So I get into the queue to join a group for Maraudon. Arlach does, I should say. And I get into a group with another paladin, a warlock, a priest, and someone else. Basically the paladin and warlock turn out to be friends and morons to boot. The priest leaves, and so does the other guy. Finally, some level thirty-three priest joins the group. By this time I was soloing some elites on the purple side outside the entrance to the actual instance. For some reason they wanted me to come help them summon this level thirty-three, so I said screw that. They booted me, and I queued up for another group.
Eventually I ended up getting a group with a druid, a rogue, a mage, and another priest. We finally headed in, orange side, and started to get it underway. Long story short, this group was amazing. The druid was bear tanking and was doing a damn good job. We cleared out orange, dipped back into purple for the Celebrian Diamond, and finished up sceptres for myself and some of the other folk. We kept goin' in purple, and were just before the bridge to the princess when the rogue and mage had to take off. So, we managed to nab up a warrior and another mage. Finished off the princess, hopped down to rotgrip, and proceeded towards the goblin.
Let me expand a bit here. I've been hitting Maraudon with Arlach for no other reason than to get him a particular sword that drops from this goblin. The goblin is literally the absolute last boss in the whole damn place and if you start way over in orange like we did, it's a long fuckin' haul. By now, with all the switching and waiting and bullshit, it has probably been four or five hours that I've been in here.
We kill the goblin, we get some crazy adds, the goblin dies, then we die. He didn't drop the sword, but he did drop the other thing I want from him. A shield that is obviously pally loot. It has intellect and mana regen. So I say, hey, I'll just need that since we're dead and done anyways. I click need. The warrior says "so will I." so he clicks need, and wins. Sigh. The moral of the story is that ninjas and/or dumbasses suck.
So that's done, and now I head on over to the internets to see what I can see. Over on andy's blog I see a new video he posted. I watch it, and I am soon enraptured by its content. An in depth look at the Hiroshima bomb. Interviews with survivors, moment by moment descriptions, and a rendered reconstruction. Basically, it helped me grasp the awesome power of an atomic weapon. If this video didn't make you feel somber and thoughtful, you didn't understand the implications.
Let me say this. That type of weapon, in a heavily civilian-populated area, is mass murder. It's not a strategic military objective, it's not an acceptable loss, it's not necessary, and it's not right. People died because the leaders of their country did some bad things. Let's say I live in zone Q. I'm a regular dude, pay my taxes, do my job, heed john Q. law. Zone Q fucks up land X. I don't know why. I was born in zone Q. I live here, I do what I gotta to live happily. Joe Schmo, from land X, comes to my house and shoots me in the face, because my country fucked up his. Does that seem right to you? Cuz it don't seem right to me. Not one bit.
