Ultradave

Yes. It is. Interestingly though, not necessarily for crowd control by law enforcement. In war, yes, it's banned.
Yeah, the training was fun. 🙂  Stay in the shed to prove your mask works, and then take off your mask to show what happens without the mask (I guess to prove that the mask really works and it wasn't just a harmless steam sauna). Got the message for sure.
Dave

Yes. It is. Interestingly though, not necessarily for crowd control by law enforcement. In war, yes, it's banned.
Yeah, the training was fun. 🙂  Stay in the shed to prove your mask works, and then take off your mask to show what happens without the mask (I guess to prove that the mask really works and it wasn't just a harmless steam sauna). Got the message for sure.
Dave

Possibly because he bashed the threads into mush? Just a thought 🤣
They do seem to be trying to fuze rounds but it obviously is not going well, to say the least. 
The one with the view down inside appears to be empty, completely empty. You should just see an open area just big enough for the base of the fuze. Looks like you can see all the way to the base. That one will only hurt if it actually hits you, like a 1700s cannonball.
That guy in the cartoon is at least trying to not destroy everything. See how the screwdriver is at the side - trying to get it to turn, not smash everything. 
[edit] Looking at the cartoon again, he's doing it wrong. The screwdriver should be on the other side. "Righty tighty, lefty loosey"
Dave

Possibly because he bashed the threads into mush? Just a thought 🤣
They do seem to be trying to fuze rounds but it obviously is not going well, to say the least. 
The one with the view down inside appears to be empty, completely empty. You should just see an open area just big enough for the base of the fuze. Looks like you can see all the way to the base. That one will only hurt if it actually hits you, like a 1700s cannonball.
That guy in the cartoon is at least trying to not destroy everything. See how the screwdriver is at the side - trying to get it to turn, not smash everything. 
[edit] Looking at the cartoon again, he's doing it wrong. The screwdriver should be on the other side. "Righty tighty, lefty loosey"
Dave

Incidentally, this is not just my opinion I'm blurting out. REPUBLICAN lawmakers have stated this about their own colleagues.
(It is also my opinion as well) 😀
Dave

There is broad support in both the Senate and the House for the aid. The Senate passed it ages ago. The party that controls the house (small h) of Congress has the ability to determine what will or won't be voted on, regardless of (as you can see) how popular it is and how easily it will pass. So the House Speaker decided he wouldn't bring it for a vote? Why? 1) Because Trump told him not to, and 2) Because the small minority of 2-10 Russian propaganda mouthpieces in the House say they will throw him out if he does, and 3) A large number of Republican House members demand US border control legislation along with it (ignoring the fact they ALSO refused to vote on a Senate passed bill, which was negotiated by both parties - why? because it would make Biden look good - really, that's the reason). He (Speaker Johnson) just now summoned up the guts to go ahead and do it. We'll see if he still has a job Monday.
There is a way to get a vote done by going around the Speaker. It takes a petition of the majority of House members. Republicans wouldn't go that far even though many want it. They are afraid of Trump/MAGA. Democrats are the minority, so they can't do it without help from Republicans, who won't. 
Also, I know it's confusing. Congress is made of two houses, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. It's confusing for those outside the US because we commonly refer to "The House" being the House of Representatives, while both are "houses" (small h) of Congress. They each have their own rules of conducting business, which they themselves make up (and can change or waive). I'm not sure I made that any clearer, but there it is. Don't worry. It's all confusing to many Americans as well. The rules for advancing a bill are complicated and arcane, with many opportunities for it to be derailed along the way.

Dave

Possibly because he bashed the threads into mush? Just a thought 🤣
They do seem to be trying to fuze rounds but it obviously is not going well, to say the least. 
The one with the view down inside appears to be empty, completely empty. You should just see an open area just big enough for the base of the fuze. Looks like you can see all the way to the base. That one will only hurt if it actually hits you, like a 1700s cannonball.
That guy in the cartoon is at least trying to not destroy everything. See how the screwdriver is at the side - trying to get it to turn, not smash everything. 
[edit] Looking at the cartoon again, he's doing it wrong. The screwdriver should be on the other side. "Righty tighty, lefty loosey"
Dave

Good question. I *believe* it's still in place, but does not yet have the required signatures to move forward. It requires a majority of the House, (218). But it is still open to be signed by others. 
The better news is that it sounds now quite likely the aid bill(s) will pass - (s) because it's convoluted. The bills were split to be voted separately, and then will be recombined so that they match the Senate bill already passed - or close to it so the Senate can quickly vote on the House version.
Complicated, arcane rules.

Dave

Well, I am red-green colorblind, and I have a lot of family there.

My thinking is that your scenario would require at least some NATO troops and equipment on the ground in Ukraine, and therefore a pretty big escalatory risk. Whether that risk is really large is in the eye of the beholder, and Russia could make quite a propaganda blitz out of NATO soldiers in Ukraine.
Dave

"Today, only amateurs steal elections on election-day."
Free and fair elections are impossible when the ruling party (ab)uses government power to fund political campaigning, banning the opposition from campaigning, and imprisoning or outlawing oppositions politicians from running in elections... or just straight up murdering them.

On the topic of democracy (democracy indexes, democratic backsliding and the like) I can actually contribute with more than my typical "expert amateur's" opinion since poli sci is my academic background.
The Economist Democracy Index appears to be from 2021 (based on Norway's and Sweden's scores of 9.75 and 9.26 respectively). That year Switzerland dipped down below 9.00, which changed its colour in the map @The_Capt posted. It might be a colour vision thing @kimbosbread? Personally I know that my red-green colour vision is in the dumps, and I cannot make out any distinction what so ever between the colours assigned to 8, 7 and 6 in that map. That still places it as a full democracy though.
It should be noted for the Economist Democracy Index's use of the term "Flawed democracy" doesn't mean that it's not a democracy, undemocratic or the like:
In the case of the USA, this likely refers to issues such as voter turnout, gerrymandering, first-past-the-post and the virtual two party system, civil rights, etc. Emphasis on "likely" though, because the Economist Democracy Index is based on anonymous scoring from undisclosed experts, so no one can say with certainty what particular aspects influenced a state's scoring.
 
V-dem is in my experience the preferred democracy index, notwithstanding any personal bias (it's from my alma mater). What makes the most difference (going by the examples cited here) though is how you measure democracy: Visual Capitalist choses to measure shares of the global poluation as opposed to number of states. This leads to statistical oddities/misrepresentations of the scale of democratic backsliding, since states are entities: if say State A and State B have become democracies whereas State Z has become an autocracy, that's a net increase in democracy, regardless of the fact that State A & B only have a combined population of say 20 million whereas State Z has a population of 1 billion. That's how Visual Capitalist arrives at the dire conclusion of "2010 Democracy: 50.4% vs 2021 Democracy: 29.3%".
India alone being reclassed from "electoral democracy" to "electoral autocracy" is behind a not insignificant portion of that change: the number of people living in electoral autocracies increased by 1.76 billion between 2010 and 2021 (India's population today reaching 1.41 billion). The remaining net global population which has shifted from "liberal/electoral democracy" to "electoral/closed autocracy" is "only" 0.7 billion. I.e., one single country falling back into autocracy is behind a smidge over 2/3 of that shift.
 
If we were to look at states instead (the typical poli sci method and arguably the more accurate measurement), we get this more positive picture:

Between the end of the Cold War and 2022, liberal democracies have remained virtually the same, more than half the world's closed autocracies have gone the way of the dodo, and electoral democracies and electoral autocracies are tied at 32.58%: back in 1990, electoral autocracies were almost 30% ahead of electoral democracies, and a staggering 36.84% of the world's states were closed autocracies. Closed autocracies were by far the most common form of government in the world when the Cold War ended: today its the opposite, it's the least common.
 
That was an argument against Visual Capitalist's measurement of democracy. Democratic backsliding is accepted among most experts, but there's not much certainty as to whether or not this will turn out to be a lasting development or if it's simply a symptom of many politically and socially underdeveloped/unprepared states which were democratised when the Cold War wrapped up simply having reverted to forms of government which are more in line for what could be expected of them.
 
 
Edit: I was going to write a brief reply. Instead I wrote more here than I've gotten done on my thesis during the last two months combined. FFS...

This really speaks to a political leader who simply does not understand how the modern world works. Of the US wants roughly the same economic footing it had pre-WW2, back when its population was about 125M, then decoupling globalization makes perfect sense.  How many jobs in the US will have to go back to manufacturing and resources?  Entire generations of Americans will have to go back to the coal mines and steel mills.  Costs for everything will go through the roof, unless of course Vance’s plan is all JP Morgan and plans to pay future US workers next to nothing to do all the work that has been outsourced.  And then there is the uncomfortable realities of the money markets and foreign investment.
The US does not get to be large, powerful and rich without the global order that it built, fought for and now needs to keep fighting for.  It baffles me that the average voter in the US does not really understand this let alone a senator.

I checked if there were perhaps some AI plan which was bugged, but there's just the one and that worked when I started it.

It's unfortunately true. Not that these and the others she introduced will go anywhere, but she DID introduce them and proudly lists them on her X feed.  Others introduced diverted 100% of aid for 2 bills each to Lahaina, Oahu, and East Palestine, Ohio. 
Dave

Ha, I thought of tagging you in as well Dave 👍.

I'm not sure I understand your question? A) Are you saying you've played 2 hours and nothing has happened? The scenario is 2 hours long total, and I'm pretty sure there are AI plans for both sides.. There is a 105 battery at the start along with a bunch of on map mortars, and you get more in 40 minutes, plus a 155 (which is actually medium artillery, and 105 is light artillery but that's just words. All artillery is good). For the ones currently available I was able to select any of them with a HQ unit.
B ) Same comment. Selecting a Tiger tank, for example, no fire support available. Select a HQ and I can call from a number of mortars and a 105 battery.
[edit] There are AI plans for both sides. I went back and checked the play testing notes, because I only played this one from the Soviet side.
Dave

Back to your original question - the answer I believe is "no". There are many RT mods in The Few Good Men, and some of them are aggregations of some things - terrain, vehicles, and some are individual things. This is true for every title. But if you don't like the all in one you have, then you'll need to go find individual mods for the things you want improved and see how you like them. Swap things in and out of your Z folder. The all in one just means it's all in one package. It doesn't prevent you from manipulating every mod in it to find what you want.
Go look at RT terrain mods, read the descriptions and there are usually screen shots, download and experiment. People have different tastes, so just because one person says, "yeah, this mod here is the bestest ever", doesn't mean you'll even like hit. 
Incidentally, BN probably has the most mods, because it's the oldest. The stock game looks much better as time goes on to the newer released titles. RT is kind of in the middle there.
Dave

Nope. 
 
Not an all in one. You can check stuff out at https://www.thefewgoodmen.com/cm-mod-warehouse/ and see what you prefer though @37mmdid a grand job of curating an all in one that ticks a lot of boxes off the bat. 

Well, maybe I see part of your problem here. Or maybe a few problems.
1. It sounds from your posts like you don't have a lot of CM experience. Both scenarios you are "complaining" about are from BP1, all of which were designed by @George MC, who is known for creating challenging and difficult scenarios, with excellent maps, and usually with ugly surprises somewhere when and where you least expect (maybe that's just me, but he's a devil, and I mean that with the utmost liking and respect) 🙂  They are great, however, they are not the best to cut your teeth on. That one in particular requires a lot of movement to get to a jumping off point for attack, and yes, it can be a bit tedious, and it's a very poor candidate for a real-time scenario. It's not by any means unplayable, or that would have come out in play testing. The guys who play tested that one are knowledgeable CM players. I'd recommend sorting scenarios by size when selecting one and working on some of the smaller ones first. Smaller does not equal trivial. There are good tactical challenges in them all. Same goes for "Cat and Mouse". It doesn't have that many units but reading the briefing will tell you it's a scenario that requires some finesse, and not a shootout. It's a poor one for RTS IMO because you need to literally play cat and mouse, and do a lot of sneaking around. The map is very large, so things can be happening "over there" while you are attending something and the first you'll know of it is a loud boom and smoke.
2. Someone else suggested @Bil Hardenberger's tactical series. These are excellent, small scale, so they are easy to control.  They are here:
https://battledrill.blogspot.com
3. If you like that BP, then start with the 3 PzGr lessons. They are manageable size. Lesson 1 is even a pretty good candidate for RTS, I think. Small number of units. I just wouldn't plot too far ahead, so that they pause and give *you* a chance to catch up.
4. Speaking of which, if you really like RTS, then don't plot too far ahead. Plot relatively short moves, not all the way to an objective (that's just death waiting anyway - you have no idea what will happen and it will happen so fast you can't react). The units will pause, you can hit ESC and pause and issue some more orders. Make it manageable on yourself.
5. There isn't "Nothing you can do about it"  You can pause, change orders, the units themselves will react on the spot to, say, taking fire from the flank. The will shoot back, go to ground, etc, giving you a chance to pause, issue new orders, and then continue. This isn't CoD where you can't ever stop. Even if you don't pause, you can select a unit, cancel its order (just backspace), and then quickly give it a new order. Yeah, takes practice, so again, start small, work your way to more complex.
Just seems like you are diving into more than you are ready for, from your posts. Good luck.

Dave

Well, maybe I see part of your problem here. Or maybe a few problems.
1. It sounds from your posts like you don't have a lot of CM experience. Both scenarios you are "complaining" about are from BP1, all of which were designed by @George MC, who is known for creating challenging and difficult scenarios, with excellent maps, and usually with ugly surprises somewhere when and where you least expect (maybe that's just me, but he's a devil, and I mean that with the utmost liking and respect) 🙂  They are great, however, they are not the best to cut your teeth on. That one in particular requires a lot of movement to get to a jumping off point for attack, and yes, it can be a bit tedious, and it's a very poor candidate for a real-time scenario. It's not by any means unplayable, or that would have come out in play testing. The guys who play tested that one are knowledgeable CM players. I'd recommend sorting scenarios by size when selecting one and working on some of the smaller ones first. Smaller does not equal trivial. There are good tactical challenges in them all. Same goes for "Cat and Mouse". It doesn't have that many units but reading the briefing will tell you it's a scenario that requires some finesse, and not a shootout. It's a poor one for RTS IMO because you need to literally play cat and mouse, and do a lot of sneaking around. The map is very large, so things can be happening "over there" while you are attending something and the first you'll know of it is a loud boom and smoke.
2. Someone else suggested @Bil Hardenberger's tactical series. These are excellent, small scale, so they are easy to control.  They are here:
https://battledrill.blogspot.com
3. If you like that BP, then start with the 3 PzGr lessons. They are manageable size. Lesson 1 is even a pretty good candidate for RTS, I think. Small number of units. I just wouldn't plot too far ahead, so that they pause and give *you* a chance to catch up.
4. Speaking of which, if you really like RTS, then don't plot too far ahead. Plot relatively short moves, not all the way to an objective (that's just death waiting anyway - you have no idea what will happen and it will happen so fast you can't react). The units will pause, you can hit ESC and pause and issue some more orders. Make it manageable on yourself.
5. There isn't "Nothing you can do about it"  You can pause, change orders, the units themselves will react on the spot to, say, taking fire from the flank. The will shoot back, go to ground, etc, giving you a chance to pause, issue new orders, and then continue. This isn't CoD where you can't ever stop. Even if you don't pause, you can select a unit, cancel its order (just backspace), and then quickly give it a new order. Yeah, takes practice, so again, start small, work your way to more complex.
Just seems like you are diving into more than you are ready for, from your posts. Good luck.

Dave

In the last several days there have been visits or major entreaties by Lord Cameron, PM Kishida and Pres. Zelensky. In addition there has been a pretty vocal group in Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, advocating for passing the aid bill. Their words were all publicized, at least for anyone who cared to see what they said. It's possible it's having some effect on public opinion.
Dave

In the last several days there have been visits or major entreaties by Lord Cameron, PM Kishida and Pres. Zelensky. In addition there has been a pretty vocal group in Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, advocating for passing the aid bill. Their words were all publicized, at least for anyone who cared to see what they said. It's possible it's having some effect on public opinion.
Dave

In the last several days there have been visits or major entreaties by Lord Cameron, PM Kishida and Pres. Zelensky. In addition there has been a pretty vocal group in Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, advocating for passing the aid bill. Their words were all publicized, at least for anyone who cared to see what they said. It's possible it's having some effect on public opinion.
Dave

Late reply but as we were always told "it depends on the situation".  If you are operating in very closed terrain, you may have no choice but to dismount and make your way through the woods, clear whatever is on the other side, and then eventually meet up with your drivers when it's reasonably safe. Especially if the only alternative is driving down a road in the open that the enemy has good lines of sight to..... hypothetically speaking, of course 😀
The other possibility is setting up a strong overwatch position that covers the open ground you need to cross mounted, so that you can respond to anything that fires into the open area. And we're back to recon bait there. But they may help you locate the major threats without doing to much damage to you.

Dave