RPG Review Issue #9, Afghanistan Issues, Social Life

[tcpip]

The ninth issue of RPG Review has been (finally) released. Karl did a good job as guest editor and I am absolutely delighted to have Steffan O'Sullivan as the guest interview. The next issue of the magazine is near future/cyberpunk and, with any luck, angusabranson (Dr. Who RPG, SLA Industries) will be the interview subject for that issue. Last Sunday played original, 1974 edition, Dungeons & Dragons with James from Apolitical Info. We had a lot of B-grade fun, but it must be said the system itself is hilariously awful.

On Friday night attended an dinner with the Melbourne Atheist Meetup, nominally concerned with the National Schools Chaplaincy Program, which is really an issue for the new year when funding comes up. On behalf of the Isocracy Network, have just finished a brief article on the current state of Afghanisan; Elphinstone's Mistake Again: What Are We Doing In Afghanistan?, which advocates a reversal of the military vis-a-vis aid orientation. The issue of Australian involvement in Afghanistan was debated in parliament over the past week with Adam Bandt (Greens) and Andrew Wilkie (Independent, former ONA) taking a position of opposition of continued military involvement. EDIT And Oakeshott,calls for earlier planned withdrawal.

Contrary to popular belief I do have something of a social life outside of gaming, politics, linux and religion (hmmm...). On Saturday Mel and Jeff visited from Sydney, the former visiting to attend and present at an archivist's conference. The weekend prior was a visitation from Matt, a kernel hacker from Virginia who has just moved to Victoria (Matt is presenting at the next Linux Users of Victoria meeting). Prior to that (and alas, neglected in my last 'blog post), spent the day with Brendan, Khat and Morgan, discussed how the Sky Net had already won and watched Eyeborgs (which led to a discussion on the drones being used in Afghanistan/Pakistan which led to the article... see how this works?).

Comments

[lifedistilled.livejournal.com]

Sometime, I would like to catch you online and have a direct chat about the Isocracy network - specifically what is and isn't relevant, guidelines for posting, and other overall topics.

In short, I'm worried about what to put up - what I'm allowed to post for general consumption, whether or not there is a general "message" or preferred direction of conversation, etc.

I share or sympathize with most of what I see posted, and yet I'm worried about being an unintentionally disruptive "outsider" poster.

I'm also at the end of a long, long day, so I hope that this message was coherent enough to make sense.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Well, the general message is pretty much what is written in the "About" section. As long as anything posted does not contradict what is there, you'll be on fairly safe ground. As for a style, feel free to include theory but always with a practical orientation.

As for contacting me online, I'm lev_lafayette on yahoo plus I use the livejournal xmpp service (recommended!) with the username..