Slashdot Mirror
Operation Dice Drop for Zigggurat Con in Iraq
LandGator wrote with some information about the upcoming Ziggurat Con. Their catch phrase: "Where RPG isn't just a Rocket Propelled Grenade." This very special tabletop gaming event will be held on June 9th of this year ... at Camp Adder /Talil Airbase in Iraq. For nine hours on that day, gamers currently deployed to Iraq will be able to forget about the conflict by rolling dice and playing games. The con organizers are looking for willing folks to donate games and dice to the soldiers, as well as a little recognition for the d20-rolleres in harms way this year. "The Con's historical landmark 'mascot' -- the Ziggurat -- can be found on the post, and hails from the ancient city of Ur. Nearby is the house where it is believed that Abraham (a large figure in the Bible, the Koran and the Torah) was born. Cool digs for a Con -- if not for the fact that there's a war going on. [Convention organizer David] Amberson, however, emphasized the need for soldiers to relax and kick back with enjoyable activities from time to time."
of the "Most Incomprehensible Headline" Award goes to...
Is it just me or is it a bad idea to advertise this until after it is done with? I mean we have guys with mortars looking for easy targets, mention a bunch of guys are hanging around together in a small space in a set location.. well we know how that goes. Go at your own risk I'd say personally.
Still hope the guys have fun and don't get blown up.
I like muppets.
No, poor taste would be insisting that you be allowed to use "improvised magical devices"
come for the naked robots, stay for the zombies
They're not defending our freedom or our way of life. They're defending a series of lies this administration has yet to own up to.
The best thing we could have done for our boys and girls—and not just the ones fighting the war—would have been NOT TO SEND THEM THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE.
Make Slashdot readable! See journal.
to offer a fukyeah on this one. I was and continue to be very polarised against this war, but had the chance to meet a soldier on leave while at a friend's house a couple of months back (unusual company for my rather rabidly anti-military friends).
The guy was in a combat group that had lost a good number of soldiers while being deployed in some heavy fighting. This guy carried a gun and shot at baddies and all the rest.
But under it all he was just a geek who had needed money and a way out of his tiny dead end town... so joined the military in peace time to get some technical training. He experienced guilt and remorse over things that had happened. He questioned the reason he was there. He was going back so that 'someone else didn't have to go in his place.'
I for one will be looking for my old dice set to send... it's not like i use 'em.
Regards.
p.s. this guy had actually recieved fairly comprehensive networking training in the services, so he actually had made a good peace-time decision to improve his lot in life. Remember they aren't all rabid psychopaths.
You are apparently blathering on, lost in your hatred. Even I, who have a deep and real fear of Hitlery getting elected, recognize that Bill Clinton had things he did well. The fact that you cannot see past your own prejudices and find that the soldiers ARE defending our way-of-life simply shows how narrow-minded you really are. What lies are being covered up? The ones that Pres. Clinton told when HE said that Iraq had WMD? Or when all the other members of that administration said the same thing? STOP DRINKING THE KOOL-AID and THINK FOR YOURSELF!!! If we were not busy draining the blood out of terrorism in Iraq we would be doing it here . . . which strikes me as being VERY BAD for our kids. Paricularly my own. It is great that the soldiers are looking to play games and relax. Besides which, maybe the organizer is using the time-tested approach of misleading the enemy and not telling the truth about when & where.
The US still hasn't recognized the post-Cold War, new world order, which is moving towards regional control. Europe - EU, SE Asia - China, South America - Venezuala, Middle East - Iran.
D6 63 0D 70 89 81 BB 8E 7B 7C 5F 5D 54 EA AB 73
Muwhahahaaah
10x more people die yearly from car fatalities caused by illegal immigrants in USA than of 911.
Is maths that hard to comprehend?
Those countries at war, never threatened usa, and never cared what you did at home, but your USA govt did, it cares, so much that it regulates it, checks it, makes sure you
obey the law. Unless you make millions, you have no freedoms really.
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
In all honesty, please explain: How did invading Iraq have anything to do with "defending our way of life"?
Make Slashdot readable! See journal.
Willful ignorance of this degree can't be for real. Your commentary is satire, isn't it? And the funniest part is that we're taking you seriously, right?
Make Slashdot readable! See journal.
If countries that harbor terrorists, invade democracies for picking leaders whose policies they oppose, and support vicious dictators(too many to list) deserve invasion to restore democracy, then America is at the top of the list. Considering that 60% percent of the people who voted for Bush considered that "moral values" meant social justice or reducing greed (Chomsky, Noam Failed States) I seriously do not see anything wrong with such an action, other then the fact that Americans should be doing it themselves.
Inventions have long since reached their limit, and I see no hope for further development.-- Frontinus, 1st cent. AD
You actually think an organization the size of some terrorist groups isn't keeping the best out of combat?
I choose to think the 'terrorist organizations' aren't really that well or wisely organized. It's hard when your 'foot soldiers' are frothing religious zealots. It really wasn't that big of an organized feat to use the planes for the 9/11 attack, esp. not in the 'security environment' or lack therof, of the time.
Somehow I don't buy into the notion that some Dr. Evil hidden in a volcano somewhere is directing the placement of IEDs in Iraq. It's decentralized, disorganized, and can be defeated by attrition.
http://kiloseven.blogspot.com/2007/04/operation-di ce-drop-live-from-iraq-its.html
has the list of games they want, a link to a postal cost calculator , deadlines for timely arrival of parcels, and the e-mail address for the Con Chair.
There is nothing wrong with yr Internet. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling the transmission - NSA
More importantly lack of central organization helps them in this as there is no idiot on the top to truly force others to follow idiotic schemes, stifle good ones or micromanage things to hell. Worse catching one group doesn't necessarily mean we'll learn anything about larger plans no matter how high up the people we catch were.
Nonetheless I do agree that it is stupid to overestimate these people but at the same time it is even worse to underestimate what they can do. There is a reason those in power grow paranoid of even the smallest dissident groups.
By ensuring the availability of petroleum?
When I was down there, myself (Army) and one of the civilians who ran the camp help desk would setup monthly LAN parties in one of the tents. We took a couple of backup switches, some of the briefing projectors, and several power strips and took over the MWR (Morale Welfare Recreation) tent for a night.
:\
I was on a transient camp in Kuwait that funneled Soldiers from all countries into Iraq, so there wasn't much of an infrastructure for these guys to get together for some gaming. We basically just told everyone a couple days in advance, so anyone who was on camp would get a chance to come game for several hours.
I travelled between camps a lot with my job, but I was always asking around about what sort of similar events were available on the other camps, and very rarely did I actually find anything similar.
The issue is, mainly, it takes a decently ranking person to sign a memorandum to allow people to leave a camp. When you begin coordinating events like this, if you don't have that support from higher, then each camp is on their own to create an infrastructure for these types of events. Needless to say, this doesn't happen. You'd be amazed how out of several thousand people, only one or two might be willing and have the ability to setup something like this, and then they gotta actually THINK of doing it.
I really like how these guys are getting this going. Hopefully someone doesn't forget to mail them some model trees and shrubs, cuz otherwise every battle will be on a sand table
Yep.
Could not have said it better.
However, let the troops know who likes them, and you will have several hundred thousand heavily armed friends some day.
There is nothing wrong with yr Internet. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling the transmission - NSA
Portlanders (the Oregonian variety) have coughed up $50 cash to pay for shipment postal charges.
A game store, Rainy Day Games, discounts purchases for donation and accepts donations to be held for shipment.
My wife's Girrll Gamers group sewed their little fingers to the bone making dice bags and packaging sets of dice, as well as donating several pounds of dice, many, many miniatrues, and many books and games.
Details at the blog for Operation Dice Drop.
There is nothing wrong with yr Internet. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling the transmission - NSA