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Cake day: March 25th, 2024

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  • At least part of the reason is the people captured in the war on terror occupied a legal gray area. They are sort of like soldiers, so they are not subject to American civil or criminal law. But they don’t belong to a military organization with a formal chain of command, so they are not signatories to the Geneva Convention or any other treaties concerning conduct in war.

    Even if they were tried and found guilty in a military court for ‘being terrorists’, eventually their prison sentences would end. So what do we do with them now? A lot of their home countries didn’t want them back (although now the Taliban government of Afghanistan will probably take back their citizens).

    Basically, the entire Gitmo internment of fighters captured in the war on terror was a great big mess. It was really easy for Obama and Biden to say on the campaign trail that they would shut down Gitmo, but actually dealing with the prisoners in a politically acceptable way was very, very difficult. It was easier to hope people would forget about them.

    BTW - some Gitmo detainees did get released over the years.







  • Slightly OT, but I want to give a shout out to Witcher 3 as my favorite fantasy RPG.

    Early on in the game I kind of struggled with it. I found the UI and especially combat, to be ‘clunky’.

    After I mastered the combat UI enough to survive, I started to wander and explore. In this wandering I found some old cave filled with some decent (but not overpowered) gear. As far as I know, there was no quest that would have sent me to this cave. Also, if I hadn’t been pointed in the exact direction I was going, I never would have seen the cave entrance. These little details made the world feel ‘real’ and lived in.

    Later in the game, when I was much more experienced, I was following a faint path, in the snow, over a mountain and I see another cave entrance. I go inside the cave and I hear voices. I sneak closer and I hear a fart, Then I hear a voice complaining about the smell of a rotten onion. (it was 2 trolls cooking something). This was totally unexpected and I literally LOL’d. Once again, this little bit made the world feel more real.

    In summation, I don’t need games to be ‘bigger’. They just need to be ‘good’.