NationStates Jolt Archive

What would you be? I after to say after seeing 300 again, I would be a Spartan. Those guys were awesome.

What would you be? I after to say after seeing 300 again, I would be a Spartan. Those guys were awesome.

You want to go back in time and into another dimension where 300 is historical fact ;)

I'd want to be a wealthy farmer before the industrial revolution

I would go back in time to kill my grandpa, but if I went back in time to go kill my grandpa, then how can I be typing this, planning to go back and kill my grandpa?

*head asplode*

Seriously though, I would go back in time when Microsoft stocks were penny stocks, and I would just buy a shit load of stocks. :D

Well, if I went back in time any more than, say, 20 years I'd reckon I'd be "not born" :p

Assuming that my modifications result in a separate timeline rather than altering the one I came from and therefore not causing a paradox, I'd like to go back and get Babbage to complete his difference engine.

A paradox.

What would you be? I after to say after seeing 300 again, I would be a Spartan. Those guys were awesome.
You might want to rethink that. The reason the Spartans were such good fighters is that their entire lives were like boot camp.

Where I would I be? I've spent plenty of time pondering this question and I've decided that I would like to see the Exodus/the first 40 days in the desert. If they as the Torah describes them then God exists and atheists can shut up and it they don't then there is no God and theists can shut up.

Hmmm... go back in time so I can assassinate the dickhole who thought the "war on drugs" was a good idea.

What would you be? I after to say after seeing 300 again, I would be a Spartan. Those guys were awesome.

You like butt-sex, no?

A Chinese merchant traveling the Silk Road during the Sui-Tang period.

Buy stocks in Microsoft and other computer companies during the 60's

I would go back in time to kill my grandpa, but if I went back in time to go kill my grandpa, then how can I be typing this, planning to go back and kill my grandpa?

*head asplode*

Seriously though, I would go back in time when Microsoft stocks were penny stocks, and I would just buy a shit load of stocks. :D
I would do something similar; I have it all planned out:

Go back to 40,000 B.C.
Bring a plastic Mickey Mouse toy and a safe box
Put the toy in the safe box, and lock it
Go to where Disney World is now, and bury the safe box very deep


What I figure will happen is years later, when they build Disney World, someone will find the 40,000 year old Mickey Mouse toy. I'm curious to see what will happen after that.

300 is possibly the worst movie ever. The only film I've seen that discredits both sides of a war. I didn't think it was possible...

I would be a benevolent emperor in Ancient China. Best culture in human history, too bad the CCP's destroying it.

What would you be? I after to say after seeing 300 again, I would be a Spartan. Those guys were awesome.
In similar tone, a viking.Those guys were awesomer.
Assuming from the question that I can choose what to be(??), I might be a Varangian Guardsman.Booze,fame,women,gold flowing from the Emperor's treasury, the thrill of fights and the ability to win them...yup,I want that.

Buy stocks in Microsoft and other computer companies during the 60's

Too late, beat you to it! *laughs and rolls around in single dollar bills* :p

Seriously though, I would go back in time when Microsoft stocks were penny stocks, and I would just buy a shit load of stocks. :D

Buy stocks in Microsoft and other computer companies during the 60's

I would go back and rob Wilgrove and New Manvir of their Microsoft stock.

I would go back in time to tell the medival peasents to rebel aganst their leige lords! Or stop FDR from being elected.

300 is possibly the worst movie ever. The only film I've seen that discredits both sides of a war. I didn't think it was possible...

I would be a benevolent emperor in Ancient China. Best culture in human history, too bad the CCP's destroying it.

Actually what really destroyed China was the monarchy.

Oh yeah, and I would go back in time and assassinate myself just to see what would happen.

"As if by magic, the Shopkeeper appeared..."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/275000/images/_278329_mr_benn300.jpg

I want to be a knight because I really liked that episode of Mr Benn!

I would help the Neanderthals survive. I would build a ship and move them to the Chesapeake Bay region of North America. I would teach them how to fish for Blue Crab & oysters and to make beer. We would have a lot of fun. When the Euro-sapiens finally arrive, we'd kick their asses.

I would go back in time to tell the medival peasents to rebel aganst their leige lords! Or stop FDR from being elected.

what do you have against FDR?

When the Euro-sapiens finally arrive, we'd kick their asses.

How?

what do you have against FDR?

FDR actually spent a bit of money in a effort to get the United States out of the Great Depression. This labels him as a commie-pinko, worthy of scorn by any decent conservative. Never mind the fact that the conservatives had already seen 3 years of the depression and had done nothing to solve matters.

How?

AK-47's. I forgot to mention that the Neanderthals would invent the assault rifle in 640 B.C.

What would you be? I after to say after seeing 300 again, I would be a Spartan. Those guys were awesome.

Back to the creation of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. then skip ahead to Jefferson's presidental term to take a nice loong look (and make a copy) of his letter that mentions "Seperation of Church and State" and let our founding fathers know on their deathbeds the state of their nation that they helped craft.

While it might be fun to observe pre-industrial history, I don't think I'd do well in an era before vaccinations, antibiotics, central heating, aspirin, refrigeration, dishwashers, washers and dryers, self-cleaning ovens, computers, hot and cold running water and flush toilets. As bad is it may be, I'll stay put.

I would go back and give the aborigines tanks and guns and tell them to shoot whatever comes next.

Actually what really destroyed China was the monarchy.

Oh yeah, and I would go back in time and assassinate myself just to see what would happen.

The question is, would you be able to see what happened?:eek:

I want to go back to the early Roman Empire and have enough power to make life very easy for me, but not enough to attract the attention of those in power. Very delicate balance, but it would make for a good life.

I really want to see Weimar (though perhaps not for long) and the general climate of the Twenties. I also really want to see pre-WWI Germany.

Pity is that if I go late enough to see both, I'd probably end up in the trenches, which would be no fun at all.

You might want to rethink that. The reason the Spartans were such good fighters is that their entire lives were like boot camp.

And if you weren't up to scratch they left you to die. Sounds like Soviestan's going to have a good time.

I'd go back to last Friday and tell the guys fitting my new central heating that the part of the system that lay beneath the concrete floor in the kitchen was using ancient lead pipes, and that the hot water pressure delivered by the new boiler was likely to rip them apart and cause quite a mess *nod*

I like my modern comforts a little too much to want to go back much farther, although it would be fun to go through my late teens and my twenties again, knowing everything that I do now :p

Oh, and I'd have liked to have watched Jimi Hendrix play.

Actually, there's just so much once you start thinking about it. ;)

I would help the Neanderthals survive. I would build a ship and move them to the Chesapeake Bay region of North America. I would teach them how to fish for Blue Crab & oysters and to make beer. We would have a lot of fun. When the Euro-sapiens finally arrive, we'd kick their asses.

I thought the neanderthals DID survive in North America
:)

scratch that... go back and by Stocks in Microsoft during their IPO.

I would join these guys (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chouan).

I know what I would do - go back in time with the intention to change history.

Target period: 67 CE.
Target location: Jerusalem.

What I bring with me: Scrolls containing instructions to make explosives, rockets, aircraft, guns, radios, ironclads, and other modern war machines using materials available to that time and place. I would also bring detailed histories of that period. Prior to this trip, I would take courses in Latin, Greek, and Aramaic, until I became fluent in all three. I'd also spend at least 6 months living Orthodox style, so I don't get executed while living in ancient times.

My objective: Take command of the Jewish Zealots, and make the '67 revolt a success. Here is how I would do this:

Arrive. Convince Zealots that G-d has sent me from the future to change history. Explain that unless I can take command, the revolt will fail.

Once I am in command, I will institute a major buildup of advanced weaponry. If I can produce guns, I will make firearms the basic weapon of the Jews. If not, I will make bows the primary Jewish weapon, and focus efforts on building rockets and explosives.

In all likelihood, I will not be able to prevent the fall of Jerusalem. I will tell my followers that Jerusalem cannot be held, and it was not held, so declaring that G-d will save us won't help. Instead, I will order the total evacuation of the city. I will hire the finest carpenters to construct carts for the purpose of transporting holy items. When the Romans arrive, Jerusalem will be a ghost town. My forces will have relocated to Masada, which shall be the 1st-century equivalent of Fort Knox in terms of defenses.

I will wage desert warfare against Rome for the next few years, while I build up a supply of modern weapons. I will order Vespasian, and any other competent Roman general or candidate for Emperor, to be assassinated, to keep the Empire in civil war.

Finally, my army will emerge from the desert. I will employ blitzkrieg as an overall strategy, with major offensives timed to coincide with major Roman festivals that involve getting drunk. When faced with an organized Roman formation, I will use rockets and grenades to shatter it, then mow down the survivors with assault rifles.

Once most of Judea is under my rule, I will contact an appropriate Roman leader, offering my support in return for Judean independence. Any leader that refuses shall be immediately assassinated. Eventually, someone will say yes, and I win.

First, I'd make a quick stop in the future and pick up one of these:

http://www.rpgfan.com/pics/rifts/art-002.jpg

Then, I'd go back to October 12, 1492 on a small island in the Caribbean and when I saw sails....

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! :D

That'll probably buy them another century. :)

"As if by magic, the Shopkeeper appeared..."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/275000/images/_278329_mr_benn300.jpg

I want to be a knight because I really liked that episode of Mr Benn!

Oh, dear! Someone else remembers Mr Benn! :)

Too late, beat you to it! *laughs and rolls around in single dollar bills* :p

dammit where's a timewarp when you need it....

Well if i was going to "be" someone, I'd probably pick Egyptian Pharoah, who wouldn't want to be worshipped as a living god?

And if it is just regular like back in time, I'd go back to October 2004 and bet every penny I can scrounge up on the Boston Red Sox. Never have to work another day.

(*And make sure I got tickets to ALCS Game 4 of course.)

I'd go back to my fifth grade year, tell myself what not to do, go back to my seventh grade year and do the same.

I would take huge amounts of blueprints, several scientists and researchers as well as a small research complex full of supercomputers to the U.S.A. in 1936, instigate a coup of the government, turn it into a dictatorship, and from there utilize my advanced technology to conquer the world. :D

The 1977 Led Zeppelin tour of America. I'd follow them to every city...

That'll probably buy them another century. :)
Provided that they aren't all completely wiped out by the menagerie of viruses, bacteria and other nasties that you bring along with you . . .

I'd be a wealthy member of the Victorian aristocracy. It would be awesome, I could mope about my country manor all day, muttering about "those damn revolutionary communists" and "those damn obstructionist Tories." Every night I'd go through another bottle of absinthe, and every afternoon I'd meet with my peers at the local coffee shop to see who had the most complicated psychological and sexual issues. If I ever got bored with that, I could right a long, rambling novel about the adventures of a man caught in a world of hidden danger, mysterious intrigue, Asiatic magic and heaving bosoms.
Oh, and laughing at peasants. I mustn't forget riding out in the carriage to laugh at the peasants.

I'd go back in time to Saturday afternoon, and buy the winning Powerball ticket (the jackpot was approximately $82 million). After the penalty for taking the amount in a lump sum (the award is half that of the award payed out via annuity, so $41 million), and the taxes (for that amount, I figure at least 40%), that still leaves me with $24.6 million dollars. That'd be enough for me to pay off my parents mortgage, set up college funds for my nieces and nephew, and take care of my two sisters miscellaneous bills. The millions of dollars left over will be put to good use in buying the old farm my grandparents used to own in South Dakota, building my ultimate house (with movie studio, indoor pool, etc), maybe starting a business idea I had (and developed further, with the help of my roommate), and anything else I can think of (within reason, of course).

*snippity snip snip, but amusing*

I thought you would go back in time to make sure that embarrasing video of you wailing and carrying on piteously doesn't make it onto youtube. Right Chris? :p

Either back to be a Viking or further back to be a hunter-gatherer during the last Ice Age.

I thought you would go back in time to make sure that embarrasing video of you wailing and carrying on piteously doesn't make it onto youtube. Right Chris? :p
Everybody know that that was Ruffy and he only leveled the accusation against me as a way of hiding his own identity through projection.

Everybody know that that was Ruffy and he only leveled the accusation against me as a way of hiding his own identity through projection.

Oh we know it was Ruffy doing the leveling alright.

But who are we to trust?

A man with a few random letters and some Roman Numerals(we know how that empire ended) at the end of his strangely...promiscuous name?

Or a man with the article 'IL' before his name, and the slightly Italian zing of the 'o' at the end of 'Ruffino'?

I believe this choice is no choice at all.

Oh we know it was Ruffy doing the leveling alright.

But who are we to trust?

A man with a few random letters and some Roman Numerals(we know how that empire ended) at the end of his strangely...promiscuous name?

Or a man with the article 'IL' before his name, and the slightly Italian zing of the 'o' at the end of 'Ruffino'?

I believe this choice is no choice at all.
Funny that you should mention names. Let's look at that "IL Ruffino." Now, what should be obvious to anyone with even a cursory knowledge of Italian? That's right, it is a female article before a masculine noun. Female and male. Simultaneously.
Sound like someone else we know?
IL Ruffino is the Chris-thing, not me. His lies may be prevalent, but they cannot overcome the truth.

Funny that you should mention names. Let's look at that "IL Ruffino." Now, what should be obvious to anyone with even a cursory knowledge of Italian? That's right, it is a female article before a masculine noun. Female and male. Simultaneously.
Sound like someone else we know?
IL Ruffino is the Chris-thing, not me. His lies may be prevalent, but they cannot overcome the truth.

IL is not a female article.

I would probably go back during the time of Nero and take his ass out. Then with my superior technological advantages I would try and rule the Roman Empire. After that I would attempt to jump start the industrial revolution in Rome with the wisdom of the future.

Date: 3.5 bya. Equipment: One hundred kilos of anti-hydrogen. So long, life on Earth. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Heh, I've been planning this one for a while.

Assuming I get to move around in space, not just time (as many of you seem to be doing ;) ) I'll go to Germany post WWII during the hyper-inflation period. Sell something, anything, and get billions upon billions of whatever that currency was (I forget). Then I would travel back in time to the point before the hyper-inflation, and exchange all of that money for US dollars. Once back in America, I'd set up a high interest rate account in a bank that I know won't collapse during the Great Depression, set to be re-opened, say, in December of 2007. Then I'd come back to the present. I'd become the richest person on the planet, no doubt about it.

I have three preferences. I could fight alongside Harold II at the Battle of Hastings in order to prevent the installation of centralism under William the Bastard. I could fight in the American Revolution and be an anti-Federalist after the war in an effort from keeping the Constitution from being ratified. Or I could join the Confederacy and fight under the principles of Lord Acton.

I have three preferences. I could fight alongside Harold II at the Battle of Hastings in order to prevent the installation of centralism under William the Bastard. I could fight in the American Revolution and be an anti-Federalist after the war in an effort from keeping the Constitution from being ratified. Or I could join the Confederacy and fight under the principles of Lord Acton.

In other words, you'd continuously join the wrong side of history. Nice to know you understand your place.

In other words, you'd continuously join the wrong side of history. Nice to know you understand your place.

1.) Why would you go back in time to make sure that the same thing happened as before? Hardly anyone would say "I would go back in time to make sure King John signed the Magna Carta." The very nature of time-travelling is speculative, and to try and make political hay out of it is rather pathetic.

2.) Just because it happened in history doesn't make it morally valid. Plenty of horrific things have happened in the past; by your logic going back to stop the artificial famines of Stalin would make one on the 'wrong side of history.' Again, rather pitiful on your part.

1.) Why would you go back in time to make sure that the same thing happened as before? Hardly anyone would say "I would go back in time to make sure King John signed the Magna Carta." The very nature of time-travelling is speculative, and to try and make political hay out of it is rather pathetic.
True. That's why it's more fun to join the side of history that originally won and change things up, like turning the U.S.A. into a fascist state and conquering the world.

2.) Just because it happened in history doesn't make it morally valid. Plenty of horrific things have happened in the past; by your logic going back to stop the artificial famines of Stalin would make one on the 'wrong side of history.' Again, rather pitiful on your part.
Actually, given that such famines were directly responsible in many ways for the current decent state of the world, I would stop someone from attempting that unless they were trying to do it in a way that would not negatively affect something down the line that we would need for our world to be as it is today. History is a tapestry of threads interconnected in numerous ways...pull on one and you can unravel the entire thing.

But mainly my post was a joke at your expense about your insistence on the Constitution being somehow wrong and that no one would ever listen to you. I'm sorry...it was unfair.

I would kick the dinosaurs square in the nuts.

I would use Wikipedia to come up with a list of historical figures to assassinate.

I would avoid the more famous Hitler/Stalin/etc as assassinating them would be both hard and cause public uproar. There would be a point to my assassinations, and the public uproar would be too unpredictable for my goals. I would be assassinating people that made subtler changes to history, and would be completely unknown if it weren't for that one change they made.

True. That's why it's more fun to join the side of history that originally won and change things up, like turning the U.S.A. into a fascist state and conquering the world.
How is that changing anything up?
OH SNAP.

-for my part, it depends on whether it's a one-way trip, a two-way trip, or if I have the power to move at will through time. If it's the first, I guess I'd just go back a short distance (a few months, perhaps, to when the Powerball was around 200 million) and set myself up for life.

If it's a two-way ticket, I'd go back with the knowledge I have now and have a long talk with my younger self. Hopefully going forward in time would then put me in the place of the self I became based on the knowledge I gave my younger self. I'd also set myself up financially. >_>

If I could move through time at will...then I would go back to all of the points in history I want to see with my own eyes. I'd have a hand in all of those major historical events that are important to me. I'd live out the fantasies of lives in other times, one by one, and then I would unite the various countries of the world into a single, global Empire.

I would go back to the late 4th century A.D., usurp the Roman Emperor Theodosius and prevent the Roman Empire from splitting in two and prevent Christianity from becoming the state religion (I would tolerate though.) I would introduce primitve firearms to ensure Roman military superiorirty, reform tax administration, and grant greater atonomy for non-Greco Roman places like Judea and Britain. I don't know how well my ideas would keep Barbarians out, but i think it would be worth a try to ward off the onset of the Dark Ages. With a strong secular Roman state lasting into say... Renaissance times (not a joke of a country like the Byzantines were after the 10th century), problems like Vikings, the Crusandes, and feudalism could be very effectivley dealt with. Of course, then there would be no need for a Renaissance, I suppose...

if i could only go to someplace backwards in time, i'd be right about 30 miles up the hill geographicly from where i am right now, about five thousand years ago.

or at least long enough before the eastern hemisphere 'discouvered' us for even my grand children to have lived full and happy lives before the coming of that disaster.

=^^=
.../\...

Provided that they aren't all completely wiped out by the menagerie of viruses, bacteria and other nasties that you bring along with you . . .

Not much to be done about that. The Glitterboy IS a full environmentally sealed battle suit, but I suspect A few errant germs might give the locals an early dose of yuckies. Maybe that'll actually help in the long run. Sooner or later, they WILL get exposed to those filthy germy Europeans, but maybe 100 years later, they'll get 'discovered' by someone who isn't a thorough sleazebag. *nod*

I'd be a wealthy member of the Victorian aristocracy. It would be awesome, I could mope about my country manor all day, muttering about "those damn revolutionary communists" and "those damn obstructionist Tories." Every night I'd go through another bottle of absinthe, and every afternoon I'd meet with my peers at the local coffee shop to see who had the most complicated psychological and sexual issues. If I ever got bored with that, I could right a long, rambling novel about the adventures of a man caught in a world of hidden danger, mysterious intrigue, Asiatic magic and heaving bosoms.
Oh, and laughing at peasants. I mustn't forget riding out in the carriage to laugh at the peasants.

It's nice to have a plan. :)

I'd go back in time to stop this thread from happening.

I'd relief myself in the premordial soup.

Sooner or later, they WILL get exposed to those filthy germy Europeans, but maybe 100 years later, they'll get 'discovered' by someone who isn't a thorough sleazebag. *nod*

Goofbacoatl: The Aztec God of Vaccination.

Knotthole Glade;13210432']In similar tone, a viking.Those guys were awesomer.
Assuming from the question that I can choose what to be(??), I might be a Varangian Guardsman.Booze,fame,women,gold flowing from the Emperor's treasury, the thrill of fights and the ability to win them...yup,I want that.Fuck Yeah! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3ZhkLUcKT8)

<The flash of light you did not see did not erase your memories>


move along people, nothing to see here /Barbrady


I'd go back and finally get me some velociraptor pets :) They just look so cuddly ;)

I'd just go back a few million years and squash some butterflies.

I'd just go back a few million years and squash some butterflies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPN5wctZbl8

:)

First, I'd make a quick stop in the future and pick up one of these:

Then, I'd go back to October 12, 1492 on a small island in the Caribbean and when I saw sails....

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

That'll probably buy them another century.

I doubt that would have happened. All that would have happened is that England would have taken control, especially given their North Atlantic interests at the time and the fact that the first person since Viking times to land on the American Continent was none other than John Cabot. The best thing about the BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! is that the American continent would have almost certainly been English held (and subsequently British held) and that the British Empire would have been massive.

Here are some of the things I would have done:

Go back to 1850s Britain and convince the British Government to ally with the Taiping rebels and colonise the Empire of China with one of my ancestors as Governor. The British with their superior technology and ability to hold onto large nations (i.e. India) would have beaten the Chinese Empire.

Go back to 1953 and convince the New Zealand Government to go ahead with the Halcrow-Thomas report. It be very interesting to see what would have happened with all the extra rail lines in Auckland, although what would suck is that we would have DC trains instead of the AC that we will be getting in the next few years.

Go back to 1933 and convince employees at the US Mint to sell me some of the 1933 Double Eagles. I would ensure that it is all done legitimately and then come to today and sell them slowly - at $8 million a piece, it would provide me with a few years of income in one hit.

True. That's why it's more fun to join the side of history that originally won and change things up, like turning the U.S.A. into a fascist state and conquering the world.

I would say there is more possibility of changing the world for the better through helping the side that lost. Institutions tend to behave the same way over time, so it is better to go to other institutions than try to fix faulty ones.

Actually, given that such famines were directly responsible in many ways for the current decent state of the world, I would stop someone from attempting that unless they were trying to do it in a way that would not negatively affect something down the line that we would need for our world to be as it is today. History is a tapestry of threads interconnected in numerous ways...pull on one and you can unravel the entire thing.

If something happens it tends to leave a precedent; for example, if I stopped Stalin from starving out the Ukrainians, then it would set a precedent for other rulers to avoid doing the same to Ukrainians, and a smaller precedent for them not to kill other people. It's kind of like law.

But mainly my post was a joke at your expense about your insistence on the Constitution being somehow wrong and that no one would ever listen to you. I'm sorry...it was unfair.

If it was a joke it might have helped to put a smilie or the like to indicate so. Tones are not easy to hear over the internet, as you might well know.

What would you be? I after to say after seeing 300 again, I would be a Spartan. Those guys were awesome.

300, um, yeah. That's like traveling back in time to watch Alexander again.



Anyway, for me, I'd hit the Napoleonic-period.

I'd go back in time and have sex with Jesus.

No! Better idea! I'd go back in time to about 9 months before this Jesus fellow was born, track down a certain woman named Mary, and do my very best to have sex with her.

:D

No! Better idea! I'd go back in time to about 9 months before this Jesus fellow was born, track down a certain woman named Mary, and do my very best to have sex with her.

:D

What if you already have?

What if you already have?Honestly, I'd like to think so.

I would go a bit into the future and buy a really advanced technology. Something that wouldn't bankrupt me. Then I would go back to about now and copyright the new, fancy object(s). It would sell for a huge price, and I could simply repeat the method over again. :D

I would go back and shoot Muhammed and take his place. I would have to have a copy of the Koran so I could fake it. And then before I am "taken to heaven" I would give a return date. Then fast forward to now and take possession of my oil fields:D

I'd go back in time to stop this thread from happening.

I'd go back in time to stop you from happening. :p

/only kidding]

I would go back in time to around 300 b.c. with a books & laptop containing all the necessary information to build a modern society then I would conquer the world.

I would say there is more possibility of changing the world for the better through helping the side that lost. Institutions tend to behave the same way over time, so it is better to go to other institutions than try to fix faulty ones.
Eh, depends on how you do it and why you do it. For example, as much as I joke about conquering the world, I'd never go back and help Hitler win.

On a side note, what I'd actually do is go back to when Hitler was a kid and help him with counseling so he controls his anger issues, as well as encourage his painting. Then return to now to see whether Hitler went from being considered one of the most evil men of the twentieth century to being a superb Austrian artist.

See, people, you can stop Hitler WITHOUT killing him! :D

If something happens it tends to leave a precedent; for example, if I stopped Stalin from starving out the Ukrainians, then it would set a precedent for other rulers to avoid doing the same to Ukrainians, and a smaller precedent for them not to kill other people. It's kind of like law.

Hmm...I suppose but...well, I'll give you this one since I can't think of a decent counterargument.


If it was a joke it might have helped to put a smilie or the like to indicate so. Tones are not easy to hear over the internet, as you might well know.
Indeed.

Step 1: Find/Invent Time Machine

Step 2: Take extensive courses in Russian Culture and History in College, focusing particularly from 1917 on. Study up on military strategy alot. Convince my five best friends too do the same.

Step 3: Once we are out of college. Purchase some AK-47 Assualt Rifles(fully auto) and their ammunition.

Step 4: Reveal too the group my plan...

Step 5: Go back too October 1917, the night of the storming of the Saint Petersburg Palace, iniside the Palace, specifically the room where the Interim Russian Government was meeting that night.

Step 6: Upon arrival in the room, we will shoot any guards we see, take the Interim Government hostage, and seal off the room until the Bolsheviks arrive.

Step 7: When they do arrive, I present too them the Interim Government and tell them that we have come too help the Revolution.

Step 8: Assuming we impress Lenin, we will probably be given Military commands during the Russian Civil War. This is where our studying of military tactics will come in handy. We should become military successes during the war.

Step 9: When the war is over and the government position are being divied up, I will lobby too take the position of General Secretary over Stalin.

Step 10: Once in that position, I will appoint my aforementioned friends into position of power and manipulate the government into my and my friends own personal dictatorship.

Step 11: Once in control of the USSR, stamp out all opposition too my friends rule and begin a massive industrialisation of the Soviet Union, mostly concentrated behind the Leningrad/Moscow/Gregograd(named after mwa) line, even more mostly concentrated in the mountains.

Step 12: Assuming everything goes according too plan, by 1936, the USSR should be a industrialised power, after that... MILITARY BUILDUP AHOY! Massive build up of the Red Army along the line of fully motorised and mechanised forces with the proper doctrine too boot. In addition, start an atomic weapons program.

Step 13: Things should be getting pretty obvious from here on out.

Step 13: Things should be getting pretty obvious from here on out.

With the exception of the atomic program, it's the same thing Stalin did.

Ideally?

http://www.maryprattparker.com/images/paintings/moses.jpg


:D

Having read Red Tide2's post, I would do the following as well:

Go back to 1917 Britain and convince David Lloyd George and King George V about how imperative it is that the Russian Royal Family is allowed to reside in Britain in exile. Alternately, I would ensure that the Russian Revolution does not occur by doing the following:

I would go back to 1915 Britain. I would ensure that Kitchener dies in an accident and that Sir Ian Hamilton also dies in an accident (a car crash may be convienient). I would then proceed to advise Churchill that it will take not only a navy, but an army to proceed with the conquest of the Dardanelles and that it would be ideal if they both attacked at the same time and took the Turks by surprise. Instead of having the troops land at the tip of the Gallipoli peninsula, I would ensure that they are landed further up the coast at Suvla Bay. I would also make sure that the plans were kept well secret, unlike what happened in real life.

With the Turks stunned and amazed, the Gallipoli Peninsula would have fallen within days; since incompetents would not (hopefully) be leading the expedition, the troops would then proceed to Constantinople, knock the Turks out of the war and open up the Dardanelles to Russian shipping. I would proceed to start something similar to Lend-Lease between the British and the Russians and the war would probably end much sooner, with the Russian monarchy intact. The Treaty of Versailles would not be so harsh and an Austrian painter would more than likely carry on painting.

I'd go back to this morning and sleep in.

I would kick the dinosaurs square in the nuts.

oh boy, that made me laugh

First Project:

First Stage: Learn how to reliably produce gunpowder and produce modern-grade steel, plus the basic mechanics to design a low maintenance, basic firearm that is easy to maintain in battle conditions with limited facilities. Something akin to the Kalash, but further simplified and with a lower rate of fire, perhaps around 250 to 350 rounds/min

Second State: Gather together information on the current state of the world, i.e. maps, policy documents, military information, and some samples of modern day technology, and some basic first aid medical materials, along with gold rands and mango seeds.

Third Stage: Travel to 550bc, Sais, Egypt.

Fourth Stage: Get viciously beaten up as a foreigner and probably slung into prison as a spy, then beaten some more. Ouch.

Fifth Stage: Offer some history of the events of the time as intelligence, along with some of the gold to convince the captors that I am an ambassador from a from a new, distant nation (somewhere in Europe) who wishes to make an alliance with the Egyptians. Use this to meet with Pharaoh Amasis II.

Sixth Stage: Show and offer the examples of modern technology to explain the true story. Explain I am not an ambassador of any nation. Show the history of events and what's going to happen, and that I can offer a solution, but have to be trusted and listened to, and given the use of resources for ends that may seem unclear.

Seventh Stage: Have Phanes of Halikarnassos and his troops taken in the desert on a training exercise with an Egyptian force. When they arrive the Egyptian detachment will kill all of them. Mercenary and Egyptian military operate separately from this point to prevent any technology being smuggled out to the Persians. As far as the Greeks are concerned, the mercenaries became disorientated in the desert and were lost, and never met up with the Egyptian forces.

Eighth Stage: Get workers. Send them to mine iron in large quantities, and another group to collect the ingredients for gunpowder, and third to obtain glass. Whilst they are doing this I'd train a forth batch in steel production. When the other returned they will make the steel whilst the original groups will be trained to build the basic gun design, in mixing gunpowder and making ammunition cartridges.

Ninth Stage: The very first gun and magazine produced I would take back to Pharaoh to defend my point that the trust is warranted, and to persuade him to equip the Egyptian, but not foreign, troops with the weapons.

Tenth Stage: Meet with military commanders and draw up new tactics and training methods for taking full advantage of the new weapons advantages and avoid weak spots.

Eleventh Stage: Spend the next 20 years perfect the mass manufacture and use of these weapons and simple explosives. Experiment with basic grenades and explosive shells. Drill the army and field test the new weapons and tactics against weaker enemies in Libya and Nubia.

Twelfth Stage: 520BC - Persuade Pharaoh to make Psamtik, his son, co-regent now, since Amasis will die in five years, and his son needs to gain experience. Once this is done invade the Levant region, whilst the Persians are not at full strength and are unprepared. Use element of surprise and superior weaponry to push the Persians back and establish a buffer zone. Scorch the earth of one city that had sided with Persians to demonstrate Egyptian power and encourage others to remain in alliance rather than risk similar penalties.

Thirteenth Stage: Conclude treaty with the Persians drawing agreed boundary of influence, persuading both sides at a joint meeting by using history to see that both powers futures depend on the agreement being honoured. Persuade Pharaoh to some more basic weapons to the Persians that cannot be reverse engineerd using the methods of the period as a gesture of goodwill and sweetener for Persians to accept the deal.

Fourteenth Stage: With a lot of luck, I will sit back and watch Pharaoh Psamtik III have a long reign and the dynasty and empire of the Horus Throne will live to fight another day. I retire to a small house with a farm on the edge of the city and with a few workers will introduce the mango to Ancient Egyptian agriculture. In time I reflect on how the future will explain how the Egyptians developed mass steel making, took iron work seriously, invented gunpowder, the firearm, the automatic rifle, explosives, and introduced tropical fruit into the Nile valley, all within 25 years :-)

Or, Second Project:

Just go back to the time of Amosis I and sign up for the army, and fight for him. Simple and worthwhile... Better to live a year that way than twenty watching "Trisha". If I made it through, then sit back and watch the Golden Empire flourish, whilst having said farm and mango project mentioned above.

not that I watch "Trisha", just so ya know!!! :eek:

I'd opt for the position of an upper-middle class Roman citizen, preferably in modern Provence or Tuscany.

I'd go back and register the domain www.4chan.org.

I would go back to the autumn of 1994 and not make the same mistakes I did then, and the ones thereafter. Unless going back to ourselves and re-living isn't an option -- in that case, I guess I'd like to have been around for the height of the Jazz Age. 1920s-40s.

What would you be? I after to say after seeing 300 again, I would be a Spartan. Those guys were awesome.Those guys were fanatical loonies. They ate crappy food (Spartan food was infamous) couldn't live with their wives, set their sons up to more than likely die before puberty unless they were tough enough to be in the Spartan warrior cult. You slept in the barracks and everyone was expected to were pretty much the same thing, eat the same thing and act the same way. Saudi Arabia is a free and progressive state by comparison to Spartan totalitarianism. Money basically not allowed. Slaves and women did everything but the fighting. This meant the men were generally uneducated idiots whose only skill was killing. I find the Spartans fascinating, but not admirable.

Back to the creation of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. then skip ahead to Jefferson's presidental term to take a nice loong look (and make a copy) of his letter that mentions "Seperation of Church and State" and let our founding fathers know on their deathbeds the state of their nation that they helped craft.

I may do something similar and bring the Treaty of Tripoli up to help reinforce the Establishment Clause, just so there's no confusion. :)

What would you be?

Confused.

I'd go back to the Renaissance and help Michelangelo with his art, da Vinci with his many disciplines and Newton with his science. It would be interesting to see how Adam Smith devises his economic principles, as well as assisting Hammurabi with his laws and watching Caesar conquering much of Europe.

Mongol Empire.

Battle of Isandlwana

Because there was a bunch of soldiers, long after the rest of the regiment had been defeated, held out until their ammunition ran out. Once this had happened, they fixed bayonets, their officers drew swords and they all charged.

Fucking awesome way to go.

I'd punch De Gualle in the face when he denied the European Defence Alliance and get everyone else to agree to do it anyway, so that NATO wouldn't be so bloody large, and Europe more of a world player.

Also, since I'd be around in 1954, I'd go and give some handy hints to Westminster about a) The Dangers of circa 1973 in terms of oil, so they can prep for 20 years, and b) The Dangers Of Thatcher, so she never gets elected.

and b) The Dangers Of Thatcher, so she never gets elected.

Fuck yeah!

Funny that you should mention names. Let's look at that "IL Ruffino." Now, what should be obvious to anyone with even a cursory knowledge of Italian? That's right, it is a female article before a masculine noun. Female and male. Simultaneously.
Sound like someone else we know?
IL Ruffino is the Chris-thing, not me. His lies may be prevalent, but they cannot overcome the truth.

YouTube called, they want you do make a new video.

I'd try to convince FDR & Churchill to declare war on the Soviet Union when it became obvious that he was not even attempting to follow even the spirit of their agreements at the end of WWII