GentleGiant's page

Is there a time frame for when preorders will be available from other vendors outside Paizo.com?
Shipping + import duties and fees directly from Paizo to Europe are, unfortunately, too cost prohibitive, so I'm looking to find a place closer by to preorder, så I can get the books as soon as possible after release.
I saw all the books and accessories up for preorder on a couple of Australian sites (Goodgames and Imaginary Adventures), but haven't found any European sellers yet (Amazon or more local stores).
I don't know if Paizo has any direct say in when these crop up or if it's up to the distributors?

I took some screenshots of the Twitch stream Paizo did some weeks ago, where Jason Bulmahn filled out a character sheet as he created an Elf Barbarian. I'll post them here in case people would like to see a filled out example of a new character:
Front
Back

Tre Manor is at it again with a new Kickstarter.
This time the focus is on his evil barbarians/chaos guys, called the Helsvakt.
He already has a few Helsvakt minis in his current catalogue (look under Evil Barbarians on his homepage).

Kickstarter link.

If everything goes according to plan (and his Kickstarters usually reaches all initial goals), the following "units" will be made:

• THE CHOSEN 5 armoured elite warriors.
  
• CHOSEN CHAMPION both mounted and afoot
  
• COMMAND Leader, horn blower, standard bearer elites
  
• HELSMAIDENS 4 female warriors.
  
• HELSMAIDEN CHAMPION both mounted and afoot
  
• BERSERKERS 4 new berserkers
  
• CRAVEN 4 new ranged helsvakt warriors
  
• JOTUNN 1 maybe 2 Helsvakt allied giants
  
• HELSRIDERS 4 new mounted warrior elites

So come join us and get some wicked evil looking minis! :-)

Trailer for the Netflix series is up!
Dark n' gritty from the looks of it.
All episodes available on April 10 (in the same vein as other Netflix series).

Tre Manor has started a new Kickstarter campaign of new miniatures that still fit into his usual "setting," but have a more "adventuring" bend (adventuring gear, pouches etc.).
He wants to make small groups of about 5 miniatures, each group within a specific race/group. It's already funded and the second stretch goal is very close to being unlocked.
The first group consists of Njorn (Northmen), the next is Aenglish. After that it's at present unsure what group comes next, but he has described the following as possible groups:
Halflings (2 fighters, a ranger, a thief, and bard/mage), a few new Dvergr (two rangers, a thief, and a priest/elder), and a new group of Elves (not exactly decided).

Here's the link to the Kickstarter.

Over the years there have been several threads about people's gaming table set-ups, so I thought I'd share mine too.
I just finished building my new interactive gaming table (with the help of my brother) and wanted to share it with the boards. Maybe someone might get inspired by it, like I've been inspired by the people doing similar projects.
I've put up a folder with pictures and descriptions of the building process and the finished table on my deviantART page. Even if you don't have a profile there you should be able to see it.

deviantART link.

We had our first gaming session on it two weeks ago and everyone (including the GM) loved it! It'll also help the two players who normally join us via Skype.

Next step is to set up a dedicated computer to run the screen (probably an older laptop I need to install Linux on - could also be a RaspberryPi) and do a Wiimote Whiteboard set-up so the screen can be controlled with an IR pen.

Feel free to ask any questions you don't think I've addressed in the descriptions of the pictures. :-)

Wargames Bakery are doing their second BASIUS Kickstarter.
BASIUS is a basing "stamp" system where you can create cool bases for your miniatures (for all systems, fantasy, steampunk, alien world, futuristic etc.).
You simply take a blob of greenstuff, polymer clay or any other such substance, put in on your base and press it against the "stamp" -> hey presto, you have a cool base!
This is explained in detail on the KS page (and in the video).
Here's the link.

I backed their first BASIUS Kickstarter for 5 stamps. This time around you get more than double the available stamp space from the first one!

I just finished building my new interactive gaming table (with the help of my brother) and wanted to share it with the boards. Maybe someone might get inspired by it, like I've been inspired by the people doing similar projects.
I've put up a folder with pictures and descriptions of the building process and the finished table on my deviantART page. Even if you don't have a profile there you should be able to see it.

deviantART link.

We had our first gaming session with it on Thursday and everyone (including the GM) loved it! It'll also help the two players who normally join us via Skype (one of which was in town while the other, his girlfriend, was out with some friends, so she couldn't attend).

Next step is to set up a dedicated computer to run the screen (probably an older laptop I need to install Linux on - could also be a RaspberryPi) and do a Wiimote Whiteboard set-up so the screen can be controlled with an IR pen.

Feel free to ask any questions you don't think I've addressed in the descriptions of the pictures. :-)

Just watched this tonight.
Quite enjoyable and a fresh take on the whole way mythology is "built" and reinforced.
It's also very much a fantasy adventuring party-like movie, with a fighter, a barbarian, a fighter/ranger archer, a bard, a fighter/rogue and an "oracle."
I liked it, don't expect an Academy Award-type movie, but it's a good fantasy/fighting romp that should keep you entertained for a couple of hours.

This video might be gone when you click it, but it should be possible to dig it up elsewhere if that's the case.
It looks like a CGI "storyboard" clip, like one of those made to shop a movie around to various investors/studios. Complete with Ryan Reynolds voice acting.

Why isn't this a slam dunk for a studio to pick up?

So, this is apparently insider knowledge about the coming DC movies.
From Wonder Woman to Justice League.
Justice League' Movie To Hit May 2017, 'Wonder Woman' & 'Green Lantern'/'Flash' Crossover Coming Same Year

Surprised anyone hasn't mentioned this yet.

All Our Patent Are Belong To You

Yesterday, there was a wall of Tesla patents in the lobby of our Palo Alto headquarters. That is no longer the case. They have been removed, in the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology.

Well, it just became a lot more expensive to buy books (or anything else Amazon sells) if you don't live in the UK.

"From 3 April, 2014, FREE Super Saver Delivery will no longer be available for deliveries to Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Gibraltar, Iceland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal or Sweden."

People were notified of the above in an email today... April 4th.

I get my subscriptions directly from Paizo (the smaller books), but hard covers I've always bought from Amazon.co.uk.
No longer it seems.

After a final rewrite to the script and a long casting process, Fox looks to have assembled the team for its “Fantastic Four” reboot.

BBC is launching their new Musketeers series today, Sunday 19th.
It will launch in the US too, although the BBC America site only says "Spring 2014" with no precise release date.
Here's a trailer for the show.

Starz' Black Sails officially premieres next Saturday, January 25th, but the first episode is already online on the Starz website.
Here's a trailer/preview if you don't want to watch the whole first episode.
It is written as a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island and has already been renewed for a second season.
One note of "caution," though: There's nudity and sex scenes. ;-)

Might be some good inspiration for anyone playing in or running Skull & Shackles.

Disney's Marvel and Netflix Join Forces to Develop Historic Four Series Epic plus a Mini-Series Event.

Stonehaven Miniatures are running their third Kickstarter. The subject this time is Elves.
Elven Adventurers Box Set
15 minis have already been unlocked and the first of two Trolls is also available. There's even a Kitsune available when they hit 500 backers.
The Elves (and their companions) are metal figs while the Trolls are resin.
The first two Kickstarters they ran (Dwarves and Gnomes) were quite successful and everyone seems to have been happy with the post KS service and fulfillment.

GenCon apparently holds some tantalizing teasers.

When preparing and creating adventures and gaming sessions I like to use/re-use the material I have on my shelves as much as possible.
One of the things that can often take a long time to draw or create yourself is maps. So I like to use maps from products I already possess. If I need a castle, an inn or an old tower ruin I like to leaf through the various books, modules and magazines I have to see if anything fits.
This, however, can also be a tedious process as I might have to look through a lot of books to find e.g. a tower map.

So I was wondering whether it was possible to make a collaborative collection of map references from the products Paizo publish.
It wouldn't be the maps themselves, just a listing of the maps contained in each product. If you have the product you could then just pull if off the shelf after searching through the "database" and use it in your adventure.
I'm not entirely sure how, technically, this could be done the easiest way. I was imagining sort of like a wiki with tags (maybe even part of the official wiki?).
So you could click on the "inn" tag and you'd get a list of products which contain a map with that tag (product and page#).
You could, of course, also select the product itself and see the list of maps within that product.

Is this a feasible project? Anyone interested in collaborating on it?
I haven't worked with wikis before, so it would be faster if someone with that kind of knowledge could help kick things off.

This could actually be extended to a similar project with NPCs (if you need a quick villain at a certain CR).

I haven't seen a separate thread for this Kickstarter, so with only 48 hours left I thought it was about time. ;-)
I know that there might have been a lot of people who pledged for the Dwarven Forge Kickstarter, but this one might be of interest to those who didn't. Especially international (non-US) people might be interested in Itar's KS since the shipping is much lower than on the Dwarven Forge KS.
You also already get a lot of stuff here!

I couldn't find any mention of this in any thread, so I just wanted to point people who think they might need a Demogorgon model in this direction.

They seem to have pretty much the technical parts down, the characters and monsters should then just be tweaked to PF imagery.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1473965863/sui-generis/

Without doing any kind of research as to whether there's already a thread like this, I decided that I would make a separate thread about painting tutorials.

There are numerous painting tutorials out there, some on regular websites, some on forums, some on YouTube and you can even buy some on DVDs. Oh books about it too.

For this first post I'll focus on YouTube videos, or more specifically YouTube channels, where you can find painting tutorials.
Later on I might post links to other websites and forums (if other people don't link to them first).
Note: Many of these tutorials feature Games Workshop miniatures, but the techniques apply no matter where the miniatures are from.
Second note: Many of the channels will also have videos on other aspects surrounding painting miniatures, like discussions about paint brushes, paints, how to make a wet palette, other tools etc.

Beginners:
GirlPainting - Alexandra will guide you through a lot of great tips, from beginning steps to more advanced techniques.

MrWatchingpaintdry - Lots of tutorials with pictures and a step-by-step description of what he's doing on the miniature.

Doctor Faust's Painting Clinic.

Jawaballs - Primarily focused on Warhammer 40k miniatures, but also some orcs and other miniatures. Again, the techniques can be applied to a whole variety of miniatures.

Advanced:
AwesomePaintJob - Les Bursley is an amazing painter and has lots of tutorials and show pieces where he paints a miniature from start to finish (speeded up a bit, but still). I've placed Les in the advanced category, because he usually uses an airbrush on most of his models. Many people don't have one (or can afford one) so some of his techniques might be harder to replicate. However, with thinned down paints and many layers, some of them can be done with a brush too. But he also has many other techniques which can be done by most people.

Buypainted - Polish guy with a great, thick accent. ;-)
Again this is placed in the advanced category because he uses an airbrush for most of his work. Still lots of inspiration and tutorials, including bases etc.

SchnauzerFaceMinis - Again, airbrush use, but also regular painting techniques.

There are more channels out there, but this should get you started!

Nary an eye was dry!

Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine seems to have gone full psycho conspiracy nuts, claiming that Obama is behind the recent shootings in the U.S., in order to pass a ban on guns.
I know lots of people are Megadeth fans around here. I've just lost all respect for the man, though. The anti-LGBT comments he has made before, born of his born-again Christianity, were bad enough, but this is just utterly insane.

I assume the Technology section is the right place to put this, I just hope it doesn't go unnoticed. :-)

There's a new Kickstarter for something called InKarnate RPG Toolset.
It's supposed to be a web application mostly for use around the table. It seems to be a combined character creator/campaign organizer and can be used as a VTT too.
It's being made for the 3.5 ruleset first - no idea why they didn't make it for Pathfinder, since the OGL would allow them to. More rulesets will be added depending on the amount they raise.
Now, this isn't something new as such, what they DO bring to the table is the snazzy video game-like interface. The guys behind it are quite experienced it seems, two of them have worked for Blizzard.
Since it's a web application, it can be run on PCs, Macs and pads.

I think it looks very interesting and maybe with enough people throwing money at them they might change the original rules set from 3.5 to Pathfinder. :-)

From the people behind stop-animation hits like Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit!

Featuring Hugh Grant, Martin Freeman, David Tennant, Salma Hayek and many more.

First trailer!
Link

Second trailer!
Link

Featurette on how it's made:
Link

I thought it could be interesting to see what kind of pre-painted miniatures there are out there for use with your RPG games.
I guess we all know that you can pick up various animals from toy stores to represent everything from horses over (giant) vermin/animals to dinosaurs.
I also came across a line of miniatures that has some cool monsters and dragons.
It's called "Knights" and I found at least one .com store who sold them, so they might be available everywhere.
Here's the link to a Danish toy store who sells them. The normal knight miniatures are too big for normal 25-28mm miniature play (but could maybe be used for giants or enlarged characters), but the monsters, like the minotaur and orcs (ogre substitute?) could be usable. The dragons definitely.
Anyway, click here.
I should note that there ARE other models in this line not represented on the page. I have taken some photos of some of them and I'll see about getting the photos online, so I can link them here.
The miniatures are listed as being 9 cm (3,54 inches) tall.

I thought the tutorial I made for making a transport case for painted (or pre-painted) minis might be of interest to the people here.
Now, this is mostly if you're interested in protecting your miniatures and don't want to pay a lot for a GW miniature case/Sabol Armytransport or similar items.
The tutorial is much more effective with actual pictures in it, so instead of writing it up here, I'll just link to the thread where I posted it in:
DIY Transport Case.

Bonus info:
On the second page of the thread I made a quick tutorial for a
"Dead simple light box for lighting your miniatures properly while photographing them for your online posting needs." ;-)

Trailer here.

You (in the U.S.) are allied with North Korea, right?
Well, Sarah Palin seems to think so... ;-)

Okay, so discussion in another thread sort of poked an idea that I've had for a while and now it prompted me to actually do something about it.
For several, varied reasons I've been wanting to try and compare some different salary levels between the U.S. and my own country, Denmark, just in a fairly non-scientific, curious and casual way.
I do need to know what would yield the best results before I jump into the comparison itself, so I need to ask you people something first:

What figure would yield the best comparison, salary before taxes or after taxes?

Seeing how the tax burden is rather different between the two countries, I'd guess before taxes. However, the numbers I have access to are mostly after taxes, so that would be easier for me to put up.

What I ultimately want to know, when I put the numbers up, is what "category" the various salary levels would be classified as (in the U.S.) and I'd love examples of what kind of job in the U.S. you'd have to make the various salaries (later on I might disclose what the Danish people who make the individual salaries actually do ;-) ).

So, first of all, before or after tax numbers?

What with the current job situation in the US I thought this might be of interest to some.
My web host just wrote in their newsletter that they're hiring across the board. More jobs should pop up throughout October.
Click here for their jobs page.

Anyone else having problems loading Facebook?

So, we're about to start up CotCT and I'm the last person in the group to come up with a character... and I'm kind of drawing a blank on what to play (I seem to be in a particularly uninspiring period of time in my life).
The 3 other party members are as follows:
Half-Giant* fighter/paladin (planned multiclass later on) - focused on charging, dazzling display later on and hitting hard with his two-handed weapon (takes the 2-handed fighter archetype).
Human cleric of Sarenrae.
Human monk (plans on taking some of the dazzling display feats too to take advantage of the Half-Giant's use of it to "power" some of his monk powers/feats).

*ported over from the previous campaign as explained below.

Some background for the campaign:
Our DM has seen his time diminishing rapidly (in the process of having a new house built, big promotion and a baby girl added to the mix), so his homebrew campaign is taking too much time to prepare for him. Instead of shelving the group entirely, he has opted to run an AP instead, but with a link to the old campaign.
We had been engaged in ye typical "find the special Macguffins and save the world before the bad guys do their evil thing" campaign. To tie it in with the new campaign he told us that the BBEG had secured the Macguffins and the only way to stop him was for the head of the 3 magic orders in the world to send us back in time and space to where the BBEG had originated from and stop him then and there. Thus the BBEG in CotCT is supposed to be the BBEG in the previous campaign.
Our options were to keep the characters we had (but dialed back to 1st level again) or create new characters who were linked/destined to help defeat the BBEG.
The Half-Giant has, so far, been the only one who wanted to keep his character. The monk player has just joined the group again (we were only 3 players in the previous campaign).
My previous character was a Human wizard (enchanter).

So, to get back to my quandary... what to play?
I'd like to be useful throughout the entire campaign, but also play an interesting character (I'm more focused on the concept than min/max'ing/optimizing).
So... a wizard/sorcerer seems like a natural 4th member of the group... but I can't seem to dredge up an interesting concept.
A rogue or bard could also be useful (city campaign, probably lots of social interaction etc. - although I'm actually playing a bard in another campaign (Council of Thieves)).
Maybe a second cleric (of another deity)?

This is where I'd like to reach out to all you creative people who might have some experience with the AP. Any suggestions?
If more info on the other characters is helpful, I can try to get some more out of them.

I hate to come across as a grumpy old man (I'm not THAT old), but I was just wondering whether some companies, who produce PFRPG supportive material, have been given express clearance to post signatures (promoting their companies) with their every post?
It has been posted several times that this is something you guys generally frown upon and the FAQ states:

Why can't I include a signature with my posts?

We're trying to keep the appearance of our messageboards as clean and streamlined as possible. Signatures that get repeated over and over on a page detract from the main conversation, and we'd prefer that you not manually insert them into your messages.

It's not that I don't want these companies to grow and thrive, but if this is a rule for regular posters, shouldn't it be a rule for companies too?

Okay, I seem to have figured it out... I hope.
I made sure I had the newest data set for PCGen (which includes the Bestiary). Then I copied the Tiefling data from the bestiary .lst file into the main race .lst file for Pathfinder, changed the name to "Tiefling (Rakshasa)" and changed the ability score adjustments before saving the file. Then it showed up in the races list when I created a new character.

One would have to write up a special power, depending on the result on the variant power list, but I was lucky and rolled a +2 Int bonus, so I just added that manually to the character's ability scores.

Okay, I'm going to tap into that dreadful stereotype of most gamers being overweight and see if there are any fellow "sufferers" out there.
I'm curious if there are any other posters who have had or are considering weight-loss surgery (whether gastric banding, bypass, sleeve etc.)?
I'm currently in the run-up phase to the surgery (gastric bypass) and you can never have too many supporters when it comes to life-altering surgery.
I know it's a touchy subject with a lot of people, whether from personal pride or the social stigma that still follows it around. It's often viewed as "the easy way out," which, if one would do just a little research, cannot be further from the truth. It's a tool that can help with the hardest part, losing the weight, while a very strict and healthy lifestyle must still be maintained afterwards.
I also know that, especially for those of you in the US, it can be a struggle to even get approved for the surgery, if your insurance is even going to cover it, or to find the money for it on your own.
But I want to share a bit of my story, maybe someone else can use it in a productive manner. :-)

I've always been a big guy. Not in an obese way, but I'm 6'6" and built solidly, with lots of natural muscle mass - the guy people came to first when they had to move heavy furniture around or to help move to another place. I've also been very active in sports, from soccer over European handball and basketball to American football most recently.
After a longer period with problems staying focused on my studies, stemming from my then undiagnosed psychiatric problems, I finally hit rock-bottom with a major depression back in 2002.
Stayed in bed for 3 months before finally dragging myself off to my doctor to have her confirm the depression.
Then followed several years where I tried a variety of psychopharma to, hopefully, help me out of the depression. Unfortunately, as anyone who has dealt with psychopharma knows, the drugs all had a common side effect... Severe weight gain.
Even though I still played football I continued to gain weight (not that my coach complained that much, I played offensive lineman, so I just became harder to get through ;-) ).
I've beaten the depression now, but have been given a new diagnosis, simple schizophrenia.
I've most likely had that for a long time and the symptoms can sometimes be mistaken for chronic depression disorder called dysthymia - which was what I was being given drugs for, even though it wasn't necessary.
Another side effect of my long-term use of the drugs is the fact that they have pretty much smashed my feeling of satiety, or at least have pushed it so far that I rarely feel physically full. The consequense of that is, of course, over eating (with frequent binge eating episodes).
I've tried to lose weight lots of times and with the most common methods. I've been to a life-style camp (yes, we called it fat camp! ;-) ) twice and lost 40 lbs each time, only to gain it all (and more) back again within 3-6 months.

So, last fall I decided that enough was enough. I thoroughly researched the whole spectrum of weight-loss surgeries and through my doctor got an appointment at a dietician (I also knew from my visit to the life-style camp that the scales at my doctor's office wouldn't be able to weigh me), which also happened to coincide with my doctor telling me, after some tests, that I was in the pre-stage of type II diabetes...
Yay! :-(
Got to the dietician and "jumped" on the scales... 378 lbs!
Yikes, that was 67 lbs more than when I was weighed last time, at the time of leaving the life-style camp back in the summer of 2007.
No wonder all my joints were aching and my back kept kicking me every time I had to walk more than 200 yards.
As I said above, I'm now in the run-up phase to the surgery, where I have to lose 8% of my heighest body weight (the 378 lbs above). I have to lose it before week 18, where my surgery is scheduled. I'm trying to lose it faster, though, because if I do I can be put on an emergency/cancellation list if another patient decides to bail or hasn't met the surgery weight goal at their appointed time.
I'm down 17 lbs so far... still another 15 lbs to go to be on the safe side.

Link to tv segment here.
So, according to an elected official, republican Bob Marshall, children with disabilities are born like that because of the wrath of god over abortion and, based on that, state support for health clinics should be removed.
Also, Virginia governor Bob McDonnell has used an executive order to cut text that banned discrimination against state workers for their sexual orientation.

Is this mindset acceptable in US politics in 2010?

Any news about when the playtest will begin?
I'm especially looking forward to the new classes, since we'll be starting a new campaign very soon (Council of Thieves) and I'm really itching to try/playtest a Cavalier or Inquisitor.
Latest info I could find from Jason was from back in August.

If there is another place where we can give feedback on any errors/omissions we find in the book, then I apologize for this thread.
Just wanted to give people a place where they can give feedback, so further printings and the pdf can be as perfect as possible.
Anyway, I have only briefly skimmed through the pdf and I found this error:
page 459:
"Magic items that take damage in excess of half their total hit points, but not more than their total hit points, gain the ??? condition, and might not function properly (see the Appendix)."
The ??? indicates a missing word.

Also, as has been mentioned elsewhere, the class bookmarks are out of whack.

Okay, so an interesting situation came up during our last session. The party is currently exploring some tunnels and happened upon a Gelatinous Cube. The party fighter has Shall Not Pass and wanted to use it on the Cube, as it tried to slither over and engulf him and another party member.
This led to a discussion about whether it would work on such an amorphous creature, which could just "flow/slither/blob" around the stopping attack since it fills up the entire hallway?

We came up with a very situational solution in the given instance, giving the fighter his AoO and, because of the feat, a reflex save to avoid being engulfed (which he wouldn't have received if he had used a normal AoO).

Any other perspectives, thoughts, criticism, comments or accolades?

I don't know if anyone can answer this, but I thought I'd try anyway.
My fellow (local) gamers and I have decided to order the PfRPG book from Amazon.co.uk, since, with shipping and everything, it appears to be the cheapest deal (I'll personally subscribe to the RPG line once the main book is released so I can choose to start with the Bestiary and DM Screen, but that's beside the point).
One thing that made me pause a bit, though, was when I saw the release date on Amazon.co.uk.
September 2nd...
Both Amazon.de and Amazon.com have August 19th as their release dates.
Could this simply be an outdated release date? Or might it actually be right?
I know that Amazon get their books through the usual retailer channels, I just found it odd that the dates are different.

EDIT:
Another question.
I'm also trying to figure out some shipping costs and I was wondering whether you have the exact weight of the PfRPG book?

Well, unlike the last Bestiary preview, the powers that be have actually disguised the names of the monsters this time around. So, what are we dealing with here?
My guess:
Kyton (Chain Devil), Pit Fiend, Balor and Oni/Ogre Mage.

Former Titans (and Ravens) QB Steve 'Air' McNair has been found shot to death in Nashville, TN.

Just wanted to give a heads-up that I'm getting a broken image file when trying to load the large version of the picture in today's Blog (the catacombsfight one).
Tried 3 different browsers, so it's not a browser error.

Okay, get some popcorn and sit back in your favourite chair for a little more than an hour presentation of Google Wave!
If you're too impatient to sit through the presentation, then you can read this blog article by Tim O'Reilly (of O'Reilly Books), which summarizes some of the key features (however, it's much better to see the whole video presentation, of course).
This could very well be the way online communication is handled shortly, so it could be bye bye e-mails, IMs etc.
Not only that, but with more extensions, developed for the open source platform, it could even be used as a handy Virtual Table Top. Just imagine something like RPTools' MapTool as an extension!

Full article here: Click

Lieutenant Colonel Victor J. Fehrenbach, a fighter weapons systems officer, has been flying the F-15E Strike Eagle since 1998. He has flown numerous missions against Taliban and al-Qaida targets, including the longest combat mission in his squadron's history. On that infamous September 11, 2001, Lt. Col. Fehrenbach was handpicked to fly sorties above the nation's capital. Later he flew combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has received at least 30 awards and decorations including nine air medals, one of them for heroism, as well as campaign medals for Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. He is now a flight instructor in Idaho, where he has passed on his skills to more than 300 future Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force weapons systems officers.

Remember to see the video at the end of the article.

Now, why was Lieutenant Colonel Victor J. Fehrenbach fired?
He's gay.

Normally, I'm not a big fan of anything (real world, present day) military, I find it a sad testament to the violent nature of humanity that we still need to engage in wars.
That said, I find it even more appaling that someone who has served dutifully and honorable for 18 years (just two years shy of being able to retire with a full pension) is being fired because of the backward ideology that homosexual members of society is a "danger" to the armed forces.
Sickening I say.

Seriously, no one has anything to say about this???