Greetings from the land of potatoes, Incas and machismo!

[Malika]

Sorry I´ve been so quiet these last couple of months. Thing is that I´ve been very busy with building the foundations for the thesis research I will be doing here, in Peru, in a couple of weeks. It´s great to see the progress that is being made on the Venturer, all I can say is that I´m truly impressed.

But yeah, I wanted to say hi to you all over here and let you know that I´m still alive and that I haven't forgotten or quit the ASP. I´m around...just very quiet because I´m occupied with Spanish courses, boring lawbooks on waterrights, macho culture and the [not so friendly word] that it brings and still being a bit traumatized by the US customs in Miami.

The ASP however isn´t totally gone from my mind, I have been toying with some ideas on social action/radicalism/terrorism in the Imperium that isn´t xenos/malleus inspired and resource distribution. Namely who gets the control of the resources on Imperial worlds and what the consequences of this would be (potentially linking it with the social action/terrorism bit). But yeah, these are just vague ideas that might get worked out to concepts once I have more time or once I´m back in the Netherlands (which would be in May).

Oh yeah, one vague idea for Adeptus Astartes martial arts/fighting techniques, go watch Mixed Martial Arts fights, especially fighters like Fedor Emelianenko who use wrestle, sambo and other ground techniques would be very fitting for the Emperor´s finest I think. These are very powerful and effective techniques, but would probably no look as cool as fighting standing up in a medieval style...

[CELS]

Sorry I´ve been so quiet these last couple of months. Thing is that I´ve been very busy with building the foundations for the thesis research I will be doing here, in Peru, in a couple of weeks. It´s great to see the progress that is being made on the Venturer, all I can say is that I´m truly impressed.

Hey, cool, I was just wondering why you were so quiet lately. I mean, not even a phone call? <sobs>

But yeah, I wanted to say hi to you all over here and let you know that I´m still alive and that I haven't forgotten or quit the ASP. I´m around...just very quiet because I´m occupied with Spanish courses, boring lawbooks on waterrights, macho culture and the [not so friendly word] that it brings and still being a bit traumatized by the US customs in Miami.

Ouch. I hope it didn't involve a cavity search. But I'm hardly surprised. People with afro's can't be trusted. I know, I used to have one.

The ASP however isn´t totally gone from my mind, I have been toying with some ideas on social action/radicalism/terrorism in the Imperium that isn´t xenos/malleus inspired and resource distribution. Namely who gets the control of the resources on Imperial worlds and what the consequences of this would be (potentially linking it with the social action/terrorism bit). But yeah, these are just vague ideas that might get worked out to concepts once I have more time or once I´m back in the Netherlands (which would be in May).

May? Well, I hope you have some free time before that. But I look forward to hearing more about politically oriented terrorism and rebellions in the Imperium. Let's face it, the whole good vs evil angle is getting old

Oh yeah, one vague idea for Adeptus Astartes martial arts/fighting techniques, go watch Mixed Martial Arts fights, especially fighters like Fedor Emelianenko who use wrestle, sambo and other ground techniques would be very fitting for the Emperor´s finest I think. These are very powerful and effective techniques, but would probably no look as cool as fighting standing up in a medieval style...

No kidding 

Fedor is, apart from his appearance, the ideal Space Marine. Not just his skill, but the absolute lack of emotions in his face when he's about to enter the ring, when he touches gloves, when he fights. The only time his lip curls to a slight snarl is when he unleashes a vicious combo against his unfortunate opponent. And even then, it's hardly visible at all. He gets his victory, and his face is just as blank as when he entered the ring.
And he just got openly religious as well! Perfect! Now we just need him to refer to God as the God-Emperor.

Me and Kage already had a discussion with Philip about Astartes martial arts. IIRC, Philip believed that grappling would be most useful for Astartes in power armour, whereas Kage and I thought striking would be more effective.

PS: If anyone doesn't know who Fedor is, go to YouTube and check out "Fedor vs Tim Sylvia". It will only take you 36 seconds 

[Malika]

Ouch. I hope it didn't involve a cavity search. But I'm hardly surprised. People with afro's can't be trusted. I know, I used to have one.

They don´t really trust people with books, I got some really angry looks when they pulled a book by Foucault out of my back. I wonder if they were mad because it was Foucault or because it was philosophy or a book in general. Also, being friendly to them doesn´t work, it makes you suspicious, as does being unfriendly, scared or anything else...

And yes Fedor is awesome! The fight against Tim Sylvia is crazy, I was expecting a long fight taking many rounds, you know kind of like Rocky, but Fedor just went in there and did the job in little over 30 seconds. As for the lack of emotions, that is a Russian thing I think. My flatmate back in Holland has the same thing, except when he drinks chifir (a very strong tea extract which is drunk in Russian prisons, it kind of gets you high).

[Dragonlover]

Hey Malika, wondered where you were. Looking forward to the socially motivated terrorism stuff, could well tie in with ideas I have kicking around for Invictona. That reminds me, I need to read up on slave revolts... *wanders off muttering*

Dragonlover

[Malika]

I´m intrigued by these concepts, only problem is that the Imperium is so...well divided, as in that every world seems to be unique. Meaning that an article on terrorism or social action for the ASP would either focus on a single world or subsector or become so vague since it has to deal with all sorts of worlds.

The same kind of goes for resource management, however this could also be looked at by how the Imperium as a whole deals with this, like who orders the Tithes, distributes them and makes sure they reach their destinations (extraction, collection and distribution).

[Malika]

Some pictures from where I am:

I've been to a place called the Bocatoma, this is where the canal La Achirana splits up from the Rio Ica. The legend is that an Inca king (forgot his name, sorry kids) was in love with a maiden from Ica and in order to win her heart created this canal in 70 days so that her people had water.


This is where La Achirana begins



Rio Ica part of the Bocatoma construct.

The thing is that the water is split, in order to do this efficiently each waterway gets water for 20 days until they switch, so first it's 20 days of water for the Rio Ica and then 20 days for La Achirana. The problem however is that at some point some engineer started a project (probably some money laundering or stealing of resources) in which they narrowed a part of La Achirana, so instead of 12-16 cubic meters of water, only 8m3 can come through. Consequence of this being that more water has to run through the Rio Ica in order to sustain this system. Problem with the Rio Ica is that a lot of the sweet water goes lost into the sea (about 40 million cubic meters a year) which will have huge consequences for the region in years to come...


La Huacachina, a little oasis surrounded by bars and hotels, some of them run by friends of mine...great fun! Go out sandboarding, dune buggy racing and all that!

[Kage2020]

Peru.  I hate you.

Kage

[Malika]

When are you dropping by then?  As soon as I mention anthropology they drag me to every archaeological thing there is to find in a region. While very interesting, it has the tendency to distract me from my work and the people give me odd looks when I mention my research is more socio-economical in nature.

[Kage2020]

From what I hear about places such as Guatemala, I'm short by one Ph.D to be active in that area...

Kage

[Malika]

Oh, here you will immediately have a job! They will all think you're the smartest person in the universe or something. People keep asking me to write articles for all sorts of stuff I'm not specialised in. For example, the other day a lady who owns a restaurant in the Huacachina (oasis in the picture) asked me to write an article/report about the plants growing in the lake and that it's bad for people to cut them (because all sorts of animals live in them). I'm no biologist or anything, but for some reason people here think that my word is good enough because I'm a student from a European student ("he's part gringo, so he must know!").

I've checked out some of the university and high school stuff they've got here and it's truly depressing, no wonder they think my word is "scientific proof" and that you will probably be seen as an Einstein.

As for Guatemala, I've got a whole bunch of people from my year running around there trying to interview the local Maya populations for their own little thesis projects, great fun!

[Philip S]

Glad to hear you are keeping busy! What are you researching? Or is it secret?

Have you had any more thoughts on your vision of Space Marine combat arts?

Or your ideas for terrorists (freedom fighters?) within the Imperium?

Philip

[Malika]

My research is about the correlation between social-political structures in rural societies in Peru and the control of water.

I haven't really pondered about the Space Marine part yet, I just imagine mix martial arts and Fedor. 

As for the terrorists, it's a reaction thing. The Imperium commits violence against it's people which results in peaceful resistance becoming violent as well. Most of this resistance would be caused not so much by "freedom fighters" who fight for "freedom and democracy", but because these people no longer have a way of sustaining themselves. SO people with no work, no food, no income, etc. eventually are forced to take these things in order to survive. I imagine that this is who many of these "freedom fighter/terrorist" movements start out in the Imperium. Then the Imperium fights back and these movements are involved in a conflict/civil war. I think that Chaos or Xenos come in rather quickly because these movements need something powerful to back them up (which is why so many rebellions might be Chaos influenced). While at first they might only be using them as allies/tools, later on many of these movements become too corrupted and instead of a purely socio-economic reaction they become a more religious movement (chaos worship etc)

[Philip S]

My research is about the correlation between social-political structures in rural societies in Peru and the control of water.

Interesting. Are you tying it to memes, and which meme has proved to be the most effective at gaining control and hence populate, or is it more about how the society and villages are change when they have water?

I haven't really pondered about the Space Marine part yet, I just imagine mix martial arts and Fedor. 

Fair enough 

As for the terrorists, it's a reaction thing. The Imperium commits violence against it's people which results in peaceful resistance becoming violent as well. Most of this resistance would be caused not so much by "freedom fighters" who fight for "freedom and democracy", but because these people no longer have a way of sustaining themselves. SO people with no work, no food, no income, etc. eventually are forced to take these things in order to survive. I imagine that this is who many of these "freedom fighter/terrorist" movements start out in the Imperium. Then the Imperium fights back and these movements are involved in a conflict/civil war. I think that Chaos or Xenos come in rather quickly because these movements need something powerful to back them up (which is why so many rebellions might be Chaos influenced). While at first they might only be using them as allies/tools, later on many of these movements become too corrupted and instead of a purely socio-economic reaction they become a more religious movement (chaos worship etc)

Again t  more coolness. I find this type of hypothetical great fun as I like delving into systems (all systems).

I am curious how you see chaos?

I tend to shy away from the classical GW pantomime villains and see chaos more as an emergent property of the human condition - damn that sounds poncy, I mean it is born of of human weakness and desire where billions of tribal groups vie for power, form and break alliances to achieve this, and for the authorities to keep track of it all in a nightmare, unpredictable (chaos) and difficult to manage.

I wonder if the Imperium uses Psykers to sense the moods of the population an seek out areas, or groups, where emotions are rising so they can go after them directly?

Philip

[Malika]

Interesting. Are you tying it to memes, and which meme has proved to be the most effective at gaining control and hence populate, or is it more about how the society and villages are change when they have water?

It's more about who controls the water and how it is distributed amongst the users.

Again t  more coolness. I find this type of hypothetical great fun as I like delving into systems (all systems).

It's based on some articles which delved into the causes of political violence in Peru and El Salvador even after land distribution policies. One of the conclusions was that inequality on it's own is not the cause of political violence but the lack of resources to survive (work, land, food, water, etc) which causes a series of actions/reactions to happen which cause the political violence on both sides (civil war sort of speak).

I am curious how you see chaos?

I tend to shy away from the classical GW pantomime villains and see chaos more as an emergent property of the human condition - damn that sounds poncy, I mean it is born of of human weakness and desire where billions of tribal groups vie for power, form and break alliances to achieve this, and for the authorities to keep track of it all in a nightmare, unpredictable (chaos) and difficult to manage.

Personally I don't view Chaos as evil. I remember that CELS once wrote an article on a pre-Imperial character who ruled an empire in the Archaios subsector. This guy embraced Chaos, but the three Chaos Gods (Slaanesh wasn't around yet) weren't typically evil. So instead of the typical evil stereotypes the Chaos Gods seem to have, this guy viewed their positive aspects such as Khorne being honourable and such.

I also tend to have a more logic view on Chaos, as in that the daemons/gods/etc are energies or lifeforms that live in the warp and live off emotions/ideas/etc from our reality, some might be benign while others are malevolent.

I wonder if the Imperium uses Psykers to sense the moods of the population an seek out areas, or groups, where emotions are rising so they can go after them directly?

I don't think it would entirely work like that. You are throwing your psionics idea in here I think. 

[Philip S]

So you are bringing your research into resource management and the effects of that management on the population over to Anargo? Sounds like a great idea, and I agree that lack of resources is the most dangerous and destabilizing factor, as it can provoke the survival instinct to fight for resources. Necessity is the mother of invention (much like guerilla warfare flares up when one side can not win with a show of force, and the authority wants control of people and resources)

Philip