#call of duty united offensive

[killthorn]

call of duty united offensive - USA campaign - mission 4 noville | no co...

[himegureisu]

my idiot

Summary: Aaron can be an idiot sometimes but he's your idiot.

“Why am I not surprised?”

They called you when the unsubs’ location was successfully identified. By the time the team made the arrest, you arrived in Ohio and were on the way to the local sheriff.

His ear drum ruptured at the last case in New York and bothered him at the slightest loud sound so when the doctor cleared him for field duty, you knew what happened. His charm offensive worked. Though you couldn’t blame the doctor, he can be very convincing.

With open arms, the BAU welcomed you at the entrance where their convoys were on standby. Their Unit Chief, your very handsome yet very stubborn boyfriend, gaped.

“You’re an idiot,” you said, as the team stepped aside to give you privacy, and he faced you, “but you’re my idiot,”

“I’m sorry,” he exhaled, as you crossed your arms unimpressed at his antics. “You know I’m not one to sit still,”

“Just don’t do it again, okay?” you whispered, stroking the curve of his bare ear, and he answered, “I make no promises,”

“You’re insufferable,” you huffed. His arms wrapped around you and you give in the embrace. “And yet, you love me,”

“I do love you very much,”

His cheeks instantly tinged in pink at your admission. Tiptoed, you kissed his cheek, and his rigid stance eased. The team came back with smiles on their faces despite the small cuts and hidden bruises. Their case was solved, a victory for the people.

“I’ll go get my bag,” he briefly walked away, and the BAU glanced at his form, as you explained. “He shouldn’t be flying,”

“It’s over seven hours back to Quantico,” Emily exclaimed, as Aaron shrugged about to say that he had done it before but you said, “You’re not driving,”

“We’ll switch,” he compromised, and you stared at him for a moment, knowing how he was, before conceding. “Fine,”

“You’ll see a lot of pretty country along the byways,” Rossi implied, “You might consider stretching it out a day or two.”

“We will,” he agreed, quite easily, must mean that his ear was truly annoying him, and you smiled at the old man, “Thanks, Rossi,”

His team bid their goodbyes as Aaron tossed the rental car keys to you. Your reflexes quick, caught the keys mid-air, as he stepped into the passenger seat.

“Where are we headed?” you asked, as he strapped in. “To the nearest accommodations,”

“I’m hungry, tired and I missed you,” he confessed, a faint smile on his usually stoic facade, as you started the car, “I intend to make these days count,”

“Okay, directions, please?”

[johnbrand]

Call of Duty: Next Potential Chief

With @mrrharper

Inspired by nothing but boredom, Craig booted up his older brother’s console. If he found out that Craig was touching his stuff, his brother would have easily put him in the hospital. The two often fought, being on either end of the masculine spectrum. Craig, the liberal, more effeminate gay, had nothing in common with his conservative, ultra macho douchebag of a brother. Their fights were more or less his older brother shouting slurs at him for being girly, “a pussy” and “a fag," before landing numerous kicks and punches.

The home screen of the console displayed an array of games, most of which were the standard first person shooters. One however caught the short, slim boy’s eyes: Call of Duty: New Potential Chief. He was unfamiliar with any of the COD titles, but this one appeared to be new. At least, that’s what the small “NEW” banner above the icon hinted at. Intrigued, Craig decided to engage, opening the application. It took a while for the game to load, but eventually he was brought to the main menu. 

Complete the Entry Campaign before joining online.

Craig assumed that was reasonable; he would have to endure a tutorial if he wanted to play the game properly. As soon as his finger accepted the prompt, a piercing electric shock paralyzed his entire body. Frozen, Craig now sat completely still as the screen continued forward, ready to engage its program.

Entry Campaign activated, downloading Physicality package…

The screen in front of Craig began to display multiple bars with different characteristics. 

HEIGHT - 68/77 Units

WEIGHT - 152/200 Units

ADIPOSE TISSUE - 16/15%

MUSCULATURE - 23/85%

FEET - 8/15 Units

PHALLUS - 5/9 Units

The standardized inputs confused Craig at first, who although unable to move, still held some consciousness to the situation around him. After the first bones began to crack however, he began to understand the situation a bit more. Fearfully, Craig desperately attempted to move any portion of his body while tendons and ligaments shifted and expanded. As his HEIGHT bar slowly ticked further, Craig could literally hear himself stretching larger and larger, eventually reaching a height of 6’5.

Craig began to plead internally for escape as his muscles proceeded to bloat. His lanky body was quickly evolving, broadening with power. His calves and upper arms swelled, thickening with strength and testosterone. His quads widened, bolstering incredible durability along with his newly-prominent muscle gut. Craig’s seat expanded beneath him, plumping while his hardware opposite upgraded into a juicy 9 inches. Although still paralyzed, Craig’s legs were forcibly separated to accommodate the masculinized bundle, his soles inflating into obscenely large monsters.

Physicality package downloaded. Installing required MASCULINITY data points…

VOCAL HEIGHT - C5/D#4

VOCAL DEPTH - C#3/D2

FACIAL SHAPE - J

FACIAL HAIR - 2/61%

STRENGTH - 21/85%

AGGRESSION - 14/95%

Craig’s head naturally arched back as an emerging Adam’s apple distended from his neck, his vocal chords sculpting an uncommonly deep bass. His jaw was restructured as it jutted forward, stretching his nose and accentuating his brow along with it. A beard quickly grew in to cover the squaring shape, with dark hair flowing through Craig’s pits, down the sternum, across his crotch, and along his arms and legs.

Still fighting for release, Craig felt his inward ambition grow stronger, more offensive. In his mind, he had begun cursing the game, swearing to do unholy things to it and its creator once freed. His language and manner became cruder, brasher, and brutish–akin to his older brother’s demeanor that he had typically admonished. Craig's less analytical behavior distracted him from the the final set of downloads that were being made.

Finalizing Subordination supplements…

INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT - 145/60 Units

INTERPRETATIVE ANALYSIS - 97/10%

EXECUTIVE SUBORDINATION - 0/100%

Initializing GAMEPLAY package, uploading TF4971-Wolf onto virtual network…

Without realization, Craig’s protests slowly became weaker and less deliberate. His specific remarks began to loosen, his targeted opinions evaporating as the progress bars ticked towards their end quotients. While his aggressive demeanor remained, Craig gradually lost the language he wished to use. Eventually, even his reasoning was wiped away, diluting his directed anger into simplistic barbarism. 

Once his numbers matched the game’s standards, Craig’s brain was completely devoid of any independent thought. His head was cluttered with only the required media truly necessary. Images of loyal men, bulky men, masculine men in specific uniforms established only one precedent. Instructions on how to shoot, when to shoot, and who to shoot became his only scripture. His mind absorbed the gameplay, understanding its commands.

Now unable to process anything but the mission, TF4971-Wolf did not comprehend his teleportation into an online match in the game. He stood at one end of a battleground, surrounded by other men with the same objective. They all wore the same camo utility pants, thick jackets, and beige caps. They held the rifles they were all programmed to easily operate.

TF4971-Wolf did not question who he was, where he was, or even why he was as he proceeded towards the battleground. He was nothing more than a strong, masculine soldier NPC with permanent instructions to follow the COD programming and win the next match.

[zvaigzdelasas]

The head of an Iraqi militia participating in a coalition of groups that have waged attacks against U.S. troops and Israel has told Newsweek that his forces are prepared to escalate their campaign significantly if President Joe Biden does not meet their demands.

According to Sheikh Mohammed al-Tamimi, secretary-general of Faylaq al-Waad al-Sadiq, all they are asking for is the complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from their country.

The group, whose name translates to the "True Promise Corps," is one of several factions that have banded together as part of the "Islamic Resistance in Iraq," which launched a campaign of near-daily rocket and drone attacks against U.S. forces stationed in Iraq and Syria in October, shortly after the war between Israel and Hamas erupted in the Gaza Strip.

The offensive took a deadly turn in January when three U.S. soldiers were killed on the border of Jordan and Syria.

As unrest worsened with Biden ordering intensive airstrikes and the killing of a high-level militia commander last month, the Iraqi government began to harden its calls for a timely exit of U.S. forces. The Pentagon soon commenced talks with Iraqi counterparts over a "transition" in the U.S. military presence, which is officially limited to battling the remnants of the Islamic State militant group (ISIS).

With these assurances, a number of Islamic Resistance in Iraq militias largely paused their campaign, instead turning their sights on Israel itself. But as weeks pass with little sign of progress and reports of new attacks on U.S. positions, Tamimi has warned U.S. troops will be met with an offensive that goes far beyond even Hamas' devastating October 7, 2023, attack on Israel should "the reckless, senile" Biden ultimately fail to withdraw U.S. soldiers from the country.

"If the agreement is not achieved, we will expel the Americans in their coffins from Iraq, and we will humiliate the 'Black House' administration," Tamimi told Newsweek. "And they will see who the resistance is and what the capabilities of the resistance are, especially now that we have drones and long-range smart missiles."[...]

Iranian officials[...] have denied exerting command and control over such groups, which they argue are involved in legitimate defensive maneuvers.

"The military actions undertaken by the resistance front against the Israeli regime are defensive measures aimed at exerting pressure on the occupying regime, with the goal of halting its crimes in Gaza," the Iranian Mission to the United Nations told Newsweek in response to Hagari's comments.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran staunchly supports such resistance," the Mission added. "However, given the Israeli regime's inability to effectively counter the resistance, it seeks to portray Iran as the occupying force in the countries comprising the resistance front."

Tamimi, too, rejected the notion that he led a state-sponsored group. But he attested to a growing level of coordination among allied international factions of the Axis of Resistance.

"Faylaq al-Waad al-Sadiq is Iraqi, and the mujahideen of the corps are Iraqis," Tamimi said. "We have coordination with the resistance factions in Lebanon, Yemen, or Gaza. We do not have coordination with any country, only with the resistance. We are with the unity of the resistance."[...]

"The Iraqi resistance now stands with the Palestinian people, and our duty now is to stand with them and support them against the crime and genocide against them by the Zionist entity supported by the American government, Britain, and Europe," Tamimi said.

"The change in strategies in the Iraqi resistance was clear, especially after the American deal with the Iraqi government, which was urgently asking us to stop the jihadi operations in Iraq," he added. "In return, there will be immediate withdrawal from Iraq, non-interference in the Iraqi situation, and Iraqi money will be handed over."

Once again, he warned that a failure to meet these conditions would result in all-out escalation against U.S. troops, who he warned would meet their end in Iraq.

"We respect the right of peoples to live in peace, and it is our right to have peace in our country without American military forces on the land of Iraq. The Iraqi people respect all peoples but reject the military presence on the land of Iraq," Tamimi said. "If these forces do not withdraw, they will be sent with coffins, and we will destroy the American bases."

"And we are able to carry out more operations than the Hamas movement in its storming of the bases of the Zionist entity," he said. "We are able to shatter these bases."

Already, reports shared by Faylaq al-Waad al-Sadiq's media channel reported a new attack late Tuesday on a U.S. position near the Conoco gas field in eastern Syria's Deir Ezzor province, the site of yet unattributed explosions apparently targeting the militia presence there just a day earlier.

Meanwhile, a high-level Iraqi delegation visited Washington this week ahead of a scheduled trip by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani next month for talks in which the future of the U.S. military presence is likely to be a central topic.

But Tamimi, in a direct appeal to the U.S. people, affirmed that the wrath of the resistance was reserved only for perceived occupiers, and not civilians.

"We wish peace for everyone, and we want to live in peace in our country," Tamimi said. "We ask you to withdraw your children from our country, Iraq, and let us live in security, prosperity and peace. We welcome the American people to visit our country for a tourist or commercial visit, but we reject their military presence, and they must know that we do not need them."

27 Mar 24

[gelpensoncomics]

Guy Gardner: A Study of Heroes and Head Trauma

SO! It's July, which is disability pride month here in the United States where I live! I figured it would be appropriate to kick things off by talking about a character who has a mixed reputation, to say the least: Guy Gardner, Green Lantern. He's been around since the Silver Age of comics, and his characterization has been through some serious ups and downs over the years! But what if I told you that it's not inconsistent writing? What if I told you there is a lens with which to view his shifting behavioral patterns and at times abrasive and offensive personality that makes it all come into focus and make perfect sense, and it's all already there on the page? I'm here to give you that lens, and it's viewing Guy Gardner as a man who has suffered multiple traumatic brain injuries and managed to heal over time. Buckle up, this is probably going to be a long one, and it's pretty image heavy as I try to back up as much as I am claiming that I can.

So the first thing I will start with is establishing Guy's former baseline. This is not the post where I will go incredibly in-depth on Guy's full family history and his education, I'll save that for another time. Here, I simply aim to sum up. Guy Gardner met Hal Jordan for the first time in the 1991 title Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn, a volume that served as an updated backstory for the Silver Age hero after Crisis on Infinite Earths. Hal was in prison to serve a 90 day sentence for drunk driving. Guy Gardner was Hal Jordan's caseworker.

"What? Huh? That's Guy Gardner?" You, the hypothetical reader ask. What happened to him?!

A lot. A lot happened to him, and it took him from a man who gave the advice to "Use your rage! Don't let it use you!" to a man who is known as the rude angry ginger lantern. First off, he got hit by a bus. No, I'm not being metaphorical or making a joke. See, he quit his job as a prison case worker because he didn't like how the job made him feel, especially after he was caught up in a prison riot and threatened with death at the hands of a prisoner there. So he put his second degree to use and he became a teacher. Specifically, he became a physical education teacher for disabled children.And then there was an earthquake, and he was hit by a bus while attempting to rescue one of the students on a field trip he was running, nearly dying in the process.

Now, I will say: he got better. This time. See, no sooner had he recovered from this incident, as he was filling in for Hal as Green Lantern he was exploded in the line of duty and sent to a parallel dimension. In that parallel dimension he was tortured, and Sinestro used a dangerous and severe form of mind control that, when it was finally broken, left Guy... well, the comics call him comatose, but he is conscious, he is just not responsive to the environment around him or able to care for himself.

For years, he remained in this state, with his care at a top-notch hospital paid for by fellow superheros. And then, during the Crisis on Infinite Earths event, a miracle happened. Guy regained consciousness.

But the Guy who came out of that vegetative state wasn't the same man who fell into it. Or at least, not exactly. He was angrier. His fuse was shorter. Perhaps most upsetting of all, one of the first actions he took upon regaining consciousness was attempted grave robbery.

"Gelpens, what the fuck," you ask me. I know. It's a lot. Bear with me here. See, he didn't wake up on his own. The Guardians of Oa woke him up, using their tremendous cosmic powers to attempt to heal his brain damage so they could deploy him to help during the Crisis.

Sure, Guy got his strength back. He was able to function as a Green Lantern. But he still wasn't the same as he was before his coma. He stayed angry, and confrontational, and was frequently known to make inappropriate comments that failed to fit the setting he was in or the bounds of good taste. He had a constant chip on his shoulder, very different from the man who was concerned about controlling his anger so it couldn't use him.

This all came to a head in a series of events that is frankly infamous in comics circles. Almost every fan I know of who knows Guy Gardner knows about the time Batman got fed up with his confrontational rude attitude and laid him out with a single punch to the face.

The thing people don't remember about that punch is that, seeing as it was the 90s, and comics writers had learned a few things about the brain, they decided to use it to make... let's call it a running joke. See, after Guy regained consciousness, he was much more like the guy he was before all that head trauma. He was polite, cared about being a team player and not trying to prove himself, he didn't go for lethal force!

Of course, this didn't last. No, the whole 'joke' here was that Batman punched him hard enough to rattle his brain, and he would occasionally jump from being a sweet, friendly team player to, in the words of the narration box the first time he got hit on the head again, his new old "thoroughly rotten" self (I know). Slowly but surely though, Guy did get better, and start to stay better. His mood stabilized, he gained more self-control, he started making better plans and he was much less angry as a default. And it's kept going! This train keeps chugging along! He isn't so angry anymore! He has it under control!

And honestly? This moment, right here? This is the crowning jewel in my thesis, I think.

Guy has a Red Lantern ring and a Star Sapphire ring. For those of you less familiar with the extended Green Lantern lore, the Red Lanterns run off rage. The Star Sapphires are powered by love. Outside of willpower, the emotions that are the most powerful within him are his rage and anger, and his love for his friends. And what does he fuel them with, when it comes down to the wire? When willpower alone isn't enough? The thing he hates most is being filled with rage. The thing he loves the most is his friends.

So. I don't think Guy was ever just an angry, sexist, rude asshole at his core. Is he the same as he was before the injury, before all that happened to him? Of course not. Nobody goes through life completely unchanged by what happens to them.

I think he injured his brain and lost his ability to regulate his emotions and impulses for a while. The road to recovery was far from smooth. It just took him some time to heal and be in a place to act like the man he wanted to be all along. But in my opinion? I think he's there now.

[mariacallous]

A presidential signing bonanza

Vladimir Putin signed into law on Thursday more than 50 laws on Thursday, including several new prohibitions and expansions of the state’s repressive powers. Thanks to the president's approval, these eight pieces of legislation are now set to become the law of the land.

Jailing soldiers (without court orders) for using smartphones: Unit commanders now have the authority to lock up their soldiers for up to 10 days (or 15 days for repeat offenses) if they catch them using banned personal gadgets, such as smartphones. This act previously required transporting the suspects to a garrison court for a formal ruling.

An expanded definition of ‘undesirability’: The authorities can now designate any organization in Russia as “undesirable” if foreign state entities played any role in the organization’s foundation or have even participated in its operations. State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said the law is necessary to close a “loophole” that prohibited the government from designating local, Russian organizations, not just foreign groups.

No more selling energy drinks to kids: Effective March 2025, Russian vendors are prohibited from selling non-alcoholic tonic drinks, including energy drinks, to minors. The new restriction is intended as a public health measure.

Legalized cryptocurrency mining: Russia will introduce a special registry to issue permits for individuals and legal entities to “mine” cryptocurrency — the electricity-demanding process of using computer power to solve the complex mathematical problems needed to validate and secure transactions on a blockchain, earning digital currency as a reward. In mid-July, Putin expressed concerns about falling behind in cryptocurrency regulations. The new legislation also reserves some regional authorities’ right to ban crypto-mining where energy shortages are a concern.

The Dude can no longer abide: Effective September 1, 2025, “propagating drug use in art and literature” without warnings will be punishable by steep fines. The new restrictions exempt all works released before August 1, 1990, and content “where drugs are an integral part of the artistic concept justified by the genre.” The new censorship also does not apply to “materials related to investigative activities, scientific, educational, medical, or pharmaceutical publications.”

More deportation powers for the police: Internal Affairs Ministry officials will now have the authority to expel foreigners from the country without court oversight for certain misdemeanors. The list of administrative offenses includes illegal drug use, the public consumption of alcohol, and disseminating so-called “gay propaganda” (though officers must “directly witness signs of violations” in this last case). Deported foreigners will also be added to a registry that bans them from registering businesses in Russia, getting married, buying and registering property, opening bank accounts, and obtaining or renewing a driver’s license. 

‘Trash-streams’ banned: In Russia, “trash streams” usually feature bloggers abusing drugs and alcohol or performing humiliating or violent acts in return for donations from viewers. The new law prohibits the distribution of “trash stream” content, and crimes committed during these broadcasts can be prosecuted as aggravated offenses under 10 different felony statutes. Convicted “trash streamers” will face steep fines and the possible confiscation of their electronic equipment.

Naturalized citizenship revoked for refusing military registration: The Internal Affairs Ministry will now be required to provide records about all men approved for receiving Russian citizenship. Lawmakers who sponsored the bill said the new condition for maintaining naturalized citizenship is needed to address “widespread public outrage” against immigrants who get a passport and then evade military duty.

[datcloudboi]

List of Video Games Turning 20 Years Old in 2024

Alien Hominid (started off life as a Flash game and graduated to a real game.)

Army Men: Sarge's War (the sequel to the Sarge’s Heroes games, but this one was rated T for Teen and used realistic guns instead of plastic ones)

Astro Boy: Omega Factor (seriously, if you have a chance to play this, take it. This game is AMAZING)

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

The Bard's Tale (the 2004 version with the guy who played Wesley in The Princess Bride)

Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings & the Lost Ocean (hey! That collection with this game and it's follow-up is out on the Switch now! Go get it!)

Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space

Blood Will Tell: Tezuka Osamu's Dororo

BloodRayne 2

Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django (this GBA game had a special cartridge that required you to go outside into the sunlight to power up your character in game)

Breakdown

Bujingai: The Forsaken City (the game where you play as Gackt)

Burnout 3: Takedown

Call of Duty: United Offensive

Call of Duty: Finest Hour (a side story to the original Call of Duty, which came out the year before)

Capcom Fighting Evolution (the darkest of the dark age of fighting games)

Carmen Sandiego: The Secret of the Stolen Drums (a full-on adventure game where you play as the mascot of a series of edutainment games)

Champions of Norrath: Realms of EverQuest

The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (the rare movie-in game that's not only really good, but is actually better than the movie it's based on)

Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage + Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy

Crash Twinsanity (a childhood favorite)

Crimson Tears

Crusader Kings

Custom Robo (the first one in the series to release in North America)

Cy Girls

Dead Man's Hand

Dead or Alive Ultimate (remakes of Dead or Alive 1 and Dead or Alive 2)

Def Jam: Fight for NY (the vastly superior sequel to Vendetta)

Dog's Life

Doom 3 (the original version. Hope you've got a flashlight on you...)

Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors

Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury (the final game in the Legacy of Goku series)

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3

Drakengard (Yoko Taro's debut as a game director)

Driver 3

Evil Genius

Fable (another childhood favorite)

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (the last Fallout game made by Interplay before Bethesda acquired the IP.)

Far Cry (the very first one.)

Feel the Magic: XY/XX (a launch title for the Nintendo DS)

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (the only Final Fantasy game to release for the GameCube)

Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls (remakes of the first two mainline Final Fantasy games)

Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone

Front Mission 4

F-Zero: GP Legend (the last F-Zero game to release for almost 2 decades, until F-Zero 99 released in 2023.)

Galleon

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (the PS2 one. There was another version of SAC that released for the PSP a year later that is completely different.)

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2

Ghosthunter

Godzilla: Save the World

GoldenEye: Rogue Agent

Gradius V (the last mainline Gradius game)

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Grand Theft Auto Advance (yes, there was a GTA game on the GBA.)

Growlanser Generations

Guilty Gear Isuka

.hack//Quarantine

Half-Life 2

Halo 2

Hitman: Contracts (the third one)

Hot Shots Golf Fore! (yet another childhood favorite)

It's Mr. Pants (Rareware made this for the GBA after being acquired by Microsoft)

Jak 3

James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing

Katamari Damacy (the very first Katamari game)

Killzone (PlayStation's supposed "Halo killer".)

KOF: Maximum Impact

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

Kirby & the Amazing Mirror

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures

Lifeline (a microphone-based survival horror game for the PS2 by Konami.)

The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (a turn-based RPG that uses the exact same battle system as Final Fantasy X.)

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth

Mario Golf: Advance Tour

Mario Party 6

Mario Pinball Land

Mario Power Tennis (not to be confused with "Mario Golf: Power Tour" for the GBA.)

Mario vs. Donkey Kong (the first one, which is getting a remake for the Switch in February!)

Maximo vs. Army of Zin

MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf

Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault

Mega Man: Battle Chip Challenge

Mega Man Battle Network 4: Red Sun/Blue Moon

Mega Man X: Command Mission

Mega Man Zero 3

Mega Man X8 (yeah, there was a lot of Mega Man stuff in 2004.)

Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (a remake of the original Metal Gear Solid for the GameCube)

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (SNAAAAAKE EATERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR)

Metal Wolf Chaos (LET'S PARTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY)

Metroid: Zero Mission (a remake of the original Metroid for the GBA.)

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

Monster Hunter (the very first one)

Mortal Kombat: Deception

Mushihimesama ((a bullet hell that you’ve probably seen a lot of if you search for “HARDEST GAME OF ALL TIME?????” on YouTube)

Myst IV: Revelation

Need for Speed: Underground 2

Ninja Gaiden (the reboot from the Dead or Alive devs)

The Nintendo DS

Onimusha 3: Demon Siege

Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors (an action-adventure hack & slash made by FromSoftware)

Painkiller

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (can you believe this is getting a remake this year??)

Phantom Brave

Pikmin 2

Pitfall: The Lost Expedition (the last game in an series that started all the back in 1982 on the Atari 2600)

Pokemon Colosseum

Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy

Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (the 3rd one)

Red Dead Revolver (the predecessor to Red Dead Redemption.)

Resident Evil Outbreak

R-Type Final

Sacred

Samurai Warriors

Scaler

American McGee Presents: Scrapland

Second Sight

Serious Sam: Next Encounter

Shadow Hearts: Covenant

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne (you know that “Featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry series” meme you guys love so much? This is where that came from.)

Silent Hill 4: The Room

Siren (a spirital successor to Silent Hill from the same creative director)

Sly 2: Band of Thieves

Sonic Heroes

Sonic Battle (an arena fighter for the GBA.)

Sonic Advance 3

Spider-Man 2 ((based on the movie of the same name. The one with the really good web-slinging)

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (the 2nd one)

Spyro: A Hero's Tail (the 5th one)

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (the 3rd one)

Star Wars: Battlefront (the one that everyone liked)

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords

Steel Battalion: Line of Contact ((this, and the original Steel Battalion two years prior, used a special controller called the Mega-Jockey 9000, which had 44 buttons, two joysticks, a throttle handle, a radio channel dial, five switches, an eject button, and three foot pedals.)

Sudeki

The Suffering

Super Mario 64 DS

Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain (the 4th one)

Tales of Symphonia

Thief: Deadly Shadows (the 3rd one)

Tony Hawk's Underground 2

Total War: Rome

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

Viewtiful Joe 2

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War

X-Men Legends

[girlactionfigure]

Iron Sword

The IDF has published a large data set with information on its operations in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Lebanon, from the number of terror operatives killed, to the number of sites struck.

According to the data, more than 9,000 Hamas operatives and fighters of other terror groups have been killed by the IDF in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7. The Hamas-run health ministry has said over 23,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, which includes both civilians and Hamas members.

The IDF's data says the military has killed two Hamas brigade commanders and 19 battalion commanders and other seniors with an equivalent rank. More than 50 Hamas company commanders and operatives with a similar rank have also been killed, according to the data.

In Lebanon, the IDF says it has killed more than 170 terror operatives, mostly members of the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Some 30,000 targets have been struck in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war, including more than 3,400 that were discovered as Hamas sites amid the fighting. In Lebanon, some 750 Hezbollah positions have been hit, according to the IDF's data.

Since the beginning of the war, some 9,000 projectiles fired from Gaza crossed the border into Israel, another 2,000 from Lebanon, and around 30 from Syria.

The IDF says the Military Intelligence Directorate's Unit 504 has interrogated some 2,300 Palestinian suspects in the Gaza Strip, some of whom were arrested and brought to Israel for further questioning. 

A total of 7,653 trucks ferrying humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip have been inspected by Israeli authorities at the Nitzana and Kerem Shalom crossings. The IDF says the trucks have carried a total of 137,920 tons of aid.

The IDF has also made 79,000 phone calls, dropped 7.2 million leaflets, sent 13.7 million texts and 15 million recorded calls to Palestinians in Gaza with evacuation warnings.

Since October 7 in the West Bank, the IDF says troops have arrested more than 2,650 wanted Palestinians, including more than 1,300 affiliated with Hamas. It says 40 brigade-level raids have been carried out, and 14 homes of Palestinians accused of terrorism have been demolished.

According to the IDF's data, a total of 295,000 reservists have been called up since the beginning of the war. Of them, around 45,000 are serving despite receiving an exemption from reserve duty.

The IDF says the nearly 300,000 reservists have been on duty for an average of 61 days.

Men make up 81-percent of the reservists, with the other 19% being women. 115,000 of the reservists are fathers, and some 3,000 are mothers. Half of the reservists are between the ages of 20-29, with 31% being between the ages of 30-39. Another 13% are aged 40-49, 5% aged 50-59, and 1% aged 60-69.

A total of 522 soldiers and reservists have been killed and another 2,536 have been wounded since October 7. Of them, 188 were killed and 1,113 were wounded during the ground offensive in Gaza. 

The IDF has also listed 19 soldiers killed due to friendly fire in Gaza, and another 36 by accidents amid the war, including car crashes and military-related incidents.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Adam Gabbatt at The Guardian:

Donald Trump has been criticized after he claimed that the civilian Presidential Medal of Freedom, which he bestowed on people including Republican supporters and donors during his time in office, is “much better” than the top military award for those killed or wounded in action: the Medal of Honor.

Speaking at a campaign event on Thursday, Trump made the claim as he addressed Miriam Adelson, the widow of the Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson. Trump awarded Miriam Adelson the Medal of Freedom in 2018. “[The Medal of Freedom is] actually much better because everyone [who] gets the congressional Medal of Honor, they’re soldiers,” Trump said. “They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets or they’re dead. She gets it, and she’s a healthy, beautiful woman. And they’re rated equal.” The Medal of Honor is the country’s highest military award. It is awarded to a military service member who “distinguishes himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty”. The Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded to civilians, is presented by the US president to those who “have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors”, according to the White House.

“Donald Trump insulting Medal of Honor recipients is just a continued trend of his disrespect towards our men and women in the military,” Travis Akers, a navy veteran, wrote on X. “It’s disgusting. This is offensive on so many levels.” Trump has a long history of denigrating service members. In 2020 the Atlantic reported that Trump had canceled a planned visit in France to an American military cemetery near Paris because it was “filled with losers”. Trump also called the dead military members “suckers” for getting killed.

The most anti-military man ever to be our “President” strikes again with his callous anti-military remarks by suggesting that the civilian Presidential Medal of Freedom medal has more prestige than the Medal of Honor.

See Also:

MMFA: Fox News is ignoring Trump denigrating Medal of Honor recipients

[silverspleen]

@your-royal-highness-of-trash

Pulled out into TWO new posts b/c I cannot be subjecting my friends to one longpost but rather many smaller posts with the majestic read more tool. I hope this is cool.

(Context. My reply to This.)

THE GRIM HALF tw warcrimes torture it's a CoD ramble my beloved followers know it's time for me to be Unhinged on Main

I don't know if I would call Jacob Geller's video essays on Call of Duty fun. Like, they very much aren't designed to be consumed from a fandom lens. They are super intellectually engaging and enlightening but also really grim since he does absolutely talk about the real life political motivations that go into CoD as a work of art, specifically propaganda art. And talks about, you know, real war crimes done by real people in real life. I have made multiple irl friends watch them.

None of them are into FPS games so this is basically my torture I am doing to my friends as I desperately try to rationalizing enjoying Call of Duty as an adult with a functioning brain. Who notices things like, yeah. We made up a middle eastern country for this one huh lads? We made that shit up so we don't have to make any actual comments about the United States' current complicity in this whole war and terrorism thing huh? WE'RE DOING A HISTORICAL REVISIONISM ARE WE??? I wouldn't have noticed the historical revisionism without this video essay and you know what? It's super fucked up. CoD does wacko stuff all the time, both for manufactured drama and for silly propaganda reasons, and when it jumps the shark is when it's the most conventional fun I think. I think Geller is onto something where he says that the writers went into this thinking they were doing the story in the best way possible with character driven stuff - and therefore it doesn't REALLY matter where Farah is from to them, they can just make up a country because it's general backstory vibes that impact her behavior that matter, not cultural details. Also how Alex can get away with being a terrorist but in a nbd way because yeah he is one, that's what happens when you desert to a faction that literally gets classified as a terrorist organization babyyy - but sitting at a perspective completely divorced of all the political and societal nuances in real life that makes the actual manifested story have impact outside of itself. And the US government is like "hell yeah, America! more kids will think guns and soldiers are cool and great. A+ plot or whatever put more suicide bombers in it" and that's that.

Being invited to my clusterfuck of an apartment like SIT ON MY COUCH WE'RE WATCHING THE POLITICS OF COD MW 2019.

Poor Gaz is the other character besides Farah with the strongest sense of like, justice and doing "the right thing" and this man gets ALL the ethically questionable as fuck levels and I know why. It's so they can do a propaganda and show like, ok this must be a justifiable offense because the Good Guy player surrogate character can accept it. I see you! I see you CoD writers!

not CoD but always relevant - "Rationalizing Brutality: The Cultural Legacy of the Headshot"

His video essays "Who's Afraid of Modern Art" and "Judaism and Whiteness in Wolfenstein" are both personal favorites. Though I am so so biased towards his review of Dead Space 2 that's just like 40 minutes of him being like "this game rocks" because yeah, mood.

Anyway I am putting this in a box and throwing it into the ocean next post is the fun part of CoD it's shipping time this is my dichotomy this is how I must live my life.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Winkfield Twyman Jr.

Published: Dec 27, 2023

I have a tender spot in my heart for race pioneers. My spirits were lifted when L. Douglas Wilder was sworn in as the first Black American governor of a U.S. state—the state of Virginia, of which I am a native son. My mom was dying of cancer at the time, but she wanted me to witness Black History in the making. So on that cold January day in 1990, I left her bedside and bore witness to the coming of a better time in Virginia.

Similarly, on the night of November 4, 2008, when Barack Obama was elected the first Black President of the United States of America, I joined family and friends to run into the darkness of the San Diego night, yelling and screaming, whooping and hollering. It was a sacred moment in our American history to be always cherished and never forgotten. That the American electorate would elect a Black person to the highest office in the land was something our grandparents and our grandparents' grandparents could only dream of.

I considered the project of race in America to be finished that November night in San Diego. The election of a Black U.S. president broke the psychological barrier in our minds. There is no higher office than President of the United States of America—in the entire world. For me, the questions of race were all answered. I was done with race.

But too many Americans can't seem to quit race. Fifteen years after President Barack Obama's triumph, some feel it noteworthy to remark that Claudine Gay is the first Black President of Harvard University. Worse, in the face of numerous mounting scandals, many are defending Gay by claiming that the attacks against her are racial in nature.

They are not. They are all well deserved.

The demand that Gay resign stems from the utter lack of moral competency she displayed in her testimony before Congress, in which she said that calling for the genocide of Jews is only against Harvard rules in certain contexts. She also failed to condemn the Hamas atrocities against Israel in real time on October 7, another reason she should resign. There is also now evidence of serial plagiarism. And did I mention Gay has published no books—an unprecedented feat for a Harvard President, unless one travels back in time to the year 1773?

And yet, many are coming to her defense. Having finally got their wish of a Black president of Harvard, Harvard seems unwilling to let her go. The racial wagons have circled around Gay, with President of the NAACP alleging that White Supremacy is afoot and Morehouse President David Thomas claiming in a Forbes interview that Gay is a scholar at the "top of her profession... as qualified as any President Harvard has ever had."

This is not only misguided, but deeply ironic. Did you know that Claudine Gay during her Harvard career has repeatedly targeted and disrupted the careers of prominent Black male professors?

As Dean of the College, Gay terminated Ronald S. Sullivan, Jr. as Faculty Dean of the Winthrop House. Professor Sullivan, Jr., a graduate of Morehouse College and Harvard Law School, was the first Black faculty dean of a house in the history of Harvard College.

What was Professor Sullivan's offense? Sullivan deigned to represent the disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein—an act of moral conscience, since all are entitled to legal representation in our legal system. Yet legal conscience mattered not to Claudine Gay, who terminated a race pioneer for doing his civic duty.

You may excuse this heartless termination as a one-off. You would be wrong. Economics Professor Roland G. Fryer, Jr. was next in the sights of Dean Gay. Fryer was a top Black professor at Harvard. After having overcome all sorts of hardship and childhood deprivation, Professor Fryer joined the faculty at Harvard to become the second-youngest professor ever to be awarded tenure at Harvard, and went on to blaze a trail of distinction, including winning the MacArthur Fellowship and the John Bates Clark Medal.

Yet when Fryer undertook research into the killings of unarmed Black men in Houston, Fryer's research found no racial disparities. He made the mistake of undercutting the racial narrative that the Left has adopted, and as a result, Gay did her best to remove all of his academic privileges, coordinating a witch hunt against him. Fryer survived Gay's crusade of discharge but Fryer's lab was shut down, his reputation tarnished.

No one in good faith should defend President Gay because she is the first Black president of Harvard. Even if you don't agree with me that our racial struggle is in our past, someone who has targeted Black male professors has waived any benefit of the "first Black" defense.

W. F. Twyman, Jr., Class of 1986 Harvard Law School, is a former law professor. He is also co-author of Letters in Black and White: A New Correspondence on Race in America published by Pitchstone Publishing.

==

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Claudine Gay is as corrupt as they come.

[voxyldy]

1.31.2024

[UPDATE]

Taehyung has now been assigned to 2nd corps of the Special Mission task force and will be deployed to the unit on Feb 8. The 2nd Corps (nicknamed “Double Dragons”) is a unit in charge of the most evil military demarcation line border area in the entire army. The 2nd Corps, a corps known to destroy the knees and ankles of countless soldiers.

II Corps= Offensive Force + GOC

Mission of Ground Operations Command is to deter the full spectrum of threats and guard the Military Demarcation Line.

Offensive force is an aggressive military operation aimed at the enemy and their job is to engage the enemy in the battle and attack/invade

The location of the unit is notoriously brutal; as Taehyung’s unit is placed in the valley between twin peaks, so called twin dragons(쌍용), it is very difficult to reach the unit because of the rough mountainous terrain which make the unit size small. Although all military units have their own ups and downs, his unit particularly faces iron fences against the North which has countless stairways along the fences for the guard duty (complete armed guard). With heavy gears and arms the stairways make the duty extra difficult so that it is one of the place where people avoid to be placed to serve.

You can watch an informative video on what Taehyung’s unit entails

“Army 2nd Corps! The worst position even a special forces officer has difficulty in surviving /enduring”

Source: The Tae Guide

[tomorrowusa]

In addition to being the dictator party and the abortion police party, the GOP is becoming the "kill the gays" party.

In a little-noticed Oct. 8 speech in Uganda, Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) urged that nation to stand behind its new Anti-Homosexuality Act, which includes the death penalty. Walberg’s remarks came at Uganda’s National Prayer Breakfast. His trip to attend the event was paid for by the secretive U.S. group behind the National Prayer Breakfast, congressional filings show. As the keynote speaker of the Entebbe event, Walberg advised Uganda to “stand firm” on the new law. Walberg can be seen in video of the event listening to, endorsing, and associating himself with the remarks of other speakers. Speakers called LGBTQ+ advocates “a force from the bottom of Hell” and urged government officials to adopt “Christocracy” over democracy. Walberg explicitly encouraged Uganda’s leaders to resist opposition to the law from the U.S., the UN, and other global institutions. His audience included President Yoweri Museveni, who signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act into law in May. Museveni afterwards said Walberg’s presence showed his people that there were Americans who “think like us.” Walberg justified his Uganda trip as related to his official duties in part because of his role as co-chair of the Feb. 2 U.S. National Prayer Breakfast.

Yep, Rep. Walberg went on a junket (taxpayer financed?) to the most homophobic country in Sub-Saharan Africa just to "pray" at breakfast — presumably for the death of gays. And he got to do so alongside the country's longtime authoritarian president.

Yoweri Museveni has been mis-leading his country since 26 January 1986 – the same day the Chicago Bears won Super Bowl XX. He's one of those corrupt de facto presidents for life who plague a number of countries in Africa. It's natural that Republicans would gravitate towards such a figure.

[L]ast year’s Ugandan National Prayer Breakfast also served as a rally to resist international pressure for LGBTQ+ rights. The latest version of the Anti-Homosexuality bill, commonly known as the “Kill the Gays Bill,” was introduced shortly afterwards. The law provides penalties of lengthy prison sentences and even execution for “aggravated homosexuality,” including “serial offenses.” Even advocating for LGBTQ+ rights can mean years behind bars under the new law. Just attempting to engage in same-sex conduct can draw a sentence of ten years. According to Human Rights Watch, Ugandan rights groups have seen a spike in anti-LGBTQ discrimination and persecution since the bill’s introduction. Advocates in Uganda report government crackdowns on rights organizations and, since the law was enacted in May, hundreds of individual acts of violence, discrimination, and even evictions. As recently as Dec. 11, the Biden administration reiterated its demand that Uganda repeal the law and stop its official persecution. The White House cited U.S. visa restrictions and sanctions of Ugandan officials. The U.S. has suggested further economic consequences may follow.

Walberg seemed to imply that he's not on the side of the United States of America. Well, that's not unusual of House Republicans.

Referring to himself and the Ugandans there as “we,” Walberg asked, “Whose side do we wanna be on? God’s side. Not the World Bank, not the United States of America, necessarily, not the UN. God’s side.”

Somebody should ask Rep. Walberg if he's going to introduce a "Kill the Gays Bill" in the US House. Knowing how self-hating the Log Cabin Republicans are, they'd probably lobby in favor of such a bill.

A fascist mindset permeates the Republican Party. If you support the continuation of democracy in this country, Vote Blue No Matter Who. People who claim that both parties are the same are either stupid or too lazy to pay attention.

[emblematicemblazer]

Fire Emblem Engage Xenologue

Framme vs Nel

Framme and Nel act as guides in their relevant worlds and both are the female half of the sets of twins. Their role is similar but their personalities differ greatly:

Happy to see Alear vs Unhappy to see Alear

Framme is delighted when Alear awakens. She, and many of her predecessors, had waited over a 1000 years for Alear to awaken. Her excitement is demonstrated by cheers, squeals and general hyperactivity. When Alear arrives in the Xenologue universe they are greeted in a less hospitable manner than Nel. Nel even goes as far as saying that she would rather anyone else had answered their call. This is because Alear reminds her of the Divine Dragon she loved.

Playful vs Serious

Framme has a playful personality. She cheers and exudes positive energy. Sometimes she can be a bit of a scatterbrain, for example in the support conversation with Chloe she kept messing up her folk food order. Nel is calm, composed and professional. She generally interacts with others in a mellow and controlled fashion. 

Unprofessional vs Professional

Framme's forgetfulness, clumsiness and her struggle with academia, (See the support conversation with Diamant), might be considered unprofessional. Vander is often reminding her of her responsibilities. Nel acts in a professional manner, she tries to keep her emotions under control and take command of any situation. 

Defense vs Attack

Framme‘s upgrades into classes which focus on healing and defending such as Martial Master. Nel is an offensive unit that can attack as a dragon or with her lance. 

Open vs Closed

Framme wears her emotions on her sleeve. She gets upset when she thinks she has messed up, an example of this is when she disturbs the Divine Dragon's training with her cheering. She is fully open and honest about the situation Alear finds themselves in and the way she feels. Nel tends to keep her emotions under control until the point that she bursts. She keeps secrets about the situation in her universe and undertakes secret tasks without consulting others. 

Encourage vs Nag

Framme encourages Alear with her cheering and praise. When Alear first wakes up she provides comfort and understanding. Nel has a much more disciplinary approach to Alear. She scolds them harshly when they command the army without her permission. After she apologises she still speaks firmly to Alear and refuses to tolerate some of their behaviour, such as the waking up ritual. 

Insecurity vs Confidence

Framme is insecure in her abilities as a Steward. She beats herself up when she makes a mistake, examples are the support conversations with Vander, Alear and Chloe.  Nel is confident in her abilities, so much so that she is unafraid to take command. 

Kindness vs Kindness

Both the female twins are kind individuals. Framme helps Kagetsu write a letter to his parents and comforts Lady Anna. Nel takes on secret duties, such as killing the Corrupted royalty so Alear does not have to kill enemies with the same face as their allies, as well as being gentle with people; Rafal and Tiki describe her as gentle. 

Favourite items

 Framme's favourite items demonstrate an interest in training, (muscle balm and training weights) and fashion, (strong perfume and quality kerchief). Nel's favourite items demonstrate an interest in nature, (butterfly net and animal treats) and crafting/weaponry (fancy dagger and sharp chisel).  Framme‘s interests show that she is not delicate and finds her appearance important whereas Nel's interests show her abilities to be intricate and delicate with her hands and the importance she placed on her environment. 

[viktorviolettaenterprises]

Czechslovakia Armaments

@ts4-poses​ @ts4-poses-masterlist​

DOWNLOAD!!!!!!!!!!

Privet Tovarisch And Happy New Year For Everyone. Greetings and Salutation for us All, and hope you guys still stay with us and trusting us for your Defense Needs.

This time Around We'll Covering the Finest Weapons From Czechoslovakia (Now Czech and Slovakia). former Warsaw Pacts member who shine a bright with their breakthrough inventions, that carried until post Soviet States. the Rising Star for the west. And Sorry For Delayed Post.. We're Planning to add another Segment For VVE in format of E-Magazines. for improvement of our Bureau. for now.. stay Tuned

Pistols The CZ 75 The Member Of Famous "The Wonder 9" Is Here CZ75 is a semi-automatic pistol made by Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod (CZUB) in the Czech Republic. First introduced in 1975, it is one of the original "wonder nines" featuring a staggered-column magazine, all-steel construction, and a hammer forged barrel. It has a good reputation amongst pistol shooters for quality and versatility at a reasonable price, and is widely distributed throughout the world. It is also the most common gun in the Czech Republic.

We Covering 4 Famous Version of this Gun which are CZ75B (Second-generation CZ 75 with internal firing pin safety, squared and serrated trigger guard, and ring hammer. which fire in Semi Auto Mode), CZ75A (The Machine Pistol Version of CZ75, That Popularized by Grand Theft Auto 4:The Lost And Damned & Counter Strike:Global Offensive), CZ SP01 (New generation of CZ 75 SP-01 pistol especially adapted according to  suggestions as proposed by users from Law Enforcement, Military and  Police communities worldwide, with an additional input from the Team CZ  shooters Angus Hobdell and Adam Tyc. Based on the SP-01, it has no  firing pin block resulting in improved trigger travel. It also features a  slightly reshaped grip and safety, a “weaker” recoil spring for easier  loading, and fiber optic front sight and tactical “Novak style” rear sight.) & CZ P-07 (The CZ P-07 DUTY is a compact, polymer-framed CZ 75 variant notable for  having a redesigned trigger mechanism.  The redesign has reduced the  number of parts as well as improved the trigger pull.  Chambered in 9mm  Luger and .40 S&W, the CZ P-07 DUTY also includes the ability to  change the manual safety to a decocking lever and vice versa through an  exchange of parts.)

ASSAULT Rifles 1.SA Vz-58  Assault Rifle The Samopal vzor 1958 (submachine gun, model of 1958) was the  standard assault rifle of the Czechoslovak army from the late 1950s and until the dissolution of the Socialist Republic Of Czechslovakia in the 1993. At the present time the  SA Vz.58 is still used by the Czech and Slovak armies, as well as sold  for export in some quantities. The SA Vz.58 saw not much of real combat,  so it is hard to judge how it stakes up against the most known  contemporary rivals, like the Soviet / Russian AK-47 or the US M16.  But the overall quality, fit and finish of this rifle is excellent.  This rifle had been designed by the Czech arms designer Jiří Čermák,  under the project codename "KOŠTĚ", or "Broom", in English. Development  began in January 1956, and the rifle was adopted for service only 2  years later, in 1958. The rifle was manufactured by the state-owned arms  factory "Česká zbrojovka", located in the town of Uherský Brod (CZ-UB).

The Czech army planned to replace the SA Vz.58 with the newest CZ-2000 and the CZ-805 rifle system, chambered for 5.56mm NATO ammunition, but the financial difficulties severely slowed down this process.

While  SA Vz.58 strongly resembles externally the famous Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle, but internally it is entirely different and of original and well-thought out design. We Covering 2 Famous Version of this Gun which are Vz. 58 P which is Standard fixed stock (casually called "pádlo" (paddle) by Czech soldiers) & Vz. 58 V: Metal folding stock version for vehicle crew and airborne units. (casually called "kosa" (scythe) by Czech soldiers) 1.CZ-805 BREN Assault Rifle The CZ 805 assault rifle was first introduced to the public in 2009, as a possible future replacement for aged SA Vz-58 assault rifles still in use by Czech Armed Forces. According to the recent news, early in 2010 the CZ 805 was selected as a next standard military rifle for Czech armed forces, with production contract issued to the famous Czech arms factory CZ-UB in the city of Uhersky Brod. The CZ 805 assault rifle is of modular, multi-caliber design, with  aluminum alloy upper receiver and polymer lower receiver / fire control  unit. The magazine housing is a separate detachable unit, which can be  replaced in the field in the course of caliber change. CZ 805 also  features quick-change barrels, allowing to change calibers and barrel  lengths according to the mission profile (in each caliber there there  are short carbine barrel, standard barrel and long "marksman" or "squad  automatic" barrel). The basic action uses fairy common piston-operated  gas action with manual gas regulator, and a rotating bolt locking. For  each proposed caliber, there is a separate bolt with appropriate  dimensions. Fire control unit includes ambidextrous safety/fire selector switch,  which permits single shots, 2-round bursts and full automatic fire.  Charging handle can be installed on either side of the gun, depending on  user preferences. Feed is from detachable box magazines, which are inserted into  detachable magazine housing. In standard configuration, the CZ 805 will  use proprietary 5.56x45 caliber 30-round magazines made of translucent  polymer. Other magazine housings will allow use of Standard STANAG AR Magazine or H&K G36 5.56mm magazines, as well as various 7.62X39 Soviet M43 and 6.8x43 magazines. CZ 805 assault rifle is fitted with integral Picatinny rail on the top  of receiver, with additional rails running on the sides and the bottom  of the forend. Rifle will be issued with folding iron sights, and will  also accept a wide variety of additional sighting equipment (red-dot or  telescope day sights, night sights, lasers etc.). Rifle is equipped with  side-folding buttstock, which is adjustable for length of pull, and can  be completely removed if maximum compactness is required. Additional  equipment also includes new, specially designed 40mm underbarrel grenade  launcher CZ G 805 and also a new knife-bayonet. Sub Machine Guns 1.SA VZ.23 The CZ Model 25 (properly, Sa 25 or Sa vz. 48b/samopal vz. 48b – samopal vzor 48 výsadkový, "submachine gun model year 1948 para") was perhaps the best known of a series of Czechoslovak designed submachine guns introduced in 1948. There were four generally very similar submachine  guns in this series: the Sa 23, Sa 24, Sa 25, and Sa 26. The primary  designer was Jaroslav Holeček (September, 15 1923–October, 12 1997), chief engineer of the Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod arms factory. Despite The Weapon was SA.26 which fired 7.62×25mm Tokarev. it basically still a same gun despends on Storytelling 2.Škorpion vz. 61 The Škorpion vz. 61 is a Czechoslovak 7.65 mm submachine gun developed in 1959 by Miroslav Rybář (1924–1970) and produced under the official designation Samopal vzor 61 ("submachine gun model 1961") by the Česká zbrojovka arms factory in Uherský Brod. Although it was developed for use with security forces and special forces, the weapon was also accepted into service with the Czechoslovak Army, as a personal sidearm for lower-ranking army staff, vehicle drivers, armored vehicle personnel and special forces. We Covering 2 Famous Version of this Gun which are Famous Vz. 61 which chambered in .32 ACP & Vz. 68  Which Chambered with more popular 9mm Cartridge, despite the First was more popular than former. 3.Scorpion EVO 3 is a 9mm submachine gun manufactured by Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod. The EVO 3 designation denotes that the firearm is a third generation of CZ's line of small submachine guns started by the Škorpion vz. 61.  Skorpion Evo 3 evolved from a Slovakian prototype submachine gun called the Laugo. Chambered in 9×19mm Parabellum, the Scorpion EVO 3 is a light weight, compact submachine gun designed to be easily maneuvered in constrained spaces. The A1 variant features a select fire switch, giving the operator the choice of 'safe,' semi-automatic, three-round burst, or fully automatic fire, while the S1's switch only features 'safe' and semi-automatic fire. The standard version comes equipped with a folding, adjustable and fully removable stock for easy transport. The hand guard is lined with multiple Picatinny Rails for the addition of attachments such as grips, sights, flashlights and lasers. MISC CAA Roni +CZ P-09 Carbine Version of CZ P-09 Which combined by CAA Roni Pistol Carbine Conversion Kit.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

On this day in 1974 (H/t Mary Elaine LeBey)

* * * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

August 9, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

New York Times journalists Maggie Haberman, Charlie Savage, and Luke Broadwater yesterday reported that in a memo dated December 6, 2020, Trump lawyer Kenneth Chesebro laid out a plan to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election that he acknowledged was “a bold, controversial strategy” that he believed the Supreme Court would “likely” reject. 

Still, he presented the plan—while apparently trying to distance himself from it by writing “I’m not necessarily advising this course of action”—because he thought it “would guarantee that public attention would be riveted on the evidence of electoral abuses by the Democrats, and would also buy the Trump campaign more time to win litigation that would deprive Biden of electoral votes and/or add to Trump’s column.”  

The plan was essentially what the Trump campaign ultimately tried to pursue. It called for Trump-Pence electors in six swing states Biden had won to meet and vote for Trump, and then to make sure that in each of those states there was a lawsuit underway that “might plausibly” call into question Biden’s victory there. Then, Vice President Mike Pence would take the position that he had the power not simply to open the votes but also to count them, and that the 1887 Electoral Count Act that clarified those procedures was unconstitutional. 

Key to selling this strategy, Chesebro wrote, was messaging that constructing two slates of electors was “routine,” and he laid out a strategy of taking events and statements out of context to suggest support for that messaging. 

This was, of course, a plan to deprive American voters of their right to have their votes counted, as the federal grand jury’s recent indictment of former president Trump charged, but Chesebro concluded: “it seems advisable for the campaign to seriously consider this course of action and, if adopted, to carefully plan related messaging.” 

Three days later, Chesebro wrote specific instructions to create those fraudulent electors, and they were off to the races. 

Chesebro is identified as Co-Conspirator 5 in the grand jury’s recent indictment of Trump. 

It is an astonishing thing to read this memo today. 

Forty-nine years ago, on August 9, 1974, President Richard Nixon wrote one line to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger: “I hereby resign the Office of President of the United States.” In late July the House Judiciary Committee had voted to recommend articles of impeachment against the president for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress for his attempt to cover up the involvement of his people in the June 1972 burglary of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C.

The Watergate break-in was part of the Nixon campaign’s attempt to rig the 1972 election, in this case by bugging the Democrats’ headquarters, and Republicans wanted no part of it. When the White House produced a “smoking gun” tape on August 5, revealing that Nixon had been in on the cover-up since June 23, 1972—and implying that he had been in on the bugging itself—those Republicans who had been defending Nixon abandoned him. 

On the night of August 7, 1974, a group of Republican lawmakers led by Arizona senator Barry Goldwater met with Nixon in the Oval Office and told him that the House as a whole would vote to impeach him and the Senate would vote to convict. Nixon decided to step down.

Although Nixon did not admit any guilt, maintaining he was resigning only because the time it would take to vindicate himself would distract from his presidential duties, his replacement, Gerald R. Ford, granted “a full, free, and absolute pardon” to Nixon “for all offenses against the United States which he…has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 20, 1969, through August 9, 1974.”

Ford said that the trial of a former president would “cause prolonged and divisive debate over the propriety of exposing to further punishment and degradation a man who has already paid the unprecedented penalty of relinquishing the highest elective office of the United States.”

Only fifteen years later, the expectation that a president would not be prosecuted came into play again when members of President Ronald Reagan’s National Security Council ignored Congress’s 1985 prohibition on aid to the Nicaraguan Contras who were fighting against the socialist Nicaraguan government. The administration illegally sold arms to Iran and funneled the profits to the Contras. 

When the story of the Iran-Contra affair broke in November 1986, government officials continued to break the law, shredding documents that Congress had subpoenaed. After fourteen administration officials were indicted and eleven convicted, the next president, George H. W. Bush, who had been Reagan’s vice president, pardoned them on the advice of his attorney general William Barr. (Yes, that William Barr.)

The independent prosecutor in the case, Lawrence Walsh, worried that the pardons weakened American democracy. They “undermine…the principle…that no man is above the law,” he said. Pardoning high-ranking officials “demonstrates that powerful people with powerful allies can commit serious crimes in high office, deliberately abusing the public trust without consequences.” 

Walsh’s warning seems to be coming to life. The Republican Party now stands behind a man whose legal troubles currently include indictment on 40 counts for taking and hiding classified national security documents and on four counts of trying to steal an election in order to stay in power. 

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON