a liar? I just posted a valid Afghanistan IP address!

[BigArnie]

* Yawn *

[NotMyBlood]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('anthem', 'T')his has nothing to do with affording energy, but I just wanted to point out that posting an IP address does not mean that one comes from the location to which the IP address points. It is very easy to find an IP address from whatever location one wishes.

Now, let me assert that I am posting from Kabul, Afghanistan. Here is my IP address:

121.100.48.20

Look it up and you'll find it is in Kabul. Let me tell you, as a "native Afghan", things are not pretty here. You know nothing about Afghanistan. I could be murdered in the street. I know you think that Afghans ar idiots, but we are actually superior to you. I enjoy American slang and use it frequently, dude. I have better command of English that you American imperialists. Blah Blah Blah.

What? You don't believe me? Are you calling me a liar? I just posted a valid Afghanistan IP address!

[BigArnie]

WTF is up with you people?! Enough already.

I gave you two more options apart from my IP address if you don't believe where I'm from. Is it so hard to believe that there are actually people from Africa on the Internet?!

Let's move to option 2. Here's my mobile number: +27824673008. You'll be able to trace this number to Vodacom Service Provider Company in Midrand, South Africa. My number is listed on directory enquiries too. I'm waiting for your call. Yes, right now. Pick up the phone and call me. I'm waiting. And DO come back here and tell your buddies that you were wrong. Because if you don't, I will.

You'll be able to confirm that the person on the other end is me because I'll be shouthing a lot of insults at you before slamming the phone down on you. That'll be me.

Oh, one more thing: I appreciate the comments from people that came out in my defence. Thanks for that. I see we are now being labelled a band of trolls launching a coordinated spamming attack on this site! Yeah, right.

[NotMyBlood]

I think it goes without saying, but I'll say it just in case.

DO NOT call that number. They will end up with your phone number, then your address, and soon be able to charge whatever they want to your phone or some made up CC.

[BigArnie]

OMF! Are you insane?! Who are THEY?! I feel a f*ck what your phone number is. Phone me from Skype if you want. Phone me from a payphone. Phone me from your local titty bar. I don't care. I DO care, however, about being called a liar. I'd like to set the record straight and reveal the true troll in this thread.

Edit: Corrected Sp...

[gnm]

I'm betting Arnie is going to have to get his cell number changed soon....

Pretty soon the Nigerian investors will be calling him even... Unless he makes it easier for them and just posts his bank account number here...

-G

[Ferretlover]

JJjeeezzz....

Is there REALLY any point to this forum?

[BigArnie]

You think I was born yesterday? I've received my fair share of Nigerian scam emails. They waste their time on me.

And why does everybody on here want to bet someting about me and then when I call you out to put your money where your mouth is you're suddenly all evasive?

[BigArnie]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ferretlover', 'J')Jjeeezzz....

Is there REALLY any point to this forum?

[NotMyBlood]

I have to question the motives of someone with less than 50 posts, purposely starting an argument the constantly trying to get someone to "call" him or "come over" or send money to his paypay account......

Who posts his phone number on the interent then practically "begs" people to call him?

something is rotten in denmark or should I say south Africa. These guys are getting more and more sophisticated.

[BigArnie]

Mr. Bloodless, I've been on this forum for a year longer than you have. Does my post count need to be higher than yours before I am allowed to have an opinion?

And please, I'm not begging you to call me. I've got nothing to say to you apart from a few juicy profanities that I save for such occasions.

I'm calling you out, however. You, sir, called me a liar. I've given you every possible way that I could think of to prove or disprove my story. You chose to ignore those. As a result, YOU are the TROLL.

[NotMyBlood]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('BigArnie', 'M')r. Bloodless, I've been on this forum for a year longer than you have. Does my post count need to be higher than yours before I am allowed to have an opinion?

And please, I'm not begging you to call me. I've got nothing to say to you apart from a few juicy profanities that I save for such occasions.

I'm calling you out, however. You, sir, called me a liar. I've given you every possible way that I could think of to prove or disprove my story. You chose to ignore those. As a result, YOU are the TROLL.

[BigArnie]

You done with me? In other words you are admitting defeat. I like that.

Who's the troll now?