MedicineDan

Yeah, *I'm* the one from an alternate earth. *I'm* the one residing in the echo chamber. :scoff: Name the source of the test and I'll take the "information" challenge. Actually, no time for the nonsense. :bemused smile: Seriously, I've generally thought Grom was a decent enough guy, but his take on political reality is silly. There are a couple of you chumps who surprise me with probing and predictive remarks. Pidesco, you glorious bastard, are not among them. Probably Zor or that one irritating fellow who apparently isn't around any more. ...But, hey, I'm just an uneducated boomer! lol

Fair enough, but the suggestion Biden is a better candidate is rubbish. He's not even a candidate. He's a self-proclaimed placeholder. I never used to feel true animosity over politics until President Obama. I prayed for his good health every day, but he, not Trump, was the real enemy of the press. Seriously, look at the number of counter-espionage investigations during the Obama presidency. He trained the IRS and FBI on his political opponents whom he described, on at least one occasions, as "enemies." Trump says mean things about the press and people say he's the enemy. Why hasn't that sunk him? Because people believe it. I might get a nonsensical, personal, and mentally dishonest attack for saying the truth, but people should at least recognize the truth. The press is not trusted. This is the all-in election. This is not like the other "most important election." This election, 2020, is the most important American election of our lifetimes. If we win, we bring the press down. Chaos will ensure, but that might be the door through which we might arrive at order. Probably not. We're probably screwed.

Yeah, the debate was crazy town. I, personally, think Trump is in trouble. The polls are not always right, but they tend not to be *that* wrong. I agree with folks who think they're skewed right now, but I don't think the margin is that great. Could be, though. Crazy times and people are afraid to express support for Trump. I unabashedly exhort folks to vote for the president, but, as you guys know, I'm eminently ignorable. :rueful grin: So, how far off are the polls? Right now? It's not as simple as that. Apart from nonsense meant to muddy the waters, I was pretty much spot on about the state of the polls not only in 2016, but also 2018, which I'd stated before the election. It's just that there wasn't a lot of surprise in 2018, other than ballot harvesting in CA turning a major defeat into a route. That, and Trump is truly reviled in California so even though it looked like an Orange Co win for Republicans, the late ballot harvesting didn't have as far to go as if there had been sufficient excitement in the base to shore up the day. All that said, I think the debate was better for Trump than Biden. I don't think either "won" the debate. In fact, they looked really bad. However, the public already thinks Trump is bad. The pundits who say he needs to soften that image to win...? :scoff: In one month? Yeah, that's not going to happen. Biden is supposed to be the nice guy. Biden is supposed to be able to stand up to the crazies in his base. Biden is supposed to return us to normal, so inasmuch as he starts yelling at people to shut up and and calling people names, he's no better than Trump. I do think Trump went too far. So what? Who thought Trump wasn't going to go into the debate and throw everything including the bidet at his opponent? Trump is a blunt instrument. Biden is a dull one. I think Trump hate may well win the day, but this debate didn't help Biden and may well have hurt him a little. That's contrary to the assessment of the left and the right wing press, but it's my honest take.

Tell me about it. I've never won an Obsidz popularity contest, but I would probably come out on top of an unpopularity one. <.< Kind of an odd place to have a board popularity discussion though. On the other hand, what are these boards if not multiplayer RPG? EDIT: I actually wish I had access to the old BIS stuff. I created a board game there that I thought was pretty funny. Damn, that was a long time ago.

Still plugging away at Kingmaker when I get the chance. That and we have a weekly 5th edition campaign that I'm planning to cut down to every other week or monthly.

The unrest doesn't stem from Marxist ideology. I personally find Marxism terrible, but it's a starting point for discussion. KP is partly correct. Some of these people in the streets are anarchists in denial. Many of them are anarchists in Marxist clothing. Then there are the fools who suggest that the real reason we have unrest is because of Trump. Sure. And the sheer amounts of credulous fools who spout this nonsense might carry the day. Yeah, it's pretty grim for folks on our side. We don't have quite such fabulous acoustics as the liberal echo chambers that surround us. It is not impossible to win, though. Remember, to steal from a great statesman, to endure is to conquer. It's funny, the love trumps hate crowd carry on with a tremendous amount of personal attacks while completely overlooking or denying (and sometimes just lying) about the irony. Not just incongruity, but steeped in layers of oddity. I had a patient last week who started talking politics. Now, I *never* lie about politics, but I refuse to discuss it at work. It's simply unprofessional. I get people who talk politics to me from both sides and I always smile and say that I won't talk politics until there is no need to talk healthcare. ...And I'm home health, so I'm on my own. Anyhow, this person says that he/she would throw me out of the house if I said I was voting for Trump. The weird thing is that Trump supporters are often gregarious and loud, but anti-Trumpers are usually hostile in my experience. You can say that's anecdotal. :shrug: A meaningless if true observation, but whatev. Now, I was already getting along with this patient and I smoothed it over just fine, of course. While I'm a competent nurse in terms of skills, my biggest asset is interpersonal in terms of de-escalation and convincing patients to agree to follow a treatment plan. Now, since I'm an attentive guy who's concerned about patient health, this person came around nicely but the idea that you'd throw out a healthcare professional over politics makes you simply foolish. Of course, I've also seen people bristle at getting care from Hispanic healthcare professionals, which is the epitome of at least xenophobia if not out and out racism. Good thing my Hispanic heritage doesn't show. The funny thing is, I've never seen someone act that way about black healthcare professionals, which is weird since some of them kind of act like they wouldn't like black people. I think it's because it's easier to be anti-immigrant than racist in our society. Both are simply terrible, of course. Yeah, I know someone can make that statement a basis for attacking Trump. To be clear, I think we should have stronger borders, but I don't think we should treat people poorly, and the majority of my patients have been minority. A good number have been Hispanic illegal immigrants (mostly Mexican). I'm not going to treat them like second class citizens just because I believe our immigration should be better enforced. :bemused smile: What a world we live in!

Hey now! Bite me! My cat is not an avatar of schizophrenia. Still, while .y my seal friend is clearly a doofus, I'll own that I've always been a little put off by the Minsc shtick. Edit: Clearly should wait until later to post further.

Be definition, I can't do most of my work at home, but I chart there and it sucks. I miss the hospital. Pay and hours are better now, though. EDIT: Work can be a real pain, but sadly I can't talk about the funniest/weirdest things for privacy reasons. However, I just now uploaded an audio flie about a dream one of my players had. To think of the cool things I could have done if I had this stuff available back in the day! I wish I had more time!

I have a friend, kind of an adopted nephew I've known for many years. He went off to the Naval Academy and graduated recently. We have spectacular political arguments come from diametrically opposed sides (he's a Bernie Bro, but I love him anyway). Since he's out at Charleston, he thought he'd swing by my virtual 5th edition campaign I'm running. He was hooked line and sinker! By the end of the first hour he was already downloading Fantasy Grounds. He created a bard and provided significant help to the party in the last major encounter of the night and also contributed to some of the exploration. I like puzzles in my games, so I truly value people who are willing to tinker with things and figure out new approaches. Modern technology is truly great. While I'd like to get back to in person gaming, I'll undoubtedly sitll use some of the tools I have now. I keep track of party character, npcs they've met, clues they've found, and my wife keeps a party journal. Then I put all these documents in my OneDrive D&D dedicated folder. Today, when they got started, one of the players mentioned one of the things I'd thought they'd overlooked. It was truly gratifying that someone had taken a gander at it beforehand. Players never find all the fun stuff you put into a campaign. It is, after all, their story as much as mine, but it's always fun when they get invested enough to think about things between gamedays. It's even better when one of my old friends can join my campaign from 3,000 miles away! Huzzah!

Too time consuming to make a larger post, but it's quite dismaying that Ginsberg died. I swear, who in the hell broke a mirror this year? I personally disagreed with her philosophy, especially in disparaging the US constitution as a document of negative rights. Of course, it *is,* but that's good! It's really too bad that her death comes at virtually precisely the right time to cause increased chaos within the electorate. I never wish death on people unlike the folks around here who crow about the deaths of conservatives. Another thing that's really too bad is that the death of this human being is distressing primarily for political reasons. I feel guilty, but my first thought was about the political situation when I heard she'd died, and she was certainly a massive figure in US history. Anyhow, don't have much time to climb over the walls of text, but remember to vote for Trump in November. Don't buy the nonsense that our 'erudite' members peddle. Yeah, Biden will probably win, but you never know, so go vote!

Let's be honest. You can beat the game at any difficulty with any of the NPCs. I'm with Hurlshot. Imoen is a must have *just* because she's your childhood friend.

0130 post, so take it as it is. I think Bruce, a few pages back, kind of poked fun at me for saying this is the most important election of our lifetimes. I think that was it. I don't mind the poke. I'm not the bear some folks are around here. I won't provide a mountain of foolish text to 'refute' you, Bruce. However, if anyone truly believes that these times in which we live are anything like what we've seen in our lifetimes... well... I don't want to be rude and so I'll simply stand in stunned silence. I know the erudite crowds, and here I'll cite Mal and Hurlshot (and I'm fond of both of them) for questioning the 'evidence' that these anarchists in our society are Biden supporters, will rush to dispute me, but does anyone truly believe that the problems with rampant lawlessness comes from Trump voters? Seriously? You can probably score points off me by claiming the parity game here in the Obsidz fun zone, but I think the increasing number of actual voters in the Unites States believe their lyin' eyes more than they believe the partisans. To be clear and fair, I am a partisan. I am absolutely a partisan and I wish to push my agenda, but I've also been willing to own my biases. Too bad the hypocrites who run this particular asylum won't own to the same. To get to the less banal and more interesting point, I think Biden still has the edge. Not as much as the faithless and feckless left would have us believe (apart from the segment who is clearly panicking right now), but still a discernable edge. This falls partly on Florida and partly on any of the three "blue wall" states that abandoned Hillary in the last election. I think the pollsters have tightened their models for state by state ballots over the past two cycles. I simply won't drink the "polls are off" Kool aide of the more staunch supporters. Still, the polls *have* been off by a small but significant and decisive margin in the previous two or three cycles. We manifestly don't have a Democrat governor and senatord inFlorida. Trump can lose 2 out of 3 of the blue wall states and keep all else and still win this election. If you support our flawed POTUS, take heart. You don't need to draw attention. You don't need to get the grief. Until these anarchists take over, your vote is still anonymous. Vote your conscience. You are not alone.

Doofus! lol :good natured grin: Anyhow, Tristan is considerably better than Minsc. He's a devs teen wet-dream. Whatever. At least I don't hate Boo.

I have virtually never seen such overt trawling in my time on the boards, and that's considerable. However, I'll bite. I didn't like Minsc. I mean, I don't hate the idea of him. I just hate the over the top, on the nose, and beat you over the head execution of Minsc. You can beat the game on every difficulty level without Minsc, and so he's not vital. To be fair, think that goes for every NPC, but why take an annoying one if not needed? I think more people venerate Boo than Minsc and, moreover, I believe the duo is more of an Easter egg/vanity project by the devs. Still, I don't begrudge the Minsc/Boo fandom. I'm just a hack who can't act, write, or convince anyone of anything. Who am I to say what's good or not other than to voice support for the OP. Nevertheless, before someone makes idiotic accusations, Seal ain't Eldar. He should take that as a compliment.

I have to admit that I haven't had time to read up on all the goings on in this thread. This election is weird in that, unlike the previous two cycles, I don't have a good enough feel to make a bet. I guess I've already said that I would bet on Biden, and that means I'll stick with it unless some crazy crap goes on. Still, while I'm willing to be called on it, I honestly don't think anyone knows. Even if someone makes a great prediction, it amounts to guessing. You can be right without actually knowing what you're talking about. Reminds me of Yeats. "Turning and turning in the widening gyre/The falcon cannot hear the falconer;/Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;/Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,/The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere/The ceremony of innocence is drowned;/The best lack all conviction, while the worst/Are full of passionate intensity." Funny. At least I'm self-aware enough to question whether or not I'm the worst. I suspect plenty of people here probably are the worst. They're just too passionate to realize it. I believe this is literally the most important election of our times. There are no good choices. There are only choices and it falls on us to make them. I might not be as eloquent or erudite as some of the more vocal members here, but if you're sitting on the fence or thinking of making a 'protest' vote, remember that it falls on you to make a choice. Not that any of us matter, right? ...But, just in case, do the work. You don't have to say anything. Just do the work.

Sad to hear, melkathi. I'll keep reading. So, since I was forced to edit the save in order to get my portrait right, I did something I never did the first run in Kingmaker. I gave myself a little extra gold and bumped my stats. Also, in the first run, I never used a mercenary, but now my honest to goodness not sucking at the job rogue is rocking the game. Just brutal damage. Can finally sneak up on a character without getting caught and backstabbing the way God and Gary Gygax intended! Got to the point where I rescued Reg and Octavia. I decided that I'd keep doing things differently and romance Octavia. I find Valerie more attractive, but that's mostly because she's more damaged goods and that's the kind of guy I am. lol Still, Octavia I truly suspect Octavia is a lot less work to bed. I mean, I hate RPG romances. Talk about reducing a real relationship to the most pedestrian elements. Meh. Didn't beat 'em. Might as well join 'em.

I was in Riverside for work yesterday and it was 117 after I got out after the appointment. Then there's the mask. Ugh.

Probably can't say much on a message board, but if your symptoms persist or worsen, get yourself to your PCP, young man! Kudos to the wife for thinking quickly about the ring!

Too funny. I have had a lot of conversations with Socrates. I mean, mostly through people like Plato and Xenophon, but still! I don't doubt that Socrates, as we know him from the sources at hand, would have hated lil' ol' me, MedDan. He would have hated Demosthenes even more. GuardDog mentioned how Trump supporters care about Trump but he doesn't care about them. Sure. Okay. Is the converse that Biden supporters believe Biden cares about his constituency? Politicians use people, and that leads to a cycle that perhaps we live today. Socrates, through Plato, observed this cycle. Once again, fair enough. As someone who has taken a liking to those ancient white Greek dudes, I sympathize with the notion. However, you gotta be careful of ol' Socrates. As much as I admire him, there's no evidence that the 'enlightened few' would steer the ship of state better for the common folk. In fact, quite the contrary. There is no philosopher king to save the day. Only the beginnings of tyranny. I've always been willing to go down with the ship of state when the ridiculously foolish, the agitators, the Demosthenes of our society lead them down a crooked path by way of impassioned speeches and half-truth lies. I'm not much of an impassioned speech kind of guy. Just don't fool yourself that Socrates would have hated any of the 'enlightened' people in this thread less than any other. Nope. I would contend, quite the contrary. For one thing, Socrates thought that anyone who thought themselves wise, or used too many videos to punctuate walls of text, was a fool. Fact, is, ol' Socrates didn't believe anyone was truly wise and spent his life trying to prove himself wrong. He never managed to do that to his satisfaction. Also, while he was charged with not believing in the gods of the city and advocating against them, the real thought in many of the jurors' minds at his trial was that he was an atheist. To be fair, as it seems from my conversations with him, Socrates wasn't an atheist. He was just struggling with his own daimons. EDIT: "r" became "f."

Finally broke down and edited the save and got my portraits fixed. Geez! Just now getting close to 3rd level. Cleared the fangberry cave and going to the old sycamore.

Whatever. So, in other news, I was thinking of something about Klacik running Maryland 7. First of all, I don't believe she'll win. This is pie in the sky territory for Republicans. Yeah, I think she's doing a good job of it, but some districts are just plain off limits to one side or the other. They can be switched, but that's a lightning strike. Stupid to bet on it. If I'm wrong and it *does* turn Republican, it's going to be early, and that will be a devastating sign for the Democrats. We're talking wave election territory. Anyhow, along those lines, I think the Democrats might want to throw extra money at the race. Not because I think they're in danger, but because it *is* an early race. I'd run up the score as high as possible. Don't just beat her, but have another blowout at ~75 to 25%. I think that's about how badly she got beat last time. That could actually serve to discourage voters who hear the results from Maryland in other states where voting isn't closed. Is it enough to make a huge dent? Of course not, but if this is anything like last election, fractions of a percent will make the difference. This is a high profile race and you can count on the media hitting the story hard if Klacik loses, which they consider preordained. On the other hand, I think she's been a net benefit to the ticket, but not because she'll win. She provides outreach to minority voters and helps encourage white voters to get off their assess and head to the polls.

yeah, cards count as games. The forums count as a game. I even created a game on the BIS forums with all sorts of goofy stuff. Nameless moderators and other irritating personalities had cards. <.< So, I created a new Pathfinder game in order to import better portaits than the terrible ones in Kingmaker. I created my character with a portrait and it worked fine. Then I created a mercenary NPC and put in a new portrait. Apparently, even though you can import new portraits, you can only add one custom at a time. So I have to use the same portrait for both my mercenary and main, which is just asinine. There also seems to be no way to change portraits midgame. I can change the portrait to one or the other, but I can't have custom portraits for each. Big design flaw, Owlcat! Rat bastards!

Actually, I agree with the idea. I *am* afraid of Trump. I think he's petty, small-minded, and dangerous. I just fear him less than the alternative. Virtually all my life, I have voted for the thing I believe. I have voted *for* something. Over the past several years, I've started voting *against* politicians. On the other hand, having the leftists accuse me of being a hypocrite, a charge so rich with irony, only makes me sure my path is righteous. :huge grin:

Good God, Bruce. That truly sucks!