GoldenAge

In addition to what Rather reports below, there are other indications that a) we were there supporting Russian interests for some bizarre reason, and forces from Chad, which has been a valuable ally against terrorist groups, had been removed from the area because the administration attempted to put Chad on the travel ban list.
From Dan Rather re: Niger:
"While everyone is so busy talking about Trump's #fakepresidenthandling of his call to the widow of the soldier killed in Niger, you're all missing the important part of that story -- the part about what happened that night in Niger.
Here's what we know so far:
These soldiers went to a meeting in an area near the border with Mali. This is a well known hot spot for ISIS activity.
Our soldiers were not backed up by US Military air support. No, they were backed up by the French, who were not authorized to intervene or even fire a shot.
Our soldiers did not have armored vehicles. They traveled in pickup trucks.
Our soldiers were given faulty intel that said "it was unlikely that they would meet any hostile forces." Of course, they walked into an ISIS ambush. It was chaotic and they took three casualties.
It took the French 30 minutes to arrive. When they did, they were not authorized to help. So, a dozen of our Green Berets fought a battle with more than 50 ISIS fighters, without help, for 30 minutes.
Finally, a rescue helicopter arrived, but it was not a US military helicopter. No, we apparently outsourced that job to “private contractors.” So, these contractors landed and loaded the remaining troops, the injured and the dead.
Here's where this gets really bad ....
Because they were not military, they never did a head count. That is how Sgt. La David Johnson was left behind.
That's right .... they left him behind.
According to the Pentagon, his locator beacon was activated on the battlefield, which indicates that he was alive when they left him there.
They recovered his body 48 hours later, but are refusing to say where. According to his widow, she was told that she could not have an open casket funeral. This indicates that he was mutilated after being left behind on the battlefield.
This is what led to the nonsense we're obsessing over. This is the real story. As usual, you're allowing it to be about Trump's distraction.
The Trump Pentagon gave these men bad intel, no support, outsourced rescue people and then tried for more than a week to pretend it never happened.
In that time, Trump spoke on many occasions and never mentioned it. He tweeted attacks on many but never mentioned these men.
Only after pressure from the media has he bothered to even acknowledge these men and their service."
Please COPY & PASTE to share

In addition to what Rather reports below, there are other indications that a) we were there supporting Russian interests for some bizarre reason, and forces from Chad, which has been a valuable ally against terrorist groups, had been removed from the area because the administration attempted to put Chad on the travel ban list.
From Dan Rather re: Niger:
"While everyone is so busy talking about Trump's #fakepresidenthandling of his call to the widow of the soldier killed in Niger, you're all missing the important part of that story -- the part about what happened that night in Niger.
Here's what we know so far:
These soldiers went to a meeting in an area near the border with Mali. This is a well known hot spot for ISIS activity.
Our soldiers were not backed up by US Military air support. No, they were backed up by the French, who were not authorized to intervene or even fire a shot.
Our soldiers did not have armored vehicles. They traveled in pickup trucks.
Our soldiers were given faulty intel that said "it was unlikely that they would meet any hostile forces." Of course, they walked into an ISIS ambush. It was chaotic and they took three casualties.
It took the French 30 minutes to arrive. When they did, they were not authorized to help. So, a dozen of our Green Berets fought a battle with more than 50 ISIS fighters, without help, for 30 minutes.
Finally, a rescue helicopter arrived, but it was not a US military helicopter. No, we apparently outsourced that job to “private contractors.” So, these contractors landed and loaded the remaining troops, the injured and the dead.
Here's where this gets really bad ....
Because they were not military, they never did a head count. That is how Sgt. La David Johnson was left behind.
That's right .... they left him behind.
According to the Pentagon, his locator beacon was activated on the battlefield, which indicates that he was alive when they left him there.
They recovered his body 48 hours later, but are refusing to say where. According to his widow, she was told that she could not have an open casket funeral. This indicates that he was mutilated after being left behind on the battlefield.
This is what led to the nonsense we're obsessing over. This is the real story. As usual, you're allowing it to be about Trump's distraction.
The Trump Pentagon gave these men bad intel, no support, outsourced rescue people and then tried for more than a week to pretend it never happened.
In that time, Trump spoke on many occasions and never mentioned it. He tweeted attacks on many but never mentioned these men.
Only after pressure from the media has he bothered to even acknowledge these men and their service."
Please COPY & PASTE to share

This is old stuff, but it may be fun or useful to someone:

 
Nemesis Packet Part2.1.pdf
Nemesis Packet Part2.2.pdf
Dragon Prime.pdf

Uber-Worl
 
http://www.uber-world.com

Comic Book Plus
 
http://www.comicbookplus.com

Happy 4th of July

Found this artwork online and thought I'd pass it along--an action figure hero team from the Seventies, before Star Wars changed everything. I would have loved to have had some of the Steve Austin figures, but I was in high school when they came out, and according to my parents, "too old for toys." That didn't stop me from going through the Sears and Penney's catalogs every Christmas, and browsing the toy sections of hardware and department stores every chance I got, saying to myself, "If only. . ."

(Just curious--who do you think would win in a fight between Steve Austin and Mike Power? I'm inclined to go with Austin, despite Power's helicopter blades.)

I always liked the GI Joe line's interpretation of Bulletman, aka The Human Bullet. I think he would be a great addition to the Amazing Heroes line--I think this particular character is in the public domain, even if the original Bulletman belongs to DC. Just have him go by his other name, you should be good to go. ("With a speed worthy of his namesake, and steel-jacketed arms giving him super-smashing strength, The Human Bullet streaks through the air to smash the forces of evil!")

The blog where I found the art is below--you have to scroll down a bit to get to the post, but it's worth a read. Enjoy.
 
Roberson's Interminable Ramblings--July 21

These used to be on here long ago (I think). I thought I'd update them:
 
EPIC ALLIANCE:

 
BLUR

 
CAPTAIN STEEL

 
CORETECHS

 
ECLIPSE

 
MAJOR BRITANNIA

 
PHENOM

 
SCORCH

 
SHADOW WOLF

 
STARDIVER

 
UNION

 
WHISPER

 
WHITE SERPENT

 
WISDOM

 
 
All of these are art mods and meant for fun only. You can see more and links to the original art on my deviantArt page (link in sig) 

Hey! That Steampunker on post 147 was a commission I did. Glad to see him get some screen time! 

Some EPIC CITY baddies:
 
 
Banque du Templar DRAGOONS

 
Baron Samedi

 
Count Faccia Dell'Inferno

 
Half-life

 
Reaver, Leer & Slash

 
Dark Eagle

 
Daa-CRUSHER!

 
All of these are art mods and meant for fun only. You can see more and links to the original art on my deviantArt page (link in sig)  

here's one:
 

Some EPIC CITY baddies:
 
 
Banque du Templar DRAGOONS

 
Baron Samedi

 
Count Faccia Dell'Inferno

 
Half-life

 
Reaver, Leer & Slash

 
Dark Eagle

 
Daa-CRUSHER!

 
All of these are art mods and meant for fun only. You can see more and links to the original art on my deviantArt page (link in sig)  

These used to be on here long ago (I think). I thought I'd update them:
 
EPIC ALLIANCE:

 
BLUR

 
CAPTAIN STEEL

 
CORETECHS

 
ECLIPSE

 
MAJOR BRITANNIA

 
PHENOM

 
SCORCH

 
SHADOW WOLF

 
STARDIVER

 
UNION

 
WHISPER

 
WHITE SERPENT

 
WISDOM

 
 
All of these are art mods and meant for fun only. You can see more and links to the original art on my deviantArt page (link in sig) 

Some EPIC CITY baddies:
 
 
Banque du Templar DRAGOONS

 
Baron Samedi

 
Count Faccia Dell'Inferno

 
Half-life

 
Reaver, Leer & Slash

 
Dark Eagle

 
Daa-CRUSHER!

 
All of these are art mods and meant for fun only. You can see more and links to the original art on my deviantArt page (link in sig)  

Some EPIC CITY baddies:
 
 
Banque du Templar DRAGOONS

 
Baron Samedi

 
Count Faccia Dell'Inferno

 
Half-life

 
Reaver, Leer & Slash

 
Dark Eagle

 
Daa-CRUSHER!

 
All of these are art mods and meant for fun only. You can see more and links to the original art on my deviantArt page (link in sig)  

Some EPIC CITY baddies:
 
 
Banque du Templar DRAGOONS

 
Baron Samedi

 
Count Faccia Dell'Inferno

 
Half-life

 
Reaver, Leer & Slash

 
Dark Eagle

 
Daa-CRUSHER!

 
All of these are art mods and meant for fun only. You can see more and links to the original art on my deviantArt page (link in sig)  

Hey! That Steampunker on post 147 was a commission I did. Glad to see him get some screen time! 

I'm really pleased this thread is continuing and had so many great entries. 

The steampower connection is obvious, but I somehow lacked any good ideas about that area of fictional material. So I tried to find a way to make Steampunk tech nessesary/feasible for a modern setting.
And just now I remembered the the game "Conflicts" (yes, that is exactly how it is spelled). The premise is that Leonardo Da Vinci found Metamater in his later alchemical experiments. Metamater can be farmed from the common hen's egg. It allows stuff like Antigravity, FTL travel and synthesizing any other mater (except mayonnaise). The end result is Steampunk Space battles between empires fought back in the 1700's.
 
Here is my take on this:
The Egg Timer used to be a normal maker of mechanical clocks, until he stumbeled upon the secret of Total Egg Coversion (short TEC). He was able to harness the power quite well into a set of semingly impossible steampunkt-esque gear. As he process is grounded in alchemical mechanics it defies any understanding of science and has so far prooven impossible to replicate in a laboratory or using more advanced technology. You have to use Steampunk gear and other simple stuff or it just will not work.
The abreviation TEC leads to him being called "The Egg Clock" by people who want to get a rise out of him. He really hates that name, but won't change his official name to something less similar either.

The Difference Engineer
 
He comes from a different time line where the first computer was developed by Charles Babbage, the Difference Engine. And he was one of the people who worked on it until the time line was altered by an American who would insist that it never worked and that Americans developed the first computers including preposterously computers in the home. So now The Difference Engineer has come to restore balance and make the timeline what it was. This computer tech can knock out modern tech which renders most battlesuits useless which confirms his theory that his timeline was the correct one and the current one is the right one.

Here's someone to have fun with.
 

[footage of late 19th / early 20th century train chugging down the tracks, but the engine looks higher tech than one would expect]
 
[interior of engine, with similar high-tech look; train engineer is adjusting dials and flipping switches, while speaking into a speaking tube connected to what looks like an early radio transmitter]
 
"BPS arm switches on, here comes the throttle."  The engineer pushes a lever forward, and the engine noticeably increases in speed; he pulls a release lever, and the rest of the rail cars disconnect and the engine pulls quickly away from them.  "We have separation.  Coming forward with the side-stick."  He pulls another lever, and the engine increases in speed yet again.
 
Suddenly, there's a loud BANG! and the engine shakes violently on the tracks as various dials spike into the red.  The engineer looks worried, but is maintaining his composure as he flips switches and adjusts dials.  "We've got a blowout, Amber-3.  Throttle's out, I can't hold the track."  The speeding engine rocks on the tracks, the wheels squealing in protest.  Minor explosions on other parts of the engine send parts flying.  "Ground-comm, I can't hold it.  She's breaking up, she's breaking up!"
 
[footage of train engine derailing and crashing through the trees]
 
[switch scene to early 20th century operating room]
 
(announcer voiceover)  "Steven Astor, engineer.  A man barely alive."
 
[blueprints and diagrams of intricate mechanisms]
 
(Nicola Tesla voiceover)  "Gentlemen, we can rebuild him.  We have the technology.  We have the capability to make the world's first Electro-Magnetic man.
 
[more footage of operating room, plus engineers assembling robotic limbs]
 
(Nicola Tesla voiceover)  "Steven Astor will be that man.  Better than he was before.  Better.  Stronger.  Faster."
 
[footage of Astor, his robotic limbs shiny as he runs down a dirt road, passing Model-T cars as if they're standing still]
 
Astor, aka Steamborg, is the $60,000 Man.

It was a good post that bore repeating.
 
Meanwhile, spoiled for size:
 
 
 

A race that would be over before the starter shot fully cleared the barrel.