Bartimaeus

So, the "I clapped because I know Star Wars" syndrome? Oh dear...

Ex-CIA director slams Trump after McCabe firing: You'll be remembered as a 'disgraced demagogue': http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/378909-ex-cia-director-slams-trump-after-mccabe-firing-youll-be-remembered ​ ​I'm posting this more for amusement than anything else, due to the use of "demagogue". It's rather funny (and a little sad) to do a comparison of Trump and Wikipedia's article on demagogues. It's almost like it was made just for him. Scapegoating, fearmongering, lying, emotional oration and charisma, accusing opponents of weakness or disloyalty, promising the impossible, violence and physical intimidation, personal insults and ridicule, vulgarity and outrageous behavior, folksy posturing (probably the one that least that applies to him...and one that ironically instead applied to Hillary!), gross oversimplification, and attacking the news media. Sadly, however, that part of the article was written some time before he became president.

PSA: The best way to suppress discussion with a troll is to...you got it, not discuss anything with them. Only YOU can prevent forest fires trolls (and general ....-for-brains) from crapping all over your forums more than strictly necessarily.

There is a Short Sword +3 in BG1 as well, though yes, the scimitars are superior (although in terms of RP, only accessible by evil characters).

That's what ShadySands said on the previous page, yes.

​ Given that WH aides have reported that the WH is the "most toxic working environment on the planet", it's probably somewhat worse. (edit): And these are just some of the more important positions (...and this is a couple of weeks out of date):

He probably shouldn't be saying that he's speaking officially on the President's Trump's behalf, then.

"Trump’s Lawyer: It’s Time to End the Mueller Probe": ​https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-lawyer-its-time-to-fire-robert-mueller @GD: All of the people investigating Trump have been Republicans (and indeed, some of them were even appointed by him). That should tell you something.

Statement by Andrew McCabe I have been an FBI Special Agent for over 21 years. I spent half of that time investigating Russian Organized Crime as a street agent and Supervisor in New York City. I have spent the second half of my career focusing on national security issues and protecting this country from terrorism. I served in some of the most challenging, demanding investigative and leadership roles in the FBI. And I was privileged to serve as Deputy Director during a particularly tough time. For the last year and a half, my family and I have been the targets of an unrelenting assault on our reputation and my service to this country. Articles too numerous to count have leveled every sort of false, defamatory and degrading allegation against us. The President's tweets have amplified and exacerbated it all. He called for my firing. He called for me to be stripped of my pension after more than 20 years of service. And all along we have said nothing, never wanting to distract from the mission of the FBI by addressing the lies told and repeated about us. No more. The investigation by the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) has to be understood in the context of the attacks on my credibility. The investigation flows from my attempt to explain the FBI's involvement and my supervision of investigations involving Hillary Clinton. I was being portrayed in the media over and over as a political partisan, accused of closing down investigations under political pressure. The FBI was portrayed as caving under that pressure, and making decisions for political rather than law enforcement purposes. Nothing was further from the truth. In fact, this entire investigation stems from my efforts, fully authorized under FBI rules, to set the record straight on behalf of the Bureau, and to make clear that we were continuing an investigation that people in DOJ opposed. The OIG investigation has focused on information I chose to share with a reporter through my public affairs officer and a legal counselor. As Deputy Director, I was one of only a few people who had the authority to do that. It was not a secret, it took place over several days, and others, including the Director, were aware of the interaction with the reporter. It was the type of exchange with the media that the Deputy Director oversees several times per week. In fact, it was the same type of work that I continued to do under Director Wray, at his request. The investigation subsequently focused on who I talked to, when I talked to them, and so forth. During these inquiries, I answered questions truthfully and as accurately as I could amidst the chaos that surrounded me. And when I thought my answers were misunderstood, I contacted investigators to correct them. But looking at the in isolation completely misses the big picture. The big picture is a tale of what can happen when law enforcement is politicized, public servants are attacked, and people who are supposed to cherish and protect our institutions become instruments for damaging those institutions and people. Here is the reality: I am being singled out and treated this way become of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey. The release of this report was accelerated only after my testimony to the House Intelligence Committee revealed that I would corroborate former Director Comey's accounts of his discussions with the President. The OIG's focus on me and this report became a part of an unprecedented effort by the Administration, driven by the President himself, to remove me from my position, destroy my reputation, and possibly strip me of a pension that I worked 21 years to earn. The accelerated release of the report, and the punitive actions taken in response, make sens only when viewed through this lens. Thursday's comments from the White House are just the latest example of this. This attack on my credibility is one part of a larger effort not just to slander me personally, but to tain the FBI, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals more generally. It is part of this Administration's ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the Special Counsel investigation, which continue to this day. Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the Special Counsel's work. I have always prided myself on serving my country with distinction and integrity, and I always encouraged those around me to do the same. Just ask them. To have my career end in this way, and to be accused of lacking candor when at worst I was distracted in the midst of chaotic events, is incredibly disappointing and unfair. But it will not erase the important work I was privileged to be a part of, the results of which will in the end be revealed for the country to see. I have unfailing faith in the men and women of the FBI and I am confident that their efforts to seek justice will not be deterred. tl;dr fump truck

Zelda/Dark Souls, I guess.

I wouldn't like to be disbarred from travel purely based on associating with the likes of you. @213374U: Yep, social credit has always existed. However, it is a dystopian nightmare that your government should keep a permanent record of it via arbitrary rules (some of which are no doubt secret) and then subsequently use findings from it to punish you. It should be up to the people to collectively ostracize (and impose soft social restrictions upon) others for awful behavior, not the government.

Meanwhile in China: "China to bar people with bad 'social credit' from planes, trains" For anyone who doesn't know, China is currently running a sort of "social credit score" system where being critical of the government, minor legal infractions, financial problems, your appearance in public, associating with other people with a low credit score, etc. reduces your social credit score and makes you an undesirable...and now it's starting to carry legal implications. Authoritarianism taken to the next level...and a good argument for always pushing and fighting for your rights (though we may often disagree with which are the most important) in our cushy Western countries, for (virtually) nothing in our world is either free or static. Every country that no longer exists or had its governmental system replaced at some point either collapsed, was conquered, and/or had some kind of revolution - and we have little reason to believe that we should be any different. Compared to the living conditions elsewhere in less stable parts of the world right now as well as what people had to endure in centuries past, we live in relative utopias - I would think we would like to keep it that way, but it always has been and always will be a struggle.

Ah. The story is a little too heavy-handed with the way it says that he's to be replaced, then, since it doesn't really give a clear impression that he hasn't actually been fired - I guess besides the lack of directly saying he was fired, anyways. ​ ​Rumor is John Bolton just interviewed (and is a favorite) for the job. What a terrible administration.

National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster has been fired: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-decides-to-remove-national-security-adviser-and-others-may-follow/2018/03/15/fea2ebae-285c-11e8-bc72-077aa4dab9ef_story.html?utm_term=.4b4fdee1a2e5 ​ ​Earlier today, McMaster called for harsher punishments against Russia: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/15/hr-mcmaster-russia-syria-crime-punishment-465841

because THEY are dying on his yard

Only loosely political: Donald Trump Jr.'s wife Vanessa is leaving him, says she’s "uncomfortable" with the Trump family. An additional excerpt from a semi-related story: "Vanessa told The New York Times in 2006 that Donald Trump had introduced her to his son at a fashion show twice within five minutes. The pair did not hit it off during the awkward interactions. Six weeks later, they met again at a mutual friend's party. They didn't recognize each other until after an hour-long conversation. "Then suddenly, something clicked: Wait, you were at that fashion show. Wait, you're 'the one with the retarded dad!' Vanessa blurted out," The Times reported." lmao

It was my understanding that that was true last night, but the bigger of the two counties that had outstanding absentee ballots have now been counted, and there are only around two hundred remaining absentee ballots remaining in the other outstanding county, and even if they were 100% for the Republican, it wouldn't be enough.

3.14. Pi. March 14th. Coincidentally, Albert Einstein was born on March 14th.

CNN says that Chief of Staff John Kelly and National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster "[are] poised to depart soon." Not sure if of their own will or not. Trump also says, "I'm really at a point where we're getting very close to having the cabinet and other things that I want." Back to the clown show...

​ No recount? There is no automatic recount in Pennsylvania for non-statewide elections. However, I'm sure the R will attempt to pursue one.

​Connor Lamb (D) declared winner in Pennsylvania special U.S. House election, in a district Trump carried by 20 points a little over a year ago.

We seem to have increasingly few celebrated scientific minds out there, when there used to be so many. I don't know if that's because there are simply less of them (I would hope this is not the case), or because their time and services are more and more monopolized by governments and corporations. Hawking was rather unique for his incredible story of perseverance, too. RIP.

Speaking of economic influence, Trump is now considering tariffs on $60 billion worth of Chinese goods (presumably annually). He had previously rejected $30 billion for not being steep enough. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/13/trump-is-considering-imposing-tariffs-on-60-billion-of-chinese-goods-reuters-citing-source.html

we still have soft power?

He was a terrible secretary of state - the State Department is an absolute shambles right now, with something like 8 of the top 10 positions having gone unfilled under him, and a massive amount of careers resigning under him (though obviously not entirely due to him). However, Trump has that wonderful ability to constantly make the wrong choice at every possible turn, so I'm sure Pompeo will make the situation even worse.