Guard Dog

SE IV & V were pretty good. The AI not so much but it was a pretty decent experience. Master of Orion 2 was my favorite before Stellaris. The new MOO doesn't do it for me.

I agree with your first point. CK3's biggest flaw is that playing the King of a high Medieval Christian kingdom or a tribal chieftain in the Gobi desert has a pretty similar feel. About 80% the exact same experience. But the DLCs are helping a little at a time. The Lords of the North and Fate of Iberia makes playing Scandinavian or Spanish/Catlan/Basque/Moor etc a more unique experience. I hope they keep going with that. This was also my biggest complaint with Imperator Rome. Culturally all of these different civilizations were very different but in the vanilla game they were all "Roman". The DLCs started addressing that before they pulled the plug on it. That's just how Paradox works. They sell you the auto frame and body when you buy the game. If you want the engine, drive train, wheels, and tires you need to buy the DLCs. IMO Stellaris is the bext 4X space game ever. Take away the DLCs and it just sucks.

Never! HOMM III was the high water mark of that franchise! It's been a decline into uninteresting vanilla mush after that.

Speaking on HOMM this looks promising. Songs of Conquest Turn Based Strategy It has a "Heroes of Might and Magic" thing going on before it turned sh--ty. Basically starting with IV. I have taken a rare break from work for a little CK3. Playing an Irish petty king for the first time since the tutorial. I was having a pretty good go of it until a distant cousin with claims to all my titles through our great-great-grandparents got herself married off to some jerk who somehow ended up crowned the King of England. Well, as the English are want to do, they sent a bunch of guys with weapons in and took everything over and put me in jail. After a few years I went from being the King of over half of Ireland to an Earl of one miserable county. And the last of my family line to make things worse. Time to find that guy a wife and IDGAF who it is as long as she is young and can have kids. It's not over yet but it ain't looking good.

Exactly correct. But not just Harris. Feinstein, Schumer, Leahey, Beta O'Rourke, Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel, Howard Metzenbaum, John Chafee, Bobby Rush, John Paul Stevens, and yes, kindly old grandpa himself Joe Biden, have all publicly stated support for prohibition and (forced) confiscation. Now, granted, none of them ever tried to actually DO that. And like you have correctly said they can't. But when people tell you outright who they are and what they want then you should believe them. And those names are just off the top of my head. Give a little google time and I can come up with a lot more. When the countering argument is prohibition and confiscation, incremental of course, where is there space to compromise? The argument is in bad faith from the beginning. Each "reasonable restriction" leads to another and another and another until you DO get to prohibition. Remember in the Heller case the Washington DC position was "thou shalt not have firearms in thy home... period". THAT is not reasonable. Hey I am all for reasonable restrictions on types, actions, calibers even, and magazine size if those restrictions are targeted and intelligent and would actually accomplish something. Not a nebulous and catch-all vaguery of terms that have no real definition like "assault weapon bans". EVERY gun is a f---g assault weapon in the hands of someone bent on doing harm. These laws are not written to do any good, just as segue into something more draconian "well we tried banning assault weapons and it didn't help so no we are going to ban X". That is how you boil the frog. The first step should be taken by the pro-gun control crowd. They want to change the status quo then offer the first olive branch. Come out publicly and repeatedly stating that they agree the 2nd Amendment does in fact enshrine an individual and incorporated right and that prohibition is unreasonable AND undesirable. There can be agreement on certain restrictions and background checks. Another olive branch would be to "grandfather in" any legally owned firearms at the time any such laws that might affect them is enacted. Many gun owners EXPECT the government to kick down their door, shoot all their pets and beat the holy f--k out of their families while confiscating every firearm in sight. They think that because numerous politicians have said that is what they want (not in those exact terms obviously). Take that fear off the table and you'll get enough people to meet you in the middle to actually accomplish something. The scenario I just described (the kicking down the door part) will never happen as long as the Constitution stays as it is. It's not a reasonable fear to have. But it is a VERY prevalent one that many people have. And the anti-gun democrats fan those flames literally every time they open their mouths. If that doesn't stop nothing will change. You are a trained negotiator as part of your chosen profession. Would you agree someone has to compromise and it usually should be the party asking for the status quo to change.

We watched the first two episodes of Obi-Wan last night. I was pleasantly surprised. It's pretty good I haven't watched any of the other shows and don't care at all about the cartoons so my only frame of reference is the last three movies. Especially after the last one I was expecting a burning manure pile fire. It was well done. Slow burn lead in with a hook that makes sense and breaks none of the rules of the story. I'm actually looking forward to keeping up. Going to check out the other two shows this weekend.

One Teacher’s Brilliant Strategy to Stop Future School Shootings—and It’s Not About Guns This seems like a great idea.

Spanish diver rescues whale who was trapped in an illegal fishing net Asi se hace!

The results of the world’s largest study on kindness are in. Here’s what we learned It's probably good to remember that only the worst things are reported as news.

Music At Reopened Kyiv Opera Replaces Noise Of Russian Artillery As great at this is, while Putin is alive and Russia is doing the kind of f---d up s--t that they are doing I am not sure gathering a lot of people in one building in Kyiv is a good idea. That is what Putin would call a target.

New ultrathin “honeycomb” solar panels achieve record efficiency If a ever buy another house (sort of a sore subject right now) I am definitely building another solar power system. It made a big difference in my utility bills

There’s no medicine like a dog’: Ex-soldier who trains shelter dogs to become veterans’ companions to be honored on Memorial Day

Actually if I'm picking the where as well as the when I'd prefer the antebellum American West before the Union Pacific and manifest destiny screwed it all up. I'd rather avoid the United States of that time altogether. Of course that is a purely romanticized notion. Not one person of that time would not happily trade places with me because life was both hard and short. But as a man who enjoys trips to national parks I think you could see the appeal of seeing North America before the westward expansion. Plus there is an appeal to the idea of a simple life constrained only by physical needs with ample resources to meet those needs if you're smart about it. Just don't get sick. Or injured. Or elderly. Or on the bad side of whatever Indians happen to be around. Or whatever wildlife is around.

What can I say, I was born 182 years too late.

Doesn't bother me in the slightest. Drink, screw escorts, go to church, read comic books, whatever makes them happy. Leave me and mine alone. don't try to take my f----g money, stuff, etc and don't be too horribly incompetent and stupid us into a war or cause a fuel crisis, currency collapse, or something. That's all I want from my government and I am certain I will die disappointed.

That will just end with there being more governments not worthy of your affection. Albeit each with slightly less ability to do great harm.

Finished Picard Season 2 last night. It was pretty good. Some things annoyed me. 2024 was a bit more advanced than it will be. 2024 Guinan showed no reaction to the mention of the Borg which was off. But I thought the actress who played her. besides being smoking hot, did a great job capturing the character. Plus all the other annoyances of time travel plots. Don't get me started. And didn't Picard have a brother? Where the hell was he during all the childhood flashbacks? And WTF happened to Picard's dog? Never saw him again. You know what? I don't think I liked it at all!

In other news: Canadian national security task force is preparing for the collapse of the United States As if taking a queue from it's far northern trade partner Mexican President Obrador was head musing aloud than maybe paying to finish that border wall isn't such a bad idea!

It's a good thing no one has rights to unrestricted access to unlimited firearms then. Not even here. Chicago has the highest gun death rate in the USA and has the most restrictive laws.

I spent 20+ years stockpiling/hoarding ammo because of this loophole. They cannot outright ban it but they CAN limit availability and tax the living hell out of it. But I have far more than can ever use so feasibly I'll never need to buy it again! Except black powder/muzzleloader stuff. But that is not likely to ever be a target.

To tell you the truth Bruce I don't really care anymore. If such a law were ever to pass I wouldn't obey it. If the knock on the door ever comes I will use them before handing them over. And all of that is just me writing a check I know I will never have to cash. It will never happen. Even though I would be 100% willing to die in a blaze of glory I can say that knowing it will never happen. I'm much more likely to die falling off a horse. Even if gun bans ever did happen they would not be broad in scope. It will be something like "assault weapon" (whatever the hell that means) bans. Not going to affect anything I own. So it's a non issue. I only have two with me right now anyway. One is my carry pistol which I never carry because my CC permit does not travel in any state I'm going to be in. The other is my muzzle loader Diablo scattergun with two .72 oval slugs loaded. And that is just for home defense. G has a .20 ga pump as well. I used to think political s--t was so important but I just don't care much about it anymore.