Ales Dvorak

I do believe CMBB players will recognise this.
 

when The_Capt arrives, I think St. Peter would stay buttoned up.

I do believe CMBB players will recognise this.
 

I do believe CMBB players will recognise this.
 

Much from Marx &  Engels and Lenin are still valid. Gramsci, Frankfurt school, Zizek, all have made good contributions to philosophy, sociology and political economy. Dialectical materialism is a useful framework. Anarchist contributions towards anti authoritarian and horizontal frameworks of living and organizing are valuable too, offering alternatives to systems and ethics based on exploitation, chauvinism and profit over all else. 
Socialist authors to this day are still critiquing current affairs and dominant ideologies in a way that profit centered, corporate owned media cannot DARE to do(for obvious reasons). 
The sheer hostility towards their work by people who haven't read them, and the way they are all strawmanned by oligarch funded sock puppets(when not outright banned or kept out of circulation) is quite telling.
Bosses don't tend to like it when people ask for more, and question the power relations and double standards.  Cultural chauvinists and dogmatic religious leaders don't like when their mythological grand narratives have holes poked in them. And people who claim to oppose tyranny and support freedom want to suppress the ideas and books and the people they disagree with.

I'm from ex Yugoslavia, so I have a different view.

https://www.polskieradio.pl/395/9766/artykul/3117882,ukraine-purges-libraries-of-19-million-sovietera-books

Yeah - so as much as I support  Ukraine's fight against the Russian invaders - I don't personally see a need to target all Russian Arts/Science/People as  Villains incarnate . You'll just have to accept that  a lot of people are not going to see the need to swallow this particular thread of Ukrainian thinking  . Its a little too extreme -  I'd advise you to dial it back a bit .

This seriously gets ridiculous. So now everyone who isn't firmly in the "Russia sux, lol, Ukraine has already won" camp is pro Putin? Really?

You thought only Scholz can scholz?

It's normal, Plenković and Milanović are from different political parties. Plenković is in another corruption affair,  while Milanović is just less diplomatic.
Does Croatia have a sizable amount of voters who support Putin?
Don't know, but things started to change after this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Zagreb_Tu-141_crash

It's normal, Plenković and Milanović are from different political parties. Plenković is in another corruption affair,  while Milanović is just less diplomatic.
Does Croatia have a sizable amount of voters who support Putin?
Don't know, but things started to change after this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Zagreb_Tu-141_crash

You guys over there seriously need to grow up. We have discussed politics in a number of countries in a very non-neutral way - so far (mostly) without being at each other's throats. From the USA, one of the oldest modern democracies, we shouldn't expect less. 😉

Somewhere Eisenhower is spinning in his grave right now. 

Up in heaven Alex taps Crommers on the shoulder and says, "I'd like it made clear you fecking sassenach, that no one called Charles died during the making of that record."

I don't even think of Combat Mission as a game anymore. It's like some indispensable program like Outlook or Excel. You rage at it but could never imagine yourself without it. It just is.

It is close to 20 years since I discovered CMBO and these forums.  To be honest I tried to dip a toe or two or two in the Peng, but could not navigate the currents.  I do fondly remember many of the originals from back them and am saddened by the passing of individuals that I came to both fear and respect.  Recently I walked down memory lane through the archives and had many laughs at the shared wit, and grimaced at my own attempts to contribute.

As an army brat I grew accustomed to friendships lasting a year or two at best.  To look back and find that I have been part of this community for nearly two decades is truly remarkable.
 

CM is great because it’s the closest you can get to seeing what actual combat looks like from the battalion on down. You could play Arma but then you have to deal with other people wait forever to get things organized. 
 
Combat Mission is kind of like a Van Gogh painting. If you look closely it’s just a bunch of dots that don’t make sense, and they don’t look very aesthetically pleasing but once you zoom out you start to see a cohesive picture. Once you accept the jank, it only gets better.

Michael, your watch is done.  You have been promoted and reassigned.  Thank you for your service to those around you.  Rest well and blessings to those you have left behind.

Good explanation Ales, but I'd make a minor correction in my case....
"The urge is directed by the belief that acquiring another instrument will make one appear to be a better player.

Gear Acquisition Syndrome, also known as GAS, is commonly understood as the musicians' unrelenting urge to buy and own instruments and equipment as an anticipated catalyst of creative energy and bringer of happiness. ... The urge is directed by the belief that acquiring another instrument will make one a better player.
Stock jazzmaster's pickups  sound different (to me), not so P90... ....................but you can change them for P90 anytime................G.A.S.  

Thank you for sharing Ed King story.
By adding SG to your stable, you'll regret nothing.    Yes, G.A.S is mortal..
I agree flying V is one of the worst sitting-down guitar. For me one of the best sitting-down guitar is jazzmaster.

That new guitarist was Steve Gaines, who mostly played a Strat. He was amazing. If you know the Skynyrd song called "I Know A Little" that's him. Great player who fit seamlessly in to the band. One of the things I admire about the band is how perfectly they weaved the three guitars in to the songs. It's beautiful.  His life ended too early. His sister also died in that crash, backup singer Cassie Gaines.
With this thread fully derailed, a little Skynyrd anecdote. When I was about 11 I went over to my Grandmother's house, a few doors down. As I entered I could hear her playing her piano, and someone playing guitar. As I came in to the room I could see a large man, with a long ponytail holding a beautiful red ES-345 hooked up to an old Vibrolux I think it was. Silverface for sure.
My grandmom said I'd like you to meet Mr King, he plays guitar too and was in a band. She said something that wasn't exactly Lynyrd Skynyrd, but that's what she meant. This was Ed King! I was already a fan, and now recognized him from the cover of Pronounced. Ed freakin King man. He wrote Free Bird, Sweet Home Alabama and bunch of other classics. He said so you play too young man? I sure do Mr King. He said where's you guitar? Straight out the door full speed and I was back in a few minutes with that old Malibu.
Turns out he lived nearby and had joined my grandmother's church and was now in her house practicing for the next service. Come on.
He spent about 30 minutes with me, showing me the licks to Sweet Home Alabama, Needle and the Spoon and a couple others. Sadly, Ed King passed a few years ago, but his music lives on, and he made quite the impression on a very young me.
And about the local stores, yeah, there's not much any more. Guitar Center and the internet have killed the mom and the pop. Thankfully, most online retailers allow returns if you're not happy for whatever reason. My Telecaster is a good example of how things can go a little wrong. I bought this guitar off the interweb. But I've never really taken to it. It has a very beefy neck, an ode to the old 50's Teles/Broadcasters. It's too big for me really. I noodle around with it from time to time, play slide on it mostly. But it's one that I didn't try first and sure enough, it was not perfect for me. Live and learn.

Guitar is a very personal choice.  I coached my son's band starting in 3rd grade.  They were all in some rock school and I told some other parents that we could do this for free at my house, I've got PA, everything, and I'd coach.  The band was together until high school graduation, even let me in the band for their "farewell tour" gigs as they approached graduation.  By high school they would use me as a consultant sometimes as practice, not needing coaching anymore, but I was still soundman, gear slave & roadie, which was work but fun.  The guitar choices were interesting.  The ACDC-loving kid chose a black SG, which being so light was a great choice for the skinny little fella.  The other guitar player didn't like my Vox S33 guitar and never wanted to use it at practice, preferring his gawd-awful squire, but then he saw a grey tiger-stripe kinda guitar that he fell in love with and had to have it.  He didn't even know it was same model as my Vox except double cutaway and different color.  Guitars are so much about personal look & feel.
So a month ago the kid band bass player wanted my input on a used fender jaguar he saw online, light blue, very surfer.  I started suggesting other similar sounding guitars that might be better for the money, going through all kinds of choices.  Then I realized what he really wanted was my support for his choice, because he had already fallen in love with that specific guitar.  So what he needed was to hear "you are not getting ripped off, this is a good choice" which it was, and he got it and is happy.
Amps for me are more about numbers almost -- it does this, does that, has these tubes, this kind of breakup, etc.  But a guitar is not just an instrument, it's something you wear.  It is as much a fashion choice as a practical choice.  I don't like SGs, but they sure are loved by the SG folks.  I don't like pointy edged metal-band guitars, but the metals folks wouldn't be caught dead playing my new vox bobcat.  Even though these all play really well and sound really good.
This is totally off track from CM but at least it's a nice discussion.  Elvis will have to shut it down due to lack of controversy.
So does anyone actually like flying Vs?  So uncomfortable to me.  Yeah, they look kinda cool, but really are a goofy creature.